[kevin hunter]

little asked me the other day
"who decides what new models they bring put ?"
which got me thinking who does actually decide
some of the models these days are absolutely fabulous in detail and likeness which lead to a comment from a no slotter friend of mine to comment they look like real models in the box with the value added that they actually go like stink round a track !!

going like stink must be a slot car technical term i havent come across yet !!
anyway a few suggestions if any manufacturer is listening from me an me lad

ford scorpio for no other reason than to see if the slot version could out sell the real version

lotus europa remember them they were so sexy

triumph stag in blue soft top a real head turner if performance a bit lacking

bmw m5/alpina so understated yet brute force

trabant correct speling? anyone whos seen one in the flesh knows why

bond bug in orange if they can make 2 wheel bikes try three wheels lol

ford cortina 2000gxl my first car sentimental

nissan skyline say no more

jaguar xk8/xkr again say no more

mazda mx5 one for the ladies and according to jeremy clarkson the best pound for pound sporta car

little ones suggestion is to hold a poll and the whole forum vote on a car that we would like the manufacturers to make and get them to do it in a Slot Forum livery
bring all the forums pressure to bear and get ourselves a car !!
my vote goes to the trabant cos ima bit quirky like that

kev an the lil one connor

 

[Intergrali]

a few of the cars that you have mentioned areavaliable in kit form, from memory the trabant is avaliable.

 

[Race-Jan]

From my own personal point of view I'd like ANY saab.... in any scale !!

but then again, that is my own opinion....

just my $0,02.....

Jan

 

[mtucker666]

re the slot forum livery - Doug (Nuro) said to expect news on this front - is there ay news?

In terms of cars: Group B rally cars produced up to todays standards; Volvo p40 (saint/batmobile car - this is avail in kit but time is not avail t make).

Matt

 

[Difflock]

Scaley used to make racing sidecar outfits a few years back, Kevin so a Bond Bug should not be any problem

In fact, if you can find a 1/32 model of one, then maybe an old Scaley REAL mini chassis, or an SCX FIAT 500 chassis coudl quite easily be modded IMHO.

Best of luck.

Mark.

Oh, and with no front wheels, it could very well tip and roll over on bends

extremely realistic.

 

[tDI_Fahrer]

Where I would spend my money on:

- Lotus Omega (damn, thats a superb car)
- Lotus Elise and Exige
- Alfa 156 GTA Sw
- Bmw 3 Touring (I just love estates)
- Other ETCC models from Fly (I have two out of three Beemers so far and I know the Alfa 156 is coming, but the Seat Toledo ETCC, Volvo S60 ETCC, Peugeot 307 ETCC, Honda Civic ETCC...)
- Golf I - V (I have the IV from Ninco, and I saw a I once...)
- Fiat 850 SportCoupé
-...

Greetz

Gunther

 

[kevin hunter]

i reckon a lovely nissan skyline in the slot forum livery would be great
we should canvas aaron to get us one made in say a 500 limited edition batch

im sure that man has all the pull in the world for his friends

we could then be the envy of all the collectors
kev an the lil one connor

 

[Intergrali]

please no nissans or GT40's!

 

[Gaugemaster Controls]

On a serious note, it may be possible to get a slotforum livery done in something, but it would have to be on an established Fly car. If it could be done, what car would you like?

Aaron

 

[Intergrali]

Ford Capri RS Turbo, it's got the old skool edge! and is nice car to drive and we all know it will stay with a mrrc toyota!

 

[mtucker666]

If Nuro SF special car doesn't become available then my vote would be for a Ferrari Daytona. Aaron you choose the best cars you could for the 2004 gaugemaster set - the daytona and 3.5CSL.

Matt

 

[Gaugemaster Controls]

Oh, just one other thing - it is okay saying 'yes, we would like a car' but I have to be able to sell enough to warrant the manufacture. Also, it is gonna retail around the £60 mark so is this a problem? Just warning you....

And remember, it is only a thought at this stage, no promises okay?
Aaron

 

[tDI_Fahrer]

QUOTE (Intergrali @ 31 Mar 2004, 13:25)Ford Capri RS Turbo, it's got the old skool edge! and is nice car to drive and we all know it will stay with a mrrc toyota!
Noooo... no Ford Capri...

 

[Intergrali]

£60!?!?!!!

I'll pass unless your giving away 2 cars? thats an almost ridiculous price. If it's gonna be that for 1 car no way, sorry but that is a stupid amount for something that will probably sit on the shelf.

£35 maybe 40 but 60 your having a laugh

 

[Mo55man]

The best idea would be for the "Slot Forum" to sponsor a real race car currently made by Fly for example, then it could be produced as a normal run, and purchase it for £40 or less.

M

 

[alfetta]

It just has to be the Jaguar XJ13. Arguably the most beautiful Jaguar ever built. If it is the most beautiful jaguar, then it follows it must be the most beautiful Car per se.

 

[kevin hunter]

what about a standard bmw m3 done in a slot forum livery
that surely would be cheap as its a std fly car
an im sure aaron could organise a lovely box all slot forum logo'ed up
for his mates here

 

[Scott B]

Even at Standard retail price I doubt you would get enough people to buy it. Aaron, as you know better than most, specials do not sell that well.

How about Slot Forum decal sheets and we can have as many SlotForum cars as we all like?

Scott

 

[vfr750]

Talking to Adrian Norman at Phoenix, he said that Scaley were constantly reviewing which cars to bring out next but said that there was often problems with licencing.

John

 

[Brian Schindler]

The cars that are done is usually limited by licensing agreements. I had done considerable work with a diecast manufacture here in the US, GMP (GMP DIECAST). What governs cars to be done boiled down to a few factors.

1. Licensing agreements - Some manufactures have exclusives to replicate a car in scale. Others like GM and Shelby will give the rights to replicate something to almost anybody. Regardless, you are not allowed to replicate something for sale to the general public without having the written permission to do so. And those rights are almost always not free...nor are they cheap!

Sponsors on racing liveried cars also have to get a piece of the pie so every sponsor decal used also gets their due. Some sponsors are more greedy than others. But once again, they have to grant you the license to replicate their Logo or name.

The fees for licensing can be summed up in one of 2 ways...either a flat amount that is pre-negotiated or a percentage per car.

2. How many different cars can be made from the same tool. It costs a lot of money to tool up a mold to make a car. In 1/18th scale diecast, tooling costs for the initial mold can range from $200,000 USD to $700,000 depending on the amount of detail and scale of the car.

The more different cars that can be made from the same mold with little or no changes means higher profits. Painting them different colors usually amounts to no additional money unless you are talking a special or custom paint job.

For example, the ERTL diecast company did a 1969 Camaro Z/28 in 1/18th scale diecast. The initial cost of the tooling was about $180,000 USD about 10 years ago. This was a moderately detailed car that sold for $20 in various toys stores and the initial 2 cars created from this mold, paid for the tooling costs.

With moderate changes to create different models of the 69 Camaro (COPO, RS, Yenko, Z28 and so on) ERTL made over 70 different variations of the 69 Camaro to include simple paint changes in otherwise untouched variations. Depending on the amount of each variation made, they sold retail for $20 to $80 a car.

So this was a cost effective move to get the most out of a mold and mega profits! In comparison, cars that only have 1 or 2 variations are NOT a cost effective move since most of the R & D work goes into making the initial car from the mold and subsequent liveries pay for the mold and increase profits.

By comparison, in diecast...this is why you generally will not see cars that only one model can be made from like the 60's era TV Batmobile, Eleanor from the remake of Gone in 60 Seconds and so on.

3. Popularity - Cars that are not popular just don't sell and nothing kills profits faster than a car that just sits on the shelf.

So it is not so much who get's to choose the cars but what can they get from a model...Marketing and Economics. Yes, all the above references are geared towards diecast but the principles are pretty much the same.