The Taiyo Tropical Surfer is a radio controlled car released in the UK, European and other global markets in 1991. A year later it would be released into the American market as the 1992 Tyco California Surf’in.
Context
The Tropical Surfer is modeled after the stereotypical ‘surfers pickup’ commonly found in beachside communities with a sizeable population of surfers, who would use the vehicles long try to carry their surfboards around in search of the ultimate wave.
Features and Performance
The laid back style of the Surfer did’nt require any 9.6V Turbo action, instead opting for a standard 4xAA power source, which according to owners is plenty enough to get it moving pretty quick. Unfortunately though you’d better be using rechargeables, as one set would give you less than 10 minutes playtime!
What really sets this pickup apart in our opinion isn’t just the style, but those fat slick tires, which should allow it to get fairly rowdy on a nice smooth surface.
Available in Red(27Mhz) as per our photos, we also suspect a 49Mhz Green version would be available, given Tyco released that color combination in the USA. If you have photos of another color, let us know!
Recommendation
If you do a Google Search for Taiyo Tropical Surfer, you will get exactly 2 results, none related to this car.
This is RARE. If you like the design and are lucky enough to come across one on sale, we’d recommend grabbing it as soon as you can.
Tip: When buying any ‘slick’ tire car, be sure to check the tires for any signs of dry rot, a common problem on slick tire products from Taiyo and Tyco due to likely a bad batch of material that had no UV protection.
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