CHAMPS Atlantic City was definitely one for the books. Setting records for both attendance and size of show against any previous CHAMPS Atlantic City Show, we opened our doors to eager buyers ready to take advantage of the newly legalized adult-use markets in New York and New Jersey.
It wasn’t without its bumps though, 48 hours prior to doors open, Hurricane Ida was scheduled to pass directly over Atlantic City set to dump torrential rainfall and damaging winds. In 22 years of operation, CHAMPS Trade Shows has never had sustained rain on opening day. This time it was looking like we were going to be facing more than just “sustained rainfall”. 24 hours out from show however, the hurricane had swung well north of Atlantic City and we were only looking at slight wind and rain on the night of Day-2.
The American Kratom Association held their seminar titled “Saving The Kratom Industry” upstairs on the 3rd floor Day-2. By the time the seminar concluded to a standing room only crowd, people were ready to help.
Choice Botanicals founder Billy Cosgrove donated a total of $10,000 split between himself and his kratom brand, with other attendees quickly following to join the effort to fight the criminalization of kratom on the international stage.
Throughout CHAMPS Atlantic City was the final on-site live glassblowing competition. This was the lampworkers last opportunity to compete on the torch live for their place in the Masters Finals. On the final day of CHAMPS our Glass Games Judges took a couple of hours deliberating over the incredible pieces.
In the end, only a few would move on. Congratulations goes out to all of the competitors who put in a crazy amount of work and put out some top-tier art as a result.
Here are the winners of each competition.
RIDE IT
1st – Amorphous Symphony
2nd – Tony Kazy
3rd – Topher Glass
MULTI-PIPE
1st – Shoeless Glass
2nd – Zombie Glass
3rd – Plug a Nug
SHOTS, SHOTS, SHOTS
1st – Aaron U Glass
2nd – Natrix
3rd – Plug a Nug
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
1st – Topher Glass
2nd – Tony Kazy
3rd – Aaron U Glass
(Honorable Mention – Monster Glass)
TRANSPARENT
1st – Puntington Wig Wag
2nd – Shoeless Glass
3rd – Casta Glass
We also want to thank our sponsors of CHAMPS Atlantic City!
CHAMPS ATLANTIC CITY SPONSORS
ABR Imagery – (www.abrimagery.com)
Monster Vapes – (www.monstervapelabs.com)
Bolt CBD – (www.boltcbd.com)
B2B Wholesaler – (www.b2bwholesalermag.com)
Blackball Corp – (www.blackballcorp.com
Cannabis Magazine – (www.cannabismagazine.com)
Choice Botanicals – (www.choicekratom.com)
Cali Kulture – (www.calikulture.com)
D8 Flight – (www.d8flight.com)
Exclusive Distribution – (www.exclusivedistributors.com)
Fume – (www.officialfume.com)
G & S – (www.gsdistributor.com)
Gourmet Innovations – (www.gourmetinnovations.com)
Hillside Glass – (www.instagram.com/hillside.glass/)
Just CBD – (www.justcbdstore.com)
Leaf Magazines – (www.leafmagazines.com)
Lost 8 – (www.lost8s.com)
Matty White Studios – (www.instagram.com/mattywhiteglass/)
NJOY Kratom – (www.njoyskratom.com)
Party Nuts – (www.partynuts.com)
Sunrise Wholesale – (www.swagnovelty.com)
Toro Imports – (www.gotoroimports.com)
UST Glass – (www.ustglass.com)
Ultimate Products – (www.updist.com)
Worldwide Distribution & Rapper Kush – (www.worldwidemanufacturingllc.com)
White Rhino – (www.whiterhinoproducts.com)
Zion Herbals – (www.zionherbals.com)
CHAMPS ATLANTIC CITY GLASS GAMES SPONSORS
ABR Imagery – (www.abrimagery.com)
Matty White Studios – (www.instagram.com/mattywhiteglass/)
North Jersey Diamond Wheel – (www.diamondwheels.com)
Northstar Glass – (www.northstarglass.com)
Ohio Hippies – (www.ohiohippies.com)
RYOT – (www.ryot.com)
UST Glass – (www.ustglass.com)
Let’s take a look back at some of our favorite shots from around the show floor.
Now we look forward to CHAMPS Denver at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver Colorado. This will also be the last chance for glass artists to compete for their spot in the Masters Finals at CHAMPS Winter Show in Las Vegas next February.
We would like to thank all of our Sponsors for CHAMPS Colorado;
CHAMPS COLORADO SPONSORS
ABR Imagery – (www.abrimagery.com)
B2B Wholesaler – (www.b2bwholesalermag.com)
Blackball Corp. – (www.blackballcorp.com)
Bolt CBD – (www.boltcbd.com)
Cali Kulture – (www.calikulture.com)
Choice Botanicals – (www.choicekratom.com)
Cannabis Magazine – (www.cannabismagazine.com)
Exclusive Distribution – (www.exclusivedistributors.com)
HBI International – (www.hbiinternational.com)
Just CBD – (www.justcbdstore.com)
Monster Vapes – (www.monstervapelabs.com)
Toro Imports – (www.gotoroimports.com)
UST Glass – (www.ustglass.com)
White Rhino – (www.whiterhinoproducts.com)
Worldwide Distribution /Rapper Kush – (www.worldwidemanufacturingllc.com)
Zion Herbals – (www.zionherbals.com)
We’d also really like to thank our sponsors for the Denver Glass Games at CHAMPS Colorado!
GLASS GAMES SPONSORS
Puff’s Pendy – (www.shoppuffspendymelts.com)
UST Glass – (www.ustglass.com)
We can’t wait to see everyone this September 28th and 29th at the Colorado Convention Center! Make sure you are pre-registered and avoid the lines on-site for registration.
Buyer Registration – https://bit.ly/CHAMPSDenver
Also remember to book your hotel at the Official CHAMPS Hotel for CHAMPS Denver, Sonesta in downdown Denver. You can book your hotel by visiting https://bit.ly/BookSonesta.
We’ll see you in Colorado!
