The Great British Pinball Podcast Episode 31: Beetlejuice is here!

Beetlejuice and Winchester Mystery House reviewed; discussion of boutique vs. Stern pinball manufacturing strategies.

Synopsis

Neil McRae and Scott Rundell discuss their experiences at recent pinball expos, with particular focus on new releases: Beetlejuice by Spooky Pinball and Winchester Mystery House by Barrels of Fun. They share detailed impressions of both games' mechanics, artwork, and design philosophy, while also discussing industry dynamics around production timelines, distribution, and the competitive positioning of boutique manufacturers versus Stern.

Highlights

• Neil bought a Star Wars (LE) directly from a private seller in the US and saved approximately £3,000 compared to retail UK pricing.
• Winchester Mystery House is Barrels of Fun's most challenging game to date with difficult shot angles.
• Spooky announced Beetlejuice approximately one hour before the podcast went live to capture reaction.
• Evil Dead delivery to the UK has taken over a year since Neil paid deposit in August with balance paid in September.
• Government shutdown (not tariffs) caused delays to June's arrival, affecting air freight and customs processing.
• Winchester has an upper flipper with upper playfield-like design, sandworm mech, chair lock mechanism, and uses a narrow body cabinet.
• Stern typically serves 300-400 US venues that depend on receiving new games within days of announcement.
• Lyman F. Sheats Jr. was the original coder on Monster Bash, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness, Metallica, Walking Dead, and other classic remakes.
• Christopher Franchi created the artwork for Beetlejuice and it represents exceptional quality execution of the theme.
• Beetlejuice costs approximately £10,000 while a Stern LE costs £13,000, creating a value proposition question around flat plastic vs. sculpted elements.

Entities

• Barrels of Fun· company
• Spooky Pinball· company
• Stern Pinball· company
• Chicago Expo· event
• Attack from Mars· game
• Beetlejuice· game
• Evil Dead· game
• Jungle· game
• Medieval Madness· game
• Star Wars· game
• Winchester Mystery House· game
• Pinside· organization
• The Great British Pinball Podcast· organization
• Carl· person
• Christopher Franchi· person
• D'Angelos· person
• Keith Elwin· person
• Lyman F. Sheats Jr.· person
• Neil McRae· person
• Phil· person
• Scott Rundell· person
• Tom Graff· person
• Pinball Republic· venue