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The Classic Pinball Podcast
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#104 Allentown Pinfest 2023 - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago2 hr 21 min listenBy George
From the creator

In this episode Dave tells George all about his adventures while attending Allentown Pinfest and bringing a Gottlieb Pinball Pool for the tournament. Dave interviews Eric Stone. Dave puts up the...

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Highlights

  • Pinball Pool required 20 hours of repair work in 2 days before the tournament due to tilt sensitivity issues on the Pascal board
  • The Pascal board's tilt handling differs from original System 1 boards, requiring a Schottky diode and capacitor modification to function properly in tournament settings
  • Allentown Pinfest opened early on Friday (around 11am instead of noon) due to large crowds gathering outside the venue
  • Pulp Fiction had 10+ minute wait lines at Allentown, consistent with reports from Texas Pinball Festival where someone reportedly played for 40 minutes
  • No more Rush pinball machines will be made after current inventory exhausts
  • Godzilla is currently one of the best-selling Stern games
  • Keith Elwin designed a single-level pinball game priced at $18,000, distinct from his recent modern multi-level designs
  • George finished dead last (25 players) in a Foo Fighters tournament at Mustang Sally's brewery in Virginia, competing against multiple top-500 ranked players

Notable quotes

“I brought Pinball Pool, but before I was getting it all tested out because Levi said, you know, be sure he's telling everybody, he said 18 games being brought, be sure to test them all ahead of time, don't do it the day of the show, make sure it's good to go, make sure your tilts work, set your settings this kind of way.”
Dave
“The only thing that was not working fine was the tilt. The tilt, you could dance with the game. You could, like, bang it around and hear the tilt bulb go ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding-a-ding and finally with tilts. Like, that's not going to work for a tournament.”
Dave
“They're ramping up big time. Ramp mania. They were saying, you know, I really like the modern games with all the ramps and all that kind of stuff and lights and all these things. I said, you know what? I really like this game. I don't know why. It's something different. I really like the feel.”
Dave
“They threw me on the floor and used my head as a mop. You're way out of your element, Johnny.”
George
“It's combination luck. Left, right, this, this, this. The one game, I don't remember which one it was. The skill shot was worth 50 million points. And they got it all the time.”
George
“The Keith version of that, the $18,000 game, that plays, like I heard, like a classic Stern, and this Pulp Fiction plays like a classic Bally.”
Dave
“I would say, is one of the best-selling Sterns right now to date. Everybody wants that game. Don't be making that game forever.”
George
“You know what? It's kind of like Star Wars Episode I. If you're a Scooby fan, I get it. I'm not.”
Dave

Entities

  • American Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Allentown Pinfest· event
  • Texas Pinball Festival· event
  • Foo Fighters· game
  • Galactic Tank Force· game
  • Godfather· game
  • Godzilla· game
  • Pinball Pool· game
  • Pulp Fiction· game
  • Rush· game
  • Scooby-Doo· game
  • Dave· person
  • Eric Stone· person
  • George· person
  • Jeff Teolis· person
  • Jose Chong· person
  • Keith Elwin· person
  • Kevin Stone· person
  • Levi· person
  • Marty· person
  • Quench· person
  • Ray Davidson· person
  • Stephanie Traub· person
  • Stephen Mayfair· person

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