Colorado Pinball - About us

About us

by John Balogh, Colorado Pinball LLC

I have been into pinball since I was very young. We used to go to our local bowling alley where they always had 3-4 pinball machines available for play. This was before video games were invented yet. I remember when "Pong" was delivered in the late 60's. Back then, "arcades" had rows and rows of pinball machines but no video games.

I had always wanted one and in 1989, I was finally able to buy my first game. A Gottlieb Raven. At the time it was not very old but certainly needed a lot of work. After rebuilding the cabinet, removing the mylar and fixing lots of electronic problems, we got the old Raven playing great.

Once we were done fixing up this pinball, we had to have another, and another. By 1990, we started our own route and had pinball machines and video games out on location, earning money. I suspect lots of route operators may have started just like this.

I never really got into the video games but with a coin op route operation, we were required to supply them. Over time, the fun wore off and we closed down the route. Sold off most of the games but saved a few pinball machines. Within a couple of years, our personal collection grew up again and we started Colorado Pinball. We had learned the art of "shopping" a pinball machine many years before and for me, working on the games was as much fun as playing them. Being able to shop, play and sell games was a perfect fit.

Shortly after opening Colorado Pinball, we got a contract to service all games coming in from a prominent ebay seller who was bringing in truckloads of games from Europe. His previous pinball shop was doing a horrible job and he needed someone that would do good work and try to improve his image. When we took over, his complaints stopped and his positive feedback on ebay soared. We worked on literally 400-500 games between 2001 and 2004. Working 16+ hours a day, 7 days a week takes a heavy toll however and we had to slow the business down a bit. Between this and the bad currency exchange rate with the Euro, he stopped selling pinballs in 2004. We ended our contract on good terms and depending on the exchange rate, we may start back up again at some point, albeit at a slower pace.

Since then, we have slowed down a bit but still sell high quality pinball machines and provide some of the best pinball service around. We have had people bring us games from all over the country for service. Over the last 15+ years in the business, we have shopped, serviced and/or sold close to 1000 pinball machines. We have the experience and know how to get your machine up to it's full potential.

There have been lots of upstarts and newcomers on the pinball scene the last few years. So called "pinball experts" that have a year or two of experience and worked on a mere handful of games. Don't let them fool you. There is no substitute for experience. We have a reputation for being able to fix anything and everything. If noone else can fix it, take it to Colorado Pinball.

Experience counts!

Need more information?

1790 Prospector Dr

Leadville, Co 80461

719 486 8950

or send us eMail