News/Updates 

January has been a banner month for the Guest Gallery. Another new modeler with two new models: you can check out Jon's amazing 1/87 scale Road Warrior and Smokey & the Bandit rigs right here.

Sad news for the modelling world today. Ricky Couch, known for his creative and innovative custom projects, passed away today as a result of peritonitis and related problems. His models were unique not only in their design, but also for Ricky's liberal use of Bondo and turned metal parts. Many of his models were almost entirely scratchbuilt, and he served as inspiration for modelers of all genres. Even those of us who did not know him personally knew his work, and he will be missed.



If you'd like to learn more about Ricky Couch & his work, they were featured recently in the August 2006 issue of Scale Auto Magazine. You can also read more about his influence on the Scale Auto boards here and here.

"TULSA, Oklahoma (AP) -- Organizers of a coming-out party for a buried 1957 Plymouth Belvedere could use some help.

"The car, which was buried in brand-new condition under the lawn of the Tulsa County Courthouse in 1957, is scheduled to be unearthed June 15 as part of the Oklahoma Centennial.

"Promoters are looking for people who helped lower the car into its crypt in 1957 to perhaps shed some light on what to expect when the car is unearthed.

"There's speculation the car may have turned into a pile of rust. Or that it's in pristine condition and worth thousands of dollars."

Read the full story at CNN.com

The Superman Returns figures were considered some of the worst figures in 2006, with goofy and/or bad sculpts, limited articulation, useless features, and generally poor quality. The follow-up "Man of Steel" figures offered a chance for improvement, but any hopes were dashed as soon as the figures hit the shelves. I was still willing to give Metallo a chance, as I generally grant a little more leeway when it comes to robot figures. Unfortunately, my opinion of the figure did not improve once he was out of the package and continued to decline the longer he was out. First, the joints were terrible. the shoulders, elbows, hips, waist, and knees were so floppy, the figure couldn't stand or hold a pose without risking total collapse. The one other joint, the neck, was not loose but was cut at such an odd angle that it was pretty much useless. The plastic itself was very cheap feeling, cast in a silvery gray that was a near-perfect match for some bootleg toys I've seen over the years. More cost-cutting was evident in the feet, which are hollow-bottomed. Last but not least, the weapon was a joke: an oversized missile that doesn't quite fit inside a launcher that he can't properly hold. The launcher itself looks like a section of sewer pipe with warts. Fortunately, he wasn't entirely a lost cause: with a little work and a new paint job, I now had a figure I was happy with.

RC2 Reports Lower than Expected 2006 Fourth Quarter and Year-End Preliminary Net Sales; Margins Continue to be Impacted by Increased Die-Cast Product Costs; Company to Focus on Higher Growth Categories; Automotive Collectibles Business Discontinued

Oak Brook, IL – January 11, 2007 – RC2 Corporation (NASDAQ:RCRC) today announced lower than expected preliminary net sales. Net sales from continuing operations for the fourth quarter of 2006, which excludes the trading card and sports collectibles business which was sold on November 1, 2006, were flat to slightly down versus the prior year fourth quarter net sales from continuing operations of approximately $154 million. Net sales from continuing operations for the 2006 year increased approximately 5% compared with the prior year net sales from continuing operations of approximately $493 million.

As previously announced, the increased cost of zinc, which is a key component in diecast products, is expected to result in lower profit margins during the fourth quarter of 2006 compared with the fourth quarter of 2005. Increased zinc costs will likely continue to negatively impact margins in the first half of 2007. The Company intends to partially offset these increases with selective price increases in 2007 and continued product design and supply chain cost management efforts.

During December 2006, the Company made the decision to discontinue its Racing Champions®, JoyRide®, Ertl® and AMT® die-cast and model kit automotive collectible product lines that on a combined basis generated approximately $36 million in net sales in 2006 and approximately $60 million in net sales in 2005. Discontinuing the automotive collectible product lines is consistent with the Company’s strategy to focus on sustainable, organic growth and on allocating resources to its higher growth infant products and children’s toys categories. Excluding these discontinued collectible product lines, preliminary net sales from continuing operations increased approximately 12% for the full year of 2006 compared with the 2005 year. As a result of discontinuing certain of these product lines, the Company expects to record in the fourth quarter a non-cash impairment charge in the range of $6 million to $9 million, net of estimated income tax benefits, to write-off undepreciated tooling costs and unamortized intangible assets and to provide inventory and royalty reserves. The Company plans to continue its agricultural collectibles business, which has been a relatively solid performer and has not been as impacted by the overall declining collectibles market. The Company will continue to invest in its strategic long-term relationship with John Deere. In addition, the Company plans to continue with its strategy to reposition its Johnny Lightning® brand targeting younger consumers.

The lower than expected sales and profit margins in the fourth quarter have negatively impacted the full year 2006 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations. Current estimates of 2006 diluted earnings per share from continuing operations, excluding the loss on the sale of the sports trading card and die-cast collectibles business of approximately $0.48 per diluted share and the charges related to the discontinued automotive collectibles product lines estimated at $0.30 to $0.45 per diluted share, are now expected to be below the Company’s previously announced range of $2.52 to $2.62. The Company currently plans to report its 2006 fourth quarter and full year financial results on Tuesday, February 13, 2007 and plans to provide a preliminary 2007 financial outlook at that time.

During the fourth quarter, the Company has continued to generate strong cash flow and has reduced its debt by approximately $37 million since September 30, 2006. At December 31, 2006, the Company’s outstanding debt balance was approximately $22 million compared with $59 million at September 30, 2006 and its year end cash balances exceeded $20 million.

Curt Stoelting, CEO of RC2 commented, “As expected, fourth quarter margins were negatively impacted by the cost increases in zinc. In addition, we experienced lower than expected levels of reorders across all product categories in November and December and are disappointed with the current year fourth quarter sales results. Our year end retail sell-through was positive across all product categories. “For the full year 2006, despite significant declines in our collectible products category, we did achieve overall organic sales growth. Sales growth excluding sold businesses and discontinued product lines was approximately 12%, driven by increases in both our higher growth infant products and children's toys categories. Unfortunately, the impact of cost increases in zinc throughout the year reduced profit margins. For the year, we reduced debt by over $60 million and expect to repay the remaining outstanding debt in the first quarter of 2007.”

Stoelting concluded, “As we begin 2007, we have an improved and increased focus on growing our infant and children's toy product categories and are much less dependent on our collectible products category. We have made some tough decisions in the short term but we believe we are now better positioned for growth in 2007 and beyond.”

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Visitors to the Batmobile History site will recognize the latest modeler to join the Guest Gallery. Panzer is well-known for his cool & unique Batmobile customs, and has applied that talent to a replica of the GTO used in The Punisher. He even got the car signed by the man himself, Thomas Jane! Be sure to check it out, and then head over to his site for the rest of the photos starting here.

"Volt can deliver 40 to 45 city miles of pure electric driving, allowing commuters who live within 20 miles of work to never burn any gasoline, instead relying on a daily plug-in recharge from a home or office 110-volt outlet.

"When driving beyond the electric-only range, the car’s turbocharged 1.0-liter three-cylinder engine will automatically start, spin a generator and recharge the battery, effectively providing 50 mpg and a city range of some 640 miles from a 12-gallon tank of unleaded fuel.

"Running on E85, with only 15 percent gasoline in each 85 percent ethanol-based gallon of fuel, Volt hits an astonishing 525 miles per gallon of actual gasoline in the mix.

"The Volt concept shown at Detroit is equipped with an internal combustion engine that runs on regular unleaded gasoline, but GM’s E-flex System is engineered to accept any powertrain from fuel cell to biodiesel to 100 percent ethanol to hydrogen internal combustion engine, depending on the available fuel in that part of the world."

Read the full story at AutoWeek

I recieved an e-mail earlier today to check out International Model Registries. It's a pretty unique idea: you can now register your model to give it a unique "official" identity. Give it a look-see, it looks pretty cool.

Thanks to new guest DREDDBATFAN for sending some pics of his recently completed Monkeemobile! You can check out the photos here.

The holiday weekend pushed off my usual first-of-the-month update, but the new Tip of the Month is up. Watch for more updates over the weekend!