Where to from here for slots (not only a digital discussion)

[slothead]

Great topic. Though it is a niche hobby, I'm confident slot car racing will persist and evolve well into the future. It will ebb and flow like everything else, probably most closely linked with the popularity and availability of full scale racing. As local short tracks dwindle due to attendance, regulatory, and land value issues (how many tracks have become malls or housing developments in the last 20 -0 30 years?) fewer young people will likely form the visceral attachment to racing I did when you could feel the rumble, smell the exhaust, and talk to drivers in the pits. That passion made me want to replicate it with slot cars, and that hasn't changed in over 50 years. I'm not sure watching racing on TV has the same result, and a video game may be an ideal replication of that experience.

While some of us 'old timers' may consider advancements like digital unnecessary complications, I think it will have a strong effect on slot car racing in the future as it has on model railroading. The realism and functionality of a well designed digital model rail road layout is amazing. Conversely, a 4, 6, or 8 lane slot car track is not realistic at all. Layout design is constrained by track width. A universal digital format will allow more cars on fewer lanes and should lead to more realistic and challenging racing, which I think will be needed to sustain the health of the hobby. When patience and timing matter the fastest car won't always win, which is realistic and good in my opinion.

Wile low end stuff will always have a place in the market as toys for kids, the detailed cars we rave about on HRW are what I see as sustaining the hobby. And I don't see it ever being less expensive either, in fact an average RTR car is likely to creep closer to $100 in the near future. Look at what people are paying for R/C cars and stuff. A hobby dealer told he decided to cut way back on slot car stuff because the profit margin is so much less than R/C. Get a customer hooked on a nice R/C helicopter setup and you can count on enough sales to start a college fund for the kids. But then bars, movies, and other entertainment outlets manage to do well despite economic ups and downs too - people find ways to do what they want to.

Slothead

[balsaworks]

[HomeRacingWorld]

I won't even dare.

But I remember a thread in an old forum (no longer around) that was entitled "Slot Racing Y2K".

Those experts had it wrong almost 15 years ago. We have it better than ever and it will just keep improving. You can thank "grass roots" for most of it.

[bkrownd]

I think the worrying about computer games/simulations is unnecessary. Many people will always prefer playing with physical models, and most will prefer physical models that move. Whether the slot itself becomes obsolete, replaced by something like a computer assisted steering servo following multiple lane wires, is just details. I'm sure people will always want more realistic models and scenery (i.e. tracks).

[Mayberryman]

I believe that slot car racing will survive, it continues to reinvent itself as mostly a basement/garage hobby as opposed to the commercial tracks of the 60s and the reemergence of the 80s. One bad thing that happened to slot car racing on the commercial side was the almost predestined fact that a commercial track would close in about 2.5 years or move to a different location which would leave customers with full slot boxes, less full wallets and a feeling of abandonment.
In the past three years (my third chapter of being a slot car racer) I have raced on at least 11 tracks with formal racing and only 3 of them have been commercial tracks with 1 of them now closed and the other 2 on iffy grounds. I do believe that the basement/garage sector of this hobby will keep it going far into the future because of the dedicated people who spend the money to build these tracks and then invite us to use them to have a ball racing and talking about cars, slot cars and the benefit of a great drink.

[oceanview]

Speaking of "Surviving" so to speak..... isn't it super cool that we can all be slot racing with a solar panel and/or battery if needed.
I'm just sayin'. Take that , most other forms of entertainment!
As far as my body goes, I'm praying I still have a trigger finger that works at a hundred (years old)

[redsypher]

I'm not sure where everything goes from here.....it seems pretty good now. There's a wide range of choice, plenty of performance parts, cars with great detail, cars that are made to go quick and cars right out of the box that go really, really quick. Cross my fingers.....that future looks great. Our store steadily grows our racer count and our day to day business. More kids are involved than ever before, (which I wasn't sure if there would be any draw for them). I'll be happy if things in slot car development continue the way they are and we can keep this steady trend alive so that slot cars survive for years to come.

-Billy

[baford1]

I think I agree with Harry if the slot companies keep on going in the same direction as they are now I am pretty sure our hobby will be fine the choices we have at the moment are unbelievable from cheap cars to really expensive cars & are real good choices in between + also all the other manufactures of bodies , chassis , motors & all the other parts need to build your own custom cars we are being really spoilt at the moment & then you have all different tracks from plastic to wood the choice is only limited to ones imageination so when you think about it all the companies ( big & small ) who have invested so much time & money into our hobby will just keep on producing what the public wants I think the future is pretty safe & the other reason I think that is because we have sites like this one HRW + plenty of other sites as well were people from all over the world can talk about the hobby that I for one like very much also show of that latest project show everyone your new track or newest purchase or read the latest review that Harry does I am sure slot cars has a bright future

Richard

[slothead]

Sorry about getting into discussing digital stuff before.

Yes, I think analogue slot car racing has a bright future. The ease and reliability of use will continue to make sets good gifts for kids, and the detailed realistic stuff will keep folks like us supporting the hobby. And aside from digital racing, technology will continue to play a role. Everything has computer chips in it today, from cheap talking or animated toys to car fobs. I can foresee smart ghost cars, automatic 'power' calls when a car de-slots, and even tunable suspensions, multiple gear ratios (from belt drive transmissions), and realistic engine noise sound effects. I tell my grandson that by the time he heads off to college I'll have a phone app where we can race slot cars remotely. There could be slot car clubs with local and online members, all racing together using real time video.

Many of the people drawn to slot cars (and model railroading) love to tinker with things, which leads to inventions and new techniques. The better ones have value, and with development can be marketed. Then the rest of us will wonder why we didn't think of that and get our wallets out.

Slothead

[Jesla]

This is the future.....

http://creativity-online.com/work/renau ... tric/33463

[TsgtRet]

[Dangermouse]

[ourwayband]

[dreinecke]

I'm not convinced it will ever completely die out, but I do know that the demographic is the age most folks on this thread have mentioned.

Model RR has had the same issue and has used things like DCC to make it more real for the digital age. I'm not sold on digital in slots yet, but that is because I like what I like.

I think that there will always be some kid that is interested in how things work and will like cars. Hopefully that will keep things going. Maybe not with many major manufacturers in the future, but at least some smaller makers and cottage folks.

[buspor63]