About National Jukebox Exchange.
We buy, sell and restore antique coin operated amusements.
National Jukebox Exchange, the Jukebox and Arcade Restoration Company.
Brought to Life by Passion
John Papa, founder and owner of National Jukebox Exchange, always had a close relationship with music. Starting an early career as a musician, John sang at the New York State Fair at the age of 16. Continuing, being the leader of the Gloversville High school, followed by leading the Alfred University Jazz Band, John had a long career as a musician. It wasn’t until his time in the glove industry that he discovered his passion for jukeboxes.
From Cars & Gloves to Jukeboxes & Arcade Machines
In his early days, John spent quite a bit of time buying, selling and restoring 60s Corvettes and 50s Thunderbirds as a hobby while working with his father, Dominic Papa at Mario Papa & Sons Gloves. In the early 1980s, John was on a business trip in New York City selling leather in the glove business. His customer for that day had a Wurlitzer 1015 in his office. John immediately fell in love, even opening the 1015 up and learning how it works. The car hobby and glove business quickly fell out of favor for the jukebox restoration business. Within the next year, John had bought nearly 100 jukeboxes in the surrounding area and quickly became well versed in the business of jukebox restoration.
A Crew to Match
National Jukebox Exchange grew so fast the John couldn’t maintain the business alone. The company grew to a team of 3, John with close friend, Terry Bell and “the kid”, Steve Moore, who started with the company at almost 20 years old.
Award Winning & Leaders in Restoration
National Jukebox Exchange continued on to win restoration awards for high quality work with jukeboxes and even expanded into working with rare arcade machines. John and his crew became experts on collectible jukeboxes and other coin operated amusements which led them to become world renown for their expertise. Having their restoration work in museums and private collections around the world, National Jukebox Exchange is a leader in antique coin op restoration.
Breathing New Life
National Jukebox Exchange became a dealer for new Rock-Ola jukeboxes made in California. After a few short years, NJE sold more new Rock-Ola jukeboxes than any other dealer in the country. Forming a strong relationship with president of Rock-Ola, Glen Streeter, John pushed the boundaries of jukebox sales in the USA.
Re-Creating History
Some penny arcade machines from the early 1900s through 1930s are so rare there are often less than 4 or no known examples compared to jukeboxes which have 100s of remaining copies. With the expertise of the team at National Jukebox Exchange, the crew built over 100 re-creation machines to create a new market in the hobby.
Opening the Door to Collectors New & Old
Some penny arcade machines are so rare, for that reason, some can be incredibly valuable. By offering a limited run of the rarest machines, this in fact allowed collectors of all kinds to expand their collection at a reasonable cost. For a number of years, National Jukebox Exchange, through subsidiary company, Arcade Treasures, built over 100 re-creation machines, of course no more than 12 of each one. The body of work produced by Arcade Treasures and National Jukebox Exchange was no small task. To illustrate, the most difficult project of the lot was the Mills Submarine Lung Tester, of which, none are know to exist today. John and his team re-created the machine from scratch, however, only using 2 original catalog photos.