Pinball in the Ports

With Collector’s Connection’s recent addition of a pinball lineup I have gotten the bug again for this lost art. I was wondering what machines are in the area and what condition the machines are in. Can be private or public.

Collector’s Connection has a decent lineup of Solid State

  • Data East’s Laser Wars
  • Williams’ Junkyard
  • Stern’s Magic
  • Data East’s Tales from the Crypt (The only good machine Data East made)

Even though none of those games are my favorite, it is a solid and much appreciated lineup. All the but the Stern machine in good condition.

Other machines, or Port pinball stories to share?

32 Comments

T-Bag

about 12 years ago

So glad you posted this!  I went on a hunt about a month ago when the Twins bar got rid of the "Family Guy" machine.  I later found out that someone bought it so they put the standard Star Wars machine in.  (Junk) My hunt turned up a few machines that were not workable.  "Theater of Magic" was at the Reef for a long time but it had a sloppy left bumper.  Incline Station had "Fish Tales" and It did not work at all.  Where are the Pinball Wizards in this town who know where the workable non "Star Wars" machines are?

Question

about 12 years ago

I think Horseshoe Billiards still has an older Adam's Family game that is in rather poor repair. The lighting is poor, and I think one of the flippers stick.

Other than that, I really do not know of any other places in town that have any decent pinball machines.

Grandma's sports garden, back when it was actually a sports garden, used to have a bunch of 50's era pinball games up in the upper floor. I recall a baseball-based game, among others. I wonder what happened to them?

c-freak

about 12 years ago

I think the Rex still has Family Guy.

adam

about 12 years ago

Theater of Magic is awesome.

cork1

about 12 years ago

Last time I checked (about a month ago), Rex has "Family Guy" and "The Sopranos."

I live at Telemark Resort in Cable, Wis., and they have a non-functioning "South Park" table. I ended up putting about $80 in it this summer before, somewhat thankfully, the LEDs went out and it quit registering credits. 

Also in the Hayward/Cable area (at least, the last I checked): "Big Buck Hunter" at Famous Dave's and "Cyclone" at Timber Bay Resort. Haven't been able to play either. "Junkyard" was at the Sawmill for a while, but disappeared in July, so it may be the one at Collector's Connection.

Conrad

about 12 years ago

Wait, Timber Bay resort has a Cyclone?  Did it look operational?  I might have to make a trip.  That was one of my machines back in the day.  Old Ronnie and Nancy on the front of the coaster.  It had great sound to it.

Ramos

about 12 years ago

If anyone knows where an Embryon pinball machine exists, I will demonstrate how to play it for ten hours on one quarter, just like I did in 1991.

Caitlin

about 12 years ago

Ha! Having just moved to this area this has actually been one of my recent searches as well! Thanks for the post and all the info gathering. Although, I wish there were more functional machines in town. I did end up playing Fish Tales at Incline the other evening, and although dimly lit, it worked pretty well. Can't wait to try out the others.

Danny G

about 12 years ago

I check the craigslist frequently to see if anyone is selling any machines around here.  I lucked out at the beginning of the summer and was able to procure a WWF Superstars arcade machine for a couple of hundred bucks.  Right now I'm seeing somebody selling an ALIVE pinball machine out here in Lakeside for a hundred:  http://duluth.craigslist.org/tag/2606923077.html

While it's technically not an original arcade machine, it seems like it would be a pretty good find simply for the "what were they on in the '70s" factor.  Here's some more info on the machine itself:  http://home.comcast.net/~josh.kaplan1/alive.htm

The pseudo-Elvis with an afro art is pretty flipping great, in my opinion.

emmadogs

about 12 years ago

Wow.  Wow wow.  This Alive pinball machine is one of the coolest things I've ever seen. So cool. Now I begin to understand the allure of pinball.

northvibe

about 12 years ago

www.pinside.com
Great pinball forum, and they have a map where you can list where pins are, uses Google Maps. 

Rex only has sopranos as of recently
CC has those machines listed above
The Reef has SWE1

I'm actually looking to buy my first pin. Hard to find any good ones around here, but the guy that owns the ones at CC keeps finding them somehow. He is also scheduling a pinball tourney at the CC store coming up.

northvibe

about 12 years ago

Oh and the Chalet has World Poker Tour pinball, Incline has Fish Tales like stated above, Stadium Lanes has The Simpsons pinball party (half working)
some small bar in West End has Adams Family.

cork1

about 12 years ago

@Conrad -- I haven't actually seen or played "Cyclone" at Timber Bay Resort, but I talked to the guy who owns the place one afternoon when we were rollerskiing out there. I'm assuming it's this one. I'd definitely call before heading out -- the bar and game room look like they're open sporadically.

conrad

about 12 years ago

That's the ONE!!!!  "Hey you with the face."  Wait, I have a face.  

I grew up in the eighties.  So my favorite games are in the years from 1896 to 1991 or so.  Give me any game other then a Bally game from that era and I will be a happy camper.  Once they get those digital screens on the back, I get a little less happy but I am still willing to play them.

Funhouse, Twilight zone, Road kings, Comet, Cyclone, Both balck Knights, and Taxi were my games.  I liked Adam's family but never owned the top score. (Played it at Telemark a lot.)

I go to a lot of meetings in Hayward so I might stop by.  Thanks for the info.

David Beard

about 12 years ago

Tim from CollConn wants to know:

"what's wrong with the Magic game?"

Can you help?  They'll have it fixed if they can.

Conrad

about 12 years ago

Sure. Not a whole lot is wrong with it.  It's still the one I play the most. But it does have two main issues.  I will try my best. all of the issues I am explaining happen when the ball is moving at a fairly fast pace.  When the ball is moving slow, these issues are limited. 

Both flippers have a certain "give" most of the time.   This means when they are hit by the ball at a medium speed they drop a bit and then come back to fully flipped even if you have the buttons pushed through out contact.  Unlike the left flipper problem I will describe next, this is actually helpful most of the time.  It makes for a perfect Drop Stop holding/stalling the ball without even having to time it. I like it.

 The left flipper has more give then the right.  If a ball is coming straight down on the left flipper, and you try to hit it flush (not trying to stall/hold it) the flipper almost always gives completely and it makes it so that 1. if you want to send the ball back up the play field you HAVE to slow the ball down before you hit it.  I hope that makes sense. The right flipper has some give but it is able meet a fast moving ball and send it all the way up the play field. and the 2nd issue is that sometime when the left flipper completely gives out it puts the ball at risk of draining. This doesn't happen a lot but it does happen.

The other issue can probably be easily fixed. It is the right flipper inside lane where the lane meets the flipper.  Unlike the left side, the right side has a bump in it which makes the ball skip over the a part of the flipper if it going a medium speed or higher.  This is a minor issue but frustrating when trying to go for many shots when the ball is moving fast. To compensate, I usually just hold the right flipper if the ball is moving fast and transfer it to the left flipper. It would be nice to have that inside lane more like the left inside lane which has no issues. 

All in all, these issues don't take away to much from the game, it just takes some adjusting in the game play.  I am not sure if the flippers are just how the machine was made but my guess is that it isn't since the left is different then the right. My original statement about "all but the stern game is in good condition" was because the other games work perfectly with very few flaws.  The Magic game would be considered in the upper "Fair condition." category because of these issues.

  Both these issues take some playing of the game to notice them but, again I still play it the most. I hope that helps.

Conrad

about 12 years ago

I knew I would miss something.

High Speed and the Top gun rip off Gold Wings were the other two games I grew up on.

When I talk about the flippers having "give" to them this is when the flippers are activated or in the up position and I am trying to trap the ball

So you hit the ball up into the play field and when it is returning, you have the flipper in the activated/up position to catch the ball coming down on it. This is when the flippers have the give I am talking about.  I hope that make more sense.  

I just think the coils are a little old and this is the result. Thanks!!!  Tell Tim I love that they have the pins.

Barrett Chase

about 12 years ago

I'd check out the local laudromats. I don't know much about pinball, but I know that Dee Independent and Spirit Valley Laundry have machines.

Tim Broman

about 12 years ago

Regarding: "All but the Stern (Magic) machine in good condition."
What is wrong with the Magic Pinball Machine?  Unlike the other places listed here, we have our own in-house repair guru who keeps our machines humming. Please let us know at the shop, and we can get it fixed, usually in about 7 days. Thanks.

Tim Broman, Store Manager, Collector's Connection

Tim Broman

about 12 years ago

Also thanks for the nice write-up.  It is appreciated.

David Beard

about 12 years ago

Tim:  He's written it up above.

Wow.  I had no idea pinball was so nuanced.

zra

about 12 years ago

Pinball is totally nuanced! If I had a nickel for every quarter I spent on the Twilight Zone, Addams Family, TNG and the original Star Trek games they had at Beth's Cafe in Seattle I'd be able to buy myself a beer!

People take their game seriously!

Bad Cat!

about 12 years ago

I think that's the difference between my "I'll put a quarter in and see how long I can play" with his "play 10 hours on one quarter."

Pinball Wizard!

ruby2sd4y

about 12 years ago

Forever ago growin up in the cities I  went through a lot of quarters playing Mata Hari as a teen - man that machine was fun.

cork1

about 12 years ago

@ruby2sd4y -- I'm pretty sure they have Mata Hari at the Triple Rock in Minneapolis.

muttie

about 12 years ago

Wow! I'm so glad I stumbled across this. I've been searching all over Duluth for places with good pinball machines. 

As far as my info I go to Horseshoe Billiards on occasion and they no longer have the Addams Family. They now have Who Dunnit. I've only played it a couple times but it seems like it could use new rubbers on the flippers.

I did see that Mitch's Bar in Lincoln Park has the Adams Family machine now. I haven't played it yet. Mitch's is kind of a shady bar but the best deep fried burger around.

Also at the Powerhouse Bar in Proctor I saw they had a whirlwind machine, but it wasn't working when I tried to play it.

This is a great list so far and its going to be nice to find out where some pinball machines are in the Duluth area finally. I also hear the Grand Casino in Hinckley has an arcade. Does anyone know if they have pinball and can anyone confirm if the laundromat in Duluth has any? Thanks!

adam

about 12 years ago

The All American Club in the West End has banked shuffleboard.

conrad

about 12 years ago

I went to Spirit Valley Laundry.  They have a William's No Fear machine.  It looks fairly worn but like it could be in decent working condition. ... If it would take my quarters.  Three slots, no take quarter.

Conrad

about 12 years ago

A bit of an update: 

CC got ride of JunkYard and has added William's No Fear and Data East's Jurrasic Park.

Both came in with some issues about a month ago, but I think most of the major issues are fixed.  No fear, plays great.

Went to Grand Casino.  They have a Family Guy that was out of order and Stern's Elvis Presely.  Elvis has a left flipper that gives and/or flips two times when you only flip once and it appears to be missing one of its balls as it makes a lot of weird noise and doesn't function smoothly during multiball.  It also has a loud sound glitch which I thought was to indicate a replay but it was doing it over and over again with no replay.

muttie

about 12 years ago

I've also just noticed that the Bedrock bar has a Nascar pinball machine and the Stadium Lanes bowling alley has a Simpsons Pinball Party machine and both seem to be in good working order.

Scott M.

about 10 years ago

Hi, just looking to see if anyone has an updated list on what games are where.

Paul Lundgren

about 10 years ago

North Shore Architectural Antiques in Two Harbors has a bunch of old tabletops for sale ... in case that for some reason does anyone any good.

Harlem Globetrotters

Future Spa

ABC

Sinbad

Strikes and Spares

Beat the Dealer

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