With international visitors now allowed to travel to the US, we wasted no time and got on the next available flight to get to Houston and make our first visit to the Houston Arcade Expo.

The Houston Marriott Westchase hotel
The Houston Marriott Westchase hotel

The show is held at the Houston Marriott Westchase, which is a large business-orientated hotel on the west side of the city. The complex includes several conference rooms, but it is the Grand Pavilion and the Grand Foyer which are hosting the Houston Arcade Expo this year.

The Grand Foyer is at the front on the ground floor, while the Grand Pavilion is behind it
The Grand Foyer is at the front on the ground floor, while the Grand Pavilion is behind it

We got to the show on Thursday afternoon to check out the set-up ahead of the public opening of the show at midday on Friday and will be updating this report across the whole weekend with all the latest news.

The Grand Foyer will host multiple stands from vendors and individuals. Amongst those with tables allocated are Dirty Donny Gillies and Sam J. Jones (a.k.a. Flash Gordon).

The Grand Foyer where many vendors and special guests will have their stands
The Grand Foyer where many vendors and special guests will have their stands

For the games you have to move next door to the Grand Pavillion.

Some of the pinballs at the Houston Arcade Expo 2021
Some of the pinballs at the Houston Arcade Expo 2021

The Marco Specialties stand was suitable impressive with multiple new Stern Pinball titles, although it took a lot of human effort to get it set up.

Getting the Marco Specialties stand set up
Getting the Marco Specialties stand set up
It seems to be finished now
It seems to be in position now

Marco Specialties have multiple new Stern Pinball titles at the show, including many new Godzilla machines.

Plenty of new Godzilla machines to play
Plenty of new Godzilla machines to play

Incidentally, Pinball News Editor, Martin Ayub, will be interviewed live for MarcoTV on Saturday at 2:45pm.

There are plenty of other pinballs already set up, with more constantly arriving.

Some of the pinballs already set up at the show
Some of the pinballs already set up at the show
Some of the pinballs already set up at the show
Some of the pinballs already set up at the show

Further into the hall there are lots of customised machines. Here are a few which caught our eye.

This beautiful Spider-Man had sparkle powdercoat and clearcoat throughout
This beautiful Spider-Man had custom graphics and sparkle powdercoat and clearcoat throughout
This Philina conversion of a Gorgar has all-new graphics and rules
This Philina conversion of a Gorgar has all-new graphics and rules
This attractive Black Knight 2000 is also for sale, and at a good price
This attractive Black Knight 2000 is also for sale, and at a good price

It’s the Houston Arcade Expo show, so it’s not all about pinball. There are plenty of classic video games too and multiple console and PC/Mac games too.

Some of the arcade video games at the show
Some of the arcade video games at the show
More arcade video games being set up
More arcade video games being set up

The Space City Open pinball tournament is being held at the show. Run by the Space City Pinball League, it is hosted in the Richmond Room which is just off the main hotel lobby.

This way to the Space City Open
This way to the Space City Open

The tournament starts at 5pm on Friday, but machine set-up and configuration was under way on Thursday afternoon.

Some of the Space City Open tournament machines
Some of the Space City Open tournament machines

The Houston Arcade Expo opens at midday on Friday and we’ll be back with all the news from the show right here, so check back regularly for the very latest updates.

Read more at https://www.pinballnews.com