"White Rose
Gameroom Show"
2002
Here are some pictures from my trip to the White Rose Gameroom Show in York, PA (held on October 11 and 12, 2002). Unfortunately the disposable cameras didn't do so well and the pictures came out very blurry. So........I didn't bother to post them all. You can view them via the thumbnails or watch them one-by-one as a slide show. Below the thumbnails is a short review I posted on the rec.games.pinball newsgroup.
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MY THOUGHTS ON MY FIRST PINBALL SHOW:
Posted: rec.games.pinball / October 13, 2002
York is about 5 hours from my home here in Erie, PA. The drive itself was easy as I anxiously awaited my "first" pinball show. The constant rain did bog us down and cause a few "slow-ups" in traffic tacking on a half-hour or so. However, we made it there in one piece.
The show itself was a blast. I counted around 110 pin-games +/- on Friday and about 130 +/- on Saturday set-up on "freeplay". There were also a bunch of video games and others, like puck bowlers and touch-screens. Some were turned off because they were sold (I missed playing Champion Pub by five minutes) and some were duplicates (I believe I saw a couple specimens of Getaway, Barb Wire, Jokerz, a few White Waters on Saturday and a handful more). They all were in above average to slightly below average condition. But, all of them were playable and better than anything I can find locally. :)
It was great getting a chance to play some pinball games that I had never seen before and others I hadn't played in years. I also was happy to find Stern's newest production "Roller Coaster Tycoon". It was played non-stop both days so you had to be crafty to get a shot. I got fourth position on the score board early Friday. Someone knocked me off BIG TIME by Saturday afternoon. However, it was a rather enjoyable game.
The vendors inside were very nice and had a couple of things I wanted (thanks Mike P for the flyers). Mayfair had a handful of coasters/keychains I couldn't find online. Overall, it was a nice atmosphere.
The flea market was a tad small, as was to be expected due to the amount of rain. It grew a little bit more on Saturday when the rain subsided but was still of a small scale. Unfortunately, the sun didn't peak past the clouds the entire weekend I was in York itself. Oh well, I went to play games!!!!!!! Plus, you can't beat a town that has both a Hardee's and a Popeye's Chicken & Biscuits across the street from each other.
Everyone at the show was also very nice. This included the guys who put on the whole thing (thanks a TON) and the collectors/players themselves. I met a lot of nice people. I wasn't able to make the RGP gathering, but I heard it went very well.
The competitions were fun. I got a 777 on the mechanical tournament game. I should have gotten something for straight 7s......don't ya' think?
As for the Fish Tales (the electronic tournament game), I did pretty well with just below 100M. It was funny how the majority of the group moved from the right FT game to the left FT game which had no credit dot and was in better overall shape (right Dan H.....nice Dracula and Dr. Dude by the way).
Overall, I had a great time. I haven't been to many conventions in my lifetime. However, I have a few friends who have put them on personally for a variety of different subjects. It takes a lot of planning, time and (especially) money. The YORK folks did a wonderful job.
Thanks for the fun! I am looking forward to the trip next year!!
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