Date: 18th - 20th May 2007.
Location: Dixon Fairgrounds, South First Street, Dixon, California. USA. 95620.
Report by Larry Zartarian

This year, the 12th Annual Pin A Go Go pinball show was held in Dixon, CA from May 18, 19 and 20. Dixon is a very small agricultural and farming community that lies 20 miles southeast of Sacramento - the state capital of California.

This year's show was one of the best ever in terms of attendance as well as the number of machines brought along for sale, and for display only.

Players enjoying electromechanical and solid state games side-by-side

A grand total of 175 machines - a combination of early EMs and today's modern solid state games - were brought to the Dixon Fairgrounds for Pin-A-Go-Go this year.

The electromechanical room

As usual, there was a special room dedicated purely to EMs, just as there is every year in celebration of pinball's heritage, their superb condition and their diverse and captivating gameplay.

Some of the games in the EM room

There were many unusual games brought to the show such as this old puck shuffle bowler...

Kids enjoying a shuffle bowler

... this rare Williams two-player "Joust",...

One of only 402 Joust games ever made

...and a one of a kind, unique proto-type and custom-made game called "Cosmic Colony" brought by "Eric".

Eric and his Cosmic Colony

Another custom game was brought to the show by Wade Kraus who, along with a team including artist "Dirty Donnie", custom-made this "Hellacopters" game from a '73 Gottlieb "KingPin". It contains unique custom made playfield art and backglass design.

Wade and The Hellacopters custom pinball

The name is inspired from the Swedish punk band by that name. Wade also is making repro playfields such as Gottlieb's "Knock Out" from 1951, and "Kings & Queens" from 1965.

Show organisers at the front desk

In the picture above we see the show organizers, Don Highly and his wife, Ellen (left) - and also seated in yellow shirt Mark Zahner. Not pictured here is Richard Conger, who as usual was too busy helping out folks on the main floor all day and night.

There was a good selection of vendors at the show including Rick from Bay Area Amusements and Ray from Action Amusements.

Pinball Revival's stand

Above we see Pinball Revival, located in Novato, CA who specialize in complete, ground up beautiful restoration of EM games. Cabinet and playfields are their specialties.

Among the attendees was Sam Harvey, famous pinball historian and pinballologist.

Sam Harvey checks out another game

Sam has a project to record all serial numbers of every game ever made and attends most of the shows in the US.

Larry with Tim Monahan...

None of this would have been possible without the great help and friendship of people such as Tim Monahan (above) and Tom Hobbs (below), both of Fresno, CA.

...and with Tom Hobbs

You may be wondering about the competitive side of Pin-A-Go-Go. Well, the reason there's no mention or pictures of tournaments and/or prizes is because there are none - it's strictly three days of pinballs for play, display and for sale.

It is a low-key, no-nonsense, very family-oriented show that tends to be frequented by hard-core pinball enthusiasts as well as local folks bringing their kids looking for a day of good, clean fun and adventure.

Not only did they get to enjoy the wide range of electromechanical and solid-state games, but Pin-A-Go-Go raised almost $8,000 this year - our third highest amount ever - for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sacramento, the same charity that we donate to every year at the show.

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© Pinball News 2007