Johnny Lightning

The Johnny Lightning brand of diecast toys was originally released by the Topper Toy Company in 1969. They were desgigned to improve upon the speed concept of Hot Wheels cars, which were much faster than the Matchbox cars of the day. They changed the focus for toy cars from realism to speed. Topper succeeded in taking this focus and improving upon the execution of the technology resulting in the fastest diecast toy cars in the world. The company made a big publicity impact with the sponsorhip of Parnelli Jones Racing Indy car, driven by Al Unser in 1970 and 1971....winning both races and furthering their connection to speed! This lead to capturing an amazing 25% of the diecast toy market, in a period of three years. However, difficulties with other parts of the company forced them into bankruptcy in 1971 despite the success of the Johnny Lightning toy line. They disappeared as suddenly as they had burst onto the scene. 1991, Playing Mantis obtained the rights to the Johnny Lightning trademark, and began producing replicas of those original castings. They also produced the designs that Topper never got to market, The Lost Toppers. The rest is history, moving into Muscle Cars, Classic cars and trucks, the brand took off again, this time with even greater success than in the past. Today, the brand is owned by RC2, the toymaker that produces Racing Champions, and the future looks brighter than ever!

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