Manufactuing 1/18 diecast Duel items, Can we find a willing manufacturer?

Hi. Met The Snowman yesterday, and he introduced me to this BB. Been trying to find 1/18 diecast models of the Peterbilt 351 Duel tanker, plus the 1971 Plymouth Valiant, but absolutely no luck anywhere in the world. I've found virtually all other movie vehicles ("Christine", "Vanishing Point", "The Car" etc), but no Duel models. After talking with The Snowman by email, I think we should try to get some sort of "petition" going (say 50 guaranteed people / Duel nuts). People who sign up would guarantee to purchase a diecast replica of both the Pete and the Valiant - maybe we can find a manufacturer who would be interested? I would have liked ERTL, but The Snowman tells me they are not open to new product ideas. So maybe we can look elsewhere. The scale might be a bit of a problem. Personally, I like the 1/18 scale, but if the Valiant is 1/18 then the Pete should also be 1/18. But this would make a pretty big model truck!! Not sure if 1/24 scale might be better. The Snowman and I both agree that anything smaller than 1/25 would not be acceptable. Finally, it might be possible for us to "hook up" with other Duel fan websites in a joint effort to find a suitable manufacturer. Any thoughts?

Sounds like a good idea, but we will have trouble getting 50 names as we have under 30 members.

As far as connecting up to any other Duel fan sites, i dont think there are any. There is a Spielberg fan forum, and the official Duel website (who doesnt wish to be connected up as it is either now out of date, or they are plainly not interested).

Im deffinately all for this, but i dont think we would be successful at this current stage.

Thanks for that. With The Snowman probably "on board" that makes three of us as a start. What we need to do now is try to contact a few potential manufacturers and ask them straight out what would need to happen before they were prepared to produce diecast Duel vehicles. Despite The Snowman's earlier emailed comments, I think it might be an idea to still approach ERTL as our number 1 choice, and then work down from there. There are many diecast manufacturers around (mostly under US control), and there must be one of them who would be prepared to give it a go. It is pretty difficult for me to initiate much action from so far outside the US, so I would be hoping that some of our US or Canadian members might be able to make some preliminary enquiries on our behalf. I am happy to do some research into possible companies and email suggestions or leads to follow up. Let me know.

Wombat - good to see you made it over here!

I did send an email to Corgi asking if it'd even be possible, they're out of Illinois in the midwestern US. Hopefully they'll get back to me and at least let me know if it's something worth considering. Provided they weren't too expensive I'd be buying a few models myself

Not sure if it's been done yet, but I'll post a link to this forum on IMDb.com under their "Duel Discussion" area on the Duel information page (I think only registered members see it though.) Either way it's worth a try.

Good stuff.

I posted a link over there when i first put the board together, it seemed to work. Give it a try man, it certainly cant do any harm. Any advertising is good advertising at the moment.

Im suprised they have not already released an official model. Surely Duel was as popular, if not more popular than 'The car'.

Keep us updated.

http://s15.invisionfree.com/Duel/

Well I would certainly purchase a model for sure. I know of a few people over here in England who would also be interested.

Kyle

I would really like to see this happen, but at the same time I have the fear that even if it does get made it wouldn't be close enough to an exact replica...but I guess it'd be better than having to make my own I'd still be buying them.

Edit: I posted another link over there (IMDb) last night.

Also, everyone please talk to people you know that might be interested and add to the list... I figure if we start making a list now, we'll have an approximate number of people to show the company what kind of interest there is..

1. Snowman
2. Snowman

Please add to the list and I'll try to figure out who to send emails to about the possibilities.

The Duel Truck Driver's comment about Duel being at least as popular as "The Car" is spot on! I have recently purchased and watched "The Car" dvd, and as a result have now placed an order for the 1/18 diecast model of the Lincoln Mark III used in the movie. "The Car" is okay, but it cannot even begin to compare with Duel. In the first place, Duel was Stephen Speilberg's first film. In the second place, Duel has achieved cult status - something that "The Car" has not yet done. And don't worry, Snowman - I would be happy to subsidise the cost of a model for you if it meant the difference between us all getting a model or not getting a model. (*grin*) And thanks for emailing Corgi.

If anyone was interested, here is the URL I used to order the diecast Lincoln Mark III from "The Car" movie.

http://www.collectablediecast.com/index.as...ROD&ProdID=1599

That's the reply I got. I wrote again asking if it would even be considered in the future, or if there are any other companies I could write to... I hope something works out.

Well that was a short reply. I can see they put alot of thought and effort into that.

Nice comment, Truck Driver! I can remember, not that long ago, the huge fuss there was about releasing the Duel DVD. I had read somewhere that Mr Speilberg himself was a major reason for the dvd not coming out a lot earlier. I guess if it was so difficult to release the dvd, imagine what a problem releasing a couple of diecasts would be! I think there must be some petty politics at work here. What a pity. One would have thought that with the recent passing of Dennis Weaver, everyone could have put aside their differences and created a fitting memorial to Dennis and his work.

They're not interested in even helping so why should they put any effort into a reply? At least that's probably how they see it. Lets see if they reply to the one I sent back.

I appreciate your efforts, Snowman - thank you. We'll see if you get a response to your latest email. If we get no response, or the response is again negative, then we should move along different avenues. I can suggest some other possible manufacturers. In addition, I'm wondering whether it would be worthwhile contacting someone associated with the Duel book - perhaps the author (assuming he is still alive?) Or the film producer? If we could get someone "powerful" on side, we might have a better chance.

Shame about the reply

That would be cool to bring out a model for once!.........im sure they would be popular