21 replies to this topic

[Maximo]

With the news today that Sears has filed for bankruptcy, it reminded me of a gentleman I met in LA well over twenty years ago. 

 

This gent told me he had worked for Sears in the 60's and after I explained my affection for slot cars and the Cox La Cucaracha in particular, that during the height of slot car popularity Sears Planning Dept. had approached Cox to build a "Brother" to the La Cuc that would be exclusively sold by Sears.

 

It would have been a sports racer of no known brand like the La Cuc. It featured a powder blue poly body and mounting just like the La Cuc. The shape was clever but different than the La Cuc that was popular at that time. Sears believed that the La Cuc was indestructible and would bring customers to Sears. He even drew a shape on paper that I put away many years ago. He said it had shared components such as the roll bar and engine intake pipes but the windshield was different. It also used the same driver figure.

 

He stated that it was to be called the "Tarantula" and would be sold along side with the La Cucaracha and all other slot car products offered at that time. I don't exactly remember why he said it didn't happen but maybe the hint of an impending crash might have been the cause.

 

I did not believe his story at that time and he has long since passed away... Just thought I would mention it after reading about Sears troubles this morning.

 

Maximo

[Dave Crevie]

That's an interesting story. My local Sears Roebuck and Company store, one of the largest around at the time, did not sell 

commercial type slot cars. They had their own home sets, which IIRC were made by Marx, not anything fancy. Two discount

stores near me had the commercial stuff starting in late 1967. They sold Manta Rays and other commercial RTRs. I was out

of slot racing by then, but they had a lot of the more popular cars at prices at about 2/3rds of what the tracks were charging. I

am not sure, but I think they also had Cox kits. I know I bought a lot of plastic kits and paint from Topps, the first store of that

type to open around here. 

[Maximo]

Dave,

 

Thank you for your input. The Sears in my city back in 1966-67 did carry commercial slot cars.

 

Back then I was only 14 -15 and could not afford a Cox La Cucaracha as they were about $15.00. My first slot car was the Gar-Vic Coronado that I got with Green Stamp books that my Mom graciously gave me to use.

 

By the time I could afford to get one slot cars were long gone!

 

mAximo

[Gene/ZR1]

Sears Summer 66 catalog

Slot cars for sale

 

 

 

MPC 555 Chrome 100, decal on nose says "Sears"

[Maximo]

Thank you Gene!

 

I loved Sears and their annual Christmas Catalog was a yearly treasure! Sears often had "exclusive" items for the offering. They were smart and knew that clever variants of popular items would make great exclusives bought in the numbers they could in those days. The Tarantula would have made for a big hit!

 

The Tarantula was supposed to carry a spider decal on the front nose area! I wish it had come true so I could have one today.

 

Still looking through my archives for that drawing. That gent sent me a legal sized envelope that I never opened at the time. I have twelve files boxes of paperwork and it might just be in there. I continue looking for that sketch that I scanned using mt employer's machine back in 1983 or 84.

 

Omixam

[Dave Crevie]

Well, that proves me wrong. I do know that my local Sears didn't have commercial cars in 1965 when I was racing. I can't

remember if they were in the Christmas Wish Book. Once the discount stores started popping up, I didn't shop retail stores

any more. 

[Maximo]

Sears was smart to think that way! It's the most clever of marketing concepts...

 

It's just like today's consumer market...the largest Electronics and Entertainment Media companies in the World make "video game consoles" in order to HOOK young customers today and keep them as customers until they die!

 

At that time Sears was forward thinking and owned a larger percentage of the retail customer base. They had other competitor retailers breathing down their necks.

 

Slot cars until the market crashed were that possible gold brick road!

 

Omixam

[Dave Crevie]

Sears certainly had the market share, built up 100 years ago as a mail order outfit. Too bad they didn't continue to keep that

as a priority. I suspect they similarly missed the boat with slot racing, getting involved too late to capitalize. 

 

One of my car collector associates was Carroll Sears, scion of the Sears family. He had a very nice car collection,

including the Austro-Daimler which was reputed to have the first engine Dr. Porsche designed. 

 

The house I own was built from the blueprints that were supplied with the house kits that Sears once sold. My parents built the

house themselves with help from family and friends. They bought the plumbing and heating from Sears, but bought the

lumber, bricks and windows from Hammerschmidt lumber to save money. 

[Martin]

Hope you find the sketch David. Good luck to you   

[Bill from NH]

There was a blow-molded clear body called "Tarantulia". Are you discussing this one or something entirely different? Pablo has built a couple cars using the blow-molded body, which is now hard to find.

[Maximo]

This was for a different slot car that was never made or marketed. I am sure that it is different from the one you mention.

 

This is the name I was told about in 1983 by a former Sears employee.

 

 

maXiMo

[Bill from NH]

Okay, the blow mold bodies I mentioned by Detail models Inc. (there were 3 or 4 of them) were from the '60s.

[don.siegel]

Great story Max, and highly likely too: even Marx made some Thingie prototypes (now in various collectors' hands), so very possible that Sears was investigating that possibility as well. But the height of the Thingie phenomenon (66-67 I'd say) was also the beginning of the end for commercial slot racing, especially in 67, so not surprising they never went through with this. 

 

The Sears catalog always had lots of slot cars. The 1965 Christmas version, for instance (and 65 may have actually been the height of the slot racing market as a whole) had 13 pages of home racing sets and two pages of commercial raceway type 1/32 and 1/24 cars. The 66 Summer issue (slot's dead season) still had 2 pages of commercial slot racing equipment, including the page shown earlier in this thread. The 66 Xmas issue probably had more pages on commercial racing stuff, but I don't have that issue. 

 

Yes, Sears mostly marketed Marx sets, but I think they marketed other brands under their own Allstate brand as well - seem to remember an Aurora set marketed by Sears. 

 

Don 

[MattD]

 

I'm think Sears may have sold Eldon and maybe Strombecker sets under their name at one time or another.   You can find copies of the old Sears catalogs online if anybody wants to look at what they offered 64-67.

 

The Sears/Marx Professional 1/24 set was my home track  for many years.  I had a lot of that track.   I had a nice big basement track that actually was suited to the old 1/24 cars.   It was wide and  had a deep slot.    I don't think there was any other plastic track suited to early commercial cars in the 64-65 period.     Scalex had 3 lane at one point, but it wasn't marketed in America.

 

Eldon and Strom both made 1/24, but the slot was shallow.   Revell and Mono just added aprons to 1/32 track.   The Sears was the real 1/24 track.   I don't think I have ever seen the 1/24 Marx sold in a set marketed by Marx, only Sears.       

 

Tremendous retailer back then.    Their catalogs could entertain a kid for hours.   Times change.

 

 

[Maximo]

Don,

 

Thanks for your information. Maybe you can post those catalog pages here (if you have them).

 

From what I remember, Sears was shooting for this to be marketed in the 1967 Christmas catalog.

We all know what happened to the hobby by then. All the companies were scrambling to unload inventories.

 

I was sent a large legal size envelope by the former Sears gent of their pitch materials, but I can't cough it up.

That envelope was sent to me when I was living in a studio apartment in Mountain View while my wife lived in our house in LA..

As a divorce was occurring by then all the files I had there I lost and everything I had collected including my vinyl records collection, RC stuff and even a couple of racing karts that were at the family home in LA. My first wife got everything and that is where those materials went. She ended up putting a lot in storage and lost that too.

 

I wish that I had those materials. I wish that a prototype was a reality.

 

oh well! I was certain that someone else was aware of this but apparently not.

 

 

maximO

[Martin]

Its in your brain so we can make The Sears Tarantulia"  happen. Even if we have to use hypnosis

[Gene/ZR1]

Its in your brain so we can make The Sears Tarantulia"  happen. Even if we have to use hypnosis

”Total Recall”, (Arnold Schwarzenegger needed)

[Maximo]

Its in your brain so we can make The Sears Tarantulia"  happen. Even if we have to use hypnosis

 

Why?

 

What made this interesting is that it would be compatible with the La Cucaracha chassis.

It was intended to be made of Polyurethane plastic like the Cuc.

Sears wanted this body made of this indestructible material and the ease of snapping in and out quickly.

Foolproof was what they liked!

Sears wanted a "must-have" item that would generate traffic in their stores and probably raise sales in slot cars overall.

I was told that it would be featured on the 1967 catalog back cover along with other items. There was even a internal discussion to not sell it through the catalog and only in stores.

I have contacted my first ex-wife to see if she has that envelope!

 

Otherwise it would be just another Can Am variant and not interesting to me otherwise.

 

If I did have this concept art, I would only share it with those who can deliver a finished product, like Gene or Victor.

 

However, making it in the same fashion that Cox made the La Cucaracha is not possible.

I was hoping someone else knew about this and could impart more details, but apparently not.

 

maximo

[Maximo]

I have finally talked to a former co-worker who was present at that CES table and he says I misunderstood the names that were discussed! He claims that "Tarantula" was not mentioned at all. He says that the former Sears gent stated that they were bouncing around names at and from what he remembers the possibilities were "Speedy" ; "Termite" and "Scorcher"!

 

Wow, if that's true I was off base and maybe mixed up two different cars, the actual Tarantula and what Sears was thinking about.

 

My former associate also said that he understood that it all came together way too late to make it happen and that the Slot Car Market was crumbling when they made their presentation. I

He also said that the former Sears gent was not deceased at all and is alive and kicking somewhere.

 

Omixam

[Maximo]

The latest information is that this car was NOT called "Tarantula" but rather "Termite".

 

It was proposed at a time when the slot car trend was already on the down swing, so it was dropped.

 

Actual drawings were made and are kept by a different former Sears employee but won't disclose due to a non-disclosure agreement that does not expire.

 

The shape of the body was described to me in detail by my former Sears employee contact who now no longer wants to ever talk about it.

 

I suppose that I will probably not reveal the sketches of interesting details about it either other than it could be fashioned into two different versions, a "coupe" and a "roadster".

[Martin]

Glad to read you are still on the case.

Let me know if you need help with your project.

Always happy to help.

[Maximo]

Martin

 

I sent this information and more to you by email over a week ago or so.

 

No further response.

 

This is not a project as far as I am concerned. It is dead to me now.