# Stern Teams up With Best Buy

**Source:** Pinball News Website  
**Type:** article  
**Published:** 2011-08-19  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.pinballnews.com/news/bestbuy.html

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## Analysis

In August 2011, Stern Pinball announced a partnership with Best Buy to sell pinball machines through their online and physical retail stores. Initial offerings included Iron Man (Classic at $3,799.99), Avatar and Tron (Pro models at $4,799.99), and The Rolling Stones in Pro ($4,799.99) and Limited Edition ($5,999.99) variants, with plans for in-store availability later that year.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern Pinball has announced a retail partnership with Best Buy for online and physical store sales — _Official announcement dated August 19, 2011_
- [HIGH] Iron Man Classic version priced at $3,799.99 — _Best Buy pricing listed in article_
- [HIGH] Avatar and Tron Pro models priced at $4,799.99 each — _Best Buy pricing listed in article_
- [HIGH] The Rolling Stones available in Pro ($4,799.99) and Limited Edition ($5,999.99) — _Best Buy pricing listed in article_
- [MEDIUM] Games expected to appear in Best Buy physical stores later in 2011 — _Article states expectation but notes no confirmation of geographic scope_

### Notable Quotes

> "Pinball is back and booming…and being available though an incredible retail channel such as Best Buy brings pinball to the mainstream mass market."
> — **Gary Stern**, August 19, 2011
> _Official statement positioning Best Buy partnership as strategic expansion into mainstream retail channels_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer announcing Best Buy retail partnership |
| Best Buy | company | Major retail chain partnering with Stern for pinball machine distribution |
| Gary Stern | person | Executive at Stern Pinball commenting on partnership |
| Iron Man | game | Stern pinball machine available through Best Buy (Classic version) |
| Avatar | game | Stern pinball machine available through Best Buy (Pro model) |
| Tron | game | Stern pinball machine available through Best Buy (Pro model) |
| The Rolling Stones | game | Stern pinball machine available through Best Buy (Pro and LE versions) |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Retail distribution strategy, Market expansion and mainstream positioning
- **Secondary:** Pricing tiers (Classic/Pro/LE), Licensed IP themes in pinball

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Announcement framed as positive industry development with emphasis on market growth and mainstream accessibility. Optimistic tone in Gary Stern's quote about 'pinball is back and booming.'

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball's strategic partnership with Best Buy represents expansion into mainstream retail distribution channels, signaling confidence in market growth and demand beyond traditional operator and collector channels (confidence: high) — Official announcement of Best Buy partnership with multiple games available at launch
- **[market_signal]** Pricing structure shows tiered approach with entry-level Classic ($3,799.99), standard Pro ($4,799.99), and premium Limited Edition ($5,999.99) positioning, indicating market segmentation strategy (confidence: high) — Price listing shows multiple tiers across game lineup
- **[market_signal]** Best Buy partnership positions pinball as 'back and booming' consumer product for mass market, contrasting with previous niche positioning (confidence: high) — Gary Stern quote emphasizing 'mainstream mass market' accessibility

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## Transcript

Date: 19th August, 2011

Stern Pinball have announced a deal with Best Buy to sell their pinball machines through Best Buy's online and physical stores.

Iron Man, Avatar, The Rolling Stones and Tron are available right now on Bestbuy.com.

The Iron Man is the 'Classic' or lite version and costs $3,799.99 while Avatar and Tron are the regular Pro models priced at $4,799.99.  Two versions of The Rolling Stones are offered - the Pro at $4,799.99 and the Limited Edition at $5,999.99.  All prices are plus sales tax at the prevailing rate.

Stern machines on the Best Buy website

The games are expected to appear in Best Buy stores later in 2011, although there is no indication whether this is just across the US, or also in Best Buy stores in Canada, Mexico, UK, China or Turkey.

“Pinball is back and booming,” said Gary Stern, “…and being available though an incredible
retail channel such as Best Buy brings pinball to the mainstream mass

market.”

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_(Acquisition: raw_text, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: bb1ead13-5d6d-4859-974c-d9f56dffbae4*
