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PETER ZIVANOVIC
Chairman

I have many fond memories of my childhood but Scalextric never featured in them. I didn't start until my mid-twenties when my wife gave me a set one Christmas. I played with it, extended it, got more cars and so on for many years. Then my local auction house held a toy sale. There were two Scalextric sets in cracking condition: tinplate from the 50's and plastic from the 60's. I won both and the collecting bug was let loose. It was a lonely and rather hit-and-miss pursuit until I was told about the NSCC, which I joined in 1997.

I will always remember my first visit to a swapmeet. Until then, my exposure to slot cars was limited to toy shops with half a dozen Scalextric cars for sale. New ones appeared very infrequently. To see a hall full of every type of car from brands I'd never heard of in conditions from wrecked to mint and boxed left me wide-eyed with amazement. I still enjoy swapmeets and go as often as I can - usually with a table. The Internet certainly has its place but so does speaking to real people and seeing real cars. I have also been to swapmeets in Spain and France and made good friends there.

Many cars find their way into my collection. I'm particularly biased to older models and models of older cars, with a particular interest in Mercedes. I came to the hobby from playing with Scalextric and it's the play value that tends to inform my collection. Show me a car that does something interesting and do my best to get it. Stock cars, Wild 360s, Drift cars, Trackbusters, Flashing lights, bring ’em on. Sadly, I'm still waiting for the earliest of these - the James Bond set. But my favourites are the off-road ranges like sts, TT, Raid, etc. I have a particular interest in the first of these having published “The Anoraks' Guide to sts” on my web site. I also race occasionally. My fellow competitors say that I cheat - but they don't mind too much; despite my “modifications”, they still beat me all too easily. But then, it's all just for fun - isn't it?

STEPHEN BARBER
Secretary

In common with many Club members, I had Scalextric when I was a boy. My current interest in collecting re-started, however, in the late 1980’s when a friend gave a Scalextric Mini Rallycross set to my 9 year old son (in 1987) although it was not until late 1989 that I learnt about the NSCC from an article by Richard Bremmer in The Independent newspaper weekend motoring section, got in touch with Mike Pack and joined the Club.

Over the years I’ve attended most of the NSCC swap meets and made friends with many members, and I was nominated as Secretary in late 1995. I am primarily a collector, I do not belong to any racing clubs, and I do not run a dealership. My own collection is fairly wide-ranging, and although I have been fortunate to acquire many of the usual Scalextric lust-objects, I’m specially interested in secondary collectibles such as STS, English and French buildings and catalogues. I also have a comprehensive collection of Fly, Slot.It, Spirit and Vanquish MG cars. I have a medium-sized fully-landscaped layout at home which features most of the buildings and special track sections that Scalextric and Exin have made over the years, along with a few old Carrera items which I found in an old-fashioned toyshop in Augsburg, Germany; it's a slightly tricky but enjoyable circuit to race on.

I enjoy my hobby immensely, it complements an interest in motor racing (particularly Le mans & GT cars) and the development of automobile design. Although I’ve been collecting for more than twenty years, I must admit, somewhat ruefully, that it will probably still be a lifelong quest to collect all of the cars, track and buildings variations produced by Scalextric and Exin. My background is art school and design, my profession is making stringed, fretted musical instruments (I am self-employed) and for me part of the attraction of collecting slotcars and related paraphernalia is the appreciation and recognition of the highly-skilled design and production work that goes into making the models. If I hadn’t become a lute and guitar maker, maybe I would have ended up as a prototype and/or model maker; the first thing I do when a new model arrives is to take it apart to see how it has been designed and made.

I work on behalf of the best interests of all NSCC members, be they collectors or racers; in my view the racing heritage and background of the Club is as important as the pure collecting aspects; Scalextric is, after all, a model car which is meant to be raced, and I am sure that most of us enjoy both aspects. I am always happy to offer advice and to help if I am able to, so do feel free to get in touch; if you enjoy slotcar racing and/or collecting, I heartily recommend that you join the NSCC.

Have you ever done something really stupid that ‘seemed like a good idea at the time’? Then you have probably had a visit from 'Bloody Daft Idea Animal' – he is a small blue furry creature who sits on your shoulder and whispers “Wouldn’t it be a good idea if …?" He has ruled my life for many years but he really excelled himself in mid 1999 when I volunteered to become editor of the NSCC Journal.

Ever since then, I have spent one weekend a month compiling the magazine. Some people reckon it is a really good read; others probably think it is crap but you can’t beat it for value. Twelve 40+ page issues a year for just £18– not bad eh? Mind you, if you are really a tightwad you could always download it for free from this website, albeit a year late! Have a look at some of my previous efforts and make up your own mind whether you want to pay for it.

Some boring bits about me next – skip them if you like. Unlike many members of the NSCC, I never had a Scalextric set as a child although I had several friends who did. Indeed, I have fond memories of Christmas 1959 when one of them invited me round to play with one of the early tinplate sets complete with cardboard battery house. I think I was hooked then as I hurled the Ferrari round the track until the batteries went flat.

As the years passed, I occasionally came into contact with slot racing, most memorably in a flat I shared in London where Airfix cars were used to pass strange smelling cigarettes between the residents. However, it was the late seventies before I acquired a set of my own. I saw an advert in our local paper for some cars and track and bought it on a whim. For the princely sum of £4-99 I received 4 cars (in V.G. boxed condition), some buildings and enough track to fill my spare room. The cars were a green Lotus 25, a yellow Lotus 16, a white Team car, and a red sunroof Aston Martin. I still have them all but they are no longer in pristine condition.

Now the bug had really bitten. A new Lotus 72 JPS and a March 721 were soon added to the stable. I also continued to buy from adverts in the paper, but I never managed to get a bargain as good as that first one. Next came the purchase of the first edition of Roger Gillham’s book, in which I discovered the value of that red Aston. Pity I had almost raced it to destruction by then! Finally in 1983 I saw an advert for the NSCC and joined. My bank manager has never forgiven me.

My own collection is relatively modest, standing at about 400 cars and reflects my interests in the full-scale versions. Thus, most of them are F1 cars but only in the correct colours/liveries. I don’t care how rare and valuable an orange Tyrrell P34 might be; it didn’t exist in the real world so I don’t want one. 80% are Scalextric with other makes supplying the cars that they never produced.

I have no commercial interests in the hobby so I am a truly independent editor and free to upset anybody I please. My aim is to produce a magazine which appeals to anybody who has an interest in that extraordinary toy called Scalextric. I try to include items on racing as well as collecting slot cars of all makes. Mind you, the idea of grown men playing with toy plastic cars is more than a little amusing so the Journal does tend to contain an essential element of silliness – you don’t have to be a complete obsessive to enjoy reading it! Go on – join the club – you know it makes sense.