London Toy Soldier Show June 2017 (3 Viewers)

[Artillery_crazy]

Hi All,
First and foremost, I have to thank those from the forum that had the opportunity to be at the show and spared time from their own treasure hunting to take pictures and share them with us. Thank you very much...not being in loco and being able to see the pictures makes a hell of a difference, as far as curiosity goes.....

The only comment I would have over the long distance review of the show ( and this comment of mine is totally guided by the pictures I saw, so sorry if I am miss informed ) is that not many " independent - small dealers " were on the show! {sm0} Which is a pitty for past years it is from pictures from their stands that I could admire some gems ( old and new - rare or easily obtainable ) ....Not seeing many of them this time, and seeing more of what we generally see or will see on the online catalogues was a pitty.

Cheers
Luiz

 

[Obee]

Hi All,
The only comment I would have over the long distance review of the show ( and this comment of mine is totally guided by the pictures I saw, so sorry if I am miss informed ) is that not many " independent - small dealers " were on the show! {sm0} Which is a pitty for past years it is from pictures from their stands that I could admire some gems ( old and new - rare or easily obtainable ) ....Not seeing many of them this time, and seeing more of what we generally see or will see on the online catalogues was a pitty.

Cheers
Luiz

Luiz,

sorry for not taking lots more photos for you, but there were a lot of " independent - small dealers " who were selling lots of older figures.

What you see are the new figures, many of which are only just of the production line, and so maybe of more interest to the members who are viewing these posts.

I did manage to get a nice lot of older figures and kits, all Napoleonic, that I will eventually strip and repaint for my own collection, as well as a few new castings from some of the small makers.

Maybe you will just have to head to London one day and enjoy the Show, like I did on Saturday

Regards,
John

(safely back home in OZ)

 

[modelbaron]

Well for me the show was one of the highlights of my trip to Europe this year !!!!

Thanks John for your contribution and I hope you had a great holiday.

I can't say the ever present threat of Terrorism had an effect on the show turnout, the March show was just as bad for attendance. For those of us in the UK who lived through the 70s and 80s when there was a much higher chance on a dialy basis by the IRA of an act of Terrorism we never let it effect our daily lives. But I digress.

There were some marvelous independants at this show with good displays and making the show worth the effort, but more are disappearing. Without these the show is lost. Some of the larger ehibitors, by table numbers, are not putting the effort in with displays.

I very much agree with comments made by Angusprune


Guideline as a publication do a good job showing what is new in the market as would any 'advertising magazine' after all that's why they exist, but there is very little of interest to read in the way of articles (not sales related) on the hobby and the hobbyist. I know their sole purpose is to make money from advertising and sales, but you can't even buy the magazine in my local town unless by pre-order.

I know the poor £-v-$ exchange rate is having an effect on retailers buying new stock, but on the whole retail prices have not risen by the same percentage and you would think that would be a good reason for UK based collectors to buy more from the UK rather than buying from America, but that is just not happening accordng to most UK retailers. Perhaps more collectors have less money to spend due to other cost of living rises.

First Legion now have only one UK retailer, they used to have four and they really want the better customers to buy direct from them. The same with K&C, look how many UK retailers they had (through Mike). Andy has made it clear with his website marketing that he wants more and more collectors to buy direct from him. I could go on with more examples.

Let's see what December brings. I believe Andy is bringing some K&C across which is a plus pointand it is 'The December Show' where we collectors can spend more and it is by tradition the busiest show of the year. However, there are possibly too many negatives to make the show a winner, location, venue, missing some exhibitors.

Again, I will appreciate any comments

 

[Artillery_crazy]

Hi John,
Guess I will take up from your words and that is the next best thing to do....Set the mood at home that I need to be in London when one of the shows are scheduled .....A good business reason would be ideal, or even find a Grammar/Literature course for the Mrs to take and I have a free time at the show and venues ( while she is studying at Cambridge ) ......and be able to have at least once a first hand experience of walking down the stand rows and see and chat to the dealers.....meet forum memebers I just know from the forum/e-mails and even strike gold on some hidden older figures and kits to add to the collection!
Cheers
Luiz
Happy your back to OZ! And adjusting the time zone differences.....

Luiz,

sorry for not taking lots more photos for you, but there were a lot of " independent - small dealers " who were selling lots of older figures.

What you see are the new figures, many of which are only just of the production line, and so maybe of more interest to the members who are viewing these posts.

I did manage to get a nice lot of older figures and kits, all Napoleonic, that I will eventually strip and repaint for my own collection, as well as a few new castings from some of the small makers.

Maybe you will just have to head to London one day and enjoy the Show, like I did on Saturday

Regards,
John

(safely back home in OZ)

 

[tomfoxon]

[I attended the show on the 10th and realised that its starting to lose anything it had going for it.
It was obvious that the loss of K&C had an effect on income from table booking and the attendance through the doors was pretty abysmal.
I think it would have made more sense to move the traders from the mezzanine into the main hall as there was plenty of space and would have made the area far more interesting with no real loss.
Its obvious that the purpose of the show was to boost Toy Soldier Collector magazine. The magazine mainly consists of slightly rewritten press realeases from makers and an "everything is lovely" outlook.
Going from a prestige site to a local school hall can and does appear as a loss of face and kudos.
Some of the traders I spoke to were in two minds about attending in December and there was a general lack of enthusiasm about the move.
Maybe Guideline should grasp the nettle and combine the Soldier and modelling show ?

I think that collectors are all getting older and very little new blood is coming into the hobby and there has been a slow and steady decline.
I will certainly give the December show a chance but I think the lack of enthusiasm will seep into this one too

Thank you for your comments....which I always read and take on board peoples comments and suggestions. King & Country attend every show March & June they are represented by their European distributor and King & Country Hong Kong are attending in December

In terms of the move the venue at Islington is excellent there are many issues with the venue and many traders complain about the venue especially unloading and loading. The cost of Islington is exceptionally high, we had to make a decision, we could keep it at Islington but the table prices would have to increase to £150 per table and that would just about cover the cost of the venue.. or move to a new venue. I personally took 2 years to find a new venue and in my search even went back to the National who would not entertain us using their halls again. There is always apprehension when there is change but as a company we wanted to ensure that London Toy Soldier Show continued and to grow the show.
The new venue is all on one level, on site parking for traders and visitors, over the road from Chalk Farm tube station and 2 bus stops from the National...... we really do help everyone will support your shows.
Tom Foxon Group PR & Marketing Director for Guideline Publications

 

[tomfoxon]

There are not 4 separate halls... and the layout you can see where all the traders will be.... the new venue is the same size as the current venue and we have the options of further room if we need too.

If anyone has any positive comments on what we could do or how we can encourage more people to attend traders and visitors I welcome your ideas, you can contact me by e-mail tom@regallitho.co.uk

Tom Foxon Group PR & Marketing Director