50TH ANNIVERSARY BOX SET
1:64 | $50
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Johnny Lightning. Parent company Round 2 has a keen sense of the brand’s history and knows full well that collectors do too. For years they’ve been selectively reviving classic JL castings, recreating vintage packaging, and doing other things to help collectors enjoy the nostalgia of the brand while simultaneously introducing new castings that ensure JL stays strong well into the next 50 years. You just knew they’d come up with something fun to celebrate this momentous year, and this six-car set is helping to kick off that celebration. Produced in a limited run of just 150 units available exclusively from Round 2 on its Autoworldstore.com website, the sealed case contains six specially selected cars on historic backing cards that connect with key products from the brand’s history, plus a couple of special bonus items and a chance at some rare releases mixed in. Two types of wheels are offered at random; 80-percent of the cars come with realistic rubber tires, while the remaining 20-percent come on specialdesign wheels wrapped in Racer Edge tires patterned after the classic 1969 ultra-low friction “Celcon” tires that made Johnny
Lightning the fastest 1:64 cars on the planet. In addition, a small number of White Lightning cars (Johnny Lightning’s version of a chase car) will be randomly inserted in place of the stock color schemes. Let’s pop open the case and try our luck!
The first car in the set is a 1934 Ford Coupe hotrod in Black over Metallic Red. It features an exposed big block V-8 with a high-rise dual quad intake and zoomie-style headers. Next up is a 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe that was first released in 2004. It is decorated in Metallic True Blue just like a period race car, but with the number “50” painted on the door roundels to commemorate the anniversary. After that we have 1966 Volkswagen Beetle in Hippy Green first produced in 2002. The Beetle casting has been used with two different chassis: the standard version, and this one with Cali-style bumperettes and a single longoutlet Stinger exhaust. Ours came with Racer Edge tires on white mag wheels. From there we go to the 1969 Chevrolet Impala convertible in Butternut Yellow.
This one was chosen by brand manager and designer Tony Karamitsos, and is modeled after the very first car that he ever owned—and still owns to this day! Coming in next is the 1970 Plymouth Superbird in Petty Blue (of course!). This one is patterned after a restored Superbird Round 2 CEO Tom Lowe owned, and is the second in our set with Racer Edge tires. And last we have the car built by master customizer George Barris for the movie Fireball 500 staring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello. It was based on a 1966 Plymouth Barracuda fastback, but little of that car’s look remains. Each of the cars comes on a retro backing card and the sealed set comes with an exclusive commemorative leather keychain and a discount coupon for use on Autoworldstore.com