Lol, 10+ years, damn noob.
Traxxas is a great company to start with. Very durable, and you can get parts everywhere. I have had Losi, HPI, Associated, and Venom. I bought my nephew a Traxxas 2 years ago for Christmas and it's still running. I currently have a 1/16 Traxxas eRevo (brushless) and can't tell you how impressed I am with it's durability.
Been running RC cars since 1986. If you're going to race competitively, get an HPI, Losi, or Associated. If you're just bashing (like 90% of people), you can't go wrong with Traxxas.
+1 everyone has their brand they like and as you pointed out traxxas is a nice brand and the really hardcore people are custom building their own stuff anyway like back before I had a family and all my money was my money I built a 1/8 scale kenworth semi truck with box trailer and that dude is 20 years old and is still faster than some of the new high end cars made today.