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Brief Las Vegas Show Report
Flyfishguy
Posts: 333
The show, in a word, was a little disappointing. We arrived in LV Thursday just about the time they let dealers in for setup. As is typical, some dealers won’t even let you set up before they want you to stop everything and let them look at coins. This show was 80% gun show and 20% coin show. We did quite a bit of sales to dealers on Thursday and Friday, with just a few retail sales. On Saturday, for the most part, it was a tomb. Late in the afternoon on Saturday it picked up a little, but was still quite slow. One interesting I observed, was that I saw NOT ONE teenager or child in the show. This might have something to do with the $15 admission. Yes, you read right, 15 bucks for the privilege of entering. And if you paid that fee, and came in after about 2pm on Saturday, you would have found probably 40% of the tables empty. Morgan Dollars seemed a little slow, while type coins, IHC's and Buffalo nickels were moving.
Friday night I was planning to eat at the Outback Steakhouse across from the Rio hotel, but found out it had recently burned down. You may think that is no big deal, but for someone like me who is obsessive compulsive, it matters. I mean, I ALWAYS eat there on Friday night after the coin show… However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly.
I met a few people from the forum here and that’s always nice to put a face with the name. In the final analysis, I don’t think we’ll do this show again. I just can’t agree with charging $15 admission.
Friday night I was planning to eat at the Outback Steakhouse across from the Rio hotel, but found out it had recently burned down. You may think that is no big deal, but for someone like me who is obsessive compulsive, it matters. I mean, I ALWAYS eat there on Friday night after the coin show… However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly.
I met a few people from the forum here and that’s always nice to put a face with the name. In the final analysis, I don’t think we’ll do this show again. I just can’t agree with charging $15 admission.
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That's a bummer
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<< <i>However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly. >>
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Thanks for the report.
roadrunner
Thanks for sharing report.
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<< <i>
<< <i>However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly. >>
I'll second that laugh.
I didn't end up making the trip (from San Diego) myself. The kids had too much end of month school work to complete and, well, I haven't corrupted all of life's priorities .... yet. Sorry I didn't go. A slow show, especially for Morgans, mean a lot of cherrypicking opportunities for me. Well, there's always Santa Clara since I am not flying to Baltimore. Too many good cherrypickers out there anyway.
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Just look at Baltimore. No admission fee for buyers and the show has grown 50% in the last year or so.
OTOH, look at the NY Invitational. Very collector unfriendly. Besides an admission fee and an expensive venue, it's midweek only. Kiss of death, IMO.
Sorry to hear about Outback burning down.
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<< <i> The Rivera isn't exactly a top class draw either. It was one of the few hotel in LV I genuinely did NOT feel safe at. >>
Laura, does that mean you were propositioned also??
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<< <i>Admission fees for buyers seem counterproductive. Casual lookers who might walk in if free admission might buiy something and might even get hooked. That makes the dealers happy. Happy dealers come back, and it brings more dealers. >>
Absolutely! They are in Vegas ferchrissakes! There are people with temporary good fortune who might wander in. AT least you know folks come there with dinero. You get it before the slots and tables get it. It is especially great because spouses tend to wander to shop or whatever. The $15 cover is just plain stupid. Raise the table fees $50-$100 if needed. The dealers would do better.
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It is a gun show but they are antique firearms and quite costly collectibles....the average "regular" gun show is quite different....and quite honestly as a shooter I dont mind looking at what they have there...
I do agree that the hotel really needs to be changed, SAFETY for both Dealers and Visitors is #1....even if its only a thought that you dont feel safe is a big problem....
Oh well....there is always another show round the corner!
PS: See below...guess it wasnt all bad.....
However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly
It would be hard to find an older dump to hold the show in! My god there was 20 years worth of nicotine imbedded in everything! I know of 4 dealers that were having nose bleeds and hacking it up. It was gross!!
Friday afternoon a young guy was robbed at knife point just outside the hotel. Came running into the auction all upset.
No comparison to the Mandalay Bay show, which was surprisingly well attended last year.
If the promoters can't arrange for a top location next year the ANA should drop out. We sure will!
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<< <i>However, on the way out of the Riviera Hotel, a nice young lady 25 years my junior, must have thought I was good looking. She asked me if I’d like a date for the evening. I explained I was married, but she said that was ok. I thanked her again and told her I was probably a little to old for her, but again she said that it was ok. All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly >>
I think you shooed her away before she could negotiate price.
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What did she grade? If she was at least a 65* or a shot at 66, then you blew it!
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How much was the lady charging for entry?
<< <i>What did she grade? If she was at least a 65* or a shot at 66, then you blew it!
My wife would have told me that she'd better be at least a "50" -- as in "worth losing 50% of all your stuff."
Maybe he was waiting for an "up-grade"
he ain't never gonna live that statement down now....
"Keep your malarkey filter in good operating order" -Walter Breen
myCCset
<< <i>$15 admission = certain disaster. Coin collectors just won't pay that kind of admission fee...they are a cheap bunch. >>
There's a definite bias against admission fees. Heck, goose3 wouldn't pay $4 to go to a 100 table show in his own backyard, just on principle!
I heard at the PAN show that the Cleveland shows are going to be starting up again - whether they'll keep the admission fee they charged in the past, I don't know.
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Oh, I am tired...
<< <i> All I can say is the girls in Vegas certainly are friendly. >>
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<< <i>From 50 feet away, the young lady appeared to be a solid MS65. However, as I took a closer look under better light, she appeared to have altered surfaces and perhaps AT. Portioned also appeared to have been tooled at some point. She would have been body bagged..... >>
Good lord...how come I never get approached for dates? The last time something like this happened to me in Las Vegas it was two years ago, and I go there at least once every six weeks or so.
I agree with Don and Laura's views regarding safety at this show. A major entrance and (mostly) unguarded parking garage were a little too close to the front entrance of the bourse floor, making the security issue a concern should this show be held at the Riviera again in the future. I did not hear of the alleged robbery while I was at the show. The show organizers have promised that this show will be held at a different venue next year.
Public attendance appeared moderately strong for the gun show portion and fairly light in the coins section. Wholesale was reported to be strong for some dealers while others reported very light volume. Retail sales were fairly weak across the board.
Although I do not mind a nominal admission charge, I agree that a $15 daily admission fee is excessive.
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<< <i>Heck, goose3 wouldn't pay $4 to go to a 100 table show in his own backyard, just on principle! >>
Goose is notoriously cheap. A bad example!
$4 would have probably been his top offer for the "dateless" Vegas sidewalk hostess.
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<< <i>
<< <i>Heck, goose3 wouldn't pay $4 to go to a 100 table show in his own backyard, just on principle! >>
Goose is notoriously cheap. A bad example!
$4 would have probably been his top offer for the "dateless" Vegas sidewalk hostess. >>
None of it's free, not even the wife.
ANA members DID get in free . . . . but I attended with a friend who dropped $35 for a 3-day pass. Wow . . . .
Minimal attendance . . . . I know we anticipated the show and not the empty tables. On the long drive home (we missed the SLC show to attend this) we knew . . . never again.
It's rare that a 450 mile drive home is the highlight of a show . . .
Drunner
Sorry to hear about the Show and Outbacks.
-JZ
Try the 4 Queens With all the goo on the walls and in the air, you also get carpets that your feet stick to...for free!
<< <i>Admission fees for buyers seem counterproductive. Casual lookers who might walk in if free admission might buiy something and might even get hooked. That makes the dealers happy. Happy dealers come back, and it brings more dealers.
Just look at Baltimore. No admission fee for buyers and the show has grown 50% in the last year or so.
OTOH, look at the NY Invitational. Very collector unfriendly. Besides an admission fee and an expensive venue, it's midweek only. Kiss of death, IMO. >>
Same situation for all shows that Kevin Foley organizes - Chicago Paper Money Expo, Chicago International Coin Fair, Mid-American Coin Show, and, of course, the New York Invitational. He had a Chicago Invitational but it flopped. But these shows are in this league with charging admission. I recalled in a World Coin News article some years back on why he did this. His reason, if I'm quoting him right - "to the improve the quality of the patrons at the show." I think what he is really saying is that, "if you're a newbie or causal collector, then you're not good enough to patronize our show." If this ain't another form of arrogant elitism, then what is?
<< <i>From 50 feet away, the young lady appeared to be a solid MS65. However, as I took a closer look under better light, she appeared to have altered surfaces and perhaps AT. Portioned also appeared to have been tooled at some point. She would have been body bagged..... >>
And there's always the horrible thought that it was a MULE, female on the top side, male on the lower side
It seems like this is what happenned to the defunct Palm Beach show.
<<October 29, 2006
The recently concluded Las Vegas coin show could certainly be summarized by the well-known Spaghetti Western director Sergio Leone as “the Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
First, the Good. I wasn’t expecting much from this show. In fact I was expecting so little that I decided to cut my stay to just one night and to bring only a small group of coins that I wanted to blow out of my inventory as I thought they were tired.
The coin show turned out to be more active than I would have expected. Dealers were clearly looking to buy. I sold all of my coins to the first (and only) two people I showed them to and for what I thought were pretty strong prices. In my conversations with other dealers at the show, I got the feeling that some of the doom and gloom that was being bandied about in September might have been a bit premature. The market has certainly corrected in certain areas but I think the pronouncements of its impending demise might have been a bit premature.
I was actually able to buy a few interesting coins as well (all of which are now listed on my website with descriptions and images). I wouldn’t by any stretch of the imagination call this show a blockbuster but it wasn’t all that bad and was certainly worth it for people like myself who live on the West Coast.
Next, the Bad. Do we really need an ANA sponsored show in Las Vegas? Clearly, Vegas is not a “coin town.” There are a lot of reasons to go to Las Vegas but trying to buy coins is probably pretty low on the list. Plus, this show is less than two months after the September Long Beach and just a few weeks before the Santa Clara show held in November. Does the West Coast need a third show in the Fall? I would tend to think not and this could really hurt the future growth potential of the Las Vegas show.
Finally, the Ugly. The previous incarnation of this show was held at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Now I do not consider myself to be a “Vegas kind of guy.” But I love the Mandalay Bay and had really gotten to know my way around the massive grounds. At the Mandalay, a non-gambler like me could find plenty to do in the way of eating, drinking and people watching.
This time, the show was moved to the Riviera Hotel convention center. I didn’t know anything about the Riviera so I went online and checked out their website when I was deciding where to stay. I figured it was a bad sign when I read that I could get a room there for $74 and that their “signature” restaurants were a buffet and a coffee shop.
The Riviera Hotel turned out to be everything I hate about Old Las Vegas. 96% of the people in the hotel were chain smokers and it looked like the average age of the gamblers there was 76 years. Many of the people were wandering around the hotel in a zombie-like stupor and the whole atmosphere was pretty depressing.
Although I didn’t stay there (I wound up at the Wynn which was four times more money but worth every penny) I was told that the rooms looked like they had been last updated in 1974. If the promoters of this coin show are interested in attracting upscale collectors and dealers, I think they are going to have to present a nicer venue than the Riviera. It might have been a swingin’ good time back in the days of the Rat Pack but, today, it was just plain Ratty…
Doug Winter
10/29/06
www.raregoldcoins.com
For more information about United States gold coinage please contact me at dwn@ont.com>>
Mark
<< <i>How much was the lady charging for entry?
Does she provide entry for three days for the one price? How about early bird badges? Might be nice to get in before the unwashed masses do.
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Camelot
<< <i>All these negative reports. I bet when I get my copy of the Numismatist the ANA will talk about what a great show it was and how the ANA has done well by selling its name to the sponsers. So, who should I believe: The people who went to the show or the ANA????
Mark >>
It wouldn't be much of a surprise that the mouthpiece of the ANA, the Numismatist, will do everything possible to sugar coat this show like anythng else. You'll never hear anything negative in that publication unless it comes from the President of the ANA's mouth!