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This Beachside Pinball Show Changed Everything!

Cary Hardy·video·15m 27s·analyzed·Feb 12, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Cary Hardy declares Pinball at the Beach his new favorite show for its unique blend of pinball and beach resort experience.

Summary

Cary Hardy reviews Pinball at the Beach, a new beachside pinball show in St. Pete Beach, Florida organized by Marshall Dixon. He praises the event's unique atmosphere combining pinball gaming with beach resort amenities, considers it his favorite show despite minor logistical issues, and emphasizes the strong sense of community fostered by the venue's layout and vacation setting.

Key Claims

  • Pinball at the Beach is now Cary Hardy's favorite pinball show, surpassing other major events

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'Look, this is tough for me to say, but I feel like Pinball at the Beach is probably my new favorite show'

  • The show attracted representatives from major manufacturers: Spooky Pinball, Barrels of Fun, Jersey Jack Pinball, and Stern Pinball

    high confidence · Enumerated list of manufacturers present with specific games: Evil Dead (Spooky), Labyrinth (Barrels), Avatar CE (JJP), Dungeons and Dragons (Stern)

  • Marshall Dixon is the main organizer behind Pinball at the Beach, with help from Ed and Kim Vanderbeen

    high confidence · Direct identification: 'all of these games belong to the main man behind this show marshall dixon with little shop of games but he's also getting help from ed and kim vanderbeen'

  • Community sentiment and shared experience was a key factor distinguishing this show from other pinball events

    high confidence · Multiple accounts from attendees: 'this past weekend about the show And one word that kept coming up from multiple people was community'

  • The event had significant setup and logistical challenges, including power concerns and only four hours for initial setup Thursday night

    high confidence · Detailed account of setup: 'There were also concerns rising in regards to power. Alternate resources were being looked into... But they only had four hours that night before they had to lock the doors'

Notable Quotes

  • “Look, this is tough for me to say, but I feel like Pinball at the Beach is probably my new favorite show i mean every show provides something that another one cannot and pinball at the beach just provides you that beach vacation like experience that no other show can't”

    Cary Hardy@ 5:13 — Core thesis of the review—establishes Pinball at the Beach as Hardy's top-ranked show based on unique experiential value

  • “the best view that i've ever had at a pinball show that's for damn sure”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:24 — Describes the distinctive beachside venue setting as superior to other pinball shows

  • “i feel like i'm definitely nowhere near the level they are like yes people know me and i did sign a lot of items people shirts towels and everything but no i do not put myself anywhere near the same pedestal as the people that were sitting down the row from me right there completely different level those guys are the true legends”

    Cary Hardy@ 8:45 — Hardy demonstrates deference to pinball industry legends, contextualizing his role in the community

  • “this show is not too big it's Not too small. It was the Goldilocks, I'll say that. It was just right.”

    Cary Hardy@ 9:27 — Characterizes the event scale as ideally balanced—not overcrowded but with sufficient variety and manufacturers

  • “We've been to the other two main shows expo and tpf and we're like majorly exhausted afterwards and we're glad to take a break from it whereas this one we kind of want to go back”

    Cary Hardy@ 5:39 — Direct comparison to established major shows (Expo, TPF), indicating Pinball at the Beach's superior attendee experience and retention value

Entities

Pinball at the BeacheventCary HardypersonMarshall DixonpersonEd VanderbeenpersonKim VanderbeenpersonSpooky PinballcompanyBarrels of FuncompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball at the Beach included autograph signing session with industry legends, karaoke entertainment, and tournament component alongside competitive gaming

    high · Hardy documented interactions with pinball legends at signing table, participated in karaoke, and referenced tournament held in hotel lobby

  • ?

    community_signal: Beach resort setting with integrated amenities appears to foster stronger community bonding and reduced attendee fatigue compared to traditional convention centers

    high · Multiple attendees cited 'community' as distinguishing factor; Hardy and wife noted wanting to return versus exhaustion after Expo and TPF; ability to break from pinball for beach/pool activities described as restorative

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball at the Beach inaugural event successfully executed with strong community attendance and positive reception despite first-year logistical challenges

    high · Hardy's comprehensive coverage shows event opened on schedule Friday afternoon, attracted major manufacturers, and generated consistent positive feedback from multiple attendees regarding community atmosphere

  • $

    market_signal: Successfully executed inaugural pinball show at resort venue with integrated amenities represents viable alternative market segment to traditional convention center events

    high · Event described as 'just right' sizing, attracted four major manufacturers with new-in-box games, maintained short queue times, and demonstrated ability to retain attendees through non-pinball resort amenities

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Cary Hardy's ranking of Pinball at the Beach as his new favorite show represents significant sentiment shift from prior preference structure favoring Expo and TPF

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.046

0:00
This is great. I mean, I work in the tabletop industry, so I go to conventions all the time. As a show in general, this place is great. It's very chill, lovely atmosphere. You've got the beach, you've got . Fantastic. Definitely echo what he said, man. It's been a blast. really cool people and it's nice to have it at the beach karaoke this guy killed it with a lot of fun the games are amazing but being able to take a break to go to the pool the hot tub hanging out at the tiki bar it's been the best like you get to play pinball and hang out what's up guys and welcome back to the channel I'm here in st. Pete Beach Florida and this is pinball at the beach I was invited to spend the weekend in Florida to experience the first of hopefully more pinball at the beach and I had a great time an unforgettable show reviews are in from the public and it's a hit but was it all good let's talk about it All right, so I know what you're thinking. You're like, who the hell would want to play pinball machines on a beach? But that's not how this is going to work.
1:36
Now, obviously, if you want to, at any point in time, you could come here and enjoy the beach. But the show is actually going to be inside. but at any point you could come out here and enjoy this beautiful view of the beach
2:06
and this is the first show out of hopefully many more to come so there's a lot of new a lot of lessons that will be learned in the whole process of this but in the end definitely something different the best view that i've ever had at a pinball show that's for damn sure but over here there is this slide that is inflatable and you can slide down and evidently at any point i'm guessing you could right now But, uh, yeah, so let's take a look inside the actual pinball show.
Stern Pinball
company
Evil Deadgame
Labyrinthgame
Avatar CEgame
Dungeons and Dragonsgame
TradeWinds Island Grand Resortorganization
Little Shop of Gamesorganization

high · Direct statement: 'Look, this is tough for me to say, but I feel like Pinball at the Beach is probably my new favorite show' with explicit comparison to Expo and TPF exhaustion

3:15
They began set up on Thursday night. I arrived and there were no games in the tent yet. There were also concerns rising in regards to power. Alternate resources were being looked into. The trucks began to arrive and it started to come together. But they only had four hours that night before they had to lock the doors Work would continue the next morning and be ongoing until the show opened at 5 p Friday afternoon The show started without issue all of these games belong to the main man behind this show marshall dixon with little shop of games but he's also getting help from ed and kim vanderbeen we had representatives from spooky Pinball, showcasing their newest game, Evil Dead. Barrels of Fun with their Labyrinth.
4:34
Jersey Jack Pinball with their entire collection, including their latest Avatar CE. And of course, Stern Pinball with Dungeons and Dragons. Now seeing all these new in box games in nice condition is expected. But seeing all these older Bally's, Williams, Gottliebs in pretty damn good condition too was definitely the cherry on top. And these older games were from Marshall's private collection.
5:13
Look, this is tough for me to say, but I feel like Pinball at the Beach is probably my new favorite show i mean every show provides something that another one cannot and pinball at the beach just provides you that beach vacation like experience that no other show can't facts that's what that is i i had a lovely time i mean i don't know else how else to explain it my wife had an excellent time we've been to the other two main shows expo and tpf and we're like majorly exhausted afterwards and we're glad to take a break from it whereas this one we kind of want to go back and that's mainly right now because the weather outside in texas right now is kind of crap and over there in florida it was perfect the entire damn weekend not too hot not too cold sunny and beautiful as far as food goes there was plenty of food around now this place where it's at is kind of like recovering from the hurricane season so there were like some issues with that but i think overall if you want something fancy then go to rum fish grill we went in there uh it was too fancy and we left we're like no we don't this doesn't fit us right now we just kind of want junk and so we went across the street to boulevard burgers and i recommend those of you out there that just want a nice casual eat let's have some drinks uh eat a lot of food then that's your place to go by all means but there's other places that are within walking distance from this resort the beach by all means kind of speaks for itself that's why i'm giving you all the footage of my drone and everything flying over it it was absolutely beautiful lovely time and that's why i think this show has got something special is that you have the ability to go into the game room have your dose of pinball and you know at a certain point in time where you just kind of need a break go to the beach lay out the sun just relax and it's nice and peaceful or go to the mini bars that are around that area or to the the salty bar i think that's what they called it go over there get you something and then go out to the beach lay in a hammock or go to the pool, the hot tubs,
7:30
paddle boats. There's just so many amenities around there to get you away from the main reason why you there which was pinball So that was nice because my wife was able to go in there get a dose of it and go okay I think I done with people And then go to the beach and have a nice enjoyable calming experience Along with having a really great show, they also had an autograph signing session. I received this gift right here. I'm going to get that in focus enough, maybe. But really cool. thank you very much Marshall, Ed, and Kim for the gift I'm grateful that you gave me the gift but I almost didn't want to be at the signing because you have all these actual legends in pinball that are on this table signing items for machines that they created, they spent months and years developing and creating these for all these people that love what they've done with all these machines and they're completely grateful as well for these certain individuals out there and i feel like i'm definitely nowhere near the level they are like yes people know me and i did sign a lot of items people shirts towels and everything but no i do not put myself anywhere near the same pedestal as the people that were sitting down the row from me right there completely different level those guys are the true legends and the reason why pinball is what it is today i even got this really nice one of one like evil dead uh signed portion right here i don't really know where to hang this up yet this show was great it's not too big it's Not too small. It was the Goldilocks, I'll say that. It was just right. You had all your new machines, plus all your older ones for everyone else to enjoy. It wasn't overly packed. You had plenty of machines at any point in time that you could walk right up to and play. If there was a line, particularly on Evil Dead and Dungeons and Dragons, then it was only one or two people deep. Yes, you still had those certain individuals that won a Grand Champion machine. you've heard my my feelings on that but either way i think the show was definitely a big hit from everyone i talked to they really enjoyed it the show hopefully will return next year but along with the show you had the other side things that were going on the other little events and karaoke i did that against my uh better judgment um i did a couple of songs my wife did multiple songs she loves doing karaoke i do a couple of songs and there's definitely one i really wish i wouldn't have done because it was bad it's so bad i didn't even want to share that with you guys but i'm just like i am completely aware that it was bad i i know listening to it again i was just cringing but if you trust me go back rewind it listen to it again but this time be drunk and i'm telling you i don't sound too bad after that but i think after speaking with a lot of people this past weekend about the show And one word that kept coming up from multiple people was community at this show for whatever reason seemed to i don know bring a lot of us together that normally aren together something about it i don't know how to explain it but it seemed like it was just a more communal aspect of a show and i'm guessing it's the ability to just walk outside and go to these places and be in a nice quiet outside enjoyable environment the sun's giving us the vitamin d that our body needs so maybe that has something to do with it but i i think that this was definitely a great experience and i think a lot of you out there that didn't get the opportunity or ability to come to this show i'm hoping that you will have it next year now i've got my thoughts and opinions on the hotel completely out of the hands of the showrunners they've got no responsibilities or they can't control that but that hotel that i was at they need a freight elevator and they need to do something about the elevator speed especially towards the end of the week we only had one elevator working and it was ridiculously slow i just took the damn stairs i was like i was like i ain't got time for this i'm taking the damn stairs but yeah freight elevators so that way the workers can start using that instead of using the same elevators that i am with all their barrels of trash that they're bringing in there i don't know it just kind of ruins the resort type of experience and especially for the price of these rooms and everything i i would expect them to have a freight elevator for their workers to use but that's just me completely out of the showrunners they can't control that but with the pools that were there the hot tubs and i guess that was some sort of tennis court or whatever but i figure what i can do is kind of give you an overview using some of my drone footage right here to show you kind of the layout of the show. Okay directly below is the hotel that I was staying at and that is the courtyard. Inside the courtyard you've got Putt-Putt Golf, a giant chess board, a hotel restaurant that is actually on the back end right here and then you have the main lobby region right here. This is where the tournament was also being held and there's a bar inside of there now on over to here all within walking distance this is where the actual pinball at the beach tent is located and you have your pickleball courts right here and then you have all your swimming pools and then you have your salty tiki bar that's over here and then of course your access to this lovely beach so there you have it that was pinball at the beach i like i said multiple times already great show i'm really hoping it happens again next year and hopefully a lot of you out there will reach out to marshall and give them a little bit more encouragement and some peer pressure to get him to say, okay, you know what, let's do it again. And I think definitely after this first show, lessons were learned, and I think that certain things, if it happens again, will be adjusted accordingly. But overall, guys, I loved it. And I would like to know from your standpoint, for those of you out there that didn't get to go, Is this a show that you're now considering after seeing what you missed? And for those that were there, let me know in the comments section down below if you plan on attending again. Until next time, guys. Peace out.