April

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.

Let me start off by sharing a few e-mails I received in response to my little hoax on April Fool's Day:

I was debating whether or not I wanted to try an April Fool's joke. I figured everyone was expecting one. When I got home late from work, I started fiddling with my Microsoft Picture-It program and created the image above. I used an image of a custom '66 Batmobile made from a JL Futura. I decided to post it to see if anyone would bite. Sure enough, they did. I laughed pretty hard with each e-mail I received. Hopefully, there are no hard feelings. And believe me, I'll be on my toes NEXT YEAR gang! Don't even try it.

Soy fanatico de ela serie el auto fantastico y ojala que en el peru lo repitan para poder grabar todos los capituilos - Miguel Quezada

Once again, Hollywood Die-Cast finds fans from all over the globe. This one comes from Peru. I had difficulty translating it, though. I think he may be referring to the TV show Knight Rider, which is known as El Auto Fantastico in South America.

David Hasselhoff stills seems to be as popular as ever in Germany, too, judging by this next e-mail:

Hello....I am a huge Munsters fan and I was wondering where u got that Munsters Halloween village from? Or where I would be able to find that? Please write me back. Thanx a lot - SPVAL

I don't own the Hawthorne Munsters Village, I just posted a photo and some info on this site some time back. I've been wondering about the Munsters Village, too. I sent an e-mail to Ernie at www.munsterkoach.com. Here is his reply:

Joe;
It's still coming. Last I heard it was due in the end of May. However, it
has changed so many times already... Well, you get the idea.
My best,
Ernie

This is an ongoing mystery Mike. I was first notified by e-mail that a website was taking pre-orders on a 1:18 scale die-cast version of K.I.T.T. offered by ERTL's American Muscle line. He then e-mailed me again saying that it was confirmed, that K.I.T.T. would be shipping in March. I was pretty excited. But since then, the website has removed the image of the car. I have since seen the exact photo used in conjunction with the K.I.T.T. 1:24 plastic model.

I e-mailed my contact at RC2 to try to get verification about a 1:18 scale die-cast K.I.T.T. She has not been able to confirm or deny that RC2 will be releasing the car. As soon as I get more information, you can bet I will post it on the home page.

Hi Joe,

I'm not a die-cast model buff or even particularly interested in cars (Shock/Horror). The only 2 cars in the world I've ever wanted (real or in model form) were the Mad Max V8 (From the 2nd movie!) and the one this e-mail is about. I writing to ask if rumors are true and if I was dreaming that I once saw it in a store here in London! It's the car from the 1986 movie "Cobra" the 1950 Mercury Custom Coupe. As a 12 year old kid in '86 I wrote to ERTL to ask if they'd be making it, but was told "No". 18 YEARS on and I was just browsing the net when I found info that ERTL had made it and it was released in Sept.2003!!!

BUT-the company whose website I was looking at said its out of stock and failed to reply to 2 e-mails I sent. Joe please tell me you know something about this 1:18th scale model, anything....anything at all, facts, rumors, myths, legends or on-line order information-I'd be real grateful either way.

Thanks for your time

Mike Walsh

Your wish may come true Mike, but I'm just not quite sure when. Die-cast websites have been taking pre-orders on a 1:18 scale version of Cobra's Custom Mercury for the past year. I'm quite certain it is in RC2's future plans. I will send an e-mail to my contact to find out exactly when we can expect this car. As for Mad Max's Interceptor, it's up in the air. Jeff Koch, formerly of Johnny Lightning, told me JL tried to get the license to produce die-cast from the Mad Max movies. Unfortunately, the license is being held by another company. I'm not sure which company that is, but so far, the few versions we've seen of Max's Interceptor are pretty darn pricey. Check out the following link:

http://www.madmaxmovies.com/merchandise/Models/Vehicles/DiecastModels/

Hi, just want to tell u u have a great website. I go to your site every other day to catch up on the diecast news. Thanks for doing this :)

OK, I do have question about the HW 1/18 Batmobile dimensions (i figure u are quite a Batmobile enthusiast as myself). IS it me, or is that diecast way too small? I have compared it to my other diecasts, its about the size of a F1racer..... just want to hear ur 2 cents.

Oh and this is out of no-where... I just graduated from college wanting to get into toy designs, Diecast car design would be great also, do u know the best way for me to approach it?

Well anyway thanks for a great website, keep up the good work.

-Jerry

First of all, to answer your question, yes, the so-called 1:18 scale Batmobile from Hot Wheels is a little out of whack. I read somewhere on the internet that the car is closer to 1:24 scale, when you compare the die-cast to the actual measurements of the car used in the movies. The real question is "Why?" One theory I heard was the car had to be made smaller for uniformity. Hot Wheels wanted to use similar packaging that they use on its other 1:18 scale die-cast cars. If the Batmobile was truly 1:18 scale, it would be considerably larger than their other die-cast cars. So there ya go.

As for the other part of your question, I have no idea. I would contact Johnny Lightning and Mattel for some advice on how to break into the business. You can visit Johnny Lightning's website, which features company information:

http://www.playingmantis.com/about_company_profile.php

Hello, are you knowledgeable about the Johnny lightning series Fright'ning Lightning. Which cars are in movies other than the Ghostbusters and Elvira cars?. - Timothy Ellis

There were two releases of Fright'ning Lightnings. Of all the cars released, I believe the only ones from movies and television are the ones I've pictured above:

- Christine
- Elvira's MacabreMobile
- The Munsters Koach
- The Munsters Drag-U-La
- Ghostbusters Ecto-1A

If anyone has different information, please send me an e-mail.

And finally, I wanted to share some photos sent to me from Craig Mueller.

Hi Joe,

I came across an interesting Kidco catalog and thought you might like some pictures from it for your site. One shows unlicensed Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am and Dukes of Hazzard Corvette with police car. Another shows 2 different types of Cannonball Run packaging and the available vehicles. The remaining pictures show some of their television and movie characters including Cannonball Run, Mash, and Magnum PI. Enjoy!

All the Best,

Craig Mueller

Thanks for sharing, Craig.

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