Strana 5
we stopped sending samples to ModellFan.
I don't really miss the fact that we don't get the
award anymore. I miss what was behind it and
what it meant. The fact that not everyone got
it and that really good kits were awarded and
rewarded. And that there was a ceremony for
that...but that was a long time ago, and it won't
come back. I'd like to be wrong, but I'm afraid
that we'll never have something like the Model
of the Year from ModellFan here again, even
though the award still exists.
Another change was brought about by the
crisis in 2008/2009. After that, a number of old
traditional companies gradually withdrew from
the fair, the number of Japanese and American
companies began to decrease, and so did the
number of smaller companies and distributors.
By this I mean that those companies no longer
exhibited, they did not have their own tables.
At the same time, however, newly emerging
companies came to the fair, mainly Chinese, but
also European, mostly Eastern European, so
any decrease in the participation of exhibiting
companies was not noticeable at first glance.
However, there was talk among exhibitors and
visitors alike that the number of visitors to the
fair was decreasing, that fewer people were
moving from table to table than before. For
a long time, I blamed the thinning of the crowds
in the aisles on the event’s playing around with
the length of the exhibition. The organizers
extended the exhibition from the original four
days, from Thursday to Sunday, to six days,
while also experimenting with the start and
end dates of the event. When they first came
up with this, they extended the exhibition to
Tuesday, and later, it also began on a Tuesday.
There was no increase in visitors, the only
thing it brought was that their number was
spread out over more days. From the point
of view of us exhibitors, it brought nothing.
We just extended our meetings and negotiations
from four days to six, and we started to get
a bit annoyed. We paid extra money for those two
days. If I don't count that the exhibition area and
everything connected with the event gradually
became more expensive over the years, notably
after a crisis from which everyone was slowly
recovering and some did not even survive, there
was a jump in costs of practically 50%. Of course,
it's not just about the exhibition area and tables
and I can assure you that hotels in Nuremberg
are hellishly expensive during the fair.
And then came Covid, a two-year break, and
after all that, what was only hinted at before
Covid became reality. The decline in the number
of exhibitors and visitors was now clear, distinct
and dramatic. After the first fair after the
Covid break, in February 2023, we still said to
ourselves that the fair needed some time to
recover. Unfortunately, now, after four years, we
are still not at the pre-Covid level in terms of
either the number of exhibitors or the number
of visitors. On the contrary, other significant
exhibitors have decreased, for example Miniart,
a major German distributor of Glow2B, and Faller
was also absent, which was probably the most
discussed absence this year. Faller is large and
significant, and its decision clearly influences
the thinking of the remaining exhibitors. Even
though other exhibitors have increased, I dare
say that the importance of the fair is continuing
to decline and doubts about the meaning of
participating in it are increasing. We had over
forty meetings and a number of other shorter
encounters in five days at the fair, many of which
we consider important and some, surprisingly,
even brought us new contacts. However, we
can replace many of these meetings with video
conferences or we can meet at a model show
somewhere. Both internet communication,
emails and video conferences, and model
exhibitions have gained in importance during
and after Covid. I would say that it is similar in
other fields. I estimate that only about a fifth,
maybe a quarter of our meetings would not have
taken place without participation at Nuremberg.
We will see what will actually happen from all
these meetings. We are still undecided whether
we will also pack it in with Nuremberg and
not have a table next year, or whether we
will continue to participate in the fair in some
form. This year we were officially there for the
thirtieth time. If we stop now, we certainly would
be ending on a milestone year.
Tiger 3366
You all know what this is about. A helicopter,
but you know precisely which one. It is known by
a different name than the name of our kit, which
was eventually named Tiger 3366 so as not to
infringe on the copyright of the film company
that made a series of sci-fi horror films with
that character. We originally assumed that we
would send the kits to pre-order customers
at the end of January or in the first half of
February. However, we have a complication
in the production of the decals. In addition to
the patterns following the helicopter's surface
contours, raised rivets are also printed on them.
Unfortunately, the printing of the rivets is slow.
One decal requires a full forty minutes of work
time to complete, that is, to print the rivets. The
entire batch of kits for pre-order customers will
most likely be ready by the end of February, so
we will most likely be able to start shipping the
prepaid kits at the end of February and finish
during March. We apologize for the delay and
ask all customers who pre-ordered for their
patience. 720 kits will be available to them, with
the remaining 230 kits being made available to
selected retailers. Those who missed the pre-
order option can get the kit from the retailers.
Strafer
Another pre-order item is Strafer, a B-25J
Mitchell in 1:48 in the new EDUARD HKM line.
The most important thing for this kit, the plastic,
is already in stock and we will start putting
together kits this week. We will start shipping
out packages to fill pre-orders around mid-
February. And again, for those wanting the kit
but did not pre-order will be able to purchase
from select retailers.
And that's all from me for today. On the
following pages, you can find out more
information regarding new releases for
February and March. Jakub Nademlejnsky also
brings us a detailed report from the Nuremberg
Toy Fair at the end of this month’s newsletter.
Happy Modelling
Vladimir Sulc
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard
5
February 2026