The van has now been unpacked, the stock is safely back at BlueCyborg HQ, and the van itself is at the garage.
Hopefully it will not cost too much to fix and will be fighting fit again before Inverness Comic Con at the end of the month.
That brings a slightly chaotic but very positive weekend at Loch Lomond Comic Con to an end.
A Busy Weekend at Loch Lomond
We spent Saturday and Sunday trading at Loch Lomond Shores with BGCP, surrounded by great customers, fellow traders and the constant smell of food drifting across the event whenever I was trying to concentrate.
It was our first time at this particular event, so I was not entirely sure what to expect. The ID cards were as popular as ever, with plenty of dice, miniatures, badges and other tabletop goodies also finding new homes.
The biggest surprise, though, was just how many games sold.
I always take a selection of tabletop and card games to events, but at comic cons they can sometimes move more slowly than dice or cosplay props. Not this weekend.
Customers were genuinely interested in finding games they could take home and play with friends or family. We talked through quick travel games, family games, two-player games and murder mysteries, including which ones were easy to learn and which were best suited to different groups.
The Cryptic Killers cases did particularly well, proving once again that people enjoy being handed a file full of evidence and told to argue about who committed a fictional murder.
Seeing so many tabletop games heading home made me genuinely happy. BlueCyborg sells plenty of different things these days, but tabletop gaming is still right at the heart of what we do.
The Van Had Other Plans
Sunday morning introduced one slight complication when the van decided that charging its battery was apparently optional.
After briefly considering turning back, I realised I was almost exactly halfway between home and Loch Lomond. Going home meant an empty stall and no money coming in to help pay for the repair, so I continued and left the journey home as a problem for Future Andrew.
The van made it to the event, the stall stayed busy, and the return journey was completed using as little electrical power as possible, along with quite a lot of hope.
Thankfully, both the van and I made it home safely.
Thank You, Loch Lomond
A huge thank you to BGCP for organising the weekend, to the other traders who offered help during the van situation, and to everyone who stopped by the stall.
Thank you to everyone who bought something, asked questions, chatted about games or simply came over to admire the dice.
The stock is back at HQ, the van is at the garage, and preparations will soon begin again.
Next stop, Inverness Comic Con.
Assuming the van agrees.