Slot car pricing?

[dreinecke]

Thinking more about this; what is more important to you? Would you pay $200 for a VERY limited edition car that will never be made by a major slot car manufacturer if it meant curtailing some other purchases? Would not getting 4 new Scalextric cars (at MSRP - not what they really can be found for), or 5 Carrera cars, etc. be ok for you for a few months if you found a car you just had to have because you were in love with the body or it had a special meaning to you (favorite car/driver/race/etc.)?

To me, the answer is yes. And, I've done it twice. Once was on a Peter Pre 2J that I am still in debt to RMMSeven for selling me and another was for a very hard to get Scalextric car. I have two cars that I wanted - not for the collector value, but because the cars were two of my all-time favorites and up until now no one else has made them. I actually drive both and have run the Scalextric lotus pretty hard and remotored that car. The 2J is still perfect and I run laps with it on fairly regular special occasions.

What say you?

[Gameover]

I would go for quantity my self. There are just to many cars I still want and couldn't justify spending $200 on just one car.

Great topic can't wait to see everyone's opinions!

I've purchased a few spendy retired cars but $60 is the most I paid for them.

A slot it repsol Porsche and a scx line green cuda :)

[Retro Racer 44]

When I raced in the 60s, I had as many cars as could fit in my race case, about a dozen. Each one was scratch built, and as I was building more all the time, when one was done I would sell another that I was tired of to make room.

When I started again 3 1/2 years ago, I bought one car to satisfy each of our racing classes, about 6, then I started to collect more and soon had ten times that many. A lot of these were second hand and some were gifts, but all were for racing.

In the last year or so, I have only bought one new car, the rest of my money has gone to parts for scratch built cars, mostly for proxies. I have even sold a couple of my cars to buy more parts.

Quantity or quality is a matter of need and taste. If a one off collectors car is your pleasure, go for it. If you can buy two NSR's for the same price and race them hard, that works also. If you want a nice collection of fun cars that you won't cry if your kids or grandkids race and break them, buy a lot of RTR cars like Scaley or Carrera.

An even better deal is to follow the buy/sell on slot forums and ebay, and if you know the true prices you can get lots for little. My fastest car is an NSR Porsche 917 that I paid $45 for.

The price point is in the eye of the beholder, eh?

Cheers,

Keith

[Dangermouse]

I wrestle with this question all the time.

I think in the past I would have bought the 4 cars rather than the 1 - I always found it hard to justify spending big dollars on a car. However now that I have been buying cars for a bit longer and have a few in my collection I find I am more considerate in my buying.
If there was a car I was really after I would pay the extra dollars for it.

Today I visited the slot shop - there were probably 4 cars I quite liked the look of and a few more that also caught my eye - but I only bought the one - it was the more expensive of the 4 but it was really quite worth it I think - the Carrera 1/24 Martini 917k Porsche

:)

[Ember]

The answer is a simple yes and no. I'm fairly fussy with my slot car purchases today, because I've got to be. But if I was able to purchase a superb (to me) rendition one of my super favourite cars (f'rinstance an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale) from a small quantity manufacturer for say $200 or $300, I would do so.

But there in lies the no. It would be a small quantity artisan manufacturer. I wouldn't do so for Scalex, Carrera or Slot.it.

[Fast Co.]

A timely question as I'm looking at pictures of Racer's new Ferrari 512. I have several cars in my collection that I paid big dollars for - a MaxiModels McLaren, a couple of very rare Fly Mini Auto cars - the silver Lola T70 and the Mantara Challenge Marcos. I've also paid big dollars for cars that are more common but hard to find because they're highly desirable overall. These cars were dupes. I have a large collection of shelf queens but like to have dupes of cars that I want to race. These are mostly Slot.Its - the Kenwood and Canon Porsches, the first Shell Porsche (before the 2nd was released), the Kouros Mercedes - not really worth the price I paid for them, but like I said, they are (or were) difficult to find at reasonable prices. I love Racer's cars and I have one Racer that I paid full retail for - the absolutely, stunningly gorgeous, Ferrari 330 P4 - worth every penny I paid for it. Racer really captured the beautiful, sexy lines of that car. The other 5 Racers I own I bought second hand for about half the retail price. For that kind of money I couldn't resist. The cars are not only gorgeous, but good runners to boot.

So, I don't think I answered your question David. I guess the short answer for me is I just have a hard time resisting whatever the price - or at least I used to. These days I'm living on a fixed income and have to be much more selective about what I purchase. Sometimes, I think a small collection of just the cream of the crop makes the most sense, but then every time I see a new release of a previously unreleased body style, or one improved upon previous editions, or just a beautifully liveried car, or one that has historical or personal significance for me, or one that has all these things, well then… cha-ching!

[btaylor]

Being someone that is trying to get all the Cartrix GP legends cars, I dont really know what my limit of spending per car is.
I have a ceiling that i put on most other cars, I figure what ever it costs to scratch build the car i want, is about the most i will pay for a RTR car. Give or take a few bucks. Since most of the cars we all want are available in resin somewhere, I always know i can have at least a version of whatever it is i desire so much in my collection. I do not collect slots in the
"on the shelf only" manor,as i race all my cars. If i didnt want to race them , i would by diecasts or static models that are way cheaper.

Bob

[Jesla]

Yes, I've done it many times and have always been more than happy with the decision.........

[ElSecundo]

In the early days, it was all about getting all the cars I was interested in. And yeah, that's a lot of cars. Back then, it was better to buy four regular cars rather than one special car. Today, the car has to be pretty special to get my attention. First, the collection just takes too much space. If I'm going to add another car (forcing me to rearrange huge stacks of cars), it has to REALLY be worthwhile. Second, I've gotten jaded over the years, and the car really needs to be a work of art to add it to the collection. I'm much more inclined to buy special (and sometimes expensive) cars at this point.

[dreinecke]

All good points. And I asked the question to get a feel for what others think.

At one time I had a collection that I'd amassed that was basically anything I saw with no rhyme or reason to it. Sure they were all pretty little baubles, but to what point?

I sold a bunch off and made essentially 5 classes that I really love running: Trans-Am, Can-Am, classic Sports Cars, vintage Stock Cars, and vintage Grand-Prix.

Johnny makes a great point with this: "But mostly I count special the souvenirs of friendships..a Harry tuned Lola or shotgundave sedan tops exotica every time. " I agree - several cars that folks have built and sent me mean more to me than most of my cars together.

However, this point: "And paying a high dollar can be an admission of failure to build something..." I DON'T agree with. Unless you want to spend $300-1000 doing the RP 3D work, sourcing a chassis, spending time for the build etc., a particular car you want may just cost you as it will be the only example of it ever.

Don't believe me? Ask me how much money and time I have into 3D models that I've turned into kits because there was nothing else available for a particular car that I just had to have.

Spending $200 on a Chaparral 2J was WELL worth it. The example of Racer is another good one - some of their cars only they make. Better yet: Spend $500 on one of their transporters. Those are works of ART!

[DaveKennedy]

[ChallengerGuy]

Like many people, I was all about VOLUME back in the heady days of the 2000s before the "crash". Then, over time, I downsized the bulk and kept the special builds or cars I simply enjoy....and realized I had sold off a few cars I liked having around...so, this past year, I found them all...and then some. But I have now reached my personal limit so I am focusing on esoteric things - tools, machines, controllers, specific sectional pieces of track (in HO), etc. It helps the limited funds in my wallet and my limited space in my house! As time moves forward, many of these cars will turn into trades once again. It's a fun cycle. So, yeah, I would pay more for a interesting car or accessory but these days I am looking for things that document the history of slot cars, no so much the newest latest car...except those darn Slot It 962/956 cars. LOL.

[ElSecundo]

[RazorJon]

Carrera made a 1\32 Batman car about 10-12 years ago, only for sale in Europe, last I saw one on e-bay was $250.00 plus.

That would be the only car I would pay big bucks for, but $250.00 is to much for me.

I build what I want, if I cant get it in 1\32 I will build it in 1\24

[DaveKennedy]