MORE EFORT WITH THIS SCALE !!

[michael_mahoney]

I would just like to say, I feel Scalextric and Carrera are missing out on a market for people that have money to spend buit not a great deal of space to have a 1/32 set, but want high detail in their cars and new tech like wireless controls and lane changing the same as 1/32 has

.I have aways liked 1/32 but it takes up too much room to have a good track that you can leave up for a few days, so what happens is that you just dont bother getting it out.

But 1/64 is much more user friendly, But it also needs sets aimed at adults,with more realustic cars, with lights, and digital lane changing with up to six cars and ghost cars etc,

I have seen on youtube someone wire up carrera wireless 1/32 controllers to a HO tomy track and as any track is just an electrical circuit I cant see why it is not bieng done already.

Looking from the outside, wondering what to buy, I see too many slot car companies producing 'their own thing' and also changing it all the time leaving everyone confused.

Micro Scalextric is good and could be fantastic and maybe set a new standard doing somthing that no other slot car comany is doing, I.E. digital 1/64 It can not cost that much to transfer the tech and do a few decent retro bodies.

Its a market you are missing out on THAT WILL GROW.

 

[woodcote]

Hi Michael - welcome to the forum!

 

I am a big fan of 1/64 scale (HO) slot cars for many of the reasons you outline. Here in the UK, most of what's been available for the past 25 years has been the old Micro Scalextric range, which was based on the pretty average Marchon MR-1 system. As an entry-level system, the old Micro Scalextric track was rather temperamental and unfortunately ruined a few too many Christmas days - not a good first experience of slot cars and not good business!

 

Scalextric - and their parent company Hornby Hobbies - have invested in designing a new 1/64 system from the bottom up. The new My First Scalextric and Micro Scalextric sets and cars first appeared in the summer of 2019 - just a few months ago. More sets, cars and accessories will be released this year. I really like the new system (see here: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/new-micro-scalextric-track-system/ and here: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/new-micro-system-sets) and it did really well over Christmas, both in terms of sales, awards and - most importantly - customer feedback. The Scalextric team have done a great job so far.

 

Although I do like last year's Micro Scalextric cars very much, I was excited to see some 'proper' cars in the 2020 catalogue. We have the Aston Martin DB5 and Jaguar XF appearing in the James Bond 'No Time to Die' set, plus the first appearance of the Scalextric Rasio C20 hypercar in 1/64 scale (in the Batman vs Joker and Ryan's World sets). I am sure there are more great cars to come. The James Bond set also come with plain black track - and the three accessory packs are in plain black too. Another nod to grown-up racers perhaps?

 

My suggestion is to give the new Micro Scalextric range time to develop. I'm sure it will remain mostly aimed at younger racers, but Scalextric have said they want it to become a viable option to 1/32 scale for those with smaller homes. I don't expect to see working headlights as standard, but who knows? The new cars are really well detailed, so I hope that continues with future releases. I do expect to see some electronic gizmos - like Spark Plug - developed for use with Micro.

 

As for 1/64 scale digital. I have seen 1/64 cars fitted with a tiny decoder and running on a 1/32 Scalextric digital layout. It is possible. Technically, running digital cars on traditional HO track would be difficult - there is a lot of arcing and that is the nemesis of digital chips... However, technically, the smooth flat rails of the new Micro Scalextric track do make a digital format more possible. In practice, the cars are very fast - my question (as a 1/32 scale digital racer) is would you want several of them competing on the same lane? Maybe, maybe not.

 

Probably the biggest obstacle is cost of developing such a system - it would be an enormous initial investment for the company and that would be passed on to the consumer. Digital Micro would cost as much - and possibly more - than the standard 1/32 digital system because of the necessary miniaturisation. The experience of Carrera with their Digital143 system is that most people go straight to the standard Digital132 and 124 systems - the 1/43 scale digital range is hanging on in the catalogue, but has not expanded. However, that's not to say that highly-skilled enthusiasts won't continue to play with the 1/64 scale digital concept.

[michael_mahoney]

Hi Michael - welcome to the forum!

 

I am a big fan of 1/64 scale (HO) slot cars for many of the reasons you outline. Here in the UK, most of what's been available for the past 25 years has been the old Micro Scalextric range, which was based on the pretty average Marchon MR-1 system. As an entry-level system, the old Micro Scalextric track was rather temperamental and unfortunately ruined a few too many Christmas days - not a good first experience of slot cars and not good business!

 

Scalextric - and their parent company Hornby Hobbies - have invested in designing a new 1/64 system from the bottom up. The new My First Scalextric and Micro Scalextric sets and cars first appeared in the summer of 2019 - just a few months ago. More sets, cars and accessories will be released this year. I really like the new system (see here: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/forum/new-micro-scalextric-track-system/ and here: www.scalextric.com/uk-en/new-micro-system-sets) and it did really well over Christmas, both in terms of sales, awards and - most importantly - customer feedback. The Scalextric team have done a great job so far.

 

Although I do like last year's Micro Scalextric cars very much, I was excited to see some 'proper' cars in the 2020 catalogue. We have the Aston Martin DB5 and Jaguar XF appearing in the James Bond 'No Time to Die' set, plus the first appearance of the Scalextric Rasio C20 hypercar in 1/64 scale (in the Batman vs Joker and Ryan's World sets). I am sure there are more great cars to come. The James Bond set also come with plain black track - and the three accessory packs are in plain black too. Another nod to grown-up racers perhaps?

 

My suggestion is to give the new Micro Scalextric range time to develop. I'm sure it will remain mostly aimed at younger racers, but Scalextric have said they want it to become a viable option to 1/32 scale for those with smaller homes. I don't expect to see working headlights as standard, but who knows? The new cars are really well detailed, so I hope that continues with future releases. I do expect to see some electronic gizmos - like Spark Plug - developed for use with Micro.

 

As for 1/64 scale digital. I have seen 1/64 cars fitted with a tiny decoder and running on a 1/32 Scalextric digital layout. It is possible. Technically, running digital cars on traditional HO track would be difficult - there is a lot of arcing and that is the nemesis of digital chips... However, technically, the smooth flat rails of the new Micro Scalextric track do make a digital format more possible. In practice, the cars are very fast - my question (as a 1/32 scale digital racer) is would you want several of them competing on the same lane? Maybe, maybe not.

 

Probably the biggest obstacle is cost of developing such a system - it would be an enormous initial investment for the company and that would be passed on to the consumer. Digital Micro would cost as much - and possibly more - than the standard 1/32 digital system because of the necessary miniaturisation. The experience of Carrera with their Digital143 system is that most people go straight to the standard Digital132 and 124 systems - the 1/43 scale digital range is hanging on in the catalogue, but has not expanded. However, that's not to say that highly-skilled enthusiasts won't continue to play with the 1/64 scale digital concept.

 

[michael_mahoney]

Hi Woodcote, and thankyou for your comprehensive answer, I agree with most of your points.

Thank you for bieng so polite in your answer as I was on a bit of a rant.

But I would like to add that I think the best addition to slot cars since the begining of slot cars are wireless controlers, I have some for 1/32 (arc air) If you ever play with younger kids, they always pull the controler wires out of the track also pulling the track up !

Wireless is fantastic and lets you put your own car back on when crashed while holding the controller and also lets you sit at the other side of the track without extension wires. And it stops kids pulling the track up.

This is somthing that should be on every kids set, and realy all sets.

There is no miniaturization needed, basicly the wires from the arc air are removed from the1/32 track and fitted to the 1/64 track. It would not cost lots to do this, and that is why I think it cannot cost thousands to develop one piece of straight lane change track in 1/64 and to save money dont bother trying re design the powerbase just remove the 1/32 track from it and use the same powerbase  with a 1/64 piece with the same wires and circuitry in the same place it was on the piece of 1/32 track. The only thing that needs to be smaller is the digital chip in the car (i understand this could be the biggest problem and this is the thing that could ramp the costs up. There is a German guy on ebay that sells modified digital chips for carrera 1/43 scale cars and they are smaller than the standard carrera chips so it may be possible. I understand it may cost just as much as a 1/32 set but when space is an issue and not  cost it might be something to look at.

And headlights at least ! all the matchbox powertrack cars of the late seventies had these ! Sometimes it feels like its taking a long time to come forward just a little bit.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you.

[woodcote]

Hi Michael. Adapting the full-size 1/32 scale accessories for Micro Scalextric certainly doesn't require re-inventing the wheel. However, there are differences that need to borne in mind...

 

• The input voltage of the 1/32 scale powerbases is 15 volts - this runs the track, the 2.4GHz wireless controller interface and the Bluetooth interface for communication with a smart device. The input voltage of the Micro Scalextric powerbases (battery and mains) is only 9 volts.
• The guide blade on the Micro Scalextric cars is too small to trigger the optical sensor that is the basis for lap counting with ARC One, ARC Air and ARC Pro. I have looked at adapting an ARC One powerbase for use with Micro Scalextric and the best option would be to use Hall Effect sensors that are triggered when the car's traction magnets pass over the track.
• The ARC wireless controllers are very good. However, they are too big for the smallest hands - the target audience for Micro Scalextric.
• Any Micro digital system would need new miniaturised electronics for the cars and lane changers.
• For a functional digital track, 1/64 scale (3-inch wide) lane changers, pit entry/exit pieces and single lane pieces would be required.

None of this is impossible - a DIY version would require considerable technical knowledge and skill, but could use modified 1/32 scale accessories and off-the-shelf components. For digital, creating specialist lane-changing track pieces would be a big job and the biggest hurdle.  To produce an official Scalextric product would require a lot of development work, testing and significant amount of very expensive new tooling. In other words, a huge investment for Hornby Hobbies - with absolutely no guarantee of any sales. It makes no business sense.

 

I do expect to see Scalextric continue to develop the Micro range in 2021 and onwards. I am guessing that they will look primarily to the core Micro market - young families - and offer accessories that add to the experience of the basic sets. At some point, I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of lap counting and some sort of wireless controllers. However, I think the design team will look to the technology of today rather than back to the ARC system that is now six years old. There are some very cool and exciting concepts that other leading toy companies are experimenting with at the moment. Innovation is very important, but so are getting the basics right.

 

The Scalextric team were very open when they launched the new My First / Micro system last year - the foundation is a vastly-improved and easy-to-use analogue system to give a near-perfect first experience of slot cars. From that, Scalextric want to offer a Micro range that offers an enjoyable medium-term hobby experience - acknowledging that some families may choose to stick with 1/64 scale because it is more suited to the size of their home than 1/32 scale. How that range develops depends on hard facts - sales, demand and the overall financial health of the company. I imagine it will be an exciting but gradual evolution, as we've seen in the nine months since the first sets arrived.

[Lexden01]

Hi,

I would like to add that I think 1/64 is an excellent idea.

I would like to see Formula 1 cars nicely detailed. I appreciate that this is asmall scale but 

I am sure that many, many collectors would love colect 1/54th, detailed, F1 cars from the early days to now.

This could be a big market fro Scalextric's new 1/64 track venture

Lexden01