The "Keller" show in Orange County seemed a victim of summer vacation: not a ton of customers, and by 11:30 it was pretty dead except for vendors visiting each other and the same half-dozen vultures circling & waiting for dirt cheap bargain prices, and there were plenty of great prices already, so why try to screw 'em down to a few bucks? (can you tell that I had a couple of a-wipes low-balling me in that irritatingly ingratiating way?)

I did have a comically tragic episode with a plastic tub that worked its way open on the way down, so the instructions for a Academy M7 Priest and maybe a couple of parts are somewhere on the I-5 southbound.

The same faces mostly (and no Jeff Garrity!?) many cleaning out their workshops(?), and I got wondering how guys are going to be absent at the next show, but someone else will be selling off their dusty collection on behalf of their widows (or the guy that owns their storage locker).

On the good side, I picked a couple of hard to find Rising Decal sheets from the guy next to me (thanks Scott!)

So, who else went from the Southern California area, which with millions of warm bodies, you'd think there'd be more modelers.

In LA for the wedding of a family friend. Checking Hyperscale just before Midnight Saturday I learned of the show. Since I didn't have checked bags I didn't buy much. A few decals and supplies. Ended up mailing home a tweezers I was fearful of losing to TSA. Not much 1/72.
Still had a good time.

He had already purchased tickets, and the place was sold out.

I had a guy try to low ball me with a guilt trip too. "I really love that model!" I came down a little and he wanted more. He stayed all afternoon, and came back around at closing time. He wanted to "do me a favor" by letting him take it home, at the lower price. I said no, and it started getting tense. He said he was just trying to get the best deal. I told him I already came down in price for him, and he gave me some sarcastic remark. What about me? Can't I get what I think is a fair price? Do I owe him the right to buy at what I think is an unfair price?

A few years ago, at an IPMS meeting I had a decal for sale for a buck. I guy tried to get me to sell for $.50. This is a very small amount to quibble over, and I would rather just give it to him, but his attitude irritated me so much that I said no. If he can't afford another 50 cents, then he shouldn't be their buying models. I wouldn't barter, so he walked away. If I had it priced at 50 cents, he would have countered with a quarter.


If I want to buy something, I don't barter if it is a fair price. If I ask if they will sell at a lower price, and they say no, I don't make a big deal out of it. It is his model and he can ask whatever he wants. I just walk away.

I had some on-the-newer-side Tamiya tank kits priced at 20 bucks, which I thought was pretty good, and a couple guys didn't quibble all, but I would have knocked a couple bucks off just to move 'em out; I even have a sign that says "Don't see a price? Ask. Don't like a price? Ask." Heck, I think I wanted $25 for a Hasegawa Ju88 and when a guy offered 20, I said "Sure."
But this guy and his buddy were the kind that stand in front your table forever fondling the box contents and then say "15 dollars" with a stupid grin. So before I counter offer he says "Someone started it!" Confused, I look in the box (the sprues were unbagged) and one part, one part(!) is loose, so I basically just say all right gimme fifteen, and hope to get rid him, but then he comes back and tries get one of those newer stupid-expensive Italeri kits for 10 bucks, which I shut down post-haste, then he spots another kit that's clearly marked as having extra parts and figures removed (NOT parts for the tank itself) and he tries the same 15 dollar thing, I say "How about 18--it's a killer deal" and sticks with 15, so I say "Gimme 16 bucks and it's yours" but with the same stupid grin he says "It's missing parts--and it's only a dollar difference" (no, jerkwad, it's 5 dollars). By this time I should have said "You know what? I think I'll keep it and build it myself", but also by this time my buddy says sotto voce "I'll offer you 20 bucks right in front of the guy and shut him down" but they wander off and disappear. It was only a lunch break because they reappear with a third guy who has "heard" about the good price and I finally give up just to get the a-holes outta there, then kick myself for not just putting the darn kit behind the table. Another guy was insulting in his low ball offer on a killer deal on a Dragon tank kit, so he's hardly worth mentioning; the art of of deal-making is totally lost on some guys, and I wonder in what situations they were raised in....

Wow, I needed to vent, huh? You can bet at the next show I sell at I'll ignore "that" guy.

Sounds like the guy that came to my table with his kid in tow. I have a new 1/32nd scale Tamiya F-16 "Thunderbird" marked at $110.00. He sticks his nose in my face to ask, "What's your lowest price?" I tell him the kit is really priced as low as I want to go. He replies to me in his best insulting voice with his kid listening as he walks away that I will be keeping the kit if I won't deal. I tell him in my own insulting voice that the kit is still in shrink wrap and it would fit next to his head that is stuck up his rear end! Off the two storm. He and his kid walk past my table several times afterwards and when he stops to look at the kit I tell him to move on! Yes the show was fun and the rewards to telling someone to "F" off is priceless! Bob

I brought over 100 airplane books, about 25 kits, 7 built-up models and some old airliner postcards. I sold everything and all I had left at the end of the day was a Lucky Lager beer sign. I might have sold that too if I could have plugged it in and illuminated it. I didn't buy much, just a 25-cent used decal sheet.
__Monty Greenly