A few years ago, Ricko (or RickoRicko, if you want to be picky picky) was a little known German company that was being distributed in the U.S. in fits and spurts, which was a shame. They actually had a few neat, fairly inspired images in 1:18, including a wee BMW “Dixi” sedan, a substantially more [...]
Yes, it’s Super Bowl Weekend, and most of the free world will have salsa on their breath and both eyes glued on the game this Sunday. But the first week in February means one thing to hardcore collectors this year: the International Toy Fair in Germany. Nuremberg is hopping with new releases for 2012, and [...]
Our man in the street – actually man in the showrooms – Andy Goodman is starting to send back images from the 2012 Nuremberg Toy Fair, and there’s some great stuff on the horizon, as seen in these quick snaps. GreenLight is tooling up an all-new Mustang II in 1:18 high-detail; this resin looks like [...]
Well, well, well – at last, one of the most desired movie car icons of the last quarter century has arrived in true 1:18, and the ripple effect is catching up “serious” collectors as well as movie car fans. Hot Wheels Elite’s new 1959 Cadillac limousine-style Miller-Meteor Futura Duplex – a handful of a name [...]
Lane Automotive was – and still is – a supplier of high-performance automotive parts, based in Watervliet, Michigan. In the late 1990’s, they also became a supplier to the 1:18 diecast hobby, offering re-pops of Ertl molds that were built to spec for sale to an image-hungry musclecar collector base. Those early models were fairly [...]
Park the Prius; unplug your Volt; use those do-it-yourself fuel cell plans you just bought for the Mini to spark up the backyard barbecue. All that physics-stretching, newfangled technology is namby-pamby stuff. If you want to make mileage like they did in the old days, think microcar. These ’fifties-era spawns of the European postwar economy [...]
There are a few milestone models in the 1:18 hobby. On the one hand, there are the early, inexpensive Bburagos and Ertls that attracted most collectors to the scale in the first place, and on the other, the super-detailed (and far pricier) one-to-eighteen offerings from makers like Exoto, Lane Exact Detail, and GMP that introduced [...]
Minichamps’ model of the 1972 Alfa Romeo GTA 1300 Junior is an outrageous looking thing, much like the real car it’s patterned after. All bulging fenders, riveted-on bodywork, and molto bad attitude, it come out of its box looking… angry. And that would be just about right; these were ripping little cars. 1290cc DOHC inline fours, [...]
In case you’ve been dozing ‘neath the bituminous for the past several months (or you think those debates on TV are some kind of new reality show), we’d like to remind you that we’re gearing up for an election. For the really big job. As in, President of the United States. It’s with that in [...]
M2 Machines is a fairly new company in the scope of the diecast community. When they entered the market they came running full steam ahead with a specific agenda: redefine the word “detail” in the smaller scale segment, make the models realistic, and deliver castings to the market that had yet to be seen. Did [...]
While looking through the pegs for Hot Wheels at your favorite store, make sure to look closely. There are a few cars that have been found with 5 spoke wheel variations. They’re not showing up at too many places, so make sure you don’t pass them up if you see them. One to look for [...]
MAY CHEONG GROUP ACQUIRES MUSCLE MACHINES BRAND The May Cheong Group (MCG), manufacturers of the die-cast and radio control brands Maisto and Bburago, have announced the acquisition of tooling and intellectual property of the Muscle Machines brand from Bodylines/Bruce Schultz, the famed 3D artist who worked on the original models. Terms of the transaction were not [...]
County Roads Series 7 delivers a duo of new tooling; the 1977 Chevrolet G20 Van is a brand new addition to the GreenLight lineup, and the 2011 Ford Explorer is another new tool that was recently introduced. Both machines are decorated as service vehicles for fictional outdoor businesses – lawn care and construction – in [...]
Rust Heinz’s Phantom Corsair was a standout machine at a time when streamlining and aerodynamics (or at least styling that looked aerodynamic) were making profound changes to car design – and, by extension, what folks considered stylish and modern. The Phantom cost twenty-four grand to build at a time when a mini-mansion could be had [...]
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