[Doug]

Here are a few photos of the Scalextric and Hornby stand. I'm meeting with them tomorrow and will post more info and details after then.

 

[Charles*Seattle]

HI

Nice locomotives .. glad you just didn't stop taking pictures with Scalextric!!

all my very best,

Charles

All of the pictures much appreciated!!

 

[Screwneck]

Surely they are not going to public release Star Wars and olympic cycling after the huge financial failure of horse racing in the 1970's. Are Scalex daft, or something? It will fail and they'll pass the loss to the consumer by jacking up their prices again.

Get a grip Scalextric. Somebody wake up and tell the person who thought these up that s/he's shooting the company and the consumer in both feet.

 

[Dopamine]

I'm not so sure that failure is certain. The Star Wars stuff and Olympic bikes look like very basic, low quality toys that probably don't cost much to produce. Stick them in a themed box and you've got exactly the type of cheap toy that gets bought for Christmas (and abandoned a few weeks later).

We probably shouldn't judge Scalextric on the basis of a few photos, but they do seem to have targeted the low end of the toy market rather than promote a quality product to adult users.

 

[Isetta]

I too think these are a mis-step. The Star Wars speeder bike looks like it is made of toffee!
Do the London 2012 bicycles really have any appeal?
Kudos to Hornby for trying to innovate...but, ooops in this case IMHO.

The steam locomotives look nice

(Thinks - do I have room for a rail layout

).
Tom.

 

[Mr Modifier]

Issuing train sets for all 3 London Olympics (1908, 1948 and 2012) is inspired, very clever with very wide appeal I would have thought (not into trains myself).

The bicycles are flimsy and I am guessing are aimed at collectors of memorabilia. Let's face it once you extend the track beyond an oval the bikes will look silly (that's if you can extend the track).

As for the star wars stuff... Ridiculous. They couldn't even be bothered to make the speeder bike base (sooooo obviously not part of the speeder bike) the same colour as the track so there is some chance of it becoming less obvious when racing around.

None of the star wars stuff will last more than 3 circuits of the track before they come off and break badly - leaving the little kids they were bought for extremely disappointed and put off Scalextric for the rest of their lives.

I hope for Hornby's sake that they sell by the truckload but I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole and no way will I be buying a set for my little boy (sorry son - it's Super Resistants and Group C Slot.Its for you but I will put Star Wars decals on a white kit if you want).

 

[RikoRocket]

I'd buy a speeder bike - they look so fragile not many will survive so could be an investment?

 

[Michael363672]

But the big question is are the STAR WARS speeders DPR or will it have to be a F1 chip

And we have a DIGITAL Oval so I wonder if the bikes will run round that

 

[richardtheforth]

Wow, 40 taxis to collect!
Will any of them be available south of the river?

 

[SplitRim]

QUOTE (RikoRocket @ 2 Feb 2012, 09:03) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I'd buy a speeder bike - they look so fragile not many will survive so could be an investment?

My thoughts exactly, fill yer boots. In 10 years there'll be so few minty ones around........

I'll by the bike set for the sake of it as I'm into cycling as well as motosport, although I wont be paying £79.99.......

Simon

 

[Sabata]

QUOTE (Doug @ 1 Feb 2012, 16:38) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How are you supposed to pass?

 

[TheCuckoo]

I wonder how the Tie fighter and X-Wing over take each other? They look too wide to pass. Are they at different heights or something?

Would I buy a Star Wars set? No, but probably not aimed at adults.

The cycles? Even less interesting than the SW stuff. Really confused as to who they think are gonna buy this set. Kids? Really? They would prefer a bloke on a bike to a rally car or F1? Somehow I think not.

As for the trains: The GWR county set looks very attractive, but very overpriced with an RRP of over £160. The locomotive is based on a body moudling that was first produced approx 30 years ago. The coaches are (I think) from a mid-late 1980's moulding (and are unprototypical, too) - so that is a lot of money for a re-hash of a very old product.

Reminds me of Scalextric Porsches...

 

[Julian_Boolean]

I think the X-Wing and Tie Fighter are supposed to knock each other off, it's a pity they don't come with laser cannon.

 

[Michael363672]

QUOTE (Sabata @ 2 Feb 2012, 14:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>How are you supposed to pass?

Blow the tie fighter up with your photon torpedo's of course

 

[nigeldangar]

what about there cars for 2012 even if it was just a prototype of what might be released .....there release date for the metro 6R4 is not that long away or perhaps the fiesta wrc as it was at first going to be last years release so they should be way ahead for this year.... or the mini wrc sure it's on a drawingboard somewhere..... could someone talk to them regarding the introduction of 4WD

 

[DB5]

QUOTE (richardtheforth @ 2 Feb 2012, 04:53) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Wow, 40 taxis to collect!
Will any of them be available south of the river?

Thats a classic

but are they 1/32 scale

 

[Alvarez]

QUOTE (DB5 @ 2 Feb 2012, 16:55) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Thats a classic

but are they 1/32 scale
They are 1/64th scale IIRC, so matchbox size. Also the taxi range has been avaliable for over a year now.
The Modelzone I work in we currently have a shed load of the wretched things which are largely ignored by customers.
Also that velodrome set has been out since mid 2011, awful set IMO, it was quite heavily reduced before christmas but it's bizzarrely been bumped back up to it's original £69.99 price when the new year came up...
I must admit I doubt Scaley/Hornby will see any of my money this year, I do like the look of the Fiesta and 6R4 but when Scx and MSC already produce them and likely to a higher standard why bother.

 

[OffRoader]

QUOTE (nigeldangar @ 2 Feb 2012, 08:32) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>what about there cars for 2012 even if it was just a prototype of what might be released .....there release date for the metro 6R4 is not that long away or perhaps the fiesta wrc as it was at first going to be last years release so they should be way ahead for this year.... or the mini wrc sure it's on a drawingboard somewhere..... could someone talk to them regarding the introduction of 4WD

I seem to remember last year there were several gray prototypes on show. I am interested in seeing how the 6R4 looks amongst others.

This seems to be the parent Hornby Hobbies booth this year.

 

[Doug]

We went back to Scalextric and chatted to Paul Chandler, the Scalextric brand manager. Full report and details to follow.

A point about the bikes and Star Wars sets: Hornby don't see them in the same way as slotcars at all. They carry the Scalextric brand name - perhaps to sell the sets - and this generates confusion in our circle of racers and collectors as we assume that it is something to do with Scalextric.

There are some good Scalextric cars due out this year and the core direction of Scalextric is still slotcars so don't worry.

Just look at the X-Wing and Tie-fighter from the back - not sure how they would pass each other on the track - perhaps the game is about knocking the other guy off.

 

[raikkonen_webber fan]

is that it, im dissipointed with what there showing, and who was the judges for the toy fair awards, they cant do there job now can they