Quote:
Originally Posted by RCN
The show held in Calgary is quite good & quite large I have been told - I am certain its been mentioned on the forum, perhaps by QSA Mike. Never attended it but would like to if I am ever out west when its on. Jamie Cline of Marway would know all about it.
RCN Bryan
|
I'd beg to differ on the 'good' part. The best show I'd been at was three years back, when there were a lot of fresh dealers in attendance, including from eastern Canada. I got all excited about that trend -- or flash in the pan. The two shows since have been back to 'same old, same old': loads of guns (it is the Alberta Arms & Cartridge Collectors Society's baby, after all), a lot fewer military dealers, and a general lack of variety in badges. This last show, I walked out pretty much unscathed -- money in my pockets I couldn't beg to give away, since there wasn't anything I found of interest, outside of a single pity purchase. Okay, there was that one weird old codger with the maker marked RCMP KC cap badge who wouldn't let me buy it, once he knew I was interested in it, even if he couldn't tell the difference between KC and QC ("Why do you ant this one? Take that one, it's just the same.").
I'm going to go out on an uncomfortable limb and blame the dealers here. The stock for some hadn't significantly changed over the past three years, and more than once they'd say they didn't really bring a lot, as they didn't know what would sell. Counter-intuitive, from my point of view; you can't sell what you don't have. As well, the other issue with Calgary at least is the vendor swap before the general public gets to crash the doors. Maybe my chances would be better in Calgary if I bought a table just so I could get a crack at what was really there before the wheeling and dealing started.
Local community shows tend to be in pretty much the same boat, and are personally just as unproductive.
I'm holding out hope for an Edmonton show this August. If nothing else, the scenery will be different & I can visit my daughter.