It's pretty quiet in these forums, so I thought I would start a topic.
Where does everyone stand in terms of Tyco and Taiyo?
Taiyo was the original manufacturer of every R/C model that Tyco ever sold.
People in the USA knew the models with the Tyco boxes, branding, and names.
However in Japan, Europe and even the UK, the original Taiyo models were just as prominent.
Personally I like a mix of both. I prefer the Taiyo originals in many cases - the original Taiyo Jet Fighter and Jet Racer are works of art. And the early range of black boxes with photos on the front are really great. Also, often the names of the original Taiyo models were more appropriate - the Taiyo Cyclone is a much appropriate name for a 6WD that does crazy spins than "Tyco Scorcher".
It's also nice to have an absolute original - the first "Jet Hopper" for example, ever released in the world, as it was released in Japan in 1986.
However on the other hand, the USA Tyco boxes of the early releases are great, with the vehicle on a slant and the window box style. And the graphics/details all over the Tyco boxes are all in english, and make the toys look really exciting.
TLDR - I appreciate both, and have collected a bit of both. Of course, in Australia, we basically had the "Tyco" style boxes but they were all branded "Metro" after a local toy distributor here, so Aussies like to seek out the Metro releases too.
What are your thoughts?
To me the same thing applies in cases like when Taiyo or Nikko models were sold via Radio Shack. Radio Shack often branded/marketed them really well and we grew up knowing those models better. But then the original Nikko releases were sometimes more sophisticated, or had better names, than the Radio Shack releases. Radio Shack actually had a tendency to "cut down" some models they licensed from Nikko (for example, removing the working headlights).
In the end: it's often worth collecting EVERYTHING. The only problem is where to store it.
cheers,
H.
