Tail End Charlie

Complaints and Praises

Text: Jakub Nademlejnský

After returning from the IPMS USA National Convention 2024, held in Madison, Wisconsin, I was determined to write about the the most impactful moment that I experienced during the trip. No matter how much I think about it, what struck me most this year was the level of popularity we enjoyed from the American modelers at the event. I'll try to convey this to you through several examples. Throughout the year, I man the Eduard booth at many modeling exhibitions, where I meet and chat with large number of modelers, so I have heard a lot of opinions I can evaluate.

 But before I get deeper into the positive feeback from the American modelers, I’d like to mention the attitude of "our folks", Czech and Slovak modelers. In my opinion, they criticize and complain the most. And I don't mean it in a negative way, that seems to be their „habit“. They complain about mistakes in the designs, instructions, camouflage schemes, basically any component of our business you can think of. On Modelforum (Czech scale modeling board), in the section dedicated to discussions about Eduard, which my colleagues and myself monitor closely, every day we read about what we've done wrong and how we constantly need to improve. Of course, modelers are our customers, and they have every right to do so. I believe that thanks to the negative feedback from our customers, we are constantly moving forward and improving, and I hope that not only Czech and Slovak modelers appreciate this.

 Now let's talk about the Americans. The IPMS USA Nationals is unique, primarily because it runs the longest, from Wednesday to Saturday, with companies setting up their booths as early as Tuesday afternoon. By Tuesday afternoon, we already knew that our inventory wouldn't arrive until Wednesday morning, which meant we couldn't start selling at Wednesday lunchtime when the event officially begins. The first modelers who arrived were surprised to see us sitting in one of the largest booths at the exhibition with empty tables. As soon as they learned that our merchandise wouldn't arrive until around eight in the evening, many of them immediately offered to help us set up the booth and bring in our products in the evening. Throughout the afternoon, we received so many offers of help that I was worried we would be getting in each other's way that evening. When the supplies finally arrived around seven in the evening, there was already a well-organized group of volunteers at the loading dock who helped us offloading the boxes until ten in the evening, full of enthusiasm and smiling. By Thursday, we were finally able to start selling. So many modelers came by, praised us, admired us, said they loved Eduard, that they loved us—I had never experienced anything like it. Next to me, at the cash register, colleague of mine, chief designer Stan Archman, was autographing his creations, one signature after another. After a while, the modelers even gave him a silver color marker. Stan even has his own fan club among American modelers! I have to admit, we felt great among them (we even received a case of beer to enjoy the evening after the busy days at the exhibition, which were indeed demanding, especially after the crowds of modelers rushed to buy August new releases, mainly Mustangs and the 1/48 scale limited edition of B-17F). With this wonderful vibes and in a great environment, more than ever before, we were proud of our accomplishments and felt motivated to work even harder in the future, never mind endless complaints and nitpicking. Make no mistake, the American modelers have been critical as well. They just somehow presented their „case“ in a more polite and friendly manner!