11 minute read
EVENT: 26TH HOOHA SHOW
THE 26TH HOOHA SHOW
ATTENDING SHOWS IS ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT WORKING IN “AIRSOFT MEDIA” - BUT NOT FOR THE OBVIOUS REASONS! MANY SEE SHOWS AS A SOMEWHAT SELF-INDULGENT, BACK-SLAPPING FRENZY OF EXCESS BUT, IN FACT, THEY’RE WHERE A LOT OF PREP IS DONE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD AND WHERE WE GET TO MEET FACE TO FACE WITH INDUSTRY FRIENDS OLD AND NEW. AS SHOWS BEGIN TO FINALLY COME BACK ONLINE, STEWBACCA REPORTS DIRECT FROM TAIWAN, AND THE 26TH HOOHA SHOW!
One of the first things I did when I arrived in Taiwan way back in Summer 2017 was attend the 22nd Hooha show in Taipei, organised by Eric Wang and his team from local Taiwanese based airsoft magazine Combat King Monthly. I got an immediate impression for the local community and prevalence of airsoft manufacturers, brick and mortar shops, both the larger chain stores present in the major cities on the West of the island, and even some of the smaller more independent stores, as well as the interest in airsoft from many different segments of society and it being a more accepted and entrenched past time.
The show used to be held every six months and would move around between Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung, the most Northerly, central and Southerly
THE26TH HOOHA SHOW
ATTENDING SHOWS IS ONE OF THE GREAT THINGS ABOUT WORKING IN “AIRSOFT MEDIA” - BUT NOT FOR THE OBVIOUS REASONS! MANY SEE SHOWS AS A SOMEWHAT SELF-INDULGENT, BACK-SLAPPING FRENZY OF EXCESS BUT, IN FACT, THEY’RE WHERE A LOT OF PREP IS DONE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD AND WHERE WE GET TO MEET FACE TO FACE WITH INDUSTRY FRIENDS OLD AND NEW. AS SHOWS BEGIN TO FINALLY COME BACK ONLINE, STEWBACCA REPORTS DIRECT FROM TAIWAN, AND THE 26TH HOOHA SHOW!
major cities of Taiwan respectively, and I enjoyed visiting all the shows as a matter of course with my growing band of foreign and local shooting compatriots and colleagues from school who I indoctrinated into this addictive hobby.
My blog coverage of the shows for TacticalTwo at the time, along with my wider airsoft and manufacturing industry experience, also garnered interest from Eric himself as he has been working on English language annual release Toy Gun Consumer Guides that collate information and review experiences and introduce all the guns released from different manufacturers in Taiwan, Mainland China and Hong Kong throughout each year to the Western English speaking collectors and skirmishers, with a particular focus on the US market. I have
since spent the last four years as an English language editor for CKM prior to also joining the Airsoft Action Legion and Red Cell to bring you more regular online introductions to my escapades and experiences here.
Unfortunately due to the obvious restrictions which we’ve bemoaned ad nauseum in other articles the 25th Hooha Show held in Kaohsiung back in July 2019 was the last time we had the opportunity to get together with the usual show crew, and Eric had originally been contemplating relocating the show to Japan for one of the event dates prior to everything going awry. Nonetheless everything happened and then none of the shows after MOA2020 did, following the local quasi-lockdown as a result of some community spread.
Finally things began loosening towards the end of 2021 in Taiwan; however MOA still could not go ahead as planned due to the larger scale of that show, the booths and infrastructure and the likely footfall when dealing with the remaining indoor event restrictions and cleaning measures required. Thankfully Eric managed to organise a return of the Hooha show to one of the smaller scale arts and cultural centres to cater to the independent manufacturers and distributors with smaller stalls and lower infrastructure requirements.
A WEEKEND TO SAVOUR!
Over the long weekend of January the 14th-16th an array of exhibitors gathered in the east end of Taipei to share their latest products with the public; the format actually worked very well with a single wide strip of stalls either side of a central raised platform somewhat like a fashion runway, built into what I assume are the old engine sheds of the long disused railway marshalling area! Each of these now hosted a variety of craft or special interest shows.
As soon as I arrived I was fortunate enough to bump into the 4UAD SmartAirsoft guys just as they were leaving and had a good chat and catch up with them before we parted ways and I headed inside; the first thing that confronted you as you enter are the large barrels of PAF Airsoft’s heavy weapons bearing down on the main entrance! I visited Well Hsu and his team at PengHu Armaments Factory on the Islands West of the Taiwanese mainland back in May 2021 and reported on their efforts in the July issue No. 127; since last seeing them they have perfected not only their EBB M2HB system but also their hand-cranked grenade launcher as well as an impressive replica of the Carl Gustav M3 recoilless rifle with different reloadable shells catering to mass BB shower shells or Taginn projectiles depending on the user’s needs. Well was also showing me the progress on his M1919 AEG prototype so along with the M134 minigun kits in progress, so PAF have plenty to offer those who need something vehicle-borne or emplaced for a MilSim event or game site.
RST Airsoft’s stall was nestled right next to them inside the door and showing a mixture of tactical gear, gas rifles, optics and also Acetech’s latest release shotgun tracer, the multi-barrel meat-mallet frontend unit called the ‘quark’ which was mounted on the front of the already aggressive looking KSG pump action gas bullpup shotgun, alongside an array of earlier releases from Acetech along with silencer style outer shells for tracer modules.
Moving on from there BCS and 5.11 stores were present and selling a variety of airsoft and air guns, and tactical gear and apparel respectively, before the remainder of the right side of the ‘runway’ all the way to the stage was occupied by AOG / S&T’s huge collaborative stall with a vast array of guns, gear, accessories and even bows and archery supplies on offer.
AOG are an airsoft retailer with a handful of stores in the South, North West and East of Taiwan who specialise in tactical gear, uniforms of various camouflage patterns, a vast array of morale patches and of course, a comprehensive selection of gas pistols, AEGs, GBBRs and bolt action guns as well as accessories and consumables for them. Usually with large brick and mortar shops that have literal wall to wall guns on display. I used my functional mandarin to chat with the man in charge as we’ve been looking to make inroads with S&T platforms in particular and I’m personally very interested in their Lee Enfield SMLE No. III bolt action rifle (also featured in this issue thanks to Bill!) and will no doubt be looking to add one to my collection now I’ve handled one and appreciated the real wood finish. But a good chat and an exchange of details later and we were on our way to me getting good prices and anything I wanted; it’s all about networking over here!
LOADOUTS AND COSPLAY!
Moving back down the left side of the hall away from the presentation stage towards the front door I was met by the local TRA (Taiwan Reenactors Association) and LARP stalls where some of my old acquaintances were loitering in an array of RoC and other uniforms and even Roman Legionnaire and other such garb from an array of historical periods. After a bit of a discussion about their equipment and where they source it from as well as where they make use of it and hold their events I moved along past the additional cosplay-oriented stands where I’d bumped into a few other friends who move in both shooting and cosplay communities. There is a large amount of overlap in Taiwan, given the cultural propensities and communities here, so cosplay and Japanese influences are quite strong which is of course where all the airsoft related equipment and gameplay also originated. Alongside hardcore MilSim players there are plenty of people pouring money into both ultrarealistic historical loadouts and re-enactment or LARP as well as fantasy or video game and media influenced costumes or loadouts.
Following on from some other local retail stalls I happened upon HYZ Airsoft and their manager who was with me and the CKM crew in Changsha on our trip to China a few years ago; he’s continued building his business on locally produced ballistic eyewear and also now branched out further into exotic materials science and manufacturing, producing SAPI ballistic armour plates for the domestic market.
Slong airsoft were next up; having first happened upon Joanna when she was first starting out just as I arrived in Taiwan, from humble beginnings making a limited range of Glock front handguard/spare magazine carrier foregrips that mimic the look of a Kriss Vector and attach to the accessory rail of a Glock and provide an extra magazine readily available. Since then, she’s expanded her range of option parts and also AEG internal components massively, as well as now offering an array of ready built AEG and bolt action platforms that I was having a look at having written about some of them for CKM’s upcoming 2022 guide.
Next to Slong was local ASG distributor Gun & Toys stand, where along with an array of Dan Wesson gas powered revolvers, scorpion EVO AEGs and USWA1 & the Archwick USW-Glock systems, and I spied something I feel I have to buy now that I’ve gotten hands on with it, alongside the SMLE! The new urban grey variant of the CZ75 Shadow 2 was calling me and the new surface finish has a really nice feel to it which gives it a warmer and more gripping feel in the hand, and I have struggled to find the standard Shadow 2 or even any replacement parts in stock anywhere due to KJ Works’ apparent manufacturing priorities of late. Thankfully Clarence Lai has been giving me a lot of his components to make use of, but I feel I should probably invest in a whole new gun especially for competitions given the wear and tear my original Shadow 2 has taken; I recently split another outer barrel following my previous competition!
Last up were local outfit MWC, run by some of my friends who I’ve seen move from skirmishing at Action Bunker to running their own business; they are dealing in high end custom gas blowback pistols and rifles, as well as offering components, stippling services and durable coatings or surface finishing such as Cerakote or hard anodising, and making use of lots of genuine imported furniture from real steel guns as well as creating kits for the Marui MWS AR platform that allow you to convert it to the local Taiwanese T91 service rifle.
With plenty of people and equipment seen for the first time or first time in a while I made good my escape and met with friends nearby to catchup and grab dinner. Many thanks to Eric and the CKM team for holding the event despite the ongoing restrictions and difficulties, it was really refreshing to see some familiar faces I hadn’t in too long! AA
Tap/Click Images For More Information
