YMMV / Mini 4WD

• Game-Breaker: For some reason, likely due to performance or handling advantage, race tournaments in places like the Philippines segregate FM and FM-A cars into a separate class from non-FM chassis cars.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: The Mini 4WD trend spawned a significant following in Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to name a few.
  • The toys were so wildly popular in the Philippines in the early 2000s that even those who were normally averse to toy cars took up the fad, and the Manila Bulletin started a section dedicated to it, though interest in the toys died down in the eyes of the mainstream soon after. There is however a resurgence in interest for the cars in recent years, albeit at a much smaller scale compared to the "Tamiya mania" of the late 90s and early 2000s where practically every child owned at least one Mini 4WD car, legit Tamiya or otherwise. It also helps that Tamiya has a factory in Cebu, Philippines since the 90s where most if not all of their scale models and Mini 4WD car kits are being manufactured.
  • Meanwhile in Malaysia, the popularity surged circa 1995 thanks to aggressive marketing by the local importer, including them sponsoring the airing of the anime adaptation of Dash! Yonkuro on the local television channels and even working out deals with schools to hold tournaments and sales on school grounds during school holidays and school carnivals. While most parents feel that the RM 40 cost of each model was a bit on the steep side, at least it kept kids out of trouble, plus there's always the cheaper knockoffs. The fad petered down by the turn of the century, but experienced a revival due to a new wave of aggressive marketing and the sponsoring the airing of the anime adaptation of Bakusou Kyoudai! Let's & Go!! on local terrestrial by the same importer. The fad pretty much petered down again at the start of The New '10s and remained low key since. It is worth nothing however that the fad never died in Malaysia- tracks can still be found in some malls throughout the country and although toy shops, department stores and stationery stores no longer carry them, most hobby shops still stock them in abundance.

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