# How Many Dune Pinball Machines Has Barrels of Fun Sold?; Enhanced Topper Sales Closed; A KISS Remastered Clue? & More **Source:** Knapp Arcade **Type:** article **Published:** 2026-01-13 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.knapparcade.org/blog/how-many-dune-pinball-machines-has-barrels-of-fun-sold-enhanced-topper-sales-closed-a-kiss-remastered-clue-more --- ## Analysis Barrels of Fun sold 720 Dune Pinball machines before cutting off orders on December 31st, 2025, falling short of their stated 1,000-unit production limit. The enhanced animated topper sales also closed with significantly lower adoption than the base game. Stern teased a potential KISS Remastered game through a Director of Marketing's t-shirt at CES, while Spooky Pinball continues production on Beetlejuice and American Pinball posted game design job openings. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Barrels of Fun has built and taken orders for exactly 720 Dune Pinball machines total — _Attributed to Brian Savage, Chief Business Officer of Barrels of Fun, via Knapp Arcade reporting_ - [MEDIUM] Barrels of Fun experienced a significant sales jump after announcing the last call for Dune orders — _Knapp Arcade reporting that Barrels were 'a little over 500 units' before final push to 720_ - [MEDIUM] The animated topper for Dune sold significantly fewer units than the 720 machines — _Knapp Arcade estimates based on unnamed source that topper adoption was 'significantly fewer'_ - [HIGH] Barrels of Fun did not completely rule out doing another production run of Dune to reach 1,000 units if demand warrants — _Knapp Arcade reporting on Barrels' official statement_ - [LOW] Stern's Director of Marketing and Licensing wore a KISS t-shirt at CES, potentially hinting at a KISS Remastered game — _Knapp Arcade speculation based on observed fashion choice; explicitly framed as speculation ('Was this a clue?')_ ### Notable Quotes > "According to Barrels' Chief Business Officer Brian Savage, Barrels has built and taken orders for a total of 720 Dune machines." > — **Knapp Arcade (reporting)**, January 12, 2026 > _Provides specific production number for Dune Pinball, a key metric for understanding market performance_ > "Last I heard they were a little over 500 units." > — **Knapp Arcade**, January 12, 2026 > _Indicates the sales momentum surge after final call announcement, jumping from ~500 to 720_ > "While orders for the game have been cut off, Barrels did not completely rule out doing another run of the game to get to that 1,000 machine limit if demand warrants it." > — **Knapp Arcade (reporting)**, January 12, 2026 > _Indicates Barrels remains flexible on production caps despite hitting order cutoff_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer that produced and sold 720 units of Dune Pinball before closing orders | | Dune Pinball | game | Licensed pinball game by Barrels of Fun based on Dune IP; achieved 720 unit sales before order cutoff on December 31, 2025 | | Brian Savage | person | Chief Business Officer of Barrels of Fun; disclosed official production numbers for Dune Pinball | | Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; teased potential KISS Remastered game at CES; producing Star Wars: Fall of the Empire with C3PO topper | | Star Wars: Fall of the Empire | game | Stern Pinball licensed game currently in production; features C3PO topper shown at factory tour | | Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; Beetlejuice in active production with imminent shipping expected | | Beetlejuice | game | Licensed pinball game by Spooky Pinball nearing release; production line footage shared January 2026 | | American Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer hiring for multiple positions including Game Design | | Knapp Arcade | media | Pinball news source publishing production and industry updates | | KISS (band/IP) | product | Potential theme for Stern's next Remastered game, hinted by marketing director's fashion choice at CES | | Game Galaxy Arcade | location | Arcade venue in Smyrna, Tennessee hosting Winchester Mystery House pinball machine | | Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun licensed game; third location unit placed at Game Galaxy Arcade | ### Topics - **Primary:** Dune Pinball production and sales numbers, Barrels of Fun order cutoffs and production strategy - **Secondary:** Animated topper adoption rates, Stern KISS Remastered speculation, Spooky Beetlejuice production timeline, American Pinball hiring and capacity - **Mentioned:** Location arcade updates ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.72) — Knapp Arcade reports factually on production numbers with appreciation for transparency; enthusiastic about upcoming releases (Beetlejuice, Star Wars). Tone is optimistic about industry activity and product pipeline. Some playful speculation about KISS clue. ### Signals - **[business_signal]** American Pinball actively hiring for Game Design role, signaling capacity expansion and pipeline acceleration post-acquisition by J.B. Vincent LP (confidence: medium) — Job posting for Game Design position mentioned as recent hiring announcement - **[market_signal]** Last-call announcement strategy successfully reversed Dune sales momentum, driving ~220 additional units in final window (from ~500 to 720), suggesting FOMO effectiveness for boutique manufacturers (confidence: medium) — Knapp Arcade reports 500 units before announcement, 720 total after final call—demonstrates scarcity marketing efficacy - **[market_signal]** Stern's Director of Marketing wearing KISS t-shirt at CES potentially hints at forthcoming KISS Remastered game announcement, though explicitly unconfirmed speculation (confidence: low) — Knapp Arcade notes Director spotted in t-shirt during CES video; frames as speculation: 'Was this a clue? We'll see.' - **[product_strategy]** Enhanced animated topper for Dune achieved significantly lower adoption rate than base game (materially fewer than 720), indicating limited appeal or perceived value-add of premium accessory (confidence: medium) — Knapp Arcade states topper sales were 'significantly fewer' than 720 units, making it 'a very rare item' - **[product_strategy]** Dune Pinball failed to meet 1,000-unit production target by significant margin (720 units), indicating slower-than-expected market demand for the title despite story-driven design positioning (confidence: high) — Barrels announced 1,000-unit limit but only sold 720; article notes 'slow initial start to sales' before final call surge - **[product_strategy]** Spooky Beetlejuice in final production stages with imminent shipping, indicating release window likely within weeks (confidence: high) — Knapp Arcade states 'It shouldn't be long now before we start seeing games ship' based on production line footage --- ## Transcript News How Many Dune Pinball Machines Has Barrels of Fun Sold?; Enhanced Topper Sales Closed; A KISS Remastered Clue? & More k knapparcade January 12, 2026 Late last week, Barrels of Fun Pinball cut off orders for the enhanced animated topper for its Dune pinball machine. Similarly, Barrels stopped taking orders for the game itself on December 31st. Last Spring, when Barrels of Fun first announced that it was making a Dune pin, it stated that it was limiting production to 1,000 units. A slow initial start to sales caused the company to miss that number...at least for now. While orders for the game have been cut off, Barrels did not completely rule out doing another run of the game to get to that 1,000 machine limit if demand warrants it. So the million dollar question here is, just how many Dunes did Barrels of Fun take orders for? Unlike some manufacturers who do not disclose this information, we actually know! According to Barrels' Chief Business Officer Brian Savage, Barrels has built and taken orders for a total of 720 Dune machines. Barrels definitely experienced a jump in sales once it announced the last call for Dune. Last I heard they were a little over 500 units. While we don't have a specific number for how many of the new animated topper were sold, it sounds like it was significantly fewer than that - making it a very rare item. I love knowing pinball production numbers. I include them whenever I share pictures of a game, so a big kudos to Barrels of Fun for letting us know. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Download the video instead. While we 're talking about Barrels of Fun, I should mention that a third Winchester Mystery House is now on location for the public to play. This one is at the Game Galaxy Arcade in Smyrna, Tennessee. If you've never been to the Game Galaxy, it looks amazing. I almost visited there on my recent trip to Nashville but it was a family trip and I ran out of time. I definitely plan on going on my next trip out there...which will be sooner rather than later because the music and bar scene in Nashville is incredible. https://www.facebook.com/gamegalaxyarcade For its "Factory Friday" social media post late last week, Stern Pinball showed off the new Star Wars: Fall of the Empire C3PO topper at its factory. Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Download the video instead. Also of note from Stern, they shared a video of the Company's display from the recent Consumer Electronics Show. During the video, Stern's Director of Marketing and Licensing was spotted wearing a KISS t-shirt. Was this a clue about their next Remastered game? We'll see. Chris Chris Bartlett Plays Star Wars: Fall of the Empire Pinball as C-3PO - YouTube Stern Pinball Chris Chris Bartlett Plays Star Wars: Fall of the Empire Pinball as C-3PO Stern Pinball Search Info Shopping 0:00 / •Live • Spooky Pinball also recently gave us another look at Beetlejuice on its production line. It shouldn't be long now before we start seeing games ship. I can't wait! Your browser doesn't support HTML5 video. Download the video instead. * Last up, we have news out of American Pinball. AP announced that it is hiring for a number of different positions, including Game Design. Posted about 1 month ago k About knapparcade Site administrator Comments (2) Please sign in to join the conversation. D Dylan about 1 month ago Edited I can’t wait for beetle juice. 0 austink15ADMIN about 1 month ago The C3PO Heads video is classic 1 Related Articles Stern Officially Reveals New Pokémon Pinball Machine 3 days ago Dutch Pinball is NOT Working with Stern to Release Back to the Future 3 days ago Pokémon Reveal Tomorrow?; Beetlejuice Pinball on Location 5 days ago Subscribe to Updates Get the latest pinball news, blog posts, and event announcements delivered to your inbox Subscribe StripeM-Inner _(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 2c7abc97-5264-42d6-91e3-6cbf2ad0ce95*