Posts Tagged ‘pintastic ne 2021’

The 5th Day of Christmas, Ending the year and Starting the New One with a Touch of Pintastic NE

Posted: December 29, 2021 by datechguy in business, entertainment, fun, pinball
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This year Pintastic NE was the week before thanksgiving rather than in late June and while it meant a very long wait for its return it paid pretty big dividend for me. During our “Peak” period in the warehouse we tend to work 6-7 days a week till Christmas. Even before the supply chain issues people started ordering gifts early in the last few years so instead of peak beginning Black Friday it’s now starts for us as early as the first two weeks of November which used to be pretty dead.

That late Pintastic provided a welcome break just before the crazy week began and as I’ve often said NOTHING relieves stress like a pinball machine.

So imagine my surprise when a familiar face turned up at the door on Boxing Day an hour before Mass.

Brian was bearing the game Diner which was never one I really mastered but I guarantee you that with a month of play if there is a tournament including said machine I’ll be ready to go.

It was not a gift that I was expecting and I’m flattered that my sons were thinking of me. I’m even more flattered that this game out of his personal collection as the newer games were all out.

As of today a Diner goes for between $5200 & $8000 it’s a pretty good deal to get it for a month. For those who missed the interview from Pintastic NE 2021 here it is

Ironically when I interviewed Brian I said that while my wife would never let me buy a machine she might let me rent one and now it’s here for the rest of the Christmas season and two weeks beyond.

If I may suggest it might make a great Birthday gift particularly if you’re not born in December or January since the volume will be higher during those months and thus the availability of the newer games might be a little more iffy.

I’m going to have a lot of fun

You can find the Bushey Brothers facebook page here.

Pintastic Day 3 We’ve Got the Band Back Together

Posted: November 21, 2021 by datechguy in culture, entertainment, fun, gaming, special events
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Saturday at Pintastic NE is always a busy day. You tend to draw the largest crowds and there is plenty going on.

One of the more popular games was the Beatles 1964

Not only is the gameplay of this machine great but it of course has the best sound track of all the games here

A lot of people bring Pinball games here to sell but one of the problems is: If you sell a game how do you get it home? Well that’s where Dino of Shipmypinball.com comes in

Getting the machine from point A to point B is something that always needs to be considered when buying a machine.

Of course there are those who offer an alternative to buying game, RENTING THEM

I’m thinking the Bushey Brothers may cut the Gordan knot for many guys like me whose wives don’t want a game in their house or big money spent but might actually go along with getting a game in the house if it’s only for a month or two and someone else moves it in and out for you.

Of course there are some thing that shouldn’t be forgotten during Pintastic NE and such as God and the Sacraments. Luckily for a Catholic like me there is St. Anne’s Shrine only a mile away down the road.

If you’re wondering where the hat is , hey I’m at a church of course I have it off.

Of course if you’re buying an old game or even if you need an newer one there is always the need for the parts, that’s where Mayfair Games (not to be confused with the old wargame maker) comes in.

You will see them as the first dealer on the left at every Pintastic

Of course while the old game are big here It’s the new ones that draw eyeballs. One of those new players is American Pinball and I talked to their man David Fix.

He was in high demand and I didn’t have a chance to talk to him until the vendor room was closing. But it worked out very well because he moved one of the Legends of Valhalla games to the Extra Ball Lounge were my youngest and I started playing.

Alas my son is too good so we couldn’t show the full game

Of course I’m not the only guy filming here Todd Tuckey was Livestreaming

While the Guns and Roses Tribute Band: Welcome to the Jungle who played the event played on…

They came in to celebrate the release of the new Guns and Roses game from Jersey Jack who for some reason I didn’t manage to interview this year (more from the band later).

You might recall I talked to Michael two years ago when he brought a bunch of games, well he and Emily have graduated from hobby to Pinball Museum Proprietors in Pawtucket RI

You heard that right 28 of the machines people were playing came from them and it’s worth noting that on day four those machines were still here to play as they’re invariably the last folks out (next to Gabe of course).

But while the hobbyists and game providers are big the real question is what did the folks who paid their money to play think. I ran into four such folks who were attending Pintastic for the first time

When people are willing to come 3000 miles and say they’ll do it again next year you’ve got it right.

By this time is was late and I finished my work day talking to the tribute band after their 2nd performance.

after that I finally got to play the popular Sonic the Hedgehog homebrew which won best Homebrew game and can be played either via flippers or from a Sega controller

2 AM came very quickly and checkout is 11 AM so it was time to crash and prepare for the final day of Pinball.

Pintastic Day 2 Shake it up and Make Your Own Pinball

Posted: November 20, 2021 by datechguy in fun, hobbies, special events
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Day two of Pintastic NE is always interesting because machines keep coming in the vendors are set up but its not yet the weekend so there is still a bit less of a crowd to compete for time.

I talked to Greg and Shawn who were not here together but met here,

There is a lot of meeting people who are into the hobby here and hanging out, after all why watch a game alone when you can play two, three or four and socialize a bit (and rest your wrists).

One of the things that I’ve seem this more than any other has been the rise of “Homebrew” games. These are games that are designed and made by individuals for themselves. One such creator was Zachary Frey who created a rather unique game called Poker that rather than a backglass has it’s screen built into the body of the game. We talked about his creation:

This is one of the cleverest games I’ve played in a while. it has an interesting extra two button feature with a Maga save on the left and a pop up that can save a ball about to drain on the right.

A much fancier and more recognizable game was Ferris Bueller’s day off I talked to the designer and the artist.

There are only two copies of this game (which is double the production of Zach’s Poker game) and I must admit I felt very old when Redi (who is a delightful lady who I shared a game of Twilight Zone with later) said she had to watch the movie when Brian approached her about doing the game as it came out the year she was born.

There was a constant line in front of this game and I didn’t get to it until late that night. One should always play homebrew games at events such as this as it’s likely the only time you will ever see these games.

Later on in the day I ran into Jeff the hot sauce guy. He had been set up at Pintastic NE2019 and I thought at the time it was an odd mix for the place, but he was back and with an expanded product line.

Apparently hot sauces and Pinball mix pretty well. It was also interesting to hear how COVID effected his business.

There are all kind of accessories available for pinball machines one of the coolest ones I saw was a vest to be used with a sound system that was being demoed at the Pinnovators booth

It looked too cool not to try myself so Sandra kindly took over the camera and I got strapped in and gave it a go while playing Areosmith.

The Venders hall was packed and one of the big games was Legends of Valhalla. I played it a couple of times and found it my favorite of the new games there (so far). I talked to Shawn of Maine Home Recreation that was carrying the game.

The American Pinball company (which made one of my favorites from 2019 Octoberfest) is creating some excellent games for the hobby.

And old favorite is Stern Pinball was well represented by special guest and pinball designers John Borg who I was able to get a few minutes with:

Their brand new Godzilla machine was everywhere and all with lines in front of them. The lines were well earned as it’s an excellent game.

Of course Pintastic would not be Pintastic without Todd Tuckey. He gave a seminar on how to avoid buying a pinball Lemon online which was too long to put here but he gave me ten minutes during the afterparty.

Alas I could not embed the link in the video he was referring to put I’ve got the clip here from Pintastic 2017 that he was referring to here.

ah the days when I still had both of my front teeth but on the bright side I’ve finally stopped calling Todd: “Tom”

Well that’s all for now it’s just after 10 AM on day three as I’m finishing this and there is pinball to play and interview to do, so we’ll be back tomorrow with day 3 stuff.