Turner Pinball's Ninja Eclipse Has Officially SOLD OUT!

Cary Hardy·video·7m 21s·analyzed·Oct 28, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.021

TL;DR

Turner Pinball sells out 100 Ninja Eclipse units after major community sentiment reversal.

Summary

Kerry Hardy celebrates Turner Pinball's complete sell-out of their 100-unit Ninja Eclipse run, marking a dramatic turnaround from overwhelmingly negative reception at Chicago Expo one year prior. Hardy credits Chris Turner's engineering refinements—particularly internal wire management, playfield durability, and maintenance accessibility—for transforming community perception. The game's appeal to casual players, original IP theme, competitive pricing against Stern Pro models, and strong word-of-mouth at Texas Pinball Festival drove sales success.

Key Claims

Turner Pinball received the most negative feedback of any manufacturer at Chicago Expo one year ago
high confidence · Kerry Hardy's direct observation and commentary from that event
Ninja Eclipse has sold out all 100 units as of the video recording date
high confidence · Kerry Hardy states 'as of today, as of merely a few minutes ago, Turner Pinball has officially sold out of all 100 of their Ninja Eclipse games'
Chris Turner implemented significant internal engineering improvements including organized wire management, quick disconnects for coil replacement, and enhanced maintenance accessibility
high confidence · Hardy's detailed observation of the machine's internal construction and playfield condition
Ninja Eclipse playfield quality remained excellent after a full weekend of play at a tournament show
high confidence · Hardy examined the playfield 'after a whole weekend of getting beat on' and reported it 'looked like a sheet of glass'
Ninja Eclipse was among the top games people were discussing at Texas Pinball Festival
medium confidence · Hardy overheard conversations and observed high player interest during the show
Ninja Eclipse pricing aligns with Stern Pro model pricing
medium confidence · Hardy references 'you got a price point that's basically right there alongside the pro model for your stern'
Turner Pinball is approximately one year away from completing all current Ninja Eclipse production units
medium confidence · Hardy states 'we're definitely a year out before they finish all these games'
Ninja Eclipse appeals more to casual players than highly skilled competitors due to its rule design and shot variety
medium confidence · Hardy's gameplay assessment: 'if you are a skilled player it may not be up your aisle but i think as a typical like a casual player and even like myself this game is pretty much right up your aisle'

Notable Quotes

“Turner took the most hits bar none but as i stated in my video last year they almost there they just need to make a few changes and that what they did”
Kerry Hardy@ 1:36 — Hardy acknowledges Turner Pinball's difficult launch but validates their iterative improvement process
“this game's actually pretty good and then people are always up in arms wanting where's my original title I want an original theme tired of these licensed themes here you go this is what you've been looking for”
Kerry Hardy@ 4:58 — Articulates how Ninja Eclipse addresses a community desire for original IP in pinball
“holy crap it is definitely nice clean organized barely any wires the only wires you're basically going to see you're the ones going to the the pcb boards and the coils”
Kerry Hardy@ 3:47 — Highlights the engineering refinement that addresses serviceability and professional build quality
“as of today, as of merely a few minutes ago, Turner Pinball has officially sold out of all 100 of their Ninja Eclipse games”
Kerry Hardy@ 2:50 — Confirms complete sell-out status, the video's central news hook
“i have this urge to play it again i don't know why but that's a good thing especially when it comes to pinball if you have an itch like an urge just like oh just one more game that's what this game has now oddly enough brought to the table”
Kerry Hardy@ 2:25 — Personal endorsement of the game's play appeal and replayability
“the rules seem pretty simplistic enough to where you kind of get an idea of what you're supposed to do by starting the battles there is going to be a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to leveling up certain features”

Entities

Turner Pinballcompany Chris Turnerperson Kerry Hardyperson Ninja Eclipsegame Chicago Expoevent Texas Pinball FestivaleventStern Pinballcompany

Signals

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business_signal: Turner Pinball executing successful manufacturing ramp-up with 100-unit production completed and sold within one year
medium · Hardy's statement about one-year timeline to complete all units suggests sustained production through development cycle
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competitive_signal: Original IP theming positioning as differentiation strategy against saturated licensed IP market; community explicitly stated desire for original themes met by Ninja Eclipse
high · Hardy highlights community frustration with licensed themes and praises Ninja Eclipse as direct response to this demand
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market_signal: Turner Pinball's 100-unit production run completely sold out, suggesting strong market demand for original-IP pinball at Pro-tier pricing
high · Official sell-out confirmation reported as occurring immediately prior to video recording
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community_signal: Chris Turner's engineering-focused iterative design process: responsive to feedback, obsessive about wire management and internal organization, focused on long-term serviceability
high · Hardy's detailed observation of internal construction changes and Turner's documented response to prior feedback
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product_concern: Initial production quality concerns (playfield durability, internal organization, serviceability) successfully addressed through engineering refinement
high · Playfield condition assessment after full weekend of tournament play; detailed internal wire management improvements documented

Topics

Product turnaround and community perception shiftprimaryEngineering refinement and build quality improvementsprimaryOriginal IP theming vs. licensed content in pinballprimaryCompetitive pricing strategy relative to SternprimaryBoutique manufacturer production capacity and timelinessecondaryGame accessibility for casual vs. skilled playerssecondaryPlayfield durability and maintenancesecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Kerry Hardy expresses strong approval of Turner Pinball's turnaround, praising engineering decisions, build quality, and market reception. Tone shifts from acknowledging harsh prior criticism to celebratory acknowledgment of sales success. No negative commentary on the final product.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.022

It's finally here guys! The 10,000 subscriber, super limited to amount sold, anniversary edition t-shirt. And to celebrate this occasion I have changed the logo to red and white because that makes it special. And along with this I have fictional quotes from pinball manufacturers as if they were the ones that were making this t-shirt and some of the pinball manufacturers approve of this shirt get yours today at silverballswag.com links in the video description down below all i'm saying currently is that i like what i see with what they're doing and i urge them to continue to keep engineering to do what you're doing and who knows guys they may come up with something that is going to be satisfactory for all of us. But I can understand how polarizing it can be for what you're seeing right now, because mainly it's different, and a lot of us do not like change. That was one year ago. One year ago, Turner Pinball brought their newly re-engineered type of pinball machine to the Chicago Expo show. And the response was, I would say, overwhelmingly negative to the company, the machine, the price, almost everything. If there anybody that took a beating when it comes to feedback about your newly releasing product that up and coming I think Turner took the most hits bar none but as i stated in my video last year they almost there they just need to make a few changes and that what they did chris took all the feedback good bad ugly and has crafted a machine that i can honestly say i enjoy i didn't get a chance to play it at Texas Pinball Festival because the lines are just too damn long and I don't feel like waiting in lines but this year I've managed to get up there and play a couple of games towards the end of one night and then at the beginning of the show it was one of those where I had this urge to play it again I don't know why but that's a good thing especially when it comes to pinball if you have an itch like an urge just like oh just one more game that's what this game has now oddly enough brought to the table. Now I know a lot of you are saying, Kerry, you haven't made a video in a couple of weeks and the first damn video you make is talking about Ninja Eclipse. Yes, and that's because as of today, as of merely a few minutes ago, Turner Pinball has officially sold out of all 100 of their Ninja Eclipse games. So by all means, a huge congrats to Turner Pinball and the team there that are making this game, that have crafted it, improved upon it over the last few years and made it to where people want it so definitely golf clap goes out to you guys over there i'm happy for you this is good i mean i look back at the footage from last year that i recorded about their game and i'm looking at the footage that i have this year and they've made a lot of changes especially underneath the play field as an engineer chris is definitely ocd about a lot of things and that includes wire management and making sure everything is nice and proper and clean and stuff like that and you look underneath the play field of of turner pinball ninja eclipse now and holy crap it is definitely nice clean organized barely any wires the only wires you're basically going to see you're the ones going to the the pcb boards and the coils and as far as like repairs go and it looks like it has quick disconnects in case a coil goes out or anything like that. So a lot of this has gone into basically troubleshooting and maintenance down the road for people that are going to be obtaining this game. I even got a chance to take a look at their playfield at the end of the show a whole weekend of getting beat on and the playfield looked like a sheet of glass. It still looked great. So the quality of what they're doing with their playfields seems to be pretty damn good. I mean, at the show, I think what was drawing me initially to go play this game is that as I'm standing in certain lines or walking around the show talking to people or overhearing people, there are certain games that people were talking about. And to my surprise, Ninja Eclipse was one of the top games people were talking about. And I think the reason why people were talking about it was due to what it was last year and how far it's come to now. and I think a lot of people were just kind of taken back and surprised to go you know what this game's actually pretty good and then people are always up in arms wanting where's my original title I want an original theme tired of these licensed themes here you go this is what you've been looking for this is what you've been asking for you want original theme you got it you got a price point that's basically right there alongside the pro model for your stern and the quality looks great So when it comes to gameplay of this I feel like if you are a skilled player it may not be up your aisle but i think as a typical like a casual player and even like myself this game is pretty much right up your aisle because it's got a variety of of unique shots it's not just your basic little run through of a fan layout or anything like that and i think the rules seem pretty simplistic enough to where you kind of get an idea of what you're supposed to do by starting the battles there is going to be a little bit of a learning curve when it comes to leveling up certain features. It's kind of got an RPG aspect to it, but I think once people get it into their homes and they start learning it, it's going to be pretty straightforward. Now, I'm supposed to be going down there to Turner Pinball to check out their facility and stuff like that to see how things look, so I'm looking forward to making content for you guys about that in the near future. Now, I'm definitely curious to see where Turner Pinball goes from here. I mean, we're definitely a year out before they finish all these games and we have any kind of inkling of what their next game is going to be will they be a company that only does original themes or will they start dabbing into the licensing effect but i think if they want to keep their prices low where they currently have them at right now then they may continue with that whole original theme and i think as long as they keep going where they're going keep giving us updates via facebook or whatever showing us every time that games go out your door that's going to help you in the long run but more faith in your company and the reputation will continue to grow and i think your next game will be even better than this one that's it for right now guys i've got a lot of content coming i've got a list of things right here i was going to do one giant video and i was like no we're going to break this up into little ones but so stay tuned to the channel guys peace out Thank you.