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Date: May 16th - 18th, 2014
Location: Dixon Fairgrounds, 655 South First Street, Dixon, CA 95620, USA
Report by Michele Nanjo
Pictures by Gene X, Art, Amanda and Steve Tsubota
The 18th Annual Pin-a-Go-Go show in Dixon, CA was a blast! Three days of pinball fun for the enthusiasts, collectors, parts-seekers, vendors, nostalgia-seekers, or just fun for the whole family.
Pin-a-Go-Go is one of the major shows held annually on the West Coast and never disappoints.
This year we had 17,000 square feet filled with 260 pins, including an entire room of EMs – just
bells and chimes to hear in that room, with no electronic sounds.
EMs as far as the eye can see in the Electro-Mechanical room
Community Fundraising
Pin-a-Go-Go is a major fundraiser for local youth groups, and this year raised over $24,000 for
the Dixon Teen Center. In addition, our pinball tournament raised over $1,000 for the Pacific
Pinball Museum.
Pin-a-Go-Go is dedicated to benefiting our local community and to spreading the joy of pinball to
as many people as possible.
Inside the Madden Hall at the Dixon Fairgrounds
Highlights of the 3-day show included...
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An all-star cast of Pinlebrities:
- Steve Ritchie and his lovely wife Dianna were on-hand all three days to shake hands, talk, sign autographs, and challenge players.
- Greg Freres was in attendance Saturday and Sunday to meet the fans as well as autograph some of the best art in pinball.
- Donny Gillies (Artist - Stern's Metallica) was there as well Friday and Saturday to meet with people, show his art, and sign autographs.
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Greg Freres and Steve Ritchie
'Dirty' Donny Gillies signs another Metallica flyer
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A special Sunday Pinball School consisting of small classes of six or fewer people of
different skill levels getting hands-on instruction from local wizards |
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A Pinball Clinic where:
- Christopher Kuntz answered questions on board repair and just about anything else you could ask him about maintaining pins.
- Izzy Schwartz discussed EM repair and how to rebuild stepper units.
- Glen Braun taught a class on how to build your own Virtual Pinball machine.
- Dan Fenton taught newbie pinthusiasts what to look for when buying their first machine.
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Christopher Kuntz on board repairs
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The sold-out Flippin' Friday Kick-Off event down the street at Bud's Pub and Grill and
featured Steve & Dianna Ritchie. Awards were given to two local pinball movers and shakers.
The 2014 Free Play Award went to Steve Ritchie and the 2014 Atta Boy Award went to
Steve Charland (a.k.a. Sys80 nut) who managed to persuade local collectors to provide seven
Gottlieb Spirits for the show! |
The Friday Night Kick-Off at Buds Pub and Grill
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The exhibitor's breakfast on Saturday morning, provided for the collectors who brought
games to the show and who were also given special limited edition lanyards. |
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A PinGolf Tournament and Kids Tournament featuring the most beautiful trophies ever
created! Tom Collins, who heads up the Solano Pinball League, was tournament director. |
Trophies in the Kids Tournament
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A full line-up of Steve Ritchie games. |
Part of the Steve Ritchie line-up
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A special offering by the Pacific Pinball Museum who showed off their Clear Pin and Hellacopters (a one-off
wedge-head with Donny Gillies art) |
Clear Pin from the PPM
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The swap meet. This has gained popularity in the past two years since it was moved onto
the grassy area between the two buildings full of games. It is really a flea market of
game room stuff... from piano rolls to playfields, from bumper caps to LED strips, from
subwoofers to arcade cabs, project games and a jukebox.
You never know what you
will find. |
Outside at the swap meet
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The silent auction, where the many pinball parts and memorabilia donated by national
pinball-related companies raised over $2,600.
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Shhh, it's the silent auction
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Three raffles – we gave away two pinball machine to two very happy winners, and a
slew of other prizes, too!
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A few of the many raffle prizes
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Silverball Church (9-11am) on Sunday - a quieter time to stand, play and show devotion to the Silver Ball before the mad rush of people hit the doors in the afternoon.
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Food service, which included fresh BBQ hamburgers, BBQ chicken sandwiches and hot dogs, snacks, drinks and baked goods, all prepared on-site by the Dixon Rotary Club and Dixon Teen Center.
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Dixon, CA
Nestled in the heart of Northern California and with a population of about 16,000, Dixon is a
small town with a county fair atmosphere and old gold rush charm. Pin-a-Go-Go is held at the
Dixon Fairgrounds, which features plenty of parking including RV parking nearby (we like to call
this GoGo Village – it certainly has a party atmosphere and is a great friendly place to meet
pinthusiasts and enjoy a brew). The halls are always clean and well maintained and the locals
are very welcoming to the yearly influx of pinheads.
Dixon is also centrally located for everything in Northern California. The town is only 28 miles
from Sacramento International Airport (SMF) and about an hour away from San Francisco.
The picturesque Napa Valley with its world-famous wines is close by, as is California's Gold
Country, while the beautiful Lake Tahoe resort is just a little over two hours away.
Don’t want to drive that
far? Six Flags, Old Sacramento - home to the famous California State Railroad Museum - Jelly
Belly Factory Tours, and free Budweiser brewery tours are all only about a half-hour away.
Surrounded by lots of places to see and things to do, Pin-a-Go-Go is not just a pinball show, it’s
a complete family adventure.
The Dixon Fairgrounds is home to Pin-a-Go-Go
The Exhibitors
Pin-a-Go-Go could not happen without the private collectors who generously display their
pinball love by bringing their games to share! People from as far away as Los Angeles and
Nevada brought games this year.
Special shout-outs go to:
- The fantastic East Bay Pinball League who brought some rare and cool games
- Robert Van Der Velde for bringing a line-up of very rare foreign games you'll probably
never see together in one place again!
Robert Van Der Velde with his line-up of overseas games
- Eric, Seth and Adam who brought a truckload of games up from the Central Valley.
- The Pacific Pinball Museum who brought games to show.
- It was amazing to see seven rare Gottlieb Spirit games in a row - a convention of
Spirits!
Kindred Spirits
That's the Spirit!
- There was a good number of other generous people who brought their games to share. Thanks
to all of them!
The Volunteers
The Dixon Teen Center provided over 100 volunteers during the 3-day show. They ran the food
booth and also collected many of the show’s raffle prizes from local merchants. Other
volunteers from the Sacramento Pinball Group, EastBay Pinball League, Solano Pinball League and Capitol Corridor Pinball League did a lot of the chores it takes to run the show as well.
Volunteers from the Dixon Teen Center sold show T-shirts and raffle tickets
The beautiful poster for this year’s show was an original artwork by Steve Dana who volunteers
his talent to produce a poster for us each year.
Steve Gligorea ran the Silent Auction and raffles. In addition to the two pinball machines which
were given away (must be present to win) many other prizes in a 'pick-a-prize' format were
awarded (need not be present to win). Everything from bent plastic (to prevent DMD reflections) to
lunch with the Mayor was available to be won. Henry and Michele Nanjo organized the game keys, worked the front desk and also got their hands wet fixing games.
The Pinball Medics
A special thanks to the tech wizards who kept all the games up and running, Christopher Kuntz,
Timathie Eisenga, Greywolf, Google Mike, Greg Ong, and the rest of the crew.
Christopher Kuntz gets to work on an Elektra
The Tournaments
What started out as an experiment almost five years ago has developed into one of the friendliest
tournaments you'll find.
Pin-a-Go-Go features a PinGolf Tournament in several divisions, and a
Kid's tournament for the small fry. The trophies this year were the brainchild of new tournament
director Tom Collins (Solano Pinball League) who, with the help of local volunteer league
players, hosted a FUN-day tournament to about 170 players.
Everyone came out a winner
because instead of points, the reward was great camaraderie where strategies were shared and
good times were the order of the day.
All money raised from the tourneys this year went to the
Pacific Pinball Museum.
Everyone came out a winner, but especially these folks
The Vendors
What’s a show without vendors?
'GoGo has always had awesome vendors. These guys (and gals) pack up their inventory and spend
hours setting up to make browsing easy. Bay Area Amusements, Cliffy's Protectors, Pinbits,
Planetary Pinball, Starship Fantasy, Rob Anthony's Pinball Classics, Great Lakes Modular,
Twisted Pins and Nifty LEDs are the more well-known 'locals' who grace our halls along with
some of the guys who have been around selling stuff since before any of these folks were
known, like Astounding Amusements and Mueting & Hawkins.
Selling stuff at a show is a big job,
and the deals for show attendees are great as well as convenient. From new parts to good used
items from part outs, you're likely to find that elusive treasure that you’ve been hunting for.
Rob Anthony's miniature Tron cabinet and TV mods
The Games - Main Hall
(Lists compiled by Josh Lehan)
| Addams Family, The |
| Addams Family, The |
| Addams Family, The |
| A-Go-Go (EM) |
| Airborne |
| Algar |
| Amigo (EM) |
| Andromeda |
| Attack from Mars |
| Attack from Mars |
| Austin Powers |
| Back to the Future |
| Barracora |
| Batman Forever |
| Big Casino (EM) |
| Big Guns |
| Black Knight |
| Black Knight 2000 |
| Black Rose |
| Black Rose |
| Bram Stoker's Dracula |
| Bride of Pinbot, The Machine |
| Champion Pub, The |
| Cirqus Voltaire |
| Clown (Zac) |
| Comet |
| Comet |
| Continental Cafe (EM) |
| Count Down (SS) |
| Creature from the Black Lagoon |
|
| Cue Ball Wizard |
| Cyclone |
| Dark Shadow (Bell Games) |
| Diner |
| Dr Who |
| Eight Ball Deluxe
|
| El Dorado |
| Elektra |
| Elvira & the Party Monsters |
| Elvira & the Party Monsters
|
| Expressway (EM) |
| Fire! |
| Fire! |
| Fireball Home Edition |
| Firepower |
| Firepower |
| Flash (raffle game) |
| Flash Dragon (Spain) |
| Flintstones, The |
| Flipper Football |
| Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's |
| Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's |
| Freddy: a Nightmare on Elm Street |
| Funhouse |
| Future Spa
|
| Galaxy |
| Godzilla |
| Godzilla |
| Haley-Davidson (Stern) 3rd Edition |
| Hellacopters, The (custom conversion) |
|
The converted Kingpin game, The Hellacopters
| High Speed 2: The Getaway |
| Independence Day |
| Indiana Jones, The Pinball Adventure |
| Indiana Jones, The Pinball Adventure |
| Jackbot |
| Jackbot |
| Johnny Mnemonic |
| Johnny Mnemonic |
| Joker Poker |
| Jolly Park (Spain) |
| Junyard |
| Kicker (EM) |
| Kingpin (Capcom) |
| Kiss |
| Lethal Weapon 3 |
| Locomotion (Zac) |
| Lost in Space |
| Mario Andretti |
| Mata Hari |
| Maverick |
| Medusa |
| Metallica, Master of Puppets LE |
| Meteor |
| Monday Night Football |
| Monopoly |
| Monopoly |
| Mousin' Around |
| Nip-It (EM) |
| No Fear |
| No Fear |
|
| Nudge-It (solid state, flipperless) |
| Old Chicago (EM) |
| Orbitor 1 |
| Out Of Sight (EM) |
| Paragon |
| Pinbot |
| Pit Stop (raffle game) |
| Playboy (Bally) |
| Playboy (Bally) |
| Police Force |
| Popeye |
| Punchy The Clown |
| Revenge from Mars |
| Roadshow, Red & Ted's |
| Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends |
| Rollercoaster Tycoon |
| Rollercoaster Tycoon |
| Rollergames |
| Safecracker |
| Scared Stiff |
| Sexy Girl (Bell Games, video display upgrade by Ranco) |
| Shrek |
| Simpsons Pinball Party, The |
| Simpsons Pinball Party, The |
| Simpsons, The (DE) |
| Sleic Pin-Ball (Spain) |
| Sopranos |
| Sorcerer |
| Sorcerer |
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Comet is added to the line-up
| South Park |
| Space Riders (Zac) |
| Spider-man, The Amazing (Gottlieb) |
| Spirit |
| Spirit |
| Spirit |
| Spirit |
| Spirit |
| Spirit |
| Spirit (yes, seven Spirits!) |
| Spy Hunter |
| Spy Hunter |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation |
| Star Wars (DE) |
| Star Wars Episode 1 |
| Stargate |
| Strange Science |
| Strikes And Spares (Bally) |
| Student Prince (EM) |
| Surf Champ (Visible Pinball conversion) |
| Tales from the Crypt |
| Tales of the Arabian Nights |
| Taxi |
|
| Terminator 3 |
| Terminator 3 |
| Theatre of Magic |
| Tommy, The Who's |
| Transformers LE (Combo) |
| Tron Pro |
| Twilight Zone |
| Twister |
| Virtual PinMAME cabinet (video pin) |
| Virtual PinMAME cabinet (video pinball) |
| Wheel of Fortune |
| Whirlwind |
| Whirlwind |
| Whitewater |
| Who Dunnit? |
Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons
(Continental Café conversion) |
| Wizard of Oz, The LE |
| World Cup Soccer |
| World Cup Soccer |
| WWF Royal Rumble |
| Xenon |
| X-Files |
|
WhizBang Pinball's Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons
alongside an original Continental Café
The Games - EM Room
| 4 Square |
| Ace High |
| Atlantis |
| Bank Shot |
| Baseball (Gottlieb) |
| Basketball
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| Beat Time |
| Butterfly |
| Circus (Bally) |
| Classy Bowler |
| Coronation |
| Cover Girl |
| Criss Cross |
| Dragonette |
| Egg Head |
| Fandango (Playmatic) |
| Fireball (in memory of Al Garber) |
| Flipper |
| Four Stars |
| Gigi |
| Harbor Lites |
| High Hand |
| Hula-Hula |
|
| Ice Revue |
| Jumpin' Jacks |
| Kings And Queens |
| Lucky Strike |
| Mibs |
| Monte Carlo
|
| North Star |
| Old Chicago (custom artwork) |
| Olympics |
| Paradise |
| Pioneer |
| Queen of Hearts |
| Roto Pool |
| Show Boat |
| Stage Coach |
| Star-Jet |
| Sunshine |
| Sweet Hearts |
| Tide Pool (custom conversion) |
| Travel Time |
| Triple Strike |
| Wizard! |
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No question this is the EM room
The Steve Ritchie Collection
| 24 |
| AC/DC (Premium) |
| Airborne Avenger |
| Black Knight |
| Black Knight 2000 |
| Black Knight 2000 |
| Elvis |
| F-14 Tomcat |
| Firepower (Greywolf Enhanced) |
| Flash |
| High Speed |
| High Speed 2: The Getaway |
|
| Hyperball |
| No Fear |
| Rollergames |
| Rollergames |
| Star Trek (Stern) LE
|
| Star Trek (Stern) Pro |
| Star Trek: The Next Generation |
| Superman |
| Superman |
| Terminator 2 |
| World Poker Tour |
| California Speed (a video game, but it's Steve Ritchie designed) |
|
The Steve Ritchie-designed Flash
Tournament Machines
| Big Hit (EM) |
| Black Knight 2000 |
| Dirty Harry
|
| Earthshaker! |
| F-14 Tomcat |
| Firepower |
| Flintstones, The |
| Jokerz! |
| Lawman (EM) |
|
| Star Wars Trilogy |
| Tales from the Crypt |
| Taxi |
| Teacher's Pet |
| Simpsons Pinball Party,The |
| Vector |
| Wheel of Fortune |
| Whitewater |
| World Cup Soccer |
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Tournament machines at the back
while casual players enjoyed the free play games
Summary
It all started on a lawn... at Walt Schlenker's in the Sacramento area when he invited some fellow
pinball enthusiasts to bring over their pinball machines. Space became a problem, so it was
moved to a local hall, then the fairgrounds in Roseville, CA.
Admission costs became a reality
to pay for the space, but when it began to show a profit organizers were at first confused, but then
quickly found someone to give the money to - the Boys and Girls Club.
In the late '90s the show
moved to the Dixon Fairgrounds, and just 3 years ago the benefactor became the more local
Dixon Teen Center.
The show today is run by a charitable 501c3 organization known as the Northern
California Pinball Association and it's mission is simple - to perpetuate pinball to those who wish
to find out first-hand more about the allure of the silver ball.
It's the FUN-day tournament
What's in a Show? The people, of course, and here you find pinthusiasts from all over California
and beyond.
One of the country's oldest pinball shows, it is run for fun, not profit. None of the
organizers receive compensation (except for sore backs and tired feet) and all of the volunteers and
exhibitors feel a great sense of accomplishment at the close of each show.
Attendance has exploded in recent years and demand the use of a second building, but the feeling of the
show remains the same - laid-back, good ol' fashioned fun.
And it is known to bring out your
GoGo side!
Join us for Pin-a-Go-Go 2015!
- Friday May 15 - 1pm to 11pm
- Saturday May 16 - 10am to Midnight
- Sunday May 17 - 9am to 5pm
The 2015 Pin-a-Go-Go poster
© Pinball News 2015 |
