By Andy Valencia
What happens when a place to digitally detox meets a museum? That would be a great description of the Den of Pin, the latest Vashon hangout. Pay a small cover charge, then step away from the relentless world of 5G, AI, and social media. In their place, enjoy playing vintage pinball machines. And we do mean vintage; an electrician from the 1920s would have no problem understanding and then servicing any one of these games.
We sat down with owner Mo Davis, who – while not a 1920s electrician – has mastered all the ancient skills of electronics in order to bring this roomful of pinball machines to life. He offered us a drink, and we requested the cheapest, yellowest beer on his menu. Placing the bottles in front of us, he recommended we finish them before they warmed up and their full flavor came through. He has much better beers available, but it felt right to drink something that hearkened back to the era of smugglers and bathtub gin. Over our cheap beers, we learned about Mo’s labor of love.
Modern pinball machines, like all the rest of the world, are chock full of CPU’s, LCD or even OLED screens, and all sorts of software. The generation before them was “solid state,” which meant there were transistors and logic circuits. Keep going back and you’re finally standing shoulder-to-shoulder with that 1920s electrician – the game’s bell rings because an electromagnet pulled a clapper against it. A “bumper” thrusts the ball away with another electromagnet – and it detects the ball because it bumped into a finger of metal, which closed a contact to activate the bumper.
All the rest of these games are also built from the same basic electronics. An electromagnet advances your score counter. A weighted piece of metal hangs straight down; if it touches the circle of metal surrounding it, the machine ends your game. That’s the so-called “tilt” sensor, to keep you from physically lifting the game to keep the current ball in play – that is, to keep you from cheating.
We came across one machine, powered off and with its play table lifted up so you can see the electronics usually hidden inside. The game wasn’t broken; Mo just likes to leave one like this to let customers appreciate the complexity and ingenuity behind one of these pinball games. So many sensors, and electromagnets, and lights – each in its precise place, with bundles of wires reaching along tidy, purposeful paths to connect all the items.
One could trace each wire, but that’s not necessary. Amazingly, there are manuals and wiring diagrams for every single pinball machine at Den of Pin. Even the oldest machine – made in the 1940s – has had its documentation preserved by a worldwide community of pinball enthusiasts. Those enthusiasts are surrounded by a community of pinball players, and of course pinballmap.com lets them find pinball parlors anywhere in the world. Mo’s place is listed, and he believes it’s the only parlor featuring exclusively electromagnetic games.
Mo’s parlor has already drawn in its share of visitors – not just from the US, but reaching all the way out to Norway and Japan. The Norwegian player loved the parlor so much that he cancelled his Seattle-side hotel and relocated to a rental right on Vashon. It’s not just individuals; Mo’s parlor hosts actual tournaments, with competitors lined up at the machines to demonstrate the ancient skills of pinball wizardry. Even as we sat and talked with Mo, a 10-year-old boy right across from us broke the record for that particular pinball machine.
Mo is still dialing in his parlor’s design. We interviewed at a table with a view of Bank Road. At one point he broke off to examine the new window treatments going in – blackout curtains. “I want this to be its own little world; you can come in and play, and when you go back out to the street, I want you to be a little uncertain about what time it is.”
An island of retro tech right in the heart of Vashon Island.
About that digital detox. Ironically, Mo said he’s reluctantly going to start accepting digital payment options at the door. He hates letting big banks take a cut of his business’s success, but too many people would rather walk away than break out a $10 bill. Maybe a couple hours soaking in the electro-mechanical ambience of Den of Pin will help bring them back to a world where computers are neither needed nor wanted.
Den of Pin Roughly 29 machines available to play 9919 Bank Road (across from Luna) Available for events! (503)381-3923
