Help. Scalextric or other race track - which do you recommend

[mumtoaprincess]

My 5year old DD wants a mini cooper race track for Christmas. Both My 1st Scalextric and Mighty Minis race track have only average reviews on Amazon. I wondered whether there are some mumsnetters out there who could recommend a race track.

we have this Roary

way better and easier to use than the frustrating traditional type of scalextric imo

my 5 year old has the mini cooper track. He seems to love it. It doesnt come out as often as it should as these things do need to be set up which is a pain. he could not manage to do this himself. doesnt take up too much space. I tend to set up and leave in his room for a week then dismantle.

It is a good entry track in my opinion.

ds got 1st Scalextric for last year. with a wee bit ofmaintenance, the cars can be fixed pretty easily. It's compatible with microscalextric so you can buy extra track and cars - we have a couple of minis. You can get extra bis on e-bay very reasonably - it's one of these toys where you need a decent quantity of track.

We have a fancy digital scalextrix one but if I'm honest it hasn't had that much use.

with a traditional scalextric:

the cars break easily
the cars are tricky for children to get on the tracks properly
children won't stand a chance of getting the track together
adults will struggle putting the track together
the cars are very difficult to control and over-shoot the track easily
it's a pain in the arse to put in the box properly after wards

the one I linked to is easy to assemble, easy for children to use without adult help, and is great fun.

With three boys and having been a childminder we have test driven lots of tracks.

Thanks Geepers. I might re-think the Scalextric idea.

these are good i bought one for my cousins for xmas but the box is damaged. if you don't mind a damaged box (i wouldn't mind if it was for my own ds but cos i am giving it to someone elses child feel it looks a bit crap) i can sell it on to you?

Agree with Geepers that Scalextric is a pain in the arse - mine (5 and 3) can't play with it without adult supervision, and it's constantly malfunctioning.