Episode 82 - Pinball Shows

Wedgehead hosts share pinball show tips emphasizing community, respect, and managing expectations.

Synopsis

Alan and Alex from Wedgehead A A Pinball Podcast discuss pinball shows: conventions where collectors and enthusiasts gather to play machines, buy/sell, attend seminars, and meet industry figures. They share experiences from multiple shows (Midwest Gaming Classic, Northwest Pinball Arcade Show, Texas Pinball Festival, Chicago Expo, Pintastic) and offer practical tips for maximizing the experience: attend with friends, don't stress about tournaments, respect designers' time, and think twice about long lines for new games.

Highlights

• Pinball shows are heavily influenced by their central organizer's personal taste and collection: if they prefer a certain era, that era dominates the show's atmosphere and guest lineup.
• Allentown, Pennsylvania is unique among pinball shows as a huge swap meet and parts market, contrasting with most shows where buying/selling is secondary to gameplay and seeing new releases.
• Yukon (rare Williams, ~900 units made) is an underrated, fast-playing game that Alex discovered and fell in love with at Pintastic, despite rarely hearing positive discussion about it.
• Community builder David brought his restored Aztec (EM) from the Adirondacks to Pintastic in pristine playable condition, representing the best of what pinball shows offer when collectors share their machines.
• Randy Martinez (Stern artist) was confronted at Northwest Pinball Arcade Show by an attendee demanding to know why guns were removed from John Wick artwork: a negative interaction the hosts view as embarrassing to the hobby.
• At Texas Pinball Festival, attendees complained to the Munsters design team about long segmented standup targets (vs. individual targets), accusing them of cost-cutting, when the feature was an intentional design choice.

Entities

• Allentown Pinfest· event
• Chicago Pinball Expo· event
• Midwest Gaming Classic· event
• Northwest Pinball Arcade Show· event
• Pintastic· event
• Texas Pinball Festival· event
• Aztec· game
• Yukon· game
• Wedgehead· organization
• Alan· person
• Alex the Waterboy· person
• David· person
• Dennis Nordman· person
• Dwight Sullivan· person
• Gary Stern· person
• Jack Danger· person
• John Craig· person
• Pat Lawlor· person
• Randy Martinez· person
• Roadsy· person
• Rob Burke· person