RCCA's take on RC Crawling

[Duuuuuuuude]

MattH has taken a lot of shit in here, and still comes around. Gotta give him props for that.

True. Most people wouldn't have bothered to defend themselves.

 

[Robbob]

You do know that's why magazines exist, right? To sell advertising. The editorial content is only there to keep them from running together. The internet isn't all that different; when's the last time you saw a page without Google ads?

RCCA is the Motor Trend of RC mags. Very successful, with enough general-appeal coverage to keep the lights on. Crawling is still a small segment of the hobby (but far from dead) so you're going to see a lot more nitro go-fast stuff in there than crawling.

MattH has taken a lot of shit in here, and still comes around. Gotta give him props for that.

Agreed. (this isnt a dig against any RCC vendor) But if the vendors here threw money at advertising like the other major manufacturers you could bet we'd see more crawling articles. Its just common thought, we pay you and you write about our stuff.... its return on investment.

Cant say its dieing around us though, heck we even got an indoor place and turn outs have been on the increase since it was built. During the year I comp with 3 different clubs and attendances never seem to be a problem.

Our comps are always open invitations ....... any one could come by and see how its not dieing for us. "thumbsup"

 

[JeremyH]

Cant say its dieing around us though, heck we even got an indoor place and turn outs have been on the increase since it was built. During the year I comp with 3 different clubs and attendances never seem to be a problem.

Our comps are always open invitations ....... any one could come by and see how its not dieing for us. "thumbsup"

....and THAT is the issue that I have with this article. The author apparently did not do ANY research to justify his claim that it is dying....

 

[chris_dishmon]

"The reason is that competition rock crawlers quickly evolved away from what made them popular in the first place—scale appeal."

like the offroad racing buggies and truggies look scale with their two foot long control arms and five foot wings on the back. :roll:

 

[MattH]

like the offroad racing buggies and truggies look scale with their two foot long control arms and five foot wings on the back. :roll:

I agree 100%

 

[run2jeepn]

I don't believe scale realism started the True Crawlers.... Scalers were around long before Crawlers were. What got me caught and many others. Was the challenge in building, testing and climbing something that I haven't before. Then once I climbed it. I found another challenging Course, Rock, Hill that I couldn't Climb. I would build, test. Till I could climb it. That is what got me into Crawlers.... Not the fact that it looked like my 1:1......

The biggest things that have changed from being scale LOOKING for Comp Crawlers was the 2.2 Crawler Comp Bodies... Before all we had was Maxx and Stampede Sized Bodies. If I took a HPI Jeep Body and mounted it on my 2011 2.2 Comp Rig. It would look more scale then any of these below...

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2004 Clods...

TXT's 2005

TLT's...2004-2005

If there has been such a HUGE Change in Comp Crawlers... I really don't see it... 5yrs Years ago. I ran a MOA with Electronic Dig, Dual ESC's, 6Ch Radio's, Custom Tires and so on...

I only really see 3 Big Changes that affected anything...

1. Berg axles, Brought along the Bullys and now the XR10... All MOA's, but slimmer then older Clod axles. Once these axles came out. Is what gave birth to the new Era of Crawlers.

2. Bodiless Chassis's (But we did have the GMade Stealth Crawler 4yrs ago) and Lexan Comp Crawler Bodies. (This is really the only thing that effected the Looks of Comp Crawlers.)

3. Better/More Rules...

Here is my old MOA Comp Rig, Dual ESC's, 6Ch Radio, Custom Made 5.75in Tires, Brushless, BEC Comp Crawler... This rig was 4yrs ago.

Really nothing new hasn't Came out.... If you look at it all. All the stuff we are using now we had 5yrs ago. They are just more compact and convenient to use...

DX6 vs 4PK... More compact easier to use
DUD Dig's vs PunkDigs.... Easier to set up, locks up better
2.2 MoLanders, 2.2 Jordans vs Rovers, Sedonas etc...... Cheaper, better Compouns
Cutting up a Stampede Body vs a Losi Grappler Pro.... Less Cutting, better formed for fit
TQ3 vs DX3E....EPA's, Just all around much Better...


I see all of these new things as a Good thing... No more Freq. Issues, No Crappy Analog Servo's and Huge 6 cell Stick Packs... Etc....

It's not the advancing of the Crawlers that has changed... It's the Poeple who have came over from Bashers and racing.. Not all but many have brought there crappy attuides with them. All in all the Crawler crowd is still better then any other RC Based Crowed.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

I think the biggest advancement has been Lipo packs. Until they became affordable the best thing we could do is have knuckle packs to help get the nimh down low.

 

[TwistedCreations]

I think the biggest advancement has been Lipo packs. Until they became affordable the best thing we could do is have knuckle packs to help get the nimh down low.

Wait a second... 4 pages and not a Vendor plug yet.......:lmao:

www.HOLMESHOBBIES.com​

Your one stop electronics Shop​

Welcome to Holmes Hobbies and Holmes Bikes, your Electric Power source! We specialize in traction electronics for R/C crawlers, robotics, and light EV applications. Our own brands are developed and tested for your most rigorous traction applications! We stand behind our products, ensuring best quality and value.

 

[JohnRobHolmes]

:lol: ! That is a bit off topic here, I'm gonna have to flex my MOD powers!. Although in chit chat there really is no off topic, so I am going to flex my abusive powers!. Plus Harley is going to have to tax you for the orange text, I accept payments for him. The total is $42.57 please. Send to the email in my profile.

 

[TwistedCreations]

But my Join date is before yours and Harley's...... So you will need to send the invoice to my boss for verification: Please send mass PM's here http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/member.php?u=174


:lmao::lmao:

 

[MattH]

Early on in this thread, I saw a few people complain that their comments on my blog got censored. Since I moderate the comments on the site and hadn't seen any comments, I thought they were either full of it or doing something wrong. Well, I figured it out by chance. People were posting their comments to the Axial XR10 video I embedded in the post. I have to have our IT guys change some settings so I can see and moderate video posts. After that, your comments will go up and people reading the blog can see different opinions on the subject.


So now (or after I get the comments thing fixed) if I post a blog saying something such as...

The current 2.2 class has gotten so far away from what we originally started with, that I don't think now days anyone has a chance at winning a major event with a sub $1,000 rig. Like it or not that is a bad thing for our hobby as it scares new people away.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>

Making these changes I hope will breed a little life back into some of the guys that are burned out with the comp scene and are now turning to scalers. I think it also helps take us back to our roots.

...you can flame me with both barrels of a side-by-side flame thrower.

All kidding, aside, thanks for reading my blog. I sincerely appreciate it.

 

[Scattman]

I just renewed my subscription here 10 minutes ago. "thumbsup"

That's for year #6 here. Been a contributing(paying) member here since 2005.8)

Wanna know how many issues of RCCA I have purchased in that time?.............................None, although I have thumbed through it at the register of the LHS. Any crawling stuff they have had I could find here earlier and in more detail.

That, in addition to all the ads, will keep me away as well. MattH isn't helping the case for them either. ;-)

 

[MattH]

I just renewed my subscription here 10 minutes ago. "thumbsup"

That's for year #6 here. Been a contributing(paying) member here since 2005.8)

Wanna know how many issues of RCCA I have purchased in that time?.............................None, although I have thumbed through it at the register of the LHS. Any crawling stuff they have had I could find here earlier and in more detail.

That, in addition to all the ads, will keep me away as well. MattH isn't helping the case for them either. ;-)

That's fine. I really mean that. Not everyone is going to like RC Car Action magazine or our website or me. There are people who don't like this site. There are people who don't like the color blue. Everybody is isn't going to like everything.

We do our best to make the best magazine and best website possible. As I'm sure the owners of this site do as well.

 

[team3six]

Matt, I think you might be missing the point here. A lot of people in the biz state that parts of the hobby are fads or not going in the direction to promote RC. I think what Jason and Badger have done and done well is promote crawling to the point of opening a market enough to carry events at a national level, create a market of parts and RTR trucks. And offer the advice of expert drivers to achieve a competition level truck. If one desires to learn about crawling, they can come here. No one is forced to purchase a subscription.

Magazines however have seemed to forget that they are partialy responsible for teaching their readers about the many aspects of RC. I understand that advertising pays for the magazine and the people that work for it. But if a magazine is only one sided and doesn't provide acurate information or cover all aspects of RC, they only hurt the hobby. Not push it to grow.

I think magazines in the hobby should venture into reformating the way they attack their readers by understanding this and offer information on everything rather than the topic of the month. I mean in all seriousness, how many of your target is really intrested in reading about the electric 5b, or another AE buggy? Maybe some, but certainly not all.

A good magazine would have a section on touring, buggy, basher, crawler, monster truck, boat, heli, battery, esc, charger. Sure this is alot. But giving reviews of one of each, each month covers all bases and encourages growth in all aspects of RC. You build it they will come, is not just a saying. Its true.

Bottom line is, as a jounalist for the RC market. Provide fair information about several things. If its good, people will buy and manufacturers will advance on making newer items and better gear. You hinder it or only talk about your advertisers. All your doing is creating a dying market.

No one is gonna buy one truck if their isn't a market for it.

 

[MattH]

Matt, I think you might be missing the point here. A lot of people in the biz state that parts of the hobby are fads or not going in the direction to promote ... if their isn't a market for it.

I skimmed through your post.

I'm not sure if you read RC Car Action magazine or go to our website, but we do just what you're asking for. Our formula might not be exactly as you described, but we have columns such as Rock Pile, Backyard basher, Short Course Newz, Big Talk, Grassroots Racing, Offbeat RC to ensure we have variety. Having a column for each possible segment would be endless and probably not work for a magazine--sorry.

I'm not sure where the comment about only talking about our advertisers comes from. We have featured RC4WD many, many times and they will never advertise. We have an article coming up with vendors such as R2j and DH fab found here that will never advertise.

Look, I'm not trying to get you on board with me or RC Car Action magaine. I know full well that you can't make everyone happy all time.

 

[slobin3d]

I skimmed through your post.

I'm not sure if you read RC Car Action magazine or go to our website, but we do just what you're asking for. Our formula might not be exactly as you described, but we have columns such as Rock Pile, Backyard basher, Short Course Newz, Big Talk, Grassroots Racing, Offbeat RC to ensure we have variety. Having a column for each possible segment would be endless and probably not work for a magazine--sorry.

I'm not sure where the comment about only talking about our advertisers comes from. We have featured RC4WD many, many times and they will never advertise. We have an article coming up with vendors such as R2j and DH fab found here that will never advertise.

Look, I'm not trying to get you on board with me or RC Car Action magaine. I know full well that you can't make everyone happy all time.

I think that one thing that all the mags have lost, the balls to say something bad about a product. Not just Rcca but pretty much all of them. Granted a negative review isn't always the greatest for the advertising budget, but IMHO a more truthful/tough review with solid pros and cons would bolster readership and improve overall sales. Most people stop reading because it's getting to the point where all the mags look ths same and they all look like a Tower catalog or Traxxas pamphlet. There's a fine line between Ad friendly and sell out and I get the impression that most feel Most mags have crossed over.

 

[dezfan]

In all honesty, why would anyone go to wWw(dot)rccaraction(dot)com for any kind of crawler related info when you have RC Crawler? Same for racing, there is RC Tech, for Short Course info, RC Short Course, etc... etc... etc...

What exactly does RC Car Action has to offer these days?

 

[ROWDY RACING]

What exactly does RC Car Action has to offer these days?

Traxxas ads! :lmao:

 

[Manning]

Geez people, it's a magazine not a college text book or reference book. It's for entertainment.

 

[dezfan]

Traxxas ads! :lmao:

Hell, Traxxas has their own site.:ror: