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I've been here numerous times. There's a lot to like. When you walk to the left side, there are some very old machines going back to the very beginning of pinba

I've been here numerous times. There's a lot to like. When you walk to the left side, there are some very old machines going back to the very beginning of pinball. They're interesting from a historical perspective, but not so entertaining to play. Still, it's neat to see how the art evolved and the fact that you CAN play the really old machines is really cool. I do have a few complaints about the place. 1. The place is loud. And I guess that's not really their fault. If you get a bunch of machines that make noise all in the same room together, it's just going to be loud. However, one of the most wonderful things about these machines was the strange, unique, and beautiful noises they made. I was excited to find a couple of my favorites, but just couldn't hear them over the din of all the other machines. :-( It would be amazing if they could install a headphone jack on at least the digital machines so that if you wanted to play and really listen to the sounds, you could bring a pair of cans and immerse yourself. At the very least, they should disable attract mode on everything so that it only makes noise if someone's actually playing it. That might help a bit. 2. Weak coils. It's so frustrating to play a pinball machine knowing that you should be able to maneuver the ball to certain places but can't because the coil that's actuating the flipper is just shot. Williams' Black Knight was one of my favorites back in the early 80's and they have it. But once the ball falls to the lower field, it's pert-near impossible to get it back up there because the coil has just lost its oomph. 3. They purportedly have many more machines in storage and will swap certain ones out periodically, but I haven't seen that all the times I've gone over the last few years. It seems to be the same selection. I'm always hoping to see Xenon when I go, but I never do. When I ask about it, they tell me they have one in storage and that it may show up soon when they rotate machines, but it always seems like the same ones every time. Anyway... I don't want it to seem like I'm bad-mouthing the place. It's great and a lot of fun. I would go more often if they could fix the annoyances. That's all.

ts4z 4y ago
I’m an occasional volunteer. Sometimes I show up and fix games (although it’s been a a long time since I’ve done it). Machine rotation is an issue. They do change them out but it is always trading out somebody’s favorite for somebody else’s favorite. Weak flippers are probably not the result of weak coils, but of wear of flipper mechanisms. A complete flipper rebuild is hard to do on a budget. Some games (and BK is one of them) have flippers that haven’t worn well. (I think BK might still have 25V flippers, for instance.) But next time I’m there I will make sure to look. It’s important to be able to kick the ball upstairs on Black Knight. I will say noise is always a problem, but the museum isn’t always crowded. I’ve been going a long time, and it’s been ten years since I could go early in the afternoon, but it is worth a shot. Thanks for playing. Do mention any issues to the front desk. They will get attention, albeit triaged, and fixed on a budget.
uranium 4y ago
Have you spoken to Michael about the coils on Black Knight? I took a pinball repair class from him once at the Crucible [it was awesome--highly recommended if it's ever offered again!] and he specifically covered how to juice up flipper solenoids. He cares a lot about play experience, but I'm sure he's also pretty busy with that many machines to maintain.
- chriscjcj 4y ago
  I didn't.... I was there with my family and just mentioned it to the person charging admission. Unfortunately, Black Knight wasn't the only machine suffering from it. I went back a couple months later and there was no improvement unfortunately. I have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I feel like it's a shame to put these machines out there when they're not really working properly. On the other hand, I feel like I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth. Just having a chance to see some of these old friends again is really worth the price of admission. And I can't even imagine the herculean effort it must take to keep things working as well as they do. Heck, new flipper coils are like $15-$20 a pop. Not sure what the expected life span is, but these machines get a LOT of use so it's got to be just insane and expensive to keep things in tip-top shape. And I really do respect and appreciate that.
  - syntheweave 4y ago
    I got the impression when I visited that the flipper strength on many games had been dialed down specifically to reduce the maintenance load on the rest of the playfield. It wasn't the same as wild instances of weak flippers where they tend to just be flaky and not trap up correctly. I don't mind, the goal is preservation after all, and a lot of the SS games can be played elsewhere.
    - ts4z 4y ago
      It has not. The games just get a lot of play. (I occasionally volunteer to fix them.)

ts4z 4y ago

I’m an occasional volunteer. Sometimes I show up and fix games (although it’s been a a long time since I’ve done it). Machine rotation is an issue. They do change them out but it is always trading out somebody’s favorite for somebody else’s favorite. Weak flippers are probably not the result of weak coils, but of wear of flipper mechanisms. A complete flipper rebuild is hard to do on a budget. Some games (and BK is one of them) have flippers that haven’t worn well. (I think BK might still have 25V flippers, for instance.) But next time I’m there I will make sure to look. It’s important to be able to kick the ball upstairs on Black Knight. I will say noise is always a problem, but the museum isn’t always crowded. I’ve been going a long time, and it’s been ten years since I could go early in the afternoon, but it is worth a shot. Thanks for playing. Do mention any issues to the front desk. They will get attention, albeit triaged, and fixed on a budget.

uranium 4y ago

Have you spoken to Michael about the coils on Black Knight? I took a pinball repair class from him once at the Crucible [it was awesome--highly recommended if it's ever offered again!] and he specifically covered how to juice up flipper solenoids. He cares a lot about play experience, but I'm sure he's also pretty busy with that many machines to maintain.

chriscjcj 4y ago
I didn't.... I was there with my family and just mentioned it to the person charging admission. Unfortunately, Black Knight wasn't the only machine suffering from it. I went back a couple months later and there was no improvement unfortunately. I have mixed emotions about it. On one hand, I feel like it's a shame to put these machines out there when they're not really working properly. On the other hand, I feel like I'm looking a gift horse in the mouth. Just having a chance to see some of these old friends again is really worth the price of admission. And I can't even imagine the herculean effort it must take to keep things working as well as they do. Heck, new flipper coils are like $15-$20 a pop. Not sure what the expected life span is, but these machines get a LOT of use so it's got to be just insane and expensive to keep things in tip-top shape. And I really do respect and appreciate that.
- syntheweave 4y ago
  I got the impression when I visited that the flipper strength on many games had been dialed down specifically to reduce the maintenance load on the rest of the playfield. It wasn't the same as wild instances of weak flippers where they tend to just be flaky and not trap up correctly. I don't mind, the goal is preservation after all, and a lot of the SS games can be played elsewhere.
  - ts4z 4y ago
    It has not. The games just get a lot of play. (I occasionally volunteer to fix them.)