[fast lucky]

Here's the link :

http://www.ht-slotshop.de/shop/index.php?v...oduct=SP0100204

The shortcomings about the shape of the car (especially the windscreen) remain the same but I find the livery is quite beautiful.

 

[Ken R]

Its funny, five years ago, this would have been at or near the top of the heap in terms of desirability and WOW factor.

Now its relegated to the nice try too bad category. This post has been here half a week and nary a reply or comment..

The bar keeps getting higher as the manufacturers try to out do each other. I thought 2002 was nuts on the new car front until this year, and I can just imagine what's up for 2004!!!

Sorry Spirit you seem to be a day late and a dollar short.

 

[fast lucky]

Yes, the quality standards have risen a lot over the last years. Here's my view of the situation :

Some companies (especially SCX) have better coped with this issue than others.

Fly remain the best in terms of detail. Scalextric was the first to react with the Cadillac and is a close second in terms of detail. On the other hand, their cars are better out of the box (save for their silly magnets). While Fly is clearly targeting the GT's / sportcars market that has world wide appeal, Scalextric try to meet the wishes of different markets : the USA (Transam and IRL cars), the UK or the european market (rally cars).

Ninco has improved its detail and has come to tampoo printing instead of stickers. Sure the level of detail remains lower but the driveability of their cars is second to none. They clearly aim the european market and more specifically the spanish one though some efforts are done towards the USA (Cart).

SCX has done a lot of improvements and is on top in terms of price / quality ratio. Their aim is clearly set on the spanish (main target) and european markets.

Teamslot was well behind but shows a lot of improvements as well. Tampoo printing is now adopted and the paint quality has improved as well. The spanish market comes on top.

Revell, Vanquish and Spirit have recently appeared (or made a come-back).

Revell's painting and tampoo printing is excellent. It appears that some efforts remain to be done on their chassis. A very good product nevertheless. Their eyes are clearly set on the american market, witness the choice of cars.

Vanquish has an excellent quality in terms of paint and decoration but brought some daring (unnecessary ?) innovations and is out scale, wasting an excellent choice of cars.

Spirit did an excellent choice of models as well. The quality is already well above the one that we could get a few years ago but is beaten by the leaders. Since their are well chosen, they fill a gap in the market though they should avoid the less than ideal shape of their Ferrari 512M. THeir LMP are fine though.

Carrera has done some late improvements but are clearly still beaten in terms of quality (detail and painting). Their main goal is clearly to sell sets rather than cars and they clearly aim to get an impact on the american market.

 

[Biberle]

Hi lucky,

here are my thoughts, mainly based on views on the German market.

First of all (and strange enough), ALL cars are in the same price range of 34 to 39 Euros. Only exception are some Flys (40 to 42 Euros) and the vanquish cars (42 to 45€).

SCX: Agree with you, BUT, as said, no advantage in pricing here. SCX has the gift to get most of their shapes extremely well, especially the modern rally cars.

Fly: Hm, some of their newer realeases are disappointing. I mean not the qiuality, but the looks (BMW 320, GT40). Still some great efforts like the Saleen, although they seem to have somehow reached their limit: If tampoos for example are very small and go over edges, the quality is rather poor and falls way behind Scalextric.

Scalextric: Hm, mixed feelings. some fantastic looking cars (GT40, MG Lola) but I still feel they generally have shape problems. Some cars just don't look right. Great OOTB for magnet drivers, but very slow if you really want to race them.

carrera: can't agree. Ok, some cars still look toyish (Enzo, Carrera GT), but some (new Ferrari F1, Vintage Nascars) are great. When looking at a Charger, it IMO even looks better and more like the "real thing" than the Scalex TransAms.

Spirit: Trashy looking 512M, uninteresting Lola, but with the Reynard they seem to be on a good path.

Vanquish: All is said. However, I don't think their cars are looking THAT impressive. Big problems with the wheels.

Ninco: Great cars, but I think in the near future Ninco HAS to do something in the looks department. With more and more brands taking bit steps forward, Ninco slowly falls behind. Even their good and right looking cars (i.e. Pajero, Punto) are not more than average compared to other brands.

Revell: Agree

AutoArt: Only got the Subaru, but IMO simply THE best lloking car i have, although the car itself is totally unattractive. Really overwhelming paint job quality. The Murcielago pictures I've seen are also simply stunning.

 

[fast lucky]

Hi Biberle,

Regarding SCX's prices, my comments are based on spanish prices (same for Ninco).

Fly is actually very cheap in Germany, even more so than in Spain. It would appear that the dealers are quite deeply cutting their profit margin. Regarding Fly's tampoo quality, I also highly regard the way the driver's helmet are decorated. Scalextric lose many points there... BTW, what are your criticisms about the ETCC BMW ?

My comments on Carrera were mainly based on their Bentley, Panoz, BMW, Audi, Williams and McLaren. I agree with you that the Ferrari F1 is a great improvement though remains behind Scalextric (look at the rear suspension to see what I mean)

I personally really wanted the Lola B2K/10, so I'm very happy Spirit did it.

Don't have any AutoArt car, though I agree that they look great and are very good value.

One might also add SlotIt. Right from the start they have produced a car that belongs to the top with a sensible price. My only concerns are about the delays (but then it's not that important) and the number of models they produce. I'm asking for more.

I intend to get Cartrix's NSX. I'm told their products are quite great. Let's wait and see.