Pinball down under in Auckland, New Zealand:
Sunday night is arguably not the best night to play fast machines like the MM and the LOTR. The reflexes have slowly been deteriorated during the previous nights of joy and the physical memories of a tough battle against dehydration and a beating headache are still fresh.

But what a nice way to spent the last hours of your weekend shooting silver balls on (again arguably) the two most exciting machines available at the moment. The Auckland crew was playing them at TIMEZONE on Queen Street in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. Both machines were in good state although some sensors on the MM seemed a bit dirty, or were the shots too fast? The LOTR is brand new so nothing to complain there. The new Stern jewel is equipped here with a competition button and for two credits you can get a shot at the 50 NZ Dollar Jackpot which is rising with every game played, a good initiative!



It is relatively easy to switch between the machines because of their similar setup. It is a proven concept and I have absolutely no problem with the fact that things got copied in this extend. The MM has created good offspring!



The crew on this rainy Sunday night consisted of William (big Will), an all around good kiwi bloke hooked on the game. Then there was Daniel who came up from Levin and just studied the MM rulebook and kept shouting out quotes. Last man Björn, a pinball fanatic with roots in ‘De Koog’ now living in Auckland, completed the bunch. Other regular players here are Bertus (all the way from Amsterdam he brought some dubious acquired skills with him) and Tony, a typical kiwi world traveler who finally returned to his home base.



The LOTR was to be played first, the fresh (and very loud!) sounds instantly make this an exciting machine, clear graphics and bright colors also make it an eye pleaser. And it is definitely a technical teaser, the hard shot on the ‘one ring’, best performed with the right flipper, is always tricky and a lack of precision makes a ‘Pro Save’ very necessary. Sometimes RING-games get started even when the ball is not taken by the powerful magnet behind the ring; it can hit fast and bounce out, activating the selected game. Finishing one of the games gives valuable prizes which makes the loud countdown at the end of your game time extra nerve breaking. Especially Gandalf's voice made us nervous. Daniel was the first to score big with Destroy the Ring but the reasonable highscore of 168 million on this table was not broken.



After some well deserved burgers (the FF 'thing' upstairs) we decided to go back in time, Medieval Times with Francois du Grimm and his friends. The MM has always been high up in the TOP 100 and every time you play this fast Masterpiece you know why. Almost every time we play, the silverball is able to surprise us with its movements, great stuff! Of course demolishing castles is great fun, especially when the owner is drunk or gets really PO-ed, the quotes make this machine even cooler!!! The triple stage castle multiball was almost completed by Björn but it just would not happen. Daniel had fun with his beloved trolls, human- or ham-burgers, what’s the difference? William kicked some ass in the games but unfortunately no one could enter his initials in the machine. After almost 4 hours of play we noticed that scores over 15 million (Replay value, a great kick when you pay per game) became scarce… It was obviously time to say goodbye and thank Timezone for another exciting session!


Auckland pinball community:
Other machines (in good condition) that can be found in Auckland include: In the Civic theater with another LOTR and Shadows on University campus with Twister (average condition) and a brilliant Cirque Voltaire! Also on campus is a Black Rose. Hell Pizza on the top of Symonds street with the Twilight zone! The T3 and The Simpsons Pinball Party have just recently moved out of town, too bad, we miss them already! Still there is plenty of choice left for a nice City-pinball-tour!
Anybody who knows other machines –in good state- in and around is welcome to post them here!

Keep them rolling guys!

Björn