# Major Pinball Problems - Stranger Things - I messed up!!

**Source:** RetroRalph  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2022-02-03  
**Duration:** 8m 20s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Kiz3V9tO8I

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## Analysis

RetroRalph accidentally received a Stranger Things Stern pinball delivery after forgetting about a pre-order from Game Room Goodies, forcing him to choose between keeping it or his recently purchased Jurassic Park machine. He demonstrates the new Stern Insider Connected feature on the Stranger Things Pro model, shows custom code modifications with enhanced Netflix audio, and plays a brief gameplay session. He ultimately decides to sell the Jurassic Park and keep Stranger Things, emphasizing the importance of buying machines with themes you genuinely love given the high price point.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] New Stern machines manufactured now include Stern Insider Connected feature standard — _Ralph states 'any new machine being manufactured right now should actually include this' when discussing the Stranger Things Pro model_
- [HIGH] Insider Connected can be retrofitted to older Stern machines for approximately $200 — _Ralph explicitly states 'you can retrofit some old machines for about $200'_
- [HIGH] Pinball machine prices are 'really inflated' even for used machines, making the hobby expensive to enter — _Ralph comments 'it's unfortunate if you're trying to get into pinball now, because the prices are really inflated, even for used ones'_
- [HIGH] Jurassic Park Stern machine includes modifications: shaker motor, art blades, and custom plastics — _Ralph describes his Jurassic Park as having 'a shaker motor, it has art blades on the side, has some custom plastics, so it's kind of a base model but an upgraded base model'_
- [HIGH] The Stranger Things pinball can have custom code modifications that enhance Netflix series audio — _Ralph swapped Stern code with custom code 'that actually has more of the music from the Netflix series'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I know what you're thinking. You're like, dude, we just saw a video of a trailer pulling up, but this time I messed up and I messed up bad."
> — **RetroRalph**, 0:00
> _Opens the video with self-deprecating humor about the unexpected second machine delivery_

> "Game Room Goodies, really good guys over there. I had done a pre-order for this before the Jurassic Park, okay? I already put the mate/man down and I kind of forgot about it."
> — **RetroRalph**, 0:30
> _Explains the root cause of the accidental purchase - a forgotten pre-order_

> "The one thing I will say about this hobby is, it's unfortunate if you're trying to get into pinball now, because the prices are really inflated, even for used ones."
> — **RetroRalph**, 4:40
> _Commentary on current market pricing challenges for new enthusiasts_

> "If you're gonna buy a pinball machine you're going to make that investment, make sure it's something you love, the theme you love."
> — **RetroRalph**, 15:30
> _Advice emphasizing theme preference importance given high purchase cost_

> "I'm in love with the freaking Stranger Things. It's awesome but I'm also a huge fan of the Netflix series so I think that's what you need to do."
> — **RetroRalph**, 15:00
> _Explains decision to sell Jurassic Park and keep Stranger Things based on personal theme preference_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| RetroRalph | person | Content creator and pinball enthusiast based in Arizona; YouTube video host experiencing accidental double-machine purchase |
| Game Room Goodies | company | Stern pinball distributor in Arizona; delivered the Stranger Things machine; described by Ralph as 'really good guys' |
| Stern Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Stranger Things and Jurassic Park pinball machines; produces Stern Insider Connected feature |
| Stranger Things Pinball (Stern Pro Vault Edition) | game | Modern Stern pinball machine recently delivered to RetroRalph; features Stern Insider Connected; compatible with custom code modifications; Netflix-licensed theme |
| Jurassic Park Pinball | game | Stern pinball machine owned by RetroRalph; upgraded base model with shaker motor, art blades, and custom plastics; being sold to make room for Stranger Things |
| Stern Insider Connected | product | Stern's digital ecosystem/feature that tracks player progress, scores, and enables phone login authentication on new machines; standard on newly manufactured machines; available as $200 retrofit for older Stern machines |
| Netflix | company | IP licensor for Stranger Things pinball machine; provides audio and visual content that enthusiasts modify in custom code versions |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Insider Connected feature and functionality, Pinball machine pricing and market affordability, Custom code modifications for pinball machines, Accidental/impulse machine purchases and collection management
- **Secondary:** Theme preference in machine selection, Secondary market resale of pinball machines, Stranger Things pinball gameplay and mechanics

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Ralph is enthusiastic about the Stranger Things machine and excited despite the accidental purchase situation. Self-deprecating humor maintains lighthearted tone. Some concern expressed about market pricing barriers for new players, but overall optimistic about his collecting decision.

### Signals

- **[market_signal]** Pinball machines retain resale value effectively; Ralph confident in recouping investment through secondary market sales (confidence: medium) — Ralph states 'pinball machines hold their value' and expects to sell Jurassic Park for what he invested despite it being used
- **[market_signal]** Market pricing for pinball machines (both new and used) described as 'really inflated,' creating barrier to entry for new hobbyists (confidence: high) — Ralph explicitly states 'it's unfortunate if you're trying to get into pinball now, because the prices are really inflated, even for used ones'
- **[announcement]** Stern Insider Connected now standard on newly manufactured machines; retrofit availability at $200 for legacy machines (confidence: high) — Ralph demonstrates and explains that 'any new machine being manufactured right now should actually include this' feature
- **[technology_signal]** Custom code modifications for pinball machines enabling enhanced audio and gameplay features becoming common practice among enthusiasts (confidence: medium) — Ralph swaps Stern stock code with custom code featuring enhanced Netflix series audio; treats this as normal modification practice

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## Transcript

 Look, I know what you're thinking. You're like, dude, we just saw a video of a trailer pulling up, but this time I messed up and I messed up bad. I need to call in the wolf to clean this thing up. This is a mess. And honestly, guys, I don't know what I'm going to do. Okay, yeah. I just got the Jurassic Park. I know, this makes no sense. And you're right, it doesn't. It doesn't make any sense. I mean, you're probably like, did this guy rob a bank or something? No, no, no. So what happened is, okay, and I have an explanation for this. I have an explanation. Game Room Goodies, really good guys over there. I had done a pre-order for this before the Jurassic Park, okay? I already put the money down and I kind of forgot about it, okay? I forgot about it. And I got a call the other day. Hey, Ralph, does tomorrow work to deliver your Stranger Things pinball? Oh, and hey, by the way, you have to pay the rest of the invoice. What? Yeah, you bonehead. I didn't cancel it, okay? Okay, I didn't cancel it. So I just figured I have a credit card. I could just put it on the credit card for now, and then I'll have both for now, but I can't keep both. So here's the plan. I'm going to sell one of them. One of them is going to be on the chopping block. Now what one is on the chopping block, we'll see, but one of them has just got to go. And you know, like I said before, pinball machines hold their value. So I, and these are both brand new machines basically. So I should be able to get what I put into it. Now, what machine I don't know, but who cares? Cause right now I have two pinball machines. So we're going to go into the garage. I'm going to show you a little bit about Stranger Things, but for the most part, this is just a I'm really excited video, and I'm also a complete idiot moron at the same time Okay here it is the Stern Stranger Things Pro pinball machine So this is the pro model of this machine and what really cool is because this one is fresh off the assembly line you get the Stern Insider connected feature. So any new machine being manufactured right now should actually include this. Now you can retrofit some old machines for about $200 and I'll just briefly show you the list of compatible machines but yeah you can take the link that's in the video description and take a look at that if you own an existing stirring machine but it's very cool because you can track your progress on a game you can look at your scores it'll even log you into your own machine so there's a barcode on your phone you simply take your phone you put it here and what happens is it'll log you in and you'll see your information right there. My machine is having some issues. I will say this, the Wi-Fi has been a little flaky, so I'm not sure. I am in my garage, so it could be just that the Wi-Fi is flaky. I'm not really sure, but I'm just going to reconnect to the Wi-Fi real quick, and we'll try that again. Okay, we're going to try this again. So now you can see on the backbox, it's waiting for players. I'm going to take my phone. I'm going to scan it, and you can see right there, it's loading me as a player. So it should see, you should see Retro Ralph pop up there in a second. And then that's really cool because it'll track my progress for that particular game. Okay, so why the thumbnail kind of freaking out? Well, I mean, honestly, it was kind of irresponsible of me to make the purchase after all. I probably could have just canceled it, but really my shortlist did have Stranger Things on it. And when I knew it was available, I'm like, look, I know I can offload one, so, I mean, but I still have to sell one or the other, because I really can't keep both. The one thing I will say about this hobby is, it's unfortunate if you're trying to get into pinball now, because the prices are really inflated, even for used ones, so it's like, you know, it's not a cheap hobby, and honestly, I can have two of these at this price So we do have to figure that out but before we you know spoil all the fun let play a little bit of the Stranger Things pinball and then we wrap things up So before we start gameplay with a lot of these modern pinball machines there are modifications that people do to the code So in order to access the SD card that has the game code, you open up this bottom panel and then you pop out your back glass by just sort of lifting that up and then you can take that out. Then from here, you can see, obviously you're going to be blinded by the LED lights, but right here there's a memory card. And what I did was I swapped out the Stern code for this custom code that actually has more of the music from the Netflix series. So it's pretty cool, but of course I have a feeling that it's going to get dinged and demonetized. but you'll get to hear what it sounds like with the modified audio code. All right, we're going to fire this thing up. Okay, let's get it started. Now, to fight the Demogorgon, we got to focus on those drop targets up there. So I'm going to try to do that as closely. Yeah, that's not exactly how you should do it. Usually I can get it pretty quick, so let's see how quickly we can get this. But if you're a fan of the Netflix series, then you will absolutely love this pinball machine if you've never played it before. Guaranteed. Alright. Here it is. He's pissed. Okay, so as you fight him, you can see his damage meter is going to go... If I can get the ball up there. There we go. You see his damage meter go down. Oh didn get him that time Uh Okay Let see if we can get him He almost dead Did we get him yeah we got them all right I think that's a good stopping point that about wraps up this video guys if you enjoyed this video give me a thumbs up consider subscribing the channel put your comments below I want to know what you think I should do so here is my plan I've decided I'm gonna part ways with the Jurassic Park so if you're in the Arizona area or if you just want a Jurassic Park we can arrange shipping through beltman or someone else I will sell the Jurassic Park to you. Now keep in mind the Jurassic Park has a shaker motor, it has art blades on the side, has some custom plastics, so it's kind of a pro but an upgraded pro. So if you're interested let me know in the comments below or just reach out to me on Facebook or something and we can figure that out. But I'm gonna sell the Jurassic Park. I'm in love with the freaking Stranger Things. It's awesome but I'm also a huge fan of the Netflix series so I think that's what you need to do. If you're gonna buy a pinball machine you're going to make that investment, make sure it's something you love, the theme you love. Like for me, I would never buy Rush because I don't like the band Rush. Shoot me, I don't like them. Led Zeppelin I like, but I don't like the game. So you know what I mean? You got to go out there, figure out what you like, go play them at barcades because it's a huge investment. So make sure the one you get is one you love. All right, guys, that's it. We will see you on the next one. Thanks for watching!

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 969d61a9-492c-4a19-88bd-180fb5d0af0b*