The hobby shop from a former Army helicopter mechanic offers high-powered toy cars — and you can take them for a spin at the store.
NORTH PARK — A new Northwest Side shop lets kids and adults unleash their inner speed demons. Indoor & Outdoor Play
Run Rabbit Run, 3255 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., is a hobby shop from owner Stefan Zajczenko. It sells a variety of car-related toys, but its primary focus are modern slot cars imported from England that cost $50-$80.
“A lot of people recall them from when they were kids or the toys that dad had set up in basement with all the wires and stuff,” Zajczenko said. “But now the controllers are wireless and most of slot cars we sell are from England, where the hobby is more popular.”
A former Army helicopter mechanic, Zajczenko has always liked working with his hands, he said. He built the two tables and slot racecourses from scratch for his shop.
“My family, my brothers and sisters have always been kind of artistic, and I think it’s important to be able to express yourself,” he said.
One of the shop’s table is a verdant green countryside scene with a racetrack route circling a mountain overlooking figures farming fields to recreate the feel of speeding down a rural road, Zajczenko said.
The other racetrack is a flat desert course where slot cars speed along a dusty road. An assortment of cacti is the only thing breaking up the barren landscape.
“I’m going to add some other little things to them, some more lights and fun things to those and change them out,” Zajczenko said. “I think on the wooded one I’m going to do an alien-invasion type thing, and the desert I want to some crazy stuff with that, but I’m not sure what yet.”
A 30-minute session on one of the courses costs $10 and allows customers to experience the digital slot cars Zajczenko sells in action. They are much more advanced than what many people played with growing up, he said.
“The problem with the racetrack my wife got me — my and daughter and I set it up in the living room, but then you have to put it away, which can be annoying,” he said. “A lot of the people I talk to have theirs set up in a basement or garage, but in this neighborhood you also have apartment buildings where you don’t have that kind of space.”
The cars are controlled wirelessly, can hit the brakes and have the ability to change lanes at certain points in the course to pass one another, Zajczenko said.
The toys also have the option for a computer chip to be installed that allows racers to create a number of challenges to emulate the NASCAR and or Formula 1 race car experience, Zajczenko said.
These include programming what kind of weather the cars experience on the course, how much fuel they can use and tire wear they can sustain before needing a pit stop, Zajczenko said.
“You can also reduce the speed with the program, how much power a person has. So if you have little kids, you can lower the power to like 25 percent so that the cars aren’t flying off the track,” he said.
Zajczenko has only been open for a few weeks. After he settles into a routine, he is considering hosting slot car racing tournaments at the shop.
“It’s fun because you’ll learn going full out on the course isn’t the best thing. You’ve got to like feel it out when you accelerate and take the curve slow,” Zajczenko said.
Run Rabbit Run is open 3:30-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday, 3:30-10 p.m. Fridays, 1-10 p.m. Saturdays and 1-9 p.m. Sundays.
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