England lost!!

All of Saturday & Sunday of the 26th, 27th Time Was... was at TrekFest II at the National Space Centre in Leicester. Although we made some money it was a relatively quiet affair, despite the best intentions of the crew of the Enterprise D, various Klingons and an Andorian. Even the Batlaath Training was a quiet affair, not very loud these Klingons!

Two things went against the event, first was the weather. The Space Centre, if you haven't been, is a bad weather venue. It's expensive to get in, but well worth it once you're inside. But you need to spend many hours to see all the exhibits, ideal when it's raining, not when it's a glorious day like we had on Saturday. So needless to say it wasn't heaving with Federation operatives.

Then of course there was Sunday. Another gloriously hot day, but also the England - Germany match in the afternoon. England couldn't even get it right to avoid Germany in the quarter finals, but why watch when you know we can't beat Germany, so needless to say the Space Centre was almost empty the entire day. Ideal if you don't like football and want to spend a lazy time wandering around the exhibits and not having to push your way past screaming kids.

Thanks to a couple of Klingons though we did sell some things on the Sunday and we even won on the raffle, though possibly we were the only ticket holders.

A shame really when TrekFest II was all for charity and the location donated by the Space Centre.

Still there is always TrekFest III.

All together now... 'there's Klingons on the Starboard bow, Starboard bow...'

Ok perhaps you don't remember the Firm!

Huntingdon Toyfair

On the eve of the summer solstice, and the longest day, and as we couldn't get to Stonehenge because of the Druids, revellers and not to mention the Pandorica, Time Was... went to the Wood Green Animal Centre at Huntingdon for another Toyfair there. It was almost the same. Plenty of weird folks and that was just the traders. Some of the young ones who came looking for Doctor Who toys seemed excited about the final episode and wondered how the Doctor would escape the Pandorica, and poor Amy!! Best watch Saturday then!

The toyfair started off so well but then soon petered out but at least we hit our modest target. It's amazing that old, but unused, diecast cars won't sell in their boxes at a modest £0.99, but take them out and they just go. But we spent more than usual as we also sourced some items for our next forage into the world of Star Trek and Trekfest II at the National Space Centre in Leicester, on the 26th and 27th of June.

If you want to see Borg, Romulans and not to mention Klingons on the Starboard bow, then come along to Trekfest II and have a day out or two. It's life Jim but not as we know it.

Beam me up, Scotty.

It was Pudsey.. but not

It was Pudsey... but not Children In Need Pudsey last Sunday, 13th. The first occasion that Time Was... had ventured to the Civic Hall for a Toyfair, though we were there for Recon 2009 and will again be at the Civic Hall for Recon 2010.

Despite following the Googled directions, no Sat Nav's for us, we managed to miss the turning in Leeds and had to do a circuit of the City to get back to the M621 so we could retrace our steps. So the day didn't start well, and it started at the unusual hour of 5 a.m. and then the day got progressively worse.

We had a 'lovely' selection of fairies and witches, together with a substantial selection of Doctor Who and other Sci-Fi shows. Everything brand new and in pristine condition. Well we didn't get a look in, or even a look at, as the good folk of Pudsey just wandered straight by us. Most of what was selling in the Hall was old playworn toys. The punters of Pudsey had long deep and somewhat empty pockets. Where were all the Doctor Who fans???? Or isn't BBC1 on the TV's of Pudsey?

By 2 p.m. we hadn't even taken the cost of the table and our sandwiches and cakes were all gone, so we couldn't afford to buy anymore.

On the way home we had to endure torrential rain at times only to find that in our neck of the woods it had been a beautiful sunny day. That sort of put the icing on a very disappointing day. Perhaps it was because it was the 13th, or the lack of Magpies on the journey up, or even the ladder that we walked under in the Civic Hall. Not really, just looking for excuses. We hadn't taken the right goods.

But are we downhearted? Well yes!

D-Day 6th June - Spalding

With all the military precision of Operation Overlord Time Was returned to the wilds of Spalding and the Springfields Centre for another Toyfair. Unfortunately troop numbers were down as there was a second major front opening at the NEC, so Spalding turned out to be just divertionary tactics. Those tactics as organised by Field-Marshall Webb didn't quite pay off, not only were dealer numbers down, as some had switched to the NEC, but also buyers were down.

A very disappointing return was made on the Toy Front, but the Fantasy figures kept their end up so to speak. So although Time Was could have had a very bad day, a rally by the troops at the end saved the day.

Maybe the weather didn't help, it started off hot and sunny, but as the day wore on and stragglers found themselves marching towards the centre the heavens opened with a vengance. Torrential rain, thunder & lightning the whole lot for about 45 minutes kept those who were inside in, and those outside never to get anywhere near. Even the smokers stayed indoors and let their nervous tics get the better of them, except the real hardy ones who crouched by the open doors.

Never in the field of toyfairs has so little been spent by so few on toys to Time Was. God Bless the fairies.

Next stop on the advance is a new toyfair for Time Was at Pudsey on the 13th, lets hope it isn't unlucky for some!