The King of Monsters is turning 70 this year, and to celebrate, we’ve already received a VR arcade title from Raw Thrills. Now, Stern Pinball has launched a new Premium edition of their Godzilla pinball machine to mark the occasion and it looks pretty sweet. Let’s check it out:
The Godzilla 70th Anniversary Pinball Machine
Stern’s first take on Godzilla happened back in 2021, and as of this moment, the Premium model is the #1 player rated pinball machine of all time, per IPDB. It’s also been a chart topper in Replay Magazine’s monthly surveys and I’ve heard from several fellow operators that it is one of their best performing pins.
This new edition looks to capitalize on that with an awesome looking black, white & red art package that uses a material to give everything a metallic sheen. They will also launch matching accessories to accompany the game, as laid out here:
Note that Stern had upset a lot of collectors in the past by doing re-releases of “Limited Edition” models, so they’ve adjusted it by keeping this Premium and, as George notes near the end, these are going to stay in production for “as long as there is demand.” This new game also has the same price tag as the regular, full-color Premium model, MSRP of $9699 plus freight & tax.
As a wider industry note, venues have plenty of Godzilla to choose from now. Aside from the aforementioned Godzilla Kajiu Wars VR game, there’s also UNIS’ Godzilla Vs. Kong Smasher games. Those are the most innovative “whac-a-mole” style games I’ve ever encountered; Taito also has been spotted testing out a cool-looking Godzilla medal game over in Japan.
I do find myself tempted to sell off a machine or two to grab this one, but long before Knapp Arcade had posted a rumor about Stern’s next machine, I’d heard the same thing through a very reliable source about what the theme after John Wick is supposed to be. If that one holds true, then that will definitely be my next pinball purchase and something like this will have to wait.
That aside, what do you think about Godzilla 70th Anniversary Pinball? Is it on your radar or did you already place your order for it?
