Racing Champions Ertl plans to build "The Fast and the Furious by Racing Champions" brand into a stand-alone category that will include a full line of toy, collectible, and hobby products. The Company will pursue sales and promotional opportunities in all of their existing channels, in addition to new specialty retail outlets such as automotive, music and video retail chains.

According to Peter Henseler, President of Racing Champions Ertl, "The size and scope of the market for products associated with The Fast and the Furious make it clear that the brand appeals to today's teens and young adults. This appeal reaches across a wide demographic and reflects an emerging lifestyle trend associated with customizing, tuning and racing compact import and domestic cars. One measure of the impact of this activity is the forecast that retail sales of after-market parts for compact performance cars will grow by 48%, to $2.2 billion, in 2002. By entering the market with The Fast and the Furious products now, we hope to reach a diverse group with collectibles and toys that are natural extensions of the movie and the lifestyle."

About the Film

In The Fast and the Furious 2, Paul Walker returns as former cop Brian O'Conner, who teams up with his ex-con pal Roman Pearce (Tyrese) to transport a shipment of "dirty" money for shady Miami-based import-export dealer Carter Verone (Cole Hauser), while actually working with undercover agent Monica Clemente (newcomer Eva Mendes) to bring Verone down. Ludacris, James Remar and Devon Aoki are also in the cast of this new high-adrenaline adventure directed by John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Baby Boy) and produced by Neal Moritz (The Fast and the Furious, Sweet Home Alabama), with a whole new line-up of dazzling high-performance vehicles ready to burn up the screen.

Universal Pictures' The Fast and the Furious grossed $206 million at the worldwide box-office. In addition to its box office success, the DVD release was the number one best-selling DVD in the U.S. for the first six months of 2002, and remains one of the Top 10 best-selling DVDs of all time domestically. (per AC Nielson/Video Scan)

The car and motorcycle action sequences depicted in The Fast and the Furious film are dangerous. All stunts were performed in controlled environments with professionally-trained stunt crews on closed roads. No attempts should be made to duplicate any action, driving or car play scenes portrayed therein.

A note to parents: The Fast and the Furious is rated PG-13. Consult www.filmratings.com for further information.

About Universal Studios Consumer Products Group

Universal Studios Consumer Products Group (USCPG) is responsible for global licensing and retail strategies as well as building brand recognition. USCPG is a unit of Universal Pictures, a division of Vivendi UNIVERSAL Entertainment (VUE) (www.universalstudios.com), the U.S.-based film, television and recreation entity of Vivendi Universal, a global media and communications company.

About Racing Champions Ertl

Racing Champions Ertl (www.rcertl.com) is a leading producer and marketer of innovative collectibles and toys targeted at males of all ages. The Company's diverse product offerings include scaled die-cast replicas of John Deere agricultural equipment and NASCAR stock cars, other licensed vehicle replicas, pre-teen toys, sports trading cards, racing apparel and souvenirs, and collectible figures. These products are sold under the Company's market-focused brand names, including Racing Champions®, Ertl®, Ertl Collectibles®, American Muscle(TM), AMT®, W. Britain®, Press Pass®, and JoyRide Studios(TM). The Company reinforces its brands and enhances the authenticity of its products by linking them with highly recognized licensed properties including NASCAR, NHRA, John Deere, Harley- Davidson, Case, Polaris, Honda, Caterpillar, Ford, GM, Chrysler, Texaco, Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Hit Entertainment, Nintendo, Sega, and Electronic Arts. The Company's products are marketed through multiple channels of distribution, including mass retailers and specialty and hobby wholesalers and retailers, OEM dealers, and to corporate accounts for promotional purposes. The Company sells through more than 20,000 retail outlets located in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific.

Certain statements contained in this release contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "expect," "intend," "may," "planned," "potential," "should," "will" and "would." Such forward- looking statements are inherently subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Such uncertainties and other operational matters are discussed further in the Company's quarterly and annual filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's actual results and future developments could differ materially from the results or developments expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements. The Company undertakes no obligation to make any revisions to the forward-looking statements contained in this release or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this release.