Hello, In the '70's as a kid I played with Aurora slot cars. In the late '80's I got back into it by buying an old set at a garage sale and went to a slot swap meet. I noticed a lot of people were selling NOS Aurora chassis, some by the case! Didn't Aurora stop production after the AFX cars came out? Were these chassis sitting in a warehouse somewhere all those years?

REH down in Cincinnatti has them by the truck load.


Marty

I used to see them for sale by the case on Ebay when I first started going online. I wish I had bought some back then when I had the money. There were also some pretty good deals on complete cars. Since JL started reproducing some of the old school stuff, the slotcar hobby seems to have gained some ground. There seems to be more competition for the older stuff now. To me, the repops are just as good.

I'll bet Slot Car Johnny knows more about this.

I too would like to know why Aurora had so many of these around when they went out of business, considering the TJet was put on the back burner years earlier after the AFX, MT, and G-Plus came out. Why aren't there warehouses full of AFX non-mag, MT, and G-Plus chassis laying around? I'd love to have a case of NOS AFX non-mag chassis.

I still believe that the Aurora chassis are superior both in fit & finish and overall quality than the Johnny Lightning chassis. Yes, JL has done a fabulous job recreating a classic design and their on-track performance is even better than the originals. But I've seldom seen mangled electricals, out of round wheels, warped chassis, hole clearances that vary from widely from production run to production run, etc., with the Auroras. Maybe Aurora could afford to throw away more marginally defective parts because of their much larger production runs. JL shipped them, at least they did in the earlier releases. You would think that with todays manufacturing technology the new stuff would be even better than it was in the 60s and 70s.

I wish JL would start selling complete chassis and major service parts (bare chassis, magnets, gearplate w/motor, etc.) for their TJet500 and XT cars. I'd buy them.

I'd like to hear SCJ's take too... I'm guessing, though, that slots were a bigger seller in the 60s than in the 70s, and that AFX/MT/G-Plus production was NEVER as high as Thunderjet production. In the 60s, the way Tjets sold, it probably seemed like a good idea to tell some plant in Singapore to just keep cranking these things out day and night till we say "stop". They never realized that they had such a huge overstock till some bean counter told them to stop and count 'em. Along with AFX came management changes and a marketing plan that placed more emphasis on toy and game development. Sure they still sold plenty of slots, but not like before...

And yes, I'd LOVE to have a few hundred bucks to buy a case of 100 from REH... :D

--rick

If you buy a large amount of NOS Aurora chassis, you can get a similiar deal to those Ebay auctions you remember. Pool your resources and do a group order.

I'll bet Slot Car Johnny knows more about this.
I wish JL would start selling complete chassis and major service parts (bare chassis, magnets, gearplate w/motor, etc.) for their TJet500 and XT cars. I'd buy them.AfxToo,
I picked up another case of round four cars for less than $60.00 for my parts bin. Sold off the bodies to recoup some of the investment and ended up with a parts kit for a little more than $35.00. :) rr

AfxToo,
I picked up another case of round four cars for less than $60.00 for my parts bin. Sold of the bodies to recoup some of the investment and ended up with a parts kit for a little more than $35.00. :) rr

That's what I do too, except I haven't gotten around to selling the bodies yet.

Yep, I did the same thing with R3 and R4. Only problem, those bodies are really nice and I can't part with them. But I did swap the JL chassis out on some of those with my regular Aurora TJets. So even if I have duplicates, one is running a JLTO chassis and teh second one is running Aurora. If you find similar deals on the R2 and R3 XTs please let me know!

Yep, I did the same thing with R3 and R4. Only problem, those bodies are really nice and I can't part with them. But I did swap the JL chassis out on some of those with my regular Aurora TJets. So even if I have duplicates, one is running a JLTO chassis and teh second one is running Aurora. If you find similar deals on the R2 and R3 XTs please let me know!

Here's a couple good deals:

BIN $59.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2619&item=5915839941

BIN $69.99
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2619&item=5915809477

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2619&item=5915831190

Thanks for the lead. I've seen this person's stuff before. The total cost is not too bad.

Thanks for the lead. I've seen this person's stuff before. The total cost is not too bad.

I've gotten stuff from this seller many times and have received excellent and frinedly service everytime.

I'd like to hear SCJ's take too...




To make a long story short, it takes much longer (even now) to produce a complete chassis then it does a body!



Keep in mind what I've typed below is greatly simplified, but you'll get the idea.........




Once approved for production and tooling is produced, even a basic chassis (lets use the Tjet) depends on production and/or raw materials delivery time tables from at a minimum the following suppliers/manufactures (Not everything was made by Aurora):


ceramic (Magnets)

carbon (Brushes)

Copper (electricals)

Plastic (chassis, gear plate, gears, wheels, guide)

Rivets (electrical)

wire (armature, springs)

fiber plate (armature)

arm blanks (armature)

brass (gears)

metal rod (axles)

rubber (tires)

Paint (pole ends)

screw (Body mounts)





All of the above require lead time and/or are effected by down time because materials (or lack there of) are not available, presses are busy (most company’s including Aurora did NOT actually own all the presses the cars we love so much were made on....they rent time on them) etc........a basic body has the following materials (again once approved and tooling is produced):



Raw plastic (body, bumpers, wings etc.)

chromium (vacuum plating)

Virgin raw plastic (Clear glass)

Paint (Body, tampos etc.)



Again this is greatly simplified, but you can see why they would have ordered thousands of chassis to be produced ahead of schedule. They had too, or they wouldn't meet demand............. besides, there were no foreseeable plans to change the Tjet chassis, it was (by this time) a proven seller!



Hope this helps,



------------------------------

www.SlotCarJohnnies.com (http://www.slotcarjohnnies.com/)

I've gotten stuff from this seller many times and have received excellent and frinedly service everytime.

Same here. I've bought alot of things from him also. It's funny to read his replys to people who give him bad FB.

Same here. I've bought alot of things from him also. It's funny to read his replys to people who give him bad FB.

I know what you mean.

Kinda funny I guess - I bought from this seller and paid a week ago but no merchandise yet :) I'm sure he's just booked with sales. Am glad I wasn't in a hurry, and don't have a track!

He was cool on working with me on consolidating shipping to save me a few $$$.

Kinda funny I guess - I bought from this seller and paid a week ago but no merchandise yet :) I'm sure he's just booked with sales. Am glad I wasn't in a hurry, and don't have a track!

He was cool on working with me on consolidating shipping to save me a few $$$.
I really don't see anything 'funny'.

I'm sure that you took time to read the auction fully, especially the part that talks about when you can expect the item to be delivered. I don't believe the auction guaranteed delivery within a week.

Perhaps if you send me an email with your name, address and auction number(s), you would get a better response than posting to an online BB, which really serves absolutely no purpose...

If you lost your keys at the grocery store, you wouldn't go home to look for them, would you???

In case you don't have it, my email address is rpeeples@wi.rr.com, or you can simply send a message with your info through the ebay message system. Either way, I'll do my best to answer it the nanosecond it hits my inbox...

Bob

Bob, no offense meant. Please accept my apology. 71Rcode

REH down in Cincinnatti has them by the truck load.


Marty

Anybody have a link or email to get in touch with REH? I'd like to purchase some of the NOS chassis mentioned - thanks!

Anybody have a link or email to get in touch with REH? I'd like to purchase some of the NOS chassis mentioned - thanks!

REH only sells wholesale.
You must have a business license to deal with them.
Of course if you have a business license and a business ignore the previous statement.

REH Distributing
4415 Marburg Ave
Cincinnati OH 45209
(513) 871-2813 ~ (513) 871-0330 Fax

REH only sells wholesale.
You must have a business license to deal with them.
Of course if you have a business license and a business ignore the previous statement.

REH Distributing
4415 Marburg Ave
Cincinnati OH 45209
(513) 871-2813 ~ (513) 871-0330 Fax

I have a friend who owns a hobby shop - I assume that would work for the business aspect. Any idea what a case would run?

I have a friend who owns a hobby shop - I assume that would work for the business aspect. Any idea what a case would run?

I was told recently that the current "suggested retail" for a case of Tjets is somewhere around $1200...
But of course like anything else, your mileage may vary...

I bought a case of the NOS chassis off Ebay awhile back. $735(final bid) plus $9(maybe $10)shipping. Auction mentioned that it would take awhile to get to me. They arrived in fine shape. So far I have mouted about 40-50 bodies to them. Only 2 of them have had anything wrong, but nothing major, they needed a new gear. I know I got a GREAT deal on them (guess nobody else was looking for them at that time) and would probably buy another case at that price if I could.

Jerry