Wow,
what a great turnout! I really didn't expect as great a showing, I'm glad everyone came out in force and had a great time. It was really nice to see everyone enjoying themselves, all the kids having fun playing vids and swimming together, the adults getting a chance to chill and relax a little, and especially everyone having a great time on the old school pins. I'm glad the pins were so well received... now maybe that will help my "I'm NOT crazy...really!" argument.
I had a blast going from person to person to person, but wow...it took me 1/2 hour every time I set out to go get something and "be right back", that's why it only took me five hours to get that monitor with it's 3 bolts into the Phoenix cab!
Now... of ALL the pins Spencer and Thomas choose to have their Smackdown on, they choose The HULK! I bet Mole is just kicking himself silly he wasn't here for THAT one! Yes, there WAS money that exchanged hands. I felt so bad for Mr. Ego I couldn't even think straight and bring myself to beat him on Superman. Plus by that time he had gone through all my games and set them all up to his cheating modes so that only Thomas comes out on top...I caught him messing with my Phoenix just "fixing it up a little for you". Right. Plus, Superman sucks. I hate him...him and that Joker. But get ready...the Holy Triumvirate may come out with their picks of the week and deem everyone must now get a Superman. And a NIB Shrek.
Also I was glad to see people giving a lot of love to the other Atari pins, Middle Earth and Space Riders... and even Black Hole before that weak ball kicker started acting up. But now at least I know which games can pass the rigorous testing of the panel...everything except the Black Hole (Gottlieb... the bane of my existence), except when mean Spencer shakes it and screams at it and scares it to death...that's the only time it works. He's mean. Ok, well that doesn't seem to be anything too difficult to fix, I may even already have another coil to try, will try a stronger coil instead of that one on there and replace the sleeve and see what happens. That being the worst issue of the night I was happy it all went smoothly and the games held up well.
From what I saw, the biggest draws of the pins were Star Wars and The Shadow, everyone seemed to be really surprised by them, even Mr. SW Trilogy CN Fuzzy.
Also, a lot of people seemed to think Travel Time was cool also, once they figured out what they were doing... and that it WASN'T broke because "the game never ends and keeps feeding 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, balls..." Yeah, it's based on time, unlimited balls until the clock runs out and you keep scoring to add more time. That's the kind of uniqueness I wanted in an EM and why I bought it.
The most touching part of the evening was when Thomas broke down crying and finally admitted that TDK pin IS the greatest pin ever made, and he wishes he had one. Oh well, nobody's perfect.
Well, it was a LOT of work this past week, mostly just because I was long overdue cleaning the house and garage to get it looking decent and ready for a party. And of course scrambling to get as many games as I could up and ready for the party also, which I'm very happy I finally got them going, it really was a needed kick in the butt for me to do it anyway. Mostly though I was just happy to have a nice day and night and to see everyone have a nice time and get to know each other a little more. Like Thomas said as he broke down playing Superman "All I need isa U!". Aaaaahhhhh.
P.S. Honorable mentions for Art bringing dessert and a bottle of wine for Linda (she REALLY needs it, believe me! I hope she doesn't hit me over the head with the empty bottle!), Randy for paying the toll to enter with the obligatory Batman figure, Mick for setting up my Mame (kick ASS!), and John Bork for actually literally interpreting Bring Your Own Boobs and Bringing the Boobs! Yes, he DID! As we said goodnight I ALMOST said "Nice to meet you, Boobs"... but wasn't sure if Jan would have laughed at my sense of humor or clocked me, so I played it safe for now!
Thanks for coming, everyone!
