I also brought a bunch of money to spend and only walked away with a small frag from the donation table. There were some nice things available, just not what I was looking for. Vendors like Jason Fox or smcooler or Wet Thumb Frags or others with more aquaculture type of corals would have been more to my liking. I really didn't see too many ORA corals either. Other than that, I had a good time talking to other hobbyists and seeing Randy's beautiful tank. Maybe Randy can setup a table with some frags from his tank :spin: Put me in line for a frag of that beautiful Turaki :wink1:
Swap Opinions
- Thread starter molodets
- Start date
- Status
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
We had ORA frags out the wazoo at the MR table that no one wanted-- even 2 never before seen unreleased ones.
I actually thought the livestock selection was outstanding--better across the board than in the past. I guess it just depends what you are looking for. Personally, I have little interest in designer or signature or "high-end" corals. I actually found it quite refreshing that there wasn't a lot of that in the room. I got the sense that most vendors had a successful show which means most members found plenty of things to interest them.
- Location
- New Jersey
Chief, just enough for one more person.
- Location
- The Big City
Dr Mac was had a whole of bunch of Jason Fox corals for sale, they where on the left side towards the bottom of his tank. I didn't see many ORA frags, though we did have a bunch at the donation table.
We did have a lot of vendors at the swap, I think the most we ever had. I think what may help in the future is for members to ask vendors to bring certain corals, I guess it would also help if vendors asked members what they were looking for too, this is something that was done in the past and probably needs to be done again.
We did have a lot of vendors at the swap, I think the most we ever had. I think what may help in the future is for members to ask vendors to bring certain corals, I guess it would also help if vendors asked members what they were looking for too, this is something that was done in the past and probably needs to be done again.
I thought that I saw a sign by the ORA frags at the MR table that said that they were for the auction or the raffle. I didn't realize those were for sale.
- Location
- New Jersey
I was really lookin forward to going. Ive been a NJRC memeber for like 6 years and ive made it to 1 swap and the first day of macna for two hours.
My work schedule can change at any time or i can get called in for specialty stuff.
Thats why i had to wait till friday to make a definite purchase of tickets. I bought tickets to a NJRc swap because i got pressured into it and couldnt make the swap or get money back. Lesson learned.
My work schedule can change at any time or i can get called in for specialty stuff.
Thats why i had to wait till friday to make a definite purchase of tickets. I bought tickets to a NJRc swap because i got pressured into it and couldnt make the swap or get money back. Lesson learned.
This was my first swap of any kind. So many of the corals a regular might think are ho-hum I'd never seen before.
I was the very first person through the door. Only one woman ahead of me and she had to fill out a nametag so I was the first one to a vendor table.
That said, I was probably among the first 5 to every vendor table at the show... and there were at least 6 items that I can think of off the top of my head already sold that I asked about. This did grate on my nerves a bit I suppose.
I would have liked to have seen some more designer corals, ala ORA/Tyree/etc. People bash on named corals but if I type in ORA Red Planet on google I get a hundred pictures of frags and colonies of this coral. I know how it will grow, good vs. bad coloration, parameters and positioning that people get the best results from. I find all of these attributes to be very comforting as a newer SPS keeper. Having a notion that I'm placing and caring for the coral correctly and then being able compare my results to those with more experience is invaluable to me.
All and all I still enjoyed myself a lot and will consider returning, pending gas prices and getting the total on what I spent on tolls which I suspect will be criminal.
I was the very first person through the door. Only one woman ahead of me and she had to fill out a nametag so I was the first one to a vendor table.
That said, I was probably among the first 5 to every vendor table at the show... and there were at least 6 items that I can think of off the top of my head already sold that I asked about. This did grate on my nerves a bit I suppose.
I would have liked to have seen some more designer corals, ala ORA/Tyree/etc. People bash on named corals but if I type in ORA Red Planet on google I get a hundred pictures of frags and colonies of this coral. I know how it will grow, good vs. bad coloration, parameters and positioning that people get the best results from. I find all of these attributes to be very comforting as a newer SPS keeper. Having a notion that I'm placing and caring for the coral correctly and then being able compare my results to those with more experience is invaluable to me.
All and all I still enjoyed myself a lot and will consider returning, pending gas prices and getting the total on what I spent on tolls which I suspect will be criminal.
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
I was looking around for the more special rarer oddball corals that people usually don't buy and I was disapointed. But if I was looking for the basic run of the mill amazing coral every vendor had them. I seen beautiful pink millie colonies and other amazing coral that the vendors were bringing back home with them because they didn't sell. Shame on you guys.
All the vendors had amazing coral. Some might have looked maybe a little dull with partially cloudy water or not too great color spectrums on the lights (maybe couldn't get to the table to look =P) but if you knew what to look for and how to look for it they were all there.
IMO, it was very very nice seeing a broad spectrum of different coral than just the "high end" named colored pieces. Made shopping more fun.
Plus, I was able to get some very very nice coral because people that really know what to look for were few and far between =P I can;'t tell you how many times I went to a vendor and was stunned that noone bought a specific piece at the price it was and its actual rarity.
All the vendors had amazing coral. Some might have looked maybe a little dull with partially cloudy water or not too great color spectrums on the lights (maybe couldn't get to the table to look =P) but if you knew what to look for and how to look for it they were all there.
IMO, it was very very nice seeing a broad spectrum of different coral than just the "high end" named colored pieces. Made shopping more fun.
Plus, I was able to get some very very nice coral because people that really know what to look for were few and far between =P I can;'t tell you how many times I went to a vendor and was stunned that noone bought a specific piece at the price it was and its actual rarity.
- Location
- Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY
For anyone dissapointed with the swap completely because of coral selection your just not seeing the importance of the social aspect of the swap. I wasn't there to buy coral, I was there to enjoy the presentations and catch up with old friends and see Randy's tanks and thought the swap was one of the best ones we've had. The coral, raffle, and everything else was a bonus. The glass is always half full.
ryangrieder
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Northern Jersey
My opinion, I liked the fall swap a Bit better. I agree with salty dog. I hated the fact that while I'm trying to look at some frags, people are breathing down my neck or I'm getting bounced around by other people. way way way to crowded. I got there at 10:20 and stood online for about a half an hour and when I saw inside, I could not even see any vendor table from far because of the crowds. if the price had to change from 25 bucks to 50 bucks for twice the size of the event, it would be well worth it. I was getting annoyed with so many people wearing these huge back packs or those big box coolers on their backs. They kept smashing into everyone! One of them even knocked my new hat off and it fell into one of the vendors tank! It's seriously was out of control. Who wanted to wait about 25 minutes just to look at dr. Mac table? Not me. I did not even see what they brought because I was tired of everyone cutting in line. It was seriously like black Friday waiting on line to go into wal mart to get the best sales first. People are so nice on here, but so many people were rude while trying to walk through the crowd. Not to mention, every name tag I looked at...I have never seen that person here on MR before. I just got tired of it. Even some vendors were not that organized. I understand it's a lot going on and a lot of pressure trying to organize everything while people are in a rush, but seriously one vendor...they were working with a few people at once....a member would pick out a coral, then the guy would put it to the side until all the frags were picked out. then another person for the vendor would take the coral that that one guy just picked, and bag it for someone else then go "uhhhh which one was it again you first picked, ohh here is the same one but smaller" give me a break. Althugh there were good vendors of course. Two examples, russ & Jim. Before looking at the corals or products, they shook your hand, and spoke to you about whatever. They actually took the time out to talk directly with you. They understand others will get there chance. They were the last vendor table I went to, and the first place I bought stuff from. Very happy with them. Another would be Kevin from manhattan aquariums. Great guy to deal with and still had time to make some joke and laugh a little. So that's why I bought from them. And I'm sure there were other vendors too that were good but...well I never got to see them because of others fighting to the tables.
All and all for me... A brought a few hundred bucks, and only spent $110. Got there at 10:20 and left by 12. I could not take it anymore with the crowd. Not worth it. Great swap, great people, great prices, but others ruined it by not moving along. The pace university swap I got to see every vendor many times. This swap, I was lucky to get to each table once... I'd give it a 5 or 6 out of 10...
All and all for me... A brought a few hundred bucks, and only spent $110. Got there at 10:20 and left by 12. I could not take it anymore with the crowd. Not worth it. Great swap, great people, great prices, but others ruined it by not moving along. The pace university swap I got to see every vendor many times. This swap, I was lucky to get to each table once... I'd give it a 5 or 6 out of 10...
- Location
- Long Island-east suffolk
for me first time...i say 6 out of 10.
some people are an ass cuz few of them wont move and kept staring at corals even not buying...geez.. thats it.
Jake
some people are an ass cuz few of them wont move and kept staring at corals even not buying...geez.. thats it.
Jake
- Location
- new jersey
This was my first swap and I thought it was overcrowded. It was also extremely hot in there. I didnt enjoy looking at the vendors stuff because I had to fight to get a glimpse of what they had.
- Location
- Schoharie, NY
I drove 3+ hours to get there and had a great time.Meeting everyone was the best for me. Tony put on a great presentation and Pratts tank was amazing.I learned a lot ,seen a lot and spent alot I would personally like to thank all the volunteers and vendors for making It a great swap looking foward to the next one..
Sent from my EVO 4G using Reefs
Sent from my EVO 4G using Reefs
- Location
- Long Island
Overall, I think the swap was good, not bad, not great, just good. I would rate it higher if it had not been so crowded with many rude people. The talking during speaker lectures was absolutely unacceptable and I actually walked out at the end of one because I just couldn't hear anymore. It was leave the room, or smack the people behind me.
I don't spend a lot of time on this site unfortunately because I moderate another, and I, too did not recognize a lot of the names. I think there were a lot of first timers at this frag swap.
If you want the rare corals, you have to look up individual members swap lists and purchase ahead of time and pick them up at the swap or contact vendors that are coming with what you're looking for. If you were expecting MACNA, you were at the wrong place. Don't forget, Cherry Corals, who has some amazing and rare pieces wasn't there (so sad what happened), so that was a huge piece missing from the puzzle if you were looking for those "wow" pieces.
We got there about an 45 minutes late, and I was shocked at how much was already sold. Granted, they were pieces that I was not interested in, but was still shocked to see how much wasn't up for grabs already. Yes, we were able to walk right in without having our tickets checked, but if you're an honest person (hard to find these days I guess), you went to the check in on your own and told them who you were. It was a little shocking to me that after all the "this will be sold out ... we can't have extra people here," speeches, no one was really checking to see if you actually did pay. I was able to walk in and out all day, which, while it was nice, a stamped hand would have been better to assure that I actually belonged there. I really felt that anyone that showed up after 11 could have gotten into (and probably did) the swap without actually having paid for it.
I think a big reason it was so crowded is because, dare I say, members brought their "reef retarded" (as we refer to it on another site) significant others out. I'm a wife, but I'm in the hobby as well as my husband, so we both enjoy being there. He's the SPS guy, I'm the LPS/fish/clam person. We were there to buy different things. We looked at a lot of vendors at different times. But when the woman wearing the fur coat thing bumped into me for the millionth time, only to tell her husband that he shouldn't buy something, I had enough. Even trying to get a bite to eat was a chore. Personally, I thought lunch was unorganized. And please people, learn what gum/mouthwash and deodorant are. The backpack body checks weren't a whole lot of fun either. I would have gladly paid twice as much per ticket for a larger venue.
Dr. Mac's table was worth the wait. I have a thing for clams (bring on the jokes, LOL), and I did stand in front of that table for a while. I'd walk away, come back, etc. They knew I was buying something and knew why I kept leaving and coming back and worked with me and ultimately I did buy one of their clams (how could you not?!?). I thought they had the nicest selection. The "pieces of the reef" zoa rocks, the rainbow ric rocks and the acan colonies were well worth the money they were asking.
I was disappointed in what Manhattan Aquariums/Unique Corals brought compared to what they have in their store and online, but it's always great to go and talk to their guys, especially Kevin. He is so honest and helpful.
I, too, noticed the one vendor helping too many people at once. You'd pick something out, he'd set it aside and then sell it to someone else. It was chaos over there. And yes, I will say who it was: Aquatic Life Direct. I'm not going to hide behind the "one vendor did this" thing. It was them. Nice guys, but unorganized and overzealous about selling things which ultimately cost them some sales (I think, at least from me it did).
I, also did not realize that the ORA pieces at the MR table were for sale, but in all fairness, I didn't look that hard. It was too close to the kid section and the raffle buckets and it was very crowded, so I avoided that area for most of the day. It would have been helpful if the for sale corals from MR had been in a different location from the raffle tickets, it would have made it less confusing.
Overall, it was nice to put some faces to some of the members and meet up with some that I hadn't seen in a while and I did pick up a nice clam as well as won a raffle. It was a good day out for both my husband and I and worth the money. Randy was great answering questions about and showing us his wonderful tanks. Did we find everything we were after? No. Would I go again, absolutely. Swaps are always organized chaos, it just goes with the territory. We go to car swaps and it's the same thing, there's only so much you can do when you have less than 24 hours to set up.
I don't spend a lot of time on this site unfortunately because I moderate another, and I, too did not recognize a lot of the names. I think there were a lot of first timers at this frag swap.
If you want the rare corals, you have to look up individual members swap lists and purchase ahead of time and pick them up at the swap or contact vendors that are coming with what you're looking for. If you were expecting MACNA, you were at the wrong place. Don't forget, Cherry Corals, who has some amazing and rare pieces wasn't there (so sad what happened), so that was a huge piece missing from the puzzle if you were looking for those "wow" pieces.
We got there about an 45 minutes late, and I was shocked at how much was already sold. Granted, they were pieces that I was not interested in, but was still shocked to see how much wasn't up for grabs already. Yes, we were able to walk right in without having our tickets checked, but if you're an honest person (hard to find these days I guess), you went to the check in on your own and told them who you were. It was a little shocking to me that after all the "this will be sold out ... we can't have extra people here," speeches, no one was really checking to see if you actually did pay. I was able to walk in and out all day, which, while it was nice, a stamped hand would have been better to assure that I actually belonged there. I really felt that anyone that showed up after 11 could have gotten into (and probably did) the swap without actually having paid for it.
I think a big reason it was so crowded is because, dare I say, members brought their "reef retarded" (as we refer to it on another site) significant others out. I'm a wife, but I'm in the hobby as well as my husband, so we both enjoy being there. He's the SPS guy, I'm the LPS/fish/clam person. We were there to buy different things. We looked at a lot of vendors at different times. But when the woman wearing the fur coat thing bumped into me for the millionth time, only to tell her husband that he shouldn't buy something, I had enough. Even trying to get a bite to eat was a chore. Personally, I thought lunch was unorganized. And please people, learn what gum/mouthwash and deodorant are. The backpack body checks weren't a whole lot of fun either. I would have gladly paid twice as much per ticket for a larger venue.
Dr. Mac's table was worth the wait. I have a thing for clams (bring on the jokes, LOL), and I did stand in front of that table for a while. I'd walk away, come back, etc. They knew I was buying something and knew why I kept leaving and coming back and worked with me and ultimately I did buy one of their clams (how could you not?!?). I thought they had the nicest selection. The "pieces of the reef" zoa rocks, the rainbow ric rocks and the acan colonies were well worth the money they were asking.
I was disappointed in what Manhattan Aquariums/Unique Corals brought compared to what they have in their store and online, but it's always great to go and talk to their guys, especially Kevin. He is so honest and helpful.
I, too, noticed the one vendor helping too many people at once. You'd pick something out, he'd set it aside and then sell it to someone else. It was chaos over there. And yes, I will say who it was: Aquatic Life Direct. I'm not going to hide behind the "one vendor did this" thing. It was them. Nice guys, but unorganized and overzealous about selling things which ultimately cost them some sales (I think, at least from me it did).
I, also did not realize that the ORA pieces at the MR table were for sale, but in all fairness, I didn't look that hard. It was too close to the kid section and the raffle buckets and it was very crowded, so I avoided that area for most of the day. It would have been helpful if the for sale corals from MR had been in a different location from the raffle tickets, it would have made it less confusing.
Overall, it was nice to put some faces to some of the members and meet up with some that I hadn't seen in a while and I did pick up a nice clam as well as won a raffle. It was a good day out for both my husband and I and worth the money. Randy was great answering questions about and showing us his wonderful tanks. Did we find everything we were after? No. Would I go again, absolutely. Swaps are always organized chaos, it just goes with the territory. We go to car swaps and it's the same thing, there's only so much you can do when you have less than 24 hours to set up.
- Location
- Queens, 11365
I'm kind of disappointed in the swap as well. Cleaned up a big space in my limited space and hoping to fill the space up but end up not buying one single frag from this swap.
For some reason, the frags are getting ordinary, really can't blame the vendors too much for this part because of the stress the frag would be in.
Overall is very disappointed ...imho... and would be skipping the Fall swap
For some reason, the frags are getting ordinary, really can't blame the vendors too much for this part because of the stress the frag would be in.
Overall is very disappointed ...imho... and would be skipping the Fall swap
I still don't understand why it costs 25 per preson now, I think the venue needs to be changed to a more cost effective place. The NJ swap and the Deleware swap were both 10 dollars to enter and they had twice as many vendors. And if you were a couple and preordered it was 15. Thats still 10 dollars less for 2 people than one person at the manhattan swap. I think its time to look into other places besides Pratt.
- Status
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