I go to Vegas multiple times a year and always visit PHOF. My favorite visit every year is at CES. Tim gets non stop corporate parties that are a blast and I get invited by my vendors. Tim has a gold mine of opportunity, but he is not very good at exploiting it. Fix the machines, fix the building, get a food truck vendor there weekends, and get a commission salesman to fill up the calendar with corporate parties. That place would be rockin non stop.

If we start a pinside investment group I'm in!

Because the vast majority of people here seem to be unable to use a soldering iron or a DMM. Unless it involves alligator clips or a pre made harness, it seems most folks here couldn't add in a light socket.

Seems like he could do better if he was walking distance to the strip. Right now many people have no idea the place even exists because of it's current location. He would get infinitely more traffic if people could walk to it from their hotel. Yeah I'm sure rent is far more there, but right now I can't tell you how many people I know that go to Vegas regularly and yet have no idea the PHOF even exists.

Also maybe he should consider dropping the em's. Those machines always seem to require the most time and tinkering, they seem to require the most specialist skills to repair and maintain, and yet they always seem to be the least played games at any pinball location I go to. I know em's are historical, but if it gets to the point that it's just too much to manage and maintain all these machines then maybe lessening the workload is the solution.

Once an EM is working, they seem to be far more reliable than any SS in my experience. For example, my grandmas pitch and bat developed its first problem in 30 years during the holidays. They also have the awesome chimes, and yeah they play different than current games, but they have a great feeling all their own and can be far more difficult than new games.

Main Street Amusements posts their top 20 most played games every week. Their EMs are routinely at the top.

https://www.facebook.com/169480896422113/photos/a.170957606274442.28205.169480896422113/1147719591931567/?type=3&theater

Any group to invest , i am in. !!
This place raises plenty of cash!!

Madame Tussauds rethinks Nicki Minaj waxwork display over saucy fan photos

I took a look at their latest top 20, breaks down like this:

EM
**
2 Captain Fantastic
13 Bobby Orr's Power Play
19 Amigo

SS
**
3 Game of Thrones
7 Metallica
8 Harlem Globetrotters On Tour
11 Monopoly
12 Strikes and Spares
14 Creature From The Black Lagoon
15 Eight Ball Deluxe
16 Family Guy
17 Medieval Madness
18 South Park
20 Star Trek

Seems to be mostly ss machines in the top 20 even though the em's are cheaper at just 1 token to play compared to 2 to 4 tokens for the ss machines (according to his website). My anecdotal experience having gone to the phof a few times along with local arcades, amusement expo's, etc, is that the em's are the least played.

No way man. PHOF survives because it is cheap, has lots of variety, owns the land it sits upon, and runs on a tireless human engine with deep knowledge of antiquated technology.

If you ditch the EM's, jack up the prices, and move it to the strip it would be bankrupt within a week. Faster still without my coin, because the vast majority of what I play are EM's.

Pinball as a form of entertainment, alone, cannot financially sustain itself outside of an inexpensive, tax-advantaged venue with passionate, knowledgeable techs. Upkeep is expensive and among the most demanding of any form of amusement on the planet. Have a look at the pinball arcade at New York, New York. That's the only sustainable model outside of the "museum" approach/private collection: Fewer games, higher prices, bigger crowds, and bolstered by alcohol and food sales.

My 2c? Break up PHOF into a few dozen high-quality barcades across the country. Each with passionate, knowledgeable owners and varying themes. Track scores across all locations, sell food and drinks, get tournament players involved, dress up the environment, charge more, and unify under a national brand. You'll get better information sharing and management methods, more people involved, and maintain a higher overall quality of games. It would also build national public exposure for pinball as a competitive sport (and provide locals an opportunity to participate)... leading to an eventual niche ESPN-treatment like PAPA/Pinburgh. Not to mention growing the hobby overall.

I imagine 1000+ games would require at least 30 locations each with investors/owners/techs with a good slice of what makes Tim tick... while remaining open to change and a willingness to serve the demands of a modern audience. I'm already on track to accomplish this with my own barcade project, but as part of a national competitive sport network and unifying theme? That would be on a whole different level.

Not likely to happen due to the business logistics involved, but if it happened, passionate people like us would be the ones to carry it forward. Anyway... just thinking out loud...

I'm guessing the PHOF likely gets its non-profit/charity status by operating as a museum. Plenty of museums can sell all sorts of stuff in their gift shop. While the organization isn't subject to sales tax when making purchases, they would have to charge sales tax when selling stuff (although admission tickets would be exempt under certain rules and/or states). There are also all sorts of other exemptions for fundraising events too (bake sales, concerts, seminars, etc)

Going along with the museum gift shop idea and t-shirts, maybe souvenirs like pop caps could also be sold for a few bucks to help raise funds. Or, how about those night lights that someone was making with pop caps and coin door inserts?

That's the thing though, it isn't a tireless human engine because he has grown tired of it and/or no longer wants to do it. Likewise the antiquated tech is a huge hurdle, especially the em's. If you need to get a machine repaired and it's an ss machine, it's easier to find a tech to do it. With em's, many that repair ss machine won't touch em's at all and it becomes substantially more difficult to deal with machine failure. Not to mention that your typical em machine is usually just one token to play, whereas you can get away with four tokens on an ss machine, so ss machines can earn a better return.

It sounds like Tim was a very unique and dedicated guy, but in that respect it seems unlikely to find someone else like him that is willing to devote all that time and energy to keep this going the way it is. Better location combined with redemption machines could be the way to go, perhaps without booze to keep it all family friendly. This seems to work for the Playland Arcade at the Santa Monica pier, which I know many here don't care for that place but at the end of the day it's always jam packed with people because of it's prime tourist foot traffic location and it doesn't even offer any booze.

The obvious thing to do is to sell 100's of games and use that cash to re-invest in the business, make it better so it can thrive and still have money left over for charity.

The biggest issue is that hoarders just can't let their possessions go.

Whatever happened to Tim's personal bowling ball pyramid?
Does he still have it in his backyard?
I always thought that was interesting as he gave the donations to buy the balls.

Willy Wonka is a good anology in this case. All pinball collectors at this stage are hoarders, it is just the way is, and parting collections loses historical significance as they are spread four sheets to the wind.

However, he is completely correct regarding those left that have the technical knowledge to repair machines, especially those with outdated electronic PCBs that have yet to be remade, or EMs that are being told by electrical engineers they are "too hard to understand"?
Knowledge is fleeting, almost to the point of sadness.

I hope he finds the right person, or at least get the games packed up in protected storage, instead of what happened to Gene Cuttingham.

tim5_(resized).jpg

The PHOF is always a "must stop" when we go to Vegas. The wife and I always loved to go in and play for an afternoon, taking a break from the casinos. Yeah, some games had issues, but for the wife and I, it was a tradition... I hope something is worked out and it continues on.

I dunno, personally if i where in his spot i would be kinda desperate to actually find someone who would take over such a huge project and keep it running (instead of , as someone said, take the keys and then have a big slamming auction) that i would let go of any "personal requirements" on the new owners.

Will it be better then if he finds no one because of his high expectations and then be forced to close up shop due to health issues/age anyway? Then he will be forced to either let those games sit and rot in his warehouse because he is stubborn or have that dreaded big auction.

Tim is so eccentric, I have to wonder if he'll cling to the "there's no one as qualified as me to take over" and basically have all the machines buried with him, like an Egyptian king.

It's always been on my bucket list to visit PHOF. From what I've read a last minute trip may already be too late. It's a long way to fly from Australia to be disappointed with that many games out of action. Always loved reading about Tim and his machines....and the odd cameo on Pawn Stars.

First of all let me say,thanks Tim for everything.Here's to you brother!!!!!

PHOF was on my list of pinball destinations for awhile.Finally everything lined up and I got to visit.
Major disappointment.Im sorry to have say.I guess I put to much faith in the name:Hall of Fame.It wasn't,it was a dirty ,dirty arcade in a bad neighborhood.30% of the pins were broken or turned off.Couldnt even get a tshirt or sticker to commenarate my trip there.

Fast forward to now and a lot of pinball entrepenures are doing it better than PHOF ever did.Silverball in Asbury Park,,Seattle,PPM or Lucky JuJu,that place in NH,that place in Austin Texas.These places give historical info,often group games by category,or era or manufacturer,etc.Thats hall of fame stuff right there!!!!They also sell tshirts and swag ,so if you travel far enough you get to bring something home.They make pinball look good.
Im sorry to have to give PHOF a thumbs down,but my experience there was not good.If that was my intro to pinball ,I would have run in the opposite direction.

It's funny how multiple people have commented about the lack of merchandise.

In my "fake" basement arcade, I have a merch wall, because that is what "real" places have, and you expect to see it.

So to round out my "fake" experience, there is the merch wall (lovingly assembled by my wife who was adamant that the merch wall was a necessary piece) .

And yes, I've sold t-shirts for my fake arcade. People like shirts.

DSC0133_(resized).jpg

I live in Vegas. Visited PHOF a few times. Can't really add anything new that's already been stated in the thread.
In my humble opinion, PHOF needs a new captain and a new business model. Las Vegas has so much potential as a pinball hotbed, just needs someone with the vision, the capital, and know-how to make it happen.
I do thank Tim A. for all the passion and hard work put into it, some fantastic games...
But judging by the state of affairs with the PHOF, it needs new ideas, new leadership, infusion of capital/resources, and a new nicer location...in Las Vegas, of course.

JPOP needs a new job. Working full time fixing games and giving it all to charity sounds about the right penance. Pinball work labor camp

And you know Tim as his warden wouldn't give him an inch.

I see prices listed, but no ticket amounts!

Yes they do.

I'd offer a couple thousand for a decent game. Would be one less that he has to worry about.

I love this idea so much!!!

I hope you don't mind, but I think it's time to make Fort Awesome shirts!!!

I've been several times over the past several years. Every time, the games are just a little bit worse. More of them not working, condition of games deteriorating, and I also noted the "not level" complaint that was voiced earlier.

It was pretty good the first time I went. It has definitely gone downhill. It's too much for one guy to handle but it doesn't seem anything will change on that count.

go for it! I need friends on the "you're crazy" side of town .

PM me when your shirts are done, and we'll do a swap.

I'm pretty sure I know what his response would be... "get your own museum scream dadcurse bang scream jump up and down dadcurse Jack Nicholson is a professional golfer dadcurse scream don't hit the glass scream scream no nudging that's not pinball bad bad person scream jump dadcurse."

Deal!

LOL. I haven't seen a whole lot of him. Just the occasional TV or documentary interview. But I always thought he'd be a mild mannered person. Like the "It's coooooooool, man."

I respect what the guy has accomplished, and it's nice that he is so generous to charities. What he's managed to pull off is amazing.

That said, I do not think he is doing pinball any favors by taking a location with so much traffic and potential and running it by himself on a shoestring budget. All he's doing is exposing thousands of nostalgic, curious tourists to dilapidated, broken down games in an environment with the ambiance of an unfinished basement. It's like a huge monument to the kind of locations that got pinball killed in the first place.

Ideally, the best case scenario is to get a staff, spruce the place up, and really give visitors a high-quality pinball experience like so many other locations around the U.S. are now providing. Yeah it's a big, big job, but that's a unique location with arguably the best name recognition of any pinball location in the country. It deserves to be made into an outstanding destination. So many people walk in there with a potentially rekindled interest in pinball. Make it a stellar, welcoming gateway instead of a ramshackle toll booth.

That's all a fantasy, though, because I don't think that plan is in any way compatible with the man. He kind of reminds me of Gene Cunningham in a way -- seems like once he's gone he'll likely leave a huge mess in his wake for other people to clean up, and while they do, they'll be shaking their heads at all the squandered potential.

Dude..wtf? Frolic "My Man" that is one baller set up. Good Job!

Very curious to see how this plays out. With his expectations, he can't find a kid to take over, because a kid won't be sitting on money from selling out of the arcade business in the 80's and willing to accept a $0 salary. The skillset is not exactly unobtainium either, article is quite the Eeyore piece. The Salvation Army will take a hit and that's ok. If he thinks that isn't ok, the only option is to move ownership to the SA. Any other option and you are looking at an owner/GM and 1-2 staff techs. The amounts PHOF gives to SA every year are public. With that amount of cash flow, a 3 person team could run the place well. There is only one hurdle, Tim's requirements. The article didn't lay them out, but they need to be known.

The slow death of PHOF continues. Every year it fades and dies a little more. With that many pins it's hard to keep up maintenance.

i would not want this undertaking. If everything was somewhat maintained, it wouldn't be that bad, but just the catch up work involved to get everything up to where it should be, would take a single person at least a year to do. Seems like running in sand for one person.

The official shirts just became available. Get 'em now!

Screen_Shot_2016-04-13_at_12.41.30_PM_(resized).png

Haha, I just talked with a source close to the situation and apparently that article is almost completely wrong and out of context. I don't know the real plan details and don't want to make things worse here, so I will leave it at that.

Last time I was at PHOF, I met an Army Reserve (or was it Nation Guard?) employee. He seemed cool and was talking about certain machines that need care and how he repairs some. I don't live in NV, but I know there are a ton of Veterans in the NV area. If Tom needs good workers he should try to talk with a social worker from the Veteran Affairs in Las Vegas to get together a job placement program. Plus, Tom would get some sort of Tax redemption because he hired a Vet. Don't know if Tom is already aware of this, but here are some links for others to look at.
-(side note)Tom can do whatever he wants at the end of the day, but this is just a suggestion because I do enjoy keeping pinball alive.-

Here are some links:

http://www.va.gov/jobs/hiring_programs.asp
http://www.vacareers.va.gov/veterans/employment-coordination.asp
http://www.careeronestop.org/businesscenter/recruitandhire/wheretofindcandidates/hire-a-vet.aspx
http://wehireheroes.com/LasVegas/index.html
http://www.hireaveteran.com/find-jobs/nevada-veteran-jobs/
http://detr.state.nv.us/esd%20pages/vets%20services.htm
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/01/13/mgm-grand-las-vegas-offers-careers-to-us-military-veterans/

I've been there a couple of times and understand Tim is going to do whatever the f' Tim wants to do, but I personally thought the place was a dump. Don't get me wrong, we had fun playing a variety of pins, but the condition of the place in general was bad.

I couldn't help but look around and wonder how nice it could be made if some money were invested back into the business. Just because you have room for 250 machines, doesn't mean you should set that many up for play. Imagine half that many games set up in 2/3 of the space while the other 1/3 of the building is where all the maintenance goes on. Say you have 150 set up to play, if one goes down, move it to the maintenance area and bring another out that's been shopped out. Hopefully, you could keep 150 of them operational.

Build some walls and separate the working games area from the maintenance area. Make it look nice. This is, after all, the PHOF. Live up to the name.

Sadly, Tim would tell me to fuck off....and rightfully so I guess.

Tim could easily get all the games in tip-top shape and keep it that way, but he actively chooses to run the place the way it is because he wants to pretend it's still 1976, forever. Don't let the grumpy demeanour fool you, he loves what he does and does it exactly how he wants to do it and no one is ever going to just "take over" for him.

Basically, he'll need to die for there to be any changes there. It's a sad truth that I wish wasn't the case. The PHoF could be so amazing.

When Tim had the original location, the games (200 or so as I recall) came fresh out of the Big Hit Shed where he had all the time in the world to restore them and get them playing just like he wanted prior to the opening of the PHOF. There were very few "new" games at that location. I only had the chance to visit it once but the games played well and for the most part, the place didn't look all that bad. After all, it was smaller, used to be a retail location, and other than the mixed floor carpeting, the place looked fairly presentable (except for all his hand written signs and index cards LOL).

When he purchased the larger building, he had hoped to actually install 400+ games. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) that didn't happen. One could only imagine how it would look today if he were saddled with 150 more games to maintain.

By the way, he told me once that his most trouble free section of the arcade floor were the EM Gottlieb Wedge Heads. As others have stated, once properly reworked, an EM can go for many years of trouble free service as long as it gets regular cleaning (by properly trained individuals) and continues to get played.

if only you had a dollar every time.......

Since we are talking vegas , what is the over/ under on apprentice lasting at PHOF . I bet 1 day.

Ive known Tim for years. Not that were chummy buddies but he does remember me from way back in the Fun Night party days at his big shed prior to owning PHOF. Back then it was a dream and he was taking donations to help make that dream a reality.

Now let's fast forward 18 years later. On a recent trip to Vegas in August of last year me and a couple buddies went to PHOF. I really didn't want to go (imagine that, me a total pinhead not wanting to go to what should be the total pinball mecca) as my trip the previous year was a disappointment with so many games broken down, taking quarters or working with issues. But since they wanted to go I went in hopes things had improved since my last visit. Unfortunately they had not. On this most recent trip, Tim was there and I said Hi to him and asked him how it was going. He really sounded down in the dumps and complained how the PHOF was killing him with the work load of maintaining so many games and it was an overwhelming task. I made the suggestion in a polite way, "I know your heart is into giving but would it be in the best interest to hire someone with good pinball tech skills to assist you with this project." He stated he couldn't hire anyone as he says he trusts no one....as they will be stealing out of the cashboxes. I really thought that this was a BS excuse. There are two simple solutions to resolve issues if you think the cash box would be skimmed.
1. Cash boxes have the option to install a security bar over the top of them so that he has the only keys to the cashboxes.
2. Go to tokens. Tokens would result in guaranteed revenue as once you've bought $5 worth of tokens from the change machine, the PHOF made $5, where as currently change is made and quarters may leave that weren't spent. The tokens are essentially worthless outside of the PHOF and best of all only Tim would have the keys to the change machine.
Both of these options would require an upfront investment in his part but the pay off long term (hiring some good techs) way outways the issues at hand right now.

Honestly I didn't learn until this thread that the games are on quarters and not tokens. That's pretty wild, at this point I'd come to expect that all arcades this large were using tokens.

Oh HELL No!

I'm the guy that owns/operates the pins in the arcade at NYNY. I've been really interested in opening up a pinball lounge somewhere on the Las Vegas strip, however, I have no desire to compete with Tim, or the PHOF, so I've refocused my efforts on getting the first Triotech XD Theater/Dark Ride in Las Vegas. I'm currently waiting on a final draft contract from a major strip hotel/casino to get this project started.

More to the point, I've also been speaking with Tim over the last few weeks about the future of the PHOF. I have already placed an offer on the table.... but please understand that does not mean that the PHOF is for sale. IT IS NOT FOR SALE. It just means I've proactively made it clear that I would like to buy it, operate it, and GREATLY improve upon it.... under Tim's guidance. Ultimately, it is Tim's decision as to the future of the PHOF.

I applaud Tim's efforts over the years. But without a doubt, there are plenty of obvious ways to improve the patron's experience if the PHoF were to continue on.

The problem I see with PHOF is location. I could walk the room and come up with base value of inventory...guessing $120,000. There's only so many A-list games and EMs don't add up fast. Needs a new location and spruce up bar-cade style.
God Bless Tim and his motivation and desire to bring this dream to us. But the sun sets eventually on all great endeavors This has been slowly coming for years.

what is that like $500 a pin?