Something struck me when I got the American Thunder set from Artin North America...these cars would be great for kids to race. They're evenly matched, all have the same relatively low RPM motor, and don't have detailed pieces to be shed when the go for a trip to the floor. Today I put that to the test.
My niece and nephew Nicholas and Anastasia Miller came to visit, they've been coming to see my track for a few years now. Nicholas is 8 and Anastasia is 5, they're very enthusiastic about driving the cars and always make a B-line for the track as soon as they get in the door...and boy did I have the cars for them today!
(BTW, that's my wife Karen and my 18-month-old son Tyler taking in all the action)
"Hey, let's race the Nascars" I said and we headed down to the basement. I don't have a variable power supply so having cars that aren't lightning fast is a good first step to racing with heavy-trigger-fingered kids, don't you think? So I put the cars on the track and I was amazed that within a lap or two both the kids were taking the corners like champs! Even Anastasia, who on her last time racing the twists and turns of the San Francisco Grand Prix, didn't really grasp the idea of braking...but then she was 4 so what did I expect, eh? Or was that Nicholas? Hmmmm.....
Lap after lap both racers were able to round the course easily, with only occasional nerfing incident...Cole Trickle eat your heart out!
Anastasia tried her hand at marshalling and was able to get the car back in the slot easily even with a quickly approaching F1 car that Nicholas switched to between laps with the Stocker.
"The colors were nice and the motors worked really well around the corners", Nicholas said during a post-race interview in the Miller Racing hauler, "I liked how they drove, they weren't bumping up and down...they just rode smooth." A ringing endorsement from an up and coming driver.
In the end they were hugely popular with the kids. I was pleased that they were able to race the cars, actually race the cars against each other. It's cool to have cars that, out of the box, work well as evenly matched racers.
Thanks again to Frank at Artin North America for the cars...the kids loved 'em (BTW, I do too).
DaveK
Publisher, Slot Car News
