Always trying to correct someone aren't you, now you're even trying to tell me what I meant. LOL
Here's the quote I was referring.
https://www.relicsworld.com/abraham-lincoln/you-can-please-some-of-the-people-some-of-the-time-all-author-abraham-lincoln

I think dubya's quote is better

All I know 100% for sure is if I was in Tim's shoes and kept reading about what I should be doing differently (or what I am doing wrong) I would just say the hell with it - cash out - and go enjoy the rest of my life instead of working hundreds of hours each month for free just to have people talk badly about me.

Look at what has happened to so many other great locations to play pinball that are now gone and be thankful PHoF is still their and growing. Focus on the positive and do what you can to help improve the negative. But beating the dead horse isn't going to change anything!

I think that is what people are trying to do...help improve the negative...but are met with the "nothing is changing so you should love it anyway" attitude.

If I was in Tim's shoes I'd focus on ways to improve my public perception and keep all my games running as much as possible...but we can definitely agree that no one (including the PHoF ) is going to change anything.

Just because someone types some words into a meme generator, doesn't mean the quote is genuine. Using one as a retort is bordering on willful ignorance.

And if you recall, you started this current round of us "correcting" each other.

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Out of curiosity, what's the relationship between pinballmuseum.org and pinballhall.org?

I am really impressed with the new building, location, and definitely the huge azz sign on Las Vegas Blvd!

Tim has really upgraded since 2006 when the PHoF started over on Tropicana / Pecos.

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Oh boy

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I am one who is greatfull for Tims effort as well as the volunteers to keep it going.

I don't gamble,so, having the PHOF is a pleasant relief from all the madness!!

As someone who lives close to PHOF and goes often, I really apprciate it's existence, especially the new place.

To read a few of the critiques, you'd think Tim was charging $25 admission and only a third of the games were working.

Every single time I've gone to either location (I'm probably knocking on 100) I've had a blast. The VOLUNTEERS are always amazing. I feel so bad for them though, especially the last couple of years when they're being verbally abused by customers simply for asking them to adhere to the rules.

I prefer "Fool me once, fool me twice, fool me chicken soup with rice. -- Todd Chavez

I don't get how polite criticism gets lumped in with not appreciating Tim it his charity.

For my first visit, my wife flew us to Vegas to the phof for my bday years ago, and while it was still good fun, the state of almost every popular classic was abysmal. That is simply just the truth, and it was a huge disappointment.

I have worked on pins for years. Logic chip replacement and board work etc. It's not insanely difficult. If the charity is making so much money, hire techs so the games play well. This will make MORE money! Why have so many non/barely functioning games in a nice new venue?

Just my two cents.

Disclaimer: I like Tim's dedication and collection just as much as all of you!

If you're referencing my post, please note that I said "a few of the critiques".

I have a couple of friends that are well known and respected in the hobby and are very knowledgeable at pin repair who have offered their services to Tim for free and were turned down.

I have to admit....I'll never understand this.

When I was out in Vegas for a few days Tim actually asked me if I wanted to hang around for a month or two & work on machines for him. He even offered me a free place to stay. I think a lot of what happens with Tim just really depends on his mood on any given day. But after dealing with the general public for most of my lifetime I can fully understand why Tim can be the way he is some days.

Bottom line is you are not going to teach an old dog new tricks - or in this case change the way an old operator runs his house. So in my eyes it is pointless talking about it over and over again.

Be thankful for what PHoF offers or if you don't like it than just to go their. But being realistic it is way too late to think Tim is going to change the way he runs his house.

I totally agree. It is very likely that things will stay the same, which is a bit of a bummer to me. When we're considering where to travel, it's never a draw. If the games were better, I'd probably make the pilgrimage once per year and spend $100. But if I'm in Vegas for god-knows-what reason, I'll definitely stop by to play a few sterns and ems. I'm still really happy it's there, especially with the new building. It will bring a lot of attention to pinball.

One thing's for certain, that new facility will outlive Tim, so eventually you'll all get to see how someone else runs the place.

Sorry for the morbid thought, it's freakin' -2° at 9 AM here, feels like death. Wish I was in Vegas.

While the building will outlive all of us older pinheads, I'm not so sure that the PHoF will. I heard from a friend, who knows a guy, who heard that if Tim can no longer run the PHoF, operation of it may not go on much longer. Hopefully that's not the case and LVPCC will continue operating the place.

On the weather front, that's why I moved here from the Detroit area. So done with bitter cold, wind chill temperatures and gray skies all Winter.

I'm having my morning coffee on the patio now. 60° with sun shining bright. Not the 80° Florida weather, but no humidity or mosquitoes in the hot Summer here. No Summer weekend days rained out either. We love it here.

Tim was talking about calling it a day at 65. Apparently that isn't in the plans any more.

If it isn't pieced out and sold off and never again. ( I hope not after all Tim's done ) any future owner(s) will have huge shoes to fill. Tim is running the most successful arcade there has ever been.

Long live Tim and the PHOF !
LTG : )

Lloyd,

Great to hear you chime in here. 90% of the people making negative comments likely have never tried running a business before and I would guarantee 100% of them have never tried running an arcade. These guys expect the machines at PHoF to work like the machines in their collection or the machines at VFW (which is open to the public a handful of days a year). Real arcades just do not operate that way. Something is always broken!

Could things be better at PHoF -- yes 100% for sure. Could anyone else do what Tim has done over the past 15 years - I would say that would be highly unlikely. Love him or hate him Tim is as good as it gets when it comes to running a successful arcade.

Amen!

Any good attractions or restaurants around the new location? Going to stop by pretty soon.

jp1985,the Mandalay Bay is across the street and has some good places to eat!also,micky ds is right there!

Nice, hopefully they still have the McRib!

There's a popular Filet O'Fish thread on pinside!! LOL https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ode-to-the-filet-o-fish

All this!

The sign has been repaired. The Blue B on the South face along with the two individual lights in the Red area on the Arrow (North face). Porange has been re-secured as well.

A part of the LED strip on one of the "L's" on the building is operating at half brightness. Like Pinball Machines,
something always seems to break.

Two of the three kitties were close together and can be seen in a picture. The third one zipped by in the storage yard further back....

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Given the revenue they are bringing in now doing absolutely nothing but the coin drop i find it hard to believe it won’t work for others beyond tim (as long as the collector club keeps the games they have access too).

For all the squeezing blood from the stone… Tim has done it. He’s crossed the entity into the promised land of owning… on the strip… with legit frontage… and they have the revenue to pay for it all. No sweatheart deals on a limited timeline… no ghetto structure. He’s got the Ferrari building now.

They don’t seem to be surviving only on tim’s frugality anymore

Much like the "child of a rich family" when the time comes for Tim to give up PHoF for what ever reason his shoes will still be tough ones to fill. He build PHoF by being frugal and even though he has made it to the "big times" continues to be frugal for the most part. It will take someone with a similar mindset to keep PHoF alive for the long term. The wrong management could destroy a lifetime of work in a very short amount of time.

Let's hope Tim is willing and able to hang around a good long time because even with his faults he is doing this better than 99'9% of society could. Tim is a very unique individual and that is what it took to build this incredible place. I just hope I have a chance to visit it in person sometime shortly and thank him again for doing what he has done over the years.

New message on the Jumbotron.....

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I just MEMEd this for you:
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If it's okay, I'd like to submit this to Know your MEME. I'll put all the credit to you in the posting.

I think that's amazing.

Pornage is going to be jealous he was not used/featured in the new message board.

Shouldn't the big display be the "Pinbotron"?

One more photo....

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FREE admission?? is an selling point?
In context FREE PLAY WITH PAID admission may be better for the market.
All of the casinos have FREE admission

It's been Tim's calling card for the business since day 1... open every day, free admission, cheap entertainment for all ages.

Most of the world looks at the place and says, "huh? Pinball, like from the 80s? Oh, it's free admission to the hall of fame?.. Maybe we should check it out."

Some of the museums in Las Vegas charge to get in. Good to have free admission on the sign.

LTG : )

No doubt there are those who might have no inclination to even play the games. Let's not forget that pinball machines are electromechanical marvels and often beautiful. No harm in stopping in for free just to gawk at them. Traffic drives word of mouth drives traffic!

One of the main reasons we kept coming back to the vacant lot that became the new PHOF when we were looking to get off Tropicana was the proximity to the Famous Welcome to LAs Vegas sign. The parking lot there is jammed with tourists day and night, and those are our peeps. Cheep, low rent, day tripping tourists. Just across from the Famous Sign is also a LARGE private jet parking lot which is also always full. These are NOT our peeps. They come for the high roller dining and entertainment options.

The supply of customers is a classic pyramid. A very wide base of those looking to spend less, and a very narrow top of luxury customers. Since we have so many machines, our SUPPLY is automatically geared for large masses of people, and not to the one-on-one interaction the super rich demand.

We have never hidden from our desire to appeal to the bottom of the pyramid. We will shout it from the highest mountain. Free means a LOT to people in these harsh economic times. The movie theater industry took a very WRONG turn several years ago with a high-end approach to ticket and snack prices by improving seating and offering Sushi or other gourmet items and raising prices to the point it was a 50 dollar bill to take your brats to the picture show.

Most people will never admit that they shop AT ALL on price for entertainment. They claim they just buy what they want and pay whatever. But the reality is that they DO look for a bargain and ARE very tired of constant price increases. The public votes with their wallets and they are still flocking to our attraction.

Sure, we do charge 1 dollar for the newest games, and we have just raised our drink prices 25 cent across the board in reaction to our costs going up. But we also have kept and enlarged our selection of classic 25 cents-a-play EM machines. We think of these our "value-menu". Great old machines priced like back in the day. Combined with the free parking and free admission policy, the parking lot is full.

Makes sense to me. I think its a great plan, and a great location.

You have to think, the perspectives of pretty much everyone here don't really fit into what the majority of your revenue is. Here we are, by definition, pinheads. A fun and cool group to hang around with, but with ideas about pinball that are different than everyone else, which is the majority of the population.

When I am with "non-pinheads" and mention the pinball museum, the reactions vary quite a bit from person to person. A lot of people say, hey that's interesting, pinball is kind of cool. Some just shrug and don't really care. A few get excited about the idea. But, from my experience, when I go in there with some non-pinheads, ALWAYS they have a heck of a good time. They are blown away when they walk in. They run from machine to machine excitedly, and play them. They find one that resonates with them and play it over and over. They go back for more quarters again and again. Its fun to watch this, I really enjoy it. They challenge me to a game because they know I have pinball machines, and when they beat me they love it. I'm not saying I intentionally let them win but maybe I do sometimes .

Meanwhile, the pinheads are off to the side, analyzing a machine because 2 lamps are out and the rubbers are slightly dirty, and the left flipper isn't quite as strong as the right flipper, and its just not as nice as the one they have at home. But we still have fun!

well they only get like 0.05% of the ticket price so they need charge $6 for popcorn.
But they do need high end sound to keep up with what you can get a home.

I can see the draw of the slogan. This IS Vegas. Almost nothing is free anymore.

But here at the hall of fame…

Come on in! It is inviting.