Auto World licenses tooling for AMT, MPC & Polar Lights model kits, American Muscle/ Ertl Collectibles die-cast

March 7, 2008
South Bend, IN – Auto World (a division of Round 2, LLC) has signed a licensing agreement with RC2/Learning Curve Brands, Inc. of Oak Brook, Illinois. The contract will allow Auto World to produce and market plastic model kits under the well-known brands of AMT, MPC and Polar Lights. Also included are the rights to manufacture 1:18 and 1:24 scale die-cast replicas using the trademarks of American Muscle and Ertl Collectibles. In addition, Auto World will now be handling production of Custom and Premium promotional die-cast vehicles for RC2’s current C&P customer base, with sales continuing through established representatives.

Thomas E. Lowe, President and Owner of Round 2, is now assembling a team of knowledgeable plastic model and die-cast specialists who are excited about this license opportunity and passionate about reintroducing these brands to their respective communities. Lowe states, “Our goal is to bring back many sought after vintage kits of all types from the AMT and MPC tooling banks, some that haven’t been available for decades. We've recruited model kit expert and creative designer John Greczula from Retro Hobby, Inc. to work with us. The American Muscle tooling bank has great potential, too, and Craig Flickinger, who was the Product Manager for American Muscle for several years, is on board to ensure that collectors are kept as priority one. Using our own production facilities, we will have the capability to adjust quantities of the model and die cast lines to satisfy market demand. We will not rely solely on old tooling, but will develop new tools as well.”

Further, Lowe states, “2008 is going to be a roller coaster ride for us as we prepare our game plan and get things moving. There is an incredible amount of information to be absorbed and organization that must take place. We understand the modeling and die-cast markets have changed and that several large mass-retail chains are beginning to turn their backs on stocking these products. We will try and slow that down by introducing new and innovative products, hopefully enticing them to support our brands. I learned a lot when I ran my previous company, Playing Mantis, and I intend to use all of my knowledge and contacts to the maximum. For me, it’s an opportunity of a lifetime.”

Tom Lowe and RC2 Brands, Inc. are no strangers to each other. Lowe, an entrepreneur known for his expertise in collectible automotive subject matter, sold his first company, Playing Mantis, Inc. to RC2 in 2004. Lowe founded Playing Mantis in 1994 and resurrected the classic Johnny Lightning brand, producing small-scale die-cast replicas and electric slot cars catering to the adult collector. Enthusiastic response resulted in phenomenal growth of the brand, and spurred Lowe to venture into other areas, including Polar Lights plastic model kits and Memory Lane seasonal product.

Round 2 was established by Lowe in 2005 and reintroduced electric slot cars under the Auto World brand, an iconic hobby catalog trademark which Lowe purchased from Auto World’s founder, Oscar Koveleski.

Round 2 is an innovative collectibles company located in South Bend, Indiana. Its family of brands includes Auto World, currently featuring X-Traction, ThunderJet and Super III 1:64 scale electric slot racers and racing sets; Forever Fun Holiday Collectibles, featuring detailed recreations of favorite holiday characters and EarthGlow Candles, featuring unique licensed candles and candle toppers. Round 2 is proud to add AMT, MPC and Polar Lights model kits, American Muscle and Ertl Collectibles die-cast to its portfolio of brands.

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The Ertl die cast fans have to be jumping up and down.

Maybe someday Tom can assemble a team of experts to help make his slot cars better. :cry:

who knew kitty litter cash would lead to such cool toys

Maybe someday Tom can assemble a team of experts to help make his slot cars better. :cry:



:lol::lol::lol: rr

]
Thomas E. Lowe, President and Owner of Round 2, is now assembling a team of knowledgeable plastic model and die-cast specialists who are excited about this license opportunity and passionate about reintroducing these brands to their respective communities.

Didn't he just get through firing a bunch of those kinds of people not that long ago??

Round 2 is an innovative collectibles company located in South Bend, Indiana. Its family of brands includes Auto World, currently featuring ... Super III 1:64 scale electric slot racers ...and EarthGlow Candles
It looks like these two product lines have alot in common.

It looks like these two product lines have alot in common.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.. that was too funny good one....LOLOL.. :thumbsup:

It looks like these two product lines have alot in common.


Ooooooooh -- burn.

(Get it? Burn? Get it?) :rolleyes:

yeeeoutch good one Dan.... LOL

Maybe with the additional experts working in the other disciplines, hopefully they may influence development of some variations of slot car wheels that will be available from the Slotcar Division. :devil: rr

I imagine Round2 will find this so much less hassle, that development of the slots will slow down even more.

Maybe someday Tom can assemble a team of experts to help make his slot cars better. :cry:

Why would he bother. He has gotten away with selling second class chassis all along. I was always amazed that people would slap up urls buy parts here and accepted having to replace parts on new cars. Between the chassis and treating collectors like garbage I have pretty much gotten away from buying any AW cars. Used to be a one for the shelf and one for the track. NEVER AGAIN.

Why would he bother. He has gotten away with selling second class chassis all along.

Yes and it was the collectors that allowed this to happen. Every release would sell out almost as fast as it came off the boat. Hell even consumers pre-order it by the case lot. When you have a product that moves that well, you will not see a problem. Kinda like telling McDonalds their hamburgers suck, their profits will pretty much tell you otherwise. :freak:

Every release would sell out almost as fast as it came off the boat. :freak:That's not even close to true. The JL warehouse was clogged with slotcars of every release (T-Jets and X-Tracs) when the company was sold to RC2. Tom Lowe himself was authorizing backdoor deals to move slotcars at $3.50/ea BEFORE the company was sold. At the time of the sale there was still over 100,000 slotcars in the warehouse.

But clearly past sales have been driven more by collectors, who care less about the QC of the chassis. With the S3, the emphasis needed to switch away from their needs a little and onto that of the racing crowd.

. . . At the time of the sale there was still over 100,000 slotcars in the warehouse.

I bet three or four of them even ran pretty good.

That's not even close to true. The JL warehouse was clogged with slotcars of every release (T-Jets and X-Tracs) when the company was sold to RC2. Tom Lowe himself was authorizing backdoor deals to move slotcars at $3.50/ea BEFORE the company was sold. At the time of the sale there was still over 100,000 slotcars in the warehouse.

Dan I know that's true of the FF releases and likely the last AW pancake release, as far as others if it's true he certainly wasn't passing that fact on to his distributors listed on the site as myself and other shops could not get cars two weeks after release with some releases. Of course maybe that's a ploy to feed the frenzy too.

Should see that happening again for sure though, I was in two major hobby retail stores in two states last week asking about the SIII, they wouldn't even consider ordering them.

I love the line about concern in the mass retail market for plastic models, that's gotta be the best joke I've heard in a long time. :D

Dan I know that's true of the FF releases and likely the last AW pancake release, as far as others if it's true he certainly wasn't passing that fact on to his distributors listed on the site as myself and other shops could not get cars two weeks after release with some releases. Of course maybe that's a ploy to feed the frenzy too.

Hi Gene,
it was deeper than FF. It went all the way back to release 2 of T-Jets. Surprisingly T-Jets release 3 and 4 had the most cars available, next to FF and the gold and silver batmobiles... T-Jet Release 5 was a shorter run than most other releases but these were still available as well.

Dan

I bet three or four of them even ran pretty good.
I'll take that bet...

Between the chassis and treating collectors like garbage I have pretty much gotten away from buying any AW cars. Used to be a one for the shelf and one for the track. NEVER AGAIN.

I'm going to venture a guess that there are very few collectors of AW cars. I myself collected all the JL cars, but have almost no AW cars - just three or four I picked up for less than $10.

This is actually a combination of two factors. The first - I realized I have more runners than I can possibly ever use; I am starting to thin the herd. The second factor - I was completely turned off during the "Chase" phase of the AW marketing and "The Post".

If I was buying these cars to use as runners, I would have also been turned off by the lack of quality. I could live and understand having to break the car down and tune it. I will not tolerate having to replace parts from the onset just to get a car to run as well as a $6 Artin.

Joe

Hey I just lit an AW chassis, it burns like a candle! Mmmm Bayberry. I guess w/ additional ventures quality in slots isn't about to improve.

Are the Fast and Furious cars just setting in a warehouse? Those were the overall best chassis of the XTractions I've had out of the box. They were dirt cheap by the case on eBay a couple years back. I'd be able to see some value at $3.50 ea. for a pancake motor car.

This news is somehow not unexpected...

How unfortunate...

And speaking of "blowing out" excess inventory, does anyone happen to have a copy of the flyer when JL was selling out the F&F overstock to dealers?
I don't think it was for $3.50 a car......

Scott

And speaking of "blowing out" excess inventory, does anyone happen to have a copy of the flyer when JL was selling out the F&F overstock to dealers?
I don't think it was for $3.50 a car......

Scott
you're right, near the end at a 'lightning Fest' a couple years back the F&F cars were either $1/ea or $2/ea.

I was paying 16.00 for a 12 car case of the FF2 series. I picked up 6 cases...funny...I only have one case left.:rolleyes:

I was paying 16.00 for a 12 car case of the FF2 series. I picked up 6 cases...funny...I only have one case left.:rolleyes:

It took that many to make 12 that ran well? :devil:

(Ok, I am sorry... That really wasn't necessary....)

Scott

It's just a shame the cars are low quality.

It's just a shame the cars are low quality.

I would note where they are made...but it might be redundant...

I must say though...racemasters /Tomy must have a very tight leash on whom ever they are dealing with....the quality of their stuff has been very good...

I'm still not convinced that autoworld isnt the victim of a shady bait and switch deal here...the cars shipped might not be anything like the cars prototyped and approved...tom might have tried to cheap out, but it doesnt seem likely with the price increase...

I have a hunch these cars are supposed to run alot better than they do....and there have been some very heated phone calls recently...

The later autoworld repops ran alot better than most of the johnny lighting stuff I ever had...and I also felt the body finish came up a bit as well...

I'm still going to get a couple and see how they tweak out...

I'm still not convinced that autoworld isnt the victim of a shady bait and switch deal here.

"Fool me twice... shame on me."

I feel bad for all involved, but you don't release the product onto the market and only then begin the QC process. As I look through all the posts (past and present) on all these products (past and present) there seems to be very few that didn't have "issues" after they hit store shelves. I don't have a big slot car budget these days. I'm struggling to put gasoline in my 1:1 car, so my tolerance for this kinda thing is zero. Nothing personal, but I simply can't afford to muck around with my money. It's why I only bought 1 Thunder Plus chassis. I'm look'n for hoofers not woofers. Maybe this venture will be a positive thing? With a larger line-up of products and less focus on slots (if there is less), perhaps it will force them to release fewer and (hopefully) better cars? Wishful thinking, but time will tell I suppose. nd

"Fool me twice... shame on me."

I feel bad for all involved, but you don't release the product onto the market and only then begin the QC process. As I look through all the posts (past and present) on all these products (past and present) there seems to be very few that didn't have "issues" after they hit store shelves. I don't have a big slot car budget these days. I'm struggling to put gasoline in my 1:1 car, so my tolerance for this kinda thing is zero. Nothing personal, but I simply can't afford to muck around with my money. It's why I only bought 1 Thunder Plus chassis. I'm look'n for hoofers not woofers. Maybe this venture will be a positive thing? With a larger line-up of products and less focus on slots (if there is less), perhaps it will force them to release fewer and (hopefully) better cars? Wishful thinking, but time will tell I suppose. nd


No problem...I fully understand why people are not very pleased...

And I'm not advocating for Tom nor did I help design the car...

I'm simply pointing out that there may be some circumstances we're not yet aware of...

Simply looking at the cars wouldnt tell you nuttin....and I have a feeling they cars they got for testing and approval probably ran great...and thye either didnt have the time or place to test any of the first batch shipped...

I certainly think it's a screw up....and AW bares the final responsiblity for what they ship...I'm NOT saying anyone should accept it either.....

I'm just saying I can understand how it might happen....it's happened to plenty of other American small business people allready.....

They contract for their product to be made and drop shipped...they get something back that meets approval...but when the stuff is shipped it's chocked full of cut corners, different materials, and sometimes eh...lead paint...

Again...I'm not claiming this is the case....but there was clearly alot of design change from anything AW put out before...seems odd that after all that work....we get a plain old dog out of the bargin...

I still get the feeling that something in the car isnt whats supposed to be in the car...like a different Arm or something...they might have done it to save money and skim some profits thinking it wouldnt matter on a toy car and no one would notice...

I mean the design itself is basiclly a G+....kinda hard to screw up unless you put too small of an arm in....

Hell....who even knows if the company that made these ever made a slot car before...:p

Simply looking at the cars wouldnt tell you nuttin....

I'll have to agree with this, we had a full supply of them at our race last night (http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=213343) and I have to say first off that given the usual issues when adjusting a body design to a scale wheelbase, these cars are actually very nice looking, pictures do not do them any justice. Not nearly as "toyish" as LifeLike stuff, nor do they run that way (none of that annoying "hollow" LL sound). Myself, wheelszk, nad sethndaddy spent a little time with these cars after the race. Bill had one that was great right out of the box, a second one of Bill's and Ed's just needed some shoe tweaking and away they went. Only one car ran a little on the hot side, but this was with lower tires on it.

Biggest complaint so far: On Tomy track, which is the same as Auto World track, these cars can not physically pass each other when on the same piece of track due to the wide stance of the rear wheels. Consider this if AW ever release a track set with these...first off the line wins lol.

I think these cars will be a lot of fun to race once we determine the best way to handle the rear wheel issue. Once a thorough analysis of the chassis is done we will be adding a Super III class to our lineup.

My later (then most) return to the hobby may have been a blessing. I only had the bygone era as a point of comparison. I wasnt victim to the frenzy of the modern chase. What experience I have with AW is mostly second hand (other peoples cars) and has ALWAYS consisted of trying to get them down the track and provide a measure of satisfaction for the disgruntled owners.

The recurrent theme? Subpar chassis QC, period!

We twiddle amongst ourselves about this body proportion, or some other minor styling ommision. For the most part we all tend to agree that the bodies are decent enough and some are surprisingly nice. That said, the down and dirty is always mechanical QC and the customer based perceptions that reflect on AW.

Bottom line is that if it takes more than normal svc, a brush poke or a shoe shove to get them around the track, then it's a REBUILD and the sum of it's parts is nothing more than a CORE. The only difference from a regular core is that these cores are mint in the box.

Like all of us, I work hard for my coin so paying cash to become a member of A-Dubya's adhoc consumer testing program aint 'zactly what I had in mind.

In light of last years whole "Take it or leave it" dealio; my response is still "Excuse me?"...."Say what?!!!!"

I see nothing in recent events to disuade me from still choosing the latter.

It's actually hard to find any one thing that seems 'right' about this chassis.

First it was the stunted bodies even though other wheelbases could have been used, then the poor QC, then the lack of backward-compatibility with past bodies and then the oddball choice of arm design and no doubt other parts.

The damn thing is even too wide...

Maybe AW should go back to just making bodies. Dave.

And speaking of the Autoworld/Johnny lightning cars being crappy, ok, a bunch out of the box are dogs a few run good with a little work, but some are downright rockets.

Saturday night at Genes we ran xtraction/magna traction cars in a class together, me and Gene drove original Magna tractions, the other 7 cars where Tommy Lowe mobiles. I think I came in 5th and Gene 8th........sorry, nay sayers, but the xtractions (mostly fast and furious) ran away with it, and my car was runnning good too.

Back in the day, when you could grab a case of 12 cars for 59.00, it was awesome. I wish the deals where still out there.

Anyone selling "overload" ANY release Tommy mobiles wanting to dump them for 3 bucks a piece, let me know how many you have to get rid of.

I am not a Tommy Boy, in fact, I think I only bought the Jeeps from the Dukes release, the General Lee chrome and white thunder general lee, and one super3.

Sorry guys, although they are not top notch, they are fun and a good deal for the price.

peace

As the price increases, so do the expectations. JLs started out with an MSRP of $12-$13, although few of us probably paid more than $10. I understand the new Super III MSRP is around $25. I can tolerate less QC at $10 than I can at $25. At $10, they were a great buy; when adjusted for inflation, probably a lot less than Aurora cars back in the 60s and 70s. However, for $25, it had better run real good out of the box.

I'm sure part of the price increases are due in no small part to the rising price of oil and the weakness of the dollar against foreign currency. Nothing anyone can do about that. Makes me shudder to think what the price of track will be if we want to do more.

Products from China (or anywhere) do not necessarily have to be poor quality. Our Tomy compatible 18" curves, and the Tyco compatible 6" and 15" curves were made in China. I would put their quality up against any plastic track made anywhere in the world. You just need someone who watches the store and demands quality.

What really would irk me about the JL and AW cars would be the need to replace parts right out of the box. This is not just bad for those of us who understand how to tweak and tune a pancake car, but it is very bad for the hobby if these are the first cars get into the hands of a newbie and cause them to be turned off to the hobby before ever really seeing how much fun it can be. That is a real issue for the growth and health of the hobby, especially if the AW cars are the only cars kids see in a hobby store - they will think they are representitive of all cars.

As I said before, if the parts are no good when they are first put on the car, don't bother putting them on at all.

When Model Motoring accidently issued chassis with 50 Ohm armatures, Mr. Harrison offered free replacements. Have you ever, anywhere, seen any comments posted by representitives of JL or AW about some of the quality issues? I haven't. I think that tells you all you need to know about the importance attached to quality and customer relations.

Joe

...Have you ever, anywhere, seen any comments posted by representitives of JL or AW about some of the quality issues? I haven't. I think that tells you all you need to know about the importance attached to quality and customer relations.

Instead of addressing the quality issues of his current main product line, tlowe is posting on the Modeling forum getting the modelers pumped up about his model kit licensing...

i guess it is not or won't be the main product line in future?