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Johnny Lightning
An interview with
Jeff Koch
Jeff Koch, Johnny Lightning's Brand Manager, was kind enough
to respond to a number of questions I submitted via e-mail concerning TV and
movie licenses. His responses come after consulting with CEO Tom Lowe.
Joe: First of all, let me ask you what your
title is and what role you play within Johnny Lightning/Playing Mantis.
Jeff: My title is Brand Manager, and I have a
large say in everything from a product and marketing standpoint--I suggest
castings, I decide colors and wheels, I write the stuff on the back of the
package, sometimes I take the photo that's on the package (or on the
photocard), plus I write NewsFlash, have a hand in conceptualizing
and writing magazine ads, I prepare a lot of internal sales materials ...
I'm a busy boy. Tom, however, pursues licenses with most of the big movie
companies himself. Short of throwing suggestions at him, I don't have much
say in that end of things.
Joe: How important are TV and movie licensed
products to Johnny Lightning?
Do you see a significant sales increase with TV and movie-related
products?
Jeff: TV and movie related items have been with
Johnny Lightning almost since the beginning--since the Frightning Lightnings
of 1997 (i.e. Christine, Ecto-1A, etc). As such they have been a part
of our lineup for seven years now, and we have no intention of stopping.
They remain a small but significant part of our overall sales. The crossover
appeal of many of these vehicles is simply massive--not just for die-cast
fans, but for fans of a particular film or show as well--and we can't ignore
the opportunity to get our diecast cars into the hands of a crossover
audience. I mean, if you're a Scooby Doo fan, whether you collect
diecast or not, why wouldn't you want a Mystery Machine diecast? Maybe
it'll inspire them to go out and find other Johnny Lightning cars.
Joe: How do you determine which licenses to pursue? Some are
obvious like The Munsters, Back to the Future, and James Bond, but
some are really obscure. Take Supercar for example. I had never
heard of it until you released it.
Jeff: We are constantly pitched by studios as to what the
latest, greatest properties are. Some studios give us lists of films that
are coming up for DVD release, or "20th Anniversary of..." etc. A lot of
these films don't even have cars in them--or else they're not known for
cars. This point, I think, is important. Clearly, when you think Munsters,
or Ghostbusters, or Herbie the Love Bug, or Scooby Doo,
or Speed Racer, there's a specific car that is closely associated
with, if not the central point of, that film or show. It's when you branch
out from there that things get a little more tentative. Dragnet? When
I think Dragnet, I think Joe Friday, and my head is nowhere NEAR a
'67 Fairlane 4-door sedan. Don't get me wrong, it's cool that there's a
Fairlane sedan in our lineup, but it's not something that resonates like
Ecto-1 does. The Buffy car series tanked, despite having cool cars
like a '57 Chevy and a '67 Plymouth GTX. Do Buffy fans care about
cars? Do car people care about Buffy? Sales reports suggest no, to
both questions.
And sometimes we split the difference. The (at least) 20
vehicles from 20 James Bond films late last year was one case where we had
to do some stretching to get a) five new castings and b) 12 models we'd
never done in Bond livery before into a 24-car program. It took me two solid
days of watching James Bond films at 4x speed on the DVD player to figure
out what we could and could not do ... with some backup for what licensors
would and would not allow. I can tell you there's no way you ever would have
seen a Hispano-Suiza, a '74 AMC Hornet, or that snowmobile without James
Bond. Most of the Bond cars we've done over the years might not have made it
in, because they're so outside what Johnny Lightning usually does, but with
the power of a James Bond license behind it, it makes sense to tool up for
Aston Martins and other such vehicles.
In some cases, we go to the studios--like with The
Italian Job that's coming out this summer. I'm a big fan of the
original, so when I heard they were doing a sequel, I pushed Tom to contact
Paramount. We've got high hopes for this movie--we'd like to be ahead of the
curve on this one. In the case of Supercar, Tom remembered watching
Gerry Anderson "marionation" shows when he was younger. In fact, the success
of the Supercar model in particular has led us toward some other
properties which I'm very excited about but can't discuss yet.
Joe: Now that Toy Fair has come and gone, can
you officially announce your TV and movie products for 2003? Some websites
have posted a list that includes Herbie the Love Bug, Get Smart,
Charlie's Angels and others.
Jeff: We are happy to announce the following
vehicles and properties for our next Hollywood on Wheels series coming in
June:
· The Italian Job Mini Cooper S (red)
· The Italian Job Mini Cooper (white)
· The Italian Job Mini Cooper (blue)
· Herbie the Love Bug VW Beetle
· Tommy Boy '67 Plymouth GTX
· Rat Race '73 Cadillac Eldorado
· Get Smart Sunbeam Tiger
· Hogan's Heroes Kubelwagen
· Brady Bunch Plymouth 'Cuda convertible
· Charlie's Angels Mustang Cobra II
· Happy Days Fonzie's bike
. Happy Days Ralph Malph's Hot Rod
We are also doing an Italian Job box set as well as a Ghostbusters
diorama and a Herbie the Love Bug diorama. In September, we will have
four cars from The Simpsons, two of which will also be available as a
diorama, as well as a Scooby Doo diorama. Also watch for 1/18 scale
Mystery Machine and Herbie in the second half of 2003.
Joe: Some of your original castings are superb,
like The Munsters Koach, Scooby Doo's Mystery Machine and the
Aston Martin Vanquish from Die Another Day. I know JL would prefer
to do a TV or movie vehicle using an existing casting, so what factors would
prompt JL to create a new casting? And give us an idea of how long it takes
to go from idea to toy store shelves.
Jeff: It takes at least a year to go from idea
to on-shelf, which is one reason why fewer contemporary films are
represented in Hollywood on Wheels (or, as we refer to it internally, HOW).
Our Mini Cooper S casting was in development already when we found out about
The Italian Job, so we just piggybacked production of these onto our
forthcoming mockups. This year the Minis are the only brand-new tooling we
have in the series, and it's only because they were already in development
when we heard about The Italian Job that we were able to get these
done even close to the movie. Plus, it's always a crapshoot when a new movie
comes out--you never know whether it'll be any good or not. Look at Blues
Brothers 2000. Or don't, as was the more general reaction. We've got a
good feeling about The Italian Job though.
What prompts us to make a new casting? Sales potential, pure and simple.
Look at Ecto-1. There's really only one thing you can do with it--make it
Ecto-1. But can you sell enough of them to make it worthwhile? Well, it's 7
years since we introduced the casting and we're still selling versions of
it, so I'd say that was a good one. The Nash Bridges Cuda ragtop has
been seen a lot of different ways in the few years since it was brought out.
But Speed Buggy, or the Penelope Pit Stop Special? Not much else to
do with those, alas.
Joe: What effect do fans have on what's produced? We all have
our wish lists. Does it do any good to send our wish lists to JL or
post them on sites like Hobbytalk?
Joe: We always listen to what our customers are
telling us. In the early days, there were a lot more obvious vehicles for us
to do. We did most of the big ones--the ones that we could afford licenses
for, anyway--and from there it's gotten tougher. The more obscure a movie or
vehicle tie-in, the less of a chance it has to be done. Plus there's the
uncertainly of new films ... we could have had xXx in Feb of 2002,
but no one knew what the heck it was. Once everyone saw it in theaters, it
made sense to have a tie-in, but it's tough picking winners without seeing
the film first. It's like playing the stock market. If a film tanks, we
stand to lose tens of thousands of dollars. If you're a company traded on
the Stock Exchange, that's one thing, but a couple of those in a small
company like this and it could be crippling.
Plus, between distribution problems (thanks at least in part to worries
about this war that we're either having or not), increased competition from
other toy companies snagging licenses, and licensors jacking up their
percentages, we're getting squeezed from all angles--so whatever we do had
better hold its own. If we're going to do the Animal House
Deathmobile (and we're not, but if we did) we'd better be sure we could sell
a boatload of 'em, because there's not much else you can do with it after
the one run. Suddenly, something like Herbie, which we already had a casting
for, makes more sense since the tool already exists...and because Herbie
isn't a "hot" property right now, compared to something like xXx,
it's still affordable. I don't think anyone will feel "cheated" if they see
that Herbie is based on an existing tool. Who cares? It's Herbie. There's a
LOT of pent-up demand for this one. At any rate, there have been no great
pushes for any one TV or movie property vehicle lately, which tells me that
we've got things pretty well covered.
Joe: Forgive me for bringing this up, I know
it's been discussed many times over, but will we ever see the 1966 Batmobile
in a Hollywood on Wheels lineup?
What exactly has kept this car from being produced? I spoke with George
Barris, and he said it's Warner Bros. that's holding things up. Would a
letter-writing campaign to Warner Bros. help? I would pay just about
anything for a 1966 Batmobile.
Jeff: Back in the '60s, licenses were often
given to toy companies because the TV production outfits saw it as good
advertising. About a decade ago they figured out that they could make money
from this. So, take something like the Batmobile. Barris designed it, he
wants a cut. Warner Bros. owns DC, they want a cut. DC publishes
Batman (same company but two different licenses) and they want a cut.
The TV production company wants a cut. The company who made the Batman
movie wants a cut. If we get actor likenesses on the package, THEY want a
cut. And everyone thinks their own piece is worth more than everyone else's.
Pretty soon there's enough slices taken out of the pie that no one gets a
taste--namely US, the company that wants to make it. It's all a bit of a
moot point now that another company has Batman diecast licensing
wrapped up through 2005 ... though we ARE able to do diecast model kit
versions of Batmobiles and vehicles as seen in DC Comics versions of Batman.
Also we're doing a stock 1955 Lincoln Futura later this year. Don't think
that's by accident.
Joe: I'm going to throw my wish list at you.
Can you comment on each car?
I'm interested in your thoughts on the car in general, and whether or not we
may ever see this car produced in 1:64 scale.
1) We've already discussed the Batmobile.
JK: I KNOW, SORRY
2) Cars from the movie Grease.
JK: ONLY IF THEY COME WITH A VOICE CHIP OF JOHN TRAVOLTA
SINGING.
3) The Beverly Hillbillies Jalopy
JK: WE'VE HEARD THIS ONE A LOT LATELY. NEVER SAY NEVER.
4) Mad Max Interceptor
JK: TRIED, LICENSING TAKEN.
5) Jurassic Park Ford Explorer
JK: IF WE DID AN EXPLORER IT WOULD PROBABLY BE A
POST-ROLLOVER-CONTROVERSY VERSION
6) Christine (redux?)
JK: WE'VE BEEN KICKING THIS AROUND FOR SOME TIME.
7) Animal House Deathmobile
JK: SOMEONE ELSE HAS IT RIGHT NOW, BUT WHAT ELSE CAN YOU DO
WITH A DEATHMOBILE?
8) National Lampoon's Vacation Truckster
JK: A SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE OF MINE ... BUT AGAIN, WHAT ELSE DO
YOU DO WITH IT?
9) Cannonball Run Ambulance
JK: WE HAVE THE CASTING FOR THIS ONE ... YOU NEVER KNOW.
10) Wonderbug (from the Krofft Super Show)
JK: WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THIS IS
Thanks for your time Jeff & Tom. It's really
appreciated.
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