We came for the car, we stayed for the promoter. Takara Tomy's previously announced AeroSpider RC car, which mystically scales walls and cruises upside-down, is finally shipping this month in Japan. Cool though that may be, the real news here is the overgrown 4-year old used to show off just how amazing this minuscule vehicle truly is. Head on past the break to see what we mean -- trust us, we wouldn't lead you on like this for nothing.

[Thanks, Clyde]

This certainly isn't the first time anyone has mounted a video camera to an RC car and taken it for a spin, but the new system from Fat Shark to do so is certainly the most comprehensive yet. A set of wireless VR goggles provide the display, and there's a built-in accelerometer in the goggles to control the tilt and pan of the camera installed on the car. You can buy the system with the car, or purchase the components separately to hook onto a plane or for some other nefarious purpose. No word on price, but we would've traded our NES and two good tubs of Legos for a shot at this growing up. Somebody has to keep that up-to-no-good sister of ours and her dastardly playmates in check. Video is after the break.

[Via Autoblog]

The achilles heel of RC racers has always been the battery. A few minutes of play after hours of charging is no way to waste the sacred years of youth -- we have video games for that. Now this race fans, the H2GO racer fueled by hydrogen cartridges from Horizon Fuel Cell. Produced by Corgi International, the clean running H2GO is designed by the slightly mad, Red White Barron of design -- Luigi Colani -- and ships with a water refueling station, solar panel, and remote control. Details are otherwise frustratingly scarce. Though we can assume that the car features water-activated HydroPak Mini prototype cells and will easily cost a couple of Benjamins by the time it goes production. Unfortunately, that would be sometime in late 2008 or 2009 based on Horizon Fuel Cell's earlier estimates of commercial fuel cell availability. Oh, the agony.

Could it be... why yes, something we'd actually purchase from none other than SolidAlliance. The USB RC Car takes on a charge while parked in the garage. Flip open the door and turn the Mini loose on the mean cubicle circuits of your beige-soaked accounting dreams. Bad news: Win2k or XP PC, only. Good news: just ¥3,480 or about 30 bucks. Video after the break.

[Via Impress]

200 miles-per-hour on steam? Yeah, you may catch us believing that one, but squeezing that kind of top-end power out of a 29.6-volt direct drive motor would be all kinds of impressive. Granted, the vehicle we're talking about is but a fraction of the size of a standard automobile, but Nick Maslowski is nevertheless hoping to break his own remote control car speed record of 134.4mph with the oh-so-drab X2. This little vehicle certainly won't win any Best in Show medals, but the streamlined design, melt-resistant foam tires, and onboard stabilization system will hopefully enable it to cruise somewhere close to its theoretical maximum speed of 274mph. Check out an (admittedly unexciting) video of a few test runs after the jump.

[Via OhGizmo]

Racing RC cars was definitely one of our favorite things to do when we were mere gadget-obsessed tykes (at least until we turned 16), and soon disabled kids will be able to join in on the fun, thanks to English outfit Dream Technology. The two-person pit crew's Dream-Racer uses a baseball cap with four integrated motion sensors that controls a modified Nikko RC car. Instead of the conventional pistol-trigger controller, you simply tilt your head in the appropriate direction to operate the vehicle. The company developed the tech in response to a request from a charity group that later found the £159 ($315) toy helped disabled children improve their cognitive skills and play independently (gee, ya think?). That's terrific, but we don't see any reason to limit sales to just disabled kids when this thing is ready to ship later this summer -- what kid wouldn't want to pretend they have a mind-link with their car?

[Via MedLaunches]

Uncomfortable trusting such an all-important task as cleaning the floors to the machines but also not willing to get off the couch? Well, our lazy, tinfoil hat-wearing friends, you now have an alternative to putting up with dirty floors, though you will need some (very) minimal DIY skills. Windell of the Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories seems to have shared your dilemma and whipped up this little solution, combining the wonders of Swiffer technology with the human-controlled safeness of RC cars. While the parts list includes a blank printed circuit board, rest assured, there's nothing fancy going on under the hood here -- it apparently just happens to be perfectly designed for mounting dust mops to toy cars.

[Via MAKE:Blog]

Back before we got this cushy blogger gig, we were looking into a rewarding career as lion bait. Good thing we didn't go ahead with that, since we hear the mortality rate isn't exactly top-rate, and now it looks like we'd be having our jobs replaced by a few infernal robots anyways. Some students over at Strathclyde University in the UK have developed an RC "LionDrover" vehicle that can hit speeds up to 30 MPH and is designed to give bored, captive lions the thrill of the chase. To heighten the realism -- last time we checked, most lions don't chase small 4-wheeled vehicles with hunks of meat tied on top in the wild -- the little vehicle sports some sweet zebra stripes. The LionDrover is a successor to the Lionrover, which has been around for a couple of years, and apparently a new version is in the works, too. Currently the bot is being tested out at Blair Drummond Safari Park, and should be joined soon by six similarly-fated companions once the funding is procured. There will also be versions for wolves and African wild dogs -- sounds like these are glorious days indeed to be a captive carnivore.

[Via MobileWhack]

C'mon, everyone enjoyed seeing a Hasbro box on Chrismahannakwanzika morning; that usually meant you were in for some sort of top notch toy that'd long since purloined your fantasies. Although more commonly linked to their lineup of childhood gadgets, Hasbro is branching out and aiming to deliver a "radio controlled experience" with their new Nitro XRC lineup. Rather than relying on those dreadfully expensive, long charging, short-lived battery packs to get your ride movin', the Nitro XRC vehicles will be powered by nitro fuel -- the same fuel that powers professional racing R/C vehicles. With the ability to reach speeds of 25mph, Hasbro is being careful to market these speedsters to those 16 years and up; while you can find these in hobby huts and mass merchants, they'll be MIA from typical toy stores. Two models are currently being prepped for release, the Nitro XRC Ricochet and the Nitro XRC Revolution MT; the dirt starts flyin' when they drop this fall for $179.99 and $129.99, respectively.