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City Pinball - New Toronto League!

vinyljunkie67

New Member
Apr 14, 2013
25
0
1
Toronto, Ontario
Hiya folks. We're sarting up a new pinball league in the west end of Toronto for those of us who may not necessarily be able to commit to something like TOPL due to transportation restraints. September 9th is our first night. We'll be doing short seasons; bi-weekly for three months with the ability to drop two nights. All meets will be at Junction City Music Hall (2907 Dundas St. W.). We'll have a lineup including TSPP, TZ, DM, and others to start. This will be an IFPA sanctioned league. I really hope to see and meet some PinRev folks in person on the 9th. For more info, check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/citypinball and on Twitter, @citypinball
 

SuperPinball

Active Member
Feb 3, 2015
348
53
28
Richmond Hill
I wish you the best of luck vinyljunkie, I can see how this setup might appeal to new players to pinball especially those that can't drive and need to take TTC. For longevity however, I think 6 games may get monotonous after a few months. The host home/ multiple location model may be necessary in the long run to keep members interested. I read your facebook page, and you mentioned no host fees. Keep in mind the host fee covers food and refreshments as well as wear and tear on the hosts machines. It's actually really good value. Hopefully you can find some potential hosts in the downtown area. Again best of luck.
 
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Chris Bardon

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2012
1,301
158
63
Mississauga, ON
Even with TOPL, we only charge host fees for private locations. If/when we go to a public location, then there's no host fee, but you pay coin drops on the games. The last place we played in public was the Pinball Cafe, and we used to go to Playdium, but finding public locations that have enough working games for 30+ people has been challenging. Fortunately, private hosts have stepped up, and we have a great league going with them.

That being said, there are plenty of places that have multiple leagues in a city, and if the city league is going to offer something different, then that's great. If it gets more people interested in playing pinball and coming out to TOPL, then that's great too. More people playing pinball means everyone wins.
 
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spiroagnew

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Dec 1, 2012
1,333
311
83
Scotch Block, ON
www.creditdotpinball.com
With the 3030 Club and the JCMH each having seven games on location 400 meters from each other, and a set of operators who do a great job servicing and switching out the games, I think City Pinball will be a success. At least it will be centralized for the T.O. townies--opposed to the spread of 200-plus kilometres of TOPL locations. I made a rare visit downtown this past weekend to the above locations and the pins were well played by patrons (especially the 3030's EMs). Some signage promoting the league at these locations would certainly draw people in.
 
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vinyljunkie67

New Member
Apr 14, 2013
25
0
1
Toronto, Ontario
Thanks for the feedback guys! I really appreciate it. We are hoping this format works, but can always tweak it to suit everyone in the future after we test the waters.

Chris and SuperPinball, the lack of host fees is a minor detail and I see how they benefit everyone. We are running the games on coin-op to cover wear and tear and it's a cash bar, so it balances out (or ends up more expensive if you're a fan of fermented beverages like me).

We are planning to swap out the lineup at Junction City continually over time to keep things interesting. TZ just replaced Cueball Wizard yesterday (good riddance:p) and there will be more coming. The selection will never be as diverse as TOPL (you guys get to play some amazing stuff!), but we are going to do our best to keep things interesting.

I do want to stress that City Pinball was started to compliment and co-exist with TOPL and to get us "townies" playing on the regular together. I'd have joined up ages ago if I could commit. I generally run into the same folks playing at the same bars on the regular, so why not score some points while we're at it? Also, don't think there's a rule about being a member of more than one league?

Anyways, I'm really excited about this as we're only two weeks away! Hopefully we'll see you guys there! Thanks again for the input.

Mike
 

Vengeance

Well-Known Member
Nov 14, 2012
1,990
138
63
Keswick, ON
Pretty decent actually, think there were 20 some odd players games played decent for ;public machines, good start to the league.
 

vinyljunkie67

New Member
Apr 14, 2013
25
0
1
Toronto, Ontario
So how was the first league night?? :)

I'll be honest, I found myself wishing we had made it a weekly league the next day. It was an absolute blast and I've been hearing the same from a lot of the participants. We had 26 register on the inaugural night, which was way better than we had hoped for, and are expecting more this week.

Next one is this Wednesday, Sept. 23rd. Doors open at 7PM.

Adam, thanks again for coming out the other week. Looking forward to seeing you again Wednesday night.

Brock, maybe we'll catch you there on Wednesday?