John's Arcade Forum - Classic Arcade and Pinball Collecting and Restoring Discussion Forum - RETRO MAME - Nintendo Vs Forum

Hello All,

Been following John's Arcade for about a year now.  Love the videos, John's great personality and presence.  I haven't been on the forums very much, so that leaves a whole bunch for me to explore still.

Good to see a lot of MI folks out there.  I'm from Charlotte (Lansing area).  Please reply if you are from MI.  Would love to network, get together, see other peoples projects and collections.  My current collection is about 50 games...., most of the heavy hitters.

 8) Arcade Jedi

I'm in Sterling Heights. I only have two game but I'm looking to grow my collection as I have time and money. Nice to meet you.

Hey P-feif,

I grew up in East Detroit (when it was East Detroit).  Good to hear from you.  What are your 2 games?

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Space Invaders and Ms Pacman with a 4 in one Pacman/Ms Pacman kit and high score save kit. I've been working on the Ms Pacman forever. Got it playing real nice and I'm down to restoring the coin door but have some wiring mysteries to figure out. I have a thread about it in the I need help with my game section of this board. Any chance you have one and would be willing to post a picture of the inside of the coin door. It would help me decipher the schematic. Schematic aren't to bad to figure out when everything is there, but when someone has butchered everything and you have to unravel the mystery it can be tough to figure out.

Hey there and welcome...

Down in Windsor myself, Esquelito is also from the neighborhood.   Actually just went to Big Toy games yesterday on Mound and 14 mile....   everything on free play but he is asking strong prices...

Welcome to the forums ArcadeJedi! sounds like you have a nice colection there :)

 I buy parts from him. I want the Tempest in the show room there bad, but the price is just too high for my blood. I'll just have to find one that's a mess and bring it back to life.

Guys,

I do have a pretty nice collection of machines.  Someday we can get into that.  I do have a Ms. Pac and would be willing to text you a picture of the inside of the coin door.  IM me offline with your phone number.

I always wanted to go to Big Toys to check them out.  I can't remember how, but I used to be able to find his prices posted somewhere (I don't remember, maybe a website).  Anyway, seeing the prices he was asking always deterred me from making the trip down to look at the showroom.  I understand the guys needing to make a living, but the costs are way out of sight from what I think collector or everyday sucker would be willing to pay.  I can't believe they sell too many games (although I may be surprised).

Tempests are already asking top dollar, I can only imagine what Big Toys is asking for theirs.

I've always wanted a Space Invaders and I see a ton of them, but I've never inquired on them due to space.  P-feif, maybe I'll use an old Jedi mind trick on you to see if I can get you to sell yours to me. 

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Well I got the Ms Pacman fixed and now I'm working on Space Invaders. Just a few cosmetic things, sorry but it's not for sale. Jedi mind tricks only work on the weak minded. LOL!

Hello Jedi. I am in nw Indiana but I travel into MI often. My next goal in MI is to find the battle mech pod arcade (?) that is supposed to be there. There are some nice arcades and I go to the pinball museum in Ann Arbor every year.

Ann Arbor has a pinball museum?

Could you be referring to Pinball Pete's (which also has a location in East Lansing)?  I've lived in and around Ann Arbor for a long time, and if they do have an actual pinball museum, I've somehow missed it all these years.

(please let A^2 have a pinball museum...)

I looked it up there's a pinball museum in Green Oak Mich just outside of Ann Arbor and they have a special event coming up the weekend after mothers day. Might have to get tickets for that.

After you mention Pinball Pete's I looked them up too. Their web page looked pretty cool so I put my 6 year old son in my truck and off we went. They don't have a huge amount of old game but enough. Lot's of pins too. We met the care taker who calls himself Speedy. Nice guy, gave up a tour of the place and then gave my son a bunch of free quarter too, we used them and I still spent a few bucks. We had a great time. They have a working Tron there that they claim they've never had to fix. I haven't played Tron in 25 to 30 years, so I popped a quarter into it and found that I'm nearly as good as I once was but it was still fun. I will definitely be going back there.

If you are looking for a great arcade, the one to hit is in Brighton.  The owner brought his private collection to a building and opens up on the weekend.  $15/person gets you in on a Saturday night to play.  Everything is on freeplay.  They're open from 6pm to midnight.  Probably has 100 games there, some I've never seen.  P-feif, I've got a 7yr old daughter that loves that place.  If you want, we can plan an excursion, meet one another, and hang out together.   :D

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Hello Jofis!!  NW Indiana, Cool!!  Looks like you have a great collection from your footer.  I need to do that. 

I understand there is a guy in Battle Creek that owns and runs the Battle Tech pods.  I have a friend that is really into it.  I'll contact him and ask him where they're at.  I believe the guy once had a Battle Creek store front, but couldn't make it.  I'll keep you posted on what I find out on the pods.  Also, there was a hobby shop in East Lansing that had 4 Battle Tech pods that he was running.  I think he knew and was involved somehow with the Battle Creek guy.  However, that hobby shop closed some years ago  (maybe 3 or 4 now).  As I remember, the pods never really brought the guy huge amounts of business.  There was a limited local following.  They were right across from MSU, but it really didn't generate interest from the college kids.  I used to take my stepsons there and we really enjoyed it.

Always looking to get together with fellow hobbyists.  If you want, you can coordinate a trip and we can go to the Brighton arcade that I mentioned to P-fief.  It's worth the drive to mid-Michigan.  You come to me and then I'll cover the rest of the drive to Brighton from my location.

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Hey there, Welcome.  I'm from Midland.

pacmanmedic,

Hello.  Thanks for writing. 

Midland is not too far.  What do you have going on up there?  What's in your collection?

So many Michiganians out here.  We should plan a trip to the place in Brighton.  Any takers?

 ~ Arcade Jedi

I'd be up for it!  I work nights, so I'd have to make arrangements, but that sounds good.

Never knew about that pinball museum...I must be slackin'...

Welcome. I am located around the Flint area and love the thrill of the hunt. It's been a while since a treasure trove of arcade goodies have been uncovered so I think we are due. Happy collecting.

Would like to do that one day. You're talking about he pinball museum? I see they are having a big 3 day pinball show this May. I didn't know that they are open every weekend? The only thing I found about them was the annual show. Would be nice to do that one day but not now. My whole house is sick and I don't want to spread it to anyone.

Well, I forgot to enable the "notify" and I see I have missed a lot of comments. The pin museum opens only once a year. It's a group of guys that have a collection (it's mostly one guys but there are others in the 'club') and I think they open once a year for tax reasons. The building is just outside Ann Arbor in the middle of nowhere. It's an old vfw the guy bought. They have opened it the last two years and this year will be number three. The first year was awesome. Last year was so so. I think they will sell more tickets this year so i'm not sure how it will be. They have a hell of a collection. They put everything on Freeplay. Worth checking out. I was at the private arcade just north of there too. Cool place. As far as the pods; I would love to come check them out sometime. Maybe during the pin museum weekend or if I find another game there. I see a lot in the Grand Rapids to Detroit area often. I like to make the most of the trips. If you find some info let me know. Weather permitting I am there!

I'm talking about the Brighton arcade.  They are open during the weekends.  It's simply called: "The Arcade".  I did not know anything about the pinball museum until the above posts and don't know their schedule.

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Yeah, been to the arcade. I bought a couple games from the guy. Decent place.

I've bought a couple from him myself.  What great finds did you have from there?

 ~ Arcade Jedi

Hey Esqueleto,

Flint.  That's a stones throw.  I have a couple of buddies that live in Grand Blanc, so I'm up there on occasion.  Maybe we can meet on my next trip up.

Thanks for the "welcome" message.  Seems like a pretty nice sized local community that we have here in MI.

 ~ Arcade Jedi