Since this may be the last (hope not)
I am going to make every effort to attend for 2nd time.

Some speculate that Clay does not like his (new) neighbors
and might consider moving.
It isn't easy or cheap housing and maintaining 400+ games
and last 2 yrs did not help with that.
Clay might want to retire sometime, he ain't no spring chicken anymore.

all the above is pure speculation
I have no insight or real knowledge of the goings on at the VFW
just my 3 cents
take it with a grain of salt.

Still hopeful that the VFW shows will go on forever.

I wanna see you ride one into the pool,
beers in hand

Or at least drive a lap around the pool

I got an old school bidet stored in my garage collecting dust,
along with a bunch of other old school plumbing fixtures ;
that if they will let me check it in as luggage, I will bring it along to the next show.

20220508_120241 (resized).jpg

Got my tickets reservations for SAT and Sunday.

WooHoo

Lucky me
I will be there
First in line
with Cash and Covid test discounts
in hand

I am in process of making airline and car rental and hotel reservations.
Any suggestions for any cheap hotels within 10-15 mile radius for <$100/nite?
Any camping allowed at VFW or is that a thing of the past.
Also last time I drove from DTW airport to VFW (a couple 2-3 yrs ago) there was all kinds of road construction and detours.
Any heads up info on possible routes to avoid when driving from DTW would be appreciated.

And please do not tell me it is homecoming weekend at Ann Arbor that week.

cheers Tom

I got my airline tickets and car rental squared away
now just need to choose a hotel.
Taking red eye from PDX to DTW
arrive 6am Oct 1st SAT
Leave DTW on Sunday at 8pm
wham bam thank you ma'm

Hoping that the current rash of airline flight cancelations will be over by October, and no more covid spikes pop up. Also hope a 3rd variant specific booster will be approved and available by end if Sept.
Got my hotel in Ann Arbor for about $70/nite.
Looking forward to playing all the 100+ ( new) games VFW has acquired since my last visit.

Damn
Well it has already started (for me)
Flight cancelations or schedule changes.
Delta just sent me an email,
my nonstop flight to Detroit from PDX was cancelled
now I have to fly thru SLC.
I have to leave PDX about 3 hrs sooner
and now arrive to Detroit about 5AM Saturday instead of 630AM.
Hope my non stop flight home does not change.

Shoot
7 hrs later got a 2nd email changing my return flight home
from a non stop to another flight thru SLC.
Crap
Fortunately the changes do not disrupt my plans too much,
from enjoying the VFW pinball show to the fullest and for as long as possible.

I know we will get a discount on Admission, if we show a valid Covid-19 Vaccine card.

What do we get if we have a monkey pox vaccine?

I will be sending ya PM soon. Need to figure if I need L or XL.

Will there be a prize for the tourney trophy toss?

Some good news
It appears that the 3rd booster with new sub variants included
will be available come early September,
Hopefully they will allow all over 50s (or all adults) to get it.
that will make me feel more comfortable going to VFW show in a few weeks.

I can not wait to see and play nearly all the Classic Stern S/S games
(i think only missing Memory Lane and Wild Fyre)
plus the vast Zaccaria games
in the VFW's collection.

Got my Covid (bi-variant) booster shot today.
Had to stand in line for over an hour,
even though I had an appointment reservation.
Gives me some piece of mind, probably still going to wear a mask,
if nothing else for protection from crop dusters.
Mainly its more for my wife who is health compromised.
She will kill me if I bring any cooties back from this trip.
Looking forward to playing lots of games, mostly EMs or Classic S/S pins.

Despite rain forecast for today and tomorrow near Brighton MI
the weather looks fairly good for the weekend

pasted_image (resized).png

I believe that if you show your covid vax card, you will also get a $20 discount off the price of admission.

Anyone going to post the EM pinball tourney results tonite?

Printed out my
Airline boarding passes
Hotel reservation voucher
Car rental voucher
VFW pinball show ticket reservation voucher
Preprogrammed my GPS with appropriate addresses.
Wallet with enough cash and vax card.
Got my bag packed,
not bringing much other than change of underwear and toothbrush and some KN-95 masks,
since I will be picking up a couple T-Shirts at the show.
Been so long since I have traveled, not sure if i am forgetting anything.
Just need to remember to bring my phone and charger.
And maybe fill up with gas on my truck for trip to airport,
(hopefully price of gas will not go up anymore, as its gone up about $1 in past 2 weeks.)
Looking forward to spending hours playing pinball and chatting with other pinheads.

Barely made my flight out of PDX.
Took 2 hrs to drive from Salem to PDX cause of traffic, normally should take 60 min. Then wasted 10 min looking for parking, first parking level was full, and no exit/access to other levels, so had to take return loop to get back to airport to try another lot/level. Then 30 min to get thru security.
Boarded about 1 min before they closed the gate doors behind me, panting heavily from the final dash.

Well, i made it. First one to arrive (after Clay). Had a great first day, played mostly EMs, played all the zipper flipper pins. Boy are they brutal, monster drainers. Only games of those i liked to play were Bazaar (1st zipflip game) and Fireball, 4mil Bc and 4 queens and Cosmos. Also wish Clay would set those games at 5 ball play, at 3 ball the game is over in seconds. Need some sleep to do it all over again on Sunday.

Jungle Hunt. aka son of predator

20221001_145844 (resized).jpg

Really was nothing at swap meet as far as i could tell, maybe a couple people brought a game or two.

Thanks Clay and EV and the tech crew and chow crew.
Had an amazing time playing an amazing collection of games.
Was never that crowded with people, only crowded with games, but noisy none the less. I think i played every single player EM, plus all the zipper flippers and a hand full of multi player EMs and about a dozen classic era S/S pins from WMS,GTB,BLY & Stern. Did not have time to play any Zaccarias.
Noticed that all of Clay's EMs had strong flippers which is important in the older games, GTB wedgeheads also had good pops and slings. Some of the 2in flipper pins from Bally and Williams maybe could use a little juicing up of the pops, but all games played and maintained their fun factor, and when any game had a problem it was usually addressed and fixed within 30minutes.
My only suggestion would be to maybe switch to 5 ball play on all 2in flipper pins, instead of 3 ball.
3 ball play is ok on solid state games and even some 3in flipper EMs,
but those 1960s 2in flipper games were designed for 5 ball play,
That is especially true for those Bally and Williams which have wicked outlanes
that 3 ball play might only last 90 seconds.
Again thanks for putting on a great show, every pinball fan needs to make the trek/pilgrimage to the pinball mecca at least once in a lifetime.