Hot Wheels Wall Tracks feedback thread

[AnnMumsnet]

This thread is for the 20 MNers and their child(ren) who are trying out the new Hot Wheels Wall Tracks starter kit.

Please add your comments on the kit below - everyone who adds their feedback (at least twice) and who sends in a picture of the assembled track will be entered into a prize draw to win a £150 Amazon voucher

So please let us know...

~ The age and gender of the child(ren) who played with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks kit

~ How did it work being stuck on the wall? Did you like this? Did your child? Did you find it free-ed up some space on the floor?

~ Best bit about playing with it? What did your child(ren) especially enjoy?

~ Have they shared it with any friends/ siblings? Has it entertained them.

~ Do you think this is something you'd recommend to other parents?

Once your child had played with it a few times we'd like you to add your final general comments to the thread.

Thanks MNHQ

All 3dc have played with it: 11yo ds1, 8yo dd, 5yo ds2. They have played together and separately.

From feedback I had read before having had a chance to set it up ourselves, I expected it to be flimsy and impractical, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that it was actually very well made. The dc needed help with managing the template. Ds1 could construct it, but not the other two. Which surprised me with ds2, as he is very good at construction. He was able to find the right pieces, but not put them together. Possibly this was because he is unfamiliar with this style of construction.

I was not happy with the way it fixes to the wall. The only suitable space turned out to be the entrance hall. I had hoped to mount it on a gloss-painted or glass door, or on the wall in ds2's bedroom. I don't mind the toy being on the entrance hall wall, but I do object to the brackets having to be left up when the rest is put away.

The dc loved the toy being displayed in front of them, no risk of knocking or treading on bits, which is always accuse of arguments when they play scalex trick or traintrack.

It does free up floor space, because we've left it out and it's not in the way. You still need floor space fir the cars to run off.

The best bit for the dc was working out which of our other cars run well on it (about 10 cars so far, only 3-4 are Hot Wheels) and then running them all at the same time. Dd, predictably, turned it into a fantasy as soon as she started playing, whereas the boys played in a more 'straight-forward' way.

Unfortunately it does not hold any of their attention for long. the longest they have played with it is 10-15mins. They find it fairly uninspiring, and for toys of this sort prefer either the marble run (which is infinitely variable and can be played with without taking turns) or the scalextric (which has got greater player-involvement and adventure).

It is a bit boring also because it is fairly limited in the layouts you can construct.

Because it is in a passageway at the centre of the house, people tend to play with it in passing, running a couple of cars and then continuing on to wherever they were

I would recommend this toy, but only if the family are likely to buy more of the same to extend it.

I took a photo, but cannot post it from my phone, so will email it to MNHQ.

Erm, I'm not sure where I sent the photos! It was somewhere in MN, but not to Ann specifically.

prettycandles...can you resend to me?

~ The age and gender of the child(ren) who played with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks kit 4 year old ds2.

~ How did it work being stuck on the wall? Did you like this? Did your child? Did you find it free-ed up some space on the floor?
I liked that it was off the floor, freeing up space but it has now been pulled off too many times and we are out of sticky pads. no damage to paintwork tho.

~ Best bit about playing with it? What did your child(ren) especially enjoy? He liked the loop the loop ( when it works which doesn't seem often for us)

~ Have they shared it with any friends/ siblings? Has it entertained them. He has shared it with his cousins but we need more cars

~ Do you think this is something you'd recommend to other parents? I would recommend it but I have to say it is very easy to pull off and we need loads of sticky pads.

~ The age and gender of the child(ren) who played with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks kit

6 and male.

~ How did it work being stuck on the wall?

Very well, both the template and the sticky pads worked exactly as billed to attach the track to the wall. It has remained firmly attached after considerable amounts of play.

Did you like this?

It seemed a little over complicated and off putting at first, but once mounted on the wall it was very swift to complete and functioned exactly as described.

Did your child?

He enjoyed being involved in the process but was a little disappointed with the 60 minute wait associated with the adhesive strips.

Did you find it free-ed up some space on the floor?

Yes, it has also extended the longevity of the product and protected it from damage though heavily used.

~ Best bit about playing with it?

It was a great family orientated toy which our little boy was keen to share and involve everyone else in.

What did your child(ren) especially enjoy?

He most enjoyed copying the picture from the box involving building blocks. The car was used to jump over, jump through and crash through a multitude of building block structures. This turned the set, which was fun in its own right, into an instant stunt show, with associated whooping, cheering and hand clapping from the imaginary crowd!

~ Have they shared it with any friends/ siblings? Has it entertained them.

Yes, his friends have also enjoyed playing with the toy when playing over.

~ Do you think this is something you'd recommend to other parents?

Yes, having played with the toy definitely, before hand we wouldn?t have considered the toy as a present for our child or others.

Thank you for including us in your trial, it has been great fun!

Pictures resent to you, Ann.

This toy is definitely not a success in our house. It has been the cause of many arguments, my boys coming to blows with each other over it. And while it might be normal for boys to fight physically, you'll just have to believe me that it has never happened before. The worst that ds1 and ds2 have ever done is give each other a shove. This morning they were actually trying to hurt each other. And I asked to try this toy because i thought it would be a good toy for them to play with together.

The boys have - separately - been working out how to modify the layout. It has stood up to several changes this afternoon. My boys do not tend to break toys, and are able to handle things delicately, so dh and I were rather annoyed when one of the brackets came off, taking a 5x3cm chunk of paint with it. Ds2 was showing his daddy how the track was laid out, and dh says that ds2 was not rough, but treating the toy appropriately.

Ours is still stuck & still a big hit in our house. We have a lot of hot wheels cars & last night I turned all the lights off to go to bed & there was a glowing green thing half way up my hall which made me jump! What was it? A glow in the dark car on the track, lol

Time for my update:
DS is still thoroughly enjoying his wall track, we have relocated it from the wardrobe wall to a spare wall downstairs and that's meant that he plays with it even more.

Long term, I'm not sure how long I'll want it dominating such a large area of my house, but I'll wait and see.

I saw them on the shelves of Asda yesterday and spoke to another customer who was looking at it for her DS's for Christmas, but was having second thoughts. I gave her a glowing report and she bought it. I fear I may be become a little too evangelistic about it!

Overall I'm still really pleased with it and DS absolutely loves it. Thanks very much for the opportunity to test-drive it :o

The age and gender of the child(ren) who played with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks kit

4 year old boy and 2 of his friends (same age)

~ How did it work being stuck on the wall? Did you like this? Did your child? Did you find it free-ed up some space on the floor?

yes, very good idea on the wall. kept it out of way and definitely freed space. only takes space when cars come shooting out of the end!

~ Best bit about playing with it? What did your child(ren) especially enjoy?

nice as on wall so always accessible, dont have to take it out and then tidy it away. also goes very fast. fun for everyone even older kids and passing adults!

~ Have they shared it with any friends/ siblings? Has it entertained them.

yes it entertains everyone of all ages!

~ Do you think this is something you'd recommend to other parents?

yes definitely

ok, now feedback after a while:

would be nice if there had been at least 2 cars with it. unfortunately many of ds's other cars dont fit on the tracks. this means we will have to buy more cars! this is fine but i think 2 would have been good to start with.

also as with any toy, novelty wears off after a while and some of the sticky bits have come off the wall.

i think overall though it is a really good idea and ds was thrilled to have it as an extra present just in time for his 4th birthday!!

ps how do i send photos, do i email them back to this address?

again, thanks for choosing us!

update

It's been on the wall for over 2 weeks now and ds still plays with it, I love the fact that once it's up on the wall it stays and I don't have to keep rebuilding and tidying it away, is showing no signs of getting unstuck from the wall.

My only criticism is there should be more than one car, my ds has many cars and even hot wheels cars but the only one that worked was the one that came in the pack.

Update

The track has stayed on the wall well, none of the sticky pads have detached.
The boys play with it most days, although I have started having to separate them when they play with it because of squabbling. DS2, for some unknown reason, took the elastic bands off the three brown trapdoor things and I hoovered them up without seeing them (I think they must have been transparent), so that part of it is awaiting repairs. It's still a good toy in spite of the arguments and missing elastic bands.

I'm not convinced that there is any benefit to having the track wall-mounted. Perhaps if you have a large playroom with lots of wall space and little furniture, it would be worthwhile, but in our average-sized family home with not a huge amount of accessible wall, it is no better than a track that is packed away at the end of the day in my opinion.

update
Well as people have already said the track is still on the wall and doesn't look like it is going anywhere soon which amazes me with my two. It is still played with by ds but dd has got bored with it. Shame bout the cars as well, we lost the only car for about 4 days last week and ds was distraught. Have it now, but could do with a spare to avoid tears. Father Christmas has had a request for an add on........so we'll have to see if he's listening
I still like the fact it's on the wall, and I think it adds to the design of ds's bedroom......

We've shown this thread to Hot Wheels and this is what they wanted to say to you:

"The team at Mattel and Hot Wheels are really grateful for all the feedback on the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks starter kits you've been trying. A couple of folks mentioned about having more than one car in the pack - this is something we will look into in the future - if you want to buy more cars to fit the tracks you need to look for "Hot Wheels Die Cast" cars. Some folks also mentioned about additional sticky pads - again we will look into this for future product development - otherwise you can buy them via most DIY retailers, they are called 3M Command Strips www.command.com. Thanks again"

And a selection of the photos are up here - thanks!!

UPDATE

Ours fell off the wall last week so I need to defo. get more pads. Ds2 loves it and keeps asking me to put it back up. It didn't damage the paintwork or wall when it fell off so pleased with that. I just wish my son wasn't so forceful and it may have stayed up.

I have packed the track away. I left the remaining yellow panels attached, so that it can easily be re-erected. Significantly, none of the dc are bothered.

Ours is still up, has survived me bashing it with the shopping everytime I stagger by and a few temper tantrums from the kids!
Doesnt get played with too much now, just in passing really, and when a friend comes over who hasn't seen it before.
Will leave it up a bit longer and then see how the land lies with the DCs.
We seem to have quite a few cars that fit but they haven't begged for add-ons so I think its just become part of our hallway decor!

Defo need more pads as we have run out. As suspected it gets played with when friends come round but ignored the rest of the time. Great that it can be left up.

So sorry for the delay - been very hectic here!

~ The age and gender of the child(ren) who played with the Hot Wheels Wall Tracks kit
7 years, Boy
4 Years, Girl

~ How did it work being stuck on the wall? Did you like this? Did your child? Did you find it free-ed up some space on the floor?

It was alright, it came off a lot easier than I thought it would from accidental tugging rather than deliberate pulling the tab to release. It came off a bit too easily.

Having a vertical track does allow for some cool stunts, but hanging it on the wall wasn't particularly impressive. In the end, my husband built a mini wooden wall as it was getting bashed a lot otherwise. The kids did find the putting up very exciting. It did certainly free-up space compared to a typical car track, even with the mini wall.

~ Best bit about playing with it? What did your child(ren) especially enjoy?

The kids really really loved the loop. My 7 year old says he particularly liked being able to switch directions/tracks on the same track. 4 year old liked the cars smashing into the wall...has been talking about it for days.

~ Have they shared it with any friends/ siblings? Has it entertained them.

2 year old (girl) quite enjoyed watching it for a while, it certainly entertained her...until she accidentally pulled it down.

~ Do you think this is something you'd recommend to other parents?

Yes, for those with small houses that need to get stuff off of the floor. If they had plenty of space I wouldn't bother as it is too fiddly to put up/keep up. The 'adult assembly required' should have the added warning of 'constantly'.

UPDATE

Sorry for the delay! My boys have still be playing with this, but I think the novelty has worn off, as the track is permanently stuck to the wall and they see it all the time. They have had so much fun with it though, and were so excited to receive it. Because it is a permanent feature in our dining room they have stopped playing with it recently. I think we will take it down for a while (especially as we are about to decorate) and then try again. I'm sure this will give them lots of fun, it just needs a grown up and about half an hr to assemble. Thanks MN.

I have discovered one reason why this toy caused such conflict in our house: it arrived just before we went off on holiday, and I had put it discreetly in the study, intending to get it out when we returned. Ds1 saw it and assumed it was a poorly-hidden Xmas present for him. Unbeknown to us, he had been salivating over it in the Argos catalogue. So when I brought it out for all the dc to play with it, ds1 was torn between delight and disappointment.

Toy has stayed on the wall with no problems and is still a firm favourite, especially when friends come over. It has also been used in many of DS's pretend games, becoming the flying car from Harry potter among others!
Great success and we will probably buy the extension set for Christmas. Would definitely have liked more cars with the set though.
Thanks for letting us take part in this, DS has loved trying it out and telling his friends all about it. We have recommended it to others.

Hope you got photos ok?

thanks for all the feedback and photos etc - greatly appreciated...
Am pleased to say the £150 Amazon voucher winner is yummytummy - well done

i thought you had to post twice on this thread to be in the draw for the Amazon voucher?