WONDERFEST 2022

WONDERFEST 2022

Ok, here is my tale of WF2022 from my own perspective.
For those who do not know, that is me on the right and my daughter on the left.

SATURDAY

Got up and moving somewhere around 9. Took my 7 contest entries down. There was a decent wait, seems like there is going to be a good
turn out for the contest too. (ended up with 844 entries this year)
Went back to the room to eat breakfast then head back for the dealers room to open. Britny was up and ready by the time I went back to the room but she wasn't heading down right away.
I headed down right around 10 expecting there to be a long line waiting to file in. I was wrong, the line was already gone, and I just walked right in. The room was busy, but not quite as packed as I remember years passed being. But I saw lots of people carrying kits.

First stop was Jimmy Flintstone. Gave his table a quick browse as we walked by, knowing I would be back later for a deeper look.
Basically just looking to see if there were any must-haves that could be gone before I got back. But he didn't have much stuff this year. Less than half his usual display of painted kits. Hardly any bases or shifter knobs. I guess the shortage of resin is effecting even him.
I continued down the row in my usual pattern. Looking things over for any items that I just had to get but not actually stopping at any one table too long until I got to the Black Heart table. I was checking to see if there were any new busts I needed for my kaiju collection, and to drool over the Godzilla wall hangers. I will buy one someday.

Then I turned around and stopped to drool over the upcoming box-art Godzilla kit that Pestilence Labs will be producing
Then right around the corner was the Model Club TV table.

Steve had a bunch of cool things as usual, though missing a lot of the normal items. I didn't see much that I wanted to add to my collection. The display of the upcoming re-release of the Guillotine with backdrop was cool, but not in production yet.

I skipped over the LIS robot display. We saw it a couple shows back, and it was still the first pass around the room. Still lots to see, and so many people to say hi to. This stretch really made me miss some of the usual dealers. No Garage Kits, no Monster Dork, Alternative Images is in a different spot now. Not a whole lot that grabbed my attention in this stretch.

The rest of the first pass is a bit of a blur. AFM didn't really have much to interest me, and John's Models didn't have much of a selection at all. I grabbed some Aves as the last few shows they were sold out by the time I went to buy some. I found a resin kaiju kit at the AI table. Larry had a much slimmer selection this year also. Shane OTOH had a bunch of stuff.

A quick trip up to the room to drop my stuff and grab a quick snack, then it was back down to check out dealer room B. Checked out the displays, and looked over all the tables. Stopped to say 'hi' to AT. Then back to the main dealers room to look things over, and visit. While there, I pulled the trigger on some stuff at Michigan Toy Soldier.
Got a set of drybrushes, some gamers grass, and some leaves. I've got a base I want to hone my basing skills on, and this was a good excuse to pick up some supplies.
After that it was time to cruise the contest room!
As expected, the room was pretty packed. I only checked a couple tables before going back to the room for lunch. Of course it was the dino/kaiju tables that I checked first :)
Britny had the same idea at roughly the same time. It was also the first time I had seen her all day. So, after some left over pizza from the night before, and a little catching up, we both went back to the contest room to see more cool stuff.

I spent the next few hours bouncing back and forth between the contest room, and the dealers room. The dealers room to keep checking the tables with older kits. As they sold stuff, they would bring out other items, so I was keeping an eye out for any cool stuff that wasn't there before. Also to visit with more people.
Sadly, that kit I bought on my first pass was the only model I bought that day. So, I actually spent more money on tools/materials than I did on kits.
Don't get me wrong, there were some very cool pieces to be had in the dealers room, just none that screamed take me home.
There were several on Paul Gill's table that really tempted me, but I didn't open my wallet. There were a few styrene kits I would have liked to add to my stash, but the prices
weren't conducive to that. Not for spares at least.
And there were some cool older kits, but the sellers were asking collectors prices, and I was looking for things to build.
The two kits I would have snapped up in a heartbeat were sold out on my first pass around the room. And I am not really one to order kits at a show.

Then it was back up to the patio to hang at the Embassy for a bit, before heading up to the room to eat the rest of the leftovers.

That was actually enough to fill both of us up, so we saw no reason to go out for dinner anywhere.
The rest of the evening was spent wandering a bit Hanging with some people in the lobby, then back to the Embassy..

After a while, it got too loud and crowded for me, so I slipped away and spent some time in the lobby with Scott, Jason, Mark and Chinxy.
I made a trip to the room for more liquid refreshment, took a peak from the balcony to see how the Embassy looked.

Still a bunch of people. On the way down, I decided to go to the first floor and see who might be outside.
There were a few people out there, and I saw a camera set up. Oh! Time for the group photo.
A few minutes later, people started piling out the doors.

There were a couple false starts, as we all lined up, then suddenly another group of people showed up.
All the while, the volume of the conversation is getting louder and louder under that overhang.
At one point one of the security guys showed up, looked to see what was going on, and turned around and went back the way he came.
Then there was the usual after photo socializing until people's drinks ran dry and they returned to whatever room party they were part of.

After that, I headed to the lobby to see if anyone was still there. The usual suspects were still there. So I visited, eventually Brit showed up.
I called it at around 3:30. Britny was still talking when I left.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

CONCLUSION

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