Been out of RC crawling for 9 years. What did I miss

[John]

After starting RCP Crawlers with Brian and Noel around 9 years ago, I am just getting back into the hobby. I purchased 103 acres of land in Colorado and am currently building a new home on the property. The land includes a mile long stream, 4 water falls, two copper mines and rocks/mountains as far as you can see. Looking to possibly set up some future RC crawling events, once I get settled in. Fun times ahead.

So what did I miss? Noticed that most of the popular vendors are still around. Amazed how far RC crawling has come since that first meeting with the guys to start up the company RCP Crawlers.

 

[soze]

Damn... 103 acres of land? What's the ballpark for something like that in Colorado?

 

[John]

Not as much as one would think. Just in the right spot at the right time. My good friends ancestors were the original settlers in the city where the land is located back in the late 1800's The city was named after his his family. Bailey, Colorado. The land was home to two copper mines and there are 5 original log cabins on the property that that copper miners used to live and stay during work. I've pulled out some good size rocks near the mines that contain a lot of copper. Both entrances to the mines are still open. I will post some pictures here shortly.

 

[skinnyj]

Out in the country but less than an hour from Denver. Pretty cool! "thumbsup"

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I'll trade you all of my RCs for the 103 acres! :mrgreen:

Congrats on that purchase! If I had that much land I'd be building a motocross track for my 4 wheelers and dirt bikes!

Scale is in and lots of companies are producing scale crawler kits - Axial, GMade, HPI, Vaterra and even Traxxas! There are other brands as well, but I don't really bother with many of the others.

 

[CM9000]

After starting RCP Crawlers with Brian and Noel around 9 years ago, I am just getting back into the hobby.... ....So what did I miss?

welcome back! and you missed a whole hell of a lot!

even im still a bit behind the times. just put tapatalk on my phone not to long ago. still trying to make things from 2009 to 2013 work.

traxxas has a crawler. losi has a solid rear axle 1/6 scale Baja truck.

and lets not forget.. the market is half flooded with copy cat parts and rigs from overseas.

 

[John]

I'll trade you all of my RCs for the 103 acres! :mrgreen:

Congrats on that purchase! If I had that much land I'd be building a motocross track for my 4 wheelers and dirt bikes!

Scale is in and lots of companies are producing scale crawler kits - Axial, GMade, HPI, Vaterra and even Traxxas! There are other brands as well, but I don't really bother with many of the others.

I went in on the land purchase with a life long friend and his family. He is a motocross rider and is in the process of designing a track along with a lake to stock fish. He is friends with Jeremy McGrath and purchased Jeremy's luxury motorhome to live on the property as we graded the roads and installed the underground utilities. We had a well drilled and piped the water up to a 5000 gallon tank at the top of one of the hills. We now have 24/7 crystal clear water anytime we want. I am a California boy and have a home in Westlake Village, so I am not use to having so much access to water and for free.

 

[John]

welcome back! and you missed a whole hell of a lot!

even im still a bit behind the times. just put tapatalk on my phone not to long ago. still trying to make things from 2009 to 2013 work.

traxxas has a crawler. losi has a solid rear axle 1/6 scale Baja truck.

and lets not forget.. the market is half flooded with copy cat parts and rigs from overseas.

Yes, I have a lot of reading to do. I've kept in touch with Axial and their products since moving to Hobbico and now Horizon. Didn't know about the Traxxas crawler. After I built the first US based rock crawling mountain for a national trade show, things just got crazy from that point on. I remember meeting with Tamiya and Kyosho back in 2006 about getting into the scale and competition crawling scene. The wave just past us up.

 

[John]

I have a bunch of original crawler chassis and other products still stored in my warehouse that I plan to bring out an sell at the "for sale" section. Not looking to get much for the products, but would enjoy seeing others put together some of the kits we use to run with back many years ago.

 

[JatoTheRipper]

I went in on the land purchase with a life long friend and his family. He is a motocross rider and is in the process of designing a track along with a lake to stock fish. He is friends with Jeremy McGrath and purchased Jeremy's luxury motorhome to live on the property as we graded the roads and installed the underground utilities. We had a well drilled and piped the water up to a 5000 gallon tank at the top of one of the hills. We now have 24/7 crystal clear water anytime we want. I am a California boy and have a home in Westlake Village, so I am not use to having so much access to water and for free.

I'm even more jealous. Jeremy McGrath was my idol and I still admire the guy!

So do you think you'll ever move back to Cali? Besides having more land I think Colorado is much friendlier to guns as well. "thumbsup"

 

[soze]

I am a California boy and have a home in Westlake Village, so I am not use to having so much access to water and for free.

Westlake Village eh? I worked for Homestore.com/Realtor.com there in the early 2000's. I remember going to Costco for lunch there and just wondering how the heck can so many people be out and about and not have to be working.

 

[John]

Here is a blast from the past picture of the crawling course I built for Axial many years ago. Just one of many courses I built over the years. I designed it in the shape of a scorpion for their new crawler. It had a running water fall at the back side and a small cave

 

[John]

 

[John]

 

[John]

here's one I did for Axial at SEMA, Las Vegas

 

[John]

Westlake Village eh? I worked for Homestore.com/Realtor.com there in the early 2000's. I remember going to Costco for lunch there and just wondering how the heck can so many people be out and about and not have to be working.

Yes, I am at that Costco weekly, when I am at the California home. The area is very upscale with a lot of sports figures and actors living in the area. Will Smith use to live and raised his kids just a mile from my home in Westlake Village. I use to see Will, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky at the local high school football games where all their son's played on the team at the same time. Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California

 

[soze]

Yes, I am at that Costco weekly, when I am at the California home. The area is very upscale with a lot of sports figures and actors living in the area. Will Smith use to live and raised his kids just a mile from my home in Westlake Village. I use to see Will, Joe Montana and Wayne Gretzky at the local high school football games where all their son's played on the team at the same time. Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California

Yep... lots of sightings myself.

Heather Locklear - Sharky's
Brian Setzer - The Meatlocker
Nikki Sixx - Adobe Cantina? (I forgot the name)
Charlie Sheen - Hong Kong Express (Paid $11 for white rice lol)

 

[John]

I'm even more jealous. Jeremy McGrath was my idol and I still admire the guy!

So do you think you'll ever move back to Cali? Besides having more land I think Colorado is much friendlier to guns as well. "thumbsup"

Once the home is complete, I will mostly live in Colorado and rent out the home in California. There is a old gun range already on the property. My neighbor uses it for his gun/defense training courses. I plan on setting up some cameras along the stream and canyon to watch nature from a big screen TV at the house. The stream is where the mountain lions feed and deer, elk, moose and bears frequently visit.

 

[John]

I'm even more jealous. Jeremy McGrath was my idol and I still admire the guy!

So do you think you'll ever move back to Cali? Besides having more land I think Colorado is much friendlier to guns as well. "thumbsup"

Here is a picture from atop one of the mountains on the property. I own most of the land and mountains surrounding the valley and canyon to the left. That is Jeremy McGrath's motorhome in the valley below. We are planning to put a small bar/grill and big screen TV at the top of this hill. We already graded a road going up the mountain to reach with ATV's and 4wd trucks.

 

[soze]

I envy you. I'm more than willing to move out of Cali to get away from this daily grind.... but family loves it here so...