Playing Flipper Parade at Silver Ball Museum Arcade and Pinball Hall of Fame, Asbury Park Boardwalk. Photo © Tricia Vita
Back in May, I visited Asbury Park on assignment for Games Magazine to write a feature on the Silver Ball Museum Arcade and Pinball Hall of Fame. This year-round mecca for pinball wizards and wannabes is a great day trip via NJ Transit from Penn Station. A $20 wristband lets you play all day. Silver Ball is quite a playground, with 200 lovingly restored machines from the electromechanical wonders of the 1930s and ’40s up to the solid state electronic games of today. The little boy in the photo is playing Gottlieb’s Flipper Parade, a 1961 add-a-ball game featuring pop bumpers, slingshots, gobble holes and an animated cannon that fires a ball when a free shot is made. My article on Silver Ball and other places where you can play vintage pinball year round is published in the October 2011 issue of Games (on sale through September 12).
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Amusing the Zillion 
The combination of extremely interesting colors and fascinating typefaces made the older machines quite artistic and show a care of design that has to be the result of having pride in one’s work. I’m impressed greatly.
It was a pleasure getting to play so many rare machines, especially the ones from Gottlieb. There’s a placard atop each one that tells its history. There were a few photographers with tripods taking photos of the art. Look forward to going back with friends!
The Silver Ball has been on my “to do” list for awhile … I need to get it “to done”! :)
I’ll keep an eye out for your Games article!
Happy flipping, wherever you may roam!
I went to the Silver Ball last Winter, need to go back and get my fix of Satin Doll, Eight Ball and Odin!
[…] Aching for old school pinball arcades? Never fear fellow gamers, Jersey holds the cure. [Amusing the Zillion] […]
[…] Aching for old school pinball arcades? Never fear fellow gamers, Jersey holds the cure. [Amusing the Zillion] […]