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(mods..tried to post this is news but i dont have the permissions so its here.) Please excuse my spelling. I have not included a list of airfix releases as its on another thread. For specific Revell models just ask...
London Toy Fair 2006
Well yesterday i braved the crowds and underground to visit "The Toy Fair" in Excell, London. The exhibition is held in 4 halls, N1, N2, S1 & S2 with the latter halls holding the largest of the stands. N1 & N2 comprised mostly of small indepandants with some larger firms dotted about the place. The feel of the show was much like any other trade show ive been to, with an almost scary likeness to the NEC layout and shell scheme "solid" construction.
There was a variety of exhibitors displaying their wares, names included Airfix/Humbrol, Revell, Hornby, Scaletrix, Nikko, Corgi & Amererang. With well over 200 stands to look at theres every kind of toy and model imaginable! Diecast play an ever growing roll at this years show with many new manufactuers unseen before showing lots of various buses, tractors and trams!
The first stall of real intrest to me was the Revell stand. I currantly dont stock Revell so was hoping to be enticed by them and order that very day, afterall i will have to stock them! Sadly this wasnt the case.....
The stands layout was very professional and each side had a large glass display case with various models in, the centre of the stand had a large double sided case. On show were this years releases, with the box art behind and a made model in front.
Some noticeable models included:
1:48th Ju-58 3mg4
1:48th Henikel He123
1:48th Eurofighter with LOTS of ordance
1:48th Canadair Sabre (looks the same as the frog 1:72nd!)
1:72nd supermarine walrus
1:72nd soviet LA-5
1:32nd Glider LS8a
Some new U-boats in 1:144th and 1:72nd
1:76th Char.B1 Bis & Renault FT.17 (ex-matchbox)
1:76th Churchill A.V.R.E. (ex-matchbox)
1:24th Ferrari F430 Spider
The display models were not amazing, no shaded pannel lines or washes here, just a simple out the box and one coat paint job. They were in poor condition and had obviously suffered at the hands of couriers and reps, several aircraft hand broken undercarriage and missing props, boats had broken attenti and the bike models were covered in dust. One almost wondened why they bothered with display cabinets at all. The reps attenting the stand were also not really on the ball, just chatting among themselves and being irrated when a customer asked for information. I saw several customers walk away after just giving up waiting five minutes for a brochure. Its no wonder revells reputation is flailing.
A direct constrast to this was the Corgi stand where i was hosted with sweets (always good for brownie points) a drink and very friendly staff who did their uttermost to help. Corgi have some nice "diorama" bases coming out this year, several which look very realistic with imitation grass effects. The main new aircraft line is WW2 bombers on mutli-media display stands. You press a button and machine gun fire and AA noises are played while several LEDs ilumiate the bottom of the aircraft. The effect isnt as great as it sounds and will only really been seen in the darker of corners. They do look really nice though, much like the old airfix bases with the aircraft raised high from the ground. There is also a "modded" skyline car which you plug into your stero and it bounces up and down, the wheels spin and lights flash in time with the music, that was fun!
Amererang had a nice stand, with their models clearly displayed and easily acceserble. Their range of 1:12, 1:16th and 1:9th motorcyles was very impressive with great attention to detail, they almost dont look diecast. Parts such as brake lines and sparkplug cables are even present. Dragon armour had a small part to play with no more new releases and a small selection of their 1:72nd & 1:144th armour ranges. Forces of valour had some new models and a very impressive die cast 88mm flak gun that puts britains to shame! They seem to use an oil wash on most of their models which really adds to the realism- something we are only just begining to see in the toy soldier world. The large scale SCI-FI models seemed to be the most dominating on the Amerang stand with diecast american muscle cars a close second.
The Nikko stand was also a treat to any male above the age of 4! Loads of RC cars, planes, boats and bikes to play with, some of which surprised me so much that ive got a catalouge and price list. Gone are the days of shoddy chinese plastic hoot and go, some of these models did scale speeds of 300kph while others were 1:9th with working lights, mirrors and indicators.
Scaletrix had their usal super display track on offer displaying various new curves, cars & bikes. The reps on this stand were young, hip and extremely friendly, a nice breath of fresh air. Hornbys stand almost ran into this, however their layout was rather disapointing from a modellers aspect and i would consider "niave". It looked like somebody had try to squeeze every product they had onto one 8x8 layout. A crowded display but perfect for the un-knowledgable toy buyers....
The Humbrol Stand; a joy to look at and a joy to be taken round. It was a large stand incorperating all the sectors under the Humbrol Name. Models were clearly displayed either on a rack shelfing system or in glass cabinates. Every modell on the stand was made to a high standard and unlike Revell, looked after well. Panel lines had been washed in on some models and bases modelled with grass and earth on the 1:72nd releases. What was exciting to see was the new TSR2 in the flesh with the new box and packaging. A nice kit which im sure several of you guys are looking forward to! There was also a vacform nimrod trial run to show us what the new kit will look like, several new ships, 54mm BCW figures and a canberra. Worthy of a mention are the "mimic" range of Tri-ang ships which are being reintroduced slowly over the next year, they are the same moulds in diecast with VERY similar rectangular boxes. CWBritains have also been taken over by Humbrol so their range of knights, WW2 infantry and the like were also on display but look rather dull when compaired to the host of other goodies on the stall. There were also some very large, 1:10th diecast JCB diggers but we wont go there.....
Overall an enjoyable show with some very intresting exhibitors. When viewed in a modelling context only a small percentage was relavent, but what one gains from shows like this is the ability to see trends in an industry.
What was noticeable from this show was the back-sway towards the older styled diecast models, toy soldiers and simple wooden puzzle games. On the technical side of things, there are now several weird and wonderful version of scaletrix and RC plays a much much larger role. Although i didnt actually order anything at this show, i feel i found some good contacts, met some intresting people (plus a few total idiots) and recieved about a metric ton of brouchures.
Role on Nurengburg.....
London Toy Fair 2006
Well yesterday i braved the crowds and underground to visit "The Toy Fair" in Excell, London. The exhibition is held in 4 halls, N1, N2, S1 & S2 with the latter halls holding the largest of the stands. N1 & N2 comprised mostly of small indepandants with some larger firms dotted about the place. The feel of the show was much like any other trade show ive been to, with an almost scary likeness to the NEC layout and shell scheme "solid" construction.
There was a variety of exhibitors displaying their wares, names included Airfix/Humbrol, Revell, Hornby, Scaletrix, Nikko, Corgi & Amererang. With well over 200 stands to look at theres every kind of toy and model imaginable! Diecast play an ever growing roll at this years show with many new manufactuers unseen before showing lots of various buses, tractors and trams!
The first stall of real intrest to me was the Revell stand. I currantly dont stock Revell so was hoping to be enticed by them and order that very day, afterall i will have to stock them! Sadly this wasnt the case.....
The stands layout was very professional and each side had a large glass display case with various models in, the centre of the stand had a large double sided case. On show were this years releases, with the box art behind and a made model in front.
Some noticeable models included:
1:48th Ju-58 3mg4
1:48th Henikel He123
1:48th Eurofighter with LOTS of ordance
1:48th Canadair Sabre (looks the same as the frog 1:72nd!)
1:72nd supermarine walrus
1:72nd soviet LA-5
1:32nd Glider LS8a
Some new U-boats in 1:144th and 1:72nd
1:76th Char.B1 Bis & Renault FT.17 (ex-matchbox)
1:76th Churchill A.V.R.E. (ex-matchbox)
1:24th Ferrari F430 Spider
The display models were not amazing, no shaded pannel lines or washes here, just a simple out the box and one coat paint job. They were in poor condition and had obviously suffered at the hands of couriers and reps, several aircraft hand broken undercarriage and missing props, boats had broken attenti and the bike models were covered in dust. One almost wondened why they bothered with display cabinets at all. The reps attenting the stand were also not really on the ball, just chatting among themselves and being irrated when a customer asked for information. I saw several customers walk away after just giving up waiting five minutes for a brochure. Its no wonder revells reputation is flailing.
A direct constrast to this was the Corgi stand where i was hosted with sweets (always good for brownie points) a drink and very friendly staff who did their uttermost to help. Corgi have some nice "diorama" bases coming out this year, several which look very realistic with imitation grass effects. The main new aircraft line is WW2 bombers on mutli-media display stands. You press a button and machine gun fire and AA noises are played while several LEDs ilumiate the bottom of the aircraft. The effect isnt as great as it sounds and will only really been seen in the darker of corners. They do look really nice though, much like the old airfix bases with the aircraft raised high from the ground. There is also a "modded" skyline car which you plug into your stero and it bounces up and down, the wheels spin and lights flash in time with the music, that was fun!
Amererang had a nice stand, with their models clearly displayed and easily acceserble. Their range of 1:12, 1:16th and 1:9th motorcyles was very impressive with great attention to detail, they almost dont look diecast. Parts such as brake lines and sparkplug cables are even present. Dragon armour had a small part to play with no more new releases and a small selection of their 1:72nd & 1:144th armour ranges. Forces of valour had some new models and a very impressive die cast 88mm flak gun that puts britains to shame! They seem to use an oil wash on most of their models which really adds to the realism- something we are only just begining to see in the toy soldier world. The large scale SCI-FI models seemed to be the most dominating on the Amerang stand with diecast american muscle cars a close second.
The Nikko stand was also a treat to any male above the age of 4! Loads of RC cars, planes, boats and bikes to play with, some of which surprised me so much that ive got a catalouge and price list. Gone are the days of shoddy chinese plastic hoot and go, some of these models did scale speeds of 300kph while others were 1:9th with working lights, mirrors and indicators.
Scaletrix had their usal super display track on offer displaying various new curves, cars & bikes. The reps on this stand were young, hip and extremely friendly, a nice breath of fresh air. Hornbys stand almost ran into this, however their layout was rather disapointing from a modellers aspect and i would consider "niave". It looked like somebody had try to squeeze every product they had onto one 8x8 layout. A crowded display but perfect for the un-knowledgable toy buyers....
The Humbrol Stand; a joy to look at and a joy to be taken round. It was a large stand incorperating all the sectors under the Humbrol Name. Models were clearly displayed either on a rack shelfing system or in glass cabinates. Every modell on the stand was made to a high standard and unlike Revell, looked after well. Panel lines had been washed in on some models and bases modelled with grass and earth on the 1:72nd releases. What was exciting to see was the new TSR2 in the flesh with the new box and packaging. A nice kit which im sure several of you guys are looking forward to! There was also a vacform nimrod trial run to show us what the new kit will look like, several new ships, 54mm BCW figures and a canberra. Worthy of a mention are the "mimic" range of Tri-ang ships which are being reintroduced slowly over the next year, they are the same moulds in diecast with VERY similar rectangular boxes. CWBritains have also been taken over by Humbrol so their range of knights, WW2 infantry and the like were also on display but look rather dull when compaired to the host of other goodies on the stall. There were also some very large, 1:10th diecast JCB diggers but we wont go there.....
Overall an enjoyable show with some very intresting exhibitors. When viewed in a modelling context only a small percentage was relavent, but what one gains from shows like this is the ability to see trends in an industry.
What was noticeable from this show was the back-sway towards the older styled diecast models, toy soldiers and simple wooden puzzle games. On the technical side of things, there are now several weird and wonderful version of scaletrix and RC plays a much much larger role. Although i didnt actually order anything at this show, i feel i found some good contacts, met some intresting people (plus a few total idiots) and recieved about a metric ton of brouchures.
Role on Nurengburg.....
