Thanks.

[Pinhead1977]

I got home from Pinfest at about four. The last time I attended was in 2019. I had a really good time, although I was dismayed by the lack of EM machines at this years event. When I attended last time there was an entire row of them but this year there were only eight or so…..

There was Jungle Queen in the main room and the others were in the smaller room (also there was a couple for sale in the corridor a German one, Central Park by Gottleib and Gigi also but Gottleib) in the smaller room there was Circus (I can’t remember the manufacturer), King Of Diamonds Gottleib, Tommy Bally and three Zachariah machines. I got talking to some great people and learned a lot….. I will make my attendance at Pinfest a regular thing dutifully keeping the EM’s running…..I just love old machines….. The only electronic game I played was PAC Man (1980) which I played for the nostalgia…..

There are one or two people I’d like to single out: I would like to say hi to the guy wearing the Tilt t-shirt (promoting at arcade in Birmingham, he know who he is: talking to a guy wearing a Superman t-shirt and beige shorts outside the main room on the Friday evening about UK Pinball Leagues thanks mate you’re a good egg). The man who runs Pinball Parlour Pete Heath I think his name is who I chatted to a lot and bought two beautiful back glasses from. John Bateson who apart from remembering me from five years ago was helpful in directing me to this ‘ere forum and to where the EM’s were and the awesome job he did on that Turf Champ wood rail machine (when he explained what he’d done I just looked at him aghast. Finally Big Phil for advising me on room availability for next year and saying “Just look on Pinball info that’s the Pinball Bible”. See you all next year but I can obviously chat here.

 

[Taxiturn]

Hi, I also appreciate an EM (and own one) but I think it’s reasonable to say that many find them boring, brutal, or both (including me from time to time!). There is limited space and I think most would prefer more SS or DMD machines over more EMs. The game has moved on.

A lot of EMs could also suffer from being played non-stop for 2-3 days in the main room, incandescent bulbs get hot and if a coil got locked on there’s no guarantee it would be noticed or responded to appropriately. I’m not sure mine is solid enough to put it forward!

 

[Pinhead1977]

Hi, I also appreciate an EM (and own one) but I think it’s reasonable to say that many find them boring, brutal, or both (including me from time to time!). There is limited space and I think most would prefer more SS or DMD machines over more EMs. The game has moved on.

A lot of EMs could also suffer from being played non-stop for 2-3 days in the main room, incandescent bulbs get hot and if a coil got locked on there’s no guarantee it would be noticed or responded to appropriately. I’m not sure mine is solid enough to put it forward!

Yeah I think that’s a fair enough point. I do think that even though regular player regard EM’s as passe’ and having played both types I still think EM’s are great to practice on because I’ve found them a lot less forgiving because the flippers (particularly on old Gottleibs) are much smaller than on more modern machines. That’s just me though.