# Monopoly - My New Stern Pinball Rags To Riches Pinball Project **Source:** Cooltoy **Type:** video **Published:** 2025-07-30 **Duration:** 14m 38s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpIn-eERuGs --- ## Analysis Cooltoy documents a restoration and customization project on a 2006 Stern Monopoly pinball machine acquired from eBay. The machine required minimal repairs (coil trough issues, blown fuses, battery leakage damage) but was in excellent playfield condition. The restoration involved LED upgrades, Pin2DMD color display, cosmetic modifications (gold t-molding and powder coating, custom decals, side art blades), and themed details like custom shooter rod and Monopoly tokens. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The Monopoly machine was from a 2006 production run, despite the game being released in 2001, and had been home-use only since purchase — _Cooltoy, describing the machine's history from the original owner (Thomas Law)_ - [HIGH] The playfield was in pristine condition despite being nearly 20 years old with minimal wear on shooter lane and chance scoop — _Cooltoy, visual inspection and commentary on condition_ - [MEDIUM] Pat Lawlor design games from early 2000s have a massive amount of bulbs requiring extensive LED conversion work — _Cooltoy, observation during bulb replacement process_ - [MEDIUM] Color-matching LEDs to property squares would make the machine look like a 'goofy Christmas tree' — _Cooltoy, opinion on aesthetic choices for LED coloring_ - [HIGH] The bank lid door was heat-warped beyond repair, possibly from a curling iron, despite the pristine playfield condition — _Cooltoy, describing a mystery damage issue on the machine_ ### Notable Quotes > "once you color match them it just looks like a goofy Christmas tree" > — **Cooltoy**, mid-video > _Explains aesthetic decision to use white LEDs instead of color-matching to Monopoly board properties_ > "I think every machine at this junction should have NVRAM in it so if you have a pinball machine that's still using batteries in it Barnyard God spend the 40 50 dollars get the NVRAM you'll you'll thank me later" > — **Cooltoy**, mid-video > _Strong recommendation for NVRAM upgrade to prevent battery leakage damage_ > "the bank lid door right here, and it's like somebody set a curling iron on this thing or something, because it is heat warped beyond repair" > — **Cooltoy**, late-video > _Describes unusual cosmetic damage that contradicts the machine's otherwise pristine condition_ > "it's a fun game it's really quirky obviously we all familiar with monopoly we all grew up, you know hating or loving it in whatever household you were" > — **Cooltoy**, late-video > _Commentary on the Monopoly IP's cultural resonance and the game's appeal_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Cooltoy | person | Content creator documenting pinball restoration and customization projects | | Thomas Law | person | Original purchaser of the 2006 Stern Monopoly machine; father-in-law of the seller who inherited the machine | | Pat Lawlor | person | Legendary pinball designer credited with Monopoly and other early 2000s Stern titles | | Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of the 2006 Monopoly pinball machine analyzed in this restoration project | | Monopoly | game | Stern pinball game (2001 release, 2006 production run) being restored; based on classic board game IP | | Pin2DMD | product | Color DMD replacement system installed in the Monopoly machine due to budget constraints | | Shane Black | company | Manufacturer of t-molding and related cosmetic components used in the restoration | | Dialed In | game | Source of oversized six-sided die used to create custom shooter rod for Monopoly machine | | Whirlwind | game | Referenced as a Pat Lawlor design pattern that influenced Monopoly's gameplay style | | Barnyard God | game | Referenced as another Pat Lawlor design with extensive bulb count similar to Monopoly | ### Topics - **Primary:** Playfield restoration and condition assessment, LED conversion and lighting upgrades, Cosmetic customization (t-molding, powder coating, decals), Board-level repairs (battery leakage, fuses, coil issues) - **Secondary:** DMD display upgrades (Pin2DMD), Pat Lawlor design games, Machine acquisition and eBay deals ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.85) — Cooltoy expresses clear satisfaction with the acquisition, restoration process, and final result. Only minor frustration about the heat-warped bank lid being difficult to replace. Enthusiastic about the machine's gameplay and design. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Aftermarket parts ecosystem supporting pinball restoration (Shane Black t-molding, Pin2DMD, custom decals, toppers) (confidence: high) — Multiple third-party component suppliers referenced for cosmetic and technical upgrades - **[design_philosophy]** Aesthetic restraint in LED color-matching to avoid visually cluttered appearance; preference for cohesive design approach (confidence: medium) — Cooltoy chose white LEDs instead of color-matching to Monopoly board properties to avoid 'goofy Christmas tree' appearance - **[operational_signal]** NVRAM battery replacement recommended as preventative maintenance for 20+ year old machines to prevent acid damage (confidence: high) — Cooltoy strongly recommended NVRAM upgrade and encountered battery leakage damage during restoration - **[product_strategy]** Extensive customization of Stern Monopoly including LED conversion, Pin2DMD color display, custom decals, gold t-molding and powder coating, themed accessories (confidence: high) — Detailed documentation of all modifications performed on the machine during restoration - **[technology_signal]** Pin2DMD color DMD upgrade implemented due to budget constraints rather than preference for higher-end LCD solutions (confidence: high) — Cooltoy stated 'I'm on a budget right now because I picked up multiple projects recently' when explaining Pin2DMD choice over preferred LCD option --- ## Transcript So about two weeks ago as luck would have it I had a new pinball project basically fall into my lap. I was casually searching on eBay and lo and behold I found somebody essentially giving this machine away. It was about 15 miles away from me listed on eBay. I sent them an offer and they accepted it and I was happy to add this to my collection. It needed some work but it was all stuff that was very simple to fix. So when I bought the machine went over picked it up of the guy's house he said the machine had been home use only that his father-in-law had bought it brand new in box and had it until he passed away and then he inherited it and been in his home ever since it was giving him some coil trough issue errors and he was just tired of messing with it he tried to fix it and it just wasn't going to work for him so he was just unloading it he wanted the space back in his house no you know i get that lucky me uh just right place right time picked it up for a steal of a price and got it home started cleaning it a little bit and i immediately was just blown away with just how well preserved the play field was. So this game came out in 2001, but Stern actually did a couple later runs. So this one was from 2006 where they actually produced this one. So for a game that's, you know, almost 20 years old, this play field looks immaculate. The shooter lane doesn't have any wear. The chance scoop, a lot of these are always, you know, chewed up and beaten up over the years. This one is, you know, absolutely pristine condition. I'll still probably order some cliffies just to preserve those for an infinite amount of time but overall this thing was beautiful as far as play field condition it did have some weird quirks and everything still had the original incandescent bulbs replaced those all with comet LEDs which I don't know what it is about these Pat Lawler design games in early 2000s but by god they have a massive amount of bulbs in them so that was a bit of a painstaking process to change out all the bulbs I sometimes do color matching LEDs and inserts, but this one I thought looked a little too rainbowy and hokey on the Monopoly board. It's very tempting to want to color match every single one of those property squares, but once you color match them it just looks like a goofy Christmas tree. So everything's white in there and I think it looks good. All tightened rubbers, clear rubbers all out except for on the flippers. I got the LEDs in here man this thing really brightened up which is great didn't have to sort out you know some board issues like I said the seller said it had a coil trough issue and I got to looking at it and he tried to make some repairs replaced a coil with the wrong coil that didn't align with the manufacturer so that was issue number one issue number two there was a couple blown fuses which is actually the main issue that was giving him the coil trough error so replace those and then I noticed on the PCB unfortunately there some battery leakage and some acid damage that leaked down to the RAM chip clean that all up got that all resolved and replace the you know the batteries for an NVRAM because why not like I said I think every machine at this Junction should have NVRAM in it so if you got a pinball machine that's still got batteries in it by God spend the 40 50 dollars get the NVRAM you'll you'll thank me later and you won't have any issues with potential battery leakage that could ruin your game once got everything cleaned up on the playfield everything's working great you know board issues sorted out that was good I replaced the old DMD with the color DMD this is a pen to DMD actually normally I've said various videos I prefer the color DMD that's LCD that you know it doesn't have the dots it's all solid but I'm on a budget right now because I picked up multiple projects recently and I've got multiple things going on simultaneously so couldn spend all my money in one place side art blades again you heard me say in any video that I ever made on pinball pretty much that all my games will always have side art blades This particular Monopoly game always had a red backboard that literally just a red board in the background it was just screaming for a decal luckily there's a company out there that makes decals for that so it's got the Monopoly cash on the side walls on the you know the graphics here as well as this backboard and then I had just some quirky touches here and there I had a collector's edition Monopoly board laying around had the gold pieces so I put the gold monopoly tokens on certain parts of the playfield covering up you know the giant screws that are over here on the in lane guides and that was pretty much it for the playfield I did add this Hallmark Monopoly man just a little you know ornament here I think he and just kind of bit nicely one goofy issue I have is is, I don't know how this happened, but the bank lid door right here, and it's like somebody set a curling iron on this thing or something, because it is heat warped beyond repair, like I took a heat gun to it, tried to like straighten it back out, and it would not happen, I have no idea how that would ever happen, especially considering this play field was nice, and you know, pristine, and it didn't look like it had been, you know, used and abused for numerous years, so I'm on the hunt for a replacement one of those, unfortunately, unobtainium as they say, so I'll have to keep buy out for one of those that's really the only lasting issue I have with this but other than that everything else was cosmetic changes and updates I put you know an LED bulb here in the backbox get rid of the incandescent bulb replaced the t-molding had black t-molding I got gold t-molding they only actually make two versions of gold t-molding and they're both like super shiny and kind of brass looking so I actually had this color matched to my armor got powder coated armor all gold, nice metallic flake to it, looks nice. I went back and forth with various different color options and choices of what I was going to use with this. I was leaning towards red, but I also have a secret project behind me that is probably going to end up with red powder coating, and I don't want to have two machines in my collection with bright, you know, red powder coating side by side or anything like that. So I went with gold, you know, green for money would have been probably an option but I did some mock-ups on photoshop looking at it with green and it just didn't look good to me with the black so what with gold you know money goes in with the theme and everything painted the apron to match of course it was you know flat black plastic as a lot of those stern aprons are made new decals for the apron did some monopoly money decals along the the bottom edge of the apron itself that way you know the pinball when it drains you know rubbing off the paint or anything like that you know made myself some new player cards and that was it um new leg levelers new you know leg bolts and cabinet armor and all that kind of stuff everything's gold gold gold i also made my own shooter rod for this game found an oversized you know six-sided dice and uh this was it was already black and gold which was perfect just drilled a hole into it i got the old shooter rod broke off the end with a hammer epoxied it on there bada-bing bada-boom easy simple shooter rod that goes with the theme it's a fun quirky game and it's that Pat Lawler design that he kind of you know reissued and rehashed over the years that whirlwind Adams family style you know you got your shot to the pop bumpers you got this interactive bank door with optos where you can hit it and it opens up you got a spinner you got a drop target with a cop over here we got a side ramp shot up here to the free parking target you know the goofy little mini flipper that spins clockwise and counterclockwise to give you some crazy chaos You got six pop bumpers on this thing It a fun game It really quirky Obviously we all familiar with monopoly We all grew up, you know hating or loving it in whatever household you were You've got this railroad shot, which is really cool, which I like because it's backhandable. I mean, it's it's a great fun layout well-designed game it's challenging it's not stupid simple or anything like that and I'm happy with it last little bits and touches I want to do probably gonna do a DMD vinyl graphics skin here just I've started doing that a lot of my games and been happy with how it looks so I'll either make my own or maybe see what's out there and then I need to come up with something for a topper there's a couple toppers options out there on the market and either one of them really excite me so I'll probably maybe end up designing my own but those are the last bits and pieces that I need to really finish this off besides you know replacing that bank covered lid and overall just happy to have this game happy to have it for a great price and if you've ever played it guys let me know your thoughts and opinions down in the comments below but otherwise check out some gameplay OWN IT ALL! Ow! Stop! Nicely done! Time to roll. Time to roll. Thank you. Ow. Ow. Ow Ow Electric power in the What do we have here? Extra, extra, read all about it! That's more like it! Stop! Grab! Look at all that cash! More money! Oh, look! Look at all that cash! Time to waste it! Ow! It's not! One more time! Ow! Money, money, money! Shoot again? Stay right there. You move, take faces. Watch those beaters spin. Hey! One more. Not bad. 4, 2, 1. Shoot the right rat. Let's go. You move more, Paisley. Get back here! I am not going to go to jail! Whoa! _(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4683c7d2-4ebd-4e09-b5a0-e1079431f22b*