Diecast Update: Multicar Sets of 5/25

Christmas in May?! The fifth month of the year has seen a flurry of special multicar packs that are ready for preorder at Lionelracing.com or your favorite retailer. A number of high profile events set the stage for several unique paint schemes for the month of May featuring the Coke 600, the Indy 500, the All Star race and more. That has precipitated some interesting choices for diecast collectors. The biggest announcement of the month is the 2025 Lionel Advent calendar which was seemingly a hit last year. For a comprehensive look, read on..

---

2025 Advent Calendar:
The 2025 Lionel Advent Calendar is here. You can celebrate the 12 days leading up to Christmas by unpacking a new deicast daily. Last year even saw a few never-before produced diecast that were made exclusively for the calendar. The models are typically up to the standard of the Nascar Authentics line. At $96 USD that's a lot less than ten bucks per car. Not a bad deal at all. Plus you get the packaging. 

---

Wood Brothers 75th:
Celebrating 75 years of racing, Lionel Racing and the Wood Brothers are offering a honorary multipack of eight cars, each on the Gen 7 body but featuring several of the most iconic liveries that the famed number 21 has worn over the eras. Drivers like Burton, Blaney, Wood, Berry, Jerrett, and others are featured in this set that illustrates the storied history of this great team. I'm a Wood Bro's fan through and through, but this feels a bit superfluous. I guess I'm interested to see which casting spec they use for this. 

---

HMS Coke 600 Set:
Hendrick Motorsports designed four special paint schemes in partnership with four of their most important partners. Each of the cars in this four-pack feature the name of a fallen American Hero, as well as a patriotic take on the brands that support the team. Also featured is Larson's special H1100 paint scheme featuring Larson's attempt at running both the Indy 500 and the Coke 600. This is a great way to add four great liveries to your collection, but this set will likely be produced with or without your preorder. The price point is a bit high however. 

---

H1100:
While Kyle Larson's attempt at the double ended up being a lot less than what many would have hopped, there's still a lot of respect that should be paid for the effort. Only five drivers have raced in the Indy 500 and the Coke 600. To be one of five people who have attempted anything in life is significant. Lionel and Green Light Collectables are teaming up again this year to offer a very special 2-pack that highlights the historical attempt. I'm really happy with my copy of last year's set. I'm not going to preorder this set, but I'm confident it will be produced and available to anyone who wants it. 

-Last year's set is shown above. I found this at the Hendrick Museum in March. I'm confident the set pictured to the right will be available at this time next year. For a closer look at this set, click here. 

---

Napa 100:
​On NAPA's 100th birthday the company decided to celebrate the incredible milestone with some very special golden paint schemes. Napa has a footprint in almost every major motorsports racing series, but the two major teams in Nascar, the 9 of Hendrick Motorsports, and the 19 of McAnally-Hilgemann Racing in the truck series are both collectable in this Lionel 1/64 scale two car pack featuring the golden livery.

---

Notes:
There are quite a few special multicar sets this month that certainly are worthy of consideration. A few of these sets have their place representing Nascar greatness. I think that the Larson H1100 set is probably the most important of the bunch. The Napa set is nice, but out of all of the sets being offered from May of 2015, the Wood Brother's 75th Anniversary Set is the most unique. Great job by Lionel for putting each of these sets together. Hopefully each of them will be made. If you're not convinced on the WB's set, go ahead and grab the 2025 Advent Calendar, you never know what Lionel will select!

---