How do you describe your collection?
I guess you could say it’s an A to Z collection of pinball machines of someone who let a passion get out of control to the point where I can’t have enough, and each game brings more joy.
The oldest pieces are from the very beginnings of pinball — the 1930s. This is before they had electricity or flippers. Once they started, there was nothing to stop them from growing. A lot of the early machines were very small — they sat on top of a counter in a bar or wherever — and were made by mom-and-pop operators and wannabe manufacturers who could create one-offs. Pinball was very popular because it was a great source of income for a lot of people. And then when some of the underworld got involved, you know, they saw the opportunity to make a lot of money, and they don’t like any competition, so they kind of controlled that industry.
The record I established with Guinness World Records included 1,041 pinball machines, but now there are over 1,100 machines and growing.
When and why did you start your collection?
There are a couple of things, I think.
For one, I’m a completist. If I have a certain style of game, then I want to get every style of game with that same feature.
Growing up, there were certain things that brought us joy back in the 1960s. This was back when we either played marbles or collected baseball cards — simple pleasures that were part of everyday life at that time. In the mid to late ’60s, I started going with my family on trips to Florida. We would see arcades with pinball machines everywhere. At home in Ohio at the time, pinball machines weren’t very prevalent. It was considered gambling in Ohio — certain states had more open laws than others. In Florida, where we were vacationing, it was wide open so I saw pinball machines everywhere. They brought me so much fun and joy — I couldn’t get enough of them. When books about pinball started becoming available, I read to learn more about them and started getting more involved in the industry. From that love and desire of learning more, I came up with the concept of doing a show called Pinball Expo.
When I started collecting, I never thought it would get so out of hand.
One issue, of course, was where to put these games. We had a family business and any game that I bought, I put in the business warehouse. Unfortunately, you know, not every employee treated the pinball machines like gold, like I do. Sometimes, games would get broken. That was no fun. I kept moving the games around to find different places to put them and make them more secure.
The games I grew up playing in the ’60s were my favourite because they were easy to understand. They weren’t fast — this was before solid-state pinball — but they could be beaten. It was just pure joy playing those games. I couldn’t get enough of them. When I decided to collect games, I said to myself, I’m gonna start collecting games from the ’60s because they’re just so much fun. I like the artwork, I like the way the game plays. I started buying games from various manufacturers and making a list. Between eBay and some of the pinball shows — mine being the first — I started buying games left and right. Any game I bought went into the family home.
Once I started reading and learning about some of the people behind the scenes, I really dove headfirst into it, getting to know the personalities behind the industry. I was an outsider, but I reached out to the industry. One of my favourite stories is from the first Pinball Expo. Gottlieb was a premier game company at that time. I was able to reach out to the then-president, Alvin Gottlieb, who was the son of the original owner. I told him I had a concept for a show and wanted to talk with him about it. I flew from Ohio to Chicago to meet with him. I’m imagining going to this massive mansion where he’d be dressed in a tuxedo, but he was in blue jeans and a t-shirt — one of your average guys. We sat down and I explained my vision. I told him that for me to pull off this idea, it would be the ideal thing to have him as our guest speaker. He said that I had so much passion, how could he say no and that he’d be glad to do it. That was the beginning of Pinball Expo.
The whole idea behind the show was to honour my heroes — the pinball designers and the pinball artists. I felt it was always the higher-ups who got all the recognition, but the designers and the artists were the guys who actually did the work that created the game. That first Pinball Expo was a success. We had 100 people, which, at the time, was pretty good in my eyes. I thought I was done — one and done. Six months into the following year, people started reaching out to me about the next show. I told them that there is no next show. They said it was too much fun, and I had to do one more. I agreed to do one more. Well, we had our 40th show in 2024 and are planning the 2025 show for October.
The passion continues, and that’s a unique thing. Everyone’s wired differently. I’m a completist, number one. But, number two, whenever I do something, I try to do it to the highest level of quality that I can. And because of that, people always leave the show having had a good experience. At this point, we have people coming from all over the United States and around the world — it’s been very satisfying for me.
Regarding the Guinness World Record, I mentioned to my daughter several years ago about the number of machines I had and wondered if I had the most of any collector. She took it upon herself to secretly do some research. From that, she was able to determine that I did indeed have more machines than anybody. Like I said, I think it’s a passion that got out of control. But you know, when someone’s got a passion for anything in life, you can’t help but continue to keep going forward.
How do you display and store your collection?
I had so many games that I was acquiring and building up, and they just sat in the warehouse. Every once in a blue moon, I would open the warehouse up and see this massive amount of games just sitting in storage.
I had driven past this grocery store for many years, and I thought to myself about buying it. If the price were right, I could put all of my games in there and possibly set them up to play whenever I had time to do so. I started implementing that idea. My wife said I was crazy — that if I was going to go to this extent, I should open it to the public. I’m amazed at how well it’s been received by people and the community.
People young and old have visited Past Times Arcade. They have the opportunity to walk back in time to see and play some of the games they played when they were younger. It’s been fun to see and experience that. Again, we have visitors from all over the world. We had one guy from Holland one week and someone from Poland the following week. I never know who’s going to show up. But they’re all pinball lovers, and they can appreciate the number of games we have on the floor and the history represented.
There’s only so much room in that building, so we have 600 games out now, and probably another 600 games or so in storage. It’s just a matter of where to put them.
What do you consider to be the Holy Grail of your collection?
It’s hard to pick just one in this hobby. I have maybe two or three. One is called Theatre of Magic, and one is Medieval Madness. They are both readily available, but I like them because their themes, artwork, and sounds are fun. They are very enjoyable to play.
Of the older games, I like Post Time and Texan. Texan was the second game I ever had. It has a lot of fond memories behind it.
Everyone has different tastes. It’s like buying a car — American-made, Japanese, whatever — people have their preferences. It’s the same in the pinball world. What I like isn’t necessarily what you like or what someone else likes, but those are my favourites.
What I’m doing now — which I can’t believe — is starting to collect games of the 1930s — very early games. They had no flippers and the more I got into them and the more I digested the games and what they’re all about, I came to appreciate this early stage of pinball. I saw the evolution of lights and bumpers, or whatever it may be to make the game fun back in those days. I have games from the ’30s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, all the way up to the most current games. I really covered the gamut.
Through Past Times Arcade, we are able to share these games with the masses. Not only that, we have a wall showing various people who were very instrumental in the industry — designers, artists, and founders of some of the early companies.
As of six months ago, I could give you a list of two or three games that we were still looking to acquire, but I’ve got them all now. So the hobby — the collection — is finally complete.
What advice would you give to someone interested in starting a pinball collection?
Well, like any hobby, you have to start with one and then two, and then you keep adding on to it.
But, the more games I get, the more opportunities I see to include other games with different features or styles or from different manufacturers.
The games from the 1950s were desirable to a lot of people, but a lot of those people have since passed away so the games from that era have become less desirable because people nowadays have never even seen or played the games. The younger you are, the newer the games you played. I have five kids, and they grew up playing the older games as well as newer ones, so they’re able to get a lot from those styles.
For anyone starting to get into collecting, it’s advantageous to learn about the games and some of the features and qualities of certain manufacturers. There’s also the opportunity to come to Pinball Expo and actually tour the factories — we tour Stern Pinball — to see how games are made. It’s not every day that Stern opens its doors to anybody and everybody. It’s a privilege, and it’s pretty special to see the production line. We also give people the opportunity to meet pinball designers and attend an autograph session.
It’s a real love-in, so to speak.
Learn more about Past Times Arcade and Pinball Expo.
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