i use to race these things as well, they are alot of fun. one place i would look on the web is rctech.net for info on every aspect of this hobby, there are some people who really know what they are talking about on there, if you're going to stick to the electric/bashing side mainly, check out rcmonster.com, they can help you with brushless motor/esc/lipo battery combos. if i was getting into the hobby and looking just to play around i might look at this - http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_info.php/cPath/1_44_1258/products_id/213514/n/HPI-Vorza-Flux-HP-Brushless-RTR-1-8-Scale-Buggy-w-24GHz-Radio t/w a good lipo charger and some good batteries, 1/8 buggies are tough as nails and hpi parts are not hard to find. can't help you much with nitro, i hated it