Can't wait for this!!! Going to be awesome!!!!

That looks like a good time.

Here is a small peek into the store.

20070228003r.jpg4539008r.jpg20070228004r.jpgabout1.jpg

Have you dealt with these guys before?

Yes, I have. I live here in town, grew up in Mesquite. I didnt learn this until much later, but as a kid I grew up playing arcades in a place called FUN FACTORY which was owned by the same guy. I didnt know it, but I have been giving Steve business most of my life one way or the other.

I will admit: I am overall new to the hobby. I have bought and traded 20 machines in less than 13 months, (which is freaking diving in) but yeah... Im not a arcade/pinball veteran. When you come into this hobby you "hear it all" but as far as I am concerned, I like to focus less on what "he or she said" and more on my own experiences.

I can say with sincerity: dealing with Steve and FUN! over the last 8 months has been very good.

Steve lent me a WOZ for my first arcade event (Arcade House Party 1) and then a Star Trek for a pinball party I hosted at my house. Now for my next event (Jared's Epic Party) he is lending several machines. Basically, he has always been accommodating, kind and trusting of me with very expensive equipment.

Here in Dallas, we have a vast scarcity of public places to play pinball. You can count the places to play more than 3 machines on one hand, with the largest of all being a location with 10 total machines. That's it. Many private collections here are 4-5x that.

Which is why it's such a big deal for a business that is historically conservative... and has never done such a thing... to open their doors to the public in the name of raising $2000 for a major charity. I think it's awesome, and I quickly offered to assist in any way that I could.

Anyways, although I have never purchased a machine from them myself, I have certainly "dealt with these guys before" and I am excited of their attitude and willingness to accommodate the pinball community in 2014.

Thanks. You certainly do "hear it all". That's why I was curious as to your personal experience. Sounds like a worthwhile event. Have fun! (no pun intended)

There's always two sides to every story, like how he told me back about six months ago he had "several people" interested in his floor model Tron Pro (after I made a cash offer) that's been on his floor for almost a year, at retail price...believe it was around 5800 or 6k then...now at @ 6600 bucks, still on ebay, and the price just keeps going up up UP. It's been sitting out of the box, in a store with big huge windows...I have no doubt that it has had less than 5 games put on it, because they are notoriously anal about not letting people play their games. If you go in there, Gideon will watch you like a HAWK to make sure you're not actually touching anything, and when we stopped by to play Star Trek pro right when it came out, I swear to god, he told my wife we could "play a few games but this isn't a bowling alley".....after Steve had sent out and email to the local mailing list to come out and give it a play.

Never had any clue Steve was an ex-op, but I can't say that's terribly surprising either. He seems like a nice enough guy, I've never had the chance to actually talk to him directly. Pretty cool that he's doing this and the money is going to charity. Also like the idea of the slot machine 'tourney'.

For the record, I have sold a game to Steve (only dealt with Gideon in person), bought small things off Ebay from them, and I'm in the process of getting a game from him, so it's not like I'm just posting off the cuff based on the one experience before. It's really run the gamut dealing with them, which is about what I've heard previously from other people...it just that most of them are reporting ONE experience. They're really close with TPF, and that relationship is getting stronger this year as well.

Okay, you lost me You think Fun is great, I respect that. But you've never bought a game from them? Besides maybe some parts, what else have you done with them that makes then so great? I'm talking business wise, most people here aren't local and won't be borrowing games etc from them.

I actually have no problem with Fun BTW. I have bought a game from them. But like every other customer of theirs, I overpaid. I know the right questions to ask, and they were accurate with the description. They did send me the game without the legs which was annoying, luckily I could borrow a set from a local guy so I didn't have to wait 5 days to play the thing.

Where people get into trouble with Fun, is if they don't ask very detailed specific questions. For example, I've heard people getting games with some play field planking, and this would have been a deal breaker. They assumed that Fun would disclose this, but being a retailer it's just another normal assurance to them. I asked about all those types of things before I bought, most people don't.

I can't lie, I had a similar experience when I went in there a year ago. It was off putting to me, but I realized later that I was not dealing with Steve and Gideon had no idea who I was at the time. Gideon is a still a straight edge business man, but once I connected with Steve and we formed a friendship I have had no issues in there playing any game of interest after asking permission. Still, FUN! is "notorious" (where entirely factual or not) for "not letting people play the games" which is (to me) why it is all the more shocking and exciting that they are opening up the doors for charity to let people play every functional game on their floor for 4 hours.

Just to be clear about that part.

There will be one pinball machine (not yet decided) and the machine will offer ONE game per attendee. Whomever gets the highest score of the night on their chance takes home the slot machine. Also, the actual slot machine given away is far better than the one pictured in the flyer. Thats a goof on my part.

Bingo. This event is a lead-up to TPF, and was scheduled in March on purpose. The auction FUN! is doing at the TPF really is going to be ridiculous, and that single feature alone will add 15-20%+ more playable pins to TPF's event in 2014. Thats awesome.

Well I have bought playglass, cleaner and a few miscellaneous parts. I have never purchased a machine from them. That is the extent of my financial transactions with FUN!, but I dont think it's fair to say thats the only business that matters. To me, business is any interaction with someone as a business. So when they, as FUN!, lent and trusted me with thousands of dollars in equipment, It quickly gave me a respect for Steve and his trust he would put into a stranger. I have also had the luck to have several long conversations with Steve about business, his ideas, some of his plans and what he has done, and all of the discussion with him has further deepened my respect as well as my trust in him as an individual.

A huge open open house for people to come play unlimited has long been something people in DFW wanted to happen, and also thought would probably never happen. It was Steve's idea to use the event to raise $2000 for a great charity which is the best part of all. Perhaps with the open house, many pinball players will get to meet Steve first hand and begin a new opinion of FUN! in 2014. This is going to be a fantastic event.

I'm going to respectfully disagree You can't compare buying a bottle of novus to buying a pin long distance. There are plenty of super great guys out there who run shitty businesses.

When they lent you that game, it wasn't business, it was personal. No money changed hands, nothing was bought, nothing was sold. They may be trying to earn your business, not sure. I can understand you coming out and saying they are super great guys, but I don't understand you vouching for them as a company when you've bought nothing from them except some cleaner and glass.

I guess my point is, Fun is local, you think they are great and you think their business is great. Plus, you yourself said you bought 20 machines in the last 13 months. If Fun is so great, why haven't you bought a single machine from them? They can't be THAT great to not have our business, except for a few bucks in parts. Just trying to play devils advocate.

Fair enough.

The reason I have not bought machines from FUN! is because they are beyond my budget. I dont have the funds for a NIB game, and most of their used games are also out of my budget range. The most expensive pin I ever bought was $2600 and I was very nervous about it. I prefer to spend $200-$1200 on pinball machines...and I generally convince myself that if a machine costs more than that it's not worth it.

I enjoy the hunt... I enjoy being on craigslist or facebook and racing out to find hidden deals... sweet hookups... stuff like that. I like getting a machine that is busted... broken and neglected... and ordering parts to install it and bring it back to life. I get a lot of enjoyment out of that.

FUN!s machines are shopped, cleaned, working and ready to go. While I see the appeal in that, for me as a pinhead, thats cost prohibitive and also not nearly as exciting. Just my personal opinion.

When and if I do every buy a NIB machine, I have little doubt that it will be from FUN! since they are our local JJP and Stern distributor. After that, I can report on my interaction with them (if that matters?).

The point of this thread... and in my opinion all that matters here... is that a local shop is opening its doors for the first time to let people play an abundance of nice pinball machines... and in the process will raise $2000 for a worthy charity. That's awesome. That's worth attending. That's worth supporting.

In my opinion.

That's real nice of Steve to donate the drinks/booze/pizza so that all the money you guys take in can be donated to the Shriners.

I bet it's going to be a great night. We're already committed to a friends birthday provided that Josh's new work schedule doesn't screw that up, though. :/

Sounds fair to me... BRING YOUR A GAME OR GO HOME!

I was a little stunned after reading this thread, but I guess it's not surprising.

Locals always have good things to report. It's the out of state sales that show a sellers true character.

If you want some entertaining reading, do a little research on both FUN and Barrynj on RGP.

Steve (in Escalon, CA)

No matter what I could possibly read it won't change the fact that 60 machines will be on free play for the first time for 4 hours to help raise $2000 for a worthy charity.

Just watch out if you buy glass there. I purchased some and it was not tempered and a buyer of mine got cut by the glass when it cracked.

I wish I could attend, but I think that is the first weekend of spring break so probably won't be around. I think it is a great idea to raise funds for charity and give people a chance to go to Fun!

I'm purchasing a game through them that is being used at TPF in the tournament (Star Trek), but being a new in box game I'm not to concerned about condition. I have never bought a used game from them since I too enjoy the fixing and restoring of the game as much as playing it. Their market is retail, and I'm decidedly not a retail pinball customer.

Greg

Should be fun. I'm going to try and make it. Last time I was there I took home this.

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WOW man... go big or go home! haha

The event date for this party has been changed to the 15th.

fun pinball party flyer 2.jpg

Great. Couldn't make the 8th so the change is good for me.

Hrm. Someone local with a congo. Let the pestering and harassment to sell it begin.

delete. wrong weekend

Dang. Wish I still lived in Dallas. Looks great!

Dang you check peoples collections... That's hardcore hunting!

If the models are there, I may have to fly out

crap in crap out, gotta put in the effort to get a good result, LOL. After TPF will be looking for DMD #4 hopefully, so keeping my eyes open.

Models what? lol

He's thinking of that other place that sells pins on ebay...Fun doesn't use skanks to sell pins, that I've ever seen.

Yeah.... he has them mixed up. Haha. They do have some friendly dogs!

Too friendly actually. Embarrassingly friendly.

Yea, it is the other place, at least I got a couple bumps in, sorry

Dude, just buy your $4500 machine from FUN. I'm sure they would appreciate the local business.

http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/best-pin-4500-could-buy

No doubt. Decided to go a different route since I made that thread.

We would be going if we lived close by, but with it being so close the the TPF, there is no way we could swing that.
Steve has always been extremely nice and I am glad to hear he is opening up the place like this.
He has purchased 4 or 5 of my machines and got me a great deal on my AC/DC. Every time we have visited he has given us a tour of the place, including the back storage area that has more pins in it then the front. The place it truly huge.
Good luck with the party.

Why did the date change all of a sudden?

It was brought to the attention of Steve that a large swath of the pinball community would be at a private pinball party coincidentally being held that night, so large that it could hurt the turnout (and contribution efforts) of the FUN! event. The 15th was shown to be all clear, and Steve moved it. The people who previously "had a prior engagement" now are free to attend without having to choose one or the other.

You guys didn't check the event calendar?

Featured in the news today.

http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/mixmaster/2014/02/get_your_long_awaited_pinball.php

I'm sorry I will miss this. I'll be camping overnight on the USS KIDD with the Cub Scout Pack.

Is there a link where I can make a donation to the cause?

Pay Pal Here - [email protected]

Wow. Nice looking place. Only for four hours though? I mean could I be locked in there for a weekend maybe?

Stop by if you are ever in North Texas!

How many tickets are left Steve?

Hearing a lot of buzz about this on facebook and locally. Going to be really awesome!!!!

Thats great.

Since its looking like some major rain storms in DFW on Saturday, this event is even better since its going to be held indoors.

Going to be awesome to hear that place going with every machine being played at the same time... for the first time!

Did they hit the limit?