September Smaller Geeky Events (2025)

Denver Mineral, Fossil, Gem & Jewelry Show

Day 1 (5th)

This show for me was an entirely different experience for me this year on the first day because I went with a group of friends. For a few of them this was their first time to the show and I know they were overwhelmed by its size. One of them even said it was the largest trade show or con she had ever been to. This year they did use all three buildings and had outside areas. The show has fluctuated in size over the years, and this year it was on the larger side.

My strategy this year was to start us off in the north building. We started around 10:30am and had to be out buy 2pm so we could then get over to All C's Collectors Showcase. This means that we would have had to move at break neck speeds to get through everything.

Needless to say we did not make it, but just enough to give the newbies a taste of the size. I made plans to return on Monday with one of my local friends who wanted to go back to see the things we missed.

It seems like every year there is a challenge with this rock lamps to make new shapes.

My out of state friends were also surprised when I first told that the show was free to get into. They asked if it was free just because I do press work and I told them no that it was free for all. This show is also great because parking is free. I had wanted to go to a different Mineral show earlier in the year at the same location, but left when I found out that they were charging for parking. I don't know why people expect you to pay money to just to have access to shop. There are too many places and events with free parking to waste time on those that do charge for parking. If shows do charge for parking or don't cover the cost of parking for visitors, I would recommend skipping them because there are great shows like this one that do think about their visitors and that actually want you to shop with them.

This event has always had other products show up as well, so I have no idea while I was surprised to see Labubu merchandise. To be truthful it wasn't Labubu, but Lafufu. There were even the mystery box ones. I bought a knock off Naruto plush keychain mystery box that I had been eyeing at other places. At events and stores around Colorado I had seen the knock off ones going from $35-50, so when I saw one for $25 I couldn't pass it up. My friends actually teased me about being able to spot it from across the room and running over to check the price. As a collector I have been able to create search images in my head which help me when shopping. I can move quickly through dealer rooms, antique stores, and trade shows looking for specific items. A great skill for shopping, but useless in most people's daily lives. So, at least some good deals could be found.

This place was trying to do a kickstarter for a dino themed game similar to Warhammer. They were selling model kits that you can paint and if you donated $1 they had special cards you could get. One of my friends that likes to paint miniatures picked a few up.

Colorado Mineral & Fossil Show (5th-13th)

Visited on the 6th

This year the show is in a new hotel that I had never been to before up on 120th Ave. The hotel was loaded down with dealers both inside and outside in tents. One hall way of rooms had even been converted into little shops. They were a little claustrophobic and by the time I was half way down the hall I was done. I attended this show the day after my first visit to the Denver show and noticed a big difference, the prices. Cheap specimens were not to be found at this show. Even the dealer that used to sell the cheap mystery grab bags was not here. I also noticed the the dealer with the sand box dig experience was missing this round. I think the cheaper dealers may have been priced out of doing this show. I don't know if this location came with higher space prices, but more affordable dealers were missing. I actually left this show entirely empty handed. Even the tiny sample pieces in plastic cases normally worth $1-10 were going for over $25. They had pretty things to look at, but if your goal was to add to your collection, I would recommend skipping this show this time and just going to the Denver show at the National Western Complex.