Skill Shot

New Location Round-Up

If you are a pinball enthusiast in Seattle, the opening of a new location can be both a glorious event and business as usual. (Yes we are spoiled!) The following is a list of some of the notable new locations that have opened since last year’s NW Pinball and Arcade Show.

Coindexter’s, in Greenwood, opened at the beginning of September where there was once a dive bar called the Crosswalk Tavern. While the Crosswalk was undoubtedly loved by many, it was also renowned for its broken pinball machine and a lot of empty space. Coindexter’s has changed all of that by packing it full of arcade games and 12 pinball machines! Operated by 20XX Amusements, which has a great reputation for maintaining their pins, it has become one of the nicest locations in the city. It has also helped anchor the neighborhood as one with many unique pinball machines – all within a half block from each other.

Belltown’s Jupiter Bar also opened in September in a huge space that seems like it was once going to be a live music venue. Jupiter is equal parts art bar and arcade. There are beautiful murals covering its many walls created by local artists, including Joey Nix, who is also one of the owners. The popular and large arcade room in the back is packed full of  over 30 pinball machines, including a solid lineup of Bally widebodies! Since Jupiter is located in the heart of Belltown, it is an easy walk to many other downtown locations, as well as a light rail station.

The Ice Box opened in December and is located in-between Fremont and Ballard, known locally as Frelard. The name Ice Box alludes to the previous industrial ice making business that the large building once held. Only about a quarter of the space is currently open to the public and packed full of arcade games and around 30 pinball machines. The business is owned by Grand Champion Games, and this is where they bring their latest acquisitions to fix them up before routing them out to other locations. So there are often nice surprises in their lineup. Ice Box is also a very easy walk to other pinball locations, as well as the #40 bus, which can take you to even more pinball!

Full Tilt Capitol Hill finally opened in January after many years of rumors and anticipation. As one of the premiere ice cream shops in the city, the newest Full Tilt was welcomed by both pinball players and fans of their eclectic frozen treats. The location on 15th avenue is a good fit for them as it’s a few blocks away from the main concentration of bars the neighborhood is best known for, which makes it better for both parking and kids. 20XX operates the games here, so there’s a good mix of both new and old pins in pristine condition.

Another Castle Arcade Edition: Marysville opened in March and is a bit of a drive north from Seattle, but it’s well worth the effort. Also known as a beer-cade, AC Marysville hosts the first Nitro Pinball Showroom in the states. Nitro Pinball is a Canadian pinball supplier and the showroom part of the beer-cade contains many of the newest pinball machines that are available to play and purchase. Naturally this includes the latest Stern and Jersey Jack games, as well as the smaller companies such as Spooky and American. When they first opened, they even had one of the few Alien pinball machines! If you want to take a break from the new pins, there are also older games next door at Another Castle’s retail store.

Corner Pocket in West Seattle is a long-standing Seattle dive bar that reopened in April with new owners and 8 pinball machines. Previously known more as a pool hall, the Corner Pocket is now part of the 8-Bit Arcade family of locations (as is Tacoma’s Triple Knock). While the number of pins is more modest than other locations on this list, there are still some unique games there that make Corner Pocket worth making the trip to West Seattle.

Check out the Skill Shot website or download the Skill Shot app for a complete list of Seattle-area pinball locations and games!

– Bola Salvada!

Originally published in Skill Shot 51

Skill Shot Pincast Corner

by Kayla Greet

For the past three years Graham Klym and I have hosted a podcast companion to this here zine. We call it the Skill Shot Pincast. We typically have a guest from the Seattle scene to chat with us for roughly an hour, though sometimes we reach beyond our vast community to gauge the temperature in pinball scenes around the world. Some of our big-time past guests include Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies and former NBA all-star Todd MacCulloch.

If you are still uninitiated, or if you’re just behind because you’re binging Serial or something, you’ve settled your eyes in the right place. Here’s a rundown of what we’ve been up to on mic since the last issue of Skill Shot, and a little beyond.

63 – Jordan Semrow joins us for his third appearance to play Pinball 20 Questions and compare and contrast the growing Seattle scene and burgeoning Wisconsin scene.

62 – Maureen Hendrix details her experience playing in the Women’s World Championships in Vegas as well as her past year hosting Babes in Pinland, Seattle’s first monthly women’s tournament.

61 – Drop Target Zine: Artists Jon Chad and Alex Longstreth walk us through their journey from pinball fanzine to pinball omnibus. They recently published a book with all seven Drop Target Zines, Dream Machines, interviews, and autobiographical comics. It’s an incredible feat and a must-have for any pinball fan.

59 – Avout Vander Werf is our guest and he shares his storied history in Seattle’s pinball scene as the owner of Shorty’s, the longest running barcade in the city.

57 – Pinball on the Plains: Bill and Emily Brooks of Fargo Pinball talk to us about starting and operating a private pinball club akin to the 24-Hour Fitness of flipping.

56 – Bobby Conover returns to the show to give us the lowdown on his latest operating location, Coindexter’s in Greenwood. Learn about his process procuring and shopping pins before they go on route, and what it takes to maintain the high quality that 20XX Amusements has in spades.

54 – Andrew W.K.: Inspirational rock and roller Andrew W.K. takes a moment out of his recording schedule to talk to us about his fixation on the silver ball, growing up going to Pinball Pete’s in Michigan, and owning pinball machines himself. Get some solid life advice on how to achieve high kicks and effervescence in everything.

53 – Brad and Gordon: our three-time returning guests and founders of Skill Shot, stop by to give the listeners the lowdown on the Northwest Pinball and Arcade Show. It’s become a fond tradition that we look forward to nearly as much as attending the convention.

60, 58, and 55 – On these three, Kayla and Graham discuss the local scene and look back on 2017 (ep. 60); hype the 10-year anniversary of the Skill Shot zine (58); and report on Kayla’s Replay FX adventure in Pittsburgh, where she played in the world’s largest pinball tournament with over 800 players and squeezed into the big money finals! (55).

There you have it. Hours of our voices delivering some of the best (and worst) jokes in a pinball landscape littered with talented movers and shakers in the Seattle scene and beyond. You can subscribe to us in iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, and anywhere RSS feeds are offered. Take us with you on your commute!