Scalectrix (sp?) advice please!!!

totallybrassick

A question for the knowledgeable – what is the deal (obsession) with this?

I want to get my son some kind of remote controlled racing car game for his b’day (he’ll be 4) and Scalectrix seems v popular (and v expensive in some cases). But I know diddly about this type of thing (being a girlie and all that). :rolleyes:

Is it the case that you only buy it if you are going to polish it every week, speak lovingly to it and keep the boxes that it came in. If that’s right then it sounds like my Uncle’s train set in his attic (and I’m not even going anywhere near there!!)

Also I don’t have much space and a lot of the sets seem to have miles of track, can you make the circuits smaller at all?

Oh so confused as I want to get him to feel that he has something ‘grown up’ (ie not the chunky ELC cars that he has now) but don’t want him to feel that he can’t ‘play’ with it either If it’s best that I steer clear does anyone have any good alternatives (MSE, ie cheap would be ideal).

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone.

carly

From my own experience ( and my situation might be completely different to yours ) scalextric is one of those things that really needs to be left out ,assembled to get much use out of. It is quite a long job to get all the pieces of track out and assembled before you can start playing with it, so a child who thinks they want to play it often gets bored by the time it is ready. Also, it requires quite a lot of skill and technique , to keep the cars on the track without falling off when going too fast or too slow around the bends. It might require more patience than your average 4 year old has. ( but you obviously know what your son is capable of.) There are racing car games where the cars do not come off so easily. Sorry if this sounds discouraging but as one who had a set in a box in the loft for years I would avoid spending a lot of money until you had tried one out. Adults usually get more fun from Scalextric than children. It also is not a game for one, much more fun if two or more are playing.

totallybrassick

Great advice Carly, thanks. He is a typical 4 yr old I'm afraid (very little patience) so I think it will be best if I stick with something aimed at younger children, that can also be put away at night!