Asheville Pinball Museum

A few great games and lots of OK games. Most of the games here really need a basic shop job (rubbers, bulbs, loose screws, flippers), these games feel like a mash up of average auction games in their condition. A couple guys running around repairing minor problems as they occur though and quickly, and the place hasn't be opened long so I assume they're bringing everything up to playable before making them play better. Despite this, there are enough good games you can't really play anywhere else to make it worth the $10. The owner and others working there were very nice and easy to chat up too.

I love this place. They are adding games all the time.

They have been trying to get everything going and will continue to upgrade each machine but they have so many projects going to get them all out on the floor that they don't have time to shop yet, but it's coming. They do a great job upgrading as soon as they sell one. They have only been open since September 2013 so the best is yet to come from these guys. They have weekly tournaments on Wednesday nights and the entry is discounted to $7 for Asheville Pinball Club members.

My wife spotted this place while she was up in Asheville for work and when I joined her a day later we decided it would be a must stop during our anniversary weekend. The place is setup nicely, plenty of space between machines and a nice lounge area with the rarer Night Moves machine to play. The owner is really nice and gave us lots of info as we made our way from machine to machine. He also gave us some tips and knew when to check on us and when to just let us play the pins and have fun.

I like the concept of what he's got going there and it seems like there's more machines in the back he's working on (saw a Star Trek: TNG behind the curtains), so I imagine more pins will make their way to the floor shortly.

Can't wait to go back when I'm in Asheville again! :)

I had a great time with my family here on the 23rd. What a great place to learn which style of game is my favorite. My wife, who is not a huge fan of my hobby, enjoyed this place.

They were down on 90's games when I visited. WH2O, Getaway, Stern HD were gone, and DM and TZ were in the back for repair. JD was out but the flippers were too weak to make it up the ramps. The games were in OK shape. They were clean and I didn't see any broken rubbers. Some of the flippers needed to be rebuilt and the lighting fixed on several games. Overall it is a great location and very reasonable. Wish it was closer to me. It was very crowded when I was there a couple days before Christmas with mostly tourists, but the owner said that was unusual for a weekday. They had some great EMs and a beautiful Haunted House. Also had a Flintstones that I'd never played before - it was a lot of fun. It looks like they are renovating a vacant store front in the same building. Not sure if they are going to be moving, expanding, or are just advertising in the window.

Great Place for pinball. Great price to play all day long. Bought a Phantom of the Opera there. The owner, T.C., is a great guy. Got to play the ridiculous Hercules there. It's worth paying to get in to play that one alone. I got to play tons of machines that I never had the chance to before. The only place you need to stop for in Asheville.

To update my review from like a month after this place opened, it's totally different now. A good mix of old and new games and just about everything was playing great (with a few machines shut off, you know, like pinball). My non-pinballer family was able to hang out in the museum because you only pay if you're actually playing the machines which was a fantastic deal.

I love playing at the APM. Excellent mix of older and newer machines, with information on each machine given on paper. Some of the EM machines are rotated to the middle of the place to give them a rest. Some of the machines are also taken to the Appalachian Pinball Museum in Hendersonville, NC (which is also listed on this site). I love being able to pay one price and stay as long as I want.

Great location and friendly staff. I only wish the games played better. Lots of shots were not makable since the flippers were so weak. Definitely need some flipper rebuilds.

I liked the collection of older games and it is a great deal for $15. Plan ahead for rainy days.

I went here last Saturday (April 19, 2019) and went again the next day. I arrived fairly close to opening time on Saturday but they were already full; they took my name and number, I went, got lunch and walked around the area, and then they called me. I thought it was a pretty good selection from various decades of pinball/arcade games. I also liked the videos in the back - Frogger, Phoenix and Asteroids. I felt that everything was maintained pretty well, especially considering the amount of plays these machines get. The staff was receptive to comments on the games f there was an issue. They are usually closed on Tuesdays to do maintenance.

The place got a little quieter towards the end of the day, so it was easier to play the more popular machines (Attack from Mars and the newer Sterns). It was a fun place to spend the afternoon!

The Willy Wonka and Star Wars games require extra money to play them to help cover repair costs. The APM also has two multicade machines with 125 games next to one set of pinball machines. Several of the games are virtual pinball games with dazzling effects. You can also nudge the machines.

Went early on a weekend and even though we got right in, it was fairly crowded. Some people played back to back games, but because the location is so tiny, you can't really wait for the machine you want to play without being in the way... didn't really care for it because of how tight and crowded it was. The Retrocade was much better and I preferred it to the pinball museum and had much better games available.

Congratulations to the Asheville Pinball Museum for 10 years of business. The place can be crowded on weekends, but that's due to the popularity of the museum. The best day to come is Wednesday, the day after the machines have been repaired. The machines are kept clean and mostly in working order. Flippers can get weak, but let the staff know so they can fix the flippers after closing time.