# Was this car ever released?



## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

Thanks for any info! It's a old Playing Mantis era resin slot body.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

If they did it's one I missed. :thumbsup: rr


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## ParkRNDL (Mar 20, 2002)

YOWZA. No, that's never been in a JL slot release, but I know a ton of slotheads who would buy it if it was. Are you saying that's a prototype slot car body? Can we get a shot of the bottom?

--rick


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

mid,
if you have that, add some posts (if needed) and slap her on a chassis. Oh yeah, paint her silver too.  rr


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

Man, I wonder if that was to be part of a planned a James Bond series of JLTO's ?  

Having an Aston Martin DB5 in Tjet form would be sweet....... I'm a BIG James Bond fan :thumbsup:


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

It's not mine, but a friend asked me to help sell it for him. I had never seen it before, but it is definitely a legit prototype.


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

midtown said:


> It's not mine, but a friend asked me to help sell it for him.QUOTE]
> 
> 
> Ok, I'll bite.....what's your friend asking for it???


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

I'll have a pic of the bottom in a few hours.

TX, please check the auction swap and sell.


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

I'd like one! :thumbsup: rr


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## 66Galaxie500 (Jun 18, 2004)

I'd like one too.


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## TUFFONE (Dec 21, 2004)

I saw a prototype like this at the "World Slot Show 2000" in Richfield, Ohio. Playing Mantis had a large display set up featuring Thunderjets and Thunderjet 500's. A whole set of vehicles was planned and at the prototype stage of production. Most of these were for the Thunderjet 500's. There was a large display of full color pictures of the cars. The James Bond car was in there along with an exact dupe of the Aurora Batmobile ( which they were going to call the Barrismobile ). Also in the mix was the Little Red Wagon and the Dragnet unmarked police car. I can't remember them all. I heard the set was never produced due to licencing issues. A rep from Playing Mantis even went through the crowd asking for and making note of what cars we would like to see in the future. Very cool and it's too bad these didn't come about.

Tuffone


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

There are a few more I've seen, a Chaparral (?), Black Beauty, Dodge A-100 pickup, and a pro street 55 Chevy.


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

*Prototypes*

After the 2nd set of pullbacks, JL had thoughts on a another set of pullbacks:

Tjets
Aston Martin DB5
Black Beauty
Batmobile
Speed Racer's Mach 5

Afx
Lil Red Wagon (Dodge A-100 Pickup)
55 Chevy
McClaren XLR
and a 4th car that i can't remember.

How much for the 55 Chevy, and the McClaren?


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

You should sell it to someone prepared to make pops of it?


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

Montoya1 said:


> You should sell it to someone prepared to make pops of it?


Indeed, if RC2 will not make it somene else should...


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

noddaz said:


> Indeed, if RC2 will not make it somene else should...



Yep, that would be great if that *would* happen......that way everyone could get a chance to enjoy adding that piece to our collection....... sadly, I'll bet the winner of the auction won't be willing to do that though


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## Montoya1 (May 14, 2004)

We can win it! I'll pledge an amount if others will match me, our combined buying power should get the job done.

Of course, we need trust for it to work plus someone who knows we are doing this, and is willing to do the casting part of things.

I think Roger C is on this list?

I just checked and I'm (Montoya1111) top bidder at the moment.....

Item number: 5981323742


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

Montoya1 said:


> We can win it! I'll pledge an amount if others will match me, our combined buying power should get the job done.
> 
> Of course, we need trust for it to work plus someone who knows we are doing this, and is willing to do the casting part of things.
> 
> ...


Yep, I noticed your high bid this morning  

You know, that is a GREAT idea........ I'd be in for one or two resin castings..... only thing is, it all depends on how much we are to kick in $$$ wise. Right now I'm outlaying cash to build my slot car table and layout (PLUS a couple of slots that I got a GREAT deal on...too good to pass up) and also still pouring in cash into my 1:1 truck rebuild (the machine work just set me back an additional $130 on Friday  ) 

But still, I'd be down :thumbsup:


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

Frankly, I don't see what all the frenzy is over getting this into the hands of someone who could recast it. This piece has way more appeal as a collector item. If there was that much demand for this Aston Martin, the handful of resin casters that are out there would have filled the void by now, since this casting exists in the JL line and Roger, RRR, Bad Dog or someone else would have done it. 

As far as it becoming a 'regular' RC2 production slot, I don't see where that'll happen. Licensing alone would probably kill it since you'd be dealing with Aston Martin and James Bond licensing agents at a minimum. It would push the price too high and/or require it to be repainted a dozen times to amortize the costs, which is never a good thing...


Dan


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)




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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

........


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## TX Street Racer (May 8, 2004)

lenny said:


> Frankly, I don't see what all the frenzy is over getting this into the hands of someone who could recast it. This piece has way more appeal as a collector item. If there was that much demand for this Aston Martin, the handful of resin casters that are out there would have filled the void by now, since this casting exists in the JL line and Roger, RRR, Bad Dog or someone else would have done it.
> 
> As far as it becoming a 'regular' RC2 production slot, I don't see where that'll happen. Licensing alone would probably kill it since you'd be dealing with Aston Martin and James Bond licensing agents at a minimum. It would push the price too high and/or require it to be repainted a dozen times to amortize the costs, which is never a good thing...
> 
> ...


Dan, I think the deal about gettign it recasted for everyone to enjoy is it's a JL slot body that *almost* made it into production. It's not a diecast conversion....it's a JL produced body.....that as you said didn't make it probably due to licensing and the huge amount of royalties that would have had to have been paid.

Obviously it has alot of appeal if it's left as a "one of a kind" type of collector's item...... I just think it would be neat if somehow everyone could enjoy this slot that almost made it.......


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

It never ceases to amazed me how loose and free Playing Mantis and RC2 are with proprietary information and unlicensed prototypes. If I were the owner of the copyrights of products and trade brands that keep "leaking" out from current and former PM/RC2 employees I'd nail the parties responsible for the leak to the wall. At the very least, PM/RC2 should take action to prohibit the sale of this item.

The next time you complain about RC2 missing out on an opportunity to license a product just remember this auction and other ones of this ilk. This is the very sort of thing that scares away license holders and makes new product opportunities go away. If PM/RC2 had done a better job of adhering to the licensed property of others then we all would have been enjoying the VW slot car release that was ready to ship in January. Bad PM/RC2 = no VWs for us.

If this body is a legitimate prototype produced by Playing Mantis for a product that they did not have a license to mass produce then Playing Mantis would still own it and not be able to sell it or even give it away. Selling it on E-Bay would be illegal.


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

midtown said:


> It's not mine, but a friend asked me to help sell it for him. I had never seen it before, but it is definitely a legit prototype.


 So who's the 'friend' you're selling it for??? They don't have their own ebay account?? And what proof do you have that it's legit???

Just curious...


Dan


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

lenny, check your pm's


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

From what I understand, that car pictured above was made for a diecast product, not a slot car.


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

lol, nah. If it was 1:64 it would be in *MY* collection.


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

AfxToo, the Aston Martin was to be made for slotcars. It was proposed along with 3 others to be part of a 3rd round of pullback Thunderjet 500's.

Midtown, can you post a pic of the '55 Chevy and the other bodies you'll be auctioning?


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

Well dlw, I stand corrected. I did ask around about it and apparently this is not the resin cast of the James Bond car they did in diecast a couple of years ago. 

Okay. So what makes these things command $150+? It's not like you can paint it up and run it one a track (crash, crack, adios 150 bucks). It's certainly not a beauty queen for the display cabinet (so what part of primer gray don't you understand?). If you want to cast a resin copy of it you could have already used the JL diecast version as the model. If you want to mass produce it you need a $10K mold and a license (nasty little details). So what exactly makes someone lay out the average yearly income of a Tajikistanian to acquire such a thing?


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

... days.


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

*The Collector Bug*

AFX Too- just like goofs or misprints in anything production made; They are rare which equals big bucks from the right collector. I remember beer can collecting in the 70’s. If you got a can that was printed upside down- big bucks at a swap. I remember my uncle purchased a 6 pack of Old Style that had the labels on the inside and upside down. He drank the beer and I sold the empties for major bucks at a swap. They looked like steel cans on the outside until you looked through the pull tab hole. Ugly but valuable.

Having a prototype in your collection means you have the only one of its kind. If it was a car that was produced, you would think the prototype would be worth more than a car that was never produced. Apparently non-production items= big dollars. Those odd colored Aurora shots on eBay recently took in big dollars. Like $500-600 each!

Trying to understand the logic of hard core collectors is probably a waste of time. Collectors obsess over the most minute details and changes.

(man what is with the stupid eBay auto-linking. SUCKS when you preview anything!  )


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

Afx, some of the 'got to have it' collectors will pay anything for prototypes, and other company insider cars that 'accidently' get out into the public auction. But I have a question: Is this kind of thing a problem with JL/RC's diecast lines? They have VW's, Barris Batmobiles, Mustangs, Studebakers, and other things. Do workers sneak test shots of diecasts and other cars out the door? How come the diecast lines can get a license, but the slotcar division of the same company not get one? Must be some serious red tape here.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I know ... I know. I really don't want to come across wrong, much less whiny or pretentious. I really should just sit back and shake my head in silence. 

Sounds like a plan.


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## lenny (Feb 29, 2000)

Now this Black Beauty auction will be something to watch... JL 'prototype' is not even an appropriate term, it's still a resin cast of an old body and is really no different than the same body that is produced and sold by RRR for $17.

Dan


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## sethndaddy (Dec 4, 2004)

lenny said:


> Now this Black Beauty auction will be something to watch... JL 'prototype' is not even an appropriate term, it's still a resin cast of an old body and is really no different than the same body that is produced and sold by RRR for $17.
> 
> Dan


Good point, and I had one of RRR black beauty's, really nice, but it hit the fleabay market a week ago.


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

what is this?


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

apparently I took all the pics with the wing on backwards. I'm a goofball, sorry!


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

It's a bit too dark to see, Midtown.........I can't even see the wing, :lol:

This would've been a nice addition to the JL AFX line, not sure why they didn't go ahead and release this car..........it's an Aurora body, so there should be no license problems (since JL has the rights), and a lot of the CanAm set would be happy to see this hanging on the pegs.


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## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

I'd love to see some re-released CanAm and LeMans cars. 

I'm not so sure about RC2 having the rights to redo any old Aurora bodies. If Aurora had the license and the license was tranferred without restrictions then it would be okay. But I'd venture to guess that licensing wasn't enforced or respected back then. Repopping a Ferrari, Porsche, Lola, or McLaren today would draw considerable scrutiny.


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

Lighter, but still backwards! 












dlw said:
 

> It's a bit too dark to see, Midtown.........I can't even see the wing, :lol:
> 
> .


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

*Instead of E-bay....*

You should've let Tom Lowe crank out around 3000 of these on X-chassis.


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

Right now, MotorCityToyz is the high bidder on this. If you win, will you let Round-2 use this for possible future XT cars when they're able to?


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## 22tall (Jul 28, 2002)

Other than the motor stacks and the drivers helmet I see nothing different from the AFX version. Since Mr. Lowe has the line he probably has the mold already.


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

here is my favorite one


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## Dragula (Jun 27, 2003)

Do you have any of these test shots for sale????If I get them,they will go into production immediately.
Dragjet Resins


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## buzzinhornet (Jan 20, 2000)

midtown said:


> here is my favorite one


I want one of these lil red wagons! Tom? Dan? Are you listing?! Pleeeeaaase! 

GP 

BTW. I emailed JL more than onnce requesting a Speed racer mach 5 and lil red wagon...


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## midtown (Oct 19, 1999)

I'll get a picture soon. They are not mine.



Dragula said:


> Do you have any of these test shots for sale????If I get them,they will go into production immediately.
> Dragjet Resins


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## Dragula (Jun 27, 2003)

Let me know when the chevy goes up,please.
Chris


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