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Let me begin by saying the topic of this thread is not meant to be Playing Mantis vs. RC2. Yesterday I purchased my first JL since RC2 relaunched the line and thought I might take it upon myself to do a little investigative reporting, examining for myself some of the stories I have heard concerning the new line of die-cast cars being produced under the banner of Johnny Lightning. My intent in this was to examine all visible pros and cons through a step by step analysis, comparing an old (PM), and new (RC2) version of the same casting…in this case, the ‘55 Lincoln Futura. Will some of the rumors concerning quality and packaging design problems be disproved or substantiated? Let’s find out.
Phase 1: Packaging/Design/Content
From a contemporary design point of view, the frontal view Playing Mantis card (top left) offered little or no charm. Even looking at it through the veil of nostalgia, it was poorly conceived. Once the photo card is removed, all that’s left is the Street Freaks logo, which looks like it was designed in about two minutes flat, plucked straight off the top of the designer’s head in this case. Take away the color and what do you have left?
The rear view of the PM card (bottom left), offers a list of other vehicles from their then current Street Freaks line, club information offering a choice of two exclusive cars to their members, and an eight hundred numbers that offers to answer questions about the club or product in general, and their web site.
The frontal view new RC2 packaging (top right), shows much more initiative in design. The black racing stripes are sleek and the photo knock outs on the card is a simple, yet dynamic solution to adding content. Having the series release number right on the front of the package is convenient as well.
Rc2 packaging from the rear view (bottom right),gives us the usual check list of other cars in the current Classic Gold series, a check list of the coming soon Musclecars, R12. The new photo cards have a spec sheet with vehicle information on the back. The web site is included, but no information about the club. Since the club is now free, stating this information would be a great way to increase traffic to their site. There’s a blurb about the high quality and state of the art tooling in both English and French languages. Also, there is no phone number for RC2. Unfortunately, this is one of the main differences when going from a small independently owned company to a larger corporation. The individual (or in this case, the customer) is never given the same attention. It isn’t considered cost effective.
Phase 1 conclusions:
PM’s packaging was cheaply done, but welcomed costumer relations, and also gave incentive to join their car club.
RC2 can afford much better designers, however customer relations is not encouraged. Their free club (a nice bit of incentive for new customers) is not mentioned. They do have that very nice blurb written in both English and French, hyping their line for anyone who enjoys reading such things.
Phase 1: Packaging/Design/Content

From a contemporary design point of view, the frontal view Playing Mantis card (top left) offered little or no charm. Even looking at it through the veil of nostalgia, it was poorly conceived. Once the photo card is removed, all that’s left is the Street Freaks logo, which looks like it was designed in about two minutes flat, plucked straight off the top of the designer’s head in this case. Take away the color and what do you have left?
The rear view of the PM card (bottom left), offers a list of other vehicles from their then current Street Freaks line, club information offering a choice of two exclusive cars to their members, and an eight hundred numbers that offers to answer questions about the club or product in general, and their web site.
The frontal view new RC2 packaging (top right), shows much more initiative in design. The black racing stripes are sleek and the photo knock outs on the card is a simple, yet dynamic solution to adding content. Having the series release number right on the front of the package is convenient as well.
Rc2 packaging from the rear view (bottom right),gives us the usual check list of other cars in the current Classic Gold series, a check list of the coming soon Musclecars, R12. The new photo cards have a spec sheet with vehicle information on the back. The web site is included, but no information about the club. Since the club is now free, stating this information would be a great way to increase traffic to their site. There’s a blurb about the high quality and state of the art tooling in both English and French languages. Also, there is no phone number for RC2. Unfortunately, this is one of the main differences when going from a small independently owned company to a larger corporation. The individual (or in this case, the customer) is never given the same attention. It isn’t considered cost effective.
Phase 1 conclusions:
PM’s packaging was cheaply done, but welcomed costumer relations, and also gave incentive to join their car club.
RC2 can afford much better designers, however customer relations is not encouraged. Their free club (a nice bit of incentive for new customers) is not mentioned. They do have that very nice blurb written in both English and French, hyping their line for anyone who enjoys reading such things.