(Topic ID: 67198)

Expo: How would you summarize - Success or Disappointment?

By robertmee

10 years ago


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  • Latest reply 10 years ago by genex
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    There are 158 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 4.
    #101 10 years ago

    I had a great time! Too much to see and do, not enough time!!! (I was splitting time between Expo and family)

    Always great to meet internet friends in person...got to meet Bangerjay, Pinballpete, Maddog, Bojo, pinghetto, MUSKETD (greta!!!), GaryTheNoTrashCougar, Chris & Melissa from Cointaker, Andrew Heighway, Stan Fukuoka...man, who else...remind me if we met at the show! Gweempose was kind enough to invite me over to his house - beautiful collection...I wish I had more time to play but I had to bail to go to the airport. Great to see old friends again - Lock When Lit guys (Rob & Mark & their dog who almost ate me), Rufer (MNPinball), Randy from Color DMD, PDXMonkey, Acejedi, Fattrain and the box of beer attached to his hand, Trent @Tilt, all the Stern guys, Jersey Jack...I know I'm forgetting people - just too many good people!

    The star of the show was the P-ROC area with all of the custom games...working or not, it was just so cool to see. I can (and will lol) critique these games but at the end of the day - I can't build a f*cking game!!! These guys built f*cking games!!!! All of the creators were amazingly nice.

    -Bride of Pinbot 2.0 ...I was just like "TAKE MY MONEY!" ...so so so so so good. Granted it was using an existing game as its base but the whole thing just screamed 'LEGIT'...so professionally done, it doesn't seem like a mod - it seems like a real upgrade from Williams.

    -Deadpin ...I didn't really get where this game was going *shrug*

    -Matrix ...unreal! Again, had a great base game to start with but it really morphed into its own thing. I like that George Gomez signed the translite and wrote "I love what you did to my game!"

    -Kugler Family ...where did this come from!?!? What a GREAT playing game! Wonderful flow and loops. I was having a kick-ass game on it and it crashed ...still, super fun.

    -Wrath of Olympus ...looked great, but not sure I was getting a great feel for the gameplay...looking forward to see how it turns out though.

    -America's Most Haunted ...playfield looks nice & it plays great - lots of fun little tricks in there...but the art & sound have to be redesigned if they want to sell a ton of these.

    -P3 ...*cry* ...sadness. I love this platform - but P3 proves you just can't slap a monitor in a game and expect it to be next gen. You need stellar art direction and animation to go with it. Ironically, a new Stern with a DMD looks more "modern" than a pinball with poor art/animation on an LCD.

    -Predator ...so - what was going on here? How come it couldn't get going? I feel bad judging it poorly, cuz shit happens...but kinda glad I bailed on this one. Hmmmm. Also, is it just me, or does the "k" in the Skit-B logo look like an "h"? ...and the "B" looks like a mask. I was like..."what's Shit Mask....oh..uh...Skit-B? I guess?"

    I didn't play Demo Man or CCC but they looked cool.

    Seminars were cool, but aside from MM Remake no huge revelations. Jpop pretty much just showed tons of sketches and conceptual work...I thought we'd actually see something resembling a playing game. Magic Girl and Zombie buyers seemed to be impressed...I felt like I was outside a cult looking in *shrug*

    Sad I missed the PBL Party but just ran out of time...saw some video, though. My old Elvis was on a rotating platform!!! CRAZY!

    Got to play a lot of WOZ and Star Trek! Enjoyed both but don't feel compelled to buy either yet...but there's a slight Star Trek itch, lol...we'll see.

    Didn't buy too much stuff...got a bunch of the Super Bands to try out & some Glow Balls to put in Tron. I prob would have bought some ramps if I thought I could fit them in my luggage.

    Took a quick trip over to Gene Cunningham's Anti-Expo Expo. Tons and tons of parts...I kinda wish I needed something ...but I really didn't. In & out in like 10 min.

    I had no issue with the Freeplay games. OK, yeah not as huge as other shows but plenty of cool and unique stuff to play. Played Black Belt & Magic Castle for the first time....also that sweet Alvin G Soccer game. Loved Varkon - don't see that often. Each day there seemed to be different games popping up in there, so that was fun. I guess if you purely go to shows to non-stop play, it might be a tad disappointing...but I felt there was so much stuff to see and do - it all worked for me!

    #102 10 years ago
    Quoted from vid1900:

    The Expo has a lot to offer with speeches, announcements, banquets......but if all you want to do is play pinball, Ohio show is only $15 and has a shit-ton more games:
    http://ohiopinballshow.com/

    MGC is more realistic for me...ohio is 6 hours away.

    #103 10 years ago
    Quoted from Chitownpinball:

    No biggie, Im just a weirdo!

    Aren't we all in real life?

    #104 10 years ago
    Quoted from rosh:

    o (Steve Richie would not play it, since he did not want photos of him playing other peoples games, too bad since he would have liked it, it has some of his influence (e.g. speed)).

    That orbit and the inner loop were wicked fast.

    #105 10 years ago

    I enjoyed myself - for the few hours I was there.

    I did notice the free play area seemed a little 'light' compared to previous years. I hadn't heard there was a rift between PBL, collectors and Expo. Too bad. Hope an amicable decision can be come to.

    I don't really go to Expo to play games. I go to see old friends, and make new friends. I'm bummed that I didn't see Bryan Kelly there - but I saw a lot of people, caught up with a few, and enjoyed myself. Having said that, if people stop coming, because the free play area is not well stocked, than I lose my opportunity to catch up with some of my friends from Expo past.

    For me, transporting a game is a challenge. Once I put my family in the vehicle, I'm not sure where I'd put a pin or two. Some years, I've flown instead of drove. I thought based on what I saw this year, perhaps I should find a way to bring a game or two next year. I do appreciate everyone who brings games!

    #106 10 years ago
    Quoted from rosh:

    I think it is totally wrong that vendors who brings games, put tables in front of them off which discourages any play. I thought the rules were they needed to be open for play. I can understand if you sell a game that you no longer allow it to be played. It is not like the games are going to get abused with the vendor standing there, and the hours they are available is far less then the game room.

    Agree completely. I knew the vendors but didn't ask to play their games because they were behind the tables. I had no interest in purchasing those games but wanted to play them a bit to compare. I could have asked as I know them but felt they were behind the table for a reason.

    It's also a tad misleading to count games in the vendor area towards the total as that area gets closed there is no more access to play these games. It's cool they are brought but when vendor hall closed so did access to Sterns, Mike Ps games, etc......

    #107 10 years ago
    Quoted from johnwartjr:

    I do appreciate everyone who brings games!

    +100

    #108 10 years ago
    Quoted from Rarehero:

    -Kugler Family ...where did this come from!?!? What a GREAT playing game! Wonderful flow and loops. I was having a kick-ass game on it and it crashed ...still, super fun.

    remember you playing, since it was a really good game and you were close to getting a 'completed family member', which is tough to do without knowing the rules and the 'techniques' for making certain shots (e.g. shoot with left, but must have right flipper up). The bug struck a half dozen times over the three days, when the "shopping scoop" got hit, and no way to really debug while at expo, since that type of error was not hitting the log. I did do a few code changes while I was there to tweak things (e.g. added more delay after a mode starts before the ball gets kicked out of the scoop).

    What I really wanted to do was add a couple of more sound tracks, to the game, and even though they don't have the singing, I was getting a little worn out of hearing Zeppelin's 'rock and roll', Deep purple's 'hush' and Skynards 'free bird' over and over again for three+ days, but certainly better then the 30 second loops you get on most games. Was annoying have the Star Trek games right across from me, so I cranked up my volume.

    One person, might have been you, actually played a long enough stretch, to get to the end of one of the audio tracks (which will then restart, and are probably four minutes long) -- although since the main audio track re-selects after a multiball -- maybe that is not a good thing After modes the current main track picks up where it left off.

    #109 10 years ago
    Quoted from calvin12:

    yes is the lowered power coil, plus the superbands made it, in my opinion too easy to catch out of the mine. Once I get the mine fixed I'll try to post vid of the differences.

    Don't make it too easy. LM kickout is the main entropy factor on Whitewater.

    #110 10 years ago

    The good thing about this year is that there wasn't a dead row in the back of the free play room. So for this year, of the games that were there, the percentage of working games was higher.

    In my opinion what needs to happen is that people who bring more than one game should be rewarded, possibly in a tiered approach. Maybe if you bring one game you get in free, but 5 games you get a reduced rate hotel room. 10 games you get a free hotel room. Maybe the vendors could donate gift packs in exchange for lowering their booth cost which could be used to give to the people who went above and beyond bringing the attendance minimum.

    The Ohio crew brought a lot of games a long way and definitely outshined a lot of locals who had short commutes, me included. Without them the free play room would have been severely lacking. Joust and Barracorra were awesome to play, thanks for bringing those.

    -c

    #111 10 years ago
    Quoted from CraigC:

    The Ohio crew brought a lot of games a long way

    Yes, Yes they did.

    #112 10 years ago
    Quoted from CraigC:

    Maybe if you bring one game you get in free, but 5 games you get a reduced rate hotel room. 10 games you get a free hotel room.
    -c

    Already done. I was surprised by the attentiveness of pin owners that tried to fix there machines a quick as possible this year - greatly appreciated.

    #113 10 years ago
    Quoted from metallik:

    Don't make it too easy. LM kickout is the main entropy factor on Whitewater.

    I have the lower power coil since the stock coil would hit the inlane divider about 90% of the time and go directly into the left outlane, un-saveable. I'll go back to standard rubber on it after I get video of its performance. I just put it in to test its durability at expo. Both pinbot and WH2O rubbers look great still. No wear to speak of, pics to come also.

    #114 10 years ago

    Having not attended, but seeing aqauintences report on it, I have decided to make the journey from Shreveport LA next year. I'm really looking forward to it. 30th anniversary should be good fun. PBL and the Stern tour are definitely on my list. I see the negatives and positives, but it's a special treat to me attend as I have to fly etc.

    My only request of MikePin is to post the 2014 dates. I like to book my travel plans far in advance.

    #115 10 years ago

    October 15th-19th, he said.

    #116 10 years ago

    There was a big ass banner by the entrance booth that said the date for 2014.

    #117 10 years ago
    Quoted from Nevus:

    Having not attended, but seeing aqauintences report on it, I have decided to make the journey from Shreveport LA next year.

    Looked fun and big announcements so I am putting in a vacation request in early as well.

    #118 10 years ago
    Quoted from Barron:

    In all fairness, MGC, while having a bunch of games on free play, is a hot mess. Crowded, stinky, etc...
    A great show, indeed. I'm just saying.

    have heard this before from others.

    #119 10 years ago

    Rosh thanks for bringing your game - I agree that area was bad ass! Someone was always playing and I was kinda addicted to playing Matrix so I didn't get a chance to play your game.

    Quoted from rosh:

    To be honest, and I am biased, I thought the P-ROC booth was great and it seemed to be very popular. The job the dutch pinball guys did on the BOP upgrade, with the DMD, was beyond amazing. I'm tempted to go find a BOP, just so I can buy their upgrade. Some of the best DMD graphics I've ever seen. Be cool if they decide to do a color version. The Matrix game was incredibly cool, too bad they won't be making more, no doubt if I had to choose between Keanu Reeves movies, I would take The Matrix trilogy over Johnny Mnemonic, which is what they re-themed to do it.
    The Cactus Canyon Continued and the Demolition Man on Steroids were also a great play. I give a lot of credit to those guys for first re-creating the whole ruleset, before they could then extend it. I was really impressed with the other custom games besides mine. I know Matt who did Dead Pin is already hard at work on his next revision based on the feedback, and it was a pretty fun play already. The Wrath of Olympus team blew me away with the look and play of a game they did in about 9 months, even with the benefit of it being based on an existing visual pinball game. And I was really quite pleased with all the comments and feedback I got on my game, seemed like people were really enjoying it. I designed it to be a great playing game first and foremost and based on the feedback, I achieved that. If Gerry from Multimorphic (PROC) does a booth again next year, I would certainly bring my machine again.

    #120 10 years ago

    Always have a great time! Yeah, the free play area was a little light but I know a lot of people that did not take games and easily could have. I offer help to anyone to take games setup as a lot whine about the work it takes. We always takes games and plan to take more next year. Anyone who possibly can needs to contribute to make this area work!
    Anyway we still had a great time and enjoy the vendors as well. Much cash was given to them!

    #121 10 years ago
    Quoted from gweempose:

    There clearly needs to be something done in order to encourage more people to bring games. I believe I heard that MGC will pick up games from your house.

    That's a different show. But, MGC does have a TON of incentives to encourage and reward those who bring games.

    Jaz

    #122 10 years ago

    Was there Thursday night with Brian and joe. Decent assortment of games. About 25-30% of games were turned off. Another 10-15% had problems that made them hard to play or unplayable. Proc stuff was very cool. Having drinks *cough* with some good friends in our fav bar was a blast this year. Met some cool new peeps and hung out with old friends. Expo has alway been about people. If I just wanted to play pinball I wouldn't go.

    #123 10 years ago
    Quoted from Jazman:

    That's a different show. But, MGC does have a TON of incentives to encourage and reward those who bring games.
    Jaz

    Jaz was handing out hugs and backrubs for all people that brought games last year!!!

    Chris had my game leveled before I even got back from my car after loading in. MGC crew is a class act (although slightly odd).

    #124 10 years ago
    Quoted from Barron:

    I don't know if I mentioned it, but I think one of the successes was the laxity of alcohol enforcement. It made it more of a party and gave me less to wanna complain about.

    Indeed, I ended up carrying around a cooler once the vendor hall closed, shared a bunch with the various knuckleheads I ran into!

    #125 10 years ago
    Quoted from Barron:

    October 15th-19th, he said.

    Hope this is true. Missed this years show because I was scheduled for 7 days on. That time next year I'm scheduled for 7 days off!

    #126 10 years ago
    Quoted from schudel5:

    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.

    +100 -- you nailed it my man.

    I would never pay for admission, but I never have had to.

    We come, play, drink, play more, and it feels like a mini trip to Vegas.

    No windows, no clocks... eating bkfst at 3AM at IHOP? Not my normal modus operandi however at Expo, it's a tradition.

    #127 10 years ago

    I really wanted to play that Bally Rapid Fire machine since I played Hyperball. Game started up just fine, but no balls were installed.

    Also made my first pin sale in the wee hours of the night. My White Force is in a better place.

    #128 10 years ago

    Expo is the only show that draws an international attendance in significant numbers - there is a reason for that, it's not about the games, it's about the people.

    I had a great time the last 2 years, and hope to be there next year. Hopefully Mike and Terry can build a bridge and bring PBL back into the fold as anyone who couldn't make it out there this year missed out. The Vajazzler was a definite highlight... I was laughing about that for the next 2 days.

    #129 10 years ago

    I could offer up a more detailed review, but I will say that anyone who came purely for games, probably was disappointed. Anyone who came to wander around in curiosity for the industry or the people, was probably amused. Anyone who came for the industry and people AND put themselves out there to shake hands, meet people, ask questions etc... had a great time.

    I flew all the way from Alberta Canada, played maybe only 6 hours of pinball total for the entire event, and had a great time. Many hours of drinking and BS'ing with Ben Heck and Joe Balcer on Thursday was definitely the highlight. Yes Ben, Wisconsin and Canada are all too similar in drinking ability

    Oh this is Steve by the way for anyone reading thinking 'hey thats me!'

    Other highlights:

    -Almost all the seminars were great. I attended 100% of the "custom machine" stuff as well as most of the others.

    -Chatting for a number of hours with Gerry of P-ROC/P3 fame, and moving on to Barry and Koen with BOP 2.0, Josh and his family pinball, Gerard and Dennis with The Matrix, Scott and WOOLY, etc... was my real goal in going, and I executed it perfectly. Anyone walking by any of these individuals and not stopping to chat missed out on what I think Expo excelled at.

    -Getting a few moments of Andrew Heighways time before the banquet to get his take on things was great. A brief encounter with Python Anghelo and Mark Ritchie in the bar just before that was also unexpected.

    -Chatting with Barry and Aaron with SkillShot about their take on the custom machine market and where their strategies lie

    -Spending time talking with Brendan Bailey about his Junkyard Cats virtual pinball - very talented fellow over a vast variety of artform.

    -FINALLY getting to play WoZ. I like it more than I thought I would.

    -Shaking the hands and chatting with Dirty Donny, Gary Stern, Jersey Jack. Brief encounters, but these are busy guys!

    -Lloyd the Greats erm... 'seminar' was absolutely a riot! My souvenir ashtray is epic.

    The common thread with all of my big highlights, was that I initiated conversations and handshakes with 90% of these people. Anyone who walks by and smiles and nods at people is going to miss out. I found you get out what you put in with an event like this - especially in the bar later on. If you see someone you want to chat with, walk up, shake hands and get on with it. If they are busy chatting with someone else make it quick, or ask to dive in to the conversation with them (assuming its appropriate). Buying people drinks helps too

    13
    #130 10 years ago

    I am working on many more games for 2013
    The rain on weds did also affect the game tournout
    I am going to try to work things out with TERRY
    The dates for 2014 are oct 15 to 19
    I too was NOT happy about amount of machines there
    I have comittments from 2 people for 2014 for about 70 games ALTHOUGH the are all ems and early ss bally and STERN
    I am working on getting MANY dmd games.

    I am working on a special pinball related guest.

    #131 10 years ago
    Quoted from PinballKen:

    That time next year I'm scheduled for 7 days off!

    Ohhh man... buckle up. The Stern launch party keg ran dry pretty quick, we are screwed if you show up

    #132 10 years ago
    Quoted from mikepin:

    I am working on many more games for 2013
    The rain on weds did also affect the game tournout
    I am going to try to work things out with TERRY
    The dates for 2014 are oct 15 to 19
    I too was NOT happy about amount of machines there
    I have comittments from 2 people for 2014 for about 70 games ALTHOUGH the are all ems and early ss bally and STERN
    I am working on getting MANY dmd games.
    I am working on a special pinball related guest.

    Hey Mike - while many people like me are DMD owners - I like the variety of older EMs and SS games at shows...it gives me a different flavor than what I'm used to with the collections I normally see! I think it would be appreciated. Games are games!

    #133 10 years ago
    Quoted from Rarehero:

    Hey Mike - while many people like me are DMD owners - I like the variety of older EMs and SS games at shows...it gives me a different flavor than what I'm used to with the collections I normally see! I think it would be appreciated. Games are games!

    I love all the classic sterns, ballys, and EM's. They are almost impossible to play where I am as everyone has Sys 11's or newer.

    #134 10 years ago
    Quoted from PaulyB18:

    Ohhh man... buckle up. The Stern launch party keg ran dry pretty quick, we are screwed if you show up

    Free Beer?

    http://vimeo.com/56106534

    #135 10 years ago
    Quoted from mikepin:

    I am working on many more games for 2013
    The rain on weds did also affect the game tournout
    I am going to try to work things out with TERRY
    The dates for 2014 are oct 15 to 19
    I too was NOT happy about amount of machines there
    I have comittments from 2 people for 2014 for about 70 games ALTHOUGH the are all ems and early ss bally and STERN
    I am working on getting MANY dmd games.
    I am working on a special pinball related guest.

    hope you can achieve all this.

    I have a great time catching up with everyone, enjoying the seminars and helping out with Flipout tournament.

    images.jpgimages.jpg
    #136 10 years ago

    My second Expo. My personal highlights:

    - Suzanne Ciani!
    - Steve Ritchie and Eugene Jarvis banquet speech
    - The turkey at the banquet speech
    - My pre-Expo dinner with Roger Sharpe, Greg Freres, Dennis Nordman, Python Anghelo, Martin Ayub and Martin Wiest.
    - Chatting with so many pinball fans and industry people (and getting nothing but positive feedback on Pinball Magazine)
    - Watching how the Pinball Magazine sample Issue was received (over 900 copies distributed) and how the seasonal Dutch candy was appreciated
    - Playing Dutch Pinball's Bride of PinBot: what a great game these guys made
    - Receiving the Pinball Magazine trading card from Walter Day of Twin Galaxies (see photo)
    JJ and Walter Day at Expo 2013.JPGJJ and Walter Day at Expo 2013.JPG
    - Pinball Magazine No. 2 being sold out on Friday night: no vendor had any copies available anymore
    - Martin Ayub of Pinball News reporting live from the seminar room.
    - Martin Wiest introducing me to Mike Stroll and the result of that meeting
    - Kirsten, Michael and Holger who offered to share a room and to hang out with them after I discovered I would be staying another day due to booking the wrong return flight
    - Buying about 30 translites and managing to pack them so that they did not become a problem on my flight (thanks Martin Wiest)
    - Feedback to my Expo reports on www.pinball-magazine.com

    Cons:
    - The hotel room being $ 119.00 a night, not including breakfast or even having a single vending machine in the building. Heard many people complain about that.
    - The (non existent) sunday program.
    - People telling me to be happy about certain fellow journalist's health Issues as that would benefit my magazine. What kind of sick thought is that? I rather see fellow journalists being healthy and doing great articles as we all (and pinball in general) benefit from that.
    - Not being able to attend Pinball Life's open house
    - The Bugs Bunny game being removed after the first night (I think)
    Other than that a great event!

    10
    #137 10 years ago

    I did my best to make the Expo great. I brought 4 pinballs all on free play shopped and working great. They were played over and over except for the time when my truck was stuck broken down and the ramp protector came off of Diner. ACDC Pro Ultimate Face Edition was again a HIT! The Tron Pro with Chad's cool blue was also a big hit and found a great new home.

    I cant control who won from the donors but was still pleased to offer some great prizes for everyone who helped.

    Buddy

    #138 10 years ago

    Buddy!!!

    Never got to meet you, but I played your Diner and ACDC pro many times. THANK YOU for bringing them! Very much enjoyed them...

    #139 10 years ago

    OMG that AC/DC was so fun to play! I even won 8 bucks when some people wanted to play for money. Those lighting bolts that flashed when you hit them were awesome. It was sale too right? If so that's a great price for the most fun AC/DC machine I've ever played - thanks!!!

    Quoted from doughslingers:

    I did my best to make the Expo great. I brought 4 pinballs all on free play shopped and working great. They were played over and over except for the time when my truck was stuck broken down and the ramp protector came off of Diner. ACDC Pro Ultimate Face Edition was again a HIT!

    #140 10 years ago
    Quoted from genex:

    OMG that AC/DC was so fun to play! I even won 8 bucks when some people wanted to play for money. Those lighting bolts that flashed when you hit them were awesome. It was sale too right? If so that's a great price for the most fun AC/DC machine I've ever played - thanks!!!

    You owe me two dollars......

    #141 10 years ago
    Quoted from genex:

    OMG that AC/DC was so fun to play! I even won 8 bucks when some people wanted to play for money. Those lighting bolts that flashed when you hit them were awesome. It was sale too right? If so that's a great price for the most fun AC/DC machine I've ever played - thanks!!!

    I have been saying for such a long time the ACDC pro is so much fun. A few others have noticed but we are in the minority as some just cant stand the face. I have no time to see the face as the pin is so fast. Yes I can see the cracked window thru the haze. No time wasted with that lower playfield and no clearcoat issues. Yes I have both as its like having two different pins but I play the Pro the most for fun!

    #142 10 years ago
    Quoted from Purpledrilmonkey:

    I could offer up a more detailed review, but I will say that anyone who came purely for games, probably was disappointed. Anyone who came to wander around in curiosity for the industry or the people, was probably amused. Anyone who came for the industry and people AND put themselves out there to shake hands, meet people, ask questions etc... had a great time.

    I would not say anyone who came looking for games was "dissapointed". Could there have been more? Sure - but there WAS a nice selection of EM's, early SSs, and modern DMDs. There were also quite a few early Sterns that you don't see too often - StarGazer, Lightning, plus a few Spanish games. I like it when there are games you usually don't see all the time.

    #143 10 years ago
    Quoted from PaulyB18:

    Ohhh man... buckle up. The Stern launch party keg ran dry pretty quick, we are screwed if you show up

    If Ken is going next year I may need to come down early with a spare liver.

    #144 10 years ago

    That sucks. I didn't even know you were there this year, Buddy. Where was the AC/DC and the Diner? Never saw either of those games all weekend?

    #145 10 years ago

    Expo is in Chicago, home of pinball, so it does have more of a pin history slant than many other pinball/arcade shows. To me, Expo is more about the industry and legacy of pinball, with a mix of tournaments, free play, parts vendors, and random stuff as side dishes. If you just want to play pinball, there are other events that are better for sure. But Expo is the place, imo, if you want to meet people who made pinball what it is today. Most of them still live around Chicago so Expo is better attended by these people than any other pin event.

    That said, here are my pluses and minuses:

    (+) seeing a bunch of friends and meeting some new folks (incl. some Pinsiders!)
    (+) attending some cool seminars and hearing more pinball stories from people who lived them, as well as some new developments
    (+) getting to see and play some amazing custom games like the Olympus game, America's Most Haunted, Matrix, etc.
    (+) buying some random minor parts and not having to pay shipping or wait for them to arrive by mail
    (+) playing some neat games I haven't seen in a long time
    (+) Getting some stuff signed at the autograph session, and picking up some of the Twin Galaxies trading cards (they make great pin gifts or home tourney prizes!)
    (+) getting a few new t-shirts (some free! Thx JPop, Jim S, and the guy from Marco!)
    (+) visiting JPop's magic laboratory
    (+) hearing the banquet stories (Eugene is my hero for Robotron alone!)
    Great food at the opening bash and banquet,plus cold beer and scenic views at Twin Peaks!

    (-) didn't see many old friends from the NYC and DC areas
    (-) still didn't come close to qualifying for the classics
    (-) wanted to meet and talk with LTG but didn't connect and had to head out straight from the banquet (move the LTG show to Friday!)
    (-) missed the Pinball Life open house again to attend seminars
    (-) wished the games were open for free play during the day (only Saturday) and that there were more playable games

    Overall it was fun and a unique experience that met my expectations. If you want to play tons of pinball (competitively or for fun), hit up PAPA for the August tourney or April's Pinburgh. I'm gonna try to attend some other shows that others have praised here. But Expo is Expo. I hope it comes back bigger and better than ever next year!

    #146 10 years ago
    Quoted from StevenP:

    (-) wanted to meet and talk with LTG but didn't connect and had to head out straight from the banquet (move the LTG show to Friday!)

    I'm sorry I missed you my friend.

    I'll have to ask Mike for a table somewhere for a LTG : ) Meet and Greet.

    LTG : )

    #147 10 years ago
    Quoted from genex:

    OMG that AC/DC was so fun to play! I even won 8 bucks when some people wanted to play for money. Those lighting bolts that flashed when you hit them were awesome. It was sale too right? If so that's a great price for the most fun AC/DC machine I've ever played - thanks!!!

    SOME PEOPLE would be me dude... thanks for taking my lunch money!!!!!!!

    #148 10 years ago
    Quoted from Jared:

    SOME PEOPLE would be me dude... thanks for taking my lunch money!!!!!!!

    Ha ha, hey it wasn't my idea to play for money

    #149 10 years ago
    Quoted from doughslingers:

    I did my best to make the Expo great. I brought 4 pinballs all on free play shopped and working great. They were played over and over except for the time when my truck was stuck broken down and the ramp protector came off of Diner.

    The diner was busy every time I wanted to play, was real happy when I walked into the games room on Sunday early afternoon and it was still there and finally got a couple of games on it.

    #150 10 years ago
    Quoted from unigroove:

    Cons:
    - People telling me to be happy about certain fellow journalist's health Issues as that would benefit my magazine. What kind of sick thought is that? I rather see fellow journalists being healthy and doing great articles as we all (and pinball in general) benefit from that.

    that is disgusting.

    There are 158 posts in this topic. You are on page 3 of 4.

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