# How would you describe Yourself? Racer or Hobbyist!



## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

To further elaborate: Is your main interest in HO geared towards racing or More toward Hobbyist type of activities such as Collecting, Trackbuilding with more intent towards scenery than raceability, are your activities more towards how the car looks over how it performs if so I would say its more Hobbyist. I know all of us have some of each, but this poll is geared toward a persons main interest.
So to start it off I would describe my interest in HO Slot Cars as being more toward Racing!


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

I am a racer

at 1 time i did also collect, but that was to get racing parts more than anything.


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## TeamMadMarsupial (Dec 23, 2012)

Hobbyist without a doubt. While I do race with a small local club, with no afilliation, I would venture to bet that of the time I spend on my slot cars, 95% of it is on my builds that will be for display only. I spend what time I need to on my racers and race more for the social interaction with others interested in slot cars. I do not consider myself to have a competitive nature and have considered simply being a marshal rather than actually racing. I only focus on comparing my performance to what I did the previous year.
I also do not have any interest in collecting. An overpriced rare car holds no draw for me. In fact if given a valuable car, I'd not hesitate to sell it for dollars towards building supplies.


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

I am a hobbyist. I am a collector. I collect all brands of HO slot cars. I also collect Frisco trains and 1/87 vehicles. I used to have people over to trade slot cars, but now my house is stacked up like Hoarders. Now that I am retired, I need to clean it up. It is overwhelming.


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

Mine is a hobbyist. I am perfectly content in my basement tinkering with my cars, running them, cleaning them and displaying them. It is a visual fascination with miniature cars that run that interests me. It is also a control thing with owning and running a fleet of cars that I could never afford in the real world.

Old Blue


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Hobbyist for sure. I don't have the slightest inkling to race, or be competitive in any way. To the guys that do, more power to you! All aspects of the hobby are essential, especially now with our numbers dwindling yearly. I'm not a collector either. The first thing I'm going to do with a chassis or body is drill holes in it! :lol: 

My gig was (it's kinda dead now with a lack of a table) trying to recreate real cars in miniature that lit up for night time cruising. Sadly, with my current circumstances, my entire hobby time is delegated to sharing my joy with others, since I have no present way or means to enjoy them myself. My collection was severely liquidated just to supplement the TM's disability check and put a little coin in my pocket. Someday I'll try to build up my personal stable and miniature wunderland again... I hope!


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

old blue said:


> Mine is a hobbyist. I am perfectly content in my basement tinkering with my cars, running them, cleaning them and displaying them. It is a visual fascination with miniature cars that run that interests me. It is also a control thing with owning and running a fleet of cars that I could never afford in the real world.
> 
> Old Blue


I couldn't have summed it up better myself except maybe to add that I also enjoy building and painting custom cars, when my physical limitations don't hinder me.


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## mr_aurora (Oct 18, 2005)

HOBBYIST COLLECTOR who can be coerced into racing and usually winds up dead last..... I tend to humor the racerboyz with my expertize on the twak.


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*Racer or Hobbyist ?*

I'd describe Myself as a "Rac-ist".... Hah-Hah...just kiddin' 
Seriously, I think I'm more of a Hobbyist, who Races, but not seriously- does that make sense ? I love to build nice cars and take pride in making them run as best as possible given a specific budget restraint. But I really don't like to booger them up too much with Balls-Out Crashes. 
PS> And I also like to Scenic-out my layout with details too, but again, only as far as my "Low Budget" allows.


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## rodstrguy (Feb 14, 2002)

Hobbyist/collector... buy, build, and rebuild cars. Run em for fun.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Hobbiest and collector of many brands, although I do stop at cars which go past a certain price point.

My favorite part of the hobby is tinkering with pancake cars, especially cars that do not run well. After I get them running reasonably good, I often move on to the next car. Just cruisin' in the basement.

Actually, my greatest interest may lie in track building - as in alway working toward building a nice smooth layout. Whether that be trying to smooth out plastic track or trying different methods of routing. In my opinion, the track (moreso than the cars) is what creates a great experiance. 

I've only raced in an organized way a few times in crash and burn - that was fun because even through I just pulled some car out of my pit box, I would do well because most of the fast guys ended up in the weeds.

Joe


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

.........


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## Hittman101 (Oct 21, 2009)

There's nothing better then having a race day with my daughter and nieces/nephews. And I even get to get together with the guys from are new club.. But I think deep down I really enjoy rebuilding a chassis and customizing a body. So I really don't know what I would be called..Beside big Kid!!


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## tasman (Feb 17, 2007)

Hobbyist. 

I wouldn't mind doing some racing but not the kind that requires a $100+ controller and $80+ cars to be competitive. There was a group in my area but they were only racing modified. Wouldn't mind box stock with slip on silicones.

Also, not interested in collecting. If I buy a car it comes out of the package and goes on the track.


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## beast1624 (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm both, equally. I love collecting and have many that are special to me that will never see the track but I also have a separate area dedicated to racing, building and tuning.



blue55conv said:


> I am a hobbyist. I am a collector. I collect all brands of HO slot cars. I also collect Frisco trains and 1/87 vehicles. I used to have people over to trade slot cars, but now my house is stacked up like Hoarders. Now that I am retired, I need to clean it up. It is overwhelming.


Mike-that is a bad (make that DANGEROUS!) situation. Just say the word and I will come over and haul away as much as you want to get rid of. I have plenty of room in the cave


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## Harold Sage (Apr 6, 2008)

Definitely a Hobbyist for now, until somebody opens a track close to me.


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## LDThomas (Nov 30, 1999)

Have to list myself as racer.


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## Greg W (May 22, 2013)

I started as a tinker, than a collector, than a racer, now I'm just having fun with it all.


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## docsho (Nov 13, 2004)

I have to say Collector, hobbyist (summer time), Racer(winter time). I collect all brands, I am not a package collector so 95% of my cars are between C7 - C9's. The hobbyist in me comes down to modeling, and casting resin bodies. Next would be Racing. I am a closet racer, when it's time to race I take my box out of the closet go race and when I get home my box returns to the closet. I run a semi professional HO racing club, we run box stock cars with slip on tires, we keep it simple to attract new racers, we averaged 17 - 20 drivers per night. We also race with hadicapps, (Long story) so any one can win.


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## Hotrodzz3 (Apr 5, 2011)

I'd have to say I'm a hobbyist more than anything else, I enjoy tinkering with the chassis and trying to get them to run as good as I can. Also spend a lot of time trying to smooth out my track. Not much of a racer as I suck at it, but I enjoy racing crash & burn races when I get the chance which isn't very often where I live, closest friend that I race with is over an hour away.


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## asennafan (Jan 19, 2013)

Collector/hobbyist for me. Collector first, hobbyist in that I am in the early stages of building a model railroad type (fully sceniced) road circuit. I do throw a track together every now and then to run my cars and keep most of them in good running condition.


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## Boosted-Z71 (Nov 26, 2007)

Yes I am

Boosted


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Hobbyist & Customs Builder...
my passion is Movie/TV Vehicles, but I collect all brands & Genre
just starting in Dragsters now w/ a Custom by Hittman :thumbsup:

Bubba 123 :wave:


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## sidecar53 (May 14, 2006)

Presently a hobbyist, but I have been a racer from time to time.


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## burad (Aug 25, 2013)

Hobbyist. All the guys I have seen around here that are racers have difalco and third eye controllers and all the bells and whistles; since i have more than one hobby, there's not enough $$ to be 'serious' like that.


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## [email protected] (Jan 31, 2010)

burad said:


> Hobbyist. All the guys I have seen around here that are racers have difalco and third eye controllers and all the bells and whistles; since i have more than one hobby, there's not enough $$ to be 'serious' like that.


 I'm in the same boat. Way too many hobbies and interests to buy the good stuff. In fact I don't even own a press for wheels and gears or a good Parma controller. All box stock for me for now. I rarely get to buy one $14 Hobby Lobby car a month on my income. With two kids now and me as the only bread winner for my family income is really tight.

Other issue is no one else within a reasonable amount of distance from me is into slot cars. I think it's more fun to share the fun this hobby brings My oldest is now embarrassed by them and the youngest not quite a year old yet doesn't have much of an attention span yet.


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## leonus (Dec 17, 2013)

Hobbyist I suppose. 

Like to fix up old afx clunkers and do custom repaints. Only "racing" I do is with my nephews and wife, running aw mega g chassis muscle cars.

When things get "serious", they tend to stop being fun. 
For me anyhow.


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

old blue said:


> Mine is a hobbyist. I am perfectly content in my basement tinkering with my cars, running them, cleaning them and displaying them. It is a visual fascination with miniature cars that run that interests me. It is also a control thing with owning and running a fleet of cars that I could never afford in the real world.
> 
> Old Blue


This is pretty much me, but I don't work on them a lot. My racing is just occasional on home Tomy track. Most of the cars I collect are on Tomy chassis. No shelf queens allowed, but I do have a few rare cars.


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## hefer (Sep 18, 1999)

Hobbyist / Hoarder...I mean just how many slot cars does a man need? I not sure, but I'll let you know when I get there. As we all know, getting there is half the fun.


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

I am amazed at these responses. I thought most of the guys on HT were racers. Most say they are hobbyists. They don't just collect them either. It looks like most guys like to modify and run their cars, but they are not competitive racers.


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## 41-willys (Jan 7, 2000)

Hobbyist, collector, customizer. Fun Runner. I run all my cars even the rare ones But I think I enjoy the customizing the best.


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## Super G Man (May 13, 2013)

*Racerr or Hobbyist*

Hobbyist/collector for me. I don't have a layout set up other than a test track. I don't own any pancake cars and I only collect Super G Plus cars. I'm always on the lookout for the EX series cars to add to my collection which is over 60 now, why I can't answer. I think it is the "thrill of the chase" with my collecting. The marketing genius that figured out where to put stuff in stores to capture the impulse buyers had me in mind. I'm also hooked on customizing and detailing Super and Mega G Indy/F-1 cars


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## vansmack2 (Feb 9, 2012)

blue55conv said:


> I am amazed at these responses. I thought most of the guys on HT were racers. Most say they are hobbyists. They don't just collect them either. It looks like most guys like to modify and run their cars, but they are not competitive racers.


I am *very competitive* when racing on my home track, but the $100 plus SG+ cars it would take to race in most racing in this area is too much for me. I could buy a few much wanted cars for the price of one or two racers.


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## jobobvideo (Jan 8, 2010)

i race others to bid on the cars I collect...nascar life like and tyco...on the track my daughter kicks my butt, so i wouldn't even join in a sanctioned race. someday maybe i could afford to race, but i would need a sponsor to cover travel costs.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

41-willys said:


> Hobbyist, collector, customizer. Fun Runner. I run all my cars even the rare ones But I think I enjoy the customizing the best.


I resemble this remark.


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## brownie374 (Nov 21, 2007)

95% Racer 5% Hobbyiest


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

blue55conv said:


> I am amazed at these responses. I thought most of the guys on HT were racers. Most say they are hobbyists. They don't just collect them either. It looks like most guys like to modify and run their cars, but they are not competitive racers.




Well the real racer type of guys are too busy with they're 150 dollar t-jets, no time for idle chit chat like most here do.

Any racer types that do hang around here are just looking to sell or looking for a way to sell and make money. Some guys are all business right b?


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## FOSTBITTEN (Aug 1, 2013)

I have not been able to label myself as anything in life ever. Nor do I think anybody else has been able to label me (at least that I know of).

So I guess I would say 33 & a third % of both.


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## tgallaway (Jun 17, 2013)

I am a Hobbyist, I love cars that are new in the packege.

Tom


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

What about collector/racer/hobbyist???
Collector: I have about 3300 HO slot cars (and 17 O Gauge, still need a '32 Deuce Rd)
Racer: I raced in IL and IN HOPRA for years, went to the HOPRA Nats a couple of times, took second place in Concours in 1984, also raced in the M.A.R.A. series(even ran a ill-handling Tomy Turbo for a few years just to be different), I've been to Virginia Beach a few times to race with the MASCAR guys(GREAT club!!!), race here in NC with the HO Slot Car Club Of North Carolina. 
Hobbyist: I have two HO layouts; one is a four lane Wizz track and the other is a 5 by 27 four lane road course with scenery, three short tunnels, and lights for night racing. 
So I really don't fit into just one aspect of the HObby.
"HO, the first word in HObbies"

Bob Weichbrodt
[email protected]
Winston-Salem, NC


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

This question is currently breaking up the club I'm in! The "serious racers" have got control and those of us who like cars that look and handle like real cars and race for fun are being pushed aside.

We were a small club that is now being made into two even smaller clubs as each group is going it's own way.

The number of Hobbyists vs. Racers doesn't surprise me at all. The other, bigger and far more successful club in the area is just about 99% in the Hobbist category.

Stumpy in Ahia


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## blue55conv (May 23, 2007)

tgallaway said:


> I am a Hobbyist, I love cars that are new in the package.
> 
> Tom


You are a collector. The cars never leave the package.


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> Well the real racer type of guys are too busy with they're 150 dollar t-jets, no time for idle chit chat like most here do.
> 
> Any racer types that do hang around here are just looking to sell or looking for a way to sell and make money. Some guys are all business right b?


Wha-Wha I "Say"???

Bubba 123

Bubba's Slot Car Emporium :freak::wave:


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## Joe65SkylarkGS (Feb 15, 2010)

Bubba 123 said:


> Wha-Wha I "Say"???
> 
> Bubba 123
> 
> Bubba's Slot Car Emporium :freak::wave:



Haha wrong b Pete. You always been fair with me. Unlike some other guy around here.


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Joe65SkylarkGS said:


> Haha wrong b Pete. You always been fair with me. Unlike some other guy around here.


:thumbsup::wave:


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## neorules (Oct 20, 2006)

Mr Stumpy said: "This question is currently breaking up the club I'm in! The "serious racers" have got control and those of us who like cars that look and handle like real cars and race for fun are being pushed aside.

We were a small club that is now being made into two even smaller clubs as each group is going it's own way.

The number of Hobbyists vs. Racers doesn't surprise me at all. The other, bigger and far more successful club in the area is just about 99% in the Hobbist category."

Mr Stumpy--- is this coming down to a preferred class of car dilemma? For ex. Magnet cars vs t-jet type?


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## mrstumpy (Oct 5, 2013)

Mostly, it's a couple of guys who call themselves "serious racers" taking over a club that was mostly "fun" racers. It's the old "slot car racer" vs the model car racer deal we saw in the sixties when Wing Cars came along in 1/24 scale and the guys who liked cars that looked like and drove somewhat like real cars split away. And yes, magnet cars are being introduced to this T-jet club as well. 

There is another club in this same general area which is almost all 'fun" racers which is thriving, so some of us are going to race with them. We also have three tracks owned by the "fun" guys to race on, so life goes on.

Stumpy in Ahia:thumbsup:


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## DrBonex (Oct 13, 2013)

Although I love the basement racing that my friends and I do, I am truthfully not a racer. At best I am a 55 year old Novice Hobbyist.


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