# Episode 659: "Kaneda's Top 5 Best/Worst Playfield Art"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2022-03-17  
**Duration:** 32m 1s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-659-top-63927613

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## Analysis

Kaneda presents a subjective ranking of pinball playfield artwork from the last five years, identifying Rush, Led Zeppelin, Legends of Valhalla, Celts, and Oktoberfest as the five worst art packages, while naming Elvira's House of Horrors, Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Guns N' Roses, Deadpool, and The Munsters as the five best. The episode emphasizes cohesion between artwork and game layout, arguing that modern pinball has achieved unprecedented visual quality compared to historical eras.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Modern pinball machines are the best looking in pinball history, with superior artwork compared to the 1980s-2000s era despite simpler mechanical design — _Kaneda opening statement on overall quality of modern playfield art_
- [MEDIUM] Stern Pinball made a mistake walking away from artist Christopher Franchi, and the company lacks a clear go-to playfield artist after Jeremy Packer — _Kaneda's criticism after ranking The Munsters as #1_
- [HIGH] Oktoberfest represents the worst theme choice in pinball history and was marketed in the wrong season (sold in summertime) — _Kaneda's scathing critique of American Pinball's Oktoberfest_
- [HIGH] Ultraman artwork doesn't integrate properly with its inserts—the character's yellow eyes don't light up like Starlord's eyes do in Guardians of the Galaxy — _Kaneda explaining why Ultraman didn't make top 5 despite beautiful artwork_
- [HIGH] Zombie Yeti's artwork on multiple titles (TMNT, Avengers, Godzilla) has started to look repetitive and lack cohesion compared to his Deadpool work — _Kaneda's comparison of Yeti's different art packages and explanation of Deadpool's superiority_

### Notable Quotes

> "Pinball machines are beautiful right now. These machines over the last five years are the best looking pinball machines in pinball history."
> — **Kaneda**, early in episode
> _Core thesis: sets up the entire ranking framework by establishing that modern playfield art exceeds historical standards_

> "These companies have realized it's a lot cheaper to get a good artist than to make mechanical toys. And that's another reason why modern pinball looks so damn good."
> — **Kaneda**, introduction
> _Industry business insight: explains economic shift in manufacturing priorities toward art over mechanics_

> "This game needs to be put on the roof of TNT Amusements and Todd Tuckey should push all of these off the roof."
> — **Kaneda**, Oktoberfest critique
> _Hyperbolic expression of extreme dissatisfaction; notable for naming specific operator (Todd Tuckey at TNT Amusements)_

> "This machine is sex in a wooden box."
> — **Kaneda**, Deadpool ranking (#2)
> _Characterizes Deadpool as the pinnacle of playfield art aesthetics_

> "The Munsters just has like the right amount of purple and green and yellow. It just feels like the show."
> — **Kaneda**, The Munsters ranking (#1)
> _Explains color palette harmony and thematic authenticity as key to ranking The Munsters #1_

> "I think Stern Pinball is a bunch of morons for walking away from Christopher Franchi."
> — **Kaneda**, after The Munsters ranking
> _Direct criticism of Stern's personnel/artist decisions; expresses concern about future art direction_

> "Just putting as much as you can into it doesn't make it more cohesive."
> — **Kaneda**, closing explanation of Godzilla exclusion
> _Core design philosophy: emphasizes restraint and focus over density in successful art packages_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; experienced pinball analyst and content creator specializing in playfield design critique |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Rush, Led Zeppelin, Guardians of the Galaxy, Stern Star Wars, and other games evaluated; subject of criticism for art direction and personnel decisions |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory and Guns N' Roses; praised for art cohesion and layout integration |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Implied manufacturer; Deadpool game referenced in context (per KB, Rick and Morty is Spooky, but Deadpool attribution needs verification from content) |
| American Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Oktoberfest; heavily criticized for chaotic art design and poor theme execution |
| Haggis Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Celts; art package criticized for poor character illustrations; Kaneda promises future episodes examining company's unfulfilled promises |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Playfield artist; created artwork for The Munsters and other Stern titles; no longer works with Stern; Kaneda expresses frustration over Stern's decision to stop collaborating with him |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Playfield artist; created artwork for Deadpool, Godzilla, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Avengers, and other titles; Kaneda ranks Deadpool as his best work despite Godzilla containing more detail |
| Jeremy Packer | person | Implied to be a recent/previous Stern playfield artist; Kaneda expresses uncertainty about who will replace him as Stern's go-to artist |
| Randy Martinez | person | Playfield artist for Star Wars The Mandalorian; Kaneda considers it an honorable mention but not top 5 |
| Todd Tuckey | person | Operator at TNT Amusements; mentioned in hyperbolic criticism of Oktoberfest |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Podcast host who conducted an interview with Haggis Pinball approximately one year prior to this episode; Kaneda plans to revisit and critique that interview in future episodes |
| Gary Stern | person | CEO of Stern Pinball; referenced for Photoshopping artwork in the 2000s era; implied responsibility for company's art direction decisions |
| Joe Balser | person | Associated with American Pinball's Oktoberfest; implied involvement in poor art direction decisions |
| This Week in Pinball | organization | Media outlet; mentioned in context of code updates and game features; Kaneda may be referencing podcast crossover or newsletter mentions |
| Poor Man's Pinball Podcast | organization | Competing pinball podcast; Kaneda references their differing opinion on Oktoberfest dismissively |
| Jaws | game | Stern Pinball game; implied as reference point in KB but not explicitly discussed in this episode |
| Rush | game | Stern Pinball music game; ranked #5 worst art package; criticized for simplistic character designs and lazy art execution |
| Led Zeppelin | game | Stern Pinball music game; ranked #4 worst art package; criticized for stale, boring, mailed-in artwork and empty slingshot plastics |
| Legends of Valhalla | game | Ranked #3 worst art package; criticized for inconsistent character detail and confusing central playfield imagery |
| Celts | game | Haggis Pinball game; ranked #2 worst art package; criticized for horrendous character drawings and poor illustration quality |
| Oktoberfest | game | American Pinball game; ranked #1 worst art package; heavily criticized for chaotic, multi-style collision of artwork and terrible theme execution |
| The Munsters | game | Ranked #1 best art package; praised for beautiful color palette, character integration, and thematic authenticity |
| Deadpool | game | Ranked #2 best art package; praised as Zombie Yeti's greatest effort with excellent layout and character representation |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; ranked #3 best art package; praised for detailed world tour art and character representation despite busy design |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Playfield artwork quality and design philosophy, Art cohesion with game layout, inserts, and mechanics, Color palette and visual aesthetics in pinball design, Comparison of playfield artists (Zombie Yeti, Christopher Franchi, Randy Martinez)
- **Secondary:** Manufacturer art direction decisions and quality control, Economic trade-offs between mechanical complexity and artwork investment, Historical evolution of pinball visual design (1980s-2000s vs. modern era)
- **Mentioned:** Haggis Pinball company issues and unfulfilled promises

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Episode begins positive (praising modern pinball aesthetics) but becomes heavily negative during the worst-five segment, with extreme criticism (e.g., Oktoberfest critique). Ends on a more balanced tone celebrating top five titles. Overall sentiment weighted toward negativity due to intensity of worst-five critiques, but the episode's framing celebrates modern artwork quality.

### Signals

- **[design_innovation]** Kaneda emphasizes that successful modern playfield art integrates with shot geometry, inserts, and character placement rather than filling every available space; examples include Guns N' Roses world tour layout and The Munsters color harmony (confidence: high) — Repeated throughout episode; explicit in Willy Wonka analysis: 'I like that there's some empty space here...puts emphasis on the other stuff'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Zombie Yeti's reputation remains strong overall, but Kaneda suggests saturation/sameness in recent work (TMNT, Avengers, Godzilla), with Deadpool representing a return to form in his comic book style (confidence: high) — Direct comparison: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Avengers sort of had a baby and it was Godzilla...Deadpool is above and beyond all the other efforts'
- **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi is no longer creating playfield artwork for Stern Pinball; Kaneda expresses concern that Stern lacks a clear replacement artist and worries about future art quality direction (confidence: high) — Direct statement: 'I think Stern Pinball is a bunch of morons for walking away from Christopher Franchi...I don't know who's their go-to guy after Jeremy Packer'
- **[product_concern]** Multiple games criticized for poor integration of artwork with game mechanics: Ultraman's character eyes don't light up with inserts; Led Zeppelin has empty slingshot plastics; Stranger Things has excessive insert chaos (confidence: high) — Specific examples throughout: Ultraman yellow eyes that 'don't light up' vs Guardians of the Galaxy; Stranger Things described as '80,000 inserts just like interrupting the entire art package'
- **[design_philosophy]** Kaneda articulates principle that maximum detail does not equal better art—visual breathing room and focus on key elements creates more cohesive designs; exemplified by Willy Wonka's empty space vs Godzilla's overcrowding (confidence: high) — 'Just putting as much as you can into it doesn't make it more cohesive...I don't even know what to look at sometimes'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Manufacturers have shifted investment priorities from mechanical toys to high-quality playfield artwork due to cost-efficiency; modern games achieve visual impact through art rather than mechanical complexity (confidence: high) — 'These companies have realized it's a lot cheaper to get a good artist than to make mechanical toys...they can make magic with just artwork'
- **[market_signal]** Oktoberfest was sold in summertime despite Oktoberfest theme requiring autumn context; signals poor product/market fit and timing strategy at American Pinball (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'a game in which they sold it in the summertime...when you look at this machine it literally looks like the art director tripped'
- **[content_signal]** Kaneda plans future episodes analyzing Haggis Pinball's unfulfilled promises based on Jeff Teolis interview from one year prior; signals investigative content pipeline and Haggis Pinball ongoing controversy (confidence: high) — 'I went back and I listened to Jeff Teolis' interview of Haggis Pinball like from a year ago and get ready till I grab those sound bites and you hear all the promises that were made'
- **[industry_signal]** Pinball manufacturers are over-reliant on single go-to artists (e.g., Stern with Zombie Yeti, JJP with specific artists); creates bottleneck risk if artist unavailable or output quality inconsistent (confidence: medium) — 'One of the problems with pinball now is each of these companies has their go-to artists and they put them on too much stuff'
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda positions Kaneda's Pinball Podcast as more aggressive/investigative than competitors like Poor Man's Pinball Podcast; claims willingness to 'go after companies' and not 'selectively bury information' (confidence: medium) — 'I'm just here to tell you this is the difference between Canadian Spinball Podcast and other shows that selectively bury information and don't go after companies when they should'

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## Transcript

 I'm too sexy for my love, too sexy for my love, love's going to leave. Ah, welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. You know, I got so much positive feedback on my like top toys and pinball episode that I wanted to do another episode in which I celebrate things I love in pinball. And this episode is all going to be about my top five sexiest pinball playfields over the last All these are the machines that I think when you stand over them you will say wow like this is just a beautiful a gorgeous a sexy pinball machine and then the five machines when you stand over them you're like oh they could have done much better than this okay look I'm gonna give Haggis a break I've been in the thread I just want to say this real quick I thought it was very I'm just here to tell you this is the difference between Canadian SpinballPodcast and other shows that selectively bury information and don't go after companies when they should. We're going to have more episodes about Haggis and best believe it, I went back and I listened to Jeff Teolis' interview of Damien like from a year ago and get ready till I grab those sound bites and you hear all the promises that were made and all the incredible Win Schilling that was going on. But this is not that episode. This is all about sexy pinball art. Now here's the thing. This was really fun to go back and look at games from over the last five years and just Put them all side by side and look at them from a little bit of a bird's eye view and say, hey, which one of these games is beautiful? Which one is sexy? Which one uses colors in an interesting way? Which one has laid out the theme in an interesting way? Which ones are cohesive and which ones seem a little discombobulated, right? And that's what I love about artwork. It's so subjective. Now, before I tell you my top five favorite and my top five ugliest pinball playfield of the last five years, I want to say this in general. Pinball machines are beautiful right now. These machines over the last five years are the best looking pinball machines in pinball history. And I mean that. These machines and this artwork is better than anything we got in the 90s, in the 80s, in the 2000 era when Stern was just Photoshopped, These games are beautiful. They are colorful. They pop. They jump off of the playfield. These companies have realized it's a lot cheaper to get a good artist than to make mechanical toys. And that's another reason why modern pinball looks so damn good because these companies know that they can make money with just artwork. They don't need to make the games mechanically as complex as they used to, right? A BallyWilliams game has much more magic mechanically in their games, but these games have much better artwork and they really are stunning. And it's one of the reasons why Stern Pinball is so successful because I must say, When you put most of these Stern machines side by side by side, for the most part, they look so good. They're so colorful. There's a reason why Stern loves this sort of super bright, super vibrant sort of color palette because it just makes you smile. I mean, these are toys. Like sometimes we forget that, that these are toys. They should pull you in. They should attract you. They should have some sort of magnetic quality so when you see it from across the room, all lit up and you see This week's topic is Pinball. Pinball is a game that you can play with your hands, but you can't play with your hands. Pinball is a game that you can play with your hands, but you can't play with your hands. When you see the artwork, it makes you want to play. Like, that's what a pinball machine is supposed to communicate. Now, some just do it better than others. And this was hard to get it down to just like five of my favorite because there are more than five great art packages in pinball, okay? Now, when it came to the worst five, that's where I had to be like, oh, does this deserve to be in the bottom five or should this be out of the bottom five? This is the criteria by which I judge these games. How well is the art laid out? Right? How well is it laid out? Does it make sense where the characters are on the playfield? Is the art cohesive with the shots in the game? Does the art line up with the inserts of the game? That's important. Like, there's some machines that have a lot of detail, a lot going on. And if you ask me, sometimes it's just all over the place. I like art packages that also connect with the layout of the game. I also looked at each of these and just said aesthetically, is this pleasing to look at? Is it too busy? And I know this is the hardest part is just covering a machine with detail with every little inch of the playfield does not make it better. And sometimes what makes art beautiful is also the empty spaces and how they are utilized because you want something to focus on. Sometimes you can have too much going on and it's hard to know where to focus. This week's topic is, what is the most difficult thing to look at in a game? Is it fun? Is it fun to look down at this game? And does this art package make you smile? Does it relate to the theme? Does it just feel right? And I know that's like the hardest thing to sort of pinpoint. But does this art package feel right for the game? For the layout? For the theme? For the toys? For the action in the machine? Or is it trying too hard? This week is barely released there you had last Friday in this channel the last patch thataldo cleansing where if you wanted when everyone bet ok all games that worked in contention for my top 5 and bottom 5 ok then I'm going to do it like this back is forth between eight bottomed five kind of top five and i'm going to start from the bottom up so we will start Let's start with the bottom fifth game and then we will go to the top fifth game and then I will work my way up. Number one in the bottom is the ugliest. Number one in the top is the prettiest. Okay, so that is how we're going to do it. Now here are the games that I've been looking at. Are you ready for the sheer number of games that were in contention? We've got Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. We've got Willy Wonka. We've got the Munsters. We've got Guns N' Roses, we've got Deadpool, we've got Jurassic Park, we've got Elvira, we've got The Mandalorian, we've got Led Zeppelin, we've got Rush, we've got The Avengers, we've got Godzilla, we've got Stranger Things, we've got Guardians of the Galaxy, we've got Iron Maiden, Rick and Morty, we've got Houdini, we've got Star Wars, we've got Oktoberfest, Legends of Valhalla, Beatles, Pirates of the Caribbean, yes Pirates of the Caribbean was revealed 5 years ago. Halloween, Ultraman, TNA, Hot Wheels, Kelts. I don't think I missed anything there. I hope not. So now, bottom 5. Also one of my criteria was what is the subject matter and what did you have to work with and did you make it work Okay Alright so drum roll Kaneda let start at the bottom of the list This is the fifth worst art package I've seen over the last five years and it is no other than Stern's most recent release Rush Pinball. Now I'm looking at it right now and this thing is just, I don't know, like there's nothing special about the playfield. I'm going to be talking about the three Rush characters in the middle of the playfield. I don't have a problem with the space gradient, time travel theme to this whole thing. The color palette is fine, but these three characters that represent the Rush musicians just look like they're from a lunchbox that a kid drew. There's just very little detail to them. They look more like Spinal Tap than Rush. I just don't like it. And then after that, there really is nothing else. Like look at this game. All you've got is those three characters and then you've got the owl down by Hoot again and then nothing else. So this was a really, really lazy art package by Stern and Stern's done some amazing art packages as we're going to see. So when this This game came out. It's like this would have been good like 15 years ago from Stern, but this game in 2021 was really, really embarrassing. And so it is the fifth worst pinball playfield art package in the last five years. All right, let's go to the fifth best. You know, instead of going back and forth, let's just go through the five worst art packages together. I know I'm changing my mind, but trust me, it'll make more sense This week's topic is pinball. So what is the fourth worst art package over the last five years? This is also a stern pinball game. It is also a music pin by stern pinball. Can you guess what it is? I almost want to flip the order of these two, but Led Zeppelin by Stern Pinball is really, really lazy. It's really, really boring. At least they tried to illustrate stuff on the Rush Machine albeit I don't like it. But on Led Zeppelin, this art package is so stale. It is so boring. You've got this like black and white Zeppelin that's burning up. Then you've got the Icarus down by the flippers and you've got this ornate sort of thing surrounding the Icarus. And then it's just this lazy gradient. But this is really where they gave up. Look at the slingshot plastics WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR WPPR It's like they decided to put absolutely no art on any of the plastics on this game. And then you go up the playfield and it's just drag and drop imagery of the band. Really, really lazy. Nothing makes the inserts pop. Nothing makes this game special to look at. It is such a mailed in effort by Stern Pinball. If you ask me, one of the reasons why this Stern LE is not going up in value It's because it's ugly and there's nothing interesting to shoot at in the game. I get that it has flow. What an ugly way to pay homage to one of the greatest bands of all time. Stern should be so embarrassed that they immortalize Led Zeppelin with this lazy ass art package. You're like, Kaneda, I thought this was a positive show and you're just ragging on pinball. Well, I'm just going through the worst first. Don't worry everybody. We're gonna get to the best pretty soon. Alright, so what comes in at number three when we're thinking about the bottom five worst art packages of all time? Now this is another game that recently came out and it's another game when you look at the detail of the characters They're really bad It almost looks like this game was drawn by two different artists because some of the characters Have more detail than other characters on the playfield The other thing about this playfield artwork that I just don't like is the entire middle section of it is like something I don't even know what it is supposed to be. I don't think there's any worse art decision to make than make this central thing happening confusing. And the game I'm talking about here is Legends of Vahalla. Alright, look over this game right now and I think, what is that, Odin with the eyepatch and then you've got, I mean there is this female viking to his left over the shoulder They obvioulsy busy making pics and consuming the clips and queuing for pics. But with it, it's normal. amount of works on every broom cuts having مت Pure Style Do Fall Out Day finishes These two are really really broken and I think both of these companies should be really really embarrassed that this is what they went with artwork. And it was hard to pick between these two because they're both just terrible. They are just terrible, but here's how I decided which one was the worst and which one was the second worse. This week's topic is which one is just a little bit more cohesive at least like which one is easier to look at on the eyes, you know, which one is just easier to look at and then which one just makes you want to stab your eyes out because there is so much going on. And so coming in as the second worst playfield art package over the last five years is no other than Haggis Pinball's Kelts. I mean, I'm looking at the game right now and this art package, it's her, I mean, the drawings are horrendous. I mean, there's no way around it. These characters, this looks like one of Killian's books, right? I don't want the illustrations on a six to $7,000 pinball machine to be worse than what's in my son's like one year old reading level books. Okay, this is bad. The characters look bad. The drawings are bad. There's not even like gradient really, it's just purple. And then you've got these two characters. And then you've got like some grass and you've I don't know weird troll looking guys. It's just bad. It's really bad, but it's not the worst the one thing I do like about this at least there's some like cohesiveness to where the characters are I do like how there's like a character that's like standing on the slingshot and everything seems to be arranged you know where they wanted it I mean it's not funny to say like I feel like this is where they wanted this stuff to go because the worst one of all All seems like someone just tripped and vomited all over the playfield. All right, so taking the cake for the ugliest and the worst pinball playfield art package over the last five years, you know what it is if you've been listening to my show, is no other than also the worst theme choice in the history of pinball, Joe Balcer and American Pinball Oktoberfest a game in which they sold it in the summertime But when I look at this machine it literally looks like the art director tripped on his way to the machine and just vomited all his ideas over the playfield and wherever stuff landed when it spewed out of his mouth is where they drew stuff I don even know what to look at I don know what going on There a combination of what looks like a Where Waldo book in the middle of this playfield This week's topic is the most popular topic in the world. And then you've got what looks like Photoshop artwork of people. It's like eight different art styles colliding. It looks so bad. And every time I see this, like, there's this big beer mug that looks like clip art. And then you've got like illustrated Waldo characters walking around this Oktoberfest. And then you've got just like Photoshop images of women with mustaches. And the whole thing is just hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. It is hideous. This game needs to be put on the roof of TNT Amusements and Todd Tuckey should push all of these games off the roof. I don't care if the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast likes this game. This game is just hideous and that is one of the reasons why nobody wants the game. Alright, I'm done being negative. I'm done being negative. Now look, there were some like honorable bad mentions as well. Like I think Stern Star Wars is terrible. I think Houdini is too dark. I think Stranger Things is just like an insert Nightmare. Have you ever seen Stranger Things? I mean look at this game. It's just like 80,000 inserts just like interrupting the entire art package. It is one of the worst insert layouts in pinball history. How about you guys use the LCD or the callouts to communicate some of this. This is the hardest game to put art on because of all of the insert chaos going on. What's going on? Alright, enough of the negativity Kaneda. Let's go to Kaneda's top five best playfield art packages, the top five sexiest pinball machines I've seen over the last five years. And these are five machines. When you stand over them, when you look down at these machines, to me these are the prettiest, the most cohesive, the best examples of what beautiful pinball should be. I think each of these takes the theme, it takes the layout, it takes the inserts, and all of these art packages complement the game in every single way. I think the easiest way to describe these five is they're beautiful on the eyes. When you stand over these games, they are just beautiful to look at. Again, this is the playfield artwork. I'm not talking about translites or cabinets. But these to me are the top five most beautiful games that when you stand over them, they just make you say, yeah, like that's a great looking game. Number five was the hardest for me because I went back and forth and I'm going to tell you what the two were. And I went back and forth between these two. I'm going to tell you which one didn't make it. And that's Ultraman because I do think the Ultraman artwork is beautiful. But where Ultraman fell down for me was the artwork doesn't really connect with the inserts at all. And those inserts were made for a John Wick game. You know, I'll give you an example. Like, look at Ultraman, right? You've got him beautifully drawn by the flippers and he's punching towards the sky. And he's got these big two yellow eyes, right? Do those eyes light up? No, they don't! And then you look at a game like Guardians of the Galaxy and Starlord, his eyes light up. And that's what I mean. It's like this art was put down but they didn't integrate the art with the inserts in any way, shape or form. A very cringy title especially related to things like Laughs bar appreciate Moon to even similar to not curd Sky sad eng ones but it it cause a bastard make and any 900 people in her getting rickshea nearly three periods in the game i gays under the gesture Racies baconpy This is one of Stern's greatest worlds under glass and the number five most beautiful pinball machine to stand over I think is Elvira and I love this art package. There's something about the colors and the way it moves you up. You know that's another thing is an art package should push you up the playfield. It should have some sort of flow to it. It should sort of speak to the shots of the game and even though this is a traditional fan layout, I just think the way You have got our BL Originals here, it's r Toyota okay it looks N retire Bailey happiness or to Garth Universal You are moved then they your English The theme is perfect and ties the game together. Number 4 on my list is Jersey Jack Pinball's Willy Wonka. Wonka is a game I ragged on but when I look over this Wonka CE machine and I look at how they arrange the artwork in the game and I look at where the ramps are and where the toys are And you've got Willy Wonka right there in the middle. And I know, I know this is not like fully illustrated Willy Wonka. It's more like airbrushed drag and drop stuff. But there's just something beautiful about this machine. It's even hard for me to describe it. But I think the way this game is laid out and the way the artwork works with the inserts is just done so perfectly. I mean, it's unmistakably Willy Wonka. You've got Charlie down by the flippers. You've got the oompa loompas on the slings. He was sort of candy swirl going around and here's a part that I think people are going to be mad about is what I like about Willy Wonka is it not trying to fill every single inch of space with something I like that there's some empty space here I like that there's some great Asian near I think that put in emphasis on the other stuff right you're drawn to this one major Willy Wonka image with the logo and I just love the way this game looks All right, so Wonka's number four. Number three on my list of the most beautiful pinball machines over the last five years. We are going to stay with our friends in New Jersey who are now in Chicago and it is Guns N' Roses collector's edition is just a work of art. You can make an argument that aesthetically standing over a Guns N' Roses collector's edition with the top hat, with the guitar, with the bass, with the drumsticks, with this art package when the light show is All the way through the end of the week, the pinball machine is going. There might be no more beautiful pinball machine just to stand over when everything is turned on, but this isn't what we're doing here. We're saying what's the most beautiful art package. So I think Guns N' Roses is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, Dayne Henry Jr. who drew this art package, it's the perfect style for GNR. I know everyone was worried about old fat axle. We've got GNR in basically skeleton form coming on throughout this game, but there's so much more to it. with Rodriguez You look at the map of the world you see all of this detail inside the world map Then you got like all the different characters from the GNR world You got the albums represented You've got snakes. You've got women riding missiles. You've got all this really cool stuff and it is a little busy, right? You've got piano keys. You've got music notes. You've got all this stuff going on, but it works. And the whole thing about the world tour and the world being like the center art piece and the characters are down by the flippers. This thing is stunning. It is absolutely stunning and I think Guns N' Roses rightfully should be the third most beautiful pinball machine playfield over the last five years. All right, we're at the top two people. Kaneda's Pinball Podcast can say some positive stuff about people every once in a while. So these two were hard. I went back and forth on these two and I've got these machines right next to each other right now. And I'm looking at both of them right now. I'm sitting side by side right now on my PowerPoint and they're both bringing such a big smile to my face. These two machines, I think, are the greatest two pinball art packages over the last maybe 10 years, maybe ever. Like you could argue that these might be two of the most beautiful pinball machines ever. And they both are bringing the theme to life better than anything I've seen. Both are laid out perfectly. The inserts, the artwork, the characters, everything about these two machines is put down on that wood in such a nice way. And here's the other part. I think both of these games allowed each of these artists to do what they do best. And I mean that, you know, I think one of the problems in pinball now is each of these companies has their go to artists and they put them on too much stuff. Like I'm gonna tell you right now Godzilla is not one of the two because I don't think Zombietti should have done Godzilla. He did it. It looks great, but it's not his strong suit. So coming in at number two for the sexiest pinball machine over the last five years is no other than Deadpool. This machine is sex in a wooden box. This Deadpool art package is just oh my god it is so fun to look at. If you're a fan of Deadpool you got I think the best art package Zombietti has ever done in pinball. I think the layout is incredible. The way all of the characters are represented. The big Deadpool. You've got the juggernaut. You've got all the characters underneath him. The way the inserts are laid out. The way the fonts are laid out. The way you've got the katanas behind Term inadvertency, Services. Long pee pleaded, Year, Leuk costumes in pinball sneakers, ending code in of the game, catalic. This week in pinball, the next one would be Ghostbusters. I think this is his greatest effort. And so then you might be like, what's number one? If this is Yeti's greatest effort, what's number one? And the one I'm looking at right now, and it might not be the greatest game, it might not have the deepest code, but this art package, and I mean it, when you just look down at it and you look down at the theme and you look down at the colors and you look down At the layout, I think the most beautiful pinball machine to stand over is the Munsters. I mean, it's just so beautiful. It's so colorful. Obviously, I'm looking at the Ellie version of the Munsters, not the black and white version. But the detail in this game and how all of the characters are found throughout the game and how there's like background details. Everything about this game just brings that campiness, that fun of the monsters to life. If there's any weak part in this, maybe it's the inserts that are just down by the flippers. But for the most part, this game just pops. And I love the color. And it also, you know, what helps this game out, and I mean it, what helps this game be even more fun to look at is grandpa's basement and the lower playfield. It just adds even more dimension to the artwork. And I'm looking at these games side by side. You could easily flip one for the other, right? You could easily put Deadpool as one and Munsters as two. But I just love the Munster color palette even more. Like Deadpool's got a lot of red, like maybe too much red. But Munsters is just like it's like a candy store on a playfield. Munsters just has like the right amount of purple and green and yellow. It just feels like the show. It just feels like I'm looking right at it. And Franchidisciplinary Franchi, you know, we all are sad that he's no longer making Stern Machines because he had such a knack for bringing these themes to life and making the characters pop off of the playfield. And I do think his style is perfect for pinball. And I think Stern Pinball is a bunch of morons for walking away from Christopher Franchi. I really do because I don't want Johnny Crap on stuff. And I don't know who's their go to guy after zombie Yeti. And that's my worry about Stern Pinball. Because think about it. When Yeti's not going, you're going to get crap likeurgical at Foster Walkaround relevant段 of that's not on here this is honorable mindful would the Mandalorian Randy Martinez is Mandalorian is the next day game i just don't think it's in the top five if you is higher than five barrel all for he out All of these are the same as the other games that I mentioned. Now, before I call this an episode, I know what some of you are saying is, Chris, where's Ninja Turtles? Where's Avengers? Where's like Iron Maiden? And I'm going to say right now, look, all of Yeti's artwork is really good. I love it. I do. I think it's great. I think it's colorful. But there's a period where it all started to look a little the same, like Ninja Turtles and Avengers sort of had a baby and it was Godzilla. I think what I love about Deadpool is that's more his style like the comic book style. You can't go wrong with Yeti. I just think Deadpool is above and beyond all the other efforts. I mean it. And look, here's the thing. Godzilla is loaded. Like there's way more in it probably than Deadpool. But like I said earlier, just putting as much as you can into it doesn't make it more cohesive. I don't even know what to look at sometimes. And even when I look at Godzilla, there might be too much All right, everybody. This has been Kaneda's Pinball Podcast. These are my top five favorite art playfields of the last five years and my bottom five over the last five years. Let me know what you think. Let me know how wrong I was or what you agreed with. But everybody have a great St. Patrick's Day and we'll talk to you soon.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 64bbc839-ef5d-41e8-93b7-651bbe0c168a*