The S.O.S. of 2014

[Wagriff]

Well, the 2014 S.O.S. has come and gone now, and the WRF was well represented by a good number of our members. Sadly, once again, no one who attended could act as the eyes and ears of our friends and members who are overseas, or too old and sick or were just plain unable to attend. A small thing to ask, to simply carry about a little pocket notebook and take the second or 2 to jot down who's table was being photographed and where they were from, so that those of the Forum who may have spotted something of interest would, at least, have had the opportunity to contact the seller and see if, hope of hopes, that the item they were looking at might still have been available afterwards.

[stuka f]

Hey William,
that would be a great idea to elaborate!
But a to big job to ask a fellow collector to do, in my opinion.
But like I said, a great idea,thise could be done the way auctions can be seen on line when the sales come up.
Then again it could work in a different way when the IRS is watching thise too....
cheers
|<ris

[Wagriff]

Certainly, no one was looking for a table by table inspection and description of the entire enormous show, but perhaps a judicious bit of highlighting of the most interesting tables would have been within do-ability, I would imagine. Some sellers may even object any photos of their wares for security reasons, but, on the whole, most are usually fine with the extra bit of free advertising.

[Silberkreuz]

Wag riff, totally agree with you, no body shares this valuable information with collectors. I contacted MR T Whitman and asked him why they do not video or even record the MAX SHOW like the did yeas ago,for the collectors. ( he does do a short record for Utube , keep the cameras rolling) It all came down to TIME AND MONEY. Does the event not generate a great deal of money, and more Important keeping the interest and hobby alive. I do not mean any disrespect to Tom as I know he is hard working and passionate man in this hobby.

Shame England can not put a show together, as I would defiantly record it.

[matty01]

Shame England can not put a show together, as I would defiantly record it.

Indeed. I couldn't comment on prices at SOS or MAX (as ive never been) however from here in the UK any savings would soon by eaten up by flights/hotels/travelling. Still would be nice to see though.
There is a large militaria event down in kent on the 16th march which claims to be the biggest in Europe. I cannot think what its called though - its bugging me now!

matty

[matty01]

http://www.imcf.co/index.php?ix=6&iw=251&iz=0

Here we go I googled the date, luckily it came up.

Shame the show falls on my sons birthday party, still id rather be there than listening to a load of screaming 5-6 year olds but I better keep that to myself I suppose.

matty

[MD Helmets]

Well, the 2014 S.O.S. has come and gone now, and the WRF was well represented by a good number of our members. Sadly, once again, no one who attended could act as the eyes and ears of our friends and members who are overseas, or too old and sick or were just plain unable to attend. A small thing to ask, to simply carry about a little pocket notebook and take the second or 2 to jot down who's table was being photographed and where they were from, so that those of the Forum who may have spotted something of interest would, at least, have had the opportunity to contact the seller and see if, hope of hopes, that the item they were looking at might still have been available afterwards.

Hmmmm. A great idea? Yes. Realistic? I doubt it, at least if undertaken by just one member. With so many different collectors on the forum and 2,000 or more dealer tables, going table by table, conversing, photographing and recording would be a monumental undertaking. I image one would need at least a day to do that, but probably more like two days, and the show is only two days, three if you're a member. It's a good thought but I'm not sure it's practical, mostly because of limited time. Maybe if enough members attended we could split up the room and each take a small section so it wasn't so overwhelming. That's more feasible than one member alone trying to cover the entire show.

[Silberkreuz]

Thanks Mattty , will hopefully check this out. Screaming kids arhh, enjoy it, I'm sure you will.

[Silberkreuz]

Hi Helmeltone, yes it's impossible to do all 2000 tables on your own in a few days. You would have to do it commercially like Tom did before. An interviewer, lighting and camera man. This would not be financially viable from someone like myself living in England. The cost of 3 people flying to the US, Staying in hotels, editing, auditing and burning etc......Worse of all not really looking around all the tables in a leisurely manner as excited collector.

But as you said, it could be possible if US forum members arranged this. They could sell the DVD recordings to us the interested parties.

[StefanM]

I am not sure William was suggesting all 2000 tables/stalls but rather the tables individual members found of interest during their tour of show and therefore it would be a very much lesser task. I expect most dealers have a card of some description with their contact details and assuming most of us have a phone with a camera or a stand alone camera then a photo of this dealer card along with the stand/or stall would obviate the notebook and pen.