[woodcote]

These were cars that would have been in the catalogue under normal circumstances. One of them was even a pixelated  teaser back in December... In  January, the Scalextric team said they wanted to concentrate on the the new tooling for 2022, plus the new cars that were scheduled for 2021 but had been delayed. Re-liveries that were planned had been shelved, not cancelled. See here.

So this new announcement is playing catch-up and leaving the 2023 catalogue open for more new tooling and more new liveries... The fact that they can make this announcement now seems a good sign the manufacturing backlog in the parts of China where the cars are produced is easing. However, Covid remains a massive problem in China, so expect uncertainly into 2023 and beyond.

There's a whole load of new 1:32 scale and Micro stuff on its way (rather than 'scheduled') over the next few months, including the 2022 Club car in the next few weeks. The 2023 Club car will be announced around Gaydon time. However, there's no doubt some of the 2022 releases will need to be pushed into 2023.

I'll post some stuff up tomorrow about these five new cars.