I was probably around 12 years old at the time. 1986 is the date most often associated with the Turbo Hopper and I was born in 1974. I used to work with my mom in the evenings cleaning offices. I remember emptying ash trays and trash cans at the local mental health center. My rate of pay was a whopping $2.10 an hour. I saved up my hard earned money, made a trip to Roses department store, and I plopped down my crisp, ironed (yes, ironed) cash for the Tyco Turbo Hopper. I'm not sure how I set my mind on it. Maybe I had seen a commercial for it on TV.
But by hell it did not disappoint. It ran like STINK, it hauled the mail, it ran like a scalded dog, etc. etc. and every other southern colloquialism you can think of. I remember doing doughnuts upon doughnuts until the batteries ran dead. And when that got boring, we'd mop the floor and make it even more exciting.
I remember feeling like it wasn't just a kid's toy. It had a real spare tire on the roof, it had working shocks, and it felt durable. It even came with an order form for ordering spare parts, which proved invaluable in my pre-internet youth years. I ordered a new front bumper and a set of spare rear tires for mine. Note in that first pic how worn the rear tires are. Because my Turbo Hopper seemed so grown up, I even built a travel box for mine. See the pics below. The workmanship is 100% all me. Note the foam installed to prevent the car from sliding around in the box.
About a month or so ago, I did some research on the Turbo Hopper and discovered that it really was a big deal. Tyco wasn't really in the R/C market at the time and they bought the Turbo Hopper from Taiyo in Japan and badged it Tyco for their entry into the market. There's plenty of other interesting facts about the Turbo Hopper in this review below (as well as some great photos).
http://rctoymemories.com/2012/05/06/tyco-taiyo-turbo-hopper-1986/
As for mine, I decided to sell it on ebay. I've had it in the wooden box for so long that the tires had flat spotted. I've had zero interest in playing with it over the years. I'm keeping the box of course - for the heavy sentimental value. I figure that's the important part. I'll repurpose in some interesting way.
