Also, shipping through Captains is insane, like 1200 or something for one pin. So you gotta be able to arrange your own transport day of sale.

They've been kinda irrelevant lately so it's safe

What was that pallet made of? I’ve bought several things from them, and shipping was never crazy high. $400 for a Deal or No Deal plus a large change machine. $250 for a Super Chexx. Pin prices from Captains are always insane because there are a lot of buyers who can’t do math. Add 23% to the hammer price when it’s their normal auction at their warehouse. I see used recent games going for NIB prices before you add the 23%.

MOP will likely get top dollar for everything.

Good news, it's not actually in Ann Arbor! It's off a dirt road in the sticks about 20 minutes north of the city. You're more likely to run into a literal wolverine than a college athlete.

WELLLLLL . . . still open to question is the fate of the Fry's location off the 15 fwy. (can't seem to remember the name of that exit, but it's pretty close to the Tierrasanta exit), and of what was their regional flagship location in San Marcos. Those will either be torn down or turn into . . . something_. It is possible that Fry's owned both the land and the buildings: that might in part explain how they managed to keep those white elephant warehouses going as far back as a year or so prior to the pandemic. Per the observation of someone who went there to buy stuff around twice a month, I can tell you that shelves were mostly bare (because vendors would not give them the usual merchandise, out of concern for the prospect of getting stiffed), some departments like Audio / Video all but closed up, staff were mostly gone leaving behind a skeleton crew, and customers on the floor were very few. Remaining merch largely went to C-list names you never heard of, in a feeble effort to replace the well-known brands. I know this all too well. We actually bought a fridge for the office from them, five days before they went belly up. Yes, I know about MicroCentre much closer to you, and was a customer of theirs also back when I lived in L.A., but Fry's was (once) really the place where you could just go right there and pick up electronics parts down to the level of a specific capacitor. One time I got some rubber tubing from them -- which they had in multiple gauges -- to insulate some badly exposed wiring inside a pin. Where else were you ever gonna find such things ?

Anyway, as locations go, that's not a crazy idea. All you'd need is a whole lotta $$$$$ !

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wait a SECOND there cowboy!
i'm an athlete. YES i am! And i'm good looking and very fit too!!!

I am sad that this is the situation. As a tech who has been there for a few years, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the times and the great people. Nobody wanted it to go this way, but stuff happens. John took great care of us and showed his appreciation.

I also would like to thank the Weeks and also Chuck who I communicated with a few times. Once I found out about it, I went to every possible event I could get to it, around a half dozen of times or more. Each and every time, I had the blast if a lifetime. When I took friends they also had a blast.

I saw Pinsiders there, spotted RotorDave and his family ( I think his daughter won a tourney?).

Walking into the pinball room was always an amazing experience. More than once I cleverly got there right at opening on the slowest day which was usually Sunday. Walking in there and seeing all the machines on with about a dozen people in the entire room is an adrenaline rush!

I played pinball until my eyes were glazed. I so much appreciated being able to play all the games I read about at Pinside. This way you can get the real picture as to whether you personally like a machine. Tron, TZ, Addams Family, Medivial Madness, AFM, ACDC, Metallica, all 3 Elviras, and anything else you can name. I also played the heck out of all the EMs as I really like those also.

I also really enjoyed the video games, everything and anything was in there also, all the classics I grew up on.

Each day since this announcement I have kicked myself for being an idiot and not going to the last event. like a fool l thought naw, $150 is too much, I'll wait for the next event which is sure to come soon now that CV is calming down. That was foolish and I so regret I didn't get one more visit. In hindsight $150 is nothing for that privilege.

I also had hopes to join the tech team when I hopefully soon retire. I'm not an expert like so many of you, but at the minimum I could tweak the Bally Bon Voyage and Monte Carlo to perfection, those two I know since I have them.

Dang like every good thing in life, it has to come to an end. I hope it all works out ok.

There are a few machines that I really liked that I might take a shot at if they come up for auction. It would be cool to have one to carry on remembrance of the MOP.

Frys buildings would make a great pinball museum & concert venue. The one by me has a spaceship through it

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That fry’s (in Burbank) is about to be torn down to put up a giant apartment building.

Yeah baby!

rd

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The Las Vegas Fry's had a Mills slot machine facade. Ironically, Bally's slot machine business unit/factory has been located about a mile from this Fry's for 30 years....

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That Burbank store always was the worst Fry's store I ever dealt with! I seemed like it was always a mess, and customer service was non existent.

That's America right there.

I thought that was fry’s corporate vision…

The one in Burbank was worse than any of the other store I ever dealt with. Fortunately they opened three stores nearer to me after Burbank opened over the next few years.

Fry's was great if you wanted to go see the shelf space where the item you wanted to buy should be.

Was trying to get latest info on auction, but seem to have clicked on the Fry's forum...

The last 3-5 Fry's was open I thought they were selling the empty shelves.

He's one of the best. Now he has to compete with Elwin at WORK and at Tournaments! I don't envy him LOL. living in the shadow perpetually for sure. maybe his homebrew will become a masterpiece like Elwin, and then he can stand next to him not sure he can match that though. its a tall ORDER!!!!

wrong place bro, all we talk about is Fry's electronics nowadays; what with the tired topics of dimpling, pooling, and chipping on PFs being such an old toppic, and nothing more to complain about but the lack of deals on cheap laptops due to Fry's closing.

well, I guess it's newegg.com from now on. Things could be worse. It's all ball bearings these days, haven't you heard? (read: It's all online shopping these days. Stores are a thing of the past man. Get with the times!!!)

Looks like the auction will be happening on location in Banning. Not a captains auction. Official announcement still to come.

Maybe Rob Storment will handle it.....

Why not sell off a bunch and get it down to a more manageable size like 400 +/-. Buy or lease space in a pinball friendly city?

That is what a lot of pin enthusiasts have been wanting.

As I said earlier, I reckon 200 fully working pins would be more than enough.

rd

"WORKING ALL THE WAY!"

"WORKED GREAT LAST NIGHT!"

*sigh*

go you halvsies Dave?

Nup! I got way too many as it is.

rd

In the other threads about this a key insight was made: lack of financial planning to the business. I had read that it was Weeks collection and also Weeks building. But Weeks didn’t likely get to where he was throwing money away. One can justify losing money a year, maybe 3, but after 5 years it gets old. Especially if it’s a lot. And I suspect it was ALOT - more in lost opportunity. You want your capital back. You want your buildings to make money again. Or you want someone else to pay the bills on your behalf (which seemed to be the play for Palm Springs) They apparently couldn’t find that. The bottom line is that a place like Vegas and PHOF is a very rare animal indeed where one can get enough of JohnQPublic coming in to pay the bills. Banning ? Anywhere else ? Not so much. Now Weeks can go back to making money again. This is kinda the story for a lot of pinball heavy locales. There just isn’t a great business models for most towns in placing a ton of pinballs in one place. I should know, we have 35 and really it’s too many, but we have just enough of everything else to barely break even. It sounds like a great idea to all of us: lots of pinball. It turns out geographic limitations make it mostly a very bad idea. Pretty much what most people looking this over for is not interest in donating, but rather buying at a discount. GoFundMes and the like aren’t a very good idea either. They get you over a one time hump perhaps, but if the ongoing business models sucks, it will still suck after the donated money is spent. Sorry, that’s the reality here. A few places make it work outright, a few places do bolt ons to make it work, and most close after a few years due to a not so good business proposition, much like any other business in this world.

pookycade

Too true. Most often these small businesses go out since their planning goes awry. That or either rent/bills don't get paid, bad location, not enough customers. I knew a place in California a while ago. The location was okay, had 5-7 pins, but people were playing them. Some even from out of town.
Unfortunately, he had to close down. So yes, it's important to have good financial planning, a good location, and attracting most of the spectrum. Most people nowadays want to play the new machines from Stern and Jersey Jack, but there are other who enjoy the older pins. Still haven't found an arcade with the old EM. Maybe that will change.

Much of this thread along these lines has been behind the curve since the early posts: from what I've been told, the end of MoP and the auction decision (contracts involved, not reversible) became a done deal not too long after the Palm Springs relocation plans fell through.

I wouldn't call it lack of planning - but rather a fading of commitment.

No one to date has made one of these 500+ piece collections open to the public work. Every attempt was floated only through sugar daddies. Galloping Ghost is probably the most ambitious of late (I don't claim any knowledge of their origin or funding), and of course Tim has made his pin-only model work through ruthless skimping, endless time, and location.

When John Weeks bought a 4 million dollar property in the middle of no where... and spent the first few years basically idle... obviously you aren't looking at 'how quickly do we get into the black'.

Most of these efforts come from people who have warehouses full of stuff and get the idea of how do I convert storage into dual purpose... housing my stuff and helping paying for it. Let's call it... "working storage"

I'm still really curious how committed they were to this Palm Springs relo and the collection before... because they sure seemed to give up quickly after that high risk plan fell apart. It sure would be easy to raise funds through selling in this insane market for both vids and pins.... but they seem to have no interest in sustaining themselves. So that's why I keep saying "there is more to the story". Maybe they just want to pull the rip cord. That's their prerogative... I just wish they would be more transparent with the community on the intents.

Good morning - I don't have much of an update for you but here it goes.

The auction is moving forward. Preparations are in progress.
The dates and times have not been published nor publicized but should be released this week.
Most of the 1400+ in the physical MOP buildings (40,000 sqft) - the Museum that some of you have visited, will be auctioned.
The other ~700 games will be reviewed and auctioned now or later. These games are off site or in other storage areas.
Yes, logistics is a factor. This is a huge undertaking and everything must be in order prior to releasing the dates.
Could a miracle happen which "saves" the MOP from being auctioned? not likely. But , miracles do happen.
I predict around 550 pins and 600+ video games (and some other old odd ball cool stuff) will be auctioned at the initial auction.
If you're looking to bid you'll have plenty of time to plan your strategy.
Will there be a PREVIEW day(s)? Geesh I hope so. The collection deserves to be previewed - IMO.
As of today, the initial auction will be held at the MOP with in-person and online bidders.

The excitement is growing for the auction! thank you for all your kind words. I try to answer all the PMs sent me.

If you have a comment you'd like me to read please PM me to ensure I see it.

I'm not meaning to support speculation BUT I need to say " this info is subject to change" because as Curator, or ex-Curator, I'm falling out of the "loop" regarding the business at hand. I will be bidding on pins and vids myself and paying all the same fees and taxes as everyone else.

Lastly, I wanted to thank all those who have ever visited the Museum of Pinball but specially acknowledge anyone who has ever volunteered to help maintain the collection.

Chuck Casey
Museum of Pinball - Curator

I didn't see a general list of games/pins on the regular website just to get an idea of what pins they had when 'open'. Is there one somewhere?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/museum-of-pinball-game-list

I'm not aware of a list for the video/arcade side.

Sorry when I say “planning” we are on the same page here. What I mean is what does one do when it stops being a hobby and becomes a business ? What’s the plan for inevitable losses early on ? How deep does the rabbit hole go ? But yeah “commitment” is a good word to use too. I am not playing some “holier than thou” role here. We only got serious about this at my arcade this year and it’s a work in progress for sure. But at some point it stops being “look how cool it is I have all these games” and becomes “So what were the receipts last weekend ? Where is our break even ? Can I meet payroll next month ? Do I really want to run a marginal business ?” I believe the more rich one is (and buying a warehouse and 1000 pins is rich no matter how you slice it) the less tolerance you will have for a business that is never gonna generate multiples on initial investment. Why do I still do it ? Well, I’m not rich and I find it a challenge to make a business work on its own without bailouts when it’s profit margin is really just above restaurant grade. I also like repairing machines (much like Tim Arnold) and this is my outlet to do so -though there are lots easier ways to accomplish this. I do wish them well. I think it was an awesome concept. But I do remember saying back in 2015 “that has to be one really rich dude” and “it will be really hard to sustain in that location unless money is no object”.

That would make an awesome topper

The timing and other aspects of an auction (if happening anytime soon) has to be an enormous challenge. Think of the work that would have to go into preparing any halfway decent auction "catalog", particularly of this size or if broken up into a few auctions, even if it is a rush job and only in an online format. Then, logistically speaking, how would you go about requiring a speedy pickup of purchased games ? How many potential buyers have their own trucks or vans suitable to the task, and that can accommodate more than a couple pins at a time ? How fast can buyers arrange pickups by NAVL or whomever ? Can you envision a fleet of big-rigs converging on the MoP parking lot at around the same time ? Have issues like these been thought through . . . because it sure seems like they would have to be ?

I’m trying to figure out how much time an auction will take.

“chuckcasey” said that there were 780 pins.

X 4 minutes per pin auction time is 3900 minutes or 52 hours!

Holy crap!

Then:

For me to drag a trailer form SE Michigan to Banning will be 6 days of travel x $160 per deim/day. Add $900 of diesel fuel. Two day per deim at Banning for another $320. Total before biding: @2,200 ish. Plus add in the bar tab....

Double Holy crap!

Call the Department of Redundancy Department!

oopsie...guilty as charged charged.

For that kind of money think about this... Why drag a trailer? Why spend six days driving?

Buy a round trip airline ticket, rental car, lodging.

Get a PODS shipping unit. Find out how many pins will fit in it.
Get with your buddies who would want some of the games. allocate space for them.
Bid/buy those games you want
Have your friends buy games with internet bidding. and then they release them to you for shipping.
Load up PODS unit and send it home.
Fly home the next day.

Just my $.02 worth.

How many shills are they bringing? Damn it was annoying at their auctions to bid and have a half dozen bids immediately follow and you look around but no obvious bidders.

I eventually quit making the trip to Mesquite because of that crap. That and the 'no inspection' policy. Sorry some shady saboteurs pulled some crap but if I can't check out the game I'm not bidding.

U-Haul has a U-BOX looks like the PODS idea but might be a smaller container.

I suggest you look check if there are Maximum weight limits with any of these container services. I don't know what they cost or how big they are.
All I know is that my sister got a pods for my niece for moving her from Phoenix AZ to Wixom MI

If locals wanted to make fair market value offers on some games, why not take it?

That extra $320.00 would not cover your bar tab.
Pro Tip: I've stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott locations in both Palm Desert and Cathedral City many times for my old job. They had the open bar deal. You can out drink your room charge so it's like a free stay. Just tip the bartender well and they will supply you multiple drinks with no ice so the party can last through the night. For bottled beer, they will "accidentally" leave them capped....

Back on point regarding Fry's Electronics; from today at the Las Vegas former location. The plastic wrap covering the sign at the I-15/Bruce Woodbury Beltway and on the replica Mills Slot Machine is still intact.

The parking lot is fenced off but not the sides and back of the building. Not sure if it is to prepare for demolition or to prevent the local hooligans from using the lot as a VDA (Vehicle Dynamics Area)...

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Danke Schoen.