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.
Reverse Stealing!! That would be kinda funny!
Andies Candy wrote: 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.Reverse Stealing!! That would be kinda funny!
Trynn_Allen2 wrote: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.
Now that is a smart person and he probably enjoyed the attention. Sort of makes a statement without saying anything.
I have been thinking of taking a box of old brass track to a train show and just leaving it with a big "FREE" sign on it.
As for bad advice, how about "Don't shave or shower the week before the show."
"While watching an operating layout, start talking with someone and follow him around for a half-hour to continue the conversation."
"Spill your drink on the floor, and then just walk away."
"Elbow little kids out of the way so you can stand right in front of the layout."
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley wrote: I have been thinking of taking a box of old brass track to a train show and just leaving it with a big "FREE" sign on it.As for bad advice, how about "Don't shave or shower the week before the show.""While watching an operating layout, start talking with someone and follow him around for a half-hour to continue the conversation.""Spill your drink on the floor, and then just walk away.""Elbow little kids out of the way so you can stand right in front of the layout."
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!!
Eating 6 hardboiled eggs the morning of the show may have a more attention grabbing response.
Sword fights with flex track.
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!
concretelackey wrote: I have been thinking of taking a box of old brass track to a train show and just leaving it with a big "FREE" sign on it.
cl:
I'd take it. I use the stuff.
My own advice:
For sellers:
-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 never disturbed. Fading is also good.
-People really want to see trains orbiting 32767 times on the same tracks, so be sure you never use all those spurs, sidings, yards, switching tracks, and so forth for any interesting purpose. They don't really have to work, for that matter.
In general:
-He who attends with the most patches wins.
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. : )
Jim
MisterBeasley wrote:As for bad advice, how about "Don't shave or shower the week before the show."
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....)
Ray Seneca Lake, Ontario, and Western R.R. (S.L.O.&W.) in HO
We'll get there sooner or later!
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:
Revenuers !!
jimk wrote:The ropes around a layout are there for the kids to play under and around. In fact, just think of the whole place as a playground free-for-all.
concretelackey wrote: MisterBeasley wrote: Eaating 6 hardboiled eggs the morning of the show may have a more attention grabbing response.
MisterBeasley wrote:
Eaating 6 hardboiled eggs the morning of the show may have a more attention grabbing response.
Don't forget to ask the guy at the brass table as you're looking at an unpainted never-been-run 1954 Brass Max Gray SP 4-8-4 in the original box: "Does this come equipped with DCC and a Tsunami?"
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Yes its quite alright to put your video camera on the $400 HO scale steamer running on the modules. And dont forget that fingers will not derail the Acela train going a scale 100 mph. And yes the module people wont mind missing some cows and cemetary stones. Tell the kids not to touch but its ok if you do.
Happens at each show!!!!
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
MisterBeasley wrote: As for bad advice, how about "Don't shave or shower the week before the show."
Oh man I was AT that show! Thought I'd die! And the guy went everywhere I did.
When Z was new I saw an old guy pick up a Z scale engine, drop it to the floor, see it smash into a million pieces, say "humph!" and walk away. The dealer looked ready to cry.
Here is a piece of bad train show advice -- when you see the "------" you have been looking for [fill in the blank: car, locomotive, book, magazine, video, detail part, photograph, tool, paint, whatever], don't buy it! Go ahead -- take a walk around and come back later to buy it. Of course it will still be there -- who would want it other than yourself?
And NEVER NEVER NEVER go to a train show with any kind of list of what you already have, from magazine back issues to C&NW 40 ft. boxcar numbers. After all, the chances of your buying a duplicate of what you already have back home are practically nil.
Dave Nelson
About the spill soda and leave. My wife and I went to McDonalds for lunch and some lady came up to the manager and told him her daughter spilled some fries and ketchup on the floor. Then.... she just walks out. There was fries and ketchup all over the floor. First thing I thought of was think topic.
I think if you add something with the drink might make it alittle better.
"Rust, whats not to love?"
dknelson wrote:Here is a piece of bad train show advice -- when you see the "------" you have been looking for [fill in the blank: car, locomotive, book, magazine, video, detail part, photograph, tool, paint, whatever], don't buy it! Go ahead -- take a walk around and come back later to buy it. Of course it will still be there -- who would want it other than yourself?
dk:
Actually, I have to put on my serious hat for a second, because I actually think this is good advice. I usually do this, except in very very special cases. (I do snap up magazines when I find one I like. The price is fairly standard and it's hard to go wrong.)
Sometimes I find an identical framistan across the room for half the price. Usually the item is still there on my second visit, but the way I figure, if it's gone, no harm is done. I was fine without the item, and I still am. I'll find something else to spend money on anyhow. This way, I don't overspend or end up with tons of impulse-buys I didn't really need.
I guess it's time for me to come clean:
In the later 80's or early 90's me and (we were 17 or 18 years old) a buddy of mine used to go to the GATS show in Wheaton Illinois every Sunday it was on. There was a guy who sold tons of Athearn Blue Box engines in the second building. He was a jerk to kids, he still is a jerk to kids, I won't buy anything from him again.
Well to make a long story short, I may have been a look out person on a prank pulled on this clown. Lets just say in April he was real rude to my buddy who had spent $200 on Athearn locomotives, that was at the time 10 engines. After the sale he said to my buddy' "Now you little fags go home a play with trains." Not very nice to guy who just dumped $200. Well it ate us all the way home so next month we retrurned to his table. We brought with us the empty Blue boxes from last month, so they would have his price tag on it. But they were not empty. Somebody had replaced the locomotives with cat box cleannings.
Roger
jesrr wrote: concretelackey wrote: MisterBeasley wrote: Eaating 6 hardboiled eggs the morning of the show may have a more attention grabbing response. The six hardboiled eggs have to be pickled and washed down with a few beers, You,ll have the place tp yourself.
A couple of bean burritos will also go good with the beers & eggs. For the "other end", something with a lot of onion & garlic and a big HIII! will get you a little extra elbow room
Fitter Roger wrote:I guess it's time for me to come clean: In the later 80's or early 90's me and (we were 17 or 18 years old) a buddy of mine used to go to the GATS show in Wheaton Illinois every Sunday it was on. There was a guy who sold tons of Athearn Blue Box engines in the second building. He was a jerk to kids, he still is a jerk to kids, I won't buy anything from him again. Well to make a long story short, I may have been a look out person on a prank pulled on this clown. Lets just say in April he was real rude to my buddy who had spent $200 on Athearn locomotives, that was at the time 10 engines. After the sale he said to my buddy' "Now you little fags go home a play with trains." Not very nice to guy who just dumped $200. Well it ate us all the way home so next month we retrurned to his table. We brought with us the empty Blue boxes from last month, so they would have his price tag on it. But they were not empty. Somebody had replaced the locomotives with cat box cleannings.Roger
RIGHT ON! I would of put your dog's business in there too.
The shave and shower people!!!!! (that don't). How do I always bump into them?? Change that, fortunately I see/smell them soon enough to miss, but it does seem as though the dust of Pig Pen is nearby. ( I don't see shows listed within a half of Philly anymore )
cooltech