Seems every kid wants a racetrack set, when they get one, they play with it a few times, then never play with it again! I have given sets to family kids several times, each time, same experience. My 2 cents.
@TBoneZeOriginal@UncleMel we would get ours out every few months… play with it like crazy and then set it aside for a while… but it consistently came out of the box.
@UncleMel I had one as a kid that I played with all the time. Years later, my ex gave me a set for my birthday after I’d been reminiscing about it. He even set up a piece of plywood for me to set it up on. Like you said, I played with it for a few weeks, then it sat there until we finally boxed it up.
@UncleMel@OnionSoup@lisagd That was my experience as a child - played with the new racetrack set for a couple of weeks, then got bored with just going around in a circle and put it away.
The toy vehicle that held my attention the best was the Johnny Express:
I played with that thing for a long time - not being bound to a boring circle of track made it more interesting. Then the batteries in the controller leaked, destroying it and that was that.
@macromeh@OnionSoup@UncleMel The track I had could be laid out in all kinds of ways. It even had some pieces to make banked turns. Laid out straight, it was probably about 10 feet long.
@werehatrack I don’t remember the brand, but I had a set in the 60s, too. I made all kinds of layouts, so many that the little tabs that hooked the pieces together started breaking off. Those pieces didn’t fit together tightly enough to make the electrical connection, so I ended up with dead spots that momentum couldn’t always push the cars past. Eventually there were too many, which is when I finally gave up on it. I had a hell of a lot of fun with that racetrack set, though.
@werehatrack The full blown slot cars were very cool but too expensive for me. I went with HO scale and had a lot of fun. There was a hobby show within easy bicycle riding distance that had a track. I modified my car(s) with a bigger pinion on the motor to get higher speed. Other cars were faster off the line but about 1/3 of the way down the track the higher speed won. Then I’d get to the end of the straight and crash. It was all fun.
Is the mouse included? These are cool, but unless you have the space to keep it set up all the time, you probably won’t use it much as you will spend more time building the layout than racing the cars. Ideally you would have space or a way to set this up and get it out of the way when not in use. Then you will probably use it a lot more.
@pmarin I saw the word “Vuarnet” come up somewhere a couple of years ago, and it was the biggest flashback shock I have ever received. That brand was prominent during a very specific period, and never again. I had completely forgotten about it.
@JohnnySocko They were actually very good especially for the time. (It was late 70s I think; sunglass technology was not that advanced)
You could tell authentic ones because there is a faint etched image of skis and crossed ski poles near the edge of each lens.
Also the string you put behind your head to hold them so you don’t lose them, or you could just leave them hanging off your neck like an awkward trophy.
Which prompted a local paper to have some article mentioning SUSWS Stupid Ugly Sunglasses with Strings.
Specs
Product: Carrera Build 'N Race Slot Car Racing Accessories 6.9M
Model: 770409
Condition: New
What’s Included?
Price Comparison
$68.96 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Friday, Aug 18 - Monday, Aug 21
I have a set of Carerra slot cars that the kids outgrew. I should get rid of them but maybe I’ll put the track together and play.
Finally something I didn’t know I needed.
I appreciate the wolves in this writeup!
… and you can legally drive these after 5 margaritas.
shitty or otherwise.
Can these outrace a house cat?
@phendrick Probably, if yours is anything like this one…
@ircon96 @phendrick that is what I feel like when on this site.
RE: 13x Straight 342mm tracks
342 millimeters equals 13 1/2 'muricans. So 13 x 13 equals a lot of unlucky 'muricans.
/giphy Ive-been-drinking
@TheMonkeyKing 13 was my mother’s lucky number!
Some marketing people are actually geeks. Or is it nerds that put the length of the track in Meters, Feet, and Inches?
@hchavers Nerdy geeks…?
@hchavers It’s people who want to sell their stuff in Canada in addition to the US. And the text is in both 'Murrican and French.
I so much wanted my kids to want slot cars when they were younger… But every time I suggested it for birthday/Xmas they said it was boring.
Now they’re too old. I remember loving slot cars as a youngster.
Seems every kid wants a racetrack set, when they get one, they play with it a few times, then never play with it again! I have given sets to family kids several times, each time, same experience. My 2 cents.
@UncleMel Same. My son loved his for about 2 weeks, and he just pulls it out like once a year.
@TBoneZeOriginal @UncleMel we would get ours out every few months… play with it like crazy and then set it aside for a while… but it consistently came out of the box.
@UncleMel My family’s answer to this was to make it a christmas toy. We’d set it up around the tree.
@UncleMel I had one as a kid that I played with all the time. Years later, my ex gave me a set for my birthday after I’d been reminiscing about it. He even set up a piece of plywood for me to set it up on. Like you said, I played with it for a few weeks, then it sat there until we finally boxed it up.
@UncleMel @OnionSoup @lisagd That was my experience as a child - played with the new racetrack set for a couple of weeks, then got bored with just going around in a circle and put it away.
The toy vehicle that held my attention the best was the Johnny Express:
I played with that thing for a long time - not being bound to a boring circle of track made it more interesting. Then the batteries in the controller leaked, destroying it and that was that.
@macromeh @OnionSoup @UncleMel The track I had could be laid out in all kinds of ways. It even had some pieces to make banked turns. Laid out straight, it was probably about 10 feet long.
I had one of the Stromberg slot car sets back in the '60s. It was used enough that the track contacts lost continuity.
@werehatrack I don’t remember the brand, but I had a set in the 60s, too. I made all kinds of layouts, so many that the little tabs that hooked the pieces together started breaking off. Those pieces didn’t fit together tightly enough to make the electrical connection, so I ended up with dead spots that momentum couldn’t always push the cars past. Eventually there were too many, which is when I finally gave up on it. I had a hell of a lot of fun with that racetrack set, though.
@werehatrack The full blown slot cars were very cool but too expensive for me. I went with HO scale and had a lot of fun. There was a hobby show within easy bicycle riding distance that had a track. I modified my car(s) with a bigger pinion on the motor to get higher speed. Other cars were faster off the line but about 1/3 of the way down the track the higher speed won. Then I’d get to the end of the straight and crash. It was all fun.
Is the mouse included?
These are cool, but unless you have the space to keep it set up all the time, you probably won’t use it much as you will spend more time building the layout than racing the cars. Ideally you would have space or a way to set this up and get it out of the way when not in use. Then you will probably use it a lot more.
If I was 9, I would LOVE this! Unfortunately, that was 60 years ago…
@MrNews I know the feeling. Same numbers.
@MrNews nice
@MrNews @werehatrack 69 lol
@ticklescratch @werehatrack Quit it, Beavis! Heh-heh-heh…
These are great tracks. Never have we lost continuity or have to clean the track all the time.
Carrera is a high-quality brand. Or at least it was when I worked at a boutique toy store decades ago.
@JohnnySocko Also trendy sunglasses a long time ago when I was in high school. Also the Vuarnets.
Don’t know about toy racecars of that name. At that age I thought I had outgrown toys. Decades later I like toys again!
@pmarin I saw the word “Vuarnet” come up somewhere a couple of years ago, and it was the biggest flashback shock I have ever received. That brand was prominent during a very specific period, and never again. I had completely forgotten about it.
@JohnnySocko They were actually very good especially for the time. (It was late 70s I think; sunglass technology was not that advanced)
You could tell authentic ones because there is a faint etched image of skis and crossed ski poles near the edge of each lens.
Also the string you put behind your head to hold them so you don’t lose them, or you could just leave them hanging off your neck like an awkward trophy.
Which prompted a local paper to have some article mentioning SUSWS Stupid Ugly Sunglasses with Strings.
Can you get this deal going again? I got this for my nephew and now I want one for myself.