![]() These days, a vintage Addams Family pinball machine will set a person back roughly $10,000 on the resale market-and that’s not including the cost of maintenance and upkeep owners need to spring for if they want to keep the game operational. “They might be married with some young kids, and they’ll think, ‘I’m going to buy a machine and put it down in the basement in my man-cave.’ And then of course they get another one because you never want just one.” “People who were in college 10 years before now have discretionary income,” says Sharpe. Now, much of the buying power in pinball is held by players with a bit of nostalgia. That’s a marvel not just because other “hit” games at the time were selling between 8,000 and 14,000 units, but because back then most pinball games were being sold to coin-op distributors or arcades rather than private collectors. ![]() Released in March 1992 by Bally Games and inspired by the 1991 live-action movie of the same name, The Addams Family is, to this day, the most popular and widely sold pinball machine of all time, moving more than 20,000 units. To game lovers, though, the best of all that ephemera is The Addams Family pinball machine. First introduced via a single-panel cartoon in The New Yorker in 1938, Chas Addams’ creepy clan has spawned multiple entertainment properties, including a surprisingly short-lived 1960s TV series, two beloved live-action movies from the ’90s, two recent animated kids films, an upcoming Netflix series based on the life of young Wednesday Addams, myriad books and collectibles, and even a Broadway musical starring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia Addams. It reads “Do What You Love.For more than 80 years, the Addams Family has enjoyed a delightfully macabre existence. When he turns out the lights, one neon sign tends to go out just a touch later than the others. He has fun here, and he hopes to keep adding touches like more neon and video game button switches, and he still needs to figure out the drinking fountain so it serves Kool Aid. He has a classic Rolling Stones machine that takes just one quarter, just like the good ole’ days.Ĭorliss also has a lounge where he hopes live acts can play, though he expects those shows to be more muted than the ones he welcomes to the Moxi.Ĭorliss admits the place isn’t just for his kids. Corliss, however, specifically requested a class Ninja Turtles video game.Ĭorliss’ favorite pinball machine is Godzilla - yes, it plays the song by Blue Oyster Cult - and Jurassic Park. He lets Mile High Arcade of Denver pick his machines for him in another common arrangement, where the company loans him the machines and splits the revenue. “Going through Nashville encouraged me to think of this place as an art installation,” Corliss said of Stella’s. Corliss likes neon anyway: In another business of his, Luna’s Tacos, a pink neon sign that says “Till Death Do Us Taco” dominates the back wall. He liked how a few of them were decorated with neon. There’s another arcade in Greeley, simply called At The Arcade, as well.Ĭorliss found inspiration in the arcade bar business after touring a few of them in Nashville. His business model is one of several in northern Colorado. Corliss is following a trend of arcade bars, combining good drinks with good food and fun. He even has arcade tokens, though the machines take quarters as well. There are arcade buttons to turn on lights and a drinking fountain that he hopes will eventually serve Kool Aid. There’s neon art everywhere, with spares in a room for changing things up, including one that says “You Light Up My Life.” It’s the first thing Corliss turns on when he walks in. The place does serve alcoholic drinks but also has an ICEE machine, and Corliss hopes to establish the place as a killer burger joint. ![]() It’s fulfilling to put on concerts, but my kids don’t enjoy concerts.” “I’ve tried to build businesses the community will enjoy,” he said, “but this one my kids will enjoy. He even named Stella’s after the youngest of his two young daughters. Now he’s got his place for live music and a place for families, if you don’t mind a little alcohol around kids. This, more than anything else, explains why he opened a bar beneath the Moxi Theater stuffed with pinball machines, classic video games, air hockey and skee ball. It was time to do something for his kids. Ely Corliss did a lot for live music lovers in Greeley.
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