When did Scalextric become so expensive?

[Mercenary Keyboard Warrior]

Yeah TCR here as well
I was desperate to pickup the jam car that would switch lanes on its own but never saw one despite looking
Its the sort of thing you would be able to get online now, but those days it was only shops and they only stocked so much stuff

You used to be able to "cheat" with the TCR and add another tyre loop on top of the correct tyre which made them kind of jacked up at the back and made them faster

Mine was the one (rally iirc) that had lights as well which was great fun to play in the dark until you came off the track, which meant sooner or later someone would stand on the car whilst looking for it!

 

[old gamer]

Dad bought me a second hand scalectrx which was great, had tons of track.
Never forgot the joy of getting the john player special car for it

 

[dowie]

What has happened to Scalextric?

Nothing really, seems it cost about the same as it did a while back.

I googled for an old Argos catalogue - here's one from 1990:

Argos No.33 1990 Spring/Summer

Argos catalogue from 1990 filled with lots of retro goodies. From Retromash.com

issuu.com

Here are the sets they sold back then:

Now it looks like the "Pole Position" set in that old catalog is the closest match to the "Grand Prix Racing Set" they currently sell - both come with two F1 cars and a figure of 8 track, the new one is a slightly smaller tract at like 17.5 ft rather than 20ft but comes with crash barriers and what look like better cars, the old set has some smoke feature though.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/4863566

Now accounting for inflation £62 in 1990 is just under £150 today... and that set on the Argos website is selling for £160 so, basically still costs about the same as it did when elder millennials were little kids.

 

[Gray2233]

Have a look on places like Alieexpress, you should be able to get some knock offs that'll work well for dirt cheap.

 

[iamtheoneneo]

Have a look on places like Alieexpress, you should be able to get some knock offs that'll work well for dirt cheap.

No way would I trust a live wired track from ali express...that's asking for trouble.

 

[Gray2233]

No way would I trust a live wired track from ali express...that's asking for trouble.

Cars, not the track.

OP already has a track from what I gathered.

 

[Ninco!]

Scalextric collector here! It's brilliant your son has expressed an interest.

Buying a cheap HO or slot car set, just no. Checkout Pendle Slot Racing

Mike Ashley increasing shares in Hornby has led to excess stock being sold on the market, so you can find some of the latest cars going for £35.00 when usually £49-54. It's never been a cheap hobby, but you can find some bargains.

Or if on a budget, browse local ads, Facebook for local collection. If you visit eBay, as with popular toys, especially collectibles, Lego, Star Wars, Tamiya, a lot of stuff is overpriced! A knackered car just because it's old, is assumed to be valuable - they aren't. Although for desirable stuff, like any hobby, go for lots. Some of the cars churned out by Scalextric in the 70's-90's were budget stuff, so it got treated as such. Ironically, these items are now quite collectible because finding complete items is quite hard - so the prices are high. It was only when Spanish competitors, Fly, Ninco and SCX, came onto the scene in the nineties, Scalextric upped their game.

Don't write off old Scalextric track, it is superior to the Scalextric Sport stuff churned out nowadays. Sport sets I don't touch, has no grip so if you remove the cars magnet, it's like driving on ice, so you need to change the tyres to compensate.

 

[cee-S-dee]

My school mate had an awesome Scalextric track in his loft. Had the the felt green grass and looked like a proper race circuit! I was really Jealous of it, but we had so much fun racing each other. I used to love looking at the different cars that could be bough from Toys R Us when I was a kid!

 

[Gray2233]

Buying a cheap HO or slot car set, just no. Checkout Pendle Slot Racing

While I appreciate the sentiment and I can't speak for the OP, if it were me and I was testing the waters to see whether it would become a genuine hobby or if it was a passing fad? I'd be looking for as cheap as possible for the cars, definitely worth hanging onto the track pieces though. I remember getting a few Skalextric tracks and parts in the late 80's and early 90's, it was amazing fun but I unfortunately lost the lot in a house fire in my early 20's.

 

[Ninco!]

While I appreciate the sentiment and I can't speak for the OP, if it were me and I was testing the waters to see whether it would become a genuine hobby or if it was a passing fad? I'd be looking for as cheap as possible for the cars, definitely worth hanging onto the track pieces though. I remember getting a few Skalextric tracks and parts in the late 80's and early 90's, it was amazing fun but I unfortunately lost the lot in a house fire in my early 20's.

Pendle is a renowned store, shared just to give an idea of what's available.

Undeniably, the cheapest way to get involved is to try and pick up a set locally as I explained. Don't write off old sets.

It's worth trying to pick up an older set or two cheap, before any real investment. A boring oval or figure of eight will soon wane. try and grab a few old sets to build a decent track. If your son genuinely takes an interest, then you can branch out.

 

[G J]

Ohh I just remembered from the picture @dowie posted our family had Mighty Metro but as others have said the cars where expensive esp the cool ones with the lights on them.

 

[pc-guy]

3D print the cars and put the motor and contact plate in yourself. Cheaper than paying £50 a pop. Ok you got an outlay of printer and filament. But you can do other stuff with the printer.

Or build the car out of wood or some pressed metal or paper mache and paint it…

 

[ColdAsIce]

I got Scalextric one xmas and it was definitely one of the biggest gifts I got that Christmas. Shame it's completely boring after about 10 minutes. The best part is building the track and then it's just dull.

 

[Lyle44]

Should see some of the prices for the cars aimed at the more amateur "professional" club racers

e.g. Basic controller GT3 car Unpainted F1 car
then: spare wheels, tyres, screw drivers, spare cars for each class....

edit: see someone else has already mentioned pendle slot.

 

[Yrkoon]

always been expensive, i had some cheapo fake scalextric as a kid and i loved them, dad actually bought him self a track and some cars a while back and yup their even more expensive than i remember, he has been buying individual cars for about 40- 60 quid though like original bat mobile and thunderbirds fab 1 and keeps them in their boxes in the livingroom when hes not using them lol

he bought a smaller track aimed at kids for my neice as well with a massive loop

 

[Yrkoon]

I got Scalextric one xmas and it was definitely one of the biggest gifts I got that Christmas. Shame it's completely boring after about 10 minutes. The best part is building the track and then it's just dull.

yeh their fun for a wee bit but then they get a bit boring and not worth the hassle of setting up, i much prefer my rc cars, although the scalectrix cars do look nice on a shelf in their boxes

 

[Feek]

You used to be able to "cheat" with the TCR and add another tyre loop on top of the correct tyre which made them kind of jacked up at the back and made them faster

We did that as well and also ran the tyres over some sticky tape which also increased the grip.

Mine was the one (rally iirc) that had lights

And I had the same set. I disconnected the lights on one of the cars, it went faster!

 

[bigmike20vt]

always has been..... i was never allowed the proper thing, my folks got me a knock off one, it was fine for me but not quite as good as the real thing......

my Father in law has a massive hornby train set. (i guess model rail network is more appropriate). its packed up now but I believe it would fill an entire attic when fully set up. I was kind of hoping it would be a granddad and grandson project for my lad to do with him but i doubt it will happen now.............. Any way i digress...... my point is, that stuff is insanely expensive as well!.

 

[wsurfa]

I had a TCR set rather than Scalextric, with the ability to change lanes and with a ‘jam car’. Far more fun but incredibly unreliable.

None of these things were cheap.

TCR for me as well = forever sanding the flat contacts underneath IIRC . Great fun though

 

[Blackjack Davy]

always has been..... i was never allowed the proper thing, my folks got me a knock off one, it was fine for me but not quite as good as the real thing......

my Father in law has a massive hornby train set. (i guess model rail network is more appropriate). its packed up now but I believe it would fill an entire attic when fully set up. I was kind of hoping it would be a granddad and grandson project for my lad to do with him but i doubt it will happen now.............. Any way i digress...... my point is, that stuff is insanely expensive as well!.

Me and my friend at school were big into Hornby and someone else we knew into Scalextric we had an intense rivalry "whats the point of that you can't race trains around a track!" "thats completely not the point!" etc. Fun times. Couldn't afford that either mostly spent times poring over catalogues and wishing