CORBIN, Ky. — The Pinball Museum of Corbin has been in operation for two years. 

What You Need To Know

  • Out-of-towners are much of the patrons that visit the Pinball Museum of Corbin

  • The museum offers a family-fun environment

  • There are over 100 pinball machines with unique ones that other places may not have

  • The museum will move into a bigger building that can fit over 250 pinball machines

Travis Coleman has a yearly membership and was thrilled when he heard the museum was opening.

“I think I signed up for the membership day one and been here a good bit since then," said Coleman.

Coleman started playing pinball when he was about eight years old with his father. It was a way for the two of them to spend time together.

Through the years he has learned that there is more to pinball than the flashing lights.

“My wife thinks it’s all random but there is a really deep strategy and the more you play each machine, you can learn the strategy for that game and there’s overarching strategies, but each machine has its own ruleset that can change," said Coleman.

Now that he is a father himself, he has passed that tradition and his love for pinball along to his own four children.

“I have a 12-year-old daughter so she loves pinball so anything I can get that I can spend time with her, you know, in these formative years is great," said Coleman.

Coleman takes his children to the museum on special occassions, and he goes about once a week.

Making the pinball museum a family-fun environment is what owner Jim Bruso's goal has been from the start.

“We’re a family environment," said Bruso. "We don’t serve alcohol like other bars and a lot of people, you know, come from Lexington cause all they have is bar arcades up there and they want to bring their family down here to enjoy a nice atmosphere of playing games and good times.”

There are over 100 pinball machines in the museum, drawing out-of-towners to see machines that other places may not have. The Pinball Museum of Corbin has old-school pinball machines, arcade games, and the world's largest pinball machine, the 1977 Hercules made by Atari.

Bruso has more machines that don't currently fit into the space, but he has a solution for that.

“I’ve rented out another building a block down the street that’s 10,000 square feet so we’ll be able to put over 250 machines on the museum side," said Bruso.

He hopes to get the museum up and running in the new building as soon as possible.

To play at the museum, a bag of quarters is not needed to use the pinball machines. There are single sessions, different types of passes, and memberships.

 

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