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.

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, 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.

We thought today was going to be all about Sun Star, as they sent us both new releases and new announcements.

But then Minichamps cut in at the last minute and released their 1:18 Lewis Hamilton 2011 McLaren MP4-26 (DC21103).

Sun Star released the next subject in its rallying Escorts collection: Ari Vatanen’s Ford Escort RS1800 from the 1981 RAC Rally (SS4453). It is limited to just 1,099 pieces worldwide, and won’t be around for long that’s for sure!

Other interesting subjects on the delivery were the Opel Ascona 400 Anders Kullang drove in the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally (SS5357), and Yvan Muller’s Peugeot 207 S2000 from the Rally of France (SS5357).

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

Sun Star also announced a new 1:18 replica today: The Opel Ascona 400 driven by Jimmy McRae in the 1981 RAC Rally (SS5360)

Today we received seven new replicas from Spark.

Jenson Button’s 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix winning McLaren MP4-26 (DC211404H) is by far the most exciting subject. Last year’s Hungarian Grand Prix was, of course, Jenson’s 200th grand prix start, and he won the race on the fifth anniversary of his first grand prix win. This is surely a must for Button fans.

We also received the Daniel Ricciardo 2011 Hispania HRT F111 from the Belgian Grand Prix (DC211422B), and Derek Warwick’s Lotus 102 from the 1990 Belgian Grand Prix (SPK1782).

And, not long after we received IXO’s 2012 Citroen DS3 WRC, Spark sent us the Citroen DS3 WRC driven by Mikko Hirvonen in the 2012 Monte Carlo Rally (SPK3327).

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

Today we had more announcements from Schuco, as well as a single new announcement from Fujimi.

Fujimi announced a 1:43 replica of the striking Patron Tequila liveried #01 2012 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 from the American Le Mans Series (FUJ1243025). The car’s regular drivers are Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek.

Schuco announced over 20 new 1:43 resin replicas. The Mercedes Brabus 700 Biturbo in red (SCH8829) and Francois Chatriot’s Renault R5 Turbo from the 1986 Tour de Corse (SCH8852) were standout subjects.

There was also plenty to choose from if you’re a Porsche fan; they announced the Porsche 934 RSR in red (SCH8860), Bob Wollek’s Porsche 934 RSR Porsche Cup champion (SCH8861) and James Dean’s Porsche 550 Spyder ‘Little Bastard’ (SCH8866) in 1:43.

Click here to check out all of Schuco’s 2012 announcements.

Today we received some new replicas from Minichamps, plus new announcements from Schuco.

The top model on the Minichamps delivery was the 1:43 Red Bull RB7 that Sebastian Vettel drove to victory in the 2011 Turkish Grand Prix (DC211401T). We also received a couple of nice British roadcar subjects from them too: the 1:43 1969 Aston Martin DBS in metallic red (P137601) and the 1:18 2011 Bentley Continental GT in metallic grey (PG139920).

The most interesting Schuco announcements were the 1:18 1995 Porsche 993 Cup 3.8 in white (SCH0345) and the 1:18 1995 Porsche 993 Turbo in black (SCH0315).

The 1:12 AC Cobra 289 in matt black (SCH6726) also looks as if it’s going to be mightily impressive.

Click here to see all of Schuco’s 1:18, 1:10 and 1:12 announcements.