ROMANIAN PINBALL OPEN 2016

December 22, 2016July 31, 2017 | Pinball News

We had been invited to attend the Romanian Pinball Open several times by the organisers Ovi and Gabby. Eventually, and despite the dates clashing with another more local tournament, we yielded, booked the flights and accommodation, and packed our bags for Bucharest.

The venue for the tournament was in the north of the capital in a building called Beraria H. It is built on the edge of a reservoir and is close to one of Bucharest’s many iconic buildings – in this case the House of Free Press.

The House of Free Press building in Bucharest

The Beraria H building is one of many from the Ceaușescu era which produced a lot of impressive but not necessarily very attractive structures. Beraria H began as an exhibition centre to promote the best of Romania’s products, then briefly became a shopping centre before folding and being turned into an entertainment centre.

It promotes itself as the biggest beer hall in Eastern Europe, but it’s far more than just a drinking den.

Craft and collectable stalls occupy the entrance on the upper level and the far end of the hall on the lower floor. In between are masses of tables arranged around a central stage. Plenty of beers are available as a pretty reasonable menu offers an interesting selection of meaty products at reasonable prices.

Beraria is also a concert venue and live music is performed here throughout the weekends and during the evenings on weekdays. Although it looks empty in these pictures, it becomes absolutely packed with upwards of 2,000 patrons in the evening.

So competitors in the Romanian Pinball Open (RPO) don’t have to go far for food and drinks, which is just as well as there aren’t many other establishments around. The Hard Rock Cafe is in the same complex, but that’s about it.

The pinball tournaments were held on the upper level at the far end of Beraria H, overlooking the craft stalls. This kept them away from most casual visitors and helped to reduce (slightly) the impact of the noise from bands playing on the stage.

The RPO information banner at the entrance to the area

The machines were arranged either side of a section of a long corridor which ran almost the entire length of the building. Modern machines used for the RPO and Pingolf Tournaments were on one side overlooking the hall, the remaining modern machines were joined on the opposite side by the ’80s Tournament machines.

Modern machines on the right, '80s and modern on the left — Modern machines on the right, ’80s and modern on the left

'80s Tournament machines — ’80s Tournament machines

Romanian Pinball Open 2016 machines

Indiana Jones, The Pinball Adventue	Scared Stiff
Creature from the Black Lagoon	Corvette
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s*	Independence Day
Shrek	Fish Tales
Creature from the Black Lagoon	Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Wars (DE)	Bride of Pinbot, The Machine
Terminator 2: Judgement Day	Maverick*
Demolition Man	Dirty Harry
Getaway: High Speed 2, The	Lethal Weapon 3

’80s Tournament Machines

Road Kings

Dr. Dude

Tiger Rag

Clown

Elvira & the Party Monsters

The tournament desk was at the far end, and next to that were a few extra pinball and video games. The pinballs didn’t seem to be fully working and the video games were on pay-to-play, so we didn’t check those out.

Qualifying for the RPO began on Friday evening. Twenty-four players were put into two groups of twelve and set to play one game against each of the other eleven players in their group. The order of competitors and machines played were pre-selected, with play order in each match decided by the toss of a coin.

Winning a game was the important thing, and each win was recorded against the player’s name on the score chart.

Friday's qualification rounds — Friday’s qualification rounds

Once all eleven rounds had been played, the six players with the most wins moved on to the next round which would be played later on Saturday once that day’s qualifying rounds were over.

We opted to save our energy for the following day, and instead headed for Old Town to see what culinary delights the city had to offer. After an enjoyable meal we wound up at a bar called Beer O’clock which presented us with the opportunity to try a true rarity – what was, when it was launched in 2011, the world’s strongest beer.

Sink the Bismarck! - a 41% beer — Sink the Bismarck! – a 41% beer

Brewed in Scotland by Brewdog, it cost £55 ($68/€65) for a 330ml bottle, and was Brewdog’s effort to recapture the title of the world’s strongest beer after a German brewery claimed victory with their 40% beer. It’s almost impossible to find now. Who thought we’d find it here in Bucharest?

Events after that are rather hazy, so let’s move swiftly on…

Saturday’s pinball action began at 10am with another twenty-four players competing just like their Friday night counterparts.

Saturday's qualifying rounds — Saturday’s qualifying rounds

Play in the Romanian Pinball Open qualifying

The day's youngest player — The day’s youngest player

When the all the qualifying rounds were over, the twenty four qualifiers were again split into two groups of twelve and played the same format again.

As before, the six players with the most wins moved on to the next round, except this time the top two in each group (circled below) received a bye through to the quarter-finals.

That left eight players competing in the third round of play-offs. They played the same format as before, only this time in a single group playing seven single-game matches.

The four with the most wins then continued to meet the four players with byes in the quarter-final round.

The original plan was for all the games to be completed by 9pm, because that was the time the band would start playing on the main stage which would be so loud it would be impossible to concentrate on the games..

However, the matches continued long past that time, with the music blasting away regardless. There was even an unsubstantiated suggestion that reverberations from the bass caused a game to tilt, but the players just continued anyway.

The band starts playing in the Berăria H

The last eight were paired up to play best-of-three head-to-head matches on a single machine, with the winner progressing and the loser dropping out. Berndt Ion Teodorescu played Olivier Francq, Rich Mallett played Martin Ayub, Bogdan Constantin Ghiga played Daniel Nowak, and János Sándor played Roberto Pedroni.

From those matches, Olivier, Martin, Bogdan and Roberto went into the semi-finals which were played in the same way.

Martin and Roberto emerged victorious from those to contest the final which was another best-of-three played on Scared Stiff. Just to add to the interest, the venue decided to switch off the lights, so Ovi found a portable spot lamp which he held to illuminate the game. The sound was also cranked up to try to overcome the band’s performance.

The first game was a very cagey affair with neither player gaining control of the machine. It finished with Martin narrowly ahead with 1.8M to 1.6M.

The second game was a little better with both players starting crate multiball, but Martin also got Coffin multiball going and that proved to be the game and match decider. With a 2-0 score, Martin had won the final. Roberto was second, and in a separate play-off Olivier beat Bogdan to take third.

The presentation of prizes and trophies then took place. Each of the top four won an Android tablet while the top three received a custom coffin-shaped pinball trophy.

Winner of the Romanian Pinball Open 2016, Martin Ayub

Here are the full results:

Romanian Pinball Open Results

1	Martin Ayub
2	Roberto Pedroni
3	Ollivier Francq
4	Bogdan Constantin Ghiga
5	Rich Mallett
6	Daniel Nowak
7	János Sándor
8	Berndt Ion Teodorescu
9	Balázs Pálfi
10	Cezary Glowala
11	Greg Mott
12	Wolfgang Haid
13	Matteo Filippin
14	Daniele Baldan
15	Antonella Iannotta
16	Flavio Baddaria
17	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
18	Tamas Odler
19	Ovidiu Cacina
20	Kyoo Barbaix
21	Florin Tismas
22	Liv Decay
23	Marcin Krysinski
24	Milan Caranovic
25	David Mainwaring
26	Jakub Cieplinski
27	Aleksander Zurkowski
28	Gábor Vanderer
29	Claudio Melone
30	Andra Raicu
31	Gabriella Medgyesi
32	Miron Vasilescu
33	Devis Pierantozzi
34	Pierangelo Villa
35	Péter Szamosi
36	Vlad Terzi
37	Karin Eisenstecken
38	Gabi Claudiu
39	adrian aghenitei
40	Andrew Luke
41	Alex Butnaru
42	ieronim pogorilovschi
43	Vlad Filimon Nastase
44	Rafal Bytomski
45	Zsolt Somogyvari

While qualifying for the main RPO tournament was taking place, players could also compete in the ’80s Tournament which was held on five machines at the opposite end to the tournament desk.

Entry to the ’80s Tournament got you two concurrent games on each of Road Kings, Dr. Dude, Tiger Rag, Clown and Elvira & the Party Monsters. The higher of the two scores was recorded and ranked against all the other scores on the machines.

It was originally planned that the top eight players would qualify for the play-offs, but that was expanded to the top sixteen. They were split into four groups of four who played a single game per group, with the top two players continuing to the semi-finals.

The play-offs in the '80s Tournament — The play-offs in the ’80s Tournament

The semi-finals were made up of four head-to-head sudden-death games. The winners went into the finals while the losers were out.

The '80s Tournament semi-finals — The ’80s Tournament semi-finals

The four finalists were Bogdan Constantin Ghiga, Devis Pierantozzi, Rich Mallett and Roberto Pedroni, and the game chosen for the final was Tiger Rag which had been set to five ball play.

After the first two balls, Roberto had a good lead with his 196K more than double the second place 74K from Devis. Rich was close behind on 63K while Bogdan hadn’t had much luck with his 11K.

The third ball didn’t change either the order or the gaps between the scores, but there was a moment of interest when a stuck ball resulted in Devis having to tilt the game to free it, since opening the coin door would have depowered the game.

A stuck ball presents a challenge in the final

Devis would be allowed to play another ball at the end of the final, with the points earned added to his total from this game.

While ball three didn’t alter much, the fourth ball was game changer, as Rich shot from third with 73K into first place with 286K, ahead of Roberto’s 240K which had seemed pretty safe.

Rich in the final of the '89s Tournament — Rich in the final of the ’89s Tournament

Devis could only manage a fifth ball total of 177K which gave him third place at the moment with his additional ball still to play, while Bogdan’s 63K was a guaranteed fourth. Rich, meanwhile, had another good ball and ended his game with 344K, more than 100K ahead of Roberto. Could Roberto stage a last ball comeback?

Roberto plays the last ball of the '80s Tournament final — Roberto plays the last ball of the ’80s Tournament final

It wasn’t a lucky fifth ball for Roberto, as he ended his final with 274K, some 70K behind Rich. Devis would need to double his score to take the win.

As it turned out, he managed 50K on his additional ball – not enough to move him up from third place – meaning Rich had won with Roberto in second.

Winner of the '80s Tournament, Rich Mallett — Winner of the ’80s Tournament, Rich Mallett

The top three in the '80s Tournament — The top three in the ’80s Tournament

The full results of the ’80s Tournament are:

’80s Tournament Results

1	Rich Mallett
2	Roberto Pedroni
3	Devis Pierantozzi
4	Bogdan Constantin Ghiga
5	Flavio Baddaria
6	Martin Ayub
7	Cezary Glowala
8	David Mainwaring
9	Jakub Cieplinski
10	Ollivier Francq
11	Daniel Nowak
12	Aleksander Zurkowski
13	Wolfgang Haid
14	Berndt Ion Teodorescu
15	Rafal Bytomski
16	Daniele Baldan
17	Pierangelo Villa
18	Florin Tismas
19	Greg Mott
20	Claudio Melone
21	Gábor Vanderer
22	Matteo Filippin
23	Ovidiu Cacina
24	János Sándor
25	Tamas Odler
26	Balázs Pálfi
27	Liv Decay
28	Marcin Krysinski
29	Gabi Claudiu
30	Miron Vasilescu
31	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
32	Milan Caranovic
33	Zsolt Somogyvari
34	Antonella Iannotta
35	Karin Eisenstecken
36	Kyoo Barbaix
37	Gabriella Medgyesi

With the competitive events finished for the day, it was time for a group photograph of everyone still remaining at the RPO before we headed back to bed in preparation for Sunday’s Pingolf Tournament.

After the late finish the previous night, the Pingolf by the Lake tournament understandably got off to a slow start. But by mid-morning the machines were in full swing.

As is now common, each machine (or ‘hole’) had a target score posted which players had to reach in as few balls as possible. If they reached the target then the number of balls used became their score for that hole. If they didn’t reach the target with the three balls allowed, they received a higher score depending on how close they were.

So a three-ball score of 35M would result in a six-stroke score for that hole. Scores were recorded on paper and entered into a spreadsheet later.

Score recording in the Pingolf Tournament

The eight players with the lowest course totals then moved on to the quarter-finals where they were paired-up for head-to-head pingolf play. The eight were Roberto Pedroni, Gábor Vanderer, János Sándor, Tamas Odler, Devis Pierantozzi, David Mainwaring, Daniel Nowak and Daniele Baldan.

The winners from the quarter-finals were Roberto, Tamas, David and Daniel. They were serenaded in the semi-finals by a traditional Romanian band who were playing to a small audience enjoying their lunch.

Sunday's concert begins in the main auditorium — Sunday’s concert begins in the main auditorium

Roberto and David made it through the semi-finals to play against each other in the Pingolf by the Lake final which was played on Shrek.

Roberto and David made it through to the final

If either player could reach the target using fewer balls than the other then they would win. If not, the finalists moved on to a different machine.

David got tantalisingly close to winning on Shrek, really needing just one shot up the ramp to score 800K and reach the target. As it turned out, that shot rebounded down the right outlane, resulting in a tie.

So the pair moved on to Star Wars.

Roberto’s strategy of looping the ramp shot – this game was on original ROMs, not the newer code – allowed him to build up a healthy score and quickly reach the target. David tried to follow suit but, although he got close, he couldn’t replicate Roberto’s accuracy on the ramp shot, meaning Roberto won the game and the final.

The third place play-off between Daniel and Tamas resulted in Daniel taking third and Tamas fourth.

Then it was time for the presentation of medals for the top three Pingolfers.

Winner of the Pingolf by the Lake Tournament, Roberto Pedroni

The top three in the Pingolf by the Lake tournament

The full results for the Pingolf tournament are:

Pingolf by the Lake Results

1	Roberto Pedroni
2	David Mainwaring
3	Daniel Nowak
4	Tamas Odler
5	Daniele Baldan
6	Devis Pierantozzi
7	János Sándor
8	Gábor Vanderer
9	Rich Mallett
10	Martin Ayub
11	Greg Mott
12	Rafal Bytomski
13	Flavio Baddaria
14	Matteo Filippin
15	Jakub Cieplinski
16	Marcin Krysinski
17	Balázs Pálfi
18	Claudio Melone
19	Cezary Glowala
20	Pierangelo Villa
21	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
22	Wolfgang Haid
23	Péter Szamosi
24	Antonella Iannotta
25	Gabriella Medgyesi
26	Karin Eisenstecken
27	Zsolt Somogyvari

With the Pingolf completed, the machines were opened up for free play and the Romanian Pinball Open officially came to an end for 2016.

Anyone want to be Dracula? Gabby says he'll bite! — Anyone want to be Dracula? Gabby says he’ll bite!

The RPO was a good-natured and enjoyable tournament weekend.

The venue is certainly impressive and unlike any other tournament setting we have experienced. The volume of the live music both during warm-up and the actual performances took some getting used to at times, but having decent food and drink so readily available was much appreciated.

The condition of the machines used was less attractive. Some had obvious faults which either took them out of the tournament or needed player cooperation to work around, and there were few opportunities to fix them once the tournaments began.

But bringing together more than two dozen pinballs and holding an international tournament weekend is not a small achievement in Romania, so everyone appreciated Ovi’s hard work and seemed happy to play the games as they found them – ‘street pinball’.

We thoroughly enjoyed both the pinball and the city of Bucharest, and look forward to returning next year to experience much more of both.

PACIFIC PINBALL MUSEUM’S ‘SHOOT THE MOON’ 2016 EXPOSITION

December 22, 2016July 30, 2017 | Gordon Hasse

After a four year hiatus, during which time efforts were focused on operations and expansion, the Pacific Pinball Museum resumed its highly successful series of PPM Expositions on November 11th, 12th and 13th, preceded by a special VIP early bird preview sale and party on the 10th.

Exposition 2016, the museum’s seventh, adopted the theme Shoot the Moon, borrowing the name and the George Molentin graphics from Williams’ 1951 pinball machine of the same name, which greeted visitors at the entrance to the show.

Michael Schiess, PPM Founder, Larry Zartarian, PPM Board President and Gordo admire the show’s signature game

Shoot the Moon proved to be an all-together fitting title for the 2016 show reflecting the PPM’s cosmic accomplishments since their last Exposition. In the four year interim since the last show the museum space has increased significantly, the collection has continued to grow at a rapid pace and important progress has been made toward the funding required to relocate the PPM to the former Carnegie Library across from Alameda’s City Hall.

Most recently, the on-going issue of adequate storage was successfully addressed. Until July the PPM was faced with severe overcrowding in their former storage and restoration facility.

Even the narrow paths that separated aisles of games from one another had become impassable, requiring dozens, even hundreds of games, to be moved in order to unearth any given machine.

Click to explore a 360-degree video of the former PPM warehouse by and courtesy of Steve Tsubota

Having determined that more space was not just desirable but necessary, the PPM Board of Directors decided to move the museum’s entire inventory of games, except for those in the museum proper, into a huge new commercial space. PPM Exposition 7 was staged to celebrate the importance of that move, showcase the museum’s greatly expanded collection and share with the public what the PPM has recently accomplished and what lies ahead.

The PPM Board of Directors. PPM Archives — The PPM Board of Directors (PPM Archives)

The gala event was held in the new Pacific Pinball Museum Annex at 1680 Viking Street in Alameda, California. The new Annex is just minutes away from the PPM Museum’s 1510 Webster Street location, which is open to the public 6 days a week, featuring a rotating line-up of 100-110 games set up on free play.

The new, 45,000 square foot PPM Annex provided the perfect venue to introduce visitors to nearly 500 pinball machines from the museum’s more than 1,300 game collection.

Plenty of storage for the PPM’s rapidly growing collection

Games were arranged in back-to-back “islands” with extra-wide aisles between them allowing visitors plenty of room to play and the unique opportunity to walk, chronologically, year-by-year, through the development of pinball from 1947 through the present.

Players travel comfortably back in time along wide-open corridors

The time and effort required to successfully stage and manage such a pinball extravaganza could not have been achieved without the tireless efforts of an exceptional group of dedicated volunteers, some who began work as early as June to meet the November 10th deadline.

Volunteer couple John and Stephanie Kimball check out the silent auction goodies

The thousands of hours required to prepare and mount the show were managed and coordinated by key members of the PPM team.

David Volansky, PPM’s newest Board member, was instrumental in the layout and engineering of the show and served as Floor Manager.

David Volansky. PPM Archives — David Volansky (PPM Archives)

As Volunteer Coordinator, Brad Grant did an excellent job managing and scheduling the tasks of more than sixty hard-working volunteers.

Brad Grant with PPM donors Pat & Gordon Hasse

PPM Assistant Director d’Arci Bruno served as Facilities Manager capably assisted by Lynn Gustafson.

PPM Curator Melissa Harmon’s artistic and managerial skills were constantly called upon as she multi-tasked throughout the four-day show.

Melissa Harmon conducts one of her teaching seminars at the PPM. PPM Archives — Melissa Harmon conducts one of her teaching seminars at the PPM (PPM Archives)

All-important security and parking facilities were managed by Jim Strehlow and Jem Gruber.

Board member Jim Strehlow. PPM Archives — Board member Jim Strehlow (PPM Archives)

Board Member Jem Gruber takes a special interest in his neighbor’s pinball technique. PPM Archives — Board Member Jem Gruber takes a keen interest in his neighbor’s pinball technique (PPM Archives)

Ron Chan was responsible for developing the full color Shoot the Moon program guide with generous funding provided by exhibitor Marco Specialties.

PPM Board members Ron Chan and Dan Fontes. PPM Archives — PPM Board members Dan Fontes and Ron Chan (PPM Archives)

Of the games on display, 440 were available for free play throughout the weekend, maintained by a cadre of pinball tech volunteers who kept the games in good working order with a bare minimum of down time.

Among the show’s highlights were the presence of 132 working woodrail pins from Gottlieb’s 1947 Flying Trapeze (their last pre-flipper game) to Flipper (their first add-a-ball) and a choice selection of Gottlieb wedgeheads.

A sampling of the rare and highly desirable woodrail and wedgehead games from pinball’s ‘Golden Age’ on the show floor included:

WOODRAILS

Gottlieb 1949 College Daze – Wayne Neyen’s 1st design
Gottlieb 1950 Knock Out
Gottlieb 1951 Mermaid, Minstrel Man and Niagara
Williams 1951 Shoot the Moon
Chicago Coin 1951 Thing
Williams 1952 Paratrooper as well as their Majorettes and Olympics, both with Roy Parker art!
Genco 1952 Springtime featuring both a vertical and a horizontal playfield!
Gottlieb 1953 Grand Slam, the quintessential non-pitch & bat baseball-themed pinball game
Gottlieb 1954 double-coin Daisy May, Diamond Lill, Dragonette, Hawaiian Beauty and Mystic Marvel
Williams 1953 Screamo (based on Chicago’s Riverview Park) as well as the futuristic Skyway designed by Harry Williams
Gottlieb Sluggin’ Champ and Twin Bill from 1955
Genco 1957 Show Boat
Gottlieb 1958 Sittin’ Pretty and Rocket Ship
Bally 1960 ‘one balls’ Beach Queens and Beauty Contest

WEDGEHEADS

Gottlieb 1962 Flipper Cowboy
Gottlieb 1963 Slick Chick and Sweethearts
Gottlieb 1964 Majorettes and North Star
Gottlieb 1965 Cow Poke, Ice Revue and Kings & Queens
Gottlieb 1966 Cross Town
Gottlieb 1971 2001 and 4 Square
Gottlieb 1972 Pop-A-Card
Gottlieb 1975 El Dorado

While all but a handful of games at the show were gifted to the museum by a host of generous donors, special mention should be made of the 240 working woodrails and wedgeheads on the show floor contributed by Larry Zartarian, President and Treasurer of the PPM Board of Directors.

Larry Zartarian conducting one of his popular floor tours

In addition to the woodrails available for play, there were 119 games from the 1960s, 129 from the 1970s, 28 from the 1980s, 31 from the 1990s, 3 from the 2000s and 5 from the 2010s.

It seems safe to say that there have never before been as many woodrails or wedgeheads available for play in a single venue, even in the most heavily populated arcades of the 1950s and 1960s!

MECHANICAL MARVELS

In addition, a special treat was in store for attendees thanks to Dan Miller who made his pristine collection of the three finest pinball machines from the mechanical age available for both viewing and play.

The trio, all made by David Rockola, included his 1933 World’s Fair Jigsaw as well as Army & Navy and World’s Series both from 1934.

Dan Miller fine-tunes his World’s Fair Jigsaw

It was amazing to observe the number of attendees who played these games repeatedly, captivated by the ingenuity and exceptional play value of these more than 80-year-old, entirely mechanical marvels!

WORKING GAMES ON THE SHOW FLOOR

1933 World’s Fair Jigsaw, Rockola
1934 Army & Navy, Rockola
1934 World’s Series, Rockola
1947 Flying Trapeze, Gottlieb
1948 Ali-Baba, Gottlieb
1948 Barnacle Bill, Gottlieb
1948 Cinderella, Gottlieb
1949 De-Icer, Williams
1949 Basketball, Gottlieb
1949 Bowling Champ, Gottlieb
1949 College Daze, Gottlieb
1949 Double-Shuffle, Gottlieb
1949 K.C. Jones, Gottlieb
1949 King Arthur & His Round Table, Gottlieb
1949 Old Faithful, Gottlieb
1949 Telecard, Gottlieb
1949 Three Musketeers, Gottlieb
1950 Lucky Inning, Williams
1950 Bank-A-Ball, Gottlieb
1950 Buffalo Bill, Gottlieb
1950 Canasta, Genco
1950 Double-Feature, Gottlieb
1950 Just 21, Gottlieb
1950 Knock Out, Gottlieb
1950 Madison Square Gardens, Gottlieb
1950 Rockettes, Gottlieb
1950 Select-A-Card, Gottlieb
1950 Spot Bowler, Gottlieb
1950 The 4 Horsemen, Gottlieb
1950 Triplets, Gottlieb
1951 Arcade, Williams
1951 Control Tower, Williams
1951 Cyclone, Gottlieb
1951 Globe Trotter, Gottlieb
1951 Happy-Go-Lucky, Gottlieb
1951 Mermaid, Gottlieb
1951 Minstrel Man, Gottlieb
1951 Niagara, Gottlieb
1951 Rose-Bowl, Gottlieb
1951 Shoot The Moon, Williams
1951 Thing, Chicago Coin
1951 Watch My Line, Gottlieb
1951 Wild West, Gottlieb
1952 All-Star Basketball, Gottlieb
1952 Caravan, Williams
1952 Chinatown, Gottlieb
1952 Coronation, Gottlieb
1952 Crossroads, Gottlieb
1952 Four Corners, Williams
1952 Four Stars, Gottlieb
1952 Happy Days, Gottlieb
1952 Hit ‘N’ Run, Gottlieb
1952 Majorettes, Williams
1952 Olympics, Williams
1952 Paratrooper, Williams
1952 Quartette, Gottlieb
1952 Skill-Pool, Gottlieb
1952 Springtime, Genco
1953 Arabian Knights, Gottlieb
1953 Flying High, Gottlieb
1953 Grand Champion, Williams
1953 Grand Slam, Gottlieb
1953 Guys Dolls, Gottlieb
1953 Pin Wheel, Gottlieb
1953 Poker Face, Gottlieb
1953 Quintette, Gottlieb
1953 Shindig, Gottlieb
1953 Times Square, Williams
1954 4-Belles, Gottlieb
1954 Big Ben, Williams
1954 Daisy May, Gottlieb
1954 Diamond Lill, Gottlieb
1954 Dragonette, Gottlieb
1954 Green Pastures, Gottlieb
1954 Jockey Club, Gottlieb
1954 Lady Luck, Gottlieb
1954 Lovely Lucy, Gottlieb
1954 Mystic Marvel, Gottlieb
1954 Screamo, Williams
1954 Skyway, Williams
1954 Stage Coach, Gottlieb
1955 Duette, Gottlieb
1955 Duette Deluxe, Gottlieb
1955 Easy Aces, Gottlieb
1955 Frontiersman, Gottlieb
1955 Gypsy Queen, Gottlieb
1955 Sluggin’ Champ, Gottlieb
1955 Southern Belle, Gottlieb
1955 Sweet Add-A-Line, Gottlieb
1955 Tournament, Gottlieb
1955 Twin Bill, Gottlieb
1955 Wishing Well, Gottlieb
1955 Wonderland, Williams
1956 Auto Race, Gottlieb
1956 Classy Bowler, Gottlieb
1956 Derby Day, Gottlieb
1956 Fair Lady, Gottlieb
1956 Gladiator, Gottlieb
1956 Harbor Lites, Gottlieb
1956 Rainbow, Gottlieb
1956 Score-Board, Gottlieb
1957 Continental Café, Gottlieb
1957 Falstaff, Gottlieb
1957 Show Boat, Genco
1957 Silver, Gottlieb
1957 Whirl-Wind, Gottlieb
1957 World Champ, Gottlieb
1958 Contest, Gottlieb
1958 Criss Cross, Gottlieb
1958 Double Action, Gottlieb
1958 Gondolier, Gottlieb
1958 Rocket Ship, Gottlieb
1958 Roto Pool, Gottlieb
1958 Sittin’ Pretty, Gottlieb
1958 Sunshine, Gottlieb
1958 Turf Champ, Williams
1959 Hi-Diver, Gottlieb
1959 Lightning Ball, Gottlieb
1959 Miss Annabelle, Gottlieb
1959 Queen Of Diamonds, Gottlieb
1959 Straight Shooter, Gottlieb
1959 Sweet Sioux, Gottlieb
1959 Universe, Gottlieb
1959 World Beauties, Gottlieb
1960 Beach Queens, Bally
1960 Beauty Contest, Bally
1960 Captain Kidd, Gottlieb
1960 Dancing Dolls, Gottlieb
1960 Flipper, Gottlieb
1960 Jungle, Williams
1960 Melody Lane, Gottlieb
1960 Merry-Go-Round, Gottlieb
1960 Spot-A-Card, Gottlieb
1960 Wagon Train, Gottlieb
1961 Add-A-Ball, Williams
1961 Aloha, Gottlieb
1961 Big Casino, Gottlieb
1961 Bo Bo, Williams
1961 Corral, Gottlieb
1961 Double Barrel, Williams
1961 Egg Head, Gottlieb
1961 Flipper Fair, Gottlieb
1961 Flipper Parade, Gottlieb
1961 Flying Circus, Gottlieb
1961 Highways, Williams
1961 Lancers, Gottlieb
1961 Oklahoma, Gottlieb
1961 Show Boat, Gottlieb
1961 Space Ship, Williams
1961 Ten Spot, Williams
1962 4 Roses, Williams
1962 Arrowhead, Keeney
1962 Cover Girl, Gottlieb
1962 Fashion Show, Gottlieb
1962 Flipper Clown, Gottlieb
1962 Flipper Cowboy, Gottlieb
1962 Liberty Belle, Gottlieb
1962 Olympics, Gottlieb
1962 Preview, Gottlieb
1962 Rack-A-Ball, Gottlieb
1962 Sunset, Gottlieb
1962 Target Gallery, Midway
1962 Tropic Isle, Gottlieb
1963 Big Daddy, Williams
1963 Gaucho, Gottlieb
1963 Gigi, Gottlieb
1963 Jumpin’ Jacks, Williams
1963 Merry Widow, Williams
1963 Moon Shot, Bally
1963 Slick Chick, Gottlieb
1963 Square Head, Gottlieb
1963 Sweet Hearts, Gottlieb
1963 Swing-Along, Gottlieb
1963 Tom Tom, Williams
1964 Big Top, Gottlieb
1964 Bonanza, Gottlieb
1964 Bowling Queen, Gottlieb
1964 Happy Clown, Gottlieb
1964 Mad World, Bally
1964 Majorettes, Gottlieb
1964 Monte Carlo, Bally
1964 North Star, Gottlieb
1964 Ship-Mates, Gottlieb
1964 Stop ‘N’ Go, Williams
1964 World Fair, Gottlieb
1965 Band Wagon, Bally
1965 Bank-A-Ball, Gottlieb
1965 Cow Poke, Gottlieb
1965 Flipper Pool, Gottlieb
1965 Hi Dolly, Gottlieb
1965 Ice-Revue, Gottlieb
1965 Kings & Queens, Gottlieb
1965 Magic Circle, Bally
1965 Moulin Rouge, Williams
1965 Paradise, Gottlieb
1965 Pot ‘O’ Gold, Williams
1965 Sky-Line, Gottlieb
1965 Teacher’s Pet, Williams
1965 Thoro-Bred, Gottlieb
1965 Trio, Bally
1966 Campus Queen, Gottlieb
1966 Capersville, Bally
1966 Central Park, Gottlieb
1966 Cross Town, Gottlieb
1966 Full House, Williams
1966 Hot Line, Williams
1966 Hurdy Gurdy, Gottlieb
1966 Ice Show, Gottlieb
1966 Masquerade, Gottlieb
1966 Mayfair, Gottlieb
1966 Subway, Gottlieb
1967 Beat Time, Williams
1967 Diamond Jack, Gottlieb
1967 Dixieland, Bally
1967 Melody, Gottlieb
1967 Rocket III, Bally
1967 Shangri-La, Williams
1967 Super Score, Gottlieb
1967 West Club, Rally (France)
1968 Ding Dong, Williams
1968 Domino, Gottlieb
1968 Doozie, Williams
1968 Fun Land, Gottlieb
1968 Lady Luck, Williams
1968 Minizag, Bally
1968 Palace Guard, Gottlieb
1968 Paul Bunyan, Gottlieb
1968 Playmates, Gottlieb
1968 Playtime, Chicago Coin
1968 Royal Guard, Gottlieb
1968 Spin Wheel, Gottlieb
1969 Action, Chicago Coin
1969 Expo, Williams
1969 Hearts & Spades, Gottlieb
1969 Joust, Bally
1969 King Tut, Bally
1969 Mibs, Gottlieb
1969 Mini Pool, Gottlieb
1969 Miss-O, Williams
1969 Moon Shot, Chicago Coin
1969 On Beam, Bally
1969 Paddock, Williams
1969 Road Race, Gottlieb
1969 Skipper, Gottlieb
1969 Spin-A-Card, Gottlieb
1969 Target Pool, Gottlieb
1969 Wild Wild West, Gottlieb
1970 4 Queens, Bally
1970 Aquarius, Gottlieb
1970 Baseball, Gottlieb
1970 Batter Up, Gottlieb
1970 Big Valley, Bally
1970 Bowl-O, Bally
1970 Crescendo, Gottlieb
1970 Double-Up, Bally
1970 Flip-A-Card, Gottlieb
1970 Galahad, Bally
1970 Polo, Gottlieb
1970 Rock ‘N’ Roll, Williams
1970 Scuba, Gottlieb
1970 Zip-A-Doo, Bally
1971 2001, Gottlieb
1971 4 Square, Gottlieb
1971 Abra Ca Dabra, Gottlieb
1971 Astro, Gottlieb
1971 Bristol Hills!, Gottlieb
1971 Doodle Bug, Williams
1971 Drop-A-Card, Gottlieb
1971 Roller Coaster, Gottlieb
1971 Stardust, Williams
1972 El Toro, Bally
1972 Fan-Tas-Tic, Williams
1972 Fireball, Bally
1972 Flying Carpet, Gottlieb
1972 Jungle, Gottlieb
1972 King Kool, Gottlieb
1972 Outer Space, Gottlieb
1972 Pop-A-Card, Gottlieb
1972 Super Star, Williams
1972 Swinger, Williams
1973 Gulfstream, Williams
1973 Hot Shot, Gottlieb
1973 Jack In The Box, Gottlieb
1973 Jungle King, Gottlieb
1973 King Pin, Gottlieb
1973 Nip-It, Bally
1973 OXO, Williams
1973 Pro-Football, Gottlieb
1973 Time Zone, Bally
1973 Upper Deck, Williams
1974 Amigo, Bally
1974 Big Brave, Gottlieb
1974 Champ, Bally
1974 Dealer’s Choice, Williams
1974 Duotron, Gottlieb
1974 Gin, Chicago Coin
1974 Sky Jump, Gottlieb
1974 Sky Kings, Bally
1974 Skylab, Williams
1974 Star Pool, Williams
1974 Super-Flite, Williams
1974 Top Card, Gottlieb
1975 Big Ben, Williams
1975 Bow & Arrow, Bally
1975 El Dorado, Gottlieb
1975 Knockout, Bally
1975 Pat Hand, Williams
1975 Top Score, Gottlieb
1975 Top Speed, Recel (Spain)
1975 Wizard!, Bally
1976 Aladdin’s Castle, Bally
1976 Blue Chip, Williams
1976 Buccaneer, Gottlieb
1976 Card Whiz, Gottlieb
1976 Hang Glider, Bally
1976 Hokus Pokus, Bally
1976 Lady Luck, Recel (Spain)
1976 Moon Flight, Zaccaria (Italy)
1976 Old Chicago (2), Bally
1976 Royal Flush, Gottlieb
1976 Sound Stage, Chicago Coin
1976 Space Odyssey, Williams
1976 Sure Shot, Gottlieb
1976 Surf Champ, Gottlieb
1976 Target Alpha, Gottlieb
1976 Underwater, Recel (Spain)
1977 Bronco, Gottlieb
1977 Butterfly, Sonic (Spain)
1977 Captain Fantastic, Bally
1977 Cleopatra, Gottlieb
1977 Combat, Zaccaria (Italy)
1977 Dragon, Interflip (Spain)
1977 Eight Ball, Bally
1977 Evel Knievel, Bally
1977 Icarus, Recel (Spain)
1977 Jacks Open, Gottlieb
1977 Jet Spin, Gottlieb
1977 Jungle Princess, Gottlieb
1977 Liberty Bell, Williams
1977 Mars Trek, Sonic (Spain)
1977 Monaco, Segasa (Spain)
1977 Nautilus, Zaccaria (Italy)
1977 Night Rider, Bally
1977 Rawhide, Stern
1977 Stampede, Stern
1977 Stingray, Stern
1977 Super Straight, Sonic (Spain)
1977 Team One, Gottlieb
1977 Wild Card, Williams
1978 Chance, Playmatic (Spain)
1978 Charlie’s Angels, Gottlieb
1978 Close Encounters Of The 3rd Kind, Gottlieb
1978 Disco Fever, Williams
1978 Hit The Deck, Gottlieb
1978 Lucky Seven, Williams
1978 Mata Hari, Bally
1978 Playboy, Bally
1978 Power Play, Bally
1978 Stars, Stern
1979 Count-Down, Gottlieb
1979 Dracula, Stern
1979 Flash, Williams
1979 Genie, Gottlieb
1979 Harlem Globetrotters, Bally
1979 Laser Ball, Williams
1979 Magic, Stern
1979 Meteor, Stern
1979 Solar Ride, Gottlieb
1979 Superman, Atari
1979 Tri Zone, Williams
1980 Buck Rogers, Gottlieb
1980 Circus, Gottlieb
1980 Firepower, Williams
1980 Galaxy, Stern
1980 Nine Ball, Stern
1980 Star Race, Gottlieb
1980 Xenon, Bally
1981 Embryon, Bally
1981 Fathom, Bally
1981 Fireball II, Bally
1981 Flash Gordon, Bally
1981 Jungle Lord, Williams
1982 Rapid Fire, Bally
1982 Striker, Gottlieb
1983 Farfalla, Zaccaria (Italy)
1983 Super Orbit, Gottlieb
1984 Black Pyramid, Bally/Midway
1985 Beat The Clock, Bally/Midway
1985 Fireball Classic, Ballymidway
1986 Motordome, Bally/Midway
1986 Road Kings, Williams
1987 F-14 Tomcat, Williams
1987 Space Station, Williams
1988 Blackwater 100, Bally/Midway
1989 Black Knight, Williams
1989 Earthshaker!, Williams
1989 Robocop, Data East
1990 Dr. Dude, Bally/Midway
1990 Funhouse, Williams
1990 The Simpsons, Data East
1990 Whirlwind, Williams
1991 Cactus Jack’s, Gottlieb
1991 Checkpoint, Data East
1991 Gilligan’s Island, Bally/Midway
1991 Hurricane, Williams
1991 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Data East
1991 Terminator 2, Williams
1992 Black Rose, Bally/Midway
1992 The Addams Family (3), Bally/Midway
1992 The Getaway High Speed 2 (2), Williams
1993 Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Williams
1993 Twilight Zone, Bally/Midway
1993 Whitewater (2), Williams
1994 Popeye Saves The Earth, Bally/Midway
1994 Red & Ted’s Road Show, Williams
1994 Rescue 911, Gottlieb
1994 World Cup Soccer, Bally/Midway
1995 Attack From Mars (2), Bally/Midway
1995 Theatre Of Magic, Bally/Midway
1996 Flipper Football, Capcom
1997 Medieval Madness, Williams
1998 Cactus Canyon, Bally/Midway
2003 Terminator 3, Stern
2008 The Hellacopters Air Raid Serenades, re-themed from a 1973 Gottlieb King Pin by Wade Krause & Donny Gillies (aka ‘Dirty Donny’)
2013 Metallica (Premium), Stern
2013 Star Trek (Starfleet Pro), Stern
2016 Ghostbusters (Pro), Stern

In summary there were working games from 21 different makers on the floor of PPM Expo 7.

Excluding the games used for the tournaments and the pre-flipper view-only historical games the counts were as follows:

Manufacturer	Number of Games	Percentage of Total
Atari Bally Bally/Midway Capcom Chicago Coin Data East Dirty Donny/Wade Krauss Genco Gottlieb Interflip Keeney Midway Playmatic Rally Recel Rockola Segasa Sonic Stern Williams Zaccaria	1 49 15 1 6 4 1 3 244 1 1 1 1 1 4 3 1 3 13 83 4	0.23 11.2 3.41 0.23 1.36 0.90 0.23 0.68 55.8 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.90 0.68 0.23 0.68 2.95 18.9 0.90

21 manufacturers	440	100

Despite the mind-boggling selection of games available for play at Shoot the Moon, a few attendees managed to find fault. In answer to grumbling from one of the younger attendees about the limited number of games from the current century I overheard a PPM board member patiently explain why:

PPM BOARD MEMBER: “Far fewer machines have come to market since Bally, Williams and Gottlieb’s successors closed their pinball operations at the end of the last century. And, since the PPM is a museum, not an arcade, our focus is on acquiring older, more historic games while they’re still available.

“Besides, many of the games made from 2000 on are in the hands of collectors. And since we rely most heavily upon donations, we don’t expect to receive many games from that era for quite a while.”

SHOOT THE MOON VISITOR: “So why not just buy some newer games?”

PPM BOARD MEMBER: “From time to time we do. But purchasing large numbers of new games for the PPM collection is cost prohibitive. And, if your main interest is in playing newer games, there are plenty of them available on location, at traditional pinball shows and in individual collections.”

PRE-FLIPPER RARITIES

Another Expo highlight was the display of 34 additional games from the pre-flipper era. Set up for viewing-only they ranged from proto-pinballs and the 1931 origin games Baffle Ball and Bingo, through wartime conversions like the politically incorrect Victory Games’ Smack the Japs to 1947’s Coed, one of Exhibit Supply’s (ESCO’s) last pre-flipper pinballs.

The complete list follows:

1871, Montague Redgrave, Parlor Bagatelle (proto-pinball)
1920, Mills Novelty Company, Target Shooter (proto-pinball)
1931, Bingo Novelty Manufacturing Company, Bingo
1931, Gottlieb, Baffle Ball
1932, Pace Manufacturing Company, Lucky Strike
1932, Mills Novelty Company, Official Pin Table
1932, Skilgames, Inc., Whirlpool
1934, Daval Manufacturing Company, American Beauty
1934, Pacific Amusement Manufacturing Company (PAMCO), Contact
1934, PAMCO, Major League
1934, Rockola, World’s Series
1937, Bally, Ballyhoo
1938, Mills, One-Two-Three
1938, Stoner Manufacturing Company, Ritz
1938, Bally, Rocket
1939, Exhibit Supply Company (ESCO), Sky-Rocket
1940, Bally, Beauty
1940, Bally, Glamour
1941, Gottlieb, Horoscope
1941, Genco, Jungle
1941, Genco, Metro
1942, Victory Games, Slap the Japs
(a conversion of Chicago Coin’s 1940 Strat-O-Liner)
1945, Gottlieb, Cover Girl
1947, Bally, Ballyhoo
1947, Exhibit, Coed
1947, Marvel, Lightning
1947, United, Singapore
1947, Exhibit, Treasure Chest
1948, Keeney, Band Leader
1948, Exhibit, Banjo
1948, Williams, Gizmo
1948, United, Serenade
1948, Chicago Coin, Shanghai
1948, Williams, Speedway
1949, Genco, Rip Snorter
1950, Exhibit, Be-Bop

Larry Zartarian peeks over the tops of three more oldies but goodies: Williams 1948 Speed Way, United 1947 Nevada and Genco 1949 Rip Snorter. Photo courtesy of Dan Fontes — Larry Zartarian peeks over the tops of three more oldies but goodies: Williams 1948 Speed Way, United 1947 Nevada and Genco 1949 Rip Snorter (Photo courtesy of Dan Fontes)

SHOW HIGHLIGHT TOURS

Each day during the three days of the show PPM docents Larry Zartarian and Dan Miller conducted guided tours of the games on the show floor.

The tours provided an opportunity for attendees to learn about pinball’s evolution, the special significance of landmark games and to ask questions of the PPM’s knowledgeable tour guides. Four floor “highlight” tours were scheduled each day and all were well attended.

Dan Miller gives his audience a preview of what’s in store with his tour

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS

PPM’s ingenuity and commitment to teaching through pinball employing STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) was evident in the several interactive exhibits at Shoot the Moon. On display for viewing and play, the Visible Pinball Machine, developed by PPM Founder and Director Michael Schiess and master screen printer, craftsman, inventor and pinball artist Wade Krause, attracted many awed viewers and players!

Uniquely PPM: the “Visible Pinball”. PPM Archives — Uniquely PPM: the ‘Visible Pinball’ (PPM Archives)

Artists agree: Jem Gruber and Wade Krause. PPM Archives — Artists agree: Jem Gruber and Wade Krause (PPM Archives)

In addition to the Visible Pinball, which allows viewers to observe all the internal workings of a 1976 Gottlieb Surf Champ, the following exhibits were available to help attendees understand the design and functioning of many of the most important components of pinball games:

Fun with Pinball’s Mark Gibson and his wife drove all the way from Colorado to share eighteen of his unique ‘Small Board’ and 3 of his ‘Game’ displays demonstrating electromechanical pinball functions. The three ‘Small Boards’ shown below demonstrate the operation of electromagnets, roto-target units and the Gottlieb score motor in EM games.

Mark Gibson’s Electromagnet demonstration board. Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson. — Mark Gibson’s Electromagnet demonstration board (Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson)

Mark Gibson’s Roto Target demonstration board. Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson — Mark Gibson’s Roto Target demonstration board (Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson)

Mark Gibson’s Gottlieb Score Motor demonstration board. Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson. — Mark Gibson’s Gottlieb Score Motor demonstration board (Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson)

Mark’s ‘Baseball Game’ showed the operation of the classic Williams horizontal man-running unit, while his ‘Horseracing Game’ revealed the workings of Williams’ very popular chain-driven mechanism used to advance miniature horses, seahorses, speedboats and jalopies across the length of a variety of backbox race courses.

Mark Gibson’s Baseball Game based on Williams’ man-running unit. Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson. — Mark Gibson’s Baseball Game based on Williams’ man-running unit (Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson)

Mark Gibson’s Horseracing Game based on Williams’ chain-driven, backbox animated race unit. Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson. — Mark Gibson’s Horseracing Game based on Williams’ chain-driven, backbox animated race unit (Photo courtesy of Mark Gibson)

Australian Lucas Abela, an experimental musician, performance artist, inventor and founder of Dual Plover Records brought his spectacular sub-bass Bassballs musical instrument/pinball hybrid to Shoot the Moon for all to marvel at and to play!

Lucas Abela proudly displays his unique Bassballs

MAGNIFICENT MURALS

Adding to the tangible sense of excitement that permeated Shoot the Moon were the spectacular displays of pinball backglass murals by local artists that hung from the ceiling of the PPM Annex.

Six of the twelve hanging murals displayed at Shoot the Moon

Since the PPM’s inception the museum has sought to celebrate and promote pinball art as a uniquely American genre. This commitment has resulted in thirty beautifully rendered, oversized canvases by local artists that recreate iconic pinball backglass art. These magnificent tribute murals range in size from 6,794 square inches to a truly enormous 14,400 (120 x 120 inches) square inches. That’s ten feet by ten feet!

The following twelve oversized backglass murals were on display to engage attendee interest and promote their appreciation of pinball graphics:

1950, Gottlieb, Joker
1951, Gottlieb, Mermaid
1955, Williams, Wonderland
1961, Gottlieb, Corral
1961, Williams, Double Barrel
1964, Gottlieb, Majorettes
1970, Gottlieb, Scuba
1971, Bally, Sea Ray
1971, Gottlieb, 2001
1971, Bally, Double-Up
1975, Gottlieb, El Dorado
1976, Gottlieb, Card Whiz

Many of these murals are now in the hands of private collectors but some remain available for sale by the artists, who generously share the sale proceeds with the PPM. The complete list of Pacific Pinball Museum tribute murals, listed alphabetically by artist, appears below:

THE ARTISTS & THEIR WORK

d’Arci Bruno

1970, Bally, Sea Ray
1974, Gottlieb, Out of Sight
1975, Gottlieb, El Dorado
1976, Gottlieb, Card Whiz
1977, Gottlieb, Jungle Princess
1979, Gottlieb, Genie

Ed Cassel

1950, Gottlieb, Joker
1952, Williams, Domino
1955, Williams, Wonderland
1961, Williams, Double Barrel
1961, Williams, Space Ship
1971, Gottlieb, 2001
1971, Bally, Double Up
1971, Bally, Fireball
1971, Gottlieb, Scuba

Dan Fontes

1939, Exhibit, Golden
1939, Exhibit, Zip
1951, Gottlieb, Mermaid
1952, Gottlieb, Queen of Hearts
1954, Williams, Skyway
1958, United, Sky Raiders (rifle game)
1960, Gottlieb, Flipper
1961, Gottlieb, Corral
1963, Bally, Star Jet
1964, Gottlieb, Majorettes

Eric Kos

1974, Gottlieb, Out of Sight
1975, Gottlieb, El Dorado
1976, Gottlieb, Card Whiz
1977, Gottlieb, Jungle Princess
1979, Gottlieb, Genie

Multi-Artist Cooperative Effort

The large mural that covers the wall in the Pacific Pinball Museum’s ‘Vintage Room’

PPM wall mural with artists Ed Cassel, Dan Fontes, Eric Kos and PPM Board members David Volansky & Larry Zartarian. PPM Archives — PPM wall mural with artists Ed Cassel, Dan Fontes, Eric Kos and PPM Board members David Volansky & Larry Zartarian (PPM Archives)

LIL’ JU JU TRAVELING PINBALL MUSEUM

Another treat, especially for first-time PPM Exposition visitors, was the presence on the show floor of the converted Spartan Manor trailer, the PPM’s traveling exhibit known fondly as the Lil’ Ju Ju.

Tucked inside were the following five Gottlieb pinball machines available for play: Aquarius, Big Brave, Jacks Open, Jungle Princess and 2001. Not to mention the well-stocked, 1969 Seeburg Golden Jet jukebox to set the proper nostalgic mood!

The PPM’s “traveling museum” the Lil’ Ju Ju. PPM Archives — The PPM’s ‘traveling museum’ the Lil’ Ju Ju (PPM Archives)

The Lil’ Ju Ju enables the PPM’s growing outreach to individuals, schools and other institutions and communities unable to visit the PPM proper. Like the time-honored book mobiles, the PPM’s traveling museum makes its periodic rounds to neighborhoods and events where it can spread the PPM’s message of pinball art, history, science and unrivalled entertainment.

SEMINARS

PPM Director and Speaker Program Coordinator Ron Chan does a last-minute sound check. PPM Archives — PPM Director and Speaker Program Coordinator Ron Chan does a last-minute sound check (Pinball News archives)

In a continuing effort to inform and educate about as many aspects of pinball as possible Shoot the Moon also featured a diverse agenda of seminars and video presentations.

Chris Kuntz shares tips on keeping EM’s running right. PPM Archives — Chris Kuntz shares tips on keeping EM’s running right (Pinball News archives)

Master pinball mechanic Chris Kuntz, owner of pinball repair and sales company Pinball Pirate, delivered his ‘how-to’ seminar My EM Doesn’t Work! What Now? once each day during the Expo, sharing tips and shortcuts drawn from years of experience as a pinball troubleshooter and repair expert.

'Bear' Kamoroff provides valuable insights into pinball ownership — ‘Bear’ Kamoroff provides valuable insights into pinball ownership

During Saturday’s show, author and publisher Bernard “Bear” Kamoroff provided pinball owners and wannabees with invaluable advice on How to Buy and Maintain a Pinball Machine. The 3rd Edition of his best-selling book Pinball Machine Care and Maintenance, published by the Pacific Pinball Museum, sold briskly at the PPM table.

Michael Schiess and Larry Zartarian greet Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer Herrera prior to delivering one of their PPM update presentations

PPM Founder and Director Michael Schiess and PPM Treasurer and Board President Larry Zartarian gave a daily presentation Everything You Wanted to Know About the Pacific Pinball Museum covering the history, growth and ambitious future plans for the PPM.

In addition to restating their resolve to become the “Smithsonian of pinball”, they shared the progress made toward occupying Alameda’s 1902 Carnegie Library building as the PPM’s permanent home, as well as plans to launch two major pinball events each year in their expansive PPM Annex.

Mike and Larry revealed that, for the first time, the PPM was able to set up, on a permanent basis, a significant portion of their entire collection in the new PPM Annex. In addition to being able to display more than 500 working and restored games at any point in time, the 45,000 square foot Annex provides ample room for a workshop and restoration area as well as organized storage for the remainder of the museum’s rapidly expanding collection.

Awaiting restoration and a place in the PMM’s all star line-up — Awaiting restoration and a place in the PMM’s all-star line-up

In addition to their plan to host two major pinball shows each year, the PPM envisions renting the Annex to individuals celebrating special occasions and to companies seeking a unique and engaging venue for parties, team-building, mixers, receptions and other corporate events.

Pinball writer, collector and historian Gordon Hasse offers a sneak preview of his upcoming book

Appealing to those with an interest in the ‘Golden Age’ of pinball as well as the merely curious, each day of the Expo Gordo presented the graphic seminar The Crest of Pinball’s Golden Age: 1954 and the Games of D. Gottlieb. The presentation explored the impact of popular culture on pinball theme development and a detailed discussion of Roy Parker’s artwork on four exceptional D. Gottlieb games released that year.

The presentation was a preview of Gordo’s about-to-be published book on all thirteen Gottlieb games from that memorable year. If you’re interested in knowing when it will be available drop him an e-mail at hasse.gordon@gmail.com.

Larry Zartarian removes the original shipping block from one of Wayne Neyen’s wedgeheads. PPM Archives — Larry Zartarian removes the original shipping block from one of Wayne Neyen’s wedgeheads (PPM Archives)

1949 Gottlieb College Daze. The first game from master designer Wayne Neyens. Gordon Hasse Collection — 1949 Gottlieb College Daze – the first game from master designer Wayne Neyens (Gordon Hasse Collection)

Producer Will White, the man behind the Neyens video. PPM Archives — Producer Will White, the man behind the Neyens video (PPM Archives)

A video tribute, An Interview with Pinball Designer Wayne Neyens, was screened for attendees each evening. The interview format hosted by PPM Board President Larry Zartarian proved to be an ideal approach revealing fascinating details of pinball’s most prolific and successful designer’s experiences during his more than 50 year career.

Almost solely responsible for 177 Gottlieb pinball designs from 1949 through 1976, during the decade of the 1950s Neyens produced an unending string of popular and profitable games at the astonishing rate of roughly one game per month! This classic video, a Will White production, is part of the PPM’s ongoing, archival Pioneers of Pinball series.

VENDORS

A number of vendors set up at the show offering a wide array of products and merchandise.

Jonathan Joosten’s Pinball Magazine
Marco Specialties – Everything Pinball™
Pacific Pinball Museum
Rob Anthony’s Lock When Lit
Rob Hawkins & Don Mueting’s Pinball Collectors Resource

In addition there were approximately a dozen pinball machines for sale at the show by various individuals.

AUCTIONS

PPM patrons and local area merchants generously contributed many unique items to be auctioned off during the course of the show.

A 1975 Bally Wizard! crossed the block at $3,000. A Panic City neon sign donated by Rhino Records founder Richard Foos: a large, revolving Lone Star Beer ‘Monkey Display’ and many ‘baskets of cheer’ found new homes at the end of a separate silent auction.

Donors and local merchants generously provided an interesting array of items for the silent auction

Master of Ceremonies, Auctioneer and community booster Chuck DiGuida appears with Alameda Mayor Trish Spencer Herrera

RAFFLE

PPM Board Member Jim Strehlow donated a brand new Stern Ghostbusters to be raffled off during the show!

PPM Director Jim Strehlow with the brand new Ghostbusters

Jim’s generous gift resulted in the sale of more than $10,000 worth of tickets and the lucky winner was John Mayo, shown here with his new GHOSTBUSTERS.

Lucky raffle winner John Mayo with PPM Founder Michael Schiess

PINBALL A LA CARTE

Show attendees enjoyed catered specialties from Chef Rutilio ‘Rudy’ Fanetti-Durance’s C’Era Una Volta – Ristorante Italiano. In addition, a broad selection of local wines and craft beers gave visitors the opportunity to enjoy some of the best of the Bay Area’s local fare.

PMM Directors Brand Grant and Michael Schiess enjoy dinner-on-the-run

TOURNAMENTS

Three different tournaments took place during the show. The tournament games shown below, reflected the design challenges of three distinct eras. All tournament entries were free with admission to the show!

Tournament Machines

1947, Williams, Torchy
1954, Gottlieb, 4-Belles
1961, Gottlieb, Egg Head
1976, Gottlieb, Royal Flush
1980, Stern, Galaxy
1991, Williams, Terminator 2
2001, Stern, High Roller Casino
2016, Stern, Ghostbusters Pro

A different tournament was held each day directed by Echa Schneider, under the auspices of the International Flipper Pinball Association (IFPA).

The woodrail tournament took place on Friday, November 11 and the winners were:

Woodrail Tournament

1
2
3=
3=
3=

Dan Dempsey, Walnut Creek, CA
Eric Finke
Andrei Massenkoff, San Francisco, CA
Masha Dare
Jared Garvey, Berkeley, CA

The 1960s and later electro-mechanical tournament took place on Saturday, November 12th and the winners were:

1960s Tournament

1
2
3

Karl Lind, Portland, Oregon
Jack Slovacek
Alex Lambert, Roseville, CA

The Solid State & DMD tournament took place on Sunday, November 13th and the winners were:

1960s Tournament

1
2
3

Damien Charléty, Chambéry, France
Per Schwarzenberger, San Francisco, CA
Robin Lassonde, Berkeley, CA
(currently ranked #1 qualifier for the IFPA California State Championship)

Solid State & DMD Tournament Winners Per Schwartzenberger, Damien Charléty and Robin Lassonde

VISITOR RESPONSES

Follow-up surveys with Shoot the Moon attendees found that 99% of those polled who visited the show would come to the next PPM Exposition event.

Of those who took the guided show tours, 85% reported that they exceeded their expectations and, among seminar attendees, 65% reported that the sessions they attended exceeded their expectations.

Given the limited advance notice of the show the overwhelming majority of the more than 1,000 attendees came from the local San Francisco Bay Area.

An encouraging 52 attendees offered to serve as volunteers at the next PPM Expo.

Perhaps most interesting of all, 57% of those polled did NOT own a pinball machine! This surprising statistic served to validate that interest in the multiple objectives of the PPM and its variety of activities reaches well beyond the ‘pinhead’ community!

From the perspective of the PPM’s Board of Directors, this was a most satisfying and successful show, providing the impetus for even more exciting events in the future.

WHAT LIES AHEAD?

Given the success of Shoot the Moon, the PPM Board of Directors has tentatively planned for two PPM Expos each year from this point on.

The new Annex provides them with requisite space for individuals and companies to stage parties, celebrations, corporate and team-building events – any function seeking lots of fun and lots of space!

Revenues from these and other PPM-sponsored events will go toward the carrying and operating costs of the Annex and the continuing Carnegie Library fund-raising effort.

The new Annex provides ample space for an accelerated restoration program allowing more rare and desirable games to be made ready for play on a timely basis. Former problems of space for games, parts, and restoration tools and equipment have now been eliminated!

The Annex also permits the PPM to expand their STEM-based educational programs using pinball as a vehicle to teach art, history and science.

Those interested in becoming involved with the Pacific Pinball Museum as a donor, volunteer, or local point-of-contact in your area can email founder & Director Michael Schiess at mschiess@pacificpinball.org

For more information regarding the Pacific Pinball Museum and its many initiatives visit: www.pacificpinball.org

ARCADIA: HUNGARIAN PINBALL OPEN 2016

December 14, 2016August 1, 2017 | Pinball News

Last year we reported from the Hungarian Pinball Open which was held at the Hungarian Pinball Museum in Budapest. That event was such a success that the number of players increased and the HPO outgrew the Museum’s confines.

So for 2016 the organisers moved to the larger Dürer Conference Centre in the north-west of the city, a short walk from Heroes’ Square.

The entrance to the Dürer Conference Centre

With the move to a larger space, the opportunity was taken to expand the event beyond just the pinball tournaments, to make it appeal to gamers of different types. Thus the Arcadia show was created, combining pinballs, video games and assorted coin-op amusements, as well as retro console gaming.

Not forgetting the Hungarian Pinball Open

The Dürer Conference Centre is a single-storey complex comprised of several rooms of various sizes. We arrived on Friday evening when it was dark outside and the building was nicely illuminated.

Once through the entry doors and past the registration/payment desk, we come to the lobby where all the cool kids hang out and the warm coats hang up.

Coat storage cost 200HUF ($0.70/?0.64/£0.55) a day

Gaming furniture company Altar had a nice display in the lobby featuring two themed coffee table pinballs – Data East’s Star Wars and Phantom of the Opera games – alongside several less-playable but equally stylish pieces of gaming furniture.

Altar's two coffee-table pinballs — Altar’s two coffee-table pinballs

Also in the lobby was a stand selling Hungarian Pinball Museum T-shirts and other merchandise. We picked up a couple in orange and purple to give away as prizes.

The largest of the three rooms in the Dürer was the free-play area which contained a nice mix of pinballs, video games, skill games and retro computers. It also contained the larger of the two bars.

Hercules - big as ever — Hercules – big as ever

Collaborative pinball on Granny & the Gators

Kids these days wouldn't understand — Kids these days wouldn’t understand

Video games and video/pinball combos in the free-play hall

Video games and other skill games in the free-play hall

Here’s a list of all the free-play pinballs:

Lord of the Rings, The
Bride of Pinbot, The Machine
Fish Tales
Whitewater
Judge Dredd
Dr. Dude*
Twilight Zone
Roadshow, Red & Ted’s
Elvira & the Party Monsters
Demolition Man
Godzilla
Addams Family, The
Cirqus Voltaire
Roadshow, Red & Ted’s
Indianapolis 500
Teed Off
Super Mario Bros
Safecracker
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s
Congo
Champion Pub, The
Scared Stiff
No Fear
Shadow, The*
Corvette
World Cup Soccer
Streetfighter II
Freddy – A Nightmare on Elm Street
Mario Andretti
Jolly Park
Flipper Football
Pinball Magic
Breakshot
Striker Xtreme
Shrek
Lord of the Rings, The
South Park
Apollo 13

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s*
Guns N’ Roses
Last Action Hero
Batman (DE)
Baby Pac-Man
Granny & the Gators
Star Wars (DE)
Star Wars Episode 1
Happy Clown
World Fair
Mayfair
Power Play, Bobby Orr
Space Shuttle (Zac)
Locomotion
Caveman
Haunted House
Genesis
Road Kings
F-14 Tomcat
Heavy Metal Meltdown
Robocop
Orbito 1
Attila the Hun
Banzai Run
Funhouse
Bride of Pinbot, The Machine
Whirlwind
Taxi
Diner
Earthshaker!
Indiana Jones
Terminator 2
Alien
Full Throttle
Terminator 2
Hercules
A G Soccer Ball
Hearts & Spades

* denotes game was not working at the time of the survey

Inside the free-play hall there were several vendors with demonstrator games for visitors to play or gaming-related goods to buy.

RS Pinball were representing both Heighway Pinball and PinSound

This PinSound-fitted Indiana Jones could easily be heard over the other games

Alien Pinball was here together with Full Throttle

Konzolok Szervize were selling gamer toys and clothing

Playseat were showing their gaming seats alongside some sit-down arcade games

We generally found the prices of food and drink to be a little higher than we would have expected. Although some of the low-end beers were 300HUF a can, the nicest dark beer was 700HUF ($2.40/€2.24/£1.90) for a can, while cans of Pepsi were 400HUF ($1.36/€1.28/£1) in a country where prices are generally found to be reasonably cheap.

If visitors wanted something a little more substantial to eat, there were two food vendors set up just outside the main entrance to the building.

One was selling freshly-made savoury folded flatbreads, while the other sold hot toasted and flavoured nuts and… well, we’re not quite sure what the dishes were exactly, although they did look colourful.

The flatbreads had cheese and meat fillings available

Although pretty, we didn't sample them — Although attractive-looking, we didn’t sample them

So that’s the setting for the competitions, and there were three main pinball tournaments held at Arcadia – the Hungarian Pinball Open (HPO), the Classics Tournament and Pingolf.

Qualification for the HPO began in a dedicated room on the opposite side of the lobby on Friday with a scheduled start time of 7pm, although there was a delay before the scoring system and the machines were ready and the games could begin. This was to prove to be a precursor to more delays across the whole weekend.

Players wait for the start of qualifying

Organisers working furiously to be ready to start the qualifying

More on that later, but the format of the HPO divided players into nine groups (A-I)of twenty-eight, with each player playing in nine rounds of four-player games. In each round their opponents were different, so that by the end they had played against all twenty-seven (nine rounds of three opponents) other members of their group.

Belgian players check out a Roadshow prior to qualifying

Each group was allocated an area in one of the two tournament rooms with nine machines in area. These were mostly dot-matrix machines with a mix of Williams/Bally, Stern and Data East titles, plus a smattering of alpha-numeric titles from Williams and Bally.

Here are the machines in the five areas

GROUPS A & F

Star Trek (Stern)
Flintstones, The
World Cup Soccer
Sopranos, The
Hurricane
Scared Stiff
Terminator 2
Transformers
Whitewater

GROUPS B & G

Shrek
Walking Dead, The
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Tales of the Arabian Nights
Party Zone
Indiana Jones (Williams)
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Sopranos, The
Getaway: High Speed 2, The

GROUPS C & H

Creature from the Black Lagoon
Twilight Zone
Cirqus Voltaire
Family Guy
Corvette
Demolition Man
Dirty Harry
Ghostbusters
Shadow, The

GROUPS D & I

Mustang
Creature from the Black Lagoon
Kiss
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s
Earthshaker!
Fish Tales
Monster Bash
Ripley’s Believe It or Not!
Tales of the Arabian Nights

GROUP E

Attack from Mars
Diner
Simpsons Pinball Party, The
Terminator 2
Addams Family, The
Game of Thrones
Getaway: High Speed 2, The
Family Guy
Dracula, Bram Stoker’s

After each match, points were awarded for position in the game. 7 points went to the winner, 5 points to second place, 3 to third and 1 point to last place.

The first four groups (A-D) played on Friday evening and the remaining five on Saturday morning/afternoon.

Friday's qualifying for the HPO — Friday’s qualifying for the HPO

When all 9 rounds had been completed, the top 9 players in each group (a total of 81 players) moved on to the next round. The top four women players from the HPO also qualified for a separate Women’s Tournament final held on Saturday evening regardless of whether they qualified for the main tournament or not.

For those not currently competing in the HPO, the lure of the Classics Tournament awaited in a smaller room next to the free-play hall.

There were twenty classics machines available, from which competitors could choose six to play. Having chosen a machine, players would put their magnetic name badge next to the machine name on one of two boards. If nobody else was playing the machine they could start straight away, otherwise they had to wait for their badge to reach the top of the waiting list.

Once a competitor got to their chosen machine, tournament officials started a 3-player game using a key fob to prevent players starting or restarting games themselves. The entrant played all three player’s games simultaneously, and when they were over the scores were recorded, added together and then ranked alongside all other competitors’ total scores. This system helped temper the impact of any unduly low or any runaway scores.

The machines used in the Classic Tournament were:

1 – Kiss
2 – Space Invaders
3 – Circus
4 – Spider-Man, The Amazing
5 – Firepower
6 – Gorgar
7 – Fathom
8 – Medusa
9 – Sexy Girl
10 – Iron Maiden

11 – Rocky
12 – Fireball
13 – Pink Panther
14 – Capt. Fantastic
15 – Centaur
16 – Airborne Avenger
17 – Criterium 75
18 – Wizard!
19 – Space Time
20 – Rolling Stones, The

Score recording here was a little odd. Rather than enter the scores directly into the tournament system with a tablet, phone or laptop, they were hand-written on carbon copy paper, with the top sheet being given to the player as their record. It was a little quaint seeing carbon copy paper being used again. This added an extra stage into the score entry process and hence another opportunity for a mistake to be made, but it seemed to work, more-or-less.

The bigger problem was how it introduced a significant delay between the scores being recorded and them appearing in the computer system. That made it difficult for players to know where they stood at any given time and resulted in the timetable for the latter stages slipping.

Not that the schedule was adhered to any more accurately in the main HPO. The timings looked reasonable on paper but once again delays crept in, with the main HPO qualification round on Saturday not starting until after 10am – an hour late.

Players wait to start their qualifying round on Saturday

The time taken to complete each of the nine rounds closely matched the anticipated thirty minutes, giving a total of four-and-a-half hours for the whole session. But it took some time to produce the full list of 81 qualifiers and to gather them together to begin the first of the play-off rounds.

In addition, with the clock ticking for the qualification round in the Classics Tournament which was running alongside the HPO, some qualifiers were trying to squeeze in their final few classics games as well.

The first play-off round of the HPO divided the qualifiers into nine groups of nine, and set them to play one game against every other member of their group – eight games in total.

When all the games had been played, the four players from each group with the most wins progressed to the second round. In the case of ties, the results of the games between the tied players were taken into consideration with the player(s) who beat the other tied players the most progressing. If that still didn’t resolve the tie, a tie-breaker game was played.

The remaining thirty-six then played the same format for the second round of play-offs, only this time there were just four groups of nine taking part.

Those sixteen played in four groups of four, playing three machines and using the same 7-5-3-1 points system to determine which two from each group moved into the final eight.

The Classics Tournament’s play-offs then followed, with the scores on the qualifying machines ranked and the top 32 progressing to the first round of play-offs.

The classics tournament play-offs begin — The Classics Tournament play-offs begin

The format here was a little simpler, with the thirty-two split into pairs and playing best-of-three matches to decide who moved on and who was out.

The same method was used to reduce the remaining sixteen down to eight and then to a final four. They were: Lieven Engelbeen, Sághy Kálmán, Santiago Elices and Taco Wouters.

The final was held in the free-play hall in an area at the end of the room where the single machine to be used was set up alongside the trophies for this and the HPO. As well as playing in the final, Sághy Kálmán was running the tournament final and introduced the four finalists.

The Fathom machine used in the classics tournament final — The Fathom machine used in the Classics Tournament final

The trophies for the classic and HPO tournaments

Despite the time now being 2am, there was a good-sized and good-natured audience for the final.

The audience for the classic tournament final

Taco began the final, with Lieven playing second, Santiago third and Sághy fourth.

After the first ball it was Santiago who had a slender lead with his score of 275K ahead of Taco on 226K, Sághy in third on 152K and Lieven, who had bad luck on his first ball, in fourth on 23K.

On the second ball it was Taco’s turn for bad luck, as he added almost nothing to his score. Lieven’s bad luck hadn’t left him yet either, and he only added 5K, while Santiago didn’t fare much better.

But Sághy had a great ball, raising his score up to 1.018M, putting him a long way in the lead with just one ball left to play.

Sághy puts up a big score on his second ball

Taco had a better third ball but could only reach a total on 481K. Lieven finally got to play a ball but his total of 145K was still fourth.

Only Santiago could now stop Sághy, but his third ball ended with only 301K on the scoreboard, putting him in third place.

Sághy is congratulated on his classics tournament win — Sághy is congratulated on his Classics Tournament win

The trophies and prizes were then presented.

Winner of the classics tournament, Sághy Kálmán — Winner of the Classics Tournament, Sághy Kálmán

Here are the full results:

Classics Tournament Results

1	Sághy Kálmán
2	Taco Wouters
3	Santiago Elices
4	Lieven Engelbeen
5	Markus Stix
6	Sandor Varga
7	Ollivier Francq
8	Peter Blakemore
9	Julio Vicario Soriano
10	Rich Mallett
11	Mathias Leurs
12	Levente Tregova
13	Gábor Fekécs
14	Tamas Odler
15	Rafael Masedo Rodríguez
16	Kim G. Hansen
17	Daniele Celestino Acciari
18	György Kovács
19	Piller Zsolt
20	Greg Mott
21	Jim Lindsay
22	Rafal Bytomski
23	Andrej Rižner
24	Andrzej Cieslik
25	Jürgen Gärtner
26	Ernö Rotter
27	Andras Horvath
28	Fabio Squadrani
29	Olivier Renders
30	Lene Andersen
31	Joël Wozniak
32	Juan Antonio Martín Amaya
33	Boldizsár Botka
34	Dominique Decock
34	Vargha Ákos
36	Peter Andersen
37	Gergely Csonka
37	Andrej Demsar
39	Stefan Karlhuber
39	András Kató
41	Philippe Bocquet
42	Péter András Simon
43	Zoltán Polgár
43	Ales Rebec
45	Cesare Datri
46	Aaron Gale
48	Berndt Ion Teodorescu
48	Roland Schwarz
48	Zoltán Dósa
50	Zsolt Szabo
51	Berecz Istvan
52	Bart Vyvey
54	Pierangelo Villa
54	Csapó dr Imre
54	Robby Henkelmann
56	Laszlo Horn
57	Markus Ramsner
58	Jasmin Ibric
58	Andreas Frank Meyer
60	Pawel Nowak
62	Kyoo Barbaix
62	Kornél Kosdi
62	Marcin Moszczynski
64	Maciej Olesiak
65	Vincent Chardome
67	Dirk Meckes
67	Miklós Szebenyi
67	Kovács Gábor
69	Arno Nöbl
70	Peter Varga
71	András Lugosi
72	Florian Horvath
72	Matteo Filippin
75	Fred Van Den Bosch
75	Cinthya Messiaen
75	Vid Kuklec
77	Mario Vercauteren
78	Ojvind Strömsholm
78	Cezary Glowala
80	Armin Kress
81	Daniele Baldan
81	Tamas Benke
83	Jochen Schuhmacher
83	Stefan Riedler
85	Didier Dujardin
85	László Kadala
87	Wolfgang Wetl
88	Béla Gyenes
89	Konrad Maslowski
90	Peter Van den Bergh
90	János Dakos
93	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
93	Evelyne Desot
93	Gemma Tejedor Jiménez
93	Szabó Tibor
96	Martin Ayub
96	ieronim pogorilovschi
98	Péter Szamosi
99	Daniel Nowak
100	Michael Heiler
101	Artur Natorski
102	Jürgen Wünschmann
103	Péter Busa
103	Bartosz Radomyski
105	Evert Brochez
106	Olivier Leurs
107	Markus Schrodt
108	Bernhard Binder
109	Laszlo Hornyik
109	Zoltán Harangozó
111	Dávid Laár
112	Paul Jongma
112	Devis Pierantozzi
114	Jaroslaw Rupiewicz
115	János Sándor
115	Glenn Verhoosele
118	John van der Wulp
118	Gabriel Ortiz
118	Zsolt Csiszka
120	Martin Janczyk
120	Zoltán Szemes
122	Rob Breyne
123	Ernestine Lachnit
123	Zoltán Kiss
125	Zsolt Mészáros
126	Radoslaw Slotwilski
127	David Schrittwieser
128	Sebastian Gwizdala
130	Giuseppe Violante
130	Reiner Pfeiffer
130	Michael Kerylidis
132	Peter Boncza
133	Frank Goeltl
134	David Mainwaring
135	Timm Dollinger
135	Fekete Tibor
137	Attila Abonyi
138	Željko Vasic
139	Tom Geneyn
139	Flavio Baddaria
141	Marko Ritosa
142	Angel Martínez Navajas
143	Anthony Struelens
144	Jakub Cieplinski
145	Ari Sovijärvi
146	Karin Ruhmannseder
146	Laszlo Tari
148	Wolfgang Haid
149	Benjamin Ruso
150	Dennis Verleyen
151	Joonas Haverinen
152	Zöllei S. Márk
153	Bencsik László
153	Somogyi Nándor
155	Dina Fukson
156	Antti Peltonen
156	Thomas Kunstfeld
159	Valter Odler
159	Andrej Bukovšek
159	Shachar Liberman
161	Mirko Bogic
162	Begoña Motilla Mulas
164	Harald Czernoch
164	Thomas Binder
164	Lukasz Dziewulski
166	Pascal Leroy
167	Erno Lahdenperä
167	Ovidiu Cacina
169	Peter Molnar
170	Daniel Kaczmarek
171	Steven Demets
171	Laszlo Tempfli
173	Mihaly Makray
174	Albert Pavlovsky
175	Milan Caranovic
176	Robert Glashuettner
177	Zsolt Somogyvari
178	Felix Radinger
179	Mario Kaufmann
180	Tamás Kerék
180	Peter Kurti
182	Maarten Lemey
183	Antti Pitkamaki
184	Attila Tóth-Szeles
184	Ferencz Jozsef Norbert
187	Daniel Gorecki
187	Rafal Jodelko
187	Daniela Ickler
189	Bogdan Constantin Ghiga
189	Uwe Ramsner
192	Dimitri Verhoosele
192	Szabo Istvan
192	Andra Raicu
195	Balint Olah
196	Julia Scriba
197	Sara Martínez Bueno
198	Sabine Ramsner
199	Gabriella Medgyesi
200	Marta Scibisz
201	Alejandro Yepes Piedra
202	Flora Karap
204	Gergely Gergelyfi

While the Classics Tournament was progressing, machines from the HPO room were removed so the remaining machines could be set up for Sunday’s Pingolf which would use the same room.

Machines are removed in preparation for Sunday's pingolf tournament — Machines are removed in preparation for Sunday’s Pingolf Tournament

With the classics decided it was back to the HPO, and the same four-player group format used for the last sixteen was used in the semi-finals to find the four players who would contest the final.

The last eight players in the two semi-finals were:

Semi-Final 1		Semi-Final 2
Sandor Varga Julio Vicario Soriano Andrej Demsar Flavio Baddaria		Krisztián Szalai Gabor Solymosi Ernö Rotter Daniele Celestino Acciari

It was clear this was going to be running very late indeed. The semi-finals began at 2:30am.

Semi-final 1 was played on World Cup Soccer, Kiss and Dracula, while semi-final 2 used Mustang, Ghostbusters and also used World Cup Soccer.

The semi-finals of the main HPO tournament

It took until 03:30 before the final four were decided. They were: Daniele Celestino Acciari, Flavio Baddaria, Gabor Solymosi and Julio Vicario Soriano.

As with the Classics Tournament, the final was held on a single machine in the free-play hall. In this case it was a Stern Star Trek. On the other side of the room was the Road Kings machine which was the grand prize for the winner.

The finals machine - Star Trek - along with the trophies — The finals machine – Star Trek – along with the trophies

The Star Trek had various cameras fitted so the final could be projected on the screen — The Star Trek had various cameras fitted so video of the final could be projected on the screen behind

The grand prize - a refurbished Road Kings — The grand prize – a fully refurbished Road Kings

A smaller crowd remained for the HPO final, but despite the late hour Sághy Kálmán entertained them with an Elvis impersonation before the last game began.

Sághy does his Elvis impresonation — Sághy does his Elvis impersonation

Gabor began the final with the player one position, but he didn’t have a great start.

His 2.586M first ball score looked low, but none of the other players got much on their first balls either. Daniele did the best with 8.308M ahead of Julio on 5.567M and Flavio who just scored least with his 2.282M.

None of the players took a grip on the game on their second ball either. Gabor only managed a total of 3.941M, Daniele added little to stand on 9.103M, Julio did similar with his 6.855M score, but Flavio did rather better to edge into the lead with his 10.499M.

However, the third ball changed everything.

Gabor had a nice ball, getting his main multiballs going and ending with a much better score of 49.520M.

Daniele did likewise but not quite as well, finishing his game on 37.192M.

Then it was Julio’s turn. Could he match the nice third balls of Gabor and Daniele?

He didn’t just match the other two, he easily surpassed them, getting to Kobayashi Maru mode and racking up an impressive total of 86.710M

Could Flavio catch him with the last ball of the final?

The audience watches as the final reaches a conclusion

Sadly not everyone had a nice third ball, as Flavio only nudged his score up to 11.938M, dropping from first to last.

So Julio was the winner, with Gabor second, Daniele third and Flavio fourth.

Winner of the Hungarian Pinball Open 2016, Julio Vicario Soriano

Here are the full results:

Hungarian Pinball Open Results

1	Julio Vicario Soriano
2	Gabor Solymosi
3	Daniele Celestino Acciari
4	Flavio Baddaria
5	Ernö Rotter
6	Andrej Demsar
7	Krisztián Szalai
7	Sandor Varga
10	János Sándor
10	David Mainwaring
10	Cesare Datri
12	Paul Jongma
13	Piller Zsolt
14	Didier Dujardin
14	Jakub Cieplinski
16	Benjamin Gräbeldinger
18	Santiago Elices
18	Konrad Maslowski
18	Ollivier Francq
18	Roberto Pedroni
21	Peter Varga
24	Roland Schwarz
24	Philippe Bocquet
24	Jürgen Wünschmann
24	Valter Odler
24	Joël Wozniak
24	György Kovács
29	Joonas Haverinen
29	Péter Grafl
29	Andrej Bukovšek
31	Laszlo Horn
32	Daniele Baldan
33	Berecz Istvan
33	Florian Horvath
35	Olivier Leurs
36	Reiner Pfeiffer
39	Levente Tregova
39	Giuseppe Violante
39	Frank Goeltl
39	Tamas Odler
39	Wolfgang Haid
44	Gabriel Ortiz
44	John van der Wulp
44	Evert Brochez
44	Gábor Fekécs
44	Peter Andersen
47	Cezary Glowala
47	Erno Lahdenperä
52	Markus Stix
52	Mark van der Gugten
52	Taco Wouters
52	Jaroslaw Rupiewicz
52	Peter Van den Bergh
52	Greg Mott
52	Artur Natorski
52	Kim G. Hansen
57	Daniel Kaczmarek
59	Andreas Frank Meyer
59	Angel Martínez Navajas
59	Pascal Leroy
59	Sághy Kálmán
63	Thomas Kunstfeld
63	Szabo Istvan
63	Rich Mallett
63	Török Antal
70	Rob Breyne
70	Kay Kuster
70	Vincent Chardome
70	Peter Blakemore
70	Michael Kerylidis
70	Cinthya Messiaen
70	Tamás Marjai
70	Andrej Rižner
70	Zoltán Kiss
77	Ovidiu Cacina
77	Tom Geneyn
77	Maciej Olesiak
77	Rafal Jodelko
77	Armin Kress
80	Antti Peltonen
81	Robert Pomazi
82	Odler Axel
86	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
86	Pawel Nowak
86	Dirk Meckes
86	Zoltán Dósa
86	Attila Abonyi
86	Gemma Tejedor Jiménez
86	Andras Horvath
91	Jochen Schuhmacher
91	Maarten Lemey
91	Thomas Binder
91	Jürgen Gärtner
95	Berndt Ion Teodorescu
95	Laszlo Imre
95	Péter András Simon
98	Timm Dollinger
98	Daniel Nowak POL
98	Dominique Decock
98	Jim Lindsay
101	Stefan Holzäpfel
106	Lieven Engelbeen
106	Mario Kaufmann
106	Milan Caranovic
106	Mathias Leurs
106	Jasmin Ibric
106	Csapó dr Imre
106	Anthony Struelens
106	Zöllei S. Márk
106	Wolfgang Wetl
113	Andrzej Cieslik
113	Ari Sovijärvi
113	Bernhard Binder
113	Peter Boncza
113	Peter Molnar
117	Ojvind Strömsholm
117	Bart Vyvey
117	Kornél Kosdi
122	Bogdan Constantin Ghiga
122	Markus Schrodt
122	Juan Antonio Martín Amaya
122	Michael Heiler
122	Lene Andersen
122	Zoltán Polgár
122	Zsolt Csiszka
126	Laszlo Tempfli
127	Vargha Ákos
129	Martin Ayub
129	Matteo Filippin
129	Marcin Moszczynski
132	Stefan Karlhuber
132	Boldizsár Botka
132	Kovács Gábor
132	Akos Tottos
135	Tamas Benke
140	Robby Henkelmann
140	Gergely Csonka
140	David Schrittwieser
140	Rafael Masedo Rodríguez
140	Zsolt Mészáros
140	Zoltán Harangozó
140	Sara Martínez Bueno
140	Radoslaw Slotwilski
140	Marta Scibisz
140	Fekete Tibor
146	Miklos Csaba
150	Alexander Muer
150	Fabio Squadrani
150	Olivier Renders
150	János Dakos
150	Verebi András
150	Szabó Tibor
150	Mihaly Makray
154	Arno Nöbl
154	Ferencz Jozsef Norbert
159	Rafal Bytomski
159	Miklós Szebenyi
159	Evelyne Desot
159	Csaba Fodor
159	Béla Gyenes
159	Rudi Haferl
159	Željko Vasic
163	Harald Czernoch
163	Zsolt Szabo
167	Dennis Verleyen
167	Alex Butnaru
167	Benjamin Ruso
167	Tamás Kerék
167	Antti Pitkamaki
171	Dimitri Verhoosele
171	Ales Rebec
171	Steven Demets
176	Julia Scriba
176	András Lugosi
176	Zoltan Farle
176	Liv Decay
176	Somogyi Nándor
176	Mirko Bogic
176	Gergo Csetneki
180	András Kató
180	Fred Van Den Bosch
182	Kyoo Barbaix
184	Jenna Muer
184	Bencsik László
184	Balazs Novak
189	Glenn Verhoosele
189	Devis Pierantozzi
189	Mario Vercauteren
189	Dina Fukson
189	ieronim pogorilovschi
189	Felix Radinger
189	Evelien Crevits
189	Shachar Liberman
194	Albert Pavlovsky
196	Pierangelo Villa
196	Katona Tamás
196	Gergely Gergelyfi
200	Daniel Gorecki
200	Zsolt Somogyvari
200	Agnes Budai
200	Markus Ramsner
200	Aaron Gale
203	Reinhard Hager
203	Flora Karap
205	Balint Olah
205	Grau Beatrix
208	Péter Busa
208	Zoltán Szemes
208	Peter Kurti
210	Alejandro Yepes Piedra
211	Dávid Laár
213	Martin Janczyk
213	Lukasz Dziewulski
213	Karin Ruhmannseder
213	Vid Kuklec
217	Stefan Riedler
217	Mercedesz Gyimothy
217	Attila Tóth-Szeles
219	Guttmann Zsolt
221	Bartosz Radomyski
221	Sebastian Gwizdala
221	Uwe Ramsner
221	Miron Vasilescu
225	Andra Raicu
225	Ernestine Lachnit
225	Marjaine Brasso Adrien
227	Robert Glashuettner
227	László Kadala
229	Péter Szamosi
230	Eszter Hoppán
230	Daniela Ickler
232	Mihaly Vandor
233	Benedek Novak
234	Begoña Motilla Mulas
234	Sabine Ramsner
236	Marko Ritosa

By the time the final was over it was getting close to 5am, and we didn’t get back to our hotel until 5:15am. The streets of Budapest are surprisingly busy at that time of the morning.

Maybe it's time for bed — Maybe it’s time for bed

With the Pingolf Tournament due to begin in just under five hours’ time, we grabbed a quick nap, had a speedy breakfast, checked out of the hotel and headed back to the Arcadia show to report on Sunday’s action.

Instructions for the pingolf tournament — Instructions for the Pingolf Tournament

Sunday’s Pingolf Tournament began at 10am and competitors could choose one of two ‘courses’. One was in the area used for the Classics Tournament where them machines moved the previous night were set up alongside some remaining classics machines. The second was in the main HPO room where the HPO play-offs had taken place a few hours earlier and which now featured several machines from the Classics Tournament. Both areas contained around twenty machines from which competitors chose eighteen to play.

The pingolf tournament is underway — The Pingolf Tournament is underway

Rather than use game feature objectives, each game has a score threshold which needed to be reached in as few balls as possible. If it was achieved within the normal three balls then the number of balls used set the number of ‘strokes’ for that ‘hole’. If the target wasn’t reached with the three balls, the number of strokes recorded increased depending on how close the final score was.

Scoring in the pingolf tournament — Scoring in the Pingolf Tournament

The carbon copy paper was brought out again to record scores, and this appeared to lead to some confusion later on when scores were entered into the computer system. We were told that some scorers had written down the player number, machine number and number of strokes, but not necessarily indicated which number was which.

Inevitably this led to delays and not a little confusion. One player knew he hadn’t played at all well and went off for dinner. He was surprised to receive a text message telling him he had been given a score which qualified him for the play-offs (which he thus missed).

Pingolf players wait to discover who had made the play-offs

The Pingolf Tournament was due to finish by 7pm. Unfortunately we had to leave the venue for our flight home at 7:15pm, by which time the first round of play-offs had only just started.

The top twelve players from each area qualified for the play-offs for a total of twenty-four. The top eight received a bye through the first round, leaving the remaining sixteen qualifiers to be split into four groups of four and set to play on their first of the three games in this round.

The top two from each group progressed and joined those with the byes to play the same best-of-three four-player group format. This continued all the way through until an eventual winner was found.

That winner was Paul Jongma, with Daniele Celestino Acciari in second place, Taco Wouters in third and Mario Kaufmann fourth.

Pingolf Tournament Results

1	Paul Jongma
2	Daniele Celestino Acciari
3	Taco Wouters
4	Mario Kaufmann
5	Julio Vicario Soriano
6	Roberto Pedroni
7	Tamas Odler
7	Robby Henkelmann
9	Cesare Datri
9	Joonas Haverinen
11	Lieven Engelbeen
12	Dominique Decock
13	Zsolt Mészáros
14	Rafal Bytomski
15	Tom Geneyn
16	John van der Wulp
17	Markus Stix
18	Daniel Nowak POL
19	Jasmin Ibric
19	Evert Brochez
21	György Kovács
21	Rob Breyne
23	Zoltán Dósa
24	Rich Mallett
25	Stefan Karlhuber
26	Bogdan Constantin Ghiga
27	Kim G. Hansen
27	Levente Tregova
30	Gabriel Ortiz
30	Philippe Bocquet
30	Dina Fukson
33	Roland Schwarz
33	Maciej Olesiak
33	Jürgen Wünschmann
35	Santiago Elices
35	Mario Vercauteren
37	Ovidiu Cacina
40	Ferencz Jozsef Norbert
40	Mathias Leurs
40	Anthony Struelens
40	Didier Dujardin
40	Zsolt Szabo
43	Rafael Masedo Rodríguez
43	Peter Blakemore
45	Vincent Chardome
45	Jakub Cieplinski
47	János Sándor
47	Željko Vasic
50	Devis Pierantozzi
50	Piller Zsolt
50	Andrej Demsar
52	Ales Rebec
52	András Lugosi
56	Andrzej Cieslik
56	Fabio Squadrani
56	Antti Peltonen
56	Ollivier Francq
56	Thomas Kunstfeld
56	Peter Boncza
61	Michael Kerylidis
61	Olivier Renders
61	Sághy Kálmán
63	Vid Kuklec
63	Kyoo Barbaix
66	Mirko Bogic
66	Arno Nöbl
66	Frank Goeltl
69	Giuseppe Violante
69	Mark van der Gugten
69	Zoltán Polgár
69	Dirk Meckes
72	David Mainwaring
72	Peter Andersen
75	Antti Pitkamaki
75	Jürgen Gärtner
75	Andrej Rižner
75	Peter Molnar
79	Markus Ramsner
79	Daniele Baldan
79	Olivier Leurs
79	Martin Janczyk
83	Gergely Csonka
83	Daniel Gorecki
83	Jim Lindsay UK
86	Peter Van den Bergh
86	Ernö Rotter
86	Jochen Schuhmacher
86	Boldizsár Botka
89	János Dakos
89	Vargha Ákos
91	Laszlo Imre
91	Sandor Varga
94	Steven Demets
94	Andreas Frank Meyer
94	Zoltán Szemes
97	Matteo Filippin
97	Martin Ayub
97	Ojvind Strömsholm
100	Stefan Holzäpfel
100	Stefan Riedler
100	ieronim pogorilovschi
102	Felix Radinger
102	Evelyne Desot
104	Glenn Verhoosele
104	Péter András Simon
106	Fred Van Den Bosch
107	Berecz Istvan
108	Laszlo Tari
108	Joël Wozniak
111	Erno Lahdenperä
111	Wolfgang Haid
111	Marko Ritosa
113	Timm Dollinger
114	Michael Heiler
114	Pierangelo Villa
117	Armin Kress
117	Reiner Pfeiffer
117	Dennis Verleyen
120	Greg Mott
120	Thomas Binder
120	Cinthya Messiaen
122	Karin Ruhmannseder
123	Artur Natorski
123	Pawel Nowak
125	Markus Schrodt
126	Agnes Budai
126	Marjaine Brasso Adrien
128	Daniel Kaczmarek
131	Daniela Ickler
131	Balint Olah
131	Gabi Molotov Gavrilita
131	Rafal Jodelko
131	Benjamin Gräbeldinger
134	Uwe Ramsner
135	Ernestine Lachnit
136	Dávid Laár
137	Attila Abonyi
137	Béla Gyenes
139	Sabine Ramsner
140	Tamás Marjai
141	Gabriella Medgyesi
141	Maarten Lemey
143	Bart Vyvey
145	Reinhard Hager
145	Pascal Leroy
145	Rudi Haferl
147	Harald Czernoch
148	Miklos Csaba
149	Wolfgang Wetl
150	Angel Martínez Navajas
151	Gábor Varga

The conclusion of the Pingolf Tournament ended the competitive events and brought the Arcadia show to a close.

Last year’s Hungarian Pinball Open at the Hungarian Pinball Museum was a big success, with a lot of goodwill generated along with plenty of positive recommendations for the Museum. Everyone went home from last year’s HPO with a warm feeling which wasn’t simply from the free Goulash.

However, the space at the Museum was clearly limited and so in order to expand the HPO an alternative or additional location was needed. The Dürer Conference Centre provided that extra space and allowed expansion of the scope of the event to encompass video games and retro gaming.

That expansion brought in an audience beyond the HPO players and, perhaps most importantly, became attractive to families and youngsters. It’s hard to recall an event where so many young kids and teenagers were enjoying the games, which was an encouraging sign for the future.

It did, though, take away much of the intimacy and homely feel of the event, which was something unique to the Museum setting. When we were playing in the darkened caves and exhibit rooms of the Museum’s basement home it felt as though we were supporting the Museum and helping to promote the good work they are doing. In the Dürer Conference Centre, not so much.

The schedule last year also allowed for a tour of the city and a visit to a late night rooftop club which helped make the whole trip special. This year there was no time for such excursions which was a pity.

Running an event such as a major pinball tournament requires far more than just machines. People with multiple skillsets are needed, with a large amount of planning to ensure everything goes smoothly.

While there were lots of scorers and organisers who did a sterling job and worked incredibly hard throughout the three days, some of the processes didn’t work so well; in particular the results systems and machine preparation/maintenance.

As anyone who has ever moved a pinball machine from one location to another knows, things break for no apparent reason. Several of the games in the free-play hall were faulty from the start and while some were fixed, not all were. That may in part have been because there was no readily-identifiable way to report a machine fault other than switching the game off and hoping someone notices.

Some of the tournament machines were also sub-optimal in their set-up, with inconsistent flipper alignment and tilt sensitivity being common complaints we heard.

Using carbon copy paper to record scores in the classics and Pingolf Tournaments was also far from ideal. Most events now use tablets to enter results directly into the tournament system, and while that isn’t entirely without its problems it does eliminate a lot of paper score entry, produces instant updates and speeds up progress through the tournament.

On that final point, we won’t dwell on the delays and late-running of the tournaments. Suffice to say nobody really wanted to be playing (or watching) the final of a major international tournament at 4:30am, and we are sure the organisers will be looking to ensure that doesn’t happen again.

While we have been critical of certain aspects, as a whole the Arcadia show was certainly a success.

Budapest is an amazing city to visit with incredibly friendly people, and the location of the Dürer Conference Centre, while not as attractive as the Museum, was pretty convenient. We stayed at a quality hotel fifteen minutes away on foot opposite Heroes’ Square, with a nice walk through the park opposite the venue always an option.

We would certainly come back again, and try for a longer stay next time to enjoy more that the city has to offer.

Finally, you can take a look at the whole Arcadia show for yourself, including all the tournaments, free-play machines, vendors and food sellers in our exclusive Twenty Minute Tour video walkaround.

Welcome to Pinball News – First & Free

Pinball News – First & Free

Month: December 2016

ROMANIAN PINBALL OPEN 2016

PACIFIC PINBALL MUSEUM’S ‘SHOOT THE MOON’ 2016 EXPOSITION

ARCADIA: HUNGARIAN PINBALL OPEN 2016

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