Mytoycars!

Johnny Lightning 1975 Chevy Van - Rock Art Release 2

This Johnny Lightning Chevy Van casting originally appeared in the 2002 Boogie Vans series. It's based on the 1975 G20 Chevy Van.

This version of the Chevy Van comes in a matte gray and black colour scheme. It's part of the 2008 Rock Art Release 2 five vehicle set.

This particular model is adorned with the Led Zeppelin logos and Zoso designs on the rear and sides of the van.

This casting is all diecast and quite heavy.

The only changes I would make to this casting would be to replace the plastic tires with rubber ones.

On the body, I wish JL had added fender flares, portholes and skylights to the van. These features were pretty typical of the vans back in the 70s.

Johnny Lightning 1981 Chevy Malibu Zinger

In the 1970s, some custom cars called Zingers came onto the car show circuit in a big way. These cars had huge tires and big overblown engines. Here's some more info about how they came to be:

https://bangshift.com/general-news/car-features/zingers-inspired-generation-car-geeks-talked-guy-built/.

In 2003, Johnny Lightning introduced a new series also called Zingers. I'm pretty sure these car designs were influenced by the originals. I've only got a few of the JL Zingers in my collection, but not to worry, Johnny Lightning is still banging them out in 2018. You can find the complete list of Zingers at jlcollector.net. This sweet black and gray Chevy Malibu Zinger is one of my favourites.

This one is from the Toys R Us 4 pack that came out in 2010.

You can see the detail of the rear tail lights.

In this side profile you can see the exhaust and side marker light detail.

The bottom of the doors are emblazoned with the words Chevrolet.

The interior of the Malibu is a light gray, almost blue colour.

Cool, how the sun glistens on the side exhaust pipe.

Thanks for checking out this Chevy Malibu Zinger. Let me know in the comments below if you liked this car!

M2 Machines Auto Japan Series One (Walmart Exclusive)

Here's the latest M2 Machines set that I found at Walmart. It's the Auto Japan series. Looks like M2 Machines wants to cash in on the recent success of Hot Wheels Japan Historics series. This Walmart exclusive series features three different Nissan models, adorned both as daily drivers and race versions, for a total of 6 cars in this set.

The first pairing is called the 1970 Nissan Fairlady Z Z432. The race version is dark green and the stock version is yellow. The stock yellow version has bumpers and should have silver rims and wheel covers, not the black race rims. According to people who have opened this model, the mirrors are really flimsy and fall off quite easily.

The second pairing is the 1969 Nissan Bluebird 1600 SSS in race version red and stock version light green. The stock version gets stock rims.

The last pairing is the 1971 Nissan Skyline GT-R. The Race version is silver and the stock version is yellow.

These models were priced at just under $10 CDN each, which makes them quite expensive. I recall that the Hot Wheels Japan Historics retailed at about $5.99 each and those flew off the shelves. I imagine these cars will as well given the current craze of JDM diecast.