# The Super Sized Dave Sousa Episode

**Source:** Fresh Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-07-16  
**Duration:** 88m 31s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://rss.com/podcasts/freshpinballpodcast/1565794

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## Analysis

Dave Sousa, a pinball operator and enthusiast from Buffalo/Toledo area, joins Fresh Pinball Podcast for an extended interview. The episode covers Dave's pinball journey starting in 2019 through virtual pinball, his progression to owning modern games, local scene involvement in Buffalo, and various equipment acquisitions. Hosts discuss recent game trades, Foo Fighters and Aliens comparisons, merchandise updates, and fact-checking previous claims about pinball history and manufacturing.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Fresh Pinball Podcast is in early stages of locking down a Friday panel at the 40th Anniversary Chicago Pinball Expo — _Host (Jeff) confirms 'very good possibility' and discusses scheduling Friday panel + Expo + Pinball Olympics Saturday_
- [HIGH] Dave Buscea operates approximately 6 locations with up to 10 games at one location in Northwest Ohio — _Direct correction in conversation: 'No, six locations, max 10 games at one'_
- [HIGH] Dave Sousa's pinball journey began around 2019 with virtual pinball via Arcade 1-Up/Toy Shock mini cabs — _Dave states: 'probably like, I don't know, maybe around 2019, you know, is kind of when my pinball journey started'_
- [HIGH] Dave's first modern game was a Gottlieb Rescue 9-1-1 purchased for approximately $1,500 in 2020 — _Dave: 'i actually bought my first game was a godly rescue 9-1-1 i got it for like 1500 bucks'_
- [HIGH] White Water topper production involved micro-embossing process with hand-etched copper plate dies, original dies no longer in existence — _Ben's fact-check research via Wayback Machine provided detailed manufacturing process; remaking dies estimated at ~$10,000_
- [HIGH] Dirty Harry pinball was traded in and sold to Greg Kennedy (2023 Ohio State Pinball Champ) at Sweeper City Championships — _Corbin discusses trade-in and new owner: 'Shout out Garrett Fuller in Medina, the new proud owner of a Jurassic Park premium. He traded in his Dirty Harry'_
- [HIGH] Jeff purchased a Data East Guns N' Roses pinball machine unsupervised at Pins Mechanical Warehouse — _Corbin confirms acquisition and jokes about Jeff being unsupervised with inventory decisions_
- [HIGH] Past Times Arcade currently has a Break Shot Capcom game on location — _Corbin confirms: 'Past Times has a break shot yes and I thought they had two'_
- [MEDIUM] Gottlieb's Operation Thunder produced 2,500 units but only 8 are currently on location according to Pinside — _Jeff cites Pinside data: 'According to Pinside, there are eight on location right now'_
- [HIGH] Fresh Pinball Podcast has 12 listeners in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, possibly Stern Pinball employees — _Jeff checks podcast analytics: 'we have 12 listeners in Elk Grove Village Illinois' and speculates about Stern connection_

### Notable Quotes

> "Every time I talk to Corbin in the morning, he's still out of breath because he's been running the steps over at the McKinley Monument. Gotta get ready."
> — **Dave Sousa**, ~15:00
> _Humorous reference to Corbin's training for Pinball Olympics, illustrating community enthusiasm for the event_

> "Foo Fighters Pro out. Boom Fighters Pro in... I think I'm going to hate it on for it, actually."
> — **Kyle**, ~25:00
> _Reveals Kyle replaced Jaws Pro with Foo Fighters Pro, showing modern Stern game rotation among collectors_

> "The only problem with music pins is I heard Monkey Wrench, $8,000. I'm an elder millennial, so Foo Fighters, I grew up with 90s Grunge, so it's up my alley, but after a while you're like, I want to mix it up."
> — **Dave Sousa**, ~35:00
> _Critique of music-themed pinball games despite demographic appeal; indicates music licensing costs may be limiting_

> "If you want to own Aliens, be a tinkerer. Yes. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty."
> — **Dave Sousa**, ~45:00
> _Direct warning about Pinball Brothers' Aliens requiring maintenance expertise; signals reliability concerns for newer collectors_

> "probably like, I don't know, maybe around 2019, you know, is kind of when my pinball journey started... I made my own V-Pin because those were kind of trash."
> — **Dave Sousa**, ~90:00
> _Establishes Dave's entry pathway through virtual pinball as learning tool before buying physical machines_

> "There are eight on location right now. And as it turns out, One of them is in the Pinball Museum of Corbin, Kentucky."
> — **Jeff**, ~70:00
> _Coincidental discovery of Operation Thunder machine in Kentucky museum named after co-host Corbin's hometown_

> "The original die was basically hand etched slash carved into a copper plate die... The cost was like almost 10 grand."
> — **Ben (via fact check)**, ~60:00
> _Reveals significant manufacturing cost barrier for reproducing classic topper effects; explains rarity of reproduction attempts_

> "Literally every game that's laying around, he's trying to sell to a guy. He's like, what about Jeff's Rick and Morty?"
> — **Zach**, ~48:00
> _Humorous anecdote about Corbin's father Paul attempting to sell entire warehouse inventory to a single caller_

> "We just have to have the original one casted and waxed. We lost your time."
> — **Ben (via fact check)**, ~65:00
> _Summary statement on White Water topper reproduction impossibility; indicates loss of manufacturing knowledge/dies_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Dave Sousa | person | Pinball operator and enthusiast from Buffalo/Toledo area; runs approximately 6 locations with up to 10 games each; appears on Fresh Pinball Podcast as guest |
| Jeff | person | Co-host of Fresh Pinball Podcast; recently acquired Data East Guns N' Roses at Pins Mechanical Warehouse; managing acquisitions and location placements |
| Corbin | person | Co-host of Fresh Pinball Podcast; manages operations and logistics; training for Pinball Olympics; handling game trades and warehouse management |
| Kyle | person | Co-host of Fresh Pinball Podcast; recently acquired Foo Fighters Pro; manages Fresh Pinball's game collection |
| Zach | person | Co-host of Fresh Pinball Podcast; contributed to fact-checking segment |
| Rob Burke | person | Owner of Pastimes Arcade; organizer of 40th Anniversary Chicago Pinball Expo; coordinating Fresh Pinball Podcast panel appearance |
| Ben | person | Pinball enthusiast from Columbus who submitted detailed fact-check about White Water topper manufacturing using Wayback Machine research |
| Jeff Teolis | person | Pinball content creator and podcast host; known for voice work on pinball games and Pinball Profile podcast; expected attendance at Sweeper City Pinball Championships |
| Greg Kennedy | person | 2023 Ohio State Pinball Champion (Midnight Madness); acquiring Dirty Harry machine from Fresh Pinball |
| Garrett Fuller | person | From Medina, Ohio; acquired Jurassic Park Premium from Fresh Pinball; traded in Dirty Harry |
| Paul | person | Corbin's father; attempts to sell entire warehouse inventory to customers; supplies pinball machines |
| Mike Hale | person | Former teacher with Gottlieb collection; sold Dave Sousa his first game (Rescue 9-1-1); connected with Fresh Pinball through Lucky Hand acquisition |
| Scott McCabe | person | Local operator in Ohio with locations at Sandy Springs Brewery and Minerva; provides quality machines to collectors |
| Nick and Kevin | person | Organizers of Buffalo Pinball local league; coordinate monthly meetups at private collections |
| Patrick | person | Buffalo Pinball community member with extensive collection of new games |
| Fresh Pinball Podcast | organization | Pinball podcast featuring Jeff, Corbin, Kyle, and Zach; season 3 episode 4 featuring Dave Sousa; planning 40th Anniversary Expo panel |
| Buffalo Pinball | organization | Local pinball community in Buffalo, NY with league play and streaming events |
| Sweeper City Pinball Championships | event | Pinball tournament where Fresh Pinball contributed 5-6 machines; upcoming Friday/Saturday event with strong anticipated turnout |
| Chicago Pinball Expo | event | 40th Anniversary event occurring in October (15th); Fresh Pinball Podcast planning Friday panel appearance; preceded by Pinball Olympics on Saturday |
| Pinball Olympics | event | Community event following Chicago Pinball Expo; highly anticipated by Fresh Pinball hosts; item on bucket lists; hosts training/preparing |
| Pastimes Arcade | organization | Major pinball arcade venue with extensive game collection; currently hosts Break Shot Capcom; mentioned as significant location for rare games |
| Pins Mechanical Warehouse | organization | Pinball parts/machine supplier where Jeff acquired Data East Guns N' Roses without full oversight |
| Pinball Museum of Corbin, Kentucky | organization | Museum in Corbin, Kentucky housing at least one Gottlieb Operation Thunder machine (one of only 8 on location) |
| Foo Fighters | game | Recent Stern Pinball release; compared favorably with Aliens; described as 'one of the best recent sterns' by Dave; owned previously by Dave (Premium edition) |
| Aliens | game | Pinball Brothers game acquired by Dave in trade from Foo Fighters Premium; noted as tinkerer-friendly with custom code capabilities (12-16 songs) |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Dave Sousa's pinball journey and operator background, Fresh Pinball Podcast 40th Anniversary Expo panel planning, Game acquisitions and trades (Foo Fighters, Aliens, Data East Guns N' Roses, Dirty Harry), Sweeper City Pinball Championships contribution and community engagement
- **Secondary:** White Water topper manufacturing and reproduction challenges, Gottlieb System 3 games and Operation Thunder rarity, Pinball Brothers reliability and maintenance requirements
- **Mentioned:** Music-themed pinball game licensing costs and rotation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Podcast maintains upbeat, enthusiastic tone throughout. Hosts and guest express genuine appreciation for community involvement, game quality, and tournament preparation. Minor criticism directed at manufacturing quality (Pinball Brothers Aliens reliability) and music licensing costs, but framed constructively. Strong community pride evident in tournament organization and local operator support.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Dave Buscea operating 6 locations with up to 10 games each in Northwest Ohio, positioning as significant regional operator attempting to serve pinball-sparse territory (confidence: high) — 'six locations, max 10 games at one' and description of 'trying to make it not a wasteland, pinball wasteland up there'
- **[community_signal]** Fresh Pinball Podcast securing panel slot at 40th Anniversary Chicago Pinball Expo, planning to potentially livestream or conduct live recording; demonstrates podcast's growing prominence in industry (confidence: high) — 'very good possibility that the fresh pinball podcast will be doing a panel at the 40th anniversary pinball expo' and 'trying to lock down a Friday panel'
- **[community_signal]** Local pinball leagues (Buffalo Pinball) organizing monthly community play at private collections; grassroots engagement and social cohesion in established regions (confidence: high) — Dave: 'I joined my local league. Shout out to Nick and Kevin from Buffalo Pinball because they set up a really great local league... Every month we go to a local's house'
- **[event_signal]** Sweeper City Pinball Championships attracting 50+ participants on Thursday alone with growth expected for Friday/Saturday; Fresh Pinball contributing 5-6 machines to competition lineup (confidence: high) — 'when I was there I was there about 2 o and they already had today today podcast time they already had nearly 50 people that were there on a Thursday'
- **[gameplay_signal]** Foo Fighters praised for left orbit crossover shot quality and ball passing/combo mechanics; Jack Danger credited with bringing back kicking targets as mechanic homage (confidence: medium) — Dave: 'That left orbit crossover shot is probably one of the best shots in modern pinball... there's so much for it to zip around'
- **[manufacturing_signal]** White Water topper production relied on hand-etched copper plate dies; original dies destroyed or lost; reproduction cost prohibitively high (~$10,000) for manufacturing process (confidence: high) — Ben's research: 'The original die was basically hand etched slash carved into a copper plate die' and 'cost was like almost 10 grand'
- **[market_signal]** Music-themed pinball games (Foo Fighters specifically) face market fatigue despite strong mechanical design; licensing costs cited as limiting factor for gameplay evolution (confidence: medium) — Dave: 'The only problem with music pins is I heard Monkey Wrench, $8,000... but after a while you're like, I want to mix it up'
- **[personnel_signal]** Jeff Teolis gaining recognition as pinball voice actor and Pinball Profile podcast host; becoming expected presence at major tournaments (confidence: high) — Jeff: 'I got called out because I didn't know who Jeff Teolis was... He's the voice on, you know, these games... he has a very famous podcast called Pinball Profile'
- **[product_concern]** Pinball Brothers' Aliens machine flagged by multiple sources as requiring significant tinkering and maintenance; cautionary language about first-time buyer compatibility (confidence: high) — Dave: 'If you want to own Aliens, be a tinkerer. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty' and Corbin: 'this is not a great like this can sour you on pinball like if this is a first game for you'
- **[collector_signal]** Gottlieb Operation Thunder produced 2,500 units but only 8 currently on location and in active distribution; suggests widespread abandonment or loss of previously common machine (confidence: medium) — Jeff: 'How are there 2,500 of these that were produced and none of us have ever seen one? According to Pinside, there are eight on location right now'
- **[market_signal]** Active trading ecosystem evident with machines moving between collectors (Foo Fighters to Aliens, Dirty Harry to Greg Kennedy); indicates healthy secondary market with regional distribution (confidence: high) — Multiple trades documented: Dave traded Foo Fighters Premium for Aliens, Dirty Harry traded to Greg Kennedy, Jurassic Park acquired from Fresh Pinball
- **[technology_signal]** Aliens supports custom code implementations allowing operator/owner to load 12-16 songs into gameplay beyond factory default, indicating open platform architecture (confidence: medium) — Dave: 'There's like 12 songs? There's a lot. 15 or 16 songs. If you're in a specific mode, it plays that song.'

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## Transcript

 and away we go welcome everyone to season three episode four of the fresh pinball podcast oh baby do we have a guest in store for you before we get to that guest let's go around the table and i'm gonna go reverse style this time yeah that's right i'm gonna go to my right zach jeff how we doing buddy putting fantastic i added another i knew it i knew it today oh we're gonna talk about that new we got some acquisitions going on it's literally the freshest of the fresh oh that's so fresh and Across from me, Corbin. Corbin, I know it's been a day, buddy. How we feeling? Doing good, doing good. Just tired, doing a lot of running around. Some days, you know, seems like calls are coming from every direction. Some days, that's how it is. It's better than no calls. It's true. I think the no calls then. Things are being played. You know, it's just how it goes. Exactly. Kyle, to my left. I'm foodtastic. He's foodtastic. Oh, I'm foodtastic. We will be talking about that today. He's just more fresh pinball. The fresh, fresh Toledo pinball now in Kyle's house. Yes, sir. And live on the line we have, from Buffalo, Dave Sousa. Dave, how are we feeling, buddy? Hey, we are feeling good, guys. Thank you for having me tonight. Oh, man. Really excited to be here. It is exciting to have you on. I know we chat on the regular. Yeah, I have some deep notes here that we need to get into. But before we get into all that, from last episode's fact check, here we go. Bam, bam, bam. So, Nine Sisters was mentioned on multiple episodes at this point. So, you know, I'm just hanging out at my house a few days ago, and all of a sudden I get this, Dead Flip Pinball now follows Fresh Pinball Podcast. I'm like, hmm, this is strange. What could this mean? Two seconds later, I get a message from said Dead Flip that says, Oh, as a matter of fact, I do listen to your podcast. but he also stated that he shares that game every year because he's it's a holy grail as it turns out he has been posting nine sisters for multiple years so of course at that point you know after a little bit of a back and forth and you know setting up that relationship for future future workings i looked up to see i can see who listens to the podcast like in terms of geographically so I can see how many people in Illinois and then 14? so then I can break it down by city and we have 12 listeners in Elk Grove Village Illinois I wonder who those people could be those 12 people that are listening to the podcast Jeff's not being creepy or anything shout out there to everybody in Elk Grove Village that may be listening to this podcast if 12 people at Stern I don't even care if they're just the ones that put the decals on that's cool it's wild it's wild so that's shout out anyone over there that may be listening definitely uh very very cool so in another very cool note i was texting this to corbin but i don't think i'd said anything to kyle or zach yet i was texting with mr rob burke of past pin uh past times arcade fame and expo fame world book of records yeah and there is a very good possibility that the fresh pinball podcast will be doing a panel at the 40th anniversary pinball expo. What? No way. What? A repeat performance? What is it about? What are we talking about? This pinball? We get to declare. At this point, we get to talk about this apparently. What we do right now. We should just literally do the podcast on the stage. I don't know about this. I need Dave's opinion. Dave, should we do a live recording of the Fresh Pinball podcast at the panel. Don't encourage us. Yes, very much so. And you know what I really want to hear is Fresh Pinball podcast, Pinball Olympic takes. Oh, yes. I will be going. And, like, you know, Expo I'm real excited for, especially for you. But, like, Pinball Olympics is on my, like, bucket list. Like, the stories you guys share, the stories everyone else shares. I haven't seen Jeff in, like, a week or so until last night, but he's texted me like five times about pinball olympics on the last one here's the problem is i think we've we've overhyped pinball olympics and now like what if we get shut out no i already said we gotta stop talking about this we gotta make sure we get tickets and then we once we have our tickets then we can wait when is expo again jeff october man october yeah so what yeah so 15th yeah so i think we're talking we're in we're in uh the early stages of trying to lock down a Friday panel. That way we can do Friday panel, Friday expo trip, and then Saturday for Pinball Olympics. Good training. Been training since last year. Every time I talk to Corbin in the morning, he's still out of breath because he's been running the steps over at the McKinley Monument. Gotta get ready. You doing your Rocky run? I have a tiger, baby. You get to the top. Alright, so in other fresh pinball news, Kyle, Jaws Pro out. Boom Fighters Pro in... I think I'm going to hate it on for it, actually. Oh, it's my bedtime. Good night, Kyle. Kyle's bedtime alarm. Oh, how cute. Yeah, I... So you connected up with Dave Buscea up in Toledo Pinball Land. Shout out, Dave. You are an amazing operator up there in Northwest Ohio. He's trying to make it not a wasteland, pinball wasteland up there. He's got the basement up there. He's got several breweries on board. Yeah, I think he's got like 10 locations right now. Yeah, he's killing it. That's cool. No, six locations, max 10 games at one. Yeah. Still. He is a fantastic pinball guy. I've seen him several times at Kleepin and different events. He's always getting around, but everybody up there. So, amazing. I think it was on route for a year. It makes sense to me. And it's very, Jaws is fun, but very good. I mean, I do like music. Foo Fighters is where it's at. It's so much fun. It's my favorite new Stern, for sure. It's very fun. Modern times. So, Dave, as a previous, as a former Foo Fighters premium owner, let's get your takes here on Foo Fighters. You've got a premium as that dead post. Yes, former Foo. I did actually trade it with a buddy down in Pittsburgh, Adam, for an Aliens, which, you know, it was a mix-up trade. There was cash on top, too, right? Right. The Aliens plus cash for Foo. but uh you know foo jeff hooked me up got me launch edition foo premium uh you know played the hell out of it uh great game you know you modded it up pretty nicely really hard yeah a few little like uh little thin cob leds on that area 51 thing you know those little small uh kind of encased leds and some some tasteful mods right um but yeah mini wizard mode on that was starting to get pretty achievable i never actually officially wizarded i always got really close. It's a hard game. There's only six modes, and that's what always entices me when they're like, hey, there's only six modes. Yeah, right? I think it's a great pin. Probably one of the best recent sterns. The only problem with music pins is I heard Monkey Wrench, $8,000. I'm an elder millennial, so Foo Fighters, I grew up with 90s Grunge, so it's up my alley, but after a while you're like, I want to mix it up. I saw Aliens. I really knew a lot about football, bro. Got some code out there where you can just throw in whatever you want. There's like 12 songs? There's a lot. 15 or 16 songs. If you're in a specific mode, it plays that song. Yeah. The rules. If you love complex rules, it's got just crazy rules with the bonus shots and things like that, the multipliers. So it's a good game, top of the flow. Oh, I'm sorry. Rules, you say? Rules? I just go for multiball. I'm sorry. That left orbit crossover shot is probably one of the best shots in modern pinball, though. I just love the ball pass on the ability to combo and all that. There's so much for it to zip around. Yeah. And I feel like back to the flipper. Jack, we love it. Definitely. I like how Jack brought back the kicking target. Yeah. wow what's this and I'm like bro in that save post yeah I'm like a Gottlieb shill so I'm like come on like anyone in gladiators like gladiators didn't even have slings they were just like kicking targets you know stargate they're like they're just they're just like kicking targets everywhere so but I like how he kind of picks little bits of other games and toss it all in there absolutely it's a good one so aliens is also a great game so I'm pretty I'm pretty happy with it right now mixing it up but uh pinball brothers I'm a little angry I still have it, you know, but Pinball Brothers is different. It's, you know, they're different, but it's a great game. It's very 90s Bally Williams-esque, you know. So you got to be, if you want to own Aliens, be a tinkerer. Yes. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. So that's all I'll say with that. Well, what's interesting with that game is, you know, with the Mad Pinball side of it, we saw a lot of first-time pinball owners, and they're just looking directly at, you know, what themes speak to them and alien and then your helper corbin has to fix it right well it's always one it tends to be one people ask about and i'm like oh hey you know this is not a great like this can sour you on pinball like if this is a first game for you like i try to push people to something a little more less of a tinkerers game something that's just going to be more reliable for them out of the box until they get comfortable with the basics and then let's move on to a little more uh in-depth features. I feel like for some people, too. Some people enjoy that aspect of it. They like having the glass out and adjusting this and adjusting that. For some people, they don't want to do that. I mean, I'm a tinker all the way. I had that pro for two days. Why do you put red in GI? That's the only thing I'm going to say. Jack Danger, please stop doing that. I had the Jurassic Park home, which I liked as well, but that Reggie guy has got to go. My problem is by the time I get home, the games at my house, I feel like I sometimes neglect the most because after I'm all day of just fixing shit, I get home and I'm playing and I'm like, it's not working. It mostly works, whatever. I'm just going to play something else. Just bring it to my house. It works. Turn it off. Hey, we're at Circus Voltaire. So for the next item on the fact check, in our deep, deep conversation that we talked about with Data East, The Aaron Spelling Special Edition Pinball Machine came up, and I have a short list here of famous television shows that Aaron Spelling produced. Charlie's Angels, Dynasty, Charmed, Seventh Heaven, Melrose Place, and Love Boat. So, I mean, those are some pretty iconic television shows. You're looking all the way back to, like, 70s, 80s, and 90s. so that's my little my little errant spelling thing here so during anyone uh anyone fact check that the uh monday night football was actually like a decent game pretty much everyone everyone else at the table uh definitely confirmed that my opinion of it being the best data east game was in fact, incorrect. I'm surprised I didn't hear more RoboCop. Yeah, that's got the jump ramp. I do like the jump ramp. The jump ramp is cool. It's got a jump ramp, man. That's all it's got to go for. It is a topper. Does it have a little police topper? I'm thinking Last Action Hero. Yeah, Last Action Hero has the little one too. I feel like you never see RoboCop, though. You don't. The first time I played it, was up at VFW. Wasn't there one at Logan last year? I'll say Logan. I think I was 20% right. Yeah. So the other Data East game that we talked about a little bit coincidentally was the Data East Guns N' Roses. And as it turns out, when you send Jeff to the Pins Mechanical Warehouse, Oh, shit. You did buy one, didn't you? Unsupervised. And he has room for one pinball machine. You know, we're always worried about Corbin. That's what I'm saying. Whenever he sends a picture, you have enough pinballs. You have enough pinballs. And then Jeff's like, look what I brought us back, and it's like, whoa. He was unsupervised? I'm the one they worry about. You've got to throw your curveball sometimes. It hasn't been unfolded yet and worked on, so more details. Corbin threatened to pull it into his house. I was going to say, did you have to take back one of the American games? No, this was... I think they were looking for a Foo Fighters pro, actually. This is what they ended up... We did that and some cash coming our way. That's a good deal. some more information. I just want to get a little time on it. I really only played it down at Hope Hearted, I think, mainly is the place I played it. Same. Same, same, same. So Wednesday, what, today's Thursday? Yes. Yesterday, apparently. Corbin and I are riding around doing some... I may have to, as he calls it, an all-dayer. That means you don't get to take a nap in the middle of the day. What, did you make a nap for like three hours? Did you get out of them? No, man, we met out there at like, what, nine? We started pre-9 a.m. I said nine. You got out there before nine. I was already out there. It's not my fault. I didn't force you to come out early. Yeah. There's all kinds of stuff going on. And we're riding around doing whatever. And, you know, Corbin's taking calls, this, that, and the other. I fed Jeff. Yeah, he did. Corbin ate twice yesterday. Twice. At least. What? I know. Pizza both times. It was very bizarre. Very, very bizarre. It's a miracle. But the phone rings, and I look over, and I hear him say, hey, Dad, what's up? And then the next thing I know, literally Paul is trying to sell every pinball machine in the warehouse. He was. By the end of the call, he was going to sell the warehouse to the guy. He was like, you want Popeye? You want fire? I'm like, what? No, those are in the other section. Those are not. Like, what are you? You got the space station. I'm like, stop. Literally every game that's laying around, he's trying to sell to a guy. He's like, what about Jeff's Rick and Morty? He's going to want this? What? Paul, stop trying to sell everything. That guy called again today, by the way. Oh, did he? Yeah. He's like, I never got that full list of which ones you're actually willing to sell. Yeah. Tell your dad to share the guy's phone number or email or whatever, and I'll hook him up with some numbers and titles. He's kind of one of those Dirty Harry. It's like, oh, it's gone, man. I'll be quick. Dirty Harry. Shout out Garrett Fuller in Medina, the new proud owner of a Jurassic Park premium. He traded in his Dirty Harry, and we barely had it set up at the Sweeper City Pinball Championships, and it was sold. It's going to go to the Kennedy family in Kent, Ohio. Shout out Greg Kennedy, the 2023 Ohio State Pinball Champ. Midnight Madness. Yeah, that's going to be going into his collection. Oh, it's Midnight Rampage. He's going to be sharing some hot dogs with Dirty Harry. It's a fun game. I think that one has some guns in the play field, right? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Didn't I already tell you people in Elk Grove Village to listen to this podcast, Dave? Oh, man. We can't do that. We can't do that. So yeah, that has a new home. So congratulations there. Corbin, if you want to pull up your notes from Ben, we can go to that next. But I did have a message, Zach, that this was directed towards you. So apparently during the way too much time that we were talking about our favorite tacos of all time, you off the cuff said that you love going to Taco Town. and that some listeners may want some more information about what exactly you were referring to when you say that you love to go to Taco Town I guess you just call it eating a bunch of tacos it's kind of like a coma yeah a taco coma, Taco Town making a bunch of delicious smoked meats I guess we're going to keep it PG this time when Zach loves going to Taco Town just put your smoked meats inside those tacos and then serve them to the people we've not went explicit yet i'm waiting for dave to go explicit yeah yeah that's what i'm waiting for here corbin's tired i'm trying my best here you know i think i'm already in uh i got one strike after the uh the last you really do we can't talk about the g word so let's we've got to keep that under wraps all right for the record it doesn't uh it doesn't bother me so but i like how people get you know super crazy about that kind of stuff so it's one of those things where it's like it feels like no one is in like a gray area on that it's like you're either on one extreme or the other and it just is absolutely bananas so yeah so very much so ben in columbus you said had some fact check notes yes so uh ben he's talked to it he's sent in fact checks before and we're gonna have him on one of these days but uh definitely anyway um he's he he was listening to the let's talk about the white water and he actually did a deep dive using the Wayback Machine. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Ben has a Wayback Machine? I think that's what he said. Holy cow. Okay. Fair enough. Yeah, the Wayback Machine. I think it's the site that searches stuff that's not available anymore. I don't know. Either way, he's recently had two broken arms. So he has a little bit of time on his hands? I think they're both functional. What's the Wayback Machine? Apparently a way that you can find things from the past, Zach. It's like a Back to the Future type machine. I hope it's a DeLorean. I hope it's a DeLorean, too. Ben, what's a Wayback Machine? We need the fact check. Anyway, so he used it. What's that email? freshpinballatgmail.com so he did about the white water topper I don't know where my story came from my brain apparently he said it got him wondering how it was made it was that awesome so the entire process was called he was listening to us talk about the white water topper and it got him wondering how it was made because the effect is awesome it is a process called micro-embossing basically it's a very fine pattern that is pressed onto a metal foil die metal foil with a die. A large press and heat is involved. The textures reflect light differently, so when you have the scrolling lights, it looks like motion. The dies, in this case, were made by an artist and are apparently no longer in existence. So I guess the original dies got destroyed, got... who knows what happened to them. Somebody probably has them. We need to make some dies. He said the most difficult part is the most difficult part to reproduce it would be getting a die made. The original die was basically hand etched slash carved into a copper plate die. We can do that. We can do that. You can? Okay. Cool, perfect. So then he said he found one where some people contacted the original artist and he said he would remake the plates, but I guess the cost was like almost 10 grand is what they were saying. Which though, I'm just going to say this though. In today's topper market, 10 grand to do that, and you sold them for a thousand bucks each? I feel like you could get more than a thousand bucks. I'm just saying minimum. I'm just saying at a minimum. Yeah. Anyway, the Twisted Pens guy tried to remake it with the same process, but their pattern was apparently garbage, so the effect didn't work And I don't know who the Twisted Pens guys are so no hate on them, but that's what that's what they said A for effort, F for execution Apparently it's just the die's gone We just have to have the original one casted and waxed We lost your time He also said he was in Japan He's been to Japan multiple times and he was talking about looking for pinballs, like you were talking about pinballs. Oh, okay, yeah. And he said that he normally actually sees mostly 80% 90s era Bally Williams is what he sees. Bunch of important. And then the rest newer Sterns. He said he saw like four Circus Voltaires last time he was there, and he was like, what the hell? Yeah. Like, just like more of that stuff than they did, than necessarily like what we were. The original. But it's also a short period there. Right, right, right. In the 70s or whatever. So I'll piggyback on that a little bit. I did look up on Pastime's list of games and the Japanese Sega that they have is the 1972 Surfing. So that's the one that they have out on the floor there at Pastime. So I did want to make a notation of that. So is that one an EM? It is still? They had both. They had super early Solid States. Yeah, because it was a couple of EMs and the rest were Solid States. That site had them all. So I got called out because I didn't know who Jeff Teolis was. And I, you know, everyone, I had multiple messages that were telling me, how are you not aware of who this is? He's the voice on, you know, these games. And he has a very famous podcast called Pinball Profile, which now I've listened to several episodes of. It's very much like interview guest-based sort of podcast, but he has some really cool polls on that of guests that he's had, so I can definitely see why Mr. Norris was on his list of people that he wanted to talk to. So shout out, Jeff Teolis, because I know that you are going to be at the Sweeper City Pinball Championships this weekend, so maybe we'll run into each other and I'll introduce myself. Very cool. We won't be strangers anymore. No more stranger danger. Well, they have a great turnout. Well I know for Thursday when I was there I was there about 2 o and they already had today today Today podcast time They already had nearly 50 people that were there on a Thursday So I can only imagine by Friday night and Saturday, it's just going to be huge. What did you guys contribute to the Super City Championships this year? Nice little variety. We took Ninja Eclipse. Yeah. Godfather LE. Nice. Berrio's Barbecue Challenge LE. Of course. Did you update it? Yeah, I updated it. No, of course not. Okay. john wick premium pulp fiction yeah and then dirty harry that dirty area so pretty nice little selection from a lot of our manufacturing partners and i'm glad we took you were like we take six we're gonna take two trips but then it's like wait one souls we're gonna take five we're one trailer that's what i said to greg too i'm like oh this is one less that i have to drag out of here this is perfect whose pinball magic was there i saw that in the photos so that was galvin's oh Oh, cool. So he had picked that up actually from Kyle G. I got to look up some wiring on that thing for him. Getting passed around a little bit. Cool. Do you have any experience up there, Dave, with any Capcoms? Have any of those passed through the game room? Just not through my game room. We do have a break shot on location. Nice. But, you know, pinball magic, I do want to see. You know, I just want to see the levitation in person. It's great. The smoke and mirrors. but yeah not too many Capcoms unless I get out to Past Times didn't you say Corbin Past Times just got a break shot? Past Times has a break shot yes and I thought they had two I don't remember what the other one was Pinball Magic maybe you're going to have to pull Airborne out of Phil's and put it back on location he actually talked to me about wanting to trade it for Judge Dredd we'll get that baby swapped out I want to bring Pinball Magic back it's an awesome game well Pinball Magic but then you had your Airborne out, it was what? One of two on location? One of three at the time. Now there's only two out there. So kind of on that same note, we talked a little bit last episode about Gottlieb's Operation Thunder and how none of us had seen it or run into it at all. How are there 2,500 of these that were produced and none of us have ever seen one? According to Pinside, there are eight on location right now. And as it turns out, One of them is in the Pinball Museum of Corbin, Kentucky. It's so funny because one time I was in Corbin, Kentucky because I was driving on the freeway and it said the KFC Museum is there. Right. So I stopped for that. And I was like, say what? I'm like, KFC Museum? I mean, you got to stop at the first KFC. Did not even realize it. I got home, was playing around, and I saw on Pinball Map or Pinside or something, I'm like, god damn, there's a Pinball Museum of Corbin, Kentucky. And I did not stop. We went explicit. This explicit episode is brought to you in part by Angelique Zac Stark Novelty. We sponsor that part. All right, so that's it for this episode's fact check. That was about 25 minutes of us just blabbering in everything else. So that's par for the course. So, Dave, I want you to introduce yourself out here to the podcast, to the Pinball Podcast audience, and talk a little bit about your pinball journey. So how did you get into pinball? And, you know, take me from the beginning and to where you are now. Sure. I think, Jeff, kind of like you, I'm still newer, newer to the scene. It's only been a few years, you know, considering a lot of these guys have been doing it for decades. Right. So probably like, I don't know, maybe around 2019, you know, is kind of when my pinball journey started. Right. I've always played pins here or there casually. Right. A lot of fond memories of like the restaurant we used to go to all the time. as a kid, there was an Addams Family there, of course, right? Probably got dumped somewhere. This grail pin that was just abused. Found it by a dumpster somewhere. Yeah. But it never really was on my radar in terms of hobbies. But around, I think, 2019, was it Toy Shock or Arcade 1-Up kind of made those mini virtual cabs? So I saw that. I was like, oh, this is a neat concept, like virtual pinball. So I made my own V-Pin because those were kind of trash. I made my own V-Pin, and that kind of got me into pinball again a little bit more. So playing a lot of the games on the V-Pin helped me learn rules, helped me learn different games that I would never be exposed to. Similar here, Dave. I had an EM and a whatever, a Jaxxed Open, and I built a V-Pin. Oh, no way. Yeah. I built a V-Pin and I was like, oh shit, I gotta own this shit now damn it it's gonna be a lot more expensive so after I started doing that it was showing my family oh look at this little thing, I got all these games on it and my uncle was like hey, I have this old pinball machine just sitting in my basement it hasn't been turned on in 20 years freaking lucky hand he had a lucky hand the add-a-ball jack's open right there so yeah so that was like my first real pen came from my uncle uh you know i mean we're talking like 20 years of old rubbers you touch it they just crumble right disintegrate so uh you know yeah just going through that thing getting it running was was awesome um and then you know shortly after that i brought my first like you know modern game right so actually turns out i actually bought my first game was a godly rescue 9-1-1 i got it for like 1500 bucks or something this is like 2020 like yeah just like start a pandemic right you know like prices were starting to go up a little bit yeah right i actually got it from uh yeah exactly i got it from uh mike hale from uh yeah so i was like you know this is like 2020 or something at the time so well before past times. I think he was a teacher or something at the time. He had all these Gottliebs and he reached out to me because he wanted to buy my lucky hand that he saw. I owned one on Inside. It was an Adamal. That's how I met Mike Hale too. I sold him an Adamal. There you go. Awesome guy. Super helpful. 9-1-1 was the first one. Again, you know not uh awesome game a lot of good memories tied to it because like the first game that like i bought right like i owned the lucky hair was a hand-me-down sure um my my son at the time ezra was three so like i have a lot of good memories of him playing it and those you know those giant gotley system three wide flipper angles were really good for little kids to drop up the ball right so and he loved it right who does what three-year-old boy doesn't like you know helicopters and all that other stuff. Oh, for sure. He was like, I mean, yeah, he loved it. So there's a lot of cool things tied to that. But, you know, that game lasted a few months. I just started getting more and more serious. So, you know, a lot of games flew in and out. I actually sold that 911 to my buddy down in Florida, Chris. Was he the same one that the Gladiator went to? He does, yeah. And I eventually sold him his second game, which was my Gottlieb Gladiators, because I had a bit of a Gottlieb System 3 kick for a little bit. So I owned a bunch of them. But Gladiators was a cool game. It was really funky. We streamed it, actually, on one of the bro shows for Buffalo Pinball. The guys came over, and we did a fun stream on that. Definitely shout out to those streams. If anyone who doesn't tune in to those, definitely check that out. Those are always such a fun time. I think the first one I saw live was when you guys did your Hardbody, and it was just an absolute blast. Oh, Hardbody was a blast. It was a ton of fun. Yeah, so Hardbody, just such a great game, which actually I got from a guy in Cairn. Yeah, so he's a local operator down here, Scott McCabe. He has some locations around. He always has awesome stuff. Scott in Sandy Springs Brewery. Sandy Springs down in Minerva. Yeah, we're the brewery of the month for Stern. So congratulations to those guys. No doubt. And Scott does keep his shit clean. Oh, yeah. Scott's top notch. Yeah. So after that, I started kind of digging into more projects. After a few pens, I think you start to really get comfortable with the maintenance. You start doing projects. I hooked up with my local scene because you start to get a little bit more skillful, a little more confident. I joined my local league. Shout out to Nick and Kevin from Buffalo Pinball because they set up a really great local league. No doubt. Every month we go to a local's house to play their private collection, and we have some insane collections. I think you know a few of the guys from here. Patrick, he's got every brand-new game you can imagine. There's guys that have every 90s Bally Williams. Just amazing. Guys got dual fast breaks linked up right next to a Circus Voltaire, next to a Whitewater, next to a No Good Gophers. You're like, how do you have all of these games? but he's been collecting for 30 years, right? Oh, it's absolutely unbelievable. Yeah, it's insane. The local seniors, it's just great. So kudos to those guys for really fostering such a great group. So, yeah, I started doing that, started picking up more projects. You know, games now kind of come in and out. We do a lot of trading. Actually, you know Jared, right? Jared Lemeckowitz. I do. Yeah, so Jared bought a few games from MAD. So, you know, we spread the gospel here where we can. It's kind of crazy because, I mean, you, Jared, Patrick, I mean, and the first time that I met a lot of you in person was a lot of you made the pilgrimage down to Pinbrew Fest. It was like amazing to finally. No, it was a few years ago, the first time that I met someone. Yeah, this year, I missed this year because I was unfortunately at a bachelor party. Oh, man, so sad. Dude, you missed it. You missed it, man. I know. Oh, guys, I'm really twisting my arm. Yeah, Game Terminal, though. We swung by, which was a delight. Oh, nice. It's always good time. Two bucks a game on the Jersey Jacks. It's only four tokens or something. Yeah. Seven tokens for one game of Guns N' Roses. Yeah. Love Jersey Jacks. Yeah, so, you know, hooking up with those guys, it's been great. We're actually starting a little co-op. Nick's kind of mentioned that on some of his podcasts before, but we're in the process of that. So, you know, right now I've been kind of farming a bunch of weird classics. You know, I was really stern for a while. What did you have come through recently? I saw it. Was it like a title fight or something? A title fight. I just finished that. That was a challenge. Yeah, talk about that one a little bit because I'll say from, like, my perspective of following you, you know, I see what you do on the restoration side. But then also when you talk about the community, I think that's the part where you really take it to another level where when people are thinking about dabbling or thinking about getting into it, like you're one of the first people to always chime in and just be like, hey, yeah, if you have questions and this, that and the other. And I think that's what really can can help grow this. For sure. And, you know, everyone, I think that's you hit the nail on the head there. Like, it's so important to try to give back to other people. right? Like when I first started Mike, right. Mike helped me with my EM. Like he, he literally took videos of like him tracing out the circuit for me and explaining stuff. And I'm like not having that guidance. I wouldn't have been able to figure it out. I would have probably just given up like a lot of people probably do. Yeah. Yeah. You just get discouraged. And you know, over time, there's a lot of definitely, and we have some good local texts here. So it's just, you know, it's like paying it forward. Right. so I really love helping out buddies and I think we kind of talked about this earlier right tinkering right I like to tinker I think I'm like 60 40 repairing pins and like playing I just enjoy it I like helping out my friends I like helping out you know people just getting pins running no matter if it's like the shittiest pin out there like any pin is a good pin yeah exactly like when I saw is it Don the guy from like Georgia that wanted to toss his punny factory up Oh my gosh. It was like crazy. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I was like, actually like his name is Don. Isn't it crazy? Don? Yeah. Yeah. I think it's Don. Yeah. I mean, yeah. And I'm like, dude, I mean, you know, I get it. You're, you know, you're trying to do it from the means, right? Like it's a joke, but like really like someone would be really happy with that game. Yeah. I do remember that. That was crazy. People were paying for that too. And it's like, stop feeling him. Do not encourage this. Like stop doing that. Yeah. So, um, you know any pin's a good pin and i'd you know like just just to see people getting them running so um have you played a punny factory yeah so i have not yet i have not actually seen one i think just the only person i know that actually has one so so we have one and then we there are a couple operators that have them i need to put out like a little map of where these are we need to get it because i stay in touch with several of the people who have them out on location just to see like hey how's it holding up how many plays do you have on it you know all of that stuff is it okay yeah i need to do like a whole you know year later or whatever for this game that way you know people can understand you know how it's how it's faring and everything else because it's it's an interesting thing and i just love any time that someone is taking the plunge to make like the vision of their dream come true it's like you're making an insane risk here to go from the design to the manufacturing to the promotion. I mean, there's just so much that goes into getting a game from your mind. I can't even imagine. Oh, it's unbelievable. Yeah. Throw that shit off a roof. Yeah, and if somebody wants to throw it off a roof, I don't care. Yeah, because your play field was crappy. He got his money back, so chill out, dude. He did get his money back? I don't know. He's a man-child. Supposedly he got his money back, but I think... Definitely loves to throw tantrums. There's no doubt about that. Well, I can say on the rest of... on the restoration side. You've got to be a really solid person to get kicked off inside. Real bad shit on inside. You got kicked off of there, like the bar. Yeah, you're just well over being a decent person. Yeah, no doubt. So you've obviously I've followed along on several of your restorations at this point. Do you have a favorite of the ones that you have taken this thing from a heap into a gem or Or, oh, I didn't really... Something that's bolded, as they say. Yeah, or something that you just loved at the end, or you thought you'd love and then you hated, you know? What's that one? You know, I think the one that might be... Honestly, the one I'll probably never get rid of is Flight 2000. Oh, I actually got that from Jared. Yeah, Flight 2000. I'm like a big 80s Ballystern guy right now. They're just so easy to get running. They have so many great games. And they're just easy. They're simple. So simple. Simple. Like, just so simple. But that was, like, my first deep, deep dive, you know, where I, like, the whole top side, you know, you're tumbling every little metal standoff post that are terribly annoying. You know, CPR, new plastics, touch-up paint on the play field. But that was, like, the first time I actually, like, touched up paint. Nice. Yeah, you know, we're actually mixing the colors, and I'm doing swatches to really dial it in. And it's a great tournament game, too. So it'll be bolted not at my house, but at the co-op, right? So that's kind of like the other side part of the co-op, is we all have limited space in our basements, and I hate selling games. Like, I don't want to get rid of any of my games, right? Well, let's talk about your basement a little bit, because the first time you explained to me what it takes to get a game into your house, made me cringe. Oh, is this a 90 degree turn, guy? He's not a 90 degree turn. Oh, I am 90. Dave, explain to us what you've got. So, you know, a lot of old houses in Buffalo, right? My house was built in like the early 30s or something. So, you know, I don't think they had the foresight a hundred years ago to be like, oh, people are going to turn their basements into like arcades. I don't get it. What were they thinking? Crazy. There's no vision. It's just zero vision. So, yeah, where I come in from my side door, my basement steps basically have a dog leg, right? It goes down. It kind of does the U. It goes down again. And my one door is just kind of on the wrong side of the U. If I was, you know, three feet over, I'd have a straight shot down. But unfortunately, you know, it's a game of inches. It's a story of my life, I guess, kind of. So there's a few issues. Yes, there we go. so yeah you know it's just so unfortunately a lot of times every time I you know have to remove the head of the game which you know hear that Kyle he has to remove the head of the game Kyle don't ever complain about my stairs ever again I almost I almost transported a game on it's side to get in my golf this last weekend I don't fucking throw jaws on it's side just jump in there it'll be fine yeah ford focus wagon man focus wagon verified right in right in you know the good thing about the like modern stern though new modern stern it is literally like 10 minutes to take it apart yeah yeah yeah it's like an internet cable you know jack danger actually has a really good video of him and his like daughter removing the playfield so we we take it down in three pieces the cabinet playfield and head and it's like You're one-handing it. It's so nice. It's funny that you bring up that, you know, because I've referenced it. You literally pull a play field out to do it? That actually makes sense. It makes it way lighter. It's depending on the game, right? And if you're doing art blades anyway, it's like, I already have the play field out. I just take a sawzall with me, usually. Cut the game in half, and it'll be back together next year. You're not barring anymore. Yeah, so that's the whole story about the basement. They've all been, you know, not terrible. JJP, I have a Toy Story 4 that I bought from Kevin. I'm sorry. I know people hate on it, but I absolutely love it. It's so good. I hated it when it first came out, but then I played Kevin's a ton, and I just love it. So it's my favorite JJP, other than Dialed In. That is the one game. Has anyone got a Dialed In for sale? Wait, do we have a Dialed In? We will be having a Dialed In. Actually, we do. I wanted you to shop out. We'll talk off podcast. Anyway, Kyle has flat out refused to play Toy Story since it has come out. His one stipulation was like, if you bring it to my house, you carry it in my basement, he might play it. I might. He might. Kyle, you're missing out. No, I'm not. It's like a new No Good Gophers, pretty much. It is. Yeah, but you've got the jump ramp. Oh, man. We were in expo when they unveiled it, and there was like 30 of them, and I never played it one time. I know. Because it's too fucking expensive for a toy. Literally, if we're playing a tournament and he gets put on it, he just takes a strike. Oh, yeah. I have multiple times I've watched him be like, I'm not playing it, to give me a strike. Strike. Thanks, buddy. Fuck that game. Yeah, well, hey, it grew on me, so I enjoy it. No, I'm the exact same way. Corbin's family has one at the brewery we play at a lot, and they'll all be over there playing Ninja Eclipse or Punny Factory. or John Wick or whatever's new and I'm just over there all by myself just plunging some, plucking some quarters down into... That game earns. It earns. It's the top earner. Yeah, that game earns. I mean, JJP is... They're always slouting how it's like the top earner from some pinball magazine or something. Replay, I think. No doubt. And I can attest to that. My Woz still earns. Elton John earns. I mean, it all... Yeah. I think the only one that really we were that dozen is Godfather. That was the one where we were like, hmm, not a great earner. Scooby's still learning even with the one stop rip oh yeah yeah yeah when it works yeah so Dave while we have you on here I want to talk a little bit about you have a tournament coming up so I want you to plug the tournament and Ninja Eclipse will be there we'll talk about Ninja Eclipse a little bit more but yeah let's talk about this tournament oh yeah yeah no no back up oh oh oh how many games what kind of space do you have let's get in the way back machine so in the basement right now just paint the picture uh i have 11 games that's a good now 11 we're gonna we're gonna go with nine safe crackers they fit right down your stairs yeah yeah they're all super mario brother mushroom i have all of them doesn't that exist still or whatever um but so i have i have 11 like physical games, and then I am a P3 shill. I am a P3 shill. Hey Kyle, where's the mute button? I have a few modules. It's got to be around here somewhere. I have a few modules, so depending on, do you count the P3 as just one, or do you count like Weird Al and Final Resistance as games? We'll give you the P3. I say it's one space. One space. He has to store the modules somewhere which could be if he didn have the modules that might be a second Is Dave the guy though that how many arcade games do you have And he like well I have a game with 8 games on it No, yeah, yeah, just the Donkey Kong. Well, actually, it's the multiboard, just the Donkey Kong. So, but yeah, so we got, still have Lucky Hands, because that's, you know, can't get rid of that. Family hand-me-down. And that'll be a co-op game. We got Hardbody. Hardbody is actually going to be at Jeff's tournament. Jeff Teolis at his Beast tournament. Yeah, in the main. So we're going to see, you know, Jason Zellner destroy all my high scores. So what are the dates on the Beast? Shout that one out because that's just an absolute. This is in Buffalo? This is in Buffalo. Okay. Because it's the weekend before yours, right? Is that where you went? The weekend before mine. Yeah, it's like the second, third, August 2nd and 3rd. Yeah, that sounds right. Yes. Yeah, second, third, fourth. But I think all entries are – I think Jeff said there's a little bit of women's spots up, but the main and classics is already all filled up. I mean, that one's a huge tournament. I know one of the players we sponsor, Aaron Rich, went up last year, I think it was. I mean, it definitely draws because of the potential for IFPA points and whatnot. Whoppers. Sure, yeah. I think he's like 270% boosted for mains. And, yeah, there will be a lot of top 25 players there. So I'm hoping not just to finish last and get me a few points. And hopefully Hardbody stays up to, like, three days of intense playing. So you're going to have to, like, take it apart to get it there too. Yeah, just take the head off. That's dedication. Just take the head off. I just think people should appreciate that. Because, I mean, I take a lot of games and shows and stuff, but the heads stay on. So, like, if I had to take the heads off, it would decrease the number. That's what I understand for Dave now, though. It's just part of the process. That's true. He does seem very accepted to it. He's like, no, this is how we do it. If Jeff has to move a game in or out of my basement, I hear about it for three days. Minimum. Yeah. The only games that I won't move, though, like I have a World Cup, right? Doggy soccer is just not going anywhere. Because those WPC games, like, oh, my God. It's just so many connectors. A lot of plugs. They're all just kind of over the place. You know, the Ballet 6803, there's like just a handful of plugs that go to them. that go into the cabinet. Not like WPC. Yeah, it's not WPC level, so it's not terrible. 6803. I love it when Jeff brings me a party animal with no head on it. Funny story about party animals. A little bit of a sidebar here. So it's gone again. Sidebar. It got sold again. Party animal is like, I would love to know the journey of games, like especially this one, because just in the time that I've known of this specific party animal, it's like six people deep. Corbin and I are running around on Wednesday, and we make a stop in Medina, Ohio, Foundry Social. I made him work a full day. And we walk in and they have four pinball machines sitting there and one of them is Party Animal. I'm like, oh, Party Animal, that's a weird one you don't see out very often. I walk up to it. I'm like, that frog is broken exactly like our frog was cracked. This looks exactly like... Was the mushroom bumper the wrong color? All of the stuff. I'm like, this is ours. This is the one. And this was the Party Animal that I showed up at Kyle's house with the head detached. And my fingers still fucking hurt. From doing the LED job on it. So that was the sidebar on Party Animal. I had to throw that in, because I just keep running into it everywhere I go. It's talking you. Yeah, so let's see. So those two games, and then I just finished, I grabbed a silver slugger from a guy, a buddy was holding it from me in Philly. I'm kind of on like a little Gottlieb Street level kick. I'm not a sugar-bubble geek in general. Dave, we need to talk. Maybe some Silver Slugger when you're ready to move it and some Dialed In. We might be able to make some things happen. All right, continue. You know what's great about that Silver Slugger, too? Ten Silver Sluggers you can Dialed In. My dad's in Westchester, like New York, so he's not really far from Steve Young, right? Yeah. So I drove up there. Steve was like, I have a new old stock playfield for it. Of course you do. A hundred bucks. A hundred bucks? I knew you were going to be buddies with Thunderbox. I'd throw that right off a roof. So, yeah, I had a local buddy has a shop, sprayed it for me. So I got like a minty, clear-coated... It'll be the best silver slugger that's out there. It's one of my guilty pleasures. Okay. Yeah, same here. I'd love to find a Hoops, but Hoops is now, for whatever reason, a bazillion dollars. So add that to the list. But yeah, so Silver Slugger and Tidal Fight are both my Gottlieb shoot level guilty pleasures. And actually, one weird thing about Tidal Fight, too, when I was shopping that out, System 3 game, right? Yep. But the mini flippers up top are System 80 flippers. Interesting. Which was annoying because, you know, I'm like, all right, I got to shop it out. I know this thing's kind of beat. Hey, Steve, give me like five flipper rebuild kits, right? Yeah. And Steve didn't know. So this is like, I called him back. I'm like, hey, the top is actually ADB. And sure enough, we looked in the manual, and it lists the unit as like the ADB set. And, yeah, so Steve was like, I'll have to make note. I'm like, wow. Just a bunch of leftovers. I feel like that's a serious accomplishment. If you can teach Steve Young something, then, like, that's a win. That's a serious. Mark that date down in the books. I got chills a little bit I got chills hearing about it so so we got those guys World Cup Soccer obviously that was a grail game for me when J-Pop actually made games I remember the day I remember the day when J-Pop made some great games so we have Stern Godzilla premium, courtesy of Jeff a pro and a premium I went pro initially and then obviously had to circle back and get the premium. I remember you being really hot on getting that premium because wasn't it around the time you were trying to get it in maybe for one of your son's birthdays or birthday party because they were big into it? Yeah, birthday parties. Yeah, he was like, dude, he was so into it. And it's cool. Like when the little kids are like, oh, you know all the kaiju? And you're like, and the parents are like, oh, he watched the movies? I'm like, no, he has no idea what this is. He just played the pinball game. So he's learned like, you know, that's it. Reverse learning. So it's really fun. He's six now, and he has solid skills, really good ball control skills, because he's grown up playing hard games, right? So what's your take on the black and white? You're going to try to cover it up for black and white real quick? Just a quick question. I'm just curious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, probably not. Probably not. I mean, I think it looks good. Now, okay, so just my own critique about it. Yeah, absolutely. Fire away. That's what we asked. That's what we asked. I'm trying not to go... George is probably listening and he's like, this game guy made the guns comment and I'm like, I'm on the list now. As soon as he said that, he already turned it off. He's like, oh, this guy. I think the art is cool. I love these black and white rethames. I wish the insert colors would be white and red. Colored inserts with black and white art. yeah it was it was tough and then and then someone else in one of the other discord groups i'm in kind of mentioned like hey you know i had an albira black and white and it was like really really hard to track the ball sometimes because of all the monochrome so i never thought about that virus dark but yeah that's that's my only only you know critique other than like you know it's kind of you know it's kind of a bit of a cash grab oh no doubt i don't know if it's a Since the price is just normal premium pricing, I don't feel like it's expensive. It is normal premium. Since it's normal premium, it's just like they're just doing another run. $13,000 game. Or like Jurassic Park was. They're just doing another run of premiums, basically. The part that kind of excited me a little bit was the foil, and then when George said you were also going to do the accessories in black and white, I was like, oh, well, that would be cool that you're going to do Art Blaze. And like you said the other day, how hard is it just to switch the computer to do, like, tippity-tap and it changes all the contrast to black and white and then they just reprint it or recut it or whatever. No doubt. But I do think it was cool though. They're full-themed. It's a great move. Because I don't even think the Munsters, I think the Munsters topper is still the normal topper. It's not a black and white version of it. I'm trying to remember. Uh-oh. That game may never leave your house. There's not much color in it. I need someone to help me carry it out to take it to my dad. Yeah, we can do that. Alright, so Godzilla Pro to Godzilla Premium. Godzilla Pro to Premium. So now we had the Foo, but now we're at Aliens, which, again, it's a cool game. It's easily Pinball Brothers' best game. Agreed. Obviously. Queen is like in. Listen, I'm not even going to get to add. Maybe it's past my age group anyway, and maybe it's a European thing, but I hope that's selling like hotcakes in Europe because I need Pinball Brothers to stay alive for a little bit longer. So Toy Story 4. And then there's my first J.J.P. but I do want to get it dialed in. I almost bought Kevin's dialed in too but it's timing. I wasn't able to get both. And then my P3 which I have primarily right now I play Final Resistance which anyone out there who has a TNA? Yeah and Scott's just like an awesome dude. I have the opportunity to talk to him regularly and he's just an awesome guy. So Final Resistance aka TNA2 absolutely love it. that's 90% of my plays right now. No way. Um, yeah, it's just, it's just so good. I'm sorry about that. Well, it's, you know what? It's TNA-ish. It's TNA-ish. It is. It has the same TNA vibe for sure. I, I, I, well, the interesting thing that I was kind of going off on is whenever you said, you know, Scott Danesi, he's a great guy and George Gomez, you know, we're talking about George Gomez being a great guy and Jack Danger. It's like, I think that's one thing that we can say like in the pinball community and hobby is like we're really blessed with a lot of people who are just awesome individuals to begin with and then are engaged in all of this it's like there are a lot of things you can be into you know sports cards or pokemon or all these different things we just have a bunch of like a-holes and it's like we you know we we may have a few out there there's a few i mean there's this particular artist i had the uh opportunity of talking to at tpf and i was a little really uh I'm more than a little, but he has a bit of a reputation, I think, already. So I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that I was completely... You know, it's crazy. You go talking to Steve Ritchie, right? An icon. And Steve's just like this awesome dude. Good morning, gentlemen. Play better. Yeah, obviously. You know, yeah. He's talking. I'm like, man. He's just like... He's awesome. But he takes the time. and he did signatures for you and, you know, all that other stuff. And then with this other guy, it was just – had some words for me, and I was like, wow, that was kind of rude. Rude and unexpected. I won't get into the details. I don't think I was thinking that. Yeah, I mean, I probably should have expected it, but it was just kind of a dick move. So we're about to have the Jon Norris questions. We're going to him tomorrow. so I'm going to put you on the spot here a little bit before I submit the questions if you had one question to ask Jon Norris what would your question be? if I had one question I don't know if this is a question or more of a request I guess John can we get a bad girls 2 please just make bad girls 2 do we want it to be like a modern version or do we want to be the same throwback? The original. Bad Girls 2, the batterer. The batterest. The batterest. The batterest West. I think alphanumeric. Pulp Fiction style. But really, really bad. It doesn't even play. You just press the button and it's like something on the play field. We need that classic Gottlieb tasty 80s tombs. So, yeah. No, that's definitely my favorite, Jon Norris. I'm also a sucker for Diamond Lady as well. I think you might need a Raven. Diamond Lady is... You know, Raven... I played Raven at Timbrew, and Raven's a little rough. I like some pretty, you know, cheesy games. Raven's a little tough. I think we're going to re-theme it to something else. it's a perfect candidate it's definitely a good candidate for a re-theme Bad Girls was in the IFPA championships I think it was Elwynn and Zellner were rocking it those 80s Gottliebs are hyped now Jeff you're leading the charge that's what I'm trying to do here arena I love Cactus Jacks I need a Cactus Jacks for sure so if you run across a Cactus Jacks let me know yeah it's it's hands down the best skill shot in any okay pinball game so you're vibing with it's not debatable isn't it just unbelievable yeah why hasn't it been redone if i'm familiar with it oh i'll show you after the podcast it's yeah i fell in love with it at vfw and just like couldn't walk away trying to picture the game let's look it up so uh yeah so that's the collection and obviously things are always changing uh i have you know some games are stored at friends' houses, too. That's just what's at the basement. Hence the co-op, right? To store all these things. A lot of collectors in Buffalo are in the same boat. We're going to have a place to play these funky games. Do we need to talk about his tournament? We do. We need to plug the tournament. I interrupted the tournament and talked about it. No problem. I'm horrible at staying on track. We haven't talked about Jetsons yet. so we are it is called the pin shed so my friends uh scott and christy lease um local buffalo people they're in actually in medina new york now medina ohio okay um they just finished uh it's i i it's we call it the pin shed but it's it's like a garage right they built a a 24 by 24 uh garage you know separate power um and this is kind of like a christening event and i was like hey, we have this co-op starting up, and Nick and Kevin have been running tournaments for a decade, right? And they're like, hey, we want to start teaching other people how to do it. So this is like my get my feet wet. We're doing four hours of qualifying, just match play, Swiss pairing, and then we're doing a ladder final, and there will be an A and a B. So pretty standard as far as tournaments go. So I know you were going, what, max 24 players. Are you filled up, or are we still looking for some players? We have a few spots left. So, you know, definitely. Act now. I'll share that link out again. Yeah, act now. A few spots left. We're trying to do prepay. And we have a good game list, too. So we got a, you know, there's going to be a Getaway, Walking Dead, my Deadpool Pro, Pulp Fiction, if you want to classify Pulp Fiction as a modern, and then a Halloween. Walking Dead Premium? Walking Dead Premium it is a premium I think it's a premium it has the little crossbow yes so then we have a few EM's, Spanish Eyes awesome EM, you know that pop bumper in the middle that's pretty cool yeah super cool art I think a Chicago coin Bronco, I think Chicago coin made the Bronco and then Williams Aztec which is like one of my favorite EM's to play and then a bunch of classics we have a Black Knight 2K we have a Genie Gottlieb Genie, Gottlieb Roller Disco so two of the what were those? Ultrawides right? you don't really see Roller Disco very often my favorite part of Roller Disco is I love wide body pinball machines they put two L's on one drop target they're like how can we get Roller Disco across here two five banks what can we do here classic Gottlieb right there. There's going to be a Flash Gordon, some brutally hard 80s games. Flash Gordon, Firepower, Stars, Meteor. Firepower is good. Classic. Evil Knievel, a Ballykiss, Gorgar, and a Road King. Wow. That's killer. It's a nice mix. It's a nice diverse lineup. And then Ninja Eclipse. I'm not sure if we're going to... We'll probably try to throw it In the tournament, too, but I'm not quite sure. Some of the more serious people are. Are we taking that out there? Yeah. If they need it. We're making a trip. If they need anything. So Dave's actually, so we'll have it out at the pins in Pittsburgh prior to that. So he's going to pick it up from there and then take it up. Yeah. It seems reliable, honestly. It's been, yeah, definitely so far so good on all of that. Excited to get it in front of as many people. The Buffalo pinball community is great. the Pittsburgh pinball community is obviously phenomenal. So we just want to get it in front of Canton community. Well, you know, we just this basement, like last, uh, pin brew, man, a lot of the guys we were talking, you know, a bunch of the Cleveland guys were there and everything. And I'm like, we eventually we will make this happen. We were talking, one of the guys, is it Rob? The guy with the mustache? Yep. Rob. Yeah. Rob. Yes. I mean, you can't, I mean, yeah, Rob. Awesome. Rob. Super good energy, right? Yeah. we were talking, he's like, I know a guy in Erie, PA, like the VFW connection or something. He's like, we can rent the space and, you know, a bunch of Ohio dudes bring a bunch of games, a bunch of Buffalo guys bring some games. We'll have like a mistake on the lake. We would absolutely be down to do a huge collaboration, bring some machines, whatever we need to do, we would definitely be down to support that. No doubt. No doubt. We should make it happen. For sure. So I think once the co-op's up and running towards the end of fall, this could definitely be like a fall spring thing for sure yeah that'll be cool especially when I'm off for more tournaments meeting up with good people actually the next tournament we're going to be hosting is going to be a critical hit have you guys ever played one of those? I have not, describe it to me a little bit it is it's IFPA sanctioned I forget who created it I'd have to google it again you know literally no one at this table plays in tournaments. That is... I mean... Yeah, yeah, yeah. So our tournaments consist of, we go to somebody's house and then we have a big top, Wico big top back glass, and whoever wins takes that home, and that's where we go next. Be grudging. That's perfect. And also, you have to put the big top back glass above your bed. Not above your bed. to do that. You just wanted to. Is this the winner or the loser, Kyle? I'm not sure that we have this clear. I think it's a Phil's right now. No, and not above your bed, like on the ceiling so it's looking at you. When you wake up in the morning, it's the first thing you see? When you go to bed, that's the only thing. I mean, it's probably better than those photorealistic Gottlieb bath glasses. It could be like a Gottlieb hot shots, right? That's a little much. He's definitely not wrong. I'm going to go Torpedo Alley again. I want that back. Torpedo Alley. Those shorts. They just put a guy on there for whatever. You basically just like at the start, it's like match play, right? But there's a whole bunch of Magic the Gathering-esque cards. Everyone gets a few cards to start it off and they all have weird skills. Like, hey, if you're in a group with a few guys and, hey, I'm playing with people that are going to whoop my ass. All right, I'm leaving, so I'm switching with a player. You could play that card. You could say you guys all blew it up on ball one and I had a stinker. I could play my card that makes me switch players. It just mixes it up. It sounds like it takes it to another level. It sounds like Mario Kart, almost. It's boxes now. Yeah, it's definitely... Oh, red shell, boom. You got to play it with the right guys Because if you're playing with guys who are just way too serious about this stuff, they get angry, whatever. I don't know what you're talking about. There are no super serious pinball players, tournament players. No, that doesn't exist, Dave. Come on. Yeah, check it out, though. Give it a Google critical hit. Yeah, it definitely sounds interesting. I never heard of it before when I was submitting the tournament for IPA registration. it showed up and I was asking Nick and Kevin I been kind of consulting them on how to run things and they they like yeah we have this deck and they showed it to me and I was like what Yeah that definitely interesting We always looking for new and fun things to try We've got to get Mike to figure it out. Yeah, definitely. I don't know if they still sell the decks, but if you ever need, just let me know. We have some here. It's like IFPA. I have one major thing I want to talk about tonight. And? What's that? There's a fucking Jetson in the garage right now. Breaking news, people. The best spooky game has landed in Ohio. The absolute best spooky pinball effort ever. I don't know if we need to use this. It's set up. It's ready to rock and roll. I literally looked at it before we got here, sat down, looked at it, and I was like, well, we're going to record. We're going to flip some games on this, baby. We'll see if it'll flip some games. Yeah, you know. We'll get the hot glue. How many chances did they make? What was the number? What's the take? They say 100. They say 100. So this was where in the lines they did America's Most Haunted, right? And that was 150, I thought. America's Most Haunted. 150. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, then. Rob Zombie. Okay. I think Jetsons and Domino's are the same. Domino's. Domino's-ish. Yes. Both contract games. Both contract games. Who do they do the Jetsons for? Who contract out? I forget the name. Was it Planetary or whatever? Planetary, I believe that's who it was for. Planetary. Planetary had the license. It was someone like that that had the license for it. I'll fact check this, of course. And they were like, hey, we have this license, and we have these very specific assets that you can use, and you cannot go outside of this very small box. So let's make this really fucking awful game. And if by awful you mean... It looks really nice. It looks amazing. The artwork, the colors. It has one fucking ramp, dude. I didn't know you were just a ramp snob. You just have to agree with me. Instead of shoot the ramps, it's just shoot the ramp. Funhaus only has one ramp. Huh? Huh? You mean unfunhaus? What is wrong with you? All right. I think we're going to cut Dave off here. Dave. What are you going to cut Dave off? We're getting Dave off the podcast because Dave's been amazing, and we've held him way later than I intended. So, Dave, thank you very, very much for the time. Thank you, guys. You've added a lot to this. I can't wait to be at the Olympics with him. I've never met him, so I'm excited to do this. for sure i will definitely you know it's crazy listening to like the pod all the time and you guys you know your your your vibe is like the same as like our stuff in here in buffalo right like all my friends so it's like listening to you guys is like a lot of the same conversations we have so it's it's weird as a listener to like actually you know talk to you guys now it's like you know i i know like a lot about you so it's weird right so yeah super psyched to meet you No, it'll be awesome. We should go to Buffalo and hang out with these people. I'm just going to say, is that a weird thing to say? There's Buffalo pizza, right? Is there Buffalo style pizza? What's that mean? Yeah, so it's like kind of not Detroit-ish. It's like a little thicker, square, rectangle-ish. Fluffy, but I like that. I'm not originally from Buffalo, right? So where are you originally from? Oh, Connecticut. Connecticut, okay. Yeah, Connecticut and Jersey and, you know, like Westchester. So, like, tri-state area. Okay. But, I mean, I've been living in Buffalo for 15 years. Why? You're like a local. You can see yourself a local now. Okay. Yeah, basically a local. This guy's a hater. Jesus. Kyle's getting mean. Everything. He's past his bedtime. We're sorry. Kyle gets mean after 10 o'clock. His bedtime alarm went off. It did. It did. Kyle and I, we were vibing on the Jack's Open Lucky Hand, but then he lost me. I will not have that I will not have that Jax 2 open oh Jax 2 open Jax 2 open I had the solid state version that's like the worst one it couldn't have got any worse than the one I had it was awful the bond is broken it was like there was no fucking art around that game it was great but definitely we are excited to get everyone together at Pinball Olympics where this will be your first Pinball Olympics, correct? Yeah, correct. And then Pinbrew. I should have no bachelor parties this year. We will be there at Pinbrew. Pinbrew is going to be crazy. I think we're going to have every fucking spooky game. Every single one. We'll find an Alice. I think I have to haul something out. Something. We'll see what's in the whether it's title fight or hard body. Or what's going to just annoy the people. That's why I'm so happy hard body is going to be in this tournament because I just know so many of these elite players are going to be so mad about these flex saves. You get that out lane drain and they're just going to be angry because it's a hard game. yeah so uh yeah and jeff i wanted to say special thank you for completely ruining the word fresh for me i cannot hear how about read fresh it was like yeah absolutely in my mind it's just it's done like the word is we're living in a wild times right now you're welcome you're welcome i'll try to ruin some more words for you but again thank you so much for coming on it's been a pleasure i can't wait to meet you in person yeah can't wait guys Thanks again. Thank you. All right. Have a good night. Go Bills. And that, folks, was Dave Sousa from Buffalo, New York. I think he really added some cool insight here to the podcast. So thanks again, Dave, for coming on. It was definitely a treat. Agreed. What word's the drinking game word again? Absolutely. Absolutely. People are wasted by this point. From me, I'm sure. So let's talk about this Jetsons. Let's. I love these Jetsons. What do you want to say? What do you want to say? What a fucking piece of shit. You never played it before? No. I've watched people play it. We got this game for you. Why is it not in my house then? Because your baby's stairs suck. My stairs are fine. This guy has to take his fucking head in the playfield out. That's bonkers. Come on. That's commitment though. He's so numb to it You could hear it It's normal business He's taking jersey jacks into his basement With the head off Maybe that's the best way to carry them It might be It might be easier Just take a jersey jack on your roof Kyle That makes me sad Are we going to get in trouble for saying crazy Don Is that going to be a thing I don't know We can send this to him I mean it in like a very passionate way yeah you know in a Pinside Terror sort of thing yeah alright let's talk some events here Corbin because we've got some fun stuff coming up we've got some Ninja Eclipse events coming up I want to say first last night at Unhitched was a really good time I thought that was we had a really good turnout we had saw some faces we hadn't seen in a while it was the pizzas were good that was my second pizza of the day and it was slamming Alex I know you don't listen to this probably but you always make such good food. I like to think that when he's whipping up a new recipe, he's listening to the Fresh Pinball Podcast. If you are, much love, my friend. No doubt. Keep on cooking. Yeah, we did that there last night. Next up, it's currently at, I don't know how soon you're going to get this live, but it's going on all weekend. Mike Harris' thing is going today, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. You can go any day. You can go all day. The Sweeper City Pinball Championship. So that's through Thursday, July 11th. July 11th starts Thursday, July 11th through Sunday, July 14th. You can go, you know, just replay, whatever. And then we're going to move it from there to our favorite Akron spot. Main tournament's qualifying is on Saturday, I think. Correct. Yep. Cool. So then it's going to make its debut up at quarter up, and it's going to hang out there from Monday to Monday at the very least. So everyone in that area will have the opportunity for double Monday tournaments to be able to experience it with a full weekend and everything else. And then the game will be moving to Pins Mechanical in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where it's going to be hanging out for a minute until Mr. Dave Sousa comes down and picks it up for his Pinshed Summer Tournament in Medina, New York on August the 10th. So Ninja Eclipse is going to be making the rounds. I was very impressed last night. I was very impressed. It's a real game. Yeah, it's nice. It plays great. I'm very intrigued. The dual scoop thing is great. When it shoots across, it's a cool feature. I mean, so in the left out lane, there's a kickback. She talks about Midnight Madness as well. And it kicks it out into the right scoop. It goes in there and collects whatever it needs to collect. And then it sends it from the right scoop to the left scoop and then collects the mystery. It's like... Yeah, that's pretty cool. This is fantastic. It's like jumping it around a little bit. I love it. It's like a subway, but above? It is. Yeah. Very, very cool. A ground way. Yeah. Like the trains on the tracks above ground. We'll talk to you about that Midnight Madness idea. Oh, I think we could definitely talk to Chris about getting some Midnight Madness in there. That's going to take it to the next level. I got about an hour and a half until Midnight Madness. We've got some time. And then I also wanted to announce officially the Gamers Lair, or as Corbin likes to call it, the Dragons Lair, up in Brunswick, Ohio. I just want to call it the Lair. The Lair? The Lair. That way there's no confusion. I'm not going to refer to it as with you, it's just as the lair. So they're going to have their soft opening on Saturday, July the 13th. And what pinball machines do we place up there to start with, Corbin? A nice little trio. All right, we dropped Star Wars Premium. That's the first time it's been out in the wild. There is a Venom Premium. Venom Premium. Whodunit, too, right? And then Whodunit. Yes. Got it connected, too? so venom premium is connected locked loaded ready to go is still going off and on so we got to get it back on star wars we're going to add on to a different wi-fi network and get that reliable but you'll be able to get in there and get your achievements and do all that and there'll be more pinball and other machines coming soon but that's the first load that we took up to to get things going but two insider connected games and the amazing midnight madness with those achievements man they really do gotta scan in gotta scan in gotta get the achievement how How many days, Phil? It's like 610. It's impressive, dude. It's impressive. It's longer than a year. The badges ended at 600. They need to add another badge. We'll let Stern know. Whoever's in charge of the badges, if you're listening right now. Zach Sharp, we need this. We need some. They also need to. I still am voting for the feature where since you can, you know, it knows the time. It's on a satellite, the Stern's on. You can set the business hour time in there. It's on a satellite. Well, you know. Stern has a satellite. That's pretty sweet. Or the internet, you know what I mean. Do they have pinball in this satellite? What's the thing called from Terminator? Skynet. Skynet. It's on Skynet. Skynet is live. We got an issue. But anyway, since it's all on Skynet, why can't they have it so you put the business hours in, then a half an hour, an hour after, if it's not shut off, it auto shuts off. It goes to sleep. It just goes to sleep. It goes to sleep. Like a jukebox. A little hibernation. Skynet's live. We shouldn't give it too much time. You can leave it five-oh running, have some lights and stuff. It could do updates then. How about that board on Dirty Harry that we see today or yesterday with the 5-volt meter in the middle of it? A meter? So in the middle of it, it's like WPC, Dirty Harry. There is a two-little-digit, alphanumeric digit, and it was literally taking a live, it was like 5.03, taking a voltage. On the board? On the board. On the board. That's cool. What board? Why? On the Power Carver? The middle? Yeah, yeah. They're trying to track resets. It's definitely what you're doing. But it's like, this game's resetting. You're going to know when it drops below because the game's going to reset. Well, no shit, yeah. So, it's the... Yeah. So, someone just soldered in instead of like an LED? In line. In line. Yeah. It's very cool. It was cool. That's interesting. I just was like, I've never seen that. I've not seen that before either. Yeah. Ooh. How many times... Are we over? We're way over. Can we talk about my German P.O. box? Yes. This is a supersized episode at this point, so let's keep it going. Okay. so corbin what were you in the cargo parts i was just laughing because it was a super size episode then i was thinking about how it's jeff's anniversary and he's hanging out with us on his anniversary anyway i guess jeff's not going to taco town tonight that's what i was thinking about i couldn't even form my sentences so uh uh i know tia that you're not listening anymore she's not listening like an hour ago oh yeah hour so uh Happy anniversary. Your marriage is old enough to drain now. 21 years. The love of my life. I'm searching for some... I thought I was a little fewer like you. Sorry. Anyway, I was searching for some Congo parts. I just saw some real sadness flash in your eyes. I'm going to kick a search for Congo parts. And I don't know if anybody's ever ordered from the pinball center in Germany before. Is it spelled C-E-N-T-E-R? or R-E? I don't know. I'll look. Okay, this question's not important. It'll be easy to find. I've got like 15 emails from him recently. I was like, who the fuck's talking about this? I forgot Keith was here. Anyway, so you order from this place and they won't ship straight to the U.S. So no U.S. addresses. Yeah, no U.S. It's pinball, C-E-N-T-E-R-G-M-B-H is what it's... Anyway, so they won't ship As soon as you put in your address and you put US It says cannot ship there It says no So I discovered this years ago And I got a German PO box Right, super simple And you forward it And so I had forgotten about all this Until I got on the website And of course this is the only site that has the perfect Art blades that match the back panel Anybody who's familiar with Congo It has that back panel, it has the purples, the volcanoes Yeah, they have art blades that match that same art that just comes around. So I'm like... Why aren't we printing this shit? I do have a printer I should be able to... Anyway, that's not the point of the story. Don't get me off topic right now. We absolutely should be. Anyway, so they had those. They had the plastics to cover the metal, the stainless steel. And you know I've been hunting for those. So I ordered Mia's set and I ordered Jared's set. It's fucking naked. Are you serious right now? You did not include that? So I ordered two sets of those. Then they also had a WPC audio-visual for the WPC-95. I think, is that the? Yeah, it's that one. Yeah, yeah. Like that one. Which you can't, like, Rotten Dog 1 sucks. Right, right. Scared stuff. Yeah. And you can't get any other version of it. And they had one. Right. It's like they basically just made it, and I don't know if they ripped off copper. I don't know what they did, but either way, looks right. So they had that and a couple other Congo plastics they needed, so I had to do it. So I forgot, though, just how big of a pain in the ass it is to do this PO box. Because once it gets in, then you have to reassign it, redeclare customs to get it to leave Germany from your PO box to forward it to you using the Czech mail service or something. And it's like, well. I wonder what the reason is that the company doesn't want to ship it directly here. There has to be something. I think it's copyright shit. I think that's what it is. It makes sense. Planetary owns all that shit. Planetary, I hope you're not listening right now. I don't care. Right. I tried to get it from Planetary. If they would have had those plastics, I would have bought it from them. But they didn't because Planetary will ship here. Yeah. And they sent me cool stickers. They did. But anyway. We need to up our sticker game. Like, all we have is the classic Madden ball logo. Stickers and shirts. I'm telling you, the next round of shirts, I want it to be, like, a positive message of, like, don't be a dick or something like that. I've been thinking about that since we talked about it. And I want it to be something along those lines of like just a positive like whatever. So the godfather of Mad Pinball, shout out Rob Bradley. Corbin and I were chatting on the phone with him the other day, and we were discussing a certain individual, and he said that the next hashtag on a shirt should be don't be a dick. I just think it's a good idea. In general. In general. Like literally in general. It is good advice. Yeah. I think more people need to maybe keep that floating around their mind. We need to up our sticker game. We need to... I have those sticker machines that I need to do something. Oh, yeah, the dollar ones. And then I think it might be time for a fresh Pinball Podcast shirt, for fresh shirts. Maybe stickers, too. I love stickers. So are you guys familiar with Fiverr? Yeah, yeah, where you can go like, hey, I want a logo or whatever. I want a logo. That's what you did, didn't you? I want a whatever. Yeah. So we can... You put it in AI for free. We can get the Mad Pinball logo animated for like $80. That does seem really cheap. That seems animated. So we're like a cartoon we talk about? So basically there are different things they can do, but one of them, the examples that I saw was they take the logo and it kind of like builds itself out, you know, like the circle, the inner part, and draws the whole thing. And then like they can make it talk. They can make it do all kinds of different things. Or if we want to co-brand with Stern, we can have the Mad Pinball logo come up and then the Stern logo come up. You click a button on it and it's just Tank the Dog going, I'm asleep! But I'm seeing all of these different options. This was definitely a rabbit hole that I was not ready to go down because the fresh pinball podcast shirt, I think it needs to happen. Or at least a sticker. All right, we give Tank. Tank is here. Just so everyone knows, Tank's here. Phil's here. Keith's here too. Oh, yeah, of course. We'll give Tank a week to come up with the design for us. Otherwise, we're using AI. Got to do what we got to do. No offense. Are we ready for final thoughts on this supersize episode? I'm down. All right, Zach. Final thoughts, buddy. I'm going to play some Jetson right now. That's what I'm thinking about. Did we even finish our events? There's a quarter-up launch party coming, too. And there's a North Canton launch party coming for John Wick. Yeah, we'll put that on the next episode. We've talked about enough events. Sounds good. Sounds good. Yeah, get out there and play some more pinball. And if you can, go play some Jetsons. Play some Jetsons, yeah. Because that's what we're about to do. That's what we're about to do. It's going to be a good time. Some TNA. Always play TNA. If anybody has any good advice on TNA, I think we've got ribbing cables or a board or something. I think it's board, dude. It's going in and out. So if anyone knows anything about this, or Scott, if you're listening, which I'm sure you are. Give me a call at some point. Email us at freshpinball.gmail.com. Or just call me. Yeah. Final thoughts, Corbin? Scott, Denise, you call me. Scott, call me. All right, so talking about the Hoover Pinball Lodge John Wick launch party, it looks like we'll maybe do it. No, I thought you were talking about this. No, no, no, no. Don't you mute me, sir. Don't you mute me. Get the fuck off my board, dude. Saturday. Get out of here. July 20th, we will have the Hoover Pinball League John Wick launch party. It could be the pro. It could be the premium. It could be both. We have both unboxed right now that we're taking around. It could be both. Who knows? We have one of those. and then monday july 22nd we will have the uh quarter up john wick launch party the pro is up there right now with those super sweet expression lights and for the launch party the premium could join it so we might take something else i mean ninja clips or ninja clips will be gone tank calm down buddy we'll let you out here in a minute i know you gotta go he's peeing inside He keeps peeing inside. It's so annoying. Final thoughts, Kyle? You know, I love pinball. I do, too. Pinball is you, I think. It's fun. It's fun. So we almost called off doing the episode tonight because Corbin was out doing his real job. And then he said, you know, this is one of my favorite things to do. So we made it happen. There's nothing better than getting behind these mics. Brings people together. Drink a couple beers. Yeah, hanging out with my people. crack a few beers, crack a few jokes go straight to Taco Town I love Taco Town dude, Taco Town's the fucking best alright Kyle, play us out here with the Mad Pinball jingle I guess I should plug Mad Pinball here if you need something, email Corbin or Jeff at MadPinball.com mostly Corbin, he'll get back to you in a week I emailed you back faster than you we have lots of new box games we do? What have we got? What have we got sitting around? We've got Iron Maiden Pro and Premium. John Wick Pro and Premium. Jurassic Park Premium. There's a John Wick LE. Somebody out there wants that in their house. Yeah. I think we have like one, maybe two spots left on the black and white list, too. But you have to get your order in by tomorrow, which is impossible because this probably won't be live by then. This will be live tomorrow morning. So if you're hearing this now, email us and let us know you want one of those Godzilla black and white. God, I want one so bad. I know we have one Black Knight Pro. So, left to go. But yeah, we have some good inventory going. Thank you all so much. And good night. Bye. Goodbye.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 42e389d1-d38e-40a5-8b95-6fb41b92607c*