i copied this thread over and will edit out the gyro specific stuff as needed. please take up the gyro discussion in it's original thread in the parts subforum
the mini-z cup followed the release closely if i recall correctly. i don't equate the online racing as the same thing as a dedicated racing series. i think it has more to do with the social environment in which non-us shops are oriented. here, it's a pitstop, not a place to hang out.
i agree that it is people like us that really got the racing going with clubs. the club scene has done far more for mini-z racing here in my opinion. the qnty of people willing to travel to sponsored events here is small, in large part due to the sheer size of the u.s.
i think it will take really pushing the online series as more of a dedicated racing venue inorder for it to overtake club racing. it's just too new right now so it's a hard argument to make one way or the other. if the tracks make it to stores and does well, the situation could be entirely different. lets wait and see how it turns out for all the hobby towns. as soon as the tracks pop up in clubs, i think were back to the same model that makes mini-z racing so successful, non shop dependant racing.
i really wish hobby shops were more like asian and european markets. people might enjoy them much more then. right now, i enjoy going to the hobby shop about as much as i do going grocery shopping.
i think 3rd party support play a huge role in a product life span. look at the overland and monster, development slowed and so did interest. mini-z's have been successful with the ever evolving support from 3rd party parts. who buys kyosho aluminum parts? maybe a few... atomic and pn pretty much rule the roost. same thing will happen with the dnano if supported properly. pn tires could be the norm depending on how well they are received. still no reviews on the atomic h plates. the trick has always been keeping interest up. lack of support can kill a line just as easily as anything else.
sure, there may not be that many things to really right now but there are already people working on motor mounts, dual motor pods, and many other interesting ideas. this is where people spend a good deal of money on these, on parts. hell, if pn made the same steering plates in various colors alone, you would see interest. who didn't get excited about the color options gpm offered back in the day
they were wildly popular until quality dropped and others started making better designed parts.