BlackMike Models

Thankfully I covered that base successfully Lol, you should get your Bank Manager into modelling then bring him/her along next time. Problem solved! It was a great bash indeed and I also thank the organisers for putting on such a friendly show. It was great to meet you all in person and to actually spend some time with Darren without hurling my lunch at him this time. We are in the hotel at Stafford now and will continue our journey north tomorrow. Duncan B

I could tell you what I’ve been buying at the Southern Expo but then Mrs B might find out and tell me off for buying instead of selling! Duncan B

Get cracking with that Su35 so I can copy you, oh and the same for the Revell F.3 Duncan B

Today's the long haul south, setting off very shortly to give us plenty of time. There is apparently a road called the 'M25' that is the biggest carpark in the world, I'll bring a blanket and some sandwiches for that bit! Duncan B

Great work, I have one to make for my next door neighbour who's dad won a DFC flying one of these. Duncan B

I was wondering last night about bringing a couple of models to put on the table? It'll depend on how much room i actually have for extras so might not happen. Duncan B

I actually did jokingly suggest that to Mrs B. One thing's for sure the German Recycling Firms are the ones that will be rubbing their hands with delight. They'll be getting money for merely holding the names of foreign Companies on their files as I don't believe for a minute that they will actually be going round collecting those Companies' waste packaging. Can you imagine the environmental impact of all those different recycling vans going around collecting a box here and an envelope from there? There'd be gridlock and the smog from all those different vans would make LA's air quality look great. This Law is a sop to the Green Parties with the added bonus of discouraging some foreign companies from trading in Germany in my opinion. The last order we dispatched to Germany was packaged in a box that originally came from a German Distributor so how's that for recycling lol. Duncan B

Oh yes, does 1. predominantly sell armour kits by any chance? There is a certain modeller of armoured subjects who is well known for having a trade account with a UK Distributor and sells under his Club's table at every show. I know of at least one Trader who has threatened to dob him in to the Inland Revenue. I can understand how 2. could be very annoying to Club Members. 3. is another of my personal pet hates. as with setting up and breaking down a Club display the same applies to a Trade stall and the last thing you need is someone getting in the way. I really don't understand the folk that try to buy something once the show is over and packing up is well under way. I am very likely to become very rude at this point in the proceedings as I have been standing around trying to sell that stuff for many hours before the show closed, what's wrong with buying it then? Mrs B would not fall for it, she has a better idea of what's in my stash than I do (to answer Paul's question: approx 750 kits in my private stash of which at least 120 are Bf109s!!) Ah Col, where have you been, it's been really quite lately? Cheeky Beggar. At Bolton I was so tempted to 'shout 75% off all stock' while standing at the ever expanding plastic 'carpet'. It starts off on 2 tables and by the end of the day seems to have spread across all available floor space. I thought the stuff was going to spread up the back of my shelves! That was a Bank of Toy Town £5 and the guy was clearly dodgy with a fake foreign accent Duncan B (Who gets to do it all again this coming weekend, oh deep joy!)

No, all my stuff is brand new unless Mrs B happens to have sneaked some of my own stash into some of the boxes without me noticing. I did once make a (prearranged) swap at a local show but that is as close as I've ever got to dealing in 2nd hand stuff. I have been known to go round and buy up stuff for myself though but that is the real reason I do the shows anyway At Halifax a chap wandered up to me with a 1/72 Hasegawa Fw190 A-7 with Slipper Tanks kit asking for a price which quite surprised me because the only one I had ever seen previously was the one in my stash with the box number I'd written on the back just like the one in his hand! Sure enough there was half a dozen of my own kits sitting in a box that Mrs B had obviously secreted there. Duncan B

....and the moral of this story is always by from a reputable (over the counter) Retailer when visiting your local model show, haha! Duncan B

That's actually the best link I've seen so far today (I'm fast becoming quite a connoisseur of German Packaging Act websites). Duncan B

I've spent the day hunting out more information and it would appear that the work and cost involved in registering and maintaining the paperwork to comply with this new Packaging Act is not worth the effort for me so selling to Germany is off the menu. This new Act extends right down to people selling on Amazon, eBay and the other online sites, not just to Retailers with their own websites etc. I can see a lot of people ignoring the Act right up to the point they get slapped with the 200000€ fine but not me. Duncan B

Further to my post above I am currently seeking clarification from my local MSP on this matter, to verify this law actually exists and if so the implications of it on businesses based in other parts of the EU other than Germany. I am completely unaware of the EU having ratified this as they would have had to so I am hoping myself and many other online Traders have been takien in by a huge hoax but in the meantime I have no option other than to play it safe and pause sales to Germany. Duncan B

BlackMike Models regrets, that with immediate effect, we are no longer able to sell any of our products to addresses in Germany. This regrettable decision has been taken due to new packaging laws introduced unilaterally in Germany on the 1st January 2019. This new law effectively creates a trade barrier for Companies, even based in other countries within the EU, to sell into the German market without incurring significant additional costs or running the risk of prohibitive fines and other sanctions. Duncan B

Yes, from Edzell. When Edzell closed half the pubs closed with them and suddenly the girls had to start dating locals. I'm not sure what passes for entrainment for the youths around here now but the sheep still have the same worried expressions they've always had1 DB