What is it about toy cars that make some people compelled to spends countless hours in tuning, working in the grey area, spending hundreds to thousands of dollars to win at something that rewards nothing of monetary gain?
It's called human nature! The desire to win, to be the best, to excel. It's in every sport, hobby, and endeavor. It was just as present 20 years ago as it is today. Like you I'm in it for the fun since I'm older, however I do want to win, just not at any cost like some others. I see it at every race and every club - the guys who are in it to win it! I expect it though (it's racing!) so it's no big deal to me. It's naive to think that you can compete in racing at ANY level (even with toy cars) without encountering competitors with a strong desire win.
Fellowship and fun is the only thing building, collecting and racing toy cars should be about...
Gotta disagree with you here sir. That's just a silly thing to say about a hobby that is built around scale automobile racing! Fellowship and fun a certainly a big part of it but not always and not for everyone. You just do your thing and let others do theirs and in between is the happy medium that we all must find if you want to continue to enjoy the hobby. Otherwise, scale model building is probably a better hobby for those of us who no longer want to compete.