Some time ago, we told you that Stern Pinball, the master scrambler, uses misleading code names for its future pinball machines.
And we’ve got proof, which we’re sharing with you! Here are the little labels that hang out under the playfields of some of the newer machines.
First of all, under the Godzilla pinball machine‘s wood, we see the mention Spectre.
Under the Jurassic Park pinball machine (not the Home Pin, the “real” one), it says Jaws.
And under the Netflix Stranger Things table, there is a reference to The Goonies movie.
What conclusion can be drawn from these code names?
Does this mean that the pinballs are designed before the license was secured? Would that mean that Stern had planned a Goonies pinball and not a Stranger Things one, and changed the artwork on a machine that had already been designed? Not really.
Between us, even if the Goonies enjoy a nice nostalgic effect among Pinheads, the power of the Stranger Things license is 100 times superior. Hard to believe that the Netflix series would be a fallback plan.
If I have to conjecture, I’d stick with the following idea: Stern has learned to outwit leaks, their strategy is not to avoid rumors circulating, as they are aware that this is a futile effort. So they take the opposite approach and flood the spies with potential leads.
In this hypothesis, code names would be part of this strategy of multiplying rumors. And the manufacturer would even be able to exploit one day a license they positioned as a false lead before! Could Jaws be the first pinball machine born from this great smoke and mirrors?
