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!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2013 in Review

Holey moley, the chapter of 2013 has come to a close and what a great year it has been! Not just for pinball but in general! I had a pretty good year and I hope that you did too! There were a lot of good things about pinball this past year; lots of new machines popped up and a bunch of cool events happened. Let's take a look-see!

The year was a FINE HUNT when it came to find out new pinball machines. I found a lot of new locations all over the city.

Back in the start of the year, I discovered Monopoly at Humber Cinema...

Andy Poolhall came up on my radar with their lineup of NASCAR and Roller Coaster Tycoon (based on the top-selling PC-CD ROM game)...

Pinball Update for October

There has been quite a bit of shakeup to the pinball lineup here in Toronto so I think it is time to get around to an update!

Stern's latest table is Star Trek, I spoke about it in a post when the table was first announced.

The first of the Pro tables have been shipped out and a few Star Trek tables have been reported in the wild around North America. I would also like to report that I've located a Star Trek table right here in the city!

DANG DOES THAT THING GLOW OR WHAT? Star Trek is the first table where the Pro version is completely outfitted with LEDs and boy is it beautiful! Another innovation by Stern is that the backglass is somewhat tilted as to reduce the glare on the playfield from the backglass. I like it most because it makes taking pictures that much easier!

Oh yeah, I suppose I should mention where this table is located. OK it is now residing at California Sandwiches! That's on Claremont just off of Dundas West. The table was recently placed on location and is in near-new condition. Go check it out!

Not only is Star Trek now at California Sandwiches, The Sopranos has taken the place of Batman! I had a strange feeling about this table when I returned to California Sandwiches and saw the new line-up. I got a bit of deja vu... that's because this table used to be at Leisure Lanes in Whitby!

I was hoping that since the table got shuffled, it was going to get fixed up but it's the same as it was when it was back at Leisure Lanes; the saucer hole that is for the mystery award, extra ball and episode mode is still as finicky as before and rarely activates, the playfield is still pretty dirty and the safe sometimes doesn't acknowledge hits... All that and MJS is the Grand Champion. Shane and I have a feeling it is just MJB with different initials but who knows.
 
During my trip to California Sandwiches to grab some photos of Star Trek, I happened to catch sight of these two tables sitting in a bar on Dundas West....

YEP! Stern's TRON Legacy and Duotron have taken up residence at Mây!

Pinball Update for Summer 2013

Back again with another Pinball Update! I missed the end of the month deadline though WHAT A BUMMER! I have a good reason for it however. I was planning on putting the update out on Sunday, June 30th but instead Shane and I decided to go on ST. CATHERINES PINBALL JOURNEY 2013!!! Want a preview? WELL.... OK.

Is that... DEMOLITION MAN?

Only a small taste though! I'm going to be writing a trip report very soon. That's a FAQT JAQ!

Anyways, the pinball search in Toronto has been a FINE HUNT this month with a couple of new machines popping up in the wild and a couple of updates to a few locations. The replacements are a boon as the former machines at these locations were often out of order so it's nice to see that they have been put out to pasture and replaced with operational tables.

Lets get started with some new locations! This update is mainly focused on College St. as that's where the machines have seemed to pop up! That's good news as I always thought College to be kinda starved for pinball compared to Dundas West and Queen West.

I caught word that Andy Poolhall houses a couple of machines. I'm glad to say that word did not fail me and two tables actually reside at Andy Poolhall!

Two Pat Lawlor tables, NASCAR and Roller Coaster Tycoon take up residence at Andy Poolhall. 

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!