Motor City Toyz started in 1997. We began our business as distributors for Playing Mantis, which was the parent company for such brands as Johnny Lightning, Memory Lane and Polar Lights. We did very well selling the models kits and die cast lines but we were always looking for other avenues of making money.

In 1999, Johnny Lightning released two different styles of pullback cars under the names....Thunderjet 500 and Thunderjets. Each car had a plastic body that was attached to a metal pullback chassis. Most of the body styles were that of older Aurora cars that had released the 1960's and 1970's before they went out of business.

I quickly found out that it was very hard to find these on the retail market. There were 12 different cars per release, each in three different colors for a total of 36 cars for a complete set. I remembered playing with slot cars as a child so I placed an order for them with Playing Mantis and we sold out of our first shipment in less than a week, selling only on Ebay. As more orders came in and more phone calls, I realized that I needed a different avenue for my customers to be able to purchase product from me. Many customers were requesting my web site address but I did not have one ... YET!

I was raised in the Metro Detroit area and decided to use a company name that my customers would find easy to remember.  I chose Motor City Toys. But after setting up my first web site and printing out business cards, I found out that the name was already being used, by another company on the internet. I changed the spelling of my company to Motor City Toyz - with a "Z" and in 2000, purchased to rights to the other spelling and currently own both www.motorcitytoys.com and www.motorcitytoyz.com web sites.

Besides our on line business, we handle B2B wholesale accounts for brick-n-mortar hobby shops within Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. We travel to different events and hobby related shows such as iHobby Expo, SEMA, Toy Fair, AutoFest and other auto related shows within the USA.


Motor City Toyz continues its commitment to customer service and we hope you will enjoy your shopping experience while visiting.

Regards,

The Motor City Toyz Family
Jeff, Melissa, Katie and Jessica

www.theautofest.com 

August 22 - 24, 2008

Motor City Toyz ...  is very proud to be a part of the best die cast and slot car event in the Midwest.  

AUTOFEST  is a 3 day event that takes place each year in South Bend, Indiana and is a FREE to the public.
This event is normally held in the month of August and is a great place to come visit with the family or friends.

Each year, different manufacturers like Auto World, Green Light, Johnny Lightning, MotorMax, Slot Car Johnnie's, Carney Plastics, Mac's Little Cars, 1StopDiecast, and others come in and display their new products.

During the 3 day event we will have special auctions (for charity) and also give-away freebies. There are 20 or so vendors that will be selling auto related collectibles and displaying their valuable collections for your viewing pleasure. We also have Gravity Racing for prizes and Slot Car Racing (sponsored by Slot Car Johnnie) with prizes.

 Motor City Toyz will be set up for the selling products. We will be offering a Limited Edition "AutoFest 08"  TJET body (less than 100 made) for $15.00 with every purchase over $25.00. We will also be selling & giving away... LIMITED EDITION AUTOFEST'08 Tee Shirts and Caps, with ALL proceeds going directly to charity.... ADDWC (Association for the Developmentally Disabled of Woodford County). 

Anyway, if you would like to attend this event , please go directly to their website for more info concerning the hotel and events planned. Just click on the link above. Hope to see you there.....