July 2005

Each month I go through the most recent e-mails I've received and pick a few to share with you. I try to personally respond to every e-mail I receive, but I also post a few here in my Q&A column.

Hi Joe!
Just stumbled on your web site! It's excellent! I've been collecting TV and movie toys for some ten years and have a nice collection myself. It's been a bit tricky finding stuff since many TV toys never reached Finland in the 60´s and 70´s. Now it's easy with internet : ) I know one other weirdo here in Finland who has a much bigger collection than me and probably the biggest Knight Rider collection in the world. He's a good friend and a famous movie script writer here. I've been collecting other movie stuff too like action figures and stuff... and then old guitars...

Anyway, thanks for the excellent and inspirational website!

Best regards,
Klaus Suhonen
Finland

Hi Klaus!
So nice to hear from you. I do believe this is my first e-mail from Finland! It's nice to meet new people who share my passion. Nice collection you have there and well displayed! Try to encourage your friend to send me pics of his collection as well. Let me know if there is anything (within reason) that you need from the US. Oh, and like you, I collect other things as well, including 12" figures from film and TV. Click on the thumbnail below for a little sample:

Hola Jordi and GRACIAS! Okay, I don't speak much Spanish, but my mother was from Spain (Jerez de la Frontera). I visited when I was a child and I hope to visit again soon to visit my family. Thanks for sharing the photo and I've added it to The A-Team gallery.

helloo mike spaeking :) y am from holand and mij ingelish sucks :) i hoop je ken read the most parts :P i dident no if yo had alredi pictures of the scale model of the FAB 1 ( thunderbirds the movie ) ?? i purct de model voor 50 euros the pictures ar on mij website (msn spaces) with som more schale models

Greetings Mike! Normally, I edit the e-mails I post in my Talking Cars column to correct typos, but I wanted to leave this one untouched. It's great and your English is perfectly fine! This month's Q&A has a real international flavor! Thanks for sharing your photos. I do have to admit that car is beautiful to look at.

Could you tell me which cars where in the new Herbie movie?

Timothy D. Ellis

Hi Tim.
Having seen Herbie Fully Loaded, I can tell you all the above cars are seen in the movie. Of course, there's original Herbie (above left), Herbie's love interest (the yellow new Beetle), Demolition Derby Herbie and Trip Murphy's (Matt Dillon) Pontiac GTO. There is also a junkyard Herbie included in the 5-car boxed set. The only car NOT seen in the film is the CHROME Herbie, pictured below as a White Lightning....which I hope to get in the mail any day now. I've heard more cars from the film will be released in the future, including a NASCAR Herbie.

Hey Joe,
I was happy after I placed my bid on this rare pre-production Jurassic Park Mercedes "M" (made by Matchbox). Well $49 but I needed a pre-pro car in my collection too. ;) The normal version does not have the Mercedes Star on it and has another name printed on the bottom of the car. Soon I might sent you more photos of other rare movie vehicles which I did not find on your site. :)

Regards,
Volker

Nice find Volker, wow. Buying pre-production prototypes is a risky venture. I hope you get the documentation to verify its origin. It sure looks nice though.

Hi,
Thought I'd recommend some other titles for your Top Ten Car Chases.

The Gumball Rally
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074597/

Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071424/

And I believe, IMHO, this movie (which is on your runners-up list) should be
in the Top Ten:

Vanishing Point (1971)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067927/

BTW, great website! I've spent the past few hours here!!! Since you like The Cannonball Run, I know you'll love The Gumball Rally. It was made before Cannonball Run and it's far superior. That's one you gotta catch! You gotta love a movie that makes sure it matches the proper engine sound to each car - even when shifting!

Keep up the good work!
Phil

My Top 10 Lists sure generate a lot of e-mail... I LOVE IT! Keep 'em coming. I really enjoy reading your opinions. Once again, I need to get around to seeing the movies you mentioned. I did recently purchase Vanishing Point on DVD, and though I enjoyed it, it still didn't crack my Top 10.

I recently won a die-cast police car on eBay. It is a 1/43 scale, Baltimore Police car made by Road Champs. It's from 1999, and is from the NBC TV show: HOMICIDE Life on the Street. I don't recall seeing a Road Champs TV toy before. Do you, or anyone out there know if Road Champs made other TV toys? Any info would be great.

Thanks, Metro P.

That's a great find Metro! And the card is UNPUNCHED, too. I didn't even know these existed until you sent me the pic. Thanks. Though the focus of this website is 1:64 scale (and soon to include 1:18 scale cars), I thought this was cool enough to share with everyone.

As for other die-cast cars made by Road Champs, I believe they manufactured 1:64 scale vehicles from BJ & the Bear, as well as Rocky II. I'm sure there are others I'm leaving out.

Dear Joe:

First, thanks for posting my "Beach Boys Woody" message. This month, I would like to know: Were there ever any die-casts released of Burt Reynolds' Stroker Ace stock race car? I tried looking on eBay, but all I saw listed was the movie on VHS and DVD.

Sincerely,
Ken Manning,
Bagdad, FL.

Well, Ken, if it's not listed on this site, then it probably doesn't exist in 1:64 scale. Although, I've been surprised before. But I've searched for Stroker Ace die-cast cars for years and I've come up empty. I'm a HUGE fan of Burt Reynolds, and if it was a perfect world, someone would release a box set of cars as a tribute to Burt's movies, including, but not limited to:

* Smokey & The Bandit
* The Cannonball Run
* Hooper
* White Lightning
* Stroker Ace

Heck, I'd even throw in the canoe from Deliverance! One can dream..... maybe someday when I'M in charge! (lol)

By the way, all of the above movie poster were found at Movie Goods eBay Store. Check 'em out.

Have you heard anything about model replicas of the police cars used in the TV series Adam-12? What about the police car from TJ Hooker or The Dukes Of Hazzard or American Graffitti, Dragnet (the 1987 movie and show), Andy Griffith, Smokey and the Bandit, CHIPs, Colors ???? All I find are Matchbox or Johhny Lightning cars and most of them don't look right. They don't look like the ones shown on TV or the Movies or they don't exist PERIOD. I'm talking about larger scale die-cast models like 1/18, 1/24 or 1/25 scale and NOT 1/64 or 1/43 scale. I collect police car models as a hobby and I would really like to see model replicas of these cars and I bet they would be a hit.

Roy M. Salazar

Arvin, CA

Oooh, too bad you're not interested in 1:64 scale police cars. Quickly browsing my site, I came up with a few pics of some really cool police cars from TV shows and films. These would make a great subset to collect. As for cars in the scales you mentioned, please keep in mind my specialty is 1:64 and 1:18 scale cars. I hope you spotted the 1:43 scale police car from Homicide: Life on the Street above. Corgi pretty much dominates entertainment vehicles in the scales you mentioned above. Peruse their website and see what you come up with: http://www.corgi-shop.co.uk/

If anyone else out there can help out Roy, send me the info and I'll pass it along to him.

My name is Kelly Bates, I am looking for a die-cast model of KITT from Knight Rider in 1/64 scale. Do you know where I might be able to find it? How about the '67 Shelby GT 500 from Gone in 60 Seconds?

Kelly B.

Hi Kelly,
Over the years, KITT has been done in 1:64 scale by ERTL, Matchbox and Hot Wheels (Charawheels). None of these can be found at retail today, so your best bet is eBay. I highly recommend the Charawheels version of KITT, since it's the most accurate. They also produced a 1:64 scale version of KITT's nemesis KARR.

As for Eleanor from Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), it was only produced by Hot Wheels as part of a 4-vehicle set. Again, you can't find it at retail anymore, so I suggest eBay. I was lucky and was able to buy mine loose and in excellent condition from an eBay seller (below). Keep in mind, the set has gotten pretty pricey over the last few years.

Your e-mails really make my day. Please keep them coming. Click on the e-mail link in the left column and I'll do my best to find the answer for you.

Q&A Archive:
9/03 10/03 11/03 12/03 1/04 2/04 3/04 4/04 5/04
6/04 7/04 8/04 9/04 10/04 1/05 2/05 3/05 4/05 5&6/05