No, you're not seeing double. My last machine restoration post was also about an LAI Skill Tester. ​​It's not often I get a double-up of machines, but while I was in the throes of finishing up repairs to the first LAI Skill Tester, I saw an ad on Facebook from someone who was giving another one away. Sweet! These machines aren't worth much, and there don't seem to be many people who have the desire or ability to fix them. But I'm a sucker for retro technology, so it's right up my alley! 

Another pop culture show? You bet! This one was a big one. CollectFest is a new show for all things collectable, whether it be collectable cards (Pokemon, Magic, etc.), comics, action figures, coins, stamps, video games, or anything in between. It's exciting whenever a new collectables show appears as it shows how much demand there is for these pop culture events around Australia. CollectFest had done shows in Brisbane and Melbourne, so Fiona and I put out hands up to contribute some pinball machines to the Sydney event in Darling Harbour to round-out their Experience offerings. We were excited about this because the CollectFest team were really keen on the retro vibe of an arcade, which is exactly what we wanted to give to patrons of the show.

​I'm writing this after a monster of a Saturday. I just got up after a 12 hour sleep and I still feel tired! I'm smashed because Fiona and I spent yesterday at the Australian Collectables Expo (also known as the Campbelltown Card Show), and we spent the couple of days prior to that getting ready for it. Only a week after our appearance at TCXPO, we decided to contribute to this show because it was local (only ten minutes away from home!) and because the van was already half-loaded with the machines and parts from the last show, so loading up wouldn't be too difficult! And, of course, it helps us in our mission to spread "pinball to the people". ​

Trading cards? What's that got to do with pinball? Well, not much. However, I like to take any opportunity I can to spread the joy of pinball around. So whenever a pinball or pop culture-related expo comes around, I like to offer my services as a "Pinball Advocate" and bring some machines for the public to experience for the first time, or enjoy for the thousandth time, whatever the case may be. TCXPO is the latest venture of Amy from Collector Con, who organises several pop culture events throughout the year. It was on for the first time on Sunday, and it's awesome to be a part of an inaugural show!

Normally I start each blog entry with an image of the flyer for the game I'm going to be working on. Unfortunately, Leisure & Allied Industries (LAI) produced very few flyers for their games, particularly the simpler redemption games. However, there are few games that were as ubiquitous in Australian arcades as the classic skill tester claw machine by LAI. This particular example was one of the cabinets from our container-of-games pickup several years ago, and it was basically in working condition when I got it. However, it had never had a proper clean, and a few small issues were starting to appear, so it was time to give this machine a good going-over.

And here's another event report! Will we get sick of constantly going to pinball events? Probably not! We've already been to three over the last two months, so what's one more? Besides, this is the one pinball event I look forward to the most every year - Pinfest! This year, we decided to be a little more organised than normal by finalising repairs to machines early and packing for the event a few days before. That didn't quite work out, as we were still hurriedly finishing repairs on the Friday morning, a few hours before we left. It always seems like there's an issue or two that pop up at the most inopportune time, but that's pinball! ​