In 2003 my wife and I started Pinball Life. By 2004 we had built the business up enough that a few people wanted to buy pinball parts from us while they were in town for Expo since we were located only about 15 minutes from the old Ramada location. Back in those days it was common for pinball parts companies to open their doors during this time; Mazco (R.I.P.) and Wico (R.I.P.) had been doing it for years. They would drag some items out of their warehouses and put them on tables in the front offices. We felt this was a rather cold and impersonal way of doing things, so we decided to have a few snacks and beverages available, along with our personal pinball machines on free play.

By 2008 we had outgrown our basement in the city and moved out to the suburbs (Huntley). We were now located an hour from Expo so we felt we should up the ante a bit and offer a better selection of food and beverages.

In 2010 we moved to what we call the small warehouse. We had a little more room than we did at the Huntley house, so we expanded our game selection a bit and started holding our 1-ball tournament, hoping this would be another reason/reward for making the trip out.
In 2013 we purchased the adjacent *large* warehouse and connected them. This gave of lots more room than we actually needed at the time, so we decided we could once again up the stakes and throw an even bigger party with 50+ pinball machines on free play as well as a full complement of food and alcoholic beverages. This is the year our open house went from being an Open House to a Party. In 2014 and 2015 we tried to keep making the party better and better by adding more and more elements such as the VIP lounge, Pinball Olympics attractions, custom lighting, tournaments, special guests, etc.

2015 saw us at a breaking point. 2 people went to the hospital with injuries. The place was so over crowded that some people simply did not have a good time. Alcohol consumption was at an all-time high as well. This was a major concern. Nothing bad happened to anyone on the way back to Expo, but I feel like we got away with something that day and we were really pressing our luck.

Clearing out the warehouse to accommodate 500 people has become a bigger and bigger issue as the years go by as we continue to fill up our space. This year I don’t think we could clear it out that much even if we tried.

Because of the liability issues, overcrowding, and lack of space, we have made the difficult decision to not have the full blown Explosion party this year. It will be a tamer, modified version that will more closely resemble our open houses of years past (pre-2013).
We will be open on the Thursday and Friday from 10am to 4pm during Expo weekend for people to come in and buy parts or pick up pre-orders (still highly recommended). We have 30 or so games here and they will be on for people to enjoy. We will have non-alcoholic beverages available, but no alcohol. We will also have some light snacks available.

I know this sucks for many, but I feel like we are too at risk during this party as of late, and it only takes one tragedy to put us out of business forever.

Thanks for listening and understanding.

Terry.