Greetings from Dyersville & Germany & New York!

I’m sorry for the delay in this blog, but my recent travels have me playing catch up. I was privileged to be able to attend the 2020 Nuremberg International Toy Fair in Germany. Started in 1949 it is the largest International Trade Show for toys and games.

In Europe we sell our farm toys under the “Britains” brand. In addition to the major brands we typically see in North America, we produce replicas of JCB, Valtra, NC, Kane, Land Rover and others. We were able to meet with many of these OEMs at the show and discuss future global plans. I was also able to have meetings with our sales team that handles Europe, the Middle East and Africa. I can safely tell you that kids around the globe love farm toys as much as we do here in the U.S. and Canada. As I discussed in the latest blog, we introduced our first Claas model at the show, a 1:32nd Xerion 5000 Tractor. This model has a rotating cab, front 3-point hitch and crab steering. The Xerion 5000 has 530 max horsepower from a Mercedes Benz 12.8L engine and features a CVT transmission. (continuously variable transmission) We have several other items planned for Claas, in both 1:32nd and other scales. I look forward to keeping you updated on our plans.

Next on my travels was the 2020 American International Toy Fair held at the Jacob K. Javits Center in New York. All the various toy companies set up booths at the show and display their new 2020 toys. I’ve been attending this show for the last 20+ years and it’s always interesting to see other displays and talk to our customers about our new lines. Our farm toy display this year was special as we also showcased some of the vintage items Ertl has produced over the last 75 years. We displayed a vintage John Deere tractor from the 1940’s along with some vintage tractors and implements produced over the various decades. The picture below gives you a quick look at some of the items we displayed.

We also announced new “Big Farm” items including a Peterbilt Dump Truck with snow plow, gravity wagons, Case IH Magnum Tractor with Loader and a pull type John Deere scraper.

The weather was nice in both locations this year, and also at home. My wife didn’t have to push snow while I was gone on either trip, so you know what they say. Happy wife, happy life :)

Until next time,

Bill