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total number of kits ordered from our pre-order
e-shop and those pre-ordered by retailers.
We then round the total number up to an even
hundred, and produce that quantity. By definition,
this will give us a few dozen kits left over at the
end of January. We will then either sell them
to one of the retailers, or we will sell them
ourselves at model shows.
We made the return to pre-orders after
a few years, as well as to Royal Class boxings.
It is our response to changing market conditions
and also to repeated requests from modelers.
I confess that I was against the idea for a long
time and if it weren't for the complications in the
market brought on by the Russian war, I would
probably continue to be against it. However, the
sales figures of this renewed series of kits show
that it was the right reaction. It confirms the
old truism that an extraordinary situation calls
for extraordinary decisions. We've done quite
a bit of that over the past two years, and I'm sure
we're not done yet. By the way, a few weeks ago
while sorting through old documents I came
across a list of Avia B.534 subscribers. That list
is eighteen years old now. I'd post a photo here,
but I'm afraid that would be a GDPR violation.
Don’t want that. This also shows where our world
has moved to in those eighteen years and what
a different one it is today. I'm not complaining,
I'm perfectly happy with the progress made
in those eighteen years and I'm not calling for
a return to the old days in any way. Honestly,
I wouldn’t change a thing. Social and age
factors aside, at least technologically, we are
in a completely different world today. From the
perspective of 2006, we are in a science fiction
world not easily imagined back then. The fact
that we still haven't landed on Mars and Martians
haven't landed here doesn't play a major role
in this.
We have another milestone coming up in
November that has many people at Eduard
working their butts off right now. We are about
to publish the first issue of the paid subscription
version of the Eduard newsletter we call the
Modelers’ Den. It took us a long time, admittedly,
but I think that most will easily agree that with
us, good things come to those who wait. This
endeavor will be similar, but not identical, to
our classic newsletter. For example, it will
contain only a minimum of information about
Eduard releases, as it is not primarily intended
as a vehicle to promote our own products, but
will bring additional information in the form of
historical articles, reports from modeling events
and museums, interviews with interesting
personalities and information coming from other
companies. It won't be completely ad-free, we
expect it to feature ads from other manufacturers,
magazines and modeling events. In this sense,
it will be a commercial product and will earn
money to sustain itself through paid advertising.
Another source of income is expected from
paying readers. The price will be 120 CZK, which
amounts to something like five bucks US, and
there will be a little perk that comes with it.
With your purchase, you will receive a discount
coupon to be used for purchases through our
e-shop, which can also be used in combination
with other offers. Combined with a purchase of
regular value from our e-shop, the purchase
of the magazine is more than worth it. The first
issue will be free so you can give a test drive
with no obligation. However, I need to mention
that at the moment, we are still dealing with one
technical issue that could delay the release of
the first issue of the Modelers’ Den by a month
or, worst case, two. The issue stems from the fact
that originally, the Den was not supposed to be
a downloadable pdf, it was only supposed to be
readable in the Triobo browser. However, based
on discussions with modelers, we came to the
conclusion that this would not be appropriate
and decided to allow the download in pdf form
for readers. It’s only a matter of time before we
iron out the last remaining bugs.
Happy Modelling!
Vladimir Sulc
EDITORIAL
INFO Eduard
5
November 2024