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Lack Of Interest


Peter Gunn

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After a long absence hosting races I will soon be holding race nights 6-10 times a year here at Winston Hills (Northwest Sydney). All will be welcome.

It’s a new 33m 4 lane routed digital (and analogue) track using the Scorpius system and RMS. So .....back into it.

I reckon I can even ask Yngwie over😊

 

Rick

 

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Smoke, mirrors and obsolescence. It’s a jungle out there.

www.scorpiuswireless.com

 

 

 

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Gday guys. I am still racing (tonight actually) but as Vinno mentioned we have had a splintering of our group unfortunately. I think we need to re-evaluate why we are racing. The slot cars are part of it but the social aspect is as equally important. We find ways to exclude people but as a small hobby we need to overcome real and perceived problems to grow rather than shrink.

Rick, I would love to come if invited. Love slot cars in general and digital adds that extra aspect to it. Would go that way myself if I could convince others of its merits.

Might take a few photos of tonights racing if everyone is ok with me posting pictures.

 

Cheers

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Gday guys. I am still racing (tonight actually) but as Vinno mentioned we have had a splintering of our group unfortunately. I think we need to re-evaluate why we are racing. The slot cars are part of it but the social aspect is as equally important. We find ways to exclude people but as a small hobby we need to overcome real and perceived problems to grow rather than shrink.

Rick, I would love to come if invited. Love slot cars in general and digital adds that extra aspect to it. Would go that way myself if I could convince others of its merits.

Might take a few photos of tonights racing if everyone is ok with me posting pictures.

 

Cheers

 

Yeah mate that would be good to see even if you don’t show the shy guys who don’t want to be photographed. I need to plan one night a month for getting out but I have gotten so used to hanging out at home or going out for dinner that it is the last thing on my mind.

 

I was thinking of digging out some old topics to show what used to happen on the forum when we kicked off and in the years following. Just thinking the best way to show them, do I just reply on an old thread to bring it back or start a topic linking back to old threads? There was so much good content being posted 10 or more years ago.

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Gday guys. I am still racing (tonight actually) but as Vinno mentioned we have had a splintering of our group unfortunately. I think we need to re-evaluate why we are racing. The slot cars are part of it but the social aspect is as equally important. We find ways to exclude people but as a small hobby we need to overcome real and perceived problems to grow rather than shrink.

Rick, I would love to come if invited. Love slot cars in general and digital adds that extra aspect to it. Would go that way myself if I could convince others of its merits.

Might take a few photos of tonights racing if everyone is ok with me posting pictures.

 

Cheers

 

Yeah mate that would be good to see even if you don’t show the shy guys who don’t want to be photographed. I need to plan one night a month for getting out but I have gotten so used to hanging out at home or going out for dinner that it is the last thing on my mind.

 

I was thinking of digging out some old topics to show what used to happen on the forum when we kicked off and in the years following. Just thinking the best way to show them, do I just reply on an old thread to bring it back or start a topic linking back to old threads? There was so much good content being posted 10 or more years ago.

Our group is finding that unless all racers turn up, we struggle for numbers to hold a meet. We have no reserves now, have had a few members move away and/or find other hobbies. The home track owners in our club are sacrificing their garages to house a track, that may or may not get used.

I think occasional racers need to evaluate whether they want the hobby to continue or not. Commercial race centers are also struggling for numbers for race meets. Unless racers such as those on this forum, turn up regularly to race meets, the hobby is likely to slowly die. The social aspect of slot cars is a by-product of racers turning up to share a common interest - slot cars. Our group has taken necessary actions to expunge divisive & troublesome entities from our group. This duo had already caused other race group members to leave, and this would have continued unless action was taken.

Talking about generating new interest on Auslot is great, existing enthusiasts turning up to race meets is far better & easier than finding new members. No offence is intended to other posters on this topic, my hope is to generate an increase in race meet attendances. I have also posted an expression of interest in the club racing forum on here, aim is to attract new members. This is not an easy, as most clubs in Sydney are finding. Cheers Caddo

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The difficulty in creating a new account on this forum may also be a cause of lack of new blood. It took a long time, and trying through several different means (eventually through  a contact on an international slot forum who is on here too)for me to be able get on here. I'm not sure many other local 'newbies' would go to such efforts.

 

At my local track we probably average 8-9 drivers per meeting, up to 12-13 some weeks. We have managed to get a couple of new faces this year which is nice. Me and a mate I got hooked are the babies of the club and we are around our mid 40s.

 

I can see it being a daunting thing for some one to show up to a slot club thinking "I used to have a Scalextric kit as a kid" only to be faced with a NSR or similar zooming around a track. It's one thing to drive a car around a track, another thing to drive it fast! Also don't discount the financial cost of a newbie- cars for each class and a controller soon add up

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The difficulty in creating a new account on this forum may also be a cause of lack of new blood. It took a long time, and trying through several different means (eventually through a contact on an international slot forum who is on here too)for me to be able get on here. I'm not sure many other local 'newbies' would go to such efforts.

 

At my local track we probably average 8-9 drivers per meeting, up to 12-13 some weeks. We have managed to get a couple of new faces this year which is nice. Me and a mate I got hooked are the babies of the club and we are around our mid 40s.

 

I can see it being a daunting thing for some one to show up to a slot club thinking "I used to have a Scalextric kit as a kid" only to be faced with a NSR or similar zooming around a track. It's one thing to drive a car around a track, another thing to drive it fast! Also don't discount the financial cost of a newbie- cars for each class and a controller soon add up

 

You are probably right about that and I know it has been said prior to you becoming a member here but we are looking at fixing the issues we currently have with an update. We have 15 or 16 years of data to transfer across when it is done and I need to get my son Jacob who set this place up when he was a teenager to do the work. He has a young family himself now so it isn’t easy. Anyway we are talking about it and also with tsmsoccer, (Charlie). Once fixed we will have people able to join again.

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The difficulty in creating a new account on this forum may also be a cause of lack of new blood. It took a long time, and trying through several different means (eventually through a contact on an international slot forum who is on here too)for me to be able get on here. I'm not sure many other local 'newbies' would go to such efforts.

 

At my local track we probably average 8-9 drivers per meeting, up to 12-13 some weeks. We have managed to get a couple of new faces this year which is nice. Me and a mate I got hooked are the babies of the club and we are around our mid 40s.

 

I can see it being a daunting thing for some one to show up to a slot club thinking "I used to have a Scalextric kit as a kid" only to be faced with a NSR or similar zooming around a track. It's one thing to drive a car around a track, another thing to drive it fast! Also don't discount the financial cost of a newbie- cars for each class and a controller soon add up

Some good points Shaynus. Newbies being blitzed by experienced racers is an area our group is becoming more focused on, providing more host classes & breakout races when newbies are involved. This forum not being able to keep up with new member requests is disappointing, though understand it is basically a not-for-profit set up. Unfortunately, our club is going to head to Facebook to try and gather some new race members. Not had much luck on here, despite the other good content.

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Caddo - a few thoughts.

 

A severe lack of actual clubs posting their news, pictures etc on forum to generate good content that others can feed off. Senior members of clubs could do a lot to enhance their club here.

My club uses this forum constantly and it has been a very good tool in building relationships, communicating club activity, and other purposes.

It is good for existing members, but it isn't how a club gets new members.

 

A Facebook group or page MAY help you get some new guys turning up, but in my experience, not many or often.

It will not solve the basic reasons discussed about decline in clubs.

A far better way of getting new members who "stick" is person to person, workplace etc

 

Nor is facebook a catch all, as there are still lots of people who detest facebook, or only use it sporadically, don't know how/care to, jump to a group or see what they need to in general newsfeeds, which by default in the Facebook algorithm is "hot threads", not latest news in their feed.

And I bet almost none of them use a tool such as Facebook Purity, to control how their personal newsfeed appears, making it less than ideal as a source for club news and updates.

 

It is not an either-or scenario. It is not difficult to drop new member's details to someone here to get an account set up, so they can use the forum

By all means use Facebook, but don't think it is the great answer, - and still steer people to become members and active here.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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Bit difficult for me to put my finger on any one thing in particular , but i firmly believe that there are just not enough people out there at a younger age who even think about slot car racing , let alone want to participate in it at any level.

Looking back over recent years in my country and down under it is the stalwarts of the sport who have always keep it going , and now we are seeing people just drifting away some by natural causes and some who have lost interest.

Was talking to John English who was with me at Hornchurch in the 60,s, god that seems so long ago now , and in both of us nothing has changed much as far as slot cars are concerned , we both are a club , he has a very nice 4 lane wood track and only one member which is him, i have a very good 2 lane track and i,m the only one who races on it .

Sometimes we get together over here and have a evenings racing just the two of us , and were still competitive against each other, unfortunately his track is in a concrete man cave at the end of his garden and the elevation from the foot of his garden to the man shed is approx 30 feet and without some means to get up there with my legs now i cannot get up there,

Age is taking it,s toll on our sport in a big way where every you race, and the simple fact is without people engaging on forums like Auslot , Slotforum all the expertise from so many learned over the years in slot car racing, how to do it , what to do , how to make a good race car e.t.c is going with us.

I have tried recently to instill some interest in a few articles i have posted in both forums , mainly the feed back has been to say the least mediocre, or non at all, i go out of my way to try to help people with tips, suggestions , and my repaints give as much information on each waiting for comments to come back , i don't care if they are good or bad , just anything to get some interest back into our sport, where have all the people gone , many are still around and pop up at the odd times with a quote, these people were at one time on the 2 forums all the time.

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I agree with you here Peter.

I havent lost interest over the past few years however, in the past I would plan my life around slot race meets (book holidays to avoid conflicts) but I dont do that anymore. Realised that life is more important.

 

I was ready to go racing on Saturday night but had to work so was going to be there but a little late. Got home to discover we had visitors over so that pretty much made my mind up for me.

 

I have been involved in a local racing group in Sydney for over 10 years. In that time we have race meets on occasion with 18 members. However, for various reasons we have splintered as a group so I find myself going to race meets with 2 different groups with different classes (albeit minor differences).

 

I totally concur with your assertion that the young kids arent interested in slot cars. They have other distractions to worry themselves with. That is why we need to coalesce and look for the similarities we have rather than the differences. Quite often personalities clash which is understandable but this limits our drawing pool significantly. People losing interest, moving away etc is typical and always happens. That is why we need to stay focused as a group to keeping the remaining members we already have.

Sydney is in a predicament at the moment with the major commercial centres closing or considering it as interest wanes and rents increase. This was a great area to attract new racers yet I fear that this dry up of newbies will exacerbate the numbers problem even more.

 

I am in the process of designing a new track and am unsure if I even bother building a 4 laner which is great for race meets but I could definitely get more enjoyment from a 2 laner like OTFS's track. Further, I am the furthest away from the other members in our group which I know is a major impediment to regular attendance.

 

I guess we only miss something when we lose it. I hope for the sake of the hobby that we can realise that the racing of little toy cars is just that and put our differences aside.

 

Rant over!

 

Cheers

John

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Here in Canberra I have the opportunity to race every Friday night with three different race groups. Why there are three is the usual boring clash of personality, rule changes etc., I'm just here to enjoy racin'.

 

With a bit of cross-over two groups average 7 - 10 turning up while the third has been kept to six, we have been racing together for many years and is slowly morphing into scratchbuilt racing. Guys who haven't built a chassis or painted up a body for many years are really getting into it. We started out with one class, now three and already talk of a fourth for 2021.

 

I started slot car racing in 1965 and moved here in the mid 1980's. A chance meeting and we started Scalextric ACT in 1994 and over the years seen a lot of people come and go (just like on this Forum!) for various reasons. Younger people probably see the hobby as a bit of a novelty but really get their kicks with virtual racing and they don't even have to leave home.

 

We were going on holidays last year so I bought an English model railroad magazine, mainly because it had a free card signal box kit on the cover but the editorial was interesting as they spoke about falling membership at model railroad clubs. Like our hobby it has an ageing fan base and went on to say that very soon members would not even leave home, just turn on the computer and take their virtual new loco along to their mates new virtual lay-out.

 

As for new membership drives, gotta admit I get a bit gun shy. It can bring a lot of positives but the risk of negatives as well. Once you open the door you loose control of who walks in...….

 

Getting back to that model railway magazine, there was a great cartoon as well. The caption was 'Model railways in the 1950's' and a guy happily puffing away on his pipe tinkering with a detailed layout. The next panel was 'Model railways in 2019' and a guy on the computer with a loco on it's side and half a dozen bits of track on a table. So, better get off this thing as I have two of Pattos HQ Monaro's to paint up.

 

Keep enjoying the hobby!

 

Chris.

Late Model

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Sadly our hobby will die out with us. Clubs only exist because they have dedicated members willing to work together using skills and knowledge gained over the years and decades. Clubs can't exist if they're only attended now and again for something to do one night and this is what most youngsters see it as. We also have character clashes in our club, sulky ranters ending in a walkout really need a dose of reality. The #1 focus should be enjoy the hobby you love, if it all goes tits up tonight there's always the next club night meeting but some hate losing so much they'd rather not come back...for those I'd say you're either in the wrong hobby or need to take a long look in the mirror and change your attitude.

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Life is like a box of Slot cars...B)

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Have to agree that new membership drives are fraught with a bit of risk, never quite know how people will behave when the red mist and adrenalin descend! Driving can be OK, marshalling can be atrocious

A few potential pitfalls to worry about.

 

I am not so focussed on recruiting younger racers, happy if they come along, but there is a growing pool of retirees in Australia that will no doubt remember slot cars fondly from their childhoods. They have time on their hands, and maybe a few spare dollars to spend on a hobby. Seems like the best place to start - Men's Sheds and the like.

 

Has posting pics on here gotten any easier since Photobucket changed to subscriber payment?

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  • 1 month later...

Hey guys,

just popped in as I was researching something. Has been a while. I myself haven’t been around as the last 4 years has seen me have kidney failure, dialysis, then a transplant so my focus went way off the hobby..

now I’m doing up a real sized car to pass the time.

great to see a few familiar names hanging here. Hope you’re all not going stir crazy in these weird times and staying safe.

cheers

 

Paul

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Hey Paul good to see you are still around - oh grand master of slot car searching - can you find me a......... please :)

 

Hi Chris

"very soon members would not even leave home, just turn on the computer and take their virtual new loco along to their mates new virtual lay-out."

 

I think a lot of the 'younger' generation already do this to get their racing kick - hook into eSports racing. I won't go on about it ​(and I was fresh in diapers when you started racing) but I do think there is a lack of engagement with hands on making of stuff today unless it is something in the 'coding' / online world.

 

 

cheers

David

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Hi all.

 

My brother and I are doing our best to instil an interest in slot cars in our multiple grand kids so come on Aussies please do your bit.

 

Far healthier than staring at small screens for hours at a time. Teaches them practical skills too if you can get them to progress to building or modifying their own cars.

 

Regards Chas Le Breton (charlesx)

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Funnily enough, in the Echo-Of-Charles - in those shakey isles off the southern coast of the great southern continent, pretty much every Policar set or pile of loose track sold

. . . . has gone to a grandfather for rug racing with his grand-kids, followed by reports of large balls of fun being had.

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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There is a noticable upturn in interest here especially on Slotforum , seen many names from the past turning up again and it would appear that all of us are building those slot kits we've been meaning to do for ages, and with telly so dire cracking on with them.

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I have only been on here for a short time, but it is very noticeable the upturn in activity on this forum.

When I 1st registered it was almost a ghost town in here. I was resigned to trawling through years old threads to learn what I could, with the odd nuggets of new posts.

Hopefully a lot of the people will hang around "on the other side" after lock down

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Hi Shaynus.

 

This virus thing has also given us a boost as more time for responses. Please do not hesitate if you have any questions at all. This year will make it 60 years since I started in this hobby. I may not be entirely up to play these days but I am as keen as ever and more than happy to help as are many other AUSLOT members.

 

Regards Chas Le Breton (charlesx)

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Hi guys,

The only thing I could wish for is to make posting pictures easier.

Over time I and a few guys we race with, have built lots of cars 32nd and 24th scale

Proxy cars and event only purpose builds.

Would be nice to get then on here.

Given up with photo bucket and the others.

Copy and paste to much to ask for.

 

Any way club racing is on hold in Adelaide and cars are getting built and tuned.

Still trying to get my new Ferrari ready for the next Tasman

Good luck all

 

Paul

Try Harder, if you dont fail your not trying hard enough

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Hi guys,

The only thing I could wish for is to make posting pictures easier.

.............

Copy and paste to much to ask for.

 

..............

 

I could quote your own sig file..... "Try Harder, if you dont fail your not trying hard enough"

 

Copy and paste is a matter of a couple of seconds per shot once uploaded - which you can do in bulk to a photo storing site, whereas you still have to select each one to upload individually if they were to be hosted here.

Not a real lot of time difference to achieve the same result either way. And at present, most of us have a lot more time on our hands.

So treat us, give us some pics

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Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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  • 3 weeks later...

I know of 2 clubs that are attracting younger members and increasing their membership.

 

One of our stalwarts left Canberra a couple of years ago and moved to a slot car free zone up north somewhere. He's managed to attract several guys and built up a club that races a few times each week.

 

The other is the commercial track at Canberra (Way2fast at Mitchell). They regularly get a dozen guys racing on Wednesday nights + a few more at enduros. Quite a few new faces there too and most are under 40.

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May the downforce be with you.

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Excellent = and good to see you posting here again mate

 

Coming out of L4 lockdown to L3, I have shipped one track braid order to Oz, and my 3rd order for braid, tape and router bits for NZ came in last night

All just 2 lane test tracks in NZ going by the amounts, but a good indication of health in some clubs.

 

Also fielding enquiries from families for more information o setting up home tracks in "Scalextric" ( or Policar) especially about can these cars be repaired, are these parts all available etc...

All good stuff for the hobby

Recovering Lapsed Slot Addict :ph34r:  *  Custodian of many used screws (mostly loose :rolleyes:)  *  Total kidder  *  Companion of other delusional slot addicts :lol:  

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