Jon Cole Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 First, I wasn't sure if this is the right place to post this... apologies if not correct. Please feel free to move. From Facebook: Moebius Models New York Toy Fair starts Sunday. Not setting up, as I feel the floor setup is very lazy and not conducive to displaying to your customer base. I refuse to do shows anymore that I don't get any advantage of. It's great that some companies have been doing these shows forever, but to be penalized for being a newer company because you're too lazy to rearrange the floor plan from year to year is just that, lazy. I won't send a huge check so the management can place me where they feel it's best. If I'm paying, I want to know I'm comfortable with where I'm at. So no Moebius booth. But we'll have a Galactica, Batman, and the Robot in the Merit International booth. I know this doesn't do many of you any good as the show is closed to the public, but February will probably see no new announcements any more as Toy Fair has outgrown its usefulness for many of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragline Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I can understand that feeling very well indeed. I used to deal comic books. When I first started I knew very few of the dealers [= to Moebius' position]. I would get tables in the most remote places of the hall, and never of my choosing. I paid my dues [not suggesting they have not, nor should] and things got better.But considering it's an "insider" type show, and Moebius' reputation for quality I would expect dealers to seek them out anyway. I wonder how big that check they have to cut is..... Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas1957 Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I thought that posting by Moebius was very interesting. Just like Revell introducing kits at the Toledo Toy Show instead of iHobby. I suspect the check they have to write is quite substantial. For better or worse the internet may make that type of show obsolete & not just in toys as every industry has something similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clovis Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 I used to help set up and run a small booth for a small business at a big trade show. Just to set up, the booth cost $2,400.00, and the organizers would put you wherever they wanted. One year, they had an overflow of vendors, and instead of refusing their money, they set those vendors up in a basement hallway that virtually got no foot traffic. I still can't believe that there wasn't a revolt by those vendors. They were pretty ticked, and rightly so. I can't imagine the costs of setting up at the Toy Show. Just the thought of it being in NYC sends shivers through my body. At most shows, you are required to use the convention hall's labor to move your items in and out of the building. At one show, vendors were required to park in a certain parking lot, and the cost of that was $25 for 5 hours...and that was 10 years ago. While this is a sheer and outright guess, I would say that a small company would have to commit at least $7,500 to set up at a show like the NY Toy Show. It is going to take at least 2 people to run a booth like that, and their salaries are not free. The displays have to be shipped to and from the convention hall, set up, cost of the booth, cost of promotion items, parking, hotel expenses, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1930fordpickup Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Shows are not cheap and never have been. Back in the day they were important . Now with the computer and the internet they are becoming a thing of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Van Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 My hobby trade show story........... I was attending a trade show. This was in the 1990's so a while back....when the trade shows were important! We would spend two days at the show. We would stop and talk to many for the reps from companies we dealt with or bought from. We stopped at one booth....a vendor we bought a lot of stuff from. It was busy but our rep was expecting us. After all the walking....we needed to sit down. Short one chair I saw a stack 10 feet away...same chairs in the booth. When I touched a chair in the stack a guy came running up yelling I can't do that. The show floor was a union show as they say.....and this guy had to select a chair and carry it for me the 10 feet. I said thanks....and sat down. The guy hung around for a while.....but finally walked off.....I was told later he was waiting for a tip!!! Frank Winspur is a smart man. If he feels that money is better spent at an event like Toledo (they were there in 13) then he knows what he is talking about. Trade shows are about done for the hobby market....the cost to benefit ratio is not there considering how much it costs to do the same on the net....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemodeler Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I would rather a model company release the information at a model contest/show & the internet than at a toy or hobby show. Back in the day when many retailers carried models and it was important for the companies to show their wares to the buyers of these retailers, I am sure they could justify the cost. Today, spend the money on other areas of advertising or promotion, I am sure they will get a better bang for their buck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jas1957 Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Plus I know for a fact setting up at Toledo costs a small fraction of what one of the trade shows would cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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