The Playboy was an OUTSTANDING player, enjoyed the gameplay very much.

I brought four games with me; three sold at the show and the one I took home had a couple people interested but couldn't take it from the show for logistical reasons.

Man, I thought I had a shot for best Antique this year with Big Town (of course I thought the same last year with Bumper) but didn't even get close to winning. Hmmmm, I am going to have to up my game next year but will have to leave the flipperless at home, it's flippers or bust!

Congrats to all the winners, a great group of machines and I enjoyed playing them all!

Bought some stuff from you. Great hanging out with you and Roger.
Safe travels!

That "Big Town" was super gorgeous. I think I was the only one all show who completed the rollover sequence. Wanted to hear some bells and whistles, but nothing happened. Thanks for bringing it.

Yeah, that was an outstanding example. Loved the pink displays!

Just so y’all all know Pintastic has developed Proprietary technology for game bringers. This cloud based software will continue to be improved for 2020. It requires internet to operate. Simple right? Well.. the Sturbridge Host Hotel (where Pintastic was born) no longer meets our expectations for guest satisfaction and requirements for our technology.

Please list the winners here.

I'm glad that Playboy got some recognition. It was really nice.

Gonna miss the lake as well. Took a little stroll by the shore early Friday morning. It's a nice touch.

Yeah, there was no chimes or anything in the machine. Maybe the new owner can figure out that disconnected credit reel and get it working (although according to the note taped to it that would disable the freeplay) but a 76 year old machine with no schematics or info makes it tough.

You probably were the only one who completed all the rollovers, I got close but always came up one short! Great to see you again, maybe you can bring the Joker next year, would love to see it again and it would have a shot at winning!

Volume on several games was an issue (as it sometimes is at shows). Some of the games I played seemed to be set to a very low volume (probably for a home environment, rather than the noisy environment of a show).

Is this something you want to see reported through the repair system? Maybe even add another one-click button to make it easy to report a game with low volume? mudflap dannunz

It's no secret that the hotel is a dump, with some moldy rooms, misshapen mattresses filled with newspaper, and a generally ancient, decrepit vibe. When the Super 8 next door is a 5 star palace in comparison you know your joint could use some freshening up.

The place did have its charms for sure (you haven't lived until you've smoked a joint in the creepy abandoned miniature golf course) but I think we are all looking forward to the new place!

Nah. If anywhere, I'd bring the "Joker" to York for "woodrail row".
No more 'push to serve ball' games for me at Pintastic. '67 and up only.

This.

The only machines I could hear at all with any clarity was the Tron in the vendor area (headphones!) and the T2 in the back row of the large freeplay area.

It's already too loud in there. It's pointless to turn up the volume on the games because they all clash anyway. The one which constantly screams (TFTC?) is really annoying.

It was already deafening in the room though. Crank the volume up on all the games and it just would have been louder and you still wouldn’t have been able to hear individual games.

Your Big Town was a very nice example for sure. Looking over the notes of the judges it got high marks all around except for some game play issues it had during the playtesting at the time we played it. We gave it an honorable mention as Gypsy Queen slightly edged it out.

I own a few machines McSquid has worked on, his stuff is always excellent and that topper was one of the cooler things I've seen in pinball

Show was easily IMO the best one since the first year.

Good Stuff -

* Best assortment of games in the Free Play area in years.
* New policy keeping games on the floor after they've sold was a HUGE improvement leading to way more games still on the floor on Saturday than in the past.
* Fewer games seemed broken at any given time than in the past.
* Everything with the hotel was perfect this year.
* The SNH Pinball room being hidden from view and having no prominent signage leading to it meant those that knew about it got to play more pinball w/o lines.
* Great to have PDI glass for sale on the floor.
* Flea market was in a great location.

Not So Good Stuff -

* It still amazes me that games are allowed on the floor with already weak flippers. If it's Friday morning and your game(s) already have weak flippers, that isn't cool. If the show is compensating you in some way for bringing a game, change the f'n balls out and flipper sleeves. How hard is it? Come on. You can tell which games are Gabe's because everything works even after they get 1,000 plays on them over the weekend.
* The crowd was enormous this year and the number of games was give or take the same as in the past, resulting in unusually long lines even for mediocre titles. Friday was fine but Saturday was a disaster. And that's not just my opinion but the opinion of 3 different friends/colleagues that went on Sat and had never previously attended. They were deeply disappointed. Some of it was the lines, and some of it was not having the top games in pinball on the floor (eg. no Iron Maiden or TNA - easily the hottest games of the last 3 years). I explained to them where the games come from, but expectations still weren't met for newbies.
* The caste system in place (the Pro/Prem/LE Stern knockoff VIP pass thing) exacerbates the lines and waters down the rest of the show. Sure, people pay extra and get to play nice games w/o lines but it's at the detriment of all other attendees, and in the end - does the show profit from that? Does the extra $$ made from VIP pass sales make up for the many people who won't come back next year due to the lines and missing marquee games like TNA and Iron Maiden, which only appeared in VIP on Fri/Sat?

Overall, the best Pintastic in a long time, but important to share feedback so the show can continue to improve. Good job, Gabe, Dave, and co.

This was unfortunate as I had cash in hand for 2 pins that were listed on the website for sale. They were not in the main freeplay area so assumed the sellers had dropped out at the last minute. Colson ended up with some of the cash and I have another pin project so it wasn't a total loss but still.

X-Files comes home tomorrow night!

Where did you stay this year?

I had a blast. Maybe my standards are low but I did not mind the rooms. Our AC was broken but they came and fixed is very fast. It was nice to quickly leave and grab a beer or take a rest being so close to the action. My only peeves was that there are no minifridges in the rooms so we filled our tub 1/4 way with ice but A. there was no stopper and B. ice machines barely had ice all weekend.

My friend picked up a really nice GOT Premium and a nice judge dredd from the freeplay area.

I also saw alot less people do things to machines that make pinheads flinch. Alot less 4 player/single person games. There was a few but alot less than I have seen in previous years.

I was in the seminar for custom games and It makes me really want to make a custom game. Pretty cool stuff!

Some of the layout concerns will definitely be resolved in the new space. The new location is laid out much more linear and will be easier to navigate.

All the machines I had there are now sold so I am on the hunt for an award winner for next years show!

Agree, beautiful machine that played flawlessly.

If you like the machine, listen to Ryan talk about it in our podcast referenced in this thread.

Three times I got told to turn down the volume of my games. I like them loud, not everyone agrees.

Some of that is a function of voltage. I played a few games on Friday or Saturday that played like crap. I played early Sunday morning when many games were gone or off, and those same games played great.

1. “Easily”. Lol. I didn’t see lines at Iron Maiden (needing to wait for a previous game to finish isn’t a “line”). I don’t recall seeing a TNA at all. POTC, Wonka, and Oktoberfest on the other hand had lines all weekend.

2. Did you bring a game or two? You’ve got no right to complain about the game selection if you didn’t.

3. Your noobs were disappointed because their expectations were too high.

Incorrect post removed, sorry!

uhhh, I'm kind of thinking that's a picture of the recently acquired (Boston)Bad Girls back at the VT co-op...

Ah! Thanks for letting me know, I assumed it was taken at the show! I should have noted the wall was different. Thanks!

Correct. That’s at the co op. Last year we brought our tna and Gabe has one too. This year we had our Alice Cooper instead for charity tournament and after 8 Saturday it was put on freeplay and wheeled to extra ball lounge.

I think there was 7 oktoberfests there? That’s crazy and awesome. Wonkas at least 4 maybe 6? What did Allentown have. 1-2 of each? If you bring 7 of a new game and there are lines there is nothing you can do about that!

^^ This^^
I noticed almost right away that every pin I played, new/old, vendor area/freeplay area seemed to have had weak or inadequate flippers. When considering the voltage draw at the event, that makes perfect sense.

I played that Alice Cooper in the extra ball lounge. Thank you. Awesome game, I want that and the new black knight. Imo they blow away Wonka

Yes quite annoying that people bring pins that don’t work. There was a Blackwater 100 I tried playing at the beginning of the show Thursday night and was broken the entire time on the floor. I asked the owner of the pin what was up and he said he was looking for the tech crew to fix it for him. Looking for a free repair I guess since he wasn’t capable. Show organizers should tell them to get their crap off the floor and back into their vehicles!!!

That was due to a sling shot switch not being adjusted and kept firing over and over. I fixed the problem when i noticed the screaming over and over.

What a blast this weekend was!

Met a bunch of great people, caught up with old friends, hung out with the boys from TNT, shared a bourbon with Steve Ritchie, shot the breeze with Joe Balcer, played a bunch of pinball with a bunch of great people, and possibly, the highlight of it all, unwittingly got to valinor mutiball on a 45 minute game of LOTR in front of a couple people in the ebl, and me not realizing it was a big deal because I've only played maybe a dozen games of it in my entire life. (For the record, this was admittedly idiot savant/luck, as I am not that great of a player (as evidenced by my blowout in qualifying in the SBR just a few hours prior). I basically just had one of those once-a-year games where I couldn't miss a shot.). The people watching were pretty psyched though!

I think Steve genuinely asking people what they thought of, and if they liked BKSOR, was really cool. I watched him talking to a lady and her husband about what they thought about the game in the vendor hall. After a brief conversation, he shook their hands in appreciation and was on to another group of people. I turned to the couple and said "You don't see that everyday". They in turn asked me who the fellow was that was asking them the questions, and I replied, "The guy that designed it". They were pretty thrilled! Classic Steve. What a great guy. Pretty humble for a guy known as "The King".

The TNT guys were great. Some of the nicest, down-to-earth people I've ever met. And great senses of humor. Had a couple beers and played a couple games with them in the EBL Thursday night, and it felt like I was chatting with old friends at my neighborhood watering hole. Just really nice people.

This show has become a top yearly highlight for me. It keeps getting better and better.

Is it too soon to say I can't wait for next year?

Cointaker opened up 6 Octoberfest one of which was mine and had FREE beer Friday and Saturday in there beer tent. Automated and JJP had 4 Wonksa on freeplay. The production wonka was mine and I opened it up for people to enjoy. Automated also had all the new Stern on free play and they stayed set up till the 9PM in the vendor hall when it closed. We listen to feedback and improve every year.

Pintastic and JJP brought in the Wonka kids which cost the show and JJP a good chunk of change. It was a learning experience and I thought it went well. Pintastic bars sold out and were a big hit! Just so you know we did not make any money on these. All money went to product, production and prizes of the bard.

We gave away over $5,000 in cash and prizes (from our vendors and sponsors) to game bringers this year!!!! How awesome is that!!!

Those people bring a boatload of games every year. They brought that huge multi-monitored Sega racing game in as well, which I'm guessing, weighs almost an actual ton.

Respect. They do bring a ton of games. HoneyBadger just sounds a bit too entitled here.

Curious, it seemed a few vendors didn't make it this year (vendor area had a lot more extra room compared to previous years)...were they just unavailable? Also, we were talking with Cointaker and they said they almost didn't come this year. We told them we were very glad they did come, especially since they had a cool setup with all the Octoberfest's available to play. I hope it was financially worth it for them so they return for years to come.

Yes some vendor did not come due to conflicts and health reasons. But said they will be back next year. Cointaker sold 6 octoberfest and were happy about the show when I spoke to them before they left.

Good to hear!

They also spend much of the show monitoring and working on their machines. Their Addams Family went down and they worked very hard to get it back up and running.

Two of my games had some issues at set up, and there were a few issues with each throughout the show. I’m definitely still “novice” when it comes to repairs, etc, so I definitely needed jadziedzic and crew’s help to quickly diagnose the trickier stuff (and my son to point out the stupidly easy to see disconnected wire I was missing). But what I love so much about Pintastic is that I was able to pay it forward a couple of times and help other people in need, which in turn let me learn more stuff at the same time.

The number of truly malfunctioning games are actually smaller than you might assume, as some games have to be turned off due to stuck balls. The repair team quickly addresses those when they have keys on hand, but if they don’t, they need to wait for an owner to respond.

But speaking of repairs, etc, I do need to give a huge THANK YOU to everyone who quickly moved to let us know of game issues, and made sure the games were well treated. I know I was super thankful for the person who let me know my Grand Prix had a wire out of place, so I could get it fixed before the playfield was damaged. Not all heroes wear capes!

It was another great Pintastic, best yet in my book. We had our biggest ever contingent from the Burlington, VT Pinball Co-Op this year. I think I got about 6 hours sleep total from Thursday until Sunday noon. Got a great deal on 2 new wood rail machines - the Genco Big Town and Williams Tucson, both 70+ years old. Big Town soldiered on through the entire show, albeit with some scoring issues towards the end. Tucson went down Saturday night with stuck flippers. Already got parts on the way to fix that one. Both are in really nice shape for their age.

The show seemed to run very smoothly and seemed very well attended. Enjoyed the Southern NH pinball club room as usual!

Looking forward to seeing the new location next year. Sturbridge has some advantages but it's showing the strain I think. The flood during the rainstorm was unfortunate but I don't think anyone's games were damaged. It's just representative of the general condition of the place. Not sure I'll be able to wander the halls with a Scotch bottle in my hand next year but we'll see

Only comment from me was I felt a little disappointed by the EBL this year. During the day, when it is typically quieter and limited to the LE Badge holders, most of the hot new games were yanked out to the vendor hall. I would have liked to have seen one of each of the "hot games" left in the EBL - Wonka, Oktoberfest, BKSOR, etc. They were generally in there during the evening, which was great, but then they were pretty deeply queued up. BKSOR, for example, made only one appearance on Friday night. Minor thing overall though and didn't diminish my enjoyment of the show.

Thanks Gabe and crew for another awesome weekend!

Glad they are going to a great new home, the Big Town will be missed. Already on the hunt for new woodrails to bring next year!

Thanks for posting a pic, I'm glad you liked it!

"Did you share a recipe or two with the chef? Then you've got not right to complain about our food." - drsmfd, the restaurant owner

"Did you pitch in and contribute on our Github? Then you have no right to complain about our software having bugs." - drsmfd, the software developer

"Did you run for office? Then you have no right to complain about us being corrupt and incompetent." - drsmfd, the congressman

What I'm trying to say, bub, is take your garbage elsewhere. We all PAID to go to the show. It wasn't a free show. I was sharing candid feedback with the show people. Candor moves the needle. Fanboying a pinball show, while nice and cordial, doesn't. PM me for more tips.

For example, I wasn't there this year but 2018 met expectations and KAHR.US Circuits will be back in future years. Not every year, but some years. This year I went to the Northwest show which was a great experience as well. Even flying on Spirit cross-county on a redeye wasn't too bad! Keep up the great work, Gabe!

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my Pinball 2000 H+V Video Sync Combiner kit

Your analogies are way off. Your complaint is like paying a few bucks to go to a firehouse potluck dinner and bitching that no one served you filet mignon. Grow up.

Great show! I brought 3 games to sell, and they all sold by Saturday night. I feel like they were all priced aggressively, I didn't want to take any of them home but they weren't crazy cheap. For 3 pins and a $20 bill I was able to walk away with a NIB Monster Bash SE, so I'm pretty pumped. Mike at Automated has always been great to deal with.

I thought it was explained fairly well how to register games for sale, but I saw lots of white tag games with little for sale papers on them. I guess people don't like to follow directions? Maybe a white board or a large monitor displaying everything for sale would be good for the non techies?

Looking forward to next year in the new location.