THE Cub Report – About That Tesla Cybertruck…
Hello there fellow rc fanatic, thanks for clicking over to THE Cub Report. As the temps start to warm here in North America, the outdoor rc scene (which is mucho grande bigger than indoors) really starts to heat up. As more hobbyists head outdoors to test their winter builds, their mailboxes are starting to receive much anticipated tax return money. Needless to say, the months of March, April, and May, are very important to the rc world.
As we enter the “hot” spring sales season, an unlikely company took top honors for the coolest release of last week. The “biggest news” from last week was easily the announcement from Hot Wheels that they had partnered with Tesla to produce a 1/10th scaled, hobby grade version of the Cybertruck. Now, many hobbyists don’t see the big deal, while others can’t stand that the truck isn’t coming from a “real hobby grade” company like Losi, Axial, Kyosho, Tamiya, etc.
However, on the industry side of things, this truck is a big dealio for a couple of reasons. First- because everything Tesla touches seems to turn to gold, any company putting out a licensed Cybertruck is going to move a LOT of units. The Cybertruck is for starters a Tesla, it looks like an alien spacecraft, and it is an all electric “pick-up truck”. The Cybertruck just has a ton of buzz to go along with it. Big buzz also means big MONEY. Any company landing Cybertruck licensing is not going to have a problem selling all they can produce, but better still, at a Premium Price.
Secondly, the Hot Wheels 1/10 Cybertruck represents an upcoming trend of companies going after the licensing rights to hot new 1:1 car releases. Going forward, with our consumers/industry putting such a premium on absolute scale realism, big sales are going to go along with hot new 1:1 releases. Examples here include the Jeep Gladiator, the new mid-engined Corvette, Tesla’s Cybertruck, etc. Rc hobbyists are more than willing to pay for the hottest new releases, whether they be in kit/RTR form, or as aftermarket bodies. As so many of the older “hot/most wanted” body styles have already been produced, going forward, many of the hottest sellers in rc are going to be hot new 1:1 releases.
So ya, about that 1/10 Cybertruck. It doesn’t ship to consumers until December. Yes, like 10 months from now December. And, with no under body shots, and a street price of $400, us real hobbyists are a bit wary of cutting the check (looks like they “sold out” in a couple hours anyways). There are a bunch of cars in the hobby grade world under the $400 price point that have INSANE performance, along with great looks. And they are made by companies with legendary durability status (Lots of different ARRMAs under 4 hundy). So while I am stoked to see the Cybertruck in a 1/10 rc form, I sure hope it is truly hobby grade at that price point (and yes, we have a review unit on the way).
On a different note…
Ya know, at some point, winter/indoor crawling IS GOING TO TAKE OFF. I swear it, LOL. The trucks are just so dern cool (love my small scale P-L and RC4WD trucks), they are so affordable, and some winters, like winters in Chicago, make driving outside Really Nasty. As an industry I wish we would work together on a plan to get more people crawling during the winter months. Currently, many hobbyists just shelve their gear for the winter and mostly work on builds. Ideally, hobbyists should have great options to drive 12 months out of the year. I bring all this up because we recently unboxed the Kyosho Toyota 4Runner Mini-Z. This is a new platform that has awesome scale looks, even at 1/18th scale. The 4Runner is another truck aimed at getting the indoor crawling scene going, look for our full review in a couple weeks.
So there ya have it ya bunch of lunatics. As always, get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots.
YOUR Cub Reporter
