Never been there ... trying to figure out if it is worth the road trip and 2 nights at the hotel. If you read between the lines, it seems that some are implying that it is not that great for pinball. For those that have gone in years past, let me know your opinion. These are the other shows we have gone to:
Chicago Expo - loved it, mostly for the vendor hall (got to see and pick up a few higher priced mods and things) and the opportunity to play the new pins, also for a few of the seminars, Pinball Life party (near by) and the other social gatherings. Seems to have started to go downhill the past few years, but as attendees we still enjoyed it.
Ohio pinball show (near Akron) - was "okay" previous years, but this last year was pretty bad and we felt not worth the money for the trip and hotel for 2 nights. The few pins that were there disappeared quickly. Very few vendors, primary fun was playing the new pins and the pins from the cincy group that stayed there while we were there.
VFW show in Ann Arbor - super great pinball show for "playing" pinball. That is the sole purpose of going to this one. Love it, and it is very local to us. Had a blast, 400+ pins don't disappear!
Pinball at the Zoo - Good for playing pinball, machines start to disappear mid day on Saturdays though, wish more vendors would show up but still got some stuff I wanted and played some really nice pins. Overall worth it, but within a day's trip so we didn't have to get a hotel.
MGC show - a little different variety for us with the general gaming target kind of show. Had a good time with the pinball machines, lots of general gaming vendors, was a good change of pace (even though we aren't addicted to much more than pinball). Some vendors were selling some junky stuff, but some were pretty artistic kind of things. Playing pinball and new pins was the main focus and a good time. We picked up some things from vendors there that we normally would not see at other shows.
So ... with these reviews of previous shows that we were at during this last year, do you think we would like this one? Guessing that it is most similar to the MGC show. Would NIB pinball distributors/vendors be there with their new pin line ups? Is the player to pin ratio reasonable, or are there always lines (like I heard was at the Texas show)? We just want to get a general review of the show from people who have attended before as there isn't much chatter about it, and more downplaying the pinball side of the show than building it up it seems.
