Johnny Lightning Mach Five on the Way!

*Unpainted prototypes*

In June 1997, Playing Mantis released a set of four Johnny Lightning cars from the Speed Racer series. If you're not familiar with them, they're similar to Matchbox and Hotwheels. The set costs around US$15 and includes the Mach Five, Shooting Star, fastest car (GRX) and an assassin's car. All I can say about them is that they're fantastic! Even if you're not a collector of die-cast cars (I'm not), these are worth getting. Playing Mantis did a great job.

Included with each is a ``collectible,'' as they say, cel. It's not really a cel, of course, but a small cardboard cel-like image. Twenty different ones were made, so that works out to be about a $75 cel collection! Yikes. I guess I won't have a complete set! However, here are scans of a few I do have.

Unpainted prototypes are also shown at this Johnny Lightning site. (The picture above was swiped from there.)

Mail Order

If you just can't find them in your local toystore, try calling or writing to ``Full Grid.'' They specialize in making die-cast cars available to collectors and can be reached at:

Full Grid Racing & Die Cast
409 North Pacific Coast Highway
Redondo Beach, California 90277
Phone: Unknown, company might now be out of business.

They're really a top notch outfit. If you order from them, please be sure to let them know you got their number from the Speed web page. They're trying to track the sources of their sales. Thank you!

Also, if you still have trouble getting a set for some reason, let me know.