Take a peek at the long-awaited Vista Cruiser. The details on this wagon are worth the wait! I feel like a kid again getting ready to jump in the back and look out the skylight windows. I have quite a few memories of riding around in my uncle's Vista wagon, so I wanted to do something cool with this casting. I decided to give it a fold-down tailgate. A JL first! My uncle's wagon was pretty beat, rusty and definitely had seen better days, at least from what I can remember. Who knows, maybe it will earn a place in a future Project in Progress release.
For those true Vista Cruiser fans, take a visit to www.vistacruiser.com and play the Vista Vengeance game. Its good for a couple laughs.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Check out this Hummer Ambulance from the new Hummer R1 assortment. A H2, a H1 race truck and a H1 Wagon join the EMT Hummer in the assortment to make it, like nothing else! The race truck is dark metallic silver with a white stripe but is the first time it has been released with the rear bumper delete option. The H2 is a custom House of Kolor metallic blue flake and the H1 Wagon is glossy black with a two-tone interior.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Check out this auction for a Camaro Z28 keychain. I don't remember this car having removable t-tops, do you? Now that would be a cool feature!

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

The rumor of marked WHITE LIGHTNING cases coming out of our warehouse seems to be growing each day. Our silence may have added fuel to the discussion, but a response would not have extinguished. We know you are passionate about collecting and we appreciate your continued loyalty to Johnny Lightning.
In an effort to confirm that White Lightnings were in fact being inserted at the correct rate, our HK office suggested that the WL cases be marked. For obvious reasons, many of you have touched upon, we didn't want the cases marked. Unfortunately, the factory did not get that message and 1 days worth of cases were marked. This has been resolved and we can let the hunt begin once again.
I want to reassure each and every collector that White Lightnings make up 1% of the production run and are randomly inserted at the factory. Once they arrive in our warehouse, the product is shipped using an automated shipping system. There is no way we could monitor or control who gets what inventory, as the entire process is random.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

The white lightnings in Classic Gold 41 include some unique features, red rims, red chassis and sparkling metallic white bodies. This Aston Martin is my favorite out of the four cars. Three of the four also have a wheel variation so keep your eyes open for those. Don't forget that this assortment also includes two new tools, the 59 Ford Pickup and 70 Dodge Dart.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

The March BOLT is headed your way later today.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Rosco drove this special camo patrol car in the Season 3 episode "The Great Hazzard Hijack," where friends of the Duke boys find a bag containing $1 million in a river. The car features a three tone camo paint scheme, tan interior and white lightnings that have a white interior and a white chassis.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Jeff from diecastAudio.com just posted part 2 of his review of Area 51. Check it out!

http://www.diecastaudio.com/category/johnny-lightning/

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Johnny Lightning has had the pleasure in working with Tim from the MFBA in releasing this special Midwest F-Body Association Club car. You'll be seeing this release in stores later this month, which happens to be a '72 Pontiac Firebird Formula with MFBA license plate and club sticker in the rear window.
For more information about the MFBA visit: www.MFBA.org





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Some new samples just arrived at my office! Check out this 1963 Corvette GS from the new Auction Insanity 2008 program. This assortment includes two of my all-time favorites, the 1963 Corvette GS and the 1970 AAR Cuda. Each release is fully detailed with a black painted chassis and silver painted exhaust. A white 1969 Dodge Coronet R/T and gloss black 1969 Lincoln Mark III round out this valued assortment.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

The '70 Dodge Super Bee in MC 17 is just waiting for a wheel swap. This release features three wheel variations, a newly tooled hood, 2-tone interior and an extra set of 5-spoke rims with Uniroyal tires. Look for these in stores later this month!





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Ok, I will admit...I can't get enough of the General Lee. Over the last 10 years, I must have worked on at least a hundred different variations on the General. Everything from plastic kits to die cast, and even some versions in 1:18 scale that are now boat anchors somewhere in the Atlantic. This latest version is from release 4 and is the General from "The Beginnings" movie. It features a tan interior with black roll cage, BFG tires and a HEMI engine.
Anyone want to carpool to Dukes Fest in June?





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Mistakes are inevitable. Not always funny but this one makes me chuckle. We have many checks and balances in place to make sure we avoid mistakes and errors like the one you will see on the new Rock Art 2 release of the 1973 Mustang. This is the White Lightning and if you look closely at the tires, the factory took the tire imprint we specified word for word.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Check out this auction for a MOTION Vega. Looks like a sweet ride and you even get your very own JL replica with it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1972MOTIONVEGAHATCHBACK-350LT1ENGINE_WOQQitemZ140203050555QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item140203050555

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Most of you are just getting your hands on VW R7, which was one of the last assortments Mac worked on. Nice job, Mac! Now, I am focused on R8, which has a couple releases that I have already put on my all time favorite list, and I believe you will too. Check out this delivery from release 8. It features silver metallic paint, white top, white bumpers and a graphic that is sure to have you seeing double.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

The long awaited January BOLT is now up. We usually post the BOLT towards the end of the month but only because I usually keep adding content and images. Hopefully, it's worth the wait! Make sure you take some time to check out the Coming Soon as well as some new desktop wallpapers in the Downloads section. In the Coming Soon, we announced the new Lightning Strike chase program, which are releases that have colored striped sidewalls and are 1% of the production run. Yes, there are also the regular White Lightning's for that particular release but we have selected various individual releases throughout 2008 to be Lightning Strikes.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Check out this Shelby from the MC18 release. It features gloss black paint, matte stripes and rolls on Goodyear rubber. This assortment has a few others stars like the newly tooled 84 Pontiac Trans Am, 71 Buick GS and 70 Dodge Charger R/T. Look for it to hit retail stores in April.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

This Pontiac GTO Super Stocker from the new Classic Plastic assortment will definitely have a place in my collection. The assortment includes four cars, the 70 Mercury Cyclone Spoiler, 71 Pontiac GTO Super Stocker, 71 AMX Gremlin Funny car and the 69 Chevy Blazer Boondocker. The reproduction mini model kit box really catches your attention and made me feel like I could slide through the window of the GTO and head right for the racetrack. Look for these to hit your local retailer in February.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Just received the first production samples of Lightning Rods R1 and I have to say my favorites are the 69 Camaro and 65 Mustang. The finishes on both of these are just stunning and hopefully you'll be getting your hands on these before the end of the month. Included with each vehicle is a die cut Lightning Rods magnet, perfect for those with garage refrigerators. I wouldn't dare try to put this up in the kitchen.
In your search for the white lightnings, you'll want to look for a metallic white bodies and white tires.





Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager

Check out the latest review of Musclecars R15 at diecastAUDIO.com. Jeff was kind enough to share his review of the assortment and provide closeup shots of the Hurst Olds.
By the way, Musclecars 16 should be in stores any day now. It includes one of my favorites, the 87 Chevy Camaro Z/28.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager