Could I suggest that threads like this be placed in the LINKS section? Otherwise, this information will eventually get buried and lost behind all the topics that get discussed in the general chat forum.
If I could just say something here to clear things up a bit and maybe set the record straight. Then I'll shut up.
The website which I am associated with was set up by an American collector (mostly pre WW2 coin op and slots) friend of mine who is really into the French culture of Montréal. Since he doesn't speak much french, I have become his "front man" here in Québec. This summer, we agreed to set up a website that would concentrate on collecting not pinball machines, but stories. Especially the stories surrounding this unique, colourful, multi-cultural North American city which for the greater part of the 20th century was the national base for the largest Canadian distributor of coin operated machines, - Laniel. Montreal was, and probably still is the biggest Canadian pinball city, meaning there are a hell of alot of pinballs in Québec, hence stories. When American collectors would come up to Canada (before the internet) to buy jukeboxes & slots (there wasn't an enormous amount of interest in pinball collecting then - they were seen as junk to be thrown into a deal) they didn't get as much out of Québec as they did out of the other English speaking provinces. The French barrier left us more or less intact compared to other places, especially in the rural areas. As you all probably know, this is quickly changing.
As for myself, I love Montreal & fixing machines, so that is what I am doing here. I have over 200 clients in the greater Montreal area who call on me for service, some have been clients since the early 90's when I ran Alexander Amusements. The majority are over 50 years-old, well off financially, educated, articulate and usually pretty interesting human beings. (Needless to say that due to their age group, these clients own EMs and 1st generation SSs) They have no qualms whatsoever with my repair rates and often tip generously for the professional repair, the attentive ear and the conversations we share. So my main market is comprised of the baby boomer demographic and certainly not the new collectors. I only joined MAACA because I am very much interested in your stories and your memories having to do with pinball machines and growing up in this wacky city, and not at all interested in fixing your machines.
As well, please note that I have not, and will never promote the Montréal Pinball repair services in the MAACA MEMBER BUSINESSES link section. One more thing, Montreal Pinball will pay 50 bucks for any of your ORIGINAL PERSONAL PINBALL STORIES having to do with Montreal (written by you, not me) which end up on the website.
Don't hesitate to contact me if you have something to contribute, otherwise - just keep flippin'.
Robert A. Baraké (RAB) info@montrealpinball.com
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
If it is one of you guys, then I am flattered, if it is Alouette Canada under a new name to wash theirs (again), then I am pissed.
AGAIN, I DO NOT SELL PINBALL MACHINES, WWW.MONTREALPINBALL.COM IS A HOME REPAIR SERVICE WHICH SPECIALIZES IN ELECTRO-MECHANICAL COIN OPERATED MACHINES ALONG WITH A HISTORICAL BEND. MY INTERESTS LIE MOSTLY IN COLLECTING MONTREAL BASED ARCADE STORIES AND NOT IN COLLECTING MACHINES FOR RESALE.
Thanks, Robert A. Barake 514-330-5555 info@montrealpinball.com
By the way, the link below is not me either, but I am sure that this is an Alouette Canada offshoot - I find it more than low when people steal other people's work to gain a reputation that they put no effort of their own in building. Really pisses me off how void of ..... no point, just move forward. http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-bu.....s-W0QQAdIdZ203111422
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
Unsure if this was an old cell number recycled to someone else now ?
Cheers, - Sylvain.
Looking for 1966 Bally Capersville, 1967 Bally The Wiggler, 1981 Stern Viper, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, 1986 Williams Grand Lizard, 1991 Williams Bride of Pinbot, and a few others. Cash or some trades available. Could also repair a machine of yours +/-$ if needed, in exchange for one machine on my want list, non-working/unshopped welcome!
Looking for 1966 Bally Capersville, 1967 Bally The Wiggler, 1981 Stern Viper, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, 1986 Williams Grand Lizard, 1991 Williams Bride of Pinbot, and a few others. Cash or some trades available. Could also repair a machine of yours +/-$ if needed, in exchange for one machine on my want list, non-working/unshopped welcome!
By the way, the link below is not me either, but I am sure that this is an Alouette Canada offshoot - I find it more than low when people steal other people's work to gain a reputation that they put no effort of their own in building. Really pisses me off how void of ..... no point, just move forward. http://montreal.kijiji.ca/c-bu.....s-W0QQAdIdZ203111422
I just spoke to Alouette... no one is aware of it. I do deal with them a lot and they are pretty much inept web-wise. Most of my project machines come from them. I make next to nothing on them just because I rather see machines out there than rot in a warehouse. I try not to look where they are from.
I just spoke to Alouette... no one is aware of it. I do deal with them a lot and they are pretty much inept web-wise. Most of my project machines come from them. I make next to nothing on them just because I rather see machines out there than rot in a warehouse. I try not to look where they are from.
The pictures in the Kijiji ad are of the Alouette Delmeade showroom, there is some kind of connection for sure. Not that it matters much to me anymore, but it is their style to pull this kind of thing, have seen this type of name apropriation~borrowing tatic many times in the amusement industry, especially with them.
Oh well, keep on truckin, and bring it on, the more the merrier.
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
The pictures in the Kijiji ad are of the Alouette Delmeade showroom, there is some kind of connection for sure. Not that it matters much to me anymore, but it is their style to pull this kind of thing, have seen this type of name apropriation~borrowing tatic many times in the amusement industry, especially with them.
Oh well, keep on truckin, and bring it on, the more the merrier.
Too easy to point the finger to them becuase of their history. I rather stay neutral due to how many sources for machiens we all have left. Middle-men happen a lot. I still remember that 19-year-old selling a Rolling Stones pinball everywhere on the web, but the problem was that it belonged to a member. Chameleons if I remember correctly. He was selling it without Chameleons' consent. That's where it's wrong.
Too easy to point the finger to them becuase of their history. I rather stay neutral due to how many sources for machiens we all have left. Middle-men happen a lot. I still remember that 19-year-old selling a Rolling Stones pinball everywhere on the web, but the problem was that it belonged to a member. Chameleons if I remember correctly. He was selling it without Chameleons' consent. That's where it's wrong.
I know one has to be careful when dealing with hear-say, but time will surely tell. A few old fashioned well placed phonecalls should help clear things up, instead of all this internet guess work.
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
One of the pics on Kijiji is certainly from Alouette. Stolen pic, middle-man, or new branch of Alouette ? Is there a Pierre-Benoit working at Alouette ?
Cheers, - Sylvain.
Looking for 1966 Bally Capersville, 1967 Bally The Wiggler, 1981 Stern Viper, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, 1986 Williams Grand Lizard, 1991 Williams Bride of Pinbot, and a few others. Cash or some trades available. Could also repair a machine of yours +/-$ if needed, in exchange for one machine on my want list, non-working/unshopped welcome!
One of the pics on Kijiji is certainly from Alouette. Stolen pic, middle-man, or new branch of Alouette ? Is there a Pierre-Benoit working at Alouette ?
Cheers, - Sylvain.
No Pierre-Benoit there, nor is there one affiliated with them.
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no specific contact information is available, however, montrealpinball.com was created on June 9th, 2009 in the States and pinballmontreal.com was created on April 22, 2010 in Canada. Domain Privacy Group which owns pinballmontreal.com was registered on June 22, 2006.
Domain Privacy Group is probably just a front to hide the true identity of the person that owns the domain. They're a service offered by registrars like Godaddy that allow you to own a domain and not have snooping people like you find out
Have
Want
-The Getaway: High Speed II!! -Spider-Man -F-14 Tomcat -Guns N' Roses -Lord of the Rings -Twilight Zone
-Medieval Madness! -Indiana Jones (Williams) -Star Trek: The Next Generation -Champion Pub -Terminator 3 -Congo -Johnny Mnemonic -Tales of the Arabian Nights
Looking for 1966 Bally Capersville, 1967 Bally The Wiggler, 1981 Stern Viper, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, 1986 Williams Grand Lizard, 1991 Williams Bride of Pinbot, and a few others. Cash or some trades available. Could also repair a machine of yours +/-$ if needed, in exchange for one machine on my want list, non-working/unshopped welcome!
no specific contact information is available, however, montrealpinball.com was created on June 9th, 2009 in the States and pinballmontreal.com was created on April 22, 2010 in Canada. Domain Privacy Group which owns pinballmontreal.com was registered on June 22, 2006.
tartagliag
Thanks Tartagliag, and to Sylvain as well for providing links and info. Eric Sicotte or Pierre Benoit or whoever they are will be part of the pinball scene in Montreal no doubt if they don't cross their clients. I guess that I just feel cheated at the name twist, and that these guys are trying to get their site confused with mine to gain whatever they think they will gain by doing so, but I guess it's fair game.
I still think my site feels and looks better than this "trick of the tail site". I haven't been able to give http://www.montrealpinball.com the proper attention it deserves lately since I took on the full time job of Parts & Service manager for Starburst Coin-The Playdium Store at their Montréal branch office three weeks ago. I am looking for any help I can get in the form of contribution from you guys - always open to ideas for stories.
info@montrealpinball.com - the city came before the game.
RAB
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
I can't understand why this seems to originate from France? And, indicating they have millions in inventory, 1000s of games ?? Lots of ads all over the place in early May.
One example of Google search on Pierre-Benoit pinball montreal
Pinball Montréal | Facebook - [ Translate this page ] Bienvenue sur la Page officielle de Pinball Montréal sur Facebook, sur laquelle vous ... Jim Burgot. Pierre-Benoît Chillaud. Thomas Salaun. Eric Sicotte ... fr-fr.facebook.com/.../Montreal.../Pinball-Montreal/118922771465563?... - France - Cached
I can't understand why this seems to originate from France? And, indicating they have millions in inventory, 1000s of games ?? Lots of ads all over the place in early May.
Jim Burgot. Pierre-Benoît Chillaud. Thomas Salaun. Eric Sicotte ...
Michel Bergeron (sales) at Starburst MTL called Eric Sicotte from the office today to get the scoop on Pinball Montreal, and since Michel was busy tonight I went to meet all the young hipsters mentioned above on their turf at 129 de la Commune in Old Montréal. They where having a social networking cocktail hour open to all in their industrial artsy loft overlooking the old Port, and invited us to come by to look at the machines they had set up. I will post their story here later tonight.
The best way to get the story is still face to face, I have to remember that, again !
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
After meeting these new players (www.pinballmontreal.com) in person, here is how their story\business plan was presented to me - you be the judge.
1) They are a group of four young hipsters (mid-twenties, very fashionable and seemingly well-off) whose goal, amongst others, is to make pinball popular again in Montreal with the in-crowd, (i.e. their large circle of friends and their social and business networks through Agence Apollo). At least one is a native of Montreal - Eric, and I personally know his father, an amusement machine operator from St.Lin. So I can vouch for him so far. Some of you may know Andre Sicotte even as far as Ontario where he operated machines as well as in his native Quebec. At least two of the others in this group of young pinheads are from France (Pierre-Benoit and one other I believe) and are doing a business networking apprenticeship in Montreal, and by the same token are helping Eric to evaluate and liquidate this so called massive inventory of pinballs lying around Montreal, and thereabouts.
2) They intent to liquidate this large inventory of machines which they claim to have access to before the end of 2010. The bulk of the machines, I was told are in a warehouse in Ste.Therese or thereabouts, (probably the old ABC Amusements inventory). As well, they have apparently struck a deal with Gerry & Phylis O'Rielly (amongst other operators) to sell off all they can from the Alouette Delmeade showroom floor, hence the pictures on their Kijiji ad. The project machines upstairs are not included in this sales plan I was told.
3) Before this liquidation happens, they want to draw players & potential home buyers from all over the city to participate in a huge pinball party and tournament to raise awareness, and create hype. This is to be held in the loft where we had cocktails this evening, (mid-June is the target) and judging by the size of this place, they should be able to fit at least 50 games. Tonight there were only three pins, Space Oddessy, Phenoix, Capt. Fantastic and an old MegaTouch on the bar, all working - same machines currently displayed on their website. I immediately told them that they should post this future grandiose event on MAACA to draw in the collectors. Eric immediately wrote down my suggestion on his me-phone. I also stressed that it was absolutely imperative that they create a profile on MAACA if they were to have any impact on the Montreal pinball scene.
4) As far as the usage of the name for their website, they were disappointed to find that the domain of "Montreal Pinball.com" was already spoken for, so they took the next best thing to stay close to their original plan. I told them that this pissed me off quite a bit at first, and they seemed very sincere when they apologized for the negative perception their choice produced. They actually were very impressed with the historical content & look of the montrealpinball.com website and wanted to approach me in the coming weeks to form a service provider agreement for the sales they claim they will be doing to the home market this year. They admitted that the after sales service challenge was something they hadn't quite resolved in their business plan. When they asked if I would be interested, I said that I would think about it, mostly to be polite and ofcourse to wait and see if this liquidation actually happens.
After more drinks, we went one floor up to Eric's loft pad where he had some older machines. Two Bally Skill Roll upright gambling machines from the fifities, a US Marshall set on a dime, a pool table and a huge backglass type scoreboard for an old dart machine lit from behind in a big frame. The games were operational for the most part.
So there you go, from the horse's mouth, let's see if these guys belly up to the bar or if this is just another good pinball story.
Good night gentlemen, I believe that I have done my part for king and country or whatever the hell this is about.
RAB
Toujours à la recherche de vos histoires liant Montréal et les machines à boules. Always looking for your Montreal based pinball stories.
Looking for 1966 Bally Capersville, 1967 Bally The Wiggler, 1981 Stern Viper, 1986 Pinstar Gamatron, 1986 Williams Grand Lizard, 1991 Williams Bride of Pinbot, and a few others. Cash or some trades available. Could also repair a machine of yours +/-$ if needed, in exchange for one machine on my want list, non-working/unshopped welcome!
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