Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum is an arcade and museum currently located in Farmington Hills, Michigan. It is devoted to a large collection of coin-operated animatronic dummies, mechanical games, and other curiosities, many of which are functional and can be operated by visitors.[1] Exhibits include, for example, the gypsyFortune teller machine that used to feature in many carnival sideshows.
History
Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Emporium was founded by Marvin Yagoda, a pharmacist who collected antique arcade machines.[2] Yagoda was a recognized expert in the field of mechanical and electrical game apparatus; he has been involved in appraisal of such items for the television series American Pickers.[3][4] The museum opened in the Tally Hall shopping center in Farmington Hills in the early 1980s,[5] and moved to the city's Hunter's Square shopping center in 1990.[5][6]
Marvin Yagoda died on January 8, 2017, at the age of 78,[7] after which his son, Jeremy, assumed control of the museum.
Relocation
In November 2023, RPT Realty, then-owner of Hunter's Square, proposed a major redevelopment of the center, which would involve demolishing its northern building, including Marvin's, to construct a Meijer Grocery store.[8] Jeremy Yagoda vowed to fight "tooth and nail" against the proposal,[8] and an online petition opposing the plan gathered more than 50,000 signatures on Change.org.[9] The redevelopment plan was unanimously approved by the Farmington Hills Planning Commission during its November 16, 2023 meeting, at which dozens of supporters of the museum spoke in opposition to the plan.[10][11]
The Farmington Hills City Council approved the redevelopment plan on February 12, 2024.[9] Jeremy Yagoda announced that he would seek a new location for the museum.[12] RPT then sold the center to a local developer in April 2024.[13]
Jeremy Yagoda announced in December 2024 that the museum had secured a new location at the Orchard Mall, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the north in neighboring West Bloomfield.[14] The new space has an area of 14,000 square feet (1,300.6 m2), .more than double the size of the museum's current 5,500-square-foot (510 m2) space.[15] The Hunter's Square location is slated to close permanently on January 5, 2025, with the new location expected to open later in 2025.[14][16]
^Semion, Bill (2000). Fun with the Family in Michigan: Hundreds of Ideas for Day Trips with the Kids (6th ed.). Globe Pequot. pp. 59 of 352. ISBN978-0762708086.