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About Us

Taking my love of pinball from a simple start at age 10 where I used to play pinball in a local Woolworth department store while my mother shopped. I remember loving Gottlieb’s single player Atlantis. Then around 14 years old I have many great memories playing pinball in the bar section of my Dad’s restaurant. He and I not only challenged each other but loved to compete with the regular patrons. The best game we played then was Gottlieb’s four player “Spirit of 76”.

Years later I remember the hours and hours I would spend with my friends at the local arcade. Eventually falling for arcade games like Tron, Donkey Kong, Galaga,  and Ms. Pac-Man.

In 2005 when I discovered eBay, I was instantly brought back to my childhood by searching the Internet for my long lost favorite games. I immediately found a two player version of “Spirit of 76” called “Pioneer”. At that point my home office was converted into a mini game room.

In 2015, I took a friend to the Free Play Florida in Orlando. We had a great time and got hooked for several hours on a Bally pinball “Flash Gordon”. Much to my surprise several days later, that exact game went up for sale on the Internet. I called on it and was lucky enough to become its new owner. From there I spent literally hours, weeks and months researching how to fix and restore pinball machines.

From that point my garage started filling up and overflowing with newly acquired classic pinball machines from the mid-60’s thru the mid-80’s. I discovered not only how it allowed me to use my hands, brains and talents but also allowed me to express my creative side. At that point I knew I needed to go deeper into the hobby and set out to search for a local warehouse where I could move everything into from my garage.

I found a perfect warehouse one town over and struck a deal with the landlord. On June 1, 2016 I moved everything over and Pinball Restorations was underway!

With things moving along and customers responding well to our work, May 1, 2018 I was able to purchase and move into a glass building of my own on a busy main road. It is perfect with high traffic visibility, large showroom, glass front, large work area and a separate work garage space for messy work like sanding, painting and buffing. 

I love what I do and have been very pleased and excited with the look and outcome of the fully restored pinball machines I have done.

joe