This made my 4th year in a row for the TPF . I will for sure be there next year. The show just keeps growing and getting better each year.

I want to thank everyone that brought games to play. With out the games, their wouldn't be no TPF. I feel guilty myself for not contributing by bringing games to the show. I just don't have any good way of hauling games to the show other than hauling them in the back of the pickup. It just makes me nervous driving a pickup with a pinball machine out in the open weather 9 hours away from home, and this year was a good example with all the hard rain we drove through Friday getting to the show. I know they can be tarped and shrunk wrapped , but still, I,m just to nervous and picky to chance my machines through that kind of harsh environment. With all that said, one of my goals this year is to find a nice used cargo trailer to haul my pins in so that I can much easier (and safer) haul them to such events as the TPF. I would have even bought a Pinball at the show this year if I just had something to securely put it in and not have to worry about it .

Once again, a big THANK YOU to all of the show staff for putting the show on and all that contributed to the show by bringing their games and the venders that set up their booths at the show.

Yes... I'll say it. This got under my skin real bad. I spent countless hours restoring a game for everyone to enjoy and to see how it would stack up with the judges. Was thrilled it sold early on but every time I walked by it and it was turned off (not broken) it hurt. Hurt more when I found out it couldn't be judged to for reasons I don't feel the need to share in a forum right now.

Needles to say the new owners took something away from me that I can't get back. That's the pride of seeing people enjoy the fruits if my labor.

Other than that it was another outstanding TPF.

That's horseshit, brother. I'm sorry that happened to you. What machine was it? I'd be happy to tell you how awesome it was (I'm a big fan of restorations!).

Good, this will save me a PM. Freedom was the highlight of the show for me. Loved all the VECTOR EMs but that one was amazing.

Really dug the history of pinball booth, nicely put together display and selection.

Personally I thought Reverse Flush should have taken the top award, just awesome work and imagination.

Doozie! I'm partial to it because it's from my birth year and I love zipper flippers but it helped that this one from Shawn Christian was in amazing condition.

I loved lots of the SS/DMD games as well but there are so few EMs in the wild it's great to see such a selection. And classic Sterns, gimme all you can!

HUGE THANKS to everyone who brought a game. So much work and risk to make TPF what it is.

Only downside (besides the crappy AC in my hotel room) was the same as last year: ended too soon...

It was the awesome Xenon:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/xenon-restoration
I was surprised it didn't win an award and now I (partially at least) know why...

So you have a problem with the awards but you were not there to hear them given out?

I like your idea for giving an award to home built mods. However your post above didn't get that point across really well. You said "Seems like all the modern awards were based on how much cash you paid out to mod vendors or if your purchase a pimped out LE pin from the manufacturer" I take offense to you insinuating the award was given out to how much cash was spent on mods. That was NOT the case I assure you. There were other factors such as taste and personal touch.

Hilton, I enjoyed getting to meet you. You're a good pinball player and a smart guy. And I appreciate the few elements of your criticism that are informed and constructive. That's not a bad idea for the parent/child tourney.

But I highly suggest you learn what you're talking about before spouting off and whining/complaining. It's not just TPF, but a whole host of other topics here on Pinside.

You're welcome for all the hours that Ken, Rachel, Kim, Ed, and I -- along with numerous volunteers and pin exhibitors -- put into planning, arranging, and running a successful tournament. Next time, introduce yourself to Ken. He's an outstanding guy. He was the head TD and one of the organizers of TPF who was there for nearly every hour of qualifying, and the TD for the entire finals -- that he didn't play in. He also graciously got his Demo Man tourney-worthy, transporting and putting it into the tourney, which included putting in a new board because he discovered it wasn't saving software settings anytime it got turned off. He also manually searched and input yours and all other 160 players' IFPA ranking for purposes of determining who was eligible for novice finals, etc. Amongst other things.

I made a lot of calls during qualifying because it was my job as assistant TD, because I cared about the tourney, I care about TPF, and I had experience/knowledge in making ruling calls. I spent an entire 2 days prepping and running the TPF tourney instead of spending that time with my wife and kids at TPF. If you're so great and knowledgeable about all things of tournament directing and pin upkeep at a festival, why weren't you volunteering to help?

There was a whole team of volunteers that set up and tested the pins -- not just me. You suggest that one person -- who shouldn't be allowed to play -- could do all of it? In TPF's case: too many pins -- not enough time. We divided and conquered, and most of it involved switch testing, leveling, pitch setting, and tilt setting. Where were you when all this happened so you could make an informed accusation that I or anyone else play-tested every pin? Oh, wait. You weren't there. And yet you're spouting off false accusations. And if you were there for part of the set-up, then I suggest you chip in and help instead of complaining.

Enough already.

The tournament was fantastic IMO. Of course, I came in 81st so I have no real skin in the game. I just enjoyed competing on some ridiculously nice games. I had the #1 score on Nitro Ground Shaker for about 4 hours Friday night, so that was my little victory. There are ways for anyone to enjoy a tournament, no matter what their level.

I was fortunate to get in 4 games on Frontier Sunday morning. The left flipper was not operating correctly, but I was still able to shoot most of the shots to get a feel for the game. Was a really nice example of a great Bally.....so appreciative the game was at the show.

I enjoyed meeting you also Colin.

I call it feedback and am trying to be constructive. Simply put, it is best when running a large limited qualifying tournament where big $ are on the line to ensure that some people playing do not have advantages over others. I think the best way to do this is to have a TD (and assistant TDs in this case I suppose since that is whom was really running the show form my experience) get a portion of the prize pot as payment for their efforts. I would suggest $500-$800 as a fair payment. Do you think you had no advantages by setting up and play testing games in advance? It is easy to remove these advantages by just removing the main TD from competing.

I said thanks to each and every helper many times. I am very thankful for what they all do. I run many events (none this calibur or large or stressful) so I fully understand what it is like to have to be on that side of things and how thankless a job it can be. Ask your helpers and I am sure many will relay how greatful I was for their work.

Anytime I had a question or experienced a malfunction and asked for an official, you were the one to respond. You were the one that appeared to be running the entire thing from a players perspective. Thanks to Ken for bringing his DM and all that he did.

You obviously do care and put alot of effort into the tourney. I care also and that is why I am even providing feedback on what I would like to see for future improvements.

I would be happy to help in future years if you needed it. This is not my local show, but happy to lend a hand if you need it in the future. I tried to provide a few last minute suggestions when I arrived early, but they seemed to not be wanted at the time. For example, I made the suggestion that the skillshot on fireball is important and the shooter rod was a bit gummy past the front third of a pull. I was told the skillshot plunge is on the front 1/3 of the pull so it was not needed.

You knew the feeds and skillshot plunges on all the games upfront. This is something that needs to happen when a TD is setting up games and tweaking them to be appropriately brutal yet fair. By the nature of it, anyone that is helping set up and tweak games should be learning the feeds. My suggestion is around trying to limit or remove these advantages from competition that follows setup. The easiest way to do this is to not have the main person playing in the event.

I personally can set up 12 pins in about 6hours, assuming those pins are playing good and have been gone through in advance by owners and before they arrive at the show. If you dont have 1 person that is willing/able to do this then I would suggest leveraging the style of the event to help remove advantages from future years. Have 3 era specific people. 1 person sets up the 4 DMDs and tweaks them, but then does not play in the main event. They can still compete but only on the SS and EM categories. This would be a good way to level the playing field.

When it all comes down to it, there are advantages to being part of any tourney and helping to set up games. I know this as I run lots of events and have seen these advantages myself in the past. Knowing the games in advance is a greater advantage when dealing with a very limited qualifying style of event. You will note that often when TDs host (for example a SCS in a private collection) that there is atleast a practice time for people to be able to get a feel for the games, learn feeds, and find tilts during warm-up. TPF does not have this option given the number of competitors so they should work to address the advantages of those familiar with the games in different ways.

If 1 person is not able to do all set up and tweaking then I suggest thinking out of the box to help to continue to grow the event and make it a premier competition.

TPF tournament is definately on the right trajectory. I hope there are continueed improvements to keep it on the right trajectory. Despite some of the last minute hiccups, it was a fun event and a HUGE thanks to all the voulenteers that put it on! I hope you can take some time to step back and chew on my feedback to see that what I am saying are godo things if you want the event to realy grow to the next level. I think you have all of the makings of a top 4 event if you keep making adjustments each year.

If you want help with next year then please reach out and let me know in advance. At this time I do not plan to come back to TPF but woudl be happy to do so if you want a hand. I would even voulenteer to be the DMD setup guy and then not compete on those games in the tourney and on play the SS and EMs. I think we could also add in some daily events, a split flipper, and some other fun competitions.

So many words for someone that is not coming back. All of your statements that I have seen about TPF so far have been really blown out of proportion. No show will be perfect, no tourney will make everyone happy, no show will have 100% functioning games, every show has a few beaters brought in that shouldn't be there, etc. If you are so passionate about change use your time and hands to make things better before and during the event, not your words after it's over.

I go to several shows and TPF is by far the best and pretty much gets better every year. The staff learns from mistakes and improves, not sure what more you want.

It upsets me when organizers are accused of having an unfair advantage, having been in this position myself a few times. Try running an event and see how much of an "advantage" you really have. Might as well extend the prohibition to the games' owners, while you're at it. See how many game volunteers you get then.

MORE PICTURES!!!! hehe

Because it's so much work to put together, and it's something I would never dream of doing, I don't criticize the little things.

I think TPF was as close to perfect as a show gets...but we'll see what Pintastic has in store this year. It was pretty damn perfect as well last year!

NO!!!!! It was too much fun playing "Where's Hilton & Kaneda?" all weekend.

but seriously...that was a game.

That's a clue... heed it.

No joke, when I run a tournament I am so frazzled by what's going on that my play severely suffers.

I would like to go back as I had a great time. I just dont have the funds/time off to attend every show every year.

um... That is all I would want. LISTEN to feedback and make improvements. If you dont get any feedback then you are already losing. If you dont listen then feedback is pointless. If you dont adjust to feedback then that is your choice.

Trust me that other competitors had similar feelings and thoughts. I understand why they dont share them as there are always people to berate anyone that provides feedback even when constructive. I want the show to get better. If I did not enjoy it and did not provide feedback then you would know I did not care

No show will ever be perfect, but TPF has all the puzzle pieces in place to get as close as you can to perfect. If they continue to take feedback and make improvements then they could end up being the greatest pinball show of all time.

As far as impressions go, while the game variety didn't seem quite as good as in past years, I thought the show was great. The tourney was really well run and the floor plan was really good. The only bad congestion spot was the long line of pins next to the tournament area, but not too terrible.

We had 16 pins in our booth (1984/QCP/OPS/403 Club) and all of the games had people on them the entire weekend. We tried to have somebody near the pins at all times to take care of any issues. Only times the games were down for longer than 15-20 was after they were sold to the new owners and the new owners were very reluctant to take care of stuck balls or the like.

We had a great time though and two of the machines in our group won blue ribbons. My Dad's Taxi won best 80's machine and 1984's Spinal Tap won best custom game.

I also had a great time meeting new Pinsiders and talking shop and what not. I am already looking forward to next year.

I run lots of events and there are advantages and disadvantages in doing so. In many cases the events are small enough that the reality is they would not happen at all if a TD was not allowed to play. In cases like premier events it is a good idea to take steps to remove these advantages as best as possible if TDs are also competing.

In small events the easiest way to level the field is to allow some warm up.
In larger events where that is not logistically possible then you need to take other measures.
Keep in mind that many large events use unlimited qualifying and that alone will remove any advantage. Granted I dont think unlimited qualifying events are very fun, so dont prefer that method of qualifying.

I have made suggestions in a contructive way for how those advantages can be mittigated for TPF. Reality is that taking these steps sure wont hurt the growth of the TPF tournament and the growth of the TPF tournament is a good thing for the growth of TPF as a whole. While the tourney may not make and y direct money for the show, it does currently bring in people that otherwise would not attend the show. Competitive play is growing and TPF will need to adjust IF they want to grow their competitive event for the show.

Remind me to slap you up side the head at the Olympics.

Somebody wanted a pic of the Snow Derby

image_(resized).jpeg

that snow derby was AMAZING!

I get that. I jut think it would be more professional to have gotten the tourney directors email along with some others involved and give your suggestions that way. Airing it on a forum just comes across as complaining even if it's not meant that way.

This surprises me when you seem to sell games that you have just sat on for a year and done nothing with for $3000 (approx.) over what you paid for it.

It seems to me that Hilton is very, very passionate about pinball and all things related to it, and accordingly I think his comments on most things lack 'moderation' as he typically does not measure his comments, they all come full bore with nothing held back. Does make it hard to differentiate what items he really feels strongly about, since all his comments carry such passion, bluntness and delivered with a somewhat authoritarian tone that can be a little in your face and oft putting to some (or many). Often he has valuable insights, but you do have to look past the hyperbole and bluntness what he writes in order to see it.

You were not looking hard I was in the tournament area all weekend. Fixing games, making calls etc. I did not play in the tournament (though I wanted to do so) so there would be no conflict with any decision that affected anyone else volunteering to work in the tourney area who also played.

Ken

Every ruling I was involved in was handled by Ken. He ruled when NGS crashed on me. He ruled when a player walked away from ball 5 on Cleo. He ruled on the whirlwind malfunction in the quarters. Of course Colin was playing the entire finals so could not rule, this was even made very clear during the player's briefing before the finals. Ken was TD for the finals.

I think you are confusing Ken's seemingly more quiet personality and possible aversion to public speaking (or maybe Colin's desire for public speaking) as less involvement. I would argue you saw what you wanted to see.

As for advantages, yes if you set a machine you have a small advantage, but over 2 days of qualifying, take your time, watch the machines, talk to others. The advantage quickly disappears. I knew about the feeds and tilts on most machines before I walked up to them. Still tilted frontier my first game despite being warned by multiple people .

I did not sell my AMH, assuming that is what your are referring to.

I put it up for a 9k obo as that is what the last NIB sold for. I had offers of 7800 and 8200 from 2 pinsiders but did not sell it as I really did not want to and sold other games to come up with the money I needed. I know it is hard for some to understand or believe but I really did have a good opportunity to buy another investment property but needed cash quickly in order to make the deal happen.

If I was just looking to flip for a profit I would have sold it for 8200 and walked away. I like the game and want to keep it. Sometimes life gets in the way of the hobby and that was the easiest game to put up for possible sale to get some quick cash given the value and ease of selling a NIB game. I am really glad I found the money elsewhere as I know I am way to cheap to pay secondary prices for what AMH is selling for and it is one of my favorite games.

As for my personal budget on where I choose to spend money. I budget to fly to one new pinball show each year. This year it was TPF and I am glad I went. Overall a great show and a must visit for anyone within a reasonable range or that also enjoys traveling to check out other shows.

Angryjeep really gave me new drop target decals for my machine . They were brand new jamed in the back glass for me to use . I'm really excited that someone was nice enough to do that . It's the small things that matter sometimes .

I set up a great deal of the tourney games (some of the owners set up their own) and checked level and performance on them. Colin was actually running late, and I had a great deal of them set up before he even got there Thursday. I also checked them after they were repaired (great job by Eugene and Evan) for helping us get them back up and going when they went down. Although I had to trim some drop targets that were too tall for Torch to keep the game up and going. I have never saw that many drops snap off in one weekend. We managed to keep every game running all the way through qualifying without having to replace it or cut off entry on it. If you would like to help set up games next year by all means let me know. We could use the help

No one had an advantage going into or playing in the tourney. That was done on purpose. We also had several other judges that played but none made a call that impacted them. We even had a situation where the BSD that was supposed to be in the tourney area could not be there and we sought out that same title on the floor for use (got lucky and found one). So that we could use the game list that was published earlier.

The reduction is attempts reasoning had already been talked about before qualifying started (way before). They tourney ran smooth and everyone had a good time

Two Texans did make the final four though. If you want an outside opinion on how it ran ask Trent. He can tell you because he has been to a lot of TPF tourneys and he can vouch for how well this one went. I also spent some time after the show talking to him about ideas for 2017. If you have ideas on how to improve things for 2017 as well feel free to message me.

Ken

I don't have an aversion to public speaking, I actually was a DJ at one time. However, I am soft spoken and don't draw attention for attentions sake. Thanks for speaking up. I made a bunch of rulings and dealt with malfunctions etc all weekend. We even had a handy rules card laminated and on the table to ensure that when similar rulings were needed they would be as consistent and fair as possible. I referred to this a great deal. It was very handy actually.

As I mentioned in another reply, we can always use help setting up games Taking them down too

Ken

If you come TPF just to play in the tourney you are missing 99% of what makes the show awesome

Ken

Please wait to do that until I arrive Bryan, I want to get that on tape......sorry Hilton

Chris

It is your hypocrisy that is my issue. You gave some guy in Michigan a bashing online for I think as you put it simply wiping the glass on a HUO Baywatch and then keeping it a month before selling for some profit, I believe roughly $700-800. Essentially calling him a flipper even though he was getting what the market determined was fair. This isn't the only time I have seen you do such a thing, just one of the most recent and memorable. Also giving Lyman a lot of crap for advancing to the finals and then leaving the tournament this past weekend and forfeiting for second place, not giving some kid a chance to play in the finals even though Lyman would have to bail.

If you don't see how you sitting on a game for a year and then trying to get just what the market price for the last one sold isn't flipping, or the fact that you have 2 AMH, instead of letting the next guy buy one to have a chance at owning it at the original price of $6k is similar to what Lyman did well then I don't know what to tell you. How do you know the Baywatch owner wasn't buying a car or house or some other large purchase that he needed quick funds to complete the transaction?

Sometimes you should think about this, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt." Someone much smarter than me said that, but I try to heed the advice. Learn that your opinion is simply opinion and not fact, and state those beliefs as such.

Tommy gettin' fired up....I like it. Don't forget to rant about it on This Flippin' Podcast.

Different things in my world as intent is important.
That guy like other flippers bought with the intent to resell and nothing else. He price checked prior to purchase to find the market, bragged about his score once he got it, and sold in the same month. That is nothing positive for the hobby from my perspective.

I bought not 1, but 2 AMH when other people were not even slightly interested in buying the game as I wanted to support Spooky. I put one on route so others could experience the game. The other is a personally owned game as I like it. This is a big positive from my perspective. I helped with the sale of 2 games for a company getting off the ground that was not selling hardly anything for the first year and put one out to get beat on so others could see if they liked it and sure enough a few more sales came out of that.

This is not even remotely close to what Lyman did nor is this even remotely close to a flipper looking for a score only to wipe down the game and resell for a profit. I supported a company trying to get off the ground by taking a risk and buying not 1 but 2 games. I have 1 still NIB because there is no reason to open it when I dont have the room to do so and the one on route is only 1 mile away. Please note I did not sell the game and still have it sitting NIB, so all your hate is pretty silly. I put it up for sale as it was the quickest possible way to the cash I needed. I DID NOT sell it, so at this point I did not even follow through on your miguided and wrong accusation of hypocrisy.

Interestingly enough, I would have been happy to send the AMH to a friend for exactly cost had any of them wanted it, but none of them did (likely cause they all have 1 on route to play at their liesure). However, dont expect me to sell it to some random when they had the chance to buy it for over a year when spooky had them available and could have used the support then.

But you had the intent to sell it

Note: I'm just giving Hilton a hard time - I see the point he's trying to make about the difference. RE: Only buying once you can confirm you're getting below market pricing with the intent to re-sell at market price rather than letting someone else who actually wants the game make the original purchase is more evil (in his opinion).

One thing I was impressed by was how much fun GoT Pro was over the LE and Premium. I know I am in the minority there, but it has so much flow and didn't feel so claustrophobic.

haha, nice.

So returned today to the Netherlands after a great TPF (first time visit, only like 24 hr travel 1way...)

Having organized twice Dutch Pinball Open DPO expo (approx 160-170 pinballs and around 165 tournament players) I know what it takes off personal effort to organize a show like this. Respect respect for all the work put into it.

Everything appeared to run smoothly and saw a lot of people having a good time and that's what drives the volunteers. Take good care of them !!

And yes there will always be criticized. Listen to it and don't go direct in defensive positions (which is very difficult I know from personal experience). There is always something which can be improved but keep it workable and again, take good care of the volunteers !

So, congratulations to everybody envolved for a job well done !!

I bought the game a year ago... Just like every game I buy, it is with the intent to keep it. Sometimes you have to sell some (or so I am told)

You and I had no idea that the prices for AMH would increase as quick as they have. In fact when I purchased the game, many thought it was a flop and not worth the original price. I purchased witht he SOLE intent of supporting spooky and owning what I thought was a cool game!

It was great to meet you, and hope to cross paths with you again someday!

Oh, so now you can read people's intent? Wow that is an impressive skill. I believe I can do the same thing and I am saying that you bought with the intent to profit on AMH. I'm not even mad about that, I'm mad that you give someone else a hard time for doing the same thing. I have nothing against a person who flips a game, especially one that I own as is the case with both Baywatch and AMH. All they are doing is increasing price on sales history which makes me selling the game in the future that much easier.

I don't know when you bought your AMH, but I feel like it tied into Spooky making a rush of sales a year ago at TPF and you just jumped in on the bandwagon, I could be completely wrong, don't know for sure at all, but just recall it being around there.

Anyway my point still stands, you are admitting you would completely overcharge another pinsider who isn't your "friend" instead of treating us as a community, charging more for a game you have done nothing but sit on. I believe you support spooky, fully agree with that, you have championed them hard and for good reason as they are a good company, but for you to say you didn't intend to sell, yet list at $3k over sale price it is just a joke. If you get it great, happy for you, but to say it isn't flipping is a flat out lie. You also definitely mentioned needing to play RZ before ordering it, you weren't worried about just supporting them as a company then. Just feel free to keep talking and I will feel free to keep pointing out more instances where you have been a hypocrite publicly on a forum that is easy to research post history.

OK, now that you guys have settled that - does anyone else have any impressions from TPF they'd like to share?