They were called “A Bonus” on the package.
Playing Mantis released a limited number of each model painted in pearl white. And collectors were introduced to something new: the chase car.
Kids could play with them and adults admired them. Made like the Topper models with heavy die-cast metal bodies and baseplates, the new Johnny Lightning cars were hefty, durable, and fast on the track. Cars and packaging mimicked the originals and they were an instant hit. His new company, cleverly named Playing Mantis, introduced eight models, each in a variety of colors. He was sure that adults who’d played with Johnny Lightning cars as children would be attracted to replicas of them. The Johnny Lightning name then disappeared for 23 years.Ī car buff, toy collector, and entrepreneur Tom Lowe of Cassopolis, Michigan discovered that the Johnny Lightning trademark was abandoned, and by 1994 he put it back to work selling toy cars to a new market. In three years Topper produced 47 different models. And just as Johnny Lightning toy cars were making inroads into the thriving die-cast toy business, Topper Toys closed during a failed attempt to take the company public in 1971. In both years Al Unser drove the “Johnny Lightning Special” to victory at the Indianapolis 500. His most high-profile venture was sponsoring the Parnelli Jones race team in 19. Orenstein was determined to win the toy-car race and spared little expense for publicity. They could run around closed oval speedways and keep going as long as the kids kept using the launcher. This invention made it so that Johnny Lightning cars didn’t need gravity at all. As the car passed over the launcher in the track (or “Actuator” as Orenstein called it) the “driver” would catch the Accelerator Loop and hurl the car around the circuit for another lap. Unique to Johnny Lightning cars was the “Accelerator Loop,” part of the chassis which worked with Johnny Lightning track sets to get the cars moving faster than mere gravity.
#Johnny lightning mod#
Topper was a powerhouse toy manufacturer, producing popular products like Suzy Homemaker appliances and the mod Dawn fashion doll.
Speed was all-important, and owner Henry Orenstein had the design and production resources available to create 15 different cars, from concept to retailer, in less than a year. In 1969, Topper Toys of Elizabeth, New Jersey launched a line of high-speed die-cast cars to compete in the rapidly expanding market for three-inch toy cars introduced 15 years earlier by Matchbox. These models remain the core of the Johnny Lightning brand. For many of those collectors, Johnny Lightning cars transport them back to a time when they remember the real muscle cars prowling the streets. While our toys are tough enough for kids, their realism and subject matter appeal to adults. We’re proud to be known as the creator of a new genre of toy car: the collectible die-cast car for the adult collector. The direction later turned to realism, with the production of popular muscle cars leading the way. The original emphasis was to make our cars the fastest in downhill racing and on oval track sets. Johnny Lightning cars have thrilled collectors with their speed, detail, and quality since 1969.
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