Thoughts on the show

[tay666]

Well, it's gonna be at least until the end of the week before I get most of my show report done.
Until then, I figured I would post my perspective on the show, and would love to hear everyone elses.

First off, the weather was amazing Thur-Sat. Not too hot, nice breeze. Sunday could have done without the rain at the end of the day.
It was great seeing everyone again, and I got to meet and talk with several new faces this year. And had a great time after hours.
The attendance this year was amazing! The crowds on Saturday were the biggest I remember ever seeing. The dealers room was so packed on Saturday morning even after waiting a while after the doors opened and it was all I could do to make my way around the room. I could barely see anything on my first lap. It got a little better after the programming started but still stayed pretty full.
This is great in so many ways. Great for the dealers. Great for the show. And great for showing the state of the hobby.
No matter how many times I hear 'the hobby is dying' I keep seeing things like this and just kind of grin.
Of course that kind of turn out also carried with it some headaches.
Lots of long lines.
Which started Friday night. The registration line was ridiculous. Part of that was a double whammy. Not only was there a huge turn out for the contest, but couple that with a new system for the entry forms and it really slowed things down.
The line that really blew me away was the one for putting entries into the contest.
I came down Saturday morning with my first two entries at about 8:20 thinking I was kind of early so the line shouldn't be too bad yet.
How wrong I was.
The line stretched all the way down almost to the dealers room doors. I just kept on walking and looped back up to the room and dropped my kits back off. I wasn't going to stand in that line. When I finally went back after my first lap around the dealers room, the line for contest entries was much shorter. Only a few people ahead of me.

Another issue with the huge crowd was parking. The hotel overflow lot filled up. They filled up the bowling alley across the street, and then started parking people across the highway at the old Executive East site from what I've heard.
It didn't help that a bunch of parking spots were taken up due to the construction crap.
Yeah, the hotel is renovating again. So they decided to start just before their biggest convention. Shut down the 7th and 8th floors completely and fill up a bunch of prime parking with shipping containers.
There are plenty of things to rant about the hotel. I hope the show can find somewhere else but apparently there aren't many options with more show space in the area.

So, what kind of experience did everyone else have.

[tay666]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, for those who didn't see him, Norm from Tested was at the show.
For those who are unfamiliar, Tested is a YouTube channel that features a ton of stuff from Adam Savage (formerly of Mythbusters)
https://www.youtube.com/@tested

I saw him outside before he ventured in on Saturday morning.
Saw him all over the place on Saturday shooting video. Also saw him on Sunday shooting even more.
So, once that channels 6.25 million subscribers sees some of those videos it might make the convention even more popular.

[barad_dur]

You summed it up well Trevor.

My wife and I had a great time at the show.
We have gone to 4 Wonderfest’s , but the last one we attended was over 10 years ago.
Amazing to see how model contest has grown! Over 1,000 entries!
and great to see all the awesome build ups in person versus just pics on a website.

The various talks by the model building experts were very interesting and helpful. And My wife and I also really enjoyed the presentation on “land of the lost”. We were amazed to find out how many serious science fiction writers write for that Saturday morning show!

But What stood out most to us was how friendly everyone was!
It was great meeting Trevor in person , also Shane from the clubhouse, and several other new friends and and talking about their kits they entered, collect, and other model building topics.

Many thanks to all who put this event together and the contest judges who must of spent several hours judging over 1,000 kits!

[Heavy Metal Spike]

Always interesting to read this stuff . . . will be watching for the next installment.


.

[Clutch]

Great turnout. I've missed the past 2-3 so I picked a good time to return.

[bucketfoot-al]

Been out of the country for a week, with another week to go, taking care of my late mom's estate. So dropping in here and seeing all the WF stuff has been a real treat. Will try to watch some of the videos, and I am anxiously awaiting to see Trevor's picture dump.


Unfortunately, Louisville is a long way from San Antonio, so the idea of loading up some models and making that drive is a little bit daunting. No way to get Kong & the Empire State on an airplane!

But maybe I'll talk to Monster Jones about making that trip together next year. Yeah, that would be the ticket! Bill? What do you say?

[Anton Phibes]

There were things I knew i wanted before I went in./ I made a B line to those tables, got what I wanted, and delivered it to the car. Got to Elizabeth Shepherd and got my photo and autograph. Went back to the dealer's room, and ....Instant hades. Place was packed. A couple of times I actually wanted to hand people money and get an item, but people wouldn't move for me to do so. I think if I go again, I will pay extra for early access to the dealer's room. There was a whole lot more money I wanted to spend, but didn't feel like being rude or fighting with people to get to things. I walked out with a Kit Kong Earthen dead, so that was a little something extra I hadn't counted (pun intended0 on seeing there.

[tay666]

Ok, I am not even halfway through my pics yet.
But I have all pages done now except the model contest.
https://www.tylisaari.com/models/shows/wf2023/wf23.htm

I still have just over 600 photos from the contest to work on.
So I am hoping to be done with that by next weekend.

[tay666]

And for those that really want to see contest pics, you can always ogle Norbert's pics.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124306931 ... 308971379/

[bucketfoot-al]

Great work Trev! I look forward to perusing them after I get back home this week!

[timetraveler]

Thanks for the great pictures. I always enjoy your photo retrospective of the 'Fest also known as "Uh, how did I miss that???"

[Buc Wheat]

tks Trev!

[bucketfoot-al]

And for those that really want to see contest pics, you can always ogle Norbert's pics.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/124306931 ... 308971379/

Thanks Trev - LOVED the contest pics! Next up - your pics!!

[tay666]

I still have just over 600 photos from the contest to work on.
So I am hoping to be done with that by next weekend.

Not looking good for finishing that by tomorrow.
I might, MIGHT, have the pictures done, but I won't even have a start on the pages.
I have just under 200 pics left to go through.
It would probably go quicker if I didn't try to put the photos in order according to how they were on the tables.

[tay666]

Well, I did finish the pics. Ended up with 290 from the contest.
Hopefully will get the pages done this week and I can wrap up my web updates about the show before the holiday weekend.

[barad_dur]

Thank you for posting all those great pics Trevor !!