EVENT

toy industry, such as Lego, Playmobil

and Mattel. Revell revealed various new

products for 2023, among which I would

highlight the Gloster Meteor in 1/32 scale.

The only representatives of the exhibiting

companies that we didn’t exchange too

many words with at the fair were from

Tamiya. Their stand was by far the largest

in our Hall 7A and was dominated by a

track for RC models. So maybe next year ...

The award ceremony of the Modellfan

magazine with prizegiving of the Model of

the Year awards is one of the traditions

of the fair. This year the award went to

our Wildcat in 1/48th scale. We are of

course happy that our kit is among the

chosen ones, but so many are awarded

by Modellfan every year that it kind of

degrades the whole thing. We already have

a bowl full of medals and judging by the

display cases of other companies, almost

everyone regularly wins a medal for one

from the industry, but also from outside

the industry, which may have an impact

on the future, for example on our future

releases. For example, we arranged the

reboxing of Su-25 Zvezda kit and sketched

out the negotiations on reboxing of Airfix

kits. Representatives of Airfix, Italeri or

Revell liked our 3D prints or SPACE for

a change, and so possible windows of

closer cooperation are opening up for us

in the future. As far as the design of the

stands of these companies is concerned,

Airfix was part of the huge Hornby

presentation, where it had its own space

among about ten brands that fall under

Hornby. And you’ve got to get ready for

their new Gannet in 1/48, they say it’s going

to be cool! The Italeri booth reminded me

of an Italian coffeehouse. Lots of round

tables and chairs everywhere, a reception

desk, and delicious Italian coffee or a shot

of grappa, which gave the negotiations

there a touch of Italian flair. The booth

was dominated by two large display cases

with built models featuring new releases,

1/72 AMX and 1/32 Mc.202 graphics. Revell

traditionally had a stand in Hall 12, among

the dominant companies in the whole

Pavel Gerhart, Vladimír Šulc and Zdeněk Peroutka (MPM s.r.o.)

March 2023

INFO Eduard

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