e163: Kyosho Optima Mid Track Run & Restoration...Striking Looks & A Thrill To Drive..See 4 Yourself

[@TheTobyT]

I remember racing weekends, watching the guys running these in the final races of the day, after we less fortunate were finished running our Midnight Pumpkins and Hornets. Man we were in love! I do hope Kyosho re-releases these!

[@pellesomethingsomething]

This stirs up happy, magical childhood memories. Well done, lovely back yard track :)

[@RCRetro]

Glad you enjoyed the video and that it brought you down memory lane. That’s the whole point. Nostalgia......Thanks for the comment and support.

[@GrotrianSeiler]

These are some of the best videos. This guy is so knowledgeable about all things Tamiya. Cool.

[@tallguygaming409]

He fakes it he reads off a monitor

[@robludwigsen7831]

My brother found one of these in a house he was cleaning out. Gave it to me in 1992. It had very little time on it and was complete with transmitter and 1987 monster hp trinity motor. It consistently outran my spoiled friend who had a brand new losi stadium truck with titanium bits. I hit many curbs at full speed and never broke a single part. Had the same bumper as yours as well. Unbelievable how strong and reliable it was!

[@RCRetro]

Thats a great find. The Optima Mid is legendary. Many people have similar stories to yours and all say the Optima Mid dominated the race track back in the day. Thanks for the comment and support.

[@zhugzug]

This was my first RC car back in the late 80's I lost in a move. Wish I had it still. Good car, dusted all the rear wheel drive RCs I used to race.

[@catxls1835]

Great video my friend. I too am a massive fan of the Kyosho Optima Mid. Again, I am too hoping for a re-release of the Mid, fingers crossed. With no evidence of your start point, I cannot comment. However, what you have done is superb. I love it all. Fantastic work and I appreciate the amount of $'s you have spent. Reproduction body shell's are at best sketchy, but do the job. I personally would not have ran this cool buggy, but it's not mine. Thumbs Up!!

[@Aro800]

Great video. Decals drive me crazy when they don't line up. Does my head in.

[@RCRetro]

LOL. I hear you. Drives me wild when everything else is perfect, build, paint, etc...and then you get that one decal thats crooked. Thanks for the comment.

[@wadeskelton7585]

Great job man nice to see that car out there running the way it was intended 👍👍👍

[@owenbuttle3304]

Excellent video from start to finish!! Great to see the classic Optima Mid on the bench before running 👍🏻

[@coreydaspit3348]

very nice. I had a Mid back in the very early '90s and won more than a few races with it. The Schumacher Cats were always tough to beat. My car had the extended carbon chassis for better balance, and the ball diff side plates were polished to a mirror finish. Also, the lower chassis plate was routed about 2-3mm to eliminate any drag from the belt sliding on the plate.

[@tallguygaming409]

Maybe he should drive it in a race to win.... but he wont haha

[@catxls1835]

Cool personal track as well!

[@tallguygaming409]

Thanks

[@Cheez07]

That backyard track looks so sick

[@semperatis]

Great to see the Mid doing what it was designed for. It fairly hauls ass there Ari,at least you can say that you had fun with it.

[@RCRetro]

That I did. Remember I didn't go nuts with a power system in it. Only a 22t mega motor. For the Port Royal Raceway its fine and handled well. Really hope they rerelease this one day. Thanks for the comment

[@Benny_painter]

Very nice, I just love the mids. Got my brothers original very well used Optima mid custom special still from back in the day! and his Turbo Ultima also.

[@OddArneBjrklundRC]

This one of my favourite none Tamiya rc cars, and yeah i also hope they rerelease it soon. Great job on restoring it it looks the thing.... those decals are an absolute nightmare to put on and to get em to look good.

[@OddArneBjrklundRC]

I did actually cut the colored decals on the side to get em more leveled and to give room for the two stickers. I then took a permanent marker to make the black line that goes around the colored decal. It did turn out pretty ok. You can see here on my webpage the end result (scroll all the way down) odd-arne.com/?page_id=1704&page=3

[@mattiasrc]

Nice restoration, runs great. Autosol is a classic, (at least here in Sweden) I use it all the time on my old 1:1 cars, perfect for chrome-parts.

[@PopalongRC]

A true classic there fella👍

[@RCHobbyShed]

Awesome looking Mid and great run, nice footage. Not sure about the guy wearing his pajamas on the track though. 🤣👍

[@RCRetro]

LMFAO... yup don't know whats up with those shorts? Guy says he got "style". Hmmm not so sure lol.... he makes fun of me for wearing "joggers" says I wear "dad cloths" ....

[@RCHobbyShed]

@@RCRetro 🤣 I dunno either, I have zero fashion sense so maybe he really is stylish 🤷‍♂️. Nothing wrong with dad clothes mate, I usually mix it up between dad clothes and man child gear lol. Good to see you guys always have fun. I find your videos with Harry and the gang quite entertaining. Keep it up! 👍

[@tallguygaming409]

Mick im gunna send you some sorts but you have to stand up during your vids to show them off haha

[@btg9]

Really nice car! Fortunately, I can get one too, as Kyosho will re-release it soon~ (really great news!) I think I will put on the yellow livery Turbo Optima Mid body paint and decals, which was my childhood dream car. :) I wish I could have a backyard like yours, but here in my place is impossible, unless I am super rich~

[@RCRetro]

Glad you'll soon be able to get a hold of your childhood dream RC. I like both bodies the optima mid and turbo...thats not my backyard its my friend Harry's. I'm fortunate to have a friend with a track in his yard. I'm sure you'll find somewhere fun to run yours..

[@amphilbey]

Fantastic and love your track 👍I had a Optima mid and raced it along with a Schumacher Cat in the 80s in the UK, such a great car and hoping to get one if the rumours of a re-release are true. Great work with the restoration 👏

[@rc-fannl7364]

The rumours are true, and the re-release Optima Mid is being sold now

[@urge251980]

Dope backyard track car is dope too

[@rc-fannl7364]

Nice camera work, great to see this classic rip up the track. And I hate decals at times too, especially these large ones.

[@peterchon1179]

The ultimate warrior and the super astute. We had the same childhood

[@robludwigsen7831]

Kyosho was like 30 yrs ahead of it's time with these cars! Unreal

[@peterrenaud9639]

Great "running" footage Harry 😂. Do the neighbors ever complain about the noise? Oh yeah, beautiful restoration 💯

[@RCRetro]

Harry got some heavy feet. you can hear him stomping away as he's chasing the car around the track lol...

[@tallguygaming409]

My neighbor only complains when ari is over cause he crashes into the fence alot hahaha

[@LonestarPaul]

Love your backyard track, bravo!

[@JeepsCafe]

Awesome car and restoration bud! Im hoping AE will release the Rc10 again because I missed the 2012 release.

[@EvolVillainRC]

One of my Favs. Hoping it makes it into the Re-Re stable.

[@RCRetro]

Me too. Me too. Thanks for the comment.

[@stoneenforcer]

Nice track. Just ordered a couple mid reres

[@tecnica2001]

Awesome Sauce👍

[@VINTAGEBACKYARDRC]

Looks great!

[@ericwood2790]

Decals can be a pain , sometimes you have to screw them up and learn from your mistakes. The funny thing is I think the MCI decals are a little easier to work with . The buggy turned out good .

[@stumpycatvm7115]

The Re-release going to be almost the same, except for the shocks, or shock towers, I think, looks great

[@RCKickschannel]

Fantastic job, nice one!

[@MrBonger88]

Really hoping for a re release so that we can actually drive them and not have to worry about breaking parts

[@fishtailfistscale8362]

Yes these are high demand shelf queens. Most will buy 2.

[@tallguygaming409]

Who was that handsome devil on the phone with the awesome green shorts 😍

[@RCRetro]

Pizza guy! If I raise the volume you can hear you talking to Dom about ordering pizza, how much and then comparing it to his pizza

[@tallguygaming409]

Hahahaha

[@prophetate]

Awesome video 😊👍

[@robludwigsen7831]

Use a ball bearing steering servo as well! Makes the steering nice

[@alfredyost7972]

It looks like Kyosho is going to re-release this car. However, it will be expensive. Thoughts?

[@RCRetro]

The RC community has been waiting for this one for a while. Worth it if you got the $400... if you missed out on getting a turbo optima previously...then I'd suggest this... While I love other RC companies that put out vintage rereleases... Kyosho is such a better quality of build for back in the day.... I've pre-ordered one.

[@alfredyost7972]

@@RCRetro I actually have the Turbo Optima too. I have not built it yet. I also have the Scorpion. That car is actually my favorite Kyosho car. I did build the Scorpion. I do plan on building the Turbo Optima too. I have just have not had the time, because of work. Thoughts?

[@RCRetro]

@@alfredyost7972 There is always room for more RC's lol... I think your scorpion and turbo optima would like more company...

[@alfredyost7972]

@@RCRetro I think you are right, if I can get an optima Mid car. They might be hard to get. I customized my Scorpion car. I got rid of the bottom loading shocks. I got new Kyosho shocks, much better. I also got LEDs and all the special hard aluminum chassis parts. Thoughts?

[@MrBonger88]

How did it compare to the turbo optima on dirt? I’ve always liked rear motor for dirt and mid motor for everything else but I think the Mid was just so much better that it may be an exception

[@tallguygaming409]

It was hard to tell since i was driving his car i dont push it too crazy i dont want to crash it on him and watch him cry haha. It did drive great but its not really dialed in to the track more of a just plop down and drive it where my turbo optima is tuned for my track.

[@RCRetro]

Exactly what Harry said. We took turns driving it... and yes, I basically just ripped out the old set up and threw in a basic one just to get it up and running to have fun with it and get some footage which we took turns filming as well. For the most part it handled pretty well for a RC that was sitting around unused for 20+ years. But like Harry said it’s not dialed in and needs some work and has a lot of potential. The turbo optima that Harry runs is a beast though. Either way, I hope that Kyosho rereleases this one.

[@toddbertram6556]

I know those stickers still bug you, ha. The optima was such a great rig

[@miltron4989]

My second rc car after the Futaba FX 10, will eventually track down both just because.

[@hearse-tf8cp]

I don't know why autosol isn't sold there because it is sold here in Canada

[@phongdai4752]

Tôi rất thích môn chơi này chúc bạn nhiều niềm vui trong cuộc sống

[@jw33]

I hope Kyosho uses something just like the original tire/wheels on the re-re.

[@RCRetro]

Me too. I'd like for it to be as close to the original as possible. Thanks for the comment.

[@brianargo1659]

Next time use a sharpy marker stick the body on and mark it on the outside of the perfective plastic the cut it out👍

[@vivogamerz26]

When do you will do the giveaway winner

[@tallguygaming409]

For sardines???

[@RCRetro]

Go to my channel homepage, and look for e156 (episode 156) race night 5 and there is the big giveaway

[@tallguygaming409]

Guy doesn't even hang up his award for Halloween race wtf

[@RCRetro]

Its up on the shelf behind me.. Maybe I'm waiting to win more and then will create a super montage of awards lol...

[@tallguygaming409]

Whats in front of dyna truck

[@Ultegra10SPD]

I find putting ones up on the shelf just to look at is a waste. If it is not a super rare untouched example or one is super sentimental to you because you had it when/since you were a kid they just sit there and collect dust. Then you realize it’s not right. Been thru it. Obtain a few of the cars i could only dream of as a kid but couldn’t afford later in life but they just sat there. Sat there and still I didn’t have any connection to them I just owned them. One by one I just let them go hopefully cherished more than I could do. Now I kept my blackfoot as that was because it was one i raced as a kid and it was the first. YMMV. -U10 PS - just can’t help feeling that folks who collect these things to try and make money...I don’t know it feels wrong. Perhaps it goes the way of baseball cards. This from a guy who knows were an unopened, still in the cellophane, original Avante is.

[@RCRetro]

I totally understand your perspective. At times I have felt that way. I have actually sold a few of mine recently. I'm sure over time I will sell a few more. When I originally started this channel, my intent was purely to restore. Even when I purchased a rerelease RC, I ran it once or twice on a baseball field and was like, "now what? This is boring just going around in circles lol." Luckily I became friends with someone nearby who has a track in his yard. Well, that has created the opportunity to run more of my cars. Plus another guy who runs with us has a built a track in his yard. So now thats 2 tracks. Its definitely more fun to run them. As for collecting to make money...thats not me. I'm not in this to make money off these. As a matter of fact the last few cars I sold, I either broke even or lost money. Its a hobby, keeps me entertained and occupied and lets me destress. As for the video's, well I just like to share. Again, I don't do this for a living, yes my video's are monetized but I make peanuts. Haven't even made enough money to purchase a NIB kit yet. Again, I see what you mean and don't disagree. Perhaps the optima will eventually make its way back onto the track....one day. Thanks for the comment and support. Be well.

[@KristofferEk]

if it's gonna be a "shelf queen" as you called it there isn't really any point in having the electronics in it. is there?

[@RCRetro]

Well some people who like to restore them and make them "Shelf Queens" like to have the period correct electronics in there as well. Most of my queens are just rolling chassis but for this one, I wanted the orignal MSC and Kyosho Mega motor in there.

[@GyuHobbyRC]

I enjoyed a great video let's be friends. 우리 친구 해요!~~ 🤩🤩

[@ProperSkill]

Can that car do big jumps?

[@RCRetro]

This is an original optima mid so probably not cause of it being over 30 year old and fragile. But the good news is Kyosho rereleased it and it is available and can hand jumps on an RC track. If you plan on launching this like a traxxas or an ARRMA then yes it will break very easily.

[@bradkalman2353]

Please get the kyosho progress 4wds and restore it is more rear the optimum mid.

[@richardroush6938]

Dudes a 🛠️

[@bradkalman2353]

Get a hot brushless. Lol

[@RCRetro]

Stop it... LOL....you know I’m not putting brushless in any vintage. You should know better by now my friend.