New Michigan Member

[arcade jedi]

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.

  Arcade Jedi

[P-feif]

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.

[arcade jedi]

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

[P-feif]

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.

[dm73]

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...

[lwizardl]

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

[P-feif]

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...

 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.

[arcade jedi]

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

[P-feif]

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!

[BadMonkey]

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.

[Mikey]

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...)

[P-feif]

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 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 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.

[arcade jedi]

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 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 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.   

 ~ Arcade Jedi

[arcade jedi]

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.

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

[pacmanmedic]

Hey there, Welcome.  I'm from Midland.