The Tyco Turbo Blaster is a 1/14 scale radio controlled car manufactured by Taiyo Japan, and released onto the US, UK, Australian, and other markets worldwide in 1992 by Tyco.
Concept
Designed to look like a Jet Fighter, with afterburners at the back, rear stabilizers, small winglets, and a jet fighter style cockpit and nose. The Turbo Blaster is undeniably cool looking, especially given its early 90s vintage.
Photo by Lee Peterson on Unsplash
Features and Performance
At its heart, the Turbo Blaster uses a Jet Hopper 2 / Heads Up Hopper chassis, with all the features that provides including:
- 1/14 scale
- Powered by a Mabuchi 370 motor
- 9.6V Turbo Battery Pack
- Top speed of 27km/h or 17mph
- Front and Rear Shock Absorbers
- Pistol Grip Controller
- Extra wide front and rear rubber tires
There were even more powerful versions of the Blaster released in Japan (have’nt yet identified a US/UK version) known as the Max Turbo Hopper. This was a dual motor behemoth at 1/12 scale and using the same chassis as the Twin Turbo Hopper. If you have any evidence of a Tyco version of this, we’d love to hear from you!
Recommendation
The Turbo Blaster does appear on eBay regularly, however finding one boxed is becoming quite rare.
Given its based on the Heads Up chassis, it’s fairly reliable, with no particular issues to look out for, although like all such models it’s common to find ones with a broken bumper which can be replaced with aftermarket parts, though ideally an original is preferable.
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