Leigh’s Diecast Diary

There’s loads of Minichamps news today. I promised you their May release schedule yesterday, so I’ll start off with that. At the moment it looks much happier reading for bike collectors than car collectors, but, as ever, as the weeks go by more new releases will probably be added to it. Next week sees the next 1:12 Valentino Rossi figure, the 2001 sitting version in a burnout pose (PO10046), and Fernando Alonso’s 1:43 Renault R26 from the 2006 French Grand Prix (DC26401F). 

The week beginning 12^th May is a bit quiet, with ‘just’ some 1:43 road cars on it, all of which can be seen on the Minichamps Release Schedule page. The week after that sees a significant release in the form of Freddie Spencer’s 1:12 1985 Honda NSR 500 (P850004), while we will also see Alex Zanardi’s 1:43 2006 BMW F1.06 testcar (DC26499Z). 

Finally, the week beginning 26^th May, we are down to get two more important 1:12 bikes; one of our best selling classic road bikes, the Honda CBX 1000 (P161500), and Valentino Rossi’s 1998 Aprilia 250 CCM (P980046).  We also received this week’s new Minichamps delivery today, headlined by three 1:43 Formula One replicas; Michael Schumacher’s 1995 Benetton-Renault B195 (P950001), Fernando Alonso’s 2007 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/22 (DC27401), and also Alonso’s 2008 Renault showcar (DC28405P). The latter is a limited edition of 3,333 pieces. Spark also released a popular 1:43 replica today, the #4 Jaguar XJR8 of Eddie Cheever, Raul Boesel and Jan Lammers from the 1987 Le Mans 24 Hours (SPK758).

It’s been a little quieter on the diecast front today. We have had one delivery, from Maisto, of the 1:18 Audi RS4 cabriolet, in black (R31147BK), and yellow (R31147Y). So, not too much to shout about, but tomorrow we will have Minichamps’ May release schedule. Fingers crossed there will be some good news on that!

Today we had a massive delivery from Universal Hobbies, headlined by their new 1:16 tractor, the Ford 5000 6X (J2705). Also on the delivery were the second version of the Massey Ferguson 135, this one with a cab (J2697), and the first ever Bamford trailer (J2712).

Thanks to everyone who came to the diecast warehouse sale on Saturday; there was a good crowd and no-one seemed to leave empty handed! There’s a bit of footage from it at the end of the latest webcast, which you can view from the post beneath this one.

Welcome to the twenty sixth 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 26 [4:31m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Leighs Diary Podcast Episode 26 [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

1/18 Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona 1968 Red - Mattel Elite
1/18 Ferrari 365 GTB4 Daytona 1968 60th Anniversary Red - Mattel Elite
1/12 Honda NSR500 1997 #1 M. Doohan - Minichamps
1/43 BMW F1.06 Test Car 2006 S. Vettel - Minichamps (SOLD OUT)
1/43 Bentley Continental Type R 1955 Silver - Minichamps
1/43 Volkswagen T3 Bus 1979 White - Minichamps
1/43 Volkswagen Golf 1993 Red - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche Cayman S 2005 White - Minichamps
1/43 Volkswagen T2 Bus ‘Porsche Martini Livery - Premium Classixs
1/18 Maserati MC12 1st Zhuhai FIA GT 2004 # 33 A.Bertoli/M.Salo - BBR

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.

After Dress Down Thursday yesterday, it was predictably Dress Down Friday today! The warehouse is now wall to wall with offers that will make your jaw drop, with the doors opening at 9am. I’ll be working tomorrow of course, and I’ll be easy to recognise; I’ll be the one wearing the Raikkonen T-shirt!

Today was Dress Down Thursday as we got down and dirty in the warehouse getting things ready for the diecast sale on Saturday. Those of you who are coming (click here for directions) are in for a treat, as I have been extremely aggressive with pricing to ensure that we get rid of everything, especially the replicas with damaged boxes or with slight damages themselves. I hope Christopher Paul doesn’t see it all laid out before the big day because if he does he will probably want me to adjust all the pricing!

Today we received confirmation of some more new 1:43 replicas that we will see from Minichamps next week, that were not on their original monthly release schedule.

It certainly appears to be a Fernando Alonso celebration week, as along with his 2008 Renault showcar (DC28405P) that I mentioned yesterday, we will also receive his 2007 McLaren-Mercedes MP4/22 (DC27401).

There will also be the re-release of Michael Schumacher’s 1995 Benetton-Renault B195 (P950001), this version coming without a driver figure.

Finally, from road cars, we will see the 2001 Bentley Arnage T in black (P139072), and the 2001 Bentley Arnage R in light blue (P139400).

Our signings man Jason returned from another session with Sir Stirling Moss today. The items signed were SMTS’s 1:43 replica of his 1960 Goodwood TT winning Ferrari 250 GT (SMTS037S), and CMC’s 1:18 replica of his 1955 Mille Miglia winning Mercedes 300 SLR (CMC066S).

A new item has crept onto Minichamps’ weekly release schedule for next week, and it is, incredibly, Fernando Alonso’s 1:43 2008 Renault showcar (DC28405P)! I’m really surprised that it is going to be released so soon into the season, and it will be interesting to see if the other showcars quickly follow on after it.

We had word today of the next IXO delivery, due at the beginning of May, which will have the next releases in the 1:43 La Storia and Le Mans Winners collections on it.

From La Storia, we will see Gerhard Berger’s 1987 Ferrari F1 87 (IXSF12), and from the Le Mans Winners we will see the 2003 Bentley Speed 8 of Kristensen, Smith and Capello. (LM2003).

We received a lot of requests today for the Sebastien Vettel 1:43 2006 BMW F1.06 test car (DC26443V), which I had forgotten to mention was released on Friday along with Hamilton’s 1:18 McLaren MP4/22 (DC2702) and Doohan’s 1:12 Honda NSR 500 (P976101). It has already sold out though; it arrived last thing on Friday and we didn’t have time to photograph it before the weekend, and only had a couple spare from our allocation which had also sold by the time we came back into the office this morning. Vettel and Robert Kubica are very hot properties at the moment – as ever, pre-ordering really is the safest way to secure the replicas you want. Wait until they are released, and you run the very real risk of missing out and having to trawl through Ebay.

Welcome to the twenty fith 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 25 [3:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Leighs Diary Podcast Episode 25 [3:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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

1/18 McLaren MP4 22 2007 #2 L. Hamilton - Minichamps
1/12 Rossi Figure Jerez 2007 - Minichamps
1/43 BMW F1.06 Hungarian Grand Prix 2006 #16 N. Heidfeld - Minichamps (SOLD OUT)
1/43 Porsche 917 2nd Le Mans 1970 #3 Larrouse/Kauhsen - Minichamps (SOLD OUT)
1/43 Audi TT Roadster 2007 Grey - Minichamps
1/43 Volkswagen T3 Bus 1979 Green - Minichamps
1/43 Mazda MXR01 Le Mans 1992 #5 Herbert/Weider/Gachot - Spark
1/43 Aston Martin DB2 Coupe 1950 Green - Spark (SOLD OUT)
1/18 Mercedes W25 1934 White - CMC

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.