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? :rolleyes:

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 There is a Spielberg fan forum, and the official Duel website (who doesnt wish to be connected up as it is either now out of date, or they are plainly not interested).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. B)

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 :D

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 :rolleyes: 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. :rolleyes:

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. :rolleyes:

Shame about the reply :(

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

I've just seen a very interesting piece in Wikipedia under "Peterbilt". Contrary to what I had thought, it seems that the Peterbilt in "Duel" was a 281 rather than a 351. No doubt, this might be old news to many of the members of this forum, but it is something I did not know.

Regardless, it got me thinking about how we can go about getting a Peterbilt diecast model manufactured. What about approaching Peterbilt themselves? I'm sure we would find them a very strong and very enthusiastic ally. And in terms of technical input for model-building purposes, you just could not get a better source of information! So, would anyone be willing to work with me in planning a formal approach to Peterbilt Motors? I am happy to write emails, write letters etc, but I do feel a bit constrained in what I can do from over here in Australia. Who knows, but once we have mapped out our strategy we might be able to get one of our members to meet personally with someone from Peterbilt and take it from there. And once we have the Peterbilt diecast model in the bag, it should not be too dificult to press our case a bit further and persuade them to also build a diecast red Valiant. (Throw in a diecast school bus, and we could have a unique threesome - a "Duel" set that could be marketed and sold as a set. This would be hugely popular.)

Let me know your thoughts. B)

You're correct the Duel truck, as well as the surviving truck are both 281's. Originally two axle trucks with the third axle added later.

Back to contacting Peterbilt, I used to have a contact at a Peterbilt dealer in Wisconsin... the guy was in the parts department last I knew, I'll look and see if I can find his name again. Other than that, I'd also be happy to send email to Peterbilt. The more of us that send mail the better (I think?).

Thanks, Snowman - that would be terrific. When we talk to Peterbilt it might be worth mentioning that there are a lot of people in the world (myself included) who only heard about "Peterbilt" thanks to the Duel movie. Not being a truckie myself (I teach accounting at a university here in Melbourne) I knew only the most well-known of truck brands (Kenworth, Ford, Acco etc) and had never heard of Peterbilt until I started buying Duel memorabilia through eBay. (I was delighted to see that one person I had previously purchased from one two occasions is actually a member of this forum - Bluemule75. If you are reading this, Bluemule - hiya!) I guess the essential point I am making is that thanks to Duel, the Peterbilt brand has become far better known than it otherwise would have been. Hopefully, Peterbilt will also see it this way, and maybe even see a further opportunity to promote awareness of the Peterbilt name. Let me know if you manage to find an email address. I agree with you that many emails are better than one! Best wishes, Snowman. :)

Snowman, when you get a moment would you mind checking out the following webpage - http://www.bubbabigrig.com

I did a Google search on "Peterbilt 281 diecast" and this was at the top of the list. Seems you can either purchase or order custombuilt diecasts from them. They even have a chrome fuel tank trailer that you can purchase separately. My specific knowledge of Peterbilts is nowhere near as good as yours, so I don't really know how to evaluate the Bubba webpage (though, it looks pretty good to me).

After you have looked at the webpage, perhaps you could do the same Google search I did and check out some of the other webpages? Let me know how you get on. :unsure:

I sent "bubba" an email. It looks more like a site that puts custom decals on model trucks, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Well, tell me what you guys really think about him.. here's bubba's reply:

Pathetic.

People just wont give anyone the time of day anymore.

Its really annoying to see all you guys' effort going to waste like this. People shouldnt be so darn rude and at least take the time to write a half decent reply. :angry:

Well, I did send a message to the Peterbilt online store, hopefully they'll at least reply.

Good Heavens! Anyone would think that we are trying to alter the balance of power in the world today! I have been thinking further on this, and maybe we should try something that I originally thought would not work - contact Steven Spielberg direct. When I was researching the diecast for the 1970 Dodge Challenger from the film "Vanishing Point", I read that ERTL had allowed the license for making this model to expire, and that other people were thinking of applying for it. Clearly, manufacturers can only make diecast models if they have a license to do so. And if making Duel diecasts requires some sort of licensing arrangement, you can bet your bottom dollar that Steven Spielberg will have to be involved. If this is true, then there is clearly no way that we can avoid the Spielberg approach.

In addition, it might be worthwhile approaching Dennis Weaver's widow (Gerry, I think her name is) and seeking her support. I'm fairly certain it was Gerry who answered most of my emails 5 months ago when I contacted Dennis about some personalised autographed photos. Of course, we need to be sensitive to the fact that Dennis passed away only recently, but if we stress that diecasts would be a fitting tribute to one of Dennis' most memorable achievements, I think it just might work.

Finally, I will still keep looking via Google searches at various possibilities. I know that Bubba's reply was surprisingly abrupt, but there are other organisations out there we should check out. Perhaps they will prove a little more friendly. B)

Snowman - Despite Bubba's ridiculous email reply to you, he does have a useful section on scaling in his webpage:

http://www.bubbabigrig.com/scale.htm

I now think that our desire to have a 1/18 (or even 1/25) scale model of the Duel Peterbilt is probably unrealistic. As Bubba indicates, the largest scale model for a truck is 1/32 - and probably most truck model manufacturers adopt this. Even a 1/32 model comes in at a sizeable 22 inches long - imagine what a 1/18 model truck would be! Even though I like 1/18 for car models (including the Duel Valiant), I guess we will just have to accept that if models do come out for a Duel truck and a Duel car, the scaling is likely to be different. (As one of our fellow members said in a different discussion thread "nothing that a well-located camera shot cannot fix".)

Yeah it's worth a try though. I wonder if Peterbilt will reply.

Snowman - let me know if there is anything I can do to help. It would not be fair for you to do all the work.

Snowman or Truck Driver:

I would be grateful if you checked out the URL below. It belongs to PACCAR Inc - the makers of Peterbilt trucks (see the Peterbilt division). Obviously they have several model trucks in their inventory of Peterbilt merchandise. I shall write to PACCAR about the possibility of bringing out a Duel truck model - the most famous Peterbilt of all. However, before writing to them, I would like to know whether in your opinion any of their existing models represent a reasonably close approximation of the 281 or 358. If so, then I would like to include this comment in my letter. Hope you are both keeping well. (And if other members have comments or suggestions to make, then I would welcome these as well.)

http://merchandise.peterbilt.com/peterbilt...um=14&allprod=y

B)

I sent an email to them (Peterbilt/Paccar) on the 21st, and still have heard nothing back. Worth a try though!

Any updates on this project? :huh:

Absolutely nothing. No reply or anything. I guess I'll have to look around for other companies that might be willing to help.

Same here - I have made no further progress either. I now believe the task is virtually impossible - unless of course, you have the skills to build your own model (which I do not). I must admit that I have not actively pursued the matter for the last couple of months, but these latest posts will prompt me to activate things one more time. Was good to hear from you both again. :)

Hey guys (and girl) I know this topic is dead but look at this

www.gardentrucking.com

it's expensive but awesome!

you're not kidding, that's some high dollar stuff!

I forgot all about this thread, anyone know of any other companies to try?

If this could be for real, you can put my name on the list to!!!, i've been looking for a duel valiant/truck model FOREVER!!!, also, try e-mailing AFirfield mint, they do not reply, but about 3 years ago, i sent them a series of ideas in e-mails, and one, two, and three years later, i started seeing my ideas being released in shiny 1/18 scale metal. (I suggested that they build a hearse, Rosco P. coletrane's police cruiser, and the blues mobile.) all of these ideas were eventually released in 1/18 scale. to send an e-mail, visit www.fairfieldmint.com, then click on the "contact Us" section!!! :D

Hey gang,

I've been busy with other things lately and haven't been on the board in a while.

We were talking with First Gear about making a replica of our surviving Duel truck. We had enough interest to go forward with the $280,000 production costs for the minimum run and the mold completion, but things stopped cold. I can't say a lot, other than we received a cease and desist letter from entities with copyright interests in the movie.

What a great shame, thought it would have put even more interest in the film so more people would buy copies.
Would love a model myself to

Anything new? (Has already read topic.)

I found this pic of an unfinished 1/25 model on [Link]