STAR TREK


Hot on the heels of our first article about Stern's latest pinball, Star Trek, comes the company's official press release and features grid showing the differences between the three models. 

Here are images of the two playfields, both individually and side-by-side.

The Pro playfield
The Pro playfield

The Premium/LE playfield
The Premium/LE playfield

Both together
Both together - spot the differences
(click to enlarge)

The Pro model lacks the following features found on the Premium and LE:

  • Crash effect on USS Vengeance model
  • 60 RGB LEDs and associated clear inserts
  • RGB LEDs for the general illumination
  • Chase lights on the Warp ramp
  • Four backbox flashers
  • Animated laser starfield projector
  • Polished stainless steel plate around lock bar fire button
  • 2-way ball eject/VUK with wireform in left lane
  • Kickback on left outlane
  • USS Enterprise model
  • Two asteroids with LED flashers
  • Deluxe lockbar
  • Metal bottom arch

Meanwhile the LE gains the following features over the Premium:

  • Warp core resonator shaker motor
  • Brushed stainless steel speaker panel with laser cut emblem and grilles
  • Playfield signed by Steve Ritchie
  • Numbered plate
  • Certificate of authenticity
  • Mirrored backglass
  • Animated backlit laser-cut side armour
  • Illuminated 6" stainless steel shield emblem on backbox

So there are a number of interesting and innovative features in the higher end models, while all models are fitted with LED lighting throughout, for both feature inserts and general illumination.

The USS Vengeance model is indeed animated, just as we suggested initially. On the Pro, the ship is activated by a solenoid to rock and shake, while on the Premium and LE a different mechanism rocks the ship side-to-side and also slides it nose-down towards the player as it 'crashes' into the playfield. Also animated is the laser starfield projector, the mechanism for which is presumably in the purple lump of plastic mounted on the backboard.

The LE brings back the shaker motor which had been left out of earlier LEs, and adds animating electroluminescent panels behind the blue side armour's cutouts.

Let's take a look at the list of features across each model in full:

The features grid
The features grid
(click to enlarge)

Stern has released slightly fuller cabinet pictures of all three models, showing the translite/backglass artwork and backbox sides. Here they are, starting with the Pro.

Star Trek Pro
Star Trek Pro

Star Trek Premium
Star Trek Premium

Star Trek Enterprise Limited Edition
Star Trek Enterprise Limited Edition

Finally, here's Stern's official press release announcing the game.

Stern Pinball Announces STAR TREK™ Game

The World’s Leading Maker of Arcade-Quality Pinball Set to Launch Star Trek
Pinball Machine

MELROSE PARK, IL – September 12, 2013 – Stern Pinball, Inc., the world’s leading maker of real pinball games and the American Amusement Machine Association (“AAMA”) Manufacturer of the Year, proudly announced today the availability of Star Trek pinball.

Inspired by the Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness films, the newest Stern machine puts players in Captain James Kirk’s chair of the U.S.S. Enterprise, embarking on a journey to protect and defend the planets of the Federation.

Stern’s Star Trek pinball machine features all the bells and whistles a Star Trek fan would desire. With adrenalin-filled battles, high-definition artwork, cosmic LED lighting and classic musical scores, the Star Trek game will evoke the sensation of flying through space at Warp Speed to rescue Spock and defeat the U.S.S. Vengeance.

The newest game from Stern includes an animated battleship, three lightning fast ramps, three flippers, resettable memory drop targets and much more.

“The Star Trek pinball machine celebrates the much loved sci-fi franchise by bringing fans a whole new adventure right at their fingertips,” said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc.

Star Trek is Stern’s first all-LED Pro Model. The playfield features eight multicolored LED paths that lead gamers on easy-to-understand color-coded routes. There are six missions for casual players matched by 18 complex treks to immerse enthusiast players deeper in the game. As players attack an oncoming threat with three action-centered flippers, the all-LED playfield will captivate onlookers and enhance the player experience with features like phaser flashes and photon torpedoes.

Players will instinctively know exactly what to do when they approach Star Trek pinball– destroy the U.S.S. Vengeance, a key action-packed feature on the playing field. From the very start, players will have the chance to unlock special opportunities, collect tantalizing bonus features and win a series of accolades called The Captain’s Chair.

Star Trek aficionados can expect the classic battle between the heroic Enterprise team and the villainous Khan as well as run-ins with Nero, Klingons and the Narada.

The Star Trek game, under license by CBS Consumer Products, continues both the Stern Pinball and the Stern family tradition of producing quality pinball machines for young and old. The company traces its lineage to Philadelphia in the 1930s when Sam Stern entered the business of operating pinball games. Sam Stern subsequently became part owner and president of Williams Manufacturing, a pioneer in the pinball industry, and passed his lifelong enthusiasm for the game and the business of pinball to his son, Gary, who founded Stern Pinball. Today pinball remains one of America’s favorite pastimes.

™ CBS Studios Inc. © 2013 Paramount Pictures Corporation. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Pricing and Availability:

Star Trek pinball is available through authorized Stern distributors and dealers.
Pro Version: $5,395 (MSRP)
Premium Version: $7,495 (MSRP)
Limited Edition Version: $8,795 (MSRP)

To learn more about the Star Trek pinball machine and Stern Pinball, visit
www.sternpinball.com.

About Stern Pinball, Inc.
Stern Pinball, Inc., headquartered just outside Chicago, Illinois, is the leading producer of pinball games in the world. Stern’s highly talented creative and technical teams design, engineer and manufacture popular arcade-quality pinball games. Recent popular Stern titles include Metallica, Avengers, X-Men, AC/DC, Tron, Transformers, Avatar, Iron Man, Batman, Spiderman and many more. All of Stern’s pinball games are crafted by hand and assembled by Stern’s expert team. Both pinball enthusiasts and casual players around the globe enjoy Stern’s games. For more information, please visit www.sternpinball.com.

All trademarks and product names are the property of their respective companies.

Production of the Pro model is starting now, with the LE models being made in the second half of October, right around the time of the Pinball Expo factory tour. We'll have coverage of the tour and much more about Stern's new Star Trek game soon, right here at Pinball News.

 

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