"How did the vendors do at Historicon?" Topic

Better than expected?
Doom and gloom?
"Why did I bother?"

An outstanding show for us. Love the location and we continue to have good shows at Fredericksburg and Historicon.

Very good show for Good Ground Miniatures.

So, Bill, what you are saying is that Fredericksburg was "Good Ground" for you?

Eric

Pleasantly surprised.

We were up over last year by 30% (yes, last year was a bad year) and it was my best show in Fredericksburg so far.

So as I promised if it went well, we will be back next year.

Excellent news!

This was the first show that I didn't sell any painted figures. It might have been my set up. I sold a lot of Crusader stuff though and delivered and received a lot of orders.

In terms of overall profit from sales it beat last year by about 50%. In terms of Crusader sales it was up about 25% from where it was last year.

Always good to hear when the vendors do well. I spoke with many throughout the course of the convention. As expected, individual results ranged from "great" to "poor". As reported by the convention director at Sunday's BOD meeting, convention attendance was almost exactly the same as the prior two years.

Respectfully,
John Spiess
Treasurer, HMGS, Inc.

Lon,

I am so glad you did well. I made sure to make purchases from those vendors that stated they were on the fence.

Hopefully more did well.

Glad to hear some of the vendors did well. I originally was not going to buy much, but that didn't last, and I did my small small bit at Brigade also. I have Mike Koznarsky to thank for that.

Hopefully, DoubleG will chime in with a good report too. I still maintain that the HMGS war chest should be used in part to offset some of the vendors expenses.

I know most of my money went to dealers this year. I liked the new vendors who attended. Lots of good stuff.

Big shout out to Steve with Age of Glory. I Really enjoy our banter. Those barricades look great and I will be getting more from you soon, as long as a box comes with them.😃

My other shout out is to that guy from Boston. Just remember George. Tell her you'll have the soup.😂

All the vendors were great though. A great one day show.

Matthew

Happy to report I did extremely well, up about 50% over last year, which was my worst Historicon since the move from Lancaster.

I had a good number of first time buyers, always great to see as well as support from many of the show regulars, which I always appreciate.

Much like Lon, this was make or break for me; if the number dropped any further, that would be that, but it bounced back strong and I will 100% be returning next year.

The venue, the dining choices and the area in general all get high marks from me, as does the hotel, all in all a very pleasant experience made even more so by the final result.

I'm glad many of the other vendors did well, my good mood was a bit temptered by the conversation I had with one dealer who I like a great deal tell me the show was down for them, I hate, hate, hate to hear that as the prepping, packing, driving, setting up, selling, breaking down and driving back is all the same, the only difference is the profit/loss at the end of the day. As a dealer, I want all of my fellow dealers to do well as we're all in this together.

Thanks for the support and the dinner conversation Saturday Matthew, I had a good time spending time with you, thanks for the money you spent with me and yes, I will definately take the soup.

Had a chance to spend time with two of my favorite attendees, Rusty Miller and Mark, as well as have a great conversation Saturday night with Stan Johansen, Frank and Jim Lombardi, these are the things that I appreciate about these conventions.

Bowman, I always appreciate you kind words and feedback, you and I need to get overserved one night at a convention, let's try to make that happen…………….

The dealer hall felt very empty to me when I was in there, so I'm glad to hear some dealers saying they did well.

I did my part on that score, at least.

BTC's set up was stunning! I know it costs money, but his layout was what you want to see! Lot's of beautiful product, all displayed so it can blow you away. I too saw much of it on many tables! I'm glad Lon & Double G both reported back with a better show, too! I really want this to work. And yes, I'm from VA, but would go to PA(but I doubt any further) if H-Con went back North.
Great News!

I was amazed that there is now an Essex trader in business again, I was 'god smacked' when I saw the cardboard bins "ala John Hood" from the golden years. I looked at the man behind the counter – he looked at me – I looked at him- he looked at me. It was like a bad western. Then he said "you looked surprised" well hell , I was------ and I had just scored a mint condition copy of Warhammer ancient battles and a copy of Hannibal for 25 USD…… Ga-hya

Cool,mini or not had a great booth. I ended up spending some money there on some interesting character figures.

Where was the CMON booth? Was it there Friday morning?

If you walk into the dealer hall and make an immediate left and head down the aisle past all the half booths to Harmony House Hobbies then make a right and go down that last aisle, CMON was about half way down.

They were back-to-back with Wargamer USA and opposite the Casemate table.

Glad to hear that some of the vendors did well, although I suspect that some of the increase was due to the "do or die"/"make or break" comments posted by some vendors before the convention.

Time will tell whether increased sales at H'con becomes a trend.

I also suspect that vendors who did well are more likely to post here as opposed to those who did not do so well. Those numbers will show up (or not) when it is time to fill the Vendor Hall next year.

Like I said, we'll see.

I talked with Chris Hughes of Sash and Saber just before noon Sunday. He said he'd done very well,and showed a bunch of empty bins,especially the 40mm. I guess the word's finally getting around about how reasonable his prices are.

I was fortunate to do well at Historicon; if I was not, I would have posted that here as well.

My number dropped badly last year from the previous year, so this year, I was determined to do a better job of marketing the show to my customers in the area and it paid off, about 12 new faces showed up at the convention who had never been there before, they were amazed and impressed with the size and scope of it and already promised to return next year.

So, rather than dwell on the negative of a down show in 2015, I focused on the positive and decided to put time and energy into show marketing and it paid off.

I've come full circle on this show, I sincerely hope it stays where it is for a long time to come. For me as a one man operation, a day dedicated just to travel on the front end is tough, as is the ride down and back, but it's part and parcel to owning a business if you want to incorporate convention attendance into your business model.

I love the venue, the overall location, the hotel I stay at, the restaurants in the area and the historical locations in and around the area. Being able to stop at Antietam on the way down and Gettysburg on the way back if I choose to do so is a nice concept I can go along with.

I hope the powers that be decide to keep the show in it's present location and focus on what to do with Cold Wars and Fall In as their present location is a bit up in the air pending the renovation of the site and the associated dost implications of that…………………

Way to be, Double G!
Well said.