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(written from a production point of view)
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Johnny Lightning was formed as a subsidiary of Playing Mantis in 1994 and is currently a brand primarily used for collectible die-cast toy cars.

Topper Toys, the original owner of the name, produced Johnny Lightning die-cast cars from 1969 to 1971 as competitors to Hot Wheels, before the brand was folded and later sold to Playing Mantis.

Playing Mantis' parent company was acquired by the RC2 Corporation, which was itself acquired by Tomy in 2011. [1] Tomy discontinued the brand in 2013 but licensed it to Round 2 in 2016, along with the Playing Mantis logo.

Star Trek releases[]

Johnny Lightning Enterprise NX-01 variants

Enterprise NX-01 variants

Johnny Lightning produced a line of painted Star Trek starship miniatures called Legends of Star Trek from 2004 until 2008. The ships measured from ten to twelve centimeters long, were made of PVC, and included individually-labeled display stands cast in zamac metal.

Platz, the Japanese distributor of many Star Trek models, re-released the line in Japan commencing in 2011.

A USS Constellation, a Copernicus shuttlecraft with "atmospheric re-entry damage", a "cloaked" USS Enterprise (from "The Enterprise Incident"), and a USS Voyager with "Borg detailing" (from "Scorpion") were slated for possible release but were not produced.[2][3]

Legends of Star Trek: standard releases[]

JL Legends Of Star Trek logo

Series One[]

Released in 2004; packed on blue-backed cards with removable stickers; includes individually-labeled silver metal display stands

Series Two: Red Alert[]

Released in 2005; packed on red-backed cards; includes Starfleet insignia (2370s) embroidered fabric patches and individually-labeled silver metal display stands

Series Three: Uncharted Territories[]

Released in 2006; packed on purple-backed cards; includes individually-labeled black metal display stands

Series Four: Battlestations![]

Released in 2007; packed on red and black-backed cards; includes individually-labeled black metal display stands

Series Five: Sacrifice[]

Released in 2008; packed on red-backed cards with purple stripe on right; includes individually-labeled black metal display stands

Series Six: Ships Of The Line[]

Released in November 2008; packed on red-backed cards with green stripe on right; includes individually-labeled black metal display stands

A repaint of the USS Voyager with Borg detailing was scheduled for Series Six but was replaced by the Romulan D7 Battlecruiser. This D7's upper hull has markings as seen in the TAS episodes "The Survivor" and "The Practical Joker" while the lower hull is marked similarly to the Romulan D7s seen in the remastered version of "The Enterprise Incident".

Legends of Star Trek: White Lightning releases[]

JL White Lightning logo

Johnny Lightning's Legends of Star Trek starship miniatures were released in both standard decos (as listed above) and as rare "White Lightning" variants with alternate paint schemes. These variants were randomly packed into cases shipped to retailers and made up "less than two percent" of the production run.

Excepting Series Five, all White Lightning releases were retailed in the same packaging as the regular releases.

Series One[]

All ships are painted "pearlescent white" instead of the standard base color.

  • Enterprise NX-01
  • Galileo Shuttlecraft
  • Klingon D7 Battlecruiser
  • Romulan Bird-of-Prey
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701
  • USS Reliant NCC-1864

Series Two: Red Alert[]

All ships have an identical paint scheme to the standard releases but a tiny Starfleet "Delta Shield" logo is painted onto the ship's lower hull.

  • Enterprise NX-01 with Battle Damage
  • Klingon D7 Battlecruiser Cloaked
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701 with Battle Damage
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (refit)
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (refit) with Battle Damage
  • USS Reliant NCC-1864 with Battle Damage

Series Three: Uncharted Territories[]

  • Borg Cube – green translucent plastic with silver detailing
  • Future USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D – "cloaked" translucent plastic
  • ISS Enterprise NX-01 – "cloaked" translucent plastic
  • Romulan Bird-of-Prey – bird of prey logo painted onto "cloaked" translucent plastic
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D – painted pearlescent white instead of standard base color, gray hull detailing
  • USS Voyager – painted pearlescent white instead of standard base color

Series Four: Battlestations![]

All ships are painted silver instead of the standard base color.

  • Borg cube – with attached Borg sphere
  • USS Defiant NCC-1764 – with attached "phaser blasts"
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A – with attached "phaser blasts"
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D – with atmospheric re-entry and battle damage and removable saucer section
  • USS Majestic NCC-31060 – with battle damage
  • USS Voyager NCC-74656 – with permanently lowered landing gear and movable warp nacelles

Series Five: Sacrifice[]

Unlike all other waves, Series Five White Lightning packaging had a white strip covering part of the purple stripe on the right side of the package's front, to make them more easily identifiable.

  • Columbia NX-02 – repaint of Series Five Enterprise NX-01
  • Columbus Shuttlecraft NCC-1701/2 – repaint of Shuttlecraft Galileo II
  • USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (refit) – post-auto-destruct remnants with orange, yellow, and red painted detail in the "damage"
  • Klingon D7 Battlecruiser – painted purple detailing on dorsal hull areas including bridge, no molded "torpedoes" or "explosions"

    According to Johnny Lightning's parent company (and owner of AMT, the creators of the original studio model), this D7's paintwork closely resembles the appearance of the production-used TOS studio model.

Series Six: Ships Of The Line[]

  • Borg Cube – green translucent plastic with silver detailing and orange "explosions" on hull
  • Romulan D7 Battlecruiser – painted pearlescent white instead of the standard base color
  • USS Excalibur NCC-1664 – painted pearlescent white instead of the standard base color
  • USS Yamato NCC-71807 – painted pearlescent white instead of the standard base color

See also[]

External link[]

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