By Jeremy Hannaford (Contributor) – Email
Print Edition: October 16, 2013
The thrill of pinball is the lack of routine. The ball is always wild and you never can be certain what will happen. That’s why I love pinball, and also why I suck at it. But as I sat in a small garage listening to the sounds and lights constantly blurting out from the various machines, I couldn’t help but feel the urge to play.
John Kremmer is just a regular kind of guy at first glance. He is a trained graphic designer, and he used to have his own printing press back in the day. He was vice president of BC Christian News and helped publish a youth magazine across Canada.
He also is one of the best pinball players in the world.
After being invited into his personal garage, I was in awe of the machines, awards and fan memorabilia neatly organized throughout the small space. Star Wars, the Simpsons, Black Knight, F-14 Tomcat, and more; Kremmer has collected classic pinball machines over the course of his life and replaced the ink and oil from his old printing press with clean and exciting machines. As a kid, he went to local arcades with a quarter and played on a machine until he won 10 to 15 free games and then would sell them to people for a dollar. Kremmer was able to roll the machines, which involves restarting the scoreboard with ease and it helped him win his first tournament. A new arcade had opened up, and on the first day Kremmer came in and rolled the machine. A month later, he came to collect his trophy and saw that no one had placed on a massive scoreboard set up for the tournament due to his score!
But there was a time when he stopped playing pinball. For 20 years he rarely ever played unless he came across one in a hotel. But during a weekend in Pittsburgh, he entered a tournament in the B Class with more experienced players and ended up finishing eighth out of over 100 players! Since then he has returned to the games and won tournaments all over. Kremmer loves to compete, from Denver, where he placed first above both the number one player in Canada and the number one in the world, to the Flipper Freaks tournament held at Castle Fun Park a few weeks ago. The recent tournament had a great turnout. Though being sick hampered his final day performance, Kremmer’s 11th-place finish wasn’t the whole story. Kremmer says he enjoys the social interaction just as much as competing.
Kremmer remarks upon how the lack of human interaction from texting or Facebook has made some people long for social interaction. The principal of getting together and having fun has helped build the reputation for the pinball league. After going from 10,000 official pinball players to 20,000 in just three years, it is certain pinball is on the raise. Later on, he and I played a game on his new Demolition Man machine. I was amazed as he casually got over a billion points. When he realized how late it was, he finished the game by letting seven extra balls he had won go down the machine!
Alongside pinball and graphic design, Kremmer also collects various items: comic books, record albums, pinball posters, and the like. He has so many stories of finding and selling rare items that his wife never knows what he will bring back.
Kremmer also spoke about his good friend, Robert Gagno, Canada’s number one player, and how through their pinball connections they have gotten to meet former NFL superstars and play pinball in their homes. Kremmer also isn’t a retro kind of guy. He enjoys current video games and he has owned every major Nintendo system ever made. He says he enjoys video games and commends them on the advancements they have made but he still prefers a regular game of pinball because of the constant challenge.
After discovering that The Who’s “Pinball Wizard” was the first song Kremmer had learned to play on the drums, I really got an idea of Kremmer’s life. He may be a great pinball player but he also is a man of other hobbies. He is a man of many talents and fascinations and is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. This introduction into the pinball world has piqued my interest and now I feel more than willing to spend a few quarters on some games.
