After the recent RB Flip surprise stream of a new cool-looking pinball machine called “Super Hoop”(https://fb.watch/aIc1GWyaZI/), I set out to do some research on the game. The machine was designed by the Spanish pinball designers Quetzal Pinball. This is their third pinball design. The first was Captain Nemo in 2015. The second was Tokyo Drift in 2018.
Quetzal recently reached an agreement with a major Spanish manufacturer of gaming devices, Bitronic, to design a reliable pinball machine for them to manufacture in their factory. Quetzal created Super Hoop with no drop targets or pop bumpers in an effort to make it as reliable as possible.
The Spanish Market actually has a long history of basketball-themed pinball machines. A manufacturer named INDER produced a game called Canasta 86 in 1986 and a company named Marsa Play produced a pin called New Canasta in 2010. The word “Canasta“ means “Hoop” in Spanish but it is synonymous with a card game in America, so Bitronic decided to call the pin “Super Hoop” instead.
Super Hoop is already on the line at the Bitronic factory and is shipping soon. Bitronic is selling it directly on its website in Spain for 4,650 Euros, which at the current rate converts to $5,272.50. That’s below the price of a Stern Pro, the benchmark for a good deal if there is such a thing in today’s crazy inflationary environment.
Bitronic has reached an agreement with the French game distributor Transcard Jeux to sell the game in that country. I have heard that they have been reaching out to U.S. distributors, but I am not sure if an agreement has been reached with any yet.
I have reached out to a Bitronic company representative with a number of questions about the game and the company’s plans. I will report back if they respond. I’m particularly interested about the rumor that Bitronic has reached an agreement to manufacture a licensed theme for its second pinball machine.
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