Men, women, and children alike gathered Sunday for an evening of pinball, food, and drink at Heavy Beer Company in downtown Toledo.
Every other weekend, Glass City Pinball hosts a Sunday Funday pinball tournament in which the top four players win the payout from the buy-in fee. There are also randomly drawn prize giveaways available to all players.
“You’re just playing against yourself,” said Mike Pilarczyk, who’s been playing pinball for about a year and helps keep score at the Sunday tournaments. “That's always how I feel — you’re just trying to make your sport better. You're just really gonna play it against yourself and just become even better as you grow.”
The tournament attracts players of all skill levels and ages, ranging from seasoned pinball wizards to raw novices. Glass City Pinball encourages anyone to come in and play, regardless of experience. All participants become registered in the International Flipper Pinball Association, which makes them official world-ranked pinball players.
“Eighty to 90 percent of these people have played pinball before, but a couple of them are new,” said Delaney Smith, who usually works the bar during the tournaments.
A community of regulars has developed around the tournament, and players say they see familiar faces each time they play.
“I grew up playing with my Dad in these little out-in-the-country hole-in-the-wall bars that had like one pinball machine,” said Jon Walsh, a tournament regular. “I didn’t play for 10 years, but a guy at work introduced me here.”
Mr. Walsh also plays pinball at other local joints, using the app “Pinball Map” to find venues with active pinball machines both in metro Toledo and out-of-town when he travels. Most recently, he found a spot in Ann Arbor with more than 30 machines.
“It’s taken us to businesses that we might not have gone to,” he said. “‘Hey, look, they’ve got this machine; I want to play that,’ so we’ll try out a new restaurant, try out a new bar.”
Glass City Pinball has games at various other locations across the city, including the Ottawa Tavern, the Attic on Adams, the Stubborn Brother Pizza Bar, and Jake’s Saloon and Sports Pub.
Since playing pinball in his neighbors’ garage as a child and buying his first pinball machine at a garage sale when he was 17, Rob Presley, Glass City Pinball’s owner, has been collecting games. He started his business in 2019 and puts games in other businesses or in homes. His games are also available for special events.
For Mr. Presley, pinball machines represent a unique preservation of vintage American culture that he doubts any other industry replicates.
“I know a lot of people that have bought games from me or have them in their house because of the aesthetic,” he said. “Most of the artwork is actually hand painted by real artists that you can go and talk to. It’s handmade. It’s still made in America. It's Americana that is coming back today.”
“Coke is not selling Coke in glass bottles, even though people say, ‘Oh that's cool.’ They’re not doing it. Ford's not selling remakes of the ‘69 Mustang,” Mr. Presley said. “Well, pinball’s still doing it. It's a continuation of Americana, and I can't think of really any other example.”
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