Space Marine 30th Birthday

So I was over in Turkey Creek, west Knoxville at the Warhammer Store there for the Space Marine 30th Birthday Celebration.  There was a pretty good turnout for the store opening at 10AM.  There was some cool swag including a couple print options (I went for the Ultramarine one rather than Plague Marines, though it was a close choice as each are pretty nasty).  There was also some buttons and a limited amount of free White Dwarves.
One of the regulars for the store brought in a bolter cake for the other attendees.  The rolled wafer cookies for the shells and the swiss roll for the gun barrel were nice touches.
A couple of the other players who have been playing since the Rogue Trader era brought in some ancient goodies to show off.
Mick, the store's Fabricator General, also had his Reaver Titan Hyperion on display as part of the event.  It's a nice center piece to a collection and definitely makes an impression.
I also picked up an 30th Birthday Space Marine.  I got it assembled once I got home but being me, I couldn't just leave it alone.  A dig through the bits box was in order.  He got a head swap, a banner pole, an icon/purity seal bit, different shoulder pads, and some bits for the base out of the old GW basing kit.  All in all, a nice model kit that has a very old school feel to it while still embracing the new aesthetics of the current GW models.
I also took a good hunk of my Lions of Harlech to the event.  It was fun to show them off after they've been sitting unused for a while.  I got to swap a number of gaming stories as well as discuss what we miss and don't miss about previous editions of 40K, and generally enjoy the socialization.  Mick's got a great environment in the store and there was a good stream of the locals going in and out the entire time I was there.  I wish I was a lot closer to get in there more often for some gaming.

That's all for now.  I'll see you next time and keep the Emperor's Faith fellow Astartes!