69Stang
07-04-2008, 12:03 PM
Good day gang! I wanted to share my lastest ramblings with you as I posted it on the Greenlight "Under The Hood" boards. For those of you that know me, you know I have to clear my mind from time to time of diecast diatribe!
I post these in hopes that others may chime in with thier thoughts. Both pro and con, it's all welcome. Thanks for the long read.
Ward
"I believe in constructive criticism. Not DEstructive, that's just moaning and complaining. But true honest communication. That is when ideas and comments can be openly exchanged without a nasty undercurrent or hidden agenda.
Greenlight has not only invited our comments but openly provided us a venue in which to express those onions (albeit we pay for the privilege) but none the less, here we are at the "Under The Hood" club boards. Freely expressing out thoughts and concerns with the very people making our favorite toy cars.
I have never been afraid to express an opinion, good or bad. I just always try to do in a constructive manner. On the other hand, I believe that a good job should be acknowledge and appreciated. Well, our friends at GREENLIGHT have been listening to the collector community and they deserve a round of applause!
With the release of the new SPEED series, GL has addressed several complaints stated here and other web based forums. The first I would like to point out is the addition of the spacer sleeve to secure a "center" position for the front axle on the drag cars. Remember the Camaro from release one? The skinny front tires were allowed to slide back and forth under the front end of the car making for a very sloppy presentation. The new, refined version as seen on the current Mustang and Firebird has addressed that issue with flying colors! Very nicely done GL!
And by the way, for all you guys that have been longing for steel wheels ( often referred to as "steelies") take a close look at the Drag Firebird....This is the second time this wheel has now surfaced, first appearing on the road racing Vette from the Corvette series 3. So set back and smile, steel wheels are now a solid part of the GL tool box!
Second, the ever consent moaning regarding the width of the tires. An issue that does not bother me on a personal level, but may be the most common complaint I hear from collectors. Well, take a look at this release, three of the six cars are dead on! The two drag cars (Firebird and Mustang) and the Oldsmobile. GL used the same spacer concept to fill the void in the frame casting to allow for a more correct wheel width on the Olds. The result is amazing! What a great job GL, I look for more castings to receive this treatment with upcoming releases.
The other three were not as lucky, the Charger (what a casting!!) and the Chevell are shod in the traditional wide rubber, while the C6R Vette is far to skinny for the real car.
But all of GL's newer Vette castings use narrow rubber. While they put 15" rubber on a 69' Mustang, they have their late model Corvette castings set up to receive 8" wheels. In real live the C6 Corvette really IS running 10" wide wheels with a contact patch of rubber around 12 full inches! So the casting is far to narrow on even the street versions, on the race car it's almost laughable. The standard scale "wide" tire would be perfect under the newer Vette's, but the bottom mold will not accept them.
Several other issues continue to stay front and center, primarily that of paint quality. Of the 6 cars in this new release, 4 of mine had minor paint issues. Looking at other brands, I know it is possible to deliver an almost flawless paint job in this scale and price point, but were just not quite there yet. I know you are addressing this as we speak.
Also the ride height must be addressed, as several cars (namely the Mustangs) look like four wheel drive mudders! I do not know if this is too large a diameter for the wheel and tire, or the axle is set to low in the chassie making the car overall to tall. But we need to get those ride heights corrected.
And before I conclude, let me jump off topic from the road castings and take a moment to applaud you for the new INDY (IRL) castings! What a beautiful rendering of this modern day hot rod.
The old 1:64 casting was never truly accurate and had been made irrelevant maybe 4 years ago by body design changes that the casting simply did not reflect. It was akin to placing modern day NASCAR graphics on a 1975 body and calling it current. Well no more, this new small scale cast is just dynamite and deserves all the attention it is receiving.
Overall, top notch Greenlight. The collectors of the world salute you. Thank you for listening to your customer base and addressing the concerns as they arise. We do see you progressively working in these areas and expect each release to improve with time and refinement.
Here's the deal, you keep building these wonderful toy cars, and well keep buying them...aaah, a match made in heaven!
Ward"
I post these in hopes that others may chime in with thier thoughts. Both pro and con, it's all welcome. Thanks for the long read.
Ward
"I believe in constructive criticism. Not DEstructive, that's just moaning and complaining. But true honest communication. That is when ideas and comments can be openly exchanged without a nasty undercurrent or hidden agenda.
Greenlight has not only invited our comments but openly provided us a venue in which to express those onions (albeit we pay for the privilege) but none the less, here we are at the "Under The Hood" club boards. Freely expressing out thoughts and concerns with the very people making our favorite toy cars.
I have never been afraid to express an opinion, good or bad. I just always try to do in a constructive manner. On the other hand, I believe that a good job should be acknowledge and appreciated. Well, our friends at GREENLIGHT have been listening to the collector community and they deserve a round of applause!
With the release of the new SPEED series, GL has addressed several complaints stated here and other web based forums. The first I would like to point out is the addition of the spacer sleeve to secure a "center" position for the front axle on the drag cars. Remember the Camaro from release one? The skinny front tires were allowed to slide back and forth under the front end of the car making for a very sloppy presentation. The new, refined version as seen on the current Mustang and Firebird has addressed that issue with flying colors! Very nicely done GL!
And by the way, for all you guys that have been longing for steel wheels ( often referred to as "steelies") take a close look at the Drag Firebird....This is the second time this wheel has now surfaced, first appearing on the road racing Vette from the Corvette series 3. So set back and smile, steel wheels are now a solid part of the GL tool box!
Second, the ever consent moaning regarding the width of the tires. An issue that does not bother me on a personal level, but may be the most common complaint I hear from collectors. Well, take a look at this release, three of the six cars are dead on! The two drag cars (Firebird and Mustang) and the Oldsmobile. GL used the same spacer concept to fill the void in the frame casting to allow for a more correct wheel width on the Olds. The result is amazing! What a great job GL, I look for more castings to receive this treatment with upcoming releases.
The other three were not as lucky, the Charger (what a casting!!) and the Chevell are shod in the traditional wide rubber, while the C6R Vette is far to skinny for the real car.
But all of GL's newer Vette castings use narrow rubber. While they put 15" rubber on a 69' Mustang, they have their late model Corvette castings set up to receive 8" wheels. In real live the C6 Corvette really IS running 10" wide wheels with a contact patch of rubber around 12 full inches! So the casting is far to narrow on even the street versions, on the race car it's almost laughable. The standard scale "wide" tire would be perfect under the newer Vette's, but the bottom mold will not accept them.
Several other issues continue to stay front and center, primarily that of paint quality. Of the 6 cars in this new release, 4 of mine had minor paint issues. Looking at other brands, I know it is possible to deliver an almost flawless paint job in this scale and price point, but were just not quite there yet. I know you are addressing this as we speak.
Also the ride height must be addressed, as several cars (namely the Mustangs) look like four wheel drive mudders! I do not know if this is too large a diameter for the wheel and tire, or the axle is set to low in the chassie making the car overall to tall. But we need to get those ride heights corrected.
And before I conclude, let me jump off topic from the road castings and take a moment to applaud you for the new INDY (IRL) castings! What a beautiful rendering of this modern day hot rod.
The old 1:64 casting was never truly accurate and had been made irrelevant maybe 4 years ago by body design changes that the casting simply did not reflect. It was akin to placing modern day NASCAR graphics on a 1975 body and calling it current. Well no more, this new small scale cast is just dynamite and deserves all the attention it is receiving.
Overall, top notch Greenlight. The collectors of the world salute you. Thank you for listening to your customer base and addressing the concerns as they arise. We do see you progressively working in these areas and expect each release to improve with time and refinement.
Here's the deal, you keep building these wonderful toy cars, and well keep buying them...aaah, a match made in heaven!
Ward"