EDUARD IN MOSON ON THE TABLES, NOT ON THE SHELVES

It was after four years break, I returned to

Moson to visit the Modelshow. I travelled

privately, not as a part of the Eduard team with

their “travelling big top”, as Jakub Nademlejnský

jokingly named Eduard’s stand in this column

recently. If I were to highlight the two biggest

positives perceived by me, it would be the

reconstructed thermal pool with the hottest

water of the local spa and then the frequency

with which I was spotting models made from

our kits while observing the exhibition tables.

I tried to keep it at least fleetingly in my memory

(which, admittedly, isn’t what it used to be)

and by the end of my “tour” around the tables

dedicated to the aircraft models I was clear:

No other manufacturer had so many models on

their tables. Not a chance ... Except of course

of the 1/32 or 1/24 scales, which are not our

domain. On the other hand, when counting the

accessories used, Eduard’s representation here

was significant as well. I was happy about that

and immediately thought of the catchphrase

that Eduard kits are here to be built, not stored

... I understand that I’m touching a raw nerve,

as most of us have our own wardrobe that can

easily take us to the Narnia for plastic modelers,

but I still think our models are popular with

seventy-second, fourty-eighth, and to a large

extent also to the 144th scale lovers not just as

collector’s items, but also as an object of our

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INFO Eduard

hobby in the best meaning of it, i.e., building,

painting and weathering rather than finding the

best layout of the boxes on the shelves to create

a loophole in which to insert the next addition

to the unbuilt collection. In addition, Eduard has

recently made further progress in the quality of

its kits in terms of the design as well as surface

detailing. I understand it sounds like selfapplause, but on the other hand I would like to

believe that you feel the same way and like our

kits because of the progress made as well.

By the way, the prices of almost everything

have been going up in the last two years (and

not only here in Czech Republic) and so did the

prices of kits and accessories. It’s only logical,

as all the inputs were also going up, inevitably

affecting the selling prices. Still, everything has

its limitations. For example, I don’t think that

almost 27 Euro for a kit of a 1/72nd WWII singleengine fighter is the right price. I mean the kit

containing one set, to be clear. Occasionally,

someone does create a sort of “wow” effect with

his new release, which I personally understand,

but I also think that such a hype doesn’t last

forever, and no huge spendings on such kits

actually happen. In fact, the “wow” phase will

finally give way to the typical “side hobby” of our

hobby, which is the looking for any faults of the

kit and while we’re at it, no one can tell me that

the exorbitant price isn’t a fault. I myself have

Text and photo: Richard Plos

resisted the initial “wow” phase with some of

the kits of my heart, sold at prices I was feeling

were not right and so I just waited for a suitable

secondhand opportunity ... You could rightly

argue that Eduard also raised the prices this

year. Well, you are true. But we still try to balance

the prices to keep them at a friendly level. An

example of this can be the new Weekend Edition

Zero Model 21 in 1/48th scale, which costs just

around 23 Euro. And it is the same price we

were selling Weekend Edition kits of similar size

last year. The “Wunderschöne neue Maschinen”

can be had for just under 30 Euro, which is of

course the price for two complete kits. So,

when counted for one, it comes out to a nice 15

Euro. That doesn’t seem that much for a 1/72nd

Bf 109 F kit with die-cut masks, pre-painted

photo-etched details, and decals for seven

marking options (for each one, as there are 14

markings offered in the kit). I think the good

price is also somewhat related to the number of

the kits finished, and the number of the models

built from Eduard kits on the tables at Moson

Model Show suggests to me that we are not off,

when it comes to pricing. I am attaching some

photos from the show, just to show some of the

models. Excuse the quality (of the photos, not of

the models), they were taken only by my aging

mobile phone ...

June 2023