HCF - Messe Den Haag - Niederlande

[pong38]

Day 1

This year the origanisation has decided to change the way people have to wait and on how to get the HCF 2004 KMS.

I arrived at 15:00 and needed to wait outside in a small but already long queue and in very heavy rain until 16:00 before they opened the door.
While outside the waiting people received 1x blue A4 paper which gave you the right to buy one KMS. (The San Marino methode)

At 15:00 the queue was 156 people + 1 (me) long (explanation later) but around 16:00 over 400 people were waiting in the cold wind and heavy rain.

When entering the hotel (not through the frontdoor but a sidedoor and SOAKING wet) security let people in in groups of 5 to the table to pay entrence and to buy the HCF set.
All sets are numbered and I received set number 157. The issue price is 17 euro.

Coming inside there was ofcourse the yearly disappointment.
Maybe 20-25 dealers showed up. Prices are falling but what was expensive is still expensive.
For the insiders Frau Peters (her name is Francis and NOT his wife) wish you all well.

There was NO room to get more then one set this time.
The daily number of sets for the Friday were sold out in 1,5 hour.

Maybe I have more luck tomorrow.

 

[euro-guy]

Man kann also nicht sagen, dass es eine trockene Veranstaltung war.

 

[Nestor]

Day 1
...in very heavy rain... // ...1x blue A4 paper which gave you the right to buy one KMS. (The San Marino methode)... // ...waiting in the cold wind and heavy rain... // ...and SOAKING wet...

I agree it was raining, but although the rain was steady I wouldn't qualify it as "very heavy" or even "heavy". But maybe it was tougher before I arrived at 15:40. And although I agree that it was quite windy, it wasn't cold. In fact, 15°C in early Februari is pretty warm in Holland! Still, it ain't fun to stand in the rain.

About coins now, I got a set (you didn't need the blue paper for that, on it were just the instructions about the followed procedures!), I've bought a coin (for those who care: the 1 pa'anga Christmas coin 1986 of Tonga), and I talked with some friends. But overal I found it a bit disappointing, since I could only make a swap with one other collector. Last year was far better in that perspective.

I didn't go today, but because Pong38 planned to go each day I wonder how he liked the weather this time. From what I could hear from my warm and cosy bed I think this time the rain was heavy indeed...
Greetings,

Senior

 

[pong38]

I agree it was raining, but although the rain was steady I wouldn't qualify it as "very heavy" or even "heavy". But maybe it was tougher before I arrived at 15:40. And although I agree that it was quite windy, it wasn't cold. In fact, 15°C in early Februari is pretty warm in Holland! Still, it ain't fun to stand in the rain.

About coins now, I got a set (you didn't need the blue paper for that, on it were just the instructions about the followed procedures!), I've bought a coin (for those who care: the 1 pa'anga Christmas coin 1986 of Tonga), and I talked with some friends. But overal I found it a bit disappointing, since I could only make a swap with one other collector. Last year was far better in that perspective.

I didn't go today, but because Pong38 planned to go each day I wonder how he liked the weather this time. From what I could hear from my warm and cosy bed I think this time the rain was heavy indeed...
Greetings,

Senior

Dear Senior

"Heavy rain" means to me... soaking wet. If you were there at 15:40 you maybe missed a fair part of that "heavy rain" I was there at 15:00 (a lot of them already 1 hour earlier) and these extra 40 minutes in the rain (compared to you) CAN make a difference.

And maybe in the part of Holland where you live it was 15 degrees but surely not in Den Haag (not even the last 1,5 week) and for sure not last friday.

One thing you are right. I wrote the blue paper was needed for a set.
It must be the WHITE paper (you get it when you payed the entrance fee) with the printed number which matches the set you bought.

Anyway... today was like yesterday.
Again heavy rain and even more stormy weather. A lot of people brought umbrella's with them this time (who knew on friday that he had to wait outside) but, like mine, it was destroyed because of the strong wind.

The people at the desk had very sharp eyes today.
One set per person... Later they changed the text into "one set per person per event"
People trying to get more sets were easily reckognized by a few people of the KNM watching the 2 tables.
It happened to me too. So no more sets then 1.

The man from the KNM even told me that coming tomorrow would be a waste of time, he would reckognize me again