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UK Pinball Party 2013

  • Thread starter Thread starter GlebeCS
  • Start date Start date
G

GlebeCS

Hi Guys, not sure how many members here are also active on the ukpinball yahoo group so I thought I would paste this message from Andrew Heighway here, would like this event to go ahead so if any of you can take a pin or 2 please add to the list:

Ok guys,

A few posts on the group today have reminded me to send this post. The hotel is also hounding me to confirm my booking with them as well.

The positive news - there are a total of 56 pins that have been pledged (aside from mine and my company's 10 pins). To everyone who has pledged pins, I sincerely thank you and your generosity

The negative news - we are still 45-50 pins short of what we need to run this show.

I know there is a huge appetite for there to be a Party - but I am not sure that there is the appetite to provide pins for it. There are thousands of pins in this community, yet there are only 56 pledged to-date.

I am hugely in favour of any measures that promote pinball, and the number of regional and local shows that have been launched, or have grown, in the last few years has been amazing. However, it has always been my fear that it would dilute the generosity of those people who are kind enough to provide their treasured games for everybody to play. This show can only exist with the generosity of those who provide machines for everyone to play.

Honestly, I was in two minds about running another Party this year, but I decided to anyway. But if there isn't the appetite to provide games, then the show will come to an end.

So, this is a final request for tables please. If we get over the 100-table mark by Thursday 7th February, then I will happily go ahead with the event. If we don't, then I will have no choice but to cancel.

To those who are kind enough to bring or provide their tables, a reminder of the incentives on offer:

1-4 Games - £15 per machine
5-9 Games - £175 Van Hire Grant
10-14 Gmes - £275 Van Hire Grant
15+ Games - £375 Van Hire Grant

Tables can be pledged directly by going to:

http://ukpinball.wetpaint.com/page/2013+UK+Pinball+Party+Tables

Or email me your pledges and I will update the list myself.

Come on guys - lets put another world class event together!!

Thanks,

Andy
 
GlebeCS said:
I am hugely in favour of any measures that promote pinball, and the number of regional and local shows that have been launched, or have grown, in the last few years has been amazing. However, it has always been my fear that it would dilute the generosity of those people who are kind enough to provide their treasured games for everybody to play. This show can only exist with the generosity of those who provide machines for everyone to play.
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This is def part of the issue.

The other problem tbh, if you glance thru the list of people bringing games, it is on the whole THE SAME people who have brought games for years, and also to the UK Pinball Show (RIP 2005 -2009) , Slam ( RIP :sad: 2010 - 2012 ) and Northern Lights. There are a lot of new owners/collectors who have come on board in the last couple of years and they need to step up and support events WITH MACHINES.

The other problem with long term machine donators is Show fatigue, and I count myself in this category :( ....quite frankly after taking a bunch of games to shows year after year the enthusiasm for the considerable effort involved, both physically and financially, can wane a little. So again ...new blood is required to keep events going long term.
 
GrizZ said:
This is def part of the issue.

The other problem tbh, if you glance thru the list of people bringing games, it is on the whole THE SAME people who have brought games for years, and also to the UK Pinball Show (RIP 2005 -2009) , Slam ( RIP :sad: 2010 - 2012 ) and Northern Lights. There are a lot of new owners/collectors who have come on board in the last couple of years and they need to step up and support events WITH MACHINES.

The other problem with long term machine donators is Show fatigue, and I count myself in this category :( ....quite frankly after taking a bunch of games to shows year after year the enthusiasm for the considerable effort involved, both physically and financially, can wane a little. So again ...new blood is required to keep events going long term.
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100% agree, home pinball ownership is on the up, these shows are great, Will says the slam should only be off for a year so hopefully that will be back in 2014, Northern Lights was brilliant in Manchester in October but it will be a real shame if the UKPP in Daventry doesn't go ahead even though AH is prepared to put the effort into organising the whole show, come on people, support the hobby.......

Andy
 
GrizZ said:
As someone closely involved with the Slam I would say ....hmmmm ...'should' and 'hopefully' are the keywords there. No need to clear the diary yet I'm afraid :sad:. We'll see ......
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Bang go's my free ticket Will promised me..... LOL
 
As someone who is a new home owner in the last year, I just can't get a machine to a show at the moment. I have to take the head off to get them out of the kitchen, negotiate some steps and then I do not have a car that I could drive them there in. This will be changing in the future but it won't be this year as there is a small wedding taking place in May that I have to concentrate on first.
Based on the shows I have been to, plus had the pleasure of observing the dedication from the organisers and tech's, I would not have any issues with having my machines being played, and enjoyed, by the masses.
 
I cant attend this year but Andy is welcome to any of my machines although the logistics of get them from Northern Ireland (and back) might be a stumbling block.
Not that I have anything unique (unless I buy this Zac Ski Jump)

Cheers
Ian
 
"1-4 games - £15 per machine"

This is the problem right here. I would say this impacts around 95% of the pinball community? There is only the minority that have the luxury of money and space for more than a couple of machines.

I have 3 pinball machines. I'm expected to hire a transit van and pay for the fuel to get these to the event. Oh, I then have to fork out for my hotel room and on top of that I don't even get free entry?

So I get £45 as an incentive?

I don't want to hijack this thread and compare my event to this but I'm sorry, that is in no way an incentive.
 
Big Phil said:
I have 3 pinball machines. I'm expected to hire a transit van and pay for the fuel to get these to the event. Oh, I then have to fork out for my hotel room and on top of that I don't even get free entry?
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Right...look out, Sgt GrizZ might have a rant here ...:rant:

As one of the 'old skoolers' on here can I just remind folk of the UK Pinball Show 2005 ......140 machines and the UK Pinball Show 2006 ..... 172 machines ...YES a hundred and seventy bl**dy two !!!!

There was no money for bringing machines, for fuel, for rooms, or free entry ...there might of been a free T Shirt, but they were cr*p anyway ;) If you were lucky Nick or Stan spun by in a van or truck and collected yr games. But for a lot of us we coughed up and brought games in whatever vehicle we had or hired.

The incentive ....sheer bl**dy fun and good times ! And the realisation that if people didn't then the event would not happen. End of. And this in a time when the collectors scene was arguably smaller.

Now I know I'll be accused of 'rose tinted glasses' and 'it was all better in my day' ....but quite frankly without people bitching on about how much it would cost them...it was !!! :frusty:

Money ......its just one big plastic hassle maaaan.

Rant over :rolleyez:
GrizZ
 
isn't being paid for bringing machines along a fairly recent thing? i'm thinking that in the past people just did it out of love and generosity, and took it on the chin that it ended up costing more money than not bringing machines.

i could be wrong though
 
Some fair points.

I know about doing it for the love of it in the beginning, but how long does that last? Are people tired of all that effort now?
 
Without shows like the UKPP the hobby will not continue increasing in popularity, as a community it is in all of our interests to get machines out in the wild so new people can discover pinball.

Andy
 
Right, I'm probably going to sound very mean but....

I have no problem in lending machines out, maybe they'll come back with a few more dents and some minor repair work needed but they are designed to be played so that's life.

The sticking point for me is the transport and logistics involved. Slinging a machine in the back of the car isn't viable for me so I'd have to hire something. I then have to con someone to help me lug the machines through the house. (although luckily I no longer need to lift them over the sink) Doesn't seem worthwhile to do it for 1 or 2 machines, so it would have to be a larger number (groan....).

To be honest, I really can't be ****d..... I know I should be but....

With Matt's do in London, a van will turn up and I've just got to help load them in and back out again afterwards. Easy Peasy:rockon:

I know if everyone had the same attitude the shows wouldn't happen but I'm a lazy bastard at heart. Don't know how you could do it differently unless Andy wants to start a collection service.

(feeling grumpy here.....)
 
Well said John.

I'm the same, I told Matt he can borrow all he wants, and I don't want any £ or favours, I'm happy to help, and happier that he's coming to collect and coming to drop off.

I can fit a game in my car easy enough but due to a dragon wife, I never know if I'm coming or not til the last minute, or if I'm coming but cannot take the car (so I'm on the bike so no games).

I bet that if the games were all collected and returned, then not only would people not want paying, but also Andy could spend the money he was gonna give to lenders, instead to pay some willing drivers to drive hired vans from the far corners of the country then back again afterwards.

Lets see what happens if we run with this idea, anyone got some organisation/economics/maths skills to come up with some numbers as an example?
 
cooldan said:
Well said John.
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Well said !!??! You guys are basically saying you are happy for everyone else to do the organisation and hard work. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The collection thing has been tried to various extents before, Andy did for the first Party, its a logistical nightmare, and you will struggle to find enough willing drivers who can sacrafice the time involved to spread the load enough. When Stan did it it literally tooks days either side of the show.

Enjoy the non existent shows in a few years with this 'can't be ****d' attitude people. Now who's grumpy ;)
 
Thank god you don't have to get them over that sink and through the door ;), moving that Dirty Harry and T3 a while back nearly killed me:)
 
Shocked at the attitude of some, but not altogether surprised.

Andy
 
i admit to being lazy, i was just being honest. i meant well said John as in well done for naming the elephant in the room, the inherent human selfish factor we all have to admit to being infected by, to greater or lesser degrees. we all have time constraints, and they're all as important as each other.

i didn't know it'd been tried before, i just wondered if he could get more games there by looking into it. If Stan spent days driving, then that would just mean that driver expenses would need to be costed for and included: so if it was 3 big vans and 2 small vans for 4 days, would that be about £1000? i dunno. and 5 men paid to drive for a day and a half each, another £750? that £1750 could be divided up as a shared expense on the ticket, so if they sold 300 tickets then we'd each add £5.80 to the ticket price to pay for machine collection. i'm guessing here. these numbers are first time out total guesses. am i out by 100%? 300%? is it £20 each person?

i'm guessing less that £20 but more than £5 per attendee.

going up elephant ass.jpg
 
It is a real shame that it always comes down to this, to echo Griz's comments.... back in the day ( key up rousing music of your choice ) 🎻 it really did seem to be all about the love of the game, you did not expect to get anything for free... why would you? if some one is preparing ( trust me i talk with experience ) to spend months and months of their lives organising a show and you want an awesome weekend away with tons and tons of games and spend a weekend with fellow pinheads , then it takes you to put the effort in to help make it happen, if the organiser is running around like a headless chicken , fronting large amounts of cash , worrying permanently about just about everything , wife hating you etc etc surely its not that much effort to hire a van?? If you were into other hobbies , take golf for example its going to cost you to get there and play, ground fees etc, skiing slope passes and kit hire, fishing etc etc all hobbies cost money.

It is stressful trying to get people to pledge games and I do believe it's this horrible fact that people worry to much about how much a game is worth or how mint it is ... how gives a rats ass how nice your fricking MB or MM is if its that nice throw it in a car or a van and show it off, have the pride in someone playing it and saying wow thats a nice MB ( they would obviously be blind as its a huge steaming pile of **** :D ) its nice to let other people play with your toys, and thats what they are people toys big expensive toys.

The UK pinball community is amazing and have always come through in the end, so I hope Andy gets his pledges. And I hope all the shows continue be a shame for any of them to fold.........
I hope that when the SCS crew get together again and drink lots of beer and things are discussed something WILL happen again in the future :whoo: if everyone wants it... as its all about the love SCS style :grouphug:

Laters you crazy kids

Love and hugs

will x
 
cooldan said:
i admit to being lazy, i was just being honest. i meant well said John as in well done for naming the elephant in the room, the inherent human selfish factor we all have to admit to being infected by, to greater or lesser degrees. we all have time constraints, and they're all as important as each other.

i didn't know it'd been tried before, i just wondered if he could get more games there by looking into it. If Stan spent days driving, then that would just mean that driver expenses would need to be costed for and included: so if it was 3 big vans and 2 small vans for 4 days, would that be about £1000? i dunno. and 5 men paid to drive for a day and a half each, another £750? that £1750 could be divided up as a shared expense on the ticket, so if they sold 300 tickets then we'd each add £5.80 to the ticket price to pay for machine collection. i'm guessing here. these numbers are first time out total guesses. am i out by 100%? 300%? is it £20 each person?

i'm guessing less that £20 but more than £5 per attendee.

View attachment 865
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Thats not a bad idea Dan, the getting drivers to it all.
 
In a slightly better mood now....

Firstly. Just to clarify I've actually never been able to make the show as I'm on kiddie duty over the summer. However, I'm glad Andy puts the time and effort into running it. I certainly don't have anything against Andy or the event, I was happy to lend him a bunch of machines last summer for his do at the Pipeline and would do again if he asked.

Secondly, I do appreciate that some people do put a lot of time and effort into bringing machines. However, I suspect that logistically it is quite a lot easier to bring a machine if you have access to a van, a strong fellow pinhead living nearby and the machines are in a garage compared to, say, if you live in a 3rd floor flat and ride a moped.

Does it make me lazy if I don't want to bother hiring a van etc? Probably, but that's the downfall of relying on people's good will. Would I like the situation to be different? Yes, but the situation is what it is. Would I take the time/effort/cost to hire a van? Maybe, but to be brutally honest it would be the exception rather than the rule.

Not really sure why Andy (The other Andy not Mr H) was disappointed by the replies. No one was slating the event just pointing out some of the drawbacks regarding transportation.

Over the last few years I've been really surprised about the generosity of many of the people involved in the shows and leagues but maybe it's time to change all my games for Zizzle's so I can transport them easily.

Finally am I the only one bothered that Wills "keeper" is now a Stern IJ. (Although by the time I finished typing he's probably sold it)
 
Trying to put a positive spin on what I am reading on this forum; it seems that money may not the issue, nor is the willingness to share ones pride and joy, but the effort to get a machine to a show.
My only experience of getting machines to a show is doing one van load of pinball moving for the NPL show. We went to two locations and picked up the waiting machines, I say waiting as one was still being played when we arrived. It took a lot longer than I expected to collect eight or so machines from only two locations and both were local to the venue. It was hard work, took several hours and I would do it again if required.

There is a slight difference to this compared to other hobbies because a mountain doesn't need me to turn up for it to be suitable for skiing of snowboarding, I don't have to bring my own snow. But we do need people to loan their machines for the show to happen. Pinball owners can turn up to the show without a machine, should they be made to feel ashamed that they didn't contribute? That might just alienate more of the very people a show needs.

I know it already happens but it looks like a positive way to solve the issue is to form little collectives locally, that way there would be van hire covered and a few people can make light work of it. It works much better than us all bringing two machines and we can save hotel costs by sleeping in the van. 👅
 
Finally am I the only one bothered that Wills "keeper" is now a Stern IJ. (Although by the time I finished typing he's probably sold it)[/QUOTE]

LOL Cant believe how many stern IJ haters there are out there...... its not that bad..... I love it, however always up for a trade :bolt:
 
SOUTH COAST SLAM said:
Finally am I the only one bothered that Wills "keeper" is now a Stern IJ. (Although by the time I finished typing he's probably sold it)
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LOL Cant believe how many stern IJ haters there are out there...... its not that bad..... I love it, however always up for a trade :bolt:[/QUOTE]

I like it too :)
 
SOUTH COAST SLAM said:
Finally am I the only one bothered that Wills "keeper" is now a Stern IJ. (Although by the time I finished typing he's probably sold it)
Click to expand...

LOL Cant believe how many stern IJ haters there are out there...... its not that bad..... I love it, however always up for a trade :bolt:[/QUOTE]

i didnt think it was to bad when i played it in southend last year
 
Well, as all the posts above show, there are a lot of opinions and views.

The one common denominator is that everyone LOVES these events. Hell, it's what's inspired me to put one on myself.

One major point raised by SCS, is the amount of time and effort put in by organisers sorting out an event. I'm six months away and already, I can't believe the amount of time I've dedicated to it. I have a full time job and it certainly is hard work but it makes it all worth while when people make comments like "SO looking forward to this" and "YES, can't wait"

Even on holiday, I was working on the event and I will be when I go away for a week later this month.

Not to mention the financial risk!
 
People seem not to know the history on which the foundations of the Pinball Party is built. The modern era (post POA) all started with Sean (pinball palace) putting on 2 shows in Margate, I didn't go to these as it was before I really got into the scene but I do know Sean put in a lot of effort to get them off the ground. Then (or during) this time Pins Anon had their first open house at the original Pins Anon HQ (PAHQ from here on) and from there the UK show snowballed.

Show 1 (Aston Villa) - Nick Bennett drove around the country picking up machines, loaded them into an NYK logisitcs trailer back at PAHQ and this then got taken to the show, which was sponsored by Nokia (at a cost of around £10k!) Not sure who else did vans etc at show one but there was a lot of community help, no one got free entry, van hire or fuel costs

Show 2 (Aston Villa) - Same story with Nick, plus Stan with his (works) 10 tonne truck which he slept in for a week to make sure any machines he picked up were safe! Oh and by the way, he took that week off work as holiday. Definitely a good few people with vans at this show (again paid for by themselves), no free entry, no fuel money. Again sponsored by Nokia

Show 3 (Wicksteed) - Lots of community help for this one, we weren't allowed to set up the night before so there was a stream of vans queuing at 6:30am to get into the park and set up, probably the best supported show by the community, think there WAS free entry for people bringing machines but nothing else and again sponsored by Nokia (at the last minute)

Show 4 (Wicksteed) - Pins Anon and Andy Netherwood brought up 50 of the 100 odd machines that were at the show, there was free entry for people bringing machines, Stan again used the works wagon to bring 20+ machines

Show 5 (Northampon RFC) - 100 of the machines were supplied by Pins Anon, Andy Netherwood, Nigel Hill (R.I.P) and Stan's Wagon (2 runs bringing almost 50 machines)

Generally it has been a few people making the effort for the many. I have always said it should be the reverse with everyone on the group (or forum) putting just one machine in the back of their car. 100 people bringing and setting up their one machine is by far the easiest, but it just doesn't happen, everyone seems to mitigate with "too hard, machine upstairs, machine too new, can't do it on my own" or whatever else but it really isn't a community, just a bunch of people who talk a good game on the net. There do seem to be a lot more people willing to help with set up now than there used to be, which is nice but those people should all really be trying to bring that one game to a show.

I understand that's slightly inflammatory but when you've done all this **** for free and see people bitching and moaning about it, it's pretty hard to just sit and watch without commenting.
 
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