Stranger Things vs Venom vs Jaws | Stern Pinball Battle in Gonzo’s Top 50 Pinball Machines

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·24m 30s·analyzed·Mar 11, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Gonzo ranks Jaws, Stranger Things, and Venom on his top 50 list; Jaws ranks exceptionally high.

Summary

Gonzo from Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama adds three Stern games—Venom, Stranger Things, and Jaws—to his personal top 50 pinball machines list. He ranks Venom low (dislikes it personally, though his son loves it), places Stranger Things mid-tier (praising its innovative projector and UV effects but finding it challenging), and ranks Jaws very high as Keith Elwin's best work with exceptional theme integration and playfield design. The video also reflects on improving UK pricing for Stern machines and his enthusiasm for the current quality of new releases across manufacturers.

Key Claims

The UK has historically been the most expensive place in the world to buy Stern pinball machines, but pricing is now leveling out to recommended retail prices.
high confidence · Gonzo discussing UK market pricing dynamics; he notes this has made secondary market cheaper and Sterns viable again.
Jaws is Keith Elwin's best game, ranking higher in Gonzo's personal list than Jurassic Park.
high confidence · Gonzo directly states 'I think this is Keith Elwin's best game' and places Jaws very high on his top 50, with clear reasoning about its quality.
Stranger Things features a completely innovative projector and UV kit that requires turning lights off to play properly.
high confidence · Gonzo: 'the projector is completely innovative. Completely innovative. Absolutely love the projector on this game' and 'one of a very very few games that you turn the lights off completely to play.'
Venom is a Brian Eddie design with Marvel character licensing.
medium confidence · Gonzo states 'It's a Brian Eddie game, isn't it?' regarding Venom and confirms 'I think it's Marvel' for the IP.
Gonzo has had Venom twice—once from Pinball Heaven and once borrowed from Neil McCraver after PinFest.
high confidence · Gonzo explicitly describes both instances: Phil from Pinball Heaven sent it down, then 'Neil McCraver very kindly uh lent us one after he I think he bought one from Pinfest.'
The final season of Stranger Things was disappointing and too bloated with characters and storylines.
high confidence · Gonzo: 'The most recent one, but anyway, I digress... Too many characters, too bloated, too many storylines.'
Gonzo's top 50 criteria require him to have physically had the game in his house to review it fairly.
high confidence · Gonzo explicitly states: 'to qualify for my top 50 pinball machines, the pinball machine has to have lived in this house.'
Jaws currently does not have Brody on the playfield due to licensing/image rights issues, but this isn't a major flaw because Brody appears in film clips throughout the game.

Notable Quotes

“the UK was the most expensive place in the world to buy Stern pinball machines. Um now there seems to be a leveling out.”
Gonzo@ 7:26 — Key market signal about UK pricing dynamics and potential broader industry impact on affordability and secondary market.
“I think this is Keith Elwin's best game.”
Gonzo@ 15:21 — Strong endorsement of Jaws; positioning it as Elwin's top work, which is notable given Jurassic Park's presence on the list.
“the projector is completely innovative. Completely innovative. Absolutely love the projector on this game.”
Gonzo@ 10:43 — Highlights design innovation in Stranger Things that sets it apart; references the projector as a unique feature in modern pinball.
“that fin coming out the playfield, that's a pinball moment. I don't care what anyone says, that is a pinball moment.”
Gonzo@ 16:42 — Defends Jaws against criticism about the shark mechanic; emphasizes atmospheric and mechanical pinball moments.
“It has atmosphere. Um, has pinball moments... It has everything.”
Gonzo@ 16:29 — Summarizes why Jaws ranks so high; emphasizes holistic game quality beyond mechanics.
“So yeah, some some really really great games. Um we'll I'll have a chat. We'll have a sit down with Enzo and we'll have a chat about the rumors that are going on because there's one particular rumor of a pinball machine I definitely want to discuss.”
Gonzo@ 23:53 — Teases future discussion of unannounced/rumored games with colleague Enzo; signals industry gossip/intel segment.

Entities

GonzopersonKeith Elwinperson Brian EddiepersonNeil McCraverpersonPhilperson JohnpersonEnzopersonVenomgame

Signals

$
market_signal: UK Stern pinball pricing has shifted from being the world's most expensive market to approaching recommended retail prices, making machines significantly cheaper and revitalizing secondary market.
high · Gonzo states 'the UK was the most expensive place in the world to buy Stern pinball machines. Um now there seems to be a leveling out' and 'they've become significantly cheaper which in turn has has made the the secondhand market cheaper.'
~
sentiment_shift: Gonzo reports his enthusiasm for pinball has been rekindled recently; he's playing more, excited about new releases, and actively seeking new games for his collection.
high · Opening statement: 'my my love and my enthusiasm for pinball has been rekindled recently. I've been playing more pinball. Certainly enjoying it. Excited about new releases coming out.'
?
design_innovation: Stranger Things features innovative projector and UV kit that creates unique gameplay environment; described as one of very few games requiring lights-off play.
high · Gonzo: 'the projector is completely innovative...one of a very very few games that you turn the lights off completely to play because if you've got that projector and you've got that UV kit, I just think they're complete and utter innovations.'
?
design_innovation: Jaws features several signature 'pinball moments'—shark fin emerging from playfield, demogorgon ramp mechanic, fishing reel spinner—that create drama and atmosphere.
high · Gonzo defends shark fin mechanic: 'that fin coming out the playfield, that's a pinball moment. I don't care what anyone says, that is a pinball moment. Not only is it pinball moment, it creates drama because it creates a sense of urgency.'

Transcript

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0:11

backed by popular demand. Well, at least four of you asked for it. We have got Gonzo's top 50 pinball machines and I've decided it is time to populate the list. So, ordinarily we just do one game, we find a place for it in the top 50. So, pretty much the um the prize one, what's going to be the headline grabber is going to be Jaws for this one. We're going to find a place for Jaws on that list. But, we're going to do something of a a stern extravaganza because I've been slacking a bit recently. Truth be known. I've not been uploading as much as I should have done, but my my love and my enthusiasm for pinball has been rekindled recently. I've been playing more Pinball. Certainly enjoying it. Excited about new releases coming out. excited about um about what appears to be happening with the price of Stone games in the UK. Very excited about that as well. And for that reason, I thought I'd do a bit of a bit of a Stern extravaganza if you want. So, today we're going to be covering Jaws, Stranger Things, and Venom to populate the list. The next video I do, I'm going to be doing at least two, possibly three JJP games. Now, in fact, I can only do two, and there's a reason for this. So, for those of you that may be watching this series for the first time, to qualify for my top 50 pinball machines, the pinball machine has to have lived in this house. I might have loaned it off a friend, uh, borrowed it, bought it. Uh, maybe our channel sponsors Hold on. I'm just I'm testing a new camera, by the way. Pinball Heaven. Their channel sponsors Pinball Heaven. Um, maybe they've sent us a game down to review. I have to have had it here to review it because I just don't think it's fair to compare a game that you might have had at home and learned the rules and had time and a bit of peace and quiet to learn with something you might have played once and put a couple of pound into on location. So, those are the rules. Those are the criteria. So, if you don't see it on this list, it's because I either haven't had it in this house or I haven't done a video on it yet. But, we're going to have three now. Now, at the moment, the list is not complete, and it won't be complete on all the videos. I've got this camera set up correctly. It should follow me down, which means I don't have to uh do an awful lot of editing. You'll have to excuse all the mess. At the bottom of the list, hopefully you can see this. We got Jackpot, John Wick, X-Men, Popeye, Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park Home Edition, Judge Dread, Avengers Infinity Quest, Rush, Medieval Madness. I know some of you are going to think that's far too low. Uh, World Cup Soccer, Sopranos, Dolly Parton, Champion Pub, Stern Star Wars, Foo Fighters, Total Nuclear Annihilation, Star Trek Next Generation, Cactus Canyon, Alvarez, House of Horrors, Fishtails, Godzilla, Batman 66, Big Labowski, Monster Bash, Jurassic Park, Lord of the Rings, Deadpool, and right at the top, the bestest pinball machine that has ever been made, Attack from Mars. This is my list. This is not done by committee. This is just these are just my favorite games of games that I've played in this house. Now, my criteria is slightly different to the Pinside Top 100, which I love the Pinside Top 100, by the way. I'm I'm quite addicted to looking at it. I look at it far more than I ought to really. Um, I base things slightly slightly differently. How addictive is a game? How much fun is it? And ultimately, how much do I miss it? How much do I miss the game once it's left Flipper Towers and it's gone? and I'm thinking, "Oh, I I wish I had that back." Some of them I don't miss at all. Some of them I detest. Some of them I love. Some of them I've had back on two or three occasions, which is a really really good um a really good tester for it. So, we're going to go through the games and I'll try and get this video wrapped up as quickly as possible. Um and I'm actually going to start with with Venom if if you don't mind. Pay no attention to Jaws. I'm going to put Jaws down there for the moment. We'll pick Jaws back up later. Um, you know what I'm going to do? I'm gonna stop that camera moving around now. It was just It was just really set up so as you guys could see the um so so as you guys could see the list without me having to edit it. There you go. A little bit more stable now. Not jumping around all over the place. Let's start with Venom. Okay, Venom. Um, didn't like it, truth be known. Did not like this game one little bit, but and this is my list, so it's going to go down quite low. Um, in fact, I'm going to put it there now. I'm going to put it I don't know how well you'll be able to see this. But if I move that down there, I'm going to put it near the bottom. It's just above Ghostbusters. Hopefully, you can see that. And below Jurassic Park Home Edition. The truth of the matter is I did prefer Jurassic Park um home edition to Venom. Um I didn't like it. What I would say about Venom is because I don't miss it. I don't want it back. My son loves it. It's actually one of my son's favorite games. So, whilst I not be saying I might not say, "Can we have Venom back here?" My son really my son does. He says, "Can is there any way we can get Venom back?" Um, and I've actually had it here twice. Uh, so the first time it was sent down by uh by Pinball Heaven there. So, Phil very kindly sent it down, did a video on it. I wasn't overly impressed. Then Neil McCraver very kindly uh lent us one after he I think he bought one from Pinfest and then um then he said I think he was at a van spaces you can take that home if you want which we did. Uh Jakey, you know really enjoyed playing again. I I think it shoots okay. I don't I think it's a pretty um pretty standard sort of fan layout really. Um it's a Brian Eddie game, isn't it? I think. And uh yeah, I'm nothing against Brian Eddie. He's at the top of the list, right? Um we got another Brian Eddie game. I only just realized um yeah, not not for me. I got to say there was nothing there for me. What I do think is good about it, I think the Insider Connected works really really well. And if you're into that character, if you're into those I think it's it's Marvel, I think it's Marvel, isn't it? Then you're probably going to like this game and particularly the way you can choose your character, particularly where you can use Insider Connected, particularly the way you can level up. I think as an entry point to the game for me, I didn't know I don't really know Venom too well. It just looked like lots of different SP versions of Spider-Man to me. Um, but enough people have said to me over recent times, "Oh, you got that game wrong, mate." So, I understand there's a lot of people like it more than I did. I don't think I got it wrong because I say this this is my list and every single game above Venom here, I would take before Venom. So, yes, if you're asking, yes, I I do prefer Judge Dreads of Venom. Yes, believe it or not, Jurassic Park Home Edition. I I do prefer that to Venom. Um Avengers Infinity Quest, um funny enough, really really good Avengers Infinity Quest have just come up for sale. Um actually, um at a really really good really good price on the forum and and this is something that's going to be happening in in the UK more and more. I think the UK's just really, I think, had an injection of um of interest in terms of pricing because for too long we've been paying too much for stern games. I know I mentioned this on my Star Wars video the other day. Um and uh they they've they've just been they've just been too inflated. Basically, the UK was the most expensive place in the world to buy Stern pinball machines. Um now there seems to be a leveling out. Now there seems to be a recommended retail price which is we're getting closer towards that and they've become significantly cheaper which in turn has has made the the secondhand market cheaper and has just I just think it's it's just made sterns viable again. Um and let's be fair as I' as I've said on numerous occasions in terms of um flippers flippers flippers rules and ramps as I like to call it. They're really hard to beat aren't they? So um but yes uh Rush. There you go. There's another stern. Yes, I prefer that. World Cup soccer, Sopranos, Dolly Parton, Champion Pub. Yes, I prefer them all to Venom. Guilty as charged. There's There's no point in talking about it anymore. Um, let's let's talk about Stranger Things, though, and get this get this video moving, shall we? Stranger Things. Okay. Um, unlike Venom, I know all about Stranger Things. I've watched is it five? Did they five seasons of it? Quite possibly. I I watched the most recent one. A bit disappointing actually. The most recent one, but anyway, I digress. Certainly the first couple of Stranger Things one, two, and four maybe I thought was sensational. Was as good as as good as anything that's been on tell. I understand the characters in in a way that I just don't with Venom that this is also the interesting thing about Stranger Things is it's not nostalgic, but it's created at a time as basically a bunch of 10year-olds at the time running around in the 1980s. Well, I was born in 1974, so I was a 10-year-old in the 1980s. So, um, there's a lot of things in it, the the music that the bikes that they were riding, the stuff that they're doing, the games they're playing, which reminded me of being a child, although where I grew up, there wasn't an interdimensional rift or anything like that. So, it was very very different to Hawkins. Um, but Stranger Things, I like it. I love the theme music. Uh, so many of the characters are good. That's what I didn't like about the final season. Too many characters, too bloated, too many storylines. I liked it at the start, you know, just a a small group and um yeah, anyway, great great show. Really, really great show. Netflix show. Uh absolutely brilliant. The game, okay, the game I found quite hard. And when I had it here, I'm a better pinball player now than when I had it last. So, I think I need to revisit the game again. And if and I will move this up in the list if that's the case. If it if it turns out that this is better than I thought, I'll move it up in the list just in the same way that I've moved Star Wars. Stern Star Wars moved up in the list in the last couple of days because I've been really enjoying that. So, Stranger Things, I find it quite tough. The modes are quite linear and I like that. Um, I'm not a great fan of overly complicated rules. I like the rules on this game. I think I was just bricking a lot a lot of it, you know, hitting the targets either side of the ramps and that's down. That's That's on me. That's me not being a particularly accurate player. I think a lot of the time what it undoubtedly has is a ton of innovation. This game, um, first of all, the projector is completely innovative. Completely innovative. Absolutely love the projector on this game. um one of one of a very very few games that you turn the you turn the lights off completely to play because if you've got that projector and you've got that UV kit, I just think they're complete and utter innovations and I think the UV kit with the upside down is magnificent. Um, and then I think with the the demogorganum where the ramp comes down and then you shoot up the ramp for the demogorg, that's a pinball moment. I I don't I don't care what anyone says, that is a pinball moment. You got to hit the targets down to start with. I mean, you've got some attack from Mars going on. I think I like the premium. I like the the Magna save on there. I still think the Pro is a really really good game on Stranger Things. I do think it's a good game. Um, I like it. I I actually do do like the game. Um, and I would say, do I miss it? There's been times when I have missed it, maybe. Yeah. Yeah. To to I've definely given it consideration on multiple occasions. Shall I get this shall I get this game back? Shall I give it another go now? I'm a bit of a better player. Um, yeah, really like it. And I guess it's had a sort of semi- renaissance really with the with the final season of the show. Um, yeah, it's got some fun moments. Is it addictive? It is addictive, but I I found it frustrating. And that's the other thing that that I do that I do factor into my my scores here. If a game is totally frustrating um then I will mark it down. That's why Jackpot is at the at the bottom. I find it completely frustrating. Um but there's enough reward here. There's enough encouragement and you sort of do want to play it again. It's addictive. It's it's fun. Um, and I think it's quite obvious what you got to do when you when you're hitting the demigorgan. Um, you've got you got the power bar on there, so you're knocking its life down. It all makes sense. It's not I don't find the game confusing at all. And for me, that's a really really good thing. And I wouldn't mind betting that if that's on location. I never know because I don't I don't know what takes good money on location and what doesn't. But I would imagine that Stranger Things probably takes uh good money. Now, um I'm actually going to put it where I'm going to put it is I'm going to put it I' actually left a little space there. So, I decided this before. I'm going to put it above the sopranos

13:13

and below Dolly Parton. Dolly's over there. You probably seen uh earlier on. Yeah, I think that's I think that's working out. So, how many have I got on this list now? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31. I mean, we're getting there. I'm so blessed because I actually had more than 50 games now. And it's going to be at some point I'm going to have we're going we're going to need a bigger we're going to need a bigger board, quite frankly. Um, the ones that are in red are just to remind me to do videos on them that I haven't actually done the videos yet. Just in case you look down there and say, "Hold on, Aerosmith. Why is Aerosmith at the bottom? Why is up and at the bottom?" It's not. I just not done the videos on them yet. Jaws. Jaws. There you go. That's probably for the thumbnail as much as anything else. As I can take a a screenshot of that. Um, Jaws are magnificent. All I would say is all of these video, all of these games you can see on here have all got either their own individual video on this channel or a top 50 video. So you have an explanation if what if you want to know why total nuclear annihilation is there and Star Trek Next Generation is there. All the answers are on this channel. You you'll be you'll go down a um I was going to say a wormhole. That's no wormhole. Star Trek Next Generation. You'll go down a rabbit hole. There's a lot of videos um on on this channel really. and and I uh yeah, hopefully you you enjoy so many of them. Um Jaws Jaws is magnificent and I the reason I've just said what I just did was because relatively recently, probably in the last 10 videos or so, there's a Jaws video on here. Uh I have a Jaws. It's actually out on rent at the moment. It's magnificent. It is magnificent. And the person that's rented it off me is loving it. Absolutely loving it. I spoke with somebody the other day who's who's got a Jaws um and is really sort of exploring the rules and learning it. He said it's it's magnificent. I will tell you now I think this is Keith Elwin's best game. Now bearing in mind Jurassic Park is there. It's probably going to tell you something. What's going to happen with this? Do I miss it? Well, first of all, I haven't sold it. But yes, I I I do I do miss it. But that's fine. It'll be coming back and it's going out there for someone else to enjoy it. It would there's some games. I mean, I'm very very I'm very lucky in as much as I have this game and I have that game, you know. So, my two favorites I have. Um, and when something's really good, it's a real it's a real wrench to let it go. Monster Bash, Labowski, Lord of the Rings, Batman 66. Really difficult to let those games go. But certain games have to go for new ones to come in as this is, you know, I have a I have finite limited very limited money and very limited space. So, this just what we got to do to um enjoy games and new games, but it's it's very very I can't imagine a time where either Deadpool or Attack from Mars would go and Jaws is getting like that for me. Um, it has everything. It has atmosphere. Um, has pinball moments. I think it suffered because there was a lot of backlash when the shark didn't eat the ball. But that fin coming out the playfield, that's a pinball moment. I don't care what anyone says, that is a pinball moment. Not only is it pinball moment, it creates drama because it creates a sense of urgency. Um, the music ties in beautifully with it. The the John Williams score of Jaws, that iconic music lends itself so well to the pinball machine and dramatic moments within it. I love the modes. I love the ability to go out and catch a fish. Say a fish. A shark. You can choose. They make sense. You can choose a tiger shark or a moako shark. And ultimately, you want to get to a point where you can go and hunt the great white. It makes sense. You hit a series of shots. It It tells you to to capture a shark, hit whatever it is, six ramps, hit the 80 spins of the spinner, hit the chum bucket three times. It's It's there. It's telling you what to do, and I enjoy that, and I appreciate it. But it's when you get beyond that, and you have to use the fishing reel. And I actually think this is one of my favorite sounds in pinball. It's not something overly discussed. I'd be interested to know what people's favorite sounds in pinball are, but the the clicking of the fishing reel when a fishing reel goes round. It works. It It works as a spinner. I'm sure there lots of things that a spinner like a roulette wheel would work well for a spinner for instance, wouldn't it? Lots of things that a spinning disc Sorry, I don't mean a spinner. I mean, a spinning disc works well on a fishing reel. Yeah, that that's that's really cool. A really really cool cool thing. And um I've got the precision um the precision pinball um spinning disc. Beautifully made. And that spins. It makes it makes an absolute pleasure to hit because it just runs so smoothly. And I've got um my friend John who runs Hot Mods. He's got a it looks like a proper fishing reel on top of it. If you've not seen it, go and have a look at my Jaws video. Got loads and loads of mods on there. Collie Wobbles, fantastic apron. We got Dave Stumbl's boy mods, cab custom um armor on it. There's there's loads of stuff. Honestly, I've I've gone to town. I've absolutely gone to town on this. I've got so many lovely, wonderful mods on it because it's a keeper. It's fun. It's engaging. You you feel like you're in the movie. Um there's just so much right with it. And it doesn't matter. People say, well, people don't I was going to say people say Brody isn't on the playfield. He isn't. But there's so many film clips with him in there and all the iconic clips are in it. I don't ever look at it and look at the film clips and think anything is missing. And you you forget about the fact that Brody's not on the playfield pretty damn quickly. Apparently they couldn't get licensing. They couldn't get his image rights and stuff like that. It's there's worse there's there's worse crimes in licensing have been done than that because as I say because he's on the screen. Um I I think I think it's really really really good. Um I I love it. There's loads of little side missions. I thought initially the um the flipper was a the little mini flipper was a bit gimmicky. It's not. You can hit proper shots with it. I love the way you can you can trap up trap the ball on it a bit like um a road show. Um I love that ramp on the right that loops up a quint shack. That's great. Um a certain amount of Jeopardy in it as well. I love the I've got the premium. I love the upper playfield thing is cool. You know there's there's four things you can do up on the upper upper playfield. Um there there are better upper play fields than that, don't get me wrong, but it's enough. It does the job. I I like it. Um I like the middle ramp that loops back. I like the shark coming out. I like the boat. Um I like it. There's honestly I don't just like this game. I love this game as it's and I wasn't expecting it. And this is one of my favorite games now. One of my favorite pinball machines. Uh an absolute triumph. So for that reason, and this is going to surprise uh a few people, I'm going to put Jaws there. Although it is subject to change and I feel dirty for putting it above Lord of the Rings and I might swap them round. Oh. Oh, that's tough. I mean, there's nothing between them really. I mean, they've both got the ring shot. That's a proper pinball moment. Maybe I will. Maybe I'll swap them around. But you you're into the the realms here of of just pinball machines which which I've got nothing bad to say about them at all. I got only positive things. And if you can a pinball is a wonderful thing, right? If you can spend two hours of your evening playing some of these games that you can see on this list, you're going you're going to be that's great entertainment. You're going to be having a great time. You really are. Um, so there you go. Those are my um my three sterns there, which are Yeah, very different. I got Venom, um, Stranger Things, and then Jaws. And, uh, yes, I'm just looking at so many Sterns on this list. So, I I'll definitely I'll do next time I'll do some JJ Peps. Then I've got a couple of By Williams bits and pieces on there as well. Uh, got um got a couple of American Pinballs that I need to do actually as well. Um, what I've got uh got June here, which is an amazing game by the way. I've got uh got Evil Dead here as well. Evil Dead can go up there and so I mean so so many good games at the moment. There are so many good games. Um and a lot of these newer games are a top top level. So yeah. So anyway, apologies for not uploading for such a long time. Done a quick um quick double upload in the last few days. Uh we'll keep it going and I just just think that's yeah, just seems like a really really good time for Pinball now. So many manufacturers doing making such great games and I know there's many people that aren't in the UK um who just been getting Stern games at at the price that you're always getting them. I I do feel it changing in the UK now has has has definitely given it given it an injection and certainly for me I'm now looking at it thinking okay yeah there's there's a number of these games now which uh which I'm I'm looking forward to and looking forward to to getting and and playing and and enjoying. So yeah, long may it continue. Uh I don't know what's next. Uh hopefully got my eye on a couple of games. Um which means I'm going to have to move a couple on to bring um a couple in which can be good. And then maybe within the next um month or so we might even have a Beetlejuice here. You you never know. You never know. So yeah, some some really really great games. Um we'll I'll have a chat. We'll have a sit down with Enzo and we'll have a chat about the rumors that are going on because there's one particular rumor of a pinball machine I definitely want to discuss. Um anyway, so I'm going to say it's very very late to say um good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. Um but that's what I'm going to say right now. Um please do remember to subscribe. Uh leave your comments below. I always read all the comments as well. I take a day. I go through everything on here. And um yeah, really appreciate you watching. Speak to you soon.