# Breaking Update! Barrels media day announced!

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-04-04  
**Duration:** 6m 13s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/breaking-update-125878563

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## Analysis

Don announces an upcoming Barrels of Fun media day in Houston scheduled for approximately one week from the recording date, expressing excitement about attending with George Gomez and visiting Stern Pinball. He discusses personal updates including Patreon fulfillment delays, t-shirt orders, upcoming translite giveaways, and speculation about Barrels' next game announcement, while acknowledging he's overwhelmed with work commitments and content creation.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Barrels of Fun has a media day scheduled approximately one week from Monday in Houston — _Don directly states: 'There'll be a media down there in Houston and I'm going Tee'd Off do my best'_
- [HIGH] Don plans to travel to Houston with George Gomez and visit Stern Pinball during the Barrels media event — _Don describes itinerary: 'I'm gonna go pick up Enzo I'm gonna pick up George George Gomez... then we're gonna swing Barnyard Spooky Pinball... and then go over Tee'd Off Sam Stern for their launch'_
- [LOW] Someone claims to have seen Dune translites at a print shop, suggesting it might be Barrels' next game — _Don relays second-hand rumor: 'somebody told me that they have some friend's cousin that has a girlfriend that works at a print shop... they saw Dune'_
- [HIGH] Don is behind on Patreon translite giveaways and merchandise fulfillment — _Don states: 'I've been slacking on getting the translites out for the monthly patreon winners' and 'I'm caught up on all the other orders. I gotta get my Patreon folks caught up though'_
- [MEDIUM] Stern Pinball's new game Kong is coming very soon (within 5-7 days) — _Don: 'everybody's gonna want Kong. And Kong's coming soon' and 'one day or five days, no more than seven days. We're going Tee'd Off know everything about Kong'_

### Notable Quotes

> "holy garbage I'm so excited"
> — **Don**, early in episode
> _Expresses genuine enthusiasm for the Barrels media day announcement_

> "There'll be a media down there in Houston and I'm going Tee'd Off do my best Tee'd Off be surprised. I don't have the day off and so what more fun way Tee'd Off spend it than Tee'd Off fly down and see my friends in Houston"
> — **Don**, mid-episode
> _Confirms the Barrels media day timing and Don's commitment to attending despite work constraints_

> "What is it Is it G Joe Is it Fifth Element Is it Dune Is it Goonies Like, honestly, I don't know."
> — **Don**, late-episode
> _Speculates on possible IP themes for Barrels' next announcement, demonstrating uncertainty_

> "everybody's gonna want Kong. And Kong's coming soon."
> — **Don**, mid-episode
> _Early signal about Kong game demand and imminent release_

> "I just somebody else ordered a WAP t-shirt. It's nuts. I haven't had time Tee'd Off sit down at all."
> — **Don**, mid-episode
> _Indicates unexpected merchandise demand and time management challenges_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Barrels of Fun | company | Pinball manufacturer announcing media day event in Houston in approximately one week |
| George Gomez | person | Chief Creative Officer at Stern Pinball; Don plans to travel with him to Houston for Barrels media day |
| Don | person | Podcast host; planning to attend Barrels of Fun media day and manage content creation and merchandise |
| Stern Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; releasing Kong game imminently; planned visit location during Barrels media day trip |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; mentioned as potential venue stop during Barrels media day travel plans |
| Straight Down The Middle: a pinball show | media | Pinball show; Don references friendship with someone from the show who ordered merchandise |
| This Week in Pinball | media | Pinball news outlet; mentioned in context of Twippies Awards and translite fulfillment obligations |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; Don mentions attending their show and needing May off for events |
| Kong | game | Stern Pinball's upcoming game; expected to launch within 5-7 days of this podcast recording |
| Dungeons & Dragons | game | Pinball game; Don is waiting for translite artwork to order merchandise |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Barrels of Fun media day announcement, Upcoming game announcements and speculation, Content creator burnout and time management, Patreon fulfillment and merchandise
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball Kong release timeline, Pinball industry events and travel
- **Mentioned:** Community building through group events

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.75) — Don expresses genuine excitement about the Barrels media day and community engagement, but underlying frustration about time management, work obligations, and fulfillment delays tempers the enthusiasm. Overall tone is friendly and collaborative despite stress.

### Signals

- **[announcement]** Barrels of Fun has announced a media day scheduled for approximately one week from the recording date in Houston (confidence: high) — Don states: 'There'll be a media down there in Houston and I'm going Tee'd Off do my best Tee'd Off be surprised'
- **[machine_intel]** Rumor that Barrels of Fun's next game might be Dune, based on unverified second-hand account of print shop sightings (confidence: low) — Don recounts: 'somebody told me that they have some friend's cousin that has a girlfriend that works at a print shop... they saw Dune'
- **[product_launch]** Stern Pinball's Kong game is expected to launch within 5-7 days (confidence: medium) — Don: 'Kong's coming soon' and 'one day or five days, no more than seven days. We're going Tee'd Off know everything about Kong'
- **[content_signal]** Don is planning comprehensive media coverage of Barrels of Fun's media day, including travel with George Gomez and potential visits to other manufacturers (confidence: high) — Don describes itinerary: visiting Spooky Pinball, Stern Pinball tour, and potentially expanding this into a larger event for future releases
- **[personnel_signal]** George Gomez (Stern CCO) is coordinating travel with Don to Houston for Barrels media event, suggesting close media access relationships (confidence: high) — Don: 'I'm gonna go pick up Enzo I'm gonna go pick up George George Gomez'
- **[collector_signal]** Patreon merchandise and translite giveaways are in high demand, with Don reporting unexpected volume of orders (confidence: high) — Don: 'my phone is like blowing up non-stop' and 'somebody else ordered a WAP t-shirt. It's nuts'
- **[content_signal]** Don is experiencing significant time constraints managing content creation, work, merchandise fulfillment, and event attendance (confidence: high) — Don expresses need to take May completely off and mentions wanting to 'quit this job' to focus on pinball full-time
- **[event_signal]** Multiple major pinball events scheduled in coming weeks including MGC, Pintastic, and various manufacturer tours (confidence: medium) — Don references: 'MGC is this weekend', 'Pintastic', and American Pinball shows consuming his weekend schedule

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## Transcript

Coming to you from Wisconsin Rapids, the aboveground pool capital of the United States, it's Don's Pinball Podcast. We're just about imminent from another media day announcement from barrels of fun so that's gonna all be happening like in the next two weeks so Holy garbage in a sack. I'm so excited so what's probably gonna happen is my butt's gonna have to go from here to Pintastic to Houston and I'm about to go into Chicago I'm gonna go pick up Enzo I'm gonna pick up George Gomez not the stern one but the other Gomez And then we're gonna go raid I think we're gonna swing by Spooky Pinball on the day before the media day at Stern for a tour a hangout probably grab some lunch and stuff and then Go over to Stern for their launch and if this all works out I'm gonna make this an even bigger event for the next release and we're gonna get a whole crew together and just go mobbing around everywhere So super excited about that I know I've been slacking on getting the translites out for the monthly patreon winners and it's just literally I haven't had a second to sit here and compile a list and do it but I This Week in Pinball Johnny Pneumonic Black Water Kaneda Pinball Podcast Twippies Awards translites electronic 7 days worked last night working tonight 5 more after that and then it like Pintastic and crap time Well it coming so quick man MGC is this weekend I literally hadn't had any time I could take off cuz I gotta work sometime and I spending like every weekend at a pinball show I gotta take May off Can I just take May completely off I mean I be out of the country for the beginning of it but the rest of May I gotta take it off

So here what I like to do I would like to get all of the translites given away and caught up for the last couple months on the Patreon members I'm still waiting for the art on the Dungeons and Dragons translites so I can order some of those. But dude, everybody's gonna want Kong. And Kong's coming soon. So, you know, we'll get on that. So I'll grab some random translites, we'll pick some winners, we'll get them out. I think I have at least three to give out to you guys. T-shirts, I'm printing them right now. I've got every one of my designs in stock. I'll need to post up, you know, I'll need to press up some shirts and then I'll post all the styles that are available. And if you guys want one, we'll get you that 20% patreon discount. And I'll ship it out to you for free domestically man I mean if it's gonna get tariffed at 50 extra bucks to Canada you gotta help a brother out man I can't go broke doing this but I'm happy to hook up my homies everybody that orders something is getting a Five-Hour Energy so I don't know a friend of the show guy from way back ordered a t-shirt super cool dude he reached out to me works at the marketing director at Five-Hour Energy and he contacted me and sounds like he contacted Kerry too Kerry's a hell of a guy so that's totally rad and he just sent us out some example contract Five You know did you want these like in the background of every time I do a video like what are we doing here And it like no no just trying to hook up some cool people So I think he just sent it to me for my enjoyment My heart would not enjoy six cases of Five-Hour Energies so I'd like to just include them because I include my friends and all the boons that I get and like I wasn't kidding when I recorded that 183 episode that like or 184 that my phone is like blowing up non-stop and so So, uh, yeah, like it's all over the place. I just got somebody else ordered a WAP t-shirt. It's nuts. I haven't had time to sit down at all. Um, I got the uh, D&D mods that are printing up right now. We're doing shirts. I'm caught up on all the other orders. I gotta get my Patreon folks caught up though, um, on your translites. I really want to do that. I haven't even had time to stream any games at all, man. I gotta find a way to just quit this day job or night job that I have and just get in on, on pinball content from like the ground floor. Just, just do that all day. Cause it'd be so much more fun, man. No, you vacation into your vocation that really helps out. So I don't know anything hard and concrete about Kong. I kind of like that because we're all going to know here in like one day or five days, no more than seven days. We're going to know everything about Kong and it's going to be fun to be surprised. I still don't know what barrels has got cooking up, but it's looking like a week from Monday. There'll be a media day down there in Houston and I'm going to do my best to be surprised. I don't have the day off and so what more fun way to spend it than to fly down and see my friends in Houston and go check out their new game What is it Is it G Joe Is it Fifth Element Is it Dune Is it Goonies Like, honestly, I don't know. I know somebody told me that they have some friend's cousin that has a girlfriend that works at a print shop that either makes translites or cabinet decals or something, and they saw Dune. I'm a fan of the magic. If 17 people have listened to that first episode, fantastic. That's exactly how a new podcast should start. I'm going to get it out everywhere soon and then hopefully I can do some more Disney Park content. And I want to keep building this community. I really want to do group trips, group events, because those are like the most fun part of all this, right? And so it's just a matter of time. It's going to happen. But the more relationships that I can build up, the more support I have from you guys to add legitimacy to me.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 3e657b19-2a4b-47af-8a38-9fcc691b70cf*