FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[John S. White]

I am particularly pleased by the comments of Jesse who seems to have really captured the reality of the whole thing. I would add, in response to Alfredo, that while every year I have this idea that I am missing out if I don't arrive early, I find myself buying throughout the entire two weeks and finding good things virtually everyday, often things that hundreds of other collectors appear to have overlooked.

Our intrepid leader Jordi did something at Tucson this year that was quite novel. He decided he would not open until Feb. 2 (Tuesday) while many (most?) other dealers at the InnSuites opened many days earlier. Many of these dealers told Jordi he was crazy to do this, but it turns out that he had the best sales on Tuesday that he has ever had and he had a very good show overall.

[Peter Megaw]

Jesse nicely summarized many of the points TGMS has made over the years: weather, lack of umbrella control over the shows, and the chase to get a larger share of the buyer dollar pool. Other than the weather, the February timing remains a mystery since the stock people buy will sit on their shelves until October in many cases...although it does give them the ability to sell the good stuff during the times when people are pickier and the remainder when folks are less discriminating as the "need" to buy gifts increases.

There is a lot of nonsense out there about show opening times, with organizers maintaining that it is an illegal restraint on trade to prevent "jump-start" sales. This is a very tenuous legal argument...TGMS has a long-standing contract with the TCC that prevents them from holding a mineral or gem related event in the facility for 30 days before or after our show (including AGTA) and this passes legal muster. The show promoters could modify their dates and hold to them if they wanted to. Not sure how longer shows benefit them since they get a flat show fee and not a cut of the daily rate (unless I am missing something).

I heartily congratulate Jordi on holding the line...of course you can do that if you are confident in the quality of your goods and the demand for same. On the other hand John won't be finding any sleepers there!

Peter

[Dawn MinetteCooper]

I have to say that I long for the REALLY old days when the entire show lasted about four days, but that is impractical the way things are now. However, I will not spend more than a week in Tucson--maybe less-- so I go over for the main show and just a short time before. I still buy minerals, and I can manage to find enough good ones to keep me happy. This constant stretching out of the various shows puts a lot of strain on the dealers and even the collectors.

[alfredo]

I suppose that whether it's an unbearable strain on the dealers and collectors, or not, depends on where one is coming from. Some people from snowy northern states, Canada and Europe just love hanging out in Tucson for 3 weeks, and perhaps even rent a house there for a month. I stay for 3 weeks, and might extend it to a month in future; it's not entirely work... more an intimate mixture of fun and work - a "working vacation", and a time to socialize with friends from all over the world, quite different from the short shows, which are just busy work and very little time for fun. The TGMS right at the end is the climax - I feel pity for those who are so business-oriented that they only come to Tucson for a short intense cherry-picking session at the beginning and then leave long before the "Main" show (TGMS) starts.