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Tomy Quits JL
Topic Started: Apr 8 2015, 12:59 PM (1,017 Views)
microbuss
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SUV
as of Dec 2013 Tomy has dropped the JL name
Or did you all know this already?
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Ducati250Single
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I really hate to hear that, Johnny Lightning was a part of my childhood. That's sad news.
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cody6268
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It's been that way since around 2012, when Tomy bought Ertl RC2. The last few models left were put in the Collect and Play line, found in many farm supply stores. Some carded models have found their way to closeout-style stores like Ollie's.
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daniel60
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cody6268
Apr 8 2015, 01:18 PM
It's been that way since around 2012, when Tomy bought Ertl RC2. The last few models left were put in the Collect and Play line, found in many farm supply stores. Some carded models have found their way to closeout-style stores like Ollie's.
I think we have them at one of our Grocery Stores here called Harris Teeter in South Carolina. I knew there wasn't Johnny Lightning however I assumed that Ertl has ownership and using the castings for their Brand.

link to the Grocery Store. It's a chain here but I see that some are being sold to Krogers.
http://locations.harristeeter.com/sc/summerville/
Edited by daniel60, Apr 8 2015, 01:55 PM.
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microbuss
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yeah 2013 was the last time I found JL at Walmart & other stores
About that time I found a mistake vehicle on the wrong card!
It was the Dodge taxi cab only the card said Ford F-150! LOL
Edited by microbuss, Apr 8 2015, 05:42 PM.
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Dragnet_Supporter
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Maybe if they have no further use for JL, they'll sell the line. But we've speculated here many times before as well. And the questions are: Would anyone currently put up cash for the JL line in the current economy? Could the line find a market outside of direct distribution?

I think there are a lot of castings that still could be valid, if not exceptional pieces. But since Tom L. is upgrading and improving the current market standards with AW, JL would eventually have to expand itself to keep the line viable.

I wish I had all the correct numbers to crunch and had the cash to invest if they looked at all promising. On the other hand, if Tom Lowe keeps doing what he's doing, soon there will be no point in resurrecting his early castings.
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Mattel bought Matchbox in the late 1990s to take Hot Wheels' #1 competitor off the market. Tomica owns Japan, but surprisingly in a land known for such gems as Kyosho and Konami... JL was #2 up until the time of their purchase.

Had things worked out differently - had the Japanese tsunami not hit right after the purchase, and had Tomica not bungled their return to the USA with a poor marketing strategy, perhaps we'd be seeing Tomicas in JL blisterpacks these days.

Much as Matchbox fans wish Mattel would sell, it'll never happen. I sincerely doubt Tomica will be willing to give up JL either.

Regardless, the last Johnny Lightning castings live on in the Collect 'n' Play line.
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Harvestman
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Swifty
Apr 8 2015, 07:20 PM
...perhaps we'd be seeing Tomicas in JL blisterpacks these days.
Tangentially related, but weren't some Tomica castings sold under one of Ertl's Fast And Furious tie-in brands in the US?
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Swifty
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The Mustang II is a Mustang too!
Harvestman
Apr 8 2015, 08:41 PM
Swifty
Apr 8 2015, 07:20 PM
...perhaps we'd be seeing Tomicas in JL blisterpacks these days.
Tangentially related, but weren't some Tomica castings sold under one of Ertl's Fast And Furious tie-in brands in the US?
Close - it was Racing Champions (before they acquired Ertl) and it was the first time they worked together. I think the only car that showed up in the line was the Honda NSX (of a planned total of thirty, we got one).
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Dean-o-mite
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The red-orange NSX and black Mitsubishi Lancer Evo (IV? V?) were used.
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pjedsel
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:toy: I am not sue what the best way is to describe the Collect and Play line as it is a hodge-podge of castings from ERTL, Johnny Lightning, Tomca and Racing Champions. I find it interesting that while Tomica seems to have lost interest in JL one of the newer releases in the Collect and Play line up is the '57 Chevy Hearse in that unique pink color. :D All of the farm supply stores I have been in of late that carry this line have not really updated the offerings in ages and have lots of empty spots. I did notice the fire trucks and now lettered Tomy on the doors rather than ERTL. While in Cedar Rapids, IA last month I found the Tomca John Deere combine on an ERTL blister card with the other ERTL John Deere farm toys - I still think part of what Tomica was after with the purchase of ERTL/JL/RC and other names was to get the John Deere licensing
Edited by pjedsel, Apr 8 2015, 10:10 PM.
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Spennyman
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When they re-introduced the packaging and raised the price a dollar or better they lost me anyway. I still have my 300 plus JLs and have no intentions of selling. It always seems the people manufacturing these little gems never have a passion we as collectors have for them. RIP JL 2013 (according to Wiki)
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spennyman
Apr 8 2015, 10:14 PM
It always seems the people manufacturing these little gems never have a passion we as collectors have for them.
I'm not prepared to go quite that far. At the time, I think the JL staff was among the, if not *the*, most passionate designer/builders out there. To watch the company progress from Topper remakes through a few fits and starts that were still leap years ahead of the competition at the time, and finally landing at a place where everyone else had to play catch up...that speaks volumes about passion to me.

But collectors have one focus, and companies have another. If a company cannot turn a profit, they have to close sooner or later. The nature of competition in business, with (sometimes hostile) takeovers and such, with control wrested from design staff that have the vision and placed with bean counters that have the bottom line as a priority, some of the passion gets lost. Mattel suffers from a lot of this. JL unfortunately got caught in the cross hairs of a company that wanted them to go away...and in the world of business, if you have enough bucks to back you up, one way to make that happen is to buy that competitor and shut them down.

Happens all the time.
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b2young
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Like Spennyman (and many others, I presume), I'm sure glad I have what I have of JL. Some of my favorite castings--and/or liveries--came out of that brand.

I occasionally see JL still hanging on pegs at Walmarts in this region. One here, one there.
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Lane1through75
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With Jazz and conversation from the foot of Mt. Belzoni.
Dean-o-mite
Apr 8 2015, 09:51 PM
The red-orange NSX and black Mitsubishi Lancer Evo (IV? V?) were used.
It was the Evo IV. Here's a very old photo of the pair:

Posted Image
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Spennyman
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juantoo3
Apr 9 2015, 09:08 AM
I'm not prepared to go quite that far. At the time, I think the JL staff was among the, if not *the*, most passionate designer/builders out there. [/quote]

To me the designers and builders differ from the suits that control the numbers and output. That's comparing apples to oranges. The designers/builders I doubt had anything to do with the demise of the company.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spennyman
Apr 9 2015, 06:28 PM
juantoo3
Apr 9 2015, 09:08 AM
I'm not prepared to go quite that far. At the time, I think the JL staff was among the, if not *the*, most passionate designer/builders out there.


To me the designers and builders differ from the suits that control the numbers and output. That's comparing apples to oranges. The designers/builders I doubt had anything to do with the demise of the company.
But its not.

What you are saying here is true of some mega-corp like Mattel.

Johnny Lightning at the time was a far, far leaner outfit where guys wore more than one hat and Tom Lowe had yard sales in the parking lot. Ask Mac Ragan sometime.

You had said "the people manufacturing these little gems never have a passion...," and that is where we will differ. The JL guys were very passionate about what they did, and that includes "the suits that control the numbers and output," which would have specifically been Tom Lowe....very same guy behind Auto World now. Many of the staff at Auto World at this very moment are the exact same guys who made JLs up until the time Tom Lowe sold JL to RC/Ertl, and they followed him over to Auto World after he bought that company from the money he made selling JL.
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Mac Ragan, Tony K, Tom Lowe and Mike Groothius all worked under the Playing Mantis mantle for Johnny Lightning. Mac, who is a member here, left and later worked with Greenlight. As Wes mentioned, after RC2 bought PM, Tom Lowe resurrected the AW name and brought with him Tony K and Mike.

At the very end, Tom Z was nearly the sole employee working on the Johnny Lightning line. All these people have passion for what they do, dids and will continue to do in the future.

Tomy quitting production of JL is old news. I'm saddened it happened, but it's reality. I understand passions in this hobby run low and high from us fans of each company. At the end of the day these companies are in business to produce money on the right side of the line. Bean counters and others at times can hinder what we see in the final product. The thing I've never questioned is the designers desire to produce the best possible models as they can. Most if not all are car nuts to a certain degree just like many of us on the Garage are.
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Spennyman
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Minivan
By manufacturer I mean "Tomy" not a builder per se or designer. I'm very sure the builders/designers were proud and had a passion for their craft it showed in the products. Let me clarify my post "Tomy" doesn't care for Johnny Lightning. IMO Lol.
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accobra64
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craftymore
Apr 9 2015, 08:11 PM
Mac Ragan, Tony K, Tom Lowe and Mike Groothius all worked under the Playing Mantis mantle for Johnny Lightning. Mac, who is a member here, left and later worked with Greenlight. As Wes mentioned, after RC2 bought PM, Tom Lowe resurrected the AW name and brought with him Tony K and Mike.
Please don't forget Hot Rod Al who made a huge difference when he was employed at Playing Mantis by Tom Lowe.
Thanks do his genius, we saw some wonderful Johnny Lightning castings come out of Playing Mantis.
I'm proud to say that I'm glad that I got to collect a lot of fantastic castings during the Johnny Lightning heydays.

Cheers. Cobra
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Thanks for mentioning Hot Rod Al. It's appreciated Gerry as he was responsible for card art and some other areas if i recall correctly.
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Atencio
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Every good thing comes to an end. I haven't bought a JL in years yet it is still the largest manufacturer in my collection
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

craftymore
Apr 9 2015, 10:16 PM
Thanks for mentioning Hot Rod Al. It's appreciated Gerry as he was responsible for card art and some other areas if i recall correctly.
Yes, Hot Rod Al...and don't forget Jairus Watson. Jairus used to stop in JLTalk from time to time and regale us with "behind the scenes" stories. I've seen archived posts on Hobby Talk from Hot Rod Al.
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SeberHusky
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juantoo3
Apr 9 2015, 06:28 PM
Johnny Lightning at the time was a far, far leaner outfit where guys wore more than one hat and Tom Lowe had yard sales in the parking lot. Ask Mac Ragan sometime.


Wow, this makes me wish I knew I lived only a few miles from Playing Mantis years ago!
Edited by SeberHusky, Apr 11 2015, 10:23 AM.
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