Thread: My "review" of HAA Transworld 2010

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Greetings fellow haunters,

For those interested, I just returned to California after being at the HAA Show / Transworld in St. Louis for 5 days.

This was my first year going to the show and "was" extremely excited about going to see all the great creations in person that I had only seen on the internet. I was "armed" with a good photo camera and a small video camera to document everything I saw.

Before I begin, let me just stress that is strictly MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION, and although others would beg to differ, I am entitled to expressing my experience from my perspective and point of view. THIS IS MY OPINION ONLY ... the posts that will come from others are THEIR opinions.

There were "highs" and "lows" to being at the show in person ...

To start, the show was very small. I had seen several peoples videos of last years show and previous years that showcases some amazing products and companies, which was 99.9% of why I spent over $1500 for me and my wife to attend. The problem was, much of what I had seen in videos and photos of previous shows were now not there at the 2010 show. Many companies, including the big ones that have gorgeous props that people like us drool over were not there. The companies that were there had seriously downsized what they actually brought with them to the show to display. Most vendors booths were very small and had a fraction of what they had to offer in their "catalogs".

My wife and I walked the whole show the FIRST TIME around in approx 1 hour, and that is including stopping at several booths to examine products. That give you a pretty good indication as to what "WAS NOT" there.

It was a standard practice at just about every booth I went to that the owner would hand me a catalog and say "well we have all this as well and you can order online or call us after the show". Another huge drawback is that practically no vendor actually had product there to "sell" that you could walk away with after paying. The best you could get would be to buy the "floor model" (which most companies only had 1 of) in the first few days and then return late on the "last day" to pick it up. This was discouraging considering I had brought several thousand dollars with me to buy products expecting to get a great "show price" and ultimately spending a mere $160 that saved me a total of $10 for being at the show in person, not to mention the $1500 I had spend just to be there. So basically a $160 prop cost me $1660 if you want to look at it like that ... But I was unaware that companies were NOT selling the products there for buyers to actually get immediately. This was MY own mistake on my part.

This might have been because this was standard practice at this show (because I had no reference) or because the vendors were trying to avoid spending a lot of money to bring multiple "for sale" items to the show, or the economy itself has affected the vendors popularity, who knows.

In addition, from a majority of companies (which I will not mention), "home haunters" were seriously frowned upon. The comments that were given to my by at least 12 vendors were ... "home haunters can't afford to buy our stuff so we focus on the pro haunters that use our products to make money, which is how we base our pricing structure for our products ...". I was so sickened by this "attitude" that I seriously wanted to go home after the first day. Here I am standing there with a wad of cash (approx $2000) in my pocket to buy some cool stuff and the "attitude" I got was such mentioned. Now there was lots of things I could "afford" to purchase, but the quality of what I was looking at for the most part was NOT there. Some $2000 props I have the skills to "build" myself for a fraction of the cost and it would be better made, not just the materials or functionality, but because "I" made it. I guess that's why I am a home haunter ... yeah, one of "THOSE guys".

Now I am not saying that all vendors were like that ... there were some stellar companies products, customer service, and general "likability" because they were very pleasant to talk with and discuss business with. Here are my top 6.

1.) Lights-Alive - Makers of lighting fx, the best lightning fx controllers, and now prop controllers (Halloween Props, LED Lights, Holiday & Animated Lighting by Lights Alive)
2.) Scare Factory - Amazingly detailed Animatronics, expensive, but the best out there (Haunted House supplies, animations, special effects, horror props - The ScareFactory)
3.) Ghost Ride - Very detailed and reasonably priced bodies, heads, props, etc: (Haunted house props, special effects, supplies and custom products for your haunted attraction.)
4.) Splatter FX aka Midnight Studios - husband and wife owned fx studio with stellar quality, attention to detail and reasonable prices (SplatterFX.NET)
5.) EFX-TECH - Makers of decent prop controllers (EFX-TEK)
6.) Haunt Visions / Creative Visions - Makers of top notch animatronic heads / props AND makers of the "LIVING WALL" stretchable fabric. Great people at this booth and very informative. (HauntVisions / Creative Visions)

There are 3 - 4 other ones that had some neat stuff, but their names escape me at the moment and I will try and update this list when I find their flyer / catalog I was given in the large stack I got while I was there. I am not saying any vendor NOT on this list was "bad", I am simply saying that these had the most to offer "MY NEEDS" and had terrific customer service at the show. Me being a "home haunter" made absolutely no difference to them and they were very pleasant to talk with and never behaved like I was wasting their time.

These were the best at the show ... if you already knew of these companies ... I hate to say it, but you missed absolutely nothing else worth seeing. I had seen the work of these companies online and in photos and videos, and it was nice to actually see their products in person. Believe me when I tell you that the photos and videos yo have seen of their products ARE ACCURATE and look and function as good in person as they do in the promotional materials you have probably already seen.

Even though I was toting around my photo and video cameras to document my experience the whole 4 days I was at the show, they NEVER left my bag because nothing blew me away or end inspired me enough to take them out.

Now here is an even sadder situation that is absolutely pains me to even say ... 90% of the "quality" of products from most other companies is seriously NOT GOOD, but yet carried huge price tags that were ridiculous for what they were selling. There were companies there with "Halloween Store / Halloween Spirit" masks and hands that were attached to mannequin bodies and dressed in "Salvation Army" clothing and splattered with a little blood with a price tag of $999.99 on them. I mean, come on ... There were companies selling misc props that look like my 6 year old made them in 1st grade with absolutely no detail or care in quality that were just mass produced and being priced at 50x what they were worth. And here is the worst part of all ... "pro haunters / owners" were BUYING THEM, paying full price for junk, which to me gives the sellers clear indication that mediocrity and below is o.k. because it will still sell. There was no motivation to do better quality by either making better looking stuff or making things that would "last" more than 1 night. But perhaps I am fooling myself into thinking that these vendors actually care. My impression from the "unmentioned" companies was "make it as cheap and dirty as possible and then sell it for top dollar ..." Shame.

I honestly feel that I have seen WAY BETTER creativity, ingenuity, and skills from many of the people on this forum and in the "home haunter" community. The difference is that we do it because we WANT to, whether it be a challenge of because we just love Halloween and the idea of making something that can scare people. A majority of the company owners seem to either never had that quality or lost it along the way. Maybe we (home haunters) make things for less money on our own and maybe they wont last forever ... but we care.

Now it all was not a total waste of time me being at the show ... I did make some great business contacts and some deals I will reveal at a later date that many of you are going to very much appreciate ... but the absolute highlight of me going to the show was being able to meet some fellow Halloween Forum members in person. Although I was expecting to meet a lot of you there ... I actually met 3, but they were all terrific people.

First being Mark Goodson. Mark is a genuinely nice guy with a big heart and shares the same creativity and drive I have as well. The conversations we had and brainstorming discussions about how to create some solutions / deigns to making some cool haunt props I could not put a price on. Spending 2 days with at the show and even at the airport when leaving made the trip totally worth it to me and my wife. He really symbolizes the type of person that deserves the title of "home haunter with the ambition of someday becoming a pro haunt owner". This last Halloween he created his first DMX Controller / Animatronic show at his home that really knocked my socks off. I hope to stay in touch with Mark for a long time because I really believe someday is is going to open a pro haunt attraction that will be worth every penny of admission price. By the way ... Have you seen his organ?

To much of my surprise, I met "Terra" and her husband outside the show at a nearby restraunt. Once again, great people. Terra's gravestone / cemetery work in their home haunt was one of the main reasons I even join the Halloween Forum to begin with. She has a skill set and wonderful personality that would make anyone want to go see their home haunt. Between the 5 of us sitting at the small table in the bar and multiple conversations overlapping each other between me, my wife, Mark, Terra and her husband, I am sure we all surprised each other with what each and every one of us do and why we do it. That conversation could never been summed up in a short description and I am sure Terra has never heard so many "F*bombs" come out of someones mouth as much as I did that evening ... when was telling her a story ... but that is a looooong story and I am sure one she will not forget ... Sorry if I offended you This one is for you Terra: "FULL MOON PRODUCTIONS" ... get it?

Although we only did a meet and greet for a very short time, I did meet "ScubaDog" and the 9 members of his immediate family as well.

All that said ... I am sure there will be others that will NOT agree with what I have written in regards to the show and that is ok ... This was strictly my own experience, for better or worse.

But this might explain why as of now, there are no photos or videos "from this years show" posted yet on the forum.

If you "were" buying from the vendors I listed, then you will not be disappointed ... otherwise ... "you get what you pay for" doesn't always apply.

I hope for the home haunters that attended the show, it was worth your while and walked away with a more positive experience.

Thank you for reading.

Again, this was my own personal opinion and experience and does not reflect the views of others that attended the show on their own.

Thanks for your review. I found it very interesting. By the way what prop did you buy?

Thank you for your honest review. I sure wish you would have done a walk around anyway for those of us that din't make it.

I am from California, too, and figured out the $1500 cost for my wife and myself would be better spent on pneumatics, etc.. Although meeting you and Terra would have been a great perk to the trip.

Thanks for the review. It's good to here what the others won't tell us. Maybe they just had a bad year this year. It happens.

Hi-Rez,

Transworld isn't a cash and carry show per say. It is the major show for the haunt industry where more of the product is sold via invoice and delivered later. Most of the vendors don't bring a lot of stock, it would be very hard for them to bring large quantities of some these items. This is more of a display of what they have new for the haunt owners to see and get an idea of what they can do if they are commisioned to make something.

The have found that the regional shows like midwest, National Haunters, and the new west haunters conventions will be more of a cash and carry type show. Last year at midwest we bought masks from 3 different vendors, 2 cases of fog, some other odds and end props.

Sorry you didn't enjoy the show.

But I have to agree with you about the Midnight Studios. They were both very cool people and had some of the most amazing detailed props at the show. I was talking to several haunt owners that will be buying from these guys. Great stuff.

Hi Hirez,

I appreciate your candor. Opinions are exactly that -- opinions, and folks are entitled to them. Your willingness to honestly post your experiences is a great way for us to to see what we did/didn't miss.

I'll be attending Hauntcon (as an attendee and as a prop instructor) in 4 weeks and hope to share my experiences with the Forum.

BTW, I think we all aspire to be a "Terra." I'd like to see her input here about her Transworld experience.

I apreciate your candor of the event. Since I was not there I can not saw much. I was planning on going to the NorthWest Haunter's Convention, but now reading how poor one of the biggest show was, I am not so sure I will go. Spend the time and money but be disapointed like that seems like a real slap in the face.

To answer the question, I bought a "caretaker" head and a set of hands from Ghost Ride. Fortunately I was allowed to take them on the last day ... it was interesting checking them through security at the airport as carry-on.

I talked with a few people, and they said this year's show was about 1/2 of last years and somewhat dissappointing.

I didn't have an orange arm band on, but was wearing a T-shirt with my avatar logo on the back, but not being a high poster, most may not have known then. I did look around for people who may had arm bands, but never saw one. I was only there on Saturday.

I did meet up with Dr. Dark by mutual friends and did some drinking with his crew on Saturday night and had some BS sessions Friday night at the Holiday Inn bar and couch area. I did see many others from knowing them personally at other haunt events though.

This was my first year at TW, and was decent for me, but sounded as though last year was far better.

It would have been very nice to meet up with some of the other people on this forum, but sadly I just did not think about it. I too was not impressed with some of the products that were there, I just expected so much more. The only place we bought from were Scare Products, Ghost Ride, and Etherealfx ( they were hanging out at the EFX-TEK booth. All of those companies seemed supportive that we were home haunters especially Etherealfx who we had a very lengthy discussion with.

Overall I think we will return next year, but till then MHC!.