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something I do notice about gun shows, is the dealers often have the defective or not as collectable items at shows, it almost looks like they use the gun show to dump off all their junk or stuff thats been messed with, and save the nicer stuff for auctions.
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I've noticed this...
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Long ago, they turned into "Knife, Sword and Beef Jerky, With a Side of drastically overpricedWWII and Prior Rifles, and a slew of ARs and Glocks shows"
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Fixed it... but your overall point is correct
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The problem at guns shows is most of the guns, like 80% of them, are guns that are made today, easily available, and cheap. I can't count how many Ruger Americans, Savage Axis, Charter Arms, Kel Tec, etc. I've seen. Then on the other side, I see way to many 1911's and vintage S&W revolvers for a grand each.
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And yup this as well...
I haven't been to a gun show in 10 years where I haven't been disappointed overall. I like a wide variety of firearms, along with knives and frontier replicas. I like ARs... but I don't feel compelled to own 10 of the same rifle. I like Semi-Auto pistols, which most gun shows don't have a shortage of... except almost 90% of the wares will be a polymer and striker fired and I don't feel compelled to own 10 different variants of this either. Very few lever rifles, and what is there is overpriced... usually. Heck anything that is wood and steel will be overpriced. C&R guns? Yup, 90% of the time it's a mismatched numbers beater with a pitted bore with a price tag that would correspond with a numbers matching example in great condition if you looked around and priced it. And there are VERY few, if any, revolvers excluding the table or two that has a variety of S&Ws (newer and vintage) which are... you guessed it, overpriced (usually extremely so). I specifically looked for a Ruger revolver, any ruger revolver, the last time I went to one. I found one table that had 4 or 5, none were SA. That was it!
I have come to the conclusion that it's not even the fault of the gun show. I understand prices are negotiable and the guys are trying to make money... but when the price is at a 10-20% premium to my closest LGS (which isn't known for great pricing) I don't care to even begin negotiations. Plus I know a lot of the pricing, especially on mil-surps, is posted hoping some sucker will bite. Also my tastes have evolved and are not the current flavor of society. I have my "tool" guns, and don't really need anymore. Anything else is more of an "add to the collection." Wood and steel fits that bill, and that is not the direction the gun industry is going. So for me to be left "wanting" at a gun show is as much the fault of my taste preferences as it is the vendors at the gun show.