Tim here to quickly cover a few points.

First, when we moved from the old location, the Airport threw us a curve ball and insisted we could not use the back part of our lot for storage. At the last possible moment, we had to place inside the new building, all the parts and machines we had neatly stored in four 40 foot Con-ex boxes that we then had to sell at a huge loss, all in 3 days time. That is why so much of the stuff is sitting disassembled.

Second, traffic has been VERY busy since Covid was lifted. It takes a lot of attention and time to just stay even with normal broken wires and minor repiars, leaving less time to dig back into the DEAD GAME BANK. Also during Covid, we allowed our stocks of toys and soft drinks to drop to almost zero. We figured it would be less to move and just stopped ordering. When we re-opened very HOT, we placed a big order of $70,000 worth of toys to fill our empty stores and take advantage of the strong dollar. It all came in with out the outside pod storage we had depended on, so it got placed on the floor, hence all the green boxes all over the place. We are slowly making room in the other building and this problem will shrink to managable soon. Pinheads should realise the ONLY reason we can afford a Strip location with free parking and free admission with half our games still costing a quarter is beacuse the Sideshows, toys and the giftshop, pull the freight for the Big Tent, em pinball machines.

Third. Our staff is NOT here to talk to you about your collection, or spend a lot of time explaining the rules of how to behave in a public place to you or your children. We are here to run the show and fix the games. You should NOT expect concierge service at self-service prices. A lot of people accuse us of being rude or angry. Not true! What we are is BUSY trying to dig ourselfs out. If you want a friend, GET A DOG! Along with this thought is the fact that our guests are NOT in our museum as a RIGHT, like being in a public park or a town square. You are a guest in a PRIVATE CLUB, not subject to public accoadation laws. Those who abuse the rules or the games will be promptly shown the door without hesitation or shame on our part. Behave or BE GONE!

Forth. As several people have pointed out, we need more help. Back on Trop, we had a visiting scholars program,where out of town techs could come and stay in our residence out back and spend their time fixing machines for a day-week-or longer. We do not have this option here. Several people have commented on the really huge price increases for everything in Las Veags hotels. No more 28 dollar rooms means fewer techs. Critics should also realise that the skills needed to fix mechanical problems no longer exsists in todays youth. None of us here have time to teach and mistakes from inexperinced mechanics could cause MAJOR DAMAGE, so that avenue is also largly closed to us.

Lastly, since when was it a goal of a museum full of OLD STUFF run by amatures to look and feel 100 percent new and look slick and professional? A little FUNK is part of the program. Our restrooms are SPOTLESS, the floor is imaculate and the parking lot is well lit and safe. Because of our NO NONSENSE attatude about our guests, we have run off all the creeps and weirdos that might break into your car or steal your cell phone. We will NOT tolerate anarchy here, and I guarentee you wouldn't like it much as well.

Thank you all for your support in the past and I hope we can do better in the future.

Tim

Jesus Christ, the only thing I'm getting from this is that Tim Arnold seems to pretty much hate the human race (ironic, what with the Salvation Army donations thing) and Too_Many_Pins should change his tag to Too_Many_Posts.

They are unfortunately.

I wonder how much time the techs would save on clearing coin jams, handing out refunds for games eating quarters, etc, if the games were taken off coin drop and you switched to the hourly/daily rate model.

Also if I go there, is DK's experience what I should expect, or was that out of the ordinary?

https://www.pinballnews.com/site/2021/09/27/museum-of-pinball-collection-auctioned-off/

I enjoyed myself when I was there earlier this year. If a game wasn't working, I just moved on to the next. Plenty to choose from.

Well that doesn't seem to hurt the number of people going to PHoF from the pictures of the parking lot I have seen posted.

Tim keeps trying to get people to understand he is doing the best he can. MAYBE part of the answer would be to close off 1/3 of the place - put working machines in the area customers see & create a shop area in the closed off part?

In the end it is what it is and I doubt it is going to change. Maybe it is time for Tim to just close it down and retire. Then PHof can be like so many other places that are now long gone? The National Pinball Museum (Washington DC) closed like 5 years ago and Banning closed last year & both auctioned their machines maybe PHoF is next? I would rather see it there and less than perfect than to see it closed and gone!

Negative post on Pinside are not going to fix the PHof and every time Tim tries to explain his side of things that is more time something else isn't getting fixed.

Anyway for those of you who live in a "perfect world" and do everything 100% right my hat is off to you. But in the "real world" sometimes life tosses people curve balls that take time to recover from. And as far as I can tell from what Tim has posted he is working through those curve balls as best as he can.

Eh, I’d say it isn’t an every day thing but it still happened…

I did notice many new Sterns purchased after the go fund me scam

Is it the Pinball Hall of Fame or the Pinball Hall of Shame?

Last time I was there I played Going Nuts and Pinball Circus and walked out.

So many negative stories and feedback-my favorite story was the guy who bought a soda from their soda machine and was not allowed to drink it with his mask, he ended up getting kicked out. Such a joke-a real face palm moment.

No he isn't.

He doesn't want anarchy and moved his arcade to the Vegas strip, a literal destination for those seeking anarchy.

He doesn't pay people and asks them to work for free.

He has a million pinball machines, some of which only exist at the PHoF, and gets pissy when someone wants to ask him about them.

To me, it sounds like he hates everything about his location, his customers, and pinball...and the guest experience reflects that.

Spoken like a true ambassador of pinball.

It's a ridiculous defensive comment for a business to think admonishing customers is a smart business move.

Why would you expect the customers to take better care of the games than you do?

Lead by example. The place looks awful.

I like how Tim keeps getting insulted and trolled and he just lets it roll right off his back.

You can sense the disappointment from people here who are looking for a long drawn out fight only to get Tim's perfectly rational responses and nothing else.

Say what you will about him and his business, but he's always done it his way and always will.

Tim's response sounds perfect. He works harder than anyone on his stuff. I ran into him when he was doing a test run day as he was going to open the following week to the public. I got to talk to him for about a minute and he seemed quite genuine. I wouldn't trust everyone and anyone to help. Also there is less help now than there ever has been. Heck you can't even get people to work that get paid these days. I was happy to see more machines working when I was there a month ago. I was also impressed he had some newer machines in the lineup now for anyone walking in. There is plenty to play and plenty to see. Yes he has a lot of machines not in full working order or are down. But he also has hundreds of machines. He stated his reasoning why he has so many machines etc on the main floor that aren't working. The original posting person showed all negative and zero positive. If you have your chin lifted up like you are above them and give a bogus post like this, then so be it. He has no storage like he originally had planned as stated which is why you get to see behind the scenes more. I hope he can gain more traction in the future with help and being able to get more up and running. This is a place ran on quarters and not paid as you enter. If you don't care for what he has, then simply walk out and take your business elsewhere. I have a love for the hobby, so every time I go in. I play machines and buy a t-shirt to help contribute to his cause. Like someone else said, the quarters aren't keeping his doors open.

OK here's the Positive about Tim & PHOF:

He's lead a life of selfless dedication to his hobby-THAT is a rare and admirable trait.
He's taken PHOF from humble beginnings (Detroit, if I recall correctly) to a grandiose building on the strip. Some would argue the 'grandiose' part.
He pulled up his roots to move to NV to pursue his dream.
He's one of the few that has actually ATTAINED his goal.
He donates to charity via the PHOF. 100% if I'm not mistaken. Again, a decent human being, NO ONE can call him greedy.
He's completely transparent regarding the PHOF's books, income & outgo. Available to the public just by asking. Name ONE business that will offer that up.

There are MANY more positives, but for the sake of brevity we'll leave it at that.
Now there are some negatives, and here they are:

Tim carries with him an "US vs. Them" mindset. Trust me when I tell you, that type of personality can be very difficult to deal with. Contrary to what a lot of PinSiders think, Tim is NOT the end-all be-all in this hobby. By far.
He's truculent towards the people who actually spend money there. I could never understand that one.
The place is visual chaos, plain and simple.
He appears to lead by example, and his [unpaid] workers follow his behaviour with cult-like devotion. He shrieks, they shriek.
It appears that the new place is more than the can deal with. Sometimes, bigger, newer, brighter is NOT the better way.

I'm leaving more positives than negatives because I truly believe this to be Tim's succès majeur and need to give the proper accolades to him.

Just like Steve Young.

Tim Arnold has issues....Steve Young has the whole subscription.

I don't think anyone is looking for a fight. Personally I'm just always amazed at how people rationalize the behavior and attitude of a grown adult business owner. If you went to your local Target/Lowes/whatever store and they were out of what you wanted most of the time, how many times would you go back before giving up? Would you heap praise on them for "doing it their way"?

You go to the grocery store with your kid and they knock something off a shelf or throw a tantrum and you're escorted from the building? Do you head home and give them manager a call to thank them for keeping the place free of anarchy?

Head to your favorite restaurant and they're out of everything except microwaved food because the volunteer chef didn't show up to work for free - ready to sit down and just eat what they have and be happy about it?

This kind of attitude from someone who is (supposedly) passionate about pinball and owns a public facing business in one of the most popular tourist destinations in the US just absolutely boggles my mind. I'm not looking for a fight, I just don't get why any sort of criticism or feedback is immediately dismissed - or in what other business model people would go out of their way to defend that type of behavior like they do for this place? It's like there's some magical aura around the place that makes it acceptable.

Tim is an eccentric person and as long as he's in charge the PHOF will be an eccentric business. I don't agree with all his actions but I respect he's earned the right to run it as he sees fit. From the sounds of it, I'd probably get thrown out for nudging games, so any visit I make would just be to see the one-offs and rarities.. other venues will offer me a better playing experience.

More like "half-of-the-floor-turned-offs" am i right?
waka waka waka

Lot of folks taking concern to be "attacks" or "trolling"

Calling Tim a "scammer" who operates the "Pinball Hall of Shame" isn't trolling?

There was a charity event years ago honoring an old time pinball community member where Tim just absolutely took a huge dump on the honorees head, right in front of everyone just the most appalling behavior, so Tim scolding others on public behavior is pretty rich.
This person forgave Tim's behavior but I've never forgotten. I don't go to PHOF for that reason or recommend it to others. He's certainly free to run his business as he sees fit, but I think the criticism is fair.
Many other museums doing a better job, being better embassadors for pinball, I personally prefer to support them. Why go there when he tells you up front he doesn't want you there? Beyond me.
B

As one of the few people that have been to both Tropicana locations and of course the newest one on the strip, I've briefly interacted with Tim dozens of times throughout the years. I say "briefly" because I've always been cognizant of his personality so it's mostly just a quick greeting.

I've been on the record praising Tim as someone who doesn't suffer fools and as an asset to the hobby. I always cringe when someone, through no fault of their own, wants to bend Tim's ear about their collection, the first pin they played as kid, etc. Suffice it to say that Tim is not a small talk kind of guy.

I've never had a negative experience with the guy but that doesn't mean I think it's blasphemy to rightfully offer a critique like I did earlier about the lack of playable games. Like I mentioned about my most recent visits, over 60% of the games are turned off and many of the pins that are on have issues. EHOH hasn't been turned on in months. It's ok to point this out without being labled a "hater" or being given the hundredth copypasta lecture from people like Skip (Too-Many-Pins). Also, in my experience, the volunteers have all been wonderful.

I'll continue to visit the PHOF every other week or so, play games, buy T-shirts (I currently have four) and will contribute again to a Go Fund Me should the need arise. Heck, he even has one of my pins that I gave to a friend who subsequently donated to the PHOF. It's never been turned on in the few years he's had it even though it worked great when I owned it.

It's ok to point out an obvious problem without having to walk on eggshells.

Remember when Tim refused to do anything but the games and the lone popcorn machine because he advocated (strongly!) that you should ONLY do one thing and refused to take on anything else as he considered it a distraction and why everyone else fails? Refusing for years to sell merch, etc.

And now - after years - Tim finally changes and allows gift shop, sodas, cranes, and more... and what happens? Now he says

"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."

"Pinheads should realise the ONLY reason we can afford a Strip location with free parking and free admission with half our games still costing a quarter is beacuse the Sideshows, toys and the giftshop, pull the freight for the Big Tent, em pinball machines"

"In the last year we have started a gift shop, going from nothing when we opened to almost 10 percent of our income"

Proof there is room for change, and it's within Tim's abilities to accept it as well.

I'll ask a serious question but probably won't get any serious answers but, Is Tim on some kind of spectrum? He seems to have some serious interaction issues and is quite possibly socially retarded.

in todays world, its nothing to be ashamed of.

I've been three times. Not to the new place, but to the old. Each time I went, the game conditions were worse and worse. Not just broken machines. That would actually have been preferable to games that were barely wheezing and basically not playable.

If he couldn't keep the games working decently with fewer of them out on the floor, how is it even possible to keep them going when you've added more issues to the pile?

As for volunteering to help, well, I live way too far away to do that. But even if I didn't, people who have tried this have found that you basically can't dive in and fix games. You have to do it his way, no questions asked, and if you don't, hit the bricks, pal. That's not going to encourage people to want to help, because that would be for free too. There's a lot of roads that lead to the same place, and while I would never even come close to claiming I have 10 percent of his knowledge, I can fix games, but I'm not going to do it for someone who is going to be looking over my shoulder and telling me what to do all the time.

I've met him and tried to talk to him a couple of times. Tried being the operative word. I know the guy is busy, but to put it bluntly, he's an ass. There's a nice way of telling people you don't have time to talk, and then there's his way. Really, his persona and treatment of people who come in to play the games is a bigger let down that the condition of the games.

People think Steve Young is abrasive. I've never found that to be the case, just doesn't have time to waste on people who have no clue, but Tim is what Steve's reputation is, on steroids. And it is fact.

Life's too short to deal with that and with a bunch of broken and broken down games too.

My comments were of my recent experience (last weekend 10/15/22). I think if asked and if I saw the need I would have donated. I do not need a T-Shirt or a cap, when more machines were up I would have spent more. If there was a drop box for donations if I had unspent quarters I would have dropped them in for the greater good. I know Tim works hard and I respect what he does, has given, etc.

But, you can't treat customers and enthusiasts as crap or they go elsewhere. I would think pinball people would be his best customers to pursue not turn away.

If money is needed to keep things up or hire more staff then find a way to get more money. I would have donated $10 for the greater good if asked.

Basically, he is eccentric and its his show... so be it. I guess the business side of me finds that a little hard to believe though...

I wish him luck and hope for the best in the future.

So, I don't have a horse in this race, and I honestly don't care. If he thrives, great, that's wonderful for pinball. If he drops, then there goes another giant.

But riddle me this...if you have a customer who is excited to see a game they haven't seen in years or someone just casually asking you about the rules, wouldn't it behoove you as a business owner to, I don't know, continue the conversation with them???

I get it, I work in an arcade, and people can be annoying sometimes. But this is a social hobby, and people like to talk about pinball (I mean this whole site is about that!).

It's just bizarre to me that you wouldn't want to chat with folks who are putting money into your machines.

The guy comes off like a real CNT....

Wow.

Thanks for the $200,000 guys.

Now go fk off everyone!!

Unreal.

He's not a people person... like me, quite honestly. But he's committed, passionate and hard-working... the 3 most important ingredients to succeed.

I don't like playing pinball in brightly lit environments, kills nearly all the atmosphere (it's a box of LIGHTS), so I prefer the old place - dark and dingy.

Maybe PHOF could scale back the charity that they give and invest that money in getting some pins up and running. It's in the best interest of a charitable organization to receive and little donation for awhile than none at all forever.

I also gave to the Go Fund Me.
And if I ever make it to Las Vegas, I'll stop by PHOF.

I think we can all agree that things a PHoF are far from perfect but bottom line is it is Tim's Baby and Tim will continue to do things Tim's way.

I agree 100% that hiring some full time help makes a ton of sense and I think it is long overdue but Tim has to realize that is the only way to make an operation the size of PHoF work.

Ideally he should hire 5 full time people for the next couple years. Two or three on a short term bases and than once most everything is fixed up and running keeping at least two paid full time repair techs long term. In the end a business model like that would likely yield more donations to charity sooner than continuing down the current path.

HOWEVER - I do see a huge issue with that. Where the heck do you find 4 or 5 qualified techs in this day and age? But without trying you never know what might happen! Tim took a HUGE risk expanding why not take a much smaller risk paying some help for a couple years to make the place great?

That's a wonderful idea! You should suggest that to Tim, in person, face-to face. Please post the results.

5 people? They would be out of work in a few months. It would only take one qualified person to knock games out 1 by 1 and the place would be so much better.

Yes, all good charities invest in their endowments and operations to maximize their cash flow over the long term. Just because it's a charity doesn't mean they don't need good business sense to thrive.

Better option is to hire a business manager or someone to run the operations and provide customer service. Keep Tim working on the machines full time and not focus on customers. Hire a gopher to move, set up, and clean machines while he focuses on repairing, and maybe teach him/her to solder and do simple repairs.

Somehow I don't think 1 tech would come close to cutting it at the PHOF. It's easy for us as collectors to handle everything ourselves since we don't have nearly as many games. I only have 4, so when I fix an issue on a game I usually get a long break before another issue arises with another game. When you have hundreds of games, in the time that you resolved 1 issue 2 more will inevitably pop up and you are constantly buried.

How many volunteers help out? Offer them positions if they want, full or part time.

I was there 2 months ago, you left out about 5 entire rows of working games/pins. The unfortunate thing is they store all the non functioning pins on the outer rim of the large room. So if you're walking on the outer rows you see what is posted here. If you stay in the middle there are lots of games in good shape.

There are however, many games there are not working. I wanted to also add that of the 1990s+ era pins that OP posted, MOST of those weren't even at the POHF 2 months ago. My take is these are new arrivals that he is working to restore.

Was just thinking this same thing.

I like old, dark arcades. Not new, lit up, super clean. It goes against all logic, but that's the nostalgia i like.

Wishful thinking, but 1 tech isn't cutting it here. And as soon as 1 game is fixed, 3 more are down.

He needs multiples

Hiring a "general manager" to run the day to day operations and freeing Tim up to do more repairs makes a ton of sense if Tim would go for that but I think that is highly unlikely.

The issue with trying to hire the volunteers to work full time is you are then losing the repairs they were doing as volunteers. So for example is someone is volunteering say 10 hours a week. Now you hire them "full time" instead of getting 40 hours extra work done your net gain is only 30 hours of work getting done. Plus I would assume most of the volunteers don't really want a full time job - they are likely just looking to fill in a bit during there free time each week.

Bottom line is it is going to take a good size team of people to get all of the folded up machines up and running. And it is also going to take a full time tech for each 100 to 150 machines on the floor just to keep up with repairs once machines are up and running. So one or two additional full time people would help keeping more machines running but it really isn't going to get Tim's "stash" of project machines fixed up.

In any event at least there are a couple hundred machines available to play at this point so that is better than most arcades in the country have.

Thread should be closed. Pointless banter now at this point.

Basically this. Charities can't depend solely on charitable volunteers, pretty much all have to spend some of that money on operations which includes repairs. The construction of the new place, the sign, all of that was clearly not done all by charitable workers, someone had to get paid. If cuts to the charitable aspects is needed then probably the way it needs to go. Even if it's just part time side gig for a decent tech. Local Pinball Museum here has techs that on their side do house calls when possible. I'm sure some techs would be out there willing to do some gigs for a couple days here or there when needed.

Hillsboro is an affluent burb/city with tons of high-tech. The kids party room is $150 for 2hrs plus $20/kid admission, also you can rent the whole place for an office party for $250/hr plus $20/employee admission. I am told by other operators that party gigs are lucrative so they should be able to keep the lights on.

You would assume someone has deep pockets since 440 pins/vids add up to ~1million, plus "building out" a warehouse into a comfortable fantasy arcade is not cheap.

You must be new here.

Is the right flipper fixed on DE WWF so I can shoot the left ramp? Last time I was there it was unplayable because of it. Figured it out AFTER I put the money in it. I recall donating to the place to help move. I wish nothing but the best, but seriously step it up.

Woof! You should see EXPO!

Yeah - like I said gettting the collection of that size then keeping it all going some of the business must be a gift. Like the building and now it probably breaks even or makes a little. Place is amazing....the lunch box collection is probably tens of thousands of dollars alone. I like that it is mostly pinball with a few vids - we always have a good time when we go there.

Hillsboro is far enough away from the shit show downtown Portland has become and does not have the issues much of hte area has. You don't see many homeless out in that area.

It would appear that with the new building, it's large size, the move, the legal problems, etc Tim bit off more than he could chew. Putting personal feelings for him aside, I feel bad because deep down he's doing a good thing. His execution of said 'good thing' leaves MUCH to be desired.