# A New Pinball Show is Coming!?

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2024-12-03  
**Duration:** 27m 3s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R_hltAzgZ4

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## Analysis

Ed Vanderveen, former Texas Pinball Festival organizer, discusses his involvement with Pinball at the Beach, a new beach-resort-based pinball show launching February 7-9, 2025 in St. Pete Beach, Florida. The event is positioned as an intimate VIP experience (max ~1,200 attendees, 1,000 weekend passes) featuring 200+ machines, celebrity guests (Gary Stern, George Gomez, John Borg, Jack Danger, and others), and beach/resort activities. It differs from traditional shows by emphasizing social experience over seminars, with confirmed new game debuts from Spooky Pinball (Evil Dead) and emerging manufacturers.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pinball at the Beach is planned for February 7-9, 2025 at TradeWinds Island Grand Resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida — _Ed Vanderveen confirms specific dates and location multiple times; website mentioned as having all details_
- [HIGH] The event will be limited to approximately 1,000 weekend passes plus 104 tournament passes, for a max attendance of ~1,200 people including staff and celebrities — _Ed provides specific numbers: '1,000 passes available plus 104 tournament passes' and 'a 1200 person show'_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball will be debuting their Evil Dead game at Pinball at the Beach — _Ed states: 'it's confirmed that Spooky Pinball will be bringing their newest announced Evil Dead'_
- [HIGH] Marshall Dixon (a distributor who owns 'Little Shop of Games') is the primary organizer/owner of Pinball at the Beach, with Ed Vanderveen volunteering as a helper — _Ed clarifies: 'This is Marshall's show, and I'm just helping because Marshall's a good distributor' and 'I am not financially tied to pinball at the beach'_
- [MEDIUM] Tilt Bob is starting a new pinball company in Florida and will bring prototype 'Road Road Trip' games to the show — _Ed mentions: 'tilt bob the gentleman that that built the elf custom game uh he's making uh he's he's starting up a little pinball company in florida and he's gonna be making the uh road pinball road road trip' — Ed slightly uncertain about the game name_
- [HIGH] Confirmed celebrity guests include Gary Stern, George Gomez, Christopher Franchi, John Borg, Steve Ritchie, Mark Ritchie, Jack Danger, David Van Ess, Eric Miner, Brian Eddy, Dwight Sullivan, Scott Denisey, and Carrie Hardy — _Ed provides detailed guest list during discussion; Christopher Franchi created official event artwork_
- [HIGH] Ticket prices: Early bird $125 (extended to Dec 1 due to hurricanes), rising to $150 on Dec 1, then $199 on Jan 1 — _Ed explains pricing structure and timeline adjustments due to Florida hurricanes_
- [HIGH] Promo code 'HardyPinball' (no space) gives additional $25 discount per weekend pass, bringing minimum price to $100 — _Ed offers promo code during interview; Cary Hardy tests and confirms it works_

### Notable Quotes

> "It wasn't just for you know it wasn't for no reason i mean tpf became uh what it is and i'm very proud of uh tpf team and i are very proud of tpf but it was just time for us to step away"
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~1:30
> _Explains motivation for returning to show organization after retiring from TPF; emotional attachment to the work_

> "This is Marshall's show, and I'm just helping because Marshall's a good distributor, and he knows a lot of people in the pinball industry, and I kind of know a little bit about running a pinball show"
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~3:45
> _Clarifies his role as volunteer, not financial stakeholder, to manage expectations_

> "I hate to use the word pinball party, but that's at the beach, but that's really kind of the angle we're shooting for here"
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~5:00
> _Defines the show's positioning as social/casual experience rather than traditional industry trade show_

> "It's not going to be just a running gun. We're not going to have the traditional seminars. Seminars are great. Go to TPF, go to Chicago expo for that stuff. Uh, I want you to come to pinball at the beach and have a good time."
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~11:30
> _Explicitly differentiates event strategy from existing major shows; focuses on leisure/networking over education_

> "I'm not trying to compete with TPF or be anything like that or Chicago Expo or any of the other pinball shows. This is going to be literally what the title says, Pinball at the Beach."
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~44:00
> _Final positioning statement clarifying non-competitive intent; establishes unique market niche_

> "If we sell half of that, it's going to be an awesome party, and we're going to have all these cool games."
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~19:30
> _Signals realistic expectations; even at 500 attendees, show should succeed financially and experientially_

> "All I had to say, hey, you want to come spend a weekend at the beach in Florida where the median temperature in February in Florida is, you know, high 70s low 80s at the coldest you know so and of course they're like hell yeah i want to do that"
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~34:30
> _Reveals strategic advantage: timing during Chicago winter attracts celebrity talent (Gary Stern, George Gomez, Jack Danger) easily_

> "This first year is all about just getting the show. We want the show to break even and make a little bit so we can plan for next year."
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~18:00
> _Conservative financial goal; suggests viability depends on attendance/support but not aggressively profit-driven Year 1_

> "Pinball at the Beach has never done anything like this before. So one of the biggest, funniest conversations I had with them was talking about power."
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~48:30
> _Flags operational challenge typical of new venue/organizer partnerships; hotel inexperience with power demands for pinball machines_

> "We get that. We get that. [It's not a cheap show to go to]"
> — **Ed Vanderveen**, ~29:00
> _Acknowledges pricing barrier ($125-199 base + hotel/travel costs); positions as premium experience, not for mass-market attendance_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pinball at the Beach | event | New annual pinball show/convention launching February 7-9, 2025 in St. Pete Beach, Florida. Positioned as VIP beach resort experience with 200+ machines, celebrity guests, and social activities (beach, bars, bonfire). Capped at ~1,200 total attendees (1,000 weekend passes + 104 tournament passes). Organized by Marshall Dixon, volunteer-coordinated by Ed Vanderveen. |
| Ed Vanderveen | person | Former Texas Pinball Festival organizer; now volunteer coordinator for Pinball at the Beach. Retired from TPF to pursue other interests but was recruited back by Marshall Dixon. Not financially tied to new show; provides operational expertise. |
| Marshall Dixon | person | Primary owner/organizer of Pinball at the Beach; distributor who runs 'Little Shop of Games' in Florida. Will contribute bulk of machines from personal collection to the show. Asked Ed Vanderveen to help organize the event. |
| Gary Stern | person | Owner of Stern Pinball; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Will attend for beach-resort attraction during February (Chicago winter escape appeal). |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary pinball designer at Stern Pinball; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Example of senior designer/artist attending for winter escape and celebrity/fan access. |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer and content creator; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Ed notes he was easy to recruit by offering Florida beach vacation during February Chicago winter. |
| John Borg | person | Pinball designer (designer of Star Wars); confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Will participate in karaoke event with Hanger Pinball at the show. |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Pinball artist/designer; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Created official event artwork for t-shirts and promotional materials. |
| David Van Ess | person | Pinball designer (Barrels of Fun); confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. |
| Eric Miner | person | Pinball designer/coder; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer; confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. |
| Mark Ritchie | person | Pinball designer (son of Steve Ritchie); confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; confirmed to debut Evil Dead game at Pinball at the Beach. Listed as sponsor and official guest at the event. |
| Evil Dead | game | Spooky Pinball's newest announced/confirmed game; will debut at Pinball at the Beach in February 2025. |
| Tilt Bob | person | Homebrew pinball designer (designed ELF custom game); starting new pinball company in Florida. Will bring prototype Road Road Trip pinball machines to Pinball at the Beach. |
| TradeWinds Island Grand Resort | organization | Beach resort in St. Pete Beach, Florida hosting Pinball at the Beach. First-time hosting large pinball event; learning curve with power systems and group event logistics. Offering discounted room rate for event attendees. Sister hotel Rumfish available when main resort sells out. |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Major annual pinball show held in March (Dallas area). Organized by Ed Vanderveen and Kim until their retirement. Pinball at the Beach explicitly positioned as different/non-competitive alternative, not replacement. |
| Chicago Pinball Expo | event | Major annual pinball show held in October. Positioned as large industry/trade show. Pinball at the Beach explicitly does not try to compete with or replace it. |
| Titan Pinball | company | Sponsor of Pinball at the Beach opening event (Friday appetizers/hors d'oeuvres reception). |
| Hanger Pinball | company | Pinball vendor from Tulsa; confirmed sponsor/participant. Will provide karaoke entertainment with John Borg at the show. |
| JJ Babbage of Game Exchange of Colorado | person | Sponsor of Pinball at the Beach Saturday round of drinks. Owner of Game Exchange of Colorado (Colorado game distributor). |
| Pinball Asylum | organization | Pinball club/arcade in Fort Myers, Florida; selected to supplement show machines with their game collection. |
| Carrie Hardy | person | Pinball content creator (host of this video); confirmed celebrity guest at Pinball at the Beach. Will 'walk around, shaking hands and kissing babies' at the event. Receives exclusive promo code 'HardyPinball' for viewer discount. |
| Kim | person | Ed Vanderveen's partner; co-founder of Texas Pinball Festival. Retired from TPF organization; will attend Pinball at the Beach but minimal involvement (occasional Photoshop work only). |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball at the Beach event planning and logistics, New game announcements and debuts (Evil Dead, Road Road Trip homebrew), Celebrity guest list and industry talent recruitment, Positioning vs. existing major shows (TPF, Chicago Expo), Experience differentiation: social/leisure vs. trade show format
- **Secondary:** Venue/resort operations and first-time event challenges, Ticket pricing, early-bird discounts, and promo codes, Hotel accommodations and room block logistics

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Ed Vanderveen and Carrie Hardy both express genuine enthusiasm for the event concept, positioning it as innovative and enjoyable. Ed's tone is upbeat despite acknowledging challenges (hotel inexperience, power issues, pricing barriers). Realistic about first-year limitations and break-even goals, but confident in entertainment value. No significant negativity; even warnings about costs/challenges are presented constructively.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Conservative Year 1 financial model: Pinball at the Beach targeting break-even + modest profit, with success contingent on attendance and repeat viability uncertain (confidence: high) — Ed: 'This first year is all about just getting the show. We want the show to break even and make a little bit so we can plan for next year' and 'if the show is not financially viable to do again we won't'
- **[community_signal]** Promo code 'HardyPinball' offered by Ed Vanderveen to Carrie Hardy viewers for $25 additional discount; demonstrates cross-promotion between event organizers and pinball content creators (confidence: high) — Ed offers promo code during interview and confirms Cary tests/validates it works in real-time
- **[sentiment_shift]** Positive grassroots enthusiasm evident: Carrie Hardy reports multiple Patreon supporters from Florida already registered for show; indicates strong local/early adopter interest in new event format (confidence: medium) — Carrie states: 'i've honestly got a quite a few people especially even on my patreon that do live in florida and they've already registered and they're excited about the show'
- **[competitive_signal]** Pinball at the Beach deliberately targets winter-escape appeal for celebrity talent (Florida warmth vs. Chicago winter); enables recruitment of A-list designers (Gary Stern, George Gomez, Jack Danger) for inaugural event (confidence: high) — Ed: 'All I had to say, hey, you want to come spend a weekend at the beach in Florida where the median temperature in February in Florida is high 70s low 80s... so and of course they're like hell yeah'
- **[design_philosophy]** Pinball at the Beach rejects traditional 'trade show' format (seminars, business networking) in favor of leisure/experiential model (beach activities, bars, bonfire, karaoke, sunset timing, private cabanas) (confidence: high) — Ed: 'It's not going to be just a running gun. We're not going to have the traditional seminars... I want you to come to pinball at the beach and have a good time'
- **[event_signal]** Pinball at the Beach positioned as new major pinball event launching February 2025; officially confirmed game debut from Spooky Pinball (Evil Dead) (confidence: high) — Ed confirms 'it's confirmed that Spooky Pinball will be bringing their newest announced Evil Dead' and event website is live with full details
- **[leak_detection]** Tilt Bob homebrew pinball company details leaked/unannounced: New Florida-based company starting production with 'Road Road Trip' game prototype arriving at Pinball at the Beach (confidence: medium) — Ed mentions: 'tilt bob the gentleman that that built the elf custom game uh he's making uh he's he's starting up a little pinball company in florida and he's gonna be making the uh road pinball road road trip' (with slight uncertainty on game name)
- **[market_signal]** Industry consolidation evident: Pinball at the Beach explicitly positioned to NOT compete with TPF/Chicago Expo but fill leisure/VIP niche; suggests market support for diverse event types rather than single flagship model (confidence: medium) — Ed: 'I'm not trying to compete with TPF or be anything like that or Chicago Expo... This is going to be literally what the title says, Pinball at the Beach'
- **[personnel_signal]** Ed Vanderveen returning to show organization after retirement, recruited by distributor Marshall Dixon for new event format (confidence: high) — Ed explicitly states retirement from TPF, then explains Dixon 'asked me about helping him uh run a pinball show uh we went back and forth with some ideas'
- **[market_signal]** New event charging premium pricing ($125-199 weekend passes) despite first-year unproven format; targets affluent collectors/enthusiasts willing to pay for VIP experience + resort amenities rather than mass-market attendance (confidence: high) — Ed acknowledges: 'I've been telling people this is not a cheap show to go to, and we get that' and caps attendance at 1,000 passes despite hotel capacity for more
- **[product_strategy]** Pinball at the Beach intentionally limits vendor selection to pinball-specific vendors; explicitly excludes non-pinball categories (Beanie Babies, candy, retro video games) to maintain premium/focused experience distinct from multi-category arcade expos (confidence: high) — Ed: 'we're not going to find, you know, your Beanie Baby vendors and your candies and chocolates and the retro video games... we're not looking for exhibitors... it is going to be very specific pinball oriented'
- **[venue_signal]** TradeWinds resort inexperienced with large pinball events; identified operational challenges include power distribution system, group room booking software limitations, and hotel systems unfamiliar with pinball show requirements (confidence: high) — Ed describes power conversation: 'They're like, oh, yeah. We got plenty of power... I'm like, oh. Oh, my gosh. You see like the six plug. Yeah. We got all Thursday to set up'

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## Transcript

 All right, guys. Thanks for tuning in. We have a special guest with us today, former show organizer for Texas Pinball Festival. And like he stated before to me, just when he thought he was out, they pull him right back in. Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in. So here he is getting involved in a show that you may or may not have heard of called Pinball at the Beach. And it's like I have to wonder, Ed, are you a glutton for punishment or something? because you know you were basically retired you could just visit these shows and just be a guest and just have fun but you for whatever reason keep getting involved to where you're helping out getting being a show organizer or what's going on there well it wasn't just for you know it wasn't for no reason i mean tpf became uh what it is and i'm very proud of uh tpf team and i are very proud of tpf but it was just time for us to step away and just like you know a lot of rock stars or not that I'm a rock star, but just like a lot of people that they retire, they decide to do things, they miss it. So Kim and I left TPF and I mean, I won't lie. We went to the show last year. I did miss a lot of the aspects of running the show, but you know, TPF just grew to be so large that we, we just needed to step aside. It was just time for us to step, step aside and let the show continue on without us. So it was nice having the year two off. Marshall Dixon in Florida runs owns a little shop of games for those that uh know Marshall I was visiting with him he had actually uh asked me about helping him uh run a pinball show uh we went back and forth with some ideas and uh the way this show is set up it's set up a lot differently than most pinball shows that people are used to so I said and I said sure I'm I'm helping I am not I mean I know I look like I'm the face again of the show and doing a lot of the brunt work, but I can tell you that I am just a volunteer. I am not financially tied to pinball at the beach. This is Marshall's show, and I'm just helping because Marshall's a good distributor, and he knows a lot of people in the pinball industry, and I kind of know a little bit about running a pinball show. So here I am. Kim is not, other than the occasional piece of Photoshop, Kim's not really helping at all. She'll be at the show. But my goal is to get the show up and running. And then you're going to see me at the bar and on the beach and at the pool and with everybody else during pinball at the beach. Yeah. So so here I am. I think that's definitely from what I can tell, because this is a new show. This is something that's completely like nothing that hasn't been done before. And so you listed off already two or three different things that we're not accustomed to seeing at pinball shows, a pool, a beach. You know, yeah, we're accustomed to seeing a bar. But yeah, a couple of things like that. that this is this is something new and is it like you know i guess we have so many shows that go over the course of a year you of course you have tpf that's in like march and expo those are the two biggest ones that happen in october and so this is merely the possible first and i guess depending on how well it hits off and how well it goes it may become an annual thing that's well that's the plan you know you don't know until you know so uh when we when marsh and i talked about this, I kind of told him, I said, I have no idea how this is going to go. The concept is, you know, we're not trying to replace TPF or Chicago Expo. Those have become very large, you know, industry type shows. Pinball at the Beach, you know, I hate to use the word pinball party, but that's at the beach, but that's really kind of the angle we're shooting for here. You know, the Florida people are like, well, I can go to the beach anytime. Well, yeah, it's kind of like the people that come to tpf from out of town they're all excited about getting barbecue and all the texans go i can get barbecue anytime i go to hard eight well you know it's i get it florida you know i know the beach part is not necessarily for you but you don't have to buy airfare and stuff i mean you're going to drive right to the event but how cool would it be uh to just hang out with all the pinball celebrities or the the your favorite pinball people and you know they're going to be at the at the at the beach bars and at the pool and at the at the beach itself and there's a sunset and we're talking about, I'm working with the hotel about doing a bonfire on the beach one evening. And, you know, there's all kinds of those kinds of things going on. And of course, there's going to be all the new games, all the new, the newest games from all the manufacturers are going to be there. Marshall Dixon, the primarily, the primary collection, much like Rob Burt brings all of his personal games to Chicago Expo, Marshall Dixon has just an incredible collection uh he's going to bring all of those there's i get the question uh well it looks like it's going to be all new stuff well yeah that's kind of what you know because he's a distributor that's what's going to get pushed but there's going to be a lot of cool old stuff there i don't have a game list it's going to be it's going to be a lot of fun i mean we got you know you know a hanger pinball out of tulsa they're going to come do karaoke uh with you know john borg's already said that he'll do some karaoke with us uh titan pinball is uh they're sponsoring the big welcoming event where, you know, they're, they're buying a round of appetizers and hors d'oeuvres for everybody one evening. And that's kind of that it's a social VIP experience. I mean, we want people there. Everyone is going to get this intimate access to all of the, you know, Steve Ritchie and Mark Ritchie and George Gomez and, you know, all the, you know, all the pinball people, Carrie Hardy's going to be walking around, you know, shaking hands and kissing babies and whatever you need them to do. It's kind of, I mean, if you see where I'm going with this, it's not going to be just a, you know, a running gun. We're not going to have the traditional seminars. Seminars are great. Go to TPF, go to Chicago expo for that stuff. Uh, I want you to come to pinball at the beach and have a good time. Hang out with John Borg, uh, doing some karaoke at the beach, playing all the new games. Uh, it's a beach town. So, you know, it's a vacation. So like the, uh, the guest list that you currently have on the website, which it even says more guests to be announced. You have currently Gary Stern, George Gomez, Christopher Franchi, John Borg, Steve Ritchie, Mark Ritchie, Spooky Pinball, Jack Danger, David Van Es, Eric Meunier, Brian Eddy, Dwight Sullivan, Scott Denisey, and myself. And so along with that, like you said, you're going to have all the new games. And so we already know it's confirmed that Spooky Pinball will be bringing their newest announced Evil Dead. I mean is it a safe bet to say if another manufacturer announces a game between now and Pinball at the beach would we be able to possibly see their game there Yeah Well sure and I don know you know talking to Manufacturers they all you know it kind of like planning a wedding or they don want to they don want to commit or promise that they're going to launch their game the first quarter but uh you know it's a safe bet that somebody is going to you know besides spooky is going to launch a game but i but i don't want to get in a situation where you know stern says they're going to launch and then jersey jack pinball says well if stern's gonna launch i'm not you know we're gonna wait or you know and i know tpf is the big one that a lot of the manufacturers like to launch at but this is a different kind of show uh i i think i can safely say if you're familiar with uh tilt bob the the gentleman that that built the elf custom game uh he's making uh he's he's starting up a little pinball company in florida and he's gonna be making the uh road pinball road road trip is that is that correct Does that sound right to you? You said it before, so I'm assuming that's what it is because you haven't. I mean, twice in a row you said. Yeah, so he's going to bring a few of those games to pinball at the beach. He's out of Florida, so that's an easy trip for him. But, yeah, I would think that, you know, somebody's going to be launching some games if they're ready. Of course, I hate promising, but, you know, if you look at our guest list, especially like on the Stern side, maybe, you know, who's coming? Usually designers and artists and stuff, they usually don't go to pinball shows if they're still haven't quite launched the game because they can't. They're still busy working on it. Yeah. So, you know, that's I can't make promises, you know, because I hate for anybody to be disappointed. But I'm telling you, you're not going to be disappointed. so like when it comes to like the hotel information it's like um i'm guessing you were discussing with me is that sometimes like the on-site like reservation thing maybe an issue well yeah the whole so this is a so the the thing with the trade winds it's it's a fantastic beach resort but they but they have never done anything like this they've never you know they're used to hosting company corporate you know conferences and stuff they're not used to having what i've been trying to tell them what's coming their way. So the online system is the way, the way it normally works is they, they block out the, you know, what we would normally think of as a room block for the hotel. And then the people running the, the event would, you know, pass, you know, give out the rooms or make the reservations when that's not how it works for a pinball show. Cause I'm not going to be the reservation specialist for, for the hotel. So they put up the reservation link and they they block out you know whatever days well if Sunday sells out and you go on the website online and you put in you know Friday through Monday well it's just going to come back and say everything's sold out it's not even going to try to tell you what's going on so and it's you know it's not the fault of the trade winds other than it's just an older system they you know they do need to update this and I've had conversations with them about it but if you have not made a reservation, there are still rooms available. There's not many, probably by the time you hear this, there's going to be a dozen or so for Friday or Saturday night at the pinball at the beach room rate, but you have to call the hotel. Call the hotel, and that's the other thing. They have these hotel specialists that only for group rates, they only work Monday through Friday during business hours. So you got to call Monday through Friday during business hours, ask for the pinball at the beach rate, they'll fix you up. If there's a day that's not available, they'll give you options. They'll either, you can get it at the regular hotel rate for that one day, or sometimes they've been pretty good about squeezing it in if you're getting all the other rooms. But I can't make promises on that. But call the hotel. The hotel number is on the website. It's on Facebook. It's called the Tradewinds. Tell them what you're looking for. They will fix you up. And the Tradewinds has a sister hotel right next to it called the Rumfish. They're pretty much side by side. Once pinball at the beach rooms sell out, they'll start selling over there. But you can walk out onto the beach, walk down to the beach, walk right into pinball at the beach, or walk down the sidewalk out front. I mean, I've looked at some footage for this destination location, where this is at, and it looks beautiful. And it's like I also see that even on the itinerary, for whatever reason, the sunsets are on a time basis. So is there a particular reason why we're flagging up when the sunset is? Well, because it's, you know, for those of us that, you know, hang out in Florida or just, it's just another thing for people to do. I mean, not, and I'm not expecting, you know, and this is just like TPF. Every pinball person that comes to TPF, sometimes the person they drag along with them is not particularly a pinball person. So they, you know, I'm just trying to put other things out there, remind people, you know, there's a nice sunset going on. And that's, and I already looked it up, that's 610. That's what time the sun sets over the Gulf. And it's a it's a perfect, beautiful sunset, you know, Carl Weathers permitting. If it's cloudy, if it's cloudy, I can't help you there. But, you know, I promised us a damn good time. You know, what the hell? Exactly. He promised there'd be a beautiful sunset. But no, that's a sunset. Like I said, I haven't I haven't put on this calendar yet, but I've talked to the hotel and they said, you know, we do bonfire bonfires on the beach, too. so i think well man that would be fun you know to get all you know get you know get somebody to jump over the the bonfire and stuff like that no i'm kidding we're not yeah there's like a two-story like air up slide that's there i'm seeing yeah that's there all the time that's that's the that's one of their big things you can get up on the side now that's reserved for uh so if you are a guest of the hotel and you pay the resort fee as part of your room and when you book your uh pinball at the beach room the resort fee is included in the rate it may not show it online but when you make your final reservation, they'll have that added in there, so you get full access to all of that stuff, there's, I know they have like a little paddle boat thing that goes around the hotel, there's, I don't know what they told me, there's like, you know, several pools, 10 bars and restaurants, that big slide thing, that's all included as part of your resort fee as a guest, if you are not staying at the hotel, but you just want to bring your bathing suit along with you, you can go to the the hotel front desk and buy the daily pass i don't know what that is i'm guessing 30 40 50 bucks for the day but that gives you full access to everything the hotel has to offer as far as all those fun water activities and the beach and stuff if you're coming just for the pinball show you don't need to mess with that you can just come to the pinball show but if you want to hang out at the beach and you know do the bonfire and and every person at the hotel gets a private cabana on the beach They get a private two little cabana on the beach It really nice You can see those in some of the pictures all those little cabanas that are lined up So that's what I mean by we're trying to make this an experience. I mean, not that I'm, you know, I know somebody, well, I'm not going to a pinball show just to land the beach. And so, well, then you know what? Then don't come. I mean, this show is not for you. I mean, this show is not going to be for everybody. you know i know it's not going to be a cheap show for people to attend so uh and if and if the show is not for you it's it's not for you and that's okay and that you know not every show is for everybody so this is we're just trying to make this a you know an experience that you know you can come to this this great pinball show play all the new games hang out with all the cool people and uh you know spend some time on the beach it's going to be a fun time yeah i mean like it It definitely seems like you're highlighting it to be something different in the aspect of the type of people that are going to be there. It says this is a new and exclusive VIP experience pinball show, and it's going to be featuring 200-plus pinball machines. But it's also limited to how many tickets are going to be available to purchase. Well, we're going to limit. So we kind of did some math, and Marshall did some math. And just to pay for this. This first year is all about just getting the show. We want the show to break even and make a little bit so we can plan for next year. So we're going to limit the weekend sales to 1,000 tickets. Now, we haven't sold that, and we may not. And that's OK. And I talked to Marshall about it, and he said, you know what? If we sell half of that, it's going to be an awesome party, and we're going to have all these cool games. So it's 1,000 passes available plus 104 tournament passes, which include the weekend pass. So you're talking 1,104 people, which 104 of those people are going to be in the tournament area on Friday and Saturday mostly. and then there's going to be you know our the vendors the show staff vips you know the you know the celebrities maybe a hundred more people you know if you count up all of our celebrity guests and their families that they're bringing and the show staff and that that kind of stuff so we're talking at max a 1200 person show and we're not even halfway there yet so and it may not get there so it's gonna be so if you come to this first show it's you know it may end up being like you ever go on a Antonio Cruz and the boat's half full and you're like yeah this is awesome i mean yeah um it's it may end up being like that so but even at a thousand people there's you know the the trade winds has that many rooms not at the at the special rate that we got but there's room for everybody or you can you can stay anywhere you want to it's a beach town there's there's beach resorts all over the place probably some airbnbs as well maybe airbnbs whatever you want to do The only thing that might be kind of tricky is parking. Because it is a beach town, it's not a lot of free parking. I mean, there are the parking areas that you can pay to park. The hotel is parking. I want to say if you're not a hotel guest, it's $25 a day or something like that. But again, it's a beach town. It's not in the middle of nowhere. That's what the cost is. I'm sorry. I've been telling people this is not a cheap show to go to, and we get that. We get that. yeah and like it like you said this is like the first a possible mini but so this could be a chance for either you people out there to go i went to the only pinball at the beach or you could also say that you went to the very first well and this and i'm going to use the same you know the same line i used with tpf and for you for the folks in florida you know georgia alabama that you know that the surrounding area within driving distance you know i know a lot of people have heard oh this is going to be awesome we're going to get this you know this tpf caliber show which it's not it's going to be you know half the size but we are bringing all these cool pinball people and a lot of it is going to depend on you i mean if if the show's successful we'll do it again if the show is when i say successful if the show is not financially viable to do again we won't we may not do it again but at least for this one show for 2025 it's going to be an awesome show we may not do it again but if everybody comes and we get a lot of support and that's the thing we're not really looking for a lot of exhibitor like people to bring their games now if you've got something super awesome that you just want to bring to the show to share with everybody shoot me an email but for the most part we're not looking for exhibitors and stuff i mean marshall's going to supply the bulk of the games a lot of the manufacturers are going to supply the bulk of the games we've got uh pinball asylum down in fort myers they're going to bring some games so we do have a few select clubs and groups that are going to supplement the show with with so there's going to be plenty of games um you were we were talking and i'm going to back up a little bit but we were talking about the schedule and uh you know i talked about titan pinball sponsoring i got to get all my sponsors in here so titan pinball is going to sponsor the event on friday yeah yeah and then and then a jj babbage of a colorado game exchange he's going to do a round of drinks on jj on saturday and then that's going to be followed up with the karaoke i haven't i don't have the locations of those events nailed down just yet because i'm talking with the hotel because we are we have a we have a lot of options we we can take over one of the bars the hotel is offering to give us our own private little space for a lot of these events that we can have somewhere um or have it in the main ballroom where the where the game where the show itself is going on so i don't know it's you'll have all the information by the time people show up to get their uh their their name tags and the wristbands they'll have all the information like you've basically i mean people that are watching have probably seen me look over here because i'm looking at the website and it's got pretty much every bit of details of information that you could possibly ask for yeah so like sponsors you got little shop of games titan pinball nitro pinball USA, Jersey Jack Pinball, Game Exchange of Colorado, Hanger Pinball USA. You know, the whole list of vendors as well is going to be here too. And it's not going to be huge. In your vendor list, it's not going to be huge. And not to disparage any other, you know, type of show, but we're not, so you're not going to find, you know, your Beanie Baby vendors and your candies and chocolates and the retro video games. And there's nothing wrong with that stuff because other shows have the space for that. I don't have the space for that at Pinball at the Beach. We just don't. So, so the few vendors and I'm going to sign up some more vendors. I've got a list of emails. I've been, you know, it's been the hall, it's been Thanksgiving, but, uh, I've got more vendors come to sign up but it is going to be we want very specific pinball oriented you know cool stuff that you know so when people come there it like okay well I you know these are toppers or I got one and I say topper cause I got one topper company that I'm talking to right now. But yeah, it's just gonna be very specific pinball oriented vendors and you're not going to find, you know, comic book vendors and that kind of stuff. So like it's dated for February 7th through the 9th in 2025, everybody. and I don't know what the Carl Weathers's like in February in Florida, but I know here in U.S. as well know as I do, it's usually frigging cold over here in Texas. Well, it's even colder in Chicago, and that's why people, and that's the big thing. How did you get all these pinball people, all these, you know, how did you get all these designers and artists to come to the show? I said, it's frigging February in Chicago right now. All I had to say, hey, you want to come spend a weekend at the beach in Florida where the median temperature in February in Florida is, you know, high 70s low 80s at the coldest you know so and of course they're like hell yeah i want to do that so it was it wasn't that hard to get jack danger and everybody to say absolutely i'm gonna come to florida yeah exactly and so when it comes to the the pricing you have the list of the pricing of the tickets right here you have your weekend passes says limited to 1000 the price did change as of december 1st everyone the price did go up to 150 beginning december 1st and it's going to go up again January 1st to $199. It is. We did a early bird. It was actually supposed to go up November 1st, but Florida had those two hurricanes. We know a lot of the locals got tied up in that kind of dealing with the two hurricanes that came through. It really kind of set things back, especially for the hotel. We were very worried about the hotel itself, the resort, but the resort's back. They're even back open now. They've assured us that everything is great. Everything is awesome. So we did push the early bird rate of 125 to December 1st. And on December 1st, it went to 150. On January 1st, it goes to the full at-the-door price of $199. So, but what I'm going to do for Cary Hardy fans and viewers is I'm going to give Cary a special promo code, Hardy Pinball. If you go to Pinball, if you haven't got your tickets yet, I'll still give them to you at the 125 rate. If you put in the promo code HardyPinball, no space, all one word, at checkout, it's going to knock another $25 off each weekend pass. So that's not good for merchandise or for the tournaments. There are a few tournament spots still left. So if you're a tournament player and you want to get in, that's limited to 104 players. But if you just want to get a pass, you want to save $25 on each pass, HardyPinball at checkout and you'll be in. Hell yeah, that's awesome. I was going to test it. Is it all one word? It's all one word. Yeah, go check it out. Let me just make sure. Add one to cart. Hardy pinball. Man, $25 offer out there for discount code. It does work. He wasn't lying, everybody. So thank you very much, Ed, for that. That's awesome. You didn't have to do it, but you did it, so that's great. So, I mean, like I said, I'm going to put links in the video description down below, guys. It's going to be the website. It's got pretty much everything you could possibly ask for when it comes to information about the show and what's going to be there. and I'm obviously going to have some footage of what the place looks like from the outside. I've seen some drone footage. It looks to be like it's going to be very beautiful, and I'm definitely excited about the show because I think, like you've already stated, it's going to be different than the other shows that we're kind of accustomed to going to. Yeah, I'm not trying to compete with TPF or be anything like that or Chicago Expo or any of the other pinball shows. This is going to be literally what the title says, Pinball at the Beach. Come play all the new stuff. Come hang out with all your friends on the beach. Have some drinks at the bar. uh great uh seafood and and the whole area itself has got all kinds of stuff and for you disney fanatics it's only two hours away from disney so there you go if you're that hell bent on disney or universal uh straight across i-4 you'll be there in two hours and of course you've got t-shirts and the artwork is done by christopher franchi that artwork was pretty damn awesome on that i'm loving it are those gonna be available i guess at the front desk just like a tpf whenever Yes. Yeah, we'll have a limited number. I mean, I'm not going to order the numbers like TPF. So if you really want one of those colors and sizes, you need to order it online and we'll ship it to you. And then, of course, whatever is left and we'll probably order some more to have at the show. But whatever's left, we'll have at the show and they'll be available for sale there. But if you want to make sure you get the color and size that you're looking for, you just it'd be best to order it online. All right. So, I mean, Ed, is there anything else that you could think of that we need to make sure we get out there to buy? No, I hope to see everybody. Growing pains. It's like I said before, the Tradewinds has never done anything like this before. So one of the biggest, funniest conversations I had with them was talking about power. And those that have ever been to a pinball show know power is always an issue. It even took the embassy a few years to get it figured out for TPF. So I'm talking to the Tradewinds, and I'm telling them how many pinball machines. And they're just like, oh, yeah, yeah. We got plenty of power. It's not going to be a problem. I don't think it is. They're like, no, no, it's going to be great. We've got lots of power. I'm like, I don't think you understand. I'm like, well, where's your power guys? They're like, oh, yeah, they'll come down and talk to it. We've got power strips. I'm like, oh. Oh, my gosh. You see like the six plug. Yeah. We got all Thursday to set up to figure out the – Okay, good. Luckily, there's not going to be quite – there's not going to be quite the size of the other shows. But, yeah, so for those of you that come to the show, So, man, pitching a hand. If you arrive early on Thursday, we'll take your help setting up and just be patient with us. And, you know, it's going to be awesome. I did bring a lot of some of the volunteers from TPF are going to come help. So they kind of know how registration goes. It should go pretty smoothly, but be a little forgiving with us for this very first show. Next year, you can be more, you know, angry if things don't go quite as smoothly. well i've honestly got a quite a few people especially even on my patreon that do live in florida and they've already registered and they're excited about the show as well yeah we're excited it's already gotten pretty well known but i'm thinking i'm hoping this kind of gives a little bit more of a word out there to those that just didn't know it existed kind of thing all right i hope so yep but yeah bring your shark costumes and it's going to be a good time that's the big thing is we want everyone to have fun all right so thank you very much ed for all the information and joining me on this like i said guys links in the video description down below and i hope to see you all pinball at the beach thanks ed thanks kerry see ya

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