Thanksgiving’s turkey dinner is long over and the Christmas ornaments are on trees all over the Midwest. While the focus of most farm toy collectors these days are the holidays and hunkering down for winter weather, keep in mind that the farm toy show season is just getting started.

Dyersville and the Big Daddy National Farm Toy Show is in the rearview mirror, but there are several big shows coming up, and smaller ones as well, to put on your calendar.

If the toy show you are planning to attend is a ways away and you need overnight accommodations, be sure to take the time to make hotel reservations early, because they fill up quickly.

In the Midwest, one of the largest upcoming shows is the Gateway Farm Toy Show in St. Louis, which is the first weekend in February.

One of the things that makes this toy show so special is it offers an auction and a farm layout and model contest, in addition to the show itself. This show also features a Saturday morning auction.

The show is at the Sheraton Lakeside Chalet Westport Plaza, Feb. 1-3, 2013. The website at http://gatewaytoy show.com shares that more than 200 dealers are ready to buy and sell farm, truck and construction toys, as well as NASCAR collectibles, banks, crafts and hard-to-find items.

Dealers’ hotel doors will be open during the show for room trading, so you can leisurely browse the toys and merchandise displayed in their rooms. More than 150 tables of farm toys and merchandise will be located in banquet rooms throughout the hotel.

For anyone who doesn’t know what “room trading” is, this is when toy dealers set up in hotel rooms with their wares, whether tractors, trucks, literature or other memorabilia, and collectors browse from room to room looking for that item they are seeking. The seasoned collector may carry a list of what they already have, or what they are looking for, which helps them find the missing pieces in their collections.

Dan Shima from Eldridge, Iowa, always prepares for auctions and shows by having acid-free sleeves ready to place purchased literature in, and a big plastic tote ready in the van for his Minneapolis-Moline purchases. Collectors have a variety of tips for a successful buying show. For those looking to sell or trade, sometimes they will bring a lesser-desired toy to try to trade for one on the list.

In March, the show that collectors have come to call “Little Dyersville” is held in Sublette, Ill. This year it will be a two-day show. Always the third weekend in March, it will take place next year March 16-17.

This is the first year for a two-day event; in the past the show has always been a one-day Sunday show. The Sublette show is a lot of fun because the streets are lined with antique tractors and a few semi trucks.

Buildings in town are filled with toys and literature and memorabilia. On Saturday evening a banquet is held, with great food and a speaker for those interested.

There are no hotels in Sublette, so if planning to stay the night, reservations need to be made in a nearby town. For more information about this show, log onto www.Subletteweb.com

More information about toy shows can also be found by Googling the Toy Farmer and Toy Tractor Times websites. Happy hunting!

Readers with questions or comments for Cindy Ladage may write to her in care of this publication.