Everybody knows Traxxas, the king of Hobby Grade RC Cars, but few would associate them with... Nikko? That's right, Nikko RC, historical home of the Frame Buggy, Dictator, Land Shark, and many more modern radio control toys found in your local department store today.
So how could Traxxas, known for tough-as-nails prebuilt hobby-grade cars be associated in any way with a toy company? Well first we'll need to learn a little bit about Nikko RC and Traxxas before they were king.
During the Golden Age of Toy R/C in the late 80s and early 90s, Nikko was a popular alternative to Tyco (USA, UK, Global), and Taiyo (Asia, Japan, Global). As an unrepentant Taiyo & Tyco fanatic, I knew almost nothing about that other Japanese Toy RC company until I began researching recently. And what I found was more than I expected – much more. And so it’s time to recognize the significant role Nikko played in the radio-controlled toy scene, and what they did together with Taiyo and Tyco in the 80s and 90s to bring the price down on high quality radio control cars for the masses, and help establish Traxxas as the largest hobby-grade RC car company on earth today.
Origins
Nikko was founded in Japan by Takeshi Hattori in 1958 with the goal of producing plastic molds, and it wasn't until 1965 when they focused their R&D efforts on Radio Control Cars. Yet in just over 10 years in 1978 they'd become the world leader, dominating global market share in radio control toys. It was at this point they began to expand their footprint internationally, building a local presence in Singapore, USA, Hong Kong, Malaysia, China, and many other countries.
And while Taiyo themselves would claim to be 'Taiyo #1' in worldwide radio control toys in the late 80s (and I'd have no reason to doubt that), Nikko would go on to outlast them, continuing to be an influential global toy company even today.
Together with Taiyo and Tyco, Nikko was instrumental in optimizing the manufacturing techniques and designs required to produce low-cost radio-controlled vehicles so that boys and girls around the world could play and experience driving around and jumping off ramps without their mom and pop going broke buying a Tamiya.
And while they began as a Japanese company, it was in 1989 that they relocated their Head Office and Engineering / R&D centers to Hong Kong.
Without Nikko there is no Traxxas?
One of the most surprising bits of information I learned while researching was a long held belief in the R/C community that Nikko played a formative role in today's hobby-grade RC market leader - Traxxas.
That's right, in 1987 Traxxas released their first Ready-to-Run RC car, a business model that would eventually see Traxxas lead a revolution in making pre-built ready-to-run the norm for all hobby-grade RC the world over.
Of course, back in the 80s, if Traxxas USA wanted to manufacture a ready-to-run R/C car, the only manufacturing plant they could turn to would have been either Nikko, Taiyo, or another smaller Japanese player. And so that's just what they did, turning to Nikko to manufacture their first RTR - the Traxxas 'The Cat'.
That's right folks, a "toy-grade" company created the first "hobby-grade" RC! That's as good an argument as any that these words have no meaning.
Did Nikko build the Traxxas The Cat? Or did Traxxas just copy it?
There's not yet consensus on whether Traxxas had Nikko directly manufacture the car. It's possible they only designed the car, or perhaps (less likely) simply copied it to an extreme level of detail - it's been shown that most of the parts in the Traxxas 'The Cat' are interchangeable with other Nikko components, with the remainder being the upgraded ESC and electronics.
If you compare the two face-to-face, the resemblance is undeniable.
Nikko Heads Overseas
By the 1970s, Nikko expanded operations overseas, building opening manufacturing plants overseas, and marking their presence known in the US, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Yet despite their hard work, they always seemed to be chasing Tyco's tail lights, mostly due to Tyco's flashy advertising campaigns that captured the imaginations of kids everywhere, myself included. Despite that, those who owned Nikko RC cars swore by them, and today you'll find Nikko enthusiasts outnumber Taiyo Tyco enthusiasts by several times, especially in Europe.
Nikko had an expansive number of models, at least as many as Taiyo / Tyco, with their repertoire ranging from high speed cars, boats, off-road vehicles, and various toys and special action vehicles. Collaborating with big name brands like Dodge and Ford would add to their credibility, and many of their models had features simply not present in any Taiyo or Tyco, such as the dual front and rear suspension and motor guard in the Nikko Land Shark, something its direct competitor in the Tyco Fast Traxx could really have benefitted from. That said, a Nikko Ford, no matter how tough, could ever match a Tyco 9.6V Twin Turbo Lamborghini Countach... in my opinion!
Whereas Taiyo would try to imitate hobby-grade designs and actual road cars, Nikko would go for brighter colors, and more toy-like appearance, something that looked like a toy, but in a fun, pick-me-up and play kind of way.
Whereas Taiyo would try to imitate hobby-grade designs and actual road cars, Nikko would go for brighter colors, and more toy-like appearance, something that looked like a toy, but in a fun, pick-me-up and play kind of way.
Popular Nikko RC Cars 90s and 80s
An early Nikko design that stood out was the Turbo Panther - chief competitor to the Tyco Turbo Hopper. As a kid, you were either a Tyco Turbo Hopper person, or a Turbo Panter person, never both! And Nikko America had many similar successes, such as the Nikko Dictator, and Bison F-10, one of many versions of frame buggy that was sold by Nikko America, and under various other brands including RadioShack.
Nikko Turbo Panthers available now...
Good things never last
But this healthy rivalry between the twin Japanese companies of Taiyo and Nikko was never meant to last - in 2008 Taiyo was purchased by SEGA Toys to become their radio control toy division. Sadly just a few years later, SEGA would face financial troubles and whatever was left of Taiyo would be sold off, sacrificing Taiyo to the scrap heap of history in order to keep the main SEGA company afloat. Such a waste.
Ten years earlier, Tyco RC in the USA had been purchased by Mattel and became another department within the company, churning out new toy designs. Sadly this division would also face the axe and exists now only as a brand, a logo, a memory.
Yet Nikko survived, and in the year 2014 was acquired by Toy State. This would breathe new life into the Nikko RC brand, leading to the creation of new proprietary designs including Nikko Air Drones. However industry is fickle, and with the downfall of Toy State in 2018, Nikko would once again have its independence - Nikko Toys Ltd. was founded. This entity took charge of the Nikko brand and started producing a full manufacturing line of toys, both for its own brand, and on behalf of other companies.
Most recently, Nikko has acquired the Meccano company's licenses for Erector Sets in America. Of course, Nikko did it the right way, rather than the cowboy way of Tyco back in 1986 when they straight up copied the Lego design, named it "Tyco Super Blocks", and took out ads on television and major newspapers flat out saying "Why buy Lego, when ours is identical but costs less!". Talk about balls of steel!
What is Nikko RC doing today?
Nikko has carved its own niche into the modern radio-controlled toy world, producing some surprisingly fun looking, though decidedly toy-looking RC cars and other interesting products. They even have a Fast Traxx inspired (or should I say Land Shark inspired?) tracked vehicle called the VelociTrax that I'd be happy throwing some money at, and it seems I missed the 60th Anniversary Edition 2018 Nikko Turbo Panther 6X, but wow... that's cool - a modern interpretation of a classic. Respect.
Nikko as a company, as a brand with a real heritage, with real toy history, that competed directly with Taiyo and Tyco at their best has somehow managed to last this long, make some great products on the way, and are still in the game today... gotta give them credit for that. Now, off to hunt down a Turbo Panther 6X....
Other 80s, 90s, 00s Vintage Nikko RC available now...
