[kevman]

1. Pre-bent axles outta the box- I can't stand this at all, at least its somewhat fixable, but annoying nonetheless

2. Hoods that don't sit closed right- I find this to be specific to certain models, maybe just the way its designed. My 1970 Challengers come to mind on this one.

3. Rubber wheels that have the wider tires when they are meant for skinny tires- I guess this one is kinda being to picky.

4. Plastic wheels that are so misshapened that the center part doesn't sit in the wheel right- very annoying, more specific to older JL's I think

5. Opening hoods that scratch the paint if they are opened to a somewhat reasonable height- I guess this is just by design.

 

[SkipperC]

Just wait until the Chinese start makin' real cars.... :tongue:

 

[Galaxieman]

The dearth of Galaxies :tongue:

 

[McRooster]

The fat tires have been the biggest thing that detracts from the realism of these cars.
If they fix that,no other 1:64 comes close.
Addressing the other fit and finish issues would only make JL the best money can buy and at an even $5.00,a little expensive but worth it.
The rule applies,you get what you pay for.

 

[TheDarkCutlass]

1. Pre-bent axles outta the box- I can't stand this at all, at least its somewhat fixable, but annoying nonetheless

Understandable

2. Hoods that don't sit closed right- I find this to be specific to certain models, maybe just the way its designed. My 1970 Challengers come to mind on this one.

When your dealing with a 1 inch hood sitting on a 3 inch car, a small gap looks huge. But name me a company that was able to do this well? Looking at my GL 442, has the same problem with hood fitment issues

3. Rubber wheels that have the wider tires when they are meant for skinny tires- I guess this one is kinda being to picky.

not sure what you mean with this one?

4. Plastic wheels that are so misshapened that the center part doesn't sit in the wheel right- very annoying, more specific to older JL's I think

Never noticed this one on any of mine... never looked that close to be honest

5. Opening hoods that scratch the paint if they are opened to a somewhat reasonable height- I guess this is just by design.

Again with the size of product you are dealing with, in order to get the hood to open, it has to have a 'hinge'. While trying to make the hood sit straight while closed, and yet still be able to open is a little tricky. Think about most 1:1 , when you pop the hood open, it kinda swings outward away from the firewall/cowl before upward... almost impossible to recreate in diecast.

Valid points, but I think this should be more to die-cast in general, as most of these are not JL specific problems, but plague the entire 1:64 die-cast industry.

 

[Pewter02WS6]

#1 would probably be when the same wheels get beaten to death by being used over and over again especially on cars you would never really see said wheels on. it is amazing how greenlight has correct wheels for each of their castings and still maintains now lower cost than JLs in general. i am so sick of seeing that 5 star and cragar design on every casting known to man. yes, they did make a new design this year but personally, it doesn't resemble any stock or aftermarket wheel out there let alone being a good looking wheel if it did. i do however love the ones used on the new 60's sizzle trans am and pony power firebird.

# 2 would be coke,monopoly,universal monsters,rock art, etc. nuff said!
# 3 would be design flaws and quality issues such as non-fitting hoods. i have some castings where the hood won't go all the way up and some of the very same that won't go all the way down. also, others where the hood is too far front.
#4 short axles such as the classic gold 69 firebird.

i could mention more but in all, i still love these cars and welcome them into my collection. :thumbsup:

 

[TheDarkCutlass]

#1 would probably be when the same wheels get beaten to death by being used over and over again especially on cars you would never really see said wheels on. it is amazing how greenlight has correct wheels for each of their castings and still maintains now lower cost than JLs in general. i am so sick of seeing that 5 star and cragar design on every casting known to man. yes, they did make a new design this year but personally, it doesn't resemble any stock or aftermarket wheel out there let alone being a good looking wheel if it did. i do however love the ones used on the new 60's sizzle trans am and pony power firebird.

Think it would be fesable for a company to have hundreds of wheel castings to keep track of? Granted yes, GL does do a good job, but this is a fairly new company, that can make the wheels as they are making the car casting itself. When alot of the castings that JL uses came out, they didn't have the technology to make decent wheel to go with that car, and that only car.

But i'll admit another thing, the GL wheels on the 442... while painted like they would come stock, are no where near what they look like, except thaat the are a 5 spoke.

 

[FLOYDFROG]

I guess my only pet peeve about JLs is that they are on the endangered species list & may become extinct soon

 

[FLOYDFROG]

I guess my only pet peeve about JLs is that they are on the endangered species list & may become extinct soon

I guess this really shouldn't be a pet peeve about Lightnings, It should be directed at Johnny's parents

Aside from this, the only problem I see on a semi-regular basis would be the bent axle issue. Today I purchased my first "$4.44" Johnny Lightning. Musclecars 1965 Impala convertible. Driver's side front tire bent up in the wheelwell. It's fixed now, but should have left the factory alittle better than it was

 

[Atencio]

Originally Posted by kevman

2. Hoods that don't sit closed right- I find this to be specific to certain models, maybe just the way its designed. My 1970 Challengers come to mind on this one.

When your dealing with a 1 inch hood sitting on a 3 inch car, a small gap looks huge. But name me a company that was able to do this well? Looking at my GL 442, has the same problem with hood fitment issues

I disagree. I don't mind if the hood is a little off but some castings do have a problem with hoods closing. I must have six Firebirds where the hood doesn't even come close to closing. I would rather have a car with a non-opening hood than one that does not sit flush. The other hood problem that bugs me is hoods that don't open up more than a crack. The hood issues are my only pet peeve with JL's. I have got a few cars with bent axles but not really a great number of them to bother me.

 

[ViperMan]

I don't know if I have five so for now I'll give just my biggest...


That the Viper GTS is tiny compared to the viper rt/10!!

 

[Karl]

Dislikes:
1. Bent Axles - In my collection the ratio of JL to 'other' brands is disproportionately high.
2. Unevenly seated bases where one side is higher than the other so the car appears 'tilted' and has bigger wheel well gaps on one side.

Loves:
1. Detail - Grills, taillights, and overall scale proportions have steadily been getting better (sans the Pinto model of course).
2. Paint finish is better than most too!

Things of note:
I haven't got a big gripe on hood fit as thats improving also - but I do get frustrated when a few of mine want to yawn all the time (won't stay closed).

 

[midtown]

1. The 1970 Chevelle casting hasn't been used as a Rebel Rod/Spoiler yet.
2. No opening hood on 1966 hearse and HO Olds castings.
3. Demise of Frightning Lightnings
4. No creativity on blister card art (FL, Wacky Winners etc)
5. Coke series

 

[Long Arm of the LAW]

1 . cars are $2 more each than they were last year at this time
2. inspecting a car for 5 min. and compairing it with the other cars at the store to find the one with out any major flaws , getting it home and opening it only to find there is a major paint smuge on the other side

and I will agree with Matts 3-5

 

[Pewter02WS6]

But i'll admit another thing, the GL wheels on the 442... while painted like they would come stock, are no where near what they look like, except thaat the are a 5 spoke.

i am sorry but i have to disagree. although they might not be 100% accurate, they are pretty darn close. i certainly appreciate their efforts instead of slapping a set of 5 star or cragars that were used on a million of their other castings. i dont get how you think these wheels are so far off from the stock ones.

Think it would be fesable for a company to have hundreds of wheel castings to keep track of? Granted yes, GL does do a good job, but this is a fairly new company, that can make the wheels as they are making the car casting itself. When alot of the castings that JL uses came out, they didn't have the technology to make decent wheel to go with that car, and that only car.

i certainly don't expect to see JL make an exact wheel replica for each casting but it would be nice if they didn't use the same two wheels thousands of times. i also believe it would have been possible for them to make a few new wheels over the past few years since they have been producing more detailed castings. :wave:

When your dealing with a 1 inch hood sitting on a 3 inch car, a small gap looks huge. But name me a company that was able to do this well? Looking at my GL 442, has the same problem with hood fitment issues .

i can live with the gaps. of course they are going to look huge due to scale. i would take opening features with a gap any day. the gaps on the shelby collectibles doors look huge but i still love the feature. my problem is with fitment where it prevents the hood from closing or opening correctly. i have a few of the gold series 442s where i can't get the hood to close and sit flush like it should. i have the same problem with a few of my firebird and charger castings as well. i also have some of those very same castings that do close and fit well. i just feel they should be consistent. the same thing applies for certain castings on being able to open them all the way. some castings i can open the hood all the way and they will stay up. others won't stay up and others will only open 1/2 way.

 

[McRooster]

The thing I don't like about that GL 442 is that the wheelbase looks too short.JL's version is much better.

 

[AQUA XK8]

I agree with most of what's been posted here.
In addition, what bugs me is when I free a car and then I find out it has surface paint scrapes on the roof, hood or trunk that were created by the plastic packaging designed to hold the car secure. I only display perfect cars in my cases, so I sometimes have to open several of the same car/series before I find a flawless one.

 

[TheDarkCutlass]

i am sorry but i have to disagree. although they might not be 100% accurate, they are pretty darn close. i certainly appreciate their efforts instead of slapping a set of 5 star or cragars that were used on a million of their other castings. i dont get how you think these wheels are so far off from the stock ones.

Do you have on of those 442's in hand? if you looked at the style of rim, its not correct, look like aftermarket rims painted green IMHO


Found this picture from american racing, the rims look almost like these, except the small gap between the spokes is filled

i certainly don't expect to see JL make an exact wheel replica for each casting but it would be nice if they didn't use the same two wheels thousands of times. i also believe it would have been possible for them to make a few new wheels over the past few years since they have been producing more detailed castings.

O i understand that aspect to, its not that JL is using the same cragers over and over again, its just that they need to make more castings of wheels, but then your still going to get the "those wheels don't belong on that car" syndrome no matter what you do

i can live with the gaps. of course they are going to look huge due to scale. i would take opening features with a gap any day. the gaps on the shelby collectibles doors look huge but i still love the feature. my problem is with fitment where it prevents the hood from closing or opening correctly. i have a few of the gold series 442s where i can't get the hood to close and sit flush like it should. i have the same problem with a few of my firebird and charger castings as well. i also have some of those very same castings that do close and fit well. i just feel they should be consistent. the same thing applies for certain castings on being able to open them all the way. some castings i can open the hood all the way and they will stay up. others won't stay up and others will only open 1/2 way.

Ever have a gap on your brand new car?.. but anyways, again, givin the size, a small speck of dirt, or even a little extra paint build up will be inhanced 64 times over, so maybe in mockups and trial runs it is good, but when the machine starts werling these things out, small things can get in there and disrupt stuff like fitments, and stuff of that sort.

And im sorty, but i don't expect a company to look at 2000-5000 individual hoods to make sure they open an close, times that by 6 per release, thats 12000-30000 different fitment issues to look at... it doesnt suprise me a few get by.


Now granted, don't think i just bought stocks in RC2 or anythiong of the sorts (stocks, pfft, legalizzed goverment controlled gambling if you ask me). But the complaints i'm reading here, are not JL Specific (maybe the rims) But I see all of these same problems across all of my diecast cars... well... except jada... because it doesnt even have an opening hood... but it does have the bent axles... *shrug*

 

[Wyatt]

Bunch of stuff.

You have valid points with all of your complaints and I agree with them. I also think if the time was taken to do things perfectly, these little $4.50 cars would end up costing quite a bit more. Hot Rod Al, Jeff Koch, Tony K, and Mac Ragan have spent a lot of time trying to keep the Chinese factories from over crimping axels, hand painting errors, and many other QC issues but it's a contant battle, from what we've read here at HobbyTalk. And don't even think about making them in the USA if you want good quality and a low price.

 

[BluntFronts]

I hate all of the specks of dirt and stray metal flash bits that get painted over on JLs. Other manufacturers manage to get all of the dirt off of most of their cars before painting, why can't JL?

Nearly every JL I open has paint contamination issues. Not so with Yat Ming, Malibu, even Brand X!

(Jada & Greenlight seem to be on par with JL when it comes to paint flaws)