Leigh’s Diecast Diary

I’m back! I really enjoyed the Bahrain Grand Prix, I loved how enjoyable it was not having a favourite to worry about – if I’d been a Vettel fan I’d have been tearing my hair out!

It was a pretty quiet day on my return in terms of diecast news, although I had plenty to do working on a Minichamps presentation that we are going out to their headquarters in Germany to give next Wednesday.

Spark confirmed some new 1:43 replicas that we will see from them next week, including Johnny Herbert’s 1991 Lotus 102B (SPK1677), the #50 Lancia LC1 from the 1982 Le Mans 24 Hours (SPK661), and, under Bizarre, the Bluebird Speed Record Car from Bonneville 1935 (BZ0433).

Right, back to Powerpoint!

Leigh is back tomorrow so normal service will be resumed.In the meantime you still have me.

Before we start.

Many thanks to all those overseas customers who forwarded their order confirmations to me over the weekend in order to match the free UK postage offer. My inbox didn’t stop binging!! Your orders have been altered and shipped. I’m glad so many of you took up the offer and we may do something similar the next time a UK free delivery offer is running.

So the Rossi Barcelona figure has sold out on release and there is a chance the Rossi Barcelona bike is going to as well.

Talking of Rossi the next figure to be released is the 90th win twin set. That has an ETA of the 29th March.

The diecast bulletin today is full of news including the Ford Capri 2 car set and the Laverda Jota 180

Make sure you are subscribed to the bulletins. If you are not getting them every week and want to drop me an email jon@grandprixlegends.com and I will make sure you are added on to the list.

That’s it from me.It has been a pleasure.

Jon

Today Spark confirmed what we will see on its next delivery, which we are due to receive in the week beginning 15th March.

Its 1:43 classic Formula One range will continue to go from strength to strength, when we will see the release of Mika Hakkinen’s 1992 Lotus 102D (SPK1674), Patrick Tambay’s 1985 Renault RE60 (SPK1702), and Eddie Cheever’s 1984 Alfa Romeo 184T (SPK1712).

There won’t be a diary entry from me on Monday as I’ll be off to glamorous Coventry for The Model And Hobby Show! It’s basically a breakaway from the London Toy Fair from all the diecast importers and distributors, which is great news for us in the diecast business as we know that everything on display there will have an interest and relevance to us!

Today we received not one, but two 1:16 tractor replicas from Universal Hobbies! These are the Massey Harris 820 Pony (J2800) and the Champion Elan (J2824).

In 1:18 the big news was the latest announcement from Mondo Motors. As with the Lamborghini Reventon, and as with the Pagani Zonda F, they have struck first in announcing a 1:18 replica of the awesome Aston Martin One-77 (MD50105). This is due to be released over the summer, and is definitely going to be a huge hit.

Kyosho also announced several new 1:18 replicas today, covering Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and several Lancia rally cars as well among others. All of the new Kyosho announcements can be viewed by clicking here.

Finally today, Spark was the bearer of good news in confirming price reductions (yes, that’s right, price reductions!) across all of its replicas yet to be released, ranging from £5 to £15. If you have pre-ordered Spark models at the higher prices from us, don’t worry, we will of course charge you the new lower prices!

Today CMC confirmed its new 1:18 announcements for 2010, and they are all very exciting subjects.

First there is the absolutely beautiful Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic, which will be available in blue (CMC083) and black (CMC085).

There will also be a CMC 1:18 transporter, the Bartoletti Ferrari example from 1957 (CMC084).

Moving on to racing replicas, we will see two racing versions of the Ferrari Testa Rossa. The first will be the #22 Testa Rossa from the 1958 Le Mans 24 Hours, as campaigned by Ed Hugus and Ernie Erickson (CMC080). This is in the NART colours of white with a blue stripe. The second racer will be Alan Connell’s 1959 Testa Rossa, in black with a red nose (CMC081).

Finally, there will be Rudolf Caracciola’s winning Mercedes SSKL from the 1931 German Grand Prix (CMC082).

If we see all of these released in 2010, it will surely be CMC’s best year ever!

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! 

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!

Welcome to this week’s Diecast Legends Podcast, which brings you the latest releases in the world of diecast models. The 2009 Formula One diecast releases continue to arrive, with Sebastian Vettel’s 1:18 Red Bull RB5 and the two 1:43 Mercedes dealer editions of Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen’s McLaren MP4/24s. Also from Minichamps is the long-awaited BSA Gold Star Clubman. Norev release their 1:18 2009 Le Mans-winning Peugeot 908 and Sun Star provide the lastest in 1:18 rally cars.

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

 

 Diecast Legends Podcast - 08/02/2010 [5:39m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (159)

You can also view this podcast on youtube by clicking here

The replicas featured on this weeks podcast are;

1/18 Red Bull RB5 2009 #15 S. Vettel - Minichamps
1/18 Porsche 917/20 1st ADAC Supersprint 1974 #0 - Minichamps
1/12 BSA Gold Star Clubman - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren MP4/24 Mercedes Edition 2009 #1 L. Hamilton - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren MP4/24 Mercedes Edition 2009 #2 H. Kovalainen - Minichamps
1/43 Red Bull RB5 2nd Chinese Grand Prix 2009 #14 M. Webber - Minichamps
1/43 McLaren M26 1977 #1 J. Hunt - Minichamps
1/43 Ford Escort RS1600 1st Brands Hatch 1971 #114 - Minichamps
1/43 Porsche 911 GT1 1st Le Mans 1998 #26 - Minichamps
1/43 Alfa Romeo Mito 2008 Metallic Red - Minichamps
1/43 Toyota FT-HS 2008 White - Minichamps
1/18 Peugeot 908 1st Le Mans 2009 #9 - Norev
1/18 Le Mans Race Director Figure - Norev
1/18 Volkswagen Scirocco Cesam 2009 Carbon - Norev
1/12 Morris Minor 1000 Saloon 1956 Birch Grey - Sun Star
1/18 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 1st San Remo Rally 1991 #1 D. Auriol - Sun Star
1/18 Fiat 124 Abarth 1st Acropolis Rally 1972 #4 H. Linberg - Sun Star
1/18 Mercury Cougar 1967 #98 D. Gurney - Sun Star
1/24 AEC Regent RT402 1947 - Sun Star
1/24 Bedford OB Coach Southern National 1949 - Sun Star

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 received Minichamps’ second release schedule of 2010, taking us up to the middle of March. There’s a lot of 2009 Formula One replicas on it!

In the first week of the schedule (week beginning 15th February), we will receive the 1:43 Brawn two car set of Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello from the 2009 Australian Grand Prix (DC29422A2), and the 1:43 Lewis Hamilton ‘Fuji Speedway’ edition McLaren MP4/23 from the 2008 Japanese Grand Prix, complete with green grooved tyres (DC28422J).

We will also see the first new Ayrton Senna 1:18 replica in a good couple of years, which will be his Toleman TG184 from the 1984 Portuguese Grand Prix (AS842).

The following week sees the release of Jorge Lorenzo’s first Moto GP bike, his 1:12 2008 Yamaha YZR-M1 (PO83048). There will be two more 1:43 2009 F1 replicas as well; Sebastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso STR4 (DC29411) and Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams FW31 (DC29417).

In the third week of the schedule, the week beginning 1st March, we are scheduled to receive Adrian Sutil’s 1:43 2009 Force India VJM02 (DC29420).

For the penultimate week of the schedule we will see no less than three 1:18 2009 F1 replicas and, better news still, their prices have actually come down! They will now be £54.99 instead of £59.99, and if you have already pre-ordered one from us we will of course reduce the price on your order.

The 1:18s we will see this week will be Fernando Alonso’s Renault R29 (DC2907), Sebastien Bourdais’ Toro Rosso STR4 (DC2911), and Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn BGP001 (DC2923). We will also see Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso STR4 (DC29412) in 1:43.

The last week of the release schedule covers the week beginning 15th March, which will be the Monday after the first Grand Prix of the season! The 1:18 2009 F1 cars to be released this week will be Nelson Piquet Jnr’s Renault R29 (DC2908) and Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso STR4 (DC2912), and the price of these has also been reduced by £5.

We will also see the 1:18 2009 McLaren MP4/24s released, of Lewis Hamilton (DC2901) and Heikki Kovalainen (DC2902).

Another new 1:18 release will be the 2009 Le Mans winning Peugeot 908 of David Brabham, Alex Wurz and Marc Gene (PG091209). This has gone up in price by £5, so will now be £64.99, with our exclusive version signed by all three victorious drivers (PG091209S) now £129.99.

The new 1:43 2009 F1 replica to be released in this week will be Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India VJM02 (DC29421).

The final noteworthy subject in the last week of the schedule is the next 1:12 Valentino Rossi figure, which will be from Barcelona 2008 when he had the ‘football kit’ leathers on (PO80086). Like the Peugeot, this has also been subject to a £5 price rise, and will now cost £39.99. I would expect Minichamps’ other Rossi figures which have already been announced but not released yet to also go up to £39.99.

I’m off to Nuremberg tomorrow with our Graphic Design team and we will be attending the show from Thursday until Saturday, photographing all the new samples. This diary will still be ‘manned’ though to keep you up to date with the news from the Toy Fair! And don’t forget, Minichamps, 2010 announcements will be live on our website from midnight tomorrow (Wednesday) night!

Today Kyosho announced a couple of interesting 1:18 road car subjects in the form of the Audi R8 Spyder, which will be available in blue (KY9217BL) and silver (KY9217S).

That was the news on what was otherwise a quiet day in the diecast industry, everyone probably too busy keeping an eye on the first day of 2010 Formula One testing. I know I was!