May 9, 2008 11:23 AM PDT
'Speed Racer' slot car for geezer nostalgia
(Credit:
Carrera International)
Long before RC toys began terrorizing household pets, there was the slot car. They still exist today, of course, but have become more of a hobby akin to model trains than something that would occupy kids for hours on end, pre-Nintendo.
But now that Speed Racer has been resurrected--"the movie event of the century," as Craver Caroline McCarthy puts it--the venerable slot car may make something of a mild comeback. Carrera is coming out with a new package that includes a Mach 5 (of course), a Racer X Street Car, 20 feet of track, and endless bouts of nostalgia, according to Gadget Lab. Scoff if you will, but it sure beats that lame flash drive.
Slot racing may have "become more of a hobby akin to model trains than something that would occupy kids for hours on end, pre-Nintendo", but the number of manufacturers, outlets and models rivals the 60s-early 70s heyday. A new generation of racers are running REAL 3-D cars on model tracks.
Try these current websites: www.slotcargarage.com www.oldweirdherald.com and www.slotcar.com to start with. I was into the hobby the first time around as a little kid. Now I'm watching grade-schoolers and teenagers outrunning us old guys. I even got my daugther (bless her little gearhead heart) a Carrera Mini-Cooper set two Christmases ago...which she still operates.
If you give kids real toys...as opposed to virtual ones...they'll play with them, too. You can't hold a car on Forza or TORCS and your bragging rights when you "build" one will be limited to what's pre-programmed. With models, you're only limited by your fabrication skills, resources and governing rules. Incidently, I'm a model train collector/operator also....there's something to be said for modeling outside of a computer....even though I'm a network admin for a 9 to 5.
- by toninoname May 29, 2009 3:45 AM PDT
- Have you read this news on www.carreraslotcar.net? I signed up on Carrera today You should sign up too.
- Like this Reply to this comment
-
(3 Comments)