Talk:Powertrack

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Hi Duffaboy,

Thanks for making edits to the Powertrack page.

Question - would you happen to have any images for the two Saab Powertrack Cars?

If so, could you post them?

Thanks. Ponyxprss 03:19, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

I'm Afraid not, I was quite surprised these exsisted as I don't have these cars myself. Nice work from yourself by the way

Regards Duffaboy

Nice Work!!! Duffaboy

Hi there!

I have been adding things to this page for the past 2 weeks and am slowly getting the hang of how to do it.

Hopefully anybody reading this will suprised and delighted at some of the items I am assembling.Xysdad01 19:58, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi Xysdad01,

Great contribution! I wasn't aware that there were so many Powertrack Cars. You have posted some rare finds that I have never seen. Great job!

This site has been helpful to grow my personal collection. Hopefully, I will be able to add some of the rare cars to the collection.

Thanks again.

Continue to contribute.

Ponyxprss.

Any chance of the Helicopter anyone?

Duffaboy

Thanks for your comments chaps.

Helicopter is imminent I promise, lots more to add.

Trouble is, the historical/logical sequence is tricky to work out because until last December I didn't even know Powertrack was even sold in the US! My knowledge of US products comes after UK Products so I am unsure which Country was driving the development. Certainly, the US had more variety in 6V sets but why did they never get the 12V system?

I will endeavour to get what facts I can on to this page and then expand the rhetoric once (and if!) things become clearer. Xysdad01 11:43, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

All,

Powertrack was never sold in the US.

The interest for me (and maybe other collectors in the US) is for the following reasons:

1. More variety - especially with the cars and tracks - crossovers, loops, jumps, and banked curves. 2. All track parts and cars are interchangeable. 3. The appeal of collecting them all

You are correct that the standard 12V cars (out of the box) will not work in the US. I have gotten around that by purchasing different power adapter from a local electronic store. The cars work great on the new adapter and my son and I are enjoying them.

Plus, the current power adapter allows me to switch down to 6V to operate any car on the 6V chassis/motor.

PonyxprssPonyxprss 14:59, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

Hi there - hope you like the Helicopter :)

Sorry to blow a hole in your theory there but in 1981 Matchbox appeared to rebrand Powertrack in the UK to Powertrack Plus. At the same time, in the US they appear to have dumped Speedtrack in favour of Powertrack. This is a contentious issue and I will get round to providing evidence accordingly. However, I find it very refreshing to hear what you US boys are saying so please keep the talk going.

The 12V transformer is notoriously unreliable - although I have 3 and they all seem ok. Any Hornby (or similar) variable Transformer up to 16V should work though, and operate Race & Chase functions too Xysdad01 18:13, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

I've Expanded the TCR page simular to what I started here, as I'm not an collector of TCR (only have 1 car) I wondering if you guys are and can expand on it.. Top work Chaps

Duffaboy

Hi Duffaboy,

Best bet with TCR is to buy some catalogues via ebay and piece it together there... I have little knowledge of TCR I'm afraid :) Xysdad01 10:11, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Top work again Xysdad01, I've just tidied up a bit hope you don't mind.


Duffaboy

No problem, looks better already. (I have only mastered text and uploads - the rest is all alien to me...)

I do have more to put on the site, I am thinking it might be an idea to break up the car table into Powertrack cars, Speedtrack cars, Positraction Cars and Powertrack Plus cars?

Is this a good idea?

Cheers! 80.168.211.131 07:03, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

Go For it, good idea

Duffaboy

Phew! I have split the tables up for cars and it means there are some anomalies - please leave it until I can finish editing the facts in the next day or two.

If anyone has some high res images of box artwork please put them on (or contact anyone on this page). My images thus far are subject to improvements.

Cheers,

Xysdad01 Xysdad01 18:09, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Questions re. corrections/errata

First of all, although I am not a Powertrack collector, this is a really good overview. Well done.

I was wondering if your mention of the PT6100 Race & Chase is either in error or should be modified. The pictured set clearly shows a German green-and-white "Polizei" Porsche on its cover (the wording is also German), yet you claim it contains an Italian version of the Porsche, which would be "Polizia" and in other colors. So either it is in German colors, or you might want to consider adding a comment that the contents of the box do not match the picture on the box.

Jtnet 09:00, 11 April 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the praise - glad you like it.

I apologise for my oversight - I knew the box artwork was in German but I thought the 'flavour' of the product was Italian. However, thanks for correcting me and I will edit it right now.

Many thanks - Xysdad01 18:03, 11 April 2007 (UTC)


I've tidied up the lanechanger section

Duffaboy

Nice job on the Preproduction, Iv'e just corrected a typo in it, Hope you don't mind

Duffaboy

Top work again, where do you get this stuff, I got my lane changer track out today and dissasembled the cars to get them going, only to notice the red porsche could take lights!!

Duffaboy

Hi Duffaboy! Can you email a photo of this Red Porsche - are you sure it's a flatnose LC car??

Thanks for the support - got some more trivia and loads of set detail to put on for LC and speedtrack but things are quiet on the Powertrack front - need more info from folks out there...

Xysdad01 17:04, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Will Do, I got it in a Counterlane box !!

Duffaboy ---

[edit] Uncopyrighted photos of cars

I have some of these cars whose photos are being deleted, already photographed for imminent eBaying. I'll get uploading. Dino246 17:39, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

On closer inspection I see that the cars I have are the UK models for which we have free images. Sorry. Dino246 18:37, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

== I believe that the photos posted on this article are legit, just that the Poster is inexperienced With Wikiedia, If you ar going to delete something have the deceny to put your name against it.

-- Duffaboy -- —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.215.64 (talk) 23:42, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Complete Nonsense

Blimey! who's blasted holes in this page then? Xysdad01 spent quite sometime uploading a comprehensive history of Powertrack for the interest of enthusiasts and hobbyists only. We are talking about a hobby product that has long been obsolete and yet here we are in 2007 being shackled by US right issues. The photos uploaded were my own photos of existing product and artworks I own and as such were 'created by me'. Curiously, I have uploaded all the images using the same conventions but the wikipolice seem to have only picked up on some of them. I wouldn't mind, but I am completely flummoxed by the jargon used by Wikipedia and haven't a clue what I am supposed to actually do to stay within wiki-rules. Apologies to enthusiasts but unless anyone can advise me with a sensible protocol to follow I will be unable to upload more data. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Xysdad01 (talk • contribs) 20:00, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Scanned or photographed literature, brochures etc are problematic, even if the source company long since ceased to exist. The copyright of that old promotional material is more than likely owned today by Hot Wheels. The safest option is to take original photographs of the cars/track. As I observed already, I have access to much of the UK produce but I have no idea where to begin sourcing original photographs of the US stuff. Dino246 22:16, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] I agree

Who ever is doing this, hasn't got the common decency to explain their rationale, they are self appointent vandals. The information in this article is correct, so what gives them the right to change it or critise it, none.

If content is wrong, then explain why in common english or fix it.

If a student is studying the History of Matchbox, then where on the web is he/she is going to get this information from as there is nowhere else to find it, Matchbox hasn't bothered nor have the individual who is trying to pull the pictures from this page.

Finally if I take a picture of something then who owns the copyright, thats right me.


Duffaboy

The 'vandal' deleting the pictures appears to be an automated bot simply deleting photos labelled as copyrighted. The remaining photos/scans in the article are (rightly or wrongly) labelled as having been posted by the copyright holder and so are not candidates for deletion. Many of them are in fact scanned images from brochures and so are not really copyright-free unfortunately. It would be advisable to replace them with genuinely free images if they can be generated. As you correctly state, if you take the photo then you own the copyright and can legally upload the image. What isn't legit is to scan or photograph a brochure picture, you have to take a photo of the car/item itself. Dino246 (talk) 13:20, 18 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Thanks

Well, thanks for the support chaps. I have to agree with Dino246 (Fiat or Ferrari I wonder?) that brochure pix cannot be 'legal' but I can't accept that a photo of anything I own is illegal. If I take a photo of Leicester Square do I have to ask Coca Cola, JVC & Fuji if I can publish it? Crazy world for crafty legals but it certainly lasted for a while and could have been a useful resource. However, it does explain why most other sites on wikipedia are so text heavy and unexciting. If anyone knows of a Matchbox Enthusiast site that might be interested in Powertrack material let me know, as I have tons. When I get time, I might expand the text on this page but you might be frustrated at the lack of 'evidence' I can produce. However, though my prose might offer opinion it is only based on factual evidence I have around me.

One other thing, I believe the rarest car must be the Red Saab 900 with the Chequered pattern on it. I know of one person who claims to have a purple one but I have not seen evidence of it. I think both the green Saab and yellow Escort are losing their exclusivity. Other ones to watch out for are the yellow Scirocco, red Stingray and Police car with the shield on the bonnet/hood. And don't forget the fabled Helicopter and then there's the Red Escort with the chequered roof that I saw as a kid...

Happy hunting chaps...

[edit] Copyright

Surely Matchbox aren't going to mind about and old product they have'nt made for years. Its not mentioned on their website is it ?

Duffaboy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.215.64 (talk) 22:58, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Copyright law and Wikipedia policy are quite specific. If you can get a letter from Mattel giving permission for the use of Powertrack brochure images on Wikipedia then we can use them. Otherwise we can't assume anything. It's their trademark, their property, their copyright. I want the images to stay too. I used to think I had examples of every car and piece of track they ever made - this page is the only place on the internet that showed me how wrong I was(!), but we have to do it by the book and that means no copyrighted images without express permission from the copyright holder.Dino246 (talk) 06:02, 21 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Suggested 'fair-use rationale'

Here we go again. It really would be a shame to lose all these great informative images from this article. They prove the existence of rare Powertrack items that anyone studying the history of Powertrack would find very useful. I've added the following rationale to the TR720 image. I'm open to suggestions for improvements. Can someone with better knowledge of what constitutes 'fair-use' in US law comment please? Is this enough?

Non-free / fair use media rationale for Powertrack
Description

image of slot car from old sales brochure
Source

scanned from brochure
Article

Powertrack
Portion used

car
Low resolution?

yes
Purpose of use

for informational purposes only. The image both describes and proves the existence of a rare item from an old sales brochure that may or may not have ever reached production
Replaceable?

the product is very rare and no known items survive to take original photographs of
Other information the company that made the product went bankrupt in 1982

Dino246 (talk) 22:14, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

Well the image got deleted anyway so apparently the rationale wasn't rational enough. Seems there's no alternative to tracking down the items and taking photographs of them. Dino246 (talk) 08:11, 6 December 2007 (UTC)

I claim to have the Rarest Powertrack of all, its also a saab painted in Tartan, however I can't prove it as It would infringe numerous Copyright rules and upset the good people of Scotland. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.215.64 (talk) 22:39, 3 January 2008 (UTC)


BetacommandBot (talk) 06:40, 23 December 2007 (UTC)

Joking aside - check out this blog for ALL Powertrack history!

http://powertrackshak.blogspot.com/

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.107.232.58 (talk) 08:25, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

Nice work. Just as well someone has backed up the info and photos that were/are here as they are being systematically deleted and the net had been lacking an authoritative Powertrack history. Dino246 (talk) 15:25, 19 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Powertrackshak.blogspot

Hi there - Xysdad here just to say I am compiling the above mentioned webpage and I aim to put down everything I know - its early days but at least I can illustrate what I'm talking about. If anyone has any thing they want to contribute then contact me via website. I suggest somebody strip the unclean images from here and I/they can organise the text appropriately.

Signing off...

Stunning work, lets hope this will stop the vandals from altering this piece of Matchbox History and may be worthwhile bining this article when finished..

Duffaboy —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.36.215.64 (talk) 19:46, 21 January 2008 (UTC)