Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today we received several new 1:18s from Kyosho, and a couple of 1:43s from Bizarre.

Kyosho have released several road cars. The most desirable of which is probably the BMW M3 cabriolet in black (KY8738RG). If black isn’t your colour, you could go in the opposite direction and get the white M3 cabriolet (KY8738W). Either way, both colours show dirt and are a nightmare to clean!

There is also the Caterham Super 7 (KY8222SC) and the Lamborghini Jota SVR in red, with a gold interior (KY8311RG).

Two Bizarre models also came through our doors today. There is the #49 Austin Healey Sprite which came 12th at Le Mans in 1965 (BZ0425). Then there is the simply beautiful BP sponsored Ligier JS3, which was driven at Le Mans in 1971 by non-other than Guy Ligier and Patrick Depailler (BZ0551) .

Let’s hope Leigh Armstrong, I mean Hobden, returns unscathed from the cycle ride! Hopefully he will be back with you on Monday.

Today we received the latest Minichamps release schedule, which takes up until the end of September. Minichamps then closes for two weeks for its annual stock take.

In the first week of the schedule, for the week beginning 13th September, we will receive Mark Webber’s 1:18 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC21006P), Sebastian Vettel’s 1:18 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC21005P), Mark Webber’s 1:43 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC210406P), and Dani Pedrosa’s 1:12 2008 Honda RC212V (PO81102).

The following week we will see the 1:18 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in grey/purple (PG110830), and the re-release of Keke Rosberg’s 1:43 1982 Williams FW08 in the World Champions Collection (P820106).

In the final week of the schedule (week beginning 27th September), we will receive the next 1:8 Valentino Rossi helmet, from Mugello 2002 (PO20876), Nicky Hayden’s 1:12 2008 Honda RC212V (PO81169), and Bruno Spengler’s 1:43 2009 DTM Mercedes C-Class (P093909).

You can click here to see the complete Minichamps release schedule.

I’m not in the office tomorrow as we’re having our annual torture drive, I mean management cycle ride! Matt will be keeping you up to date though with all the diecast news!

Today we received a new Minichamps delivery and a new Spark delivery. You can click here to see the latest Minichamps releases and here to see the latest Spark releases.

From Minichamps we saw the Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn BGP001, in both 1:18 (DC2922SP) and 1:43 (DC29422SP) scale. We also saw Casey Stoner’s 1:12 2009 Ducati Desmosedici (PO90027), Sebastian Vettel’s 1:43 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC210405P), and the Ayrton Senna 1:43 ‘15th anniversary’ 1992 McLaren MP4/7 (AS924301).

From Spark we saw the 1:43 British Steam Land Record car (SPK2900), Chris Amon’s 1:43 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Matra MS120 (SPK1606), and the 1:43 Mini Countryman in green (SPK1514), among others.

Spark also announced a price rise today. In short all of their yet to be released 1:43 replicas have gone up by £5 and all of their forthcoming 1:18 replicas have gone up by £10. Their 2010 Formula One and Le Mans cars will not go up in price, however, as these higher prices has already been incorporated when they were originally announced.

Today we launched our biggest diecast sale in quite some time! We’ve reduced the prices on over 300 replicas, up to 50% off in some cases, so there’s some real bargains to be had!

You can click here to see our 1:18 diecast sale replicas, here to see our 1:43 diecast sale replicas, and here to see our 1:12 diecast sale replicas.

Today we arranged signing dates for two of our most popular signed motorbike replicas of the year! Kevin Schwantz will be signing the Minichamps replica of his 1993 500cc championship winning Suzuki RGV 500 (P932034S) for us at the Misano Moto GP on Sunday 5th September. Thatís only two days after the model gets released, which will surely be a record for getting a model signed after its release! Then, just a few days later, Jorge Lorenzo will be signing the Minichamps replica of his 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 for us (PO93048S). We hope to receive this by Friday 10th September.

Today I have another diecast warning for you! We currently have only eight examples left of the Minichamps 1:12 Jorge Lorenzo 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO93048), and then it is sold out. That’s probably got something to do with us keeping several of our Minichamps 2009 Jorge Lorenzo Yamahas back for our signing with him later in the year (PO93048S)! We still have some of these available to pre-order, by the way, but these are also selling fast.

SMTS announced their next four 1:43 Jaguar E-Type Lightweight cars today, complete with sample model images already. You can click here to see all the info. Once all 13 Lightweights have been released they are going to make a stunning collection!

Today’s diary entry starts with a warning! At the time of writing we only have 12 pieces left of Norev’s 1:18 Ford Capri (NV182712). At the rate we’re getting through them that will not be enough to last us until the Bank Holiday. If you’re thinking of getting one, act quickly!

We do know that there will be a second colourway of Norev’s 1:18 Ford Capri, however (NV182712B). We don’t know what colour it’s going to be yet, but if you like your Capris no matter what colour they are, and want to get your name down for one early, then please feel free to pre-order it!

Other news today is that we can now offer Minichamps’ 1:18 replica of Mark Webber’s 2010 Red Bull RB6 signed by the man himself (DC21006S). The 2010 Formula One World Champion, perhaps?

Today we received CMC’s latest stunning 1:18 replica; the 1955 Uhlenhaut Mercedes 300 SLR (CMC076). Our first delivery has been completely consumed by our pre-orders, but we hope to receive restocks in about four weeks.

We also received the TrueScale Miniatures 1:18 1979 Le Mans winning Porsche 935 K3 of the Whittington brothers and Klaus Ludwig (TSM10182).

It’s not often you see two highly detailed replicas like those get released in one day!

Today we received the week’s new Minichamps delivery, which included a part shipment of the 1:12 Valentino Rossi 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO93046). This was nowhere near enough to cover all of our pre-orders so, as ever in this situation, we have despatched them to our customers giving priority to our earliest pre-orders first. We expect the balance of this model to arrive in October or November.

Also new on the delivery was Jorge Lorenzo’s 1:12 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO93048). We are also offering this replica signed by Jorge Lorenzo (PO93048S), and as soon as he has a gap in his Moto GP schedule we will plug it with a signing!

Staying with a Moto GP theme, we also received the latest 1:8 Valentino Rossi helmet, which is from Assen 2007 (PO70866).

Our busy week was completed today by a new Kyosho delivery and some Minichamps samples of models that are going to be released soon.

Highlights on the Kyosho delivery were the beautiful blue and white 1:18 1980s Fiat 131s. We have received Walter Rohrl’s 1980 Monte Carlo Rally winning Fiat 131 (KY8373A), and Markku Alen’s 1981 Portugal Rally winning Fiat 131 (KY8373B). You can click here to see all of Kyosho’s latest releases.

The Minichamps samples include Casey Stoner’s 1:12 2009 Ducati Desmosedici (PO90027), Kevin Schwantz’s 1:12 1993 Suzuki RGV 500 (P932034), the ‘15th anniversary’ 1:43 Ayrton Senna 1985 Lotus 97T, which is #30 in the Ayrton Senna Racing Car Collection (AS854312), and the ‘15th anniversary’ 1:43 Ayrton Senna 1992 McLaren MP4/7, which is #33 in the Ayrton Senna Racing Car Collection (AS924301).