Welcome to our extensive coverage of this 20th Anniversary Texas Pinball Festival held at the Embassy Suites & Frisco Conference Center here in the city of Frisco, around 23 miles due north of Dallas. The Embassy Suites hotel in Frisco WEDNESDAY The show doesn’t open to the public until Friday afternoon, but we’re here from Wednesday to bring you the build-up and show how this 20th anniversary Texas Pinball Festival is coming together. We’ll update this report from now until the show closes and beyond, to make sure you get all the news and excitement. First though, a little about the venue. The show is held in the Frisco Conference Center which is attached to, but separate from, the Embassy Suites hotel. The Embassy Suites is the main show hotel and as such sells out almost immediately rooms for the next show become available, but the area has a plethora of lodging options. Paradoxically, the walk from the Embassy Suites to the Conference Center is sufficiently long, some alternative hotels are actually closer to the Conference Center. Where the Embassy Suites ends and the walk to the Conference Center begins The corridor from the hotel to the Conference Center The Embassy Suites and the Conference Center are closely linked in other ways though, and the Texas Pinball Festival effectively takes over both for the duration of the show. Indeed, the Pinball News and Pinball Magazine joint quiz, So You Think You Know Pinball? takes place in the bar of the Embassy Suites. Also, the parking garage for the hotel and the Conference Center has been specially branded for this year’s Texas Pinball Festival. The parking garage For those not staying at the Embassy Suites, the Conference Center has its own entrance. The entrance to the Frisco Conference Center A number of the parking spaces outside the Conference Center have been blocked off, presumably in preparation for Saturday’s swap meet, organised by the DFW Pinball & Arcade Club. The site of Saturday morning’s swap meet So, that’s the venue. What about the show? Well, as of Wednesday lunchtime there isn’t much to show you other than a mostly-empty hall? The Texas Pinball Festival show hall Some setting up is under way. A selection of machines from Stern Pinball provided by FUN! Billiards and Gameroom Superstore are already in the hall, while a few others are trickling in. A mixed bunch of machines from Stern Pinball Perhaps the most important part of the whole show – the power By this time tomorrow we expect the hall to be buzzing as companies prepare their stands in preparation for the opening on Friday. The organisers have been preparing for this special 20th anniversary show since the close of last year’s show, and we can expect a few changes. For one thing, if you’ve attended the Texas Pinball Festival in recent years, the floor layout will be a little different this time. The floor plan for the 2024 Texas Pinball Festival Material for the on-site registration and pre-registration packs has arrived The Seminar Room is still in the same place though, and we’ll be reporting on the extensive schedule of presentations taking place there on Friday and Saturday. THURSDAY Thursday is the main set-up day for the show floor. Thursday morning in the main hall With the booths marked out on the floor yesterday, the dividers are going in as more machines and parts arrive. There are also ceiling-hung banners to mark out many of the stands to help guests locate them. Some of the banners hung over the stands The Stern Pinball machines we showed above are still in their boxes while the joint Marco/FUN! stand is built. The Marco and FUN! stand representing Stern Pinball At the back of the hall is the loading bay where trucks back-up and disgorge their contents of machines and parts. Trucks unload their machines and parts As usual, there are four staging points where unloaded games can be stacked before moving to their final destination in the hall. This speeds up the unloading process and frees up the loading bay for the next truck. The four staging points for unloaded machines The loading bay crew ensure everything runs smoothly Mayfair Amusements has a head-start on setting up their stand By late afternoon things were taking shape, with most exhibitors hoping to set up their stand by the end of the day. Setting up games at the Spooky Pinball stand Lots of Looney Tunes and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre games Another Spooky Pinball game is unboxed Dave Peck’s Motörhead homebrew game was also on the Spooky Pinball stand. It uses the same control system as Spooky games and includes assistance from some of the Spooky team members. Could this be a future Spooky release? Also on the Spooky stand was this impressive-looking Motörhead hombrew The Motörhead playfield styled after Centaur The animated topper A view from the playfield American Pinball has plenty of machines here too Including three of the new Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge The Stern Pinball games are starting to be unboxed Jersey Jack Pinball also have a big presence here Chicago Gaming have a bunch of Pup Fiction games, a year after they were revealed at the show The Chicago Gaming stand is directly in front of what had previously been the main hall entrance. This has now been moved along the corridor towards the Seminars Room. The previous main hall entrance Not all the action takes place in the main hall though. There are vendor stands outside in the corridor, there’s the Seminars Room and, of course, the many tournaments being held in their own dedicated space. Looking back towards the registration booth Looking towards the seminars room The Seminars Room looks pretty much unchanged from previous shows, with a stage for the speakers and plenty of seating. This way to the seminars – Ooh, and here are next year’s dates! The Seminars Room As in other recent shows, the tournament have their own dedicated space one floor up on the corridor from the hotel to the main hall. The location is not immediately visible unless you know it’s there, but those taking part know where to go. Machines are set up for the tournaments There are four tournaments overall – the Texas Wizards Tournament, the Classics Side Tournament, the Women’s Tournament and the Kids’ Tournament. Tournament players line up to register The tournaments registration desk Inside the Tournaments Room There’s plenty of seating for the competitors Later in the day we returned to the show floor to check on the progress setting everything up. In the lobby area, those who had pre-registered for the Texas Pinball Festival were able to collect their wristbands, badges and show guides. Pre-registered guests collecting their packs Inside the main hall, Nitro Pinball had a Centaur Revisited from Haggis Pinball. It appeared to have early code with some features not working quite right, but the mechanical build quality was outstanding. Centaur Revisited from Haggis Pinball If Centaur Revisited is a title for the future, there is always an educational hand-on display in the hall celebrating pinball’s past. Setting up the History Of Pinball exhibit American Pinball had set up their Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge machines. There were three on their own stand and at least one other on a distributor’s stand. Plus, there may well be another one available to play in a room in the Embassy Suites for those in the know. Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge on the American Pinball stand A stone’s trow away, Lord of the Gameroom were building their impressive-looking stand. Building the stand for Lord of the Gameroom Over on Brad Albright’s stand, he was exhibiting the playfield and backglass artwork he created for the Motörhead game. The Motörhead game’s artwork Pinball Brothers team members are not expected to attend the Texas Pinball Festival this year, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be well-represented at the show. Some of their games and equipment had arrived in the hall, including two Alien Ripley Edition machines. Items for the Pinball Brothers’ stand Although FUN! Billiards & Gameroom Superstore and collaborating with Marco to create the Stern Pinball display, FUN! also have their own stand. The FUN! stand Meanwhile, upstairs in the tournament room there was the Scrutinizer Tournament taking place. The Scrutinizer Tournament Although not part of the official Texas Pinball Festival schedule of events, this tournament gives the organisers an opportunity to test out all the machines in advance of the main events beginning on Friday morning. Medals for the top players in the Scrutinizer Tournament That wraps things up for Thursday. The main elements of the show all begin on Friday, from the free play session on the tournaments machines from 8:30am to the start of qualifying in the Wizards and Classics tournaments at 10am, to the first in the extensive schedule of seminars at 3pm, to the opening of the main hall at 4pm. FRIDAY As we said above, the tournaments are the first official event on the Texas Pinball Festival calendar, with qualifying in the Wizard and Classics tournaments getting underway at 10am. Inside the tournaments room The eight Classics machines were set up at the left-hand end of the tournaments room, Some of the Classics Tournament machines The eight machines used for the Classics were: BarracoraCentigrade 37CleopatraDragonHarlem GlobetrottersIce FeverMars TrekSorcerer The remaining machines were used for the Wizards Tournament, which was split into three divisions – A, B & Novice. Competitors had to register scores on machines of their choice from three categories – Modern, Classics & Vintage. Their ranking was based on their best position across all three. Players on the modern machines in the Wizards Tournament Players on the classic machines in the Wizards Tournament Players on the vintage machines in the Wizards Tournament The machines used in each category were: ModernClassicsVintageStar Wars (Stern)Teenage Mutant Ninja TurtlesMetallicaAvatarFoo FightersHigh Speed 2: The GetawayTerminator 2WhirlwindTime Machine (DE)DinerKissVikingSuper SpinJacks OpenSpin Out Current rankings are viewable on the Never Drains website for the A Division, B Division, Novice Division and Classics. Then it was back to the main show hall to catch up on the latest changes. Lord of the GameRoom’s stand was shaping up nicely Turner Pinball has two of their updated Ninja Eclipse machines with many changes, including the playfield artwork Ninja Eclipse now features a more-traditional cabinet and coin door Even the backbox has returned to a familiar design The bottom apron and lock bar The translite image for Ninja Eclipse Nearby, Jersey Jack Pinball were setting up their stand with Elton John and The Godfather machines The Godfather machines on the JJP stand Over at American Pinball we had the opportunity to play some games on Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge. Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge from American Pinball The Stern Pinball display had a definite Jaws theme this year Pinball Brothers had their two Alien Ripley Edition machines up and almost ready to go The also have a solitary Queen machine, though it looks as though there could be space for a second Barrels of Fun were fully set up with their three Labyrinth machines Chicago Gaming’s Pulp Fiction machines were attracting plenty of attention Multimorphic had three P3 machines fitted with their latest tile, The Princess Bride The also brought ten more P3s equipped with all the other playfield modules The other five P3s on the Multimorphic stand It wasn’t just the big manufacturers setting up machines Romain and Timothée were setting up their PinSound display with some new products to exhibit New products included PinVision full speaker light kits for select Spike 2 titles One of the PinVision speaker modules The PinVision speaker lights controller module which takes in audio and shaker motor signals to react to gameplay Meanwhile the homebrew section was filling up with innovative games The Saw game attracted a lot of attention The main hall opened at 4pm, by which time a sizeable crowd had gathered outside the new entrance doors. The new entrance to the show The first guests enter the show just after 4pm on Friday Friday’s seminars began at 3pm and continued until around 10pm. 3pm – How To: Get Started In Pinball Tournaments – Louis Marx Louis Marx Louis described the various reasons people play in competitive pinball, including the camaraderie, the sense of community and the sharing of knowledge about the games. He continued with the differences between sanctioned and non-sanctioned events, along with some of the other types of tournaments and leagues available. He showed where you can find details of upcoming events, including Pinside, the IFPA calendar and Tilt Forums. He also suggested asking local distributors if they support and leagues or tournaments. 3:30pm – Origins of TPF – Some of the Original Founders The TPF founders group Hosted by this year’s co-organiser, Paul McKinney, this group comprised of several of the original founders of the Texas Pinball Festival, spoke about each of their involvement in the pinball scene and how they collaborated to create the first show. 2024 TPF Co-Organiser, Paul McKinney They also described what they wanted the show to achieve and the features they wanted to include, such as a strong seminars schedule. 4pm – The History of Pinball – Jeff Frick Jeff Frick Jeff started with the design and features of the easiest pre-war bagatelle and similar pin-games before moving on to the beginnings of coin-op pinball manufacturing. He described the timeline of game development and how re-theming of older games to utilise popular themes from present-day culture gave them a new lease of life. He also discussed the methods and impact of pinball games used for gambling. 5pm – How To: Make NIB Games On-Location Ready – Imoto Harney & Matthew Talley Imoto Harney Matthew Talley Imoto is Marketing Director at Marco Specialties while Matthew is co-owner of Lynn’s Arcade in Seaside, California. In this seminar they both explained their history in pinball and their current roles before looking at the steps any location owner should take before putting their new game on site. That included opening it up and reseating all the connectors, as they can work loose during transport. They recommended installing plastic protectors to protect the unique artworked playfield plastics, and replace any black rubber rings or flipper rubbers with either polyurethane or silicone alternatives to reduce the dirt and dust spread across the playfield. 6pm – Behind The Game: Venom – Brian Eddy & Dwight Sullivan Brian Eddy Dwight Sullivan Brian is the designer and Dwight was lead programmer on Stern Pinball’s recent Venom game. Brian talked about how the original concept of choosing your host and changing the game developed over time, showing multiple iterations of the playfield. Dwight explained how the rules were created, based around the Marvel characters and their Venom-ised variants. 7pm – The Secret Sauce… – David Fix, Steven Bowden, Ryan McQuaid David Fix Steven Bowden Ryan McQuaid David is Executive Vice-President at American Pinball who spearheaded the creation of Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge, following the passing of the game’s original designer, Barry Oursler. Steven headed the rules development, while Ryan McQuaid worked on bringing the original design into production. David talked about the need to honour Barry’s legacy by producing his final design. Originally called Car Hop, it was rethemed around Barry’s love of barbecue and fast cars. Steven spoke about the many nods to Barry’s earlier designs in the new game, with references to Space Shuttle, Phoenix, Fire!, Doctor Who and many more. 8pm – Behind The Game: Elton John – Steve Ritchie & Bill Grupp Steve Ritchie Bill Grupp Steve was the designer for Jersey Jack Pinball’s latest release, Elton John, while Bill was the lead programmer. They spoke about the development of the game’s playfield and many features, including certain requirements from the licensor but also about the freedom they had with the music selected and the portrayal of Elton on the playfield. Steve and Bill Steve described the design of the piano lock mechanism, while Bill talked about the LED wrap around the side and what that allowed them to do in conveying information to the player in addition to the backbox user interface. 9pm – How To: Play Better – Bowen Kerins Bowen Kerins Bowen came to the seminar with a Labyrinth machine from Barrels of Fun, for which he helped craft the rules. He set out to explain those rules as he demonstrated them in action by playing the machine. He also pointed out some of the best scoring strategies as well as some more esoteric features included in the ruleset. SATURDAY Despite the threat of rain, Saturday at the Texas Pinball Festival began as usual with the swap meet, organised by the DFW Pinball & Arcade Club, in the parking lot outside the Conference Center. Previously it had officially started at 8am with an unofficial earlier start for keen bargain hunters. This year that early start was made official, beginning in the dark at 6am. We didn’t quite make it to the swap meet at 6am, preferring to wait until there was just a little bit of natural light by which to check out the items for sale. Saturday’s swap meet The swap meet in the parking lot More cars and trucks selling pinball and arcade items As usual, Dunkin’ Donuts and hot coffee was available for free, courtesy of the organisers Elite Home Gamerooms were auction off some of their items, with some good bargains available Including these pinballs More swap meet vendors with interesting items for sale More swap meet vendors with interesting items for sale More swap meet vendors with interesting items for sale Not everything was arcade related, but most items were Assorted pinball-related items Assorted pinball-related items Plain and simple Saturday at the TPF featured a full day of seminars, starting at 9am with the Barrels of Fun team. 9am – More Than A Barrel Of Fun – Barrels of Fun The Barrels of Fun team (L-R): Bowen Kerins, Phil Grimaldi, Brian Savage, Jessica DeNardo, David van Es & Trent Armstrong Company CEO David van Es introduced the Barrels of Fun team on stage with him and also recognised those members who were in the audience. David van Es Trent Armstrong then explained how, when designing their launch title, Labyrinth, they wanted the player to become fully immersed in the world of Labyrinth rather thank just be presented with a series of clips from the movie. Phil, who is leading the rules design for the game, told the audience about a new Tea Party multiball mode which they had just added to the code. David then asked the audience to give the team feedback about the types of themes they would like to see turned into a future Barrels of Fun pinball. 10am – How To: Create The Most Awesome Manual – Butch Peel Butch Peel Butch was at TPF to talks about the manual – both printed and electronic – he created for the Chicago Gaming/PlayMechanix pinball, Pulp Fiction. He said pinball documentation should always be accurate, comprehensive, consistent, straightforward, and aesthetically pleasing, with a show-and-tell philosophy working best. Having it in full-colour also aids clarity and brings explanations to life. Butch stressed how important information bears repetition, while having both a printed and an electronic version – complete with hundreds of links throughout – was vital. 11am – How To: Learn The Essentials Of Pinball Maintenance & Repair – Imoto Harney, Matthew Talley & Eugene Mosh Imoto Harney, Matthew Talley and Eugene Mosh Eugene first spoke about his long history in coin-op gaming and repairs, and more recently, pinball. Matthew described the basic pinball repair and maintenance tools everyone should own, such as the different types of screwdrivers, nut drivers, a magnetic pick-up tool, Allen keys. pliers, snips and wire strippers. He then moved on to talk about rebuilding your flippers – why you should do it, how often, and the different type of flipper mechanisms used by different manufacturers. 12pm – How To: Homebrew Avoiding Electrical Pitfalls – David Beecher David Beecher David is one of the founders of FAST Pinball and designer of their pinball control system currently being used in several commercial games as well as many more homebrew designs. He described the differences between their two product ranges – a retro one for replacing existing boards in a game so it can be repaired or rethemed, and a modern one for building new game designs from scratch. He continued, talking about power supply considerations when building a pinball, looking closely at the specifications to ensure it can handle the large inrush when the machine is first switched on, and provide enough current during play. 2pm – How To: Homebrew Making Pinball, Making Friends – Panel Discussion The Homebrew Making Pinball, Making Friends panel Hosted by FAST Pinball’s Aaron Davis, this discussion panel included makers of five of the homebrew games appearing on the TPF show floor. They were: Sean Irby (Eight Ball Beyond) Eric Klotz (Saw) Kyle Smet (Friday the 13th) Angel Montano (Mechwarriors – Mercenary 5 Pinball) Anthony Van Winkle (Swords of Vengence) They were joined by Ernie Silverberg of Trident Pinball who makes starter kits for anyone looking to create their own game design. 3pm – Inconceivable! Multimorphic introduces their latest game, The Princess Bride – Multimorphic Team Gerry Stellenberg The Multimorphic team (L-R) Steve Shoyer, Josh Kugler, Colin MacAlpine & Stephen Silver Head of Multimorphic, Gerry Stellenberg, introduced the team on stage who are part of the team responsible for the latest new game for the P3 pinball platform, The Princess Bride. Stephen Silver is the creative lead for the game, with Josh and Steve writing the code and Colin crafting the ruleset. They talked about the features in the game, all the movie assets they were able to call on, plus the additional pinball-specific music and quotes. Gerry also spoke about the different versions of the game, the new cabinet front artwork and how the cost of a The Princess Bride kit compares to the cost of purchasing a complete new game from other manufacturers. The Multimorphic team with their The Princess Bride pinball Each creator talked about their vision for their game, their control system of choice, the motivations they had to complete the project, and the challenges they faced along the way. 4pm – Behind The Game: Foo Fighters – Tanio Klyce Tanio Klyce Tanio was the lead coder on the recent Stern Pinball title, Foo Fighters. He said he doesn’t take the lead on too many games – his last was Deadpool – as he usually works on other software including the Insider Connected platform – but was delighted to work with lead designer, Jack Danger, on his first full cornerstone design. Tanio spoke about the choice of theme, the design process, the way the rules are structured and the overarching storyline wrapping them all together. It was intended Jack Danger would be joining Tanio on-stage at TPF but he had to cancel at the last minute due to a family emergency. 5pm – So You Think You Know Pinball? – Martin Ayub & Jonathan Joosten So You Think You Know Pinball? hosts Jonathan Joosten and Martin Ayub Martin and Jonathan returned for another edition of their free prize quiz, held in the Cypress Lounge in the Embassy Suites. The format was unchanged from previous years, with a series of pinball-related questions, each with two possible answers. Everyone in the audience stood up and took part initially, splitting into two groups depending on which of the two answers they thought was the correct one. Those in the group which got the answer correct continued to the next question, while those who got it wrong sat down for the remainder of this round. After a series of questions, the number of remaining contestants was reduced to 4 or 5, at which point everyone got to pick a prize ticket from a bowl. The many prizes available to win all had matching tickets, so everyone still in the quiz got the corresponding prize, no matter how big or small it was. The next round then started with everyone back in the quiz. Prizes were generously donated by American Pinball, Barrels of Fun, Multimorphic, Jersey Jack Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Christopher Franchi, Dutch Pinball, PinSound, Back Alley Creations, Nitro Pinball, Pinball Magazine, Pinball News, Turner Pinball and Stern Pinball. The prizes included playfields from Labyrinth and Galactic Tank Force, backglasses from Labyrinth, Legends of Valhalla and Hot Wheels, translites from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Looney Tunes, banners for Elton John and The Godfather, plus lots of T-shirts, bottle openers, plastic sets and more. 6pm – Autograph Session At 6pm, show guests could bring pinball items they wanted to be signed to the signing table which was set up in the Conference Center’s lobby. The autograph session Show speakers were in attendance, armed with Sharpies and ready to sign guest’s personal items or flyers for the games on which they worked. The session ran for around an hour. 7pm – Let’s Get Looney – Cary Hardy & Spooky Pinball The Spooky Pinball team (L-R): Christopher Franchi, Brad Duke, Corwin Emery, Hilton Jones, Spooky Luke & Ben Heck Cary Hardy Cary Hardy introduced this panel Q&A about Spooky Pinball and their latest two releases, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Looney Tunes. They talked about how, despite the two games sharing a single playfield layout, the rules, artwork and assets are all completely different, before explaining the rules design philosophy for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the process which led to Brad becoming the artist for the Looney Tunes game. 8pm – An Evening With George Gomez George Gomez The Stern Pinball team (L-R): Dwight Sullivan, Michael Barnard, Mike Vinekour, Tanio Klyce, Rick Nagle, Elizabeth Gieske George was accompanied by a team from Stern Pinball but began this seminar by talking about the past year at the company before showing some behind-the-scenes pictures of the design team, an early concept for the topper for 007 James Bond and the original arc motion for Bond’s jetpack model. Several of the panel members then talked about their history in pinball, how they came to be part of the Stern Pinball team, and what they have recently been working on. The Stern seminar was the final presentation for the 2024 Texas Pinball Festival, but there was still one other event to be hosted in the seminars room. The band Go-Go Rillas (consisting of Bingo, Bango, Bongo and Fred) took to the stage at 11pm and went bananas for around an hour. The Go-Go Rillas on stage(picture: Jonathan Joosten) For those guests who didn’t want to venture too far from the TPF show, there were food trucks set up in the car park just outside the Conference Center’s entrance. One of the food trucks parked just outside the building’s entrance A second food truck During a gap in the seminars at 1pm resulting from the non-appearance of a speaker, we took the opportunity to record our UHD 4K Tour video of this year’s Texas Pinball Festival. Obviously, it was a busy time in the show hall, but we managed to navigate our way through the crowds to cover every machine and vendor stand. Plus we explore the corridors, side rooms, seminar room and the tournaments room. We hope you enjoy it. In the tournaments room, Saturday was a very busy day with the finals of the Kids Bump and Win, the finals of the Classics, and the finals of all three divisions of the Texas Wizards tournament. Trophies and plaques for the top players in each division Kids’ Bump ‘N Win Qualifying for the Kids’ tournament began at midday on Friday and continued until 2pm on Saturday. The format was a simple highest score tournament held on Jaws. Players had to be aged 12 or under and they could have up to a maximum of two $5 entries each. Each entry consisted of two games. The highest score they achieved in any game would be their qualifying score. Trophies for the top four in the Kids’ tournament When qualifying was over, these were the standings: Qualifying PositionNamePoints1Miles Bradley2002Carter Fell1953Liam Bradley1904Orazio Strealy1895Barrett Ulman1886Annabelle Warren1877Noah Archer1868Lyla Warren1859Flynn Johnson18410Kaden Sprague18311Brandon Chapman18212Ewan Johnson18113Sasha Lauzoa18014Harrison Marx17915Alana Johnson17816Ian Steffen17717Scarlett Marx17618Riley Steffen175Qualifying positions in the Kids’ Bump ‘n Win tournament The top four made it into a single game final, also on the Jaws machine. In that final, it was a triumphant win for Liam Bradley whose 730M score was way out in front. His nearest competitor was second-placed Miles Bradley who achieved 143.3M. In third place on 75.1M was Carter Fell, while fourth went to Orazio Strealy on 41.8M. Congratulations to all the players and especially to the four finalists. Classics Entry to the Classics Tournament cost $30 for ten games spread across any of the available machines. The player’s best score on 4 different machines made up their overall ranking. The top score on a machine earned 200 points, second place was 195 points, and third 190 points, with each place beyond that earning 1 point less. The top 24 players qualified for the finals which would be played as 4-player 3-game groups. The top 8 of those received a bye through the first round. Qualifying PositionPlayer NameScore1Eric Stone7842Preston Moncla7653Geoff Davis7454Ben Clement7404Derek Thomson7406Andrew Foster7327Bob Caldwell7228Dan Newman7189Marc Jackson71710Daniel Martin71211Mark Meserve70712Brian Krivonak70612Austin Trent70614Jack Revnew70515Albert Neumann70416Garrett Shahan70017Robert Byers69917Wesley Johnson69919David Smith69420Frank Williamson69121Michael Bradley68422Mark Beardsley68123Mark Pearson67924Rick Prince677Classics Tournament qualifiers The play-offs in the Classics tournament The bottom 16 of the 24 were reduced to 8. They then met the 8 players with the byes to reduce the numbers to 8 and then to the final four who were Eric Stone, Geoff Davis, Mark Meserve and Jack Revnew. The final of the Classics tournament In the three games of the final, Mark won on Ice Fever, Geoff won on Barracora, and Jack won on Harlem Globetrotters. Jack’s second place on Ice Fever and third on Barracora was enough to earn him the win. Mark was second, while Eric and Geoff were tied for third which Eric won on a tie-breaker on Sorcerer. Final PositionPlayer Name1Jack Revnew2Mark Meserve3Eric Stone4Geoff DavisClassics Tournament top four The Texas Wizards tournament qualifying, like the Classics, began on Friday morning at 10am. Unlike the Classics though, it continued until 4pm on Saturday, with the play-offs beginning at 5pm. There were three divisions in the Texas Wizards – A, B and Novice. The top 24 qualifiers made it into the A division, the next 8 who were IFPA-ranked outside the top 500 in the world qualified for the B division, and the next 8 who were IFPA-ranked outside the top 3,000 made it to the Novice division. Qualifying in the Texas Wizard tournament The A division qualifiers were: Qualifying PositionPlayerPoints1Bowen Kerins22222Preston Moncla21873Eric Stone21814Steven Bowden21405Marc Jackson20866Garrett Shahan20687Robert Byers20648Walt Wood20599Wesley Johnson197810Austin Kemp197411Sanjay Shah197112Phil Grimaldi195513Ben Clement194414Brian Easterwood193715Andrew Foster193116Allen Robertson192417Ken Kemp192218Jason Newman191919Derek Thomson191220Derek Price189921Matt Wilson189122Nicholas Gustafson186923Todd MacCulloch186724Mark Pearson1846The 24 qualifiers in the Texas Wizards A division The B division qualifiers were: Qualifying PositionPlayerPoints1Clark McCoy18211Geoff Davis18213Mikey Raisler17824Cory Moren17785David Smith17746Jon Stewart17667Howard Dobson17658Michael Hew1762The 8 qualifiers in the Texas Wizards B division The Novice division qualifiers were: Qualifying PositionPlayerPoints1Bryce Bush17292Kelly Moncla16923Robert Hooton16854Brad DeShong16835Shawn Quinn15896Sven Johnson15657Eamon Balouch15518Sam Hall1524The 8 qualifiers in the Texas Wizards Novice division All play-offs were played as 4-player 3-game matches, usually on one vintage, one classic and one modern machine, with a 4-2-1-0 points award for 1st-4th places. Starting with the Novice division, the 8 qualifiers were cut to 4 finalists in the semi-finals. The four finalists were Shawn Quinn, Bryce Bush, Sven Johnson and (after a tie-breaker) Kelly Moncla. In the final played on Time Machine, Avatar and Kiss, it was a win for Bryce Bush who came top in 2 or the 3 games. Kelly Moncla was second, Sven Johnson was third and Shawn Quinn fourth. Moving to the B division, the two 4-player semi-finals saw Clark McCoy, Michael Hew, Geoff Davis and Jon Stewart progress to the final. Their final was played on Viking, Terminator 2 and Jaws, and in a very close contest saw a win for Jon Stewart who won a tie-breaker for first with Clark McCoy. Geoff Davis was third and Michael Hew fourth, with just 1 point separating each position. In the A division, the top 8 qualifiers had a bye through to the quarter-finals, so the remaining 16 played the first round to reduce that number to 8. The 8 from the first round joined the 8 with a bye in the quarter-finals which reduce those 16 down to the 8 who competed in the semi-finals. They were: Bowen Kerins, Derek Thomson, Garrett Shahan, Marc Jackson, Preston Moncla, Sanjay Shah, Wesley Johnson and Eric Stone. The two semi-final resulted in Bowen Kerins, Sanjay Shah, Marc Jackson and Eric Stone going into the final. Bowen started strongly with a win on Super Spin. Eric was second, Marc third and Sanjay fourth. Play moved on to Time Machine which was a total reversal of positions on Super Spin, with Sanjay first, Marc second, Eric third and Bowen fourth. So, going into the third and final game, Metallica, it was 4 points for Bowen and Sanjay, 3 points for Eric and Marc. Whoever won on Metallica would win overall. Metallica is prepared as the last game of the A division final Bowen led off, putting together a solid performance on his first two balls for a total of 41M. Bowen starts the last game of the final However, Eric did better and had a 71M total after his first two balls. Neither Sanjay nor Marc put in a great ball, languishing around the 1M mark. Bowen had another solid ball to bring his three ball total up to 97M. Sanjay improved, but could only reach just shy of 29M after his third ball. Marc improved slightly but remained in fourth on a little under 7M. Eric began on 71M with Bowen 97M as his target. Can Eric overtake Bowen’s total? Eric started Crank It Up mode, choosing For Whom The Bell Tolls as his song. He collected a 14M pay-off to end the mode thinking it was enough, but it only gave him 95M, with just a small end-of-ball bonus. Not yet enough. However, a few Lady Justice shots soon saw him reach the target and take the win. Sanjay congratulates Eric on his win So, Eric was first, Bowen second, Sanjay third and Marc fourth. The top four in the Texas Wizards A division:Marc Jackson (4th), Sanjay Shah (3rd), Eric Stone (1st) & Bowen Kerins (2nd) SUNDAY Sunday is a much shorter TPF day than Saturday, with the show hall opening at 9am and closing five hours later at 2pm. We strive to cover all the vendors and machines at the show both in video and in pictures. You can see the video version above shot on Saturday lunchtime, here are the pictures taken the following day. Sadly, although there were still three hours of the show still to go, several vendors had decided to start packing up and heading back home. Wormhole Pinball had a stand in the corridor selling merchandise and also ran tournaments NTX Pinball were also streaming their tournament just outside the seminars room Trophies for NTX Pinball’s Leprechaun’s Gold tournament Team Worldwide were set up next to the registration booth to handle your shipping needs New this year was a concierge desk to answer guests’ questions The Tobie’s Comics and Collectibles stand The Artsy Ninja stand Delicious Doom were selling lots of sweet treats BBZ Customs had artwork and metal wallets on their stand 8 Bit Dreams had photo coasters and assorted clothing for sale This row of Ritchie pinballs was dedicated to Steve Ritchie, but also included a Mark Ritchie game too Steve Ritchie was one of the earliest supporters of the Texas Pinball Festival The TPF Gift Shop had T-shirts and caps from this year as well as from previous years in addition to tickets for the Texas Pinball Raffle Just outside the doors was a shuttle bus service to and from the National Videogame Museum If you want The Good Stuff in gamer art, this is where to come You could get all your Lego parts, sets and figures here at Briciktecture Lots more digital art available from the Pixel Art stand So many pinballs they couldn’t all squeeze into the main hall The same was true for the video games Meanwhile, in the Bass room, Rob Anthony had his Lock When Lit store set up Those were the vendors with stands outside the main hall, but now it’s time to dive inside and see who was on the show floor. Lord of the Gameroom had an impressively-dressed stand featuring characters from several current titles Hmmm… wonder which game this could be referencing? American Pinball also went for height to draw attention to their games American Pinball had a mix of current and slightly older titles Losing your ball can often call for a moment of reflection American Pinball had three of their new Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge games on their stand The vendor stands were interspersed with multiple rows of free play machines For one of the so-called ‘smaller pinball companies’, Spooky Pinball had an impressive display of their titles Last year they premiered Scooby-Doo here, but this year Scooby was slightly upstaged by newer titles This year’s newcomers, Looney Tunes and these The Texas Chainsaw Massacre machines When not appearing in seminars or at the signing session, Christopher Franchi could be found here signing posters, translites, flyers and more Brad Albright’s stand had assorted art as well as a display of the Motörhead artwork he did Brad with his artwork for the Motörhead pinball Comet Pinball has their assortment of various LEDs, rubbers and decals By Sunday lunchtime Mayfair Amusements had already packed up some of their products… and they weren’t the only ones Wizard Enterprises had their LED pinball nightlights and various oscilloscopes on their stand but now had nothing left to sell Pinball Ranch from Sunrise Beach in Texas had brought a bunch of games to the show Game Preserve had a large stand with games and more… Wherever a DeLorean is found… …you can be sure a Back To The Future pinball won’t be too far away After last year’s debut of their Twilight Zone topper, The Electric Playground had added Godzilla and The Big Lebowski toppers to their range Artwork stand Flint’s World was also preparing for the end of the show Pinball Brothers were represented by their USA division which brought these two Alien Ellen Ripley Edition machines And also this sole Queen pinball In addition to co-hosting the Stern Pinball collection with Marco, FUN! had their own stand with games from several manufacturers Some of the DMD pinballs on the FUN! stand More games from alternate manufacturers Jersey Jack Pinball were going big on their latest Elton John pinball The topper on the Collector’s Edition The Elton John machines were mixed with other JJP titles The Jersey Jack Pinball stand After their reveal at Pinball Expo in October, Turner Pinball were back with the latest, more-conventional iteration of their Ninja Eclipse game More free play machines A beautifully restored Granny and the Gators pinball/video combo The nearby National Videogame Museum also had a stand at the show As well as running the swap meet, the DFW Pinball & Arcade Club also brought a great selection of machines for show guests to enjoy. Machines from the DFW Pinball and Arcade Club The History Of Pinball exhibit had grown this year with more machines for guests to play and learn about pinball’s origins. The History Of Pinball exhibit A few of the exhibits Even more of the exhibits 1934’s Lightning by Exhibit Supply Co. Also from 1934 is this Deluxe Relay Find out more on their website The Multimorphic stand featured thirteen P3 machines Another five P3 pinballs on the Multimorphic stand Three The Princess Bride P3 machines The team on the Multimorphic stand On the Arcade Things stand you could get… well… arcade things Star Trek games through the ages AVS Home Arcade can supply your gameroom needs After a busy show, the PinSound team were ready to pack up and fly home Double Danger had their usual extensive range of pinball shirts It was good to see Pinball Armor back and available at the show The Pinball Place had brought a nice selection of games Chris Munroe had his regular stand at the back of the hall More video and skill games to play Barrels of Fun had three Labyrinth machines on their stand – all with animated toppers The team on the Barrels of Fun stand Super Skill Shot had their custom shooter rods and launch buttons on their stand Lighted Pinball Mods has their usual impressive display of illuminated add-ons Pixelated Princess offered hundreds of video game character stand-ups The buzz around homebrew games continues to build, so this area was popular throughout the show FAST Pinball were demonstrating their pinball control system Swords of Vengeance is a 2.0 kit for Swords of Fury Beavis and Butt-Head Do Pinball SAW Friday The 13th Animal House Eight Ball Beyond Mechwarrior 5 Mercenary Pinball Stern Pinball, as represented by Marco Specialties and FUN!, had the largest stand at the show this year at 45ft x 70ft. The Jaws-themed Stern Pinball stand The stand featured a mix of Pro and Premium models The theming was nicely done It wasn’t exclusively Jaws though In fact, quite a few titles were available to play In ‘Mod Alley’, Back Alley Creations had the largest selection More of the Back Alley Creations mods available Evolution Mods had animated LED strips Pinball Pro had lots more mods in addition to their signature replacement speakers line Mezel Mods also had dozens of finely-crafted models for your game Pinball Pimp had show specials of game banners as well as selling their wide range of decals Kimballs Pinballs were showing off this spectacular The Avengers: Infinity Quest game Precision Pinball Parts were selling their engineered alloy flipper sets Nitro Pinball had all the latest games from several manufacturers Including two from Spooky and one from Barrels of Fun And games from American Pinball, Chicago Gaming and Jersey Jack Player One Amusement Group also brough along a mixed bunch of new titles, many of which sold at the show Rocket City Pinball were also selling lots of custom shooter and start buttons amongst other add-ons Starship Fantasy had already packed away most of their large range of ramps Balls of Steel Pinball and Don’s Pinball Podcast were sharing a stand Bob Herbison and Ken Head were exhibiting their restorations Bob Herbison on his and Ken Head’s stand Pinball Wheezer’s stand sold all kinds of branded clothing and accessories Chicago Gaming brought six Pulp Fiction machines for their stand Hangar Pinball took a stand for their games in the front corner of the hall More free play games being enjoyed Sunday in the tournaments room means the Texas Takedown Women’s Pinball Championship. Qualifying took place from 9am until noon, with entry costing $20. There were 68 places available, with all being registered before the start. Additional players were put on a waitlist. Players played in 8 rounds of 4-player groups, with groups and machines played chosen by the Matchplay tournament software. 3-2-1-0 points were awarded for the finishing positions in each match. The commentary team and audience for the Texas Takedown Tournament After all 8 rounds had been played, the four players with the most points moved on to the final. They were: 1. Danielle Peck (24 pts.)2. Tracy Abrahams (19 pts.) 3. Lexi Whittemore (18 pts.)4. Louise Wagensonner (17.5 pts.) The final consisted of three games held on the machines Spin Out, Whirlwind and Metallica using a 4-2-1-0 scoring format. After the first two games, Lexi Whittemore was leading with 6 points, Danielle Peck was close behind on 5 points, Louise Wagensonner had 3 points and Tracy Abrahams had yet to score. With only Danielle left to play her final ball, Louise had a strong lead with Lexi in last place. It looked likely there would be a tie for first place on 7 points, but Danielle put in a very strong final ball to overtake Louise’s score and seal the win. Danielle Peck plays the last ball of the Texas Takedown final The final standing were:1. Danielle Peck (9 pts.)2. Lexi Whittemore (6 pts.)3. Louise Wagensonner (5 pts.)4. Tracy Abrahams (1 pt.) Winner of the Texas Takedown Women’s Pinball Championship 2024, Danielle Peck The top four in the Texas Takedown Women’s Pinball Championship 2024(Lexi Whittemore, Danielle Peck, Louise Wagensonner & Tracy Abrahams) When the main hall closes, a presentation ceremony begins in the seminars room where awards are given for the Best-in-Show machines in 14 categories and the draw for the raffle prize pinball machine takes place. The Best-in-Show awards First though, TPF show organisers Paul McKinney and Robert Harris thanked everyone for coming and thanked all the many vendors, machine owners and show guests who make the Texas Pinball Festival what it is. Paul McKinney and Robert Harris The duo then handed the mic to Bill Morrison who, as a member of the judging panel, had selected the runners-up and winners of the Best-in-Show awards this year. Bill Morrison a.k.a. The Mayor Here’s the full list of categories, runners-up and winners. Best Antique (Pre-1960)Runners-Up: Relay Deluxe (History of Pinball) & Mystic Marvel (Bob Herbison)Winner: Cinderella (Stephen Wylie & Stacey Devin) Winners of Best Antique: Stephen Wylie & Stacey Devin Best 1960sRunners-Up: Flipper Fair (John Kemp) & Ice Revue (Empire Pinball)Winner: Cow Poke (Ken Head) Winner of Best 1960s: Ken Head Best 1970s ElectromechanicalRunners-Up: Fan-Tas-Tic (Tim Finley) & Cleopatra (Louis Marx)Winner: T.K.O. (Empire Pinball) Winners of Best 1970s Electromechanical: Empire Pinball Best 1970s/1980s ElectronicRunners-Up: Earthshaker! (Cary Hardy) & Nugent (Kevin Moore)Winner: F-14 Tomcat (Micah Perini) Best 1990sRunners-Up: Monster Bash (Eric Smith) & Theatre of Magic (David Kemp)Winner: Indiana Jones (Kevin Moore) Winner of Best 1990s: Kevin Moore Best 2000sRunners-Up: Monopoly (Unknown) & Wheel of Fortune (Brandon Haney)Winner: Austin Powers (Hangar Pinball) Winner of Best 2000s: Hangar Pinball Best Modern (2010-Present)Runners-Up: Metallica (Hangar Pinball) & The Avengers: Infinity Quest (Kim Keist)Winner: Jaws (Bobby Niefer) Winner of Best Modern: Bobby Niefer Best OriginalRunners-Up: Space Station (John Daniel) & Terminator 2 (Unknown)Winner: Future Queen (Tim Hood) Winner of Best Original: Tim Hood Best NewcomerRunners-Up: Rocky (Marshall Dixon) & Whitewater (Damon White)Winner: Granny & The Gators (Justin Barren) Winner of Best Newcomer: Justin Barren Best RestorationRunners-Up: Cyclone (Rick Ward) & Bad Cats (Unknown)Winner: Batman Forever (Ben Bassinger) Winner of Best Restoration: Ben Bassinger Best Custom PinballRunners-Up: Eight Ball Beyond (Sean Irby) & Motörhead (David Peck)Winner: SAW (Eric Klotz) Winner of Best Custom Pinball: Eric Klotz & the SAW team Best Classic Arcade Video GameRunners-Up: Galaga Cabaret (Unknown) & Donkey Kong Cabaret (Eric Stinson)Winner: Shuuz (Unknown) Best Custom/Innovative Video GameRunner-Up: Light Cycles 3-D (Estil Vance)Winner: Space Paranoids (Estil Vance) Winner of the Custom/Innovative Video Game: Estil Vance The final award went to the Best-in-Show Grand Champion for the best overall pinball or video game at TPF. Grand ChampionWinner: Friday the 13th (Kyle Smet) Winner of the Best-in-Show Grand Champion: Kyle Smet The final part of the show to be decided was the winner of the Texas Pinball Raffle, with all proceeds going to benefit the nearby National Videogame Museum. The grand prize was a new Elton John pinball machine. The grand prize in the Texas Pinball Raffle Raffle tickets were $5 each of 5 for $20 and they could be purchased from the show merchandise desk just outside the show hall entrance. All entries were collected in the ticket drum, from which the winning ticket was drawn. The winner needed to be present to claim their prize. The ticket drum is spun The name on the winning ticket is read out The name read out was Christine Busick, and fortunately she was in the room, along with her husband, to claim her prize. The winner of the Grand Prize: Christine Busick With the grand prize awarded, this year’s Texas Pinball Festival was officially over. Out in the main hall and in the corridors, vendors and game bringers were packing everything away for the journey home. The Stern/Marco/FUN! stand is dismantled Machines are rolled back to the loading bay for the trip home We hope you have enjoyed our bumper coverage of the 2024 Texas Pinball Festival. With over 300 pictures and 35 minutes of 4K video, it’s been one of our most in-depth show reports yet. After being a week earlier than usual in 2024, for next year the show returns to its more usual March dates, on 21st-23rd March, 2025. Naturally, we’ll be back in Frisco to bring you all the action from the 2025 Texas Pinball Festival, right here at Pinball News.
