Pinball machines line one wall, slot machines crowd a long row of pedestals, and ornate cash registers fill the foreground. This G.A.M.E.S. postcard offers a roomful of temptations for anyone who ever wanted to bring a little arcade atmosphere home. On the reverse, the business lists a Van Nuys address at 6626 Valjean Avenue.
Quick facts
- Business: G.A.M.E.S.
- Name: An early ad prints “American mechanical entertainment sales”; the initial G remains unexplained.
- Documented at this address: Advertisements by December 1976; creditor auction advertised for May 1984.
- Current listed showroom: Acue Lighting, checked November 2026.
- Van Nuys location printed on the card: 6626 Valjean Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91406.
- Second location: 10529 Ellis Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA 92708.
- Advertised merchandise: Pinball machines, slots, electronic games and jukeboxes for the home.
- Card credit: DEXTER Card by Locantore, Costa Mesa, California.
- Printed card number: 55798-D.
- Date: Undated; no visible message, stamp or postmark.
A showroom full of things to play
The photograph rewards a slow look. At the left are pinball machines with colorful upright backglasses. Across the middle, a long procession of slot machines stands on individual woodgrain cabinets. Jukeboxes rise behind them, while elaborate metal cash registers occupy the right foreground. Two compact game tables sit at an angle near the front, with cues resting across the nearer playing surface.
It is a wonderfully crowded display: curved jukebox tops, polished register cases, machine handles and glass playing fields, all set against paneled walls and patterned carpeting. The machines supply most of the decoration. Even without a customer in sight, there is plenty to keep the eye moving.
Bring the entertainment home
The reverse supplies the sales pitch: “Everything for your home, from Pinball to Slots to Electronic games & jukeboxes.” It follows with an enthusiastic invitation to visit G.A.M.E.S. that weekend and see the unusual machines awaiting shoppers.
That phrase—“for your home”—gives the photograph its context. These machines were being offered as something you could take home, with the postcard inviting readers to imagine their own space filled with games and music. The mix is part of the appeal: a jukebox beside a slot machine, a pinball game within reach, and a cash register that looks as decorative as anything else in the room.
The card lists two locations. The Van Nuys shop at 6626 Valjean Avenue carried the telephone number (213) 781-1300. The Fountain Valley shop at 10529 Ellis Avenue was listed at (714) 964-2711. Those are historical contact details reproduced from the card.
The photograph itself is not labeled by branch. Although the Van Nuys address makes this a welcome addition to the Valley postcard collection, the card does not establish whether the pictured showroom was in Van Nuys or Fountain Valley.
Pinball for the home by December 1976
A December 5, 1976 Los Angeles Times advertisement places G.A.M.E.S. at 6626 Valjean Avenue earlier than the magazine references. It promotes Bally’s Fireball for home use and prints “American mechanical entertainment sales” beneath the G.A.M.E.S. name. This early advertisement records the wording the store used beneath its name.
What does G.A.M.E.S. stand for?
The December 1976 advertisement prints “American mechanical entertainment sales” beneath the G.A.M.E.S. logo. That supplies the wording for A.M.E.S., but the meaning of the initial G remains unknown. Neither the postcard nor the March 1983 magazine profile spells out a complete expansion.
Joel and Shelle Gilgoff’s antique-machine showroom
A January 25, 1977 Los Angeles Times advertisement offered antique slot machines from $650 and said the shop also bought them. The February 10, 1977 clipping identifies the owners as Joel and Shelle Gilgoff, pictured together at the store. It describes a newly added antique-machine section with slot and digger machines, brass cash registers and nickelodeons, alongside reconditioned pinball and electronic games. The piece quotes starting prices of $295 for pinball and electronic games and $695 for slots. These were advertised prices at the time, rather than present-day valuations.
The main store in 1979
A G.A.M.E.S. advertisement in the October 1979 issue of Loose Change identifies 6626 Valjean Avenue as its “main store” and lists the same Fountain Valley branch printed on the postcard. Its inventory included antique slot machines, reconditioned pinball machines, jukeboxes, brass cash registers and video games, along with pool and bumper pool, foosball and other amusements. The advertisement supplies a firm historical reference for the two-store business, although it does not establish the postcard’s printing date.
Four locations advertised in January 1980
The January 6, 1980 Los Angeles Times sale ad lists Van Nuys and Fountain Valley alongside shops in San Diego and Torrance. Its home-entertainment inventory runs from pinball and slots to jukeboxes, brass cash registers, electronic games, poker tables, bumper pool and foosball. It also promises in-home service and a guarantee on machines. The “final week” wording refers to the advertised sale; it does not establish a closing date.
An advertised Atari Club in 1981
The April 24, 1981 Daily Breeze advertisement explicitly invites customers to join G.A.M.E.S.’ “exclusive” Atari Club. Buying an Atari cartridge qualified the customer for a club card offering discounts on later cartridge purchases and notification of new releases. The ad promotes Video Pinball, lists an Atari Video Computer System at $139.95, and names the Van Nuys, Torrance and Fountain Valley stores. This confirms that G.A.M.E.S. advertised its own Atari Club offer; it does not establish that the store operated Atari’s separate national club.
Cartridges and a game club by 1982
The business also reached home video game players. In its December 1982 game-club roundup, Video Games magazine listed G.A.M.E.S. at 6626 Valjean Avenue as a mail-order cartridge and accessory outlet. A $2 membership included a newsletter, and the listing described a buy-ten-cartridges, get-one-free offer. Together, these period sources document the business at this address in both 1979 and 1982, connecting the postcard’s mechanical amusements with the home-console market.
A visit from Electronic Games in March 1983
David Lustig’s three-page profile, “A Visit to G.A.M.E.S.” in the March 1983 issue of Electronic Games, pairs a portrait of Joel Gilgoff with photographs of the showroom, jukeboxes, slot machines and arcade cabinets. The article describes four Southern California stores, an extensive cartridge selection and a workshop that reconditioned older machines before sale. Gilgoff’s customers included overseas buyers as well as local shoppers.
The profile also draws a useful distinction: customers could try machines with an employee’s assistance, but the business was a retail showroom without an arcade license. Its photographs capture the mix of mechanical collectibles and home electronics that gave G.A.M.E.S. its character. Like the postcard, however, the article uses the initials without spelling out the full name.
A creditor auction advertised for May 1984
A May 13, 1984 Los Angeles Times notice announces a public auction at 6626 Valjean Avenue for Sunday, May 20, at 10 a.m. It states that G.A.M.E.S. was being sold for the benefit of creditors and that the sale was augmented. The listed assets include slot machines, pinball machines, jukeboxes, arcade games, Atari computers and software, office furniture and shop equipment. Because the sale was augmented, the notice should not be read as proof that every listed item belonged to G.A.M.E.S. It documents an advertised creditor sale, without establishing the business’s exact final trading day or confirming the auction’s outcome.
From the game boom to the 1983–84 downturn
G.A.M.E.S.’ expansion appears to track the wider growth of electronic entertainment: a shop selling pinball and mechanical amusements in 1976 was advertising four locations by January 1980, an Atari Club by April 1981 and a broad cartridge selection by 1983. These local records show the store bringing home video games into an existing mix of coin-operated machines and collectibles.
The industry’s transition began before the 1980s. The Computer History Museum’s history of Atari dates its arcade game Pong to 1972 and the Atari Video Computer System to 1977. The late 1970s and early 1980s brought arcade hits and cartridge-based home systems into a growing consumer market. G.A.M.E.S.’ April 1981 advertisement confirms that Atari products were part of its offering by then, although it does not establish when the shop first began selling them.
That boom was followed by a market glut. The Computer History Museum identifies oversupply and poor game quality as factors in the 1983 crash. Atari was caught with more cartridges than it could sell: the Smithsonian’s account of Atari’s discarded inventory describes surplus cartridges being sent to a landfill in 1983. Overproduction was part of a broader industry crisis, rather than the only explanation for it.
The creditor auction advertised at G.A.M.E.S. for May 1984 falls within that downturn, giving the Valjean Avenue story a local connection to the industry’s boom and contraction. The timing is striking, but the notice does not establish how much Atari’s troubles, excess inventory or other business costs contributed to G.A.M.E.S.’ financial difficulties.
G.A.M.E.S. newspaper and magazine gallery
Select a newspaper clipping or magazine page to open the full-size image in a new tab.
What is at 6626 Valjean Avenue today?
As of November 2026, Acue Lighting’s official website lists its showroom at 6626 Valjean Avenue. The company supplies stage and production lighting and offers permanent installations for entertainment venues and other spaces. Its products include lighting fixtures, LED displays, atmospheric effects and accessories such as flight cases. The December 2014 Street View shown here is a historical view of the address, rather than a current photograph or evidence of when Acue moved in.
Star Wars history on the same street
Valjean Avenue also has a place in movie history. Farther north at 6842 Valjean Avenue was Industrial Light & Magic’s original Van Nuys warehouse, where the team created visual effects for the original Star Wars. SFV Blog explored that location in its May 26, 2011 feature, BTTF Series #6: Industrial Light & Magic. On the same industrial street, G.A.M.E.S. offered another kind of entertainment to take home.
What became of the Gilgoffs?
The sources reviewed establish Joel and Shelle Gilgoff’s role at G.A.M.E.S., but their later story remains incomplete. Research has uncovered a possible trail to Sedona, Arizona. We have not confirmed that the Arizona couple described below is the same couple who operated G.A.M.E.S. In particular, the later sources use the name Sheila, while the earlier G.A.M.E.S. coverage calls Joel’s wife Shelle.
A 2009 photography-book listing on Blurb identifies a Joel Gilgoff in Sedona as the creator of Malta, Cyprus & Tunisia. His author biography describes photography publishing and teaching Photoshop and self-publishing classes. Separately, the BBB profile for Southwest Inn at Sedona lists Sheila Gilgoff as a managing member and gives September 1994 as the business’s start date. These records document the Arizona names’ public activities, but do not connect them explicitly to the Van Nuys store.
Search-indexed text from Joel Gilgoff’s Lulu author biography also says he had lived in Sedona since 1988 with his wife Sheila. The underlying page could not be opened during this research, so that detail remains a lead requiring further verification. The matching names and timeline are suggestive; they are not sufficient to establish identity, a reason for moving or a permanent departure from the gaming industry.
Looking back, the Gilgoffs’ retail concept feels familiar: a specialist store where customers could browse games, buy hardware and accessories, learn about new releases and join a customer club. In that limited sense, G.A.M.E.S. anticipated features associated with later chains such as GameStop, while also selling pinball machines, jukeboxes and mechanical collectibles. This is a retrospective comparison, rather than evidence of a direct connection between the companies.
A property-history screenshot supplied by the author lists “Gilgoff Joel L” as the seller in a 1988 Tarzana property transfer. That year aligns with the Sedona arrival date given in the online author biography. However, the transaction alone does not establish that the seller lived at the property, that he was Joel Gilgoff of G.A.M.E.S., or that the transfer was connected to a move to Arizona. The California-to-Arizona connection remains a possibility rather than a confirmed account.
A later interview, a published biography or another source explicitly linking the G.A.M.E.S. owners to the Arizona businesses could help fill in this chapter. Their current ages, living status and subsequent involvement in gaming have not been established.
A sales pitch preserved on a postcard
The reverse is unused, with a blank address area and no visible handwritten message. The printed production credit reads “DEXTER Card by Locantore”, followed by a Costa Mesa telephone number and location; 55798-D appears at the lower left.
No printing or mailing date is visible, so the card is best presented as undated. The dated advertisements provide context for the business, while the postcard preserves its showroom sales pitch.
For more views from the area, browse the Van Nuys Postcards collection and the broader San Fernando Valley Postcards collection.
Did you visit the Valjean Avenue shop, or bring home a machine from G.A.M.E.S.? A dated receipt or photograph matching the postcard could help put a year to this crowded showroom.
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