Pinball Hall of Fame facts for kids
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| Established | November 2009 |
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| Location | 1610 E Tropicana Ave Paradise, Nevada |
| Type | Pinball Museum |
| Collection size | ~200 pinball machines |
The Pinball Hall of Fame is a museum for pinball machines that opened in Paradise, Nevada in November 2009. It is located at 1610 E Tropicana Ave. The museum is a project of the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club, and it features pinball machines from all eras, including some very rare machines such as Williams' Black Gold, Bally's Pinball Circus and Recreativos Franco's Impacto. It features over 200 different pinball games, including some classic video arcade games and other novelty machines of the past and present.
The Pinball Hall of Fame is a nonprofit venture and its creation came about in part due to donations, which are still accepted. The museum is run by Tim Arnold, a veteran arcade operator who ran "Pinball Pete's" in East Lansing, Michigan. Fully staffed by volunteers, excess revenues are donated to the Salvation Army.
History
Since 1990, Tim Arnold has been busy with this project, raising money selling DVDs (and VHS tapes) about pinball repair and organizing pinball 'fun nights' at his own house. There he also has a very large personal collection of pinball machines.
The Pinball Hall of Fame was originally located at 3300 E Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas NV 89121 and featured approximately 200 pinball machines, classic video games and arcade games. This original location opened in January 2006 and was located approximately one mile east from its present location. In late 2009, the Pinball Hall of Fame moved to its new location at 1610 E Tropicana Ave.
In 2016, Arnold denied reports he was looking for a successor or he would close the museum. Instead there are plans to expand The Pinball Hall of Fame by constructing a new building on a next door lot to the east of the present building.
In 2020, The Pinball Hall of Fame announced plans to move to a new, larger location at 4915 S Las Vegas Blvd. The new location, a purpose-built 28,000 square foot warehouse, is intended to house the Hall of Fame's complete collection of more than 700 games. Similar to the prior locations, the new location plans to be non-smoking, rideshare-friendly, and provide free parking. However, due to the widespread closure of public venues due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Pinball Hall of Fame's economic situation was severely compromised, with the future of the museum in jeopardy. To raise necessary funds to complete the new building, move the collection, and keep the museum operating, Arnold and the museum launched a GoFundMe campaign in January 2021.
Gallery
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The Pinball Circus, one of two units of a unique vertical pinball game
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Video game row
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Newer pinball machines
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Classic pinball machines
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Original location of the Pinball Hall of Fame
