A new community for current and future pinball wizards is forming in Fenton.
The Lazarus Pinball Museum, 26 Western Plaza, will hold a tournament for players of all ages on Sunday, April 28.
Jennifer Groves said she and her husband, Jeremy, opened the museum on Feb. 29.
The museum has 40 pinball machines, six slot machines and a few arcade games, she said.
Groves, of Fenton, said the museum has been well-received by pinball fanatics and casual players alike.
“I’m really happy and excited it’s been taken so positively in our community,” she said. “People have traveled from Rolla and Springfield to experience our museum. That was a pat on the back and really cool to experience that.”
Groves said the Fenton area needed a place dedicated to pinball machines, and the museum will hold regular tournaments and league meetings to help kickstart a local pinball community.
The April 28 tournament is open for players of any skill level, she said.
Registration begins at 11 a.m. on the day of the tournament, according to the museum’s website, lazaruspinballmuseum.com.
Groves said a youth pinball league for those 8-16 began meeting on April 23 and will meet every Tuesday for an eight-week season. The league will have three age brackets, 8-10, 11-13 and 14-16.
“There are so many different ways to learn and play the game, but if you can have someone explain to you, then it tends to be more fun,” Groves said. “(A youth league) is not something we have in our area, and it’s something my oldest son (Daniel) is really looking forward to.”
From left, Daniel, Michaela, Sawyer, Jennifer and Jeremy Groves in front of the Lazarus Pinball Museum.
Groves and her husband have two other children, Michaela and Sawyer.
She said her family’s love for pinball machines stemmed from a memorable family vacation when they found a similar business with many pinball machine games to choose from.
“We spent six hours there,” Groves said. “We had no idea we had spent the whole day there – we never even looked at the time. It was so exciting to go to each machine and have a friendly competition. My grandfather had a machine, and my husband’s friends had them growing up, but it wasn’t a passion until fairly recently.”
Growing the collection
After the vacation, Groves said her family began collecting old, rare and fun pinball machines. She said she’s traveled more than 7,000 miles across America to grow the family’s collection.
Websites dedicated to pinball, such as pinside.com, and Facebook Marketplace are good places to scour for the best pinball machines, Groves said.
Rather than looking specifically for the oldest and rarest machines, Groves said she and her husband are more interested in the unique artistic designs on the machines.
“Original, or older machines, weren’t made to last, so it’s rare to find those in working condition,” Groves said. “We don’t really have a brand that we love; it’s more of the eras. Right now, we really love the ’80s and ’90s machines.”
Some artists whose designs are found on the playfields, cabinets and back glasses of pinball machines are well-known and celebrated within the pinball community, she said.
Groves said she and her husband have machines featuring some of those artists’ work, including John Borg’s The Walking Dead, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Austin Powers and Jurassic Park pinball machines. The museum also has artist Pat Lawlor’s The Addams Family and Monopoly pinball machines and Jim Patla’s Mata Hari, Space Invaders and Centaur machines.
“Artwork is number one for us when shopping because you can’t really duplicate that,” Groves said. “A lot of the pieces prior to 2000 were hand-painted.”
Groves said the museum’s collection will periodically change, and she and her husband swap machines.
Fun for all ages
Groves said one goal of opening the museum was to provide a safe, nostalgic space for adults and children to have fun together, adding that many pinball machines are located inside bars where kids aren’t normally welcome.
“People have been bringing their children, their families, their friends, their grandchildren,” Groves said. “There are so many older gentlemen that will say, ‘Oh my gosh, you have such and such machine. I used to play that when I was younger.’ There are so many stories because (pinball) was a major form of entertainment for a lot of the older generations.”
Groves said the museum is already beginning to see a growing number of regulars stop by to play.
Pay for unlimited play
The museum has three pricing options. The first is the “Try It” level, which costs $12 for 90 minutes of open play on any of the museum’s games and is good for those who are new to pinball.
Another is the “Like It” level, which costs $16 for three hours of unlimited play.
The third is the “Love It” level, which costs $20 for unlimited, all-day access, which die-hard fans enjoy.
In addition, the museum will have one machine, which will change weekly, that costs 50 cents for a single play.
Whoever gets the highest score for that week on the selected pinball machine will be entered in a year-end tournament with the other weekly winners. The prize will be a portion of the money put in the pinball machines throughout the year.
“We’re excited to keep growing and come up with new ideas,” Groves said.
The Lazarus Pinball Museum is open from 3-10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday; noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and noon to 10 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed on Mondays. For more information, call the museum at 314-808-6611.