The Mandalorian Pinball LE Review | Stern’s Stunning Grogu Upgrade & Gameplay

Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama·video·27m 8s·analyzed·Sep 23, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Gonzo reviews Stern's Mandalorian LE: stunning visuals but challenging shots and steep learning curve.

Summary

Gonzo reviews the Stern Mandalorian Limited Edition pinball machine, borrowed from Neil McCrae of Domino Arcade in the UK. The LE features a motorized Grogu toy upgrade, mirrored backglass, motorized upper playfield, and wire ramps, designed by Brian Eddy. Gonzo praises the atmospheric theme and visual presentation but notes the game has challenging shot geometry with difficult playability and limited familiarity with the rules.

Key Claims

The Mandalorian LE features an animated Grogu toy in the background that is not present on standard/Pro versions
high confidence · Gonzo notes the Grogu modification and states 'When you get this as a standard game, he just sort of hangs around in the background. He he's not animated like he is now.'
The Mandalorian has shots positioned very far down the playfield, making them difficult to hit
high confidence · Gonzo discusses shot geometry extensively, comparing it to other Stern games and noting the orbits are 'really, really hitable' but overall the game is 'unforgiving'
The mirrored backglass is exclusive to the Limited Edition version
high confidence · Gonzo states 'the mirrored back back glass is only on the limited edition' and notes it highlights the Mandalorian's silver helmet
The upper playfield on Mandalorian LE has a motorized tilting/rising mechanism, while Pro version has static positioning
high confidence · Gonzo observes 'This one tilts and it rises' and 'I think on the Pro it's just static'
John Borg's recent Star Wars pinball is not available in the UK or Europe due to licensing restrictions
high confidence · Gonzo states 'We're not able to get in this in in this country, in the UK. We're not able to get it in Europe or Africa because of of licensing'

Notable Quotes

“It's stunning. I think some games really lend themselves to the mirrored back glass, and this is one of them.”
Gonzo @ Early review — Establishes Mandalorian LE's primary visual distinction—the mirrored backglass and silver powdercoat aesthetic
“Wow, he's really cool... the first thing they said about this game was, 'Wow, he's really cool.'”
Gonzo (describing his children's reaction to Grogu) @ Mid-review — Validates the Grogu animation upgrade as a significant visual draw for casual players, even those unfamiliar with the IP
“I hate them. I hate it when it does that... when plastic ramps cross over the playfield and you have to look through them, hate it. Can't stand it.”
Gonzo @ Playfield analysis — Gonzo expresses strong preference for wire ramps over plastic ramps on this machine, noting Mandalorian benefits from wire-form design
“There's no post rubbers here. Now, I suspect that's because this game has been in a tournament.”
Gonzo @ Close-up inspection — Notes potential tournament wear/modification on the review unit, indicating this is a heavily-played location machine
“They do make pinball machines that really do work well on location. Um, they still to this day I would suggest they make the most reliable pinball machines.”
Gonzo @ Post-gameplay reflection — Gonzo acknowledges Stern's strength in location reliability despite licensing frustration with new Star Wars game
“It's only really new to me... one of the things I love about Pinball. Discovering games that pass you by. I like this. I do. I like it.”
Gonzo @ Final gameplay segment — Indicates positive final assessment of Mandalorian despite initially being unfamiliar with it; suggests the game grew on him through play

Entities

Mandalorian (Stern)gameBrian EddypersonGonzopersonNeil McCraepersonDomino ArcadeorganizationPinball RepublicorganizationJohn Borgperson

Signals

?
community_signal: Mandalorian has active tournament play history at Domino Arcade (UK location) and Pinball Republic (London pinball club), indicating strong location presence in specific European markets.
medium · Gonzo references playing Mandalorian 'in tournaments at Domino Arcade' and mentions the machine likely played at 'Pinball Republic' due to location's competitive activity
?
design_philosophy: Brian Eddy's Mandalorian layout represents departure from his typical 'fan layout' style due to lack of central toy. Layout still includes four (possibly more) in-lanes and difficult-to-reach shots positioned far down playfield.
medium · Gonzo notes 'It's a Brian Eddie game, and I know Brian Eddie usually does a fan layout, but I don't know. This this this seems a little bit different.'
?
licensing_signal: John Borg's recent Star Wars pinball unavailable in UK/Europe/Africa due to licensing restrictions, while older Star Wars titles (Steve Ritchie, HomePin) remain accessible in those regions. Licensing landscape unclear for specific IP exclusions.
medium · Gonzo states 'We're not able to get in this in in this country, in the UK. We're not able to get it in Europe or Africa because of of licensing' and expresses puzzlement about why new Star Wars differs from older titles
?
community_signal: Content creator (Gonzo) approach emphasizes borrowing machines for extended play/review rather than purchasing, enabling discovery of games outside collector's typical interests while avoiding financial commitment.
medium · Gonzo states 'I'm really grateful to get this for the period of time... without having the uh the financial commitment, which is obviously so so big because pinball's just so expensive'

Topics

Limited Edition feature differentiationprimaryPlayfield shot geometry and difficultyprimaryGame code and rules accessibilitysecondaryVisual design and aesthetic appealprimaryLicensing restrictions on Star Wars IPsecondaryMechanical features (motorized toys, upper playfields)primaryDesigner style and layout philosophysecondaryLocation reliability and operator considerationssecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.75)— Gonzo expresses genuine enthusiasm for the machine's visual presentation and mechanical design, particularly the Grogu animation and mirrored backglass. However, he acknowledges the steep learning curve and challenging shot geometry. His final assessment is positive ('I like it'), suggesting the game grew on him despite initial unfamiliarity with the rules and theme. Frustration with licensing restrictions on newer Star Wars title tempers overall sentiment slightly.

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:11

Do not adjust your sets. What you see before you is indeed a Star Wars pinball machine, officially licensed and in Europe. Yes, we are very, very lucky today to be able to feature this Star Wars the Mandalorian limited edition pinball machine from Stern. And a massive thanks to Neil McCrae who's just been so kind to to lend me this just to play. He didn't even say do a video on it. He said just play it, enjoy it. And well, that's exactly what I intend to do because I've never spent any time with this game at all. And I've got to say, I'm going to pop my glasses on here to to have a closer look. It's stunning. I think some games really lend themselves to the mirrored back glass, and this is one of them. I think because of the uh because the Mandalorian, the bounty hunter himself, because his helmet is I guess very sort of gray silver in its nature, it really highlights the mirror back back glass. So when you look at this game immediately, which is obviously the back the mirrored back glass is only on the limited edition. When you look at this straight away, you think, "Wow, this is stunning. Absolutely stunning game." Um, I I I'm not unfamiliar with the TV series. I, in fact, I did I watched a whole first season in its entirety. And what I can say is having played I've only played three or four games so far, what I can say is, as far as I know and as far as I can tell, and I've got quite a limited knowledge of The Mandalorian, this game seems to capture it. What I also really like about this is The Mandalorian's got quite a quite a nice theme tune to it. And I I think it's quite atmospheric this game. I do think they've probably done the theme. Very proud. So, if you're a fan of The Mandalorian, you're you're probably going to like this game. It It's a Brian Eddie game, and I I know Brian Eddie usually does a fan layout, but I don't know. This this this seems a little bit different. And maybe it does because it doesn't have the sort of central toy that you might ordinarily have in Stranger Things. You've got the demigorgan in there or you've got Medieval Madness with the castle or you've got the the flying saucer in Attack from Mars. It doesn't have that. It still is a fan layout, but it feels a bit different. There's there's I think there's four in lanes. I think there's four at the top, maybe even more. Um, but it has one thing that that ordinarily I don't particularly like on games, and that is where the shots are very far down the playfield. Now, we've recently done our video. Uh, well, I say I say we, it's it's mostly Enzo and and who's been kindly joined by by lots of people. Jeff's on there, Don's on there, which is very good of them. But when um I think Jeff and Don have both played the game and when they were discussing the new Star Wars by John Borg, they were saying that the the shots are very far up the playfield towards the back of the playfield. I don't mind that. I do like long shots on pinball machines actually. So even actually just comparing how far the playfield shots are down to the two machines which are either side which are um Dirty Harry or Dirty Barry as I like to call him and Theater of Magic. There's most of the shots are very far forward. So, uh certainly yeah, in comparison they are maybe um something like or the the most recent Black Knight Sword of Rage from Stern as well. Um Game of Thrones. I think a lot of these games have shots that are that are quite far forward and sort of limit the open real estate of the playfield if you like. Um, that being said, um, see my my problem with games like that is if you make a mistake, and I do make a lot of mistakes when I'm playing pinball, then you can often find that it it's very unforgiving. So, if you hit somewhere sort of in between a shot, it can sort of shoot back down and you lose the ball. So, I often find games like this quite unforgiving. I don't I I couldn't tell you anything about the rules really. I just I remember once actually I was at a tournament. It was at Neil's house. It was the the first time and I think possibly the only time I'd I'd played this game to the point up to that point. And it was I think it was Simon there who' said to me I was in a tournament there at Domino Arcade and he said just keep hitting the center shot which is which is this shot just here. So I'm I'm going to certainly aim to do that. There's uh quite an easy multiple multiball to get on here. Uh I think the music is very atmospheric as I mentioned. I think this particular version of it, this limited edition is amazing. Neil's had at least I don't know the game well enough to know if it's the only modification. So, I will say at least one modification, and that is the little baby Yoda at the back. Grou, is that his name? I think his name might be Grou. They refer to him in the in the series as the child. Um, but it's Baby Yoda to me. That's Baby Yoda. when you get this as a standard game, he just sort of hangs around in the background. He he's not animated like he is now. Um, this is really cool. What? Whoever did this modification, this this really works. And actually, when I my children have no they've never seen a Mandalorian or or played a Mandalorian before, and the first thing they said about this game was, "Wow, he's really cool." um in the background there. This game, the limited edition, and I'm guessing the premium has the uh it's not Buba Fett, is it? It's the Mandalorian um the bount the bounty hunters um signature sort of helmet there. That's the the upper playfield. This one tilts and it rises. And I actually think it's it's quite cool. It's I think it's quite a nice feature of the game. I think on the Pro it's just static. I think it is perched upright like that. But just one flipper. I think I think it's just one flipper on that. I The reason I like this one as well is it has the wire forms and I think I think certainly Mandalorian it was a Mandalorian had um the plastic ramps going across the playfield. I think they look ugly as hell. I hate I hate them. I hate it when it does that. I don't mind. Funny enough, both these games have got plastic ramps as well as wire forms, but I don't mind if the plastic ramps go down the side. I think when plastic ramps cross over the playfield and you have to look through them, hate it. Can't stand it. Um, so yeah, this this definitely benefits um from having the wire forms on there as well. I can't tell you an awful lot about the game to be perfectly honest with you. Got quite a really interesting topper. I think it's a that's a pretty cool topper actually up there. So, I think what I'll do is I'll take that camera off of its tripod and I'll try and give you as close a look as I possibly can as I always try and like to do in these videos just you might be someone that's looking to buy one of these. And I know it's really hard, isn't it, online to try and find footage where you've got sort of HD footage uh closeup of a game that you're looking to buy. Um so hopefully I'll be able to show you um in depth this game. It it is, as I mentioned, I joked at the start, the the newest Johnborg um Star Wars game. We're not able to get in this in in this country, in the UK. We're not able to get it in Europe or Africa because of of licensing. Um so, yeah, I just wanted to make the point. We have had Star Wars games over here. The Steve Richie Star Wars game, we have the Home Pin Star Wars game, uh obviously Mandalorian that's here as well, and everything that sort of um predated it. I I I do wonder if they did a Kenobi game. Maybe we'd get that as well. I don't know what it is that we're not able to get this most recent Star Wars game, but it's it's it's slightly annoying. Um but there you go. Hey, look, it's just one of those things. Um let's let's have a couple of games of this. I I will not be able to play this well, and I know you're going to be screaming at me saying, "Make this shot. Make that shot." Um I don't I don't really know what I'm doing, but we we're going to learn it. And um and I'm very very pleased to have this game here. So yeah, thank you so much Domino Arcade for Neil for lending me this game. Um it's a real pleasure to have it on here and of course as with everything um once the game has been in this house and I've had a little while to adjust to it and play it then it will qualify for my top 50 pinball machines which is going to go way beyond 50 pinball machines. It it all it already is looking that way. Um, and it's just because of people like Neil, because of my like my sponsor, uh, Pinball Heaven, because of my friends and just people who are just very lovely and and are happy to lend me pinball machines. Um, I'm able to bring you, uh, videos such as this. Right, let's get to it and I'll show you a real close-up look of this game. So, let's take a closer look. I think the first thing you're going to notice is just really beautiful silver powder coat on it. I think they've done a really great job with that. Um, and if you look at the armor down the side here, that's really cool. Really, really cool. I think that looks great. It's It's a stunning looking pinball machine. Really is. I think they've done a great job with this. Uh, before we get on to the Playfield stuff, I just want to show you here this topper and that back glass. Absolutely stunning that back glass there. Um, so the top has got a little screen in it. Hopefully you can see that at the moment. It's just sort of displaying um scores, but uh it's it displays im imagery as well. So not not just there you go a little bit there. Um really nice really nice touch. And I hope I really hope the screen is picking up just how stunning this this back glass is. It's it's absolutely gorgeous. It really is. And um yeah, beautiful beautiful mirror on it. Cool. Hey, I think it looks really good. So, let's get down to the playfield. So, first of all, you're going to notice that there's your action button. Let's give the twanganger some respect. Um, that's really cool, right? That looks really cool. Um, obviously the official Stern one, as you can see, uh, Brian Eddie signed. This one has been adapted to, uh, take the, uh, the insider connected. Initially, some modifications. I think these might be Collie Wobbles plastics quite possibly. Those flipper back covers there. um standard inlane and outlane configuration.