WHITE
ROSE
GAMEROOM SHOW
Edward George reports from York, PA, USA: Many
of you know that I had planned to camp out at this event, but had decided
not to...
Upon arrival I had to use the facilities, to say the least. People were
setting up and moving games and other wares into the "Old Main
Building". This was my first trip to the York, PA show officially
know as the (White Rose Gameroom show). I entered the building in search
of... I still hadn't paid my admission fee, but had planned to.
There was a new Sharky's Shootout, I played this one first in fear of overwhelming lines to try it out. I liked it, It had very nice artwork sporting Jeanette Lee in a seductive pose bent over the pool table (billiards). Sounds were good, but it did get a little annoying hearing the clacking of billiard balls with almost ever bump.
Some of the Pins available to play included: SS, TOM, G-N-R,(best priced game and best value at the show $1295 (pristine), Junkyard, Elvira & the PM, Gilligan's Island (broke on Sunday), multiple RoadShows, CFTBL, Breakshot, Tommy, Banzi Run & a nice X-files. An Adams Family Gold ($5000.00) looked sharp but too rich for this man's blood. Some of the electro-mechanicals there included: Flipper Parade absolutely beautiful, also Fridays tournament game ( I took 3rd Place ((1964)). The chrome shined on this one!!! Student Prince, Night Rider both the EM and SS flavors. There were some vendors inside selling parts, pachislo machines, gumball machines, beer collectibles, pinball machines, and the sales representative from Mazzco, who from my opinion thought that this was going to be more of a trade show, not a collectors' show. He had a NOS TZ plastic set that never even made it to his display table when it was sold for $90. He was very friendly and answered my questions about product availability and such. I returned on Sunday about 11:30am. to a bit of a surprise: many of the games had vacated the premises. I entered the Doubles Tournament with Todd George (No relation).The game to be played was a Gtlb. We played one person on each flipper. We did absolutely horribly, but it was fun. This time there were some sellers outside in the parking lot for private deals(2).
The "Auction" was held at 12 pm. This was the first auction
I had attended. I was very disappointed in this event. The auctioneer
had never stated about reserve prices. One fellow bid on a game, yelled
his bid out, it was accepted, then raised as everyone in the audience
was stating to the auctioneer that HE was the bidder! Quite frankly
I didn't understand the auction, games were marked on the floor for
sale with prices. The ones auctioned had reserves as high as the floor
price! So this was clearly an attempt to increase seller profit on already
over priced games, purchased in haste and fury of the auction. The only
items in the auction that were true auction items were the gumball machines,pachislo
machines, traffic light, and the items owned by individual owners. In conclusion, I enjoyed the show and it was a friendly atmosphere. Private ownership games showed genuine care and love of the game. Company owned games - many not in show quality condition - were there for the love of money. I met with and talked to many interesting people and look forward to going next year.
Edward George a.k.a.
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