# Don’s Pinball Podcast is live! Star Wars Topper

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast Live Streams (YouTube)  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2026-01-08  
**Duration:** 9m 50s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mg8GXSEiOmQ

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## Analysis

Don troubleshoots a common manufacturing defect in the Stern C3PO Star Wars Expression Light topper—an unplugged wiring harness on the node board that prevents LEDs from lighting up despite the motor functioning. He provides a detailed walkthrough of the access panel disassembly and fix, then demonstrates the working topper on his Star Wars Fall of the Empire machine, which is currently undergoing restoration with wireforms and hardware being powder coated. He also discusses future plans to build a Star Wars themed arcade corner and mentions Beetlejuice production updates.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Multiple C3PO Star Wars toppers shipped with an unplugged wiring harness on the node board, preventing LED functionality while the motor works normally. — _Don's direct experience and communication with Stern Pinball; corroborated by reports from 'some other folks'_
- [HIGH] The access panel design uses plastic pop rivets and Phillips screws, making it difficult to access the node board for repairs. — _Don's detailed technical description of the physical design and his critique of the access panel_
- [HIGH] Don's Star Wars Fall of the Empire is currently at the powder coater for restoration of wireforms, armor, hinges, lock down bar, legs, speaker panel, shooter rod housing, and coin door. — _Don's visual demonstration of the partially disassembled machine and discussion of pending work_
- [MEDIUM] 10 Beetlejuice pinball machines will be available at Pinball at the Beach in a couple of weeks. — _Don's statement near the end of the stream; 'Beetlejuices are being made right now'_
- [MEDIUM] The C3PO topper features approximately 200 addressable LEDs across its panels. — _Don's observation of the LED test screen showing LED count_

### Notable Quotes

> "There's a cable harness. It's not the easiest thing to get to, but I figured it out and thought I could help you guys."
> — **Don**, ~early in stream
> _Establishes the core issue and Don's intent to provide community troubleshooting assistance_

> "So, if you've got your C3PO topper, they're shipping now. Mine showed up yesterday, and you get excited and you plug it in and he's moving but the lights aren't working."
> — **Don**, ~early in stream
> _Describes the exact symptom many users are experiencing—motor function but no lights_

> "I would have preferred an access panel. The access was great once you remove this. I would prefer if there was screws all along, at least the back Phillips."
> — **Don**, ~mid stream
> _Design critique of the topper's access panel, suggesting hinged alternatives for easier future maintenance_

> "Look at him looking around. What are you looking at, guy? What are you finding? Do you see rebels? Are there rebels? Are there Ewoks?"
> — **Don**, ~mid stream
> _Demonstrates the topper's motion and shows genuine enthusiasm for the product once fixed_

> "I saw this thing when they unveiled it and I was like, instant buy. I got to have it. It's Black Knight, but it's C3PO and it's got some progress bar stuff and it works for both games."
> — **Don**, ~mid-late stream
> _Expresses the appeal of the topper's Black Knight design homage paired with C3PO thematics and multi-game compatibility_

> "We're already behind schedule. I'm waiting for Expression Light toppers. I'm waiting for speakers. I need all the accessories from Stern."
> — **Don**, ~late stream
> _Indicates supply chain or sourcing delays affecting his arcade build plans_

> "This whole corner is going to be Super Star Wars all the damn time. All the time. It's gonna be great."
> — **Don**, ~late stream
> _Reveals his vision to build a dedicated Star Wars themed arcade corner_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of the C3PO Star Wars Expression Light topper; Don contacted them for troubleshooting support |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; arcade operator/collector experiencing and fixing the topper issue; based in Benton |
| Carrie Hardy | person | Suggested the headlamp solution; appears to be a community member with a discount code for Pinball at the Beach |
| Star Wars Fall of the Empire | game | Stern pinball machine in Don's arcade; currently undergoing restoration with wireforms and hardware being powder coated |
| C3PO Star Wars topper | product | Stern Expression Light topper with motion and addressable LEDs; experiencing widespread wiring harness defect on delivery |
| Expression Light topper | product | Stern's topper hardware platform with integrated lighting; used for various themed designs including C3PO and Death Star variants |
| Death Star topper | product | Stern Star Wars Expression Light topper variant; Don has received one but hasn't installed it yet due to ongoing arcade relocation |
| Beetlejuice | game | Pinball machine currently in production; 10 units planned for Pinball at the Beach event in a couple of weeks |
| Pinball at the Beach | event | Upcoming pinball tournament/event scheduled in a couple of weeks; will feature 10 Beetlejuice machines; still selling tickets |
| Electric Playground topper | product | Expression Light topper variant that Don plans to mount above the C3PO topper in his Star Wars arcade corner |
| Black Knight | game | Classic pinball reference; Don notes the C3PO topper design pays homage to Black Knight's visual style |

### Topics

- **Primary:** C3PO Star Wars topper manufacturing defect and repair, Stern Expression Light topper hardware and design, Star Wars Fall of the Empire restoration and modifications
- **Secondary:** Arcade corner theming and accessories, Beetlejuice pinball production and availability, Supply chain and accessory sourcing delays
- **Mentioned:** Pinball community events and tournaments

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** C3PO Star Wars Expression Light toppers shipped with unplugged wiring harnesses on node boards, preventing LED functionality. Stern has acknowledged the issue as a known assembly problem affecting multiple units. (confidence: high) — Don's direct experience, communication with Stern support, and statement 'I'm hearing that it's also been an issue for some other folks'
- **[design_philosophy]** Don critiques the C3PO topper's access panel design, noting plastic pop rivets and Phillips screws create friction for user repairs. He advocates for hinged panels or all-screw designs for better serviceability. (confidence: high) — Detailed technical walkthrough and direct criticism: 'I would prefer if there was screws all along' and 'I would do that if I was designing this'
- **[product_launch]** C3PO Star Wars Expression Light toppers are shipping to customers; Don received his the day before this stream. Delivery appears ongoing with units reaching multiple collectors. (confidence: high) — 'They're shipping now. Mine showed up yesterday' and visual demonstration of working unit
- **[collector_signal]** Strong collector enthusiasm for Star Wars Expression Light toppers (C3PO and Death Star variants). Don describes immediate 'instant buy' reaction upon announcement and plans multi-topper installation. (confidence: high) — 'I saw this thing when they unveiled it and I was like, instant buy' and plans to install both C3PO and Death Star toppers
- **[product_strategy]** C3PO topper is designed to work with multiple Star Wars games (Fall of the Empire and Pinball Wizard confirmed), increasing appeal and value proposition to collectors. (confidence: medium) — 'it works for both games' in reference to compatibility with Star Wars titles
- **[restoration_signal]** Don is performing comprehensive restoration on a classic Star Wars Fall of the Empire machine, including powder coating of wireforms, armor, hinges, lock down bar, legs, speaker panel, shooter rod housing, and coin door. Estimated completion in 'just a couple weeks'. (confidence: high) — Visual demonstration of disassembled machine and detailed list of parts at powder coater
- **[supply_chain_signal]** Don reports delays in receiving Expression Light toppers and speakers from Stern, causing schedule delays for his arcade build. Multiple accessories currently on backorder. (confidence: medium) — 'We're already behind schedule. I'm waiting for Expression Light toppers. I'm waiting for speakers. I need all the accessories from Stern'
- **[product_launch]** Beetlejuice pinball machines are currently in active production with 10 units allocated for Pinball at the Beach event in approximately two weeks. (confidence: medium) — 'Beetlejuices are being made right now. It's incredible. We're going to have 10 at Pinball at the Beach in just a couple weeks'
- **[venue_signal]** Don is expanding his arcade with a dedicated Star Wars themed corner featuring multiple machines and toppers. Currently addressing lighting infrastructure ('I finally added some light'). (confidence: medium) — Discussion of building 'Super Star Wars' corner, plans for C3PO and other toppers, mention of arcade relocation in progress
- **[design_innovation]** C3PO topper features motion mechanics (moving eyes/head), approximately 200 addressable LEDs, and visual homage to Black Knight classic pinball design. Shows sophisticated integration of licensed character animation with gameplay feedback. (confidence: high) — Don's observation of LED test showing 200 addressable LEDs, visual demonstration of motion, and comment 'It's Black Knight, but it's C3PO'

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## Transcript

on Don here. I got my my headlamp on. Thanks Carrie Hardy for the suggestion. Just putting this thing back together because like like a great many people, my poor C3PO Star Wars toppers had an issue after I put it on here. I fired it up and he started moving just fine. We'll take a look at him in a second, but there were no lights at all. A quick call though to Stern Pinball. We found the issue and it's something common and so I want to take a moment. We'll kind of we'll kind of talk about a wise screw in the back here. This being the access plate. So, the problem was that there was a wiring harness that had been unavoidably or probably super avoidably not plugged in uh when a bunch of these shipped, I guess. And I'm hearing that it's also been an issue for some other folks. So, if you've got your C3PO topper, they're shipping now. Mine showed up yesterday. and you get excited and you plug it in and he's moving but the lights aren't working. Well, the problem is there's a cable harness. It's not the easiest thing to get to, but I figured it out and thought I could help you guys. Little little service bullets in here. Hopefully there'll be an official one. Who's joining? Awesome. Um, let me just finish screwing this in. So, is that going into anything? No, I guess that's in. All right, let me take off this silly head lamp. Needs to charge anyway. Cool. So, hello everybody. Dawn here, the egghehead. Look at this guy. Look at He's looking around. What's he doing? What's C3PO doing? Follow the light, C3PO. It's like a cat toy up here. So, as you can see, we got lights, we got motion. Look at him looking around. We're in attract mode. And actually, I I like the LEDs up here. I think everything's fine. So, here was the issue. There's two node node boards that control this guy. They're both in the back. One's on the right side, one's on the left over here. The left side. This is the problem one that I had. It is like a cat toy. So, what you have to do, I should have filmed this part, but I want to make sure it worked. Man, I look crazy. Look at Michael Stip over here. So, this, as you can see, is a black plastic panel in the back. There are four Phillips screws on the bottom. Very easy to undo those. But then there's these little uh pop plastic pop riet. Not not really a pop rivet. What do you call these things? This is like what's in your car's upholstery when you got to pop these things off. Little I I guess I'll call them pop rivets, but they're plastic. So, you got to get a knife in underneath there. Pry these things off. They come out and then they just kind of push back in. It's easiest if you disassemble them. They're two parts and put the plastic part in first, then the plunger thing and it'll snap back in place. I would have preferred an a I love the access was great once you remove this. I would prefer if there was there was screws all along at least the back Phillips. Everybody's got a Phillips screwdriver. Makes it really easy to get into the panel and access it. I would do that if I was designing this or or put like a hinged access panel back here so you can just flip it up and do it. So apparently when these were being assembled, somebody skipped the step of plugging a wire harness into the node board in the back. No board, just a little 2x4 in board back there. There's only one place for the harness to go. And of course, I remove this and it's just sitting there dangling. I plug it back in, turn it on, everything's working fine. So saga complete. But I figured if I was struggling with it, maybe some of y'all's was too, and we could help you out. I'm just getting the last little bits of my my plastic guys to put this back together. Now, I'm also playing
The Rebellion needs every soldier it can get.
I'm also playing Star Wars Fall of the Empire ramp or wire formless. This is the wire formless version. So, as you can see, there are no wire habit trails or wire forms anywhere. They're currently out being powder coated. I also got the speaker panel off here. Coin door is disassembled. Little shooter rod housing. I had an extra one that's at the powder coater. This is all the original armor. I've got replica bits of it that are all at the powder coater. So, she's getting new hinges, new armor, new lock down bar, new legs, speaker panel, shooter rod housing, coin door, and wire forms. And wire forms on this. Can't wait to unveil it. Should be in just a couple weeks when everything gets back. And I'm going to have to I'm going to have to go to the Harbor Freight and get another set of these plastic. Oh god. I'm going to have to deal with that in a minute. Anyway, that's Fall of the Empire. How does it play without wire forms? Not the best, as you would imagine. But we could fire it up. I'll also plug the Death Star shooter rod. Look how cool that is. Works great. Fits great in the hand. Whoa. We're playing Skillshot completed.
I don't know if you can see. Let's see if we can get into a wire form here.
Missions are lit. So many to choose from.
Man, one-handed mode is actually works pretty good in this game.
I advise you to collect it.
Come on. Wire form. Oh man, I wish I had a way to hold this up. Maybe I could spin it around. I want to put one right up in there and you can see what happens. But basically, this is what we're dealing with. If you wanted to play the game without wires, here it is. All right. Can we get the ball? Come on, Yoda.
There we go. Trap that guy up. All right. Here we go. Damn it. I just want to get one. There we go. Ah. Right down the middle. Oh, good. I got the long uh ball saver on here. Oh, it should a dead bounce there. Anyway, it's kind of dangerous because this is just going to hit the glass. When I had the glass off, the ball would would fly right about this high and then it would hit the plastic and roll down right down the out lane. So, I don't recommend this challenge mode for this game. But, dude, take a look at C3PO up there. We got to get the Death Star fix on here, too. They sent it to me. It's just I'm in the process of moving. Oh, that would have been cool if I had the hyperspace ramp. So, anyway, let this be my video to Stern that the fix worked for me. Hopefully, it'll work for you, too. Ba. He's lit. I love it. All right, Daddy's got to go to work.
You do not match. I want you to know you've been a real friend.
He's so cool. I like this thing. I like when when they unveiled this and I saw that it was the Black Knight Topper, but C3PO.
This is all your fault
with like a cat toy right here. Laser bar. Dude, I'm I'm totally with it. Now, this game's not staying here forever. When it gets back from the powder coater, it's getting a few more mods and then we're shipping it out. We're already behind schedule. I'm waiting for expression lights. I'm waiting for speakers. I need all the accessories. Stern, but we're going to take C3PO. C3PO is staying here. C3PO is going to go on here. And I can't I can't wait. We're going to have C3PO on here plugged directly into the machine. We'll have the electric playground topper mounted just above that. And this whole corner is going to be Super Star Wars all the damn time. All the time. It's gonna be great. If there was a Chewbacca topper, I'd be all in. I mean, honestly, they should give you the option. I think you put Darth Vader up there, but C-3PO is doing all the call outs, so like this makes sense. I like the motion. This is I think his eyes bugging out. Maybe. No, maybe it's just my perspective. I like how he looks, though. Looking around. What are you looking at, guy? What are you finding? Do John Youssi rebels? Are there rebels? Are there Ewoks? So, I ran through the LED light test and on the screen I could see all the LEDs in here. There's like 200 it looks like addressable LEDs all in these panels. It looks super Star Wars. Man, I love this. I saw this thing when they unveiled it and I was like, instant buy. I got to have it. It's Black Knight, but it's C3PO and it's got some progress bar stuff and it works for both games. That's a win for me. That's a win. I don't know what else you would want. I can't think of anything else I need to add to that except a better access panel in the back. I think that's it. But from from the hometown here in Benton, here's the rest of the arcade. By the way, there's more. There's more. We got We got stragglers. We got homebrew projects. It's about to get nuts down here. I finally added some light. This was the only light that was down here, man. It's dark. Unless we turn all the games on. All right, guys. I got to run. Going to get some food. Got to go to work. Thanks for joining. This was super fun. How do I end a live? I click this button. All right. All right. Be good, everybody. Be good. More as I hear it and as I know it. Also, Beetlejuices are being made right now. It's incredible. We're going to have 10 at Pinball at the Beach in just a couple weeks. Come down and play. There's still tickets available. Pinball at the Beach. See if you can still use Carrie Hardy's discount. I might have an extra ticket if anybody needs one. Just reach out and then we'll talk.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 6ea212c7-6e7d-4fc0-881b-53dddd1a21e0*