Show of Shows Military Antique Show Feb 22-25, 2024

[DTM72]

It is that time of year again and the world's largest military antique show is coming to Louisville, Kentucky USA.

 

http://www.sosovms.com/Show_of_Shows/

 

This year I was lucky enough to get my foot in the door and get 2 tables. There are 2000 tables at this show and it is sold out every year for dealers. I have tried for 3 years to get 1 table and have NOT been sucessful. Thank God for Mark Jones @Mark for letting me put stuff under his table these past 3 years. Mark is a 100% gentlemen and asset to Nihonto collectors.

 

In the recent years the show has had dealers Mark Jones @Mark, Matt Jerrell @mdiddy with the assistance of @TnMike, St. Croix Swords @matthewbrice, Bill Rannow @brannow, and others who may or may not be on the NMB. 

 

This show is huge! Difficult to cover in one day. In the convention center just down the hallway is the second largest gun show in the USA;

National Gun Day. http://www.nationalgunday.com/

This show is just as big as the Show of Shows (square footage) but has a mix of modern firearms, antique firearms, and military antiques, including Nihonto. Most who are unable to get a table at the Show of Shows, get a table at the gun show. <-- as i did the last 2 years. Not the "target market" but I still did well there.

 

If you will be attending or will have a table, please sound off! If I tagged you above, please let our followers know you will be there.

 

 

 

[DTM72]

Since Roger Robertshaw @omidaijo sold/traded all of his extra items in Vegas, he will no longer need his table(s) for this show. If anyone is interested in taking his tables, give me a shout. It has taken me 3 years to get a table at this show, and i finally got two tables. You can literally get your foot in the door by taking Roger's tables. The tables are $100 each, as seen in the pictures above.

 

Contact me for all the details.

[Stephen]

Opportunity if there ever was one!!

 

Book em!!!

[DTM72]

Show is just a couple weeks away. Anyone plan to go?

[Mark]

i will be there  see you soon

[AlphaRaider]

I went to the show this year and it sure was amazing. There were quite a bit of swords of Japanese origin and from WW2. I found a fair amount of Japanese WW2 military items as well. I took over 400 images of the booths.

 

I walked around with my sword, not necessarily to sale but got to share it with many people. I got a fair amount of offers from the public, and two vendors/people actually spent some time viewing it which was neat and always nice to hear kind words as a beginner myself. 
 

I didn’t purchase any swords but there were 3 that caught my eye. Prices seemed a wee bit high compared from the last collector show I went to but that’s life and it’s the SOS’s so ehh. However the selection makes up for the price and in all honesty this show is about the nice stuff so paying more isn’t a bad thing considering it’s probably pretty nice. That being said I attend around 122 ish shows a year on the gun show side but this show yields more swords you’ll ever find at a gun show. There were a lot of wonderful people and so many great military’s items.  We left with 3 backpacks full of goodies and I now own one of the most beautiful signed flags I’ve come across. So it’s hard to beat that.
 

We will be going again next year so maybe I can meet up with a few of you there.

 

 

[ChrisW]

20 minutes ago, AlphaRaider said:

I went to the show this year and it sure was amazing. There were quite a bit of swords of Japanese origin and from WW2. I found a fair amount of Japanese WW2 military items as well. I took over 400 images of the booths.

 

I walked around with my sword, not necessarily to sale but got to share it with many people. I got a fair amount of offers from the public, and two vendors/people actually spent some time viewing it which was neat and always nice to hear kind words as a beginner myself. 
 

I didn’t purchase any swords but there were 3 that caught my eye. Prices seemed a wee bit high compared from the last collector show I went to but that’s life and it’s the SOS’s so ehh. However the selection makes up for the price and in all honesty this show is about the nice stuff so paying more isn’t a bad thing considering it’s probably pretty nice. That being said I attend around 122 ish shows a year on the gun show side but this show yields more swords you’ll ever find at a gun show. There were a lot of wonderful people and so many great military’s items.  We left with 3 backpacks full of goodies and I now own one of the most beautiful signed flags I’ve come across. So it’s hard to beat that.
 

We will be going again next year so maybe I can meet up with a few of you there.

 

 

 

 

The Show of Shows was definitely overpriced on a lot of things, but there were deals to be had! Just had to keep a sharp eye out. I picked up a signed naginata-naoshi for relatively little and I got to hang out with some good friends.

I didn't get to meet you, so if you're coming to the Chicago Show this year, do stop by the Indiana Token Kai table and say hi to us.

~Chris

[DTM72]

Was good bumping into you @ChrisW! One of my trips back to Indy, I will be sure to meet up with you and the ITK, even if it is just for coffee.

 

@AlphaRaider would love to see the pics you took! I had the table in the far back left corner with 2 suits of samurai armor on either end of the table.

[ChrisW]

2 hours ago, DTM72 said:

Was good bumping into you @ChrisW! One of my trips back to Indy, I will be sure to meet up with you and the ITK, even if it is just for coffee.

 

@AlphaRaider would love to see the pics you took! I had the table in the far back left corner with 2 suits of samurai armor on either end of the table.

 

Yeah! Just let me know early in that month and I'll get you our meeting date. We usually schedule the next month's meeting at the end of the most recent meeting so we can arrange for the most convenient time for our members.

[AlphaRaider]

3 hours ago, DTM72 said:

Was good bumping into you @ChrisW! One of my trips back to Indy, I will be sure to meet up with you and the ITK, even if it is just for coffee.

 

@AlphaRaider would love to see the pics you took! I had the table in the far back left corner with 2 suits of samurai armor on either end of the table.

No way, that booth was super cool, we spent a while there looking at stuff, I didn’t speak with you other than saying hello and speaking briefly. I do have pictures of your booth.  Wish I knew, it’s life.  I hope you had a wonderful show.

[AlphaRaider]

Here is a picture of the flag I got it’s beautiful. The second is of it and it’s friends.

[Bugyotsuji]

盡忠報国

Jinchu Hokoku

Loyalty & Patriotism

 

Nice!

 

[AlphaRaider]

On 2/29/2024 at 7:02 PM, Bugyotsuji said:

盡忠報国

Jinchu Hokoku

Loyalty & Patriotism

 

Nice!

 

Thanks for your response, it’s greatly appreciated. Hope you enjoy the flag it’s such a cool piece of history.

 

Im taking it to a show with me this weekend, so maybe I’ll get some additional names done as I show people. One piece at a time I’m building a cool collection.