Stern’s Home Edition turned up on warehouse floors without an announcement, running about $2,000 under the next model up. It has an animatronic Pikachu and a Meowth balloon that drops in on you.
A Pokémon pinball machine is sitting on the floor at Costco.
Stern Pinball‘s Pokémon Home Edition is listed as item 1985364 at $4,999.99, first spotted on August 12 at a warehouse in Grafton, Wisconsin and since reported at hundreds of locations.
Stern never announced it.
How it compares to Stern’s other Pokémon machines
The Home Edition is the cheapest way into this table by a wide margin.
Home Edition: $4,999.99 at Costco
Pro: $6,999
Premium: $9,699
Limited Edition: $12,999, 750 units, sold out
That puts the Costco version about $2,000 under the Pro. Prices are as listed in August 2026 and machines are sold through different channels, so they move.
What you give up for the gap: the Home Edition drops the scoop, the wireforms, and some of the sculpted pieces the Pro carries.
What’s in the machine
Quite a lot, for the money.
An animatronic Pikachu reacts while you play. An interactive Meowth balloon drops in during Team Rocket encounters. A Poké Ball mechanism lights up. There is custom voice work for Pikachu and Giovanni, and the original “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” theme is in there.
Four habitats to work through, one to four players, and Stern’s connected scoring system for anyone who wants to track their games.
Stern didn’t announce it
Which is now a pattern rather than an accident.
This is the third time Stern and Costco have done this. Star Wars and Jurassic Park machines both appeared on warehouse floors the same way, with no press release and no launch date.
Everything the public knows about this one comes from shoppers photographing it and one hands-on video.
Two practical notes if you are considering it. Availability varies warehouse to warehouse, so the Costco app is the only reliable way to check your local stock. And a pinball machine is a large, heavy piece of furniture that needs a permanent spot, which is worth thinking about before it is in the back of your car.
Somebody is going to walk in for a rotisserie chicken and leave with an arcade cabinet. That is the entire business model of that store.
Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Costco Insider (August 2026), the item number, price, and the Grafton sighting
Stern Pinball, the machine’s official feature list and the pricing on the Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models