OTSN 2014 is only a week or so away depending on when you are going. Some of the dealers will be arriving as early as Wednesday and will be setting their rooms up. The action gets into full force Thursday night through Saturday afternoon. Then Sunday will be the show with 350 tables.
This year collectors will have a number of new items making their debuts at the show. We have heard about the figures from Paragon, TSSD and others, will there be any surprises? Who knows I don’t.
Send your reports on the show and if you have any pictures to share you can send them to pestad@gmail.com
One final note Laurie and I will not be there. We had thought of coming this year, but we found out we have to have a tree removed that is on the back of the property. It is covered with vines and has to be removed. This unforeseen problem is diverting our money to this project over OTSN. Hopefully we will come next year.
Hopefully you and Laurie can make it next year. You’re still seeing your friends and fellow collectors on the east coast on a regular basis in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and West Virginia, but I believe you’ll enjoy seeing so many of your friends and acquaintances from the west and midwest that you haven’t seen in years. Of course, many of your east coast friends will be there as well. After speaking to you by phone for a year or so, it was at OTSN that I first met you. Then I read in PFPC that you had gotton married,and met Laurie and you together at OTSN right after you got married. I was a big fan of your newsletter and sales list, and when I was first getting into the hobby as an adult it was one of the main things that made me feel connected to the hobby. There was no internet then, but I still miss getting it every two weeks. I may not have been your biggest customer, but I believe very few issues came out where I didn’t call in to order a few things.
I enjoy the Indiana show, and our smaller Michigan show, but OTSN remains unique in the sheer quantify of so many collectors and dealers it brings together for such a nice, extended weekend.
Don
I miss seeing our old friends from the Midwest and the West. The problem has been cost. In the past we would use go via airlines due to our tight schedules. That cost has risen considerable over the last few years, that we look at driving. Then as I mentioned the need to remove a tree on the property is took priority. Several years ago I had the front trees trimmed due to the city. It was good I had it done as later in that month we had a freak snow storm, which caused a lot of damage. We have very little compared to our neighbors.
We enjoy getting to the shows to see our friends old and new. Going to show helps me keep my sanity and we have a lot fun. I follow a comment that my father made to me as child. He was into betting on the horses and would go to race tracks. He said they always respected the man, who had enough money left to buy a good meal. I follow that philosophy going to show as I see we have good meal after the show.
It was great meeting you Don and it was fun doing the list. That time as past for doing lists, but I can still do Comment Time here on the web.
I will be there again, 5th floor, can’t remember my room number, but it’s the same room I’ve been in for the last 7 or 8 years. Stop by, buy my offerings , have a beer, have a chat. I’ll have Alamo conversions, Conte sets, vintage Marx , some painted Plastic Underground cavalry and Indians and some assorted loose figures.
For those of you get thirsty during the show at OTSN , room 5336 will have beer, no cover, no minimum.
I’ll be rooming with Ed. We’ll have lots of surprises and playsets. Stop in say hello, we should be in 5336. There will be flyers on both the fifth and fourth floor lobbies. We’ll be open for business about nine AM Thursday morning right through Saturday and will be selling at the show itself Sunday.
It would be nice if everyone in the hobby could attend these big shows, and we could all meet each other. But I myself don’t attend either the West Coast Show in California, or the East Coast Show in New Jersey, or the Texas Show in San Antonio, and it’s all because of the time and expense of traveling to far climes. But being in the Midwest, I can attend Chicago’s OTSN, if not every year, at least occasionally (I think I’ve been to about 10 OTSNs out of a total of 34). Fortunately, this year is one I can get to. And with 7 days now to my departure, I can hardly wait. It’s putting me in such a good mood, I’ve even resolved to make a small contribution to Mike Kutnick ‘s “Let some less fortunate kids have a nice Christmas” annual fund. Mike, I expect I’ll advance (or at least stumble) into your and Ed Borris’ room sometime Friday morning.
Always good to see you Don, if it’s not too early you can have a beer.