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EDITOR'S COMMENT:
Saturday 8th April 2000.
Another
year, and another convention from the Pinball Owners Association, the
United Kingdom pinball fans' club.
This
year we're back in Birmingham, at the Students' Guild at Aston University.
It's not the easiest place to find, and parking proved a nightmare,
but the hall itself was just the right size, and there was plenty of
beer nearby which can't be bad.
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Once
inside the hall, there was loads of space to walk around, and
getting on a game never took very long.
There
was a good selection of games from all eras, although there were
no Pinball 2000 or modern Sega games.
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These
were the competition games. I didn't find time to compete so I
can't comment how smoothly it went but that probably means there
were no problems.
The
queues were minimal, but it would have been nice to have an announcement
before the competition closed, for players to have a last chance.
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The
game quality was good, with some exceptionally well-restored examples.
Special
mentions to the Fish Tales from David Blake, and Ray Fosters'
Stern Trident which caught my attention as having been excellently
restored.
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The
POA stand saw some brisk trade, especially in T-shirts and sweatshirts.
Simon Holman and Adrian Lodge manning the stall here.
Look
out for the new posters from our Dutch colleagues at the DPO which
feature a collection of modern game backglasses.
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In
total, 49 games made it to the convention, although a few didn't
manage to work on the Saturday. I don't know if they made it by
Sunday.
Many
were for sale, and there were some good deals to be had. The aforementioned
Fish Tales at £550 was tempting, as was a Star Trek TNG
at £395.
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Sadly
some of the bargains proved too good for the visitors, and by
the end of Saturday quite a few games had been carted off leaving
gaps in their wake.
Again,
I hope there were suitable replacements for Sunday's session.
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So,
all in all it was a fun day, and a good chance to meet up with old friends
and acquaintances. The mix of pins was fine, and the quality generally
good.
There were enough people there, without it becoming uncomfortable or
crowded, but were there enough to make the show financially viable?
We'll have to wait to see.
It
was unfortunate that the show coincided with the German pinball show
or we might have had more visitors from continental Europe. Similarly,
Saturday's show clashed with the Grand National. Sunday attendance should
have been boosted by a report on Central News. There was a camera crew
from the programme shooting there on Saturday.
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So
a big thanks to Adrian and Sarah for putting the effort into organising
this and lets
hope the experience hasn't put you off organising another.
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Pinball News 2002
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