Nothing like getting busted with Gryszzz smoking a J outside the hotel...... turns out, the short security guard is pretty cool...lol, good times

TOP O THE PAGE CHHHAALLIIE

Short cop was extree cool.

Glad to hear.....sorry we didn't get to actually meet though. Next time!

I was bummed there was no ROBOTRON!
I'm terrible at it, but by far my favorite game.
Vids are how ALOT of us got roped in to pinball, so I love seeing them there.
That SEGA missle command was SUPER COOL!
THANKS to those who brought games!

The Thursday night shoes. Did anybody see Gryszzz fancy shoes he had on LOL

Yes he was! When I got stopped with my Sternorama free beer by one of the other guards he was like "that's tea right?" Then let us in.

Pindigo can do this. You can choose a location and use a custom hashtag for every game you record.

For those unable to attend

SDTM 2018 Chicago Pinball Expo Walkthrough

Last pic is not to be confused with RRRRRandyyyy....

Nah, I one-upped ol' Rando with my stripper girlfriend carrying me around. Hope I never see him again...ever.

You and me both.

Great video guys, thanks for doing it. Made me remember how great the show was. That B&W TZ was simply amazing!

Actually, Wizard of Oz wasn't revealed MGC, it's first public reveal was at E3 on 5th June, 2012. It's second public reveal was at the Northwest Pinball & Arcade show June 9th, 2012. We snuck it in under a blanket with Jersey Jack and staged it in a back room, it felt very clandestine and exciting. There were 3,000 people in attendance and Jack and Keith Johnson did a seminar on the making of the game. Pingame journal filmed the Northwest reveal, you can spot Jpop, Gary Stern, Jack and a bunch of other pinball folks in it:

What was Berk's game that spent some time in Rob's room? Looked like a late Gottlieb Sys1, but I didn't find it in IPDB...
Had a backboard that would rotate from the middle (rather than one end) to allow access to the boards in the head.

Star race was in there for a while. System 80 games changed the board and door configuration just about every other game.

Well that I did not know. With the way I saw it with the backbox folded & everyone just looking at it at MGC like a UFO just landed, thought it hit there. Gary, Jack & Jpop in the same room at the same time. Heh. How times have changed.

I received a Deadpool translight from Stern today for submitting a Deadpool selfie picture while at Expo. Big thanks to Stern!

Well, I missed Pacak (and his little dog, too!) and the usual gang of wristband checkers, several of whom I knew for years and many were in the hobby. You could sit with them at the door and talk old times in the wee hours, maybe take over checking wristbands while they went to the can. Good times. The impersonal guards used this year, well, made it a bit strange.

Butterfly Girl had to move her pins repeatedly, why did she get jerked around like that. In one instance, someone wanted Stern to have the game space she was already assigned.

The seminars were not as exciting this year. Deeproot had several people on stage but had nothing to offer except how great their first/next unnamed game will be. I remember thinking that the timing of this expo may have caught them at the wrong time in their development cycle so maybe that’s why they had nothing to say or show. The leader was close-lipped even when questioned.

I'm used to seminars starting with someone introducing themselves, saying what they do, and then getting into it. That didn't happen a few times. One fellow who would not give his correct name when asked (preferred some hip alias) and who never said what he did was clearly very intelligent but his quick mind kept making him interrupt himself to start a new sentence then would interrupt that sentence to start a new one, etc. etc. After 20 min of listening I still didn't know what the eff he did for the hobby. There was a small coterie of folks in the audience who laughed too eagerly at every other thing he half-said so you realize there is a clique or cult or insider thing going on. His brain was going everywhere like Robin Williams on stage in his early days. Finally someone took the mike and told us how much he raised for charity. I'm sure he is a swell fellow but it was very frustrating to sit through it. I've seen this before when people get too chummy they forget not everyone in the audience is an insider. We are losing our communication skills on stage.

Steve Ritchie tried to do something different by having a comedy act. That’s why he is a great designer, because he dares to step out of the expected. It appears it did nothing for the newbies, though.

Bowling machines were a first at this show. Looked like you had to buy a twenty dollar ticket to play them, in a contest to win one of those huge bowlers that won't fit in your house. No incentive for me, sorry.

Video games were new for the show and saw folks playing them. Good for them. The Northwest show has been doing both pins and vids for years. It works.

For some reason this year there were more people walking around reeking of alcohol than previous years. You can move away from them when in the game hall but when a guy reeking of wine sits down right next to me in the seminar holding a huge wide-mouth glass of wine, his stale bouquet filling the air, why should I have to go find a new seat. More stinky people this year than before.

And then, strangely, there was cigarette smoke *inside* the hotel in front of the registration desk and elsewhere. Not just one day either. Other people noticed. That stuff gets to me and went straight to my throat and by Saturday night my throat hurt so bad I was raspy. By Monday night it turned into a cough and runny/stuffy nose and I am still blowing my nose on this Thursday night. Wherever that came from, I'm not wanting go put myself through it next year. There was free beer Saturday 8pm, so maybe that created an attitude of who cares about the rules. Get 'em drunk and turn 'em loose in the hotel. Can't say.

The expo website evolved over several months and sometimes info on one page would not perfectly agree with info on another page. Ok, mistakes happen, but eventually we wondered if, without a banquet, would the game hall be open all night Saturday into Sunday morning like previous years, in spite of how the website might be worded. We don't know where the mistakes are. We asked Berk months ago about Saturday night specifically and he said yes, game room open all night, vendor room closes at midnight. Four of us come from different cities and meet to share a room. So, we made our flights accordingly and booked a room for Sunday checkout. We were very surprised and disappointed when everybody got kicked out at midnight and they closed the entire hall. Two of us had slept during the day so we could stay up all night. Next year, the four of us decided we will checkout and leave Saturday afternoon. No reason to hang around into the night when many games were disappearing by then anyway. Plus, maybe I can avoid the cigarette fog to any extent.

The snack shop ran out of grab-n-go and snacks on Saturday afternoon. Bare shelves. Never saw that happen before at this expo. People would come in, stare at what's left, walk out. The help were completely uninterested or powerless to bring in more product to make money from these customers. I know because I asked.

The hotel front desk personnel and manager were surprisingly uninformed about their own Green Option program for housekeeping services. It took us three days and talking to five different employees to teach them their own rules so they could do right by us.

I guess if you try hard enough you can be miserable anywhere.

St Louis Ball Bowlers were here a few years ago.

I remember them there about 10 years ish ago. Had about four or five machines all lined up in the middle.

it sounds like someone was looking for things to bitch about.

I didn't notice many of the things you did,
people reeking of alcohol,
cigarette smoke inside the hotel,
impersonal security (that I talked to many times and were actually very cool, just doing their job)
And for the games being broke down, your mistaken there again to, this was the first time that I can remember (ive been going almost 20 years) that the hall wasn't empty sunday morning. I was very impressed with how many were still there at midnight Saturday when I left the hall, there was more than 90% still set up

I've had those Doc's for almost 20 years Jesse. Looks like I'll be buyin a new pair after I lose the left one in yer prostrate at PinCincinnati. LOL.

I normally stay around for the entire weekend (thurs-sunday). This year we left Saturday morning. In previous years the game hall would be pretty thin by the time the banquet ended. How was the game room this year? Did it actually close down right at 12?

Yes they shut it down at midnight.

Few missed MP, that is a fact.
Door nazi's were doing their job, and did it pretty well for the most part. Some better than others.
Cigs and smoke, next time simply call 911 and report a fire, that shit will come to a stop immediately.
Enviro concerns, largest fresh body of water in the WORLD is the great lakes, right next door.
Nature of Expo must change, and videos are going to be part of it. Great to morph, it might as well be called Chicago Morphball Expo.
Scatter brained guy is Tim Arnold, Pinball Hall of Flames. Good guy generally, hates the public (his clients), begging for money to make his next phase of the dream come true. Yep, he's hit and miss with public talks, some great, others not so great. This one, not so great with DeMar hitting it square on the head... 'why more when you have it now almost done'?
Online PDF was pretty much square on nuts for stuff from what I saw, so download it and use it next year.
Saturday sadly has become Sunday, so it too will suffer the same fate, but maybe more will come Friday as a result.
Door guys, dime a dozen volunteers in past abused or neglected, flunkies for MP. Today, not a problem any more really.

A different approach to bitching about something, is to offer a viable well thought out solution to the problem you perceive. GLWTS

Please don't use emergency services for this.

My very late review of this year's Expo (sorry, took some time off from Pinside for a little bit )

Overall I had a pretty good time. Vendor hall had a ton of really nice games. Got to play Godzilla which was cool. Deadpool seems kinda forgettable. Monster Bash looks absolutely amazing. Oktoberfest looks fun, didn't get to play it due to large crowd sizes at every waking moment. My son put up 130,000 and change on Pirates of the Carribean and got two multiballs (not bad for a six year old). Was bummed I couldn't find a new Special Force back glass. The search continues! A little disappointed that the drop target on Twister was unresponsive. Why bring that game if you can't see one of the greatest multiball gimmicks ever created?

I didn't even know the overflow room existed until my buddy told me about it. Finally got to play Radical! Cool game. Thanks to whoever brought it. The video games seemed out of place, but that wacky "choose your own adventure" type detective game was a hoot. I showed my son The Jetsons and Alice Cooper and he told me he wanted to play Mario Andretti instead. I told him it wasn't there, so his next choice was Thunderbirds. Take that for what it's worth.

As for the cops packing heat: seriously? It's a pinball expo. Pretty sure a loaded handgun isn't going to be necessary. But the shorter cop was hilarious. I only had two all weekend wristbands to use and was expecting my buddy to show up alone. When he brought his dad, the cop could see we were trying to figure out what to do. He goes, "just go in and have the other person bring it back out for the third guy to use!" Nothing like security trying to find ways to screw Expo out of $$$! I guess we could have just entered through the side door like everyone else was doing...

The American Pinball seminar was the best, but then again I'm biased since my brother was one of the speakers.

Overall I was impressed with the new and improved vendor hall, choice of games in the free play room (Apollo 13 was actually turned on this year!!), and general vibe of the weekend. I'll definitely be going back next year (JJP #5 announcement? Toy Story?)

DON'T TAKE THE BROWN ACID.

I'm curious... do you know if they simply cut power? Or did they just try and announce & usher people out?

Because at MGC, they cut the power right at 5:00pm on Sunday. All the machines suddenly go dead. It's great because while there are (very few) "Hey!!" and "Awe"... for the most part; there is always a spontaneous rousing cheer from the crowd.

I can only speak to the vendor hall. At right around midnight on Saturday the vendors seemed to start switching games off as people were finishing up their games. I thought that was a good way of doing things.

Steve Ritchie and crew at expo.

I welcome armed security everywhere. You don't get to choose where the next active shooter or psycho is going to be.

The whole Expo should have been on high alert just cause Jpop was there.

About 12:15 am Rob Craig and crew made his way around around and pulled the plugs and told us to leave.

Yep basically it was "if you don't have a vendor pass you have to leave."

And don't drink the kool aid!!

The wristband checkers being impersonal did not make them bad. It was a comparison I made to previous wristband checkers. A comparison. Nobody is bad, okay?

On Saturday evening, I'm talking about the 10% that you acknowledged were not still set up. How am I mistaken when we agree? The game room that had the Valencia in it had several missing games.

Yeah, my comments were not your chirpy usual thing but these details can matter to those who look for more than the glowing reviews. I have a real throat and head cold now, thanks to smokers. I'm not glossing over that! This show slipped in its discipline from prior shows on that and it doesn't make me bad to say it. I am certain the right people see in my comments what they would like to know. Others will disapprove for their various reasons. I understand that. This forum needs everyone. Thank you.

I hate smoke, but this is impossible.

The song lyrics that were left behind … I don't understand the joke or significance.

SteveRichieRum (resized).jpg

The Canadian forest fires brought smoke down into certain USA towns for quite a while, hazy skies day after day, making people stay indoors, causing scratchy throats. Health advisories, etc. It was a real thing. Happened to our city. People had scratchy throats. Some people wore air masks outdoors. Stores ran out of air filters because people were attaching them to their square floor fans to filter the air *inside* their homes.

It's not difficult for a person who is sensitive to smoke to get a sore throat from the smoky air passing through it. Also, certainly you have heard of, say, chest colds migrating upwards into the throat, nose, and head, and vice versa? Certainly you have heard of this.

Yet, you call what happened to me, impossible. That's a strong and decisive word. I have to believe you set aside what you know to have decided that.

It's literally impossible that it's impossible, i.e. smoking messes with your immune system, leaving you wide open to getting a cold. Secondhand smoke, too. How strong your immune system is to begin with is the main reason some get the colds and some don't after being exposed.

https://www.healthline.com/health/common-cold-risk-factors#smoking

Deeper NIH study:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5352117/

Same for me, not bad for my first show to win a signed Deadpool translight.

More likely a sinus infection from the smoke:

https://www.sinuswars.com/sinuses_and_smoking(FAQ).asp

I came home sick... not from smoke, but from some pathalogical vector... something is going round... wife caght it from me. More cold... not flu

Well the smokers lounge is right next to the front door, so every time the doors opened the smoke funneled in. Also, it was 104 mph winds on Sat. Most people aren't hangin out at the registration desk all night though. I'm out there A LOT so sorry if it bothered ya.
I missed the old door guys too. They were a highlight for me.

Also worth a HUGE mention: this was the 1st year in 5 years I saw absolutely zero assholishness with game etiquette. Not sayin it didn't happen, and I admittedly don't play as much as most of you (too busy blowin smoke indoors) but I was AMAZED at the courtesy this year. Not one 4 player game, no rehitting start, no insults, frankly, it was astonishing. And I'm a little disgusted.