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How to Support 1/32 scale cars in Hobby Shops. Store Closes - Reopens

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Chaparral 2D		#21	[-]
Posts: 968 (04/29/08 10:35 AM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Greg, All the starter controllers aren't very good. The Scalextric hand throttle is a nightmare. Maybe NINCO's is acceptable, barely. Whether anyone likes it, it involves investments and expenses to really enjoy it. I have to wonder how many people have bought a set and put it away and E-bayed it when they had trouble getting the cars around the track ebcause of those lousy controllers. It was one of the first things we got rid of when we re-entered the hobby. Then we read how many posts here about "how my car isn't really controllable, I'm so frustrated, how do you guys run a car with no magnet for pete's sake!?" and the answer is that they're using a 14.8 or more V wall wart, and that when they get the voltage down, how much more enjoyable the activity is. Over, and over, and over again. Amd maybe Scaley support is x, but the results I see here in town at the Hobby Town are underwhelming and not the kind of thing to encourage any racing in the store, and when they said they were "selling to kids", they pretty much drove me out as well as anyone serious. The guys who think nothing of dropping a lot of bucks on tires, upgrade parts, etc. ad nauseum let alone the cars. I only go there when they have something unusual I can't acquire anywhere else. Bob
attic racer		#22	[-]
Posts: 255 (04/29/08 11:02 AM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Chaparral 2D wrote: Greg, All the starter controllers aren't very good. The Scalextric hand throttle is a nightmare. Maybe NINCO's is acceptable, barely. Whether anyone likes it, it involves investments and expenses to really enjoy it. I have to wonder how many people have bought a set and put it away and E-bayed it when they had trouble getting the cars around the track ebcause of those lousy controllers. It was one of the first things we got rid of when we re-entered the hobby. No argument here. I think Artin is a great value - especially when the cost of upgrading control and power are factored in. My point was that not every new hobbyist is going to be ready to tear into a new toy (Artin Ninco or whoever) to get it working right. Greg attic racer
Titan7170		#23	[-]
Posts: 104 (04/29/08 11:04 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I also think that you should start with something you carry......and that you can take down if you dont get the clientel you were hoping for. A decent plastic track would be the way to go and see how many people you get interested and coming in to spend time and money.......in a year (or 6 months) after you have your clientel (and they show up to purchase and race consistantly)then invest in something more permanent like a routed wooden track if thats what you want. But the thing is like you said that hobby shop is known / catered to the rc car boat and plane guys and girls. You need to get it known that you are moving to slotcars in the shop and get current racers and new generation from the area interested and see who shows up. Spending lots of money on slots and permanent track that people arent interested in will be a mistake if you cant get the clientel for that specific item in the store.
oldstromguy		#24	[-]
Posts: 1549 (04/29/08 12:24 PM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	My .03 (inflation, don't you know?). I've been told by two differnt hobby shop owners that their margin is the same for any of the major brands. If that is true, then it seems to me Artin is the best choice for an in store track. I've seen the dynamic many times. A kid wants a set. Parents see the price and they appear interested. Then they ask, "what it would cost to build a bigger layout than the oval pictured on the box", and they are immediately turned off by that added cost. Artin minimizes that shock because the sets come with more track than most other brands. I'd also have several pictures of alternate layouts that can be built with whatever set(s) you decide to go with. Newbies can't always see the potential. I'd also add a variable power supply so you could demo 1/43 and 1/24 cars as well as 1/32. Add brakes to the Artin start section, and use Parma resistor controllers. Offer to add the brakes to any purchased package that includes the after market controllers. Sell Artin and Scalextric cars for sure, and add Carrera cars if it is feasible to carry 3 brands. Stay away from the higher prices cars until folks start asking for them. While I agree that none of the stock controllers are great, I will say that the Artin controllers stood up well during an 8 hour beating at a trade show. I set up a 4 lane Artin track (with my own stuff!) for a local HobbyTownUSA store. That experience told me that stock controllers from any brand would be fine for kids and/or families who are just getting into the hobby. Best of luck. dennis
Vintage1952		#25	[-]
Posts: 480 (04/29/08 01:58 PM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Hey Jim congratulations on the new shop!.. I can give you some input from my short experience at promoting the slot cars in a hobby shop. I started out with a 5.5' X 8" table right in my front window with the Artin American Thinder 4 lane set. Used the set controllers, power pack and cars right out of the box. It drew a lot of attention with kids and adults on it all day long. I left it open for anyone who wanted to run the cars. After six months and the beginning of this new year I wanted to go a little bigger to host the local racing group that had developed from coming in an experiencing the Artin set. Now I have a Carrera 6 lane set with Parma eco controllers and an adjustable power supply and the Artin stockers always out to run. I tried the SCX tri-oval on the table when it was up front but the folks who came in had a much more difficult time driving it; and thus less fun. What I have gleaned from the experience is that you sell do better business having the track open to let anyone run when they come in. I did rent some time when I first put the larger track in but I think you do better financially by just letting people get on the track and have fun.. this sells sets, cars, and parts even if it is a larger layout or differant from an exact set you carry. Our local group has grown considerably. There were several HO scale guys that came in the shop and now have taken up the 1:32 and 1:1:24/25th scale H&R cars. An oval is easier to drive and increases the initial fun factor.. the Carrera track allows you to promote the H&R chassis better.. thus your plastic model business will benefit too. I carry Scalextric, Carrera, SCX, and Slot-It cars in 1:32 and have had success with them all. The Fly and Ninco brands I haven't brought in because of the price points... so far no one has requested them... If you can develope a local group that meets in your store it can contribute significantly to creating some excitement in the store on a Saturday afternoon.... The hobby will sell itself when you just make it fun... If you have any further questions or I can clarify any of my ramblings you can e-mail at hobbyworld@att.net Doyle www.hobby-world.biz Last Edited By: Vintage1952 04/29/08 04:18 PM. Edited 1 times.
TomSetzer		#26	[-]
Posts: 543 (04/29/08 02:20 PM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	With your space limitations, there are only two realistic choices: 1:Scalextric Sport Analog, has the largest variety of track pieces, and the best looking borders also they have borders for both inside and outside of all track pieces. This track has slots that are deep enough for all makes of cars. The track is also flexible enough that you can do natural looking shallow banking and elevation changes. The only down side to Scalextric Sport is that it must be supported with thin plywood or MDF board in all banking and elevation changes including cross over bridges. The supports that come from Scalextric does not give banking or elevations a solid enough support. 2: Artin; This track doesn't have the variety of pieces that Scalextric has, but it makes up for this with its very reasonable cost. Artin also has deep slots, and the rails are in channels helping to prevent shorts. Artin borders do not look realistic but this can be cured with a little paint work, if it bothers you. Artin is an easy track to paint for a realistic look to the surface, Scalextric can be painted but it takes more work preparing the track for painting. Artin can be formed into shallow banking, but you must be very careful as Artin is a hard somewhat brittle track, Harry has instructions on how to do banking with Artin track in his article on building his track; http://www.homeracingworld.com/dixonhills.htm No matter which track you choose you will need a good power supply, I am using the Pyramid PS26KX supply. It provides variable clean D.C. at 6 - 15 volts at 22amp.s. There are othe good Power supplies such as The MG 0 - 20 volts at 10 amp.s available from Professor Motor and the almost Identical supply available from TrakMate . : -- Ragnar Tom Slot Car Realm - http://www.slotcarrealm.com/ First you have to finish, to finish first. Last Edited By: TomSetzer 04/29/08 02:29 PM. Edited 1 times.
Vintage1952		#27	[-]
Posts: 481 (04/29/08 02:59 PM) Home Racing Guru! Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Just want to second Tom's suggestions with a high recommendation for the Artin Oval... the American Thunder set requires a minimum 5.5 feet in width but Slot Car World also offers an Inner 4; 4 lane Artin Oval taht you can do in your space or you could buy the #2 & #3 turns and do the middle 4 lanes... if you have the room to go the 16 feet then by all means do so.. it adds to the fun. Good luck if I can help in any way don't hesitate to ask. Doyle www.hobby-world.biz Last Edited By: Vintage1952 04/29/08 03:52 PM. Edited 1 times.
Spaceshoes		#28	[-]
Posts: 160 (04/29/08 03:33 PM) Home Racing Forum Veteran Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I'll have to stop by when I come up to the IndyCar race in June. I've only had one experience racing 1/32 cars at a commercial track. It was either $5 or $10 per car entered and half of the entry money was given to the winner in form of "track cash". This was, of course, redeemable at the track for cars and parts. I actually won it once and it worked out well because I could then by something that I wouldn't have typically bought. Of course I was still a few dollars short so I had to spend an extra $4-5 to make the purchase. I had a great time with it. As for the format, I'm not sure how common it was, so I may be explaining the obvious here. It was a run what you brung type deal. We'd qualify and then the cars would be handicapped. Of course, if you had any laps that were quite a bit (not sure the tolerance) faster than your qualifiying lap, it didn't count. If there were enough cars, they'd split them into 2 races, the faster cars and the slower cars. Some would enter two cars and run 1 in each division. We then ran a modified crash and burn format. Each heat lasted maybe 4 minutes. If you wrecked, your car was taken off, but at 1 minute intervals, track power would be cut for a few seconds and all cars were placed back on. For a new guy like myself, it was great because everyone competed together, but the emphasis was on running a smooth race not having a $200 car that was fast. Of course, after I won one of the "slower" races, I used my winnings to buy a faster car so I could have two entries.
HEY YOU MR Z28		#29	[-]
Posts: 417 (04/30/08 12:24 AM) Home Racing Forum Veteran Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	"Let me clear this up" How to support Any Hobby shop don't ask for a hand out! As rents keep going up and up and . Hobby shops are forced to move off the main path to the back streets. $$where they have to pay to advertise Mike
MoparSlotCarRacer		#30	[-]
Posts: 41 (04/30/08 04:49 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Awesome news Jim ! No brainer in my mind. For HO, TOMY track; for larger scales - Carrera. Both offer the best quality of any other brand, and the deepest slots which help greatly, and the smoothest joints when fitted. And also, dead strip lapcounting is mandantory for fool proof consistancy and lack of miscounts plus the easiest to troubleshoot should any problem arrise. With the returning popularity of 1/24, why would anyone limit themselves to only 1/32 - 1/43 ? Carrera runs them all ! And with all the HO merchandise which will generate profits, give an HO track serious consideration.

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