Biante Minicars

[brchi17]

I was looking at my set of 2002 minicars the other day & I was wondering just how many of these fantastic little cars there were out there ?

Judging by the prices some of them are selling for on the various auction/model shop web sites, I would have to guess around 3000 or so for each one.

Does anyone know just how many of each were made ?

I know there were 1200 of the members collector AU & VX.

Being a Ford fan I get all of the 1:43 Falcons, & its' great to have most of the field in 1:64 as they are more affordable (for me).

cheers.

[brchi17]

Hello,
is there anyone out there than can/will answer my question ???
Admin, Richard & co, surely you must know how many there are ?
How about sharing it with us ?
cheers.

[admin]

Hi brchi17
Mate we don't sit here all day waiting for questions on the website believe it or not.
However now I am at home and have a few minutes before doing a days business with Germany and USA for half the night, I will answer quickly.
There are 23 minicars in development at the moment, from modern to classic road and race cars.
Quantities vary, but anywhere from 12,000 to 3,200 depending on the team and driver..draw your own conclusions as to which is which.
Demand for the classics has been very strong as has the VY and BA, so looks like the whole range will get bigger and better.
Hope that helps answer some questions.

[loste_treasures]

Originally posted by admin
Hi brchi17
Mate we don't sit here all day waiting for questions on the website believe it or not.
However now I am at home and have a few minutes before doing a days business with Germany and USA for half the night, I will answer quickly.
There are 23 minicars in development at the moment, from modern to classic road and race cars.
Quantities vary, but anywhere from 12,000 to 3,200 depending on the team and driver..draw your own conclusions as to which is which.
Demand for the classics has been very strong as has the VY and BA, so looks like the whole range will get bigger and better.
Hope that helps answer some questions.

I think admin has had a hard day at the office........

[admin]

I have had a hard day at the office and I do every day and each weekend and do you know why? Because I love it and take a great deal of satisfaction from making good models for my fellow collectors.
However some of the contributions on this forum do tend to take the shine off it as I take the time to answer questions responsibly to put you in the picture and get smart **** replies.
brchi17 asked a question, I explained why he didnt get an instant answer and also answered the question. What more do we do to please you?

[Xcesiv308]

We appreciate your time Admin,, as we appreciate the fantastic effort put into bringin us the high detail models that you do..
So don't take any notice of the shine as there is plenty therwe from those of us that appreciate it,
Do yourself a favor,, take the weekend off :D

[admin]

Can't!!
Got to mow the lawn Saturday as we will be at All Holden Day on Sunday with the new MPC Monaro CV8.
Anyone in Perth with nothing to do, come down to Bassendean oval..should be a terrific day.
I might even be able to get some good development pics for the upcoming VB/VC/VH/VK etc!!

[loste_treasures]

Originally posted by admin
Can't!!
Got to mow the lawn Saturday as we will be at All Holden Day on Sunday with the new MPC Monaro CV8.
Anyone in Perth with nothing to do, come down to Bassendean oval..should be a terrific day.
I might even be able to get some good development pics for the upcoming VB/VC/VH/VK etc!!


Hey admin,

ill give you $20.00 to mow my lawn...... ;)

ill give you $40.00 if you provide us with more info on the other commodores you mention !!!

[Xcesiv308]

Well after the lawns are mowed,, the rest sounds like very good stress relief,, would love to come along,.,. shame Perth is a world away.. well it seems like that,, we miss out on all the fun down here,, but the development pics sound very interesting,, goods things are in the crystal ball.. :D

[chups]

what time is the all holden day on (and is it on on saturday aswell?) i would love to go but cant on sunday. where can i get details like price and address? (what street is bassendean oval on?)

also forgive my ignorance but MPC Monaro CV8? whats the MPC stand for?

[Senator1]

Hey Chups
maybe MPC stands for My Personal Car
Just a thought:D

[brchi17]

Gee admin have i struck a raw nerve ?
The only reseon why I put a second post on this thread was so that it would appear on the 1st page & maybe there would be an answer.
Thankyou for your answer & my motivation was only driven by an interest in your product.
I am well aware of you work loads, however isn't this one of the reasons for the forum in the first place - a means we could ask questions & discuss diecast items ?
Why I wrote the 2nd post, was because it wasn't on the 1st page of the forum for much more than a day (due to the number of posts tht appeared over the past weekend) and I trying to save you time from having to sift through the many pages.
cheers.

[bev]

As mentioned many times previously this forum is a 'discussion forum' for collectors to discuss their hobby of diecast model collecting amoung themselves. At no time was it every called "Ask Admin".

As some other contributors have mentioned where else do you get so much information regarding a product.

Perhaps several of you folk should send a message to the CEO of CUB regarding new beer releases or any of the other companies you purchase the products of, and see how far you get.

Thanks for your understanding.

[Grubby]

Does anyone know if any of the new minicars will be due for release prior to the end of the year. Or do we look forward to the start of 2003.

Grubby

[brchi17]

If Biante are going to produce Australian road cars in minicar form, this may explain their unwillingness towards the road ragers series from a previous post.
cheers.

[SWRT]

Yes,it was a interesting answer to my question.
This might mean that there will be Bathurst winners made in the minicars scale.
The list of 2002 road ragers releases said that they will make the 1970+1971 Moffat winners.
Also what scales are the Nations cup monaro planned in?
Also is anyone interested in selling a Webber Minardi launch car?

[admin]

Check the website and you will see that B640601K is already on there. Others to follow.

[brchi17]

Originally posted by SWRT
Yes,it was a interesting answer to my question.
This might mean that there will be Bathurst winners made in the minicars scale.
The list of 2002 road ragers releases said that they will make the 1970+1971 Moffat winners.
Also what scales are the Nations cup monaro planned in?
Also is anyone interested in selling a Webber Minardi launch car?

I hear that the Monaro & HRT 427, will be in 1:18 but i'm not sure on any other scales.
Maybe someone might know ?
cheers.

[Grubby]

Can someone help me with some minicars item numbers.

I was going through my list of cars and I have got 2 numbers missing. They are B640601H & B640601I.

I can not find these numbers on the site. Have I missed something or for some reason have Biante skipped these numbers or releasing them at a later date.

If anyone has any info on what these were or are to be that would be great.

Grubby

[brchi17]

Grubby,
I don't know about product numbers, but all of the following have been released in the minicars by Biante.
Car #
1,2, 02 HRT
51, 15 K-Mart
17,18,71 DJR
21,888 Oze-mail
54, 05 Team Brock
00,27 00Motorsport
65,66 Briggs
as well as the members Falcon & Commodore.
I see that the Bathurst winning car will now be made as well. Admin also made mention to there being some 22 minicars in the pipeline.
hope this helps,
Cheers.

[admin]

Grubby....'H' is reserved for an unannounced car and 'I' we don't use as it can be mistaken for the number 'One' (or 'O' for the same reason)

[brchi17]

So would admin like to share some info on these up and comming unreleased minicars that we have to look foward to ?
cheers.

[admin]

LJ 2 colours and 3 racecars
BA 2 colours 12 racecars
VY 2 colours 7 racecars
VX 2 police cars
HK 2 colours 2 racecars
HT 2 colours 2 racecars
HG 3 colours
HSV GTS 2 colours
HSV GTO 2 colours
HSV Maloo 2 colours
BA Ute 3 colours
VY Ute 2 colours
CV8 3 colours 2 racecars
CV6 2 colours
++++++++

[chups]

AWSOME, any indication as to when abouts these cars will be coming out. i cant wait already. i want the maloo, toranas, mo... i want them all.

[brchi17]

Thanyou very much admin.
Wow what a line up of vehicles - I can't wait.

[Grubby]

Thanks Admin for the answer in relation to the product numbers and the info on the future releases. Can't wait.

Grubby

[brchi17]

I see that there will be 12 Barra racers.
Now does this mean that Biante has signed some more of the Ford teams or are some of them getting bigger?
At present there are DJR (3cars, possibly 2 in 03), Ozemail (2 cars), 00 Motorsport (2 cars) & Briggs (2 cars), which in total is 8 cars plus the Barra Racer prototype makes 9, possibly 10 cars. So I wonder who/what the other two/three cars will be, as we all know Ford hasn't won with the Barra yet (as it obviously hasn't raced yet) so it can't be a race winning edition - maybe Biante know something we don't & they're expecting a Bathurst win for Ford in 2003 !!!
Could the remaining cars be the new 2 car Seton team, or could it be Prodrive's entry into V8 Supercar ?.
I wonder if anyone knows, or would like to shed some light on this. Either way, us collectors are in for som fantastic new models in the comming months
Cheers.

[7Litre]

A quite impresive line-up there Admin,
I hope there is as much attention applied to 1:43 range next year.
Cold Turkey isn't working and the Carcollectabate patches are S...

Don't Bore it, Big Block it.

[the_goldie]

Does anyone know where I could get the Holden range of minicars in Sydney? I am going to try Holden @ Penrith and St.Marys tomorrow so hope they have them...
I am not going to pay $30 or so for these off the net... may as well get the 1:43s for that price.
I decided to get these for my son for christmas (even though he will be 7months old @ christmas time), start him early :D plus it is a good way to get the Holden teams for this year without forking out $1000 for the 6 1:18s (Skaife, Bright, Murphy, T.Kelly ,R.Kelly and Baird)

[craigrobbo]

the_goldie, try the HSV shop in Westfield Parramatta. I was in there today, and from memory, they have both the K-Mart cars, Bright and Rick Kelly.

Hope this helps

[the_goldie]

All,

I got all the minicars from Penrith Holden (not many left though) plus the Team Brock car from StMarys (this one was only $10.50 compared to $12 for the others).. now I need to find the Bathurst Brock car.. that will be fun :D

ps
these minicars are SENSATIONAL!!! Glad I decided to get these for my son.. wouldn't mind keeping them for myself..hehehe

[Rob]

How cool would it be to extend the minicar range to include the
great cars of the past like Brock's XU-1's and A9X's or Johnson's
array of Falcons. Perhaps a Bathurst twin set with Moffatt & Bond
set up as if they were going over the finish line.

[Grubby]

With XU-1's on the drawing board for 1:64 in race livery I think we may get some great stuff in the future.

Grubby

[brchi17]

Admin,
surely you not going to reproduce the Brock, Johnson & Moffat collections in 1:64 scale?
On behalf of all of the current 1:18 collectors, don't devalue our collections by reproducing them in the 1:64 scale.
Cheers.

[GTSCoup]

Originally posted by brchi17
Admin,
surely you not going to reproduce the Brock, Johnson & Moffat collections in 1:64 scale?
On behalf of all of the current 1:18 collectors, don't devalue our collections by reproducing them in the 1:64 scale.
Cheers.

How in the world would the 1:64 devalue the 1:18?

Has the 1:64 V8supercars devalued the 1:18, don't think so.

[brchi17]

Originally posted by GTSCoup
How in the world would the 1:64 devalue the 1:18?


Well I think it would, because why would you spend $165.00 to purchase a model in 1:18 if you could get it in 1:64 scale for $11.00 ?
I collect the DJR collection in 1:18 because it's exclusive to that scale & because I'm a long time Johnson fan. However, releasing the model in 1:64 may make the 1:18 to be less attractive as it would no longer be exclusive & this may case there to be less interest in the 1:18 scale, hense the devaluation.
I take your point GTScoupe, but I think it would be interesting in 12 months time, to see whether the 1:18 scale of which there was a minicar released, will be holding their value.
Food for thought.
cheers.

[Three_o_seven]

Personally I believe that its impossible to compare the two scales 1:18 has intricate detail (ie opening doors, bonnet, plug leads etc ) and 1:64 although they look incredible they cant compete in the detail department. I collect the Moffat collection and i would buy the collection all over again in 1:64 and 1:43....for example the 1:43 XY's are still available and the 1:18's have been snapped up, the 1:18 value is rising steadily and the 1:43's seem to have hovered around the original release price.
The 1:18's are great 1:64 will never make them redundant.

[xa351gt]

I think 1/64 scale would be a great addition. Alot of people don't have deep enough pockets for 1/18 cars. Plus they appeal usually to 2 different type of collectors.Plus some people may not have the space to display 1/18 cars. i have a collection of over 1000 1/64 NASCAR and the only 1/18's I have are the XB XC cars. Soon to have he XA's when they come out. I really don't see how it would devalue your collection or mine. Obviuosly the fact that the 1/64 are all but sold out shows that they are definately people that like them.

[7Litre]

ARE THEY AFX COMPATABLE??

[Richard Poole]

Originally posted by the_goldie
. now I need to find the Bathurst Brock car.. that will be fun :D


The #54 and #05 Team Brock minicars are back in stock in limited supply.

[the_goldie]

Thanks Richard... got 1!!! :D

[Bathurst205]

I can't wait to get my hands on these up coming cars. The police cars are way overdue. Fingers crossed some cars are done in 1/18 scale, the new Vic Police traffic cars would look great in the big scale. Come to think of it, so would the ute in 1/18 scale.

[brchi17]

I wonder if the new Police cars will have lights mounted on the roof or whether they will be unmarked cars ?
Also,
are these car going to be the special Victorian colours or simply the universal national colours that we see on many of the states cars (white car with blue checkers down either side on the bottom of the doors) ?
cheers.

[ferrari fan]

Collecting Policecars? Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu?!
I don't want to see these in real life to much and there is no place in my collection for this for sure.
Ahh well everybody to their own theme of collectables
Is there a market for 1/6 multi nova's and laser speed guns models?
Ohhh sorry ,politicaly incorrect to use the word g.n I presume,
I'll try "device" , the result is the same, $$ and demerit points, if you do speed

[admin]

The WA Police Pursuit car sample in 1:18th is due this week and we have done the development on the Victorian SMART VX SS car and the regular Vic Pol car...both will be in 1:18th, with full 'warpaint and equipment'.
The Subaru was vetoed by the NSW Police for various reasons, so instead we have done a UK Subaru Police car and its due to be delivered to us next week. Watch the Just Arrived section.
FF...Police cars are the second most "Collected" series in the world after Fire Brigade models, believe it or not..

[BATHURSTFAN]

I bet the OZ police cars will be Holdens:mad:

[brchi17]

Originally posted by BATHURSTFAN
I bet the OZ police cars will be Holdens:mad:
Considering that admin said that they had just finished the VXSS then I would think that they are Holdens. So I wonder why the NSW Police did not want a model of their WRX ?
Are they sick of trying to catch them ?
Hey admin, we've got WRX's in Victoria too you know - what about a Victorian version ?
I know they exist, as I got pulled over by one 3 yrs ago - cost me money too!!!
The SMART car you have mentioned, is it the Yellow one or the Silver one ?
cheers.

[BATHURSTFAN]

I meant all releases of past & current models, from previous discussions sometime ago I don't believe a Ford police model has ever been mentioned.

[brchi17]

I think we may have to wait until the Police actually buy Fords again, before Biante can make them. It been a very long time since i've seen a Falcon police car in Victoria (can't comment for the other states). I can't remember the last time I saw a Police XR, as all I have seen lately have been those dam Chevy Commodores !!!
Perhaps with the power of the new XR8 (when it finally is released) it may take over from the holden as their perfured vehicle of choice for police pursuit cars.
cheers.

[Bathurst205]

Admin, you just keep delivering the goods. I've had a pretty crappy week but reading about the 1/18 scale Aussie cop cars plus all the 1/64 releases (not just the police cars) have made my day.

As for the Subaru's, they were a good solid cop car. I don't know why they just did'nt fix the problem with the speedos. But like most things in NSW, the police deaprtment is worried what the press writes about them.

As for collecting cop cars, well as long as there have been high performance factory cars they're have been high performance cop cars. They are as much a part of Australias motoring history as any other car.

Keep the cop cars coming.

[BATHURSTFAN]

They have a mix of Fords & Holdens in Qld, but i would say more Falcons, I have seen white XR8 Highway Patrol cars.

[admin]

Originally posted by brchi17
I think we may have to wait until the Police actually buy Fords again, before Biante can make them. It been a very long time since i've seen a Falcon police car in Victoria (can't comment for the other states). I can't remember the last time I saw a Police XR, as all I have seen lately have been those dam Chevy Commodores !!!
Perhaps with the power of the new XR8 (when it finally is released) it may take over from the holden as their perfured vehicle of choice for police pursuit cars.
cheers.
We did take shots of an AU Patrol car...they have quite a few in VicPol, so don't give up.
Also, when they get a BA, we are booked in to photograph it.

[BATHURSTFAN]

Great, thanks!

[admin]

Originally posted by brchi17

Considering that admin said that they had just finished the VXSS then I would think that they are Holdens. So I wonder why the NSW Police did not want a model of their WRX ?
Are they sick of trying to catch them ?
Hey admin, we've got WRX's in Victoria too you know - what about a Victorian version ?
I know they exist, as I got pulled over by one 3 yrs ago - cost me money too!!!
The SMART car you have mentioned, is it the Yellow one or the Silver one ?
cheers.
The Silver and Pink one.
WRX was requested and denied!!
It's their call and you have to respect it for whatever reason.
Check out the UK one..it will bring back memories of being pulled over.

[SWRT]

Are there any Barra cop cars on the road yet?
I saw a unmarked new Camry cop car yesterday.

[brchi17]

Originally posted by admin

The Silver and Pink one.
WRX was requested and denied!!
It's their call and you have to respect it for whatever reason.
Check out the UK one..it will bring back memories of being pulled over.
Thanks for the reminder about the WRX !!!!
You'd better make a navy blue MY98 unmarked one to be totally accurate in my case, but a marked won in war paint will be fantastic. Are there any pics of this car on the site ?
Thanks once again.

[brchi17]

Hey admin,
I know you've said that NSW rejected your permission for their WRX, but have you thought about the Victorian version ?
I know that with a Victorian Commodore (as previously mentioned is being made) that may mean that other states are not represented, but I'm sure most of us would be happier to have an Australian WRX over an English one anyday.
Just a thought,
cheers.

[berkut76]

Besides Biante, there is another company that makes high quality 1:64 scale models at a fraction of the price of 1:43 scale Minichamps or Ebbros. http://www.carismamodels.com
These models are not available in the US yet, but I've seen a couple of them at "import" tuner shops. Look easily on par with the best in 1:43 for about $10US in Hong Kong.

Regards,
Sergey