hotel3alpha
Command Sergeant Major
- Joined
- May 24, 2013
- Messages
- 2,055
All,
First of all, let me inform you that this show was first class! This was my second visit to the show and K&C has set the bar pretty high so here are the details of what I saw and heard at the TTSS 2014:
FRIDAY
To kick off the event Andy and Laura did a live interview on the FOX KABB morning show around 930AM. It was a very nice piece about the Texas Toy Soldier Show and the hobby in general. That segment aired in the morning and was a great kick off to the best show had come to town.
The "Wine, Wenches and Werhmach" VIP Friday night kick off featured a live ompah lompah traditional German Polka band who performed during the reception. Part of the lobby that is connect to Kings X was roped off for the festivities and there was fruit, finga foods, cheese and an open bar. The Kings X staff was everywhere and attended to everyone needs whether you needed them or not. Drinks were served on silver platters by cute "wenches" and the feel of the party was more of a reunion versus a reception. I recognized a few faces and said some hellos, but I was waiting to meet up with a friend of mine who came all the way from Belgium to see the show. Yes, Belgium. Met up with Phillipe and his wife and introduced him to as many people I knew, made plans with him and his wife for breakfast in the morning and slipped out to take my son to the Ripleys Believe or not Musuem.
Later that night I ran into a few Kings X employees who still working said some "good nights" and went to bed. I slept AWFUL because I was on the ghost floor and woke up upon every sound through out the night expecting to see a ghost. At 3 AM the folks above me took a 45 minutes shower and I heard every soaped up rinse because the walls are thin in the "historic" side of the hotel. Plus, the plumbing is old and I could practically hear the water running through the pipes...boo hoo.
On a side note: The valets were a buzz Saturday morning about a lady who check into the "Sherman Room" who came back to her room and found a table flipped over and her shoes thrown about. She and the hotel confirmed that no one entered her room (via the digital lock record) and she freaked out and demanded to be moved. They did and come to find out I was just a few rooms down...yikes!!!
SATURDAY
My son and I took our new found friend Phillipe and his wife to the Magnolia Pancake Haus which is about 15 to 20 minutes away. They marveled at the how many people were in line at the restaurant and how big the portions were on the plates. Plus, when we left there was a line out the door and they could not believe the popularity of the Magnolia Pancake Haus. Anyway, come to find out my man Phillipe has the ENTIRE SOHK collection and we talked about it on the way back to downtown. Yup, he was the guy who won all those SOHK pieces that were listed earlier this year...remember? Well, they were some super folks and I just wanted to perform an act of kindness to a fellow collector who traveled so far to come to the show.
Tickets to the show were only $7 bucks and you were given a pass with a very nice lanyard. People were already lining up at 930 and the doors opened at 10AM. Upon entering you were greeted by the Managing Director of King and Country (and forever smiling) Helen Mok and to your left was the Polka Band playing a few tunes. Then in front of you were some 100 plus tables of Toy Soldier heaven. So here are a few highlights of the show:
-First and foremost, one of the big attraction of the show were the re-enactors. They were AWESOME!!! There must have been 25 to 30 Mexican soldados, indians, squaws and period soldiers. Their costumes were impeccable and everywhere they went people took pictures with them or followed them to the show. So, a huge SHOUT OUT to them for making the show much more flavorful with period dress and adding a uniqueness to the show.
-The dioramas were incredible!!! There was a young newcomer who built this 3 foot by 2 foot 1/30 scaled, three story WWII diorama depicting a battle ruined city. His craftsmanship was impeccable and his diorama drew an enormous crowed. Next to him was Mr. Scheich (sic) and his wife who had the custom built trains diorama that was just massive. I picked up one of the Vietnam Jungle dios from them and a PBR, that were straight out of the movie "Apocalypse Now". All of their items are custom made and of course made by hand.
-This year I found myself not only seeing toys soldiers, but everything from 1/25mm to 1/6th scale. There were vendors who had vintage playlets, diorama pieces, toy soldiers, plastic soldiers, flat soldiers, vintage books, magazines, catalogs, and militaria. The variety was incredible! Plus, it was interesting to see that there were a variety of people in attendance. From, the retired guys, kids, father and sons, ladies and just looky Lous. There were so many people walking the isles that I almost ran out of "excuse me''...haha never!
SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER
I went home in the afternoon (I live here) and took a three hour power nap because I was exhausted from lack of sleep the previous night. Got up and headed back downtown for the TTSS 2014 dinner. It started at 7PM and correct me if I am wrong here, but apparently there were about 60 attendees last year and this year there were 120 and the dinner was SOLD OUT. The Menger provided the food and the enchiladas were cheesy and the fajitas tasty. The tables had white linen and when you sat down there was a KX001 PM figure waiting for you. Per Andy, only a 150 were made for the show and that was it. First class dinner all the way around and the desert was the jam (I had the strawberry filled one)! Andy started out the event with a salute to the Veterans past, present and future. It was an honorable gesture to celebrate Memorial Day in our United States and a tip of the hat for the reason why we are celebrating the holiday.
With no further adieu Andy introduced Major York (AKA John Wayne) who gave a in character biography of "himself" as the history of John Wayne. It was colorful, funny and interesting to get a historical lesson on John Wayne and his legacy in the film world. He was in Calvary uniform and by God is he a striking image of the real John Wayne. So, major props to Major York and sadly the Gentleman who plays John Wayne name slips my mind this morning!!
Ted from TED TOYS gave a brief speech about his experiences in the industry, but the highlight of his speech was the story behind his manufacture of soldiers himself. Apparently, he is one of the few people in the United States who makes his own toy soldiers and I promised myself to see his work the next day and I did. I visited him and asked him to show me his pieces...gents they were stunning. I have never seen figures like that-that "tell a story" when you look at them. For example, he has these Union soldiers who are just hanging out at a camp site in Tents doing what soldiers do...singing, sleeping with no socks on and playing grab ***. I think he has something here and if I wasn't broke already I would have bought that set just for the uniqueness of it.
The last speaker was Nick from Crown Military Miniatures who holds a Ph.d in Humanities. Nick gave a very eloquent and witty speech on his humble years as a collector and his transition to a dealer. What I remember most about Nick's speech was the fact that he travels to over 50 shows a year and on this particular trip he is logging 2000 miles via car from New Hampshire to Texas. Wow! So, I would have to say that he is the most "well traveled" dealer out there and his booth proved it! He had such a wide variety of Soldiers that it was hard to keep up. His booth has four sides and each side of his booth is filled to the brim with EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine and more.
At the end of the Dinner Andy took a Q&A session and rolled out a taste of what is to be coming soon. So, forgive me for leaving anything out but this is what I remember (in no particular order):
-There will be a 3 pieces Ancient Egypt diorama coming out...yes 3 pieces and more figures to be added to the line.
-A new Civilian line is to be produced.
-The "Real West" series will be expand to include different tribes including the Apaches.
-The World of Dickens may be revisited
-A painted plastic "Alamo" series is coming that will be sold en masse to fulfill the hopes of collectors to make huge Alamo dioramas. This idea was tested at the Briscoe Museum in San Antonio (which I have not seen yet) and will be much more affordable.
-No new WWII Italians are coming
-There was a question on producing a Stage Coach. That idea was reviewed by K&C, but based on their experience with the fragility of AE004 they scrapped the idea. A side story on AE004-there were 500 produced, 150 were damaged in transport to dealers or collectors, so technically there are 350 "alive and well" world wide. Out of the 350, it is anyones guess how many made it. So, it was a magnificent piece that cost to much to replace and due to its daintiness it was some what of a disaster in shipping. So, looking at the Stage Coach and its daintiness the decision to move forward on producing a piece like that was scrapped. It is too expensive, too risky and too much drama.
-There was a question on was determining factors go into a line being produced. There are none according to Andy and they will never know if a series will be successful. There have been instances whereby a piece/line was produced that Andy and his team thought it would be a huge success and it never left the shelves. Then there have been instances where they produced a figure that was supposed to be a small addition and took off. So, there is no rhyme or reason it is all a domino roll.
Well, I have exceeded 10,000 characters & thats all I got.
John from Texas
First of all, let me inform you that this show was first class! This was my second visit to the show and K&C has set the bar pretty high so here are the details of what I saw and heard at the TTSS 2014:
FRIDAY
To kick off the event Andy and Laura did a live interview on the FOX KABB morning show around 930AM. It was a very nice piece about the Texas Toy Soldier Show and the hobby in general. That segment aired in the morning and was a great kick off to the best show had come to town.
The "Wine, Wenches and Werhmach" VIP Friday night kick off featured a live ompah lompah traditional German Polka band who performed during the reception. Part of the lobby that is connect to Kings X was roped off for the festivities and there was fruit, finga foods, cheese and an open bar. The Kings X staff was everywhere and attended to everyone needs whether you needed them or not. Drinks were served on silver platters by cute "wenches" and the feel of the party was more of a reunion versus a reception. I recognized a few faces and said some hellos, but I was waiting to meet up with a friend of mine who came all the way from Belgium to see the show. Yes, Belgium. Met up with Phillipe and his wife and introduced him to as many people I knew, made plans with him and his wife for breakfast in the morning and slipped out to take my son to the Ripleys Believe or not Musuem.
Later that night I ran into a few Kings X employees who still working said some "good nights" and went to bed. I slept AWFUL because I was on the ghost floor and woke up upon every sound through out the night expecting to see a ghost. At 3 AM the folks above me took a 45 minutes shower and I heard every soaped up rinse because the walls are thin in the "historic" side of the hotel. Plus, the plumbing is old and I could practically hear the water running through the pipes...boo hoo.
On a side note: The valets were a buzz Saturday morning about a lady who check into the "Sherman Room" who came back to her room and found a table flipped over and her shoes thrown about. She and the hotel confirmed that no one entered her room (via the digital lock record) and she freaked out and demanded to be moved. They did and come to find out I was just a few rooms down...yikes!!!
SATURDAY
My son and I took our new found friend Phillipe and his wife to the Magnolia Pancake Haus which is about 15 to 20 minutes away. They marveled at the how many people were in line at the restaurant and how big the portions were on the plates. Plus, when we left there was a line out the door and they could not believe the popularity of the Magnolia Pancake Haus. Anyway, come to find out my man Phillipe has the ENTIRE SOHK collection and we talked about it on the way back to downtown. Yup, he was the guy who won all those SOHK pieces that were listed earlier this year...remember? Well, they were some super folks and I just wanted to perform an act of kindness to a fellow collector who traveled so far to come to the show.
Tickets to the show were only $7 bucks and you were given a pass with a very nice lanyard. People were already lining up at 930 and the doors opened at 10AM. Upon entering you were greeted by the Managing Director of King and Country (and forever smiling) Helen Mok and to your left was the Polka Band playing a few tunes. Then in front of you were some 100 plus tables of Toy Soldier heaven. So here are a few highlights of the show:
-First and foremost, one of the big attraction of the show were the re-enactors. They were AWESOME!!! There must have been 25 to 30 Mexican soldados, indians, squaws and period soldiers. Their costumes were impeccable and everywhere they went people took pictures with them or followed them to the show. So, a huge SHOUT OUT to them for making the show much more flavorful with period dress and adding a uniqueness to the show.
-The dioramas were incredible!!! There was a young newcomer who built this 3 foot by 2 foot 1/30 scaled, three story WWII diorama depicting a battle ruined city. His craftsmanship was impeccable and his diorama drew an enormous crowed. Next to him was Mr. Scheich (sic) and his wife who had the custom built trains diorama that was just massive. I picked up one of the Vietnam Jungle dios from them and a PBR, that were straight out of the movie "Apocalypse Now". All of their items are custom made and of course made by hand.
-This year I found myself not only seeing toys soldiers, but everything from 1/25mm to 1/6th scale. There were vendors who had vintage playlets, diorama pieces, toy soldiers, plastic soldiers, flat soldiers, vintage books, magazines, catalogs, and militaria. The variety was incredible! Plus, it was interesting to see that there were a variety of people in attendance. From, the retired guys, kids, father and sons, ladies and just looky Lous. There were so many people walking the isles that I almost ran out of "excuse me''...haha never!
SATURDAY NIGHT DINNER
I went home in the afternoon (I live here) and took a three hour power nap because I was exhausted from lack of sleep the previous night. Got up and headed back downtown for the TTSS 2014 dinner. It started at 7PM and correct me if I am wrong here, but apparently there were about 60 attendees last year and this year there were 120 and the dinner was SOLD OUT. The Menger provided the food and the enchiladas were cheesy and the fajitas tasty. The tables had white linen and when you sat down there was a KX001 PM figure waiting for you. Per Andy, only a 150 were made for the show and that was it. First class dinner all the way around and the desert was the jam (I had the strawberry filled one)! Andy started out the event with a salute to the Veterans past, present and future. It was an honorable gesture to celebrate Memorial Day in our United States and a tip of the hat for the reason why we are celebrating the holiday.
With no further adieu Andy introduced Major York (AKA John Wayne) who gave a in character biography of "himself" as the history of John Wayne. It was colorful, funny and interesting to get a historical lesson on John Wayne and his legacy in the film world. He was in Calvary uniform and by God is he a striking image of the real John Wayne. So, major props to Major York and sadly the Gentleman who plays John Wayne name slips my mind this morning!!
Ted from TED TOYS gave a brief speech about his experiences in the industry, but the highlight of his speech was the story behind his manufacture of soldiers himself. Apparently, he is one of the few people in the United States who makes his own toy soldiers and I promised myself to see his work the next day and I did. I visited him and asked him to show me his pieces...gents they were stunning. I have never seen figures like that-that "tell a story" when you look at them. For example, he has these Union soldiers who are just hanging out at a camp site in Tents doing what soldiers do...singing, sleeping with no socks on and playing grab ***. I think he has something here and if I wasn't broke already I would have bought that set just for the uniqueness of it.
The last speaker was Nick from Crown Military Miniatures who holds a Ph.d in Humanities. Nick gave a very eloquent and witty speech on his humble years as a collector and his transition to a dealer. What I remember most about Nick's speech was the fact that he travels to over 50 shows a year and on this particular trip he is logging 2000 miles via car from New Hampshire to Texas. Wow! So, I would have to say that he is the most "well traveled" dealer out there and his booth proved it! He had such a wide variety of Soldiers that it was hard to keep up. His booth has four sides and each side of his booth is filled to the brim with EVERYTHING you could possibly imagine and more.
At the end of the Dinner Andy took a Q&A session and rolled out a taste of what is to be coming soon. So, forgive me for leaving anything out but this is what I remember (in no particular order):
-There will be a 3 pieces Ancient Egypt diorama coming out...yes 3 pieces and more figures to be added to the line.
-A new Civilian line is to be produced.
-The "Real West" series will be expand to include different tribes including the Apaches.
-The World of Dickens may be revisited
-A painted plastic "Alamo" series is coming that will be sold en masse to fulfill the hopes of collectors to make huge Alamo dioramas. This idea was tested at the Briscoe Museum in San Antonio (which I have not seen yet) and will be much more affordable.
-No new WWII Italians are coming
-There was a question on producing a Stage Coach. That idea was reviewed by K&C, but based on their experience with the fragility of AE004 they scrapped the idea. A side story on AE004-there were 500 produced, 150 were damaged in transport to dealers or collectors, so technically there are 350 "alive and well" world wide. Out of the 350, it is anyones guess how many made it. So, it was a magnificent piece that cost to much to replace and due to its daintiness it was some what of a disaster in shipping. So, looking at the Stage Coach and its daintiness the decision to move forward on producing a piece like that was scrapped. It is too expensive, too risky and too much drama.
-There was a question on was determining factors go into a line being produced. There are none according to Andy and they will never know if a series will be successful. There have been instances whereby a piece/line was produced that Andy and his team thought it would be a huge success and it never left the shelves. Then there have been instances where they produced a figure that was supposed to be a small addition and took off. So, there is no rhyme or reason it is all a domino roll.
Well, I have exceeded 10,000 characters & thats all I got.
John from Texas
