The Tyco Armadillo is a radio control toy released into the American market in 1998 by Tyco.
The worst ever?
Until now, we'd thought hat the 2004 Jaws Land Shark Car was as bad as it possibly could get for Taiyo / Tyco radio control models. We were wrong. Yes, Taiyo of Japan was involved in this abomination, a ridiculous prop from the Michael Bay movie "Armageddon" Starring Bruce Willis, Liv Tyler, Ben Affleck, etc.
Problem #1 - Poor Design
If we look at the 'real' Armadillo from the movie (photos far below), it does actually look pretty good, however it's "coolness" comes from how busy, unique, and prototype-scifi-mechanical it looks. Its all sugar and no nutrients.
The wheels are all hanging out on armatures outside of the vehicle body, there's bits and pieces attached everywhere, and the biggest problem - it has no discernible shape.
Think of Star Wars vehicles. They all have a very simple and obvious silhouette. You can easily tell an A-Wing from an X-Wing, an AT-AT (big, 4 legs) from AT-ST (small, 2 legs).
That's not possible for the Armadillo as it's shape is basically a blob.
Can you imagine trying to design a toy based on that blob that not only must look the same, but actually move and perform? On a toy budget!
Problem #2 - They cheaped out
So the designer at Taiyo (Tyco's manufacturer) had a serious challenge on this hands. He needed to make this ridiculous Hollywood monstrosity into a real-life toy that kids could play with, that didn't cost the earth, wouldn't hurt them, and wouldn't break before it left the store.
Original Concept Model
And if you look at the back of the box, the photo seems to show the original concept model, as if Taiyo was saying "Look, we made a good one, we're not responsible for this mess!". And it's a pretty decent looking model! Heavily simplified yes, with design choices that make it different from the original, but it still LOOKS like what you remember from the movie, AND looks good! Quite the feat.
"Ultra-Realistic Detail!" - except that's not what you get. The photo on the back is the concept model which is entirely different to the actual toy.
Once the concept model is made, the accountants come along, and started cutting costs to make it more profitable and manufacturable. Let's take a look at the key differences between the concept, and end product.
- Different Model
It's plainly a completely different model shown on the back of the box. It's hand made, highly detailed, not a mass manufactured toy as they're selling you. - Paintwork.
Apart from hand-making the model, the single biggest expense on the concept would have been the paintwork, as a manual task. It's the paintwork that gives this blob shape and definition, realism, just like with the Hollywood model, it's these tricks with light and color which sell it. Without those effects, it looks like a cheap kids toy - which of course, it is. - Wheel Armatures
On the concept these are black, contrasting with the rest of the grey model, and making it look more interesting and 'real'. Without that contrast, it's all just a big blob of grey plastic. The wheels themselves are also very different. - Ram Drill
This is completely different to the model photo on the box, entirely redesigned to make it easier and cheaper to construct and fit together with a few screws.
Problem #3 - The final insult!
Not only is it butt-ugly, with only 2xAA batteries providing a maximum of 3V, this thing was always going to be a cop-out. Worse, movement is limited to moving forward, and rotating clockwise. Argh!
The only positive I can draw from this one is my memory as a teenager, seeing Liv Tyler in the Armageddon movie and thinking... daaaayyyymnnnn!
I have no idea... I collect R/C cars from the 1980s...
