# DPP #188 "The whole world is a Pinfest!"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-05-06  
**Duration:** 31m 38s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-188-The-whole-world-is-a-Pinfest-e32eu2b

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## Analysis

Don returns from a six-day world trip and discusses the pinball market in mid-May. Key topics: Kong LE underperformance due to limited tangible upgrades over Premium ($3,000 price gap unjustified); economic uncertainty from tariffs affecting collector purchasing decisions; Harry Potter's repeated delays tied to licensing complexity; missing games at Pinfest (Predator, Cuphead/Fins Up); Dune's worm mechanism issues at Allentown; and a alleged shoplifting incident at Pinfest involving Cointaker booth merchandise.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Kong LE did not sell out instantly, contrasting with typical Stern premium releases — _Don observed this trend firsthand and provides detailed analysis of why_
- [HIGH] Pro and Premium Kong models are loaded with nearly all major gameplay features of the LE — _Don compares feature sets across tiers; notes Pro includes all major shots and same code as LE_
- [HIGH] LE premium features (anti-reflective glass, shaker motor, speaker lights) can be purchased separately for ~$1,500 less than the $3,000 LE premium — _Don itemizes aftermarket costs and availability_
- [MEDIUM] Harry Potter licensing required approximately $5 million in approvals and assets — _Don states this figure; no source attribution given_
- [HIGH] Tariff uncertainty is causing personal budget cuts and delayed purchasing decisions — _Don describes his own experience rushing to buy a 3D printer and reconsidering Harry Potter purchase_
- [LOW] Pinball Brothers' ABBA sold approximately 16 copies; Queen also underperformed — _Don states 'correct me if I'm wrong, my math might be a little fuzzy' — signals uncertainty_
- [HIGH] Kong had only one machine at Allentown Pinfest, causing hour-long wait lines — _Don cites Jason Knapp coverage and multiple attendee reports_
- [HIGH] Dune had a worm mechanism issue where the rear corner wasn't flush, trapping balls — _Don describes photos of the playfield and notes mechanical adjustments were made on-site_

### Notable Quotes

> "The Pro is essentially loaded with every major shot of the game, all the same code, as its more elegant brothers and bedazzled sisters of the line."
> — **Don**, ~08:00
> _Core thesis: Pro/Premium feature parity undermines LE scarcity value_

> "I don't know what's going on with these tariffs anymore. They're on, they're off, they're on and tripled the price, and then now they're on hold again... it's all a political mess."
> — **Don**, ~18:30
> _Illustrates economic uncertainty impacting collector spending_

> "Three weeks ago, if a game like Harry Potter were to have been released, it probably would have been a sure bet that I would get it. And now, a couple weeks later, I'm kind of on the fence, man."
> — **Don**, ~19:45
> _Direct evidence of tariff-driven budget constraints affecting high-end purchases_

> "Harry Potter, absolutely licensing mess from head to toe. It took like a $5 million fist punch into the face to get everything approved."
> — **Don**, ~21:00
> _Quantifies licensing complexity for major IP; explains repeated delays_

> "The sense that's been going around, have you heard of God Potter being batted around? People likening this new Harry Potter game from Jersey Jack Pinball to Godfather."
> — **Don**, ~23:00
> _Emerging community narrative: Harry Potter may disappoint like Godfather did_

> "If there was expression lights and a shooter rod included, I think we'd see more value there, but we're not seeing it."
> — **Don**, ~14:30
> _Identifies specific missing features that would justify LE premium pricing_

> "Predator... I thought we were going to see this at Allentown, we didn't. I thought we were going to see something April 29th was battered around, we didn't. Here we are, like Cinco de Mayo, as of this recording and still nothing."
> — **Don**, ~26:00
> _Pinball Brothers' Predator remains unshipped with missed announced dates_

> "Kong, I think there was seven machines at Kalamazoo. We had, you know, five or six at the Stern Factory for Media Day, and there was exactly one on site at Pinfest, and that was not enough."
> — **Don**, ~32:45
> _Supply/availability constraints for new releases at major events_

> "Dune... I think if it was a pizza I'd throw it back in for another four minutes and maybe hit the broiler. Make sure there's parm on top. So we get that nice golden crust there."
> — **Don**, ~39:00
> _Critique of Dune code depth as underbaked; implies lack of callouts_

> "The pinball market growing the hobby... there's huge areas for expansion... even in delhi india i was finding pockets of places where these would make sense."
> — **Don**, ~50:00
> _Market expansion opportunity thesis based on international travel observations_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; recently returned from 6-day international trip; collector, casual player, and industry observer |
| King Kong | game | Stern Pinball's recent release; LE variant failed to sell out instantly; designed by Keith Elwin; available in Pro/Premium/LE tiers |
| Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack Pinball upcoming release; repeatedly delayed due to licensing; community rumors comparing it to Godfather; pricing concerns and collector hesitation |
| Dune | game | Barrels of Fun release; featured at Allentown Pinfest with worm mechanism issue; code described as underbaked; improved playfield compared to ABBA/Queen/Labyrinth |
| Predator | game | Pinball Brothers unreleased game; missed April 29 target date; still not shipped as of May; rumored other designs in development pipeline |
| Cuphead | game | Rumored American Pinball title; not officially announced; absent from Pinfest and other recent shows |
| Keith Elwin | person | Legendary designer; designed King Kong; previously designed Godzilla; benchmark for pinball design quality |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; released Kong; maintained Pro/Premium feature parity strategy reducing LE differentiation |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; developing Harry Potter; licensing-intensive projects |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer; released Dune; previous releases include Labyrinth, Barry's Barbecue Challenge |
| Pinball Brothers | company | Solo manufacturer in Sweden; released ABBA and Queen with low sales; Predator delayed indefinitely |
| American Pinball | company | Developing Cuphead pinball (rumored); Fins Up/Jimmy Buffett game also rumored; no recent announcements |
| Allentown Pinfest | event | Recent pinball event in Allentown; featured one Kong machine (1-hour wait), two Dune machines (worm issue), alleged shoplifting incident |
| Paul Rogoff | person | Allegedly involved in Cointaker booth shoplifting incident at Allentown Pinfest; claimed he paid an imposter employee; invited to respond on podcast |
| Cointaker | company | Pinball parts/merchandise vendor; booth at Allentown Pinfest; victim of alleged theft of merchandise |
| Jason Knapp | person | Pinball content creator; covered Pinfest event and Kong wait lines |
| Godfather | game | Jersey Jack Pinball previous release; community comparing Harry Potter to it; perceived as disappointing/slow sales |
| ABBA | game | Pinball Brothers release; low sales (~16 copies per Don); fun to play but niche theme |
| Jaws | game | Stern Pinball previous release by Keith Elwin; Kong positioned as spiritual successor; LE featured exceptional backglass |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball game by Keith Elwin; Kong potentially positioned as 'Godzilla killer' depending on code quality |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Kong LE pricing and feature differentiation, Economic uncertainty and tariff impact on collector spending, Harry Potter delays and licensing complexity, Pinfest event coverage (supply, mechanical issues, incidents), Unannounced/delayed games (Predator, Cuphead, Fins Up)
- **Secondary:** Dune code quality and worm mechanism issue, International pinball market expansion, Community sentiment on Stern's three-tier pricing model

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Don expresses enthusiasm for Kong as a game and the 'trough jam' release cadence, but significant frustration with Kong LE value proposition, economic uncertainty, repeated delays on major IPs (Harry Potter, Predator), and market accessibility at shows. Skepticism about upcoming releases (Godfather comparison to Harry Potter) and industry health (Pinball Brothers viability) tempers optimism.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Pinball Brothers viability questioned; ABBA/Queen failed to gain traction; Predator production status unclear; company rumored to have future designs but no timeline (confidence: medium) — Don expresses skepticism about ABBA sales (~16 units), questions company direction, notes Predator delays without explanation
- **[community_signal]** Alleged shoplifting incident at Allentown Pinfest involving Cointaker booth; suspect (Paul Rogoff) claims he paid an imposter; video evidence posted on Facebook (confidence: medium) — Don references Facebook post and video; incident identity confirmed but explanation disputed; Don invites suspect to podcast for response
- **[sentiment_shift]** Emerging narrative comparing Jersey Jack Harry Potter to Godfather; community concern game will disappoint with slow/grindy gameplay like Godfather (confidence: medium) — Don references 'sense going around' and 'God Potter' nickname; notes same designer, potential spiritual successor concerns
- **[community_signal]** Pinball expanding globally but market penetration minimal in Asia; Don observes significant expansion opportunity in affluent regions (Singapore, urban India) (confidence: medium) — Don's 6-day international trip observations; notes luxury markets in Singapore/Hong Kong have capital for premium goods but minimal pinball presence
- **[design_philosophy]** Stern exploring premium backglass artwork (Kong LE praised); custom cabinet cosmetics (Art Deco potential noted as missed opportunity) becoming differentiation lever for collector editions (confidence: medium) — Don highlights Kong LE backglass as standout feature; criticizes missed Art Deco opportunity for Kong cabinet cosmetics vs John Wick example
- **[event_signal]** Allentown Pinfest featured severe supply constraints (one Kong machine causing 1-hour wait; two Dune machines with mechanical issues) (confidence: high) — Don cites Jason Knapp coverage and attendee reports; notes Metallica Premium LE-level wait times for new release
- **[licensing_signal]** Harry Potter licensing required $5M investment in approvals; game repeatedly delayed; licensing described as 'mess from head to toe' (confidence: medium) — Don states licensing complexity explains delays; quantifies approval costs but without source attribution
- **[market_signal]** Tariff uncertainty causing collector budget cuts; Don delaying Kong/Harry Potter purchase decisions despite prior intent (confidence: high) — Don describes rushing 3D printer purchase due to tariff fear, reconsidering Harry Potter due to economic uncertainty; ties to broader market hesitation
- **[market_signal]** $3,000 LE premium over Premium variant not justified by available features; aftermarket alternatives cost ~$1,500 less (confidence: high) — Don itemizes all LE features, pricing, and aftermarket equivalents; notes Kong LE failure to sell out contrasts with past Stern releases
- **[product_strategy]** Harry Potter postponed multiple times; no release date disclosed; Predator (Pinball Brothers) missed April 29 target; Cuphead/Fins Up absent from shows (confidence: high) — Don documents missed dates, references to 'God Potter' community rumors about delays, absence from Allentown and other recent events
- **[product_concern]** Dune code underbaked at launch; lacks callouts; worm mechanism design flaw causing ball traps (confidence: high) — Don describes code as needing 'another four minutes' in broiler; notes worm corner not flush with playfield; mechanical adjustment required on-site
- **[business_signal]** Stern maintaining Pro/Premium feature parity (all major shots, same code) across recent releases (Wick, X-Men, D&D, Kong) reduces LE differentiation and scarcity narrative (confidence: high) — Don explicitly compares feature sets across tiers; notes Pro is 'loaded' with major gameplay elements

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## Transcript

 not just coast to coast we are worldwide here on don's pinball podcast episode number 188 i am back from a trip spanning the entirety of the globe can't wait to tell you all about it also gonna talk about some pinball man we got some games coming out let's go Ed Boon devastating times literally flew around the world in six days i'm gonna detail everything in like a detailed Patreon podcast, going to go over how the trip was, everything that happened. But basically, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Delhi are each awesome in their own way. I'll tell you what they don't have, though, and that is much pinball. Luckily for us, we are here in the middle of the trough jam, and currently we got a jam of Kong LEs coming out, yet they seem to be not sold out instantly, and this is causing some consternation among folks that focus probably a little bit too much on these things. I think I can speak to why. Then we'll cover some of the other games that are coming out and where they're at in their queue of development and waiting to shower upon us that pinball goodness that we love. Now, here's the thing. The quick and dirty of the reason why Kong Elite did not sell out is it's not quite the pinnacle of Ellie's when it comes to full accoutrementation of a pinball machine. And, and this is great for us, the big other reason is that the Pro and the Premium of Kong are just absolutely loaded just as they are. I mean, you know, even the Pro, you know, Stern has been on this trajectory lately. I think we saw this with, well, honestly, with Wick, but definitely with X-Men, definitely with Dungeons & Dragons. And we're seeing it again with Kong here, where the Pro is essentially loaded with every major shot of the game, all the same code, as its more elegant brothers and bedazzled sisters of the line. So, like, it's not that you're missing a whole lot. Dungeons & Dragons, I mean, you're missing the dragon scoop, you're missing the dragon shaking his head left and right like Willow Smith. Other than that, the game's essentially the same. A hell of a loaded Pro. Saying that, I love my D&D LE. Not looking to get rid of it anytime soon. I do love that game. I'm not sure that that really sold out, but it did sell some pretty good gangbusters. Kong. All right. Let's look at the LE versus the premium. Okay, premium, you're going to get everything. You're going to get the gong swinging back and forth, fighting you, punching you in the face. Gameplay element that I absolutely love. You get physical ball locks. I'm a sucker for those. I love physical ball locks. You get the train car. Balls load into it. Kong goes crazy. Knocks the thing loose. You get a moving Kong, which, while not adding really anything to the gameplay at all, is super fun over there. And if I was playing a Kong and I got a free game and my Kong is not punching the glass, I'm really feeling like I'm missing something. Tell you what's not missing, though, proto-premium layout. We'll stick with that for a second. Any wire forms, right? Now, that was a major thing with Avengers Infinity Quest. Some other games have been lacking shots and things. But, like, other than missing a physical ball lock, You're still getting just about everything on Kong, except the gong and the movable kong and the train car. Essentially, everything on the right side is different. Everything else is just about the same. So premium, you're going to get the full experience, the full articulated kong, the physical ball locks, the gong, which adds a ton of gameplay. I mean, you can backhand that thing. Game is sweet. You wouldn't know this if you were pin fest in Allentown because there's only one game and you had to wait an hour to play it. And it's hard to play pinball under those circumstances. We'll get to that a little bit later in the episode here. All right, so Kong Ellie, this is Elwin's follow-up to Jaws. Man, this is the man that brought us Godzilla. This may be potentially a Godzilla killer, depending on how the code and how it shows up. So why didn't sell out instantly, Don? Well, I got a reason for you. Essentially, there's 3,000 reasons, the 3,000 extra dollars that you'd have to get to get this Ellie over the premium. And when you look at it, what are you really getting? Now, a lot of these things with the limited edition games from Stern and from other companies can be purchased separately. invisible glass is available from just about everybody and their cousin right now uh from prices all the way down to like 150 with the pin glass plus for a multi-morphic all the way up to like voodoo glass or something is two something or whatever uh anywhere in there you can pick up yourself some anti-reflective glass and i think we're going to see this stuff become even more available because honestly this is a consumer available product go to any glass company and ask for ar coated glass on both sides and they'll be able to make it and cut it for you pay a little bit extra and get it beveled on the edges if you want. But tempered glass with AR coatings is not a hard thing to source. But it's nice that it does come installed on the LE. What are you going to do with this extra glass anyway? So what else do you get? Shaker motor, $129. Do you get the exclusive shooter rod? No. Those can go for as much as $250. Which is insane. Especially with the John Wick. Very underwhelming accessory there, Stern. Maybe they were limited in what they could get approved. I don't know the backstory for it. But Jaws LE. Look at that. It came with that as a bonus. Favor Jaws LE there. Let's go look at John Wick LE. The big difference that this game came with, other than probably the best mirrored back glass and pinball, was the expression lights. And that's what I feel like really would have elevated Kong into yeah, I think I'd buy the LE category. So when you're looking at baked in value, the last round of these lights that we saw with Metallica came with a price increase to the tune of $699 and $99 for this essentially must-have accessory if your cabinet is routed for it. And that comes with the LEs, essentially everyone that's come out. But it's not available on Kong, so that's not an added benefit, even though it costs the same amount that Metallic LE did. It's a benefit that's not there. You do get the upgraded speakers, the Kenwoods. They're $37. You could get some of your own, throw them on in. You do get the speaker lights, $200. But adding all this up, If you get yourself some speaker lights, some invisiglass, a shaker motor, you're essentially getting most of the things from an LE added on in there. So where's that extra value going? If there was expression lights and a shooter rod included, I think we'd see more value there, but we're not seeing it. Then you look at the intangibles, right? The foil art. The art on the cabin is the same as the other two trim levels. It's been done to death. Nothing really stood out to make this like. Like, why didn't this version of King Kong, it should have had an Art Deco build top to bottom, you know, from back glass, which admittedly looks amazing, to side armor with like, it should have had a glitter powder coat in it or something. And then make the art look like New York scene. Come on. You didn't have to get license or approval for this. You could have went completely nuts and Art Deco the entire cabinet. And I think that would have elevated it. And we're not seeing that. Art Blades, forgot to mention, $119. The ones that come from Stern tend to be probably my least favorite. I do like some of the aftermarket Art Blades and some of the plexi-coated, almost like rad cows that are available from Custom Pinball. I've been buying those exclusively on Games That Need Them. I just got my set for D&D, and they look amazing. They're thick, they're plastic, they're rad cows, basically. You slap them on, and they have the sheen to them, which I like more than the foil embossments that we've been seeing from some of their other things. so I think that part of the reason that Kong LE is not completely sold out I don know that it ever be worth more than MSRP I still think Kong itself is going to be a fantastic game There's so many good options between the pro and the premium already. And then if you look at getting a premium, throw some plexi decal art blades inside there. Put on the aftermarket stuff that you can get. And then get some custom cut armor. Get a powder coated man or find a friend that knows how to do that. And really, I think you can get a customized build of a Kong Premium and still save yourself about $1,500 over the price of that LE. The one thing you cannot reach, the unobtainium part, is that awesome, awesome back glass. I've seen it in person for the LE. All these Kong LE owners that are getting their games right now, shout out to you guys, you can attest to the fact that this is one of the best back glasses they've made. I don't think it matches the back glass of John Wick. That was fantastic. the rest of the game. A lot to be said about that. But yeah, man, that Kong LE graphic, I sure do like that. Hopefully it becomes available in Translate form through some kind of means, because I would totally love to get that and throw it on my wall. Notwithstanding, Kong looks like a great game. LEs are available. The other huge part about this, though, that I'm seeing is really the market and the economy. I don't know what's going on with these tariffs anymore. I don't know that anybody else really does. They're on, they're off, they're on and tripled the price, and then now they're on hold again, and now they're only available for certain companies and not others, depending on their campaign contributions. It's all a political mess. I don't see really the through line on how this is making any logical sense, but I can tell you that it's touching every single small business that I know, from pinball manufacturing to my own crafting business. I had to rush and buy another 3D printer now just because I'm worried about supplies coming forward once these tariffs fully go into place and I just have this hobby mod business now imagine if I had a legitimate business riding on buying components from other countries and I don't know which one, spin the wheel is going to be targeted that week so I had to rush out and buy this thing that ate up a lot of my expendable budget I wasn't really planning on purchasing this new unit this soon But with all this uncertainty and prices definitely due to rise, I felt like it was kind of now or never or now or pay three times as much. So it's really affecting my budget to the point that three weeks ago, if a game like Harry Potter were to have been released, it probably would have been a sure bet that I would get it. And now, a couple weeks later, I'm kind of on the fence, man. If it doesn't completely knock my socks off, I'm happy to wait and even pick up a lower one later. Or, heck, I'll just go out on location and play it, you know. So where is Harry Potter? People were saying this game is going to be out. It's Harry Potter Day. They're waiting for this. I don't see that happening. This game probably already has a release date in mind. It's probably had several already, to be honest. And then, you know, it's been kicked down depending on licensing. Like, Kong, you didn't have to worry about licensing. You just had to make some cool animations and stuff. Harry Potter, absolutely licensing mess from head to toe. It took like a $5 million fist punch into the face to get everything approved and off the ground. Hopefully there's assets, but we're going to have to wait and really see it. And the sense that's been going around, have you heard of God Potter being batted around? People likening this new Harry Potter game from Jersey Jackpinball to Godfather. their release was two games ago Godfather beautiful looking game not were horrible to play just not a world I want to spend a lot of time in you know play it and move on to something else not enough to own I think I think we're seeing that reflected in the prices but is Harry Potter going to be essentially a Godfather game is made by the same designer you know is it going to be like a spiritual successor to that game just with a much much better theme gosh that's certainly would be disappointing I want to see this game already but essentially I mean I'm on a list to get one still but with the economy the way it's going what I'm hearing about God Potter the fact that we haven't seen anything yet and the fact that these collector's editions will be unlimited to the point that there may be tons of them out there and then a lot available second hand later on I just don't feel a rush right now and I think two weeks from now when we'll probably see the release of this game I may be completely just out of the buying pinball market for the rest of the year until I see like, you know, which way the economy's going, which way things are swinging, and how many extra shifts I can pick up, to be honest. So those are kind of my observations that I've had. I've been out of town for a while here, flying around the world, you know, but I've been from afar, peeking in and trying to, you know, carry on with things that have been going on in the pinball world while I'm away. Now I'm back, and here we are. Pinball Brothers, pinball brother, pinball orphan, the solo guy, the dude in Sweden that's still trying to put games out. Where's Predator? That was teased a while ago. And then, you know, what's going on with that? Is this licensing? Are there final approvals that are waiting on? Is there a hiccup in the build queue? I can't imagine that Pedretti is still cranking out fun houses. Who's buying those? So where's this Predator game? I want to see it. I want it to be good. I'm afraid it won't be. And it'll be like a ruined license. And then is this a company that we're going to see going forward? Now, the rumors I'm hearing are that Pinball Brothers do, in fact, have other games on the horizon they would like to release after this Predator game. And, you know, coming hot on the heels of their seminal release of ABBA, which I think sold a total of 16 copies. Correct me if I'm wrong. My math might be a little fuzzy there. But maybe they'll go for double and sell 36 Predators before we see something else coming up. So I don't know for the Pinball Brothers. Apparently they do have, the company, does have future designs in the works. I don't know what they are, but I really want something to impress me, because Queen sure didn't. ABBA sure didn't, though it was damn fun to play around with, because it's just such a goofy choice on a theme. So I will have a special place in my heart for ABBA, much more than Queen, to the point that if it was dirt cheap, I would probably unironically enjoy playing, I almost said I'd enjoy playing in ABBA at home. I don't know if that's necessarily true But I do want to see it out in the wild I do like coming to play it every now and then You know, which one's a better game Godfather or ABBA Toss up I mean, I think clearly Godfather's a better game Anyway, Pinball Brothers Where's the freaking Predator I thought we were going to see this at Allentown, we didn't I thought we were going to see something April 29th was battered around, we didn't Here we are, like Cinco de Mayo, as of this recording and still nothing, man. Where's my Cinco de Predator? Are they waiting for Harry Potter, too? Maybe Pinball Brothers wants to wait before they buy all these parts to build Predator. Maybe they just want to cash out, use that money for parts to buy themselves a Harry Potter, go home and play a decent game. Want, want. How's that for your hot take of the episode? Also notably absent from Pinfest was this rumored Cuphead title that we're supposed to be seeing from the company currently known as American Pinball. Also Funs Up, maybe. fins up is this the uh the jimmy buffett company uh nowhere to be seen um we didn't see it at mgc we didn't see it at tpf i really wish we did i really want to play it again um you know rumored allegedly of course because they have not officially released the theme to this but uh i don't know what's going on there i just got a patreon message uh from a listener thank you to remember uh don what's going on with american pinball where's this new game i i have no idea I haven't heard anything. The last time I did talk recently, a few weeks ago, with my contact there with American Pinball, still gainfully employed there and still the plan is for the game to come out And it almost there but not quite ready But I kind of want to say that it was about three weeks ago And I don know Here we are in May man Here we are in May All eyes are on Potter You know, will these guys make it to the trough jam? Don't know. He's picking a bottle next. Allentown's Pin Fest. Seemed like a pretty cool show from what I saw. I have to check it out next year because it does seem like a whole hoot and a half. Now, Kong, I think there was seven machines at Kalamazoo. We had, you know, five or six at the Stern Factory for Media Day, and there was exactly one on site at Pinfest, and that was not enough. I heard immediately upon the doors opening, thank you, Jason Knapp, for the good coverage, and some other folks that reached out to me, that the line built to over an hour. We're talking like Metallica, Premium Man, LE levels at Expo kind of thing, where it was like an hour-long wait just to get on either of those two games for Kong. Now, that kind of sucks. I really wish there would have been more games there for people to play I don't think you're going to have to wait more than a few weeks Until this game is everywhere But there were people that attended the show That didn't get to play this brand new Spankin' new release from Stern Just because I mean that's a lot of time to be standing in line To play anything you know And then after you've been waiting an hour Are you really going to play your best That's just you know It sucks to go into a show and see all this cool stuff you want to go check out But you're like stuck in this line you know what I mean Yeah that's frustrating Definitely It would have been great if they would have had like three, you know, and then at least it would have been a 20-minute wait. Anyway, I heard there was two dunes there as well. Heard there was an issue with the worm. Now, I don't know that this is a game-breaking issue. What it looked like to me was that there was a little bit of a ball trap behind the corner of the worm that rises like a soup can from the very brown play field, kind of in a swirling motion, the main mechanism of the game. And much like a lot of other mechanisms that sit in the play field, there's adjustments that can be made. It looked like the back corner of the worm wasn't quite flush with the game. It was up a little bit from the play field. And so a ball, if it got back in that corner, would just kind of be trapped, and then glass has to come off, you know, and it has to be moved. So there were some pictures circulating of the play field of Dune lifted up with, you know, Jen, I think her name was. Jen or Jess was there mechanically fixing it up. But essentially, these things have set screws that you can adjust. That will adjust the level so they sit flush. And it looks like, you know, for a new out-of-box game, that was all they had to adjust. And it seemed to play well. I didn't hear any issues of, like, massive downtime for the game other than that. And I reflected it in a live stream sometime over the past week. I can't even remember where it was. That I did appreciate Dune as a pinball machine for being out there. It sure plays a hell of a lot better than ABBA and Queen. I'll tell you that much. It plays a lot better than Burio's Barbecue Challenge. It plays better than Labyrinth, to be honest. I think we're all saying the same thing right now Is that the code is just Well there's not much in there And there's no real call outs to be heard At least at the media day that I was at Seems a little under baked I think if it was a pizza I'd throw it back in for another four minutes And maybe hit the broiler Make sure there's parm on top So we get that nice golden crust there Maybe I'm hungry But that's kind of where Dune's at But I appreciate that it's out there I do want to see the accessories when they come out I'm just not in a position to buy another pinball machine right now anyway so I'm happy to hold off but I do want to see where this game goes and I am very happy to say that the game is now available to play locally to me in Madison, Wisconsin at IO Arcade Hilton's routing it over there way to go Hilton I'd like to go down there and play maybe tomorrow and play a little bit of Dune knock some balls around Arrakis before I go to work I think that would be a good time speaking of good times man this was great Butch's Game Garage posted this on Facebook. So apparently one of the things that allegedly happened at Allentown's Pin Fest was a little bit of a dude helping himself to a little five-figure discount from the coin taker booth. And then a video was posted because this guy was on video walking up to the table, picking up, I don't know what it was, like a bag of Flipper Mechs or something. Picked it up, put it down, picked up another one, put it down, looked around, looked around, picked up one, and then just kind of did the whole, I think this thing would be more comfortable. if it was firmly in my pocket. And then, oh, wouldn't you know it, I have to walk away real quickly right now. And so they captured this footage of this individual and posted the video on Facebook, which got immediate attention. Like, is this guy really, like, shoplifting in full view of the camera from Cointaker's booth? We know people do this at shows, man. Don't leave your good stuff out on tables. Stuff walks away all the damn time, man. You got, like, your topper out there. You know, it's nothing for somebody to just kind of, like, scoot it and boot it. So make sure you keep people at your desk You know man Because it's just too easy With all the public it's at some of these shows It's so busy it's so loud you're having so much fun You're distracted and then Ed Boon Stuff's gone man People go to these shows like MGC with like Several hundred dollar NES games Like complete in box And keep them under lock and key for a damn reason Because that stuff is easy to gank And has high profit potential So apparently this guy was identified No this is allegedly I think his name was, let's give him a shout out shout out to Paul Rogoff I think was the guy, he's been labeled the coin taker thief at Pinfest allegedly, now he was found out and then did post a rebuttal saying that what had happened was he actually paid money for this, whatever it was he picked up and put down and picked up and put down and picked up and put in his pocket but the person he paid apparently was an imposter there was an imposter there posing as a coin taker employee and he had paid his money to this person and then wouldn't you know it, didn't get a receipt I hate when that happens and then he went out and picked up his merchandise and marched all the way off but this guy's been around and he knows, what is it Tom and Melissa, coin taker over there and everything's all gravy and I don't know why everybody's making a big deal the kind of story that I would say if I got picked out doing something stupid like this, oh no see I paid a guy but it must have been an imposter guy and he took my money do you have a description or police report? no of course not, don't have a receipt, nothing so make of that what you will, I'm not calling the dude out as like totally being the thief here but that's exactly what the video looked like and it's funny, so if it's up on Facebook go ahead and check around they did link to his Facebook page which was unlocked so I had a little bit of fun making a meme and posted it on the Don's Pinball Podcast website, Paul if you want to reach out and give us your hot take and come on the show, you're totally invited man, donspinballpodcast.gmail.com get at me dude we'll set up a time immediately and uh i want to hear your side of the story man what happened i hate when imposters show up and take money for products man and if that's happening we need a description of this guy uh so we can be on the lookout right b-o-l-o be on the b-o-t-o what will the police call that um we'd be on the lookout for all that fun stuff and more what have i been doing since i got back i have not played any pinball on the road um and i had a hard ass time trying to find it pinball it turns out has not yet penetrated deeply into a great deal of the world that i think would really benefit from it so when we talk about things like overall market reach of pinball growing the pinball market growing the hobby uh there's huge areas for expansion and you say well don these things are expensive people in parts of the world you know they can't afford these things i say tut tut to you sir that is absolutely not true and even in delhi india i was finding pockets of places where these would make sense. Maybe not an old deli. Maybe not the spice market. But, you know, definitely Singapore has some damn money. They have some outrageous food, too. And they've got themselves a righteous Universal Studios park. These people would be resplendent with, like, a full, like, Jersey Jack arcade and Stern L.E.'s, man. And I think it just a matter of time until it happens It may be down to gaining awareness and such But the more we blow it up here hopefully that culture will penetrate into some of these other spots And we can keep this whole machine rolling Keep trough jam going. I love that every couple of weeks we've got a new game, man. We are so spoiled to have that available. And a lot of these games show up on locations like almost immediately. I don't even know how the budgeting and economy of that can work. With the game being this much, but like bars just able to throw the new one out every time it comes out, man. Must be making a lot of ancillary income on those tavern pies and beer pints. That's the only way I can see it working. I don't know how it works. I'm glad that it does, though. And so I still think there's a lot of expansion room that is out there. I'm going to get some other shout-outs, man. I was on an airplane for 42 total hours over five days, and the only way that I stayed sane was by downloading YouTube videos and also listening to podcasts. So just want to take a moment to do a podcast to podcast shout out. Eclectic Gamers Podcast, man. I never miss one of your episodes. I love hearing all the video game news, too, because I'm not, like, hip to all that jive. So that's really interesting. I found out about new games through Eclectic Gamers. I still have to go check out what the heck a bro-tato is. And Dennis Creasel, Don here. I was walking through the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, And they had a huge luxury mall underneath this gigantic luxury hotel with a luxury casino. And when you're in a place like this, there's going to be a long hallway of nothing but watch shops. And so I never would have even given a watch a second minute or a minute second or a second hand if it wasn't for him and his obsession with watches. And I appreciate this. I appreciate how people must feel when I talk about pinball to them, like the uninitiated. Like, hey, I'm into pinball. There's all these great games that are out. They've never had code as deep as it is now, man. Kong just got released. Harry Potter's coming soon. Cuphead is rumored. And they look at you with that blank stare like, I'm not interested in anything you have to say. What even is pinball? You know, because you have these conversations as well. Like, that's how I am with watches. I don't understand, or at least I didn't understand the appeal of paying $10,000 to $125,000 for a tiny watch you're going to wear on your wrist. And I would be too afraid to wear that in public because I'm sure somebody would just take a machete and knock my forearm off and just run away with the rollie. You know what I mean? My Submariner, man. But I was walking down this hallway past all these luxury watch shops. And not only do I see the 10,000 on up watches. and like to me they don't look any different than like a $30 watch from Walmart but apparently they're well made and then have movements and all this stuff. But then I saw the safes, okay? They had these like, it looked like a gun safe but it was for watches. It was a watch safe with like hermetically sealed, like a tinted door on it and like little pockets for all of your watches. You know, like once you get more than a couple, you need to get one of these safes and it's got a combination to get into it And, like, these little pockets that you put the watches in can, like, rotate on their own to, like, keep the watch charged or whatever. Like, what the heck is this, man? So, like, I turn around and look at my pinball collection, which is ample. I'm up to 15 again right now. And I'm thinking, like, this is outrageous. And this pales in comparison to some people's watch collections. And so I'm still not ready to jump into the world of luxury watches. But, like, I can appreciate it now because of Dennis. I want to give him a little shout back there. So yeah, click the Gamers Podcast I never miss it, I need to go join the Patreon Triple Drain, thanks for putting content out That was helpful for me to listen to The JBS Podcast with Jimmy Burchill Has been absolutely killing it, man Wormhole Who Worm Who is what I'm saying, man JBS, the band that probably loves Diet Coke More than I do I'm glad he's got a podcast I've been listening to that like the crap out of it And it helped me pass the hours on the airplane Shout out to the P3 Celebration Podcast is also known as Bro, Do You Even Talk Pinball? Thanks for the new episode, guys. Never miss one of these. It comes out once a month. Always sure to listen, and I do appreciate what you're doing. Bug's Screamin' Stream was absolutely fantastic this week. Did you check it out? It was Bug and his dad, Charlie, sitting on a couch talking about pinball into the camera. And while we need to get Charlie his own mic so the audio levels will be a little bit better, but this was amazing. It's on YouTube on Bug's Scream and Stream channel for Spooky Pinball. I put this up on my hotel TV in Singapore for like 10, 20 minutes and started watching until I passed out. And then I downloaded it and it was on the airplane. I listened to the whole thing. And like this could just be like a monthly podcast, just like Bug and Charlie sitting around talking about like how cool of a person Alice Cooper is and how awesome it was for Rob Zombie to like call Charlie directly when he was looking for licensing and how good luck Chuck just seems to Forrest Gump his way through pinball licensing. It was super fun, so go check out that stream. I will listen to that every month as its own podcast, man. If he wants to join the Don Caster Pinball Network, I'll put that stuff out because I think it's fantastic. Also fantastic, Twippy Award-winning podcast, Electric Bad Cast with Kale and Rachel and such. Jamie Burchill was actually on that one. Talk about cross-pollination, man. I love it. So I never miss an episode of that. Great perspective, guys. I really appreciate what you do. I'm as much a fan of podcasters as I am of podcasting, so I love this stuff. Also, shout out to Code Blue Cam on YouTube. If you haven't checked this out, this is police camera footage, mainly from the La Crosse, Wisconsin area, so a lot of local stuff to me. And they just put it up, have some good narration, and it's always a fun time. Explore With Us is one of the many great true crime kind of podcast-y video things where they'll take like 45 minutes and take you through police interrogations of like some heinous crime and man I am bitten by this true crime bug, I never miss one of those and Donut Operator for police videos, I don't know what it is about police videos and crime, they're so fun to just sit there and watch and like get to participate in like from like several steps removed from the actual like carnage that's going on on the YouTube channel So fun man, so fun So I'm going to head over to Patreon I'm going to recap this amazing trip It's still filtering through my head How awesome it was to go on literally a trip Around the entire globe Thank you Avatar, I'm back home now I'm back playing pinball, I got quiet fans installed And everything, so I'll shout pinmonk out as well Thank you for the fans that you make So no more jets taking off Behind me, got all my games on No jet takeoffs man, I totally dig it It's a fun era Of pinball to be in Kong Premiums will be on the line here shortly I got one coming in It'll be made over and out to the 1UP Lounge Shout out to Bellingham, Wisconsin Bellingham, Washington I got D&D going out there very shortly Also shout out to everybody that's ordered the D&D mods They're on Pinside, check them out I got more to come Including some awesome shooter rods that'll be available I love D&D Actually it'll work for Stranger Things too Let's hit that new outro music Don's Pinball Podcast is gmail.com to get at me. Patreon.com backstressdonspinballpodcast to join to get the bonus episodes. About to record one. It's going to be phenomenal. Don't miss it. Let me know what you think of the intro and outro music. See you guys later.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 39c26ca0-8213-4639-b4c5-7a338379e1d7*