Pinball Hall of Fame -- Disappointed

wxforecaster

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I was in Vegas this past week for the first time for a work related convention, and was fortunate enough to have an ex co-worker and fellow pin collector drive up from Phoenix to meet me for a couple days. Both of us had been looking forward for the past two months to visit the Pinball HoF, not only for a chance to play all the games we either hadn't seen or played in eons, but also to narrow our respective lists of "must own" machines.

When we walked in, we were pleasantly greeted by the sights and sounds of long rows of pinball machines and some classic arcades, but the fun really stopped there.

Folks, this place is in rough shape and dear I say the end is nigh if the owners can't hire some technicians who are passionate and trained. Of the 20+ machines we played, 19 had credit dots. Just surveying the displays (some of which themselves were either dead, flaking out, etc...), over 90% of the games had credit dots. The playfields were in a word -- disgusting (even a new AC/DC looked absolutely trashed). On almost every game we played, the flippers weren't even close to alignment as if they were eyeballed by a blind man. Many of the games had been retrofitted with very poor LED lighting. I love LEDs, but when you use the wrong color bulbs, the inserts look horrible. Worse still, some of the games had bright LEDs placed in the headlamps which were pointed upwards instead of down onto the playfield. This focused a blinding light into your eyes -- game over. Numerous games had missing backbox and playfield GI.

Yes, I get it, these are played machines, but they fall well short of anything that should qualify for the Pinball Hall of Fame. Not a single game was marked out of order despite having broken features that crippled play. The one tech I saw stumbling around looked like the older Biff from Back to the Future 2 with a headlamp. He was staring blankly at a non-working coil on whatever was next to the Twighlight Zone we were playing. I immediately noticed that only one lug had a wire attached with the other connection dangling freely several feet below eye level. After a couple minutes of watching him, I casually made the observation that he might want to grab the soldering iron since the problem was likely the missing wire on the 2nd lug. That got us the look of death. I knew right then and there we were pretty much done. Mark and I both wished we had a couple months to attempt to bail the owners out, repairing and cleaning one machine at a time.

The positives: there was a fair amount of business going on (but we also overhead a number of complaints from like-minded pinheads). It was also nice to see some kids playing.

The ugly: A limited edition Lord of the Rings was in the doorway and could not be played due to excessive glare from the direct late morning sun. Worst of all, it's directly in the line of fire from UV fade. Someone please recuse this gorgeous machine. The other thing that really irked me was a modified Ms. Pac Man running a 60-1 iCade in it. I always was under the impression that it was illegal to charge $$ to play these since they are not licensed. I have a coin door in my iCade Ms Pac Cocktail too, but it's for the effect of hearing the coin drop. I provide all my own quarters to my guests.

Would I go back? I would LOVE to go back, but I give the Pinball HoF an initial grade of D, sadly in line with many recent online reviews. I would love to see the owners take the incoming money and reinvest it into a few skilled pinhead techs that can steadily get these machines fully functional and cleaned up over a period of a few months, which would surely bring exponentially greater business in.

Comments, flaming, etc... all appreciated.
Evan
 
I've read several negative review of the PHOF. I was there a few years ago and it was awesome. Seems like they needs help, but are too stubborn to admit that. I personally thought they could have also benefited from some signage, besides those handwritten signs. I think it would be interesting to read "fun facts" on each machine. If he'd ask, I'm sure people would volunteer.
 
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I didn't see anything in there about why the machines haven't been kept up. I really think he's too stubborn to get help. I knew that he donates all of the profits to charity, which is why I avoided calling him to cheap to hire someone to help maintain the machines. I don't think that's it. It seems like he's starting to discover what other operators have known for years. The majority of people don't even know that a machine isn't working properly. They will still pay there $.50 and have fun--dirty, broken fun.
 
You may have been talking to Tim when you told him that the coil was unsoldered.

I have been several times and love the place. Many times, games are down and need repair. I have read many a debate one RGP, Pinside etc about how he should run the place. Bottom line, it's his place and he runs it how he wants to. There is plenty of money for repairs and employees, he chooses not to spend it an give the money to the Salvation Army.

I'm going in a few weeks and it will be my third trip. I always make a donation when there and find it warmly appreciated.

Chris

Ken,

The EMs are good and he has a bunch.
 
I didn't see anything in there about why the machines haven't been kept up. I really think he's too stubborn to get help. I knew that he donates all of the profits to charity, which is why I avoided calling him to cheap to hire someone to help maintain the machines.
 
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I haven't been there in a year or two but wen't pretty regularly every year prior to that and always had a blast, always found great pins to play, cool EM's, etc.

Also think the current gen of spoiled HUO-people should realize there are practical issues that arise in commercial settings that you have to contend with.
 
I was there for an afternoon in October. I saw the recently restored basketball machine that Rick's Restoration did. They did a great job on it.
I do admit that some of the games were a little beat up and some where in sad shape. But the thing that sort of perked me was that all the good games that people want to play such as Attack from Mars, Monster Bash, Cactus Canyon, etc, were .75 to play.
And to have the machines in top notch condition and looking all nice and shiny, you would need at least 2 people working on them full time.
I was there last year at the same time and things have basically stayed the same.
 
When i was there the games are ok.. im not as picky as some of you pinheads... but yeah tim the owner(aka your "biff" lol) was hard at work under a machine.


Youre right i think he keeps on it but he has so many he probably does need some help.

Burnt displays? Im sure hes only going to worry about it when they quit working altogther.
 
I read through this and hear a lot of echoed thoughts and opinions. To me, the better kept the machines are, the more money they bring in, and the more $$ he has to donate to charity. I'll be honest, I had no idea about the charity thing, and the signage is simply lacking all around. Most pinheads do know enough about their favorite games to know when major things are affecting game play. We probably would have spent another 1-2 hours and another $10-$20 if not for the frustration I speak of in my OP.

It seems that Tim is in over his head and for whatever reason does not want to hire on a couple full time techs. So, here's a potential charitable idea -- with some planning -- to give back to the Pinball HoF, preserve our hobby, and share it with the next generation as well as folks who may have no idea this place exists off the strip and away from downtown.

My brainstorm idea: We organize a massive repair event, with a few folks going in advance and identifying any game-specific parts that aren't on hand. We have Tim acquire those parts and anything extra he needs to stock up on (possibly get them donated) -- bulbs, rubbers, cleaning supplies, transistors, switches, etc..

We then take over the place for a couple days en mass, with each person taking on a handful of machines and giving them some much needed TLC and new pinballs. We get the media involved in the event to bring in fresh press, and maybe put up a machine or two (I noticed some duplicates) for chartible auction. In the end, we walk out of there with a store that will put Tim in an amazing position to keep them up and the ability to have everyone talking about this place to the point that he'll need extra parking spaces.

Pipe dream? Perhaps. But I've seen Extreme Home Makeovers amass a crew to build seven quality homes in Joplin in a week.

Thoughts?
 
Tim has a "pinball summer camp" thing going on 365 days a year. That is, if you want to help, he has a really nice trailer house behind the PHoF. It has a full kitchen, shower, bed, etc, basically a hotel behind the PHoF. You can stay there for free while you visit Vegas, assuming that you work on games for the museum. I know people that go there for a week or two and stay there.
 
I was there in april. It was awesome to go there. Fun for an afternoon!. It is what it is.

Glad I went. Saved me from getting my own Centigrade 37. LOL
 
I agree with your comment about better kept games drawing more money.

Case in point: Two pins:
Elvis (working lighting)
Diner (GI not working)

All figures averages:

Elvis: 26 quarters per week ($0.50 / play)
Diner: 8 quarters per week ($0.50 / play)

Repaired Diner's GI

Elvis: 30 quarters per week
Diner: 36 quarters per week

So, for some reason, fixing Diner's GI caused Elvis to get more plays. It also caused Diner to get A LOT more plays.
 
I think the place is great and if you want to see him go out of business, hiring "a couple of techs" is the exact route to failure.
 
I agree with your comment about better kept games drawing more money.

Case in point: Two pins:
Elvis (working lighting)
Diner (GI not working)

All figures averages:

Elvis: 26 quarters per week ($0.50 / play)
Diner: 8 quarters per week ($0.50 / play)

Repaired Diner's GI

Elvis: 30 quarters per week
Diner: 36 quarters per week

So, for some reason, fixing Diner's GI caused Elvis to get more plays. It also caused Diner to get A LOT more plays.

Funny you mention this. Diner was the first game we played and on my grail list. Unfortunately, the left ramp lift is broken and sort of ruined it for me. Worse still, the ramp is stuck in the "mostly up" position, so balls were getting wedged underneath there. I would agree that broken GI is a huge detractor for me and then I got a huge satisfaction of crimping umpteen trifurcon pins on my own TAF and T2 to bring much needed vibrance back into the them after I suffered burnt connector syndrome.

CFH: This is really neat. I might be drawn to a trip out there just to work on my repair skills on someone else's machines ;)
 
Can you explain your reasoning?

Hiring people is too expensive. And then you get to deal with all the nice issues like workers' comp insurance, matching SS payments, employee theft. I really think everything is fine there. I experienced a few broken games. How is that different from nearly any arcade or other game location you walk into. It's not like D&B can keep those antiques working much better.

That little steel ball bounces around like a wandering hammer.. breaking many things it contacts. If all those machines were 100%, it would be pretty nice, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't take long to run the cashflow upside down with that kind of labor and shutter the place.
 
I read through this and hear a lot of echoed thoughts and opinions. To me, the better kept the machines are, the more money they bring in, and the more $$ he has to donate to charity. I'll be honest, I had no idea about the charity thing, and the signage is simply lacking all around. Most pinheads do know enough about their favorite games to know when major things are affecting game play. We probably would have spent another 1-2 hours and another $10-$20 if not for the frustration I speak of in my OP.

It seems that Tim is in over his head and for whatever reason does not want to hire on a couple full time techs. So, here's a potential charitable idea -- with some planning -- to give back to the Pinball HoF, preserve our hobby, and share it with the next generation as well as folks who may have no idea this place exists off the strip and away from downtown.

My brainstorm idea: We organize a massive repair event, with a few folks going in advance and identifying any game-specific parts that aren't on hand. We have Tim acquire those parts and anything extra he needs to stock up on (possibly get them donated) -- bulbs, rubbers, cleaning supplies, transistors, switches, etc..

We then take over the place for a couple days en mass, with each person taking on a handful of machines and giving them some much needed TLC and new pinballs. We get the media involved in the event to bring in fresh press, and maybe put up a machine or two (I noticed some duplicates) for chartible auction. In the end, we walk out of there with a store that will put Tim in an amazing position to keep them up and the ability to have everyone talking about this place to the point that he'll need extra parking spaces.

Pipe dream? Perhaps. But I've seen Extreme Home Makeovers amass a crew to build seven quality homes in Joplin in a week.

Thoughts?

Great idea, couple that with a small pinball showcase for the locals there when its done and it would be a great idea... I spoke with them when I was there and actually helped diagnose a few things and they were appreciative, imagine if all of your games were on every day and played with that regularity, there is just not enough time to get them all at once, so this is a good solution to get his place up to par, get the pinball community involved, and build relationships.. I would go out there for that...
 
Hiring people is too expensive. And then you get to deal with all the nice issues like workers' comp insurance, matching SS payments, employee theft. I really think everything is fine there. .

If they are pulling in $10k-$18k per week I'm sure they can afford to a couple employees. Obviously you are hiring the wrong people if that is the outlook you have.
 
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