The legendary pinball designer Steve Ritchie joined Jersey Jack Pinball in 2021 and was given the Elton John theme. Along with design apprentice Mark Seiden, it took Steve three years to deliver a new pinball machine with Steve’s trademark flow. The game is gorgeous. The light show is spectacular. The music is quite impressive. Everything comes together to create an immersive pinball experience. Butter smooth.

I got to play the Elton John pinball game on the Pintastic livestream. No pressure. This is the Collector’s Edition version of the machine with a disco light topper.

My favorite part was starting the Crocodile Rock multiball!

The soundtrack is perfect. I forgot that Elton John did a famous version of The Who’s Pinball Wizard. When that sound started, it got me going.

So, find the Elton John pinball game on PinballMap, drop a few quarters, and enjoy. You’re welcome.

Update: April 20, 2024 – Setting the High Score

I didn’t get enough of Elton John Pinball by Jersey Jack Pinball at Pintastic, so I took my advice and found an on-location machine on PinballMap. I found an excellent spot and played it for a couple of hours. I set the high score at 832,628,500 points. I found some cool combos, multiballs, and moments along the way. I still love this one! This is the second-highest score that Pinside has recorded for EJ.

Pintastic is a pinball convention hosted in Sturbridge, MA. It’s definitely the largest pinball event in New England. Pintastic offers a huge selection of pinball machines set to free play, an exhibit hall, seminars, and pinball tournaments.

Jersey Jack Panel

Everyone wanted to learn more about the Toy Story 4 pinball machine from Jersey Jack Pinball. Besides a few on-location places, Toy Story 4 was making its big debut at Pintastic 2022. Jersey Jack Pinball hosted a panel and pizza party and had four of its new game set to free play. Each machine drew long lines. I got to play it about 10 times over the course of the weekend. It is a smooth shooter and reminds me a bit of Pat Lawlor’s first Jersey Jack Pinball game, Dialed In.

Homebrew Game Developers Panel

Homebrew pinball has exploded in recent years. The tech to build pinball machines is getting more accessible thanks to systems like The Mission Pinball Framework, 100% open source software for powering real pinball machines. Two homebrew pinball game designers have found fulltime employment at pinball companies in the past year. This featured a three person panel talking about their homebrew pinball design experience and fielding questions from the audience.

The panelists also had some games that you could play in the game hall. I really enjoyed Sonic Spinball and Haunted Cruise.

Meet and Greet

The designers and artists behind some of my favorite games were in attendance. Pintastic featured a meet and greet session with Pinball VIP guests. About 200 pinheads lined up to get posters and parts signed. I met John Bord, the diesner of my Iron Man pinball machine and Steve Ritchie, the designer of Airborne Avenger, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Spider-Man.