Date: 15th-18th October 2025 Location: Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center Hotel, 1551 N. Thoreau Drive, Schaumburg, IL 60173, USA Welcome to the continuation of our extensive coverage of this year’s 41st Pinball Expo show. In Part One we covered all the set-up on Tuesday and Wednesday leading up to the opening of the show hall on Thursday, as well as all 18 of Thursday’s seminars. FRIDAY Friday is the day of the Stern Pinball factory tour. Show attendees purchasing the full $200 three-day package or the advance registration package had the Stern factory tour included. For everyone else it was available as a $35 add-on. Those taking the tour could choose one of four time slots – 8:45am, 10:15am, 11:45am or 1:15pm – to board their bus for the 15-minute journey from Schaumburg to Stern’s home in Elk Grove Village. Pinball News remained behind to run and record Friday’s seminars, but Jonathan Joosten, Editor of Pinball Magazine and seminars assistant, took the tour and got us all these pictures. As usual, photography is not permitted on the factory floor, but there’s still plenty of interest to see. Tour guests boarded the bus at their pre-arrange time Stern Pinball’s Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer, John Buscaglia, welcomes tour guests Stern Pinball’s reception area in Halloween decor Tour guests are ushered into the reception lobby Waiting in reception for the tour to begin The tour group enters the factory CEO, Seth Davis, and Chairman, Gary Stern, welcome the tour guests Stern’s pinball machines lined the room Stern’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, George Gomez, tells the guests what they will see on their tour Some of the many open-plan office cubicles Rather than have one guide show groups around the whole factory, there were dedicated guides posted along the route to talk about what happens at their point in the factory All three models of the current Star Wars: Fall of the Empire title were set up with members of the design team on hand to answer questions As is traditional, the Stern merchandise shop was open at the end of the tour Take home a souvenir of the tour The recently-announced King Topper was on display too When the tour guests returned to the Schaumburg Convention Center, they could explore the main show hall or enjoy the full-day schedule of talks in the seminars room. Just a reminder, all the seminar presentations are also available to watch on the Pinball News YouTube channel in the Pinball Expo 2025 playlist. 9:00amFirewood to (Fun)ctional: Journey of a 1947 Flipperless Woodrail PinballSpeaker: Jay Schneider Jay Schneider Jay Schneider talked about how he rescued a trashed Nevada flipperless game and restored it, describing the components and materials he used to make many of the parts it needed, and the techniques he employed. 10:00amPreserving & Exhibiting the History of Coin-Op Games at the Strong National Museum of PlaySpeaker: Jeremy Saucier Jeremy Saucier Jeremy Saucier is an assistant VP at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. He detailed the Museum’s history and devotion to the history and exploration of play. He also explained how various exhibits are chosen and how their methods of exhibiting them has changed over the years from being glass-cased artefacts to becoming fully interactive and playable. 11:00amPinball Content CreationSpeakers: Ralph Ronzio (Retro Ralph), Josh Roop & Scott Larson (Loser Kid), Jared Engelbert & Joel Engelbert (Flip N Out & Triple Drain) Ralph Ronzio Josh Roop, Scott Larson, Joel Engelbert & Jared Engelbert Ralph Ronzio (Retro Ralph) hosted this seminar looking at the ways podcasters create content for their channels, covering listener interactions, their approach to interviewing guests and dealing with feedback both positive and negative. 12:45amThe Top 5 Original Pinball Soundtracks: One Musicologist’s OpinionSpeaker: Neil Lerner Neil Lerner Neil Lerner gives his views on the top pinball soundtracks which are musically excellent but also have historical significance as the underlying technology and player expectations for pinball music evolves. 1:15pmLunch Break PinballSpeaker: Andrew Goulson Andrew Goulson Andrew Goulson is a new pinball fan from Minnesota. In this seminar he talks about his experiences of his first year of being involved in pinball, after being a retro gamer since he was a kid. 2:15pmHard Lessons from Building the World’s Most Complex Pinball GameSpeaker: Andy Cavatorta Andy Cavatorta Andy Cavatorta is a sculptor from Brooklyn and here at Pinball Expo he related the story of how he built a hugely complex multi-player pinball machine in Mexico and the many challenges he faced, both mechanical and cultural. 3:00pmMaking Pinball, Making Friends: Meet the Future of Homebrew PinballSpeakers: Aaron Davis & the Pinball Expo 2025 Homebrew Makers Aaron Davis Aaron with the team behind the Coming to America homebrew game Aaron Davis of FAST Pinball talks about the explosion in homebrew pinball making and invites many of the makers of the homebrew games on the Pinball Expo show floor to talk about their motivations and experiences building their machines. 4:30pmStern TechnologySpeakers: Seth Davis, George Gomez, Erica Frohm, Mark Guidarelli, Taylor Bancroft George Gomez Seth Davis, Erica Frohm, Taylor Bancroft & Mark Guidarelli George Gomez and Seth Davis host this talk which looks at Stern Pinball’s new Spike 3 control system, describing the improvements it brings to future games as well as the benefits it gives older Spike-based titles. 5:30pmPinball Expo Hall of Fame PresentationInductions by: Rob Berk, Joe Kaminkow, Gary Stern, Greg Freres, Steve Ritchie Each year, members of the pinball industry are inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame. In recent years the new Hall of Fame inductees have been largely dominated by current or former Stern Pinball employees and that trend continued this year. However, amongst the list of inductees, there were a couple not from Stern. Previous inductees were: Oct. 21, 2024Jerry Thompson, John Buscaglia, Jody Dankberg, Fred Young, Steve Epstein, Art StenholmOct. 20, 2023Chris Granner, Mark Galvez, Mark WeynaOct. 21, 2022Ray Tanzer, Zofia Bil RyanOct. 29, 2021Gil Pollock, Keith JohnsonOct. 17, 2020Tommy Grant, Eulogio Pingarrón, Jack GuarnieriOct. 17, 2019Mike O’Donnell, Cassandra Peterson, Pat PowersOct. 19, 2018Elliot Eismin, Jon Norris, Ken FedesnaOct. 21, 2017Gordon Horlick, Dwight Sullivan, Pat McMahon, Brian Schmidt, Neal FalconerOct. 15, 2016Don Marshall, Connie MitchellOct. 17, 2015John Rotharmel, David Thiel, Lyman Sheats Jr.Oct. 18, 2014Nolan Bushnell, Brian EddyOct. 19, 2013Lonnie Ropp, Suzanne Ciani, Eugene JarvisOct. 20, 2012Steve Kirk, John BorgOct. 22, 2011Mark Ritchie, John PopadiukOct. 23, 2010Python Anghelo, Gary Flower, Michael Shalhoub, Clay HarrellOct. 17, 2009Dennis Nordman, Barry Oursler, Michael Stroll, Jim SchelbergOct. 4, 2008Ted Zale, George GomezOct. 27, 2007Lou, Dave and Meyer Gensberg (Genco), Alvin Gottlieb, John YoussiOct. 2, 2006Paul Faris, Judd WeinbergNov. 19, 2005Margaret Hudson, Roy ParkerOct. 16, 2004Robert Berk, Ed Cebula, Greg Freres, Gary Gayton, Kevin O’Conner, Michael Pacak, Joe KaminkowOct. 18, 2003Tom Nieman, Edward KrynskiOct. 19, 2002Christian Marche, Jim PatlaOct. 11, 2001Gary Stern, Steve YoungOct. 21, 2000Pat Lawlor, Roger SharpeOct. 23, 1999Larry Demar, Greg KmiecOct. 24, 1998Gordon MorisonNov. 15, 1997Dick Bueschel, Steve RitchieNov. 16, 1996Dave ChristensenOct.28, 1995Norm Clark, Wendell McAdamsNov. 12, 1994Wayne NeyensSept. 11, 1993Steve Kordek, George MolentinOct. 24, 1992Harvey Heiss, Harry MabsOct. 26, 1991David Gottlieb, Harry E. Williams, Ray Moloney, Sam Stern The first new inductee was artist, Doug Watson. His induction was introduced by Greg Freres and Steve Ritchie. Greg Freres & Steve Ritchie induct Doug Watson Doug Watson Gary Stern and Joe Kaminkow then introduced the next new inductee, Tim Seckel, who designed a number of games for Data East Pinball, including Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends, Hook, Last Action Hero and WWF Royal Rumble. Tim Seckel Further inductees were Mark Guidarelli from Stern Pinball and the key members of Keith Elwin’s design team at Stern Pinball – Keith Elwin, Rick Naegele, Jeremy Packer and Harrison Drake. 6:00pmThen & NowSpeakers: Pat Lawlor & Larry DeMar Larry DeMar & Pat Lawlor Pat Lawlor and Larry DeMar reminisce about their early years making pinball together at Williams, from their collaboration on Wreck’n Ball – later to become Banzai Run – through to the eventual closure of the company’s pinball division. 7:30pmThe Making of Harry PotterSpeakers: Eric Meunier & The Jersey Jack Design Team Eric Meunier Members of the Harry Potter design team Harry Potter is Jersey Jack Pinball’s latest release. In this seminar the design team, led by game designer Eric Meunier, talk about the creation of the Harry Potter game how so many aspects of the theme were integrated into the design of the artwork, sound, voice calls and playfield mechanisms. 8:30pmCelebration of the Life of Pinball Repairman Extraordinaire Rob Anthony & Tribute to Fred YoungSpeakers: J.J. Babich, Dave Marston Dave Marston began this segment of the Pinball Expo seminars schedule by talking about the life and work of voice artist Fred Young, including his voice talent on multiple pinball machines. Fred was inducted into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame last year, but passed away soon afterwards. Fred Young’s induction into the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame in 2024 The year since the previous Pinball Expo also saw the passing of the hugely popular pinball repairer, Rob Anthony. Rob and his dog would be regular fixtures at several major US pinball shows, setting up his stand to sell assorted parts, mods, books and novelties, while also performing board repair work. J.J. Babich from Game Exchange in Colorado has been managing much of Rob’s estate, resolving outstanding orders and repairs. J.J. brought Rob’s ashes which have been housed in a pinball-shaped casket along with vendor badges from many of the shows he attended. J.J. Babich with Rob Anthony’s memorial containing his ashes Rob Anthony’s casket His death came as a shock to the community, not least because he left no family other that his beloved dog, Antar. Fortunately, Antar has found a new home as we saw in one of the two video tributes. 9:00pmPinball: The American GameIntroduction: Mark Helms & Alejandro Torné Alejandro Torné & Mark Helms Mark Helms and Alejandro Torné are the filmmakers behind the new pinball documentary Pinball: The American Game. The film charts pinball’s highs and lows since it was first created, looking at its origins, the way it developed over the decades and how societal changes impacted pinball manufacturing and operating. 10:30pmLTG 🙂Speaker: Lloyd Olson Lloyd Olson SS Billiards’ owner and operator, Lloyd Olson (known as LTG) held his regular late-night Q&A session at this year’s Pinball Expo. Taking questions from the audience about his lifetime in the coin-op business, from helping his father with his machine route through the eventually buying the SS Billiards arcade outright, Lloyd recalls the most popular and profitable games he has operated, as well as some of the worst. SATURDAY 9:00amFlipper Theory & RepairSpeaker: Mike Gullo Mike Gullo Mike Gullo described the most common types of pinball flipper mechanisms and driver circuits used in pinball machines, explaining how they work, the most common problems encountered, and the best ways to maintain them. 9:00amThe New P.A.P.A. World ChampionshipsSpeakers: Ryan Claytor, Penni Epstein,Josh Sharpe, Andy Bagwell,Ruthanne Bagwell Ryan Claytor, Ruthanne Bagwell, Penni Epstein, Andy Bagwell & Josh Sharpe This year saw the return of the PAPA World Championship, held at Enterrium in Schaumburg. This panel looked at why it was resurrected, how it was organised and some of those who worked on it. 11:00amThe Rise of AI in Pinball ArtSpeakers: Joe Ciaravino, Colin Alsheimer, Ian Jacoby, Johnny Crap, Brian Allen, Brad Albright Joe Ciaravino, Colin Alsheimer, Ian Jacoby, Johnny Crap, Brian Allen, Brad Albright AI is everywhere and its reach is only increasing, even finding its way into the pinball business. One controversial area is the creation of artwork using AI prompts. In an industry which traditionally uses hand-drawn imagery, the panel discusses the dangers and any potential benefits of using generative AI art. 1:00pmPinball Enthusiasts Turned Operators/DistributorsSpeakers: Tommy Hendley, Bob Burnham & Hans Milberger Tommy Hendley, Bob Burnham & Hans Milberger Bob Burnham and Hans Milberger talk about what happens when private collectors begin operating their machines, along with the potential pitfalls and dangers, plus the upsides of generating income and expanding the collection without it taking up home space. 1:00pmAutograph Session Also at 1pm, the regular autograph session took place upstairs in Utopia rooms A & B. This event brings together Expo’s special guests and gives attendees the opportunity to have their pinball items signed by those involved in their creation. Let’s take a look around. The line for the autograph session Inside the Utopia A & B rooms Steve Ritchie & John Buras Eric Meunier, Keith Johnson & Michael Thomasson Doug Watson, Brian Eddy, Dwight Sullivan, Jerry Thompson, George Gomez & Gary Stern Gil Pollock & Jim Patla Roger Sharpe, Pal Lawlor & Larry DeMar Jack Danger, Jeremy Packer & Elizabeth Gieske Mark Ritchie, Randy Martinez, Jonathan Bergeron & David Van Es The Barrells of Fun team Christopher Franchi’s table Greg Freres, Margaret Hudson & Kevin O’Connor The Monster League Hockey team You can take a look around the autograph session for yourself with the Pinball News walkthrough video. Next door to the autograph session, Barrels of Fun had a darkened room containing another pair of their most recent game releases – Dune and Winchester Mystery House – for Expo guests to play. The Barrels of Fun room with Dune and Winchester Mystery House Now, back to the seminars… 2:00pmUsing Digital Tools to Grow, Energize, & Modernize the Pinball CommunitySpeakers: Nick Greenup & Brian Haskell Brian Haskell & Nick Greenup with Dave Marson & Walter Day Nick Greenup and Brian Haskell explain the online tools they have used to access player and machine data to create new displays, leaderboards and signage to engage the pinball community and develop new locations. 3:00pmExpanding The Pinball Audience – A Roadmap to LongevitySpeakers: Mischa de Muynck, L.J. Greene, Imoto Harney, Roger Sharpe, Jack Guarnieri & Rob Berk Imoto Harney, Roger Sharpe, Jack Guarnieri & Rob Berk After a presentation about the Dutch Pinball Museum, the panel discuss ways to extend the reach of their operations beyond the regular pinball enthusiasts into new audiences in order to ensure pinball’s survival for a new generation of players and collectors. 4:00pmPINBALL! and Clips and Music, Oh My!Speaker: Jim Schelberg Jim Schelberg Jim Schelberg of the Pingame Journal returns with his selection of pinball-related video clips from the library he has built up over a lifetime in pinball. For the first time, we are able to bring you his full presentation. 5:00pmFrom Airborne Avenger to Elton JohnSpeaker: Steve Ritchie Steve Ritchie Steve Ritchie looks back at his long career designing pinball games, starting with his first title Airborne Avenger for Atari. He continues chronologically through his titles, but runs out of time after Star Trek – The Next Generation. 6:00pmThe Making of Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s EyeSpeakers: Brian Eddy, Dwight Sullivan, Thomas Malcolm, Jerry Thompson & Paul Chamnankit The Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye design team Members of the design team for Stern’s Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye talk about the game’s creation, including several features which didn’t make the final release and others which changed their form during the development process. 7:00pmThe Making of King Kong: Myth of Terror IslandSpeakers: Keith Elwin, Rick Naegele, Jerry Thompson, Harrison Drake & Zombie Yeti The King Kong: Myth of Terror Island design team The main design team members for Stern Pinball’s King Kong: Myth of Terror Island game tell us about the creation of the title and describe how the various design elements evolved over many months. 8:00pmThe Making of Star Wars: Fall of the EmpireSpeakers: John Borg, Raymond Davidson, Andrew Wilkening, Zombie Yeti, Jerry Thompson The Star Wars: Fall of the Empire design team John Borg and the Stern Pinball team behind the new Star Wars game talk about what they wanted to achieve, how they made it, and who else was involved in its creation. 9:00pmLet’s Make a Deal!Speakers: Dwight Sullivan, Corey Stup, Tanio Klyce, Jerry Thompson, Mark Penacho, David Sullivan & Kyle Spiteri Dwight Sullivan The traditional closing event of the Pinball Expo seminars schedule is Dwight Sullivan’s Let’s Make a Deal gameshow. Contestants drawn at random compete to be the first to name a pinball title which is gradually revealed, with the winners getting to choose between prize boxes or envelopes, both of which contain either a mystery prize of Stern Pinball swag, a golden ticket to the final round, or a ‘Zonk!’ which is worth nothing. With nearly 35 hours of videos, we hope you have enjoyed our Pinball Expo seminars coverage. There’s plenty more from Pinball Expo 2025 coming up right here, starting with our extensive report from the show hall. The entrance to the main show hall We’ll take this route into the hall, then go up and down each column of stands. The start of our route through the main show hall The first vendor is the show itself, selling flippy merchandise and assorted apparel Clocks, shirts, plush toys and more… Mark Gibson’s Fun With Pinball stand demonstrated how electromechanical mechanisms work More Fun With Pinball exhibits In addition, Mark was running EM repair classes American Pinball’s stand was a mix of arcade machines from the parent company Orbit Games This prototype Whirl-O-Ball Skee-Ball-type game proved very popular They were also selling the Polycade multi-game system The Ice Cold Beer remakes were also available at show pricing of $4,250 There were also some American Pinball machines The PinSnake pinball cleaner stand Ayscrim Studios had their EM and digital pinball backbox clocks Rocket City Pinball had their large selection of pinball mods and add-ons Themed start buttons More pinball mods from Rocket City Pinball Mayfair Amusement had their regular large stand at the show Lots of manuals Lots of standard pinball parts too from Mayfair Amusement Plus a big selection of real backglasses Artist Brian Allen’s stand More from Brian Allen’s stand Trading card game cards on the Sleeping Dragon Games stand The motorised stair climber from Escalera The first row of the many free play pinballs on the show floor Back-to-back with the row above are these pinballs More free play machines More free play machines A year after their Expo premiere with a bare cabinet, Wonderland Amusements return with two playable machines Europin from the Netherlands brought a selection of rare European titles More rare European titles More rare European titles Planetary Pinball Supply’s stand More from Planetary Pinball Supply’s stand Mods from The Art of Pinball and Stumblor Pinball on Planetary Pinball Supply’s stand GraphyluX from Italy had a display of their illuminated art blades Ivan Cicognani’s PinballItaly showed some top-end restorations The popular PinballFX pinball simulator team were demonstrating their VR version Skee-Ball brought their shuffleboard game which proved very popular Good Deal Games had lots of new games for classic consoles PinDoc Restorations were your source for playfield rotisseries This row of Jersey Jack Pinball games were part of their large display Harry Potter and Avatar on the JJP stand Lots of JJP merchandise for sale Jack and Jen on the JJP stand Bitronic’s Super Hoop and Tokyo Perfect Drift pinballs on the Nitro Pinball stand Hundreds and hundreds of miniatures on the Collectible Empire stand More from the Collectible Empire stand Rare Magic the Gathering cards on the Graded Power stand Loads of game plaques too Las Vegas Playfields were exhibiting some of their playfield restorations Video apron cards were on display too Warped Pinball were demonstrating their mod board for online leaderboards Example leaderboards and live scores from Warped Pinball Brad Albright was displaying his artwork Brad’s work included art from the games Portal and Winchester Mystery House Super Skill Shot Shooters had their display of custom shooter rods and start buttons The stand for Pinbalm, ‘The Official Lip Balm For Pinball Players’ Pinball Jen’s stand Don’s Pinball Podcast was hosting entries in the Top Topper Contest More custom toppers Sterling Adams’ stand Gameroom Superstores had a bunch of used coin-op equipment for sale Al Transfo coils and transformers were being promoted on the IGI Technology stand Ryan Claytor and Owen on the Elephant Eater Comics stand had the only draft copy of Ryan’s upcoming Annual Dispatch publication Gordo’s Collectibles had a large display of them Poorman’s Pinball Podcast had their familiar flea market stand Turner Pinball brought four Merlin’s Arcade games, plus one Ninja Eclipse Chris Turner showing how Merlin’s Arcade is built Barrels of Fun had long lines to play their new Winchester Mystery House game Inside the tent were two Winchester Mystery House games… …plus two Dune games Barrels of Fun had a Dune, a Winchester Mystery House and a Labyrinth outside the tent XPin had a large stand showcasing their replacement boards and displays More from the XPin stand Mezel Mods had a big display of their game add-ons Featured game mods Leaky Boat Entertainment had a mass of assorted console and coin-op items on their stand Past Times brought a display of early pinball games More pre-flipper games Pre-flipper and the first flipper games More mechanical marvels from Past Times Jackpot Joe’s Pinball showcased their repair and restoration services Artovision were selling framed game artworks Dutch Pinball Exclusive found space to set up their stand with two Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland machines Zsolt Csiszka’s Concept Games brought this Black Knight 2000 conversion Black Knight 2000 becomes Black Knight 3000 The Black Knight 3000’s LCD panel Elijah The Cup Guy had this wall of cups which a competition winner would later get to destroy Flip N Out Pinball had this striking stand featuring the latest titles The Limited Edition Star Wars: Fall of the Empire led the Stern Pinball line-up Flip N Out Pinball also had a new Winchester Mystery House game on their stand Turning old playfields into guitars on the Cithara Guitars stand Silverball Mania, Earthshaker! and Centaur guitars A line of Spooky Pinball machines on the Great American Pinball stand Although the game is long sold out, here are six Evil Dead machines Great American Pinball’s black & white The Addams Family and Twilight Zone machines There were also multiple boxes of assorted pinball boards and other parts for sale A selection of mods and some of the many parts boxes Bespoke gaming keyboards and small form factor PCs on the Dark Fusion Systems stand HEXA Pinball had their first ever Pinball Expo stand They brought four of their Space Hunt games Nicolas on his PinSound stand PinSound were demonstrating their PinVision and PinBlaster systems Pinball Brothers had two of their Predator machines, plus guest appearances by actor Richard Chaves who played ‘Poncho’ in the movie The two Predator machines Project Pinball has a large stand displaying the many items donated for their silent auction fundraiser Lots in the silent auction More lots in the Project Pinball silent auction There were also high score contests and the machines could be won in a raffle There was also a tournament using adaptive controllers A Cactus Canyon with an adaptive controller installed The Holy Grail had hundreds of video game cartridges and discs for various consoles Popcorn makers and decorative artworks from Marquee Popcorn Co One of the most talked about games was this hombrew Big Trouble in Little China machine The Electric Playground had a large tent to display their aftermarket toppers Capt. Fantastic and King Kong toppers, along with the soon-to-be-revealed Cirqus Voltaire topper The Electric Playground’s toppers for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Pulp Fiction Wise Trailer were exhibiting Multimorphic’s P3 machine with a large selection of playfield modules For many this was their first time playing Portal on the P3 Although we have seen the Black Knight 3000, Pinbalm and Big Trouble in Little China custom games on the main show floor, most homebrew games were exhibited in a special compound sponsored by Marco Specialties. Marco’s Homebrew and Custom Games area The Invaders Fight Back The Invaders Fight Back’s playfield Tony Hawk’s Pro Pinball Ghost in the Shell An unnamed modified Flash Gordon machine Another unnamed game, this time based on a Special Force machine Enigma House of Flesh and Blood ELF Luau Steamboat Willie Steamboat Willie producing its own ‘steam’ Mad Max: Fury Road Monster League Hockey Monster League Hockey’s playfield Monsters Inc. Pinball Harry Potter Atom Spaceballs: The Pinball Machine Adventure Time Turbo Time BMO Beerfest Trogdor! Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball Cuphead Pokémon: Indigo League Battle Stations Black Knight Rides Again Mass Effect 2 Dumpster Fire Coming to America The Amazing Spider-Man The Marco Specialties stand in the centre of the homebrew area Lots of parts available If you’re building your own homebrew, here’s a good starting point FAST Pinball had a stand in the homebrew area On the FAST Pinball stand, with Jack Danger’s mini playfield featuring an orbit lane with twelve spinners If you have an old playfield, PinGlow can help you illuminate it On the outer wall of the homebrew area were two more custom games. Hellraiser The Greatest Showman There was also a Predator re-theme game in the free play area outside the homebrew compound. A Predator retheme of Raven However, the final homebrew is also the largest. Pinball Expo Chairman, Rob Berk, commissioned this giant game which was shown in an early version at last year’s Expo. This year it is nearer completion but there is more work still to be done. Rob Berk’s Mothership Mothership’s playfield Continuing with our tour of the main hall, AVS Home Arcade had a large stand with assorted coin-op games to play. AVS Home Arcade’s stand Ba Ba Buttons Jim Schelberg from the PinGame Journal was giving away lots of promotional plastics and posters Some of Jim’s promo plastics Stern Pinball had a large stand, though it seemed slightly smaller than last year when they had a large Danger Room for their The Uncanny X-Men title The stage on the Stern Pinball stand Some of the events on the stage Stern’s new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire was the star here There were plenty of other Stern titles available too Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye machines Of course, Stern Pinball merchandise was available to purchase Tilt Amusements, as well as supplying the Stern tournament machines, also had a stand with show machines for sale More of Tilt Amusements machines for sale Soldering is a necessary skill for pinball maintenance, and Build-a-Blinkie shows people how to solder their own electronic circuit board Leaning soldering skills While Past Time brought a big display of early pinball machines, there was a dedicated area for No Flip Pinball who displayed multiple examples of pre-flipper games. The No Flip Pinball exhibition Some of the many pre-flipper games More of the flipperless pin games More of the flipperless pin games More of the flipperless pin games Triple G Gaming had a wide assortment of console games and accessories Defiant Pinball were promoting their range of Roger Sharpe branded clothing Nudge magazine were promoting their publication and promotional clothing If you’re building your own virtual pinball, pinballcabinet.com has the cabinet you need A week after Pinball Expo, the Chicagoland Coin-Op Show moves in to the Convention Center The following week also sees Donley Auctions’ Fall Classic Auction Justin Tolliver of CenterFilms was promoting his For Your Amusement film Next door, Lenny’s Pinball World was advertising their in-home pinball and arcade repair service Paradise of Wyoming are distributors for all the major pinball manufacturers The Pinball Scientist (Tanner Walters) had lots of add-on kits to improve your game or even build your own pinball Graphic Dimensions can print your playfields, translites, plastics, cabinet decals and other pinball artwork Bregan D’Aerthe’s Victorious Secret stand That concludes our photographic look around the main hall. Next year’s dates are already set However, you can see everything in the hall as well as the tournaments and seminars rooms, in our exclusive walkthrough video which is also available on the Pinball News YouTube channel in the Pinball Expo 2025 playlist. Finally, we come to the Flip Out pinball tournaments held in Schaumburg E, F, G & H rooms which were combined into one long room, with the entrance through Schaumburg E. The tournaments rooms Inside the tournaments The tournaments desk There were three Flip Out tournaments – the main, the women’s and the classics. Deborah Tahlman was the main tournament director, aided by a highly dedicated crew of volunteers. Trophies for the top four in each tournament The main attracted the largest field and, after an initial qualifying session on Wednesday and Thursday, was split into A and B divisions with the top half of the qualifiers in A and the bottom half in B. It used the multi-bye system where the higher a player qualified, the more byes they received through the earlier play-off rounds which began at 10am on Friday. Entry to the main tournament cost $110 with the top prize of one of the Pro Stern Pinball machines used in the tournaments. Play in the main Flip Out tournament The women’s tournament also split the qualifiers in A and B divisions, with the play-offs starting at noon on Saturday. The entry fee was $40. Play in the women’s tournament In the classics, qualifying used an unlimited entry system with players’ best scores on each machine counting towards their qualifying position. Entries cost $10 for 3 games. Play in the classics tournament Due to our continuing work in the seminars room we weren’t able to be at the finals of the main B division or the women’s tournament, but Jim Schelberg kindly got us some pictures of the winners. In the main tournament’s B division finals, Matthew Knippen was the winner, Paul Younis was second, James Zwitkowits was third and Brian Collins fourth. The top four in the B division of the main tournamentJames Zwitkowits (3rd), Matthew Knippen (1st), Paul Younis (2nd) & Brian Collins (4th)(picture: Jim Schelberg) Here are the full main tournament B division results: 1Matthew Knippen2Paul Younis3James Zwitkowits4Brian Collins5Anthony Kret5Dori Zielinski7Chad Rubin7Tracy Abrahams10Amy Martin10JJ Lehett10Jokton Strealy10Rich Wickersham14Dan Spayer14Josh Slaunwhite14Dominique Rabideau14Chris Reed20Elia Lake20Michael Inman20Tom Wible20Brett Dippert20Chris Ecker20Jeff Skelly20Henry Reed20Kirk Sadler28Kayla Bivens28Ben Stupar28Dan Reeves28Ripley Kalyn Smith28Jeremy Simon28Tom Deemter28Chris Vaaler28Ross Unruh36Mike Dafforn36Kevin Johnson36Larry McDonald36Lance Bolson36Michael Egbert36Andrew Oreskovich36Alysa Parks36Matt Zollner44Stephen Chappell44Quinn Yost44Mike Moberg44Bradley David Tammen44Jim Detloff44Mike Burgess44Roxanne Nolet44Jim Piarowski52Jaymie Roche52Rabih Dahdouh52Chris Pascaretti52Tim Leadens52Shelley Sharpe52Brendan Laughlin52Guilherme Paes52Kyle Ingrelli60Zachary McIntosh60Penney Vernieri60Neil McRae60Sam Keogh60Liam Chatman60Devon Glass60Lexi Whittemore60Mike Mitchell68Travis Hockemeyer68Andrew Graneto68Jesse Lenker68Felicia Haakenson68Stephen Ely68Kevin Dobmeier68John Koonce68Chase Capdeville76Mark Z76Kevin Funnell76Max Woo76Torey Thurlow76Kat Davis76Kim Westfall76Kayla Schill76Peter Bieniek84Gilles Perryman84Mike Felumlee84Candice Smith84Sébastien Cuallado84Frank Smith84Michael Tague84Russell Crane84John Reemtsen92Dominic Bolton92Melissa Westran92Nick Greenup92Mike Conlon92Kristi Kelsey92John Leroux92Eddie Sumbry92Nathan Plourde100Heather Soseman100Easton Hanson100Larry Rosenthal100Anthony Rollie100Sarah Crismore100Cait Capdeville100Jason Winters100Stephanie Kirby108Wojciech Kałużny108Brian Pietruszewski108Jack Morten Dahl108William Massey108Amanda Reed108Tim Alexander108Justin Martin108Alexandria Lee116David Dukes116Faith Pietruszewski116Evan Ferry116Matthew Marisa Craig116Trisha Burgess116Jack Winters116Miriam Nadler116Olivia Haberkorn123Troy Hall123Bartosz Slomczynski123MaKayla Schill123Sam Bowman123Jeff Wootton123Wilson Casanova The women’s tournament’s A division, it was a win for Jane Verwys, with Samantha Bacon second, Jackie Olson third and Miriam Nadler fourth. The top two in the women’s tournamentSamantha Bacon (2nd) & Jane Verwys (1st)(picture: Jim Schelberg) Here are the women’s tournament A division results: 1Jane Verwys2Samantha Bacon3Jackie Olson4Miriam Nadler5Amy Martin5Alivia Haley7Christine Doherty7Ailsa Riddell10Lily Pizza10Brianne Hunt10Ivana Contreras10Alysa Parks14Jenny Lamberson14Dori Zielinski14Elyza Brillantes14Ripley Kalyn Smith20Shelley Sharpe20Emily Gross20Rachel Karlic20Elia Lake20Dominique Rabideau20Jaymie Roche20Jess Larsen20Kay McFadyen28Kristen Gregory28Cassie Begay28Kat Lake28Anna Neal28Stephanie Guida28Tracy Abrahams28Roxanne Nolet35Melinda Salminen35Stephanie Koutavas35Kaite Martin35Kayla Bivens35Aileen Beno-Lietz35Deanna Gerard35Sabrina Dugandzic35Penni Epstein42Veronica Carbonell42Matthew Marisa Craig42Gail Puckett42Melissa Westran42Amanda Reed45Michelle Lam The B division was won by Melissa Provost, with Theresa Martin second, Tiffany Han third, and Eva Ashton fourth. In the main tournament’s A division, although the play-offs began at 10am on Friday, by late Saturday night it was clear there was still some way to go until a winner could be declared. Having been working in the tournaments room all day and then packing away all the equipment when the final seminar finished at 11pm, we called in around 1am but there were still multiple matches to be played. Fortunately, Jim Schelberg stayed up until the final was eventually decided at 5:30am. After Logan Henderson won the loser bracket and then beat the winner of the winner’s bracket, Arvid Flygare, the final was decided on a single sudden-death game of The Mandelorian. The winner of that game and the A division was Arvid from Sweden. Logan was second, Zach Sharpe third and Raymond Davidson fourth. The top two in the main tournament’s A divisionLogan Henderson (2nd) & Arvid Flygare (1st)(picture: Jim Schelberg) You can watch all the play-offs on the Fox Cities Pinball channels on Twitch right now and YouTube a little later. Finally, we come to the classics tournament. The play-offs for these didn’t begin until 9am on Sunday. Although the Pinball Expo officially ended at 1am and the tear down was underway in the main hall, the classics tournament continued, although all the modern machines were taken out of the tournaments area and there was no live streaming. Just the classics tournament to decide The classics didn’t conclude until 8:25pm. The two finalists were Dalton Ely and Daniele Celestino Acciari and it all came down to a game on Harlem Globetrotters. Dalton plays as Danieli watches On his third ball, Dalton couldn’t catch Daniele’s ball two total, making Daniele the winner of the game and the classics tournament. Winner of the classics tournament, Daniele Celestino Acciari Second place, Dalton Ely Here are the full classics tournament rankings: 1Daniele Celestino Acciari2Dalton Ely3Lewis Bevans4Liam Bradley5Nick Campbell5Connor Mulberry7Ryan Wanger7Sterling Mitoska10Mike Weyenberg10Ryan Dunn10Nick Weyna10Galvin Morgan14Ryan Spindler14Jeff Rinehart14Charles Jackson14Zachary Parks20Noah Sicard20Joshua Francis20John Inman20Dominic Labella20Josh Sharpe20Zach Sharpe20Bob Matthews20Mark Munder28Logan Foley28Josh Riggle28Bird Arzoumanian28David Riel28Ethan Bent28Vincent Vitiello28Jane Verwys28Carleton Plourde33Wilson Casanova33Mike Moberg35Vincent Poudrier36Dave Ponce37Luke Sheahan38Tom Menge39Chris O’Brien40Mike Pantoliano41Peach Ruiz42Alex Lecky43Luke Piarowski44Don Coons45Jon Lents46Bob Twichell47Jaron Saturnino48Brian Collins49Nick Starkey50Lily Pizza51John Bolton52Walt Wood53Will Cooper CA54Jeremy Simon55Alysa Parks56Kaite Martin57Chris Ecker58Stephen Chappell59Andrew Wilkening60Jack Morten Dahl61Matt Grady62Greg Mohs63Guilherme Paes64Brendan Laughlin65Anna Neal66Olivia Haberkorn67Matthew Sitko68Nick Squires69Candice Smith70Dan Reeves71Harold VanPatten72Jokton Strealy73Kristen Gregory74Tommy Vernieri75Stephen Ely76Koi Morris77Elia Lake78Cody Hillard79Travis Hockemeyer80Matthew Preble81Harry Nelsen82Brianne Hunt83Roger Sharpe84Kristi Kelsey85Mike Burgess86Todd Eccles87Francis Wisniewski88Jackson Fry89Ben Hillman90Paul Younis91Colin Sharpe92Sam Hilty93Cindy Grote94Mitchell Gagnon94Miles Bradley96Michael Inman97Alexis Casanova98Warren Brown99Matt Lemoine100Sébastien Cuallado101Suppressed Player102Krista Liem103Mark Bjorkquist104Jeremy Gagnon105Anthony Kret106Kevin Yin107Mike Conlon108Trent Augenstein109Kevin Funnell110Dave Lawton111Theresa Martin112Torey Thurlow113Nathalie Sabin114Beth Stein115Mike Polisky116Jacob Burrows117Jason Thomas118Dominic Bolton119Kenny Wills120Maurice Smith II121Elijah Farrales122Robbie Piarowski123Gilles Perryman123Dale Galiniak125Eva Ashton126Stephanie Koutavas127Ron Lam128Nick Greenup128Colin Krawcyk130Michael Bradley131Nicholas Kamps132Jim Piarowski133David Dutton134Brett Dippert135Stacey Siegel136Kevin Kolodziej137Erik Peabody138Joe Slovacek139Adam Gray140Sam Keogh141Dave Chapman142Damon Beals143Whayne T Rouse144JJ Lehett145Amy Martin146Kwang Chong147Brian Liem148Jackie Olson149Annie Fitzgerald150Victoria Galiniak151Jenny Lamberson152Rabih Dahdouh153Melissa Westran154Mike Dafforn155Heather Soseman156Adam Yates157Brendan Fitzgerald158Daniel Scott159Russell Crane160Larry McDonald161Kevin Johnson162Emily Gross163Stuart McPherran164Paul Borth165Sarah Bennett166Lance Bolson167John Leroux168Joe Sharpe169Kim Westfall170Rosie Hessert171Bradley David Tammen172Trisha Burgess173Chris King IL174Lexi Whittemore175Tim Zollner175Dale Brewer177melinda salminen178Nathan Plourde179Regi Bradley180Rich Wickersham181Scott Sweitzer182Jennifer Krawcyk183Fred Cook184Greg Samudio185Matt Zollner186Mike Mitchell187John Armstrong188Sonny Lisi189jim cantiello190Dominique Rabideau191Mandy Haysley192Mike Felumlee193Justin Martin194Henry Reed195Wojciech Kałużny196John Moore196Stephanie Vasko198Kat Davis199Dori Zielinski200Matthew Marisa Craig201Alex Papadakis202Chris Reed203Amy McDonough204Joseph Kraft The trophy and prize presentation wrapped things up for Pinball Expo 2025. During Sunday afternoon the main hall had gradually emptied until almost all signs of there having been a pinball show had vanished. Early Sunday, machines were folded up ready to be shipped out Vans and trucks were driven in and loaded up By mid-afternoon, this was all that remained of Pinball Expo 2025 And so we bring this Pinball News report from Pinball Expo to a close. Naturally, there’s so much more taking place both at Expo and in the immediate area than we are able to report in person. The annual Pinball Olympics deserve a special mention for the outlandish challenges players have to endure while playing the games. There are multiple alternative tournaments taking place both in the Expo hall and at nearby locations, while several social get-togethers were held at Enterrium during the show. While we couldn’t cover them all, we hope you enjoyed our coverage of all the seminars, the show hall and the autograph session. A shout out to Jonathan Joosten for his help with the seminars which allowed us to escape for a few hours to report on the rest of the show. We’ll be back next year for the 42nd Pinball Expo, October 14th-17th 2026.