Meccano Turbo Racers
Built by Ralph Laughton in April 2011
These new sets from Meccano are the first to be issued in 2011 likely to be of interest to us.
The four cars are made up from only two different sets, colour variation making the other two sets. The cars are based around a new one-piece, chrome-plated plastic chassis. This is extended with plastic mini strips for the larger cars.
For me there is a lot wrong with these cars, the presentation, and the blatant attempt to capitalise on a theme by issuing the same kit in two different colours. I would not be so against this practise if it was not for the unbelievable marketing decision to include the same racing number decals in each kit. I can only assume this is so the artwork of the instruction leaflets can be used with minimal alteration. To compound this misguided cost-cutting, the instructions have glaring mistakes.
The sets are supplied in plastic boxes with the new chassis clipped into the space where the handle would be — why? With the small cars retailing at a shade under 13 pounds and the larger ones getting towards 17 pounds, I think Meccano could have done a lot better.
There is a whole new range of sets aimed at the toy market under the group heading of ‘Spacechaos’. These sets have little in the way of parts and are expensive, even by Meccano’s current standards.