Yeah, I was there earlier this year...
The Specials "Ghost Town" came to mind...

GT.jpeg

On the bright side- I was able to play BBB and Kingpin for the first time!
Hopefully he will learn from this mistake. Bad location, terrible parking...
NEEDS MORE PINS!
You know-
Less "sizzle"... More STEAK! (ala PHOF!)

Here is the front of the museum...
Did I mention it was IN AN EMPTY MALL (WTF!?) off the extremely BUSY (heavy foot traffic) street outside!!

NPM.JPG

Location, Location, Location...

Sad news really, It's hard when you surround yourself with pin obsessed friends to realize, but a pincade and museum must be really hard to turn any sort of real profit these days.

Good idea bad execution.

Not possible to turn a profit on such an enterprise these days. Go for your 503(c)(3) non-profit statement first, that's an easier way to get things going, and for longer too!

Nuts. Glad a few of my friends got to see it, though.

Kind of a sad story wish it would of worked out for him.

Thats too bad. This was on my to-do list of places to visit. Now I am forced to visit Sin City for the PHOF.

The museum doesn't close until July so you can still visit. Also turning a profit usually is not in the interest of a museum. Most and especially in Wash., DC they only need to generate funds to continue to operate.

The location was based off the fact that David Silverman had a free two year lease on the space that FAO Schwartz had moved out of years ago. Although it appears that the lease has clauses that came into effect because the Mall at Georgetown was auctioned earlier this year shortly after opening. They have given him a 60 day notice since the mall will now be renovated.

He is looking for a place to move it to.

http://nationalpinballmuseum.org/whats_new/pr-5-23-2011.html

Sad to see this happening. Anyone like him who does this kind of thing deserves the utmost support from those of us in the pinball "community" even if he made some mistakes.

Hey I donated!
Look what happened...

Oops.jpeg

But the moral of the story...
We can rebuild it.
We can make it stronger!!
We can put it in a better location!!!

Haven't made it there, but will try to pull something together before they move just in case things don't work out. Completely agree with everyone that he deserves a lot of respect, and any help that can be given is necessary if one is truly in love with pinball. It's sad, but hopefully it will be turned around into an opportunity to do things even better.

Here is the entrance from the inside looking out...
The first room was a prehistoric theme?!? with both 'JP's' back to back as well as a '4 Mill B.C.'
Here is the photo of the decor... (Note EK in lobby!)

There is no NP- only Zuul..!

NPM.JPG

And here's Humpty Dumpty...

HD.jpg

Unfortunately, I have more video than photos...

Here is some more pics...
BBB!

BBB.jpg

BBB Tube-Girl sketches!

BBBgirl.JPG

And KingPin...

KP.jpg

BG art...

KPart.JPG

The sound and music was top notch as well.
I was so stupid not to buy in on the repros...
I would much rather have a 'BBB' than a 'Kingpin'...

Earlier games...

Vintage.JPG

And for you Lady GaGa fans!
(Brokedad, I know you "dance" to it...)

GAGA.JPG

No gweem, I would much rather have them do another batch of BBB...
Kingpin was just O.K. The shots were good but-
I liked BBB WAAAAAY more!
Capcom knocked that one out of the park!

Gene if you are reading this... Do it, do it now! (Or at least in the NEXT year or two- after I recover from WOZ!)
Pretty Please!?

Sorry Robin about the pics...
I will stop now.

Sadly yes, there were complications.
He did not take into account the extra production costs...
That is why KingPin is now more money.
He just needed to do more pins to cover the cost. I mean how many people do you know that got one? (Besides GAP...) I would bet money that if he did it again with 300 machines they would sell out!!! How many Pinsiders ALONE would buy one!?!
I would probably pay the higher $7500-$8000 for a Re-Reissue BBB NIB-
instead of an "HUO/CC" AFM or MM any day of the week.
But that is just me... I (if you haven't noticed by now) am abby-normal.

wonder if they would let you play those wood rails?

Some of them were on... So yes yes you could!
Or at least nobody threw me out...
Here is one I enjoyed a lot...

Thing.jpg

nice one
some of those pf's are hit or miss either your hooked or lose interest right away,
kind of looking for a clear coat for one of mine after seeing some nice games at the last show

This is the machine I really wanted to play AF!
Sadly,it was off...

GCR.jpg

I drive through DC at least a couple times per year and I just found out this place existed!

It's a shame what happened. I'm hoping they're back on their feet as soon as possible. It seems like they might have been a bit too aggressive, but I have to commend them for their passion and commitment.

The National Pinball museum was so much fun! I wonder where he will be moving to. I hope he doesn't sell his whole collection though. Does anyone know what his plans are?

Leroy
http://www.crimemuseum.org/

According to the website it's still open until Labor Day. I'm going to try to stop by in mid-August.

Ok everyone, they are still open, make it while you can!
I'll keep you posted on the exact date of closing.