I too wonder how this works. My mother in law only lives about an hour away from the factory and I'll be visiting in a couple weeks and was hoping to take a tour if available

Roughly a month and a half in advance, I emailed [email protected] and let them know that I'd be in the Chicago area (with my family) for a week's vacation and was wondering if they could fit us in for a tour. After about a week or so, Jody emailed me back to let us know which day worked best for them. So I agree with @nowakster... it took some time to get a response but they eventually did. All-in-all, it was a great experience and appreciated them taking the time out of their busy schedule to accommodate us.

Good luck, hope you get a chance to see the factory.

Sometimes Distributors can pull some strings. If you have one you have used in the past reach out to them. If not Reach out to me and I will see if I can help

JJ

I would say that stopping by is a bad idea. They are no different than any other factory and they aren't there for tourist. I don't mean that to sound rude but its just the truth. You wouldnt drive by a steel mill and pull in and ask for a tour would you? Stern is no different. They have a business to run and don't have time for very many tours I'm sure.

They always do an open house and give tours at expo. Other than that, I am sure they give them through the year, but it probably depends on what is going on at the time, and how swamped they are. If there are any boards or parts around for the next release, they may not want anyone seeing them.

They do have pins set up for the staff to play, but I don't know if they have the new games there or not. Doubt they would be up for someone to come by and play. The games are close to the production floor and I doubt insurance would allow someone to be in there unescorted.

Better bet to play games is to look up locations on PinballMap.com or the map here. Most of those games are probably on location in Chicago. Most likely at Logan's.