Minichamps re-releasing World Champions Collections 1:18 diecasts
Minichamps are finally starting to (slowly) release some of their much anticipated 1:18 World Champions Collections diecasts of Lewis Hamilton, Nigel Mansell and Ayrton Senna race cars (some of which are re-releases). If you’ve followed Minichamps’ annual catalogs, these models have been a long time coming.
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes AMG W06 and W08 in 1:18 scale are widely available now much to the benefit of newer F1 collectors. Before this year, both these models were regularly fetching $400+ in the secondary market. These 2 cars were previously not available in World Champions Collection boxing, so are potentially a new replacement model at recommended list price for older collectors.
Lewis’ W06 World Champions Collection 1:18
For newer collectors, the Minichamps’ World Champions Collection series models have technical specifications and key statistics (e.g. points, number of wins and list of GPs won) for the car printed at the rear cardboard inlay. These display neatly alongside the diecast model and are well liked by collectors.
Nigel Mansell fans can also pickup the Williams FW14B in a 1:18 re-release (also previously selling for $400+ on ebay) and Senna collectors who missed out on previous 1:18 Minichamps can now grab his 1990 McLaren Honda MP4/5B.
Mansell fans will welcome the re-release of the iconic Williams Renault FW14B
For Lewis fans, still in Minichamps’ pre-order 1:18 diecast pipeline are some of his past race cars:
- Lewis’ McLaren MP4/23 World Champions Collection car
- McLaren MP4/19 2004 young driver test (also in 1:43)
- McLaren MP4/21 2006 Silverstone test (also in 1:43)
- Mercedes W05 2014 World Champions Collection car (also in 1:43)
- Mercedes W11 2020 Eifel GP (91st win) and 2020 World champion car both in 1:12 scale in resin
For Senna fans, Minichamps will be re-releasing these 1:18’s on pre-order:
- Lotus 97T 1985 Portugese GP with rain tyres
- McLaren MP4/6 1991 Mexican GP with Alesi taxi
- Williams FW14 1994 San Marino GP
Other 1:18 World Champions Collections models for pending release include:
- Alain Prost’s Williams Renault FW15C
- Damon Hill’s Williams Renault FW18
- Jacques Villeneuve’s Williams Renault FW19.
Collectors holding current Minichamps models of these cars and who are thinking of housekeeping their collection would be advised to offload these now before the new re-release inventory flood the market.
Longer term, I think the World Champions Collections model prices will recover slightly after the market has absorbed the new units. As experienced with the re-released Schumacher 1:18 Minichamps Benetton cars, the values are unlikely to return to past historic highs. It seems like Lewis might hang around until he can grab that elusive 8th world championship, so his popularity isn’t going to wane any time soon and this is still reflected in the second hand sales of his diecast cars.
Minichamps will also be re-releasing their 1:10 scale Ayrton Senna (1984-1988) and Michael Schumacher (1992, 1993 & 1994) driver helmets, so you may start to soon see older collectors disposing of their helmet collections on auction sites. The resale prices on some Senna helmets has reached absurd levels in the past, so nice to see that the newer generation of collectors will get an opportunity to add to their collections at a more reasonable price point soon.
