PINBALL HEAVEN OPEN HOUSE

Jersey Jack Pinball News·article·analyzed·Jun 25, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.020

TL;DR

Pinball Heaven hosts inaugural Open House with Harry Potter premiere and charity event.

Summary

Pinball Heaven held its inaugural Open House on June 21, 2025, in Tarleton, Lancashire, featuring the UK premiere of Harry Harry Potter game with founder Jack Guarnieri in attendance. The free event showcased multiple JJP and Stern machines, raised nearly £3,000 for Make-A-Wish charity, and extended into an evening social event at a nearby hotel with a cash tournament the following day at Level entertainment centre in Preston.

Key Claims

Pinball Heaven is the exclusive UK distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Dutch Pinball, Hexa Pinball and Planetary Pinball's licensed remakes
high confidence · Jersey Jack Pinball article describing Pinball Heaven's distributor status
Harry Potter is Jersey Jack Pinball eleventh title
high confidence · Jersey Jack Pinball article on the Open House event
Jack Guarnieri attended the Pinball Heaven Open House to present the Harry Potter game
high confidence · Jersey Jack Pinball article describing the event attendance
Nearly £3,000 was raised for Make-A-Wish charity at the event
high confidence · Jersey Jack Pinball article reporting on fundraising totals
Phil Palmer is considering making the Pinball Heaven Open Day an annual event
high confidence · Jersey Jack Pinball article concluding remarks

Notable Quotes

“Harry Potter game was busy throughout the day and, as we shall see, through the night and into the early hours. Everyone wanted to play the latest JJP game”
[name withheld pending review] @ Event description section — Demonstrates strong player enthusiasm and demand for the newly revealed Harry Potter game
“Although the release of the new game was certainly serendipitous for Phil's selected dates and might prove difficult to pull-off again, he is considering making the Pinball Heaven Open Day an annual event.”
[name withheld pending review] @ Closing remarks — Indicates Phil Palmer's intent to establish the Open House as a recurring event while acknowledging the fortunate timing of Harry Potter's release

Entities

Pinball HeavencompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany Jack GuarnieripersonPhil PalmerpersonHarry PottergameAvatar: The Battle for PandoragameElton Johngame

Signals

?
event_signal: Inaugural Pinball Heaven Open House held June 21, 2025, featuring product showcase, free-to-play machines, charity fundraising, and extended social programming including overnight hotel event and tournament
high · Article detailed coverage of event logistics, attendance, machine selection, and ancillary activities
?
product_launch: UK premiere of Jersey Jack Pinball's Harry Potter game at Pinball Heaven Open House with founder Jack Guarnieri in attendance
high · Article states Harry Potter had 'UK premiere' at the event and was 'revealed a couple of weeks before the Open Day'; Jack Guarnieri flew over to present the game
?
business_signal: Phil Palmer chose to host independent company Open House event rather than exhibit at industry trade show (EAG Expo), indicating shift in distributor marketing strategy
high · Article states: 'Phil decided holding a free dedicated event at his company's base to showcase his range of machines was preferable to taking a stand at the annual EAG Expo trade show in London'
?
community_signal: Strong community engagement with inaugural event: multiple machines played continuously until 1am+, live-streaming by community member, 24-player tournament following day
high · Article describes Harry Potter played 'until shortly after 1am', Ian from Preston Pinball live-streamed gameplay, 24 players participated in tournament the next day
?
venue_signal: Pinball Heaven partnering with venue operators (Level entertainment centre, The Villa hotel) to extend event programming and support tournament organization

Transcript

web_scrape · $0.000

Saturday 21st June, 2025, saw the first Pinball Heaven Open House, held at the company’s headquarters in the Lancashire town of Tarleton. Tarleton Courtyard, home of Pinball Heaven First established in 1994 as a pinball restoration company, Pinball Heaven is now the exclusive UK distributor for Jersey Jack Pinball, Spooky Pinball, Dutch Pinball, Hexa Pinball and Planetary Pinball’s licensed remakes, as well as numerous parts manufacturers. They are also a major supplier of Stern Pinball’s machines to home and commercial buyers. The date for the Open Day was set by Pinball Heaven’s owner, Phil Palmer, back in January. Phil decided holding a free dedicated event at his company’s base to showcase his range of machines was preferable to taking a stand at the annual EAG Expo trade show in London. Although Stern Pinball exhibited their new Dungeons & Dragons: The Tyrant’s Eye game at EAG Expo, it was shown on the stand of Electrocoin, the UK’s importer of Stern machines. No other company had a new game to promote at that time. By June, though, things were different. Although delayed by a few weeks, Jersey Jack Pinball’s eleventh title, Harry Potter, had been revealed a couple of weeks before the Open Day, making it the perfect time to promote the new release. So, just inside the entrance to Pinball Heaven, a Collector’s Edition Harry Potter machine was set up for Open Day attendees to enjoy. A ‘display sample’ Harry Potter Collector’s Edition (picture: Neil McEwan) Had Harry Potter been revealed back in January, Jersey Jack Pinball founder, Jack Guarnieri, would have been in London at the EAG Expo show to present it. With the UK premiere now taking place at Pinball Heaven, Jack flew over to talk about the game’s creation and its many features with Open Day attendees. The Harry Potter game was busy throughout the day and, as we shall see, through the night and into the early hours. Everyone wanted to play the latest JJP game Ian from Preston Pinball even set up a rig to live-stream some of the Harry Potter action, along with gameplay from some of the other titles. You can watch the Harry Potter stream here: Four more Jersey Jack Pinball titles were set up in the Pinball Heaven showroom – Avatar: The Battle for Pandora, Elton John, Guns N’ Roses and Toy Story 4 – along with another seven games – Roto Pool, The Big Lebowski and Funhouse Remake. While the Open Day was free, donations were accepted for the event’s nominated charity, Make-A-Wish. At the time of writing, nearly £3,000 (US$4,088) has been raised. Donations can still be made at the event’s dedicated Just Giving page. Although Unit 8 is Pinball Heaven’s main base, Phil also owns several other units in the complex. Two of these were brought into use for the Open Day. One unit had two more rows of machines set up on free play (except for the Dungeons & Dragons Limited Edition which was display-only). All were Stern titles, and most were Pinball Heaven machines, although a few were brought in by friends and customers. The machines available to play were, Star Wars and Elvira’s House of Horrors. The second additional unit was split between a ‘car boot’ sales area at the front for assorted pinball parts, and another row of free play machines at the rear. Pinball Heaven had one table covered with used parts, new mods and some reproduction parts. Chris Brimacombe took the other table to sell his surplus parts. At the back of the room, visitors could play Pinbot, Dr. Dude, Cactus Canyon Remake, Twilight Zone, The Addams Family and Attack from Mars Remake. The weather in the run-up to the Open Day had been unseasonably sunny and hot (c. 30° Celsius). That hot spell was coming to an end during the event, producing a few brief rain showers. Fortunately, the rain was brief enough not to disrupt the arrival of Betsy’s Pizza at lunchtime. Her food truck parked just outside Pinball Heaven’s entrance and kept visitors supplied with hot, tasty pizza, paid for by Phil. Naturally, the pizzas tended to be snapped up just as soon as they were served. Cans of cold soft drinks were also available in ice buckets inside the extra units. Play continued throughout the afternoon until the official closing time of 5pm. That wasn’t the end of the fun, though. Those who wished to come were invited to visit The Villa hotel and restaurant in Wrea Green, around a 30-minute drive from Pinball Heaven. Open Day guests could stay at the hotel, join in the evening meal and socialise until the early hours of the morning. Guests were offered rooms for free by Phil in exchange for a donation to Make-A-Wish. After dinner, a general knowledge quiz was held, with free drinks at the bar for the winning team. Meanwhile, the Harry Potter game had been brought from Tarleton over and set up in The Pavilion. It continued to be played until shortly after 1am, with events finally wrapping up close to 2am. After a hearty cooked breakfast on Sunday morning, those with a competitive edge could take part in a cash tournament held by Ian of Preston Pinball at ‘Level’ entertainment centre in Preston. The tournament used a ‘six strikes’ format, with groups of four playing a single game per round where the winner received no strikes, the second- and third-placed players got one strike each, and the last placed player got two strikes. After each round the player groups were mixed up with those with similar numbers of strikes playing together. We sadly had to make the four-hour drive home on Sunday morning, but twenty-four players did take part, playing on eight machines which were set up just for the tournament. The machines were: After ten rounds of matches, the winner was Andy Foster who made it through with only three strikes against him. Nick Marshall and Steven Kielty collected their sixth and seventh strikes respectively in round ten, to make Nick second and Steven third. Here are the full results: There’s no doubt everyone who attended Pinball Heaven’s first Open Day thoroughly enjoyed their visit. Having Jack Guarnieri in attendance to present his new Harry Potter Collector’s Edition game was perfect timing and made the whole event extra special. While the release of the new game was certainly serendipitous for Phil’s selected dates and might prove difficult to pull-off again, he is considering making the Pinball Heaven Open Day an annual event. If he does, who knows who or what might make a special guest appearance in 2026?