Have you ever asked yourself when attending Pinfest the question; where do all the games come from? The games are donated by local and interstate pinball enthusiast who every year spend time and effort to transport their game (or games) to the event for people of all ages to enjoy.
Do you want to become a Pinfest contributor? Then read the information below carefully and contact us via our Facebook page with your name and e-mail contact details if you think you can make a contribution.
IMPORTANT!
Contributing games to Pinfest will be at each contributors expense. Pinfest is a charity event, and as such, we cannot afford to pay people expenses, otherwise there would be no $$ left to give.
The event starts taking names for machine contributions typically 4 months before the date… and spots fill up fast.
DO NOT show up unannounced at Pinfest with a game on the day. You must register with the NPA first. We will put you in our event register (if spots available) and keep you up to date with event news.
1) Condition of game. The game needs to be in good mechanical condition – its physical appearance is not as important (slightly worn playfield etc), as long as it works! Its going to get played continuously for 12+ hour over the week-end so it needs to withstand this. We will not accept non working games or games for display only. We would also like the game to be clean and presentable. Do not bring a game with issues and think our tech staff will fix it before the event. Technical staff with equipment will be on hand to fix any minor breakdowns that will arise from the event if you cannot fix the fault yourself easily. Please note the condition of the rebound rubbers, if they are old and almost perished, they will fall apart at the event!!!
2) Delivery of Machine. We will not pick your game up and drop it off. The game needs to be delivered and picked up by you or by others working on your behalf. (See additional conditions in item 14)
3) Delivery time. Machines need to be delivered on Friday – ideally anytime between 9am to 6pm. People will be on hand to help unload. If there is a bit of a bottleneck you might have to wait for 10 min. Please advise us if you will be arriving after 6pm (advise closer to the date) – we will put a note in the game register. Games will not be accepted on Saturday – no exceptions. As of Pinfest 2022, machines can be delivered to the venue Thursday night between 7pm and 10pm by prior arrangement with the organisers.
4) What to do on arrival.
Part 1 First thing to do on arrival is to come in through the main club entrance and sign in. Once you have signed in, please proceed to the Mountain View Room to pick up your access tag/lanyard. Club staff will point you in the right direction. Once in the Mountain View Room, there will be Pinfest people looking after arrivals. Your name will be marked off the list and you will be given a lanyard. Please wear your access lanyard from now on so we don’t confuse you with the general public. People do try and sneak in during this time as its easy to mix in with the crowd. PICK UP YOUR LANYARD FIRST BEFORE UNLOADING YOUR MACHINE.
Part 2 Once you have your lanyard, you can go and unload your machine. 90% of the machines will come in via the auditorium loading dock. Your machine(s) will have a designated position in the lineup. We will tell you which numbered space is yours. Once you have your spot, set up your game and do what you need to do. Please level your machine up – don’t rely on others to do it. We will supply you with a master lock for each game you have. Please change your lock and place your old lock into your machine. You can keep the new lock and change it back after the event if you like. If you can’t change your lock or won’t have time to, we will do it for you. Leave the keys to your machine in the lock! Do not take the keys away with you. Please make sure your original keys are on a key ring/tag with the game name or your name on them!!!
5) Electrical safety check. Your game will be earth tested and tagged.
We will have a person at Pinfest that can do this as you show up. If done beforehand by you it would be great, but not required. At the very least, please make sure the electrical cord is in good condition with no frayed or taped up sections and with an earth pin.
Special Note Regarding electrical Safety Check: Electromechanical games (those built pre 1977) seem to pose a special problem. If you are bringing an EM game to the event please make sure it will pass.
6) Taking your game away. Once the event finishes on Sunday at 3pm, you can take your game away. You can take your game away on Sunday evening, or come back Monday morning. Its a bit of chaos Sunday afternoon but it always seems to work out nice for everybody. Be aware that if you plan to pick your game up on Monday there is no guarantee somebody will be there to help you.
7) What you get for bringing a game. Apart from a lot of gratitude and respect from everybody, you will be granted free entry into the event on both days. You can stay back on the Friday night after we have set up the games to play around and test a few games out. Saturday night is our friends and family VIP event, where once the afternoon session is over, we come back after dinner and its a closed session where you can invite our family and friends to play pinball till late – no public access (see conditions in item 8). On top of all that we also provide you with a free special contributor t-shirt, which is not available to the public. (see Note 11 regarding late contributors).
8) Access for Friends and Family. Please provide info to us for additional lanyards if required. Saturday night is free to friends and family. During public sessions we ask that only immediate family members get in free – after all it is a charity event. Conditions: No Friends allowed in free during public sessions, only family members. Number of friends allowed during Saturday night is 1 (one). Family members allowed during sessions only extends to Spouse and kids or Partner and kids (including adult kids) – but we are flexible. Family members like the father or mother of the person contributing (or in laws) are quite welcome on Saturday night.
9) Helping at the event. We appreciate that some contributors can’t be at the event due to family commitments, and just drop their games off and pick them up on Sunday. If you are planning to hang around all week-end at the event, we would appreciate if you would be available to help out when required, especially during set-up and pack-up.
10) Game settings for the event and other things.
- Games should be set on Free-Play or adjust the game with a low enough replay score that the games will replenish themselves.
- Electromechanical games (Pre 1977) and early Solid State Games (1977 to C1983) can remain on 5-ball play. All other games need to be changed to 3 ball play.
- Leg levellers should be freed up and lubricated if rusty.
11) Late Contributors. Pinfest contributor t-shirts have a lead time of about 3 weeks. They are custom made every year and the print run is limited to the number of contributors…no spares. Moral of the story is, if you decide to contribute at the last minute (providing we have spots available), there will not be a free contributor t-shirt for you. We can offer a standard public issue shirt instead.
12) Selling your game at Pinfest. You can put your game up for sale at the event if you wish. No commission will be charged. Pinfest has generally been a great place to sell games over the past years. Please make up a “for sale” sign with price and contact details to put on your game. If you do sell a game, the machine cannot be taken away until after the last session on Sunday. No exceptions. Please do not exchange money until the end of the show. The machine should still be your property until the end of the event.
13) Friday night set up. Please do not invite friends over on the Friday (or Thursday) to have a look around and play a few games or have a general sticky beak etc. Friday, (especially Friday night) is hectic and we try to keep the people involved to a bare minimum. If you are from out of town and have the family with you we consider that ok, but otherwise please do not invite anyone.
14) Additional Info.
(a) If you are bringing a friends game to the event in lieu of your own, then you are seen as the contributor of that game in the eyes of the event, you are responsible for that game and only one contributor T-shirt will be free issued. An additional contributor shirt can be purchased if prearranged with enough notice.
(b) With regards to section 2 above; if you are having the game delivered to the event by others (a specialised pinball moving company for example), you must also attend the event in person. We will not accept contributions from people that will be absent from the entire event. Furthermore, we will not be providing free access to the event for the people delivering your machines. They need to organise their own tickets.
(c) We will accept a contribution of a game and provide a contributor T-shirt if one cannot attend the event in person, providing the game is delivered and returned by another contributor and providing that person takes responsibility for that game.
(d) With the exception of some long standing agreements, friends, dependants, partners or spouses of the nominated contributor will not be receiving a free issue contrubutor shirt. Any additional contributor shirts can be purchased.
(e) With the exception of some prior agreements, we will not accept any new “Piggy Back” contributors. Piggy Back contributors occur when a contributor has several machines coming to the show and wants to assign some of his/her additional games to friends so they can receive a free t-shirt and have free access to the event. This is not allowed any more as it costs the event money.
(f) In addition to section 12 above. If you have sold the game you were intending to bring just before Pinfest and money has changed hands, please do not bring the game to the event. Do not bring a game that has been sold and organise with the buyer to pick it up at the event. If its not your game anymore and it breaks down during the event, the Newcastle Pinball Association will not be responsible for any costs associated with its repair, beyond what we normally do at the event in case of minor fixes.
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If you have reached this far down and have read all the information and still think you can bring a game, please send us a message on our Facebook page with e-mail contact information and we will get back to you.
Information last updated 3rd December 2024.