Five Minutes to Tilt #7 – John Borg on Leaving a Safe Job to Design Star Wars Pinball

Dutch Pinball Museum·video·5m 37s·analyzed·Mar 3, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.018

TL;DR

John Borg shares how he left a secure job to design pinball, starting with Star Wars in 1991.

Summary

John Borg, legendary Stern Pinball designer with a 37+ year career, recounts how he left a safer engineering job at an injection molding company to join Premier Technology (later Stern) after seeing a tiny classified ad in the Tribune. He describes the decision as transformative, noting he has worked on approximately 75 games since 1991, with Star Wars being his first major title. He reflects on the diversity of disciplines required in pinball design and expresses enthusiasm about the industry's growth and influx of young talent.

Key Claims

John Borg has worked on approximately 75 pinball games, with about 50 since 1991 when Star Wars came out
high confidence · John Borg stated he did a seminar where he wrote down all games he made or worked on, and the list came out to 75, with most (about 50) since 1991
Borg was offered a job at Premier Technology for less money than a hydraulics engineer position, but chose pinball because it would be more fun
high confidence · John Borg directly stated he was offered positions at both companies and chose Premier Technology for lower pay because 'I knew it was going to be a lot more fun'
Star Wars (1991) was John Borg's first major pinball game
high confidence · John Borg confirmed 'Star Wars came out. That was my first game' and mentioned it was in 1991
Borg currently has an original Star Wars machine at the Stern factory showroom, having brought it there for a livestream with Jack and not yet brought it home
high confidence · John Borg stated 'The old one is at the factory right now in our big showroom in the front of the back room where people walk in the door from tours... I took Star Wars into work to do a live stream with Jack and I just haven't brought it back home'
Borg is currently building one pinball machine and starting another in a couple of weeks
high confidence · John Borg stated 'I'm building one now and I'm starting another one probably in a few couple weeks'
Stern Pinball has grown significantly with many new young designers joining the company
high confidence · John Borg stated 'we have so many new young guys working around us. It's it's the company has really grown an awful lot'

Notable Quotes

“I was offered a job at Premier Technology for less money than the hydraulics engineer position. I took the one in pinball because I knew it was going to be a lot more fun.”
John Borg@ 2:24 — Captures the decision-making moment that launched his legendary career—choosing passion over security.
“And I'm sitting in the front lobby and there are pinball backglasses around the whole perimeter of the room. And I'm like pinball. How cool is this?”
John Borg@ 2:10 — Illustrates the moment he first encountered the pinball industry at Premier Technology's office.
“I think I've made I I did a seminar and I wrote down the names of all the games that I've made or worked on and I think the list came out to like 75, but I think most 50 of them probably since 1991 or I believe when Star Wars came out.”
John Borg@ 2:53 — Quantifies his prolific career output and establishes Star Wars (1991) as a watershed moment in his work history.
“It was a 10-hour day. um it was standing on your feet all the time and it was very very extremely hard work and a lot of math.”
John Borg@ 1:36 — Describes the difficult working conditions at the injection molding company that motivated his career change.
“I looked in the Tribune and I found this ad on the table and it said mechanical engineer needed and a phone number. It was the size of a postage stamp.”
John Borg@ 1:56 — Details the serendipitous discovery of the classified ad that led to his career in pinball.
“I studied plastics engineering and manufacturing engineering and mechanic drafting and and CAD in in college. I was like, this is perfect. I'm going to be working with wood, sheet metal, injection molded parts, which I knew a lot about.”

Entities

John BorgpersonStern PinballcompanyPremier TechnologycompanyDutch Pinball MuseumorganizationStar Wars (pinball)productJack Dangerperson

Signals

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historical_signal: John Borg recounts his entry into pinball industry through a classified ad in the Chicago Tribune, joining Premier Technology in 1991 with Star Wars as his first major game
high · Direct first-person account of discovering the Tribune ad, interviewing at Premier Technology's Benson location, and being hired to work on Star Wars (1991)
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design_philosophy: Borg emphasizes the diverse engineering disciplines required in pinball design—injection molding, sheet metal, wood, CAD, plastics engineering—and views his educational background as perfectly suited to the work
high · Borg states: 'I'm going to be working with wood, sheet metal, injection molded parts, which I knew a lot about. And uh you know, all kinds of disciplines.'
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personnel_signal: Stern Pinball is experiencing significant growth with influx of young designers joining the company alongside veteran designers like Borg
high · Borg states: 'we have so many new young guys working around us. It's it's the company has really grown an awful lot'
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manufacturing_signal: John Borg is actively engaged in pinball design work, currently building one machine and planning to start another within weeks
high · Borg states: 'I'm building one now and I'm starting another one probably in a few couple weeks'
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content_signal: Dutch Pinball Museum's 'Five Minutes to Tilt' series is documenting designer stories and industry history before knowledge is lost
high · Museum's stated mission: 'At Dutch Pinball Museum, we collect stories before they are lost. Because pinball history doesn't live only in machines. It lives in people.'

Topics

Career origin story and decision to enter pinball industryprimaryJohn Borg's prolific design output (75+ games)primaryStar Wars pinball as career-defining first major titleprimaryMultidisciplinary nature of pinball design and engineeringsecondaryStern Pinball company growth and talent developmentsecondaryPinball industry history and preservationsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.92)— John Borg expresses consistent enthusiasm and satisfaction with his career choice, using phrases like 'amazing ride,' 'a lot of fun,' and reflecting with pride on his accomplishments. The tone is nostalgic, grateful, and celebratory about his contributions to the industry.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

At the Dutch Pinball Museum, we collect stories before they are lost. Because pinball history doesn't live only in machines. It lives in people. In stories that are often told once and then disappear. 5 minutes, one egg timer. When it rings, the story ends. Uh, episode I don't know how many, but um, episode 51. 501. uh the on top stories. We're here with a guy and uh he's gonna introduce himself. I'm gonna set the egg timer and then we're gonna start. All right. Okay. So, my question to you is who are you? What are you doing at Pinball? And can you tell us an amazing story? Uh my name is John Borg. I work for Stern Pinball Inc. in Chicago. And uh I'm going to tell you a story about how I got into pinball. I uh I was working for a company that made injection molding parts and I wanted to design injection molding parts for a living. So I was a model maker and I was making models that make plastic injection molding parts and I wanted something different. It was a 10-hour day. um it was standing on your feet all the time and it was very very extremely hard work and a lot of math. Yeah. And so I decid I I was looking around for something else and I went to a hydraulics manufacturer offered me a job and then I went to a company called Premier Technology and I looked in the Tribune and I found this ad on the paper and it said mechanical engineer needed and a phone number. It was the size of a postage stamp. And I called the number and the guy says, "Yeah, why don't you come down for an interview?" So I drive to this place in Benson and I'm sitting in the front lobby and there are pinball back glasses around the whole perimeter of the room. And I'm pinball. How cool is this? So I was offered a job at Premier Technology for less money than the hydraulics engineer position. I took the one in pinball because I knew it was going to be a lot more fun. And you know, I studied plastics engineering and manufacturing engineering and mechanic drafting and and CAD in in college. I was like, this is perfect. I'm going to be working with wood, sheet metal, injection molded parts, which I knew a lot about. And uh you know, all kinds of disciplines. And uh it's it's been a it's been an amazing ride. I think I've made I I did a seminar and I wrote down the names of all the games that I've made or worked on and I think the list came out to like 75, but I think most 50 of them probably since 1991 or I believe when 80 Star Wars came out. That was my first game. Yeah, I had a blast remastering, not remastering so much, but redesigning it, making a new version of it. Um really enjoy the game. Um it software is great. I still have my old one. Um, the old one is at the factory right now in our big showroom in the front of the back room where people walk in the door from tours. Um, I just I have running out of room at home. So, I took Star Wars into work to do a live stream with Jack and I just haven't brought it back home. So, uh, but but pinball's been a it's been a great ride. It's it's a lot of fun. Um, and uh, you know, we have so many new young guys working around us. It's it's the company has really grown an awful lot and it's been a it's been amazing. It's still amazing. So 1992 man I I was playing Star Wars and who would have known that years later I talked to the guys that created. Are you aware that you are the people that have played pinball? You are a guy man. You brought so much to pinball. Yeah. It's awesome. I look back at the list and I'm like how did I do that? Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah. And in 10 2015, I started my museum and I asked you to do a promotion video of me. Kiss was coming out. He did a thing with the year. Just wanted to say hi to all my friends at the Dutch Pinball Museum. Uh make sure when you're playing Kiss, watch out for Jean cuz you never know what he's going to do, man. Man, this was awesome. Yeah. Yeah. Um can't tell you what's coming. No. Um we're not here for I'm building one now and I'm starting another one probably in a few couple weeks. Yeah. So, I'm gonna keep myself pretty busy this year again. Yeah. Wait a minute. Great. Uh, yeah. Oh, we have a minute left. Yeah. So, are you liking the show? The show is great. Yeah. This is a really nice really nice venue to have the show. Um, you know, we got the golf is out here. Are we going to do karaoke tonight? Where we going to do karaoke tonight? Can we start now? I want to do a sweet Caroline. Oh, no. No, no, no. I can't stop. Every Okay. Well, seeing you tonight at the karaoke show. I'm going to sing. He's going to sing. Thanks for watching. All right. Thank you. My pleasure. See you a little bit later. Yeah.