I think the game I played the most at PBL Explosion was the Trilogy game. Probably played 4 games on it and snagged 2 full pours. Very good stout, what was the ABV on that anyway?

My roommate had a run in with this guy at the same event. I guess the games were mobbed so he couldn't even get close enough to see what the playfield looked like. So he saw a huge stack of flyers on the table and went over and picked one up to see a picture of what the game looked like. This guy came up accused my buddy of stealing the flyer, I guess as one point he stole his water bottle out of his hand to make a point. It sounded pretty tense over something that presumably was there to be given away anyway. Several folks there saw it play out and were clearly weirded out on how this guy acted. Sorry this is all 3rd person as I was not there but it certainly seems to fit with the other impressions. And he is in charge of marketing for Stern??

Roughly ~6%~

You are definitely NOT from WI!

Jody is the stern fluffer boy.

I'm gonna blame your wife's heavy pour!

That's really hilarious. And I'll tell you why, but I do think we shouldn't be dogpiling Jody, no need to make it all personal and nasty.

Anyways, that stack of flyers? The event was over, GoT games wheeled out, everyone from Stern left. It was just me and Rarehero and his awesome girlfriend Sara chatting at a table. And then I found the stack, just sitting there on the floor. Must have been hundreds there.

I figured the cleaning crew would throw them out, so I picked them up and ended up dropping them on the swag table in the hall with the tournament. Hopefully anyone who wanted one got one. But "stealing" one? There were so many everyone at the event could have taken a handful. Not something precious to guard, and no one cared enough to even take them out of the room when the event was cleaned up.

Boorish behavior deserves it; and I saw his dickish attitude first hand on several occasions. Him and Mike both deserve it.

I had no issues with Mike, interacted with him several times with no problem. Sounds like people who bring games have some issues?

And I think it's fine to criticize Jody, he's the public face of a company, it comes with the territory. But no need to call him names like fluffer or whatever. Just talk about what you didn't like in a constructive way instead.

Man, I'm so tired ... Me and Nimblepin worked out we've both had like 10 hours sleep in 3 days. Crazy. My eyes are like bugging out and all blurry ...

The visit to Expo has been cool. Got to meet lots of old buds and lots of new ones.

PBL was the main attraction for me to come, to catch up with Terry and Margaret, the Flanks, Jay, Doug, Hilton etc etc. That crew is tight, ultra welcoming and always great guys to be around. The event was a winner. Apologies if I ignored/annoyed anyone at PBL or the Stern party afterwards because I did have a lot to drink. A lot. It was my "annual blowout" as Fiona calls it. Last one was at Odins place last year and his screen door is still paying the price

The Expo comp was a wash for me ... The website said the playoffs were on Sunday so I wondered down 11am Saturday to do some more qualifying (I'd only played 4/7 games and was in 60th place) and discovered I missed the playoffs already. Oh well, I guess I should have asked. If I had shown up at 10am to play my games I don't think I would have played to well anyway after the Friday night drinking hahaha!

I played in Classics, only top 16 made it and I was 32nd. Had good games on Ali and EBD but sucked on SandS and Warlock.

ExpoBrawl Pingolf was cool. Played with Simon as "team kiwi" Had a good first round, bad second round, a coffee fueled third round got us into C finals which we won with the best round of the day (16) Sweeeeet!!

I didn't come for the freeplay area (I know a lot of guys do) and to be honest there weren't a lot of machines there. Maybe 80? One of the guys said "you have more in your house ..." lol so maybe some room for improvement there.

Really enjoyed playing Full Throttle. Good game. Heighway seem to have their shit together.

I have been following P3 since day one, and didn't know if I liked it or not from the videos ... Finally played it and it is very cool. David Theil (aka Pin Sound Master!!) has done the music for it and it is very good. The whole package looks like a winner.

Hmmmm think that's about it? Lord I need some sleep ...

rd

When I hear someone taking a flyer, and then being called out on it like it's stealing, that rubs me the wrong way. If it wasn't kidding around, that is one of the lamest things I have heard. When I went to York, I grabbed a flyer just before I bought my NIB Kiss. If someone had accused me of ''stealing'' the flyer, I wouldn't have bought the game.

If the story is real, the guy needs to cut the shit.

Get it now before Odin's!

If you treat customers the way Jody does you should expect to get grief over it.

Okay, fair enough, but I dunno that it needs to descend into name calling. We're all adults here.

Nothing to do with me. I didn't call the cops my bumper just got really scratched up when whoever was parked beside me couldn't figure how to back out properly I'm assuming.

I suspect that his screen door is in for some more pounding ...

rd

Meh, act like a DB get called out as one.

I was a front row witness to this also and will confirm Whysnow's comment as quoted above. (I was not with Whysnow)

It was my first time encountering Jody Dankberg in person and it was shameful. No employee or co-worker deserves to be spoken to that way. It was an arrogant display from Jody and I view him as a very poor representative for Stern now.

On the other hand, George Gomez was there (away from all of this) and what a gracious gentleman he is.

We all have different opinions, Whysnow but I disagree with your GoT & FT reviews. Many of us, including some tournament players, really enjoyed playing GoT. I think its going to be a hit on location and with home collectors. Too soon to tell for sure but its got great potential especially if you're a Steve Ritchie fan.

And I'm having some difficulty warming up to Full Throttle by Heighway. I wanna like it but I can't. Dark, lots of airballs and center drains for me. (straight down the middle after making a right side center loop, every time) I've played it many times at two shows now and I'm just not impressed. It leaves me cold without that "gotta play it again" feel.
I love the mechanics but not the game play so much.

We can just agree to disagree my friend. - Nice to finally have met you.

+1

George is one of the friendliest and most down to Earth people I've ever met.

George spoke to me personally - for a good long while - when I was having early QC issues with my AVLE. Total gentleman. And I dare say his games may flow better than Ritchie's. Gomez engineers the smoothest shots in the biz.

You should see how he treats a family of four. Especially with a autistic child being one of the four. Dude is the lowest of the low my man!

Oooooooooooh I like Georges games, but I would have to disagree there. I can't think of any of them that flow like a SR game.

rd

By coincidence I ducked into that Jewel Osco outside the Pinball Life party and bought regular coffee thinking there would be a standard coffee maker in the room. When we found that little machine with those stupid pouches full of decaf we cut a slit in the top, dumped it out and filled them with my regular coffee. Problem solved .

One of my highlights was the end of the MSU v UM game. Freaking ridiculous ending.

I enjoyed the show. Yes the free play room was a letdown but I guess I'm part of the problem by not bringing a game along. The free play room is and should be supported by collectors willing to share their machines. Thanks to all those who brought them. We know it's a pain in the a** but we appreciate it nonetheless.

SR's library tends to be the definition of flow, but Gomez beats them all with Johnny Mnemonic. I've never gotten a pinball flying around orbits faster than I have on JM.. every shot but the middle comes right back at you, real fast...

What is the purpose of making a flyer: Are they to give to potential buyers or sell to flyer collectors?

I was really excited to play the "Big Screen" version of Full Throttle, which looks awesome by the way...I hate the Full Throttle translite, so turning into a JJP style full color screen w/ some minor art on the surround is a massive aesthetic improvement. However, almost every time we launched the ball, it went STDM out of it's little loopy launch exit. Ball save...cool...F*CK!!! STDM AGAIN!!! Not sure if this was due to the pitch or a rail outta whack on that particular game - but it really annoyed me and my girlfriend. We walked away and she said "That game is a mess" lol. I really want to like the game, but that STDM launch made it really tough.

Nice meeting you Whysnow - sorry we barely got to talk. Expo is crazy like that...everyone (including myself) is often pulled in multiple directions and conversations get cut short.

Here's my take: not a lot of news, other than showing GOT LE in a special room. Heighway showed new art for aliens, Hobbit showed the latest code (Lawlor's reveal still not until next spring), Charlie pushed RZ out 3 weeks (don't blame him, it just is). The cold snap sure doesn't help things, nor does a partially empty freeplay area (but I really appreciate the guy that brought goin' nuts!). I always want to attend Expo for this reason though, see the hobby pins. Kugler family playfield has art (and a mailbox), Buffy has updated code and looks even better, nightmare before christmas played great, the peanuts playfield was only partially populated and not ready to play but it did have some playfield art.

As far as the rest.. if I want to play KISS, I can play Terry's any time I'm picking up some parts, same goes for lebowski. If I want a Stern tour, I can go any day of the week, Elk grove isn't far for me.

As far as Terry's Pinexplosion, I can play pretty much every machine a couple weeks before the show, but I still go because a ton of people show up to it (and I like hanging out). Also this being my 2nd year of bringing a game, I'm always going to try to bring a game now because it's an easy drop off weeks before the show, and I know it's appreciated. One thing I like about Terry is he is a little bit selective being that he can't hold more than about 50 games. He'll turn down an AFM to bring in something more obscure like "Al's garage band" because how often do you get to play that?

I enjoyed our 45 second conversation also, Greg.

Huh, I never saw that once. I think I was playing the one on the far right? I can't remember now. And we might have mixed them all up again after the party anyways.

They may have fixed the SDTM problem on FullT because it didn't do that for me either. My 11 year old nephew played it and had fun.

If I was not there to pick up a pin it would have been a wasted trip. More than half the people I met and talked to said they would never come back to expo.

What? Really? Why?

This was my third Expo in a row. I'll be back next year. I barely even set foot in the freeplay room, that's not why I go.

The one I played was on the far left it that helps. The same machine was available each time I came around coincidently. The airballs were less than last years expo but still too many for my taste. And I watched the drain happen to a playing partner and then a guy that followed me. I did not get the launch drain that Rarehero did however.

I'm not trying to bash the game just being candid about my experience.

I agree that there was less machines in freeplay than other years, but if you dont bring a game, then its hard to complain. I had 4 games on the floor. JM, Pinbot, Addams Family, and the incredible hulk used in x-pins booth. JM was sold on saturday to a pinsider, who pulled it as soon as he paid for it. So if you missed it, sorry. The addams i took was sold to another pinsider who kept it there all weekend. Another pinsider bought my pinbot and left it on all weekend, and I brought Hulk back home. All four of the games were on all weekend and never went down. Even the Hulk.

I played your pinbot but forgot to play your Hulk. Thanks.

The thing is, at least for me, Expo just isn't about going to play pins. It's a place where everyone, from all over the world, gathers to talk pinball. See new games. Check out cool projects. Pick up deals on parts. Watch cool seminars. Party, a lot.

If next year they said "sorry, no free play room at all" I'd still go, and it wouldn't change much for me.

Now I totally get that not everyone feels that way. And I'm grateful to whoever brought Catacomb, always wanted to play one of those. But I was really in that room for maybe 20 minutes total the whole time.

Lots of shows have killer game selections. Very few offer the chance to hang out with more than just your local pinheads.

Personally I liked. Le Truck or whatever it was called in the free play room.
While not a huge selections like other shows people brought some cool machines

--Jeff

I'm suprised Jody was rude when I toured the stern pinball factory back in August 2012 when they were making X men he showed us around and was super polite and patient when I asked a couple of questions I'm surprised he acted like that

At one time I almost forgot why I was as Expo. I was in the vendor hall one time when it was closed and jumped on a game of GoT. After my game was over a guy came up and started talking. Then asked if I wanted to play GoT with him. I said no thanks and started to walk away. Then I stopped and turned around and said "what am I thinking. Sure I'll play a game. This is Expo and we are supposed to interact and play with stranger. " after he kicked my ass. I thanked him for asking.

That's what Expo is about!!!

You know, maybe they're all stressed because they had to wrap the game up in time for Expo, in the face of a lot of criticism that generated last minute changes.

I'm trying to be more empathetic to people now, just try and see it from their perspective. I didn't even talk to Jody. I saw him, but never at a time when I felt like going over to him. But I wouldn't be shocked if he was just cranky like everyone else. I probably would be too.

Beats me. All I know is Jared had enough energy for 2 people, and covered for him.

I saw and heard the incident between Jody and another guy over the flyers. It was unreal how he acted. Accused the guy of trying to steal the flyers. Then he snatched the guys bottle of water and said "how would you like me to steal your water "

I actually was sitting with Tanio from stem for about an hour later that night and tilted him what I saw.

I wanted go to to expo 2015 but plane tickets to Chicago are hella expensive and I've heard mix reviews about Expo Rob Berk does a terrific job running the show and there are more pins there then ever before I just saw a post where this one guy was acting like a smart ass and harrasing 2 women who were playing Hobbit and that made me feel like I shouldn't be heading down to expo if I have to run into shit like that

I would agree that George Gomez is a gentleman. And on that note, here's my personal highlight of the weekend:

Yes but you're biased

I love your pinbox3000 project, we need to keep pinball alive with the next generation. Maybe someday you can design pinbox 4000 with some slings and inlanes

I've been going to Expo for years and never seen anything like that. We don't tolerate that, as that thread evidences.

All I thought about when I saw that was space elevator!

I go to Pin A Go Go in Dixon never seen or heard ANY foul play like that I hope he's not allowed at any other pinball expos

This is like PAGG, but instead of Steve Ritchie as the guest, it's every designer and programmer from every company. There aren't as many free play games as PAGG, but there are way more options. Seminars, parties, tournaments, prototype and homebrew games, vendors of all styles. You could have seen the first live demo of a 24 bit RGB LED DMD. It's just a cool place to be.

I'm already feeling nostalgiac, so I'm happy to reminisce and document my weekend:

We arrived Wednesday night. We checked in, and went to check out the free play area at around 11pm. It was thinner than last year at that point, but we played a few really well-maintained games (I think they were the Cincy pinball group - thanks for bring them (every year)!). After the hall closed, we decided we'd make the trip into the city a bit to go to Logan Arcade. That place blew me away. I had a sort of idea about what it would be, and in my head it was great, but in reality it was even better! This was a huge highlight of the weekend for me, I love that this place exists, and I plan to visit every chance I get.

After a late first night, we slept through anything we had planned on doing. We had grandiose plans to go golfing or hit up some indoor go karts and then just hang out at a sports bar for the day. Instead, we slept until about 2pm, and decided that last option - sports bar - would be our best bet. We got back and waited on the vendor line. The vendor area was a bit thinner than most years. I think I was most disappointed that they didn't setup the monitors for the new Stern games. If I'm going to be waiting in line for 20 minutes to play a game, I appreciate the monitors above so I can get a crash course before stepping up after a long wait.

- GoT played better than I expected, and while I'm not in love with the art, it looks better in person than it does on screen. I had some interest in picking one up, but I think it's a title I wouldn't mind owning with some mileage on it down the road. There seems to be some huge scoring opportunities if you can learn the rules well, and know when best to use PF multipliers, shot multipliers, etc.

-- It was great to see that Stern put out a strategy guide for this game! I didn't get through it, and wish I would have played after giving it a read. I like that the code is further along than normal at this stage. I think there are some quirks, but perhaps with a better understanding of what I need to be doing, those would make more sense. Dwight was also hanging around the area, appeared to be taking notes, and was happy to help players get the most of their time at the machine - that was really cool to see.

Most of my group stayed up as late as we could on Thursday night in the free play area. This, of course, led to another partly wasted day. We got up late again on Friday, and found ourselves rushing to make the Spooky Pinball auction at 3. We walked in just in time to hear that the game had just sold for $16,000.. amazing! Congratulations for Spooky and crew, and the charity that benefits from their (and the buyer's) generosity! If Logan Arcade wasn't my favorite moment, my time at PBL was. It was a great atmosphere, everyone was excited about the huge sale of AMH, there was free food, free drinks, plenty of good games to play, and good company. Thanks to PBL for putting this on!

We spent another late night in the game room after we returned to expo. Saturday, I decided I needed another game, and jumped on a WPT that a friend (Kingpin) had for sale. I wouldn't trust picking up a game that I couldn't power on or get a real close look at from most sellers, but Kingpin is a standup guy, and there were no surprises here. I was tired from moving a machine 10ft, so I took another nap. We had played pretty much everything at this point, and saw everything we had wanted to see. We had plans to watch the fight (Golovkin ie Triple G). After we found out BWW's doesn't order boxing, I called around and found that Twin Peaks would be showing it - perfect!

We showed up at Twin Peaks early enough to get a seat and catch the undercard. I asked the moody hostess if they'd be showing the fight (to confirm). She gave me some attitude, and told me that they weren't playing anything until the Mets (cubs) game was over. ..alright, but you have 400 TVs? I was told that every time that they tried to change the channel to anything other than the cubs on any TV (even 1 of the 3 TVs in a 3TV bank!) some boisterous bro watching his 5th cub game would get angry and tell them to change it back. Well, whatever, that's fine, we can wait until the cubs inevitably lose and catch the fight after that. Then we were told that they wouldn't be ordering the fight at all - corporate had canceled it. I called around to see if we could catch any bar somewhat local that would be showing it, and after about a dozen or so attempts and some false leads, failed. That was a bit of a letdown, and we walked back to expo after getting a bite at Spears (a pretty cool place with a huge whiskey list).

Saturday night we conquered Expo. We played our yearly championship between our group (congrats to Paul for his great achievement as one of only two dual major winners), and played everything left in the vendor hall. We were among the last people standing.

Even though games were lighter than the past, I still had a great time, very few hardships, and held a pretty consistent buzz. It was great catching up with people, and meeting some new ones - I wish I could have spent more time talking with all of you!

Winter is coming. I'll see you all at Waun-a-Pinball and MGC!