Tri City Pinball was started to bring more awareness and excitement to the pinball community of Saginaw, Bay City and Midland. We have strived to bring new concepts and ideas to the area that were lacking to say the least. We have hosted many leagues and tournaments in our area which have all been IFPA sanctioned.

 

We beleive that Pinball offers more than just entertainment for a few. Pinball is a great social game that will bring many people of all different social stratas together for hours of fun, laughter and comraderie. People of all ages enjoy pinball and can find common ground.

 

In 2012 I placed an ad on Craigslist offering to buy Pinball Machines that were not being used. I received a call from a gentleman that owned an arcade route and Bowling Alley in Northern Michigan. He said "Come pick them up or I'm throwing them away". Well for $250 and the cost of a 20' Uhaul truck we drove up to the great white north and picked them up. Most of them were non working arcade games but we didn't care, the price was right! Soon after that I received an email from a local guy to Bay City that said he could repair most electronics and was already repairing Arcade games and Pinball machines. We decided to give him a try and he was great at what he did. We were very lucky to get this guy working for us.

 

After we got most of the games working and sold we contacted the gentleman up north and asked what he had for $2000. He said get a bigger truck and come back up there. Well we didn't need to hear any more, we got a 26' Uhaul and made another trip. This time it was 9 Pinball Machines, 6 arcade games and 1 15' pneumatic bolwling alley. Again most of the games needed some TLC but we were up for the challenge. We fixed them up and sold them through Craigslist and Ebay. We continued to buy and sell for another year putting up 30k miles on my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited. We were buying pins from MI, OH, PA, IN, IL and WI.

 

In 2013 we were on most of the pinball communties radar as they couldn't help but notice all the machines popping up on Craiglist from the "guys in Bay City".  We met a lot of people in the pinball world that year from attending most of the local events in the state. We helped support the shows by bringing games for the free play rooms and spreading the word about them. We also met a lot of great people around the State of MI that had been doing this for a long time, far longer than we had been doing it. 

 

In 2014 we opened the only Free Play pinball parlor in the State of Michigan. It was designed to introduce pinball to a crowd that remembers the "Good Ole Times" and help them share it with their families. We encountered man obstacles that were unforseen and somewhat complicated. We were shut down by the City of Bay City for Zoning regulations that were overlooked. Once we passed those hurdles we re opened and continued the celebration of pinball. 

 

Unfortunatly in July of 2014 we had to close the Pinball Parlor down due to some Medical issues and it becoming more work than 2 guys with "Real" jobs and families could handle. It will always be fond memories for me and my family. Now I run it out of my house and host leagues and tournaments for the enjoyment of the "Pinheads" that are in the TriCities.