The play land pictures are awesome. If anyone has film negatives or prints of pinball / arcade stuff they want scanned feel free to shoot me a message I have a negative scanner and would be willing to scan them.

Tony thank you for sharing those pics on FB.

I have many more Playland photos, but this was about the 70s. The arcade changed like a HG Wells Time Machine over the years.

No, they closed the Fun Forest down a long time ago =(.

as a kid we had Marc's funtime, a knockoff of chuckecheese

Marc's is a store chain based here in ohio

video is not mine but a good walkthrough and man the basement was pack with games
the ball pit was also the deepest

there was also a Aladdin's castle and a place called space invaders not too far from me as well but funtime was were it was at

Sorry to hear that. They had the bumper cars and putt-putt on one side, then all of the pins and videos across the path from it. Got to ride all of the rides for free when I was in 5th & 6th grade. They always had a 'safety patrol' day for the 5th and 6th graders. Lots of fun.

Responding to Otaku's reflection on the 'lives' of our now collectable pinball machines - if I hadn't been fascinated by these machines in the 60s and 70s, I doubt that I would own any now. The pintables of my youth were 'forbidden fruit' locally, as we were chased out of arcades if under 16, especially on school days. My pinball playing (this is in the UK) was at seaside arcades during summer visits, and occasionally at travelling fairs. At both, time was short before the family or gang wanted to move on, so we never got to play a particular game more than once or twice - so we rarely got good at any which meant that extra balls or free games were virtually unheard of, apart from the occasional number match bonus. I remember being really excited when I visited the funfair at Battersea Park in 1969 (a frequent attraction for me as there were so many good arcade machines), and discovered a Rally West Club, which seemed incredibly futuristic with its Nixie tube electronic scoring and electronic sounds. I thought - surely this is the future of pinball?

That was in the 60s - then in the early-to-mid 70s my girlfriend/wife and I sought out pintables in arcades in Central London, and of course they were all still em games. But the odd thing is, apart from Big Ben I can't recall the names. At seaside arcades at that time (Southend in particular) the trick was to go to the far back of the arcade and there were usually some older machines - a woodrail or two, including some really early 50s games - great to see and so different to play, though usually poorly maintained. Then in 1978 I bought a Williams Doozie (1968) from a local firm that put machines into cafes. I walked into the big storeroom full of em machines, and the guy said "tell me which one you want and I'll tell you the price". I chose the Doozie and bought it for 75 pounds. I think they were all 75 pounds. My (then) wife became a real wizard - much better player than I was/am. We once pulled off a 'hustle' in a pub while on holiday. Some local youths were playing a Spanish Eyes and she asked them - all 'innocently' - how to work the flipper thingies and could she have a go? She rolled the reels over to zero first game, and I'll never forget the look on their faces. She even became secretary of the Pinball Owners Association. We had the Doozie for a couple of years before we had to sell it to make room for our new daughter. (Putting on a suitably mournful face I reminded her of that today when she visited with her own kids.) Fast-forward nearly 40 years and I have a Doozie (of course), a Flipper Parade, and a Full House. And the sad thing is, with all that pinball activity 'back in the day' - not one photo to show. So sorry folks about the lack of visuals.

I think of this too and it's why I really want to get my pins and vids back in the wild. I'd like to have an arcade but I would also just like to have a pin in a grocery store entrance or a Pac-Man in a gas station. These were the situations that introduced me to vids, pins, and other coin op amusements and I want to share that with others. I think people would play them especially if you started some kind of selfie contest for high scores.

I don't know. Maybe they are just dreams.

Waterworld

I grew up in a small, rural area in Southeastern Ohio. My first exposure to pinball was at a small diner in town. I'd ride my bike a mile to get there. Back in the late 70's, I remember going there with a buck or two and being able to spend a good couple hours having fun. The small diner was in a town of less than a thousand people. The owner there was the only employee. He would fry burgers on the griddle and serve soda fountain Cokes and fries. He had baseball and basketball trading cards and all kinds of candy. He had one pinball, and a jukebox. I could go there and play pinball and songs on the jukebox, and still have money left for food. Pinball back then was a dime, I think, or maybe 5 balls for a quarter. I'm not sure of the pinballs that were there over the years, but I think he had a Fireball and a Capt. Fantastic over the years. In later years, I would on occasion get to go to a mall arcade and remember seeing High Speed and F14 Tomcat. Fast forward 30 years and now I have a Pac Man multicade and a Getaway: High Speed II. Playing the Getaway brings back all those childhood memories. I'm glad I found my way back to pinball.

I spent a lot of time at Space Port and Lamston's. Lamston's was located next door to Wendy's lower level. 5 In Dime shop with some pinball and arcade games

For retrospective of the "days of grandeur" photos I posted before:

The last known public photo ever taken at Playland Arcade at Penn State University, State College, PA before it closed forever.
The photo was shot in the late afternoon hours of operation on 12 December 2003.
The next day, ALL the games were auctioned off for sale at 9 AM.
It was a crazy, feeding frenzy.

Even up to the last year they still carried many of the brand new titles.
TSPP can clearly be seen at the end, and was part of the first production run of that particular game from Stern.
If you look carefully, on the other side, they are already preparing to break down other machines.

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My goodness, can I please take a time machine back to this arcade??

He had a near perfect collection of 90's cabs, WWF Wrestlemania Dedicated, UMK3, SSF, Mercs, Wrestlefest, Run n Gun double cab, neo, etc....WOW!!

Wonder what pin Eminem is playing?

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Yeah, luckily for us Seattle is thriving with tons of arcades and pinball bars now with much better maintained machines. About 10 years ago a guy put up a for sale ad that had all the games from the Fun Forest of the early 80s in his basement and barn up in Goldbar, WA. They'd all been sitting there mostly untouched for for 25 years, I grabbed one, here are some pics, lots of old EM shooting and driving games and early arcade games, not a lot of pins:

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I was at Skylon earlier this week. All pins are gone.

No pics but in the early 80's I played at Future world and Outer Limits arcades in Williamstown NJ. Maybe somebody on Pinside was there? Games I remember there:
F2K, BK, BH, Xenon, EBD, Mr. and Mrs. Pacman, Spy Hunter pin and bid. Hyperball, Space Invaders pin and vid.

Vids, Defender, Stargate, Joust, Robotron, Bezerk, Donkey Kong,Galaga, Tempest, Missal Command, Zaxxon, Qbert, Pheonix,Galxian, Sinistar,Digdug, paper boy, Burger Time. Ms Pacman, Pacman. Space Dual.
There was vid that I can't remember the name, it had a man in a jungle suit that would swing from vines, carried a knife and would swim and have to fend off alligators. I'm thinking Lord of the Jungle?

Celebrity was an amazing place. Long before I was playing pinball my dad would take me there for the slot car tracks in the basement, they were massive... I think the longest was 250' of track over 6 lanes. Later they put in a combo putt-putt/bumper pool table course in that area.

Nautilus arcade ... my younger brother actually worked there for a while in the 80's. To be honest I was never a big fan of the place when it opened but it was a 5 min bike ride from my house so they got plenty of my spare change.

In the 80's I also spent plenty of time at Southwest Plaza in the arcade playing a Bagman (yep Bagman) arcade machine and when it went up for sale before X-mas I spent my bonus to buy it ... ended up keeping it in the family for over 20 years

I still think the best place to play pinball in Denver during the 70's was Funway Freeway in Cinder Alley at the Cinderella City mall.

memories......

That's a cool looking massive barbecue. Puts my Big Green Egg to shame.

I grew up in Denver and remember Celebrity quite well. Use to stay with my cousin and we would play there all day. Bowling, swimming, and arcade games galore. Was never much into pinball as a kid. High school days were another story. My friends and I would drink and smoke up and if there wasn't a party we would be at the local arcade called Jerry's playing foosball, arcade games, and pinball. Favorite pin that I remember was Bonzai Run. Those were the days!

I was blessed as a kid to live about a mile away from Golf N Stuff in sunny Phoenix Az ... Just look at all those pins!!!!

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The arcade downstairs next to the bumper cars in the 70 and 80's at the Park City Mall in Lancaster PA was HUGH and had games from the 50's and to the then current day and pinball's galore.

Cinderella City was the place to be back then... I always stopped at the magic shop in Cinder Alley.

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I was the air hockey master...

Worked as a mechanic at Sportland Arcade, while in High School, the last 4 years that Palisades was open (1968-71). Plenty of great em pins!

New pics in an old arcade. Not quite what the OP was asking for, but I like how nostalgic they seem... (taken on Friday at Family Amusement Corporation in Los Angeles. Model is my little nephew)

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We had a few awesome ones, but sadly they're gone and I can't find my old pics... Supercade at Capital City Mall was the best back in the day, but Camp Hill Mall also had Beeps, Balls and Bings. And down the road, Trindle Bowl had a small arcade but at one point it featured Scared Stiff, Medieval Madness, and Attack From Mars all at the same time!

Anyone else for a game of baseball??

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Myrtle Beach?

Looks familiar, these old pitch and bat machines even got my 2year old daughter interested

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I live a mile from the Golf n Stuff in Norwalk CA. (the one seen in The Karate Kid).
back in the late 70s and the 80s they always had the newest games first in the area. They were the first place I saw Xenon (two of them!) Black Knight, Black Hole, Genie, Meteor, Defender (vid), Atari Food Fight, Crystal castles, and a dedicated Major Havok. The also literally had the first three Dragons Lairs sold to operators, Now it's 90% redemption crap.

I was lucky being in New Jersey where many an arcade could be found. The longest running one was a Spaceport which was up in the Quakerbridge mall. It was near the main entrance so even after the mall closed it was open as was the movie theater across the hall and the pizza place next door. The photo is from back in the day (very early 80's) though I am not 100% on the year.

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Oh the memories of Tilt, they are etched in my brain. Good times

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That's it!

Looked familiar. It's been about ten years since I've been in that arcade.

Cedar pointe in Ohio had the absolute best arcade in the planet in 1980 ish. Only a midway arcade of this size could remove throngs of thrill seekers to stop riding the demon drop and the corkscrew long enough to slam down some quarters. In my hometown the local arcade was simply a baskin Robbins. New games every weekend.

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It was even cooler in the 70s

Kings Island had a hell of an arcade too in their amusement park. Still have three tokens from that arcade.

Anyone go to Freedomland?

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I can vouch for this. I flew 6,000 + miles to Uruguay and met Pablo. Him and his familia were so amazing. It was the best part of my trip. Let's all recommend some places for Pablo to visit on his trip to New York City in April--pinball and non pinball suggestions welcomed, I daresay!

I can't join in on the New York stuff but California, so cal, that is all me.

Someday I'd like to go to New York.

I do not know NYC well at all, but did just visit my buddy who lives down there. As far as pinball, I summarized my visit in this thread. Hope it helps.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-york-arcade-tour-videos#post-3548835