One must crop dust when others are forced to stay where they are. This doesn't just apply to pinball.

I visited the PHOF just last week on a Vegas vacation! Played for a couple of hours, and noticed MANY pins down! One whole row of EM's were not working! Had a great time anyway! I also wondered when they were gonna display our Gold placks outside? no one there knew anything about it??

Pinball Hall of Fame made it to the front page on Las Vegas Review Journal online.

https://archive.ph/yI08Q

I guess this explains what the lawsuit and court appearance days Tim mentioned above was all about.

Expanding the property after less than 2 years in business! He managed to lower the net parcel cost per sqft!

With regards to the Aviation authority, I wonder what game they will pick for their breakroom

Bon Voyage?

Glad to see that it's settled and the survey company's insurance will take care of it.

Wow, that resolved in a way that didn't involve tearing the building down. Glad to hear it.

Nice to see one less thing for Tim to be worried about. GREAT NEWS! Hopefully this will free up some time for him and he can get back to focusing more on what he loves. Keep up the great work!

Ultimately a win for both sides - Dream Las Vegas actually convened the encroachment land instead of an easement so the PHoF will not be encumbered in the future should they ever need/want to sell or make building changes. Dream Las Vegas got paid for a strip they evidently didn't need or could work around, and I am guessing at a premium price that most certainly offset some costs on their project.

Survey company and their insurance carrier are the loser's here. Errors and omissions are sometime hard to hold engineering firms accountable for. The guiding principle is did they perform the industry standard of care, since all plans have some errors. In the case of surveying, the standard of care is to get the boundaries right, the basic function of a survey firm. No where to hid here. I am certain their insurance premiums either jumped significantly or they were dropped completely. Since the article said it was the engineering firm's affiliate (e.g. a small separate land surveying firm), I wouldn't be surprised if this put them out of business.

You are likely correct about this putting the Survey Firm out of business but in all honesty if they can't get property lines right (by a matter of feet) they should not have been in business in the first place. Errors occur sometimes but when working in an area let "downtown" Vegas a few feet is HUGE. If is was hundreds of acres in Montana a few feet might not be a big deal but with the value of this land that was a really big mistake on their part.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/casinos-gaming/dream-las-vegas-finds-next-door-neighbor-built-a-little-too-close-2630966/

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It's stuff like this that sometimes keeps me up at night. Luckily, I haven't had one bust this bad when working on a project.

This picture needs a bump.

Here is a repost!

Screenshot_20220830-212131_Chrome (resized).jpg

Hah, I forgot I made that pic

The whole thing seems odd to me from several angles. It seems that an 8 foot surveying area is a pretty big one. It seems odd that the local codes allow building right up to the property line, especially on two sides. And it seems somewhat odd that you would want to do that. I mean, that means you couldn’t even walk around your building without having to go onto someone else’s property.

And how does that even work anyway? What if the casino decides they want to build their building right up to the same property line. Do they put up there wall literally right next to the other one? Or one inch away from it? That would look weird.

Yes, that's EXACTLY how this works.

The article linked above explains WHY this is allowed. Read it.

I saw the article in the E-edition Sunday when flying back from overseas. But there's nothing like seeing it in the print edition....

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Think about most downtown areas. Buildings all along the block with no space between. Looks very normal when built out.
Works well, as long as the walls match the property lines.

Glad to see this worked out and finalized. Had to be stressful for Tim and everyone involved.

including tims 'charities' who have seen nearly $10M in donations collected over the last 15+ years tied up in that property until such time it is sold or mortgaged.

Tim and crew at the PHOF:

Congratulations on getting through the lawsuit. As if there's not enough stress in managing an all-volunteer operation that is trying to keep alive 40-70(+)-year-old equipment, with the rude, entitled general public shoving 1,000s of quarters in them each and every day, a lawsuit can be draining to deal with. For most of us, we don't know how the court system operates, and reading legal filing after legal filing can be brain-numbing. Plus the snails pace of the progress, and the cost of the lawyers is enough to make anyone's blood pressure rise. So well done, getting to the finish line.

Having dealt with several property / construction lawsuits in my career, I can appreciate the relief that is felt once the case is settled, especially with a reasonable conclusion. About 15 years or so ago here in California, I started to see engineering contracts that included a clause where the liability of the engineer was limited on the project to the fee they received for the professional services. Would you mind answering if the contract with the civil engineer, or their surveyor subcontractor, included this phrase? Was that a part of the contention with the surveyor? What argument did the surveyor / civil engineer make to try to relieve themselves of any financial liability associated with the property line error?

Glad to hear it's over, and I'd like to learn from your experience if you could shed some light on the details. Thanks!

Clark County government’s online mapping site — similar to Google Maps but with real estate parcel boundaries and other information — shows a portion of the Pinball project on Dream’s land.

It also appears to show a small portion of the Pinball project on adjacent land owned by the Clark County Department of Aviation.
Arnold declined to comment on that.

Wow over in 2 directions, sounds like the airport isn't too worried about it,

“Yes, we are aware that a portion of the Pinball Hall of Fame encroaches on DOA-owned land,” Department of Aviation spokesman Joe Rajchel told the Review-Journal in an email Thursday, adding it “seems to be a matter of a mere 345 square feet.”
The Pinball property borders what appears to be a small service road in a private aviation area at Harry Reid International Airport.
“As this has had no impact on airport operations, we are working with them on a mutually beneficial solution,” Rajchel said.

Just got back from my monthly trip and I'm bummed to say that approximately 60% of the pins are down. EHOH hasn't worked in months. Rows of EMs turned off. Even pins that are on like Munsters play sluggishly.

This is probably a temporary thing as there are times when 80% are up and working. This is just one of those visits where I was in and out in an hour.

Thought there was somebody full time to fix games.

Tim should swallow his pride and contact the guys at FunSpot in NH. Similar operation, and rarely have I seen more than a few units down at any given time. He's got to lose the "control freak" attitude.

This is the craziest thing I have read today. Congratulations?

Old dudes don't change. Tim will take his attitude to the grave. Then you'll find out if it was a net plus or minus for the PHOF.

<takes bow>

Is FunSpot giving $500K a year to charity ?

If not. Tim is still running the most successful arcade there has ever been.

LTG : )

Nope, they're not. They have paid techs. They do their job well, obviously. Have you ever been out there Lloyd? Even more to the point-Tim should then set aside x-amount of dollars per year for a TRAINED tech to come thru and service the place. Volunteers are just that. People who do not collect a salary aren't nearly as motivated to get things done. Ask me how I know this, Lloyd. I'm not trying to come off as a prick, but Tim has such a great set-up but the end result is somewhat anti-climatic.

No.

I'm an operator. I'm not passion about it. It always comes down to the cashbox.

And Tim isn't doing everything wrong.

What works for PHOF may not be the same as other places.

I don't think you are.

And if there is ever a PHOF beyond Tim. We'll see if it's better, worse, or gone.

LTG : )

Best of pinside ? Random guy - knows how to run an arcade better than Tim Arnold and LTG.

Well stated....

No. His input is important. And to be considered. That is what this forum is for.

A lot of people would like to see a lot of things different.

No way of knowing what the result would be though. Unless tried. All pristine games and fully working. Could earn more. Could earn less.

No blanket answer for every location.

LTG : )

How many pins does Funspot run?
I thought it was mostly video there?

I came back from Funspot a couple weeks ago about 80% of their pinballs played like crap. They only have about 40 games. I’d rather a game be off than take my money and barely function.

-Doug

My question is this: PHoF has say 350 machines on the floor (I don't know the exact count but I assume that is close). You go to PHoF and 1/2 the machines are not working so you get mad and leave? Why not enjoy the 150+ machines that are working and have fun?

I have always agreed things could be done better at PHoF but everything considered Tim has done one hell of a good job over the years and will continue to run his arcade his way. So either enjoy it for what it is or go somewhere else but don't expect Tim to change just because you are unhappy.

Same "broken record" year after year - please get it through your heads Tim isn't going to change regardless of what anyone says or expects.

Glad to see the lawsuit is behind them!
Hopefully now the focus is bringing the interior space to what he envisioned - games back up in good order with the atmosphere to match.

I go to PHOF often and while there are a lot of games always down I’ve always seen games being actively worked on every time I’ve been there. I’m sure they are also experiencing the same issues with parts availability as everyone else.

Oof.

I'm bummed that my post created this discussion. It wasn’t my intention. As someone who goes there often, it was just an update. Tim and the VOLUNTEERS do an amazing job keeping the PHOF running and I applaud all of them. There are times that I go there that most everything is working. This trip wasn't one of them.

Kudos to Skip for checking in.

Thank you for providing this info. I've been to Funspot a couple dozen times, but not for the last couple years. (I've also been to PHoF a couple times.) I was wondering, doubtfully, if Funspot had actually turned things around.

I always have a great time at Funspot regardless, and I've always found at least a couple pins that are worth playing a bunch. And that's what I do.

I just can't imagine anything that Tim could learn from Funspot.

Imagine if they only gave $400k to charity and spent $100k on improvements or a full time tech. For that price you could maybe even get 2 full time techs.

Your right, can't teach an old dog a new trick, BUT it is his building and operation. People are going to realize very quickly when guys like Tim & Steve Young are gone from this "hobby" of what an unbelievable massive asset they were to pinball. I guarantee you when these guys move on from pinball, the same guys who were bitching & moaning on how they ran their super successful business will be like " Man, I miss those guys".

But here's the big question. Will their gross go up ? or down ?

LTG : )

In the end it comes down to perspective. People are happy going to an arcade with 40 or 50 machines and feel it is worth the trip. Yet a place like PHoF has hundreds of machines and some are not working. So all of a sudden 150+ working machines isn't enough?

In the end if you just go and enjoy the place for what it is everyone wins. Just lower your expectations and accept that a good many machines MIGHT not be working at any given time.

Now that Tim has some of the other BS behind him I think things will continue to improve. It will never be perfect but it will be done to the best of Tim's & his crews ability and that is all that can be expected.

Going to the PHOF is always a gamble. Will the machine you simply need to play be up? You takes your chances, which seems to me to fit in with being in Vegas!

Man, if people would stop playing them they would stop breaking!

That guy in Milwaukee with hundreds of well-playing EMs has it figured out. You are lucky if you get to play them once a year, and while it is for charity, it isn't cheap to get one of the limited number of admission tickets. Then he has another year to fix the few that do break.

Commendable, but can't hold a candle to PHOF's charitable contributions...

I heard the donations stopped when construction on the new building started, has it resumed ?

And If Tim paid a tech, $xx,xxx to repair the games how many more quarters would be dropped?

The building is fully paid off now, so tim has started contributions to charity again. i haven't seen the receipts, but that's what he says... so chances are excellent that it's true.

Tim here at the PHOF.

I understand more than anyone the frustration felt over games that are down, but you should keep in mind several factors working aginst us.

SHEER VOLUME-With e huge amount of traffic we have playing the machines 80 hours a week every week of the year, ANY kind of a quality standard is a very fasst MOVING TARGET that is hard for those who do not work 365 a year to understand. About half the people who offer advise say that we should close one day a week, or for a whole week and do nothing but get caught up. That's not how it works in retail. You have to be open when people want to arrive.

SURGE- Customer volume can change from peak to bottom by a factor of 3, often in as little as a day or 2 on holiday weeks. This makes it hard to control what gets fixed and in what order. I will admit to using a "dead games bank" system of failure management. WHen it gets busy, you let some EMs sit for a while and concentrate on newer more popular machines.

SIDESHOWS - While pinball has always been and always will be the BIG TENT in our circus, the side shows earn LOTS of money that we use to subsidise our beloved flipper machines. Selling soft drinks, candy, merch, and most importantly, CRANE MACHINES make it possible forr us to continue to offer a HUGE "value menu" of 25 cent pinball machines. These other offerings do take a considable amount of time. If we did away with the sideshows, you would have to pay 50-75-1.00 to play the older stuff. Be careful, you might get what you wish for.....

"But I would gladly pay more to play old machine!" BULLSHIT! Americans have always shopped on price, not on quality. The screams of pain would be endless and loud! By letting the punters pull the freight for the players, we can find a middle path that serves both.

DESIGN - These machines were only built, like everything else in our economy, to be as good as they need to be. "Five to ten, then buy it again!" is the manufactures mantra. To keep older stuff working past this point is a fools errend. It means constant frustration and disapointment, fixing the same problems over and over. Our "mantra" here at the PHOF is "If it was easy, everybody would be doing it!' We are the GODS THAT WALK THE EARTH because we get very close to doing the impossible every day.

COVID - Continues to hamper our efforts in a thousand ways each and every day. We can't get the things we need from the outside, and on the inside,the tourist economy we depend on for customer base is still below what it used to be.

LEGAL PROBLEMS - Of which I am limited by our advise of council NOT to discuss, only some of which if generally known, is a NIGHTMARE! I just wrote a $80,000 dollar check to our legal team yesterday to cover the cost of a 3 day trial of a matter only our close advisors even know about. COnstant meetings, zoom calls, angry picket lines on our sidewalk... the headaches are endless and draining. "There are too many broken games!" comes the cry from the pinball community. All I can offer in reply is the sound of TINY TINY VIOLINS.....

LACK OF CRUCIAL SKILLS - Not to sound like an old man here, but kids (Anyone younger than me) do not have mechanical and logical skills needed to analise and solve complex problems. Gone are the culture of kids taking apart and tinkering with stuff which wires your brain on how to work thru a problem. Now the solution to every broken gizmo is to throw it away and BUY A NEW ONE! Forget about communicating.Speaking in complete sentances with out stammering or describing a problem with simple technical terms is not to be found. I can tell a newbie to go "Put a 45 degree bend about 5 MM up on a #6-32 machine screw." and they look at me like I'm from Mars!

MOTIVATION - Working outside the usual for-profit world is both a blessing and a curse. Our staff is very motivated to perform, but easily pulled away by the need to provide time and money for their own self interest.

TIM IS GONNA DO IT HIS WAY - This project would not have come as far as it has without a LOT of compromise, innovation and help FROM THE OUTSIDE. I go out of my every day to consider opinions and ideas from others. Sadly, at the end of the day, SOMEBODY has to make descions on things, and a lot of the time, that person is me. I fuck up a LOT, but please consider the alternitive, ANARCHY. I have seen many failures over the years of business because NOBODY was in charge. LVPCC is still mostly a "Timocrocy", but is moving towards a more active and involved Board of Dirrectors with more advise and ideas from the outside.

PLANNING - I have almost given up. It just doesn't work anymore. You get a plan and a direction, and a day later, you rip it up and start again. I am NOT giving up on our values or our mission, buit I am having to learn to just take things as they come a lot of the time. These are NOT predictable times.

PORANGE - Off topic for a second before I go, our longtime store mascot, POOR ORANGE has been retired . He has been moving slow, the other cats have been mean to him, so Sophie and her dad have taken him into their home where he will sit in the sun and stare off into space.

LUCK - In closing, I would like to point out the PHOF has had a lot of LUCK! Things have gone South in a lot of ways, but a loads of stuff has gone very well, without us doing anything! Every day is an ADVENTURE, every customer is a FOOL!, and who knows what will happen NEXT!

Thank you Tim !

LTG : )

Funky, I never saw that in the times I've been there but I'm definitely curious what people would picket about regarding a pinball place. Love your location btw, been there many times. I remember the techs at Banning telling me that 10% of the machines fail daily so I'm always happy to play whatever is working at the time at your place, not a big deal to me if some games are down.

Yikes. I’m sure they weren’t picketing about games being off.