Die Cast Firebird and Trans Am Page

Team Hoghead doesn't just have full scale Trans Ams, we also have a collection of die cast Firebirds and Trans Ams.  Die cast collecting is addictive.  These cars don't take up as much space as the real cars, they don't require a battery charger to be hooked up to them, the seals in the wheel cylinders don't dry out and leak brake fluid, the main seals on the engines don't leak oil, and they look GREAT!!  Hey, how else could you have a 1973 SD-455 Trans Am or a 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am for $25?  You can even enter them in the Mini Trans Am Nationals in Dayton!! 

1:18 scale 1969 Trans Am was issued in 2001 by Yatming.  1:43 scale 1969 Trans Am was issued in 2002 by K-Line Kruisers.	Both of these 1969 Trans Ams are by Yatming and issued in 2001. The silver Trans Am is part of the Toys R Us exclusive Trans Am Collection (3 car set) commemorating Pontiac's 75th Anniversary.
Ertl 1970 Trans Am	Ertl 1970 Trans Am
Ertl 1972 Trans Am, 1 of 7499 produced in Ertl's Mint Series. This Trans Am has MUCH more detail than standard production Ertl cars.	Ertl 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in 1995.  These cars had a 4-speed shifter in the interior, but flipping the car upside down revealed a plastic turbo 400 tranny as part of the drivetrain!!
Ertl 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in 1995.	Ertl 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in 1997 in silver exclusively for Toys R Us, 1 of 20,000... not really rare.
Ertl 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in May 2001, 1 of 5000.  This Trans Am differs from the 1995 issue above in having hood bird deleted and blue interior... somewhat rare...	Ertl Black 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in 1996 by Lane Automotive,  1 of 2500... a bit rarer than the silver Toys R Us version above... usually causes high bids on eBay.
Ertl 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in December 2001,  Hobby Issue - 1 of 4998, 10 Years of Ertl American Muscle die cast.	Ertl Brewster Green 1973 SD-455 Trans Am issued in 1997 by GMP/Peachstate Muscle Cars,  1 of 2500.  It's always fun to watch the bidding for one of these on eBay!!
Ertl 1977 Trans Am issued in May 2002, Hobby Edition 1 of 5,000.  Ertl decided to make the trunk open on these cars. Until Ertl comes out with a 1978 Y88 Gold Edition, this is all I have to display with my Gold Edition Trans Am.	Ertl 1977 Trans Am issued in May 2002, Hobby Edition 1 of 5,000.  Too bad that all of the Ertl 1977 Trans Ams shown here came with gold dash bezels and gold spoke Formula steering wheels... great for da Bandit T/A... bad for da rest!
Recently issued in July 2002, Ertl 1977 Black Chrome Chase Car - 1 of 416... now that's what you call rare!  The black chrome finish looks GREAT!!	Long awaited by Bandit Trans Am Club members, Ertl issued this nice 1977 Black Special Edition, "Bandit", Trans Am in June 2002.
In 2005, the "new tool" became new again with a hardtop 1977 Formula. This body came in various W50 colors.	These Formulas all came with gray snowflakes and the correct lower accent color, either black or gold.
Here's Team Hoghead's 1st Edition of the Junk Trans Am Series.  Look for more of these in the future!!	This 1st Edition was built for Joe as a Christmas gift from his wife.  There are 30+ alterations... can you find them?
1:18 scale Yatming 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am issued June 2001. Yes, one of these was used for the 1st Edition Junk Trans Am Series above!! 1:43 scale K-Line Kruisers 1979 10th Anniversary Trans Am issued in 2002.	Yatming 1979 Trans Am, later version, with WS6 15X8 snowflake wheels. Later versions had more realistic taillights too. One's gonna become Team Hoghead's 2nd Edition of the Junk Trans Am die cast series.
Yatming 1979 Trans Am is part of the Toys R Us exclusive Trans Am Collection (3 car set) commemorating Pontiac's 75th Anniversary.	Yatming 1979 Trans Am, first release, with 15X8 turbo wheels.
Ertl 1994 25th Anniversary Trans Am.	Ertl 1996 Trans Am.
	Wheel detail - later version '99 30th Ann. T/A.
1:18 Yatming 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am. This is the later version having the correct wheels with the blue spokes and chrome outer edge on the wheels.	Yatming 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am issued in April 2001 having the solid blue wheels without the chrome outer edge.
Yatming 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am is part of the Toys R Us exclusive Trans Am Collection (3 car set) commemorating Pontiac's 75th Anniversary.	Yatming 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am in "reversed" color scheme.  Two actual 1999 30th Anniversary Trans Ams were created with this paint scheme - One by Pontiac, and a 2nd one by a customer.
Yatming 2002 Collector Edition Trans Am.	That's all the 1:18 scale... we're eastbound & down...

We don't have too many 1:24/1:25 scale Trans Ams, but here they are:

Here's an old Ertl 1979 Trans Am unopened metal kit and a finished car from an identical kit.	Here's a prepainted plastic 1978 Trans Am Black Special Edition kit (top) and an older 1978 Trans Am kit (bottom).
In a similar vein, Revell introduced a metal body pinstriped kit in 2005. This kit looks excellent for the money, but as yet remains in the box. I would be interested in comparing it to the Franklin Mint car below.	Johnny Lightning has come out with a larger scale muscle car series that includes this 1:24 scale 1970 T/A. It's a little more like a toy than some of the other cars, but still very nice.
Now here's something you'll really like: The Franklin Mint 1977 Bandit Trans Am. More than once, we've bought a real 1:1 scale Trans Am for less than this thing costs. It's a 1:24 scale model of Crawford Smith's Trans Am Special Edition. They went to his house around 1997 to measure and photograph, but the car did not see production until about 5 years later. I have no idea who owns the real car today.
There are a number of things to notice here, and the one that impresses me most is that the sheen on the rear window trim is different than the sheen on the car. But there's lots more, just look for yourself. This car has wheel emblems, but guess what - they're gold, which is incorrect for a 1977. At the time Crawford was adamant that the 1977's were supposed to have them, and he put them on his car, and this is a model of his car.
There's no window in the Franklin box. NRFB? Phooey on that, might only be a brick in there.	Darn good spare tire, but it's mounted flat. Check out the jacking instruction decals. And check out those taillights! They look like they could be real.
1999 30th Anniversary Trans Am metal kit by Testor's	Now here's an odd 'Bird.  First look you'd think this is a hand carved wooden 1967 400 Firebird. Closer inspection reveals that this is some sort of resin casting, but looks cool never the less.
Here's a 1978 Y88 Gold Special Edition Trans Am that Brian and his son built for Pinewood Derby races in his Cub Scout pack several years ago.  They couldn't find a correct hood bird decal so we used what we could find.	Not to be outdone, Joe and his son built this 77 Special Edition for pinewood derby. This car is tall, with a block of wood added on to create the "greenhouse." This car has no fenders, because frankly, we were in a hurry.
This roughly 1:24 scale Bandit with 40" rear tires is by Ertl in connection with Joyride, a company that mostly makes collectible comic strip and cartoon characters.	It actually looked more like a T/A before I put the wheels on!

Shown below is the rest of our collection.  We have 1:32 scale, 1:43 scale, 1:56 scale, 1:64 scale and even 1:144 scale Micro Machines Firebirds and Trans Ams:

Here's a collection mainly consisting of 1:32 scale 1973 Trans Ams.  The 1980-81 turbo Trans Am is closer to 1:43 scale.	1:32 scale Revell 68 Firebird.  Joe was one of the lucky kids to receive the high-banked Revell speedway for Christmas in 1970 that came w/ 1968 Cougar & Camaro.
Here's the Road Champs 1:43 Trans Am Collection.  There are three 1969 Tribute, 30th Anniversary Trans Ams issued in 1999.  There are three Anniversary Trans Ams celebrating Pontiacs 75th Anniversary.  At bottom is the 1:43 ERTL black Firebird 400 part of the Class of 1967 set.	Road Champs 1:43 scale "Firebird" kit for Muscle Car Review. It appears to be out of the Trans Am mold (look at the rear spoiler, front fenders, and hood.) This is a model of an actual car, owned by Mike Noun, that appeared in the magazine. His car does have the T/A body stuff and a vinyl top.
A couple of 1980-81 Trans Am slot cars... even though they have the Formula stripe and lettering on the bottom.  They also have air extractors in the fenders.	1969 Trans Am Sizzler (made in 1970) with modern Sizzler for comparison. Which one's faster? The vintage 1969 T/A.
1977 Black S/E "Smokey & the Bandit" Trans Am 1:64 scale Body Shop kit by Ertl/RC. This was sold as part of a set of 4 movie and TV cars. These cars had been sold assembled, in a variety of colors, by Racing Champions.	1978 Trans Am 1:64 scale American Muscle kit. Black and gold kit versions kinda need their interiors swapped, don't they?
Here's a very nice 1970 Trans Am offered by Hot Wheels in 1:64 scale.  We also have the white 1970 Trans Am that is part of the Hot Wheels 70's Muscle Car Series.	Here's the same Hot Wheels 1970 Trans Am in black.
This nice-looking 1969 Trans Am was a Hot wheels 2005 First Edition.	Johnny Lightning produced this 1970 Firebird for Hot Rod magazine. They have done a lot of different cars with their molds, including the Firebird series below.
Johnny Lightning has arranged their Firebird molds into a Firebird series. These cars have appeared in sets of 6, 5 times (so far) for a total of 30. Here they are. The third set is Series III, and the 4th set is also Series III. What were they thinking? Well, at least the cars are pointing the other way...
Series 1 and 2 were a nice series of cars. The molds were a 68 Firebird (with vent windows. whoops!), a 70-73 Trans Am, a 70-73 Firebird (configured with the Trans Am hood as a 73 SD Formula), a 77-78 Trans Am, a 1979-81 Trans Am, and a 2001-2002 Trans Am WS6. 5 of these first two series were "Your Car is the Star" cars, with Steve Fairweather (TATA), Chris Batson (72 TA), John Bush (79 TA), Ben Stewart (78 TA), and Wilber and Connie Bergen (68 Firebird) getting their cars and photos in production. The wheels on these cars are mostly aftermarket, and probably came out of the JL parts bin, but they do have one wheel that looks like a Rally II.
The first Series 3 was a Toys R Us exclusive set that featured 6 photos from the first sets with the cars recolorized. Some were generic, like the 2002 Collectors Series that was crayoned purple (!), but 3 of them were "Your car ain't the star" series, where Steve Fairweather, Chris Batson, John Bush had their photos reused without credit. The TATA was turned white, and the Blue 72 was turned bright red!	Second Series 3 began to feature "Johnny Lightning Design Department" Sketches. The cars were unchanged except for some different choices of wheels, and JL tooled up a hood so that the 70-73 Firebird could become a regular Formula, in a nice early 70's green with white interior. For the first time, they picked a wheel that was supposed to look like a snowflake (on the red car shown here). It looks like it's actually a wire wheel, though, so I don't think it was designed for this series. The 68 in this set sports HO stripes, a nice touch.
Series 4 (the fifth series) features more of the same style sketches, and new colors of the same cars with another regular Formula. The 68 lost its side marker lights to become a proper 67.	About this same time, JL introduced the smallest scale "project" or "unrestored" die cast that I've seen. It looks great, with mismatched wheels, wrong-color trunk lid, rust, and primer spots.
Here's a collection of loose 1:64 scale cars.  The 1st row has a nice 1974 T/A that is quite accurate in detail followed by a 1975 Firebird with Chevy SS-like simulated valve covers on the hood, and then a 1977 T/A.  The 2nd & 3rd rows contain 1977-78 T/A's from Yatming, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Racing Champions/ERTL.  The 4th row has the Matchbox variations of 1979 Trans Ams including a Bandit T/A.  The 5th Row has 3rd generation T/A's.  The last row has a 1973 T/A Sizzler, a 4th generation Firebird funnycar, and a Banshee.	Oddball Trans Ams:  Yellow T/A is a Tootsietoy casting with a cast hood bird.  This has to rate as the worst scale depiction of a Trans Am ever made.  Red T/A is a Yat Ming/Universal Studios "B.J. and the Bear" item, which appears to have Hurst T-tops.  White T/A is a no-name item.  I had to trade cars with a 3-year-old to get it.  The third row includes a fully pinstriped 82 Recaro Trans Am and a Hot Wheels funny car.
Variations on the Matchbox Trans Ams.  Most are 79's with T-tops, but the blue one is a 75 with solid roof, chrome interior and chrome valve covers on the hood!	Kmart Exclusive 70th anniversary Pontiac set included a black Hot Bird with gold grille surrounds, wheels, and hood and sail panel decals like a Bandit Trans Am.  The yellow Hot Bird is from the 100th anniversary of the automobile.
Variations on the Ertl Trans Am.  Blister packed one on the right is a 1974.  The rest are all vintage Smokey and the Bandit pieces. They have no t-tops.	Variations on the Hot Wheels Hot Bird
1:64 white 1970 T/A part of the HW '70 Muscle Cars set.	Could this possibly be the world's smallest Trans Am...

And here's the rest of our collection of 1:64 scale Firebirds and Trans Ams:

Below is a list of the Firebirds and Trans Ams shown above: