By Stan Dabrowski
Game One: Hot Hand
Hot Hand Pinball
The Hot Hand Pinball machine by Stern is a classic game manufactured in 1979 and considered to be one of the more unique games due to the large rotating flipper at the top of the playfield. It is also the first pinball I have owned. That is how much I like it.
It is a Poker themed game where you are hitting bumpers, drop-down targets, to complete card combinations to build up your score and end of ball bonus. At the top of the playfield there’s the rotating flipper and 10 card-value pockets for the ball to land in before the flipper knocks it out.
This flipper is no ordinary pinball flipper; it slowly rotates 360 degrees and affects game play as soon as you launch the ball.
So, other than its uniqueness, why do I like this machine so much?
I find the game play both challenging and entertaining. It may seem like an easy machine to play and build points, but you may have to hit the same shot 5 or 6 times before registering the correct suit of cards. The game plays somewhat fast and is a great machine to learn machine nudging, flipper passing and just keeping the ball alive.
Machine/playfield features:
· Manufacturer by Stern in 1979
· Designer – Harry Williams
· Up to 4 Players per game
· Digital Scoring
· 5-bank drop targets
· 1 spinner
· Upper kicker lane
· 3 pop-up bumpers
Game 2: Iron Maiden – Legacy of the Beast
In this week, segment of pinball play hit or miss we’re gonna talk about my favorite pinball machine, Iron Maiden legacy of the beast.
This machine was released in 2018 by Stern pinball and designed by Keith Elwin It features 12 of Iron Maiden’s most classic tunes:
- The Trooper
- Hallowed be Thy Name
- 2 Minutes to Midnight
- The Number of the Beast
- Powerslave
- Fear of the Dark
- Run to the Hills
- Wasted Years
- Flight of Icarus
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Can I play with Madness
- Aces High
It’s not just my favorite machine because I love Iron Maiden. It’s because I love Iron Maiden and I love pinball. It’s got some great classic shots some and pretty hard shots as well but yet it’s good for both tournament and casual players.
There’s a great flow when playing and a lot of opportunities for combo shots. There are also several different modes to keep you playing of hours (days weeks months).
This game is not only a game you want to play over and over, but it is a game to seek out if you have never played it or you’re just jonesing for some great pinball action.
Until next week. “Up the Irons!”
Game Three: Dolly
I love Dolly Parton and I love the Dolly Parton pinball machine.
Manufactured by Bally in 1979, this is a classic solid-state electronic machine. There were 7,350 machines manufactured making it a someone difficult machine to find but I don’t think it’s impossible.
Themed after Dolly Parton, the machine incorporates Dolly’s “Here You Come Again” at various times during game play. The art work on the machine is great and the game design makes it a fun game to play.
The game features an up to 4 player game with a digital alphanumeric display. There’s also 2 flippers, 3 pop bumpers, 4 drop targets and a saucer/ball lock feature. Spelling Dolly Parton can help run up your score.
This machine is definitely on my list of machines to add to my pinball collection and I play it anytime I see it.
Game Four: Jaws
There are a few different version of the Jaws pinball machine manufactured by Stern with some slight or significant differences.
The 2024 regular pro, premium and LE versions are all based on four of the jaws movies (Jaws, Jaws 2 , Jaws 3-D and Jaws: The Revenge. The games feature actual movie footage and original character dialogue. There’s a motorized mechanical shark that interacts with the ball at times. There is also a shark fin target that pops up during certain segments of play.
The pro version is said to be “less mechanically complicated” while the premium adds additional mechanical features including an upper play field.
Stern also launched a 50 Anniversary model in 2025 which offers a different color scheme and special cabinet decals. Each machine also has a hologram sticker to identify it as the 50th anniversary machine.
I love the artwork and playfield design of these machines but have honestly only played the pro version. The play is fast and fun.
The price starts around $7000 and only goes up based on the model and condition.
This is another machine I play anytime I see it out in the wild or our local pinball arcade.
Game Five: Comet
This week’s pick is the classic pinball “Comet”. Manufactured by Williams Electronics in 1985, it features pinballs first 1 Million point shot.
Comet is amusement park themed with really good artwork and a fun playfield. The playfield features a ramp themed after a roller coaster, two drop down target banks themed as a shooting gallery and a jump ramp themed after a stunt rider (my favorite part). The jump ramp offers 3 different holes the ball can “jump to”, giving the player a 20,000, 50,000 or 200,000 point value based on distance. And when lit the 200,000 jump, goes for a million points.
The game also features a non traditional in-lane and out-lane (drain lane) design. The left side feature an in-lane to the far left and the out-lane just to the right of it. And the right side of the flippers there is only an out-lane.
I love playing this machine and scoring some really big points when I can.
Game Six: Transformers – More than Meets the Eye
This weeks machine is Stern’s 2026 Transformers: More than Meets the Eye. It’s the theme is based on the 1984 animated series and not the Michael Bay movies. One of the coolest features is that Peter Cullen voices callouts forOptimus Prime and Frank Welker voices callouts for Megatron and Soundwave.
Game play on this machine is smooth with some pretty wicked shots. During game play Megatron will shoot the ball back to the playfield via his fusion cannon. Soundwaves cassette deck is actually a ball lock feature.
The main game is structured around five major missions:
• Autobot Run
• Microbots
• Solar Needle
• Prime Target
• Golden Lagoon
This is a game you will want to play if you see it out there in the wild.
Game Seven: Cyclone
The Cyclone pinball machine was manufactured by Williams in 1988 and is a sequel to Comet ( see week 5 of Pinball Play).
There are two roller coaster themed ramps in this one. The main ramp is Cyclone and second one is the Comet. The ramps are a huge part of the games flow.
Also features in the game play is a working Ferris Wheel and a spook house. When you shoot the ball to the Ferris wheel it will ride up and around then put the ball back in play. The spook house shot has a drop target in front of it, after hitting it to drop it to the next shot into it can trigger a mystery wheel. The Mystery Wheel awards a random prize when activated. The spinning wheel is actually part of the physical backglass rather than a video-screen animation
Definitely a machine I recommend playing. Hope to one day add to a classic pinball collection.
Game Eight: Pokémon
In this week’s episode of Pinball Play’s Hit or Miss we’re gonna talk about the Pokémon pinball machine by Stern.
This machine was released in February 2026 Stern originally had three different versions the Pro ,the Le and Premium edition. The LE and the Premium models have extra game play features from the pro but they cost a bit more. Recently Stern released an “at home version” and its sold at Costco.
I am on the fence on how much I actually like this machine. I am not a Pokémon fan or collector, so I don’t know all the features and how they represent the actual Pokémon world. However it is a fun game to play.
Game play is fast on this one, with a large open area on top where a Meowth ballon comes out and becomes part of the playfield. There are plenty of ramps and shot modes to keep you playing. The game incorporates video clips from the original Pokémon animated series, along with custom recorded voices for Pikachu and Giovanni.
If you’re a fan of Pokémon you won’t want to miss this one. If you’re not it’s still a fun machine to play and since it’s connect to the “Stern Insider Connected” it can track your progress on “catching them all”.
Game Nine: Classic KISS
This week we are talking about one of my favorite pinball machines growing up. It’s Bally’s 1979 KISS.
The machines artwork depicts KISS’s look during their Love Gun era. And at the start of the game the machine plays an electronic tone rendition of “Rock and Roll all Night” and at the end of the game “Shout it Out Loud”.
There’s four popup bumpers with each having the face of an original band member on top. The spinners have Gene Simmons face and there are 4 targets that spell out KISS. The targets are not next to each other but instead each is in different areas of the playfield. There are also 4 lanes on top to help you spell out KISS as well.
Object of the game is simple spell out KISS as many times as you can to rack up the points. But don’t ignore the ABCD drop targets. Knocking those down enough times could score you big points and even a possible free ball.
If you like classic pinball machines you will like this machine. The flow is great, the object of the game is simple and the shots are fun.
Game Ten: Modern KISS
For this weeks Pinball Play we’ve got the 2015 Stern Kiss. Last week we discussed the classic and this week it’s the latest Kiss machine.
This machine is super cool. It features 10 of Kiss’s classic tunes and it sounds awesome.
- Deuce
- Hotter Than Hell
- Lick It Up
- Shout It Out Loud
- Detroit Rock City
- Calling Dr. Love
- Rock & Roll All Nite
- Love Gun
- I Love It Loud
- Black Diamond
When playing it feels like you’re playing pinball at a concert and that is exactly how the playfield is set.
On the playfield there’s a huge Gene Simmons Demon Head with the younger sticking out. At the top of the playfield there is a Paul Stanley Star Child mini – playfield. And there are plenty of drop targets to hit, spelling out KISS on one side and Army on the other. Finally there are the same iconic pop-up bumpers from the 1979 classic machine featuring the face of each member of KISS.
I would definitely rank this as a top 5 music themed pinball machine and one to seek out and play.
