Gameroom, Pinball, Jukebox Collectibles

About Me

Hi!
I am Ralf Leonhardt born in 1956, living on the East coast of the United States in Maryland. Let me tell you how I became a big time collector of jukeboxes, pinball's and video arcade games.
I started my hobby in 1995. It was always my dream to own one of these machines. A friend of mine told me to go to a gameroom show and look there for collectible items to buy.
I went to Chicago and was a little disappointed, because everything I saw was mostly unrestored and it would have involved a lot of work to bring these machines back to their original glory.

I had to wait for the second day of the show and paid a $50 buyer's premium to go inside and see the restored game room items. After browsing around for a while, I saw a magnificent completely restored SEEBURG R.. What a beauty….and the sound…. terrific!! I was shaking. The guy asked $4900 for his Jukebox. I knew that was the one. I wanted it badly. After discussing the price, I finally got this beauty for $4600. Now I still had to rent a truck to get the Jukebox home from Chicago and that was not cheap.

What an adventure! When I got home, I found out that I had bought this jukebox from one of the best guys restoring jukeboxes to their original glory, Glenn E. Strope. Still after six years of collecting, Glenn is one my best friends. Since that day I buy most of my jukeboxes from him and I am now the proud owner of three completely restored and most collectible Seeburg jukeboxes.
A SEEBURG R from 1954,
a SEEBURG V 200 from 1956 and
a SEEBURG C from 1952, like the one in "Happy Days".

How I got my first Pinball?
This is another amusing story.
I looked in the local paper and found an ad from a store in Virginia who sells game room items. One Saturday I went there and looked at his inventory. It was a small store with a nice decoration. In the front room a diner booth, pinball's, jukeboxes, neon signs and other collectibles from the 50's.
In the back there were more pinball's, but some to restore.
In their middle was the eye catching
NITRO GROUNDSHAKER.
I tried the Machine and got hooked. I ask the salesman to tell me more about this nice pinball. I liked the artwork on the back glass. He told me the name of the artist was Dave Christensen and he designed a couple of Bally Pinball's. Its got to be the first Pinball that I would own.

I could play it every night….What a dream!!
I took the pinball home and still enjoy this machine and it still looks as new as when I bought it in 1995.The salesman at the time, Lloyd Thoburn is still in business with even a much bigger store. I still buy games from him. He is always there to find an address, to solve problems on a machine or to help me out locating other games.

I bought my second pinball in another store in Virginia.
I had to come several times back to the store, because I was not sure about buying another Pinball. After a while I felt comfortable with the salesman and got SPY HUNTER for a very good price. I had a lot of fun with this game, but had to sell it after a while, because I decided I wanted strictly Games
from the artist "Dave Christensen".

The owner of this store, Daniel Mouton called me a couple of times and asked me about my growing collection. We became best friends and today I am through his help the proud owner of
WIZZARD,
FIREBALL,
OLD CHICAGO,
DOLLY PARTON
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, and
NITRO GROUNDSHAKER.
All these games have magnificent artwork
from Dave Christensen.

To my always growing collection I added:
ADDAMS FAMILY,
STAR TREK N.G.,
GETAWAY II,
BRIDE OF PINBOT,
TWILIGHT ZONE and
CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON.

I also added video arcade games like:
PAC MAN,
GALAGA,
Ms PAC MAN,
GORF,
CENTIPEDE,
BIG RUN and
OUT RUN most of them in the mini cabaret version.

I have now extended my gameroom and was able to increase my collection with some new pinballs like: Tommy, Indiana Jones, and Fishtales.

I also have added to my arcade video collection the new Ms. Pacman and Gallaga combined 20th Anniversary game.

After helping my friends in different stores I finally opened my own store in Thurmont Maryland, November 8, 2002.

So please call me at 301/ 748-8201 or 301-271-4200. You may also visit my website at www. Gameroom Treasures. com or come on down to my showroom where I always have a large variety of pinballs and jukeboxes for sale.

I am always looking to upgrade or change my collection.

So don't hesitate to contact me .

Jukeboxleo