Chicago Pinball Expo - A Little Disappointed

mrbill08

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Went to the The Chicago Pinball Expo last night. There were many of the same vendors as in previous shows. Made a few buys.

Then on to the pin area. It seemed like the number of pins was much less than in past years. Especially this year, many of the games were either not working or if marked "SOLD" were intentionally turned off. Made for a backlog of people looking to play machines. Also this year, the rude (insert favorite plural expletive here) were in abundance. You know the type - either coin up the machine for four players even though they are the only one playing or don't even look around to see if another person is waiting to play before they start another game.

Overall, I had a good time visiting with old friends and conversations with fellow enthusiasts and playing pinball on some interesting machines that were there and operating. But far too many machines there were turned off and made for disappointment as they could not be enjoyed. If they were turned off just because they were sold, weren't they brought to be played to gain free admission?

My thanks to the people who did bring their machines to share and made sure they were operating.

Bill
 
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+1 on all accounts. We went last night as well and we were all disappointed in the Expo. I had thought it would have been much bigger, and many pins that I thought would be there due to their popularity simply weren't there.

It was great to meet a few folks and spend time playing pins with my wife and our friends, and our dinner out before we went to the Expo was awesome.

Went to the The Chicago Pinball Expo last night. There were many of the same vendors as in previous shows. Made a few buys.

Then on to the pin area. It seemed like the number of pins was much less than in past years. Especially this year, many of the games were either not working or if marked "SOLD" were intentionally turned off. Made for a backlog of people looking to play machines. Also this year, the rude (insert favorite plural expletive here) were in abundance. You know the type - either coin up the machine for four players even though they are the only one playing or don't even look around to see if another person is waiting to play before they start another game.

Overall, I had a good time visiting with old friends and conversations with fellow enthusiasts and playing pinball on some interesting machines that were there and operating. But far too many machines there were turned off and made for disappointment as they could not be enjoyed. If they were turned off just because they were sold, weren't they brought to be played to gain free admission?

My thanks to the people who did bring their machines to share and made sure they were operating.

Bill
 
we were all disappointed in the Expo.

I was the same way last year. It was still fun to go, but I prefer the texas pinball festival more for playing games. Machines being down are minimal and are left on even if they've been sold. They also don't shut the game hall down for seminars.
 
Well at least you aren't as disappointed as I am, seeing as I missed it because I didn't even know this event existed. :(
 
Really surprised to read this, since Chigago is kind of the epi-center for pinball!
 
+1 on all accounts. We went last night as well and we were all disappointed in the Expo. I had thought it would have been much bigger, and many pins that I thought would be there due to their popularity simply weren't there.

It was great to meet a few folks and spend time playing pins with my wife and our friends, and our dinner out before we went to the Expo was awesome.

+1 on everything you said. Went today, and is was very disappointing. I was there last year, and thought it was a blast. Don't think that I am going to waste my time next year going.
 
Went to the The Chicago Pinball Expo last night. There were many of the same vendors as in previous shows. Made a few buys.

Then on to the pin area. It seemed like the number of pins was much less than in past years. Especially this year, many of the games were either not working or if marked "SOLD" were intentionally turned off. Made for a backlog of people looking to play machines. Also this year, the rude (insert favorite plural expletive here) were in abundance. You know the type - either coin up the machine for four players even though they are the only one playing or don't even look around to see if another person is waiting to play before they start another game.

Overall, I had a good time visiting with old friends and conversations with fellow enthusiasts and playing pinball on some interesting machines that were there and operating. But far too many machines there were turned off and made for disappointment as they could not be enjoyed. If they were turned off just because they were sold, weren't they brought to be played to gain free admission?

My thanks to the people who did bring their machines to share and made sure they were operating.

Bill




Bill, I'm going to against the grain on this one. I actually this year's show was better then the last three I've been to especially the selection...

I've definitely notice going on Saturday day/night is better than going on Friday because I ran into the same issue you did - pins turned off or sold. Don't know why this is abundant on Friday. So that's why I usually go on Saturdays...

As far as the people doing the four player thing... maybe I'm just outspoken, because I usually say something. I don't be rude about it; I just ask politely if I can join in. It works, believe me. Maybe I'm just intimidating!:cool:

Now, today there was some pins turned off, but I did notice later on they were turned back on...

I do agree w/ some complaints on here. The stupid hours on Saturday for one - that definitely needs to be worked out or a shorter window. Also, if you bring a pin to the show (even if it's sold) it should be mandated to spend at least through Saturday there....

On a side note, talked to Mr Dayhuff (going to his party), played about 2 dozen games on Tranformers and met some new pinheads.... Win, win scenario!
 
I took my 11-yr old son last night, and we had a good time. The only disappointment was the lack of some of the more popular/well-known games. No CFTBL, TOM, Monster Bash to name just a few. I was also disappointed a bit with the exhibitors there. I thought there would be more of a selection of parts/dealers, etc. The ones that were there, for the most part, had pretty mundane and unorganized displays.

My son had a good time, and we did get to play a bunch of titles we never had played before so it was well worth it. He said he wants to go next year, and that's really what's most important, right? :)
 
This was my second Expo, and I had a great time once again. I definitely agree about some of the criticisms, though. It is ridiculous that the free play area is closed for six hours on Saturday evening. I understand that the main people running the Expo are all at the banquet, but I'm sure they could get some volunteers to watch over things during that time. I also agree 100% that if you bring a game and it sells that it should remain on for the duration of the Expo.

The most fun I had all weekend was playing in the Expo Brawl tournament. I got to meet a bunch of cool people, and it was an absolute blast. It's a really neat format where you get paired up with random teams during the qualifying rounds. You could both be mediocre players and end up playing against a team comprised of Kieth Elwin and Cayle George. It's certainly a humbling experience to say the least. The only problem with the tournament is that it starts really early on Friday morning. This makes it a bit inconvenient for some of the out-of-towners.
 
This was my first show. I took my 5 year old son with me. We went up on thursday. Had a freaking blast!!! Crowd was comfortable. We got to easily play any machines we wanted. Almost all machines were turned on. Almost everyone was friendly. I think most pinheads are just overall shy. I am super outgoing. So once you start chatting them up. No worries.

For buying, there were a couple of smoking deals on pins. you needed to be in there at 6pm thursday to find them and make the deal though. Those went quick.

While I have nothing to compare the show to, I was satisfied. I had fun. I will be going back.

The vendor displays were too disorganized. Hard to determine what was for sale and who was selling.

I tried to find some money games, but no one seemed to want to play for money.

I will agree though, the actual selection of pins to play was pretty damn weak. That show could be so much bigger.
 
For buying, there were a couple of smoking deals on pins. you needed to be in there at 6pm Thursday to find them and make the deal though. Those went quick ...

I just missed a Shadow that I thought was a pretty good deal. It went for $1,975, which is a lot for that game, but it was in fantastic condition. It almost looked HUO, with virtually no Sanctum wear.

I will agree though, the actual selection of pins to play was pretty damn weak. That show could be so much bigger.

You gotta give credit to the people that bring games to the show, particularly people like Phoebe who brought a trailer full of them from Ohio. I live less than 10 minutes from the hotel where Expo was held, and I didn't bring a machine. It's just such a pain in the ass to get those things in and out of my basement. If they were located on the main floor of my home, I definitely would have brought one or two.
 
Yeah, they should change the rules. For the Northwest show any game that gets sold must stay on and playable for the entire weekend.

I agree, last year was the first year I went and thought it was a bit odd that people were carting games out during the show. Either that, or games were marked sold and turned off.

I skipped this year. I didn't want to take a sick day just to attend on a Thursday. However, I did go to Pinball Life's open house and had a good time.
 
Considering people are getting in free by bringing a machine, it hardly makes sense that they are allowed to shut it off before the Expo ends.
 
I flew all the way out from Long Island and I had a great time. I do agree about the games being turned off though, I think any game that is on the game floor that didn't break during the show should be left on.

-BB
 
I have to disagree about leaving sold games on for people to play throughout the Expo. If I buy a game, especially a vintage game, do I want to risk something going wrong with the boards (heat and prolonged playing time = toasty), flying balls breaking plastics, and all the other risks that come with leaving the game out?

Probably not.
 
How many games are for sale at one of these shows?

I would guess most any game has its price, but if a person is wanting to sell the game, maybe it could be in a for sale area where folks could completely understand why a game would be turned off after it was sold. Even turned off it would still be there for display until the fest is over.

Just wondering because I have never been to such an event.
 
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