What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

General topics of interest to racers and race coordinators alike.
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whodathunkit
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What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

And you had your heart set on makeing your first pinewood derby car out of the official BSA kit.

And the pack you were with would not be passing out the official kits this year,
instead the kits.. being handed out would be the pine-car brand pre-cut car kits.

I know that many of you that are involved with DT & with Scouting are saying to your self's
(No way..& what's up with this!)
What about the rules saying only the official kit sold by Scout supply stores are to be used,
for a Cub Scout race.

I'm shure to most of you the news of this would be upsetting..
Or is it really when it comes to the kids getting the parent involvement and help for makeing the car.

As sad as this sounds to us adults that would jump at the chance to help a child with this project.

It's true as I learned & found out that a pack in the area would be passing out pine-car brand kits,
while I was picking up some more official kits at the Scout shop today.

So just when you think you know what the rules are..
Or learning what you think they should or should not be for a Cub Scout race.

You might want to take a look at the kids on the home front,
who just want a car they can put together and compete in a pack race with.


Whoda.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
Speedster
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by Speedster »

Whoda, you surely do come up with some original stuff? You're joking about this, right?????
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by Darin McGrew »

A couple thoughts...

For years, we've passed out our own pre-cut blocks to the younger kids (2nd grade and under). Some years, they've even been pre-weighted. Some years, the younger kids have been required to use one of the standard pre-cut shapes; they weren't allowed to reshape the car. I don't mind making pre-cut blocks available to the younger kids, but if one of the younger kids wants to start with an uncut block, or if one of the younger kids wants to reshape one of the pre-cut blocks, then I think it's absurd to stop them. (And pre-weighting causes problems for lots of kids when they attach heavier decorations to their pre-cut cars.)

If a local organization wants to use kits from some other source, then I think that's their choice. It might even help cut down on the eBay cars, if they've been having problems with that. The only issue might be if the local derby feeds a regional derby. But if you don't have a regional derby (or if you don't care about the regional derby), then why not?

But my experience with PineCar kits hasn't been good. The single-piece axles with plastic hubcaps gave us a lot of headaches the year we used them.
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whodathunkit
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

Speedster wrote:Whoda, you surely do come up with some original stuff? You're joking about this, right?????
No Speedster, It's no joke.. The pack will be useing the pine-car pre-cut kits this year for there pack race.
Darin McGrew wrote:A couple thoughts...
If a local organization wants to use kits from some other source, then I think that's their choice. It might even help cut down on the eBay cars, if they've been having problems with that. The only issue might be if the local derby feeds a regional derby. But if you don't have a regional derby (or if you don't care about the regional derby), then why not?

But my experience with PineCar kits hasn't been good. The single-piece axles with plastic hubcaps gave us a lot of headaches the year we used them.
Darin,
My thoughts on this were the same when you said..if there haveing problems with eBay cars and how it could help cut down on them by useing different kit types for the pack race.
That very thought crossed my mind and I diden't ask if this was the problem or not or if the kids would be going to a regional derby.

The felling that was getting and that was comeing across:
Was that the kids were just not getting parent help from home to make the car.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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FatSebastian
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by FatSebastian »

Darin McGrew wrote:But if you don't have a regional derby (or if you don't care about the regional derby), then why not?
1. The purchase of the official products supports the sponsoring organization (BSA).
2. Not using official Pinewood Derby® kits/parts for a Pinewood Derby® may confuse/disqualify someone who didn't get the memo.
whodathunkit wrote:...the kids were just not getting parent help from home to make the car.
:thinking: I'm not sure how switching to PineCar kits solves that problem.
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by MOFAST »

I went to our local Scout shop last week and they were out of Derby kits (the block, non-cut kind), they said they were on back order and did not know when they would be in. I went to Michaels and bought a Revell kit, had a 50% off coupon, the total was around $2.50 including tax. It was just something to keep occupied until the BSA kits come in. I think I have 6 cars in the works right now. The scout shop told me they were currently unable to fill orders and did not know when they would be back in supply. Very small scout shop but still glad we have one in our town of 40,000.

I am making a trip to our Council Scout shop Friday to see if they have cars for our Christmas party. They carry the Derby Worx tools as well.
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whodathunkit
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

FatSebastian wrote: :thinking: I'm not sure how switching to PineCar kits solves that problem.
I have to say that I totaly aqree with what you said about the BSA kits FS.

And like you I'm not shure how switching to a different kit type solves there problems..
If some or all of the kids are lacking in getting help at home or if the EBay cars are there problem or not..
But I can also see how it might help some of the kids or parents who just don't have the tools
at home to cut a car shape out with also if this is the problem.

Maybe the pack wanted to try and do something different to reach out to some of these kids.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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whodathunkit
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

MOFAST wrote:I went to our local Scout shop last week and they were out of Derby kits (the block, non-cut kind), they said they were on back order and did not know when they would be in. The scout shop told me they were currently unable to fill orders and did not know when they would be back in supply. Very small scout shop but still glad we have one in our town of 40,000.
Our local Scout Shop is small also: Some of the kit types you'll find on the shelfs are the
Official BSA kits & the PineCar brand kits

Bill the store owner: Allways trys to keep a large stock on hand of the official kits.
I stoped in to pick up 4 more BSA kits & he still had a large supply of them on hand on the shelfs.
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by FatSebastian »

whodathunkit wrote:But I can also see how it might help some of the kids or parents who just don't have the tools at home to cut a car shape out with also if this is the problem.
You had said "a pack in the area would be passing out pine-car brand kits;" I was not supposing that a Pack would splurge for pre-cut kits for everyone! (FWIW, BSA offers precut kits too: they are marketed by Revell.)

Where pre-built (e.g., ebay) cars are a problem, there might be other ways to address that.
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

Well don't know if something new or not for this year.. or just for the 70th Anniversary.

BSA Scout shops are now offering 4 per cut car bodies that come pre sanded to 220 grit .. to give you and your scout more time to get creative.
https://www.scoutshop.org/catalogsearch ... y+car+kits
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by FatSebastian »

whodathunkit wrote: Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:27 pmBSA Scout shops are now offering 4 per cut car bodies that come pre sanded to 220 grit ...
:thinking: Expensive (and the shapes aren't exactly... stylish :angel: )



:thumbup: Way to resurrect an 11-year-old thread, Whoda! ;)
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whodathunkit
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Re: What would you do if you were a Cub Scout.

Post by whodathunkit »

FatSebastian wrote: Sat Dec 23, 2023 9:22 pm:thinking: Expensive (and the shapes aren't exactly... stylish :angel: )

Yeah i have to agree with you on price and styles offered FS.

:thumbup: Way to resurrect an 11-year-old thread, Whoda! ;)
Seen that the pre cut cars were now being offered by BSA. and recalled this old topic about the Pine car & Revell pre cut kits .
What type of automobile can be spelled the same forwards & backwards?
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