# Bonus Show #224

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-01-08  
**Duration:** 25m 21s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-show-224-147693774

---

## Analysis

Don shares firsthand production updates from Spooky Pinball's Beetlejuice assembly line, where he spent 48 hours working on the machines as a volunteer. He discusses the manufacturing process, his personal game build, and previews 10 Beetlejuice machines shipping to Pinball at the Beach in early February. Additionally, he documents a defective C-3PO topper issue (missing wire harness connection) and praises the topper's features while critiquing its plastic construction.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Beetlejuice is now in active customer production at Spooky Pinball with four playfield builders per station targeting three playfields per person per day — _Don was on-site at Spooky's Wisconsin factory for 48 hours and witnessed the production line directly_
- [HIGH] 10 Beetlejuice machines will be available to play at Pinball at the Beach (early February), likely more will be ready by then — _Don states this based on witnessing production pace and confirmed delivery schedule through Little Shop of Games distributor_
- [HIGH] C-3PO toppers have a manufacturing defect where a node board wire harness was not connected during assembly — _Kyle Spiteri from Stern customer service confirmed to Don that an employee failed to connect the lighting control node board wire harness on affected units_
- [HIGH] Don is working at Spooky Pinball in a non-permanent 'spiritual advisor' capacity, hoping to transition to permanent employment — _Direct statement: 'Kind of not really. I'm more of a spiritual advisor, I guess.' and 'I'm hoping that it will, if I can prove myself here, turn into something permanent'_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky's new cabinet design includes an improved cooling fan system that is quiet and effective — _Don observed and praised the new fan system during production floor visit_
- [HIGH] Stern toppers use four bolts, one Ethernet cable, and one power cable for installation with auto-boot functionality — _Don described installation process from direct experience mounting the C-3PO topper_
- [MEDIUM] C-3PO topper costs approximately $1,400-$1,500 MSRP — _Don estimates based on his purchase but did not confirm exact price_
- [MEDIUM] Pokemon is expected to be fully revealed between now and 14 days from the podcast recording date — _Don speculates based on George Gomez's previous podcast statements and timing before Pinball at the Beach_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm more of a spiritual advisor, I guess. I'm a ghost, man. I'm Mary Poppins. I'm there. I'm not there."
> — **Don**, ~00:05:00
> _Don humorously describes his ambiguous employment status at Spooky Pinball while clarifying he's working on-site in Benton, Wisconsin_

> "Customers' games have begun to be made. It's a magical time. And I was here for it this time, like on the floor."
> — **Don**, ~00:02:45
> _Indicates Beetlejuice has transitioned from pre-production to active customer order fulfillment_

> "the reason that I buy the Stern toppers when I do is because of that light show interactivity. That's something that I can't replicate."
> — **Don**, ~01:23:30
> _Explains the value proposition of first-party Stern toppers beyond cosmetics—integrated game software choreography_

> "It is something stupid. They had an employee apparently bolting these things together and he just was not connecting a wire harness to the final node board."
> — **Kyle Spiteri (Stern)**, ~01:18:00
> _Confirms manufacturing defect root cause in C-3PO topper assembly process_

> "it seems worth somebody's day at work to just say, you know what? Pull the pallet down let's open them all up and go through them and fix this so it's okay going forward"
> — **Don**, ~01:30:45
> _Don advocates for Stern performing QA spot-checks on shipped C-3PO toppers to prevent customer issues_

> "I'm starting to see how he sees the world from the perspective of pinball design, where like every washer screw mounting surface has been scrutinized and optimized."
> — **Don**, ~00:20:00
> _Don reflects on learning production/design philosophy from Luke at Spooky by observing classic game construction differences_

> "Stern, your stuff's supposed to be standardized. I know it's not pushing boundaries or anything, but you know, it's supposed to be, you know, at least foolproof."
> — **Don**, ~01:13:00
> _Don criticizes the C-3PO topper for not living up to Stern's reputation for standardized, plug-and-play installation_

> "I would love to refine the skill and get to the point where I could pitch hit, you know, if somebody's out sick or something and I could just pop in there and let's keep the line going."
> — **Don**, ~00:18:00
> _Don expresses aspiration to become a functional production line worker at Spooky Pinball_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Pinball content creator, Don's Pinball Podcast host, recently relocated to Benton, Wisconsin; working as volunteer production assistant at Spooky Pinball while maintaining regular employment and Patreon podcasting |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer in Benton, Wisconsin; currently in full production of Beetlejuice machines with four-station playfield assembly line |
| Luke | person | Senior designer/engineer at Spooky Pinball; worked with Don and Bug on Beetlejuice playfield design; mentoring Don on manufacturing/design principles during factory floor visits |
| Bug | person | Co-owner/creative director at Spooky Pinball; collaborated with Don and Luke on Beetlejuice playfield design |
| Beetlejuice | game | Spooky Pinball's Tim Burton film-licensed machine; now in active customer production with expected 10+ units at Pinball at the Beach (early February); limited to 999 units at $9,999 MSRP with Danny Elfman soundtrack |
| C-3PO topper | product | Stern Pinball first-party accessory for Star Wars machines; features animatronic head movement (two axes), LED eye lights, countdown bar, and integrated game choreography; priced $1,400-$1,500; affected by manufacturing defect (missing node board wire harness connection) |
| Kyle Spiteri | person | Stern Pinball customer service technician; provided technical support to Don for C-3PO topper troubleshooting; disclosed manufacturing defect root cause |
| Jeff | person | Owner of Mad Pinball distributor; sold C-3PO topper to Don; directed him to Stern customer service for troubleshooting |
| Stern Pinball | company | Large-scale pinball manufacturer; produces C-3PO topper and Star Wars machines; customer service supports field issues; manufacturing quality control issue identified with C-3PO topper production |
| Pinball at the Beach | event | Major pinball tournament/exhibition in Tampa, Florida; scheduled for early February (Feb 6-8); hosting 10 Beetlejuice machines and a new unrevealed Stern game (likely Pokemon); less than 1,000 attendees expected; tickets still available |
| Little Shop of Games | company | Florida-based pinball distributor; providing Beetlejuice machines to Pinball at the Beach; customers ordering through this distributor will receive early units within weeks |
| Pokemon | game | Unrevealed Stern Pinball machine expected to be fully revealed within 14 days of podcast recording; anticipated to appear at Pinball at the Beach |
| George Gomez | person | Stern Pinball executive/designer; made recent podcast appearances indicating Pokemon game arrival timeline |
| Star Wars (2017) | game | Stern Pinball machine; Don owns 2017 model and plans to relocate C-3PO topper to it; machine described as 'okay' but not highly replayable |
| Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper | product | Stern Pinball topper; Don cites as benchmark for quality Stern topper design with light interactivity |
| Mad Pinball | company | Pinball distributor and retailer; primary distributor for C-3PO toppers; Jeff is owner/operator |
| Ramps Road Trip | game | Emerging boutique pinball game; featured at shows for feedback; criticism received on initial builds including bricky rotating wire form mechanism; appears to be discontinued or abandoned (no updates reported) |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun pinball machine; features rotating staircase mechanism; improved design iteration vs. Ramps Road Trip's similar concept |
| Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack Pinball machine; features rotating staircase mechanism; part of design trend cycle with other rotating elements appearing in multiple games |
| Fall of the Empire | game | Stern Pinball machine; features magnet between flippers mechanic (recurring trend with Beetlejuice and Star Wars) |
| Jaws 50th Anniversary | game | Stern Pinball machine; lacks topper motion feature (contrasted with C-3PO topper's motion capability) |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball machine; lacks topper motion feature |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Beetlejuice production status and timeline, Spooky Pinball manufacturing process and assembly line operations, C-3PO topper hardware defect and quality control, Don's role at Spooky Pinball and future employment prospects
- **Secondary:** Pinball at the Beach event preview (early February), Stern topper design philosophy and interactivity features, Recurring mechanical design trends across manufacturers (rotating elements, magnets)
- **Mentioned:** Don's Patreon bonus content strategy and merch distribution plans for 2026

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Don is enthusiastic about Beetlejuice production and his Spooky experience, praising the team and manufacturing quality. However, he expresses frustration with the C-3PO topper's plastic construction and manufacturing defect, and criticism of Stern's quality control. Overall tone is supportive but with constructive criticism.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern quality control process appears to lack pre-shipment verification for complex toppers; proposed solution is pallet-level QA inspection before distribution (confidence: medium) — Don advocated: 'it seems worth somebody's day at work to just... open them all up and go through them and fix this so it's okay going forward' for $1,000+ products
- **[sentiment_shift]** Positive reception of C-3PO topper features despite construction issues; Don advocates topper as worthy upgrade for Star Wars owners despite machine gameplay limitations (confidence: medium) — Don: 'I kind of dig this thing' and 'If you're stuck with a Star Wars or you're picking one up at a bargain price, consider it'
- **[design_philosophy]** Spooky Pinball manufacturing emphasizes hand-assembled wiring harnesses rather than pre-fabricated units, contrasting with Stern's centralized harness production model (confidence: medium) — Don observed: 'The harnesses are not made pre-assembled like they do over at Stern where they have a whole department... These are all like handmade'
- **[design_philosophy]** Rotating/spinning mechanical elements appearing in multiple recent titles across manufacturers (Ramps Road Trip, Winchester, Harry Potter) and magnet-between-flippers mechanic recurring (Star Wars, Fall of the Empire, Beetlejuice) (confidence: medium) — Don observed pattern: 'three of them show up. All of a sudden... I know for sure they weren't based on each other' indicating parallel design evolution
- **[event_signal]** Pinball at the Beach (early February, Tampa) will feature 10+ Beetlejuice machines and an unrevealed Stern game (likely Pokemon); less than 1,000 attendees; tickets still available (confidence: high) — Don confirmed dates (Feb 6-8), location, machine count, and ticket availability; coordinating with Little Shop of Games distributor for logistics
- **[content_signal]** Don implementing Patreon-exclusive bonus content strategy to reward subscribers with deeper analysis and archive content (story time episodes, giveaways, merchandise) (confidence: medium) — Don outlined 2026 plan: 'do my normal episodes... but then also still offer a bonus show afterwards' with 'story time' recurrence and giveaway campaigns
- **[community_signal]** Don transitioning from content creator to manufacturing floor participant; learning design philosophy by observing production processes and engaging with Luke on assembly optimization (confidence: high) — Don described epiphany: 'I'm starting to make my first steps towards that reality where I won't just see a pinball machine, but I'll see like the assembly going backwards'
- **[personnel_signal]** Don relocated from Bellingham, Washington to Benton, Wisconsin and is working at Spooky Pinball in informal capacity with aspiration toward permanent employment (confidence: high) — Don stated 'Living in Benton, Wisconsin has its privileges' and 'I'm hoping that it will, if I can prove myself here, turn into something permanent'
- **[product_strategy]** Stern topper value proposition centers on integrated game choreography and light show interactivity impossible to replicate with aftermarket solutions without extensive code development (confidence: medium) — Don explained: 'I can't get that one-to-one choreography unless I completely write a bunch of code... I can't harness the actual software of the game without leveling up like 30 times'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Beetlejuice entered active customer production phase at Spooky Pinball with confirmed assembly line capacity of 3+ playfields per builder per day across four stations (confidence: high) — Don directly observed and participated in production line operations over 48-hour period; confirmed delivery of 10 units to Pinball at the Beach distributor
- **[product_concern]** Manufacturing defect identified in C-3PO topper: missing node board wire harness connection during assembly affecting multiple units (confidence: high) — Stern customer service (Kyle Spiteri) confirmed defect root cause; Don experienced the issue firsthand and had to disassemble topper to fix
- **[rumor_hype]** Pokemon pinball machine expected to be fully revealed within 14 days; anticipated appearance at Pinball at the Beach early February (confidence: medium) — Don states: 'Sometime between now and 14 days from now, I think this game will be fully revealed' based on George Gomez's prior podcast statements

---

## Transcript

 One thing's for sure, we all want some more Beetlejuice. And that's great, because I'm going to bring you some Beetlejuice updates directly from my own hands. The last 48 hours have been completely incredible on the assembly line over at Spooky Pinball. Let's get into that and some first impressions on a certain C-3PO topper. double devastating drop what's up everybody i love my patreon members probably more than anyone else and i want to continue to bring amazing content specifically for you guys you're you're paying the premium you should get it first right pokemon is on the line the le people should get their games first i don't know if that's the case i think maybe you should run 150 pros first iron out the works well consider my last 220 shows uh straightening out the works getting the bugs out and everything so i can bring the direct heat i want to focus on patreon content going forward to 2026 just to reward the people that are providing tremendous levels of support. I dig it. I really dig it. Independent pinball media such as it is. So I figured I'd do a show for you guys and clarify some things. Don, are you an employee of Spooky Pinball? Kind of not really. I'm more of a spiritual advisor, I guess. I'm a ghost, man. I'm Mary Poppins. I'm there. I'm not there. I'm hoping that it will, if I can prove myself here, turn into something permanent. I will tell you this, though. Living in Benton, Wisconsin has its privileges. So I spent the last two days, last 48 hours, on the line because I had to be there, man. Beetlejuice is in active production now. Customers' games have begun to be made. It's a magical time. And I was here for it this time, like on the floor. I know the codes to get in and stuff. So I was over there, and I'm watching. They got four people on playfields at a time. At a full clip, once they're practiced up, the goal is to make three playfields per person per day, just top side build, bottom side build. And then they go to the next step, which is wiring. All the wiring harnesses are put in. The harnesses are not made pre-assembled like they do over at Stern where they have a whole department and a whole bunch of their, what do you call stern employees not Oompa Loompas but something else uh over there and they're making all these wire harnesses and then they they stockpile them so they go in these are all like you know handmade and once the guys get a rhythm these guys are super quick with it fast with the crimping fast with the soldering boom boom clips everything goes in not a glue stick in sight after that they go for the uh completed topside build this is adding the actual ramps uh the wire forms the plastics and really it becomes like the completed play field at that point um and then they go through testing and then they get made into a cabinet and make their way on down the line that you've seen that you've seen so i'm standing there watching these guys and they have four stations set up uh they got the uh play field that myself and bug and luke we all kind of work together on uh largely me just kind of handing them bolts and things but they let me bolt some things in together that's the photo that i had shared uh for the production sample so it's so important to be able to reference something because when you're starting with a blank play field and you got a handful of star posts and step offs and all this other business and you're like is this the six or is this the eight that goes here is this the three eighth inch or is the half inch you know nut that i put in this spot you know because you got to do it you know and it's in a certain order you can reference back to the the one that's the sample that's built there and so i'm like man this looks like so much fun i want to do one of these and they said don go grab a playfield and it was like yes i got called up off the bench man i ran over there picked out a beetlejuice playfield ran back over we threw it on a rotisserie and the guys walked me through the entire top and bottom side mechanism attachments for beetlejuice it took me about three hours with the guy's help to do it all ideally this would be something done in about two hours you know so during the day you could get about three of these done three and a quarter or So, uh, and so I went back, uh, you know, the next day and, uh, you know, we had finished that up. They let me sign it and they're like, no, one's touching this dude. You're building your own. And I'm like, hell yes. The funniest thing is all the employees are there. Now the employees, this is their job. You know, uh, they could be making patio furniture, you know, for all they care. Like they're not pinball people, you know, they're just like, Hey, there's a factory up the street. I need a jobs close to home, whatever. And okay, I guess I'm building these things, you know? And so for them, it's just like the drudgery of a factory, right? They go in, they work, they put their headphones on, they do their best to turn out quality under the guidance and tutelage of the pinball masters that are there. So for me, I'm in there building this stuff, and they kept shouting out to the line staff, like, look at this guy. He's actually not as lonely as he's not getting paid. He's doing this for free just to work here, and everybody just about fell out of their chairs laughing. Like such a weird concept. Imagine your job or a job you've had where you're doing it for the money. You know, you can tolerate it, but it's not like your life's passion. And then you see some goober that comes in and it's like, I just want to be a tire technician. Right. And like their, their joy is just for free mounting and balancing tires or some other mundane task. Like that's how I looked at these guys, which is wild. I did hear from a cool dude that I was working the station next to, uh, he actually listens to the podcast, which is amazing, you know? Uh, so shout out homeboy. I hope we can hang out some more together. But, dude, everybody in line was super cool. It was fun being there. And, like, I'm appreciating things differently. I was walking around after work one day with Luke, and they'd picked up a couple of other games for their line just to go play. And he pointing out things It was a game from the 90s a quite popular one full of hobbits And you know he was pointing at how they built things back then There no washer under that post This is drilled directly into or screwed directly into the play field There's no rubber gaskets over there, no neoprene on this high-stress area. He's like, what is going on? And to me, I've always seen that game as just a completed game. But I'm starting to see how he sees the world from the perspective of pinball design, where like every washer screw mounting surface has been scrutinized and optimized for that build. And like, I'm starting to make my first steps towards that reality where I won't just see a pinball machine, but I'll see like the assembly going backwards and how they arrived at that solution. And it turns out in life, there are multiple pathways to a workable solution and things won't occur to you unless you see them done by others. So some objectivity is important. I'm making my very first steps towards that and it is super incredible. So thanks guys, everybody at the factory for tolerating me in there. Hopefully I didn't slow anybody down, but it's super fun. And I would love to refine the skill and get to the point where I could pitch hit, you know, if somebody's out sick or something and I could just pop in there and let's keep the line going. Anything I can do to help pinball is what I would like to do. And, you know, I've said it before, there's some amazing things that being done in this barn in Wisconsin coming from the future and everything. So Beetlejuice, here's your production update because I was literally on the line like four hours ago. My personal game is the top and bottom are done. I'm going to go back tomorrow and wire it, and then it'll be time for mechanisms and wire forms. I don't know if I'll quite have it ready for pinball at the beach on account of me having like a regular grown-up job as well. I'm going to be out of town for oh, about three weeks or so before I can get back to work on it. after tomorrow. So that kind of sucks. I'm hoping that that improves going into the future. But speaking of the future, pinball at the beach is coming up. It's in about a week and a half. It's, it's so three weeks away. And once I'm off work, I have like a week and a half and then it starts. It's that first weekend in February, like six, seventh, eighth, somewhere in there. Gangs, people are starting to arrive on like the second, so they can have Florida vacations and it's going to go into that weekend. So that's when it is. I will be there. And the hope is that 10 Beetlejuice machines will be there as well. And at the clip that these guys are moving, and I reviewed all the cabinets too. There's a new fan system that's in there to keep everything cool. Circulates air and it's super quiet. I dig it. I think these games, I think they'll have more than 10 ready by then. But 10 will be going down. These are customer games through Little Shop of Games. So if you happen to order through that dude down there in Florida, there's a chance you're going to have your Beetlejuice game like in a couple of weeks, which is amazing. You're one of the first ones down there. Uh, everybody else, if you want to play this game, fly on down to Tampa and hang out with everybody, play everything, including what sounds like 10 Beetlejuices with only like less than a thousand people in attendance. This is great. There's still tickets available. It did not sell out yet this year. So you can still get tickets. I think Monica is going to hang back and I'll be there solo, but I did buy her a ticket. So I do have an extra one and you know, I'd love it if, uh, you know, that man, a patron member got to go. So holler at me if you'd like to go. You know the email address, donspinballpodcast.gmail.com. We'll make it happen. I don't know if I'll share my room with you, but we'll be down there. So that's going to be super fun, a great start to the year. Pokemon should be there as well. I guess that is the game. Some people have seen it. Some impressions are floating out there. Talking with Jeff at Mad Pinball, he didn't confirm that he's seen anything, but it doesn't mean that it's not happening. Sometime between now and 14 days from now, I think this game will be fully revealed. And if we take George at his word from a couple of weeks ago when he was doing the podcast circuit, the game should be there too. So I'm looking forward to playing whatever the new Stern is, probably Pokemon, playing the hell out of some Beetlejuice and seeing people's honest impressions of it. I'm excited about that. Hopefully there'll be a Winchester there so we can get some more time on it. Will Ramp's Road Trip make another appearance? I have no earthly idea. when we left off with that game they were taking a lot of lumps and constructive criticism and uh you know one of the guys was really taking it to heart i don't know if mr tilt bob was quite as receptive um but you know it's important to get the subjective feedback especially when it's your first game and you're talking to the people that are probably going to buy it the most out of anybody like people that are really awake into the world of pinball you have to be to even know about pinball at the beach, let alone be there. So I was hoping to see more of this game evolve over the year. I've seen nothing. I've heard nothing. It's got a cow drop target. I've played it. How funny is it that they had that rotisserie mechanism up there that would change the wire form pathways? Although it needs some refinement because it was a bit bricky to shoot. It was difficult to get the ball all the way up there. So hopefully they've done some redesign. I think if they just lowered a little bit, it didn't have to be that tall. And then it would make it a lot easier to have the ball carry some momentum to get up there. But isn't it funny that we saw that, and then here's Winchester with the same theme, which works amazingly better. And then we also saw a rotating staircase in Harry Potter. It's funny how these mechanism trends tend to pop up. And I know the people at JJP, we're not talking to the people at Barrels of Fun. We're not talking to Ramps Road Trip to get this idea of putting a spinning mechanism in their games. And then, boom, three of them show up. All of a sudden, we're seeing the magnets between the flippers make a recurrence with Star Wars, Fall of the Empire, and Beetlejuice. And I know for sure they weren't based on each other. They work completely differently as well. But it's just funny to see these things pop up like this. So I'm always a fan of magnets and pinball. But super fun. Looking forward to this. So Stern will have a new game there. Beetlejuice will be down there. Super fun. So I'm at work. I'll use quotation fingers. I was at work. I was putting Beetlejuice together. My daughter had come home from school, and she said, text me. First off, Dad, where are the Hot Pockets? Second was hey you got a topper here And I like what the hell are you talking about I got a topper there Like I just moved down to Benton full and I forgotten that I ordered this C3PO topper from Jeff over at Mad Pinball Info at madpinball is the best way to get over there to you. Tell them I sent you, tell them WAP sent you, tell them somebody sent you. But it showed up, which is great because I've seen that this topper was showing up and I've seen that people have been having issues with it, like dip switch issues or whatever. So not thinking nothing. I had this thing. I had about an hour until I had to leave to get ready for work tonight. And I was like, let me throw this thing up on there. Right. And, uh, I was singing the praises of Stern, uh, because they're toppers, you know, they're, they're four bolts to hold them on top of your game. It's one ethernet cable. It's one power cable and the power distribution board. And then you turn the game on at auto boots and like, it's done. Like that's all you have to do. Just route the cables through the backbox. Couldn't be simpler. Hardest part is popping off the access hole in the top of the backbox to get that thing out of there. Do it from the inside. Don't try to pry it from the outside for God's sakes. So I get it on there, powered up, node board updates. I see C3PO moving around. Hell yes. No lights at all. No lights at all. Turn it off, turn it back on, nothing. So I'm thinking, dang it, did I end up getting one of these lemon things? Am I going to have to find dip switches? I only have like an hour here. What the hell, man? Come on, Stern. Your stuff's supposed to be standardized. I know it's not pushing boundaries or anything, but you know, it's supposed to be, you know, at least foolproof buckling, you know, the toppers on there. So that was an issue. So I wanted to deal with that. I wanted to get it cleared up. So I text Jeff and he's like, listen, I don't have one of these to help, help you through it. Um, just call 1-800 kickers and follow up with me. So I know what's going on. I was like, all right, bet. So I called 1-800 kickers, which is the service number for Stern pinball rang a couple of times, went to voicemail, left my message. Hey, Don Garrison, here's my phone number. Here's what's going on. Here's my name again. Here's my phone number. And about 20 minutes later, Kyle Kyle Spiteri gives me a call. Hey, Stern Pinball, this is Kyle. This is Don. Yeah, buddy. How you doing? You sound tall on the phone. Chuckle, chuckle. You know, it was good. I know Kyle. He's a cool guy. He's great tech support, man. I love that guy over there. And so I'm like, hey, you know, I got the C3 peel topper fired up. No lights. It's probably something stupid. What should I do next just to troubleshoot this thing? And he's like, it is something stupid. and what he disclosed to me was that they had an employee i don't know if this is an ex-employee or what apparently bolting these things together and he just was not connecting a wire harness to the final note one of the final node boards there's two node boards in the game one on the right one on the left one controls the action of the c-3po head the other one does the lighting show and uh yeah he's like you got to pull off the back panel there's two node boards and there should be one with a wire harness that's just hanging there loose and you just have to plug it in let me know if you have any problems. So it was four screws in the bottom and then it has some plastic pop rivets, kind of like the ones that hold your upholstery down in your car. If you've ever messed with those, it's kind of like a two piece plastic thing where you pop the button out and then the whole rivet can come out. Then you put it back in and push the button and then it goes in and locks. So it's kind of like that. So I took a knife that I had a hunting knife and just pop these things out. It was like four or five of them on the top. I was able to move it enough to see in there that yes, this little node board had a wire harness just hanging there freely in the wind. and there were three spots on the board you could plug something into. This only fit into one of them and plugged it in simple, turned it on, worked totally fine. So easy fix. So thanks for that. I don't like the pop rivets in the back though. As I'm pulling this thing off, all the plastic parts that make up the top of the topper, the sides and the back, they're all kind of locked into each other with these flimsy plastic rivets really. They are screwed in on the base to the metal, but the rest of it is just plastic and little pop rivets. And I'm like with these tiny little angle brackets. And I'm thinking, Stern, this thing is over a thousand dollars. Can we just make, you know, the sides, the base plate and the back just metal or put a hinge on the back so that you can undo a couple of screws, flap down everything. And then you have full access to node boards in case you have to troubleshoot something or dip switch. Like, why is this thing just made out of plastics? The plastics in the front, they don't bother me. They're the graphic ones. They work as light diffusers for the LED boards that are in there, which there's a ton of LEDs inside this topper. I love how it functions. I love how it works. I love how the Fall of the Empire call-outs from C-3PO are articulating with the head. I like that he's moving during a track mode. When this thing was revealed, right, I saw what everybody else saw. I saw the Black Knight Sword of Rage topper, which is kind of the best topper Stern Binball has done, and I saw it with C-3PO and even more light interactivity. The reason that I buy the Stern toppers when I do is because of that light show interactivity. That's something that I can't replicate. I can do light shows based on sound, based on music. I can run them off of a GI effect from the game. I can run them off of a flasher to get some effects, but I can't get that one-to-one choreography unless I completely write a bunch of code for the damn thing. And I'm still not going to match it because I can't like harness the actual software of the game without leveling up like 30 times. It's not going to happen. So I like that with Stern Pinball. With this topper in particular, it's got two other bonus things that I really love. Motion, which is amazing anytime it's offered. Not a lot of toppers have motion. And if they do, it's in a limited capacity. I'm thinking Elvira with a little pop-up crypt. I'm thinking Rush with the spinning plastic gears. John Wick had the rotating hourglass. I love the motion. I love the motion. Jaws doesn't have the motion. Godzilla doesn't have the motion. I love motion when it's there. And, you know, two axes of freedom for C3PO so you can look around, up and down, left and right, just like Black Knight. Love that. LEDs in his eyes. I love it. And then the fact that there's an LED light bar in the front that works as a countdown bar when you're in a mode. So visually, you can just look up and see where you're at. That's fun. So if it helps you with gameplay, if it includes extra gameplay elements, if there's movement, I love all that. That should be the standard to shoot for when it comes to these things. And I love that it wasn't $2,000 at least. I think this one came in at $1,400 or $1,500. So, you know, if you're going to spend that much for a first-party topper, this is what I like. I like this thing So I going to move it over to my 2017 Star Wars eventually My hope is that there still some animatronic stuff programmed in there I really hoping that there I don think there a way to put the C callouts in though. So I'm afraid once I move it over there, it's going to be relatively silent. And I don't know how well the light show is going to match or if it's just going to run off of kind of what the speaker effect lights are doing. But regardless, the game itself is kind of, it's okay. I mean, you can make yourself like it and enjoy it, but it's not something that you want to play 10 times in a row or play for necessarily a really long time. But this topper, this topper's great. I love this topper. I don't know if Canada hates it. Fine. But I kind of dig this thing. And if you're stuck with a Star Wars or you're picking one up at a bargain price, consider it. Or if you're already considering it, take this as permission to go ahead and get yourself one. Just be ready to unbolt the back of it and fix that part. and and by the way if this is a known issue right like say you know this guy made 30 of these things they're sitting over on a pallet like is it worth it to go over and open each box and just check that i kind of think it'd be worth somebody's somebody's afternoon like let's just take the whole pallet over here let's open these up and we're just going to check real quick and if you're looking for specifically that node board you can pop off two of the rivets give a little peek in there and see if it's connected or not you don't have to disassemble the whole thing but i think it would be worthwhile on a $1,000 plus product to take an afternoon, open the boxes, check that real quick, seal them back up. I think that would be reasonable. Otherwise, you know, we're going to have a bunch of people doing this and I'm pretty handy now with pinball. I understand how it works and these issues. I don't have a problem doing this, but if this was my first time, I would be trepidatious. You know, it was technically a little bit difficult. It required some dexterity to get these stinking plastic pop rivets back in. And, you know, it's the kind of thing that if you're, you know, in the dark, standing on a stool behind your machine trying to figure this thing out, because you're not going to know it doesn't work until it's mounted, and then you're not going to want to take the whole thing apart just to do this. You're going to be working up in the dark, kind of cramped. You're going to drop one of these damn things inside the topper, and then you're screwed, man. You're screwed. You're never going to be able to find that and put it back. It just doesn't seem worth the headache. It seems worth somebody's day at work to just say, you know what? pull the pallet down let's open them all up and go through them and fix this so it's okay going forward i i think that would be reasonable hey that's just me speaking of me i gotta get myself over to work a special patreon show going forward in 2026 what i would like to do is do my normal episodes you know hopefully two to three times a week whenever there's news but then also still offer a bonus show afterwards where maybe it's where i spend a little more time and go into depth with some of my thoughts on what's going on. Maybe we go back and have a recurrence of story time, you know, where I talk about like machines I have bought and what my experience was with those, what I ended up paying for it, what I ended up selling it for. I think those will be interesting. I've had a lot of stories and adventures in pinball for the last three years, but I think that would be a way to reward you guys the best way I can, which is by bonus content. Otherwise, as soon as I get moved in and I can go through my cavalcade of pinball swag, I'm going to make some bags up and we're going to do tons of giveaways to get all caught back up. So far, I think I'm the only guy doing Patreon giveaways. I kind of want to maintain that. And you know what? I have a surplus of things like banners. Of course, the translights were fun. And then I have a lot of other stuff. I have flyers that I've had people sign and I've just hung on to them. I've got, you know, people give me hats and t-shirts. So I have keychains galore. I've got all that stuff. So I can pack all that in there, maybe throw some random mods in there just for fun and just send bags out to people of stuff. So if you'd like to hear that, you would like to get something like that. You want me to do that going forward or you have suggestion for bonus content that I can do strictly for the Patreon, I'd love to do that. I dream about being able to go completely behind paywall and turn this into something that I can do completely full time. how fun would that be to just like really be dedicated to something i'm passionate about rather than something that pays bills but it's not that great you know it's it's a little it's a bit of a grind you know i don't know if i'll ever get there but let me know your thoughts you know you drive this whole thing uh anybody with an earshot of this podcast episode has the power to reach out don's pinball podcast at gmail.com comment on the patreon come on the discord you know where to find me and let me know what you would like in the meantime uh scheduling note i'm working my final week at my wisconsin job right now and then i have a two-week bonus stretch uh back out in maine which is going to take me all the way until february so for all those people people i put my pin side shop on hold and people are emailing me directly wanting jaws buckets uh they're wanting star wars shooter rods and like guys everything's spread across a couple houses right now man but hopefully once we get to February, we get back from pinball at the beach, I get caught back up and a whole new 2026 is really going to kick off. We're going to get the lab back together. And my plan is to just, when I come up with a mod, I'll make a ton of them and then we'll end production on it. And then whatever's made is made. And I think going forward, that'll be a great way to do it. As always, if you have a request for something, um, I'll always honor Patreon requests for something, even if it's out of print, I'll try to make you another one. So let me know, man. I want to get to the point that I'm not even selling Jaws buckets anymore. I'm just giving them away to free to Patreon people. So if you're on Patreon and you want one, just ask and I'll get you something. It's something fun. It's something special. And, you know, it is a copyright, so I don't really think I should be selling it for cash, even though this is just a small hobby fun thing. But I think I can give them away. And so maybe we'll do that in the future. Thanks so much for joining. I'll play my outro out and then I got to get myself to work. Be cool. this has been an episode of Don's Pinball Podcast directly to you the Patreon people thank you so much for the support it means everything I really do appreciate it you guys are awesome going forward we're going to do so much cool stuff I can't manifest it fast enough as always reach out let me know what you want to hear I'd be cool you

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ec68a8aa-434d-423d-ae99-ca1549cebd7d*