Tomorrow, September 29, is my birthday. Coincidentally, it’s the Portland Retrogaming Expo (https://www.retrogamingexpo.com/) and we’re heading down there to check out this event for the day and hoping to play The Uncanny X-men for the first time and, if it’s there and available to play, Avatar from Jersey Jack Pinball.
In the meantime, I gave myself a pinball present.
My son’s birthday is March 7 and he didn’t get his Jaws machine until after that. Birthdays for adults aren’t quite like birthdays for children, but was hoping he had gotten his machine on/before his birthday. Didn’t happen, but it was close to his birthday. Mine came a couple days before mine. Yay!
Iron Maiden NIB premium was ordered on Friday the 13th of September, at the time I was told it would take 10 days to arrive from Stern to the distro and then our vendor friend that my son bought Jaws Premium NIB earlier this year (see: Our Son Bought a New In Box Jaws Stern Premium – The First 40 Days of Ownership – What’s the Experience Really Like?) will pick up and deliver.
I told Candyman to deliver it at his leisure. We already have Jaws to play which already feels like a luxury I didn’t imagine ever being able to have in a home setting. The problem with HUO (Home Use Ownership) is it’s just too darn expensive to buy these beautiful machines.
In fact, I vowed after a miserable experience with my first purchase many years ago when our children were younger and living at home (they are all in their 30s and out on their own now) never to buy another pinball machine. I was so glad to see Eight Ball leave our home and told my wife, “never again!”
Fast forward to a few years ago, when I started with an Atgames Legends Ultimate (ALU) arcade machine, also blowing me away to be able to play arcade games at home, because I always wanted to own some kind of arcade machine, too, but just never pulled the trigger. I would see these cool multicade machines at Costco, but they cost like $3,000 and just couldn’t do it.
But the ALU came in priced well under $1,000, so had to have it. And then the next year, they released their Atgames Legends Pinball, a virtual pinball machine that featured virtual pinball versions of some Gottlieb games and older Zaccaria. I didn’t remember ever seeing or playing any Zaccaria pinball, but some of them looked familiar.
These two purchases led me back to the arcades. Back to checking out pinball, a game that I had mostly abandoned. Also, just didn’t see pinball in very many places. My wife and I would fondly remember during courting going across to Portland, Oregon and playing Taxi pinball when it was newly released. We both have enjoyed playing pinball, which is why we purchased a used Eight Ball machine so the kids and ourselves could play pinball at home.
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, the machine we bought was in very poor condition when we bought it, needing lots of maintenance. Work that was beyond our knowledge and skillset. My uncle repaired organs at the time and he came over and helped get the machine running a few times. It was a time when the internet wasn’t a thing, not like today where places are everywhere online that help pinball owners out with how to keep these machines up and running.
And these days after seeing firsthand my son’s experience with Jaws, these machines are built to play longer and don’t have nearly as many problems — well, they can if you get a machine with issues, there are still mechanical problems — I decided it was time to take the plunge again.
Why Iron Maiden?
Why not? It’s a great game. It’s so much more than just a music pin, which some will deride as being lesser themes.
One of the first pinball machines my son and I played a lot was Stern’s Iron Maiden. We also don’t have many Iron Maidens to play on location in the area, so it’s something we don’t have as much opportunity to play as other Stern Spike 2 pins.
Photo above: Jaws has a friend, pinball machines look good lined up, real good.
We are both huge fans of the band and Iron Maiden music and, personally, really like the look and gameplay of Iron Maiden. It’s also a game that I’ve enjoyed playing in virtual pinball and said to myself, you know I’d really like to buy this game for home someday.
Godzilla is another one I really like and would be interested in owning someday, but Godzilla is everywhere to play on location. So, if we want to play Godzilla, we have lots of places to visit and play locally.
Iron Maiden was created by Keith Elwin and released in 2018. Despite it being 6+ years ago, Stern are still producing this great game. I’ve been tracking at a local distro when they get in Iron Maiden pins and the premiums always seem to sell out faster than the pro, despite the pros being just as much fun to play. I think other Maiden fans are looking at the artwork, too, on the premium, but that’s pure speculation.
Elwin also designed Jaws, which we have been loving. Jaws is fast becoming my favorite pinball game to play of all time. I still think Godzilla, also by Elwin, is a better game, but it’s possible after getting and playing Iron Maiden more that could overtake. Or maybe Jaws. I mean Jaws has been an absolute delight to play.
Guess you could say besides Iron Maiden fans, we’re now both huge Keith Elwin fans. His team at Stern just seems to keep cranking out fun games.
With the release of X-Men, I was thinking about that game instead of Iron Maiden, but haven’t played it and decided for my first NIB game to buy something I’ve already played and knew was a winner.
Why the Premium and not the Pro or LE?
I don’t like the look of the LE, so that was out. We actually were going to buy the pro, which I think is great as well. It’s the premium yellow design and mummy Eddie (Iron Maiden’s mascot) coming out from the side of the machine that just calls out to me aesthetically more than the pro, but I would have been just as happy playing the pro as the premium.
There are some mechs and the ramp raises and lowers in the premium, but those things weren’t major deciding factors. The pro is plenty good to play, and super fast. I will admit pretty much the only reason I decided on the premium was the design. Yes, I could have saved money by buying the pro and reskinning the artwork to look like a premium. I think they call those promiums or something like that. Not knocking others that do that, but I’d rather have an actual premium than mod a pro to look like a premium, even if it’s saving money. And it’s still going to be a pro in the Stern Insider Connected, so … why?
There was this guy selling a promium and calling it a premium in his ads. My friend went to check it out thinking he was getting a screaming deal on a premium for $6,700 with topper, art blades only to find out it was a promium. He did not do the deal.
Modding these pinball machines doesn’t add the value vs. cost that keeping them stock and doing the preventive maintenance (changing the balls, cleaning, waxing, etc) does. A well-loved, well-maintained HUO pin holds good value for those interested in selling or trading them someday.
We were thinking about buying two NIB pros, my son was going to buy James Bond Pro and I was going to buy Iron Maiden Pro, but my wife told me we (I) had to do some more work on the home before I could bring home a pinball machine. So, Iron Maiden goes next to my son’s Jaws for a little while (pinball machines look better in pairs, anyway). Eventually, it will be moved home so I can play it every day. I have keys to my son’s house and can go there any time and play, but it’s about a 25 minute drive away. I’ll get over there here and there and be able to play it, plus he’ll be able to play it every day, which he’s looking forward to.
2024 Favorite Gaming-related Hardware Purchase of the Year
Although the year isn’t over yet and this isn’t official, but the Iron Maiden pinball machine is going to be almost impossible in my mind to beat. Up until this point, I was thinking of picking my son’s Jaws, because we’ve had a huge blast playing that machine this year. We’re approaching 5,000 plays on it and it’s been such an amazing gaming experience, but Iron Maiden, well, I actually bought this one, not Jaws, so think probably the title will go to that.
If you’re curious about the other years, see: My 2023 Favorite Gaming-related Hardware Purchase Is …
Certainly, I’ll have more to say about Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast. In fact, I’ve already created a Facebook group, because the other one that had hundreds of people in it isn’t very active any longer. I get it, 6 years since Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast launched, but there’s still plenty to talk about with this machine, the band and their music.
For Iron Maiden fans, owners or those who are interested in Stern Pinball’s Iron Maiden Pinball. All things Iron Maiden welcome in this Facebook group. Up the Irons!
If you’re into Facebook groups, it’s a public group you can join here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/bUHUbvPV6TtCauYN/
New pinball fan?
One last exciting moment to note for now: was witnessing our middle adult son taking a strong liking to Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast. Sean, the homeowner, has played a little pinball here and there, but noticed right away he was getting into Iron Maiden — a lot. After we set it up, he played well into the first evening, trying to better his score. He played more games the first day it was setup than anybody else, including me.
Before leaving for home, I checked the number of games played and it was around 20 plays. The next morning I returned and the counter had gone up by dozens more games and asked him if he’d kept playing. He said enthusiastically, “yes!” and had kept playing to get more high scores on the machine.
I’d hoped Sean would get more into pinball and this was the first time I’d seen him actively playing a pinball repeatedly. Even when Jaws came in earlier in the year, he played that here and there, particularly the video mode, Shark Hunter, which he did get into, but the primary pinball not nearly as much. He liked it, but Iron Maiden was different: he found that special machine.
This is an awesome moment in pinball: when you find your machine. That one machine that you just love to play over and over and over again, chasing it, trying to improve your skills and beat all the different modes.
So, yesterday, we were talking, Day #2 of ownership and Sean was playing about how nobody had yet beaten the default grand champion (GC) score of 250 million. I was driving home and got a call from Sean and he was really jazzed up about a game where he got the GC. I asked him to share to the Discord where I’m tracking Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast ownership diary. Here’s what he posted.
Yes, he was the first ever on the new machine to get the top score and enter his initials. Congrats, SDR!
At Age 9, Standing on a Stool to Enjoy Playing
Lastly, we were talking about our grandson, Axel, age 9 curious which of the two pinball machines he’d play first when he walked into the house. Would he play Jaws, a game he has really enjoyed playing or play the second machine in the house: Iron Maiden? Not only did Axel play Iron Maiden he only played Iron Maiden several times, racking up a score that he teased his uncle beat his last score.
Love it! This is pinball, folks, when you bring it home and not just you enjoy it, but others in the family get into it, too. We can talk on and on about the business of how expensive these machines are, but there is nothing more worthwhile about buying them and seeing multiple people in the family enjoy playing them. When a hobby you love is shared by others in the family, it’s on!
Happy pinballing to all readers, hope you find your pinball machine(s) to celebrate and enjoy.