Inside the former Wonder Bread factory, players can find two floors of machines, from Rick and Morty to the Walking Dead to a vintage “Top Gun” knockoff called “Gold Wings.” The city’s largest public collection of consoles can be found at Solid State. Owner Nick Greenup, 40, started collecting pinball machines about 15 years ago. He had always played casually, mostly in Westport bars, but one day he found a machine just sitting in the trash. “I went for the stuff that nobody else wanted,” he says. Greenup began repairing machines and selling parts. “We take everything off the top of the playfield. We make sure all that’s rebuilt and clean and working well.” “Then underneath, there’s tons of wires and parts. KCUR 89.3 Nick Greenup is the owner of Solid State Pinball Supply where people can play on two floors of the former Wonder Bread factory and they can also buy parts and get their machines fixed. With his collection, Greenup began hosting tournaments, drawing competitors from around the region. He decided to finally open a full-sized arcade in 2020 - right before the pandemic hit. He wasn’t sure if the business would survive. Greenup saw people emerge with a renewed appreciation for arcades, and the sense of togetherness they offered. And pinball, with all its ‘80s and ‘90s nostalgia, was the perfect game for the moment. You got the physical buttons, and plungers, the moving balls.” You know, it hits all the key things,” he says. Lance Hinson is a co-owner at KingCade, which has one Mandalorian pinball game on the floor so far. And the rule sets on the new games are very deep.” “A pinball machine is totally different in that it’s three dimensional,” he says. Hinson says pinball has adopted a lot of features from the video game industry, from Wi-Fi connectivity to high-definition screens. KCUR 89.3 Lance Hinson, co-owner at KingCade in Oak Park Mall has one pinball machine in this arcade, but hopes to add more soon. He says the additions of high-definition screens, Wi-Fi capability and improved licensing with popular films and TV shows have increased the game's popularity. Ultimately though, Hinson says pinball is a game of real-life variables. “You can’t master it like you can with Super Mario Bros.” “There’s tons of skill involved from controlling that ball,” he says. It’s not just the competitive scene that’s returned in Kansas City. Greenup says the entire pinball economy is thriving - he can’t fix up machines fast enough to keep up with the demand.Ĭonsoles get bought and sold online just minutes after being posted, he says. “And before the first person gets there, they’ve gotten 20 calls saying, ‘I’ll give you more.’” “And if somebody posts a game that doesn’t know what it’s worth, it’s gone even faster,” Greenup says. Some local collectors have over 100 machines in their houses. “They’re building out their basements, game rooms at their house just trying to recreate that going-out-to-the-bar feeling.” “People getting a certain age that have the money to buy something like this for their home people looking for something to do been sick,” Greenup says. One such machine - a 14-year-old Shrek-themed console - lives in the basement of an Overland Park house, where repairman Chris Moore paid a visit earlier this month. The homeowner, Brad Warner, bought the console from Costco and keeps it tucked in a brightly-lit alcove, next to University of Kansas memorabilia and a tabletop Pac Man game. Moore eases off the machine’s glass cover and lifts up the wooden playing field to reveal a hidden tangle of wires, tiny motors and other electronics. “Every machine will test your abilities.” He dons a headlamp to peer into the mess. KCUR 89.3 Chris Moore solders a connection on the backside of a Shrek pinball playing field in a Overland Park basement Nov.
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