X-Men Accessories Bring More Disappointment than Excitement

Cary Hardy·video·17m 57s·analyzed·Dec 3, 2025

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.022

TL;DR

Stern's X-Men accessories disappoint on design, pricing, and marketing execution.

Summary

Cary Hardy critiques Stern Pinball official Uncanny X-Men accessory trailer and product lineup, citing bland marketing presentation, mediocre design execution, overpriced accessories, and concerning art blade redundancy. Community sentiment in YouTube comments overwhelmingly echoes Hardy's criticisms, with particular focus on the $1,500 topper price point compared to competitor offerings and a mysteriously missing shooter rod accessory.

Key Claims

The Uncanny X-Men accessories trailer features bland, ASMR-like narration that lacks energy and excitement appropriate for product promotion
high confidence · Cary Hardy, opening critique of the official Stern trailer featuring voice-over by Rebecca from Hot Nudge
The $1,500 topper price is triple what Stern charged for the Black Knight series topper ($500), while offering inferior features
high confidence · Cary Hardy, direct price comparison and historical reference to Black Knight topper pricing
The art blades contain repeated character images placed only 6 inches apart, suggesting copy-paste design similar to a Walking Dead accessory incident
medium confidence · Cary Hardy detailed visual analysis, drawing parallel to prior Walking Dead apron quality control issue
A shooter rod accessory was previously leaked but is now absent from the official product lineup, likely scrapped due to licensor objections
medium confidence · Cary Hardy speculation about missing leaked shooter rod, attributing absence to Marvel license holder disapproval
YouTube community comments on the official Stern trailer are overwhelmingly negative, with nearly 100% of ~48 comments expressing criticism
high confidence · Cary Hardy review of actual YouTube comment section on official Uncanny X-Men accessories trailer
The accessory pricing is: topper $1,500, side armor $270, art blades $99-100
high confidence · Cary Hardy, enumeration of official Stern accessory pricing from promotional materials
X-Men is one of the greatest shooters made in recent years despite needing minor code improvements
high confidence · Cary Hardy personal assessment and corroboration of community player feedback on gameplay quality
Audio quality issues exist in the trailer with at least one line (about danger room scenes) clearly re-recorded with different equipment post-production
high confidence · Cary Hardy technical analysis of voice-over, noting microphone/environment mismatch indicating ADR work

Notable Quotes

“You created one of the best toppers ever from your Black Knight series and you did it for $500. You are now charging triple that for this.”
Cary Hardy@ 9:51 — Direct indictment of Stern's pricing strategy, highlighting historical precedent for better value
“You could buy a PlayStation 5, a Switch 2, and still have $500 left for games. Or you could buy this topper that flips through a few pictures like a toy I had when I was two.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 10:33 — Captures community sentiment on value proposition; reflects broader frustration with accessory pricing
“It's like we're all standing around a corpse hoping it will come back to life.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 12:21 — Metaphorical critique of Stern's current market position and product strategy
“So glad this took over a year to release and it all sucks.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 12:30 — References extended development timeline and disappointed expectations on final output
“Spooky looking better and better.”
[name withheld pending review]@ 12:08 — Competitive framing; suggests community perception shift toward other manufacturers
“mediocrity is becoming the new slogan for what we're seeing from Stern lately”
Cary Hardy@ 17:25 — Summary critique of broader pattern in Stern's recent product and marketing execution

Entities

Cary HardypersonStern PinballcompanyThe Uncanny X-Mengame Hot Nudgecompany Black KnightgameSpooky PinballcompanyWalking Deadgame

Signals

?
product_concern: Art blade accessory displays apparent image duplication (character appearing multiple times within 6 inches) suggesting copy-paste design methodology; parallels prior quality control issue on Walking Dead apron
medium · Cary Hardy detailed visual inspection identifying repeated character imagery, uncertainty about intentional design vs. oversight
$
market_signal: Stern's X-Men topper priced at $1,500, triple the $500 price point of prior Black Knight topper; community widely perceives pricing as excessive relative to feature set and competitive offerings
high · Official pricing confirmation, historical comparison, multiple YouTube comments calling out value disparity
~
sentiment_shift: Widespread community criticism of Stern's recent marketing presentation quality, accessory design execution, and pricing strategy; sentiment narrative includes characterization of Stern as phoning in effort and losing touch with consumer expectations
high · Near-unanimous negative YouTube comments, Cary Hardy's corroboration of community view, pattern commentary across multiple recent accessory releases
?
content_signal: Official Uncanny X-Men accessories trailer criticized for bland, low-energy narration lacking urgency/excitement; described as ASMR-like and chatbot-quality; audio quality inconsistencies detected (ADR post-production work evident)
high · Cary Hardy's technical analysis, direct comparison to appropriate tone for product promotion, YouTube comments echoing AI/chatbot voice criticism
?
product_strategy: Planned X-Men shooter rod accessory (previously leaked) conspicuously absent from official product announcement; likely removed due to Marvel license holder objection, not reflected on Stern website

Transcript

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0:03

these decisions were approved. I I just don't I for the bling of me, I don't understand how. This is my wiener. This is Gadget. [snorts] Not very amused right now, is she? So, Stern has officially released and showing off their uncanny X-Men pinball accessories. And I know what you're thinking. You're like, "Oh, great. Here goes another video where Carrie's making fun of Stern and their pinball topper." and you would be wrong because the truth is I don't have to make fun of it or anything. You guys have already done it. I'm going to be reading some of the comments on the official YouTube channel page for the Uncanny X-Men accessories. So, here's the thing. The trailer launched today. I happen to be at work on my computer. It notifies me and I watch it and it has to be

0:59

so bland, just blah. And and this is not me like insulting it. I mean, it just did not have a feeling of any type of I don't want to say urgency, but there was no excitement, nothing like that. It was a very bland, just almost felt like it was like an ASMR type of talking. And I' I've been reading the comments and people tell me that it's Rebecca from the parts department, from Hot Nudge, Pinball or whatever. Yeah, that's you. You get a nice soothing female voice. I get it. But that's not what this trailer needs. It needs more excitement. It needs to have some energy behind it. And so I did this little section. I say little section, but I did the entire trailer and I've released it to my patrons. And it merely just made it to where I feel like it should have been. Upgrade your X-Men pinball machine today at sternpinball.com.

1:54

That and much more is available on my Patreon link in the description down below. So, let's go through the trailer now and let's see what we got going on. [music] Rally the heroes of the past to save the Rally the heroes of the past to save the future with the official The Uncanny X-Men pinball accessories. All right, so already I'm not feeling All right, so already I'm not feeling the energy that it should have. I mean, it should come in swinging and it's just much more of a casual pinball accessories type of thing. That's not the energy we should have for this game. Not the energy. It's all wrong. All wrong. And I'm not do not take this personally or anything, Rebecca. This is not what that's about. I'm just saying that this is these decisions were approved. I I just don't I for the bling of me, I don't understand how. But it seems like a lot of the media stuff that gets released these days from Stern seems to be very just mediocre. Just like this is good enough. There's no excitement, no energy. We're not really excited about what we're releasing to you. This is the effort that we put in. Here you go. Type of thing. That is the energy that is being put off by Stern Pinball lately. And I'm not the only one that notices it, guys. It's not just me. And you're going to see it in the comments section, too. Level up your protection with the Level up your protection with the uncanny X-Men side armor featuring an X-Men logo. So, we've been seeing this a lot lately So, we've been seeing this a lot lately when it comes to what their side armor is. It's merely a cutout of a shape or of a character involved in the theme and a picture of something behind it. It was very uh mediocre in Star Wars particularly. This one is on par, but it's much more like, okay, that's fine. I I I don't hate this. It's like, all right, okay. But there's just been so many other things that have been done to certain themes and certain games that are just I don't know. It seems more special. Whereas this one is just like, okay, it's on par. I don't I don't love it. I don't hate it. I don't really have much to complain about with it either kind of thing. It's just like, okay, it's acceptable to me. Backer. This incredible side armor Backer. This incredible side armor further immerses players into the X-Men universe. Fully suit up the inside. Now, I will say with the art blades in Now, I will say with the art blades in here, it does make the game look even more busy or packed than it already is. So, that is a good thing. It's a great thing. I mean, it just makes the world come more to life underneath the glass as it's been stated in the video. And the thing is, as long as you don't look too closely at what's going on, you won't see a particular flaw. And we're going to see that here in a second. Of your game with the uncanny X-Men Of your game with the uncanny X-Men inside art blades featuring stunning and distinctive handdrawn artwork of So, here's the thing. And and as as I'm So, here's the thing. And and as as I'm seeing on the other side of the art, I don't think about 100% that this is particularly a copy pasta moment here in regards to seeing this particular character. And then merely a few inches over to the right, you see her again. I think there's some sort of art nature that I'm just not getting in this. I'm guessing this is maybe if I knew the game better, then I would probably understand it. So, I don't I I really don't want this to be a copy paste and then they just not notice it type of thing. I would like to hope that is not the case. And before and not looking at the other side very well, I would assume that's what the case was due to the most recent Walking Dead apron incident. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, I may have to do a video in regards to that. But if you're on my Patreon, you're well aware of it. So, I wanted to say at first glance that Storm's hand was the same thing. Uh, so now I'm leaning more towards it possibly being a copy pasta moment. I thought that this hand inside the square was the same hand. It's just been merely I don't know. [laughter] It's It's one of those where Okay, maybe it is as bad as I thought it was and how other people have thought it to be as well. It's featuring stunning and distinctive handdrawn artwork of X-Men. Yeah, you've got and I'm sorry, I don't Yeah, you've got and I'm sorry, I don't know these these characters. Don't tell me that's Rogue. It doesn't look like Rogue fully at least, but it could be. But you've got that character, the the chick, and then you got her again inside the square. What is that? Maybe 6 in apart. It's literally the same damn image. You've got I can't like you're gonna see my my finger. You got Wolverine right here, his hair. You've got her. And you've got Wolverine's hair. And you got her like right here. And we're just going to move it over to right there. I don't know. I'm guessing this is basically the mutants looking at monitors and that's just what they see. I don't It's It's nitpicking. I get it. But that's just kind of what we're seeing right here. so close together, it kind of makes it seem like it's been a copy and paste moveover. And again, it wouldn't be something that's really hyperfocused on as of until recently with The Walking Dead was something being copied and pasted literally right next to another image. Zombies galore, the same zombie over and over again. Anyways, let's continue. heroes and enemies adding an entirely new dimension inside this world under glass pinball experience making. But overall, yes, I do like the side art But overall, yes, I do like the side art blades. It does make the game pop more and look more full and a lot busier than it honestly already is for a premium. So, uh again, as long as you don't look too closely and think it's copy and paste and yeah, I think the art blades look pretty good for it. Looks pretty good. Your speakers stand out with the official Expression speaker lighting system accessory. With intelligent RGB LED lighting, your speakers will light up and flash as you explore this Marvel universe, fully integrated and dynamically responsive to game events. So, there are the expression lights. Uh, So, there are the expression lights. Uh, that's the thing that you want in your game, then there they are available to you kind of thing. Uh, I'm not against speaker lights. I obviously got them on my games back here. Um, I just don't know how much these cost. I'm pretty sure they're more expensive than what you're going to get from, uh, third parties like speaker light kits or measel mods or something like that. But, uh, yeah. So, speaker lights there. There you go. The uncanny X-Men billboard topper The uncanny X-Men billboard topper brings a new twist to your pinball experience. This 80s style rotating billboard topper features RGB LED lights with UV accents and showcases scenes from the present, future, and the danger room. So, I don't hate this topper. I honestly So, I don't hate this topper. I honestly think it's kind of cool. I I I like the style of it and everything, the lighting for it, what it does. Pretty simple. The only quarrel I think me and many others have with this topper is of course the price tag for what you're getting. That is the main thing here. I don't think it's the fact that the topper is subpar, nothing like that. It's mainly people are looking at it and they're comparing it to other manufacturers that have done something that's a lot better for around the same damn price. What manufacturer could that be recently that brought out a topper that everyone's talking about? And then they had a topper last year on their previous game that everybody was talking about. And the thing is, we have seen Stern what you've been able to do and it's still on everyone's mind today. You created one of the best toppers ever from your Black Knight series and you did it for $500. You are now charging triple that for this. So, let's mosey on down to the comment section. And the only reason why I even checked the comment section was because I was merely curious to how many people were going to be talking up how awesome this stuff is. And to my surprise, I think close to 100% of the comments, and there's currently 48 of them, are not exactly positive. the current highest upvoted. You could buy a PlayStation 5, a Switch 2, and still have $500 left for games. Or you could buy this topper that flips through a few pictures like a toy I had when I was two. Currently has 44 up votes on that one. I know 44 is not a big number for for like but pinball related stuff. That's a lot. Beetlejuice topper is about the same price. Let that sink in. I think you accidentally added a one to the price of that topper. And then the reply to that one was, "Good point. $500 would be much more reasonable." Yeah. So, here's my point on this. The topper is $1,500. The armor is $270 and the art blades is $99 or $100. And then this is American, so obviously it's going to cost more in other countries. Minute 17. When you ADR but only have a Logitech mic. So, what this means, guys, is when and and I do this a lot of times in my editing process, but you could tell from that one little phrase that it was recorded with a different microphone or in a different environment. It was like post edit, like post production type of quality, like in the back end, like, "Oops, you forgot to say this. I'll record it and I'll throw it in there and no one will be the wiser." But the thing is, it's much different than the rest of the trailers. So, it kind of sticks out like a sore thumb and showcases scenes from the present, and showcases scenes from the present, future, and the danger room. From the present, future, and the danger room. If you listen for it, and I and I if you If you listen for it, and I and I if you didn't catch it, then don't don't do your don't do yourself any like favors by going and listening back to know what I'm talking about here, but it's there. Spooky looking better and better. Lame. Do better, Stern. That topper shouldn't be more than 1K. Big picture of Mystique on the billboard and no Mystique in the game. Why even add her to the topper? So dumb. And someone's like, it shouldn't even be 1K. It's like we're all standing around a corpse hoping it will come back to life. Nice. The AI chatbot voice over. Nice shooter rod. So glad this took over a year to release and it all sucks. Which is a good point. Where the f is the shooter rod? We already saw like leaked images of a shooter rod that was supposedly supposed to be coming out with this, but now we're not seeing it for some strange reason. I'm guessing that didn't get approved by the license holder on that. So, I'm guessing they just gave it the boot, decided to scrap it, not going to have it. I'm hoping I can find the shooter rod image, and if I can, I'll throw it up on the screen for you right here. But I'm guessing they just did away with it because it's not even on their website or anything and they don't have it in the trailer. So that's intriguing. People think it's a chatbot voice over. That's how like bland and just monotone the voice sounds. Rebecca, I'm not the only one pointing this out. Everyone else hears it as well. That's some that's just this is the voice over could be better facts. Especially when you're trying to promote something and trying to sell something. You don't sound all casual like this when you're trying to sell something. That's not how you do it. Energy. Put it in there. I'm sure you can do it. I did it for crying out loud. It's time to rally the heroes of the past and save the future with the officials. The uncanny X-Men pinball accessories. Hold up. That topper leak was real. [laughter] WTF Stern? I wouldn't pay 500 for that piece of crap. And X-Men is my favorite Stern game. You guys really need to step up your game over there. This comment just says bad. Oh, excellent. Now we need a good The Walking Dead pinball machine. Where's the value that warrants these prices? Stern has lost touch. Wow, you really been phoning it in lately. This is complete and utter disappointment for one of the greatest layouts you've done in the last decade. And the thing is that is 100% true. I will stand behind the fact that X-Men, if dialed and built correctly, is one of the greatest shooters made in a good damn while. Does the code need a little help? a little bit, but that's not coming from me because I don't really get that far into it to really say that it needs it. I'm taking the word from people that are owning the game and have like progressed so far that they can really notice that. Me, I just enjoy the way it shoots, the the like how every shot feels so buttery damn smooth. So, I do agree that that X-Men is a great shooting game. This is the worst overpriced competition is kicking Stern in its ass. Bad AI reading to everyone thinks it's AI. I'm digging this topper. More unique compared to some of the prior ones. Good stuff. Holy crap. [laughter] Silver, come on. He's a patron. He knows this. [laughter] Even someone's like, "You were joking, right?" I don't think the Topper's bad looking. I had been all in on toppers, but skipped the last few. Stern, Venom, and Kong. Not because I didn't like them, but they are pretty expensive for what you are getting. And there have been so many releases. Oof. NGL. Not great. Voice is terrible. Can't watch. Yippee. The uncanny X-Men accessories are here. This is an innovative pin that is maturing with each new code update. A terrific superhero pinball experience. [laughter]