Southern California has quickly become one of the most densely populated vaping cultural centers in the world. The area is already home to over 160 brick and mortar vape shops, with new businesses opening on a weekly basis. Last month it was home to the first annual Electronic Cigarette Convention (ECC) in Anaheim, a two-day event that drew an estimated 18,000 vapers and industry professionals. Just this past weekend, it housed the first ever “Vapetoberfest” at the Long Beach Convention Center.
While not on the same level or grandeur as ECC, Vapetoberfest was still a large-scale production in and of itself. Over 40 vendors packed into the 20,456 square foot Grand Ballroom, which just happens to be where I had my high school senior prom over 11 years ago. This was in sharp contrast to the 155,000 square feet ECC had to work with, which made for a more cozy and intimate experience.
The theme for this year's Octoberfest inspired trade show was “Celebrate the Vape” and the event honored some of the industry's most renowned modders. In attendance were Ghost Modder, Zen, Kato and the infamous Mojo of Chi-You fame. There were several big time giveaways including titanium Chi-Yous and Kato Hammers and plenty of Surfire King mods.
And it wouldn't be a trade show without some world premiers. Zen released a limited edition 24 karat gold-plated titanium Zenesis hybrid while the debuts of a new pipe mod from Mythical Fabrications and the Autobot from Jessy Tech Korea took place on the Vapetoberfest stage. I was lucky enough to snag one of just 23 “Twenty-Four” gold-plated titanium Zen hybrids and will be reviewing it shortly.
The mastermind behind Vapetoberfest was Vapor Craze, a brick and mortar shop originally based in Long Beach but since expanding to locations in Cerritos, Westminster, Costa Mesa, Laguna Hills and San Diego, CA. While I didn't win anything, there were still a ton of e-liquids, mods and events to check out. Here are some photos of most of what was on display at the 2013 Vapetoberfest.
Contents
1 Juice Vendors
2 Mods and Hardware
3 Brick and Mortars
4 Product Debuts
5 Events and Giveaways
Juice Vendors
DFW Vapor
DFW Vapor came to Vapetoberfest all the way from their headquarters in Lewisville, Texas. They've been around for a while, since 2009 and sell over 240 flavors of e-liquid as well as starter kits, mods and accessories. Much of their juice collection was on display at Vapetoberfest and I was given a pretty sweet deal of $5/30ml bottle so I grabbed four bottles. 120ml of e-liquid for $20 is definitely a steal! Look for my review of their juice coming soon.
Mt Baker Vapor
Mt. Baker Vapor drove their van down from Bellingham, WA less than a month after displaying at Vapefest in Las Vegas. They brought their ten best selling e-liquids and were selling them for the ridiculously low price of $3/15ml bottle.
E-LIQ CUBE
Local juice manufacturer E-liq Cube took part in this year's Vapetoberfest with some new flavor releases. I've been a big fan of their Pink Starburst flavor for a while now so I was excited to get a free bottle of their new Red Starburst juice.
Mad Scientist Vapor
Another local juice vendor, Mad Scientist Vapor out of Costa Mesa, CA, set up shop at Vapetoberfest 2013. Mad Scientist offers eight different flavor combinations including “Swirly Pop”, a mix of pineapple and other exotic fruit with whipped cream.
Mix Master
Finally, there was Vapor Craze's own Mix Master line. These bottles are some of the most eye-catching you'll see, as they include one colored juice layered on top of another.
Mods and Hardware
Innokin
The iTasters themselves were well represented all the way from China. No debuts here but still a nice display of SVDs, MVPs and the iTaste 134.
Surefire Vapor
LA's own Surefire Vapor had a booth complete with a throne for snapping photos on. Those who did so and uploaded to Instagram were given a free raffle ticket to win a Vapetoberfest edition King mod.
Vape Los Angeles
Vape LA was also on hand from the city of angels, showing off their now-sold-out Oni mechanical mod. Only 500 of these were ever made and I was told there may or may not be another batch in the future.
Clouds of Vapor
2012 Guide to Vaping's “Most Seen Vendor” winner and US distributor for Golden Greek mods Clouds of Vapor brought a slew of personal vaporizers and juice for sale at Vapetoberfest.
Ovale USA
Widely known for their Elips-C and white-label Evic, Ovale USA was on hand selling a variety of e-liquids and personal vaporizers.
Envision Vapor
Envision Vapor brought their collection of glass blown drip tips up from south Orange County to this year's Vapetoberfest. These things are each individual beautiful works of art.
Brick and Mortars
Kiss My Vape
Kiss My Vape is a local shop located right near the Long Beach Airport. They were represented at Vapetoberfest by their own line of e-liquid, a bottle of which I tried out and wound up purchasing.
Lucky Deuces Vapor Company
Located not far north of Long Beach is Lucky Deuces Vapor Company. They were in the house selling goodies as well as dealing blackjack to Vapetoberfest attendees. On a side note, due to business demands, Five Pawns was not able to fully display at Vapetoberfest but they did send their distribution partner Vinny up to the event and he teamed up with Lucky Deuces to offer a small selection of e-liquid.
Break Time Vape
Costa Mesa's Break Time Vape was at Vapetoberfest offering up possibly two of the biggest giveaways, SN #001 and #002 titanium Hammer mods by Kato. I wonder how many of those tickets they sold?
Product Debuts
The Autobot
Jessy Tech premiered their Autobot live on stage at Vapetoberfest 2013. The Autobot is motor-powered auto-dripping telescoping mod. It contains a small motor that, when powered, automatically feeds juice up to the coils on the atomizer.
Mythical Fabrications E-Pipe
Mythical Fabrications showed off their latest e-pipe at Vapetoberfest 2013. I believe this was the Argent upgrade to their recently released M5 pipes. These look like they'd make a great addition to a lot of Halloween costumes and hit pretty hard!
Youde Igo-W4 and V3
Youde Technology, another large Chinese e-cig company, was at Vapetoberfest showing their new Igo-W4 (bottom) and what Instagram has dubbed the “V3” (middle) atomizers. The Igo-W4 is a 22mm version of the original with an upgraded top cap while the “V3” is totally new five post atomizer, perfect for building quad coils with ease.
Phot credit: @Heisenberg_Vapors on Instagram
Knurled King Mods
Surefire Vapor unveiled their new Knurled King mechanical mods at Vapetoberfest. These are similar to the original, but as you can see have rounded caps as opposed to the octagonal versions their predecessor has.
House of Hybrids “Twenty-Four” Zenesis
The modder Zen was in the house on Saturday to premier the latest and greatest from the line of Zenesis Hybrid mods. This version, simply known as the “Twenty-Four”, is a 24 karat gold-plated titanium nitride Zenesis in 18350 mode. Only 24 were ever made so this is an extremely limited edition. Luckily I was able to purchase one for the cool price of $350.
Events and Giveaways
Free Builds
Instagram user @fmalife was in the Vape Garden offering free builds and re-builds in exchange for tips of the vaper's discretion.
Here he is hard at work on none else, but a nice cotton wick build.
Celebrity Sightings
The Chi himself, Mojo of Style of Mojo flew in from Korea to hang out with fans and give away a titanium Chi-You.
Kato, the Korean Thor (center), also flew in for the event and to spend time with some local shop owners throughout the week.
Clouds for Days Contest
The judges.
At one point, this dude tried a back-flip to cloud puff but just couldn't get his mod to fire. Runner up.
And your winner.
But I think we know who the real winners were.
Hot damn! And the crowd goes wild with approval.
Giveaways
Winner of the titanium Chi-You posing with Mojo.
Mt Baker Vapor chuckin' out the juice on day 2.
Bottles flying everywhere!
Uncle Junk's Genius Juice getting in on the action.
‘Till Next Time', Vapetoberfest!