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Tyco Turbo Hopper Poster Small Watermarked

Exclusive Tyco RC Posters and Art inspired by Ken Smith

Ozzy MuppetNovember 9, 20220 comments

Exclusive Tyco RC / Taiyo RC Posters

As we all know, the artworks on the packaging of Taiyo RC and Tyco RC cars from the late 80s – early 90s was some of the most inspiring and engaging artistry that’s ever been committed to paper. Insofar as I can tell, the best ones that we all remember all appear to have been illustrated by Ken Smith. It’s his artistry that originally grabbed our attention, together with the exciting and well choreographed television advertisements.

Over the last few months I’ve been inspired to create new artworks based on these, to hang in my personal RC collection area.

At some point I may offer some copies of these to fellow collectors, if there’s enough demand, and only after I try to find whether Ken Smith is still around and may grant his permission since I’ve used elements of his illustrations. Honestly this guy deserves more credit for his role in 1980s / 1990s R/C toy history, and I plan on researching him further, and creating a page just with his excellent artistry.

Tyco Turbo Hopper / Jet Hopper

Taking the vehicle elements from the original box artwork, I enhanced them using AI SuperResolution technology and then added details manually by hand.  I then created entirely new environments for the cars tro race in – a dusty / dirty desert rally, and a somewhat clearer desert rally with a beautiful blue sky and rolling hills in the background.

While it’s harder to see in these small photos, the originals really jump out at you and come to life in quite large A2 size (24″ by 18″)

These are printed on Canvas (Matte), while another I made for a friend is with Glossy Poster paper which looks even better.

A new poster of the Tyco Turbo Hopper I created using some of the original source images, and alot of new work to create the surroundings and touch-up and enhance Ken Smith's amazing original drawing.
The canvas version of the print holds itself well, and I’d recommend choosing canvas over glossy poster paper in any situation where the print is an ‘artwork’ – digital paintings, illustrations, etc. because it adds to the credibility of the print; it just looks and feels more impressive.

Tyco Turbo Hopper Jet Hopper Poster Small Watermarked
Photos of the first two posters I created, of the Tyco Turbo Hopper / Metro Jet Hopper on canvas.

‘All Tycos’ – A selection of my favorite Tyco RC classics

The original idea was to have all the ‘specification’ diagrams from the Tyco RC car packaging on a single poster, and I was mostly able to achieve that however for a few cars I did need to use alternative artwork. This was  by far the most work, as simply getting good quality copies of the box specifications was extremely difficult.


All Tyco RC Poster Small Watermarked
The second poster I created, ‘All Tycos’, a selection of my favorite Tyco R/C cars.

Bandit and Eliminator

Wanting to create a Bandit poster with the same energy as my Turbo Hopper one, I was a little disappointed to find that the vehicle depicted on the Tyco Bandit’s packaging just isn’t to the same quality as many others (in my humble opinion), and I suspect it either wasn’t created by Ken Smith, or maybe was an early draft they ended up using.

Thankfully however, the Bandit has a close cousin in the Eliminator, and it has that characteristic Ken Smith attention to detail, the energy and excitement that just screams through the image “PLAY WITH ME!!”

So I settled on a combination, focusing on the excellent Ken Smith vehicle, and showing the Bandit in the background jumping the canyon.


Tyco Eliminator Bandit Poster Small Watermarked
The latest poster I created, of the Tyco Eliminator and Tyco Bandit.
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