Tim Arnold is the ultimate pinball fanatic. A foul-talking, chain-smoking cranky collector of nearly every machine that ever graced the corner of your local pizza parlor, Arnold runs Las Vegas’ Pinball Hall of Fame. He loves saying things like “Today’s yuppie fucks are too self-centered and full of their own shit and their own selves to bother doing community service. I like a civilized society, and civilized society is based not on only the greed of me and more stuff for me.”

We like him already. But we’re pointing out this great feature on him over at Las Vegas City Life because of the following gem of a quote. When asked why he actually allowed visitors to his pinball museum to actually play the games (and for the original price to boot), Arnold responded:

“This is commercial equipment,” Arnold says. “It’s not art. These are old, tired street whores that belong out in the alley with their legs in the air and their slots open, ready to make money. That’s what they do. They don’t sit in somebody’s rec room.”

Tim’s exactly the kind of collector we like: the kind of guy who collects fun things so the next generation can have fun with them too. He’s not a collector for collecting’s sake or simply so he can bilk the maximum profit out of other people who might actually put a collectible to its given use. His collecting is utilitarian, not merely historical or profitable. He’s not the kind of collector who storms the local Toys ‘R’ Us to buy up the rarest action figures before some grubby kids have the gall to actually ruin them by playing with them. He’s the guy buying them, then cracking out the case and lthen handing them to the kids with a gruff “Here ya go, ya fuckers.”

An excellent, highly entertaining feature… go check it out.

Full Tilt [Las Vegas City Life]

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