Tomy Heli-Q Mini R/C Helicopter

Japanese toy company Tomy will be releasing its own riff on the super-popular "Picco Z" mini R/C helicopter in November, dubbed the "Heli-Q." Tomy's design uses an attractive clear plastic body to house the motor and radio, as opposed to the Z's durable foam chassis. (As long as the weight is the same, it doesn't really matter, although it may perhaps be a little more difficult to mod tiny forward thrust wings onto the Heli-Q.)

The little caption that describes the Heli-Q calls it the "world's smallest radio controlled toy helicopter," which indicates it uses actual R/C; The Picco Z line uses infrared controls. Prices and availability unknown, but I can't imagine it will cost more than $30. (And if it does, just go get one of the Picco Z products or its derivatives. Seriously my favorite toy in a long, long time.)

Image Page [Tiscali.co.uk via Gizmodo]

[#1 posted by strider_mt2k , October 25, 2007 6:07 AM]

They'll be poopy of course, but great fun for about 15 minutes or the second charge gives out.

[#2 posted by Joel Johnson , October 25, 2007 6:34 AM]

There's no reason to think these will be poopy! The Picco Z is flippin' awesome fun. I still fly mine around a lot. (Or actually a knock off from Hobbytron, since my original Picco Z has now been retired due to excessive tinkering.)

[#3 posted by hatekillpuke , October 26, 2007 11:38 AM]

My roommate had one of these (he got it from his grandfather, don't know where he got it), and it was really fun, for about 20 minutes, when we crash landed in the parking lot and chipped a rotor blade. It no longer flys, just thrashes around on the ground.

[#4 posted by Anonymous , October 26, 2007 12:07 PM]

I've got a Picco heli. Best damn cat toy I've ever seen. Kitty goes completely out of her mind when I fly it.

[#5 posted by cszostek , February 12, 2008 10:09 PM]

I just got one of these non Picco Z heli's, only because my Fry's Outpost does not carry the Picco model, for $25.00. They are fun (for tormenting the cat), but I busted the rotor within 10 minutes upon impacting my floor. I super glued the bit back on and will be testing it tomorrow. Thus far, the rotor spins well but I don't know how much the weight of the glue will interfere with the flight. I think I am going to get a Picco as well, because they seem to be built to handle crashes a bit better.

[#6 posted by cszostek , February 12, 2008 10:32 PM]

Update.

I got impatient and tried the heli just now. HAHA, the superglue only made things worse and lasted about a minute. These cheap mini knock offs are crap. I'm down to one rotor blade, the cat still loves to chase it's flailing corpse of a machine. Now waiting to get my Picco.

Also wondering how I can mod the busted one to make it still fly or do something a bit more interesting.