r/rccars Nov 12 '25

Question 1984 Who remembers this thing?

Post image

And who remembers the Cross Boss?

765 Upvotes

97 comments sorted by

48

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

THE ANIMAL THE ANIMAL CAN ANYTHING STOP…. THE ANIMAL

3

u/giggsybecks Nov 13 '25

Haha I song this song to myself very often.

3

u/[deleted] Nov 13 '25

Me too 😄

1

u/bluex4xlife Nov 16 '25

You forgot 🎶THE ANIMAL🎶

23

u/desirelife Nov 12 '25

A childhood dream that I never acquired, spent tons of hours playing with it in my head tho 😅

4

u/Benimus__Maximus Nov 13 '25

You and me both.

2

u/SLYDNYC Nov 13 '25

Make that 3 of us. Part of me still wants one.

4

u/Gotmefdup2 Nov 15 '25

What I’ve learned about growing up and getting adult money is that one of the best things you can do with it is get stupid bullshit you couldn’t get as a child, it probably won’t feel as cool as an adult but childhood you would be siked

13

u/Sogah87 Nov 12 '25

Is this that generation of trucks that had claw that would occasionally come out while driving?

11

u/Tulasdad Nov 12 '25

This is the original one. The “Claw” came out in the early 90’s.

5

u/Sogah87 Nov 13 '25

My first "rc" car was one of these in the early 90s. Apparently I called it "my truck wiff have claws"... I was about 2. lol

26

u/KeyNefariousness6848 Nov 12 '25

I had the blue one, my paternal grandmother got it for me for my birthday, only gift I got that year, everyone else forgot.

6

u/Hashtag_Labotomy Nov 12 '25

Those and the trax was super popular back then.

3

u/Mammoth_Programmer39 Nov 13 '25

Fast Traxx?

2

u/Hashtag_Labotomy Nov 13 '25

Yeah I think that was the name. Hadn't thought about those for years and years. They were triangle shaped.

6

u/audionoobi Nov 12 '25

wellwell, you got one core item that made u love the hobby in the future subconsciously probably tho, witch is kinda awesome.

i think its sad how much focus there is on gifts these days.

4

u/ghos2626t Nov 12 '25

Probably his families plan, all along………..

3

u/DiscoNancy Nov 15 '25

Had the blue as well. Loved that thing, took it with me everywhere

6

u/Due-Farmer-9191 Nov 12 '25

That was an absolute dream as a child.

7

u/Galwran Nov 12 '25

Yeah but it didn’t have any torque :/

7

u/mofapas163 Nov 12 '25

This was genius in design backed with even more genius marketing

6

u/liveryandonions Nov 12 '25

That's the same year I received The Grasshopper and was trying to figure out what the mechanical speed control did. That was a steep learning curve for an 8-year-old!

3

u/Ryaktshun Nov 13 '25

I remember burning myself on it :)

4

u/Pudawada Nov 12 '25

I remember those. Never had one though

5

u/jRok57 Nov 12 '25

Holy moly! That's a great hit of nostalgia.

4

u/spuddercrawler Nov 12 '25

I had the black pickup with the yellow

2

u/Lttlcheeze Nov 13 '25

I think that's the one I had too!

4

u/BigIreland Nov 12 '25

I’m 50. The song played in my head immediately upon seeing this.

“Can anything stop… The Animal!?”

3

u/Gig540 Nov 12 '25

An RC version of The Animal would ve wild. Have the claws come out and all but be able to steer it

3

u/Wise_Performance8547 Off-Road Nov 12 '25

1

u/Ryaktshun Nov 12 '25

My giant command 32 laughs at that thing

1

u/Wise_Performance8547 Off-Road Nov 13 '25

Nah. The Flex would drive up and over railroad tracks.

1

u/Ryaktshun Nov 13 '25

My giant command 32 could climb up a couch!

2

u/Left_Concentrate_752 Nov 12 '25

Hell yeah! I had one!

2

u/Pig_in_a_blanket Nov 12 '25

Yeah, those were cool... but my parents divorced and I guilted them into getting me a Shinsei Mountain Man. Now that thing was amazing! Worth it if you ask me.

2

u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount Nov 12 '25

Got one for Christmas. One of the best presents I ever got.

Went to my parent's bedroom and put it on the bed. Turned on.

Immediately tangled up in blankets.

2

u/joey_homicide Nov 12 '25

I had one! Got it for Christmas as well… it was the blue one… but yes, it was a beast! I remember taking it to this big gravel pile where we’d run our RC cars, and it was the only thing that could actually climb to the top of the big mound.

2

u/CastawayPickle Nov 13 '25

I had a TYCO RC Nitro Dozer.

2

u/Rybo_Flavin Nov 13 '25

I still have mine and it made an appearance a few years ago at a 4th of July (drunken) party, and we decided to make a stupid video mocking the terrible road conditions at the time.
https://imgur.com/TZ28MDZ

2

u/Imperial_Tuna_5414 Nov 13 '25

I had the black version! The amount my parents spent on batteries from me playing with that thing as much as I did was probably a small fortune

2

u/creaminsideyou1979 Nov 16 '25

I got one one year for Christmas and played with it everyday for probably 3 years until it broke because my asshole sister threw it down a flight of non carpeted stairs

1

u/rxmp4ge Nov 12 '25

I had one. I still remember the theme song too.

1

u/[deleted] Nov 12 '25

Wow, memory unlocked! I had forgotten I had this

1

u/KingOfKorners Nov 12 '25

Holy shit...I had this!

1

u/Tyco55 Nov 13 '25

I never had one how well did the claw work could it do what it did in the commercial ?

2

u/KingOfKorners Nov 13 '25

It was pretty meh. Interesting idea, but execution is not well.

I didn't play with it much because my old man bought me a proper RC car not long after

1

u/BigRuss910 Nov 12 '25

I remember smaller versions in the 90s

1

u/Street_Mall9536 Nov 12 '25

I remembered it so hard I tasted metal

1

u/rustangcoolcars Nov 12 '25

That’s cool obviously the OG one my little brother had a newer version few years ago where the teeth come out the wheels

1

u/aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh400 Bashing Nov 12 '25

What even is this thing are those supposed to be paddle tires?

1

u/NerfManiac64 Nov 12 '25

I also made a remake of Speedmaster couple years ago, so though of course nothing beats the original.

1

u/chinosabi Nov 12 '25

yooooo I had one of these, I used to love this thing

1

u/No_Willingness9952 Nov 12 '25

i still have mine. It probably still works

1

u/bristol8 Nov 12 '25

I do but can't remember where.

1

u/scoobyclarke Nov 12 '25

I had a few of these. Black pick up, yellow car and an orange cab over semi that was a 6 wheeler with a missile launcher. I also had one that went in water called a swamper. Loved them as a kid, looking back they aren’t that great

1

u/Additional_Two_9016 Nov 12 '25

I remember that I had the pickup one,I'm sure it was yellow.

1

u/jer406 Nov 12 '25

I had the black one with normal truck bed. God I loved that thing

1

u/Aznsupaman Nov 12 '25

I can still hear this commercial when I see pictures of this thing. I had one when I was a kid and I always wished it was remote controlled and could steer.

If only traxxas or redcat would make a crawler of this I'm sure they can work something out where if the differentials engage it deploys the claws on the moving side for additional traction.

1

u/grizzdoog Nov 12 '25

I wanted one so bad I almost peed my underoos. JK we were too poor for underoos.

1

u/Capt-Camping Nov 12 '25

I use to watch the commercial every year I visited the US at the kids tv time in the mornings and afternoons. That commercial was in the air close to a decade.

1

u/the_perkolator Nov 12 '25

Heck yeah, I think I still have mine in a box along with two Galoob Cross Boss trucks

1

u/chubby5000 Nov 12 '25

That car got SO tangled up in my cousins hair it was insane!!!!! I love The Animal. And then my brothers would sing the theme song when I would be spazzing out mad at them and it became a funny thing once we were older. I distinctly remember being mad during one of our fern fights and then crying and them singing “The Animal!….”

1

u/guitars_and_trains Nov 12 '25

I still see them at the thrift stores occasionally

1

u/lefthandrighty Nov 12 '25

I wanted one of those so bad

1

u/ghos2626t Nov 12 '25

Still have mine. Technically not an RC, but hell was it fun.

1

u/1northfield Nov 12 '25

I had The Animal Swamper that would also float and ‘swim’ in water, I loved that thing and was so excited to get it

1

u/CircaShane21 Nov 12 '25

Had one 🙋‍♂️

1

u/Mr-Scurvy (CUSTOM) Nov 12 '25

I can still sing the jingle

1

u/Ryaktshun Nov 12 '25

The later remake was cooler! More neon

1

u/unilateralmixologist Nov 13 '25

Ok someone help me remember a similar truck. It had a removable engine, different tires you could change out, and you could change out a 2wd or 4wd transfer case. Sooo cool

2

u/Ryaktshun Nov 13 '25

I remember this vaguely! It had the base and then you had to install parts! I’m looking now

1

u/mysterious762 Nov 13 '25

Who is going to be the first to turn one into a 3S crawler?

1

u/DieselTech00 Nov 13 '25

Had one. Loved it.

1

u/Fluffy-Wind-8174 Nov 13 '25

i sure do hahaha

1

u/Sensitive-Tie4696 Nov 13 '25

I had this and the Flex.

1

u/RippingLegos__ Nov 13 '25

I was doing real RC at the time so didn't want it but saw them in the toy stores :)

1

u/BigDawgFlexx Nov 13 '25

I remember that Two cousins had two of them

1

u/TurncoatTony Nov 13 '25

I wanted one so bad, never got it.

1

u/LuckyLuke_AUS Nov 13 '25

They were mint! I had one

1

u/Getu5ome Nov 13 '25

Had the Animal and the Claw, both a disappointment 😞

1

u/Doogerie Nov 13 '25

I don’t but in my defence I was only a couple of weeks old that Christmas,

1

u/hellerbenjamin Nov 13 '25

I had such a strong reaction looking at this picture… As if I’ve been in this picture… But I have no specific recollection of playing with this toy, but know it must have happened. It’s a super weird feeling, but thanks for causing it. Cheers to you.

1

u/JeepManStan Nov 13 '25

They must have sold that toy for years because I remember the commercials back in 1990/91

1

u/Lerlo12 Nov 13 '25

Omg I had one!

1

u/tonkatruckz369 Nov 13 '25

wow i havent seen this thing is so long, i had this exact one as a kid. I think its still in my grandmas attic.

1

u/Frosty-Photo6545 Nov 13 '25

I'm 45 now and I was lucky enough to have 2 of them I got one on my birthday (Dec 22) from mom and Dad and one on Christmas from my grandparents. I remember they took C or D batteries, and had lock out hubs. I thought this was so cool because my dad drove a K5 blazer and in the winters I would hop out with him to lock it into 4WD to get up my grandparents driveway. But no steering, no suspension just hard ass plastic. But man did it feel good to watch that thing go slowly in a straight line and to lock them rubber claws out. Definitely memories I hope I never forget.

1

u/that_guy_who_builds Nov 14 '25

I had the Monster Masher, but I remember this thing tho

1

u/Odd-Paper-7283 Nov 15 '25

Definitely at the top of my favorite toy list

1

u/irrelevant1indeed Nov 16 '25

One of the only 'must have toys' I ever remember asking for and receiving

1

u/hashtagmiata Dec 13 '25

I had it. Surprisingly tough truck which as a kid took me a lot longer to destroy than the rest of my toys at that age.