My TPF experience and pix... 2nd time going, first as an exhibitor. Took two of my S/S Ballys. By Sunday afternoon, The 6M$M had 358 plays and the Black Pyramid had 318. No hitches on the BP, the 6M$M lost all backglass GI lights and about a dozen p/f lights. This was Thursday evening after loading in. Well set up and a great venue. Behind me to the left is the Elevation Games area.

I am ruined for all other games. Seriously, it plays like a dream and sounds like a wet one. (Anyone know who did the sounds for this game? Waaay hotter than the Playboy machine...) Smooth, fun and a hoot to boot. Built in humor and kick-ass art. You can keep your WoZ. I'll be dreaming about this game for some time. While there was often a small line to play, I pretty much had it to myself early Sunday morning while all the tourney players were catching 5 winks. Nice!!

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First pic reboot.

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Two fun games! Had never seen a Flip Flop before.

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Lonliest games in the joint, tucked away in a back corner. I gave the Old Chicago lots of love. A favorite game from waaaay back!

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Love to see this stuff too! Sadly, no EM shooters like at 2012 show. But there was a choice selection of video games.

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Speaking of insanely difficult challenges... This thing was a hoot!! Personal best, Level Four.

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Some awesome (and award winning) examples of restoration done right.

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The next generation.

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Literally, row after row of fun!!

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The never-ending WoZ line. Totally NOT worth it, IMHO.

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A couple of fun games. On the other side is a classic Playboy and a Cyclone that never worked. Don't get me started... Also, a random shot of the Tourney area. I avoided the tournaments this time so I could concentrate on just having fun. Totally worked.

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Coolest display at the show. Kudos to whomever brought this. How did you ever get this???

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My pinball topper attempted to come with...

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Nice photos. Thanks for sharing.

Nice photos Mk1Mod0! My wife and I enjoyed 4 of the 300-some games you had played on your BP. Thanks for bringing it.

Those were actually Steve Kirks. The designer of Nineball, Stars, Meteor, etc. Long story but that is the original #1 Gamatron every produced from a kit. The whitewood was from his storage unit he left behind in Chicago when he passed. The whitewood almost became firewood. So I am glad you realized how cool they are because I believe that whitewood is the first look at Flight 2000. I truly believe that is the "original" design (Can't prove this yet). The whitewood exposes some of those differences. Whitewood is from 1979?/80. F2k was built in 1980. Gamatron 1986.

Did you notice Gamatron has a "real" ball walker..... Skips from hole to hole in the lock area. This is the way it was intended. I made the whitewood a working game. Put it into a Stars cabinet before the show to match the original #1 conversion kit.

Maybe next year I will give a talk on these pieces at the show. There is some really cool history here.

Bill

Cool history indeed. While admiring/playing/taking photos I relayed what a white wood was to several folk who thought it was someones attempt to hand re-create a playfield. I thought the "ballwalker" was a neat feature. A few of the older EMs have a similar feature where the ball is shuffled across the P/F in a series of eject holes. Looks cool.

Was Ice Cold Beer ever powered up?

I had a great time and the highlight for me -- at least it was my one goal -- was to get a play of WOZ. I did it on the first night.

(Interestingly, I was witness to some testiness over waiting in line. It was an unfortunate thing. A group of three people were playing and the ball got stuck in the left-middle lane. I called the JJP guy over who says that the player will lose the ball. It was at this point that the TPF crew (I suppose) decided that the machines needed to be moved because WOZ's location was causing a traffic pileup. (It was.) So, the JJP aborted the group's game. The people waiting behind them said something to the effect of: "Yay! We're next..." and the first group felt their game was interrupted so they should be able to play again, but the people reiterated that they were next. It got just a bit warm. The first group wandered off while the JJP guy moved the table and so the next group did go. I got to play during that group and enjoyed the game. I might have played again, but the line was sooo long. I didn't get to play AC/DC either because it was right next to WOZ and if it wasn't being played it was overrun with people watching or waiting for WOZ.)

I had such a great time. I was tired by the end of it. It was my first pinball festival. IMG_0270.jpg IMG_0268.JPG IMG_0267.JPG

Wow tpf looks amazing since I live in the uk pics is all I get to see
Never played avengers pro or le is it that good

There are some amazing shows closer to you.

Or maybe one day you can hop across the pond and hit a show or two here.

LTG : )

There will be UKPP2013
George gomez will be there and heighway pinball will bring 4 machines(andy heighway which has run ukpp since 2010)
Its in august booked tickets and rooms already. The last host was mark ritchie