Should You Buy A Pinball Machine? A guide for beginners.

Lately I’ve been putting some of my games up for sale, and I get a lot of people who have never owned pinball machines contacting me. They have a romantic idea of setting up a game room for their kids and remember pinball machines fondly and want to have one at home. Sounds great right? I agree it can be very rewarding… but you have to know what you’re potentially getting yourself into. A pinball machine is not like a regular modern amusement device. Let’s go over the pros, cons and pitfalls of owning pinball machines, and while you think your kids will enjoy it, are you sure? Let’s dive in and talk about it!

Inside Dan Ferguson’s “Lone Star Pinball Museum”

A friend and a true legend in the pinball community passed away this week. Dan Ferguson, owner of the “Lone Star Pinball Museum” and one of the iconic enthusiasts in the region. Dan was a fixture at all the Texas pinball shows and had one of the most amazing collections of games and memorabilia anywhere. Eight years ago was one of the first times I got a chance to take a peek inside his infamous private museum, that was typically only open by invitation (and was an inspiration for our own PinChurch facility).

Here’s is a video I shot of a quick walk-thru of his amazing place. We miss you Dan!

2018 Houston Arcade Expo (pre-show-opening) Walk-Through

This is a quick walk-thru of the 2018 Houston Arcade Expo (HAAG) before the show opens. To give you an idea of how much work is involved in getting everything set up. I apologize for the shaky camera. And it looks like YouTube has disabled their video stabilization ability (boo!) so I can’t stabilize it online. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this short video!

2013 Houston Arcade Expo walk-thru

I just got back from the Houston Arcade Expo and have posted a video-walk-thru of the event. It’s always a fun time and this year was no exception. Although I actually did not pick up a game this year… I’m determined to finish my existing projects before adding any more. Any way, check it out:

After the PC-Open, New Projects

The past few weeks have been very busy as we readied ourselves for the first tournament in our area. It seems to have gone over well and now I do a tour of my place after the dust has settled. You may see some of the games I’ve worked on in the past and a glimpse of what lies ahead in future episodes:

A video tour of the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas

A recent discussion came up on one of the online forums about the Pinball Hall of Fame and I was prompted to dig up some footage I shot in 2009 so here it is.

For those of you who don’t know, the Pinball Hall of Fame is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, just off the main strip, run by an eccentric but brilliant and generous guy named Tim Arnold who is a long-time operator and has one of the most impressive collections of vintage pinball machines in the world.

The PHOF houses at any given moment, several hundred vintage pinball machines, including some extremely rare games you will not likely find anywhere else. Here’s a series of videos where I walked the rows of the place in 2009 not long after it moved into a new building. Enjoy!

How many rare and unusual games can you spot?

A quick peek at a very cool pinball collection in Texas [pbh10]

Just north of Houston, there’s a very cool guy named Dan who has been collecting pinball machines for many, many years.  We came out to visit him this year while in town for the Houston Arcade Expo and I took a moment to grab the video camera and make quick walk-through of his museum, which houses hundreds of games from the earlier pinball eras.

I know it would look better if all the machines were fired up, but we weren’t staying long and I didn’t want to trouble him to flip everything on.  But you can get a feel for how many old games are in the museum, covering the earliest of eras in the 1800s and early 1900s to pre-flipper woodrails, bingo machines, EM woodrails and lots of classic 60s and 70s electro-mechanical games.  Distinctions in the collection include all four versions of Bally’s classic “Fireball” game, Atari’s gargantuan game “Hercules”,  rarities like “Spectrum”, “Asteroid Annie” and “Solar Fire”, and many very early games for which there’s very little information on how many were made.  There are also lots of vintage EM baseball, shooting and aviation games.  I plan to post more details in the future including some high-quality pictures.  Once again, a huge thanks to Dan for his hospitality!