Just in case people who are reading this thread and don't know dates, since I didn't see anybody posting the dates the for MGC. The dates for MGC are:

Friday April 12th 6 p.m. - midnight V.I.G. only

Saturday April 13th 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. regular show

Sunday April 14th 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. regular show

F.Y.I. Show deal, if you buy both Saturday and Sunday G.A. tickets they are $55 for the weekend.

re-bumping this thread. MGC V.I.G tickets on sale now, go up $15 each on Monday (11/19) per Facebook post. sorry to let the word out @goatdan. get them now. I did

I feel like it's too early to be planning for this! Where has the year gone?! I may be forced into a different experience this year. May have to bring the kids. We'll see.

I'm glad you did! It's hard for me to keep up with everything right now, it feels like things are changing minute by minute!

The month of October felt like we were just spinning our wheels. Between the election sucking up all the advertising prices so it was hard to get anything noticed, and then nearly all of the stuff we felt like we needed to fall into place before we could nail down the majority of details hitting roadblocks I couldn't do anything about, and terribly slow ticket sales in large part because of both factors, it was not a great month.

Last week, Gary and I decided screw it, we're moving forward and if we can't figure out a way to get replies, we'll just have to change that plan but first give it one more try.

That try resulted in extremely positive results, and it appears that everything we hoped to do in our blue sky period will actually occur this year, something we've never been able to pull off.

Then, a number of people came to me with brand new ideas that they want to do, which makes things even better. In the last week, everything has fallen into place, and now we're flying!

It's going to be great stuff!

Keith runs that and checks quite sporadically untik we nail down all the details to send out, usually around January!

happy to say I will be attending my first MGC in April! planning on going all day saturday and then crashing at the Hilton.

So, what should I expect? any game announcements? any insider info I need to know? is there an auction? decent prices on used game?

thanks!

Typically no new game announcments at MGC, you never know though. No auction. Game prices are generally fair so don't expect any amazing deals.

last year, wasn't this the big show for maiden? Pretty sure it was the first chance for lots of play on it.

MGC is getting bigger and bigger, so I would expect a decent shot of an announcement there.

I would encourage anyone looking to get the full MGC experience to bring a game. That is always my biggest advice. The game bringer after party is so much fun!

If not bringing a game (or in addition to it) the VIG experience is well worth the extra time and cost IMHO.

IM was announced before MGC. You should know, didn't you order one for pickup there???

Hey Kelly - Yup I got it. You're all good! We'll have more details in the coming months.

Hmmmm. If I can figure out a way to park a trailer easily I may even bring a couple games this time around. The blizzard kinda tainted my opinion of driving around in the area for loading and unloading.

Thinking about going bigger somehow if I can figure out what I want to do.

Very excited to be there! What a great show put on by all.

I left a uhaul trailer up at the dock, it was very easy to get in and out but I likely times things just right.

You were a lucky one. I inquired about parking on the ramp, was told there was space, and by the time I got there fri afternoon I was told it was full. Additional expense I hadn’t planned on. Is what it is, show got busy, and I’m glad for that. I understand nothing was guaranteed. They should sell spots on the ramp though, make some extra money and have set number stalls that could be presold. That way those that need it, get it. For people who live in town and go back home, they shouldn’t take up space when out of town people need it.
Great show, support it 100%

The load in/out is the one and only thing i would like to see improved from last year and my impression is that they are on it...

I personally found it pretty straight forward for load in, since people are coming at separate times over the course of a day.
I then just paid for the surface lot 1 block away and everything was good for the weekend.

For load out, I am hoping they will have additional routes out of the building and I plan to use them. This will alleviate the crunch time of all leaving out one ramp/main door.

All said, take away the snow and I think it would have been much smoother anyway.

Before I question this, please understand that I'm asking for it as a breakdown of what happened, not as an accusation.

Who told you that it was full? We did fill the upstairs place, but worked out free parking for trailers within a mile of the center. We actually picked up the tab on that. Only one person took us up on that, and we were surprised to find that out because we actually did have space upstairs for that one trailer, and no one remembers telling them where that is.

There is some extreme logistic issues with that space that I won't go into here, but we're on it.

Please note, this is *only* for trailers, unfortunately we don't have any easy way to do anything easy for cars, but we hope everyone is cool with that. They seemed to be last year. Additionally, we ask people who are in the area if you have a trailer to please drop it off at home and come back. We'd love to house them all, but we just can't.

It was legitimately one of the points that I had as a sticking point before we re-signed this year. Having said that, even with the snow and for it being run absolutely not how we expected it to be, we only had a line for load out for three hours. If it was not snowing, that would have probably been halved. If we could run it the way we wanted to, that probably could have been halved. If both of those happened, even though our plan wasn't perfect, I think it could have been basically no line.

I can't promise no line, but I have been assured I can operate the dock the way we want to this year. I'm hopefully working on a large update to game bringer information next week, and a lot of that will be in there.

I have already been informed of one building loading dock that we did not know of and did not utilize last year. We intend to use it this year of course, although it will mainly be for the second floor people...

However, the second floor people based on how they were told to move things last year (not by us) ended up on the docks for really long times because they had to leave it downstairs and then haul it up once they were on the dock. This was obviously a delay.

If they aren't being forced to do this, that alone should take away a ton of the issue.

Honestly, it would have been. We had expected people would be able to load their trailers in place, for instance, and many of them were told that they had to hitch the trailer, pull up on a dock, and then load. I get it, because the snow made no one want to load at the bottom of the ramp, but if that change alone could have worked (which was part of our plan, but not the other stuff that got screwed up by the Center's changes... it was just weather), that would have cut about 5 minutes off 30-45 vehicles load up time. Considering we were only "allowed" to have five cars go up at a time, this alone would have eliminated minimally 30 minutes of the wait.

Argh.

On a completely unrelated note, if anyone wants to buy tickets for Tom's this year, you should do so sooner than later! You can get them here:

https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/buy-tickets/

Additionally, we announced that there is a special NES cart for a nametag for VIG. Understanding that many people who bring games would rather be at the Sunday after party, and don't need Saturday and Sunday admission, we will have a solution for you for the rest of it. We're working out exactly what that will be still, but if I don't post it in the next week or so, please poke me and I'll make sure to get it up! The last few weeks of planning were really difficult for personal reasons (that are fine, just took up a bunch of time). The next month, I expect to get a LOT done.

Oh, and if you're not bringing a game, if you can pre-purchase your ticket I'd appreciate it. We're putting together a ton, and we use all the money we get to invest in the show this year. This year, it seems like a ton of amazing opportunities have presented them self, but everyone's got a price and sadly I don't have enough money to schedule them all right away

Just announced the return of Svengoolie and the DeLorean too, and about to start a bunch of other announcements!

I will be bringing a game or 2 .

Hello goatdan, let me first thank you for your efforts in making mgc the greatest show in the midwest! Cant wait for april again! In regards to last year, when we arrived at the docks to unload on friday evening we were told there was no more room for trailers on the ramp. I did mention i had inquired about space before the trip, but was denied flatly. There were many uhauls and trailers parked around so whether there was room or not i dont know. I located parking off site and my parking tag says 8pm so i wouldve been on the ramp around 715 or so imagine. Who helped us, i have no idea. Looking forward to another great year!

Actually, you answered it...

"was denied flatly."

That means it was the center, not us. Yarg. Sorry about that. Better communication this year, I promise.

Best part for vendors was the bathroom and food vendors in the same area. No need to run back into the hotel trying to find either.

We're going to bring that back this year!

And add a bathroom to the game room too!

Are we there yet?

Here is what we are offering for Midwest Gaming Classic. Remember, we double your factory warranty also.

- The Hobbit Smaug Special Edition (last nib)
- Dialed in! Standard Edition
- Dialed in! Limited Edition
- Attack from Mars remake classic edition
- Attack from Mars remake special edition
- Monster bash remake classic edition
- Monster bash remake special edition

All pre-ordered purchases receive the following:

- Price discount!! $500 off!!
- Free shipping!!

The show games will be displayed at the Kingpin Games booth and will not be allowed to be removed from MGC until the conclusion of the show (Sunday, April 14th, 2019). The purchased game must be broken-down and removed by the buyer at that time.

We also have a Pirates of the Caribbean left that I will bring to the show for free is purchased and paid for before the show.

I have a couple TNA that be delivered to the show for frer.

Let me know if you are looking for anything.

Not only do we sell great games, but we are also highly trained in tech support. We can handle most issues over the phone and even on nights and weekends.

Kingpin Games
Christopher
608-393-2299 cell
[email protected]

Call Chris today. Award winner at MGC. And greatest distributor friend you'll ever have.

LTG : )

Are we planning any pinside only get togethers?

I’m headed to MGC and in the market for a nice TSPP if anyone is selling and attending for an easy meet up. Pm me if so!

22 days out!!

Oi.

Maybe we can move it one more week back? Please? Maybe?

Heh, map / guide Monday I expect!

No, wait! Map NOW!

mgc2019map-danedit (resized).png

So if I’m reading that right, the vendor hall swapped sides, and the arcade room is 2x size, yes?

Yep

What's MGC Lifesty(l)e?

Yup, caught the error after I put it out there. Should have waited until Monday! HA!

In short, there is a wedding show in D this year (where our vendor hall was last year). We are placing certain things that have potential cross over in this area to benefit them and to find us a fun spot for them. So, for instance the Carcade portable gaming systems will be there, as they get hired for weddings relatively often. SunRun will be in the area. Tesla will be in the area so long as everything works out right there (if you follow Tesla, they have, uh, had a lot of things changing around since we announced them and there is a chance they will have to pull, and then I expect to replace them but may not be able to in the same location...). And so on.

The "Lifestyle" thing was someone's idea as a way to place "things that might entice wedding show people too to give them a bigger benefit, and hopefully give people time to decide to stop at MGC on their way out of the wedding show "

004 goldeneye (resized).JPG

damn why didn't you tell me that. plenty of opportunities to meet hot bridesmaids.

Well...

I just DID tell you that, show hasn't happened yet

And, do bridesmaids usually go to wedding shows? I got married so long ago I have no idea what that scene is like, but I know when I went to a few, we didn't take any bridesmaids along.

I'm buying a machine thru the Marco/Stern deal. Will I be able to remove my machine on Saturday April 13th or do I have to wait until Sunday night? I received an email stating "Game removal times are expected to be Saturday, April 13th from 7pm-8pm or Sunday from 3:30pm-11pm."

Thanks

The show games are different. All of the manufacturers are set up to not allow game removal until the show closes at 5pm on Sunday or else the discount for the game does not apply.

Terms for Show-Game Purchases:

– Games must be ordered and paid for in advance of the Midwest Gaming Classic. Note: Games will NOT be available for purchase at or after the show at the discounted price.

– Don’t delay in ordering if you are interested, as some games are already limited in availability. Availability fluctuates daily.

– Games MUST be shipped directly to the Midwest Gaming Classic.

– All demo games are to be displayed and set to free play within the Marco Specialties booth throughout the duration of the show (until 5:00pm Sunday, April 14th).

– Games must be set up for play on Friday, April 12th. Buyers are welcome to set up their games, but if you can not be available for Friday, MGC and Marco reserve the right to set up the game on your behalf.

– Payment by credit card is available, but a 3% transaction fee will be added.

– At the conclusion of the Midwest Gaming Classic on Sunday April 14th (5:00pm), the buyer will be responsible for the removal of their pinball machine from the game hall and convention center.

– All machines will include the standard 60 Day Factory parts warranty.

– 3rd party game modifications are not allowed before or during the show (i.e. protectors, artwork, electrical, mechanical).

From having talked with the other manufacturers too, the same deal applies to them.

Screen Shot 2019-03-25 at 8.04.09 AM (resized).png

Just a reminder nudge - you only have until April 4th to set up delivery of a ColorDMD with the $50 off show deal for exhibiting at MGC!

Full details: $50 off and free delivery on a new ColorDMD display picked up at the show and exhibited in your game OR $50 toward a new display purchase for any game you bring to the show that already has a ColorDMD in it (that you let us put a small sign on top)! I'll be there to distribute and can help you install it in your game if you would like. Email [email protected] to set up the order!

For more information on this and other benefits of bringing an arcade video or pinball machine to the show, visit https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/game-bringer-benefits/

Can it be in the tournament?

You'd have to check that with Randy, since the tournament games aren't in the main hall this year. I don't think it would be a problem since they're still part of the show and people will see them -- but it's Randy's call.

Just looked at the vendor list. No Color DMD or Pinsound booths? Seriously?

I think that because Pinball Expo is known as being a "pinball only" show that traditionally as a vendor you have to go to to get covered, a lot of companies opt for one show in a region and not multiple. Since the MGC is not a pinball only show and cuts across all sectors, and since the "pinball media" so to speak generally covers Expo more than they cover us, I think a number of companies decide that is better for what they do.

I would absolutely make space for anyone that would like to come. I'm actually emailing a bunch of vendors about our Silent Auction as I type this, and I mention if anyone would like to vend we'd love to have them. Maybe in the future, we'll get things the pinball media wants to cover more, and then I'd love a flood of vendors coming in! Having said that, I'm always happy to just spend my pinball money with Rob Anthony every year anyway

You're awesome Dan, but we all knew that.

I will have ColorDMDs available and on display in my booth again this year.

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Aw, thanks. This reminds me, I've been meaning to tell you that the never ending saga of that STTNG might show back up in your room this year

Speaking of awesome, here's a list of presentations so far for the show:

https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/speakers-and-presentations/

Some good stuff, I think

Colordmd is doing a discount through the show. There will be quite a few on display.
At pinball expo, you always had to preorder one to get one at the show
Rob Anthony will have them at his booth.

MGC Facebook screen shot

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