mick3272
A Fixture
But we do have two stations, in our hay-day we had four.
No more Euro
- Thread starter Eludia
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But we do have two stations, in our hay-day we had four.
Ian
Good to hear traders are talking to you , Hugo Pereira rang me and was talking this morning about wanting to try and support and help if possible
Who needs My Time Media ...no one I think !!
Nap
Good to hear traders are talking to you , Hugo Pereira rang me and was talking this morning about wanting to try and support and help if possible
Who needs My Time Media ...no one I think !!
Nap
theBaron
A Fixture
Just remember, guys, things change. That is the way of the world, and it applies to shows and our hobby as to anything else.
I remember walking through our exhibit (MFCA) with Al Shaw, and we saw an anime girlie figure. His reaction was, "Look at that-that doesn't belong here!" I thought about that, and realized that I didn't agree. I thought, while it's a different subject from Napoleonics or ancients, the person who finished it shows just the same sorts of skill as anyone else. As the years went by, I noticed more plastic and resin figures, alongside classic white metal, in the exhibition as on the vendor tables. And in the past 10 years or so, new painters are as likely as not, or even more so, to come more from among sci-fi and fantasy fans, than to come from among fans of classic historical categories. There are wargamers whose skills are excellent, and their shows around here draw a couple thousand people, not several hundred. And we've had to decide--discourage new people by sticking to what we've always been, and watch the number of people who paint Napoleon's marshalls dwindle through attrition, or adapt to the changes, and welcome new people into the hobby, even if it's under a different part of the tent from our corner of it.
Anyway, things change, and you have to decide whether you can and will adapt, or will take ship to the West.
Prost!
Brad
I remember walking through our exhibit (MFCA) with Al Shaw, and we saw an anime girlie figure. His reaction was, "Look at that-that doesn't belong here!" I thought about that, and realized that I didn't agree. I thought, while it's a different subject from Napoleonics or ancients, the person who finished it shows just the same sorts of skill as anyone else. As the years went by, I noticed more plastic and resin figures, alongside classic white metal, in the exhibition as on the vendor tables. And in the past 10 years or so, new painters are as likely as not, or even more so, to come more from among sci-fi and fantasy fans, than to come from among fans of classic historical categories. There are wargamers whose skills are excellent, and their shows around here draw a couple thousand people, not several hundred. And we've had to decide--discourage new people by sticking to what we've always been, and watch the number of people who paint Napoleon's marshalls dwindle through attrition, or adapt to the changes, and welcome new people into the hobby, even if it's under a different part of the tent from our corner of it.
Anyway, things change, and you have to decide whether you can and will adapt, or will take ship to the West.
Prost!
Brad
Those things can be an advantage. There's not many people outside Norfolk who can count up to 12 without having to take their shoes and socks off, or catch a baseball with their feet
davidmitchell
A Fixture
Very sad to hear the news about Euro ,the end of an era .Have many happy memories of the show which I attended for many years.Wil miss it ,but have made a lot of good friends over the years.Hope the Leeds show get the backing it deserves,went to last one and is it a stunning venue for a show.
Cheers David
Cheers David
Those things can be an advantage. There's not many people outside Norfolk who can count up to 12 without having to take their shoes and socks off, or catch a baseball with their feet
Do you mean that in Norfolk it's seen to be advantageous if mum and dad are brother and sister???? This is most worrying!
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peedee
A Fixture
As long as it is not in Liverpool where they have light fingers(allegedly)
.[/quote]No idea where that idea came from Ralph, the only one with light fingers was ET ?
Paul
tonydawe
A Fixture
As an outsider looking in, Euro Militaire always had a sense of tradition and excellence attached to it, even when it was quite a young show. Over the years this reputation grew and I made it my goal to attend and compete at Euro. I did this back in 2009, and I was not disappointed, but even so I could see the signs of disenchantment with the show, the venue, the town and the organisers back then.
Not surprisingly, in the years since then all those factors have worsened and now the show is dead. I wont mourn the death of Euro Militaire, instead I will greet the birth of a new show that will rise up to replace Euro, and hopefully make good on some of the issues that plagued the old show.
Firstly, Folkestone is a dreary and moribund seaside town bereft of charm and dominated by antiquated hotels and facilities. Another venue in a town with more charm and appeal, and a venue that wasn't built in the 1920's would be a good start.
The organisers of Euro appeared to lose the plot several years ago and the show became more about making money than anything else. There's no reason why such a show can't be run for and by hobbyists and still make a profit. Hopefully any new or existing show that rises up to capture the place of the UK's premier modelling show will remember that. I think its a cop out for the Euro organisers to blame everything and everyone for their decision to shut down Euro, without also accepting ultimate responsibility for its failures and the decision to kill it off so abruptly.
I know from being involved in our own local model expo for the past 17 years that such events are primarily social events for modellers to get together and catch up with each other. Shows that accommodate the social aspect of modelling, and encourage such activities are bound to more popular than those shows which are just about sales, medals and "who won BOS?".
Euro is dead. I'm over it. What's next?
Not surprisingly, in the years since then all those factors have worsened and now the show is dead. I wont mourn the death of Euro Militaire, instead I will greet the birth of a new show that will rise up to replace Euro, and hopefully make good on some of the issues that plagued the old show.
Firstly, Folkestone is a dreary and moribund seaside town bereft of charm and dominated by antiquated hotels and facilities. Another venue in a town with more charm and appeal, and a venue that wasn't built in the 1920's would be a good start.
The organisers of Euro appeared to lose the plot several years ago and the show became more about making money than anything else. There's no reason why such a show can't be run for and by hobbyists and still make a profit. Hopefully any new or existing show that rises up to capture the place of the UK's premier modelling show will remember that. I think its a cop out for the Euro organisers to blame everything and everyone for their decision to shut down Euro, without also accepting ultimate responsibility for its failures and the decision to kill it off so abruptly.
I know from being involved in our own local model expo for the past 17 years that such events are primarily social events for modellers to get together and catch up with each other. Shows that accommodate the social aspect of modelling, and encourage such activities are bound to more popular than those shows which are just about sales, medals and "who won BOS?".
Euro is dead. I'm over it. What's next?
Blind Pew
PlanetFigure Supporter
A very tired and bizarre venue, in an old-fashioned run-down town that inexplicably didn't want us there. Just think of the money we brought into Folkestone that weekend...
Eye-wateringly expensive. Pains-in-the-arse with rucsacks everywhere.
A very old-fashioned, and stuffy atmosphere.
I've said before, this has been coming for years. I've refused to attend for some time now. Other European shows had long eclipsed it.
Del is 100% correct in his assessment. I wish all the power in the world and good luck to the Likes of Ian. I hope and trust a new show will be a breath of fresh air. It what it needs to stop the greyification.
Eye-wateringly expensive. Pains-in-the-arse with rucsacks everywhere.
A very old-fashioned, and stuffy atmosphere.
I've said before, this has been coming for years. I've refused to attend for some time now. Other European shows had long eclipsed it.
Del is 100% correct in his assessment. I wish all the power in the world and good luck to the Likes of Ian. I hope and trust a new show will be a breath of fresh air. It what it needs to stop the greyification.
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Yes, time was there was all manner of side shows going on outside: Re-enactors, WWII military vehicles (I've seen US jeeps, halftracks and a Panzer IV tank there, among others), military bands, guys with beer-bellies and wearing camo trousers driving radio-controlled 1/6 scale tanks crewed by Action Men along the prom. Then a few local fuddy-duddies complained about the "noise", the council caved in to them (instead of telling them to live & let live for just one weekend a year) and that was the end of all that.
As for the show itself, when I first started attending in 1998 (I did four on the spin from that year to 2001) there used to be a big marquee outside because the main venue could not accommodate so many traders. And in the main hall it would take ages to get from one end to the other because there were so many punters. The traders' stands would be two or three deep with guys waiting for their turn at the front of the throng.
The first time I remember it being quieter than usual was in 2001, but that was immediately (about a week) after 9/11, so perhaps that was only to be expected (hardly anyone flying over from the US, and fewer people coming from Europe). Next time I went after that was 2004 and from what I remember, normal service had been resumed by then. I then missed a couple more before returning in both 2007 and 2008 - when I'd finish up breakfast at the Clifton as early as possible in order to join the lengthy queue of punters outside (remember those Euro queues?!) waiting for the show to open. After that I attended six on the spin from 2011 to 2016, and with the exception of the 30th anniversary last year when there was a bit of an upturn (including a record number of comp entries IIRC), each show was quieter than the one before. So this comes as no surprise at all, and a lot of us saw it coming. It's a crying shame though, such a great show basically being left to wither on the vine by organisers who just didn't care about any of it except for the financial "bottom line".
- Steve
Totally agree with all the comments from
Tony , Steve and Blind Pew ..very well put guys
Nap
Tony , Steve and Blind Pew ..very well put guys
Nap
(including a record number of comp entries IIRC),
Steve I'll never understand the amount of people who bought into that BS put out by Mytime the year before last. Maybe a record number since Mytime took the show over perhaps ?? but not even close to what we saw regularly in the nineties/early 2000's. Anyway it doesn't matter anymore and I'm just pleased to have been there to see the likes of Bill Horans stuff and all the other multi national exhibitors of which there are way too many to mention. So many great memories.
Steve I'll never understand the amount of people who bought into that BS put out by Mytime the year before last. Maybe a record number since Mytime took the show over perhaps ?? but not even close to what we saw regularly in the nineties/early 2000's. Anyway it doesn't matter anymore and I'm just pleased to have been there to see the likes of Bill Horans stuff and all the other multi national exhibitors of which there are way too many to mention. So many great memories.
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I don't know Nige, you may be correct. However the number of entries in 2015 was very noticeably up from previous (recent) years and it did all look very impressive.
But either way, that was followed by a massive slump again this year. And the dearth of entries looked all the more striking because in order to add new categories such as ships and aircraft, they had removed the folding partition wall that used to separate the comp room from the room that housed the club tables and opened it all out into one big room. However, not only was the number of other entries way down, there were hardly any entries in the new categories either (not least because they hadn't even been announced, so hardly anyone knew about them). So what we were faced with was the rather toe-curling spectacle of far fewer entries spread out across a much bigger area, with some of the shelves being practially empty. All very sad and embarrassing.
- Steve
Uruk-Hai
PlanetFigure Supporter
As a regular Euro Millitaire visitor and visitor to the UK in general. Anywhere but London. Im soo tired of London and there is nothing left to do or see.
Cheers
Janne Nilsson
Cheers
Janne Nilsson
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Unless you are rich, London is a dirty, sprawling, expensive, crime-ridden hellhole.
My advice to any visiting extraterrestrials (or even Canadians) would be go there once, do all the compulsory tourist stuff, then leave it at that.
My last visit there was in 1999, and from what I've heard it has got much worse since then. I am in no rush to go back. Even a model show would not tempt me.
- Steve
My advice to any visiting extraterrestrials (or even Canadians) would be go there once, do all the compulsory tourist stuff, then leave it at that.
My last visit there was in 1999, and from what I've heard it has got much worse since then. I am in no rush to go back. Even a model show would not tempt me.
- Steve
Rich Sculpts
A Fixture
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I was born and raised in London and managed escape that hellhole way back in 1998, never regretted it for one moment
Definitely not London, that is why I never bother with the BMSS annual show anymore
Even Leeds is a better alternative
-Rich
Blind Pew
PlanetFigure Supporter
Ray Stout
PlanetFigure Supporter
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One abiding memory, when the show was in it's heyday, was going to lunch with Bill Horan, Keith Durham and Rick Scollins, and being confronted on the Cliff with a Group of Plains Indians Re -enactors doing what we were told was a Rain Dance!!! Comment from Bill was, "I've come 10,000miles here.....to see this???" If I can add my Thoughts to a new show, Why don't the organisers insist that EVERY Trader attending, has a Show Offer just to encourage the footfall instead of buying on-line, which, when you think about it has killed off most of the Shop trade. Ray
