OK I know that Traxxas isn’t exactly a scaler brand and “basher” monster trucks definitely aren’t scale territory but I wanted to weigh in on this release of the first officially licensed BigFoot RC car in recent memory. As a long time fan of the original big blue beast I just could not keep quiet about this. When I saw the news my jaw dropped. Like everyone else I began to gobble up all the social media posts about it and to my surprise there was a lot of discontent. Many people were complaining about it being based on the aging Stampede platform. I know the Stampede is an old chassis and it is not like Traxxas isn’t known for going with a tried and true rehash of earlier models, so why were so many put-off by this? Myself I’m just stoked to see the BigFoot moniker on an RC chassis at all, and frankly i’m tired of GraveDigger bodies on everything under the sun.
So newsflash to the haters, this truck isn’t for you, it’s for your kids. True fans of Monster Trucks will know that Bob Chandler came on the scene with his creation in the late 70s early 80s when most of us who are now parents were children or teens. We grew up knowing BigFoot as the king of monster trucks and the rest were pale comparisons. Once the monster truck scene was transformed into the “pro wrestling” of motorsports BigFoot parted ways and largely left the public eye to all but the devoted fans. So unfortunately young people today may not even know about the Ford powered grandaddy of car smashing. If a parent in todays age wanted to introduce their kid to monster trucks through toys or RC is was going to have to be a Monster Jam branded product. Unacceptable in my household.
Well not anymore. BigFoot has partnered with one of the biggest names in RC to bring you one of the first officially licensed BigFoot trucks in many years. The choice to place it on Traxxas’s most accessible platform may be a collective “ho-hum” for advanced RC enthusiasts, but its price point firmly places in the range for a kid with a paper route or who mows lawns on the weekend. At 210 bucks just about anyone can afford to grab one of these and for the parent testing to waters to see if Jr. is going to enjoy some RC Monster trucking it’s a low risk investment.
So instead of complaining about yet another Stampede variant, lets celebrate that BigFoot is back on the map in the mainstream RC scene. I can’t wait to see the kids bashing these in the local parks with the BigFoot name proudly displayed on their pride and joy monster truck. If these things sell well who knows maybe Traxxas will do something that gets us scale guys all fired up about a new BigFoot truck. (lets just hope it’s solid axle)
So for now I’m super curious to see how that Firestone body is going to look on my custom built MT!
The Traxxas BigFoot comes in 2 versions, the Firestone and the Summit Racing livery. Both versions are identical under the body and only come as RTRs as you would expect from Traxxas. Retail price is 210 dollars and these should be available everywhere in coming weeks.
For more info you can check out specs right here.
Thanks for dropping by gang, until next time
-Evol
