Sometimes patience pays off. Or, in this case, waiting so long to find something that you forget that it’s out there. I found the Ice Age version of the Johnny Lightning 2016 Zingers! 1963 Chevy Nova way back in November of 2016. Almost a year later, I was surprised to find this Orange Rush Nova at Toys R Us.
2016 Zingers | 1963 Chevy Nova Orange Rush | orange with white trim
I added several Johnny Lightning Zingers to my collection during the RC2-era. But I never thought much about where Zingers originated until I came across this ad in a 1970s comic book.
According to a 2005 article in Hot Rod, Zingers originated in 1971 when MPC created a line of plastic model kits which featured vehicles with huge blown engines and enormously oversized rear wheels. The article suggests Muscle Machines diecast cars were inspired by Zingers, and that may be true. But by 2005, I suspect RC2 bought the rights to the Zingers name from MPC, since Johnny Lightning was already releasing Zingers in their Street Freaks line. (RC2 – now Round 2 – fully revived the MPC brand in 2008 and purchased MPC’s tooling in 2012.)
When I saw that Johnny Lightning was bringing back the Zingers last year, I spent months searching for the 1963 Nova. Finally, on a Thanksgiving trip to Shreveport, I found one in a Target store. It might have been left behind by other collectors because of the creased blister card, but that didn’t stop me from claiming it. In addition to my beautiful blue “Ice Age,” there is also an orange version called “Orange Rush”.
2016 Zingers! | 1963 Chevy Nova Ice Age | metallic blue with white trim | 1:64
The 2006 1959 Chevy Impala is the only RC2-era Zingers that I have still on the blister card.
2006 Street Freaks Zingers! | 1959 Chevy Impala #68 | blue/white top with card
The next three Zingers I have – three generations of Nova body styles – were all freed from their original packaging long ago. However, I did manage to save the collector cards that came in each package, and I’m including scans of those here.
2005 Street Freaks Zingers! R20 | 1966 Chevy Nova | yellow with flames | 1:64
2005 Street Freaks Zingers! R16 | 1970 Chevy Nova | orange with flames | 1:64
2004 Street Freaks Zingers! R11 | 1963 Chevy Nova | green metallic with white trim | 1:64
And finally, this Johnny Lightning Collector Club Exclusive from 2006 isn’t in Zingers packaging, but it sure looks like a Zinger to me.
2006 Collector Club Exclusive | 1970 Chevy Nova | blue/white Yenko stripes | 1:64
The Race Case JL 