New Policar Track

[mattb]

My reply was tongue in cheek, the post about another 1/32 track echoed the original post I made and the flack I took for questioning the need for another 1/32 track.

I think it is a waste of time for anybody to get into the home track market until their company can at least find some way to distribute and advertise their product to main stream America. If America is considered the backwaters of the home racing world, then I guess they know what they are doing. If the US is targeted at all, they better do a job at least as good as Carrera did with Dave, or have somebody not scared to take a chance like Frank Bertrang did. That is all gone, The only big promotion we have seen was the Bass Pro Christmas sets and now that is a thing of the past.

At least if somebody offered a three lane track, they would have a new product and not just a copy of what is allready out there.

If you want a 2 lane track or 4 lane track, you can buy old Revell or Monogram track for less than any new stuff and have a better product.

Todd's 3 lane Scalex makes a great home track and though he advises how costly it is to buy and ship, I bet it is cheaper than buying a bunch of new product to try and duplicate a layout you can build with a big purchase from him.

[BRS Hobbies]

I do agree that it does seem to be a lot of follow the leader in the slot car market. It seems for whatever the reason that the manufacturers in general aren't willing to try something new. Why not come out with a gray colored track instead of black? How about a track with built in aprons instead of making it an add on item. Why not 3 lanes instead of 2? How about track rails that match the color of the track for better realism.

Best regards,
Brian

[DaveKennedy]

I'm in favor of this. Companies have to make their own products for their own reasons. So the question of "do we need another track" is a false one... do we need more companies that make soup? Or real cars? Well... Ford makes perfectly good cars why should buy a car from Chevy? I like Apple so let's just get rid of all the computer companies making PC's...
There is plenty of room for an active slot company to produce whatever it wants. There are so few people who currently own slots (I'm talking worldwide) then why not allow the idea that another company can do what it wants.

If it doesn't catch on or is a poor design then years from now people can say what a folly it was... the world is full of critics who don't put themselves out there aside from being critical of those that DO.

I do like the idea though of releasing a 3-lane track ... it sure would have been different!

[WB2]

Opinions form the other side of the pond: http://www.slotforum.com/forums/index.p ... pic=170650 .
Link in post #3 can be opened and translated on Google Chrome.
Post 19 has a very interesting link on Polistil track.

[JULES]

Hi Dave,

I’m not entirely convinced by your argument that “there is plenty of room for an active slot company to make whatever it wants.”

My wider point was really focussed on whether this is actually ‘good’ for the slot car business in general in the USA. I’m really not so sure UNLESS Policar can back this new product with an advertising campaign that is irresistible to current owners of Scalextric/Carrera track or will turn on a whole new generation of kids to ask for a slot car set for Xmas.

If the new Policar track is successful, then unless new buyers are found it will take away sales from the established brands. This will have a long-term revenue impact for the established companies.

Comparing slot cars to selling soup or real cars or cell phones is a curious analogy on a worldwide scale. Millions of buyers for soup. Millions of buyers for cars. Billions of buyers for phones. If you spill enough milk in a market that huge, then some cat will lick it up and the potential sales can be huge because the market is. Selling a product that folks really want, be it soup or a new car or a new phone is easily done. There are buyers just waiting to be sold to. With slot cars – nah.

Of course, what none of us are sure of is whether or not Policar intends to push-sell new track product outside of native Italy. I’m sure Policar have done the numbers. Creating a new complete ‘slot racing in a box’ targeted to southern Europe might well be profitable. Sweeping up some lost sales from SCX or dovetailing into the old NINCO track might well prove to be successful.

My ‘read between the lines’ point in my earlier post is that another player in the track sales business will not ‘grow the hobby in North America’. Carrera of America and Hornby of America are relative minnows in the wider world of business. They don’t have the money or the muscle to crush each other or ‘turn on’ new buyers to the World of Slots and spawn a new dawn for slot cars. Honestly, the last thing a North American dealer needs now is to have to find more space for boxed sets of slot cars to sit alongside either Scalextric or Carrera. Never going to happen – unless Slot.it or Policar hit your continent with the hugest most expensive toy marketing campaign in the history of toy campaigns and then they may have a weeny chance of success. If that does happen, and Scalextric and Carrera are reduced to the ‘also-rans’, I promise to eat a Pioneer Bullitt Mustang, magnet and all, live on YouTube. And then I’ll die.

Please note, all readers: This is not a critique of slot.it / Policar in any way. I fully support entrepreneurial activities. They make a super product that is well loved and respected. It is just my opinion and instinct that, with this sort of project, there may be trouble ahead from a broader perspective. Someone or some entity will lose out. Could be argued that that is just business life. Yes, I agree but because I have a particular fondness for this hobby I don’t want to see the financial and fall-out bruises increase any more than necessary.

Jules

[Racie35]

[oceanview]

By the way , (adding to Jules comments) how is it going to work here in North America when Slot It / POLICAR is imported and Distributed by...... HORNBY AMERICA .....Importers and Distributors of SCALEXTRIC. How's that going to work? Possibly means the track will never make it to N.A. on a large scale.
Of course anything can happen by getting a new Distributor or two.
Secondly, the "Big 2" need to , which actually, could mean "HAVE TO" get into or back into the Costco's, Bass Pro's Etc Etc of North America because that equals a LOT of sets (compared to the "Hobby store" end and a lot of potential 1st time customers.
I would venture to guess that there are Marketing Managers flying at that right now, cause ALL the rest of us combined really really are pretty darn small potatoes!
I for one am going to just be grateful for everything we do have and/or are going to get and for being apart of this Slot racing community on HOME RACING WORLD in particular, I think all you guys are great because we share the same great hobby some even more passionately than others!!
But if I may ask.... Let's keep the negativity and bickering of that other place off of here as much as possible! That would be great! and more enjoyable too!
Thanks for listening!

[MikeyAutobahn]

I think it's good for Slot.it to do something like this. While it may not impact North America, it's likely to cause quite an impact in southern Europe and the surrounding area. Whether or not that terms them "successful" is up to the future to decide. But there's a huge niche they're looking to fill there. Also, there's the idea that they can now control their own designs and not have to design around someone else, or conform to their digital system, if that makes any sense. Good for them.

And good for the fact that there is another track coming out. I don't think it's like cars; you can make a car, put it out, and if it doesn't sell, bummer. Make a better car next time. But track, that'll either work or it won't. And if it works with previous systems, that's cool too.

The one thing that I find curious [yet it's small] is that, according to the picture, there is no lateral [?] border-to-border connection. Wouldn't that create kind of a bump between one border and another if the track was flexed at all?

[DaveKennedy]

[DaveKennedy]

The problem is that few people see outside the hobby itself. They only see the relatively small group that joins and responds to people here on this and other message boards. They don't see the thousands of people that buy sets (of all scales) and never come on a message board to talk about slots. I promise you (and anyone) that over the decade I was working for a slot company maybe... maybe 10% of the people I would talk to had the taste to come on any message board because they don't want to talk about slots... they just want to play with them with their kids.
Now I know it's not popular to believe that slot message boards aren't the vast majority of people that buy slots.. but they're simply not. I'm not just talking about the sales of 1/43 slots GO (and when SCX was alive sales of Compact) that make up the VAST majority of sales of slots. I know that the 1/32 set sales are pretty large and if 5% of the people that buy a set come on a board that's high.
The argument always comes back to someone here (or another board) saying "well I don't see many new people here" and that logic is flawed at it's core. The idea that "because I cannot buy slots on the lawn in front of my house and that means slots aren't growing" as a part of the toy/hobby industry is just wrong.
When I had traveled around and so often I'd stop someplace and talk with slotters or a dealer and they had their own little community built up that's totally separate from the slot message board community and I'd ask why those people don't join any board and they'd just not want to get on to talk about slots, they'd rather just enjoy them as they are or lurk and get info if they need it without the need to contribute to the discussion which they saw as a separate thing from the idea of racing slots themselves.

[DaveKennedy]

I do get what you're saying about "where does the new track fit" into the existing hobby. Well we will have to see. We will have to see where Slot It sells the track and their planned sets for when they announce pricing. Currently Carrera's sets cost more than Scalextric sets (that's not news to anyone I'd hope), so there is a price point above the current Scalex sets for them to sell sets.
I could also see the idea maybe of a program to target sales to clubs to get this new track as an alternative for Carrera's track (because both are/will be hard plastic if I'm not mistaken). I see it as maybe more of a pure racing alternative (rather than a homeset track with the idea being of making a fully scenic track with regard to Scalextric?) It's splitting a hair I will grant you but I think there is room for it.

further... I see a lot of chance to really try some different ideas for track pieces. IF (and I say IF) the idea is only to make more track and to make nothing truly unique than yes the "sell" is harder for why should someone buy it. But, hell... there's got to be something brilliant that Maurizio can bring us right? I mean he's pretty much made the whole market for the hobby slot products.

And as everyone is fond of saying "there's so much room to grow in North America" and yes... yes there is!

[DaveKennedy]

[mattb]

Maybe in a few months we can judge by how many guys here switch to another standard 2 lane 1/32 track. We will be able to get their opinions on what benefits they found with Policar track.

[JULES]

Dear, dear, dearest Dave. I love you really Chief, you know that but....you said:

"Jules... I mean this in the most respectful way possible... but
"I’m not entirely convinced by your argument that “there is plenty of room for an active slot company to make whatever it wants.”
You're entire business model is making the same cars made by other companies. So you're not convinced you should also make Mustangs, Camaros and Superbirds? That's all you've made man... come on!"


Axshully, first made the '68 Fastback Mustang. Had been made by Carrera, of course, but the world did need the Bullitt Mustang. Had to be done.
Next was the 1968 Dodge Charger. Not made by any other contemporary maker.
Next was the 67/68 Notchback Mustang. Not made by any other contemporary maker.
Next was the 67/68 Camaro. Not made by any other contemporary maker.
Coming shortly (yes really) are the Legends Racers. Not made by any other contemporary maker.

Anyhow, apart from the correction above, we are (or were) specifically talking about another track system - from Policar/slot.it which will soon (according to my trusted sources) be joined by another two systems from other makers later this year. It's got all to do with several maverick middle-aged slot car makers with money to burn trying to get a foot in the door and make a firm stamp on Slot Car World with some other proprietary systems that won't plug-in/work/connect/synch with what's already out there. It is totally crazy. Remember when every computer had a different data cable/serial/parallel ports/firewire connectors, browsers only worked with some search engines and only on some websites? Thank gawd for USB and interoperability. Remember when it used to cost triple minutes to call another cell phone that used a different service provider? Consumers do have the opportunity to cry "enough" when things are getting silly and they usually win.

With equally returned respect to you, I still remained convinced that the last thing North American dealers need is another track system to stock. Happy to be shot down in flames and proved wrong so Brian (BRS Hobbies), Bruce (Cincy) (and the other nameless guy connected to a dealer that is contributing to this topic), do you want to stock another track system?

Dave, I understand your point about the 'hidden' buyers - the guys that say nothing at all or the new folks that buy a set that we know nothing about. I'm not suggesting that there are no new buyers out there - there are, there is always a churn in any retail sector. What I meant was that I personally feel that, given the tiny market (as it exists today), it is counter productive to the entire hobby and sales process if the choice of track systems is increased from what we have right now. It will further dilute sales opportunities on what is already a difficult sell. [Seller to buyer]:- You can have Carrera that does this and that but doesn't do this or you can have Scalextric that does that but doesn't do this but is quite good at that or perhaps you'd like to try Policar? It's a bit like this one but a little better than that one. Can't make up your mind? OK, perhaps this new one from S******O? It does this better than that one but you can't put those cars on it. Hmmmmm. Not convinced? OK, if you can wait until Spring 2019 you might prefer a new eco-friendly, plastic-free one from R****. You will be able to buy that system and be kind to the environment.[buyer looks confused and somewhat jaded].
Oh, you're thinking digital? OK then. Tell you what, go down the street and get some light refreshments before we get into that marathon. We've plenty of talking still to do.......but we'll get you fixed up with something that'll do. Catch you in a bit. [buyer comes back later with a cone of fries, dipping into mayo and they start to discuss 1:43 vs 1:32 vs 1:24]

So, back to the main issue here......

Hopefully our, as yet, uncrowned King of Slots will come up with something - track wise - that will surprise us all. For the greater good of the slot car business, I rather hope Maurizio proves me to be a complete twit that doesn't know my a** from my elbow. Keep checking HRW for updates.

By the way, some wise old sage once said: "If you want to sell toy planes, make a Spitfire - lots of them. If you want to sell toy ships, make the Titanic - all scales. If you want to sell toy slot cars, make a Mustang (1965-1972)".

Good to chat with you. At the end of the day, it's all good old fashioned friendly banter!

Cheers


Jules

[DaveKennedy]

I get the point you're trying to make about whether the dealers you mention will want to stock another type of track I really am. But I don't accept the idea there isn't room. Is it a risk? You bet it is.

Dilute sales and counter productive for the hobby? Wow, ok then... Who decides who's allowed to sell and what to sell? I don't like that implication whatsoever. It implies that what we have now is all we need or should be allowed to have because someone has decided that someone else doing something is hurtful. So only the first guy to make something gets to sell it? So no more Ford GT's then by anyone else. Or Mustangs/Camaros/Superbirds from the late 60's... we got it covered guys... don't bother. That's rubbish.

And if you want to sell slot car sets you have to MAKE TRACK.

And there's no "crown" there's only the continuation of the hobby.... a never ending quest to get the attention of kids and parents.