Well it's over again for another year. The annual show from Newbury and Reading wargames society. I can honestly say it was great fun. This was my first year attending as a club member rather than a punter and I was not disappointed.
Our weekend started the day before the show helping the traders as they arrived to set up at the grandstand. Despite the heat, not too many issues and everyone was very friendly. It was fun to get a sneak peak of some of the stands before the day too.
On the day of the show it was predicted to be a hot day, so plenty of cold drinks and fans set up, we braced ourselves for the heat and fun. I had volunteered to help on the Bring and Buy stall and on arrival I ended up being on the booking in desk, a very busy but fun task. With very minor exception everyone queuing to book in their lead and plastic were great fun to talk to and happy to indulge my excitement at seeing all the things they were selling. Highlights include a first edition warhammer, a full set of Sharpe DVDs that immediately sold (I really thought everyone that does this hobby would already have their own copy by now!) and some beautifully painted terrain (each piece immediately sold the moment I booked it in they were that good) The shock of the day was a boardgame that I used to own called Dragons Quest. I had sold it on the Bring and Buy a few years back and as I explained this to the current owner I realised the price label affixed to the box had my hand writing on it. It was the exact same copy!
I may have been tempted by a couple of items as they came in and reserved them for myself to buy later, one in particular were some original sculpt Adeptus Arbites that I just could not resist getting.
For the afternoon the Father in Law brought my youngest to come see the show and after we bought everything he had off his shopping list. (Including Roboute Guilliman which he has decided I have to paint for him) we popped upstairs to choose a participation game to play. We settled on a Star Trek game run by these chaps who were super enthusiastic and made it a fun game. Youngest took control of a Klingon fleet and I was left with the Romulans. Needless to say I managed to play a terrible game, at one point rolling three ones in a row to fail to do anything to the Warbirds bearing down on my fleet and the Klingons wiped out all my ships apart from the fleeing transport.
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The Guilliman himself, a beast of a kit.
The traders I spoke to in the afternoon all seemed to agree they had a good day despite the heat and I personally had some good feedback from visitors about the day. Unfortunately we had to leave before the end due to family commitments and when we left there will still plenty of browsers.
The next day my body definitely did ache, but that kind of ache that makes you feel like you achieved something. I am already looking forward to next years show, hopefully it will be a little cooler though!
Brilliant many thanks for sharing I appreciate the time taken to put together such an informative post...
ReplyDeleteThanks David. I appreciate you reading it!
DeleteI did not think the show was as good as previous years. Nothing to do with the heat. Club members seemed thin on the ground. The steward in the white t-shirt was really polite and helpful. The games cafe seemed to be a waste of space. I thought footfall was down on previous shows.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the feedback, we are always wanting more club members and try to cover as much as we can. Unfortunately the volunteers give up their day for free to help so can't be everywhere. The games cafe was a new idea to provide something for family visitors and may be something that will become more popular as the years go on.
DeleteGlad someone found a helpful club member. Whoever the small thin bald man was on the bring & buy, well he really needs to learn some manners. He really put me off looking. I just walked away. Very grumpy and rude. Not sure I will attend next years show. I will have to seriously think about it. It was not as good as previous years. Something seemed missing other than general politeness.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear you felt this way, as I said it was mostly a positive experience, maybe next year it will be a better experience from your point of view.
DeleteGlad you enjoyed the show Peter. I really wanted to go myself, but it was swmbo's Birthday Bash in London, maybe next year?
ReplyDeleteIf you do come next year, I will definitely see you there, maybe for a beer!
DeleteUnfortunately not as good as pre pandemic shows. Perhaps this is not surprising. It’s still a good show, but like others seems to be slowly decaying. As with other comments the organisers seemed thin on the ground. Have to say I did not purchase much, although the range of traders was quite good. It was a very hot day and the traffic was terrible. This of course was not the fault of the organisers. However a heads up on the website about road closures would have been helpful.
ReplyDeleteWill I attend next year, possibly, but only that. The cost of attending mirrored with what I bought would have just been marginally more expensive mail order. The demo games were good, but there has been a decrease in their numbers over the years. Really not sure what the games cafe was all about. The area could have been filled with more traders. Paul
I disagree with your comment that the show is "decaying" I don't have the numbers, but I understand the show was a success. As I said before, the games cafe was something new that was tried and it possibly needs some tweaking, but still think it's a good idea. The volunteers couldn't be everywhere but believe me, from what I saw they all made a lot of effort in their free time to help run this successful show.
DeleteI think you might be looking through rose tinted glasses, but good luck for the future. Paul
DeleteI am not sure the decaying comment was about numbers. I did think Colours was a little down on footfallbthis year, I could be wrong. It’s more about what trade and demo games shows can attract. A lot of traders are not attending shows anymore or are just being very selective about which shows to attend. I heard a couple of traders saying they were cancelling their SELWG bookings for this year. People attending shows do not seem to be spending much in some cases. If traders do not make money they will not attend shows. It’s that simple. Several small shows have gone under in recent years in our area. Valhalla and the small Bourne End Vanquish show being examples. I would imagine the ULEZ will now effect show attendance in London like Salute and SELWG. Simon
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you to some degree Simon. There are traders being selective with attendance. I would say though that there are a lot of other different type of traders attending these shows now. The "traditional" historical show may be in decline, but as the demographic of players change more skirmish games, sci-fi and fantasy, CCG, 3D printing, Mdf cutting companies are appearing. I'm not suggesting yourself or Paul are purely historical gamers but I have spoken to some people who have commented that that there were no traders to buy from at Salute! When clearly it is just they don't want to buy Warlord, D&D GW or Masters of the Universe products. The hobby is still going strong, just in a different way.
DeleteI used to help run the traders at Colours, I kind of know what I am talking about. I know quite a few of the traders personally. You can have as many traders as you want. However they have to sell what people want to buy. People have to spend money at shows otherwise the traders will not attend. Not just use shows as social events to meet up with mates. It is also a greying hobby unfortunately. What does NRWS do to recruit youngsters? Or any new members for that matter?
DeleteI think I might be the guy in the white t-shirt above? Anonymous did I help you find Conquest Games? I am no longer a club member for various reasons but volunteered to steward at Colours for a second year in a row as the club seemed short of people when I actually played a game for the first time in eighteen months at the club the Monday before the show. I am an ex Londoner, the last time I went to Salute was 2007. Never, ever again if it’s held at the Excel, it’s a terrible venue. If you know the traders and speak to them, they all say the same about Salute. Awful venue, expensive to book, terrible arrogant show organisers, the list is endless. SELWG moved from Crystal Palace, good transport links to Lee Valley which does not. ULEZ will help to kill any event put on in London. Magister Militum is a good example of a great show trader who sold just about everything, that no longer appear at shows. Tablescape, Paul Meekins, Tumbling Dice, Magnetic Displays to name but a few will no longer attend Salute. Simon
Sorry I am a bit late to the party here. Just catching up on my blogs. I thought Colours was ok, but not great. I can understand how hard it must be to organise such an event. It was quite an exhausting day with train services being disrupted for some reason and the heat. The only organisers/club members I saw was on the door and the B&B. I arrived later than planned and the show seemed less busy than normal. The demo games were definitely down on previous shows, which is a shame. However I can understand that the games must be a lot to put on both financially and time wise. The traders selection seemed mostly good. No one was selling board games other than Col Bills small selection. I did not buy as much as normal and kept to my shopping list, other than buying an extra two Vallejo paints. When I finally got home and had time to think about the experience, I thought it was all just a bit ‘meh’. I may not now attend the show in Farnborough as I was intending. Reading Simons comments above I have to agree with most of them. Salute and SELWG have been non events for me for years. Will I attend Colours next year? Am just not sure. I guess I will make my mind up nearer the time. I did say that I found this years show an exhausting experience. My friend whom I usually go with did make the right decision not to attend. Greg
ReplyDeleteColours was ok I got a bit bored and went home early to avoid the traffic
ReplyDeleteI thought the show was good for a post pandemic event. However the organisation could have been better prior to and on the day. Information from the organisers always seems to be lacking or posted late to their website. Staffing of the show seems to have been an issue. The people on the organisers desk seemed disinterested and basically unhelpful. What was the report to this desk to get a stamp to leave the racecourse and be re admitted about? Could this have not been done at the entrance where we paid entry? There are obviously issues that need to be sorted out before next years show if there is one? My partner and I would like to attend even though we were quite disappointed by Colours this year. I cannot seem to log into this blog and have to comment as anonymous. Jon
ReplyDeleteI cannot sign in either. We did not go to Colours this year. This was mainly due to the heat and not wanting to add to my pile of stuff sitting waiting for attention. Also the kids have just gone back to school with the expense of all that I figured it was a big no. I think the show should move back to its original weekend. Monetarily things would have settled down a bit for us. I have heard lots of detrimental comments about this years show. They surely cannot all be dismissed by the club that runs the show? Mark G
ReplyDeleteWhy did the organisers hold the show on the same day as the Newbury Beer Festival with all the extra traffic and congestion? My husband and I were not impressed by this years show at all. Being more of a board gamer there was nothing much to interest me whatsoever. My husband did purchase a few things as he is more into figure gaming. Colours has become just another trade show in recent years. My view on the games cafe was that it was rather insulting to my intelligence. It was explained to me by a rather bored looking man that it was aimed at getting kids involved partly. However there were very few children in attendance from what I could see. I think it needs a shake up and the modernise. A look at the various games expo’s is suggested to the organisers. Paula Jones
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to answer all these comments now, I will just add that the show has always been the same weekend as the beer festival, some people go to both. Colours has always been around the same weekend and has been going a lot longer than the beer festival.
DeleteI've removed a comment as it was a negative statement about an individual. This is my blog where I like to always be positive about the Hobby of playing with toy soldiers. It's my rules and I say play nice.
ReplyDelete