Ahh so my typical weekend attire. Got it.

Thank you !!!!!!

BTW, the music on this thing is gonna rock your fricken pants off.

Please be careful exposing your Danger sword or dagger...

It's a Dirk. Definitely a Dirk.

How's it flip?

If you hit the magnasave, it will hold it there long enough to get your hand back to the flipper, but if you can’t get your hand up to the lock bar fast enough... your ball drains. “HA, HA, HA!!!”

Sternpinball.com

Screenshot_2019-03-26-10-59-45 (resized).png

Quote from Stern:

"For the first time ever, players will explore, discover, and unlock the secrets of the Black Knight universe. Navigating through these dark, mysterious, and twisted realms, players will uncover foes, demons, riches, and secrets in their quest against the Black Knight. Black Knight: Sword of Rage pinball machines will be available in Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models.

“There’s nothing more iconic in the pinball universe than the Black Knight character,” said Gary Stern, Chairman and CEO of Stern Pinball, Inc. “Created by game designer Steve “The King” Ritchie, the Black Knight has always taunted and antagonized players to battle him and now, for the first time, players will be able to fight back.”

Stern’s Black Knight: Sword of Rage Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models feature stunning and distinctive hand-drawn art in homage to this pinball icon. Each game features a custom sculpted, interactive, and multi-functional Black Knight bash toy. This interactive Black Knight toy features a bi-directional motorized flail, a glowing RGB helmet with individually controllable expressive lighting to interact and taunt players with custom speech, and a sliding coil-driven shield that will bash and block your shots.

All models include the distinct “Magna-Save”, a player-controlled magnet used to prevent a ball from draining, and timed resetting drop targets. In addition, Black Knight: Sword of Rage features a legacy sound package composed and performed by Scott Ian of Anthrax with Brendon Small, adrenalizing the audio experience for players on their journey, and custom speech by Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies.

MSRP $5,999
Games shipped to North America operate on 60 cycle electricity only.

These games will not operate in countries with 50 cycle electricity (Europe including the UK)."

Game looks great, my only concern is lack of a ball return to the left flipper but I am sure Ritchie has the flow in check

Wow wow wow!!! That video had exactly what I wanted: BK2K iconic music covered by a real metal guitarist. Sounds GREAT! Steve Ritchie FINALLY makes a super sweet toy - the Knight looks awesome!!! Can’t wait to play it. This looks like a “whole package” winner!

Whoah!!! Did Stern give metal wireforms to us on the Pro? To the Stern workers no doubt lurking this site... we like!

Most/many of the shots are from the right flipper which is why everything returns to it from the wireform.

They have been? Munsters , dp and maiden are all metal.

You’ll need a horse as well:

75D697D8-40DE-4DD0-992E-CBD6E15AC1BC (resized).jpeg

This is a really cool experiment for Stern. A new pin that is not based on a movie, TV show, comic book, or a band - but pre-existing original pinball IP. I really wonder how this will affect their decisions on future themes if this does well for them.

F***
Still finishing to pay a Ghostbuster Premium and I asked my distributor to get a premium for me that I’ll start paying as soon as the GB Is paid...

Should open an account

I'd love to see an updated Seawitch with the Beatles PF. Then they could get more cash out of that design time too.

wonder how lame the pro will feel after playing a prem/le

Ahhh Ahhhh Ahhhh Ahhhhhhh

I bet they at least mix in a souped up old theme once in a while. I am blown away by this.

This will be a must-buy in Premium or LE only. Bk HAS to had an upper and lower playfield. I can't wait to play this and see if it will...
A: be different enough to earn a place next to my BK2K, and
B: be fun enough for me to sacrifice 2 or three other machines for it!

I've never bought a NiB Pin before, but this one may be the one that pushes me over the edge.

Is it May/Jun yet?

Agreed. I wonder if it was cheap to license. A movie theme like Harry Potter or something like that would appeal to the masses but a theme like this will really attract pinheads. It just screams pinball. I"m not really a huge fan of the medieval themes or the past games but this is one cool package. Love the retro touches and would be cool to see more pins like it.

It does look pretty boring. I wouldn't be surprised if it has the worst flow of any modern Ritchie, left to right we have:

- Left shot is a drop or a dead end.
- An orbit that may be fast but only if the gates aren't used often, and if they aren't you may not get any time in the pop area.
- The games singular ramp shot that can be blocked.
- Stand up death target.
- Shot that appears to be blocked always unless lock is qualified, in which case it's a dead end.
- Other orbit/lane shot.

That's all you get to shoot in the game, and if those upper gates are frequently used it's going to feel very stop and go.

I heard Stern was really nervous on how this one would sell. I am thinking it is going to sell decently for them, at least to the enthusiast crowd. I'd love to know the breakdown of percentage sales to operators versus home buyers.

Wow, I am impressed by this! I have a fondness for the original (when it plays well) and really don't care for BK2000 at all (other than the music which is awesome!). Wasn't expecting to care much about this release but WOW, this is one of the richest Stern's in awhile! And the first in a very long time where its Premium/LE or BUST! The pro looks good but the full package on this is a must!!! Scott Ian on music? come on! how freaking awesome is that?! Well done Stern. Well done. Cant wait to see the stream - I hope they stream Premium/LE first.

Lol, for $6K, if you're going to gimp the upper PF out of the Pro, can you at least keep the better rubber?

BK Pro (resized).png
BK Premium (resized).png

I’m an op and home buyer. I’ll likely buy two so I can have one at home. I expect it to earn well enough yet less than other recently licensed themes like GOTG, DP, IMDN.

I just realized that there’s no u-turn on this!

1 ramp on both models with 1 return back to the flippers, there's no habit rail for the left flipper. I wonder what the last modern game (besides TNA) that doesn't have a habit rail or plastic ramp return to each flipper?

Just a curiosity... besides on the artwork, are there (is there) any sword(s) in the game?

Would be a nice tie in to the name.

Interesting point. BK: Sword of Rage ... Character in game holds mace(*).

* I guess this is a sticky point, the BG art on the PRO/LE shows a flail (with chain) but the in game one is more solid like a mace. Whatever the case, it's not a sword.

Looks very cool: except ... with the lexan playfield, it looks a little bit like a Zaccaria.
And ,there is no magna save button beside the flipper button? really?

Was fortunate to have Tim Sexton and Steve Ritchie join me for interviews for all those interested:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-coast-2-coast-pinball-episodes-one-thread-all-listed-here/page/45#post-4904104

Thanks for listening - Nate

Can we pause for a second and take a moment to realize what a momentous occasion this is? Pinball is now doing well enough that Stern is able to produce an original theme for the first time in like 29 years. With talented artists such as Zombie Yeti and Dirty Donny at the helm, we could enter another golden Era where original artwork is back on original themed games. I hope they sell the hell out of this so they see that we don't always need/ want to see a photo shopped image of a movie character or band members face. It's nice to have actual artwork and original music. This is a huge day for pinball across the world. Hopefully we'll see more in the 2019-2029 decade and it will be remembered as the second golden Era of original games.

I wouldn't hitch up to that wagon just yet. This is huge with enthusiasts, but I'm not sure ops are going to jump as hard where they have to count on casual public interest to put money in games. Maybe it will work like you hope, but that's still a long stretch at this point.

Hmm.. very curious how it will play... its very similar to its older brothers/brother . Looking fwd to gameplay soon. Another great day for pinball as the more pins made is better for everyone.

Can you eat a McRib in a suit of armor?

JJP already did this with DI and it's not like Stern plucked this original theme out of mid air. It's the 3rd sequel in which Ritchie designed and anyone in this hobby already has familiarity with the black knight games. I fully expect them to go back to licensed titles after this since that is their bread and butter.

for all the old guys here, how this can't touch your nostalgia nerd !? by just watching teasers, seeing pics & listening to these sounds, i know i want one !!! i have the feeling that STERN will sell thousands of these

now, not saying all seems perfect (let begin with the magna save button being on the lockbar, and no return on the left flipper)
btw, for sure i'll wait the code is finish/complete to buy this one (and having a good player behind is a good thing for all those seeing code as one of the most important feature of a pinball)

Perhaps you have to collect "The Sword of Rage" to defeat the Black Knight as the final wizard battle?

Dude, this looks awesome. Really nice homage to the SS era and nicely mixed with new stuff. Looking forward to seeing how the rules/animations shake out.

Looks pretty amazing visually. I find it weird that they called it Sword of Rage and the Knight has a flail, should have just used another name. Seems a little bit old guy juvenile for me, its like a Tenacious D knock off. Tenacious D is killer in small doses but I don't I think I can personally tolerate it in my home as I keep my pins for a long time. Looks like a must play on location and at shows though. I guess in fairness Steve Ritchie had this style long before Tenacious D but they have similar inspiration.

No fear pinball comes to mind when i look at this? Anyone else see this?

Well, it's a pretty kick-ass theme that I think most filthy casuals would find appealing.

Just waiting on an ETA for my LE.

I wld guess may?