I'm planning on going.

I received a list of their pinball machines from Chuck Casey which I'm converting into an Excel spreadsheet (it is just plain text) so I can organize what I want to play. I'll share that when I'm done.

Have to get my car in shape for the drive from Colorado. And pick routes, that's half the fun!

Guess they aren't open day-to-day, just for special events. Shame.

I asked people in the know about how this place operates without having regular hours. I was told that it is rich guys who want a place to store their pinball machines. Fair enough. I guess in addition to the two annual events they also host private parties.

Here is my summary of the event:

Banning 2018 Event (resized).jpg

Eric, thanks for sharing this - I sit corrected.

This is a much better story anyway. The guy I was talking to goes to all the trade shows, expos & festivals but maybe he has never been to Banning. I notice that lots of people who are passionate about pinball haven't been there.

Can't wait to go and see it all in person. As I mentioned I'm working up an Excel spreadsheet with lots of good info. Almost done.

How are the pins organized in the building? Anything to it or just "random"

Thanks

Spreadsheet done! I'll try to figure out if I can post it directly in a bit.

Here is a partial list, sorted from newest to older:

Newest (resized).PNG

From rarest to less rare:

Rarest (resized).PNG

From most built to less:

MostBuilt (resized).PNG

On Google Drive, anyone with this link should be able to view & maybe download

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VijLoFxDwNXYPzFJWDSbOf-dsaYYltZd5BE2eYhfQvM/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for posting this video. As they say 10,000 pictures are worth 1,000 words ( - : got through about half of it.

I noticed some disparities between my list and what I saw. This struck home how hard it must be to keep the list accurate. And you aren't forced to take inventory like a store is so it becomes a harder job.

Is there a list of the video games? Thanks

Chuck kindly supplied a list of the video games. "Battlezone" is there (5 copies) so I'm good!

Should I bring my variac for Houdini ? Half joking

Do they sell beer/drinks at this event?

I'm not planning on drinking there but parties like this normally include libations.

Thanks

Doubt it, won't they be at Expo in IL?

Will miss Antoinette Johnson's kinky doo...

I don't know if there are booths at this event or not. I would doubt it because this isn't a trade show.

If it were, I would probably have a booth as I have 3 other times this year.

Anyone have any clarification on this? I've never been to one of these events. Thanks

Leave in the AM! Extended driving trip to include LV, Laughlin & Lake Havesu.

Since I'm in the witness protection program I can't post a real picture of myself but this one shows my stunt double.

Please introduce yourself and, since I'm a rich benheck pinhead, I'll buy you a beer!

WitnessProtection (resized).jpg

Made it back home yesterday afternoon. About ~2,000 miles driving total. Lots to remember!

Made one really good friend there. The old coot (like me) who was volunteering but had to wear a green shirt, not a red one. He showed me some moves where you waited for the ball to almost fall off the flipper before sending it up the opposite return lane. I just couldn't master that one! More evidence that we can really misjudge each other on these forums but are great folks in person.

Spent a TON of time playing Battlezone. 3 of us ended up trying to best each other until "KID" showed us amateurs how it's done! Doubled our highest scores no prob. The most fun shots were trying to pick off the tanks when they backed up after hitting something. Hard to do but really rewarding to make. That and picking off buzz bombs way off in the distance when they just came down to the playfield level.

Big Bang Bar. I thought that machine would have the longest lines of all.

Not so. It was set off in a small room with a dozen other machines by itself - coming out of the corner at 45 degrees with lots of room on both sides. I hardly ever saw it being played. This location made it easy to hear the audio.

It played perfectly. I fired off the knocker pretty easily on the first play. I loved the alien "mouth ball" ball lock catchers! Never done before or since.

I must say that it is the art and bold graphics that hold this machines intrigue. The nasal Jersey girl callouts got old very fast but I could listen to the pole dancer forever!

So check this off my bucket list. Played the "BIG'S" - BBB and Big Lebowski until I was sick of them. Not too many people can say that.

Alien - seemed OK. Was not working correctly when I got my chance to play it. Something about a percentage staying very high so that it kept giving you more balls like infinite multiball. I certainly wouldn't have the patience to own one. At least I can say I tried to play it.

Thunderbirds Are Go. I liked this game. I can tolerate the art now that I know where it came from. Puppets like the classic "Team America World Police". I obviously wasn't exposed to the show when it came out.

People that criticize this game just don't get it, IMHO. It is simple and fun, like most EM machines. I was super-glad I played it a bunch and would put quarters in one if I come across it in an arcade.

My favorite "discovery" of the event? Circus Voltaire!

I'd heard this was a popular game - after all the Pinball Amigos pinballrockstar have one! And it is beautiful.

What blew me away was there is one wireform loop that takes about 5 seconds to get back to the PF! It moves slowly down it, making you stare at the ball like a gomer and then does a little loop at the end before coming back into play. It really helped that the machine was in perfect repair. Thanks guys for making that possible!

The trip there. Lake Havasu City was the most interesting place I stopped. I'm all over all things technological and powerful. I stumbled on the "Nautical Beachfront Resort" which was a posh place for people to play with expensive toys in the sun.

First a bit about LHC - there are no boat speed limits and no exhaust noise restrictions. So it is like a dragstrip on the water. In Colorado all lakes have a speed limit of 40 and having a loud boat will get you in trouble right away. I have a boat that will do 75 MPH here. When we take it out the rangers will usually say something like "How fast will that boat go?" My wife has strict training to say "40" to which the rangers say something like "Good, keep it under that." Then we go do whatever we want ( - :

I ran into this machine in a parking lot. 20' tunnel hull with a pointed prow (not a picklefork). The owner was there to talk to and I drilled him. He built that motor after getting the boat. Fully dynamometer tested to a bit over 1,000 HP. The most interesting thing to see in this picture is the ~2" layer below the roots blower with "The Blower Shop" on it. That is a seawater-cooled intercooler. The pickup is on the pumper plate and is passive, just rams water through the system. Dyno tests showed this added 160 HP to the mix, impressive.

He said the boat cruises nicely at 3,500 RPM doing 55 MPH. No boost at that speed, just move right along. Boost is limited to 6 PSI. That day he did 106 MPH on the lake at 6,700 RPM. The boat is capable of 115 MPH and he is working to get it there.

Intercooler (resized).jpg

Thanks to all the people who worked hard to make this event a success. Some things are just too problematic...

Probably my biggest disappointment was not being able to play Ripley's Believe It or Not! while there. I asked and they said it had problems that prevented it from being brought back to life.

I think that is a great game and definitely go out of my way to play it. Not sure I'll ever own one though. It would be high on my list.

Orbitor 1, yes that was on my list. It was spooky when the ball got to the flippers. Seemed to be on the back side of them, then mysteriously move to the front. Almost creepy!

Give the designers some credit for creating a unique design on this one.

I think this meet really catered to the crowd which mostly cared about the new machines, not the old or odd stuff.

There were two older pins that seemed identical next to each other. When I asked a repair guy about them he said they could actually be interconnected and two people could actually play against each other. Makes sense that they were together then.

There were two Ghostbusters Premiums for some unknown reason, but I played them both.

Yeah, that's the title. Kinda like shooting hoops with the guy next to you.

I think it's clear that the only way to compete in pinball is to play on the same machine. Or in this case play the best of [ some even number ] alternating between machines with some sort of tie breaker if needed.

Didn't see them used this way but then most people probably don't know you can do that. Or "hate" the NBA like me ( - :

To the one person who picked up on the Jaws/AFM/RFM thing: I forgot to give you your prize!

I showed the latex Martian to a bunch of people playing pinball and they had no idea what it was ) - : Users, not owner/operators.

I was also able to get in and out of Cali without buying gas there! Bought in Parker, AZ before entering LA LA Land and was able to drive all around and get back to Parker. Good thing because the one station I saw was $4.99/gallon. I'm not sure why you people have to pay so much but I'm sure it's for some privilege...

And lastly the question I was asked most: "What kind of shark is that?"

Answer: "It's a large squalus, possibly onjumanus or Isurus glaucous" Another prize if you catch this reference

Squalus (resized).jpg