RCHTA 1998:
The National Model and Hobby Show
Just like last year, HPI Racing sent Kent Clausen around the National Model and Hobby Show to get some video captures of the newest and coolest cars, parts and accessories for the R/C race car world. This year's crop of new releases promised much. See below to see if they deliver!
The HPI Booth
The new 1998 HPI Racing booth was a big hit with the show's visitors and industry regulars. The huge Vipers (pictured at Le Mans in daylight and at night) drew tons of attention. We took all of our kits, but ran out of table room! Most of the attention was focused on the new kits: The RS4 Pro 2, Super Nitro kits and Ready to Run kits. We had to spread them out so that there wasn't a huge crowd in front of one table!
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| the 'day' Viper that faced the Horizon Hobbies booth | a view of the busy HPI booth | the HPI Racing Q&A Team | a shot of the flyers that we printed up for the show |
We had details on each of the new kits we are releasing a printed on a full color flyer just for the show, then we inserted the new catalog in the flyer. We went through about 1800 fliers and catalogs during the whole weekend!
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| RS4 Pro 2 prototype | RTR Nitro RS4 F-150 Flareside body | RTR Nitro RS4 chassis |
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| Super Nitro RS4 Viper and box | Super Nitro RS4 F-150 body | RS4 Rally display with Subaru video |
The RS4 Pro 2 prototype received much attention. With so many features new or changed on the new car, it was very hard not to forget a few each time the car was compared to the RS4 Pro! Many people said that they liked it very much, and several decided right there to buy the kit! The RTR Nitro RS4 was very popular with hobby shop owners and managers, many of whom see the Nitro RS4 kit as a great product already. We were mildly surprised with the amount of attention the Super Nitro RS4 kits received - even with prototype pieces on it, many people were already trying to convince their friends to get the car (and their wives to okay the purchase!). The RS4 Rally kits had their own table, and Akira's copy of the official Subaru 1997 WRC video played on the TV next to them for most of the weekend. At least one mother whispered that she would be getting a Rally kit for her son this Christmas!
Overall, we had a great show and a really fun time. We're already looking forward to next year! If you have a chance to attend next year, it's a great way to actually meet many of the people who design the cars that you drive, along with the people who make the bodies, motors, batteries, radios and all the other things you use to get going in the R/C car hobby!