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Hey guys.

I know there is a difference in the two when it comes to what they can do, how they handle and etc., but I had a couple questions for everyone. If you could have one of the two, what would you go with, MP OR Frog? I was going w/ The MP for some time, but now I am torn.

Another favor I have to ask so I have it all in one place is if you think The Frog is a better choice, what hop ups would you get for the basic start up and where can I find them? I figure shocks, bearings and maybe a new, simple motor would be it. I'm again lost as to where to start.

I like the Frog, but that's mainly because I had one on my youth... they were briefly considered quite a capable car, but things moved on really quickly - looking at them more objectively, they're just another ill-handling (and sometimes fragile) rear wheel drive buggy, of which Tamiya made/make plenty.

The front suspension geometry is excellent, but the vertical travel is limited, and the springing & damping poor. Team CRP still make a kit allowing the fitting of small bore coil over oil shocks for the front end, but not the shocks & I suspect finding originals would be nigh on impossible ... rcchannel.com.tw might have something suitable.

Front axles can fall out of the uprights, they either need drilling, tapping & screwing in, or replacing.

I've found the body a bit fragile, rollovers tend to rip off the rear wing.

The metal antennas increase the likelihood of radio interference & make crashes worse.

The rear dampers are very hard, but they kind of have to be to make the back end work at all.. the strain tends to break both the mountings and the rear arms. Most of the suspension effect comes from the tyres being very soft.

Driveshafts get spat out, leaving you with 0WD.

Differentials expand under load (especially with upgraded motors), bending the gearbox side plates, so they slip/grind ... drilling, tapping, screwing & threadlocking the gearbox outdrives is the usual fix.



I'm not saying you shouldn't get it, or that the Pumpkin doesn't also have significant flaws - but I don't think anyone ever regretted buying a Pumpkin/Lunchbox, it'll cope with a wider range of terrain than a Frog, & I know that if I had to only have one RC car, I could live with it being a Pumpkin - but not a Frog.

Thanks Jonny, you seem to know what you are talking about w/ the help you gave me w/ all my MP questions just recently. You've listed a lot of flaws I never knew about The Frog.

So, if a buggy, which one would you pick then? I will probably still go w/ MP in the end but I just wanted to hear what others have to say. Thanks again!

I think Jon has covered every base there so i guess ill just say i have both and if i had to choose one id prob go with the frog as its more fun to build and is the better looking kit of the two i think but i guess its a personal choice.

I agree there, it is better looking, but I have to admit, I love the Pumpkin too, fell in love w/ it the moment I saw it back in the '80s.

I wish I had money to buy both, haha. =)

Dont get me wrong i love them both either would be great the pumpkin was my first build and i still have it id never part with it they are great fun to run. Dont worry i purchased most of my Tamiya as rebuilds and rebuilt them all slowly i cant afford to just go out buying lots of kits either.

Once I get more familiar w/ the hobby again, I think rebuilds will be in the distant future, from what I have read, they sound like a great time.

Yes the rebuilding is good fun but can be an expensive way of obtaining a car most of my rebuilds cost me more than a new re release (or good vintage one) would have if you sit down and work it out on paper but thats no fun also you can spread the cost obtaining parts as you can afford them. One thing for sure is Tamiya part tree's dont come cheap

You're right, that is no fun!

That is the nice thing about a rebuild, it can take time if you want it to, I have learned that. I'm watching some videos right now of The Pumpkin in action and that thing looks like a blast to run.

They sure are fun in a bouncy uncontrollable kind of way but thats where all the fun is i suppose people have tried lots of different mods to make them handle better but i run mine standard and its a blast never fails to make you grin.