Pista ba´, the wooden figurine that travels the world. See how it got to Prince Charles

Csuri bácsi, as Vrabie Kovacs Zsolt Kovacs Vrabie, is a great storyteller. And not because of his age, as you might be tempted to think because of his nickname ácsi (nephew) next to the name. Those familiar with Hungarian know that it is respectfully attributed to older people. Uncle Zsolt is far from old, he is only 44. He has been called Bácsi since he was 23, at a meeting at the town hall where most of the participants were elderly. As a joke, a friend addressed him as Csuri bácsi (Mr. Sparrow) and that's how his name stuck. You can also find Facebook or Instagram. We met Zsolt and his father, Gheorghe Vrabie, in Sfântu Gheorghe, where the workshop and the company's headquarters are located Gils Trade. It was the beginning of a short vacation and since the way to the place we had chosen was through the city, we decided to go in quickly, to see how the CNC we bought from Rubiq CNC . Zsolt's charming stories lasted much longer than we had intended.

The story of Pista ba´

Csuri bácsi  has his name forever linked to Ba´ ba´ runway, a wooden figurine that has already become a symbol in Seville. And it's only natural, given that he is the one who created the brave Szekler. The story begins in 2013 when Zsolt was forced to close his advertising production business after a serious injury in a cycling competition, an injury that kept him in a cast for 3 months. When he recovered, he worked in advertising for a while, but quit, wanting something else. In the run-up to Christmas, he said he had to come up with something that would attract attention and sell. Although he has a degree in languages, he is creative and has a penchant for crafts. He came up with the idea of making a wooden figurine representative of the area, like the Matryoshka for Russia or the wooden clogs for the Netherlands. And so Pista ba' (Nea Fane) was born.

At first he thought of plaster, then resin. But his father, with whom he has always worked and who is always at his side, suggested making it out of wood. He has always had a passion for carpentry and often enjoyed working in a friend's workshop. The pattern was designed by Zsolt, and in the beginning they used leftover wood from friends. As the Christmas Fair was coming up, he decided to make some figurines to see how it went. The fair ran for 10 days, and for the first 5 he sold nothing. Then, closer to Christmas, he managed to sell the 15 figures he had made by hand.

The first surprise came in January, when a friend asked him to make some figurines as a gift. And so it began! Friends told other friends and he started getting orders. The second surprise was at the Sfantu Gheorghe Days. This time he was prepared with 200 pieces, enough for 3 days, he said. He sold them all on the first day. He worked all night so he'd have enough to sell the next days, but he ran out again. On the last day, the father was working in the workshop, and he'd take 10 and sell them. It was the confirmation he needed. Pista ba´ was ready to see the world.

Reaching all corners of the world

Zsolt proudly says that his figurine has made it to every corner of the world except Antarctica, Greenland and outer space. At first, he discounted those he knew were taking Pista ba´ out of the country, provided they sent him a photo of the figurine arriving in that country. Then people started sending photos themselves and even asking for figurines when they were going to a new place.

The ba´ track has reached the White House, is in the possession of Prince Charles, the President of Hungary and other personalities. For each one, Zsolt has a story that he tells with much charm and stage play. It would take a few articles to tell them all. For example, to get to Prince Charles to hand over the figurine, he talked to everyone, including Count Kalnoky. Prince Charles has a house in Valea Zălanului, 40 km from Sfântu Gheorghe, and when they told him he was there, he didn't know how to get there faster. While in the car, he was on the phone asking for protocol information and rehearsing the speech he was going to give to the prince. When he arrived, the prince had already left. She decided to wait for him and got lucky. The prince came back and after many vicissitudes, he managed to reach him and hand over the figurine. Accustomed to the traditions of the place, the prince thought it was a package for a peanut brittle and knocked on it questioningly. Zsolt told him it wasn't such a present and admitted that it wouldn't be a bad idea. He told the prince that if he would make Pista ba´ a carrier of the pista ba´, they would be business partners, which amused the prince terribly.

Another time, a friend in Vienna told him he was leaving for Siberia in 4 days and wanted a figurine. He asked one night on Facebook if anyone was going to Vienna. In 5 minutes he got an answer, sent the figurine, people met at the airport and in 4 days he had photos of Pista ba´ in Siberia. Once he left a christening to make overnight 10 pieces that someone in London had asked for and where a participant from the same christening was leaving in the morning.

Now he has a whole collection of figurines. He was determined to leave Pista ba' alone, but a man from Bacau who worked in Sfântu told him he had to make them wives. And that's how Asszon (Muierea), Pista ba´'s wife, appeared. Then the hussar, the fireman, the teacher and other characters. But Pista ba´ is still the representative figure.

Buying the CNC is another story

Shopping CNC is the subject of another story. The success of the figurine led to increased demand. Then came requests for other small wooden or plywood objects: packing boxes, trophies, hotel room key fobs, trays of various shapes. They bought a small circular, milling cutter, but gradually realized that a CNC would be exactly what they needed. Zsolt thought of buying it from Austria or Switzerland. When he got the offer from Switzerland, he saw that the amount was far too much for his means. That's when his father came up with a proposal to ask Wood IQ, Dan Pruteanu, for an offer. He had discovered him on the internet in the movie made by Revista din Lemn at a trade fair and had inspired his confidence. Then they discovered that a friend in Sfântu Gheorghe, who has a factory with 70 employees, uses a machine Rubiq CNC for about 2 years and is happy with the equipment.

The offer received by email gave them hope and they decided to visit the showroom in Comănești. They set the appointment, they went, Dan sat with them and showed them the machine, explained how it worked. They were inclined to buy the cheapest version with the vacuum table, the model 1325Pro. At the end of the meeting, to Dan's surprise, they asked him to bill them that they would pay him in full. Back home, the father had another idea. When he called Zsolt to tell him that he had reconsidered and had another idea, he imagined that he had changed his mind and would no longer finance the purchase. The surprise came when he told him he wanted the best one, with 3 milling cutters (model 1325Prox3Even if it was more expensive, it gave them the advantage of automatic change of up to 3 milling tools.

Their strength is service

Now The CNC is in the workshop and works with him on any project. Zsolt is very satisfied and feels he has learned a new trade. Before the machine came he asked for the CAD-CAM program VCarve Pro and learned it. Then he tested what he learned and continued to learn from his mistakes. He says that no matter how many tutorials you watch, until you break a milling cutter or two, it's not called learning the trade. He's very happy with CNC and says he is easy to work with and intuitive. His 10-year-old son is the best proof of this. Passionate about computers, he learned to operate it very easily and can now work on it.

But I'm most impressed with the service, the speed of response, the fact that they can quickly solve any problem with a simple phone call.

"I like Dan, but I like the service the best. Any problems you have, you get immediate help from one of the team. Their strong point is service. It's true that they are nice, that the machine is good, that it's what I wanted, but that's something else. Service is their strong point."

Planful and confident about the future

Proof that they are very happy with the collaboration is that in the meantime they have bought another circular and a laser is on the way. They have had a small one for about 5 years, but consider it outdated. The father's passion for carpentry has been passed on to his son and they are planning a complete workshop where they will also produce furniture. They've already started with small orders. The workshop will have classic carpentry machines Wood IQ.

Zsolt is proof that happiness can come from hard work, from achievements that make you happy. He talks excitedly about what he does, about the ideas for which he gets up in the middle of the night or comes to the workshop at dawn. He teams well with his dad, supporting, arguing and motivating each other. He is constantly thinking of ways to make his work easier because he knows that hard-working people are hard to find and it's better to rely on their own strength. He is a dreamer with his feet firmly planted on the ground.

Good luck, Csuri bácsi!