TCR Ideal TV commercial about slotless racing

TCR Total Control Racing from Ideal (Arxon)
1/60 or 1/64 scaled racing cars,stockcars,gt cars,tv cars,vans,trucks,sidecars etc.etc.
They are slotless, so they can change lanes. There are two cars to control and several jam-cars on the track.
The jam cars are set up for keeping there lane and drive along on a lower speed. In the commercial you can see the zigzag Corvette Jam car, this one changes lanes by it's self. There is also a jam-truck with a ramp on it's trailer, you can overhaul or jump this one, so cool.
I believe they made them from 1977 till 1981.
Super racetrack system. Similar to Matchbox,Tyco,etc. or bigger scale like Carrera Servo
To bad that there is no market for it, anymore.........or is there?
I race mostly with the MK3 and MK4 chassis, they are much better than the MK1 and MK2, more speed and better handling.
You still can get them 2nd hand from eBay in French, Germany,UK,Canada and USA..........but I live in the Netherlands, and I think I am the only TCR racer overhere ;-(

[@matthewwright7831]

Had this in 77 aged 5, best Christmas present ever and woke up to decent snow cover and my dad telling me I had just missed father Christmas over that roof in the distance...ahhhh take me back

[@kpmac1]

I loved my TCR kit. Didn't work 100% of the time but it mostly did and the ability to change lanes was revolutionary.

[@jandyb79]

I loved loved loved the Tyco TCR sets when I was a youngster! This was one of the best race sets available at the time - even by todays standards! And the packaging was unbelievable as well!

[@AJTramberg]

I can still remember the smell of those little electric motors.

[@MrDirkles]

I can remember my dad buying this for my Christmas present from WHSmith on Christmas eve 1980. On Christmas day my elder brother beat me in a race after I had been playing with it non stop since 4am and I got a right strop on. By boxing day the picks ups on the cars had burnt right thru and one of the cars had totally stopped working. Happy days.

[@MrVeesworld]

Damn, I had one of these things. they were the most awesome toy to have around 1978.

[@arlojon5838]

A tip : you can watch movies on Flixzone. Been using them for watching a lot of movies recently.

[@braylenjefferson608]

@Arlo Jon Definitely, I've been using Flixzone for years myself =)

[@darioidris9931]

@Arlo Jon Definitely, I have been watching on flixzone for since december myself :)

[@darthnagus5457]

Jam car never worked on mine but still loved it.

[@1995RangeRover]

WOW I haven't seen this in years and dig the music score it's serious!

[@fitnessguru8012]

I got it for Christmas, I think 79 or 80. I've always said that one day I'll find a way to get another one! You had to be there to know how awesome and groundbreaking this was at the time. It was the 1st time you could change lanes!

[@DavidLeePickton]

I have 11 of them

[@adrianrivers7160]

Love it had one growing up, nothing like it.

[@whackpiktures]

man i got to get another one of these I use to have one back when i was a kid my God kids these days dont know what they missing out on

[@KGMDMusic]

Oh man, how I wanted one of those sets as a kid!

[@Mavermick1]

I had the box on the right with the jam car - and I got the two trucks (one with a gold tanker trailer, the other a silver semi) for my birthday. Had loads of fun with it - but it wasn't perfect. I always wanted the lap counter! A good period to grow up in!!

[@paulpanch]

for starters....if u did nt have abt $55.....u HOPED grandma would spring for it. that of course would never occur. andy gibb would take our minds away from this til the commercial would re-appear...this time indicating that supplies of this set were getting low. then....as a miracle...my mom somehow found this on sale new...and i forget where...but i think it was reduced to abt $25 so we got it. it was hard to describe this feeling of OWNING this set. tht was a bright sunny sunday morning.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I had one of these back in the 80's and the ability to change lanes was awsome. However the car on the same track as the jam car seemed to always run slower. My jam car burned out after a couple of weeks. Pity, but still good fun. Still got it somewhere.

[@AwesoMatt13]

I just found my TCR Super Speedway, with NASCARS. I just need a power connection and I'll be in business...

[@hoppinonabronzeleg9477]

God-damn that Zickerin' Jam-car!!

[@skinpounder666]

I have this track & 2 other ideal tracks & about 18 cars one of them being that zig zag corvette jam car and man that thing can piss you off sometimes, but all in all lots of fun

[@lucmoi8356]

oui super je me rappelle de cette pub like

[@lifedestroyer]

I always wanted one growing up!

[@bossfan49]

I used to have a TCR. With vans. Because racing....conversion vans....

[@WarmasAsunnedcat]

my brother had this set up, great fun but broke after about a week to tempramental, thanks for the vid

[@deathstrike]

Ideal (Now Tyco) TCR's are amazing sets!! I have a large set and while they are slow with only one power supply, when you add a second one to lane 2? That is when TCR's shine!! They are VERY fast with a power supply on each lane and it is a very authentic racing experience. The only downside is the price of parts. Due to limited supply, tires and pickup shoes are expensive. You can fashion both, but TCR's really burn through pickup shoes and tires like they are water. But very fun when you can keep them running.

[@modelrailwaynoob]

I loved TCR

[@mikerayner5938]

I loved my tcr.

[@Shakerhood69]

I ran those cars so much I wore them out, was great fun.

[@BakedTuber]

Alot of money for the 70's. Forty quid!

[@freefallin3693]

It was, but back then you didn't get swamped with presents like they do today. Me and my brother got one for Christmas as our main gift.

[@selophane43]

Actually, a few years later they solved that problem by putting a thin plastic wall between the lanes on turns. But I do remember what you are talking about. GOD if I had only saved that race set. :(

[@wkpolezi]

TCR is wonderful !!!!!!! : D

[@EMDSD14R]

wow these are super cool!!

[@MrDavecr7]

Best Christmas present I ever got only problem it was broken by boxing day.

[@Daz555Daz]

I got this for Christmas back in the day. It broke on boxing day. Replaced. Broke. Replaced. Broke. In the end replaced with a Scalextric which is still working today.

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I had the orig set from the 70's. It was fun but in reality there was very little skill involved as both cars would be slingshot to the outside lane on the bends so you may as well stay on the outside. Also the cars ran quite fast and slowed as the jumped lanes so if you never changed lane then you could not be passed. The jam car was fun but mine burned out after a couple of months. Finally you could get a nasty jolt from the track. Still fun but flawed.

[@grep67]

Which is why they added the Jam Car!

[@blubu68]

The trick to speeding through the curves was as soon as the car entered the curve you switch the lanes and it would stay on the outside lane and just buzz around. I had the original back in the late 70s

[@emozburnes1733]

I was born in 93 hot a tcr tyrco set hand down to me by a family member all parts and cars were there never could get it to work tho recently bought 2 sets to build nice track show my niece nephew toys I grew up to besides video games and honestly love this set the 70s models had alot of flaws the 90s model at least tyco brand ones fixed alot of the flaws like cars stay on track more than flying off due to the high shoulders the cars are faster only thing is some cars turn better than others and last but not least outer Lane faster than inside but also notice it depends in the car some cars I notice they ran Clos to same speed in both Lans slightly faster in outside lane but not to big of a notice but that's only with some cars.if they can figure out how to keep both Lanes same power level be great to bring these back out.tyco took more skill not alot more but long as u had timing down on the lane change can win still using inside lane with fast car also. Some cars lane change slow some change fast no stop I hooked up 2 power supplies notice difference I'm speed helped but let out one of power supplies lol

[@TheKasanth]

I remember getting a TCR set for christmas like 1980, '81. Problem was my cars wore out and it was impossible to find anything for it in my area. After the cars stopped working, the track became a great hotwheels dragstrip.

[@hoppinonabronzeleg9477]

They should bring it back and get Sleaford Mods to do the re-launch!

[@ultralordd7625]

Never had a TCR set, had two Lionel Power Passers sets.

[@skiptan71]

It's funny how great they make it look working perfectly in the commercial. Had one and I think the only thing that did work perfectly was the Jam car! Still had fun with it but that lasted a year until my brother put our train set back up. Liked my AFX tracks better!!

[@lucmoi8356]

superbe !!!!

[@GraemeMartin]

Loved opening this at chrimbo when i was a nipper

[@bronze139]

The only setback with TCR one car would always be faster than the other and I'm not talking about the Jam car.

[@plixplop]

They don't make kids' toy commercials like this any more

[@glasjanus]

@paulpanch: You're talking about a different but simelar system. Ideal TCR never had the center guide in the corners, that must have been a different brand like Tyco. But then again the mark 1 cars from Ideal had the same issue of not running great on a straight track. They fixed that with the later release of the mark 3 and mark 4 cars in the 80's, they work great! I'm sorry that you were misled by a commercial, that's live.

[@jimbobsports]

TCR stood for totaly crummy raceset

[@Hot80s]

Total (70s) Christmas Ruined

[@gamewizard7562]

My dad bought me a set of these when they first came out but it didn't work after we set it up. He took it back to the store and it turned out every set they sold came back as defective. A huge piece of crap.

[@Petemonster62]

If these slotless race car sets worked so well, how come they disappeared?

[@Neville6000]

@michaelmohrmann: Carrera and Scaleelectricx makes most of the slot car sets now.

[@jesuscandelechevarria5802]

BELLO FROM SPAIN. IT WAS MADE HERE TOO

[@smrogers6650]

There is a revival going on in the UK. For the best performance get hold of a 1970s Scalextric 2 amp power unit so it can run as intended (see Wikipedia for more info). I am building a bespoke track from old shop stock I will post the results on TCR Facebook page.

[@michaelmohrmann]

Aww man! It's a blumin' shame they don't make race sets like that anymore! Or does someone else make them now?

[@dutchman72]

I own a matchbox lanechanger 1979 new in the box and it`s for sale in the netherlands.

[@celiaviolante8931]

really? when i saw it it looked like it was going 10mph!

[@SuperJam1965]

mine never worked , the cars would not stay in there lane

[@freefallin3693]

Did you have the pickups set-up correctly? I had one with several cars and it worked flawlessly. Even using my cars on a friend's TCR (the one with the slow flyover) and worked perfectly.

[@mazy7438]

good idea but it never ever worked properly . ended up getting Scalextric .

[@WestKosBias]

Do y’all realize that the GRINCH actually stole Christmas and killled the toys. Kids don’t play in the streets or at parks. Nobody breaks windows by playin baseball or stick ball. Cars aren’t used as first downs or bases. Hell, kids don’t even walk to schools. As far as slot car tracks. I brought my kids a track almost every yr. The only person excited about it was me.

[@glasjanus]

True so true

[@Bradwick1]

Can you avoid the ZIGGERING JAM CAR????

[@Theyorkiegamer]

still got mine in box the UK version wanting to sell but dont know what its worth

[@wiseguy430]

REDDIT

[@assistantto007]

ZIGGERING jam car ?

[@bmandrake01]

@paulpanch jesus, dude... You sound pissed off! But I understand why.

[@poplifeinctv]

YEP

[@infancysguard]

Does anyone remember a toy in the 70's called something like Dart-a-Buggy?

[@CannondaleF700]

I'm selling the Indy car set boxed UK England £60 posted boxed really good condition

[@WarmasAsunnedcat]

Broke after a couple of days....great idea but didn't work

[@RogerAMello]

Mine never worked, I couldn`t change lanes.

[@Avidcomp]

The scale speed is more like Mach 10! It's ridiculous. Not like the commercial at all.

[@laurenceharvey6202]

This thing never worked correctly for shit lmao

[@dwftube]

0:03

[@tremensdelirious]

Wantttttttttttr

[@imonthetelephone-twice4181]

My mate had one when we were kids. Utter crap.