For years, the EAG Expo in London has been the first coin-op industry tradeshow of the year, especially for Europe. Pinball Magazine Editor Jonathan Joosten reports on this year’s edition.

EAG Expo focuses on coin-op amusement, ranging from kiddy rides, gumball machines, VR entertainment, stuffed animals, payment systems, and pinball. With pinball being my main interest, this year’s show comes down to two exhibitors: Electrocoin, representing Stern Pinball, and Retro Arcade Specialists, representing many smaller brands.

Stern Pinball usually sends a heavy delegation to the show, hosting meetings with distributors and other large customers of Stern. Representing Stern at the EAG Expo were CEO Seth Davis, founder Gary Stern, EVP / CRO John Buscaglia, Director of Export Sales Doug Skor, and European marketing manager Lloyd Dortand. Like the past couple of years, Stern Pinball has an office room upstairs, away from the noise of the show floor, where meetings are held.

Unfortunately, fog at my departing airport heavily delayed my arrival at the show. So, instead of arriving at 11:00 AM, I arrived at 4:00 PM. I rushed to the Electrocoin stand, which had five recent Stern Pinball machines set up: Dungeons & Dragons Pro and Premium, John Wick, Venom, and Foo Fighters. This was my first chance to play Dungeons & Dragons, and being new to the game and theme, I was pretty surprised to achieve Dragon Multiball after only a few shots. Less than 30 seconds into the game, eight balls were fired at me with what seemed like an endless ball saver. It appears this is a timed mode, after which all balls drain, the dragon is reloaded with balls, and regular play continues. To me, just an average player, I can’t help but wonder what is left in the game to discover after getting to such an insane multiball so quickly. I come from a time when achieving multiball was the game’s ultimate objective. If it’s rewarded so quickly, it takes away a lot of the fun. I don’t see the point in rewarding 30 seconds of play with a multiball, but if you have to, why not just a simple two-ball multiball? That worked for The Addams Family and many other games.

So, I played a few games on Dungeons & Dragons when Martin Ayub of Pinball News joined me. I quickly looked for pinball flyers in the Electrocoin stand, only to find out the only pinball flyer left was for Deadpool Pro—no flyers for any recent games.

Martin then pointed out where Retro Arcade Specialists were set up: about 50 meters to the left. While walking over there, I ran into Gary Stern. I quickly asked whether he would be available for an interview for the next Pinball Magazine & Pinball News PINcast. So, less than 15 minutes later, Martin and I sat down with Gary, Doug, and John. Gary did most of the talking, covering a range of subjects, including his favorite recepies.

Following the interview, I headed to the stand of  Retro Arcade Specialists with a selection of eight pinball games from various manufacturers:  Labyrinth (Barrels of Fun), The Blues Brothers (Homepin), Hot Wheels and Houdini (American Pinball), ABBA (Pinball Brothers), Pulp Fiction (Chicago Gaming), Guardians of the Galaxy and James Bond 007 Premium (Stern Pinball). I think the last three mentioned games were pre-owned games. A very nice selection of games. It was also nice to see several flyer stands with A4-sized flyers printed by Retro Arcade Specialists for Jaws Pro, The Blues Brothers, Alien, Hot Wheels, Legends of Valhalla, and others.

As this was the first time I could play The Blues Brothers, I started a game. The playfield is very open, and I had no clue what to shoot for. I had to get used to how the ball moved around, but this was a game that kept me starting another game. Once I got the hang of it, I could start the Jake mode, Elwood mode, and even made it into multiball. While the game hardware-wise could use extra standup targets, I found it surprisingly fun. It’s not the deepest or the best-looking game, but it’s certainly more fun than one may expect based on its looks. For its price, it looks like a no-brainer for people new to pinball.

It’s almost a tradition for Martin and me to have dinner at the China Palace restaurant, which is practically next to the Excel venue. As it turned out, the team from Retro Arcade Specialists was heading there as well, and we were invited to join them. Great food and engaging conversations.

The following day, I could head back to the show floor and quickly walk around, but I hadn’t seen much of it yet. I only had an hour before returning to the airport, so I still didn’t see everything. Thankfully, the Pinball News report of the show filled me in on the bits and pieces I missed, which I highly recommend to get the complete picture.

That rounds it up for Pinball Magazine’s coverage of this year’s EAG Expo.