Back in my day

I remember my first remote controlled toy was a tank. I got it for Christmas and I thought it was the greatest thing in the world, but even at a young age I didn’t understand why it only moved in two directions. The tank moved forward in a straight line but always turned left while going backwards. It was a little awkward and far from the cars I saw at Toys R Us, but it was something and right then my quest for a better R/C car was born.

It didn’t help that one of my friends had a “real” R/C dune buggy. By “real” I mean it was a total kit car that had an engine, shocks, required actual gasoline and had a remote control that rivaled Doc Brown’s. This was one expensive toy and it was meant for serious action. I knew it was way out of my league and parental price range, but a boy can dream, can’t he?

Is there anything better than a R/C car? There is now...

Where the rubber meets the road

My little two-way tank had a rather short life. Its limitations made it rather uninteresting and required several pounds of C batteries, so before too long it just became a GI Joe accessory. I wanted a full R/C car real bad and my parents knew it, finally obliging me on my birthday somewhere around third grade. As far as I was concerned, my parents went all out because my first R/C car was a Ferrari Testarossa. I didn’t know at time that it was a Radio Shack toy that only cost $20 but it didn’t matter, I thought it was the best car ever made. Finally I had a car that could go in every direction, went fast and looked cool. It was metallic silver but I quickly painted it red so I could pretend to be Magnum PI.

I had a big driveway growing up so my house quickly became the neighborhood race track. We’d draw a course with chalk and practice our skidding and donuts. However, one interesting challenge to the whole thing was that my next door neighbor had the same car and it operated on near the same frequency as mine, so whenever we raced we’d end up half-controlling each others’ cars. I’d press left and my car would turn right. He accelerated and his car went in reverse. Our Saturday afternoons of racing looked more like a destruction derbies than the F1 races in our heads, but it was all fun regardless. I went through a few other remote controlled cars after that but the Ferrari was my first and will thus always be my most loved.

I'll just be outside...flying my Apache helicopter!

Flying the friendly skies

However, that was then and this is now..and right now I’m jealous of every third grader out there. All I wanted was a simple car, but today kids can have R/C toys I could only dream of…helicopters!

I admit, next to a helicopter that can fly and terrorize people from above, a Ferrari seems pretty boring. I still don’t think there’s anything wrong with some good old fashioned speed on wheels, but these helicopters are a lot of fun and come in all shapes and sizes. You have your expensive models, of course, that fly nearly like the real thing, but you also have your affordable, near-disposable helicopters that are little more than styrofoam with a propeller. I can play with these little guys all day long at home and at the office. I can only imagine what my 9-year-old self and best friend would have done had we a couple of R/C helicopters. We could have been TC and Magnum PI at the same time! Honestly though, they probably would have crashed and gotten stuck in a tree within two days, so maybe a car was better in the long run.

Driving and flying not your bag? Fine, how about a boat?

As if helicopters weren’t cool enough, you can even find affordable R/C boats at the toy store these days. Helicopters were one thing but boats were for the super elite only. Cars only needed a few yards of sidewalk. Helicopters just needed a little open air, but you need water for boats and that made them instantly more fun because it was all the rarer. As a kid I knew that R/C boats were not toys, they were for the serious hobbyist and well out of reach. Now 15 years later and you can find yourself a mini R/C boat for your bathtub for less than $10. Even larger scale boats are under $50 and most certainly worth every penny if you have access to a pond or river near your home.

Oh to be a kid today

Technology is a wonderful thing and not only makes our lives easier but makes toys a lot more enjoyable. Remote controlled toys may not be any cheaper these days (they still hang around $20 for starters) but you’re no longer limited to the road like I was. You can defy gravity with any assortment of helicopters, UFOs, and air planes, or you can rule the open seas with a speed boat or hovercraft. However, as an adult, the one remote controlled toy I want more than any other is an easy decision – a blimp.

Want more articles about R/C vehicles and cars? Check these out:

-Air Hogs: The Most Popular Remote Controlled Toy for 2009

-The Top Ten Radio and Remote Controlled Toys of 2009

-The Privileged Childhood: A Power Wheels Retrospective

I don't know what's happening here, but it sure looks cool.

The top selling remote controlled toys this year hands-down goes to Air Hogs, followed by the Dragonfly. Let’s look closer.

Air Hogs: Turing Kids into Helicopter Pilots

You have probably seen or heard of Air Hogs before, either from just glancing at them as you walk by the toy aisle, or from a commercial demonstrating their awesomeness. Helicopters aren’t generally easy things to fly since they tend to break a whole lot of rules of nature. But that never stopped pilots from learning how to fly whirly birds (shop-talk for helicopters). Eventually someone decided helicopters needed to fit in your hand and be flown by children, so here we are in the year 2009 or something and Air Hogs are selling like flu shots before school starts.

Visible lasers not included, but man, wouldn't that be sweet?

Air Hogs have all sorts of nifty models to choose from. The number one seller is the Switchblade, a definite laugh in the face of all common sense. Okay, try and wrap your head around this because I had to look up a video on how this thing works. The Switchblade has two rotors on either side that face up. You morph it to its takeoff position by twisting the thing in half so that the rotors are no longer facing the same way.

Then you start it up and the thing spins its way into the air like a UFO until you hit the button to make it morph into flight mode where it snaps itself back into its typical shape. Witchcraft? Very likely, but also very cool.

Then there are the Battling Havoc Helis. You’ll get two in a pack since the whole point is to have them fly around and shoot lasers at each other. Yes, you read that correctly: They shoot lasers. No you can’t see the lasers, but they exist all right. You’ll know you’ve hit the other helicopter since a successful hit causes the chopper to stop flying and crash. You know, just like in real life.

Of course if you prefer not to fight there are always just standard Air Hog helicopters that fly around and…sustain flight. That’s pretty much what they do as helicopters aren’t build for tricks. I mean, tricks other than the whole flying without wings thing.

Of course it has three propellers. And it's pink. You gotta accessorize.

Dragonfly Copters – A Distant Second

Truth be told, more people are buying rotors for Air Hogs than Dragonflies. That make sense to you? Anyway, the Dragonfly model is actually ranked higher than the Air Hogs in terms of likeability, though that comes at a price of more money. The Syma is the same deal. They’re helicopters, what more do you want me to say?!  Frickin’ awesome.

10. Tyco R/C Stunt Psycho Vehicle – Red:

A car possessed by some sort of demon? Apparently so.

To start with we have an RC car from Tyco (“That’s how you spell “R/C!”). Putting the name “Psycho” in the title of your toy is typically a good idea unless it’s a Barbie (though I’d love to see “Psycho Barbie” in the near future). The Stunt Psycho is pretty simple with two wing-like things on the top that allow you to pop the car onto its back tires and ride around, or flip over and drive upside down while bouncing like a low-rider car. Also, the big wheels help the car hop small obstacles without any problem.

9. Hot Wheels RC Ford F-150 Blue:

Because kids love Ford trucks.

Kids like trucks. Ford likes money. So kids and Fords are just a natural fit. The Hot Wheels RC Ford F-150 is a standard RC car that drives around and makes the cool “RC car noise” whenever the wheels spin. You can roll it over most terrains, though it works best on smooth surfaces. No tricks or anything, but it makes for a good remote controlled truck to dink around with.

8. Air Hogs Laser Micro Zero Gravity – Yellow:

Looks confusing now, but just see it when it's climbing walls.

And just like that we’ve hit all three primary colors. The Tyco was red, the Ford F-150 was blue, but now Air Hogs surfaces with a yellow model of their Laser Micro Zero Gravity Car. I don’t know what it is about Air Hogs, but the company doesn’t like to follow the rules nature set up, such as “cars can’t climb walls or follow lasers.” Well the Laser Micro yada yada does both of those things. You place it on a wall and it follows the laser as you shine it around. It’s pretty cool is what it is, and for under $40 for something that defies gravity, how can you say no?

7. Spinmaster Micro RC Terrain Titans Hot Shot Red:

Cool background not included.

So the Spinmaster Micro RC Terrain Titan is small. Very small. We’re talking smaller-than-palm-sized small here. But it’s got an awful lot of zip to it. It also costs a whopping $9.99, so you don’t have to dig too deep to snag one of these for your kids. I watched a review of the Terrain Titan as it ramped over crayons, flying discs, books, and calculators, as well as ride a miniature skateboard. It’s a nice little gift, but be careful when taking it out of the box since it has real suspension that can break pretty easily if you tug too hard.

6. MATCHBOX Rocky the Robot Truck – Deluxe Rocky:

Kind of like i Robot but less about Converse sneakers.

Trucks are cool. Robots are cool. Robot trucks are terrifying, but somehow kind of cool as well. MATCHBOX has a truck named Rocky and this truck can apparently say 80 different phrases and dance. Hold on, I couldn’t have just written that a truck dances. Mm-hm, yes, okay, yeah, the truck dances. It asks your child if it feels like dancing and then groves to its own beat. Rocky isn’t so much remote controlled as he (ooh, that’s weird, let’s call it “it”) is able to respond to various things your child does to it, such as back it up, have it dump blocks, or carry too much weight (it’ll complain when it feels overworked). The commercials show a little boy having a blast until his father joins in dancing with the truck. I assume the commercial cuts out right before Child Services are called in to the scene.

5. Air Hogs Switchblade – Red & Grey 27.195 MHz.:

Only slightly safer than a real switchblade, but definitely more fun.

The cool thing about the AirHog Switchblade models are their ability to hover up into the air from takeoff looking like a UFO and then morph into a flight mode. That’s pretty darn cool, even for toys. A morphing helicopter? I’d like to see more toys that morph with a flick of a button.

4. Air Hogs Switchblade – Black & Yellow 27.045 MHz.:

If only real helicopters were built like this...

Didn’t I just recover the Switchblade? Yeah, they’re popular alright, but the black & yellow color scheme seems to be the more popular of the two. Hey while you’re here, I always thought it was odd for companies not to have at least half a dozen different colors for their products. Do they focus group the item and determine that kids will only like a transforming helicopter thing if it consists of the color combinations of black & yellow or red & grey? Why not blue & white? And if such a color scheme exists, why don’t people like it that much? Just things to think about. Oh, back to more toys.

3. Spinmaster Micro RC Terrain Titans Hornet Black:

Kind of like the red one, but this one's black.

Hey, I already did these too! Somehow black is more popular than red, so here it is, the Spinmaster Micro RC Terrain Titan in HORNET BLACK! So there are six different colors of these Terrain Titans but only four frequencies for them to run off of (A-D). If you buy two, don’t buy two of the same color as they’ll have the same frequency and won’t work in the same area together. Strangely, there are two instances where a frequency overlaps with two different cars, but Spinmaster doesn’t tell you exactly which one overlaps with which. I’d say the safe bet is to purchase only the first four colors as shown on the back of the box as those probably go A through D before overlapping. Of course, that’s just me speculating.

2. Playskool Tonka Bounce Back Racer (Band B) 49 MHz:

I swear I saw these back in the day but they were bigger and called something different. Oh well.

Kids are not the most skilled when it comes to hand-eye coordination right off the bat. They get better over time, but there’s a period of “kinda sucking” when it comes to controlling things with any sort of precision. Playskool saw this fact and made the Tonka Bounce Back Racer, a remote controlled car that has huge tires that bounce off things and allow the car to flip over and continue driving. This means your child won’t have to run over and flip the car back over so that it can be driven again and thus, they learn no cause and effect for poor driving. Wait, was I trying to make a good point here? Oh right, it’s small and bounces around so that it doesn’t damage things. Also, it’s only $39.99 and the two sides mean it has two colors to choose from. That’s two colors for the price of one! What a deal!

1. Air Hogs Havoc Heli:

Oh, so cute you could just put it in your pocket and take it home.

These just sell way too well for their own good. They’re miniature helicopters that fit into the palm of your hand and can be controlled by a child or a mildly hip adult. They’re a simple concept but they work perfectly, and at a price of just over $40 you aren’t losing too much. However, I’d recommend preparing for the inevitable rotor replacements. More on Air Hogs coming soon.