This report covers:
- Show personality
- Sleepy
- What was there?
- FWB 124
- Queen Bee
- BB runs a test
- BUT…
- We ain’t done yet
- The $100 PCP
- But wait…
- Starboard Rower
- What walked in?
- A Haenel model 5???
- Last remarks
Today you will read about the Arkansas airgun show that was held last Friday and Saturday at Malvern, Arkansas. Let’s get started.
Show personality
Every airgun show has a personality. It’s a combination of who displayed at the show, who attended, the airguns that were for sale and the special things that happened. I remember a show at Winston Salem where I met Dr. Beeman for the first time. I remember the first Winston Salem show I attended in 1993, getting ready to publish The Airgun Letter.
I remember a show at Roanoke, Virginia where there was an auction in the aisles for three rare BB guns and $41,000 changed hands. I remember another Roanoke show where a Girardoni walked in the door and was sold for $3,000 to a wise attendee from England. Girardoni’s sell for 70,000 Euro and up these days.
I remember a show in Little Rock where a doctor pulled up and opened the trunk of his car, revealing boxes of Beeman air rifles he had bought in the 1980s. He had the invoices for each of them (being an airgunner, he was also anal) and he sold each of them for what he had paid over a decade before. That was a day I wish I had some money!
Sleepy
The show at Malvern, Arkansas, this year was sleepy, to sum it up in one word. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. First of all, very few people were aware that this show was being held. I bet fewer than 20 people paid to walk in. So, for two days it was the dealers buying, selling and trading amongst themselves. I’ve been to other shows where that happened and it wasn’t good, but for some reason this show was different. It was slow-paced and people had the chance to sit and talk and reminisce about the state of all things airgun. One thing we determined is that the way things are going today, this is the new normal. Things will never go back to the way they were. But nobody seemed to mind — or at least if they did they kept quiet about it.
Dennis Quackenbush opened the show with a prayer.
What was there?
If you are new to airgunning you are most interested in what was there. If you are a veteran, you are more interested in who was there.
In past shows guys would walk in looking for that one certain breakbarrel pellet rifle they just had to have. It was always a Chinese buzz bomb, but they just knew it would change their world. They walked past table after table loaded with things you never see, searching for that Wal-Mart refugee. When they didn’t find it they lamented that all the airgun retailers like Pyramyd AIR weren’t at the show, so they could buy from them instead of shopping online. It’s like going to a car show and breezing past Jay Leno and his Stanley Steamer, searching in desperation for a 2005 Mustang with a lift kit.
That didn’t happen at Malvern this year. People took the time to look and talk about airguns, and as a result we did resolve a few of the world’s problems. They were mostly our own, but you gotta start somewhere.
FWB 124
One airgun people are always looking for is the elusive FWB 124. There were several for sale at this show.
There are a couple FWB 124 Sporters (non-checkered pistol grips and no sling swivels) for you.
Another 124 was walking around the show, possibly looking for a new home. If not that then at least it needed a new piston seal. It had been picked up while cleaning out a basement!
Queen Bee
But of all the FWB 124’s on the planet, perhaps the best known and most widely celebrated is the Queen Bee — a rifle I was once briefly privileged to own!
Scott Pilkington now owns the rifle and has undertaken the quest to elevate it to the next level. Scott is a world-class engraver and he has inlaid in gold Toshiko Beeman’s signature (the person for whom the rifle was made) and Pat Colins’ signature (the woman Mrs. Beeman allowed the company to sell her rifle to), on the sides of the spring tube, along with a stylized bee. The letters QB are inlaid in gold on the bottom of the triggerguard.
Scott Pilkington displayed the Queen Bee FWB 124 in-process. He still has to blue the parts.
Toshiko Beeman’s name is inlaid in gold on the spring tube of the Queen Bee.
Scott did blue the triggerguard, so the contrast between the gold QB and the engraved steel can be readily seen.
BB runs a test
I knew Malvern would be a slow show, because it always is. So this year I decided to run a little test to see what would happen if I shook it up. If someone takes an airgun to a show and prices it by the Blue Book of Airguns, they take it home again, unless that one-in-a-thousand person who wants one happens to attend. When the gate at most larger shows is between 300 and 400 people, that doesn’t happen at every show. And that is large airgun shows. Malvern doesn’t see nearly that many folks.
If they price their treasure for 20 percent less, they usually take it home. Sometimes they break down in negotiations and get rid of the gun, but not at the price they had on it.
So I broke the rules. I priced my airguns at half of their true value — not necessarily what Blue Book said but what people really pay, which can be more or less — and I waited to see what might happen. I also had a table with $50 airguns that included a couple Crosman Mark IIs, an S&W 79G and a Daisy 790. Each one was priced at 50 bucks and no parts were missing. Did they leak? Of course they did, but my price was half what leakers sell for and for a few bucks on eBay you can buy all the parts to fix them. By the end of the show that table was entirely bare.
BUT…
But I also had a couple tables of high-quality stuff, like a Russian IZH 532 target rifle and so on. One of the guns I was selling was an FWB modell 2 target pistol that I bought from reader Carel. I priced it at about half what I had in it and I brought Scott Pilkington over to see it because he sells 10-meter guns. I knew there was money left on that gun for him. Oh, and I also included a partially full 20-pound CO2 tank with a siphon tube to fill the gun’s two reservoirs. Guys — that was a deal!
Well, Scott looked at one of my tables of goodies and just kept looking. He liked this and he liked that. Like most folks he wasn’t sure of the prices on several of the items, but he could tell they were all priced way below what they were worth. So, in the end, he bought them all. In the first 15 minutes of the first day of the show I sold about half of what I had brought! And, GunFun1, the Daisy 20th Century was among those guns that were sold. It went for $200. The Blue Book puts it at $400 for a 60 percent gun, which mine was.
Then I walked over to Scott’s table to get his check and there I saw an FWB 600 single stroke target rifle. Yes — I said a 600 — not a 601, 602 or 603. I have wanted to test the 600 for a great many years, simply because it was the first single stroke target rifle FWB made. I have the Walther LGR and I wanted to pit it against the FWB 600.
Scott shocks me by giving me the same sort of deal on that rifle that I had just given him! Then I ask him if it shoots. Then, folks — then! After I made the deal! He tells me that he has just resealed it and oh, by the way, this rifle used to belong to Robert Mitchell, a member of the Army Marksmanship Unit, and the coach of the USA Shooting Team (that attends the Olympics) for about a decade. I just hope that rifle can remember what it’s like to shoot well!
We ain’t done yet
Then a guy stops by my table and we talk about lots of cool things. He tells me he shoots his Benjamin 132 in his shop at 10 feet and hits the chain hanging from the overhead light. Oh. wait, he has a video on his phone. Yepper — he can do it! He muzzle-loads the pistol with Q-tips (cotton swabs for most of the world) and pumps the pistol two times. Tony Branton from Texarkana has given us another blog! And still we ain’t done.
The $100 PCP
Remember the $100 PCP? Well, Dennis Quackenbush brought it to the show to sell for — you guessed it — $100. Sold! That one came home with me. Remember that in 2016 Crosman brought out the Benjamin Maximus based on it! And I now own the original!
Dennis Quackenbush (left) was at the show. It was a pleasure to talk to him!
But that ain’t all. Dennis handed me a mailing package with a Bug Blaster inside. That’s the salt gun attachment that goes on a CO2 gun. Yes, friends, old BB will test one for you — finally!
But wait…
Yes, there is more. I didn’t take a picture of it but on the table next to me sat a Marksman 55! Yep, it was a model 55 with the Perfekt trigger (which the guy says is terrible) and the safety on the left side of the gun (opposite of where my model 70 safety is). I guess I should have bought it, but before I could make my move the guy showed me a 100-shot repeating sidelever pistol from Germany. You heard me!— 100 shots. Of course they are balls; they would have to be.
The HS model 71 is a 100-shot repeating sidelever spring pistol.
And there is the pistol. I couldn’t find it in the Blue Book.
Starboard Rower
And then something happened that is very rare. A reader introduced himself and told me his blog handle — Starboard Rower. We talked for quite a while about the VZ 35 he bought for too much money (that makes him a card-carrying airgunner) and how beautiful it is. Would he consent to do a guest blog for us? He would? Hurray!
Reader Starboard Rower will be telling us about his beautiful VZ-35.
And where did the handle Starboard Rower come from? He told me that in college he rowed on an 8-man racing shell and he was on the starboard (right) side at the bow. The shell is extremely thin and he told me he could feel the bubbles under his bum when the shell planed. Yes — it planed! So that’s where his handle came from.
What walked in?
Keep your eyes peeled because something always walks into these shows. This time it was a couple guns from World War II — a pair of MacGlashan aerial BB trainers. They left with another person.
These two MacGlashans walked in the door at Malvern. They went home with someone else.
A Haenel model 5???
Here is a rifle I don’t believe I have ever seen — a Haenel model 5 single shot. I have seen a couple of the repeaters, but never this gun. This one has no finish left, but what a pleasure to see something new.
The Haenel model 5 is an underlever taploader.
When I saw it I thought it was a Diana 50. RidgeRunner would love this one!
Last remarks
I left the show at 1:20 p.m. and arrived in Dallas at 6. Apparently there was some sort of American football contest at a place called the Cotton Bowl, so it took me 30 minutes to drive 10 miles through Dallas. But at least the setting sun was in my eyes the whole time, so I saw very little of what was there.
I’m glad I made it to the show this year. At my age driving to these shows is getting harder all the time, but these closer ones are at least within my reach. I talked to a guy about a different venue for the Texas airgun show next year, so if the details can be worked out, we may host another one. We shall see.
BB,
I was in the Army, but I’m still pretty sure that Starboard is the right side and Port is on the left.
I am sorry that I missed the Malvern show (maybe next year).
All the best (it’s past my bedtime).
Bill
Bill,
Oops! You are right — and so is starboard! I thought I knew that!
BB
I agree with billj. And here’s how I remember…
Starboard (the vessel’s right):
Apparently earliest boats were steered from the back end, with the blade of an oar held in the water. As the majority of people/steersmen were (and still are) right handed, they would hold that oar overboard the boat’s right hand side. Over time this ‘steer-board’ side became known as ‘starboard’.
Port (the vessel’s left):
Well, this is easy, it’s the other side!
Also, the left side is the side to which a bottle of port wine should be passed (so it rotates from person to person in a clockwise motion around the dining table).
By the way, as Port (wine) is a red liquid, I bet you can guess what colour nautical things on the port side are, eg buoys on the left/port side as you enter a harbour… ?
PS I used to love messing around in boats… 🙂
Hi,
Well, I do remember “red right returning.” 😉
BB
That’s a good one BB!
hihihi,
Starboard has two R which makes right. Port has only one R which makes left.
Siraniko
Well it’s 10 PM, after a full day’s work and getting the family fed. Finally got kids down to bed, and flopping down on the couch. What do I find in today’s blog??? Why, I’m in it!
I’m loving these ways to remember which side is starboard. For me, it starts with facing backwards (to stern) …. as we rowers always do… 🙂
StarboardRower
hihihi,
Also, traditionally we tied up to the pier with our port side.
Argh Mate!
Underway is the only way!
Land is a navigational hazard!
Sailors were made for ships and
ships were made for the sea!
Argh!
This may be of interest to Siraniko; believe she was in his neighborhood on or about May 1, 1898. Her twin, the ill-starred USS Maine, was in FM’s neighborhood Feb 15, 1898.
Just visited USS Olympia with Mrs.; yes, we went aboard on the STARBOARD side, though you can observe the WWII battlewagon New Jersey from the PORT SIDE. 🙂
FM,
Wow! The Olympia, a WWII sub and the New Jersey all together?! I would be lost for days.
Billj,
Thank you for your service! This Swab will add to your wealth of Nautical ‘Nowledge: The change was made because it was difficult to tell the difference between Larboard and Starboard, especially up in the rigging of a Tall Ship during a blow. Along about the mid-19th century, “port” popularly replaced “larboard” for this reason. At first many just made the switch on their own, but by 1844 the change from “Larboard” to “Port” was made official in the Royal Navy and two years later in the U.S. Navy and has pretty much become ubiquitous since in nautical and aviation use.
For RidgeRunner:
One extra bit: Since the steering oar eventually was affixed to the Starboard side of boats it was easier to tie up to the dock on the Port side of the ship.
And one final bit:. It is traditional to do head on passes Starboard to Starboard (if at all possible) that is where green to green became the “GO” signal.
shootski
also a U.S. Naval Aviator
B.B.
I would encourage ALL your readers to at least attend one airgun show in there life. You will see some amazing things, some you won’t even recognise.
Yes port is left.
-Y
BB
Sounds like it was a nice show.
And that’s good you got the $100 pcp. That gun brought up some good conversations back when you wrote about it.
And Scott’s a good guy. I have bought used parts from him before for the different FWB 300s I have and had. Always has gave me a good price on what I was getting.
And I bet it was nice to see some old friends and guns as well that you have owned.
And one day I’m going to have to get me a FWB 124. And what is the pump gun with the tootsie roll pump handle that is in the bottom of the picture of the 124’s?
Oh and $200 was a good price for the Daisy 20th Century.
Gunfun1,
I believe the multi-pumper with the tootsie roll handle is a Benjamin 300 series (numbered 300-322 and made from 1930s – 1960s).
Michael
Michael
I was thinking it was a Benjamin.
But you never know with all the different air guns made over time.
BB-
You forgot to report on the most important show detail- How was the concession stand?
Thanks for the report. Sounded like fun.
Paco,
No concessions. Free coffee and dounuts in the a.m.
BB
Oh, Noooooo! Sometimes, the only redeeming feature of shows (gun, theater, whatever) I have attended over the years have been the concession stand offerings. However, I am now hungry for donuts.
It does sound like the show allowed attendees time to smell the roses. Looking forward to new blogs emanating from this show.
Paco,
You are going to have to come to the North Carolina Airgun Show when they next have it. The concession stand sells N.C. BBQ sandwiches. Make your eyetooth slap your pappy!
RidgeRunner,
Mustard-based or vinegar-based?
Michael
E NC BBQ or Lexington-style? Being married to a Tarheel-stater from Lexington has taught FM a few things about NC BBQ…tasty stuff for sure.
Fingers crossed there will be an NC airgun show next year. FM setting sights on that one.
Since John Walter mentions the HS-71 – which is not to say that it was common, or even imported into the UK – it does ring a bell.
I seem to recall a mention of it on one of the UK forums, and apparently you have to be careful when cocking it and avoid holding it by the pistol grip with one hand and grasping the sidelever with the other – the correct technique, I seem to recall, is to hold it by the barrel casing when cocking. The gun needs to be vertical to allow the ball shot to feed anyway, but this also avoids straining the platic grip/frame.
More pictures here:
http://www.muzzle.de/N3/Druckluft/HS_Modell_71/hs_modell_71.html
iain
BB,
I believe the airgun shows are going to make a comeback. The crowds are still adjusting to this so called new normal. Maybe someone will put up a running audiovisual of airgun history as told by the old hands before they get recalled by the Lord.
Siraniko
PS Last photo 1st sentence: “When I saw it I throught (thought) it was a Diana 50.”
Siraniko,
Fixed it. Thanks,
BB
Hi BB,
I wanted to attend but I had been out of town most of the previous week. Also, my wife’s birthday was Saturday. I hope I can attend next year. I expected the show to be as described. It would have been nice to go and visit with the guys.
David Enoch
David,
It was just as you imagined. And spouse’s birthdays are far more important.
BB
BB,
I do have a soft spot for tap loaders. I’ll take it. The stock is kind of stubby for a Diana 50 though.
I am thankful I was not there. It would have been hard to come home empty handed.
SR,
Whatever you paid for that VZ-35 was worth it. That thing is beautiful. Like I said, I have a soft spot for tap loaders, even repeating tap loaders.
RidgeRunner,
Thank you! I have wanted a CZ vz.35 for a long time. Finally found one in good condition last year. And paid for it. Worth every penny. It’s the pride of the collection here at SRHFWA! 😉
It is really an amazing piece of history, wrapped up in an airgun. So little has been written about them, especially in English.
Like BB says, I will do a guest blog soon. I’m going to share some of my research with you guys, and let you know what I’ve learned along the way. Hoping other voices will come out and correct me and offer more insights!…
StarboardRower
Greetings, all.
Speaking of MacGlashans, I just read this blog entry in my quest to read the entire blog. August 17, 2006, No. 381:
/blog/2006/08/a-new-book-about-air-machine-guns/
BB,
Sometimes “sleepy” is nice eh?
Speaking of nice, that FWB 600 certainly fits that! You just have to love those super precise 10 meter airguns with incredible triggers.
I recently showed my FWB 603 to a guy who used to compete with powder-burners – his reaction to shooting it was stunned disbelief LOL! After 10 shots he made me an offer which I refused, another 10 shots and he doubled it …sorry, not for sale.
Showed him some PCPs as well (my bad!). So now we have another guy whose “BB guns are for kids” perspective has been shattered and is looking to get into airgunning. Love doing that LOL!
Hank
Hank,
You go, guy! 🙂
BB
Hank
Certainly worthy of a capitalized “ATTA BOY”.
What you did is akin to infecting another with the airgun disease. BB may be the epicenter but we all have to do our part to get as many as possible into this mess with us.
Ed
Nice report BB. The Haenel 5 was fun to see. They made these pre war, and seemingly continued manufacture afterwards in East Germany, or perhaps just assembled parts. Tat looks like a post war model.
B.B.,
Glad you had FUN!
I had settled down to wait for the package from D.A.Q. in the mail and then you go and post a picture of Dennis and you at the Malvern show! I almost drove down to the Malvern show but life got in the way! Now I’m REALLY upset since there would have been lots of time to sit around and chew the fat about this and that with all of you and pick his brain in detail on his .410 Camp & Garden air pistol! Along with all the other stuff that is just too much for our already too long phone conversations. DANG!
I’m hoping I can get the Lab RADAR to get some good data on the various loads and techniques i have been researching.
Do you guess that 1,000+ FPS MV will be possible? The math says it should; but Reality can be a cruel Mistress.
Back to waiting and getting all the components together.
Let the FUN begin!
shootski
shootski,
I’m guessing 900+ for a quarter ounce of shot.
BB
FawltyManuel,
I played on the USS Olympia when I was a young kid…she looks much better in your photo than back in the 1950-60s. The Becuna must be a new addition to the floating museum. I got to play all over the Philly Navy Yard but I understand that is no longer much to look at compared to when it was still an active duty Yard.
shootski
Woulda visited the Becuna, but Mrs. FM was “shipped out” for the day. No complaints, she gave FM free range on Olympia.
“Dennis Quackenbush opened the show with a prayer.”
B.B.,
That’s always the cool way to start any event. 🙂
Looking forward to the FWB 600 report,
& glad you made it home safely,
dave
Michael,
Vinegar based of course! It is in North Carolina!
Mustard based?! Ewh! That even sounds disgusting!
FM,
I hope so also. If there is, I will be there!
RidgeRunner,
There are parts of S. Carolina that use mustards; i think my wife and i ran into it in the central part of the state. Not stopping in those parts for BBQ ever again. NOW, you do need to go down to the bottom of Texas and try some of the Barbacoa or even the Menudo with scrambled eggs.
shootski
Shootski,
I only do day trips anymore, unless I take the wife and dog with me. Texas?! Are you kidding me?! I might go to BB’s, but that’s about it.
Thankfully I was able to make the show. I brought 10 guns including 4 Benjamin pumpers, a FWB 124, Diana 34 and 45, a Berman R11, and a Images Origin 22. Half of them seemed to me to be priced to sell.
Making my first round about 9:30 there was a Berman C1 on Tom’s table for $30. I passed by telling myself not to buy until something of mine sold. About 11 I went back and grabbed it. I’m putting some effort into it and will report back with the results.
Anyway I never sold the first gun, so good thing I did not wait. My prices weren’t as good as I thought. Lol.
But I did get to visit with and meet some great folks.
Traded a Benjamin 392 for the 55 Tom mentioned. Traded an early production Diana 34 for a Haenel 310 in good working order. I think I will go over the stock.
Finally at the end of the show traded Tom a Diana 45 for the rest of his $50 guns. I will have some fun going through them. One of those guns I’m pretty sure was the S&W Model 77a we had traded at the last Texas air gun show.
My traders regret was trading my R11 for a FWB 300 and some cash. I have always wanted one but probably should have waited.
Tom being the wiley veteran of shows proved his mettle with a strong strategy.
Pat being world’s oldest newb stumbles right at the finish and has to mull over his buyers remorse on 6 hour drive to Houston.
As always I want to thank Seth Rod for providing the opportunity and hope his foot is better.
Pat
PS I was going to take a quick picture of the Marksman 55 then drug out the rest of the guns for a group picture and felt pretty good overall for how I did. This tablet takes very poor pictures.
Pat,
I found the rear sight for the Slavia 618 you got from me. email me at tom@tomandedith.com
BB
Here is an example.
pgray,
A poor picture of still better than a hundred words for each of them.
Siraniko
pgray, looks like a nice score…good for you. 🙂
The haenel modell V (5) was a pre war gun (02/1929, if i remember correctly) and also was a senior model. It was also marked as a rifled model ( the asterisk is under the barrel). It shot well for the year and the seal was amazingly enough stll intact. But the lure of a diana 36 carbine was too strong to resist.
The fwb found in the basement was not for sale, but came to meet mr Slade who unfortunately couldn’t make it. So it actually went home with another very capable tuner, mr Mellick who will reseal, tune and somewhat embellish the 124 to become a usable sporter of good pedigree. When it gets back ill do a small review of the rifle after the tune. It may get a nice piece of furniture, not Queen Bee nice, but something a bit nicer than the stock non deluxe errr… stock!
The show was a lot of fun and more important, it showed that we can get back to normal soon enough. Thank you Seth, and all the good folk that showed up.
By the way, always look in basements… you never know what you may find. That model V was also from the same location, together with 100s of other airguns, that included 4 quackenbush guns, 2 markhams and several very rare daisies and other treasures.
Happy hunting!
lillysdad,
Did I buy 4 Beeman catalkogs from you at this show?
If so I now only need numbers 3, 4 and 5.
BB
Ill check when i get back home and let you know.
I appreciate the kind words in the comments.
They balance the negatives.
For the sake of All shows let me enlighten everyone.
It’s just facts, it’s not emotional for me anymore but people need to know.
I can tell you that if you are trying to figure out if I do this for love or money, there is No money.
Despite spending more money on advertising this year the door numbers are down.
I know from previous years the money spent on advertisement will never make a return or break even.
It’s in hopes that I will bring that one fairly local person in to make a vendors day.
If you complain because it’s slow or are Not attending because it’s slow.
You are part of the problem, simply by Not attending.
We all have things in life that are more important.
Schedules are complicated but not coming because it’s slow doesn’t work for anyone.
There are still people interested in buying and selling.
Just look on the other side of the table to see a absolute Airgun Nut.
I believe a fellow drove up from Texas this year but wasn’t interested in the table fee.
That’s fine but I don’t think he even brought them in to show people.
He was definitely told he could.
Maybe he asked around, I don’t know.
He was disappointed
I hate that but can’t fix it.
I’m careful to not oversell or market the show for more than it is.
It’s terrible marketing I’m told but it seems telling people it’s the biggest show ever when it’s not would also be bad.
How many times could you fool people into that ?
It’s not my style, sorry.
I think it’s a great show with great people.
You can send 100 emails asking questions and countless hours on forums trying to get a question answered.
You also have to sort out who’s knowledgeable and who’s a armchair quarterback talking like it’s facts.
You could just vist your local Airgun Show and get a hands on answer and lean more than you thought to ask.
It’s sort of a Airgun convention with stuff for sale.
It’s very centered on Airguns, shooting, and hunting gear that we use.
There’s not much fluff.
If you are dead set on one particular Airgun, it might be there, it might have been there and sold, or might not have ever been there.
Come with a open mind to good deals or other options.
Otherwise you might be disappointed.
To vendors I would recommend at least marking your stuff with a starting price.
No price at all is huge a mistake.
At least start the conversation and haggle out the details.
Complaints aren’t silent.
Although it doesn’t hurt as much, I like people.
I know when when it’s beyond my control, they don’t.
I’m sad when they are disappointed.
It’ll suck the life out of you.
For instance…..
Hotel deal, where’s it at ?
There isn’t one.
It turns out that despite my efforts in the past you could and can book online for the same price or less.
Complaints about billing from the hotel, yeah I got those.
I couldn’t do a thing to help, so.
Food is another liability box to check on insurance. $$$
There’s a nice Mexican restaurant 200 yards from the door and lots of fast food within a mile.
I’m sure they deliver but with a $5 entry you can come and go as you like for two days.
The local 4H and FFA have both been asked if they want to do a fundraiser concession stand.
Turns out you can’t always give away money.
Advertising on forums , Facebook groups.
Which one ???
I asked every Facebook group I’m a member of for permission.
Several admins never replied.
Some are afraid of catching a ban.
Some websites and groups find it a conflict of interest.
Petty, right ?
Some shows will ask to promote their show but will not return the favor.
Cruel world.
Vendors and manufacturers are slow to post as well.
Especially if they won’t be there.
It helps no one.
Call it the politics of the inner Airgun world.
In all fairness pertaining to this year particularly, how many people from out of state do you want when you’re considering canceling due to lack of vendors ?
We ended up with enough vendors for a really decent show.
One problem is there’s no “core”.
People say they are going to be a vendor every year that simply never show up.
Never even notify me they aren’t coming.
I’m hauling,setting up and holding tables for nothing.
It’s all speculation until the tables are paid for.
There’s no monetary connection.
The first payment this year was in September.
I announced the show in May.
Hypothetically, I could be throwing a party for one.
I’m committed.
Price of tables.
Unlike a gun club the the building is not free for use.
I personal supply anything over 19 or 20 tables.
I bought them,haul them, set them up haul them home, store them
The building has heat and the front portion is air conditioned, of course it has light and the parking is plentiful and unlike some places parking is free.
Remember, for love or money ? There is no money.
The set up crew consists of volunteers.
Most of them including me are wore out fellow Airgunners.
My friend Dave, Jerod , and myself were their until 5.
We closed at 2.
I’m responsible for cleaning and still have to unload everything into storage.
There’s also overnight constant security there Friday night to make sure all is well and yes sometimes that’s me.
My wife is great and so are my friends, I appreciate them all, sometimes they do too much for to little.
Thanks Mike and Mary Melick.
It’s 95 percent positive people but that 5% takes some fun out and leads to misinformation.
I’m not looking for praise.
A little insight and thought before complaining would be nice for Every Airgun Show.
They are dying.
I’d also like to thank the vendors that donated door prizes or auction items.
Oddly enough there wasn’t a serious offer on the auction item.
That would have went below cost to offset expenses.
Thanks Daisy, Airfoce Airguns, UMAREX,Flying Dragon Airguns and individuals that gave just because they wanted to see happy people.
They acted quickly, because, well who wants to be taking donated merchandise without knowing if you can give it away as agreed.
The new normal is definitely different.
That’s chapter one. Lol
I doubt I’ll go any farther.
If you want Airgun Shows to continue, show up, participate at one.
It’s simple.
That’s a fair assessment of our little local show. I’d love to see it get a little bigger but only a little.
It was a real surprise and a great pleasure to meet you and spend a few minutes shooting the wind with one of my all time favorite “bloggers”.
I surely understand about it getting harder to make those long trips as the years start adding up but I’m glad you made the trip!
You brought me out of the lurking shadows!