Stern Pinball Announces Immediate Availability of Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™

[mwong168]

Stern Pinball Announces Immediate Availability of Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ Pinball Machine
World's Leading Maker of Arcade-Quality Pinball Games and Whizbang Pinball Announce It's Melon Season!

MELROSE PARK, Ill., March 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Stern Pinball, Inc., the world's oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball games, and Whizbang Pinball LLC officially announced the availability of their Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ pinball machine.

Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ pinball takes players on a journey through the Mellon Family farm renowned for abundant produce. Players score points on the farm operated by the lovely Melony Mellon and her twin sisters while avoiding the wrath of their over-protective shotgun-wielding father. The colorful easy-to-learn game features a fun classically styled pinball playfield tuned for a balance of randomness and skilled shooting challenges. The game rewards players of all skill levels.

"Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ offers an entertaining classic pinball experience," said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball. "We're excited to work with Whizbang Pinball to provide players and operators with a unique pinball game and a fun playing experience."

"I love the combination of designing a retro-style playfield powered by today's latest technology," said Dennis Nordman, Whizbang Pinball co-founder.

This unique blend of classic and modern technologies creates a new breed of pinball machine that presents pinball as an art form while maintaining the reliability and serviceability of modern commercial pinball machines. The playfield, backglass, and cabinet art and styling, central to the game's unique visual quality, feature detailed original characters and fresh hand-drawn artwork that blend elements of mid-century pin-up art and classic pinball themes.

Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ offers many unique features including:

Original retro-style playfield designed by Dennis Nordman
Original retro-style hand-drawn graphics by Greg Freres featuring fresh fruit, a cool truck and the ever popular Mellon family
A unique, durable, weathered fruit crate cabinet design
A supplemental set of powder-coated legs for ease of operation and transportation
A standard coin-door for location play
Illuminated mechanical score reels
Retro-style bumper caps and flipper bats
Dual-action bullseye melon targets
A retro mechanical Knocker
Space for crushed beer cans to set the perfect playfield angle (players can choose their own brand or use Whoa Nellie! branded cans)
Pricing and Availability:

Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price ("MSRP") for the United States: US$6,499

Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ is available through authorized Stern Pinball distributors and dealers around the world.

Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons™ merchandise and accessories are now available through the Stern Shop: http://costore.com/sternpinball/welcome.asp and select authorized distributors and dealers around the world.

About Whizbang Pinball LLC

Founded in 2009 by Greg Freres and Dennis Nordman, Whizbang Pinball LLC is a design studio that presents boutique pinball as a new art form by integrating its extensive pinball industry experience with its artistic vision for a unique combination of art and technology.

About Stern Pinball, Inc.

Stern Pinball, Inc., headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, is the oldest and largest producer of arcade-quality pinball games in the world. Stern Pinball's highly talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture a full line of popular pinball games, merchandise and accessories. Recent Stern Pinball titles include WWE WrestleMania, The Walking Dead, Ford Mustang, Star Trek, Metallica, The Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, and spiderman. A broad range of players enjoy Stern Pinball's games from professional pinball players who compete in high-stakes international competitions around the globe to novice players who are discovering the allure of the silver ball for the first time. To join the fun and learn more, please visit http://www.sternpinball.com.

All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies

 

[Menace]

Love this game, but it's amazing how such a simple layout and lack of PF toys and ramps costs almost $1k more than a standard Stern Pro model... Guess it comes down to volume?

D

 

[Chris Bardon]

That pricing is crazy. I really wonder what the BOM on something like this is compared to a regular stern pro. There are definitely some more unique parts (score reels etc), but you'd think that'd be offset by the fact that there aren't near as many things on the PF.

Still, I think the crate mount looks neat, and I'm glad this is making it out there, but I have to wonder how many people would be in for a $6500 "EM".

 

[luch]

6,500 American , try 8,500 Can. and then HST total 9,550 ouch

 

[Menace]

Does the $6500 even include the crate mount? I thought I heard somewhere that was an option?

D

 

[mwong168]

Does the $6500 even include the crate mount? I thought I heard somewhere that was an option?

D

That is probably for the LE

 

[Chris Bardon]

I think the pinball news article said it included both the crate and standard legs, which explains some of the cost, but still, I figured this would come in at $4k tops...

 

[Slam_Tilt]

What I don't get is that they used such a shitty playfield design. Never mind $8500 for an EM, but $8500 for a crappy EM. It will get boring to play very fast. This is a game for just sitting pretty in a collection, a conversation piece.

 

[Menace]

I will say that I honestly hope this endevour succeeds regardless of the price, because Gary Stern has said for as long as I can remember that pinball cannot survive without licensed themes in today's market... Yes I feel the price is much too high given what you are getting, but if it doesn't sell because of the price point you can bet your ass Gary will use the non-license as to why it failed.

It's too bad, because it really is a beautiful game.

D

 

[spiroagnew]

Stern's first "boutique" game?

I'm confident that Nordman/Freres did a good job keeping a simple game interesting with rules. They said there were some design/rule surprises that differed from the original. Game will come with legs and crate...apparently there is a special "surprise" for the crushed beer cans that act as levellers for the crate...which I assume is Whoa Nellie branded beer cans. Maybe you crush them yourself?

In no way am I justifying the price, but there was probably a lot of reverse/creative engineering going on...I think the end user is paying for a lot of that work. It's a shame the price point wasn't lower to make the game more accessible.

 

[spiroagnew]

On point. Via Stern's FB:

 

[Luckydogg420]

The only explanation for the price is that stern and whizbang both want a profit off of the same machine, nothing more.

I really hope lots sell, but it's too expensive for my blood. Maybe the second hand market will be more reasonable.

 

[nics135]

Under 4K and I probably buy one...they may make more money selling the cans. I need to get some of those for display behind bar.

 

[mwong168]

Here are some pics of Whoa Nellie at the recent Texas Pinball Festival

 

[mwong168]