id rather things that interact with the ball, i like MM for that
the spinning house is just a complicated toy that can break

but the future is more about magnets and less about moving parts that can fail

Funhouse

Probably not Stern...

Pinball magic the wand.

NBA FB with the hoop on the pf. The shot clock. The hoop in the backbox.

Interesting to me that (other than the rotating magic trunk and the spirit ring magnet) the magic tricks in ToM happen on the screen, whereas the magic tricks in Capcom PM are on the playfield and mechanical. I own ToM and like both (I ran out of space or I would have been looking for a Pinball Magic).

I obviously can't speak for other manufacturers, but for us, it depends on the theme. If the theme calls for interactive mechnical toys (eg 8-ball locking spaceship in Lexy Lightspeed) then that's what will go into the game. For gravity-defying ball manipulation in outer space, like in Cosmic Cart Racing, magnets are the perfect implementation.

Pinball is a physical game. Mechanical toys won't go away.

- Gerry
https://www.multimorphic.com

In my opinion, one of the absolute best examples would be the blinders on Tommy. They are not only a cool mechanical toy that catches people completely by surprise, but they also perfectly fit the theme ...

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Probably have to look to JJP. Stern, as of late, are happy to throw on a bash toy, a magnet, and call it a day. While I love Xmen and TWD, I'd like to see more creativity from Stern going forward. I was very disappointed with Munsters. Fan layout, bash toy, and a magnet. The mini playfield is interesting, but it's been done, too.

JJP Pirates is pretty cool. The mini playfield rocking back and forth like a ship is cool. And it loads a cannon to shoot the ball at the other ship.

Some of my favorite mechanical features that have not been mentioned yet are from Mary Shelley Frankenstein when Frankenstein grabs your ball and throws it. Another awesome toy is from lost world Jurassic park when the snagger comes down to grab and lock your ball. Also the first Jurassic park pin has the awesome t rex eating your ball.

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What about the hammer and snake on met premium. Or going old school the balligator on nip it.

Thing is the king of mechanical toys. I would play TAF just to see the hand come out and “grab” the ball.

Stargate glider and pyramid.
Freddy on Nightmare on Elm St.

So are we supossed ot say what we think the future is or just keep listing previous ones?

Just keep talking about ones we like because there is no one here that can see into the future.

New stuff way out of the box would be great.
Thinking of the first shaker in Earthshaker and the blowing fan topper on Whirlwind.

I thought that The Big Lebowski looked promising. But I haven’t followed that games development since well before the stuff fell apart.

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The mouse traps on Mousin' Around might be among my favorite locks in pinball, and they fit the theme perfectly. The coolest lock though, imho, has to be the prototype lock on Judge Dredd. That thing is really cool to see in action, and I can't think of a more unique ball lock. Oh, and I love the Time Expander on Doctor Who as well! That game was created with an original story centered around the Time Expander, so theme integration is superb in that game.

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I can tell you my future

I will not buy another pin that does not fully integrate the mechanical aspect.

Goidbye Stern where it's all art and movie clips.
Im not following them down that road.
Love my Sterns of the past 10 years, but the last half dozen or so was a pitiful cash grab.

Flying car ramp for repo man

Ahhh.... So that's what people mean by a dream theme. Thought would do it for me.

Um yeah this isn't breaking news.

The moving / interactive ship playfield in JJP's POTC is pretty impressive and very mechanical in nature. There's a lot of interaction with the toy when you also factor in using the lockdown bar button to fire a ball in the ship's cannon across the playfield into another ship.
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One thing I'm surprised we haven't seen are motorized outlane posts. These could be used to:

1) Allow the operator to adjust difficulty much more easily - or even have the game adjust based on auto-percentaging.

2) Allow in-game variation through:
a) modes in which they are more or less open or closed, or where the posts oscillate
b) earning of closed posts through awards

3) Allow unique competitive scenarios where:
a) Handicapped positions based on player strength in a multi-player game
b) Ensure remote games connected online have equal post settings

Most of this stuff harkens back to the Nickelodeon Era, merely being electrified rather than powered by springs and weights. I see a future without it as Manufacturers begin to resist development of new devices. Frankly, its expensive compared to digital simulations and has only held on in the coin op world because of novelty.

All of pinball will eventually go virtual reality, I know many don't believe that.

Mechanical devices for amusement will fade into another Period and a time when building something to last meant something, now built in obsolescence is desired to increase profit. People used to repair things, now they are scrapped for metal price. What current 15 year old is studying to become an coin-op amusements Tech? OK, your Nephew because you exposed him to it, answer, not many.

The near future is JJP and Deeproot (I hope) innovating with new interesting and mechanical features and Stern doubling down on art, video, and theme.

Stern toys have devolved into:
1) Toy swallows ball and then spits it out the way it came in
2) Ball bounces off of toy the way it came in
3) Ball is held by magnet and released the way it came in
4) Ball is held behind drops and released the way it came in

See a theme?

Mechanical devices used in Amusement / Coin-op was the forerunner of Robotics and now its stepchild. As Robotics gains dominance the limitations of mechanical devices run by a program have been apparent for 20 years. This is why you hear so many Futurist dream of integrating a cloned human body with AI.
Perhaps pinball could benefit from the outdated technological advances from the robotics industry in to a new chapter, somehow, I doubt it.

I agree I wish there was more mechanical toys in pinball. My last favorite toy coming from Stern was the Jacky in the Box on AS. Jacky looking like an evil Jack in the box toy, with you having to load the balls (representing different toys) in his toy chest. Starting multiball while Aerosmith plays "Toys in the Attic" is a pure adrenaline rush and fits perfectly with the theme.

I love my Munster Pro, but I kinda wish Herman did more than just shake and hold the ball. I was hoping he would interact a little bit like the Hulk does in the Avengers pin, maybe pounding his fists on the playfield going "Darn Darn Darn" whenever you took too long to hit a shot, or something.

That's a great example, the toy chest in Aerosmtih is a great mechnical toy.

Physical ball locks are mechanical in nature but sadly are being used less often on games (likely to reduce cost). The toy chest in Aerosmith is one of my favorite physical ball locks. Ghostbusters premium / LE has a cool physical ball lock especially when you consider its integrated with a ramp that drops under the playfield and eject scoop.

Although it doesn't lock multiple balls the upper left castle playfield on WOZ is very mechanical in nature when you factor in the motorized monkey toy grabbing a ball from a magnet, the ball being placed in a physical ball lock, and the playfield feature two opening and closing doors.

Great topic, this is what I appreciate most about pinball. The little devices under glass. My all-time favorite mech is the trunk from ToM. I wish more games innovated in this space. To me a bash toy as the main MTI, as you call it, is underwhelming. TSPP, MM, very well done there as has been mentioned. Honorable mention would also go to Who Dunnit, for the upper/ramp/elevator concept

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if stern makes a zeppelin pin, perhaps they can reverse that trend.

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Stewie Pinball on Family Guy.

Alien. The Xeno grabs and eats the ball for the start of ambush multiball. The machine goes dark for a second, and Hudson says "what do you mean they cut the power?" Too bad only a couple hundred were made before Heighway went belly up.

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