The Great British Pinball Podcast Episode 2

UK pinball hosts discuss new acquisitions, Stern lighting upgrades, and LED mod solutions for classic machines.

Synopsis

Scott Rundell and Neil McCray discuss their recent pinball acquisitions and activities, including Neil's restoration of James Bond 007 LE and preparation for UK Pinfest. They cover Stern's Expression Lighting system across multiple games, debate originality vs. restoration aesthetics, and provide an in-depth spotlight on LED modifications (LED OCD, GI OCD, and Stumbler's aftermarket boards) as solutions to ghosting issues in classic games. They also discuss the mod community, pricing trends, and upcoming events.

Highlights

• Expression Lighting is now on three games: Led Zeppelin, Rush, and Foo Fighters
• Expression Lighting cannot be installed on Foo Fighters Pro but can be installed on Rush Pro (missing recess on Foo Fighters Pro)
• LED OCD and GI OCD boards have roughly doubled in price from ~$80-100 to ~$300 since COVID/silicon shortage
• Stern Classics (Stern Electronics games like Dragon Fist, Nineball, Meteor) have 2-3 strategic paths to big points, unlike most games of that era
• Dragon Fist is extremely rare with approximately 250 ever made
• Stern pricing has hit the ceiling; LE pricing is 'mad now'
• Stumbler's LED boards are cheaper than Comet boards in the UK and work as plug-and-play without configuration
• UK Open 2025 is sold out

Entities

• Comet· company
• Pinball Refinery MI· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• UK Open· event
• UK Pinfest· event
• Addams Family· game
• Creature from the Black Lagoon· game
• Dragon Fist· game
• Foo Fighters· game
• James Bond 007 LE· game
• Kiss· game
• Led Zeppelin· game
• Lord of the Rings· game
• Mandalorian· game
• Meteor· game
• Nineball· game
• Rush· game
• Star Wars Pro/Premium· game
• Tron· game
• Brad· person
• James Reid· person
• Matt Vince· person
• Neil McCray· person
• Scott Rundell· person
• Stumbler· person