THE Cub Report- Well Hello There Holidays…
Well happy holidays to all you rc fanatics out there! Christmas is nearly here, with 2020 hot on its heals. With rc winding down for the year, this is when our “Best of the Year” really heats up. This week, I’ll be going over some of the front runners for our “Bash Vehicle of the Year” that will be announced in a few days. Here we go folks...
Now, you need to remember, these are just the trucks that “I” think are front runners. All the guys on our Bash Crew give input on who ultimately wins. With that said, and in no particular order, here are my top 3 picks for “Bash Vehicle of the Year” (also remember, we do a different award for crawler of the year).
The Traxxas Maxx burst onto the scene this October. This 1/10th scaled monster truck is loaded with the latest in Traxxas bash technology (TSM, self-marshal, etc) and was built incredibly heavy duty for its size (many bits come from larger vehicles). The Maxx has the styling of its larger X-Maxx brother, which doesn’t have loads of “scale realism”, but certainly has a tough truck look. When driven, it has intense power and has proven to be incredibly durable. Basically, the Traxxas Maxx has everything a backyard basher wants, and more. In any other year, the Traxxas Maxx would easily have been a truck of the year. However, 2019 was epic for bash truck releases.
For years the ARRMA ARRMY has asked for a 1/5th scaled bash of mass destruction. In November ARRMA dropped the all new Kraton 8S. The 1/8th scaled 6S Kraton is easily one of the best bash machines to ever be released. The 8S retained the same look, but massively grew in size. With a mass market friendly power system, and rugged over ARRMA design, the 8S Kraton is already taking over bash spots around the globe. Another vehicle without a lot of “scale detailing”, all of the Kratons, regardless of size or cell counts, have been solid looking bash trucks. Can the giant 8S Kraton once again make ARRMA the manufacturer at the top of our “Vehicle of the Year”? We will know soon enough.
Nobody had ever seen anything quite like the ARRMA Infraction when it dropped this June. Coming in at 1/7th scale, based off an off-road chassis, but highly specialized to on-road, the Infraction was a beast on pavement. The Infraction had a killer look, it had crazy power, but perhaps even more impressively, it came stock with fully belted tires. This made the Infraction one of the “easiest to drive stupid fast” cars ever released. In an era when the on-road segment was thought to be completely dead, the Infraction started to fill up empty parking lots.
Of course we tested a bunch of other kick ass vehicles this year, but those are the three, at least in my mind, that would typically win any other year hands down. However, this year, Traxxas and ARRMA put out some truly over the top products, thus making our voting this year harder than it has ever been before. This will result in something cool for you guys to read in a few days. And heck, even I am looking forward to seeing who takes home the title this year!
Then after that, we get to announce “Crawler of the Year”, where there were a TON of kick ass trucks (TRX-6, Capra, etc). Then after that, we get to pick “Product of the Year”, where it doesn’t get any easier (Spektrum DX-5 Rugged, A Ton of Pro-Line items like belted tires and impossible to break bodies). Gonna be some fun times ahead thanks to so many incredible products this year.
OK ya bunch of lunatics, thanks for reading, and get out and support your local hobby shops this Thursday!!!
YOUR Cub Reporter
