Post by Gilvan Blight on Aug 4, 2008 13:09:40 GMT -5
www.toysoldiershow.com/
OTSN's 2008 Chicago Toy Soldier Show
OTSN's 28th Chicago Toy Soldier Show is on the horizon. Sunday September 28, 2008 is rapidly approaching. Welcome or welcome back, as the case may be, to all coming to this year's show.
As you read this, the Show's Golf Road Hyatt Hotel is already filling up. The hotel is under new management; rooms have been completely renovated and are truly beautiful. If you are planning on attending the show, book your room soon. During show week, people begin arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday; Thursday is the heaviest check-in day. By Friday the hotel will be full, but we also have a block of rooms across the parking lot at the Hyatt Place Suites for the overflow.
In light of the Hyatt's renovation we have adjusted some of the pre-show activities. Vendors who are open on Wednesday evening will hang a sign on their room's doorknob indicating their room is open. From Thursday on, however, vendors who choose to do so will prop room doors completely open. We would also like to note that most of our local collectors don't set up until the Sunday full show.
Since we don't control in any way the times particular rooms open, the only day on which we guarantee that you can see all the vendors and collectors is public show day, Sunday, September 28th. Sunday admission is still $7.00 for adults; children 12 and under are free with an adult. The show opens to the public at 10:00 am and runs until 3:30 pm, but come early to have time to see all 350 tables full of toy soldiers, farm-zoo-circus figures and related items. Early admission at 7:00 am is available for $30. If you have bought more than you can carry home, a UPS station, accepting credit cards, will be set up at the show entrance at 3:30 pm. If you can't stay until then but need to ship things, the hotel concierge can help you. With manufacturers, vendors and collectors from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, as well as Canada, Mexico and the USA, the Show again should be the toy soldier event of the year!
When attending the Show on Sunday, be sure to visit "Manufacturers Row" which is open early in the admissions foyer. You will see many of the major brands of new toy soldiers exhibiting their releases for the coming year. You can talk with the people behind the products and see what they are planning for the future. Included in this area will be Blackhawk, Del Prado, Britains, Conte, Figarti, King and Country, and King and Country UK. Located in the show are Beau Geste, Collector's Showcase, Toy Soldier's of San Diego and Frontline. Many of your favorite retail outlets will have tables at the Show so you can meet the people you've only talked to on the phone or emailed. Of course, it is the thousand plus collectors who reunion each year in September who are the heart of OTSN's Chicago Toy Soldier Show! Come back and be part of it again or come for the first time. (See the "Dealer List" on this web site for a complete roster of the vendors who are scheduled to be set up at the show.)