I've got a couple of quick news items for everyone this morning. First up we have Chicago Gaming Company and Play Mechanix's pinball machine Pulp Fiction. According to Josh Sharpe, CGC is building subassemblies for the game right now and is getting closer to full production and games shipping with each passing week. He game an estimate of Pulp Fiction machines beginning to ship to customers by the end of Q4 2023.
In other pinball production news, I'm hearing that one of the reasons that Dutch Pinball's production of Big Lebowski pinball machines and its shipment of replacement playfields to certain customers has been slower than the Company hoped is holdups with getting playfields from its supplier Mirco. Mirco has promised Dutch that it will increase its playfield production for them in Q1 2024, but the issue has been frustrating for both the company and customers. If I was Dutch, I personally would ditch Mirco in favor of another playfield supplier. Having Mirco playfields in a game is already considered to be a negative by the pinball public, if using them is slowing production as well then switching is a no-brainer to me.
Last but not least, last night I stumbled across a YouTube video stating that the iconic pinball location at MOM's Organic Market in College Park, Maryland is closing this week...not the grocery store itself, just the pinball part.
UPDATE: I have great news. I spoke with the owner of MOM's and while the location is moving from its current grocery store spot it is reopening elsewhere soon. The new location for the MOM's games is still under construction and has not been officially announced yet.
I've made the several hour pilgrimage to the MOM's grocery store pinball arcade several times over the past several years, both on an arcade road trip and with my family.
Below are a link to an article that I wrote about one of my trips to MOM's several years ago, a couple of pictures from said trip and the YouTube video that I mentioned.
2019 FALL ARCADE ROAD TRIP, Stop 1: MOM’s Organic Market - College Park, MD (October 2019)
The hidden entrance to MOM's pinball arcade in the frozen food section of the grocery store
Hey, I'm the guy who runs the league at MOM's and I've got a quick update: The games aren't being moved out on Tuesday, so you've got a few more days to stop in and play at least. Maybe come by and guest in the league or play in the tournament on Friday night! 😎
It's about a 45 minute drive that we gladly made to play their wonderfully maintained machines. A real loss for this area
Visit the in-laws about 2 to 3 times a year in the Maryland region. This was one of the major draws that made the trip fun. Guess I’ll be heading out to DC area about once a year now.
I'm hoping for you guys in MD that the owner has a backup plan to relocate these machines to another building..that youtube guy seemed really bummed, and I would be as well. Pharmacy is, unfortunately where the big money is, but that doesn't make it right either; too much pharm!, and the irony is that pinball is therapy!!
It’s supposedly closing this Tuesday. Our league there got relocated effective this week.