Leigh’s Diecast Diary

We received the new Minichamps delivery today.

The new 1:18 releases were the Bentley Azure in blue (PG139501) and Kinnunen’s 1973 Porsche 917/10 (PG736101).

In 1:43 there was Rubens Barrichello’s 1:43 2008 Honda RA108 from the Turkish GP (DC28417T), Bruno Giacomelli’s 1978 British GP McLaren M26 (P784333), and Timo Scheider’s 2008 DTM Audi (P081810), the latter being sold out to pre-orders.

We also had the next 1:8 Rossi helmet, from Phillip Island 2007 (PO70896), and after fulfilling all our pre-orders, have less than a dozen spare for stock. That won’t last long.

Shelby Collectibles announced an exciting new 1:18 replica today, in the form of the 1959 Le Mans winning Aston Martin DBR1 of Carroll Shelby and Roy Salvadori (DC559). We won’t see it until later in the year but it is bound to be a big seller.

Finally, Spark announced a trio of Peugeot 205 T16s from the 1985 World Rally championship. They are all from Monte Carlo, and are of event winner Ari Vatanen (SPK1267), that year’s champion Timo Salonen (SPK1268), and Bruno Saby (SPK1269).

The London Toy Fair starts tomorrow, but for the first time since the dawn of time itself, we won’t be going. Why? Because none of the diecast importers are going this year. I’m devastated that my Minichamps London Toy Fair collection has come to an end!