warranty contact us buy metallica pro premium star trek pro premium le the walking dead pro le premium wwe pro le whoa nellie whoa nellie kiss pro premium le game of thrones pro premium le spider man vault edition spider man vault edition ghostbusters pro premium le 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s 00s 10s true american craftsmanship stern pinball traces its lineage to the early 1930 s and the founding of modern pinball . sam stern the father of spi s founder chairman and ceo gary stern was part owner and president of pinball pioneer williams electronics . williams and other innovative companies including bally and gottlieb formed the foundation on which the pinball industry was built . sam buys half the company in 1947 sam stern left visited pinball pioneer harry williams right in chicago where according to pinball industry folklore sam brazenly put his feet up on harry s desk and asked why don t you sell me your company because of sam s success as an operator and distributor it took harry only three hours to decide to sell half of the company to sam . harry an avid aviator made his decision while flying his plane over chicago . new innovations introduced during the 1950 s williams and other pioneering chicago companies including bally genco and d. gottlieb & co. introduced many new innovations to pinball including multi player games score reels and increasingly sophisticated playfield mechanisms and art packages . passing the passion sam stern served as president of williams and passed his passion for pinball along to his son gary . as a child gary played in empty pinball boxes on the factory floor at williams . at age 16 during the rebellious 1960 s gary officially entered the pinball business when he started working for his father in the stock room at williams . coin operated video games emerge the introduction of solid state technology in the 1970 s led to circuit boards and digital displays . the new technology helped create new features to improve player appeal . in 1976 new york city lifted its decades long ban on pinball after the industry proved it was a game of skill not chance . the wizard of the pinball craze as the coin op market evolved other companies acquired many of the existing pinball companies . in 1986 after the death of his father gary founded data east pinball which was then purchased by sega and became sega pinball . gary eventually bought the business back from sega and renamed it stern pinball inc. pinball s popularity continued to grow during the 1990 s pinball s popularity continued to grow and the industry experienced some of its best years . stern pinball and other chicago based producers including williams bally midway and gottlieb churned out some of pinball s most iconic titles . pinball bounces back in the fall of 2009 stern pinball partnered with an affiliate of hagerty peterson & co. llc hp a private equity investment firm to help the company weather the great recession and prepare for its next phase of growth . a team led by dave peterson managing director of hp helped the company strengthen its operations and financial condition expand its product offering and enter new markets . stern pinball today today stern pinball proudly continues to carry the pinball banner and promote the world s friendliest game around the globe . home to hall of fame game designers and programmers stern pinball continues to lead the industry in innovation and design . stern pinball s games are enjoyed by an ever expanding group of gamers around the globe who are re discovering and discovering the tantalizing allure of the wild silver ball . latest videos your all access pass to everything stern visit our community page for more game event and instructional videos . recent news news stern pinball debuts spider man vault edition machine jan 05 2016 elk grove village il january 04 2016 stern pinball inc. the world s oldest and largest producer of arcade quality pinball machines announced today the release of its spider man vault edition pinball machine . ... read more additional news june 23 2015 wwe king of the ring tournament may 06 2015 stern pinball joins the kiss army with its release of kiss pinball april 29 2015 stern pinball announces move upcoming events events free play florida nov 11 2016 orlando fl november 11 13 additional events october 12 2016 pinball expo july 16 2016 california extreme june 10 2016 rocky mt pinball showdown stern shop games merchandise & accessories buy stern featured mustang pro buy now home story videos news buy community tweet stern pinball sternpinballinc check it out https t.co 7badaydril paperflock inc kickstarter stern pinball sternpinballinc going down right now pinballexpo2016 sternpinball kapow banquet https t.co btenhfjfsg stern pinball polygon writes stern pinball turns 30 this year and the last of the major pinball creators in the world decided to celebrate with a blowout party this month . http www.polygon.com 2016 10 11 13240766 stern pinball photo essay tour stern pinball vice report on the portland pinball scene what some consider to be the best in the nation . http www.vice.com read inside portlands competitive pinball scene 2015 stern pinball contact privacy policy