Where do I start on the awesomeness that was the Australian Pinball Expo 2014….maybe the beginning is a good spot!!
Arrived from Townsville to a hideous 39 degree scorcher in Sydney on Friday afternoon. Headed out to Penrith and went straight to the massive pavilion to be greeted by 228 pinball machines from Dan, Michael and Leigh’s personal collection, as well as another 20 or so from vendors lining the sides of the pavilion. It was great as it was a hive of activity of setting up the finishing touches and doing some last minute repairs before opening time. What was also great was how happy and helpful everyone was. I got into some adjustments on Indiana Jones and a few other machines with minor issues – I think what is worth pointing out at this point in time, is that these are all machines from 3 guys personal collections – so a bulk amount of pins for an individual to own/maintain. I know there was some serious work put in by the owners and other techs in the weeks leading up to the event, and full credit for the hours they put in. Just think about ordering flipper kits, rubbers, balls etc etc for 230 machines – just the cost and let alone time involved is staggering. With this many machines, there are always going to be some breakdowns throughout the course of the event, so I was glad to be able to help a little, and also the fact that plenty of other hooked in and understood when a machine went down or had a stuck ball etc.
Anyway, doors open at 7pm and we were all giving the machines a good workout- I can’t remember exactly, but I think I lasted until about 3ish in the morning and had to head off. Some highlights for me – playing Medieval Madness, which inspired me to continue on with the NBA FB to MM conversion I am currently part way through, some fun games on Spiderman, Black Hole, Eclipse (it was in amazing condition), Humpty Dumpty (first pinball machine with flippers! and a lot of older machines I had never heard of. Playing Hercules was a fun experience as well. Managed to get my initials on 1 of the two Aaron Spelling machines in the world but the best part of all was catching up with old mates, and meeting new people. Also hooked into the competition, but didn’t get many scores worth repeating….i really did enjoy playing Joker Poker though, and I guess got a bit more appreciation for some of the older machines (my collection is mainly DMDs) with reasonably simple rulesets that are not always that simple to achieve!
Was straight back into a few minor repairs and adjustments early before the doors opened to the public on Saturday morning. 9am, doors opened and people started to move in. By mid morning, the noise was sensational – a mix of Ems, SS and DMDs all going off at the same time. Was great to walk around the Vendors as well – played WOZ and MMR at Mr Pinball’s stand – both sensational machines. Had a game on Walking Dead at AMD, as well as a few of the other newer Stern’s. Luke’s machines (LA Games) were absolutely amazing – TZ, MB, STTNG, Getaway, LOTR, IJ4, MM and Family Guy. There was a comp on family guy, and I pumped plenty of $2 coins in there but couldn’t quite get a good enough score. Also bought some parts and LEDs off Luke at a great price. There were also some virtual machines and others there as well. It was also great to chat to a few other members and of course Dan, Leigh and Michael. Picked up a couple of WPC power driver boards for my possum pins off Michael as well. Was just fantastic sitting around a spinning yarns with these fellas and heaps of others. Played plenty more games during the day, as well as chatting to general members of the public – was really awesome to see families there with kids playing the head to head soccer game, and all the pinnies. Just about everyone couldn’t have had a bigger grin on their face!
Managed to have a little break for a couple of hours when it closed to the public at 5pm, then reopened at 7 on Sat night. A lot of guys were qualifying for the comp this night – not sure how many extra tickets I bought to try and improve my pathetic scores, although it didn’t work – it was a whole heap of fun trying to jump a few positions on the leaderboard that was set up with a projector. Was also great to see some of the guys get some decent scores on machines that were set up incredibly hard.
Couldn’t quite last out until 4am on Sat night, and got a few more hours sleep, before getting back into making sure most machines were up and running with a few opto replacements ,switch adjustments and the like before crowds started coming in Sunday morning. Ended up not playing a lot of machines on Sunday, rather chatting to people and watching the comp. Ended up helping out at the door which was fun greeting people and seeing the looks on their faces when you told them once they got in, there were over 200 machines on free play!! Was also great to meet some forum members, and chat to people who have quite decent collections and they didn’t realize there were so many other likeminded people around the country. Just about every single person that walked out the door in the arvo stated that it was a fantastic event, and what time was it on next year. Another dude had a classic comment when he walked out “I had the best day ever, played pinball non stop for 9 hours without even a break for anything to eat of a pee…”
Watching the final of the comp was great, and congrats to Peter Watt for the win – top bloke as well! Unfortunately I couldn’t hang around to help pack up, but hope there were those who were able.
I spoke to Leigh at length about the event, and without going into any detail, will just mention that the efforts that he, Dan and Michael had gone to get the event such a success it was is nothing short of phenomenal. The cost, pressure, stress and sheer work and lack of sleep is a credit to the passion these guys have for the hobby and sharing it with everyone – my sincere thanks and congratulations. Also a shout to the families and friends of these guys who have helped out/put up with all the stress and chaos as well!
I would be back next weekend in a heartbeat if it happened again, and I reckon anyone that did not go missed the event of a lifetime. Had to have a chuckle at a comment on Facebook that someone in Sydney said Penrith was too far away……I know a couple of other people from Townsville, plenty from Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane and everything in between – not to mention the legendary effort of Kiwis that came over.
Anyway, a few dodgy phone pics
Me playing an MM and getting inspired to continue my build
Hercules
Humpty Dumpty
View from the final of the comp, looking back at the first row of machines
