# Johnny Mnemonic Pinball Restoration: Finale

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2023-03-21  
**Duration:** 10m 52s  
**Beat:** Pinball

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

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy completes his extensive Johnny Mnemonic pinball restoration, demonstrating the fully functional machine with all mods installed including PIN Stadium Neo, Color DMD, Comet's LEDs, and a mirrored back glass. The restoration took place in 2021 with final testing and verification in this episode. Hardy plans to sell the machine at the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival, noting it represents a high-end example of the title with a clear-coated playfield and extensive customization.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Johnny Mnemonic restoration began in 2021, the year the movie took place — _Speaker directly states: 'the whole restoration process for this game took place in 2021. which funny enough, that is the year in which the movie took place'_
- [HIGH] The game has been functionally complete since early 2022, but Hardy delayed showing it publicly to add more customization — _Speaker states: 'this game has essentially been done since early 2022. I mean, the whole restoration process for this game took place in 2021... I was wanting to put more into it'_
- [HIGH] Hardy is unaware of other Johnny Mnemonic owners who have clear-coated their playfields — _Speaker states: 'I don't know of any other Johnny the Monic owners that have clear-coated their playfields, so I don't really have a good comparison'_
- [HIGH] The restored machine plays 'extremely fast' and Hardy is concerned about the speed compared to unmodified versions — _Speaker directly states: 'My game plays extremely fast. I'm almost a little bit concerned about how fast it plays'_
- [HIGH] Limited mods are available for Johnny Mnemonic compared to other classic pinball titles — _Speaker states: 'as of right now, there's not a lot of mods that people create for this title'_

### Notable Quotes

> "this game has essentially been done since early 2022. I mean, the whole restoration process for this game took place in 2021. which funny enough, that is the year in which the movie took place"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~3:45
> _Explains the timeline of the restoration and connection to the movie's setting year_

> "I would have loved to incorporate much more little widgets on the play field here and there. I mean, it just seems that as of right now, there's not a lot of mods that people create for this title"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~4:30
> _Indicates limited mod ecosystem for Johnny Mnemonic, limiting customization options_

> "My game plays extremely fast. I'm almost a little bit concerned about how fast it plays. I haven't checked out anybody else's Johnny the Monics to see if theirs plays as fast as mine"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~4:50
> _Technical concern about playfield speed, possibly related to clear-coat application_

> "I don't know of any other Johnny the Monic owners that have clear-coated their playfields, so I don't really have a good comparison to go side by side with"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~4:40
> _Suggests Johnny Mnemonic is relatively rare and heavily customized examples are uncommon_

> "I would love to keep Johnny the Monic, but sadly, I will be selling him at this upcoming Texas Pinball Festival"
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~5:30
> _Announces the machine will be for sale at a specific venue and event_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Cary Hardy | person | YouTuber and pinball restoration specialist; host of this restoration series |
| Johnny Mnemonic | game | Classic pinball machine based on the Johnny Mnemonic film; subject of Hardy's 11-episode restoration series |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Upcoming pinball event where Hardy will display and sell his restored Johnny Mnemonic |
| PIN Stadium Neo | product | Aftermarket LED lighting system installed on the playfield |
| Color DMD | product | Color dot-matrix display upgrade installed in the backbox |
| Comet | company | Manufacturer of LED bulbs and illuminated flipper button kits used in restoration |
| Titan | product | Rubber kit brand used for bumpers and targets |
| Retro Refurbs | company | Supplier of side art blades for the cabinet |
| Classic Playfield Reproductions | company | Supplier of mirrored back glass; Hardy's original translite was the template for this product |
| Measel Mods | company | Manufacturer of Cabinet Underglow Kit used in restoration |
| Classic Arcades | person/entity | Person or channel that Hardy claims may be using his cabinet decal file without proper attribution |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Playfield restoration and customization, Aftermarket mods and upgrades for pinball machines
- **Secondary:** Clear-coat playfield application and effects on game speed, Johnny Mnemonic pinball machine rarity and ownership, Secondary market sales and pricing of restored machines
- **Mentioned:** Video production and content continuity

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.65) — Hardy is proud of the restoration work and excited about the final result, but expresses some disappointment that he couldn't incorporate more mods due to limited availability for this title. He also expresses regret about having to sell the machine despite his attachment to it. Overall positive about the machine's quality but bittersweet about the outcome.

### Signals

- **[market_signal]** Restored Johnny Mnemonic machine priced at premium above standard market rate due to condition, mods, and customization; planning sale at Texas Pinball Festival (confidence: high) — Hardy states: 'it's obviously going to be a higher number than your typical Johnny Mnemonic due to the nature of how great it looks... I will price it at or best stopper'
- **[product_strategy]** Extensive use of aftermarket mods including PIN Stadium Neo lighting, Color DMD, LED bulbs, illuminated flipper buttons, and mirrored back glass to enhance visual appeal and functionality (confidence: high) — Hardy details comprehensive mod installation: 'pin stadium neo... color dmd... Comet's cool white frosted two SMD LEDs... Comet's fire bulbs... illuminated flipper button kits. Titan rubbers... Mirrored back glass'
- **[product_concern]** Clear-coat playfield application may have unintended side effect of increased playfield speed, indicating potential manufacturing/material interaction concerns (confidence: medium) — Hardy states: 'My game plays extremely fast. I'm almost a little bit concerned about how fast it plays' and acknowledges he's the only known Johnny Mnemonic owner with a clear-coated playfield with no comparison baseline

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## Transcript

The hand is back on the machine. I believe everything is set to work. It's not homed yet. This is just kind of where I've got it whenever I disassembled it and put it back together again, where we're currently at. So ideally, whenever the machine boots up, it's going to home this robot. I believe I've got everything hooked up correctly to it. There's a nine pin connection. There's two nine pin connections actually back here that can be interchangeable so luckily I made sure that the colors matched up. I've got the temporary coin door just in place so I don't have to keep on having to hold down the interlock so that I get my high voltage. So let's power on and see if we get any smoke looks like it honed all my LEDs are working up there so that's also good oh man now it's time to test the hand all right I haven't tested yet but I did notice that I've got this fed through incorrectly so I'm gonna have to clip my zip ties and refeed these wires through so that way there's no kinks on the line right here that won't be good all right so I got the wires fed through differently rezip tied I have set the date and time so and it's also on free play now so let's see if we still get a a warning all right no errors may the testing begin all right let's start up a game I don't have a need to buy a new start button honestly the other one broke this is the fun part about this is that start this game up by hitting the button down here Alright let try the hand Looks like it worked. That works! Pop bumpers are nice and snappy. Alright, that works. Sweet! Oh, I gotta go over here and move the... Put the start button. Okay, do that on its own. Alright. Alright, guys. I'll basically just kind of go through all the switches and make sure everything's going to work. But that's how you do it right there. Oh my god. I may have made my pop bumper too damn Jesus! Give me the damn ball! Good lord! Alright, let's see if the the eject works on this thing. There we go. I was almost starting to worry. I'm so in love, so in love, so in love, so in love. Oh, how it hurts, how it hurts, yes it hurts when it hurts. What have we done? Why did we become a lady? It's been too long, guys. I mean, this game has essentially been done since early 2022. I mean, the whole restoration process for this game took place in 2021. which funny enough, that is the year in which the movie took place. Now, I would have shown this game to you sooner, but honestly, I was wanting to put more into it. And I guess that stems from finishing up my getaway and seeing and knowing what all I put into that game to make it look the way it looks and then seeing this one i guess maybe i did not you know meet my own expectations the game looks great i guess i just wanted more the mods that i have installed on this game are as follows pin stadium neo that is why this play field looks so well lit color dmd of course. Comet's cool white frosted two SMD LEDs throughout the entire machine. I also have Comet's fire bulbs in the coin slots and their illuminated flipper button kits. Titan rubbers throughout. Side art blades are from Retro Refurbs. Mirrored back glass from Classic Playfield Reproductions. And for those of you that do not know this already, my original Translight was the template to make the mirrored back glass. Cabinet decals are self-made. Sorry guys, if you want Classic Arcades to use the file that I have, then you need to request that he gets it from me because he isn't responding to me anymore. If slash when he can confirm that he is using my file, I will pin a comment informing you down below. I'm using the Cabinet Underglow Kit from Measel Mods. So when it comes to mods, that's it. That's all that I'm using. I would have loved to incorporate much more little widgets on the play field here and there. I mean, it just seems that as of right now, there's not a lot of mods that people create for this title. My game plays extremely fast. I'm almost a little bit concerned about how fast it plays. I haven't checked out anybody else's Johnny the Monics to see if theirs plays as fast as mine. I don't know of any other Johnny the Monic owners that have clear-coated their playfields, so I don't really have a good comparison to go side by side with. Now, I would love to keep Johnny the Monic, but sadly, I will be selling him at this upcoming Texas Pinball Festival. When it comes to what I'm going to price it at, I have a general idea. We're going to see what happens. It's obviously going to be a higher number than your typical Johnny Mnemonic due to the nature of how great it looks and it's a clear-coated play field it's got the mods and everything on a mirrored back glass it's a very excellent representation of the game so the price tag will be high but I will price it at or best stopper so we shall see what happens like I said I would love to keep them I was really excited when I finally got one but I the only one that plays the game it was one of those where when one of them goes up in the chopping block I ask the family which one and it was unanimous that Johnny was going to be the one to go. I'm sorry that it took way too long to get the finale out to you guys, and the fact remains also is that I have evidently lost a great deal of footage in between the latest episode and now. But luckily the footage that was lost wasn't essential to showing you what, you know, how I reached this particular moment. I mean, you're going to miss how the powder coating went and installing the art blades on the side of the cabinet. But other than that, everything's pretty much your basic you know pin stadiums color dmd install stuff like that that i've done in other videos if you would like to see this game in person and be able to play it it will be at this upcoming texas pinball festival coming up this weekend and uh i don't know if you'll see it again after that i mean i anticipate it to sell there but we'll see so there you have guys that's my johnny mnemonic restoration in its entirety i'm hoping that during this whole 11 episode restoration that maybe some of you other johnny mnemonic owners out there maybe i gave you a little bit you know of motivation to get your johnny mnemonic looking as sexy as this one be sure to leave me a comment down below letting me know what you think about my johnny is it one of the best ones you've seen. Is it up there? I'm not saying it is the best one, but it's got to be in the top, you know, 10 percentile, at least of other Johnny's that are available around the world. It's got to be. Hopefully. Thank you. you

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c0bc598a-66fc-4e0a-b322-4d26616af3ec*