BANNING, Calif. — Chris Campbell, a world-famous pinball enthusiast, known as "The Captain," bounces around the world-famous "Museum of Pinball" in Banning, California.

"This is the largest collection of pinball machines to be open to the public," Campbell said as he strolled down a long row of machines.  

The museum is 44,000 square feet, loaded with examples of almost every pinball machine ever made since about 1959. Some of them are among the rarest in the world.

"They're never gonna make 'em again," Campbell added as he stopped to admire the Zidware Magic Girl American pinball machine.

"So out of 16 in the entire world, there's one here!" Cambell exclaimed. He said the machine is valued at around $20,000.

Naturally, The Captain, who sports a pirate tattoo on his arm, is attracted to a rare and valuable "Pirates of the Caribbean" machine. He stops to play it.

"How does it feel to play a pinball machine that's probably valued at $30,000?" Campbell asked out loud as he beat on the flipper buttons. "It feels awesome."

Long before Xbox or Playstations, some cities actually banned pinball machines, lest they attract n'er-do-well juveniles, many of whom have apparently reformed and now pilgrimage to this famous museum to pull the plunger on a historic pinball from their youth.

But younger "pinheads"—that's what pinball wizards call themselves these days—like Heidi Castro come here too. Aged 30, she is in a competitive pinball sports league.

Today she is at the museum playing her favorite machine, "Bride of Pinbot," frantically using body English in a vain attempt to alter the ball's course as it careens from bumper to bumper. She was so fixated that she barely acknowledged the question when asked: "Why are you here instead of playing a console game at home like other 'gamers' her age?"

"Because I love pinball," she shouted above the literal bells and whistles that were going off as she played. "Pinball's great!"

Campbell, 56, also has a hard time explaining why he pines for pinball.

"I don't know," he said while rubbing the "back glass" of a machine—that portion of a machine that has the scoreboard and is painted with elaborate art. In fact, these machines are insured as "works of art."

"I just love the feel and the curve of a pinball machine," Campbell said. "That's how I roll."

Campbell grew up playing pinball and remembers cutting school to visit arcades. But, for the record, The Captain does not self-identify as a "pinhead."

"I only own about 150 of 'em," he said sarcastically.

If that's the cut-off, then John Weeks qualifies as a pinhead. He owns quite a few more than Campbell.

"I own about 800 pieces of pinball machines," he said, before adding, "and about 12,000 (video) arcade games."

This is Weeks' museum, into which he's invested over 30 years and millions of dollars. 

But every game comes to an end. Weeks is liquidating the entire museum. The cost of insurance, rising real estate prices and COVID-19 conspired to make the museum "tilt." 

"It's all going. Yep," Weeks said, his voice cracking. "I'm sad because each one of these is like, a child to me. They've been with me for so long."

Castro is also crestfallen. She is a regular visitor, but this is the last time she will play her beloved "Bride of Pinbot."

"I'm really happy that I'm here, right now, to check it out one last time," Castro said. "But (the closing) is a travesty. It shouldn't happen."

But Campbell is feeling bittersweet about the museum's demise because it presents him with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He just happens to own a reputable pinball auction company called "Captain's Auction Warehouse." 

Weeks contacted Campbell and tasked the pirate with selling off the treasures. All of the machines will be auctioned off over two weekends. 

Campbell situated himself in front of a packed audience on the auction's first day. He spoke into the microphone to welcome the crowd.

"You'll never see this collection of pinballs in the history put together, lined up… ever again in the same room," he told them before launching into the auction.

"Lot number one, the Amazing Spiderman Pinball Machine right here, by Gottleib," Campbell said. Then he began to speak in the familiar auctioneer's staccato.

"Twenty one-hundred to go, one time! Twenty two-hundred? What do ya' say?" he asked the crowd. "What are you going to do?"

A thousand people packed the auction pit. Some of the crowd spilled outside and watched the proceedings over a large screen monitor. Over 3,000 people queued up on the internet to make a play to pay.

After the auction, which lasted nearly six hours, The Captain snuck back into the museum for one last play on anonymous online bidder 3177's bootie—a very rare "Gottleib Spirit" machine that sold for over $6,000. By breaking up this collection, isn't The Captain plundering one of the world's most iconic collections of pinball machines?

"No!" he said defiantly. "To do an auction, and organize an auction that attracts collectors, enthusiasts and people that may put it back in a museum... That's what the museum is about in the first place. I sleep well knowing that."

"And that's the game!" Campbell said as his third and final ball disappeared between the flippers.

The auction will pick up again from Sept. 24 through Sept. 26 at the Museum of Pinball in Banning.