2013 Roundup

2013 started well with a number of new items announced during the Nuremberg toyfair and it was obvious that a heap of new models would appear for the Bauma trade show in April. We collectors were certainly not dissapointed with Liebherr and the Wirtgen Group announcing a number of excellent scale models, most of which are now available from model stockists.

Some OEM manufacturers were left dissapointed with supply issues in China and the failure of model manufacturers to deliver product, particularly Komatsu, Case and Wacker Neuson/ Kramer Allrad replicas from Universal Hobbies. Let's hope UH will have plenty of new models to unveil in Nuremberg.

TMC Scalemodels followed up their first release with the very impressive Hitachi ZX470-5, my favourite model of 2013 with more exceptionally detailed released expected during 2014. The first Caterpillar model release from Tonkin Replicas has been well received and hopefully, the new models to come from Tonkin during 2014 will be even better, catering for all Caterpillar fans.

Norscot bounced back in 2013 and the introduction of a new Caterpillar model licence holder is sure to mix things up a bit while the future of TWH Collectibles finally became known mid year and has left a number of questions regarding who will pick up licences for the Caterpillar mining and Manitowoc brands.

Drake Collectibles have been hard at work during 2013 to secure licences for a number of truck and trailer models, some of which are already in development and will see fans of heavy haulage rigs covered for several years to come while the new releases from Sword Models should appear at some point in the next 12 months.

CCM continue to deliver some very good replicas of classic Caterpillar machines with the delivery of the D9L and 631E/637E scrapers while they are also catering for the modern equipment enthusiasts with the announcements of the 6020B, 16M and 336E die-cast models.

Difficulties with supply and quality of the models from Bosnia has seen Bymo go back to China with their latest projects and the long awaited Komatsu PC8000 shovel is now scheduled to arrive towards the end of 2014 in both electric and diesel powered versions while they will have several new announcements at the end of January.

The formation of Tonkin Replicas Europe will bring another supplier of high quality models to the table and their portfolio will include new models of Nooteboom trailers and, if the rumours are true, a new range of Link-Belt crane replicas during 2014. With most of the staff at TRE coming from WSI Models coupled with the announcement of a merger between WSI and Wan Ho, it will be interesting to see what WSI has in store for 2014.

The aftermarket attachment scene has seen some interesting projects during 2013 with Gaz Evans, Chris Irwin, Nigel Paine, HF Models and Refo-tech producing some interesting items.

While new models have been appearing thick and fast, the release of limited edition company decorated models continues to grow, with the VINCI group taking top spot with a number of new additions to their range during the year while HTM have unexpectedly withdrawn a number of model plans for custom decorated models.As the year rolled to an end, several new models from Ros deserve a mention with the new Casagrande and Hutte drill rigs very nicely engineered with some nice features.

ConExpo will soon be upon us and I can see 2014 being another interesting year for new model releases, with a number of new projects already in development from many of the well known OEM's as well as a few surprises.

My top 5 models of 2013 are

1st - Hitachi ZX470-5 Tracked Excavator
2nd - Liebherr LTC1045-3.1 Mobile Crane
3rd - Wirtgen 4200SM Surface Miner
4th - Liebherr LR1600-2 Tracked Lattice Crane
 5th - Caterpillar D9L Dozer with Impact Ripper

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