Stern’s Whoa Nellie! Big Juicy Melons, released in 2015, is one of the most charming oddballs in modern pinball — a deliberate throwback to the electromechanical age dressed in cheeky 1950s fruit-stand kitsch. Originally a boutique creation by WhizBang Pinball (designer Dennis Nordman and artist Greg Freres), built by repurposing a vintage Gottlieb playfield, it was mass-produced by Stern using a blend of EM and solid-state components: real mechanical score reels, actual ringing bells, and a digital soundtrack. The result feels like a lovingly restored relic from the late 1950s, complete with Greg Freres’s hand-drawn art of fresh fruit, a cool truck, and the Mellon family.
True to its EM roots, the scoring is refreshingly small and tactile — you’re chasing points and bonus, not millions and billions. Each of the four left top lanes lights a pop bumper and a rollover for ten points apiece instead of one, and the bullseye centers and the saucer each score 200 when lit. The clever scoop scores an extra ten points for every lit bumper, which opens up a genuine strategy: light all the bumpers and hit the scoop, then keep only three bumpers lit and repeatedly hit the scoop to rack up points efficiently.
There’s even a vintage-style ball save that applies only if you avoid the bumpers and rollovers after plunging — the skill-shot light should still be blinking. Warm, witty, and utterly unique, Whoa Nellie is a delightful celebration of pinball’s mechanical heritage, the kind of machine that makes players grin the moment those score reels start clicking. For collectors who appreciate the roots of the game — and a healthy sense of humor — it’s an irresistible slice of retro fun.