I just want to second that. It was great to have a show right here in New England. And I must say they did a great job making it family friendly. I brought my two grand daughters who are 6 and 8, and they had a fantastic time!

Being an EM guy I wish there were more EM's and a larger flea market, but for a first time event, I say great job!

The show was amazing, I think they should have drawn better. Please go to shows and events if you really wants to support pinball.
-Allen

I've been to a few shows over the last few years: Texas, CAX, expo, Allentown, York and I think this was the best well rounded show of them all.

Pintastic had it all.

Games:
Great games in free play with good balance of old EM's up to latest DMD's
Vendor games with the latest and greatest were there including P3, Hobbit, Full Throttle

Speakers/Seminars:
Top notch speakers for the seminars including Greg + Dennis, Roger Sharpe, LTG, Heighway, JJP, P3, etc.

Accommodations:
Hotel was inexpensive and nice with great rooms for the vendors, free play, seminars.
Hotel concessions with 20 feet of free play was mostly edible and priced cheaper than at other pin shows.
If you didn't want the hotel food several restaurants were within walking distance.
Hotel was only minutes from mass pike and it was on a friggin lake with paddle boats.
Lighting in free play area was great since the chandeliers didn't cause any glare on glass like at some shows.

Family friendly:
Wandering clowns, magicians
FREE face painting
FREE rides,
FREE game trailer with more cool games
Kids video game tournament
Kids pinball tournament

Other Coolness:
Great after party for volunteers and vendors with FREE food
Live music
Flea market (it was admittedly small but some shows have none)
Tons of raffle/door prize money and lots of vendor supplied items (play fields, back glasses, parts, LED kits, gift certs, etc) were given away
big cash prizes for tournaments and restoration contest

The Pintastic show had everything you could possibly want in a show and more. This is the show others should strive to be more like.

I had a great time hanging out with like minded pinheads and my kids loved it too. We'll definitely be going back next year.

Thanks Gabe and Derek for a fantastic Pintastic. We truly appreciate what you guys did to bring a world class show to new england.

Kudos to all involved !
Brought the wife to Sturbridge and her plans were to do the gift shop / tourist thing while I went to Pintastic. When we got there her curiosity got the best of her and she decided to go inside to check it out. She spent the entire day and night with me and we both had a great time thanks to all the reasons mentioned above. We never did get any further away from the place than the restaurant next door. When asked if she'd come back next year , she replied ,"sure !" If that wasn't a testimony to how well this show was thought out, then I don't know what is. She rarely even plays pinball at home. Thanks again to everyone that made the show "Pintastic". We had a great time !

Absolutely! Very well done to both of them, and to everybody involved with putting it on. It was a great time. Hard to believe it was their first one. I'm already looking forward to it next year.

WOW I am so happy you guys all enjoyed the show! Me and Derek did put a ton of thought into organizing it. I always thought to myself how can we get the whole family to enjoy pinball together. PINTASTIC is what we came up with! We have laid the foundation and now we build on it. Pintastic was not just about playing pinball but it was about having FUN! Not just for the people attending the show but for the vendors and speakers as well.

We could not have done this type of show with out our amazing Vendors....Speakers....Sponsors. You were all simply amazing thank you!

Great show and can't wait to see it again next year!

Pintastic was Fantastic! Gabe, Derek, and all the volunteers did an amazing job. It certainly didn't feel like a first show, it was very well done. All the family elements were a great idea. I loved the location and enjoyed my coffee early every morning sitting by the lake and enjoying the peace and quiet. The restaurant across from the entrance had delicious food and a nice screened in area for dining.

Thanks to all who stopped by to play Whoa Nellie. We had a lot of fun playing multi-player games with people. It's always nice to meet new people and see old friends (even Lloyd!)

Thank you so much for inviting Greg and I, we had a great time talking to everyone.

Dennis

This show was more fun than some that have existed for years. I am still kicking myself for not bringing translites for signatures. At one point, we walked around a corner and there are Dennis, Greg, and Roger hanging out. It was like a pin heads dream. All I could picture were my Scared Stiff, WH20, and POTC translites back home giving me the finger! I took some pics of my buddy with all three guys, but regrettably ended up too shy to jump in a picture myself.
I got to meet Lloyd- a legend to me- who has helped me countless times with instant tech help. He let me carry mugs for him and I got mugged! That mug is still gleaming on my coffee table like the leg lamp in A Christmas Story! I ran into Beelzeboob- a true character who is still busting my balls about using the word "teal." Thankfully I was able to dip on him and still enjoy the show
Anyway, that was my vibe of the entire show...from busting balls with the t shirt vendors, to sharing ideas with the mod guys, and talking to fellow enthusiasts- the whole atmosphere was a comfortable, approachable one. This trip will be an annual one for me.

I'm glad my wife didn't catch you "dipping" on me.

I would have never thought to bring my wife, and she let me know she was happy I was having fun but also that she was bored home alone. Like Fixie, next year I may have to bring her along.

Well done Gabe and Derek. And Dennis, hanging out at Whoa Nelly with you and Greg was a highlight. Hope to see you there next year.

This was easily the most enjoyable pinball show I've attended. Such a positive and laid-back vibe. (Well, laid-back for everyone but Gabe and Derek, who were run ragged, along with Jim at the tournament and a handful of others who carried most of the weight of the event on their shoulders.) I drove 1560+ miles round trip to be there, and it was well worth it.

Ok, who spent all day Sunday standing over machines putting in new stuff that you bought at the show?

Great show and thanks for the organizer's efforts!
I'd agree "well-rounded" is a good description. I liked the "little bit of everything" approach and mid-Mass vibe. Besides not winning the raffle, the show was everything I could ask for.

For it to continue in the future, what form of support is most needed? Volunteers? Attendance? Money? Thanks again!

That will be later tonight. Yesterday was recovery day.

Not recovered yet.....still laughing...

I did buy an LED set to brighten up my Cyclone. Can't imagine when I am going to have time to put them in, however. It is a fairly dark pin, especially beside the others, and should be greatly improved. Someday, I want to swap out the playfield, but that seems a long way off.

The big score was picking up my restored TOTAN from Jim Swain. I'll post some pictures a little later. It looks stunning. Jim (the guy who ran the tournament) is wonderfully talented plus a heck of a nice person. You'd never know that pinball restoration was not his full-time job.

Also got a WOZ playfield that Jack, Greg, Dennis and Butch signed. (I hadn't realized that Dennis designed the house.) The playfield is now hanging above my WOZ at home.

I'm not sure if it was the region, the influence of the organizers, or what, but I was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelmingly positive atmosphere throughout the show. This was in stark contrast to the negativity one often finds in online forums (ahem!). You'd never dream the two relate to the same hobby. Everyone I met at Pintastic was upbeat and friendly. I'm sure a lot of people new to the hobby came away impressed. That includes my sister and brother-in-law, who drove up from Connecticut on Saturday morning. They had a great time and will almost certainly be back. They've never owned a pin but might get something now.

I echo what's been said above: Congrats to Derek and Gabe on an absolutely fantastic event. Thank you for making me (and Multimorphic) feel welcome, and thanks for your efforts and success in running an extremely well-organized show.

This was the first time we took the P3 to the Northeast, and the reception we got was absolutely incredible. Many had heard of it but never seen it, and others were completely surprised to see something like the P3 was even possible. Thanks to all of you who played the machine, gave us your feedback, and chatted about the future of pinball. You're the primary reason the P3 exists.

- Gerry
http://www.multimorphic.com

Jim is a cool dude who does great work (I hope he doesn't see this since I break his stones so much).

It is the region. New England is a great area to be in. When people come up from Texas and compliment the BBQ joint you know we are doing something right.

What a great show guys, Thanks for having us PA boys come up, we had a blast. I met so many great people, one of our highlight's was having dinner with LTG and Art ( Comet Led ) Loyd kept us entertained for so long his dinner had to be cold!! We really hope this happens again and will support it as best as we can Oldpinguy is a great shot with waterguns! Man did we have a good time hanging with him

Rematch!!!!

I'll get even on the next water battle!!!

Too bad there was no video of that!

Telling the truth we were trying to hose the ladies for a wet T shirt contest, and all we got was Joe

Being in the same league with "Texas, CAX, expo, Allentown, York" is very flattering. We are trying to find our place in the pinball show world. We took a very different approach to the whole concept of a "pinball show". I hope you all liked it. Now we grow from here.

And It seamed to work very well. It is nice to only have to walk down the hall at 1am to go to sleep not drive to a hotel! Love the venue choice think it worked great.

My sincerest thanks and appreciation goes out to all of you. I'm still recovering from the show but finally starting to get back on my feet again.

I'd like to add that I am truly humbled by all of you. Thank you for your kind words everyone. But in no way can Gabe and I alone take the credit for the show. There are literally hundreds of people to thank. Each and every person who helped, volunteered, spread the word, hung posters, put out post cards at businesses, our partners, vendors, families and everyone who attended the event are directly responsible for making the show the success that it was. I just want to be sure that everyone knows that in the big scheme of everything, Gabe and I were a small part f the engine that drove the Pintastic show.

So to every single person who took part and was there, everything that you read or hear that is positive is said directly to YOU! Pintastic is "OUR" show. ALL of us! I am going to name officially name Pintastic The People's Show. Because that's exactly what it is.

Thank you again to everyone for your kindness and graciousness. As my extended family, I truly love and thank you all. You are simply the BEST!

Derek.

Yes guys, thank you for putting together another pinball event we can all enjoy!!! And thanks for going the extra mile so that our family can enjoy also!!