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How-To Install Stumblor Pinball's Neon Subway Building Mod on Stern's Godzilla Pinball Machine!

Wild Dog Arcade·video·11m 5s·analyzed·Dec 11, 2025
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.017

TL;DR

Step-by-step installation guide for Stumbler Pinball subway mod on Godzilla

Summary

Gary from Wild Dog Arcade provides a detailed, step-by-step installation guide for Stumbler Pinball's neon subway building mod on a Stern Godzilla Pro pinball machine. The mod replaces the original plastic subway building in the back-left corner with a detailed sculpted version that includes LED lighting synchronized to the machine's GI (general illumination). The installation involves unplugging the machine, accessing the playfield, routing wiring for a GI sensor bulb, removing the original building and related components, connecting the new mod with keyed connectors, and routing power through a distribution board.

Key Claims

  • The Stumbler Pinball subway building mod is part of their 'Tokyo Neon' accessory line

    high confidence · Gary explicitly states 'This is one of their Tokyo neon accessories' and mentions already having 'the sign and the noodle bar'

  • The mod includes a GI sensor that detects general illumination and dims the mod's lights accordingly

    high confidence · Gary explains the GI sense bulb function and the small switch on the board that toggles between dimming-synchronized and always-on modes

  • The installation process differs slightly between Pro and Premium/LE versions due to different Godzilla figure types

    high confidence · Gary notes 'This next step is going to vary a little bit depending on whether you have a pro which has a plastic bracket and plastic Godzilla or a premium or le will actually have a sculpted figure'

  • Stumbler Pinball mods require a separate power distribution board for additional power connections

    high confidence · Gary states 'I already have some of the Stumbler's mod. So I have this little power distribution board which adds power to it'

  • The new subway building mod sits flush with the playfield but intentionally has a gap when installed

    high confidence · Gary explains 'There will be a gap. Don't worry about that. Don't be alarmed. It's supposed to have that'

Notable Quotes

  • “This is much more detailed sculpt, so it looks really cool. Goes with the other Tokyo Neon mods.”

    Gary @ ~00:30 — Establishes the mod's visual appeal and position within a broader Tokyo Neon accessory ecosystem

  • “This GI sense. This is what he uses to read the GI so it knows when to turn the lights down and up on that.”

    Gary @ ~02:15 — Explains the key technical innovation of the mod—synchronized lighting based on machine illumination state

  • “There will be a gap. Don't worry about that. Don't be alarmed. It's supposed to have that.”

    Gary @ ~09:30 — Reassures installers about a potentially concerning aesthetic feature

  • “Oh man, there we go. Thing's gorgeous looking, isn't it?”

    Gary @ ~15:45 — Positive reaction to the completed mod installation and visual result

  • “They look great in this machine. Really glad we did that.”

    Gary @ ~17:00 — Final assessment of the mod's integration with other Tokyo Neon accessories (sign, noodle bar)

Entities

Wild Dog ArcadeorganizationGarypersonStumbler ModscompanyGodzillagameStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stumbler Pinball subway mod adds detailed sculptural element and synchronized LED lighting to Godzilla's back-left corner, part of broader Tokyo Neon customization ecosystem

    high · Gary installs mod on Godzilla Pro, demonstrates GI synchronization feature, and shows positive integration with existing Tokyo Neon sign and noodle bar accessories

  • ?

    technology_signal: Aftermarket mod ecosystem includes sophisticated GI sensing capability and keyed connector systems allowing complex electrical integration

    high · Mod includes GI sensor bulb, keyed connectors with key-way alignment, on/off switch for dimming synchronization, and requires power distribution board integration

Transcript

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0:08
Today at the Wild Dog Arcade, we're going to take the subway. [music] Welcome to the Wild Dog Arcade. I'm Gary and today I'm going to walk you through the installation of Stumbler Pinball's subway building mod. This is one of their Tokyo neon accessories. So, I've got the sign and the noodle bar already. Going to do this back left corner subway building. Currently, [music] it's just a piece of plastic that's lit up with some signs and some LEDs. This is a much more detailed [music] sculpt, so it looks really cool. Goes with the other Tokyo Neon mods. So, I'm looking forward to this. So, follow along. All right, step one. Take your game, unplug it. Uh, you don't want any power in there whatsoever. Then, pull the glass, remove the balls, and put the playfield in the up position. You're going to need to access one of the bulbs to tie in for the GI sense. So down here, uh, we're going to be looking at this [music] connector right over here. So, this little one right here, I'm going to remove it so I can get the ball the bulb out and a new bulb put in.
1:19
So, that the bulb is right here. So, next step is we're [music] going to replace this with another piece of wiring and a bulb. All right. Next step in the [music] parts bag, you're going to find this piece of wiring here that's got a bulb base and a bulb sticking out [music] of it. This is the GI sense. This is what he uses to read the GI so it knows when [music] to turn the lights down and up on that. What you're going to do, take the old bulb, pull it out, then screw in the GI sense. So, this is going to go in just like this, and it's going to go back inside there. And then this wire will routed up to the mod. Right. Next step, we're going to replace the bulb in the socket and put it back into the playfield and then route the wire. So, basically, [music] you just put it back in into the hole, put it up in there, and [music] rescrew it.
2:09
Next, you're going to want to route this. You just basically route it down along these other wires through a couple of zip ties. Leave it hanging accessible in the back cuz you're going to end up feeding it into the mod. After you've got the wires routed, [music] next step is you're going to want to put the playfield down, slide it forward, and then tip the back up [music] so you can get easier access to it. I use these microfiber closet clamps on both [music] sides so I can tip the playfield above the cabinet so I have easy access to it. Now that you've lifted the playfield, you've exposed the whole subway building here. So, first step, find this Molex [music] connector in the back and unplug it. It's pretty simple. Got a little release lever. Pop it out. All right. This next step [music] is going to vary a little bit depending on whether you have a pro which has a plastic bracket and and plastic Godzilla or a premium or le will actually have a sculpted figure here or you might have one of the mods where you have the light up Godzilla. Mine's actually just an Amazon uh licensed product that I got off of Amazon. He's just attached by a screw here which I've already undone. And then I have a zip tie where I've attached his tail to the support back here which I'm just going to cut and remove. So, this comes out. Now, you got easy access to the subway. All right. Next step, there is a clear plastic airball deflector that you need to actually remove from the game as well. You'll notice that here you can see the old brackets for my Godzilla plastic, which I had already removed. So, if you have a pro, you'll have unscrewed that. There's [music] actually a 1/4 in uh driver here, and 5/16. So, this one you only need to loosen. There's actually a slot. And then change out to your 516 [music] to remove these two nuts.
3:52
There we go. [music] Plastic protector out. All right. Next step, you need to remove this wire form. It is held on by two screws. One here and one back here. Remove those. Pay attention. There's a nut under it and a nut over it. So, pay attention to that. Put them back in the right order later.
4:20
All right. [music] Again, grab your Phillips. There's four screws that you need to remove on the front. You can do them right through the wire form.
4:35
Now that you got those four screws off, let's remove the building. It's just a piece of [music] plastic. You'll have to unhook the wire from a loop in the back and it'll pull right out.
4:51
Once the building is out of the way, this will just pull out of here. These two little pins [music] go into two holes here for two into this slot. So, when you go to put it back in, it's pretty easy. All right. Now that you have the building off, you'll [music] notice that the the opto boards here are actually loose. So, what you're going to do is take [music] some of the screws you just took out and attach them in the bottom using just two, one for each side.
5:23
Pay attention to those holes. Make sure you've lined [music] up the other two when you've tightened these down. Now you can go back into the parts bag and get another piece of wiring. There's going to be a really long harness in there. You're going to find it's [music] going to have some cable on the end here with some yellows and a single yellow or black and red end. So [music] what you're going to do is you're going to connect in these two. So take the mating connector, put it back into the original harness that you unplugged earlier. Then take this short end and route it into the gap over here. This will plug into the [music] mod. So, we'll just leave it like that for the moment. All right. Now, we're going to install the actual building part of the mod. So, there's going to be two [music] connections you're going to make. There's a larger connector and a smaller connector. Uh, the other thing you want to do is grab the wire that came from below that we put in before and feed it through that same hole. So, there are two connections you need to make. One is for this small connector. Uh, I got to get the right alignment. [music] There's a little key way, so it'll only go in one way. And then the larger one will also have keys. So it will only go into one way. So you want to plug those two into the board. And now your connections are made here. Okay. While you're on the back, there's one more thing you're going to do. You might have a little trouble [music] seeing this, but down in the corner of the of the board here towards the bottom of the building, right by the small connector, there's a tiny little switch. You want to push it down so that it says in the on. There's an off and on position. If you put it on, it'll sense the GI and then it [music] will dim when it needs to. Otherwise, it will just remain on. So, if you want it to dim out with the GI dimming, make sure that little switch [music] goes to on. All right. Next up, you're going to take your building. You're going to take it, slide it to the angle, slide it in very carefully to line up the holes. Included in this kit were a couple of longer screws. So, you're going to use those to screw into the optical. And if you look through the holes, you can see them lined up. and start screwing them in.
7:30
All right, you can tighten them up, but don't do them too tight. You don't want to crack all this nice nice plastic here. Uh, that's it bolted in. There will be a gap. Don't worry about that. Don't be alarmed. It's supposed to have that. So, that's good. All right. Next step is to put everything back together. So take first [music] thing you want to do is put the wire form right in. Lines up with the gaps. Little slot up in there. You slide it into place.
8:13
All right, [music] that one's installed. Now let's put the plastic back on and put Godzilla back in there.
8:26
All right. You got two nuts and a quarter inch drive right there. All right. So, this is the new building in here and Godzilla's back in [music] place. So now what you're going to want to do is drop the back of the playfield and tip it back up. You're going to need to route [music] the actual cable for the power. So drop that inside the cabinet. And then let's lower it down.
9:01
Conveniently, Stern has a nice handle in the back so you can lift it up and easily drop it down inside. All right. Now I'm going to hook up the wire in the cabinet. So I brought the wire down here. I'm going to run it along the other ones. One thing to note is you need to get some sort of [music] extra power. I already have some of the Stumbler's mod. So I have this little power distribution board which adds, you know, adds power to it. So all we really got to do is hook it up. So plug into one of the connectors here. And then let's go ahead and route it along the back, leaving slack in the back in case you need to pull the playfield.
9:40
and [music] zip ties to hold it in place. Okay, we have everything hooked up. So, I've rehooked up the power to the machine. It's plugged back in. Now, I'm going to turn it on and we'll watch what happens. [music] Booting. Oh, there we go. We got lights. Oh man, there we go. Thing's gorgeous looking, isn't it? So, there. That's it. We've got [music] the Stumbler Pinball mod for the subway building installed. Looks great, doesn't it? All right, everybody. That completes the installation of the Stumbler Pinball [music] subway building mod here in our Godzilla Pro machine. Goes along nicely with the Tokyo Neon sign and the noodle bar that we've also got from Stumbler Pinball. They [music] look great in this machine. Really glad we did that. Please like and subscribe to us here on YouTube. And if you like live pinball play, we play on Twitch and on YouTube on Wednesday nights and [music] Sunday nights. So definitely join us. We can talk games, talk whatever. Hope to see you then.