Back in 2017 I had written a post titled "The Pinball Bucket List". The purpose of that post was to define pinball machines I hadn't played before and create a "bucket list", crossing off games on the list as I was able to play them. Because I have been playing pinball since 1980, the list was very manageable...over the years there were very few solid state games from the big manufacturers that I hadn't played. In retrospect, however, I might have been too restrictive in my criteria, which was 1) no obscure or hard to find manufacturers and 2) no games released before 1988. As the list was w ..read more

In my "Top 5 Pins" post last year I mentioned in passing that in December 2022 my former company flew me down to Los Angeles to see Metallica's All Within My Hands special charity concert, their first since Covid hit. I wrote that in reference to how it led me to play more Metallic pinball and to put the game into my Top 5, but there's more to the story. I meant to tell it sooner but got sidetracked by other things like my new games. My employer was one of the sponsors of the show and as a result was granted some free tickets. As luck would have it, 2 tickets came my way. Most of my co-wo ..read more

Home Lineup and Barcade Layout Transformation If you've been following my posts last year, a lot of them concerned machines coming and going. In came Rush Premium, Deadpool Premium, Iron Maiden Premium, and Jurassic Park Pro. Out went Fish Tales, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Munsters LE, Popeye, and Deadpool Premium. The net result is one less game coming in than going out (Deadpool counts as both), so currently I'm at 13 machines. Ripley's, Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Frankenstein are still on the chopping block. Also slated to go is Stern Pirates of the Caribbean, as I've kind of tired of that game ..read more

At the end of my previous post about obtaining an Iron Maiden Premium, I mentioned that the number of games in my collection has gone up to 13 with a new acquisition. When I mentioned to a friend that I had been thinking about getting a Jurassic Park someday, they made me an offer that I spent about 10 seconds thinking about and then jumped on. That's right, a Stern Jurassic Park Pro has entered the Barcade! Yet another new Keith Elwin-designed addition to my lineup has generated even more excitement for me. There was a Jurassic Park Pro on location in a brewery about 15 minutes from my house ..read more

In my previous post I talked about how Deadpool entered and then left the Barcade. I put it up for sale or trade, and when an opportunity presented itself that allowed me to exchange it for the #3 game on my Top 5 list, I jumped at the chance. That's right folks, Iron Maiden Premium has entered the Barcade! My lineup continues to be transformed, and to be frank these changes have been really exciting after years of games being bolted to the floor. When Deadpool and Popeye left the collection, I was down to 11 games, but the addition of Iron Maiden brought the number of pins in the collection b ..read more

In my "Rush Premium enters the Barcade" post, I mentioned that another game entered hot on the heels of Rush. That game was a used Deadpool Premium! Deadpool was the second machine added to the collection since Godzilla in 2022, and only the third since Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle in November 2019. This pushed the current collection total back up to 13. The game had some cool mods already installed, including mirror blades and a topper. When this game popped up locally, I thought it would be a great addition to the collection because I had done well on it at the Northwest Pinball and Arca ..read more

The Kineticist is a good, relatively new pinball site on the internet. Some of the their content is really well-written, while some of it leaves me scratching my head. But overall I like the site. Recently they pinged media members (podcasts) to get them to present their top 5 pinball machines of all-time. Although I am not part of this media group, I thought it would be a fun exercise to explore for myself. I did a top 50 back in 2019, but the pinball landscape has changed greatly since then. I'd also say that my tastes have changed over time. Just for fun, here were my top 5 back in 2019 and ..read more

It's no secret that as part of my makeover of my pinball lineup, I was angling for a Rush Premium in place of Fish Tales, Bram Stoker's Dracula, and The Munsters moving out. A couple of months ago that became a reality when a Rush Premium finally arrived at the Barcade! Rush was the first machine added to the collection since Godzilla in 2022, and only the second since Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle in November 2019. This pushed the current collection total back up to 12. While the game had a lot of great mods already installed, including the awesome topper, it had mirror blades instead of t ..read more

The Great Lineup Change of 2023 continues for me, with The Munsters LE leaving the Barcade. Previously Fish Tales and Bram Stoker's Dracula departed. With The Munster gone, I'm now at 11 games total. Now either Popeye or Stern Pirates of the Caribbean will be the next to leave. The Munsters was, for me, an easy game to part with. It wasn't necessarily a rules problem - a lot of people don't like the rules - unlike others, I felt the last code updates added some cool new modes like Midnight Madness and Munster Madness. This was simply a decision based on theme. My roommate Kelly's desire was ..read more

Last month I decided to take a trip to Seattle to visit my dad on Father's Day. I told my dad that I was willing to come up for a couple of days, but I wanted to check out some new pinball machines (some have been out for a while but are new to me), and new locations that I had never been to before. My dad indulges my quirks with some amusement, but if there is good beer involved, he is all for it. So with a couple of hours to kill before visiting my sister (but unfortunately half of that time stuck in Seattle traffic), the first destination we rolled up to was 4B's Tavern. The front en ..read more