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I Bought A New Stern Pokemon Pinball Machine And Tore It Apart!

Cooltoy·video·7m 21s·analyzed·Jul 17, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.013

TL;DR

Collector rebuilds Stern Pokémon pinball with custom artwork, gameplay fixes, and yellow theme.

Summary

A collector details extensive customizations made to a new Stern Pokémon Pro pinball machine, including damage repair, gameplay adjustments, and aesthetic modifications. The creator replaced stock components with custom parts (flipper rubbers, shooter knob, speakers, shaker motor), redesigned the artwork and translite to create a custom LE aesthetic, and is having the cabinet powder-coated in yellow to match a Pikachu theme. The video documents both necessary fixes and intentional modding choices driven by dissatisfaction with the original artwork package.

Key Claims

  • Stern Pokemon pinball machine arrived with damage from downward pressure that bent cabinet hinges and LCD bracket, requiring backbox disassembly and part replacement

    high confidence · Creator describing unboxing experience and damage discovery

  • Out-of-box Pokémon machines require lane guide adjustments because balls hit the top of slings instead of feeding to flippers

    high confidence · Creator discussing first gameplay tweaks needed

  • Original Pokémon artwork was designed by the Pokémon Company, not Stern's in-house artwork team

    medium confidence · Creator stating: 'The art package...was done by the Pokémon company, and not necessarily the Stern artwork team'

  • Stern has stated they will not make a special/anniversary edition Pokémon pinball machine

    medium confidence · Creator saying: 'Stern swears they're not going to make a special edition, so I made my own special edition'

  • Stern Pokémon topper is reported by PinSide community members to be excessively loud

    low confidence · Creator mentioning: 'I'll try to figure out if it's as loud as everyone on PinSide swears it is'

  • Stern's official Pokémon shooter knob costs approximately $180 and has poor aesthetics

    high confidence · Creator comparing: 'Stern sells one that's like $180, and to me it doesn't look great'

  • Creator can create custom Pokéball shooter knob using Hallmark ornament and epoxied shooter rod for $25

    high confidence · Creator describing DIY process and cost

  • Jack Danger published a Pokémon pinball mock-up design before Stern announced the official game

    medium confidence · Creator stating: 'Jack Danger had published several years ago before Stern had ever announced that they were making a Pokémon pinball machine'

Notable Quotes

  • “Just basically bent them down so where they're folded outwards, which forced this bracket upwards, which made it almost impossible to actually open and remove the translite and get into the backbox.”

    Cooltoy @ Early in video — Describes significant structural damage that required extensive repair work

  • “The art package...it was done by the Pokémon company, and not necessarily the Stern artwork team. So, it was just it left a lot to be desired.”

    Cooltoy @ Mid-video — Reveals that Pokémon artwork outsourced to Pokémon Company rather than Stern's design team, expressing dissatisfaction

  • “Stern swears they're not going to make a special edition, so I made my own special edition.”

    Cooltoy @ Mid-video — Indicates Stern has explicitly ruled out a 30th anniversary special edition

  • “Stern sells one that's like $180, and to me it doesn't look great. Uh this is a Hallmark ornament where I just essentially drilled a hole in it and then epoxied a empty shooter rod uh on there for $25 total.”

    Cooltoy @ Mid-video — Documents cost and quality concerns with official Stern accessories, demonstrating collector's DIY solution approach

  • “I even, you know, replaced the team holding here. It's now yellow as with everything else, but went with yellow Mirage, I believe is the prismatic color choice. It's basically a metallic yellow. It's very close to Pikachu's color.”

    Cooltoy @ Late-video — Shows level of detail in theming choices and custom powder coat color selection

Entities

CooltoypersonStern Pinballcompany[name withheld pending review]gameTitancompanyPokémon CompanycompanyJack DangerpersonJBLcompanySan Diego Comic-ConeventPinSideorganization

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern Pokémon Pro machine arrived with significant structural damage: bent cabinet hinges and LCD bracket from downward pressure during shipping/handling, forcing backbox disassembly for repair

    high · Creator describes receiving damaged machine with bent hinges and bracket that required extensive disassembly to repair

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: New Pokémon machines require lane guide adjustments in outer orbit area to prevent balls from hitting top of slings; indicates potential quality control or design issue with default settings

    high · Creator states: 'First thing I had to do as far as gameplay adjustments...Outer orbit kind of area...balls were coming down hitting the top of the slings, which is not how it's supposed to do'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Pokémon pinball artwork outsourced to Pokémon Company rather than Stern's in-house design team, resulting in artwork that collector found underwhelming compared to LE version

    high · Creator: 'The art package...it was done by the Pokémon company, and not necessarily the Stern artwork team. So, it was just it left a lot to be desired'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern has explicitly decided not to produce a special/anniversary edition for Pokémon's 30th anniversary, despite it being a major licensing opportunity

    medium · Creator: 'Stern swears they're not going to make a special edition, so I made my own special edition' in context of 30th anniversary of Pokémon

  • ?

    collector_signal: High-end collectors extensively customize stock machines with premium aftermarket parts (custom artwork, powder coating, speaker upgrades, light kits), indicating strong DIY culture and dissatisfaction with some stock configurations

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:02
Hi, today's video I thought I would go over a bit of a facelift that I've given my Pokémon pinball machine, discuss why I did it, how I did it, should I have done it? We'll see. So, obviously when I first brought this home, it looked nothing like that and we'll get into more of the why later on, but first started life off as a standard Stern Pro Pokémon pinball machine. Showed up at my doorstep, everything looked to be hunky-dory. I was opening the box, everything looked great. Started to set up the machine, unfolded the back box and then started to notice something. >> [music]
0:31
[music]
0:31
[music] >> There was some There was some damage to
0:32
There was some There was some damage to
0:32
There was some There was some damage to my machine. Basically what happened, some downward pressure got pushed down on what I assume is the top of the cabinet somehow and it basically bowed and beveled the cabinet hinges as well as the bottom bracket here that holds the LCD [music] bracket. Just basically bent them down so where they're folded outwards, which forced this bracket upwards, which made it almost impossible to actually open and, you know, remove the translite and get into the backbox. After disassembling almost the majority of the entire backbox to replace those [music] parts, I got it done in an afternoon, got those, you know, replacement parts put on there and everything is now [music] as it should be. First thing I had to do as far as gameplay adjustments cuz, you know, new in box these games need little tweaks here and there. Outer orbit kind of area, the Charmander and Bulbasaur area. I had to adjust those lane guides cuz the balls were coming down feeding and hitting the top of the slings, which is not how it's supposed to do. It's supposed to come down to the flipper. And it was just making absolutely just aggravating gameplay because the ball would always hit the top of the sling and then it would start chaos and a lot of times drain. Little tweaks here and there on the lane guides and got that squared away and then I started customizing modding things cuz I can't leave well enough alone. Replaced all the black standard bands in here with clear translucent ones from Titan. That's my vendor of choice. Put red flipper rubbers on there as well and then replaced uh the shooter knob with a DIY Poké Ball. So, Stern sells one that's like $180, and to me it doesn't look great. Uh this is a Hallmark ornament where I just essentially [music] drilled a hole in it and then epoxied a empty shooter rod uh on there for $25 total, and it's all metal Poké Ball. Good fitting in the hand, very nice uh ergonomics. Put a shaker motor in here, uh JBL subwoofer, upgraded the the speakers in the back box, uh put the inside [music] cabinet expression lights outside. Looks cool, but when I have multiple games beside them, no one's ever going to notice it, so I'll save my money there, but this really brightens up the playfield as well as, you know, adds to gameplay because [music] it, you know, it's interactive with modes and things like that. So, big fan of that. Uh replaced [music] the flipper buttons themselves. They were yellow, went with white because I now have yellow aesthetic uh artwork. And you're like, "What? Why? Huh? What?" You know, you're asking yourself all those goofy questions, and you know, those goofy questions are legitimate. So, one of the things that irked me about Pokémon um was the art package. I It was It was done by the Pokémon company, and not necessarily the Stern artwork team. So, it was just It left a lot to be desired. So, like the translite, nothing wrong with it, but you know, you got that kind of Poké Ball aesthetic with the the red, the black, and the white. But, color scheme-wise, like it's very hard to choose like what's going on here. Like I always get my machines powder coated. I like to, you know, color coordinate armor with, you know, the theme of the artwork and stuff like that. And like, I was just having a heck of a time with this. Plus, I just wasn't really in love with the artwork. I thought it was just a little meh. The one artwork that I did like was the LE artwork. So, I kind of retooled, retweaked things, and made my own LE artwork in Photoshop uh you know, designed, if you will and kind of retooled the artwork so I wasn't just directly copying it. Um and changed some things, but you know, you got Pikachu and Eevee there on the side. You get your Pokémon logo. Uh you get your like yellow wavy artistic lines and everything and I put a back background layer of Pokéballs in there that's very subtle. Um on the real Stern LE artwork, you got a bunch of Eevee evolutions there on this graphic and nothing against Eevee, but like I didn't want to look at nine different versions of Eevee when there's also multiple versions up there on the translite. So, you [music] got a collage of Pokémon monsters that I put there. Um cabinet side head, I was very happy with what the LE looked like, so I kind of retooled that a little bit, but it's for the most part very faithful uh to the LE. On the front, again, very subtle changes to the LE artwork, but uh got the Meowth balloon on there as well as Zapdos and [music] uh I just wanted, you know, some representation of Team Rocket, so you know, Team Rocket's in the balloon there with Meowth. >> [music]

high · Creator's extensive modifications including custom Photoshop artwork, powder coat, speaker upgrades, shaker motor, expression lights, custom shooter knob

  • ?

    content_signal: YouTube creator producing detailed content about pinball customization and modification, indicating growing audience interest in machine personalization and collector culture

    high · Cooltoy producing full detailed video walkthrough of customization process and rationale

  • $

    market_signal: Official Stern Pokémon shooter knob priced at ~$180 with aesthetic concerns; DIY alternatives available for $25 with superior quality perception

    high · Creator comparing Stern's $180 topper to $25 Hallmark ornament conversion with superior ergonomics and appearance

  • ?

    design_innovation: Collector creating custom translite and cabinet artwork in Photoshop inspired by LE edition but with original modifications, including enhanced Pokémon variety and 30th anniversary branding

    high · Creator redesigning artwork with Pikachu/Eevee focus, Team Rocket balloon representation, subtle Pokéball background, 30th anniversary logo

  • ?

    community_signal: Community designer Jack Danger created Pokémon pinball mock-up designs years before official Stern announcement, indicating fan demand predated official release

    medium · Creator referencing Jack Danger's pre-announcement mock-up as inspiration source

  • ?

    venue_signal: Stern operating pop-up booth at San Diego Comic-Con with Pokémon pinball machines and toppers on display, indicating major comic/entertainment venue presence

    high · Creator planning to visit Stern pop-up at Comic-Con next week to view Pokémon topper in person

  • ?

    community_signal: PinSide forum community discussing Pokémon topper as excessively loud, indicating potential quality concern or design trade-off in playfield toy operation

    low · Creator references: 'I'll try to figure out if it's as loud as everyone on PinSide swears it is'

    • 4:53
    [music]
    4:53
    [music] >> Uh
    4:54
    Uh
    4:54
    Uh obviously, they're not actually in the game, but yeah, I'm a Pokémon nerd as a kid growing up. The translite is basically a retooled version of the LE backglass. I went back and forth with several designs. Uh originally, I was going to do something like this, you know, had Ash catch him right there front and center. Had a little 30th anniversary logo there in the corner as well. Um but then I was like, "Nah, I I I really like the LE artwork and so I'm just going to go all in." I changed things, put a 30th anniversary logo there in the middle. Um >> [music]
    5:23
    [music]
    5:24
    [music] >> you know, this is the 30th anniversary
    5:25
    you know, this is the 30th anniversary
    5:25
    you know, this is the 30th anniversary of Pokémon. Stern swears they're not going to make a special edition, so I made my own special edition. For the most part, this is almost done. Powder Coat guy's working on the powder coat as I sit here and wait. He's had it for a couple weeks and he typically has a 4-6 week turnaround time, so I'm just anxiously awaiting uh him to call me and let me know the armor [music] is done. Uh went through my Rolodex and everything. Obviously, we got yellow as our theme. I even, you know, replaced >> [music]
    5:51
    [music]
    5:51
    [music] >> the team holding here. It's now yellow
    5:54
    the team holding here. It's now yellow
    5:54
    the team holding here. It's now yellow as with everything else, but went with yellow Mirage, I believe is the prismatic color choice. It's basically a metallic yellow. It's very close to Pikachu's color as well as the rest of the artwork. [music] So, I think it'll blend in nicely. Um and then after that, I'm trying to decide on the topper. I'll be in San Diego Comic-Con next week and I'll be visiting the Stern pop-up there and I know they'll have a Pokémon topper there on display. So, I'll check it out in person and I'll try to figure out if it's as loud as everyone on PinSide swears it is. And oddly enough, my original idea for this was I was going to make this cabinet look like a mock-up design that Jack Danger had published several years ago before Stern had ever announced that they were making a Pokémon pinball machine. Basically, he had this little mock-up design. I made all the artwork in Photoshop and I was like, "I'm I'm going to recreate this mock-up design. It's going to be, you know, kind for Pokémon fans." And I looked at it and I was like, "Yeah." And I was like, "But then I'm felt like, man, I I want to put my own spin on it." Anyways, guys, I hope you enjoyed the content. If you did, make sure you hit that like button. Share this video with your friends and your family if you found the information helpful. And as always, [music] thanks for watching, guys. It really means a lot.