My limited experience bringing games to shows has seen none of this stuff. Scratches, chips, or anything missing like keys is ridiculous. Regular repairs should be expected, but nothing beyond what should happen at home after a few hundred plays. I think the worst thing that I've "endured" is a broken rubber, but I do try to bring bullet proof, battle tested machines when I bring them.

Big thanks to all the vendors, free play game bringers, volunteers and show staff for putting on a great show. Other than the broken stuff -- and who can say whether a game was working when it left someone's house or not -- my big WTF was seeing the horrible playfield glass on a handful of the free play games. Do people put "beater" glass on the games they bring to shows to avoid scratches on their good glass, or is this really what their games have on them at home? To each their own, but... go on and treat yourself to a $30 sheet of glass. You deserve it.

Random tales from this year's show:
1. On Saturday morning, Automated's Walking Dead wasn't on free play. But, the key was in the lock. I looked around and figured the easiest thing to do was set it to free play myself, so I did.

2. I'm not especially handy, at least not without my reading glasses, but I fumbled my way through attaching a flipper spring on the Project Pinball Mustang on Saturday. Dan gave me the OK to make this repair.

3. In the free play room, someone I was playing with got a ball stuck on a ramp return on Dracula. After trying to gently nudge the ball free, I was able to dislodge it by lifting the front legs (and of course setting it down gently). I could have turned the game off and made a repair ticket, but this seemed like a reasonable thing to do. I would have given up and made a repair ticket if I couldn't resolve the problem with a small lift and minimal effort.