How do you shop at shows?

Started by Nosher, 25 March 2014, 07:19:00 AM

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How do you shop at shows?

Rigid budget and rigid wish list planned months in advance that I do not deviate from
0 (0%)
Rigid budget and shopping list planned months in adavnce that i deviate from a bit
8 (29.6%)
Rigid budget and shopping list planned months in adavnce that i deviate from far too easily
2 (7.4%)
Budget, no plan that I stick to
1 (3.7%)
Budget, no plan that i exceed a bit
3 (11.1%)
Budget, no plan that I exceed a lot
0 (0%)
No budget, no plan just shop
4 (14.8%)
Budget and plan that both go out of the window once I step across the threshold...
9 (33.3%)

Total Members Voted: 25

Voting closed: 01 April 2014, 08:19:00 AM

Duke Speedy of Leighton

Mine these days tends to be preorders I can pick up while Timecast are quiet!
You may refer to me as: Your Grace, Duke Speedy of Leighton.
2016 Pendraken Painting Competion Participation Prize  (Lucky Dip Catagory) Winner

Womble67

I pretty much know what im gonna get before I go. also I will deviate I see something which would fit with the period im doing

Take care

Andy
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2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

DanJ

I have a very old notebook in which I record stuff I want, this has been taken to shows for at least the last twenty years and I sometimes go through it moving stuff from old pages and lists into a new list up to date list, generally the lists are arranged by manufacturer, so I have a Pendraken List, Gripping Beast List etc.

When I go to a show I'll pick up any pre-orders first then stroll round the show having a good look then go back round with my notebook and pick up items on the list until I've "spent enough".  The definition of "spent enough" varies from show to show but repressents about 3-6 months worth of wargaming including rules and paints.  I also tend to prioritise the stuff it's best to see in the flesh, especially things like transfers and banner sheets.

At the end of the show I might go mad and get something not in the notebook, but it has to be pretty spectacular to make me part with cash on a whim.

I know it's boring but this system has worked well for decades and I don't have a lead mountain.

Ric

That's a pretty good system you have there Dan, it's far too easy to go nuts at a show like a kid in a sweetie shop! That notebook must have some pretty interesting 'wants' from the early days!

marie

ask my husband for money and say i`m skint...then blow the lot on figures...usually works...lol
months later he says, where did all these soldiers come from.....eh I dunno.....lol got em cheap off the net....lol.....
Then he asks, where are all my A4 box folders for the hotel (we run) mmmmm full of figures and terrain, ha,ha.....

FierceKitty

I don't. Your poll doesn't accommodate that option.
I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

paulr

Quote from: FierceKitty on 28 May 2014, 01:02:44 AM
I don't. Your poll doesn't accommodate that option.
Seconded, unless 2 vendors is enough for it to count as a show ;)
Lord Lensman of Wellington
2018 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2022 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!
2023 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

DanJ

QuoteThat notebook must have some pretty interesting 'wants' from the early days!

It certainly has, things like 15mm napoleonic british and french, and whole armies of 15mm ancients which have been bought, pianted, played with then sold.  The ancients have all been replaced with 10mm armies, I sometimes don't know whether to be impressed or depressed by that note book.

It's even got pages of stuff I've seen at shows, would like to buy but haven't ever bought but which I'd like to get into at some stage!  In this category are some beautiful 1200 renaissance ships by Rod Langdon, one day I'll get some but until then they remain in the book.

The book is also a good place to record things like out of print books I want, I was very pleased last year to finally cross off the history of the 43rd Division in NW Europe after at least 10 years of searching.  At this point someone will point out that I could have found it on the web but that would have been unsporting.

Hertsblue

Always have at least one complete tour of the stalls before buying anything, working on the old military maxim that "time spent on reconnaissance is rarely wasted". And always shop towards the end of the show when all the crowds have thinned out and the traders have time to chat.
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

problem with that method is they have frequently sold out.

IanS
FOG IN CHANNEL - EUROPE CUT OFF
Lord Kermit of Birkenhead
Muppet of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021

Hertsblue

Not often. But then, I rarely buy the flavour of the month.
When you realise we're all mad, life makes a lot more sense.

www.rulesdepot.net

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Don't tell me 10mm Aztecs and AWI in brass 'ats..........


IanS
FOG IN CHANNEL - EUROPE CUT OFF
Lord Kermit of Birkenhead
Muppet of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021

FierceKitty

I don't drink coffee to wake up. I wake up to drink coffee.

Lord Kermit of Birkenhead

Course - might get you to stop moaning, mind you didn'a work for FSN......

IanS
FOG IN CHANNEL - EUROPE CUT OFF
Lord Kermit of Birkenhead
Muppet of the year 2019, 2020 and 2021

Luddite

All my planned spending is online.

Shows are '£100 burning a hole in my pocket' free-for-alls where i pick up bits and bobs i didn't know i needed. 
http://www.durhamwargames.co.uk/
http://luddite1811.blogspot.co.uk/

"It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion.  It is by the juice of Typhoo my thoughs acquire speed the teeth acquire stains, the stains serve as a warning.  It is by tea alone i set my mind in motion."

"The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don't need any rules." - Gary Gygax
"Maybe emu trampling created the desert?" - FierceKitty

2012 Painting Competition - Runner-Up!

"I have become inappropriately excited by the thought of a compendium of OOBs." FSN