Quoted from CrazyLevi:

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.

Quoted from Gatecrasher:

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.

Quoted from jrpinball:

I know of a few guys in particular who are taking advantage by bringing the same flipperless game to every show. Although they're nice to look at and play once or twice, it's obvious that they are doing so to take advantage of the existing policy.

Quoted from MarkInc:

I brought my Nightmare Before Christmas pin.
It was on and playable from 9-8 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday. Over 300 games played.
Thanks to everyone that dropped by to chat and play.
Overwhelmingly positive feedback even with a couple of crashes (my fault) and weak flippers (not my fault)

Quoted from ibuypinballs:

"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.

Quoted from MarkInc:

I brought my Nightmare Before Christmas pin.
It was on and playable from 9-8 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday. Over 300 games played.
Thanks to everyone that dropped by to chat and play.
Overwhelmingly positive feedback even with a couple of crashes (my fault) and weak flippers (not my fault)

Quoted from ralphs007:

I was in line to play your game on Friday. I had about six people in front of me,but then I heard the guy in front of me say he was holding a spot for two friends. After I heard this, I left the line. This was my first Pinfest,and I wasn't even sure if this was even allowed,but I really don't think it should be. I wasn't about to start an altercation over playing a pinball machine.

Quoted from MarkInc:

I brought my Nightmare Before Christmas pin.
It was on and playable from 9-8 on Friday and 9-6 on Saturday. Over 300 games played.
Thanks to everyone that dropped by to chat and play.
Overwhelmingly positive feedback even with a couple of crashes (my fault) and weak flippers (not my fault)

Quoted from WeatherbyMAG:

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.

Quoted from nopants:

Special thanks to the lady who brought the Lightning Ball for sale. I have a non-working one here at home and she spent a really long time with me going over the machine to show all of the pain points and gave me pointers on how to approach fixing it. Truly a class act and she knows her EM sht.

Quoted from robgo777:

Ok, so now for the REAL story of what happened with this deal. Prior to the show I responded to mcandrew's post about his Atlantis, see post #821 of this thread. According to the post the game is "Restored" and is missing the submarine. I contacted him and told him that "if the machine is in the condition you claim it to be, then I will take it". I was the one who actually offered up the $100 paypal deposit. He accepted and we spoke briefly over the phone where he confirmed the machine's condition and talked logistics. I told him I would be at the show on Friday and Saturday as one of the vendors and that I would pick it up from his friend.
Fast forward to Friday morning. My wife and I were one of the vendors selling off some machines and various pinball parts etc (she was the cute tiny one that is always smiling). We arrived at around 9am to start setting up our booth. It was crazy from the get go, as any other vendor there that day could agree. It wasn't until later on that afternoon that I managed to sneak away to go try and find the machine to check it out. I wasn't able to find it, and mcandrew mentioned that it had moved spots. I got called back to my booth and was really just tied up until the end of the day when they kicked us out at 9pm.
The next morning was a lot slower so I finally managed to find this machine over at one of the flea market vendors. It was wrapped up and standing on it's back. There wasn't anyone around the area, so I took a few minutes to look the machine over. There was visible water damage on the bottom of the machine.. red flag #1. The legs that were next to the machine were in terrible shape and rusted over, red flag #2. Once I finally managed to find the young man who was currently in care of the machine I asked if we could set it up so that I could test it out. He was pretty reluctant to do so... red flag #3. Finally he wheeled it over to another booth to see about setting it up. I asked him if he had some wrap so that we could fold down the backbox after I got done testing it and he said he didn't. So before I went any further I wanted to go see if I could secure some. I told him I would be back.
I got called back to my booth to tend to some more customers and such as it was starting to get busy again. While I brought some stretch film with me, I was running really low and I had a couple machines sold that I wanted to make sure I had enough to get them properly wrapped up for the buyers. Once they were taken care of I realized I had enough so I went back a couple times to find the machine back in the corner by itself and the young man was no where to be found. I would have also liked to bring it back to my own booth to set it up and test it out, especially now that I finally had some space cleared up to make room for it. So I went back to my booth and got busy again and at this point decided to contact mcandrew to let him now that I would be passing on the machine because I wasn't able to thoroughly test it out (this was 10am on Saturday BTW, not on Sunday as he posted). I suggested to him that he have his friend set it up so that people could play it and that it would surely sell for more than what he was originally asking.
Later on when things slowed down again I kept going back to check on the machine to see if it was ever set up. Of course it wasn't, just sitting in the corner next to some other junk. Had it been, then I would have tested it and still completed the purchase had everything checked out. I sent additional messages to mcandrew telling him the machine was still not set up and suggested he have is friend do so. Later on Saturday afternoon I checked in with him once again to ask if it had sold yet and he told me it had. I congratulated him on the sale and was glad to hear that he wouldn't run into a situation where he would have to get it shipped back to him. Had that been the case I was thinking of making another offer to buy the machine for a lower price for an "as is" transaction.
Long story short, the original deal was for a machine that was in a particular condition. I have never done business with this mcandrew fellow before so it would be delusional to think anybody would spend money on a machine from a stranger without testing it out first. For all I knew the machine didn't work and the boards were all missing or fried. The unfortunate thing is I really did want the machine, this wasn't a case where I just changed my mind or refused to buy it just because it couldn't be put back together. I have been in this hobby for 15 years and there are plenty of people who can attest to that fact that I am not that kind of guy. I would however apologize for not being able to get to the machine sooner on Friday, but like I said Friday was super nuts. My wife and I didn't even get to take a break to get a meal until around 6pm.
My suggestion though would be that before you go posting stuff all around a public forum about somebody, get your facts straight. To everyone who replied to this guy's post, interesting that none of you asked to hear the other side of the story. Since half of you are from the same area as him, its pretty obvious you are all friends. So I suppose that would be the reason you so quickly jumped on the bandwagon to label me as if I was some kind of world class scammer and major douchebag. Better yet, mcandrew, next time why don't you just handle things in private like a professional. It is something a classy person would do, rather than publicly bash another person over something as trivial as this event was. Sheesh... you would have thought I went to his house and stole 3 of his machines and kicked his dog on the way out.
ps... flynnibus.. I hope you enjoy that 3rd magnet mod I sold you. You seemed happy with the transaction and our interaction so I guess I am not that huge of a monster you have all made me out to be after all.

Quoted from Stoomer:

Her name is Sandy...she and her bf Dave set up in that spot just about every year. She has been getting better and better at restoring pins over the past 5 years or so...one of her first ones was a Sure Shot they got from me, since Dave and I have done many deals over the years. Dave has been selling pins in the flea market for a long time and is well known among many long time show participants. Like most of the pinball community, they do not do Spinside, but I'll let them know of this post!! I'm sure she'll appreciate it... )
LB = GREAT game BTW...congrats!
Sean

Quoted from nopants:

Please do! I told her it gave me confidence to get back to fixing it. But, it also is a little daunting because when she showed me the backbox, everything looked brand new! "Just clean it" she says.
I played it a bunch and it was a lot of fun - more strategy than I was expecting for a pin that age.
I saw them wrapping it up at the end of the show so hopefully they were able to sell it. Really an amazing example and great people. I will be seeking them out at future shows to see what else they have restored. Thanks for replying and attaching a name.

Quoted from Stoomer:

... Even some who weren't sure they wanted to sell...

Quoted from flynnibus:

Anyone else see the incredible irony in this post?
Waiting for the 'how hard My day was thread (the extended version)'

Quoted from emkay:

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.

Quoted from irobot:

yeah, but it's not personal.
One time I was headed to lunch with a couple of guys and a secretary said, "How come you guys are going to lunch together, you were all yelling at each other like 5 minutes ago."
I said, "Yeah, but now it's lunchtime."

Quoted from Chnillapoil:

Yeah and when I drink, I forget everything, forgive me please.

Quoted from spiroagnew:

Looking back on my photos from this year, I can confirm that this specific Blue Max has been dragged to Allentown in 2016, 2017 and now in 2018 as well. Maybe we should all pitch in and buy this thing next year and set it on fire out back to put it out of its misery.

Quoted from emkay:

So, how can we get more than just a couple cops to show up? We have a reputation to build here.

Quoted from Mike_M:

LOL- I had "not for sale" on all my machines but got the hard sell offer on a couple of them.

Quoted from ForceFlow:

I had one game there I hadn't really intended to sell, but someone made a good offer on it. They were really enthusiastic about the game, so I'm glad it went to a good home.

Quoted from McPin54:

What game?

Quoted from jrpinball:

I think it was "Fire Queen".

Quoted from JodyG:

It hard to get police attention in York city unless you are actively in the process of committing murder. Same rules for Reading and Chester.

Quoted from JodyG:

It hard to get police attention in York city unless you are actively in the process of committing murder. Same rules for Reading and Chester.

Quoted from rmarket:

York City Police also vigorously enforce parking laws, speed limits and state inspection / codes. Years ago there used to be a loop around the City that bored teens would drive around on sometimes cause issues. The Police still enforce the laws like the Cruisin / loop thing still goes on.

Quoted from weaverj:

millennials have better things to do...

Quoted from jrpinball:

I think it was "Fire Queen".

Quoted from weaverj:

millennials have better things to do...

Quoted from Chnillapoil:

Yeah and when I drink, I forget everything, forgive me please.

Quoted from irobot:

You're Canadian and you can't hold your liquor?
Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

Quoted from CraigC:

I bought the sky raider from you. Thanks for the new interesting to complete project!
I would have bought the rifle if I could have fit it.

Quoted from arcademojo:

Oh man, remember those glory days of the York, Carlisle and Harrisburg “circuits”. Driving around in hot rods. Harrisburg was the first to go in the late 80s.
I stoped going to the other 2 in the early 90s. Had lots of fun.

Quoted from spiroagnew:

Looking back on my photos from this year, I can confirm that this specific Blue Max has been dragged to Allentown in 2016, 2017 and now in 2018 as well. Maybe we should all pitch in and buy this thing next year and set it on fire out back to put it out of its misery.

Quoted from Gatecrasher:

Oh yes. Harrisburg had an awesome circuit. Far bigger and better than York or Carlisle although we used to go to those two occasionally too. Sometimes we'd go to grudge night at South Mountain Dragway to find out who's car was really faster.
When us Mechanicsburg boys weren't hanging out at and arcade or bowling alley playing pinball we used to go over to Harrisburg just about every Friday - Saturday night in our muscle cars and hot rods back in the 70s - early 80s. Down Front Street and back up 2nd Street for several blocks. A scene right out of the movie "American Graffiti". Most weekends it was wall to wall rods all looking for action. I had a '70 Chevelle SS396 4-speed. Bad to the bone.
We used to look for challengers to race for money and then drag race them on the Harvey Taylor bridge crossing the river over to the West Shore. At the end the exit ramp was one lane and everyone would stop so the loser would have to pay up. The Harvey Taylor Bridge is over 1/2 mile long and the Harrisburg cops rarely went on it. I can't remember the Camp Hill cops ever waiting on the other side either.
Looking back it was pretty insane really but All-American fun at it's finest. The first thing the city did in the early 80s to curb the massive cruising was to limit the number of times you could go around the circuit. Then they shut it down altogether around 1985-86.
The only other city left in PA that really had a decent circuit after that was Williamsport. It was awesome too and in many ways even better than Harrisburg. Similar set-up with the Susquehanna River on one side and the circuit on the other side. Down 4th Street from the Market Street Bridge and back around 3rd Street at Walnut Street. But a few years after Harrisburg was shut down they did the same to Williamsport which really sucked because the kids (and young at heart) didn't have anything to do after that other than get into trouble. Crime started to rise. Gangs, drugs, gun violence was on the rise so the city of Williamsport tried to relax their anti-cruising laws in the late 90s. I guess they figured it was better to hand out some tickets for chirping the tires than call the paramedics for the latest heroin overdose or homicide.
It's kind of dead nowadays but they have a big car show at the Burger King down by Pennsylvania College of Technology every weekend in the summer that usually wraps up with some of the rods making a lap of two around the old traditional Billtown circuit.

Quoted from arcademojo:

And back to talk about the Allentown pinball show. Anyone know any good hotels to stay at next year????