Through much of the 1960s and 1970s, pinball was the undisputed king of the corner arcade, drawing in customers with pocket change to spare and high scores to beat.

With the advent of video games such as “Asteroids” and “Pac-Man,” however, the pinball’s ranks began to thin as particleboard cabinets and joysticks supplanted gleaming glass and metal balls.

Pinball’s heyday may have ended long ago, but fans of the silver ball continue to purchase the machines, showcasing refurbished games in their dens and game rooms, local collectors said.

“I think it’s interesting how all those moving parts work together, how intricate it is,” said Noah Holcomb, 26, a mechanical engineer who has four pinball machines in his home arcade. “When you look back at what they did with the budgets they were given, they did some amazing things with these machines.”

Mr. Holcomb’s first pinball table was a 1979 Bally Mystic, which he restored and gave to his father, who is also a lifelong fan of the games. Soon after that, he purchased a second table for his own use, a 1993 “Jurassic Park” unit made by Data East, he said.

In its 14,000-square-foot warehouse, the Rossville-based Chattanooga Pinball Co., which is co-owned by Dale Levin and his wife, Tane, has about 60 pinball tables.

CPC’s rows of restored machines include a 1948 “Atlantic City” table used for gambling and machines themed after music and pop culture icons such as Guns N’ Roses, Playboy and Indiana Jones.

Since more and more arcades have been closing their doors during the last 20 years, many of these machines have been put into storage. As a result, pinball dealers such as CPC often are able to find machines for as little as $400 to $500 apiece, Mr. Levin said.

Ricky Green has worked at CPC as an electronic technician since March repairing tables, many of which have water damage and faulty electronics. Completely restoring a machine to its playable state takes six to 14 hours, Mr. Green said.

Once restored, the tables typically sell for several thousand dollars, but the cost is worth it to those wanting to relive nights dumping coin after coin into machines in pursuit of a high score, said Pete Deardorff, a local pinball repairman who has three machines at home.

“Most (collectors) are baby boomers who have some money to get their favorite ones together ... that they played as a kid,” he said. “There are people out there who just love to play and don’t care if it’s clean or has a few broken pieces here or there.”

In recent years, the demand for pinball machines has increased steadily, and, as a result, many have appreciated enormously in value. Those made in the early 1990s by Williams are among the most highly sought, Mr. Levin said.

Shortly after his wife sparked his interested in classic games by giving him an “Asteroids” arcade cabinet, Mr. Levin acquired his first pinball table, a 1990 Williams Diner, for $100, he said.

That pinball table later sold for $2,800.

“There’s a lot of money in this,” he said, laughing. “Back about seven to nine years ago, you were buying them dirt, dirt cheap.”

Once they’ve purchased a table, it’s hard for hobbyists to avoid adding to their collection, Mr. Deardorff said.

“The people who really get into it, no, there’s no stopping at one,” he said. “I guess it all depends on what their wives will let them have or how much room or money they want to invest.”

Beyond nostalgia, collectors also are attracted to pinball as a source of amusement that has become ever scarcer as arcades have disappeared, Mr. Holcomb said.

“You might find (a pinball machine) every now and then, but it’s pretty rare, and a lot of them weren’t maintained very well,” he said. “So if you really like one and want to play one on a regular basis, owning one is pretty much your only option.”

Although arcade video-game cabinets, which are cheaper, tend to sell better, pinball machine have an innate artistic value that makes them more desirable, Mr. Deardorff said.

“I like the artwork of them and the history behind them,” he said. “I can appreciate the thought that it takes to put something like that together in one little box and make it work together.

“They are as much art as they are a machine.”

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