# Tell Us Your Story



## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

The holidays are here. I’m sure that many of us were first introduced to slot cars at this time of year as young boys. And HT seems to have a lot of nice people here sharing the same interests……

So……tell us your story. How were you introduced to the hobby? What do you love about it? I’m sure your answers will make for interesting reading. 

As for me…..

I remember the first cars I had as a really young boy in the late 60’s were push cars. Mainly Matchbox and another brand called “Cigar Box”. I don’t remember who made the latter, but I remember they had skinny removable rubber tires, much like a T-Jet (could it have been Aurora?)

Around 1969 or 1970, my brother (about age 9) and I (one year older…..and still am!!) got our first Hot Wheels race set. We had the “Splittin’ Image” and “Twin Mill” cars, among others. But I remember those particular models being our favorites. The set had orange plastic track with short side walls that formed a pair of side-by-side ovals with banked turns on each end. The cars were sent around the track by a battery operated power station that looked like a race shop garage and that the track connected to. The car went into an opening where the track was connected, was grabbed on both sides by spinning wheels that were driven by the batteries, and was shot out and sent around the track. By the time the car got around the track and started to lose its momentum, it went back in and got shot back out and around all over again. It was great fun. The track pieces also made a good substitute for leather when playing “hide the belt”. Yeah, us two and the other guys we hung out with were a sadistic bunch alright.

Around this same time, I remember my cousin of the same age got a Johnny Lightning race set. The cars again were the push variety, and were sent around the track by a hand actuated catapult that hooked onto the underside of the car. I believe the large unit that the catapults were enclosed in was on an incline so that initially, the cars were shot out on an upward trajectory. I don’t remember why. I guess because it wasn’t ours and we had less play time spent with it, the details have faded more on that deal. 

Then there was my cousin Nicky, who was already well into his teens. He had an Aurora slot car set. The first I ever remember seeing. I believe it was early AFX. 

WOW. It seemed BIG time. It was ELECTRIC. You had to plug it into the wall for it to work. And I guess because Nicky was older than those of us who were still playing with push cars and battery operated mechanisms.......not to mention that he already had his driver's license and owned a 1:1 car, seemed like a cool dude and was dating good looking girls and all, his AFX set seemed so………………….….grown up. 

Funny how that seems now, looking back through the eyes of a 46 year old. Anyway, we never did get any slot cars of our own. Not sure I really know why. I always wanted them. Maybe we outgrew the idea before the opportunity came, or there were other things that seemed cooler, like getting bikes for Christmas, or roller skates to play street hockey with, or whatever. Anyway…..

Fast forward to 2007. The last of my kids finished school last Spring. Dad has a little bit extra coin in his pocket now that the tuition bills have stopped. Maybe take up a hobby to pass the time now that the kids have moved on. 

I’ve collected baseball cards in the past…..ech. Barry the Balloon and the rest of the juicers ruined that for me. 

Trains are nice, but I fear it could get boring. Expensive as hell too.

Somehow, I guess from having moved away from the big city and the ball and stick sports I grew up with, I developed an interest in NASCAR about three years ago. My brother said he knew something like that would happen once I moved to the "bumpkin" state I now live in. But I don’t mind. Racing is so cool and I really enjoy it.……....Hmm, you know, that one thing I always wanted to have as a kid that I just never got…..……..well...........

And so…………..What’s your story?


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

I remember sitting in my cousins bedroom, he had a 9" power track leaning up the wall and was putting his old afx cars on the track and spinning the poor cars tires as they helplessly could not climb, and if they did he would increase the incline. 
the cars I remember too.
all pre magna traction
blue #3 Ford Bronco, blue #5 Javelin, green/blue Pinto, and the red #46 Datsun.
these cars a few years later were given to my younger brother Mark, still not much interest, but then one of the neighbor kids noticed the cars and track and brought his collection of about 24 cars that his cousin gave him over to race. Seeing the tyco chrome van with flames, red tjet cheetah and white and maroon porsche had me hooked.


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

oh, and Rudy, those Cigar boxes were made by Aurora. after collecting for a while I started to hit up train shows for platform scenery and some ho trains to go with the cars and suprisingly, you'll fill a bag full of train crap for far less money then slot car stuff, its a fun mix, the ho stuff.


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## krazcustoms (Nov 20, 2003)

I got my first set for Christmas 1975 (5 years old) and I had never even known anything about them before. Prior to that, it was Hot Wheels and some track my mom bought at a thrift store. I think the slot car idea appealed to my father, because he's the one who would occasionally take me to the hobby shop for cars and parts and stuff. The cars in that first set were a yellow Daytona and blue/white Ferrari 512M. The next two cars I got were a Tuff-Ones AMX and green Cougar - I remember they were two for $3 at the hobby shop and I was immediately disappointed that they weren't as fast as the magna-tractions and stuck with the AFX cars for the majority of that first decade or so. That green Cougar was my first slot car paint job - I painted it to resemble the Dukes of Hazzard car, not knowing that Aurora ever even made a Charger. I also remember painting the yellow Daytona gold, and eventually throwing it away. Then in 1979 I discovered the Auto-World catalog, and quickly wore it out flipping through the pages several times a day. My father would take me up there about once a year or so - we lived about 20 miles away but for me it seemed like a big long trip to get there. I almost sold everything in 1988 or so, but for some reason I didn't and aside from that, I've been in it knee-deep ever since.


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Nice thread. It's brought back some great memories. You're right, this time of year is when I fell in love with little toy cars. The first race set I got was the Johnny Lightning 500 set you described. It had a steep incline that you catapulted the cars up, and then they coasted down the other side.

It was 1968 and I was 4 1/2. My father and I played with that for days before Mom made me set it up in my bedroom. My Dad made me set it up by myself and I remember I got quite a sense of accomplishment after doing so. That's the first Christmas that I can remember a lot of detail from. I saw Rudolph for the first time and was _really_ freaked out when the bandits in the Little Drummer Boy killed his parents. Looking back, it's not really a great scene for a Christmas special aimed at young ones.

From that Christmas on, I got a new race set every year. I moved to Hot Wheels after that. The same type of set as the one mentioned above, only this car feeder was powered by rubber bands and it had this big handle you had to re-cock before the car made it's way around the lap. This would be 1969, I was in kindergarten, Sesame Street's first year on the air. Older kids were into Zeriods Robots, as well Matt Mason. I got the walking space toy aimed at the younger set, Billy Blastoff. Space toys were everywhere then. I even ate Quisp cereal because it had a space theme. 

Man, I was in kid heaven! 
Cars AND robots? 
God Bless Santa!

I saw my first slot car set that year. My Dad had a vibrator set and a few cars stashed away in storage. I never knew about it until then. He set up a small oval by the tree and we heard Johnny Mathis, Perry Como, Bing's, Sinatra's and Louis Armstrong's Christmas albums while the whole family raced. My mom would pass away a few yrs short years later and this is one of my favorite memories of her. She said the black Hot Rod Coupe was _her_ car. Dad took the set down the next day but the die was cast, the baton passed. I asked for a slot set the next few yrs but they thought I was too young. I used to murder my toys when I was a kid and they knew better.

So I moved onto Sizzler's California 500 Fat track set. Still like the Sizzlers! Glad to see them make a comeback. SSP's came out then too, and every boy had one ... and we all brought them to school everyday for months to race each other. I had the a Blue Laker Special. I was pretty much into them, along with Ideal's Class A Crash Coarse for the next few Christmas'. My Dad and I also started getting into Cox planes at that time. 

Then in 1975 I got my first AFX set. I can't remember which one, but it was 29.99 from Sears. I got a few cars too. A yellow Bel Air, a yellow Daytona Superbird, a maroon Porshe Carrera and an Orange Vega Funny Car. I was hooked on slots for the next 4-5 yrs. I also got into Cox Cars then too.

By 1980 I was 16, into girls, baseball and guitar playing. 
It wasn't until fall 2001 that I got back into slots.

I live near Ground Zero, just across the river. The WTC loomed BIG outside my bedroom window. I saw the second plane fly in with my own eyes, then I went to my job at NBC News, where I relived every horrible scene you could imagine, much too gruesome for the public to see. I edited footage for months. I also walked the grounds on 9/12 and could still hear the faded beeping from all the buried firemen. Surreal doesn't cover it. A few days later I was at Toys R Us in Manhattan looking for a toy for my nephew's B-day when I came across a Life Like Stocker Challege set. It looked sturdy and had a lifetime guarantee on the track so I bought it and took it home. I couldn't resist, I opened it up and raced a few laps. I kept that set and went back to Toys R us and bought my nephew another one. 

I've been a slot-a-hual-ic since.


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## SplitPoster (May 16, 2006)

Hey Rudy, when I was a little kid (in Wilmington) I had cars from before I can remember. I was told that as a little bitty kid I could ID Fords and Chevys, Studebakers and Nash Metropolitans, so they fed that interest. At my grandmothers house in Marshallton, I had Ford Salesman's demos, Japanese tin cars (wish I had them all now! My grandfather used to say that if he quit moving too long she'd throw him out with the trash too), Auburn rubber firetruck I stll have. They built Chryslers in Newport, used to run across the field next to their house to see the trainloads of them heading away from the plant. Was always dissappointed when they were mundane sedans and not Chargers, etc.

Matchbox were the first best thing, I remember as a 6 year old how I liked that they were so well detailed - still have them, about wore out the police car, the 59 chevy and the fire trucks.

My dad brought home my first slot car set - I guess it interested him as much as it did me, because I was only seven. It had Jag xk140's with the black spacer and t jet chassis. Had a hard time with the "post and rail" guardrail as I remember, I'd put books around the edge to back it up and get the spacing right. Hot Wheels came next and took over, I remember the first car I got was a green 57 Tbird when I was 8 or 9. Really got more interested in slots when the AFX cars came out, they were so much faster and smoother, and those racer bodies were killer. Every bit of that stuff got put away for many, many years, glad I have it now. 

Funny, my son is almost 14, and of course has outgrown most of his toys, but what did he put back to keep when dumping loads of stuff? Not the various radio control cars/trucks/animals. Not even the first video games. No, it was the hot wheels and the plastic reptiles, (prehistoric and contemporary). Some things don't change, I guess.


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

SP, the Chrysler plant in Newport is still there, although they recently announced that it will be shut down next year. I know several people who have worked there over the years, including my brother-in-law. The Aspen is currently being built there. 

Lots of great responses. Thanks everyone. Keep 'em coming.

CORRECTION: The Chrysler plant is in Newark. The plant in Newport on Boxwood Road is a GM plant. I don't know if this particular facility belonged to Chrysler at some point. Delaware didn't come into my life until 1982. Anyway, they are currently assembling the Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice at the GM Boxwood plant.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

My first set came in 69 or 70 if I recall. Although Santa delivered, I can see he picked it up from Sears. I guess he'd have to since this set was produced exclusively for Sears. Anyway, set came with the Alfa Romero and Blue Mach1 with a twin set of Monza banks and three level of ups and downs. Fit perfectly on the ping pong table Santa brought that year as well. :devil: rr


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

My first slot car set was an Aurora Model Motoring figure eight set with 2 vibrator cars. Don't remember what the cars were or what year it was (memory is the first thing to go when you get old like me). I do remember it was for Xmas one year. I found out later that it had been opened and played with by my older brother(9 years) and father. But that figure eight soon grew to an extraordinary size. I remember if you just turned the steering wheel speed controller just a hair, the car would sit in one spot and sort of bounce up and down. Others kids I knew had sets, but they tired of them quickly. NOT ME!!!! I was hooked. I would buy their sets really cheap and just add the track to mine. One 4' X 8" sheet of plywood then became 2. Then the Thunderjets (pancake) cars were born. I couldn't believe the new possibilites this opened up. I was soon sizing up my Matchbox (when they were made by Lensley) cars and popping the bodies off. My best running Matchbox was the VW beetle. I bent the front post a little and that body would sit perfectly on the Thunderjet chassis. BOY!!!!! They were the "good old days"   
Wish I had all that stuff from way back when dinosaurs (like me) roamed the earth.


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

My first set was actually a set of Lionel powerpassers. My dad brought it home for christmas one year. I don't know the year but I remember racing it. We had to bring the set back though because the cars (this is what I remember at least) were so bad. My dad wasn't happy. However we brought it back and my dad exchanged that for a Tyco Silver Streak Curve Hugger set. WOW is all I can say. I played with and collected those & afx cars for years. The 2 cars that came with that original set I now own 2 copies of for simple sentimental reasons. The 2 cars that came with that set were the Silver/yellow striped #33 camaro and the Silver/black striped #82 Mustang. I ran those so much that I wore a hole through the shoes. I didn't know back then that they offered replacement parts. How naive was I? 

I knew some of the other kids around the block were into it and they had some cars as well but nowhere near how into it I was. So like a few others that have posted here I began acquiring other kids sets that they didn't want anymore. I ended up with all sorts of stuff. I had a ton of the old Ideal TCR stuff that someone had given me. I really enjoyed that stuff for a long while and the cars really did run well. I couldn't complain, heck up till a couple years ago I was still running those.

As kids every year we always asked for either hot wheels or slot cars for christmas. Eventually it just got the point where I wanted the slot car, I couldn't care less about the silly hot wheels anymore. As the years progressed and then Tyco released their all new and really fast Tyco 440's and then the x2's I was amazed. I had around 130 cars or so. I thought I had alot back then too. haha.

Forward to the early 90's. I decide to join the Air Force, and needing a bit of money I decide to sell all of my cars, track... everything. Some guy shows up and offers me $700 for everything. I thought I was doing good until a few years later I find out that some of the stuff I had was either rare or kinda tough to come by. To say I wasn't happy was the understatement of the week. The guy scammed me... oh well, live and learn. So directly after I get out of the AF I find a local hobby shop selling the "Giant Raceway" for like $200. I buy it and a few other cars and lo and behold my passion is now renewed once again. Since moving back to ct. I've been collecting more and more of these little buggers ever since. Gotten to the point now that since I've gotten married and my wife understands my obsession I'm about to build a cool 12'x4' track. Should be totally worth it in the end. My hobby keeps gaining space.  Since really seriously getting back into this in the last few years I think, with maybe a very few exceptions, I've managed to procure all of my old cars that I had since when I was a kid/teenager. Life's been good to be sure. 

Cheers,
Xence


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## [email protected] (Jan 25, 2007)

*43 years off and on*

Christmas !964 Englewood, N.J. I got my first Model motoring set. Thunder Jet 500 with Sterling Moss on the cover with his old school helmet. A simple figure eight, I think it came with a corvette and a T-bird. i was in heaven and i was hooked. Every day, night and weekend it was slot cars. Couldn't wait to get out of school to go home and race. by my self or with my best buddy Claude and my cousin Earl. I got a 3'x6' sheet of plywood and went crazy in the basement. I had the biggest, ugliest, most track you could fit on a board set up in the world. And almost every car, street, GT, indy, didn't matter. I also raced 1/24 and ho at the local track. Then like everyone else first the public tracks then in came girls, hanging out, and playing in bands. That was that.........
Til 1977 I was living in brooklyn sharing a brownstone with two friends and the bug bit me. I don't remember how it started but i ended up with a 10'x5' setup in my bedroom. (it was a big bedroom). fortunately my girlfriend was a sound sleeper so i could play whenever. I also took the subway one hour each way to a raceway way out in Brooklyn. i transplanted that track to Boston when I moved and spent tons of money with tower hobbies and the old Auto world. plenty of can Am and IMSA GT cars. I moved back to NYC and stored my HO stuff in moms basement. It stayed there til she threw it away. I was sort of [email protected]##d but what could i say?
2006 December I had been fantasizing about a track for years. Greg Braun's site and others had been on my computer faves list for years. I said what the heck..... my biggest and best so far. 11.5'x4.5' landscaped and fun. 

I love this hobby! I gives us a chance to indulge our inner child, our race driver /mechanic fantasies, our inventive and, artistic notions. Its a lot more than a toy! Now with the internet it has become many international community. Sharing knowledge and comraderie and a shared passion for little cars.


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## BewstdGT (Jan 4, 2005)

1983. My dad let me race for the first time on his track in the basement. He used to have a wicked fast 4x16 table setup on the floor that him and his buddies raced on the weekends. Whenever I tried to race I destroyed things often heh. Kids dont know you have to let off the throttle in the turns. I built my own first track this past winter and am just starting to get back into the hobby because its cheaper than my other potential hobbies so it wins by default.


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## Dranoel Dragon (Oct 9, 2007)

Got a T-jet track and two cars for my 6th b'day. Came with a Green Mustang Fastback and a Yellow Firebird. I still have both of them, though they don't really look the same. I was a customizing fool even back then.

After that my dad would stop at the hardware store on his way home from work and get me a couple new cars or some more track about every other week. A couple years later we built a permanant layout on a 4x8 sheet of plywood in the basement. Over the next 12 yrs there were several changes to the layout but I raced on it til I left for the Navy. By then I had somewhere near 400 cars. 

My cousin had told me that the AF bases he was at had tracks set up so when I came home on leave after boot camp and Air Crew school I took about 30 of my favorite cars back with me, including those two original t-jets. The next time I came home everything was gone. First and only time in my life I was ever tempted to hit a woman. She said I was too old to be playing with toys.  

Since then I have had other hobbies, lot's of them in fact, but slot cars were never far away. And those 30 or so cars I saved are still here. The ones I lost have mostly been replaced and others added, some I didn't even know existed 30 yrs ago. I've lived in towns where no one heard of slot cars let alone racing them in club events. I've lived in towns were there were 2 or three clubs within driving distance. When there was no where to race I still bought more and customized a lot of them. 

Now, nearly 40 years later, I still race (though I'm no good at it anymore) I still collect and I still customize. I don't see that changing any time in the next 40 years.

:thumbsup:


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## bluerod (Nov 1, 2005)

i remember my first set 1962 criscross model motoring with a white 62 ford conv. and a yellow ford ht. under the chrismas three and the tinsle causin black spots on the tracks. my cats enjoyed chasing the cars too .and also being yell at because of all the static on the tv. set


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

bluerod said:


> being yell at because of all the static on the tv. set


That's classic. Thanks for sharing. I can't stop laughing. Reminds me so much of dear old Dad.


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

ROTFLMAO !!!!!!! Bluerod. I had forgotten about the static on the TV. I was always in the basement running my cars. I didn't see the TV from down there. LMAO :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

Dad bought me a Tycopro set when I was like 3 or 4. (I think he actually bought it for him, but...  ) Played with it on and off through elementary and middle school, still have what's left of the cars. I remember getting an orange AFX Nomad and converting it to an El Camino, and painting a Chevelle Stocker and an AFX Camaro to look like street cars. I also remember getting a yellow aj's track cleaner, and I distinctly remember the smell of overheated AFX motors. I had a Tjet Ford GT and a medium blue Mach 1 that were given to me by my uncle, but at the time they were just those dinky old cars that don't run right... 

Finally, in late middle or early high school, I happened upon a hobby store (mostly train stuff) that was blowing out their Faller track. I brought home a huge bag for like 5 bucks, made myself a landscaped 4x8 in the basement. The landscaping was cheezy, but I had loads of fun with it. I remember this was about the time that Magnum 440s came out, and my brother and I got a Corvette each. I tried to customize mine to look like the car from Corvette Summer. THAT was a train wreck (still have it).

Then came 1:1 cars and girls, and the slot stuff went in boxes. During college, I briefly toyed with 1/32 and 1/24 slots at a commercial track near college. Sadly, I sold the Mach 1 for like 20 bucks around this time, having no idea what it was worth. D'oh...

Fast forward to around 2000. My hobby was 1/25 model cars, but I still had the slot stuff in a closet. I found a bunch of slot stuff at a yard sale... 3 boxes, and the guy wanted $10 each. I balked, and he said, "Aw, cmon, give me $8 each and you can have them." So I took them home and found enough track for a small Atlas layout and a small Tycopro layout, as well as about 8 cars in pieces: 2 Tycopro Camaros, Atlas Impala and Pontiac, and these 4 Tjets: grey Corvette, white Fairlane, red Jag, and yellow Dune Buggy. Oh, and bodies for a vibe Jag and Corvette. I had no idea about the market for these things, and I pieced together the Tjet Corvette and the Fairlane... I had my 3 year old running the Corvette around the track when I started fooling with eBay to see if I could find more of these things. When I discovered that the toy my kid was playing with could be worth 300 bucks, I gently took it away and gave him one of my old ones to play with. I was hooked. I bought a bunch of pullback bodies and some NOS Tjet and Wild Ones chassis from JAG Hobbies, and I never looked back... something like 400-500 cars now, maybe 50 are original Tjets...

--rick


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## cagee (Apr 20, 2007)

Everybody has some great stories so I figured I would tell mine.

A long time ago back in 2005 when I was 20 years old I started dating a girl (now my wife) her dad talked about racing slot cars when he lived in St. Louis. Blew my mind, I had never even heard of slot cars let alone racing them (I guess I was a sheltered child). It took him about 6 months to finally setup a track I loved it what a blast. My in-laws bought me my first car a LL Tide #32 and the Bass Pro LL track.

I started collecting cars thought I would collect the older Aurora cars since I fell in love with the Tjets. I bought about a handful and decided they were just too expensive. So I have been collecting the AW and JL cars since I figure I'm only 22 when I get older these cars will be just about as valuable as the Auroras are now. I have also collected all the job sites of the TYCO US-1 love those. I now have a total of 95 HO cars, all the US-1 job sites, 15 1/32 slot cars (this is starting to take priority of the car cash now). Not bad for 2 years on a very low slot budget.


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

My first experience was in about 1970, my Dad brought home a Model Motoring set from Sears. The two cars were beige or off-white and one had a red stripe and the other had two narrow black stripes. I was always fascinated by the gears you could see through the windows. My Dad would always hide the cars when he was not at home to help keep them from being destroyed. They ultimately were destroyed, but he was good at taking us to the hobby shop for more cars. We burned through the Tyco cars because after just a few crashes the guide pin and shoes would break off. I remember the first slot car I actually got to pick out of the case was a blue Willys that I still have. After that one was a black Shadow Can Am which I also have. The Model Motoring track was replaced by a Tyco set. 
Since then I have been picking up sets at garage sales and from friends. I really love those little cars. It was only recently after my Dad passed away did I realize that he liked them too and got me started on this hobby.


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## old blue (May 4, 2007)

I remembered a second story that just came full circle on Thanksgiving. My Aunt used to let me look at my older cousin's slot cars but not really play with them. It was a cool vibrator set with a Jaguar, Mercedes and a Mack truck. She kept them in her damp basement. I knew they would not last down there so I looked around for something to put them in. At the time I was wearing braces and the rubber bands came in small ziplock bags. I placed each car in a bag and put them away. I grew up, my aunt passed away and my cousin got everything in the house. He moved to Dallas Tx.
Fast forward twenty five years. I would see cars like the old vibrators on ebay and other places. They would remind me of the old ones at my Aunt's. My cousin came to visit this Thanksgiving and to my surprise he showed up with three vibrator slot cars still in the rubber band bags. They were very well preserved, almost like a time capsule.


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## 2.8powerranger (Dec 13, 2004)

got my first a/fx h.o set for chistmas in 1974,a small figure 8 with a blue daytona and the yellow and orange plymouth #43,also got the r/c porsche and my brother got the l&m car.we wore them things out.kept it in the den in the basement.all my buddies had tracks too so many a friday nights watching chiller theater and racing till we couldnt hold our eyes open.somtimes dad would would come down and race too. Man ,those were some fun times.I think we're the last generation that really knew how to have fun.it was all about slot cars ,,trains and models.now at 43 and having my own kids its fun to see them have fun with the same hobbies.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

You know, after reading through these posts, my memory kicked in regarding an old 1/32 set I rec'd way before my first Model Motoring set. I believe it was christmas 1966, Santa brought an Eldon 1/32, over and under layout. If I recall, It came with a '64 Petty blue Plymouth and a white '66 Charger fastback. Even had an extra set of racing bodies (open cockpit racers) to swap with. Was a great little setup with the exception of those damn brushes. Seems I was always adjusting them or replacing them. It still was a blast.  rr


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

Wow some great memories. I had a on/opff again relationship with slots when I was a kid. Started off when I was about 10-11 and I was at friends house, he had just bought a new state of the art AFx car and set up his L&j track, he of course gave me his old tjet and the inside lane to race him.. lol.. it ended with a fist fight on his bedroom floor when I fishtailed him off the track and he lost a shoe spring in the carpet.. Har (we are still good friends btw). We lived very close to the tyco factory in Toronto at the time and he used to dumpster dive all the time. One day we rode down on our bikes and procceded to pull busted boxes etc out of the dumpster when we noticed a window open on the second flloor. Now am a coward at heart, but Mark climbed in and borowed 6 new figure 8 tracks that had the super Pinto and Gremlin in them. My dad passed away a year or two later and we moved back to my home town the neighbourhood gang all had tracks, all my cars were junk by then. So I wandered down to Hubie Slaughters Barber and hooby shop, got a cut and a spanking new Purple Camero Magtrack.. Yes sir I procceed to drive hard and fast and dominate the local hicks. ( I had after all been in the big city for 5 whole years.!). soon our eyes were on hockey and girls and my slots got stored...Fast forward to 1978. I Moved to London ontario and my Older brother Rob was a avid Train guy and I went with him to the hobbyshop.. there stood a Tub track all orange and sweet looking, What? racing EVERY Friday night! Awesome.. I picked up a Andretti Lotus Gplus and a couple of tracks. and built a 4x8 in my room. Rob won the 1978 Championship at RRR Hobbys that year, and I took it in 79 and 80.. The Army called next, so off to sweep floors and take the Falklands back with the British Navy from the evil Argentinians, ( was not that bad as far as wars went but they kept shooting at our Ships.) That was enough I may not shirk from a fight to often but bullets tend to scare me so I did not reup. Home in 83 I meant my first wife and got my stuff out of storage .. well basement = racetrack.. so I built the big t monster in the cellar.. we drove that track silly for 2 years once having 15 club memebers, but alas.. the dreaded D word.. and I being the fine nice guy I am gave her the house ( and my Dog dang it!). slot stuff sat in boxes again for 5 years.. I tried to get back in around 1990 but it lasted a very short time as 60 hour work weeks and a broken shoulder took its toll.. Then about three years ago, i found one of my Tomy Turbos i had bought in a quick spurt while clearing out Carols toybox.. I also found HT at that time and have since spent and given away the GNP of a small country lol.. leave slots again? not a chance. great guys some nice new stuff coming out, good suppliers of parts etc. and promises of new stuff yet to come. My slots will pay for my cremation when I do go to the super Tub in the sky. I have meant a few guys off the board now and have to say we're pretty normal lol.. Have had the pleasure of watching my daughter become controller savay, watched little Seth from the pic in the hospital with the controller to see pics of him racing. Congradulated Joe when he got married. Watched myself and a few friends have complete meltdowns. Its a hobby thats a lot like family.. lol...anyways all nostolgic now think I need to go grind something.. 


Dave


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Somewhere around '68-'69 my uncle had a Sterling Moss Aurora set in the box. He would set it up at Christmas and let us race with the thumb controllers. I can get still remember the thrills of propelling a small electric car around the track and the smell of the red oil in the cars. Not long after that my father got him and I a set and then we were off to Bargain Town (now Toys-R-Us) or Dispensa's Kiddie Kingdom for Aurora Thunderjets. One of my first cars was the '64 Mustang conv't in white. Then I got a '67 Galaxy. I still have the original plastic boxes with the price tags on them.  

After that I moved up to AFX racing and also 1/24 Revell sets with my cousin. I can remember covering one corner of his track with oil so we'd slide out. Then came fire. Then we got in trouble.  

I also had Sizzlers and Johnny Lightning sets. Also remember Ideal Motorific cars and sets. I can distinctly remember the Ideal track layout with the hiding spot for the cop car.

One of the very first toys I got as a child was a car toy. It was called Trik Trak. Even though I was only 3 or so I could still remember it years later. My mom didn't believe me. So 2 summers ago I was able to find the name of the toy and bought 2 mint sets on E-Bay. It was so cool to have my first "car toy" again. And it was so small from what I remembered! :tongue:


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## slikstr (Nov 5, 2005)

wow i wasnt even born when most of these stories start, so mine is gonna be short. my first set was the super cliffhangers with night glow vettes. only a short 20 years or so ago. ha ha. in 7 years i will be 40 in 17 years 50 man where does the time go.


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## TK Solver (Mar 18, 2004)

As a kid, I had Hot Wheels and Sizzlers tracks before getting a slot car track when I was about 10. But I also had a little track I've never seen since that I'm wondering if anyone else knew about or remembers. It was a tin box about 18" long and 12" wide containing batteries and a fan. The top of the box had a simple little indented road course with hundreds (maybe thousands) of little perforations all angled in the direction the cars were to go. It came with about 20 little multicolored styrofoam cars that were maybe half an inch long. Line up the cars, turn on the fan and the cars would scoot around the track like bumper cars. I recall that some car shapes worked better than others so I inverted the field to see if they could make their way to the front.

I got back into slot cars several years ago when my in-laws bought me a little battery-operated track for my nephew to play with when they came over. Three days later, I bought my first Tomy Super International and yada yada yada I've now got four lanes with 82 feet per lane packed onto an "H" shaped 12x6 table with electronic scoring. The family laughs when they think of the seed that was planted and what's growing from it.


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## Bro-man44 (Feb 7, 2007)

Wow, what a great thread!! Great stories from the past!! And I'm realizing how many guys here are in my age range, 40 something and still playing with cars!! Awesome!! Anyway, I started with the hotwheels and then Johnny L. and then my first Tyco set for Christmas 71' at age 9!! That was the greatest gift I had ever got, up till this past Christmas!! Played with it after school ever day and when I discovered the hobby shop 4 miles away, I would ride my bike there every other Sat. or so with $5 in my pocket and spend hours looking and then take 5 minutes to buy a car, Tyco/AFX!! Played the heck out of them for years, up thru high school and went thru cars and track and want to cry for the ones that were destroyed!! Anyway, they got put away after graduation and then onto marriage and a daughter and family life!! But, they were always in the back of my mind and when a move was made, they were always carefully moved and stored safely!! 
Fast forward 20 years, this past Christmas and my second wife. We are going to the movies and we have some time to spare so I say, lets stop in Toys R US and look around. I go straight to see what is out there in racetracks and cars, since I hadn't been involved with them for a long, long time!! So, I'm looking and see a set which I really didn't even pay attention to what brand or scale it was but I say, "boy I would love to get back into my slot cars again". End of story and looking and we go. I totally forget about it and honestly didn't think of it again. Christmas morning, were opening gifts and the last one she hands to me is a bigger box and I'm thinking sweater or jacket!! Wahoo!! NOT!! I start ripping it open and out of the corner of my eye I see a race car, my heart starts pounding and I start ripping faster!! Schwing-A Freakin-Ding!! Its an Artin 1/43 scale Brickyard 400 Power Passers with 4 cars!! I didn't realize this is what I had looked at and she didn't know the difference but, I WAS TOTALLY A KID AGAIN!! Jumping around hooting and hollering and hugging and kissing her!! Anyway, it wasn't HO scale but it got my juices flowing again and after playing with it for awhile, I got my old HO stuff out and got back into it as well as joining HT forum!! I hope to get pictures posted sometime cause I'm on my second layout now and I am also into the 1/43 scalecars too!! So, from the beginning of the year with about 15 cars to now with over 100 HO cars and 15 1/43 scale cars and lots of money dumped into it, I'm totally back into it!! And I have one awesome track manager too!! She's all aboard with me on it and does occasionally have a controller in her hand!! I couldn't thank her more for getting me back into it!! It won't get put away ever again!! 
One last thing, this is one awesome forum and you guys out there are so helpful and knowledgeable on slot cars!! I can't tell you how much I have learned from this site and used alot from what I have learned here!! IT IS THE BEST!!
That is my story!!!
Tom


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## bubba7 (Dec 7, 2007)

Wow, what a great site this is and what a great thread this. I'm a brand new member , just registered tonight. My name is Tim, I am 39 years old and I live in Indy.

Here's how it all started for me.
I must have been around seven or eight years old when I saw my first slot track at a friends house. I couldn't believe it, pull the trigger and there she goes. I had to have one of those. Christmas was coming up and a slot track was the only thing on my list. Well now it's 5:00 AM Christmas morning I have opened all my gifts and no track. What did I do wrong ? Man was I bummed. My dad sent me to the kitchen for a trash bag and on my way back BAMM there it was already set up in the front room with cars on it ready to race. I don't think I made it back with that trash bag. The best gift ever. 

It was a two lane AFX with Jackie Stewart on the box, came with two cars and a bonus car. And what a bonus it was, 55 Chevy with the decals ! WOW 
I loved that car. My collection grew to thirty or so cars and tons of track when I passed it all down to my little brother . I guess girls may have caused 
me to get away from it. Just last year while Christmas shopping with my brother , he decided to get an AFX track for a his godson . Away we went to the hobby shop. We left with a TOMY Big Block Battlers for the little one and a 4way split for us.Here we go again.


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

Welcome, bubba !!


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## Bro-man44 (Feb 7, 2007)

Welcome aboard Bubba!! You will not be disappointed by joining the HT team!! Great bunch of knowledgable and FUNNY guys and any questions will be answered!!


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

Bro-man44 said:


> Welcome aboard Bubba!! You will not be disappointed by joining the HT team!! Great bunch of knowledgable and FUNNY guys and any questions will be answered!!


I agree. It's a great group of people here. 

I am really enjoying myself reading everyone's stories also. There are so many shared experiences. It's incredible. I look forward to reading more....


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## Xence (Oct 2, 2007)

Bubba,

welcome to the forum. Hey I'm going to be out that way during the Indy500 with the wife and friends. If you're around maybe we could hook up and shoot the breeze about quite silly slot car things.

Glad you're back into it.

Cheers,
Xence


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

C'mon guys.....I know there are more of you out there with great stories to tell.........don't be shy.


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## CJ53 (Oct 30, 2007)

Lets see, this could turn into a novel.. I remember the early matchbox, a neighbor kid had a ton of em, they were great if you wanted to push em around in the dirt in the back yard. The detail was great even then. I couldn't get enough of them.
Then come the Christmas of 1962, Visiting friends for Christmas a very good childhood friend had scored a Aurora Slot track for being a good kid. I had played with the Matchbox's, I had even had a tin type wind up car set with it's own track and small town to run through, but the two hotrods buzzed and I didn't even have to push them to make em move, nor did I have to make any sounds,(like a car running), these cars made enough humming noise to wake my friends very tired dad from a deep sleep nap in the recliner. We ran those poor Hotrods into the ground, I think we actually wore them out before the night was done.
After that, A Strombecker set showed up under the tree the next year. Another friend of mine and I wore the tires off of the Testaross and the jag, on the figure 8 we ran. Not to mention we killed the motors. 
Many years had passed, and I found the Tjets in a small town drugstore, the passion returned, I saved every nickel I had to buy what was in stock. I saved for a track and challenged anyone that would race, we set up courses, an ovals, and even dragstrips, dragstips came later as I bugged my Science teacher for the formula to make a scale 1/4 mile. Yes that was a challenge at the time. Dead on headsup drag racing was the norm.. Run what ya brung and don't whine. 
As time has passed, I have ventured into many hobbies when time and family have allowed, however everytime I put a slot car on the track I do go back to 1962 Vibrator hotrods and Christmas tree lights reflecting off the shiney biege bodies. 
Little did Aurora realize, they had created a time capsule. 

Chris


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

A Christmas Wish.......that this morning be filled with dreams that come true for many a young boy and girl. That memories they can cherish for a lifetime are being made at this very moment. And always, hope for their future, so that someday they can look back and remember the good old days, just as we have here. 

Okay, that's more than one, but I'll be selfish and wish for them all anyway. 

Thanks ever so much to everyone who contributed to the thread. May Peace be with you today and through the season, and best wishes for prosperity in the coming New Year.


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## jack0fall (Sep 8, 2004)

I haven't post here because I didn't want to bring everybody down. All I can say is be very very thankful that you have the ability to recall your "first time" when it comes to slot cars. I enjoy reading everyone's posts. :thumbsup: Some have a very familiar ring to them but I am unable to recall any of my actual memories. I know its too late now but all my future purchases and experiences will have notes attached to the package for easier/ immediate recall. 

Thanks again for allowing me to read such wonderful memories.

Jeff


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## 2.8powerranger (Dec 13, 2004)

I called a friend of mine the morning of christmas eve,we've been best friends for 38 years and always call on holidays and birthdays we were talking about the cool presants we got as a kid ,and the first words ot of his mouth was about how we spent all our christmas vacation playing with the slot cars,him and i and our other 2 buddies.racing on that little figure 8 for hours on end .I had brought him home from school with me the 1st day of kindergarden.he was one of 3 kids that day that got to stay! Mom about had a heart attack ,,not knowing if the 5 other moms knew where their 5 yr olds were.It still amazes me how this hobby we so enjoy helped to build relationships and memories that span a liftime..I thank God each and every day for people that truly know and value what a gift God has given us in true friends.
heres to friends like Tom :thumbsup: 
Matt


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*The abridged version*

Daddy said he found me under a rock. By 5 er 6 yrs old I was racing on both Carerra and Marklin 1/32 sets that granny sent from Germany. Of course I loved them but parts didnt grow on fir trees out west and they went the way of the dinosaur. Naturally I gravitated to Aurora HO, first hand me down vibes and later t-jets...and of course the whole procession up to but not including Magna Traction...those were fer girls...such was the general consensus in those early dayz. LOL.

Hikin' er bikin' to the Hobby store early Saturday mornings with the same conviction as the postman...rain sleet or snow. I really did have a cigar box for a pit case...so the aroma of fine tobacco and hot windings always takes me back to a simpler time. We bashed them, we butchered them, and the ever popular trial by fire...of course we ran the wheels of of them. Please check my very first HT post for my true confessions. It was of course the height of the era and all energies were concentrated on buying, selling, wheeling and dealing for slot cars...not unlike how I am today! LMAO

Of course life, school, sports, girls, big cars, and families overtake the passions of youth and my life was no exception. However the one vestige of simpler times that escaped mom's rummage sale purge was my collection of Marklin HO trains. Arguably the Mercedes Benz of Euro scale trains. Their survival was nothing short of a miracle.

They were resurrected while in my late twenties and the collection was expanded considerably until my early forties. Through a life time of Model Railroading I was able to continue modeling and tinkering as though I had been transported back in time.

My father passed away in the late 90's. I dumped my career, dis-assembled a train layout that rivaled the Adams family by tenfold, and moved back to my home town to be closer to mom.

A coupla years later my wife and I were standing at the thrift store checkout. In the display case sitting up all funky on it's guide pin was a white 63 split vette in out of the box mint but near mint condition. She was awash in a sea of crusty Tootsie toys and haggard Hotwheels. Only a slot junkie would have spotted the fact that she was geeked up on her pin. She stuck out like a sore thumb! Not a penny on me, I had to go diving in Robin's purse to scrounge up the 49 cent purchase price. How degrading! LMAO 

Since the White Vette incident it's been an endless flow of trolling the Bay, restos and customs. Buying, selling, trading and in general not unlike the way it was pert near 40 years ago!

I take great pleasure in untanglin' junk lots and finding diamonds in the rough.
I'm fairly certain my passion is deeply rooted in atoning for all the cars I killed and tortured in my youth.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

This is a way cool thread......will be back to tell my story later. It is late and work comes early for me. I spent all my time reading these Fantastic stories and now will just have to wait to tell mine before Chat.

This is better than any Harlequin Romance Novel. Women......Ha!

See yah, Bob...zilla


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## valongi (Dec 23, 2007)

My introduction into the slot world took place sometime back in the late 70's, early 80's. I was born in '72; can't remember my exact age when my father brought home an AFX track (I think it was- that or a Tyco set). We definitely had some AFX cars and other types that we'd find at local hobby shops and toy stores like Play World.

Matchbox and Hot Wheels were a staple of course, but the amazement of being able to squeeze a gun and see the cars go at lightning speeds were special. Of course, the requisite practice for a five / sixe year old, of placing pedestrians (Star Wars figures) on the tracks would make anyone here, and my parents, wince 

I can remember playing upstairs in the family room along side the track laid out on a 4x8 plywood sheet, lined with a grass-styled abrasive material that was the grass. At one point we had the cardboard stands, garages and other structures as part of the landscape.

Anyhow, I'm not unlike most everyone else here when you hit a certain age where bikes, mopeds, sports, cars and then girls took center stage. I left the house at 21 for good, transfering off to a four-year university and never moving back in. My parents divorced during my final year of school, my father re-married a couple years later and home never felt the same, so I never took the liberty of going through the attic to stroll down memory lane.

Fast forward to December 22, 2007. Married, a one-year old in tow and another about to be born in mid-January. Both by way of adoption (coincidentally from the same birthmother). So while we're not suffering through chocolate coverd pickels at midnight, it's working with attorneys and state agencies to shore up legal issues navigating through the process. This year, though we're both in the holiday spirit, we've not been about shopping for gifts until the last minute.

My wife was stumped this year on gifts, so thinking about the baby boy we're going to be welcoming, I'm thinking toys, and to endulge in a slot car track! No better excuse to get back into toys than to have a boy  I'm not technology-resistant, but I'm just amazed these days that 10-year-olds are running around with iPods and mobile phones. You just don't see "toys" anymore, not the way we had it! Well, this year I'm reclaiming youth, and will be introducing "toys" back into the mix. My two nephews- one in eight grade, the other an 8-year old, will be playing with slot cars in the basement next time they come around! And thanks to the internet, they're going to be pushing a ~30-year-old Aurora Monza GT around the track, the same type of car I used to have. I can't remember all the cars I had back then, but I'm sure as I get to the Super Bowl show in Melville in a month, I'll see some cars that will jog my memory.

Getting back into the hobby, to me, is about reaching back to my happy past, and connecting it with the players of today- your kids, nephews and nieces. If I can introduce them to some rewarding experiences and interests, we all win. Fishing, slot cars, etc. Hopefully one day they'll look back on these days with the same good memories  My father's no longer here to share in these memories, to impart his advice or to tell me I'm a bonehead for 'walling' an F1 off of a tight turn and flying it into our black lab's ass, sending him scattering for cover. But I did learn early on what hobbies like this can mean to all of us- adults and kids, and how it brings us together.


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## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

I got into it in 1969-70 when my best friend had a set & let me use some of his cars.I was hooked ! Another friend gave me am old Atlas Pontiac that I still have & I successfully badgerd my folks to get me the set with the flamethrower McLaren Elva in Green (still have) & the White/Blue Ford J.The rest is history !

Neal :dude:


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## slotrod (May 21, 2007)

I remember getting a set in the late 70's. I don't know which set it was, but it came with a blue Dodge Daytona and Shadow CanAm car. I would play for hours. My brother's friend worked at a Hobby shop, so she gave me cars that didn't work. I repaired them and in the end I had about 50. I had mixture of Early Tyco , AFX car and some Eldon.
Once in a blue moon my father would take me to a downtown Hobby shop. Located in the basement of this hobby shop was a large Aurora track. Every time we went I would head down stairs to watch the racing.
As I grew older, I sold off everything so I could buy a 10 speed bike( bad idea). 
A few years later, after high school I worked for a Hobby shop. They began selling off the old stock of AFX sets and cars. This peaked my interest so I was buying cars again. That didn't last to long because I discovered real cars and so to the basement the slot cars went.
I began dating a girl (now my wife) that always wanted a slot car set. Every year she would check out all the sets in the Sears Wish book. This was revealed to me when we were visiting my parents. I asked my dad if he still had the set I purchased and low and behold we were racing that night on the floor. My wife said I should collect these instead of die-cast. I agreed since I had always love them. 
Now we collect together along with attending slot car shows. She loves to watch me repair old cars and get them running like new. I now have some 2500 H.O. cars. in our race room.


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## aurora1 (Oct 6, 2008)

Hello. I recently got back into ho slots and discovered this site. I figured this would be a good way to introduce myself and let you know a little bit about me. I was in 5th grade and my brother in 6th in 1966 when I first discovered Aurora slots in Kalamazoo MI. My brothers friend had a setup in his basement and once we discovered them we were over there all the time. For Christmas that year, we got the Sterling Moss set with 2 cars. We had already accumulated a number of cars by then. We had a ping pong table in our basement that soon had a 4x8 sheet of plywood attached to it and holes drilled thru it for the setup. My brother soon entered high school and tired of them but I loved them and played for hours by myself or with buddies. My dad was never into them and I was lucky as there was a hobby store within biking distance. Kind of lost interest in high school and did not get back into them until the mid 80's. I bought a tyco set and had a blast for a few years. A couple of years ago I hit 50 and found a Tjet set at a garage sale - and been racing ever since with my 12 year old. I am not as hard core as some of you but have found this site of great information and assistance. Dave


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

aurora1 said:


> ght a tyco set and had a blast for a few years. A couple of years ago I hit 50 and found a Tjet set at a garage sale - and been racing ever since with my 12 year old. I am not as hard core as some of you but have found this site of great information and assistance. Dave


Welcome back Dave I was just thinking this site did not have enough Dave's we needed some more! lol.. the rest of you can cringe now, the Dave revolution is offically begun...


Dave


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## Tazman6069 (Mar 20, 2005)

I'm not a Dave ,but i am a David:jest:


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

Funny....I always thought that if I were blessed with a son, I'd name him David (Dave).........but I was only blessed with girls. 

Thank heaven for you guys.


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## Omega (Jan 14, 2000)

Another Dave here....

Dave :roll:


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## wheelz63 (Mar 11, 2006)

when i was 8-9 years old i remember getting a sizzler track and slot car track for christmas, in the slot set i remembered the blue gulf porsche, over the years i dont know if my mother threw them out or what but 5 years ago i seen them on ebay, and my childhood started all over again at least with the slot cars not so much with the sizzlers. i still check out the sizzlers every now and then thinking if i want another set after all these years. probably not i am very much consumed with the slot car thing. as you all know. thanks for all the memories guys, and yes what a great thread to have for all of us to relive our childhood again. by the way i am 45 now wow has time gone by.

Richard
(wheelz63)


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Okay you talked me into it. I was born in '61 (no not 1861 either, Bill Hall & Bobzilla !!) By 65 we had our first new car.1965 Pontiac 2+2 421 tri-power,4spd all the boys at school thought it was so cool and so did I. By the time I started school I was a certified car nut (or just certified) I could recite facts figures etc . I could identify anything with wheels by this time. Played with match boxes out in the gravel . Then @xmas 65 or 66 My uncles show up at the house with this crazy new fad called slot cars. They brought a Sterling Moss four lanerwith the Jag,Riviera,T-Bird,and Stingray. I don't rememner the other set. it was up and running in no time . They raced all weekend long ! One slept in my room the other on the couch. We went to E J Korvette's and bought more track,cars, Hop up kits , accessories. Then it was off to the lumber store and when we got home they took everything to the basement to build a layout. A few hours later they came up with a permanent track mounted to plywood. 
The following weekend was much of the same and this went on for a couple of years. I got my own car , 62 Ferrari 250 GTO t jet in red (of course) Grnadfather even had his own. The porshe 904 in Turquoise. Him and I raced all of the time. I continued to race even after the track was put away in the late sixties. Every summer I would visit my grandparents in New Jersey and during each visit we would visit my cousins for a few days on Long Island ,New York. He had a huge layout in his room and his bed was under it so he had room for the track ! His was fully landscapped and detailed too. We would always head out to Aurora's factory out there too when I visited WOW! By 1972 we had a 1970 GTO and thats about when when I got an A/FX set for christmas. It had the #3 Camaro with the orange stripe and the Pink 57 Nomad. Still have those two. Unfortunately over the years being married, the ex was slowly throwing out my stuff every time I moved. This included a brand new in the box never used T jet Cobra coupe in blue and a Masserati in cream. Also my Lemon yellow 32 Ford PU and my fav 1962 Ferari GTO ! ARGH! I should have thrown away some of her stuff like shoes, purses, crystal to see if she liked that.
Got divorced but still had some of the cars. I was bored with some of my other hobbies and one day surfing the net I see........SLOTCARS ! I joined here last year and well I am getting closer to the three hundred mark and counting With the little cars now. I finally got the Green Hornets ride and Bmobile t jets I drooled after as a boy but never got around to buying. I paid alot for mint examples on the bay but , what price can you put on childhood memories? Thanks for the thread and the memories Rudi !


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

ScottD961 said:


> Okay you talked me into it. I was born in '61 (no not 1861 either, Bill Hall & Bobzilla !!) *snip* Thanks for the thread and the memories Rudi !


I remember this thread...thanks aurora1 for bringing it back! ScottD961 I was born in 64 you old goat...Baaaaaaaaaaaaah baaaaaaaaaaaah...har 

Great thread Rudi K   l

Well I never did come back here and tell my slot car story so here goes...

Lived on the farm till I was 5 and Mom didn't like living on the farm anymore so,

Moved to Papillion Nebraska in a nice sized apartment while my Dad went to Drafting school and then became a Draftsman for the Amy Corps of Engineers.

When I was 8 years old we moved into a house (I am an only child by the way) and BAM! This is how I got hooked Big Time! The people we bought the house from had a bunch of stuff in the garage that was going to the Goodwill and said if there was anything we wanted to just take it. 

Holy Molly my eyes just got real big and went right after a huge box of Eldon 1/32 slot car track...tons of it. I had just gotten a new Eldon Slot Car set and this just made my set WAY BIGGER! Single lane track also so, you could split the lanes and bring them back together...woaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

My Dad was into building car & truck models and fixed me up with some sweet custom slot car bodies he made up for the cars from kits! :woohoo: My favorite was a Porsche 904. I have one built up just like it now and have plans to build a T-Jet version of it also.

Well Eldon slot car tires dried up and that was a bummer because, all the tires did was spin mostly. Sizzlers, Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars started to creep in and take over until....................D-DAY! Mike (the guy my Dad worked next to and good friend) had 2 young Daughters who were not interested in the AFX slot car set that he had gotten for them (yeah right more like for himself) and sold my Dad the set. My Dad just gave it to me one night when he came home from work...Thanks Dad!

That was my first ho set and it came with extra cars also. The orange and white & blue and white #3 Camaros, a 55 Chevy, 57 Nomad & others. I was hooked on slot cars again. Shoveled driveways in the winter to get money to by more slot cars. Chris my best friend lived across the street and had a Tyco Track set. We went back and forth to each others houses and raced on are growing track layouts all winter long. More sets came by request for Christmas. 

The AFX Semi Truck & Police car set was my favorite and got some Christmas Money to buy another one of those sets too along with a couple more Semi Trucks. :woohoo: 

All the kids into slot cars got to race at the local hobby store when Mr. Fields set up a track....Heaven...it was slot car Heaven!

One day,after winning the 1976 Slot Car Winston Cup Championship,Ginger met me in the parking lot and we drove our bikes to Canada. She knew that all the T.V. coverage I was getting was changing me into someone I wasn't.

We got paper routes and recycled pop cans until we were old enough to get jobs at a Pizza Place. Wheew those were tough times. 

The end

Bob...all but, the last two paragraphs are true...zilla


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

bobhch said:


> I remember this thread...thanks aurora1 for bringing it back! ScottD961 I was born in 64 you old goat...Baaaaaaaaaaaaah baaaaaaaaaaaah...har
> 
> One day,after winning the 1976 Slot Car Winston Cup Championship,Ginger met me in the parking lot and we drove our bikes to Canada. She knew that all the T.V. coverage I was getting was changing me into someone I wasn't.
> 
> ...


 You can call me an old Goat anytime. GTO's are my Favorite all time car. Pontiac or Ferrari's ! I have to admit I was impressed with those last two paragraphs until I got to the end you hoser ! Cool story /Cool thread !
:woohoo:


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

*Pics say 1000 words.........*

as you can see the excitment on my brothers face he couldnt finish opening the present, I said screw that I wanna RACE!!!!!!!!!!( yes im the one still ripping it open , second pic im looking at the camera ), year humm.... middle 70's


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Merry Chirstmas...we can all relate to these pics...*



GoodwrenchIntim said:


> as you can see the excitment on my brothers face he couldnt finish opening the present, I said screw that I wanna RACE!!!!!!!!!!( yes im the one still ripping it open , second pic im looking at the camera ), year humm.... middle 70's


Man you are Sooooooooo lucky to have pics like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob...have lots of pics taken of our kids and slot cars...zilla


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

bobhch said:


> Man you are Sooooooooo lucky to have pics like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Bob...have lots of pics taken of our kids and slot cars...zilla


I still have the cars too


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## GoodwrenchIntim (Feb 22, 2005)

my cars from back then, the top left yellow an blue car came in that track in the pic. The RED yes red 43 I got at a garage sale for $.50 when i was 16 i think or younger :thumbsup: the rest we got as kids after we got the track 








an forgot this one


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Ok..My turn I guess.. Born in '61 so I guess I'm an old goat like scott!! :tongue: Started messing around with a Lionel train set at 8 years old... Then The HO scale train sets good ol Santa brung my younger brother and I. Because we were so close in age, we always seemed to share the big gift on Xmas day. Then in 72 or 73, our first AFX slotcar set showed up by the fireplace and this started my on again/ off again affair with slots. We beat the tar out of those sets building impossible triple spirals, loops, etc down in the basement where our 16 x 4 foot train table resided. We never did put the two together as the tabs broke on so many pieces of track that it just got tossed. The parents sold the house in 78 and the trains and remaining slots went to my nephews who made most of the stuff disappear, except for a few odds and ends. Got married in '85 and got the itch to play in the basement. I built a 12 x 8 train/slot table with the latest generation aurora track, some tyco US1 trucks and a ton of trains. At least the marriage lasted longer than the table (by 4 years)!! All those trains got sold (due to hard times after the divorce) for a measly $100 (stupid me!!!!) and the slots went got stashed. There's a ton of track and a pitkit full of cars sitting in storage down in FL if I can ever find a way to get down there!!! Two years ago my son got a figure 8 LL set for Xmas and he liked it but the cars went so fast and stuck so well I didn't think much of it. Then my brother in law showed up with a box full of tjet track and off I went on ebay!! My son had gotten 2 train sets for Xmas three years ago that he wasn't ready for and it was time. I bought like a mad man, not realizing how crazy the slotcar market was(up in the winter down in the summer) and of course I bought high and am now selling low (great market strategy) As I thin out the extra stuff I found out I had no room for. In April we adopted my sister in laws 2 male grandkids so the four lane became a necessity!! At least mama let me take over the dining room for the table and the kids love running the carp out of them!! Now if they could only stay out of trouble long enough to not be grounded....At least I can play with it!!!:thumbsup:


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## smithharry (Oct 11, 2008)

Slot car is a beautiful and high speed car. Some people like to in this car and so many like to in this look for car and very heavy parts keep to his car.


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## wheelszk (Jul 8, 2006)

WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

wheelszk said:


> WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY


:lol: 

Ditto.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Smith Harry, right on buddy, slotcars are beautiful and fast things !


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

smithharry said:


> Slot car is a beautiful and high speed car. Some people like to in this car and so many like to in this look for car and very heavy parts keep to his car.


Ummm, yep............I couldn't agree more. 

I think


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

I am guessing that the pc translator is imperfect in grammar. He is in Germany, maybe?

Slotcars are GREAT, Harry! We all love them too! :thumbsup:


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Six years ago, when i was about six my dad let me race.:woohoo: Even though I couldn't keep it on the track very long i was very into it. After that every single winter we would bust out the slot cars and assemble the track! When I was eight or nine my grandmother got my brothers and I a very large slot car set. I have enjoyed tinkering slot cars with my dad since!


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## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Welcome to hobby talk Jordan!! You will find the slot rooms entertaining, informative and a lot of fun!! 

UtherJoe


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

Thanks for the welcoming!


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

Time to try and jog my memory. I was born in '54 and got a Tyco HO train set for Christmas in 1961. Just a simple oval with a blue Santa Fe diesel(F9 I think) and a coal car, a box car, a flat car and a caboose. Slot cars were starting to become popular and during a visit to a hobby store in Kankakee, Illinois I saw slot cars(at least two scales, HO and 1/32nd) set up in a separate room where Matt, the owner, did repairs on trains and slot cars. I also recall that he store had been in another location across the street where I had got my dad to buy a few little accessories to put on a Lionel/Marx train table that was set up in the basement. I was really too young to play with it, it just sat most of the time. I still have most of those, an outhouse, a well pump, an oustide barbeque pit. Anyway, I still remember being in Matt's talking with him and my Dad about which scale slot cars I MIGHT GET for Christmas. I distinctly remember Matt saying that with the HO you got twice the amount of track in the same space the 1/32nd would take up. So I told my Dad I'd prefer the HO because it also was the scale of my train set. So for Christmas '62 I got an Aurora "Crisscross" set with a red Galaxie convertible and a yellow Police car. We ran the wheels off of those cars!!! I even recall a few trips to Matt's to "get them fixed". My biggest complaint was that I always wanted to run the Police car and usually did, but it was slower than the convertible. Eventually I got the "idea" to swap the bodies.....then the Police car was faster!!!
Of course, for the next Christmas Matt strongly suggested upgrading to the new "ThunderJets", which I got as a present that year. It was a whole new ballgame!!! Those cars were light years about the Vibrators. In 1964(I think) I got my first "Hop Up Kit" with red racing oil, decals(It was so hard to find any small enough in the 1/25th scale models I built) and slicks!!! Somewhere in that time frame I got a set of AJ's slip-on Silcones for the Hot Rod wheels. That set of tires VASTLY improved the perfomance of any car I put them on, so of course I had to get more!!! At Christmas in 1966 my temporary layout on the 4x8 track layout board became a full blown HO raceway with scenery, my Dad and I saw a layout in the Nov. 1966 issue of Boys Life and he built it for me as a Christmas present, though I knew SOMETHING was being built down there, I was told to "stay out of the basement" until Christmas!!! Man, the torture was unbearable.....I even tried to find time when I was going to be "home alone" so I could sneak down there. That layout was awesome!!! The only downside was that there were no straightaways to get up any speed, though a spiral climb with slight banking was a pretty good run. Ford GT's were my car of choice to race on it, epecially to beat the Ferrari 250 GTO's. I never bought one of the Porsche 906's back then because I thought the tail was too long and they wouldn't handle as well as the Ford or Ferrari. In the next year a LONG backstrech was added by mounting planks onto brackets along the wall. This basically was a "down and back" with a 180 degree turn at the far end. A couple 1/8 turn sections were put on to bring the straightways closer together. The "front one" was 20 feet and the "back/return" one was 22 feet. Man, speed became paramount at that point; on the road course even a slow car was capable of keeping up because of the tight, twisty turns, but with the long straights, a fast car could really pull out a lead. I remember comparing it to Lemans, with some cars being 100 MPH faster than others. Oh, of course Christmas tree lights were added to that section so it was even more realistic.
The next huge inovation to come was the AJ's threaded axles and hubs with silicone tires bonded to the hubs. My first set had white "rubber"(don't recall why I didn't get black) and they raised the bar again. Oh, at this point('67-'68 I think) we were making BIG wings to glue on bodies(like the real Chaparral 2E). I was painting my Ford GTs white with a blue nose, like the 1964 Lemans car. The next big improvement was Lancer clear bodies, REAL replicas of actual race cars!!! 

More to come....

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

The spring of 1968 my eight grade class took a trip to Springfield, Illinois to see the Abe Lincoln historic sites. On the trip down we stopped at a huge truck stop and while the other kids were buying souvenirs, I was at the magazine rack checking out the Car Model, Model Car and Track, etc. issues and I saw to my amazement the '68 Auto World Model Cars Catalog! I took my "lunch money" and bought it, it was $.60......and I still have it to this day. The big items in there were the Lancer clear bodies and the decal sheets, along with hop up parts. I got an order around Christmas and I still remember cutting out/trimming bodies(and my fingers on more than one occasion!!!) with my trusty X-Acto knife. I remember thinking the "King Cobra" was so cool in painted yellow, and Ford Honker painted a rather light shade of purple. 1969 I recall getting aluminum front wheel sets with the "mag wheel" insterts. Also, how many other "old guys" like me just had to have the Batmobile when it came out??? And silver brushes, silver-plated shoes??? 

More to come......

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

JordanZ870 , welcome to Hobby Talk ! Come and join us on our weekly chat night on Wednesday night at nine PM . A lot of us meet up again on Fridays too. We,ll be looking for you !


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Rawafx, Man I drooled over that Batmobile t jet and the Green Hornets Black Beauty many a time in the display case at EJ Korvettes in Nanuet New York. It took 40 years but I finally got a mint one off of the bay and a Green Hornets car too. Win43 sent me a custom Green Hornet ride too and it's WAAAAAAAYYY cooler , it's GREEN !


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## TJETDRAGRACER (Jan 25, 2008)

*Yes at 50 I have been in all Hobbies*

HotWheels ~ Model Car's ~RC-Car's~Slot Car's~~After all that always went back to Slot Cars. ~I remember buying solt cars from a guy in New York back in the 80's, I bought New on the card A/fx's for $10.oo a piece. No kidding~Like 55 Chevy's in any color you wanted.~Dragsters $15.oo -A car Brand New on the Card.~I had them all.~I really did'nt know what I had a the time, And sold them all, Plus a box full of good clean Aurora track to a guy named Bob on the West Side of MI. ~For $400.oo~~Today I could have sold them for $4000.oo Plus~~~Live and Learn~~So keep saving them JL and AW cars. And don't sell them to a guy named Bob.~LOL


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Thanks for the Advice Tjet dragracer! There is a local guy who advertises locally for slots and I called him once to see if I could buy anything from him ! What a pest ! He is always trying to get me to part with my stuff, No friggen way My slots are mine and I'm keeping 'em.


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

Some guy named "Bob" in western Michigan??? Was that "Bob's Collector Shop" in Waterviet??? I used to buy stuff from there on occasion.
Oh, speaking of the Batmobile and Green Hornet cars, I bought MY Green Hornet body-only on a blister card from a hobby shop, even though Aurora supposedly never offered it as a "body only".

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Rawafx said:


> Some guy named "Bob" in western Michigan??? Was that "Bob's Collector Shop" in Waterviet??? I used to buy stuff from there on occasion.
> Oh, speaking of the Batmobile and Green Hornet cars, I bought MY Green Hornet body-only on a blister card from a hobby shop, even though Aurora supposedly never offered it as a "body only".
> 
> Bob Weichbrodt
> ...


Actually both of my crime fighter rides came from New Jersey I believe. I am not sure but I thought that on one of the sites I visited I read of an account where a guy bought both the Bmobile and GH as bodies only on blister cards. I'll have to check that not sure now


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## TJETDRAGRACER (Jan 25, 2008)

*Yes The Same "Bob"*



Rawafx said:


> Some guy named "Bob" in western Michigan??? Was that "Bob's Collector Shop" in Waterviet??? I used to buy stuff from there on occasion.
> Oh, speaking of the Batmobile and Green Hornet cars, I bought MY Green Hornet body-only on a blister card from a hobby shop, even though Aurora supposedly never offered it as a "body only".
> 
> Bob Weichbrodt
> ...


Yes The same Bob, From Watervite MI.~(Bobs Collector Shop)~~He is a nice guy don't get me wrong. It was my fault for not checking around for trying to get a better deal on all my car's and track. I siil have a the list of what I sold to him.~175 good used a/fx's~~60 New on the Card a/fx's including 2 set's of 4 Dragsters~~42 real nice t-jets~~5 tyco pro car's~~over 1000 t-jet and a/fx Part's ~~(240)car's in all plus part's and a big box full of very good clean t-jet track~~~Sold all of that for only~ $400.oo / That was about 25 year's ago.~~(How much would you guys pay if I had all that for sale today???)~~Tom


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Still reading some stories...


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## rbrunne1 (Sep 22, 2007)

Rich - you sure dragged this out of the archives


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