Wow that is incredibly sad to hear that there were thieves among us at the show. I hope any lost goods are recovered and the person/people responsible are held accountable and blacklisted

Here's another video edited and done, Magic Girl gameplay!
-Jeremy Pinball Mayhem

I had an Elvira gift box stolen as well Saturday late evening/early morning. Seems like the left side of the expo was raided (Poor Man's table, pinball pimp, COZ's stuff by FlipnOut booth and then up the way to Brian Allen's booth) during vendor breakdown despite vendors being told breakdown was to occur Sunday morning. This caused confusion for the security staff and basically anyone leaving the area with large items etc would appear normal. Next year I believe they are going to be a bit more strict on the policy to ensure someone leaving with a ton of items will look out of place. Maybe they should hire a few of those costco folks to check receipts at the door? Anyhow, even with the looting, it was a great show. I enjoyed seeing everyone and many thanks to all that brought games. Especially, Troy from Tilt (dude brought in 5 trucks!) & ZMeny w/FlipNOut pinball that brought probably the nicest game at the show, a beautiful Elvira 40th for everyone to enjoy!

Zach's EHOH was definitely the prettiest playable game. Definitely had the best apron card of any game there too

I was stoked to see the black and white TZ and Addams in person - they're super cool. Shame they weren't playable, but I totally get it - they're art pieces more than anything!

Most large shows have the rule that there can be no packing up until the last attendee leaves. If they do they are never invited back to the show. We noticed many packed up early and it was sad to see that. Now with the theft maybe they will hold to the rules.

This is why they used to separate the vendors from the free play area

Typical behavior for the show. By Saturday night/after dinner-ish, if you have not bought something from a vendor you prob are not going to. To be honest, 5 days for a show is a bit much. I have gone the last 21 years to hang with my Dad and take part in the show but at day 5 I’m ready to go home.

Why make it if you can't play it?

This never crossed JPop's mind.

There is no rule to hold Expo to. It's always been allowed. Sunday is not a real day at Expo, and as far as I can ever remember never has been.

Ah, the Dr. Frankenfurter principle...

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This is a very long show. We did pack up the booth around 10pm on Saturday night. We left the games for everyone to play, but the accessories and merchandise was packed away. We didn't make a sale between 9pm and 10pm and figured anyone coming in after that was just coming to play the games. As a vendor I can tell you that it is A LOT of work to get there wednesday and set up, then be in your booth Thursday noon to midnight (i stayed until 11pm), Friday 10am to midnight (again, i was done by 11pm) and then Saturday 10am to 2am (we got back to the room around 11pm after puthing things away).

While i like the looks of the open room with vendors and freeplay all together, i do miss the days of the seperate vendor hall so that we (the vendors) could close down and still enjoy part of the show if we wanted to.

All in all, it was a good show. We had a great time and we talked with a lot of people. King Kong of Skull Island VR was a hit. I don't think there was a time where the game wasn't getting used.

Truth right here

Saturday sales of booth items was next to nothing. Thursday and friday were great. But like Chris said, if you didnt buy the first two says, you probably were not buying saturday either

saturday sales were 10% of other day sales, so a significant decrease. Hardcore pinballers come for all the days and spend right away to make sure that the item is available. Saturday is a lot of the local families that saw billboards and such advertising the show, so they came to check it out, but were not buyers per se

My rule of thumb is to try to be the last to pack up, but also, if its close to the end of the night and no one has bought in 45 minutes, i go ahead and shut down so that i can go have fun with everyone also

I sold a pin and was told you cannot let it leave until Sunday ( I knew from past shows you can't) , but I saw many games leaving as well as Vendors packing up at 6pm or so Saturday.

A huge thank you for bringing a game. We had 85+ come in and this absolutely contributed to this year's success. Other shows with a larger percentage of attendees bringing games allow buyers to pull games off the floor. Unfortunately, if you end up attending on one of the later days, many games are missing. If a person were to bring a "for sale" game to the show, set it up, and then has their buddy "buy" it to have it pulled off the floor, there would be no way of knowing. People bringing pins were compensated with a full event pass, cash, and raffle tickets and the load-in and out times were/are listed on the website. I can fully understand, especially if people are local, wanting to head home on Saturday evening and not need to come back in the morning or pay for another night in a hotel. We do want to try to accommodate those bringing games while balancing compensation for the games and the experience of the attendees. We're open to feedback and suggestions. Our goal is to always make expo better for everyone involved.

We liked the vendors in with the games this yr. We prob spent a little more because the stuff was always top of mind being in sight. Although i totally get the security issues. Other than having a vendor buddy to watch your stuff idk how you can avoid that.

For vendors, this is their livelihood, so theft is not a trivial thing. While I didn't make this year's Expo due to a work conflict, I have been to many in the past. A simple solution is vendors are only there for Thursday and Friday. As noted earlier, the pinheads buy in the first two days. Saturday is Joe Public day. Dad and the rugrats aren't buying parts or merchandise. The vendor room should be separate as well. Expo needs vendors more than vendors need Expo.

November dates are better for sales.

Welcome to Schaumburg Il right now family's are enjoying Fall weather and spending $$ on expensive Halloween lawn ornaments and going to pumpkin farms and enjoying the last few days before winter. next month majority of family's are indoor and start shopping for the holidays and start buying anything.

Vendor area on Saturdays in the past:

Expo over the years would crash many Saturday's for Banquet time and run booth purchasers and the public out of the vendor halls around 5pm while many people were just arriving as they planned to see the full show and already had something to eat, only to be told to leave the vendor area from 5pm to Midnight or even 1:00AM and made vendors wait around by the vendor area doors to be unlocked very late while the public was long gone then Sundays were always a time to pack and hit the road just as any show.
Everyone knows Expo Saturday's are not good for Expo vendors due to bad PR and have not forgotten or been informed that there is no longer a banquet.
Advertising should have included: "vendor area is now open all day Saturday"

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Next year there should be cameras everywhere

Man this pisses me off.
Had a great time partying with ya at the Olympics man. Security for the vendors needs upgraded for sure.

Gryszzz we need YOU for security

The Pinball Mayhem crew had an awesome time at the show. It was great to see so many machines both old and new. Here's the gameplay video for Jersey Jack's Toy Story 4. -Pinball Mayhem Jeremy

Good grief, a 5 second stare down while he has a beer in his hand is all it would take.

Gryszzz, you rock!

There was definitely a line for King Kong almost the entire time I was there on Friday. I got a chance to try it, pretty cool! Thanks for bringing that behemoth for us to check out!

3rd weekend of october is typical.

who won the American homebrew competition?

I brought up security and theft to the promoters as soon as I heard the vendors area would be wide open. We put everything away in our cages at night and take excess to our room. While it is extra work, it's the only way I know to prevent theft, or at least minimize it. As far as tear down Saturday, we left our games all set up and on free play until Sunday morning. Though, being the last day and all of the craziness, someone could have easily rolled out a NIB game without question. This would crush a small dealer like us. Saturday being the last day its the best day for a thief to prey. I can see why some dealer wanted to get high value stuff out of there. I loved the show, the vibe, etc. I think shutting down on Saturday at 9pm, and starting tear down is the move. I think the existing schedule is fine, but the last day from 9am-9pm makes for 12 hours of fun (or work depending on the side of the table you are on). If the show wants to combine the dealer area with the freeplay area, then they have to be courteous to the vendors as well. Most importantly, theft and security has to take priority over all when designing the event.

Last year was separated, and vendors closed at 10pm, and could start packing up Saturday without issue. Also security was much better, as no one was allowed int he vendor area after hours. They also had reasonable working hours, 12-16 hours days is excessive for vendor hours. The event is supposed to be an opportunity for vendors to socialize with customers, manufacturers, and enjoy as well. It is certainly a balancing act, and of course always room to improve. I appreciate the efforts of all the expo crew and all they do.

Greg
pinballpro.com

My recommendation... don't show up for next year's Expo. Again, Expo needs the vendors WAY more than the vendors need Expo.

I have to think the new layout was better for vendors, as they got far more visibility and traffic. At the same time, mixing them was going to increase the likelihood of theft, so disappointing that expo did not do more to protect vendors. Not like this is the first time things were stolen during expo.

Seems that some vendors packing up on Saturday added to the ease of theft as someone walking out with an armful of stuff was not questioned.

Ending the show early on Saturday would not be popular. Plenty of folks still miss being able to play all night.

Possibly look at offering vetted attendees free/discounted admission in exchange for taking an 'x hour shift' booth sitting. Sort of like seat fillers at award shows on TV.

They actually had one sign posted that said October 18-22, 2023.
.................David Marston

Quite frankly, this is up to the people running Expo to provide the extra security so that theft is deterred and vendors feel safe. This could be done just like the VFW crew of Orange shirts.

A volunteer crew wearing orange security shirts that are assigned to all the vendors.

Rumour has it, Miss Flippy is pregnant and baby flippies will be at expo2023!

Believe it!

October 18th 2023 through the 22nd.

Enjoy this short interview with Mike Hale - the man in charge of overseeing all of Mr Berk's pins at the Expo. I think him and his team did a great job

They were great. I was a noob so I didn't realize it at first until someone came up to me while I was on Hercules to make sure it was working correctly. I feel bad because I noticed early into expo that Orbitor 1 was in dire need of a new shooter tip, but forgot by the time I realized there was good caretakers around.

18 thr the 21st?

I was a volunteer every day except Saturday...second year I did this.

I tried to keep busy...cleaned a lot of glass.
Met a lot of great people, played a lot of fantastic pins!

That was a great crew!

Even picked up a new(old) pin!

Much thanks to the Berk family for allowing me to have such a fantastic week!

I think that Mike Hale will help create something special with The Past times arcade in Ohio...best of luck with that Mike.

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Technically, yes...

Just a pic of me and some friends at the show. I'll defintely be back next year

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For those who havent heard…
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php/?set=a.302363588600969&fbid=499328098904516

Damn...

He dropped some items he was wheeling down a ramp from his vehicle and I helped him pick up and unload the rest.

He was very knowledgeable, and helped me with a few questions over the course of the show.

My condolences to his family and friends...he will be missed for sure

That's too bad, I've purchased from him before and meant to stop over.
RIP Chance

Late Saturday night he told me he had his best Saturday of any of the shows. Inwosh i filmed him. Todd

This is Horrible news. We've lost another Great one! Nice guy meet him a few times. Just a shame.
My condolences to his family and friends.

Damn that sucks. He had a great booth for boards and stuff.

My condolences to his loved ones and friends.

LTG : (

That's awful but why are people leaving their booths unattended?

To sleep? They had security, but apparently they were not effective or there were not enough of them late night/overnight.

The view from our relatively quiet corner of the hall.
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Thanks to all who stopped by.

Your setup was awesome, my son and nephew thoroughly enjoyed it. I did as well.

Thank you!