Stern Pinball and Incendium today officially launched the Heavy Metal pinball machine they have co-produced.
Stern Pinball and Incendium’s Heavy Metal pinball
The title has been trailed before and was due to launch just as the Coronavirus lockdown hit and pinball production largely closed down.
So, Heavy Metal‘s launch was delayed until today, although the game won’t actually ship until late-November or December, 2020.
A collaboration between Heavy Metal magazine’s publisher, Incendium, and Stern Pinball, the game features some attractive and colourful original artwork featuring warrior heroine, Taarna, and the undead tailgunner, Nelson.
The left side of the Heavy Metal cabinet
The right side of the Heavy Metal cabinet
The front of the Heavy Metal cabinet
The cabinet trim features a colour-changing galaxy black metallic paint, while inside we find artworked ‘blades’ lining the cabinet sides.
The game celebrates the 300th issue of Heavy Metal magazine and comes with a unique custom cover version of the magazine.
The playfield design though is not as unique as the rest of the game, featuring a tweaked version of the Star Wars Pin home model design.
The Heavy Metal playfield
We can compare this to the playfield for the Star Wars Pin home game.
Star Wars Pin’s playfield
Rather than collecting movie characters, Heavy Metal requires players to experience the four genres associated with Heavy Metal – Fantasy, Horror, Metal and Sci-Fi. Heavy Metal also includes a full coin door, allowing commercial operation.
Obviously, the Death Star and Tie Fighter at the top of the two ramps have been replaced with models of Nelson and Taarna, with the F-O-R-C-E standup targets now spell H-E-A-V-Y.
The illuminated Neslon figure at the top of the left ramp
The model of Taarna on the right ramp
The H-E-A-V-Y standup target bank
Pleasingly, Heavy Metal includes original music from Sebastian Bach, Brendon Small, Blue Oyster Cult, Cheap Trick and others – something seen as essential for a Heavy Metal-themed game.
The price of the game is $7,999, but this is a limited-edition built-to-order model which will only be available in 2020 and includes a ‘White Glove’ service with delivery and home set-up by an installer, although that’s only available in mainland USA.
While production will be by Stern
