Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today, we were informed that we will be receiving the 1:18 1968 Dodge Charger R/T from Bullitt (GL12839) and Dan Wheldon’s 2011 Indianapolis 500 winning Dallara Honda (GL10926) by the end of the week.

CMC will also be sending us its gargantuan 1:18 1957 Fiat 642 RN2 Bartoletti transporter (CMC097) in the next few days.

We also received some new releases from Minichamps. Two BMW racing subjects were the highlights: the 1:43 2009 BMW M3 GT2 in white (P092900) and the 1:43 #25 BMW 3.5 CSL from the 1976 Daytona 24 Hours (P762925).

The 1:18 Volkswagen 1200 in red (PG057100) also arrived today.

Around 4pm today I was wondering what I was going to blog before I went home, but then at 4:30 we received an exciting new release from Minichamps!

It was none other than their very first 1:12 Valentino Rossi Ducati figure, which comes in a standing pose from the Wrooom launch event at the beginning of the 2011 season (PO110846F). It is a limited edition of 2,699 pieces worldwide.

Thank you Minichamps for giving me something to talk about before the close of play!

Today, we received a small consignment of replicas from Mattel.

The delivery included both the 1:43 Elite Fernando Alonso 2011 Ferrari F150 Italia (DC211405B) and the 1:18 Elite Fernando Alonso 2011 Ferrari F150 Italia (DC21105B). Both replicas are modelled on the car that Fernando drove to third place in last year’s Turkish Grand Prix.

These Elite replicas boast little extras like carbon fibre effect finish on key areas like the suspension, race worn tyres and a detailed cockpit.

We received one more subject from Mattel today: the 1:18 #14 Ferrari 250 GT SWB from the 1961 Le Mans 24 Hours (HW1181). It was driven to third place overall, and first in the GT class, by Pierre Noblet and Jean Guichet.

Today we received new releases from both AUTOart and Top Model.

It wasn’t the most exciting AUTOart delivery we’ve ever received, but there were still some reasonably interesting subjects. like Hans Herrman’s Porsche 550 from 1953 La Carrera Panamericana (AA85470), for example.

Other endurance replicas included the 1:18 #008 Aston Martin LMP1 from the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours (AA80907), which was driven by Anthony Davidson, Darren Turner and Jos Verstappen, and the #18 Mazda 787B from the 1991 Le Mans 24 Hours (AA89143) of Stefan Johansson, David Kennedy and Maurizio Sandro Sala.

We also received four variants of the 1:18 Shelby Mustang GT500.

Top Model sent us four new 1:18 driver figures today: the 1979 Jody Scheckter Ferrari figure (TM21), the 2007 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari figure (TM24), the Sebastian Vettel 2010 Red Bull figure (TM25) and the Nigel Mansell 1992 Williams figure (TM22).

The big news today is that Sir Jackie Stewart has agreed to sign Spark’s 1:18 replica of the 1969 Matra MS84 (SPA18S066S) exclusively for us here at Diecast Legends!

In other news, Spark announced four 1:8 Le Mans winners’ helmets today. You can choose from Romain Dumas (SPAHLM001), Rinaldo Capello (SPAHLM002), Allan McNish (SPAHLM003) and Tom Kristensen (SPAHLM004). These are the first Spark 1:8 helmets that we have ever offered and we hope that there’s plenty more to come!

In terms of new releases, Minichamps sent us the 1:43 1971 Lamborghini Miura SV in yellow (P103650B), and we received the 1:18 1964 Ford Galaxie from Men In Black III  from Greenlight (GL12850). Impressively, Greenlight has released the car before the film has even come out!

Today Spark announced its range of 2012 Formula One cars, and we received new releases from TrueScale Miniatures and Fujimi.

This year, Spark will be exclusively replicating the Caterham, Marussia and Hispania. They also maintain their joint licenses for Sauber and McLaren. Interestingly though, they won’t be producing the Force Indias this year, but they have obtained licenses for Lotus and Mercedes!

It will be interesting to see if they can get Nico Rosberg’s Chinese Grand Prix winning Mercedes F1 W03 (DC212408K) out before Minichamps.

All of Spark’s race cars come from specific races too: Jenson Button’s 2012 Australian Grand Prix winning McLaren MP4-27 (DC212403K) is certainly worth a mention.

Click here to see Spark’s full range of 2012 Formula One cars.

Our favourite Fujimi replica took the form of the JMW Motorsport #66 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 from the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours (TSM11FJ021).

TrueScale’s highlights include the #98 Eagle Mk.III Toyota that won the 1993 Daytona 24 Hours (TSM114326), and the #99 Eagle Mk.III Toyota that won the 1993 Sebring 12 Hours. (TSM114327)

Today, we had new releases from Minichamps, Kyosho and HPI.

The most significant of the new releases, perhaps unsurprisingly, came from Minichamps. They sent us the 1:12 1999 Valentino Rossi and angel two figure set from Rio (P990096F), which is limited to just 1,999 pieces worldwide, and the 1:18 2011 Jenson Button McLaren MP4-26 (DC21104).

The best of Kyosho’s new releases took the form of the 1:18 Caterham Super 7 in Jubilee Silver (KY8223SJ) and the 1:18 Shelby Cobra 427 S/C in Guardsman Blue (KY8045BL).

Click here to see the rest of Kyosho’s new releases.  

We received two replicas from HPI: the 1:43 #39 McLaren F1 GTR from the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours (HP8265) of Nelson Piquet, Johnny Cecotto and Danny Sullivan, and 1:43 #38 McLaren F1 GTR from the 1996 Le Mans 24 Hours that was driven by Jacques Laffite, Steve Soper and Marc Duez.

Today, Minichamps sent us a sample image of their 1:12 Valentino Rossi 2011 Ducati launch figure (PO110846F). They also confirmed that it will be a limited edition of 2,699 pieces worldwide.

We should also remind you that our annual damages day is tomorrow. Check out our Facebook page to get a small preview of what we have on offer.

Today has been a busy day for us, as we prepare for our annual damages day on Saturday!

But we do have one fantastic piece of news for F1 collectors. TrueScale Miniatures has informed us that its 1:18 Jackie Stewart 1973 Tyrrell 006 (TSM121804) is due to arrive with us in July!

Of course that is subject to change, but if it is the case then it has been a very impressive turnaround from TrueScale.

Remember, we are also offering the 1:18 Jackie Stewart 1973 Tyrrell 006 signed (TSM121804S) by the man himself.

Today, Minichamps informed us that their 1:18 2011 Jenson Button McLaren MP4-26 (DC21104) will be arriving with us next week.

And, after the success of their 1:18 replica of HUEY, the very first Land Rover, Minichamps have announced that they will be replicating the 1:18 1948 Land Rover AA Road Service vehicle (PG168901).

We also received some new releases from Minichamps today. Top of the tree was the 1:18 #78 BM3 M3 GT2 from the 2010 Le Mans 24 Hours (PG102078); the car was driven by Jorg Muller, Augusto Farfus and Uwe Alzen.

There were also some interesting road car replicas on the delivery: the 1:43 1976 Ford Torino GT in red (P085200), the 1:43 2009 Bentley Continental Supersports in White Satin (P139802) and the 1:43 2010 Lamborghini LP570-4 Superleggera in metallic green (P103840).

Finally today, don’t forget that our famed annual damages day is taking place this Saturday! Click here to see full details.