Pinball

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Pinside

organizationactive1148 mentionsFirst seen Jan 1, 2000Last seen Jul 31, 2026

Profile

Pinside is the world's largest online pinball community forum and secondary marketplace platform, founded and moderated by Robin. Established as the central hub for pinball enthusiast discussion, news, game rankings (Top 100 list), machine listings, and technical support, Pinside serves as the de facto epicenter for pinball community discovery and sentiment analysis. The platform generates revenue through marketplace listing fees (tiered model including $35 per listing) and premium memberships, while maintaining controversial moderation policies around anti-scalping measures and content removal. Despite criticism for fostering toxic discourse and exclusionary gatekeeping, Pinside remains the primary venue where industry news breaks first, manufacturers monitor PR, and the secondary market for pinball machines is tracked and analyzed.

Aliases

Pinside PeteyPinside (PinSide PD)

Relationships

foundedRobinRobin created and moderates Pinside, the world's largest pinball community forummedium
affiliated_withStern Pinball Inc.Stern monitors Pinside for community sentiment and PR; employees frustrated by Pinside criticism; platform hosts secondary market data on Stern releasesmedium
affiliated_withJersey Jack PinballJJP internally recommended staff avoid reading Pinside criticism; platform hosts critical feedback on JJP games like Avatarmedium
affiliated_withSpooky Pinball LLCSpooky games discussed heavily on Pinside; Beetlejuice launch generated extensive forum discussion and controversy around allocationmedium
affiliated_with

Facts

intelligence_frequency_spikeNo idea, we monitor data from them so could be a false signalexpertfrom 2026-03-02
intelligence_frequency_spikePinside mentions spiked 2.0x baseline due to: (1) Deep Root retrospective citing John Papaduke Jr.'s negative Pinside comments ('absolute sewer'); (2) Secondary market pricing discussions referencing Pinside data (Evil Dead, Avatar, King Kong, Pokemon values); (3) Spooky feedback controversy originating on Pinside forums; (4) General community discussion infrastructure.expertfrom 2026-04-02
intelligence_frequency_spikePinside spike driven by secondary market pricing discussions (Pokemon LE crash, Beetlejuice/Winchester value debates) and King Kong ranking controversy (Punk Rock Pinball Podcast episode 043 challenging Pinside Top 100 placement at #20).expertfrom 2026-04-16
rolePinside operated as a community forum and secondary marketplace platformhigh
rolePinside produces instructional content including video guidesmedium

Claims (39)

factualhigh
World Cup Soccer carries a Pinside community rating of 8.1 out of 10 and ranks number 80 in the top 100
Source: Ryan, The Skill ShotWorld Cup Soccer Pinball (1994): The Pin Built for America's First World Cup
opinionmedium
Online Pinside sleuths have accurately determined Sonic playfield features through frame-by-frame image analysis
Source: Cary HardyHardy LIVE: Pinball Talk! Sonic and BoF!
factualhigh
Getaway is valued at $3,000-$3,500 USD according to Pinside
Source: Mike Dimes reviewing Pinside databasePart 1: 1977 Allied Leisure Getaway Pinball Project Begins!
opinionhigh
Pinside Robin is profiting from secondary market while restricting high-value sales, creating market control inconsistency

Recent Mentions (500)

Pinball community forum/database; tracks game ownership, want lists, location machines; Don uses Pinside registry to refute 650 Bon Jovi sales claim (only 4 registered owners)
DPP #250 "Calm Down Everybody!"Jul 31, 2026
Pinball enthusiast forum where Kaneda claims 'angry curmudgeons' and skeptics congregate; primary locus of Bon Jovi criticism and negativity
FREE SHOW: "Episode 1247: Why Bon Jovi Will Easily Sell Out"Jul 30, 2026
Online pinball community forum where Kaneda claims he faced criticism and dismissal for accurately predicting Bon Jovi announcement.
Episode 1246: "Is Bon Jovi Pin Dead or Alive"Jul 29, 2026
Existing pinball ranking/review platform; criticized by hosts for having too many required questions and sucking the fun out of rating games
058: This or That - Steph chooses!Jul 29, 2026
Online pinball forum and community platform where Bon Jovi announcement received significant negative feedback (~70% according to Hardy)
What Just Happened Cary Hardy? Bon Jovi & 2 New P3Jul 29, 2026
Pinball community forum where speculation thread about Barrels' next game ran for weeks; David Van Es posted there

Contradictions

Existing: Pinside is described as a community forum and secondary marketplace platformvsConflicting: Mention 124 states 'TWIP licensing Vids guides from Pinside,' suggesting Pinside produces instructional content/guides (Vids guides), but this is unclear from context and may conflate Robin/Pinside's content creation role
[Triage: Pinside likely evolved from being primarily a community forum and marketplace to expanding into content creation (guides/videos), representing a role expansion over time rather than a factual conflict.]
Resolved
temporal_progression · Feb 21, 2026
Existing: Pinside is characterized as a forum/community discussion platformvsConflicting: Mentions 11, 47, 51, 52 reference 'Pinside ranking system' and 'Top 100' as if it's a distinct product/database feature
Resolved
kept_existing · Mar 2, 2026
Existing: Pinside is a community forum and marketplacevsConflicting: Mention 68 references 'confirmed Pokémon designer credits' as if Pinside maintains developer databases, conflating it with an external source

Related Glossary Terms

No linked glossary terms