July 2003 Archive

July 2003 Archive

7/31/03 - Hollywood on Wheels 4 Arrives!
I walked into my local comic book store as I do every week, to pick up whatever may have arrived from Diamond Distributors. To my surprise, Mike handed me a case from Johnny Lightning. Inside was a complete set of Hollywood on Wheels 4, plus an extra Herbie. There were no White Lightnings in the case, but its arrival made my day. I wish Johnny Lightning would consider releasing HOW every year, instead of every OTHER year. No other line generates more excitement and anticipation than HOW.

"Stay in school, sucka!!!"

7/31/03 - Thanks Metro!
I wanted to say thanks to reader Metro Privratsky, who has been sending me photos of rare and unusual TV and movie cars, like the Mr. T bus shown above (even though its scale is larger than 1:64, it's pretty cool.) Thanks to his contributions, I've added new pics on the following pages:

TJ Hooker
Dukes of Hazzard
The A-Team
Rescue 911
Knight Rider
Grease
Magnum PI

7/29/03 - New Offerings from Diamond Distributors
Just picked up the latest edition of Previews, Diamond Distributors' catalog. There are only a few TV & movie-related die-cast available for pre-order.

- The Fast & The Furious Vehicle and Figures Series C
New Lower Price! Bring the non-stop action from the hit flick to your home with these vehicles! Choose from the 1995 Supra or the 1995 Honda Civic. Both are 1:24 scale. Scheduled to ship in November. $14.99 ea.

- Hot Wheels Batmobile Two-Car Set #1: "Shields Up" (see photo above)
Billionaire Bruce Wayne rides in style even when disguised as Batman! His two prized rides are packaged together on a base in the first set. Scheduled to ship in November. $22.50

(Editor's Note: If you look at the photo above, it says "Previous Assortment Shown" though this is supposedly the first of the series. Judging by the title "Shields Up" I'm guessing that this first offering will include the first movie Batmobile in shields up & down positions. I bet the photo above is for a future offering from the film Batman Forever).

- Hot Wheels Movie Batmobile
This 1:18 scale version of the Batmobile exudes the slickness and style of the Caped Crusader of Gotham. Scheduled to ship in November. $26.99

7/25/03 - HOW4 Added to Gallery
Even though I haven't found HOW4 locally, I found some nice pics at http://milezone.com/johnny.html and added them to the Hollywood Die-Cast gallery.
Click on the link to visit the site.

7/24/03 - Finally Found a Futura!
After searching for quite some time, I finally came across JL's 1955 Lincoln Futura at a Meijer store. It looked like they were moving things around and Johnny Lightning products were in two different aisles. Not only was this concept car used in the film It Started with a Kiss, starring Debbie Reynolds and Glenn Ford, but as many of you know, it was also the car George Barris converted into the Batmobile for the TV series and the 1966 film.

7/23/03 - Slow News Week
Things have been a bit slow this past week in the world of TV and movie die-cast. Many of Johnny Lightning's Hollywood on Wheels 4 have been showing up on eBay, but I haven't seen anything in stores yet. So, until HOW4 arrives locally, I'll share this pic of JL's upcoming Cat in the Hat series. They're not cars from the upcoming film starring Mike Myers, but they'll have to do for now. I found this pic at the Matchbox Collecting Community.

7/17/03 - Herbie Shows Up on eBay!
Johnny Lightning's Herbie the Love Bug from Hollywood on Wheels 4 is up for auction on eBay. This means that Herbie should be showing up in retail stores and hobby stores very soon. Here's the link to the auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3538474980&category=19045

7/15/03 - More Hot Wheels Batman Product
The Hot Wheels website added a new pic showing a 3-pack of Batman-related cars. The top car looks like a unique and original Batmobile. The other two cars look like nothing more than existing castings with cheesy decos. Here's the link:

http://www.hotwheels.com/us/product.asp?id=12485&category_id=7570

7/13/03 - HOW4 Ecto-1A Carded
Reader Chris Stewart sent me an e-mail telling me he has a pic on his Ghostbusters website revealing Johnny Lightning's carded Ecto-1A. Chris says to expect the single carded Ecto-1A in stores by the end of July and the Ghostbusters diorama (featuring an NYPD police cruiser) in August. Thanks Chris. Here's the link to his site:

http://www.protoncharging.com/ghostbusters/

7/7/03 - New Q&A
Click here to check out the answers to 5 new questions submitted by readers. Topics include the HW Batmobile, The Black Beauty, Hollywood on Wheels 4, Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Tomorrow Never Dies.

7/5/03 - T3 is the Best Film of the Summer (so far)!!!
This summer has been chock-full of fun summer popcorn flicks, but everything I've seen so far pales in comparison to Terminator 3. T3 delivers everything you'd expect from a summer action flick. It has some of the most thrilling chase scenes and stunts I've ever seen. It has a good story and a fantastic ending. The humor in the film had me laughing out loud. A lot of people scoffed at previews of a female "Terminatrix".... but Kristanna Loken was fantastic. She was more ruthless and relentless than the T-1000 from the previous film. It's nice to see the Terminator franchise is alive and well, and I, for one, can't wait for T4. I don't know if anyone holds the license to produce die-cast from T3, but I'll be looking for the McFarlane Toys when they hit the shelves. Check out the official T3 website:

http://www.terminator3.com/

7/4/03 - Hot Wheels Batmobile Revealed!!!
Thanks to a tip from reader Adel, I went to the official Hot Wheels website where they've unveiled the 100% Hot Wheels version of the Batmobile from the 1989 film Batman. It should be arriving in stores soon. I've ordered a case through my local comic book store. I can't wait to get them in my grubby little hands. Here's the link:

http://www.hotwheels.com/us/product.asp?id=12471&category_id=7817

7/1/03 - Charlie's Angels Auction on eBay
Numerous costumes and props from Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle are currently up for sale on eBay. In addition to outfits worn by the girls, you can also pick up the 1967 Cobra Replica and the 1967 Pontiac GTO seen in the film. Here's your chance to own an authentic piece of Hollywood movie memorabilia.

http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/hollywoodvault2/

7/1/03 - Is it too early to start thinking about Halloween?
Mark Sanders sent me an e-mail tipping me off to this cool item. It's not 1:64 scale die-cast, but it's still pretty darn cool. Hawthorne Village offers this replica of the Munster's House. The best part? A replica of the Munsters Koach drives around the house as the theme from the TV show plays. This would be pretty cool to display on your entertainment center this Halloween. Pick up the latest edition of Parade Magazine to pre-order it.

7/1/03 - New Items Offered by Diamond Distributors
Got my newest edition of Diamond's Previews Catalogue over the weekend. Only a couple of TV & movie-related die-cast items were offered:

Herbie the Love Bug Version 2 Die-Cast: It's good old #53 - A Volkswagen Bug with a mind of his own! From the 1969 Disney movie, this die-cast is 1:18 scale and ready for another adventure! ($25)

The Fast & The Furious Streetglow Cars: Choose from the 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse of the 1993 Mazda RX-7! Both are 1:18 scale and feature lighting. (The cars are $50 apiece!)