OVIEDO, Fla. – When News 6 hits the road, we always like to look for hidden gems in the community, and that’s exactly what we found in Oviedo.

Tucked away off Broadway Street, inside a very non-descript building that houses the Oviedo Bowling Center, is one of the largest working collections of pinball machines in Central Florida.

Ed Klamp and Kurt van Zyl opened The Pinball Lounge more than a decade ago. It features about 50 pinball machines spanning nearly 50 years.

“You’re looking at games that start from as early as 1976, all the way to games that came out literally just a few months ago,” van Zyl said.

The owners have another 200 machines in storage, which they rotate regularly to keep the experience fresh for returning visitors.

“We have big reveals! We bring machines in and people will be hugging the machines because they’re so ancient,” van Zyl said.

The Pinball Lounge attracts visitors from all over the world, including Germany, Denmark, and even Japan. Many of their customers are repeat visitors, drawn back by the nostalgia and excitement of the games.

So where did this passion for pinball begin? When both men were kids, they both received pinball machines for Christmas. Even though they grew up at different times in different cities, a chance encounter eventually brought them together in the late 1990s.

“So I was looking in the classifieds in the newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel, for used pinball machines and an ad came up for back glasses. That’s the artwork on the back of the machine,” van Zyl said. “My mom took me to this lady’s flower shop in downtown Orlando and she handed me a phone number, and she said, ‘Hey, this guy Ed really likes pinball, too. You should give him a call,’ and here we are! That was 1997.”

The two became fast friends. Fast forward to 2015 when they decided to do something with all the machines they had collected over the years and open The Pinball Lounge in 2015.

Today, The Pinball Lounge hosts several league events and statewide pinball tournaments, providing a space for people of all ages and abilities to enjoy the thrill of pinball.

For more information on events and times, head to ThePinballLounge.com.