The Showstopper Showcase is always a popular stop on the trade show floor at the NECA Show, and this year, I decided to see what everybody is always talking about.

As it is every year, the 2017 Showcase was open an hour before the trade show, and even though I woke up bright and early to inspect new products, plenty of convention-goers had already beaten me there.

I milled about the Showstopper Showcase, picking up interesting products and talking to other attendees doing the same. A repeating theme of this year’s Showcase was tried-and-true products that have been on the market for decades (think boxes, cable cutters and work lights) enhanced with innovative designs or the latest tech to improve safety, ergonomics or efficiency.

While the rest of us inspected these products, expert judges were also walking through the aisles of products, choosing this year’s Showstopper Showcase winners. With approximately 200 entrants, selecting the very best of the group must have been a real challenge. After serious deliberation, the winners were announced on October 9.

Congratulations to the 2017 Showstopper Showcase winners! We will have more details soon, but for now, here they are:

3M—GoggleGear safety goggles

Acuity Brands—EPANL Series LED Edge-Lit flat panel

Bridgeport Fittings—Mighty-Bite push-on grounding fittings

Cable Ferret—Ferret wireless inspection camera and cabling pulling tool

Construction Electrical Products—Barricade box

DeWalt Tools & Powers Fasteners—20V MAX SDS rotary hammer with dust collection

Eaton—Distributed low-voltage power system

Eaton—Pow-R-Command intelligent panel board

Fluke Corp.—T6 electric tester

Graybar—Graybar SmartWire cart

Greenlee—Next generation tool bags/backpacks

Greenlee—Turbo 6,000-pound puller

Hilti—KWIK CAST wood form anchors and setting tool

iTools—Ground Rod Dawg

Legrand—Outdoor ground box

Milwaukee Tool—Personal lighting products

Milwaukee Tool—M18 Rover mounting flood light

Orbit Industries—Height-adjustable box installation tool

Pentair—Angled trough

Probuilt Professional Lighting—Wobblelight V3 LED

Schneider Electric—Wiser Energy

Southwire—LED string light, 100 feet

Ugly’s Electric References—Ugly’s electric reference app