The Crowne Plaza Hotel has a convenient service for dealers wishing to ship merchandise directly to the hotel in advance—however, they now charge a handling fee per box.  It’s pretty reasonable; the charges are detailed below.

Once your boxes are in the hotel’s hands, they’re placed in a security lockup.  When you check in at the front desk, the fact that your parcels are in the lockup should appear on the computer.  You can pick them up yourself or have the bell captain deliver them to your room. The appropriate charges can then be paid at the front desk (these fees go to the hotel–not WonderFest!).  See below for rates.

Address your shipment to:

Yourself, c/o the Security  Dept.
Crowne Plaza Hotel
830 Phillips Lane
Louisville, KY 40209-1387.

Mark clearly on the box that it’s for the WonderFest Convention and include the show dates.

Receiving/Storage Charges

The following are the rates and guidelines for packages and materials that are routed through the Shipping and Receiving Departments of the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

• $4.00 per item (minimum) normal delivery (70 lbs.)
• $75.00 per skid/crate normal delivery (250 lbs.)
• $10.00 per box over 75 lbs & less than 100 lbs.

Additional charge will be incurred for oversize/overweight packages.

• $75.00 per skid/crate (minimum) weighted freight less than 250 lbs.
• $100.00 per crate for each 250 lb max 500 lbs.

There is no raised loading dock at the Crowne Plaza, all skids or oversized/overweight deliveries must be made on vehicles with lift-gates.

Provision must be made for off-loading of any crate that is in excess of 500 lbs., by calling the Hotel Catering Manager at least two weeks prior to delivery to arrange for rental of a forklift at an additional charge, dependent on the size of the crate.

Normal delivery consists of any standard package delivery through normal carriers such as Federal Express, UPS, Airborne Express, etc. When a normal delivery comes on a skid or crate, the rate, which benefits the guests, will apply. For example: a skid with 15 small/medium boxes delivered to the Shipping and Receiving Department would incur charges of $4.00 per box to total $65.00, instead of the $75.00 charge.

Freightliner deliveries consist of those deliveries made by freight/storage companies that handle large, oversized shipments not normally handled by your normal package carriers. Standard charge is $75.00 per skid (based on 4x4x4 size); any delivery in excess of this standard size or in excess of the weight limit of 250 lbs. will be charged $100.00 per 250 lbs.

A storage rate will be charged to all guests who have packages stored on the hotel property for more than 7 days. Any item stored in excess of 7 days will be charged a daily rate of $5.00 per day. Any items left in storage in excess of 14 days shall be disposed of.

Letters and small boxes (8” x 8” x 2”) can be picked up from Hotel Security at no charge.

If you have any questions, please call the Catering Department: (502) 367-2251.

Yes. Dealers wishing to purchase their table space online may do so now through PayPal.

Every dealer gets ONE free admission with every table rented. Then each dealer may purchase up to TWO (2) extra dealer badge at the reduce rate of $30 and up to THREE (3) extra badges at the weekend price $50, during check-in.

Examples:

1 table = 1 free + 2 extra badges ($30) + 3 extra badges ($50) = 6 badges total.

2 tables = 2 free badges + 2 extra badges ($30) + 3 extra badges ($50) = 7 badges total.

Because we have more demand for tables than we have room, we do allow table sharing for the present time. However, a dealer must declare the sharing dealer’s name on his/her contract and both the primary and sharing dealers must agree to the show’s terms and conditions. In all cases, the primary dealer is ultimately responsible for the appropriateness of all merchandise on the table.

Dealers have an 8-ft. by 4-ft. space behind each table, as well as the space under their tables. Due to room quirks, some tables may have more or a bit less. A dealer can bring a booth instead of using the table as long as it fits properly within their allotted space. Any shelving or displays must not interfere with adjacent dealers. Nothing may be placed in front of the tables or in the aisles in accordance with Fire Marshal regulations. (Table Top measurements are 8-ft x 30 in.)

First, our mission is to be a show for all ages that brings in the largest possible audience. This is good for business! Second, local ordinances are very strict and could risk our show being shut down. We ask dealers to help us by being discreet about the display of their “adult” merchandise, because we don’t want to have to ban or eliminate it. We’d rather have you help with creative ways around the situation. For the most part, you’ve been great! We’ll be enforcing the adult materials rule strictly at WonderFest, so please be alerted.

WonderFest doesn’t approve of them.

The technology of molding and casting has made it easy and inexpensive to produce your own model. Garage Kits are usually sculpted by an individual and then molded and cast at home, often in the garage. Molding and casting can also be used to copy parts of a model to use in a diorama, or to modify it in some way.

But a few modelers have been taking kits they’ve purchased or borrowed and are remolding and recasting them (thus the term “recast) –then selling them at shows and through the mail–often while the original kit is still being produced and sold!

WonderFest’s stance on recasting is not based on the legal and moral copying issues. We believe that recasting discourages new work from being produced and is not in the long-term best interest of the hobby.

That said, we cannot, however, be recast police for the hobby at large. Our domain is the WonderFest show premises … specifically, our Dealer’s Room.

Our recast policy is one of helping our legitimate dealers to protect themselves. With the huge number and variation of kits in the market, we could never keep track of what is authentic and what is not. It’s not our job anyway; we put on a convention.

What we can do, however, is ensure that a dealer of original merchandise who rents space at our show will not be competing with a recast being sold in the same room. If a dealer is selling an unauthorized copy of an item—and the authorized manufacturer or dealer brings the complaint to CEO Dave Hodge and verifies that the item is a copy—then Dave will request the unauthorized dealer to immediately cease selling the item at the show. If that dealer does not comply, he/she will forfeit their table without refund.

All of our dealers sign a contract agreeing to abide by this policy, and we rarely have a problem.

We want sculpting and Garage Kit production to have a great future for the enjoyment of hobbyists around the world.