Carrera or Scalextric - am I mad to even consider it for my 5yo DS?

[MmeLindt]

Not sure if Carrera is well known in UK, I can go for either brand.

But

Are they difficult to put together and do they stay together when they are made up?

Am I going to get called away from MN down to the playroom to FIX IT MAMA! every 10 minutes?

Hmm, that is what I am worried about.

We do have the space that we could leave it out but I don't know if he would really play so much with it.

He has played a lot with his cheapie Ikea wooden railway recently.

Have you tried meccano? Might get that from MIL.

Just emailed DH.

He replied. 'YES, but not a junior one. WE want a proper one'

Big kid.

We have bought 4yo DS a junior scalextric for xmas. He LOVES that kind of thing, so I hope it will be ok for him!!!

DH has just remembered that his DB has a Carrera and his DNephew has one too. Not sure if they still use them, going to ask if they would like to sell them on to us.

It really depends on your ds Mme Lindt but I think 5 is a little young. The track is fine, it's not difficult to put together, it's pretty solid and it's fine staying up as long as you have the room.
The problem is it takes quite a lot of hand control and skill to keep the car on the track otherwise it shoots off every 2 seconds leading to serious frustration. And the cars are delicate, it doesn't take much bashing for them to start breaking.
IME 7 is the perfect age to start getting in scalextric. My boys are now 8 and 10 and play with it regularly.
If you are going to get it, I recommend Street Sliderz
it's a proper set, not a junior but the cars do 360 degree swizzles so seem to stay on the track better than the ordinary cars. I bought this in Oct from Fenwicks and it was reduced to £60.

I think we will probably go for the Carrera rather than the Scalextric as that is the one that is more common here in Switzerland.

DH had to be dissuaded last year, he wanted to get it then.

DS is quite good with fiddly stuff, and is very techy minded. Hmm, wonder if any of the shops in town have it set up so he coudl have a go.

My DS(5) is also good with fiddly stuff and has no problems with normal scalextric. We got the digital version as you can have several cars on the same track!

carerra on offer here

Furball
that is the GO, the junior version. It does not have that great reviews. Perhaps we should wait another couple of years until he is old enough for the proper one.

MmeL - I am in Switzerland too. I was in your shoes 2 years ago (DS was 5.5). DS loved the idea of Carrera or Scalextric. I went for a scalextric on the basis that a) I grew up with it, so it must be better because life was good back then, and b) when we move back to the UK Scalextric is more widely available.

Two things happened: DS was v excited, played with it lots and even asked for track extension kits etc. But after a month or so his enthusiasm waned. With hindsigt we could easily have waited for a couple of years.

I expect DS will get back into it eventually, and in that sense I am pleased we bought it. It also gives me a chance to play with it in the living room once kids are in bed :-)

So I'd say go for it, get a couple of cars and some track, but don't be disappointed if your DS drifts away from it because they are one of those classic boys toys which will be engaging for several years to come. Also excellent when his friends visit on bad weather days!

HTH...

Forgot to mention: "...wonder if any of the shops in town have it set up so he could have a go"...

Not sure where you live but Franz Carl Weber in Zurich usually have a carerra track set up.

Oh, now you reminded me, yes. FCW had one built up last year. Will take him in at the weekend.

We will likely not be going to the UK after Geneva, so that is not a problem.

Thanks for all your help.

I'd love to be in Geneva

On another thread someone recommended a brand called Darda - think it was German and was fairly common in the UK in the 70s and 80s. The only place I could find it in the UK was the Cox & Cox website but Amazon.de and ebay.de seemed to have lots of it. It's usp seems to be that it doesn't need batteries or electricity and is easier/sturdier for little ones in comparison to Scalextric or Hot Wheels

quidnuc
It is lovely here. Not been to Zurich yet, supposed to be nice there too.

That Darda looks interesting, will look in town if I can see it.

Well, we went for the Scalextric in the end. Mainly because we found a guy in Switzerland who had some really good deals.

I think that DH is more excited than DS will be. I have told him to hold on to that thought when he is sitting up till 3am putting it together on Xmas Eve.

Thanks for all the advice.