EURO ATTRACTIONS
SHOW 2014


Date: 23rd - 25th September, 2014
Location: Halls 7 & 8, Amsterdam RAI Exhibition & Conference Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Report by Evert Brochez of Bingovit

EAS 2014 at the RAI, Amsterdam
EAS 2014 at the RAI, Amsterdam

It’s Wednesday morning on the 23rd of September 2014 and here we are in Amsterdam in the Netherlands to visit the Euro Attractions Show (better known as EAS) for the very first time.

For most Pinball News readers this should sound slightly familiar as you may have read about the EAG show which is held each January in London. Some of the big differences are that this show is vastly bigger than EAG and is held in a different European country each year.

Outside the RAI
Outside the RAI

But we’re here to talk about the EAS which is run by the same organisation which holds the large amusement show in Florida each November, IAAPA.

Inside the first part of the show in Hall 8
Inside the first part of the show in Hall 8

So let’s get started touring this huge show which took place in two very large halls filled with animatronics, amusement devices, roller coaster (or parts of them), 3D cinemas, kiddy rides, scenery…

Oh, and did I mention pinball already? Yes, there were only three real pinball machines in the whole show, but we managed to find them quickly as The Walking Dead made its European premiere.

Iron Man (Vault Edition), Star Trek (Pro) and The Walking Dead (Pro)
Iron Man (Vault Edition), Star Trek (Pro) and The Walking Dead (Pro)

On a little side note, the funny part was that a few days later this very same game ended up at my place since we had arranged a deal to have this game available at the Belgian Open Pinball tournament a week after the EAS.

The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead

The code on this game was pretty rough but played without any major faults and was already a lot of fun.

Thanks to the good support of Gary Stern we were able to have a code update right before the Belgian Open Pinball which made the game a lot more complete!

A fun fact was that Star Trek was so loud you could hear it halfway across the hallway which says a lot since there’s a lot of noise at the show coming from almost every exhibitor.

But Stern wasn’t the only pinball manufacturer at the show…

And that concludes the pinball part, as this show is a lot more focused on the bigger attractions!

I’ve tried to group some of my pictures into smaller categories to make it a little easier to navigate.

Is there anything Lego can't do?
Is there anything Lego can't do?

In the case of this next section, miniatures of big attractions which were easier to set up at their booths.

This is a miniature of a large custom built Tutankhamon-themed dark ride found at the Walibi theme park in Belgium
This is a miniature of a large custom built Tutankhamon-themed dark ride
found at the Walibi theme park in Belgium

A sculpture of a water park filled with lots of different slides, each which you could see in action on a TV screen!
A sculpture of a water park filled with lots of different slides,
each which you could see in action on a TV screen!

There were also lots of kiddy rides and other kid-friendly devices to be found across the two halls.

It was at this point that we entered part two of the show in the other hall!

Hall 7 at the RAI
Hall 7 at the RAI

And of course no show would be complete if it didn’t have video games, cranes, air hockeys, boxers, and redemption games!

Some very good looking boxer machines by Kalkomat!
Some very good-looking boxer machines by Kalkomat!

Jakar with their selection of interesting prize boxers
Jakar with their selection of interesting prize boxers
- you can win a prize when you punch one of the exact strengths shown

Elaut, the market leader when it comes to cranes and innovative coin pushers
Elaut, the market leader when it comes to cranes and innovative coin pushers

Lots of things are needed to theme a theme park, so there was a selection of everything you could imagine, such as animatronics, backgrounds, themed buildings, etc.

This dinosaur was a beautiful animatronic who moved really fluidly
This dinosaur was a beautiful animatronic who moved really fluidly
and scared quite a few people when he suddenly decided to move and roar


If you wanted to hear some stories, this pirate would be happy to tell them to you as he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut! It took us a few minutes to realize this was an animatronic as he moved so fluidly and naturally during his speech!

This fellow looked familiar… must have seen him somewhere before!
This fellow looked familiar… must have seen him somewhere before!

This was an optical trick where the dinosaur was added in front of the image from the camera so that the dinosaur appears to walk on the table
This was an optical trick where the dinosaur was added in front of the image from the camera so that the dinosaur appears to walk on the table

As with every show of this kind, you also had quite a few simulators and 3D (or more) cinemas available.

And the last category I’m dividing the pictures into is the miscellaneous one where you can work out what they’re all about. :-)

These informational touchscreen terminals shown above were really funny to watch. They were pretty intelligent devices, and so when the terminals hadn’t used for a few minutes they would start driving towards people to get noticed.

A funny story though is that we noticed several times how the exhibitors would have to run after the terminals when the people they wanted to reach were several booths away.

To conclude this article I’ll end this photo tour with the picture below of Berk Concession Supply. This might ring a bell with some people…

As you may already know, this is none other than Rob Berk, co-organiser of Pinball Expo!

I didn’t even realize it was him while I was taking this picture - it’s only now when writing the article I recognise him. Luckily for us Rob recognized us in the hallway as pinball people. It was fun to finally meet him and talk some pinball!

EAS is a BIG show, and there was so much to see as you will have seen in this small selection of the huge number of pictures I took!

Prices for tickets are really high when you register on the day itself, starting at around €120. You could purchase tickets up to €1000 if you included lots of seminars, visits to nearby theme parks and networking meetings.

In 2015 EAS will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden. Check the IAAPA website for more details and to register.

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