1:18 kyosho Miami Vice TR Review


Kavinsky

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Just thought I'd make this thread as I just received mine today from a place in vermont via ebay NIB, ironically apparently on the 30th aniversary of the design no less and this my opinion on it

 

Now I've been looking at this thing for years, on and off as it was kind of rumored that while kyosho had the ferrari licence they were working on a Vice TR, 1984 model. complete with a photo of a red 1984 model at a tokyo toy show I found and then they lost the ferrari licence in 2011/2012

 

now this changed in 2013 as they managed to reaquire the licence and started putting out ferrari products again. although I'm not sure what the state is with them and autoart regarding Lamborghini

 

as autoart is putting on new fresh product and seems to have every lamborghini on the books in their catalog. save for the Urraco, of which Kyosho put out a new version of recently in gold.

 

 

and I just wanted to buy something special 1/18 scale wise, to celebrate finally getting the bedroom back together and finshing work on it in general. and the only 1/18 I really could set my heart on was the 1/18 kyosho testarossa, even though the Autoart Montreal and Autoart 1967 Shelby gt500 were probably of a higher quality at a lower price point.

 

 

Now for the model itself, seeing it in person you start to understand why the car was repainted black in the show, as white is a very understated color and it really suits the car quite well, suprisingly so with how wide it is.

 

 

ironically on the same day Jay leno posted this video on a Diablo and he had the same sentiment about it as well

 

 

and that car was originally black as well, also it warms my heart to see him do a video on a proper lambo again.

 

and this version seems to be based on the Vice Color scheme to a tee, but not the american model of the TR, as it has round side indicator marks on either side of the model, complete with the ferrari shields on either side. and the turn signals and rims seem to be a mixmash of the 1989 and 1986 models, but it surprisingly suits it well. but I'd wager that Kyosho went and found a TR locally that was a modified euro spec model and used that to base this one off of it.

 

plus I must wonder if there was other external changes from the EU to the USA version, as I heard they also used heavier gauge metal for it here, so I wonder if that also would have something to do with the change in the look and possibly the bumpers.

 

 

Now the interior detail is good along with the general details too, as it comes complete with a knob under the nose to open and close the headlights, which was something that was missing off of the 1/18 Kyosho miura I bought a few years ago on clearance at tornonto motorsport for 80 bucks, sans shipping.

 

although that detail also seems to be a problem with the car, as its fit and finish while good are at odds with this.

 

 

as everything is fitted so tightly, especially around the headlight cluster that it doesnt leave alot of operating room for openable parts. and the paint can rub off of the sides of the headlights if you try and open the headlight doors with the trunk open, or if you try and open it without noticing the knob under the nose for it.

 

or at all really, you have to be careful with it as some are probably fitted tighter than others

 

and because of the trunk liner and the very detailed and accurate engine bay, the trunk and the hood dont seem to fit that flushly together, plus they had to have enough space to put the luggage in the trunk

 

and yes it comes with luggage for it ironically, like I said the detail for it is crazy, although two of the three seem to be fixed.

 

same thing with the interior, as it feels like they really did there best to stuff every detail into it, but it seems like the car needs to be scaled up for it to all fit nice and cleanly together, like turn it into a 1/19 or something

 

and for the price point which is a duesy it seems like they needed to put more time and effort into getting everything to fit flushly and without rubbing against everything and a little bit more time in the QC department.

 

as there was a slighly loose wheel on it, I had to tighten the screw on it and the alignment for the steering column is off and it seems like something is slightly messed up with it, like it doesnt turn quite with the wheels, but its not broken either, it is attached.

 

its just like its slightly out of alignment, where it sits to the right while its pointed straight, its probably something I can fix myself by taking the thing apart and realigning it as its leaning to the side where the loose tire was.

 

Edit: I managed to force it into the centered position, seems to be fine now and I managed to rub off what looked like a little glue residue on the dash, center of it with a little water and alcohol, ill have to check latter to see how well that worked out.

 

 

 

now onto the price point itself, I had a choice between a few on ebay

 

 

the black and red ones which went between 160 to 180 with shipping, and the white ones, 245, 265 and 235 with shipping

 

now I sent an offer to the one at 235 with shipping, and I offered him about 160 with 10 shipping, he made a counter offer at 200 with 10 for shipping, I accepted.

 

as you gotta figure his shipping costs and everything else getting that from the west coast, plus he's gotta make probably atleast 30%, and he came down 15%, fair offer.

 

and after payment from paypal cleared it got here within 2 days of it seemed, mind you he's only a state or two up from me in vermont.

 

not take 3 weeks to go 300 miles Canadian mail like what happened with the toronto motorsports place and the miura

 

 

So My rating for it would be 8/10 with the 200 dollar price point and 10 dollars shipping, although I kinda wish I had gotten him down to 190 with 10 shipping honestly

 

but nothing is perfect, and my kyosho miura had some slight fitting problem with the clamshell of the Miura as well, something I did fix myself with a little electrical tape over the mounting point for it, although that could have been caused by the shipping from canada.

 

so I would say if you can find a preowned one where you can make sure everything lines up go for that one, but hopefully this was just a minor fluke if you gotta go new like I did.

 

and you could also ask the guy selling if he can show some photos of the example thats next in the line up probably, just to make sure theres no little obivious design flaws, as these are hand made models so sometimes little unintentonal flaws pop up, and i hold no ill will towards kyosho or the seller.

 

I must admit I am tempted to send them an email as a heads up to these possible design flaws though at Kyosho.

 

 

although if you gotta have a perfect model of it, Make Up EIDOLON makes a really accurate 1/43 model of it but its about a 100 bucks more expensive, although the price point can range from 150 (with 10 to 20 dollars shipping) to 290 on ebay based on who's selling

 

 

but even with the minor fitting and slight finishing issues I dont regret getting this as it fills the hole in my collection, now I just need a yellow or blue car and I've got the whole color scheme, but I'm happy with where the collection is now.

 

1/18 Kyosho Miura Orange

1/43 Minichamps Audi Ur Quattro Black

1/18 Miastro Porsche 996 911 Black

1/18 Kyosho Ferrari Testarossa White.

1/18 Hotwheels Ferrari Daytona Spyder Red

 

and honestly though the autoart montreal and 1967 shelby are very good models for a lower price point if you really like them.

 

and are or Gunsmith Cats and The Marseille Contract/ The Destructors with Michael Caine fans, although they have yet to make the Shelby in a dark blue, and the red just seemed so much nicer to me than the light blue they went with.

 

but when you adopt the name Kavinsky, you kinda need to have a testarossa in some form or another lol and seeing as the 1/43 IXO testarossa that I ordered from england 2 or 3 years ago fell through

 

just like the bren ten it sat next to at shotshow a few years ago, so I'm just glad to finally have one.

 

now that I think of that, was that a bad omen back then, then?

 

 

 

Also I must admit I initally thought of going with a Kyosho Countach first but something seemed wrong, and the extended lip on the nose bugged me

 

which you can see here

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ebuen/2220020237

 

 

and only one version of it doesnt have that lip on it is this one

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjmacdougall/5833332133

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jjmacdougall/5833331793

 

 and that guy wants 240 plus 20 dollars shipping from Canada, and I've had models of the countach before, plus that prototype wing just doesnt suit the car.

 

and Henry Metcalf found out that the damn wing takes about 15 MPH off of the top end somehow, so while its iconic it serves no purpose but to slow the car down.

 

so the more I thought about it, the more going with a Testarossa made sense in this regard, and I dont like the coupe daytona's kyosho makes.

 

nor the F40, in that camp I'm much more a fan of the 288 and the 308.

Edited by Kavinsky
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