Colours Show Report

Started by Leon, 14 September 2010, 05:35:23 AM

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Leon

14 September 2010, 05:35:23 AM Last Edit: 14 September 2010, 06:15:26 AM by Leon
Colours is one of the biggest shows of the year, spread over 2 days at the Newbury Racecourse.  Last year was a quiet one for us, so we were hoping for better things this year.  We travel down on the Friday for these shows, staying with a friend of ours.  The van behaved itself and got us down on the Friday, and then across to Newbury on Saturday morning.



We arrived at 8:10am, just after the venue opened.  Apparently there were a few traders who got there to unload at 7am but had to wait for someone to let them in!  Setting up was quick and easy, with us being able to park the van about 10 yards away from the stand.  It can be a bit cramped sometimes at the bigger shows, but we were OK.



The show is spread over 3 floors, with the majority of the traders downstairs on the ground floor.

Before opening:


After opening:






The second and third floors had a few traders, and then a huge number of display/participation and competition games, more then enough to keep everyone happy.  I got as many pics as I went along as possible, so I'll pop them all at the end.

Second floor:


Third floor:


Steve J popped by as we were getting set up, and dropped off a painted example of the Terrace house he designed.  We'd cast up a load to bring with us, and we sold a few over the weekend.



It was a crazily busy morning, so we were confined to the tradestand for the first few hours, and didn't get chance to have a wander about until early afternoon.  The show was busy, and the other traders all seemed to be enjoying the day as well.  The quality and depth of the games on show was fantastic, with a couple of truly outstanding efforts.

Lunch came and went, with the food on offer being of a good quality, although slightly pricey, but that's to be expected at the bigger shows.  One nice feature was being able to take your lunch out onto the terraces overlooking the racecourse.





The Saturday quietened down around half 3, and I kept busy restocking the racks, while Dave was otherwise occupied...!






Sunday was bright and sunny, and we were granted a lie-in until 7am!  It's nice being able to just walk in and not have to worry about setting things up, something I'm looking forward to in a few weeks at Derby as well.  The other plus point, is that you can have a good look about on the Sunday before the show opens again.  I got some more pics as I wandered.

The second day of two-day shows is usually a very quiet affair, and that's what we were expecting here.  Eldamarelf popped by at 10am to finalise a huge order of Russians, and then after that it was very quiet until after lunch, when it picked up slightly.  I'm not sure how the competitions upstairs affect things, and whether people come to do their shopping straight after lunch?  Either way, we picked up business-wise which then continued all afternoon, even while we were packing up the stand!  With a good second day as well, this was probably the best Colours we've had.

Over the course of the show, we were able to meet quite a few Forum members, including Steve J and Kiwidave, who were putting on a 10mm SCW game upstairs;  Eldamarelf, Republic of Tolwortha and Sandinista, who popped by to collect their pre-orders; and Andy T, Fulham Fan and Bernie, who came to say hello.  I'm sure there were a couple of others, but I forgot to make a note, or didn't know what their nametag was!  It's great to be able to put faces to people I 'speak' with regularly online as well.

As many good points as there were at this show, there was unfortunately one very bad one too.  During the course of Saturday, several traders had stock stolen from their stands.  Two Flames of War packs from one trader totalling nearly £200 were taken, along with some display figures and some books from two other companies.  A couple of these traders also mentioned that this had happened to them in previous years, and is something which really spoils the weekend for businesses.

However, the weekend was a positive one, well laid out, good numbers of people, and good games, which all helped the show maintain it's position as one of the Big 3 shows of the year, alongside Salute and Triples.

Right then, that's enough of me waffling on, let's get to pictures!  I think I over-compensated slightly from the lack of pictures last week, but the more the merrier!


www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Leon

SteveJ and Kiwidave's 10mm SCW game:
















A cool WW2 game:









www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Leon

A couple of Naps games:


















Lego Star Wars:

www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Leon

An outstanding 6mm Sci-Fi game.  The guys responsible for this one told me it started life 10 years ago, and has grown and grown ever since, with so much detail it was impossible to get it on camera.







































www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Leon

Some other games that caught the eye:













































www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Leon

And some more 'Cat in the Hat' photo's!  There's a few Forum members hiding in here, so I'll let them identify themselves!











www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

Aart Brouwer

Quote from: Leon on 14 September 2010, 05:57:47 AM
A couple of Naps games:






Good heavens, what a great table!... I'd have loved to be there and play some on that one. I think the bottom picture in particular proves that there is a God and that he is benevolent to us wargamers.

Cheers,
Aart
Sadly no longer with us - RIP (1958-2013)

"No, I do not have Orcs, Riders of Rohan, Dark Elves, Skaven, Kroot Mercenaries Battle Tech, HeroClix, Gangs of Mega-City One or many-horned f****** genetic-mechanoid arse-faced pigmen from the Purple Pustule of Tharg T bloody M." (Harry Pearson, Achtung Schweinehund!)

Megamatman

Nice work mate.  8) Loving the Lego Star Wars!

Matt
Megamatman

T13A

Leon

Great photos, you even managed to get my 5 year old in two of them!

Cheers Paul  8)
T13A Out!

Leon

Quote from: Fulham Fan on 14 September 2010, 08:19:57 PM
Leon

Great photos, you even managed to get my 5 year old in two of them!

Cheers Paul  8)

I didn't realise how many I'd taken until it came to upload them, which took about an hour!
www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

nikharwood

Looks great - shame I had to pass on this one at the 11th hour this year, but looks like SteveJ & KD [along with Gun-Pit Paul, 6mm heretic that he is] did a fine job with the SCW  8)

Leon

Quote from: nikharwood on 15 September 2010, 12:21:13 AM
...Gun-Pit Paul, 6mm heretic that he is...

What can we tempt him with...?!   :-\
www.pendraken.co.uk - Now home to over 7000 products, including 4500 items for 10mm wargaming, plus MDF bases, Battlescale buildings, I-94 decals, Litko Gaming Aids, Militia Miniatures, Raiden Miniatures 1/285th aircraft, Red Vectors MDF products, Vallejo paints and much, much more!

nikharwood

Artillery [he' ex RA]...and beer  ;)

Kiwidave



That'll be me then :D

Was a good show - I didn't buy any 10mm though (got some 28mm Israelites...). Had a good chat to Dave and Leon about various things model-related.

KD

PNS1814

Hi,

Thanks for the great pictures, we are the Portsmouth Napoleonic Society and put on the Dos de Mayo display we have a few pictures from the show on this page:

http://www.pns1814.co.uk/shows.htm


Cheers

Vic