Please reach us via the contact form on the home tab if you cannot find an answer to your question.
This section will change as we progress through 2025 and 2026. Currently we do not have "walk in" hours. Admission will be based on signing up online for Open Play, Tournament, or Special event.
Open play will be $25 per person. This is for the person that just wants to hang out and play pinball, no tournament play, no pressure. A minimum of 54 machines will be on free play. A select few will be on coin play with the focus of coin drop contributing to Julie's Mission. Machines on coin play will be noted on the GAMES tab. Participating in coin play machines is OPTIONAL! We are currently working on expanding to allow even more in the free play lineup. Special event and tournament costs will be listed separately.
Playing pinball! Upon entry, $5.40 of admission is an immediate contribution. Furthermore, 54% of all coin sales are added to this. A portion of machine sales are also added. We are exploring additional ways to contribute in the future. The remaining is put towards operating costs. The use of John and Eric's machines are donation based off their passion for pinball.
We will begin announcing Open Play, Tournaments, and special events as we get closer to opening this fall. We anticipate these being up to one weekend day per week. Possibly add on a weekday if necessary.
We own the small lot behind the building in the southeast corner accessible from the alley. You are welcome to park there if there is room. There is also an abundance of street parking in many directions. DO NOT park in the small lot to our north. This is for the people who live next to us and have signs hanging up so there shouldn't be any confusion.
Some of the finer details about Julie's may be found here
We welcome beginners and competitive play. We provide a good balance for the novice and expert player. Adjusting difficulty back and forth per machine is a time consuming process. We consider difficulty settings on a game-by-game basis. A general rule of thumb is as follows:
Some Free play machines will be set at a higher difficulty.
Coin play machines will observe settings somewhat easier than those on free play. These machines will offer an opportunity for a replay based on score. Most coin play machines will offer extra balls.
Match feature for coin play will be off (or 0% for modern games). The philosophy behind the match feature dates back to the days when game times were extremely short and rewarding a player with a free game based on randomness was warranted. With much longer game times with newer machines and with coin play supporting Julie’s mission, we are comfortable turning off the match feature.
Occasionally. Most of the machines at Julies are on loan from John and Eric's private collection. Sometimes Julie's will buy machines to refurbish and sell in order to keep up with operating expenses. When a machine is listed for sale we will include a price next to the title here on our website under the "Games" tab.
At this time we do not sell games on consignment. There are a few reasons for this. Some are for the reasons we sell games as noted above. Some are for the reasons explained in the question after this, below. Additionally there is the complexity of warranty repairs and support following a sale.
Many have generously offered to loan us their game which we appreciate! Before our own games arrive we invest a fair amount of parts and labor in them before arrival. For the sake of consistency it's difficult to balance these efforts on a game owned by someone else. For newly manufactured games this is less of an issue and may be able to accommodate. Either way, we thank you for having us in mind to consider this! There are some locations around the country that are "collectives" with a potluck or pinball club approach. This does work for some folks but is not our approach. We are in a unique position with Julie's Mission in mind.
Our main collection focus is towards classic and unique machines. We don't intend to purchase every new released title. We wouldn't be above to cover our operating costs taking this approach and working with Julie's Mission would not be possible.
For "Solid State" pinball machines, manufactured in 1978 and newer, please see John's business site Pinball Plus for current service availability. Generally speaking, John is slowing down with repairs as he's been in this business since the 80s and wants to focus on the machines for Julie's
For Electromechanical machines 1977 and prior to, that's Eric "reelhouse". Eric works beyond full time leading a service team for a medical device manufacture. This keeps him busy at least 50 hours a week. His own collection is on a 4 to 5 year waiting list as it is! That being said, he is happy to show you the way towards some great resources to self teach, just as he did as a kid.
John and Eric have collected pinball machines for a majority of their lives. Eric and his father bought Eric’s first machine when he was 10 years old. Over the years they have networked with many in the industry and hobby. With John owning two retail stores and continuing repair business, some customers choose to sell their machines over time. The most common reason is downsizing their homes/ becoming empty nesters.
Selling parts is not something we are set up for at this time. We only carry a limited number of generic parts on site for emergency repairs and a few extra things if we are working on something in our offices. We source our parts from the same places most collectors and retailers go. Over the years we have been asked if we carry (insert game-specific aftermarket part) and that will most likely not be the case. However some folks who make their own parts occasionally contribute to us along with some extras. In that case it’s a special surprise!
John: The one the works
Eric: The next one to restore that hasn't been played in decades so other's can enjoy again
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.