The Midwest Toy Soldier show was on Sunday. The show took place in Lafayette, Indiana. The two days before that there was room trading at the hotel where the show took place. There were plenty of vendors that took part. Room trading was a little slow, but the crowds showed up for the show. In today’s post I will discuss the first two days of the room trading.
Me & Carolyn arrived at hotel on Thursday. We were located on the second floor of the hotel. Once we settled in I then setup my products throughout the room for Friday. The next day we got up early and went to a few antique stores before returning to the hotel around noon. Then I started the event called room trading. Room trading is when you make your hotel room a little shop. Collectors will walk throughout he the hotel and shop at your “store”. I had a nice time talking to other collectors and answering any questions they had about my products. This was the 1st time that I was selling my line of Warhorse Miniatures figures. Most were the early Medieval sets. But I also had the new French Marines from the French & Indian War era. Beside that I had some of the LOD/Barzso figure sets & foam products and some Russian figure sets. Mostly Warhansa and some Publius. I was hoping to have some Prikaz products. But I don’t know when that will happen.
I took a break a few times to check out some of the other rooms. The first room I went to belonged to Todd Nace. He had a lot of vintage Marx figures and playsets.
The next room belonged to Eric Koopmeiner. He had vintage toy soldiers, playsets, action figures and some diecast vehicles.
Next, I visited the room of Rick Eber. Each year Rick brings some rare & new mint playsets. Every time I see him, he has something that I have never seen before. This year was the same.
It was now the evening when I closed up my room for trading. I went downstairs to see what was going on. By the time I got to John Anderson’s room he had almost sold everything he had. He usually brings a bunch of playsets and figure sets with him. Plus, vintage toys. Whatever he gets his hands on.
The last room I checked on Friday belonged to David Cook of MicShaun’s Closet. He had his TSSD bagged toy soldiers, foam products, LOD/Barzso products and some Russian figure sets. We had a lot of fun talking.
Late Friday in the lobby of the hotel there was a small gathering of collectors. There were about 20 collectors looking at some old Marx playsets. I think most were from the 1960’s. They belonged to John Anderson. They were still sealed. The boxes were in bad condition. But when they started to open them up, everything inside was mint. Except for some paper guides. The sets were sold to some of the collectors there. At this point it was almost 11pm. I then retired for the night.
I got up early on Saturday and took a stroll around the 1st floor before I opened my room. I went to visit Mike Kitnuck. Ron Barzso gave Mike a horde of original Barzso products that he had found to sell for him. There was over a 100 figure & accessories sets. I don’t know what else he had the day before. I found a few rare things to add to my collection. It was a Barzso collector’s dream. If this was a few years ago, I would have spent over a $1,000. Instead, I spent around $100. I could have horded a bunch of stuff. But I am in the process now of trimming my collections. So, I took only what I needed. I was tempted, but I left everything to some other lucky collectors.
Next up was the room of John Atherton. He was busy preparing his beautiful foam pieces for sale. His products are a must for anyone creating a diorama or even a small display. We had a good time talking about the hobby.
The next room I entered belonged to Scott Canady. He also had a lot of vintage playsets and toy soldiers. After I kept knocking down one of his displays of toy soldiers, I looked through some comics and around his room…
Francis Turners room had a huge amount of vintage Marx figures. Plus, some recast figures that were old too.
Gary Wendeln also had some Barzso figure sets and playsets with him. Plus, some other vintage toy soldiers.
The last room I checked out on Saturday belonged to fellow collector Willy Pickett. He had his custom playmats to enhance your vintage figures. Plus, some custom terrain pieces that he had painted.
Treefrog Treasures was room trading late afternoon on Saturday. They were the only major metal dealer at the show.
That is all on the room trading. I think next year I will only trade on Saturday. On Friday I will stroll around instead. I had a great time trading and talking to collectors. There were plenty of deals at this show. My next post will be on the show itself. Thank you for reading.
