Like the Avante mkII the Neo Falcon is again aimed at the huge numbers of Mini 4WD racers who have grown up. Tamiyas r/c division is dwarfed by the Mini 4WDs in Japan. It's a pretty good likeness of the original as well.
Nothing wrong with the Fire Dragon, although will probably not quite as big a seller as the Thundershot was but the extra shock on the front makes a lot of difference to the handling. Certainly not intended as 'collectors pieces', the rereleases have attracted loads more people back into r/c, people who remember either wanting or having one of the originals and having spotted them they are now in a position to afford them.
For a casual basher I would always recommend a Fire Dragon before a Durga, and I suspect Tamiya will sell more Fire Dragons than Durgas. The Fire Dragon goes well enough, is easy to put together and doesn't have any confusing setup adjustments. Once you sort out an upgrade for the A5 front wishbone mount the Dragon chassis is amazingly tough and will likely handle a lot more abuse than the fibre reinforced parts of the Durga that won't just flex as it cartwheels across the grass.
You'll find most collectors aren't too interested in the rereleases for collecting, but they go down very well for running with collectors, old r/cers getting back into it and new bashers. Away from the racetrack you'll find few B4s around but plenty of Tamiya Lunchboxes and Hornets. Tamiya keep on rereleasing the old buggies because they are big sellers, especially in Japan which is their biggest market, and all of Tamiyas old buggies have a lot more character and appeal to the casual r/cer than any of the race buggies. Remember racing is all of 5% of the r/c car market, focussing on the bashing market is what has made Tamiya by far the biggest r/c car company in the world.
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