The Tyco Terra Climber is a uniquely designed 'climbing' radio controlled toy, released into the US, UK, and other markets worldwide in 2015 by Mattel under the Tyco brand.
To my knowledge this is the last product released carrying the 'Tyco' brand, and while it appears to be 'just another crazy toy', it's actually quite impressive and certainly worthy of carrying the Tyco brand.
Concept
Terra Climber is not a typical radio controlled car, in that it's not a car at all, and more like a creature with claws instead of wheels. All together, it looks a little like a Face Hugger from the Alien movies when it's scurrying along the ground, with its long tail out back to help it stabilize.
Features and Performance
The Tyco Terra Climber features a unique wheel mechanism that sets it apart from traditional RC cars. Instead of having the wheels directly attached to the car's chassis, each wheel is connected to a single bar (or 'suspension arm') on each side of the vehicle.
These suspension arms are centrally attached to the center of the vehicle, allowing for independent up and down movement of each wheel, providing enhanced maneuverability and enabling it to find a surface for traction where others would simply free-spin or get stuck.
The vehicle is also equipped with a long tail to maintain balance, providing stability when it's traversing uneven terrain, and limiting backward momentum.
Even more impressive, it is powered by a 9.6V battery pack, exceedingly rare for a toy store R/C vehicle these days, ensuring it's got plenty of power to push through the most demanding situations you can dream up. Kudos to the designers who were able to convince management that a cheap 4xAA or 6V was simply not enough. Nice work!
Availability and Collectability
The Terra Climber remains widely available on eBay in New and Used condition for a relatively low cost, simply as it's less than a decade old, not quite vintage RC yet.
So, if you enjoy the Terra, and think it's going to be a memorable experience for those kids brought up in the 2010's then you might do yourself a favor and pick up a mint Terra Climber in box now.
