Well, the wife asked if we wanted to do anything today, with a budget of course. So we decided to drive around the country for the day. Of course I've been hunting. The best bit today was that I've met the siku sales rep for New Zealand in one of the shops. He showed me a few new items (as of March 2012) that he put on the shelf. He also gave me two bits of info.
First the Blacklines. They should never have been for sale and the fact that I could find and buy some was a mistake. Well, too bad.
they are promo items, not even chase cars, limited to about 3000 each worldwide. So basically I've been right all along except that they're not supposed to be for sale. I thought they were chase cars.
The second question I asked was about the American market. I'm not sure what's the truth. You remember I said that import regulations might be an issue, as far as I've heard from some. Well, this one told me that the company is actually not up to the supply pressure. That means if siku wanted to cover the USA successfully, the cost would be too high, they would have to double the production including resources and whatever else. So basically he said siku is consciously bypassing the American market. Ireland is their number one sales area with Korea and New Zealand following (outside of Germany I suppose). It all sounds very complicated but at the end of the day it means that siku doesn't return to the USA anytime soon.
Now to my scores:
First up the Motormax combos. The Camino is the only die cast of the set, the trailer is all plastic. A little disappointing. The Dodge combo is very nice, I reckon. I will have to compare the Motormax and Matchbox Magnums later, should be interesting.
The Matchbox Magnum comes from this set, which I like a bit more than last year's with the Dodge Monaco in it.
I missed this one the first time it came out and I thought I couldn't find it anymore. Well, I found a peg warmer in one of the shops and gave it a home.
Of course I had to get a few HW mainlines. In no particular order:
I didn't catch the Megane in the 2011 colours so this time I had to get a copy. Note the new blue Laguna Seca after the black and grey editions.
First the Blacklines. They should never have been for sale and the fact that I could find and buy some was a mistake. Well, too bad.
The second question I asked was about the American market. I'm not sure what's the truth. You remember I said that import regulations might be an issue, as far as I've heard from some. Well, this one told me that the company is actually not up to the supply pressure. That means if siku wanted to cover the USA successfully, the cost would be too high, they would have to double the production including resources and whatever else. So basically he said siku is consciously bypassing the American market. Ireland is their number one sales area with Korea and New Zealand following (outside of Germany I suppose). It all sounds very complicated but at the end of the day it means that siku doesn't return to the USA anytime soon.
Now to my scores:
First up the Motormax combos. The Camino is the only die cast of the set, the trailer is all plastic. A little disappointing. The Dodge combo is very nice, I reckon. I will have to compare the Motormax and Matchbox Magnums later, should be interesting.




The Matchbox Magnum comes from this set, which I like a bit more than last year's with the Dodge Monaco in it.

I missed this one the first time it came out and I thought I couldn't find it anymore. Well, I found a peg warmer in one of the shops and gave it a home.

Of course I had to get a few HW mainlines. In no particular order:

I didn't catch the Megane in the 2011 colours so this time I had to get a copy. Note the new blue Laguna Seca after the black and grey editions.