SGT Rock
Private 2
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2009
- Messages
- 98
As a thank you to everyone at KingsX for their hospitality and graciousness at the Texas Toy Soldier Show, I present to you my top 10 favorite things about the show this past Memorial Day weekend.
1. Andy Neilson: Andy is always great fun to talk to. He makes being a devoted fan of K&C a pleasure. He has also has a biting sense of humor that I’ve always found to be very entertaining, and that Scottish accent of his is top notch.
2. Symposium: The symposium was great fun because it allowed you to get the perspective of three guys running three different companies, each of which have very different products and a slightly different approach to the market. They were very open and candid, so it was quite interesting. I also got to sit next to Daniel Martinez, WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument Chief Historian, which was very cool.
3. Reenactors: I definitely commend KingsX for the use of reenactors at the show. It combines history with the hobby, making the whole experience even more enjoyable.
4. Dinner Figure: You got to love the dinner figure. Whether you keep it, give it away or sell it on Ebay, it’s nice to know that you are getting something for free that has (depending on when you try to sell it) almost three times the value as what you paid for the meal.
5. Menger Hotel: The Menger was made to host a Toy Soldier show. It’s old, historic, kind of smells like your grandmother’s house, is haunted, has a bar that was frequented by Teddy Roosevelt, and has KingsX right inside the hotel.
6. Free Breakfast with the Hotel Room: Martin really hooked it up with the $125 night room rate and the free parking. But, to wake each morning to the prospect of unlimited bacon and an old fashioned, made from scratch biscuit… that’s pure heaven, especially when it’s received in exchange for a free breakfast coupon and a modest tip.
7. The Show: Yes, it’s much smaller than the Chicago show, but it has a charm that’s difficult to match. And, if you have a variety of tastes like I do, there’s a lot of treasures to be found. Major props to the French guys who sold me the glossy Travis and Davy Crockett. I can never really understand what those guys are saying, but they always have great stuff at a fair price.
8. My favorite business card carrying KingsX gofer, Jaime (Laura’s son): He’s a great kid and it’s always fun hanging out with the future of KingsX. (I just hope he cuts me a good deal when he gets that promotion.)
9. Getting a view from the other side of the Table: My good friend Steven decided to have a table at the show this year. So, when he needed to use the bathroom or cut into his profit margin by buying something off someone else, I got to man the table. I don’t think I sold anything, but I definitely learned that (at least for me) it’s much more fun to be on the buying end of a toy soldier transaction.
10. The girls from MadDogs Pub: These lovely girls manned the bar at the Friday night, pre-show KingsX party. You don’t expect to see hot women at anything related to a Toy Soldier show, so when you do, it definitely stands out in your memory.
Thanks again to everyone (Martin, Adam, JP, Ruth, Laura, Jaime) at KingsX for a great show, and I look forward to seeing you again you next year.
1. Andy Neilson: Andy is always great fun to talk to. He makes being a devoted fan of K&C a pleasure. He has also has a biting sense of humor that I’ve always found to be very entertaining, and that Scottish accent of his is top notch.
2. Symposium: The symposium was great fun because it allowed you to get the perspective of three guys running three different companies, each of which have very different products and a slightly different approach to the market. They were very open and candid, so it was quite interesting. I also got to sit next to Daniel Martinez, WWII Valor in the Pacific National Monument Chief Historian, which was very cool.
3. Reenactors: I definitely commend KingsX for the use of reenactors at the show. It combines history with the hobby, making the whole experience even more enjoyable.
4. Dinner Figure: You got to love the dinner figure. Whether you keep it, give it away or sell it on Ebay, it’s nice to know that you are getting something for free that has (depending on when you try to sell it) almost three times the value as what you paid for the meal.
5. Menger Hotel: The Menger was made to host a Toy Soldier show. It’s old, historic, kind of smells like your grandmother’s house, is haunted, has a bar that was frequented by Teddy Roosevelt, and has KingsX right inside the hotel.
6. Free Breakfast with the Hotel Room: Martin really hooked it up with the $125 night room rate and the free parking. But, to wake each morning to the prospect of unlimited bacon and an old fashioned, made from scratch biscuit… that’s pure heaven, especially when it’s received in exchange for a free breakfast coupon and a modest tip.
7. The Show: Yes, it’s much smaller than the Chicago show, but it has a charm that’s difficult to match. And, if you have a variety of tastes like I do, there’s a lot of treasures to be found. Major props to the French guys who sold me the glossy Travis and Davy Crockett. I can never really understand what those guys are saying, but they always have great stuff at a fair price.
8. My favorite business card carrying KingsX gofer, Jaime (Laura’s son): He’s a great kid and it’s always fun hanging out with the future of KingsX. (I just hope he cuts me a good deal when he gets that promotion.)
9. Getting a view from the other side of the Table: My good friend Steven decided to have a table at the show this year. So, when he needed to use the bathroom or cut into his profit margin by buying something off someone else, I got to man the table. I don’t think I sold anything, but I definitely learned that (at least for me) it’s much more fun to be on the buying end of a toy soldier transaction.
10. The girls from MadDogs Pub: These lovely girls manned the bar at the Friday night, pre-show KingsX party. You don’t expect to see hot women at anything related to a Toy Soldier show, so when you do, it definitely stands out in your memory.
Thanks again to everyone (Martin, Adam, JP, Ruth, Laura, Jaime) at KingsX for a great show, and I look forward to seeing you again you next year.
