Rebel Rods Info

All about the breakdown of Johnny Lightning Rebel Rods. Hotrods with B'Attitude!

The Rebel Rod ancestry

The Rebel Rods series came to be from the ashes of the Street Freaks series. The "spoiler" type cars have always been a favorite of diecast collectors. After the Street Freaks series died out there was a gap for a while where there wasn't any "spoiler" type cars being made. Playing Mantis (PM) then delivered more numbered cars in the exclusive KB Toy Store 5 packs, which were afterthoughts from the Steet Freak Series. Then the Rebel Rods bomb exploded in the fall of 2001. Rebel Rods series 1 came out and flew off the shelves like hot cakes, cool new cars with numbered sides, a decal sheet and 2 tire combos. So if you were a racer or had the preference of the rubber (Real Riders) series tires, you could be satisfied. The Rebel Rods series ended after 4 releases in June of 2002. A Rebel Rod introduction quote from PM - "Every now and then a group of vehicles comes along that is so far from the edge, they deserve a catagory all their own. We're talking about a group of customs with no boundaries...no rules...no conformity. Vehicles with B'Additude!".

A few things to note

1)	The numbers on the sides of the cars originally started out in the KB 5 packs where numbers 1 thru 9 was available.
2)	Only one numbered car to date, the #3 car (a pink 70 Dodge Challenger T/A), does not have a diecast blown engine.
3)	Tom Lowe (owner of Playing Mantis) did the development work on the engines and the #5 engine was too big, so he let the factory just chop the right side valve cover off!
4)	Not all numbered cars are available in 1 KB 5 pack, you'll have to buy several. They come with an assortment of other cars.
5)	Not every engine fits every car, so some cars won't get some engines.
6)	If you were to ignore the #5 listed point above, and counted the total possibilites of each release, with each car having different engines and wheels, these would be the totals: Rebel Rods release 1 - 48 total different combinations. The Silverado and 7 engines hampers the total for this release. Rebel Rods release 2 - 68 total different combinations. Rebel Rods release 3 - 68 total different combinations. Rebel Rods release 4 - 68 total different combinations.
7)	Rebel Rods started on #11 and currently will end at #19 while going back and filling in the much anticipated #10.
8)	Playing Mantis did not number or name these engines (nor did I) the way they are listed below. It was a collaboration of fine folks from Playing Mantis' bulletin board. They can be found at this Hobby Talk location.
9)	New card art was implemented for the 4th release showing a '69 Super Bee. Previous releases showed the '69 Nova (Boss-a-Nova).
10)	According to PM, release 4 was considered a flop. Retailers didn't want them so the remainder of release 4 was sent back to the factory to be re-packed. The re-issue of Rebel Rods release 4 is now called Spoilers under the Street Freaks program.
11)	Rebel Rods release 4 is now showing up at Cracker Barrel stores and has been re-packaged in a window box form. These are not labeled as Rebel Rods (or anything else) but simply as "The Collectors Choice". (added 8/7/2004).

Rebel Rods tire breakdown

74% hard plastic tires
25% Hoosier tires (aka Real Wheels and Real Riders)
1% white lightnings on the hard tires only
Identification of wheel/tire by series

Release 1	Plastic - Cragar Streetstar on racers edge for the Beetnik, Boss-a-Nova, Silverado, and Tow-Nado. Plastic - Cragar "Caps" on redline B-wheels for the Cheetah and Vette.
	Rubber - Cragar "5 point star"¹ on Hoosiers for the Beetnik, Boss-a-Nova and Cheetah. Rubber - Cragar "6 point star"² on Hoosiers for the Silverado and Vette. Rubber - Cragar "Truckers"³ on Hoosiers for the Tow-Nado.

Release 2	Plastic - Cragar SST on racers edge on all 6 vehicles.
	Rubber - Cragar "5 point star"¹ on Hoosiers on all 6 vehicles.

Release 3	Plastic - Cragar S/S on hard plastic on all 6 vehicles.
	Rubber - Cragar "Baby Moons"⁴ on Hoosiers for the Vette. Rubber - Cragar S/S on Hoosiers for the Cheetah. Rubber - Mopar Ralley Rims on Hoosiers for the Beetnik, King Kudos and Speed King. Rubber - Cragar "Truckers"³ on Hoosiers for the Tow-Nado.

Release 4	Plastic - Cragar SST on racers edge on all 6 vehicles.
	Rubber - Cragar "6 point star"² on Hoosiers on all 6 vehicles.

^1,2,3,4 = If you know the correct name for these rims, please email me and I will update.

Rebel Rod White Lightnings

Series 1 = white interior, hard wheels
Series 2 = white chassis, white rims and hard wheels
Series 3 = pearl white chassis, engine, tinted windows and hard wheels
Series 4 = white chassis, gold rims, gold engine, tinted windows and hard wheels

Due to a factory error with the order on series 1, the White Lightnings came in both hard plastic and Hoosier tires. Since PM doesn't know exactly how many with Real Wheels were made, and they have seen clear evidence in cases they have opened, PM has decided to declare the real wheel cars with white interior official White Lightning cars. (info verified 10/17/02).
Considering White Lightnings are 1% of a given production run, there aren't many to start with; playing the percentages makes the Real Wheels White Lightning Rebel Rods even more rare.
Thanks to Hot Rod Al for the info. Go to www.lightninglane.com to see some pics.

First time's a charm

Some cool firsts from Playing Mantis also came out of the Rebel Rod series.
• The Cheetah and 57 Vette Gasser cast were first used in series 1.
• The water-solable decal sheet that came with the car (arguably the best pack in to date) featured 26 famous logos on it.
• The 2 types of tires, and the first time the Hoosier brand has been used.
• 8⁵ different engine types were randomly used on the cars with the exposed engines.
• The 69 Dodge Super Bee or Super Beetnik cast was first available as a main line release in series 1.

⁵ = The 1st release only had 7 of the 8 as they used one for the Classic Gold Collection 2 rel 12 goofy grape 73 Camaro Z28 that was produced at the same time. The 2nd release (and after) has all 8 engines available in the cars that they fit into.

Related but non-Rebel Rod notes

To date, 5 other cars which have the diecast engines are:
1)	73 Camaro Z28, goofy grape in color and from Classic Gold 2 release 12. The 73 Camaro Z28 was the culprit in pulling one of the engines away from release 1 of the Rebel Rods lineup.
2)	68 Camaro, sunset orange in color and from Classic Gold 2 release 13. The plan for the 68 Camaro was engine #8 but a factory error caused the car to be fitted with most of the engines. I have found seven of the eight different 68's and seriously doubt the missing engine (#6) was ever assembled.
3)	65 Nova, red in color and from the Hot Rod Magazine 4-Car Box Set. The HR Mag Nova resembles the Street Freak Nova with a few important differences. The HR Mag Nova has Real Rider tires (with different rims), gray interior and engine compartment, painted bumpers and no emblem markings or side trim.
4)	70 Camaro RS, orange in color and from the Car Craft Magazine series. The Car Craft Mag 70 Camaro RS will have all eight engines available.
5)	68 Firebird Hot Rod, black in color and from the High Performance Pontiac Magazine series. Only one engine available for this car.

Here are the numbers with the cast breakdown

KB 5 Packs
#1 67 Mustang GT
#2 71 GTO
#3 70 Challenger
#4 71 Mustang
#5 73 Charger
#6 70 Torino
#7 67 Shelby
#8 71 Demon
#9 70 Rebel Machine

Rebel Rods
#10 King Wing (69 Daytona)
#11 Boss-a-Nova (69 Nova)
#12 Super Beetnik (69 Super Bee)
       same number in series 1 (green),
       series 2 (pink) series 3 (orange)
       and series 4 (chrome)
#13 Nifty 250 (Ford F-250)
#14 King Kitty (67 Cougar)
#15 She's on Firebird (67 Firebird)
#16 King Kudos (69 Cuda)
#17 Speed King (70 Charger R/T)
#18 Goat Buster (64 GTO)
#19 The Spoiler (72 Road Runner)

Here is the Rebel Rods breakdown in series Note: no engine variations on the Cheetah, Vette Gasser or the series 1 Silverado.
Series 1 #375-01 Cheetah in red '57 Vette Gasser in cameo white '69 Chevy Nova (Boss-a-Nova) in silver chrome, #11 '69 Dodge Super Bee (Super Beetnik) in light green, #12 '00 Chevy Silverado in snow white '00 Ford F-550 (Tow-Nado) in starlight black with flames	Series 2 #375-02 Cheetah in anthracite '57 Vette Gasser in twilight blue '67 Mercury Cougar (King Kitty) in ralley green, #14 '67 Pontiac Firebird (She's on Firebird) in cherry red, #15 '69 Dodge Coronet (Super Beetnik) in pink passion, #12 '00 Ford F-250 Super Cab (Nifty Two-Fifty) in Kodak yellow, #13
Series 3 #375-03 Cheetah in cameo white '57 Vette Gasser in Emerald City '69 Dodge Coronet (Super Beetnik) in orange, #12 '70 Dodge Charger R/T (Speed King) in sand dollar, #17 '70 Plymouth Cuda (King Kudos) in starlight black, #16 '00 Ford F-550 (Tow-Nado) in blue fire with flames	Series 4 #375-04 Cheetah in green '57 Vette Gasser in yellow '64 GTO (Goat Buster) in apricot, #18 '69 Charger Daytona (King Wing) in white, #10 '69 Super Bee (Super Beetnik) in silver chrome, #12 '72 Road Runner (The Spoiler) in Moulin rouge, #19

1. Injected Blower	2. Oval air cleaner	3. Honeycomb has ridges on top/screen inside
4. 3-hole or butterflies	5. Dual Quad or Dominator	6. High rise dual quad w/cleaners

7. Stacks or Injectors

8. Bug Catcher, open hole

Rebel Rods decal sheet
decal

Links to number cars
Wyatt's Kay Bee Exclusive 5 Packs	Wyatt's Rebel Rods

Many thanks go to:
Hot Rod Al	ex-Research Specialist at Playing Mantis.
Marsboy	for the initial write-up on the ancestry.
Wyatt	for the engine pics and very large JL reference pic website. Thanks for the pic links too.
Rick	for the White Lightning website (lightninglane.com). Rick also has his own Bulletin Board here: LL
And of course Playing Mantis for making all of this possible.

Questions or comments send to: rebelrodguy
Thanks to Rick at Lightning Lane, we now have our very own Rebel Rods forum.
Stop by and check out news, collectors pics, Q&A's and general love for these Hot Rods with B'Attitude.
Rebel Rods forum at Lightning Lane
Click this link for the breakdown of the death of Rebel Rods 2
Click this link for an interesting article written by Doug Breithaupt about the Spoiler wars between JL vs HW
This website is not affiliated with Johnny Lightning in any way.

Johnny Lightning is a registered trademark of Playing Mantis

Rebel Rods is a trademark of Playing Mantis