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!

3030 Dundas West's Pinball Crawl!

I recently got to visit the Junction and the bar 3030 Dundas to check out their pinball line-up.

During my visit to 3030 Dundas, I spoke with one of the fellas that worked there. We talked a lot about pinball in the city, where our favorite machines are, what are some good places to play and shared some knowledge of pinball locations. During our conversation, he mentioned to me that 3030 was going to be putting on a special pinball event that would span the city. I just caught official word of this on their Facebook page. Dig it!

Just as the picture says, follow 3030 Dundas online for any further updates! I think there's gonna be a lot of cool things coming up!

There isn't much news right now besides this map but there was a comment stating this is only one side of the map... I'm excited to see what else pops up on the map. I provided the guy with the name of my pinball map, Pinballin' in The Big City, which I have been keen on updating lately! Maybe we'll see some of the tables I've found on the pinball crawl map and maybe we'll see some that I'm not aware of...

If you're wondering what "A TILT at Handle Bar" is, TILT is Kensington Brewery's latest beer, obviously named after the dreaded pinball term. I'm no beer connoisseur but I believe it is an IPA. I had a can of it this past weekend and it was pretty tasty! I'm not the biggest fan of IPA's, little too hoppy for me, but this one was pretty decent. It had a cleaner taste than most IPA's I've had... but enough beer review, I'm supposed to be reviewing pinball!