Born in 1957 I got my first intro into the Aurora Thunderjets when I got a racetrack set that came with two cars from the JC Penny Christmas catalog. The price was $12 and the cars in the set were the 1965 Maserati sedan and the 1966 Buick Riviera. Later years I would save my school lunch money all week by not eating lunch to buy a Thunderjet at the local hobby shop for $3. My favorite car was the Cheetah. I have a real vintage Corvette in the garage and I figure it's just an extension of my longtime passion for the HO scale race car hobby that got me started at a young age.
That is awesome, and I love reading your story and all others who have enjoyed this hobby over the years. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Do you currently have a layout?
Thunder jets are awesome. I feel they are the best!! Even though I was born in 67 and I grew up running the AFX cars which I love but I really love the t jets and I do have several cars and a track layout. I am a collector of slot cars and even have an Aurora K&B Ajets 1/32 scale track from 1965 . Thank you for an awesome video . Keep it in the slot.🏎🏎🏎
Thank you so much for watching and for your compliments, I really appreciate that! We have a common love for these. I've never had the larger scale Aurora cars but I imagine they must be awesome as well. Do you like how they run?
Yes they run pretty well when they are cleaned and tuned up. As you know it’s always good to have new tires on all slot cars so they run well. Unfortunately I need a new motor for one of the cars . I only have to of them just because they don’t fine them very often. But they are great. I also collect a lot of other brands as well.
@42lookc It really is amazing to know how many of us are out there! I'm looking forward to watching the hobby grow as more of us are closing in on retirement and looking for a familiar hobby that we loved as kids! Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Do you have a track up and running?
Yes I have a Carrera track up . I have probably over two hundred 1/32 scale cars. 12 1/24 scale . And I also have a Afx track set up . I also have 3 Afx sets from the 70’s and the a t jet set from 62 and the 1/32 scale aurora. I am not sure how many Afx cars I have but I think 150
In a way, I felt like discovering the Thunderjets after being crazy for AFX in my youth was like being re-incarnated, Lol! I realized they were a major thing BEFORE the AFX slot cars, and I've been fascinated by them ever since!
Same here. Born in 64. Got started with my older brothers tjets but mostly remember AFX Magnatration for my first track. I started recollecting all my old AFX cars and later went backward to collect the tjets. Bob beers book is a must for collectors.
I have enjoyed playing with slotcars since 1967. I never had my own set, but I had a friend who let me play on his. Now I am able to do what I want, when I want. Therefore I have bought a new AFX Giant Raceway. I think that I may have made a mistake. I don't enjoy watching a blur flashing around a track. I absolutely loved this video! These are the cars I remember running around the track. When approaching a sharp curve, there was a fine line between stalling, and spinning out. That's what made it fun.
Thank you so much, I love reading feedback like this! I wouldn't necessarily call your purchase a mistake, though. That track is probably the best available today, aside from having a routed track. And you can always sell those cars from the set and probably recoup most of your money, then buy some of these tjets to run on your track. Have you tried the newer TJets from Auto World? Not quite the same, but if you remove the little magnet, it's a pretty good option.
The Elkie with the surfboard is just BOSS. And the tri-color Javelin, and the '32 Ford Roadster pickup. Also, you can never go wrong with a Gulf livery anything in your stable.
I have a bunch of HO slot cars from Aurora and Tyco. Many I bought when they were $2.00 for a brand new car. I bought out a hobby shop located in a corner of a hardware store when they were going out of business. I raced the Tyco 440 cars when they had the nationwide club tracks against the clock. But the most fun I had was driving one of the three 4 wheel drive T-jet prototypes that never made it to mass production. Still have one in the basement somewhere.
That is fantastic, thank you for sharing that, Randy! I love hearing people's history with slot cars. Throughout my life, I didn't run into many people who were into these, so it's great to finally connect. You were able to pick up your cars at great prices! I was able to get many too back then, but now they some of them are very expensive!
Christmas of 63 my brother and I got a four lane aurora t jet set with the riveara, corvette, thunderbird and fairlane. I was 5 and he was 10. It was the greatest toy ever!!! It has turned into a lifelong hobby. I now have a pretty detailed layout in the basement. It has three intersections and two rail crossings with trains running around. I have about 80 cars total. Lately I've been buying resin or 3d printed bodies and putting auto world chassis under them. I remove the magnets though. Much more fun sliding around like the original t jet. It's good to see so many people like yourself still enjoy this hobby and are keeping it alive. Your collection is amazing. Thanks for sharing your video
Thank you so much for watching and for reaching out to share your experiences! I'm still amazed to find so many of us that share the same lifelong passion for this beautiful hobby, especially after going through much of life and not knowing many others who feel the same! Thanks again and keep enjoying! I wish you all the best!
Sweet collection! Thunderjets are definitely my favorite HO scale cars having come from the "big" cars, I'd also argue that racing them you a better racer with the larger scale slot cars. Great video, thanks for taking the time!
Thank you for this video. I admire your collection strategy. As a kid I was into Tyco 440 racing but as a teenager, I discovered a box of old Aurora stuff. By swapping parts, I got some cars to run. This was before web forums, before parts availability. To get the tires to have some traction, I smeared RTF silicone on the outside of the petrified tires. It sorta worked. The driving style amazed and surprised me. The cars actually drifted in the corners. I discovered what HO slot cars were supposed to be like before traction magnets!
As for the 88 Manx, I like patina, so I'd leave the tasteful 88 on it. Tells a story. The windshield isn't broken so I'd leave it. Looks like sand got sprayed on while on the beach.
Yeah, you're right about the sticker, I'll probably put it on, at the very least it will be able to be seen on the black track Lol! Thank you for watching and commenting, have fun with your collection!!
That's fantastic that you still have these from your childhood! The memories you have had from these must be priceless!! It's great that Auto World has made it an easy process of removing the magnets from their cars to accommodate us traditional racers as well as those who like the magnets. Thanks for watching and for your comments, I really appreciate it!
Just came across your videos on RUclips. Very beautifully done as I see you have made many videos of all scales of slot cars. I have been collecting thunder jet slot cars for many years now and it’s nice to see you listing all of this on RUclips. Keep the videos coming. In a prior video, you highlighted a Carrera SUV. That car was a promo available at auto dealerships. I don’t believe it was a collector club car. And there were three other cars in that group. The colors available were black and a silvery gray color. a friend of mine, picked them up in Germany and sent me the series of cars. If you are interested, I would be very happy to send you photos of that group of cars. One other interesting note, they did not have interiors as they all had the blacked out windows so it would be pretty easy to convert to digital. Have a great day and thanks for videos.
Thank you so much for watching, and for your compliments, I really appreciate that! I always say that I'm not sure if I'm blessed or cursed with a love for all kinds of slot cars, Lol! That is fascinating information you've provided on the Carrera promo cars! Thank you so much for sharing this, as I was unable to find any other information about this. An ironic side note to this is, I had purchased that car from someone in Austria, but he had mistakenly transposed the tracking number with another slot car he was sending to California (I'm in Florida). When I received a notification that my car was out for delivery in California, I panicked and contacted their local post office, who was able to provide me with the recipient's address. It turns out that it was a car dealership, and he was the manager! I left a message with his secretary, and he called me back moments later. We shared a good laugh over what we had each been going through when tracking our respective slot cars. Thankfully, both arrived safely and all was good.
You are not cursed, you are blessed as we grew up in a time. Period when these beautiful slot cars were made. That was a pretty funny experience you had with that car and the shipment. I also have a few good eBay stories that are similar. Keep the great videos coming and like I said if you are interested in any pictures or info about slots that we could share , I would be very happy to converse with you and send them.
Thank you so much for all of your comments, they really mean a lot to me and give an added dimension to this hobby that I'm passionate about. I'd be interested in seeing the photos but I'm not sure if you can share them here in the comments and I don't think it would be a good idea to publicize either of our email addresses here. Do you have a You Tube channel or somewhere you can put up a short or video? Thank you!
I currently do not have a RUclips channel and I don’t think it is possible to send pictures through comments. It is sad that we cannot share information without making it public. In the past, you actually could message people through RUclips. I have subscribed to your RUclips channel and perhaps we can share information through that. Was wondering if you will be doing a video on model motoring HO slot cars. Not to be confused with Aurora model motoring I am speaking of the ones that were produced approximately 20 years ago. They are excellent reproductions and he had made some of his own bodies also. He also does many repair parts for the original cars. Sells on e-bay using the name rather boring.
@@billbeesley6883 That really is a shame that You Tube changed their policy. Let's keep in touch through this method for the time being. I've been focusing so much on Aurora that I haven't explored the Model Motoring stuff too deeply yet, but that will probably be something I get into in the future. The odds are for it, Lol! Do you collect them? I'm aware of Rather Boring and have ordered from him in the past. I'll need more bits and pieces but am waiting to order again so that there are enough tiny items ordered for shipping charges to make sense. I'm sure you're aware of Jeff Ryan on You Tube, but if not, you should head there at some point. He's very good at working with TJets and has excellent videos. He even wrote a book on them!
Born in 1957 I got my first intro into the Aurora Thunderjets when I got a racetrack set that came with two cars from the JC Penny Christmas catalog. The price was $12 and the cars in the set were the 1965 Maserati sedan and the 1966 Buick Riviera. Later years I would save my school lunch money all week by not eating lunch to buy a Thunderjet at the local hobby shop for $3. My favorite car was the Cheetah. I have a real vintage Corvette in the garage and I figure it's just an extension of my longtime passion for the HO scale race car hobby that got me started at a young age.
That is awesome, and I love reading your story and all others who have enjoyed this hobby over the years. Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Do you currently have a layout?
Thunder jets are awesome. I feel they are the best!! Even though I was born in 67 and I grew up running the AFX cars which I love but I really love the t jets and I do have several cars and a track layout. I am a collector of slot cars and even have an Aurora K&B Ajets 1/32 scale track from 1965 . Thank you for an awesome video . Keep it in the slot.🏎🏎🏎
Thank you so much for watching and for your compliments, I really appreciate that! We have a common love for these. I've never had the larger scale Aurora cars but I imagine they must be awesome as well. Do you like how they run?
Yes they run pretty well when they are cleaned and tuned up. As you know it’s always good to have new tires on all slot cars so they run well. Unfortunately I need a new motor for one of the cars . I only have to of them just because they don’t fine them very often. But they are great. I also collect a lot of other brands as well.
I'm a Canuck born in '66. It's so COOL seeing other guys my age who have retained their love for slot cars!
@42lookc It really is amazing to know how many of us are out there! I'm looking forward to watching the hobby grow as more of us are closing in on retirement and looking for a familiar hobby that we loved as kids! Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Do you have a track up and running?
Yes I have a Carrera track up . I have probably over two hundred 1/32 scale cars. 12 1/24 scale . And I also have a Afx track set up . I also have 3 Afx sets from the 70’s and the a t jet set from 62 and the 1/32 scale aurora. I am not sure how many Afx cars I have but I think 150
Born in 64, it brings back a lot of memories of afx sets I had back then
In a way, I felt like discovering the Thunderjets after being crazy for AFX in my youth was like being re-incarnated, Lol! I realized they were a major thing BEFORE the AFX slot cars, and I've been fascinated by them ever since!
Same here. Born in 64. Got started with my older brothers tjets but mostly remember AFX Magnatration for my first track. I started recollecting all my old AFX cars and later went backward to collect the tjets. Bob beers book is a must for collectors.
I have enjoyed playing with slotcars since 1967. I never had my own set, but I had a friend who let me play on his. Now I am able to do what I want, when I want. Therefore I have bought a new AFX Giant Raceway. I think that I may have made a mistake. I don't enjoy watching a blur flashing around a track. I absolutely loved this video! These are the cars I remember running around the track. When approaching a sharp curve, there was a fine line between stalling, and spinning out. That's what made it fun.
Thank you so much, I love reading feedback like this! I wouldn't necessarily call your purchase a mistake, though. That track is probably the best available today, aside from having a routed track. And you can always sell those cars from the set and probably recoup most of your money, then buy some of these tjets to run on your track. Have you tried the newer TJets from Auto World? Not quite the same, but if you remove the little magnet, it's a pretty good option.
The Elkie with the surfboard is just BOSS. And the tri-color Javelin, and the '32 Ford Roadster pickup. Also, you can never go wrong with a Gulf livery anything in your stable.
I completely agree with everything you've said! Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
I have a bunch of HO slot cars from Aurora and Tyco. Many I bought when they were $2.00 for a brand new car. I bought out a hobby shop located in a corner of a hardware store when they were going out of business. I raced the Tyco 440 cars when they had the nationwide club tracks against the clock. But the most fun I had was driving one of the three 4 wheel drive T-jet prototypes that never made it to mass production. Still have one in the basement somewhere.
That is fantastic, thank you for sharing that, Randy! I love hearing people's history with slot cars. Throughout my life, I didn't run into many people who were into these, so it's great to finally connect. You were able to pick up your cars at great prices! I was able to get many too back then, but now they some of them are very expensive!
Christmas of 63 my brother and I got a four lane aurora t jet set with the riveara, corvette, thunderbird and fairlane. I was 5 and he was 10. It was the greatest toy ever!!! It has turned into a lifelong hobby. I now have a pretty detailed layout in the basement. It has three intersections and two rail crossings with trains running around. I have about 80 cars total. Lately I've been buying resin or 3d printed bodies and putting auto world chassis under them. I remove the magnets though. Much more fun sliding around like the original t jet. It's good to see so many people like yourself still enjoy this hobby and are keeping it alive. Your collection is amazing. Thanks for sharing your video
Thank you so much for watching and for reaching out to share your experiences! I'm still amazed to find so many of us that share the same lifelong passion for this beautiful hobby, especially after going through much of life and not knowing many others who feel the same! Thanks again and keep enjoying! I wish you all the best!
Sweet collection! Thunderjets are definitely my favorite HO scale cars having come from the "big" cars, I'd also argue that racing them you a better racer with the larger scale slot cars. Great video, thanks for taking the time!
That's a great point! Thank you for watching and sharing your thoughts!
Thank you for this video. I admire your collection strategy. As a kid I was into Tyco 440 racing but as a teenager, I discovered a box of old Aurora stuff. By swapping parts, I got some cars to run. This was before web forums, before parts availability. To get the tires to have some traction, I smeared RTF silicone on the outside of the petrified tires. It sorta worked. The driving style amazed and surprised me. The cars actually drifted in the corners. I discovered what HO slot cars were supposed to be like before traction magnets!
Thank you so much for watching and sharing your thoughts! These cars really made for an incredible discovery, didn't they!
Very sweet collection. Good idea to try to get one of each. Mine is more random 😂. The Aurora book says you should have the sticker on. ;)
As for the 88 Manx, I like patina, so I'd leave the tasteful 88 on it. Tells a story. The windshield isn't broken so I'd leave it. Looks like sand got sprayed on while on the beach.
Yeah, you're right about the sticker, I'll probably put it on, at the very least it will be able to be seen on the black track Lol! Thank you for watching and commenting, have fun with your collection!!
Awesome collection!! Thunderjets are amazing on the HO tracks!
Thank you so much! They are a lot of fun to run, aren't they!
I have most of mine from childhood. The drift is whatI remember and what brought me back. Take the magnets out of the newer stuff, its a blast.
That's fantastic that you still have these from your childhood! The memories you have had from these must be priceless!! It's great that Auto World has made it an easy process of removing the magnets from their cars to accommodate us traditional racers as well as those who like the magnets. Thanks for watching and for your comments, I really appreciate it!
Just came across your videos on RUclips. Very beautifully done as I see you have made many videos of all scales of slot cars. I have been collecting thunder jet slot cars for many years now and it’s nice to see you listing all of this on RUclips. Keep the videos coming. In a prior video, you highlighted a Carrera SUV. That car was a promo available at auto dealerships. I don’t believe it was a collector club car. And there were three other cars in that group. The colors available were black and a silvery gray color. a friend of mine, picked them up in Germany and sent me the series of cars. If you are interested, I would be very happy to send you photos of that group of cars. One other interesting note, they did not have interiors as they all had the blacked out windows so it would be pretty easy to convert to digital. Have a great day and thanks for videos.
Thank you so much for watching, and for your compliments, I really appreciate that! I always say that I'm not sure if I'm blessed or cursed with a love for all kinds of slot cars, Lol!
That is fascinating information you've provided on the Carrera promo cars! Thank you so much for sharing this, as I was unable to find any other information about this. An ironic side note to this is, I had purchased that car from someone in Austria, but he had mistakenly transposed the tracking number with another slot car he was sending to California (I'm in Florida). When I received a notification that my car was out for delivery in California, I panicked and contacted their local post office, who was able to provide me with the recipient's address. It turns out that it was a car dealership, and he was the manager! I left a message with his secretary, and he called me back moments later. We shared a good laugh over what we had each been going through when tracking our respective slot cars. Thankfully, both arrived safely and all was good.
You are not cursed, you are blessed as we grew up in a time. Period when these beautiful slot cars were made. That was a pretty funny experience you had with that car and the shipment. I also have a few good eBay stories that are similar. Keep the great videos coming and like I said if you are interested in any pictures or info about slots that we could share , I would be very happy to converse with you and send them.
Thank you so much for all of your comments, they really mean a lot to me and give an added dimension to this hobby that I'm passionate about. I'd be interested in seeing the photos but I'm not sure if you can share them here in the comments and I don't think it would be a good idea to publicize either of our email addresses here. Do you have a You Tube channel or somewhere you can put up a short or video? Thank you!
I currently do not have a RUclips channel and I don’t think it is possible to send pictures through comments. It is sad that we cannot share information without making it public. In the past, you actually could message people through RUclips. I have subscribed to your RUclips channel and perhaps we can share information through that. Was wondering if you will be doing a video on model motoring HO slot cars. Not to be confused with Aurora model motoring I am speaking of the ones that were produced approximately 20 years ago. They are excellent reproductions and he had made some of his own bodies also. He also does many repair parts for the original cars. Sells on e-bay using the name rather boring.
@@billbeesley6883 That really is a shame that You Tube changed their policy. Let's keep in touch through this method for the time being. I've been focusing so much on Aurora that I haven't explored the Model Motoring stuff too deeply yet, but that will probably be something I get into in the future. The odds are for it, Lol! Do you collect them?
I'm aware of Rather Boring and have ordered from him in the past. I'll need more bits and pieces but am waiting to order again so that there are enough tiny items ordered for shipping charges to make sense.
I'm sure you're aware of Jeff Ryan on You Tube, but if not, you should head there at some point. He's very good at working with TJets and has excellent videos. He even wrote a book on them!
My Mom threw all of ours away, so I have just started replacing them, 56 years later
Oh that's sad, but was such a common thing to do with "toys" back then! Now you're on a mission, have fun finding the ones you're after!!
Thou shalt not shelf queen, sayeth the Lord! Great video.
Exactly, Lol! Thank you!
I have the batmobile in a arura car
Very nice! Would have been great to have one signed by Adam West!
Love the old t jets.
Yes! It's great that they're still around, and still so well loved, too! Thank you for watching!
I run 3 scales on my utube channel ho, 1/32 & 1/24 ...homeslotcar
Yes, I've been watching your videos, great work you're doing! So much fun to be had in all the scales. Thanks for watching and for your comments!