15th
February
2010
Today Model Icons confirmed 1:18 replicas of what is going to very probably be our most popular replica of 2010, the Jaguar Mk.II. It will be available in red (MI201001), green (MI201002) and white (MI201003). For those of you who don’t know Model Icons, it used to be called Jadi, but will now be releasing diecast models with a much higher level of detail. We saw the samples at Nuremberg and were very impressed.
Our video review of the 2010 Nuremberg Toy Fair also went live today. You can click here for Part 1 and here for Part 2. Enjoy!
posted in Podcast, Diecast, Other Cars |
15th
February
2010
posted in Podcast |
12th
February
2010
Following on from yesterday’s news that Jorge Lorenzo will be signing Minichamps’ 1:12 replica of his 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO83048S) for us, today, we can offer no less than another three new signed diecast models!
Starting with Formula One, you can now pre-order the newly announced Minichamps 1:18 Nigel Mansell 1992 Williams FW14B (PG920005WCS) from us, signed by the World Champion himself.
Then, from rallying, we can now offer a second Kyosho 1:18 replica signed by Paddy Hopkirk, which is his victorious Austin Healey 3000 from the 1964 Alpine Rally (KY8145AS).
Our third new signed item is a star from the music industry, as Jay Kay will be signing Mattel’s 1:18 ‘Elite in Music’ replica of his black Ferrari Enzo exclusively for us (HW6255S).
I would like to close today by saying a big thank you to Sean, who has been my assistant for the last two and a half years, and has served the Grand Prix Legends diecast office well! His road car expertise has also very usefully complimented my blinkered motorsport knowledge! Cheers Sean, and enjoy your travels round the world !
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
11th
February
2010
We were very excited today to be able to confirm that Jorge Lorenzo will be signing Minichamps’ 1:12 replica of his first Moto GP bike, the 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1, exclusively for us (PO83048S). He is clearly a star of the future (in fact, he is a star of the present!), so we are delighted to add him to our roster of distinguished signatories.
Another new announcement today came from IXO, in the form of Marcus Gronholm’s Subaru Impreza WRC from the 2009 Rally of Portugal (RAM372), where he made his ‘comeback’ to the championship.
By the way, we have removed the Minichamps 1:12 Valentino Rossi 2008 Catalunya riding figure (PO80086) from our website, as we are very close to our limit on it before it is a pre-sell out. We are still taking orders over the phone on 0844 887 8888, but we will not be able to for much longer before that limit is reached!
posted in Due Dates, Diecast, Other Cars, Moto GP |
10th
February
2010
I was busy today working on our 2010 Nuremberg webcast, which is scheduled to go live on our website next Monday (15th February). After the first ‘draft’ though, it is apparent in my narration how I have repeated phrases like ‘Here we are’ and ‘Moving on’! The final script will be a lot more sophisticated!
We heard today that Minichamps’ 2010 catalogue will be available next week (MCCAT10). It celebrates 20 years of Minichamps, with the theme being ‘Pure Passion’. It consists of 248 pages and includes interesting features such as complete 1:43 McLaren Collection and Ayrton Senna Collection listings.
posted in Uncategorized |
9th
February
2010
posted in Diecast, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
8th
February
2010
Today IXO confirmed that we will see its next 1:43 La Storia subject released this week, which will be Mike Hawthorn’s winning Ferrari 553 from the 1954 Spanish Grand Prix (IXSF23). For the rest of the new IXO releases due on the delivery you can click here.
I had a good read through several of the catalogues that I picked up in Nuremberg in my first day back in the office, and noticed that in the Spark catalogue there was no mention of any new Red Line subjects. Does this mean that we will not see any more Ferraris from Red Line after its already announced replicas have been released?
Finally today, we have had a lot of requests since the 2010 Minichamps announcements went live as to whether there will be any more dual bike and figure sets released, along the lines of Rossi and Lorenzo from Barcelona 2009 (PO94699). One battle that has had several requests is the Rossi/Stoner duel from Laguna Seca 2008.
Unfortunately I can’t see this happening, as it would mean a joint licence between two different teams (Yamaha and Ducati in this case), which I think would be nigh on impossible to be able to obtain. I think battles between team-mates are as far as these sets are going to be able to go. On the subject of the Rossi/Lorenzo set, the news of the limited edition being just 2,009 has sent our pre-orders soaring, so don’t bank on being able to get this one once it has been released!
posted in Due Dates, Diecast, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
5th
February
2010
First things first, we all hope that Leigh’s forehead is okay, as we know he hit the roof with joy by the news that IXO will indeed be making Kimi Raikonen’s Fiat Punto S2000 from the 2009 Rally of Finland in 1:43 (RAM393). Despite the Iceman’s F1 career is on hold, Leigh’s diecast collection will continue to rumble on strong!
Minichamps today confirmed that the 1:12 twin bike/figure set of Rossi and Lorenzo from Barcelona 2009 (PO94699) will be a limited edition of…you guessed it…2,009 pieces. Very wise to pre-order your example now!
A ground-breaking development also occured at AUTOart’s stand today. They confirmed that they’re taking their diecast range into a new direction with the announcement of their first 1:18 Formula One car. The subject is Dan Gurney’s Porsche 802 which was victorious at the 1962 French Grand Prix (AA86271). Also from AUTOart way came shots of the 1:18 Jaguar E Type in silver (AA73602) and Rickard Rydell’s 1995 Volvo 850 (AA89594).
True Scale Miniatures followed their recent 1:18 Scheckter Tyrrell P34 announcements by showing off the models in the metal. The 1979 Le Mans-winning Porsche 935K3 (TSM10182) finished the round-up.
A trip to Norev revealed the 1:18 Audi DTMs of Tomczyk (NV188327) and Rockenfeller (NV188328). Two hot replicas from 1:18 road cars are the Ford Capri MkIII (NV182712) and the Renault Clio Williams (NV185230).
That wraps up another day at Nuremberg. We’ll hear more from the team at the start of next week.
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
4th
February
2010
A fair bit from both the office and Nuremberg to cover today.
Firstly in Guildford, the latest delivery from AUTOart showed up. On it was the next colourway for the 1:18 Koenigsegg CCX, silver (AA79003). Two A1GP cars from Teams China (AA18101) and Germany (AA18103) also appeared, along with two more colourways of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, white (AA74587) and metallic orange (AA74593).
News from the first day of action at Nuremberg was on the Minichamps stand, where Leigh and co spotted the 1:12 Rossi Catalunya bike from 2008 (DCL2008). The accompanying 1:12 riding figure was also on show (PO80086). To finish off Rossi was his 1:12 2009 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO93046), but one more addition to the bike scene was Kevin Schwantz’s 1993 World Championship-winning Suzuki RGV 500 (P932034), which we will be having signed by Mr Schwantz (P932034S) once we receive them.
Ayrton Senna’s Ralt RT3 from Macau 1983 is there as well in 1:18 (AS833). Another car seen on the Minichamps stand was a full-scale replica of Michael Schumacher’s 2010 Mercedes MGP W01……wonder what the size of the box is for that!
Photos from Nuremberg will arrive tomorrow!
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Moto GP, Formula 1 |
