# Pinball Line-ups Near Me **Source:** Cary Hardy **Type:** video **Published:** 2019-01-13 **Duration:** 8m 56s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8ajuGUQFyk --- ## Analysis Cary Hardy documents the scarcity of pinball machines on location near his home in Texas, visiting Penn Stack in Allen to play their lineup of 9 games (mostly in poor maintenance condition). He shares his effort to convince a new entertainment venue being built near his home to add pinball machines, resulting in a commitment to place Guardians of the Galaxy Pro and Deadpool Pro, contingent on performance. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Penn Stack in Allen, Texas has a lineup of 9 pinball machines (Iron Maiden, WrestleMania, Star Wars, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Game of Thrones, Batman 66, Ghostbusters, Spider-Man), but most are in poor maintenance condition — _Direct observation during location visit; speaker visually documents the machines and their state_ - [HIGH] A new entertainment venue (bowling, arcade, movie theater, bar/grill) being built near Cary Hardy's home will feature Guardians of the Galaxy Pro and Deadpool Pro pinball machines — _Speaker reports direct communication with the venue corporation; machines confirmed within last 24 hours_ - [HIGH] The venue corporation initially stated (5 months prior) they had no plans for pinball, but reconsidered after speaker's advocacy about the rising pinball market and local enthusiast demand — _Speaker recounts direct communication exchange with venue management_ - [HIGH] The venue corporation cited poor financial performance of pinball at their other locations as reason for limiting to only 2 machines rather than more — _Direct quote from venue corporation representative to speaker_ - [MEDIUM] Iron Maiden machine at Penn Stack has recurring issue with ball getting stuck in divots on the playfield — _Speaker's observation; notes this is reported as common issue by other Iron Maiden owners_ ### Notable Quotes > "If you exclude the machines that I have on locations, then yes, there are no pinball machines near me." > — **Cary Hardy**, early in video > _Establishes speaker's role as an operator with machines on location; illustrates local pinball scarcity_ > "They will be putting a Guardians of the Galaxy Pro and a Deadpool Pro on this location... the person stated that the whole reason they're even putting in two is due to my request for it" > — **Cary Hardy**, mid-video > _Key announcement of new pinball machines coming to location; demonstrates operator advocacy impact_ > "At their other locations that pinball tends to bring in little to no money." > — **Cary Hardy (paraphrasing venue management)**, mid-video > _Reveals operator concern about pinball financial viability at casual venues_ > "It's exciting to see that pinball is definitely getting more and more available on locations. And that is definitely where it needs to go and thrive." > — **Cary Hardy**, late in video > _States speaker's belief that location play is essential to pinball market health_ > "Majority of home users... tend to most likely be premiums but even just the pros people don't usually have that five to six thousand dollars in cash to throw on a machine where they could just play it every once in a while at their local pub" > — **Cary Hardy**, near end > _Articulates economic barrier to home ownership and importance of accessible location play_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Cary Hardy | person | Content creator and pinball operator with machines on location; advocates for increased pinball availability | | Penn Stack | organization | Entertainment venue in Allen, Texas featuring bowling, redemption games, and 9 pinball machines; visited by speaker | | Allen, Texas | location | City where Penn Stack is located; approximately 45 minutes from speaker's home | | Guardians of the Galaxy Pro | product | Pinball machine confirmed for placement at new venue venue near speaker's home; Stern manufacturer | | Deadpool Pro | product | Pinball machine confirmed for placement at new venue venue near speaker's home; Stern manufacturer | | Iron Maiden | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack with reported playfield divot issues; speaker achieved top score at location | | WrestleMania | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; speaker criticizes as 'not a good game' but notes it's cleaner due to low play | | Star Wars | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; noted as filthy and in need of cleaning | | AC/DC | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; also mentioned as recently installed at restaurant bar near speaker's location | | Game of Thrones | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; speaker indicates low personal preference but notes will play it | | Ghostbusters | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; speaker notes hasn't played yet but needs cleaning and waxing | | Spider-Man | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack with non-functional target; filthy condition; potential left outlane magnet issue | | Batman 66 | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack as part of their lineup | | Aerosmith | game | Pinball machine at Penn Stack; noted as filthy by speaker | | The Munsters | game | Pinball machine speaker expresses preference for over Guardians of the Galaxy; speaker hasn't played but anticipates preference | ### Topics - **Primary:** Location pinball scarcity and accessibility, Machine maintenance quality at commercial locations, Operator advocacy and community engagement - **Secondary:** Pinball financial viability at casual/non-dedicated venues, Game selection and lineup composition at locations, Home ownership economics vs. location play - **Mentioned:** Market growth signals for pinball on location ### Sentiment **Mixed** (0.55) — Speaker expresses frustration about local pinball scarcity and poor machine maintenance (negative), but is optimistic about new venue bringing pinball machines and believes market is growing (positive). Enthusiasm for The Munsters over Guardians of the Galaxy suggests game selection preferences matter. ### Signals - **[business_signal]** Venue corporation reports pinball generates 'little to no money' at their other locations, indicating revenue generation challenges at casual (non-dedicated) venues (confidence: high) — Direct statement from venue management to speaker: 'at their other locations that pinball tends to bring in little to no money' - **[community_signal]** Individual operator successfully advocated for pinball placement at new commercial venue through direct communication and market education over 5-month campaign (confidence: high) — Speaker reports initial rejection, followed by advocacy explaining market trends and local demand, resulting in confirmed machine placement - **[market_signal]** Pinball on location availability increasing and becoming more viable despite historical challenges; framed as market growth signal by speaker (confidence: medium) — Speaker states 'it's exciting to see that pinball is definitely getting more and more available on locations' and asks audience about market trajectory - **[competitive_signal]** Speaker expresses stronger preference for The Munsters over Guardians of the Galaxy despite not having played Munsters, suggesting game theme/aesthetic appeal matters significantly in player choice (confidence: medium) — Speaker: 'I haven't played the Munsters but I can already tell I think I gonna enjoy that more than the Guardians of the Galaxy' - **[market_signal]** New entertainment venue committing to pinball machines (Guardians of the Galaxy Pro and Deadpool Pro) based on operator advocacy and perceived market demand, despite prior skepticism about pinball financial viability (confidence: high) — Venue initially had no pinball plans; reversed decision after speaker's advocacy campaign; now placing 2 Pro machines conditional on performance - **[product_concern]** Multiple pinball machines at Penn Stack in poor maintenance condition (filthy, non-functional targets, playfield issues), indicating operator neglect or lack of maintenance knowledge/resources (confidence: high) — Speaker's visual inspection documents 'filthy' condition across 8+ machines, specific mechanical failures (Spider-Man target, Iron Maiden divots), and potential magnet issues --- ## Transcript Oh my god, I need a haircut. What's up everyone and welcome back. I wanted to make a quick video discussing pinball on location. More specifically, pinballs on location near me, of which there really are none. If you exclude the machines that I have on locations, then yes, there are no pinball machines near me. Except just recently, there is a restaurant that just put an ACDC into their bar area, so that's actually a plus. So now whenever I'm having a passing through that area, I'll usually stop by there and play a couple of games. But the next best place for me to go to is about maybe 45 minutes from my current location. And that would be Penn Stack in Allen, Texas. I recently went there. I've been there a few times, of course. But I recently went there with a couple of more friends and we decided to play some pinball, of course. That's why we go there. We don't go there to bowl or to play the redemption games or there to play some damn pinball They have a very decent lineup and here is that footage of that lineup? We are currently at Penn stack in Allen, Texas Here we have Jason playing some iron main direction playing a three-player game let the rest of us play All right And here's the line up here, Iron Maiden. Some of the things I've noticed on this machine at this current location, one, I'm gonna have to talk to the manager about if they have anybody maintaining these machines because evidently they don't because they're all like filthy. But one a lot of the times the ball keeps getting stuck right there where there a bunch of divots You Iron Maiden owners let me know that a common issue for the wood to be beating the shit out of But that's one of the issues on that game. Then we have WrestleMania. This is just not a good game. I'm sorry, but it's just not a good game. It's here, though. Probably the most clean one besides Iron Maiden because no one really plays it. You have Star Wars. ACDC. Aerosmith. Game of Thrones. Batman 66. Ghostbusters. And Spider-Man. Now, almost all of these games are, like, filthy. Just, like, completely dirty. I got one target over here on Spider-Man that does not work, so I can't get against Sandman there. And I haven't played Ghostbusters yet, but I will. But it needs a good cleaning and waxing as well. This one, I'm almost willing to bet that there is a magnet on this left out lane, because I think every ball I had just got sucked over here to the left side. I don't know. I'll have to look at it. But it's all so filthy as all get out. I'm not a big fan of Game of Thrones but I'll probably give it a shot give it another play Aerosmith dirty oh my god are y'all waiting on me I didn't know you're gonna suck that bad I ended up winning that Iron Maiden game with my friends and actually put the top score on that machine for that location so that was a pretty good moment for me although I didn't record it so therefore there's no proof but if you go there to Allen Texas if you just happen to be in this area then maybe my initials will be on that top of the charts. What sucks is that I have to drive 45 minutes in order to even get to this establishment so 45 minutes there 45 minutes back when you got a family and kids and a job a lot of the times that something that just not capable of being done on the regular But lucky for that we have a location that is being built right now and is planned to be completed within the next couple of months They've essentially got the shell put up, and that's all we've got to go on. But it's going to be a place that's got bowling, it's got an arcade, it's got a movie theater, I forgot how many screens, like six maybe, and bar and grill. So it's everything that's going to be amazing. And it just so happens to be near my house and even near my work. So that makes it even better. I'm looking forward to lunch breaks now. I was really curious about what machines they were going to be putting on this location. I assume since the flyers for this project being built were specifying that there would be an arcade, I was curious if there was going to be a row of pinball machines. So I contacted the corporation and asked them, hey for this location being built are you planning on putting any pinball machines in? That was like five months ago and they said at this time there are no plans but they will look into it. I played a quick case with them explaining that pinball is definitely on the rise again and we have plenty of enthusiasts in this area with no place to play together. So fast forward to yesterday I sent them a question asking if they were going to be putting any machines on this location. So this time they had an answer for me. They will be putting a Guardians of the Galaxy Pro and a Deadpool Pro on this location. So it's only two machines and I asked why only two and they specified that at their other locations that pinball tends to bring in little to no money. So that's a good reason while they're not putting in more than just the two or even any at all but the person stated that the whole reason they're even putting in two is due to my request for it hell i even asked if they were able to possibly tell the distributor of the games if they can essentially they can keep their guardians of the galaxy and bring in the monsters pro about time this place is up and going the monsters is going to be out for sale no problem and i would rather have a monsters than a guardians of the galaxy i just saying I haven played the Munsters but I can already tell I think I gonna enjoy that more than the Guardians of the Galaxy Nothing against Guardians of the Galaxy, but I think I'm gonna like Munsters more. What I'm hoping for, and what they've said, is that if these machines do well, then they will look at putting more in. So yay, I've got something to look forward to in the next couple of months. It's a place where I could go for lunch, have me a beer or something like that, some food, play a couple of games of pinball, and then get back to work. Or when I get off work, stop by somewhere, rinse and repeat. I have a feeling that a good portion of my paycheck is going to be going to this place. But it's exciting to see that pinball is definitely getting more and more available on locations. And that is definitely where it needs to go and thrive. Because not everybody individually and households has the cash to throw out for a pro let i mean just even a pro but majority of home users and they do buy machines tend to most likely be premiums but even just the pros people don't usually have that five to six thousand dollars in cash to throw on a machine where they could just play it every once in a while at their local pub so what do you think is pinball on the rise on locations are we going to be seeing more and more machines being pumped out and put into local areas possibly even supermarkets like maybe walmart something like that maybe i think if we start seeing pinballs at walmart's and pinball is i don't think pinball can get any more popular than that comment down there let me know what you think about pinball on locations and if you think it's going to keep on rising or are we headed for a crash let me know down there. I want to know what you think. Be sure to give me a thumbs up on this video if you like what you've seen. And if you haven't already, hit that subscribe button. That way you can be notified of whenever I upload material for your viewing pleasure. Until next time, guys. Peace out. _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 49b36a53-04f5-4fcc-a004-e66ace78ca81*