BEST IN PLAY GAME JUDGES

David O’Neil:

David started “Dr. Dave’s Pinball Restorations” in 1994 and has been tirelessly restoring all eras of pinball ever since for local clients as well as the greater USA and parts of Europe.

Showcase of some of his portfolio of work via his youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/pinballdoctor/videos

Website: www.pinballdoctor.com

At an early age, David’s pinball perfection influence was Fun and Games arcade in Framingham MA.  Here he would hang with good friends and play pinball from the Golden Era, showcasing clean mint condition extremely fun titles like Star Gazer, Eight Ball Deluxe, Quicksilver, Xenon, and Mata Hari to name a select few. All the latest titles from that time in the late 1970’s to early 80’s that Bally, Stern, Gottlieb, and Williams would create, and they were coming out at a blistering several-titles-per-month pace!

Attention to detail was this arcade’s hallmark, as they had a staff devoted to the daily waxing of playfields, cleaning glass and changing out worn rubber, making for a pinball experience he could find nowhere else in this 100+ pinball and video game night club for kids.  When this arcade finally faded out in the mid 1980’s, it was a shadow of its former self. Determined to get his arcade back, he made it his personal mission to find all these titles he once played back in the day and bring them back to that look and play like new condition that he remembered. He would bring pinball repair manuals on vacation for some “lite” reading and networked with various techs from around the country collaborating on best restoration practices to bring these games back to their former glory.

Maureen O’Neil:

David’s wife of 25 years is the artistic design force behind Dr. Dave’s Pinball Restorations. An artist by trade, she enjoys restoring both the playfield and cabinet artwork as well as helping David with troubleshooting and technical work on their client’s games. They work together performing house calls and in the shop when not hosting their 3 times a year pinball tournaments.

John Day:

John was bit by the “pinball bug” at a very early age and it influenced his decision to become an electrical engineer.  He had a Gottlieb Genie in his college dorm room in the mid 1980’s and has collected and restored many EM and early solid state games since then.  His goal is for every game to play even better than when it was new!   Pinball is a perfect convergence of his interests of electronics, woodworking, art, and all things mechanical.  By day John works as an embedded design applications engineer for a semiconductor company and has even designed some circuit boards which he uses in his games.

Mark Seiden:

Mark has been collecting pinball machines since 2010 with an emphasis on 1990’s and newer games. He hosts the New England Pinball League site at his house. He is a software engineer by trade and is using his knowledge to build a custom game and streaming the process on Twitch.

Erin Seiden:

Erin grew up playing pinball in arcades and a Gottlieb Wild Life at her aunt’s house. That Wild Life now lives in her basement along with many other games. She and her husband Mark are a hosting site for the New England Pinball League providing a mix of 1990’s Bally/Williams and newer games. She’s also an active member in the Boston Belles and Chimes Women’s League.

Joel de Guzman:

Joel is an illustrator, graphic designer, and art director who grew up frequenting arcades during the 1980’s and 90’s. He has always had a deep appreciation for pinball because of the way it seamlessly fuses beautiful artwork, genius engineering, and intricate game design together. Since getting his first machine (a Data East Tommy) in 2015, Joel has learned so much about repair, restoration, and playing from his amazingly knowledgeable friends and the great pinball community. He has overseen Pintastic New England’s graphic design since 2017 and has also done freelance illustration work for ColorDMD, local leagues, and pinball podcasts. He’s always looking for more opportunities to create pinball-related art and designs!