Welcome aboard from the Motor City. What state are you in again? You're going to get a wide variety of opinions on what your first tank should be, but since you're in the states i might be able to offer a couple tips. I usually recommend that you go as cheap as possible to start, just in case you decide the hobby ain't for you. If it is for you you'll be buying more tanks anyway, so you can always get a high end model later on. You used to be able to get a Tiger for about 80 bucks, but those days seem to have disappeared. You can still get the basic HL Tiger for under $200, and if you want to go with ebay then Toucan Hobby is a good vendor and i've dealt with them before without incident.
https://www.ebay.com/str/ToucanHobby/He ... 8517856012
Just scroll down and you'll see all kinds of cool tanks. That challenger with metal tracks and road wheels caught my eye at just over $300 delivered.
But with your budget I highly recommend you check out the tanks at Imex, which is in Florida. They're also taigen Tanks in the U.S., but it's still Imex.
https://www.taigentanks.com/
I believe the Imex Tiger to be superior because it has a metal tub and torsion bar suspension, as well as a lift off top, all of which Heng Long doesn't have. Imex also has Erik, and he really looks out for tankers. He's an avid tanker himself and has a collection that makes even me a bit green. At the Taigen tanks home page they have some videos posted, the one with Karl is one of mine.
Did you have a specific tank in mind to start with, like a tiger or a Sherman? The M26 Pershing is a solid runner if you like American armor, and if you like Russian tanks the new JS2 is a real beauty, but about twice your budget.
If your boys like cars, you might tempt them with the new WPL/JJRC trucks. Check out the truck mods thread and you'll see we've been going slightly bonkers over these things. They're very cheap, easily upgradable, and loads of fun.
Again, good to have a new member join, and welcome to the dark side of RC. If you like this hobby at all you'll soon find yourself hopelessly addicted. Just ask anybody here. They're
all RC Tank Junkies.
When FDR coined the phrase "The Arsenal of Democracy", he was talking about Detroit. Proud to live in the 2nd most violent city in America!!
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