Leigh’s Diecast Diary

The big news today was the new delivery from AUTOart, which had the next two colourways of the 1:18 Bugatti Veyron on it.

Unfortunately, the numbers of the blue and black version (AA70907) were extremely restricted for its first UK shipment, as AUTOart continues its policy of keeping the market short initially, so already we are waiting for restocks on that one. We still have some spare of the pearl and blue example (AA70908), but these will probably disappear quickly too.

The other biggie was a 1:18 replica that we have been waiting over two years for, the Ford Cortina that won the 1964 Safari Rally (AA86428).

You may remember that last year Minichamps announced a 1:12 2002 Valentino Rossi sitting figure (PO20046), while earlier this year they also confirmed a 2002 Donington sidesaddle version (PO20146). It was clarified today that the Donington figure was a replacement for the sitting figure, not an additional release, so the 2002 sitting figure has now been cancelled.

It’s 6pm and I’ve only just sat down at my desk for the first time all day! It’s been manic getting things ready for tomorrow’s warehouse sale; I’ve been up to my knees in damages and been trying to get them in some sort of organised display!

Everything’s sorted now though, so we’ll be ready at 9am tomorrow morning when we open our big warehouse door to let you all in! Just as a reminder, there will be 10% off all ‘in-stock non-sale’ models, plus club members will get an additional 10% off all discounted prices as well.

See you in the morning!

Today we started getting things ready for our diecast warehouse sale on Saturday.

For this one we will have more damages than ever before, as a couple of our suppliers would also like to get rid of some of their damages, and so have passed them on to us. We received five pallets of damaged models this morning!

There will also be ‘good’ stock at reduced prices as I try to erase any evidence of any purchasing errors that I have made! Plus 10% off all ‘in-stock non-sale’ models on the day.

Universal Hobbies advised us today that there will be a price rise of £5 on their 1:16 tractors and 1:12 motorbikes, which will take effect on 1st October. So, you have until then to take advantage of the prices that they are at now!

There won’t be a diary entry tomorrow as there’s a ‘GPL management day out thing’, which I won’t bore you with the details about here, so you will next hear from me on Friday.

Today we supplied our latest diecast catalogue to the printers. It is our first one that is going to be entirely dedicated to just one manufacturer, which of course, is Minichamps. The catalogue should arrive on your doorsteps from about ten days’ time.

There’s been a bit of confusion about the Mick Doohan (PO17999) and Freddie Spencer (PO17998) test bikes that were featured in the diary last Friday, as people have been unable to find them on our website. Well, incredibly, we’ve sold out already!

We weren’t too enthusiastic when we first heard about them, as they were essentially ‘just’ promotional bikes, Rossi’s test bike that the other two riders took ‘for a quick spin’.

Minichamps then pulled a masterstroke, however, by limiting them to just 504 pieces each. This rarity value ensured that demand for them was huge, and consequently we were sold out of our allocation within just a couple of days. It will be interesting to see if Minichamps pioneers this approach again in the future!

Unless someone steps in for me, there won’t be an entry tomorrow or on Monday, as I continue my summer of Raikkonen jinxing at the Italian Grand Prix. This will be my fourth time at Monza, and so far I have seen Raikkonen get a second, a third, and a fourth there. I would say that it’s time to complete the set, but knowing his luck, and mine, that will end up being a fifth place instead of a win!

Today we received the new Minichamps delivery. It’s good to see them catching up on their 1:18 classic F1 subjects; after Moreno’s 1991 Benetton B191 last week, this time around we received Martin Brundle’s 1992 Benetton B191B (PG920120). It’s just a shame that Minichamps are barely doing any contemporary 1:18 F1 anymore!

Also on the delivery was the latest 1:43 ‘White Line’ car, the Bentley Brooklands (P139621), and perhaps the Chaparral’s most famous ever race win, Phil Hill and Mike Spence’s high-winged 2F from the 1967 BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch (P671401).

Meanwhile, from Mattel we saw their first 1:18 Michael Schumacher Elite Championship car, his Ferrari F2002 from the 2002 French Grand Prix (HW2076).

Last Thursday the Minichamps delivery only arrived very last thing, so I only had time to cover the Hamilton Australia special (DC27402A) before grabbing my sunscreen and flying out to Valencia!

(I have since received several death threats from Raikkonen fans warning me what they will do to me if I ever attend another Grand Prix! Might I also respectfully ask Ferrari to, just for a change, give Raikkonen the lighter fuel load rather than saddling him up with four or five laps more fuel than Massa and then watch him struggle through qualifying and the first stint of the race? That’s before Raikkonen tries to rejoin the race with half of his pit crew still hanging on to the side of his car!)

Anyway, I’m paid to be a Diecast Manager, not an F1 analyst (and currently embittered Raikkonen fan!), and as not much has happened today I thought I’d cover the Minichamps delivery in more detail.

There was one ‘surprise’ on it, which wasn’t on the original release schedule, Fernando Alonso’s 1:43 2008 Renault R27 pre-season testcar (DC28405T). There were also two new releases in the 1:43 White Line collection as Minichamps continues to storm through that at a ferocious pace, the Lamborghini Gallardo (P103500), and the Aston Martin V8 Vantage (P137420).

The other notable release was, finally, the 1:43 ‘Jordan lifetime two car set’, of Bertrand Gachot’s 1991 191 from the American Grand Prix and Tiago Monteiro’s 2005 EJ15 from the Chinese Grand Prix (P109105). It is a limited edition of just 1,008 pieces worldwide so will probably sell out quite quickly.  

As Leigh is not in today, I thought I would hijack his blog and give you an update from the ecommerce department.

Grand Prix Legends have launched another forum today. Christopher Paul and the M.D. from Spidi, Italy were having dinner recently and the topic of riderwear forums came up in the conversation. He was telling Christopher how he often went on forums to see what people thought of his products and those of his competitors. But, he felt, there wasn’t a good forum on this subject in the UK. Christopher passed this on to me and so today we have launched the new forum at  riderwearforum.com. If biking is your thing swing by and take a look.

Keeping with the biking theme, if you are interested in biking it’s worth knowing we are opening our warehouse doors to the public this Saturday for the 50% off Belstaff sale. Click here for more details - Belstaff Sale

You have probably noticed I have been quiet on the diecast forum as of late (still reading the posts mind)- Lots has been going on in the ecommerce department, here is some of the latest news.

The new website is taking shape and the ecommerce team start beta testing next week to iron out any of the bugs. Once happy I will be tweaking the integration of the new website with our in house systems and then it will be time to throw the switch!

There is a new blog - blog.grandprixlegends.com which allows all the other news going on at Grand Prix Legends to be listed.

In other news, the Oakley mega 33% off sale is coming to an end on the 31st August so if you after a new pair of sunnies make sure you get in quick.

That’s about it for now. Normal service to resume on Tuesday when Leigh gets back.

Have a good bank holiday weekend - which reminds me, don’t forget to use the offer code AUGBHS to get free shipping on in-stock orders ( i.e not pre-orders) over £50 to the UK this weekend when making any purchases.

Cheers

Jon

Today we received a couple of new 1:43 replicas from SMTS, of two very famous cars in Formula One history.

The first is of Stirling Moss’s Lotus 18 that he used to brilliantly win the 1960 Monaco Grand Prix (SMTS075), managing to hold off the trio of much faster Ferrari Sharknoses of Hill, Ginther and von Trips for the entire race. We will also shortly be offering this replica signed by Moss (SMTS075S).

The second replica is of the great Jim Clark’s very first Grand Prix car; the Lotus 18 that he raced in the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix (SMTS076). SMTS will be making pretty much all of Clark’s cars over the coming months, and few will be more significant than this.

We also received a new signed replica today; Sun Star’s 1:24 model of the last ever Routemaster, signed by its driver Winston Briscoe (SS2914S).

Finally today, Norev informed us of a few cancellations to its forthcoming 1:18 releases. The ‘Wrooom’ Fiat 500 snow race cars of Felipe Massa (NV187734), Luca Badoer (NV187735), and Marc Gene (NV187736), will now not be made.

Many thanks to those of you who visited our stand at the British Grand Prix over the weekend and spent your hard-earned cash with us! I only worked the Friday, but was still surprised at just how many people used the ‘Fangio’ password!

I was also surprised at how we were the only people selling diecast at the recommended retail prices. I did a quick scout of the other stands and saw that everyone else who was selling the 1:43 Hamilton 2008 showcar (DC28422P) was selling it at £35, £7 over retail. And I was stunned to see Hamilton’s 1:18 2007 Minichamps McLaren (DC2702) being offered for as much as £70, a massive £20 over retail.

Over the weekend I turned spectator, and although I got pretty wet watching from Stowe corner, it was worth it to see such an exciting race. Could have done without that questionable tyre call from Ferrari though, but considering Raikkonen was about 11th at one point, 4th place at the end didn’t seem too bad! Hamilton was flawless in the difficult conditions, and the three-way tie at the top of the standings promises a very exciting championship.

While I was away Mattel announced a new 1:18 2008 Formula One Ferrari special. It commemorates Felipe Massa’s hat trick in the Turkish Grand Prix (DC2802T), with three consecutive wins from 2006 to 2008. It will consist of a 1:18 replica of Massa’s race aged Turkish Grand Prix Ferrari F2008, mounted on a silver base with a red anodised plaque. It will be limited to 3,333 pieces.

And as for a Hamilton ‘Home Win’ special, I guess we’ll just have to watch this space!

Today was one of those rare days when not a lot happened in the diecast world! That’s not to say that we weren’t our usual incredibly busy selves however, as we started work on our upcoming in-stock diecast catalogue, which is always one of our most popular ones of the year. It should hit your doormats in about three weeks.

I do have one piece of news for you today though. I don’t want to suggest that my blog is so successful that it carries the rest of the sprawling Grand Prix Legends empire, but I have been asked to mention that we are offering a third off all of our Oakley sunglasses (even the brand new ranges) until the end of August. So, before you go off on your summer holidays, check out our Oakley Eyewear section!