Otto
SpeedZone Pledge
Speed Limit: 62 
I collect:
Mainly Collect Hot Wheels
Main Castings Way 2 Fast & Anglia Panel
Collect Maisto 1936 Chevy Pickup
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Post by Otto on Nov 5, 2013 15:25:19 GMT -8
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2013 15:33:20 GMT -8
Back in 2012 at the Las Vegas Super Convention, I somewhat knew JL was doomed with the new owners ( Tomy ) as Tom Z didn't seem to excited at the seminar I attended.... Tom would start off by talking about what Tomy had for plans with JL, but soon within 10-15 mins, Tom would start talking about his family etc... which lost my full attention in what Tomy was going to do with JL.... My attention soon turned into boredom and I left before the seminar was done.... IMHO, Tomy makes kiddie toys and that JL would be too much a diecast company for them to handle in the direction that Tomy was heading...
Well, here is the artical below that Otto posted
Monday, November 4, 2013
Goodbye Johnny Lightning
After a history of 44 years, and have passed through several owners hand, the life of Johnny Lightning brand reaches the end. His last and current owner, Tomy (owns several brands including Tomica) revealed that it will only sell their last items of stock, and that there is more interest in producing more thumbnails under this brand.
The brand was launched in the U.S. market in 1969, with the clear intention to compete in the growing market for miniatures in scale 1:64, where already worked Mattel (with Hot Wheels), and English Lesney (with Matchbox). In 1994 the brand was bought by the company Playing Mantis, giving the brand new air, until 2005 when it was purchased by RC2 Corporation (which made the thumbnails Racing Champions). More recently it was bought by Tomy, which changed the very concept of the brand and of the thumbnails.
Collectors worldwide now lose one of the brands most well detailed on this scale, and one of the most charismatic, who brought us among other fantastic products replicas of cars that appeared on the screens of TV movies and cartoons and movies, and cars no other manufacturer Thumbnail reproduced. We are now with the Auto World (the former owners of Johnny Lightning), Greenlight and M2 as the most perfect marks Thumbnail 1:64.
What is pro behind the end of this brand is the increasing difficulty in producing miniatures of good quality for a low price. Labor costs in China and Asia have risen sharply in recent years, as well as shipping costs and logistics. Another factor is the current change in the interests of children who today prefer other types of toys (video games, tablets, etc.) and the recent and persistent global crisis that makes adults do not spend more money on this hobby as spent in the past. The same fate had recently brands Yat Ming and GMP.
It only remains to hope that some company buy the brand, and thus its production can resume.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 9:58:42 GMT -8
For Canadians Johnny Lightning closed a long time ago. The last time I seen a car was at a T.S.C. store about 3 years ago it was on those cheap red cardboard packs . Walmart had none in the last 3 years . The only Hot wheels I ever bothered with were the black box type and I think I bought 1 boulevard series . So for me I pretty much stopped buying cars about 3 years ago. So could care less about Johnny Lightning. Ertl Yatming Revell all made cars as good and in some cases better than Johnny Lightning and they are gone or at least in Canada.
The market for diecast cars is changing. Just like coin and stamp collecting years ago was a hobby a lot of kids liked . Today kids could care less about a hobby like little cars its computers and games .
The weekends we have little visitors and the only way to keep them off the computer is they take a couple of train engines and stick them on the layout and race them . In the past 2 or 3 years they have wiped out 3 or 4 engines and I could care less because I lost interest in a train layout a long time ago .They collect dust take up a lot of space and they have no resale value so sooner or later I will be rid of it all l.o.l.
A.W. and M2 I would buy if they ever came to Canada but that wont happen .
So you still have little cars to buy but this hobby is changing the younger generation wont keep it going .
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Post by 5thGenCamaro on Nov 6, 2013 10:36:43 GMT -8
Sad Day
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Post by Full Flaps! on Nov 6, 2013 15:05:34 GMT -8
Today kids could care less about a hobby like little cars its computers and games . So you still have little cars to buy but this hobby is changing the younger generation wont keep it going . While there is some truth to that, and kids these days are glued to a screen of some sort. I don't think kids were ever the ones sustaining the diecast market, and certainly not the higher priced collector market. Adults were buying all of those cars, either for the kids, or for themselves - and still do. And comparing electronic gadgets to diecast is really apples and oranges when you think about it. It would be hard to put a finger on any one reason why diecast has seen a downturn. But like the downsizing and consolidation of the automotive market, the diecast market was ambitious years ago. And has now shrunk to meet realistic demand. Along with the fact that nothing much is getting cheaper. |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 17:11:09 GMT -8
I did not mean kids were buying the cars but I think as kids get older they will not have the same interest as we do in regards to cars.
I don't think price really matters to the average collector a little car that cost around 5 dollars is not that expensive . 1:18 scale cars are not that expensive if you like that kind of thing price don't really matter much .
The chase car is why my wife stopped collecting little cars.To a collector that collects every car in a series and you never find a white lightning on the pegs or a treasure hunt. You lose interest.
The variations... card variation ...wheel variations.. tampo variations
are another turnoff to collectors who collect every car made in a year.
To a guy that just collects cars he likes those guys will still be around years from now .
I think the collector who collected every car that was made in a year is on the way out.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2013 17:29:06 GMT -8
I did not mean kids were buying the cars but I think as kids get older they will not have the same interest as we do in regards to cars. I don't think price really matters to the average collector a little car that cost around 5 dollars is not that expensive . 1:18 scale cars are not that expensive if you like that kind of thing price don't really matter much . The chase car is why my wife stopped collecting little cars.To a collector that collects every car in a series and you never find a white lightning on the pegs or a treasure hunt. You lose interest. The variations... card variation ...wheel variations.. tampo variations are another turnoff to collectors who collect every car made in a year. To a guy that just collects cars he likes those guys will still be around years from now . I think the collector who collected every car that was made in a year is on the way out. I agree with ya on that Jim with the collector who buys every car made in a year is on its way out .... IMHO, The collectors of today are buying what they like verses buying everything made and sold at retail.... I know I stopped collecting everything made back in 2002-03 when I down sized my collection... It took me a few months to go through 20,000 + pieces of all I owned and pulled aside what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to let go.... The older I got the more choosier I started to be when purchasing diecast.... Now I only buy what grabs my attention.... Johnny Lightning will be definitely missed no doubt as they made some really nice casting back in the day, but I am sure someone will come by and make Johnny Lightning live once again.... Just like Muscle Machines, Maisto bought them and who knows what will happen to MMs for the future ??... Will MMs survive or will they be gone once again, we will soon see... |
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2013 2:50:25 GMT -8
I did not mean kids were buying the cars but I think as kids get older they will not have the same interest as we do in regards to cars. I don't think price really matters to the average collector a little car that cost around 5 dollars is not that expensive . 1:18 scale cars are not that expensive if you like that kind of thing price don't really matter much . The chase car is why my wife stopped collecting little cars.To a collector that collects every car in a series and you never find a white lightning on the pegs or a treasure hunt. You lose interest. The variations... card variation ...wheel variations.. tampo variations are another turnoff to collectors who collect every car made in a year. To a guy that just collects cars he likes those guys will still be around years from now . I think the collector who collected every car that was made in a year is on the way out. I agree with ya on that Jim with the collector who buys every car made in a year is on its way out .... IMHO, The collectors of today are buying what they like verses buying everything made and sold at retail.... I know I stopped collecting everything made back in 2002-03 when I down sized my collection... It took me a few months to go through 20,000 + pieces of all I owned and pulled aside what I wanted to keep and what I wanted to let go.... The older I got the more choosier I started to be when purchasing diecast.... Now I only buy what grabs my attention.... Johnny Lightning will be definitely missed no doubt as they made some really nice casting back in the day, but I am sure someone will come by and make Johnny Lightning live once again.... Just like Muscle Machines, Maisto bought them and who knows what will happen to MMs for the future ??... Will MMs survive or will they be gone once again, we will soon see... You are right the older you get your collecting habits change. Muscle Machines i never had any interest in same as the Jada cars i liked the lowriders series but not the oversized wheel series. Only cars i will buy in the future are realistic looking cars and cars i have owned the real one.Maybe Johnny Lightning will come back but by the time they get on the pegs in Canada i would be too old to even remember what they are. l.o.l. All but 3 or 4 of these cars are Johnny Lightning .27 of these cars i have had the real car. 8 of these cars my wife had the real car. Real cars have always been my hobby my wife got me started collecting the little cars .l.o.l. So when you get lonesome for Johnny Lightning cars just check out the cruise night diorama most cars are Johnny Lightning and I have many more that are stuck in containers that someday my wife can dig them out and get some more pictures this winter.  |
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