SELWG Show 2022 - The Show and The Loot

Today saw me head into the next borough north for the SELWG show, having it's second outing in the new venue (the Lea Valley Athletics Centre). Unusually, I managed to wake up early and got there before the show opened. Luckily I didn't have to queue for too long.

When I got in (entry was very quick and efficient) I decided not to do my usual thing of taking photos of the games tables, but instead had a browse and a chat with the chaps on the Too Fat Lardies zone (Rich, Nick and Mark Backhouse) so that the various games would have a bit of time to get going. After a suitable interlude and some more chats, I took photos of every game table in order - they'll be in a separate post tomorrow.

I couldn't get a good angle to take pics of the bring & buy area

Photos of the games taken, I had a few more chats before starting my shopping. There were only a few items that were definitely on my list to buy, which were purchased in due order. It was pushing 11.30 by then and I had a task to fulfill - handing over some 3D printed miniatures to the chaps from the podcast (it's back - find the most recent episode here: https://madaxeman.podbean.com/e/huge-grenadierhat-malarkey/). Once that duty was out of the way I headed outside to the "food court" (a burger van, a coffee van and a Greek food van) for a coffee and a smoke (I later found out from a tannoy announcement that you're not meant to smoke there - my bad, but there was no signage to that effect that I could see).

Suitably refreshed, I returned inside to continue my shopping. All purchases from this point on were either completely spontaneous (oooohhh! Must have that!) or things that were in the back of my mind to get and it was simply convenient to buy them today. I did manage to resist the temptation to buy more little spaceships though, despite the Brigade Models ones looking so alluring.

After lots more chats and shopping, I finally left at about 3pm.

Impressions

I do like the venue. It's much more convenient for me to travel to, it's nice and airy, the lighting isn't horrible, the toilets are clean and (perhaps most importantly) there isn't the overpowering reek of chlorine.

I commented last year that the show didn't seem as busy as in the past, but that impression was more a result of the larger floor space which meant it was less cramped. This year, however, it was definitely quieter than last year. Speaking to various traders they were saying that business was slower than in the past. There were several traders who used to attend SELWG who weren't there this year (or last). I think part of the problem my be down to Other Partizan having shifted from August to October (it was last weekend) making he end of the year even more crowded with larger shows - Colours was a few weeks ago and Warfare is in a couple of weeks time.

Most of the games tables were of a good to excellent standard, and generally with good signage to indicate the club and information about the game.

And now for the part of this post you've all been waiting for - "What the heck has she been spending money on" aka...

The Loot

From SHQ

Foam trays that fit in 4l and 9l Really Useful Boxes

From Products For Wargamers

Normal size foam trays

From Blotz (aka "What's in the brown paper bag?")

Some adobe buildings and compounds

From Pendraken

More adobe buildings and some market stalls

From Warlord Games

"Slicey-slicey, oncey-twicey, claw and fang'll kill Dredd nicely"

From Great Escape Games

Terrified civilians for my Mob Wars collection and new nippers

From M&C Model Painting

From Colonel Bill's

WW2 German camera crew, early C20 drivers and...

...we;ll, how could I not buy my namesake?

I did spend more than I'd expected, but I realised when I was there that this was my first show since last year's SELWG - I guess I was subconsciously making up for all the other shows I haven't gone to!

As mentioned earlier, photos of the games will be posted tomorrow.