e247: Aristo-Craft Hitec KANGAROO 2WD Vintage Buggy Track Attack Run

[@MrMelton77]

Funky looking buggy that one. First time I've ever seen it.

[@RCRetro]

Agreed... Funny looking.. I'd say not aesthetically appealing...lol... but it was cool seeing it out there. The idea behind it with everything included (RTR) and its price point must have been appealing to many... but I can see why people passed on it back in the day because of its looks.

[@rcicons4915]

Definitely an odd ball most known for being the very first ready to run kits offered.

[@topforce5298]

The rear spoiler 🤣🤣🤣

[@grduprc]

Silly how it's mounted with the pieces of rubber but also prevented it from being destroyed with a rollover but the wing was all for looks as it 100% did not produce any down force.

[@cwthemachinist]

This was my first "hobby grade" RC. Got it for Christmas of 1987. Me and my dad went into the local hobby shop and they had one of these on display. The owner of the shop put a charged Ni-cad into it and ran it around in the parking lot so we could check it out. From that moment that's all I thought about and begged my parents everyday for it. After more excitement than I could stand, Christmas morning, this was the last gift. Hidden in the closet. I opened up that bad boy and it was like angels singing in the background lol!! It originally had two black heavy rubber bands that held the battery in place. You had to mount the wheels and tires and put on the decals. It was Hi-tec's first venture into the market with one of the very first electronic esc's out there and toggle style transmitter. I still have my very first original Ni-cad battery. The car is gone, but in trying to buy back some of my most treasured childhood memories, I've purchased a couple of kangaroos from ebay and a mountain of spare parts. Great video! Thanks for sharing this. What a great time of my youth.

[@RCRetro]

Thank you for sharing and reminiscing. I had a very similar experience to you but it was with a Kyosho Raider ARR... I think many of us in the this hobby are all trying to recapture those childhood memories and reliving our youth lol... I love hearing stories like this and thank you for the interesting facts about its original set up with the battery, confirming you had to mount your own wheels and stickers. Thanks for sharing.

[@cwthemachinist]

@@RCRetro no problem bud. Glad to share! I like watching all your vids. Thanks for making cool content! 😎

[@AddamsPlayground]

Very cool! I immediately went to eBay and non to be found. Parts are available but kits not so much! It is a very interesting design and I like it! The colored Lexan body is king unique also! Thanks for showing us this one! Thanks to Phil for getting out for a drive as well!

[@RCRetro]

You're welcome. Glad you liked it. If I see one for sale I'll hit you up.. I don't plan on purchasing one.

[@ShenRC]

That's cool! I remember this one from back in the day!

[@RCRetro]

Am I the only one who never knew these existed lol.... never saw adds for these in RC car action magazine or in the the Tower Hobbies catalogs..... But yes cool in person...

[@MrCaprinut]

I do remember those from the RCCA ads. Remember I was thinking the yellow and green looked cool together. I might like oddballs as well sometimes. Never seen one in the flesh. As Tamiya, Kyosho and Losi seems to be the brands that most had here in Norway. Growing up I only saw Nikko, Kyosho and Tamiya been used where I lived. Used to live through the RCCA magazines so my rc news came that way to me.

[@RCRetro]

I've only seen one add regarding the Kangaroo which I featured in this video. I'd love to hear what the magazines had to say about this RC. This RC was revolutionary in the fact that it was RTR with electronics and from what people telling me.. had one of the earliest Electronic Speed controllers that came with a car...

[@IowaBudgetRCBashers]

These are cool. My friend who had everything RC back in the day had one.. I haven’t seen one in probably 30 years

[@RCRetro]

Cool that your friend had one back in the day. Again, I never even knew these existed until a few weeks ago lol...

[@paulwesthoff9807]

Really was before its time. Ready to Run, ESC,Bearings,Metal CVDs,Oil filled scocks and ladder chassis really was ahead one of my first RCs and favorites in my collection.

[@jordancoleman9337]

I have one that needs a body. Mint condition with factory electronics. Those body’s are a unicorn. I wish someone who has a body would send theirs to TBG or Penguin so they can remake them. That’d be super. That’s all I need.

[@RCRetro]

So just to confirm, neither TBG or Penguin makes the bodies? If so, that's a real bummer...

[@grduprc]

You are 100% right no one makes these bodies. I spoke to tbg prior about a different body and he doesn't reproduce any that have been cut out of the original. Problem is this body only came the way it is cut. They were rtr cars and as far as I know even if you bought a replacement body it came precut as it sits on the car. I will shoot him an email and explain that maybe we all get lucky and he will take the chance to repop it. I would love to keep the original as original id even put the horrible factory stickers on it if I could get a clear body to have some fun with. Fingers crossed 🤞 🙏

[@markhinkle3234]

That is a 1st for me. Never saw one before or even advertised in the old magazines. Cool car!

[@andyrobinsonrc2480]

Love the Kangaroo and I’d love to get my hands in one. I did have the wildebeest up until very recently, one fugly truck but unique quirky and cool like the kangaroo and dolphin , cheers for sharing :)

[@RCRetro]

They are all fugly lol...but the uniqueness about them is what makes them interesting and appealing... at least that's what I think. I hope you are able to find one soon.

[@djguy314]

The kangaroo was my first "real" rc car. Drove it for about 10 minutes and fried the "electronic" speed control. Sent it to Aristo-craft, about 2 months later I got it back and the speed controller was still fried. I gave up on it and bought a grasshopper, then a hornet which I converted to a monster truck. My first RC car was a Nikko Lobo

[@muddfoot69]

Man I forgot about this one!

[@mad-beerc3818]

Super cool thing fun buggy!

[@WIDE-WOKE]

I totally remember this. Hornets, Grasshoppers, RC 10s, then this pre-assembled also-ran that was a respectable option.

[@semperatis]

Like you Ari, I'd never heard of this buggy either.

[@LockRockRCs]

I got mine in 1986 I think. You couldn't beat the price. Oil shocks, ESC, Radio, charger, and battery, and RTR. I have the Kangaroo. I'm from Pa.

[@lukasday5547]

I had a kangaroo...identical story to cwthemachinist. Just recently started looking for one, as mine was lost somewhere along the way. Great video!

[@bigskydude8068]

The 80's was a glorious time for RC cars..I remember companies were popping up left and right trying all kinds of things...my oddest purchase was a Mugen Bulldog ll....(belt-drive/AWD+ AWS)....🙃

[@grduprc]

Very nice I have the mugen bulldog also but the cage version or the first release before the 2 surprisingly the air shocks still work flawlessly after all these years

[@RCRetro]

@@grduprc Ive been hearing more about these Mugen Bulldogs lately... whether it is the first version or the II. Think this is a good one to feature on your channel for the fans.. I know I'm interesting in seeing it and learning more about it. Air Shocks...?

[@Bormac073]

Yes the old KANGAROO was a 2WD buggy that borrowed many design ideas from the Marui Samurai. If you go back through some old r/c magazines you'll find full page adverts. By far the most intriguing inclusion with this car was that it came with an ESC as standard back when almost every car was equipped with a manual servo operated speed control

[@RCRetro]

The price point for this back in the day with all the electronics included was such a great deal.

[@VINTAGEBACKYARDRC]

I remember these for sure. Totally cool and odd at the same time. Great video as usual bud.

[@jcshobbiesandrecreation5873]

I have all three of the cars. I've never been able to find the truck they made. Not bad quality once you get over the goofy assembly of the gearbox. They were sold at Toys R Us back in the day and the Kangaroo was my second ever hobby grade RC. The only real problem with them are the bodies. Some have very thin spots that literally crack and flake away away over time just from sitting. Fun fact. When these were released the included ESC had lead plates as a heat sink. Today they complain about lead in paint. Back in the day you handed your kid an RC Car with exposed lead plates that got really hot and sent them out the play :) The ESC was mounted in that open area behind the cab so they were at the highest point of the chassis. Caused major issues with rollovers. The biggest issue with breaking on these cars is actually with the steering servo mount. The plastic was very brittle and would crack with the smallest of impacts to the front wheels. I can't tall you how many I've bought and replaced over the years. For as rare as these cars are, parts are extremely easy to find. If you could find bodies, you could almost build one off eBay. As for the battery. There use to be large black rubber bands that held it in place. They rotted and broke in a matter of months so a lot of us resorted to zip ties to keep it in.

[@grduprc]

Yeah I have the original esc just don't run it in the car and the rubber bands were kinda pointless as the next bars hold the battery just fine. So far I'm glad I haven't broken a servo mount but I have broken the rear shock support before. Either way it is definitely still one of my favorites

[@RCRetro]

Wow thanks for all these facts about the Kangaroo. I think the most interesting fact is that it was sold in Toys R Us... LOL... I've watched a video on the Kangaroo that was featured on another channel (Lukes Vintage) about the body being very brittle. Luke talked about reinforcing the body to fix it and showed what he did. Its a unique RC and that's what I think makes it desirable because its certainly not aesthetically appealing lol...

[@MrBluhawk99]

Great video once again ..... Whats the buy in at Phils house to race???? LOL... I'm nearby

[@RCRetro]

Food... lunch for all...

[@grduprc]

@@RCRetro I do have to keep up with my girlish figure ya know! Mike rebentisch if you would like to come out and run reach out to ari or myself we can definitely figure something out possibly even get you into some racing action 🎬 😉

[@tacky187]

This was my first hobby grade RC ever back in the 80s. And my lord, was the ESC in the worst spot possible lol

[@ksmith1298]

Im shocked...its not as terrible as i had imagined it would be.

[@RCRetro]

LMAO... That's what we thought when running it on the track and the fact it didn't break.

[@powersmodelgarage]

That is a weird one. Never heard of it. Certainly an oddball 🤷‍♂️

[@jeremy8574]

My first hobby grade RC was the Dolphin, sadly it was stolen in 1994 but I still scourer the ebay to hopefully come across one at a reasonable price for my shelf. :)

[@trevorthomas6043]

As I remember, no hobby shops had this car. The only time I would see this car it was in many issues of car action magazine.I heard later parts where tough to get

[@trevorfurlotte]

My first radio was a challenger 250. Bought it with my big brute

[@RCRetro]

Ah the Big Brute... that's a cool one.. Would love to get my hands on a Brute or.... a Big Boss...

[@trevorfurlotte]

@@RCRetro ebay but they keep going up. Big Brute was my first hobby grade RC. I need one for the shelf to go with a few other first RCs I have.

[@allenkim9288]

very nice video

[@MichaelBlasz]

I had one of those, it was my first RC. it was great, but the A - arms in front always broke which really pissed me off as a kid.

[@RCRetro]

LOL I would imagine the arms breaking would be a bit annoying. Yes it was a good beginner RC buggy to learn on especially since it was one that you had to fix often. Thanks for sharing your memory and for supporting the channel.

[@jondoe1457]

Ive got new decals in bag for it,I sold many from 87-88 but the differentials were a nightmare and thats probably why we stopped carrying them and just pulled all the electronics out and parceled them out! They were very similar to marui kits and some parts were swappable.Dolphin was chain drive was very similar to the Marui Shogun. Your speed control is a futaba from that time a 210? the Aristo craft was easy to burn but you could buy replacement mosfets at a local electronic suplly store with a higher rating.

[@grduprc]

I do have the original esc but I dont use it to run it. Im sure ibstill have the original wing for it also but I like the look of the over sized wing on it. I personally think it fits that tall drivers cab much better.

[@RCRetro]

I'm assuming you worked in a hobby shop... or actually for Aristo-craft Hitec? Just curious... always interested to hear about peoples experiences working in hobby shops especially when they have first hand experience with a vintage car from back in the day.. running them or selling them...

[@Mr1stlevel]

Keep those videos coming bro build up a neo fighter

[@RCRetro]

neo fighter... hmm... not really interested in one of those ... sorry... I'll look into it though....

[@Mr1stlevel]

@@RCRetro i cannot wait for you to do the mother of clods video bro

[@RCRetro]

@@Mr1stlevel painting the body as we speak. figured I'd bang that out of the way first. Then build the chassis... Soon...

[@ryanlivingston8119]

Back in the day you had to zip tie the battery in. 3000mah batteries are much bigger than the 1200mah batteries in the day. And they share a lot of the same parts as the Marui Samurai.

[@Qthewingedserpent]

I cannot get over how similar the chassis looks to a Marui Samurai, interesting to know which was first?

[@grduprc]

Best part is I managed not to break it 😆

[@RCRetro]

That's all that really matters... You got a good run out of it, had fun and no maintenance or fixing afterwards...

[@grduprc]

@@RCRetro nah just some clean up so definitely makes for a good day

[@Simon-ck4pj]

i had one of these

[@DaiquiriMan]

Sweet

[@pedropintomarvao450]

Hi Ari, I’m Pedro and my rc car back in de 80’s was the aristocraft hitec Dolphin. I still have it in good condition ( all original) however It’s missing the body… I have tried to find it but without success. Do you know anyone that might have a body for this car. Thank you for you help! By the way, I really like your channel. Thanks and best regards Pedro Marvão

[@RCRetro]

Hi Pedro, other than Phils car, the Kangaroo, I know of no one else who has one of these let along who produces bodies. All I can see is to check Team Blue Groove's website or Penguin RC that's based over in the U.K. Good luck.

[@grduprc]

I wish someone did reproduce the bodies as I should have enough parts to make a second possibly even a dolphin if I remember the amount of parts I have but the problem is the bodies are nonexistent. Good luck I hope you can get your hands on one to complete your car

[@pedropintomarvao450]

@@grduprc yes I hope so. I also have a kangaroo but without body. I will keep looking. Thank you!

[@steveq1624]

I have a brand new one in the box.

[@RCRetro]

You don’t see too many of these let alone even used ones….the fact that you have a new inbox one is pretty amazing. Maybe take some pics of the box and contents and send over to the channel. I’d love to throw them up on IG and Facebook. [e-mail] Thanks

[@kennethjoseph9309]

This looks similar to the grasshopper in my opinion.😐

[@Tailgatesntoolboxes]

Never had luck with hitec radios n servos...conplete garbage