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.

SUNDAY
Considering the hour I went to bed, I woke up surprisingly early, but still not quite early enough to catch the beginning of Ross's demo.
I sat in for a little bit, just to show him some support and heckle him and Joe a bit.

Then it was the contest room. There was not going to be an awards show again this year so they marked the winning entry forms to note what they were awarded. So that meant you could find out right away if you earned any awards or not.
So, of course, I made a bee-line to my entries to see how they did. I was stunned to see that my two chibis got bronzes, and my Godzilla got a silver!
Everything else I entered got merits! I was stunned. A lot of the kits I had admired the day before did pretty well also. I felt that the over-all level of quality in the contest this year was pretty high. And the judging for the medals was pretty spot on. There were a few I wondered what they got knocked down for, but I also didn't go over every inch of them like a judge would.

Next, it was on to the dealers room. As usual, things were much slower on Sunday. This is always the case as Saturday is the big day where people snag those kits they just have to have. Also, a lot of people who can only do one day of the show do Saturday instead of Sunday for obvious reasons.
This is good for those of us that like to take our time and look things over closer, and spend more time visiting and talking to vendors. There are always a few tables that have changing stock. Either stuff that wouldn't fit on the table when the doors opened, or stuff some of the locals brought back with them on day two. I always check those tables a few times a day to see what I can find. I was making my way around the room, visiting a bit, and checking things out. Then I got to Shane's table. I mentioned earlier that he was having a good weekend, and had a lot of turnover of kits from his collection.. As I walk up to visit, my eyes are drawn to a new piece on the table. I picked it up, and looked it over.
Asked him how much, and almost couldn't get my wallet out fast enough.

After I paid for it, then Shane started having me more stuff. All I saw, was just the head. I didn't even realize it came with the plaque, nameplate, tongue, and a whole bunch of teeth.
So, it was an even better deal than I thought it was. After buying it, I took it back to the room. It was pretty big, and I didn't want to carry it around long.
Grabbed a little snack and went back to the contest room for some last shots before they started letting people get their kits.
That is when I noticed something I missed earlier. In my excitement at how well my entries did, I apparently missed the fact that Fine Scale Modeler wanted to photograph my Godzilla.. Cool!
Though, now I would have to go back to the room to get my entry form in order to take my kit to be photographed.
Luckily, the guy running the room, kind of knew me. He's seen me here for years, and we have had a few brief conversations over those years when he had a few moments to spare. So I asked him if I really needed to run back to my room for the papers. He told me to just go ahead. He did walk with me to the kit, to make sure everything was all right.

That accomplished, I turned my attention to food. I did something I have never done before. I actually got a sandwich from the table in the hallway.
Usually, I don't want to spend the money they want, and I have food in my room. But today, I was really hungry, I was still pretty flush with cash, as I hadn't bought much, and thanks to inflation, the prices didn't really seem that bad. Seriously, $9 for a really big turkey, ham, and cheese croissant didn't seem bad at all.
And, it was really good. I went back to the room, got a beverage, some frito's, and sat out at the Embassy eating my lunch. I barely managed to finish it. But it was just what I needed. Especially the protein. Hadn't had much of that between the snacks and the pizza.

When I got back downstairs, the line to pick up kits was really long, so I decided to hit the dealers room instead.
While walking around and visiting, watching some of the dealers tearing down early, I ran across the last purchase I would make. I had actually seen it on my first pass, but didn't look at the price because the other kit prices. The dealer next to Jimmy Flintstone had 3 Prehistoric Scenes dinosaurs. There was a Spiked Dino with no base for $60, A Three Horned Dino with base for $80, and a primed Armored Dino with base. Well, knowing the armored is the more expensive of the 3, I never looked at it. But on this last pass, the spiked was gone, and I could see the price tag on the armored. He only wanted $40, so I snagged it. It turned out to be a reissue with a resin base, but even so, it's still worth abut $80 the way it sits, and probably more after I paint it. I've already done 3 of them, but I still have more color schemes I want to try out on it. So that worked out great for me.
Took that back to the room, and grabbed my box and entry forms so I could get in line to get my kits. By that time the line was reasonable, and it didn't take long to get into the room and get my stuff. Which I then ran upstairs.
After I came back down, I visited some more waiting for the line to pick up awards to get shorter. Finally getting into the line, and waiting for-ever.
They really need to work out a quicker system. I realize this is only the second year they have done this, and they are still working the bugs out. But it should take longer to get your awards than it does to pick up your kits. I was literally waiting in line for roughly an hour to get my 2 bronze and 1 silver awards.

After that ordeal we went and got dinner. Real food this time. Britny and I both were looking for something substantial and not too fancy. So, we went to Bob Evans.
Of course, I packed up a few things, and dropped them at the car on the way down to the car.
Dinner was very satisfying. Of course, upon our return, we went back to the Embassy after swinging by the dealers room to say bye to a few more people as they were still loading up.

We hung there for a few hours until it started getting crowded and loud again. Then we moved to the lobby for a while.
We fully intended to go back to the Embassy, but things were so crazy in the lobby, that we ended up hanging out there. By the time I made a trip to the room for more liquid refreshment the Embassy was closed. I forgot they had an early departure in the morning. I did stop and cleaned up a whole bunch of stuff so Ross wouldn't have to deal with it in the morning. We ended up hanging in the lobby until like 4 AM.
On the way back to the room, Brit decided she would be better off just taking off and heading home to sleep in her own bed, than grabbing a few hours sleep at the hotel.
It made sense, she only had like a 3 hour drive home, with traffic at that hour. So, I helped her haul her stuff out (and took some of my own)
Said goodbye, and went back to the room. I packed up most of the rest of my stuff so I wouldn't have to do it after waking up. Also, hauled down most of it while the elevators weren't busy. Then I went to sleep for about 5 hours.

Got up in the morning, Ate, hauled the rest of my stuff down to the car, drove around to the front and checked out..

Ride home was just as uneventful as the drive down. Traffic moved along nicely and I made great time. At least until I got on this side of Cleveland, then it was frustrating.
Being one a  busy 2 lane stretch after flying along on 3 lane highways most of the day was a bit aggravating.

BACK