FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — A love of the lights and the sounds, it wouldn't be an understatement to say Tim Trickett has a passion for everything pinball. 


What You Need To Know

  • Tim Trickett opened the Fernandina Beach Pinball Museum

  • It has about three dozen machines dating from the 1950s to now

  • For him, it was a new passion that started with one machine and it grew

“Oh yeah," Trickett said, "it sure will build your hand-eye coordination.”

A retired mechanical engineer, he took his lifelong work and found a new passion in pinball, starting with just one machine in November of 2014. 

Seven years later, the collection has expanded a bit. Right now he has upwards of around three dozen machines dating from the 1950s to now. 

One reason he took his hobby and decided to share it, opening the Fernandina Beach Pinball Museum in Nassau County. 

His collection spanning decades, giving you a glimpse at the history of pinball. 

“From an electronic perspective, there are about five generations of electronics in this room," Trickett said. 

Enthusiasts will definitely notice the classics machines made by companies like Gottlieb and Stern that dominated the industry over the years and you will be in for a treat with just how much Trickett knows about each machine and its quirky facts.

“This one was built in 1993. They only made 27,000 of them and the value has only gone up," Trickett said. 

You can even take a look at how pinball got started, Trickett has a 1932 Baffle Ball machine on display an early pinball machine that operates without flippers. 

It is a trip through the decades of pinball, all through the eyes of Fernandina Beach's very own pinball kingpin. 

“I mean it's fun to have but you know now I share it with everybody by letting them come in and play," Trickett said.