Livonia, MI
Pinball Expo was my first show and I truly enjoyed myself. Can anyone give some other shows that are worth going to? I would say my time was spent 75% vendor hall / 25% free play...
Thanks for the help!
(Topic ID: 171435)
Since you're in MI. These shows are relatively close to you... Louisville Arcade Expo is a great show. There is also Ohio and Cleveland shows. I've never been to Cleveland but Louisville is first weekend in March and Ohio is normally around the end of March first of April. Cleveland is normally in Sept.
Phoebe
Go to pinballnews.com and read show reports. That will let you know about each show.
Texas Pinball Festival is huge. Expo is tradition. Midwest Gaming Classic has to be seen to believed, I refer to it as 2/3rds gamers and 1/3rd pinball with the pinball getting better and better each year. And the gamers add a level of excitement to the show that is unbelievable. Like there is electricity in the air or something.
Allentown is fun. Replay FX is huge. West coast has four or more shows.
Lots to chose from.
LTG : )
If you can get there with cheap flights Texas Pinball Festival is our favorite.Great game selection great hotel(free booze and a comprehensive breakfast selection) Also a lot of vendors are showing up because of the large crowds
Quoted from Mfsrc791:Is there anything in boston?
Pintastic is awesome and not too far away from Boston!
Pin-a-Go-Go is the weekend after Mother's Day every year and is a must attend event in beautiful Northern California (Dixon CA). Within an hour or two of Napa Valley, Tahoe, and San Francisco, it makes for a great vacation. Averages around 300 pinball machines and all are available for play Friday through Sunday. Several tournaments are offered and you can't miss the swap meet Saturday morning.
www.pinagogo.org
Texas pinball festival is awesome, northwest pinball and arcade show is as good and you get to visit the beautiful pacific NW at the same time
when it comes to vendors, there are only a handful of shows that really do well with vendors. Most vendors don't want to do shows. The hours are long, the drive, the set up, the tear down, the drive again (plus hotel/travel costs). Most would rather stay at home and take internet sales as it's easy (and probably more profitable.) For this reason, most shows have vendor areas falling instead of increasing. Exceptions to this might be Chicago Expo and Allentown. Note i've been to nearly every show in the country, and only these two shows seem to consistently have a decent amount of vendors. (And frankly this year Chicago Expo seems to have less vendors).
The internet has really changed shows in regard to vendors. Pretty much the only vendors i see at shows now are those that are A) local to the show and/or B) have no internet presence. Because of this shows that are in large metro areas will have more vendors than a show that is in a less populated area.
My basis for a show with good vendors is to find vendor(s) that are selling the following: pinball rubber (bulk and in various sizes/colors), flipper bats (in various colors), coils (in various types.) If these three generic pinball items are not available at a particular show, then in my eye, the vendor presence is probably not the show's strong suit. And to be frank, again, most shows don't have good vendor presence because the Internet has pretty much made vendors a rare commodity.
And to add salt to the vendor wound, most consumers probably don't go to shows to find vendors. Again, the internet and google/ebay make it a moot point. Most people go to shows to play pinball, as that's something the internet can't do.
Quoted from DaWezl:Pintastic is awesome and not too far away from Boston!
Awesome! Too bad i have to wait till july 2017 
Quoted from cfh:when it comes to vendors, there are only a handful of shows that really do well with vendors. Most vendors don't want to do shows. The hours are long, the drive, the set up, the tear down, the drive again (plus hotel/travel costs). Most would rather stay at home and take internet sales as it's easy (and probably more profitable.) For this reason, most shows have vendor areas falling instead of increasing. Exceptions to this might be Chicago Expo and Allentown. Note i've been to nearly every show in the country, and only these two shows seem to consistently have a decent amount of vendors. (And frankly this year Chicago Expo seems to have less vendors).
The internet has really changed shows in regard to vendors. Pretty much the only vendors i see at shows now are those that are A) local to the show and/or B) have no internet presence. Because of this shows that are in large metro areas will have more vendors than a show that is in a less populated area.
My basis for a show with good vendors is to find vendor(s) that are selling the following: pinball rubber (bulk and in various sizes/colors), flipper bats (in various colors), coils (in various types.) If these three generic pinball items are not available at a particular show, then in my eye, the vendor presence is probably not the show's strong suit. And to be frank, again, most shows don't have good vendor presence because the Internet has pretty much made vendors a rare commodity.
And to add salt to the vendor wound, most consumers probably don't go to shows to find vendors. Again, the internet and google/ebay make it a moot point. Most people go to shows to play pinball, as that's something the internet can't do.
Don't forget Pintastic New England. We had 60 booths filled by vendors this year.
I forgot another great show. Pintastic. https://pintasticnewengland.com/
This was their second year. Lots of great things. And geared for the whole family. Be sure and visit them in 2017 !
LTG : )
Very true Clay. From my perspective is that the vendors do the most work at the shows and endure the long hours and get the least amount of respect when the show is done because all people seem to remember is the amount of games that were there or what games they played or didn't get to play. Vendors are the backbone of the shows....
John P. Dayhuff
Battle Creek, MI.
269-979-3836
Midwest Gaming Classic, not that far from you. https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/
Very fun show, plus old and new videogames, free bands, cosplay and a great vibe- very fun.
Don C.
Quoted from cfh:when it comes to vendors, there are only a handful of shows that really do well with vendors. Most vendors don't want to do shows. The hours are long, the drive, the set up, the tear down, the drive again (plus hotel/travel costs). Most would rather stay at home and take internet sales as it's easy (and probably more profitable.) For this reason, most shows have vendor areas falling instead of increasing. Exceptions to this might be Chicago Expo and Allentown. Note i've been to nearly every show in the country, and only these two shows seem to consistently have a decent amount of vendors. (And frankly this year Chicago Expo seems to have less vendors).
The internet has really changed shows in regard to vendors. Pretty much the only vendors i see at shows now are those that are A) local to the show and/or B) have no internet presence. Because of this shows that are in large metro areas will have more vendors than a show that is in a less populated area.
My basis for a show with good vendors is to find vendor(s) that are selling the following: pinball rubber (bulk and in various sizes/colors), flipper bats (in various colors), coils (in various types.) If these three generic pinball items are not available at a particular show, then in my eye, the vendor presence is probably not the show's strong suit. And to be frank, again, most shows don't have good vendor presence because the Internet has pretty much made vendors a rare commodity.
And to add salt to the vendor wound, most consumers probably don't go to shows to find vendors. Again, the internet and google/ebay make it a moot point. Most people go to shows to play pinball, as that's something the internet can't do.
I disagree with some of what you said. Vendors are a very important piece of any successful show IMO. You need to treat vendors as part of one big family. At Pintastic we treat our vendors like gold. Lots of our vendors are personal friends.
Limit their hours so they can also enjoy the show. Give them a after party with free food. Treat them with respect. Help them load in and out. Give them the exposure they deserve on an awesome web site. LOVE your vendors.
Last year Pintastic vendors traveled from all around the country and even out of the country.
Sana'a
Quoted from pinballholder:Pin-a-Go-Go is the weekend after Mother's Day every year and is a must attend event in beautiful Northern California (Dixon CA). Within an hour or two of Napa Valley, Tahoe, and San Francisco, it makes for a great vacation. Averages around 300 pinball machines and all are available for play Friday through Sunday. Several tournaments are offered and you can't miss the swap meet Saturday morning.
http://www.pinagogo.org
Yup, best pinball show west of the Mississippi.
Some great vendors, lots of games all on free play, and the e.m. Room. That's right, a whole room full of nothing but em games. Also, rv parking with hook ups, sparky's bbq, how many other shows have a come as you are, pot luck bbq?
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