The Arcade

From 1996 to mid 2004, I had my very own classic 80’s arcade in our house. The house had an enclosed screen room that was large enough to house 13 full-sized stand-up arcade machines. We also had two pinball machines, but those were in the kitchen (that’s a story for a different time).

They were fun to play, and provided endless entertainment when we had a party, or when the gang from work came by, or friends came by with their kids. With the lights out and all the machines being played, it truly felt like stepping back in time.

When it came time to sell the house, I had to get the machines out of there so that the house would show better. Granted, a home arcade would seduce lots of people, but it was in our best interest not to keep them there. Since 5 of them were in need of repair, and I really didn’t feel like moving them into a storage unit anyway, I decided to put them up for sale.

Fortunately there’s a market for those things, especially considering that mine were all in phenomenal shape. Even though some needed repairs, cosmetically they were mostly great. Needless to say, they were snatched up quickly. One local person bought 3 or 4 of them; someone drove down from Vegas for one, the rest sold to other collectors locally.

I miss having all of those machines, but I really miss those two pinball machines. Hindsight being what it is, I should have held on to those. There’s nothing like the feel of a good mid-80’s Bally/Williams pinball machine, and my two, High Speed and Pin*Bot, were my two favorites of the era. Maybe someday I’ll pick them up again.