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The Pinball Scene in Mexico - Pinball Expo 2025 - Pinball News

Pinball News (Pinball Expo 2025)·video·31m 39s·analyzed·Oct 17, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Stern's Mexico distributor details building pinball culture from zero amid regulatory barriers and gambling machine stigma.

Summary

Ivan, a Stern Pinball distributor in Mexico, presents the growing pinball scene in Mexico at Pinball Expo 2025, discussing how pinball was historically stigmatized due to confusion with illegal gambling machines but is now experiencing a renaissance. He details his five-year journey building pinball distribution and location operations in Mexico, overcoming regulatory hurdles, trademark challenges, and cultural barriers, while establishing arcade venues in Mexico City and Querétaro with strong community engagement. Doug Score from Stern Pinball validates Ivan's efforts and contextualizes Mexico's import difficulties as second only to Japan in complexity.

Key Claims

  • Ivan has been working as a Stern Pinball distributor in Mexico for five years

    high confidence · Speaker states 'We've been like five years working on it in Mexico as a distro of Stern Pinball'

  • Someone in Mexico held a trademark on the word 'pinball' and initially prevented Ivan from selling pinball machines

    high confidence · Ivan explains: 'we know that one person has the trademark of the word pinball...and then after a few negotiations I could take the word pinball the trademark and sell pinballs'

  • Ivan opened a three-story pinball arcade with pub in Mexico two months ago with 12 pinball machines

    high confidence · Ivan states: 'like two months ago, we opened the first place in Mexico that has three stories, has a pub, has 12 pinball machines, has arcades'

  • Mexican government requires destructive inspection and disassembly of each imported pinball machine model for safety compliance

    high confidence · Ivan explains Mexican import process requires 'NOMs and other things' and machines must be 'Break apart the machine from electrical things' for safety inspection

  • Pinball machines in Mexico have historically been confused with illegal gambling machines called 'bingo machines' which have no flippers

    high confidence · Doug Score clarifies: 'Those are called bingo machines...made here in the U.S...Bally used to make them at one point' and audience discussion distinguishes them as having no flippers

  • Mexico is the second-most difficult country in the world to ship pinball machines into, after Japan

    high confidence · Doug Score states: 'shipping into Mexico is only second to Japan as far as difficulty of getting product into the country. Japan is the worst...Mexico is right behind it'

  • The most popular pinball machines in Mexico are Godzilla, Star Wars, and Stranger Things

    high confidence · Ivan states: 'Godzilla...and then Star Wars for the team. And also Stranger Things. It's like the most that they play. Stranger Things, Godzilla, and Star Wars'

Notable Quotes

  • “We've been like five years working on it in Mexico as a distro of Stern Pinball and there are many people that are very fanatic in Mexico that were in his homes and were like looking if sometime some bring pinball in Mexico”

    Ivan (Pinball Mexico distributor)@ 0:17 — Sets context for Mexico's pinball revival and grassroots demand

  • “In Mexico, everything that mixes emotion and movement finds a place. And that's exactly what pinball is. Emotion in motion.”

    Video narrator/Ivan production@ 7:25 — Core messaging framing pinball as aligned with Mexican cultural values

  • “In Mexico, the name pinball is totally associated with gambling machines. So when we were publishing on Facebook, and they were like calling, are those load machines? Or why is that price?”

    Ivan@ 11:12 — Illustrates the stigma challenge Ivan faces in market education

  • “I was the only Mexican people here...And they knew because sometimes I was speaking in telephone in Spanish, and they knew about I was from Mexico”

    Ivan@ 12:47 — Reflects Ivan's isolated position as Mexican pinball advocate at 2019 Expo

  • “He is kind of like landing on Mars right now, if you can imagine. And he's just gotten out of the spaceship. And he's putting some pinball machines on location. Everyone's looking at him like he's from Mars.”

    Doug Score (Stern Pinball export manager)@ 29:15 — Doug's vivid metaphor for the difficulty/novelty of Ivan's task in opening up Mexico market

  • “Ivan has done a fantastic job in his short – in the last five years in developing his market. He's got a long way to go. He knows it. He's in for the long haul. He's extremely passionate.”

Entities

IvanpersonManuel HernándezpersonDoug ScorepersonStern PinballcompanyPinball MexicocompanyMexicoorganizationChicago Pinball ExpoeventQuerétaroorganizationMexico CityorganizationBallycompany

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern Pinball actively recruiting and supporting passionate younger distributors in emerging markets rather than traditional commercial operators

    high · Doug Score states: 'In the old days, we used to look for the commercial guy. Today, we're more interested in a guy like Ivan. He is kind of like landing on Mars right now'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Shift in Mexican public perception of pinball from gambling device stigma to entertainment and skill-based gaming; gradual cultural acceptance growing

    medium · Ivan notes initial resistance (people thinking machines were illegal gambling devices) but describes growing adoption at breweries with people taking 'the risk' to play

  • ?

    community_signal: Mexican pinball community demonstrating strong engagement with family tournaments and multi-generational adoption of the hobby

    high · Manuel Hernández describes Christmas family tournaments with 10 people on 3 machines; kids learning quickly and beating parents' scores

  • $

    market_signal: Mexico positioned as next frontier market for pinball with young, creative population, strong IP appeal, and latent demand from nostalgic players who experienced arcade era

    high · Video describes Mexico's 'pinball renaissance' potential with 130+ million people, young demographic, passion for emotion/motion, and generational memory of 70s/80s arcades

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Licensed IP themes (Star Wars, Stranger Things, Godzilla) resonating strongly with Mexican players and driving adoption despite cultural unfamiliarity with pinball

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.095

0:00
Hi. Hi, everybody. How are you doing? Yeah, fine? Well, this time I didn't bring tequila. Sorry about that, but I bring all the passion and I bring all the emotion of pinball that is growing in Mexico. We've been like five years working on it in Mexico as a distro of Stern Pinball and there are many people that are very fanatic in Mexico that were in his homes and were like looking if sometime some bring pinball in Mexico one of them is my friend here Manuel Hernández who also has pinballs and make a great great great video to show a little bit about Mexico, so you can get a little of Mexico in your hearts, but not tequila. Sorry about it. Let me check it out. Valentina says, well, you know, my, I have a little baby, one year and two months. Her name is Valentina. Yeah, it was, it's nice. Well, thank you very much for the invitation to Rob and all the community. Thank you very much. We are very happy to be here and to share a little bit of what we are doing in Mexico, what is happening with pinball in Mexico, and hope you like it. So we're going to put a video that we put together and it's only five minutes. So let us put the...
2:02
Mexico, our neighbor to the south. Country of... Mexico, our neighbor to the south, a country of more than 130 million people with a heart that beats between two worlds, North America and Latin America. Its main cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, are among the most dynamic and creative in Latin America. From the highlands of Querétaro to the beaches of Cancún, Mexico is color, sound, and motion. A place where tradition meets innovation, and where stories are told not only through words but through sensations. The relationship between Mexico and the United States has always been unique, connected by history, trade and millions of families. We share 2,000 miles of border and a constant exchange of music, cinema and technology. Over the years our cultures have learned from each other blending, adapting, transforming, creating a bridge of friendship that still stands strong because Mexico doesn't resist change, it reinvents it. Mexico has always been a country moved by emotion. We celebrate everything, life, music, color, and nostalgia. When something touches our hearts, we make it our own. From food to music, from fashion to art, we take what we love and give it back with our own flavor. That's how global ideas become local passions alive with Mexican soul. When it comes to gaming, Mexico has a long and colorful history. The first arcades arrived in the 1970s and 80s. And suddenly, kids who have never seen a joystick before spent hours playing Pac-Man, Street Fighter, and Mortal Kombat in smoky, crowded game rooms.

Ivan operates pinball machines in 5 different locations (breweries) in Querétaro and is expanding to other major Mexican cities

high confidence · Ivan explains: 'In Querétaro we have 5 places 5 brewers with pinballs and we are like opening more'

Doug Score@ 30:34 — Stern's official validation and endorsement of Ivan's long-term commitment

  • “Shipping into Mexico is only second to Japan as far as difficulty of getting product into the country. Japan is the worst...Mexico is right behind it”

    Doug Score@ 30:04 — Industry-level validation of the extraordinary logistical challenges Mexico presents

  • “Those are called bingo machines. They've been around since the 1950s. Those are the Taiwanese stuff...Bally used to make them at one point...we face this in distribution throughout the world that our games are often confused as being gambling devices.”

    Doug Score@ 29:56 — Clarifies the historical/technical distinction between pinball and gambling machines; confirms this is a global distribution challenge

    • Gottlieb
    company
    Godzillagame
    Star Warsgame
    Stranger Thingsgame
    Mandaloriangame
    Addams Familygame

    high · Star Wars, Stranger Things, and Godzilla identified as three most popular machines in Mexican market

  • $

    market_signal: Mexico pinball market showing strong growth trajectory with three-story arcade venue opening in Mexico City, 5 location operations in Querétaro, and plans for expansion to other major cities

    high · Ivan describes recent opening of three-story arcade with 12 machines and lines of people waiting; plans for expansion to Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara

  • ?

    regulatory_signal: Mexican government import regulations are exceptionally stringent, requiring destructive electrical inspection of every pinball machine shipment; complexity second only to Japan

    high · Ivan details mandatory disassembly and inspection of each machine; Doug Score confirms Mexico is second-most difficult country to ship to after Japan

    • 5:02
    Gimbal machines also made their way into the country, mostly through imported amusement centers, arcades, and the occasional movie theater lobby. But they never became mainstream like in the United States. Why? They never became part of Mexican culture. Also, high import costs, limited spare parts, no official distributors, and almost no trained technicians. To make things worse, the word pinball became wrongly associated with slot machines, illegal gambling devices that flooded bars and cantinas across the country. That confusion created a stigma. When people heard pinball, they thought of gambling, not of skill, art, engineering, or community.
    6:04
    Yet, those who discovered the real thing, the lights, the sound, the physics, the challenge, fell in love forever. And even though pinball didn't continue like in the United States, those memories stayed. People still remember the sound of the flippers, the flashing lights, and those afternoons when kids would keep the change from buying tortillas just to play one more game.
    6:35
    Now, many of them are showing it to their own children, sharing not just a game, but a piece of their youth.
    6:45
    Today, Mexico is ready for a pinball renaissance. With a young, creative population passionate about technology, design, and nostalgia, pinball represents something fresh and deeply human in a digital world. Events are growing, collectors are multiplying, and companies like Pinball Mexico are building bridges, bringing machines, tournaments, and communities together.
    7:25
    In Mexico, everything that mixes emotion and movement finds a place. And that's exactly what pinball is. Emotion in motion. So to everyone here at the Chicago Pinball Expo, we invite you to look south, because Mexico is not just watching Mexico is ready to play
    8:02
    Thank you, thank you, thank you a lot! Thank you everybody! Well, it has been like a tough, tough way through in Mexico because we... Well, it all starts about my passion. when I was a little kid like everybody I think so well in Mexico we could play pinball in some places and I used to go to a place to play twilight zone and like 15 years ago I don't know by a hit of lucky or something I found a friend and he told me well you can also buy pinballs in Mexico, but it's like a little tough. You need to look many places and old ones. And then I start my journey. I bought my first pinball. It was Adam Family. And then another one. And some friends were telling me, well, if you are like with all those pinballs, there are no new pinballs in the community or in the world. Yeah, sure. There are many companies that are making steel pinballs. And then, well, I was like looking for the one that it was like the most known and the big one. And I called one time, two times. And in one of those, I get lucky. And I could talk with the right person. And then we talk. We get right. Thank you, doc. And then it started. It started like that. But then we were ready to start in Mexico, and then we know that one person has the trademark of the word pinball. He will trademark many words only for buying or for selling them after. And then I couldn't sell pinballs in Mexico after I look around and negotiate with him. and after a few negotiations I could take the war pinball the trademark and sell pinballs then we were ready to open but well it was 2020 and the pandemic came through we we have a space in a mall and then we were ready to open well three months close pandemic well I was well it giving me time to move around. It was like, I don't know, like a dream for a big, small kid that I have a place full of pinballs and it was my birthday and I could play everything,
    10:51
    but well, the sales didn't start. After that, we could open the place with all the things, with all the seeds that you need to have to open. And after that, we look around, as you saw in the video, in Mexico, the name pinball is totally associated with gambling machines. So when we were publishing on Facebook, and they were like calling, are those load machines? Or why is that price? Because no, no, no, are they the classic pinball? So it was like a little tough to do that. But well, we go through. And now like two months ago, we opened the first place in Mexico that has three stories, has a pub, has 12 pinball machines, has arcades. This is the one that you also see a little clips on the video. And it's making community. And for me, well, I love pinball. And also I love like all the people around him, everybody, the people that I know about this is like fantastic. All the people that have been growing this community together. The first time I came here to Pinball Expo was in 2019.
    12:19
    I was the only Mexican people here. and they were like you came from Mexico? they were like wow Mexico it's not so far so why are you so wondering about it yeah oh that's right yeah yeah yeah that's right yeah I was the only one from Mexico And, well, they knew because sometimes I was speaking in telephone in Spanish, and they knew about I was from Mexico, no? But it was, like, very amazing that, well, Mexico is – we share border. And they were so excited – well, they were, like, so amused about it. And then, well, I started working in that year. I start with the Stern Pinball.
    13:16
    And all this passion, all these things make me to know friends, to make community. Well, like here, Manuel, that is a good friend that has been my client, and he's also very passionate. And he could talk about something about the passion and all the things that he could look around in another side of view. Well, in my case, as a client from Ivan, as a Mexican passionate of pinball, I always wanted to have a pinball machine in my house, but there was no way in Mexico. Because since I was little, my dad used to bring me here to the United States, and we I used to play pinball in some, even at the university where my parents met here in Oregon State University. So I just always wanted to have a pinball machine in my house. There was no way in Mexico until 2021 that I got an ad in Facebook from Pinball Mexico. and I was just so surprised that, wow, they are selling pinballs in Mexico? That's so crazy.
    14:46
    So I was looking through the ad and I saw that, wow, there's a Star Wars machine. I want a Star Wars machine. So doing some research, I thought, well, I want a premium one.
    15:05
    Yeah, for the moment, we're sold. They were all. Yeah. We only have pro for the moment. So I said, oh, I want that thing that makes the ball go around.
    15:18
    But then he had a Mandalorian. So I said, okay, well, great. I'll have a Mandalorian machine. And the thing is that I have two kids, very small kids. The youngest one was four years old. So when he saw the machine coming to house he was just so amazed that all the characters at the back glass Yeah he so um amazed that uh he was even scared about this character ahsoka besides the mandalorian so yeah it is was a great great um day when we opened the the machine and now we have three machines at home and it's just uh We invite friends every time and every Christmas. We have a tournament, a family tournament.
    16:24
    Ten people playing a tournament on Christmas only with three machines. And we have such a great Christmas evening playing pinball in Querétaro, Mexico. That's the town where I live and also Iván. and that's the story in my case. Yeah, that's right. It's been amazing. No, no, no. It was great that we, with this passion, when in the showroom, in the place that we were like opening with the people, he was really passionate about looking people about our age that comes with his sons and their sons even know how to play, but start playing the pinball And I don't know, now kids have another ship because the father was like, oh, this is my score. And the kid, the first time he played, wow, doubled the score about the father. And he was like, it's amazing. It's really good to make all that passion came true. And I'm working on it. Even for all the legislation in Mexico, it's really, really hard. Well, Doug knows about it. Even for importing, you have to make NOMs and other things, and you have to take one pinball to check it out. Break apart the machine. Break apart the machine from electrical things. And even, well, Costco has been like a little long time to do it because, well, it's not good. Well, it takes time. So that all things makes that more the people that know that it's not easy to have a pinball in a good way in Mexico find out that it's great to feel it, to have it in Mexico. and two months ago we opened that new place.
    18:28
    It's like in the weekends, well, thank God, it's like lines of people waiting to get in because they know it is the only place in Mexico and we are trying to make it more for more places. There are cities that are so big as Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara, and they know about as they are more near from US they know more about pinball and they are good customers about it yeah we are in Mexico City that new arcade is in Mexico City in Querétaro also we have a place and also because I am in Querétaro I am making more operations in Querétaro we have 5 places 5 brewers with pinballs and we are like opening more because this is the way to do it so many people know and that pinball is totally alive and makes the passion like feel it great great great great it's still not a coach culture thing in Mexico. In Mexico people like to play foosball and other soccer and all other things but I think slowly slowly it's coming alive and people are still like a little bit scared to to touch the the buttons and to like take the risk playing a machine but I'm those who who take the risk just very fastly get it. Yeah, they learn it very fast. They learn it very fast. But it's like they have to do that step because we saw it in the brewers. There are many people that look at the pinball machine and look at, oh, it's nice. Maybe sometimes they see it in a movie or I don't know, but they need to do the step to go to the pinball and play it because they are like a little scared to I don't know how to play it. So sometimes we are there so or people we have there then telling you want to play pinball. Oh go. Oh they like the team. If they like the team maybe they are looking around they are checking around and then well play it play it take the risk. There's no problem. And some of them like everything. Some of them like it, some of them say, oh, it's okay. It's like everything, right?
    21:18
    But it's been tough. It's been hard to make it happen. But, well, hopefully two years, four years more, we have a lot of more places in pinball. So when you go to Mexico and you go with your stern, I see, you still have all your budgets. Well, the dates of how it's named? Accomplishments, yeah. The accomplishments. And the ones that you have every day, you don't lose the everyday place. I don't know if you have some questions. It's 10 pesos. 10 pesos that will be 50 cents. 50 cents only. 50 cents. Yeah. 50 cents. I have a question about those gambling machines. They look like pinball and it looks like they have a plunger that's shooting a ball. rolling down a slope similar to a ball? Yeah, that's right. That's a problem because it's very similar about it has a plunger, it has a ball, and it has pins.
    22:42
    But it's illegal. No flippers. No, no flippers. It's totally like by... So it bounces around. It bounces around. It pays off depending on where it lands. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Is there what we would call up here organized crime that runs those? It used to be like, I don't know, seven years ago it was like really well known. So that's why many people in Mexico, when we start, they heard the name pinball, it was like, oh, no man, no, no, it's okay, I don't want it, no? But they didn't know that it was the classic pinball. So even we have to, in the ads, say that pinball, classic pinball, or something like that to make the difference about the other one. Another question So in Europe they often use the word flipper instead of pinball and it gets past that Would flipper be understood in Mexico Maybe not because many people around 40 years and plus, they knew pinball when they were kids. And they don't know the name flipper. So that people that are older, yeah, they know about pinball, but they – because they haven't been in Mexico, they think about the glambin machines.
    24:21
    Yeah. Other? Just curious, what machines are the most popular over there, and what's a thing you think would do really well in Mexico?
    24:35
    Well, yeah, there is, well, Godzilla, I think for all the toys that it has, also for the enthusiasts and the occasional players, is like Godzilla and then Star Wars for the team. And also Stranger Things. It's like the most that they play. Stranger Things, Godzilla, and Star Wars.
    25:10
    Yeah. The show is very popular, yeah. But there are no... No, because they are old ones. Yeah, we only have the new ones. But Star Wars is doing really good, really, really good, and many people are really fanatic about it, about Star Wars.
    25:37
    I'm curious about language because I know from researching Italian that Gottlieb always kept English instructions on the Italian games, but ballet would – and in France too. and then but bally would put italian instructions what about mexico do you enable the the spanish language in the settings yeah well not in the settings well this is spanish in spanish you can see your story has the option in spanish and also in the cards in some of those also put it in Spanish but well the people don't even read the cards because in some of those also we have a QR that they could saw like the instructions more more more deeply more deeply but the people even don't read the cards but yeah we do it mostly people that play pinball in Mexico are used to see like American movies in English so they are very familiar with the English language so for example call outs and all those things they understand more or less the game for the call outs and and it's not a big problem that the language when you're playing in Mexico that's right Yep. Last one. Hi. I think you said that when the games were imported, they had to be disassembled. I didn't quite make that out. Could you explain it a little more? Yeah, that's right. Well, they had to go through a process. Electronics they have to maybe in some of those they have the cables to build it up, And some of others take a lot of power if, I don't know, warned or something. And some of those are like destructive things that they made to it to pass the norm, the Mexican norm. Yeah, the government likes to put a lot of – That's right. That's right. It's a safety inspection, but the thing is destructive.
    27:59
    And sometimes it takes a little more time, and you need to make all that process to start with all the imports. And is that for each game? It's for each game. Each new game? Yeah, sometimes you can, but it's for each game. In other words, if you've got a container load, you get a container load of 20 godzillas they're going to inspect all 20 not only the model yeah it's the inspection is only for the the model model godzilla pro godzilla premium le so it's for everyone my name is doug score i manage all the export business for stern pinball i've been in the industry my entire life. And I certainly know all the idiosyncrasies of shipping throughout the entire planet, as well as all the players around the planet. And, you know, Ivan is a clear example of the kind of distributors that we seek out today. The younger guy who's an extreme enthusiast about pinball. In the old days, we used to look for the commercial guy. Today, we're more interested in a guy like Ivan. He is kind of like landing on Mars right now, if you can imagine And he's just gotten out of the spaceship And he's putting some pinball machines on location Everyone's looking at him like he's from Mars And so I just want to point out a couple things The issue that you brought up in regards to the games that look like pinball machines Those are called bingo machines They've been around since the 1950s Those are the Taiwanese stuff Those are the Taiwanese, but they've been made here in the U.S. Bally used to make them at one point, and they're also made in Europe throughout. There's still European countries, companies that are still making them today. And quite honestly, we face this in distribution throughout the world that our games are often confused as being gambling devices. But anyways, what Ivan was talking about, I would tell you that shipping into Mexico is only second to Japan as far as difficulty of getting product into the country. Japan is the worst. It is just a country full of bureaucracy, full of many layers of just paperwork and red tape. I would tell you Mexico is right behind it as far as being one of the most difficult countries to ship into. Ivan has done a fantastic job in his short – in the last five years in developing his market.
    30:46
    He's got a long way to go. He knows it. He's in for the long haul. He's extremely passionate. And as you all know, us all in this industry have to show our passion for this – for what this hobby is, what it's about. and the best thing we can do is just share the passion. I keep telling people, just keep sharing the passion. And Ivan has done that. And by the way, that was a fantastic video you put together. It was really true. I really compliment you on that. So anyways, I've taken up enough of your time. But thank you very much.
    31:20
    Thank you, Doug, for all those amplifying comments that will be important for the historical record. And you guys, thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. And welcome, Mexico, whenever you want. Well, you can go to Mexico. Thank you. Thank you, Rob.