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Hot Wheels Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set | 
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| Brand: Mattel
Category: Toy
List Price: $53.99
Buy New: $36.99
You Save: $17.00 (31%)
New (13) from $36.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 3915
Fragile: No
Batteries: 4
Batteries Included: No
Shipping Weight (lbs): 6.1
Dimensions (in): 24 x 4 x 15
MPN: M4540
Model: M4540
UPC: 027084661705
EAN: 0027084586350
ASIN: B000W60EIA
Release Date: February 23, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | The Speed Racer Grand Prix track set is all about crashing and huge jumping and stunting | | • | Prepare for the ultimate stunt jump that catapults the cars high into the air, and then shoots them back around the track | | • | Capture the thrill of the final grand prix race | | • | Comes with one Mach 6 vehicle | | • | Cannot be used with some of the Hot Wheels vehicles |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon. com Review
Get ready for fast-paced race track action and dramatic crashes. With four battery-powered speed boosters, an exclusive Mach 6 race car, and a stunt jump that tosses cars high in the air, the Hot Wheels Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set is sure to keep kids aged five and up busy for hours. 
Speed Racer races through the track and ends with a 30-inch jump. View larger. | 
A replica of Speed's Mach 6 in included. View larger. |  | What We Think
Fun Factor: 
Durability:
(what this means)
The Good: High-speed raceway launches cars in the air and sets up dramatic crashes
The Bad: Only includes one car; set is not compatible with every Hot Wheels car
In a Nutshell: The Speed Racer Sky Jump Track Set inspires hours of action-packed fun | At a Glance
Ages: 5 and up
Requires: Four D cell batteries
|  | | Getting Ready to Race
Before your child can enjoy this action-packed sky jump set, an adult needs to assemble the track. This straightforward process can be completed in less than 30 minutes with the instruction booklet that provides step-by-step instructions and clear illustrations. Each connection point is identified by a letter or number that appears in the manual and on the pieces of the track, and the tracks snap together without using any special tools. Four D cell batteries are required to power the speed boosters and the motorized rotating tunnel, which sets cars back on the fast track after wild jumps. Go, Speed Racer! Go!
Once the track is assembled, switch on the boosters and drop the sleek red and white Mach 6 race car into the sky jump cone. The cool rotating tunnel automatically sets the car upright and shoots it through the first set of speed boosters onto the track. Quadruple loops with all kinds of inverted twists and turns pave the way to a vertigo-inducing jump that sends cars flipping and twisting up to 30 inches in the air, where they hit a sturdy canopy and are deflected back into the sky jump cone for another round of action. Inspired by the newest movie, in which Speed Racer is out to win the Grand Prix against all odds, this adventurous track set is big on fun. The exclusive Mach 6 car gives dare devils and speed demons a chance to bring their favorite character and his super-fast sense of adventure home in a way that's totally safe. Grand Prix Competition
The smooth transitions between track pieces kept cars on track surprisingly often, and with the time-tested durability of Hot Wheels car construction, our seemingly endless crashes didn't do any apparent damage to the Mach 6 racer or the track. Our only complaint about this fun-filled set is the fact that it comes with just one car. In our experience, additional cars more than doubled the fun with four collision intersections to watch out for and several possibilities for competitive multi-racer games. Trying to keep as many cars as possible moving and rocketing through the air was a favorite activity that resulted in plenty of high-stakes pile-ups. But be careful selecting additional cars, since this set is not compatible with every Hot Wheels car on the market. The track is designed to let your child race all the 1:64 Speed Racer vehicles for an ultimate Grand Prix experience. What's in the Box
Mach 6 Hot Wheels car, track set, and instruction booklet.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Fascinating and exciting to run. But loud. September 28, 2008
I bought this for myself, frankly. It is amazing. Far superior to the Hot Wheels tracks of my youth. I sit and watch amazed as the cars shoot around at such high speeds that they hurl almost two feet into the air, slowly turning as they fall into the funnel for another round. Amazing.
Each of the four loop segments is different and fascinating to watch cars scream through. The cars go through the center hub frequently, creating lots of opportunities to crash - but they go through so fast that a split second difference avoids collision. It creates heart-skipping excitement when you run two or three cars - four can't really make it, but it's fun to try.
The rotating tunnel is a very clever mechanism to drop the cars onto the track one at a time, usually right-side up. I also like it as a design element because it is reminiscent of the scene in the movie where Speed is walking through a tunnel into the stadium and the announcer is saying "All drivers report to your cars". Nice touch.
Glitches: the cars occasionally come out of the tunnel upside down, not too often though, and actually it's one of the few times you get to do anything other than watch. You have to use full power batteries or the cars won't get enough speed in the first segment (I plugged a DC wall adapter from Radio Shack into the battery compartment). The funnel plastic split after a week - which is lame; I fixed it with some clear packing tape, but its still irritating. We bent the Mach 6 axles, which is too bad because it won't make it around the track now (we got some other cars, but prices are pretty steep for the Speed Racer Hot Wheels). You do have to re-adjust the track position periodically - it helps to make the first segment as rigid as possible, otherwise its springiness sucks too much of the cars' inertia and some don't make it.
So, I like the track a lot. Really. I'm content to drop cars in and watch them loop the loop and jump and crash occasionally. But that's about all you can do with it. And it's loud. My boys (6 and 4) turn it off and run the cars around by hand, pretending to be Speed or Grey Ghost or Snake Oiler (they love Snake Oiler, which is a hoot). That's the only downside of this automated toy - you have to turn it off to add pretend and imagination. But _I_ still like it on.
 Great when it works September 8, 2008
One of our friend's sons had this and our son loved it. We bought it and it was a real chore to put together. Also we found that it has to be set up on a hard floor - forget about having it work right on a rug. Two other friends bought this and had the same experience. They eventually moved it outside and taped the pylons to their outside patio deck. The problems are that the pylons need to be really steady for the cars to make it around the track. If the cars don't make it around the track you don't see the fun part of it launching into the air, returning to the bin, and self aligning in the tunnel.
This is a lot of fun when it works. The other "complaint" is that very few Hot Wheel cars actually are suitable for the set. It comes with one but the real fun is having a bunch going at the same time. We combed through our 50-75 cars to get 3-5 that would work. Of course you can buy the ones recommended but who wants to do that after getting it, and laborously setting it up, while your son is axiously waiting for more?
This Track Really Works! July 18, 2008
I bought this track for my 4 year old son.
The major points:
This track was complicated, but really not that hard to put together as long as you have/follow the directions.
I do NOT recommend setting this track somewhere you can not leave it for a while, but your child will be willing to play with it more than once, and it won't fall apart seconds after you assemble it.
This is the only hot wheels track that I have purchased that actually keeps the cars on the track, I was impressed.
 Awful track July 11, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Let me start off by saying that I'm still just a big kid myself, and I love and have experience putting together models and other miniature feats of engineering. So I'm pretty sure my negative review isn't because of how this track was put together by the consumer.
Big anticipation by my 4-year old, as this was a toy he had worked for a month to get. I set it up according to the instructions, even putting down duct tape where suggested. We turn it on, drop the car into the tube, it gets shot up the ramp, and down it goes to the floor, failing to get enough momentum. No problem, I've played with these types of tracks before, and even my son knows that the cars will sometimes fall off the track. We try it again. Same result. We tried a different car, again with the same result. After some experimentation, we found a way to bypass the first piece of track, and just deal with the cars inevitably falling off. It is neat to see the cars zoom around (hence the 2-instead-of-1-star rating), but to have all types of cars fall off at the same point was really disheartening to my son. This turned out to be only the first problem with the set.
After about a week of piecing the track back together due to normal play, the connections started getting weak. The plastic is soft, and the tabs would not stay in the slots without tape. This is after ONE WEEK of play. My son can be rough with his toys, but he has a special reverence for his cars, and he treated this track with more care than normal. In any event, this toy should not have been falling apart like it was after a week.
To conclude, avoid this track at all costs. It is poorly designed and constructed, and will not offer much playtime. We threw it out this week, and I am replacing it with a different track that won't get in the way of itself!
 Actually does what it says it does June 24, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I thought that there was no way this thing would work the way it says it does on the package, but it really does. Buy an extra pack of cars and get 4 of them going at once, they shoot around the track and fly up in the air, and every once in a while you'll get a good crash.
We gave this to our 4 year old for his birthday, it's his favorite present. It needs a little adult supervision, every once in a while the track gets a little out of whack and needs to be adjusted, but other than that he can play with it by himself.
Make sure you have new batteries for it, otherwise the cars won't make it around the first turn and will just fall off.
I gave it two stars for education because I figure it can help kids develop a little bit of physical intuition, concerning momentum and projectile motion. Other than that, there's not much to learn here.
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