The Taiyo Road King 4x4 is a radio controlled truck manufactured by Taiyo, and released into limited markets worldwide including Japan and Italy.
The Road King was sold in multiple variants, including the original Taiyo Road King 4x4 in white box format, later black box formats (black boxed items are especially popular with collectors), the Mad Rat with unique decals, as well as international variants such as the Italian Road King as shown here.
Features
Similar to the Taiyo Sound Blaster and Taiyo Sound Spark, the Road King 4x4 has a built-in sound effects chip to provide various sounds for different modes of operation. Insert the plastic key and start it up, and you'll hear the big truck engine starting, then idling. It also comes with acceleration sounds, reverse beeping, air brakes, and klaxon.
Performance
Personally I own a Tyco Big Rig Truck 9.6V Turbo which appears to be very similar, with some key differences in the body design and lack of sound effects. Sadly I've not yet had a chance to run it, so I can only assume that with 8 x AA batteries at 9.6V (NiCD) and 12V Alkaline, the truck is no slouch.
It's for this reason that the Mad Rat and Road King are popular among collectors, as the only Tyco or Taiyo with this style chassis and a full 9.6V power.
Birth of the Tyco Rat?
In some countries, probably in Europe or South America, the Taiyo Road King 4x4 was sold and decal'd as the Mad Rat. On the side of the vehicle you can see a clear representation of the 2000s era 'Tyco Rat'. Very strange! Not only seeing it on a Taiyo Japan product, but 10 years before it would be used by Tyco in their commercials.
Collectability and Availability
The Road King 4x4 is one of those Taiyo RC which virtually all Taiyo Collectors want in their collection, as they simply don't appear very often. As for the Mad Rat, I've only ever seen this one item, and so surely unobtainable without a serious bit of luck. Added to this the fact they're proper 9.6V cars, and you have a rare, great looking, and good performing RC collectors item.
Sadly, if you'd like to add one to your collection I wouldn't hold your breath. The best places to look are Yahoo Japan (buyee.jp works well), or perhaps setting up a saved search on eBay for both the Road King and the Tyco Big Rig variant.
