Salute Convention Hangover...


When I think back to when I was younger.. I could go to such events, with minimal sleep, and get through it all without incident. Heck, I would even go and party like a wild man that night with everyone regaling stories of how the day progressed.

Fast forward 10+ yrs.. and I struggle to get out of bed in time to catch my ride with a local gamer. Let alone survive such an epic event, and have a pint ( or 2! ) afterwards before the long trek back home.

This won't be a too in depth post of Salute other than to say that I am still exhausted. And that the event was MASSIVE!!! I was completely not ready for such a scale of event and it truly did overwhelm me of items.

The only comparison I can make is that if anyone knows Battlefield Berlin, and how varied of miniature companies that they support... take that.. and multiply it by 1000! And you begin to get an idea of how large this place is! More planning required for next time!

A quick shot of the loot gained from the event ( post a trip to the ATM due to how awesome the stuff was available! ).


A quick run down of items that I can remember from the photos include...

  • Box of 30 IJA infantry to push my forces up to 1250 for a potential Escalation league happening at the local club. 
  • Pill box bases for the Machine gunners for my IJA
  • eBay purchases from Adam Parkhouse :) 
  • 3 bottles of Rust from Modelmates ( expect a tutorial soon! )
  • Capt Canada and a Robot from SmartMax
  • Boris II, and Boris III. Mites, and a fantasy Hero from heresy
  • Uncle Sam bust from infamy
  • Toad from infamy
  • 2 models from Ammon. A fat guy diving, and a rusty robot. 
  • 5 sheets of Etchmasters. Picked up for others to deliver when in Germany next week
  • FoW US Rifle Platoon, and Sherman tank for a future diorama ( and to copy MV's article on basing composition! )
  • 2 miniatures from an active Kickstarter that I picked up from The Dark Templar. More on this also in the future!
  • And of course the Salute 2014 miniature and other randoms given out by vendors while we waited in line!

So yeah.. lots of things gained.. more for the lead/plastic/resin pile.. and now I need to sit and download the thoughts and ideas and emotions from the event now to the blog! So watch this space as much to be shown!!!!!

Comments

  1. i feel you pain mate!! :D before the event i though like "a map? bah, ill manage without one how hard can it be"? but maaaaaan the size of that thing! next year a battleplan for sure.

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    1. I had a map, and it still overwhelmed me!!! At least I was able to get the few pieces I really wanted, but I missed so much due to poor time management in meet ups, and demos, and vendors, and chats.. so much..

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  2. Looking at the vendors list now and I can't believe how much I missed, such a big event

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    1. It was quite insane actually. I am seeing photos of others there and thinking "where was that?!?!!" or "where was I when that was happening???" So much to do there.. insane..

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  3. Nice to have met you on the day and put a name to the face..... or maybe the other way around. A very well considered bag of Swag that you have made of with.

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    1. Indeed.. face to name or name to face.. in the end it is easier to know who I comment against now :) Made off with, and gotten away with though in regards of the swag is another discussion... :) But it is a good sized one at that! Not that you didn't get a few goodies yourself there! Looking forward to seeing some of them painted up now!

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  4. Replies
    1. Was in the same situation! Was surprised at how large and busy and and and... just amazed! Need to better plan for this in the future! Was great to meet up with you though and see the rest of the Posties ( even Ray! ). Hope to meet up with you all again in the future!

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  5. Great to put a face to the name!!! My Feet and eyes were killing me!!!

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    1. Indeed, was good to meet you. And Happy Belated Birthday once more!!!!

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  6. It was indeed a great show, and it was good to meet you right at the end of the day when collecting our miniatures from the competition :) The show seems to get larger every year, and I am now struggling to get round every stand even with a battle plan!

    Hopefully we'll cross paths at some other event in the not too distant future

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    1. Likewise! I am really happy to have had the chance to have a quick chat, and do indeed hope we can meet up again in the not so distant future! Would love to have a look at more of your pieces :)

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    2. Yeah, I am not sure which show I'll be at next, but you are more than welcome to join us for a day of painting in Exeter (although it is quite a distance for you!). I'll FB you with any details, but no pressure ;)

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    3. I will hold you to that! 3 hr drive... mmm.. doable! :) Will chat over FB indeed ;)

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  7. Ha ha! I can relate to a lot of the above statements. I had a map, I had a list of sellers and even of specific products I wanted to look at and potentially buy. All thrown out of the window the moment I got there. Huge, huge space and thousands (millions?) of little objects to look at and hundreds of people to talk to. The scale deserved two days, not just one, I think. So it was humany impossible to see everything and talk to everyone and remain alive after the experience.
    Anyway, here's my contribution to the photo collection (although some forums have way more than this - and yes, looking at some of them, I too did ask myself: "where was that?"):

    http://fistful-minis.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/salute-2014.html

    Take care,

    Joao

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    Replies
    1. It was quite extreme.. and normally I am reserved enough to get to where I want to get to, and still have time to snap away a ton of photos! This time.. not so much!!!
      Thank you for the link to your blog and your review! Fantastic Photos, and I will link to it again when I write my more in depth ( though still shallow ) review of the event!

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  8. Would have been nice to have met you in person since I follow your blog constantly. There were so many people it was unbelievable. Good thing to see that I'm not the only person overwhelmed by it all. It was great to seen all the traders and miniatures available. Definitely one of the best miniatures event so far. Didn't even know there was a blogger's meet until I read it from another blog.

    Will you be participating in the FigureWorld show in Peterborough?

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    1. It was quite insane on how many people were there... very difficult to meet up with people unless you knew them before hand and had a timing to meet up! And even then it was hectic!

      As for FigureWorld.. I am putting it into the calendar, but not sure if I will go yet. Will need to confirm against work and family vacations :) But it is in the calendar all the same!

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  9. Holy Moly, I am looking forward to a more in depth view ... this looks truly massive!

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    1. Beyond massive! So much to do, so little time to do it in! Wish I was cloned for the show or at least had a better idea on what to expect there!

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  10. Everyone I've read came home with a big haul. I'm so glad you got to go and got to meet up with your fellow bloggers.

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    1. Thanks Anne. It was great to meet up with the other bloggers and to be able to chat on how things are going. Was also very hard NOT to come out of there with a big haul! I mean there was so much eye candy everywhere it was just insane!

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  11. Looks like a good loot !
    I'm looking forward to see more impressions.

    Cheers
    Stefan

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    1. Still trying to put them to blogger now.. expect something soon ;)

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