Ann Arbor Michigan VFW Pinball Show 2019

This will be our sixth VFW showcase! 400+ unique machines on free play at one of the largest dedicated pinball venues in North America.

Designated as: Large event (> 100 attending)

2019 pinball showcase Friday May 3th to Sunday May 5th with 400+ machines on free play. Our facility is the one of the largest dedicated pinball venues (by unique game count) in North America and has games from the 1950s “woodrails” to the latest games from Stern pinball. Every decade, manufacturer and game type is represented at the museum. There are many rare and hard to find games set up and ready to play. All machines are free play, so one entrance ticket allows unlimited play for the day. There’s something for every pinball fan here (we are the one of the largest dedicated pinball facility in North America.) But unlike other pinball museum type facilities, we are here every day working on our machines, making sure they play perfect! Arguably this makes us the best working/restored pinball collection in North America.

Tickets Reservations for the showcase will be available in advance. We want to ensure that all attendees have the absolute best possible experience and have plenty of room to mingle and experience and play the pinball machines. To do this we have a limited number of tickets available. Once the limit is reached, we are sold out, and no more reservations will be issued. There can be tickets available at the door, depending on the number of reservations made. So if you want to guarantee a ticket, it’s best to make a reservation

How Many Games will be at the Show case?
There will be approximately 400 games available for free play during our next showcase. We list the game titles in a separate post here. These games are of known quality and caliber, and some are very rare. You’ll know what titles will be at the show ahead, there’s no guessing.

Why is the Ann Arbor Pinball Show better and different?
First off nearly everyone goes to pinball shows to play games (versus say going to seminars or other related activities.) Hence the number of working games ready for play is a big draw to our show (most shows struggle to get 100 games.) And at the Ann Arbor Pinball Museum, there are no duplicate titles. Meaning when we say there are this many games, there are that number and all with unique titles. (There’s aren’t five Addams Family pinballs, for example.) Hence there is more variety and more representation of pinball’s history. We strive to have all the popular games, and many rare machines, all restored and working.

Also the games are already on site. No set up or tear down like other shows. This means they are leveled, prep’ed, and ready for play. Also the show has the same games on Friday as their are on Sunday (many shows have problems with games leaving early, making the last show day lame.) And there’s a full on-site repair and parts shop (biggest pinball parts department in Michigan), so if anything breaks, it gets repaired quickly and easily. Finally the venue is customized for pinball. That is it’s not a converted school or hotel – it’s a permanent fixture with proper power and display requirements for pinball. Additionally, all the modern games with dot matrix displays have “glare guards” and color dot matrix displays (where available.) This makes the playing experience a lot better than a typical pinball show. No other pinball show offers these features!

Can you bring a game to the showcase?
Yes! Bring a game to the Ann Arbor VFW pinball showcase is welcome – we encourage people to bring games to the show! If you want to bring a game you’re proud to show it off, or if you’re trading or selling to a friend and want a place to meet, that would be great. Doors to the hall are at ground level and within 20 feet of a drop off area, and we have many pinball carts available to borrow. We will have a dedicated area set aside for visiting pinball machines. And you have complete control of your game, when it comes, and when it leaves. If you are bring a game title which we don’t already have, you get FREE show admission. Our goal is to showcase our collector quality games and any quality machines that the pinball public wants to bring. Also you can bring your game to the show anytime. That is, bring it a week before (you’re not forced into bring it only on “set up day.”) Same goes for pickup… If you can’t pick up your game for a few days after the show, no problem. We’re trying to make this whole process very easy! In addition, we will fix your machine if it breaks (assuming you give us the key), and we’ll even clean your game before you pick it up. No other show offers these incentives!



Vendors.
We do have space for vendors who will be showing their products. (Please contact us if you’re interested in doing this.) There is no cost for being a vendor (vendor space is FREE, as is show admission for vendors.) In the past we had the following vendors:

Abel Electronics. Brings Jersey Jack and American Pinball games to the showcase.
VirtuaPin (pinball parts)
Gameroom Guys of Grand Rapids
PinRestore.com (restoration parts and tools)
BgResto.com (backglass restoration services)
Wiley Amusements (game sales, Fenton MI)
Ryan Claytor, pinball art god.
Virtual Pinball, Holly Michigan
Note the Ann Arbor pinball museum does not sell games or parts, so all we can do is point you to the above vendors.

Set Up Day.
Friday from 10am to 4pm is set up time. If you’re a vendor or bring a game, that’s a great time to do it. This time is only for people involved in helping the show, those that bring games or flea market parts for sale, and for vendors, etc. Also if you need to set up days before that (for whatever reason), that’s no problem too. But we schedule the “regular” set up time as Friday 10am to 4pm.

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