20th
November
2007
Today was Minichamps monthly release schedule day, the last one of the year. As ever, it looks a bit thin now, but I expect more subjects to be added as the weekly release schedules get published.
As it stands, next week will see the release of Takuma Sato’s 1:43 2006 Super Aguri (DC26422), Nick Heidfeld’s 1:43 2007 BMW (DC27409), and Lucas Luhr’s 1:43 2007 DTM Audi (P079612). I’m quite surprised to see a 1:43 2007 F1 car already, particularly when there are so many 2006 cars still to be released, not to mention the 2005 Minardis!
The following week (beginning 3rd December), we are down to get the 1:18 1930 Bentley Blue Train Special (PG139520).
The week after that sees another 1:18 Bentley released, the 2006 Continental GT cabriolet in red (PG139030).
The last week before Christmas (beginning 17th December) is dominated by bikes, with Valentino Rossi’s 1:12 2001 Le Mans Honda NSR 500 (PO16176), and the two 1:12 2006 World Superbike Suzuki GSX-1000s of Troy Corser (PO62201) and Yukio Kagayama (PO62271) all down to be released.
We received restocks today of CMC’s intricately detailed 1:18 1924 Bugatti Type 35 (CMC063), so we are now finally able to supply that straight from stock after our first delivery was completely committed to pre-orders.
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
20th
November
2007
We’ve been experiencing some problems with the forum. The server it’s hosted on in London had its power cut and caused the server to shut down. In doing so many files became corrupt.
The result is that nearly all of the posts were saved but the members list was lost. This will mean that everyone will need to sign up again in order to make posts and the username you use will have to be slightly different. Just putting a capital letter in place of a normal letter will be sufficient.
We are sorry for the inconvenience but the good news is that the software was updated at the same time of fixing it. We’ll be closely monitoring the forum to make sure there are no more problems.
Well the problems are still there. Please be advised that we are on the case at the same time as doing our regular jobs. 21/11/07 15:39
posted in Uncategorized |
19th
November
2007
We heard today that Minichamps have just finished production of the 1:12 Lawrence of Arabia Brough Superior (P135500). These are now ready to ship, so it’ll be touch and go whether we see them in time for Christmas. Fingers crossed!
We also received Yat Ming’s new 1:18 Jim Clark Goodwood 1961 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (YM92729JC) today, which was a pleasant surprise as originally this was going to be touch and go for Christmas as well.
Finally, Mattel provided us with an advance image of their Super Elite Ferrari 612 Scaglietti (HW7120), which is going to come through in black, and not red as I had expected.
posted in Diecast, Other Cars |
16th
November
2007
We had a Mattel Ferrari extravaganza today. We received two new Schumacher specials and the two 1:43 2007 Ferrari F2007s.
Obviously, the F2007s were of Felipe Massa (DC27405) and Kimi Raikkonen (DC27406). All of our Raikkonens were actually already committed to pre-orders, but we should receive another delivery shortly. The problem is that nobody, but nobody gave Raikkonen a chance of winning this year’s world championship, even up to Brazil (never-ending appeals notwithstanding), so demand is a lot higher than anyone had anticipated it would be in the run-up to Christmas. As ever, the earlier you order, the further up the queue you will be, and the less time you will have to wait.
The first Schumacher special was the 1:43 ‘Five Ferrari Championships’ presentation (HW6237), featuring his five World Championship Ferraris fanned out on its special base. I think this is a really nice, original idea from Mattel.
The second special was in the slightly obscure 1:24 scale, featuring Schuey’s 2006 Ferrari 248 on a commemorative base/stand detailing all of his career records (HW6236).
Finally, thank you to everyone who has posted on the new forum so far. Some good threads have been started already, and it’s really encouraging to see how popular it’s been in the short time that it’s been up and running. For those of you who want to join in on the action, you’ll find it at Leigh’s Diecast Forum.
posted in Diecast, Formula 1 |
15th
November
2007
We received BBR’s beautiful 1:18 replica of Michael Schumacher’s Maserati MC12 Fiorano testcar today (BBR005). As with an Amalgam 1:8 replica, it’s a ‘sealed bodyshell’ release (i.e. no opening doors and engine cover), but this allows far more precise bodywork lines and contouring. Everyone in the office who has seen it has been very impressed! The level of detail inside the cockpit and behind the mesh on the tail is particularly stunning. This replica wasn’t officially imported into the UK, so the small number that we’ve brought in could be all that make it into this country.
In other news, our diecast forum went live today. We know that the diecast manufacturers keep a close eye on our website, so are hoping that they will also pay attention to this new forum as well, to see what our customers really think of their products, lead times, prices, anything you like really. Some starter threads/topics have already been set up, so please feel free to contribute to these or start a new discussion at Leigh’s Diecast Forum. All I ask is that you keep the language clean!
posted in Diecast |
14th
November
2007
Today it’s not so much new release information as ‘we’ve just got a few more of these sold out replicas’ information.
We’ve managed to acquire a limited number of some Minichamps 1:12 Valentino Rossi specials, all of which have been sold out for some time. These are the 2003 Valencia Honda RC211V (PO37196), 2005 Laguna Seca Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO53096), and 2005 Valencia Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO53086).
These are all sure to go very quickly, so don’t think about it for too long!
Apologies for the downtime this evening. The web server had a power outage and the server took a beating. It’s all fixed now.
posted in Diecast, Moto GP |
13th
November
2007
We received a new Minichamps delivery today, that had a few 1:43 2007 DTM cars on it; Gary Paffett’s Mercedes (P073609), Susie Stoddart’s Mercedes (P073514), Mathias Lauda’s Mercedes (P073618), Vanina Ickx’s Audi (P071521), and Mike Rockenfeller’s Audi (P079611). Paffett’s car looks particularly nice in its matt blue finish.
It’s a shame that Minichamps don’t give F1 replicas the same priority that they give to the DTM, but as the DTM is predominantly a German championship and Minichamps is also German, I guess it’s no surprise that they give their ‘home’ series preferential treatment!
Also on the delivery were Anthony Davidson’s 1:43 2007 Super Aguri showcar (DC27423P), and the winning 1:43 Alfa Romeo 33T from the 1975 Spa 1000km of Derek Bell and Henri Pescarolo (P751202).
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
12th
November
2007
Today Exoto announced an exciting new replica, in the form of the 1:18 #25 Nissan R89C of Geoff Brabham, Chip Robinson and Arie Luyendyk from the 1989 Le Mans 24 Hours (GT88100). This was from a time when manufacturer interest at Le Mans was probably at its height, with Sauber-Mercedes, Porsche and Jaguar also all competing at the same time. As Exoto have only just announced this model, and knowing their average lead time, it will be interesting to see if we see this released before Christmas 2008!
Exoto also suggested that we might (that’s might!) see the 1988 Daytona 24 Hour winning #60 Castrol Jaguar XJR9 of Martin Brundle, Raul Boesel, John Nielsen and Jan Lammers (GT0105) in time for this Christmas.
posted in Diecast |
