The Tyco Typhoon II or Typhoon 2 is a radio control hovercraft manufactured by Taiyo Japan, and distributed by Tyco in the USA and other countries in 1991. The successor to the 1990 Tyco Typhoon which saw major success in the USA and worldwide, Tyco launched the Typhoon II just one year later. In Japan it was sold as the Taiyo Super Typhoon.
Features and Performance
With a 25% larger overall size and an increased top speed, the Typhoon II / Typhoon 2 improved upon the original in several ways functionally, while also refreshing the overall looks and style, incorporating brighter 90s style fluorescent colors and more sweaping futuristic lines with a larger skirt, larger fans, and more muscular, aggressive look.
The differences between the original 1990 Tyco Typhoon's air curtain and the successor 1991 Tyco Typhoon II are shown below, and it's quite a significant redesign!
The old version (red skirt) appears to create the 'floating on a curtain of air' effect by pushing air out directly around the parts of the curtain that would touch the ground. The new version (black skirt) appears to rest the air curtain directly on the ground, and instead rely on a more powerful high pressure blast of air from the center hard plastic area to elevate the craft and force its way out under the curtain, creating that air gap between the ground and the craft.
It's very interesting how the original has such large vents in the center, as well as the holes all around the curtain, while the newer version appears to have much smaller vents overall, even in the center where there are several smaller gaps, and no large exit holes like the original. I'd suggest the successor was aiming to create higher air pressure, as opposed to higher air volume of the original. .
At the same time, Tyco launched the Mini Typhoon II, which is my personal favorite, as it's both smaller and more convenient to store and move around, with the same 9.6V Turbo Power though less sophisticated controls may make it harder to pilot in some situations.
TV Commercial
Most TV commercials for Tyco RC products were filmed in Japan for the original Taiyo advertising, and later adapted for western audiences with updated titles.
I have restored the original TV commercial from 1992 in the USA using the latest Artificial Intelligence technology to clean up the VHS recorded picture, restore some detail, and upscale it to HD, or as close as possible given the source footage.
Availability and Collectability
With a more muscular and aggressive look, the Typhoon II was a welcome update, and is still available on eBay (often in box) for reasonable prices. Personally I'd recommend either a Typhoon II or even a 1991 Tyco Mini Typhoon II over the earlier models if you are looking for the best performance. Many (including myself) will feel most nostalgic for the original Taiyo Typhoon / Tyco Typhoon and so that's the first version I purchased myself.
There is no doubt that the Typhoon series is collectable, the only question is what version do you most connect with the most. And as all Taiyo and Tyco vintage collectors items, eventually interest starts to grow and prices begin to get out of control, so you may want to grab one sooner rather than later, before things get out of hand.
