Pinball Machines In Detroit

[UnsteadyYeti]

I live around Wayne State and frequent the cass corridor. Needless to say, I love pinball. It's exceptionaly hard to find any machines in my area. Anyone know of some places I can find a table. The two I know of are:

1. Fish Tales @ The Old Miami
2. The Sopranos @ Jumbos

Thanks for the help!

[smogboy]

I heard about this awhile back...

http://www.mipinball.com/

Seems as though you could go to this thing and REALLY get your pinball fix!

[terryh]

Have you considered buying a machine for your home-apt?

[Just Amazed]

I heard about this awhile back...

http://www.mipinball.com/

Seems as though you could go to this thing and REALLY get your pinball fix!

This sounds really interesting and better yet in reading the article it appears that there is a Detroit Pinball League.

[DetroitDad]

I live around Wayne State and frequent the cass corridor. Needless to say, I love pinball. It's exceptionaly hard to find any machines in my area. Anyone know of some places I can find a table. The two I know of are:

1. Fish Tales @ The Old Miami
2. The Sopranos @ Jumbos

Thanks for the help!

I believe there is an ordinance against this... hazy memory on a late night. You can only have a couple of arcade /vending machines on site. Pinball probably isn't the most profitable choice available.

That is, unless you are a full blown arcade, and you deal with all the red tape that that brings down upon you.

[MDoyle]

The Bronx had one for a long while. I think they got rid of it in the last year.

[fryar]

That is, unless you are a full blown arcade, and you deal with all the red tape that that brings down upon you.

That of all things brings with it a lot of red tape? Talk about weird.

[CLAUDE G]

There is a guy on ebay who has a whole warehouse full of pinball machines. You'll have to go look on ebay and see if there is anyone local still on there selling them and maybe you will find him, as I do not have this guys contact information or know where he is located

I had a friend a few years ago who lives in California ask me to go over there and pick up a machine so I could drop it off at the UPS store for them to pack and ship to him

[smogboy]

It's moments like this that really make me miss Roscoe's when it was on the NW corner of Woodward & Warren- a full blown arcade.

I know part of pinball's overall decline has been it's fragility and space requirements. Compare it to a stand-up video game that really doesn't have many moving parts beyond buttons and joysticks. The maintenance on a pinball machine must be astronomical compared to that. The footprint itself is that of two video games and how many bar owners or other shop owners willing to give up that sort of space on their floors?

I still love playing pinball and it truly is unique in the sense that one can never really master it because every game is different. I remember back in the day of the PacMan craze, seeing a friend of mine learn the route, playing the game for hours, and knocking down the high score. That wasn't [[in my eyes) skill and I thought the fun and challenge in that game was over with. With pinball, every game is unique. Even if I know I need the left ramp to score big points- doing it isn't a sure thing. And even subtle things like nudging the game, the sounds, noises, and the look of the cabinet and playing surface just added to the games' uniqueness. It wasn't just pixels played on a video screen; one could actually feel the balls connect with the flippers and knew there were some physics and gravity working.

I really do miss a good pinball game now. Where's my roll of quarters when I need it??

[Jimaz]

Related:

• DetroitYES Forums > Discuss Detroit > Nostalgic for playing pinball in Detroit
• DetroitYES Forums > Discuss Detroit > Detroit bars with pinball machines?
• DetroitYES Forums > Discuss Detroit > Pinball Machine Repair

[PaulJ]

It's moments like this that really make me miss Roscoe's when it was on the NW corner of Woodward & Warren- a full blown arcade.

I know part of pinball's overall decline has been it's fragility and space requirements. Compare it to a stand-up video game that really doesn't have many moving parts beyond buttons and joysticks. The maintenance on a pinball machine must be astronomical compared to that. The footprint itself is that of two video games and how many bar owners or other shop owners willing to give up that sort of space on their floors?

I still love playing pinball and it truly is unique in the sense that one can never really master it because every game is different. I remember back in the day of the PacMan craze, seeing a friend of mine learn the route, playing the game for hours, and knocking down the high score. That wasn't [[in my eyes) skill and I thought the fun and challenge in that game was over with. With pinball, every game is unique. Even if I know I need the left ramp to score big points- doing it isn't a sure thing. And even subtle things like nudging the game, the sounds, noises, and the look of the cabinet and playing surface just added to the games' uniqueness. It wasn't just pixels played on a video screen; one could actually feel the balls connect with the flippers and knew there were some physics and gravity working.

I really do miss a good pinball game now. Where's my roll of quarters when I need it??

It's really hot out here in Portland. This website www.portlandpinballmap.com is now expanding to other regions. You might email them, they added Vancouver, BC, Seattle, WA and are in the process of adding San Diego. We pretty much use this website exclusively now when looking for new drinkin holes to hang out in since we just moved here a couple months ago.

I love Pinball!

[MiPinballExpo]

I heard about this awhile back...

http://www.mipinball.com/

Seems as though you could go to this thing and REALLY get your pinball fix!

Thanks for promoting our show! If you love pinball you can really get your fix on at our show for certain. Feel free to ask any questions of us about the show or the Detroit Pinball League.

[MiPinballExpo]

Just an FYI, there are now two mint condition pins on location at Ye Olde Saloon in Royal Oak. No Fear and Junkyard, both in pristine condition. Check em out!

[rob.detroit]

I just stopped by the tables at Ye Olde Saloon last night and was able to wipe a few of the factory scores off the board. I ran into two great dudes there that spoke to me about the glory days of chasing new pinball machines from bar to bar. I hope to bring some of that passion back to the game in this city.

I just started a Google Map for the different locations of machines in the Detroit area. The first step in rebuilding the pinball scene is letting people know where they can actually play the game. Any and all help with this project is appreciated. I hope to see this map grow and become more useful for pinheads.

Detroit Pinball Map

Please add any machines that you know! Please correct any mistakes that you find!
[[Just click the EDIT button near the name of the map and then add more locations.)

[xphillipjrx]

I used to work at Pinball Pete's in Ann Arbor. I still check prices for Earthshaker and Whirlwind on eBay. Someday they will be side by side in my basement.

[rob.detroit]

Update: finally got about 65 machines on a pinball map, mostly around the Detroit area. Once again, feel free to make any corrections or add any machines.

Michigan Pinball Map

[BagAJellyDonuts]

http://www.detroitpinball.com/

It's Novi but if this stuff interests you...

[professorscott]

Here's a nice obscure one, which I doubt is on the map: The Emmett KOA campground on Breen Road south of Old M-21 has a "South Park" machine, in pretty good shape.

I own, technically, an old mechanical Chicago Coin pinball that was made in probably 1973 or 1974, "Top Ten" was the name of it. Ten cents a game or three for a quarter, five balls [[natch). I don't know where it is anymore, I was storing it at my sister's ex-husband's place in New York, and it got moved around and now nobody knows where it is. Nice game though! The old mechanicals were a lot of work to maintain.

[Fiddler]

This is a must see in Farmington Hills.
Featured on History Channels Modern Marvels.
http://www.marvin3m.com/

[cfh]

Don't forget about Tilt Town in Novi Michigan.
They have 45+ machines from the 1960s to present
set on free play. Visit the web site to get details
on this.
http://www.detroitpinball.com

[East Detroit]

I live around Wayne State and frequent the cass corridor. Needless to say, I love pinball.

Yeah, that's a logical conclusion.

[Hypestyles]

there are still arcades in ann arbor?

[cfh]

Tilt Town Pinball Club is now up to 60 games,
mostly pinball, from 1951 to 2010. web site at
http://www.detroitpinball.com

We're also installing a projector TV system
this week that will display 15'x10' on a large white
wall, so we can watch football, concerts, etc.
[[and of course have a flat screen LCD too.)

[compn]

old thread , but i've been updating the pinball locator for the detroit metro area:
http://www.pinballrebel.com/locator/index.php
sorry, not too many locations IN detroit. mostly the burbs.


also i emailed stern about them maintaining a list. maybe they will get their act together.

[MiPinballExpo]

Don't forget, the 2011 Michigan Pinball Expo is coming back again bigger and better than ever this year. This is the premier pinball event to attend in the Great Lakes region, with over 200 plus pinball and video games set up on free play. Check us out at www.MiPinball.com!

We are giving away a brand new pinball machine this year, as well as over $10,000 in cash and prizes over four days of tournaments. You don't even need to be a skilled player to win, we have divisions with prizes for all skill levels, including ladies and kids! So please, check out our website, or join us on Facebook, and come have fun playing pinball with us!