JRL 1:18 1995 Dodge Ram 3500 Dually and Nylit Dodge Ram pickup

The second part of the large-scale Dodge Ram’s looks at a few long-serving models in my collection and one of them is the most-popular casting out there that has been through several company names.

The new 1994 Dodge Ram was a revolution in the truck world now giving the little guy from Dodge a big boost in the popular U.S. truck market with big rig styling and up-to-date features.  Even more menacing is placing that big rig look to the heavy-duty one-ton models like the 3500 dually.  While lots of diecast manufacturers went for the 2500 regular-cab, long-bed with V-10 motor a company called JRL went for a one-ton 3500 with dual rear wheels and a V-10 mated to a 5-speed manual, and all of this was created in 1:18 scale.  This was the first dually truck in 1:18 scale and boy was it big!  I remember when I got mines from a Wal-mart after-Christmas clearance back in 1996 with a few that were left behind; I can’t imagine how popular these trucks would be today.  Long story short the JRL brand was taken over by Anson who used the tooling to continue the Ram dually and add new aftermarket add-ons with a dump bed and a stake bed truck, plus not to mention some of the tooling parts were used in the creation of the Dakota and Durango castings.  Then when Anson was taken over by RC2/Ertl in the 2000’s the Ram was once more used again, though sparingly because Ertl still had their Ram 2500 casting.  This one shown here is the earlier JRL in waterfall two-tone black on red.

The front has a large chrome grille with detailed honeycomb pattern, clear headlights and signal lights to the lower side fenders, and a gray bumper with chrome center piece.  The roof has amber clearance lights, large chrome mirrors on the doors, and after years of play the passenger-side rear wiper blade broke off.  The sides continue the beefy look with black side trim, Ram 3500 badges on the front doors, and flared rear fenders to conceal the dual rear tires and also has the amber clearance lights, and while this truck does not have four-wheel drive it has a tall stance with chrome steel wheels on Goodyear rubber tires, duals in the rear.  The rear has red taillights with black surround and for some reason no diecast manufacturer can get the reverse lamps correct on this Ram as the reverse lamps here are amber-colored, the tailgate has black trim and DODGE logo, and lower chrome bumper with Ram plate and clearance lights just above the plate area.  The bed area is roomy and all made out of metal, though the tailgate does not have a latching point so it tends to flop down whenever it moves.  Open the hood and with a hood prop provided to hold the hood in place the 8.0L V10 motor is visible with gray air cleaner, silver intake manifold, detailed battery and fluid resovoirs, drive belt with alternator and A/C compressor in chrome, a 3D engine block, and detailed front radiator and A/C condenser.

The base underneath shows off the beefy frame with large lower A-arm front suspension and rear live axle with leaf springs, detailed engine, transmission, and driveshaft; separate exhaust system, and even a full-size spare tire.  There are a few problem areas: Automatic transmission pan for a manual truck and the front sway bar sits too low and is visible from the front.  The interior has seating for three with plush-looking seats that have detailed cloth pattern, detailed door panels with open map pockets, and the shifter for the 5-speed manual.  The dashboard has a separate black trim from the light gray outer shell and that is where the details can be found in the radio, HVAC controls, and gauge pod with detailed gauge markings.  The two-spoke steering wheel has Dodge in the airbag center, cruise controls below, and to the sides are the round horn buttons.  Until the 2000’s this was once the largest truck in diecast scale and was for a while the largest in my collection until lately, though to be fair this is still the only dually one-ton 1:18 scale truck model out there and no one has come close to matching it!

There was once a larger Ram in my collection and that was the Nylit Dodge Ram pickup.  The Nylit brand was kind of an off-shoot of Tonka and I would remember as a kid getting the Nylit catalog and looking at all of the cool models.  Like Tonka they were made of tin metal until plastics cured that in the 1990’s, yet the brand still offered some cool models.  Since then much of my Nylit toys and figures have been given away with the exception of a flatbed tow truck (that’ll be an interesting one to show sometime later) and this Ram.  The truck has a plastic black body that mates to the plastic gray base to give it a sport look; it has plastic large tires with white Nylit lettering and chrome hubs that look like the real thing, all connected to a metal pin through the base.  The front has chrome stickers for the headlights and nice detailing to the grille and lower foglights.  The sides have Ram Sport stickers that can come off over time (note the tape holding the thin parts on the front fenders), there is a rollbar in yellow riveted to the bed, and the large opening on the roof is designed to put Nylit figurines in the front seats.  The rear has detailed taillights, DODGE logo on the tailgate, and a trailer hitch for towing a few select Nylit trailers.  The interior has impressive detailing in light gray with detailed seat patterns and the correct dashboard control layout.  This was the largest Ram truck in my collection at about 1:10 of a scale, but now the time is up for this Nylit model as a new, large Ram takes its place with a more adult-collector-oriented focus.