# Speed Racer sets hit TRU



## docsho (Nov 13, 2004)

Stopped in at the Appleton WI. TRU today and found two Speed racer sets.
1st set: Super Grand Prix #M0676, set includes the Mach 5, and the
Racer X cars for around $30.
2nd set: Super Cliff Hangers #M5600, set includes the Mach 6, and the 
Racer XGT cars for around $50


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## ho3taz (Jan 31, 2004)

thanks for the info they have it on line also


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

here are the two sets at TRU :thumbsup:


http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2941816

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2919970


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## 1976Cordoba (Sep 20, 2000)

Doesn't Speed have an open face helmet?

Or have the rules changed so that now he has to use a closed face helmet and the HANS device? :freak:


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## Pomfish (Oct 25, 2003)

No, they are going to make him use the new M5COT (Mach 5 Car of Tomorrow/Today with Punkazz Rear Wing Thing) 

Thanks,
Keith


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Boscovs shows the one set..... for $24.99*

Here you go...

http://www.boscovs.com/StoreFrontWeb/Product.bos?quantity=1&itemNumber=28696&type=Product

Scott


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## WesJY (Mar 4, 2004)

what year did the speed racer came on ? i mean the cartoon ? anyone know? i was born in 1970 so i guess i was too young. 

Wes


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

WesJY said:


> what year did the speed racer came on ? i mean the cartoon ? anyone know? i was born in 1970 so i guess i was too young.
> 
> Wes


Dunno about that, Wes. Im only 4 years younger than you in that case, and I remember Speed. When that came on I was right there in front of it, so when this movie comes out, Ill be there.

Guess I gotta make a run to TRU, cuz I am ON that first set with the original-looking cars. That cliffhangers set with the goofy ones, ah not so much. I saw the regular hotwheels releases and they have plastic bodies. Wonder if Mattel finally pulled their heads out of their arses and figured out that most HW and MB cars are very friendly to the LWB 440X2s. Im just glad Tyco isnt FULLY dead yet, and I think these look better than the JL releases from a few years ago.


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

I wish someone would do a Wacky Racrs set. 

I'm also excited about the Speed Racer set too. I liked the Dash/AW ones but couldn't get over the no drivers thing.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*1967 ...*

I was at a TRU last week and saw these too.... They _"looked"_ to be much bigger than the the JL slot version, but I don't have any JL's, so I'm not sure which better represents the cars. Maybe the movie will help any of the sellers who still have a bunch of stock left on the older JL versions?? nd


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

tjd241 said:


> Maybe the movie will help any of the sellers who still have a bunch of stock left on the older JL versions?? nd


I don't think any of the guys who have any kind of inventory of these are worried about selling. Two and a half years after they were released, the cars are still selling for MSRP or above on ebay.


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

Boy, the Cliffhanger set really got smaller over the years....


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I was born in '64 and I LOVED Speed Racer!


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## fastlap (Nov 11, 2007)

*speed history*

You guys are too dam# young!!!:tongue:

It appears the series was developed for the US in 1967. Here is the history;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Racer


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

WOOT! Scored the smaller set today at TRU with the classic style cars. Havent had time to do more than unbox it though, the bodies look fairly nice if a bit lacking in detail. And theyre still using those crappy lumpy tires. But still a couple cool cars for anyones collection.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

fastlap said:


> You guys are too dam# young!!!:tongue:
> 
> It appears the series was developed for the US in 1967. Here is the history;
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_Racer


 
My thoughts exactly! I seemed to remember seeing it in the late 60's, didn't pay it much attention. Just another imported cartoon from the orient, anime version 1.0. :freak: rr


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Amazon has them for 22 bucks... I just ordered one. I figure the cars alone would cost more than that on ebay


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

$22 doesnt sound bad at all, VJ. But whats the shipping on that? Here in Oregon theres no sales tax so it was $29.99. They had the cliffhanger set for $49.99 but that one had the goofy futuristic cars and I didnt like the look of those at all. The box has a clear window so you can see them which is a nice idea though.

The thing that gets me is that back around '99-'02 Mattel was cranking out the twin packs at TRU and those were $19.99 for just the 2 cars. And the TRU stores in Memphis (I lived there at the time) would get those clippy strip things loaded up with around 30 or so in each store. Theyd sell out within a month or 2, not sure if they restocked in between at all. AND they had lifelike 2paks that would do the same. If theyd pop out a few 2-paks of Speed vs Racer X as well as a few of the other cars like snake oiler and the Mach4 theyd have no prob selling every one. And this would allow a cheap set to get the younger kids into slots ( bringing fresh blood into the hobby) as well as provide extra cars for the same kids who bought the batman or muscle car sets a few years ago. And it'd keep guys like us from buying whole sets of extra track we dont need just to get the %$#@! cars!


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I got free shipping... I just had to spend 25 bucks... so I added a 10 dollar DVD to the mix.

I didn't like the look of the newer cars either... and the 2 car paks are a great deal.
Someone on this thread, or another, mentioned Wacky Racers... how cool would that be? 

Remember the Giant Red "Mammouth" car on Speed Racer? I think it was a 2 part episode... it was like a train. I always wondered if a Tyco Turbo Train could be customized to look like it... that is, if I could remember exactly what the Mammouth car looked like. Some of the other cars from that series would also be cool. 

You should send Mattel an email.... I bet they respond and hey, you never know. 

I wrote Fender guitar a letter in 1998 about how hard it was to buy a replacement neck for my Strat. They could only be sold by special venders, at the prices the vendors set... which was robbery. The CEO of Fender called my home and talked with me for about a half hour. I stated my case.. I told him I would never buy another Fender product and that Ibenez was getting my money from now on. He send me a new neck, Free.... and the next year you could buy Fender necks everywhere... and not be hi-jacked by the few dealers who were allowed to sell them before. Instead of having to spend 600 bucks to replace the neck on a $900 guitar... you now only had to spend around $275- $300. They were even showing up in outlet catalogs. 

So like I said, you never know. They might actually READ it and respond.


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## Oscarw (Jan 24, 2007)

Dude, I used to watch Speed Racer when I was a kid. Not sure how live action is going to be. My 6 year old son wants to see it something fierce. 

Yes, I remember the mamouth car. Damn thing was huge. Like you, I can't quite remember what it looks like


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Tish tosh!

No Mammoth car...filled with the Car Acrobatic Team!!!???...and my personal favorite, the captain of the car acrobatic team, SNAKE OILER...a classic villian! 

Sheesh and eegads I'm gonna toss my Capin' Crunch. Might as well be watchin' Gigantor or Marine Boy.

Anybody got a pic of " Snake " stashed away? I always wanted to use him as my HT avatar!


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

The Mammoth


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

neat that tyco/mattel is doing the Speed Racer stuff to jump on the movie band wagon, but sorry, Dash's cars have tons better detail and their tjets. can't beat that.


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Bill... I used to run home after school to catch the last half of Gigantor. I rented the DVD from Netflix a few years ago... it didn't hold up for me, but it was still fun to see the opening song.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Anybody?*

How bout a side by side pic of the JL's against the better of the 2 pairs of the new mattel slot versions (the ones in the smaller set I believe from what people have said). nd


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## Jimmy49098 (Jan 5, 2006)

I read it is a battery powered set. Does that mean it has the big step shoes?


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

I don't recall any JL SR cars from a few years ago, but there was those Dash Motorsport ones....


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

SwamperGene said:


> The Mammoth


That's a great link if you dig around Gene. And the Wiki page offers tons of answers to much of the elusive movie trivia. :thumbsup:

I was totally addicted to Speed Racer as a kid and watched every episode weekly at 3:30 PM religiously. As I got older there was a period when I found an "illegal" Speed Racer T-Shirt where you couldn't find anything related to Speed Racer due to licensing issues. Everyone wanted one. It was cool to see it all come back and about 15 years ago there was talk of a movie with Charlie Sheen as Speed but that all got dropped. I have all of the diecast stuff offered in '92 (?) including a number of Mach 5 versions, Racer X's Shooting Star, The GRX and the 3 Roses cars.

Some of the names and dialogue were pretty funny.

Inspector Detector: "...This secret film was filmed secretly."


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Some sharp looking Speed racer lexans from my BBS archives. Photo is probably 5 or 6 years old.


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Oops...*



Montoya1 said:


> I don't recall any JL SR cars from a few years ago, but there was those Dash Motorsport ones....


 My bad !.... I thought JL after seeing info here 

http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/HOCarsForSale.html#SpeedRacer

.... I'll look harder next time. nd


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

grungerockjeepe said:


> The thing that gets me is that back around '99-'02 Mattel was cranking out the twin packs at TRU and those were $19.99 for just the 2 cars. And the TRU stores in Memphis (I lived there at the time) would get those clippy strip things loaded up with around 30 or so in each store. Theyd sell out within a month or 2, not sure if they restocked in between at all. AND they had lifelike 2paks that would do the same. If theyd pop out a few 2-paks of Speed vs Racer X as well as a few of the other cars like snake oiler and the Mach4 theyd have no prob selling every one.


I doubt you will find a pulse of any kind in the slot car brain at Mattel. There really should be no need to tell them the obvious - every time they produce a DECENT race set or set of cars, it sells out quickly. Instead, those corporate dunderheads only worry about Hot Wheels and Barbie dolls. The stores are loaded for months and years with the same unsellable Mattel crap, while the slot car stuff sells out right away. If that doesn't clue them in, a letter from Joe Public ain't gonna turn on the light.

After all, can you find any of the more popular Mattel sets or cars from the past few years? Nope. All sold out. But, I'll bet that Hot Wheels Octoblast set is still around.

Joe


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

tjd241 said:


> My bad !.... I thought JL after seeing info here
> 
> http://www.hoslotcarracing.com/HOCarsForSale.html#SpeedRacer
> 
> .... I'll look harder next time. nd


The link says JL. From what I remember it was a collaborative effort.


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

Wacky Racers

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d2nwA1G-Vhw


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## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Thanks Mic...*



micyou03 said:


> The link says JL. From what I remember it was a collaborative effort.


Didn't know that... Honestly didn't follow the roll out. What I was truly wondering was how the big-box product stacked up against the slot car company's product. Is it really "toyed up" and cheap or was there an effort to make a good product. My guess is that Dash/JL put a lot more effort into it in order to sell it to collectors and slot car fans. Still would be interesting to see though. nd

Great toon Mic!!!


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

There's a bunch of them on youtube.


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

micyou03 said:


> The link says JL. From what I remember it was a collaborative effort.


It was my project. I contracted with RC2 to do these while RC2 still had the slot line. In the middle of the project, slots were sold back to Tom. The car designs were already done. Tom had a hand in the artwork, but that's about it. Both RC2 and Tom use the same factory (Childford in Hong Kong) so all Tom had to do was follow through with it. These cars were designed after the cartoon series, I don't know if the movie cars will look the same.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

videojimmy said:


> I got free shipping... I just had to spend 25 bucks... so I added a 10 dollar DVD to the mix.
> 
> I didn't like the look of the newer cars either... and the 2 car paks are a great deal.
> Someone on this thread, or another, mentioned Wacky Racers... how cool would that be?
> ...


Nice work on the Fender guys, VJ. Youre right, it doesnt hurt to ask. Ive got half a mind to call them and tell them if they give me a year's time in charge of the slotcar stuff, Ill triple their profits minimum. Simple formula: Make more cars!

I do remember the mammoth car. Kind of a cross between a kenworth cabover semi and a train. Here in Oregon, semis can tow up to 3 trailers so its not too far off of that. And its funny you mention tweeking the turbo train into it, cuz I half had the same idea. I remember the assasin cars also. Kind of a bat-wing shape with 2 front and 1 rear wheel. I think JL even had a diecast of that one.

Jada has some diecasts of the classic SR cars, including the Snake's GRX. But theyre almost 1/43 scale which means no resin casting for them.


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## hefer (Sep 18, 1999)

This set is battery powered. Does Mattel own stock in some battery company? I really thought when Mattel bought Tyco, it ment all kinds of new slot bodies from the vast molds of Mattel. Sadly... I was mistaken:>(


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

hefer said:


> This set is battery powered. Does Mattel own stock in some battery company? I really thought when Mattel bought Tyco, it ment all kinds of new slot bodies from the vast molds of Mattel. Sadly... I was mistaken:>(


It is a means to keep prices down on what they consider to be a toy and little else. A battery box is almost free when compared to a wallwart. Note that the other set is NOT battery powered. A low price-point means they sell them all. 

Maybe they recognize that people who buy these for add-ons (cars or track) don't want to buy a wallwart that they don't need? Times are lean, my friend.

Just a thought.


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

I saw Hot wheels has put out a bunch of die casts for Speed Racer. the Mach 4,5 and 6... the snake oiler and 2 versions of Shooting Star. I may habe to hit TRU to check them out


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

According to the box art both SR sets are battery powered, Joez. Target's write-up even says 4 D batteries included in the small set.


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## grungerockjeepe (Jan 8, 2007)

At least you can upgrade to a wall wart on these. I just took the battery box and clipped the lead wire in case I ever want to use something like those old school electric train type power sources.

No D cells are in the smaller set. I dont see how 6v of power could possibly push a 440X2 chassis on any kind of layout, let alone the cliffhanger one. I remember the motor layout on the matchbox 6V slotcars and they have tiny little wires in place of actual motor brushes. these would have to be real slugs.


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## SwamperGene (Dec 1, 2003)

A battery pack does fine on these micro-layouts, which create an illusion of speed. We had our kids at a party last year, they were playing with a Cars the Movie set which are 440x2's on a tiny 8 and they could still fling 'em off the corners.

The Cliffhanger set likely uses those double-rail curves, the cars probably stick under no power. They probably need the speed from the drop to make the loop. :lol:


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## Pomfish (Oct 25, 2003)

grungerockjeepe said:


> At least you can upgrade to a wall wart on these. I just took the battery box and clipped the lead wire in case I ever want to use something like those old school electric train type power sources.
> 
> No D cells are in the smaller set. I dont see how 6v of power could possibly push a 440X2 chassis on any kind of layout, let alone the cliffhanger one. I remember the motor layout on the matchbox 6V slotcars and they have tiny little wires in place of actual motor brushes. these would have to be real slugs.


They (Mattel) seems to have lowered the strength of the traction magnets to accommodate the low power.
Thanks,
Keith


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

Making sets battery powered are a waste and an excellent way to turn off any new parent who buys a set for their kid. They would go through a fortune in batteries and soon the set gets put in a closet or goes in the trash.

I had one parent come to me at a show asking if I had another way to power those sets because he couldn't afford the batteries. I sold him a few wall warts at $1 a piece; he was estatic. Not many parents know that option is available.

Anyone with half a brain could take the Mattel slot car line and turn a goodly profit. They could even sell sets without a power source and sell the power source seperately.

There was a whole bunch of Speed Racer stuff at TRU when I went, although the larger set was not there. It'll be interesting to see if the slot sets sell out while all the other stuff lingers.

Such a waste.

Joe


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I was a Speed Racer fan when I was a kid and would have loved to see the Mach 5 done as a slot car back then. There was a certain lo-fi cheesiness to the cartoon so I'm amazed that it has taken so many decades to try to improve on the original, which set the bar pretty darn low to begin with. Today I see these cars as novelty items, but perhaps if I cranked up the Speed Racer song really loud I could get back into that groove.

Aurora sold battery operated Vib' and TJet sets.

Mattel basically sees slot cars as party favors and novelty trinkets to glean some small cash from as movie tie-ins. Mattel of today is very, very far removed from its Tyco roots.


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Hey!*

I received a $5 off coupon from TRU in my e-mail....
(On sales of $25 or more)
Hmmm......

Scott


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## pto (Dec 12, 2007)

I was born in '68. I became a Speed Racer fan while watching reruns in the '70s. I agree about Matell missing the boat on their promo sets. There is so much potential for acessories and such. I guess if you hang on to the set for 30 years or so, when most others tossed it out after going thru a couple dozen batteries, you'll have quite a collector piece.


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## twolff (May 11, 2007)

My 10 year-old son freaked over the movie trailer, so I broke down an ordered the Johnny Lightning Speed Racer Mach V and Shooting Star. They are better done than the Mattel offering IMHO. The movie better not suck (like the cartoon) LOL!


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

What chassis are used under the Super Grand Prix cars? 

PS born in '61.....I started watching Speed in 1968.


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Rudy.... they have 440-x2 chassis on them. I just got mine today... Speed needs a shirt change. isn't his shirt blue? they made it red


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

videojimmy said:


> Rudy.... they have 440-x2 chassis on them. I just got mine today... Speed needs a shirt change. isn't his shirt blue? they made it red


Jimmy, yep, it's blue.


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## Omnicron (Apr 18, 2008)

Just got my Speed Racer "Super Grand Prix" race set. Cars are OK, but the track assortment is disappointing. This set would frustrate any child in 5 minutes. The cars won't stay on the track, they're just too fast for the small layout. The controllers set at beginner still send the cars flying off, so that's pointless, IMHO. And, as pointed out in other posts, battery powered. As an entry level introduction set to slot car racing, it falls short, unfortunately.


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