I hope his collection stays in one piece. To honor him.

RIP Raphael

LTG : (

Beautiful looking games.

I'm very saddened to hear this news and wish sincere condolences to Mr. Lankar's family.

Me and my son had the great pleasure of meeting Mr. Lankar at his museum a few years ago. I spent several hours doing my best to take photos of what is far and away the most impressive collection of vintage games I likely will ever see. I was so grateful for that opportunity.

https://parispinballmuseum2016.shutterfly.com/

As you can kinda tell from the picture in the OP in this thread, taking photos during the day was a bit of challenge because of the overhead fluorescents and the skylights - I didn't have anything to block glass reflections and am an amateur snapshooter to put it generously, but I hope those interested will enjoy checking out hundreds of photos of extremely rare games that look like they just came out of the box.

I'm very, very hopeful that Mr. Lankar's absolutely extraordinary collection will somehow remain mostly intact.

I admit I have mixed emotions about the games being playable by the public because of their pristine condition and relative scarcity, but after all they were built to be enjoyed and not gather dust behind velvet ropes. Mr. Lankar welcomed us to play whatever we wanted that day, which of course increased the awesomeness of the situation by quite a lot. I made the decision that day to document rather than play a bunch of unfamiliar games poorly once or twice. If you browse at the link above I hope you conclude I made the right choice.

May Mr. Lankar's memory be a blessing to his family. I will never forget his hospitality.

So sorry to hear. His collection was quite possibly the best in the world, and his enthusiasm, love, and passion for the games was unmatched. I'm perhaps paraphrasing, but he once said something to the effect of "these games are like my children."
R.I.P. Mr. Lankar. I don't know if there's a pinball Heaven that can match what you had assembled while here on earth!

Sad news for pinballs worldwide.

Un grand monsieur de l'automatique nous quitte, ainsi qu'un collectionneur hors pair.

https://www.pinballnews.com/sites/parispinballmuseum/index.html

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This is sad news indeed. My son and I also had the pleasure of meeting Raphael several years ago, spending half a day admiring and playing his outstanding collection - such a memorable day and I hope that his collection can stay together and be enjoyed by the public into the future.

RIP Raphael and condolences to his family

I always appreciated and smiled when I saw an IPDB image contributed by Raphael. He contributed a lot of photos.

RIP pinballer.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

That’s what I remember most. Looking up all the woodrails on ipdb and seeing his name as a contributor of most of the photos. Gorgeous games. I would have loved to visit.

I'm also very sorry to hear of his passing. Didn't know he was in his 80s! Gorgeous games indeed and professional looking photos. I appreciate his contributions as well.

Does anybody know what a few of his favorite games were?

He seemed to love them all the same!

Pretty sure I sold this guy a Williams Wonderland a billion years ago. He lived and breathed pinball!

RIP Raphael
He was a long time pinball arcade jukebox distributer operator in the Paris region for decades.
I had the pleasure of meeting him at his museum (collection) just outside of Paris,
when I took a weekend trip there in 2012 when I working/living in Aberdeen Scotland.
He was very accommodating, even took me out for lunch and a drink.
His specialty was his collection of Gottlieb woodrails, especially his multiplayers
that continued into the EM eras of the 60s&70s.
Prior to me meeting him, I had corresponded with him via email
and worked a few deals for pinball flyers and I even bought a Repro set of plastics
for my WMS Gusher woodrail from him that he had commissioned years ago.
I truly hope his collection can remain intact.
I will try to dig up the photos that I took from the trip to Paris to see his collection.

weblink to Paris Pinball Museum website
https://www.pinball-gallery.com/

I met him through the hobby of collecting pinball flyers. Some of the best and rarest flyers I have came from him. He had a great collection!

They have a very nice virtual tour. Wow!

RIP Raphael!

RIP

Finally found my photo with Raphael, when I visited the museum back in Oct 2012.
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This is photo of his pin tech/restorer I believe, sorry forgot his name.

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He was such a cool guy to watch in "Special When Lit."
I admired his on-camera presence and the words he spoke with such depth and conviction.
Another of the great ones has passed.

RIP, Mr. Lankar.

I just visited the museum a couple days ago, and it is absolutely amazing. Such an incredible collection, and Bruno (who’s running it at the moment) was super friendly, and provided a lot of history, and details, and made the visit very enjoyable. It’s by appointment only, so we had the whole place to ourselves.

I never knew Raphael, but he really created a special place, and it sounds like he was a very good man. I hope his grieving family and friends are doing well, and manage to find a way to keep his collection intact. RIP, Raphael

I had the opportunity to visit the Paris Pinball Museum on June 25, 2022. When I went to visit I didn’t realize it was closed because I was basing it off the website hours. When I arrived the door was shut. So I knocked on the door and Bruno (the tech) let me in and allowed me to play any game of my choosing. I was happy to pay 20€. I was blown away by the collection. I will post a video. I was so blessed to be able to see this collection, but I did not get to meet Raphael. I am so sad I never met him in person. May he rest in peace.

I hope somebody makes it happen to keep the collection and museum alive. It is the most amazing collection I have ever witnessed. Thank you Bruno to to allow me to come inside even though they were technically closed. In the meantime I posted a walkthrough to see the one of a kind collection. Enjoy!

Ma visite au Paris Pinball Muséum