Every year we spend months trying to figure out how we’re going to make TPF bigger and better. Just when we think we’ve reached the limit, you guys prove us wrong. There is absolutely no way that we could pull this off without the support of an incredible pinball community that reaches far and wide. We had exhibitors bring games from as far away as Wisconsin and vendors that came from all over the United States and Europe!

This year, special thanks goes to our dedicated and passionate volunteers: Colin MacAlpine, Rachel Morris, Darren Kammer, Robert Harris, Jaelanne and Trey Gilliam, Shawn Christian, Kelly Foard Aday, Pam Heffern, Gina Curbo, Greg Spivey, Michael and Melinda Braly and Kristin and Clark Nethers. You all spent more hours than we can count making sure things were handled… before, during and after the show. There were another 40+ volunteers that helped us fill in the gaps. Thank you all!

Exhibitors: We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. Without the games you bring to share with us all weekend, there would be no show. Every year, we’re amazed at the quantity and quality of machines that you bring to the show. And we’re proud you take ownership in the Texas Pinball Festival. This year, more than before, area pinball clubs stepped up to bring games as a group. Though the DFW Pinball Group makes up a large portion of our community base, we saw participation from Ark-La-Tex, Ozark Pinball Syndicate, and Bat City and Gulf Coast Pinball Clubs.

As much effort as we put into making the Texas Pinball Festival a great show, we recognize the time and effort each of you puts forth. YOU make TPF the best pinball in the country!

Tournaments

We revamped our tournaments this year, under guidance from IFPA President Josh Sharpe and Coast 2 Coast Pinball Podcast Host and avid tournament player Nate Shivers.

We brought on Assistant Tournament Directors Colin Macalpine and Rachel Morris, as well as a host of volunteers for score keeping and judging. We utilized feature rich tournament software. We reduced the overall number of machines dedicated to the tournaments and we concluded tournament play by Saturday night. We also eliminated the unlimited players and plays style of qualification, opting instead to limit the number of players and plays. Finally we made the tournaments 100% payout.

All of these changes allowed us to put the tournament games on free play for Sunday and allowed (or forced in some cases) tournament players to spend more time exploring the rest of the show. We believe the changes to our tournaments were well received and made for a smooth tournament experience, both for the organizers and the tournament players.

Texas Wizards Tournament

TPF Tournament Winners

And we can’t forget the kids!

In the end, we were hoping to be able to squash the world record for “Most People Playing Pinball Machines Simultaneously”. Sadly that was not to be… this year. However, the TPF2016 Game Line-Up was still impressive. We tallied 346 pinball machines (but we’ll defer to Pinball News’ count of 352) and 68 classic arcades for a grand total of 420 games on the floor.

We realize that Exhibitors work very hard and make every attempt to bring their best games to show. We understand that games go down, and we were pleased to see that most Exhibitors checked on their games often, and did their absolute best to keep their machines running.

One of our favorite parts of the show is the Best Of Awards. The Best Of Awards are intended to reward and recognize the incredible amount of work our Exhibitors put into bringing their best games to the Texas Pinball Festival. They spend countless hours repairing, restoring and polishing these machines until they become works of art you can play with. And though the prizes aren’t significant in themselves, the support the community shows for the Exhibitors is incredible. These ribbons are displayed prominently on winning machines even once they’ve returned to their places at home.

“The Mayor” Bill Morrison and his team begin their work when the show opens on Friday. They spend most of Saturday and all morning Sunday playing, inspecting and discussing the games displayed by our Exhibitors. They weigh the merits of each game within its respective category and have to make some hard choices. We do not envy their task.

This year, these are the proud winners. And we could not be happier for them.

And last but not least, this year’s Grand Champion… Daniel Lazarus with Fireball!

This year, our American Heroes Raffle proceeds were donated to Pinball for Patriots. We were able to donate $3,756 with your help! Among other prizes, we raffled off an America’s Most Haunted playfield, donated by Spooky Pinball, and a brand new Stern Spider-Man Vault Edition pinball machine.

The DFW Pinball & Arcade Club pulled out all the stops again this year! The coffee and donuts got us all out of bed to sift through the offerings. There were more than 50 project games up for grabs along with plenty of pieces and parts.

Seminars

Photo Credit: Martin Ayub, Pinball News

So much to do at a pinball festival! So much more than play pinball… This year, we heard from designers, artists, manufacturers and more. Whether you came for entertainment or information, there was lots of both to be had.