I stayed at the La Quinta in November that was pretty good. I don’t think the Sturbridge Porterhouse gets enough praise. The pretzel/pub cheese appetizer is out of this world (yes it sounds weird) and everything else is great too. Cedar Street Grill was also outstanding.
During one of the days we spent a few hours at the Brimfield Winery and Cidery and had some nice wine and cidar slushies. We met the owner who was very nice and definitely would go back.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:As I said before, I don't think the Host is very long for this world. I highly doubt any kind of long-term plan or investment that doesn't include a wrecking ball is in the planning stages.
The hotel was purchased in late 2020 than covid hit. Even than they dumped a lot of money into it dispute not renting the convention space for a year. There is a 3 year plan to remodel. That may have been extended a year due to covid. But there is a plan in place.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:The hotel was “sold out” but I suspect half the rooms were empty.
It’s a skeleton crew running the place now, and my guess is they are not operating at anything near full capacity.
The hotel has 40 rooms out of 270 that are currently under a remodel plan. We did do a extensive search for another hotel in 2020. Came up with Boxboro as a possible new venue but the lack of hotel room and now a flood in the first floor has caused us to rethink that as a option. We are always looking for other options but nothing seems to meet our needs. Unless we go to a full blown convention center with concrete floors and strict rules. Is that what everyone wants?
Quoted from dannunz:The hotel was purchased in late 2020 than covid hit. Even than they dumped a lot of money into it dispute not renting the convention space for a year. There is a 3 year plan to remodel. That may have been extended a year due to covid. But there is a plan in place.
Hope so! We all love the location and the vibe.
If the show was forced to move because the hotel and service continued to deteriorate, I'd certainly follow it to a new location, and so would most folks. In the end, it's the show and the people we are attached to, not the venue.
Quoted from jrpinball:At times, the men's room between the free play area and the box office smelled like a barnyard.
I must have lucked out, Friday was fine.
Quoted from drsfmd:This year was a mixed bag for me...
The positive:
1) The selection of games was pretty decent, though there were certainly less games than in prior years.
2) The seminar schedule was fantastic-- I spent most of yesterday in that room. Congrats to Dave M. and anyone else who had a hand in making this schedule.
3) And due to unfortunate circumstance, I learned how excellent and responsive the tech team is (see the neutral).
The neutral:
1) The game I brought was badly damaged sometime between 1am Friday and 10:30am Friday. I brought a really old game with me, the type that uses a lever to push a metal plate under the playfield to drop the balls from the top of the playfield back into the trough. Someone pushed on the coin slide so violently that it broke that metal level in half. It's fixable, but not something that I could repair on-site. Game sold anyway (for less than I wanted, but the new owner was willing to make the fix, and was excited about the game, so I let it go).
The bad:
1) If you bring little kids, keep an eye on them. I hurt my leg and a little kid ended up scraping his knees when he and another kid came tearing around the corner in the free play area and smashed into me. It's not the kids fault, it's the parents fault that their children are misbehaving.
2) The food situation was completely unacceptable, and had we been made aware of that, we would have prepared better. I saw a lot of people eating pop tarts and cheetos from the vending machines as meals. In the past, the hotel had two restaurants to feed us. One of those was open for breakfast-only on Friday and Saturday. We ate there friday, and I was charged $19 for a cup of coffee, a scoop of scrambled eggs, a grocery store bagel, and two tiny sausage links-- outrageous. Lunch and dinner were non-existent unless you wanted pre-packaged, paper thin burgers or steamed in the bag and a little soggy hot dogs. Just awful. If the hotel can't find staff to work, they shouldn't be taking on bookings for such big events. There's *NO* late night food options that will deliver to the hotel. The latest is Domino's which will deliver until midnight.
3) Our room was... less than sparking clean. We were all the way in the back, in the room next to ForceFlow. Everything smelled a little musty, and the hallways in between the buildings smelled like someone had taken a dump in them (literally-- it was wretch inducing).
4) Just call the show closed at 2am on Sunday morning (or whatever). This morning, there was very little left in free play, and all the vendors were already gone (and a doll show was setting up). I'm kinda pinballed out by Sunday anyway, but I know of at least one person who was planning to travel to the show just for this morning. I haven't talked to him yet, but I'm sure it was a huge disappointment and a lot of wasted fuel for him.
5) With regards to the vendors... the roster was too thin. Mayfair was the only parts vendor there, and they don't really bring much in the way of parts. The rest were people with some neat mods and tchotchkeis... but not a bottle of Novus or an LED light in sight. Cointaker is listed as a sponsor, which I assumed meant they were also a vendor- that was a poor assumption on my part.
6) Either give up or try to go all-in on the outdoor flea market. Only two vendors there, one of whom I will have no dealings with.
I’m sorry your game got damaged that should not happen. We do have techs snd security timing to stop this. As far as your other comments. We will take them into consideration and work to be better in the future.
Quoted from gdonovan:I must have lucked out, Friday was fine.
Pro tip: Walk the extra 40 yards to the bathroom by the Extra Ball Lounge, was like 400 percent better all weekend!
The room I had last November was very nice, but it was a long walk at the far end of the hotel.
Maybe they're starting at the far end, and working their way back.
I didn't see any evidence of renovations going on, except for the former miniature golf area.
If they get all the rooms in similar condition, I don't think anyone would have a reason to complain.
Hopefully we stick with the current place, and hope they up their game in the next couple of years.
Quoted from dannunz:The hotel was purchased in late 2020 than covid hit. Even than they dumped a lot of money into it dispute not renting the convention space for a year. There is a 3 year plan to remodel. That may have been extended a year due to covid. But there is a plan in place.
The location is choice. The hotel is average, not the worst but could be better. Our kids enjoyed the pool. The rooms were musty and the a/c was weak, it someone in the vicinity was smoking some turbo weed, so it covered up the smell . The prices were what led us to stay there. You can't beat the short walk from rooms to the ebl, or the freeplay, or the vendor hall. Liquor store within short walking distance amd ability to walk around with own beverages tips scales. Food was easy to find, lady at front desk gave us recommendations and everyone delivered.
I think it would change the dynamic of the event if lodging was off premesis. It would be nice if they followed through on renovations. Paying a bit more for upgraded lodging wouldn't hurt that bad, especially if they addressed the water issues, smells, and a/c or lack there of. If they could get the hot tub going again, that would be a big plus as well.
The band was fun, great cover band. Seeing John borg jump in for a song or two was a highlight.
Quoted from dannunz:Thank you for your input. We will make those changes. The hotel is in 1 year into a 3 year remodel. The new owner has dumped a lot of money into it so far and rooms are being remodeled in sections. This takes time and will improve as we move ahead.
If that's the case, woohoo for the future of Pintastic! The only real complaint year to year is the rooms.
I had a blast.
Yes, people complain about the rooms, but this is THE perfect spot for THIS show. Aside from nearly seeing a brawl break out at 9:30 on Friday morning when fellow LE holders were told by the restaurant staff that they wouldn't be putting out more bacon and eggs, I have nary a complaint.
As others have said, I like parking on Thursday, and never having to worry about driving anywhere until Sunday.
I brought a game as usual (Robo-War) which ran flawlessly all weekend, so that was good. Even though it was posted as "Not For Sale", I received a $6k offer for it, which I in turn politely declined, and will now probably regret forever, which isn't good, haha. I figure what the hell, it's a rarer title that many people have never seen, and people that now know it seem to really like it, so I can't really put a price on that.
It was a lot of fun seeing old friends, and making new. Drinking and sharing some fine single malts. Qualifying for the SBR. All in all, a great weekend!
Can't wait for the next one!
Quoted from CrazyLevi:I don’t know who the tech was in the tournament area but he did a fantastic job. A few games went down but he always got them back up in relatively short time.
That was my buddy Andy from Western Mass Pinball Club. He came over to help fill in for me so I could take a break for my birthday dinner with my family Friday.
Quoted from Grandnational007:I had a blast.
Yes, people complain about the rooms, but this is THE perfect spot for THIS show. Aside from nearly seeing a brawl break out at 9:30 on Friday morning when fellow LE holders were told by the restaurant staff that they wouldn't be putting out more bacon and eggs, I have nary a complaint.
Thank you for bringing this up. I'm going to sound a bit negative and I don't mean to be, but it's feedback that really needs to be heard.
Tickets at this tier were something like 37% higher this go around. I get there's a cost of business and I know the way of the world these days. There was less time in the EBL that was exclusive at this go around, and the breakfast thing was a real debacle. On top of that, there wasn't any new perks this year at 75 bucks more a ticket. We were pretty apprehensive after looking at the perks at this tier and it turned out those fears were justified. We paid it because we want to support the show but I don't think we'll buy at that tier again. No real reason to at that price.
I can't control the weather or FAA, but I really missed having Roger Sharpe in person. Props to John Borg who drove out after his flight was cancelled! What a trooper!
Loved the show but we'll just bring games next year instead. But let me be positive: the show is well run, the game bringers are the best, the tech team is amazing, the Club room folks are great, the tourney and vendors room is fine. This show has so much going for it and it remains my favorite show by far.
Quoted from Grandnational007:I brought a game as usual (Robo-War) which ran flawlessly all weekend, so that was good.
Thank you, I enjoyed playing such a rare title several times on Friday.
Quoted from dannunz:That is not true. You could not see the tap when standing at the concession stand they had to walk to the side were it was. I ordered multiple worm town be hoppy bears during the show
I would have grabbed a Wormtown if I knew they had it, didn't see the taps, and the only signage was for wine (And I'm not classy enough for that lol)
Quoted from dannunz:I’m sorry your game got damaged that should not happen. We do have techs snd security timing to stop this. As far as your other comments. We will take them into consideration and work to be better in the future.
Thanks. I hope my post didn't sound too Debbie-downer-- I really did have a great time.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:I highly doubt any kind of long-term plan or investment that doesn't include a wrecking ball is in the planning stages.
You might be right. This was outside my window. Lol
I'm a little new to the hobby as far as shows go and I've only been to Pintastic and the Allentown show. From what I can tell, the vibe at the Allentown show is the same vibe that exists at the York and Saratoga Show. Pintastic is a totally different animal. It's attached to a hotel, the freeplay and vendor and tournament feel a little more polished than other shows in the area. I would guess that this show has a structure that's closer to the likes of Expo or SFGE or TPF but having never been to any of those I'm just guessing. I think the in-between of it seems not like a parts and broken pieces of trash flurry like the Allentown show and not quite as robust as TPF or some of the bigger "conventions" it makes it a tougher sell for vendors. Plus, let's be honest, we're all a bunch of cheap New Englanders who aren't going to shell out for stuff like people in other parts of the country might.
The Tournament really felt like it excelled this year and was a lot of fun to watch. I do wish there were a bit more A/V planning on the tournament side (there was talk of some big screen action but I guess that all got sidelined). Big ups to everybody who played, TD'd, tech'd, and helped out there. Thanks to Backhand for capturing it all and making it available for view.
I heard a number of people report their games getting damaged (somewhat severely in my book) when the crew was shuffling games around. Hoping next year I can spend some time volunteering on the tech side of things to help out. Mistakes happen and it sucks (my game got rained on the first year I brought it) and I saw some damaged side rails I'm assuming because a game wasn't strapped down properly in one way or another when moving. Bringing fragile antique games to a show like this, you have to expect that some 8 year old is going to run up and ruin your game.but those are the risks you take when putting a game out in the world.
I only attended a few of the seminars. I found the one on Neptune super interesting, and liked it a lot, but didn't stay for the whole time. I hear a lot of people say "well, I don't know much about this one seminar that's happening so maybe I'll go" and it makes me think that maybe there could be a bit more detailed program notes on these in order for them to be more readily attended and lively. I find some of the seminars painful to sit through, but maybe I'm not much of a seminar person. Seems like there is WAY more concern about the A/V tech in the seminar when there should be way more considered for the tournament IMO.
Freeplay floor was fun. I always have high expectations for free play rooms every year, but maybe that's too much to ask. I always try to find a few of the seasoned show goers and tournament players and ask how they think my game is playing and they're always very fair and frank with any and all criticism which I appreciate. Prize judging seemed to be all very well deserved. Free Play Game Bringer Prize ceremony always seem like kind of a farce because EMP brings the same line up of somewhat working games* and sweep up all the prizes and then I get a million people texting me saying "HEY U COULDA WON IF YOU HAD SHOWN UP".
I'll be totally honest, I have zero sympathy for anybody who got a hotel room and complained about it. No hotel non-hotel chain has ever been renovated from the ground up like you're expecting. Everybody has known for years that the hotel at the show is nasty. It's an event hotel that has been used and abused for decades. You know what you're going to get. I had some guy get FURIOUS when the bathroom was out of paper towel and yelled "THREE STAR HOTEL MY ASS" which I couldn't help but laugh at. Maybe I'm a little too apathetic about what to expect form a place but the amount of full grown men having a temper tantrum about eggs or paper towel is chuckle worthy to me. Life is short, treat everything you pay for like you're going to essentially be throwing away that money. With everything you do.
Ditto on the food. You're in central fucking Massachusetts. Take your pizza expectations south west...
The only reason I can see someone wanting to stay at the hotel is so you can get fucked up beyond all recognition and not have to drive, or you like the connivence, which you will pay for by sacrificing quality of the stay, or the show moving to a nicer venue and the rates being way more expensive. Kind of a "pick two sides of the triangle" type of arrangement: Cheapish, Amenities, Self-Contained.
The RUSH tribute band had to be the biggest waste of money in my book.
I love the Strubridge location of the show. I wouldn't change the event or the space, but I hope to help out with more of the organization next and I hope the rest of you do too.
P.S. I also don't get the complaints about the booze prices. You pay for the connivence of a cold beer in your hand. If you know all the domestic beers are $6.50 get the most expensive one and make yourself feel better about the value of it. If you don't wanna pay that, go back to your room and grab one from your fridge or go buy a 6 pack put it in a cooler or drink half the 6 pack warm. I always have a bottle of Four Roses hidden inside of my games. Anybody with a drinking glass and a 1382 key is more than welcome to some.
*I'm also not trying to slam EMP. They're great people and they do a lot of saving games from destruction/flippers, but there's also a reason I spend very little time in that back row of the free play section. I know how those games are going to play. I'll only stop by if there's a title I've never played before.
Added 21 months ago:Edit: I would like to point out that I've been both reprimanded and corrected on my statements about any game damage and would like to publicly apologize to the tech crew and any involved parties.
Quoted from radial_head:go back to your room and grab one from your fridge
What fridge?
I had a frigan blast this weekend at pintastic! Honestly the condition of the hotel made for hours of fun and jokes for my group. I don't care if I'm sleeping in a tent or in a room with a couch that has an out of order sign (yes it's true) thanks for a great time!!
Quoted from radial_head:The only reason I can see someone wanting to stay at the hotel is so you can get fucked up beyond all recognition and not have to drive, or you like the connivence,
Something along those lines!
Quoted from Murphdom:You might be right. This was outside my window. Lol
[quoted image]
That was once the miniature golf course. Had the same view from my deck.
Quoted from radial_head:The only reason I can see someone wanting to stay at the hotel is so you can get fucked up beyond all recognition and not have to drive
I was far from FUBAR'ed, but in this day and age, I'm not going to drink a single beer and get behind the wheel. The risks are just too high. So I parked the car when I arrived on Thursday, and didn't move it until we left on Sunday morning.
Not sure this is how you meant it, but as someone who has been hit by a drunk driver, thank you!
Quoted from drsfmd:I was far from FUBAR'ed, but in this day and age, I'm not going to drink a single beer and get behind the wheel. The risks are just too high. So I parked the car when I arrived on Thursday, and didn't move it until we left on Sunday morning.
Quoted from ToddSonOfOdin:Not sure this is how you meant it, but as someone who has been hit by a drunk driver, thank you!
That is indeed how I meant it. There's just no reason to take the risk. Of course, without food on site, it meant we went without dinner on Thursday night... the Dominos doesn't deliver very late into the evening, and there were no other late night options.
In the past, other than trying the lousy barbecue place that people who don't know barbeque rave about, I ate on site exclusively. We discovered the Thai place that was within walking distance... and for Sturbridge, it wasn't terrible. We ordered pizza from a local place the other night we were there, and that was OK at best, but again, low expectations for a small town-- so it get's a "perfectly edible" rating.
I had no idea the construction area was a miniature golf course.
This hotel is owned and /or operated by ARA services? If that is the case shame on them for the food/ beverage service operation at the hotel. It’s their primary business.
Show was great. Hotel……..needs some serious help and fast.
Wow they bulldozed the creepy old minuature golf course?
Probably for the best, but that thing was pretty wild. Seemed like it came out of a Stephen King novella or TZ episode.
Quoted from Peruman:Was looking for the Best in Show winners for this year. Who won the Blue Ribbons?
Alberto
A Mata Hari in free play had one.
Quoted from CrazyLevi:A Mata Hari in free play had one.
And there was a Swords of Fury with one too
Quoted from Peruman:Was looking for the Best in Show winners for this year. Who won the Blue Ribbons?
Alberto
For EMs, "Queen of Hearts", "Cross Country", and "Neptune" were awarded. May have been others.
What, no ribbon for the Ghettowind?!! JK 
Hoping others got to enjoy it. Literally was in storage and brought to show Thursday night. We worked on it in the room through Friday night and had a blast. We had a lot of people ask if it is the one from the room lol. It was the nicest whirlwind in free play.
Had an awesome second time at Pintastic. Thank you everyone that makes it happen, supports, and attends. Having veterans there before we knew where to eat and what to expect. Other than the smells here and there, it was fine for what we wanted.
Quoted from Peruman:Was looking for the Best in Show winners for this year. Who won the Blue Ribbons?
Alberto
Usually at Pintastic the people judging the "best in show" hold up releasing the winners to promote their podcast... hopefully that isn't still the case.
Quoted from jrpinball:For EMs, "Queen of Hearts", "Cross Country", and "Neptune" were awarded. May have been others.
jrpinball - it was great to meet you!
All three of those were really nice. The owner of two of those is going to need a bigger wall for all his blue ribbons.
That Ice Revue you brought was gorgeous
I had a magical game on that Neptune. Rolled it twice. That’s never happening again
All Best in Play winners will be posted on the Pintastic website as we have been doing for several years now.
Quoted from DRDAVE:All Best in Play winners will be posted on the Pintastic website as we have been doing for several years now.
Ever since you were called out for this?
Quoted from DRDAVE:We list the winners and runners up in Best In Play on our podcast in episode 2:
(More pictures of the winning games and categories coming soon)
Quoted from DaveH:Ever since you were called out for this?
No
Quoted from DaveH:Ever since you were called out for this?
Seriously. What is your problem dude?
You don't even go to the show, (Scared of the air?) and just can't resist trying to kick people in the shins.
Get a life.
Quoted from dannunz:The hotel was purchased in late 2020 than covid hit. Even than they dumped a lot of money into it dispute not renting the convention space for a year. There is a 3 year plan to remodel. That may have been extended a year due to covid. But there is a plan in place.
A lot of money…Where lol? In their lobby?
Quoted from DRDAVE:You don't even go to the show, (Scared of the air?) and just can't resist trying to kick people in the shins.
Get a life.
My sister just died, so I had more important things to do. But now I’ll make sure to give you a big hug the next time I see you…
Quoted from DaveH:My sister just died, so I had more important things to do.
Like pick a fight on Pinside?
Quoted from CrazyLevi:Pro tip: Walk the extra 40 yards to the bathroom by the Extra Ball Lounge, was like 400 percent better all weekend!
First toilet had no paper, the third one didn’t flush, and there was no paper towel yet it was still worth the extra walk…
Quoted from Peruman:jrpinball - it was great to meet you!
All three of those were really nice. The owner of two of those is going to need a bigger wall for all his blue ribbons.
That Ice Revue you brought was gorgeous
I had a magical game on that Neptune. Rolled it twice. That’s never happening again
Nice to meet you Alberto. Thanks for the Big Deal labels.
Quoted from jrpinball:Like pick a fight on Pinside?
Pick a fight? Nah, DrDave (not a real doctor) and I are old friends. He's played pinball at my house many times, eaten my pizza, and complimented my wonderful games. He even used to help out with the Classics League I run with some good friends. He even sends me spicy emails once in a while (I'm expecting one soon). He just needs a bit of help remembering things he did sometimes.
The seminars were streamed for the first time on Twitch this year so if you lived far away or were sick then you could watch them this year. For future reference I would follow our page here: https://www.twitch.tv/pintasticne
All seminars were recorded of course according to MA chapter bylaw...(see what I did there Dave 
). Marc Patenaude does by far the best in my opinion of streaming/recording the Silverball Rumble with Backhand Pinball aside from Karl DeAngelo. I record the seminars and handle the YouTube page which I highly suggest to subscribe to: https://www.youtube.com/c/PintasticPinballGameRoomExpo The release schedule will come out soon but we want people coming back week after week to watch them and enjoy them like a tv series. To me recording people such as Barry Oursler, Jim Patla, George Gomez or even say a podcaster is of the utmost importance for the industry and I'm seeking out ways to work with IPDB. The reason why it looks like a chaotic organized mess is that is what it takes to pull off these tournament or seminar recordings. If it's not then you can go back to watching seminars recorded on a camera and nobody wants that.
For me personally I don't like the location nor hotel because I'm in the north-east part of MA, is far from NH/ME/VT/Boston/Canadians, it's in the middle of nowhere and it's not a secret the hotel sucks. The reason why the show is there is because the hotel allows us to do anything and because of that the hotel doesn't care either and it shows with the condition of the hotel. We are looking into hotels currently like we did in 2020.
The show is constantly getting better every year but this year was certainly different than others. Game shortages and the cost of gas I know greatly cut down on people travelling to the show. Also we are in a recession. For clarification the reason why the show was held last year in November was we wanted to put on some type of show but I liked it and it was well received by guests.
-Derek Karamanian
Team AV Leader of Pintastic Pinball & Game Room Expo
I was privileged to witness an unusual sight while at the registration desk on Friday (or was it Saturday?) evening: Two big strapping lads, "twins" from the look of it, walked out of the Free Play room carrying an F-14 pin. Not rolling it on a cart or a dolly or anything, CARRYING IT: one in front, one in back. Following close behind was Steve Ritchie, who was trailed by several gentlemen with cell phone cameras rolling, almost like pinball paparazzi. The twins and their procession headed off in the direction of the Vendor Hall, with the ultimate destination (I later learned) the "Ship my Pinball" booth.
Apparently Steve had approached the owner of the F-14, told him he really liked his game and wanted to buy it, and as the owner told me, he couldn't say no to Steve Ritchie. One of those head-scratcher moments that only happens at pinball shows...
Quoted from jadziedzic:I was privileged to witness an unusual sight while at the registration desk on Friday (or was it Saturday?) evening: Two big strapping lads, "twins" from the look of it, walked out of the Free Play room carrying an F-14 pin. Not rolling it on a cart or a dolly or anything, CARRYING IT: one in front, one in back. Following close behind was Steve Ritchie, who was trailed by several gentlemen with cell phone cameras rolling, almost like pinball paparazzi. The twins and their procession headed off in the direction of the Vendor Hall, with the ultimate destination (I later learned) the "Ship my Pinball" booth.
Apparently Steve had approached the owner of the F-14, told him he really liked his game and wanted to buy it, and as the owner told me, he couldn't say no to Steve Ritchie. One of those head-scratcher moments that only happens at pinball shows...
I was walking into freeplay and caught them headed out the door, followed by Steve Ritchie and Jersey Jack.
Quoted from DaveH:Pick a fight? Nah, DrDave (not a real doctor) and I are old friends. He's played pinball at my house many times, eaten my pizza, and complimented my wonderful games. He even used to help out with the Classics League I run with some good friends. He even sends me spicy emails once in a while (I'm expecting one soon). He just needs a bit of help remembering things he did sometimes.
By his replies to you, it sounds like he doesn't know you at all.
I know Dave from the shows, and through mutual friends, and he's all aces with me. What's your beef with him? It looked like you were breaking his balls over nothing.
My condolences on the loss of your sister.
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Charlton, MA