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Back is Bond’s favorite car, the Aston Martin, in the upcoming (11/22/02) 40th Anniversary 007 movie, “Die Another Day”. His new steed will be the Aston Martin Vanquish in medium silver metallic.
As a new kid on the 1:18th block, this Beanstalk Group diecast is elegantly fabricated. I would place it near Kyosho’s legendary quality, and slightly above AUTOart. The fit, finish and operational detailing are excellent. The interior, while heavily plastic in build, is carried out very nicely. The dash gauges are superb, the Bond ‘gizmo’ controls are terrific and the steering wheel comes complete with accurate paddle shifters precisely positioned. The outside rearview mirrors are found on rubber-based mounts with just enough give to prevent breakage. The suspension articulates well. Tire patterns are finely etched and the brake rotors are seen as they rotate in the Aston Martin-marked calipers. The wipers are separate moldings and add to the realistic appearance. To reprise an earlier role, the new Aston Martin Vanquish gives Bond his familiar and trusty ejection seat. A thumb push unleashes the spring loaded passenger seat to toss the bad guy threw the open roof. The model also comes with the roof panel. A small finger activated lever below the grille rotates the grillwork down while moving the artillery and rocket bar forward, ready for action. Underneath the hood are two air induction panels that move out of the way in case our hero decides to raise the car’s twin auto tracking guns. Handy at rush hour, no doubt. The model is very well put together and sure to be a star in its own right. Two other cars will be featured in the movie. See The Beanstalk Group: Jaguar XKR Roadster #10012 and 2003 Thunderbird #10013.
*Note: These little beauties are manufactured for Beanstalk by Creative Master International, the folks that have done many Danbury Mint diecast cars.
(06/27/2002)
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