Leigh’s Diecast Diary

Today we received the new Minichamps delivery.

On it were the next two versions of perhaps the most used mould in Minichamps history, the 1:43 McLaren M26! These next two examples are Brett Lunger’s (P784330) and Patrick Tambay’s (P784308) 1978 cars.

Also on the delivery were two new James Bond releases; the Quantum Of Solace two car set (P121300), which is limited to just 3007 pieces worldwide, and Roger Moore’s Alfa Romeo from Octopussy (P120141).

We were informed today that CMC’s 1:18 replica of Phil Hill’s Ferrari Sharknose from the 1961 Belgian Grand Prix (CMC070) has now sold out. We will have one more delivery that will (just!) cover our existing backorders, but that’s it.

Even though CMC will still be replicating two more versions of the 1:18 Ferrari Sharknose, I was surprised that the Hill Spa car should sell out so soon after its release, especially given its now very high price of £225.10, and in the current economic environment.

So it looks like the credit crunch hasn’t hit CMC buyers just yet then!

As you would expect, it’s pretty quiet in the days between Christmas and New Year in the old diecast industry!

We have had one new release today though; Mattel’s 1:43 replica of the Lamborghini Reventon (HW5582). So it was worth logging onto Leighsdiary.com today!

There’s no diecast news to speak of today, but I’d just like to say Happy Christmas to all the Leigh’s Diary readers and forum members out there. May all your presents be 1:18, 1:12 or 1:43 scale! 

There were no new diecast deliveries today, but we did receive our office copies of our rebranded Diecast Legends catalogue for January 2009! 

It is more in the style of a magazine now (although, obviously, we do try and sell some models in it!), and is entitled ‘Diecast Monthly’, nice and simple! It also has January 2009 on the cover, to highlight that there will be an ‘issue’ released every month. It will hit your doormats between Christmas and New Year, so you won’t have to look far to spend your Christmas money! 

We also came across some old Minichamps models recently, from a good ten years ago, which are now on our eBay site. They end on Sunday afternoon, but you might like to take a look now to see if there is anything you might be interested in! You can click here to view what we have to offer.

We received the new Minichamps delivery today. It had the next two 1:43 2008 Formula One cars on it, Sebastian Vettel’s Toro Rosso STR3 (DC28415) and Kazuki Nakajima’s Williams FW30 (DC28408). This first shipment of Vettel’s car has sold out on release though, and I’m not sure there will be another.

We are also now going to see Jenson Button’s Honda RA108 (DC28416) in time for Christmas, but the two Honda showcars of Button (DC28416P) and Barrichello (DC28417P) have been cancelled.

If you did miss out on Vettel though, Minichamps did confirm a 1:43 First Win special (DC28415M) from Monza today. There will also be a First Win special for Kubica from Canada (DC28404C) too. Poor Heikki must be feeling a bit left out!

Also released was the Queen’s 1:18 State Limousine (PG139700), and the sexy Boss liveried Porsche 956L from Le Mans 1983 (PG836918).

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).