Rather than rant my disapproval, I'll simple "Copy-N-Paste" my email from The Blade Show Team. Sad news indeed...
Capt. Chris

Good afternoon and Happy New Year!

We hope your 2025 is off to a great start. We wanted to take this opportunity to reach out and notify you of a tough yet necessary decision we are making for the knife collection display tables for the 2025 Show and beyond.

Due to the upcoming construction at the Cobb Galleria, our exhibitor space will be impacted somewhat in 2025 and more drastically in 2026. The space being impacted is traditionally where we place the collection display tables. As a result, we are sorry to tell you that we have made the business decision to eliminate the display tables from the lobby area starting in 2025 and moving forward.

There are no immediate plans to find space to relocate the tables. While we do not make this decision lightly, it is one that must be made as the Show is at full capacity and there is no room to expand.

We appreciate your support of and participation in the Show over the years, and recognize the value added you brought to the overall Show experience. We hope to see many of you in the hallways or walking the aisles in 2025 and beyond, and we wish you all the best for the year to come.

Sincerely,


BLADE Show Team

So...although no one has replied, this changes things a great deal for you...for me...and for the RKCC. There will be no available badges for the fine Randall collectors who have displayed some fine RMKs in the lobby (hallways, if you will). I hope to see many of you at the show this year, in spite of..."all this".
Stay Sharp,
Capt. Chris

I have removed this thread from a "global" one so responses are doable (& in order, I should say)!
Stay Sharp,
Capt. Chris
PS: There are also responses under the club sub-forum (RKCC)...CCS

I had tried to reply but could not. This does not seem like a good change to me at all.

I've never been, and doubt I'll make it this year, but this sounds like a bad idea. Takes away from what I've read as a big part of the experience, at least from our perspective.

Didn't they do something similar, or attempt to, last year?

This saddened me no doubt. The Club tables have perks and we have benefitted from those over the years. We have friendships now, that we would not have had, if it wasn't for spending time behind those tables. Not only does this effect us but more importantly it affects the hobby. We would try to educate and answer questions that people would sometimes ask. Many times people have never held a Randall and we would give them that opportunity. Sharing knowledge with all age levels. It is a Great feeling watching the Younger generation hold a Randall for the first time. That I will miss!!

Have not attended the past few years.

My interests span several categories. Not so much modern factory knives.

What I hear is that the floor space inside the hall has been more and more allocated to large commercial firms...not sure if that is true, but insofar as it is it pushes collectors out the door, unable to benefit from attending.

Allowing display-only tables in the hallway helped maintain more diversity in what was available for attendees to appreciate...and I suspect it did not cost the producers any additional $ other than maybe if there was a cost for them to rent and set up tables.

But...if construction takes away that hall space, they don't have any place else to put those tables.

For Randall folks, I assume the dealers and collectors who have normally rented tables inside the hall are still able to get those tables, so there is still good reason to go.

Larry

This is the end of a Blade Show tradition that was inherent in the purpose of Blade.
The Randall displays allowed both new collectors and knowledgeable people to interact with those displaying and talk and learn about Randall knives.
This also was a way to spread the word about the collecting world, first with the Randall Knife Society, RKS, and now with the current Randall Knife Collectors Club, RKCC.
I am sorry to see this happen and already feel the emptiness of a missing part of the show.
I hope to see everyone at the RKCC meeting on Saturday morning.