Dutch Pinball Museum

Note: this is the Dutch pinballs museum OLD location. They moved in 2020 to a new location in Rotterdam.

The Dutch pinball museum in Rotterdam is definitely worth a visit. Or better, an 'useum' as founder Gerard likes to call it. This is not a boring museum, but a place where you can (and must) use everything.

And there is enough to see. When you enter the building at the right there's a small showroom, showcasing machines from Jersey Jack Pinball (like Dialed In and The Hobbit) and Chicago Gaming Company (Attack from Mars remake) and some more. The first time I visited there was also a Houdini. Further inside are some of the latest Stern machines (The Munsters, Iron Maiden, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy). Continue and there's almost every WPC and WPC-95 machine ever made available to play. This really is an impressive collection ! And behind that row there's another row with mainly System 11 games and some other rare machines.

If you are interested in the history of pinball, you should go up the staircase immediately behind the register, then you start at the oldest machines. There's a row of flipperless pinball machines on display, the line continues to playable electro-mechanical and first generation electronic, and at the far end of the first floor are some Gottlieb electronic games. Some rare ones too, like Q-Bert.

Most visitors seem to be tourists or people who want to play, the recent games are played almost non stop. Yes, the museum is a popular attraction, it's best to come early when it opens if you want to play specific machines without having to wait too long. On a lot of games there's a sheet with some background information. The walls and ceiling are covered in playfields and other parts. And to make this really a museum, spread around in display cases are molds that were used by the Williams factory to make specific pinball parts like ramps and other plastic decorations. These are unique, one of a kind parts of pinball history.

The first time I visited most machines were working well, although some needed a good cleaning / adjustment. The second time (which was right before their move) more machines were having problems, but because of the move they may have delayed repairs. In any case it's an impressive feat to keep so many machines operational.

The Dutch Pinball Museum is one of the largest pinball museums I have visited and one of the best. I wish it were more close to where I live so I could visit more often. Should I live in Rotterdam, I would be here every week probably..
When I started playing pinball, 20 years ago, you almost couldn't find any pinball machines on location. You had to search for bars, buy the machines for yourself, or get to know other collectors. Nowadays pinball is more popular again, but still if you want to play a specific game, it can be difficult. Except when you go to the DPM. There you have almost every game you want to play. I've played a lot of titles I owned in the past and really like (like Earthshaker, Whirlwind, Twilight Zone). I played brand new games that I wasn't able to play somewhere else yet (like Houdini, The Munsters, Black Knight SOR). I played rare games, some which I had never seen before (like Ticket Tac Toe). Anyway, I played a lot !

That's what everyone does at the DPM. Play pinball, enjoy it, and have a great time. The location found the right mix between being an arcade and having games to play, and being a museum. The owner is passionate about pinball, and does a lot to promote his museum and pinball in general. On their website are interesting posts and videos of famous people visiting the museum.

The DPM is really worth a visit. Rotterdam too, so if the rest of your family isn't interested in pinball, there's enough to visit and see to keep everyone happy.

hotel new york rotterdam
View across the water, from the hotel New York.