This report covers those arcades with pinball machines in Blackpool
(England) as of February 28th 1998. it is NOT definitive, as I couldn't get
to either the North or South pier, or the Pleasure Beach, and many of the
smaller arcades were still closed (opening around Easter is the usual answer
when you ask someone).

Starting North and moving South, the first major arcade is Coin Castle, and
it is one of the better arcades for us.
Machine.                  Condition.      Special notes.
Star Wars Trilogy   OK - Good       Seemed fully functional, reasonably     
(Special Edition)                   clean.
Space Jam              OK              Slightly weak flippers.
Scared Stiff.          Poor - OK       Dirty, Spider hole dodgy, Spider in BG  
                                    acting weird (Not spinning, not even
                                    lights, just awarding  "randomly" as far
                                    as I could tell. Often got confused 
                                    as to what it was supposed to be doing
Addams Family.      OK              Sloppy flippers, Thing flips dead.
NBA Fastbreak        OK              Didn't play this one, so no comment.

General Notes. Pin tables are right at the back of the arcade, past the pool
table. One less machine than last year (removed:- Machine: Bride of Pinbot,
Creature FTBL, and one other).

Coral Island
Shadow.                  OK              Rt Dagger Diverter STILL not working (I 
                                    first reported this fault ten months
                                    ago!)
Simpsons               OK              Didn't play this one.
Tales of the 
Arabian Nights      OK              Seemed fully functional.

General notes. Pin tables are in a small hollow under the "Parrot Flyer"
along with a couple of pool tables.

Mr B
TZ                         Poor            Ball launch diverter dodgy (stuck in    
                                    Auto-launch position for first three
                                    games) Upper L flipper not staying up.
                                    Upper R flipper sticking up until L 
                                    flipper button pressed. Clock dead      
                                    (Obviously)
NBA Fastbreak       OK              Dirty.
Street Fighter 2    OK              Wear, very weak/misaligned launcher.
Apollo 13.             OK              Didn't play this one.
Star Wars (DE)      OK              DMD "smudged" in centre of disply plus  
                                    odd LED's on or off.
Batman (DE)          Poor            Physical patch on playfield (looked like
                                    electricians tape laid over a hole!) DMD
                                    Failing (Centre of top few lines        
                                    fading).
Scared Stiff         OK              Leaper targets not registering. VUK a   
                                    bit dodgy, cover for VUK broken. Set to 
                                    5 ball games.

General Notes. Games are right at front of arcade, next to "Racing Knights".

Nobles
SF 2                     Good             Top Spinning diverter broken
Who Dunnit           Good             Seemed fully functional
CFTBL                  Good             Some triggering problems, but not      
                                     consistant, so I cannot be more        
                                     specific.

General Notes. Pins are up the Escalator on South Wall.

Central Pier.

NONE!!! Only mentioned because the TZ and Freddy: Nightmare on Elm Street
which they had last summer were dismantled and parked in the entrance.
Perhaps they would be willing to deal? Warning! BOTH machines were in poor
shape, although they had a tech who was at least willing to TRY and keep
them going.

Boardwalk
TAF                      OK      Thing Flips dead, and upper L Flipper 
                                      dodgy.
Lost World          Good              Seemed fully functional.

General Notes. Pins right at back near rear entrance.

Slots of Fun
Rescue 911          Good              Helicopter magnet sometimes failed to 
                                      work. Bad rubber positioning on curved
                                      centre "guide" slowed ball and
                                      occaisionally sent it SDTM.
                                      (Mentioned to them last August!)

General notes. Pin at back of arcade close to rear entrance. 


Apart from the extreme North and South locations, arcades not mentioned did
not have any pinballs in them.
Hope this helps anyone intending to visit Blackpool in the near future.

Laurence.

-- 
 __  __  __  __      __ ___   _____________________________________________
|__||__)/ __/  \|\ ||_   |   /
|  ||  \\__/\__/| \||__  |  /...Internet access for all Acorn RISC machines
___________________________/ stannerc@argonet.co.uk