Finally, I Get My Unicorn RC Buggy! The 1988 European Championship Winning RC Buggy Kyosho TOMS.

[@gandawijaya7882]

Just loved these optima mid series, stil have my turbo optima mid custom special with me and its still running great. ❤❤❤

[@toddbertram6556]

Pretty sweet, but I still love the original optima. Fell in love with it at age 11. I may have to pick one of the rere's. The turbo optima was also up there as one of my childhood dream cars. I should probably just get both just to be safe, ha

[@carlomac]

Love the Optima Mids, they were very drool worthy back in the day and still are now.

[@jamesinstance1286]

i have the orig mid never used had since new and you have inspired me to build it.....also working on my Traxxas nitro 4 tec orig owner too. thanks for the extra push bro..nice content cheers

[@brimzs]

I had one of these back in the day. Gutted I sold it. I also had a MRX 4WD The unicorn of the rc world.

[@vintagekyoshorccars-tcmkyo4781]

Nice, I have used one, but not a new build example. My unicorn rc car was a Hirobo Alien Mid 4, finally got one with the correct unworn tyres, but it took 10 years of looking and £500 ! The mid diff gears can break from shaft to cog, so you'll need to disassemble it to find out 😢 a big job.

[@mariusmarais8329]

The Kits I had was the Lazer ZX and then later the Lazer ZX - R. Great cars at the time....... 👏👏

[@semperatis]

Fantastic collection.....love the Kyosho's.

[@Kieren2742]

Love anything that is vintage Kyosho.

[@chrissoquet9146]

Nice retro collection, I wish they weren't so expensive I'll have to stick to new

[@merdith6]

So cool I had a turbo optima

[@KevinBoba]

You own my favorite.. Turbo Optima Mid

[@mad-beerc3818]

Nice kyosho collection building Gavin and you are going after the rare ones! Brave man... just remember to save a quid or two for the Tamiyas lol😉

[@darrengrimmer8541]

The kyosho collection is coming on great Gavin!!!. Mind you if you keep on we will all have to set up a just giving page for you to buy food🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@stephenmanley4097]

Never had a kyosho, thought about buying one. Look forward to your restorations.

[@bigcharliesmodelgarage296]

Awesome

[@drawme3]

The car is cool. I can't wait to see it rebuilt.

[@juddery]

I'm a bit late to the party here, so you've probably fixed the rear diff long ago, but if I remember correctly, the Turbo Optima Mid came with a ball diff. If not then it was an option house upgrade. Either way though, it seems to me that yours probably has ball diffs fitted. I say this because I'm pretty sure I remember that they have a tension adjustment grub screw inside one of the drive cups, which could have come loose and would then cause the issue that you showed in this video. If I'm miss-remembering, bare in mind that it's around 30 years since I foolishly sold mine and I've had a lot of RC cars since then, so I may be getting confused, lol.

[@kek23k]

I love the TOMS, definitely the best one in the range.

[@steven-vn9ui]

Lovely old cars those. My first proper RC was a mid. Can't remember which one but it was chain drive iirc.

[@RCKickschannel]

Turbo Optima?

[@SubboyGTR]

None of the Mids were chain drive, that ended with the Turbo Optima. Kyosho released a belt drive conversion kit for the Optima shortly before releasing the Optima Mid.

[@GuillaumeFleurytechhelp74]

You got a repro Pargu gold spur gear on that TOMS, which is pretty cool, pargu makes great repro parts!

[@Dabber422]

My first RC I raced was the Optima custom in 1993/94. People made fun because it was old at the time. Sold it off and put that money towards a Losi XX buggy.

[@kiaranehme5941]

Loved the mids never had one but the kids at school who owned the hobby shop had one but upgraded them with yokomo dog fighter hubs to run the yokomo wheels apparently it was the thing to do back then

[@mazmorbid5840]

I never knew about this 2nd version with the different decals, i can most likely make them up and you can get off MCI.

[@GIZZMOTORSPORTS]

Love it! I have new MID wheels and tires never run from over 20 years ago. Thinking of restoring a car for the shelf.

[@RCKickschannel]

That wasn’t me back in the day that’s for sure. Grasshopper and Falcon was my cars back then.

[@davidchapman5694]

A TOMS on your channel now that’s cool. They are proper rare mine took me over 3 years to complete and now I’m scared to run the thing . The front tyres are easier to get than the rears. People have been known to buy 2 sets of fronts to cut up to glue together to make rears . I knew after you got the Turbo optima RERE kit that’s you would get sucked in to the whole optima thing. They are so addictive and it’s really hard to stop .

[@RCKickschannel]

I’ve got my fingers crossed Kyosho will be bringing out a rere special Mid soon and we can get some new parts like tyres become available.

[@philmoffett366]

Good luck with the mid special I have one unused the actual green le man 480T you have was in it which I've replaced with the option house spa 240 motor but hens teeth and rocking horse poo spring to mind when looking for parts for the mid sp! Good luck though!

[@randomrodent9124]

That's for sure a nice collection of Mids. Regarding color for the Custom Special, I think there is a third paint version. On the box, on the lower side on right-hand, there are 2 photos of the car and it seems as the car is painted light blue and the stickers seem to be more orange (than yellow). On Ebay today there is such a car selling at USD 1800 you can see the photo clearly there, same as seen on my Custom Special box (so any inaccuracy during photographing of the box can be excluded).

[@RCKickschannel]

I will check it out 👍🏻

[@denozed6554]

Nice score. Platinum shocks are even harder to find then vintage high caps.

[@iljakiel1211]

Love em!! 🤙🤙🤙

[@keithrx3c]

Nice find Gav, looking forward to the upcoming build vids on the Kyosho's. Regarding the rear end on the Turbo Mid, check that the grub screws on the diff out drives haven't come loose, it might also be the drive hex washer, they have a taper and wear out over time.

[@RCKickschannel]

Thanks for the info. 🙏🏻 Do you know if the Mid manuals are online at all? I don’t have a single manual yet.

[@keithrx3c]

@@RCKickschannel Yep, you can download manuals from retromodelisme, www.retromodelisme.com/liste_manuel.html

[@eltomasoable]

I am more into the lazers, I am hopping up a zx5 sp now. Missed my old lazer zx5 fs I sold, stupid me. I finally found the missing front alloy kyosho shock, and some parts for cheap. The car is made from one readyset with a few upgrades, and a wreck of an sp. Got tamiya aereation shocks on it now, but have other plans for those......=)

[@RCKickschannel]

Do you think Kyosho will rere the ZX family now we have seen a Mid? I hope so down the line.

[@eltomasoable]

@@RCKickschannel Would have been cool=)

[@BJETNT]

I can think of one you're missing lol and that's the a&l trailing arm conversion!! I wonder if that lowers or increases the value of one of those cars they're hard to get to there about $300 for the conversion? Which I happen to have two of when I actually put on the car and the other still in the original packaging. The stickers for that sucker over $300. One hell of a collection there my friend. I got to admit I'm a little jealous

[@RCKickschannel]

Period correct upgrades will not devalue a vintage RC but it won't really cover the cost of the upgrade part if you purchased it separately going on current prices.

[@SubboyGTR]

I used to race the original Optima, then went to a Optima Mid, I then bought the Special conversion kit to turn the Optima Mid into a Optima Mid Special (LWB). I only ever saw one conversion kit for sale, it almost cost as much as the full kit.

[@RCKickschannel]

I’ve seen some pics of the kit but like you say, not many around

[@markhorsburgh3989]

Love it! They really are beautiful buggies, I'm going to have to hunt down a decent Lazer ZX or a ZX-R for a resto project 😍😍😍😍😍

[@RCKickschannel]

Go for it!

[@markhorsburgh3989]

@@RCKickschannel I think I'll have to Gavin 😳

[@RCACTIONAUSTRALIA]

Nice 😎

[@RRoy83]

you go that from Leon! I was actually set up to buy that one last month, he had it packed up and ready to go but the conversion rate and fees didn't work out in my favor and I had to cancel. Great car

[@RCKickschannel]

Yep that’s the one Roger. I feel your pain on the import tax and exchange plus fees can make a car you want just not viable due to its locations. I have the same issues with Kyosho brushed motors from America.

[@Aro800]

I got a se mid last year for steal. Didnt know much about it at the time just wanted start an Optima collection. I couldn't believe I won the auction as the only bidder like everyone was asleep. 😂

[@Timson254]

Gav, Would you like a well used but serviceable option-house rear ball diff for your turbo mid. Happy to throw it in the post to you!

[@RCKickschannel]

That’s most kind Tim! 🙏🏻 Thanks would be great.

[@Timson254]

RCKicks No worries - If you email me your address I’ll get it posted after the weekend. [e-mail]

[@RCKickschannel]

Got it Tim!!! Can’t thank you enough 🙏🏻🙏🏻👍🏻

[@Timson254]

😎👍🏻

[@stevehammersley363]

I looked at the Thumbnail I knew what it was. I have one , not sure if I’ve still got any spares tho.

[@xw1978]

I'd suspect the optima mids are next in line for the re-re. The entire optima series share the same/similar bulkheads/arms, many parts are from the same bin, so it would be cost-effective for Kyosho to do so.

[@RCKickschannel]

Agree

[@keithrx3c]

It's a no brainer.

[@lawrencewinter]

This comment aged well :) yay!

[@dave691974]

Love the mids but never had enough money for one .

[@merdith6]

I had a turbo optima and a lazer. You gotta get a Lazer.

[@RCKickschannel]

Yes I do!

[@robhatezit5056]

Would be great to see you have a tamiya bush devil on your channel mate

[@RCKickschannel]

Couldn’t agree more Rob 👍🏻

[@whome7004]

These car are really Great. Price for Perfection! I was on the fence there was a Tamiya I was very close to getting! It looked like nothing I'd ever seen, Well The Batmobile came to mind really it had all types of roller wheels on left and right side Front and back! Details were none! But such a odd Tamiya I was hoping u may know something to feel in the blank as to exactly what this Tamiya like no OTHER I ever seen Lunch Box was their and some other model seen in Episodes of Kicks. The places every thing I know about Tamiya was picked up! So u must have some Idea

[@RCKickschannel]

Hi, not sure what tamiya that was. Anyone?

[@wadeskelton7585]

Man I feel for you - the path you are headed down is a long and very expensive one! You’ll probably need therapy soon, or you won’t be able to sleep at night cuz you can’t stop thinking about all the parts your Optima Mids need 😂. Good luck and thanks for making the vids!!!!!

[@smellurfingerrcdejesus9176]

I feel that bro and my shirt ain't even vintage😑👏💒🤓🙏

[@alfredyost7972]

Have you heard of the Kyosho Maxxum FF car? It is front wheel drive and off road. Not a very good car but becoming hard to find.

[@RCKickschannel]

Nope that’s a new one on me.

[@Meenie66]

Yeah I dunno why they bothered doing re releases of the earliest /worst out of the Ultima/ Optima ranges... I would buy a Turbo Ultima in a heartbeat and would love a new Custom Special to go with the original hard driven ones from when they were new I refused to sell or chuck out.

[@RCKickschannel]

We will see a rere Mid for sure. I’m just not sure what one we will get first, at a guess I would go with Turbo Optima Mid.

[@Livlifetaistdeth]

Just FYI there's a Kyosho Optima Mid Special, unassembled in the box, for the bargain price of $4,806 USD on Ebay. So... yeah... that's some serious dough.

[@RCKickschannel]

Yep way over my budget so I’ll work with this.

[@NiclasHorn]

i want Kyosho to release Optima Pro 4wdr, cuz i had one as a kid, so i am crossing my fingers fro Pro and not the Mid :)

[@schuttrostig5729]

The spur gear is not original. Usuall these would drive with saddle pack configuration aka no battery trays used, since the saddle packs get much lower. So i guess you need to fabricate a couple of era correct saddle packs.

[@RCKickschannel]

That would be fun👍🏻

[@smellurfingerrcdejesus9176]

You're digging yourself in a bigger hole Gavin the only thing different is carbon fiber that's you you're a radio control enthusiast now I'm enthusiastic I feel it bro I'm feeling it didn't you do the same thing whenever you got the Frog you got this really expensive Avanti line of cars and I was hooked on watching because the only thing I had in mind was that frog the one with the pink wheels on it I'm glad that you can get really expensive cars for the show it makes it that much better keeps everybody entertained while they're waiting for the giveaway sounds like you're going to have some kind of midday crisis on your hands, maybe I'll get lucky and find my four leaf clover I believe in the Luck of the Irish anyways Gavin good pic with the carbon fiber you can never go wrong on a carbon fiber chassis especially a classic because they will never age the same as your plastic cars so good job I like gold on any car but the Kyosho gold is the best it's kinda gold standard we have today wow those tires are still rubbish I thought they would be hard as a rock i like that custom mid special hopefully hopefully #Madly kool I tell everyone about u and your channel great job I saw my friend Christopher at work today I knew him since middle school wee awesome build I like the end I'm going use ur catch fraze I'm so skinned my dum car why me memory...Optima mid custom...

[@danielterance7256]

Can Rc kicks help me get information on kyosho gallop rc buggy would really appreciate the help....thanks.

[@RCKickschannel]

Hi Daniel, what do you need to know about the Gallop? 3068 or MK2 3069

[@danielterance7256]

@@RCKickschannel I'm sure its the 3068....I have a picture of it....I means what's left of it.....I'm trying to restore it....if you could share your email....I would gladly send you the pic....maybe you could advise what parts I may need.

[@danielterance7256]

@@RCKickschannel I shared a photo of it in your Facebook hope you can help me out thanks.

[@RCKickschannel]

@@danielterance7256 [e-mail]

[@alcyon2sp]

Did this belong to denis blandin

[@flashtech6492]

you'd have to think getting parts for that is gonna be tough..

[@RCKickschannel]

Yep it’s going to be a project that’s for sure.

[@marknowland5331]

Money, money, but no clue ohh look at me

[@doyleroberts3168]

lol seen one on ebay from thialand for 4800

[@RCKickschannel]

These are bonkers £££