In a Stern Pinball factory not so far, far away, there are new Star Wars pinball machines currently pouring off the production lines, shined up and ready to head to a home or onto a route. Stern is celebrating the stellar franchise’s 40th anniversary with Pro, Premium and Limited Edition tables, and the new game is reportedly selling well (as expected with anything Star Wars).
Stern’s Director of Marketing and Licensing Jody Dankberg, told RePlay that the Limited Edition tables are all spoken for, having made 800 of the LE model. Stern will build an unlimited amount of Pro and Premium machines depending upon demand. Pro models are set to ship this month, with LE and Premium models following soon after.
“There’s been a lot of excitement and anticipation around this title,” Dankberg said, “resulting in record sales for a game that had not even been seen in person.” Dankberg also said that, despite sales to collectors and home buyers being at an all time high, Stern’s commercial and operator sales are booming as well.
“Location play is thriving,” Dankberg said. “And games are earning well.”
All three editions of the game are packed with features from the recognizable original trilogy, including select speech and footage from the films, and sculpted Millennium Falcon and TIE Fighter playfield props. The Pro and LE models have two LCD screens, an “exploding” Death Star and an additional “Hyperspace” ramp.
For those curious as to why Stern decided to tap the original trilogy instead of Disney’s new Star Wars films, Dankberg says the firm believes more customers are interested in the originals over the new movies.
“Everyone loves the original trilogy: It’s the basis for all things Star Wars. We felt that these movies helped us tell the best story possible while being able to use cool elements from the original films,” Dankberg said. “The majority of our customers are nostalgic for those movies.”