Why have Slot Cars died out as much as they have? (stamp, collector)
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.I started researching slot cars on the internet and if I were to start a 2nd hobby that would be it.
I am single, I was married a long time ago with no kids and slot cars are really racing another person or more I would be racing the track alone. Seeing how fast I can go without deslotting.
Slot cars aren’t completely dead but only a few hobby stores carry them at all and then only a few sets and this is in the huge population Los Angeles area.
In the 60’s there were several slot car stores and tracks in my area and in general all over. You wouldn't think it would have died off as much as it has.
On UTube there are videos where enthusiasts travel I suppose to race, these guys are really into it and the cars are so fast you can hardly keep up with them.
There is lots on eBay, some collect vintage slot cars.
I really think the RC industry killed off the slot car game. Why buy a slot car (I'm assuming you are talking about the larger slot cars like this)...
when you can buy a drone for pretty cheap and fly it around while using your phone as a controller. I think this just goes with the idea that what people think are fun is changing. I think today's generation of kids would find this a bit boring after about 20 laps, mainly because of the level of stimulation they get from today's video games and such.
**edit** As a side note, again if you are talking about the larger style slot cars like in the picture, the hobby shop would have to have a large footprint of space to handle the track. Most hobby stores I see how have downgraded in size due to only stocking what sells and lack of people actually going into hobby stores anymore.
I was into them when I was a kid, now, the though of getting a drone, slapping on a set of TV goggles and flying FPV through a course is much more exciting.
Slot car racing was dying back in the 1970's. There used to be a hobby shop that had a large and impressive track set up in the Detroit suburb where I lived as a young teenager. My friends and I went into the shop on a regular basis, but there were never more than two or three guys racing slot cars. We tried slot racing only once, rented some house cars, and ticked off the few slot car regulars because we weren't doing it right - our cars kept wiping out and taking their cars with it.
I do note that it was about the time that home console and hand-held video games started to be introduced.
Slot car track takes up a lot of space and one is forever putting the car back on the track . video games are a much more relaxed way to go racing eg; Mario Kart
Way back in the olden days before video games, I had a huge slot car track in my bedroom an my friends and I would go to slot car races at a local slot car place. Build our own cars, trying the get them faster. Gosh that was fun, hadn't thought about it until this thread.
Radio control started to kill slot cars but the early ones were so large and expensive with their fuel and transmitters a group of friends could not race. And when electric cars came around they were still too large and someone wanting a competitive advantage got a fuel engine.
But it was video games with instant car and racetrack changes which slammed the coffin door shut except for some older collectors.
I do! RC has held my interests since I was 7 years old (I'm 43 now). I have 3 cars, 4 planes and a couple of helicopters. Battery technology has advanced far beyond the nitro engines. I have a Traxxas Stampede RC truck that is electric that literally goes so fast that I can't open it up completely because the front end lifts off the ground and flips itself over (backflip). And that's with a wheelie bar!
The engines are now brushless, and the batteries are now multi core LiPo's. Combine the two, and it's absolutely insane, and still a ton of fun! Every time I get its out, the other dads come out to watch and laugh. They say they want one too, but haven't bought one yet.
I live in a golf course community. I've been know to have a little fun with a golfer or two with the P-51 electric airplane too. They think it's cool, until they're ready to tee off and I start "buzzing the tower" while hiding behind the bushes.
I have them in hopes my 8 year old son will take to the hobby too, instead of video games all the time. I learned a lot about gearing, problem solving and creativity with this hobby. So far so good, he loves it when I "buzz the tower" down at the 5th hole. He and his friends laugh hysterically (and so do the golfers, mostly).
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