Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum

Posted by Bill on Friday, August 24, 2007   |   No Comments

Marvin Yagoda is the man behind this incredible collection of coin-operated amusement machines of every kind imaginable. It all started with a $500 nickelodeon from Ann Arbor, Michigan. That was in 1960, and he’s been collecting ever since. In 1990, he opened a 5,500-square foot museum in Farmington Hills, MI, that’s also part video arcade. Nowadays, it’s run by his son Jeremy who continues to mold and modify the collection. It’s always changing says Jeremy, and no two visits will ever be exactly alike.

Visitor favorites are machines that have to do with love and torture according to the owners. But there’s something for everyone. The museum displays items of magic, neon, antiques, airplanes, robots, animation, posters and every sort of odd and unusual coin-operated games, clearly the biggest draw. They range from the old gypsy fortune tellers of the early 1900s to modern video games, and most of them are playable.

Veteran visitors to Marvin’s caution first-timers: “Your first visit will not be your last.” It’s the kind of place where the more you look, the more you see. And everywhere you look—including the ceilings—there’s something to see. So why not go often? Admission is free, and it’s not like you’re going to find another one out there anywhere. In fact, Marvin’s is listed among the World Almanac’s 100 most unusual museums in the U.S.

Although Marvin’s is filled to the rafters with the odd and unusual, the museum’s Web site calls out the following oddities for special attention:
A fifty-five piece mechanical orchestra that can play more than 300 different songs
A Siamese twin doll from the early 1920s
A Merlin fortune teller machine that does an actual magic trick
A collection of wonderful automata (wooden mechanical animation)
A life-size statue of the world’s tallest man
The Cardiff Giant, which was once displayed by P.T. Barnum
Working models from England, once displayed at a Brighton Beach resort
A large collection of historical and vintage fans
More than 50 airplanes circling overhead
A 40-foot high wall of early stone lithograph magic posters, some as wide as 15 feet
An electric chair, rumored to have used at Sing-Sing prison from the 1930s to the 1950s

If you go to Marvin’s, take plenty of coins because many of these oddities are actually playable. If you want a taste of Marvin’s before piling in the car and heading to Farmington Hills, you can visit Marvin’s online. Open 365 days a year, Marvin’s is located at 31005 Orchard Lake Road (corner of Orchard Lake Road and 14 Mile Road). Hours are M-Th. 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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