Budapests basement boasts of Europes largest pinball collection
Date
3/24/2015 4:31:18 AM
(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) On busy weeks an average 400 people show up losing themselves in the maze of games and mesmerised for hours. More than half of the visitors are foreigners.
googletag.display(''div-gpt-ad-1403017634913-0'');
Visitors play in the pinball museum in Budapest Hungary. — AFP Budapest — Glistening signs flashing lights and non-stop tinkling lure scores of tourists in Budapest to Europe’s largest pinball museum where a passionate collector is bent on reviving the once-popular pastime.
In the basement of a nondescript apartment house Balazs Palfi displays a unique collection of over 140 working machines that has turned into pilgrimage site for pinball enthusiasts.
“Video games cannot replace them” insisted the 42-year-old Hungarian on a busy Saturday in his museum. “Since the 1990s pinball machines have disappeared from most bars. But there is now a renaissance of pinball culture.
“From bars and pubs the pinball scene moved to museums and collectors” he said.
Launched less than a year ago Palfi’s museum became a quick success. Open to the public five days a week it has become a top attraction in Hungary’s capital according to the popular travel website Tripadvisor.
Most machines are usually available and visitors are encouraged to play as long as they want for an eight euro ($9) entrance fee.
On busy weeks an average 400 people show up losing themselves in the maze of games and mesmerised for hours. More than half of the visitors are foreigners.
“We don’t have them anymore in England it is a retro thing” enthused one visitor who identified herself as Kim. A Canadian tourist shrieked with delight saying: “Oh my God I have not played ‘The Simpsons’ since I was a kid!” The oldest piece in the collection dates back to 1871 when the ball had to make its way though dozens of pins on a wooden board.
Flashing vintage machines from the 1980s and 1990s feature popular rock bands like Guns N’ Roses and ACDC or movies like Indiana Jones” or Star Wars. Horror and space themes notably are in vogue with tourists and hipsters flocking to the noisy cave-like setting.
A handful of arcade games such as “Space Invaders” or “Mortal Kombat” are also available.
Only a fifth of the machines were bought in Hungary. The rest Palfi located and shipped from 16 different countries including the United States Belgium and France. Hungary itself never produced pinball machines. The only known game in Hungarian was adapted from a Spanish game and is called “Mesevonat” (Tale Train) and is on display at the museum.
Each item is labelled just like in a real museum with its production date the name of the manufacturer the designer the artist and number of units produced.
Palfi started to collect games six years ago on an auction website. He loved the games as a kid and played a lot during his university years studying economics saying with a smile: “I had a lot of time back then.”
For more news from Khaleej Times follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/khaleejtimes and on Twitter at khaleejtimes
Follow khaleejtimes -->