Well I was joking with the member asking for train advice and I naturally had to give a smart donkey response. It was dunny but alot of what I said was true. Can you give some of your own BAD train show advice of what we should not do but pretend as though you would follow the worst advice given of how to act or what to do.
Here is my first little list
Make sure you talk condensending to all the people you come in contact with
Buy the first thing you see and like
ALWAYS pay retail+ for any items you want
Always tell people that you have what they have but ONE or TWO more than they
Never try to talk anyone down in price no matter what
Bump hard into every old man that is not looking where they are going
Walk around with a blank stare to startle others
Lastly Go around telling people what they should have bought when they operating their quipment. People enjoy that whole lot and appreciate your opinion.
If you follow these handful of simple rules it will guarantee a successful day at ANY train show!! Good luck!!
Buy or bring an item to the show and walk around very suspicious at any table so the people start to watch you and when you know they are watching in an inconspicuous way pull the item out of your coat and slowley put it down on their table.
I actually have seen that. Two years at Madison. A guy put a Tyco kit down on a “collectables” table and calmly walked away and pointedly ignored the calls to come back.
Yes, don’t we all enjoy standing behind some guy who is quibbling about knocking off 50 cents on a piece of crap and opens his wallet stuffed with $50.00 bills, (very enjoyable) One other train show advisory: put the train displays at adult chest level so children cannot see anything, this will create a new group of model railroaders. And my favorite: sellers who jam all their stuff under the display table in piles of 4, almost impossible to see what’s there.
Oh my!! Those are so funny!! I love the do not shower or shave a week before the show. You are killing me! Then the elbowing of little kids out of the way. Classic!!
Assembled bridges and other complicated looking models need to be touched to be appreciated. Those “Do Not Touch” signs don’t apply to you, just to the dolts.
The model inside the lowest box in the stack is WAY better than the top one, especially if the stock numbers are the same. It’s on the bottom for protection, since it’s more valuable.
Most dealers can’t stand buyers paying in cash. Plastic only!
Those tables are way stronger than they look. The strongest tables hold the most expensive models. If your feet get tired, take a load off. Conserve your energy for more price haggling.
QUALITY modelled water doesn’t show fingerprints.
Of COURSE you can drive the trains, don’t waste our time asking silly questions, why do you think they’re on display? We WANT YOU to have fun, that’s why we’re here!
Yes, your Dorito crumbs DO add excitement and color to our humdrum ballast. Thank you!
Yeah, I can’t believe the money mover ran dry either. Of COURSE we’ll take your check from the First National Bank of Bogata.
Yes, we DO match internet prices, your word is GOOD with us!
-To prevent the inevitable hordes of intruders from disturbing your carefully disarranged tabletop garbage-art collage, be sure to mark every item properly. Twenty dollars for a Tyco BN boxcar is about right. Another good plan is to abandon the table entirely.
-Here’s a fun little game: collect all but one or two pieces of some item and put them in its original box. Put the other piece in a gallon Ziploc bag with broken Tyco Powertorque motor components and mark it $50. Flatly refuse to break the lot.
-Having trouble marking prices on items? Look in a recent Walthers catalog! Of course, a lot of items won’t be in there, so find something similar. An Intermountain boxcar is somewhere around $25, so that gives you something to start with for, say, an AHM car. Remember, though, that this is no longer being made and is therefore a valuable collectible, so add an allowance of 20-100%.
-Train shows are named thus because they are for the selling of Hot Wheels, Precious Moments figurines, and garden gnomes.
For buyers:
-Every dealer at the show is itching to get his hands on that Franklin Mint Ps-4. They just don’t want it to seem obvious, because they know how much it’s really worth and hope you don’t. Don’t take no for an answer!
-Here is another fun game. It’s called “Memory” and involves twelve bags of carefully sorted and grouped parts. To start, open all the bags and rummage through them…
-It didn’t break if nobody saw it.
For layout exhibitors:
-Modelers are often interested in history. A significant layer of dust can lend an historical air to your pike. Be sure it is n
The vendors at trains shows shouldn’t fool you. They’re looking for a bargain, too. Don’t let their initial feeble attempts to deflect your offer of a Tyco steamer for $25, and their slack-jawed stare when you make it, set you back. They really want it, but they enjoy the game. You’ll win…trust me on this one.
When you make your purchase, do the nice salesperson a huge favour and hand him your year’s accumulation of nickels and dimes to rummage through so that he can extract his fee. He’ll really appreciate the chance to get some change…he was probably running out, anyway.
Follow the guys who seem to know their way around and reach over and grab anything they seem to take a second or lingering look at. They know a good thing when they see it. Just stay out of reach of their bag of nickels and dimes. It hurts!
Don’t forget to stand as long as possible at a dealers table studying a $2.98 item, asking as many questions as possible and occupying all of their time so that they can’t wait on the customers with piles of stuff in their hands. Then, decide you don’t want the item and walk away. They’ll really appreciate that. : )
Then if the place has an intercom system, every time someone says something over it, look around very anxious like and say, “It’s those voices again!” Dont forget the big shopping bag with handles either. (I did that at the checkout of a local Value store where I shop on occasion a few weeks back. I thought the check out clerk was going to pass out, she couldn’t get her breath for the longest time…)
That’s not uncommon in music, bands that are starting out will do up some “home made” CD’s (pretty easy with computers) and sneak them in to a music store, sometimes filing them where they would go alphabetically or putting a stack of CD’s on the counter or on a shelf somewhere when no one is looking with a “FREE” sign leaning up against them…just to let people know about the band and maybe find out they want to hear more.
Personally, I just post the songs for free stream / download on the web:
Well and they also give you a handy goal to use when elbowing and kicking the wee ones out of your way!, and thanks for the tip on the hard boiled eggs, oh sure the not shaving and bathing thing are good, but i can see where the egg thing would give you the extra tang to clear out some space to see the tables better, thanks!