• MRE Slot 

    SCX-U10332 Porsche 911 Rally SIMM

    SCX-E10331 Digital Mercedes AMG GT3 Vodafone

    SCX-E10332 Digital Porsche 911 Rally SIMM

    DUE TO ARRIVE

    These are the cars we were expecting to arrive this week - now hopefully next week. SIDEWAYS Lamborghini Huracan Alitalia. TEAM SLOT Lancia Delta HF Esso. SCALEXTRIC Holden Torana 1978 Bathurst and the Ferrari 412P Targa Florio and the Ford Mustang GT4 Multimatic. The three FLY Ferrarri 250 GTO Goodwood cars.  The SLOT.IT Toyota 86C Formula Dunlop car. The good news is that we know there is definitely a CARRERA delivery on the way to us.

    NEW CARS ANNOUNCED

    SIDEWAYS are releasing ancther JPS liveried Ltd Ed car. The GP5 Lancia Stratos Silouette doesn't have an abundance of real identities so now it joins the other mythical JPS cars by SIDEWAYS.

    SW-LE08 GP5 Lancia Stratos JPS Ltd Ed

    THUNDERSLOT have announced four more cars. The first two are new liveries on the McLaren M6, starting with the red car of Oscar Koveleski who owned slot company Autoworld back in the 1960s. The white car was once owned by Autodelta and used a a test bed for the Alfa Romeo T33. It is now in a historic racing livery.

    TS-00304 McLaren M6 Autoworld

    TS-00305 McLaren M6 Autodelta

    The other two THUNDERSLOT announcements are for the McLaren Elva M1. The gold car was originally raced at Riverside by Graham Hill, but then went on to movie fame in "Spinout" where it was driven by Elvis Presley. The final Nickey car will be released as it raced at the Nassau Speed Week in 1965.

    TS-00403 McLaren Elva M1 Elvis

    TS-00404 McLaren Elva M1 NICKEY

    NEWS ROUNDUP

    MANUFACTURERS PICTURE - SCX. A couple of weeks ago we showed you the forthcoming SCX Audi S1 WRC Red Bull car, and now we can show you its brother, the Audi S1 WRC Monster car. They will both arrive at the same time in November.

    SCX-U10319 Audi S1 WRC Monster

    MANUFACTURERS PICTURES - POLICAR. The first two of the modern generic POLICAR GEM F1 cars will be the EuroRacing  185T in Benetton livery, and the Surtees TS20 with Beta sponsorship. The Toleman TG184 Candy and the Shadow DN5 UOP will follow later.

    PC-CAR07A GEM F1 EuroRacing 185T Benetton

    PC-CAR07B GEM F1 Surtees TS20 Beta

    MANUFACTURERS PICTURES - NSR. The infamous Pink Pig livery has appeared on many cars since the Porsche 917 at Le Mans. The latest incarnation is from NSR, and creates a mythical Porsche 977 RSR, which is bound to be popular. NSR are also soon releasing a couple more versions of their most successful racer, the Mosler MT900 now has Martini livery with both silver and white backgrounds.

    NSR-0154 Porsche 997 RSR Pink Pig

    NSR-0149 Mosler MT900 Martini white

    NSR-0151 Mosler MT900 Martini silver

    RIP ROB "ROCKY" LEES. Although many of you won't know Rocky, many more will know he has been a stalwart of slot racing for many years. In fact I myself raced with him in many BSCRA Area Rounds in the 1980s, and then at many classic car events. Just recently, he bought some parts from me for his latest projects, with no sign of being poorly. Like many others, I am shocked to hear today of his passing. RIP ROCKY.

    MRE OPEN FOR MAIL ORDER BUSINESS. We are receiving deliveries of new cars and spares, and just like it says above, we are open for orders and are posting them out to you as fast as we can.
    Like everyone else, we are currently a bit restricted in our working pattern. However, we are able to post out your orders on 3 DAYS EACH WEEK so please be patient. We can accept orders at any time, but due to the business centre where the MRE HQ is located being in lockdown, we have only limited access. We are unable to answer the phone directly as the business centre phone system has been diverted to our Reception and a call message service, so please contact us by email at     mre@mre.co.uk&n bsp; We are doing our best to work as reliably as possible while keeping within the "stay at home" guidelines, we hope you understand we are all under pressure at this time. To all of you - please be sensible and stay well.

    THE LAST WORD

    The sad news about Rocky Lees above is a signal to everyone that the age profile of slot racers and collectors is rising. In recent years we have lost many active slotters, and you will have heard of many of them : Charlie & Margaret Fitzpatrick of Betta & Classic bodyshells, Chas Keeling of SCD, Steve Ward of Penelope Pitlane, Mac Pinches of Early Birds, to name just a few. There are many unsung racers, builders, and collectors whom you probably haven't heard of, but who supported slot racing and competed over many decades.

    So what is happening to counteract this and stop our hobby reducing even more ?

    The traditional introduction would be a home racing set : Scalextric, Carrera, Revell, SCX and others all built their empires on the Christmas "big present" that encouraged youngsters to not only learn racing skills, but also taught them maths, handicrafts, determination, and a competitive spirit. It is well known among all brands that slot racing sets are nowhere near the levels of years ago, so that avenue is slowly closing down.

    Others got into slot racing from building plastic kits, then turning them into working models, and using them among their own friends, neighbours, and school groups. Many tracks were cobbled together by everyone donating a few track sections for a big race. Impossible to know how many stayed the course and are still active today via that route.

    Real car racing fans found they could develop their support by having models of their favourites - there must be countless collections of Ferraris, Porsches, Le Mans cars, F1 cars, Jagermeister cars, yellow cars, and anything else you can think of. When easily available slot cars really started to get into their stride in the 1990s, thanks to companies like Ninco and Fly who raised the standard by a huge margin, it became quite easy to buy a 1/32 or 1/24 scale car, and then of course you could actually race it as well.

    What is available for youngsters now ? Smartphones, X-Boxes and similar, tablets, and other non-physically-active pursuits. Yes, there are still sales of sets, but going to any boot-sale or flea market a couple of months after Christmas shows how long they hold the attention as many are disposed of once the braids become twisted or the track has been trodden on. Despite a huge range of spares and extras available, we now live in a throw-away society where commodities are no longer cherished and replacements are so cheap. The days of "make do & mend" are now ancient history.

    So, with the Christmas season now fast approaching, and many households locked indoors, here is a suggestion : Buy the youngsters a slot car set, or a plastic kit, or a handicraft set of some sort. Then spend time with them, offering advice (but not taking over) and help by showing them how to develop some skills. Everyone could be a winner - the parent knows he has provided something useful, the child will discover he has talents previously undiscovered. Maybe some of them will want to continue, and enter the world of slot cars that could last a lifetime.

    Stay Home and Stay Safe

     

    THANK YOU FOR READING THE MRE SLOT NEWSLETTER

    You can contact us at mre@mre.co.uk

    Telephone +44 (0)1908 821290

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    More email news soon - look for your MRE Newsletter every Thursday to get the latest information about new cars in stock.

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