Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today IXO confirmed that we will see its next 1:43 La Storia subject released this week, which will be Mike Hawthorn’s winning Ferrari 553 from the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix (IXSF23). For the rest of the new IXO releases due on the delivery you can click here.

I had a good read through several of the catalogues that I picked up in Nuremberg in my first day back in the office, and noticed that in the Spark catalogue there was no mention of any new Red Line subjects. Does this mean that we will not see any more Ferraris from Red Line after its already announced replicas have been released?

Finally today, we have had a lot of requests since the 2010 Minichamps announcements went live as to whether there will be any more dual bike and figure sets released, along the lines of Rossi and Lorenzo from Barcelona 2009 (PO94699). One battle that has had several requests is the Rossi/Stoner duel from Laguna Seca 2008.

Unfortunately I can’t see this happening, as it would mean a joint licence between two different teams (Yamaha and Ducati in this case), which I think would be nigh on impossible to be able to obtain. I think battles between team-mates are as far as these sets are going to be able to go. On the subject of the Rossi/Lorenzo set, the news of the limited edition being just 2,009 has sent our pre-orders soaring, so don’t bank on being able to get this one once it has been released!

Welcome to this week’s Diecast Legends Podcast, which brings you the latest releases in the world of diecast models. The 2009 Formula One diecast releases continue to arrive, with Sebastian Vettel’s 1:18 Red Bull RB5 and the two 1:43 Mercedes dealer editions of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren MP4/24s. Also from Minichamps is the long-awaited BSA Gold Star Clubman. Norev release their 1:18 2009 Le Mans-winning Peugeot 908 and Sun Star provide the lastest in 1:18 rally cars.

Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Diecast Legends Podcast - 08/02/2010 [5:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (52)

You can also view this podcast on youtube by clicking here

The replicas featured on this weeks podcast are;

1/18 Red Bull RB5 2009 #15 S. Vettel - Minichamps
1/18 Porsche 917/20 1st ADAC Supersprint 1974 #0 - Minichamps
1/12 BSA Gold Star Clubman - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren MP4/24 Mercedes Edition 2009 #1 L. Hamilton - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren MP4/24 Mercedes Edition 2009 #2 H. Kovalainen - Minichamps
1/43 Red Bull RB5 2nd Chinese Grand Prix 2009 #14 M. Webber - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren M26 1977 #1 J. Hunt - Minichamps
1/43 Ford Escort RS1600 1st Brands Hatch 1971 #114 - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche 911 GT1 1st Le Mans 1998 #26 - Minichamps
1/43 Alfa Romeo Mito 2008 Metallic Red - Minichamps
1/43 Toyota FT-HS 2008 White - Minichamps
1/18 Peugeot 908 1st Le Mans 2009 #9 - Norev
1/18 Le Mans Race Director Figure - Norev
1/18 Volkswagen Scirocco Cesam 2009 Carbon - Norev
1/12 Morris Minor 1000 Saloon 1956 Birch Grey - Sun Star
1/18 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 1st San Remo Rally 1991 #1 D. Auriol - Sun Star
1/18 Fiat 124 Abarth 1st Acropolis Rally 1972 #4 H. Linberg - Sun Star
1/18 Mercury Cougar 1967 #98 D. Gurney - Sun Star
1/24 AEC Regent RT402 1947 - Sun Star
1/24 Bedford OB Coach Southern National 1949 - Sun Star

Remember you can subscribe to the podcast by clicking the purple podcast icon at the top right or use this link if you wish to subscribe via itunes.

I hope you enjoyed watching the podcast. Please feel free to leave any comments on what you thought of it or anything you would like us to feature in future shows below.

First things first, we all hope that Leigh’s forehead is okay, as we know he hit the roof with joy by the news that IXO will indeed be making Kimi Raikonen’s Fiat Punto S2000 from the 2009 Rally of Finland in 1:43 (RAM393). Despite the Iceman’s F1 career is on hold, Leigh’s diecast collection will continue to rumble on strong!

Minichamps today confirmed that the 1:12 twin bike/figure set of Rossi and Lorenzo from Barcelona 2009 (PO94699) will be a limited edition of…you guessed it…2,009 pieces. Very wise to pre-order your example now!

A ground-breaking development also occured at AUTOart’s stand today. They confirmed that they’re taking their diecast range into a new direction with the announcement of their first 1:18 Formula One car. The subject is Dan Gurney’s Porsche 802 which was victorious at the 1962 French Grand Prix (AA86271). Also from AUTOart way came shots of the 1:18 Jaguar E Type in silver (AA73602) and Rickard Rydell’s 1995 Volvo 850 (AA89594).

True Scale Miniatures followed their recent 1:18 Scheckter Tyrrell P34 announcements by showing off the models in the metal. The 1979 Le Mans-winning Porsche 935K3 (TSM10182) finished the round-up.

A trip to Norev revealed the 1:18 Audi DTMs of Tomczyk (NV188327) and Rockenfeller (NV188328). Two hot replicas from 1:18 road cars are the Ford Capri MkIII (NV182712) and the Renault Clio Williams (NV185230).

 That wraps up another day at Nuremberg. We’ll hear more from the team at the start of next week.

A fair bit from both the office and Nuremberg to cover today.

Firstly in Guildford, the latest delivery from AUTOart showed up. On it was the next colourway for the 1:18 Koenigsegg CCX, silver (AA79003). Two A1GP cars from Teams China (AA18101) and Germany (AA18103) also appeared, along with two more colourways of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, white (AA74587) and metallic orange (AA74593).

News from the first day of action at Nuremberg was on the Minichamps stand, where Leigh and co spotted the 1:12 Rossi Catalunya bike from 2008 (DCL2008). The accompanying 1:12 riding figure was also on show (PO80086). To finish off Rossi was his 1:12 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO93046), but one more addition to the bike scene was Kevin Schwantz’s 1993 World Championship-winning Suzuki RGV 500 (P932034), which we will be having signed by Mr Schwantz (P932034S) once we receive them.

Ayrton Senna’s Ralt RT3 from Macau 1983 is there as well in 1:18 (AS833). Another car seen on the Minichamps stand was a full-scale replica of Michael Schumacher’s 2010 Mercedes MGP W01……wonder what the size of the box is for that!

 Photos from Nuremberg will arrive tomorrow!

The Minichamps new 2010 announcements are now available to view and pre-order from our website!

Unsurprisingly, there is another whole host of new Valentino Rossi releases. I’m particularly excited by the two figure and two rider set of Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo which will recreate their battle from the last lap at Barcelona in 2009 (PO94699). There will also be ten new 1:8 Rossi helmets and eight new 1:12 Rossi figures, including ‘double figures’ where he had passengers dressed up as a chicken and an angel on victory laps!

Minichamps has also announced a very exciting 1:12 classic bike in the form of the Vincent Black Lightning ‘Rollie Free’ (P134650), complete with stretched out riding figure! Also announced are 1:12 figures for Giacomo Agostini (P700001F) and Lawrence of Arabia (P321350), as well as a mammoth 1:6 replica of Lawrence’s Brough Superior SS100 (PG135500)!

For 1:18 road cars, Minichamps has confirmed the 2010 Aston Martin DBS in grey (PG137920), the 2010 Bentley Mulsanne in black (PG139900), and the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in graphite and grey (PG110830). There is also an interesting 1:18 subject in the original 1948 Land Rover, with the famous HUE 166 registration plates (PG168900). Universal Hobbies announced this about five years ago before then cancelling it about three years ago! The exciting new 1:12 road car subject is the McLaren F1 in orange (PH133131).

In 1:43 there will be seven new cars in the Top Gear Collection, and a new release in the Ayrton Senna Racing Car Collection, which will be #36 by my reckoning, the Toleman TG183B from his very first Formula One start in the 1984 Brazilian Grand Prix (AS036).

Finally, Minichamps has announced some new subjects in its 1:18 and 1:43 Formula One World Champion collections. In 1:18 there will be Nigel Mansell’s 1992 Williams FW14B (PG920005WC), and in 1:43 there will be Jackie Stewart’s 1973 Tyrrell 006 (P730005WC).

I wonder if any of these will be on show at Nuremberg!

Today has been all about finishing touches to the Minichamps 2010 announcements, which will be revealed at midnight tonight, get your alarm clocks ready!

 As far as diecast model matters go today we received Norev’s 1:18 Peugeot 908 which took victory at the 2009 Le Mans 24 hours race (NV184800). To complete the display, Norev also supplied us with their 1:18 race director figure (NV140510). To round it off there was also the 1:18 Volkswagen Scirocco Cesam carbon (NV188498).

 See you all at midnight!

Today we received Minichamps’ second release schedule of 2010, taking us up to the middle of March. There’s a lot of 2009 Formula One replicas on it!

In the first week of the schedule (week beginning 15th February), we will receive the 1:43 Brawn two car set of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello from the 2009 Australian Grand Prix (DC29422A2), and the 1:43 Lewis Hamilton ‘Fuji Speedway’ edition McLaren MP4/23 from the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, complete with green grooved tyres (DC28422J).

We will also see the first new Ayrton Senna 1:18 replica in a good couple of years, which will be his Toleman TG184 from the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix (AS842).

The following week sees the release of Jorge Lorenzo’s first Moto GP bike, his 1:12 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO83048). There will be two more 1:43 2009 F1 replicas as well; Sebastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso STR4 (DC29411) and Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams FW31 (DC29417).

In the third week of the schedule, the week beginning 1st March, we are scheduled to receive Adrian Sutil’s 1:43 2009 Force India VJM02 (DC29420).

For the penultimate week of the schedule we will see no less than three 1:18 2009 F1 replicas and, better news still, their prices have actually come down! They will now be £54.99 instead of £59.99, and if you have already pre-ordered one from us we will of course reduce the price on your order.

The 1:18s we will see this week will be Fernando Alonso’s Renault R29 (DC2907), Sebastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso STR4 (DC2911), and Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn BGP001 (DC2923). We will also see Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso STR4 (DC29412) in 1:43.

The last week of the release schedule covers the week beginning 15th March, which will be the Monday after the first Grand Prix of the season! The 1:18 2009 F1 cars to be released this week will be Nelson Piquet Jnr’s Renault R29 (DC2908) and Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso STR4 (DC2912), and the price of these has also been reduced by £5.

We will also see the 1:18 2009 McLaren MP4/24s released, of Lewis Hamilton (DC2901) and Heikki Kovalainen (DC2902).

Another new 1:18 release will be the 2009 Le Mans winning Peugeot 908 of David Brabham, Alex Wurz and Marc Gene (PG091209). This has gone up in price by £5, so will now be £64.99, with our exclusive version signed by all three victorious drivers (PG091209S) now £129.99.

The new 1:43 2009 F1 replica to be released in this week will be Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India VJM02 (DC29421).

The final noteworthy subject in the last week of the schedule is the next 1:12 Valentino Rossi figure, which will be from Barcelona 2008 when he had the ‘football kit’ leathers on (PO80086). Like the Peugeot, this has also been subject to a £5 price rise, and will now cost £39.99. I would expect Minichamps’ other Rossi figures which have already been announced but not released yet to also go up to £39.99.

I’m off to Nuremberg tomorrow with our Graphic Design team and we will be attending the show from Thursday until Saturday, photographing all the new samples. This diary will still be ‘manned’ though to keep you up to date with the news from the Toy Fair! And don’t forget, Minichamps, 2010 announcements will be live on our website from midnight tomorrow (Wednesday) night!

Today Kyosho announced a couple of interesting 1:18 road car subjects in the form of the Audi R8 Spyder, which will be available in blue (KY9217BL) and silver (KY9217S).

That was the news on what was otherwise a quiet day in the diecast industry, everyone probably too busy keeping an eye on the first day of 2010 Formula One testing. I know I was!

Welcome to this week’s Diecast Legends Podcast, which brings you the latest releases in the world of diecast models. This week sees numerous releases from the 2009 Formula One range, with Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren MP4/24, Sebastian Vettel Chinese Grand Prix Red Bull special, and Jenson Buttons winning Brawn GPs from Malaysia, Bahrain and Spain, all in 1:43. We also have the next model from True Scale Miniatures, which is the Coca Cola liveried Porsche 935 from Daytona 1980.

Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Diecast Legends Podcast - 01/02/2010 [3:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (114)

You can also view this podcast on youtube by clicking here

The replicas featured on this weeks podcast are;

1/43 McLaren MP4/24 2009 #1 L. Hamilton - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren MP4/24 2009 #2 H. Kovalainen - Minichamps
1/43 Red Bull RB5 1st Chinese Grand Prix 2009 #15 S. Vettel - Minichamps
1/43 Brawn GP BGP001 1st Bahrain Grand Prix 2009 #22 J. Button - Minichamps
1/43 Brawn GP BGP001 1st Spanish Grand Prix 2009 #22 J. Button - Minichamps
1/43 Brawn GP BGP001 1st Malaysian Grand Prix 2009 #22 J. Button - Minichamps
1/43 Alfa Romeo GP P2 1st Italian Grand Prix 1924 #1 A. Ascari - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche 956 Le Mans 1985 #14 - Minichamps
1/18 Fiat 500l 1968 Blue - Minichamps
1/18 Mercedes SL 2008 Red - Minichamps
1/43 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe 1963 Silver - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren Mercedes SLR Stirling Moss 2009 Black - Minichamps
1/43 Wartburg 312 Feuerwehr Potsdam - Minichamps
1/18 Porsche 935 K3 Daytona 1980 #5 - True Scale Miniatures

Remember you can subscribe to the podcast by clicking the purple podcast icon at the top right or use this link if you wish to subscribe via itunes.

I hope you enjoyed watching the podcast. Please feel free to leave any comments on what you thought of it or anything you would like us to feature in future shows below.

Today we received next week’s Minichamps delivery a weekday early!

This was another Minichamps delivery that almost filled up our warehouse, such were the numbers of pre-orders that we had on certain replicas.

The most hotly anticipated replica had to be Minichamps’ latest 1:12 classic bike, the BSA Gold Star DBD34 Clubman (P130001). Then, from 1:18 2009 Formula One cars, there were Jenson Button’s ‘standard’ Brawn BGP001, which is completely sold out to pre-orders (DC2922), and Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull RB5 (DC2915).

From 1:43 Formula One cars, there were the Mark Webber 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Red Bull RB5 (DC29414C), which is a limited edition of 2,016 pieces, and James Hunt’s 1977 McLaren M26 (P774301), which is a limited edition of 3,600 pieces.

We also received the Mercedes Dealer Edition 1:43 Minichamps replicas of the 2009 McLaren MP4/24s of Lewis Hamilton (DC29401M) and Heikki Kovalainen (DC29402M).

Then, from endurance racing, there was the latest subject in Minichamps’ 1:43 Le Mans Winners collection, the 1998 Porsche 911 GT1 of McNish, Aiello and Ortelli (P986926).

Away from Minichamps, True Scale Miniatures announced some exciting 1:18 subjects today.

The first of these is the infamous six-wheeled Tyrrell P34 from 1976. True Scale will be replicating Jody Scheckter’s Tyrrell P34 that won the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix (TSM10185), and the test car with the tall airbox (TSM10184). The 1976 Swedish Grand Prix was the only occasion that a six-wheeled car won a Grand Prix, and we are delighted that we can also offer this replica signed by Jody Scheckter himself (TSM10185S).

The other exciting 1:18 subject from True Scale is the 1979 Le Mans winning Porsche 935 K3 (TSM10182).

I hope these new True Scale replicas will be on show at Nuremberg so that we can do features on them for future issues of Diecast Monthly!