Episode 32 - Stern's 'Miracle' Year

Wedgehead Pinball Podcast

It's the year 1980, and the US Olympic Hockey team shocks the world and beats the Soviet team in a stunning 4-3 upset in Lake Placid, NY during the height of the cold war.
But another miracle happens in pinball that same year too, as a fledgling Stern Electronics releases 9 excellent machines in 1980. They were the clear last place manufacturer behind Bally, Williams, and Gottlieb, but in 1980 Stern makes an unbelievable run of machines, a run that we think has never been bested by anyone.
Alas, even though these games were of an undeniable quality, they weren't selling the units that the other big three makers were selling, and they unfortunately did stop making pinball machines altogether in 1982.
The original Stern Electronics company wasn't around for long, and they were highly underestimated. But for this one fleeting moment, Stern Electronics was the greatest pinball company in the world.
1980 was truly a year of miracles.