Hey yo, welcome everyone to Today in the Scene by Indie Arcade Wave. I'm Joe, your host, and here on In the Scene, we dive into what's happening in the arcade space from new arcade developers, arcade owners, and operators, pinball, and just news in the space in general. Now, this week, we're going to be diving into pinball expo, which I'm incredibly excited to go to next week. Before we jump into that, if you're looking to add a new pinball to your collection, specifically a Stern, let me know. We have a special pricing for operators. We've got the whole catalog on the Indie Arcade Wave website. ice cold beer and a whole bunch of other stuff. So, if you're interested in adding any of that to your arcade and or man cave, just let me know and we will make it work. Now, this week we get to dive into Pinball Expo, which is happening in just a couple days. Uh, this coming Wednesday, I think, is the first day. The show really kicks off on Thursday, but we have the pleasure of speaking with Rob Burke. Bring him in. How you doing, Rob?
Good, Joe. Thanks for uh having me on. was uh when I heard it was the Almighty Joe doing this, I figured, man, I got to be on this one. This is this guy's good.
Yeah, we had to bring you in and talk about it. It's going to be my first pinball expo, so I'm incredibly excited. Um from the means of pinball, you know your stuff. I mean, you got the world record for most pins. You're over,00 now, right? What's the what's the current count? Well, that's that's a great question because uh when Guinness was around, it was 1041 and then as soon as that count was done, the number kept climbing and um I made the mistake of of going to Europe and I found another 100 plus games there. So, it's got to be around 1,200 and it's still it's still growing. So, uh you know, it's interesting. We we with all these games I got, you wonder like where to put them and how to display them and that's why I came up with this pastimes arcade. But we have games from all over the US. Rare games, hard to find games. We have video games in there, too. And a lot of international titles. So, Joe, I hear you're a traveling man, man. You got to get in that that uh Winnipeg and shoot down and see us.
Yeah, that's definitely the plan. It's more likely I would fly out that way. I I don't know that I want to drive it all the way up to Ohio, but I definitely definitely want to see the arcade because you have some just wild stuff in there. And I want to talk more about Expo today. I'll probably have you back on to like really dive into pastimes, but let's talk about Expo. So, first off, like how did this all start? Like obviously you started collecting and then you were like, I want to run a show or was someone running it before? Like how'd that happen?
So, back in the uh early 80s, I was involved with a pinball club in the Akran area. Um and ever we every month we would meet at a different guy's house and play pinball and just enjoyed it. And o over time I start reading some of the books. Michael Co came out with the book and Roger Sharp and in these books they have these pictures of all these different designers and artists and uh I never knew these names and there um you know I I really enjoyed playing the games from the 1960s. So when I uh got these books I started connecting the different artists and designers to the games that they had built and I said man these guys are cool. But not only that, I started thinking to myself, you know, it's always the u the the high rollers, the big shots on on the penthouse floor that get all the recognition. It's really the artist and designers that have built the games and they're the guys that that I really admire the most. So, um I talked to the group of of ours from the Akran Pinball Club and I said, "What do you think about doing a national pinball convention?" And they were kind of lukewarm about it. It sounded kind of like a wild idea really. So, at the time there was uh Steve Young that put out a publication called Pinball Collectors Quarterly. And I asked him if he would send out a questionnaire. If we were to do a pinball show, would you come to it? And um the overall response was very high. They said, "Yeah, do it. Do it. Do it." So, in 1985, we did our first show and um you know, I wanted to recognize the my heroes who were the guys that built the games back in the 60s and 70s. So, um, I recognized him at the banquet. There was four guys there, a Norm Clark, Steve Cord, Wayne Neyens, and Harvey Heis, who at the time was like 85 years old. He designed for Genko. But I said, "Ladies and gentlemen, these four guys have built over 600 games." Well, the people stood up and applauded and uh, for me it was it was a great recognition because it was my dream to recognize these guys. And um, when it was all done, everyone was really very happy. A lot of the designers who were up there standing up had tears in their eyes because they couldn't believe it. People were applauding for them. They never got this recognition. So for me it that was it. It was one and done. And uh I accomplished my dream of recognizing these guys. But what happened was uh six months into the following year I started getting phone calls. This is before internet by the way guys. And people started saying when's the next show? And I said there is no next show. They said oh no you got to do it. This is too much fun. So I said okay I'll do one more. Well, that one more war has turned into 40 more. So, this year will be number 41. So, it's an amazing run. And what's amazing to me is uh you have the same team running the show from since day one. So, there's a lot of shows out there that they're relatively new and uh they've had some, you know, maybe change of ownership, but here you got the same guy running the show and with the help from my wife Bridget, uh we've done a great job in and making the people happy. I mean, the show is about the people and about the industry. So, uh, if you've never been to it, you got to see it to believe it.
Yeah. I I love the story of kind of how it started and, you know, just a guy, a group of guys that love pinball that were collecting that would go and visit each other regularly to play pinball and they were like, why don't we just share this with everybody in the country and have one big gathering for everyone? I think that's such a good way to do it. And I mean, it's huge now, 41 years now. It's it's it's crazy that you're running it that long. And these designers, these artists, they deserve the credit like for what they've made, what they've done, the history that they've created, you don't really ever know too much about the development side of it or the the art side of it. You just know who published it, and what year it came out, and whether it's fun or not is usually what people talk about. So, I I love that you gave those people the recognition that they deserved. Let's just talk about like what's going to be at Expo this year that you're excited about. It's
what's crazy is there's so much going on. It's almost like where do you start? Um for me the seminar has always been a big part of it and um we have 40 hours worth of seminars if you can believe that which is just insane. But we cover the gamma from A to Z. But some of the uh seminars I'm more excited about is um one of them is Joe Kamakow. So Joe Kamako is the gentleman that with Gary Stern they started Daddy East pinball and they're going to talk about the games they mil made with Daddy East together and there was a lot of them. Laser Wars is one of the very early ones. uh Robocop I think was one they did and Back to the Future or Time Machine sorry time machine and uh there's a lot of history between those guys and they'll have their seminar at the expo but uh another special guest we have coming is very special to me and that's uh Pat Lawler. So Pat as most you know did did the design of Adam's family. Uh he also did um whirlwind, Twilight Zone. I mean, the list goes on and on, but uh Pat has always been one of the more popular speakers at our show, and every time he's got a seminar, people pack it up. So, uh for those coming to Expo maybe for the first time, this is one guy you want to see because he's extremely knowledgeable and uh his seminars are by far one of the best we we do at the show. And he'll be coming. And what makes it special for me is he came last year and I said, "Pat, would you consider coming one more year?" and uh his take was, well, I don't know. And I I kept pushing him a little bit and finally said, you know what? Okay, we'll do one more year. So, he's going to be speaking with Larry tomorrow and they'll talk about the the games they did at Williams and a lot of great titles, but he'll be speaking another special seminar we have is Steve Ritchie. So, Steve Ritchie is always, you know, the king of design and he's always or king of flow and he's always made some great games as well. and he's gonna talk about his um starting roots at Atari. That's how far back he goes up to his current designs with with uh Jersey Jack. So, that should also be extremely informative. So, I'd recommend those two seminars you got to hit. Plus, one with Joe Camo. But, we have the seminars and that's a big part of the of the show for me. And of course, the the vendor hall. The vendor hall this year is has actually sold out. This is the first time we've actually officially sold the show out. every space has been taken and we have so much going on. Um the one aspect of the show is the 1930s. So thanks to Cliff Shonne who kind of introduced the whole concept to Expo many years ago, he's taken it a step further and he puts together a little speak easy booth that when you walk in it, you feel like you're walking back in time. His wife Colleen is dressed with a a flapper outfit and u it's just all good fun. So, they'll have about 20 to 30 machines in their booth, all from the 1930s. No electricity, guys. And uh really fun to see this stuff. And he's also going to do a seminar or a tournament in his booth, a 1930s tournament with prizes. So, I mean, it's all for the fun of the game. Make sure you see that. And another another great aspect of the show this year will be the homebrew. So this year, um, thanks to the help of Jake Danzig and Aaron Davis and Namoto Harney, uh, they've combined efforts to put together an amazing array of homebrew games. Um, a couple that I'm looking forward to seeing is Steamboat Willie and, uh, the Cuphead game. Uh these guys are masters in in their own world and they've created some great games and there's a lot more homebrew guys that will be there including a game that Ernie Silverberg helped me build last year that or two years ago and it's called um mother ship. So the mother ship is a game slightly larger than the Atari Hercules. So if you remember Hercules that's a a huge game. They use a Q ball as the uh ball in in the game. Well, Ernie, crazy. So, Ernie helped me build a game called Mothership, which is even larger than Hercules. But what also makes it kind of cool for me is it's a multiball. So, uh, think about that. A multiball, massively huge game. And that game will be for play at Expo. So, that is going to be wild to say the least. So, you know, when I'm digging through the internet, I come across a guy uh from France that made a game called The Invaders. Well, one thing led to the other and I talked the guy into bringing his game to Expo. So, it's the first home brew that's coming from out of the country. Now, we have um Roland that brings his game uh from uh Canada, but this is the first time we've had a game come from Europe, from France. It's crazy. The game is coming by air to the States. It's it's actually arrived. So, that will be um one of the samplings of homebrew games there. So, if you're into homebrew, get ready to see a collection of home brerews that you'll blow your mind. And you know, we speak about Emoto. Moto U works for Marco Specialties and um they have really gone overboard this year with the help of Marco Ramirez. They've got a booth 80 foot by 80 foot. It's massive. And in that booth, they're going to have all the homebrew games. But Marco is going to do something that I've been pushing for for years. They're going to have a supermarket inside that booth. And the supermarket will be all the supplies from Marco. So, it's any parts that have been sitting on the shelf for a while, scratch and dent, uh overruns, uh parts that are no longer available, they're going to have them for sale, plus new parts as well. So, it's going to be like a supermarket inside there. So, bring your carts and get ready. That's going to be crazy. So, I'm looking forward to that as well. And we've got so much going on, you know, even for the kids. We have stuff. We have u Ryan Tanner Walters is doing something called the pinball scientist. He's a school teacher um by profession, but what he's doing is uh he's in his booth. He's got a a toy that I I found out it I found at the local toy store, but it's um making your own pinball machine. And again, it's it's out of plastic parts and there it's it's smaller sized, but they use gumballs for at the actual pinball. But he's got a dozen of these games and anyone that comes to his booth, any kids that come to his booth, he will help them build their own pinball machine with with his toy. So, that's going to be a very special treat. Plus, he's having a pinball tournament for kids. Um he'll he'll have a 1960s game in his booth and he'll hold a tournament there in his booth. So, that's going to be very special. And of course for those people that are into the uh papa tournaments, you know, we we have um Deborah and Trent doing their uh helping out with with the tournaments with that. Uh Josh is also there helping out with the kids tournaments. So if you're in the tournaments, we got the tournaments. If you're in the seminars, we got the seminars. If you're into the vendor hall, which is going to be massive. I mean, some of you people buy your supplies from Planetary Pinball. This guy's got a massive booth. He's really uh gone overboard, which is great. And then we have um great American pinball, Mike Nogle. Uh when he came to expo several years ago, he got a 20 by 20 booth. Well, this year it's 30 by 40. So, I mean, everyone that comes to this show u has really gone overboard this year to help us out. And for me, it's very exciting because, you know, after the 40th show last year, uh which is a very special milestone. I I didn't think we would have the interest going into the 41st show, but dog on if we didn't have the interest. It's it's just as strong, if not stronger. And it shows by the numbers even for Stern. Uh last year, I think we had about eight or nine00 people go on the Stern tour. This year they're registered for over a thousand. So we have a lot of people come from all over the US, all over the world. And it's really cool. And for those that are able to come Wednesday night for our u opening party, we call it the bumper blast. We're going to have that at Entarium. An entarium is kind of like a family entertainment center. But um when you come there, as long as you pay for the full for the full boat, you'll get a massive amount of food. You'll explode. There's so much food there, food offering. Plus, they have the games there and there's video games there, pinball machines there. They got a bowling alley there, bowling lanes. So, this all happens Wednesday night. And what else is special Wednesday night is everyone gets a chance to meet everybody for the first time and shake hands and hugs and you'll meet a lot of European guys which are there and it's really fun because um for the most part they all speak English. But um like everyone that comes to show there the love of pinball and the love of pinball will be resonating throughout the show not only among the Americans that are there but the people from all over the United States and all over the world. So, it's a great thing to look forward to with Expo and uh another aspect of the show. It's really you got to be part of it.
Yeah, I'm incredibly excited. There's I mean, you hit so many points there. I wanted to talk about the homebrew stuff. I'm I'm super excited about that coming from the arcade homebrew side, right? The independent developed games. And I think it's awesome that that Emoto and Marcos are are doing what they're doing with all those parts to help people get their homebrew games to the next level. and really build those out. Um, let's talk a little bit more about that. Like, how did the homebrew scene start for you guys? And I guess on that vein, would you be interested in future shows to have like an indie arcade space kind of move in with that too and show like what people are doing independently in the arcade scene as a whole?
Well, you know, when it comes to the uh the homebrew, uh Dave Fix is instrumental in kind of helping that out and and help pushing the the the gamut on that. Uh but to me, one of the driving force behind it was Aaron Davis with his software that he made for the homebrew uh people. So um he he made it affordable and like anything in the hobby and anything in life, everything starts small and eventually it gains momentum. So um I think that's early on and maybe we had maybe five or eight games, homebrew games. I remember Jerry was there from Molly Morphick was there and uh he was probably one of the early um vendors that brought in homebrew type games. So it it kind of started with him and and it just kind of morphed to the degree that it's just massive and you know there's no end in sight. And according to Aaron who sells the software, people constantly reach out to him about buying software and and looking forward to coming to Expo and meet other people that do homebrews because there's something very cool and special about it that uh you know if you if you got the will, it's really easy to uh dive in and and produce it. And a lot of the guys in the home, they really share their comments and their thoughts. So they're all very welcoming and supportive of the new guys coming out. Yeah, I love how the community has just built over time and you know, you got a couple instrumental people. You make a little bit of software to help a couple people out and all of a sudden you have I mean what' you say there's going to be like 60 games or something along that line for the homebrew side.
Well, this year, last year we had 40. This year we're going to probably be shooting for uh 45 to 50. So, it's really hard to say. You know, some guys most people have registered, but some haven't. So, we might be surprised, you know, who else shows up. That's cool that you might just have some more more games show up at the last second. And one I'm really looking forward to is Big Trouble in Little China. I just saw the announcement about it a couple days ago. Uh my dad and I used to watch that a lot. That was one of his favorite movies growing up. So it's cool to see that, you know, become a real thing and and you know, it's it's kind of a niche dream theme, but it it's definitely cool to see. Um what are some games that you're really looking forward to seeing and playing for the first time at Expo? Well, I I know uh back to the home brerew, but Jake Danzig has been working on something. He calls it the monster league hockey and uh I have not seen the game, but people behind the scenes that were involved in helping him build it say it's it's so unbelievable. It's fantastic. It's great. You'll want to put the money out and buy it right away. So, um he's bringing that game. And what's really cool is he's asking people uh to come to Expo dressed up in any kind of um uh cosplay costume of a monster or whatever it may be. And he's going to be giving out uh plaques and awards to those people who dressed the as the best monster. So I think it's to help promote the theme of his game. So that's going to be crazy. And um you know on a side note, both Stern and Jersey Jack will have games uh brand new games there at the show that they're going to those there'll be a raffle. So you have a chance to win a game just for the cost of a raffle ticket. So uh kudos to those guys. Um, the game from Stern will be uh the proceeds, the money from that will be going to um make the Make a Wish Foundation and the proceeds from the Jersey Jack auction will be going to the um let's see, Boys and Girls Club of Chicago. So, you know, everyone's out to help the community out. But back to the show, um another guy that's coming to the show is Mike Thomasson. He has come out with a new book called Pinball Pinups and he will be introducing that book at Pinball Expo. So, he'll have a booth there where you can buy the book. He'll sign up for you and from from what I've seen of it, it's very very cool. Really cool slant on on the pinball um pinups, the women in in pinball art. So, that's something is going to be really fun to see. Um, other things I think I'll mention you guys is that um, uh, we're going to have a pinball topper contest. So, anybody that makes toppers, they're they're welcome to bring it and that'll be another part of the show. Um, something also for first timers, we have something we introduced last year and it's called it's a learn to solder uh, event at the show. So, there's a company there that brings a big table down and they bring soldering guns and solder and they show you how to solder. So, it's it's for some of us it's it's a simple thing, but someone's never done it, it's pretty cool. So, that'll be at the show. And um there's another guy coming here from Canada. I think it's pronounced Satara Guitars, but they produce guitars. uh they cut out a corner or an aspect of a playfield and they use that as the is the front or the face of the guitar. So I've talked to Ed Ed Robertson uh from Bear Lake Naked Ladies. Uh he bought a guitar from this guy. So he's going to have I think six or eight custom guitars built from Playfields at the show. So get ready guys. That's going to be crazy fun. Uh, another interesting thing is I I have a guy that's coming from Budapest, Hungary, and he's bringing uh some pinball uh Playfield glass. So, this is this guy is the direct manufacturer of glass. So, he'll be selling glass at Expo, which is really going to be pretty cool. Uh, another special feature we got coming this year is a guy from the Netherlands. He goes by the name of Europen. He's bringing the container games in from Europe. And these are games only seen in Europe. Uh, and I heard about this guy. A lot of the games that my pastimes arcade, the games came from him. So, he's going to um share the opportunity for those that come to expo to buy some games from him uh that were made specifically for the European market, which is cool. Now, he'll have a few American titles, too, including Cubert's Quest, the pinball machine. So those are very hard to find. So he'll he'll be be having one of those in the show. So that's going to be really cool. So you know, there's so much happening and there's so much to do. It's almost like, you know, where do you start? Um the autograph session to me is one of the more u one of my favorite opportunities for a lot of people to come and meet their heroes and get a picture of them or or uh take a picture with them or get their autograph. And a lot of guys will bring either playfields or backlashes and have the guys sign this for them. So that's a really cool part of the show to meet these these famous people that design and and do the artwork of the game. So they'll they'll be there. So um you know the expo is a little bit of everything for everyone. No matter what level of interest you have, uh Pinball Expo's for you.
Yeah, I'm I'm excited. I mean there's there's so much going on. like I I know I'm going to miss a bunch of stuff just because there's so many things to do and so many great panels to see. Um I'm super excited for it. I know I've I've talked to a lot of other content creators that are going to be there and I'm really excited to to hang out with everybody and play some pinball together. Uh that's really all the questions I had for you, Rob. So just to wrap it up, just tell people why they should come to Expo and why this is like why you enjoy running this show so much.
Well, you know, it's a passion that's got out of control. you know, the fact I buy all these games. There's a passion for the for the hobby. But, you know, for me, it's just fun to see um the attendees come to the show and en enjoy what I've always enjoyed and to meet new people, to see the new games. Um Turner Pinball would be there, Barrels of Fun, as well as the ma the major guys, Stern, Jersey Jack, Chicago Gaming, and there's everyone there. In fact, there's a company out of France called Hexa. H EXA. They're bringing their games in and um you know, the expo has become, you know, a very big part of of the hobby and of the industry. And there's a lot of people that come and a lot of people enjoy the all aspects of it. There's just so much to share with you guys that even if if you're on the fence, believe me when I tell you, if you come, it'll be the most fun you've ever had in your life. you know, there there there's a a warmth in the air and of of pinball enthusiasts that when you go there, it's just like a uh almost like a family reunion, seeing old friends and meeting new friends and and that's the what the good part about the pinball community. So, uh you'll be there and of course Flippy will be coming. Flipp is the little mascot we have we created for pinball expo. So, he'll be there with his little sister, Flipette, and their little brother, Chip, who just happens to be the shape of a ball. But, um, we'll be selling all the kind of souvenirs like that and of course shirts and other things. And I know Planetary Pinball, he he he's making so much uh souvenirs there from what I've seen her that uh I'm just warning you guys, you won't know where to start first. I mean, imagine the when we did our show years ago, it was 25,000 square feet as far as the vendor space. This year, we're at a 100,000. So, it's a massive show and there's so much to see that uh if you're thinking for coming for one day, you better make it two. If you think you can if you're coming for two days, you better make it three because there's just so much to do, guys. And it's all good fun. So, anyone that's watching this, I really hope that uh this kind of gives you an idea of what to expect and uh the energy in the air is just fantastic. And um you know, it's cool just to meeting people you've heard about. Oh, Joe, I heard about you. Now I finally get a chance to meet you. Or Gary Stern, man, so nice to meet you. Or Jack Weri, great to meet you, Jack. Doug Duba from Chicago Gaming. I mean, all the guys, it's just fun to meet them and see what they have to offer. And again guys, most likely we'll have close to 500 games on the show floor. So there's a lot to see, a lot to do, and it's it's endless entertainment. So I hope to see you guys there.
Yeah, I hope everybody that's watching is going to be able to make it out and get to visit. And I I hope to meet some of you. I'm super excited to meet a lot of the people that I've interviewed for the first time in person. and I can't wait to just just get to get to Chicago and and play some pinball with uh with Rob and everybody. So, thanks so much for coming on, Rob. I really appreciate your time. Thanks for sharing the story and letting us know like what to expect at Pinball Expo. For anyone that's still watching, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. It helps us a ton. The wave will continue to grow. We can all ride it together. Go to Expo if you can. You need to check this out. And if you can't make it this year, start planning for next year. If you're looking to add a stern to your collection or any indie games, you know where to reach me. indie arcadewavegmail.com and we will get that figured out. And until next time, peace. [Music] Heat. Heat. N. [Music] [Applause] [Music]