PINBALL CIRCUS
SPRING 2013


Date: April 6th & 7th, 2013
Location: SS Billiards, 732 11th Avenue South, Hopkins, Minnesota 55343, USA.


THE LOCATION

SS Billiards in the West Brooke Square
SS Billiards in the West Brooke Square

THE INVITATION

Pinball Circus this coming weekend April 6th and 7th.

Matt Rasmussen will be renting an electric two wheeler so anyone wanting to go in on it and use it contact me and I'll get you in touch with Matt.

Mike Hanks lives nearby and will bring his Tee'd Off, he needs a little help getting it here and back, let me know if you can help and I'll get you in touch with Mike.

Things are shaping up for a fun event. We can still use more games. You get free entry for each game and $20, and if you are looking to sell a game you get a ready made crowd of pinball fans looking to expand their collections.

The plan right now is Saturday noon to midnight or later. All pinball machines on free play. One ball TOPS tournaments ending at midnight one winner each one gets $20. Goose Egg event ends at midnight one winner $20. Survivor Pinball tournament at 6pm, one winner gets $100. Pinball Circus Tournament at 8pm or after first tournament - $200 first place, $50 second place, and $50 winner of consolation bracket. And pop and hot dogs all day and pizza from  Pizza Lucé every two hours.

Sunday is noon to 10pm. Pinball machines on free play. The Crazy Joe Esposito Pinball Tournament is at 2pm, Phil Ayotte is sponsoring it. The Pinball Masters tournament is at 4pm. $200 first place, $50 second place, and $50 winner of consolation bracket

The $25 entry fee covers all of this for you.

Plan to attend now, you won't want to hear what all happened later if you miss all the pinball fun.

LTG :)

http://www.ssbilliards.com/

http://www.pinballcircus.com/

At the door of SS Billiards, the official greeter, Prada
At the door of SS Billiards, the official greeter, Prada

Inside SS Billiards with proprietor Lloyd
Inside SS Billiards with proprietor Lloyd

Pinball Circus started at noon on Saturday April 6th when a $25 entry fee covered participants for a whole weekend of unlimited pinball playing; with all of the pinball machines set up for free play. This included the games which were for sale.


THE MACHINES

Along the back of the building and under the “PINBALL…PINBALL” neon were: Bounty Hunter, Attack from Mars, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Medieval Madness, Corvette, and The Addams Family.

Brought in for sale were: Goldeneye, Police Force, Hot Line, High Speed 2 - The Getaway, Tee’d Off, Rollercoaster Tycoon, James Bond 007, Flipper Football and Space Odyssey.

Police Force, Tee'd Off, Goldeneye, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Space Odyssey
Police Force, Tee'd Off, Goldeneye, Rollercoaster Tycoon and Space Odyssey

As of the publication of this article, the following pinball machines are available for sale.

Police Force, Flipper Football and Goldeneye
Police Force, Flipper Football and Goldeneye

Though not brought to the Pinball Circus, the following route or gameroom-ready pinball machines were advertised at the event and are still available for sale.

Also for sale was a coin-op counter top which sold within an hour of it first arriving.

There were two other regular, not for sale, machines at the back of the room.

Two more on the back wall, Taxi and Big Bang Bar
Two more on the back wall; Taxi and Big Bang Bar

At the front of the room were two banks of games. Several modern machines made up the first row - Pirates of the Caribbean, Family Guy, Spider-Man, Wheel of Fortune, and lastly Twilight Zone; while Demolition Man and another Police Force formed the second row.

The primarily modern Stern row
The primarily modern Stern row

The final two games
The final two games

THE VENUE

As this was a pinball event, the pool tables were covered with blue plastic sheeting and used as tables for pinball flyers, food, drinks, and a playfield for sale, as helium-filled balloons and streamers floated on the ceiling.

Free flyers!
Free flyers!

Balloons!
Balloons!

The entry fee also included food and drink on the Saturday. This was laid out so entrants could help themselves.

Snacks and drinks
Snacks and drinks

The hot dog stand
The hot dog stand

There were also plenty of ice-cold sodas available from the cool boxes all day on Saturday.

Drinks on ice in the cool boxes
Drinks on ice in the cool boxes

At two-hourly intervals from 2pm until 10pm, magical disappearing pizzas from Pizza Lucé were delivered.

Pizza!
Pizza!

Apart from the opportunity for everyone in attendance to play all the machines, socialize, and enjoy free food and drink, there were many pinball-related events held over the two days.


THE TOURNAMENTS

On Saturday there were single-ball ToPS tournaments held on modern Stern machines - Pirates of the Caribbean, Spider-Man, Family Guy, and Wheel of Fortune. All these games could be played for free as many times as you liked until the close of the tournaments at midnight.

The ToPS tournament machines yielded $20 for each winner, who were:

  • Spider-Man - John Jundt
  • Pirates of the Caribbean - Jim S
  • Wheel of Fortune - Jesse Howard
  • Family Guy - Jim S

Spider-Man winner, John
Spider-Man winner, John

Family Guy winner, Jim
Family Guy winner, Jim

There was also a 'Goose Egg' tournament held on the Pirates where players had to keep one hand on their eye. Dan Toft was the winner of this one, earning himself $20.

The pirate… err…  player
The pirate… err… player

The Winner, Dan Toft
The winner, Dan Toft

There were two full tournaments held on Saturday. The first was the Survivor Pinball competition which began at its customary time of 6pm, and was a single-elimination sudden-death tournament held on machines drawn at random. The sole survivor would win the $100 prize.

The Survivor Pinball tournament is underway
The Survivor Pinball tournament is underway

Survivor Pinball winner, John Jundt with his $100 prize
Survivor Pinball winner, John Jundt with his $100 prize

The second tournament on Saturday was the double-elimination Pinball Circus competition which began right after Survivor Pinball and had a $200 top prize.

Pinball Circus winner, Luke
Pinball Circus winner, Luke

Runner-up, Jim S
Runner-up, Jim S

Winner of the Consolation Bracket, Dan Toft
Winner of the Consolation Bracket, Dan Toft

Two more competitive events were held on Sunday; the Crazy Joe Esposito Tournament and the Pinball Masters.

Jim S, winner of the Crazy Joe Esposito tournament
Jim S, winner of the Crazy Joe Esposito tournament

Second place, Tedd A
Second place, Tedd A

Third place, Cornell
Third place, Cornell

Winner of the Pinball Masters and the $200 prize, John Jundt
Winner of the Pinball Masters and the $200 prize, John Jundt

Second, Phil Ayotte
Second, Phil Ayotte

Winner of the consolation bracket, Luke
Winner of the consolation bracket, Luke


THE PRIZE DRAW

On Saturday, there was a prize drawing where all Circus attendees' tickets were placed in a bucket and drawn for The Wizard of Oz prizes donated by Jersey Jack Pinball.

The prize draw takes place
The prize draw takes place

Dan wins a signed Witch's Castle mini-playfield
Dan wins a signed Witch's Castle mini-playfield


THE CONCLUSION

Lloyd declared he was very happy with the attendance and support the Circus had achieved. A few days after the Spring 2013 PBC, Lloyd sent out the following message:

Pinball Circus Report

The Pinball Circus is past, and went off with only a few problems. One stuck ball, two broke wires, one broken diode, two balls in one shooter lane. And my personal favorite, blowing up a playfield glass.

It was an exciting event. Nine extra games brought in, a few sold. And a couple are still here if you want a chance to play them.

Jersey Jack Pinball donated some prizes. Three still haven't been claimed. Please check your tickets and bring the ticket in to claim your prize.

Wizard Of Oz Translite - 0325517
Wizard Of Oz Translite 0325492
WOZ Mini Playfield 0325478
WOZ Mini Playfield 0325507 ( Dan Toft Won )

The pinball tournament results -

Goose Egg - Dan Toft

TOPS -
Spiderman - John Jundt
Pirates of the Caribbean - Jim S.
Wheel of fortune - Jesse Howard
Family Guy - Jim S.

Survivor - John Jundt

Pinball Circus -
1st - Luke
2nd - Jim S.
Consolation - Dan Toft

Crazy Joe Esposito -
1st - Jim S.
2nd - Tedd A.
3rd - Cornell

Pinball Masters -
1st - John Jundt
2nd - Phil Ayotte
Consolation - Luke

The Pinball Circus doesn't happen by itself. Lots of people help out. Prizes, games, labor, etc. etc. No particular order and I hope I didn't forget anyone. Dave Gorka, Jeff Deznik, Randy Smith, Jackson, Brian Jacobson, Dan Patridge, Andrew Dobbs, Steve Manowski, Matt Rasmussen, Greg Kemnitz, Mike Hanks, Mike Pacak, Luke, Dan, Jack Guarnieri, Marlowe Koch, Phil Ayotte, Todd Andersen, Tony Middendorf, John Jundt, Chris Frame, Jim S, Phil Ayotte.

These are the people that gave their all so everyone could have a great time. A huge thank you and a lot of appreciation to them.

And a special thanks to all who came and played pinball. You made the event special, and when it was over we parted as friends !

Next Pinball Circus will be in October on the 12th and 13th.

SS Billiards
http://www.ssbilliards.com/
We'll have the pinball machines on for you,
LTG :)

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