Frequent visitors to this page will learn What's New At Stern Pinball, Inc., read a series of Repair Tips from Bear Kamoroff and find out about upcoming Pinball Events. (Look for a wide range of Pinball Happenings at The World of Pinball)

February 3, 2012--See ACDC LE BACKGLASSES HERE FIRST! Stern Pinball, Inc has just released released images of the “Back In Black” and “Let There Be Rock” limited edition backglasses. Both are mirrored and are only available with the specific games. To learn more about AC/DC pinball visit STERN PINBALL

AC/DC Pro

• 12 full length classic AC/DC tunes
• Song Selector Jukebox in back panel with flashing horns
• Sound quality enhanced with improved crossover network
• Rotating “For Those About To Rock” Ball Cannon
• Lit Fire Cannon Button w/ Laser Cut Trim Plate
• Magnetic ball diverter to load Cannon
• Skill shot ball lock with ejector
• Electronic ball gate
• Right “Highway To Hell” ramp
• Left “Rock N Roll” train ramp
• Spinning “Greased Lightning” target
• THREE “Thunderstruck” standup targets and super bright flash lamps
• FOUR “ROCK” standup targets (right)
• FIVE AC/DC standup targets (left)
• Three T.N.T. standup targets (center)
• TWO high powered slingshots
• THREe super bright LED jet bumpers
• Country-specific coin door
• Silk screened cabinet decals
• Specific Pro model QR codes
• Molded “Hells Bell” with standup target
• T.N.T. Detonator
• Band member display
• Unique translite

AC/DC Premium edition
All Pro edition features plus upgrades listed below.

• “Underworld” Lower Mini-Playfield W/TWO flippers, Angus face and targets
• "Hells Bell" swinging Newton ball pendulum with score sensor
• Hidden magnet to swing bell remotely
• Molded 3D “Rock N Roll” train With LED headlight and horns
• FIVE bank AC/DC drop targets (left)
• THREE bank T.N.T. drop targets (center)
• Slam action target behind center T.N.T. drop target
• Crossover ball track and diverter
• T.N.T. detonator animated with solenoid actuated handle
• Animated band member display
• Animated “Highway To Hell” LED flames tunnel
• Super bright “Back In Black” LED strobe lights
• Wedge-based LED GIs
• 16 tri-color LEDs
• Classic lock asssembly and playfield slide supports
• Unique translite
• Powder coated red gloss legs, hinges, front molding and side armour with flipper button protection

AC/DC Limited Editions. The Back in Black version will feature a unique silk screened cabinet decal and artwork with black over chrome side armor and backing plates. "Let There Be Rock" will have the same cabinet artwork but red over yellow side armor and backing plates.

• Mirrored backglass for each LE model
• “Shake And Quake” motor
• 12” subwoofer for enhanced sound
• Steve Ritchie autograph protected by hard coat
• Numbered plaque ("Back In Black"1-300 and "Let There Be Rock" 1-200)
• Authenticating Stern Pinball Inc., hologram
• Signed certificate Of authenticity
• Laser cut backbox hinges
• Laser cut legs and front molding
• Transparent red lower arch
• Unique "Back In Black" silk screened cabinet decal artwork

January 8, 2012 LET THERE BE AC/CD! Stern Pinball released their teaser video for their latest game, Steve Ritchie's AC/DC!

September 9, 2011--First Photos of Transformers As posted on the Top Score Gamerooms site, here are the first photos of the new game from George Gomez and Stern Pinball. More here and in the PGJ soon!

August 19, 2011--"The Transformers Are Coming"

August 16, 2011--Stern Announces Availability of Games at BestBuy.com “Pinball is back and booming,” said Gary Stern, founder, CEO and chairman of Stern Pinball. “…and being available though an incredible retail channel such as Best Buy brings pinball to the main stream mass market..”

Stern Pinball games now available at BestBuy.com include:
--Avatar --Avatar pinball features a 3-D backglass with incredible depth, clarity and color, speech and sound effects from the movie. $4,799
--TRON: Legacy --TRON: Legacy pinball features exciting sound bites from the film’s main characters, as well as music from the film’s original score. $4,799
--The Rolling Stones --The Rolling Stones pinball features 13 Rolling Stones original songs, fast ramps and artwork featuring band members and classic album covers. $4,799
--Iron Man Classic --Iron Man Classic pinball made exclusively for the home features visuals, speech, music and sound effects from the Marvel blockbuster films Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2. (This machine does not feature a coin mechanism and can not be operated) $3,799
--The Rolling Stones Limited Edition --The Limited Edition version of the Rolling Stones Pinball features a slew of special features, including a second set of flippers, a white ceramic ball and an indivdually numbered plaque with a certificate of authenticity. $5,999

For additional information on Stern Pinball visit: http://www.sternpinball.com

August 11, 2011– Stern featured in three recent major news stories. The CBS story focuses on the growth of location pinball and looks at the thriving Portland pinball community. The CNN Money stories tell the history of Stern Pinball, Inc. and how to make a new pinball machine from start to finish. “News stories like these are great for generating more awareness of pinball and our company. Pinball is definitely enjoying a world wide resurgence and it’s great to see,” said Gary Stern, founder and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc.

Check them out for yourself by clicking CBS, CNN-1, or CNN-2.

August 5, 2011--Stern is "Keeping Up With Demand!" Released just minutes ago were the names of four new hires at Stern Pinball. This is in response to increased activity both in the game creation and distribution at Stern. Along with the recently announced addition of George Gomez as VP of Game Design, Stern hired mechanical engineer Robert Falkowski, Waison Cheng, game programmer (formally from IT and Golden Tee Golf) and Mike Parker in the purchasing department.

See the bulk of the release below:

Keeping Up with Demand: Stern Pinball Continues to Grow with Four New Team Members

MELROSE PARK, IL – August 5, 2011– Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's only maker of real pinball games, has added four new team members this summer to keep up with the surge in the demand for Stern pinball machines.

The new hires include:

-George Gomez (VP of Game Design) brings diverse creative and leadership experience, having designed arcade video games, consumer toys, console video games, slot machines and pinball games throughout his career. Mr. Gomez's pinball design portfolio features numerous critically acclaimed titles including "Monster Bash," "Pinball 2000-Revenge From Mars," "NBA Fastbreak," "Johnny Mnemonic," "Corvette," "The Lord of The Rings," "Playboy," "The Sopranos" and "Batman-The Dark Knight.”
-Robert Falkowski (Mechanical Engineer) brings 15 years of engineering experience. His last assignment was with Juno Lighting. His expertise in Solid Works and problem solving make him a valuable asset to the engineering department at Stern Pinball.
-Waison Cheng (Game Programmer) comes to Stern Pinball from the video game industry. He worked on the world famous Golden Tee golf game at Incredible Technologies. Waison also brings programming experience from his days working on Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance games at Inxile and NeoPong.
-Mike Parker (Purchasing) has been managing and purchasing for factories for over a decade. Mike will be handling all purchasing and oversee Stern Pinball’s shipping and receiving departments. Mr. Parker will be working with Eddie Spears who heads that division.
“We are thrilled to be adding new talented staff to our pinball family. These new hires along with the great Stern employees we already have on board will help drive our rapidly growing company,” said Gary Stern founder and CEO of Stern Pinball Inc.

July 12, 2011--Stern announces the addition of George Gomez as VP of Game Developement! Stern has made a major addition to their engineering department with this appointment. Building on the recent re-hiring of Lyman Sheats and Steve Ritchie to complement the efforts of Lonnie Ropp and John Borg, Stern has brought in another experienced game designer to help pull it all together. Read the press release below:

Stern Pinball, Inc. appoints World Renowned Game Designer George Gomez Vice President of Game Development

Stern Pinball, Inc., the world’s only maker of real pinball games, announced today that game designer George Gomez joins the Stern Pinball team as Vice President of Game Development.

Mr. Gomez brings diverse creative and leadership experience, having designed arcade video games, consumer toys, console video games, slot machines and pinball games throughout his career.

Mr. Gomez’s pinball design portfolio features numerous critically acclaimed titles, including “Monster Bash”, “Pinball 2000-Revenge From Mars”, “NBA Fastbreak”, “Johnny Mnemonic”, “Corvette”, “The Lord of The Rings”, “Playboy”, “The Sopranos” and “Batman-The Dark Knight”.

“The Stern team is looking forward to George’s executive leadership and creative vision to guide and evolve game development,” said Gary Stern, founder, CEO and chairman of Stern Pinball.

Mr. Gomez joins the Stern Pinball and the Stern family tradition of producing quality pinball machines. The company traces its lineage to Philadelphia in the 1930’s when Sam Stern entered the business of operating pinball games. Sam Stern passed his lifelong enthusiasm for the game and the business of pinball to his son Gary who founded Stern Pinball. Today pinball remains one of the world’s favorite games.

About Stern Pinball

Stern Pinball, Inc., located just outside Chicago, Illinois, designs and manufactures arcade-quality pinball games. Stern is the only maker of full-sized, arcade quality pinball games on the planet and has released many popular games, including Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman, The Rolling Stones, Tron and many more. Stern’s games continue to be enjoyed by both pinball enthusiasts and casual players around the globe. For more information visit www.sternpinball.com.

Tron Pro continues on the line. Stern's Jody Dankberg and IFPA's Josh Sharpe will conduct a Tron tournament at ComicCon in July.

June 13, 2011--TRON Selling Well. Reports from Stern say that they are selling TRON Legacy as fast as they can build them. They had over 1000 people attend the recent release parties.

On another front, plans are moving ahead for the Stern exhibit at the 2011 edition of ComicCon in San Diego in July. The entire event is already sold out!

February 18, 2011--STERN HAS THE STONES! With the official announcement on Tuesday of this week, production of Stern's Rolling Stones began full force. For now, it's the only game being produced on Janice Ave. in order to keep up with encouragingly brisk sales of the game. Here are some EXCLUSIVE photos taken today of the progress. You can see the playfield assembly, testing area, cabinets waiting for playfields and final check before sliding the game in the box.

February 2, 2011-Stern at 25 Stern Pinball is turning 25 and will be producing a number of items to celebrate that milestone. One will be a series of short video clips, the first of which is available for viewing here. Designer John Borg does pretty good for having Marketing Director, Jodi Dankberg make a surprize visit to John's office with a video camera. Check it out!...

January 5, 2011

Things area humming along in Melrose Park at the Stern factory. They are making a number of different games to fill current orders. Just finished was a run of Shrek and Batman and currently the line is producing Avatar Pro and Premium, Iron Man classic and pro AND prototypes of their next game Rolling Stones! Stern's Jody Dankberg always has some interesting promotions planned and we look to hear about his latest and greatest, soon. Stay close.

Check out the latest news about the Rolling Stones game by clicking HERE.

Find out more about all of Stern's products by clicking HERE!

Pinball Tip #6--Wet, Cold and Damp

This great time of year means wet, cold and damp weather in many parts of the USA and elsewhere. And wet, cold and damp is NOT good news for pinball machines. If your pinball machine is in a garage or storage or other place that isn’t constantly warm, take a few precautions to protect it:

3. Do play your machine at least once or twice a month, just to get the mechanical parts moving, so they don't build up dirt or goo or corrosion on the switches.

4. If you do have a stuck or dirty switch, it's easy to clean. If you have an old electro-mechanical machine, use a pinball file (or in a pinch an emery board) on the little nipples on the switches. If you have an electronic machine, do NOT use a file, you'll wear off the fine gold plating on the switch. Use a clean business card.

Presented by B.B. Kamoroff, author of "Pinball Machine Care and Maintenance: How to Purchase, Maintain, Adjust and Repair Your Own Pinball Machine," now in its 14th printing. This book is available from the PGJ, click HERE for info OR Click HERE to visit the author's site!

Visit the Repair Tip Archives by clicking HERE

October 2011:

White Rose Gameroom Show, October 7-8. Read more by clicking HERE

Pinball Expo, August 19-23. Read more by clicking HERE

SUBSCRIBE TO THE PINGAME JOURNAL! Click HERE for Information.