I appreciate the invitation. When it comes time to plan for Banning/2016 I will gladly send a list of a few (1980-1982) games that I hope will be set up for the show. I look forward to it!

-mof

What's the old saying? "When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade!"

I totally understand and shared the disappointment to find so many (many, many EMs) not operable. Fortunately, I was fairly local (OC) so it wasn't a huge expense to show up Friday night and find games I was looking forward to play unavailable. Titles I was really looking forward to play were off, and ones that were on weren't always playing to my standards either.

But, after seeing what the future potential was and could be, and seeing the immediate need for action, myself, along with 3 others (Pete, John, and Ethan - thank you!) received our Red "helper" T-Shirts and showed up early Saturday morning and worked through the day getting some more EMs functional. Along with freeing stuck balls, adding credits etc.

Our biggest dilemma was: Where do we start?

More often then not, when attending shows, I find myself spending most of my time socializing with other Pinheads instead of playing games. I happen to also love working on games. Probably as much, if not more than actually playing them. So, for me, the time spent at the first AE was a Blast!

For the time being, I don't think anyone should expect a collection of 550 pins to play like those out of a 10 game home arcade collection. Getting games fully functional and playable should be the first goal. Fine tuning and souping them up can come later.

I am just happy to see that the overall consensus was a positive one and that we have October to look forward to!!! Again, Thanks to John, Kenny, and all the crew making any of this even possible. And right here in our own Backyard!

No need to wait until 2016, next show is supposedly in October this year.

And NimblePin, I don't know much about 1980 Bally games, but if I can help get the Medusa and Fathom back into shape I'm down, I was really loving that whole row of games.

Not sure what the issues with Fathom are, it was off but then I realized it was just a stuck ball in a funny spot, got jammed right before draining, the wire there is such that it's super tight and the ball can get caught between it and the apron. Some nudging freed it and it seemed to play okay, but then I saw it was off again later.

Medusa was phantom tilting, did it once even on ball plunge. Made it pretty unplayable, but it seemed to be working otherwise, so hopefully just some short in the tilt mech.

It occurs to me that even if you have no tech skills it would probably be really helpful to have volunteers just work their way down a row of games and fill out a form for each one with any issues. Save the techs a ton of time if there was a pre-filled problem list.

Haha, so true, I honestly didn't even play that much. Loved seeing all the games, but socializing was the best. Sorry I didn't see you man, but thanks for putting in some tech love on Sat!

With as many games to be dealt with, this old school approach is probably the best plan of attack. Now that the facility is basically closed (I can only assume) to the general public, each game can have its own sheet that either contains all the awaiting service issues, or an indication of a clean bill of health which will save time so others can pass it by. Items such as burned out lights and sticky flippers can be handled by those comfortable with such tasks, again, saving the hard core repairs for the better equipped.

As was noted, there is even a great need for people to take the time to level and even re-pitch the games for better play. No one likes even a fully shopped game, that leans to the side, or the ball just floats around getting stuck on a roll over or sunken insert. The problem is not that the games will be moved, or the floor badly un-level. Its the simple fact that they had to install around 2200 legs.

These are the sheets that were atop each game when I started going out. I believe these are cribbed from the PPM setup style guide. Another great tech David brought them when he came down. image.jpg

Agreed with CJ that "divide and conquer" is the way to go. The sheer number and variety of issues demands a segmented approach with each specialist playing to their strengths. Also, when it comes to leveling there is no One Absolute Pitch To Rule Them All. Each game has a sweet spot and it takes time and some replays to find it. (psst... write it down somewhere once you discover it!)

My thing is lamp sockets. I rarely use the "tit solder" shortcut because residual corrosion can still impact maximum brightness and flaky behavior. On average, if the game is pre-1972, more often than not I will replace them all. Very time consuming but what cost for basking in the glow of the lights fantastic?

For opaque inserts it might be cool to install those indestructible mini-LED boards with warm white non-ghosting lights. Looks like they will last forever.

If pinball is meant to be played, and not just looked at, then why sell framed backglass art? or playfields for display?

I went to the con on Sunday only, so I may have had a different experience than the Friday or Saturday crowd. I found that about 50% of the machines total were not working, and honestly, I was fine with that. There were some disappointing out of orders, like Andromeda, But damn that machine is pretty. I was really glad just to see it and spend time examining the playfield without someone taping their foot behind me wanting to play it.

There were still hundreds of machines working, and if you were not picky about what you played, there was always a machine within sight to walk up to and start playing. While there were also massive 'dead zones' of machines not working, they actually made for nice areas to relax and enjoy the artwork and playfields that most people don't get to see very often. I am an artist, and game designer, so playfield art is my favorite element of pinball, so it was nice to take my time and study the out of order machines. Even pointing out design features on the playfield and discuss them at length without interrupting people who want to play it.

Now that's being said by an artist, and game designer who loves pinball. Not a pinball gamer who loves 'playing' pinball. So if you are super hard core into playing this game, then I can see your desire to have only working machines in top condition. But I think that's a different kind of event honestly. You are talking about tournament conditions. And this was an expo. I was there to appreciate all aspects of the pinball culture, not just to have the ultimate arcade gaming experience. I was very glad to see all the rare pins, even (and especially) the ones that weren't working. If they do another one in October I'll be there all 3 days instead of just 1.

This is a non sequitur. Backglasses and playfields as art are wonderful, but in this argument are a parallel concern. The lack of opportunity to experience the interactive component of play at a pinball exposition is the "Main Thing". Were it designed to be an art gallery or passive experience, that would be different.

Alas, the 50% non-working games fell into my 97%, so... didn't work for me. But I expect it will eventually and will do what I can to help John keep things rolling toward this end.

Personally I don't think they should do another expo in October. I think the January spot which they occupy now is great. It's in California, and so it's a great time to go (weather nice.) Being from Michigan, going to somewhere warm was a real treat (pinball aside), being January/February are crappy months here. Also there's a lot of other pinball events in October. I don't see the point in crowding it into that month. There's like *nothing* going on in January, so i vote for them to keep that spot.

Also, they need more time. Frankly i can fully restore about a game per week. That's about 50 games a year. That means if Arcade Expo had one full time guy, I figure that's about what they could expect. Maybe two games a weeks. But either way, they need to fully restore 200+ machines. It would be pretty ambitious to get 200 games restored in one year. And that doesn't include fixing/rebuilding all the solidstate games which were playable, but needed love.

My wife and I were there for most of Saturday / Sunday and had a blast.

The biggest compliment I can give the team is that it felt like an event that's been going on for years. Getting our tickets was smooth, finding food and drink was easy, and there was almost always a game available within 20 feet of anywhere on the floor.

I can't speak much to the condition of the EMs much (although El Toro was my game during the Guinness world record ), but I got a ton of play on the DMD and SS games. It was really nice having many machines from the same era in the same area...it's fun to get a feeling for how similar a lot of the scoring, rules and sound effects were for each manufacturer...it's an obvious thing, but fun when everything is side-by-side.

We'll definitely be back!

Awesome photo Steve!

I'd like to see him do 4 shows a year.

200 broken games don't have to be repaired all at once.

As more people find out about his amazing venue and collection, I'm sure more techs and clubs will come forward to help with the repairs.

That would be a huge mistake. You'll just wear people out. Seen it done. Once a year is all he should do, unless he hires (pays) people to fix games.

Once you get EMs up and running they don't like to sit unplayed for a year so therein lies the rub.

I agree Trace, there were actually more games at Expo working before the show but, since they've been comatose all these years it was just a fleeting glimpse of EM normalcy... Kinda like Bobby De Niro in "Awakenings."

Some would fire up like this:

heeeynow.jpg

Then a measly week would pass sans juice and they'd go back to:

Zzzzzzzz.jpg

Maybe come October, the results will be a bit more permanent with less side effects.

As for the # of shows in a year, I think it will do well with two big Expo events and maybe three or four smaller local events/parties to help pay all the bills in-between.

I agree that it'd be nice to have a form for folks to submit problems on machines since sometimes you'd play something and it'd break down so you'd turn it off but there wasn't a way to denote what the problem was.

I would love to help out by 'test playing' games and making notes.

On the note of topless techs, I did meet an adult model/porn star at the show and she's super into pinball so I suspect she might be up to test machines too since she's from SoCal.

if EMs are done right they can sit and they'll wake up just fine after long periods of time (even years.) It's when they aren't done right that this "it needs to be played once a week" thing applies. also i have to believe that the AE facility probably doesn't sit unused when the AE show isn't going on. But i'm just speculating on that.

Ha! Yes she's one of multiple adult film stars in our league, but I try to keep a lid on it so she doesn't get perved on. She's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet and a true pinball diehard, very sweet. Our league might not be the top performing league score wise, but I challenge anyone to find a wilder mix of Leaguesters anywhere

That would be sweet!
Now if only we had some sort of massive/comprehensive online repair guide to help people troubleshoot problematic machines...

Oh here we go!

Bahahahahahahhaha

There could be an App for that.

Put a number above all the machines.

Let users report any problems on their phones. Dead flipper, machinegunning, switch does not work, line in DMD out, 2x lamp out. Ask users to be as specific as possible.

Have a few RAPID RESPONSE checkboxes for quick fixes from minimally skilled techs like "Out of Credits", "Stuck Ball", or emergencies like "smoke" or "Stuck Coil" (with a flashing reminder to immediately shut off machine!).

Patrons could check on games added to their cue to see if/when an error condition is cleared. Credits might be fixed in 5 minutes, a dead MPU board could be months.

Interested patrons could press the DETAILS button to see what specifically was done for repair (Coil replaced, transistor replaced, Relay burnished, ribbon cable.....)

I'm sure we aren't too far away from an app-fueled pinball show experience, but boy is it going to grind my gears when I see a smoking game with a guy in front of it furiously scrambling to get his app opened up.

I've thought about joining a league a lot, but there really aren't any that are close enough to warrant the massive commute it'd require for just a couple hours of play. If I lived in the bay area or the LA area, I'd try to find the league that had the most average scores possible, because I'm not that good and/or dedicated to trying to beat everyone. I'd be there for "the hang" more than anything. To me, that's what makes a good, fun league.

Just not that much Pinball action in our Valley. I would love to do a league too if we had enough players.

Mike

Jerry Thompson and I went to Banning Friday and enjoyed Arcade Expo. We made a 6 minute walkthrough.

Arcade Expo is quite a place. It looks like they will do it again in October.

Thanks to ALL involved in making the Arcade Expo happen. Both myself and a good friend left our wives behind and went to the expo on Saturday. Indeed, although there were many games that were not turned on, there were so many that WERE playable that that is what we focused on.

Played MANY games, and tried not to get hung up on any one game, precisely because there were so many to play. Herer are pictures of some of the ones that stood out.

The psychedelic one (Blue Note) was really fun (and interesting) to play. I do not remember this one at all, but would certainly love to have this one in my collection.

I also threw in a few pics of Big Bang Bar, which we were lucky enough to be able to play. That's probably the rarest pin I have ever set my hands on, and it was fun!

In closing, I have to say THANKS SO MUCH for opening up such a massive collection to the public.

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Come up to PAGG and play some Kingpin! I like BBB, but I LOVE Kingpin! (Hopefully it'll be there again. It's been there the past couple years.)

Miguel-I had not heard of the Kingpin, but went and looked it up. Interesting. Would definitely love to give that a try.

I also looked up the one that I referred to in my prior post: the Gottlieb Blue Note. I discovered that this one is a rarity also, with just over 200 made. No wonder I never saw it anywhere before.

I've never been to the PAGG. I have seen the ads but have not been able to escape away for the weekend. May give it a shot this next time around, but Dixon is not exactly close.

I see you are in Fresno; is there not somewhere between Fresno and Bakersfield that has a decent amount of pins to play?

You should really make an effort to go to PAGG. And don't led the ads fool you into believing it's not worth the drive. They claim "100+ pinball machines on free play." The truth has been closer to 250+ games lately. Plus it's always a good time.

Totally worth it and Art is right. If for some cosmic reason I could only go to one show a year, it would be PAGG.

Same weekend unfortunately, but if in the mid west Come to the Ann Arbor pinball show may 15-17. We have Big Bang bar and Gottlieb rock star (add a ball of blue note). 250 restored games for play. http://vfwpinball.com

We were really wanting to fly out for your Ann Arbor show, Clay but PAGG really is a "can't miss" show for us and a lot of other California pinheads. Please consider a different weekend next year, we definitely want to attend!

Nope. Just fellow Pinsider's homes.

There are places that have pins, but to say that they are in some serious need of some serious attention and need a serious amount of parts, would be a serious understatement.

i wish we could do the VFW show another weekend so it doesn't conflict with pin-a-gogo. but we have to have the show in april or may. and april has two other michigan shows already! so april is no good. and the first weekend of may is allentown, then mothers day, so we have to be after that. can't go any later because of memorial day. so may 15-17 is the best we could do, figuring no one from california would every come to michigan anyway!

Trying to prove you wrong on that California guess!

With all respect, I think it is such a travesty that the Banning facility is only open once a year. In my opinion, this "museum" does about as much to promote the knowledge and history of pinball as Willy Wonka's Factory does for the knowledge of chocolate making.

That being said, I'll be there.

I helped out quite a bit last year getting as many games operational as possible, but there were (are) many games that still need attention. A lot of us volunteers told management that we would help again this year, but nothing has been done yet. 8 months since the last expo and I dont think many (if any) games have been touched . I fear that if tech help does not start soon there will be many unplayable games again.
My tools are just sitting here waiting for some sort of plan to tackle the huge job of getting these games working. It would be a shame to wait until the last minute (again) and then try scramble and get repairs and parts in a hurry.

I have reached out a few times to managment but so far no response.

They don't have the permitting to be open more than that. It's also expensive to be open more often. Costs money for the electricity, for the people staffing it. The best thing people can do it show up for the events and support the facility.

Who have you tried to talk to? John? Kenny? I haven't seen either in a bit, but next time I do I'll ask what's up, I'm curious myself.

I e-mailed Kenny and sent a text to Dan.

I'd like to visit at some point, but there's no way in hell, I'm leaving my TV for anything on an NFL playoff weekend: 2 Games Saturday, 2 Games Sunday. 3rd worst weekend of the year to have an event for NFL fans, followed by Jan 22, and Feb 5.

Best weekend in January is the 28/29th, the Pro Bowl weekend (which is a non-event).
-mof

Great event! Looking forward to #3! Has anyone heard if they are going to open again in October this year?

Oh and that Williams Blaster is such a tease. It had one of those "arcade classics" set ups instead of Blaster running!