A Story of A Toy

“I guess it was 2007 and I had just returned from military service...” Nope, this story is not one of those that begins as such.

Let me write from the heart, and you take from it whatever speaks to yours. Let’s all follow

what our hearts desire.

Twenty years ago (literally 20), in my second year of university, a long-dormant urge from childhood crept back in—and I fell, once again, for what people generally call “remote-controlled toy car.”

I say “toy,” because—to most people’s eyes—it’s all that is. “It WAS”, until I dove in and discovered that world myself.

Those who saw me would ask, “Did this guy not get to enjoy his childhood or something?” Hearing the same phrase thousands of times over the years, you get used to it. But in response to that questioning, I want to say this: "I lived my childhood, and it's so much fun to continue living as a child. Come on, you too! You'll get used to it once you get in!"

Back when I was a kid, I had a remote-controlled car brought to me by relatives living abroad. An absolute legend: Ferrari F40. The color? Of course—red. Funny coincidence: when I got swept up in my emotions again in second year of university, I bought another RC car... also red. What does it mean? Who knows 😊 Anyway, that’s not the point.

Once your feet touch the water, you’ve got to go in deep, bro. Especially if you’re in love, open up and talk to her! No no, don’t just talk - go all in! 😊 And I was in love, man. I seriously fell in love with these RC car thing. That’s where it all began. Time passed, and what started as play turned into something else. It didn’t even take long - it was bound to happen.

My engineer brain kicked in. The toy in my hands wasn’t delivering the performance I wanted; it was too basic. So I started digging. There had to be better ones out there—more advanced systems, more professional models, ones that functioned more like real cars. The internet cafés where I used to play CS-2 were no longer about wasting time—they became places of discovery. And one day, I found the tip of the thread: high-end, professional-grade, radio-controlled cars with complex systems—like one suspension arm made up of 30 individual parts. They even had tournaments overseas.

That’s when a spark inside me turned into a flame.

A brand new World, hello to you, Mergup in the house.

I had to get my hands on one of those professional toys. But here’s the thing: the one I had back then cost 400₺, while the entry-level models in this new world were starting at 4000₺. Sure, I wanted to dive in - but the gap between rolling up my sleeves and actually jumping in was daunting. But I had found my fuel: Passion.

I don’t remember exactly what I told myself back then, but today I’d sum it up with “no matter what.” I had the desire, but limited means. Still, I had to find a way. I told myself I needed to find the best price/performance ratio possible. Back then, social networks were actually forums. Newcomers had the “Newbie” badge, and the old-timers with thousands of posts were like admirals and generals. I dropped the classic Newbie question on every RC forum I could find in Turkey: “I’m new to the hobby, what chassis would you recommend I start with?” In all the replies, only 2 model names kept coming up. Just 2. Really? My soul couldn’t accept that. My passion was keeping me up at night. I started digging through old threads, going back as far as ten years. And guess what? They were recommending the same 2 models back then too. Come on! Something didn’t sit right with me. Back then, I didn’t know how to explain it. Now I realize that it was the soul me who didn’t fit into those molds and whispering; “Rest assured there is more.” Even now, writing this, I still feel the excitement.

Not content with the responses received, Mergup - who could be described as “smartass or know-it-all” - started digging into international forums. It was like stepping into another new world within a new world, now in English. And then, a third new world opened—Japanese forums. Long story short, the process of researching, evaluating, and finally buying my first chassis took 1.5 years. That’s the power of passion—just a single spark carried me across an entire universe for a year and a half.

And at the end of that journey, I fell in love with a chassis from a brand that had never even been heard of in Turkey. And I decided to buy it.

And then, what happened?

I got absolutely roasted by the local RC community. “Are you crazy? That chassis? No one in Turkey has it. What’ll you do if you break a part? Good luck finding spares! We’ve been recommending you models for months, don’t come crying to us when it goes wrong!” That kind of stuff. The Tunes…

I thanked them all - and went with the one my soul wanted.

What happened after that?

I ended up selling nearly 100 units of the exact same model in Turkey.

I was so passionate about that chassis that I memorized code number and name of every single part its 45-page installation manual, which is how we secured the distributorship of that brand with someone who opened an RC Shop around the same time I started RC. He built a track, and for a time, that chassis was used as a stock-class chassis by professional racers in races, and so on.

Eventually, I gained more respect and recognition in the community than the forum the dinosaurs who spent their years as admirals and generals on forums. However, later on, since I was driving the winds of change, I clashed with that old-school culture, which was a good thing also. It opened another door: I started my own forum.

From the very beginning of this article, what I've been referring to as the “chassis” is just the mechanical side of RC. There is also the electronic side, which is a whole different but similarly passionate journey. Once again, me, filled with passion, sleepless nights of research, “No matter what, I'll get this electronics kit, try that setup” excitements. Once again, I introduced never-heard-of-new-brand products and systems to the Turkish market, and eventually became their distributor too.

Going a step further, a Chinese chassis manufacturer sent me a prototype chassis and said, "If you can examine it and give me feedback, we'll shape the final chassis according to your specifications." This led to the pre-order phase (with only 4-5 months until the final product launch) of 150 chassis, and the opportunity to sell the same number of units after they were released.

But none of these is a success story for me. It’s a story of passion. The story of that unique fuel that can make you fly when you fill your tank with it. When passion’s in the tank, even when there are bumps along the road, your eyes and mind stay focused on the positive. And your pockets? They somehow fill up with new skills, new tools. Like what?

Thanks to RC, I learned 3D modeling—enough to handle my needs (maybe a bit more). Thanks to  the things I learned through my RC obsession, a company in the machinery industry promoted me -just 3 months - into a role that didn’t even exist before: basically; after-sales troubleshooting. When the global clients face issues, they can now solve them themselves using the visuals and videos I created. Happy clients, less stress for the company. And yes, it came back around to benefit me, too. Just one small example.

So yeah, my dear, this story would take pages if the entire adventure were to be told...

Where is this passion today? It's been poking around in the dusty chest it once was wrapped in layers of linens for some time now. New drawings, designs, production trials, and... And... who knows what else?

Mergup