The Metro Wild Thing Turbo Hopper was a radio controlled car manufactured by Taiyo (Japan), and released onto the Australian and New Zealand market in 1991.
History
It had now been five years since the incredible success of Metro RC's Jet Hopper, and Metro, together with Tyco in the USA and the manufacturer/designer Taiyo in Japan were doing everything possible to stimulate sales in the face of overwhelming competition from Nintendo and Sega.
While Metro's original concepting with Taiyo had led to the wildly successful Jet Hopper, Taiyo's attention was now wholly captive by Tyco who had bought a partial stake in the company and was now had powerful sway over what designs and what features got produced.
One of the first campaigns by Tyco as part of this new agreement was the 'Heads Up!' Turbo Hoppers, which connected the steering servo to the drivers head, allowing it to look left/right with the cars steering.
Add a splash of trendy 90s fluro yellow, and it was a hit!
Features and Performance
Based on the Jet Hopper 2 chassis, this was always going to be a great car.
- 9.6v Turbo Battery Pack
- Mabuchi RK370 Motor
- Solid Rear Axle
- Fat Rear and Front Tires
- Larger 1/14 scale (bigger than original Jet Hopper)
- Shock Absorbers on Front and Back
- Two Speed Gearbox
Availability and Collectability
The Wild Thing is highly popular because people remember it as the even more fun version of the Jet Hopper. It has all the upgrades of the Jet Hopper 2 chassis, it looks wild with its 90s fluro styling (even the black one has fluro lettering), and the head turning gimmick is just icing on the cake.
The only down-side to Wild Thing / Heads Up Turbo Hoppers and Jet Hoppers is that they're so popular, so you're likely to pay a small fortune for anything mint-in-box or otherwise in decent condition.
