Pinfest 2015 Allentown PA

Busy. Lines too long for the tournament, Hobbit and Big L. Maybe if I were doing both days I'd spend time on line.

Anyway, here's a really nice Cyclone worth every penny of the $3000 it's on sale for.

It was pretty crowded when I showed up at 9:30AM today. First thing we did was get in the Hobbit line. Glad we did. My wife and I both loved it. It was set on 2 ball games only but I was able to get Multiball and enough modes started to say I flat out adore this pin. I was shocked by how much I was into it. Good use of the LED screen and callouts were very good. A big thumbs up for the talking Smaug as well as the pop up heads. Very smooth gameplay and felt very solid as you would expect from Jersey Jack. If you gave me the cash to but a modern pin, this might end up in my basement. The only negative is that there are some pretty long ball times.

Also played the big Lebowski. To be honest it just isn't worth standing in line for this. It might be when it is completed. Currently it is in what they call Pre-Alpha, which translates to not enough code to tell what the finished product will look or play like. Most dot animations are not completed yet and very few modes are playable. But the underground bowling alley thing is pretty cool. But the callouts that are currently in Lebowski are very good and the music is top notch (Bob Dylan, Santana, Credence, etc.).

Last one before I leave. Maybe more later. A beautiful Black Hole. A still doesn't do the backglass justice. Playing it shows how badly TPA botched the physics

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed The Hobbit, kolchak. It has come a long way since last October. I have seen a few videos from Allentown and judging by those, it looks really stunning now.

As I understand it, this is a brand new machine that they just finished building. Probably the first real production model(not like that other pre-production model that has been around for a few shows) and with brand new code also.

The waiting for this machine is hard.

karl said:

Very happy to hear that you enjoyed The Hobbit, kolchak. It has come a long way since last October. I have seen a few videos from Allentown and judging by those, it looks really stunning now.

As I understand it, this is a brand new machine that they just finished building. Probably the first real production model(not like that other pre-production model that has been around for a few shows) and with brand new code also.

The waiting for this machine is hard.

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Karl you are one lucky guy. You are going to love it. I just can't see how you wouldn't. I had seen plenty of YouTube videos, and to be honest, I wasn't all that impressed. That all changed as soon as I got my hands on it today. Very immersive experience. Lighting was very tasteful and sound was very nice. The LED screen was put to much better use than in WoZ imo. I also wasn't aware that Smaug's mouth moved when he taunted you. His taunts become more aggressive as you lock balls beneath his mountain of gold. Spoiler Alert - Everyone even stood at the pin after losing the final ball, staring at the screen waiting for Smaug to swoop in blowing fire into your face to officially let you know to walk away in shame. A little girl in line behind me cheered when she saw it.

Did anyone else play the Zacc Earth Wind And Fire at Pinfest? I played a few games on it and thought the Zacc app does a very nice job of simulating the real thing.

Saw it but didn't twig why I should be interested so didn't play it.

Kolchak357 said:

Did anyone else play the Zacc Earth Wind And Fire at Pinfest? I played a few games on it and thought the Zacc app does a very nice job of simulating the real thing.

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Yea. The EW&F belongs to a VERY rich guy named Gerry who lives in Morgantown. I played it at his house soon after he got it. He was asking $1500 which is a tough sell because of the limited market for Zacs unless they're a really rare one. And, yes, the ios app does a great job and I'm glad it exists. I'm enjoying it a lot more than TPA in recent months.

BTW, I was there on Friday afternoon. Very crowded for a Friday. Came home with some playfield glass and parts. No games that I was really interested in and the wife and I are in the process of selling our house and moving so...spending a lot wasn't a good idea. On the other hand, I got three projects in the garage so I'm in NO need of more right now.

Oh, and Whoa Nellie was just....meh. Sorry. I'd rather plunge five balls on Gottlieb's Egg Head and watch them bounce all over the place than play that game. The art was nice but, really??? No chimes or bells or gobble hole???? Just not for me. Especially at the, obviously, rich guy price of $6500!!!! WTF?

Speaking of Gerry, I did score a tired Paragon playfield off him last fall. I harvested everything off the back that was worth keeping, stripped the front, cleaned and waxed it and....she'll make some decent wall art. I sh!t you not. I probably spent about 10 hours on this playfield. Ugh. What's wrong with me?

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Great job on the paragon playfield. I would never have dared to even start on that project

I actually have that same wear spot by the left sling on my Paragon

PS! I have of course removed that metal frame under the upper right flipper after that picture was taken (this was original on the European model, along with the more narrow gap under the beast)

Paragon is not Paragon without the fear of getting double-flipper *****ed

I went yesterday afternoon. Lines everywhere (except at the old tables). At least I got to play that Black Hole, promptly had a terrible game on it. I got real bored of walking around looking for a table to play.

McGuirk said:

I went yesterday afternoon. Lines everywhere (except at the old tables). At least I got to play that Black Hole, promptly had a terrible game on it. I got real bored of walking around looking for a table to play.

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I think people are starting to learn that Saturday is packed and are coming on Friday which made it really busy too. Parents must be taking their kids out of school because I saw quite a few of them as well.

EldarOfSuburbia said:

Playing it shows how badly TPA botched the physics

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Yeah they did. I played it 3 weeks ago and it pretty much confirmed how badly this thing needs another look at by FarSight.

dtown8532 said:

I think people are starting to learn that Saturday is packed and are coming on Friday which made it really busy too. Parents must be taking their kids out of school because I saw quite a few of them as well.

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I took my daughter out, she's been playing pinball for about 6 years now and she's only 9.
We'll be ready for the show next year. Also I think the tournament brought out a lot of people too.

One thing that pisses me off at these shows, and it's happen at the York show as well, are people who have several machines and either they expect you to pay to play or they don't have them on and only turn them on for friends.
I can see the tables were in great condition but if you want to control who plays or not, don't bring them.

My daughter and wife love Circus Voltaire and I love WW and there were only one of them and we couldn't play them.

I think the selection last year was a bit better.

Johni3w6 said:

One thing that pisses me off at these shows, and it's happen at the York show as well, are people who have several machines and either they expect you to pay to play or they don't have them on and only turn them on for friends.
I can see the tables were in great condition but if you want to control who plays or not, don't bring them.

My daughter and wife love Circus Voltaire and I love WW and there were only one of them and we couldn't play them.

I think the selection last year was a bit better.

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Was that at the stand in the back with the lovely lady in the VERY tight outfit. You KNOW why she was there. To sell stuff, of course!

dtown8532 said:

Was that at the stand in the back with the lovely lady in the VERY tight outfit. You KNOW why she was there. To sell stuff, of course!

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I believe so, wasn't really paying attention too much, just noticed her boots and outfit were kind of a mismatch. I can guess yes, that's why she is there.
But if she can use it to her advantage more power to her. Wish us men sometimes could have that kind of weapon.

Some pics guys ?

Dedpop said:

Some pics guys ?

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I can't add them since I don't have a phone.

Not sure but I guess I could upload with Photo Bucket. I forgot if that links all photos one has on their account or just the ones they choose to share.

Johni3w6 said:

I can't add them since I don't have a phone.

Not sure but I guess I could upload with Photo Bucket. I forgot if that links all photos one has on their account or just the ones they choose to share.

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Sure any image hosting site is fine. I just use Tapatalk on my phone because it's so darned easy.