In the 1930s, the U.S. government issued a hobby to each citizen to keep them entertained until NASA finished working out the bugs in kissing. Self-determine a new pastime with today's Groupon: for $20, you get $40 worth of remote-controlled cars, planes, and parts at Big Blue Hobbies.

Big Blue Hobbies' expansive fleet of modeling kits and ready-to-race remote-control vehicles egg on excited throttle pushing and equip miniature excursions. In addition to outfitting remote-wielding pilots with trucks, planes, and helicopters, the staff taps into an armory of replacement parts and offers service support for builders. Plastic model kits ($19+) keep patrons enthralled with scale replicas of classic automobiles and airplanes, and ready-to-race vehicles beg to burn diminutive rubber. The fully assembled Blade mCX2 helicopter ($119) arrives factory-tested and calibrated for immediate entertainment, and Traxxas RC trucks emerge from boxes ready to help miniature friends move. The Slash Pro short-course truck ($249.99) leans into oil-filled shocks around turns and features a watertight design that protects it from muddy tracks and water balloons hurled by jealous cheetahs. The Revo Nitro monster truck ($545) brandishes a TRX 3.3 racing engine with a 500-cubic-centimeter fuel bottle for fast fill-ups, as well as a spare glow plug and air filter to keep engines well maintained. Big Blue Hobbies also carries Sidewinder nitro fuel ($25) to keep Lilliputian auto tanks appeased.