Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 72

Thread: Charming Pinball Museum saved after raising over $200k in donations

  1. #1
    The Pinball Museum is a unique little business located in Las Vegas, full of old pinball machines and arcade games. Many of the games still cost a quarter -- substantially less than they did at the time they were in operation (when a quarter was worth far more than today!)

    Unlike other retro gaming businesses which charge high admission fees and $1 per game (often turned onto a "hard" setting, as well), the Pinball Museum is a nonprofit. It seeks just to pay the bills and keep the doors open.

    It's also known as the "Pinball Hall of Fame".

    The selection of games is excellent, and they even have some pinball machines which were very obscure, even in their time. Even if you're not a pinball guy, the '70s and '80s video games there are also worth the visit.

    Most of the machines are in decent-to-good condition. A few don't work very well, and some of them have controllers which are on the verge of breaking, but for the most part they seek to maintain everything in operational condition.

    I'm a big fan. At one point it looked like they were going under, after some asshole vandals broke in and destroyed everything, but it ultimately survived.

    Unfortunately, COVID sent the Pinball Museum into a tailspin, and it almost went out of business.

    However, between an anonymous donor who gave $79,000, and a GoFundme which has raised $140k, it will not only survive, but will actually be moving to a bigger location!

    This is good to hear, as the current location is in a strip mall in a seedy area, just east of the strip. The new location will be near the airport, and right by the "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign.

    The move was approved by the county in 2019, but never happened. Now it's becoming reality, thanks to the donations.

    Here's an article about the recent donations: https://news3lv.com/news/local/las-v...sive-donations

    The owner claims he donates any excess money beyond paying the bills to the Salvation Army -- a move I feel was a mistake, since he wasn't left with any reserves for fiascos such as COVID or the vandalism. Maybe he's learned his lesson this time.

    In any case, I'm glad the place survived. The guy really runs it for the love of the game, and not to make money.

    By contrast, an obnoxious bar called Insert Coins opened up in 2011, which was supposedly a bar/nightclub with an '80s video game theme. I was incredibly disappointed. The games were half out of service, the games were all set to the soul-crushing "difficult" level (something very uncommon when the games were popular in the '80s), there was an obnoxious cover charge to get in during prime nights, and the drinks were expensive. Had potential, but they basically cooked the fun out of the entire thing. It was after I went to Insert Coins (which failed after 4 years) that I appreciated the Pinball Museum even more.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  2. #2

  3. #3
    Both Places were and are Great Dan.
    I would spend 20 to 40 dollars a time at Insert Coins as I hustled downtown.
    I spent plenty of quarters at the Pinball HOF as well.
    I didn't like the bar and table side service at Insert Coins but still being able to play those classic games was a blessing for my nostalgia.
    Both places had an issue with the buttons on the Track and Field game but that's ok.
    You should see how the real pros destroy that game!


  4. #4
    If I ever make it to Vegas this is definitely on the bucket list.

    Anyone going through OKC while hitting OK casinos might want to check out a place called Cactus Jack's

  5. #5
    We used to use an electric toothbrush to cheat on that Track and Field game. Good times

  6. #6
    This is good news I must say as I always like to visit the pinball museum, hey hey.

  7. #7
    Pinball Circus is their true gem. 2 prototypes made. Supposedly created at the same time as Indiana Jones 1994 which got way better reviews and was cheaper to produce, so they shitcanned Pinball Circus.

  8. #8
    BUMP

    Big oopsie here.

    According to Vital Vegas, the Dream Hotel, slated to open in 2023, owns 8 feet of the land where the new Pinball Museum was built.

    https://twitter.com/#!/x/status/1410809969361002501



    This has kicked off a legal battle.

    The place can't catch a break.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  9. #9
    I love game rooms.
    Been going to them since the early 80's.
    They never survive though.
    Always go out of business in one way or another.

  10. #10
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    BUMP

    Big oopsie here.

    According to Vital Vegas, the Dream Hotel, slated to open in 2023, owns 8 feet of the land where the new Pinball Museum was built.

    https://twitter.com/#!/x/status/1410809969361002501



    This has kicked off a legal battle.

    The place can't catch a break.
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...-#post-6363620
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...-#post-6363689
    https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/to...-#post-6363831
    https://tinyurl.com/2j2z7amh
    Last edited by tableplay; 07-02-2021 at 05:44 AM.

  11. #11
    Yeah I see their grand opening was yesterday.

    Hope the new place works out, and they get this legal matter fixed. Presumably the owner is going to blame the survey company, so hopefully the survey company will fork over some money to the owners of Dream, who will relinquish the land, and that will be that.

    It could get ugly though.
    Check out my poker forum, and weekly internet radio show at http://pokerfraudalert.com

  12. #12
    Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
    Yeah I see their grand opening was yesterday.

    Hope the new place works out, and they get this legal matter fixed. Presumably the owner is going to blame the survey company, so hopefully the survey company will fork over some money to the owners of Dream, who will relinquish the land, and that will be that.

    It could get ugly though.
    I wonder how often grand openings are held for things that could get ugly.

  13. #13

  14. #14
    This is from awhile back.
    I didn't play long as I got tired after spending about 5 bucks for some reason.
    The Dragon's Lair Cabinet fooled me lol.
    I have that game for the PC and PS3.
    IMO Dragon's Lair 2 is a better game.
    Space Ace is very difficult as they made it that way to try to appease the players.

    I didn't play any good pinball games.
    The Batman Pinball game was way overpriced.
    The next two I played because it was 5 balls for 75 cents.
    I messed up thinking the Tron Pinball game was the first movie... got uninterested with that version.
    I went to this place many more times when it was on Trop.
    Since they moved to the Strip and the Construction in that area keeps me away.
    The entrance setup is not very good.
    Attached Images Attached Images      

  15. #15
    Nice pics Monet, thanks for posting. There are four different Batman pinballs. Batman '66 (2016), which you played at the PHOF (Lyman programmed the software for this). Then there was the fun Batman pinball from Data East which was made in 1991 (the first one of the four). In 1995 the wide body Batman Forever (Tommy Lee Jones,Jim Carrey, etc.) pinball came out from Sega (Jim Carrey would call out "You're as blind as a bat !!") and it was a lot of fun, but there was a design issue with the flipper coils so operators and owners would swap out the factory flipper coils for ones which wouldn't overheat (making the flippers weak) as easily (I think they would put in Williams flipper coils) so that the long shots on the game could be made. In 2008, Batman the Dark Knight came out (Batman '66's design is based on this one's design and it too was programmed by Lyman).

  16. #16
    I forgot to comment on Space Ace and the Dragon's Lair games. I was more of a freestyle player and never got good at these because it seemed like it was all rote memorization rather than just pure eye-hand coordination. But I see the appeal and I vividly recall the amazing graphics.

  17. #17
    I saw the game with the metal balls that shoot fully auto at knockdown targets. I only saw it once briefly as a kid but it left a lasting impression. It was at the pinball arcade but unfortunately out of commission.
    It is official. Redietz will never be on Dan Druff's podcast. "too much integrity"

  18. #18
    Originally Posted by accountinquestion View Post
    I saw the game with the metal balls that shoot fully auto at knockdown targets. I only saw it once briefly as a kid but it left a lasting impression. It was at the pinball arcade but unfortunately out of commission.

  19. #19
    Originally Posted by tableplay View Post
    I forgot to comment on Space Ace and the Dragon's Lair games. I was more of a freestyle player and never got good at these because it seemed like it was all rote memorization rather than just pure eye-hand coordination. But I see the appeal and I vividly recall the amazing graphics.
    I always hated Dragon's Lair for that reason. It looked great but it was such an absurd quarter muncher. I don't think I ever passed more than one or two screens.

  20. #20
    Originally Posted by tableplay View Post
    Originally Posted by accountinquestion View Post
    I saw the game with the metal balls that shoot fully auto at knockdown targets. I only saw it once briefly as a kid but it left a lasting impression. It was at the pinball arcade but unfortunately out of commission.
    Thank you for the link Tableplay.

    It wasn't fully auto. I only got to play it once maybe twice and it left the skating rink. I seem to recall there was a clone made by another manufacturer.
    It is official. Redietz will never be on Dan Druff's podcast. "too much integrity"

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Understanding Slotloser’s $200K yearly income comment
    By Ex-AP in forum Whatever's On Your Mind
    Replies: 60
    Last Post: 03-07-2021, 10:20 AM
  2. pinball
    By regnis in forum Whatever's On Your Mind
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 03-22-2018, 02:50 PM
  3. Big Jeff's Craps Tables raising prices in July
    By Alan Mendelson in forum Money, Shopping, Real Estate, Investing
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 10-18-2017, 04:37 AM
  4. Las Vegas Neon Museum
    By Dan Druff in forum Las Vegas
    Replies: 10
    Last Post: 08-28-2017, 12:49 AM
  5. Mob Museum
    By Alan Mendelson in forum Las Vegas
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 06-05-2017, 12:18 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •