Remote controlled tanks

I thought as the season of annual gift-giving is approaching it might be worth writing a little about remote- or radio-controlled tanks as these are now getting in the high street shops, so here's my observations.
The Heng Long Price Revolution
The cheap r/c tanks that everyone seems to be buying at the moment is 1/16th scale world war two tanks made by Heng Long - mostly the Tiger and the new Panther. These are basically cheap remakes of Tokyo Marui originals, but are affordable and offer opportunities for the enthusiast to buy additional bits and do conversion projects. These seem to be going for about 50 pounds on ebay (see above link for current UK sales), and have smoke and sound options as well as being able to fire bb pellets. Ideal, though the non-German tanks available are limited to a M26 Pershing Snow Leopard or a post-war M41A3. The popularity of these tanks have made their predecessors, the modern 1/24th scale ones, like I have (see photo and clip) drop even more in price to less than 30 pounds. These are on the high street for about 55 pounds. There is a high level of returns with this manufacturer so ensure you buy off a dealer who has plenty - I got through two tanks before getting a working one but it has not given me any trouble since. (Hen Long review here)
Other manufacturers are making WW2 models in this scale - the most tempting one is the Trumpeter T-34/85 though more expensive than Heng Long probably is better quality.
1/16th scale is pretty useful - you can buy all sorts of figures and accessories in this scale, but if you're not a WW2 nut you might go for cheaper and contemporary, and take up my idea to 'Pimp' your tank. Modern tanks are pretty dull things but at this price you could respray your tank to a personal style with add-on decals and a replacement action figure to fight with your pals in a post-apocalypse scenario. Flags and personal bits could make it quite a fun project. The photo shows a Star Wars figure for size comparison. Anyway I hope to convert part of my garden to make tank combat interesting - if you get one you are invited to take mine on - whatever scale you get. (By the way the clip is only 7 seconds long so you might as well watch!)
Go here to see real radio-control tank enthusiasts