OXFORD DIECAST - The next recolour for the Bentley T2, Black and beautiful.

Ahhhhh, just look at that, is that not just perfection, shame about the picture, blame the photographer, oh, that will be me, LOL, but this is another of the stunning models from Oxford Diecast, i have already blogged about the Blue version of this, you can find that >>> HERE but the black one, is, well, so much more. 

The Black Bentley can be used for so many more things that a coloured version would not seem appropriate, like for instance, a funeral, or company executives car, Royalty or just as a statement, this Bentley T2, can do all that, and so much more, with ease, style and grace, this is what some would call the last real Bentley.

HOT WHEELS - The Eight piece Porsche sports car set, one of the first brand sets, and one of the best.

At roughly the same time as the James Bond set launch we had another from Hot Wheels, one we did not expect to find in the UK, but fortunately they arrived, and i managed to get three full sets (24 cars) from this Porsche cars set from the old to the modern, each car is represented to near perfection.

Hot Wheels have again decided to not paint these cars in garish colours, but in proper sports livery, genuine Porsche colours, proper stickers and labels, to make this set a brilliant one, and it can continue too, they have just launched an old 356a, they have the Panamera, and a few other sports cars that are not within this set, so, who knows, Hot wheels could come back and do a series II, with all new cars, new colours, new liveries, and new card art, i do hope so.

HOT WHEELS - The James Bond five car set, HW's have produced probably one of the best sets ever.

The name is Bond, James Bond, 007, Licensed to Kill, and to have some of the most beautiful cars in the world, and it all started with the 1963 Aston Martin DB5, the most iconic movie car ever, nothing beats it, not even the DeLorean from Back to the Future.

Part of every Bond film, you have a certain sections that are a must, you must have the Tuxedo, you must have the gadgets, you must have the Bond girls, you must have a villain and you must have a car that can do all the things that you want you bog standard Ford or Toyota to do.

Sean Connery had the Mustang Mach 1 in Diamonds are forever, you know the one, where the car went on two wheels into a thin pathway, and somehow managed to come out the other end on the other two wheels, Roger Moore had a brace of Lotus Esprit's, one got blown up the other was a submarine in disguise, The black evil looking Lincoln Continental from Goldfinger was the perfect choice of car for the villain from that film, It then brings us nicely to the current Bond, Daniel Craig.

In his first outing as Bond in Casino Royale, he had the awesome Aston Martin DBS, and has had various Aston's both new and classic in each film since, and who is the maker of these cars, well, surprisingly it is Hot Wheels.

Most people would associate Hot Wheels with US cars, with wild and bright paint schemes, low slung modded cars and awful generics, but in the last couple of years, they have been producing some stunning road cars, without the garish paint and silly wheels, this range, is one of a large number they have released and they are all amazing.

It has to be noted that Hot Wheels ALSO has produced the new Aston, the DB10, a bespoke car made just for the latest film, SPECTRE, and that looks perfect, and i really can not wait to get my hands on these, lots of them.

The card graphics are also to be noted in that they are really great, and go well with each film, Hot Wheel, and Mattel, should be applauded for this set, as it is truly one of the best to date..

OXFORD DIECAST - The Triumph 2500 in Lancashire police trim, this brings back so many memories.

Another Gem from Oxford a true 70's icon, A car that deserved to be far more successful than it was, a car that spawned a V8 legend, it's self a flawed and unreliable stunner, the Stag was and still is a head turner, the 2500 here in Lancashire Constabulary paint scheme, was another flawed car, but it was loved by those that knew how to look after them and those that own them now.

This version modelled here looks great, the lines are spot on, the recessed glass is a bit of a disappointment, but over the months and years, OD has gotten better and better and the glass house is nearer to the edge of the car rather than recessed back, it's not a dire point, just one of note, but not detract from the over all look of this car.

The blue lamp on the roof, the "Jam Sandwich" look are all straight from the 1970's, and it is where this model shines, bringing back memories from an era, that I remember, just, it is such a shame that the real cars are now few and far between, as cars were just not made to last in that time, but those that take time, effort and an awful lot of money, have this car still in use, and the models keep that brand and model alive for another generation after generation.

OXFORD DIECAST - The Jaguar XJ is just purr-fect, one of the best models to date.

One of the biigest Coup's for Oxford Diecast was being able to produce the entire Jaguar line, and the top of that line is the XJ saloon, modelled here in stunning pale blue, with realist style alloys, which suffer the same issues as most of the other models in the OD range, but this time, the gaps are more recessed so as not to appear too bad at all.

The clear plastic front lights are also a high point to this model, not painted as on many other brands, but actually a separate piece of clear plastic which makes them look far more realistic, the interiors are also of a high quality, mimicking the real car quite well, in fact the stance and look of this 1/76 model is so real, that OD has yet another 10/10 model.

I hope that OD has the contract to build further Jaguar Land Rover models, as there is the New Discovery Sport, Jaguar XE, Jaguar F-Pace, F-Type Project 7, Range Rover Sport and SVR and F-Type SVR that need to be made, and i would love for them to make the XF Sportbrake, a small scale Jaguar Estate car would be enormously successful. 

OXFORD DIECAST - The best model yet, the Range Rover, the ultimate SUV, luxury, Style and modelled perfectly.

One of the latest released from Oxford Diecast is stunning, absolutely stunning, the Range Rover, the big daddy of off roaders, the car that moves everyone from Royalty to governments, from celebrities to the man on the street, and it is therefore brilliant that we get this modelled by Oxford Diecast.

The gold brings the model to life, it showcases off the car as it should be seen, rather than a very dark colour that would hide these details, like door handles, louvres and more, the fact that they have chosen to use clear plastic for the front lights rather than painted metal shows how Oxford Diecast are moving forward and making models nearer to how they actually are.

my only thing that i would mention is the alloys wheels, I cant see how you can sort this, as they need a sold lump to put the tyres on, and the grey colour of the spokes matches the colour of the gaps in between, so you lose the wheel design somewhat, but as that cant be fixed yet, i ignore that and enjoy a stunning model, i cant wait for the other colours, they will all be collected. 

OXFORD DIECAST - The stunning Jaguar XJS looks even better in UK Police trim, dont you think ?

When you get the latest releases from Oxford Diecast, you have to wonder how they can constantly produce so many great casting, and so many new ones, quarter after quarter, this coming year sees some really amazing castings and it is going to cost me a small fortune to keep up with them all.

But i digress, the Jaguar XJS models here is a great casting, with proper looking alloy wheels, its a shame they could not just get a little less grey plastic between the wheel spokes, to make them look a little better, but that's just me, the actual model in the police tampo looks great.

And it would frighten me if i was driving along to be greeted with the real thing, when they used one for use by the police authority. You can see that the detail is not perfect, but as each new casting comes along, they get better and better, and i look forward to them all.