(Topic ID: 66489)
Anaheim, CA
I wish Van Nuys wasn't so far for me. The Pinball museum, Retovolt, and Lake Alice seem to be my closest that I know of. I believe Lake Alice does tournaments. Or I just stay home and play the few pins I have. There is also Rebel Brewing in Banning that has a Beatles and a few other pins that I keep meaning to get over too. Last time we dropped off the kids and went they were at a chili cook off so we didn't get to play. There is also a MM in Redlands at the Pink Flamingo bar where my wife went while waiting for oil change got 3 free games.
Quoted from seenev:Anyone been to retrovolt arcade in Pasadena? Last time I went they had some pins but I haven't been in a couple years.
You may be mixing us up with Neon Retro in Pasadena.
We (Retrovolt) are in Calimesa right now we have 22 pins on the floor.
Just looked up Retrovolt online, looks like a great place 
. Don't get too excited about Nickel Nickel. They have 4-5 machines, as of a couple of months ago, but it's a small noisy arcade, no ambience whatsoever, nowhere to sit, no food, no alcohol, and it's noisy to the point where it's difficult to hear the sound of the pins. The positives are the cost, $2 entry/.20 cents per play, and the machines are in good working order. Last I went they had a StarWars (2017), Ghostbusters, Aerosmith, and Deadpool. If you do go, there's a Round Table Pizza next door, which may be convenient if you have kids or are just stopping by on a road trip, etc.
Quoted from tundrorock:Just looked up Retrovolt online, looks like a great place . Don't get too excited about Nickel Nickel. They have 4-5 machines, as of a couple of months ago, but it's a small noisy arcade, no ambience whatsoever, nowhere to sit, no food, no alcohol, and it's noisy to the point where it's difficult to hear the sound of the pins. The positives are the cost, $2 entry/.20 cents per play, and the machines are in good working order. Last I went they had a StarWars (2017), Ghostbusters, Aerosmith, and Deadpool. If you do go, there's a Round Table Pizza next door, which may be convenient if you have kids or are just stopping by on a road trip, etc.
Retrovolt is a cool place and the owner and people that work there are good people. They have a pizza joint next door if you get hungry. They have a good selection of pins and arcade machines.
And next to the pizza place is a bar. The ambience and selection of pins and games is amazing. The owner and staff are friendly and top notch. A great place to come and escape and relive those glory days of an arcade plus better. Definitely an old school clean arcade 2.0
2 weeks later
Quoted from seenev:Anyone been to retrovolt arcade in Pasadena? Last time I went they had some pins but I haven't been in a couple years.
Retrovolt is awesome. Located in Calimesa (between Redlands and Banning)All 22+ pinball machines play great. Definitely worth a trip.
2 weeks later
Quoted from Colsond3:Wanted: somewhere to play. I’m in LA, technically Castaic through the end of the week. I need to get my pinball fix while I’m out here if anybody wants some company. Or if anybody has any suggestions where to play.
I think a buddy of mine has at least one pin, maybe 2 on location at Pocock Brewery in Valencia which is very close to Castaic and they have great beer. As for a good number of pins to choose from, you may want to drive a little further South and go to AYCE Gogi down in the valley. That seems to be one of the better places to get some good games in with a larger selection. I would invite you over to get some games in on my WOZ or SS, (JD is in the middle of a teardown at the moment), but we have company over this week and the wife has my time and our house already spoken for during that time...
Quoted from Buzz:Pm sent. Come play
Be down there tomorrow.
Quoted from Calfdemon:I think a buddy of mine has at least one pin, maybe 2 on location at Pocock Brewery in Valencia which is very close to Castaic and they have great beer.
Down at Pocock now. Great beer. And ran into a fellow drummer friend I haven’t seen in years down here. Ironic. Thanks for the heads up. No Fear, EBD and a few vids.
E31CA444-06AE-460F-91C4-4C527F900151 (resized).jpegQuoted from Buzz:EBD and Star Wars hell yeah.
EBD wouldn’t coin up though...quarters just kept going to the return.
They have a 15.1% that made it all better. 9% craft brew, stored in Syrah barrels for a year after brewing. Tasty and potent.
Quoted from Colsond3:Be down there tomorrow.
Down at Pocock now. Great beer. And ran into a fellow drummer friend I haven’t seen in years down here. Ironic. Thanks for the heads up. No Fear, EBD and a few vids.[quoted image]
Glad you enjoyed it! I will let Steve know his EBD is down. Wolf Creek is another good brewery out here, but no pins...
Quoted from Buzz:Pm sent. Come play
Wanted to give a shout to Buzz and his wife for hosting last night. Very cool people, awesome collection with some very nice restored solid state games mixed in. It was a hike out there, but well worth the trip. Thanks again man!
2 months later
Pinball Madness tomorrow in Banning. I'm sure you guys know, but just in case...
http://pinballmadness.com/
1 week later
Surprised no one has posted anything on this, post event. Turnout was no more than half of last year's Pinball Madness I would guesstimate, and possibly even less than that. I took a photo of one of the main aisles at 9 P.M. on the Saturday, and it's shocking how sparse the crowd was there, vs. what I expected to see. I think someone from John's family told me that there had been virtually no advertising or promotion done for this one. (Also that they had hired extra security for the event -- which might have been useful if there had been a much bigger attendance.) I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that their escalation of ticket prices was primarily responsible for the decreased turnout. While it wasn't enough to dissuade me, I did hear some grumbling from others, and there were a number of SoCal regulars for these events that I had hoped to see again (as usual) who were notably absent. I dunno: maybe there were other factors at play ? INDISC is a rather separate thing unto itself, so we'll probably only take the measure of this come the next Arcade Expo, next March.
The silver lining ? Very reasonable wait times to play the new Elvira, the company-is-now-defunct Cosmic Carnival (both pretty meh, if you're asking me), and TBL, which I find myself liking more and more. Too bad that company went under, as well. Not to forget Aliens, about which ditto, and which I think exhibited loads of potential. The Houdini at Banning plays decidedly better than the one that was on location at Brewskis. But -- I'm sorry -- those shots are *still* too tight for the game to be as enjoyable as it *should* be, and the flippers could be stronger for attempting to make them. I am glad that John changed his attitude vis-a-vis the "boutique" manufacturers. It's a fine collection, and the techs do yeoman service, trying to keep as much of it running as they can.
Overall, I think the report card is pretty favorable. They have improved the food and beverage options at these events . . . although much further improvement is certainly possible. While it wasn't needed for this stanza of Pinball Madness, I'd like to see more on-site parking opened up, for the next time there is a bigger crowd.
I went as always and live streamed from there with a friend who I do Twitch with. Love the place but did notice that it seemed like less people. I honestly have no idea how they even offer tickets so cheap to begin with given the astronomical costs of running a place like that. They do need to get the word out more though, pretty much anyone I tell about that place has never heard of it, and that's even locals. If people can't handle the current price then I wonder if someday they need to change to far less machines maybe in a better location. So rather than 1400 machines which cost an enormous amount to power, house and maintain, instead maybe keep the best 200-300 or so in a more ideal location.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there isn't a "they" as it is a privately owned collection, right?. And the owner only opens his collection to the public twice a year (March and October). So the tickets are sold not to upkeep and operate his collection, but to pay for the costs of actually throwing the events. I know he holds a few other things throughout the year like public safety appreciation nights etc... where select groups are invited to use his place for free. But the only time there are admission costs are the 2 yearly events. He isn't running it as a business, so I am pretty sure that downsizing is not in his plans.
One of my friends is one of his techs that works on his machines from time to time (and volunteers to work his events). I guess the guy is made of money and the compound is his little "baby in the desert".
Well I don't know all the details of course, I was just thinking of it as a business. If money is endless then nothing to worry about, but if the goal is to sell tickets then something has to give if the current setup isn't covering costs. Maybe they are doing fine though, who knows but it did seem quieter this past event.
In a way it was better though to be honest, when it gets too packed the place becomes somewhat warm and wait times for games become really really long. I had more fun this time than past events because I was able to actually play any game I wanted with not bad wait times, even Big Lebowski. Either way I love the place and go every time it's open, I think it's a bargain for what they offer and I'll always support it.
Quoted from Reality_Studio:Well I don't know all the details of course, I was just thinking of it as a business. If money is endless then nothing to worry about, but if the goal is to sell tickets then something has to give if the current setup isn't covering costs. Maybe they are doing fine though, who knows but it did seem quieter this past event.
In a way it was better though to be honest, when it gets too packed the place becomes somewhat warm and wait times for games become really really long. I had more fun this time than past events because I was able to actually play any game I wanted with not bad wait times, even Big Lebowski. Either way I love the place and go every time it's open, I think it's a bargain for what they offer and I'll always support it.
Actually, it's 3 public events a year, counting INDISC (our largest annual regional tournament) in January, which has had an "INDISC festival" tacked on to it for the last couple editions. That one draws from far and wide, has been growing, and promises to keep on growing.
Otherwise, generally in agreement with what you said. I used to go to Vegas a couple times a year, though not for the last three years or so, ever since LV went over to a greedy, terrible nickel & dime-ing of us everywhere, eradicating a long history of tourist bargains, charging $$ for parking all over which used to be FREE, etc. (It's like they aggressively retired the 'Welcome Mat' , and now fancy themselves another L.A. or NYC. -- take it or leave it.) I'm not a gambler or a (ridiculous prices) shows patron, so a major reason for going there at all was the PHOF. In spite of friendly contact with the public decidedly not being Tim's forte, I always really liked that place. But it's triple the drive for me, each way. So, you could kinda say that ever since the Banning museum's debut, for me it has basically eaten PHOF's lunch. Even at just 3 events per year.
1 week later
Catching up and enjoying the discussion here. My son and I went, we started going last year and went to the 3 events. I noticed the price went up, but since I consider it quality family time for us I don't worry about it too much. I agree with reality_studio in that the wait times being lower and less heat turned out to be a positive. I appreciated and noticed the extra security, can't be too careful nowadays... We do 90% pinball, but I still like a few of the video games that I can't play nearby. No Atari Football this time, and lunar lander still broken 
Overall had a really fun time. The drive is the only negative for me, always seems like some kind of traffic incident at the time makes things painful. I'm personally grateful that he opens the collection up, someday it may not be available and we'll all be talking about how great it was back in the day. Better to not take it for granted. I'm sure we'll both go to Indisc and Arcade Expo.
The one suggestion I have is to do early bird pricing. The people who know about it and are really into it will know the dates and buy early. I bought my ticket early at full price, only to see a $5 off coupon (per ticket) online that I had no idea how to claim after the fact. I'd rather just have straight forward early bird pricing, and then escalate as you get closer, rather than the 'wait and see' approach of online coupon codes.
2 weeks later
There used to be more of a benefit with the Early Bird pricing on their events.
They really dropped the ball on this last one, sending out their EB announcement -- to their email subscriber list, anyway -- around 5 days prior to the event, at which point most interested folks already had purchased tickets. But the price difference was pretty meager . . . .
INDISC will have its own draw, irrespective of this. (Although in various ways you will definitely feel more of a wallet pinch to really participate in it.) As I noted earlier, the real test on the reception for this drift in ticket cost may not become clearer until the next Arcade Expo.
2 weeks later
Quoted from jordanfsl:Anyone have a service recommendation around Thousand Oaks? I have an AC/DC Pre. which has been out of commission for a long time, just needs a new rubber kit (rubber on the flippers snapped).
thanks in advance!
PM mikeincali
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Quoted from jordanfsl:Anyone have a service recommendation around Thousand Oaks? I have an AC/DC Pre. which has been out of commission for a long time, just needs a new rubber kit (rubber on the flippers snapped).
thanks in advance!
Can’t you just buy some and put them on yourself? It’s probably the easiest thing to fix on a pinball machine.
Quoted from vicjw66:Can’t you just buy some and put them on yourself? It’s probably the easiest thing to fix on a pinball machine.
Agreed. While they may not represent your best buy for this, there are full, specific rubber kits sold by dealers on eBay for a vast array of games -- which come with a map or drawing showing where each piece goes. That makes it extra convenient, especially for the novice. (Read the eBay listing description to make sure.) Then, it's pretty much a straightforward "Paint by Numbers" kinda deal. I think I must have gotten a few of these kits from a dealer in Canada, but there are others. Some kits have a lot of added crap like (dubious) cleaning supplies that you probably don't need, at a higher cost, but you can skip over those.
5 months later
3 weeks later
2 years later
Quoted from JakeFAttie:Is there a SoCal club? where's the local events and tournaments happening? NoHo Rollers!
check out SOCAL PINBALL & EVENTS on FACEBOOK
also:
AYCE GOGI
LAGUNA BEACH BEER CO
MISSION CONTROL
4 weeks later
Quoted from JakeFAttie:Is there a SoCal club? where's the local events and tournaments happening? NoHo Rollers!
For those (like me) who don't FB there is a parallel site at
https://www.meetup.com/san-diego-pinball-club/
which originally predated the FB one by a lot, went away for some time, and then got resurrected. Meetup is free to join, sans any of the FB "baggage", and I think you can access the Events Calendar part without even any need to sign in. Easy enough to bookmark both sites. Meetup also sends me notifications of upcoming events.
One might have hoped that we had emerged from the pandemic doldrums, but not exactly or entirely -- yet. Pre-pandemic, we (the San Diego Club) used to have around 4 local tournaments a month. Most of those have so far returned as bi-monthly at best, and on a more staggered schedule. Still hoping for a fuller return to the previous normalcy.
5 months later
5 months later
Hey guys! I posted in the main forum about inheriting a pinball game from my grandma. It was working and was able to play games until yesterday when I turned it on and now just the lights turn on. I’ve been trying to troubleshoot myself, but would love an experts help. Is there anyone local (I’m in Camarillo) that could pass down some knowledge?
Thanks!
Quoted from TheMedic:Hey guys! I posted in the main forum about inheriting a pinball game from my grandma. It was working and was able to play games until yesterday when I turned it on and now just the lights turn on. I’ve been trying to troubleshoot myself, but would love an experts help. Is there anyone local (I’m in Camarillo) that could pass down some knowledge?
Does it need credits to start a game?
3 weeks later
Quoted from TheMedic:Hey guys! I posted in the main forum about inheriting a pinball game from my grandma. It was working and was able to play games until yesterday when I turned it on and now just the lights turn on. I’ve been trying to troubleshoot myself, but would love an experts help. Is there anyone local (I’m in Camarillo) that could pass down some knowledge?
Thanks!
Call The Game Doc
1 month later
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