This article will be updated throughout the day Friday and Saturday
Day one at the White Rose Gameroom Show started off with a noticeabe change. It was located in the York Fairgrounds Horticulture Hall for the many years I have been attending. This year, it’s in the Old Main building right next door. There was a need for more space, apparently for more paid vendors.
The “free play” sectiion actually seems a bit smaller (fewer machines) than in the previous years, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of games to play. Maybe I should have reconsidered bringing a couple of games for free play from my own collection this year, like I did in previous years. Oh well, the action around here tends to pick up on Saturday anyway.
I’m hoping the same for the tailgate vendors who set up outside each year. The number of benefits seem a little thin today, Friday, but I have seen extra vendors appear on Saturday in previous years.
For inside vendors, you will find some of the regulars, like Coin Taker (selling LED bulbs in many colors and varieties), along with a run of pinball, jukebox, and slot machine vendors.
If you’re looking for well maintained and clean modern pinball machines for your home gameroom, these indoor vendors can help you. But it might set you back $3000 – $8000 per game! Otherwise, you can peruse the free play section for a variety of pinball machines and video games from all eras. Owners are offered the opportunity to put their machines up for others to play, in exchange for free admission. Some even offer the game for sale. Each game displays a card in green (for sale) or red (not for sale).
Would you like to have a classic Bally machine from the late 1970’s (solid state or electromechanical scoring)?
You might find a nice one in the price range of $600 – $1200 depending on quality and rarity. The Bally’s “Dolly Parton” game shown here is $700, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try to haggle a better price. Or if you like the vintage “wood rail” machines, those may set you back over $1500 each due to their collector’s value. As for video games, they aren’t holding their values too well. I saw a stand-up Monaco race game priced at only $150.
It’s only lunchtime and I just finished up my chicken and fries combo meal, purchased from the Bricker`s food stand in the building. Now there’s a classic (meal) I look forward to each year I attend these shows.
Unfortunately, some rain hit the area mid afternoon. This made the building crowd up a bit. That long sleeve cotton shirt I was wearing was getting a bit warm as hundreds of attendees were milling around inside. I felt a bit sorry for the outside vendors, but it appeared early on that they read the forecast and brought easy-up canopies to shelter under.
Not to let the rain bring me down, I continued to search out some interesting games to play. One interesting one was this classic Gottlieb “wedge-head” called “Sky-Line.” Although I wasn’t any good at it, there is a set of elevator doors in the backglass area that are supposed to open at certain times to reveal the next guests to arrive at the fictional top floor dinner party. Either the doors were broken, or I wasn’t skilled enough to trigger the event. Oh well, on to the next pin.
This is a pleasant surprise… nobody beat my high score on this machine yet.
Anyway, for those of you who would like to refresh the electronics in some of your newer pinball machines (typically late 1980’s or newer), a company called X-Pin creates brands new replica boards for older plasma or VFD displays, including the more modem dot matrix displays. These are great for replacing troublesome, energy eating, original displays with modern, and BRIGHT LED displays. Plus, you can get them in a variety of colors! Check them out when you get here.
I will be updating this article throughout the day and on Saturday. So please check back!
