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[Aug 21, 2015] 2015 UK Pinball Party - Official Thread (Merthyr Tydfil)

Just imagine the sound of all those Star Treks getting the bonus multiplier screech going off at once! :-o
 
Can someone please post the latest game list in this thread?

I'm on my phone and can't find it, sorry. And is it the same as the list on Andy's site page, or is one of them out of date?

I bet there are some edits to be made - like @JCRox Jon's games from Guildford .... and Kev said he might change something .... and all those titles listed by The Legend, are they on there? I'm also bringing another one, POTC.

Looking forward to this.

Edit: this is the list pasted from the Heighwayman's page. But it has a couple of TBAs on it, and Robin's I500 I read has a dodgy board and may not make it ?@skweek and I dunno if it's up to date or not -

Addams Family
Atlantis
Avatar (x2)
Banzai Run
Batman (Data East)
Batman Forever
Black Knight (x2)
Black Knight 2000 (x2)
Blackout
Bride of Pin*Bot (x2)
Buck Rogers
Caveman
CC
Class Of 1812
Corvette
Devil’s Dare
Diner
Dirty Harry
Dr Dude
Dracula (BSD)
Dracula (Stern)
Family guy
Fire!
Fireball II
Firepower (x2)
Fish Tales (x3)
Flash Gordon
Full Throttle (x3)
Funhouse
GoldenEye (x2)
Harlem Globetrotters
Haunted House
Hi-Deal
Hit The Deck
HS2 Getaway (x2)
Indy 500
Ironman
Jack*Bot
Jokerz
Jolly Jokers
Magic City
Meteor
Monster Bash
Monte Carlo
Mousin Around
Mystic
NBA
New Canasta
Nitro groundshaker
Paragon
Party Animal
Phantom Of The Opera
+ Pirates of the Caribbean
Playboy (Bally)
Playboy (DE)
Playboy (Stern)
Police Force
Pool sharks
Roadshow (x2)
Rocky "bowlinke" (Bullwinkle was busy)
Rollergames
Scared Stiff (x2)
Shadow
Six Million Dollar Man
Space Shuttle
Space Station
Spiderman (x2)
Spiderman (Stern)
Star trek
T2 (x2)
Tales of the Arabian Nights
TBA (x2)
The Sopranos
The Walking Dead (LE)
Theatre of Magic
TSPP
Twilight Zone
Warlock
WCS/Indy 500
White water (x2)
Wizard
Wizard of Oz
WWF Royal Rumble
Xmen
 
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Anyone know if you can buy tickets on the door?

My wife has suggested we end the family holiday with a visit on the way home tomorrow. I'm not sure what she wants, but I'm not complaining! Maybe it's been my constant moaning I was going to miss it all week lol
 
Another Party over.

Thanks to everyone who came - you made history by attending the first, and likely only, ever pinball show hosted at a UK pinball factory.

To everyone who didn't come - you missed a great event.

To everyone who didn't come, but still criticised - you also missed a great event.

Thanks to everyone for either providing machines, or bringing games themselves.

Thanks to Peter for doing the electrics.

Thanks to Andy for keeping the games running.

Thanks to Peter B, Martin, The Raisons and anyone else who helped out - for the tournaments.

Thanks to Dave Willcox for being Dave Willcox. Thanks to Lynda too.

Thanks to my team for all their hard work over the weekend.

Thanks to everyone who either donated, or bought items at the charity auction. We raised an amazing £419.50 for Barry and his funeral fund. It just shows the amazing generosity of our community.

Machine numbers were much higher than I feared they would be a few weeks before the event. For those people who provided machines - a huge thank you. I also think that the machine allocation for the tournaments was unacceptable. I think a better system needs to be found. Personally, I think the 2-day Open format didn't work. The 1-day format worked much better. Some people who had qualified on Saturday had to drop out on the Sunday because they couldn't attend. Also, some people who stayed playing until 3am in the night session, couldn't get to the show by 10am on the Sunday - and were therefore disqualified. Finally, if it had been a 1-day Open, then the league finals would not have had to be crammed in on the Saturday - therefore freeing up more machines for the public. Clearly, a debrief and review of the tournaments needs to happen. All games need to be rotated to allow the public to play them at some point over the weekend. The few exceptions to this rule are the brand new, or mint condition, machines that some owners wish to be only used for the tournaments - and it is their right to choose this option.

Visitor number were way lower than last year - approximately 50% of last year's numbers. This will be mainly down to the location. Also, the Northern Lights crew did not attend this year - either by way of machines or attendees (except Darren Ball - always a pleasure to catch up with you Darren). The same goes for anyone associated with the Slam - no machines or attendees. There was talk of boycotting the Party by some - I choose not to believe this.

If the Party remains a 'regional' event, then it will not survive.

I have made a big loss with the Party this year, and need to decide if I will run a show again next year. Every year I hear many stories of bitching and complaints about the Party and possibly about the way I run it. Some people seem to believe that I have a secret Bahamas fund - topped up every year from the Party. These people, of course, forget that I have to personally guarantee the Party every year, and personally guarantee £10,000-20,000 of my own money personally - whether a single person attends, or not. For 2 years out of the 6, including this year, I made a loss. For the other 4 years - a profit of £500-£1,000 each year was achieved. Not a great return for 4 weeks of anyone's life. But as anyone who knows me knows - I do this for the love of pinball, and always have done.

I tried to incentivize machine pledges this year as much as I could. However, I ended up personally driving the truck for 2 days before the event, around the UK, to collect machines. On both days I arrived back home at 5.30am - mainly thanks to this country's f***ed up road system where roads and motorways are arbitrarily closed every night and f**k the motorist. With recovery time, this took me away from my business for 4 days. I have to do the same again now, after the Party. I just can't do machine runs around the country anymore - it damages my pinball manufacturing business.

I will let the dust settle for a few months now, and evaluate whether I will continue or not. If people are tired of the Party, or want me to step aside, then I'll walk away from it. If I do have an appetite to do another, and people want me to do another, then I'll review the venue situation - but it would almost certainly be another centrally-located hotel as in previous years. If there are pledges of 120 machines, and people will bring them to and from the Party with the help of van hire grants and free entry, then I'll seriously consider doing another one next year.

Thanks for reading.

Andrew
 
Having organised events of a similar but different nature, I can feel your pains!

Just too far for me this year so apologies for not attending. If next year happens in the midlands then my pins are your pins :thumbs:

Have a good rest and see you next year :clap:
 
Andy, cheers for all your hard work on the Pinball Party this year, same to your team. Even if it impacted visitor numbers it was great to have it in a pinball factory and a get a tour.

I appreciate the honest comments about the tournament machines, TBH even if I was in the tournament it would have felt a shame to only get one go on some of those machines. Good to hear an improved format is under consideration. As for grumpy critics, don't let 'em wear you down!
 
Thanks for all the positive comments guys.

I have listened to everyone's feedback as well.

I have been talking with some key players in the UK community about doing something special for next year. I want to keep the Party alive, but want it to be even bigger and better.

When the time is right soon, I will post ideas to everyone about how I propose moving forwards for next year.

Andrew
 
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