Over the years, off-roaders have been accused of a wealth of sins, not the least of which is being big, overgrown kids. At least that’s what our wives and girlfriends tell us…who are we to argue? I’m sure there’s some “PC” medical term for the affliction that 15 or 20 years in therapy would do absolutely nothing to cure, but it basically goes back to taking our toy trucks apart, putting them back together, and then driving them over the top of Sandbox Mountain. The only real difference ‘tween now and then is that now, our toys carry monthly payments, and the tires are a little bigger. Or are they? Unless you’ve been living under the rock you’ve been crawling over lately, you’ve probably seen radio controlled (R/C) cars, trucks and buggies running around pits, campsites, and events all over the off-road community. You’ve probably also noticed that “Junior” wasn’t the one with the controller in his hand; You guessed it, it was the “other” kid i.e. “Pop”. It’s no big surprise really. They are machines! Manly things that have engines, wheels, tires, and a whole lot of parts to play with…..er…I mean “Carefully Adjust”….ahem….yea, Carefully Adjust!” (put that down kid, let Dad have a look-see) We, the great unwashed staff of Off-Road.com have debated long and loud whether or not we should cover the R/C world. Some argued that they were “toys” and would be of no interest to our readership. Others argued that they were “toys” and would therefore be of great interest to our readership. After all, “Toys” are what this sport is all about! With ORC’s ATV guru and one time nationally ranked R/C helicopter pilot “The_Dave”, spearheading our foray into the wilds of R/C’dom, and your hapless R/C novice author ready to provide comic relief, Off-Road.com was in good hands to be sure - at least half way… But where would we start? For that matter, how “Do” you get started? What kind of vehicle do you buy? What about all that radio equipment? This had all the makings of an extremely ugly pursuit. As it turns out, the result was anything but. Being the forward thinking kind’a guy that he is, The_Davemister took phone in hand, and contacted Tamiya, the world’s largest producer of quality R/C cars, and the Futaba Corp., builders of World Championship winning radio gear. His mission: Get stuff to play with…er….I mean “Get R/C product to test and evaluate for the broad ranging readership of Off-Road.com….Yea! That’s it! As luck would have it, Dave quickly discovered that Tamiya and Futaba were very interested having their products exposed to a wider audience. Although many off-roaders and their families enjoy R/C motorsports, these products receive little to no exposure in the print world of off-road media. R/C vehicles remain largely confined to R/C specific magazines, with little to no crossover into the publications of their bigger tired brethren. We’d like to rectify that situation now. Sure it’s not what you’re used to seeing in an off-road publication. But then, Off-Road.com isn’t your usual off-road publication! Care to take a peek under the hood of the R/C world? Think that sometimes a toy is just a “toy”? Read on good reader, read on!