CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — If pinball is your game, the northwest suburbs will be the place to be this weekend.
Thousands of pinball enthusiasts — players, vendors, collectors and others — will gather at the Schaumburg Renaissance Convention Center Hotel for the 37th Annual Pinball Expo from Wednesday through Saturday.
Rob Berk, the expo’s founder, told WBBM Newsradio that pinball is a passion for him and so many others. He has a collection of more than 1,200 pinball machines but said the expo is not just for hardcore collectors, saying everyone is welcome to buy a ticket and look around.
“Pinball Expo is a very unique show but it’s a show for anyone who has any level of interest in pinball machines,” Berk said.
Attendees will be able to pay one price and play pinball all day long and there will also be other old school games created by Nintendo and Atari.
Berk said that pinball and these other games bring back so many memories for people who grew up playing them, and also said the design of new pinball machines today are the work of a new, talented generation and inspire others.
“It’s almost like a rebirth,” Berk said. “Everyone goes through cycles, whether it’s a pinball cycle or a video cycle or a hand-held game or whatever it may be. It just seems like there’s a rebirth of pinball.”
Attendees can also bring in pinball machines to get repaired and learn how to fix pinball machines.
Berk said Chicago has always been the “capital” of pinball and still is today.
“It’s amazing, at one time there were 500 different manufacturers in Chicago. Other people have tried to start manufacturing pinball in other parts of the world and throughout the United States but Chicago is still the hub for the major manufacturers,” he said.
People from all over the world, including Mexico and Japan, are expected to attend this year’s Pinball Expo.
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