This weekend Osprey USA had a booth at the Westchester Radio Aero Modeler Association's "WRAM" show in White Plains, NY. For too long, the focus of our marketing in the U.S. has been on the Wargaming, Toy Soldier and Armor segments of the hobby, so this year we're trying to reach out to those interested in Warbirds.
We were thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive response we got to our books! One of the first things we realized is that while we thought our line of aviation titles was "comprehensive," there are some serious gaps. For instance, many customers asked whether we have any titles on "trainers" such as the T-6, T-34, and AT-6. Clearly, trainers are a big part of the R/C hobby and Osprey needs to come up with some titles to serve this niche.
Another thing we learned is that there is a bottomless appetite for WWII Naval aviation. Indeed, we sold out of our Corsair books on the first day! Also, we learned that there is such an animal as "the Bearcat," which is most definitely not a Wildcat or Hellcat.
Finally, the wonderful volunteers from the Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum kept demand for our WWII aviation titles very high. They made us realize that we need to sign up someone to write books on the Fokker DR VI and VIII, to complement our titles on the DR V and VII. Attached are some photos from the show. We will definitely be there again next year!
Download wram_1.jpg
Download wram_2.jpg
Download wram_3.jpg
Download wram_4.jpg
Download wram_great_planes.jpg
Download wram_overhead.jpg