I just love how Gabe always looks like he's in a frickin' coma on the final day every year.

I must say, the merch at this show far exceeded any show I
have ever been to. Good job to all parties involved.

I agree, lots of options and great colors and styles, then autographed lithographs from the actual desinger Pretty cool stuff. Im not into modern pins, but I certainly can say I was impressed with the effort ! I knew the young guys ate it up and it's good for the hobby.

Im glad the promoters want our input. I want to be part of the solution to the few glitches that came Up. As a show goer its also up to me to improve my experience. I have seen this show improve each year.

I saw that on more than one game. I suspect that someone was walking around with a sharpie or a pen changing other peoples games. Not someone associated with the show, but some scumbag that was attending. Those cards might need to be moved under the glass or something else to prevent that.

Helping you drag all your games back to the VIP Lounge from the vendor area within 15 minutes was very fun!!!

Just kidding. Great show man, had a blast even though I could only attend one day.

Really?

My first major pinball show and I was surprised and a little disappointed there was so little. Then again I'm use to going to car shows and swap meets with 100's of vendors. The Mrs. and I went up Saturday alone for a sheet of plain playfield glass and some EOS switches and came home empty handed. There was a 1-2 sellers in the flea market. Is this normal?

You're right, it wasn't very much fun ... especially dragging them back to the vendor hall the next morning at 6:30a. All that hard work seemed to be appreciated by those that had access so "thank you" for your assistance! Considering there were more than a few die-hards that played till the 6:00a closing (over a dozen on Sat/Sun according to hotel security) this is something we'll definitely consider for next years show.

Dan, you and all the volunteers did an awesome job this year. Thanks for all your hard work, and it was great to see you again!

I went to Pintastic and now I can't get those darn Dialed In lyrics (... got a new phone...) out of my head whenever I play at home, thank you David Thiel! Seriously, I just wanted to put out a big thank you to the show organizers and the presenters. I certainly enjoyed playing the games, but for me the highlight was listening to the interesting talks and meeting so many interesting people. It is a great opportunity and I certainly thank all the folks that traveled to the show, especially the presenter who were awesome. Even my 12 year old daughter who is impressed by very little really enjoyed the presentations, especially David Thiel's, so thank you again!

Ha, I wondered who the "crazies" were that pulled an all-nighter! One down dozen or so more to go. Curious as to who the other's might have been. Please let us know who you are and what hours you spent in the VIP lounge. No fibbing!

p.s. - I hope your GB looks as nice at home as it did in the Lermods booth ... they did a FANTASTIC job on your pin. Especially that back box!!!

Consider for next years show? Oh please do. Huge thumbs up for the VIP lounge. As a vendor I didn't have time to stand in line to play Dialed In or Star Wars in the main hall. But in the VIP room after the vendor hall closed, I got to play them both.

That could have been someone on the Pintastic team who was changing out the game cards when they were tired. They were only supposed to cross out "not" when the old card said the game was for sale. We'll investigate.
.................David Marston

@Dmarston, I don't know how long it would have taken but wife and I were hoping the arcade cabinet was actually gonna be put together and running the 60 in 1 board. But still informative. Thanks again.
-Mike

One tier (?) of VIP is enough. What is this, a Celine Dion concert?

Great job getting a SW and Dialed In in there on Friday night. WOuld have been cool to have a few EMs or early Digitals in there also.

Why would you want 2 tiers? Pinball people hate staircases.

This. We ended up buying day passes as we could not attend all three days.

I played until 5 am .. my dam feet made me stop...

Games in the Freeplay area (for sale or not) are all eligible to win a Best in Show ribbon.

We had some great games and some tough choices to make in each category this year. It really helps the game bringers to bring out their best examples for everyone to enjoy! =)

-Dave (Doc)

Yes, a two day VIP package would be great, I agree many of us cant make it for all three days

Thanks Guys!

I just wanted to make sure my with my card being changed at some point during the show than my machine was still in the consideration.

The game that won in my division (Eye of the Tiger) was super nice and I can see why it won. You are right… there were so many great games and I’m sure the choices were tough. Maybe in the future you guys would consider first, second, and third places? Or maybe some sort of score/comment cards so we know how we did?

~Jeff

I'm just curious, I know it's proper etiquette not to place a drink on someone's machine, but weren't pins mostly in bars over the decades? I had two full beers pour in two of my pins, no issues other than cleanup. I saw one EM with a warning right across the lock bar...So common sense dictated, every drunk walking by placed a drink on the glass and took a pic...(Good idea in theory, bad real world application) (I think of this as my beer is on my 40's EM slot )

20170712_140845.jpg

I've restored more than a few games with obvious signs of drink spillage on the inside.

Yeah, I'd be pretty pissed if someone put that sort of thing on something I spent a lot of time/money on.

And welcome to the "General Public"...

okay i spent over 10 hours there and never saw that slot machine - makes me wonder what else i missed - thanks ed

Thank you for clearing that up. As far as I understand, as long as the machine is on the show floor at the time of judging and on Saturday when the ribbons are awarded, it doesn't matter if they are for sale or not. That makes the most sense. It would be a same if someone clearly had the nicest game of a particular era or category and couldn't win simply because there was a for sale sign posted on the back glass.

Thanks to Dr. Dave and his crew for their hard work judging machines. For those who didn't notice, this team painstakingly went through, picked machines and it appeared they had to go back and look at some again to be sure they were making the right choice.

Dave

i didn't discover the VIP room until sat night and got kicked out as soon as i walked in as i guess i didn't have a pass - i'm being lazy - what did you have to do to get one of these. next year i would like to bring my superman if it can go in there - i don't know how to put it on free play and at least in that room i know people would know how to open the door and register credits. thanks ed

Lol Ed, picture just for reference...It's my basement

well i was very sick and just thought i missed it - i did miss the VIP room until sat night - so i started to think i was really out of it. i actually kept thinking i will leave saturday night and surely leave a game behind - if it wasn't for one of the guys saying to me don't forget the 60 and 1 you donated for the seminar i would have left it there for sure. it's tough to get old.

I Like the suggestions coming in, 2 day superpass. Great thinking. Yes Gabe the T-shirts were high quality and colorful .
Thanks for the clarification on the best in show and the Thankyou raffle .

I know the tournament area is set up well and run well, it causes a traffic jam from what I observed. what if the Tournament was held in the Auction Room, is that big enough? That would open a wall for the flea to move indoors with access to unload from the double doors in the outer corner . Im not sure of the logistics of the vendors and the congestion it might cause. But Bob Adams set up was exactly the kind of unique pieces many if us flock to Allentown for. More of those types of vendors / flea sellers please! It would really up the ante and interest and eliminate the weather. Just spit-balling here.

The first video with Jersey Jack has been processed and looking forward to the others, specifically the one concerning Ted Zale designs https://pinside.com/pinball/archive/ted-zale

Of all the artists to choose from, you picked Celine Dion...

Moot by later posts.

It started in the vendor hall, then moved to the VIP room, and now back again to the vendor hall.

I didn't really think congestion it was too much of a problem there. I think most of it was because of people clustered around the new games in automated's booth.

Hey folks, no I have not forgotten about the panels. I have been rendering and uploading the panels since Sunday in fact. I only have 5MB/S available for upload so those big 13GB files to Youtube take a bit of time. The good news is Zombie Yeti, History of pinball, and David Thiel panels have been uploaded to my Google drive and they have those files so now my internet can focus solely on Youtube. I am currently uploading Barry Oursler panel but in the meantime you can view the Jersey Jack panel:

Keep checking the playlist as I upload more of the panels.

Gabe once again you have put on an outstanding show. I recently bought (more like rescued) the BSD from Pinball Wizard Arcade. I had planned on taking it apart and then deciding on the color scheme but I had to do it on the show floor and used Gabes BSD as a reference. I'm going with a purple/red theme. Painting the graveyard with some UV paint and getting a UV light on it too. Anyways I bought a PinGraffix decal for the inside. I think it's for Monster Bash as it has people carrying torches and pitchforks but my theory is the mob is trying to storm Dracula's castle and the vendor said somebody else had my idea as well. Silverjet balls, red lighted flipper buttons, red feet pin cushions, translucent leg cab protectors so I can light them up red, all the Titan rubbers, plastic decal protectors in dark orange. I just need LED's now and I plan on going with Comet Universal Kit. It should rival Gabes I hope at the next Pintastic.

A few suggestions are to write show rules or tips on the back of the badges. Also print the names on the Super Pass badges AND the day the pass is good for. I hope nobody wiped off the magic marker and put their friends name on it (my dad and I got Super Passes). A good example is PAX East badges that even have holograms/UV light tricks built into those fancy $58 a badge day passes: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/YlVVeuc5pqM/maxresdefault.jpg Put a large LCD tv at the competition area for the audience. I really, really liked the VIP room. Possibly streaming the panels at the next Pintastic or have somebody to help me. This is entirely dependent upon the computer hardware, looooong USB cables, and the hotel internet. I wasn't sure about the internet this year and it's why I went with a camcorder again. It really irks me when panels or expo's are never recorded because it's history and 5 years from now or even a month from now you may want to see the first unveiling of say, Dialed In. The only footage is from Steve Bowden taken on his cell phone and it's looooong gone by now. You love seeing old footage of the Williams factory floor or an old expo showing off a prototype game but that is because somebody brought their bulky VCR camcorder with them. So what I didn't go to Allentown or the Texas Pinball Festival? We have HD webcams and the internet!

Finally here are the pictures I took: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10158985855730506.1073741858.665955505&type=1&l=b3772c5f78

Leave the tournament where it is. Great location and it's not in anybody's way, it's in the back of the room!

And more foot traffic for vendors is very important. I bought a funhouse apron that I never would have even seen if the tournament were back in a breakout room like before.

Crowds are a good thing. Means people are coming to the show.

Great show was there on Saturday. One issue was lack of air conditioning in the vendor hall where the tournament was held. Dead stale humid air. Free Play air was nicely air conditioned.

Agreed. While talking by the tournament area (before the kids took over) I was buying stuff off the vendor table. I was talking to Brian (Stang) and my friend Tom and started just picking up some easy break plastics for System-11 games and drop stickers. A quick $50 in 4 minutes of stuff I did not think of before hand.

Like Forceflow said - Year 1 vendor area, year 2 back room, year 3 back out. Gabe is trying and learning what is best and I think from experience and feedback it is all good and getting better.

It got downright chilly in the free play area! Also, the seminar room went from warm and humid, to frigid in 10 minute cycles. I couldn't wait to get out of there!

I find that hard to believe. I thought frigid seminar rooms where reserved for Jpop, Dutch and Skit-B.

You need a good tripod, lol. I can bring a HD recorder as well if you want an alternate angle if you are motivated enough to edit them together.