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    Comic Book Day 2024

    Comic Comic Book Day Events
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    Yesterday (4 May 2024) was a holy day for nerds worldwide. It was Star Wars day. This was also the day that Campbelltown City Council decided to host Comic Book Day at the HJ Daley Library, a celebration of comic books, gaming, and pop culture. Cool! I'm always up for nerdy stuff. Pinball is the perfect companion to nerdy stuff, partly because so many pinball themes are based on nerdy stuff! So, I contacted the library and asked if they would be interested in hosting a couple of pinball machines for the day for guests to enjoy. The library was hosting all kinds of other cool stuff on the day including comic book giveaways, cosplay competitions, Star Wars trivia, and more. They were really keen on the pinball machine idea, so I committed to bringing a couple of games to spread the magic of pinball. I had two perfect games for this kind of event: Judge Dredd (Bally, 1993) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Data East, 1991). Both are based on comic book themes, and both would appeal to the kids that would be attending this kind of event. Unfortunately, however, TMNT is not in service yet as it's still undergoing restoration. So I decided instead to bring Super Mario Bros (Gottlieb, 1992). Into the van they went, and off we went to the library for the day. 
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    Collector Con 2024

    Collector Con Events
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    ​​We're back! Five years after the inaugural Collector Con Toy & Hobby Fair in Campbelltown in 2019, the show is back in town. Collector Con has grown considerably in the last few years but unfortunately there has not been a Campbelltown show since 2019. This year, that changed, and when we heard that Amy was bringing the show back to Campbelltown, we put our hands up to bring some pinball machines along for the public to play again.
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    Pinfest 2023

    Events Pinfest Tee'd Off
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    It's happening! Time for Pinfest! This year's show promised to be the biggest and best yet, with more machines on display (104, to be precise) than any year before! The show gets better and better each year, and this is a huge achievement for such a small and dedicated pinball crew from the Newcastle Pinball Association (NPA). Compared to the absolute insanity of larger shows such as Pinball Expo (400 games, including other coin-op games!) which is happening as I write this, the NPA team do a fantastic job at organising a relatively large show with limited resources. I'm always happy to be a part of it. 
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    Pinfest 2022

    Events Pinfest Super Mario Bros
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    Life has been busy over the last few months so it has taken me a while to finally write a report on Pinfest 2022. Better late than never, so here it is! 2022 was the first year since the pandemic that things were back to "normal". Machines were set up so the venue was at capacity and social distancing was no longer mandatory. Ticket sales for each session were capped, but this was more to ensure everyone had a chance to play the machines rather than a limit set due to Covid restrictions. Pinfest 2021 was a great show, but it did feel a little emptier than usual, so Fiona and I were excited to get back into the swing of things properly.
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    Pinfest 2021

    Demolition Man Events Pinfest
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    ​Well, the last couple of years have been rough! Last year was the first time Fiona and I had missed out on Pinfest since we first attended in 2015. By the end of 2020, the COVID pandemic was in full swing and travelling hours away for a weekend was just not an option for us. Regardless, Pinfest 2020 still went ahead, albeit at a reduced capacity and with fewer games. I was bummed that I couldn't go to my favourite event of the year, and promised that we would be back in 2021 when the pandemic had completely blown over...
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    Collector Con Toy & Hobby Fair 2019

    Collector Con Events
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    Well, it seems like I am a sucker for punishment. A couple of weeks ago, Fiona and I attended Nerd Con and brought three pinball machines for the public to play. We loved sharing our hobby with the public, so we decided to do it again! This time, we headed to Collector Con, an annual collector's convention with memorabilia, pop culture collectables, comics and games, and all sorts of other toys. This convention was in Leumeah, so not too far away from us, and another great opportunity to introduce pinball to the masses. Bringing three pinball machines to Nerd Con was difficult with just one ute and having to make several trips to and fro. So, this time we only brought two machines: Fish Tales (Williams, 1992) and Demolition Man (Williams, 1994).