Thanks for bringing more games! Posting in this thread is a good start toward addressing the logistics issues. Maybe someone in your vicinity will have extra space in their truck or trailer to transport one or two of your games. If you bring four, you're likely to earn a lot of Bonus Points that can be redeemed for swag or other rewards.
.................David Marston

The impact on travel times to Boxborough vs. Sturbridge will depend on your starting point, of course. From Worcester itself, the times are about the same. From Maine, it's closer. From Hartford, it's farther. From Ballston Spa/Saratoga region, Southern VT, Keene area, and Northwestern MA, remember to check out routing options via MA Route 2, which is an expressway for much of its length between Gardner and I-495.

Once we get beyond the 2019 show, which is still in Sturbridge, we can have a driving/directions thread for the 2020 show here. Also, Boxborough is set up for helicopter landings, for those of you who have been wanting that option.
.................David Marston

For those who come up I-84, the other piece you need for complete toll avoidance is to go on US 20 East from Sturbridge to Auburn, parallel to I-90 between Exits 9 and 10A. US 20 is the road that the Sturbridge hotel is on.

From Eastern CT, you could go over to I-395, which gets renumbered to I-290 after it crosses I-90.

Google Maps and Mapquest both have toll-avoidance routing options, if I recall correctly. REMINDER: this driving stuff applies to the 2020 show. The 2019 show is still in Sturbridge!
.................David Marston

Of course! Our seminar program will have lots of "professionals" and other experts. You might want to go to pintasticnewengland.com and sign up for email updates, but keep monitoring this thread. Also watch our FaceBook page, if you're into that.
.................David Marston

Check your data! I just tried Burlington (VT) on MapQuest:
to our current Sturbridge site, fastest way is 238 miles, 3:50
to our future Boxboro site, fastest way is 216 miles, 3:20

The key is staying on I-89 down to Concord (NH), then continuing down the Everett Turnpike and US 3 until you hit I-495.
.................David Marston

Pintastic New England is expanding the list of games that will earn Bonus Points for their owner/bringers! Any game from a company outside the USA earns Bonus Points, with the number of points determined by the manufacturer. In the past, we had a few companies named (Dutch Pinball, Quetzal Pinball, etc.), but I just added awards for many more non-USA companies. We don't have all 787 companies on the list yet, but we have all the ones that exported to the USA in significant numbers (Playmatic, Sonic, Zaccaria, etc.). Any game from an Italian, German, or Spanish company earns 2 Bonus Points, and any game from any other country (notably France, Australia, and Japan) that did not already have a bonus defined earns 4 points.

As always, bonuses can be stacked. Example: Capcom games get a bonus; games with sound by Chris Granner (the Special Guest Sound Designer for 2019) get a bonus; Capcom games with Granner sound get BOTH bonuses!

We have not yet announced all the Special Guests for 2019, but you don't have to wait to register the games you'll bring. The actual Bonus Point calculation occurs when you arrive with your games, at which time all the Bonus Point awards for 2019 will be in effect. Bonus Point awards are visible for Granner, Meunier, and Franchi, with more to come! You can also get Bonus Points for games that are rare (per IPDB production quantities), from the "A List" of Most Wanted games (per Pinside poll), or LE models going back to TAF Gold. The highest point values are given to custom games, with 10 points awarded to a homebrew game with original design, art, and sound. On top of all that, every game registered before June 1st earns +1 just for being registered early!

Pitch-and-bat baseball games earn generous Bonus Points, too! Other electromechanical arcade pieces (gun games, hockey games, etc.) also get points.

You can use Bonus Points to obtain Pintastic swag, art pieces, extra entries in the Game-Bringer Giveaway, extra time in our Extra Ball Lounge(SM), and/or a gift certificate for the adjacent Oxhead Tavern, for those who want a nice meal in Sturbridge. All these awards are offered "while supplies last" and have different point values. Doing volunteer work for the show also earns Bonus Points, which can help you reach the plateau for the award you want. We may even have some new swag by showtime. The Bonus Points are just one part of our state-of-the-art rewards system for those who bring games!
.................David Marston

Cosplay ideas in previous post!

As usual, pinball games designed by Steve Ritchie are worth +3 Bonus Points to the person who brings them for our Free Play room. There is also a bonus for Atari pinballs. Some Steve Ritchie designs have sound by Chris Granner, the bringer gets points for both. Stack your bonuses!
.................David Marston

Not all the games come from vendors! Thanks to many of you dedicated pinball fans and collectors of coin-op, we've managed to have a different line-up of games each year. This year, the Bonus Points go to people who bring games that our Special Guests were involved in. If you are deciding which games to bring to the show, consider that you get extra rewards if your game is a Steve Ritchie design, has sound by Chris Granner, has art by Christopher Franchi, or was made by Jersey Jack Pinball. We have a few more Special Guests to announce, so there could be more Bonus Point awards!

Thinking of bringing a game that will be for sale? Pintastic helps you sell it, if you help us by putting it in the Free Play room. As a game-bringer, you pick a game from your list and click a checkbox to mark it as being for sale. Then our list of games coming will show that status ahead of the show. At the show, the game card and on-line info for those at the show will give the potential buyers a way to reach you and start the deal.

See https://pintasticnewengland.com/gamereg/ for more info.
.................David Marston

Todd Tuckey and his trusty sidekick Frank Lindenmuth will be at Pintastic New England again in 2019. This time, they will answer questions about game repair. To get the full "TNT treatment" in the answer, please submit questions in advance using this form:
https://tntamusements.com/2019-pintastic-seminar/
The questions will be used to make a seminar that is both entertaining and packed with information you can use in maintaining your own games. To make the best show, please follow these guidelines:
Questions can be about any game with flippers. We expect that most will be about solid-state games from 1977-2007.
The more broad-based the question, the more likely it is to be answered.
Only submit a question if you will be at the seminar in person, so that Todd and Frank can banter with you, ask what you tried, etc.
Questions that are super-detailed or take a half hour to answer will probably not be chosen.
Questions should have a serious point and provoke a useful answer. I'm sure that humor will be a by-product in many of the answers.

By submitting questions in advance, Todd and his crew can use all the resources at their World Headquarters in Pennsylvania to prepare an answer. They will shoot video snippets as needed. To the best of my knowledge, no pinball show has ever attempted a repair/tech session like this. Submit your tech questions, then come to Pintastic to see what emerges.
.................David Marston

The Simpsons Pinball Party and Wizard of Oz have contributions from both Chris Granner and Joe Balcer, meaning you get 6 Bonus Points if you bring either of those games. WOZ ECLE gets additional points for being Limited Edition!
.................David Marston

Here's some info about another of the podcasters who will be on our podcaster panel:
Jeff Parsons has been in the radio business for 28 years, with the majority of it spent co-hosting The Q Morning Show on WJBQ (97.9 FM) in Portland, Maine. He's been playing pinball ever since he was old enough to see over the lockdown bar of The Spirit of '76, but has been playing competitively for the past 10 years. He's the Maine representative of the New England Pinball League and Co-Tournament director of Pin-Maineia, The New England Pinball Championship.

This panel is an experiment where we bring together several people who vie for your attention with their podcasts. (And who knows how many other podcasters will be in the audience!) Each has their own style and priorities, and we'll see (and hear) what results.
.................David Marston

The Auction Team has to deal with some family health issues, so it looks like we won't have an auction this year. In 2020, we'll have the new show location in Boxboro, and a good room for the auction. I hope that any necessary reorganization will be done in time for the 2020 show.
.................David Marston

Here's a more complete explanation of what we've planned for the three stars from the Willy Wonka movie. They will be at the Pintastic New England show on Friday and Saturday, June 28-29.

If you want to be sure to have a chance to talk to each celebrity individually, you can buy a "CE package" as an add-on to your show admission. There are two special meet-and-greet sessions, one on Friday and one on Saturday, limited to just the holders of the CE package for that day (50 maximum for each day). You will get your exclusive poster at the session, and you can bring it to each signing station to get a signature. Also at the session, you can get a photo of you and all three of the celebrities together, which is not available anywhere else at the show. The CE package includes other Willy Wonka swag, which the holder picks up at the Box Office when they arrive at the show. CE package holders are welcome to use their show admission to attend other events, including the ones noted below.

Anyone with a show admission can get into the Vendor Hall when it's open. The Willy Wonka pinball machine will be exhibited at one of the booths, and there will be an adjacent table where the three movie stars will be available to sign items and pose with guests for selfies. They will be around for much of the time, but taking breaks; check the table for more information. This is the usual celebrity signature situation: you can bring whatever you want autographed (DVD of the movie, Julie Dawn Cole's book, the new Pintastic/Wonka pint glass, etc.); each signature costs $25 and each photo costs $10. At these sessions, the photos must be with one celebrity at a time. While in the Vendor Hall, you can try out the new Willy Wonka pinball machine.

Anyone with a show admission can get into the seminars for whichever day(s) are covered by their admission. There are two of particular note for Willy Wonka fans. On Friday afternoon, there will be a "deep dive" session where Butch Peel of Jersey Jack Pinball will give many behind-the-scenes and under-the-playfield stories of the development of the Willy Wonka pinball machine, clearly the most complex product ever to bear the Willy Wonka license. On Saturday afternoon, our three movie star guests will participate in a panel discussion about the Willy Wonka movie and other work they've done.

At this time, we don't know how many Willy Wonka pinball machines will be at the show, but we hope to get several and place some in other rooms. Of course, there will be about 200 other pinball and arcade games to play! And if all the mentions of chocolate factories make you hungry, you can get a deluxe Pintastic chocolate bar while supplies last. Some will have a ticket inside!
.................David Marston

Here's some info about another of the podcasters who will be on our podcaster panel, from Sarah Line:
Mrs. Pin face-planted into the pinball world during a bit of marital discord over a 2018 TPF twitch stream, and has been podcasting ever since. Currently ranked 6,746th in the world, she's crawling her way to the top of the IFPA rankings with listeners in tow. Her podcast aims to teach the basics to the masses, including everything from nudging and tournament formats to "Who the heck is this George Gomez guy?" She takes pride in seeking out and highlighting the amazing women in the hobby, nominating them to be WOMPs (Women of M*********ing Pinball) during each of her episodes.

Mrs. Pin lives in Pinsylvania with her husband, Dr. Pin, and their two daughters, Pinderella and Pincess. Her favorite pins are:
#Cactus Canyon - busting a bank robber has never been so fun!
#Paragon - it hurts so good! Sauce it!
#Attack from Mars - the alien love is so real!

She can't wait for her 2nd year of Pintastic!

Follow this thread for more info about our Special Guests.
.................David Marston

The registered games list shows that ALL FOUR of the licensed Star Trek games (1978-2013) will be at the show! Now we need an original Black Knight!
.................David Marston

I talked to Tim about his solo seminar, entitled "From Competing to Coding," and he says he can offer some tips on how to get a job at Stern Pinball, if you're well qualified. Note that it is rare to have a software developer give a presentation at *any* pinball show! This will be your chance to hear about this vitally important aspect of game development.
.................David Marston

I spoke to Frank today. He and Todd are planning to come, with Frank doing more of the talking than he has in the past. He's got one solid question that he can answer in depth, plus some questions of narrow interest. If you have a question, please submit it soon!
.................David Marston

OK, here's the schedule of times for the seminar program for 2019....

Friday morning:
9:30 AM Eric Stone: Improve Your Pinball Play
11:00 AM Reserved for late-breaking news

Friday afternoon:
12:30 PM Butch Peel: Deep Dive into the chocolate (Willy Wonka pinball)
1:30 PM Custom game builders panel
2:30 PM Tim Sexton: From Competing to Coding (featuring Black Knight: Sword of Rage)
3:30 PM Todd Tuckey & Frank Lindenmuth answer submitted tech questions

Friday evening:
5:30 PM Willy Wonka celebrity meet-and-greet Friday edition
Requires Friday CE pass as well as Friday show admission
7:00 PM Podcasters panel
9:00 PM Bowen Kerins: Exploring Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle

Saturday morning:
9:00 AM Willy Wonka celebrity meet-and-greet, Saturday edition
Requires Saturday CE pass as well as Saturday show admission
10:30 AM Eric Meunier talks about his work as a game designer

Saturday afternoon:
12:00 Noon Joe Balcer: Pinball: How Did I Get Here?
1:00 PM Chris Franchi talks about his work as an artist
2:00 PM Panel: 3 Willy Wonka stars: Peter Ostrum, Paris Themmen, and Julie Dawn Cole
3:00 PM Chris Granner talks about his work as a sound designer
4:00 PM Steve Ritchie with Tim Sexton
Autograph session starts at about 5:00

Saturday evening:
6:30 PM Jack Guarnieri: JJP update

No actual worms are harmed in the making of that beer. It's just Worcester's version of civic pride.
.................David Marston

Here are biographies of a couple more of the people who will be on our podcasters panel Friday night. The famous Slam Tilt Podcast guys:

Bruce has been in the hobby since 1984. He has owned over 260 games. He was a major contributor to the (now defunct) Rochester Gameroom Show. He is a collector, operator, tech, and tournament player. He was the inaugural Upstate New York champion and Pinburgh finalist. He is the owner of the "world famous" Silverball Saloon located on 135 West Commercial Street, East Rochester, NY and the co-host of the incredible Slam Tilt Podcast.

Ron has been in the hobby since 2004. He currently owns 29 games. In the early days of YouTube, he was a frequent poster of pinball videos as part of his "Home Gameroom Series" and "Pinball Show/Location Walk-through Series". He is a former Pinburgh C Division champion and the inaugural [2015] Pintastic Silverball Rumble champion. He is the host of the incredible Slam Tilt Podcast and the Slam Tilt Podcast Twitch channel. By day, he works for an Upstate NY credit union as an IT Engineer.

Earlier postings in this thread provide biographies of many of the other presenters and panelists in our seminar program. I'm already getting inquiries from people who want to give seminars in 2020!
.................David Marston

I see that a Beatles Gold game is now posted on the games-coming list. So let's do a special deal and give 4 Bonus Points to anyone who can bring a Seawitch (Stern Electronics, 1980) for the Free Play room.
.................David Marston

I got an update from Frank Lindenmuth. One of the submitted questions is particularly broad-ranging, so he wants to spend most of the TNT seminar time discussing game code, programmable ROMs, and updating. He wants to advise people who just want to change chips to those who atre contemplating purchase of a burner because they burn their own PROMs often enough. Learn from the mistakes of others! Learn when to be confident and when to be skeptical! He says he has some good stories to tell.
.................David Marston

Would you like to help Pintastic New England provide as many games as possible for our guests? I'm looking at the logistics and can see that we will be moving games around during show time, more so than in past years. We could use more volunteers for game moves.
https://pintasticnewengland.com/volunteer/
You can sign up to be available for a couple scheduled hours, or we could put you "on call" when unscheduled moves are needed, or a longer block of time on Wednesday or Thursday. Yes, we do a lot of show setup on Wednesday the 26th. By helping out, you can also earn Bonus Points that count towards material rewards, and you get the pride of knowing you helped one of the world's largest pinball shows run smoothly.
.................David Marston