Date: 3rd - 5th October 2008
Location: Marin County Civic Center Exhibition Hall, San Rafael, California, USA.

Report by Larry Zartarian

The 2nd Annual Pacific Pinball Exposition was held October 3, 4 and 5th, 2008 at the Marin Civic Center in San Rafael, CA – the same site of last year’s highly successful inaugural show. 

Marin Civic Center

The show organizers, who had planned this year’s show during the last 12 months, were hoping to at least match last year’s turnout of games and attendees – and we did just that!  We drew twice as many attendees this year vs. last, and raised lots of funds for the Pacific Pinball Museum (PPM). The Pacific Pinball Museum is the new name of the former Neptune Beach Amusement Museum.

PPM Director Tim Volz at the Neptune Beach/PPM booth

As many of you know, this event is designed to raise funds and awareness for the non-profit Pacific Pinball Museum – a much-anticipated permanent home for over 500-600 pinball machines from all eras – from the early 1920s bagatelles all the way up to the most modern solid state games, that will include hands-on science exhibits, historical information on pinball machines, a restaurant, gift shop, restoration workshops and classrooms for teaching children and adults about the physics of electricity and their effect on pinball machine design.  There will also be an emphasis on the evolution of pinball art depicted in playfield and backglass graphic design exhibits.

The Pacific Pinball Exposition is the brain-child of pinball restoration company Pinball Revival’s Jim Dietrick.  Jim, along with the direction and supervision of Lucky Ju Ju Pinball arcade owner Michael Schiess and 10 other dedicated PPM Board members, helped to make this year’s show a reality.

Jim Dietrick of Pinball Revival

By way of background, the Museum will be located in Alameda, CA where the Neptune Beach Amusement Park once stood from the mid 1920s to the early 1930s, before it made way for a large US Naval Air Station.

Our show is designed to provide attendees with a glimpse of what the Pacific Pinball Museum will be like – on a permanent basis.  What we are trying to do is to provide the pinball players, historians, collectors and just plain curious folk with a one-way ticket (not merely a round trip) to a permanent state of pinball Nirvana.  In order to do this, we decided to have as many pinball games representing as many eras as possible – all under one roof.   Last year, we had just over 300 individual games, all working and set on free play.  This year, we had 357 set up and playable – an astounding record for any pinball show ever!

A broad selection of EMs and solid state games were at the show

There truly was something for everyone – from Rockola’s 1930s World’s Fair, Jigsaw, World Series and Army/Navy provided by Dan Miller, to Larry Zartarian’s vintage 1950s Gottlieb woodrails such as Spot Bowler, Knock Out and Queen of Hearts, to his 1960s Gottlieb’s entire “Flipper” series, to Joe Sweeney’s wonderfully restored 1960s and 1970s Gottliebs; Michael Schiess’ 1970s, 1980s and 1990s favorites such as Bally’s Wizard, Williams’ Black Knight, Medieval Madness, and Stern’s latest Sopranos and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Woodrail and wedgehead paradise

In addition to the broad list of major games from major manufacturers, there were also many one-of-a-kind games as well, including “The Visible Pinball” created by Michael Schiess – a transparent, see-through version of Gottlieb’s 1976 “Surf Champ”. 

Michael Schiess's The Visible Pinball

Also on display was a custom-built “Punball” created by well-known artist William Wiley, based on Gottlieb’s 1964 “North Star”, only with all-original artwork based on a global warming theme.  Also appearing was “The Hellacopters”, a re-themed Gottlieb 1974 “King Pin” featuring customized graphic design by Wade Krause, Dirty Donny and Rolfe Britian.

Even more of the games

Here is a list of all the games at the Pacific Pinball Exposition 2008:

Larry Zartarian's "Flipper" series by Gottlieb

Don Mueting and Rob Hawkins' booth can be seen
along the side wall of the auditorium

A selection of solid-state machines available to play

Noted pinball historian/collector Gordon Hasse points out a detail
on a classic Gottlieb woodrail to PPM Director Dan Miller

Pinball as science was also on display thanks to Michael Schiess’ generous offering of numerous interactive, hands-on exhibits featuring pinball sounds, dynamics, and physics.

One of the Pinball Science exhibits

This year, one of our main themes we wished to emphasize was pinball art – with “the art of pinball” and “pinball as art”.  To this end, we were fortunate to have commissioned local SF Bay Area muralist Dan Fontes to produce larger-than-life acrylic canvases of images depicted in backglasses from classic pinballs such as Gottlieb’s 1951 “Mermaid”, 1964 “Majorettes”, and United’s rare rifle game from 1958, “Sky Raider”. 

Don Fontes with his Sky Raider canvas

Local scenic artist Ed Cassel was commissioned to produce similar sized canvases of Bally’s 1970 “Double Up”, Gottlieb’s 1970 “Scuba”, Bally’s 1972 “Fireball” and Gottlieb’s 1971 “2001”.

Ed Cassel in front of his Scuba canvas

There was also an impressive line-up of pinball speakers who led seminars over the three-day show, including Hans Milberger on "How to Purchase a Pinball Machine"; Michael Schiess on the "Goals and Visions of the Pacific Pinball Museum"; Bear Kamaroff’s "Pinball Machine Repair & Maintenance"; noted woodrail historian Gordon Hasse on "Pinball Art"; artist William Wiley, collector Joe Sweeney, Wade Krause and Jim Dietrick on Wiley’s “Punball” machine; Clay Harrell (aka “Shaggy”) of "This Old Pinball"; Chris Kuntz on "Solid-State Pinball Repair"; documentary film-maker Greg Maletic, who showed his “TILT – The Battle to Save Pinball”; Greywolf on "Pinball Simulation"; "Cabinet Head Restoration Techniques" led by Tim Meighan; and "Backglass Murals" featuring muralist Dan Fontes and scenic artist Ed Cassel.

Gordon Hasse talks about pinball art

There were also various pinball contests, featuring a 5-category tournament hosted by Keith Elwin, current world champion.

Ed Cassell and Dan Fontes' canvases form the backdrop for the tournament machines

Vendors present at the show included pinball researchers Don Mueting and Bob Hawkins, who brought along with them a healthy offering of pinball related books, flyers and backglasses.  Don & Bob are hard at work on archiving the large volume of pinball material belonging to the late Russ Jensen.  Other vendors included Silver Ball Amusement’s Tony Page; Martin and Pam of Pin Bits and Cliffy's; Craig Weiss; and Wade Krauss of Pinball Playfield.com.

There were no fewer than 5 pinball games offered during various raffles over the show’s three-day run, including a 1962 Gottlieb “Olympics”; 1974 Gottlieb “Sky Jump”; 1976 Gottlieb “Spin Out”; 1976 Chicago Coin “Cinema”; and a 1977 Williams “Liberty Bell”.

There were also contests held for “Best of” categories, which were won by Tim Meighan of Seattle for the “Best Restored” game for his beautiful 1964 Gottlieb “Majorettes”; “Best Modified” game award went to Wade Krauss and Dirty Donny for their modified 1974 Gottlieb “King Pin” which they cleverly transformed into “The Hellacopters” (the name of a Swedish punk rock band); and Larry Zartarian, who won “Best Original Condition Game” for his pristine 1966 Gottlieb “Subway”.

Tim Meighan receives his Best Restored trophy from Jim

The 12 board members of the Pacific Pinball Museum (Jim Dietrick, Michael Schiess, Dan Miller, Larry Zartarian, Dan Fontes, Helmut and DeAnna Jordt, Melissa Harmon, Jem Gruber, Tim Volz, Greg Maletic and Jim Strehlow) along with over 50 individual volunteers, collectors and numerous pinball enthusiasts are all looking forward to next year’s show!

PPE Show organizers celebrating the show's success

The 2009 Pacific Pinball Exposition is already scheduled for October 2nd, 3rd and 4th… so mark your calendars now!