Leigh’s Diecast Diary

We kick started the week with one of our biggest new Minichamps deliveries for a long time!

It was difficult to know which was the more in demand replica, the 1:18 Jenson Button 2009 Brawn BGP001 Australian Grand Prix special (DC2922A), or the 1:12 Triumph Speed Twin (P133700)! Either way, both are now available from stock, although the Button Australia car won’t be for much longer, being a limited edition of only 4,002 pieces.

Also released from Minichamps in 1:12 was Anton Mang’s 1981 350cc championship wining Kawasaki KR350 (P794001).

In 1:43 we received the #10 Jaguar XJS that won at Bathurst in 1985 (P851310), the #11 Porsche 956 from the 1984 Le Mans 24 Hours (P846511), and the #26 Porsche 911 GT1 from the 1997 Le Mans 24 Hours (P976826).

Our warehouse will certainly be busy for the next few days!

Welcome to this week’s Diecast Legends Podcast, which brings you the latest releases in the world of diecast models. Minichamps’s latest 1:12 classic bike, the Yamaha SR500, is put on show. Two big releases from IXO are Valentino Rossi’s 2008 Ford Focus RS WRC from the Rally GB, and Chris Amon’s Ferrari 312 from the 1967 British Grand Prix, which is the newest release in IXO’s La Storia collection.

Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Diecast Legends Podcast - 18/01/2010 [4:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (222)

You can also view this podcast on youtube by clicking here

The replicas featured on this weeks podcast are;

1/12 Ducati Desmosedici GP8 2008 #24 T. Elias - Minichamps
1/12 Yamaha SR 500 - Minichamps
1/18 BMW 320i DRM 1977 #13 M. Winkelhock - Minichamps
1/18 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 2004 Metallic Blue - Minichamps
1/43 BMW M3 WTCC 1987 #46 - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche RS Spyder Sebring 2007 #20 - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche 956 Le Mans 1984 #16 - Minichamps
1/43 Dodge Viper 1993 Silver - Minichamps
1/43 Dodge Viper Coupe 1993 Black - Minichamps
1/43 Jaguar Mk II 1959 Black - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche Cayenne S 2006 Beige Metallic - Minichamps
1/43 Toyota Celica 2000 Yellow - Minichamps
1/43 Ford Focus RS WRC Rally GB 2008 #46 V. Rossi - IXO
1/43 Ferrari 312 British Grand Prix 1967 #8 C. Amon - IXO
1/18 BMW M3 Coupe 2008 Silver - Kyosho
1/18 BMW Z4 2009 Black - Kyosho
1/43 Nissan R390 GT1 3rd Le Mans 1998 #32 - Kyosho
1/43 Caterham Super 7 Silver/Green - Kyosho
1/18 Batmobile TV Series 1966 Matt Black - Mattel Elite
1/43 Sixties Batmobile - Mattel Elite
1/43 Aston Martin DB2 Le Mans 1951 #24 - Spark
1/43 Audi R10 Le Mans 2009 #15 - Spark

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

Yesterday it was our first Minichamps delivery of 2010, today it was IXO’s first delivery of 2010!

There were two noticeable headliners, the first being the latest 1:43 Valentino Rossi rally car, his Stobart Ford Focus WRC from the 2008 Rally GB, complete with Pudsey Bear decal on the roof (RAM351)!

There was also the 21st release in the La Storia collection, which is Chris Amon’s 1967 Ferrari 312 (IXSF21). With any luck that series will have reached its halfway point by the end of the year!

From road cars, the highlights are the Jaguar E-Type in blue (CLC214), and the Peugeot 106 Rallye in white (MOC094).

And from endurance racing, there is the #4 Lancia LC2 from Le Mans 1985 (LMC129), and the #007 Aston Martin DBR9 from Le Mans 2008 (LMM151).

You can click here to see all of IXO’s other new 1:43 releases. There’s quite a few! We don’t get a new delivery from them very often, but when we do, there’s always a plethora of new releases!

Today we at last received this week’s new Minichamps delivery, after snow had held it up for the last couple of days!

On it was their latest 1:12 classic bike, the Yamaha SR500 (P163400), and their latest 1:12 2008 Moto GP bike, Toni Elias’s Ducati Desmosedici (PO80024).

In 1:18 we received the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in blue (PG046404), and Manfred Winkelhock’s 1977 BMW 320I (PG772113).

Finally, in 1:43 we saw two race car replicas, the #16 Porsche 956 from the 1984 Le Mans 24 Hours (P846516), and the #46 Ravaglia/Pirro BMW M3 from the 1987 World Touring Car Championship (P872046).

Today we received several more samples from Minichamps of replicas we will see from them in the near future, and there were some very exciting highlights!

Two of our most popular ever subjects from Minichamps have been their 1:12 classic bike replicas of the Triumph Speed Twin (P133700), and the BSA Gold Star Clubman DBD34 (P130001). These both look really good, especially with the discolouring effect on the exhaust pipes which is a very nice touch. Gold Star fans, by the way, will be delighted to hear that the Clubman does come with the correct silver exhaust pipes, not black as had been featured on the pre-production sample!

We also received a few Formula One samples too, with the 1:43 Sebastian Vettel 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Red Bull RB5 (DC29415C) the most anticipated. It comes with a standing driver figure, and is a limited edition of 6,192.

Other F1 samples were Vettel’s 1:18 2009 Red Bull (DC2915), and the two 1:43 2009 McLaren MP4/24s of Lewis Hamilton (DC29401) and Heikki Kovalainen (DC29402).

It was also announced today that a very limited number of the Mercedes dealer edition Minichamps replicas of the 2009 McLarens would be made available to us, but you do need to get your order in quickly for these as at this stage we’re not sure how many will become available, and as ever we will allocate on a first come, first served basis. Lewis Hamilton will be available in 1:18 (DC2901M) and 1:43 (DC29401M), and Heikki Kovalainen will also be available in 1:18 (DC2902M) and 1:43 (DC29402M) as well. Good luck!

Today Minichamps’ 1:18 replica of Jenson Button’s ‘standard’ 2009 Brawn BGP001 (DC2922) sold out to pre-orders, joining the Mark Webber Red Bull from last week (DC2914). If the first two weeks of 2010 are anything to go buy, it looks like pre-ordering is going to get ever more important!

We also received a sample of Minichamps’ 1:43 replica of the Mercedes SLR Moss (P038400), although we were surprised to see that this will now be black instead of silver. By the end of the week we expect to have received many more samples from them of the new releases that are on their January release schedule!

On a slightly slow diecast news day to start off the week, Mattel supplied us with sample images of three of their forthcoming 1:43 replicas.

These are Jean Alesi’s 1995 Ferrari 412 T2 (HW9946), Michael Schumacher’s 2003 Ferrari F2003-GA (HW9944), and the 1960s Batman TV series Batmobile (HW2995). Hopefully this means that we will see all three of these released soon.

Welcome to this week’s Diecast Legends Podcast, which brings you the latest releases in the world of diecast models. Spark and Norev showcase their latest subjects. Spark’s range of 1:43 2009 Le Mans models continue, while Norev’s 1:18 highlight is the new Volkswagen Scirocco.

Keep the comments rolling in. You’ll need quicktime installed to view the video on this post.

 

 Diecast Legends Podcast - 11/01/2010 [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (567)

You can also view this podcast on youtube by clicking here

The replicas featured on this weeks podcast are;

1/43 Tyrrell 007 Swedish Grand Prix 1974 #4 P. Depailler - Spark
1/43 Porsche RS Spyder 1st LMP2 Le Mans 2009 #31 - Spark
1/43 Porsche RS Spyder Le Mans 2009 #5 - Spark
1/43 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2 Le Mans 2009 #87 - Spark (SOLD OUT)
1/43 Spyker C8 GT2-R Le Mans 2009 #85 - Spark
1/43 Ginetta GZ09S Le Mans 2009 #6 - Spark
1/43 Lola B07-40 Le Mans 2009 #39 - Spark
1/43 Jaguar E Type Le Mans 1962 #10 - Spark
1/43 McLaren M20 1973 #73 D. Hobbs - Spark
1/18 Volkswagen Scirocco 2008 Viper Green - Norev
1/18 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet 2008 Cream - Norev
1/18 Peugeot 404 1965 Clear Blue - Norev
1/18 Fiat 500 Jardiniere 1960 Blue - Norev

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

Today we at last received details of the new releases for the third, fourth and fifth weeks of Minichamps’ first release schedule of 2010. And it was certainly worth waiting for!

For the week beginning 25th January, we will receive several 2009 F1 replicas. In 1:18, there will be Mark Webber’s Red Bull RB5 (DC2914), but surprisingly, this has already sold out to pre-orders.

In 1:43 we will see Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull Chinese Grand Prix special (DC29415C), and the McLaren MP4/24s of Lewis Hamilton (DC29401) and Heikki Kovalainen (DC29402). We will also receive our balance of the 1:12 Valentino Rossi 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO83046) that week.

The following week (beginning 1st February) sees the release of the first 1:18 2009 Brawn, the Jenson Button Australian Grand Prix special (DC2922A). Another 2009 1:18 F1 release will be Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull RB5 (DC2915).

In 1:43 we will see the Jenson Button Brawn Malaysian Grand Prix special (DC29422M) and the Mark Webber Red Bull Chinese Grand Prix special (DC29414C).

We will also see the first 1:8 Valentino Rossi helmet released in a long time. If memory serves, only one of these were released last year, but we will finally see another one with the 2002 version (PO20846).

On two wheels, another very significant classic bike release will, at last, be the BSA Gold Star Clubman (P130001).

Not only that, but we will receive another 1:8 Rossi helmet in the following week (beginning 8th February) as well! This one will be from 1999 (P990846), when he won the 250cc championship.

There will also be three more 1:43 2009 F1 cars released that week; the Jenson Button Brawn Bahrain Grand Prix special (DC29422C), Rubens Barrichello Brawn Australian Grand Prix special (DC29423A), and Nico Rosberg’s Williams FW31 (DC29416). As well as that there will be the Vettel/Webber Red Bull Chinese Grand Prix two car set (DC29415C2). 

Finally that week, we will receive the ‘standard’ 1:18 Jenson Button 2009 Brawn BGP001 (DC2922). We’re certainly going to be kept busy!

Universal Hobbies announced a new 1:16 tractor today, although it has been slightly overlooked with all the hype surrounding the Minichamps release schedule! It will be the Champion Elan (J2824).

IXO announced several new 1:43 rallying replicas today as well, following on from their new Rossi subject yesterday. All can now be viewed at the top of our ‘New Announcements’ category.

From classic rallying, the highlight is Colin McRae’s second ever rally car, his Talbot Sunbeam from the 1985 Galloway Hills Rally (RAC192).

From modern rallying, the highlight is Kris Meeke’s winning Peugeot 207 from the 2009 Rally of Brazil (RAM368), as he went on to become last year’s IRC Champion.

Also announced was Sebastien Loeb’s Citroen C4 from the 2009 Rally GB (RAM401), complete with championship celebration decoration on the windscreen.

If you’re a 1:43 rally collector, it has to be IXO!