In 2015, Romeo’s Hotel (inspired by the love motels on Route 66) and Paradiso Hotel (a tribute to pink contemporary art) already housed their own pinball machine, the first with a bingo theme and the second dedicated to Formula 1 with a dash of sexy seventies. What is it about these trendy items that have seduced everyone and given them eye-watering price tags?
Pinball is known in other countries as petaco, million-dollar machine, pinbola or flipper, among other names, and they are also a feature of Bar Luce, located in the Fondazione Prada complex in Milan. This space, designed by famed film director Wes Anderson, recreates a traditional Milanese Café of the fifties and sixties, incorporating elements of Prada’s classical-meets-new-age aesthetic. Anderson has filled the café with Formica furnishings in Prada’s trademark soft pastels, terrazzo flooring, trompe l’oeil wallpaper and pinballs dedicated to Steve Zizou. There must be something about them if Concept, Prada, and Anderson are on the same wavelength. Concept is known for incorporating vintage pieces and furniture in their seven establishments, and some of the hotel landings have a pinball or jukebox from the sixties or seventies. It is another way of differentiating themselves from the rest, which they aim to do when building their brands. They also have a 1966 Casanova pinball machine and a 1968 Wurlitzer Americana II in their offices.
Romeo’s pinball is atypical due to its size, as it is shorter than the ones manufactured at the time. Paradiso’s is electromechanical, characterised by the true sound of the ball strike and its analogue scoreboard. Another expert on these mechanical marvels is the collector – and friend of Diego’s – Sören Manzoni. “Let me tell you something,” he says from his garage in Barcelona: “Between the fifties and the sixties, the pinball industry grossed more than the film industry worldwide. And Spain was the second-largest producer after the United States!”
Sören’s place is no ordinary garage. Manzoni’s Garage, which is the name of his particular Willy Wonka factory for adults, is a museum that houses pieces from the seventies, eighties and nineties. This retro fever is represented by approximately: 20 limited edition pinball machines, 150 radio cassette players and boom boxes, 100 lunchboxes, 1,000 skateboards, legendary motorbikes and everything else a nostalgic person could wish for.
In 2018, Stern, the biggest pinball manufacturer in the world, and the only one to maintain production when arcades began to lose ground to home consoles, created the most valuable machine in history, in collaboration with Supreme, the New York skate boutique that has captivated big names such as Louis Vuitton. Only 100 units were made, they sold out in 10 minutes and today are worth more than 400,000 euros. Stern’s pinball collaboration with Stranger Things has been as popular, with a limited edition of 500 units valued at 9,000 euros each. “It’s funny, back in the 2000s, if you removed a pinball machine from an old bar, they were grateful as they didn’t know what to do with it,” says Manzoni.