Hi All:
I am Andre Ming from eastern Oklahoma, USA. I'm old enough to have been onhand during the original Slot Car Craze in the 60s. (My first slot track was an early Eldon in 1962!) WOW... what a fun trip THE ORIGINAL slot craze was. Saturday afternoon at the tracks... the sound of high-revving motors... the smell of Wintergreen... ahhhhh...
But, I digress.
I had several slot track systems "back then": Eldon, Strombecker (2 sets, 1 was huge), Aurora... and tons of slot cars, most 1/32 but also some 1/24 for the commercial tracks. By the mid 70's it was all used up (all the stuff was played to death and was long gone) and I was out of slots for many years until I rediscovered them about 1990. Much to my surprise, at the time vintage slot cars were to be found at VERY affordable prices. (Very little "new stuff" was available.) I was back. Bought boxes of Strombecker and Revell track w/aprons/etc for $10. (Eat your heart's out.) Picked up nice Strombecker and other cars for as little as $10! Also bought New Old Stock (NOS) "left over" Strombecker (Canada) cars, track, and parts, for mere peanuts. Ended up with literally boxes and boxes of track and shelves and shelves of slot cars... parts out the wazoo. Fun times.
Along came computer auto sim racing in the mid 90s. I got into that and was hooked big. In a real act of stupidity I liquidated my slot cars. (They had fallen into disuse on account of no one to race with. Burned out the wife and daughter loooong ago.) I was slotless until about 1998 or so, and I noticed that slots were making a comeback and some REALLY nice stuff was being made. Sooooo... I bought a Ninco F1 set. Didn't like it. Cars too twitchy, track too grippy... missed the slip-slidey stuff of yore. The Ninco set is still packed away in its original box in the attic.
Now... let's fast forward to TODAY:
I have discovered DIGITAL slot racing. Presto: I can race by myself when I want. Or, can race with the upcoming Son-in-law.
OR... I can race with the
upcoming son-in-law, daughter AND the wife... all at once! Nice.
So, I'm thinking about taking the plunge and getting a digital track. I'm 99% sure I'm going with Carrera D132, simply because their track looks like what I grew up with: Slip-slidey and wide lanes.
I think my main interest will again be toward "Saturday Night-type" oval racing on a small, managable track as opposed to the huge and sprawling Mega-Tracks I assembled in the 90s. I enjoy kitbashing my own cars. (Hopefully home built cars can be "chipped"?) Years ago, I had the most fun simply racing Saturday Night type of racing on an my Aurora oval set. I've also enjoyed it over the early 90s. Could be that digital will add an entirely new aspect?
Just tonight I discovered these forums, and I LOVE this Oval Action section! The thread "All My Boss Bodies" by gt40smitty is EXACTLY the type of car I enjoyed building most and the type of racing that was the most fun. That sort of racing and car building is what I want to do if I return to slotting.
Well, enough of my rambling.
Andre Ming
Oklahoma USA
I am Andre Ming from eastern Oklahoma, USA. I'm old enough to have been onhand during the original Slot Car Craze in the 60s. (My first slot track was an early Eldon in 1962!) WOW... what a fun trip THE ORIGINAL slot craze was. Saturday afternoon at the tracks... the sound of high-revving motors... the smell of Wintergreen... ahhhhh...
But, I digress.
I had several slot track systems "back then": Eldon, Strombecker (2 sets, 1 was huge), Aurora... and tons of slot cars, most 1/32 but also some 1/24 for the commercial tracks. By the mid 70's it was all used up (all the stuff was played to death and was long gone) and I was out of slots for many years until I rediscovered them about 1990. Much to my surprise, at the time vintage slot cars were to be found at VERY affordable prices. (Very little "new stuff" was available.) I was back. Bought boxes of Strombecker and Revell track w/aprons/etc for $10. (Eat your heart's out.) Picked up nice Strombecker and other cars for as little as $10! Also bought New Old Stock (NOS) "left over" Strombecker (Canada) cars, track, and parts, for mere peanuts. Ended up with literally boxes and boxes of track and shelves and shelves of slot cars... parts out the wazoo. Fun times.
Along came computer auto sim racing in the mid 90s. I got into that and was hooked big. In a real act of stupidity I liquidated my slot cars. (They had fallen into disuse on account of no one to race with. Burned out the wife and daughter loooong ago.) I was slotless until about 1998 or so, and I noticed that slots were making a comeback and some REALLY nice stuff was being made. Sooooo... I bought a Ninco F1 set. Didn't like it. Cars too twitchy, track too grippy... missed the slip-slidey stuff of yore. The Ninco set is still packed away in its original box in the attic.
Now... let's fast forward to TODAY:
I have discovered DIGITAL slot racing. Presto: I can race by myself when I want. Or, can race with the upcoming Son-in-law.
OR... I can race with the
upcoming son-in-law, daughter AND the wife... all at once! Nice.
So, I'm thinking about taking the plunge and getting a digital track. I'm 99% sure I'm going with Carrera D132, simply because their track looks like what I grew up with: Slip-slidey and wide lanes.
I think my main interest will again be toward "Saturday Night-type" oval racing on a small, managable track as opposed to the huge and sprawling Mega-Tracks I assembled in the 90s. I enjoy kitbashing my own cars. (Hopefully home built cars can be "chipped"?) Years ago, I had the most fun simply racing Saturday Night type of racing on an my Aurora oval set. I've also enjoyed it over the early 90s. Could be that digital will add an entirely new aspect?
Just tonight I discovered these forums, and I LOVE this Oval Action section! The thread "All My Boss Bodies" by gt40smitty is EXACTLY the type of car I enjoyed building most and the type of racing that was the most fun. That sort of racing and car building is what I want to do if I return to slotting.
Well, enough of my rambling.
Andre Ming
Oklahoma USA
back to the insanity, I mean the hobby of slot cars, my experience
with digital was not very good, I hope going with Carrera will be a good choice for you.
