"Wally's Basement, Fall-In 2025" Topic

What's everyone bringing and/or looking for?

Not selling anything now but looking for 28mm Police/SWAT figures, vehicles, etc.

Bringing box after box of painted 28mm at my usual $1 USD a figure for foot, $2 USD for horse. Maybe 400 figures or so? largely medieval/fantasy, but some of everything from Ancients to SF.

Last time at Lancaster, I think. Inflation is eating away at the price, it's a long trip, and HMGS seems determined to make registration as painful as possible.

Remember when computers were going to make things faster and simpler?

Looking for…Not sure. Microscale and nanoscale are always nice. Gutted carrying cases? Maybe geomorphic boards? But my best finds at conventions are usually stuff I wasn't looking for.

HMGS seems determined to make registration as painful as possible.

It's official. HMGS is now the DMV.
What's wrong with a guy passing out entry badges, with a cigar box in front of him for cash?

SYWA Convention is still phone for room reservation if you want one, and register for the con and reserve tables by hitting "reply" to an e-mail. Pay at the door.

Fall In took I think four sessions with a computer, plus some e-mails back and forth with convention staff. I finally palmed the last hurdle off on my son, but we don't all have family who build their own desktop computers. N.B. This is NOT TTE. I worked TTE for Autumn Wars and it's pretty straightforward. This was HMGS saving me--I think it totalled out at $17.50 USD--by inserting themselves in the process at the cost of my blood pressure.

The first rule of selling stuff is "make it easy for people to give you money." They failed.

I have been going to Cold Wars or Fall In for years. I don't game, I just go to drop a pocket full of money at the exhibit hall and then leave. My wife and my 10 year old join me for company and to see Lancaster. No problem paying $40 USD for a badge for myself, but now I have to pay $40 USD each for the wife and kid just to watch me spend $$$. This year will be a pass.

And now, I have heard that the Flea Market is back up in the poorly lit theater.
It seems like the whole intent of HMGS for the flea market is "pour décourager les autres". To discourage them. What with the times scheduled, the location and charging attendees $40 USD just for the privilege of shopping, it looks like their intent is to get rid of it. Conspiracy theory much?
Let's hear it from The Committee to prove me wrong.

Great! Now a bunch of old farts, myself included, will have to scramble for the elevator up-down with all our stuff all the while hoping we are lucky enough to procure a gondola to tote everything up. I don't have room for a a handcart when I attend cons. And we have an hour less time to sell our wares to boot!

I may have to agree with the OFM on this one!

I also agree with OFM.

Just a painter:

That's not correct. You can get a non-player badge for your wife & child. I think they are $2 USD each.

I did that for my wife.

Dale

We're back in the Black Hole of Lancaster? Something to look forward to, then. Three or four trips with a two-wheel cart and hope the elevator is available to us this time. I checked, by the way--setting aside books, rules, magazines and terrain, it should be a bit north of 400 $1 USD figures but probably not as many as 500. And my accomplice is carrying more and heavier.

Has anyone experienced the HMGS-Great Lakes Final Solution? Flea Market only the night before the convention opens or the morning after it closes. During the convention, you're only allowed to sell to Noble Knight. I'll pass. Anyone in the Chicago area who's interested can find me at the SYWA Convention in South Bend.

Where are Pentacon, DanaCon and The Emperor's Birthday Convention when I need them?

Now Robert, we've been out of the theatre for awhile. Barring any unforeseen changes, we're back just inside the front doors. No elevators, unless you really want to take the long route.

I'm not going, but I too am slightly miffed the spouse/child options are no easily available. Were family members tacked on as merch last year, or was it a $2 USD option at registration with a paying/eligible attendee? Our registered for a local convention using Tabletop, and our usually dimmest player in the group noted how easy it was to find and add the non-playing Mrs as an "NPC".

Got me. Eric. It was certainly just inside the front doors last year. I was following the OFM: "And now, I have heard that the Flea Market is back up in the poorly lit theater."

As noted earlier, I've worked with TTE before. I'm not thrilled, but it's workable. A lot of my problems this year stemmed from things HMGS had done to it--usually with good intentions. Having to work through the HMGS website gives members their admission discount and restricts "Wally's Basement" tables to HMGS-East members, for instance. And making the flea market tables part of event registration was supposed to save us Pennsylvania sales tax. But for me, the delays and aggravation far outweighed the financial benefits.

I say again, when I reached a convention person, she was as friendly and helpful as anyone could wish. This is not an uncaring bureaucracy--but I think it may be a bureaucracy which doesn't understand how their system works (or fails to work) for outsiders.

DaleWill, I paid the 2 dollars last year, but didn't see it this year. I will look again. Thanks

I just go to drop a pocket full of money at the exhibit hall and then leave.

Sunday is free. Have you considered just dropping by on a Sunday morning since you sound like a day tripper?

Everything has a "merch" fee! Anything you add to your cart comes with an extra fee associated with it.

I'm one man with what was supposed to be quite bit of stuff to sell. If I don't take the elevator, I'm supposed to just leave it at the bottom of the stairs? Horse hockey!

I was hoping to sell off my wares there, or at CW which I was hoping was once again at Gburg. It isn't, its's at the Wyndham. Where this whole scenario will repeat itself once again I'm sure.
Maybe someone will just buy out my entire table at Fall In!

Comes a time, Lonesome, when you write "FREE TO GOOD HOME" on a sheet of paper, and walk away from what won't sell. Better things to do in life than drag stuff to its third or fourth flea market.

For myself, I wrote off Lancaster after the COVID Cold Wars--which went quite well for me. I'm only going this year and last because a friend is selling off and wants company.

I agree Robert. After 20 plus years I'm making an exit from the hobby and just want to shuffle off what's left.

Better things to do in life is absolutely correct!

Just a hint.
Don't drag down books. You will drag them back home.

Never more than a single plastic milk crate of printed matter, OFM. And you can sell ANYTHING at the Big Three conventions--provided your price is low enough. Mind you, that "low enough" price for books is often no more than I'd get from the local used book store without the admission and table rental, but if it's wargaming-related my fellow wargamers get first opportunity.

At a good convention, I can go in with seven or eight plastic milk crates of stuff and leave with one, but you have to get north of 1,000 wargamers. Otherwise, sometimes no matter how good your price is, there's just no one interested in that period or scale--or that period IN that scale.

The book situation is so bad that I'm thinking about taking 15-20 books to give to what looks to be the sole bookseller in attendance, so he can make some $€£¥ trying to help them find caring homes. No ex.libs.; no coffee table books; no paperbacks.

I can't live forever. Better him than a dumpster.

What kinds of books are we talking about? I could be interested in WW2 Ospreys or books that discuss force organization and OOBs for researching scenarios since I almost exclusively run WW2 games at HMGS cons.

All, According to Tabetop, Wally's is located in the Lincoln Theater (i.e. The Black Hole). Haven't bene in that space since the remodel, so let's hope they added a few lights. :)

I am bringing a 28mm painted New Kingdom Egyptian army.
5 chariots, 4 bases of 6 archers, 6 bases 6 warriors, 2 bases of 8 heavy inf with 2 hd wpns, 2 bases of 6 with 2 hd wpns, 4 bases of 2 light infantry, 6 commmand figures. 60mm wide bases with magnetic bottoms. total 102 foot 5 chariots.
All foundry figs except 18 Warlord foot. $375. USD I'll email you pics if you are interested.

Selling
3 DBA armies….
some 20mm WW2 ..
Some unopened games
Some opened games
15mm ACW troops …

-Mike

And The Black Hole of Lancaster it is! Quoting the con director:
"Wally's Basement sessions will be in the Lincoln Theater. Basement sellers should use the elevator in the back left of the main hotel entrance (i.e., before the steps up to the hotel lobby level) for access."

Bring ropes, pitons and miner's helmets. Spelunking experience not required, but preferred.

Nice I packed with this in mind. Ken, I was there the last time they promised more lights. "Hope is not a planning consideration."

"Cheap fabric and dim lighting, that's how you move merchandise". Morty Seinfeld

So you're taking an elevator up to the basement.

Anyone have copy of Guards of Traitors Toll that they'd like to part with? I can meet you at Fall In