STRIKER... X-TREEEEEME!

I don't know if I can handle this table, it might be too... XTREEEEEME!!!

I mean, soccer balls on fire, that's hella XTREME!

This ol' table has recently showed face at The Rivoli. Rivoli's a good place for pinball as the tables there are often switched out. I think it's because I happen to keep breaking them... Well, not ME in particular but I've seen a lot of damaged tables come and go from The Rivoli. As for this one...

Update for Pinballin' in The Big City

Quick update to let you all know I have made a well-needed update to my pinball map of Toronto, Pinballin' in The Big City. Couple of new machines and a few old ones have gone MIA or out of order. Check it out and get out there with a fistful of change!

TRON: Legacy

SORRY GUYS BUT NO DAFT PUNK HERE

That seemed to be the main (and maybe only reason) people went to see TRON: Legacy. I know it was a selling point for me because I didn't have a whole heckuva lot of interest in the movie but I did like me some Daft Punk here and there. I've seen the movie but to be quite honest I barely even remember it. NOW the pinball on the other hand is something to get worked up about! A pinball game about a movie about an arcade game... Ya can't go wrong with that.

And let me tell you something, Stern certainly did things right with this table. TRON Legacy came out in 2011, which turned out to be a knock-out year for Stern. Their first rock'n'roll band-themed table, The Rolling Stones, was released, followed by TRON Legacy and, one of my favorite Stern tables, Transformers, rounded out the 2011 line-up.

BIG MONEY! BIG PRIZES! I LOVE IT! Stern's Monopoly!

WHOA WHOA WHOA! Here I thought I knew of every machine in Toronto but recently my friend AK and his ol' lady Allison spotted a machine out in the wild that I have never stumbled across! Now, I have a few things I consult in order to locate pinball like my Google Map, Pinballin' in The Big City, as well as a great app, Pinfinder. There is a free version but it only shows you the machines in your immediate location. But I digress... In what I consider a FINE HUNT, Stern's Monopoly has been spotted at Humber Cinema!

Monopoly was released in September 2001 and was a part of Stern's earliest licensed tables alongside Austin Powers and NFL (The first licensed table by Stern was Harley Davidson). Monopoly was designed by Pat Lawlor, who also designed for Stern Roller Coaster Tycoon (Would you like a review? OF COURSE!) and Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Happy New Years from Bright Lights Bumper City!

Hello friends! I just wanted to wish everyone a happy New Year's. I'm certainly looking forward to 2013. Lots of pinball on the horizon I hope! 2012 made for a lot of new discoveries and also a few sad moments but c'est la vie.

I took a bit of a sabbatical from since the Pinball Cafe closed and unfortunately haven't posted since. I have some stuff coming up for you though so keep tuned in! If you want to follow my pinball adventures more closely, may I invite you to my Instagram page! I tend to post new machines and whenever I'm playing pretty often so if you want to keep up with BLBC, then Instagram is a good way to go! (Please keep in mind that I post a lot of other stuff like... cats and food haha)

Check it out because there may be a few hints as to the next reviews coming up this month!

Farewell to The Pinball Cafe... Part II

I'll keep it brief... More pictures here of The Pinball Cafe's line-up throughout it's lifetime.

Visit Part I here if you haven't looked through yet. Plenty of pictures there too.

One of my most favourite machines to grace The Cafe's lineups... Stern's TRANSFORMERS LE!

BEAUTIFUL

Good Night, Sweet Pinball... Farewell to The Pinball Cafe

Nothing in this world is permanent and much of the things we love have a way of coming and going. Especially in pinball where in the late twentieth century, arcades and pinball machines were around every corner, in convenience stores, laundromats, pizza parlours and the like. Then, almost suddenly, arcade doors were closed, the windows shuttered and a permanent out-of-order sign put on the machines. Here in Toronto, I even thought the era of arcades came to a close when the Union Station arcade shut its doors with hardly a peep and pinball would go extinct.

The silver ball still rolled on, though, and in 2012, perhaps even saw a resurgence with Toronto's own twenty-first century arcade, The Pinball Cafe. Before The Cafe, pinball machines were scattered about the city and were more so decoration than entertainment. When Toronto's best, and only, pinball arcade opened up in January 2012, there was finally a storefront dedicated to the game. Instead of having to travel all over the city just to get a few rounds of pinball in on some machines of questionable quality, I finally had a place I could go with multiple clean, working machines.

Unfortunately, coming in just under a year, as of December 10, 2012, The Pinball Cafe has been forced to close its doors. It's a lot of politics, by-laws, and zoning variances which means it's a lot of stuff I don't really understand. I don't want to inundate you with a bunch of crap as to why The Cafe closed or where to point fingers, especially because it is very uncertain right now.

Jason and Rachel are two awesome people who I would call my friends. They've always made me feel welcome whenever I came by and it was always a pleasure to see the two of them. I've had lots of great times with both Rachel and Jason and I wish them all the best in their future endeavors. Hopefully we will be able to play pinball again soon!

I don't want to call this an obituary because that is hella sad. Consider this a tribute to one of my utmost favorite places in Toronto. I want to post a bunch of pictures for you that I have collected over the year during my visits to Toronto's best, and only, Pinball Cafe. Enjoy!

One of the first lineups at The Cafe