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Rumor: Barrels of Fun has GI Joe License...For Now; Jersey Jack Sonic Release Date & More

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From the creator

Welcome to my third article this week. There's been a surprising amount of cool stuff to talk about. Let's kick things off with a brand new rumor. Ye...

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Highlights

  • Barrels of Fun has held a GI Joe pinball license for approximately one year with planned 2028 release
  • Barrels of Fun secured GI Joe license through a UK-based entity that Hasbro's US headquarters disputes
  • Jersey Jack Pinball will reveal Sonic the Hedgehog on June 23rd with immediate distributor shipments
  • Barrels of Fun has expanded facilities with ~40 employees; Dune and Winchester currently on production line
  • Chicago Gaming Company and Play Mechanics' Halo game will be shown at fall 2026 Chicago Pinball Expo
  • American Pinball will release Cirqus Voltaire remake as second licensed game before year-end 2026
  • American Pinball may develop a ZZ Top-themed pinball machine
  • Barrels of Fun is NOT making a NeverEnding Story pinball machine (rumor denied)
  • Barrels of Fun may be working on Big Trouble in Little China pinball
  • Barrels of Fun expected to reveal new game by Pinball Expo 2026

Notable quotes

“He stated that he heard that Barrels has had the license to make a pinball machine based the well-known toy line / cartoon GI Joe for about a year.”
Cale Hernandez (via Knapp Arcade reporting)
“They believe that Jersey Jack Pinball's next game, based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video games will be revealed around June 23rd, with games ready to immediately ship to distributors.”
Jamie Burchell / JBS Show Roundtable
“Of note, June 23rd is considered Sonic's birthday - the original Sega Genesis game launched on June 23, 1991.”
Knapp Arcade (Jason Knapp)
“According to their conversation, as we suspected the rumor that Barrels is making a pin based upon the 1984 film 'The NeverEnding Story' is NOT true.”
Jamie Burchell (citing David Van Es conversation)
“The roundtable members speculated that Barrels might be working on a pinball machine based on the 1986 film 'Big Trouble in Little China.'”
JBS Show Roundtable (Jamie Burchell, Cale Hernandez, Retro Ralph)

Entities

  • American Pinball· company
  • Barrels of Fun Pinball· company
  • Chicago Gaming Company· company
  • Hasbro· company
  • Jersey Jack Pinball· company
  • Play Mechanics· company
  • Chicago Pinball Expo· event
  • Big Trouble in Little China· game
  • Cirqus Voltaire· game
  • Dune· game
  • GI Joe· game
  • Halo· game
  • Sonic the Hedgehog· game
  • The NeverEnding Story· game
  • Winchester· game
  • ZZ Top· game
  • Electric Bat Facebook· organization
  • JBS Show· organization
  • Knapp Arcade· organization
  • Cale Hernandez· person
  • David Van Es· person
  • Jamie Burchell· person
  • Jason Knapp· person
  • John Schwarz· person
  • Retro Ralph· person

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