Tuesday 7 February 2023

Vapnatark - York 5 February 2023

I went to the York show on Saturday with John. I didn’t have a shopping list as such but had some cash with me ‘just in case’. There appear to be some very mixed views regarding the event, both damning and praising. Here’s what I thought.

I enjoyed the day overall, mainly due to the numerous conversations had with friends, acquaintances and the occasional complete stranger.

The trade was very well represented and there was no short of things to spend my money on, particularly those things I had no prior intelligence that I needed.

I thought the games were, with a couple of exceptions, quite uninspiring. I didn’t take any photos of the games as a consequence.  The Back of Beyond game was by far my favourite but glaring sunlight ruined the photo opportunity.

We arrived at 10:15 and because of the very long queue didn’t get inside until about 11:00. Why? How come it took so long to get in? Good job it wasn’t raining I guess.  It took the edge off the potential for excitement during the day as after such a long wait I was struggling and in pain, although I had a pleasant chat with Charles Grant in the queue.

The info on FB about the traders and games was pretty lame and not much help as some of the traders were unknown to me.

Nobody I asked knew where the disabled toilets were - not good! I, and anyone else with a roll at or or on a scooter couldn’t get through the doors of the normal loos. The same issues arose in the cafe where it was impossible for me to negotiate the queue and to get round the crowded tables. There were also cars and vans in the (few) disabled spaces not displaying blue badges which is a pet hate of mine.

My obviously very personal assessment of the show would be that it ‘requires improvement’ . It’s only an hour from home so I expect I will go again next year, but to be honest I won’t loose sleep over not going.

My swag?  I collected some figures off Barry that he’d done for me, bought some shrubs from the Tree Fellas and some plastic ACW artillery as I have a use for the guns and limbers, oh and a couple of scout carriers off EWM for the BEF project.

I have a game planned for this coming Saturday which will be last until early April when we’re back from India.





3 comments:

  1. Colin,
    It was good to see you and chat. As you will be aware if you’ve seen my blog I fully agree with you. I noted from the Lance and Longbow society they enjoyed the show but the new management from the York Wargames society were less than friendly. Any way glad it wasn’t a wasted trip for you

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  2. Whilst I enjoyed the opportunity to shop and simply spend the whole day engaged in hobby stuff, all of your comments ring true especially the access. The queue seemed to be caused by only one set of people taking money at the door whereas in past years it has been 2 or even 3 groups 🤔

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  3. It seems the organisation was in need of organisation. 45 minutes queuing? I'd have given up and left.

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