{"id":9612,"date":"2017-10-14T16:17:25","date_gmt":"2017-10-14T15:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/?p=9612"},"modified":"2024-06-18T09:56:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-18T08:56:03","slug":"pinball-expo-2017-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pinballnews.com\/site\/2017\/10\/14\/pinball-expo-2017-4\/","title":{"rendered":"PINBALL EXPO 2017 – SATURDAY"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The final full day of events at Pinball Expo 2017 continued for us in the Seminars Hall.
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\"The<\/a>
The Seminars Hall at Pinball Expo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

10:00am: The Lost Prototype – The Story of the Bally That Got Away<\/strong><\/span><\/span>
Casey Gardner, Chuck Gardner and James Hudson
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\"James<\/a>
James Hudson, Casey Gardner and Chuck Gardner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Casey Chuck and James set out to make an original game in the style of a late ’70s Bally game and chose the Wonder Woman theme for their custom machine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They picked the features they wanted on the playfield to keep in style, such as spelling out W-O-N-D-E-R and W-O-M-A-N on target banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having designed and drawn out their playfield, they had to build it.  Casey escribed their trials and tribulations once they had to bring the design off the paper and onto the wood.  Right now they have a flipping whitewood with the basic code written but not cabinet paint yet or a backglass.  Their sound system plays MP3s off an SD card and they are about to start sampling originally Bally game sounds to bring them into the game.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The game as it is now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Download the audio of this seminar here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

11:00am: Pinball Wizards, Jackpots and Drains in the Cult of the Silver Ball<\/strong><\/span>
Adam Ruben
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\"Adam<\/a>
Adam Ruben<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Adam has written a book about his personal experience with pinball and the pinball scene, and he was here at Pinball Expo to talk about why he wrote the book and read some excepts from it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said he wanted to let people outside the Expo community that pinball is still alive and at the best place it’s been in the past quarter of a century.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Adam's<\/a>
Adam’s book<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Adam spoke about how cyclical the popularity of pinball has been, citing Pat Lawlor’s target of 10,000 as the definition of a hit title and how no games are known to have sold that quantity since 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The final reading  was about the future of pinball and how it has always survived because it adapts to changing circumstances.  Right now it has never been easier to build your own pinball, and the new start-ups are testament to that and a potential way for pinball to continue expanding its scope and reach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the audio of this seminar here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

12:00pm: Chrome Plating, Picking, Hot Rods and Family<\/strong><\/span>
Chris Royalty
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\"Chris<\/a>
Chris Royalty<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Chris came to Expo from Nashville where he is a pastor and also runs the company Pinball Plating.  He explained how he got into pinball when he and a friend bought some arcade games to help with counselling troubled youngsters.  After eventually selling them, he changed to buying games in need of repair and restoration which he found in abundance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris spoke about his friendship and business dealing with Mike Chestnut who restored and rebuilt games, and supplied the hobby with difficult-to-find pinball parts.  When Mike passed away unexpectedly, Chris called Mike’s father to help him cope with the situation and deal with the outstanding orders.  After some time Mike’s father asked Chris to take over Mike’s business and ensure it continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He showed a sample of the pinball parts he has plated – a lime green pinball leg and the head collar from Bride of Pinbot in two different styles.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Chris<\/a>
Chris with the Bride of Pinbot collar<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

He said stainless steel is really bad a being plated.  Regular steel is fine, but stainless doesn’t take plating well.  Stainless can be polished to the point it looks like chrome he said, so that’s a better way to get the chromed look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He now offers an exchange service where you can send him a part and if he has it in stock he can send you straight back a chromed or plated replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talking about chrome plating plastic parts, Chris said it is a very hard thing to achieve, requiring expensive specialist equipment.  Chris has teamed up with one such plater to offer chromed plastic parts too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the audio of this seminar here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1:00pm: Owning and Operating Galloping Ghost Arcade<\/strong><\/span>
Doc Mack
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\"Doc<\/a>
Doc Mack<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Doc said they currently have 615 machines set up in the Galloping Ghost arcade which is located in Brookfield, Illinois.  He said in the early days of arcades there was fierce competition between them, but now there is a great collaborative attitude, with arcades helping each other to grow and expand the player base.  He said that they are currently working with around thirty new arcades to help them open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Doc said they are at maximum capacity now at Galloping Ghost, but will be opening a fourth building which will take their numbers up to 1,000 machines on the floor.  Their current payment model is $20 for entry and unlimited play.  The city of Brookfield only allows six coin-operated machines in any commercial premises, so a single-entry fee side-steps any issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He spoke about his annual events and tournaments which bring people in from all over the world, and some of the side businesses such as reproduction control panels and marquees to help the collector community beyond the arcade itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said it is a phenomenal thing to be able to reconnect people to the games they spent countless hours enjoying in their younger days, generating so many memories, but hadn’t seen for years or even decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the pinball community is different with a wider range of genres and followers.  Keeping these games up and running is more complex than video games in terms of keeping parts stock to replace perishables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the audio of this seminar here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2:00pm: Autograph Session<\/strong><\/span>
Various<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The annual autograph session too place at 2pm in the front half of the Seminars Hall which had been divided into two during Doc Mac’s speech.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"The<\/a>
The autograph session<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Steve,<\/a>
Steve, George and Stan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"John<\/a>
John and Ray<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Roger<\/a>
Roger and Steve<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Adam<\/a>
Adam and J-P<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Paul,<\/a>
Paul, Dennis, Barry and Orin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\"Christopher<\/a>
Greg, Christopher and Jeremy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Here’s a short video from the Autograph Session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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