Fort Worth, TX
I went to the Texas Pinball Festival (TPF) yesterday, my first one of any kind to attend, so I thought I would share my thoughts for those of you who have never attended one of these types of events, but wondered what it was like and if it was worth the price of admission.
To begin with, I would still consider myself new to the hobby. I own one pin, a Getaway, which I have had for about a year. During this time, I've spent a lot of time improving my game, learning about pinball, and enjoying Pinside. Upon persuasion from the friend who inspired me to get into the hobby to attend TPF this year, I decided that it sounded like fun. So I made the drive across town and paid a few bucks to get in (if you brought a pin, your admission was free for the weekend) to see if it was worth the experience, and by every measure it was.
In an attempt to stay somewhat coherent, I will try to categorize my thoughts.
The Vendors | It was really nice getting to meet a lot of the people from whom I've purchased pinball parts. These are all nice and friendly people who have a passion for pinball and love what they do. For many of them, this is just a hobby or a side business in addition to their real full time job. Yet they love the game enough to put up with people like me and to keep growing pinball. Without these people, then others like us would have nowhere to turn to help feed and develop our pinball passion. A special shout out to the guys at Pinsound for letting me talk to them extensively, they are class fellows. Also, to Eric at Titan and the others helping him in his booth. He let me hang out them quit a bit, and it was fun talking to and learning about pinball from him. Almost forgot to say that all the vendors had booths full of merch at discounted prices - definately time to score the upgrades you've been wanting to add to your pin(s).
The People | I must say, quite a diverse group in age, backgrounds, appearance, and they came from all over the country and even other parts of the world. I also saw a lot more woman and kids than what I had expected, which was great to see families share the fun. Everyone was courteous (well there was one exception, but this person was more unaware than rude) taking turns playing and openly offering multi-user games on busy pins. In general, a very friendly extremely large group who share a common interest, and enjoyed doing so. Finally, it was also a pleasure getting to meet a few Pinside friends in real life. Putting faces and real names to avatars and handles, and having conversations instead of swapping posts was a welcomed experience.
The Games | All I can say to this is wow! Seemed like hundreds of them all on free play for you to experience. From EMs to high tech pins I never knew existed, the experience was incredible. I will put these into a few categories to review.
1) The Manufactures - Games like Dialed In, Alien, The Jetsons, and many others just to name a few were their to play. Hearing firsthand about the design concepts and gameplay design was really fun. Many of these are $10K pins that I would otherwise never get my hands on or even see in person, but now I have played them all.
2) The Hobbyists - An incredibly diverse sampling of pins. The large majority of them in good condition, but a few that could use a little TLC. Then their were also several that rose to the top and served as inspirations of art and beauty. It was interesting to play regular games in good shape like Fish Tales and Attack from Mars, but then see and play the ideal version of the same pin which provided a completely different experience. It was also fun comparing my Getaway to ones at the show. Not to sound prideful, but they weren't even close to the quality level that I have brought mine up to. My intent is not to demean any of them, but it does add some validation that I do belong in the community given what I've learned owning a pin and what I've been able to put into it with my efforts.
3) Route Games - There were several of these just like you would see them in the wild at an arcade. All original with some wear to them, but fun to play nonetheless.
4) Virtual Pins - I have always thought I wanted one of these, so I was glad to see them at the show. I played several with different vendors, different platforms, and different games. While I'm not going to provide a detailed review here, what I can tell you is that having almost been obsessed with getting one of these, I'm now completely content to never own one. They just aren't for me and don't deliver the same experience as real pins. Again, I know that people love them and that's great. I see this like I see some of the real pins. Before I went to the show I made a list of real pins I wanted to play, which included those in contention for my next purchase. What I can tell you after playing them all is that I completely eliminated 3 from the top of my list, and even put a couple of new ones I had never considered in their place.
I have more to say, but probably just a few of you have made it this far in my post so I will stop for now. Overall, experiencing the event was great and I look forward to my next. I cannot encourage people like me who had never been to a pinfest enough to make it a point to attend an event. Talk to the people, play games with others, and just have a great time enjoying your hobby. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have, and encourage others to share their positive experiences on this topic.
