I'm also a fan of NE Arcade, went there the opening day where it was good enough, but went back last week and it's greatly improved with a few extra machines (more pinball makes anything better). They run a one night tournament on Tuesday nights at 7 now.

I heard about the Midwest Gaming Classic in Milwaukee, and plan to go this year for the first time to play a ton of pinball. Can anyone who went last year tell me if the Friday preview is worth going to, and tell me more about the after party? Not sure if I want to drop $75 on a few hour party with how little info there is about it.

If they'll fit in the back of a Mazda 3 hatchback I've got plans to stop by I/O in Madison on my way to MGC on that Thursday night. Not sure what that guy's pickup schedule would be, but I wouldn't be available to pick anything up until March 27th at the earliest

Just got back from vacation and it's crazy how things changed. Unfortunately with both MGC cancelling and the pinball warehouse closing, I don't think this is going to work out as planned - Were you able to figure something out?

Same, NE Arcade is a great spot. Can't wait to come back for a Tuesday tournament if you're still going to have those after you reopen

Wow, that sucks. I was waiting to go back the day it reopened. Hope you find a new home, would be great if someone could put more than one machine closer to the NE suburbs, so I wouldn't have to drive half an hour to Minneapolis to get my fix.

In the meantime, if you need someone to hold onto that Theatre of Magic, Genie, or Target Alpha, I've got some room in the basement!

That's tempting, but I was hoping to rent a machine at least for the near future as a trial run to see if I eventually wanted to own one (i.e. would I still be playing it a month in). But let me think more about it and I'll get back to you if I want to take you up on your offer

I won an Iron Maiden translite a while ago, and I'd like to get around to mounting it in front of some LEDs. Does anyone have a recommended plan to follow, or has a lighted display they'd want to sell to me?

Speaking of checking up on businesses, I haven't heard anything about UpDown or Tilt. I assume they're doing fine so far?

Yeah, my question wasn't meant to set this off, I was just hoping that someone had heard an update about how Tilt or UpDown have been doing lately, since I've heard nothing about either place, but know there was damage at least in the UpDown area.

I see that UpDown is opening tomorrow, any word on Tilt coming back?

Went into Tilt this afternoon when they opened, things seemed to be going well. Had about 10 people in at the time, there was plenty of room for everyone. Not sure how many people they're letting in at once, and half the machines are on but they'll switch on/off machines as requested.

I heard from one of the employees that mentioned they were probably going to swap out (a then out of order) Fish Tails for TMNT

I swear these only exist because someone put in the wrong SKU and ended up with thousands of CD drive parts, and couldn't return them

Or be like me, who bought #2 with #1...

Are all machines supposed to be half off? The card system is already annoying as is, but the last couple times I went, maybe half the machines were actually half off, and the staff had no idea if it was supposed to be that way or not.

St Paul Tap's alright, but not a place I end up at unless I don't want to drive another 15 minutes to Minneapolis, or I know Tilt will be packed. Food's good though, so I end up there occasionally

I haven't made it there (or really anywhere) since March, but I know the last three times I was there after 6, there were more machines asking the usual amount of credits vs half-off. If it's still the case next time I go back, I can let someone know, but the last person I spoke with just assumed that the prices were set correctly

Anyone thinking about selling their Guns N' Roses (SE) ? New one isn't quite in my budget yet, but maybe someone around the Twin Cities is looking to sell theirs?

That's sort of what I'm expecting, but it can't hurt to ask, I can wait until there's more new stock available. I guess I'd also consider a The Simpsons Pinball Party or Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Pro) as games I'd love to own, that are a bit newer than what I already own

Spent a bunch of time playing a few games I was interested in, and I think I'm going to go after either an Avengers: Infinity Quest (Premium) or Batman 66 (Premium) . Not too into the superhero theme, but good pinball is good pinball and I enjoyed playing AIQ. Batman has always been a favorite.

Which of the two would you guys pick? Anyone have a used one that they might want to sell before I get one new?

You nailed my thinking. AIQ was fun, and if there aren't any Batmans available, then it's an easy choice to get an AIQ. Theme-wise I liked watching the Batman TV show, and having played it multiple times over a longer period of time I know I'll enjoy it, vs AIQ where I've played it 5 times and am guessing it would be fun. I know I can't lose either way

Are leagues starting back up again? I haven't been much of anywhere recently to check

The basement is open, but when I was there it needed some attention. I don't know who maintains it, but the first three I tried (Spider Man, Mata Hari, and Twilight Zone) all had various issues preventing a game from starting, I had to go up multiple times to get a refund. Played a couple rounds of Terminator 2, and left hoping I just got unlucky. Used to be a favorite place to go before league night at Tilt when I wanted to play something different.

Nice, loved their BBQ before their place in that Minneapolis grocery store burned down, this just gives me another excuse to stop in

Going for my second year (first went 2019, didn't happen last year). Pretty good arcade selection, pinball was a bit lacking but still a good mix of 2-3 machines per era, but they're making an effort to get more people to bring in their games. I believe anyone who brings in a machine gets a free VIP ticket and entry into a private pinball tournament specific to people who bring in their machines. I'd love to bring one of mine, but don't have a car big enough.

Hard to compare to MGC as I haven't been there, but pinball isn't the main focus. The gaming hall was split pretty evenly across tabletop games, console/PC games, vendors, and arcade, with a row of about 10 or so pinball machines. I spent most of my weekend going between games of pinball and Pathfinder.

VIP ticket got me access to the roped off three hour VIP "party" area Friday night, which had all the pinball machines and a row of arcade machines in it as well as a set of battletech pods from Fallout Shelter Arcade in Minneapolis that were free to use through the event.

They had a tournament in 2019, Had maybe 10 people for a strike tournament. They gave out translites to everyone who entered (which reminds me, I still need to frame the Iron Maiden one I got). This year it's apparently an IFPA sanctioned event, and they're covering the entry fee. No idea on prizes, if any.

Here's the last pinball list I saw from their Discord server:

Virtual Multipin (hopefully not the same one that was in last time, super laggy and no one played it more than once)
PC Multimorphic modular
Metallica
F-14 Tomcat
Hotwheels
Led Zepplin
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Guns and Roses
Avengers: Infinity Quest
Mandalorian
Lethal Weapon 3
Jurassic Park
Houdini
Triple Action
High Hand

You're not wrong. It's a convention with pinball, not a pinball convention. If you're going only intending to play pinball, you'll get bored before the day's over

I'd like to get into repairing older games, but I feel like I'm not skilled enough yet to give it a try. If you need an extra pair of hands some day, I wouldn't mind helping out on a project.

I should have asked here who was all going. I loved their selection this year, probably double what was around last time.

I should have taken better pictures to remember what was all there, but notable machines for me were a few EMs I hadn't seen before and a P3 (and a Sorcerer's Apprentice module). They must have had at least 25 machines. The tournament got 14 people?

Anyone around Madison know if Maria's bar is still open? Found it when I drove through in 2019, but I thought it was closed permanently. They had a nice collection of older pinball machines and I'd love to stop in again when I'm around this week.

I'm well aware of IO and it's one place I plan to stop by, but I know that place is still open. Just didn't know what happened to Maria's

Oh, I remember reading about this here, but forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder

How long is the line on Black Friday for these?

I have a two day ticket to https://madwithpowerfest.com/ in Madison August 19-20, and I'm not going to be able to go. Looking to sell my ticket for $45, I'll transfer it through the website. Basically video game metal in an arcade, but I've never been to previous shows.

Checking Pinside for the first time since 2DCon, so I'm a bit late...

I also helped with the pinball and console area this year, even ran a panel on how to play competitively. The pinball turnout was great, had about 20 machines. If Northvibe is who I think it is, their tables were a nice addition. Would love to see more next year, please let SevenEightyRacer or myself know if you'd like to bring anything, even one machine is great and gets you some perks for the convention.

I used to be on the Monday league team that played at UpDown, and you're right that almost every week we saw no more than one machine out of order. Some of them played kind of strange, but at 10-25c a game I rarely had any complaints. I mostly played Tron for the league, and that thing always played great.

I tried calling the number once because we wanted to get ahold of whoever was doing maintenance so we could get some conversations going about some adjustments that needed to be done, but I never heard back from anyone. We no longer play league there so I don't go as often as I should, but I always recommend it as the place to go if you want more than just pinball, but still want a good amount of pinball machines.

What version?

Ah, probably more than I'd want to spend on it. I'm looking for a premium model.

Oh, I'll send you a PM then

Putting my AIQ premium on the market

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/145653

SOLD!

Machine - For Sale

Avengers: Infinity Quest (Premium) Archived

HUO - Documented (Home Used Only) - “Editing this a bit as I was able to source a machine I was looking for. Would still maybe consider a trade, but I'm more looking for cash at the moment. Edit 2: Dropping down to...”

2022-11-04

Mahtomedi, MN

BadgeringBadger

8,000 (OBO)

Archived after: 30 days

Viewed: 504 times

Status: Sold for $ 8,000

Contributed to Pinside

Got positive feedback

Putting my AIQ Premium on the market

(Edit: Ended up getting one of the machines I wanted, so now I'm more interested in cash, and dropped the price a bit. Still could be interested in a trade for a small list of machines)

Also have a Target Alpha I'd take offers on, but not too committed to selling that. Ask for pictures if you're interested.

To add to the Monday Twin Cities league talk, I'm helping form a team at the Oakdale Burrow, and there's still room for more people. If anyone's interested in playing over there, let me know, otherwise there are some posters on site with more info.

I'm hoping it works. I've played the last few seasons at UpDown and Tilt, but I'm joining the Burrow team for at least a season to help get it off the ground.
It sounds like we have some interest from people who are new to competitive pinball, so I feel like even if it only lasts a season or two it'll get some new players interested in playing elsewhere. I know it's not as close as most of the Minneapolis locations for some people, but at least it's right off the interstate.

Good to hear, I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did

I'll be there that weekend. Come Friday and play Clock Chaos! I'm helping run it this year and there are a couple slots still open.

Did you end up going? Wondering what people thought of it.

It'll always be Camp Snoopy, and it'll always be Tilt

I have a $1k deposit on an Iron Maiden pro from Fargo that I'm looking to sell, to maybe get a Foo Fighters instead. Anyone interested in buying it from me?

Adding some missing info - I'm asking for $1k, not less. I was told it will be shipped in May when I put down the deposit. The buyer would then still owe $5,999 to Fargo Pinball once it's ready to ship.

I second District 1. I stop in at least one night over trivia weekend when I'm in the area, always have a good time.

We're about 3 months away from another 2DCon, and I'd like to see if anyone here's willing to bring some machines!

The convention runs from August 25th-27th at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis. Load-in starts on the afternoon of the 24th, and for each machine you can keep on site from the 25-27th, we'll give you a VIP ticket, up to four machines. If you want to bring more and/or you have a business you want to represent, DM me and we can figure out if we can throw in some extra perks / advertising / whatever.

A VIP ticket gets you access to the two planned VIP parties, one at Lakes and Legends Thursday night, and one during the weekend at the hotel. More VIP perks are listed at https://www.2dcon.net/register

We're planning on hosting a free strikes tournament, which will be IFPA sanctioned this year.

I'm one of the pinball department leads this year, feel free to DM me any questions, and the form to bring your own machine is at https://www.2dcon.net/what-to-do/arcade/

That matches the last thing I heard. Between that and the new LITT space, we're going to see some nice upgrades for some of my favorite arcades around the twin cities.

Under 50 days away, wanted to bring this up again and see if anyone was interested in bringing a pinball machine or arcade cabinet.

Same, I've gone so far as to choose vacation destinations because they have a few machines I haven't played. Up to 585 machines, 87 locations over 6 years. I had a global #1/1 score on something on my trip out to Pittsburgh for a few years.

I was responsible for the pinball area for the first time this year, and I'd say it was a success for quality over quantity. We had a few regulars not able to make it this year so we only had about 12 vs the 20-25 I've seen previously, but what Pinball Place brought out was great. Queen was popular, hoping I see that out on location some time soon otherwise I might have to make room for one at my house. The arcade side was also packed, with a mix of 80s and newer (and one so new they brought the garage prototype) games from here and Japan.

We ran a SIC leaderboard, and the tournament got 18 people, including 6 who have never played in a tournament before. Between the tournament and the panel I ran on how to get better at pinball, I'm hoping this event is going to make some new tournament players eventually.

Now that I have a full year to plan for next year as the new pinball / arcade lead, I'm trying to figure out how to make this more attractive to collectors, and how to grow the pinball area. I'd love to see this the size of Midwest Gaming Classic, hopefully we're trending that way as more people attend and see the potential, but are we missing anything that would make this more attractive to people here? Right now we offer a free VIP ticket per machine, and in the past we've offered an owners-only pinball tournament with some prizes. For those who go out to MGC / Chicago Expo / elsewhere, what makes you bring a pin?

We had a VIP badge line (skipping what was probably a half hour wait for regular badges), early access to the vendor hall and game area, and the VIP party this year was a three hour party with a two hour open bar.

I'd bring back the owner-only pinball tournament on Friday night if we had enough people bringing machines, and see if I can get some good prizes for it.

I'd be happy to look into bringing this back

I may have snuck into the arcade an hour before it opened to do some, uh, quality testing. Need to make sure Queen and Godfather were working.

Opening day for Litt was moved from Wednesday to (according to their website now) Thursday at 2 PM.

I ordered my Iron Maiden from them, and it had one issue which they resolved above my expectations. Would order from them again

New place out in Savage is very nice. A couple issues with games that I'm sure will get taken care of, which is to be expected when you throw 70+ people at 50 machines, but the majority had no issues worse than a light being out and it exceeded my expectations for their first day. It's a shame it's 40+ minutes away from me, otherwise I'd probably be living there.

Big couple of tournaments there on the 30th-31st, should be fun!

If anyone in the twin cities is looking for something to do tonight, I'm hosting an Amazing Race at Lakes and Legends in Minneapolis tonight, 6 PM. For those who have never been, they have parking in a lot to the south. Games are Jack Bot, Godzilla, Mandalorian, and Deadpool.

https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=68048

This is an experiment to see if people like the idea. Due to the location having only 4 games and likely closing at 10, we may need to adjust the games to make them harder than usual, drop the number of balls per game, or eliminate more than one person per round. Unless everyone ends up hating it, I'll move to larger locations that can better support longer and larger tournaments for future events.

$10 entry, and no coin drop needed for tournament games!

I'm running their Friday night Clock Chaos tournament again this year. Play ~6 games once each, get the highest scores, come back at 11 PM to try to improve one score if you're in the top 12.

Did anyone here do last year's Clock Chaos? Any input? I'm doing the same format this year, but this time with some help instead of running it solo for six hours. Next year I'll decide if I want to go back to the 3-4 hours of nonstop pinball format I remember from ~2021, but I'd like to know if people prefer one over the other, or don't care since it's not IFPA sanctioned.

It'll be the same as last year, at some point tee times will become available online.

You think the same way I do. The old / weird games were something Dan and I both loved the idea of. The Scoregasm bagatelle was supposed to be in the lineup, but it wouldn't boot.

You're right, the main problem was one game having much longer game times than others. Viper Night Drivin', I think? People were just starting low scoring multiball games, to the point where I was checking scoresheets to give people an idea if the game was even worth playing. I'd love to rope off the area this year, I'll see if I can do that.

I likely have enough tournament volunteers with the group I'm bringing down this year, but after they get some experience this year I might look into expanding the event next year. If you want to go through the staff intake form, they can at least get you set up to volunteer, and you'd be ready to go in case there might be some help needed Friday night - https://www.midwestgamingclassic.com/mgc-staff/

I don't have time to make a proper post this weekend as I'm about to run off and help run a board game convention, but is anyone interested in either an Iron Maiden Pro, or JJP GNR LE? I'll put up a proper market post when I get a chance next week

What a coincidence, I'm running two tournaments in Fargo that weekend!

https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=73414
https://www.ifpapinball.com/tournaments/view.php?t=73415

First in a series of hopefully four tournament days through the year. Three hour matchplay to start, and some other tournament style after a lunch break, strikes this time. Look for the second around June!

Machine - For Sale

Guns N' Roses (LE) Archived

HUO - Documented (Home Used Only) - “Posting a couple machines to see if I can make room in my basement. Has 90 games on it at the moment. Bought new in box, I'm the only owner. Will need to pick up, as I don't have...”

2024-02-08

Mahtomedi, MN

BadgeringBadger

8,750 (OBO)

Archived after: 42 days

Viewed: 196 times

Status: Not sold

SOLD!

Machine - For Sale

Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Pro) Archived

HUO - Documented (Home Used Only) - “Posting a couple machines to see if I can make room in my basement. Not much use, only 100 balls played on it at the moment. Bought new in box, I'm the only owner. Will need to ...”

2024-02-08

Mahtomedi, MN

BadgeringBadger

6,250 (OBO)

Archived after: 4 days

Viewed: 200 times

Status: Sold for $ 6,250

Contributed to Pinside

Got positive feedback

Putting two games up for sale. Nothing wrong with them, just aren't getting as much plays as the others and I could use some room in the basement:

Mostly giving myself the basement space to keep an eye open for something different, hoping something on my wishlist pops up at a good price soon.

Awww, and I just sold my Iron Maiden today!

For those who have been to 2DCon before, we're moving to a new location this year!

https://www.2dcon.net/our-new-old-home-the-doubletree/

I'm hoping for a nice pinball turnout this August. If anyone's interested in bringing pinball or arcade machines (and getting a free ticket), DM me and I can send over more details.

I'd be glad to have a couple older games for sale if you have some available at the time

I'll always accept weird and hard games into the Friday night Clock Chaos tournament! That's how a cocktail ended up in the lineup last year. Would have added a Scoregasm into the mix, but the SD card had issues