Expo is never a flop for me, simply because I get to hang out and talk with buddies that I rarely see....which is really all that matters in pinball.

Lots of intriguing custom games, and plenty of cool things to see...I had an awesome weekend, and so did my wife.

Pete

My first pin expo, it was okay nothing to get a hardon over, like some guys on here. Ed

I would hope not in any pinball situation!

4 hours is all i can take. I don't give two squirts about anything other than seeing a few familiar faces and getting my pinball on, so i can't recommend the event for anyone traveling anything further than a few hours. It gets old fast for me.

I've been to the last 3 and I don't know if I will rush out next year. I had more fun seeing a couple friends. I liked it but, I know now I would not have missed much had I not gone. I do appreciate those it put it together though.

Highlights for me included catching up with old friends, meeting some new ones in the brawl and at TP, getting to play all the custom games -Matrix, WOOLY, CCC, BOP... Stern tour was really great - had George Gomez as our groups guide. You can tell he has a lot of passion for his work. And of course being in the room when PP made the MM announcement.

This is the third year I have attended expo and my biggest complaint is it seems the number and quality of games in the free play area are on a decline. Now I should have brought a game as I am local and I really appreciate all the games that others bring (especially the ones bringing multiple from out of state). But I did bring one last year and it was nothing but a hassle trying to find some help bringing it in and tearing it down. Plus there really is no incentive to bring a game as I couldn't come back on Sunday, I pulled my game on Saturday night, so I didn't get in for "free".

I also think the number of games at the PPL open house this year hurt expo. I hope Terry and Mike can find a way to combine both events. From the look of the pics at PPL all the games there would have been a nice addition to the free play room at expo.

In summary - mixed results

Good review Nutshell!

I feel pretty much the same way.

Expo was no where near as good this year, but there were some highlights.
Pros >
Meeting up with friends and familiar faces.
All the custom games were super cool! Special note for WOOLY>> WOW!!!! It was great and looking forward to it developing.
Expobrawl was much improved and very fun!
PBL party was very nice and glad I made it for a few hours. The vajazzler was also super fun > great job on that BangerJay!

Cons>
Lack of playable games
No show price breaks for products
Predator not being playable
Less playable games
VERY EXPENSIVE for what is was.

I will say it again >> I encourage anyone in the area to mark MGC on your calendars NOW (April 12 and 13 2014) and to bring your games there. MGC is a players paradise. Rumor is more room for the pinball hall this year and even more games. MGC 2013 had WAY more playable and high quality games than expo did this year and I am assuming if we all do our part it will be even better for 2014. Also, MGC is all about helping each other out. Tully and crew run a tight ship and are on top of making it all run smoothly and helping constantly with load-in and load-out.

At this point I am on the fence for Expo next year, but I am ALL in for MGC this year!

Wish I was there, but I'm going to sit back and watch some pinhead's YouTube videos hopefully. I would be lying if I wasn't hoping for a video of STLE gameplay.

Expo is about pinball beer good food and hot sex at a hotel

I had more fun at expo this year than last year. ( I was there friday only)
The amount of boutique pins was incredible!
I think if the pinsiders going would have been more organized it would have been even better. Knowing people going made it more fun.
The Explosion before hand was a great warm up.
There needs to be more vendors vending though. ( easy, charge the vendors less, and you will get more vendors, and less overhead from vendors means better show deals, better show deals means more people, more people means more money in Mike's pocket)
I tried to buy from Marco on friday night.... NO ONE THERE to sell to me.

I was happy to play most of the games before they started to break down around 9pm. Alot of friendly people, fun was had by all. I`ll be back.

Can we get a detailed report of all the custom P-ROC games? I'm really interested in some in-depth reviews.

As an expo first timer I can say my wife and I were honestly disappointed. We were looking forward to playing a ton of games and buying some parts for our machines and on both fronts the show was a real let down. There wasn't any deal on the parts there other than free shipping for what I needed. The free play area was the biggest disappointment to me. I wouldn't recommend anyone attending expo if what they like to do is actually play some games they don't usually get the chance to because the selection was ok at best. I've attended the Ohio show the last few years and I would say the selection is almost as good and is 5 mins from my house.
It was cool seeing Steve Ritchie, George Gomez and Roger Sharpe. I also was playing Pinball Magic and Brian Hansen came over to tell me about designing it which was pretty cool. Maybe I set my expectations too high and that's why I left disappointed. We ended up not going back on Saturday since we didn't think the admission fee ($25/person) was worth it. We ended up going to the galloping ghost arcade instead, which I highly recommend if you want to play some arcade classics.

First time I have been to the expo. My wife and daughter who are also pinheads went as well. We had a good time overall, but we had planned on doing other things in the city so it was perfect for us. We did enjoy the pinballlife open house a lot, some great games there. Terry can you please get a bigger place before next year's open house.. thank you

The free play area was okay.. small for sure. There where a few nuggets in there like the White Water. Whoever brought that machine... THANK YOU! Man that was a really nice looking machine and fast I swear they must have just shopped it. The AFM was in really good shape to, both of them had colorDMD's.

I thought the Stern and JJP area's where weak...well JJP had 3 machines there stern had 4 Metallica's and 4 Star Trek Pro's. I guess we expected a nice spread from them. I was expecting the vendor area to be a lot bigger with more people there. Is there a show where they all won't miss it? I mean I made the entire room tour in 15-20 min

And I met very few pinsiders... next show I'll do a better job of tracking some of you nerds down

This sums it up for me as well. It is very expensive and I still can't figure out the logic of the schedule. One of my favorite events is the signing session - I think half of my entire collection was represented by the designers/artists in the room. And they were all really cool - seeing my son interact with some of his pinball idols was a real treat - and you can see them smile when they get asked questions about their work from kids. Mark Ritchie pulled out a Taxi flyer from his own portfolio and signed it for him, and Joe Kaminkow took his name and address and said he would send him some TOMMY items at a later date.

They take your questions seriously and don't try to rush you a bit. Lot of class....

If everyone that drives to Expo takes one game from their collection, to put in the free play area, there would be a ton of games to play. It shouldn't be just CPM, Cincinnati league and a few local collectors bringing games. I bring a game every year which gains me free access. I am meticulous about my games. And when I take a game, mine is operational all weekend.

That was my white water. I just put in new ramps and play field over the winter. It had maybe 50 games on it before expo. I have not checked the final game count but it will be near 800 games. And that number will be with it failing overnight Thursday and Saturday. The lost mine self destructed Saturday afternoon. I fixed it 4 different times Saturday (just having to rig it to keep it playable as long as possible) before finally shutting it down at 2:30am Sunday morning. Needs a new armature and it wasn't available on site.
We were stunned when it won directors choice award from expobrawl.

doh editing post on my phone, duplication.

We...family and I had never played White Water before playing yours. We all loved it! Well deserved win there I thought it looked great. If your ever in the market to sell it ping me

Thanks again.

Sort of feel bad for the folks who showed custom pins or who had something new to show. Seems like MMR is the only story and there's not a lot of incentive to use Expo as a vehicle for future announcements. Hope that's just pinside and it was a different situation in person

What is not a lot of games? I have only been to a few shows and the NW Pinball/Arcade show had like 350 games to play. was really insane and a boooatload of pin selections it was nuts. Was there all weekend and still didnt get to play everything.

The Xenon, JPop & Python seminars

All the custom games this year was the highlight.

Predator- not working for the 3 days I was there was a fail........I wanted to play this.
Wrath of Olympus looked great was not on when I walked by.
Kluger Family was a BLAST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Looked like hell but man it was a cross between a SR and JPop flow game with cool sounds and VERY fun to play.
Bride of Pinbot kicked ass.
Ben Heck Haunted pinball looked great with great mechs, played great but the sound package and voices were very bland. The real photo art on the BG and cab were a throwback to the Gottlieb photo days (shudder).
Deadpin..Martin from pinball news beat me on a game so by default dislike
Cactus cont. excellent of course.
The Matrix, hands down the winner of the bunch, art, software, execution was stellar.

Finally, any women in bowling outfits were also a plus.

I had a great time and look forward to the 30th Anniversary next year.
LTG : )

Thanks but it's on the very keeper list.

Lloyd, I saw you sitting behind the Pinball Classics table. I wanted to say hi but you where in deep conversation with someone and the wife and daughter where wanting to play pinball. I did not get a chance to catch up with you again... hopefully next year.

I was out of pinball for about 8 years and this was first expo since 2005. My pros and cons

PROS:

Hanging out and seeing old customers and friends
Number of custom games was very cool
New Sterns to play (before all new Sterns were only in tournament area)
Lots of shiney metal parts and LEDS for sale
Better selection of electronics (displays and boards)
Better hotel

CONS

Dealers primarily selling shiney metal parts and LEDS (what the heck happened to other pinball parts)
Almost no selection of used parts, playfields etc (thanks to Dayhuff for keeping it alive)
Neither Terry nor Gene were present

Things that never change

Entry fees and seminar fees - needs to be one fee gets all
Weird hours for vendors
Horrendous access for loading and unloading of games
Price on games always on high end compared to market

First time: had a blast.

Sure, there is not 350+ pins, but there was lots of news, friends, vendors and unique pins. The expense going there for 5 days from texas was... Substantial... But I can say that I did think it was worth it to be at "pinball ground zero" for 5 days.

I'm more a fan of shows with a giant array of playable games, but there was enough to keep me occupied.

And I found out that nearly everyone but me and my friends from Texas seems to smoke pot. LOL. Someone told me pot and pins go together... I laughed. But the Gary Stern himself said the same thing in his presentation. lol

#learningthings

Will be back in 2014 for sure... Mostly because of the great people.

I am sorry I missed you. I wish I could have met you.

Was I talking to a big tall guy, seated ? Probably Rick from Bay Area.

If you see me next year, please say something. I'd love to chat.

LTG : )

That was a great looking game! We were the ones who tested the blue glow in the dark balls after you put them in -.....that was interesting.

I had a good time. Machines were on extremely sensitive tilt (The newer ones and the expensive ones anyway) which was not a big problem for me but it was for most.

The Matrix is crazy good. Got to put my initials on it.......although being a P-Roc I'm not sure what that means......the thing might hold 50 names for all I know.

Played the nicest White Water I've seen so far. Still not my fav but a good game.

Star Trek plays GREAT!. Still not my favorite to look at and the animations are a pathetic joke, but you certainly can't argue with the game play.....fantastic!

Decent beer & food and great views at Twin Peaks as well

Pinball Arcade and Xenon seminars were really great.

The banquet ruled. I nearly paid $85 for some mashed potatoes but a fellow veg/vegan asked one of the caterers if it was possible to get a salad sans bacon/cheese or maybe even some pasta with marinara sauce.
They ended up bringing out a pretty decent salad, but the real dinner here were the stories and auction (and watching the reaction from the crowd when Suzanne Ciani began rapping in a pitch shifted voice during here hall of fame acceptance speech) . I'd do it again in a second. I felt like I was eavesdropping on a bunch of old work buds.

With those experiences, I was satisfied with the games in the free play room. The allowance of beer made that just right.

Calvin - how about the abuse that the "glow in the dark" ball took in your WH20? On one end, I liked that it cut the strobing in a machine full of LEDs, but on the other I was worried as to what such a soft ball would do to a playfield under such conditions. Definitely neat though!

I had a good time. Finally met some peeps face to face, and they were all friendly. Many of the big names in the pin world are 100% approachable. Remember talking to Dirty Donny about art & such.

I was there as an exhibitor, but wanted to play & do a little shopping as well. Picked up most of the parts requested by a friend for a great price. Couldn't find a coin door, almost bought that Transporter pf.

Wish there were more games in the game room. Last year's MGC had so many games(pin and vid), they spilled out into the hallways. Kudos who brought the Barracora since I wanted to play a real one. Love the artwork.

Also loved the section of pins from Spain & the Aaron Spelling pin at the exhibit hall. The Spanish games played horrid, but it was still a hoot to try out. I loves me some obscure pins!

Any LED guys should look into this as an option because aside from the dings the ball incurred, it made playing a blinged out machine much more enjoyable in terms of tracking the ball.

Why don't they open at a decent time? They should be open at noon on Friday .25 bucks it get in probably not worth it

Yep that was him. Would have liked to say hi to Rick as well
I'll catch you next year for sure.

How long did you have the GloBalls in for? How did they hold up?

The glow balls looked cool but came out the next morning after about 300 plays they were quite heavily nicked to the point that they were clearly textured. I don't know where I put them so I don't have any pics of them yet.

Thanks on the game, and definitely agree on the views available across the parking lot.

WOW, that is not good to hear. I bought 2 sets (thinking they would be nice for tournament play) but was slightly worried to actually put them in my games at this stage out of fear that they could do some damage.

Would like to see some pics when you get a chance.

I have single LED's in the WH2O, never had a strobing issue with them since they are not blindingly bright. Actually the balls got pretty beat in under 300 games so I pulled them as a precaution, but being a softer material the dings (and 20 grams less weight) were probably less likely to damage the field then a nicked pitted steel ball would have.

Rats. I wish you could have caught my attention. Rick and I had a lot to talk about, but both of us would have liked to meet you.

Next time please say something, jump up and down, wave, something.

LTG : )

Next time you see LTG just yell you are #215, he'll definitely pay attention.

Love it !

That is what makes people special, the people. Especially #215.

LTG : )

What is mgc that people talk about? They say it has more games than Chicago, that's where I'm going next year. Ed

I had a blast, met many many pinsiders.. and some friends... seeing that STLE was so cool, having Greg Feres as my tour guide wasnt bad either.. I love the vendor area, came home with lots and lots of stuff, you guys need to learn to barter.

Agree with my buddy Jim (MNPinball), Matrix stole the show, and I too thought the freeplay area was thin...

Also, I have a new respect for fellow pinsider TAMoore, as his avatar is exactly how he is in person....

IMAG2676.jpg

http://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/index.php

Dan puts on a great show, and I highly recommend it, but I have never seen more pins at MGC then at Expo, and I have gone to both for years.

Andrew

There were at most 75 games there. (I counted them at one point) but...they kept flowing in and out as people came and left and sold. Of that 75 it seemed that 20+ were down at any one time. First time there. Went last year to the pin show in Dallas I (first time to that one as well) and you could have put Chicago show inside the Dallas show 4 times! I would have thought for the home of pinball there would be a lot more games. However, judging by all of the fragmentation I learned about concerning who is mad at whom and who has sued others over what... It almost seems like a miracle the show happens at all there with so many different tribes. Just my observation.

Pretty sure there were more pins at MGC free play this year than at Expo free play THIS year!

2014 is likely going to be even more so by the looks of things. MGC is still growing and expo appears to be dying a slow death (PBL party may have put the nail in the coffin?)