Category People & Blogs; Song Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner (From 'Star Wars: A New Hope'/Score) Artist London Voices, London Symphony Orchestra, John Williams, The New London Children's Choir.

I have been reading pinside for quite some time. I periodically glance to the left on peoples avatars and see how many games are in their collection. I am amazed to see some collections of pins over 120 plus machines.

That's crazy awesome. Where do you have these mass collections. It can't be in your house, right? Do you throw massive pinball parties, or quietly play them with close friends and family. Show some pics and show off that labour of love for the massive pinball collections you guys have. Keep in mind, there can only be one winner.

Who is the pinside top dog? Just from the people I know in the hobby, and thinking about how small of a number that actually is, and how many people are in the hobby I would bet there are hundreds of people in just the US with in excess of a hundred machines in their private collections.Off the top of my head locally I can think of a dozen or more people with in excess of 50 machines and several with in excess of 100 machines. So large collections are really not all that unusual.When you get to a number like 250 working machines in a 'private collection' I would say there are very few but 50 to 100 in a private collection is not all that uncommon.Sadly there are way too many people in the hobby with hoards of 'project' machines just sitting (including me). I hate to hear about or to be one of those guys. People with large working collections are good for the hobby but those of us that have dozens of machines just sitting are part of the cause for prices jumping so high over the past for years.I try to keep stuff moving and encourage anyone else just sitting on a bunch of projects to do the same thing. Keeping lower priced machines available helps to get new people into the hobby. Also - sitting on machines you will never have time to get to really does no one any good including yourself.

If you can imagine the space, I knew of a route op in New Orleans that used to have a warehouse that covered a city block and it was stuffed with every game he bought since 1939. He had old jukes stacked 3 high and over 3000 pinballs. We were trying to buy everything in small quantities from him but he kept saying that if we buy from him, we have to take it all. We kept negotiations open.

Until after Katrina hit. Sad day for us but glad we didn't cut a deal because we couldn't have got the warehouse cleared before the destruction and flooding.Steve.

Tim Arnold has a complete set of GottliebsI think that Tim does have a 1000+ collection and at least one GTB of every model produced,but I think Tim has told me, or i was told by other parties in the know, that Tim's vast GTB collection may not include any ( or very few) of the Italian AAB pinsand/or he may not have bothered with obtaining 2P version if he already had a 4P version;i.e. I have my (partial) collection of 250 games at the Ann Arbor pinball museum. All set up, restored, and fully working. Have another 50 at my house set up & restored.

And have about 30 awaiting restoration. So of all the machines, only 10% are not restored. That's a very high percentage of working/setup versus games-on-end.

Perhaps one of the highest percentage of the '3-digit' collectors.I've recently been to Tim Arnold's place in las vegas. Frankly it was one of the most depressing things I've ever seen. He has well over 1000 machines. My guess is closer to 1500. It was depressing though. Would take him 5 lifetimes to fix them. It could take 10 years just to organize it and sell it.

I have no idea what he's planning on doing. He's elusive about it, and just gets mad when you try and talk to him about it. And according to Tim, he's retiring in 5 years when he hits 65. The PHoF will close, and then what does he do with all those machines? Questions with no answers.The largest pinball collection is probably Mike's at the PPM. Again, i'm not sure where they are going with this either. They have well over 1000 machines.

And with Tom's donation, that number is even higher. And with Conger giving them his machines, they will soon be at 2000 games. Even if they get the Carnegie space, they will still only have 10% probably max displayable. So why do they have hundreds of machines in storage? I ask, but it's hard to get an good answer.Collecting stuff is a sickness. I know, i'm victim of it. But the first step in solving a problem is identifying it.

And this is where most of the 3-digit collectors fail.Amassing games is easy. Selling them (or even giving them away) is a lot harder. Games need constant baby sitting or they deteriorate. Having games on end in (really) permanent storage is not a good thing.

For the people or for the games. I have my (partial) collection of 250 games at the Ann Arbor pinball museum. All set up, restored, and fully working. Have another 50 at my house set up & restored. And have about 30 awaiting restoration.

So of all the machines, only 10% are not restored. That's a very high percentage of working/setup versus games-on-end. Perhaps one of the highest percentage of the '3-digit' collectors.I've recently been to Tim Arnold's place in las vegas. Frankly it was one of the most depressing things I've ever seen. He has well over 1000 machines. My guess is closer to 1500. It was depressing though.

Would take him 5 lifetimes to fix them. It could take 10 years just to organize it and sell it. I have no idea what he's planning on doing. He's elusive about it, and just gets mad when you try and talk to him about it. And according to Tim, he's retiring in 5 years when he hits 65. The PHoF will close, and then what does he do with all those machines? Questions with no answers.The largest pinball collection is probably Mike's at the PPM.

Again, i'm not sure where they are going with this either. They have well over 1000 machines. And with Tom's donation, that number is even higher.

And with Conger giving them his machines, they will soon be at 2000 games. Even if they get the Carnegie space, they will still only have 10% probably max displayable. So why do they have hundreds of machines in storage? I ask, but it's hard to get an good answer.Collecting stuff is a sickness. I know, i'm victim of it. But the first step in solving a problem is identifying it.

And this is where most of the 3-digit collectors fail.Amassing games is easy. Selling them (or even giving them away) is a lot harder. Games need constant baby sitting or they deteriorate. Having games on end in (really) permanent storage is not a good thing. For the people or for the games.Clay, how many games would you estimate Gene Cunningham had at the end? He had to be pretty far up there, but again, it's how many of them are set up and playing vs.

Just stacked up on end.I always figured Tim Arnold's was the largest, but you're absolutely correct, it's so massive that there's just no way to maintain them properly. I don't really know how you would have time to even properly maintain a collection of half, or even a quarter, of what he has. It's always something-burned out bulbs, broken rubbers, malfunctions going on, you name it.I'll have to get back to Vegas to see it again before it goes, if he truly is going to give it up in a few years. And as you said, that's the real issue, what happens to all those games then? I'm pretty sure Tim will die with those games and his wife will have to sell them. Me and Mike were at Tim's for the Banning show in January.

And we had long discussions about Tim's situation. He's beyond out of control, in my opinion. And to put it in perspective, this is me, another sick collector, judging him.When you go to the 'big hit shed' and everything is now stacked vertically, you know there's a problem.

I was there 6 years ago and it was nothing like this. It was organized, largely set up, and the vertical thing hadn't taken hold. Now it's crazy out of control.The 'problem' Tim has is not unlike Mike at PPM. People think it's a good thing that these guys have museums, and they donate to them. I don't know about Mike, but Tim can't say 'no' to a freebie. What it has done is made his life considerably more difficult.

To manage this stuff, to organize it, to stack it, to store it, to restore it. There isn't enough time in the day (week, year, lifetime!)I see what these guys are doing and because of it, I've made some personal rules. First off, FREE is not necessarily a good thing! Just because someone wants to give you a game, doesn't mean you should take it. Personally I don't get the donations these guys get. (Actually i get really no donations.) Since the Ann Arbor pinball museum is not a 501c3 (thank god), we just don't get the donations. The key reason is when you donate to Tim or Mike, they give you a receipt for the goods.

And then you can write it off on your taxes. We can't do that (thankfully), hence we just don't get donations. Not that i'm against donations. I would love them for stuff we need or don't have. But frankly most donations tend to be hulks.

Sometimes not, but most times yes.My rule is this. If i already have a title, i don't want another one. I just say 'no.' If it's a killer deal, i just pass the deal to one of the club members and have them get it. I don't want to see or touch the machine! Because i know my hoarder instincts will kick in, and i'll have to have it.

And if I do get a 'second' of a machine, it must be sold or given away ASAP. This helps a lot to prevent the problems Tim has. (Tim has nearly 3 of every game from what I saw!)Managing a horder addiction is doable. But again, you have to make rules and follow them. And have a support team to help. Because people outside the glass box are really people you need.

Otherwise you'll spin things out of control, without even realizing it, until you've created a monster. And slaying this monster is often very difficult.For example this weekend I got a call for a Fishtales for sale at a nice price.

We already have a fishtales. So i passed the tip to a club member.

He got the game, spent the time to procure it, and he'll spend the time to fix it. And when done he'll probably back flip the museum with some money or some other thing that we actually do need. This works out great. Sure you don't get as much, but i don't have to deal with the time to drive there, get it in a vehicle, drive back, fix it, market it, sell it, etc. It's win-win this way, and the club member is very happy/excited that they got a new game. I have been reading pinside for quite some time. I periodically glance to the left on peoples avatars and see how many games are in their collection.

I am amazed to see some collections of pins over 120 plus machines. That's crazy awesome. Where do you have these mass collections.

It can't be in your house, right? Do you throw massive pinball parties, or quietly play them with close friends and family. Show some pics and show off that labour of love for the massive pinball collections you guys have. Keep in mind, there can only be one winner. Who is the pinside top dog?Someone could have the most number of pins. But there's some that may have a more expensive collection in value then total.For instance someone that has 40 games worth north of $250k.

I'm pretty sure Tim will die with those games and his wife will have to sell them. Me and Mike were at Tim's for the Banning show in January. And we had long discussions about Tim's situation.

He's beyond out of control, in my opinion. And to put it in perspective, this is me, another sick collector, judging him.When you go to the 'big hit shed' and everything is now stacked vertically, you know there's a problem. I was there 6 years ago and it was nothing like this. It was organized, largely set up, and the vertical thing hadn't taken hold.

Now it's crazy out of control.The 'problem' Tim has is not unlike Mike at PPM. People think it's a good thing that these guys have museums, and they donate to them. I don't know about Mike, but Tim can't say 'no' to a freebie. What it has done is made his life considerably more difficult. To manage this stuff, to organize it, to stack it, to store it, to restore it. There isn't enough time in the day (week, year, lifetime!)I see what these guys are doing and because of it, I've made some personal rules. First off, FREE is not necessarily a good thing!

Just because someone wants to give you a game, doesn't mean you should take it. Personally I don't get the donations these guys get. (Actually i get really no donations.) Since the Ann Arbor pinball museum is not a 501c3 (thank god), we just don't get the donations.

The key reason is when you donate to Tim or Mike, they give you a receipt for the goods. And then you can write it off on your taxes. We can't do that (thankfully), hence we just don't get donations.

Not that i'm against donations. I would love them for stuff we need or don't have. But frankly most donations tend to be hulks. Sometimes not, but most times yes.My rule is this. If i already have a title, i don't want another one.

I just say 'no.' If it's a killer deal, i just pass the deal to one of the club members and have them get it.

I don't want to see or touch the machine! Because i know my hoarder instincts will kick in, and i'll have to have it. And if I do get a 'second' of a machine, it must be sold or given away ASAP. This helps a lot to prevent the problems Tim has. (Tim has nearly 3 of every game from what I saw!)Managing a horder addiction is doable. But again, you have to make rules and follow them. And have a support team to help.

Because people outside the glass box are really people you need. Otherwise you'll spin things out of control, without even realizing it, until you've created a monster. And slaying this monster is often very difficult.For example this weekend I got a call for a Fishtales for sale at a nice price. We already have a fishtales.

So i passed the tip to a club member. He got the game, spent the time to procure it, and he'll spend the time to fix it. And when done he'll probably back flip the museum with some money or some other thing that we actually do need. This works out great. Sure you don't get as much, but i don't have to deal with the time to drive there, get it in a vehicle, drive back, fix it, market it, sell it, etc.

It's win-win this way, and the club member is very happy/excited that they got a new game.Great stuff, thanks Clay. I need to make time to come up and see your place when it's open to the public. I'll be going to the Pacific Pinball Museum this summer.

Haven't been there yet.I truly am not sure what would happen if I had the space/money/time to do the games. I am afraid some of my lesser instincts would kick in and I'd get myself in over my head with too many games. Fortunately for me I don't have the space/time/money for it, and I also have a wife who would put a pretty quick stop on it if she thought it was getting out of control. Most of the time it's not a good thing when your wife isn't interested in pinball but in this situation it probably is. I wish there was a list that showed collections open upon invite. Meaning if your in my area.

Give me a call and if I am around. Come on down for a couple or so hours. NOT all freaking day and or night.Sometimes you have to know the secret handshake.to get invited to most pin parties. I have no problem traveling 10 or more hours to enjoy someone's collections of pins.I would be happy on paying a fee. Or donating to their cause.

Hall of Fame or others. Etc.Now that would be great list.NT. Clay has a good point:1. You can count a # of 'high quality' well-set up pins2.

You can count a # of 'playable' (horizontal) pins3. You can count a # of 'unplayable' pins (vertically stored) - aka 'coffins'My interest is in maintaining a solid collection of 'HQ' pins, and to have no coffins or injured fawns when you come over. Frankly I can't imagine anyone having more than 50 'HQ' pins. If Clay can encourage an army of people to help him have 250 machines in HQ condition, then that's quite a feat of leadership.-mof.