Date: 15th-19th October 2024 Location: Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL 60173, USA Welcome to our coverage of this 40th anniversary Pinball Expo being held at the Schaumburg Convention Center in the city of Schaumburg, about 25 miles north-west from the centre of Chicago. The Schaumburg Convention Center The Schaumburg Convention Center The Convention Center is joined to the neighbouring Renaissance Hotel which is the official Pinball Expo hotel, even having Expo-branded room keys for attendees. The Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center hotel This year’s show promised to be the largest ever. It’s certainly the longest ever, with events starting in the morning of the Tuesday. There were four organised pinball factory tours taking place, starting with Chicago Gaming on Tuesday, American Pinball on Wednesday, Jersey Jack Pinball on Thursday and Stern Pinball on Friday. The first two of these were combined with visits to famous video and pinball arcades in the greater Chicagoland area. After the being shown around Chicago Gaming in Cicero on Tuesday, Pinball Expo attendees headed over to Brookfield for a tour of the Galloping Ghost Arcade. Wednesday’s American Pinball tour was preceded by a trip to Logan Arcade near Logan Square in downtown Chicago. The main show hall had been enlarged this year, with 100,000 square feet for the vendor hall, a new free play area in the room previously occupied by the tournaments, and a new tournaments area in a section of the Main Ballroom. Monday We arrived on Monday evening when the main hall was almost empty, except for some desks and merchandise for the registration area. The registration desks at the entrance to the main show hall The view of the main show hall on Monday evening Pinball Expo is famed for its extensive schedule of seminars and this year that element had been enhanced and expanded for the fortieth show with three full days of talks and a second seminars room. That means, on Thursday and Saturday at least, there would be seminars in both rooms at the same time. Pinball News has video recordings of the talks from the main seminars room (Nirvana A&B) thanks to the valuable assistance of Pinball Magazine. We didn’t have the resources to cover the second, smaller seminars room (Nirvana C) next door, but hope to be able to bring you some audio recordings of those. There were several brand new systems for the audio and video in both rooms, which resulted in quite a few unknowns about how it would all work. Video recording of the seminars as well as video tours of the show floor, free play area and tournaments room are all available on the Pinball News Videos YouTube channel in a special Pinball Expo 2024 playlist. So, on with the coverage of Pinball Expo 2024. One of several illuminated Pinball Expo signs at the Convention Center Tuesday The registration desks for show guests to collect their passes, show guide and event tickets opened a little after 10am in the main hall. Before the doors opened, quite a queue had built up in the lobby area outside and around the corner into the corridor. The front of the line for registration Inside, last minute preparations were complete The doors open for registration On one side, those who had pre-registered could collect their badges, wristbands and event passes. On the other, on-the-day registration was available, although probably 95%+ of Expo attendees this morning had pre-registered. Pretty soon it was busy at the pre-registered desk Pinball Expo organiser, Rob Berk, is happy with the show so far The opening of registration was also the first opportunity to purchase Pinball Expo branded merchandise, including the special T-shirt designed by Brian Allen of Flyland Design. The 40th Pinball Expo T-shirt design In the hall beyond, some preparations for the vendor stands were under way, most notably by Tilt Amusements and Stern Pinball. Tilt Amusements broiught over 100 new Stern games to Pinball Expo to display on the Stern Pinball stand and also for use in the tournaments area. Inside the show hall on Tuesday morning Some of the new Stern pinballs from Tilt Amusements Attendees gathered for the Chicago Gaming Company and Galloping Ghost Arcade tours in the Convention Center lobby at 11:45am. Guests assembled in the Convention Center’s lobby to board the buses The line for the tours snaked around the escalators Three large yellow school buses arrived to convey guests to the Chicago Gaming factory in Cicero, around a 30 minute drive away. Boarding the buses The weather turned rainy in the time it took to arrive at the factory. Everyone crammed into the lobby to keep dry, before being divided into groups for the tour. The Chicago Gaming Company / Churchill Cabinets factory Once a group was formed, those guests had a little time to play some of the Chicago Gaming titles set up in a games room – Medieval Madness Remake, Attack from Mars Remake, Monster Bash Remake, Cactus Canyon Remake and Pulp Fiction. Tour guests enjoy the Chicago Gaming machines at the factory All the company’s pinball models were available to play One of the Cactus Canyon Remakes included the recently previewed saloon entrance add-on. The new Saloon entrance mod on Cactus Canyon Remake Company owner, Doug Duba, welcomed everyone to the factory and the tour. He explained a little of the history of Churchill Cabinets and how the Chicago Gaming brand came into existence. Doug Duba welcomes Pinball Expo tour guests to his factory Unfortunately nobody was permitted to take photographs of the manufacturing processes, but if you want to see some of the behind-the-scenes pictures from the factory as it was back in 2016, check out our full Chicago Gaming Factory Tour report. Most guests received a complimentary gift bag containing a Chicago Gaming T-shirt, an iced cookie, a bag of plastic parts to make a Medieval Madness catapult, and some Pulp Fiction cards and stickers. The Chicago Gaming goodie bag Sadly, there were more tour guests than expected, so the last few visitors to the factory didn’t get one of these goodie bags. After completing the tour, the school buses took the Pinball Expo attendees to Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield, another 30 minute drive away. Galloping Ghost Arcade in Brookfield Galloping Ghost lays claim as “the largest arcade in the world”, something it’s hard to challenge. Certainly they have over 1,000 arcade video games tightly-packed in under one roof. Some of the 1,000+ video games at Galloping Ghost Arcade The sheer number of arcade machines is breathtaking. It’s almost certain that if you can remember a game from your video playing days, you’ll find it here. Somewhere. There are rows upon rows of video games like this at Galloping Ghost Arcade Pinball fans weren’t left out though, as three blocks down the street is Galloping Ghost Pinball, where you’ll find more than 40 machines set up to play for a one-time entry fee. Galloping Ghost Pinball, just three blocks down from Galloping Ghost Arcade Inside the main room at Galloping Ghost Pinball The infamous Predator machine is one of the many games you can play Although pizza was served to tour guests back at the Galloping Ghost Arcade, we took the opportunity to grab a late lunch elsewhere before heading back to the Convention Center for Tuesday night’s movies. Rob Berk introduced the screenings, with the first movie being Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game. Rob Berk introduces the first of Tuesday night’s two movies The film is about a time in the life of Roger Sharpe, his involvement in the pinball industry and how he got to meet his wife Ellen. Roger and Ellen were both at the screening and spoke about how the film came to be made. Roger and Ellen Sharpe talk about the making of the movie The second movie of the evening was the 1975 film, Tommy, based on The Who’s rock opera. The screening concluded the first day of Pinball Expo 2024. Wednesday Wednesday at Pinball Expo began at 9:45am with buses leaving for a ride to Logan Arcade in downtown Chicago. This would be followed by a factory tour of American Pinball. The queue to join the tour was considerably longer than yesterday, with the line extending past the escalators and across the entrance to the Exploration Hall. The queue for the buses to Logan Arcade and American Pinball The back of the line The original plan was for all tour guests to go to Logan Arcade first where they would have lunch before departing for the American Pinball tour. Due to the number of tour guests, the group was split so that the first four buses would go to Logan Arcade first, while the remaining buses would travel to American Pinball first. The two groups would then swap after lunch. Rolando is first on the bus today Rob Berk welcomed all the tour guests as they boarded the bus Logan Arcade is 2410 W. Fullerton Ave. in Chicago, in the old Logan Hardware building. The distinctive sign of the old business remains outside. We had to stay back at the Convention Center to set up and test the equipment for the seminars which would begin on Thursday morning. However, Pinball News’s M.G. Brown took the tour so he could report the details. The Logan Arcade front Inside is the best mix of pinballs and videos in the city. The business doesn’t usually open until 6pm during the week, but opened their doors to Pinball Expo guests on Wednesday morning. Tour guests arriving at Logan Arcade Some of the regular pinball events hosted by Logan Arcade The games are all coin-operated and feature all the newest titles. Here is a quick look around. Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade Some of the pinballs at Logan Arcade Pinball Expo tour guests enjoying the games Some of the pinballs and wall decorations at Logan Arcade This Godzilla VR shooter game is great fun to play Logan Arcade has a diverse range of drinks available at the bar A Pinball Expo beer mat with your drink After some ice cold beer, how about some Ice Cold Beer? Food was also provided in the form of pizza From Logan Arcade, the buses transported guests to the American Pinball factory in Palatine, around a 45-minute drive north. As with the Chicago Gaming tour the previous day, no photographs were allowed inside the factory. Guests were shown the manufacturing process for American Pinball machines as well as a look at the Aimtron operation in the same building. Aimtron is an electronics manufacturer and the partent company of American Pinball. Their main factory is a little distance away in another part of Palatine, but they also have some operations co-sited with American Pinball. After the tour, a selection of branded merchandise was available to purchase. American Pinball branded caps, shirts, glasses and posters Soon after show guests had been driven back to the Convention Center, it was time for the Bumper Blast welcome party held at the nearby Enterrium arcade and restaurant. There was a reception for international Pinball Expo guests an hour before the Bumper Blast was opened up to everyone. Rob welcomes international guests to the Bumper Blast pre-party Some cookies and snacks for international visitors Rob invited some of the international visitors to address the group in their native tongue After an hour, the large group of domestic guests arrived and hot food was served to everyone. A hot buffet was available for all Pinball Expo guests Some of the hot buffet food Later, there was a special commemorative cake to mark the 40th anniversary show. The celebration cake After the meal, guests were invited to play the many pinballs and other arcade games available at Enterrium. Earlier, the finals of the Stern Pro Circuit Championship had been held. That has been won by Jared August, but the games were then opened up to all guests to play. The tournament games were available for everyone to play It soon got pretty busy The tournament play-off results In addition to the pinballs, the regular arcade machines were available to play. Guests were given a pre-loaded card which gave a little over three hours of unlimited play on most games. The games which awarded prizes were generally not included, although credit could be purchased to allow access to these machines. The pre-loaded game card for Pinball Expo guests Meanwhile, back at the Convention Center, work was underway to build up all the vendor stands in the main hall, and set up all the free play and tournament machines. The tournaments have been moved to a new, much larger space for 2024. The previous room was always rather cramped, but there is no such problem this year. The new tournaments area The machines for the main tournament are on the right side of the room The Classic and Women’s Tournaments machines are on the left side The seating area for watching the live streaming The room which housed the tournaments in previous years is now the free play zone. The Free Play Zone room Machines are arranged in long rows running the length of the room The second row or machines More machines from the second row A special display of the five titles from Australian pinball maker, Hankin Here’s a video tour of both the tournaments room and the free play zone shot in UHD 4K. Finally for Wednesday, we paid a visit to the main hall to check on progress and get a sneaky look at what visitors will see when the doors open at noon on Thursday. Setting up was underway right across the hall American Pinball’s machines had arrive but we’re yet set up The same was true at the Spooky Pinball stand The Chicago Gaming machines were being set up when we visited their stand All the 60+ Stern Pinball machines were set up and ready to go More machines on the Stern Pinball stand Dutch Pinball Exclusive have two of their upcoming Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland machines set up at the show The playfield from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland The cabinet artwork The translite artwork This giant Mothership game is a custom build for Rob Berk At over four feet wide it’s bigger than Hercules, but it’s not yet playable It features an LCD panel, a backbox bagatelle feature and a lower playfield Mothership is part of the large homebrew games section Around forty homebrew titles are expected this year The homebrew games vary from early builds to fully complete machines Across the hall, stands were coming together This wall of cups by Elijah The Cup Guy doesn’t look like anything when viewed close up in person But when seen through a camera, all becomes clear The Jersey Jack Pinball stand was still under construction when we visited There are plenty of Avatar Limited Edition models to play The hall looks very different to yesterday The on-the-day registration stand is now the souvenirs stand That concludes our look at the events on the second day of Pinball Expo 2024. Thursday Thursday morning began with the first guests heading to Elk Grove Village for a tour of the Jersey Jack Pinball. Unlike the other factory tours, the JJP factory tour took place throughout the day, with guests picking an available time slot and turning up for the bus at their appointed time. That system avoided large queues forming either at the Convention Center or at the factory, allowing visitors to enjoy the rest of the Pinball Expo show. A somewhat nicer coach for the JJP factory tour Because we needed to work on all the seminars, Pinball News was not able to take the JJP factory tour. However, Pinball Magazine was able to cover the tour for us and we present their pictures. Unlike the other three manufacturers, Jersey Jack Pinball happily invited tour guests to take pictures as they were shown around. The factory has one long production line for the main title and one shorter one for lower runs An Elton John playfield on the second line Cabinets with Avatar decals outside and inside Cabinets having their playfields installed Cabinets having their internal components installed Blank Avatar Limited Edition playfields The mini-playfields The tour reaches the assembly production area Flipper assemblies Mini-playfield assemblies More assemblies waiting to be installed Wireforms with switches attached Flipper and trough assemblies Ramp assemblies Some of the models in the Avatar game Screws and T-nuts being installed One of the tour groups being shown the production process The playfield on the rotisserie Multiple playfields in production Blank cabinets waiting to hit the line The completed Avatar playfield The workshop for creating samples or test pieces Boxed games ready to ship Thursday morning also saw the start of an extensive seminars schedule. The number of speakers wishing to give presentations at Pinball Expo 2024 far exceeded the number that could be accommodated in the seminars room, called Nirvana A&B. The solution was to set up a second seminars room in the adjacent, but smaller, Nirvana C, with seminars taking place in both simultaneously at times. Pinball News, with assistance from Pinball Magazine, ran the audio/video/IT for the seminars in the main room, but we didn’t have the resources to do the same in the second room too. In addition, for this year’s show there was a whole new audio system designed to provide a good number of microphones, direct embedded audio from the presenter’s computer and a digital output to our recorder. We hope you enjoy the improvements. The sound package was put together by Ron Coon, Jr. who, incidentally, kicked off this year’s seminars schedule with his talk entitled, Adventures in Repairing Foreign Pinball Machines Part 2, held in the second room at 8:15am on Thursday. Designer of the sound packages for the two rooms and first seminar speaker, Ron Coon, Jr. So, our coverage will concentrate on the talks held in the main room. We did set up an audio recorder for the second room to capture the pinball seminars, so we will bring you audio recordings of those too. The first seminar in the main room was by M.G. Brown and Terri Brown. 9:00amPinspotting – M.G. Brown and Terri Brown M.G. Brown The Pinspotting articles published in Pinball News come under the spotlight as authors M.G Brown and Terri Brown talk about their visits to lesser-known pinball spots and what sets them apart. 10:00amPinball Keychain Plastics! (& Other Factory Promotional Collectibles) – Dann Frank Dann Frank When pinball manufacturers are making plastics for the playfield and speaker panel, they often have space on the sheet for additional promotional parts or keychains. Dann explains how they make them and how they have become collectable items. Unfortunately, due to a technical issue, we don’t have video of Dann’s seminar. 10:30amAustralian Pinball – The Story About Hankin – Stephen Smith Stephen Smith You may know about the The Empire Strikes Back game, but that was one of five titles produced by the Australian manufacturer Hankin. Stephen examines how this and the other four titles came to be made along with the history of the company. 11:00amThinking Big: The Visionaries – Rob Berk, Doc Mack, Dave Lawton, Mike Jacobson Emily Brooks, Rob Berk, Dave Lawton, Mike Jacobson & Doc Mack Emily Brooks introduces those behind some of the world’s largest arcades who explain the motivations which led them to open their facility, the issues they each face maintaining such large collections, as well as their future plans. 12:00pmMaster Class in Pinball Playfield Art – Doug Watson Doug Watson Veteran pinball artist, Doug, examines the role of art in the whole pinball design, why we have artwork, what it needs to do, and how that is achieved, while providing numerous examples of good and bad pinball art. 1:00pmThe Early Years & More – John Borg John Borg John is the designer behind many of the biggest sellers of recent years. In this seminar he looks back at his 30+ years of game design, from Star Wars right up to the newly-launched Metallica Remastered. 2:00pmInside View of the Terra Technica Pinball & Jukebox Museum – Günther Freinberger Günther Freinberger Terra Technica is a huge multi-faceted retro museum on the Czech/Austrian border featuring multiple time zones, each containing huge collections of arcade machines, jukeboxes, gramophones, typewriters, player pianos, and much more. 2:30pmPinball Sport in Austria – Stefan Riedler Stefan Riedler Stefan, of RS Pinball, dissects the pinball scene, the locations and the pinball organisations in Austria ahead of the country hosting the 2025 European Pinball Championship and the IFPA World Championship. 3:00pmPinball Restoration: Moving Forward from Radical to Scared Stiff: Red Chrome Edition – Ivan Cicognani & Giorgio Avato Giorgio Avato & Ivan Cicognani Ivan and Giorgio presented examples of their most recent pinball restoration projects, including a red chrome edition of the game Scared Stiff which they were exhibiting in the room. The red chrome edition of Scared Stiff 4:00pmCollecting Pinball Machines from the Birth of Pinball to the 1930s – Jeff Frick, Caitlyn Pascal, Mike Minchew & Bryan Redshaw The pre-war pinball panel The panel talked about pinball’s earliest developments from table cue games through to flipperless games, taking in the novel features which later became commonplace, along with the collecting of promotional flyers for these titles. 5:00pmSuggestions in Launching a Successful Pinball Campaign – Oscar Terol, Roberto Almarza & Nick Schwartz Roberto Almarza, Oscar Terol & Nick Schwartz The trio presented a talk on techniques pinball companies can leverage to improve the effectiveness of their new game launches, looking at the pre-launch, launch day and post-launch periods. 6:00pmScorbit: Advancing Connected Pinball To The Next Phase – Jay Adelson & Ron Richards Ron Richards & Jay Adelson Ron and Jay are the founders of Scorbit, the universal pinball score and achievement tracking hardware and software combo. They announced the removal of monthly subscription fees, increased game compatibility and new ways to access their ecosystem. 6:30pmPinWiki: 13 Years On – Casey Gardner & Chuck Gardner Casey Gardner & Chuck Gardner Casey and Chuck are the founders of PinWiki, the online pinball repair wiki, which after thirteen years continues to offer editable guides to pinball repair and restoration created by experts across the hobby. 7:00pmFunhouse Reimagined: Rudy is Back – Nic Parks, Dominic Kacich, Travis Murie, Brian Allen The Funhouse Remake team Funhouse has been reimagined in the new remake, featuring new artwork, new rules, new display graphics along with the option to play the classic rules. The team behind Funhouse Remake explain how the new version was created. 8:00pmThe Visible Pinball/Exhibits for Museums – Michael Schiess & Wade Krause Michael Schiess & Wade Krause Michael and Wade are from the Pacific Pinball Museum and in this seminar they describe the creation of the first Visible Pinball machine – a Surf Champ with a clear acrylic cabinet, backbox and playfield showing the inner workings, as well as discussing other pinball-related teaching exhibits. 9:00pmGoat Shed Ramblings: Looking Towards the Future – Kim Oswald Kim Oswald The Goat Shed is an Australian electromechanical pinball repair and restoration operation based in Newcastle. Kim showed us around their operation, talked to one of their partners and mused on their future plans. 10:30pmWhat’s Happening at American Pinball? – David Fix, Steven Bowden & Ryan McQuaid David Fix, Steven Bowden & Ryan McQuaid The focus of this seminar was American Pinball’s current game, Barry O’s Barbecue Challenge, with David explaining the context for the game and Steven and Ryan talking about the games ruleset and playfield features. The American Pinball seminar was the final one in the main seminars room for Thursday. There are two more full days of seminars coming up on Friday and Saturday, and we’ll bring you details of those in the second part of our Pinball Expo coverage. They are also all available in our YouTube channel’s special Pinball Expo 2024 playlist. Meanwhile, next door in the Nirvana C room, a parallel set of seminars was taking place. As we said earlier, we set up an audio recorder to capture the day’s talks but weren’t able to be there in person to control the recordings or adjust the audio levels. However, we hope you enjoy the recordings of the nineteen talks we are able to bring you here. 8:45am Adventures in Repairing Foreign Pinball Machines Part 2 – Ron Coon, Jr. Ron Coon, Jr. 9:30am Pinball: A Quest for Mastery – Tasker Smith Tasker Smith 10:00am Easily Add Integrated Light Shows, Servo Motors, & More to Your Existing Pinball Machine – Brad Oldham Brad Oldham 10:30am The Perfect Stack: Art & Pinball – Elijah Farrales Elijah Farrales 11:00am How to Run a Successful Arcade Bar – Rachel Bess, Chris Rhodes,Cale Hernandez, Jim Zespy, Alan Robertson Rachel Bess, Chris Rhodes, Cale Hernandez, Jim Zespy, Alan Robertson 12:00pm Game Restoration Tips & Tricks – Ken Head Ken Head 12:30pm What’s New With Captain & The Auction – Chris Campbell Chris Campbell 1:00pm Little Shop of Games: My How We’ve Grown! – Marshall Dickson Marshall Dickson 1:30pm The Voice Behind the Machine Returns – Fred Young Fred Young 2:00pm Pinball Republic Closure & Reopening – Neil McRae Neil McRae 2:30pm Script Flipped: From Film Student to Ottawa’s Youngest Playfield Tech – Ben Willms Ben Willms 3:00pm The History of Pinside & Secret Santa Holiday Program – John Jundt John Jundt 3:30pm Restoration is NOT a Dirty Word – Mike Hasanov Mike Hasanov 4:00pm 45 Years Addicted to Pinball, from Playing Pinball After School to Building Our Own Pinball Museum – Martin Wiest Martin Wiest 4:30pm XPin Lets Loose – Brett Davis Brett Davis 6:00pm If You Can Work on Pinball You Can Work on Jukeboxes – Ed Owens & Aaron Schmitt Ed Owens & Aaron Schmitt 8:00pm Women Working in Pinball – Imoto Harney, Kristin Browning-Mezel, Rachel Bess, Rebecca Hinsdale, Elizabeth Gieske, Erika S., Krystle Gemnich Imoto Harney, Kristin Browning-Mezel, Rachel Bess, Rebecca Hinsdale, Elizabeth Gieske, Erika S., Krystle Gemnich 9:00pm Playfield Restoration: Preserving Economic and Historical Value of Your Pinball Machine – Marcelo Blanco Marcelo Blanco 10:00pm Fencing, Fighting, Torture, & Revenge: The Making of The Princess Bride Pinball for the P3 – Josh Kugler Josh Kugler At midday on Thursday, the main show hall opened to the public. Due to our duties running the main seminars room we didn’t manage to get down to the main hall until Saturday, so you’ll find our coverage of everything the main hall in Part Two of this Pinball Expo report covering Friday and Saturday’s action. That concludes our coverage of the first three days of Pinball Expo 2024. We hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. Join us in Part Two for all the action from Friday and Saturday, including the all the seminars, the full main show hall report, the Stern Pinball factory tour, plus details of the tournament finals on Sunday.
