Bad Licensing News from Mattel

taken from another forum...

Bit of a news here on the Mattel-Kyosho-Ferrari issue from scale18

"KYOSHO have announced they are currently in negotiations with Mattel Inc regarding the renewal of their Sub-Licence for the production of 1:43 and 1:18 Ferrari Models. This comes after Mattel Inc announced that they would not be renewing ANY Sub-licences to any manufacturer for the scales mentioned above (At present, we have only heard from Kyosho regarding this matter as their sub-licence is due to expire). What this means is there is the POSSIBILITY, we may not see in the future, Ferrari models from Kyosho. All currently planned models (even those not yet announced) are safe, but any models that were "PENCILLED" as possible production will now be shelved till a final decision from the negotiations is announced. This will be a definate blow to all the Ferrari fans. While the future of 1:43 and 1:18 Ferrari models is still positive with Mattel more than likely picking up the production, the Quality we have grown accustomed to from Kyosho will certainly be missed. AS WE RECEIVED NEWS ON THIS ISSUE, WE WILL LET YOU ALL KNOW. REMEMBER, MODELS CURRENTLY ON ORDER WILL BE PRODUCED, BUT THESE MAY BE THE LAST OF AN OUTSTANDING RANGE OF MODELS."

 

That is awesome news with the F40 "Light Weight" and 250 GTO coming soon!

 

Kyosho Development Approved list

http://www.biante.com.au/find-a-model.htm?page=1&submitquicksearch=Search&action=results&keyword=development+approved+kyosho+ferrari

 

Yes, the F40 "Light Weights" are all safe!

 

Are the La Storia series safe? I'm really enjoying the latest iteration.

 

I don't get the hipe about this. Does really everyone would prefer to see just another F40 with just different wheels rather than a dissent 250 GTO model for the first time. Pretty much any company who has made models has made the F40 in almost any color you can imagine. There has been only one 250GTO ever made(Bburago and then the same model rereleased by HW) and it is definitely not of great quality. Not to mention that the latest "Elite version" is worse than the regular production model, except maybe for the still poor attempt with photoetched wheels (which are done in a true Half-ass manner, so typical of Hot Wheels).
As much as I like the Kyosho F40 and the car in real life (to me it is the epitome of a Ferrari), I would ratter see any other model that has not been released in 1:18 yet, than another F40. I would ratter see a 400i in 1:18 or a Mondi t cab. Not to mention the desperate need for a well made 330P cars, older TRs, 275s etc.

 

Well the only nice 1:18 F40's are the ones from Kyosho. The "Light Weight" will have some nice changes that I, and others really are looking forward to!