Over the past week, I wrote a series of posts on the arcades that I was able to sneak in visits to on my recent Family Vacation to Colorado and Wyoming. I’m going to share them here to save them from disappearing into the Facebook ether and save them for posterity.
First up we have Lyons Classic Pinball. Below is the write-up, pictures and video from the visit. The video was a little tricky because I went from super light to super dark and either the wide-angle lens or the image stabilization doesn’t like that, but it’s still cool. Enjoy!
“OK here we go - the big one, Colorado arcade stop #4…Lyons Classic Pinball in Lyons, Colorado.
Opened more than 20 years ago, Lyons Classic is by far the largest pinball location in the state. Ryan Wanger, the well-known owner of the major pinball bulb supplier Comet Pinball and tournament pinball player, bought the iconic location towards the end of the Pandemic. And it was great for the hobby that he did because he more than doubled its size to its current whopping 67 pins (list below).
Not only is there that many pins, but all of the ones that I personally played while was there played perfectly. Working on coin drop, the collection is a great mix of the newest games out there like JAWS from Stern all the way down to the best of the best classics. All of the major tournament games that I frequently see in tournament streams are there.
One of the coolest things that I saw was a small room that is big enough for a single pinball machine that they put a Stern Stranger Things Premium in. Not only does this machine have the immersive UV Kit in it, they have wired up the kit to external UV lights that bathe the entire room in black light when a player enters the Upside Down…it’s wild. The plan is to finish out the room with decorations from the show, like the Christmas lights on the walls, to make it one of the most immersive pinball experiences that I’ve ever seen.
I hit Lyons on my drive from Colorado to my cabin in Wyoming and Ryan was kind enough to let me in an hour before open to take tons of pictures and video for everyone, both of the main floor and of the incredible pinball speakeasy-like basement section. Below are the pics and the current list of games, courtesy of Pinball Map. Enjoy!
AC/DC Pro (Stern, 2012)
The Addams Family (Bally, 1992)
Alien Star (Gottlieb, 1984)
Andromeda (Game Plan, 1985)
Attack From Mars (Bally, 1995)
Avengers: Infinity Quest LE Stern, 2020)
Banzai Run (Williams, 1988)
Batman 66 Premium (Stern, 2016)
Black Hole (Gottlieb 1981)
Black Knight (Williams, 1980)
Black Knight: Sword of Rage Pro Stern, 2019)
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Williams, 1993)
Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy (Bally, 1975)
Card Whiz (Gottlieb, 1976)
Cirqus Voltaire (Bally, 1997)
Cleopatra (Gottlieb, 1977)
Doodle Bug (Williams, 1971)
Eight Ball (Bally, 1977)
El Dorado (Gottlieb, 1975)
Flash Gordon (Bally, 1980)
Foo Fighters Premium (Stern, 2023)
Frontier (Bally, 1980)
Funhouse (Williams, 1990)
Genie (Gottlieb, 1979)
Godzilla Premium (Stern, 2021)
Grand Prix (Williams 1976)
Guardians of the Galaxy Pro (Stern, 2017)
Harlem Globetrotters On Tour (Bally, 1978)
Hercules (Atari, 1979)
Indiana Jones: The Pinball Adventure (Williams, 1993)
JAWS Pro (Stern, 2024)
James Bond 007 Pro (Stern, 2022)
Jurassic Park Premium (Stern, 2019)
Kismet (Williams, 1961)
The Mandalorian Pro (Stern, 2021)
Mars Trek (Sonic, 1977)
Medieval Madness (Williams, 1997)
Metallica Pro (Stern, 2013)
Monster Bash (Williams, 1998)
The Munsters Premium (Stern, 2019)
Old Chicago (Bally, 1975)
Paragon (Bally, 1979)
Playboy (Bally, 1978)
Prospector (Sonic, 1977)
Pulp Fiction SE (Chicago Gaming, 2023)
Rick and Morty SE (Spooky, 2019)
Rush Pro (Stern, 2022)
Seawitch (Stern, 1980)
Sinbad (Gottlieb, 1978)
Space Time (Bally, 1972)
Spanish Eyes (Williams, 1972)
Spider-Man (Stern, 2007)
Spider-Man Home Edition (Stern, 2016)
Stranger Things Premium (Stern, 2019)
Strato-Flite (Williams, 1974)
Strikes and Spares (Bally, 1977)
TRON: Legacy (Stern, 2011)
Team One (Gottlieb, 1977)
Terminator 2: Judgment Day(Williams, 1991)
Time Fantasy (Williams, 1983)
Total Nuclear Annihilation (Spooky, 2017)
Twilight Zone (Bally, 1993)
The Walking Dead Pro (Stern, 2014)
White Water (Williams, 1993)
The Wizard of Oz Emerald City (Jersey Jack, 2013)
Wizard! (Bally, 1975)
World Cup Soccer (Bally, 1994)"
Wow, Lyon’s is great way to spend a day. Nearby are some bars and live show venue with food, beer, live music and pinball machines supplied by Lyon’s. Any locals want to weigh in?