Master Emerald Claw Mod for Sonic the Hedgehog

Here at Rocket City Pinball, we’re all about the OG Genesis-era Sonic games. The back left corner of JJP’s Sonic pinball was looking a little empty … so we’ve brought in an element from Sonic & Knuckles — the claw with which Robotnik steals the master emerald! (In a case of perfect timing, JJP added the Master Emerald mode to the pinball right after I developed this mod! In that game mode, Robotnik’s craft has a three-pronged claw, but we still prefer the old-school design for its classic look and improved emerald visibility.) The mod includes three main components: the claw itself, a beautiful emerald whose clarity (crystal/glass) lets the nearby light from the lightrails dance through it, and a gantry to mount it on the playfield’s back wall. No fasteners required — the gantry simply slips onto a specific section of the wall. With the playfield in place inside the game, the gantry is not visible to the player. The emerald mounts into the claw by a compression fit; the claw is intentionally undersized with respect to the emerald so it provides a constant squeeze to hold it in place. NOTE: While we’ve lifted the playfield of our game with the mod in place and it stays retained, we recommend you remove the mod before lifting the playfield to the service position, just to be safe. A reminder/warning is printed on the top of the gantry as a reminder. This mod fits all three versions of the game.