The Tyco Outrider is a 1/18th scale radio controlled car manufactured by Taiyo (Japan), and released as a German only product in 1995 as far as I can tell, though should anyone have evidence of other countries being involved I’d love to hear from you.
Essentially a rebadge and slight redesign of the 1995 Tyco Wild Thing II (itself using the name of the original and far better 1992 Wild Thing), however looking so much better it’s quite remarkable, and makes you wonder why they all weren’t sold in this configuration.
Features and Performance
As a 1/18th scale RC car primarily aimed at children, the 4xAA battery pack of plenty sufficient, coupled with a Mabuchi RC260, however its the improved wheels and tires that make this variant special. With a much larger rim size, more dynamic pattern, and wider, fatter tires, both the performance and the looks on this German variant would have been miles in front of the version given to the rest of the world.
It also shipped with this highly unusual 4.8V battery pack and charger, designed in much the same way as the Taiyo Tyco 6.0V Jet Turbo batteries, yet with one battery less making up the 4.8V. I’ve never seen this before, and assumed it must be a non-Taiyo manufactured release by Tyco, however Taiyo RC’s badge is on the back. Have you seen any other cars with this mysterious 4.7V Ni-Cd battery pack? Leave a comment below!
Availability and Collectability
If you’re looking for an Outrider for yourself, sadly this is the only one I’ve ever seen! Based on the stickers on the car and box, it’s a German only variant – a fairly common thing for Taiyo and Tyco to do either themselves or with local distributors, with several interesting cars released there that we never saw.
As for collectors, well, given its uniqueness and the fact it actually looks pretty good, I’d be up for buying one at the right price. What about you?
