[munter]

it started with a totally unnecessary rant

Let a man rant and move on….why get all butt hurt?

There is something not right there. A rant is a rant is a rant but someone in the background has got all offended and pulled rank …..or so it seems to me.

[KensRedZed]

The rant about MrSlotcar rocker panels is much deeper and worse. Nothing but childish garbage. But that's allowed to go on, and on, and on... No double standards there that I can see.

[Mr.M]

 MrSlotcar rocker panels is much deeper and worse. 

I see what you did there

[Henk]

That other forum, SFI, is no longer owned by enthusiasts but by a commercial American company.
Multiple tread were already locked, one incarnated 2 more times.

So much for the "freedom of speech" that is, correct me if I'm wrong, even in the American constitution.

[Kevan]

There is something not right there. A rant is a rant is a rant but someone in the background has got all offended and pulled rank …..or so it seems to me.

I wondered that too

[ScorpiusWireless]

They simply need to copy the Carrera model.  
Excellent distribution. Lots of stock around. Best bodies and detail on the market bar none. Stunning cars.
Ok their chassis is tank like.
Tyres worst possible.
But digital offering superior. Lots of nice track pieces. Nice digital accessories.
I’m not allowed to comment on Hornby.

[woodcote]

The question that Andy P (dvd3500) posted on the Scalextric forum was...

Hornby asked me to poll the community if think a club would be a good idea. The plan would be a club where you would receive a random item monthly. Membership would cost a small fee. 

..and then some options.

I spoke to the Scalextric team around the time of the demise of the last club and the message from them was that the Airfix / Hornby format just doesn't seem to work for Scalextric. The take-up was poor (even in the Covid boom period), doesn't make commercial sense and the team ultimately wanted all Scalextric cars to be available to everyone and in every part of the world.

Personally, I liked the latest version of the Club. The five cars are all fabulous choices:

• Matt Neal's BMW E30 M3 from his first full BTCC season in 1992
  
• The Yvette Fontaine / John Fitzpatrick Escort Mk1 from the 1969 Spa 24 hours
  
• The 'Black Beauty' Escort Mk2 driven by Ari Vatanen / Terry Harryman at the 1982 Manx Rally
  
• Graham 'Skid' Scarborough's 1984 Modified Saloons Series Capri Mk3
  
• The Mini Cooper S of Julien Vernaeve, driven in the 1972 Belgian Touring Car Championship race at Zolder
  

Of course, these five cars have the saloon-car-loving signature of Simon Owen, a huge motorsport fan, a teenage slot car racer, long-time slot car (mostly Fly) collector and now Brand Manager at Scalextric. I have similar motorsport tastes to Simon and joined the Club to get all five and I intend to keep them. Would I have bought them if they had been standard releases? Probably not the Matt Neal BMW, but the others almost certainly.

The Airfix and Hornby Clubs have a unique annual release as their key selling (joining?) point, but also offer online content, other small club mementos and exclusive optional purchases. Both Airfix and Hornby sell very well into hobby communities that are much, much bigger than our slot car community, UK and Worldwide. Our hobby - and Scalextric's market share - just doesn't seem to be big enough to support a Scalextric Club with the same format.

None of the proposals of a new club work for me at all. But I do have a few ideas / suggestions...

One area possibly worth looking at for a Club format might be My First / Micro Scalextric. These sets are the brand's best sellers. Some effort could be put into creating a community for families to get more out of their sets. However, it does depend on cost and whether the investment delivers more sales of the extras (cars, accessory & track packs etc) for the Micro system and to consider the pros and cons of holding families back from moving to the 1:32 scale range...

Another idea - if Scalextric want to create communities of loyal fans - is to look back to the 1980s Club which was focused very much on racing - specifically informal home racing families and groups of friends. Race formats will vary - Digital, analogue, slot rally / time trials - but there is an argument for some small investment to develop such a community with online resources, prizes etc. But it must be about rewarding brand loyalty... There are the pitfalls of the past Scalextric World Championship competitions, where some 'proper' clubs simply extracted the urine (bare-faced cheating, selling the kit without using it, promoting other brands etc) and turned a great idea sour.

I would also like to see some more official Scalextric content - videos, words, pictures - to back up the current range and make it available to everyone via social media platforms, email and website. No need for a club. Airfix and Hornby already do this and I really like what they produce. There's occasional Scalextric blogs (https://uk.scalextric.com/community/blog-and-news), but I don't see them promoted via social media, email or even linked to the product listings. Such content is not without cost to produce, but a nicely put-together blog post or video about a new or pre-order car might generate a handful of extra sales (at full price)?

However, the amount of slot car content available these days is overwhelming. Some people like to read, others listen to podcasts or watch videos. There's no doubt it's easier and more effective for Scalextric to get product and news out to the people who are busy creating this content and building up their audiences. So maybe Scalextric simply need to share more of this via their social media platforms or ask the creators to produce occasional unique content for Scalextric to use?

[Ho Lee Kow]

What to know?? I struggle understand also, but English problems. Scalextric is fine, but track bent easy. Excused friend gone, no more translat to change it.

[Zippideedooda]

Thank you for posting the "Talking Utter Slots" podcast. I love hearing a mfg insiders take on the hobby.