Highs: Beautiful, smooth, lustrous and glossy black paint. Incredible details, from the intricately recreated engine to the soft-feel rubber seats, to 4-wheel working suspension, to some of the best chrome work I've ever seen. She's a beauty, and is very easy to sit and stare at. Just as nice as my other Lane Oldmobiles, but maybe a little more exciting looking just because of the paint scheme: black, white stripes, red-painted wheel wells. Sharp, very sharp.

Lows: I hate having to do this, because I think very highly of Lane as a diecast manufacturer, and I don't want to come across as a basher. But they have got to do something about quality control. If you've read my other Lane reviews, you read about having to order 3 Firebirds to get one good one. Well, the 442 you see below is my 2nd. The first one I got had 2 paint nicks on the front left fender, a sagging passenger door that wouldn't stay fully closed, and a left front wheel that was badly skewed outward at the bottom. Fortunately, Lane's customer service didn't hesitate to issue a call tag for the return of that car, and send a new one out to me. This new one is came out slightly better: it also has the skewed left front wheel...you can't see it in the photo below because of how I carefully posed the car, but the wheel assembly is just crooked. Also, the first time I lifted the hood the chrome trim piece at the front underside of the hood fell of the car. I will need to glue that back in place so it stays when the hood is up. Having spent a fair amount of time in email exchanges with Eric Trapp just talking about the hobby, and diecasts in general, I know he's a talented, passionate individual. So Lane definitely has the right man on the job, and I know he's aware of the quality control shortcomings from their manufacturing facility. Until these problems are largely rectified, I fear that buying a Lane product might be a crap-shoot. I know they'll always be beautiful diecasts, I just can't be sure they'll come out looking the way they're supposed to.

Summary: I don't want to end the review on a sour note, because the 442 is just too beautiful not to want it! It was well worth the trouble of re-packing the defective car, and sending it back, and waiting 2 weeks for a new one. It was also well worth the $75 purchase price. But, then again, most Lane collectors know what I'm talking about...if there's any diecast company with a passionate group of loyal customers, it's Lane. Their excellent customer service, plus willingness to cover incredible subject matter, evokes very positive sentiment within the collecting community. All things considered, I can easily recommend the 442, though I can't promise that you'll get a perfect one on your first try.