Ottawa Pinball Expo Part IV

Ottawa Pinball Expo was more than several months ago and has almost become a distant memory. Good thing that I have a good memory... and lots of pictures. I'm not quite done sharing all the great stuff I saw at Ottawa Pinball Expo so let's keep it going...

Quick recap! During Part 1, we looked at some System-11 tables like Atlantis...

Part 2 looked at a couple of the licensed tables, like Doctor Who...

Part 3 was all about going back in time to the days of alpha-numeric displays with a look at Swords of Fury and Time Machine.

Let's start where we left of on Part 3. I gave a sneak peek of Williams' Time Warp!

Notice anything strange about this psychedelic trip of a table? It has some odd looking flippers, doesn't it?

In the late 70's, Williams was experimenting with new ways to refresh the pinball game and so they developed banana flippers. Due to the curvature of the flippers, it's harder to aim shots and so adds a bit more random element into flipping. It wasn't the most successful of Williams' new experiments and only one other table bore the banana flippers, that being Disco Fever. Nonetheless, Time Warp is a real trip to play and the flippers add a lot of fun and frustration to the table.

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

A NEW PINBALL IS APPROACHING!

Actually a few are approaching...

From the ashes of The Port rises a new Phoenix... Get Well Dundas West... Get Well...