Yesterday I accompanied my godchildren to the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park, N.J., where over 200 playable games sit just off the boardwalk.
The Silverball is part arcade and part museum. On top of each machine is a placard illuminating a bit of its history. A 10-dollar pass buys you an hour of time and a chance to play vintage pinball machines dating back to 1933. Museum owner Rob Ilvento has acquired an interesting collection of machines.
You definitely get the feeling that the museum is a lifelong labor of love, just like The Museum of UnCut Funk. Since the museum’s capacity is maxed out at 200 machines, Ilvento and his staff rotate the games in and out of the museum. This works out well because the machines need plenty of regular maintenance.
At the end of the day I had a great time playing on pinball machines from my childhood and watching my godsons have fun playing “old school” games from “back in the day.”
