doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Vegas Antique Gun Show ?

Any comments from attendees about the new venue and attendance figures?

I have just got back to my hotel room having spent much of the afternoon breaking down my booth and packing flight cases.
Speaking for myself I had a most successful show with several high value sales and lots of interested visitors to my booth. Most other vendors I spoke to seemed to have had a successful event although a couple said it had been quiet for them.
Today (Sunday) was very quiet for most of the day with only a few people strolling through but both Friday and Saturday were busy.
The Westgate is a lot nicer than the old Riviera. Rooms are big, clean and well appointed and there are several coffee shops,
cafes and restaurants.
The monorail stops right outside so trips to the busier areas of the strip and the old downtown are really easy and cheap.
The antique section of the show was shoehorned into a smaller area than previous years but that is only for this year and the available area will grow from about 70k square feet to over 100k next year.
All in all a good move, I think.

heard that most younger buyers are not as interested in the older collectable firearms like years ago.....but most dealers don't like to talk about it.... think its on a slow but enviable decline as baby boomers age.....

Hold onto your hope for them.
As they mature the finer guns will gain in appeal to them.
There was a time when only 220 swift, 25-06 Rem, 7mm STW & other zip code to zip code shooters appealed to me, I never really used a shotgun till I was 38 years old.
O.M

The table set up yielded wide isles and more behind table space. Traffic seemed lighter but that may have been due to wider spaces.
Hotel nickel and dime is you. $30 resort fee,, no coffee machine in room., $20 parking. Restaurants ok but unreasonably expensive.
All in all better than the Riv.

Six foot tables for the same price as 8-foot tables the previous few years!!

Speaking of parking, ALL the MGM properties are going to start charging for parking in April. That's making news in Vegas and will probably spread to the whole strip. Non-gaming revenue is now exceeding money from gambling. Shows, restaurants, conventions and shopping are becoming the profit centers. The days of comps and freebies are getting more difficult to find.

The tables for next year, I am told, will be 8 foot tables. The $20 parking was during the convention center activity (Shot Show) and was lifted after Shot Show ended. I arrived on Wednesday with the $20 active but when I checked out Monday the gates were up and there was no charge for my parking. And I did check my bill for that.

Heaven only knows what it will be next year. I am told by a local that there is an uproar on social media that is making MGM rethink. But money is money!

A couple of good sales might have changed my mind, but it wouldn't have changed the 2 hour wait to unload, 45 minutes to check in, impossible wait for dinner seating nor the exorbitant prices for everything.
$57 for two buffet breakfast with $4 undrinkable coffee and $5 per glass orange juice. $4 a bottle water charged for bottles left in room, I felt herded to a scalping.

6' foot tables, even though we were warned was more revenue generation. Attendance sure seemed down, I'm sure it was, Sunday was completely dead and I felt fortunate to escape early without an exit fee.

I won't be back at that hotel�be warned for next year!
It was great to visit with friends, great guns, but I don't consider shows a vacation.

I spent $11 on breakfast and $11 on lunch at the entrance to the show just like I did at the Riviera for the past 15 years. I made reservations at 3 different restaurants in the hotel and ate dinner at my leisure. It was a bit pricey at the steakhouse but the food and service were great.

My room was nice and clean for under $100 per night with the fees. The parking was free in the garage. The monorail was $5 and was right in the hotel. We used it to explore the entire strip after the show.

The gunshow was wonderful with the same high quality goods that I expect. It was a better show for buying and selling than any I have attended at the Riveria for the past 15 years. The smaller 6 foot tables in the antique show were discounted this year so I got two. I expected to be crammed in and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of room we had. Next year the antique arms show will move to the room next door and will increase from 40K to 70K square feet and have 3 loading docks and go back to 8 foot table . I bought and sold from Thursday noon until Sunday noon and then packed up and went home with very little waiting or issues.

I think it is by far the best gun show in the western US in terms of quality and quantity. I had a great time and I thought the hotel was a very nice upgrade from the previous venue. I reserved my tables for next year.

Patrick