# PinballOZwide Podcast - Episode 4 Can We Please Get A GFX Designer!

**Source:** Pinball Oz Wide  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-05-30  
**Duration:** 72m 0s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pinball-oz-wide/episodes/PinballOZwide-Podcast---Episode-4-Can-We-Please-Get-A-GFX-Designer-e33i6u3

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## Analysis

Jared and Matt, hosts of the Tee'd Off/Playdate Podcast, discuss their monthly pinball activities including Matt's shed construction plans and excavator purchase, their custom t-shirt design struggles for the Melbourne Pinball Expo, and an extended conversation about pinball machine accessories—particularly toppers and mods—including their preferences, pricing criticisms, and favorite aesthetic modifications.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Stern has priced official toppers at $3,000+ following secondary market scalping during COVID that saw $3,000-$4,000 prices for $400 toppers — _Matt discusses how scalpers raised topper prices during COVID, and Stern then adopted high pricing: 'Stern saw this and thought, Hey we can make money out of this too...let's go charge people $3000 for a Foo Fighters topper'_
- [MEDIUM] Jurassic Park topper was DLC-gated content, but Stern later updated code to allow non-topper owners to access the DLC — _Matt: 'All it does is light up each ladder at Jurassic Park and then gives you the DLC. But they soon fixed this because then they did update the code so everyone could have the DLC because they realised how pissed off people were.'_
- [HIGH] Stern's R2-D2 Star Wars topper (limited to 500 units) was designed with the limited edition plaque backwards, facing the wall instead of outward — _Jared: 'Even though he's backwards...the limited edition plaque is on the back. So he then faces backwards, doesn't he? whereas the way he's supposed to face, the plaque would be facing the wall.'_
- [MEDIUM] Stern released official toppers with insufficient inventory relative to machines in the wild, creating artificial scarcity — _Matt: 'they would only have enough toppers to fulfill for what seemed like 50 or so 100 people when there were, you know, what could have been 2,000 machines, 3,000 machines in the wild, and they're just dragging their heels with it all'_
- [HIGH] Matt purchased a 1.5 ton mini excavator for property maintenance, delivery in 2-3 weeks — _Matt: 'I found the one...It's brand new. It's getting delivered in three weeks' time.'_
- [HIGH] Jared and Matt won 2-0 against each other in their 'Balls of Steel' trophy competition this month — _Jared: 'I'm 2-0 up at the moment. I started off all guns blazing...you won [The Simpsons, South Park, then] Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'_

### Notable Quotes

> "I hate it, guys. It's a prick of a machine. Apologies to those that own it. I know there's one on the page. Sorry. I just think it's a shit machine."
> — **Jared**, ~32:00
> _Strong negative opinion on Stern's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball machine; shows personal dislike but acknowledges community members own it_

> "I hate those toppers and the way Yeah yeah but I just think they put no thought into the topper The last thing I want to see on Kiss where it's Kiss and Blazin' in the back glass, is a Kiss on top of it."
> — **Matt**, ~55:00
> _Critiques Stern's official toppers for redundant branding that doesn't add artistic value; expresses frustration with design philosophy_

> "Stern saw this and thought, Hey we can make money out of this too, if people are going to start paying that for a second hand topper which was only $400 let's go charge people $3000 for a Foo Fighters topper"
> — **Matt**, ~60:00
> _Alleges Stern adopted inflated pricing strategy based on secondary market scalping; suggests deliberate profiteering from COVID-era collector demand_

> "Even though you don't know what he's saying, you get a good gist. You do. But it's good fun."
> — **Matt**, ~70:00
> _Describes appeal of R2-D2 Star Wars topper—interactive and thematic despite being non-functional dialogue_

> "I was always a big person that if the machine wasn't released originally with a topper, it didn't deserve a topper. Yeah. I've changed my tune slightly because if you look at Tron, I've seen...an aftermarket topper on the Tron."
> — **Jared**, ~75:00
> _Shows evolution in collecting philosophy—moving from strict originalism to accepting quality aftermarket mods if they enhance theme/aesthetics_

> "Well, back in the day, I liked toppers when they were in the $400 mark...But I just think they put no thought into the topper"
> — **Matt**, ~53:00
> _Establishes historical topper pricing baseline ($400) and expresses frustration with modern design quality relative to cost_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jared | person | Co-host of Tee'd Off/Playdate Podcast, pinball enthusiast from Australia (Melbourne area), plays Data East Simpsons and other games, organizing merchandise for Melbourne Pinball Expo |
| Matt | person | Co-host of Tee'd Off/Playdate Podcast (nickname 'Barnyard Matt'), pinball enthusiast from Australia with large property (2.5 acres), building 'Matt Cave' shed, recently purchased 1.5 ton excavator, owns Fishtails and Metallica pinball machines |
| Nathan | person | Admin for podcast page, helps with software, editing, audio levels, contributed intro/outro music for the show |
| George | person | Organizer of Melbourne Pinball Expo, requested Jared and Matt serve as 'official media' for the event |
| Lucas | person | Local Melbourne supplier of Vampire glass (anti-reflective playfield glass) for pinball machines |
| Paul | person | Pinball modder/artist (possibly 'Paul JT Anderson') known for creating custom shooter rods; mentioned as highly respected for their quality |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; subject of discussion regarding topper pricing, DLC-gated content, and official accessory strategy |
| Melbourne Pinball Expo | event | Australian pinball event where Jared and Matt are organizing limited edition t-shirts (50 units) and merchandise with custom DMD-font initials |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | game | Stern pinball machine; criticized by Jared as poor quality/poorly designed; has a topper and shell mods available |
| Fishtails | game | Classic pinball machine owned by Matt; recently repaired (5-volt regulator issue), features fish flapper and lock shot mechanics |
| Whitewater | game | Classic pinball machine recently played by Matt during month; played in Balls of Steel trophy competition |
| Data East The Simpsons | game | Data East pinball machine; Jared's game of the month; has difficult dual-lock multiball requiring three drop targets and ramp shot; clunky playfield mechanics |
| Metallica | game | Stern pinball machine owned by Jared; has Sparky mod with electroluminescent wire and snake tongue sticker |
| Tron | game | Classic pinball machine heavily modded; features LED light strips, electroluminescent ramps, custom graphic mirror blades, mini modes; considered one of best machines to mod |
| Batman 66 | game | Stern pinball machine; criticized for poor official topper design (2D, non-interactive); Jared owns bat signal light mod |
| Star Wars (R2-D2 Topper) | product | Limited edition topper (500 units) designed with R2-D2 backward-facing limited edition plaque; originally $400-600, now reselling at high secondary market prices; interactive, speaks to player |
| Kiss | game | Stern pinball machine; subject of discussion regarding redundant topper design (Kiss branding repeated on both backglass and topper) |
| Ghostbusters | game | Stern pinball machine; topper features Ecto-1 car; Jared's favorite topper for theming and interactivity; originally ~$600, secondary market $3,000+ |
| Jurassic Park | game | Stern pinball machine; topper was DLC-gated content (lit ladder indicators) but Stern later updated code to allow non-topper access |
| Iron Maiden | game | Pinball machine; Jared seen premium edition, Matt seen limited edition; has aftermarket Spitfire plane mod that spins propeller on ramp hit with flashing lights |
| Avatar | game | James Cameron Avatar pinball (Stern); referenced in context of topper and mod discussion; Matt mentions seeing both limited edition and premium editions |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern pinball machine; topper used as example of Stern's $3,000+ pricing strategy for plastic accessories |
| John Wick | game | Stern pinball machine; has official topper that Jared finds bland, featuring gun or thumb turning design elements; noted as reskin of Deadpool topper |
| Deadpool | game | Stern pinball machine; topper design reused for John Wick topper; mentioned as example of uninspired official accessory design |
| Judge Dredd | game | Classic pinball machine; referenced by Jared as example of machine originally designed with integral topper (eagle) that benefited from original design intent |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball machine accessories and toppers, Stern Pinball pricing strategy and DLC content, Aftermarket pinball mods and customization
- **Secondary:** Podcast personal updates and lifestyle, Monthly pinball gameplay and machine reviews, Melbourne Pinball Expo merchandise planning, Collector economics and secondary market pricing
- **Mentioned:** Game design philosophy and theming

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.45) — Hosts show enthusiasm for specific games (Fishtails, Data East Simpsons, Tron mods) but express significant frustration with Stern's topper pricing strategy, design quality, and DLC-gating. Negative sentiment focuses on corporate decision-making perceived as profiteering, while positive sentiment centers on community-created mods and classic game appreciation.

### Signals

- **[product_strategy]** Stern adopted $3,000+ pricing for toppers following COVID-era secondary market scalping where $400 toppers sold for $3,000-$4,000, suggesting manufacturer capitalization on collector FOMO and scarcity dynamics (confidence: medium) — Matt's account: 'Stern saw this and thought...let's go charge people $3000 for a Foo Fighters topper'
- **[product_concern]** Official Stern toppers criticized for redundant branding (repeating game title from backglass), poor interactivity, and lack of thematic enhancement; described as 'cash grabs' with minimal design effort (confidence: high) — Extensive discussion of Kiss, Batman 66, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, John Wick toppers as bland, with emphasis on lack of original artistic contribution
- **[product_concern]** Stern's R2-D2 Star Wars topper was manufactured with limited edition plaque facing backward (toward wall) rather than outward, design flaw acknowledged by community (confidence: high) — Jared: 'Even though he's backwards...the plaque would be facing the wall' opposite of intended orientation
- **[product_concern]** Stern released DLC-gated content (Jurassic Park topper unlocked ladder code) but later patched to remove topper requirement after community backlash; signals failed monetization strategy (confidence: high) — Matt: 'they soon fixed this because then they did update the code so everyone could have the DLC because they realised how pissed off people were'
- **[market_signal]** Secondary market for limited edition toppers (Star Wars R2-D2, Ghostbusters) shows extreme price inflation; original $400-600 toppers reselling for $3,000+, creating perception of unaffordable collector market (confidence: high) — Matt discusses $3,000-$4,000 secondary market prices for $400 toppers during COVID; Ghostbusters topper $599 originally, now unaffordable; Star Wars R2-D2 'not worth what people are asking'
- **[product_strategy]** Stern's insufficient topper inventory relative to machines in circulation (50-100 toppers for 2,000-3,000 machines) creates artificial scarcity and collector frustration (confidence: medium) — Matt: 'they would only have enough toppers to fulfill for what seemed like 50 or so 100 people when there were...2,000 machines, 3,000 machines in the wild'
- **[design_philosophy]** Community debate on whether machines should have toppers: hosts evolved from 'machines designed without toppers shouldn't get them' to accepting quality aftermarket mods that enhance theme/aesthetics; draws distinction between design intent and enhancement (confidence: medium) — Jared: 'I was always a big person that if the machine wasn't released originally with a topper, it didn't deserve a topper. Yeah. I've changed my tune slightly'
- **[design_innovation]** Community-created mods for pinball machines (electroluminescent wire on Sparky for Metallica, Spitfire plane propeller on Iron Maiden ramp, LED strips on Tron) receive consistent praise for thematic enhancement and thoughtful execution versus official Stern accessories (confidence: high) — Extensive positive discussion of custom mods (Sparky EL wire, Iron Maiden Spitfire, Tron LED strips, mirror blades) as 'must buy' and superior design compared to official toppers
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community perception of official Stern toppers has shifted negative over time; hosts reference good historical toppers ($400 Kiss, ~$600 Ghostbusters) but criticize current $1,000-$3,000 toppers as poor value and design quality (confidence: high) — Matt: 'back in the day, I liked toppers when they were in the $400 mark' but current offerings lack thought; multiple toppers described as 'bland' and 'stupid'
- **[product_concern]** Stern's Expression Lighting (LED speaker/cabinet lighting) priced excessively high for LEDs; hosts express frustration with cost-to-value ratio (confidence: medium) — Matt: 'definitely not [good value]. Yeah, way too much. That's insane for LEDs.' and 'I think we've touched on that before. But, yeah, I think overall...That's insane.'
- **[collector_signal]** Limited edition merchandise strategy (50 t-shirts for Melbourne Pinball Expo with optional custom DMD-font initials) reflects grassroots collector appeal; community organizers mirroring scarcity-based FOMO tactics used by manufacturers (confidence: medium) — Jared and Matt designing 50 limited edition t-shirts with custom initials option for Expo; pre-order vs standard tier strategy mirrors manufacturer DLC/limited edition model
- **[gameplay_signal]** Data East Simpsons multiball requires difficult dual-lock mechanic (2-ball lock → 3-ball lock, then three drop targets + ramp shot for jackpot) and playfield clunkiness; community recognizes mechanical complexity as skill-building element versus modern machines (confidence: medium) — Jared: 'to get the jackpot, you start at a two-ball multi-ball, you've got to lock both balls...then with that three-ball multi-ball, you've got to hit the three drop targets...it's difficult'

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## Transcript

 Welcome to the Pinball Auswide podcast. We're back again. This is episode four. I'm Jared. And as always, I'm joined by Matt. Matt, welcome. Hello, everyone. How are you? I'm good, mate. How are you now? Good, good. Thank you. Good. Language warning, as always. There might be swearing and cursing throughout this, so young ears, just be prepared for that. I don't know if we've got young listeners yet. Probably not. But just a bit of a warning. If the parents are listening, yeah, just take note. Take note. You want to do your usual thank you? Oh, yeah, thank you. Thank you to all the previous listeners and subscribers who have enjoyed the podcast and all the people who have commented and tried helping us get better and create more content for us. It's been a fun journey so far for us. and we hope we can keep improving for your listening experience. For your listening experience. I think we've gone an extra 10 or 12 followers, I think, between episodes, between two and three, which is pretty good. I don't know what the numbers are. I think we chatted last time. Who knows if they're big, good, slow, poor or otherwise. They are what they are. We're okay. We don't give a shit because we're really doing this for ourselves, aren't we? Having a bit of shits and giggles along the way. Just so people can listen to us talk crap like we normally do, but actually have it in voice so we can really listen back to what we said. Bore the shit out of people. But, yeah, so thanks for that. Agreed, mate. It's been fun. I'm enjoying it, four episodes in. I don't know. You having fun? I'm still here, so I wouldn't have been here otherwise. I could have made up an excuse why I couldn't come tonight. Yeah, too funny. So, yeah, we're doing this on a Wednesday night, 28th of May. so hopefully we'll get this out pretty quickly. I'm going to edit it almost tomorrow morning. I've got to shoot it up to Nathan, and actually that reminds me, I do want to give a bit of a shout-out to Nathan quickly. He's our other admin on the page. He's been helping me along the way with this podcast. He doesn't listen to it, so he won't hear this, which is fine, but it's just a recognition of him helping me with the software side of things and the editing and getting the right levels and how to do it all. And he's actually done some music for us and stuff like that, which you'll hear in this podcast. But our intro-outro music was what he helped us out with. So he's been pretty good. So I appreciate your help, Nath. Thank you, mate. It's much appreciated. So we're going to start with our usual month in review. That's exactly right. Give us your update. I believe we have a good Matt Cave update. We do. We've got a few different little updates. A few exciting things. I finally put my finger out and have done something. So I've had some quotes for the mat cave, which I think I've said the measurements last time. But anyway, so I'm now thinking of going 20 metres wide by 15 metres deep. Okay. So you've extended it by two metres because it was originally 18 by 15? It was 18 by 16. 18 by 16, okay. So it's more and less at the same time. Yep, yep. I've found a company that does everything from start to finish. I'm going for an American balance sole shed, so three roller doors, a side door, not a personal access because I can't say that, fully insulated, concreting, whirly gigs, electric roller doors, the kit caboodle, plans and designs and permits. so their quote came in within my budget and my scope as well so I'm very happy with that so I'm actually waiting for them to arrange a time to come around and survey the land and check and make sure everything can go in place that I want. Yeah, because you're talking about cuts and stuff. Yeah, that's exactly right because there is a little bit of a slope on the land but I'm sure they'll be able to work it out exactly where everything can go. The next exciting thing which a few people will be happy to hear I finally bought myself a 1.5 ton mini excavator just so I can go around and Antonio Cruz around my yard, pulling out trees and pushing over trees, pulling out tree stumps, digging holes just because I can. Farmer Matt. That's exactly right. And not just that, but it's also I'll be able to do some digging for the electrical work for the shed and just put some pieces around. Yeah, so I've got some... Your property probably dictates that you need something like that. So for those that don't know what size... I'm on two and a half acres. Yep, so it's a large property and you've got a dam included with that and there's a lot of, I think we spoke earlier, dead trees and stuff that need to be cleaned up and root systems and stumps and everything. So, yeah, I think having that, you've got the space and the storage for it. So I found the one and I've been telling people for ages, I'm going to buy an Escovair, I'm going to buy one. I just never pulled it. I just did. I said, if it was a pinball machine for this price, I'd be buying one. So anyway, it's brand new. It's getting delivered in three weeks' time. I was just going to ask when it's coming. So by two and a half, three weeks' time now. Okay. I can't wait. Yeah, nice. should be fantastic. Trailer and everything? Because you were looking at a trailer at the time. I didn't go with trailer because, well, just the extra cost in two. If someone says, oh, can I borrow it? You're not borrowing because I don't have a trailer. They can drive it down the road. That's it. So anyway, what about yourself, Jared? What have you been up to this month? How's it been keeping? Yeah, I've been all right. Thanks, man. I appreciate it. I haven't been doing much, just small little bits and pieces as normal. We were chatting before about my main setup. So I'm just sort of tinkering around with that. and send it off to somebody to get organised. And they put Big Box on it for me. So it just needs some personalisation, I'll say, with how that needs to go. One thing you've left out that I thought you'd bring up is we actually had a catch-up. Oh, shit, sorry. That was there. I forgot to say it. So we had two catch-ups, actually, in the month. Did we? I think we did the last podcast. Okay, so we did the last podcast and then we had a mid-month catch-up where we actually got to just spin some shit and play some pinball, which we did at your place. And that session went from 12 p.m. to about 12.30 a.m. Yeah, yeah. So we generally had pretty long sessions, actually, don't we? We'd go and play for 10, 12 hours because a lot of it you tend to talk a fair bit between it and once you start drinking a little bit more, your playing slows down a little bit. And you talk more shit. You talk more shit, yeah. Yeah, so we managed to have a bit of a catch-up, which was fun. We played a lot of machines from Memory in Your Place. I think we deliberately started off by having a couple of games on them and moving on. As long as we felt like we achieved something. Yeah, yeah. As long as we didn't go, both of us played terrible, well, let's have another game. Yeah. But as long as one of us had a decent game, we moved on, so it was great. Yeah, agreed, agreed. So that was fun. we play for a trophy which I won which is the Balls of Steel trophy we've actually, and I'm just going to check on my phone quickly, but I think we've only actually played for that twice at the moment so what we do is, through the year we try and play once, we've generally played once a month haven't we? Yep and based on who wins or loses through that year if I've won six months and you've won five months will I have won the trophy for the year and we get engraved for the 2024 year. So, yeah, so I took the trophy home. Just. Only just. I was creeping back up on you. The problem was, yeah, so I'm 2-0 up at the moment. I started off all guns blazing because what did we play? Johnny Mnemonic, Fishtails. Fishtails, Johnny Mnemonic, Whitewater. And Whitewater. So I won those three, and then you picked Simpsons Data East and South Park, which then you won. Yeah. and then we played Terminator 3, Terminator 2, and the thing, the lock was playing up on us. Oh, that's right, it did, didn't it? So I was being a bit of a bitch, and I went, oh, fuck it, let's play Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so the Stern new release, because it's just a, I hate it, guys. It's a prick of a machine. Apologies to those that own it. I know there's one on the page. Sorry. I just think it's a shit machine. It's not great. I've got it for nostalgia reasons, I think. Yeah, yeah, and I'm okay with those sort of people. But just as, you know, and everyone has their different opinion. But, yeah, so I picked it for shits and giggles, and I think I got grand championed or something, didn't I? I think so. Like 40, was it? I don't know. It doesn't matter what the score was. But, yeah, so anyway. It was pretty big for that machine. Yeah, yeah. So I ended up taking it home, and I'm just turning around and looking at my Balls of Steel trophy now that sits adorned in my games room. That I made, so. And then, other than that, the two of us have just been doing this t-shirt organizing for the page as well so we've been just trying to organize a limited edition t-shirt where we want a new design for the back of a t-shirt yep um that we're going to limit to we think 50 and that'll just be sold on the day for the melbourne pinball expo so as we said a couple episodes ago george has asked us to be sort of the official media i think his words, to do all of that. So we're just trying to get a design. Which we're struggling. It's doing my fucking head in. We're getting teeth pulled. I mean, I found someone on Reddit, and I said, oh, here's some ideas of our design. This is what we previously had. And all they did is they resketched the same design and sent it to me on a T-shirt. And I'm like, I've got this fucking – I want a new design. And they just converted it to black and white. To make it look like they drew it. Yeah. It's just like, fuck. So anyway, they've gone away. Hopefully they'll come back with a new design in a day or two for us. We're not running out of time, but we're getting to a tighter schedule where I guess my – We just want to be on track. Yeah, and my impatience means that I just want it done as well and put to bed so that it's nothing to worry about. We've got time up our sleeves. So I think we've got time. We'll be fine. So, yeah, we've been doing a bit of that. And that's sort of really been a lot of my month, you know. I made a bit of gaming stuff, like I bought a couple of controllers and stuff like that. Xbox released a couple of Doom controllers, so I bought them. And that's been about it. With the T-shirts, were we going to discuss about if we did our pre-orders, we could possibly get people's custom initials on the back? I really like that idea. I reckon a top backside just below the neck. Yep. Obviously, my initials on mine, when I put them into a game, it's MAT. Yep. So with Jared, it's JAZ. So obviously, whatever you guys, if we did get pre-orders, would this be something that people would be interested in? Yeah, let us know. I think in DMD, so you're talking in the orange DMD font. Yeah, that's what I'm thinking, yeah. The dots are just a three-letter initial. I reckon that would be pretty cool, actually. And if you don't pre-order, there will be just the standard ones there, which will still be limited as well, but this is just your special one as well from this event. I like it. As a city, I like it. I think it's a good idea. As long as, once we get costing prices as well, we've got to wait for all that type of thing to be sussed out as well. People can still give their opinion on whether or not they think it's a good idea and they'd go for it, you know, as I said. And we're not trying to be corny by saying there's a limited number, so, you know, get in and get them before they're gone. It's just something we thought we'd do just for the expo, just a bit of shits and giggles, really. Once again, it's only 50, so. Yeah. Well, hopefully they sell out. Otherwise, we've just got shirts for life. Yep. Yeah, agreed. Because no one's going to get them otherwise because they're limited. Yeah. And then we'll bring 25 of the design with the kangaroo on the back is what we're looking at doing, which was our first design that I think was probably our most popular one. Yep. So we'll get that done as well. So there'll be 25 of those. So we'll have 75 shirts. 75 in total. Yeah. And also stubby holders and stickers. Yeah, so stubby holders are on their way. Yep. Stickers are up to you. Yep. which you're playing around with. I'm doing. Getting your shit ready. It's happening. Yeah. Otherwise, that was it for me. That was really it. So apart from game of the month, we generally just sort of have a bit of a chat as well about what game you've been playing as part of that month as well. What do you... Oh, you want to start or you want me to start? Ah, yeah, go for it. Well, anyway, so when... So just before Jarrah came around, I finally went and got my fishtails fixed. so I knew what the problem was I just needed to go get the 5 volt regulator and have that soldered in because it was powering up but then it was just shutting off it was either shutting off or I tried using the cars board which diverts the power to make it work things weren't working right the MD wasn't working correctly the flippers were weak so I got this fixed got it in before Jarrah came around we played that when we had a catch up and yeah that's a game I've been playing mostly because I haven't played it for so damn long because it's been down and also a little bit of white water but there's nothing better than fish towels as annoying as some people say it is that flapping fish I still love it because it means you're doing something so anyway yeah that top of moves you know about oh yeah that slaps around I just love going up and around the boats and how big your lie is and as well as the on the fly shot which is for the lock shot Yeah, it's fantastic. The skill shots on the fly, that is fantastic. And you struggle until you just get that perfect... Yeah, I didn't do it when we played it. No, but I've been playing it since. I've been getting it. Yeah, nice. Yeah, that's what I've been playing, so it's been fun. What about yourself, Sharon? What do you mean? Yeah, I actually changed to a bit of Data Risa Simpsons. And that was because when we were playing mid-month, we were talking about sort of some of the hardest multiballs that were out there. and I was like, yeah, fuck, that is actually quite hard because for people that don't know, to get the jackpot, you start at a two-ball multiball, you've got to lock both balls to bring in the third ball and then with that three-ball multiball, you've got to hit the three drop targets down and then shoot the ramp to get your jackpot. So it's difficult. It's a dual sort of lock. And also with the game being clunky as well and not as smooth, that's also what makes it more difficult as well. and even just like just some inserts that might be slightly worn out or cupped or yeah it just makes it hell of a lot more difficult compared to what it would have been when it was brand new maybe yep yeah so i've just been doing a bit of simpsons i mean bringing in my usual game of thrones as well just keeping up to date with that i'm just still trying to get a bit better of that um but yeah that's that's really been my my main game of the month which which i've enjoyed again it's it's good too i like them you know like it kicks your ass and it's a quick game like a it's the old story you know you you try and um have a quick game before you go out and you know what happens you play for 30 minutes yeah and then there's a 12 12 million score of this yep yeah which whatever happened the other time never so that's um yeah so that's been the game of the month um so you wanted to bring in a bit of a chat about accessories and toppers and and have a bit of a discussion based around that. Yep, yep. I was just going to sort of discuss with, if I buy a new in-box Stern machine, about the accessories that I personally get straight away because that's what I want, that's what I think finishing, which I believe they should be a part of the machine to begin with, obviously just with the price we're paying these days. But, like, I was just going to give some advice. Yep. So if I buy a new Stern in the box, I will get myself some anti-reflective glass whether it's Stern's HD glass or Vampire glass which is local here in Melbourne from Lucas I believe all machines need a shaker motor I love a shaker motor, there's nothing just the immersion, it just makes it fantastic I upgrade the subs in the Stern machine just usually from the factory from AMD So when you say the sub you mean that's the speaker in the base of the machine so I'll let them upgrade that with something better is it a huge difference compared to putting something like a what do they call it? pins hand? isn't it infidelities or something like that? I'm trying to think of what they call it because they do the speakers and the amplifier which that changes it completely if you're running something with an amp you've got something that's just thumping at you great but these aftermarket ones that are installed by AMD look they do sound better but unless you're going to go spending hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of dollars on a sound system, I just can't justify that, honestly. So anyway, why not buy those accessories? Obviously, I like to look at the mods, like the toppers, and any other official accessories that they come with, so shooter rods, side armour. What do you think about the toppers, though? Let's talk about that briefly because I think we were having a discussion earlier about the difference between sort of mods that are toppers that are aftermarket that, you know, who are they, enthusiasts do? Yeah, that's right. Comparable to accessories where you... It's the official topper, yeah. Yeah. Well, back in the day, I liked toppers when they were in the $400 mark. And being in that type of mark, I'm talking about, like, the Kiss topper, which yeah sure it was only lights and it said Kiss up the top but at least it worked with the game I hate those toppers by the way Yeah yeah but I just think I know but I just think they put no thought into the topper The last thing I want to see on Kiss where it's got Kiss and Blazin' in the back glass, is a kiss on top of it. Same with Metallica. They've got Metallica. I don't need to see Metallica above the machine. It just frustrates me. That's the same as Turtle, same as all of them. They've all done the same. Correct. Text there again. Yep. You know, you look at Ghostbusters. Yeah, that's awesome. Fucking great. The Ecto one. So anyway, back when their toppers were $407 for the Kiss topper, I'm pretty sure I only paid $600, $599 for my Ghostbusters topper, which is awesome, you can't get. But then these COVID people flippers came in and they just ruined the market. So I tried scalping people $3,000, $4,000 for these Kiss toppers, $3,000 for the Ghostbusters toppers. it just puts a sour taste in your mouth but anyway, obviously Stern saw this and thought, hey we can make money out of this too, if people are going to start paying that for a second hand topper which was only $400 let's go charge people $3000 for a Foo Fighters topper you know, it's just plastic, yeah sure what was your most hated topper that you said that you were pissed off about the most that didn't deliver Batman 66 the official not the SC not the LE topper by the official Sterling Accessory Topper, which was said it was interactive, and the only interactive thing was it has lights which just stay on. It doesn't light up any individual character or enemy or baddie, whatever you want to call it. All it is, it's got a little helicopter on a spring. Yeah. And if you shake the machine, hey, it becomes interactive. But on that note... Then you might tilt. On that note, I do still have the actual bat signal light, which is mounted behind that. But that is another expense as well. So that's nothing to do with the topper. That's a mod, though, isn't it? No, no, no, that's official. No, that's official from Stern. Is it? Right, okay. Yeah, yeah, so the bat signal topper. Okay. Or topper, is it? Yeah, yeah, so I've got the topper. Isn't there one in the glass? Yeah, that's a mod. Yeah, yeah, so you've got your topper from Stern, which is a 2D crappy thing, and then you've got the bat signal which sits behind it. You know, the one that shoots up the roof? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so that's that. Yeah, got it. So that by itself is great. But with the topper in front, I guess it hides it away. I mean, the toppers certainly have changed a lot over the day. And I think the only time I thought a topper, where they started reaching that $1,000, $2,000 mark, where a topper was worth it was the Star Wars with the R2-D2. Even though he's backwards. Yes. And I mean that because the limited edition plaque is on the back. So he then faces backwards, doesn't he? whereas the way he's supposed to face, the plaque would be facing the wall. Yeah, that's right. So they kind of fucked that up, which was weird. But I thought that was an awesome one. But then they started bringing in, you know, your Avengers and your Jurassic Park toppers and making them DLC. Yep, limited. So, yeah. And that's just... We can get goat frenzy. So if you don't have the topper, you're missing out on a part of the code. Like, is that... I mean, what do you think? Is that an issue for you? Well, one for the pricing is ridiculous. So, you know, those top is a pretty shit house anyway. So what does Jurassic Park do? All it does is light up each ladder at Jurassic Park and then gives you the DLC. But they soon fixed this because then they did update the code so everyone could have the DLC because they realised how pissed off people were. Yeah. So, yeah, I just don't understand. They were just trying to do a cash grab, that's all it was. Yeah. There was nothing more to it. Yeah. But the problem with the cash grab that they did, though, was that they would only have enough toppers to fulfill for what seemed like 50 or 100 people when there were, you know, what could have been 2,000 machines, 3,000 machines in the wild, and they're just dragging their heels with it all. And the same could go with, you know, certain mods that they've done as well, you know, side armour and stuff like that, you know. I think they're priced maybe a bit better. I mean, the lighting, speaker lighting, not so much. No, definitely not. Yeah, way too much. That's amazing for LEDs. I think we've touched on that before. But, yeah, I think overall there's been some good toppers. I'm interested to hear, I suppose, shifting away from toppers into mods, what your thoughts are on some of them, unless there's other toppers. Oh, no, I was just going to say my favourite topper. I was also going to ask you what your worst topper is. What, my worst or favourite? I was just going to say my favorite topper, which was obviously the Star Wars R2-D2. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So that's it. Because I own one. I love him. He sits on top of it talking to you. Even though you don't know what he's saying, you get a good gist. You do. But it's good fun. It's a good topper. Yeah. And yeah, there was actually something for the price that also got him back in the day. Definitely worth it. Is it worth what people are asking for him now? Hell no. Yeah, no. But once you get a lease, he's a limited run topper, I guess, one of 500. So there is something limited about it. Yeah. So what about yourself, Joe? What is your favourite topper? What is your worst topper? I reckon the Ghostbusters one is pretty good for interactivity. I really like that. And it's true to theme. You know, it's the top of the car. You know, it doesn't have fucking Ghostbusters written on it. It does a little sticker, but that's a little sticker. Yeah, that's it. So that would be my favourite. Worst, I don't really have a worst. I haven't thought about it too much, to be honest. Most of the plastic ones that they've released in the interim that I saw, like the Turtles one, which was pretty bland. Like you said, the Batman was pretty bland. You know, John Wick, pretty bland. Which was just a reskin of the Deadpool topper. Deadpool, pretty bland. Like I just find those that for the prices, as you said, the prices they were, they could have done a lot more with them, apart from a thumb turning up right or whatever the John Wick one is, a gun or whatever. No, that's the time. Dan Tomer. Yeah, so. Yeah, stupid. Yeah, so that's about what I thought of those. I was always a big person that if the machine wasn't released originally with a topper, it didn't deserve a topper. Yeah. I've changed my tune slightly because if you look at Tron, I've got an aftermarket topper on the Tron. But that, you know, and I like your Simpsons pinball party one where it's just the heads, so the hair. Yep. I really like that. So there's definitely been some toppers that have come out that are really, really good from the modders. From the modders. Fantastic. I still love that one. But back in the day, like if, you know, Judge Dredd, if it didn't have the eagle, I didn't buy it. You know, things like that because that was designed to have a topper. So, you know, there's. Sam is out of the family. Yeah. Fishtails, Wild Water. Correct. But as I said, I've changed my tune a little bit now with all the mods that have come in and done all that without a doubt. So yeah, stay on the topic as well so we might as well talk about the mods and stuff Yeah, the mods, yeah, yeah, so mods that you've sort of Did you have any favourite mods, Jared, or? Do I have any? Look, I'm going to default to my machines Which, that's fine, that's alright, yeah Good, thank you Tron, I think Tron is probably one of the best machines that you can ever mod and I've been lucky enough to buy one that is fully modded and there's one on the page at the moment, actually. Yeah, I can see that. But that's got like a light strip around it. It's LEDs. It's LED light strip, but it's not the electroluminescence. Well, I've got optics. That's the ELs. ELY. ELY, yeah, yeah, sorry. Electroluminescence. Yeah, so I've got the ELYs around the ramps, the plastic ramps. But, you know, Flynn's Arcade, there's a little Flynn's Arcade sign. as well. So I've got the Tron, excuse me, not Flynn's Arcade, I've got the Tron Arcade that sits above the Scoop, and there's a Flynn sign that sits next to the Scoop, which is for Flynn, actually. The little mini mode. So, you know, I've got some different bikes on it as well, and stuff like that. So I think as an overall package, mod-wise, and especially the Mirror Blades as well. I really like the Mirror Blades in Tron. Well, they're the graphics mirror blades yeah yeah so they're graphics mirror yeah um so they're some of my favorite mods um on a machine um i'm just trying to think of other mods on other machines and i'm thinking of your machines too because we wouldn't see any modern machines in public so no no not usually um i can't think off the top of my head other ones um i think we chatted about sparky and his little el wire as well coming off of his head, which shows the electrocution process, which is, you know, and I think for me, importantly, I've always thought mods need to add to a machine in overall look. I don't believe they add a machine's value because that's what you've done personally. So if you've spent the money on those mods, that's your choice to make, you know, similar to other hobbies, I guess. But, yeah, that to me, that little ear wire off Sparky was a must. That was a huge miss by Spoon. And when someone did that, I was like, that's a must buy. But funnily enough, that's the only mod I think I have on Metallica, apart from a colour damn good. Don't you have the snake's tongue? No. Oh, it's a sticker. Yeah, but that wasn't originally on there, was it? No, it wasn't. But that still just adds to the aesthetics. Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I do. Sorry, I probably, yeah, I'm misthinking about that. But, yeah, I mean, that's, like I said, apart from a sticker, I don't think I've modded that machine at all. You know, I've seen symmetry crosses and all that sort of stuff. Yeah, I don't like it. Some of it's a bit over the top. Some of it I guess people like. That's okay. And finally, I guess the Iron Maiden plan I always write about. Oh, yeah, yeah, that's great. And limited edition as well. Limited edition. So that's Spitfire. So for those that don't know, Maddy and I, we've got the Iron Maiden. I've got the LE, he's got the premium, and we had, well, I saw on Pinside there was a spitfire plane that every time you hit the left ramp, or the right, depending on where, but this was designed for the left ramp, the propeller spun and the lights flashed like he was shooting. And I was just like, yeah, fuck, I'm all over this. That's it. I need this. And Joe was generous enough to offer me to be a part of it if I wanted one at the same time. 100%. Because I saved him posting. Well, no, I just thought it was fucking great, you cheeky bastard. I thought you liked that one. So, yeah, I think off the top of my head, they're probably my favourite mods initially. I mean, there's a lot of shooter rod mods, especially ones that Paul does as well. I was just about to say, you know, Paul Anderson shooter rods. You can't go wrong with them. No, no. And for the price and locally made as well. Can't go wrong with that. Yeah, get back on them, Paul, if you listen. Yeah, hurry up, mate. Hurry up, mate. Do something cool, mate. We want more. What about you? Honestly, favourite mods? Or just for all my machines, Mirror Blades. I love Mirror Blades. So I do like R-Blades. Yep. Certain machines do R-Blades better, but definitely Mirror Blades for all machines. It just adds to that extra depth. Next thing I do with all my machines, all DMD era machines, Color DMDs. Color DMD, yeah, 100%. And it has to be Color DMD, the official thing, which is running the LCD, not the LED. LCD, you've got extra settings in it. It just looks so much crisper and nicer. Yeah. So I absolutely love it. It does lift a machine to a billion level. Oh, it did, yeah. Simpsons Pinball Party. That is just one machine you'll never forget. And I know I said that I don't believe mods add value. I think that's one mod that does add value. And they do add value. Yeah. I was out of doubt. Back when I started buying colored EMDs, they were only, I think, $650. Yeah, yep. And that's $650 each. So you could bring two into the country. On that note, I actually thought, Because they actually had a special on at Coloured MD. Buy two, get free shipping. So I thought, oh, I'll do that. Anyway, it went just over price. So what was it? It became a two-one. So $650 each. So it was $1,300. I got stung with GST. They got held up by customs. And I was in their way. So I started getting phone calls from this random number. I wasn't answering. They weren't leaving messages because I don't answer unknown calls. So anyway, I finally answered. And they told me, oh, it's customs. and I think I was going to a wedding or I was going somewhere important, and they said, oh, you need to pay for it now. I'm like, how the fuck? You need to pay for it now. Yeah, and I had to use my credit card on the phone to pay for it. To release the goods. Yeah, to release the goods. So anyway, so I actually lost money on that. So from then on, I just paid the shipping, and they worked out that getting to Australia was probably about $700, $750 each I think it was. Too funny. But unfortunately now, it's a bit of a pinch in the pocket because they're at least $1,000 plus, about $1,100 to get them delivered to Australia, because we don't have any local suppliers. Yeah. I tried once back in the day. Yeah, no, they don't want to borrow it, do they? No. Speaking of that, actually, I've helped design, do some color designs with all the troubleshooting and debugging, you know, so I did Playboy, Austin Powers, Buck Hunter. What else did I do? Sure, I can't think of them right now at the moment, so just some machines that I had, and I just did. did the debugging. I saw it in Tata Racing Ninja Turtles. Yeah, I thought that was a Turtles. It was a bit of fun working with them, giving ideas, you know, some feedback, so that was good. Did I get any discounts? No. But that was the aim of the game, wasn't it? Yeah. So yeah, so Color DMDs and all machines, Mirror Blades, Art Blades, just to talk about actual mods that I think are the best standout mods, ones that you can't, that you can't not have. Jersey Jack, Pirates of the Caribbean, the opening and closing lock ball chest. Okay. So that's fantastic. So, because in the game, it's actually a static chest. Obviously, it locks the ball there. You can see the balls. But when you have to lock a ball, it'll open. And when you close, when you lock a ball, it'll... You haven't installed that. No, I haven't. Is that because that's just a prick to get to? Pretty much. I just haven't. What is it, under the ship or something? No, no, no. It's there, accessible. We just haven't... You're going to piss fart around with moving. I'm just having fun. Doesn't it sit underneath the playfield or something? Yeah, so the mech will be under the playfield. Yeah. But. So what is it that sits above it? Nothing. No, no, it's fine. So you've got the ship over here and the other ship on the other side. Yeah. But it's in the centre. Yeah, okay. But you've got to keep adjusting and dialling it in. And once I've got my mat cave sorted and another working bench and working space with that little kid's fingers and such and such, I will get back into doing fiddling with machines more. Yeah. so otherwise apart from that it has to be the Theory of Magic the Tiger Tiger Ball Saw the circular saw there I forgot about that that is the most amazing whatever so you have to get that if you have a Theory of Magic get it so once you hit the Newton Ball or the Tiger Ball Tiger Saw shot the blades start spinning it looks fantastic yeah and the harder the harder you hit it the faster it goes and it's it's just a bloody rip saw isn't it yeah yeah Yeah, that is very good. I had that on my time as well. And otherwise, another top one is the deadwarp mod for Judge Dredd. Oh, fuck yeah. Yeah, yeah. So that adds the actual... Gee, they're good. I forgot about those completely. Yeah, the lockable one. Instead of being a... Virtual lock. Virtual lock, it becomes a physical lock now. Yeah. And that also comes with another ROM set, which also gives the designers actual... Is it official code or was it just... No, it was. So originally what they tried to do is, For those that don't know, with the Dead World mod on Judge Dredd, the lock mechanism is a spinning orange disc, basically. And it's got, as you see them, it's got little cutouts because what happened is that they originally had circular holes for the balls to sit in, but they had some issues. There were just too many issues with the optos and not picking balls up properly. It wasn't registering that and the crane wasn't picking them up properly or something along those lines. Yeah, it wasn't working properly. So they took it out and they just made a virtual lock that you just swing all the way around. I guess that was also probably just issues with when the machine was sighted. Yeah, probably. Operators probably gave them feedback going, this is shit. Yeah, that's right. We keep having hang-ups and this and this. Balls stuck. This isn't working. But at least in a home environment like myself, there's no issue with taking the glass off if something goes wrong. But I don't think I've ever had issues with that crane system apart from another silly little op. And to double down on that, when you get the little crane mod, I know you can get little plastic over. It sits over the metal sort of crane that it is, and it looks more like the Batman one off Batman 66, like a 3D printed crane mod. That suits it really well and fits in really well too. I like it. But, yeah, good mods. Yeah, that is my personal choice anyway. Yeah, 100%. So now, Jaron. Yes. How do you buy machines? Are you buying them based on designer, theme, flow? How I buy machines. Just money-wise, being either a new machine, second-hand machine, how do you buy your machines? What your thoughts I always purchased my machines based off theme first and foremost If it a theme that I like I 50 of the way there Like I've not so much got money down, but I'm 50% of the way there. And then it's a matter of then seeing artwork. I'm very visual as a person. So to give an example, when Metallica came out, and I'll never forget this, we were in Sydney as a family and it was released and the LE was shown and I'm a massive fan of Master of Puppets. I think it's one of their best albums they've released. And when I saw the artwork comparable to all of the other artwork, it was literally a must-buy for me. It was a theme that I loved because I love the band. I've followed them since day dot. So theme first, I think then visually artwork is a second for me, and then I'll work off shots and coding and stuff like that. Like Lyman, when he was on board, that was also a no-brainer. Yeah, money is always a consideration, I think, when you're looking at that too. You don't want to overspend. And I think now, I think we've discussed before, the LEs, I'm priced out of LEs. I can't afford them. I'm sure you could buy one, but would you just not? I would have to sell. I used to be able to just buy machines, whereas now I need a non-bolted machine. So everything in this room, apart from my Game of Thrones, is bolted. So I need a machine that I can fund something else with, and that's my Game of Thrones at the moment. So the only machine that would get me to move is a Matrix machine. I don't have any other machine that I've got my sights set on, as good as, like, Kong looked. Yeah. You know, I mean, we'll touch on it later, but Predator would be a must-buy for a lot of people out there as well, as would Harry Potter. But they're not for me because the theme doesn't do it for me. And that's the same. You know? So that's probably number one for me is theme. Yeah, look, for me, yeah, obviously theme, love the theme. Yep. As for designer, look, it doesn't really matter, but I think a lot of us have also become Elwynn fanboys. Yep. So as we do. Yeah. Yes, flow definitely does matter. So that's also part of Elwynn, I believe. I've been lucky, sorry to interrupt, but I've been lucky with the machines that, you know, a lot of Borg. Oh, yeah, Borg, yeah. You know, his flow is brilliant and richy. So, like, I've been blessed that the themes have been married up with that so far, so I haven't had to worry about that. But, yeah, it's a huge consideration as well, without a doubt. So, yeah, in my collection, you know what, actually? Godzilla probably wasn't bought on theme. I know what Godzilla was. Was it a huge Godzilla family? Definitely not. Am I going to sell it? No. But I bought it purely after I watched it. I didn't do anything. I played it. I watched it. I just went, I need that machine. which I thought was great when I saw it. And the price wasn't where it is now either. Yeah, yeah. As for second-hand machines, in a sense, the price is everything, honestly. Yeah. Even if it wasn't my thing, if it's just a cool machine, good condition, if I can pick something up for two, three grand, I'm going to buy it. Yeah. Because otherwise, if I don't buy it, someone else is going to buy it. And I love all pinballs. I really do. I don't. Even if Jarrah thinks it's a shit game. like South Park Street Fighter Street Fighter which I own both of them I love them and I'll sell them so that's his problem I'll just keep putting I'll keep putting them in the tournaments just to finish him off and he does yes so anyway that's how I work and so as for new in box machines I'm not seeing myself buying any more new in box yeah at the moment unless it is a dream thing but I just can't think of what's a dream thing for you then have you got one Total Recall Total Recall yes I love that movie okay the original Arnold Schwarzenegger movie Yeah, yeah, yeah, clearly. I fucking love it. Seriously. I can't. Me and my dad would watch that fucking, I'm sure, once a week. Yeah, yeah. It was just something me and my dad watched. Yeah, it's so cool. It's just, I know that they did have a prototype back in the day in the 90s. Yeah, yeah, very well. Which was a dual machine, which wouldn't have taken off, which obviously it didn't. Yeah. But I would still love to have played that. I could imagine Total Recall on a nice screen and just, it could be great. Yeah. It really could play. Yeah. It could be good fun. Yeah, 100%. The next thing, however, I wanted to speak about is our usual pinball price watch. I'm never going to financially recover. That's just like your opinion. I'm going to make them an awfully good review. What are you thinking? How are we seeing the pricing of machines at the moment from last month? are they still stagnating or do we think they're dropping a little bit now? At the moment we're seeing premiums hovering around the $13,000 $13,500 There's a Ghostbusters premium at $14,000 That's almost unheard of Isn't it? I think recently they've dropped from $16,000 to $7,000 I'm even asking $19,000 No, just even recently There was one about $19,000 Okay. So, you know, that's pretty good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're getting there. I know there's a few people out there sitting there watching this at the moment. Yeah. But why they haven't jumped, maybe they believe there's more, you know, they can get even less, which is possible. Depends on what people need. Do the people need the room? Do they need the cash? Yeah. Well, what is the reason for selling? Yeah. So I'm pretty sure that one, the reason why that's selling is because it's in the flood area, is it? I mean, you just said you needed a downsize. Yeah, yeah. I think that was it. Okay. The same, you know, he's even put up a Tron as well, didn't he? Yeah, so there's a Tron. And that's the first Tron I've seen in a long time. Yeah, that's right. And that looks in good condition, which wasn't completely stuffed up. Yeah. What was it? There was that last one for like 16 grand that was absolutely knackered. Yeah. So, you know, what was that at, 10 and a half, you said, the Tron? No, 13 and a half. Was Tron 13 and a half? Yeah. Okay, so I thought it was 10 and a half. Yeah, no, 13. Yep. So, and once again, you know, all these people who have, well, in a sense, overcapitalized, are they in trouble now? Is this what it's coming to? Are they going to keep these machines or are they going to have to sell them at a big loss? Like, example, Godzilla. It doesn't stop keep coming up. Yeah. There's one, I swear there's one listed once a week. Yeah. If it's not a premium, it's an LE. Well, the same could be said about the Guns N' Roses as well. Oh, the Guns N' Roses. I think we touched on them last time. People have taken such a huge loss on that. Yeah. But I mean, they're hovering. And someone put up a post the other day. He was like, oh, my God, look at the – and I couldn't see the link through, but I think he was like, oh, my God, it's dropped to $11,000. And I chimed in, and I hope you didn't take that as me being rude. That's kind of almost overpriced. They're hovering at tens now, ten, ten and a half, and that's just kept going down. Yeah, that's right. And I think someone mentioned, which is probably right, because they were released during COVID. Yeah, yeah, COVID, yep. So it was probably a new thing and everyone went, yep, we'll take that Guns N' Roses. Great time to release it. Best live show, best everything. Yeah. So I think overall the pricing is definitely still coming down. We've seen a Robocop, I'll use an example on the page, six and a half, he's dropped that now to about five and a half. So that's getting better price now as well. but I still think there's some... I'll buy that for a dollar. I'll buy that for a dollar. I still think there's some that still need to come down, but they may be just testing the water as well. Yeah, yeah, that's right. There's no issues if you're listed high, but you're going to be with... Meet the market. Yeah, meet the market. That's exactly right. Just go do some research on the page. Type your machine name in, and you'll see what sold recently. What wasn't there in... Is it an Adams family for 17? I just no disrespect I'm sure he listens he probably doesn't but I looked at that and I went you know rare machine I'm like mate there's 14,000 excuse me 22 you can't use the words rare and 22,000 it was the most mass produced pinball machine ever made and you know mate you can't say oh they don't ever come they come up all the time and at what price So, you know. Well, yeah, but I think, as you said, you know, those sort of machines that aren't perceived as rare, you just do a search on the page and just price it accordingly based on what's sold on the page. But, yeah, I think. Once again, was that a COVID buyer? And that's what they paid, and then they're trying to re-keep the money again. Yeah. And that's what I've seen a few things as well. Yeah. Yep. So it's still interesting. I still think prices are still coming down a lot. you know as we said premiums i mean there's that aerosmith that's sitting at 12 12 9 now that was probably well priced a couple years ago and and i guess like it's only been a few days admittedly so that's probably still feeling the market out it's probably not too bad considering a pro wasn't it yeah so premium at 12 9 well there you go yeah pretty good pricing overall and that's a spike that's um spike series um but it's still sitting there yeah you know whereas you go back a few years, that'd be snapped up. A premium of $13,000, I'll take that. I would have sold for $15,000, $16,000 for a premium because, once again, that kind of is rare in Australia. There aren't a lot of Aerosmith premiums, I think, in Australia. Yeah, I saw that. I wasn't sure either. There's not a lot. Yeah. I wasn't sure. But yeah, I think overall, we're still seeing a settling at the moment in pricing. Would you agree with that? Yep. And I just believe people need to get their money back quick because they're seen this too. Yeah. So you're thinking a little bit of panic selling on part of this. Definitely for Godzilla, 100%. Yeah, Godzilla still comes up. Still comes up. So that's a little bit on pricing. Look, I mean, guys, again, our audience, our lovely audience, give us feedback. We've had a couple of people reach out and say they enjoy that segment and want us to keep chatting about pricing and giving an indication of where we think it's at in Australia. if you're one of those always happy for the feedback because it means we can keep talking about it if we don't hear anything we'll drop it and we'll think of something else to bullshit on about it's all about the page and this is what we do buy, swap and sell this is what we need to keep telling people about let people know where the market's sitting whether or not we've given you any insight I'm not sure but I definitely wouldn't be paying anything more than $13,000 to $14,000 for a premium of anything I would agree with you on that So, anyway, the best buys of the month. Yeah, which I suppose that does lead us into this, doesn't it? It does. So we had, there was two of them, which I might, I was trying to have a look at my phone. I couldn't find them on the phone. So I need you to pull them up. What do we have? That's right. On Marketplace, there was a Jurassic Park, part of East. So it actually said it wasn't, when I was working, it was working. Yeah, yeah. And the, it was working. And that sold for $1,400. And that was in Mount Martha. Or Manalisa. Manalisa. Manalisa, Victoria. Next suburb across from me. Not far. 10-minute drive for us. Oh, my God. So I would have picked that up in a heartbeat. So $1,400 for a Jurassic Park data race. $1,400 for a Jurassic Park data race. So then, what was there? There was a whodunit. $900. $900. Let's just pause and let that sink in. $900. Yep, DMD era, Bally Williams for $900. That does not exist. No. And look, did they sell for these prices? I don't know, but they came up saying sold. We can only assume there would have been a stupid-ass bidding war and there would have been people at the doorstep throwing their money at them. But this machine, I think they said just the lights didn't turn on or something. I think that's what they said. Yeah, that one, it didn't power on. I'm sure there would have just been a fuse or a hoo-frigging-us. Look, let's just assume they sold for asking. Yeah, that's right. Whoever bought that, just give me a call. I'll give you my number, and we can chat about a quick flip, if you like. I'll offer you $1,500 on the JP and $1,000 on the whodunit, provided you've got the whodunit up and working. And delivered for free, too. And delivered for free, yeah. I mean, they're almost, in today's day, a one-in-a-million type buy, isn't it? Yep. If someone's picked that up at those prices. They're very good. I mean, a Whodunit's worth six to seven. Let's pretend they're working still probably five to six, I'd say. Five to six. Not working. And Jurassic Park, probably the same pricing. Oh, people love it. They absolutely love it. So maybe up to seven for that, if they're working. It's funny. I would have gone the other way with them. I would have gone a little bit higher for Whodunit and a little bit less for Jurassic Park. I understand what you mean. Yeah, Dada Risa, I just feel a bit more clunkier and a bit more sort of older, that's all. Just dressing up, love it. You've got that mouth that comes down, picks up the ball and everything. But, yeah, that was amazing, those two buys. Where were you? Where was my message, Matt? Buy it. Well, I did buy them, but I just haven't shown you yet. Yeah, you bastard. This is it, the side of Jared you want to see, isn't it? So, as usual, we've got Best Buys of the Month, which we've just done two of, and we've also got a What the Fuck Buy of the Month. Now, originally, I had a What the Fuck Buy, which was on Marketplace. A Kiss is a 1978. So, the SS Bally Kiss machine at $17,500. $17,500 for a kiss. That was a project, though. I get that back in COVID people were trying it on with these sort of more popular machines, but $17,500 for a single-level shooter is horrendous money. And this was just, you know, and I put in inverted commas, beaten up, like my strikes and spares. It's got all of that sort of scratches and nicks and dings and everything. Capping inserts. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All the fun things you don't enjoy. All the fun things that when you play a machine, you're like, fuck, you know, damn it. But everyone experiences the same thing. So that was my what the fuck. However, that was until I started, for some reason, perusing Gumtree, and there was a $25,000 Kiss machine, and I fully restored. So, like, that just blew my mind. I'm like, this is just going to sit. Maybe he would have got some suckers during COVID, but not anymore. And sit. So those days are gone. And sit. I just was like, what the hell? So they're my two what the fucks. I can't believe they were both Kiss machines, but surprisingly, both Kiss machines. One at $7.50 and then he got out done by $24.99. So I'm waiting for the $7.50 to maybe rise. Yeah, maybe to $20. Bring it up. Yeah, just to even it out. I think so. Let it sit where the market is or let them just sit on the market, one of the two. I can tell you what they can sell them in a minute. So that's that segment anyway. Bit of fun. Lighthearted guys. Don't take it too seriously. We are having a bit of a piss take. Yeah, 100%. And this month we're going to have a little bit of a discussion about whether you're doing a this or that machine. Yeah, this was a good idea. I like this. Myself and Jared have chosen 10 machines each. Yep. And Jared doesn't know the machines I've chosen. And you don't know my machines. And I don't know the machines he knows. This all came about because you refused to do a top ten. Yes, because I already have my top tens. Of your own machines. No, no. I said do a top ten of ever, forever, and you refused to. So we're doing this or that, which I like. It's a good segment. And so anyway, so I'm going to say the two machines, and then I'm going to say the machine that I think, or do you want to say the machine you think first, and then I'll say my machine first, and then I'll leave you. But you do that for yours, though. Yep. Yep, so. All right. So this or that? Monster Bash or Sopranos. Yes, different eras, but almost a cut-and-paste play field. Your choice is? Monster Bash. Yeah. Monster Bash. My choice is Monster Bash. So I love Sopranos. I do love it, but it is a much longer playing machine. Yeah. I just, I don't know why it's a longer playing machine. The modes are fun. I love the callouts in it. I love the display on it. Yep. I just love Sopranos in general as a theme, but Monster Bash, especially the remake now with the bigger screen, the upgraded sand, the lighting. That's probably why. It is a much better machine. Agreed. It is. Just the shots and just the funniness of all the different monster characters. Yep. Agreed. CV. Right. Or Theater of Magic. Right. Okay. Fuck. So for me, it's going to be Circus Voltaire. Cool. Okay. Yeah. And the reason why, look, I love theater magic. The fade is fast The flow is great I love that trunk shot Yep But just all the extra locks and mechanisms on CV Yep Like with the high wire multi Yep. When the... Juggler. Yeah, juggler. Just all of it. The pop-up boom balloon. Yep. Just everything. The neon light, I love it. Yep. But it just takes the win for me, I think. Yep. Beautiful machine. Beautiful. The best art package I've ever seen on a machine. And sound-wise, how great is the music and sound? Beautiful. Yep. I'm picking theatre imagine I thought you would that spinning trunk for me is fucking killer you even said the tiger saw so when you get that mod you've got the magnet as part of what's the ramp that you shoot the far right ramp and it picks the magnet up and drops it in the left ramp and then brings it to your flipper and then you've got the trap door It's so hard because they're both Very similar with their toys You've got Trapdoor vs Boom Balloon Jump Hoppity And that squeaky Trapdoor Who can't beat that squeaky Trapdoor Tom for me Now Two Goliaths Who will win the battle Jurassic Park or Godzilla Both are one games So For me it's going to be Godzilla so I love the ball lock on that with the tower and everything I love the wire forms I think it's a much better shooting game honestly that's just my opinion they've got full assets whereas obviously Jurassic Park was they failed with the assets they were pretty piss poor so unless you're running the alternative movie code I just purely prefer Godzilla even though more and more up for sale than anything but it's just it's a hard game it's got deep rules it's hard rules but I still find it's a fun game just for the flow, even if you don't understand rules, which I don't. I'm shit at it, but I still enjoy it better than Jurassic Park. You've sold me on picking Jurassic Park then because I think for rules it's an easier, for me, understandable game. The shots are difficult. I think that makes you want to play better, but yeah, Jurassic Park just purely because I find it easier to understand. But you're a rule king, mate. You read everything up. Yeah, I know. I haven't in a while, but yeah. JP for me. Okay. Now, a couple back in the early 1000s era. Okay. Stern's Buck Hunter. Okay. And Avatar Stern. Yeah, okay. So both made at the same sort of time. Yep. Both with pretty shitty layouts, honestly. They've, um, they'll basically... They were trying to save Pimble, really, weren't they, Stern? They were trying to save Pimble, that's exactly right. They were trying to save Pimble back at the time. Yep, yep. For me, I reckon Avatar is a better game. I prefer it. It's got a few more mechs in it. I don't know if it's got more mechs in it. Probably neck and neck with that. You've got that big mech, that big warrior lock that you've got on Avatar. I prefer that, even though I do own a Buck Hunter, and I do enjoy Buck, I really love it, but I still believe Avatar is a better game. And honestly, if I could get an LE, I'd buy an LE, because I think that looks fantastic, with the 3D transloid in it, all the chrome artwork all the chrome work on the legs, side rails and all that stuff, I really do like that as you said, they're both pretty shitty machines which is era depicted I'm going to go with Buck Hunter because, well I haven't had enough time I played Avatar a couple of times I haven't played enough either so I think just the corniness of Buck Hunter probably, it would just edge it And that moose coming in, is it the moose that comes down the track? Yeah. You know, and fucking whack it to the pole. You know, I don't know. Just shits and giggles, kind of fun. He just doesn't want to agree with me tonight. He just wants to show everyone. He just wants to show everyone he's different. He doesn't follow suit anymore. You've picked good ones. It's hard to agree on some of them. Now, this is a special one just for you, Darren. Okay. I know both hold special spots in your heart. Okay. But I know which one you choose. Oh, God, I know what you're picking. Yeah, go on. Yeah, well, can you tell me what I'm picking? I have a funny feeling you might be saying Simpsons and Family Guy. No. Oh, okay. No, no, no, definitely not. Okay, good. No. It's Tron. Yeah. And Metallica. Oh, fuck. Fuck. Well, what are yours? Metallica, straight away. There's no ifs, buts, or maybes. Tron's just an arsewhip. It just fucking kills me every time. I love it. I do enjoy it, but Metallica, just hands down, you can't beat perfection. Yeah. And that's it. I mean, I have to agree with you. But based off, not only was it your top 10, but it was in my top 10. Well, number one. Yeah, that's what I mean. Sorry, excuse me. It was our number one in our top 10 for both of us. Yeah, I have to agree. Metallica. It was only just. Tron is a very, very good game. They both got very, very good flow. Yeah, Metallica. Yeah. Metallica. So I guess that leaves. So that's your machines. My machines. So my first two picks were Spider-Man and Star Trek Stern. So both Steve Ritchie games, both very, very similar layouts because they've got the Hyperloop and the Spidey Loop or whatever it is. I'm honestly going to have to go Star Trek. One, probably the same thing. I'll spend more time on it. Every Spider-Man I've ever played was always broken. Yep. And they've always been on side. Yeah. But I love Spider-Man, but theme-wise, probably Star Trek. Yeah. And also just purely the mix in it, I think. I love the laser. Yep. The laser. Vengeance volleyball. Not a lot. Yep. I really enjoy Star Trek. We're going to disagree again. I went Spider-Man. Did you? Mainly because theme, like you said, I think we discussed earlier about how I buy machines. Theme for me, Spider-Man wins it, you know. And it's funny. I remember ages ago. Didn't you have one? Well, Ryan actually lent me one for a while, and I played that when I had it in work, that and The Walking Dead, and really, really enjoyed it. So, yeah, I think the flow again, you know, Richie's pretty good with it. I think what's probably stopped me from buying a Spider-Man is the pricing. People have wanted too much from it over recent times. You know, and there's not many actually up there at the moment, is there? No, there hasn't been for a while. It was a huge flight of them, wasn't it? Yep. But they're all from 12 grand to probably nine, I think they were. Yeah, when they were about a seven. That's right. That's what I reckon. That's what I believe. Yep. So my next one after that was Lord of the Rings or Simpsons Pinball Party. So both of them, I consider long players. Yeah, yep. They're both iconic. So obviously Simpsons is an iconic TV show. Lord of the Rings is an iconic movie. Well, I'm going to go Simpsons. Once again, I own one. Yep. Theme-wise, 100%. So I've watched Lord of the Rings. Have I watched it again? No. I've watched Simpsons my whole life. Yes. Apart from last probably a few years where it became shit. Yeah. So yeah, definitely Simpsons. Yeah, Simpsons for me too. How do you say it? I've gotten to the, what is it called? The Martian invasion. Is that what it was called? Alien invasion. Alien invasion. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then when you get to the, when the flippers come backwards, what's it called? The mystery. spot is it? I've gone that many times but it's few and far in between when I do get to them it's like how the heck do I go so well you know one game and then you just do nothing the next and I still love it yeah it can be tough but yeah Simpsons to me as well based off theme mainly Lord of the Rings is fun it's a nice player I just feel like it feels like there's more in Simpsons to do with an upper play field I know Lord of the Rings has that upper playfield that you run through and collect the runes or whatever it is on the left-hand side as well but i just feel like the couch lock and that sort of stuff doesn't fool me on sims couch lock is great isn't it yeah it's a bloody tough shot but it's really you can keep doing you can keep getting up there the other the next one i thought of was um iron man and walking dead so again two what I consider to be very very brutal machines Iron Man can be a massive drainer as can Walking Dead be and interestingly enough both John Borgs yes so they're pretty much a cut and paste play field anyway so maybe not cut and paste it's it's very similar sorry I should say it's not exactly cut and paste but um anyways I love Walking Dead I've watched every episode I've really enjoyed the TV shows I do enjoy the game I love the game. Yep. Iron Man, yes, I liked Iron Man when he was in the movies. Yeah. When he went to the Avengers and stuff, I got over it, you know. Probably, I can walk in depth a little more. Yeah, I've really stumped you a little bit here. Yeah, no, I'm just thinking. This is the idea. Walking Dead has probably got more replayability, more shots, more modes. Yep. Does it? No, because then you get, oh, I'm just thinking. While you think Walking Dead for me is my choice, because Iron Man I just found was a fucking drain monster. Walking Dead can be as well, but I think Lyman again with his code has just tipped it for me. You've got the drop targets. You've got the dual multiballs, which is obviously the well walker as well as the prison multiball, plus all the modes that he brought in with it with the specific shots. It just wins it for me. Just wins it. Well, maybe if Whiplash had his whips. You still haven't replaced those, have you? I've got them sitting in the cash box. So the answer is no. Yes, I have. Yeah, look, I think I'm going to have to go Walking Dead as well. Walking Dead? That was tough, yeah. Yeah, nice. Because I do love bashing on the arm. I feel like the next couple might be a bit tough as well, so let's see how we go with this one, because the next one I picked is Stranger Things and Attack from Mars. Now, I know there's a long distance between them, but that's Brian Eddy's fault. That's not my fault. So, Stranger Things, Attack from Mars. I know you're going to go Attack from Mars. No. Bullshit. No, I'm going Stranger Things, mainly because I feel like it's just a more up-to-date version of Attack from Mars, and I cannot get past that UV upside down. That, to me, is fucking brilliant. And I know originally there was a lot of shit because Stern didn't release the UV kits. And they were like, surprise! And everyone went, fuck you! Give us the UV kits as part of this. Here's another DLC package. Yeah, correct. But I just think overall, I love it. And the theme as well does it for me. I do agree. It's going to do stranger things for me as well. Yep. But I think premium, though. in that model, like the Premium, with the telekinesis lock as well. And the animations on the displays of the... Yeah, I get that. Over the Pro. But once again, Attack from Mars, one model, and it was just bare standard general. And that's why, for me, the Pro on Stranger Things is still pretty bloody good. It's a good... You're not missing out on any extra shots. Whereas some machines, you get extra shots these days. You don't get play figures or whatever you might get. You know, like, for instance, Jurassic Park, he throws the ball out of his mouth, whereas on the pro, he doesn't. Yes. Okay. So you went Stranger Things as well? Yes. Yeah. Okay. The last one is Wizard of Oz. Yes. Or Pirates of the Caribbean. Oh, you said Pirates of the Caribbean. Both JJPs. Pirates of the Caribbean, hands down. That quick? Yeah. 100%. You always rave about Oz. It's not as nice. It's clunkier, I guess. Yep. It's a good thing. It's great. It's well integrated. But the integration on Wizard of Oz is tenfold opposed to Pyros because Pyros has got no integration. It's crap. But I love the play field. I love the mechs. I just love the shots. And I just love the game. Pyros for me too. I really like it. I like when we play it in a tourney as well because it's very challenging, especially the modes. Multi-balls are pretty fun. There's lots of them. But they're harder to get than probably some of their standard JJPs. So, yeah, pirates for me, without a doubt. Yeah, for sure. Thank you. That was – I like that. That was fun. Guys, give us some feedback if you liked this or that. And even if you want to write down the names and what you preferred. Yeah, yeah, definitely. Give us some feedback what you would have chosen or any of your this and that's that you might have as well. Even if you had to throw them at us. Yes. So name 10 machines, you know, 5 watts and, yeah, we'll call them out and we'll have a discussion about what we – for your ones. Yeah. So I guess the final thing is just to – Rumin machines, mate. So, yeah, so Rumin machines, the Pinball Brothers, is basically Predator. We've seen a picture on their Facebook page of the razor on the rock. I think it's a broken razor because one of the guys, he's shaving at the time and pushes so hard that he – I think he breaks the razor on his cheek because he sees the predator in the bushes or whatever it is. So apparently that's true and coming now, which is good news. It also seems like Dutch Pinball is going to be back on track. Okay. Supposedly, it was on NAP Arcade, that they've been shipping machines out over Europe at the moment for Alice. How many they've shipped, I don't know, but at least some machines are getting out. When was that released? That was last year now, wasn't it? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, it was last year. Yeah, of course it was last year because I played at the Expo. Okay. So it was before Expo because obviously we had to get here and build it. So the release date was, what, mid last? Yeah, mid last year. And this is why I'll never touch Dutch Pimble. Yeah, they're slow, but at least they're getting slow. Same with CGC. I'll never touch them. Never. They're useless. Anyway, as well, Harry Potter, yes, so the delays were true. They did have IP problems, so they had to change artwork, I suppose. What they changed was on the playfield, was on the decals. I'm not too sure. There's still no official release date, but we've been told that there will be one at the Melbourne Expo this year. Yep. Looking forward to seeing it. And supposedly they've confirmed that they're going to run a limited run of CEs. They're going to run the CEs to a limited number of 1,000. So because initially they said they were going to do as many CEs as they wanted. Did they really? Yeah, they were going to do as many as they wanted. or until you're going to fulfill customer orders for a set day, which is a bit stupid. It doesn't make it a collector's edition. No, of course not. The way they've tried to pin them. I'm sitting here going, a collector's edition means minimum numbers. For me, if I want a collector's edition something, I'd want something between maybe 100, 200 machines for a collector's edition. Limited edition, maybe 1,000. Then just stand a machine, as many as you want to. That's how I see collector's editions. but, you know, sitting this... I think they've modelled, though, that their collectors is similar to the limited of Stern. Of course it is, yeah. So they can do up to 1,000. Yeah, of course they can. And then they've got their limited, which has no limit for some reason. That's exactly right. It's the same as when I went to a coffee shop the other day. I know a difference. Yeah, no, no shit. I went and got myself a coffee, yeah, and I ordered a large latte. Actually, a caramel latte, not too hot, thank you, because I don't like to burn my mouth. Decaf mocha, there's some milk in it. I ordered a large one. I went, oh. I said, oh, that's not large. That's medium. She said, oh, no, no. If you wanted something big, it's an extra large. Why not? So their sizing was medium, large, extra large. Yeah. Who the fuck does that? I wanted, it's either a small, medium, or large coffee. Who the fuck does that? It's the stupidest thing ever. You reckon I'm getting old. Yeah, well. So, yeah, I just shook my head and walked out. I wanted a fucking proper-sized coffee. I didn't want this half-sized coffee, so. Fair enough. And seven bucks for a while. I was like, fuck's sake. Just come around here next time, Matty. I'll make you a free coffee. Spend more than any petrol getting you that. Yeah, it doesn't matter. It's the company, isn't it? Company paid, mate. That's it. So I think that's, is that all for the rumours? I don't think there's many that we. I don't think there was any. I think we sort of, we're more chatty and what have you. Well, that's it. Well, I think that pretty much wraps us up for the segment. I think that does wrap us up. There's no admin rant this month. Most people are behaving themselves. So that's very nice. thank you people yeah much appreciated Matty as always mate this has been fun I enjoy it thank you sir I think we're going to have to crack a beer in a minute mate now I can crack another one and you might have a drink with me yes I'll have a drink I'll start up and we'll have a few games and we're going to have a session tonight aren't we we'll have a bit of a play for sure it's only early so and we can do that but yeah thanks everyone the usual like subscribe comment if you want to comment email if you want to email us pinballoswide at hotmail.com and as always we will see you next month. Awesome chatting, Jared. Thanks, mate. Thanks, buddy. Take care, buddy.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4c2f4c39-2d7e-4610-803d-d7ebe70ffadd*