10th
November
2008
Today Norev announced some new 1:18 announcements that we should see in the second quarter of next year.
Along with the usual suspects of Citroen, Peugeot and Renault road cars, the most exciting subject is Tom Kristensen’s 2008 DTM Audi A4 (NV188326). There is also a fun piece in the Le Mans race director complete with chequered flag (NV140510)!
In the new deliveries stakes, we received Mattel’s 1:18 replica of Kimi Raikkonen’s 2008 Ferrari F2008 (DC2801), and Mondo’s Fiat 500 Abarth in its three colourways; white (MD50087W), red (MD50087R), and black (MD50087B).
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
6th
November
2008
Today we received new 1:18 deliveries from Kyosho and Solido.
Kyosho released Ferrari GT cars old and new; the #19 250 GTO that finished second at Le Mans in 1962 (KY8432A), and the #9 575 GTC that won in Portugal in 2003 (KY8393B). There was also a new colourway of the Austin Healey 100/6; ice blue (KY8144SB).
Meanwhile, Solido released two new 1:18 replicas; the Peugeot 207 Super 2000 rally showcar (SL151219), and the Renault 5 Alpine (SL118311).
Another piece of news is that we will see Minichamps’ re-release of Ayrton Senna’s 1:18 1984 Toleman TG184 (AS841) next week.
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
5th
November
2008
Today’s diary is very heavily Raikkonen based! We received Mattel’s 1:18 replica of Kimi’s Ferrari F2007 from last year’s Chinese Grand Prix (DC2706C), where he took the team’s 200th Grand Prix win. It was a nice surprise to see that the limited edition number, which was originally scheduled to be 7,200 pieces, has been reduced to 5,000 examples instead.
And if that wasn’t enough, Mattel also confirmed that we will see their 1:18 replica of Raikkonen’s 2008 Ferrari F2008 (DC2801) next week! Great news for all the Raikkonen fans out there!
posted in Diecast, Formula 1 |
4th
November
2008
Today Spark announced a whole host of new 1:43 subjects, which can all now be viewed in our ‘New Announcements’ section.
Highlights are three new cars from Spark’s 1:43 Le Mans Winners series; the 1982 Porsche 956 of Jacky Ickx and Derek Bell (SPA43L082), the 1983 Porsche 956 of Al Holbert, Hurley Haywood and Vern Schuppan (SPA43L083), and the 1992 Peugeot 905 of Derek Warwick, Yannick Dalmas and Mark Blundell (SPA43L092).
Also announced were the chrome Peugeot 908 hybrid car (SPK1282), which was revealed at Silverstone earlier this year, and the Porsche RS Spyders that finished first (SPK1482) and second (SPK1481) in the LMP2 class at Le Mans this year.
posted in Diecast, Other Cars |
3rd
November
2008
Today we received the latest Minichamps delivery. New items included Minichamps’ next three 1:43 2008 F1 cars; Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren MP4/23 (DC28423), and the Super Aguri SA08s of Takuma Sato (DC28418) and Anthony Davidson (DC28419). Another highlight was one of our most popular 1:43 Minichamps road cars of the year, the Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead coupe in metallic black with silver bonnet (P134730).
We also received the next four 1:43 2008 Le Mans cars from Spark. These were the two Gulf Aston Martin DBR9s, #007 (SPK1213), and the GT1 class winning #009 (SPK1214), and the #8 (SPK1280) and #9 (SPK1281) Peugeot 908s.
Finally today, IXO became the latest manufacturer to issue a set of price increases. All of the La Storia cars have gone up to £39.99 from £29.99, all the Le Mans Winners series to £29.99 from £24.99, and all the Ferrari ‘closed wheel’ collection to £34.99 from £24.99.
The most significant of these price increases is the La Storia collection. There are still 41 cars to be released in that series, so those of you who have pre-ordered the whole collection from us have saved yourselves a whopping £410! If that doesn’t highlight the necessity of pre-ordering, I don’t know what does!
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
2nd
November
2008
That was absolutely incredible! There can’t ever have been a more dramatic conclusion to a Formula One World Championship! For Lewis Hamilton to win it at the last corner of the last lap of the last race, when it all seemed to be over, was amazing. I’m glad I’m neither a Hamilton nor a Massa fan, as I was able to just enjoy the sheer drama of it all!
And so, ladies and gentlemen, our exclusive 1:18 2008 Formula One World Champion presentation is now available to pre-order! (DC2008). It is very different this year, with a metal base and backdrop. The front lists Hamilton’s number of points, wins, poles and fastest laps achieved during the season, while the backdrop has a map of every circuit from 2008, with Hamilton’s result from each race underneath. And Minichamps’ 1:18 replica of Lewis’s shiny 2008 McLaren MP4/23 will look right at home on it! Right, I need to lie down!
posted in Diecast, Formula 1 |
31st
October
2008
So, how do you like our new website? After months of preparation it went live today, and we’re pretty chuffed with how it looks!
We received three new signed replicas from Stirling Moss today. The first of these is Minichamps’ 1:18 Maserati Birdcage that he shared with Dan Gurney to win the 1960 Nurburgring 1000km (PG601205S). This model is also signed by Gurney.
The other two signed Moss replicas are both 1:43 SMTS white metal models; the Lotus 18 that he took to victory in the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix (SMTS075S), and the Jaguar Mk.II that he raced at Silverstone the same year (SMTS211S).
Meanwhile, Mattel provided us with sample images of almost all of their 1:43 Ferrari FXX replicas. We were supplied with shots of the red, blue, silver, white, turquoise and yellow variants.
Tonight all of us at GPL are going out to watch the new James Bond film ‘Quantum Of Solace’. As a big Bond fan, I can’t wait to see that! I won’t spoil the plot for anyone though in any of my entries next week!
And if that wasn’t enough, on Sunday we have the climax to the Formula One World Championship as well! Whoever takes the title, shortly after the race we will have our exclusive World Champion presentation available to pre-order off of our website, and there will be a diary entry covering it as well. Let me tell you that it will look a lot different to the Champions’ presentations that we have offered in previous years!
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
30th
October
2008
Amalgam released their 1:4 replica of what may be the 2008 Formula One World Champion’s steering wheel today! It is from the McLaren MP4/23 (AML838) of course, as handled by Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen.
AUTOart also confirmed some more new 1:18 replicas. They’ve really been going at it with the new announcements recently! The new subjects confirmed today were two Sebastien Loeb 1:18 2008 Citroen C4s; his ‘plain red’ Monte Carlo car (AA80838), and his Red Bull Argentina version (AA80839). From road cars, there was a second colourway of the Lamborghini Espada, metallic blue (AA74502), and of the Mercedes CL63 AMG, black (AA76169).
posted in Diecast, Other Cars, Formula 1 |
