To all Topper JL & vintage die-cast collectors,

I'm a huge Topper Johnny Lightning collector who just joined Hobby Talk because I need to talk to as many Topper and vintage die-cast collectors as I can.

I've been able to talk to a decision maker at a publishers house & pitched the idea of making a collector book exclusively for Topper JL cars, track sets & accessories ONLY. (Playing Mantis and RC2 stuff would NOT be included.)

The concept is to make it part story-style & part price guide, like a combo of Angelo Van Bogart's HW Redline books & Clark & Wicker Ultimate Redline Guides. The price would probably be around $25-$30 for the book, but the quality of the pictures, content and variation listings would be similar to the Van Bogart / Clark & Wicker books. Think of it! A full book dedicated JUST to the Topper JL stuff...cars, track sets, patches, accessories, etc.!

There are plenty of books and price guides on Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, but very few on Topper Johnny Lightnings, and I believe there is a REAL need for one!

So far, the guy is interested, but he's not quite willing to go ahead with it because he's not sure if enough collectors would be interested in it. Here's what he e-mailed me today:

"Hi Steven,

Thank you for your overview of your book project. You have done a nice job capturing your vision.

Please give me a few days to review this. As you know, Hot Wheels is the king of die-cast cars. Matchbox, because of its history and name recognition, is a distant second. How Topper Johnny Lightning fits in the mix is the question for which I don't have an answer. Any sense of the collector market size you can provide is appreciated."

Since a lot of you Topper guys post here, I was hoping to get some feedback and input from you on your thoughts about the book idea. Also, spread the word to as many collectors as you can and have them respond to this post as well.

HERE'S A CHANCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE...YOUR OPINION COUNTS, SO SPREAD THE WORD AND POST HERE!

I'll send my contact a direct link to this post, so he can see for himself the interest that's out there.

Thanx for all your help!

Grif

I believe there is all ready one in development by one of the Knowledge gurus on Toppers. I believe it is a history and pictorial no price guide.

I'd say go for it. Two Are better than one as long as the information is correct. Who knows how long we'll have to wait for the other one to get published.

I'd love to have one but I doubt that there is a market for two of them. I don't care about a price guide as price guides in books are always useless. I would just like a good photo reference.

If you want a list of all Topper items produced by Deluxe Reading/Topper I have a list on my website. The site hasn't been updated since 2001 but it still has good info for the Topper nut.

http://johnnylightning.wikispaces.com/Johnny+Lightning+items