Marlboro MA - January 25 & 26

It's all about keeping people in the hobby and bringing in new faces, gun shows are well attended mostly by newbies now, gun shows advertise to attract new people.
More people not less, is better for the 2A community.
With the hateful attitude of the know it all senior members bashing everything they are not for is not helping the future of a strong gun community.
Not everybody has a cozy relationship with a local gun shop, most get snubbed if they are not a regular.

Local gun shows need to do a better job providing a good reason to attend them. Relationships are two way streets and shows in MA are smelly, abusive, slobs that sit around the house all day drinking while demanding 'their share' of your paycheck. Why would anyone want to stay in a relationship like that?
 
Local gun shows need to do a better job providing a good reason to attend them. Relationships are two way streets and shows in MA are smelly, abusive, slobs that sit around the house all day drinking while demanding 'their share' of your paycheck. Why would anyone want to stay in a relationship like that?
This could apply to the dem pols also. Jack.
 
2nd the amount of fewer tables (but since there were tables, and was therefore more space, why were the aisles smaller?!)
 
I stopped by because I was in the area, what the heck I said. Its been a few years and will most likely be a few more.
V E R Y O V E R P R I C E D.

The amount of fools drooling and actually handing hundreds of dollars over for “Osprey” optics and glass was very humorous.
 
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I went this morning because a buddy asked me to go with him. I had never been and didn't find it that bad. Pretty sure I only saw one beef jerky seller and don't remember anyone being in dire need of a shower. Spent a couple of hours and only bought some enblocs for the Garand.
 
I went this morning because a buddy asked me to go with him. I had never been and didn't find it that bad. Pretty sure I only saw one beef jerky seller and don't remember anyone being in dire need of a shower. Spent a couple of hours and only bought some enblocs for the Garand.

All kidding aside, as long as you have a good time that's all that matters.

Was the NY ammo guys there ? Dude used to just stand there with his arms crossed, no deals on anything during the salad days for sellers.
 
Was the NY ammo guys there ? Dude used to just stand there with his arms crossed, no deals on anything during the salad days for sellers.


The NY ammo guy was booted last year. One dealer told me he sold ammo to a person without checking his license. A police detail at the show witnessed the transaction. When the cop stopped the guy and ran him he didn't have a license and also had a record which made him a PP. Last word was he lost his license to sell ammo in MA. Glen was there selling ammo and components but he was in the partitioned off area you needed to show a license to get in.
 
The NY ammo guy was booted last year. One dealer told me he sold ammo to a person without checking his license. A police detail at the show witnessed the transaction. When the cop stopped the guy and ran him he didn't have a license and also had a record which made him a PP. Last word was he lost his license to sell ammo in MA. Glen was there selling ammo and components but he was in the partitioned off area you needed to show a license to get in.
There you have it, the gun show loophole.

Except both parties were breaking the existing laws. But we'll call it a loophole, because that sounds like we need more laws.
 
The NY ammo guy was booted last year. One dealer told me he sold ammo to a person without checking his license. A police detail at the show witnessed the transaction. When the cop stopped the guy and ran him he didn't have a license and also had a record which made him a PP. Last word was he lost his license to sell ammo in MA. Glen was there selling ammo and components but he was in the partitioned off area you needed to show a license to get in.
There is no current mechanism for non-MA dealers to get a MA Ammo Dealer's License in MA. I seriously doubt that Steve had any MA licenses to do business here.
 
Wow, There were a lot less tables. Last time I went was 2 years ago. There was some noticeable down sizing, but when you price gouge people what can you expect.

Well, price gouge and conspire internally to block out dealers that discount anything.... [rofl] Let's not forget dealers narcing on each other, and when that didn't work, get the
promoter to ban the vendor, etc. There are probably at least 3 vendors in the past so many years that got "excommunicated". Also throw in- dicking around vendors on booth placement even when they're dropping a lot of coin, etc. All of this stuff makes it so that vendors don't want to come back, or only bother going to more profitable, non-MA shows, or just running their
shop on a show weekend. Basically if you could think of "MA fudd club shenanigans" and rewrite the story to change the nouns for a gun show, it's more or less the same thing... except the
people on the bottom can't vote out the "leadership".

It's kind of sad really, MA gun shows weren't this bad even during obamascare, then they stumbled after sandy hook, then did a full on faceplant after healey's BS.

-Mike
 
There is no current mechanism for non-MA dealers to get a MA Ammo Dealer's License in MA. I seriously doubt that Steve had any MA licenses to do business here.
I wasn't there but I believe it was Chris, not Steve. I think the issue was Chris had stayed back in NY because he has a plowing contract and it was supposed to snow that weekend. Anyway, what I heard was that one of his guys sold Ammo to a guy without checking his license. Chris knows me fairly well but he asked for my license every time. You're only as good as your people.
 
Yup, you are right.

I will go to Marlboro and buy something at a 30% markup so they can continue to sell things at inflated prices next year !

The crazy, f***ed up thing is if a lot of it was only 30% it wouldn't be so bad. The shows are so f***ed at this point that I can poke around on NES, find some guy (wherever) in MA
that opened up a new gun shop in the past year or two, get in my car and drive there with a fistful of cash, and get a better deal than I would at the show. The problem is the
show vendors get "noob deer fever" and they think that making a hit at 30-40% means that they can do it all the time. In the post SH era because the newb % was high, it made a target
rich environment and caused unrealistic pricing. Part of the problem is the temptation is too powerful given the math. If gunshow Dealer McGougeyguy sells two M&P Hygeineproduct Shield 2.0s at $450 ea on a Saturday, suddenly he now acquires this hubris derangement syndrome thing that makes him think that "well, I sold two, and I made $200, so that must mean there are more people that are willing to pay that price, so the idea of say, selling the gun for $400, which is $50 above the four seasons baseline price for the Mensturation Pad 9mm, is out of the question, because he'd have to sell 4 guns to make the same amount of money- and the only time Dealer McGougeyguy gets his ass kicked for this is over the long term if someone doesn't
take the bait. Before 2008 the dealers literally had no choice in this matter- the buyers they were courting were, 85% not noobs. So a dealer that didn't try to compete with someone like FS or at least meet in the middle, was not going to sell shit. The buyers were so tight it literally exerted market pressure that drove the prices down. Fast forward to Obama elected, and now we get obamascares and people being cleaned out, and a trickle of newbs, so between the dips etc the margins go up. But the coup de grace, was Sandy Hook.... early 2013 comes, and A
veritable spillway flooded with a stream of mostly panicky young retards into the marketplace, and the math of the situation changes. It suddenly becomes way more appealing to sell less guns at higher profit. It also doesn't help matters that the stupid f***ing E-FA-10 mandate makes selling guns twice as hard because the dealer can't just throw an FA-10 at the buyer and go "kid fill this out, don't f*** it up" it's all driven off the computer, so an employee has to waste time banging the thing out, etc. Aggressive discounting of any kind at a gun show has its
last nail driven in the coffin.

Of course the part of the equation that Dealer McGougeyguy doesn't get, is that over time, if all the dealers start acting like they do, the dude that goes to the gun show, that would have paid the $400, is going to stop going to the gun shows, and you look at the cumulative effect, and it is what we have now..... not to mention, eventually noobs stop being noobs, and even if most of them are still kinda retarded, probably 90% of those noobs that they raped a few years ago are at least smart enough to never go back to a gun show, because they have this notion that they're not likely getting a deal, or even being able to negotiate for one. And some % of those guys are spending gobs of coin probably at 1-3 other gun shops....

Basically, in short, a bunch of these dealers, and the promoters, via their collective actions, have basically kept pissing in the MA gun show well... the water in the well being, gun show attendees. and now time has passed, the water is gone and has been displaced with nearly 100% piss.


-Mike
 
I wasn't there but I believe it was Chris, not Steve. I think the issue was Chris had stayed back in NY because he has a plowing contract and it was supposed to snow that weekend. Anyway, what I heard was that one of his guys sold Ammo to a guy without checking his license. Chris knows me fairly well but he asked for my license every time. You're only as good as your people.

Maybe you know this, but do you know whatever happened to "Blonde Elvis?" Did that guy pass away or something? I know "NY Steve" had a thing with him because that was the only time ammo prices came down.... my gut instinct is he exerted his "flex" with the promoter to get the guy banned from the show, but I don't know for sure. I know that the NY guys always got
preferential placement at those things. (including being able to back up their truck up the door and fill the venue with exhaust fumes, but I digress). I think Blonde Elvis was from NY too, but he did not have the brownie points with the promoter that Steve had... they always put blonde elvis at the back in a corner somewhere or some shit like that, but it didn't take long for people to find him. Then you would hear steve grumbling while he changed his prices to compete with Elvis.... [rofl]

-Mike
 
I went with the wife today. I did buy one item from a vendor I have bought from in the past. It was a little more money than I could have paid buying online but some things you want to pay cash for in the people’s republic. I was absolutely shocked the price gouging on pre ban magazines. Some vendors I have bought from two years ago were asking DOUBLE what they are going for online. WTF?
 
Maybe you know this, but do you know whatever happened to "Blonde Elvis?" Did that guy pass away or something? I know "NY Steve" had a thing with him because that was the only time ammo prices came down.... my gut instinct is he exerted his "flex" with the promoter to get the guy banned from the show, but I don't know for sure. I know that the NY guys always got
preferential placement at those things. (including being able to back up their truck up the door and fill the venue with exhaust fumes, but I digress). I think Blonde Elvis was from NY too, but he did not have the brownie points with the promoter that Steve had... they always put blonde elvis at the back in a corner somewhere or some shit like that, but it didn't take long for people to find him. Then you would hear steve grumbling while he changed his prices to compete with Elvis.... [rofl]

-Mike
I will never forget seeing a guy pulling around a two wheeler in search if ammo deals. That is commitment. [wink]
 
Only thing I found wrong with the show yesterday is that it was way too crowded before noon. Parking situation was about the worst I had seen it. I decided to leave, have lunch and come back later. Turned out to be a good idea. Things slowed down and parking eased up in the afternoon. Unfortunately, one nice bargain I had spotted was gone when I returned. Vendors I spoke with were reporting brisk sales, including one old vendor that is always grumpy over slow sales.

For all the endless jokes and criticisms here, mostly from folks who haven't attended in years, someone is attending these shows and I'll bet the promoter is still making a bundle. Forget the number of vendors in attendance (which was down for sure). As long as the promoter is making good money, these bigger shows (Marlboro and Wilmington) will continue.
 
March 7 & 8
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No loophole advertised? Must have been closed I guess.
 
Maybe you know this, but do you know whatever happened to "Blonde Elvis?" Did that guy pass away or something? I know "NY Steve" had a thing with him because that was the only time ammo prices came down.... my gut instinct is he exerted his "flex" with the promoter to get the guy banned from the show, but I don't know for sure. I know that the NY guys always got
preferential placement at those things. (including being able to back up their truck up the door and fill the venue with exhaust fumes, but I digress). I think Blonde Elvis was from NY too, but he did not have the brownie points with the promoter that Steve had... they always put blonde elvis at the back in a corner somewhere or some shit like that, but it didn't take long for people to find him. Then you would hear steve grumbling while he changed his prices to compete with Elvis.... [rofl]

-Mike

Was he the guy that had the .308 Banner at his tables?
 
I will never forget seeing a guy pulling around a two wheeler in search if ammo deals. That is commitment. [wink]
Thanks, but if it was me you've seen, it was probably @ Wilmington on a Sunday. It's the only show I'll go both days because it's so close for me. I kick tires on Saturday and make offers on Sunday. I've done it a few other times, Marlborough & Fitchburg I think. If they can match Target Ammo, or get close, I'd rather pay cash.
 
I think. If they can match Target Ammo, or get close, I'd rather pay cash.

lol so you're paying $24 over those 2 days (+ gas) just to get in the doors and hope they can beat TSA prices by a few bucks so you can pay cash? Makes no sense when you can have TSA deliver it to your door and make $$ on rewards if you use a card like discover or amazon visa, etc. This makes absolutely no sense to me.
 
lol so you're paying $24 over those 2 days (+ gas) just to get in the doors and hope they can beat TSA prices by a few bucks so you can pay cash? Makes no sense when you can have TSA deliver it to your door and make $$ on rewards if you use a card like discover or amazon visa, etc. This makes absolutely no sense to me.
If I'm going back a second day I have one of the vendors give me a pass. The couple of extra bucks is worth it for the OPSEC.
 
Was he the guy that had the .308 Banner at his tables?

I remember a yellow banner that said 308ammo.com. They used to be at the Holbrook club show more ofter then I saw them at Marlboro or Wilmington. The y occupied the back room of the second building. They took up most of the room with their display.
 
Did anyone see the guy selling oil filter adapters? He was BUSY.

I saw that. Looked over his stuff, chuckled and walked away. The guy I went with scratched his head and asked why do you need to clean the inside of a Maglight?
 
Pre-ban after market standard Glock 17 mags for $100 at several tables.

Scherer 33 round Glock mags for $250.

$100 for some well worn Glock 17 "U" notch mags.

$90 for a well used noname AR14 40 round mag.

Closest I saw to sane was $30 for well worn, but looked to be fully functional, 30 round AR mags.

But, I did not see any sales being made of these mags.

Sign on the door that the AG ruled all possession of AR or AG guns is illegal and no such guns were to be brought into the show.

$13 entry. WTF? For a product that has become inferior.

This is the first year USPSA + Hopkinton Sportsmens did not have a table. We've been filling our annual competition class off of promotion on NES, and Hopkinton Sportsmens is not trolling for more members now. The club does not have a closed membership, but you now near a "real sponsor", not just a pro forma signature on you application.

Did anyone see the guy selling oil filter adapters? He was BUSY.
I spent time at his table at another show, but I viewed more like stopping by a display at the zoo .... "behind this table is a felon who thinks word games will protect him". Not a chance in the world I was going to buy anything from, but I contributed to "busy".
 
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