I was there from opening till around noon. Attendance seemed pretty good. The number of vendors is down, but that's not surprising. Time takes us all.
More plastic than ever before, but that's not surprising. It's said that we collect what we played with as kids. The generations that had classic hollowcast toy soldiers as children is almost gone. The next generations played with plastic army men, and I think that drives the demand for plastic figures today.
As far as children go, I saw a good number of younger people there. One attraction was the wargame table, sponsored and run by the Historical Miniature Gaming Society. Those are the folks who bring us the three wargaming shows every year: Historicon, Cold Wars, and the upcoming Fall In (the weekend of the 15th). I watched for a while as a RevWar game was played. The kids there really enjoyed it.
For me, the show is more of an opportunity to meet up with people I talk to all the time online, both dealers and collectors. It was good to catch up with guys like George & Larry, and Matt & Joe, Ray & Bre, Kent Klein, Paul Boyd and Dan, and Julie, Tim, & Zach, Louis, Brad, and so many more whose names escape me now. I didn't actually buy anything, just picked up items I bought from vendors online.
I think the Lango family did a great job staging the show again this year, and I hope they're able to keep it going.
Prost!
Brad