The Tyco Jacknife Stunt Rig is a radio control toy manufactured by Taiyo (Japan), and released in the US, UK, and other countries worldwide by Tyco in 2001.
Commonly misspelled as: Tyco Jackknife, Tyco Jack Knife
Not to be confused by the Tyco Jacknife released 5 years earlier which was a transforming on-road/off-road RC toy, this Jacknife is quite a different concept.
Features and Design
Comprised of two sections, the front is a radio controlled vehicle with four wheels and tank-style steering, with a loose connection to a trailer hitched to the rear allowing for some fairly catastrophic stunts.
And based on the sheer number of sales of this 20+year old R/C toy over the last few months - and their price - I think it's fair to say there must be something special about the Jacknife!
Offering two modes of play, the Jacknife can be driven with the Stunt Rig / Trailer attached, allowing it to drift and slide everywhere . Any kid who has lined up some toys to be smashed through by their R/C car knows the attraction here already, or you can choose to drive just the truck unit by itself.
With its short wheelbase, and tank/catapillar style steering, I can see this being a fun toy without yet having a go. Checking out the full play video (below), it's clear the Jacknife can spin independently of the trailer attachment... cool!!
Performance
Powered by a 7.2V NiMh battery, the Jacknife has plenty of power for a small, modern design R/C toy, and I'd doubt the trailer would add much weight - from what I've seen half the fun is the trailer jumping around and generally being loosey goosey while you drive all crazy. While most kids probably drove this indoors, I can definitely see the attraction of driving it on some loose gravel or dirt.
Availability and Collectability
Should you get one? Well, while there's very little old-school 80s/90s Tyco in this toy and the design is nothing like the Tyco / Taiyo I remember from my generation, that doesn't mean there are'nt later generations who see this design language as the nostalgic Tyco RC they remember. And heck, whoever designed this model certainly knew how to make a toy fun. It's literally designed to crash and spin out! Sweet!
If I could find a clean boxed Jacknife Stunt Rig, I'd have a very hard time of saying no, and given how many of these are for sale and being bought online for some pretty serious money, I'd say there are plenty of kids born at the right time to enjoy this 2001 Tyco Jacknife during some of the best parts of their young lives.
So if that's you, or you're like me and you just love anything from this era, then go for it.
