May the 4th Be With You - Mandalorian Heads to the Stern Pinball Vault

Jason
May 4
2 min read

Today is May the 4th… Star Wars Day. I can’t let this day pass without mentioning Star Wars and pinball. For Star Wars, the only game in town is Stern Pinball. This morning, Stern Pinball announced that it is moving its 2021 Brian Eddy-designed pinball machine The Mandalorian to its proverbial “Vault.”

This means that Mando will not be made again by Stern for a period of at least two years and possibly never.

With Steve Ritchie’s 2017 Star Wars pin from Stern retired earlier and now Mando, this is the first time in a long time that Stern Pinball hasn’t had a pinball machine from the franchise in production. To me, this lends even more credibility to the rumor that Stern’s next 2025 cornerstone game is a John Borg game based on some sort of Star Wars theme. I still haven’t been able to nail down the exact Star Wars show or movie that the game will be based upon, but I feel pretty good about the Star Wars rumor.

I know that some people don’t like the game, but I personally bought a Mandalorian Pro several years ago. It remains in my collection today. As a huge fan of the show, I don’t envision it ever leaving my collection. In fact, just yesterday I bought a Razor Crest Shifter Knob aka the metal ball that Grogu aka Baby Yoda plays with in the show shooter rod for my game from Tilt Graphics at Pinfest.

In honor of its at least temporary retirement, Stern uploaded a new gameplay video of Mando to YouTube.

“May the 4th be with you as we move another classic into the Stern Vault with The Mandalorian. To help celebrate its inclusion into the vault, watch some of the team go to battle one last time in this celebratory gameplay video. This is the way.

As part of the Stern Vault Program, The Mandalorian will be removed from active production and will remain in the vault for a minimum of two years without any guarantee of returning. The full list of games currently in the Stern Vault include: