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Happy Valentine’s Day from North Coast Pinball
Thanks for reading this monthly update! More important stuff is up top, followed by too much information about what’s going on behind the scenes at NCP. I may include a mild rant about current events at the end, which I invite you to skip if that’s not your thing. Will I keep writing these? Depends on feedback. Please let me know what you think.
Teen Night is back! Teenagers (and almost-teenagers) are invited for free pinball this Friday, February 20th from 6-8 PM. Thanks to Christy Kay of Rising Hearts Studio in Nehalem for hosting this and for doing the work to keep it funded. You can contact her with questions or make a donation at (503) 800-1092. Do you have an event you’d like to host here? Get in touch or visit northcoastpinball.com/events.
Our monthly tournament is tomorrow, Sunday 2/15 at 5 PM. Last month we had 9 charming people join us, and my friend Kris took home the token box trophy. I’ll try to write down a couple of exciting tidbits for next month’s update. If you have never joined a pinball tournament, ours is a friendly group, and it’s a great way to meet nice people and learn some skills. Come see!
After a 31-month hiatus, Avengers Infinity Quest (AIQ, 2020) is back on the floor and it’s our “Game of the Month” for February. Come on in, beat the top score, and enter your initials. If your score holds through the end of the month, you get a medallion made just for you. (If you don’t like medallions, you can surrender yours for 100 tokens.) Come in and play AIQ before I take it away again, which probably won’t take long. Congratulations to my friend Chris for being last month’s winner on Back to the Future with a monumental score of 18,273,900. You can learn more about our “Game of the Month” program at northcoastpinball.com/gotm.
Stern Pinball has finally revealed the much-anticipated “Pokémon Pinball” and I am beyond hyped. You’ll start to see it in arcades within a few weeks. Ours will be delayed a little because I’ve ordered an upgraded “premium” model, which doesn’t go into production until later. Hopefully we’re all playing it here by April. Meanwhile I invite you to come in and fill out a “game change requisition form” to let me know which game should go away to make room for it—these are important decisions!
I…finally installed a claw machine last month. Out of 5 people I ask, 4 think they’re fun and harmless, and one (I’m in this minority) is not a fan. My machine is a bit unique in that a card I wrote for the game reveals *every* *single* *detail* about how it works and why the claw seems to drop the prize at the last minute (tl;dr: yes, it’s rigged; based on the value of what I put in it, the goal is a 40% win rate). Come tell me what you think of the new machine, or what you think I should put in it.
Tech Day is every Tuesday from 3:00 to 5:30 PM. RSVP is required by texting (503) 343-4783 before Tuesday morning. Over the last few weeks I’ve had invaluable help from Scout and Levko as we work to clean games and tune up chronic issues. Come and join us—no charge to participate and learn, and no pinball repair experience or tech skills are needed.
A weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting has sprung up at North Coast Pinball over the holidays. It’s held Thursdays at 7 PM. All are welcome.
I’ve been thinking about merch lately. Merch has not tended to sell well enough for it to be worth the trouble and expense of having it made. I have a theory that there are people who—while they feel the specialness of North Coast Pinball—don’t feel the need to proclaim an “I support North Coast Pinball” *identity* to the world by wearing my logo on a hat or a hoodie. I’m testing this theory with a new way for you to show your support. Details here: northcoastpinball.com/icanfeelit
Also—I have written a book! It’s about the experiences I’ve had and witnessed here over the years that we’ve been open and I hope to have it out in the world by June. You can learn more (and join my street team, do you want to be on a street team? What is a street team?) at www.mysterytoken.pub.
Monday is President’s Day, set aside to honor all American presidents on the occasion of George Washington’s birthday. I revere the American flag and I do fly it on a few special occasions but February being Black History Month, I have a BLM flag up. In this way I celebrate the American principles and values that I was raised to honor. One of those principles is that we all have equal rights under the law, which—as we are learning together—does not and cannot enforce itself. It takes us.
Thank you for reading through to the end and thanks for being part of North Coast Pinball. Come visit Nehalem!
Will Irace northcoastpinball.com WillFromNehalem.substack.com February 14, 2026
Thanks for reading this monthly update! More important stuff is up top, followed by too much information about what’s going on behind the scenes at NCP. I may include a mild rant about current events at the end, which I invite you to skip if that’s not your thing. Will I keep writing these? Depends on feedback. Please let me know what you think.
Teen Night is back! Teenagers (and almost-teenagers) are invited for free pinball this Friday, February 20th from 6-8 PM. Thanks to Christy Kay of Rising Hearts Studio in Nehalem for hosting this and for doing the work to keep it funded. You can contact her with questions or make a donation at (503) 800-1092. Do you have an event you’d like to host here? Get in touch or visit northcoastpinball.com/events.
Our monthly tournament is tomorrow, Sunday 2/15 at 5 PM. Last month we had 9 charming people join us, and my friend Kris took home the token box trophy. I’ll try to write down a couple of exciting tidbits for next month’s update. If you have never joined a pinball tournament, ours is a friendly group, and it’s a great way to meet nice people and learn some skills. Come see!
After a 31-month hiatus, Avengers Infinity Quest (AIQ, 2020) is back on the floor and it’s our “Game of the Month” for February. Come on in, beat the top score, and enter your initials. If your score holds through the end of the month, you get a medallion made just for you. (If you don’t like medallions, you can surrender yours for 100 tokens.) Come in and play AIQ before I take it away again, which probably won’t take long. Congratulations to my friend Chris for being last month’s winner on Back to the Future with a monumental score of 18,273,900. You can learn more about our “Game of the Month” program at northcoastpinball.com/gotm.
Stern Pinball has finally revealed the much-anticipated “Pokémon Pinball” and I am beyond hyped. You’ll start to see it in arcades within a few weeks. Ours will be delayed a little because I’ve ordered an upgraded “premium” model, which doesn’t go into production until later. Hopefully we’re all playing it here by April. Meanwhile I invite you to come in and fill out a “game change requisition form” to let me know which game should go away to make room for it—these are important decisions!
I…finally installed a claw machine last month. Out of 5 people I ask, 4 think they’re fun and harmless, and one (I’m in this minority) is not a fan. My machine is a bit unique in that a card I wrote for the game reveals *every* *single* *detail* about how it works and why the claw seems to drop the prize at the last minute (tl;dr: yes, it’s rigged; based on the value of what I put in it, the goal is a 40% win rate). Come tell me what you think of the new machine, or what you think I should put in it.
Tech Day is every Tuesday from 3:00 to 5:30 PM. RSVP is required by texting (503) 343-4783 before Tuesday morning. Over the last few weeks I’ve had invaluable help from Scout and Levko as we work to clean games and tune up chronic issues. Come and join us—no charge to participate and learn, and no pinball repair experience or tech skills are needed.
A weekly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting has sprung up at North Coast Pinball over the holidays. It’s held Thursdays at 7 PM. All are welcome.
I’ve been thinking about merch lately. Merch has not tended to sell well enough for it to be worth the trouble and expense of having it made. I have a theory that there are people who—while they feel the specialness of North Coast Pinball—don’t feel the need to proclaim an “I support North Coast Pinball” *identity* to the world by wearing my logo on a hat or a hoodie. I’m testing this theory with a new way for you to show your support. Details here: northcoastpinball.com/icanfeelit
Also—I have written a book! It’s about the experiences I’ve had and witnessed here over the years that we’ve been open and I hope to have it out in the world by June. You can learn more (and join my street team, do you want to be on a street team? What is a street team?) at www.mysterytoken.pub.
Monday is President’s Day, set aside to honor all American presidents on the occasion of George Washington’s birthday. I revere the American flag and I do fly it on a few special occasions but February being Black History Month, I have a BLM flag up. In this way I celebrate the American principles and values that I was raised to honor. One of those principles is that we all have equal rights under the law, which—as we are learning together—does not and cannot enforce itself. It takes us.
Thank you for reading through to the end and thanks for being part of North Coast Pinball. Come visit Nehalem!
Will Irace northcoastpinball.com WillFromNehalem.substack.com February 14, 2026