Still here. I'm the near-albino in a grey Stern hoodie. Having breakfast at McDonald's, then one last pass around before hitting the road. Say hi if you see me. Or just "pay the boob..."

I met you at Vic Camp's once, so I know who you are. I must have been ziggin' while you were zaggin'.

I made a visit on Friday morning and have to say Dave and Gabe did a fine job with the show presentation. The free play room was filled and there was a great showing in the vendor hall.

Nice job to all those who took the time to put something like this together!

The Twilight Zone wasn't working Friday morning, but did get to play the Addams Family. It's been on my want list for awhile, but I couldn't hear anything while playing it. Back to EM's for now.

Bringing this guy with me in case someone is interested.

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What mad genius brought the Metallica with the soft rock replacement soundtrack?

Boob, did you go into the hot tub fully clothed again?

I enjoyed my day trip yesterday. Between the vendor hall and the Freeplay room, there was a great mix of games with very reasonable wait times. This year's art was awesome, I just had to pick up a t-shirt. The screen printing seems fairly light duty, any idea how these shirts will hold up over time?

Great job pintastic team!

Place is a madhouse today!

Anyone streaming the tournament?

If you are at the show you need to experience Godzilla LE with the Woojer shaker vest in the Pinnovators booth. It's like like having a subwwofer on your chest. Very cool with Godzilla.

Ha! Sorry, was at the show from 10:45am-5pm ish (with a trip to Teddy G's in the middle, for a very good Philly cheese steak). My buddy and I Usually leave the show late at night, but a few drinking/pinball buddies couldn't make it...and we played the games we wanted to play (except a few that were off). I usually find myself in the pictures that get posted, but played "where's Waldo" and didn't see myself.

Oddly enough, I enjoyed that custom Rock pin a lot, had a great music selection on it, blasting in your face.

Had fun playing the puck bowler as well, wish I had the room. I've turned down so many free ones over the years. Only ones I took, were just to salvage the sys 11 boards.

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Found it:
https://www.twitch.tv/backhandpinball

That was so wrong but funny

Damn near 500 plays on Seawitch without a single hiccup, were heading home!

Another good reason to come to Pintastic. Tree House Brewery is down the road.

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Please level Ferris Bueller. It was leaning hard left last night, and that's a shame for a game which obviously has a lot of time and $$$ into. The game has it's own backdrop for Pete's sake.

Use the QR code on the game's info sheet to report issues with games. That's the fastest way to get a tech's or the owner's attention.

They are unlikely to check the event thread here very often during the course of the event.

Did they announce the winner of the Riverboat Gambler raffle?

https://www.facebook.com/ProjectPinball/videos/1563157520710645/

That goes to show you how important music is to a game

Are the 2022 dates and location set in stone, or still in the planning stages?

Just talked to Dave and he said they’re all set for the June show. Gonna be a mad rush to put the show on again in 7 months!

I hope there’s a working circus Voltaire at the next show…I’ve never played one in the flesh.

Had a great time this year, I'd say the show was about 80% of the pre-COVID show. Given everything that has gone on in the world this past 1.5 years, I'd say that's pretty damn awesome!

Vendor hall was well packed despite missing a few favorite vendors this year.

Sunday is always a quieter/pack up day at the expo but still work checking out if you have the time.

Chris

I used to live in Wayland, 13 years. Yes, the last show prior to this there was a CV.

Chris

The Welcome to the Jungle band was fantastic. Excellent job Gabe. Had a blast!

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Some random pics; Godzilla was well done and had an outstanding layout. I have to say the most impressive new Stern game I have played in some time.

Halloween was also a hoot to play, very well done sound and light assets. Played Houdini for the first time, not to our tastes. WAY to much stop and go video stuff and tighter shots than X-files which is saying something. Great use of mechs and magnet though. 24 a rare bird and Faith and I enjoyed playing it, lot of open space but good use of mechs. Big Shout out to Brian Bushey who brought 13 or 14 pins to the show! Transporter was a rare treat to play and in exceptional condition.

Soapbox time.

Mandalorin.

I think there was a single one there and our experience is exactly the same as Allentown. One guy got on the machine and just tied it up for a half hour ON ONE BALL. He won replay and extra ball and just kept going. After 20 mins we just got out of line and walked away. He was still banging away after we finished a four player game on Halloween with a friendly couple.

Either Mandolorin is too easy out of the box or the owner had it setup too easy for show environment, both times. I'm thinking the game is geared towards the casual pin buyer and not inclined to buy one. Godzilla on the other hand, easy buy if one should come my way. Outstanding playfield layout and just plain fun while busting your ass.

Thanks to everyone who brought games to the show, an excellent experience! The vast majority of pins were up and running despite electrical issues at the host hotel. Several pins I have never played before (including CUE!) always great to sample different offerings for possible acquisition and/or restoration.

Gabe, Nancy, Dave and the rest of the Pintastic staff and volunteers did a fantastic job running the show and look forward to bringing more than 2 pins next year for the free play area. Both Seawitch and Playboy got flogged for dear life and never skipped a beat!

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From a “behind the scenes” perspective, first, it’s been an incredible boost to feel the positivity and energy of the pinball community this weekend. We had a lot of amazing volunteers step up to help out, which in turn enabled our team to do more, but the enthusiasm of all the attendees was also a huge boost for everyone. Thank you!!

Naturally there were a few bumps here and there. Many were due to factors that we weren’t fully anticipating—for example we knew the hotel had some staffing shortages, but there were still some moments that things we’d gotten used to in the past just didn’t work the way we expected them too this time. We’re already having lots of individual conversations about ways we can work with/around those challenges for the next show, and as always, we’ll dig into it as a full team sometime after we’ve caught up with our sleep and work to make it better. Maybe not tomorrow though!

On a personal note, I greatly appreciated everyone who took a little time to chat with me over the weekend. People often ask me whether I’m unhappy to be sitting at my station but I can play pinball any time I want. What I value most is the time I get to spend around people who know so much about pinball. On Friday I learned a lot about how the various custom games came together. Yesterday I got some repair tips that will serve me well for years to come. I enjoy reading things online but there’s just no substitute for face to face conversations.

Shhhhhh….don’t remind me of the timeline yet!

But seriously, crazy as it may sound, I’m really looking forward to the next one, even as my body is yelling at me about this one!

Correct on all counts. My experience with Mandolorian, Godzilla, and Halloween were the same. Godzilla had me coming back the most, Halloween intrigued me enough to play a few times, and I only played Mandolorian once because I thought it was a little too easy.

I'm seriously thinking of sitting on the Firepower I was going to put up a for sale ad and bringing it to the next show with a few others.

I had the same experience with legends of Valhalla. That’s a game I am very interested in but it was set up super flat with all extra balls turned on. I stood in line for a half hour and gave up. Bummer as I doubt I’ll see one again anytime soon. Oh well. Looked very fun and well done though, although it seemed the ball was getting hung up and required shaking of the machine…probably due to the flat pitch.

I guess I was lucky on Friday because my longest wait was 10min for Valhalla. I played a couple times, it was pretty fun. If you want to talk about long waits, how about EHOH set to 5 ball play with EB's. Yikes!

Thanks so much for all the work you guys do behind the scenes and to the volunteers who move these large, heavy machines around (we all know how awkward and heavy they are, and they don't get any lighter!). Really enjoyed the show this year and wanted to make sure I attended to support all the work that was put into a show where we had some additional 'pandemic' challenges.

It was nice to enjoy some normalcy after a crazy year.

Chris

OH MAN, that was thirty feet from my room's sliding glass door (seen in pic)! My wife absolutely loathes GnR's music. I guess it's a good thing we left Saturday morning...but I wished we'd stayed that night just so I could have seen the look on her face when the music started! You might have heard her agonized screaming over the music!

Excellent show. We did the 6 PM arrival on Saturday after a long day of raking leaves from our yard. We put the immediate emphasis on Vendor Hall because of the 9 PM button-up and then hit the free play area afterward. Masked family of 4 with a 6 and 8 year old. Personally I played 15 pins I have never played before. My 8 year old son was able to get his initials on the Godzilla LE, one of the multi-balls or modes/wizards. Sonic the Hedgehog by Ryan McQuaid was a huge hit with our kids. Godzilla LE was as advertised. Cactus Canyon Remake LE is a beautiful machine, we all thought so. Lighting was spectacular. Somehow I got near 37 million on it first time ever playing. Guns and Roses is an excellent machine as well, surprised at the low scoring format but I was not familiar with JJP pins being that way. Got 1.5+ million on it and had never played it before, an 8 ball multi ball? Yes please. United bowler in the free play room was a really good surprise for our kids. Proud to be part of this community albeit in a small way. Some really cool things, the Aerosmith LE near the Godzilla LE was decked out, dice on the slings and I had never seen the Aerosmith upper (attic?) playfield before. The free play room Metallica (premium?) played soft pop songs like Christopher Cross and Hall and Oates and others. Thanks to the organizers and vendors and distributors who brought games as well. Not sure what the set-up is for the SNH room. We did go in it and my son played DP Premium. Was that ok? We are still not sure but I wanted to play that NBA Fastbreak..

There was a decaled CV cab pin there in the free play room. Was that a re-theme?

Our room was similar location. It was thunderously loud. My son being a kid was able to go to sleep, but it was really surreal putting him to bed as the room shook. We thought it was funny. I watched the show, they played till past midnight so going to bed prior was going to be pointless.

I miss being there and think of all the fun I had. I wish I was back there now. That's the sign of a really successful show. I hope to see you all there again in June!

I've played mando a few times before this show, and yes, ball times can be quite long on it if you're a half way decent player. I still liked it for the most part, though.

Yes, it was a experimental machine, I believe there was a "real" CV in the VIP room.

I didn't get a list of games in VIP.

Chris

Yep, there was one in the extra ball lounge.

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Unfortunately I only arrived with two, so I couldn't enter (I usually sneak in easily anyway, but didn't have interest this year)

Is there info anywhere on this game? Who built it, how can I make one (or buy a basic kit)?

Loved it

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RatShack made the home brew using a “Rock” play field.

Is there a link to the build? Great music choices

A massive thanks to everyone in the organisational team. There are many people who make this show happen, not just the well-known ones but everyone staffing desks and checking badges on doors as well as the tech team fixing games, the AV team in the Seminars Room and everyone who brought games or had a vendor stand.

This was my first Pintastic and I had a blast. Anyone camped out in the Seminars Room on Saturday must have been fed up with my three appearances, but I hope we kept it all entertaining for you.

I had quite some misgivings going into the show due to the downbeat comments about the hotel. Yes, it clearly isn't running at full speed and the rooms/corridors are a little tired, but asking at reception usually got anything which ran out such as the in-room coffee.

Having Yankee Spirits next door was a godsend once the limited bar selection was discovered, and there were good coffee, Thai, pizza and more in easy walking distance (even if it was a little chilly outside).

Lots more in the Pinball News report of course, but congratulations to everyone involved in this year's show So nice to be back at shows after so long away.

That was me! It's Yacht Rock and called Michael McTallica. You're welcome