SOS 2010

chinstrap said:
Fascinating from here in Scotland to see all you guys describing these epic road trips you're about to undertake, or in Gus's case already are.This must be a hell of a good show! I assume you don't fly because you're taking stuff for stalls, or hoping to come back laden with goodies?

Anybody at this jamboree sell Victorian British helmets?

Safe travelling

Patrick
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Hey Patrick
We made 916 miles today, with the 400 miles we drove yesterday, we should be a lot closer. We are about half way there, but I have planned a shortcut that could add hundreds of miles to the trip.
Yes, we drive partly to be able to carry mor, and things that are not alloowed on airlines, It takes two days to get to Kentucky from our home, as we have to drive 250 miles to the airport, and with cheack in time and change overs, it is easier to drived, and almost quicker, as we can do it in two easy days as loong as I am not allowed to navigate.
This is one of the best shows in the world, and so far there has been no snow, Wyoming was nearly bare, and we saw no snow in Nebraska (but then it was dark) any snow we see now is not worth much, as we are on the wrong side of the divide.
Gus
 
Have a great safe show everyone. My thoughts are with you and hopefully you guys will post lots of pics from the event. Good hunting to all! Brian
 
First off, all the news reports have been exagerated, we saw a report about the big pileup in Kansas city on Sunday, the news lead us to believe that it was weather related, but when we got there, there was no snow, we are in Illinois, and there is only a skiff of snow.
We should roll into Louisville around mid day tomorrow.
Gus
 
We are in Louisville, the roads were all clear, no snow to speak of here, just a skiff, You boys from Minnesota will probably just call it a heavey frost, Tony would no doubt call it a light dew.
I managed to time it right again, to call James while he was going through security at the airport again, I think he got strip searched because of it.
Anyway, the reports of bad weather have all been blown out of proportion, and this should be another great party.
Gus
 
Well, the vacation of the year is over! I think this was the best SOS I have attended. Several things happened that were positive. There was a lot more traffic than last year. Dealers did not start breaking down and going away Saturday. We stayed open until almost 4 on Saturday. Given the new rules, next year will be even better and Saturday is a viable day.

We drank a lot of beer. Despite the weather many people were able to plow through though the airlines have a lot of delays and cancellations. Groups went to the German restaurant both Wednesday and Friday. Some folks missed Wednesday because of the flight delays and the Irish place got crossed off because you couldn’t hear yourself think. The food at the German place is absolutely the best. You have to wonder why they don’t get a larger place considering how slammed that place is. There does seem to be disagreement about whether the pork or the veal is the best. The beer choices are astonishing and we passed around deserts. One lesson we did learn is that the place opens up at 6 PM and a 6 PM reservation works far better than an 8 PM reservation. You get right in and your seats are waiting -- there is no crowd just to get in the door. The general consensus was to go there two times next year with a smaller group at Wednesday’s gathering and a large group for a Friday. That way all people can attend if they want to and taste this wonderful food!

The Thursday night gathering was great and we must have left them over 100 empty beer bottles. Paul and Allan Schaeffer bought all the beer and James bought the pizza. Randy and Tony Cowan put a large contribution in the pot. Jerry even wore his slippers. There was a show and tell at the gathering and questions went flying back and forth. Our thanks go out to Dick’s parole officer who let him attend again this year.

Based on dietary restrictions, pizza will probably go next year. The gathering and beer drinking will remain and very possibly we will have the gathering place for both Thursday and Friday night so that people who arrive later will have a chance to socialize and drink some beer. Did I say we drank a lot of beer. The longsleeved T-shirts were far more popular than the baseball shirts. I got the hint -- even some of the girls use them for sleeping shirts after the fact. We will have a contest for the helmet on the shirt next year.

There was some helmet picking Wednesday night but not as much as last year. Alan found some but I do not think it was a good deal -- I don’t think he took it.

Thursday morning set up was cold. They kept the door open and the temperature was either too hot or too cold -- the bathrooms were absolutely disgusting. Even the one in the hallway defied description. Thank God Gus brought a large bottle of hand sanitizer. There was a mad scramble during the setup time as deals were made and promises fulfilled with many helmets and other items changing hands and going under the tables. If you have not seen it the European dealers and pretty much everyone else haunts up and down the aisles looking for new things to be brought out. Quick deals are made and money flies around. It is hard to compete with the Europeans however this year they seemed slower and some of them actually gave off an impression that you should be honored to have them buy from you. Interesting. Lunch was provided by Gus and ham sandwiches and water did us all good.

A medal dealer located in the center of the hall brought in a consignment of about a dozen helmets from someone’s estate. He really did not know what he had and lucky for us the pickelhaube guys got there first. Some real treasures were bought including an incredible 1842 by James and an 88 officers, by Randy. What was really good was that people were able to point out faults or good points about various helmets -- you had friends who were watching out for your best interest. James came back to the table and told me about it -- I went over there and purchased two shakos that had been left on the side unnoticed. I will put them up later but together the two helmets cost me $1250. I was pretty pleased.

Book sales were a bit slow on Thursday and Friday. We actually had a guy come by who pointed to the book and said “I could learn nothing from that book”. I have 300 books in my basement! On Saturday, book sales really took off. Folks were coming over laying down their money saying my buddy says this is the best book ever. Sales were brisk for all items and we were very much picked over. Next year, I am going through the house picking up anything I don’t want and I am sure it will sell. Being that Saturday is now a viable there are more buyers and a lot more traffic. This should only improve next year.
 
Nice recap Joe. The only thing I would add is that the food remained (and will likely remain) the other major problem with this show.

There is only pizza, hotdogs and burgers (none of which looks good) available, along with popcorn and pretzels and the prices are outrageous. I know this is par for the course with shows, but considering that on Friday and Saturday you need to pay $5 to park with no re-entry that is just plain terrible. Of course, it is a semi-moot point as there is nothing close by either.

I think next year will be a bit bigger. The economy should (god willing) pick up, and the new rules will keep dealers in place.

I'm looking forward to it already.
 
Next year we need to put a snow plow on Joe's chair so he can get through the beer bottles to get to the loo.
The show was better on Saturday this year than it was on Friday at noon last year, there were a few empty tables, but not several hundred like last year.
I would like to see them add a drop box for the table contracts, as I am the sucker that gets stuck standing in line, it worked better this year, but it still takes one away from the table for an hour during peak sales time on Saturday, the up side is that I managed to get Randy's and James's credit card numbers, and they can not cancel them with out losing their tables next year, woo hoo.
Best wishes
Gus
 
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