There is a Navigator motorhome out there that you can buy for under ten dollars. No joke. It’s made with great care, exceeds the quality and detail of its competitors and is quickly becoming one of Monaco Coach Corporation’s best sellers. And if you were 102 times smaller, it would look huge.

That’s right, in late September, Monaco Coach Corporation received its first shipment of motorcoach die-cast miniatures, the first ever Monaco Coach Corporation affiliated product to appear in this form. Fifteen thousand of the little buggers rolled into the facilities in Indiana, where employees, customers and collectors quickly began snapping them up. The big batch of replica models is the result of two years of hard work – the love child of Monaco Coach Corporation and Playing Mantis, a leading die-cast manufacturer.

The idea to make miniatures came from engineering employees Ed Mahin and Ron Nunemaker, who are also fanatic die-cast collectors. They decided their hobby of collecting miniature automobiles and farm equipment could be mixed with their job of helping to create motorhomes.

“We’d been collecting (miniatures) for years, so we thought high-quality Monaco Coach Corporation models would really be something,” Nunemaker said. Together, the two men presented the idea to CEO Kay Toolson, who gave them the green light.

Director of Marketing Jim Mac said the decision to go ahead with the project came about after all the benefits had been considered and the costs carefully weighed. He said perhaps the most important benefit of these small coaches might be the very big message they send.

“Monaco Coach Corporation has always tried to be a leader and we had not heard of anybody doing a motorhome in a highly-detailed, collectible die-cast version,” he said. “As a leader in the industry, we wanted to be the first to do this, too.”

Two and a half years after the decision was made, the idea materialized into 5,000 Holiday Rambler Navigators, 5,000 Monaco Executives, 2,500 Beaver Marquis and 2,500 Safari Zanzibars. The tiny coaches are sold under the Johnny Lightning logo, a subsidiary of Playing Mantis and highly popular brand of collectibles.

Popular Reviews

The miniatures debuted to rave reviews near the end of September, 2002.

“I thought they turned out extremely well,” Nunemaker said. “Everybody who saw them loved them. I’m a club member with Johnny Lightning, so I knew their reputation and they did really great work.”

Mac concurred with Nunemaker’s assessment. “This was new territory so we weren’t sure what sort of detail we’d be seeing,” he said. “When we saw the end product, the detail was much more than we expected.”

Nunemaker, Mahin and other engineers at Holiday Rambler collaborated with the designers at Johnny Lightning to make sure the die-casts were as accurate as possible. They provided designers with photographs and engineering specifications, ensuring all the details were covered. The results are amazingly accurate models, complete with full body paint, eight rubber tires, A/C units, solar panels and tiny plastic mirrors and rear ladder.

“The process was especially fascinating for me,” said Mahin. “Being a collector and now being involved with the creation of collectible motorhomes … it’s like seeing both halves of the process.”

Nunemaker said that there is some talk of a reorder.

“If the first batch is well received, and it looks like it is, that will open up the possibility of a re-order and maybe different motorhome models,” he said. “In the next couple of years we might see [more Holiday Rambler models] there are a lot of possibilities.”

From a marketing standpoint, Mac said it’s a little early to gauge the overall success, but the initial rush for the replicas is encouraging.

Holiday Rambler Emloyees Ed Mahin (left) and Ron Nunemaker display just a sampling of some of their collections.

“When we sit down and put a calculator to it, we’ll really get to see about the possibility of (a re-order),” he said. “Our hope is that we have a big enough order size of the (2003 models) so that we can start putting out (2004 models). The new paint schemes for 2004 will be very strong, so hopefully we’ll have die-casts to go with them.”

“Ideally, people will buy these for their grandchildren, then in 20 years, their grandchildren will want to get a Holiday Rambler coach,” he said.

The models have been extremely popular with employees so far.

“They took a box of forty to the facility in Elkhart, and within half a day, they were all gone to the employees there,” Nunemaker said. “They’re starting to go out pretty rapidly.”

Half of the 15,000 unit shipment went to Corporate headquarters in Coburg, OR, while the other half stayed in Indiana. Robin Fields, supervisor of the corporate wearables store, confirmed that the die-casts are selling just as well in Oregon.

“For two weeks straight, that’s all that we’ve been processing,” she said. “It’s pretty unbelievable. We’ve had Johnny Lightning collectors call us, and people wanting to put them on their websites, and we haven’t even formally announced that we’re offering them.”

Fields said some employees have purchased more than 20 sets. “Even (CEO Kay Toolson) bought a bunch,” she said.

Fantasy Coaches

Now that the public knows about the miniatures, the demand for them will likely increase. Soon, they may even be available in stores like Wal-Mart and Kmart. “I talked to a Johnny Lightning representative and he said that if he can market them to those places then he will,” Nunemaker said. “The Holiday Rambler logo would still be on [the coaches], but the graphics [on the box] would be different.”

Playing Mantis CEO Tom Lowe said that he is definitely interested in marketing the miniatures to a larger market pending more research and Monaco Coach Corporation approval. “I think there will be a demand for these outside of coach owners and employees,” he said. “What we would like to do is get with NFL teams or musical acts that use coaches and create some fantasy Monaco Coach Corporation coaches.”

This would mean the graphics would change and the sports team or rock band logo would appear on a Holiday Rambler coach. Lowe said they are also tossing around the idea of asking NASCAR drivers (who use motorhomes) about creating NASCAR themed replicas. Challenges could arise there, he said, because some drivers may want to preserve their privacy while on the road and others may already have exclusive contracts with die-cast companies.

“Of course we’d have to get Monaco Coach Corporation’s approval for all of this,” he said. “If they don’t want their products affiliated with (the rock band) KISS, we’d certainly understand and pursue other avenues.”

If the idea for fantasy motorcoaches does pan out, however, Lowe said he expects them to be released on a massive scale some time in the next year.

The Competition

Although there are some motorhome miniatures made by other companies, Playing Mantis had never before created one. Lowe said it wasn’t hard to convince him to try out the new idea.

“Kay was my neighbor for years, so I knew of the company and living in the area I knew that Elkhart was a huge production area for RVs,” he said. “Since we first started making [miniatures] we’ve wanted to do one, so when [Monaco Coach Corporation] came to us, we thought it was a good idea, it was a great fit.”

From what he’s seen of motorcoach replicas produced by other companies, Lowe said the Playing Mantis/Monaco Coach Corporation models are much more detailed. He doesn’t feel there are many true replicas on the market. “There’s some inferior stuff that’s out there, a lot of them have plastic bodies so they’re more like toys than replicas,” he said. “Ours is definitely a replica, not a toy. We worked very closely with [Monaco Coach Corporation] to get them as accurate as possible.”

Nunemaker, who personally owns in the neighborhood of 1,000 collectibles, agrees with Lowe. “From the other products I’ve seen, our detailing is far superior,” he said.

Though they may not be as big as the coaches they’re modeled after, the replicas appear to be just as carefully crafted. From observing the stir they cause in the Monaco Coach Corporation offices, it’s clear that they’re hard to put down. And where else are you going to find a motorcoach for under ten dollars?

Anyone interested in purchasing the miniatures should call (800) 249-5440, and those who wish to see the products before buying can check them out on the web at www.monaco-online.com/store.