Customer Reviews

Hot Wheels Starter Set Track Set

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this toy at Walmart for $[...] (Sept-09) for my 4-yr old grandson. He LOVES it, and I like it because it is only 27" long, and I can pick it up (even from the top loop) and move it. You can use any car with it, although it works best with the light-weight Trick-Tracks or Hot Wheels cars. The 5-packs of cars cost $[...].

The description on the box says "not for use with some cars", & I called Hot Wheels (Mattel) & the rep.said that some die-cast cars are too wide. The track comes with one car.

There's a drop-in ramp, and you can put in 2 or 3 cars and see how long it will work before they crash! Cole likes this best of all. The cars go through a motor (2-D batteries) that jets the cars around the loops.

Also - the rep. said that this set does NOT connect to other sets (contrary to what it says on the box - there is no exit track. BTW- set up was easy for me. Buy it!

The track itself is fairly easy to put together and when it's done, you have an initial drop where you start your car. It goes down into an accelerator that pushes the car fast enough to go up the big loop, then into a u-turn curve and heads back down to the starting point again to do it all over again. That's it. You can add a variety twist to this by adding a second or third car and seeing how long it will take before they crash. This is fun to watch as an adult, but it gets old after 5 or 10 minutes. The kids enjoy it, but after playing 2 or 3 times, it gets old for them as well and this is with a 7 year old and a 6 year old.

The construction is OK. The supports for the loop hold it well enough to keep to going, but it does shake alot. Overall, it works as advertised and I would suggest this for the under 7 crowd.

My son has had a few sets, and this is the only one that has stood the test of time. There are a few different ways to assemble the track--unless you lose one of the plastic pieces that holds sections of the track together. We've lost one of the two, and can only set the track up one way, but it still gets used! The part that shoots the cars around the track is compatible with most of the normal shaped hotwheels cars.

As a father of six boys, we've had a number of Hot Wheels sets over the years. Most often, they were too complex (and fragile) to handle repeated use without exceptional care. Our six-year-old son is the latest who's been enamored of these sets, so we picked this one up for him after finding it on sale at a local retail store.

It's Simple, and That's Good
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The simplicity of this set really impressed me. Unlike some sets that had tons of smaller parts, this one has fewer, and those it does have seem to stay attached quite well. Some of the sets we had before would become marginal or even useless if the boys lost a single support or special piece, and it seemed easy for pieces to get lost when they were dealing with so many. This one has stayed together quite well--it sits nicely atop his dresser

The cars run in a continuous loop. After rounding the curve and going through the loop, the car ends by coming onto the ramp where it started. It goes up until it loses momentum and stops, and then slides backwards down the ramp to go through the whole circuit in reverse! My boys were amazed by that little feat until we shut it off and manually walked a car through the path. After going through in reverse, the next time it starts it is going forward again. One continuous circuit, and my boys found it mesmerizing.

It's Easy to Assemble
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Fewer parts also means something else: easier assembly. I've had a few sets that left me scratching my head and staring at the instructions, but not this one. In fact, our son was able to assemble the entire set himself (save for two times he asked me to help get things to snap into place). It was a real treat to sit back and watch him lay out the pieces and put it together.

An Exciting Bonus (for me, at least)
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Another thing that made this set different from most other sets we've had is that it didn't come with a sheet of stickers. That's the part I liked least about so many of the other set: way too many stickers (and obscure places to put them). This set came with all labels and stickers in place, so I was smiling twice as wide as my son put it together.

Don't Forget the Motor (or the batteries)
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Sure, this unit will burn through a couple of "D" batteries after hours of play. If it is going to be an everyday toy, either stock up on cheap batteries, or invest in some rechargeable ones.

That motor is really the best part of the set, though, so don't wish it away. It's the reason this one is called the "starter" set. That little motor (two rotating rubber wheels that propel the cars) will send them a long way on a flat surface, and can even propel them uphill quite a ways. If you have other sets, or extra track, your child will be able to use the motor to propel cars up to a higher surface (e.g., table, dresser) before letting gravity return the car to him or her. If you end up with multiple motors, you can create some pretty extensive setups. [There was even a line of video games created around that premise, and they're quite fun!]

Educational? Really?
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I gave this set three stars for its educational value. "Three?," you might ask. Yes, three. I felt that putting together the set helped my son better understand how pictures can relate to real world objects. He had to turn parts around to try to line them up with other parts, teaching him (whether he realized it or not) about perspective and exploded diagrams. Then, once playing, he got to experiment with multiple cars on the circuit at once. He soon learned that some cars took less time to complete one cycle than did others (as evidenced when the second car would catch up the first and cause a crash). He and his siblings also found out that they could put three cars that weighed about the same on the track at the same time--if they timed it just right. Even that line you see on most set boxes, "Not all cars for use with all sets", provided a little opportunity to learn. My son soon found out which cars would and would not run successfully, and even figured out why one of his favorite trucks would not go far at all ("The wheels lift it up too high so it doesn't get pushed."). It's just a good reminder that kids can learn from almost any play.

This Parent's Verdict
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A definate thumbs-up! It's one of only two or three Hot Wheels sets I'd recommend.

I purchased this toy as a Christmas gift for my 4-year-old. He absolutely loves it. He can play with it for hours. My toddler also loves to watch the cars go up and loop around the track. Whenever she pulls the track apart, I can easily fit the pieces back together again. A great introduction to race tracks!

This toy is good if you are looking for a starter track for your child. It gets much better reviews than the Criss-Cross Crash one. It is pretty neat. Sometimes the same car will go around up to three times. That is pretty cool. It seems to take most hot wheels cars, but not all. It definitely burns through D batteries very quickly, so make sure your child turns it off when s/he is done with it. Both my 5 year old boy and 3 year old girl love it. It is a toy that probably needs to be supervised since now and then the cars fly off of the track. It is reasonably priced, compared to others and is very easy to put together. I would definitely buy this one again.

some hotwheel cars do not make the correct loop, perhaps because that the weight is different between the car models.

If you are going to get this toy realize tha you are going to need the space to leave it set up. Taking it apart is not really practical especially for kids.

It was a favorite toy at first but after a few months slipped into the never play with it toy group. Since you can't add on to the set it's expandability is limited.

My 5 year old really enjoyed this toy! It was fun counting how many flips the cars would make. However, it came apart too easily and wasn't easy to put back together.

My son rec'vd this for Xmas from his grandparents. (it's now March). He has loved the play with this but I find that it does not stay put together. I am debating gluing the support pieces in so that it can be a bit sturdier. I also plan on contacting Mattel tonight to see what they say about it. Besides the set not staying together, the booster (the grey part that makes the cars zip around) has ceased to work tonight. I've tried 3 sets of batteries and can't get it to power the cars more than 2-3 inches...and I tried all different weight cars.

When this set is working, it's great. I hope that the problems being had are only by my set...