TLDR The Name Is The First Trap The phrase “vintage Barrels of Fun pinball games” sounds simple, but it can point in two very different directions. First, there is Barrels of Fun, the modern boutique pinball manufacturer behind games like Labyrinth, Dune and Winchester Mystery House. These machines are recent, not vintage. They belong in … Read more
TLDR This post helps pinball fans understand the history of Medieval Madness by explaining how it was designed, released, and revived, so they can see why it still matters nearly three decades later. If you ask pinball people to name the game that feels closest to a universal favorite, Medieval Madness comes up fast. The … Read more
TLDR What happened to Gottlieb? A company that helped define modern pinball eventually lost its edge when the industry moved from electromechanical games to solid-state electronics and corporate ownership kept shifting. But Gottlieb did not disappear overnight. The manufacturing side carried on through Mylstar and then Premier until 1996, and the machines still matter because … Read more
TLDR This post helps pinball players, collectors, and curious buyers understand the history of Twilight Zone pinball by explaining where it came from, what made it different, and why it still matters, so they can better appreciate one of the hobby’s most iconic machines. Some pinball machines are popular for a few years and then … Read more
At a certain point, a pinball spot stops feeling like a good arcade and starts feeling like a full-on destination. For me, that line is somewhere around 100 machines. Above 200, you are not really “going to play a few games” anymore. You are planning a day. Maybe a weekend. And you are definitely accepting … Read more
TLDR Pinball used to be called dangerous, corrupting, and a nickel-stealer. That sounds absurd now. But it tells you something important right away. The history of pinball is not a smooth nostalgia story. It is a survival story. If you only know pinball as the loud machine in the corner of a barcade, or the … Read more
TLDR As of April 2026, it is getting harder to argue that venue growth is a side story in pinball. Pinball will always be a machine business first. New releases, code updates, rumors, price chatter, and trim debates are never going away. But one of the healthiest things happening in the hobby right now is … Read more
TLDR A pinball machine is not just a game. At the high end, it is also industrial design, sculpture, animation, sound, illustration, and collectible object all at once. That is why the Harry Potter pinball controversy became bigger than a niche hobby argument. It hit a fault line that artists and collectors already care about: … Read more
Bride of Pinbot is one of those pinball machines that people remember even if they have not touched one in years. The giant rotating head. The voice. The left ramp that basically becomes your whole life for a while. And of course, the billion-point shot that can make an ordinary game feel suddenly legendary. Some … Read more