Easton, PA
Hi Pinsiders....
I just wanted to post a quick Trip Report on my visit on New Year's Eve (daytime) to the newly re-opened Silverball Museum in Asbury Park, NJ. (This time it was actually a "spur of the moment" trip - after a short day at my office (Princeton, NJ), I thought I would make the 45 minute drive over and spend the afternoon - my stay there was 3 hours.
The place has recovered VERY nicely from Hurricane Sandy - it is hard to tell that anything even happened! I will say that there does seem to be a "newness" to how the place feels - most likely due to some new paint (a guess) and the full cleanup they had to do. You WILL NOTICE that Asbury Park is still recovering - and will be for some time. There are traffic signals that are out (or missing altogether). Next door to Silverball is a destroyed miniature golf course (fenced off). The Asbury Boardwalk is completely missing in some places - you can walk on it in others. Step carefully. But as I will report below - Silverball is open and will welcome you!
If you go, expect to find the place FULLY FUNCTIONING! Every square inch is open and filled with operating/working games - save for a select one or 2 that were temporarily under repair - a normal thing to expect). Even the food service is operating - I had a Jumbo Hot Dog w/onions and a Pepsi. (Cost $5 for the food).
I fully enjoyed playing some rarities - and in fact really did not play anything "Modern" - as in most cases the newer games are less "rare" - so I spent most of my time playing older games. (If you are a fan of newer games - trust me - they are all there (or most of them) - so TwiZone fans and Funhouse fans and Addams Family fans and newer Stern fans (Sopranos, just to name one) - those games are ALL THERE and well represented - you will not be bored! - even though during MY visit I played alot of older SS and EM games.
Entering this place is like entering an ice cream shop - there is TOO MUCH that is TOO SWEET to consume all at once. Definitely would require multiple visits to even sample most of the games - let alone getting deeply involved with any single game. For this reason, I actually bought a VIP Membership for $50 (unlimited visits for 30 days + 1 Free Guest I may bring - 1/2 price for any other guests after that) - in this case it was more about SUPPORTING THEIR BUSINESS after the storm recovery - and not necessarily about the "value" I will get out of it. I was proud to do my part to help make Jersey Strong once again! Truth be told, I will probably revisit once MAYBE 2 times in the next 30 days - it is a 90 minute drive from my home.
So what did I do? I had a good solid workout on the much-revered CENTAUR. I was able to release multiple "orbs" a few times (i.e. Multiball). I even had the satisfaction of winning 1 Free Game based on score - I think they had it set at 1,200,000 for that - though the "value" is not important in a Free Play environment - but the satisfaction is!
I took a few turns on some older EM games such as DOMINO and CENTRAL PARK....and in this vein the "challenge" of my day was WORLD FAIR - an addicting Gottlieb game (1964) that gives you 5 balls to complete all 12 rollovers - each time you hit one, one of the 12 carriages in the backglass lights up. There is also a unique (for its era) spinner-wheel thingy - triggered by select LIT Pop Bumpers - in the center of the game which will spin and randomly stop on any of the 12 numbers as well - so it is another route to augment the rollovers. Well - I played many times and I even won a free game based on SCORE two times (which required 1,000 points LOL). Even reaching the 1,000 was not easy BUT the thing that eluded me was lighting up all 12 of the Ferris Wheel carriages! On two occasions I had all but ONE of them! This is the thing that haunts me - and it is a challenge that waits for me to return. The next time I might just stand at World Fair for 2 hours or whatever it takes me to complete all 12. LOL.
For newer/younger players who are not used to the EMs - they DO often require a shift in your thinking. There was a day when it was not intended that ball times last forever. The flippers were short BUT THE GAMES WERE GREAT. It did not necessarily mean that every game would go on forever - but a great game is a great game. They were great then and they are still great now. If you can shift your thinking that the games were different then and let yourself ENJOY them - instead of worrying that you lost the ball - you can take some great enjoyment from these games! There is a reason that the seemingly paltry score of 1,000 for a replay was difficult to reach!
I stepped over to CAPTAIN FANTASTIC and WIZARD and banged out a few games on each of these two musically-themed classics....they sit right next to each other and it is FUN to see the backglass and art elements on CAPTAIN that were "borrowed" from Wizard sitting right next to it. Thoroughly enjoyed my games on those.
The NEWEST game I played - and the only "modern" one was REVENGE FROM MARS. I had a very lengthy game and progressed through many of the modes - including several instances of multiball. I was able to rescue the Eiffel Tower from the Martians - but the Leaning Tower of Pisa was lost. 
Sorry.
SO that is about it - make no mistake, I played many more games - a game or 2 here or there...but those above were the standouts. Next trip, the standouts may be entirely different. Many many games I did not even touch - Centigrade 37, Magic City, Medusa and many many more...so we shall see.
Bottom line - GO to Silverball if it is possible for you! I plan to make a day of it the next time.
Happy New Year! - PennSkier
