My show favorites were Big Lebowski and for an older pin Volcano. Both games I've wanted to play for a long time. That Bad Cats is always a gem to play, if only the rest of them played that good.

Look forward to LAX every year...but it seems like it is also the fastest weekend of the year...it skips from Thursday afternoon to Sunday afternoon in the blink of an eye!! now gotta gear up for the long wait till next year!
You and Joe did a fantastic job once again!! Whayne ran the tourney top notch too!! Next year you gotta let me buy Angela a couple Princess Peach Punches while she's manning the info desk so she doesn't stress so much!!
Love you guys!! See you next March for sure!!

Phoebe

So yeah I am a few days late here... but thank you! Seems most people indeed liked it...

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...and I (and my daughter who helped in the resto) am humbled and gratified. Haven't yet reshuffled the main collection to give this game its deserved permanent slot, but at least the award kinda sorta fits the topper, haha. I do need to thank Troy Tilt for donating the pf glass that was the much-needed finishing touch. Even after I had the privilege of unboxing a dozen new Sterns lol... I certainly know where my next NIB is coming from (the "when" is another issue, sigh)!

And wow but two people managed to put up some impressive scores; if I didn't know better I'd say Erik W chuckwurt snuck in, ha!

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I would also like to apologize to anyone if I seemed off, or gruff, or just.... distracted at times. Sunday especially I was not quite myself. Lots of pre-show work stress never quite dissipated (indeed, it pounced with reinforcements the very moment I left the parking lot)... compounded by ping-pong asks and attention, helping folks troubleshoot games, helping my daughter, catching friends at all random times, visiting family who came down, and then the cursed time change loss of a precious hour... I was basically short-circuited a lot. Especially Sunday. I was trying to yawn before the collector awards thing and couldn't even do that, oof! (Like seriously: nevermind that I forgot how to play pinball, how do you forget how to freakin' yawn?!?!) MAD RESPECT for Corey, Joe, and the other organizers and volunteers who have to coordinate so much more than that!

But the show is so very worth it! Can't wait for next year, to get another badge: nearly all of my keeper games have earned these through the years. Such a great time with fantastic people and I'm humbled to be a small part of it.

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goingincirclez - I absolutely fell in LOVE with Diner, thanks to you and your daughter's beautiful machine, at the last minute on Sunday. It always had a line throughout the weekend, but I finally caught a quiet moment Sunday morning as the hall opened where I could get a few games in. It was absolutely a highlight for me and I am now determined to get a copy for my own! My wife seems to have a natural love for System 11 games - I've told her she has to play a Diner at the next chance she gets, since he wasn't able to join me for the weekend. Thanks for bringing it!

For me, that Diner was THE game for the weekend. Sure, lots a great other games but this one... this was THE one for me. I probably played it a dozen times (and at one point early on, I had the highest score... look for LBO; of course now blown away by JLR and ERW!) I'm probably a little biased but I used to play this actual game at Parkette in Lexington quite a bit. I even remember stopping in one day just to play and the waitress said "wait, you're not even eating today? You just came in to play that game? Ha!" Yeah, there isn't a lot of places to play pinball in Lexington, KY, especially during a lunch break from work so I would make a special trip even if I already ate lunch.

Several years ago, I offered to work on it for the owner but we kinda lost contact and ultimately never happened. It really was awful when Parkette closed, but the game couldn't have fallen into better hands. I am absolutely blown away with the work Tony did on this game. I mean BLOWN... A... WAY! Aside from the new playfield, bands, BEAUTIFUL lighting, plastics, the tasteful mods were incredibly done. The Parkette sign at the top is insane. It looks dead-on the real thing. The lighting even looks like neon. The truck hauling a pinball machine... clever! And if you really pay close attention, there are a number of other very relevant details within the playfield and cabinet. The sidewalls have a number of items that are direct copies of stuff in the actual Parkette drive in (photos, license plates, etc). Drop targets with Parkette's menu items on some, "Parkette" on others. To top it all off, the game plays perfect! Way better than it did when at the restaurant.

Like with any game that gets a resto-mod, there are things done that are often a personal preference. It might be cool to one person, while another doesn't find it to be their thing. Well I have to say, this game is 100% perfect to me. Everything is spot on how I would have wanted it, and there's no way I could have ever done as good as a job as what Tony did on this. Very well done and what an honor he did to the 'ol Parkette. I seriously think that there are a ton of Parkette fans that would be thrilled to see this game, even if they aren't Pinball junkies like the rest of us. Tony, you need to open up your game room and charge admission. -Leebo
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Sorry not sorry.

Wait, so you WERE there? HA! Tryin' to tell us you're busy with tournaments, you KNOW you can't escape LAX

I mean I wasn’t. But I’ve been to the parkette to play many times.

Gotcha... was confused there because a set of initials I posted that were logged at the show look suspiciously close to yours

I just assumed they were there from parkette days and never got wiped off.

I didn't wipe them, but the highest score on the machine before the show was mine at around 16M... don't recall if it was 14 or 18 but it was well under 20.

And wow this is taking me some time to digest... considering your Getaway and Taxi are the standards by which those games are measured, I'm not sure I could ask for a better compliment. Wow, and thank you sir!

FWIW there are two WMS pinball easter eggs in the license plates. One of them is especially devious and if anyone recognizes it, I'll buy them a beer at the next show.

Now, as far as opening the gameroom for admission: no charge necessary as there's a standing free open invite to all I've met, so let me know when you're coming through! Seems Frankfort may as well be the Sahara though... or my social misfires ever damn me, bah. So I'll stick with the Sahara concept. I mean there's also Buffalo Trace 5 mins from my house, and plenty of other distilleries nearby, but beyond that Frankfort is a strange little place. But I like it well enough

Im a little late to doing this, but better late than never. I want to thank so many people that i know i wont be able to do it all. Lets start with Corey and his family, not really anything you can say, as if you were there, you know how much work was involved. They make this show awesome and why we continue to support it. The cincy crew were responsibile for the set up of the Tilt booth. They helped me so much in putting all the games on their leges for me that i cant express enough graditude (conester only charged me about 1.3 million bucks for his help, 3k a minute adds up quick) The patricks who came from PA and helped tear down. Whayne R for his technical help.

To all the attendees, you make the show. So many past, present and future customers that stoipped by to chat, purchase, grab food for me, etc. Its so awesome how great the pinball community is. Game bringers brought some great stuff and many unique games, events and booths. Whitney and Brent of broken token made the show great.

Dealers did a tremendous job, Flip n out had a nice booth, Flawless creations for bringing the American pinball games and being his first pinball show as a distributor. Lets see what next year brings, only about 360 days till the next one

It's just in a weird spot. I've been through KY hundreds of times and the only time I've even driven past Frankfort was to go around a massive traffic jam on 71. Looks like a really nice little city, need to visit sometime!

I’ve been there multiple times for field trips! Haha

Is there going to be another show in 2024?

https://www.louisvillearcade.com/
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/louisville-arcade-expo-2024-march-29th-31st-2024#post-7788930
March 29th -31st 2024

Phoebe

Thanks!!