Leigh’s Diecast Diary

We received Minichamps’ new delivery today, and can now finally supply straight from stock their 1:12 replica of the Lawrence of Arabia Brough Superior (P135500). We had pre-sold so many that it’s taken three deliveries just to clear all of our existing orders, but now we finally have some available straight off the shelf! That was the last delivery we will ever get of them however, so once they sell out, that’s it.

For new releases, there were Mark Webber’s 1:43 2007 Red Bull RB3 (DC27415) and the 1:43 1993 Volkswagen Golf cabriolet in dark blue (P055530). From Spark, we now also have Alex Zanardi’s 1:43 2007 WTCC BMW 320 Si (SPK406).

Welcome to the twenty second Leigh’s Diary Vidcast, reviewing all the new diecast replicas that were released last week.

As always, I’ve listed the products below that have been featured in this week’s vidcast. Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Leighs Diary Vidcast Episode 22 [4:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (480)

 

 Leighs Diary Podcast Episode 22 [4:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (176)

These are the products featured on this week’s podcast:

1/18 Aston Martin DBR9 1st Mugello 2006 # 33 K. Wendlinger/P. Peter - AUTOart
1/18 Lotus Exige S2 2004 Silver - AUTOart
1/43 Koenigsegg CCX 2006 Orange - AUTOart
1/43 Koenigsegg CCX 2006 Black - AUTOart
1/43 Koenigsegg CCX 2006 Silver - AUTOart
1/18 Bentley Continental Flying Spur 2005 White - Minichamps
1/43 Ford Focus WRC 1st Monza Rally 2006 #46 V. Rossi - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren Mercedes MP4-21 Barcelona Tes 2006 M. Hakkinen - Minichamps (SOLD OUT)
1/43 Porsche 917L Le Mans 1970 #25 V. Elford/K. Ahrens - Minichamps
1/43 Subaru Impreza RAC Rally 1993 #2 C. McRae (SOLD OUT)
1/18 Lotus Cortina Goodwood 1964 #95 J. Clark

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 or listening to the podcast. Please feel free to leave any comments on what you thought of it or anything you would like me to feature in future shows below.

I really hope that the fallout from Chinese New Year ends soon! By fallout, I mean the dearth of new diecast releases. Although it was a few weeks ago, the fact that nothing was shipped during that time has its effect on us now, when no new containers of diecast arrive.

I do have one bit of diecast news for you today however; we have been told that we will receive Minichamps’ 1:18 2007 McLaren MP4/22s of Lewis Hamilton (DC2702) and Fernando Alonso (DC2701) in May.

We received the new Minichamps delivery today, all two new releases of it! These were Mika Hakkinen’s 1:43 2006 McLaren MP4/21 test car (DC26499H), and the 1:43 Porsche 917L of Vic Elford and Kurt Ahrens from the 1970 Le Mans 24 Hours (P706125). Both are close to being instant sell-outs, so don’t think about it for too long if you want either of them.

Today we received Minichamps’ April release schedule, which unfortunately had very little in the way of new Formula One releases on it!

Next week the highlight is Mark Webber’s 1:43 2007 Red Bull RB3 (DC27415). The following week, well, not much there, but the week after that (beginning 14th April) we will see the 1:12 Valentino Rossi 2007 Jerez victory figure (PO79146), which has been delayed by a couple of weeks.

The week after that sees the most exciting release of the month, Mick Doohan’s 1:12 1997 Honda NSR 500 (P976101). We are also offering this signed (P976101S), which we hope to have available soon after we receive the shipment.

The last week of the schedule again has nothing much to shout about. You can see everything slated for an April release by reading the Minichamps Monthly Release Schedule. Minichamps seem to release one ‘big’ subject a month at the moment. The problem is, as there are so many ‘big’ releases still to come, that it will clearly be some time yet before Minichamps get anywhere near clearing their back catalogue!

Brands Hatch was absolutely freezing all weekend! Watching the first truck race yesterday morning as the snow fell was quite a surreal experience though!

Anyway, back to diecast. Mattel provided us with sample images of two of their forthcoming 1:18 releases today; Michael Schumacher’s 2002 Ferrari F2002 (HW2076), and the Grand Prix of Piacenza Ferrari 125S (HW2072).

It was also confirmed that Mattel will not be replicating any Formula One cars other than the Ferraris this season, which we suspected when they only announced the F2008s on the 4th March.

We received news today of two popular rally subjects that we will see next week; Solido’s 1:18 replica of Sebastien Loeb’s 2007 Citroen C4 (SL150713), and Trofeu’s 1:43 presentation of Colin McRae’s Subaru Impreza from the 1993 RAC Rally (TR003). We will also see a new Minichamps release that was not on the original monthly release schedule, Mika Hakkinen’s 1:43 2006 McLaren MP4/21 testcar (DC26499H).

All that remains is to wish all diary readers a happy Easter. Once again I’m going to end up watching a Grand Prix from our Megastore at Brands Hatch, as I’m working up there at the circuit’s Easter truck meeting. The big F1 news today was that the BBC will be broadcasting the world’s best sport again from next year. Our forum members have come up with lots of ideas regarding who should front the coverage, but I think it’s worth noting that the Controller of BBC Sport is a big fan of the Leigh’s Diary webcasts…………..

Today we had a new AUTOart delivery, with the highlight undoubtedly being a new 1:18 subject of my favourite AUTOart replica, the Aston Martin DBR9. This one is the stunning Red Bull liveried version that won the Mugello round of the 2006 FIA GT Championship in the hands of Karl Wendlinger and Philipp Peter (AA80608). One of those is coming home with me tonight! I also really hope that AUTOart will replicate the DBR9 with the Gulf livery from this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours as well.

Also on the delivery in 1:18 scale was the Lotus Exige S2 in silver (AA75361), while in 1:43 we received all three colourways of the Koenigsegg CCX; orange (AA59001), black (AA59002) and silver (AA59003). The Koenigseggs also all come with a separate roof panel provided.

I was hoping to come back into the office today to hear that Minichamps had announced all of their 2008 Formula One race cars, but we’re still waiting on that news!

If the rest of the season is anywhere near as exciting as Melbourne was though, then we’re in for a great year. There always seemed to be something going on, with Lewis Hamilton taking a pretty dominant victory and Ferrari very much on the back foot. I watched all of Kimi Raikkonen’s dramas with a mild sense of relief that he was having a hard time this year and not 12 months ago when I was out there for the race!

Talking of the Ferraris, the livery on their car is much ‘plainer’ this year, without any barcodes on the wings and in front of the cockpit, so that should mean that Mattel’s replicas of the F2008s much more accurately reflect the real car when they are released. It will be interesting to see how they treat the engine cover, whether to leave it plain red or put a white box on it as they did in the years preceding 2007.

We had a Minichamps delivery today, with two new releases on it; the 1:18 Bentley Continental Flying Spur in white (PG139461), and Valentino Rossi’s 1:43 2006 Ford Focus WRC from the Monza Rally complete with standing driver figure (P068446). Unfortunately, so far this month nothing has been added to the rather bare Minichamps March monthly release schedule as the weeks have gone by!

Welcome to the twenty first Leigh’s Diary Vidcast, reviewing all the new diecast replicas that were released last week.

As always, I’ve listed the products below that have been featured in this week’s vidcast. Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Leighs Diary Vidcast Episode 21 [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (480)

 

 Leighs Diary Podcast Episode 21 [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (173)

These are the products featured on this week’s podcast:

1/18 Ferrari F430 Scuderia 2007 Avio Blue - Mattel
1/18 Ferrari Mondial 8 60th Anniversary - Mattel
1/18 Ferrari 575 GTZ Zagato Black - Mattel
1/12 Rossi 2006 Riding Figure - Minichamps
1/43 Morgan Aero 8 White - Spark
1/43 Peugeot 905 Supercopter 1993 #1 - Spark
1/18 Audi R8 2007 Light Blue - Maisto
1/18 Audi R8 2007 Silver - Maisto
Minichamps 2008 Catalogue

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 or listening to the podcast. Please feel free to leave any comments on what you thought of it or anything you would like me to feature in future shows below.