The Pinball Hall of Fame is a nonprofit museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, where visitors can play pinball machines. It opened in 2006 and was created by the Las Vegas Pinball Collectors Club. The museum includes pinball machines, arcade games, and other novelty machines from different time periods. All staff members are volunteers, and any extra money earned is given to the Salvation Army.
History
Since 1990, Tim Arnold has worked to raise money for the project by selling videos about pinball repair and hosting pinball nights at his home. He owns a large collection of pinball machines, which he began collecting in 1972. By 2003, he had raised $167,000.
The Pinball Hall of Fame first opened in 2006 at 3300 E Tropicana Ave, Las Vegas, Nevada. It displayed about 200 pinball machines, classic video games, and arcade games. In late 2009, the museum moved to 1610 E Tropicana Ave. By 2018, the collection had grown to about 260 machines.
In 2013, an additional location was opened at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. This location stopped operating in 2015 after the hotel closed.
In 2016, Arnold said there were no plans to find a successor or close the museum. Instead, he announced plans to expand the museum by building a new building next to the current location.
In 2020, the museum announced plans to move to a new, larger location at 4925 S Las Vegas Blvd. The new site is a 28,000-square-foot warehouse designed to hold the museum’s full collection of more than 700 games. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum’s future became uncertain. To raise money for the new building, moving the collection, and keeping the museum open, Arnold and the museum started a GoFundMe campaign in January 2021.
The Pinball Hall of Fame opened at its new location on Las Vegas Blvd on April 15, 2021. On July 1, 2021, the museum held its official grand opening at the new site.
Gallery
- The Pinball Circus, part of a special vertical pinball game
- Area with video games
- Pinball machines made recently
- Pinball machines from earlier years
- Where the Pinball Hall of Fame was first established