Stern Pinball

There are fans, and then there are mega fans. Each young generation has their one band while growing up that then transcends time and the love of their music.

For audiophile and pinball collector, Dan O’Connor, he has finally been able to fuse his love of the iconic hard rock band with his love of pinball with Stern’s new Led Zeppelin (LZ) pinball machine. Being a huge fan, there was only ever one choice of which model to procure, so Dan hunted down and bought himself the top of the range Led Zeppelin Limited Edition (LE) pinball machine for his fix.

With only 500 of these LE machines worldwide, it’s safe to say that he is in an exclusive club. But the exclusiveness of having one of 500 machines wasn’t enough for Dan. To show his love of the band (and pinball), Dan has meticulously tricked out his machine, which truly makes it unique and a great tribute for his love of both, music and the silverball game.

We sat down virtually with Dan and asked him about his love for Led Zeppelin, his love of pinball, what it means to finally have a Led Zeppelin pinball machine, and of course, to tell us all about every little detail of his gorgeous LZ LE pinball machine.

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AUSRETROGAMER: Hey Dan, thank you for joining us! Let’s dive straight into it – when and how did you get into Led Zeppelin?
Dan O’Connor [Dan]: It’s a great pleasure, Alex, thanks for the opportunity! My older brothers were the first Led Zeppelin fans I knew. I discovered the band at a very early age by noticing the artwork on their album covers, beginning with the third album. The cover images and cutouts stood out to me as exceptionally artful, intricate, and mysterious compared to most of the other LP sleeves my brothers had laying around, and that really grabbed my little-kid curiosity before I ever understood I was listening to their music.

Later, Led Zep’s music stood out to me among the standard FM radio tunes the driver played on the school bus, and I made the happy connection between the songs I was liking and those mysteriously alluring album covers. I noticed that some of the older kids I looked up to seemed to be fans, wearing Led Zeppelin shirts and doodling the band’s logo all over their notebooks and whatnot. One year a graduating high school student drew the image from the inside of the fourth Led Zeppelin album and they printed it in the school yearbook. This all seemed like very important stuff!

I began to hear cryptic stories handed down from older kids about incredible Led Zeppelin concerts involving stuff like weird noise-making gizmos and laser beams. I had been too young to attend these concerts myself and wondered about what must have really happened to inspire all these third-hand tales of magic and astonishment. Soon I was playing my brothers’ LPs more often and became a bigger fan as I got older. I wrote about Led Zep in my high school newspaper and played their songs on my university radio station.

During a university break in a “hey, why not?” moment I answered a want ad on a music store bulletin board for a singer and joined a band that played a lot of Led Zeppelin songs. Around the same time, I discovered that many recordings of Led Zeppelin concerts and studio outtakes exist, and they’re packed with moments as electrifying and more so as those in the album tracks we’ve heard countless times on the radio, at sporting events, etc.

I’d concluded those old concert tales of awe had mostly been just a bunch of kids talking and exaggerating, but in fact they had understated what my ears were telling me had really happened on stage. I couldn’t see the lasers or gizmos, but the music I could hear, mostly recorded by amateurs in the audience on primitive portable recording gear, was very different than what I expected. I started responding to ads in the back of record collector magazines and haunting record shows collecting these live recordings.

As later live album releases have demonstrated since the days when the Song Remains the Same film soundtrack was the only available live Led Zeppelin recording, the songs were familiar but were improvised into different 5-dimensional pretzels with each performance, particularly earlier in their career. Even the band members themselves didn’t seem to really know what might happen before they finished playing a song. Their equipment failed them sometimes, and they’re humans, so mistakes were made onstage (and off)–but when it all clicked, it was absolutely stunning.

As legendary as the band had seemed when I was a kid, I hadn’t imagined a fraction of the musical reality these flawed old recordings revealed. By comparison, the album tracks seemed like experiencing the band for a few minutes by looking through a keyhole in the back of a concert while wearing earmuffs. I was like someone who enjoyed the Star Wars Holiday Special and then found out there were some related movies I should probably check out.

I knew there were many Led Zep fans like me who would be as excited as I was about this “secret” I’d discovered, and I really wanted to share it with them. My band played Led Zep songs using arrangements based on those many live recordings. Some of my favourite on-stage memories are of the moments of obvious surprise and delight our audiences experienced when hearing all those arrangement changes and so forth for the first time.

Dan’s gorgeously lighted Stern Led Zeppelin LE

ARG: We also know that you are a pinball fan, what drew you to the silverball game?
Dan: During the 1970s I wore very unfortunate-looking clothing and did a lot of travelling. I played a lot of late electromechanical and early solid-state games in travel locations like airport lounges and hotels, etc. I was first drawn to pinball for the same reasons many pinheads might name—a real ball in a world under glass loosely observing the laws of physics, the lights and sounds, and certainly the art.

I remain a huge fan of artists Gordon Morison and Christian Marche because their work is such a big part of so many of my earliest pinball memories. Later in that era Bally’s Mata Hari was a favourite game of mine, and I’m proud to own an original backglass production drawing that artist Dave Christensen and game designer Jim Patla signed.

Like many coin-droppers I gravitated to video games when they exploded and I found that my precious few quarters lasted longer on some of the new videos than on the increasingly more difficult pins of the time. One might partially blame Led Zeppelin pinball designer Steve Ritchie for that!

I came back to pinball in a big way after my son played a Gottlieb Tee’d Off pinball at a fair when he was not quite three years old and became a pinhead for life before his first ball drained. A couple of years later I joined a local pinhead buddy (and Santa Claus) on a 20-hour non-stop round trip to pick up our first game, a Star Trek The Next Generation, and since then our hobby fervour has only increased.

Eventually we began travelling to pinball locations, tournaments, Expos and other events while making a bunch of priceless father-son memories I’ll always treasure. We’ve been very fortunate to meet so many fantastic pinball people over the years, far too many to list. We love the games and the very rich history of course, but the people make pinball an extra-special hobby.
There’s nothing quite like being in a room full of people who share your knowledge and enthusiasm about something like pinball, and I hope all pinheads get to experience that joy for themselves someday.

ARG: There is no shortage of music themed pinball machines out there, but it has been a long time coming for Led Zeppelin to get one of their own – what did it mean to you when Stern Pinball announced that they would be making a range of Led Zeppelin pinball machines?
Dan: Like many pinheads I’d seen Led Zeppelin on theme wish lists and heard it discussed for many years. Being aware of how selective the Zeppelin license is, I was honestly sceptical of a licensing deal ever working out. All hats off to Jody Dankberg (Senior Director of Licensing and New Business Development at Stern Pinball) and the rest of the folks at Stern responsible for making that happen. The Stern folks have been modest when asked about it in public, but I imagine that deal must have been relatively challenging to accomplish.

When the Led Zeppelin Matchbox cars were announced in late 2019, I began to think if that happened, then maybe, possibly a Led Zep pinball machine could happen too. But no, really, why pinball? Would it ever really happen? What were the chances? Very slim, I thought, and as time went on, less and less likely. Then came the day when we all knew Led Zep was coming off of all those theme wish lists and into reality.

I went through several rounds of blinking and head-shaking and muttering “No way, really?!?”, realising almost no other pinball theme could micro-target me more precisely than this one. Imagine finding out that a highly unexpected combination of two of your favourite things — that you thought was impossible for lots of complex reasons — was going to happen anyway. Would you freak out? I was kinda freaking out!

Not only that, the designer was Steve Ritchie, who also designed our well-loved first game! Knowing Steve’s background, I expected Led Zeppelin would be a special theme for him to work on, and I also had a high-level idea of the kind of gameplay a Steve Ritchie Led Zeppelin pinball might have. Steve and Led Zeppelin, immediately felt like a good match.

ARG: With Stern’s three model cornerstone range, tell us your experience in hunting down and finally getting the LZ Limited Edition machine? Did you have a plan B. if you weren’t able to source the LE model?
Dan: I waited until after the game’s reveal stream to begin to seriously investigate buying. I had laughable delusions that chances were higher that I would pass on the game after it was revealed, but Jack Danger and his merry band showed us the work in progress, and I was officially over the proverbial barrel. After that not very surprising outcome, it was time to decide on one of the three models.

The Electric Magic mechanism and the Expression lights are the headline features of the game, so for me it was going to be one of the two models that included them: either the Premium, or the Limited Edition. Of course, all the Led Zep imagery is seared in my consciousness and I would have been very happy with the Premium version too, but I decided the exterior art package for the LE had a bit more visual variety and represented a broader visual concept than the first Led Zep album focus of the Premium version.

I’d picked the only model that was limited and began looking for a game really late, which was already looking like a fool’s errand. I knew how long some pinheads had had deposits with many distributors for a possible future Led Zep theme, and my ridiculously late start led me to little optimism that I’d succeed in finding a US distributor with a Limited Edition game available. I made quite a number of unsuccessful inquiries, but eventually contacted a distributor I knew to be a larger operation a few states away, hoping that would mean they’d be allocated more Limited Edition games. They had fewer than ten machines available and all were claimed of course, but they could put me on a short wait-list should anyone change their mind.

In the days after that while waiting to learn if I’d get a Limited Edition game, I kept calling around and learned that folks were not dropping out and buyer spots were not opening up after the reveal stream, so I’d better hope a couple of folks dropped off the one distributor wait-list I was on, because everything else was spoken for. As for a plan B, I knew there’d likely be games in the box available after production, so I wasn’t THAT concerned, but was certainly happy to eventually receive the news that I was off the distributor wait-list.

Type 13 backbox speaker light kit from Speaker Light Kits with a Bent Plastic piece from Pinball Life – The drool factor is off the charts!

ARG: We haven’t played the Led Zeppelin pinball machine as yet, however, since it was designed by The Master of Flow, Steve Ritchie, we would expect it to be ultra fast and flowy. Tell us, what are your favourite aspects of the game?
Dan: From a gameplay perspective I would say the speed and flow you might expect is immediately evident and very appealing. You’re made aware this is a Steve Ritchie game right from the launch. The ball isn’t held that much, but when it’s held it’s for cool reasons. There’s a nice mix of single and multi-ball play, and I like the way the rules are structured. Folks who like the Star Trek game Steve designed for Stern may enjoy this design too.

There’s plenty of rules depth, but it can also be explained quickly at a high level. I don’t think it’s as punitive and perplexing as Steve’s AC/DC. The rules reward combining shots and strategically building and using multipliers. The shots and awards changing based on the section of the song is innovative for a music pin. I love that the rules integrate real Led Zeppelin touring history I’m very familiar with from collecting the live recordings.

ARG: From looking at your pinball collection, we have always been in awe of how awesome they look, especially all of the cool mods that you implement in each of your machines to give them that unique personal touch. Your Led Zeppelin LE machine is no exception, with extensive mods and other personal touches to truly make it a unique pinball machine – could you detail the mods and other add-ons you have made to fully trick out your machine? 
Dan: That’s really nice of you to say! Most of what I’ve added to my Led Zeppelin LE are “off the shelf, plug and play” items available from many different mod makers in the pinball community, and I really appreciate all of them!

I suppose I can start from the ground, where sits a Polk PSW505 powered subwoofer I like to use on all my games, connected to the machine with a Pinnovators device. I swapped out the stock speakers for the Spike speaker and amplifier kit from Pinwoofer. I also added the Type 13 backbox speaker light kit from Speaker Light Kits, with a Bent Plastic piece from Pinball Life to block glass reflections. If you’ve read this far you won’t be surprised to hear I have a fairly strong bias for audio, and I’m pleased with this setup.

Next there’s a shooter handle and a drink holder from Modfather in colours to match the LE cabinet. Cabinet protectors from Pinball Life match the legs. From Rocket City Pinball, the coin return buttons have 3D-printed “Objects” on them, which is the enigmatic sculpture that appears on the cover of the Led Zeppelin album “Presence”. I have one of the 1000 promotional copies of that sculpture the band produced way back in the day, but it’s too tall to fit under the glass!

On the front of the cabinet there’s a tournament button that has a copy of the newspaper advertisement for Led Zeppelin’s appearance here in Raleigh at Dorton Arena in April 1970 that I retrieved from microfiche in the downtown library more than 20 years ago (ARG: Now, that’s dedication!). My Led Zeppelin tribute band played on the same Dorton Arena stage many years later during the state’s July Fourth celebration. Around the sides there are blue LED-illuminated flipper buttons from Pinball Life.

Under the glass there are black apron protectors from Apron Envy, plastic protectors from Mezel Mods, and carbon balls from Ball Baron. There are more blue light mods from Lermods in the ball trough, over the centre ramp, and under the Zeppelin shining onto the playfield. The rubber is all from Titan, keeping the black on the Electric Magic device and post sleeves but going with transparent in most other places. The bottom flipper rubbers are light blue and the upper right flipper rubber is orange.

To the right of the shooter lane is a Promuco John Bonham signature reissue drumstick from the UK. Below the Zeppelin lock lights on the left is a Led Zeppelin guitar pick suggested by collector Ron Shuster as a fix for an early mechanical problem with the Electric Magic spinner, since solved by quick code updates from Stern. I flipped the back decal on my Electric Magic spinner target so the decal image looks like flickering film after the target is struck.

From France, above the upper right flipper is a painted wooden replica of an Alembic bass guitar, which is the manufacturer of the custom bass guitar John Paul Jones used on the 1977 US tour. I used craft store reflective sparkly-patterned lightweight cardboard to hide the welds on the tops of the two metal ball returns.

Right now, in the back-right corner is a switch-covering mod from Space Coast Pinball in the shape of a Marshall amplifier and the double-necked Gibson guitar Led Zep’s Jimmy Page is famous for using to play ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and other songs onstage. That cover can be swapped with a cool model of Big Ben from Mezel Mods that wraps around that back corner of the playfield.

In the back centre, the fourth album’s hermit from Lermods stands holding his flickering lantern over the centre ramp. I sent that mod to a fellow collector to touch up with a bit of detail before installation. At the top of the Zeppelin ramp is the Modfather drum set with Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s symbol from the fourth album on the “bass drum”. The Stern topper sits on the backbox.

Promuco John Bonham signature reissue drumstick

Alembic bass guitar above upper right flipper

 Double-necked Gibson guitar used by Jimmy Page and Marshall amplifier

 Dan fetched this newspaper advertisement for Led Zeppelin’s appearance in Raleigh at Dorton Arena in April 1970 from microfiche for the tournament button!

3D-printed “Objects” on coin return buttons of the enigmatic sculpture that appears on the cover of the Led Zeppelin album “Presence”

Shooter handle and drink holder (from Modfather)

Hermit from Lermods stands holding his flickering lantern over the centre ramp

Drum set with Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham’s symbol from the fourth album on the “bass drum”

Topper envy!

ARG: Are there any other mods or additions you would still like to make to your LZ LE? 
Dan: I think if I tried to jam anything else in there, someone would show up and write me a ticket or something. There are some more mods available that I haven’t done for various reasons, and I have a couple of things off to the side—a 2006 NECA Jimmy Page set still in the box and various potential decals for the side of the Zeppelin, but I think I’m good for now, truthfully. My philosophy with pinball mods is that they’re to enhance cosmetic theme integration without affecting gameplay and/or the player’s ability to see the ball when they need to, and that they be fully reversible.

ARG: Here is the toughest question of this interview, who is the current Grand Champion on your LZ LE? 
Dan: This is the easiest question to answer, but the toughest to admit: my son Andrew is the Grand Champion on our Led Zeppelin LE with a score over 14 billion points. It would probably be much higher, but he doesn’t get a chance to play very much these days. I must admit I’ve not quite hit a billion points yet, but that sort of score disparity is not unusual around here. As Steve Ritchie might say, I need to “Play Better!”

ARG: Finally, is there another dream theme you would like to see made into a pinball machine? 
Dan: Now this is a tough question. In a way I’m sad that Led Zeppelin sits in my game room now, because now that it’s happened it won’t happen again… Right? Can we ever say never? I imagine no one expected another KISS game before the Stern one came out a few years ago, but realistically it’s very, very unlikely–says the man who said a Led Zeppelin pinball was also really unlikely and watched it happen anyway.

My wife and son are very excited about a potential Harry Potter theme, so I hope that happens. I’m super interested to see what Pat Lawlor’s Toy Story is going to be. I think a Rush music pin with the right songs and interesting theme-integrated rules could be really cool. From animation, Scooby Doo, Speed Racer, SpongeBob or Masters of the Universe themes could be fun. How about a hockey pin in partnership with ICE, co-marketed when a new version of Chexx bubble hockey comes out?

All these themes are fine and all, but none of them would be quite as “dreamy” for me as Led Zeppelin has been. I hope sometime in the future everyone reading this gets to find out that their own dream pinball theme is going to be released, so they can also have an experience as cool as what I’ve enjoyed with the release of Stern’s Led Zeppelin.

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It is always a pleasure interviewing people with so much passion, and Dan is no exception. Dan has been able to merge his love of Led Zeppelin and pinball by meticulously customising his Stern Led Zeppelin LE machine, and for that, we thank him for taking time out from his busy day to share his thoughts and insights with all of us.

Looking at all of the images, there is no denying that we are totally in awe of Dan’s commitment and dedication to his passions, and as the mighty band once said, “Many dreams come true, and some have silver linings”, in this case, they certainly have.

More drool-worthy images of Dan’s Led Zeppelin LE!

Dan’s LZ CD collection!

This is what it’s all about – playing & enjoying pinball!

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