# DPP #82 "The IAAPA episode!"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-11-19  
**Duration:** 47m 5s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-82-The-IAAPA-episode-e2c445j

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## Analysis

Don returns from attending IAAPA Expo 2024 in Orlando, a massive amusement industry convention where pinball occupied a small but significant corner. He provides detailed impressions of Jersey Jack Pinball's booth (highlighting Elton John as a sleeper hit), Stern's presence (Venom, Deadpool, other recent releases), Chicago Gaming Company's Pulp Fiction machines (praised for quality control), and American Pinball's minimal representation. He also discusses Stern's decision to remake the Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper, which had been commanding $2,500–$3,500 on the secondary market, at a new retail price of ~$1,500.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] IAAPA Expo in Orlando is a massive amusement industry convention comparable to 6-7 Costcos in size, featuring roller coasters, arcade games, food, theme park rides, and pinball machines all together. — _Don's first-hand attendance and detailed description of the venue and breadth of exhibits_
- [HIGH] Jersey Jack had 8 games on display at IAAPA: two each of Toy Story, Godfather, Guns N' Roses, and Elton John (CE and Platinum editions) — _Don directly observed and played these machines at the JJP booth_
- [HIGH] Don scored 72 million points on the Elton John CE at IAAPA, a personal record, with photos captured on the game's cameras — _Don's first-hand gameplay experience_
- [MEDIUM] Elton John appears to be nearing production at Jersey Jack's factory — _Don states 'the factory is just about tooled to start putting these into production, and they may have already started production'_
- [HIGH] Chicago Gaming Company employs strict quality control: if a game fails QC testing, it is disassembled and reworked rather than patched with code updates — _Don was told this directly by CGC staff at IAAPA; he notes 'If it's not working, it goes in the back of the line. It doesn't leave the factory.'_
- [HIGH] Pulp Fiction machines at CGC's booth were still prototypes when Don inspected them — _Don reports 'I was able to look underneath the play field at these what were still prototype machines'_
- [MEDIUM] CGC is near completion of Cactus Canyon production and eager to move on to other projects — _Don states 'The sense I got is they are just about exhausted of building Cactus Canyons and can't wait to move on to something else.'_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball revealed at IAAPA that the next three games they are releasing will all be original licenses (non-licensed themes) — _Don reports: 'they revealed that the next three games which are coming are all original licenses. So this flies right into the face of the Masters There's a universe rumor that we've heard.'_
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball is remaking the Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper, which originally retailed for $449 in 2019, at a new price of approximately $1,449–$1,500 — _Don observed this topper being relisted on Pinside in the $2,500–$3,500 range and has now confirmed the remake announcement via distributors_
- [MEDIUM] Used Black Knight: Sword of Rage toppers will likely fetch around $1,200 on the secondary market following the official remake announcement — _Don's prediction based on market trends: 'if you have one of these used, you're now going to be lucky to get $1,200 for it'_

### Notable Quotes

> "This is the place where every roller coaster manufacturer, waterside manufacturer, dip and dots guy, franchise sales, food, vending, inflatables, amusement rides, amusement, amusements, games, other food innovations... all conglomerate under probably the biggest roof I have ever been underneath. It's easily like six or seven Costcos altogether."
> — **Don**, Opening section
> _Establishes the massive scale of IAAPA and its relevance to pinball enthusiasts beyond just pinball itself_

> "There wasn't a half-hour line to walk through. There was most times no line to walk through... I hit the floor, I hit the door, I hit JJP and parked myself in front of a Delton John CE and put through like five, six, eight games through it."
> — **Don**, Jersey Jack booth section
> _Highlights the advantage of IAAPA vs. typical pinball expos: no crowds, allowing extended play and evaluation time_

> "The shots, though, they are themselves open... There's two ramps on this game that seem to be lifted almost directly intact from Star Trek... But I don't want you to lose sight of the five other ramps and wireform entrances."
> — **Don**, Elton John gameplay analysis
> _Detailed shot layout analysis of Elton John, acknowledging similarities to Star Trek while emphasizing additional shot complexity_

> "I love how you were just able to go and do that... Felt like I was bowling Karens out here, man, like calling my shots and making them like I'm the man who saved pinball or something."
> — **Don (quoting his friend Ryan's reaction to watching him execute shots)**, Toy Story 4 gameplay with non-pinball enthusiasts
> _Illustrates how accessible and fun modern JJP games are for casual/non-pinball players when guided by someone with knowledge_

> "If a game is not passing its quality control at the end, that game is ripped apart and sent back down the line to redo whatever it is that's acting up. No just patch job, get it out. No let's send it and we'll fix it with a code update. If it's not working, it goes in the back of the line."
> — **Don (reporting what CGC staff told him)**, Chicago Gaming Company section
> _Explains CGC's quality control philosophy and why their production numbers are lower than competitors_

> "The thing that they really are committed to more than anything else, though, is quality, is quality control, which I don't think is a thing that we need to fault CGC over. I don't think I've ever heard of any issues from any CGC remade machines."
> — **Don**, Chicago Gaming Company quality assessment
> _Endorsement of CGC's approach despite slower production timelines_

> "This topper retailed back in, what, 2019 when the game came out, $449... Well, now it's going for $1,499, $1,500, and Stern is remaking these... So if you have one of these used, you're now going to be lucky to get $1,200 for it."
> — **Don**, Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper remake section
> _Quantifies the secondary market collapse following the announcement of an official remake_

> "I don't think I'm ever going to miss it [IAAPA Expo]. This was just so incredibly fantastic."
> — **Don**, IAAPA overall assessment
> _Strong recommendation for the event to other pinball enthusiasts and amusement park fans_

> "If heaven has a half pipe, they have an IAAPA Expo."
> — **Don**, IAAPA venue description
> _Poetic summary of Don's enthusiasm for the breadth of content at the expo_

> "I'm in on an SE, and I can't wait for it [Pulp Fiction]."
> — **Don**, Chicago Gaming Company section
> _Confirms Don's personal purchase commitment for the Pulp Fiction game_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| IAAPA Expo | event | International Association of Museum, Parks, and Adventures annual expo held in Orlando, Florida; massive amusement industry trade show encompassing roller coasters, theme park rides, arcade games, pinball, food, inflatables, and more |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Premium boutique pinball manufacturer; had prominent booth at IAAPA with 8 machines (Toy Story, Godfather, Guns N' Roses, Elton John in CE/Platinum editions); Jack and Ken Cromwell were present |
| Elton John | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game themed around Elton John music; features piano, rope-light ramps, drop targets, accessible shot layout; Don considers it a 'sleeper hit' that plays better than Godfather; approaching production |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; had substantial booth at IAAPA with Venom (4 units in Pro/Premium variants), Deadpool, Foo Fighters, James Bond, and other recent releases; announced remake of Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper at ~$1,500 MSRP |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Pinball manufacturer; had 8 Pulp Fiction prototypes and Cactus Canyon machines at IAAPA; known for strict quality control (games that fail QC are disassembled and reworked, not patched); nearing completion of Cactus Canyon production |
| Pulp Fiction | game | Chicago Gaming Company pinball game based on Quentin Tarantino film; multiple prototype machines at IAAPA; well-made with family-friendly and adult call-out modes; Don is pre-ordered on SE; production expected to begin with operators receiving first, then SEs, then LEs |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; minimal presence at IAAPA (3 games: Galactic Tank Force, Legends of Valhalla, Hot Wheels); revealed next three games will all be original (non-licensed) themes |
| Legends of Valhalla | game | American Pinball game; Don praises it as well-made and shootable; has backstock available and may have holiday sales coming; Don considers it his favorite American Pinball title and would rank it above Oktoberfest and Houdini |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | American Pinball game; displayed at IAAPA as standard (non-Deluxe) version; no new information reported |
| Black Knight: Sword of Rage | game | Stern Pinball game from 2019; original topper was $449 MSRP; used toppers have been commanding $2,500–$3,500 on secondary market; Stern is now remaking the topper at ~$1,449–$1,500 MSRP, collapsing the secondary market |
| Toy Story 4 | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; well-received at IAAPA by both casual and enthusiast players; Don's non-pinball friends enjoyed its carnival-like feel and immediate theme connection |
| Godfather | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; multiple CE and standard editions at IAAPA; Don finds it difficult to play due to code complexity and lack of shot clarity; aesthetically impressive with leg iron details; designed by Eric Meunier |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; displayed at IAAPA booth (no detailed commentary provided) |
| Venom | game | Stern Pinball game; 4 units at IAAPA (2 Pro, 2 Premium); featuring Insider Connected integration; Don was on his fourth playthrough of the game and battled Null on the show floor, creating spectacle for friends |
| Deadpool | game | Stern Pinball game; displayed at IAAPA; Don did not play it in detail |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern Pinball game; displayed at IAAPA; Don noted most machines had one-person-deep queues |
| Jack | person | Jersey Jack Pinball owner/founder; was present at IAAPA booth, engaging with players and asking for feedback on games; described by Don as 'personable' and without pretension |
| Ken Cromwell | person | Jersey Jack Pinball staff; was present at IAAPA booth helping with photos and customer interaction; Don describes him as 'one cool dude' |
| Uncle Gary | person | Stern Pinball staff member; was present at IAAPA booth but very busy with business deals |
| Seth Davis | person | Stern Pinball staff member; was present at IAAPA booth; Don notes he was busy and not available for extended interaction |
| Ryan | person | Don's friend and co-host (possibly); attended IAAPA with Don; was at Chicago Gaming Company booth; not an experienced pinball player but enjoyed learning Toy Story 4 and other games |
| Jeffrey | person | Don's friend; Disney Parks veteran with emotional attachment to Disney themes; particularly enjoyed Toy Story 4 at IAAPA |
| David Fix | person | Leader/representative of American Pinball; Don questions whether American Pinball is committed to original themes or if the announcement of three original licenses was a misquote |
| Eric Meunier | person | Designer of Godfather pinball; Don praises his design approach to the theme |
| Holiday World | location | Theme park near Evansville, Indiana (Santa Claus, Indiana); getting new Gravy Train/Good Gravy roller coaster themed around riding in a gravy boat; displayed at IAAPA |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; attended IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida for the first time; pinball enthusiast and collector; also passionate about roller coasters and theme parks; has home arcade and occasionally places games on location |

### Topics

- **Primary:** IAAPA Expo 2024 venue, scale, and experience, Jersey Jack Pinball booth games (Elton John, Toy Story, Godfather, Guns N' Roses), Stern Pinball at IAAPA (booth layout, games, Insider Connected leaderboards), Chicago Gaming Company Pulp Fiction production status and quality control philosophy, Elton John game design, shot layout, and market reception potential, Stern's Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper remake and secondary market collapse
- **Secondary:** American Pinball's booth presence and announcement of three original licenses, Amusement industry broader trends (roller coasters, water parks, theme parks, food innovations)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Don is enthusiastic and impressed by his first IAAPA experience, the games on display, and the manufacturers' presence. He praises JJP's Elton John and Ken/Jack's personable approach, CGC's quality commitment, and the overall scale of the event. He expresses some criticism of Godfather's difficulty for his skill level and American Pinball's minimal booth presence, but these are minor compared to his overall enthusiasm. His excitement about attending again in the future reinforces strong positive sentiment.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** American Pinball's minimal booth presence at IAAPA (3 games, 2 banners, 1 salesman) suggests resource constraints or late booth commitment; possible indication of business focus or capacity limits (confidence: medium) — Don observes: 'These guys, they must have got their booth late or something. They were all the way against the wall at the front of the show floor with a total of three games... and that was it.'
- **[community_signal]** Don's experience at IAAPA demonstrates accessibility of pinball games to non-enthusiasts when presented by knowledgeable guides; high-touch booth interaction with Jack and Ken Cromwell reinforces personal manufacturer connection (confidence: high) — Don's friends enjoyed Toy Story and Elton John; Jack/Ken actively engaged with players asking for feedback; no IAAPA lines unlike typical pinball expos allowed extended play sessions
- **[sentiment_shift]** Positive reception of Chicago Gaming Company's quality control approach despite slower production; community values reliability over speed (confidence: high) — Don states: 'It's all fun and games until you're the one that gets something where a board is just not working... So I'm glad that they do as much robust testing as they do.'
- **[event_signal]** IAAPA Expo positioned as essential annual event for pinball enthusiasts who are also amusement park/roller coaster fans; Don commits to future attendance despite primary focus on pinball industry (confidence: high) — Don concludes: 'I don't think I'm ever going to miss it [IAAPA]. This was just so incredibly fantastic.'
- **[market_signal]** IAAPA's broader amusement industry focus means pinball is a small (but not negligible) category; booth space and visibility are limited compared to pinball-only expos like Expo, but lack of pinball-specific crowds allows for better hands-on game evaluation (confidence: high) — Don contrasts: 'It wasn't like the huge, megalithic booth that we see when we go to Expo... But it wasn't a half-hour line to walk through. There was most times no line to walk through.'
- **[market_signal]** Jersey Jack's Elton John positioned as strong secondary market performer based on positive word-of-mouth and accessibility; expected to drive conversions once units reach location operators (confidence: medium) — Don states: 'This game is awesome... Jack himself said during the Loser Kid interview that this was the game that people said, Jack, what are you doing? This is a theme I'm not interested in. And then they played it, and then they bought one.'
- **[market_signal]** Secondary market collapse for Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper owners due to official remake at lower price point; used toppers expected to fetch ~$1,200 vs. prior $2,500–$3,500 (confidence: high) — Don notes: 'if you have one of these used, you're now going to be lucky to get $1,200 for it. Because $1,449, $1,499 I think it is, is what you can get one of these from your distributor for.'
- **[announcement]** Stern Pinball officially remaking the Black Knight: Sword of Rage topper at ~$1,449–$1,500 MSRP, collapsing the secondary market from $2,500–$3,500 (confidence: high) — Don reports: 'It's being remade, you guys. They're remaking the Black Knight Sword of Rage. Topper... is now being remade by Stern Pinball... Distributors are getting them. They're opening their coiffures right now.'
- **[product_strategy]** Jersey Jack's Elton John nearing production readiness at factory; expected to reach operators and then secondary market soon (confidence: medium) — Don reports: 'it sounds like the factory is just about tooled to start putting these into production, and they may have already started production.'
- **[product_concern]** CGC's strict quality control creates production bottlenecks: machines failing QC are completely disassembled and reworked rather than patched, limiting output to maintain 'solid' final product (confidence: high) — Don reports: 'If a game is not passing its quality control at the end, that game is ripped apart and sent back down the line to redo whatever it is that's acting up... That's why they're not doing 500 units a week.'
- **[product_strategy]** Chicago Gaming Company near completion of Cactus Canyon production; Pulp Fiction machines transitioning to production with operators receiving first, then SEs, then LEs (confidence: high) — Don reports being told: 'they are just about exhausted of building Cactus Canyons and can't wait to move on to something else.' On Pulp Fiction: 'the SEs might be following. with the LEs then trailing after or intermingled there.'
- **[rumor_hype]** American Pinball announced next three games will all be original (non-licensed) themes; contradicts prior 'Masters of the Universe' licensing rumors (confidence: medium) — Don reports: 'they revealed that the next three games which are coming are all original licenses. So this flies right into the face of the Masters There's a universe rumor that we've heard. I want me some He-Man, man.'

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## Transcript

 Hello again, my lovelies. This is Don's Pinball Podcast. I am back after an extended hiatus for episode number 82, but this is the big one. We got a lot to talk about. I'm coming back from the IAAPA Expo in Florida, and it has blown my freaking mind. Let's go. I cannot even begin to conceptualize or process what my brain and body has gone through over the past week at the IAPA Expo, International Association of Museum, Parks, and Adventures. It happens in Orlando, Florida every year and in other places around the country and around the world. And it's essentially like the Big Daddy event. Like, I've known about it for years. I've always wanted to go there. This is the place where every roller coaster manufacturer, waterside manufacturer, dip and dots guy, franchise sales, food, vending, inflatables, amusement rides, amusement, amusements, games, other food innovations, vehicles for your park, trash cans, restrooms, and arcade and redemption machines. machines all conglomerate under probably the biggest roof I have ever been underneath. It's easily like six or seven Costcos altogether, and it spills out of the outdoors, and it's right there at the Orlando Convention Center, down the street from Universal, SeaWorld's across the street. Go to Wawa, get yourself some sandwiches. Anyway, I got to go to this awesome industry event, and it's the perfect Venn diagram with me right there in the middle, and that pinball on one side, and another circle of roller coasters and theme parks like my other big passion in life all together culminating in one place how could i possibly miss it i didn't i got a uh friend of a friend got me into this show got me onto the show floor and i was set loose and and it's the kind of place where there's just no way to process everything that's coming in there i mean just acres and acres of just every single thing that i love you know in life as far as hobbies and enjoyment and then writing things and eating things it was all here. It was all here. So my approach to this is going to be a bit compartmentalized. Let's start with the pinball stuff. This is a pinball podcast. After all, we care about the pinball. Let's start there. So I hit the door as soon as it opened up, as soon as it would allow me to go in there, and it went right to the Jersey Jack booth. Jersey Jack was represented there, you know, and this wasn't strictly just a pinball convention where they have one of the largest booths of the expo. They had themselves an end cap between some ticket redemption machines and coin pushers, and somebody selling bowling alleys. It was nuts. But they were fairly well represented with eight games. They basically had two of each type, a limited edition and a CE for Toy Story, for Godfather. There was a Guns N' Roses there. And also, thankfully, they had themselves Elton John, a CE and a Platinum. And because it wasn't just all pinball people, there wasn't a half-hour line to wake through. There was most times no line to wake through. Just walk up and start playing. maybe there was one or two people in front of you but that was the most i saw throughout my 48 hours covering the convention so i hit the floor i hit the door i hit jjp and parked myself in front of a delton john ce and put through like five six eight games through it it's just that first morning man and so now i was able to come back and i think i only put through like three maybe four games total across both of them at expo and so here i got to have like a much more relaxed you know i I wasn't playing in a four-person format. I was just able to sit there and kind of run through a game several times, try to dial in the shots, and I really, really like this freaking game. The music is Elton John. If you like it, you like it. If you don't, what's wrong with you? It's absolutely serviceable. The shots, though, they are themselves open. Now, I've heard a lot of comparisons to this and Star Trek, Steve Ritchie's other former game with Stern, and that is true to a point. There's two ramps on this game that seem to be lifted almost directly intact from Star Trek. The one off the upper right flipper, kind of cross-field ramp, that one's represented here. And also there's a ramp on the right side, which is also buried in there. But I don't want you to lose sight of the five other ramps and wireform entrances that seem to be in this game. Kind of in the layout, just from the lower left to the upper right. including a shot behind that upper right flipper, which was my favorite shot of the game. So check this out if you look at the play field. There's a drop target there underneath the right upper flipper. And once you knock that down and it activates, you can shoot through in there. And just before the shooter late, actually, the shooter actually kind of goes over it with a wire form. It shoots up into this Rocket Man ramp. It's the one with the rope lights on it. There's an auto eject that sends the ball up around this wire form through the back of the play field. swirling around behind the piano into the rope lights that follow the ball, by the way, as it whips around there. It's so satisfying when it happens. I love doing that. I love the crocodile vuck shot. Right next to that, the spinner shot and the way that the spinner sounds are integrated there. Like, that was satisfying AF for me. I feel like all the shots are reachable with this game. This is a very playable game for me. When I play Godfather, I'm just kind of throwing the ball up at the back of the play field and see where it goes. This one I was able to play more deliberately, stacking the multi-balls where they should be, picking the skill shot as it rotates through the five available different shots there, all while having this Elton John music going on. Now, it may not turn out to be the deepest code, but for me and the level that I play at, I was having a good time every time I played this. I brought a couple of my coaster friends by too because they were there partaking of the other activities. And they remarked they really liked it too. A surprise hit also with both of them was Toy Story 4. They both really loved it. My friend Jeffrey in particular really enjoyed it. Now he's an old school Disney guy, Disney Parks fans, worked at the parks, worked for the company, worked for other companies and things. And so he already kind of has an emotional attachment to the theme and everything. But he liked playing it. He's like, this is like being at a carnival. I like hitting these shots. I like the lights that go off. So I actually came back to Toy Story 4 through his eyes, my friend Ryan, when we were playing. And I have a new appreciation for that game. I see why that game does so well on location because you immediately have a connection to that theme. and the game plays pretty well actually you know um you know it was fun for me this was fun so i wasn't at a pinball convention full of pinball people that are all way better at pinball than i am i'm okay at it right i could drop catch you know i i can figure out what the rules are and with some precision every now and then hit a shot that i actually meant to do so um you know as i'm kind of showing him the game and kind of the different modes and how to start them i had a ball cradled i threw it right up into the left ramp to start a mode and he's like whoa i love how you were just able to go and do that. And man, that felt good. Felt like I was bowing Karens out here, man, like calling my shots and making them like I'm the man who saved pinball or something. That was really fun for me. Also fun at the booth, Ken Cromwell and Jersey Jack himself. They were floating around the booth the whole time, you know, talking to people coming by. This is pinball. This is what it is. This is how you can get them. Here's how much they are. Here's what they cost to operate. Here's what they bring in in revenue because these are people with professional arcades. Do they want to buy a coin pusher or do they want to buy a coin muncher? That's what they're there to figure out. And they would keep coming up to me. Jack was just going to buy it. What do you think of the game? How do you like it? What else would you want to see? Just a nice, personable dude. And he wasn't there being mobbed with fans. He wasn't there in the limelight wearing his Dodgers sequined outfit that he was at Expo. He was just himself, man. It was really cool. And Ken Cromwell, one cool dude, man. So they had the Jersey Jack backdrop there. I was being a dork and doing a photo shoot with it and everything. He came up to me, Jack did. and Ken shot some photos. Super fun. Like, what a couple of swell guys. I hope their little company ends up making it. So, you know, I am enthusiastic about this. Are you buying an Elton John, Don? I would like to. I would like to at some point. You know, the market, which I'll get into here in a bit, it's just nuts right now. There's so much coming at us. There's a finite amount of resources, finite amount of space. So you've got to pick and choose your moves. But I talked to other people that, you know, either they played Elton at Expo or they just heard word of mouth. This game is awesome. I think once it gets out of the factory, which it sounds like the factory is just about tooled to start putting these into production, and they may have already started production, we're going to see these on locations. I think the more people play this game, we're going to see this game take off more. This isn't a game that's just sold on theme alone. Jack himself said during the Loser Kid interview that this was the game that people said, Jack, what are you doing? This is a theme I'm not interested in. And then they played it, and then they bought one. And so I think we're probably going to see a lot more conversion for Jersey Jack once these games get out on location and people play them. I loved playing this game. I loved playing the Platinum Edition. I scored myself 72 million points on it, a personal record, a personal best. And they actually had the cameras turned on here, so you were actually able to get your photos in there. So my photos were all over the Jersey Jack games. It was great. It was great. I played more Godfather 2, the CE particularly, because that's been the hardest one for me to find. And I do like the game. I like how it shoots. I think if they were going to make a Godfather game, this is how you make it. So well done, Eric, on the design and everything. But I found out why it's not my favorite game, why I'm not buying one, and it's because I'm just not that good at it. Darn it, right? And I mentioned I'm relatively okay at pinball. I can hit shots when I need to. For whatever reason, with Godfather, I'm confused about the code and what I'm supposed to do, and the shots aren't very easy for me. I can't make the ball do what I want it to do. and some of that may be down to my own lack of ability or something. But I can go on a Toy Story, and more often than not, I get a decent game where I can cause things to happen that I intend to happen and play through the modes and have a satisfying good play. With Godfather, more times than not, I'm losing balls down the middle of my flippers. I'm losing balls in the outlanes. It's not as fun. It's not as satisfying. I get a mode started. It tells me what to do, and then I can't execute and balls drain, and that's the end of the game. So that for me is not very fun. I don't mind challenging brutal games, TNA, Black Knight sort of rage. I love that. But I find, I don't know, just my skill does not match Godfather. So it's not speaking to me that way. We are not a love connection, right, to quote the old Chuck Woolery there. Two and two, we're not right back at you. Sorry, that's where I am on Godfather. I like playing it, and it was fun for me seeing it through my friend's eyes who aren't real pinball people and see like, wow, look at what they put in here. They like the horse head shooter. They thought that was interesting. Aesthetically, it's a great looking game. And I love, love those leg irons that are on there. But for me, I think I don't like it. And it may be because I'm just not that good at pinball. So if you really good at it maybe you have a different take So that was the Jersey Jack booth I had a good time I kept coming back there and just kept coming back and playing Elton John man That game hits It as fun to play as Toy Story is with a theme that I think speaks to me a little bit more than just Toy Story 4 does And there's more in it. It seems like there's more in the game. And, man, that topper with the projections, man. I mean, come on. If I get that game, I got to get the CE. The CE costs a lot, and that's kind of where I'm at on Elton John. So go play it and come up with your decisions. I'm very curious to watch what happens on the secondary market with Elton John over the next nine months. Man, I may just get one of these yet. We'll see. Down the road from them, of course, CERN was there. They were presented with about ten games back-to-back. They had their Insider Connected going. They had the leaderboards going. That was stealing the show. I stopped by, and I set the GC there on Gardens of the Galaxy, and the two days that I was there at the event, my name was at the top of the leaderboard, and that made me feel quite special and squishy inside. They had about four Venoms, two of the pros, two of the premiums. Deadpool was there. Most of the recent releases were there. Foo Fighters was there. They did have a bond. I didn't get to play it that much. Most games had one person deep that were playing. People were all having a good time. I will say I was right at the point in Venom with my Insider Connected login. I'm on my fourth playthrough now, my fourth time beating Null, and I'm right at Null when I left the house to come down. So when I scanned in, I was able to be on the show floor actually battling Null. and I may have been one of the only ones that was doing that. So that was kind of fun for me. I really wanted to beat them on the show floor, but I didn't just spend enough time there playing through it to do that. But I was able to show off to my friends, so thank you, Stern, for allowing me to do that. Uncle Gary was there. Seth Davis was there with Stern. They didn't seem to have a whole lot of time for me, but these are busy guys with their huge company and everything, and I'm not going to try to get in their way when they're trying to make deals, sell these things to hotels and stuff. But I had a good time at the booth. I snagged some flyers so I could send those out in mailings. It was a good time. It was a good time. But it wasn't like the huge, megalithic booth that we see when we go to Expo, where there's a red carpet laid out and everything. It's just the amusement industry in general is just orders of magnitude bigger than just pinball. So it kind of got lost a little bit. But, I mean, it was fun going there and playing the games. I'm glad they were all on FreePlay and Insider Connected was working. Oh, they also were running the newest code, which I was going to get to here in a bit. So I did get to see some of those ads, and I have some thoughts on that. CGC was there. I met up with Ryan over there at the booth. They had about, I think, eight back-to-back Pulp Fictions, man, which that was fantastic. Everybody that played it loved it. Anybody that had any kind of connection to Pulp Fiction, especially my friends of mine, seeing pinball through their eyes. This is Pulp Fiction. They were saying, you know, this is a theme that absolutely does speak to me. It was on family-friendly mode, but I did hear the call-outs, and I just can't wait to get this thing home and put it in adult mode and just hear Pulp Fiction acted out in front of me in pinball form. I'm in on an SE, and I can't wait for it. But talking to them there, I was able to look underneath the play field at these what were still prototype machines, and they are exceptionally well-made. They had a couple of Cactus Canyons there too. So, of course, I did ask, you know, so what's going on with the production? Where are you at? The sense I got is they are just about exhausted of building Cactus Canyons and can't wait to move on to something else. And as pinball buying public, we can't wait for them to move on either. But Pulp Fictions will be coming out. They made that golden sample or whatever. The thing that they really are committed to more than anything else, though, is quality, is quality control, which I don't think is a thing that we need to fault CGC over. I don't think I've ever heard of any issues from any CGC remade machines. And getting into that a little bit, I was told that if a game is not passing its quality control at the end, that game is ripped apart and sent back down the line to redo whatever it is that's acting up. No just patch job, get it out. No let's send it and we'll fix it with a code update. If it's not working, it goes in the back of the line. It doesn't leave the factory. And so that is really hampering the numbers. That's why they're not doing 500 units a week. or anything like that. But what does come out is solid. And so for that, I am thankful. It's all fun and games until you're the one that gets something where a board is just not working and now your game has to sit there for weeks while you're waiting to diagnose what the problem is and get things back to you. So I'm glad that they do as much robust testing as they do. And I can't wait to see an actual final production Pulp Fiction, hopefully in my house. Now the operators will be getting them first and then it sounds like the SEs might be following. with the LEs then trailing after or intermingled there. We'll have to see how they do with this. But, yeah, very excited for Pulp Fiction to get going. I did notice that they have the old-style coin door, the silver one that was on these machines. I think most of the machines that I've played, the one in Interium and then Logan Arcade on the way to the airport, they had the black door for operators. So maybe that's why I didn't notice. I think at Chicago Expo they may have had the same door that's on them now, the old Bally Williams door with the start button and the coin door. And I just probably didn't notice because I was running around Expo so much. I think I only played Pulp Fiction one time while I was there. So I thought that was new. I posted it, but then I was quickly corrected. But I love the look of this game. You know, I mean, we don't have to sing the praises of Pulp Fiction. You guys get it. You know, so CGC was there. I grabbed a stack of their flyers so I could mail those out too and put them in little gift bags and things. It'll be fun. The final pinball company that I did see there was actually American Pinball. These guys, they must have got their booth late or something. They were all the way against the wall at the front of the show floor with a total of three games. Galactic Tank Force was there, Legends of Valhalla, which has a sweet spot for me, and then a Hot Wheels, two banners, and one salesman, and that was it. So, yeah, nothing new to report on Galactic Tank Force. It wasn't the signature or the limited edition with the tank or the deluxe, what they call it. It was just their standard Is that the deluxe is the standard? I get so confused With their different trim levels Legends of Valhalla was there playing just like Legends of Valhalla does I like that game If it was a homebrew that I made I'd be exceptionally proud of it And you know It's actually probably of all the American pinball games The one that I wouldn't mind Putting in my game room the most Is Legends of Valhalla believe it or not It shoots well every time I play it It's got magnets in it it's a fun to play. It's a fun to play game. I would take it over Oktoberfest. I would take it over Houdini, which is currently on the line right now. So, and talking to the sales people, they do have some backstock of Legends of Ahala, it sounds like, and there may be some holiday sales coming up. So if you want to add one of these things, watch for that coming. I know that they were interviewed there at IAPA, and they revealed that the next three games which are coming are all original licenses. So this flies right into the face of the Masters There's a universe rumor that we've heard. I want me some He-Man, man. Somebody got that license. Somebody needs to make it. I'm hoping this was like a misquote, that the next three games they release are all going to be original themes again. Are we going to see the Galactic Tank Force trilogy? Was this the first one? Was this the A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back version of Galactic Tank Force, Annoya's Revenge, Return of the Annoya? Is that what's coming next? Is that what we're going to see? Is that what you're doing to me, David Fix? I'm not going to have three tanks in my living room to have the trifecta, maybe stack them all in a pyramid formation. Maybe the ultimate topper can be just another pinball machine on top of your pinball machine. We'll get Exhibit on that. Maybe he could do the market research for us. So poor American Pinball, man. They must have blown everything on Expo and just, you know, they must have been a late entry or something. But, you know, floor space is at a premium at this place. My God, man, just if I could just take a second, you know, imagine a world. imagine like 16 super walmarts or 10 costcos or 10 sam's clubs but you know better quality and just full of like everything you could see there was like city blocks of amusement games prize cubes crane games bowling alleys at least 3 or 4 different manufacturers of bowling alleys were there like selling things that you could put in your own dang home like if you want a short alley you want a long alley you want duck pin you want full-size, full-scale, ball return, seats, everything. I mean, it ran the gamut. I was quoted around $25,000 to $30,000 for an in-home, mechanically operated bowling alley. That is a steal, man. When I've looked at it before, it was like $50,000, $75,000 per lane, and that was used equipment. So to get something like that feasibly into the home, like if you've got a baller mansion or something, how cool would that be to have a bowling alley, man? I got that in the back of my mind. So, you know, if I win the lottery, I won't say anything, but there will be signs, right? There will be bowling alleys. That's how you will know. There will be bowling alleys and a ton of pinball machines. And these claw machines are nuts, man. Somebody had a claw machine full of little cocktail bottles to get for your bar, right? You could put this thing in your bar, put a dollar into it, two dollars into it, whatever, scan your phone, and then go in there and grab liquor bottles and do some fireball shots or something. What a cool novel innovation. If I was half lit at a bar, I would go over and play this damn thing. So, yeah, geniusness, that's what we saw. Acres and acres of this. All sorts of Chinese manufacturers were there with things that were just blowing my mind as far as the integration and the LED lights and everything, coin flippers, coin pushers, every manner of way to steal the money from you and put a smile on your face. There was acres of people selling different kinds of plush toys, man. You could have a plush toy manufacturer person. There was games of skill, games of chance, midway-style games set up. And you could all play them, too. They were all there on free play. If you won, you got a token. You got enough tokens. You went over to the plush guy and he gave you a plush toy. And they were there to sell these things. Children were allowed there. It was fun to see the kids trying out everything and see what they would like. There was at least seven different animatronic dinosaur manufacturers with whole dinosaurs on display. Buy some dinosaurs for your house or amusement park. There was a whole district dedicated to just water parks and water park innovations. I was talking to a guy from Poland Water Parks. They're a Turkish firm that builds water slides, and they can customize and create everything and coordinate the building on site. They'll do everything except the concrete, but they'll point you in the direction of a concrete contractor. And, you know, I leveled with the guy. I'm like, look, I am here with a pinball podcast, okay? I've got a home arcade. I occasionally put a game on location, and, like, that is it. I'm not interested in buying a water slide, though I would love to. I don't want to waste your time, sir. And he's like, that's great, that's great. We can handle every step of manufacturing and design for this incredible ride. Look at this. And he had me half convinced that I need to go purchase a 200,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor water park arena. So, you know, I went home with that. I'm getting follow-up emails now, and, like, I'm seriously trying to talk myself out of opening a water park resort now. Thanks, Poland Water Parks. That is the power of marketing. I went to Italy over the summer And I went to Gardaland near Lago di Garda In the north of Italy, it's a big theme park And they have a Jumanji dark ride Which at the time I mentioned would make a great pinball theme You could pick The Rock You could pick Jack Black His character or the other ones And then go on your adventure I still think that would work But they had this elaborate sculpting on the outside Of this giant hippo coming out of the building Ready to gobble your head And I met the company that did the theming for that The place was nuts this experience I climbed through a multi crocheted best way to describe it is like crawling inside of the world largest hacky sack And there was multiple levels inside. The top functioned as a trampoline. The thing was nuts. It was crocheted by hand. Go check out the live streams I did on the Facebook page, Don's Pinball Podcast. And I went through and did live streams as I was walking around the show floor. One of them was crawling through this cross between an Epcot geodesic sphere and a hacky sack and a womb and a trampoline is the only way I can describe it. So go check that out. They had a whole row of people making food, man, vendors selling waffles, popcorn, Dippin' Dots, shakes. And it was just like here's free sample heaven, man. If heaven has a half pipe, they have an IAAPA Expo. It seemed like a quarter of the space was dedicated to just inflatable things. And then roller coaster manufacturers were there. There's a theme park down near Flip N Out Pinball in southern Indiana near Evansville in Santa Claus, Indiana called Holiday World. This theme park is themed around different holidays of the year. They have a Christmas section. They have a Thanksgiving section. They have a Halloween, a Fourth of July section, and a big water park. Their Thanksgiving section is getting a ride themed to riding in a gravy boat. It's a roller coaster where all of the roller coaster cars look like gravy boats with gravy dripping out the front. It's called Gravy Train. I think it's Gravy Train. No, it's called Good Gravy. It should have been called Gravy Train. But that was there on display. They had a couple of cars from the train. You could come up. You could touch them. You could feel the gravy. It was just a nuts experience. I don't know what you're doing next November. But if you care about themed entertainment at all, amusement devices, get yourself to this expo. I don't think I'm ever going to miss it. This was just so incredibly fantastic. So check out the live streams that I did. I did one where I walked the show floor. There's no way to show the whole thing, but I showed it for about an hour or so, and it was just insane. Don't Spend Ball Podcast, check out the Facebook page. Give me a like. Give me a follow. I would appreciate that. Let's get into some more breaking pinball news. Black Knight Sword of Rage, right? That topper has been listed on Pinside for like $2,000, $3,500. And then lately I've noticed a trend of Black Knight Sword of Rage toppers with the movable head and the feather and everything showing up on Pinside in greater frequency, all between this $2,500 to $3,500 price point. And that had to be in anticipation of this. Some people needed to hear about this and were trying to beat the rush. Somebody bought one of these on eBay and then was able to cancel their order. It's being remade, you guys. They're remaking the Black Knight Sword of Rage. Topper, the $2,000 thing, is now being remade by Stern Pinball. Give me some air horns on that. So this Topper retailed back in, what, 2019 when the game came out, $449. You can go and find historical posts from dealers that list this at $449 and sold out. Well, now it's going for $1,499, $1,500, and Stern is remaking these. Distributors are getting them. They're opening their coiffures right now. So go get one if you want to get one. This thing has been so unobtainable that people have been spending multiple thousands of dollars for. And now Stern has kind of cut the market off at the knees and set the new standard. So if you have one of these used, you're now going to be lucky to get $1,200 for it. Because $1,449, $1,499 I think it is, is what you can get one of these from your distributor for if you have a Black Knight Sword of Rage, which I want to talk about more now. So I was rumoring, and this just occurred to me a few weeks ago, looking what's on the market, look what Stern's been doing, especially since Stranger Things has been rerun. They're looking at the market and seeing what the resale on these games is. They're seeing where the demand is on these games. And, of course, for Stranger Things, it was through the roof. It's one of these games that came out kind of early pandemic, pre-pandemic, and then everything kind of shut down. The arcade shut down. People weren't buying things. And so since they weren't being sold in large numbers, they weren't produced in large numbers. And then they just kind of fell off the wayside as the whole world that we lived in changed because of COVID. Well, because of that, on the secondary market, and with the better code that Stranger Things has, of course, it's commanding higher and higher prices. You know, I saw a Stranger Things premium going for $14,000 used, and I thought that was a good deal. LEs, forget it, man, $18,000 plus to try to get close to one of those. Even the pros were maintaining $8,000 or above to get one of these games. And, you know, when they came out, they were only, you know, less than $6,000. Now they're here greater than $8 to $10, depending on the quality of it and what mods were added to it and how desperate the market was. So Stern came out, and they're like, you know what? Pros, premiums, we're redoing them, and we're going to honor our current pricing, and then boom, that's what they did. So that got me thinking, what other games are kind of of that era that may be undersold due to the strangeness of the market, the softening that was going on, the hesitation that the consumers had at the time and then fell off? And once you know it, Black Knight Sword of Rage, I think, fits right in that spot. But Don, people were saying, Black Knight Sword of Rage is not in demand. What are you talking about? Why would they rerun this game if it's not in incredible demand? And I will say to you, do you even know Pinside Dude? I've been on there because I do kind of like this game. After meeting Steve Ritchie at Expo, I have an even greater appreciation for the dude and his taunts and his call-outs from that game. Even the Black Knight Sword of Rage Pro, it plays fast. It plays brutal. This is the type of game I want to have at home where I can play, I can suck at it, and I can just hit start and play again and just do it over and over until I can get better at that game and not just run through $25 every time I go to the arcade to try to do it, right, on location. Plus, it's got Insider Connected. It's a Spike 2 system. It's got the LCD screen. And there's tons of achievements that I haven't even started to get with this. So, you know, I've been looking kind of low-key the past month or so for one of these games. now a game from 2019 from stern a pro by now in today's market should be going for like 4500 honestly routed or not routed you know maybe 5000 if there's you know ultimate mods on there in the topper or something you know how much it's going for in pinside it's going for nothing because you can't buy one because there ain't none listed currently right now on pinside there are no black knight sword of rages listed at all there was one earlier in the week it got posted around November 11th for $6,300 or best offer and it got listed pending in a day. I emailed the guy to see if I could pick it up if the deal fell through and he said, sorry man, the dude bought it. Boom, it's gone and there are currently no pros listed for sale. On pin side, the biggest go to any game right now. Look at Foo Fighters, look at Venom. There are tons of them for sale. Black Knight Sword of Rage, there are no pros. There are three premiums. There are six LEs and that is it. So I think that there is actually a market for this game because when they're coming up for sale, they are selling and they're not sitting there. So I think that the topper coming out is a precursor to what we're going to see. My hope is that they're going to rerun these games. At least the pros. Please do the pros. I'll buy a pro right now. Flat out. No hesitation. They announced pros. I'm getting a pro. But even if there are premiums, I would consider that too. I was at Logan Arcade playing the premium, which I don't have a whole lot of time on, and I kind of was developing an interest in that upper play field. I think it blocks a ton of the game. You can't see what's going on in the back there. I get it. It slows the game down. I get it. It was fun, though, playing with that, and it is a huge upper play field that's there, and at least there is a lot more that you get when you go premium because it's such a big piece of real estate up there. It's not an acrylic. It was kind of beat up. It was hard to see through it. Maybe it would be better in a home environment, but still, if they did a pro, I would buy a pro right now this second. Black Knight Sword of Rage. I'm ordering a topper just in anticipation that I'm going to get this game at some point. I want the taunting Black Knight to yell at me. I want Steve Ritchie to yell at me, sir, in my basement. So there's been some speculation also that what they will run will not be a pro, will not be a premium, but will actually be another LE. I believe only 600 LEs were made back in the Black Knight days, so they could do another drop of 400 of these at $12,999. I think that would be a little bit much. You could get, there's an LE right now. It's been routed, $8,700. Somebody sold an LE with Topper for $10,000. I've seen another one for $10,500. There's some for $12,500, some mad lads trying to really gouge the market there. But I think if Stern were to come out with a line of brand-new LEs reissued for Black Knight Sword of Rage at $12,999, I think we would see them being available also for $10,000 to $11,000 use. And I would probably go in on that. So if you want to go in on one of these, though, where are you going to go? Well, you should email Jeff at Mad Pinball. Let's hear from our sponsor. Here it comes. I love it. Lost my ball, I'm so bad. Flipper's stuck, now I'm sad. Mad Pinball is coming up, y'all. Played pinball with my dad. Straight out of Ohio, man. Get your game on. Pinco Mad Pinball. Email Jeff. Tell him I sent you. I want to try that number and see if it actually is a real number. Mad Pinball. Ooh, email jeffatmadpinball.com. Tell him, hey, Don sent me over here, man. You need to send that guy a cheeseburger or something because he's pumping your stuff, man. But for real, there's so many games that are coming out, and people have years-long waiting lists. Not Mad Pinball, man. Get in there on the ground floor. He can make it happen. The dreams are alive. The dreams are coming from, oh, I was going to say Orlando, Ohio. The cream of the crop rises to the Cuyahoga. So get there and get you some, oh, yeah, from Jeff and Matt. So Black Knight Sword of Rage. The toppers are coming out, man. He's got them. He's taking lists. He's taking orders. Get you one if you need to have one, man. It's got the movable head, yo. But how crazy is it that we are here in 2023, the year of our Lord, nearing December, the end of the year, and we're talking about Black Knight Sword of Rage toppers. Did anybody see this coming two months ago? Did anybody see this coming two days ago? Just dropped on us. We're talking Black Knight sort of rage for some reason. And the reason we're talking about it is because there's none available. And there's a few premiums, a few LEs, but that sought-after pro that plays brutally heavy where you can see everything that the ball is doing is unavailable currently, and I want one. So it makes sense for Stern to rerun those. There is a market for them. I'm telling you guys there's a market for them. Also, here's the other thing. Here's me forecasting into the future. This is another thought that had occurred to me. What is another game kind of of this era that didn't sell very well and there is currently a demand for? You know it as the Munsters. That's right. Grandpa's Dungeon to the Herman Bash toy to those crazy ramps that showed up. So Munsters, that John Borg game, Christopher Franchi art, Dwight Sullivan on code, right? Like the future team that would have their fingers in venom. Well, at least Dwight did. But Munsters, right? look at this game and look at what this thing selling for look at how unavailable it is on pinside look at how much they want for a limited edition It like plus Even the premium is coming up close to that price I've seen $12,000. I've seen $14,000. If you want a Munsters, especially with that topper, forget it. This is another game that they are probably going to run again. If they're not going to run again, they've seriously looked at doing it, and there's some kind of licensing that would hold it up. But I would expect this game, given what we've seen from Stern recently, it would not surprise me to see this thing re-released especially the topper, the side armor the accessories and the game itself, at least in limited numbers I don't know that they would do another LE or if they would just do pros and premiums but this is a game that I think nowadays is sought after it was not sold out to where it should have been initially or could have been, just because of the era this is another game of that era that I would see so, we've seen it with Stranger Things I think we're in the middle of seeing it with Black Knight Sword of Rage. I think we're going to see it with monsters. I wouldn't mind having a limited monsters. I think it's a cool looking game. I need to explore the code a bit more because the gameplay is a little light on things. There's a bash toy. There's some orbits. Orbits aren't really toys. There's a couple of ramps which are serviceable, but they're not like Elton John. But I can still see a market there based on what the availability for those games isn't and for what the price that they're commanding is, especially for a topper, man. What if they did a cuckoo clock topper, like a new finally finished that concept they wanted to do with the cuckoo clock up there with a movable bird that comes out and chimes at you or maybe hurls insults from the show? I would be all over an LE package that included that, included armor, included everything. Forget it, man. $12,999. Take my money on a Munsters. If it's fully dressed like that, I'll put it right next to my Elvira. Right next to my Elvira that somebody is probably be going to purchase from me here pretty soon. I'll get to more of that in a bit. What else is going on? Spooky Pinball is about to release a game. This is how nuts it is right now that we're almost 40 minutes into this. We haven't even got to Spooky Pinball's teasing a new game right now. Like actively mailing out care packages to pinball personalities. Heck, even I might even get picked next to open one of these things. Kerry Hardy just did a live stream last night where he got all kinds of goodies from Santa Spooky, including a prototype part for their next game. These brohards are ready to release something else pretty soon. I was speculating that it would be reasonable to expect something at Texas Pinball Festival in March. I think they might do what they did this, no, last year in December was right around this time of the year is when we finally got the reveal of Scooby-Doo and then the order banks opened up and then production started after the first of the year. They kind of shut down in December. They retooled the factory, and then when everybody came back from the holidays in January, it was Scooby-Doo season. And I think, I mean, the timing is perfect for this to be another repeat of that. I think they'll be built through their Scooby-Doos. I don't think they sold nearly as many standard editions and bloodsucker editions as they did that collector's edition, man. That collector's edition of Scooby-Doo is loaded with everything you would want. You know, what's a couple extra thousand bucks when you're already at that level to get everything, the powder coat, the art, even the butter for me, man. I got a buttery, buttery Scooby-Doo. I love me that game. So they've got another game that's coming out. We've seen a prototype, like 3D printed or resin printed bookshelf mechanism. Cary Hardy has some kind of subway ramp. What are we going to see next? You know, Nap Arcade may be getting one of these. You know, these things may be showing up. So I'm going to be watching the live streams. And I hope it's something where, like, every person gets, like, some other component. And then at the end, we can kind of piece it all together and, like, figure out what's really happening. Oh, on Bug Scream and Swing. Scream and Stream. Why'd you pick that name? That's hard for me to say. They gave out a prototype part to a listener. So there's a listener that's going to be getting some. So there's something out there in the ether that hasn't even made its way into the public eyeball knowledge yet that we're going to see. So I'm hype on this game. I have no idea what it is. They didn't tell me. And if they did drop hints, I was so dense I didn't pick up on it. I've heard everything from Princess Bride to Beetlejuice to Texas Chainsaw Massacre to Saw. We did get that rumor during a live stream that I did that spinning, in quotation marks, was a clue. So spinning what? Spinning Tiny Dancer, for all I know. Spinning Tony Danza. Spinning Sawblade? What if Spooky Pinball is doing a Saw game? I know a whole cadre of people that are working on a homebrew for that theme. and for Spooky to come out with their own version of it, that would be like slapping the water bed and watching the ripple effect throughout the community. That would be wild, and it might happen, man. I honestly have no idea what game they're making. Is it even going to be one game? Maybe it's two games with multiple different themes on one play field. Who really knows? I've heard Looney Tunes. I've heard other things with Warner Brothers. I want Animaniacs. We'll see what's happening, but I think we're going to find out soon. I think we're going to find out soon, like next month we're going to know. And so I'm eagerly anticipating that. Stern can drop anything on us at any time. There might be another cornerstone from Stern, for all we know, in the next month revealed. Crazy things are happening right now in pinball. It hasn't slowed down since I started. I thought March was going to be the apex, and it's done nothing but steamroller on ahead. The landscape's changing. Stern has a new factory. Jersey Jack dropped Elton John on us, and it's good. It's actually really good. It's fun to play, and I think we'll be seeing that out on location soon. What else do we have? Big Lebowski's got mods coming out. Lior is overhelming the mod development over there. He released his toilet mod. If you haven't seen it, go check it out on Facebook. This is a sculpted toilet from the bathroom of the dude from the movie, from the scene where he's sitting on the toilet. The people have invaded his house. They're looking for the money because they got the wrong Lebowski, right? The dude pulls the bowling ball out of the bag, and he looks at the dude, And he's like, what's this? And then dude comes back with like the best one line in the entire movie. Obviously, you're not a golfer, right? It's a bowling ball. It's not a golf ball. He drops it, cracks the tiles. And those cracked tiles are represented in the sculpt of this toilet. I'm so excited about a toilet, you guys. Lior's toilet. I don't know where it bolts into the game yet or anything. But the bowling ball is there on the floor with the cracked tile sculpt underneath. Man, the attention to detail on this thing is amazing. I haven't heard yet on a price. This thing has to be at least $225. If it's $1, it's $2.25 at least, I would think, given his pedigree and what he does. So that has been revealed. We've seen a teasing of the Art Blades for Big Lebowski, and I think they light up, and I think they're made out of that Plexi acrylic. I haven't seen a price on those yet or when those are coming, but they've been teased. A topper is coming, and the word that I got was soon, but not definite, but probably the next couple weeks. Maybe at the end of this week we might see it for all I know. If you see it, I can't believe how excited I am for a toilet mod. But that is coming. When is it coming? Who knows? Where can you get it? So this is only available through the U.S. distributors for Dutch Pinball. So if you want, email Jeff about this, and maybe he can get in to be a distributor with Dutch Pinball. That would be fantastic. However, Melissa Cointaker and Little Shop of Games in Florida are the two that are listed for the U.S. distributors of these mods. and if you want to get in on these art blades they're probably taking lists for those too but the way Mad Pinball's going we're going to take over the world enough about me chatting up my awesome and attractive sponsor that's coming we've come to the end of my recap of my crazy week I've been going 100 miles an hour all week long I'm just starting to catch my breath it still hasn't even sunk in everything I did there's an Epcot live stream I tried to come on and do live streams covering the news and things that I was seeing just to share my experience with everybody. So follow the Facebook page if you haven't done that. I've done what I have not seen any pinball podcaster do, and that is a live stream from Epcot during fireworks. What other pinball podcaster has had fireworks going off? Remember that for your twippy voting. But that was just such a cool thing. I love the people in this hobby, and I like that I can veer off a little bit from the pinball content or talk about pinball but in a different venue. I like to travel. I love theme parks. So I was walking around the Mexico Pavilion at Epcot. We went on a ride. I live streamed it. I had the whole boat to myself so I didn't disturb anybody else. And I got to share it with like 10, 15 people. You know, David David Van Es came on there from Labyrinth and gave us some hints on some code updates that are coming. So go check that out if you haven't. You know, if you're bored, throw it up on the big screen. You know, put it up on your iPad. You know, come with me on a walk around Epcot. We watch the fireworks. We go on a ride. We talk pinball. We interact. It's a lot of fun, man. And I want to keep it going. I want to keep doing that. My Venom is still for sale. I ended up, I think I'm going to sell my Elvira to this buyer instead. So if you want a chance to own the best-looking Venom Premium on the planet, I'm talking about LE Armor. I'm talking about Art Blades. I'm talking about Shaker Motor, Knocker, Topper. It looks flipping amazing. I've powder-coated the whole thing. It's got shiny chrome embellishments on the coin door. Go check this thing out. before the hounds of Pinside get turned loose on it because I think in the next week it's going to be going up on there. But if you want to get one, we'll negotiate on a price, man. Tell me what you want to pay. No reasonable offer is refused. I don't want to publicly disclose a price goal. There's no reserve on this. Let's just do it. No reserve. If you're interested in playing this game, it's great condition. It's new out of box with all these mods, mods that nobody else has. I've got the Taco Bell Tower mod on this. I've got the Don's Pinball Podcast spinner on this Venom. This is the greatest looking Venom Premium in the world. It's powder coated just like the LE is. It's got the LE armor on it. I can't sing the praises of this game enough. I love playing this game. I've got even more mods I'm adding to it maybe tonight. So look for that video on YouTube. But if you want a chance to own it, go ahead and throw me an offer, man. Best offer gets it. Let's just have fun with it. I think next week, if I don't have a buyer, I'll throw it up on the pin side and we'll let the hounds fight over it. But this is a great Venom. Buy it for your location. Buy it for your pizza parlor. Buy it for your home. Buy it for your ex-wife's home if you want to, if she's not a Venom fan. That'll show her. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Thanks once again for joining me here at Don's Pinball Podcast, a passion project of mine to share my perspective of the pinball world. Email me at donspinballpodcast at gmail.com. Give me your feedback, man. I love it. Go to the Facebook page and do a follow. That's where I drop a lot of the live streams. I'm going to be moving more towards YouTube, So bookmark, subscribe to the YouTube channel. It's also Don's Pinball Podcast. Join the Patreon if you want to get on some special exclusives. We've been booming over there with new members. We have some member exclusives coming up, including a holiday T-shirt that will only be available to Patreon members. $5 gets you in the door, gets you to the party. Come on over for a month and check it out. We're having good times there. I've got plans for more things to do, and that is where I try to drop content as soon as I can. Don's Pinball Podcast. Take it over the space. Chailing with you while you drive around in your car. That didn't rhyme. Don's Pinball Podcast. Get at me, man. Let's be happy. We got so many games that are coming out and so many more that are about to come out. Big stuff is coming even next month, and I'll be covering it here, man. So drop a like, drop a subscribe. Give me a dab, yo. It's good. Later.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 0cef78f8-0914-4e5d-8af1-e0f2fd688e52*