AGM MASTECH Mini Deluxe Block Building N Slot car Race Set GD-12 at 1:87 Scale

So, let me get this out of the way first - I LOVE slot cars! I have a huge collection of them in different scales, but this is quickly becoming my favorite set. Why? Well, at 1/87 scale, you can build a great track in a small amount of space. Add to that the ability to add anything that is Lego compatible and you open up a whole new realm of possibilities!This started out as the basic GD-12 kit. When it arrived I was surprised to see just how nice the packaging is (good enough to keep the box) and even more surprised at the quality of the track system itself. The pieces are solidly built and are (2) standard plates thick. The track segments fit together well and make a good solid connection between rails, which is critical for problem free racing. The blank pieces are solid and flat, which is nice when you start building on them. One of the structure kits in the set two missing pieces, but AGM Mastech's support was fantastic! Not only did they fix my problem right away, but they sent me a spare car body for my troubles! Totally exceeded my expectations.The set also includes a variety of accessories as well as three different structure kits (Console Station, Car Store and Air Parking) that you can build and place wherever you want. I found them to be of good quality with consistent color although the fit was just a tad looser than I like. That normally isn't an issue, but it means that you have to be very careful when assembling and placing the "air parking" structure, which is a "tensegrity" device. Basically, the platform "floats" in air on a chain system. It works great until it has any lateral stress OR a loose connection fails. Oops!For my initial build and testing, I did everything "as-designed". The cars performed much better than I expected for something that small. It didn't take long to get the feel for sliding around a corner or using the "turbo" button. I found that I really like the adjustable speed limiter on the hand controllers. You can set it low for young children so they stay on the track, or turn it up high to practice your drifting. Either way, make sure that you use a USB power supply that outputs 1 Amp so that you have enough juice. Also, clean your rails and adjust your brushes before racing! That's critical for any slot car track, including this one. It will eliminate >90% of your problems! I also played with the included app using an iPad. It worked exactly as advertised and adds a whole new dimension to racing - especially with mandatory pit stops!Once I tested everything "as-designed", I tore it all down and started building my "Race City". This is where this set really gets fun! First, I used the blocks from the included kits as a base for for bigger and more elaborate structures (grandstand, car shop and heliport) and started scouring my home, Amazon, and the Internet for items to add to my city. At 1/87 scale, there is a lot more than you'd suspect. Part of that comes from HO train sets, which have been around forever. Terrain, buildings, vehicles, figures - they are all out there, BUT... this track system is Lego compatible! That means that if you can't find a kit for something you want, just design and build it yourself from parts!!! As you can see from the pictures, I ultimately ended up doing both things. My structures and terrain are brick based, but vehicles are diecast. I'm calling it "mixed media".As I added more structures, I realized I needed more space and more track. This is where a modular system really shines. The manufacturer sells add-on straights, corners and blanks separately, so it was pretty easy to expand, although at my current size, adding just a few pieces of track mean that I need 3 or 4 times as many blanks. Oh, wait a minute! Lego compatible? Just order some 3rd party large baseplates. Problem solved!Okay, as great as this system is, there are a few things I think could be improved for V2.0:- Make all of the sections 3 plates high and add Technic style connectors to the edges to help keep the plates connected.- Add additional track types; crossovers and overpasses. Slot car enthusiasts use both of those to create layouts with equal lane lengths.- For the Lego enthusiasts, add some roadway tiles so people can more easily build cities like mine. Also, offer larger blank bases to help create really large layouts.- Produce more accessory kits that can be purchased separately - guard rails, signage, car bodies, and most of all, figures! Lego style minifigs are way(!) too large for this scale, and regular HO train figures without bases don't work well with bricks.SUMMARYAs I said at the start, this is quickly becoming my favorite slot car track. That is probably because it is WAY more than a "normal" track. I have probably worked on it a little every day since I bought it, and I am only at the end of "Phase 1" in my build. If you like slot cars, Legos or city building, try it out - I think you'll like it!

Bought a while back. Finally set it up with our HO train layout. Grandsons excited. One car worked for a few minutes. The other never ran and the gift car doesn’t work. I don’t recommend and should have heeded the 1 star reviews. It’s something in the track or maybe the cars. Either way it doesn’t work and disappointed the boys. Latout is easy to setup and the cars look nice. Sadly unusable other than to look at. I waited too long to setup and the return window is no longer available. Sad.

This slot car track is very fun, and the added brick building is a cool element if you want decorations around the track and to leave it out more often. The bricks do go together well, though I didn’t fully assemble that portion as I don’t want to leave it out. I will likely build this over the winter when it gets left out for playing when we have more visitors. I did build one though to ensure the blocks worked and the instructions made sense, and they did.The cars sometimes don’t want to go, you have to push it forward for it to recognize the track again but overall it works well. Even on slow speed it took awhile to get used to the speed and keep them from flying off the track. My son (11) and I had a ton of fun checking them out and racing each other. I hate to admit, he won more than I did.While the set is well made I don’t think it would have been worth over $100. I think if it was closer to $90 I could justify the set since the “Lego” component is included as well, but I wouldn’t pay more.

This is the first time seeing a product that combines brick and slot car in this way, so it's awesome.The cars are well made with good detail. And have two color combinations to choose from.The packaging makes for a very nice for gift and maintaining info on the QR Code is a smart idea.There are a lot of power supplier options which is pretty smart, like the power bank, phone charger, battery box etc.It’s not cheap but it really includes a lot of things, the tracks, cars, brick accessory. when it is put all together it looks great!! my friend and I spent just about an hour to build it and the parts work well.We definitely will build more themes with as our own Legos together with the track.We love the Sky Parking lot, genius.The track doesn't take up much space so It's a perfect size for your home or an apartment.The APP assistance is so much fun but we need more practice to stop in the pit area.Recommend trying it!!

Having a great time with this little set. Cars take a little tweaking but once you get it all going it works great. (Car tuning is part of the hobby)I already got one pack of turns and one pack of straights. Apparently they have ice road and rumble track addons. Assembly is easy and my set came with a bonus gift car. Overall I’m happy with the set and would recommend.

This seems to be a fairly nice track. It all fits together nicely, and it is an added bonus that it is LEGO compatible so there are endless possibilities of what you could add on to this. I don’t want to spoil all the fun, but I thought it was cool that they included an extra car in the box as well (as seen in the gift envelope). Now, I had Life-Like tracks while I was growing up, so I was excited to try and share this with my boys. However, the contacts on the car are spotty at best, and after just a little bit of use it can wear a rut in the contactor so that it no longer connects to the track. So, that is a complete pain to try and deal with. Then, in my opinion, these cars are way too powerful for this small track. Even without using the turbo button on the controller if you give it full throttle these will go so fast that they’ll fly off the track in a split second. Therefore it is nearly impossible to actually race on this track like I remember when I was a kid. So, overall, I do like the idea of this track, but I just don’t feel like it’s ready for prime time, especially at this price. Therefore, I’d probably recommend skipping this one.