The Pinball Mecca of the Outer Banks

The Pinball Mecca of the Outer Banks
Big Bang Bar & More in the Outer Banks

There no longer are any pinball machines in my hometown. The last one remaining hold out sold its last pinball machine a few months ago. The good news is that I purchased it!

My own collection helps feed my pinball thirst, but sometimes one can get tired of your own collection. I have been having that itch to play some new games or at least different ones.

The many excellent pinball and game room shows are great places to help scratch this itch, but there are also some great places to go play that are available year round.

One such place is in the upper part of the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Grandy, North Carolina is a very small town that looks like a place that maybe has a good bingo hall at best for entertainment. The idea that there is one of the greatest pinball arcades in the country is unbelievable.

Within the small town of Grandy, North Carolina is a pinball Mecca by the moniker of Flippers.

Flippers is not just an arcade with a few pinballs tossed in the back as an afterthought. This place is obviously operated by a serious pinball fan.

Pinball as far as the eye can see

How many arcades have you been to lately that have a Big Bang Bar, what about a Cactus Canyon, Medieval Madness (with a color DMD no less), Attack from Mars (again with a color DMD), The Addams Family, Monster Bash, Creature from the Black Lagoon — this places is just dripping in classic 90’s pinball machines.

But the fun does not end there. Flippers also has been buying new Stern games.

And again not just the usual stuff either. Some serious money has been spent on this collection.

There is an AC/DC, but again this is not just a Pro version of the game and it no regular premium model either. It is a limited edition Let There Be Rock version! Sitting next to it is an LE Rolling Stones, then an LE Tron Legacy, an LE Lord of the Rings, an LE Avengers, LE X-men Magneto, Spider-man LE Black edition, and more. It is all pretty amazing and unbelievable.

Like I said…a pinball Mecca.

And I have not even talked about any of the games in the back room yet either.

90's pinball

There are plenty more 80’s and 90’s classics such as Funhouse, Cyclone, Tales from the Crypt, Indiana Jones, Cirqus Voltaire, Johnny Mnemonic, JackBot, Lost in Space and more.

LE’s as far as the eye can see!

For seriously old school fans there also was a Space Invaders (the pinball), Rolling Stones (the old Bally one), KISS, and a Xenon that looked and played like new (the nicest Xenon I have ever seen).

The back room is loaded with treasures too…

More pinball

A few other pins that I have not even mentioned yet are Star Wars (the Pinball 2000 one and the Data East one), Revenge from Mars, Avatar, and Batman the Dark Knight.

The games nearly all played perfectly. A few pinball machines in the back room could use some adjusting, but that just feels like nitpicking considering that most games played great.

This is my new favorite place to play pinball. I am fantasizing about buying a summer house in OBX, so I can visit Flippers more often.

The back room...still more pinball

Flippers also has classic arcade games and several newer arcade games also. So if your kids come along and they are not keen to the amazing awesomeness of pinball, they can still have fun here.

Flippers sells some cool pinball-related t-shirts and other memorabilia items. So bring a few extra bucks with you, as you probably will see something cool you want to take home with you.

They have a snack bar and convenience store attached. So you can load up on the snackage and play all day. Sounds like a dream to me.

Arcade games at Flippers

I will be dreaming of the day I can come back.

PS: Down the street is a great old-school diner called Mel’s Diner. The service and food are great. A perfect compliment to the perfect pinball arcade.

Mel’s Diner is almost like a trip back in time.