Who are slot racers??

[mattb]

I have been wanting to reply to the "expand slot racing" and "popularity" threads with a few thoughts I have had, but some of this is a little different subject so I'll start a new thread.

I read between the lines one thing from what Dave Kennedy posted about popularity that kind of opened my eyes a little. He stated that 1/43 was the biggest seller and how good digital is and will become. This kind of made me think a little deeper about that.

That seems to imply to me that if 1/43 is the biggest seller, it is being sold as a "toy" (don't you 1/43 guys get mad), the kind of set a kid gets at Christmas or his birthday, not a hobbyist or adult "toy". If I'm not too far off base, that would mean the majority of set sales are just playthings for kids with no slot experience. That makes 1/32 and especially 1/24 in the minority of "set" sales. What about it Dave? Is that a reasonable conclusion?

As to digital, I can only say I know no one with digital at home or that race digital among the slot guys I know in my area. In the HRW forum, surely about the most popular place for 1/32 guys, I see very little digital discussion. There is some, but what is it 3%-5% of total discussion? Maybe in Europe digital is #1 or will become #1, but I sure don't see that happening in America. Lack of a standard no doubt is a big part of the reason and Dave says that no standard will probably ever come about for digital. I think it is possible that will lead to digital becoming a format that will fade out. That is unless it is a really big deal in Europe. Keep in mind that 5-6 groups in America that race digital on home track rotations will not support a company or format. How many HRW members do buy analog 1/32 cars, though?

Plus I see definite divisions of slot racing, kids playing with toys, men racing on home tracks, men with sceniced, scale raceways and playing alone in the basement because of a lack of close by slot racers, guys racing big cars on commercial tracks which have very little to do with 1/32 scale. Then guys like me that do 1/24 at home and commercially, and I just like to create stuff.

What are you guy's thoughts on all this? If you try to expand popularity, who do you target and how. Each of these groups would take a different focus. Not that it is going to happen, but who and where is the money best spent to advertise. TV time on racing broadcasts, toy stores and kids shows at Christmas, demos at rod runs and car shows, do you push 1/43 as a starter or 1/32 for serious adults? Lot's questions, but few answers.

[RichD]

Slot racers are mostly grown men racing toy cars for bowling trophies.

[sidedraft]

In our neck of the woods we run only 1/32 Digital on a 70' + 4 high lane high bank oval. We also have raced on a couple wood tracks switching over to run analog. 2 of our slot racers run 1:1 stock cars, the local dirt track is right across the road from our purpose built slot track. We have anywhere from 6-10 guys on a weekly bases in the off season when the dirt track is closed. We have had a recent surge here of guys & gals that are interested in slot car racing most of them say oh I remember racing those little cars & have seen how times have changed when they see our digital track, most of them leave with a smile on their face!.

[chappy]

Im with John on this one. Its one of those loaded questions. Now back to my work bench.
Bob

[waaytoomuchintothis]

The many directions and depths of slot cars in general make "targeting" a waste of time. Just let it grow naturally, and people will find their own way. As a bonus, lots of folks find their way back after decades. So long as the creeping corrosion of greed doesn't make it too expensive to be fun, slot cars will endure.

[Czar]

Matt, you are right about there not being too many comments about digital racing in this forum. But, this is not the only slot racing forum. I do not mean to offend anybody, but whenever digital is brought up here, the consensus is to dismiss it; usually because it is "too hard, or "too different." This is a very respectful forum (and 99% of us want it to stay that way) so when someone dismisses digital there isn't much of a fuss. If it is not your cup of tea, I take no issue (though I sincerely think you are selling yourself and slot racing short). Many digital racers have found other outlets for discussion. Digital slot racing isn't going to fade away. If the kids that have cut their teeth on video games are going to get interested in slot cars, it will be because of options that digital provides. I think one of the next big options will be goggles that allow you to drive with the perspective of the driver in the car! As far as a digital standard in America, I think, because of their popularity, you are now seeing Carrera as a de facto standard. I am speculating here, but, I am sure Dave Kennedy will tell you that digital is making up more and more of their sales every year. I believe he will also tell you that Carrera only has plans to expand their digital offerings.

[arroldn]

I came back to slots after my wife bought me a 1/43 set for my birthday. Gave it to our nephews. Went looking online found SCI and HRW. Purchase a Scaley 1/32 track. Found Bullitt Speedway in Louisville running at that time 1/32 on their Blue King. That has since given over to 1/24 scale but the racing is hardbody model cars on a H&R chassis. So I have 1/32 cars which I participate in about 6-7 proxies. A track open in White House TN last year about a 45-50 min drive from the house. But they run the traditional 1/24 type cars. 3 sec blurs on a Blue King.
If it had not been for SCI and HRW I may have just put the cars in the basement since my son was not interested and he is now 24 and no longer in the house. Proxies keep me going and the occasional drive to Louisville. When I first got started Mark's Derby City Classic got me hooked. I did drive to Memphis and SEMO for a little action too. Road trip time.

Arrold

[DManley]

I am in a small town in Northern Lower Michigan. I had H.O. cars when I as a kid, and never got rid of them. I Raced in basements with T-jets and Magna tractions for a few years. I got into 1/32 in the '90s and found a couple of racers. For a while, we raced in Prudenville in a marina and bait shop. Later, we ran in a couple of basements. After a hiatus of several years, we are trying to get three or four guys together to race again. I used to have a portable track that I dragged to some churches. It was in five pieces, and it sat right on top of a quartet of 8 foot tables. I am looking at building another portable track that's a bit smaller, and this one will be routed. I may not end up gaining converts to slot car racing, but we sure will have a lot of fun.

I got into slot cars as a little kid, playing with T-Jets at my Cousin's house. I never totally gave up on H.O., and got into 1/32 in the '90s. I only did 1/24 commercial track racing a few times. I just never got into the glue and stuff. I was racing R/C cars at the time, and I also raced full size cars on ovals, plus ran my street cars at bracket races. During the Winters, I did snowmobile drag racing and motorcycle sidecar Ice racing. Slot car racing stayed with me because I could do it at home whenever my work schedule let me play with them. I don't do R/C, full size, snowmobile or motorcycle racing any more, but I still play with slot cars. The funny thing is, I was won over by slot cars when I was in grade school. I don't know if I ever would have taken up the hobby if I was introduced to it as an adult. I do it because I still turn into a grinning six year old whenever I cut a nice lap.

As for the U.S. market, the 800 lb gorilla in the room is NASCAR. If you have a bunch of NASCAR cars going around a track, half the people in the room will make a redneck comment and walk away. If you have any other type of race car, the other half of the people in the room will come over, make a derogatory comment about foreigners, question your manhood and leave. Until we get NASCAR cars again, the opportunities to grow the hobby over here will be somewhat limited. Even our old racing group had guys who would only run stock cars, and others who would sit out the NASCAR class at every race. Luckily, the guys we are restarting with are willing to race whatever the group goes with. Even with the Anti NASCAR people, our old Carrera Vintage Stock Car class was a pretty big hit. We ran them with the rear magnet removed, but we left the slider in. They were pretty tail happy, but surprisingly quick for huge cars with evil handling traits! It seems like everybody smiled when we drove them. I am not a huge NASCAR fan, but I realize that if we don't have them represented, it shrinks the number of people we can attract.

On the other hand... What really amazes me is how popular the DTM class is becoming over here. We can't even watch them on TV any more, but almost everybody is running them. Most of us don't even know the drivers, or the sponsors, and the cars are not something we see over here, but the fact that they run well and make a competitive class with minimum investment gets people hooked on them. I don't know a whole lot about the series, but the slot cars sure are a blast. That to me is a good sign that we can get people enjoying the hobby without NASCAR cars being readily available. Expose people to a good time, and they forget what they are running.

I hope we can get a small group going again. Even if we don't end up convincing the whole town that this is the best hobby in the world, we know it is! But, if we don't get it going, I can still enjoy them and keep running solo. Best of both worlds :D

[mattb]

Some good replies. Maybe digital is bigger than it seems to be to me, it just isn't on this forum. I kind of figured other guys might add what exposure they have had to digital to see how popular it is with "us" hard core slot guys. I thought we might get some kind of accurate idea of how common digital is.

It still seems to me that 1/43 may be the usual starting point for kids and moving them to serious 1/32 would be a good avenue of promotion for future racers. Evidently that is just my feeling, but if 1/43 is the biggest seller, that sure seems like a good starting point for promotion.

My experience is that I could bring 5-6 new guys into racing, but they are all mid 60's and older and have been hot rodders all their lives. Of course, they all like vintage cars from our era and cars similiar to our street hot rods. While this is great for us, it doesn't do much for the future of slot racing. It does show that serious car guys are a good target group.

[BARC 1]

Having been into slot cars since the 60's I have run everything over my lifetime except digital. A fancy app and a GO set is what brought me back this time. My take on this is slightly different then Matt's. IF 143 is what is selling the most then why fight it. Cater to it. The past year I have built plenty of scratch built NoMag cars and they are fun to run, Go track is solid and the footprint much smaller. There is not many of us but there are a growing number who are trying to take 1/43 from "Kid's Toys" to scale slot cars. There is no reason to change scales other then the availability of parts. My guess is the reason people change to 1/32 is because it is the most supported scale with availability of product. IF a manaufacturer like Carrera started cater more to 143 then people would stay in it. This time around I chose 143 scale. I have boxes of 1/24 scale Cox stuff, and a good supply of 132 scale stuff as well. The track I built in 143 scale is more fun then the routed 1/24 scale scale track I used to run and the scratchbuilt NoMag cars drive just like their big brothers.

Having tasted the Arc One on my analog layout I realize how much fun tire wear,Fuel usage and pit stops can be even at it's most basic level. This has me wanting more, so I am looking at digital now. I am disappointed that Carrera has chosen to dumbdown the 143 digital. The complete technology could have transferred over to 143 if they wanted it to. So now I have to buy D132 and customize it to work in 143 to get 6 cars and full features. It won't be hard, but I have been a hobbyist for 50 years and have scratchbuilt Tanks, ships, and run DCC on my Nscale layout. I am not intimidated by this stuff, but for someone who grew up on video games, who doesn't know which end of the soldering iron gets hot, this would be daunting. We need to make it less daunting, so if 143 is selling well then start catering to it before you lose them. The reason why 143 may end up in the attic is because there is nowhere to go with it when you get tired of watching cars zooming around at lightspeed with little input from the driver. A simple thing like better controllers and some decent nomag cars in a "PRO" version might be all this is required to reel more people into 143 and into slot cars to stay. Many people after they experience the Go set, simply don't want to spend more money to go to 132, so the stuff gets shelved. A $50 pro kit in 143 that gives you a nice NoMag car with guide and a decent controller, might be all this is required to change this. That has been My personal experience with 143. Boring as heck if you run the stock cars. However NoMag, and better controllers has it no performing equal to the larger scales, and I was able to build a challenging track in much less space.

Digital is the future of slot racing IMO. 6 people racing 6 cars on a two lane track which require pitting and some race strategy add an element to the hobby traditional analog doesn't. I embrace this fact, and I am an old guy who used to frequent the big commerical tracks in the 60's. Sometimes you just have to accept change and go with it. I believe the elements that digital brings to the table can transform this hobby into more of a family event. Mom, Dad and the Kids can gather around the slot car track and have racing on a layout not much bigger then a pool table.( advantage of 143)

So who are slot car racers.? The question is who will be slot car racers. IMO if the hobby stays stuck in its roots with no new growth it will fade as sure as its participants do. In today's world you need to provide simple plug and play, and give people more bells and whistles. Look at Carerra 132 digital as an example. They got that right. Most older guys will support analog because we are passionate about it, but I am not so sure analog has the ability to keep the younger generation entertained.

You are competing in a digital world where time wasting entertainment sits in everyones' tablet or phone. To get their heads out of that and into slotcars isn't going to happen using 50 year old methods. The only reason I am back is because of Scalextrics and that simple little ARC One APP that allowed me to use my IPAD, time my races and brought pit stops into the mix. From there I built a permanent GO layout, built cars, bought parts and am now going to spend money on a digital set up. Disappointed that I have to convert D132 stuff and just wished I could buy D143 that operated just like the D132 stuff. If I didn't have the electronic skills to do this conversion, I may have stepped up to D132, or I may have just let this experience be a flash in the pan, and gone back to my other hobbies

Digital also has the ability to supply data that third party developers can cater to. How hard would it be to build an App that allows users to upload race times and them compile them in a manner that they can be run through an algorithm and the race results can be shared in a manner that is competitive. I e. Drive you car on your own track, upload that time and have that compared to other racers.

You might need to input variables like track length,number of curves that go into the mix as well as laptimes, but an enterprising programmer could build an algorithm that could make this work

OF course if you used equal "sets" this would be quite easy where people are competing on exactly the same track layout , so the only variable to compare is laptimes.

[sidedraft]