Can You "OD" on Slot Cars?

[Florida_Slotter]

I was wondering if anyone has a list of symptoms of "Slot Car Overdose"? I'm not sure, but I think I encountered it today.

As everyone knows the past two Tuesdays have been taken up with a couple of the biggest holidays of the year and I missed my time playing with little toy cars with my friend ModlerBob at our club track, DeBary Glen.

Today my wife mentioned that she was doing lunch with some friends of hers and she needed to be there at no later then 10:30 AM. I called ModlerBob and asked if he could roll out of bed around 9 AM. If so I would come over then and spend the day. He said he could make it and the day's plans were made. I arrived at DeBary Glen at 9 AM and it was a fine day.

We found the problem on the final lane of our routed track, so now we have all lanes up for folks to run on. So, we ran on them and had a blast.

Two of my favorite cars was the #30 Dodge Charger by Carrera. Aside from a set of Paul Gage "XPG" tires, it is 100% out of the box. The car is fast, handles well and is a blast to drive on the mdf. Of course we had to get out the Revell-Monogram stock cars to make sure we could run them against one another. I think the wood track is a great common denomiator as it looked like most cars could or would be competitive against one another. All it takes is you drive your butt off, all the time during a race and you can come out on top. Each time you miss a mark, hit the throttle too abruptly or just don't do your job 100%, the opponent can gain an advantage. Lots of fun.

I have a Scalextric "Start" Formula 1 car. It was purchased from an overseas vendor. The box contained 2 basic cars for $44.50. Perhaps the reason the car is so good on wood is the same reason it is not that good on other racing surfaces. But with a pair of Paul Gage "XPG" tires on the back, it's fast, drives very well and is a blast. Best $22.25 I've ever spent on a slot car.

I had built my new Audi R18 and wanted to put an M/T-5 Long Can Motor in the car. However it did not quite fit with the Audi's body. There is just not enough room to put that motor in the Audi. But it went into my RAW Nissan with lots of room to spare. What a great car on the wood track. Totally tractable, goes right where you want it to and a very fun car.

Next up was a heart transplant on my Scalextric Classic F1 Lotus "Gold Leaf" car. It now has an M/T-SL2 Slim Can Motor in it. Yes, it also is now shod with a pair of Paul Gage tires. From a "handful of hell" to a "handful of pure driving joy"! Thanks for the tips Harry. I must say that was a major transformation in the characteristics of a slot car. I just love the car now. It's a joy to drive.

Of course, driving slot cars from 9 AM to 6 PM takes a lot of pressure, but I was up to the job. When I got a bit tired, I simply popped a Dum-Dum and it perked me right up and got my head back in the game again. But when I got home, had something to eat and sat down, the stress of the day caught up with me. But my wife said I had this big smile on my face while I made believe I was watching the Sugar Bowl much like my Gators were making believe they were playing in the game.

Do you think this could be a case of Slot Car Overdose?

Is there an antidote?

[Cosmic Bilby]

Yep, it is....

.....No, I don't think there is a cure as such....

Diversionary Therapy has been the only thing that has remotely worked for me, I shoot competitive archery, this keeps a bit of a lid on my slot car habit nowadays.

Except for the end of archery season (now), I try and squeeze in all my projects over the Christmas break.

Ended up with a dozen 1/32 scale cars and six 1/43 scale cars to play with, plus a heap of really cool parts I want to try...

....Nah, there is no help really as I stand here scratching my backside trying to work out how long its going to take me to get through all of this lot....

[Ember]

Psssssst. Rob. Time to come down here. Red deer season opened on Tuesday. Just a little bit earlier this year.

He's right though. There is no known cure. It's terminal I'm afraid. I've heard of instances where people have considered themselves cured only to have a relapse of symptoms years later. Wallet-ectomy has been suggested as a possible treatment, but I have never seen it work.

In fact, I'm proof it doesn't work. I didn't buy a single slot car last year until December. But still the collection grew by 8 to 10 cars.

Face it. You're doomed.
Embs

[smallblockhero]

well.. about a year ago i only owned 1 slot car an R/M McLaren M6 of Denny Hulme, no track, no track table, not even my own controller.. . now less then a year later im at this point (see Pics) ,,,im a lil overdosed at the moment. now i have scratch builts, kit bash cars, even went and bought a router... :lol:

[Florida_Slotter]

Smallblockhero,

You are my hero as well!

It's so good to know that someone has it at least as bad as I do, perhaps even more so.

I love the line . . . . . "then I went out and bought a router"! That's classic!

[dreinecke]

No, one cannot OD on slot cars, nor can one ever have enough of them.

Well, that's what my therapist told me last week...

[FootScoot]

I haven't OD'd yet, and look at this. It's only a portion of them. :D I have more on my work bench, not seen, and several more in the bedroom. :) Yet 3 more slot car boxes full, whew! :o

[Florida_Slotter]

Footscoot,

Thank you my friend. I feel much better now!



Bibbster,

Is there a secret handshake I need to learn?

[Florida_Slotter]

[Cosmic Bilby]

Yeah!!!

We do that here too, but generally the menfolk only do it at wakes and weddings....

Ember, you guys have Red deer down there??? I thought you guys would be into the more "upmarket" (the ones most Queenslanders dream of hanging on the wall) species in Vic???

We have Red deer here, Brisbane valley, Esk, up to us here on top of the range, I've never shot one (too lazy), but they do get some decent trophy class stuff out of here.

I like the meat though, our local butcher in town here sells it but I think its farm raised stuff....

....No we're all buggered, this slot car stuff is really addictive, I personally think giving up smoking is easier to achieve than curbing slot car intake :shock: :shifty: :sad-roulette:

[Ember]

We have at least 7 of the 9 Rob.

On slots...

These things breed. I'm sure. Another one just turned up this morning and I know I didn't buy it. I don't buy Slot.it cars or Ferraris. And this one's both!

[ChallengerGuy]

Yes:

[HomeRacingWorld]

Ok, no offense Bibbs...but I am NOT shaking your hand again.

Marty, the more the better. You are very lucky to have a group of fellow addicts around you. Many of us have to travel quite a ways to scare up a race, but that has become half the fun around here. We enjoy going across the Country and visiting folks, and equally enjoy hosting out little events here.

I have raced until the wee hours many times. You would think that would be enough for a weekend but no way, get up after a few hours and do it again :)

Never enough. There is no known cure either. Then again, you are diagnosed with a good case of FUN so we wouldn't want to get rid of it anyway.

[Cosmic Bilby]

Challenger Guy,

That is OUTSTANDING!!!

Thats how I'd like my man cave to look one day.....

...Beautiful tasted too I might add!

[ChallengerGuy]

Thanks Rob. Sadly I took it all down and sold most of the cars...but all is not lost, the most important bits were kept since i knew I was only taking a break. I still have a nice compliment of some 70 cars, oops, 72 - I just ordered a couple of unpainted Scaley 1970 Camaro's today! Drivers stations, people/spectators, tin signs, etc. So, it will look very similar when I get done this spring. I can't wait!!

Cheers,
Mike