I posted a little
Steel City Con Wrap-Up the other day on the front page. The Pittsburgh Toy Show really is becoming one of the more fun toy/collectibles shows for the East, and with the autograph thing they're getting going it's really becoming more of a convention than just a toy show.
As always the show's a place I spend more money than I probably should... I was saving all month to just shop at the show though actually, so I knew where I stood going in financially. I tend not to be a HUGE shopper there for anything "new"... I will say, this is probably the first time I walked out with pretty much brand new stuff though.
I'm a stickler for good prices, so I never pay over retail... Deals can be had at the show in abundance though. If you're into custom fodder there are always lots of dealers selling loose modern for cheap. There was a lot of vintage again but not quite as much as the last show. I did see some nice boxed pieces at a few tables though, and one guy had some really choice loose vintage figures w/original accessories but vintage wasn't on my radar for the day.
Anyway though, I picked up a number of loose droid figures like 2-1B, ASP-7 and the like for $2 a piece. I got a few of the droids from the astromech packs as well (the red R4 droid for instance) for a scant $4 each. I think I got 3 astromechs for that price... Not bad eh?
I got 4 Death Star Troopers and 2 Rebel Guards for $6 each, those were the "new" items I purchased at the show, which is rare, but for less than retail I couldn't pass them up!
I mean, hell I'd pay $7.10 for those at Wal-Mart so why not $6 a piece? I picked up 2 VTSC Sandpeople for $7 (for both) off the guy with the astromechs too. Love that kind of a deal really... Wound up with a $4 Yavin Ceremony Luke too for customizing... a figure I've hardly even seen on the pegs. I also got two Snowtroopers (VTAC) for $7 each that were opened and had the tabs removed. I'm happy with $7 Snowies though.
I got a box of Kleenex, my "oddball" purchase for the day, with ESB pictures all over it... Unopened, nice condition. It's a nice complement to the box I got at the last show with McQuarrie art on it I thought and for a good price I felt (not that I know what's good on those or not).
Some things I passed on though that I saw for good prices were STAP's for $5 a piece, a yellow Evolutions Clone set for $20, etc. Not bad prices on some things... Other things, not so much. Like I said though, deals can be found. McQuarrie Concept figures were INSANELY priced. I mean, just nutty ****. The cheapest I saw McBacca was $12... Boba I saw for $15 and no less... The most I saw for a Boba or McBacca was $50 (yes, $50 for one figure). Really stupid **** like that... It also showed where a lot of the McQuarrie figures from PIttsburgh are too... in the hands of scalpers.
I got to meet Jeremy Bulloch and get an autograph... I unfortunately didn't get time to meet/speak with the other Star Wars celebs at the show as I wasn't getting autographs from everyone, but they seemed busy early Sunday and all Saturday signing stuff.
As always, the PSWCS Western gang wound up at John Harvard's Micro-brew down the street from the Expo-Mart in Monroeville, PA. A good time drinking, talking, and just having fun... And some trading/selling too. I know I had some things for others, and some folks had things for me, so I wound up spending and getting some dough all at the same time.
I had a great time though, lots of good deals ultimately... Spent a bit, but it was worth it I think... The only sad part of the day was running into the biggest douche of a toy dealer I think I've ever met, and that says a TON about this guy since I've met a lot of douchey toy dealers in my time, haha.
He had some opened vintage modern 30AC figures and was asking $8 a piece, which he obviously had taken the mail-in tabs to send in for the coins... So, I simply asked if he'd sell two (Leia and a Snowtrooper, my thinking being that a Leia is tough to pawn off on anyone while the Snowie is a decent figure) for $10... Of course I'm always willing to do some negotiation and most dealers are too because they want to sell stuff...
The guy's reply was this, "I told you, they are $8 each" with basically an eyeroll.
Now, I probably would've spent $12 or $13 for them, I would've negotiated ya know? But he was really bitchy about it, so I put the figures down and walked away. This was Saturday... I came back Sunday then to the show and his table had sold hardly anything it seemed and he'd only sold the Snowtrooper (big shock) of the vintage figures he had there... The sad thing to me was he had a 501st Legion T-Shirt on... The 501st guys are usually a pretty great group, without a doubt, so I'm not sure he's a part of them... He had the shirt on though, and maybe is the group's "bad apple"? I dunno. I'm pretty content just not to buy off him though... From what I heard, I'm not the first of the Western PSWCS members to have trouble with him too like this, he's I guess really bitchy with others who have tried to deal with him in the past. To each their own though I figure.
Never had any problems with other dealers though, they usually are willing to negotiate and fun really to deal with over toys. It's really a rarity when you get the guy who just won't budge and acts somehow offended that you even suggested a negotiation, haha.
Overall though, I must say the show was again fantastic. I think the December show still always ranks as the biggest, best, and most active one of the year. I think it's the build-up to the Christmas season maybe, but it really is nice to get the Summer show in too, as well as the Spring show in March/April. They're all good and for some reason I always walk away with a lot less money.
Just talkign to the dealers too, I noticed a number of people from pretty far away... Toronto area, Florida, the Carolinas, New Jersey, and really all over. Of course lots from Ohio, Pennsylvania, WV, MD and the like though, and just north in NY like the Buffalo area... Lots of dealers from all over though... The show's growing. I hope some day it's so big it needs both sides of the Expo-Mart to contain it.
