Roll Tide Bro! Good Idea!

Best restoration of a classic pin - I nominate Whridlsoncestood for his impeccable Xenon restoration.

I think this is a great idea gives us all a look at what has gone on in the past year

I will candidate for this Best New Mod of the Year

My nominations;

Best new mod - I would vote for Color DMD, but I think that came out in 2011. I'll nominate SupaDave's excellent RoadShow topper. Looks like it was supposed to be an original part of the game.

Best pin party of the year - Bob (Tatman9999) in Chicago. He graciously opened his house for complete strangers for his January get-together. Met a ton of Pinsiders there. Awesome time.

Best tricked out machine - I'll second the nomination for that blacked-out TAF.

Later,
EV

Best new Mod? I nominate Herg's LED OCD. Solves a problem long suffered.

Best pin people have paid for but not played yet.

Even though some don't like them, best before/after LED job.

Clearly best comment of the year is "it will be worth 10k by christmas"!

This is a good idea. I can't remember all the posts, though. There's some funny stuff over the year, but I can't recall any of it now.

Gorilla's Pinside Bash should up there for the best party.

Good Guy Award = LTG

Was thinking about posting something like this myself, think it's a great idea. Always fun to look back at the year we've just had. How about a few things such as:

- Favourite story of the year (the ones that are on the main pinside home page)

- Favourite thread / post of the year

- Thread you followed the most this year

- Pinsider of the year

For me my favourite story is the one that's on the main page right now (oh wait, that was me who wrote that story so I shouldn't pick my own...but looking back it sure was funny that my first ever pinball machine that I stumbled upon was an MM. Didn't have a clue about the machine and fast forward to now and it's one of the top machines ever made).

For me 2012 was all about Tron. We also bought an Xmen, but Tron pretty much ruled the day. My favourite threads were:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/project-tron-pro

Reading through the EL wire thread was pretty cool. Definitely enjoyed it and to think Coasterguy had this idea and made it happen was awesome.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-mods-the-bragn-thread

If you have a Tron this was a thread jam packed with good stuff. Enjoyed reading every post.

The thread I followed the most this year was this one:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wthack-tron-pro-near-98501

It's currently at 524 posts and I've read every single one, most of them one or two at a time, and this sucker has kept my attention since July. Looking forward to what Eli and crew put together and have a feeling it's going to be the mod to have in 2013!

My vote for Pinsiders of the year would go to Lloyd and Black_Rose. Lloyd just seems like he's everywhere. He's always willing to help, and it's not just this year he's been the man, this goes back a long, long time (I remember 10 years ago on RGP it was the same thing as Pinside this year, the guy was everywhere). Lloyd helped me out on a couple of things with our MM this year and I definitely appreciate that.

As for Black_Rose, this guy just oozes pinball enthusiasm. I didn't know much about LEDs a couple of months ago and Black_Rose was nice enough to spend an hour on the phone with me going through a bunch of stuff. Definitely appreciate that. He's another guy that's here, there and everywhere and has been a top notch contributor to Pinside this past year.

As for the mod of 2012, for me it's this guy:

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tron-mini-arcade-cabinet-we-are-now-taking-preorders-for-the-second-run

Who would have thunk somebody would have taken a life size arcade machine and shrunk it down to fit into a pinball machine? When I first saw this thread I knew I had to have one of these units, and I didn't even own a Tron pin. Ultra cool mod and puts a smile on my face every time I walk up to our Tron and play a game, it's just awesome to look at.

Best first pin purchase for first time owner? Or newcomer to the addiction. Kind of like rookie award or something like sports do. I searched for seven months and finally got one.

Er, no.

I most humbly ask to please leave me out of consideration, if there will be a Pinsider of the year.

There are so many people here, that help in so many ways. And so many variations to consider. People that donate time and parts for example.

And behind the scenes help, that could be missed.

I would hate for any of these fine people to be over shadowed because my LTG : ) has been around so many years, that it could stack the deck unfairly.

I'm just trying to make pinball a little bit better. And being fortunate enough to be part of Pinside is more than enough for me.

LTG : )

That's very noble of you. Tonight when my day is done I'll be heading downstairs with a beer to play a few games of pinball. If you won't put yourself in the pinsider of the year then the least I can do is raise my glass in a toast to all of the help you've given others this past year (and then I'm going to kick the King of Payne's ass!).

Lloyd - Years ago when SM first came out, didn't a bunch of guys pull together and get you one for your bar / arcade? Seem to recall something along those lines on RGP, but can't quite remember the details.

Thank you kindly, I appreciate that.

Yes they did. One of those moments I wish I could relive. I wouldn't have accepted it.

LTG : )

I second the vote for the mini Tron cabinet. I could not imagine my Tron LE without it. Adds tons of WOW factor.

Thought I remembered that right. Could you expand on it a bit (either here, a new thread or send me a PM), just curious as to what the details of the story were? I just remember it was one of those "feel good" stories.

There is a write up on Pinball News.

The short version is there was a discussion on RGP about the up coming Spiderman pin. Someone asked if I was getting one. I posted no, the recent no smoking ban killed me and no way I could afford one. Then the thread went psyco and long to the point where I posted "I just wish I'd said no".

Jason Rufer led the charge, got Jack Guarneri involved. And did a fund raiser to get me the game.

Jason, Jack, and most people involved showed up at my business with the game. Steve Tsubota sprung for Famous Dave's ribs. And we had quite the evening.

If you watch the video, I am shocked, I thought they were going to give me the game and I could pay it back later - which the last thing I needed was another bill.

Well they did give me the game. And I was given a list of all the names of people who donated. It was pointed out to me that not every name on that list was a friend. That there were those who just didn't want to say no when asked.

This led to more hard feelings. And why I wish I would have refused the game then.

You have no idea what it is like to be standing behind a group of friends talking about you and hear one say "it's time we start taking back". In my business. And having the others agree.

I really wish I had that moment to relive and gone with my gut feeling.

http://www.pinballnews.com/news/lloyd.html Article here.

Jason and Jack and Marlowe and some of my old train buddies chipped in and got me a Batman pin too, it was after that when things started to unravel.

Lloyd

Thanks for the details Lloyd, most appreciated. Well the thought was sure nice, can't argue about that. Too bad it unravelled as you mention, sure can take a nice moment and change it.

I think the Tron arcade mod runs back to 2011 (I saw threads 14 months old asking questions from people that had ordered it). As far as mod nominations goes I have a few, but some of them I am unsure about WHEN a mod should be nominated (when it is first shown, officially announced or when it goes on sale). Having said that...here are my suggestions:

The PIG
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-pig-modps-pinball-interface-gadget-integrate-your-electric-mods

CFTBL LCD MOD
I don't know who makes these, who's idea it was or how many people are selling them. I'm also not sure if they are even for sale yet. This goes back to my questions about when should a mod be considered for an award.

Speaker Light Kits for Stern games
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinballtopperscom-new-product-light-kits
I am connected to this project and I'm not hiding that. I still think it's a great mod and worth a nomination.

LED OCD
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-ocd-advanced-lamp-controller-shipping-with-wait-list

I may have forgot some nice mods, but these are the ones that come to mind as standing out this year.

Best pin party? The Pinvatational of course!

I didn't understand this comment at first, but then I remembered your High Speed speaker panel mod. That was really cool and ended up looking much better than I was anticipating.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/high-speed-front-panel-mod

That makes me wonder if there should be a "one off" mod category and a "commercial" mod category.

Best noob would have to be newpinowner and there needs to be a prize for the guy that created that cabinet for his pin so he can take it on the road with him. Forget his name but that thing was sweet.

RTR, I think you've got a great idea here. I also think that you're going to end up with a 2 hour award show because people are going to keep giving you category ideas. Let me know if you need a "stand behind the podium holding the award" chick. lol

I agree with mickthepin's nominations.

Rookie of the year: newpinowner is a nice guy and very enthusiastic about the hobby. He's also not afraid to let you know he's new to the hobby and ask for help, advice and really appreciate the advice that people give him. Heck...you can look at his pinside handle and get his description all in one glance.

The road case for the pin was also really cool, but I don't know what category that would fall under.

I nominate thread of the year to the massive X-Men thread. With Stern keeping there lips sealed a bit more and JJP taking 2+ years for each pin (and therefore spreading out the hype) I don't know if I see another pin EVER being as hyped as X-Men was in that thread (for better or worse).

Comment of the year goes to "10k by Christmas" from the X-Men thread.

The Pinsider of the Year I'm going to go with Black Rose. I have to admit that when I started reading his threads.....I didn't quite know what to think (so many games in and out? Why? Why? Why?), but then after reading them a bit I started to get drawn in. With new games always coming in, you have new things to talk about, fix and bling out. I can never imagine going through games that quickly, but it's nice to hear about what is new in B_R GRG.

Longest thread of the year - X-men started by pmWolf? Were there any longer ones?

Most hyped machine on pinside of the year - X-men (hype is just hype, means nothing about how good or bad the title is.)

best game room

yep B R da man

Since LTG has declined the nomination, I nominate vid1900 as pinsider of the year. His great tech threads on how to rebuild flippers and pop bumpers, how to ship a playfield, and more have been a great resource.

+1

I think all the ones you have listed are great. The 4 *s are for sure, you said, so I second the vote for a restoration/"back to life" award. Before/after pics are awesome and I like to see how people do it. I just can't remember many particular threads on it.

Best thread sounds good too. There's just so many to pick from, so that may take awhile to narrow down.

Best gameroom sounds like a good idea, but some of the guys on here blow us little people out of the water so not sure to vote on that one.

Rookie of the Year works as well, and I agree with the nomination for NewPinOwner. He's backed me up and encouraged me quite a few times on different topics.

Maybe two categories? A best Large Gameroom and best Small Gameroom? Put the over/under at 8 games?

IMO the amount of games you have doesn't make it a nice game room. There could be someone with 40 games in a bare room with no decoration vs someone with 2 games in a nicely decorated game room atmosphere. Just my opinion anyway

Quote: IMO the amount of games you have doesn't make it a nice game room.

True, but those that have like 80+ games usually have the room and $$ to be able to afford a nice gameroom around those games (that's probably the size of my house.) Whereas my 2 games are shoved in a nice corner in my finished basement. It's not so much a 'gameroom' as a 'pinball corner.'

I do remember someone had backglasses and/or playfields in the ceiling tile. That was awesome.