Hey guys-
It's been awhile since my last post. Been working on plans to relaunch JL, Tomica, but as of late have been focused on Battroborg. Battroborg are motion-controlled R/C battling robots.

Check out the sizzle here:  http://bit.ly/17G5FBw

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Take a look at the JL 2012 Holiday car(truck). This 1965 IH 1200 D-Series Pickup is painted in green chrome and has an opening hood, fold down tailgate and a die cast body and chassis.

Looking forward to bringing more great releases in 2013.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

JL '72 Ford Torino

This '72 Torino Sport is a new addition to the Forever 64 line. It's coated in translucent green pearl and it has a great sheen to it. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to shoot the Torino and accent the fine lines and body details. This has to be my favorite in the assortment!
Look for this Torino and the rest Release 24 at Walmart stores and hobby stores in early September. White Lightnings in Release 24 have a white chassis and "WHITE LIGHTNING" stamped on the chassis.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning Off-road

Some of the new JL Forever 64 releases will be some of the most popular with the upcoming off-road releases planned. The feedback that I have been getting is that you want to see more demo derby and off-road vehicles so here is a little preview of our dirty little friends. I am planning an Off-road release for the next six assortments.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Coming Soon

The new 2012 Tomica line will be hitting stores at the end of the month. These are the new Hero with Vehicle packs. Each pack includes a vehicle, hero and accessory pieces to recreate daily senarios in Hypercity.
The Nissan Fairlady Z has to be my favorite as it sports a removeable top.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Hope you're making plans for the Nashville DCS show. I will be there from Thursday through Saturday. On Friday, June 29th, I will be holding a forum where I will be showing off some of the latest JL releases and Tomica releases I have been working on over the last year. The new Tomica line hits Toys R Us retail and hobby stores in August.
The forum will be open to all, but the first 100 will receive this exclusive Nashville JL Event Jeep Cherokee. The Cherokee is painted gloss white with black rims and the DCS Nashville logo on the roof. This Cherokee is loaded with a front bumper winch and fender snorkel.

Hope to see you in Nashville!


Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning Jeep Wagoneer

Still looking for ideas on the first release of the Jeep Wagoneer. If you want to be heard, now is the time! Right now, I am leaning toward the teal with white top and wood panel detailing.

Thanks!
Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Jeep Cherokee

The new Johnny Lightning Jeep Cherokee will be making it's debut in Forever 64 Release 22. Sprayed in gun metal metallic, the Cherokee will be fitted with a roof rack, matching spare tire, fender mounted snorkel and grille guard with winch. White Lightnings will feature white tires and white rims! Good news if you're a Cherokee fan because we have two planned in Release 23.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

2012 Super Convention

Join us at the 2012 Super Convention in Las Vegas for a power packed weekend of die cast! On Friday, I will be holding a JL Forum and giving an update on the current direction of JL as well as Tomica. See ya there!

http://diecastspace.com/vegas

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning JD release

Head over to your local John Deere dealer to get your hands on the newest assortment of John Deere 1:64 dealer vehicles. This assortment features the '50 Oldsmobile, '80 Ford Bronco and '93 Ford Pickup. All feature a die cast body and chassis and the Ford pickup even includes a small removable load of Tomy cases. Look for White Lightning chase cars too!

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Don Garlits & Johnny Lightning

Don Garlits has been racing Drag Pack Challengers for awhile now but last year at SEMA he debuted his new Drag Pack 800HP drag strip king. Wow! When I spoke to Don about the car I just jumped at the chance at replicating in the Johnny Lightning line. Garlits was the first drag racer to officially surpass the 170mph, 180mph, 200mph, 240mph, 250mph, 260mph, and 270mph marks in the quarter mile. I think Don's recent racing career needed to be officially recognized in diecast and we think this a great way to salute him.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning & Cherry Bomb

Johnny Lightning will teaming this year to release a replica of Cherry Bomb's "Disturbing the Peace" 1968 Project Camaro. It blends today's radical technology with 60's Muscle. We are pretty excited to be working with such a great brand that shares the same passion for muscle cars as we do. Hoping to include this Camaro in Forever 64 release 22.
Below are the specs on this beast!

Engine: Mast Motorsports

GM LSX 427ci V-8

830 hp with 10 pounds of boost and 93 octane

Transmission: American Powertrain

Modified Tremec T56 Magnum

Brakes: Baer

GP six-piston calipers, 14” discs, front;

Four-piston T4 calipers, 13” rotors, rear; Hydratech

Hydra Boost assist, Wilwood master cylinder

Wheels: Year One

Prototype slot mag, 18x8, front; 18x12 rear

Tires: Nitto

245/40R18 NT555, front;

345/30R18 NT55-R Extreme Drag, rear

Exhaust: Cherry Bomb

4” Glasspack side pipes, 3” dual exhaust,

Vortex Mufflers, and custom electronic cutouts

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Camaro IROC

Working on some new vehicle plans for 2013 today and planning for some new featured vehicle skus. Hoping to include some new castings from the 80s and 90s and since I was stripping my IROC for paint this week, I thought I would shoot and measure the entire car in hopes to replace casting #484. This casting is planned for JL2.0 R13, which will be a Beat the Heat release. Other castings I am looking to redo are the '70s Challenger, and C4 Corvette. Of course, we'll add new castings to the mix but want to get to a lower price point and some of the olders castings are too expensive. Retooling them gets us a more accurate casting as well as a lower price.

Happy Holidays!
Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning Jeep Wagoneer

Just received shot samples of the new JL Jeep Wagoneer. Wow, this casting made my jaw drop when I first saw it. I think it turned out amazing and I want to send a big thank you out to Wagonmasters for giving us access to their trucks. The Wagoneer will be released in the JL2.0 and F64 lines but I am going to hold the first release for the JL2.0 line. This casting has an optional roof rack and opening tailgate. Looking for suggestions on color schemes for the first release.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

JL Bruce Larson Dragonsnake

Just received production samples today on Bruce Larson's Cobra. The Costilow/Larson "Dragonsnake" was driven by Hall of Famer Bruce Larson and competed in NHRA's A/SP, AA/SP, B/SP and C/SP classes. It set all new records in the '65 season and won the NHRA Springnationals, Winternationals and US Indy Nationals in '65.
This will be the only car in release 11 that will have a Lightning Strike.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

International D-Series Pickup

Check out the test shots I just received today on the new Johnny Lightning International Pickup! Like the new #951 Ford Lightning SVT casting, this model has a separate cab for future bed configurations and loads. Look for the first release to be in Forever 64 R23 or R24.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning JL2.0 and The Car

Happy Halloween! I was cleaning up in my toy room at home over the weekend and found a particular "Car" that I have been searching for for almost 2 years now. Back in 2003, I was working on 1:18 scale American Muscle, Racing Champions MINT, Hot Rods line and our licensed 1:64 Entertainment asst, which included the Munsters, Smokey & the Bandit, Dukes, Dazed & Confused, Gone in 60 Seconds, and many others. I began tooling on a movie car that never quite made it into production, the 1:64 Car, from the 1977 flick. I had already completed tooling on the 1:18 scale version and it was natural to do in 1:64, however, the 1:64 scale line was discontinued and the Car never got released. You're looking at the only full die cast version in existence, sitting next to a preproduction sample of the new JL2.0 R11 Phil Bonner Galaxie, for size comparison.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Johnny Lightning International Pickup

The International Pickup is coming along nicely. I made some revisions to the cab area before tooling started. This pickup will see duty in our Forever 64 line, JL2.0 line and our ERTL Ag line. The first release will be in the Forever 64 line and shortly after will see action in the Ertl line where it will feature a diecast body and chassis. All new rims and tires will debuted on the model as well. One unique feature about this casting is that it will have a commercial rear bumper giving it a more rugged look.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

TOMICA and JL update

Here is a little update on JL and TOMICA...working on Forever 64 and JL2.0 calendar for 2012 and planning out TOMICA releases. Last week I got in Forever 64 samples for R20 and JL2.0 samples from R10. This Vista Cruiser is from R10 and I am excited to squeeze it into an assortment because I had so many requests at Lightning Fest to see the Vista Cruiser again. It's coming! The TOMICA line has been fun and challenging at times to dive into. I have started the process of looking into what castings I can release in the U.S. based on licensing rights, U.S. standards and casting condition. Hoping to bring some vintage models to the line!

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning

Summer Smash

Hope you can join me at Summer Smash this weekend. I will be giving out artwork on a couple new releases and showing off a couple new castings. Hope you can stop over! I've been busy working away on plans for an all new relaunch of JL and planning out the new 2012 TOMICA releases so stop over to say hello and I will give you some insight.

Tom Zahorsky
Senior Design Manager
Johnny Lightning