Nostalgia Is a Hell of a Drug Part 8: Tyco Psycho!

Being a product of the 80s myself, I'm fully aware that both the 80s and 90s were filled to the brim with less than accurate advertising. That being said, I was completely sucked in by every radio controlled car commercial ever made in those days. As a kid my brother had some really cool top tier Tyco RC cars. My RC cars were mostly RadioShack and the type tethered to the controller that only went forward and one singular direction.

This was until I started having my own bit of expendable income from doing odd jobs in my late teenage years. One thing I wanted so badly was the Tyco Speed Wrench, which seemed to be inspired by the newly formed Nascar Truck series. The Speed Wrench came with - shocker - a wrench and two sets of wheels that allowed the owner to change out the wheels in any combination of their choosing. When it came time to go to the local toy stores and find one, I came up empty. Being a late-teen I decided I wasn't going home empty handed, so I bought what I thought was the next best thing. I present to you the Tyco Psycho! 

I also purchased the battery and charger as it suggested, which were absolutely required for this thing to even work. The problem was I was never very good at getting it to do any of the tricks I saw in the commercial. It sounded like it was going to break into a million tiny bits every time it was even barely bumped, so I was super cautious to protect my investment. The major downside to that is, you don't get to enjoy the toy! It operates much like a ZTR mower, albeit a little bit worse as the front wheels only roll forward and backward, while each of the rear wheels can be controlled independently to make it turn.

It didn't take long to dirty the thing up, and I began to worry about the longevity of the RC car. This wasn't anything like the RC cars my brother had, which again seemed pretty professional grade. This thing was more of a one and done type, where if you screwed it up, you had to buy a whole new one. Believe me, this thing wasn't cheap, so I decided to just pack it away and keep it for the memories of the cool stuff I did with it, and as a crowning achievement of finally having bought my own RC car as a budding teenager.

Many years later I decided to finally let it go, by which I mean I sold it on ebay, as I did with much of my own childhood. My parents donated most of my childhood to thrift stores, and ebay made it seem like a good idea for me to sell the other stuff. Shame really, as even though this wasn't the RC car I wanted, nor the best RC car in the Tyco line, it was still fun to play with, and that badge of honor for younger me. Sometimes I wonder where my stuff ended up. I hope not in a landfill, but once it left my hand I can't control that. I would like to believe everything that was a part of my youth is now in the hands of collectors, or better yet someone who actually enjoys playing with my childhood toys. Wherever they are now, I thank them all for the memories. And to the Tyco Psycho, thank you for being a quirky little RC car that gave me some good times while they lasted.