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Event Report from IPMS in Telford, UK #1

I have been to IPMS Scale Model World in Telford, where I had been dreaming of!

Hello, all SWS fans! I have been there! The IPMS Scale Model World in Telford, UK was as great as I imagined!
Are you asking me what was so great?
Take a look at these pictures, first!

Seeeeeeeeee!

"Waaaaaait!! What on earth is going oooooooooon!!"

What?! The massive crowd of people in front of the Zoukei-Mura SWS booth was actually a line which had been waiting to pick up their pre-ordered kits, or to purchase them!! Can it be true that a scale model kit causes such a long line?! Unbelievable!!

We felt odd before we even entered the hall that Zoukei-Mura's booth was assigned to... "W-what is that crowd??" Then, we went closer...	"Oh, no~~~~~~?!" The crowd was so dense that we couldn't even get into the booth. It was a line of people who were trying to purchase SWS kits.
We entered our booth to begin preparation for sales, greeting cheerfully and expressing gratitude to the customers who had been in line from early morning.	This is the pile of SWS kits which have "RESERVED" notes on them for pre-order customers, including the Skyraider, which was the highlight of this event!
Other visitors, who were unaware, gathered around the booth wondering, "What? What's going on here??"	We were sorry for our neighboring booths! The line was endless...The pre-ordered kits were already set aside.
Everything is finally ready. Pick-up for pre-order customers began with checking their names! The expressions of everyone who got their kit into their hands turned into a relaxed smile!	Endless?! As soon as the line became shorter, more customers joined the end of the line! Our commander-in-chief was watching it nervously.
Father and son came to pick up their Skyraider and weapons set together! It's wonderful that family bonds are deepened through this hobby isn't it?	How generous! Thank you for purchasing not only the Skyraider, but also the extra parts such as the MD3, Metal Struts, Weighted Tires, Weapons Set, etc!
This customer purchased a Ta152, its Concept Note and the extra parts all together! How very discerning of you! The German airplane was also popular here in the UK!	This customer purchased the Ta152 and Shinden together! He bought the Shinden Flight Set as well. "This figure is wonderful!" He looked quite happy!

Who could have guessed that this would happen??!!

But we did not yet know that, so we were happy-go-lucky until we got to our booth. Then, we found people who were taking up positions in front of our booth and chatting, while pointing out the stacked SWS kits on our table. Yes. We piled up the pre-ordered kits and attached the customer's names on them as preparation on the previous night.
So, it means that customers who had pre-ordered kits through my blog, or through the IPMS executive committee, had already started to line up from early in the morning and were waiting for us!!

Oh my god!! From this moment, all five of us from Zoukei-Mura were deployed into the middle of a fierce Sales Battle at Telford. We even didn't have time to settle our personal belongings in the booth.

Now I can think over the meaning of this line. It was evidence that a lot of the modelers who gathered in Telford were already aware that SWS had been trying to recreate actual airplanes as scale models, using plastic, and it was a challenge to this unknown field, don't you think?

Exactly as expected from IPMS UK! Exactly as expected from all of modelers in Telford!
But, this was the very first time for all five of us to attend this event! We were careful to estimate enough time ahead of the opening and left the hotel quite early, but we were too optimistic! We were completely caught in a heavy traffic jam heading to the venue. The streets around the venue already had traffic jams from early morning. We didn't know that since it was our first time, poor us!
We managed to pass through the traffic and got to the parking lot gates in the last minutes before opening!
We all rushed along into the event venue, finally sliding into our booth after a great struggle.

Several hours flew by in a moment after the opening at 10:00AM. Our Zoukei-Mura booth remained in a scramble. Modelers kept visiting us one after another without stopping.

I assume that the visitors were already in the several thousands. The huge event site was filled with enormous energy! The modelers' enthusiastic attention and excited hearts were all reflected in their smiles and behavior. There was even a line to take pictures.

Before we could relish the joy of the opening of the IPMS Telford event, the storms of questions, requests and suggestions started to hit us from everywhere!

Such as:
"I didn't even know that you took pre-orders!"
"When can I know if there is a cancellation!?"
"Why didn't you guys bring more!?"

Some were like:
"If I have it sent to me, customs fees double the price!"

Some continued protests like:
"Why don't you get retailers more quickly?"
It really is a constructive opinion.
Some were:
"Can you autograph the box for me?"
"Will you sell the engine separately?"
"Can I get only the figures?"

Then:
"When will the P-51 be available?"
"How about the Raiden (Mitsubishi J2M)?"
"Then, what will next to that!?"

Time passed and continuing to answer was all that we could do.
I have too many happy things that I want to report here! I will tell you them in order.
Please enjoy the atmosphere of the first day on today's blog post!

The heavy traffic started all the way from the "roundabout" (rotary) in front of the event site! We couldn't imagine that this would happen...Can we get there in time?!	The parking lot in front of the main entrance was already full! It seems that the UK event is always held at the same event site, so the experienced people get to the site earlier.
Our inexperienced group finally parked and rushed into the hall. We were thinking, "We hope that we will have a lot of visitors!" at this point, but...	We were still thinking, "Wow. It seems like a lot of people are coming to this event~!" at this point as well. So we were really surprised when we found the massive crowd in front of our booth!

What will I show you in my next blog post!? Please look forward to it!!

Several hours passed and the line had settled down. But still, many customers kept visiting the Zoukei-Mura booth one after the other!	There were still some customers who hadn't shown up for pick-up. Pick-up was until the end of that day, so don't wait too long!
This is the IPMS contest area. It was filled with a lot of astonishing projects and the people who came to see and enjoy them!	It's already a full house! Usually, this two-day event seems to gather several thousand scale model fans! How envious we are of this environment!
Manufacturers and business partners both visited the development team between customers! We hope to build even more wonderful collaborations!	A lot of IPMS members and other model kit clubs from the UK and neighboring countries were exhibiting! They all were really skillful!

With all of our hearts, we are progressing with the SWS #6!!

Finally, we will begin the "what's the next airplane?" quiz for SWS #6 with this blog post!
Thank you. With all of your support, we were able to release the third kit, the "A-1H Skyraider," from Zoukei-Mura's SWS. It started with the Shinden and was followed by the Ta152, A-1H and P-51D. Work is now going smoothly for #6 as well as the Raiden. I hope that the highest summit of plastic model kits, recreated fully with SWS methods, will keep bringing immense impact to your airplane model collections.

SWS #6 will add another new high point!!
We would like to share the joy of the development stage, and the best part of SWS, with all of you. So, we planned this quiz, as usual, to guess next airplane. Get the correct answer this time and win a wonderful prize!!
We will look forward to receiving your entries!
Here we go!!!

SWS#6 "What is the next airplane?" Quiz

Quiz
The Guardian God of the Jet-Black Night Sky
"○○ in the middle of the night. ○○○○○ ○e○○○ ○─○─"

Now, fill out the katakana, kanji and alphabetic letters in the ○ spaces to guess perfectly which airplane SWS #6 is. We will give away brand-new SWS #6 kit sets as a prize to three people out of those who get the correct answer.

How to Submit Your Answer: *In addition to regular mail submissions, like last time, this time you can submit your answer by an exclusive e-mail address, to allow for submissions from as many fans as possible.; [How to Submit by Regular Mail]
Please send Kansei-Hagaki (Japan Post's pre-paid postcard) to the VOLKS Headquarters, making sure to include your name and address as well.

Address:
Attn. VOLKS, Inc SWS #6 "What is the next airplane?" Quiz Team 60 Goshonouchi Nakamachi Shichi-jo, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8862; [How to Submit by E-mail]
Please send an email to the address below, making sure include your name and address as well.

Email: sws_quiz@zoukeimura.co.jp
Title: Submission to SWS #6 "What is the next airplane?" Quiz

*This email address is exclusively for this quiz.
Deadline: Until the end of January 2012
Winner Announcement: Winners will be announced here on the Zoukei-Mura Web Site.
Prize Presentation: As their prize, the winners will receive kits before anyone else.

We are looking forward to receiving a lot of entries from you.

I know that people who read this blog in English have no way to know the Japanese in this quiz. I'm sorry about that. I beg for your understanding because a Japanese manufacturer, Zoukei-Mura, is holding this quiz. Maybe you can find some Japanese friends whom you can solve the quiz with. Please give it a try.
Submissions from overseas are accepted here at [sws_quiz@zoukeimura.co.jp].
Other guidelines are as same as domestic entries.
Well then, my next blog post will again be about "Event Report from IPMS in Telford, UK" Please look forward the next post as well!

Hideyuki Shigeta
The Old Man of Zoukei-mura

If you have any opinions, questions, or requests regarding the SWS, please don't hesitate to let us know.