I saw video from the York show that had some signage for the Allentown dates: May 5-6.

Only 6 moths away!

There are some good buys to be had, depending on what you're looking for.

Did you see if anyone caught the contact info in any of the walk-through videos that were uploaded to youtube?

[edit] I just went through one of the Friday walkthrough videos, but didn't spot any DM pins. Were you maybe thinking of Pintastic? There were at least two there, if I remember right, but I don't recall seeing lit buttons on the handles.

Are there any photos of the mod?

Hmm...I wonder if this is it:

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/20-9804-1

Oh, I was thinking you could maybe stick an LED behind it somehow since the button seemed like it might have been a little translucent.

If it was the ring that was lit, maybe a clear washer was used?

[edit]: Maybe you should start a new thread about it. Someone might see it and know how it was done. I'm starting to get curious now, lol

Yep, but I haven't started on it yet.

I can help out if nobody else is officially doing this in the vendor booths (which I don't think has been the case at allentown). I usually bring many of my tools and soldering equipment. As long as you already have the NVRAM, I can desolder the RAM and install a socket for the NVRAM.

Where have you been eating? The pizza place near the entrance? There are quite a lot of good options beyond that. I usually wander for a half hour trying to decide.

The games on the free play floor are typically shopped/restored. Games at auctions are (more often than not) unshopped, and they might or might not even be in working order. Basically, most end up being projects, and wouldn't belong on the free play floor.

Yes, I was just saying what typically shows up at a pin auction.

Pintastic had an auction this past year. It was mainly vids and jukes, but there were 4 project pins (two working, two not). All the games were set up in a separate room available for viewing until the auction began.

Hmm...I don't remember seeing those at the auction preview, and they don't appear to be in any of my event photos. If they were there, maybe they were late arrivals? I dunno.

I was there at the start, but wasn't really interested in bidding on much of anything. But now that you mention it, I sort of remember those pins there.

Sure, there are going to be a couple games that aren't quite up to snuff, but most people aren't like that.

And sometimes when a game goes down, it's just bad luck. Plenty of people have had show day horror stories. I've been found myself trying to chase down a new issue more than once on games I've brought.

But luckily, there are plenty of parts, boards, and knowledgeable folks who are more than happy to help get a game back up and running if it's beyond an owner's ability to diagnose and repair.

If I see that look of confusion/exaspiration/dispair with someone who has a backbox open or playfield up, I usually stop by and ask if they're having trouble with their game and if they could use a hand. Sometimes I can help, sometimes not. And if not, I try to help them find someone else more familiar with their game or system who might be able to.

Counterforce rarely surfaces. I'd like to put a few games on that one if you end up bringing it. As for the bulb issue, it could be a flaky socket. Try replacing one and see if that gets you anywhere.

But, obviously, TOM is a much more popular title, so I image it will get a lot more plays if you brought it to the show.

Looking for projects:

Williams Comet with a good cab & backglass. Dead or alive. Playfield wear doesn't matter.
Atari Time 2000. At minimum, looking for an empty cabinet body, legs, and lockbar receiver to build a working game out of the parts I already have collected, but I'll take a complete/incomplete game if that's an option.

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Looking for:

A decent T2 cabinet
A decent Demolition Man backbox. If you also have the light panel insert, I'd be interested in that too.
A decent Demolition Man translite

Also:
A project Comet, dead or alive. Playfield condition doesn't matter.
A project Atari Time 2000 or empty cabinet body (with legs & lockbar receiver)

I completely understand the reservations people have about bringing their expensive, mint, HUO games to shows and don't fault them for not wanting to bring them.

It's like bringing a brand new Ferrari to show and letting anyone off the street take it for a test drive.

For those who do bring their mint HUO games to shows, thank you.

Going with the analogy, the cops would pull the driver over

http://www.pinfestival.com/rules.html

We understand that rare or otherwise unique circumstances may require an early dismissal of a free play game that is also for sale. Anyone designated for free play who wishes to exercise this right is subject to a $40 penalty for early withdrawal. It is not the goal of show management to take advantage of this specific situation but to deter those whose desires are less than urgent

Wow, I didn't realize the fee got jacked up to $40 this year.

It doesn't say what time the games can be removed without a fee. I almost think it was 6PM last year, but I may be mistaken.

Prepping this rarity for the show...

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It looks like I'll be bringing a few things for the flea market:

-used Sinbad playfield (SS version)
-used T2 playfield (some kickout wear and scratches on the auto-fire insert)
-used JD playfield (no insert wear)
-JD playfield ball guides
-JD playfield backboard with a nice decal
-JD gold eagle topper with bracket
-some Cue Ball Wizard playfield parts
-a couple parts catalogs
-a few playfield parts & various Gottlieb plastics
-a small antique rivet press (will need rivet dies)
-A few untested arcade boards--might be good 74LS00-series chip donor boards.

I'll probably be clearing out a few more odds & ends after I rummage around some more.

If you haven't done so already, tackle it like a pin. Check and re-seat the connectors, check for cracked solder joints, especially on the header pins, check the socketed chips and sockets for problems/tarnish. Check the 5v line to make sure it's actually 5v. Also make sure the mechanisms aren't jammed up. After that, if you don't notice anything obvious, you may need a manual to go further.

Contact Gatecrasher before the show.

Did someone say...beer for miners?

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Is there anyone in or near Yorktown, VA who might be willing to grab this lot of Baby Pacman parts and bring it to Allentown? I'd hate to see these parts go to waste, and could use a few of them myself:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fs-lot-of-baby-pac-man-parts-playfield-boards

Bummer.

https://www.wunderground.com/us/pa/allentown

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I don't like to be loading/unloading stuff in the rain

Back together and freshly shopped

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#war

I'll look forward to seeing these. You don't get a chance to play gameplan games too often

aw

Sorry, nope. No idea. I had thought Stern held them.

Loading up the pin hauler. Did I use enough plastic?

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Could be

https://www.wunderground.com/us/pa/allentown

Thursday looks clear for setup.

Looks like a downpour & thunderstorm all day Friday

Early Saturday morning looks clear, but mid-morning through the evening until 8PM looks like rain

Sunday looks perfectly clear. Sigh.

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http://www.pinfestival.com/details.html

That's kind of a shame, though. There are plenty of buyers who aren't necessarily plugged into the online pinball community.

I bring games without pre-selling. If it sells, it sells, if not, you've still made the show better for having it there.

Well, they kicked everyone out for the night, but in summary:

The number and variety of games so far is really good. Some common favorites as well as interesting and rare titles.

I got a chance to see Houdni up close, and it looks interesting. The line for that one will probably be as long as the line for TBL has been when that game was being shown.

There is also quite a bit of stuff and project games set up at the flea market.

Thanks, there's been a lot of interest in it so far. Lots of folks have been having a blast playing it. It's been fun to watch them go at it.

Clear for the moment, but rain is expected very soon.

https://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=Allentown,%20PA

Rain makes loading/unloading difficult and pretty much kills the outdoor flea market.

FYI about the playfield glass for sale:

The standard size glass has a logo/marking/"bug" on it.

I don't know if all the sheets of glass have it, but if you're going to buy a sheet, be sure to check it, especially if you know that you don't want it on the glass.

I've been trying to get a hulk up and running (all day...sigh) for free play, so if anyone has any ideas about a slam switch & switch issue I'm battling right now, feel free to chime in

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/gottlieb-sys1-slam-switch-matrix-issue

[Edit]: fixed, yay

Kids are having a blast with that hercules. The younger ones have to pretty much hug the game to play it.

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Found:

Creature decal. Someone dropped it in my flea market space. If it's yours, give me a holler.

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Final break-down. Hard to believe the place was filled with couple hundred games only a few hours ago.
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I had a good time catching up with folks and meeting others for the first time. I'm completely tuckered out, but can't wait till next year

On the bottom of an atari space riders

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Sorry I'll post some fun ones shortly

Yep I put it on the free play floor first thing saturday morning, and with the exception of some down time to repair a stripped hole for a post, it was flipping until the bitter end of the show.

Out of curiosity, did anyone measure the voltage coming out of the outlets?

I know my game behaved slightly different than when I had it at home. For example when the game (Viza War) is turned off, the sound emits garbled effects and tones that slowly die over the course of 7 second or so, which I assumed happened as the capacitors discarged. At the show, it happened in 2-3 seconds.

No idea. My game seemed to play the same, so I didn't look too much into it.

There were two space riders at the show?

I bought the one that was in the vendor area with the graffiti on the bottom panel.

I did see an atari airborne avenger out on the free play floor. Were you thinking of that one?

There was an HH there on Friday.

I saw this really nice restored Joker Poker. It was a real treat to play an older game that looked and played like it was brand new.

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Someone was asking earlier about some video for War, and I stumbled across a few seconds in a walk through video, though it isn't a terribly exciting moment during the game:

It has a 1-player mode, though it's much more fun with two players.

Haha, that's awesome, wish I saw them going at it.

If you saw me on Friday, I was probably hunting for some parts to get Hulk up and running. Wish you would've said hi, though--I would've liked to say hi back

Some news coverage:

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/allentown/mc-pictures-pinfest-2017-spring-pinball-show-20170505-photogallery.html

And War made an appearance

mc-pictures-pinfest-2017-spring-pinball-show-2-027 (resized).jpg

Out of a few hours worth of recorded footage, a network might end up airing only 10-30 seconds of it.

Sorry to hear. This isn't the first time I've heard of the comfort inn bungling things up this year or in the last couple years. I avoid the place entirely.

One random mixup with rooms can be an honest mistake. But these mistakes keep happening, so someone (or a bunch of people) are really doing a poor job there.

It really sucks that what is supposed to be a fun trip gets tarnished because the hotel fails miserably at the one job they are supposed to do well.