Episode 44: Pinball’s Power Shift: Did the Boutiques Just win Expo?!
The Flipside Pinball Podcast
47 min
Summary
Pinball Expo 2025 shows power shift from Stern to boutiques; Winchester Mystery House steals show.
Retro Ralph recaps Pinball Expo 2025, reporting a significant shift in industry momentum away from Stern toward boutique manufacturers. Barrels of Fun's Winchester Mystery House unexpectedly dominated with a sellout, while Stern's Star Wars underperformed despite being a major IP. The homebrew section saw exceptional quality and variety, Jersey Jack's Harry Potter continued strong reception, and Spooky's imminent Beetlejuice release is generating significant anticipation. Ralph observes that Stern needs a major hit to sustain its large manufacturing operation.
Highlights
- Star Wars by Stern is not selling well despite being a major IP, and sales appear below expectations
- Winchester Mystery House by Barrels of Fun sold out to both distributors and consumers with only 525 units produced
- Spooky's Beetlejuice is 100% confirmed and will likely launch mid-November 2025
- The overall sentiment and hype at Expo was not in the Stern booth but rather around everything else, particularly boutiques
- Jersey Jack Pinball currently operates with limited simultaneous production capacity and cannot manufacture multiple games at once
- Star Wars machines at Expo had a hardware fix applied for Death Star reject issues
- Great American Pinball distributor was selling modded Evil Dead machines at $16,500, a $6,500 markup over retail
- Jersey Jack Sonic the Hedgehog is rumored to be their next game after Harry Potter, possibly launching spring 2026
- Stern is implementing 'Insider Connected All Access' membership to generate additional revenue
- American Pinball is repositioning as 'Orbit Games' and transitioning toward broader amusement products beyond pinball
🎙️ In Episode 44 of The FlipSide Podcast, we dive deep into Pinball Expo 2025 and something felt different this year. The usual massive crowds lining up for the newest Stern Pinball release? They weren’t there. Instead, players were turning their attention to boutique pinball manufacturers like Jersey Jack Pinball, Barrels of Fun, and Pinball Brothers, who seem to be gaining serious momentum. So what’s going on? Has Stern, the biggest name in pinball, lost its edge? Or is the community simply craving something new? Maybe it’s Star Wars fatigue, or maybe it’s the rise of fresh ideas and risk-taking from the smaller companies changing the game. We break down the energy on the show floor, the surprising crowd reactions, and what this shift could mean for the future of pinball. 👉 Tune in to find out if the boutique revolution is real, only on The FlipSide Podcast! 🕹️ LOOKING TO BUY A PINBALL MACHINE? Visit Flip N’ Out Pinball for new and used machines: 👉 🎯 WANT TO COMPETE? Find a tournament near you on the official IFPA calendar: 👉 📣 LEAVE ME A VOICEMAIL I might play it on the show! 🎙️ 🎙️ CHECK OUT MY PINBALL PODCAST – “The Flipside” 👉 • Spotify: • Apple Podcasts: 👉
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