Don’t call it an arcade. There are arcade-like things about it… like dance-based video games, Skee-ball, and tickets — oh so many tickets. But Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum is a one-of-a-kind that you need to visit next time you’re in the North suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.
[Marvin] was there in person, as he is many days. He talked with us for a few minutes and we’ve folded his interview, along with footage of many of the attractions, into the video above.
He’s been collecting for more than three decades. The attractions are packed into every bit of floor space, spilling up onto the walls, and hanging from every spot in the ceiling. There are true antiques from both home and abroad that could be referred to as automatons, rows of fortune tellers, a track of large airplane models that make a loop around the establishment when fed a quarter, and much more.
Some of the attractions were build for him, like the robot band you can make out behind [Marvin] during the interview. It is a MIDI-based build that allows songs to be selected from a touchscreen. Soon to be on exhibit is a Tesla-coil-based offering which [Marvin] commissioned after taking second place to [Nicolai Tesla] on a list of oddest museums.
hmm i think i like the musee mechanique in sf better
I’ll add that one to my list if I’m ever in town, thanks!
Sounds like a new Tshirt/bumper sticker. “Take that trolls”
haha, “Take that trolls!”
This place looks like my childhood combined with my imagination [which is no longer with us unfortunately]. Awesome.
Went there with a friend from college who used to work there in high school. This place is indeed awesome. Best part was getting to meet Marvin, who since he knew my friend well, was more than happy to take us around the whole place and point out all his favorites.
I only know Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum from Tally Hall. This is real? Nice!
That large skeleton automaton with the weird Hieronymus Bosch-esque vision of hell looks very interesting.
My brother and nephews took my sons and me there some years ago. Really unique! NOT your typical arcade/skee-ball place. Lots of stuff you’ve never seen – lots of recognizable favorites. And he does an excellent job keeping it all working and running. Highly recommend!
I took a date there one time , it’s no fun unless you bring quarters for the machines. It’s advertised as a mechanical museum, but it is more like an arcade.
I was a bit disappointed.