![]() "You'll never see this collection of pinballs in the history put together, lined up… ever again in the same room," he told them before launching into the auction. He spoke into the microphone to welcome the crowd. All of the machines will be auctioned off over two weekends.Ĭampbell situated himself in front of a packed audience on the auction's first day. Weeks contacted Campbell and tasked the pirate with selling off the treasures. He just happens to own a reputable pinball auction company called "Captain's Auction Warehouse." It shouldn't happen."īut Campbell is feeling bittersweet about the museum's demise because it presents him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. ![]() "I'm really happy that I'm here, right now, to check it out one last time," Castro said. She is a regular visitor, but this is the last time she will play her beloved "Bride of Pinbot." They've been with me for so long."Ĭastro is also crestfallen. "I'm sad because each one of these is like, a child to me. The cost of insurance, rising real estate prices and COVID-19 conspired to make the museum "tilt." This is Weeks' museum, into which he's invested over 30 years and millions of dollars.īut every game comes to an end. "I own about 800 pieces of pinball machines," he said, before adding, "and about 12,000 (video) arcade games." If that's the cut-off, then John Weeks qualifies as a pinhead. "I only own about 150 of 'em," he said sarcastically. But, for the record, The Captain does not self-identify as a "pinhead." "That's how I roll."Ĭampbell grew up playing pinball and remembers cutting school to visit arcades. "I just love the feel and the curve of a pinball machine," Campbell said. In fact, these machines are insured as "works of art." "I don't know," he said while rubbing the "back glass" of a machine-that portion of a machine that has the scoreboard and is painted with elaborate art. "Pinball's great!"Ĭampbell, 56, also has a hard time explaining why he pines for pinball. "Because I love pinball," she shouted above the literal bells and whistles that were going off as she played. She was so fixated that she barely acknowledged the question when asked: "Why are you here instead of playing a console game at home like other 'gamers' her age?" ![]() Today she is at the museum playing her favorite machine, "Bride of Pinbot," frantically using body English in a vain attempt to alter the ball's course as it careens from bumper to bumper. Aged 30, she is in a competitive pinball sports league. Long before Xbox or Playstations, some cities actually banned pinball machines, lest they attract n'er-do-well juveniles, many of whom have apparently reformed and now pilgrimage to this famous museum to pull the plunger on a historic pinball from their youth.īut younger "pinheads"-that's what pinball wizards call themselves these days-like Heidi Castro come here too. "How does it feel to play a pinball machine that's probably valued at $30,000?" Campbell asked out loud as he beat on the flipper buttons. Naturally, The Captain, who sports a pirate tattoo on his arm, is attracted to a rare and valuable "Pirates of the Caribbean" machine. He said the machine is valued at around $20,000. "So out of 16 in the entire world, there's one here!" Cambell exclaimed. "They're never gonna make 'em again," Campbell added as he stopped to admire the Zidware Magic Girl American pinball machine. Some of them are among the rarest in the world. The museum is 44,000 square feet, loaded with examples of almost every pinball machine ever made since about 1959.
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