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Congrats, kudos, bravo, high fives all around. It came in only halfway noticed but do yourself a favor and take the opportunity to check this little baby out. Ok, up front, it is an all-new Franklin Mint tooling. It is fiberglass and it has lots of nice frills, features and details. Oh, and did I mention it’s a CORVETTE?!?
FM ratcheted up the technology and detail bar on this one, even over and above their previous fiberglass issues of the 1957 and 1963 Corvette models. There are a couple minor issues that I could find to carp about but overall, and at a price of only $105 for a limited edition model, I have precious little to complain about. More on that specifically, later.
On the plus side, and it predominates on this model; you will find the old standard hallmarks of The Franklin Mint. These include excellent paint finish and a great overall fidelity and stance to the 1:1 it replicates. Monza Red is not easy to capture in photographs but every nuance of the color was caught by FM’s modelers perfectly. The stance is right where it should be for a new Stingray of 1970 vintage. Later in years they squatted down somewhat with age and suspension deterioration. But add to these hallmarks some new detail finery. We see new chrome metal foil badges and emblems where once there might have been old tech tampos. Nice upgrades. But be careful, they are delicate. Maybe that “Future Premium Floor Finish” trick is called for here. Remember, just a touch of the stuff and blot off the excess. Who wouldn’t have wanted new door hinges, you know, the internal, realistic type, on this little treasure? Hot dog; they’re there. The doors, like the entire model itself, are lightweight and open and close flawlessly. The interior is nice; not overly detailed to death but has all the right components. As I alluded to previously, a couple minor nits. Movable sunvisors and an opening top deck would have been welcome but these do not detract very much. Back on the positive side of the tally, we see operational headlights, a nicely scaled antenna and a gorgeous big block engine compartment. The labeling is accurate for the 454, 390 horse mill and the wiring and detailing is carried out very thoroughly. One other really nice bonus, especially in light of the good price point; we’re treated to two tops. One is the auxiliary hard top in matching body color and the other is the soft top version crafted in black.
It’s nice to see The Franklin Mint jump back into the mix of new tools again, this time with a Corvette and a nice addition to the Stingray C3 lineup. The model looks really good taking it’s place among the Vette diecast collection, albeit in the form of what the real one was made from. Nice job FM.
The issue price is $105.
(07/12/2006)
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