I bring news of Stern Pinball's latest production schedule for its hot new Pokémon pinball machine. The entire first run of the game...all Pros, Premiums and Limited Edition machines is sold out. The demand for Pokémon is so great that dealers are not even being allocated games for their showrooms as they typically are.
Machines will be built in the following order:
- Pro machines for Locations: Early March
- Limited Edition machines: Mid- to Late March
- Premium machines for Locations: Late March
- Non-Location Premium machines: Early April
- Non-Location Pro machines: April
Stern currently has a second production run of Pokémon scheduled for June. Many dealers have a backlog of orders that will come from that build. It is unclear at the moment if that run is sold out yet.
Next up we have Barrels of Fun. Yesterday, Barrels announced that it has launched its first major code update for its newest game Winchester Mystery House, which includes a new Wizard Mode.
"WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE®
CODE UPDATE! 2/19/26
The first major code update for Winchester Mystery House® Pinball features the inclusion of Thirteenths Wizard Mode! Just as construction on Sarah's sprawling estate was never quite complete, we're always adding enhancements and fixes to the Winchester Mystery House® pinball machine code!
THIRTEENTHS WIZARD MODE
Thirteenths spoken,
Thirteenths done,
Yet darker games have just begun!
The new Thirteenths Wizard Mode is now available after completing all five Thirteenth tasks!
plus
ADDITIONAL ENHANCEMENTS, POLISH, & IMPROVEMENTS!"
The gaming news website Time Extension ran a great article earlier this week about SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog games. SEGA is delisting the current Sonic 1 and 2 from mobile stores soon. Prior to its delisting, anyone who is interested can download the games for FREE!
Sega did something similar with another batch of games last year. At the time, I grabbed a free copy of Golden Axe for my iphone...one of my favorites.
Another Set Of Sega Classics Are Being Discontinued On Mobile
Several days ago, Dutch Pinball announced on Facebook that it now has slots available for its previously sold out Alice's Adventures in Wonderland pinball machine.
The company has still not released an official statement on its Dutch Pinball Exclusive division or the departure of Melvin Brouwer-Williams. I have reached out to them multiple times on the subject with no response.
"Dutch Pinball is pleased to share that a limited number of production spots have become available for their latest title, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, a machine recognized for its striking design and craftsmanship.
If you are interested in securing an Alice for your collection, please contact your local distributor for availability and ordering details. Spots are limited, so early inquiry is recommended.
A list of our distributors can be seen at https://www.dutchpinball.com/distributors "
Earlier this week, the JBS Show podcast published its latest Roundtable video, featuring Jamie Burchell, Retro Ralph and Cale Hernandez.
During the great hour-and-a-half talk about pinball, the subject of future games from Barrels of Fun came up. Barrels is notoriously secretive about its future titles, so the second I heard this my ears instantly perked up. Cale still believes that the next pinball machine from Barrels is based on the 1984 film "The NeverEnding Story."
NeverEnding story seems like a very Barrels-like theme to me, but I have no personal insider knowledge on whether we are getting a pinball machine based on it other than what I heard on the Roundtable.
For reasons that I can't publicly discuss yet, I personally think that the previously rumored Barrels of Fun theme "Big Trouble In Little China" may actually be back in play. I say this with a low level of confidence, but recent events have happened that give me hope that it might still happen. We'll see.
Speaking of The NeverEnding story, here's a few pictures of Rob Berk, the owner of the massive location Past Times Arcade and the current Guinness Book of World Record holder for the largest pinball collection, showing me a recent addition to his collection that is not on the floor of his arcade yet...a 1979 Bally Supersonic that contains a 1985 Geiger conversion kit that transformed it into a game called "Fly High" - which is essentially an unlicensed version of The NeverEnding Story, complete with Falkor the flying Lukdragon dog guy. Only 150 of this kit were produced by the German company. So cool.
