Last post I mentioned that I had brought the family to a geek market.  This Geek Market.

I did a bit of pre-sale for the event, and both the little ones were all smiles about heading there.  My other half wasn’t so sure.  I knew that spending 4 hours wasn’t going to be an option, but a solid 2 would do.  We headed over, paid the entry and then started walking around the kiosks.

I’ve been to my fair share of these types of events, where people are selling stuff.  I have a great dislike of pressure sales, and the high level of energy required when you’re just browsing.  Geeks are introverts, by and large, so that was certainly the biggest shock (or lack thereof) while browsing.  People just smile and let you look around.  Those that built their own crafts are quite proud just to be sitting there, and are more than willing to share their stories if asked.  But there’s no pushing.  That’s one of the best parts.

Anyhoot, the first spot was a couple guys selling dice sets.  They also had a random dice bin, which my eldest treated like diamonds.  Every 30 seconds, “when can we get some dice”.  Jeebers.  It was the last thing we did before leaving and she was super happy with her choices.  She also managed to find a dice with two 5s and a 7.  Now that’s something!

There was a neat Lego setup, with a perpetual marble machine as the centerpiece.  Again, my eldest just stopped moving and stared for a few minutes.  I think we all did.  Off to the side were 2 millennium falcons, one of which was custom built.  It was like Christmas.  The gent had spent 3 months building it and was practically glowing with pride.  All the rest of Lego was custom sets too, and I could see the wheels turning in my kid’s head for future projects.

My littlest one really liked the toys, all of them.  She ended up with some miniature winnie the pooh figures, similar to one we found in one of our old boxes at home.  She was super pumped.

There were a bunch of other neat kiosks around.  Jewelry, clothes, toys, mugs, boardgames… even a bunch of furries and stormtroopers.  Another section of the floor plan was set up for tabletops and some cosplay.  We didn’t have a chance to explore that side with the time we had.

It was interesting to see my wife’s reaction in all of this.  My guess is that she was expected a set of boardgames and underground culture, when it reality it was just a bunch of people with similar interests, sharing them.  Ninja Turtles, GI Joe, Harry Potter (wands and all) all seemed to resonate with her, though not as a geek mentality.  She did mention that she appreciated the more calm atmosphere, compared to some other trade shows.

Long story short, brought my 2 kids and wife to a geek market.  Confirmed I have raised the 2 kids well, and wife is a slow convert.