I remember asking for this for Christmas and being so excited to use it and it was such a let down. I had another electric racing kit from a year or two before this called Tyco Lamborghini Championship, which had the other style pin and slot electric cars and that set was amazing. Even though you couldn't change lanes like TCR, the cars would always work, low maintenance, the track had crisscross sections where they could crash and it had a loop. You could go super fast without the cars flying off the track because it had really strong magnets. My friend and I would spend so many hours down the basement playing with that track. TCR went in the closet within the first few weeks after Christmas and the other track was back out in no time.
I had this BITD, loved it, much better than any other slot car system, as you could change lanes, with the others all you can do it press a speed trigger, boring, with tcr you could actually 'drive'. A few years ago I bought another set for Xmas, I had loads of family around on Christmas day, have a guess what all the kids were playing? none of them looked at a computer, TV, or phone all day.
As I am sure you are aware that is not the original version of the set. Ideal first made TCR and used an entirely different system using the rear wheels for directional control. Your set is second generation Tyco. Ideal sets came with three cars, one being the Jam car created traffic issues on the track. It made the lane changing even more interesting. The other issue was the cars moving to the outside lane in turns which is why the track you have has a railing on the turn sections.
I remember back when I was a kid growing up during the 70's, I had the AFX/TYCO slotted track sets. However I always wanted a TCR race track. The slot-less racing looked to be so unique and fun compared to being "stuck" in one lane. I'm hoping that you still sell these sets. Definitely subscribed to your channel. Thank you for the memory.
I had a set when I was a kid. It was fun but TCR was always finicky. Track cleaning, sanding and car prep was critical. The driving requires skills too otherwise it’s frustrating. Once you get it though it’s very rewarding.
I had a friend who had it and said it was better than Scalextric as you could go flat out round the whole track. I disagreed as at least with Scalextric you had to brake for the corners. Judging by this though I'd say my friend was a liar. While sadly now Scalextric has gone down the route of putting far too powerful magnets in the cars. :(
Never use sandpaper on the rails of any slot car track. It will remove material over time which will cause the pickup shoes on the cars to lose contact with the rails. Use a model train bright boy eraser or an ink eraser.
I recommend Bright Boy pads to many people in various hobbies and businesses. Bright Boy pads clean electrical contacts so well, I use them for many electronics repair projects, mostly in my arcade, but I started using them in the mid-80’s for my model railroad and slot racing tracks. Bright Boys work very well on my TCR tracks too.
I got one for Christmas in like 91 or so. Ended up returning it like day after new years as the cars would crash and there were tiny springs that pushed down the metal prongs to make contact with the track. I think in first day or two those springs were lost. My mom fixed it with like a tiny ball of aluminum foil, but that wouldn’t last. Not sure if I just had bad luck as I haven’t seen that mentioned elsewhere and my friend got a set like a year later and he didn’t seem to have that issue.
TCR is my favorite I have an original IDEAL TCR Jam Car Challenge from 1977 . I originally got this set Christmas of 1977 , but the original was the first of many many race sets I had as a child , all are long gone . About 2008 though, I found the same set with the same cars as my original set on Ebay so I bought it , restored it, bought tons of original TCR cars , some never even been taken out of their original packages . Sourced them from here in the US, and England . These cars are all so cool because most of them are 1970s style Stock Cars and one a 55 Chevy , I got duplicates , lighted cars, Jam cars , all from 1977-1978 , all what they called the MK1 chassis , also got a couple MK2 improved chassis that are basically 1979 Trans Am bodies one black one red . These are temperamental race sets but fun to tinker with ! Was surprised I could order pickup shoes and tires for these cars when I restored them and the track !
We use to use an eraser to clean the track. Would never use sandpaper on my truck because that would wear away the track. a big boy eraser worked fine never had a problem with my track functioning. Sand paper will wear away the track. Especially something you don't want to do when it's something you can't replace
The issue I always had with these, even when I was a kid in the 80's, is that the speed was not scaled proportionally to the scale. I've know idea how this speed would scale up if they were 1:1 but I suspect you'd be trying to race at Mach 10 (if that were even a thing).
@@landoflogic107 Brilliant. Thanks. But it does seem like it would be more. I wonder what that cornering speed would be... and the G-force ? Maths/Physics majors anyone?
The Ideal TRC Track was smaller with no dividers in the turns and the MK I & 2 cars were of better quality over the MK. II & III. Maybe someday there will be 1/32 Scale Slotless Sets ?
It was much better for game play - the cars were thrown to the outside lane, so you had to chose your lane changes accordingly. The cars ran better, it was all about building momentum and passing at the right time.
I was so excited as a 12 year old when my parents got me the TRC! That is until after 10 minutes of running it the cars stopped changing lanes😠 so I did what any boy my age would do, I took them apart to understand why. What I figured out was the rubber wheel at the end of the armature would glaze over and polish the steering link which resulted in too little friction to turn the wheels. So after ruffing them up I could run for another 10 minutes but after 3 or 4 times of that I demanded they return it to the store and get me a regular slot track but now I wished I had keep it but I digress. Do you have the same problem or was it just the younger more naive me doing something wrong?
I dated a stripper back in day and she hooked me up with about 10 of these sets of TCR, it was a monster track and a blast to play with but it got stolen. Im in my 50s now and wishing i still had it.
The cars can be used on either track but the track is not compatible with the other. Ideal made Total Control Racing (TCR) and Tyco made Command Control and later bought out Ideal's TCR.
Customer Support # 1-877-729-2099 Email: ProfessTinker@gmail.com You should give me a call and try catch me on one of my livestreams and I can answer ALL of your questions thanks!
![Quando Rondo - Grow Up [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/8zFnCg3BO4Q/mqdefault.jpg)
Every kid on our block had these and always setup on the pool table. We all got together one day and put 4-5 tracks together.
My Ideal TCR set recommended the side of a coin to 'sand' the metal pickups on the track. It worked great but put a groove into the coin.
I remember asking for this for Christmas and being so excited to use it and it was such a let down. I had another electric racing kit from a year or two before this called Tyco Lamborghini Championship, which had the other style pin and slot electric cars and that set was amazing. Even though you couldn't change lanes like TCR, the cars would always work, low maintenance, the track had crisscross sections where they could crash and it had a loop. You could go super fast without the cars flying off the track because it had really strong magnets. My friend and I would spend so many hours down the basement playing with that track. TCR went in the closet within the first few weeks after Christmas and the other track was back out in no time.
I agree! Huge fan of the slotted compared to the TCR
I had this BITD, loved it, much better than any other slot car system, as you could change lanes, with the others all you can do it press a speed trigger, boring, with tcr you could actually 'drive'. A few years ago I bought another set for Xmas, I had loads of family around on Christmas day, have a guess what all the kids were playing? none of them looked at a computer, TV, or phone all day.
I had one of these sets. We absolutely loved it! Cutting off the other guy and maybe knocking him off the track was hilarious!
Exactly! One of my all-time favorite toys.
As I am sure you are aware that is not the original version of the set. Ideal first made TCR and used an entirely different system using the rear wheels for directional control. Your set is second generation Tyco. Ideal sets came with three cars, one being the Jam car created traffic issues on the track. It made the lane changing even more interesting. The other issue was the cars moving to the outside lane in turns which is why the track you have has a railing on the turn sections.
I remember back when I was a kid growing up during the 70's, I had the AFX/TYCO slotted track sets. However I always wanted a TCR race track. The slot-less racing looked to be so unique and fun compared to being "stuck" in one lane. I'm hoping that you still sell these sets. Definitely subscribed to your channel. Thank you for the memory.
I had a set when I was a kid. It was fun but TCR was always finicky. Track cleaning, sanding and car prep was critical. The driving requires skills too otherwise it’s frustrating. Once you get it though it’s very rewarding.
Agree 100% the TCR is finicky! it needs maintenance and care for sure! thanks for watching and commenting!
I had a friend who had it and said it was better than Scalextric as you could go flat out round the whole track. I disagreed as at least with Scalextric you had to brake for the corners. Judging by this though I'd say my friend was a liar. While sadly now Scalextric has gone down the route of putting far too powerful magnets in the cars. :(
Never use sandpaper on the rails of any slot car track. It will remove material over time which will cause the pickup shoes on the cars to lose contact with the rails. Use a model train bright boy eraser or an ink eraser.
Thanks for sharing!
I recommend Bright Boy pads to many people in various hobbies and businesses. Bright Boy pads clean electrical contacts so well, I use them for many electronics repair projects, mostly in my arcade, but I started using them in the mid-80’s for my model railroad and slot racing tracks. Bright Boys work very well on my TCR tracks too.
I got one for Christmas in like 91 or so. Ended up returning it like day after new years as the cars would crash and there were tiny springs that pushed down the metal prongs to make contact with the track. I think in first day or two those springs were lost. My mom fixed it with like a tiny ball of aluminum foil, but that wouldn’t last.
Not sure if I just had bad luck as I haven’t seen that mentioned elsewhere and my friend got a set like a year later and he didn’t seem to have that issue.
You are correct, this is a hobby and it does need maintenance and a little tlc.
Your demonstration went about as smoothly as the sand paper that you use to sand the track down!!!
HAHAHAH that is great! Thank you
I've been looking for this set for years
This is a fun one!
hd a great xmas back in 80 getting this - cars kept crashing ... happy memories
TCR is my favorite I have an original IDEAL TCR Jam Car Challenge from 1977 . I originally got this set Christmas of 1977 , but the original was the first of many many race sets I had as a child , all are long gone . About 2008 though, I found the same set with the same cars as my original set on Ebay so I bought it , restored it, bought tons of original TCR cars , some never even been taken out of their original packages . Sourced them from here in the US, and England . These cars are all so cool because most of them are 1970s style Stock Cars and one a 55 Chevy , I got duplicates , lighted cars, Jam cars , all from 1977-1978 , all what they called the MK1 chassis , also got a couple MK2 improved chassis that are basically 1979 Trans Am bodies one black one red . These are temperamental race sets but fun to tinker with ! Was surprised I could order pickup shoes and tires for these cars when I restored them and the track !
Awesome! Thank you for sharing!
i had one around 85/86 i guess here in the u.k. be nice to get one if i had a mancave, id love a hornby train set never had one of those
I had this one too. I loved that you could draft off the jam car. So fun.
We use to use an eraser to clean the track. Would never use sandpaper on my truck because that would wear away the track. a big boy eraser worked fine never had a problem with my track functioning. Sand paper will wear away the track. Especially something you don't want to do when it's something you can't replace
The issue I always had with these, even when I was a kid in the 80's, is that the speed was not scaled proportionally to the scale. I've know idea how this speed would scale up if they were 1:1 but I suspect you'd be trying to race at Mach 10 (if that were even a thing).
It’d be about 320 mph with a little less going into the corner. This is from the wikipedia article about it
@@landoflogic107 Brilliant. Thanks. But it does seem like it would be more. I wonder what that cornering speed would be... and the G-force ?
Maths/Physics majors anyone?
The Ideal TRC Track was smaller with no dividers in the turns and the MK I & 2 cars were of better quality over the MK. II & III. Maybe someday there will be 1/32 Scale Slotless Sets ?
It was much better for game play - the cars were thrown to the outside lane, so you had to chose your lane changes accordingly. The cars ran better, it was all about building momentum and passing at the right time.
mine didnt have dividers but think it was slighty bigger than this one as i remember it anyway.
I was so excited as a 12 year old when my parents got me the TRC! That is until after 10 minutes of running it the cars stopped changing lanes😠 so I did what any boy my age would do, I took them apart to understand why. What I figured out was the rubber wheel at the end of the armature would glaze over and polish the steering link which resulted in too little friction to turn the wheels. So after ruffing them up I could run for another 10 minutes but after 3 or 4 times of that I demanded they return it to the store and get me a regular slot track but now I wished I had keep it but I digress. Do you have the same problem or was it just the younger more naive me doing something wrong?
Those sets had their issues. Kinda glad I never bothered to beg for one.
Had this as a kid and loved it...
I dated a stripper back in day and she hooked me up with about 10 of these sets of TCR, it was a monster track and a blast to play with but it got stolen. Im in my 50s now and wishing i still had it.
carera has also back in the year this system,but it go hou it comes,but it has selled for a few years.
Yes
Hi pro tinker sorry I missed your video' love TCR racing great fun thay should start making them again 👍
I have a lot of it! You could make a HUGE layout if you wanted
Any one else notice that the black and green car was missing a wheel at 4:16 after it took a dive on the floor?
Oh wow great catch!
Had TCR. Had an issue with the "power pickups" getting grooves dug into them after only a little use.
Agree these are older items and have to be serviced our maintained
Had a set but it got so clogged up from sprogging up all over it that it became unusable
Is Tyco’s TCR compatible with Ideal’s TCR?
No they are not great question. You probably caught that I used the wrong TCR for the screen shot didnt you?
The cars can be used on either track but the track is not compatible with the other.
Ideal made Total Control Racing (TCR) and Tyco made Command Control and later bought out Ideal's TCR.
When I was a kid there was Eldon and Strombecker. Eldon was vhs Strombecker was beta. All others were Dime store crap.
Yes, thank you for sharing!
Where can I buy new tyres?
Just found this video I don’t suppose you do new kits
Unfortunately they do not have any new TCR BUT we do have a bunch of NEW slot car sets
I wish they made these in the same scale size as the 1.24 digital slot cars.
Never liked TCR much. Cars get stuck between the rails and stop. Can’t change lanes in curves. Car constantly slamming the wall in curves.
Yes, some people don't like the TCR but there are some who LOVE IT! thanks for watching and commenting
I really just wanted to know how it works, oh well.....
Can I get a US 1 ? 👀🤩👀
Does your set have a jam car?
Customer Support #
1-877-729-2099
Email: ProfessTinker@gmail.com
You should give me a call and try catch me on one of my livestreams and I can answer ALL of your questions thanks!
TCR was the best
Yes sir it was pretty cool stuff!
That doesn’t seem to be a very good investment
Uh oh!
What is TCR? Rubbish, that's what. Biggest let-down of my childhood.
Not great quality. Stick with carrera!!!
u r giving TRC a BAD name! This was actually the best HO track ever made!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!