74th annual MFCA Show, May 8/9 2015 - show report thread (1 Viewer)

George! I'm now living my life with you saying that in the back of my mind!!!! It's so much easier now! ^&grin
 
The Sleepy Hollow piece has to be my favorite of everything I have seen on this thread.I think it was done by Doug Cohen,who is amazing.One question,Did Zach buy it?^&grin^&grin
Mark
 
Warrior said:
Joe,
You'd love the show, but at the same time, you'd be in deep doo doo $$$$$$$$wise, but you can't take it with you, might as well enjoy yourself.

I gave your regards to Alan Golden; see, one more reason to come so you can meet him in person.............:wink2:
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Right on George!!! Thank you for sending my regards to Alan.:smile2: He told me he won gold w/ his exquisite FL Nap diorama w/ the soldiers returning to camp from the field - great concept, design & composition.

I hear ya - I'd be in deep dooooo doooo all right, and all you can take with you when your time is up is a little change for the boat man, so might as well use it while we're here!

It would be terrific to meet you Alan, Brad, etc in person.

Thanks again, my friend
Joe
 
zblang said:
That photo came out well! So great seeing everyone!

Does anyone know who made the 54th Mass Reg. piece? It wasn't for sale at the show, but I really loved that and would love to see some of the artists' other work
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Hi, Zach! That piece was done by a gentleman named Jon Harbuck, from Birmingham, AL, with a credit to someone else whose name currently escapes me. He also made the WWI memorial piece, "A Royal Fellowship". I saw his work at the Long Island show last November, too, so you might want to take a look at the websites for some of the other figure painters' clubs, like the National Capital society, the Atlanta club, the Long Island and the MMSI, too. If I can get more info from the guys in our club, I'll pass it along.

The Shaw Memorial was a beautiful piece indeed!

Prost!
Brad
 
Larry Allen said:
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Hey to Zak, and Mark, Brad#1, Brad#2, Andanna and the entire Treefrog family that came to the show. :salute::

The pleasure was ours, Zak :) to enjoy some great hours before the show started.

I would also like to thank EVERYONE for the incredible photos that they took and shared ... really good that you did that.

As usual, the early morning show setup started off with issues. Many of us were lined up at 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM outside in the parking area waiting for the doors to the service entrance to open. The hotel staff said 6:00, but it was well after 7:00 before the first cars/vans were allows in. We had to contend with a Commando / Psycho security woman who was yelling at everyone ... :mad: :mad: " NO, you can't park there", hurry up, get unloaded and move it along", move those boxes ... NOW", Faster, faster ...."

However, after a really frenzied effort, most folks did get set up in time for the opening wave, despite one vendor who decide he didn't like his space and proceeded to change tables around (without consulting the show organizer) resulting in a bit of confusion on space and table assignment for all around him. ^&confuse

Friday was real busy with a lot of familiar faces and some new ones .... well, at least to me.
Business was brisk, with most guys finding pieces that they needed to fill some missing spaces in their collection and also starting a new series. I also noticed there were some new people that didn't have a clue about "this toy soldier thing" but were very interested on how they could learn more and get started ....a good sign.

For the third year in a row there was a local grade school teacher who asked if she could take some photos of the table and George's great mini-dioramas.

She told me, "The class room really comes alive when I can show pictures of these figures as I teach about that period in history." Also good news. She brought two kids with her and they were quite impressed .. and also asked great questions.

There is one topic that does make me ponder a bit. I hear the comments that the "gee, the show attendance was down." I am not just referring to this Valley Forge show, but every show. The most common reason I get told or overhear is that, with the Internet, the Forum and the Vendor Pre-announcement .. "there is no reason to travel anywhere and attend a show. I'll just purchase on-line."

I may still be a newbie in this hobby (about 16 years) but I can't believe that for a moment. There is a LOT MORE to be enjoyed at a show than the simple acquisition of a figure. Most of us communicate over this forum, but it is a looooooong time in between we get to see fellow collectors, vendors, and friends. To have the chance to "talk TS shop" with someone in person, to laugh and compare the hunting and war stories of finding a long sot-after piece is hard to put a price tag on.

The excitement of WHAT I MAY FIND ON THE NEXT TABLE is not to be missed.
Yes, I did pick up a pre-buy from George. :)redface2: I have not been out-of-debt to Him for 12 years :redface2:)
But I also found some incredible books on The America Revolution and the War of 1812 at super attractive prices.
I also came away with items that I would have never discovered if I had simply eMailed an order and waited for my package. EVERY table holds the possibility of the find of a lifetime, and I see it happening to a lot of folks each time.

I learned a lot at this show. As with all shows there are guys (and gals) who hold a wealth of information on Military History, Toy Solders, Collecting, Stories of past shows and (now) funny events that transpired. Then there are the collectors or vendors who are eager to share a technique on painting, diorama making, building display items, diorama materials and a LOT more.

By sitting on my couch and not going to the show I would have missed the adventure and good times on getting there and the area. Many of the shows are held in a location that offers history lessons, even if that area is not quite you thing, it is still fascinating. The Gettysburg show (The Battle Field), this MFCA show (Valley Forge site); Texas show (The Alamo); my local show the NETSS show has( Lexington / Concord and Boston.)

At the shows that are a lot of items that may have nothing directly to do with TS but are PERFECT for the hobby. For example, I picked up two Civil War (reproduction) swords and hats at a table of someone who just decided to get a table and have some fun. At another show I found the "PERFECT PICTURES" to add to my man-cave. I also found a few small display cases to keep little fingers and (as said in this thread --CATS) away from my treasures.

AND ... maybe the most important take away from any show is "MEMORIES." No way you'll develop any of those when you stay at home and mow the lawn or paint the shutters. Okay, time for me to step down off the soap box.

So, I hope to see EVERYONE at Chicago this year, but get out there, attend a local show, find the item that you've been searching for; see old friends, make new friends, learn something new, teach something to someone, but most important HAVE A GREAT TIME and BUILD MEMORIES.

By and good hunting.

--- LaRRY
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Thank you, Larry, that is an excellent endorsement for visiting shows!

It's nice that we have the Internet and can communicate instantly with friends and fellow hobbyists around the world, but that doesn't replace getting out and meeting them in person.

Prost!
Brad
 
daruss said:
Seems like less and less vendors every year..Though someone did have an interesting German Reichsbahn display.
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That's an interesting observation. The big factor is age. We're all getting older, and many of the smaller vendors (ie, who'd take one or two tables), have gotten to the point that they can't get around as well as they used to. A couple more announced this year that they've retired from the show circuit. One long-time dealer, a club member who mentored me when I was starting out, now uses a wheelchair and is moving into a retirement community. His partner is also retiring, for health reasons.

Another couple of vendors had to miss this year but said they look forward to being back next year.

Another sold his business to another vendor.

That last example brings me to my next point. While the absolute number of vendors may go down, the number of tables hasn't. That tells me that the remaining vendors are taking extra table space and bringing more product along.

And there were also new vendors, too.

So when we observe that the number of vendors may have decreased, it's not necessarily a bad thing, it's just a change.

There were fewer exhibitors, too. Some couldn't make it because of schedule conflicts, others attended the show but said they didn't have something finished to exhibit. Yet, nearly everyone I talked to at the show, artists as well as patrons, said they thought they saw the best collection of work, that they had seen in years. So again, quality is more important than quantity, in this case.

I'm waiting for a copy of the awards program, too, and as soon as I get it, I'll post it here in the thread for everyone to see.

I will say, this year, the figures I look for were relatively rare, but then again, in the past couple of years, there had been a glut of Staddens, Lassets, Hinton Hunt figures, as several collections had come on the market, and they've all been sold now, too. But I have enough in my "gray army" to keep me painting for some time.

Prost!
Brad
 
I agree that you cannot compare shopping for Toy Soldiers items on the internet vs seeing the real think at a show such as MFCA! I took over 200 photos and that only beings to capture the "feel" of such an exciting show.

If I had one suggestion, it would be not to schedule it during Mother's Day weekend next time. I almost did not make this show becuase of other items already schedueld. But this weekend there were proms, graduations, Mother's Day and the Philadelphia Comic Con. I went to the Comic Con last year and had a blast, but this year I only had 1 day available during the weekend and the MFCA won hands down for me. Just saying, later in May would have been better for attendance perhaps.

Walt
 
wds0855 said:
...But this weekend there were proms, graduations, Mother's Day and the Philadelphia Comic Con...
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Yeah, when I heard that Comicon was the same weekend, I said we need to recruit more cosplay girls to come to our show, and that would bring more guys in ;)

Unfortunately, we had to take the dates available, as close to the traditional date as possible. It's been as early as the last weekend in April and as late as the third weekend in May. We've always tried to get the first weekend in May.

Prost!
Brad
 
I was standing right next to him and no idea that was Zach. I actually thought Zach was the skinny guy in the pink shirt hanging around George's tables. I was the fat bald guy handing my cash to George.
 
For those I ran into, it was good seeing you all. The show is always good for some nice chats with friends. :)
 
Toy Soldier Brigade said:
I was standing right next to him and no idea that was Zach. I actually thought Zach was the skinny guy in the pink shirt hanging around George's tables. I was the fat bald guy handing my cash to George.
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If you can make me skinny, I'd have no issue wearing a pink shirt!
 
George never cares what you look like as long as what you're handing him are green dead presidents ^&grin
 
Speaking of Zach, he did post full-figure photos of his commission in his collection thread, but here are details of the figure which I captured during the show and really like:

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I noticed while packing as the show ended that the World Figure Expo will be held in Chicago in 2017; this is excellent news as I attended the expo when it was held in Boston back in 2005.

Nicholas from Crown Miniatures and I are thinking about teaming up and attending this show; he came up with the idea, I think it's a great idea, we need to work out the logistics. Nicholas carries quite a few high end Russian figures and also buys collections of this type from time to time, I think it would be an interesting concept to join forces with another dealer and attend a show of this magnitude.

Very excited about the possibilities for this show.................................
 
I plan on being there! You should definitely come out!
If I can make it, you can make it! :rolleyes:
 
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