Busy around here today - TGIW?

[HomeRacingWorld]

Of course the big toy show has a lot of us looking around.

Carrera sure is doing some good things. Pretty excited to see the return of the Torino. Perhaps not important to all, but for a good chunk of us, it is. Carrera seems to take USA interests seriously and it shows. Not to mention the groovy 57.

Also nice to see those of us with Ovals having a few new options. No one else is doing anything for that genre, so to me it's a very positive thing.

There might be even more news. Just remember that some releases are not even talked about until well after this fair. So who knows? :)

Happy to see the scratchbuilding side of things getting busier. I think the more we share the fun of this part of the hobby, more will join in. I like to think that sharing our builds/articles/tips is in some way 'handing down" or passing along this segment of the hobby.

Meeting Frydaddy this past weekend sort of brought that to light. Here is a young whipper snapper who really got on board with what he was seeing right here at HRW, as well as hob-knobbing with that bigshot Strangebrew :) The 2 cars he built were nothing short of impressive. Not to mention the new builders in the Showdown Fun Run.

Track builds too. Still getting an inbox full of new track owners improving their empires. Always good to see this. Some wood, some plastic. Who cares? Fun is fun regardless of surface.

Oh, updated the forum and website. Sometimes it's worth checking in to the main site as reference.

Hope most of you are having fun like we are.

[DaveKennedy]

Well i'm ready for a nap and it's only 1pm.... resizing all those pix takes a lot out of a girl.

[HomeRacingWorld]

I agree. I think my mouse finger has a cramp.

[Frydaddy]

Thanks Harry, coming from you I take that as a huge compliment! It's all HRW's fault, everyone here and the people I met at headquarters are all top shelf in my books, learned anything and everything I've done from this site........priceless info here!

I do hope we can get some sort of series going, would be cool to visit several places fairly close to home and run on some different tracks :D

[waaytoomuchintothis]

I tell ya, bringing back the Torinos was the best decision I've seen in a while. Big shots don't seem to give a crap about consumers' wishes, then Carrera comes along and hits my bull's eye. I'm downright proud of 'em.

Then there's that Kennedy character... I guess I have to thank him, too.

Thanks, Dave. You did good, dude.

[DaveKennedy]

Wow thanks. I really live and die about this stuff, sometimes it's a good thing to be a "true believer" in the job you have and sometimes it's hard when you have setbacks. This year we had more wins than setbacks with what we got into the catalog so it should be a good year. I'm already annoying folks with talk about 2017!

[HomeRacingWorld]

Carrera as a whole has went from near the bottom of popularity to the clear leader.

After having the honor of traveling to NYC and meeting the Stadlbauer family and others, it was clear they had a mission. So far they accomplished what they have set out to do, and a lot of that lies with the good people at Carrera of America. Having a real presence in the USA is something other companies lack and it shows. Combine that with the highly skilled artists like Gunther (who you can find at the bottom of most artwork) and you get some pretty outstanding models.

Some like to complain about everything and over the years I have learned to simply ignore most of it. You cannot make everyone happy. But in the past few years Carrera has given the American enthusiasts plenty to be happy about. The classic NASCAR series brought back. The start of the classic road racing series featuring Cobras and Cheetahs. Not to mention more modern models.

Other companies like Slot.it & Racer have a focus and hit the bullseye for me. Excellent quality/Fair Price. Others enjoy NSR, ScaleAuto, etc. All brands that have risen above.

But a lot of the fun we have comes from those "little guys". The homegrown, grassroots enthusiasts who make all those nifty tires, wheels, bodies, figures....etc and so forth :D

Without them, my personal hobby would suffer greatly. So would it for others. I don't want to pour my own tires. Don't want to turn my own wheels. Don't want to rush to Wal-Mart to scavenge toothbrushes just to have a motor. Not to mention gears...oh do I go through those. I think Mr. Slot.it could have a fleet of 1:1 supercars just based on my crown gear purchases. :lol:

From a simple spool of good braid to a fully 3D created performance chassis. We have it all. Even fancy tools to put them together with :) If not for them, my fleet of old Fly cars would likely never see the light of day. That would be a tragedy.

Most of these people work hard and sadly it can be a thankless position. Not from my view. I might have a wish list a mile long, but don't think for a second I don't appreciate what I have.

So my hat's off to all of you. From the folks behind the big brands we enjoy, to the aftermarket magicians. Truly a job well done. This is going to be another fun year in our hobby.

[nhdungeonracer]

:text-yeahthat:

Well said Harry!
I've been in this hobby for 15+ years. I've seen the the hobby from different viewpoints, and agree that what we have now is way beyond what we had back then.
So everyone, enjoy the ride, cuz as Harry says, it's about to get even better! :banana-dance:

[loosewheel]

Yes, Carrera is raising the bar and we will all benefit from from it. I'm going to do my part to support them. Much to the demise of my credit cards.