Most memorable pinball experience?

I just looked at Pinball Arcade's post on Facebook, and they mentioned this. I thought about not limiting this to Facebook and wanted to share this with the forum. Anyone can join in!

So, what's your most memorable pinball experience?

Breaking a totan plastic on my first game of my first shot , 2 days later the solenoid blew(faulty and I assume always at full power) the entire arcade evacuated but I was playing a game of paragon, I put the smouldering wood out and turn the machine off

I didn't really get into pinball til the Farsight's Hall of Fame Pinball collections on various consoles. Can remember playing what I think was the EM table World Series when I was a kid in the 70's, then didn't play another pinball til the early 90's when Addam's Family was at a nearby arcade. I loved going to the arcades, even had 2 in my small town that I grew up in during the 80's but they never had pinball tables. Started playing TPA when it came out on Android/PS3/360 but as soon as the Steam version came out I quickly moved to that platform. Recently found a new arcade that opened up about an hour away from me and they have about 20 old arcade machines and 10 pinball tables.

Probably just playing pinball as a kid in the early-mid 90s. At the arcade in the local bowling alley during bowling league and at random restaurants and taverns I'd go to with my dad. My area had most of the top rated SS tables of the late 80s to mid 90s. I remember probably liking Funhouse the most, which is odd because I can't stand it now.

in the late 1960s , I was a little short arse still am haha !!! I could barely see the top of the pinnie , and the owner brought over a milk crate for me . that memory still lives with me 50 years later !!!

wolfson said:

in the late 1960s , I was a little short arse still am haha !!! I could barely see the top of the pinnie , and the owner brought over a milk crate for me . that memory still lives with me 50 years later !!!

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Ha, I remember playing on milk crates as well. Mostly late 60’s and 70’s EM pins. Didn’t understand the rules, didn’t care about the score. Just tried to keep the ball alive. Loved the excitement of the lights and sound. Some pins were set at 3 games for a quarter if I remember correctly.

Kolchak , how true . you want to know something funny , I still play that way ,not a care in the world !!!!

Bar stools > Milk crates

Kolchak357 said:

Didn’t understand the rules, didn’t care about the score. Just tried to keep the ball alive. Loved the excitement of the lights and sound.

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This was exactly me as a kid too. I don't think I even realized there were rules.

I had been playing pinball for a while in the late 70s but that moment I saw Black Knight for the first time.. Oh boy! It was a pinball dream come true.

And a few years later, that moment when I was completely exhausted, played Scorpion by Williams two hours straight, from one 20c and had to leave with blisters on my thumb and about 10 credits on the board.

In the late 90's - early 2000, there was an arcade room near my university with 4 pinball tables: MM, MB, Apollo XIII and Monopoly.

Monster Bash was very (very) used (slingshots and bumpers were dead, flippers were very weak - you could barely take a ramp -), but the replay score was surprisingly very low (something like ~30 millions).
So, by starting a few modes then Frankenstein Multiball (the hardest, as 50% of the shots on Frankie were not registered), you could earn easily a free game.

With one coin of 5 Francs (~1 USD) for 1 credit, I lasted 4 hours on the same table. With the loud and heavy "Ka-Tching" sound of the free credit awarded each time I broke the 30M points.
As there was a lot of "Ka-Tching", dozen of people in the arcade room started to gather around the table (even the manager, to check if I cheated, I think), then I had to leave, although there was still the same 2 credits on the board.

Then, you leave as a king, saying "Hey, you could continue if you want, I have to go". #FakePinballWizard

I've got two:

1) In the early 80's, I was a little kid with an Atari and I remember playing Pinball (yes, that was the entire name of the game) for hours on end. I was so proud of myself back then when I learned how to nudge the ball and could get it to bounce up and down through the multiplier target dozens of times. Sure, it may not be real pinball, but for a kid of 7, it was amazing!

2) While I had played actual pinball a few times, college was where I became a pinball fan. The arcade in the student union had several tables, including Doctor Who and Addams Family (I remember being totally unimpressed with Addams Family at the time). But then they got Red & Ted's Roadshow and I became a MASTER at that table. My crowning achievement was the evening I put in my quarters for one credit... and then spent literally three hours at the machine, racking up extra balls and credits. I finally walked away from the table leaving 10 credits! I know for a fact it was 10, that was the goal I had given myself after the second hour. Completing the rewards roulette was easy for me, making it possible.

Well, my most memorable pinball experience....as a Student in Mainz (Germany) on carneval (Kind of Mardi Gras) in the backroom of a Pub around 4 o´clock in the morning in 1995. Can´t talk about details, due to youth protection. She was a psychology-student, her boyfriend was laying drunk in the mainroom of the Pub. We did our best to make the pinball tilt. A whole lotta shaking going on. These were the days.

Silverball67 said:

Well, my most memorable pinball experience....as a Student in Mainz (Germany) on carneval (Kind of Mardi Gras) in the backroom of a Pub around 4 o´clock in the morning in 1995. Can´t talk about details, due to youth protection. She was a psychology-student, her boyfriend was laying drunk in the mainroom of the Pub. We did our best to make the pinball tilt. A whole lotta shaking going on. These were the days.

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Silverball67 said:

Well, my most memorable pinball experience....as a Student in Mainz (Germany) on carneval (Kind of Mardi Gras) in the backroom of a Pub around 4 o´clock in the morning in 1995. Can´t talk about details, due to youth protection. She was a psychology-student, her boyfriend was laying drunk in the mainroom of the Pub. We did our best to make the pinball tilt. A whole lotta shaking going on. These were the days.

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I hope you offered the bf the replay

Silverball67 said:

Well, my most memorable pinball experience....as a Student in Mainz (Germany) on carneval (Kind of Mardi Gras) in the backroom of a Pub around 4 o´clock in the morning in 1995. Can´t talk about details, due to youth protection. She was a psychology-student, her boyfriend was laying drunk in the mainroom of the Pub. We did our best to make the pinball tilt. A whole lotta shaking going on. These were the days.

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Silverball ,you take the cake , that's the best I`ve heard in a long time hahahaha!!!!!

Almost posted this story before but Silverball convinced me it's worth sharing . Well, I saw something akin to Silverball's conquest.

Early 80's in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As per usual, I'm leaving work and I do the Arcade Run, where I hit the Rideau Arcade on Dalhousie, the Rideau Arcade under the Hayloft restaurant, the King Arthur's Court arcade nearby and finally the Rideau Arcade that was open for a short while near the corner of Rideau and Sussex. Usually I'd also go up Rideau to the Gamesroom but passed it on that day. I mean there's just so many pins and 'cades you can play on your way home...

Had fun with usual free games left on Superman (under the hayloft), kicked butt at the Dalhousie Firepower, no pinball at King Arthur but they had some cool vids. So anyway I get to the last arcade (Rideau and Sussex) and sure enough, the arcade attendant is trying like hell to tilt the Williams Flash only his lady friend is in way... if you know what I mean. So I was in and out (eh) in record time. I needed change to play and I wasn't about to interrupt... I guess the arcade attendant knew his priorities.

Hey Silverball, must be something funny about pinball sex at 4:00, only with this nudge fest it's freaking 4:00pm!!! Usually those Rideau Arcades are really well maintained and nothing even close to this was every witnessed. But this one? It was closed within a month.

The loafer said:

Almost posted this story before but Silverball convinced me it's worth sharing . Well, I saw something akin to Silverball's conquest.

Early 80's in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. As per usual, I'm leaving work and I do the Arcade Run, where I hit the Rideau Arcade on Dalhousie, the Rideau Arcade under the Hayloft restaurant, the King Arthur's Court arcade nearby and finally the Rideau Arcade that was open for a short while near the corner of Rideau and Sussex. Usually I'd also go up Rideau to the Gamesroom but passed it on that day. I mean there's just so many pins and 'cades you can play on your way home...

Had fun with usual free games left on Superman (under the hayloft), kicked butt at the Dalhousie Firepower, no pinball at King Arthur but they had some cool vids. So anyway I get to the last arcade (Rideau and Sussex) and sure enough, the arcade attendant is trying like hell to tilt the Williams Flash only his lady friend is in way... if you know what I mean. So I was in and out (eh) in record time. I needed change to play and I wasn't about to interrupt... I guess the arcade attendant knew his priorities.

Hey Silverball, must be something funny about pinball sex at 4:00, only with this nudge fest it's freaking 4:00pm!!! Usually those Rideau Arcades are really well maintained and nothing even close to this was every witnessed. But this one? It was closed within a month.

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loafer , you can share the cake with Silverball hahaha good one !!!

My top memories are

Beating my uncle at a 2 player game of Space Shuttle as a kid and I know he tried his best I focused on getting the bonus multiplier and he was just going for multiball

Playing Paragon at last years expo

Putting in initals on games for a top score off the top of my head PotC at Fun City (closed now) Walking Dead when it was new at 1up, EatPM at Hyperspace, Space Shuttle and Dracula when they still had good games at Lakewood bar and grill

Great times playing the hall of fame games and TPA

Picking up each of my real games as well as playing the first time after new ball rubber and tuning

Nice thread

My most memorable pinball experiences:

1) A few years ago I played a janky Pirates of the Caribbean at a bar in Bloomington, IN while friends drank since I wasn't into drinking anymore. They had that and a Ms. Pac Man and I loved the latter but never really had been into pinball nor given it much attention. Ended up playing that Pirates all night and it opened my eyes to the whole pinball thing

2) Not long after I went to a crappy little amusement park called Indiana Beach with the girl friend at the time and we discovered a bunch of old pins and I was immediately drawn to them and fascinated by them

3) not too long after that I went to Headquarters in Chicago for the first time and while all my friends wanted to play arcade games I was a kid in a candy store with the huge selection of great pins on free play. By this time I was fully into TPA and I was like "oh, there's this game! And that game!!"

4) first trip to Game Galaxy in Nashville, TN. I'd never been to a place with so many games, some 75 pins at the time. Spent a whole day there and it blew my mind.

5) my first big tournament in 2016, an all-day affair with 48 players. Just an awesome Saturday geeking out

Monopoly was one of the first games I had easy, regular access to since Indy was a desert at the time. I'd play for hours at a time. The first time I scored a Jackpot was so rewarding, it took quite a long time for me to do it. Still one of the hardest Jackpots in DMD pinball, IMO. Difficult shot to find with just one ball let alone multiple. I mean, it's basically the same set up as Addams but with only one Jackpot and it's a really tight shot.

heretic said:

breaking a totan plastic on my first game of my first shot , 2 days later the solenoid blew(faulty and i assume always at full power) the entire arcade evacuated but i was playing a game of paragon, i put the smouldering wood out and turn the machine off

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lol