Where to buy pinball parts (lamps, balls, rubber kits) in Las Vegas or San Francisco

[mcoster]

Hello guys,

I have a Super Mario Bros Pinball and I live in Brazil. This not a good combination...

Parts for pinball are either very, very hard to find or very, very expensive. I know that there are a lot of webstores in US that sell parts but the shipping costs to Brazil is high and our government wants a cut in everything...

This year, on vacation, I will spend 3 days in San Francisco and 3 days in Las Vegas. I would like to check with you whether you know some place I can buy some parts (lamps, ball, rubber kits, manual) in those cities?

Then I will contact them to check if they have what I want.

Thank you,
Moises

[SubaruBrat]

In San Fran there is always; http://www.bayareaamusements.com/

Another thing you might want to consider is going ahead with orders from any US companies that have parts that you need or want and have them ship it to your hotel in Vegas. Pretty much all of the hotels have a way to receive boxes for guests, I have done it several times. Where are you staying?

Nice pin too, that one is on my list to own!

[mcoster]

Hello ,

Haven't decided yet. I am between Luxor, Golden Nugget and maybe New York New York.

I will have a rental car for the period and parking is free (I read), so I think that a stay at the Golden Nugget isn't a bad deal? What do you think?

Also, I intend to do my own EGC, going to Pinball Museum, Insert Coins and GameWorks. Have this need since I heard it in the podcast.

Following your tip, once I decide about the Vegas hotel I will call them about receiving my purchase from US pinball stores. I will check with them if they can keep until i arrive (if it arrives early).

Thank you,
Moises

[SubaruBrat]

The Nugget is fine but I would suggest going with the Luxor, it is a bit nicer and the location is great. The Mandalay, Luxor and Excalibur are all linked and you can easily walk up and down the strip. My advice would be to stay there but for sure take an evening to head down to Fremont and enjoy that too.

Assuming you stayed at the Luxor, they have a business services office that will receive your packages and hold them for you. They aren't very picky about it arriving early so don't worry there. Just follow the instructions on their site, here; http://www.luxor.com/meetings/meetin..._services.aspx

Most hotels have the same basic setup, so if you stay elsewhere just check to see what they offer. And yes, almost all the hotels have free parking, about the only exception I can think of is the Plaza downtown but they don't charge guests. When are you going?

[mcoster]

I will be there on April 6th to April 10th.

After that I will go to San Francisco and will finish with 5 days in Honolulu (catch up on scuba diving).

Too bad I only have 15 days of vacation :-)

I do not wan't to nag, but do you recommend a very good buffet with seafood?

Thanks again for the tips...

Moises

[SubaruBrat]

No problem man, I and Socal love playing Vegas travel agent. The Rio has a really good one, that would be my first choice, and the Bellagio is also a good one. And as long as your at the Rio.... Penn and Teller is a killer show to see and one of my favorites, Rat Pack is Back, is also at the Rio and you can't go wrong with either show.

You might want to read over our CGE/Vegas guide as there are more tips in there. One thing I should point out is unless there is a show you MUST see you can pick up tickets for less than you can buy them in advance by using the Tickets for Tonight Kiosks that are spread around the strip and Fremont. There are plenty of people trying to sell show tickets that are not always legit but I have never had a problem dealing with these guys.

[retroshaun]

Bay Area Amusements are all you need. They are, I think, in San Jose which is about an hour or so drive south from San Francisco.