Pinball Update for January 2014

I have good news ... and bad news. The good news is that I found a couple of new machines in the city! The bad news is... a few of them aren't working. Still, it's nice to know there are a few more pinball machines out in the wild!

Let's start downtown at the Harborfront Centre Ice Rink. In the corner of the changerooms, you will find a Batman table!

The problem is that the right flipper doesn't work so you're stuck playing left-handed pinball. Not very much fun, mind you. It's a dang shame because the table is in good shape otherwise. The malfunctioning right flipper seems to be a recurring issue with Batman tables as I once had trouble with a finnickly flipper on Bar 918's Batman table. The weird thing is... it was the right flipper that was giving me trouble on that table.

The other issue is that since an ice rink is seasonal, you may only be able to play this machine during the winter.

Keeping in the theme of skating, over at the Hockey Hall of Fame, there is Bobby Orr's Power Play! My buddy Alex found this one which is good because I don't think I would ever step foot in the Hockey Hall of Fame except to see this table.

Look at all those Canadian flags! A very patriotic table for the Great White North.

Last but not least, let's hit up Disgraceland on Bloor. Head up the staircase at the back to the pool room and tucked away in the corner is a King Kool. 

Sadly, this table is out of order... It's a shame there aren't more pinball tables on Bloor St. I've always been curious about the area but since there really isn't any pinball, I don't spend much time around there. The only other machine I'm aware of is an out-of-order Terminator 2 at Bloor Bar Cafe between Dufferin and Ossington. What is it with T2 tables being out of order? The one at Wash-O-Mat in Peterborough was offline too.

Now, for some updates!

NO WAIT! IT'S JANUARY 20TH AND I HAVE AN UPDATE FOR THIS UPDATE! A FINE HUNT!

VERY NICE! Well, that depends on how much you like The Rolling Stones. This table gets a lot of mixed reviews. I'm still on the fence about it and need a few more games to get a good handle for The Rolling Stones. Bar Radio is located at 615 College St. right in Little Italy and close to Ted's Collision and Monarch Tavern. Geeze louise, the Little Italy area is becoming quite the spot for pinball!

 ALRIGHT ALRIGHT time for the updates!

Done Right Inn now has Star Trek.

It looks so vibrant in the bar's dark environment. The TILT sensor on this table is sooooo sensitive! No chance of Whitby Shuffles as the slightest nudge sets off a warning.

3030 Dundas West has added a new table to their line of pinball! Please welcome... PIN-BOT

This Pin-Bot is in great condition! Get some play in on it.. But yer gonna have to get to 3030 early or wait a while to play! This table is super popular is almost always occupied.

A new Premier-Gottlieb comes ashore at Community 54!

Waterworld! So weird but actually kinda cool! Later model Premier tables get a lot of flack for being weak tables but there was something charming about Waterworld that made me stick around long enough to GET A HIGH SCORE YEAH!

Also, my favorite Rap Artist, Action Bronson, has visited Community 54.

Community 54's original store is located in New York and Bronson is from New York so he stopped by to show some NY love.

Monarch Tavern continues their tradition of music-themed tables. So far, they've had The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Metallica... What else is left?

Can you hear me?

Can you see me?

Can you feel me?

The Who's Tommy has arrived at Monarch Tavern! What a rare sight! Tommy is a very cool addition to the Toronto lineup, taking up rank with Data East comrade Star Wars at Unlovable. If you want to find out more about Tommy, might I suggest checking out my trip report of Pinballapalooza and my VIDEO IMPROMPTU REVIEW of Tommy!

Glamour Sports Bar replaced their old busted World Cup Soccer and replaced it with a new X-MEN TABLE HAHAHA WELCOME TO DIE!!!

Everything is in working order on this one! In particular, the Magneto ball lock is working properly unlike the X-Men table that was hanging out at Rosa Bianca Cafe. What happened with Rosa Bianca's table is that only one of the posts that is supposed to catch the ball would pop up and the ball would instead just pass through and not lock, essentially making the Magneto ball lock useless. Rosa Bianca's table also had a just plain nasty slant to the left so the ball would often find itself going down the left outlane. Having the X-MEN table on a bit of a slant is good because the Magneto ball lock tends to drop balls straight down the middle and the table at Glamour follows suit though not as X-TREME as Rosa Bianca's. Instead, it has another mean trick up it's sleeve...

The outlane post is on the hardest setting and just DEVOURS the balls because of the slight slant. I've had so many cheap losses because of that friggin' outlane!

OK time for some sad news. I believe that Rosa Bianca has gotten rid of their X-Men machine. It used to sit in the very front by the entrance but during my times passing by, it was not there. The table could be in its old spot in the backroom but I have my doubts...

HEH... CHAMP!

Mezzrows on Queen West near Lansdowne removed their World Poker Tour machine. Outside of Toronto, over in Whitby's Melanie Pringles, another World Poker Tour has left the building. Taking its spot is Cruis'n' Exotica and Big Buck Hunter. Cruis'n' Exotica is more than ten years old! Does anyone even still play this game?! (OK I still play Cruis'n' USA WHATEVER) It's sad to see it go though because there's not much for pinball in the Durham Region.

Shane and I stopped by Coachlite Gardens over the holidays to check out their machines and found Roller Disco and Super Star.

Sadly, only Super Star was working. Roller Disco has beautiful artwork that really shines when the machine is on.

Now that we have a few more tables in our midst, I've updated my map, Pinballin' in the Big City!

Now for another shameless plug, don't forget to swing by my tumblr for hella pinball pics! I try to post one picture a day of all sorts of pinball related stuff. NEAT!