Carrera took the wraps off their new Speed Racer slot car set a couple of weeks ago. It features just over 20 ft of track including loop and flyover sections, along with Speed Racer 'Mach 5' and 'Racer X' cars. They're aiming for a price of under $70, which is a solid deal.

The set is a tie-in for the new Warner Bros Speed Racer movie, but don't forget that it's based on the 1967 Japanese TV series 'MachGoGoGo' by anime pioneer Tatsuo Yoshida. The series pitted Speed Racer against the mysterious Racer X. The show was shot and aired at a breakneck pace - a total of 52 episodes were broadcast over a 12 month period. The series has been revived several times over the years, but never with the same success as the original.

The new live-action film is directed by the Wachowski brothers and hits theaters in North America this Friday,  filled with garish neon-inspired race sequences and a vibrant 'real cartoon' look reminiscent of the 'Lazy Town' kid's show.

Unfortunately, the over-the-top style isn't going over well with some reviewers. James Berardinelli of ReelViews writes, "It's what I'd imagine it might be like trapped inside a video game or a pinball machine. It's a kaleidoscope gone mad. Yet this kind of visual overdrive has its limits, and with little else to recommend it, Speed Racer passes the barrier between 21st century innovation and psychedelic diarrhea long before the cars have come close to the finish line. At an exceedingly long 135 minutes, the film needs more than what might result from the explosion of a Crayola factory, and Speed Racer has nothing extra to offer - no heart, no excitement, no moments to cherish."

My advice? Use the money you would have blown on the movie to pick up a few eps of the original anime series and take the new Carrera slot car set for a spin. Speed Racer Go!!!

Speed Racer slot car set at Carrera USA [via just about every gadget blog on earth]