This year was my first Pinfest and I had a great time. I'm fairly new to pinball, but it just so happens that I live in Allentown. I had no idea that something like Pinfest was happening in my backyard!

I went into Pinfest with the possibility of buying my first machine, but I waited too long and missed out on the ones that I had my eye on. Hopefully I can find something on the market soon. Thanks to everyone who brought something to the free play area. I'm already looking forward to next year.

bluespin
Sorry to hear about the drunken abuse. No call for that.
Next year you should seek out the Canadians - we're usually well behaved in public.
We were at the wingate with a couple of machines set up - fun times, no problems.

Couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a Canadian last weekend. Every night a different assembleage at the bar, eh?

This gave me "chuckles." I live 800 miles away and I knew about it, how could you not know? Make sure to bring one of your games for free play next year Thursday night and you'll get a chance to see the games that will be available before it opens to the public on Friday. Look for two Pinfest threads next year; Pinfest 2018 for general talk about the show, hotel reviews by Pinsiders(!), talk of craft beer being smuggled in from other states, etc., and Pinfest Buy Sell Trade. You can post in the second group that you are looking for specific games and maybe someone can bring a game that you want to the show.

Thanks for the offer. I might take you up on that.

@bluespin, like I mentioned I'm new to pinball. As a kid, I used to play Flyin Aces, a home pinball machine by Sentinel, at my grandparent's house. But other than that. I haven't played since I was young. A few months ago, a friend of mine invited me to the monthly tournament in Allentown, and I've been hooked ever since.
I don't currently own any machines, but I'd love to find an early SS game or a nice EM to start my collection.

Let me get this straight:

Some think it's OK to have a temper tantrum and lift and drop the pin 6 inches?

Because it's a "commercial machine"?

I would blow a gasket if someone did that to my pins.

Probably best to go with a SS.

Some of the late EM games come in SS versions.

Thanks for the suggestion @irobot. I had my eye on a few local sales, including a Bally Supersonic and a Mystic, but I missed out on them both.
Ideally, I'd like to find something that's playable but allows me to get my hands dirty to get it cleaned up and nicer than I found it. We'll see how that goes.

I have machines in commercial service. If someone did that to one of my games they'd be out of here so fast they'd be wondering what the F*CK happened. They'd never be back in here either.

LTG : )

GO LLOYD!!

John,

Thanks for bringing your game to both rooms, I personally greatly appreciated it.

As for the power cord, I never said I didn’t see it happening. It was unbeknownst to me that they didn’t get your permission to use the power cord from BSD. I was under the impression they asked you if it was OK and you told them yes. Other than the slam tilt, I had no idea all the other stuff was going on. My apologies you had to experience this as you certainly didn’t deserve it.

Chad

When I worked in construction, we quickly learned how to find the GC when we arrived on the site. He was always the loudest guy and probably throwing things.

Chad,
I apologize. I mis-interpreted what you said in your post. I was frustrated and venting quickly in my post. I hope to see you at next year's Pinfest.

John

Hmmm. Knockers, balls, and a hotel room full of beer. What could possibly go wrong? Just sayin'. . .

I attend TPF in Dallas and our local SFGE show in Atlanta and found a similar number of turds at TPF, but not as many at SFGE. SFGE has a Facebook page for game bringers and they try to discourage duplicate games coming and ask people to bring titles that are popular, but haven't been pre-registered. They also ask people to give duplicate keys to the Game Manager, who labels the keys and stores them in a small locker like a valet does for cars. They post the show's email box and if someone spots a stuck ball, flipper not working, etc. the general public can report it. They have 1-2 volunteer techs who fix the games all weekend at no charge to keep the games up and running for everyone to enjoy. No need for a simple problem to have a game down all day until the owner notices. The only downside is that you need a system to compensate the techs for parts that they use to fix broken games at shows (coils, coil sleeves, etc.).

This being said, anyone that brings a game and isn't a well known collector in the area will have their game gone over to make sure that it's not a turd that they brought to get free admission and free maintenance. I know because that happened to me last year.

It would be great if this were discussed thru p.m. instead of derailing a thread and making anyone reading it believe that the show attendees are all in 8th grade and can't handle their hormones or alcohol.

Looks like playfield wear to me....and lots of it . I would be miffed at the sellers description also

Its a great story... but not the correct sequence of events or description. bjsilverballs did not pickup and drop the game. bjsilverballs is a smart ass so he sarcastically responded to the fit bluespin had for rage tilting by picking the game up after the game screwed him on the next ball. It was sarcastic angry response to the overly protective owner of a malfunctioning bsd that was completely harmless.

When the guy kept pouting about his bsd... the alternative was "how about we bring in alien instead?"... and thats how alien came into the picture.

the offers to buy the game was more like when bruce wayne in the dark knight responds to the hotel manager having fits by buying the hotel

It was more about getting the over reacting bluespin out if the picture if he was so bothered by people shaking a pinball machine. So they brought in alien instead.

Funny, somehow that doesn't sound any better...

Sorry for being an asshole.. but we did have fun, and no games or people were truthfully hurt in the process. bluespin I personally invite you to my house anytime you are in the area, and I have one of bjsilverballs games that you can pick up 6 inches and drop.

bluespin sorry for not asking, disrespecting you, and taking your power cord without asking.. or anything else that may have occured.. I’m the type of guy that would help you fix the mist multiball not working, like you asked for in this thread a while ago.. if you knew me better.. you’d know, sorry we started off on the wrong foot.

I’m out of olive branch.. hopefully you take it.

Here is an idea - how about one of you guys start an "Allentown after party thread" and keep this thread to stuff about the Allentown Show. If seems every time I stop in to see what has been posted since my last visit there is more talk about some after party at a hotel then talk about the actual show.

If someone decides to do something like a hotel after party next year please keep it on a separate thread. 95 to 99% of us really don't care!

When it come to show related stuff -- I am FINALLY done unloading and putting everything away. Most people who attend these shows don't have a clue how much work it is to actually set up a vendor space at a show. I was 3 weeks getting stuff ready for the show (before the show even happened), drove 600+ miles in 3 days (coming home each night for "special request stuff" for customers and to get a couple hours sleep) then almost 4 days after the show getting everything put away. So a 3 day show actually took me almost a month total! People who think selling machines and parts in volume is easy should give it a try!

I think you guys talked about hotels just as much befor ethe show. No reason to change course now.

I actually find it valuable to know what toexpect at the whole show, including afterparties.

My policy is pretty simple: Nudging is fine, but pinball feet should never leave the floor under any circumstances.

Agree 100%. By the way, who was the other Nick with the custom bingo machine? That was the absolute coolest thing I saw at the show, without a doubt. He told me people confuse you and him all the time so I figure you know who I mean.

I thought I understood how they worked but I had no idea, to be honest. He spent a bunch of time showing me why he loves them and now I do too. I also now understand why they were outlawed in the first place... I could have dumped a lot of coins in that thing and I detest gambling.

But this happened in the hotel!

Can't wait to talk about this and the rest of the hotels in the 2019 thread.

Anyone else see the incredible irony in this post?

Waiting for the 'how hard My day was thread (the extended version)'

Speak the word 'bingo' and I appear!

Thank you very much for your kind words and for giving my creation a shot. I do truly believe the games are important to share as they have an impossible depth and beautiful artwork. Gambling or no, the skill involved in making these games sing is a sight to behold! Glad to hear a new bingo lover is born!

(That other Nick)

Well, hell.

We remember me picking up @bluespin's game. He does too.
We all swear I didn't drop it. He swears I did.
We all think he overreacted. He swears he didn't.
We all swear we were drinking. He swears he wasn't.

Chances are he remembers it more accurately than we do if that last line is 100% accurate.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't actually going to use the TV to open my beer. If the bartender hadn't stolen ours it would have been a can. I actually think I fell off the side of the bed which is why my beer spilled.

It's kind of like driving your car into your neighbor's pool instead of your driveway at this point. No defense your honor.

Sorry @bluespin. I hope I can make it up to you next year or if you ever roll in to NoVA. knockerlover does actually have my TZ at the moment...

"no good deed goes unpunished" (Proverb) Beneficial actions often go unappreciated or are met with outright hostility. bluespin you have a good heart.

Put a nail in this and start the York 2018 thread.

You are right! Your choice. To go or not to go.....but don't bitch later.

Agreed, hotels and drunken after parties are just as much part of the experience as the show itself. For those of you that don't want to hear about it there is a Pinfest buy, sell trade thread.

No "bitching" just saying taking a dozen or more game plus parts & other stuff to a show isn't as easy as some people think. Moving a couple games is no big deal but when you start moving 8 or 10 it kind of takes a toll on you. I have worked hard pretty much every day and have since I was in my teens. I actually love working hard and enjoy life everyday so no complaining from me - just stating facts!

What I don't enjoy is reading post about stuff like how Ivan doesn't care about his vendors or when someone calls my neighbor at the flea market an "idiot" for bringing "a bunch of neglected machines" to the flea market for sale. Some people just don't seem to "get it".

In any event I thought 2018 Pinfest was the best ever and just hope Ivan & his crew keep up the great work in the future. Sadly the outdoor flea market just doesn't seem to work at Allentown anymore so maybe it is time to just give up on that idea for a while? Otherwise 2018 seemed very good for everyone involved. It was nice to see more machines in freeplay Saturday & machines staying later on Saturday, it was great to see the huge crowd Friday even though crowd seemed smaller than usual Saturday (likely because of the nice weather).

As far as the "after party" - who could have seen issues coming with that! Better luck next year!

I've never stayed until 8pm on Saturday before but there were surprisingly few holes in the lineup until after about 6pm. I've seen tumbleweeds by 5pm in past years.

That's the way to do it. Especially as the show grows to the point where they are turning games away. Anyone bringing a pin to the show for the freeplay area (in order to gain free admission) in addition to agreeing to leave it there or pay a penalty has to pass "tech" to ensure that it at least functions.

There are quite a few people who do actually support the show though. They bring decent games and take some pride in the fact that they are playable. Those are the people who are an asset to the hobby. A lot more than someone who brings a non-functioning machine to sell in the freeplay area and get in without paying admission. They aren't supporting the show. They are taking advantage of it.

I paid admission for both days. It was well-worth the price. I wish I would have ordered a T-shirt in advance this year though. They were all out of my size by the time I got there on Friday.

Ok, once again... Reread my post! You obviously didn't. So since you brought this up again, Let me repeat, yet again...I never called the seller, your "neighbor" an idiot. Your "neighbor" was smart, and I'm sure did well (I'd actually label him a genius). At shows like these you put a higher price on things, even turds, and hope for the best. I saw that two very poor condition, high priced machines sold early on in the show, so I figured people who were not knowledgeable "newbs" purchased said machines. I chose the term "idiots" to describe said definition of such individuals. I'm sorry you only saw what you wanted to see in that post, and NOT what I actually wrote (Again, scroll back (600 miles or so) and reread it, I haven't edited it, it still says the same thing it did when I wrote it and when you failed to reread it)

Now, back to the food/booze/after party/hotel/show talk, it's all about the Allentown experience!!

"but what idiots bought the garbage pins in the back corner of the flea market?"

I had to re-read the original post just out of curiosity. I think the first time I thought you said "who brought". Looking again, you did say "who bought"

Ivan and his crew were making sure games did not leave before 6, and rightfully so. It says so right on the papers you put your name and contact info on that games can NOT be removed until 6, or a $40 fee is imposed. Problem is, people would buy a game, turn it off, and claim it was "broken". While there were still many games available at the 6:00 time, there were several which were off (some for a good while before that). I am sure these were not all "broken" as claimed, but I guess people want to protect their purchace. If that's the case, pay the $40 and take your game home. I'd rather see an open space than a game which was off.

Sure things aren't perfect, but Ivan and his team (he has a huge team) do a great job in getting a quality show to us.

Chris

Isn't that what the tilt is for on the pin?

Sorry about that! Lack of sleep & bad eyes without my glasses on missed one letter. "Bought" & "brought" look a lot alike at 1 or 2 AM after being up over 20 hours several days in a row.

As far as those pins - Mark (my neighbor) was selling them for someone and wasn't keeping any of the funds. According to what he had told me he was given a machine or two to sell the rest of them. Prices marked were just a starting point and very few machines sold for anything close to his original asking price but he did sell all of them on Friday so selling prices must have been OK in the end.

Ivan & his crew have done a great job taking control of the show over the past couple years. 3 or 4 years ago Ivan was pretty lax with the rules and things started getting pretty bad. Thankfully Ivan realized it before it was too late and turned things around very quickly. The intense security at the door sometimes seems a little overkill but it was what he needed to do to straighten things out. Again thanks to Ivan & his crew for doing such a great job with the show. It is no little task trying to keep hundreds of people happy and overall I think Ivan has done a great job.

Yeah I do think games start magically “breaking” or running out of credits as soon as
They sell, but what are ya gonna do. Show seemed fine, still plenty of games to play for the most
Part.

No problem, happens to all of us

There are always a few selfish deadbeats that have to ruin it for everyone else. Some people simply have no ethics or really give a damn about the show. It's all about them. It's a shame.

I don't get too carried away...

I bought the best game at the entire show, an awesome Williams Toledo Friday. I left it on the floor for Saturday, cause why not? Game is 43 years old (like me!) and another day ain't gonna hurt it.

unfortunately the ball started getting stuck under a rubber on Saturday. Really nothing I could do. I was busy, didn't have any tools, and had no real motivation to fix a game that I didn't even bring to the show. I did remove the ball from under the plastic a couple times but gave up as it was a losing cause and I had stuff to do (like play in the tournament finals).

Shit does happen sometimes. I do think if you bring a game to the show you should bring some basic tools and be prepared to do nominal work on it if you need to.

I paid the $40 around 12pm on Saturday. Follow the rules, support the show. In doing so, I actually got help loading the game in my car from a couple people working at the show.

I had it in test mode for about 20 minutes while on, while I paid the seller and found shrink wrap for sale.

I found a lot of games to be off or out of credits. It felt sleazy.

Pay the $40. Load the game into a car.

As someone who has bought a game off the Freeplay floor two years in a row now, during show hours & didn't want to wait around till after 6 to break them down as I had a 3 hour drive home ahead of me I'll give some insight...

Both years I paid the $40 early removal fee.... I feel that also is another way to help support show somewhat financially even if I'm removing a game early. It makes me feel somewhat not like a complete schmuck.... If it helps keep the event happening every year, I'm cool with it.

Last year, I recall Pinfest staff both at the table & at the doorway being very uptight about me buying a game, on Saturday no less. They had one of their guys go to the machine with a pinball lift, watched owner tear it down, then they moved it over to the large garage door, the security was a pain in butt with us going in & out the door & hovering around the garage door while we loaded the game, they kept asking us to hurry up like we were causing the worlds biggest problem. They needed it off their dolly ASAP etc..... Wasn't overly cool, but whatever I was getting the game I wanted & not having to wait around till after 6 to save $40.

This year.... completely different... Guys at the table could have cared less that we were taking a game off the floor, one guy just found owners name on the registry list, marked it gone. I paid my $40.... Actually had to ask who to pay because they were so laid back about whole procedure, they just didn't seem to care, & were like "oh yeah, I guess you can just give me the $". The guy who took my $ signed the back of the card that was on the machine with owners info & said to "show the signed card to staff on way out the door" So went back, tore machine down, I really appreciated the people playing the two games on either side of me not caring that I was tearing a machine down in between them & glaring at me that I was interrupting their games. Neither stopped playing or gave me an extra inch to get to backbox etc but a lot of people in this day & age are just rude, so what are you going to do... If I was playing a game & someone started tearing a machine down or even just needed to work on it next to me, I'd just drain my ball & let them do their work & find another game to play, especially if I was on their right side where they need to be to get into the backbox on an old Bally & pull the glass, unhook connectors, & unbolt the head......but that's just me I guess.

I took backbox out door on one trip, then came back in & the ex owner & I loaded cab & took out door second time. There was no one around who was even paying any attention the entire time to what we were doing. Which is perfectly fine by me, but just found it strange I had such a different experience 2 years in a row. The security guard who worked that garage door both days looked like he wanted to be there as much as man on the moon, I never saw him get off his chair. Quite a change from the Crazy wristband Nazi lady last year who jumped up & chased down my 10 year old daughter & made her pull up the sleeve on her sweatshirt to show her wristband AFTER we had just been in & out that door about 4 times in 10 minutes & mulling around that area for another 20 while loading that game.... I know there were a lot of posts about her last year & rightfully so....

I tore it down & loaded it around 5 PM, I had few other things to do before leaving for the night, so I could have left it on the floor & on for a while, & actually did to allow a group of 4 to finish playing it on a 4 player game because I guess it had been selected for tournament play.... But I wanted to get it loaded before meeting NicoVolta to load 2 more machines in the parking lot... It's a lot of work to tear down a machine, move it out of building & across parking lot & load it, wrap it, strap it all by yourself, so I just wanted to get that box checked off.

One game on Saturday that I had paid some attention to, was the Bally BlackJack.... I think it was in the 1st row, closest to the back wall by the tournament.....I played it early Friday & felt it was priced very well for the machine, I had never played one, BG was nice, PF was nice & it was like $750 on Friday AM. If I was in the market, that would have been a good one to get, that was a nice machine for the $. I was walking around around 11AM maybe closer to Noon Sat & saw it had a Sold sign on it & it was turned off. It's gotta come down to the new owner, whether they want to let their machine sit there for rest of day & be played... risking a problem occurring.... Some people are going to be willing to do that & some not.

Anyhow.... just some observations, from someone who has actually bought machines off the floor during show hours before.

I bought a machine around 1:00 on Friday and left it up and running till 6:30/7:00pm on Saturday. I felt it was safer at the show and I wanted people to play it. A ball got stuck a few times due to the angle the game was setup at, but it was no big deal, it's pinball things are going to happen.

If people want to buy a game, pay $40 and take it out that is on them, but turning off a game to save your self some money is dick move. If it is truly broken, I get it.

I had a good time at the show overall and I hope to make it back next year.