Why Kids Don't Play With Slot Cars

[DaveKennedy]

[DaveKennedy]

There are many, many reasons that people don't know slot cars as a main stream toy. The main one being that in the 1960's we saw the commercial track emerge as the main way that people would race/buy slot cars. As big box stores grew in the 70's-80's the started to drive the retail business. At that time commercial tracks started to fail because using so much of the space in a store simply cannot generate the money needed to pay the bills. Those track didn't support the sales of home set slot cars because the owners of those tracks didn't see the point in selling someone a track they could take home and then not have that consumer return to race - which again... their whole business model was based on returning consumer spending money on more track time and cars-but again, those cars became cars that couldn't be raced on home sets... which in turn made the sales slump because the two types of slot car consumers homeset vs. commercial track great wider. It snow balled. Until what we have today. Most commercial tracks are a shadow of their former selves with little relevance to popular culture. Home sets were pushed out at the most obvious place for sales.. .the commercial track. AND with the growth of big box stores-who, BTW don't actually like to sell products in big boxes. Those larger, nationwide chains grew and pushed out the smaller stores because larger stores could and did buy from the newly growing place for production... CHINA! You have to be able to buy in BULK to buy from a manufacturer in China. Local stores still struggle to buy in quantities from China to be able to get costs down (and BTW now those production numbers are going to countries like Vietnam and India).

Further, the slot companies in Europe stayed as normal main stream toys. Scalextric/SCX who were the same company for many years until the era we're talking about here, and Carrera in Germany/Austria... all of those companies were the largest manufacturers in their own home markets and they produced sets for toy stores which pretty much stayed the same throughout the 80's-90's and into today. If you visit a toy shop in Spain, England and Germany (and I have) what you would see are stores that we'd see here in the US as a hybrid between a hobby shop and a toy store. In department stores in downtown Barcelona or Nurnburg or London you WILL find displays of slot cars and toys right next to or in the same store as other toys and clothing.

Buyers for major chains here won't do this. If you look at what Target sells for "road racing" you will see pretty much one type of toy car, Hot wheels and that type of non-electric toy. Why? Because that's what the buyers will buy... period. I've been in meetings during Toy Fair Dallas and NY and at the HQ (when it existed of TRU) and those buyers aren't interested in a larger scale, electric set, that costs over $100.00. They will tell you their own customers won't buy a set for more... I'm not the one doing the sales pitch directly but I'm there when my boss and the sales manager have been doing these pitches for over 10 years now and the song is always the same from the big box folks. They care about 1. license-does the item have an entertainment license they can "billboard" with the other items in that section they are trying to fill 2. what is the cost... under $100.00 retail cost please or they're not interested 3. how big is the box going to be on the shelf (too big is bad BTW)

Licenses-buyers want to see the hot new license, which means things for kids that will be movie properties or tv show properties so they can fill a space in their store in that section. Go to most any of those national chains (the ones that are still around... that number is shrinking by the day sadly) and you will see that the toy aisles are mostly what's called a "planogram" which is mapped out to the inch with licensed items in sections in a store... if you make something that doesn't fit into their idea of what that planogram should look like.. they aren't interested.

So, it may be hard to believe but trust me everything I've said above is the case.

[proxieken]

[DaveKennedy]

And BTW just to add onto what Ken mentioned about table top gaming. We're going to be distributing a brand of table top game... and I'm working with another company to develop ideas for that market.

[Czar]

[slothead]

I certainly wouldn't want anyone to imagine I was out to make slot car racing great again - it's the best its ever been right now and is getting better thanks to the passion and creativity of folks like you see om HRW and other forums. Beautiful cars, reliable parts for tuning and building, digital options, lap counting and timing options, scenery, etc. Like everything else the hobby will keep evolving and people will find their own way to enjoy it, or not if it doesn't suit them.

But, I don't think the hobby is anymore in danger of dying than gardening, bow hunting, or wood working and carving. Hands on things done their own way suit a lot of us, and always will. Probably the worst thing we could do is want or expect others, especially kids, to do it our way. Support those who make and sell slot car products, share what we do with others, and be good people others want to be around - our passion might rub off on them.

[frank9129]

I have a mantra that I believe.
When you forget how to play, you get old.
When you get old, you die.
I ain't going nowhere. Let's go play.

[RazorJon]

I have turned on many kids to slot racing, now most of them are 15-21 but all my twin girls friends have raced on my track a few times, now do they go back to the Iphones yes but they all know about slot cars now, just 10 min ago I picked up Natalie from school, went through McDonalds drive window and the girl at the window goes I know you, you have the huge race track in your basement I had a blast racing when I was a kid.

[DaveKennedy]

[Modlerbob]

I have my track on Facebook and other than attracting a few followers who don't have a clue as to what they are seeing it has done nothing to attract any racers.

[arroldn]

Dave,
I have a facebook page but have never gotten an add for anything slot car related. Get ads for a lot of other stuff. I mean posting stuff with pictures of proxy races, and being tied to Bullitt Speedway, I would have thought I would have gotten some attention. I will look up your page when I get home.

[DaveKennedy]

Ok well... the ads are targeted to people with slot interests but I cannot swear that everyone with slots as an interest get them. We are getting a few thousand impressions a day there and I've gotten a few thousand likes on some of our photos via targeted ads.
This photo for example gets about 150 likes a day via instagram (which is owned by Facebook) and over the time I've run the ad for the set has i think more than 3k likes.

[arroldn]

I take the page is Scalextric USA, correct?

[DaveKennedy]

[BARC 1]

Ugg on facebook. The human feedlot.