2019

How We Missed Nuremberg...Again

The first Tuesday of February, or the last

of January, has for us meant for many years assembling a collection of built models

and accessories, boxes of new releases,

a coffee maker, promotional items, our

Sunday bests and ourselves to put them

on, and many other items, and taking it all

to Hall Number Seven of the Mecca that is

the Nuremberg Exhibition Center. This is

a paradise of toys and model making, which

cannot be imagined by those who have not

see it with their own eyes, and that became

our home for almost a week, a week filled

with negotiations with dealers and distributors, other manufacturers and model journalists. In recent years, a press conference

covering upcoming news hosted by Eduard

for the given year has become a part of this

event.

This is what a description of the move to

Nuremberg looks like every year. Every

year, until, that is, last year….and alas, also

this year. Last year, the International Toy

Fair – Spielwarenmesse was cancelled due

to the on-going coronavirus pandemic and

moved to the summer. That this idea was

not met with a lot of enthusiasm was of little surprise and doesn’t need much emphasizing. And so, even the planned summer

event was cancelled with no replacement

announced.

After a one-year hiatus, we were really looking forward to this year‘s fair, especially

to the meetings with many of our partners

from all over the world, with whom we have

this opportunity to catch up at Nuremberg

on a regular basis. However, as the winter weeks progressed, many of them began to withdraw their participation, and in

this context we also carefully considered

whether participation made sense for us

in the absence of many of those we actually go there to see. However, the idea of an

Jan Zdiarský

unusual situation and the

opportunities it brought us in the end was

attractive to us and we did not withdraw

our participation. This was despite justified doubts about the ultimate significance

of the effort required to attend. Any doubts

were immediately answered by the virus in

its new form. At the beginning of January,

the organizers canceled the event. After the

cancellation of last year at this time, we figured that surely, the worldwide situation

would definitely be resolved by now, and

this year‘s fair would no doubt take place.

Evidently, there is little point in guessing

when you don’t have the right information,

or a functional crystal ball.

Among the preparations that we still had to

undertake when we still thought we were

coming was the concept of the appearance of our stand, i.e., a roofless cubicle with

an area of 54 sq. meters. You may be aware

that for several years now, the exterior and

especially the interior of Eduard‘s stand

has been transformed along thematic lines,

which have always aroused great interest

among visitors. Over time, topics such as

the RCF airport from the First World War,

a concrete Czechoslovak Army structure

with a MiG-21, a USAAF fighter unit officer’s

club with a P-51D somewhere in England

and a pilot’s shack of a Czechoslovak fighter

squadron of the RAF all were themes that

were covered.

The new Zero and the Czechoslovak Trener

aircraft offered us theme possibilities for

this year. I honestly admit that I would have

great difficulty with the idea of a Japanese

Air Force theme. In enhancing our theme

inspired stand and its atmosphere, we use

a number of period artifacts, and even

with an aviation museum at my disposal, I

still have nothing from which to draw Japanese items. I was pleased to garner the

2019

support of the boss on the idea of a theme built around the Trener instead, i.e. an

environment based on a Czech Aeroclub.

In its preparation, I enjoyed the prospect of

spending the week in the oasis that is the

Nuremberg Toy Fair, despite the goings on

in the outside world, and the ‘feel’ that would be evoked by the the scent of dried grass,

engine oil and a drop of high-octane gasoline, all accents that would make my little

corner of an aeroclub hangar complete. But,

as it happens, the Lord giveth, and the Lord

taketh away. In the end, everything turned

out differently. Instead of a report from this

year‘s edition of the Eduard stand, we are

relegated to offering you at least some photos from the topics of previous years.

After the unfortunate cancellation of this

year’s event, the organizers have opted to

go to a virtual format, and have invited us to

participate. This is not an optimal solution

for Eduard. For us, the main attraction of

the event was the physical getting together,

and will eagerly anticipate the next time we

can do that. Let’s hope this is the last year

it doesn’t happen.

2020

2019

2019

INFO Eduard - FEBRUARY 2022

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