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Confederate Colonels, Turbulence and the Nuremberg Toy Fair

Talking to the other manufacturers

There were a series of manufacturers who did their best to open the doors to us. I’ll begin with them:

ICM. Not much was on show from the company which was new. Work is still continuing on their Matilda IV in 1/35th scale. Release date is expected around 2nd quarter 2009.

RODEN. Not a company which has, until now, entered into the 1/35th scale market. This year though, they have announced a Rolls Royce Armored Car which I was lucky enough to see the sprues and instructions of. We’ll be Reviewing it shortly!

ZVEZDA. I had a good talk with them as well – they are continuing in 1/35th scale with the half-tracked MB 4500 Mercedes-Maultier. Expect to see a LOT more coverage of them in the coming year.

SQUADRON SIGNAL. Concentrating principally on their useful series of ’In-Action’ Armor books, this year will see MORE new titles. Particularly noteworthy will be those by David Doyle whose work on WWII U.S.M.C. subjects requires little introduction.

IBG (International Business Group): One for the braille-scalers. They captured a lot of attention with a range of Bedfords in 1/72nd scale. Now, the company are releasing a series of ¾ ton CMPs in a variety of configurations. Expect to see a full Review of one of them shortly.

VALLEJO: This year will see the company producing many more ‘packs’ of related colors. The big news from the company though, is that they’re entering into the area of Weathering Powders with a pretty extensive range being announced.

ACADEMY: Never the most forthcoming of companies and, at Nuremberg, represented by their German importer, they did have a couple of new announcements. The Merkava IV was there (at least the sprues were) along with a mock-up of the finished model. Also present, albeit in poster form, was an M977 in 1/72nd scale.

HOBBYBOSS were also there, albeit with a pretty low-key presentation. Getting hold of their 2009 Catalogue though, does make for interesting reading. No less than EIGHT, new, 1/35th scale AFV models are listed – the Pershing (Pilot # 2), (another) Merkava IV, the WWII (German) Lynx, Spanish Leopard, ZBO-97 IFV, ZLC-2000, ZSL-92 APC, and the ZSL-92A IFV.

ABER: This is always one of the most pleasant visits during the visit to the Toy Fair. The owner of the company always takes the time to go through the new products and, even with a frenetic schedule, has time to talk about their plans for the future. This year, amongst many other product lines, will see the release of a ‘Mega’ update set for Trumpeter’s King-Tiger in 1/16th scale and at the other end, a series of 1/700th scale gun-barrels for Warships.

DRAGON MODELS: As always, although their stand is small (compared to some) it really is well-presented and a warm welcome is always there. Very little was on show which HASN’T featured in the News Section although they WERE showing the poster for their Sd.Kfz 7.