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LoserKid Pinball Podcast
LoserKid Pinball Podcast
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Ep 61: Pinball Expo with Rob Berk

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago59 min listen
From the creator

Rob Berk, creator of Pinball Expo, has joined us for episode 61! We talk about Pinball Expo and how it has changed over the last 37 years. If you would like more info on Pinball Expo, visit:...

Listen on LoserKid Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • Pinball Expo is celebrating its 37th year in 2021
  • Rob Berk owns approximately 1,200 pinball machines
  • The 2021 Expo will be held at Renaissance Center in Schaumburg with 66,000 sq ft of vendor/exhibit space, nearly 3x larger than previous years
  • There are now 10+ active pinball manufacturers, with at least 3 unannounced companies planning to show new machines at Expo
  • Rob Berk is opening a pinball museum called 'Past Times' in Girard, Ohio, housing his full collection of 1,200+ machines in a former grocery store
  • The 2020 virtual Pinball Expo won a Twippies Awards for best virtual show
  • Expo will feature over 400 games set up for free play, including rare European titles from Spain and Italy, plus homebrew machines
  • Rob Berk first met legendary pinball designer Steve Kordek by cold-calling him from a hotel phone book in Chicago circa 1970-71
  • The first Pinball Expo in 1985 had about 100 attendees and featured Alvin Gottlieb as keynote speaker
  • Hotel rooms for Pinball Expo sold out faster this year than ever before, prompting additional hotel partnerships (Marriott, Embassy Suites)

Notable quotes

“this is going to be our 37th year. So, you know, it's a passion that got out of control, guys”
Rob Berk
“I bought recently a grocery store that's been out of business for several years. and the idea is to put the entire collection in there, not only to store it, but actually to have a museum of sorts so people can come in and enjoy them”
Rob Berk
“the whole reason for doing the show, for me anyways, was to honor my heroes who were the pinball designers and artists. Because let's face it... it was the designers that created these games”
Rob Berk
“I accomplished what I wanted to [do the show once], but in about six months into the following year I started getting phone calls 'What's the next show' And I said there is no more show. This is it. Well no man this is too much fun. You gotta have another one”
Rob Berk
“this year the vendor space will take up 66,000 square feet, almost three times larger”
Rob Berk
“You have to appreciate the fact that Stern has built, you know, put together a team of employees that, you know, are really terrific for them to produce the amount of games they produce and the quality they're producing”
“I only felt that the show would only prosper and only be strong if we had it in Chicago, the home of pinball”
Rob Berk
“Spain actually developed their own, from the bottom of it, their own industry of pinball machine manufacturers, artists, and designers that makes games exclusively for the Spanish market”
Rob Berk

Entities

  • American Pinball· company
  • Chicago Gaming Company· company
  • Jersey Jack Pinball· company
  • Multimorphic· company
  • Spooky Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Chicago Pinball Expo· event
  • Iron Maiden Premium· game
  • Jurassic Park· game
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Premium· game
  • Alvin Gottlieb· person
  • Bill Kurtz· person
  • Dave Christensen· person
  • Gary Stern· person
  • Harvey Heiss· person
  • Norm Clark· person
  • Rob Berk· person
  • Steve Kordek· person
  • Wayne Neyens· person
  • Zach Maney· person
  • Past Times Arcade· product

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