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(Topic ID: 218472)

Omaha Nebraska Pinball Museam

By jodini

5 years ago

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11 posts
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Latest reply 5 years ago by jodini
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Apollo Williams, 1967
Nags Williams, 1960
World Fair Gottlieb, 1964

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#1 5 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

The place...Hollywood Candy which is a antique store downtown Omaha. This has been slowly in the making, with lots of hype on the news and newspapers. I finally got a chance to go there and they were open. They had a rough start at first, with many "false openings" but finally they delivered.

So here's the scoop. About 40 pinball machines from the 1960s and 70's. A lot of "A" titles and most of them in good working order. They have a NAGS which seems to never be working and they have some old EM shooting games that are non functioning which has been the case for a long time.....but getting back to the pins. All the games are converted to tokens which allows them to charge 50 cents per token. I went around and tried a few games that I have never had a chance to play...Dancing Lady, Happy Clown, Super Score (pretty fun game), and Flipper. The games that were down were Apollo, Corral, Nags, Flipper Parade and about 3 others. The games that ate my tokens were Paradise, SkyLine, and Tropic Isle. World Fair and Slick Chick had some issues, but the rest played well.

My biggest complaint about the whole experience is Hollywood Candy has a flyer and their website that states they have "Over 85 Games" NOPE!....about 40 set up and 30 to 35 working. Also, if you plan a trip to Omaha to play the games, make sure you call them first and make sure the museum is up and running. I have sent a few people there already during their "open" hours, only to find out they were not. Hopefully those days are in the past.

Overall I'm happy that someone here in town has a cool EM pinball arcade. I have to applaud them for that!
A very popular sign (resized).JPGBrian at work (resized).jpgHollywood candy (resized).jpgIMG_1929 (resized).JPGIMG_1930 (resized).JPGIMG_1931 (resized).JPGIMG_2134 (resized).JPGIMG_2136 (resized).JPG

#2 5 years ago

BAA

Bartzenegger

Pinside member

Kansas City, MO

11y 51,550 644 10 10

Was just there this weekend it was awesome! There are mostly vintage then modern pins! Really liked the whole experience!

1 week later

#3 5 years ago

???

frobozz

Pinside member

Chicago, IL

8y 46,650 507 9

I was just there this weekend, and was frankly disappointed. There were maybe 8 pins functioning enough to take a token and let you play a game, and not all of them were functioning enough to actually be fun. A lot of games just ate your token. BELIEVE ME, I know how hard it is to keep a bunch of pins running, to say nothing of pins that old, but if you're going to be open to the public, you need to be ready for the public.

The pins that were there were in remarkable cosmetic condition. High marks there.

If I were trying to make a go of that kind of vintage pinball arcade, I would have more games from different eras and manufacturers. That's as solid a lineup of early-to-mid-60s Gottliebs as you're going to find anywhere outside of Tim Arnold's shed, but seriously how many 60-to-70-year-olds are you going to get in there who could truly appreciate those games? I think that everyone most appreciates the pins they played when they first got into pinball. I am old as dirt, started playing when I was like 6, and even for me those games predate my entry into the world of pinball. It's great to have games from before peoples' sweet spot, so they can learn a bit of pinball history while they have fun, but you also need to have something that they remember and want to play again for hours on end.

Just my unrequested 2 cents.

#4 5 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

I agree with you. It's only been open for about a month now and there are a lot of "tilt" signs already. I went again last night, didn't spend a dime but I played a lot of free games

It was nice to see a group of teenagers come into the area and go, "WOW...look at these!" Of course, they had no idea what a manual ball lifter was, so I had to show them a few things. And I was only their for about 30 min and heard stuck switches and loud buzzes with locked coils. One teen was playing a game and it was Ice Review. The knocker was going crazy and it was a add a ball. Stuck switch I'm sure and it reached 10 balls and kept knocking! I tried to tilt it...nothing. Smacked the bottom of the game....slam switch didn't work (probably the hold relay was disable and just closed the switch). I couldn't just let the thing fry, so I ended up unplugging the game. Of course, no one was around for me to report it to so I just ended up leaving.

The other problem with many of the games is the games "look" like they are not working, but it's just because no one has played it yet....typical slam switched games. I know when I have a party at my house (and most people do), I play one game to activate the game so it looks "active".

It all comes down to maintenance. He has a guy that fixed the games at the beginning, so I know he has a "guy". I just hope he didn't "over fuse" any of the games. Last thing we need in downtown Omaha is another fire!

And I'm still waiting for the "85 games" to come in!

#5 5 years ago

???

frobozz

Pinside member

Chicago, IL

8y 46,650 507 9

My in-laws had visited a couple of weeks ago, in advance of my recent visit, to check the place out for me. The guy they talked to (I assume the owner) said he had another 14 games coming in shortly. (Where is he getting these things??) That would get him pretty close to 85 I think.

I didn't have a dime or nickel on me. Would those have worked to play a game of Nags? I've always wanted to play that game, but there it sat in all its glory and no way to put a token in.

While we were there, an AAB game (probably the same one) was doing that same thing, machine-gunning the knocker and maxing out the Balls To Play at 10. I, too, tried to rap the bottom to get the game to turn off (after convincing the lady who came to see what the noise was that, yes, I really really did know what I was doing.) No luck, as you also found. She unplugged it.

I'm back there once or twice a year, I'll give it a shot again next time I'm there, and I really hope he gets this thing off the ground eventually.

1 week later

#6 5 years ago

???

frobozz

Pinside member

Chicago, IL

8y 46,650 507 9

1 week later

#7 5 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

Great video! Got a little pinball plug in there, as well!

I'm going to drive down there now and see how the pins are doing. This week was college world series....I bet they got beat up pretty bad. I'll see if that add a ball is still adding!

#8 5 years ago

JKR

joelreeves

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

12y 66,150 950 4

We went there last month for my birthday. Had a good time, but to really make a go of it they'll have to diversify the collection a bit to please more folks.
shot a quick video. Really glad they brought something this cool to Omaha.

#9 5 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

Nice video! I went there tonight and I bet only a 1/3 of the games were lit up...so I had to take a chance and put my money in to see what would light up! Some would work, and others just sat there dead eating my 50 cents token. I did talk to the owner and he said that some kids took the "tilt" signs off the games and put them on other random games....yep, kids will do that.

Either way, I had fun. I really enjoyed Sky- Line and Happy Clown! Fun games!
Joe

#10 5 years ago

MCD

dasvis

Pinside member

Salem, OR

12y 101K 4,796 11 16

OP
Quoted from jodini:
Great video! Got a little pinball plug in there, as well!
I'm going to drive down there now and see how the pins are doing. This week was college world series....I bet they got beat up pretty bad. I'll see if that add a ball is still adding!

How about those Oregon State Beavers!!

3 weeks later

#11 5 years ago

JNC

jodini

Pinside member

Omaha, NE

10y 59,400 1,013 3

And the lies just keep coming! HA!
https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/nebraska/pinball-arcade-museum-ne/

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