My wife and I love both solid state as well as EM and played both at the show, the problem cut across both generations of pins.

One of the best playing pins we tried was 4 Million BC, it looked and played excellent.

I have resisted listing the pins we played that were "bad" just on the general principle that 30 to 50 year old stuff can break at an inopportune moment.. There was more than usual this year though compared to 2019.

For those discussing broken games, did you try to contact the owners? Cards with phone numbers were on many of the games. I get the feeling many folks just move on and figure the owner knows or someone else probably contacted them.

My El Dorado started flaking out in the match lights and ball in play in the backbox near the end. Didn't even try to fix as I'm new to E.M.s, but I made sure the playfield stuff was rock solid.

Black Knight was down several times due to the ball getting stuck behind the plunger. If you manage to not get the ball all the way out of the shooter lane that will happen. Rescued it 6 times. Never had the issue at home.

Rick and Morty had issues with a drop target spring breaking and flipper button gaps on Saturday morning, but I went in early to test/fix as I knew it would be played non stop.

I am thankful to everyone that brought games. Some people just don't know how things are supposed to work. I didn't realize how weak the flippers were on my first pin until I played a second of the same type.

I bet someone could make good money doing flipper rebuilds and basic repairs at the show. Rebuild your flippers for $100 at the show, parts included. You could probably get through a pin an hour if you were doing them back to back.

And on that note I rescued a stuck ball 6 times on that Black Knight without ever receiving a call or text about it. (Don't worry DudeRegular, it is not something that will happen in home play as it only happens when you don't pull the plunger back all the way... your new machine is rock solid for home use). The only reason I found out about the match play lights was because I asked someone if everything was working while they were playing.

Not worried a bit bud! The flipper issue you identified on the game you traded for was not made known to me. I was making the rounds and checking, but nobody let me know until you did.

My Stars was rock solid, but another game owner let me know that there were dollar bills jammed in the coin mechs from folks playing dollar games on it. They could have sent me a text to get their 2 bucks back lol!

That skateball killed me, I wanted that playfield so bad. Been looking for a nice original. Awesome score, should have messaged that guy as soon as I saw that on eBay.

Better under the hood of your game all show than just having your game off the whole show. Many games were off every time I walked by the entire weekend and no one was ever working on them

I saw several games shut completely down also. You would think the owner would put a note on it saying
( OUT OF SERVICE ) or something in those terms. BUT if it’s OFF most folks would assume it’s off for a reason.
I did see a guy reach under the pin to turn one back on However, the power cord was not plugged in! LMAO

In either case, you can't play them, and having someone under the hood practically the whole show is disruptive to those playing adjacent machines.

A super nice firepower was placed right between my two games. The owners were under the hood a bunch which did block my games a bit. Though I would rather see that than a nice game folks can't play.

That 4 Million BC was Dave Metrando's game he brought. Excellent work. Look and played like new.
New owner got a great deal on a great game! =)

Best one I have played so far, it was spot on.

Ummmmmm…..except this time lol
And OH so glad they did!

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And don't you just love it when they sometimes use your game as a table!

Ugh!

That was for tournament only at pinfest like several other games (Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc).

I think the one he pictured was a separate game that was towards the front at one of the vendor booths.

Same topic every year...

1 - People having expectations of flawless games need to get over it. People are bringing pins to both play and sell. This is not a concours d'elegance
2 - They are pins, they break. Especially after moving
3 - They are pins, they break after alot of play. Most games at home are not hardened to survive lots of sustained play like a true route warrior. We shouldn't expect only route-ready games at a show
4 - Even hardened pins love to flex and break on the owners. Not always in ways that are readily repairable either
5 - More often then not, a game you see broke now, will be working later.

I'd love every person complaining about game quality to invite 50 people over and see if no one finds anything not perfect in their games, or make it through the evening without opening the game. We should all know that 'everything was working before...' means nothing to it always working.

I was there Thurs and Fri and I never saw anything I would consider a graveyard or games just plopped down. Some had issues, they always do.. but overall they were what I would normally expect.

Most people wouldn't bring a junker just to get free admission... hauling a game isn't worth $40 to anyone with a clue. What people often don't see is that one broken game they see is the 4th or 5th game the owner brought and maybe it's not perfect, but it's good enough to show off and hope someone wants it.

Free play was fine this year - it was actually more full then I was worried it could be due to pandemic year.

My concern was less homebrews seen... and less 1993-Now games then you'd normally see.

No, that game was sold on the floor.. they were setting up and it didn't stay. THen was moved over to that booth to hold.

We could suggest a separate area for one. Velvet ropes and all!

other possibilities

- No entry unless you bring a game -- won't work for vendors or gate admission costs...
- Separate areas for 'for sale' and 'NFS' games - each with different perks/fees.

To me these are minor things.. those who are used to these shows know the drill. If you are a rando coming for just free play at saturday at 2pm, I can understand your frustration. They need something more to anchor Saturday afternoon that is worth it to people if they want the bleeding to stop for saturday. Reality is most people are driving home and unless you convince them to stay overnight due to something meaningful/worthy... people are going to be bailing early.

They still have issues managing games coming off the floor - their system is uneven, and down right annoying at times. At times its a free for all, at other times it's the inquisition. And their system for tracking ownership/sales is completely defeat-able by anyone. So their model is dumb and frustrating at the same time.

Sorry, but flippers should not be acting like a rotating arrow bumper a la “Road Race”!

You seem to have an unhealthy obsession with a couple of non-functioning pinball machines that someone brought for others to check out.

Maybe they should have asked to speak to the manager...

If I knew that was a thing people liked, I would have bought the Road Race at the show and loosened the flipper set screws so that there were 3 rotating bumper arrows!

Relax, we’re just having conversation. Clearly everyone had a great time which is why we’re still talking about it.

Have you been to other shows? Every other show I go to has notably better quality games compared to pinfest. Why? Because the shows encourage that through different policies, etc. Not to mention that no one is arguing for museum pieces. They want games to be level and have working flippers. It's perfectly reasonable to expect that, and there's no advantage to arguing the opposite

Pinfest is more of a swap meet tho, so I don't care as much about the games.

Swap meet for *you*. A lot of people have different interests

It was a darn good pinball show. That’s good enough for me. I only got to spend an hour at the show. Thankful I had the hour as I didn’t think I was going to get there at all this year.

Hi. We are looking for someone who bought two kits from us at the show and didn’t return to pick them up. May have forgotten. If anyone knows someone this happened to or you are that person please contact us [email protected]. We would like to get your kits to you

Especially after first year back after last year. Bound to keep getting better every year.

LTG : )

Show was good. And way better than no having one like last year!!! No many dmd’s games But I got the luck to play many Gottliebs games ( which I personally don’t like to have in my collection). A big thanks for the owners of those games Looking forward to next show witch for me is at York PA.

Thank you. The 4 Million BC was a decent example to start with. It didn't take much to make it really nice. I noticed a problem with the ball not kicking out properly just before the buyer took it off the show floor. There are three switches in the ball trough one of which was misadjusted. Fortunately, the buyer is a seasoned pinball guy and can handle the repair.

Thanks for writing the post I was going to write. A lot of dudes posting here either never moved or maintained a pin. I thought the show was much better than 2018/19 as far as having working games on the floor.

Agreed! Alot of people don't factor in the power situation as well. You get that many games on the same circuits you're going to inevitably get voltage drop off somewhere and run into weak flippers, bad displays, etc...see it at practically every show I go to. Just comes with the territory of doing shows in places that weren't designed to run 200 games all day.

I would like to thank the multitude of people who brought games, transported, set up, and maintained. I have only moved a pinball once, and it was an effort. First to pack it up safely, then to get it out of basement that lead to a muddy uphill. Renting a Uhaul (non-truck owner). Trying to unload single handedly. Appreciating the tip here on pinside about buying a hydraulic moving cart. Then the machine not playing at my location, as a plug and several leaf switches changed directions during the move. Times that by the hundreds of machines at PINFEST. WOW. Thanks!!!

I do not think I am brave or strong enough to bring a machine to an event. Only to have people bash me that its not working right or that the flippers are slow or my price is too high. And I had blue jeans on. So now I have to buy cargo shorts somewhere to fit in.

Did this machine ever sell? Curious what price point you were looking for and where the machine may be located for local pickup. Thanks. -Steven

Any ideas how much the simpsons arcade was listed for? Just curious as I have a friend looking for one

I believe $1,200 is what they were asking on that.
-Kyros

Previous years I attended the event for one day but this year was my first time bringing games for free play and staying the entire weekend. I brought the Police Force and Sorcerer that were next to one another and fully expected and was ready for issues to happen. About half way through the day Friday I came across both machines turned off and sure enough they both had a minor issue. I was happy someone turned them off so things didn’t get worse but my phone number was posted and I would have also appreciated a message saying that the machines were currently down.
But anyway, it felt great walking by my machines getting played and watching others enjoying the hard work I put into them. If you played either machine during the event I do hope you enjoyed it, Police Force seemed to be a hit ending up with 404 plays for the two days.
I look forward to sharing more of my games with everyone again next year!

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If you’re going to the York show in October, you can post what you’re looking for in this forum. Maybe someone that’s coming has one for sale.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/white-rose-game-show-2020-buy-sell-trade-want-no-hotel-talk

Really, that was all? I've seen price tags on that title in the $2k-$3k range.

Yes, I've been to plenty over the last 25 years of going to shows. In this region and shows like TPF.

Solution is easy... want better games.. be part of the solution and bring better games. I brought a showpiece game for the free play area to do my part.

I came home lighter on the truck and heavier in the wallet. Ate a pretzel cheesesteak saw old friends, made new friends. Re: Quality of pins See Pintastic. They have a tech on site and you give the show your keys, and a system to report issues. This keeps more games up and running. If a game is a POS or just can’t be fixed, it gets dollied away off the free play area. Great show and thanks to Ivan for having it.

It was a little rough around the edges cosmetically, but defiantly a good deal. There were many good deals to be had at the show.

Just one?

You picked up two games, right?
Post some pix of those beauties!

I had really wanted to play your Police Force but never got a chance, it was quite popular!

*edit*
Taken care of!
Does anyone know the contact info for Sterling who brought the Time Fantasy? I must have lost it, he was interested in coming to the Saratoga Silverball Pinball show next weekend. Please DM me if you know his info!

Yup didn’t overeat this show tons of grease in them. I was one & done but it’s tradition so you have to have one. I slathered mine in their red sauce which is outstanding.

That Farmers Market is amazing. Was telling my wife about it today. Might make a road trip with a couple of coolers just to go there.