On June 1st ~ June 7th, 1981, the world's first mini four-wheel drive competition "New Electric Cup World Mini 4WD Competition" was officially launched in Hong Kong. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

The reason why it is called "New Electric Cup" is because in the electric toy business, Lin Qi has set up a subsidiary of a new electric toy company.

With a registered capital of 10 million Hong Kong dollars, this subsidiary is now engaged in mini four-wheel drive toys, and it is possible to manufacture more figurine-shaped toys and peripheral products derived from the IP of animation games in the future.

Of course, the business of mini four-wheel drive vehicles must be engaged. Because, during the 80s ~ 90s, the competition and sales of mini 4WDs were phenomenal all over the world. In the 21st century, although mini four-wheel drive vehicles are not as popular as they used to be, they still have tens of millions of die-hard fans.

"Boss, there are more than 8,000 applicants for the preliminary round of the four-wheel drive competition, most of them are Hong Kong players, but there are also more than 300 domestic players and overseas players. Zhang Ru took the information to Lin Qi for a look.

"Well, I know!" Lin Qi said with a smile, "In the future, we will find a general agent of mini four-wheel drive vehicles all over the world, and the agents will cooperate to select regional players in different countries around the world." In the future, just like a real international competition, the players will represent their own country, so that not only the material incentive of the prize money, but also the spirit of honor will be motivated in it!"

The finals of the later mini four-wheel drive competitions are basically the headquarters of the Japanese Tamiya Model Company.

As soon as he thought of this, Lin Qi couldn't help but sigh, although Japan is a political dwarf with a very low political status, there is no shortage of private companies with such a large pattern and a large realm, and they have increased Japan's international influence by holding various international events.

There are very few enterprises with such a large pattern in China, which can continue to hold this kind of finals in China for decades, but the contestants come from all over the world.

……

Due to the creation of this year's mini four-wheel drive competition, it is not divided into competition areas for the time being, and enthusiasts who are interested in mini four-wheel drive can bring their own racing cars to Hong Kong to register for the competition for free. After a simple primary selection and elimination, the contestants who stand out participate in the official qualifying competition.

In order to promote the mini four-wheel drive, Lin Qi wasted his boss's energy, not only inviting local media in Hong Kong to broadcast live, but also inviting media from all over the world to report the news.

China's CCTV is also because the new venture electronics company reimburses media reporters for their travel consumption expenses in Hong Kong, and in order to save face for Lin Qi, it also sent a small-scale news team to Hong Kong to record a program.

"Hello everyone. My CCTV sports host Yang Yang, the development of the world is changing with each passing day, and competitions are no longer limited to traditional sports such as running, swimming, football, and racing. In fact, in recent years, there have also been some new events around the world, such as imitating F1 cars, making miniature toy cars, and racing with these miniature cars.

…… Contestants buy and modify mini four-wheel drive vehicles by themselves, and this kind of competition tests the hands-on ability and professional knowledge of toy transformation. The Hong Kong New Electric Cup Mini 4WD Race is such an event.

The sponsor, Xindian Toys, even offered the first place in the competition a prize of HK$1 million, plus a luxury sports car worth hundreds of thousands. Competitors in other rankings will be able to receive prize money no less than that of major international sporting events...... Let's go to the arena to see what happens. "A news presenter who has just graduated is talking in front of the camera.

In fact, the host didn't know much, after all, before coming to Hong Kong, she didn't even know what a mini four-wheel drive was. Yesterday, I received a mini four-wheel drive gift from Xindian Company to journalists, as well as information related to the competition.

The host walked into the stadium, and in the stadium, thousands of spectators were already seen, watching the results of the game.

"This is already the quarterfinals, and after a few days of competition, the remaining quarterfinals are already one in a thousand masters. ”

The referee of the on-site competition has already begun to introduce the players who are about to play: "...... The player number 0478 who is now on the stage, Lin Zhenyuan, the model 'Sprint Meteor', is one of the official original models of the new electric mini four-wheel drive, and the prototype price is only 58 Hong Kong dollars, but in order to achieve a better ranking, of course, the mini four-wheel drive car needs to be modified. Lin Zhenyuan's confidence in victory comes from his self-made 'invincible golden motor' with a speed of 68,000 per minute...... Relying on his strong modification ability, he has won 17 consecutive matches and has now reached the semi-finals. ”

The audience screamed.

"Player number 0108 from Guangdong, Zhang Hong, nicknamed God's Repairman...... Originally the owner of an electrical repair shop, he repaired electric fans, generators, and disassembled countless electric motors. Familiar with the modification of electric motors...... His model is also a sprint meteor, however, we noticed that he attaches great importance to the modification of the front and tail of the car, the dragon head and the phoenix tail, which is Zhang Hong's introduction to his modified car. ”

"Japan's player number 0475, Imperial Matchless Dragon Fujii Koyo, graduated from the University of Tokyo, he is a hardcore electric toy enthusiast, for him, electric cars are only pediatric ......"

There was a burst of screaming at the scene, accompanied by a burst of Japanese. Obviously, there were some Japanese spectators present who cheered for the "Imperial Peerless Dragon" Fujii Koyo.

Such a nickname for the second illness is common to Japanese players. In particular, in Japanese competitions, the commentators are like the commentators in anime, constantly revealing shameful nicknames and exaggerated commentary, and of course, the effect of stirring up the atmosphere is also very good.

The domestic commentary is too serious to make the kind of hysterical, mid-second explosion.

The CCTV host smiled very confusedly and said, "...... It's so lively, it feels like you're visiting a boxing match. ”

"Ready...... Let's go!"

A total of eight runners put the mini four-wheel drive vehicles in their hands on the track. After the referee gave the signal, everyone turned on the motors of the four-wheel drive.

Eight mini 4x4 vehicles are constantly running on undulating lanes.

"One lap...... Two laps ......"

"Ten laps!"

"Peerless Dragon, ah, his car fell off the runway. ”

Manufacturers booed.

The Japanese player nervously picked up his four-wheel drive car, found that the motor was still spinning rapidly, his face turned a little blue, and scolded: "Yaga!" There is no problem with the motor, more mini four-wheel drive design problems, his car is not suitable for the current track.

The race of the mini four-wheel drive car is not only about the motor and battery, but also about the stability of the car, otherwise the center of gravity is unstable and flies off the runway, and you will lose the race.

The game continues.

Eleven laps, twelve laps......

There were constantly unlucky cars that fell off the track halfway and, with the sighs of the spectators, withdrew from the race.

After 20 laps, there were only three cars left on the track. At this time, the main test of the car is already the capacity and heat dissipation performance of the battery.

The final result of the competition was Zhang Hong, a player from Guangdong Province, who won the championship of the competition.

The champion excitedly said: "I didn't expect to get such a high prize money, I just wanted to participate in the competition and see the market...... Friendship first, competition second! This competition has indeed made me meet a lot of friends. Since I was a child, I like to repair all kinds of electrical appliances and toys, and the disassembled electric fans are not 1,000 but 800 units, although the small motor is different from the electric fan, but the basic principle is still the same, so after a few days and nights of experiments, I burned out dozens of small motors, and finally, the motor was more than 70,000 times per minute...... Of course, it is not enough to rely on the speed of the motor, it is necessary to make the car stable and suitable for a specific runway......"

"What are you going to do after winning the championship and winning the million-dollar jackpot?" asked the presenter.

"I'm going to take this money and do mini 4x4 races in China. Zhang Hong said, "In next year's competition, not only will I come, but I will also find more domestic masters to participate together." ”

At the end of the race, the company cashed in cash, a check of HK$1 million, and a Porsche sports car. As for the issue of paying taxes, the bank can act as an agent.

Relying on the mini four-wheel drive competition, the sales of mini four-wheel drive vehicles were briefly boosted. However, after the competition, the daily sales of mini four-wheel drive vehicles remained at the level of about 1,000 or 800. This kind of tepid sales, if it were a small toy company, would have been ecstatic.

But Lin Qi felt quite dissatisfied.

Too little!

Mini four-wheel drive vehicles have the potential to sell hundreds of millions of units a year, but now this potential has not been shown at all.

"It seems that we still have to use comics and animations as propaganda weapons!" Lin Qi knows that in history, the Tamiya four-wheel drive car was launched in 82 years, and it was promoted in the form of holding a four-wheel drive competition at the beginning, but the sales were not necessarily very high.

It wasn't until '87 that the manga "4WD Kid" created by Hajime Tokuda caused a huge response in Japan, and in '89, it was adapted into an anime. The sales of mini four-wheel drive vehicles have only begun to have a blowout.

Professional competitions attract professional enthusiasts, while anime such as "4WD Kid" promotes the influence of 4WD to young consumers.

It can be said that without anime such as "4WD Kid" and "4WD Brothers", Tamiya Model Company would not have grown into the world's largest toy model giant.

Lin Qi has the experience of the historical Tamiya model company to learn from, and he is confident about how to expand the mini four-wheel drive industry.

……

June 1981. The mini 4x4 race is over.

Holy Flame Press.

Shangguan Xiaobao solemnly took out a stack of comics and announced to the apprentices present: "This is Boss Lin's new comic project for our company. This project is a racing caricature based on the theme of mini 4x4s. To put it simply, it is an advertising work of Boss Lin's Xindian Toy Company......"

Everyone present couldn't help but be in an uproar.

"Master, advertising, looking for an advertising company?"

"We don't create comics, we don't sell commercials. ”

"Mini 4WD? that kind of toy, we're not interested in. ”

Shangguan Xiaobao patted the table and said: "Although it is said that it has an advertising purpose, if the comic is not popular all over the world, it will not achieve the boss's purpose." If it really wants to be popular to that extent, the boss will definitely invest in adapting the work into animation and broadcasting it all over the world, so as to better promote the competition and sales of his mini 4x4 toy. ”

At this moment, Feng Zhiming, Zhao Rude, Li Zhiqing, Xie Zhirong and other old people rushed to the street and expressed their interest in it.

Shangguan Xiaobao nodded and said: "Okay, the main purpose of the mini four-wheel drive comic is to promote four-wheel drive, but it's not enough to have a mini four-wheel drive, without a touching plot and characters, you will definitely not be able to complete the task......"

Next, a group of cartoonists from the Flame Publishing House went to the market to buy mini 4x4 toys and accessories, and consulted the contestants and judges who had participated in the first mini 4x4 competition. The cartoonist himself needs to change from amateur to a little more professional, at least to be able to bluff the layman, in order to make the comic uniquely attractive.

After all, this is not fantasy and martial arts out of thin air, but a comic book with a realistic theme of mini 4x4 racing.

This kind of caricature is unprecedented, and there has never been such a professional race with a toy car in the past. But now from scratch, comics have to show professionalism. Professionalism as the skeleton, at the same time, impress the reader with details, if, in the end, can develop the reader into a mini 4WD enthusiast. Then, the comic itself must have become popular......