The 2026 pop-up season started at 5am, in the dark, scraping ice off the inside of the van windscreen. Which feels about right for a February start in Scotland.
By the time I got back to the office at 8:30pm to unload, I’d remembered exactly what the first event of the year always feels like; slightly chaotic, slightly rusty, and somehow both exhausting and energising at the same time.
After months mostly in the office pouring resin, sanding dice, repainting towers and reworking masters because I’ve once again decided I hate a font I loved last week, stepping back behind a stall always feels strange. You go from working in near silence to talking non-stop for hours. The card machines need coaxing. The internet has opinions. You find yourself doing the now familiar “flip your phone… no, underneath… closer…” routine more times than seems reasonable. And of course, after redoing my ID display board the night before, I left it sitting in the office.
Classic start to the season.
But once the doors opened and the first few conversations got going, the rhythm came back. The banter settles in. The enabling begins. Someone insists they absolutely don’t need more dice and then proceeds to pick up two sets. We talk about Baldur’s Gate, Grey’s Anatomy, mimics, metal dice versus resin, and why sanding is unquestionably the worst part of making dice. Someone asks for “just one normal six-sided die.” I still don’t carry just one. Apparently I sell everything except that.
There’s something about the first event back that reminds you why you keep doing it. It’s watching someone pick up a set of dice and immediately know they’ve found their set. It’s chatting to hobbyists who understand exactly how much work goes into the bits nobody sees. It’s collectors who don’t even play but just love shiny rocks with numbers on them. It’s being out of the office and talking to real people after months of fumes and paint and overthinking.
A big thank you to BGCP for putting on a smooth, well-run event. First shows of the year can feel frantic, but everything from setup to atmosphere felt organised and positive, a solid way to kick off 2026. Massive appreciation as well to Mad Monkey for offering help when I realised my forgotten display board wasn’t magically going to appear, and to Quirky Koala for the sugar boost that kept me functioning long after the 5am start should have caught up with me. That kind of trader support makes a long day feel lighter.
By the time I was unloading in the dark again, I was tired, properly tired, but in the good way. The season’s moving. The van’s been christened for another year. The card machines have had their first argument with the internet. And I’ve remembered that no matter how long I’ve been doing this, the first one of the year always feels like learning to ride the bike again.
We’re officially back.
