For the first time in five years, dozens of playable or project games are for sale
Walking down Webster Street, especially on a warm day, it’s hard to miss the sights and sounds of the Pacific Pinball Museum (PPM). Over a century of history, with flashing lights, bells, bumpers, and the occasional explosion. Walk inside, and you’ll see players of all ages, hunched over machines from all eras, intent on keeping that 1-1/16” silver ball in play. From the youngest participants in the Little Flippers program, to casual players, to league players on Wednesday nights, PPM attracts a diverse crowd. And the appeal is not limited to Alameda. The museum is known across the nation, having been featured by KQED, Wired magazine, and CBS This Morning, among others.
But what you see at the Webster Street location is just a fraction of PPM’s collection. And this weekend, PPM invites the public to Alameda Point for the Pacific Pinball Annex Surplus Games Sale, the first since 2019. It’s your chance to own a piece of history, while helping the museum as they look ahead. Even if you don’t come away with new piece for your collection, the Annex itself is a sight to see.
PPM’s Executive Director Evan Phillippe took some time to discuss the sale, the museum’s plans, and more.
Let’s start with a little background. When did the Museum open?
The Pacific Pinball Museum originally opened as the Lucky JuJu pinball arcade in the very back room, founded by Michael Schiess and his wife Melissa Harmon in 2002. Pacific Pinball Museum evolved from the Lucky JuJu and was organized as a nonprofit in 2003. It’s our 21st year as the PPM in 2024! We’ve been in Alameda the whole time.
It’s been a while since the last Annex sale. When did it start, and when was the last one?
The first Annex sale was 2018. Our last one was pre-pandemic in 2019.
Pandemic. That definitely had an impact on the museum. Before I moved to Alameda, I had visited PPM while on vacation, and fell in love with the place. I remember watching from the East Coast and being rather sad when Facebook showed me a picture of the Museum, dimly lit, with rows of machines, powered off.
I actually ran the museum on the last day we were open on March 12, 2020, before we preemptively closed as a public space just a couple of days before the official shutdown occurred. We reopened June 15, 2021, a span of nearly 15 months! We stayed busy during the shutdown—creating a new exhibit for patrons and embarking on a giant pinball photo archive project where we carefully photographed our historic collection in high resolution.
The proceeds from the Annex sale are benefitting your Capital Building Campaign. Is the 1510 Webster location maxed out?
We have 103 games for play in our Webster Street location, and we’re pretty packed to the gills. We might have the world’s largest collection with an additional 1,300 games in our annex building!
So, expansion? A new location?
We would like to have a larger museum space for all of the games, exhibits and classes we hold—optimally at least 300-400 games. We are envisioning a second location in the Bay Area but we are open to expand out further.
What sort of items can one expect to find for sale?
We’ll have a variety of pinball and electromechanical (EM) arcade games from the 1960s and 1970s available. Around 15 ready to play pinballs, 25 project games and 20 games good for parts. We’ll also have beautiful pinball backglasses from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, and pinball playfields. We’ll have several ready to play EM Arcade games and 20 EM project games. Most of the pinballs will be from the 1950s, but we will have games from the ‘70s and ‘80s as well.
Some of our readers might not know the term backglass. That’s the artwork on the “head” of the machine, where you see the score displays. The older ones are truly works of art. Are they preserved in any way?
Those vintage backglasses have been sealed from behind to reduce further flaking.
Good to hear. For anyone who is looking for some unique pop culture to hang on their walls, it’s tough to beat these original pieces of Americana. What if someone’s not in the market, but still wants to help?
People can donate any amount of money any time via the PayPal Donate Now button on our website. Visiting the museum to purchase gifts, dropping some change into our donation box at the museum or just telling family and friends about us is very supportive! We really prefer people and their families come to play to support us.
We are always happy to partner with folks regarding estate planning. We would love to develop our corporate matching if fans are willing to talk with their employers. We are a platinum certified nonprofit.
The PPM is such a delight as a visitor. What do you find rewarding as Executive Director?
We have an amazing crew of employees, and a dedicated pool of volunteers that allow us to operate and work with real passion. I’m very proud to be part of what we consider to be the true Smithsonian of Pinball, with the largest and most chronologically diverse pinball collection, creating real exhibits and doing real research. It’s amazing to see three generations of a family come to the museum and play games from the 1940s all the way up to the 2020s!
The Pacific Pinball Annex Surplus Game Sale will be held this Sunday, June 2, from 10:00 a.m. until noon, at 1680 Viking Street, Bldg. 169 on Alameda Point. This is the back side of the former Pottery Barn Outlet building. The sale is silent auction format. Cash or credit cards only. Items for sale will be clearly marked and arranged and volunteers will be available to answer questions and assist. Please make sure you can take your items home immediately, as all purchases must be removed by 1 p.m.
The Pacific Pinball Museum is located at 1510 Webster Street, open Tuesday through Sunday at 11 a.m. The Museum closes at 9 p.m. but stays open until 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Scott Piehler hosts and produces Alameda’s only weekly news digest podcast, the Alameda PostCast. Reach him at [email protected].
