Shinsei Mountain Man

   No vehicle reinforced my fascination and love for radio control more than the Mountain Man by Shinsei Corporation.  I first saw it in a Toys R Us store in 1984 or early 1985 while browsing (ok, ogling) the radio control vehicle aisle.  It was always the first place I went when I visited any toy store.

Toys R Us used to put their the high-end models on display way high up and above the top of the shelves and out of reach back then.  The display models were usually larger and more powerful than the models on the lower shelves and they had a price to match.  The Mountain Man was one of the most expensive non-hobby grade models available at the time with a price hovering around $120.  I knew of only two stores that sold it:  Toys R Us and KB Toys.   The truck was the same price at both stores.  One time I remember watching an older kid buy a black Mountain Man at KB Toys and I was extremely jealous.  The truck was available in two colors, black and red, but the black one was what I wanted.

   Fast forward to sometime around my birthday in 1985 and my parents surprised me by agreeing to get the Mountain Man for me as a gift.  We drove to Toys R Us one night after dinner and asked if they had any in stock.  After checking inventory in the back, the clerk said only the red one was available.  I relented and agreed to get it.  I don't remember if there was conversion about trying other stores or if it was getting hard to find in stock, but we never tried to find a black one at KB Toys or another Toys R Us location.  It was a small compromise, but one I was willing to make just to have it.

   The truck takes 8 C batteries and 4 AAs for the transmitter.  I bought or already had a set of NiCD batteries for the truck and transmitter, so it was not a big deal to run it.  NiCds were and still are a great way to save money in the long run.  Back then I also knew that NiCD cells would put out more current than alkalines, making the truck more fun to drive.  Later on I bought two more full sets of batteries for the truck after finding an incredible deal on C-sized NiCD batteries at a local surplus store.  The 10 battery NiCD charger from Radio Shack (Archer) was sure a great thing to have, too.  I'd have a set of batteries charging, a set either waiting to be charged or just charged, and a set in the truck.  I could drive almost all day if all three sets were ready to go.

   Within the 30 day warranty period, the electronics in the truck broke.  I had to ship it to the repair facility.  Before I shipped it, I opened it up by removing the body from the chassis in order to see if it was something simple, like a broken or pinched wire.  I found nothing amiss, so away it went to get fixed.  After receiving it back, the repair note that came with it said "cleaned battery contacts" and nothing else.  Now, I knew the battery contacts were not dirty as I had already cleaned them in an attempt to get it working before I shipped it back, so I knew it was not all they did to repair it.  I removed the body and sure enough the whole circuit board assembly was replaced with a new one.  I have no idea why they'd lie about what was repaired, but as long as it worked, I did not really care.  I never experienced another failure.

   I only drove the Mountain Man outside.  I would stay mostly on the driveway, which was paved, but also go down to the stone dust section or the unpaved barn driveway to do some off-roading.  Shifting from 2-wheel drive to 4-wheel drive was done with a sliding switch on the top of the truck (there was no way to shift from the transmitter).  I would spend literally hours driving it around.  The motor driving the back wheels was fairly powerful considering it wasn't a hobby-grade vehicle.  It couldn't do donuts except on slick or dusty surfaces, but it moved pretty good.   4-wheel drive mode was geared down and a second motor drove the front wheels which helped on steep inclines.   The wheels and tires were not really over sized like most monster trucks made today, so it was not a "go anywhere" type of vehicle, but it did a good job.

   I still have the truck and just recently put some batteries in it to make sure it still worked after reading about it on a forum thread I happened to stumble upon.  At first it was acting a little weird, but once I discovered that two of the AA alkaline cells I had put into the transmitter were dead, it started to behave itself.  The battery contacts probably need some cleaning, too.  The truck is most definitely a "runner", and has probably seen a hundred hours or so of run-time in total.  Even so, the tires are still in very good shape with a good amount of tread left on them.   The chassis and body are dirty and have scratches and damage from many rollovers and rocks.  I need to mention that I did try to not roll it over, but sometimes I'd make a mistake on the pavement in high gear 2WD mode.  I never "thrashed" my vehicles on purpose.  Nothing is broken except for a small piece on one wheel rim.  I must have whacked something hard to do it.  The box is long gone, but I still have the manual, however I didn't take any pictures of it.

Not in bad shape, overall, for over 25 years old.

The black version used a different frequency, probably band 2.

The black switch on top flips between high-speed 2WD and low-speed 4WD modes

The spare tire is rubber like the rest.

Many dings and scratches are visible on the underside.  I drove this truck everywhere!

Eight C cells are used in the truck.  The transmitter takes 4 AAs.