Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today we received the latest Minichamps release schedule, which takes up until the end of September. Minichamps then closes for two weeks for its annual stock take.

In the first week of the schedule, for the week beginning 13th September, we will receive Mark Webber’s 1:18 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC21006P), Sebastian Vettel’s 1:18 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC21005P), Mark Webber’s 1:43 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC210406P), and Dani Pedrosa’s 1:12 2008 Honda RC212V (PO81102).

The following week we will see the 1:18 Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport in grey/purple (PG110830), and the re-release of Keke Rosberg’s 1:43 1982 Williams FW08 in the World Champions Collection (P820106).

In the final week of the schedule (week beginning 27th September), we will receive the next 1:8 Valentino Rossi helmet, from Mugello 2002 (PO20876), Nicky Hayden’s 1:12 2008 Honda RC212V (PO81169), and Bruno Spengler’s 1:43 2009 DTM Mercedes C-Class (P093909).

You can click here to see the complete Minichamps release schedule.

I’m not in the office tomorrow as we’re having our annual torture drive, I mean management cycle ride! Matt will be keeping you up to date though with all the diecast news!

Today we received a new Minichamps delivery and a new Spark delivery. You can click here to see the latest Minichamps releases and here to see the latest Spark releases.

From Minichamps we saw the Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn BGP001, in both 1:18 (DC2922SP) and 1:43 (DC29422SP) scale. We also saw Casey Stoner’s 1:12 2009 Ducati Desmosedici (PO90027), Sebastian Vettel’s 1:43 2010 Red Bull showcar (DC210405P), and the Ayrton Senna 1:43 ‘15th anniversary’ 1992 McLaren MP4/7 (AS924301).

From Spark we saw the 1:43 British Steam Land Record car (SPK2900), Chris Amon’s 1:43 1972 Monaco Grand Prix Matra MS120 (SPK1606), and the 1:43 Mini Countryman in green (SPK1514), among others.

Spark also announced a price rise today. In short all of their yet to be released 1:43 replicas have gone up by £5 and all of their forthcoming 1:18 replicas have gone up by £10. Their 2010 Formula One and Le Mans cars will not go up in price, however, as these higher prices has already been incorporated when they were originally announced.

Today’s diary entry starts with a warning! At the time of writing we only have 12 pieces left of Norev’s 1:18 Ford Capri (NV182712). At the rate we’re getting through them that will not be enough to last us until the Bank Holiday. If you’re thinking of getting one, act quickly!

We do know that there will be a second colourway of Norev’s 1:18 Ford Capri, however (NV182712B). We don’t know what colour it’s going to be yet, but if you like your Capris no matter what colour they are, and want to get your name down for one early, then please feel free to pre-order it!

Other news today is that we can now offer Minichamps’ 1:18 replica of Mark Webber’s 2010 Red Bull RB6 signed by the man himself (DC21006S). The 2010 Formula One World Champion, perhaps?

Our busy week was completed today by a new Kyosho delivery and some Minichamps samples of models that are going to be released soon.

Highlights on the Kyosho delivery were the beautiful blue and white 1:18 1980s Fiat 131s. We have received Walter Rohrl’s 1980 Monte Carlo Rally winning Fiat 131 (KY8373A), and Markku Alen’s 1981 Portugal Rally winning Fiat 131 (KY8373B). You can click here to see all of Kyosho’s latest releases.

The Minichamps samples include Casey Stoner’s 1:12 2009 Ducati Desmosedici (PO90027), Kevin Schwantz’s 1:12 1993 Suzuki RGV 500 (P932034), the ‘15th anniversary’ 1:43 Ayrton Senna 1985 Lotus 97T, which is #30 in the Ayrton Senna Racing Car Collection (AS854312), and the ‘15th anniversary’ 1:43 Ayrton Senna 1992 McLaren MP4/7, which is #33 in the Ayrton Senna Racing Car Collection (AS924301).

Today we received the new Minichamps delivery for the week, and, very excitingly, samples of the Minichamps Button Brazil specials! You can click here to see the Minichamps 1:18 Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn (DC2922SP) and you can click here to see the Minichamps 1:43 Jenson Button Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn (DC29422SP).

In terms of new Minichamps releases, the highlight was the latest 1:8 Valentino Rossi helmet, which is from Laguna Seca 2005 (PO50896). Also released were the latest two 1:43 2008 Williams FW30 pre-season test cars of Nico Rosberg (DC28407T3) and Kazuki Nakajima (DC28408T2), the 1:43 Rolls Royce Drophead cabriolet in brown and silver (P134732), and the 1:43 #40 Ford GT from the 2009 Nurburgring 24 Hours (P098440).

Today I have so much diecast news I’m not sure where to start!

First off, we are delighted that Ben Spies has agreed to sign Minichamps’ 1:12 replica of his 2010 Yamaha YZR-M1 exclusively for us (PO103011S). This, of course, is his first ‘full-time’ Moto GP bike. Once he takes Valentino’s seat next year, as everyone expects him to, and starts racing at the front consistently, this will be a signed replica to keep under lock and key!

We also received some interesting news today regarding Minichamps’ Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn specials. First off, they will NOT be part of the Minichamps World Champions Collection, as I thought they might be. We now know the limited editions in each scale as well. The 1:43 Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn (DC29422SP) will be a limited edition of 6,333 pieces, while the 1:18 Jenson Button 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix Brawn (DC2922SP) is limited to a mere 4,209. If you want either of these, particularly the 1:18 version, you’d better not wait for long!

We received the new IXO 1:43 delivery today too. Highlights include the latest 1:43 La Storia car, which is Rene Arnoux’s 1985 Ferrari 156 (IXSF24). We also received the first Kimi Raikkonen rally car replica, which is his Fiat Punto from the 2009 Rally Finland (RAM393). New endurance racing replicas on the delivery include the #008 Aston Martin LMP1 from the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours (LMM167), and Bruno Senna’s #10 Oreca AIM 01 from the 2009 Le Mans 24 Hours (LMM170). You can click here to see IXO’s latest releases.

All in all, quite a day!

Today we received the week’s new Minichamps delivery. It included their first ever 1:12 Moto GP replica to feature the on-board camera on the tail, which is Nicky Hayden’s 2009 Ducati Desmosedici (PO90069).

The delivery also included five 1:43 Formula One cars. These are Jody Scheckter’s 1973 British Grand Prix McLaren M23 (P734330), Jochen Mass’s 1977 USA Grand Prix West McLaren M23 (P774392), Ivan Capelli’s 1990 Leyton House C901 (P900016), Nico Rosberg’s 2008 pre-season test Williams FW30 with the team’s world champions’ signatures on it (DC28407T2), and Kazuki Nakajima’s 2008 pre-season test Williams FW30 with the team’s statistics on it (DC28408T3).

Today’s diecast news is mainly to do with AUTOart.

Most excitingly, they have announced a 1:18 replica of Jim Clark’s winning Lotus Cortina from the Crystal Palace round of the 1964 British Saloon Car Championship (AA86438).

We also received sample images of their forthcoming 1:18 replica of Per Stureson’s winning Volvo 240 Turbo from the Wunstorf round of the 1985 DTM (AA88592), and received an indication (although this has not been confirmed) that their Signature Collection 1:18 replicas of the McLaren F1 in silver (AA76001) and in black (AA76002B) will be priced at £199.99. 

Finally today, we have been able to obtain just another five examples of the Minichamps 1:18 Mark Webber 2009 Chinese Grand Prix Red Bull RB5 (DC2914C), which we sold out of almost as soon as it was released. If you did miss out originally, you now have a very small window of opportunity to make amends!

Today we received the new Minichamps delivery to finish off the week. We normally receive Minichamps deliveries earlier in the week but this one was delayed in transit after leaving Germany.

It includes three new 1:43 Formula One cars, which are Paul Pietsch’s 1951 Alfa Romeo 159 from the German Grand Prix (P511278), Mauricio Gugelmin’s 1992 Leyton House C901 (P900015), and the orange two-seater Minardi F1×2 that ran at Fiorano in 2002 (P020510). You can click here to see the rest of Minichamps’ latest releases.

Today we received news of some new Spark replicas that will be released next week, and of some Minichamps cancellations.

The Minichamps cancellations are the two 2008 Moto GP Gresini Hondas of Randy de Puniet (PO81015) and Shinya Nakano (PO81056).

You can click here to see next week’s new Spark releases. Highlights in 1:43 include a Gulf sponsored Formula One car, which is Alessandro Pessenti-Rossi’s Tyrrell 007 from the 1976 Italian Grand Prix (SPK1648), the Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster (SPK2006), and the 99F GT9 R (SPK0748).

There is also a new 1:18 Spark replica which will be released next week, which is the third place Dauer Porsche 962 from the 1994 Le Mans 24 Hours (SPA18S035).