I dont know why Im giving this info away for free, outside of just wanting to see the hobby grow in popularity. But...

If you guys want to move some full sets and get more people into the hobby, here's something you should try out. Automotive gearheads, especially brand-loyal ones such as fans of Jeeps, Mustangs, VW, etc will happily snap up anything realting to our pride and joy. Ive been getting Four Wheel Drive Hardware and Quadratec's catalogs for Jeep accessories since high school. In addition to every imagineable thing for my a Jeep, they always have a 'goodies' section with T-shirts, die casts, even Tamiya Wild Willys battery operated Jeeps. An exclusive slotcar set with the CJ-5s in a unique deco would be a total hit.

First off, you'd need a smaller set. The current sets have like 400 miles of track and are at over $150 price point. Thats a hard sell if youre trying to hook someone into the hobby. Something a little bigger than the classic figure 8--maybe an 'extended 8' with a couple extra 15" sections to add a little to it, and for around a $60 price point would be perfect. Its still very affordable and offers a MUCH better product both as a standalone purchase and as a gateway to the hobby for a new slot enthusiast. A set like that would be perfect for penetration in the big box retailers. If you wanted to get REALLY smart about it, keep the basic set and tailor the cars to different markets. C5 and '57 Vette for the corvette crowd, '69 Charger and '05 Charger police car for the Mopar nuts, VW bus and baja bug for the VW crowd, and so on and so on. Most popular cars have catalogs of accessories tailored to them. With such a huge library of molds, Auto World can make something for everyone.

With the semi rigs, they could be deco'd as transports for JC Whitney, Jegs, Harbor freight, etc and then offered as a freebie if a customer orders a slotcar set and spends ever how much on other merchandise. Then they get a voucher to go onto AW's website and redeem it for the rig and then get sucked in by all the beautiful cars you guys are cranking out.

Another idea is, in these sets be sure to put a nice glossy flyer showing a good array of cars and track accessories. Not everyone will go immediately to the website, but having a page filled with cars they'll want, that will arouse interest in slotcar racing and Auto World all around.

Certainly not falling on deaf ears. We're always looking for ways to expand the line. Already been in the works, the semis will be issued in the future as team transporters or sponsored haulers. Coupled with the upcoming NHRA drag dracing set, there are lots of possibilities there, too.

:thumbsup:

I can't wait for the drag racing set!

Good to hear, PMS. Cant say Ive ever seen you on here, you must be affilated with Auto World?

Good to hear, PMS. Cant say Ive ever seen you on here, you must be affilated with Auto World?
Yeah, I'm around occasionally. I'm Art Director for AW coupled with some research and product development for American Muscle, slot cars, and custom & premium diecast. I came from Playing Mantis/Johnny Lightning diecast years ago (hence the Pantone Red 485 screen name). ;)

Here's another tip. Pull the first couple hundred casts of your slotcar production run (body/bumpers/windshield/misc parts) from the line prior to the painting/finishing steps. Place in plastic bag, sell as KIT FORM version to the crazy customizers on the board. :devil:

I know everyone hates a smart Arse. ;)

No, in all seriousness, I do believe you'd sell quite a few in kit form. I'd appreciated it, especially if I'd never have to strip one of the JL/AW slot bods again.

Anyway, thanks for everything to date and keep it coming. :thumbsup::thumbsup: rr

I want to see AW not center splice car bodies so they have shriners clown car short doors.I know resin casters and small time modelers like little old me have done it in the past,but for goodness sakes,spend the coin and have it 3d scaled and laser cut.Look at the 70 nova,57 belair etc.. redamndiculous.JMHO
Dragula

Get the casting guy on here. I don't think the artwork guy can help with the stubby doors :tongue:

Glad to hear about the new ideas and see that AW does still poke in here and take a look around. :thumbsup:

Get the casting guy on here. I don't think the artwork guy can help with the stubby doors :tongue:

Glad to hear about the new ideas and see that AW does still poke in here and take a look around. :thumbsup:

You speak to whomever may listen as a foot in the door "Doba.God Bless and have fun.
Drag

Yeah, I'm around occasionally. I'm Art Director for AW coupled with some research and product development for American Muscle, slot cars, and custom & premium diecast. I came from Playing Mantis/Johnny Lightning diecast years ago (hence the Pantone Red 485 screen name). ;)

hey wow. haven't seen you around in a while... i'm thinking back to the days when they were still talking about the JL pullbacks and the "new" JL slot car line on the JL diecast board, before we slot-tards had a home... good to see you all poking around! :thumbsup:

--rick

Man, I opened a can o worms with that one! But having a direct contact on here would be good for AW. No better market research than a forum made up of your market!

We have a winner Grunge! You have to usually PAY to get feedback from target captive audiences.Not being mean or anything,just giving my 2 cents.
Drag

I know, right? I just wanna see more sweet slots to burn my cabbage on! haha!

But while were on the subject, pms...


How's about some remolds of all the AFX wheels? Wheel variations on the actual cars would be nice, but standalone kits of ansen sprint, t/a, turbine, and stocker wheels would be something I'd be going wack happy upon.

PMS485, very good to see you here.

Your screen name caught me a bit off guard because I spent several years working closely with an organization with the same name. Uncanny.

Keep up the great work, it's much appreciated.

YEAH to what everyone else said! Being from CANADA product was at times hard to find,but is improving. GOOD TO SEE MORE PRODUCT:thumbsup::thumbsup: GK P.S. How about CASCAR CARS? LOWER ROYALTIES

it would be great for someone to put out a complete book on all the cars that autoworld has put out starting with the pullbacks i collect them all but sure there a few i am missing bluerod

Certainly not falling on deaf ears. We're always looking for ways to expand the line. Already been in the works, the semis will be issued in the future as team transporters or sponsored haulers. Coupled with the upcoming NHRA drag dracing set, there are lots of possibilities there, too.

:thumbsup:

Cool:thumbsup:

I mentioned this before, but how about making the semis in various company paint jobs. For instance:

Box trailers - Shipping companies( 151, APA, Smith Transport, etc), Auto Parts( NAPA, Advance Autoparts, etc), Retail chains( ToysRUs, Walmart,Target), Mail/Package delivery (USPS, UPS, Fed Ex).

Tankers - Gas companies( Sunoco, Exxon, BP, Union 76, etc), Oil companies (Mobil, Pennsoil, Valvoline, etc), Convenience store chains (AM-PM, 7/11, Sheetz), Hersheys candy and others

Hopefully any licensing issues would be minimal.

P.S. A repop of the TycoPro Coca-Cola Chevelle would be pretty cool.......

Auto World should issue its track in a gray color. This would be highly desirable over black and be a distinctive feature of the Auto World brand.

Heck.....I might be good for a few arm loads of gray 9" radius curves!

Jim Norton
Huntsville, AL

Yeah, grey snap track seems like a no-brainer if you are starting from a clean sheet of paper.

I sure agree on the grey track. It would be a greyt move.

I fully agree on the grey track! Even if it were a dark charcoal, that'd be fine so long as black cars would stand out.

Well how about widening it by about 2-3 inches while youre at it? That way the cars dont rub side mirrors and with a little shoulder on the outside curves, there would be no need for guard rails. Fishtailing and sliding would be had by all. And best of all, that'd open the door for Jeeps and 4x4's with big honkin' tires.

Wider grey track would be excellent! (More room for slotcarman's buses, too!)

A repop of the TycoPro Coca-Cola Chevelle would be pretty cool.......


Probably one of the crudest, least attention to detail, weakest modeling accuracy TycoPros ever done. Looks like an afterthought last minute rush job. They put 95% of their budget on the stellar Petty Roadrunner and whatever was left over got committed to the Chevy project. All of the value in that blob-body is in its rarity. Compare it to the A/FX body of the same vintage, not even close.

If we're talking TycoPro clones, the McLaren M8D, AC Cobra, 240Z, Chaparral, and Porsche 908 short nose come to mind as worthy of copying. May as well do the Tyco Porsche 917 too, it was pretty nice.

Probably one of the crudest, least attention to detail, weakest modeling accuracy TycoPros ever done. Looks like an afterthought last minute rush job. They put 95% of their budget on the stellar Petty Roadrunner and whatever was left over got committed to the Chevy project. All of the value in that blob-body is in its rarity. Compare it to the A/FX body of the same vintage, not even close.

If we're talking TycoPro clones, the McLaren M8D, AC Cobra, 240Z, Chaparral, and Porsche 908 short nose come to mind as worthy of copying. May as well do the Tyco Porsche 917 too, it was pretty nice.

Maybe one of the crudest but seems to go for insane money whenever (very rarely) it shows up on fleabay. I traded one of these (not even in great shape) for an entire race set a few years back. I had 2 of them growing up and never really liked them because they didn't really look like anything. The collectors go nuts over them and one very rough example went for over $400 (at least that was the winning bid).

Maybe one of the crudest but seems to go for insane money whenever (very rarely) it shows up on fleabay. I traded one of these (not even in great shape) for an entire race set a few years back. I had 2 of them growing up and never really liked them because they didn't really look like anything. The collectors go nuts over them and one very rough example went for over $400 (at least that was the winning bid).

All of the value in that blob-body is in its rarity:wave:

How about that paint scheme on the Chevelle stockcar body? The red/gold pullback was close in color....

I sure agree on the grey track. It would be a greyt move.

i see what you did there. nice.

Probably one of the crudest, least attention to detail, weakest modeling accuracy TycoPros ever done. Looks like an afterthought last minute rush job. They put 95% of their budget on the stellar Petty Roadrunner and whatever was left over got committed to the Chevy project. All of the value in that blob-body is in its rarity. Compare it to the A/FX body of the same vintage, not even close.

If we're talking TycoPro clones, the McLaren M8D, AC Cobra, 240Z, Chaparral, and Porsche 908 short nose come to mind as worthy of copying. May as well do the Tyco Porsche 917 too, it was pretty nice.

The quality of tyco's modeling was for the most part pretty good. Fell a TINY bit short of what AFX did, but they had some real lookers. The Chappy, Cobra and 240Z are spot on, as you mention. I liked the Mercedes C-111, dune buggies, Porsche 914, and the 4-eyed carerras a lot also. Even tho they were WAY off with their Javelin, its still a favorite of mine. Id like to see Bruce work on all of these, soon as he's back in action!

Fell a TINY bit short of what AFX did

A very big TINY indeed. I would agree that an A/FX modeled Chevelle with a full Coca Cola paint and tampo treatment would be a killer combination. The A/FX Chevelle paint schemes weren't really that great, a bit toy-ish, but the model itself was fabulous. I do have to give Tyco credit for at least sanding off the whittling marks. It would certainly be a Concours de Elegance contender in a Pinewood Derby competition.

Reference:

http://cyberwombat.com/images/nascar/chevrolet/chevelle/1974/son12CokeChevelleRiverside1974-vi.jpg

Tycoblob:

http://members.cox.net/gunnerbill5/Pictures/Tycopro_Coke.jpg

A/FX:

http://slotcarcollectibles2.homestead.com/files/AFX_boxed_wh_org_Chevelle4.JPG

Har and touche' !

Tyco Pinewood De'elegance...LOLOLOLOL!

Someone call 911 stat...slottard laughing guts out.

(snip) I do have to give Tyco credit for at least sanding off the whittling marks. It would certainly be a Concours de Elegance contender in a Pinewood Derby competition.

(more snips)

Tycoblob:

http://members.cox.net/gunnerbill5/Pictures/Tycopro_Coke.jpg



ROFL. And it appears that this seller is using the rarity of those Tycos to sell other junk--er, cars...

http://cgi.ebay.com/AFX-Ideal-Matchbox-TCR-Semi-Junk-Lot-6-Trucks_W0QQitemZ120485211767QQcmdZViewItemQQptZSlo t_Cars?hash=item1c0d7a6e77

--rick

That's a good one for a junk lot sale: "The cars on the track are not for sale"

So why show them?

Mopar used to put hot looking models in its muscle car adds for Charger R/Ts, Super Bees, etc. Was I disappointed when the model didn't come with the car? A little, since there was no disclaimer. But at least it left me with a visual combining two of the most visually appealing things to me. Good combined with good makes sense and reinforces the overall appeal.

Combining rare cars and junk trucks? Contrast and dichotomy, I don't get the motivation for doing that. You don't see hot models selling tombstones and caskets. The bait and the switch are in the same picture. Does this seller really think buyers are that stupid?

Perhaps.

And with good reason.

Sorry Charlie... People don't want Ebay with good taste... People want Ebay that tastes good!!!!!!! nd

heres another novel idea....get the tires round....get the chassis square....get the axle holes in the wheels centered..... if aurora could do this stuff your crappy chinese manufacturers should be able to do this as well....jeez we are in the 21st century now!
p.s slow your t-jets down....they have way tooooo much motor.

heres another novel idea....get the tires round....get the chassis square....get the axle holes in the wheels centered..... if aurora could do this stuff your crappy chinese manufacturers should be able to do this as well....jeez we are in the 21st century now!
p.s slow your t-jets down....they have way tooooo much motor.

The Tjets don't have too much motor, Kyle. You just need a different controller.:thumbsup:

they do have too much power....unless you get a junk one that you can actually drive...they are too fast for the generic wheels and tires that come with them. next you want me to put machined wheels, silicone tires, weighted front wheels and a brass pan under it as well!
thats my point....they are too fast as the come....not everbody has a nice routed track to race on...even something put up on a 4x8 sheet is too small for them if you get a 'GOOD' auto world t-jet. they are not raceable as they come in the box, for an average joe like me with home set equipment...the person these cars ought to be aimed for.

We go through this all the time. Joez is right. It's about the delivery system.

Average Joes who have average home tracks always have problems running AW cars or T-jets with cheapo low ohm set controllers. They are rated and matched to run the cars from the set. To short track an AW car or t-jet you'll need to start at 80 ohms to have feel and control of the car. Not maybe, er kinda, er how-a-bout if...ya just need the right contoller to operate the vehicle.

Admittedly the AW JLTO final ratio leaves a bit to be desired on short tracks. This is also a delivery system, it is a seperate matter altogether. The power band of the AW armature is actually just about right depending on which gear ratio and tire profile is used for a specific track. Really the motor is one of the best parts of the whole enchilada.

Sorry Charlie... People don't want Ebay with good taste... People want Ebay that tastes good!!!!!!! nd

ROTFLMAO

if you have to buy a special controller to run the new t-jets.....then they are too fast. if the cars are to be run on currently avaliable power packs and currently avaliable controllers, they have too much motor. there is absolutely no reason for these cars to be faster in a straight line than a good running magna-traction from back in the day...heck some of them are so fast that they jump out of the slot for no reason(other then the out of round tires maybe). they are too poorly engineered to have that much motor. actually if you swap magnets with an original t-jet you get 2 benefits....1 you make the original quicker and 2 you tame the aw/jl a bit. a win win in my book. heck they missed an opportunity to make money.....they could have (and still should) have offered a slower (hence easier to drive) version (no one would have known because of the inconsistencies in manufacturing). then they could sell a "performance kit" with the current arm and magnets. but i believe that they know there is something wrong, i cant be the only one complaining....so they threw a magnet under the chassis to try to compensate.

reading bill's post....i want to say one more thing....honestly....tomy's cars are too fast, lifelike cars are too fast. they aren't fun to race...i drove a super3 and found the car fast enough to be fun but not as obscenely fast as a super g-plus. when my friends and i get together to race...we always wind up running aurora t-jet's and actually 9 times out of 10 the cars are not even our fastest ones...they are slow....they are close.....they are a blast. the new cars are not fun (for me anyway) i cant set up a mega sized track neccesarry to run the super fast cars. x-tractions arent bad....if theyd come with better tires they'd be about perfect.....my 2 cents....thanks for everyone elses opinion

Kyle, what type of track are you running? Mine is all Tyco, with a 21 V power pak and the stock controllers seem to work just fine with the few AW/JL t-jets I have. The X-tractions seem to take to it pretty well. You could always use a 12 volt power pak and it might tame them out a bit too.

But another thing Id try is a good set of silicone rears like from Bud's or SuperTires. I mean yeah, they should have good rubber right from the factory and all but lets face it, bone stock NO slotcar has particularly great tires, IMHO. 'Cept maybe the first few releases of JL XTs, those tires were dead on round and just the right hardness to grip yet slide a little.

we run on a tomy layout (4-lane) ....my whole point to whover is listening that works for this company is that the t-jet line is overpowered as it comes. if you have a modern home set you already have a powerpack and controllers. if dad and little one pick one of these monsters up at the local hobby shop....how much enjoyment will they recieve from this? it really wouldnt kill them to make them more driveable....was there any r and d in this product....were htey tested on modern equipment? i actually have a first release playing mantis chevelle that is absolutely perfect... the powerband the stock tires are (get this) soft and true...it runs very well....but my others and actually the last aw i bought was rediculously fast...it cant stay in the slot because it bounces severly... you cant race it as it comes in the box.....and that is why i offered my opinion to the manufacturer.
p.s. tyco whiteboot tires were very good factory tires. which brings me back to my last statement concerning todays cars...too much motor, too much magnet equals a car that is either in the slot or out of it...no sliding and no style....i dont need any more speed...i'd just like to see a step backwards in outright performance and a step forward in quality and style...remember the cars from the 70's and early 80's (tyco AND aurora)....p.s.s i'd actually like to drive a g-jet to see what they are all about.

I must be getting seconds. I run Tomy Track and my AW T-jets ain't that fast.

Gas is on the right grandpa! If it's such a problem for you why dont ya just snip a pole out of the arm and be happy? Oh ....and by the way, G-jets require a special power supply...but I'm sure you'll run it on the wrong pack with the wrong controller and complain about that too. 'Spose that'll be BSRT's fault that they dont operate on Joe homeowner sets without shortening their life span.

A little R&D on your part would go a long way to enlightenment.

They are throwback cars ...aint that what ya said ya wanted...?

...but they run best on throw back controllers? Imagine that!

Ya wanted throw back cars?....er was what ya really wanted was magic cars that run on whatever garbage you hook them up to because you say it should be such, so you can relive the memories without coughing up (a few bux) for the correct controller, that incidentally, you forgot about and left behind in yer youth.

What we're trying to do here is get you to use the right contoller and learn tune the bugs out of those poorly QC'ed AW cars and enjoy them properly.

Recommend you step over yer mental block and open yer mind. Plenty of really smart helpful people here to assist you with damm near anything you could imagine....or you could continue to wallow on the surface of the bluntskull planet

Has anyone purchased one of the Auto World race sets? I'd be interested to see what kind of wall wart they included to power the kit.

The 22v Tomy rig is pretty hot when coupled with the on/off switch Tomy controllers. I think the Mattel / Tyco controllers are a little better for the Auto World tjets, even when coupled with a Tomy wall wart, if you didn;t want to invest in controller/power supply upgrades.

Has anyone purchased one of the Auto World race sets? I'd be interested to see what kind of wall wart they included to power the kit.

The 22v Tomy rig is pretty hot when coupled with the on/off switch Tomy controllers. I think the Mattel / Tyco controllers are a little better for the Auto World tjets, even when coupled with a Tomy wall wart, if you didn;t want to invest in controller/power supply upgrades.

thanks.

kyle2084. You just made a idiot of yourself!!!!!! Go somewhere else and moan if you have to resort to name calling.

Yeah, Gus is a pussy cat and uses the 80 ohm controller.

I guess this is when we say "BUH BUY" to kyle