24 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY april 25-may 1, 2024 www.montereycountyweekly.com you’re finding them in more places. We are definitely part of the comeback.” Just as the comeback was gaining steam, it got squashed, adding another chapter to pinball’s rocky history. A little more than six months after Lynn’s Arcade opened, it—along with countless other businesses—was forced to shut down in March 2020 after being deemed a “non-essential” business in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. Nikki Carmichael says the arcade was “on a really good trajectory” before it abruptly closed. And so it had to pivot. They rented out pinball games on a monthly basis for a fee, where Talley and Cary Carmichael would show up to a customer’s house wearing masks and gloves and install games in a living room. At its peak, 22 games were rented out at one point. “That’s what got us through Covid: the community,” Talley says. When restrictions were lifted in 2021, Lynn’s Arcade was packed with roughly 80 people clamoring to socialize in-person once again. “The day we reopened was the busiest we’ve ever been,” he says. The trajectory is back on track. The arcade currently has 38 machines available to play, with more than 60 in storage in various locations, in addition to a wide selection of beer. The games span from vintage machines spared from the junkyard (“Abra Ca Dabra” from 1975) to the ’90s-era (“NBA Fastbreak”), to prototypes (“Dirty Harry”) and modern-day machines from small manufacturers (“Rick and Morty”). The machines are not cheap, ranging from $7,000 to $13,000 for the premium games, in addition to maintenance. Parts are generally easy to come by thanks to suppliers such as South Carolina-based Marco Specialties, which even created its own custom kit of flippers and materials in the name of Lynn’s, encouraging players to “Lynnsify your games.” Each day at Lynn’s offers something different, such as Strikes Night on Thursdays, which is a “three-strikesand-you’re-out”-style tournament, and the Monterey Flipper and Flipper Ladies pinball leagues on Mondays and Wednesdays, respectively. Both leagues are endorsed by the International Flipper Pinball Association, and the arcade’s annual main tournament, Seaside Champ, brings participants from far and wide looking to move up in the worldwide rankings. Such league nights are all about the fun, but with a tinge of serious competition. Amid the flashing lights, clunks of flippers and beeps, boops and chimes as the steel pinballs make their way down the ramp, there is the occasional cursing, but plenty of laughter. And don’t stand too close to some of the players, or you may be inadvertently kicked during a celebratory dance. “We really do cheer all of us on,” Cary Carmichael says. “You are playing against the machine, so you’re never really playing against a person. It’s an interesting activity where you cheer on your competitor.” The arcade’s owners say they don’t really have a favorite machine. They are drawn to those that offer a challenge through tricky shots and unique mechanical obstacles. They love the social aspect of pinball, having met players from all around the world through various events, Nikki Carmichael says. For Talley, standing over a machine, hands grasped to the sides with fingers hovering over the flipper buttons, it is almost a Zen-like experience. “When you’re playing, you’re not thinking about anything else,” he says. “You’re focusing on keeping that pinball alive. There’s nothing else penetrating your mind at that point.” Tutorial Tuesdays are important for the future of the game. Every week, pinball experts share their skills in-person and online via Twitch.tv, standing inside a rig outfitted with cameras that point not only at the player, but at different angles of the machine. There are fewer and fewer people who understand the inner complexities of the older games, Talley says. Many others walk into the arcade having never touched a pinball machine before, but the staff are more than happy to help them along. “We need to keep it going, keep teaching everybody so we can keep it alive,” he says. As pinball regulations loosen, Cary Carmichael says many of the players are those who were impacted by the turbulent time for arcades in the 1980s, getting a chance to relive a part of their childhood that was taken from them. “They bring their families along as well,” he says. “They get to share that experience with their children who have never seen it before.” At any given night, Brammer can be found among the crowd, playing for fun and competing in leagues. They are not mutually exclusive. “Pinball has picked up steam here and in the grander scope of things,” he says. On a roll Here’s where you can play pinball in Monterey County. Round 1, Northridge Mall, Salinas Pizza Factory, 926 S. Main St., Salinas Lou’s Fluff & Fold, 1229 S. Main St., Salinas Mountain Mike’s Pizza, 266 Reservation Road, Marina Lynn’s Arcade: A Pinball Parlor and Can Slangery, 1760 Fremont Blvd., Suite D1, Seaside Other Brother Beer Co., 877 Broadway Ave., Seaside Randazzo’s Wash and Dry, 2319 N. Fremont St., Monterey East Village Cafe, 498 Washington St., Monterey Easy Street Billiards, 511 Tyler St., Monterey Oscar’s Playground, 685 Cannery Row, third floor, Monterey Hidden Hills Brewing and Blending, 3777 The Barnyard, Suite I-14, Carmel Source: Pinside Above: Lynn’s Arcade streams its league night and tutorials for viewers around the world. Below: Nikki Carmichael, one of the owners of Lynn’s Arcade, tries for the high score during the women’s league championship night. She is playing underneath a rig outfitted with lights and cameras that is streaming the event online. Once considered as a sleazy gambling device, it’s now viewed as a legitimate form of competition.
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