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Is a trip to Playdium worth it?

Bigbossfan

Active Member
Aug 22, 2013
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Lincoln, NB
Was thinking about making a trip to Playdium to play alot of pins and get a feel for whats out there. It's a fair distance for me to go and just wondering what the communities take on it is? Is it worth a 1.5 hour drive??
 

tim.sanderson

Active Member
I used to go all the time to play the pins. I haven't been in a while though. (probably around March)
Last time I was there, there was 8 or 9 pins. Many of them had problems. (took them almost a year to fix the Big Buck Hunter) Some of the games play OK though. I played X Men and Spider Man the most. They seemed to be OK most of the time.
I'd go by what the tracker says.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... aenc#gid=2
It looks like the Playdium entries have been updated recently.

I'd say it would (most likely) be worth the drive.
 

mwong168

Administrator
Staff member
Nov 14, 2012
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I wouldn't drive in just for Playdium unless you want to play multiple copies of Transformers, Xmen or Avengers not dialed in properly or have issues :p You are also more then welcome to stop by my place next time you come into Toronto to play some pins.
 

goomba

Member
Aug 30, 2013
67
3
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GTA
Was recently there. Wizard of Oz could be played but a lot of the lights were stuck in some sort of seizure inducing mode. Other things were probably broken with it too. Avengers was very buggy and eventually got stuck searching for balls. Transformers worked well. Xmen's right flipper was a little weak making it a hard to hit the shots at the top of the playfield. Iron man is worn to the wood in two spots but seemed to work fine. Avatar, Big Buck Hunter, and Rolling Stones worked fine.
 

Bigbossfan

Active Member
Aug 22, 2013
491
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Lincoln, NB
Thanks gents for saving me the drive! I figured that all the machines would be in good order there....and a good selection. Not overly impressed with their lineup according to the pinball locator spreadsheet!
 

Bigbossfan

Active Member
Aug 22, 2013
491
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Lincoln, NB
By the way, also, thanks very much for the invites guys. I might just take you up on it. Also seriously considering coming out on the 23rd.
 

spiroagnew

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Dec 1, 2012
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Scotch Block, ON
www.creditdotpinball.com
Currently, not much care is given to the pins in the Playdium wilderness. A visit before the summer left a bad taste in my mouth. Machines were in terrible condition. Maybe that will change if we keep pumping credits into these animals and show them that keeping a pin in good shape will earn dollars.

If nothing else, it will drive you to fill your own home arcade so you can care for machines and keep them in good working order.
 

frolic

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Nov 19, 2012
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It's a real indictment about pinball in general that Playdium of all places can't keep their machines in good working order. How can any locations do it. Answer: they don't.
 

mwong168

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Nov 14, 2012
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frolic said:
It's a real indictment about pinball in general that Playdium of all places can't keep their machines in good working order. How can any locations do it. Answer: they don't.

Funny you mention this because if I was a sales person at Playdium and saw one of my showroom games was not working 100% I would walk over to the service department immediately. I would ask the technician to address it once they get a free minute as sometimes it could just be a simple adjustment or fix. Until then I would turn the game off or even unplug it so a customer doesn't turn it on himself and try to play the game. I'm sure if the owner sees many or all the games turned off in the showroom something will be done. When you are selling a $5000-8000 product you only get one chance to make a good first impression. The only saving grace in the showroom is everything is set to FREE PLAY and if it doesn't play properly you can just walk away.
 

DRANO

Super Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Mississauga
Sadly, the GTA is a dismal spot for pinballs in the wild. Hell, we can't even compete with Ottawa and host a real pinball show anymore :FP:

But, there are many great private collections and gracious hosts as you can see.
My new gameroom is nearing the stage where I can entertain a visitor ot two... as long as you don't mind side-stepping a few packing boxes ;) so I will offer up an open invite to pop in a try out a few games as well.

Playdium Store may be worth a visit though next time you find yourslef nearby. They usually have around 7-9 of the newer pins set up and working okay.
 

Chris Bardon

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2012
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Mississauga, ON
Playdium Store may be worth a visit though next time you find yourslef nearby. They usually have around 7-9 of the newer pins set up and working okay.

And even that seems to be changing. Last time I was in there, it seemed like a lot fewer pins than last time. Just along the front window, and not right in front as you walk in. Might change the next time there's a new title to slot in there, but not near as many as I've seen other times I've been there. The ACDC they have on the floor also has really weak flippers...not a good sign.
 

REVOLUTION

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Nov 13, 2012
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I'd say check out the Playdium (the actual place, not the store) if you're passing through. Why not? I wouldn't go there for pins mind you (go to the showroom for that), but the selection of arcade games is pretty great and they have some nice batting cages. Tons of stuff outside too, like go-karts and mini-golf. It's good to go to places like this to keep them alive..
 

tim.sanderson

Active Member
I was there today (Playdium Store) picking up parts. It looked like the same line up as the last few times I was there (Metallica, AC/DC, Transformers, Avengers etc)
I only played Metallica and Avengers. Metallica still has the very weak flippers, but Avengers seemed pretty good. Because my Dad was with me I didn't want to stick around for longer than he wanted to be there.
 

frolic

Member
Nov 19, 2012
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I took my kids to the arcade last night. I think they had about 8 games total.

-WOZ was not functioning (blank screen, LEDS were going crazy)
-xmen, avengers, rolling stones, bug buck hunter, avatar, maybe a tron, iron man

no acdc or metallica

the xmen was near the entrance and had a ticket dispenser, so I gave it a try, and the stupid thing didn't give me any tickets. so much for that.

the xmen had custom code for the tickets though, there was a "TICKET!" call out pretty regular, not sure what I did to earn it. unfortunately it did not pay out.
 

tim.sanderson

Active Member
It was likely just out of tickets. If you told someone who worked there, they would have loaded it up, and the tickets you had won would have come out of the machine. It gives you a ton of them. Between the two of us, my buddy Mike and I have thousands (if not in the 10's of thousands) of tickets from playing that game. We were going to try to win an X-Box or something, but lost interest.