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PINBALL EXPO 2021
Pinball News
Welcome to our coverage of this year’s Pinball Expo at its new home in the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center.
Pinball Expo moved to the Westin Chicago North Shore in 2008 and following twelve shows and one virtual show last year, move to its new home in 2021 in the city of Schaumburg which is around 15 miles west of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
Unfortunately, due to restrictions on traveller from outside the US we are not able to be at the show ourselves, but we have some great help in Schaumburg to bring you the fun of this 37th annual show.
We’ll be regularly updating this report with details, pictures and videos as we get them, so check back for the latest information.
After the usual Bumper Blast welcome party on Wednesday night, Thursday’s events traditionally kick off with the school buses arriving outside the hotel to take Expo guest on a tour of the Stern Pinball factory.
This year, due to concerns over Covid, the physical factory tour was replaced by a virtual tour, hosted in the Seminars Hall by George Gomez and at the Stern factory by Jack Danger. George was joined by Stern Pinball CEO and Chairman, Gary Stern, and the company’s new President, Seth Davis.
The presentation wasn’t streamed live, but Ross Simpson was in the hall to report for us.
The virtual Stern Pinball factory tour
(picture: Ross Simpson)
Although it is a regular part of the Expo experience, by a show of hands less than half the audience had been on a Stern Pinball factory tour before.
Stern are now producing more games than they were before the pandemic thanks to several efficiencies they have introduced. They now make their own playfields, so shots of their CNC machine were shown, along with the playfields inserts and the special glue they use. Once the glue has dried, the playfields are initially hand-sanded before going into a proper sanding machine. They are then decontaminated and go into the digital printer.
The artwork decals were then shown being applied to the bare cabinet. Stern are working on a new cleaner, simpler cabinet design now there is no longer the need for a transformer, in the same way they redesigned the backbox when they introduced the Spike boardset.
Jack then moved on to the subassembly area in the factory where they are mounting Godzilla models for the company’s latest title alongside Jurassic Park ramp assemblies and parts for the Iron Maiden and Star Wars games which are both still being produced. In addition, playfields were show for Jurassic Park, Deadpool, The Avengers: Infinity Quest and The Mandalorian with those titles also being produced in 2021.
There are two production lines at Stern and they can quickly switch between producing different titles. Jack said next week they would have different titles on the two lines. They estimated that between twelve and fifteen thousand people are employed at the businesses which supply Stern Pinball.
After showing the game completion and packing areas, Jack took the audience into the model shop where they produce the initial versions of the models seen on the playfield, and then into the locked design area where the designers work on their next games.
Jack is now a designer at Stern Pinball and he showed his office which is just outside George’s. There are backlit playfields at the top of the walls in the design area along with game posters and banners. Gary office was also shown, which features many historical artefacts from his time in the business along with more posters and two historically-significant games; Pinball – the first game by Stern Electronics, and Laser War – the first Data East title.
After a look around other areas in the factory, the action returned to the Seminars Hall as a special commemorative poster designed by artist Christopher Franchi was handed out to attendees.
George spoke a little about Insider Connected, Stern new online system, before introducing Seth as the new President of the company.
Seth said he was only four days into the job having previously worked at Disney on their streaming platforms. He said he’s be at Disney working on digital and physical products for ten years. His goal now, he said, was to spend the next ninety days leaning every aspect of Stern Pinball and their customers.
We’ll be back with much more from Pinball Expo shortly, so check back later for the latest updates.
Continue reading...
Pinball News
Welcome to our coverage of this year’s Pinball Expo at its new home in the Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center.
Pinball Expo moved to the Westin Chicago North Shore in 2008 and following twelve shows and one virtual show last year, move to its new home in 2021 in the city of Schaumburg which is around 15 miles west of Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
Unfortunately, due to restrictions on traveller from outside the US we are not able to be at the show ourselves, but we have some great help in Schaumburg to bring you the fun of this 37th annual show.
We’ll be regularly updating this report with details, pictures and videos as we get them, so check back for the latest information.
After the usual Bumper Blast welcome party on Wednesday night, Thursday’s events traditionally kick off with the school buses arriving outside the hotel to take Expo guest on a tour of the Stern Pinball factory.
This year, due to concerns over Covid, the physical factory tour was replaced by a virtual tour, hosted in the Seminars Hall by George Gomez and at the Stern factory by Jack Danger. George was joined by Stern Pinball CEO and Chairman, Gary Stern, and the company’s new President, Seth Davis.
The presentation wasn’t streamed live, but Ross Simpson was in the hall to report for us.
The virtual Stern Pinball factory tour
(picture: Ross Simpson)
Although it is a regular part of the Expo experience, by a show of hands less than half the audience had been on a Stern Pinball factory tour before.
Stern are now producing more games than they were before the pandemic thanks to several efficiencies they have introduced. They now make their own playfields, so shots of their CNC machine were shown, along with the playfields inserts and the special glue they use. Once the glue has dried, the playfields are initially hand-sanded before going into a proper sanding machine. They are then decontaminated and go into the digital printer.
The artwork decals were then shown being applied to the bare cabinet. Stern are working on a new cleaner, simpler cabinet design now there is no longer the need for a transformer, in the same way they redesigned the backbox when they introduced the Spike boardset.
Jack then moved on to the subassembly area in the factory where they are mounting Godzilla models for the company’s latest title alongside Jurassic Park ramp assemblies and parts for the Iron Maiden and Star Wars games which are both still being produced. In addition, playfields were show for Jurassic Park, Deadpool, The Avengers: Infinity Quest and The Mandalorian with those titles also being produced in 2021.
There are two production lines at Stern and they can quickly switch between producing different titles. Jack said next week they would have different titles on the two lines. They estimated that between twelve and fifteen thousand people are employed at the businesses which supply Stern Pinball.
After showing the game completion and packing areas, Jack took the audience into the model shop where they produce the initial versions of the models seen on the playfield, and then into the locked design area where the designers work on their next games.
Jack is now a designer at Stern Pinball and he showed his office which is just outside George’s. There are backlit playfields at the top of the walls in the design area along with game posters and banners. Gary office was also shown, which features many historical artefacts from his time in the business along with more posters and two historically-significant games; Pinball – the first game by Stern Electronics, and Laser War – the first Data East title.
After a look around other areas in the factory, the action returned to the Seminars Hall as a special commemorative poster designed by artist Christopher Franchi was handed out to attendees.
George spoke a little about Insider Connected, Stern new online system, before introducing Seth as the new President of the company.
Seth said he was only four days into the job having previously worked at Disney on their streaming platforms. He said he’s be at Disney working on digital and physical products for ten years. His goal now, he said, was to spend the next ninety days leaning every aspect of Stern Pinball and their customers.
We’ll be back with much more from Pinball Expo shortly, so check back later for the latest updates.
Continue reading...
