# #23 Korean BBQ and pinball. The Classic Pinball Podcast.

**Source:** The Classic Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2020-01-21  
**Duration:** 31m 23s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/george272/episodes/23-Korean-BBQ-and-pinball--The-Classic-Pinball-Podcast-ea2jhu

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## Analysis

George interviews Shane, owner of Ace Goge Korean BBQ and Pinball arcade in Van Nuys, California. Shane discusses his journey from casual collector to venue operator, his thriving league (now in season 7 with 64 capped players), celebrity visits, celebrity clientele, upcoming West Hills location, and his relationships with manufacturers like Stern, Jersey Jack, and Spooky. The conversation covers business philosophy, pricing strategy, regulatory constraints on arcade permits, and plans for Rick and Morty launch parties.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Ace Goge's pinball league is in its seventh season starting February 6, capped at 64 players with a 20-person waiting list since season 2. — _Shane directly stated current league status_
- [HIGH] Courtney Kardashian owns a Batman Dark Knight and received a Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road from Jersey Jack for her 40th birthday. — _Shane confirmed during discussion of celebrity visits_
- [HIGH] Jack Black has visited Ace Goge twice, and a Keeping Up with the Kardashians episode filmed at the venue was pinball-based. — _Shane confirmed both Black's visits and the KUWTK filming_
- [HIGH] Van Nuys location is permitted for up to 24 arcade machines; obtaining an arcade permit requires a conditional use permit process that is expensive. — _Shane explained local zoning regulations_
- [HIGH] Shane is a Jersey Jack dealer but does not carry Stern games officially; however, he is a Stern Army location and hosts launch parties for Stern. — _Shane clarified dealer and launch party status_
- [MEDIUM] Rick and Morty launch party will occur in February at the West Hills location; Shane owns two Rick and Morty games. — _Shane mentioned plans but noted details cannot be fully shared; Spooky ship date needs finalization_
- [HIGH] Shane met Jody Dankberg at CES three or four years ago, which led to becoming a Stern Army location. — _Shane recounted origin of Stern partnership_
- [HIGH] The Ghostbusters Limited Edition launch party was Shane's first major tournament, drawing approximately 50+ attendees. — _Shane described this as unofficial official launch party due to Stern's initial pro-only policy_

### Notable Quotes

> "If Mommy, Daddy, and Sissy are there, you're putting two bucks in the game."
> — **George (referring to Jensen Karp's K-Rock segment)**, ~10:30
> _Illustrates the family multiplier effect of pinball as entertainment draw_

> "You see more smiles here than you see any other place."
> — **Shane**, ~11:00
> _Describes the emotional value and community atmosphere created by the venue_

> "It's the hardest thing to do in this business. I can tell you personally. Try to keep everyone as happy as possible, for sure."
> — **Shane**, ~13:00
> _Reflects Shane's service philosophy and understanding of hospitality challenges_

> "Everything is made to order, all the soups, all the rices, all the noodles, everything is made fresh that you order."
> — **Shane**, ~17:00
> _Explains the business model differentiator for the Korean BBQ concept_

> "All business practice follows the same principles, the quality of the product and the consistency of it, and how customers are treated. It all goes hand-in-hand."
> — **Shane**, ~13:30
> _Articulates Shane's core business philosophy applicable to both restaurant and pinball_

> "I was very close with Charlie and Katie, the whole Spooky family. Very close with them."
> — **Shane**, ~42:00
> _Indicates strong manufacturer relationship and community integration_

> "I kept calling myself Spooky West. Because nobody had these games."
> — **Shane**, ~43:30
> _Shows Shane's enthusiasm for being first to feature rare games in the region_

> "The latest and greatest. As I said to somebody before we got on, you've got the latest three games that have been released in the last six weeks. How many places have that?"
> — **George**, ~45:00
> _Confirms Ace Goge's status as cutting-edge venue with newest releases_

> "Games are expensive. I don't begrudge anybody for trying to get a little bit of return on it."
> — **George**, ~40:00
> _Acknowledges the investment burden on venue operators and pricing challenges_

> "Our Christmas party, we ran a double elimination strikes tournament for every single player, and everyone had to play. So we had the whole staff here, including the plus ones, and we were here until 2 in the morning playing."
> — **Shane**, ~22:00
> _Demonstrates Shane's commitment to building community and staff engagement around pinball_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Shane | person | Owner of Ace Goge Korean BBQ and Pinball in Van Nuys, California; pinball collector and venue operator; Jersey Jack dealer; Stern Army location |
| George | person | Host of Classic Pinball Podcast, episode #23 (though intro incorrectly mentions episode 22); interviewer |
| Ace Goge | venue | Korean BBQ restaurant and pinball arcade in Van Nuys, California; also operating an expansion location in West Hills; hosts launch parties and runs a capped 64-player league in its seventh season |
| Adam Davis | person | Co-founder and co-host of Ace Goge's pinball league with Shane; helped organize league structure |
| Jody Dankberg | person | Stern representative whom Shane met at CES three or four years ago; facilitated Stern Army location status |
| Charlie Spooky | person | Co-owner/designer at Spooky Pinball; visited Ace Goge in person; maintains close relationship with Shane |
| Katie | person | Co-owner at Spooky Pinball; visited Ace Goge with Charlie |
| Jack Black | person | Celebrity actor/musician who visited Ace Goge twice; has Addams Family pinball machine |
| Brett Morgan | person | Producer-director and Academy Award winner; pinball collector; friend of Jack Black who introduced him to Ace Goge |
| Courtney Kardashian | person | Celebrity who owns Batman Dark Knight and Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road pinball machines; featured in KUWTK episode filmed at Ace Goge |
| Jason Sudeikis | person | Actor who visited Ace Goge to play Wizard of Oz; hung out with league players until 11pm |
| Carl D'Angelo | person | Plays in Ace Goge league; founder of It Never Drains tournament |
| Jeff Gillis | person | Official spokesperson for It Never Drains tournament; visited Ace Goge |
| Jensen Karp | person | K-Rock radio personality; did a seven-minute segment on Ace Goge and its pinball business model |
| Pete Christensen | person | Operator of Houston pinball show; interviewed by George |
| Jim Bellcochio | person | Organizer/figure associated with It Never Drains tournament; described as great guy by George |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; Ace Goge is Stern Army location; hosts launch parties for new Stern releases |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer for which Shane is an official dealer |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer with close relationship with Shane; multiple games at Ace Goge; Alice Cooper machine mentioned |
| It Never Drains | event | Pinball tournament in Southern California organized by Carl D'Angelo; sponsored by Shane; sells out quickly |
| Pinball Hall of Fame | venue | Major pinball museum/venue in Las Vegas; George planned to visit |
| Classic Pinball Podcast | content | Podcast hosted by George; this is episode 23 (though intro mentions 22) |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Venue Operations and Business Model, Pinball League Development and Community Building, Manufacturer Relationships (Stern, Jersey Jack, Spooky), Launch Party Strategy and Tournament Organization
- **Secondary:** Regulatory and Zoning Constraints on Arcade Permits, Celebrity Culture and Entertainment Value, Korean BBQ Business Integration with Pinball
- **Mentioned:** Personal Collecting History and Game Preferences

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Shane is enthusiastic, passionate, and proud of his achievements. George is complementary and engaged. Discussion of business challenges (permits, pricing) is grounded but not negative. Strong community sentiment throughout. No significant criticism or conflict.

### Signals

- **[venue_signal]** Ace Goge opening second location in West Hills with dedicated pinball room, 20-24 machines permitted; expected launch in February 2026 (confidence: high) — Shane: 'Our second location is opening hopefully by next weekend' and 'I'm taking my time on the actual pinball room just because I want to put a little effort into it'
- **[community_signal]** Ace Goge pinball league entering seventh season with capped 64 players and 20-person waiting list; significant demand exceeds supply (confidence: high) — Shane: 'we're starting our seventh season February 6th. But we've been capped at 64 with a wait list of 20 people for the last season'
- **[event_signal]** Rick and Morty launch party planned for February 2026 at West Hills location; multiple Spooky launch parties completed; future Spooky launch party pending ship date confirmation (confidence: high) — Shane: 'I'm planning to do the Rick and Morty launch party there, actually' and 'Rick and Morty...We're having our launch party next month' and 'I'm just waiting to finalize a ship date with Spooky'
- **[product_strategy]** Shane acquiring two of every new major release (two pros + one LE), using pro models for launch parties and limited editions for rotation/sister location; strategic placement across two venues (confidence: high) — Shane: 'for all the launch parties I always get two games I always get two pros' and 'usually I'll keep the pros in and then I'll replace one with the limited edition' and 'what the one of the lobby is gonna go to West Hills'
- **[market_signal]** New game play pricing elevated to $1 per game during pre-launch period, revert to standard 50¢ after launch; standard games priced at 50¢; competitive with regional pricing ($1.50 reported in New Jersey) (confidence: high) — Shane: 'usually when there's a launch party, before the launch party, I always turn off high scores and I turn off replays. And I make a dollar a game' and George reports playing Beatles at $1.50 per game
- **[regulatory_signal]** California municipal code allows up to 4 coin-op machines without permit; >4 requires expensive conditional use permit (CUP) approval through zoning/building & safety; significant compliance cost cited as barrier (confidence: high) — Shane: 'by law, you can have up to four coin-operated machines without a permit. Anything over four games, you must have an arcade permit' and 'it's very expensive' and 'that's why you see a lot of places that are paid by the hour or 20 bucks all day'
- **[industry_signal]** Stern historically restricted launch party support to Pro model tier (not Premium/LE); Spooky and Jersey Jack more accommodating to venue partners; launch parties becoming standard venue marketing tool (confidence: medium) — Shane: 'I inquired on launch parties. And I reached out to Stern. At the time they said that we only support launch parties for the pro models' but later became Stern Army location hosting regular launches
- **[content_signal]** KUWTK episode featuring Ace Goge pinball gameplay; Jack Black visits (x2); Jason Sudeikis casual play session; celebrity ownership (Courtney K with Batman LE and Wizard of Oz LE); significant organic reach through celebrity networks (confidence: high) — Shane: 'we filmed an episode of Keeping Up with the Kardashians here early on that was pinball based' and confirmed Jack Black visits and Jason Sudeikis gameplay
- **[community_signal]** Tournament players and industry figures traveling to multiple venues; It Never Drains tournament sold out; Houston show attendance; Las Vegas Pinball Hall of Fame attracts venue operators; geographic pinball tourism emerging (confidence: medium) — George: 'I was able to interview Pete Christensen who does the Houston show' and 'I was going to go tomorrow, Friday' to Pinball Hall of Fame; Carl D'Angelo and Jeff Gillis cross-venue participation
- **[venue_signal]** 90% of Ace Goge staff play pinball; competitive staff tournament (double elimination, 2am finish); trophies awarded; team-building culture around pinball; strong employee retention signal (confidence: high) — Shane: '90% of all the employees here all play pinball' and 'our Christmas party, we ran a double elimination strikes tournament for every single player'
- **[design_innovation]** Non-buffet all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ with table grills and made-to-order service; pinball as amenity in restaurant lobby/backroom; unique business model combining two distinct hospitality segments (confidence: high) — Shane: 'every table has its own dedicated grill' and 'all the meats are prepared and marinated in the kitchen, and then it's brought to your table' and 'we're a very Americanized version of Korean barbecue'
- **[collector_signal]** Shane acquired 8-Ball Deluxe as first game (~8 years ago); recently rotated out Batman 66 LE (longest resident, played since launch); maintains mixed portfolio of classic Stern (Quicksilver, Stargate, Iron Maiden, Viper) and modern games (confidence: high) — Shane: 'I'd say I've been...collecting I probably started about 8 years ago' and 'my first game? 8-Ball Deluxe' and 'My Batman 66 LE, which I unboxed in this room, which I took out...It's been 50 cents since day one'

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## Transcript

 California's been good to me. Hope you don't fall into the sea. Sometimes you got to trust yourself. It ain't like anywhere else. It ain't like anywhere else. Hello everyone and welcome to episode 22 of the Classic Pinball Podcast. My name is George and today I'm joined by the owner of Ace Goge in Van Nuys, California, Shane. Hello Shane. Hello George. Shane, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself? Where do I start? What is there to say? Well, I opened a Korean barbecue restaurant with a business partner of mine about five years ago. I was already a lover of pinball at the time. And I had never done anything coin drop or location-wise or anything like that. And I had some games that I was like, well, I'm just going to put them in the lobby and let's see if anybody plays them. If not, at least we have games to play. So I put them up there, and then little by little, people kept trickling in. Then I found out about Pinball Map, and people started, I guess people were coming. I was seeing pictures on Facebook of people taking pictures in front of the pinball machines in the lobby. We had this backspace here, which is now, it's called On Tilt, which is our bar. I hope I say it correctly. Ace Goge? Yes, correct. You got it right. I've heard it pronounced other ways What's the meaning of gogi? Gogi means meat in Korean And ace is all you can eat A-Y-C-E It took me until two days ago to figure that out I'm not feeling really smart right now It happens a lot So when we set this room back up We were using it for storage for a long time And when we were getting it ready I put plugs on the walls Getting ready to put games in And we built the bar out And the first games I brought back here were Whitewater, Tales from the Crypt, Game of Thrones Limited Edition, Kiss Limited Edition. And I think I made a high Grand Prix. I tried to at least touch on all the different genres of pinball machines. And then from there, we just kept adding and adding and adding. And then it's funny. I inquired on launch parties. And I reached out to Stern. at the time they said that we only we only support launch parties for the pro models so i'm like okay because i had the ghostbusters limited edition uh coming so i said screw it i'm gonna do my own launch party so we did the uh the unofficial official ghostbusters limited edition launch party and uh it was funny we we did all of our events we do specific event shirts so we did like a ghostbuster shirt uh and we i gave everyone a free shirt when they came i think we had like maybe 50 people, maybe more people. I don't remember how many exactly showed up. But it was a huge tournament, and that was kind of like getting our feet wet tournament-wise. Was that the start? Was that like the spark that ignited everything here? That was definitely the first official tournament that I think that we did here. Now, were you a personal collector? Yes. So did you take your personal collection? And brought it here? Yep. Yep. I still treat it that way as having my personal collection here. so it goes to one of my questions which is how long before you started the restaurant did you start collecting because you're a young man I'm 40 years old you're well preserved thank you I'm quite a bit older than you I'd say I've been I played pinball growing up but I'd say as far as collecting I probably started about 8 years ago oh ok so you're fairly new yeah I would say definitely fairly new but caught the bug early for sure Right And What was the first game? 8-Ball Deluxe Do you still own it? I don't But I know where it is But I know where it is Oh stop But I know where it is Do you think it could ever come back? It was the limited edition The funky backbox one So I'm okay not having it Oh the little I've had like 3 or 4 since I started collecting in 2000 Okay Back in the dark ages When games were The good old days Well Plug for the last show I did a show called games that we bought, my partner and I, Dr. Dave, for under $750. Wow. The cost of a Star Wars topper. Yeah. I have 10 games that I bought. I believe it. All Bolly classics that are under that price. That's great. And Dave's got a storage basement of like 50 games. So he went into the highlight reel of those games. For sure. But he's got so many. He started collecting back in the 90s. And the thing that attracted me to you was that you had some classic Stern games, but... Oh, there's many. I have many that aren't here. I just recently took some out. Stargazer was the one I see on your website. Stargazer, Quicksilver. All the great ones. I've got a restored Iron Maiden. I have Nineball. Great games. We did two shows. I have a Viper. We did two shows focusing on those games. The first two, Quicksilver and Stargate. Love Stargate. Great games. But you have a Beatles. I do. What do you think about the remake? I love it. I do too. Definitely one of my favorites. I'm not a big Beatles fan. I wish it was a different theme. But those that say they don't like Beatles, they haven't played it. No, no, no. I think it's a great game. I'm saying in general, just in support of the game. A lot of people say, oh, because it doesn't have ramps. Just like TNA, that it was, oh, it's a stupid game. They just ripped off the layout from Sea Witch. Right. But it's nothing like that. Anybody who talks bad about Beatles hasn't played it yet. That's my firm belief on that. I always put money in it. For sure. I put money in it today and again. It's a great game. It's just a feel-good game. I mean, the music, I mean, they're popular songs. You can get into it easy. It's a great game. I love it. I think so as well. So, a little plug here for you. You're a Jersey Jack dealer, is that correct? Yes, I am. How about Stern? Stern, I'm not. Okay. I'm not. I'm close with a lot of people from Stern. I can get Stern games. Do they continue to do launch parties here? Oh, yeah, of course. I was going to say. That's what I was going to say. So, when I went to CES three or four years ago, that's where I met Jody Dankberg. And then from there, it became a Stern Army location. and then we've been doing launch parties ever since. So do you find, I listened to the K-Rock interview. Oh. Well, not an interview, the K-Rock portion. Have you heard that seven-minute segment they did on your business? From Jensen Karp, yeah. Yeah. The only place in Van Nuys that has a line. And this is the greatest idea you could ever have for a restaurant is a holding area. Hey, we have a bar in the back. You don't ever tell people that there's pinball because they're going to find out real quick, especially if they high kids Mommy Daddy Mommy Daddy and even Mommy Daddy Hey why don you play with me So you not just putting 50 cents in the game If Mommy Daddy and Sissy are there you putting two bucks in the game I mean, for me, it's kind of bigger than that. It's just the fact, seeing people walk back here, and they say, like, wow, I didn't know they still make these, or I didn't know this room was back here. How about the happiest place in the whole world? I hear that a lot. You see more smiles here than you see any other place. And we, I know that we don't, if you come in at 11 a.m. when we first open, if you come back to this room and everything's off, you just turn it on and start playing. There's no set time when you can or can't play. I got confused. I wanted, Herman Munster was acting up. He was like, it was just going crazy with all the call-outs. And I went to the traditional place to shut it off for a volley, and I'm like, hey, there's no, how do you shut off a Stern game? Yeah, all the Spike games are under the head on the right side, under the right speaker. Okay. Yeah. Live and learn. Yeah. Let's talk about the statue. Oh, okay. So this location... Before we go, let's talk about what it is. When you walk up to the building, he's got this... Atlas. Okay. Yeah. It's an atlas on top. So this used to be a Jack LaLanne gym back in the day. Yeah. So Jack LaLanne had these on top of all of his gyms. Is there even a Jack LaLanne? No, not anymore. Not anymore. But this was a Korean restaurant before and they never took it down. So when we took the space, the landlord was like, you know, we're going to take the statue. I said, no, no, no, we want to leave it. So we ended up painting it somewhat to like an Oscar and then we put Ace on top. It's awesome. Yeah, now it's like a landmark. When everyone was playing that Pokemon game, it was like one of the focus points or reference points. I don't know. I didn't play it, but there were people out front playing that game because they would have to look for that reference point on the map. Look for the picture when I publish this because it makes it a landmark. You're right. Right. Okay. I'm going to come clean. All right. I've never been, and look at me, I've never been to a Korean barbecue before. Never. Did you guys eat today? Not yet. Okay. So you're helping me here. Yeah, for sure. So first time in a Korean barbecue, what's the dish that I absolutely should order? I mean the crowd favorites are always like the spicy galbi which is the short rib, beef short rib that's spicy. And then we have all the fried rices are really good but I'd probably say spicy cow beef, garlic beef, kimchi fried rice. I would start off with that. There's so many different options that you'll see. We're a very Americanized version of Korean barbecue. So what does that mean? Well I like to say that P.F. Chang's in Korean barbecue so you see there's not many Koreans here. And I'm looking at one that's not. My business partner is Korean. You took the question before the question. They answered before the question. Right, right. So he's Korean. But we... No, is he a chef? No, he's not. Okay. No. So we... When I say Americanized version, I say we have a lot of different flavors and marinades and our menu is all-inclusive. So we don't charge tier pricing for different types or qualities of meat. So you pay one price, everything is included. and if you see the amount of things included on the menu, there's no other place that does that. It's extensive. I'm not even doing it justice. The one thing that caught me, though, was the fact that you're ordering off the menu, so this isn't all you can eat, but it's not a buffet. No. So talk a little bit about that. So every table has its own dedicated grill and its own hood on top of it. So, all the meats are prepared and marinated in the kitchen, and then it's brought to your table, whatever you order, and then you cook the meat yourself, and all the sides, all the other dishes are made to order inside the kitchen. So, nothing's ready, nothing's sitting like in an urn, or in a hot, like a buffet table, and they're just scooping it out with a spoon and throwing it on a plate and bringing it out. Everything is made to order, all the soups, all the rices, all the noodles, everything is made fresh that you order. Who came up with the idea, because it is very unique? I mean, Korean barbecue's been around for a long time, obviously. But I'm saying you're ordering off the menu rather than being a buffet because you would think in All You Can Eat, the first thing that came to me was buffet. But reading the website, I said, yeah, that's different. It took some discussion between my partner and I. It was kind of a headbutt in a lot of ways of trying to do different things where it would be kind of a walk-up. But I personally think that buffets like that are disgusting. I don't think people are going to throw a spoon from one into the other you're going to see remnants of one thing into the other and it's just not the same quality or the same taste so yeah it is a little bit more work especially when you get busy it does take a little bit longer for some things to come out but yeah you see the difference when it comes to your table so yeah I mean again that's what I'm saying when people think like maybe they come in with a notion thinking that all the food is already ready and they're just going to scoop it and throw it on a plate for you but it's not everything literally every soup we i mean we make our own our own beef stock here uh you boil you boil the bones yes we do all of that so all the soups are they all have the same base uh beef stock but everything is literally all the veggies are put in you don't take you don't take a piece of hanging beef and carve it all up we get big we just get cases of the flats and then everything is cut is trimmed and cut and everything is done here right wow yep so there's a lot of prep because a lot of people use box No, no, no. Everything comes fresh in the boxes and they're all cleaned and trimmed down and portioned and whatnot. So were you in the restaurant business before you met your partner? You know, a long time ago my father had a restaurant built into one of his businesses, but this is my first restaurant experience of my own, for sure. But I'm a firm believer that all business practice follows the same principles, the quality of the product and the consistency of it, and how customers are treated. It all goes hand-in-hand. I'm going to tell you the bartender that's been serving me for the last few minutes. Classic. My pleasure. Nice. When people respond that way, that tells me that you've done your job. I mean, I try. It's the hardest thing to do in this business. I can tell you personally. Try to keep everyone as happy as possible, for sure. And for the record, I'd say 90% of all the employees here all play pinball. Now. So you're getting back some of their salary. Oh, our Christmas party, we ran a double elimination strikes tournament for every single play, and everyone had to play. So we had the whole staff here, including the plus ones, and we were here until 2 in the morning playing. That's great. Yeah, it was a great time. There were trophies. That builds a really tight-knit community. Oh, for sure, for sure. Great employees. A few of them play in our league here. Well, let's talk about that. Okay. So I had met, just through pinball and people coming in, I had met a guy named Adam Davis. And I said that I wanted to do a league but I like I going to need some help So he the co of the league with me and he helped me get it set up and all that stuff So I didn't even know who was going to show up, to be honest with you. We started a Facebook page, and between people that I knew personally and that came to tournaments, our first league, I don't know how many people we had the first season, to be honest with you, But now we're starting our seventh season February 6th. But we've been capped at 64 with a wait list of 20 people for the last season. Yeah, since season two, for sure. That's terrific. Yeah. That's great. And now, is that league on Thursday nights? It's Thursday night every other Thursday, yeah, twice a month. So, again, listening to the K-Rock piece, you have a couple of famous people who have visited you from what I understand so Jack Black's been here twice we filmed an episode of Keep It Up with the Kardashians here early on that was pinball based and they had approached us to do it it wasn't the other way around how has that been? have you seen obviously on pin side everyone talks about it but they're all watching forget about them do you think just the show being on TV, you being here in Van Nuys, do you think people were like, wow, I didn't even realize that there was... Oh, for sure, for sure. I mean, it definitely was great exposure. That's a big audience. Right, right, of course. You can't buy that kind of advertising. Of course, of course. That's what I would say. I haven't seen it, so I don't... It's great. I'm guessing it came out well. Yeah, I mean, it's good for pinball. Let's just say that. I mean, any pinball... It's good for YouTube. Ah, yeah. But, I mean, again, we do pretty well here. But yeah, it was nice to for sure have that exposure. Actually, Courtney has two pinball machines. I was going to ask that question. She has a Batman. Did you sell her a couple of machines? Well, she had Batman Dark Knight already. Right. And then she got a Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road for her 40th birthday from Jersey Jack. Good for you. Yeah. How about Jack? You sold him any games? No, not yet at least. But he has an Addams Family. I don't know if he has any other ones. But he's got a good friend named Brett Morgan, who is a producer-director. He actually won Academy Award last year for one of his documentaries he did. But he's a big collector. But he had told Jack about this place. And then Jack was telling him, like, let's go to Ace Kogan. And then they ate that first time. And they played. And then they came back a second time for Jablinski Games. I didn't know they were even coming back, to be honest with you. That's great. Yeah, for sure. That doesn't hurt either. No, no, no. And then Jason Sudeikis came in to play Wizard of Oz. And he ended up hanging out with like eight or nine guys from League. And they were just playing until about 11 o'clock at night. And then, yeah, just, I mean, it's a great place. It's funny how small the community is and how many people I end up seeing coming inside of here. And like Greg here from New York and Trent Oginski was here the other day. Do you know Jason who was here? Wordick? I know the name I've never met him I met him for the first time but he walked in and I watch a lot of tournaments right so I'm looking and I'm like I know that face but I don't know from where when he mentioned his name I'm like okay I know who you are I'm hoping maybe he can spend a couple minutes after we're done yeah why not and talk to him for a couple minutes but that's the thing we always have the obligatory stern row of all the new games and for all the launch parties I always get two games I always get two pros they're wondering because there's Stranger Things in the lobby and then there's also one back here so we always run a heads up final so have them set up here and then we stream the event but what we do is the top usually we have like the top 16 for example make it to finals and then the finals are exclusively on the game with the launch party games and they're objective based so it's not just score or whatever so actually it's just not a high score right so it'll be first one to light 2x multiplier first one to start this multiball. I first want to start this mode. We did that on Deadpool. We did it on Munsters. We did it on Jurassic Park. I didn't do it on Iroh because it was just too... Well, let's plug the game that I was pleasantly surprised to see here. Alright. I don't know anything about the franchise, but I've heard so much about it. It's Stranger Things. So, this will be published probably next week. So, all you people who want to play Stranger Things, head to Van Nuys because he's got one. Yep. So, there's two pros here actually and then I always what happens is I always get the limited edition of every game so usually I'll keep the pros in and then I'll replace one with the limited edition so what the one of the lobby is gonna go to West Hills our other location you read my mind yeah so let's first tell people sure that you're opening a second location yes in West Hills which is what about it's about 11 miles yeah about 20 minutes it just depends obviously with without traffic, but it's about 20 minutes west. It's the West Valley. Our goal was always to have both sides of the valley covered, not with Van Nuys and obviously with West Hills. It's a little bigger place. We're going to have a dedicated room just for pinball there. We added Korean BBQ and pinball is now in the name of the business. So as you saw on the sign outside, we rebranded both spots. So it's not going to be an on tilt? On tilt is the name of the... It kind of goes with the bar and with the pinball. but it's Ace Goge Korean BBQ at Pinball. So that's the thing. So we have probably 20 to 24, I'm permitted to have up to 24 games there. Oh, how does that work here in the city? Okay, so by law, you can have up to four coin-operated machines without a permit. Anything over four games, you must have an arcade permit. So you have to go in front of the board and... Yeah, you have to apply for a condition to use permit and you have to go through zoning, get it all cleared and then it comes back to building and safety and then they they change the use they charge you a tag it's very expensive no not every game it's just it's it's an expensive process that's why you see a lot of places that are paid by the hour or uh 20 bucks all day because they have to go through the whole condition to use permit process and it's costly so if you're going to open just a pinball place with no other amenities it's kind of hard to justify the expense of doing a condition use permit right and that's why it's understandable why people do they told you before I got on that I owned a bar and a restaurant. And this was back in the 80s. I had to pay a tag and I was only allowed to have five machines, but one of the machines always back in the 80s was a cigarette machine. And believe it or not, this is going to blow your mind. The highest earner. The second highest earner, this game would just blow money out was Black Knight. Wow. I don't know and I'm not going to ask you to respond but back in 1987 that game would pull $150 a week at 50 cents a play. We had a ball bowler, a puck bowler. Those things are the greatest because you can put six people on them. They're a pain in the neck to But when you're collecting six out of shot, and it keeps playing, once somebody sees somebody playing, that game just keeps getting played. Oh, for sure. I mean, all the games here are 50 cents. What I do for the, usually when there's a launch party, before the launch party, I always turn off high scores and I turn off replays. And I make a dollar a game on the newest game. because I don especially since we almost a month away from the launch party I like to at least if you gonna practice and you wanna get good it gonna cost you a cost you a little bit more That why I do it You made a big investment in it But that the thought process behind it Right. I don't begrudge anybody for charging. I mean, the place I play, I don't have a place in southern New Hampshire anymore. But I went to New Jersey recently. I paid a buck and a half to play the Beatles game. Per game? That's a strong... $1.50 per game? One game. Wow. Beatles made 50 cents from day one. Right. But I'm just saying. My Batman 66 LE, which I unboxed in this room, which I took out. It's been here the longest. I want to give it a little break. It's been 50 cents since day one. It was probably one of the most expensive games. No, you're really... I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up and we started playing. I'm like, wow. And I started to feel guilty after a while, so I'll probably change things back to 50 cents probably next week. No. Look, man. Games are expensive. I don't begrudge anybody for trying to get a little bit of return on it. And you're right. I mean, hey, if people want to bone up on a game, I played, I went to the Houston show, which I told you about, and they had a couple there. I played that game so many times, but it's there. It wasn't like there was anybody behind me, so I was like, okay, take advantage of it and play it as many times as you can. Right, for sure. Let's see. Okay, here's a game. Did you get in on Rick and Morty? Of course, I got two. So look, here's the thing. I'm very close with Charlie and Katie, the whole Spooky family. Very close with them. I listen to their podcasts. I don't know them. But they seem like great people. For sure, for sure. People you like to hang out, have a beer with, play some pinball. So they actually visited here. They were going to a, I think it was like a horror show or something. or they met Alice Cooper in Arizona to deliver his game. Right. And then they were coming to a, excuse me, a horror show out here. And obviously we had to, and Charlie had texted me. He's like, we're actually going to, we're going to, he showed me a screenshot of their driving directions and their ETA to be here. So I was very excited to finally meet them in person. But it's funny, the story was spooky. Is I had a, I have American's Most Haunted and Rob Zombie. And I called over this and I called, talked to him and I'm like, Yeah, and I was very excited about the whole Spooky lineup. You're a TNA, too? I do. It's just I can't fit them all here, unfortunately. But I'm like, I was like, I kept calling myself Spooky West. Because nobody had these games. I was going to say, you have them all. Right, nobody had them here that you could play. And then Charlie's like, it's when he says story, when he was telling me, he's like, there's just some guy calling himself Spooky West. Like, what the hell is this guy, you know? And it's like all these years later now, like, we're very close. We did a launch party for TNA. We did a launch party for Alice Cooper. Alice Cooper That's the second game To leave the factory After the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Wow They don't want me to say What number my Rick and Morty are But it's We're having our launch party We're having our launch party Next month Right Yeah So they're Yeah Like I said I don't have this by me I have to go to Boston Right And that's 45 minutes Plus away Right It's not And they don't have They don't have I mean you have The latest and greatest. As I said to somebody before we got on, you've got the latest three games that have been released in the last six weeks. How many places have that? I'm going to guess zero to none. Very few. Probably the Banning. I'm wondering what we're going to see there. Are you planning on spending any time? I was going to go tomorrow, Friday. I was going to treat myself to a weekend of playing, but I don't think I'm going to be able to make it now because I've got inspections tomorrow. I can't. So the one time I missed an inspection, we ended up getting hit with like 10 different corrections. I was able to get into the tournament for tomorrow. But I'm not going to. I don't think I'm going to be able to make it. Oh, really? You got in? I did, yeah. I heard that sold out. It did sell out pretty fast, yeah. Yeah, I'm going, but taking my time. I'm not in tomorrow. Yeah. And I sponsored the event as well. So I sponsored the bounty portion. There's a bounty on some games. So I guess they're going to do it. There's a target score or something you have to do on the game. And if you get it, there's going to be a $50 bill under the glass. And then whoever wins that bounty. The bounty. Yes, so I sponsored that part of it. And, you know, Carl D'Python Anghelo, he plays in our league here. And he also comes to every tournament. And he's a good friend. And Jim Belcibo is a great guy. So it didn't feel right not being a part of it, at least sponsoring the event. I kind of got shut out, and I knew I was. I was able to interview Pete Christensen who does the Houston show and I said to myself after I go I'd really like to interview the people who run Indus but somebody who has visited you before is the official spokesperson do you know who I'm talking of? Jeff Gillis Jeff's been here before too no I know He was here, what, two months ago? Yeah. But he gave you about two seconds, and I said, you know what? I said, there's the opening. Let me call Shane. That's where I got the idea. So, Jeff, here again, I'm calling you out and saying thank you. Thank you for leaving the opening. He's a good guy. Yeah, he's a nice guy. Anything else you want to write? I think I've hit almost everything that I wanted to. Is there anything you want to add? I mean, our second location is opening hopefully by next weekend. Oh, that's soon? Yeah, very soon. That's why it's like crunch time. So I'm taking my time on the actual pinball room just because I want to put a little effort into it. I'm planning to do the Rick and Morty launch party there, actually. So I'll have a Rick and Morty here, and I'll have one for over there. When do you think that will happen? It'll be in February. It'll be next month in February. It's early, yeah. Okay, so scoop, people. there aren't going to be a lot of these games on site. No. So if you're in California or nearby, you know where to head. For sure. And I'm just waiting to finalize a ship date with Spooky so I can submit it to be on the calendar. But that's my plan. The first launch party will be there. And it'll be a different assortment of games. So it'll be a mixture of, I don't want it to just be a carbon copy of the games here. It'll be the same games there. So it'll be like, oh, if you want to play this game, you have to go to West Hills. and I still have some cards on my sleeve that I haven't pulled out yet so we'll see I want to thank you for sure, my pleasure California California In a car Always feature Bouty girl, she's a bouty girl Bouty girl, she's a bouty girl Holdin' a line, for sure, for sure She's a bouty girl And I'm hoping it's hard, I'll take mine, for sure, for sure, she's a Like, oh my god! Valley girl! Like, totally! Valley girl! And Cedar's like, so betcha! Valley girl! There's like, the Galleria! Valley girl!

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 4d9f50fb-7179-4d9f-a96a-8742b979dad4*