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Hello from Essex!

David_Vi

David_Vi

Site Supporter
5Years
Joined
Sep 3, 2019
Messages
3,991
Location
Sudbury
I'm David,

I recently rediscovered pinball thanks to Pinball Fx3 and things are escalating rather fast...

My earliest memory is going to Clacton and Walton pier and other seaside destinations as a child and seeing pinball machines. The one I only remember for certain was Terminator 2 due to the imagery and movie connection.

I ended up playing pinball games on Amiga and then PC on/off through the years, so many hours on Pro Pinball. Later got Pinball Fx2 on PC in a humble bundle.
It wasn't till this year I bought my own Nintendo switch after I kept taking the other half's to work to play Zelda.
Discovered pinball fx3 was free to download and had a real table. This lead me to tell my partner about pinball and now we both own nearly all the Williams packs on Pinball fx3 🙄
Same day I found out about UKPinfest and booked it!

In the mean time we hunted down real tables when away and my partners first real pinball experience was Twilight Zone in a bar in Brighton, acdc was next to it but we didn't yet realise what a good table that was.

Then played Attack from Mars in Liverpool and then discovered the great Flip Out in Croydon!
So we've been to Flip out twice and UKPinfest.

I've not been in a rush to own my own home (still saving) but now I am more motivated as I really want to own a couple pins!

Anyways we'll be at Flip out hopefully at least once a month. Both tall, kinda alternative looking!
Excited to be a part of this community

My favourite machines so far.. (mostly influenced by Pinball fx3 but have played for real now)

Medieval Madness
Attack from Mars
Road Show
ACDC
Star trek tng

I hope to own at least one of those in a year or two... Likely? 🤔

Consider us addicted.
 
David_Vi said:
I'm David,

I recently rediscovered pinball thanks to Pinball Fx3 and things are escalating rather fast...

My earliest memory is going to Clacton and Walton pier and other seaside destinations as a child and seeing pinball machines. The one I only remember for certain was Terminator 2 due to the imagery and movie connection.

I ended up playing pinball games on Amiga and then PC on/off through the years, so many hours on Pro Pinball. Later got Pinball Fx2 on PC in a humble bundle.
It wasn't till this year I bought my own Nintendo switch after I kept taking the other half's to work to play Zelda.
Discovered pinball fx3 was free to download and had a real table. This lead me to tell my partner about pinball and now we both own nearly all the Williams packs on Pinball fx3 🙄
Same day I found out about UKPinfest and booked it!

In the mean time we hunted down real tables when away and my partners first real pinball experience was Twilight Zone in a bar in Brighton, acdc was next to it but we didn't yet realise what a good table that was.

Then played Attack from Mars in Liverpool and then discovered the great Flip Out in Croydon!
So we've been to Flip out twice and UKPinfest.

I've not been in a rush to own my own home (still saving) but now I am more motivated as I really want to own a couple pins!

Anyways we'll be at Flip out hopefully at least once a month. Both tall, kinda alternative looking!
Excited to be a part of this community

My favourite machines so far.. (mostly influenced by Pinball fx3 but have played for real now)

Medieval Madness
Attack from Mars
Road Show
ACDC
Star trek tng

I hope to own at least one of those in a year or two... Likely? 🤔

Consider us addicted.
Click to expand...

Welcome David, newly joined myself. 👍
 
Welcome to the forum David, there's a friendly little bunch of us in Essex. I'm just on the outskirts of Chelmsford and anyone is welcome round for a few flips. I was trying to get into the habit of hosting regular meetups at mine but life got in the way. Keep a look out as will try and organise another one soon and you're more then welcome to join us!

James
 
MajesticPinball said:
Welcome to the forum David, there's a friendly little bunch of us in Essex. I'm just on the outskirts of Chelmsford and anyone is welcome round for a few flips. I was trying to get into the habit of hosting regular meetups at mine but life got in the way. Keep a look out as will try and organise another one soon and you're more then welcome to join us!

James
Click to expand...
Oh that's fantastic I'd be up for that!
I'm in Colchester and Chelmsford is no problem to get to!
 
Hi

Welcome to the forum.

All the tables you mentioned are obtainable. STTNG and Roadshow are still relatively affordable.

You’d both be more than welcome at our Halloween do not f you fancy a trip to London

John
 
Matt Vince said:
Welcome aboard David, glad to hear you enjoyed the club!
Click to expand...

It's fantastic, although it's around two hours drive I'm so grateful to have something that close! I'd definitely become a member if I lived closer, just unlikely I'd get to come often enough with my work shifts.

johnwhitfield said:
Hi

Welcome to the forum.

All the tables you mentioned are obtainable. STTNG and Roadshow are still relatively affordable.

You’d both be more than welcome at our Halloween do not f you fancy a trip to London

John
Click to expand...

Oooh what's the date? I have crazy shifts in my job so it's often luck if I'm free on dates. Getting to London is easy as trains are free for us both 😁


Love this community already! Looking forward to meeting people and learning a thing or two!
 
Hi David.

It’s the Saturday before Halloween. Details below...

playpinball.uk

New Cross Halloween Horror Pinball Party

New Cross Halloween Horror Pinball Party! Since this is the time for goblins and bats,Halloween spirits, ghosts and cats,Weird-happenings and witches brew,These are the things I wish for you.May th…
playpinball.uk playpinball.uk
 
johnwhitfield said:
Hi David.

It’s the Saturday before Halloween. Details below...

playpinball.uk

New Cross Halloween Horror Pinball Party

New Cross Halloween Horror Pinball Party! Since this is the time for goblins and bats,Halloween spirits, ghosts and cats,Weird-happenings and witches brew,These are the things I wish for you.May th…
playpinball.uk playpinball.uk
Click to expand...
Damn, working Saturday night but off the Sunday... I'll have to look at leave left over and see the possibilities.
 
Hi David and the other forum posters/members - I just discovered this forum as a result of booking a place for Saturday's Halloween pinball bash.

I saw this post and thought that I'd say hello and do as David has done, introducing myself and sharing my background (I always enjoy reading those stories on Pinside and am chuffed that there's a bit of a Pinball community in the U.K!) - apologies in advance for the long post!

I now live in Central London, but grew up living in Essex (Dagenham). When I was pretty young, back in the 80s one Christmas I received a little pinball machine (think it was Astro Pinball?) - I loved it and was great to take a break from Videogames back then (I'm still a bit of a gamer nut - mainly arcade and retro, but appreciate the new stuff too, although Pinball has taken most of my interest over the past few years).
I few years or so later I started going to the bowling alley (Chadwell Heath - not sure if it's gone now?) on a Saturday morning with mates with the few quid my folkes and given me to Bowl.
What felt out of nowhere, an Adam's family pin appeared (and then iirc a lethal Weapon 3 and a Demolition man) and I soon found myself using all of my bowling money on the Pins and Arcades at the bowling alley.
For years after that period, growing up and spending most of my time in Pubs/Clubs/playing gigs in bands, I'd come across the odd machine (anyone remember the G'N'R in The Intrepid fox a few years back?) here and there and have a quick go. Around that time I'd briefly messed with an early version of Visual Pinball etc, but didn't really get in to it.

Years went by and then I discovered Pinball FX and Pinball Arcade, which I enjoyed but wouldn't say I got the bug, however when a bar where I used to hang out with friends put a bunch of pins in, a huge interest was sparked (The bar was called the Pipe Line near Liverpool street which sadly closed).
I think they used to have a Demolition man, Twilight Zone, WCS, AC-DC and a Judge Dredd (plus a couple of others). I remember one evening I'd seen that there was going to be a tournament there, but when i rushed there after work, it turned out that no one else had turned up he he - so myself and the two guys who owned the pins just played a little tournament between us.
Not too long after then, I saw a fairly basic VPin on Ebay and bought it pretty cheaply (living in a flat in Essex at the time, it wasn't the most practical thing to buy, but I was chuffed) - the PF screen was low res, the pc inside I soon found out wasn't great, and it only had Future Pinball installed (which personally I didn't find much fun - especially as I didn't mess about tweaking BAM etc much).
I soon swapped out the PF screen, installed Visual Pinball + Pinball FX and hooked up my beefier machine when VPX came out (my machine doesn't have any nudge function/buttons, but it's fun)

Once I'd got to this stage a couple of years ago, I really wanted to be able to play the real machines and whenever I take trips abroad or out of town, I always hunt down where there are Pins to play (a detour from Amsterdam to the Rotterdamn pinball museum a couple of years back was worth the trip - the Matrix machine the guy built/modded there is impressive...)

Last year I then discovered FlipOut in Croydon, am now a member and get there as often as time allows at the weekends (I'm still not very good, but it's a lot of fun and my skills are improving little by little I think - I'm typically there wearing Metallica T-Shirts, so say hello if you see me!) - would love to be able to get there on Thursday nights, but not being a driver makes it a pain to get to/from in the evenings.

I'm really looking forward to Saturday's tournament and hopefully getting to chat to some Pinheads (likely as I crash out of the Tournament early on he he) and getting a few tips from anyone who is willing to give advice.

It's my dream to one day own a real pin (would love a Metallica), but unlikely living in Central London and not having the space etc.

I'd say my top Pins include:

Metallica (haven't played an LE in real life yet, only a PRO)
AFM
Monster Bash
Medieval Madness
Twilight Zone
TOM

Honorable Mention for TWD, as I want to love that Pin, but I just find that I'm crap at it!:)

Again, sorry for the long post - I know it won't be for everyone!
 
Last edited:
David_Vi said:
I'm David,

I recently rediscovered pinball thanks to Pinball Fx3 and things are escalating rather fast...

My earliest memory is going to Clacton and Walton pier and other seaside destinations as a child and seeing pinball machines. The one I only remember for certain was Terminator 2 due to the imagery and movie connection.

I ended up playing pinball games on Amiga and then PC on/off through the years, so many hours on Pro Pinball. Later got Pinball Fx2 on PC in a humble bundle.
It wasn't till this year I bought my own Nintendo switch after I kept taking the other half's to work to play Zelda.
Discovered pinball fx3 was free to download and had a real table. This lead me to tell my partner about pinball and now we both own nearly all the Williams packs on Pinball fx3 🙄
Same day I found out about UKPinfest and booked it!

In the mean time we hunted down real tables when away and my partners first real pinball experience was Twilight Zone in a bar in Brighton, acdc was next to it but we didn't yet realise what a good table that was.

Then played Attack from Mars in Liverpool and then discovered the great Flip Out in Croydon!
So we've been to Flip out twice and UKPinfest.

I've not been in a rush to own my own home (still saving) but now I am more motivated as I really want to own a couple pins!

Anyways we'll be at Flip out hopefully at least once a month. Both tall, kinda alternative looking!
Excited to be a part of this community

My favourite machines so far.. (mostly influenced by Pinball fx3 but have played for real now)

Medieval Madness
Attack from Mars
Road Show
ACDC
Star trek tng

I hope to own at least one of those in a year or two... Likely? 🤔

Consider us addicted.
Click to expand...


Welcome mate. I'm originally from Newbury Park so know your old haunts well.

Welcome 👍
 
I've been to Flip Out four times now, can only really attend on Sundays. My other half works evenings so Thursdays aren't good and if I'm free in the evening it usually means I'm working early next day.

Would be good to start talking and meeting people.

I think the next time I hope to go is Nov 17th.

I'm slowly beating my high scores but they're not that impressive. I tend to return to the same machines a lot as I know the rules more than others, mainly MM and AFM.
I love Road Show but I swear it's the hardest I've played. I just can't get far.



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
David_Vi said:
I've been to Flip Out four times now, can only really attend on Sundays. My other half works evenings so Thursdays aren't good and if I'm free in the evening it usually means I'm working early next day.

Would be good to start talking and meeting people.

I think the next time I hope to go is Nov 17th.

I'm slowly beating my high scores but they're not that impressive. I tend to return to the same machines a lot as I know the rules more than others, mainly MM and AFM.
I love Road Show but I swear it's the hardest I've played. I just can't get far.



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Cool! - it's a bit random which days I end up going (usually depends on what the other half has planned and if I have other stuff on he he), but it's possible that I'll get down there on the 17th

I find it's good to be able to practice at home on the vpin, but it's so good to get on real machines and I've only just started trying my hand at nudging. I'm very much a newb as is were, but will be good to be able to chat about it with people - I had no idea that there were others in the U.K who were in to Pinball, let alone people that actually own pins!:-)
 
Den - aka Wolfgang said:
Years went by and then I discovered Pinball FX and Pinball Arcade, which I enjoyed but wouldn't say I got the bug, however when a bar where I used to hang out with friends put a bunch of pins in, a huge interest was sparked (The bar was called the Pipe Line near Liverpool street which sadly closed).
I think they used to have a Demolition man, Twilight Zone, WCS, AC-DC and a Judge Dredd (plus a couple of others). I remember one evening I'd seen that there was going to be a tournament there, but when i rushed there after work, it turned out that no one else had turned up he he - so myself and the two guys who owned the pins just played a little tournament between us.
Click to expand...

More moved than closed ;) - The Pipeline is alive and well, it just moved to the seaside when the hipsters took over - https://www.thepipelinebrighton.co.uk/
Before Flipout was born many of the London based events were held in the Pipeline, and great they were :) as I recall @PipelineTom had a WCS, ACDC Prem, and a TZ and the other 3 were @Matt Vince 's so they got rotated quite regularly.
Spent many a happy Sunday afternoon and some pretty hazey Sunday evenings during the LPC/LPL events in the 2013 era (not to mention the Friday night before the LPC 2014 where I think we finished the setup at about 5:30am - I remember wheeling @Mike Kindler's stunning T2 around the outside of the pub at about 3:30am - fun times......)
I've not been down to FlipOut yet having left London behind in 2016 but will have to get down there at somepoint (and also to Chief) - just haven't managed to get the timing right yet.
We need more Pins in the down in here in the West Country :(
 
ChrisH said:
More moved than closed ;) - The Pipeline is alive and well, it just moved to the seaside when the hipsters took over - https://www.thepipelinebrighton.co.uk/
Before Flipout was born many of the London based events were held in the Pipeline, and great they were :) as I recall @PipelineTom had a WCS, ACDC Prem, and a TZ and the other 3 were @Matt Vince 's so they got rotated quite regularly.
Spent many a happy Sunday afternoon and some pretty hazey Sunday evenings during the LPC/LPL events in the 2013 era (not to mention the Friday night before the LPC 2014 where I think we finished the setup at about 5:30am - I remember wheeling @Mike Kindler's stunning T2 around the outside of the pub at about 3:30am - fun times......)
I've not been down to FlipOut yet having left London behind in 2016 but will have to get down there at somepoint (and also to Chief) - just haven't managed to get the timing right yet.
We need more Pins in the down in here in the West Country :(
Click to expand...
Ah cool - I didn't realise that The Pipeline was still going - might pop in there next time I'm in Brighton for work (wonder if they have any pins there?) Looks like I discovered the original Pipeline a little too late to make the most of the Pins there:-(
 
I'm also from Essex, in Leigh-On-Sea. Bought my first table from here just over a year ago (TSPP) and since then have acquired a BSD, also from here.

I too followed the route from Virtual Pinball, then discovered the sadly-moved pipeline at Liverpool Street which I frequented for quite some time.

Took some time to visit Chief Coffee yesterday, and have now bought a Jurassic Park! I need to make more of an effort to get involved with the community since I am fed up with playing by myself, so things going on in Essex would be good to know, and once involved I'd be happy to have people play my pins.

I have been to Flip-Out a couple of times, but both Flip-Out and Chief are really awkward for me to get to so it rarely happens. I plan on visiting the Shepherd's Bush Brewdog soon which is open in the evening (unlike Chief! :( ), it is the wrong direction for me but possible some week-nights when working in London.

Cheers
 
pezi_pink said:
I'm also from Essex, in Leigh-On-Sea. Bought my first table from here just over a year ago (TSPP) and since then have acquired a BSD, also from here.

I too followed the route from Virtual Pinball, then discovered the sadly-moved pipeline at Liverpool Street which I frequented for quite some time.

Took some time to visit Chief Coffee yesterday, and have now bought a Jurassic Park! I need to make more of an effort to get involved with the community since I am fed up with playing by myself, so things going on in Essex would be good to know, and once involved I'd be happy to have people play my pins.

I have been to Flip-Out a couple of times, but both Flip-Out and Chief are really awkward for me to get to so it rarely happens. I plan on visiting the Shepherd's Bush Brewdog soon which is open in the evening (unlike Chief! :( ), it is the wrong direction for me but possible some week-nights when working in London.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Seems I've created an Essex Boys pinball thread [emoji16]

I'm in Colchester, it's only 1hr30-2hrs drive to Flip out. It's a day out for us and well worth it considering the price and amount of we'll cared for machines.
I just wish my car drove itself so I could take some beers.
That would be perfect!

Which JP do you have? Is it the new one?
I would love to own a machine but need my own home first [emoji38]
Definitely up for visiting and having a go. Maybe we could create an Essex pinball meet.
I know we have James from Majestic pinball in Chelmsford.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
 
pezi_pink said:
I'm also from Essex, in Leigh-On-Sea. Bought my first table from here just over a year ago (TSPP) and since then have acquired a BSD, also from here.

I too followed the route from Virtual Pinball, then discovered the sadly-moved pipeline at Liverpool Street which I frequented for quite some time.

Took some time to visit Chief Coffee yesterday, and have now bought a Jurassic Park! I need to make more of an effort to get involved with the community since I am fed up with playing by myself, so things going on in Essex would be good to know, and once involved I'd be happy to have people play my pins.

I have been to Flip-Out a couple of times, but both Flip-Out and Chief are really awkward for me to get to so it rarely happens. I plan on visiting the Shepherd's Bush Brewdog soon which is open in the evening (unlike Chief! :( ), it is the wrong direction for me but possible some week-nights when working in London.

Cheers
Click to expand...
Ah Crap; up until a few months ago I was living in Southend-On-Sea for a few years! - Still, wouldn't be against hoping on the C2C back that way some time for a pinball meet up!:-)

I haven't had the chance to get to Chief yet (it's a bit out of the way for me, but I hear they have a Monster Bash there?; haven't had the chance to play a real one yet). I've been to the BrewDog in Shepard's Bush and play I think Tron and Batman'66 there
 
David_Vi said:
Seems I've created an Essex Boys pinball thread [emoji16]

I'm in Colchester, it's only 1hr30-2hrs drive to Flip out. It's a day out for us and well worth it considering the price and amount of we'll cared for machines.
I just wish my car drove itself so I could take some beers.
That would be perfect!

Which JP do you have? Is it the new one?
I would love to own a machine but need my own home first [emoji38]
Definitely up for visiting and having a go. Maybe we could create an Essex pinball meet.
I know we have James from Majestic pinball in Chelmsford.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I second the Flip Out shout out - definitely worth checking out; I originally made the trip when I was living in Southend and definitely worth the journey!
 
Den - aka Wolfgang said:
I second the Flip Out shout out - definitely worth checking out; I originally made the trip when I was living in Southend and definitely worth the journey!
Click to expand...

There was a boozer in Stratford which had a couple of pins. I used to go in there before West Ham games but the place has scaffolding all over it now. Apparently there is another bar in Hackney Wick with a few machines. I'm going to check it out next week so I'll let you know.
 
Yeah, there are a few of us from Essex, so a meet up shouldn’t be too hard to sort!

I am from Wickford.

Off to Chief tomorrow before a meeting and really looking forward to playing Jurassic Park! I only have room for two pins at the minute (SWLE and The Hobbit), but if some space and money magics up, then I think a Jurassic Park would be Number 1!
 
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