Most people wait until Sunday morning to walk the Chicago Toy Show. By then, a lot of the best stuff is already gone.
The hotel pre-show runs Wednesday through Saturday, it's free, and vendors set up right in their rooms. I spent a full day hunting it for the first time and the diecast finds were way better than I expected.
In this one I break down what it's actually like walking the Chicago Toy Show hotel pre-show as a diecast collector.
A bit of what's inside:
π What the three floors of vendor rooms look like and when to show up...
π The vintage red lines, carded Matchbox, and other cool stuff I came across...
π A 48-car collector case score that made the trip worth it...
π The inside scoop on Saturday early morning parking-lot line shopping at the toy show vendor set up...
If you collect vintage, the pre-show is where the real hunt happens before the doors even open.