magazine still holds some magical feel to it.

For this reason, we are seriously considering

putting out a printed version of the newsletter. The plan is basically such that it would be

printed only for subscribers, and there would

be no inventory kept. Not that we would be

worried that it would go up in flames, but

simply put, we would print as many as would

be needed to just fill orders. The order for

the printed version of the Newsletter would

carry with it some benefit. One that is being

considered is free postage for any order that

includes the newsletter. The printed version

would be going out with a delay of a few days,

as opposed to the instant internet version, because, truth be told, we usually finish up the

newsletter on the day it is released. That will

likely not change. The Newsletter will, of course, remain our main advertising avenue, that

also will not change. In any case, we will continue to work on the contents, and on strengthening the historical component of it. The

historical articles are highly valued by readers.

I also intend to include interviews with people from the worlds of modelling and aviation.

People who would be interesting to interview

and would have something useful to offer

abound. In fact, I already bought a recorder

for conducting such interviews, but corona

threw a monkey wrench into the whole idea.

Most pilots that I want to interview are now

in what is considered a high-risk group for the

virus, and I have no intention of putting anyone at risk. That means that the interviews will

take off after the pandemic. There is also interest in older historical articles. We have some

ideas for that as well, and that is to issue a historical article ‘year book’ that would include

these ‘historical historical’ articles. It would

likely be spread out over several volumes, as

the source of the articles has become quite

rich. We would like to see this come to fruition around the end of the second quarter, but

it won’t be as easy as it may sound, so please,

be patient.

A few words about the revamped Weekend

Edition line, which attracted a lot of attention in December’s announcements. Some of

the reactions expressed the thought that the

original (we can say ‘current’) Weekend kits

were inexpensive. Yes, they were. That was

the idea. The Weekend line is the result of

one crisis and the intent was to attract modelers who like to save their money as much

as possible in times of such crises. In truth,

there were no hordes of people scrambling

to this line. ProfiPACKS, although more expensive, have always been better sellers. I have

always had the impression that, at best, the

Weekend line was surviving, but just barely.

INFO Eduard - January 2021

The new Weekend line will fill the needs of

the times, based on latest trends, which, of

course, we, to a large extent, dictate ourselves. Among other things, the new Weekend

line will make full use of the skills of our artists, Piotr and Adam. I think these two men

are the best aviation artists today, if not the

best, period. Nothing against the established

artists, and especially not against any of those living today. Their contributions have been

invaluable for the development of our industry. Of course, times change, new technology

comes, and young guns show up among the

creators bringing with them something fresh

and new. The established artists and developers are usually pretty much set in their ways,

and they naturally feel that if they change and

adapt to new ways, they are somehow betraying themselves. They resist. So, we value and

appreciate them, but at the same time, we

don’t limit those who subscribe to progress!

Today’s newsletter should include a listing of

the Weekend kits planned for the year, with

the understanding that we reserve the right to

make changes as necessary. I didn’t think that

such a change would come so soon. In the initial plan, we were supposed to release items

in the first half of the year for which we had

a good supply of plastic. That hit an obvious

roadblock. Now, we have no plastic, and the

idea behind the assortment of Weekend kits

that will be available has to go through a fundamental change. I expect that things will be

much clearer on this front by about March. It

will be around then, when we will publish our

release schedule for the line.

Another thing that was drastically affected

by December’s fire is the BFC Admissions Kit.

Our plans for the BFC for this year were very

ambitious. Some of these plans will no longer

be possible to put into action, and others will

need to be delayed. As an example, we have

had a 1:35th scale Sherman ready for quite some time now. Paradoxically, one of the

items planned was a fictitious Obrnice Leopard, a fire fighting tank of the local volunteer

fire brigade. Well, that idea went up in flames.

To source new plastic at the moment is seemingly not going to happen, but we will make

the attempt. If we are unsuccessful, we’ll try

something else. I think there talk about an

Obrnice Leopard II, and it was a T-34, or a

T-55? That will require us to look into the matter.

In 1:48th scale, we were planning a Tempest Mk.V and a MiG-21MF in 1:72nd, which

was to mirror closely its older and larger relative. It will be possible to release these two

kits. But when that will be, will also be a lot

clearer around March. Innovations will hit

the club t-shirts, as well. I admit to having somewhat a dilemma surrounding the club admissions kit. It surrounds the what-if theme,

and you probably know what I am referring

to. I am not sure if we should tone the idea

down a bit, if not get rid of it altogether. The

fact is that the historical items, the actual ones

with actual histories, are usually so strong that

I have a feeling that they almost dishonor the

what-if idea. What is your take on this? I will

be happy to hear your opinions on the matter.

When we reach a conclusion on this, the BFC

will be revamped, and it’s quite possible that

another two admissions kits will be added to

the range, one in 48th and one in 72nd.

Another biggie to think about is the events

calendar for E-day, and others. I fear that this

year’s calendar will also be on the lean side,

and right off the bat, we will have to do without the Nuremburg Toy Fair. The February

event is cancelled. There was an attempt to

move the event to the summertime, but I

don’t really see this happening. Either way, we

will not be attending, and we will just have to

do without. At the end of January, we would

like to do another roundtable discussion at

Vnitroblock, which would be the replacement

for the press conference at Nuremburg. Unfortunately, this doesn’t look like a live event

at this moment, either. What will be going

on in the spring is currently a little foggy. It is

not entirely out of the question that by April,

things will improve and it will be possible to

hold some of the traditional spring events. But

the chances are not great. Vaccine distribution

probably won’t help all that much by spring.

After that, June is a little further off, and with

it, there is a little more room for some optimism, and I think I can dig some out, carefully,

from deep within my soul. However, it will

not be ModellBrno nor Kit Saloon Nymburk.

Both of these are off the table for the year.

We will see in the coming years how strong

eduard

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