Found 5 Pins in Manchester CT

[heberts811]

My son went with his girlfriend to visit a friend who was staying at the Baymont Inn & Suites in Manchester, CT which is across the street from Kohls. He came back and reported that they have a small game room with:

1 The Addams Family
2 NBA Fastbreak
3 No Fear
4 F-14 Tomcat
5 The Getaway

No Fear wouldn't accept coins, which was frustrating because I had never seen one before in real life. F-14 Tomcat was out of order. The Getaway sadly wasn't in the best of shape, with weak flippers. However TAF and NBA Fastbreak were in great shape but the Thing flipper didn't flip automatically which was a little disappointing but overall still very playable. If you live in the area it is well worth the trip and CT golfland up the street now has Dr Dude.

Gary

 

[Gail R Schwartz]

Hi Gary. What have we become. We are all our pinball machines? Here in Atlantic city new jersey there are a couple new. Ones like ac/dc. Couple others. I have to travel 30.miles. Yes 30 miles to play 10 or more pinball machines. Who killed us? Did video games kill pinball? I guess all of us by now know the answer to that question. Yes & yes. & yes. Long live the good all days !!!!. Pinball machines all over the place.

 

[heberts811]

The other problem is that operators don't want to spend the money to keep up their tables but wonder why people don't play them.

 

[heberts811]

I went back the hotel and discovered that F14 Tomcat is fixed! I also discovered that it gives 5 balls for 25 cents. The Geteway was turned off but it didn't work well so no big loss. Now if only they would fix No Fear.

Gary

 

[RetroDude]

Hi Gary. What have we become. We are all our pinball machines? Here in Atlantic city new jersey there are a couple new. Ones like ac/dc. Couple others. I have to travel 30.miles. Yes 30 miles to play 10 or more pinball machines. Who killed us? Did video games kill pinball? I guess all of us by now know the answer to that question. Yes & yes. & yes. Long live the good all days !!!!. Pinball machines all over the place.

Oh, what I wouldn't give to have 10 machines in TOTAL within 30 miles.
Heck, within 100 miles.

I am aware of only TWO pinball machines within a 50 mile drive... and that includes a city of 200,000+ people.
(or including all the other towns around, over 850,000 folks.)

Sure, there may be a few I don't know about, but I ask anyone I work with or know to let me know if they see any.. and that's it.

Heck, one of them is in a crazy pizza-arcade place that I have to either buy myself dinner to get in, or am forced to wait till an hour before closing time when they shut down the buffet and have to purchase a $5 "game card".. (and hope the one machine is in operating order and available to play during that time)

 

[heberts811]

I was amazed to find those 5 so close to home. The only place I see that many is up in Maine when we go to the beach on vacation 3 houris away.

Gary

 

[Ark Malmeida]

Gary, next time you're ever heading up Maine way, you might want to plan a stop at Funspot (Laconia, NH), or The Pinball Wizard Arcade (Pelham, NH).

I've been to Funspot (http://www.funspotnh.com) and they have quite a few pins(30+ conservatively I believe - their website is kind of tough to navigate and I couldn't find a list of games) and loads of classic arcade games too. Some of the arcade games weren't in great working condition which was kind of disappointing but they had so many it wasn't too much of a bummer. They also have a lot of the dreaded ticket dispenser "games" which are great if you're bringing kids.

I haven't had a chance to hit The Pinball Wizard Arcade (http://www.pinballwizardarcade.com) yet, but I'm itching to take a day trip up there. They have 104 machines

 

[heberts811]

Took a trip over and now No Fear is working! It probably only got fixed because I turned it off and talked to the person at the desk! It was my first time playing it and it was a lot of fun.

Gary

 

[heberts811]

Update: The Getaway has left the building with Teed Off by Gottlieb taking its place. I consider it no big loss as Getaway was not in the best shape. The supercharger never functioned so it wasn't worth playing.

Gary

 

[sharkbear]

If you're in Maine, try Coast City Comics in Portland. Awesome comic shop with 11 pins in the back (and room for 1 more). Currently have ATM, Sacred Stiff, T3, Dr. Who, Star Wars, Monster Bash, Batman (the new Stern version), more. Some are owned by a collector and they swap them out (hoping for LOTR soon). On top of it all, they host a weekly league and are awesome to hang out with.

 

[heberts811]

Sounds like a great place but I only go to Maine for vacation.

Gary