Tim, thank you for your dedication to pinball and charity. Trips to the PHOF are always a highlight of my Vegas vacation. Please know that there are a lot of pinball owners out there that respect the effort it takes to keep these games running. The fact that the money is going to charity is an amazing bonus. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I completely disagree with point #2. I don't think pinball enthusiasts with their own home lineups are his target customers. Look at the reviews on Yelp! or Trip Adviser. The reviews are overwhelmingly positive with an average is a 4.5. That's not a small sample either. That's with around 2,500 reviews. The only place I read overwhelming negative reviews are on pinball sites.

PS: When I was talking with Charlotte a few weeks ago it sure sounded like they were working on purchasing a larger building. I found this timing to be a bit of a surprise.

Just for fun, here is what I'd do I were handed the keys to the Pinball Hall of Fame. First, I wouldn't change anything for the first year. Based on the comments on Yelp! and TripAdvisor the status que seems to be working. Having said that, in the back of my mind, I would have a checklist of things I'd consider changing.

* Replace the banner sign with some mounted letters, under $500
* Convert quarters to tokens
* I would have a staffed front desk, these staff can also be responsible for cleaning.
- "Welcome to the Pinball Hall of Fame."
- "Is this your first time visiting?"
- "You can play all of the machines, but remember many of them are rare. Please treat them with respect."
- "Please do not let your children play unattended."
- "If you have any problems please report them here so I can send someone over to look at it."
- "There is no admission, but we do accept donations on behalf of _________."
* Sell merchandise and concessions at the front desk. this alone would probably fund the front desk positions.
* A logical order to the machines might add to the experience, especially if there were more standardized informational signs.
* Add a few picnic tables outside so people have a place to eat / drink.
* Better tint on the front doors.
* There has to be a way to add some ceiling fans and lighting.
* If expansion were in the budget my priorities would be a dedicated workshop and male and female bathrooms.
* Obviously it would also be great to have a few technicians on staff.

Here is Tim's philosophy, "if it were possible to run something like the PHOF for profit it would already exist". I'm not sure I quite agree with that as Tim is in a unique position simply in the number of machines he owned going into the venture. However, that's basically the point that vid1900 is making. It's not that people are going to the PHOF to see Tim, it's that Tim has been the only person who has been successful in creating something like the PHOF; which is proof that he must be doing a lot of things right.

I do think there is truth to what your saying, but keep in mind that Tim does not run the PHOF like a business. It's simply a place that people can go to play pinball. That's it, period. His focus is keeping the machines running. I'd also argue that he does a damn good job of that. The job is simply more then one person can handle.

PS: Full disclosure, I do think the place could benefit from a front desk, but that would be a step towards becoming a business.