# Ep 89 - SWL Closing Time

**Source:** Special When Lit  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2020-02-05  
**Duration:** 70m 0s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://specialwhenlitpinballpodcast.com/ep-89-swl-closing-time

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## Analysis

Special When Lit Pinball Podcast closes after 89 episodes. Co-hosts Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb reflect on the show's journey, thanking guests, friends, and community members who supported them. They announce the podcast will remain archived and may return for special announcements or critical industry issues, while continuing collaborations with Bill on other projects.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Episode 89 is the final episode of Special When Lit Pinball Podcast — _Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb opening the episode, clearly stating 'Welcome, Pinball Land, to episode 89, the final episode of Special and Lit Pinball Podcast'_
- [HIGH] The podcast archive will remain active on Lipson hosting indefinitely — _Ken: 'we're just going to keep that active' and 'don't unsubscribe from us, from your podcast catcher. Keep us in rotation, and you'll be notified if we do come out with anything.'_
- [HIGH] The hosts may return for special episodes if something critical emerges in the hobby — _Ken: 'if there's ever something detrimental or something that really needs to be discussed in the hobby and you and I were pissed off enough, do we fire these things back up? Yeah, I would never say never.'_
- [HIGH] Ken and Bill will continue working together on other projects outside of the weekly podcast format — _Ken: 'myself and Bill, we're still working together on a couple different things, inside of media-type stuff and outside of media-type stuff'_
- [HIGH] Steve Ritchie was interviewed at Stern Pinball offices (Episode 11) — _Ken: 'Episode 11, Steve Ritchie comes in... We went into Stern, and we did that interview, and he was real cordial'_
- [HIGH] The podcast had approximately 40 guest appearances in Episode 30 holiday special — _Ken: 'Episode 30 was our holiday special. We had 40 guests on from all over the place'_
- [HIGH] Brian Eddy was working on and teasing Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, which later became Stranger Things — _Ken: 'he was teasing Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and later 'he's working on the game, which ended up being Stranger Things. Ken's dream thing.'_
- [HIGH] The hosts attended Texas Pinball Festival and Chicago Pinball Expo as podcast events — _Ken discussing meeting Mark Silk at 'Chicago Pinball Expo' and multiple references to Texas Pinball Festival trips_

### Notable Quotes

> "We've reached the pinnacle. Plateau. The plateau. The end of the road."
> — **Ken Cromwell**, Early in episode
> _Opening statement about the podcast's conclusion with characteristic humor_

> "If we can get 100 people to listen to the show, it's going to be worth us doing it every single week."
> — **Ken Cromwell**, Mid-episode
> _Reflects on the podcast's modest original goals and its surprising success_

> "That was one of those first emails where I was like, Bill, you got to read this. this is pretty awesome that just the two of us talking about pinball can impact somebody in a way."
> — **Ken Cromwell (reflecting on Rob Burton's NICU message)**, Early-mid episode
> _Emotional moment highlighting the podcast's unexpected human impact beyond entertainment_

> "The podcast might be going away, but it's really not going away. We're still, you know, anyone we've been corresponding with, we're still going to correspond with."
> — **Bill Webb**, Mid-episode
> _Clarifies that personal relationships formed through the podcast will continue_

> "You've got to be careful with that romaine. Like it's been sitting out. I'm going to get some salmonella offered or something."
> — **Jack Danger (at Ken's house for Episode 25 recording)**, During guest story segment
> _Anecdote showing Jack Danger's personality and technical attention to detail_

> "Bill, I don't think you could be completely more wrong in this situation."
> — **Roger Sharp (paraphrased by Ken)**, Discussing Episode 27
> _Characterizes Roger Sharp's eloquent but cutting correction style_

> "I am like your unofficial sponsor. I'm like, yeah, at least I pay for my stuff."
> — **Bill Webb and Ken Cromwell (Terry Deswart interaction at Pinball Life)**, Mid-episode discussion of past episodes
> _Shows ongoing relationship with Pinball Life sponsor and business connection_

> "You don't sound like you certainly you don't look how you sound... you used to get that quite a bit but now people see on the streams and you're... infinitely famous for being bill webb... infamous."
> — **Ken Cromwell (to Bill Webb)**, Later in episode
> _Light-hearted observation about Bill's growing recognition from streaming_

> "I'd love to say he was just upset, but he was pissed. I've told that story three times... and it's funny to me every time I actually talk about it."
> — **Ken Cromwell (about Steve Ritchie's reaction to Twilight Zone comment)**, Late in episode
> _Recurring humorous anecdote from a notable interview_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Special When Lit Pinball Podcast | organization | Pinball podcast hosted by Ken Cromwell and Bill Webb; ended after 89 episodes; archive remains active |
| Ken Cromwell | person | Co-host of Special When Lit, pinball community figure, podcast producer; continuing work on other projects |
| Bill Webb | person | Co-host of Special When Lit, pinball enthusiast; continuing work with Ken on other projects |
| Joe Fox | person | Early supporter of the podcast; contacted Ken after hearing about fishtail sales; described as 'one of the most incredible people' |
| Dwight Sullivan | person | First guest on Episode 3 of Special When Lit; personal friend of hosts; helped establish podcast credibility |
| Rob Burton | person | Listener who was in NICU with daughter for ~40 days; found comfort in podcast; sent impactful email to hosts |
| Mark Silk | person | UK-based pinball enthusiast; provided technical audio support; performed voice work; met hosts at Chicago Pinball Expo |
| Terry Deswart | person | Owner of Pinball Life; appeared on podcast (Episode 4); business sponsor of Bill's projects; known for intense personality |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Designer at Stern Pinball (Episode 11 guest); known as 'master of flow' and 'king of pinball'; interviewed at Stern offices |
| Scott Denise | person | Guest on Episode 14; friend of hosts; teased game number two (House Party) at time of interview |
| Nirmal Vasani | person | Former sales and marketing manager for American Pinball (Episode 16); later moved to parent company Ametron |
| Todd Tuckey | person | Interviewed via Skype (Episode 24); from arcade background; associated with TNT Amusement; had book published |
| Jack Danger | person | Guest on Episode 25 (Dead Flip); designer; only episode Bill Webb missed due to family emergency; technical and knowledgeable |
| Roger Sharp | person | Guest on Episode 27; pinball industry veteran; known for eloquent corrections and brilliant insights; had dinner with hosts after interview |
| Brian Eddy | person | First podcast appearance on Episode 28; hired at Stern; working on Stranger Things game; brought girlfriend Jenny |
| Zach Minney | person | Guest on Episode 31; became distributor for Flippin' Out Pinball; known from Twip podcast community |
| John Borg | person | Guest on Episode 33 roundtable discussion about Munsters game release |
| Chris Franchi | person | Guest on Episode 33 roundtable (phone); participated in Munsters discussion |
| Jerry Thompson | person | Guest on Episode 33 roundtable (West Coast phone); helpful to show; became close friend; socialized at Texas Pinball Festival |
| Steven Bowden | person | Guest on Episode 36; maintains Fun with Bonus website; former Deep Root employee; described as mellow and down-to-earth |
| Eric Minier | person | Guest at Jersey Jack Pinball offices; discussed pirates; described as kind and generous with time |
| Brent Bruner | person | Guest from Great Lakes Pinball; startup founder; legally blind; working on Expose project; described as genuine |
| Greg Freres | person | Art department lead at Stern Pinball; guest on Episode 38; interviewed at Stern offices |
| Steve Martin | person | Art department manager at Stern Pinball; guest on Episode 38 alongside Greg Freres |
| Pinball Life | company | Parts supplier and business; owner Terry Deswart; sponsor of Bill Webb's projects; multiple guest appearances |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Podcast Conclusion and Legacy, Community and Listener Impact, Guest Retrospective and Appreciation, Hosts' Future Plans
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball and Industry Relationships, Pinball Expo and Tournament Events, Game Development (Stranger Things, Munsters, House Party), Pinball Community Friendships and Networking

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Bittersweet farewell. Hosts express genuine gratitude, celebrate community relationships, and emphasize continued friendships. Emotional moments discussing listener impact (Rob Burton in NICU). Upbeat tone maintained throughout with humor and hope for future projects. Some wistfulness about ending but constructive about legacy and continued presence.

### Signals

- **[content_signal]** Special When Lit Pinball Podcast ending after 89 episodes; hosts indicate potential for special episodes if industry-critical issues arise (confidence: high) — Ken and Bill explicitly state Episode 89 is the final episode, but archive remains active and 'we might have different things we can pop back up'
- **[community_signal]** Podcast created meaningful connections between hosts and international/diverse audience; cited example of listener (Rob Burton) finding comfort during NICU stay (confidence: high) — Rob Burton email and multiple international listener mentions (Australia, UK, Canada); Ken states 'people that never would have crossed paths with us for any other reason'
- **[personnel_signal]** Nirmal Vasani transitioned from American Pinball sales/marketing to parent company Ametron; successor Dan now in position (confidence: high) — Ken: 'Nirmal was the sales and marketing manager for American Pinball. He since moved on to the Ametron side of things... And you got Dan now in that position'
- **[product_strategy]** Brian Eddy was working on Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure which later became Stranger Things at Stern (confidence: high) — Ken: 'he was teasing Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure' and 'he's working on the game, which ended up being Stranger Things'
- **[content_signal]** Multiple pinball podcasts mentioned as alternatives where listeners can find content; indicates active podcast ecosystem (confidence: medium) — Ken directs pinball news listeners to 'other podcasts' as Special When Lit is closing; references to Twip and other shows in discussion
- **[event_signal]** Hosts attended Chicago Pinball Expo and Texas Pinball Festival as podcast-related events; met guests in person (confidence: high) — Multiple references to Texas Pinball Festival, Chicago Pinball Expo, meeting Mark Silk at expo, dinner events after interviews
- **[community_signal]** Podcast attracted international audience including Australia, UK, and Canada; fostered cross-border friendships (confidence: high) — References to 'Rorden' in Australia, Mark Silk in UK, Canadian listeners; Ken discusses 9,200 miles away friend
- **[venue_signal]** Great Lakes Pinball team opened a barcade while working on Expose project; project possibly on hiatus (confidence: medium) — Ken: 'those guys opened up like an arcade, a barcade out in their area' and 'that project went on a little bit of a break'
- **[business_signal]** Pinball Life provides ongoing parts support and sponsorship for community projects; strong B2B relationships (confidence: high) — Bill describes Terry Deswart as 'unofficial sponsor of every project I ever have' and continuing business relationship
- **[design_philosophy]** Industry designers (Steve Ritchie, Jack Danger, Roger Sharp) made themselves available for podcast interviews, showing openness to media (confidence: medium) — Multiple designer guests interviewed at their offices or homes; noted cordial and helpful demeanor

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## Transcript

You want to open up the podcast with some music? Because I'm going to open up with a... Open up like you're going to air it with music? A bear. A beer, I mean. No, man, just because what we've always done for every episode is you always have your music that you play. So just play it, man. I mean, we'll have our opening music later, but... How do I say goodbye To what we had The good times that made us laugh Are waking back I thought we'd get to see forever But forever's gone away It's so hard to say goodbye To yesterday To yesterday Coming at you out of St. Charles, Illinois, the special WEM Lit Pinball Podcast starts now. Hey, what's going on, Pinball Land? It's it. We've reached the pinnacle. Plateau. The plateau. The end of the road. We're going, I guess, not off the cliff. But it's just... Dude, pardon me. Anyways, welcome. Welcome, Pinball Land, to episode 89, the final episode of Special and Lit Pinball Podcast. My name's Ken Cromwell. And I am Bill Webb. And today, we are not going to be covering the pinball news. So if you're here for pinball news, you're going to want to check out some of the other podcasts. We are here to say so long and goodbye and hasta la vista and thank you. But is it really goodbye? No. Are we really done? It's goodbye is Special and Lit Pinball Podcast. Yeah, we'll see. Yeah, for now it is. We're going to shut it down. We are going to shut it down. But here's the thing, though, dude. I think if there's ever something detrimental or something that really needs to be discussed in the hobby and you and I were pissed off enough, do we fire these things back up? Yeah, I would never say never. I mean, so I think what we decided to do is as far as the episodes that we've recorded, because they're all stored over at Lipson. They're online, right? But so we pay for the hosting for Lipson to kind of carry our podcast. So instead of not keeping that alive and letting that go away, we're just going to keep that active. And then, yeah, we might have different things we can pop back up on and talk on Special When Lit. I know we talked about doing some projects together, and it'd be fun to, where it might not warrant a weekly podcast, it'd be fun to give some personal updates on that sort of thing we can jump on with Special When Lit. So the reason we're saying that is don't unsubscribe from us, from your podcast catcher. Keep us in rotation, and you'll be notified if we do come out with anything. Yeah, because I know there's a couple of things that I'd still like to go over at some point. Just not now, as time and time and time are limited as limited could be. So what we'll do is before the end of the episode, we can just kind of discuss what our plans are moving forward so people know where they can catch us, because myself and Bill, we're still working together. on a couple different things, inside of media-type stuff and outside of media-type stuff. So that is going to be fun. But I thought today we would kind of just freestyle it. I don't know if this podcast is going to be 15 minutes long or if it's going to be two hours long. I guess anybody that's pressed play at this point can see how long the podcast is going to go. Yeah, yeah. I mean, hey, you know, we figured we'd just ride this out and see where it takes us. I was very hesitant to kind of prepare anything in the way of thank yous. And simply because there are so many people that I would like to offer a thanks for, for either helping us or supporting us or playing a part of the show. I didn't want to forget anybody inadvertently because the way that my mind works, I'm 44 years old now. I don't remember things as well as I did even five years ago, and I'm not quite sure why. Because kids. It is kids, man. They suck the life out of you after you bring life to them. Yes, they suck your brains out like it's hard. Everything is, you're right, it's the kids. And they're petri dishes. So everybody, I have to apologize for last week. So last week we caught the Ebola flu virus, outbreak monkey virus from my daughter going to daycare because it's a petri dish. So that's why we had to cancel last week because I didn't want to subject Ken or his family to said virus. Yes, thank you for that. That was awful. Yeah, you were out. You're never really sick. No, I was out four days from work, man. I haven't had a – I don't think I've ever taken four days off of work, man. I believe it. I've had wisdom teeth pulled, and I go in the next day. Yeah, we were supposed to do episode 89 last week, and then this was going to be episode 90 this week. So we're just going to bundle it up and make 89 the end of the line, so to speak, on Special Unlit. I am going to jump in. I'm going to cut you off here, though. It only took you 89 episodes. Yeah, a lot of practice, man. So, you know, we have a lot of vendors and people that are also in this hobby of ours that I would like to say thank you to as well. But I want to first start off with like one of the first people that I think we were like 10 episodes in, dude. And I was talking about selling fishtails. And this gentleman contacted me the next day. He goes, after I listed the machine, like 12 hours after talking about selling it. And that would be our good friend, Joe Fox. Joe's been one of the most incredible people that I've met, not just in pinball, but just in life in general. What a super nice guy. Great dude. Yep. Great dude. I would absolutely agree with that. So I'm kind of going to listeners and people that I've connected with outside of the podcast that I talk to a little more frequently. And it's not that I don't want to thank everybody. It's just I'm literally going off the top of my head right now, and it's been a crazy day. I'm going to use our episode list. We're not going to cover every episode. That would be 89 reasons not to listen to this show because, I mean, my gosh, they're all kind of archived. That being said, I would like to kind of call attention like some of the people that came on the show and kind of got us going, and that is going to be Dwight Sullivan, right? Dwight. And I look at Dwight as a personal friend. Let me run down a couple more names, and I'm going to let you take this over. Oh, sure, please. I thought we were going back and forth. No, because otherwise I will definitely forget. And we were just going to try to one-up each other. But I can't one-up you on Joe Fox because that's like the pinnacle of calling people out. Dude, another one that was very impactful to, I think, both of us. Rob Burton. Oh, absolutely. Rob had a child. That was the first kind of, I mean, we had received emails. Yes. But that was one of the first emails where I looked at you and I was like, man, we're actually really making a little bit of a difference here. And Rob had, he was in the NICU for a while. 40-some days with his daughter. And he was saying that our podcast was really helped him to kind of pass the time and he appreciated our efforts. And to know that we were kind of getting somebody through some spare time that they were dealing with was pretty humbling, man. And I really enjoyed that. Because he was driving back and forth to work, to the hospital, and just all these crazy situations. And that was real impactful. Honestly, I got chills just talking about it. Yeah. I mean, now listen. Now some of you are going to be like, oh, you got chills talking about, oh, my gosh, somebody emailed you. It wasn't that. It was like, when we started the podcast, we were like, if we can get 100 people to listen to the show, it's going to be worth. Successful. It's going to be worth us doing it every single week. And the show caught on. But that was one of those first emails where I was like, Bill, you got to read this. this is pretty awesome that just the two of us talking about pinball can impact somebody in a way. Got him through a rough spot. Got him through some tough times. But it gave him something that he could get mindless on when he's going through a lot. Exactly. And if anyone does email you and says anything bad about having chills from that, I dare them, you know, send it to specialinlit at gmail.com. We'll get right back to you. Put attention, Bill, and we can talk about it off the air because I don't care. Wow, Bill's feisty on episode 89. He's got the chills and he don't care if you don't care. It's not that I don't care, man. It's that other things are more important at different times. Agreed. You got some tenacity to you today, some spark. I'm the eye of the tiger. I've had six days of rest. Yeah, you're all fired up. Yeah. Bill's going out with a bang, ladies and gentlemen. I just got the chills. Listen, okay. Yeah. And I think we've both now been in positions where, you know, liver or kidney. Dude, certain life things put things in different perspectives. And here, we lost my father-in-law during the course of this. I mean, it's not that you don't care about this hobby. It's just other things take precedence. So if anyone doesn't understand that, then I really wish I had their life because they had the luxury of not having to go through those things. Right. Another person that I really wanted to thank is Thomas in Alaska. Yeah, that's your guy. Great guy. And I still correspond with him, but I wanted to give him a public acknowledgement. And honestly, there's a couple others, but I'll be here the rest of the night. So just wanted to give a shout-out to those guys before we go into sponsors and guests and everything else. See, the thing is, we received a lot of amazing emails that we were able to kind of read and correspond with people privately. And sadly, a couple of amazing emails that for whatever reason, I didn't get a chance to reply to. And I'm regretful for doing that. But we never really had like a mailbag segment on the show. I mean, that's some people do that in the early stages. Like if we had something that we thought was like impactful feedback, we wanted to go ahead and read that on the show. But after that, it was more about not sharing people's stories or appreciation or or information, but more so just kind of having the correspondence in private with people. And that was kind of the most rewarding thing that I will take away from us doing this show together is the amount of people that we were able to kind of reach and that reached out to us and those friendships. Again, people that never would have crossed paths with us for any other reason other than this podcast. And I'm going to throw one more out there. Yeah, please. Throw as many as you want. Hey, we're only like 10 minutes into this, man. Go for it. Our brother, Rorden. Our brother is amazing. 9,200 miles away. Yes. You know, brother, you know, I mean, just an awesome guy, man. And having that experience at TPF last year, I wish we were there for this year. But, you know, sacrifices and family and other stuff kind of come first this year. Exactly. But that's another great person that we met that we would have never had this opportunity. Yeah. You know, and then you got Rorden sending, you know, pictures to your Facebook. Hey, man, look what I just drove by. You know, he's got a picture of some kangaroos. And it's like, wow, what a different society he lives in versus us. That's right. We're in the winter, and he's out in the pool, like literally. Dude, I was talking with him yesterday, and he's like, yeah, dude, just taking a dip in the pool, mate. And he sent me a screenshot. It's like 100 out there, and I'm like, dude, I'm staring at Snow Roden. I know. Seriously. It's just hilarious. A lot of Australians that we became close to through the podcast, Canadians north of the border, people that we would probably never have met or at least had a relationship with. No, if it wasn't for the podcast. So, I mean, for that, I'm super grateful. When I think about people overseas in the UK, Mark Silk, you know, Mark, geez, one of those guys. Great guy. Yes. And in Mark, for those of you that, you know, have followed the podcast, Mark helped us out early on with. It's something as simple as kind of getting our our equalizer setting set in on our on our soundboard for him to kind of help with settings. And then he started helping out with some voice work for the show. But then we realized quickly that we did have a lot of things in common. And then after over a year, we got a chance to meet Mark because Mark had come in for a pinball expo. And we met. He came to Steve Beatty's house when we were doing the expo epic tailgate party. And it's the first time we really got a chance, man. I loved seeing him, giving him a big hug and being like, man, it's Mark Silk. And he's just always from across the pond, from across the pond. dude can do some voices that will literally make your skin or i mean just crazy dude he did casey casem you weren't there for that but i'm a dude i swear casey casem was like channeling through mark with how spot on he was well i know we don't talk about like airing segments and whatnot or or emails but mark did have a message for us so i'll go ahead and play it real quick ladies and gentlemen, official fanfare, please. Hi, Ken. Hi, Bill. This is Mark Silk, your official Special When Lit UK cheerleader. Thank you so much for creating this fantastic podcast. Genuinely, I really appreciate the hard work and commitment you put in making this show. I rediscovered my love of pinball around the same time you created Special When Lit. So I've listened to every show, every great interview and every installment of Bill's Corner. And thanks to Bill, I can now build a whirlwind from scratch with my teeth. And credit where it's due, Ken, your knowledge and love of this hobby comes through loud and clear. And it sounds good. Technically, you've nailed it. One more thing. Thank you for making me feel so welcome at Chicago Pinball Expo, Ken. It was great to finally say hi in person and spend time with a whole new bunch of pinball friends. So from this UK listener, thank you, Special When Lit, and best of luck with the next big thing. So, I mean, there you go, just a class act, Mr. Mark Silk. I hope to work with him on other things in the future. I know you do too. He's a good guy. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sure. Here's the thing, dude. Okay, so the podcast might be going away, but it's really not going away. We're still, you know, anyone we've been corresponding with, we're still going to correspond with. You know, I listen to that message and I think, damn, I haven't talked to Mark in like two months, so I feel bad. Sorry, Mark. It's okay. He's building his whirlwind right now. With his teeth. But by the time he hears this, hopefully I will have reached out to him. If not, it will be shortly. But, yeah, I mean, I don't think that's going to change the dynamics of a lot of the people that we talk to. And I feel bad for the average listeners that we don't have, you know, on Facebook Messenger and stuff like that to be able to correspond with. But, you know, here, I mean, well, let's jump back into where we were and then we can take where wherever the show goes. There doesn't need to be an organized structure. I don't know if you wanted to continue naming people off. I just wanted to I just wanted to go ahead and just briefly skim over some episodes in chronological order because it'll help me to remember. Oh, yeah. Came on the show. And our friend Dwight Sullivan helped us kick off the show, the podcast. If you remember, Dwight was on episode three of Special Winlet, and he was our first guest. Now, when we launched the show, we went live with three podcasts that we uploaded all at the same time. And the first episode was kind of to get people to kind of realize who we were. And the second episode was just more of like covering some pinball news. And the third episode was our first interview with Dwight. And we appreciated Dwight gave us a little bit of credibility, I think, as somebody. We weren't just playing radio, so to speak. we were really trying to offer something that could be appreciated in the pinball scene or in the pinball podcast scene, at least. So it was good. And then if you remember, follow up, Terry Deswart, the owner of Pinball Life comes in and he's got an episode and it's pinball, Bill. Yes. If you ever hear us say, didn't dig an inch, that was a quote that we took from Terry that has been real funny because it's a reoccurring quote. Oh, yeah. Terry's he's a different kind And the guy's a business guy, and sometimes he's super intense, and sometimes he's just kind of a goofball. And to have him kind of on that episode, I think he showed a little bit of both. It was really fun. And I've got to chime in and say, dude, he's like the unofficial sponsor of every project I ever have because I'll come into Pinball Life with a list of crap, and he's like, dude, really? You came in to ruin my day with a 42-page line item list of crap that you need at 3 o'clock when stuff's supposed to go out at 3.30 or 4 o'clock? I'm like, my bad. Yeah. So last time I went in there, he's like, dude, I am like your unofficial sponsor. I'm like, yeah, at least I pay for my stuff. I know. Like Pinball Life's all over all your projects. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Nothing wrong with that. Got to throw a shout out to them for sure. Episode 11, Steve Ritchie comes in, and that was cool because, you know, it's the master of flow, the king of pinball. It's like a dream interview to sit with him. Yeah. We went into Stern, and we did that interview, and he was real cordial, and he knew us prior, But, I mean, to kind of allow us to kind of come in and interview him was a thrill. Episode 14, Scott Denise comes in, and it was fun having Scott because, again, Scott is a buddy of ours. Went to go get tacos after that. We did. So we went and got tacos after that. And that was, if you remember that, now that was a year ago, over a year ago. He was teasing game number two at that point. And at the time, it was on a house party. Right. He was teasing it. Episode 16, Nirmal Vasani came in. Now, Nirmal was the sales and marketing manager for American Pinball. He since moved on to the Ametron side of things which is like the parent company And you got Dan now in that position But Nirmal was fun He came in and he was so fresh into pinball It was nice to have him on the show to get somebody that was brand new to the scene And still learning. Yeah, and he was still learning. And now, again, he's moved on from pinball, but it was great having him on. Episode 24, Todd Tuckey comes in. Actually, we Skyped Todd Tuckey. That was an experience. Todd, well, see, the thing with Todd is coming into the hobby from the arcade side of things, which I did, I watched plenty of TNT videos. Oh, so did I, dude. I mean, if you wanted to see a pinball machine, you know, just type in, you know, other than Scared Stiff because they've never done a Scared Stiff as far as I know. Right, right. But, you know, Twilight Zone, type in Twilight Zone TNT amusement and it pops up and, you know, you can learn a decent amount about at least the technical side of it. It was great, too, because at Expo we were able to eat – we weren't eating anybody, but we were able to meet Tim and Tom Roth, the TNT twins, and Frank over there. So these guys that you watch on this video we're just hanging out with at Expo. Great guys. And they're all super nice guys. And, again, it was like we kind of had that bond and that click having Todd on. And that was at the time when he was having his book published from the guy that's making the Punny Factory, which is so strange that there's, like, that tie-in. And there was that whole fiasco. So that was around the time that we had Todd in for that interview. And Frank is just mellow and cool. Yes. He's just, you know, the twins, dude. I mean, they're high energy. And then you got Frank in the background kind of reeling it all in. Calm down. It's a good mix, though, because I see a lot of that in Todd, too, where he can be kind of mellow and even keel, but he can get excited about stuff, too. So they all play well off each other. Episode 25, Dead Flip, Jack Danger comes to the house. That was one of the only episodes that Bill wasn't able to make it. When he's on his way to the studio, he literally gets a call that was an emergency, and you had to peel off, and you're like, I can't make it. And I'm like, okay. Dude, my daughter had some respiratory infection, and I forget the name of it now, but, dude, it was nasty, and the wife was scared. She called me, and I'm like, okay. Because she went down for a nap and woke up, and things kind of drastically turned. So I was like, yeah, Ken, sorry, man, got bail. Good luck to you. Well, it wasn't horrible because I had known Jack prior, So it wasn't like this uncomfortable break the ice type of thing. And a couple of things I remember from that interview is he comes in. The first thing that he mentions, because when you walk into my house on the right hand side, my son has a Russian tortoise that would set up like in this aquarium or not an aquarium, but like a habitat area. And he feeds the thing like different vegetables. So there was a plate with some romaine just sitting on the top of this like habitat thing. And I remember Jack, he walks in and he goes, hey, man, you've got to be careful with that romaine. Like it's been sitting out. I'm going to get some salmonella offered or something. I'm like, no, it's my son's. They're not eating this. He was holding his nitro-infused Starbucks coffee that he was real happy to have about. And when he came into the studio, and this is just how technical he is, right? He comes in and he's like, all right, hey, let me see what you're running here first. And he's like, boom, and he's labeling off all the things that we had set up in the studio. So it was interesting to see what made him curious coming in. But it was cool. He came out, and we had a nice interview with him. Well, I did. You did. And we found out my daughter had croup. That's what it was. Croup. The cough that makes the kids sound like seals. Yeah. I mean, dude, there's other descriptions. But yeah, we'll leave it at that. Episode 27, Roger Sharp comes, and he shows up on the show, which was kind of out of nowhere. Well, that was supposed to be a 15-minute conversation with him, and it turned into a whole show, which spiraled into Dinner at Jameson's. Yes. So, yeah, we met him after that podcast a couple weeks, went out to dinner, heard more amazing stories. I like to listen to Roger Sharp just kind of – Free cuff it? Yeah. I love when he points out something that you said that is completely inaccurate, and he's just got such a brilliant way of putting it. Yeah. Oh, it's hilarious. Yes, he can absolutely put you in your place respectfully, but you still feel like you made a pretty big mistake. Bill, I don't think you could be completely more wrong in this situation. Right. That's how it is. It's so perfect. You love being wrong to that gentleman. Very eloquent. I really appreciate it. And since then, we've had more interactions with Roger, and they've always been pleasant. We've got to set up a dinner with him again. Yeah, you know what? I know we were thinking about doing kind of a going-away kind of party thing off streams, off mics, and we're going to have all these guys out. But the next episode, episode 28, we pulled this guy in, and we had never met him before, and it was Brian Eddy. And it was his first podcast ever, and he was just kind of hired at Stern for a little bit, and he was working on things. I remember he was teasing Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. And he brought Jenny with? He brought his girlfriend Jenny. Now, he's since come back, and he's streamed with us, and we've kept in good touch with Brian Eddy. And it's funny because, again, a year ago, he's working on the game, which ended up being Stranger Things. Ken's dream thing. Right, my dream thing, which was awesome. Episode 30 was our holiday special. We had 40 guests on from all over the place. We had that edited up, and that was one of my more fun episodes that I've listened to several times. That's the worst editing one I think you've ever done, too. Oh, you mean like the results were bad or the amount of editing was bad? No, the amount of editing. Sorry. Yeah, no, that's okay. I wanted to make sure that I wasn't disappointed. I think, dude, it was great, man. I mean, the first time I listened to it, it was, you know, dude, you got the... Yeah. Dude, you got all the music in the background. It was awesome. We had it going. I know you spent weeks editing that sucker together. Episode 31 was with Zach Menny, and that was right when, again, over a year ago, when he had become a distributor for Flippin' Up Pinball. He had taken over the distributorship, and we had him on to talk straight down the middle, Twip, Twippies. He didn't do the announcement yet for Flippin' Up. He did not. Now, that was all pending, and then we had him up on a follow-up a week or two later to kind of announce that. because uh and it was great having zach on the show because i mean we knew zach from really just kind of meeting my pinball shows and and twipping that sort of thing but to kind of have him on was fun i won't forget expo you don't sound like you certainly you don't look how you sound yeah i already said it i'm like you know you used to get that quite a bit but but now people see on the streams and you're uh yeah infinitely famous for being bill webb uh infamous infamous in the In famous El Guapo? In famous. Episode 33 was probably one of the episodes that I was most proud that we did. And it was our first kind of roundtable discussion where we had multiple guests on to discuss a game that was being released that day. It was released at CES that day. And it was the making of the Munsters. And we're sitting down in the studio. It's myself and Bill. And we had John Borg in studio. Dwight Sullivan in studio. We had Christopher Franchi, who was on the phone. And don't forget. And Jerry Thompson, who's on the phone. On the West Coast. And when we talk about people that have really helped the show, I have to tip my hat to Jerry Thompson. Yeah. Because he's always been very helpful in making suggestions and voiceover work if we had ever asked. And we became really good friends. Jerry and his wife were so much fun to hang out with later down the road at Texas Pinball Festival. Or, yeah, TPF, right? No, Expo. Oh, no, no, Expo. My goodness. I'm getting the shows mixed up. But, yeah, I mean, Jerry, just a super nice guy. And that making of the Munsters was really, really fun. Episode 36, the Bowden came in. Now, he was already at Deep Root. And I told Steve, or we told Steve, I said, listen, if you'd like to come on, we don't want to focus on Deep Root. We'd like to focus on your efforts over at Fun with Bonus because that site's been going for so long and he's maintaining it. And I wanted to kind of pick his brain a little bit and talk from that aspect of his career versus the Hot Topic, which was obviously Deep Root. Yeah. And what a cool customer, man. He's just a mellow, down-to-earth guy. Right. Exactly. Met him twice in Texas. We ran into him on the sidewalk, which was real cool. And then we ran into him at an expo, and, you know, Bill, what's up? You know, it was awesome. What a great guy. Super nice guy. Now, prior to all this, I believe we had Eric Minier came on the show for a quick segment, and it was at Jersey Jack Pinball in Bensonville, their Bensonville office. And I did a quick drop with him in his office talking about pirates. So I want to say shout out to Eric. Eric's always been very kind and very generous with his time. Another great guy. Very helpful, and I appreciate him for what he does in pinball, but also from a friendship side. It's great. Brent Bruner from Great Lakes Pinball. Remember Brent came in? Oh, yeah. No, Great Lakes Pinball, they were working on Expose, and I think that project went on a little bit of a break as those guys opened up like an arcade, a barcade out in their area. But I wouldn't be surprised if you see Expose come back into the spotlight at some point. But Brent really fascinated us because, one, he was the startup of this pinball company, and he had all the stuff going on, and he's legally blind, which was amazing, and just a super great guy. One of the more genuine people that I've had the opportunity to discuss anything with, and especially it being pinball, was great. Episode 38 was Greg Freres and Steve Martin. Greg Freres leads the art department at Stern Pinball. Steve Martin is the art department manager over there as well. to have both those guys on at the same time to talk Stern and talk what was going on at Stern was a thrill for me. We did that at Stern Pinball. We went in there. And then we went for dinner. Do you remember where we went? We went to some Mexican restaurant. Absolutely. Okay, so you remember. I do remember. There seems to be a reoccurring theme here. Whenever we go out for dinner afterwards, we go to a Mexican restaurant. I get a choice, yeah. Except not the Steve Ritchie one. We went for Thai food. That's when Wason yelled at me for telling him that my favorite game was Twilight Zone. Oh, he was pissed, man. I'd love to say he was just upset, but he was pissed. I've told that story three times, like either on the podcast or the stream, and it's funny to me every time I actually talk about it. I don't know why. It was extremely uncomfortable at the time, but now it's funny. Then we took our first kind of pinball trip out of state, and that was around like 10 months ago. It was 2019 Texas Pinball Festival. We went there and had a great time. We met amazing people, but that was the first time as a podcast. It was myself and you, Steve Beattie. Boarded the plane, went on a pinball adventure ou t I'm not at that point yet. And I think that with some of the changes that we're making, I think things are going to get better. And I'm looking forward to seeing where this all goes. So, yeah, man, Special When Lit Pinball Podcast, it's been a great run. We've had an amazing time doing this. We appreciate all of you that have listened. We appreciate all the guests that have come on. We appreciate all the correspondence that we've had. We appreciate our sponsors, Bruce Miller and Rob and Kim Lerman. We appreciate the St. Charles Pinball Club. We appreciate everybody that's been a part of this journey. And as I said, this is not the end. This is just the end of this chapter. We're going to be streaming on Mondays. We're going to be on the Pinball Network doing The Pinball Show with Dennis Kriesel and Zach Many. So there's still plenty of content coming from us. And I hope to see you guys out there. Whether it be at a pinball show, whether it be on stream, whether it be just playing pinball with you somewhere down the road. I appreciate all of you. And with that, I'm going to say thank you so much for listening to Special When Lit Pinball Podcast. This is episode 89, and this is our final episode. So, cheers, everybody. t for now, I still like having a little bit of a voice. I do like representing the community in what I feel is a more positive way to do so. And I look forward to people that are looking to contribute and to bring on more content and to people that are essentially being part of a pinball community versus segregating ourselves and becoming ultra-competitive and trying to – We're not competitive, dude. We don't play competitive pinball. I'm a super-competitive person, but I don't ever want my competitive traits to come across in my fun outlet to podcast. Oh, yeah. I just don't want to do it. No, no, no. Yeah. Dude, it's been a while, right, man? And it's not the end. I mean, we're still going to be doing different things. Think about this, man. In July of 2018, we came up with a concept of just kind of recording our pinball conversations that we were already having daily. and over a year and a half later and almost 200,000 downloads later and 89 episodes later, I mean, we can really lay down, put our heads on the pillow and sleep the sleep of the just because I think we did a pretty darn good job, man. I think so. So I think one of the last things I wanted to kind of wrap up with is Bill's Corner because you just kind of got to do that, man. So you've known for a long time that I wanted to build an Addams Family. Yes. Yes, I do. We've known for a long time a person that we mutually know and love has had said Adams Family Playfield hanging over my head. You'd be happy to know I actually work broker to deal with him, and I will be purchasing said playfield, and I will be building an Adams Family almost from scratch, but I'll have a populated playfield to start with. Wow. That's pretty huge. So like whirlwind style, new cabinet, everything? Everything. I was ready to start literally building one from scratch last week, including the harness, and then talk to our buddy Joe, and he saw it from my perspective. He's like, you know what, I don't need the second one, so we'll help a brother out. So got to throw love to Joe. I can't wait to hear all about this on the next episode of Special One. You know what, man? Maybe we'll have to do a monthly update or something. But I'll definitely be posting stuff on Instagram and my Facebook. Yeah, okay. And then keep the Special Unlit Pinball Podcast Facebook page open, too, because we'll be able to discuss projects and streaming. And I'd still like to keep in touch with everybody that's been. Oh, yeah. We've had a really good group of people that have kind of interacted with that page. I don't want that to go away. No. Well, dude, and we have our own homebrew project that we're hoping to start here in the next couple months. As soon as the weather breaks, man. That's when I really want to. And I got to finish up Cherry Atomic before the fall. Oh, yeah. You're screwed there. The meteor re-theme. So there's a lot of work to do, man. But the difference is it's back to pinball projects with a lot of our time versus pinball content, so to speak. Yeah, and just getting back to enjoying it a little more. It's a hobby. Yeah. Yeah, man. I think it sums it up. Listen, if we forget you, like Steve Beattie, I want to give a shout out to Steve. Steve needs to be the last but definitely not the least person we give. Steve's been just like the guy that's always kind of been involved in everything that we've done. From going to Texas to Expo to Expo to Bad Decisions at Spears. You know, fries at Steve's house. Bad Decisions at Spears. Drinking at Spears. That was for Expo a couple years ago. I got you. I don't know, man. I think we kind of ran the gamut here. I don't know if there's anything else that you wanted to touch on. I mean, there was a lot of highs and there were a couple lows, but all in all, I'm completely satisfied with our efforts. And most importantly, we need to give thanks to the Cromwell family for being supportive of us. And the Webb family. Absolutely. Because without their support, dude, there's no way this would have ever gone down. You know, I'm glad you said that, man, because our projects, our pinball stuff, has absolutely taken away from some of the things that we could normally be doing, probably with our families. But we get a little bit of backlash here and there, but it's justified and it keeps us in check. It does. Otherwise, we'd get out of hand. But the support has always been there, so absolutely to the Cromwell Webb families of support, whether it be wives or kids or animals. Infants. Relatives. Yeah. it's all there so that's very nice for you to bring that up actually and more importantly thank you to all of the friends and pinball family that we have met can't be any more proud of the people that we've met and the relationships that we've built this is going to sound kind of weird if you've been with us or you just started listening you are a listener but we kind of feel like you're just part of the special in the family and the door is always open to talk pinball and I've never gone out of my way to shut anybody down on discussion. And it's just the more people that we know, the better. See, I will shut a discussion down on Messenger after a certain point because I believe a phone is used as a phone. Yes. And you know I'm a big advocate of that, dude. Don't text me. I'd rather just talk. Right. So Bill's number is? Is contact me through Facebook and we'll see if your message is. Yeah. If it's worthy for discussion further on the phone. No, but, you know, I mean, I've got no problem talking with people, especially if, you know, some of them are passionate about it. I can't think of his name, but the guy I sold my Transformers pin to. Dude, local guy. Real nice guy. Dude, I'm glad to meet him. Need to have him out at some point. And if you're listening, call me, dude, because if I don't get a hold of you, call me, please. It's been too long. And he bought my Transformers right before my son was born. Dude, just met some awesome people. You know what? The people that supported us via Patreon. It's not something that we really pushed a lot, but there were people that had asked if there was a way that they could kind of donate to the show. And whatever we received in donations, we tried to roll back into making the show better. But we've got a core of some people that have been patrons for months. Strong supporters, yeah. And it's been really surprising, and we cannot thank you enough for that. And literally, little by little, it's working itself out where my son gets to sleep. He's up only like two or three times a night now. But at some point, dude, we will start streaming some of the crap that I have at my house. Yeah, good. from dialed in to Cactus Jacks, man, and everything in between. Yeah, Cactus Jacks is one of those. I think Dennis Creasel was even asking if you were going to be streaming that because he wants to see what the hoopla is about. He's not played that. Dude, the evil side of me just wants to send it to him for like six months and tell him to send it back when he's done. Well, the last time somebody tried to ship something to Dennis, it didn't work out too well, so you might want to just hang on to your Cactus Jacks. I know. I'd make him come here. Oh, okay. Right. I got you. We know people in Kansas, too. Yeah, that's true. You might be able to get it piggybacked. That's true. But hey, yes, everybody part of the Special Will of Family. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you so much. And stick around. Again, we're closing this chapter. We've got another book that we're starting, and we hope to be part of your pinball lives going forward because it's not the end. Nobody's leaving the earth here. We're just shifting. No. Ken's going to be on a podcast, and I might be jumping into some things, so we'll see. Yeah, you've got a little opportunity that might have presented itself that I don't know if you want to discuss or not. No, no, no. I like it, though. We'll see. We'll see how that works out, though. I like it. You can catch Bill on... We'll leave that right there. Right when it comes there. And then at some point I'll be on Canada's show. Because him and I have talked and we were supposed to do that a couple of months ago. Okay, that's right. You were supposed to go on there. Yeah, I'll be on Chris's show at some point. Probably in the next couple of weeks. Unbelievable. We'll have to schedule it with him. So this is like like Lord of the Rings. Like I thought it was going to end like four different times. You know what? Coming with a do we could do this for the next four hours? Seriously, I could probably talk like this till 10, like which it's 647 in the p.m. Central time right now. I could do this for hours because there's always another story. There's always another person that's been too long. You know, it has to just wrap it all up in 30 minutes. And that's why, dude, I think I don't think this is just going to. Here, I think, yes, is a week. I don't think this is the last time you and I pick up a microphone. I'll leave it at that. Together. Yeah. I could definitely see us, dude, at game breaks or something. We're going to be on microphones in two weeks when you stream. No, dude. I could see us doing another. Another podcast action? Another run at it? Not another run. Special one relit? Dude, I like that. I like that. I like that a lot, man. Special one relit. The behind the VH1 behind the scenes gets done, and then we come back. I don't we tour again behind behind the scenes. Right. No, but like I said, I still see us at some. Tell me that you don't see you doing another episode due to something cool happens. Yeah, I don't put anything by us, man. Like, OK, then. Yeah. So but it's not just not going to be a weekly or monthly or bi-monthly or. I'm not saying that there will ever be another episode uploaded, but I wouldn't be shocked if we jumped on something at some point. No. So, hey, wherever the winds take us, man. Right. Wherever the winds takes us. You got anything else? That's it, man. It's 645. I know my wife is using my name in vain because she's trying to get two kids down, and life is good. And my wife thinks I'm in the bathroom. So on that note, Bill, thank you. It's been a pleasure, man. Shake your hand, buddy. It's been a ride, brother. Give you a hug when you get up. This is going to – we're going to shut it down as we say thank you to everybody in Pinball Land. Thank you for the – The love, man. Thank you for the thrills. Thank you for the experience. And that's going to be it for Bill Webb. I am Ken Cromwell. Everybody, please, always have a good morning, good afternoon, or good evening. And don't forget to take some time out of your day and play some pinball. So long, everybody. Fade to black. Closing time. Open all the doors and let you out into the world. Closing time. Turn all of the lights on Over every boy and every girl Closing time One last call for alcohol So finish your whiskey or beer Closing time You don't have to go home But you can't stay here I know who I want to take me home Take me home Closing time Time for you to go out to the places you will be from closing time this room won't be open till your brothers or your sisters come so gather up your jackets move it to the exits I hope you have found a friend closing time every new beginning comes from some other The beginning's end. Yeah. home. Take me home. We'll be right back. Closing time Time for you to go out To the places you will be from home home Take home, take me home.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 7112548e-59c8-4753-924d-89e302444156*