# Episode 108 MGC Suite Crashing and More

**Source:** Poor Man's Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2021-11-19  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://poormanspinballpodcast.libsyn.com/episode-108-mgc-suite-crashing-and-more

---

## Analysis

Host Drew recounts his experience at MGC (Milwaukee Gaming Convention) 2022, highlighting encounters with industry figures like George Gomez and Gary Stern, and discussing newly played games including Godzilla, Cactus Canyon, Legends of Valhalla, and Guns N' Roses. He advocates for increased attendance at MGC, shares personal pinball restoration projects (acquiring a Sorcerer machine), and updates on basement renovation and podcast network plans.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Godzilla is a must-have game after limited play; Guns N' Roses is incredible but hasn't clicked enough to justify $11,500 purchase price despite multiple playthroughs — _Host Drew, personal gameplay experience at MGC_
- [HIGH] Cactus Canyon playfield and RGB lighting are exceptional; wizard mode may be shallow initially but will improve under Lyman's coding work — _Host Drew discussing Chicago Gaming Company's Cactus Canyon after extended playtime and conversation with Ryan Dick White_
- [HIGH] Legends of Valhalla plays better at MGC than at Pinball Expo; game flows well but will suffer in market competition against $8,200-$8,400 price point due to Godzilla Premium Edition availability at similar price — _Host Drew, direct gameplay comparison across two shows_
- [MEDIUM] Totem is a classic Bally Williams game worthy of consideration for Chicago Gaming Company re-release; game deserves comparison to Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness — _Host Drew's first in-person experience with Totem after extensive digital play_
- [HIGH] MGC 2022 had fewer Poor Man's Pinball community members than Pinball Expo but higher quality machine condition overall — _Host Drew direct observation and comparison_
- [HIGH] MGC scheduling (one weekend after Texas Pinball Festival) creates significant attendance challenges for multi-regional travel — _Host Drew discussing logistics of consecutive festival attendance_
- [HIGH] Ryan Dick White shared insights about Chicago Gaming Company's release schedules, licensing, and upcoming features for Cactus Canyon menu that may not make final production — _Host Drew after 20-25 minute conversation with Ryan Dick White at MGC_
- [HIGH] George Gomez attended JJ's suite party at MGC and spent time conversing with host and friends — _Host Drew's direct account of Saturday night suite event_
- [HIGH] Poor Man's Pinball Podcast is transitioning to more frequent episodes (twice monthly) after basement renovation completion — _Host Drew discussing podcast production plans and basement project timeline_
- [HIGH] Max Senesac (Wisconsin tournament player and local league participant) has joined American Pinball staff — _Host Drew citing social media post observation and MGC encounter_

### Notable Quotes

> "They had Godzilla in there. My wife, of course, did her usual 'Oh, this is lame,' but you know, we checked out the suite."
> — **Drew (host)**, mid-episode
> _Humorous aside about spouse's reaction to pinball machines in social setting_

> "So it was so cool to give Gary Stern a high five. He still looks at me like he has no idea who I am, which is totally fine. I get it."
> — **Drew (host)**, suite section
> _Celebrity encounter moment highlighting host's recognition of industry hierarchy and good humor about anonymity_

> "That game fucking rocks, no pun intended... It kind of transcends a game and it becomes a concert-ramp-or-mode-name experience."
> — **Drew (host)**, Guns N' Roses discussion
> _Captures the unique experience design of Jersey Jack's Guns N' Roses while explaining hesitation to purchase_

> "I put a few games on [Godzilla], and I was just like, 'Yeah, this is it. This is great.'"
> — **Drew (host)**, game discussion section
> _Contrast to Guns N' Roses indecision; immediate clarity on must-have machines_

> "Sheldon... is such a unique tournament player because he is so into the magic and the games... He likes the magic moments. He's a moment maker as well as a score chaser."
> — **Drew (host)**, Godzilla gameplay section
> _Character observation about different tournament player philosophy beyond pure scoring_

> "The games were in much better shape than a lot of the games at Pinball Expo... the quality of the games, I think we can make this a really, really amazing show if we can get some more people on board."
> — **Drew (host)**, MGC assessment
> _Quality endorsement of MGC while critiquing low attendance relative to machine condition_

> "For four to six pins, this would probably be a good one. I don't know if you'd want this to be your only pin, but if you have a few, this could certainly make a good addition to your lineup."
> — **Drew (host)**, Cactus Canyon analysis
> _Positioning Cactus Canyon as complementary collection piece rather than centerpiece game_

> "I started scouring for one [Sorcerer], and lo and behold, I found a guy who was willing to part with it for cheap... it's 100 percent complete. It works. It's a little beat up."
> — **Drew (host)**, personal projects section
> _Acquisition of winter restoration project, establishing new content direction_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Drew | person | Host of Poor Man's Pinball Podcast; main narrator of MGC experience and personal pinball enthusiast/collector |
| George Gomez | person | Legendary pinball designer; encountered at JJ's suite party during MGC 2022; spent time conversing with host |
| Gary Stern | person | CEO of Stern Pinball; briefly encountered at JJ's suite party; host received high-five greeting |
| Ryan Dick White | person | Chicago Gaming Company representative; spent 20-25 minutes discussing release schedules, licensing, and Cactus Canyon menu features with host at MGC |
| Zach Sharpe | person | Pinball distributor and sponsor of Poor Man's Pinball Podcast; mentioned in opening sponsor segment |
| Sheldon | person | Tournament player known as 'Mr. NHL'; plays at local leagues; focuses on both scoring and appreciating game mechanics ('magic moments'); competed with host on Godzilla at MGC |
| Jeremy Schmitz | person | Tribe member of Poor Man's Pinball; attended MGC 2022; friend of Sheldon; league player |
| Eric | person | Tribe member; attended MGC 2022; ordered pizzas for group on Friday evening |
| Mike Harry Williams | person | Volunteer for Poor Man's Pinball Podcast; attended MGC; brought eight games; reportedly beat Cactus Canyon wizard mode on multiple instances |
| JJ | person | Game Exchange representative; hosted suite at MGC with games available; invited host and friends to social gatherings |
| Max Senesac | person | Wisconsin-based tournament player and local league participant; recently joined American Pinball staff in unspecified role |
| Dan Lusin | person | Organizer/operator of MGC (Milwaukee Gaming Convention); received praise for running high-quality show |
| Dave Brennan | person | American Pinball representative at MGC; ensured game machines were in top condition |
| Charlie | person | Leader/owner of Spooky Pinball; trusted Squirrel and Bug as ambassadors at MGC |
| Squirrel | person | Spooky Pinball ambassador at MGC 2022; represented company at convention |
| Bug | person | Spooky Pinball ambassador at MGC 2022; represented company at convention |
| Chris Minier | person | Kingpin Games representative at MGC; brother of Eric Minier |
| Eric Minier | person | Industry figure encountered at MGC; brother of Chris Minier |
| Fred Marco | person | Marco Specialties representative at MGC; maintained booth with large Godzilla inflatable display |
| Troy South | person | Tilt Amusements representative encountered at MGC |
| Jeff LaGrange | person | Tribe member; local Milwaukee resident; brought eight games to MGC; less active on social media than other community members |
| Lyman | person | Coder working on Cactus Canyon; expected to improve wizard mode depth after initial shallow code assessment |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Pinball manufacturer; released Cactus Canyon at MGC; discussed as potential re-release candidate for Totem |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; Godzilla available at MGC and through sponsoring distributor |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; created Guns N' Roses; available through sponsor distributor |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; released Legends of Valhalla; employs Max Senesac; priced at $8,200-$8,400 range |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; had booth at MGC with Halloween and Ultraman game setups |

### Topics

- **Primary:** MGC 2022 attendance and quality assessment, Godzilla (Stern) gameplay impressions and market position, Guns N' Roses (Jersey Jack) ambivalence and experience design, Cactus Canyon (Chicago Gaming) code depth and machine quality, Legends of Valhalla (American Pinball) and competitive pricing pressures
- **Secondary:** Classic machine appreciation (Totem, F-14 Tomcat, Sorcerer restoration), Poor Man's Pinball community tribe members and podcast expansion, Host's personal pinball restoration projects and basement renovation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Enthusiastic endorsement of MGC quality and games played; positive encounters with industry figures and community members; some reservation about Guns N' Roses pricing value and Legends of Valhalla competitive positioning; upbeat about podcast expansion and personal projects

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Godzilla Premium Edition at $10,000+ price point paired with immediate gameplay confidence creates market differentiation vs Guns N' Roses ambivalence at $11,500; pricing threshold affecting purchase decisiveness (confidence: high) — Host comparative statement: 'Like Godzilla—I put a few games on, and I was just like, Yeah, this is it. This is great... But I still... just with me, it hasn't quite clicked to the level of pulling the trigger on, you know, a $10,000 game—well, $11,500, as it were'
- **[community_signal]** Poor Man's Pinball Podcast expanding community infrastructure with 'Tribe Multiball' interview series, exclusive tribe membership (43 members), and merchandise collaboration with Silverball Swag (confidence: high) — Host: 'Rachel and Tim are still doing the Tribe Multiball, where they interview our tribe members... We have a papa dude long waiting list... We have this secret Facebook page just for the tribe members. So there's 43 of us right now... The last two inductees were a husband and wife: Jasper Rotter and his wife Madison Rotter'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Positive reception to Spooky Pinball's brand positioning with family-focused ambassadors (Squirrel and Bug); host approves of choice given company structure (confidence: medium) — Host: 'Spooky Pinball was there. They had Squirrel and Bug as the ambassadors for Spooky Pinball, which I thought is great because it is a family company and Charlie trusts them enough to be the ambassadors and they did a great job. They had a Halloween setup.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Tournament player 'Sheldon' (Mr. NHL) demonstrates unique playstyle emphasizing mechanical appreciation and 'magic moments' alongside competitive scoring; represents alternative tournament philosophy (confidence: medium) — Host characterization: 'Most tournament players are just like, How can I get the highest score? Now, he wants to do that as well... but he's like, Oh, did you see that thing? It's really cool... He's a moment maker as well as a score chaser'
- **[design_philosophy]** Guns N' Roses designed as premium concert experience transcending traditional pinball gameplay; exceptional production elements (music, lighting, ramps) but layout and middle playfield flow unclear in immediate appeal (confidence: medium) — Host: 'It is an amazing experience. It is unlike every other pinball game out there... It kind of transcends a game and it becomes a concert-ramp-or-mode-name experience... there's something about the layout, the way it shoots—I can't put my finger on it'
- **[event_signal]** MGC 2022 timing (April, one weekend after Texas Pinball Festival) creates logistical barrier to multi-regional attendance; host framing regional accessibility of Milwaukee vs Schaumburg as competitive advantage (confidence: high) — Host: 'it's happening again in April, which is only a few months away... it's one weekend after Texas Pinball Festival. So that really creates some problems because people... are not going to fly to Texas and then the next weekend fly to Milwaukee... Milwaukee, there's, you know, dozens and dozens of bars, restaurants, you know, places to go, we could hang out'
- **[event_signal]** MGC 2022 (Milwaukee Gaming Convention) successfully executed with high-quality machine conditions and industry attendance; host advocates for increased community participation for future iterations scheduled April 2022 (confidence: high) — Host attended, provided detailed venue assessment, praised machine quality, noted attendance lower than Pinball Expo but participant quality high; committed to campaign for increased attendance at April 2022 event
- **[market_signal]** Totem (classic Bally Williams) favorably assessed as worthy of re-release consideration by Chicago Gaming Company; directly compared to Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness in gameplay quality despite shallow original code (confidence: medium) — Host: 'Chicago Gaming Company should really, really consider making that one... I would put that up against, you know, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness, you know, lots of these Bally Williams games that are great, but it's up there'
- **[personnel_signal]** Max Senesac (Wisconsin tournament player, local league participant) recently hired by American Pinball in unspecified staff role (confidence: high) — Host: 'Max Senesac here from Wisconsin—apparently he's working for American Pinball. I saw a post the other day, actually. I ran into him at MGC as well... I sent him a thank you card. I sent him a congratulations card. I don't know exactly what he's doing'
- **[market_signal]** Legends of Valhalla at $8,200-$8,400 price point facing competitive pressure from Godzilla Premium Edition at roughly similar price; positioning creates market disadvantage for American Pinball (confidence: high) — Host: 'I do think that they are going to suffer a little bit just because of what else is in there in that price range. Because I believe they're $8,200, $8,400, whatever that number is... you can get a Godzilla Premium Edition for roughly the same price or a little bit more'
- **[product_concern]** Cactus Canyon wizard mode assessed as shallow in current code state but expected to improve under Lyman's development; game's RGB lighting and playfield sculpts praised as exceptional (confidence: high) — Host Drew: 'Some are still saying even the new code they have right now is a little shallow. Mike Harry Williams said he kind of beat the Wizard mode already on a couple of the games... Apparently Lyman's working on it, so obviously once Lyman gets his hands on it and gets done with it, that's going to be a masterpiece'
- **[product_strategy]** Chicago Gaming Company has tested features for Cactus Canyon menu that may not reach final production; development includes coil test variations and alternative menu design approaches (confidence: high) — Host after conversation with Ryan Dick White: 'He showed me the menu in Cactus Canyon and showed me some of the cool things that were in there and said some of them might not make it to production. They had some really cool tests in there for some of you nerdy people out there—you know, just a different way of looking at coil tests'

---

## Transcript

 this episode of the poor man's pinball podcast is brought to you by flipping out pinball our premier sponsor call zach and nicole today for all your new inbox pinball needs 812-457-9711 you want that new stern godzilla how about that jersey jack pinball Guns N' Roses LE. What about CGC's New Cactus Canyon? How about American Pinball's Legends of Valhalla? How about a Raw Thrills arcade game? Everything you want that has to do with pinball or arcades, call Zach. He's got all kinds of great accessories. He's even got the stair-climbing escalera. We are also brought to you by Doc Finlay, pinballprices.com. Just what the doctor ordered. Go to pinballprices.com to check out all the prices for all the games that have been sold online, in person. He logs them all. PinballPrices.com. Check out what your game is worth today. Get a good idea what you want to sell it for. PinballPrices.com. Done by Doc Finlay. Just what the doctor ordered. Welcome to the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast, episode 108, take number 2. We had some audio issues, something with Audacity, it was skipping, doing some weird shit. I couldn't fix it, so I'm going to try this again. It's not going to be nearly as long, it's not going to have all the content in it, but I just wanted to get something out there for you guys, and here we go. So instead of, you know, I'm going to talk a little bit about MGC. I'm going to talk a little bit about some of the games there and what's next for the Poor Man's Pinball podcast. So I went to MGC. Had a great time. Lots of great people there. However, my people, our people, the Poor Man's Pinball people, unfortunately there wasn't quite as many of us. So while the people that were there were definitely quality, there just wasn't the sheer numbers that was at Pinball Expo. So I think that's a little bit what was lacking because great show, excellent selection of games. The people that, once again, the people that were there were amazing. Marco's had that great booth with the big blow-up Godzilla, which was just fucking awesome. So I had a great time. I thought it was good. Tribe member Eric was there. Tribe member Jeremy Schmitz was there. Tribe member Mike Williams, he's a volunteer for the show, which we said before. He was there. Who else did I run into? Troy Smith, Troy South. He was there Win Schilling for tilt amusements. JJ from Game Exchange, he had a suite there again. I'll tell a little story about that here in a moment. we had a fun time with JJ Chris Minier, Kingpin Games, brother of Eric Minier, so the Minier boys were there said hello to both of them Spooky Pinball was there, they had Squirrel and Bug were the ambassadors for Spooky Pinball which I thought is great because it is a family company and Charlie trusts them enough to be the ambassadors and they did a great job. They had a Halloween set up. They had an Ultraman set up. We'll also talk a little bit about that as well when we get to the game portion here. Let's see. Who else did I run into? Oh, tribe member Jeff LaGrange. Shout out to him. He doesn't live on Facebook and online like the rest of us over here at the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast, but he is a tribe member. He is local here in Milwaukee. He brought eight games, which was freaking awesome. so that was very cool Emoto Harney was there with Marcos of course so it was good seeing her again I'm trying to make sure I didn't miss out on anyone Tribe member Eric I think I mentioned him he ordered pizzas for us one night which was great, it was kind of a long day and shout out to him for doing that but yeah so Friday night JJ had invited us to his suite He said, yeah, you guys can come hang out, you know, whenever. That's great. So my wife and Eric's wife were out drinking, celebrating my wife's new job. They were downtown Milwaukee. We're having fun playing some games. And then they wanted us to come out with them. And we said, no, we're having fun here. Why don't you come here? So the wife came and we said, yeah, we can go to the suite. And they said, okay, fine. We'll check it out. So we go up to the suite and the doors open. It's like a jar and there's nobody there. Literally nobody. so it's just the four of us we grabbed some drinks we hung out there were a couple games set up they had a godzilla in there um my wife of course did her usual oh this is lame but you know we checked out the suite we were there for a while then then eventually jj and some people came up and and we had had some drinks and had some fun so that was just cool but then the next night on saturday they had the suite going again they actually had a party they had some people up there and we go up and you know playing some games having some fun having some drinks and who shows up but none other than george gomez and gary stern so it was so cool give gary stern a high five he still looks at me like he has no idea who i am which is totally fine i get it and uh but george gomez sat and talked with us for a while and and shared some stories and we we shared some laughs and some jokes i got a i got a selfie with him we got a picture with him between godzilla and Monster Bash, so that was kind of neat. So just another amazing pinball experience. It's one of those things that I'm sure most people in the real world wouldn't care about, but for us in the pinball world, you know, they're the celebrities. That was just really cool, and George Gomez is a really nice guy, as you could imagine, and it was fun to spend a few moments with him at MGC, and yeah, it was a good time. So I could sit here and prattle on and prattle on. Like I said, One of the biggest issues for me was Dan Lusin, who runs the show, he did an amazing job. The show is great. Lots of fun. The games were amazing. The games were in much better shape than a lot of the games at Pinball Expo. But just once again, the number of what I'm just going to call my people, I mean, they had a great turnout. A lot of people were there. Amazing show I did meet some new people which is great But I would like to encourage everyone to attend this show And I know it hard especially since it was right after Expo So that's going to be tough. I'm going to start campaigning for this because I feel that MGC, not just because I'm a homer and it is my hometown, it really is a good show. Like I said, the quality of the games, I think we can make this a really, really amazing show if we can get some more people on board with what's going on here in Milwaukee. And unfortunately, or fortunately, it's happening again in April, which is only a few months away. You know, we're going to blank, winter's going to be over, and we're back to April, but it's one weekend after Texas Pinball Festival. So that really creates some problems because people, you know, people from the middle of the country or East Coast or West Coast, I'm sure most of them are not going to fly to Texas and then the next weekend fly to Milwaukee. So that's going to be the challenge. But like I said, I'm going to start campaigning. I'm going to do some podcasts, and we're going to talk about them and get Mike Williams on here. We're going to tell you why MGC is a better show, why I think we should go. One of the reasons is there's more hotels. There's a lot to do outside. I don't know about Texas, but another issue with Pinball Expo, and I think I talked about it, when you went outside, of the hotel, the convention center, you're not in Chicago, you're in Schaumburg, which means that there really wasn't a lot, you couldn't walk to anything, you know, you had to get in your car and go drive somewhere, a couple things we did, you know, we were driving 40 minutes, well, if we have this thing in Milwaukee, there's, you know, dozens and dozens of bars, restaurants, you know, places to go, we could hang out, we could do a lot of stuff, and if it's April and it's nice Carl Weathers, We could walk to most of this stuff. So I think, once again, it'll be a big push to do that. So that's my goal. That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to be there regardless, but I'd like to see more of you guys and gals come out and do that. So MGC 2022. So I keep going on about all these games. Let's get into it. They had Godzilla there, of course. So we blew that thing up and had a lot of fun with that. myself and Sheldon. Sheldon, for you guys who don't know, he's a tournament player. He's Mr. NHL, who I've talked about. I've been score chasing him forever. He's a friend of Jeremy Schmitz, and I see him at the leagues and stuff. And he is such a unique tournament player because he is so into the magic and the games, which most tournament players are just like, how can I get the highest score? Now, he wants to do that as well, and he is a really great player, but he's like, oh, did you see that thing? It's really cool. And, you know, how does, you know, this magnet and the way that the building collapses and all these different things. And he likes the magic moments. He's a moment maker as well as a score chaser. So very, very cool. And him and I played some games. He, of course, kicked my ass. I think one ball he put up like, I don't know, half a billion on Godzilla and ended up with like $1.5 billion when he was done or something stupid. And he was teaching me some of the stuff he already knew about the game. So he's telling me, okay, do this, start this battle, this is how you do this. And he's really in tune with the rules, and he takes the time to really, really learn the rules when a new game comes out. So big shout-out to Sheldon, Mr. NHL himself. I'm going to continue to chase your scores, even though I'm never going to catch you. That's fine. I enjoy it. I had fun. It was really cool hanging out with you. What else did we play? Cactus Canyon. I can't say enough good things about this. Oh, I did spend a lot, not a lot, I spent 20 to 25 minutes talking with Ryan White, and he was super generous with his time, and he told me so much about what's going on at CGC. I asked him a bunch of questions about, you know, we talked about release schedules and trade secrets and different things. And he shared a little bit with me. There's a couple of things that I won't share because I promised I wouldn't. But we talked about licensing and he just he just shared a bunch of cool things. He showed me the menu in Cactus Canyon and showed me some of the cool things that were in there and said some of them might not make it to production. They had some really cool tests in there for some of you nerdy people out there. You know, just a different way of looking at coil tests and how they have their menu set up. So some very cool stuff. But the game itself is beautiful. They did a great job with that Bally Williams package. He said package. You know, the art on there is very vibrant. Yeah, the cabinet, I do agree. Some people have said it is a little dull. They probably could have done something a little different like Radcals or whatever, but the play field looks amazing. All the sculpts are great. The RGB lighting is just off the hook, just crazy, crazy good. Some are still saying even the new code they have right now is a little shallow. Mike Williams said he kind of got to the wizard mode already on a couple of games. So I don't know. That can obviously all be changed. apparently Lyman's working on it so obviously once Lyman gets his hands on it and gets done with it that's going to be a masterpiece I'm sure so so well done Cactus Canyon if you have a family if you have five or six pins in your collection this I think would be a great addition for for yeah four four to six pins this would probably be a good one I don't know if you'd want this to be your only pin but if you have a few this this could certainly make a good addition to your lineup American Pinball, Legends of Valhalla I got some more time on it I thought that one was great as well this one was it just played better than the one at Expo so I got to experience more of the flow Dave Jeff Brenner was there making sure that these games were in top notch condition and they were so hats off to American Pinball, animations look really good you can look it up Legends of Ahala. It's a mythology type game and cool theme. Not something I'm going to put in my game room, but it did shoot well. It had good flow and I think it's going to be it's going to do okay for American pinball, but I do think that they are going to suffer a little bit just because of what else is in there in the price range. Because I believe they're $8,200, $8,400, whatever that number is So it going to suffer a bit because you can get a Godzilla premium for roughly the same price or a little bit more but if they can keep selling more every single time they release a game then i'm sure it's it's gonna go well so so once again hats off to them their design team and uh everyone involved at american pinball and also our friend max senesac here from wisconsin apparently he's working for american pinball um i saw a post the other day actually I ran into him at MGC as well. He's a tournament player, plays in some local leagues here. Known him. He's like a super nice guy. He put a post up. He is working at American Pinball. So I sent him a thank you card. I sent him a congratulations card. I don't know exactly what he's doing, but I'm excited to hear about it, and we'll see how that goes for Max. So congratulations, Max, on getting that job at American Pinball. then I also got some time to spend on Guns and Roses again and I'm so I'm so back and forth with this game because it is an amazing experience it is unlike every other pinball game out there and every other pinball game ever made but now that I've spent some more time on it there's something about the layout the way it shoots I can't put my finger on it's not bad I just I just can't say must have at the moment because like i said i love the music i love what they're doing i love the package package again i love i love the the lights and and the light show and the concert and how they put it all together but i don't know you get these multi balls and then that the kind of middle section gets muddled up um i don't know maybe i just need to probably spend some more time on it so you know they're gonna be making them for a while so obviously if I want to get one, I can. I just keep going back and forth, and for that much money, I really need to be sure. Like Godzilla, I put a few games on, and I was just like, yeah, this is it. This is great. So we'll see what happens, but I still want to congratulate the team there at JJP, because that game fucking rocks, no pun intended. So anyone who does have it, I'm sure they love it. I'm sure, you know, and if I did put it in my house, I'm sure I'd play the hell out of it. And it's, it's just, it is an amazing game. It's an amazing experience, which is really what it is. It's, it's, it kind of transcends a game and it becomes a, a concert rock experience. So, um, can't say enough good things about it, but like I said, just with me, it hasn't, hasn't quite clicked to the level of, uh, pulling the trigger on a, you know, a $10,000 toy, well, $11,500 toy, as it were. So then there were also a lot of older games there, and I want to talk about a couple of those. Toten, never played a Toten in real life, played a lot of digital, and I really enjoyed it. That really does have the Bally Williams magic you always hear about, and playing one in person. And the one we were playing, by the way, was a really nice example. I mean, it was tight. It played well. So Toten's a game. It's a great game. Those mechs are great. All the diverters on the ramps, everything they have going on in there just makes it a complete package. And I think CGC should really, really consider making that one. I'm sure it's on their list. I'm sure they've obviously talked about it. But that one is something that really needs some more consideration if they're not at the moment. because I would put that up against, you know, Attack from Mars, Medieval Madness, you know, lots of these Bally Williams games that are great, but it's up there. And, you know, if they change the code on that one, because a lot of people say that code's shallow too, but that's what they did back then, so, you know, whatever. But they can easily do that. That's the easy part in today's world. So not to take anything away from you coders out there. I know there's a lot of challenges, but just in general, pinball is hard. Get some good coders and make that a great game, better than already great game. Then in the same area, there was a F-14, and I know you guys are like, oh, what the hell, it's just an F-14. Yes, but this one had, I don't know if they make a hard top for it, and I'm too lazy to Google it, But it either had a hard top or a brand new play field, and it was beautiful, and it was the best example of F-14 I've ever seen. Amazing. It was just fun to see that because they're always beat up, right? Like I had one. It had some water damage on the cabinet, you know, and they're always just beat to hell. So seeing one in that shape was super, super cool. and then next to that was something that I'm going to talk about because this affects me personally was a sorcerer okay sorcerer has always kind of been on my radar just because um because of the art I saw it you know I've I've always kind of said oh you know what kind of older games do I want and then that one's always just kind of stuck with me for whatever reason um you know wizards and dragons and just cool stuff so it's just kind of it's kind of a unique layout with those um those six targets in the middle or however many, five, six, seven, whatever it is. But anyways, this one also was a very nice example. You know, mirrored back glass, you know, new play field, just a sharp-looking machine. So after MGC, I started scouring for one, and lo and behold, I found a guy who was willing to part with it for cheap. and um you know it's it's 100 complete it works it's a little beat up playfield's got a few um marks but that's okay because this is my winter project now i'm gonna restore sorcerer um because i was able to get it for a reasonable price and i'm not even talking about like today's world reasonable price i mean it was just it was just a reasonable price all around so um you know i'm gonna i'm gonna restore it i'm gonna get a new playfield because they uh mirko and cpr so i'm going to have to reach out to some of you guys who know better than I do. And if you, if you know, send it poor man's pinball at gmail.com. Should I go with Mirko or CPR for the play field? Cause they both sell them. They're both in stock. They're both roughly the same price. I think they're within 50 bucks. So let me know. Poor man's pinball at gmail.com. Should I go with Mirko or CPR You know what I even going to put a I going to put a poll up on our Facebook fan page because I think that just be a fun little poll for us So poll So anyways uh yeah so uh sorcerer will be getting shipped here I don know hopefully in a week or 10 days or whatever it is, I'll take some pictures. Um, so that's what we got. So, you know, kind of full circle here we are poor man's pinball personal news. I didn't really label it cause it's just me yammering on like an idiot as usual, but, uh, that's what it is. So, uh, with that, we might as well just talk about my basement too, because there's a lot going on with that. Um, the podcasts are hopefully, hopefully going to get more frequent because I currently have, uh, the walls framed up and we're going to be starting drywall. I have a contractor friend who's helping me cause, uh, it was just, you know, with, with work and family and starting my new career, my wife's starting her new career. Um, I just, I didn't have the time and all the skills necessary to do this all myself. So I'm so thankful to have some friends that are helping me and some people that I'm paying. So we're going to get it done. I'm still doing some of the work myself. But anyways, I'll put some pictures up. My wife's getting her office. I'm getting my pinball hall and pinball hall. Well, pinball area, I guess. But either way, it's going to be great for everybody because I can spend some more time down there, get some of these projects going, and then really focus on the Poor Man's Pinball Network that we're kind of getting ready to do some new things with. So it's a little tongue-in-cheek. I'm not ripping off Zach because Zach's great, but we might call it PPN. What do you guys think? The PPN? Yeah, I think it's got some legs. We'll see what happens. but anyways this uh basement project should be done in about a week to 10 days um so we're getting a lot closer with that and then uh we'll have some some more good things to share with you guys oh and before i forget um silverballswag.com they are not a sponsor but they do help us with our merchandise so go to silverballswag.com we have some new merch up okay and we have this little contest going. So Tim Lee, as you guys heard in the Expo episode, came to Expo wearing a shirt that says Drew Sucks at Pinball. And I thought it was so hilarious and so great that I talked to Will and Jeff and we got these shirts up and running now. So we have shirts, hoodies, the baseball, like what do they call them, the three quarters shirts with the shorter sleeves. So some very cool stuff. But the best part about it is you can customize them. So you can put anybody sucks at pinball. But what we want to do is we want to see between Drew and Tim Lee who sucks more. So we're having a contest. We'll probably run it through Christmas or the end of the year. And it also helps support Poor Man's Pinball podcast, support everything that we're doing here. So I do appreciate all of it. But you can go there. You can put someone's name on it. They ship in regular time. I already got one. And my wife, she's like, I want one of those. So my wife has not asked for any poor man's merchandise up until now. So we're getting her a shirt that says Drew Sucks at Pinball. I got one that says Tim Lee Sucks at Pinball. I got one for my son that says Drew Sucks at Pinball. Tim Lee got one that says Drew Sucks at Pinball, of course. A few more have been ordered. These just went up this week or I think late last week. so go to silverbellswag.com check it out, order some shirts, order some other merch, we still got the mugs and the other hoodies and the OG stuff and the podcast stuff so check it out guys silverbellswag.com I know this was a short episode, this was take 2 I hope the audio does much better on here, I think it is I'm still working through some of this stuff but we are going to get it done so thank you so much this was episode 108 we will try to get back on a more regular schedule probably twice a month so just bear with me poor man's pinball at gmail.com see I feel like Ian now if you want to reach us like us on Facebook poor man's pinball fan page there's always lots of good stuff going on there real quick I just want to touch on the tribe before I go here so Rachel and Tim are still doing the tribe Multiball, where they interview our tribe members, and we get to learn about these interesting people and what they're doing in their lives inside of pinball, outside of pinball. It's an amazing show, so listen to Tim and Rachel, Tribe Member Multiball. Sorry, Tribe Multiball with Tim and Rachel. See, I got to even learn these names. Tribe Multiball with Tim and Rachel, so check that out. We are going to be inducting a few more tribe members this year yet. So it is a really cool exclusive club. We have a pretty long waiting list. We have people that always ask about it, people that want to be in it. It's great. We have this secret Facebook page just for the tribe members. So there's 43 of us right now. The last two inductees were a husband and wife. It was Jasper Rotter and his wife Madison Rotter who they're both amazing pinball people and great additions to our tribe so once again check us out like us on Facebook email me at poormanspinball at gmail.com and you too might have a chance to get into that tribe so thank you so much for all the support and we will talk to you guys soon I wonder what's inside your bum Maybe disaster, not just maybe disaster All inside your bum Maybe inside your bum I don't know what I'm gonna do Maybe inside your bum I don't know what I'm gonna do Thank you.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 644a41e7-f0a3-4c29-93c3-20e29a078f1b*