Hi everyone. I'm new to the Minneapolis area...just moved up from Omaha. I don't have my "arcade" with me yet (or anything really), but know that pinball is alive and well up here. (As I've been drooling over pictures of Bryan Kelly's game room for a few years!) I've made it over to SS Billiards a few times already, which was a lot of fun. Don't know very many people in the Twin Cities area, so I figured I'd write a quick post here and see if anybody would be up to hit-up SS this Sunday or something. Feel free to shoot me a PM instead of a reply, as I don't mean to take up thread space. Just trying to get connected with some fellow pinball enthusiasts!

Just sold my Baywatch to a young guy from northern Minnesota. It's nice to see younger people getting into pinball, there IS hope for the human race.

Checking out a couple machines Friday, hopefully it works out and I'll post the acquisition(s)!

I will. I'll be there at noon on Sunday.

LTG : )

LTG is always there for you, literally and figuratively!

There is a monthly tournament at Blainbrook Bowl on Saturday if you are interested. Normally about 30 people there, so that would be a good chance to meet people.

Welcome to the fold. Envious of your Black Knight 2K.
I would be up for Sunday for a bit(if I don't have plans otherwise). My last pinball fix was last week at a private party(which was a blast). Been a while since I hit SS. Used to work near there. What time range?

I've been to SS Billiards and Blainebrook but I'm not familiar with Mortimers or Caffetto. Can someone give a rundown on the games at those two spots?

Cafetto: Last time I was there, they had 4 non-working machines. Sadly, one was BK2K and Stargate. Not sure what it has now.
Mortimers: The latest tables. X-Men, AC/DC, Tron,Avengers(I think), POTC, Sopranos, Rolling Stones. Plenty of fun stuff. I hope they get more tables since it's a fun place.

I've never been to Cafetto's, but I did sell them a game. Not sure what they have currently, but I loved that BK2K when it was at SS Billiards. Super fun game.

Mortimer's has; Avengers, IM, Tron, Transformers, AC/DC, X-Men, Lord of the Rings. They have Sopranos and Rolling Stones in the back room too and are currently running TOPs Tournaments on TF, Avengers and AC/DC.

For games, try using this app. It works well and people are making a concerted effort to keep it up to date.

http://pinballmap.com/twincities

Mortimers also had a LOTR last time I was there. No more POTC (I think).

I can confirm that there WAS an Avengers (that had 3-4 issues).

It's worth noting that Rolling Stones and Sopranos are in a back bar that is not always open.

I was there maybe a month ago.

Hope that helps

In my opinion, SS Billiards games are always in the best playable condition, whereas other places the games might have issues sometimes.

EDIT: Take LesManley's word over mine!! He's the guy who ALWAYS knows what's on route and what condition they are in!

The Avengers plays really well now. John from D&G has spent a ton of time working with the players to dial that machine in. Pirates has been gone for a little while now.

Welcome to the Twin Cities area! Where abouts did you settle down? I'd be down to hit up SS sometime and play some pins with ya.

Tony, it absolutely did play like crap, you were totally right on. D&G have been very receptive to the players now which is awesome. John from D&G shows up to the monthly tournaments to clean games and fix issues on the spot and responds to e-mails about issues too. We worked with him for a few weeks to get their Avengers dialed in and it plays really well now which is cool. The Blainbrook one still plays like crap, but that is AAA that has that one there so who knows if that one will ever work right.

Funny since I thought it was becoming 99% cheese & Happy Days a few weeks ago.

The last time I went to Blainbrook, the Avengers machine had nobody on it, yet a 3rd ball was ready to play. A walk-off on a dolla game?

The Tron at Mortimer's is great. I got a way higher score on that than the Blainbrook one. I was able to properly nudge & such. The BB Tron tilts if you look at it funny. Still remember the funny bounceback on Mort's AC/DC. The ball did a SDTM drain so fast, it bounced back up, so I did a quick right nudge, hit it with the flipper, and was back in the game.

Thanks for the responses everyone! Looks like there are some good places to play around here! A couple people mentioned Blainebrook, which appears to be a little closer to me (currently on the St. Paul side). Not sure if I can make it out Saturday for the tournament this month, but I was going to try and hit that place up at 1pm on Sun, if anyone wants to partake. I'm not opposed to heading to SS as well to meet some people later in the day or something.

I think we need to do another Thursday night Crazy (Insert Name Here) Tournament at SS Billiards for old time sake. Wouldn't even need to be on a Thursday and Lloyd wouldn't have to spring for burgers, just a player organized friendly tournament. So many new people to meet and so many oldies but goodies that I don't get to see enough of. Maybe after the Pinball Circus at the beginning of April...which you should pencil in on your calendar right now PBaller22...it's a fantastic time.

Just name a specific time at SS since I haven't been there in a while, and kinda filled up from the Blainebrook machines at the moment. Haven't played TZ, etc in a while.

St Paul, you say? There is a place in/near Oakdale called De Leo brothers pizza. They've got 80s arcades and 3 pinballs. Last time I was there, it was Fish Tales, Stern Indiana Jones, and Avatar.

I want to say games are 3/$1?

Great food too. Certainly a place you can bring the wife and kids into.

I might be down to hit up BB on Sunday. I'll PM ya and let ya know later.

Avatar and FT are 3 / $1.00. Indy is 5 for $2.00. I was just there yesterday. Indy was their game of the month last month and I won free pizza and pop for my score so I played a few games of Avatar and had some free food...good times.

They also have Galaga, Centipede, Dig Dug, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, Mario Bros., Frogger and one or two others I think...those are $.25 play too. Nice place and the owner Nathan is a great guy.

It should also be noted that if you are a player with a reasonable amount of skill, you can play either of those Stern games all day for a couple bucks. The replay values seem quite liberal. I can't comment on the FT as I've never dropped a quarter in it.

Yeppers to that. Earned a replay on Avatar there, and after I played 2 credits, I left for the bathroom. Heard the 2 knocks giving me 2 credits, and 2 kids quickly swiped it up. It was all good since it was mealtime for me there.

Deleo's has a real great setup there. Very good prices on the entertainment. I hope he gets more pins in.

Still need to try ToM at a place in Highland park in my old neighborhood. Not too far from that is a CFTBL at The Nook.

Thank you Tony.

For anyone that doesn't know. If I'm open, I'm there.

If you have a problem with a machine - I'm there to fix it. Or worse case scenario give you games on another machine or a refund, which ever you prefer.

Most places in this area don't make refunds, you put in money at your own risk.

LTG : )

You're not kidding about that Tron at BB. I don't consider myself to be a major shaker, so I had to chuckle when I tilted it. Unfortunaly, I was afraid to put any more $ into the machine and thus didn't get a good feel for the game.

All sorts of places to play. Good deal. Well, I guess my "pinball meet-and-greet tour" on Sunday will go Blainebrook at 1pm, then SS Billiards at 3:30pm, if anyone is interested in coming out for a few games. If not no worries, but it is an excuse to go play some pinball...so there's that. (And after re-reading this post, it feels a bit Ron Burgandy...but I'm not going to re-write it...Ron Burgandy would never do that.)

Avatar replay is 6,450,000 so yeah, you can play for awhile. There is a TOM at DeMori's in Oakdale, only about 1 mile from DeLeo's. DeLeo's owner Nathan is trying to get another pin in there, so we will see.

The more pins he gets in,the more he's just gonna attract those tourney weirdos and stuff.

WhAt?! My son and I went there for Dinner a couple times a week and I didnt see a single pin. Havent been there in a year+.. Is TOM recent or am I just blind?

Then again, if it was in the bar, I'd have never seen it, My son and I sat in the dining area.

Does he own or lease these games?

this feels needed in this thread given the current soter bias

It is in the bar in the far back corner all alone. I had missed it in there before too. I finally went and looked for games and saw it. Plays good too, volume is low so it is tough to hear though.

Demori's and DeLeo's are route pins from ops. DeLeo's is Mendota Valley and Demori's is AVA I believe.

this feels needed in this thread given the current soter bias
» YouTube video

My buddy is a huge Gopher's hockey fan and this is his favorite pic. He found it online, but wants to buy the shirt if he ever finds it. To be fair, he hates every college that isn't the UMN equally...not just Wisconsin...and loves to go to North Dakota and St. Cloud on away games to rile people up.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!princess.jpg

LMAO

A guy I work with wears this tee whenever UW plays Minnesota.
I have to admit it was pretty funny the first time I saw it.

image.jpg

You mean the automatic W on the Badger schedule every year?
edit-thats for football, I recognize no other sport, well, except rugby

Yup.
But when it comes to Big 10 football I have to be careful what I say or do because I married a Buckeye.

Buckeyes are probably going to dominate the Big Ten the next 5-6 years till Meyer gets bored there.

They definitely had a hell of a year in 2012.
When we used to live in Columbus back in the early 2000s (when they were a powerhouse) it was definitely an experience to go to OUS tailgates but personally I think most Buckeye fans are batshit crazy.
Over the past 3 years of living in Wisconsin we've hit a few tailgates and the UW fans are a lot more fun and friendly.
I'll take UW game day festivities over OSU every time.

Here's to hoping the Packers nab Montee Ball in the draft 3rd round!

Here's to the Vikings for drafting someone sometime!

LOL! Wasnt that about 5 years ago they didnt get there pick in time and got skipped in the order? I thought that was quite amusing.

Seems we get the washed up classics or over hyped youth at QB. I just wish we could take advantage of AP more, an accurate QB or a WR that can catch a ball would be great!

I figured the vikings would pick up Woodson or Saturday. We know how you guys like our table scraps.

chris

Milwaukee WI checking in. New to pinside, and relatively new to the pin hobby as well. Currently have a SF2, RS and freshly restored/shopped Gulfstream EM in the lineup. Attempting to breathe life back into a Lucky Ace EM, and always on the lookout for a PF replacement for my SMDM in storage. Also have about 15 arcade machines in The Garcade (http://www.arcade-museum.com/members/member_detail.php?member_id=439640).

Packer fan at heart, but ashamed to admit I am also a closet Vikings fan (family was from Faribault, MN).

I will be at MGC all weekend this year, and at Tom's place as well.

So negative Chris, so so negative.

Fellow KLOV'er, welcome.

When is Minneapolis getting a Pin/Video expo like Louisville/Milwaukee/MI/TX/etc have? They all seem like a great time but are always to damn far away!

As soon as you put it together.

First problem is too many shows in the USA now, so attendance from out of the area is going to be tough. Look how PPE took west coast attendees from Expo.

Next up - A dozen hard core helpers - but they want to be at the show not running it.

Then a hotel/convention - price that out. Don't forget guarantee on rooms, food, and bars - and even if you don't make it but pony up the money yourself, they may not want you back next year.

Oh yeah, money - besides the hotel/convention. Advertizing and promotion, prizes, tournaments, getting games there, the list goes on.

You need all that money up front.

This has come up in the past. And you always hit the lack of wall. Lack of money. Lack of dedicated people to run it. Lack of attendees.

And to compete and maybe break even or make money. You have to come on strong. The days of building up a show over the years is over.

Best wishes with your show !
LTG : )

Incidentally the Pinball Circus is coming up April 6th & 7th. Four pinball tournaments. Four one ball TOPS tournaments. Goose Egg event. etc. etc.

If you want to bring in a dozen video games to expand the event. Contact me.

LTG : )