# DPP #10 "Episode 10 celebration! Talking Spooky and new Bond code! Next cornerstones! How I got my line up!"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-01-26  
**Duration:** 28m 57s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-10-Episode-10-celebration--Talking-Spooky-and-new-Bond-code--Next-cornerstones--How-I-got-my-line-up-e1u0rsb

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## Analysis

Don celebrates episode 10 of his pinball podcast with 207 plays and 66 unique listeners across multiple countries. He discusses recent Spooky Pinball updates, new James Bond code (0.84) with 22 new achievements and multiple new modes, and speculates on the next four Stern Cornerstones: Venom, Foo Fighters, Jaws, and Indiana Jones. He also details his personal pinball collection journey, explaining how he acquired Dark Knight, Guns N' Roses LE, Halloween, Rick and Morty, Rush LE, and Godzilla through various dealers and strategies.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] James Bond code 0.84 includes 22 new achievements for Insider Connected and approximately 60 new features including two new modes (Orient Express and Disco Volante Demolition) — _Don read through the Bond code readme and counted the features listed_
- [MEDIUM] Venom was originally scheduled for release a year ago (around Comic Con timeframe) but was delayed due to COVID-related issues and market fluctuations — _Don speculates based on Stern's appearance at San Diego Comic Con with Todd McFarlane and Ozzy Osbourne with no announcement_
- [MEDIUM] The next four Stern Cornerstones are rumored to be Venom, Foo Fighters, Jaws, and Indiana Jones — _Don cites speculation and rumor, notes Indiana Jones was not in his earlier prediction_
- [MEDIUM] Venom was designed by Brian Eddy, similar in style to Stranger Things and Mandalorian — _Don references the designer's previous work and speculates on layout_
- [LOW] Indiana Jones could potentially be a Kapow title — _Don notes this is rumor and admits uncertainty about what Kapow does_
- [MEDIUM] Zombie Yeti (Stern artist) has created art posters for Foo Fighters featuring an alien hitchhiker theme — _Don has seen the poster and uses it to speculate on potential game narrative_
- [HIGH] Don acquired his collection through multiple dealers including Tim at Eau Claire Games, Butch at Butch's Game Garage, and dealers via Facebook Marketplace — _Don provides detailed acquisition stories with names, prices, and shipping methods_
- [LOW] Spooky Pinball has approximately 2,000 game builds with secondary market prices around $1,100 — _Don cites unofficial numbers seen posted by community members_

### Notable Quotes

> "Code 0.84 is out. And I read through the readme. I'm looking at it here, and there's about 600 things listed."
> — **Don**, Bond code section
> _Establishes extensive Bond code update with numerous features_

> "Venom is the character. He's got to be a forefront. He's got to be the big bad, the big antihero, the big thing to hit right in the middle of the screen. If it was at a Disney park, this would be a weenie, which is an imagineering term for a large structure that draws your attention."
> — **Don**, Venom speculation
> _Shows Don's design analysis approach and speculation on Venom layout with central sculpt_

> "I gave some extra money, around $6,000, plus my Stern Dark Knight, brand new, unboxed Guns of Roses LE in my house."
> — **Don**, Guns N' Roses acquisition
> _Demonstrates pricing and trade-in value for Jersey Jack machines_

> "It was one of those how much do you love me kind of moments. And at the minute, at the point, you know, she was wanting to make a point. So she allowed me to get it"
> — **Don**, Rick and Morty acquisition
> _Humor around spousal approval for $12,000 pinball purchase_

> "He threw it in a Deadpool box. He packed it really well, got it in, and I got it as expected."
> — **Don**, Rick and Morty shipping
> _References Deadpool box reuse for shipping, indicates market awareness of previous Deadpool game_

> "I'm going to hold off for a while on any new machines. I love that game. I love the ramps. I love that extra ramp that you get on the premium and the limited edition."
> — **Don**, Rush LE section
> _Shows Rush LE justification and premium feature differentiation_

> "So for those reasons, I went on it... basically better machine than I would have got if I would have paid MSRP to a distro and just got the thing new in box."
> — **Don**, Rush acquisition
> _Shows secondary market value proposition vs. new-in-box from distributor_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast, pinball collector and content creator with growing listener base |
| Morgan Emery | person | Spooky Pinball representative who responded to Don's inquiry about Captain Cutler sculpts |
| Tim | person | Dealer at Eau Claire Games and Arcade, Wisconsin; helped Don acquire his first pinball machines |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer releasing Bond, Venom, Foo Fighters, Jaws, Indiana Jones Cornerstones |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; Don met with team at Midwest Gaming Conference, acquired Halloween from show floor |
| Brian Eddy | person | Stern pinball designer of Venom, Stranger Things, and Mandalorian; known for design pedigree |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Stern artist who created Foo Fighters art posters with alien hitchhiker theme |
| Keith | person | Rumored designer of Jaws pinball machine; Don speculates about design philosophy vs Bond approach |
| Butch | person | Operator of Butch's Game Garage in Allentown, Pennsylvania; trusted dealer specializing in trades and sales without distributor restrictions |
| Steve | person | Listener from London who requested Don review his lineup |
| Todd McFarlane | person | Creator/writer associated with Stern, appeared at San Diego Comic Con regarding Venom |
| Ozzy Osbourne | person | Character in Venom comic storylines; appeared at Comic Con with Stern regarding Venom game |
| Dark Knight | game | Stern pinball machine from 2008; Don's first game acquired from Eau Claire Games |
| Guns N' Roses LE | game | Jersey Jack Limited Edition machine; Don's second machine with bass guitar wire ramp modification |
| Halloween | game | Spooky Pinball game acquired at Midwest Gaming Conference; features ball elevator integration and Michael Myers theme |
| Rick and Morty | game | Stern pinball machine; Don's fourth machine acquired from secondary market via Butch's Game Garage for $12,000 |
| Rush LE | game | Rush Limited Edition pinball with mirrored backglass and guitar gear armor; acquired for $11,000 with only 15 plays |
| Godzilla | game | Stern pinball machine; Don's newest machine acquired after long wait on distributor list |
| Rec Room World Ultra VP | game | Virtual pinball machine with 1,000 games; Don's third machine for variety and learning |
| James Bond (007) | game | Stern pinball with code 0.84 update including 22 new achievements and multiple new modes |
| Venom | game | Rumored Stern Cornerstone game; expected March 2025 release; speculation includes large central sculpt with feeding mechanic |
| Foo Fighters | game | Rumored Stern Cornerstone game; Don speculates on narrative integration vs. straight music theme |
| Jaws | game | Rumored Stern Cornerstone game described as spiritual successor to Godzilla; Don anticipates shark mechs and premium cabinet design |
| Indiana Jones | game | Rumored Stern Cornerstone game; possibly 24 months away; potential Kapow title with rolling ball mech speculation |
| Pilot Air Terminal | company | Shipping service offering flat rate $450 delivery between distribution sites nationwide |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Cornerstones Pipeline (Venom/Foo Fighters/Jaws/Indiana Jones), James Bond Pinball Code Updates, Spooky Pinball Production and Live Stream Plans, Personal Pinball Collection Acquisition Stories
- **Secondary:** Secondary Market Pinball Pricing and Dealer Strategies, Pinball Game Design Speculation (layout, mechanics, theme integration), Pinball Shipping and Logistics (Pilot Air Terminal), Podcast Growth and International Listener Base

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Don is enthusiastic about podcast growth, optimistic about upcoming Stern releases, passionate about his collection, and grateful for community feedback. Moments of criticism (Rick and Morty controversy, bond design concerns) are balanced with overall positive framing. Wife's approval of purchases adds light humor.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Spooky Pinball production scaled to approximately 2,000 game builds with secondary market value ~$1,100; speculation about simultaneous production lines and reserve stock strategy (confidence: low) — Don cites unofficial community posts and speculates on production facility expansion enabling multiple simultaneous lines
- **[sentiment_shift]** Podcast audience international with listeners in US, Germany, Mexico, Canada, UK, Australia within first month; 207 plays with 66 unique listeners (confidence: high) — Don reviewed analytics showing geographic distribution across multiple countries
- **[design_philosophy]** Venom anticipated to feature large central sculpt with mouth/feeding mechanic inspired by Demogorgon ramp design from Stranger Things, plastic ramps on sides, black/white/red color scheme (confidence: low) — Don speculates based on character design and designer's previous work; explicitly states 'my speculation here is completely off the top of my head'
- **[licensing_signal]** Indiana Jones movie includes time travel element; potential ride-themed design integration with Disneyland/Tokyo Disneyland attraction inspiration (confidence: low) — Don admits 'I haven't really even dug into what the new movie's like' and speculates on design possibilities
- **[market_signal]** Secondary market pricing: Rick and Morty ~$12,000 (scarcity increasing), Rush LE ~$11,000 with 15 plays better value than MSRP new-in-box from distributor (confidence: high) — Don provides specific acquisition prices and comparison analysis; notes Rush LE with minimal plays and factory mods represents better deal than new from distributor
- **[community_signal]** Brian Eddy designed Venom following Stranger Things and Mandalorian; Don anticipates code maturity given extended development timeline vs. Bond's rushed release (confidence: medium) — Don references 'pedigree of the designer' and speculates 'Venom may be nearly code complete' compared to Bond's current state
- **[announcement]** James Bond code 0.84 released with 22 new Insider Connected achievements, two new modes (Orient Express, Disco Volante Demolition), new animations, graphics, and video clips (confidence: high) — Don read through complete code readme with 600+ features listed; confirms 22 new achievements and at least 60 new features
- **[product_strategy]** Venom initially scheduled for release approximately one year ago (Comic Con timeframe) but delayed due to COVID and market fluctuations; now expected late March 2025 (confidence: medium) — Don references Comic Con appearance with no announcement and states 'Venom was initially set to go on the line a year ago' and 'business decision apparently was to withhold that game'
- **[product_strategy]** Limited Edition vs. Premium pricing strategy evident: Rush LE ~$11,000 vs. Premium model; Don justifies LE purchase based on home ownership and feature differential (confidence: medium) — Don explicitly weighs Premium vs. LE decision: 'I'm going to have this thing in my house. Do I want the best version that exists? Is there enough different between the premium and the LE? And for me, that balance did favor the LE.'
- **[rumor_hype]** Four-game Stern Cornerstone pipeline rumored: Venom, Foo Fighters, Jaws, Indiana Jones with Indiana Jones potentially being Kapow title (confidence: medium) — Don cites speculation and notes 'nothing has been officially released from Stern' but rumored ordering differs from his earlier prediction
- **[technology_signal]** Insider Connected achievements system expanding with Bond 0.84 adding 22 new achievements; represents ongoing digital ecosystem development (confidence: high) — Don specifically notes '22 new achievements for Insider Connected' in Bond 0.84 update; plans to grind achievements with District 1 location

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## Transcript

 here we are for episode 10 of don spinball podcast i am thrilled that we made it this far and we still keep building our listeners i'm getting some great feedback and there's some news that's been dropping so i'm going to get into all of that plus some more based on some suggestions that have received from you guys so thanks always reach out email facebook discord i'm there and i Love talking to you guys. Let's get it. Meet you after the drop. Swinging a thump. Man, here we are. Let me take a second here. I started this podcast here back in January, and currently we are still in January, but I am 10 episodes deep. I've totally exceeded what I had expected for myself, but the news keeps coming. And it turns out that doing this and interacting with people has been fantastic. So I want to keep this train moving. I'm going to celebrate here for a moment. Looking at the analytics here, I'm up to 207 total plays in the month of January. So thank you, everybody. Thank you for doing that. Included in that, just in the last six weeks, there's been 66 unique people. Give yourselves a shout-out for that. That's amazing. The software also breaks it down by country. We've got listeners in the U.S., of course. But Germany is here also. Guten Tag, mein Freund. Wie heißen Sie? Comment down below. Bukstabehren Sie elnaben, bitte. And I'd like to hit you back there. We've got people from Mexico. So buenos dias. Hola. Que tal, amigos? Me llamo Don. Soy de California del Sur. Now I live in Wisconsin. But, like, I can still make my own tacos, yo. So shout out to my Mexico listeners. I've got people in Canada. It doesn't say if they're the French-Canadian or not, but bonjour anyway. Como tale vous, right? I've got listeners in the UK that have actually reached out, and even all the way on the other side of the planet in Australia. What's up, man? Did you guys get your fathoms yet? I'm blown away. I'm humbled. This has just been fantastic. So I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing. As always, any suggestions, go ahead and throw them at me. I would love to give them so I can create the best ears, your best gravy to dip your ears into, all right? So quickly, there are a few spooky updates I have. I did reach out to Spooky. They posted that they got a lot of the sculpts from the games in and showed the boxes, and I saw those bright green glowing Captain Cutler heads, and so I reached out right away, and I'm like, hey, anyway, you got an extra one of those you can sell me until my game comes in. And I heard back from Morgan Emery. She had nothing but great things to say. I'm glad we got to connect there, and I'm still waiting to see if I can manage to smuggle or get my hands on one of those early. I gave her my number of game builds, so maybe they can build it without the head and send me the head early and I can assemble on site. How fun would that be? So, hey, thanks, Squirrel. Really appreciate that. Still waiting for their live stream. Still no news on that. I'm sure they just can't wait to do it. Everything's just got to be right because, man, once this thing goes off, they may have a bunch of people on the fence ready to jump in and get their games. I was thinking with the 2,000 roughly game build and with some still being available and the highest number I've seen anybody post, and of course this is unofficial, but it was around $1,100. Is there a chance that this could be a game? And I don't know what the licensing is like, but could they go ahead and make these but still have some reserve that they could then put on the line later, kind of like what they did with Total Nuclear Annihilation? So maybe they're also moving into this bigger production facility, so would that allow them to have maybe some simultaneous lines or maybe they can flip up their builds as they're going forward, kind of like what Stern does where they always have something in the back pocket? I mean, you know, if Stern needs to whip out, well, they haven't brought out the Elvira's yet. But, you know, if they had a run that was complete and some space opened up, they have multiple games they could take and keep their line moving. So, man, I just want Spooky to keep being successful and keep cranking out games that I want to play. So I had that thought. What else is in the news? Bond code has dropped, thankfully, right? Now, I'm sure they're intentionally holding back the code, just waiting for licensing and everything. Code 0.84 is out. And I read through the readme. I'm looking at it here, and there's about 600 things listed. So I kind of went through them all, but it looks like the gist of it, first off, there's 22 new achievements for Insider Connected. So way to go, Stern. I love those. So I'm going to have to reach out to my buddies over at District 1 and see if they've got this new code running so I can run over there and grind through some more achievements. There's, I mean, there's at least 60 things listed here. and the bulk of them appear to be two new modes or at least two modes that I've never gotten to. One of them being Orient Express and the other one being Disco Volante Demolition. I don't know what those are. I've played this game a dozen times. I haven't seen these modes. So these may actually be new modes. There's a lot of new animations that they've either fixed or added, it looks like. They fixed some text issues for the screen. A lot of graphics, video clips, and also flashing light up flashers in the game or target lights that spot up. Those are new and added. It looks like they've tweaked a couple of things as far as how many shots you have to make for each mode. One is 10, one is 8. But again, I don't know if these were just modes I hadn't gotten to or if these are new modes that are now unlocked. So if anybody plays that and can give me some feedback, love to hear it. Moving on, following the news, We're now in the speculation realm And we have got a big juicy nugget That dropped of the next four Stern Cornerstones Now I mentioned this earlier Like two shows ago Where I gave my predictions On what the next four would be And in order that was Venom Foo Fighters Jaws And then What did I say? Masters of the Universe Well it turns out it was Indiana Hilton Jones Is what's rumored to be coming Whether that's fourth, third, second We really have no idea It's still all up in the air Nothing has been officially released from Stern But I thought, you know what, I'm good with hot takes, so let's give some of those. So first off for Venom. With the speculation with Pinball, it seems that as we get closer to releases, the speculation that we hear more often than not is correct. And that makes sense because the game was, you know, most nearest to production right before it comes out. So we're looking at being, what, like 60 days away from being right in the middle of March, or actually late March. So 60 days or less, we should know a whole lot more information. about Venom, which I think is next. Now, it sounds like Venom was initially set to go on the line a year ago. I remember Stern was at San Diego Comic Con with the creator of Stern, Todd McFarlane, and Ozzy Osbourne, who is actually a character in some of the Venom comic storylines. And then there was zero announcements, and we were all kind of expecting one. So that was probably originally the window for Venom. But because of COVID-related issues and the market fluctuations and demand being where it was, the business decision apparently was to withhold that game But I sure work on the game continued especially with regards to its code So kind of at a flip side from 007 James Bond that just came out I think when we do see Venom, it may be nearly code complete, or it's got to be much better than where Bond is now. So I'm excited for that, especially with the art, especially with the pedigree of the designer. I'm looking at something that's going to be a cross between Stranger Things and Mandalorian. Those were the last two games, Brian Eddy. designed and released that have played. So am I going to see, the rumor is that there's going to be a big sculpt in the middle of the machine, and I could totally see that. I mean, Venom is the character. He's got to be a forefront. He's got to be the big bad, the big antihero, the big thing to hit right in the middle of the screen. If it was at a Disney park, this would be a weenie, which is an imagineering term for a large structure that draws your attention. So Venom weenie right in the middle of the field. What's Venom got? A huge mouth, long tongue, right? He's the Gene Simmons of the comic book world. So given that there was a large demogorgon Which also had a gaping maw With a ramp that you could shoot balls into Are we going to have a mode with Venom Where his tongue flips down or something Or his mouth opens up and then we can feed him balls Like a hungry, hungry hippo I mean, I'm down So my speculation here is completely Off the top of my head Is we'll have big Venom weenie In the middle of the field that we're feeding balls into Oh lord, I just realized what this sounds like And then a couple of plastic ramps probably on either side of the field, similar to Stranger Things. I think for a comic book design, plastic ramps make sense. They're translucent. You could put LEDs up and down them, change their colors, and you can do things you can't really do with the metal wire form ramps, right? So like with Stranger Things' left plastic ramp, it does that little triangle shape in the back where they have the magnets that would lock for the telekinesis lock and then come down. So I could see it. Let's see. I'm thinking mostly a black and white color motif, some spots of red for popping, and then a big Venom in the middle, two ramps on the side. We'll see if I'm right. Very excited for that. I did go and put my name on a list for Venom, because if it is interesting when it is released, I think I'm going to go on it so I can live stream it for y'all and get my first impressions. All right, so Foo Fighters up next. I haven't heard anything about layout for this game. I haven't speculated real much on what we're going to see is it going to be an upper play field like a stage or is this like a Foo Fighters adventure like the combination between Foo Fighters and Nope where maybe there's an adventure and there's aliens invading and you have to help the crew escape from it and it could be a big campy fun adventure was there a movie that was just released with the Foo Fighters in it that was like a horror movie and maybe it was on Netflix or something I'm going to have to research that when I get off because what if it's a tie in with that theme. I mean, is it going to be just a straight-up music pin? Here's the licensed music. Here's the layout. You've got to get these guys to the concert. Or, you know, what kind of narrative flow are they going to put in there? I think for the genre, it's fairly wide open. I don't think anybody's really commented that, like, what if this is an adventure alongside the band or you're taking the band through an adventure. I know that the Zombie Yeti artist has done art posters for the Foo Fighters, and the one that I've seen looks like an alien in disguise and he's hitchhiking a ride to the concert. So I could totally see that being the narrative-driven story featuring the band. It seems like a band that would be into that sort of thing given that they just did this movie, and then they are some pretty playful folks from what I've seen following their career. So I'm going to throw that out there. Do you think this is a straight-up Led Zeppelin, here's music, here's ramps, here's features, and that's kind of all you get? or is this going to be more of an integrated adventure? Like, did these guys get to put a lot of input in here? I hope so. I think that would be a much more interesting way to go. And, you know, I've got my name on a list for that one as well for the same reason. So moving on, Jaws, which I think is the one that everybody is just anticipating, right? This is the follow-up to Godzilla. You know, James Bond's 60th notwithstanding. I don't want to get back into the toppers again right now, man. If you get in that game and you think you got a great deal and you love it, bless you. All the best to you. Invite me over to come play it. But in my mind, the spiritual successor to Godzilla will be this Jaws, if that's indeed what comes out. Now, I was at Expo, and somebody had a homebrew, where I think it was a redesign of another game. They turned it into a Jaws game. And what struck me about it, I think it was down or it wasn't playable or something, but was the armor on the side. They had a custom powder coat. It was white, which makes sense. You know, your boat pier kind of theme. but there was blood spatter all through it and it was done really really well and i'm just thinking man if an le came out looking like that with jaws side rails with a kind of polar white um like a like a tundra you know or like a stormtrooper white you know that metallic plus uh blood spatters um man this could be if it went into the cabinet design too like on the cabinet art it'd be gorgeous yeah so that would be a lot better than just putting the jaws logo on the side of the machine. So we'll see if Jaws, if it's real, which it's strongly rumored to be, if it's by Keith, and if it goes with more of the Dresk Park Godzilla kind of integration, or is it going to be more like a Bond integration where there's just a movie poster on the side of the machine and the back glass? Ugh. Totally anticipating that game being a great shooter, and hopefully there's got to be shark mechs. There's got to be shark mechs exploding stuff, bloody divers. I can't wait. Um, this Indiana Hilton Jones, right? So, all right, there's been two of them so far. Stern did one. Then there's that old classic one with the little gun shooter, shooter knob, uh, mechanism. Um, I don't know what this is. I haven't really even dug into what the new movie's like. I heard time travel's involved. Is Indiana Hilton Jones going to accidentally land on a taxiway? Who knows? Um, is there going to be a rolling ball mech from, uh, uh, Raiders of the Lost Ark? I was in my head, I was trying to see how they could do that like a rolling mech that comes down one side of the playfield and then has a mechanical arm to reset it or is it just going to be like a giant wooden skee-ball that rolls down into a subway where gravity feeds it back and it goes into a giant fuck to reset itself, I don't know I would love to see the Indiana Hilton Jones Adventure the ride, the pinball game modeled after the ride at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, personally if I was to have a say, because I think that ride is great, I think it's got a good storyline and flow and a lot of action. So we're going to have to wait and see on that. Is that the one that was rumored that it could possibly be a Kapow title? Now, I'm new to pinball, as you know, and I wasn't really sure what a Kapow was. I know that that design company or firm was involved with the Batman Special Limited Edition version. I don't know much else beyond that. So I went online, and apparently it looks like, correct me please if I'm wrong, but that this guy Kapow or Kamakow is a producer of some sort or like a consultant or an augmenter like a guy that comes in and then puts his special sauce and makes the project even better That was my gist reading his website Is he like you know where you have a movie and then you get Dwayne the Rock Johnson in there and it just kind of elevates it. It's the spice that you need, you know, to accentuate your dish. Sure. I don't know. This will be a wait and see though. This could be, you know, 24 months away from being reality. So I'm sure as we get closer and especially in the next year, or we're going to know more about it. But that's my speculation and my hot takes for right now. So I mentioned that I've had people reach out to me, and this guy Steve from London. What's up, man? Shout out to you. Thanks for connecting. Super appreciate it. He was wanting to know if I could run through my lineup and kind of say something I like and I don't like about each game. So I was thinking about this, and I think what also would be helpful is I go into a little bit of a story on how I got each game and what they ended up costing, how I facilitated getting them, and maybe this will help somebody else that's waiting to purchase their first machine or their eighth machine or, you know, any way we can share tips. So I'm going to take you back, back, back about a year and a half ago when I got my first game. It was Stern's Dark Knight. I mentioned I got it from Eau Claire Games and Arcade. My buddy Tim up there, he hooked it up, got my first game. That allowed me to get a game actually in my house and see, like, what that whole experience was like. I'll get to, you know, take the glass off and play with all the mechanisms. I got to play with the coin door, play with the settings, like learn all that, go through the menus, fine-tune it. I got to fix a drop target. I got to solder some wires that came unsoddered. So it was a great experience to just have a game. It doesn't really matter which one it is, but just so you can get it in your home and play with it, learn it, learn how to fix it, learn how to take it apart, put it together, transport it. So that was a great experience, much better than if I would have got a high-dollar new-in-box machine and then made mistakes with that opening it up. So I was going to trade that in for an Iron Maiden from 2018. And this was one with powder-coated rails. It was a pro, but it had mods in it. I was going to trade in my game plus $2,000 and get an Iron Maiden. I thought, this is a game like I'd really be much more into than my Batman. And it's much newer. It's got the LCD screen and everything. But unfortunately, the guy that was selling it, I guess, backed out, didn't want to sell it. So then I was left with, oh, I was about to get a new machine. I was real hyped for it. And luckily Tim came through. He also had a Guns N' Roses Standard Edition. And so I was like, well, let me look at that. And so I looked at the Standard Edition. Then I looked at the Limited Edition and the extra ramps that it came with. And I'm telling you, that bass guitar wire ramp was really what sold me on wanting the better edition. I said, well, if I was going to get one, I think I would get the Limited. And then him being a great dealer, he said, well, funny you mention that. I do happen to have one here new in box. So I gave some extra money, around $6,000, plus my Stern Dark Knight, brand new, unboxed Guns of Roses LE in my house. And, man, that was a massive step up from the 2008 Dark Knight. Dark Knight was fun. You know, it's an older game. The code's a little shallow. I had it for six months or so, got a lot of fill on it, got fairly good at it, and then it was time for it to move on. Totally appropriate and kind of what I would recommend. Guns of Roses, though, it's still here. It's staying for a while. This is the one that I started buying mods for. I added the back cabinet light, the under cabinet light that the collector's edition has. So it plays more like a CE. I got the topper, the bezel mods, the running lights, plastic protectors. And it's looking great. I went with Lior Mod at the Art of Pinball and got his bullet shooter rod. That thing is fantastic. Thank you, sir. So what I like about it, of course, everything. I like the layout. I like the theme, I like the music, the light shows You get a song going, it's magic Live or Let Die is just a fantastic experience In your house when it's dark The lights go down, then the Live and Let Die comes in And then Ed Boon, as soon as that chord hits Just the whole thing lights up First green, then later in the song It's got a red motif Love it, love it, love it What don't I like about it? Not much, I mean it's a very pretty game It's my favorite Jersey Jack for sure So not much to complain about there Now, around this time, I also got a second, third, and fourth job. So I had some side gigs, and this is how I helped to fund this whole thing. My next game I got was the Rec Room World Ultra VP. That was planned so I could have a virtual machine with 1,000 games on it, and then I could just buy real new machines with the deeper code and the better stories and effects and things, and that was my strategy going into it. I just did a whole episode on my Ultra VP and how much I love about it. I want to do some more live streams of it. If there's games you want to see, let me know, and I will go ahead and include those on my next live stream. I like about that. I mean, I kind of went into it on the show, but just the depth and variety of all the games that are on there. What don't I like about it? Not very much. It's fantastic. Next up, we went to Midwest Gaming Conference, ran into my boys over there at Spooky Pinball, and that's where I picked up a Halloween from the show floor. They gave me a show floor discount. New game, collector's edition. Picked it up, brought it home. My wife really liked it. I enjoyed the effect of the ball elevators, right? So this is a game based on a classic Halloween film, not, you know, one of the new reboots. And, you know, Michael Myers is sneaking around the hedges, sneaking around your house, and he comes out to kill you. And when you drain the ball into one of the scoops and it goes through the subway, it comes up underneath the plastics. You can't see it. It's out of view. And they play this little sound that, you know, Michael's coming out. Then all of a sudden your ball just comes rolling down the in lane. And if you don't react quickly, that ball's dead. So that was, I mean, what a fantastic integration to a horror-themed pinball machine. So I love, love, love that. What I don't like is that I can't consistently hit the orbits on either side. There's a couple of modes that use those orbits. When you finish a mode, the way you reset so you can start another one is by hitting the orbit. and, you know, okay, fine, get better at pinball. But, yeah, those shots are just tight by design, whatever. That's the one thing I don't like. I wish I could hit that a little more consistently. Maybe it will come with practice. But Halloween, that was my next one up. So at this point I had two real machines, a virtual machine. I thought I was doing pretty good. I wasn't actively looking to make another purchase, but I wanted to keep my eye out for a Rick and Morty. one became available from a local pinball arcade in Madison, Wisconsin. It was pay one price. I think it was Nerd Haven. I think it might have been Nerd Haven. But this was a game that I had played there. Right Flipper was a little bit weak, and I think they were asking $13,000 for it. And it was unmodded, and it was on a location at a free play arcade. So the girl had some miles on her. I didn't feel like going at $13,000 on that. Um, but, uh, you know, kind of decided at that point, I going to keep my eyes open If I find one for a good price low plays with the mods I would want maybe I would go on it And then you know where all great things happen Facebook Marketplace I come by this guy called Butch Butch Game Garage Shout out to him. I'm going to go ahead and give him trusted dealer spotlight. So Butch's Game Garage, he's out there in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Now, he is a dealer, not a distributor. So he's one of these guys that's not locked in by contract with rules regarding he can't go below a certain price or allocations. This guy just gets games, trades games, sells games. He always comes through with deals. So I found this Rick and Morty for $12,000, which at the time was kind of right in the middle of the going rate. And now they're even more scarce. Went ahead and looked at it, and this thing was exactly what I was looking for. loaded with mods. I was buying it from the second owner, a guy that was out in Long Island somewhere, I believe. And I looked at my wife and I'm like, it was one of those how much do you love me kind of moments. And at the minute, at the point, you know, she was wanting to make a point. So she allowed me to get it and man, that was great. I thought for sure I was getting scammed. I had found a Rick and Morty for $8,000 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, supposedly, also on Facebook. And so I I was talking to this guy, and I was going to make the two-day round trip, well, two-day each way round trip out there to go pick it up, and I'm trying to come up with a time to come see it. Then he goes radio silent and blocks me, so I'm for sure that that was a scam. This one, though, the guy seemed legit. I called him. I asked him some pretty specific pinball kind of questions. He was right there with all the right information. He had good references. He gave me references from Cointaker to check out. So it turns out the guy was totally legit. He shipped this to me through Pilot Air Terminal, which is a shipping company that will do a flat rate of $450. And if you drop your package or crate or whatever it is off at one of their distribution sites, they will deliver for $450 to another one of their distribution sites anywhere in the country. Every major city just about has one. So I was able to go to either Milwaukee or Minneapolis and pick this thing up. And it worked out great. He threw it in a Deadpool box. He packed it really well, got it in, and I got it as expected. And it's been working great since then. I love the theme of it. I love how well integrated the mods are. I mean, you're putting toys in a cartoon. It just works great. I hate how brutal the game is, but it's also kind of why I wanted to have one in my house, because that was just draining dollar bills in the arcade. So what I don't like about it is playing it on location and draining all my dollar bills. What I do like about it is having it at home and getting to play it. Now, once I kind of figured out a strategy to play it, which really is to get your multi-balls locked, get two balls locked, and then start a mode, and then play a mode with the multi-balls. It makes those really tight shots a lot easier when you've got multiple balls flying around. And then I noticed that that's how you can get your score from a million and a half up to eight million or more. If you do that twice during a game, and if you manage to successfully complete a couple of modes, I mean, you're going to get some pretty high scores, and that is what's satisfying about it. So I'm glad I had it because to do that on location, it would have cost me $150 in games to finally learn how to play it appropriately. So I do like that. I still love my machine. I love the music, the call-outs, and I'm just ignoring that controversy for now. I'm going to let that play out and, you know, we'll hope that justice is served appropriately and victims are compensated. And I'm just going to enjoy my pinball games, what I'm going to do. So what I did tell Butch at Butch's Game Garage was that if he, I was also in the mood for a rush, but, you know, again, I wanted to make sure I got a good one. I was going to go on a premium, but then I saw the LE and it was like, well, I'm going to have this thing in my house. Do I want the best version that exists? Is there enough different between the premium and the LE? And for me, that balance did favor the LE. So I just told him, hey, if you come across an LE, just contact me. Just let me know about it so I can kick it around and think about it. And it was another one of those situations where it's like, funny you mention that. I got one in the back of my van right now that it just picked up. So I went ahead and just went in on this machine. I wasn't planning on buying the first one. I definitely wasn't planning on buying two. My wife loves me very much, and my side gigs were going pretty well. So I went in on that $11,000, and I got myself a used Rush Limited Edition with the lights, with the mirrored back glass, with the guitar gear armor, with the foil side art. In person, this thing is fantastic looking. It plays great. I love the lights. You still can't get them. I also did this with Pilot Air Terminal. Had it shipped to Milwaukee just to check out that one. They're both the same distance from me. Came new in box. No, no, no, no, no. It wasn't new in box, but it was in its original box. And it came with only 15 plays on it. It already had the Ninja Scoop protectors that were placed in it, and it had some of those anti-light bleed stickers underneath the play field for the owl's eyes by the ball save. So it came lightly modded, and it came with 15 plays, and it came in the box it came in. So this thing was unboxed, put in someone's house, test played a few times, and modded, and that is it. So I got a basically better machine than I would have got if I would have paid MSRP to a distro and just got the thing new in box. So for those reasons, I went on it, and then I said, okay, I'm going to hold off for a while on any new machines. I love that game. I love the ramps. I love that extra ramp that you get on the premium and the limited edition. There's not much I don't like about it. It's a different kind of game. It's got some flow. It's not as flowy as Godzilla, but much more flowier than Mandalorian, and the band's great, especially now that I'm middle-aged. time you get a new appreciation for rush uh my newest game uh was godzilla and i had my name on a list with several distributors and it was greater than a year it was going to take to get this machine um and then my buddy uh over at mad pinball put up that uh uh ad on again facebook this was in a uh facebook comment if anybody's looking for an msrp right before the price jump i'm thinking for sure this is a scam and nope wasn't he's another one of my trusted dealers so then I did get a new in box Godzilla and then I've modded that thing all to heck and I'm done for right now for right now we are in a good position I'm working some more side gigs and building up some pinball money before Scooby Doo comes I've got 700 machines they need to build and ship out before I get the call for mine so when the time comes I should be ready that brings us to the end of another episode try to keep it short and sweet give you the information give you my hot takes what i want from you is comments and suggestions how do you want me to make this better for you do you want to call out sure hit me up don's pinball podcast at gmail.com don's pinball podcast on facebook and we also have the discord too i keep putting a fresh link in the facebook page like and subscribe you'll get all that later everybody

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4540fb27-686a-4f15-9531-a846f1fff26f*