"Triples 2016 Saturday" Topic

I had a good day despite rumours of a quiet show I enjoyed it. I took the train and walked from Meadowhall (25 mins). I bought some MDF bases a 1/60 King Tiger and some ww2 infantry. The large venue makes the place seem empty although the bring and buy was still a little crushy. Full marks to the traders. Average at best for the games (except Spartan, Wargames Developments and Wings of Glory). Some of the others stood around, moved some lead but were avoiding interacting with the public. I would far rather try a short turn or chat at a simple game than try to guess what is going on with some huge well painted and well laid out game where the 'gamers' are doing their best to ignore the punters. They are here to interact not play a club game, they are being paid (in free entry) to do some work (and hopefully have some fun). Minor gripe over would go again but have other things to catch up on. Worth a trip out if you are fairly close to Sheffield on 20/3/16

My personal opinion….

Customers/ browsers……. Very light…

Show is dying…….

Space… Too much….

Games… Too few……………

Mmmmmmm…..

Probably not worth the trip….

I have to agree bc1745. very poor in comparison with previous shows. there was a distinct decrease in traders and visitors, some of those the traders seemed to have had smaller stands than previous.We left feeling very disappointed, considering the increase of door price to £6.00 GBP, I have to question if the organizers felt they gave a good a show as previous years.. ?

As a regular attender for 15 or more years it was a very poor turn-out compared to even last year. Clashes with other shows lost some traders and those there did not seem to be selling much at all.

I did get what I wanted (and a few odds besides) and had my usual meets with old acquaintances but punters were thin on the ground and I can see it only getting worse.

The games (which, I will admit, are not my main reason for going to the show) were a bit lifeless but you can't really moan – just the effort of getting the game to the show is more than most people will do.

I'm sorry to say that I think this was my last Triples unless the date changes so that a wider range of traders are prepared to attend.

In contrast Hammerhead was a good day out. Perhaps it'll take over the mantle of best show around this time of the year although again I didn't think folks were buying that much there either.

Roll on Salute.

It certainly dropped off in the afternoon, rugby and the beer next door may have had something to do with it.

Scored some excellent purchases, including one of those incredibly discounted PSC army boxes, and some good stuff on the bring and buy. We also had over 30 (l lost count) people play our game, so pleased with that.

Running today, so won't see what Sunday is like, although I expect it will be quieter.

Today was very quiet- and with little trade and a half empty bring and buy I was out pretty early. I used to spend the whole day shopping and playing games.

Could easily be condensed to one room , one day.

Also somebody needs to actually advertise this event- word of mouth alone doesnt do the trick- I only found out it was this weekend when I saw this thread yesterday! Despite visiting on a daily basis pretty much wargaming site you can name I never saw a thing, despite being on the lookout for that sort of thing.

Tell people about it and they might just turn up!
Wheres the Facebook page for this event ? Birthday parties get a facebook page these days! Wheres the twitter account? the screaming about it from dawn to dusk every day for the previous twelve months till people are fed up of it being rammed down their throats and come to it just to shut you up?

Picked up a couple of bargains though. Dissapointed nobody had a box of WGF skeletons for sale. Cant find one anywhere…

I turned down a PSC discounted box, now regret it! Who was selling them in the main hall, tovster with loose spruez?

Here is a few pictures of triples

Triples Sheffield Wargames Show 2016

Take care

Andy

Very sorry to hear this. Triples used to be an essential show, the first in the season, and I've been going since they were in that grotty old hotel. Our club always made it a day out, and for the first few years we joined in the comp. Later the University Octagon was a great venue, and the whole club would meet up at the nearby motorway services afterwards to admire each others acquisitions. These were probably the Golden Days of wargaming shows, and definitely pre-internet. We only went for the Saturday, but the admission was cheap enough not to begrudge the 2 day entrance.

I stopped going when it became harder to get a car full to attend, and the killer for me was when the Bring and Buy became a total farce. Anything decent never got in front of the paying punters.

Now I'm located too far away to get there easily, and the Internet gets my hobby money, not the shows; but it's still a shame to see this sort of show get such a bad set of reviews.

Anyway, you are never short of a show to attend in the East Midlands, so maybe your point about a one day show is a good one.

"In contrast Hammerhead was a good day out. Perhaps it'll take over the mantle of best show around this time of the year although again I didn't think folks were buying that much there either".

One of the traders who didn't attend Triples, even though it is his 'local' show told me at Hammerhead that he would take more money at Hammerhead than WMMS the following weekend and Triples, so it wasn't worth attending. I think people did a roaring trade at Hammerhead by comparison, the fact that traders were down by 21 at Triples tells you all you need to know really. Not well advertised, not enough spending money coming through the door after two other recent large shows, and footfall overall decreasing year on year, plus the costs and overheads of attending a 2 day show for a dwindling return means this show is either going to need a major revamp, sharpish, or vanish altogether.