# Episode 48 – Humongous Bolus **Source:** Slam Tilt Podcast **Type:** podcast_episode **Published:** 2017-06-22 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.slamtiltpodcast.com/2017/06/22/episode-48-humongous-bolus/ --- ## Analysis Josh Sharp discusses the newly launched Stern Pro Circuit, a partnership between Stern Pinball, IFPA, and the Papa organization to professionalize competitive pinball. The circuit features 20 qualifying events with objective ranking metrics, a $5,000 new-in-box game as grand prize, and finals in Chicago in February/March 2019. Sharp explains the format differs from Papa's previous model, drawing parallels to Big Buck Hunter's sponsorship success and emphasizing manufacturer involvement as crucial for securing corporate backing. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] The Stern Pro Circuit includes a new in-box game worth approximately $5,000 as part of the grand prize, which Papa did not offer previously. — _Josh Sharp, explaining baseline differences between Papa Circuit and Stern Pro Circuit_ - [HIGH] Year one will retain 75% of Papa's existing events (15 of 20) based on three-year Whopper point averages, with bottom 5 replaced by new events. — _Josh Sharp, explaining event selection methodology_ - [HIGH] Pinberg and Pompous are the two highest-ranked events by three-year Whopper average, with Pinberg at approximately 137 Whopper points per year. — _Josh Sharp, providing ranking data_ - [MEDIUM] Stern Pro Circuit finals will be held at a barcade or bar-type location in Chicago rather than at Stern HQ, modeled after Big Buck Hunter's World Championship venue strategy. — _Josh Sharp, explaining final location reasoning_ - [HIGH] The IFPA World Championship will not be part of the Stern Pro Circuit due to its pre-baked-in qualifying process, similar to why Papa Circuit finals are excluded. — _Josh Sharp, explaining discretionary exclusions_ - [MEDIUM] Raw Thrills has secured exclusive manufacturing contract terms preventing their contract manufacturer from building for other pinball developers. — _Josh Sharp, discussing manufacturing exclusivity and control_ - [HIGH] Stern is providing equipment and games for the circuit finals at no cost, eliminating logistical burden on tournament organizers. — _Josh Sharp, contrasting current ease with past difficulty obtaining games_ - [MEDIUM] ARA (Dutch Pinball successor) lacks funds to repay early backers and will not secure another manufacturer after manufacturing partnership dissolved. — _Josh Sharp and Bruce Nightingale, discussing Dutch Pinball's financial situation based on recent video stream_ ### Notable Quotes > "The Stern Pro Circuit is, I guess the best way to call it is sort of the evolution of what the Papa Circuit was...there's never been a partnership with a manufacturer on this level that I've seen." > — **Josh Sharp**, early segment > _Core definition of the Stern Pro Circuit's novelty and strategic importance_ > "I've always been a fan of how people show their support or lack of support for a specific event is they show up or not. So for us, we're able to measure the quality and the quantity of players that show up, and that's how we're determining the events that are going to be on the Stern Circuit." > — **Josh Sharp**, mid-segment > _Explains the shift from survey-based to objective metrics for event selection_ > "To have the largest manufacturer, we've seen it with Buckhunter, to have the manufacturer of the product at the other end of the phone call or at the other end of the table in talking with sponsors, it helps. I don't know how anyone can tell me that that's not a better chance at a returned phone call or a more positive outcome of that conversation." > — **Josh Sharp**, mid-segment > _Articulates the strategic value of manufacturer partnership for sponsorship acquisition_ > "For Buckhunter, we've been at it for, you know, since we took control...we're 10 years in on the Buckhunter side. We're zero years in on the pinball side. And those first six, seven years on Buckhunter weren't really that fruitful...And the last two to three years, we've been refining the approach of what works and doesn't work." > — **Josh Sharp**, mid-segment > _Sets expectations about timeline for sponsorship success and justifies slow-build approach_ > "It like oh my God you know what it like to show up to you know a Nationals event that I have to run and beg you know what games are we going to use Well we don know We figure it out It like oh my God it so stressful." > — **Josh Sharp**, late-mid segment > _Highlights operational pain point Stern partnership solves_ > "They're not going to be able to get another manufacturer floating the boat. That's the biggest thing. We found out this whole video thing that ARA was footing the bill, and then Dutch was paying for the games afterwards." > — **Josh Sharp**, late segment > _Commentary on Dutch Pinball/ARA manufacturing crisis and industry manufacturing constraints_ > "We have the luxury and the Chicago enthusiast scene that we could probably handle that even without Papa needing to load up, you know, three games, four games in the van and bring it out." > — **Josh Sharp**, mid-late segment > _Indicates local Chicago resource availability for finals execution_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Josh Sharp | person | Competitive player, financial controller at Raw Thrills, IFPA organizer, lead architect of Stern Pro Circuit format | | Ron Hallett | person | Host of Slam Tilt Podcast, pinball enthusiast and commentator | | Bruce Nightingale | person | Co-host of Slam Tilt Podcast, regular pinball tournament attendee | | Stern Pinball Inc. | company | Largest pinball manufacturer, primary sponsor and partner for new Stern Pro Circuit | | IFPA | organization | International Federation of Pinball Players, co-organizer of Stern Pro Circuit with Papa | | Papa Organization | organization | Previous circuit organizer (Papa Circuit), now partner in Stern Pro Circuit framework | | Raw Thrills | company | Arcade game developer where Josh Sharp works as financial controller; context for Big Buck Hunter partnership model | | Gary Stern | person | Executive at Stern Pinball, described as articulating 'three legs of the stool' partnership model | | Stern Pro Circuit | event | New competitive pinball tournament circuit featuring 20 qualifying events and Chicago finals in Feb/Mar 2019 | | Pinberg | event | Top-ranked tournament by three-year Whopper average (~137 points/year), tier-1 Stern Pro Circuit event | | Pompous | event | Second-ranked tournament by three-year Whopper average, tier-1 Stern Pro Circuit event | | Pinball Expo | event | Major pinball event, not on Stern Pro Circuit qualifying list but expected to be added in future years based on attendance | | Big Buck Hunter World Championship | event | Reference model for Stern Pro Circuit finals structure; held at barcade/bar venues with ~64 players and ~200 spectators | | Dutch Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer that has ceased production; successor organization ARA struggling to secure new manufacturing and repay backers | | ARA | company | Successor to Dutch Pinball, lacks funding to repay early backers; relationship with Dutch has deteriorated, limiting manufacturing options | | Raymond | person | IFPA World Championship winner mentioned in interview discussion; received Ghostbusters Pro as prize | | Eric Stone | person | Competitive player who received WWE L.E. as prize and successfully traded it for WWE Pro plus cash | | Keith Elwin | person | World-class competitive player, mentioned as potential participant in informal Star Wars tournament during filming | | Zach Sharpe | person | Competitive player, mentioned as potential participant in informal Star Wars tournament; Josh indicates 'Zach' may listen to podcast | | Jack Danger | person | Local filmmaker/producer with expertise in esports production; planned to handle Stern Pro Circuit finals filming | | Star Wars | game | Recent Stern Pinball release; Josh has not yet played it; discussed for potential featured content during Raw Thrills filming | | Ghostbusters Pro | game | Stern Pinball game, used as Stern Pro Circuit prize; Raymond received it instead of pursuing alternative L.E. conversion | ### Topics - **Primary:** Stern Pro Circuit structure and format, Event selection methodology and ranking metrics, Manufacturer partnership strategy and sponsorship leverage, Finals venue strategy and production quality - **Secondary:** Big Buck Hunter as model for esports professionalization, Dutch Pinball/ARA manufacturing crisis and industry constraints, Competitive format comparison (Papa vs Stern Pro Circuit) - **Mentioned:** Community feedback and sentiment management ### Sentiment **Positive** (0.78) — Josh Sharp is optimistic about Stern Pro Circuit's potential, defending the partnership against anticipated criticism. Bruce Nightingale is enthusiastic and supportive. Discussion of Dutch Pinball/ARA situation is negative but peripheral. Overall tone is constructive and forward-looking. ### Signals - **[announcement]** Stern Pro Circuit officially launched with 20-event structure, objective ranking metrics, and manufacturer co-sponsorship (confidence: high) — Josh Sharp detailed circuit format, event selection methodology, and partnerships with Stern, IFPA, and Papa organizations - **[community_signal]** Community feedback on Stern Pro Circuit announcement has been less negative than typical IFPA announcements, partly due to Papa shield effect and Josh Sharp's reputation for accepting criticism (confidence: medium) — Josh states 'feedback...has not been nearly as negative as most of the stuff that we announce ever' and credits 'Papa Shields' - **[business_signal]** Stern Pinball committing significant resources (new game as grand prize, equipment provision, venue support) to professionalize circuit (confidence: high) — Josh details $5,000 game prize, equipment provision, and venue strategy planning with Stern team - **[market_signal]** Manufacturer involvement viewed as critical to securing corporate sponsorship; model drawn from Big Buck Hunter's 10-year sponsorship journey with 6-7 year setup period (confidence: medium) — Josh explains sponsorship difficulty without manufacturer backing and parallels to Raw Thrills/Big Buck Hunter approach - **[event_signal]** Stern Pro Circuit finals planned for Chicago barcade/bar venue in February-March 2019 with 40 players and 200+ spectators, professional filming via Raw Thrills production resources (confidence: high) — Josh discusses venue strategy, capacity planning, and production company involvement through Raw Thrills - **[industry_signal]** Pinball manufacturing capacity severely constrained; manufacturing contracts are exclusive and difficult to secure; Dutch Pinball/ARA example shows manufacturer failure cascades into business collapse (confidence: high) — Josh describes manufacturing search difficulty, exclusive contract leverage, and ARA's inability to find new manufacturer after Dutch relationship deteriorated - **[operational_signal]** Equipment provision bottleneck historically constrained tournament organizers; Stern partnership eliminates this pain point by guaranteeing game availability (confidence: high) — Josh contrasts past stress of securing games with current ease: 'oh my God you know what it like to show up...and beg you know what games are we going to use' - **[design_philosophy]** Stern Pro Circuit format prioritizes random game selection in qualifying rounds to test versatility, then allows game selection in finals to showcase mastery—inverse of Papa Championship structure (confidence: high) — Josh explains qualifying uses random games, finals allow player choice, creating 'my best games against your best games' matchups with 'insane play' - **[business_signal]** Raw Thrills actively preventing contract manufacturer from servicing competitors; describes this as necessary for asset protection and control (confidence: medium) — Josh reveals contract manufacturer instructed to decline all outside pinball work; justified as protecting Raw Thrills assets and control - **[product_concern]** Limited manufacturing capacity creates bottleneck for industry expansion; ARA unable to find alternative manufacturer, suggesting few suppliers capable of pinball machine production (confidence: medium) — Josh states 'trying to find another manufacturer to do that for you. It's really hard' in context of ARA's manufacturing crisis - **[sentiment_shift]** Josh preemptively manages expectations about sponsorship timeline, warning community not to expect rapid returns and drawing parallels to Big Buck Hunter's 7-year path to meaningful sponsorship (confidence: high) — Josh addresses emails about sponsors already lined up, explains Big Buck Hunter took 6-7 years of groundwork before 2-3 years of returns - **[machine_intel]** Star Wars (recent Stern release) planned as featured game for Raw Thrills filming and potential informal tournament during Stern Pro Circuit finals production (confidence: medium) — Josh mentions playing Star Wars opportunity during filming windows, potential $1,000 match during stream --- ## Transcript Check this out. Excuse me, ma'am. Yes? I'm like security. I'm like, I'm gonna have to ask you to, you know, assume the position. Yeah, assume. If you lay a hand on me, I'll sue your ass. Whoa. Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slam Tilt Podcast, a show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my co-host, Bruce Nightingale. Go get the lawyers, boy. Go get the lawyers. Get the lawyers for, and we'll talk about that later. And this is episode 48, Blazing Saddles. This is one I have seen. Yes, this is one of the best Mel Brooks movies of all times. Not very PC. No. But very fun. Actually, I don't think it would be made today. No, no, no. There's just no way they would make this today. Well, it seems like last week we did a rare solo episode. We did. And we just can't do that too often. No, no, no. We've got to have a guest, and we have a guest. We have a great guest. Who do we have, Bruce? I asked him to come back on and here he is Mr. Josh Sharpe You know what's awesome guys is because you guys don't do like the interview and get it in the can and then edit it in later It's great, it's great I'm 15 seconds ahead of everyone else on the planet or like 7 minutes if you air all of the disconnects and reconnects and disconnects Exactly You've been a busy person these past couple of months with your changes to the IFPA for 2018 but now Now, with Papa, you're now doing the Stern Pro Circuit. How about that? That sounds really interesting. Some have said that. Yes. Let's pretend we haven't read anything about it, and you explain to us what the Stern Pro Circuit is. The Stern Pro Circuit is, I guess the best way to call it is sort of the evolution of what the Papa Circuit was. And it's partnering with the largest manufacturer in the industry to, I guess, help move the sport forward in terms of awareness and potential sponsorship and really just creating something that I think has a better opportunity to land something significant for the sport. Not that what we've been doing and what Papa's been doing over the past decades have not moved the ball forward, but neither organization, the Papa guys before they ran it and my dad and Steve were involved, or the IPA side of things before we ran things, even back in the 90s, there's never been a partnership with a manufacturer on this level that I've seen. and I'm anxious to see if something more can happen from it. Well, it actually goes back to the last episode you were on when we actually talked about how to better everything for the hobby and for bringing in more money. So this fits perfectly in with your power scheme. No, I'm only joking. Slow and steady, Bruce. Slow and steady. No, it is. You can't go jumping into things, but it sounds like it's going to be a good partnership. Now, what will be the benefits for this partnership? Have we gotten any details from that side of it? So I think in the gazillion questions I've been answering, at a baseline level, the differences between the Papa Circuit and what this will be is, one, Stern is throwing a new in-box game as part of the grand prize. So right then and there, you're talking about whatever, a $5,000 prize thrown into it for the player, you know, for those 40 players to have that they did not have the previous, you know, three years of the circuit. But outside of that, you know, we're the event selection process is changing and the way that the events are scoring, you know, sort of the qualifying process is changing to a more IFPA centric metric for those two things. And outside of that, it's really the same thing as it has been for years. So for players, you know, there's going to be a list of 20 events and players can come and go to those events as they please. And, you know, it's similar to sort of the upstate, you know, New York standings that you guys have. There's no commitment from players that they have to play an X, Y or Z. And at the end, you get to celebrate, you know, the people that you advance to the final and we'll do the same. So now you're saying that the events will change now. Will they all be following the same tournament format or will you be able to use different? Okay. It's exactly the same way as it was. So, you know, there's no dictation from POP or IPA that specific formats have to be used, and there's nothing from Stern that says, you know, you have to use Stern machines in the tournament. Everything is still decentralized, pushed back to the tournament director to do whatever they want. How many POP Circuit events are there right now? There's actually more than 20, right? No, there's 20. Oh, there's 20? Okay. For year one of the Stern Circuit, we're actually, rather than starting with a fresh list of 20 events, we're actually continuing the process of what Papa does, which is they keep 75% of the events on the tour, so to speak. And the bottom 25% through their survey process were previously dropped and then replaced with the voting process for those five new events that got in. So our tweak on that is that we're going to have a completely objective metric. So we're still going to drop the lowest five of the 20, and that's going to be based purely on the three-year Whopper average of what those events gave away. So sort of our metric is, you know, while the surveys are great, and we plan on continuing to send those out to organizers, because I know as a circuit tournament director myself, I've had a ton of value from the feedback of those surveys. But outside of that, I've always been a fan of how people show their support or lack of support for a specific event is they show up or not. So for us, we're able to measure the quality and the quantity of players that show up, and that's how we're determining the events that are going to be on the Stern Circuit. Okay. So you're going to have 20 weeks of – you get to go 20 places, it sounds like, since you have to show off for the whole IFPA. I would say last year I went to three. I know. And I think if I asked my wife for four, she would probably kill me. So the chance of asking for 20, I mean, changing the locks may not even work. She may, like, ban me from the country or something. I don't know. I wouldn't want to know. Gee, oh, that would be a fun conversation. And we know two of them is going to be, of course, Pinburgh and Pompous. You bet. And the third one, Expo, right? Yeah, Expo's not on the circuit. Oh, that's right. Yeah, that's right. It was taken off. Most likely will be next year because it, you know, regardless of the survey responses, people continue to support participating in that tournament every year, you know, by showing up. So it's one of those action speaks louder than words, I guess. Yeah. And the finals are going to be in Chicago? They are. In February or March? What are you thinking? It's going to be nice and warm. I'm thinking it's going to be indoors, so we should be okay. And I miss – Papa used to be in February every year. I miss the stress that my dad and Steve went watching the Carl Weathers forecast and wondering if there were going to be four people that showed up to Papa or not. Yeah. Have any ideas on location or is it going to be another event involved or is it basically going to be just that's the finals? so from there's a lot of and i think we talked last time about you know the changes that we're doing with the dollar thing and there's there's a lot of the things that we're doing in pinball that i've seen work for big buck hunter at my real job and the the path that i see for the circuit final is going to mirror a lot of the things that we do for the big buck world championship so I know that originally we were going to hold it Stern was just going to hold it at Stern HQ and in sitting in my meetings with Stern and and and they've seen what we've done with the Buckhunter brand because our company is really close with each other and and we sort of all agreed that like the warehouse vibe of of this final isn't something that you can then use as an asset to pitch for outside sponsors so i think the plan is and we've had a lot of luck on the buck hunter side is teaming up with a barcade type of location or bar type of location because you know as far as location pinball goes and where people in the public play it's it's it's those kind of locations that are most popular so it's it's it's the natural path of of those sponsors you'd be going after and that market you'd be going after. So I know Stern tests a lot at the arcades in the Chicagoland area, and they have a hit list of people that they're planning on talking to about reserving space to accommodate us for this. Which will be 40 people, right? Yeah, 40 plus hopefully a healthy audience. Yes. I mean, that's sort of the, you know, in the Buckhunter land, there's 64 players that get to the World Championship, but the house is usually packed with 200 people, and it's an exciting thing. It's supposed to be an exciting thing. Oh, it does sound exciting. Now you're going to use the results from the past three years, the previous three years from the Papa Circuit to – I didn't understand that part a little bit when you were talking about it. So right now there's 20 events on the circuit right now happening, right? Like right now. Like Pinberg's coming up, and it's one of the 20. And by the end of the year, by next March, all 20 will be done. So we're evaluating those 20. And what we have in the IFPA database is we can look up the Whopper points awarded for each of those events over the last three years and use that average to rank those events 1 to 20. So Pinberg, I believe, is number one. The average is like 137 Whopper points a year. And that'll, of course, change after this year is entered. But Tinberg and Papa will be one and two of the 20. And everything else will fall in line as it goes. And the bottom five will be cut and replaced with the next biggest five that were not a part of this 20. So there will be five, like, you know, full stop. there will be five new events on next year's tour and 15 of the same events yes on next year's tour okay cool no that's actually very good you know explaining is definitely good sometimes i'm quick to to you know it's like i've been thinking about this for months and hours and years and it's like how do you guys not know we've been talking about this in my head forever i was just hearing about it and like reading all the you know now we can talk about some of the responses and how has the feedback been so far the feedback i think there's always this aura of people are are more quickly to shit on on ifpa stuff i think because like i can i i'm known to be able to take that stuff okay and there seems to be like a a bit of a fear of speaking bad about anything papa related so i get to be the beneficiary of sort of sitting behind the Papa Shields because we're doing this together. So it clearly, it has not been nearly as negative as most of the stuff that we announce ever. Well, luckily, I am one of the few people who are not negative about the IFPA. Oh, man. See, I actually, you know, I kind of like everything you guys do. And I never. My fuel is I run on hatred. So secretly, like, oh, I need that juice to survive. So Bruce, your nose looks pretty brown there. It is pretty brown. No, actually, it's not, because actually, I don't mind what, you know, all the things, it's going to be better. It really is, and guess what? If you call me a brown-noser, guess what? I'm a brown-noser, but guess what? I don't care a shit. Well, I think the big thing, and I took a lot of slack for, you know, whether something's going to be better or not. You know, I took some heat for the dollar thing and saying that it's sort of like this experiment, and everything we do is a freaking experiment, because you don't know how it's going to work out. But you sort of use your expertise in something to pick and choose paths that you think will lead to more success. And, you know, every decision that I've made has been with that in mind. And this one is no different. You know, do I know if it's going to work and if we can benefit in the same ways that Buck Hunter has benefited? I don't know. I hope so. I believe so. and I think for people out there, you know, I've got emails with, you know, what sponsors do you have lined up already? And it's like, this hasn't started yet. For Buckhunter, we've been at it for, you know, since we took control over sort of the manufacturer representing the brand and not having players' organizations representing the brand, you know, we're 10 years in on the Buckhunter side. We're zero years in on the pinball side. And those first six, seven years on Buckhunter weren't really that fruitful. We spent a lot of that time sort of finding our path to what could land sponsorship. And the last two to three years, we've been refining the approach of what works and doesn't work. And we've been seeing the return increase far more in the last three years than the seven before it. So I hope that people have that level of patience. I know they won't. But the fact that we're able to, you know, I made the comment somewhere, I've had a ton of talk with potential sponsors. And as someone who is more or less representing a player's organization about a product, it's really tough for me to be taken seriously as really an enthusiast organization because our players are just a niche group of enthusiasts. And to have the largest manufacturer, we've seen it with Buckhunter, to have the manufacturer of the product at the other end of the phone call or at the other end of the table in talking with sponsors, It helps. I don't know how anyone can tell me that that's not a better chance at a returned phone call or a more positive outcome of that conversation. I have a marketing idea for you, too. Bring it. What do you got? I can't wait. T-shirts. Pinballlifters.com. No, no, no, no, no. T-shirts that actually say, I went to the first Stern Pro Circuit finals. Give it away to every person there. so that it will bring more people who want to go there for that rare T-shirt. Because look at your old T-shirts that you pull out. Whenever you go to Papa, what's the oldest shirt you do have that you actually could still fit in? I usually will – I'll wear at Papa – I usually – I like to break out the old, old Papa shirts that I have that I now wear once a year because I think every wash will destroy it the next time it goes through the wash. But 1990s, I think my earliest shirt is Papa 3, which is 93. Oh, yeah. That would be cool to actually see, like, another, hopefully in the future. Like, hey, you went to that thing? Oh, yeah, that was cool. The first one, you know. Because I love the idea when they actually gave out the Pinberg pins for the first two years. They were like, oh, yeah, you're going to get stuff for this. And if you collect all these pins, and then it went nowhere. They had pins? They had pins. I didn't know that either. I didn't know that either. When did we get pins? Ron and I were too busy playing. Yeah, I guess so. I was too busy losing. But, yeah, they had pins. Actually, yeah, ask Bowen about that. Well, yeah, ask Bowen. Yeah, he'll tell you. There was pins. So the IFPA World Championship, that is not in the circuit. Correct. So there's some, like, between the PAPA staff and our staff, there's going to be some discretion at play in terms of not strictly using, you know, Whopper point value for things. Like, for example, one of the top 20 events in terms of Whopper value is the PAPA circuit final. so the idea of that being you know there's choices to be made where we're not allowing events that have any sort of pre-baked in qualifying process to be part of it and the IFBA World Championship would be one of those casualties which I believe is completely appropriate we don't need the circuit I don't care I'm not going to cry about it until you win it I would cry about it if I won Well, I hope you heard our interview with Raymond. I did. It was great. Yeah, he was really good. You get to hear about the bunghole crane, right? I did. I did. It was fantastic. It's so lovely when episode titles present themselves so easily. Yeah, that was very easy. That thing gives me nightmares. I thought the funniest thing is that he took the Ghostbusters Pro, Over in L.E., I just picture this room at Stern with, like, ten L.E.s sitting there, like, we can't get rid of these games. Well, I think, and I told him, because Eric Stone got a WWE L.E., and outside of that, you know, it's really pros are what Stern commits to for IFPA, for their sponsorship. And Eric took his WWE L.E., turned it into a pro, plus cash for himself. And I told Raymond, I'm like, dude, you could end up with a Ghostbusters Pro plus cash if you want to go through trying to find a WWE buyer on the other end. It might take a little bit of time, but they're out there. And he was like, nah, I just want my game. Give me my game. And it's like, all right, man, you can have your game. And he got it really fast. He got it. He did. He did. Yeah, you'd have to almost go to a wrestling forum to find somebody who wants the old school wrestlers. It took Eric maybe close to a month, but he knocked it out. I would have taken the WWLE and played it, actually. I liked the game. Oh, there you go. But I'm never going to get to that level of play. Oh, come on, man. I was watching those guys. I was watching those rounds, and those rounds were good. It's, yeah, we sort of, the way that our format works, it's kind of the opposite of the Papa Championship, where for the Papa Championship, you sort of get to qualify on the games that you choose out of the bank that you can focus on, and then, you know, here comes a bunch of games. You know, they pick the nine machines. You play nine games in finals, and it's like those games kind of, unless you're the bus driver, can be anything. Yep. And with our format, you know, it's random game for the qualifying sessions, And if you can survive that over the eight rounds, you know, you earn the right to pick your horses for your matches. So you end up with, you know, my best games against your best games in a match. And the matches are really amazing because you have these people that are dialed into these games, which is why they're choosing them. And you just end up with some insane play, which is just a joy to watch and a heartbreaker to not be playing it. I know. I can't wait until next year when it's close to us. It is. Oh, Canada. In Anna Becker's Pinball Palace building. It's going to be fun. I hope we can convince Nick and the Buffalo crew to help us do some streaming. That would be good. When the time comes, I'll ask him. And if he hears this podcast, then he knows that time is coming at some point. I know Kevin listens every week. All right. So where's a good question for the Stern pro circuit finals? What is the plan for like filming? I would think if Stern is involved and it's supposed to be this big thing that there might be some more, I don't know, pro style shooting going on because I've seen some of the promo videos for like the big buck hunter stuff and that's all pro shot. So I know that we have Jack danger here locally to us that we're definitely going to lean on for his, you know, he does a lot of, He has a lot of expertise in that area. And there's a production company we work with at Raw Thrills that, you know, I know that, you know, big picture, we talked about it before. But even us at Raw Thrills, we see this being more than just this arcade esports thing. And I think being able to share the resources that we have at Raw Thrills, you know, there's only ways to benefit there from a crew that knows how to handle another e-sport. You know what I mean? Where you're not working with amateurs, you know, myself included. I love doing commentary. It's fun. But I am a professional in that field. So we have, you know, I know Stern is helping to host the final Papa Circuit next year, but we have until that February-March 2019 timeframe to figure that out. So there's a lot of work to be done before we have to worry about that. Steve Ritchie on Color Commentary. He just tells everyone to play better for the entire broadcast. Or Eugene Jarvis on Censored. Oh, good Lord. That probably wouldn't work too well. I call that Tuesday at work. Yeah. But, you know, to us, there's definitely, you know, the fact that the Papa Group and us and Stern are all sort of the three the three legs of the stool. As Gary Stern likes to say, you know, we all have responsibilities to this partnership and an area of expertise in this partnership to help put its best foot forward on every medium. whether it be Stern, obviously, providing the equipment is fantastic to know that, like, hey, guys, we need, you know, 10 games of your, you know, your latest 10 in the catalog. And it like no problem We got that And it like oh my God you know what it like to show up to you know a Nationals event that I have to run and beg you know what games are we going to use Well we don know We figure it out It like oh my God it so stressful So everyone I know with Papa and their Papa TV, you know, Kickstarter, they have a lot of the equipment available to be able to get all those games under camera. And, you know, with Jack Danger in terms of how to lay out a broadcast and what the Papa guys bring to the table, There's just a lot of conversations yet to be had that I think is going to just maximize the output. And what classic stirrers will be picked? It's going to be interesting, man. I don't know. It'll be fun to, depends on what the Papa guys want to bring out. I know that they've committed to, worst case, you know, being responsible for bringing those titles out. I know that we have the luxury and the Chicago enthusiast scene that we could probably handle that even without Papa needing to load up, you know, three games, four games in the van and bring it out. So it'll be interesting as the years progress if we're able to rope in most of them. Dragonfist. Dragonfist or bust, fellas? Ooh, Dragonfist. Where? Where? We have one. There is one that a local collector has that I'm sure is a quick phone call away to, hey, can we borrow your Dragonfist? So who knows, man? Who knows? It's exciting. I think I saw one at Expo maybe once. The guy who has it is hosting our league finals next month, so it may be picked in one of our matches. Excellent. 3D press passes. Press passes. I know a guy that can make that happen. All right. Excellent. I'd say get out of that upstate New York cold in February and come to our cold in February. I don't mind that. Yeah, get out of the Buffalo and Rochester cold. Go to the Chicago cold. Okay. Excellent. Excellent. So what else has been up with you? What else is coming soon from IFPA? You know what? I think we've blown our wad on upcoming things. I think for once there's nothing coming up. There might be nothing coming up, which is kind of really exciting for me. For you personally, your next show is going to be probably Pemberg, of course. It will. for me, for Josh the player Pinberg is on deck and I guess league finals are on deck shortly before that well good luck with that of course and we will definitely see you at Pinberg because we are both of course going to be there with 797 of our closest friends and family right? should be a fun time it should be do you have anything to talk about before we go into our normal notes and everything like that Anything you like to plug? No, man. I got nothing. This shit plugs itself. It does. No, you know, it really does. If there's questions that either you guys have or that you know people have, you know, I'm not afraid to answer anything, of course. So throw anything you got at me, you know, Stern Circuit, anything related. I don't care. Josh has an open door Ryan Policky. He really does. I do. I do, man. I love it. And more hate, the better. yeah oh actually there is there is something potential upcoming that i can't i can't even tease it's so but there's like there's like not a high likelihood that it's going to happen it's like i don't know 50 50 is i don't even know 50 50 is accurate or not accurate but like i will definitely let you know or i think when if and when it happens you'll know what that is okay and then maybe we will definitely ask you to come back on again of course you know that Yeah. You may not even want to talk to me if that happens. You never know. Really? Oh, my goodness. Wow. He's selling off IFPA for $22 million. We're selling off to those new highway investors, man. Get the money while it's hot. Oh, God. Or maybe sell it to the Dutch pinball investors. There you go. We're selling to AI, guys. No longer. The ARA has a 51% controlling interest. And you've been pushed out. Right. Sorry. I would say Dutch's approach was quite unique. Yeah. Did you guys watch the stream thing? I did not watch it. I did. I watched the whole thing. And all I know is I got two things out of it. One, they really have no money to pay back who are the early achievers, as they call them. Sure. So instead of giving some of the money back, they're just going to keep the money to try to make the company keep on working. That's an interesting approach. Yeah, it was a real European approach. It really was. Yeah. Wow, let's piss off all the European listeners. That's true. I used to work for a European company. But it is true. They definitely have a more upfront view. I mean, like when they came to – was it Texas? They're like, yeah, we're not making big Lebowskis because of these other issues. But we're going to sell this Bride of Pinbot, what was it, 20th anniversary edition? Which is now dead. It's now dead. That was the other thing we got from the video. It's dead, Jim. It's dead, Jim. They're trying to find a new manufacturer, and you know how hard it is to make any machine. You see it. Yeah, we know how hard it is to manufacture something that's like one-tenth of the difficulty of a pinball machine. And even that is really hard day to day. Exactly. And I used to work in manufacturing for one of my companies, and every day is a different challenge. Every day you hope the supplier is going to come through. And it's so not sexy. It's just the not fun part. No. After it's out on the floor and you can enjoy it, yeah, that's the best part. Oh, yeah. Oh, my God, you just want to bang your head against the wall. Yeah. And it really does suck. So no offense, Dutch is dead. Nope, he's calling it. He's calling it. It is. They're not going to be able – guess what? Let's say they have the money to even pay off ARA for the original value or even the new value of the Pimla machines. There's only 40. ARA is not going to do anything else with them. They've pissed each other off so much. So they're done. They're not going to be able to get another manufacturer floating the boat. That's the biggest thing. We found out this whole video thing that ARA was footing the bill, and then Dutch was paying for the games afterwards. That's how we do it at Raw Thrills. We get a bill when the game is completed, and then we pay that bill. But the problem is trying to find another manufacturer to do that for you. It's really hard. Yeah. No, we're very lucky to have ours, and I believe that he might have even taken a phone call or two from multiple pinball developers that were looking for manufacturing help. And we had to act like the 800-pound gorilla that we are and tell our contract manufacturer to make sure he tells everyone else that he's not building for anybody except for us. I totally agree, because guess what? It's nice to have full control and have your assets not being tied up in something else. Especially pinball. I mean, it's tough, man. It's a tough beast. So, Josh. Yeah? Have you played Star Wars yet? I probably couldn't tell you if I have, but I actually have not. I have not. Okay. We've been so busy, I haven't snuck over there yet. Damn. You have the open invitation, though, don't you? Of course. Always. Okay. I'm sure on the Jack Danger stream, Josh might just happen to be walking by. In the background. That stream is usually when I get to play the next game, because I happen to be over there, and I utilize my time over there very well. Yes. That Batman stream, I think, was the first time I played Aerosmith. So it was cool. So you have two long-lost brothers you just found out about today, and they're going to be in Chicago when you need us to be, anytime. Yes. Yes. Bring it on. We'll sneak you guys in. We have the Groucho Marx mustaches work really well to replicate my dad. Nice. And I'm assuming Keith Elwin might just happen to walk by while they're filming Star Wars. Maybe. Maybe. We might throw the world's most insane Papa-style final mini-tournament there between me and if I can get Zach to show up and Keith and Lyman. Maybe we'll play like a $1,000 game of Star Wars or something for the stream. Keep it interesting. I like that. I love that, actually. So what did you think of Star Wars when you've seen it? You know, just see what you see. Don't look at it from the side. I don't know. You know what? It's like, I find the rush to opinions very hilarious to me. I know that even looking at the games that I have in my location, in my basement, at first glance, you know, of a picture, of a playfield shot from up top, there's no way that I would guess that, you know, these games I would kill to have in my collection. And these games that you maybe at first glance, you would think that like, oh my God, this is gonna be so great that you like couldn't pay enough money to not have in your collection. So it's one of those, and I guess it allows me to sort of get around to never having to comment bad on anything. But I have, there's no opinion yet that I have until I really put the time on something to see how it all comes together. I mean, I feel like it's like if you were to go eat at a five-star restaurant and someone asked you how the meal was, and all you had were like Yelp pictures to look at, like how could you possibly know how good that meal is yet? It's just a waste of opinion. It's not even opinion at that point. It's like hearsay opinion. Well, Pinsight says it's the worst game ever. I've heard. It's terrible. It's ACDC. I mean, it's horrible. It's the worst game ever, yet somehow they will sell so many that I don't even know why they take any time to develop anything anymore. Like, literally, we are in the lunchbox pinball generation. Just slap a logo on it, ship it, let everyone hate it, and make a bunch of money. Yep. Well, hell, my distributor... Great business model. I wish we had that business model at Raw Thrills. Good lord. I know. my distributor sold out of his le's four months ago good lord i know you know and you're gonna say it's guess what they're gonna sell 800 le's in a second to me i i'm saying which one it is you i'm gonna have to play it i want to play it and when i play it then i'll see it and i can't even go fully by that because then i want to see how the rules progress yeah yeah i mean at this point that's the most interesting part right like back in the day you know most games were sort of mostly baked by the time people played it, and now it's just not. It's like everything's sort of half-baked, and I'm a believer that that ends up resulting in a much better game at the end. I feel like people can comment on games not being finished at launch, but what you would get as the finished game, if that was the actual execution of that game, wouldn't be nearly as good as the game you eventually get when you see how people interact with the game. And beta testers, it's a shitty word to use, but I look at it in the positive of someone like Lyman who loves watching how people attack his games, and it's like, if he sees weaknesses, it's like, well, fuck that. We're changing that today. And it's like, oh my God, thank God. where if you have games from the 90s that are like stuck in this hell of like it's never going to be a good game because all the exploits that we found just still exist. Like look what he did to CSI the day of at Papa. Right, no kidding. Oh my God. So IFPA endorses incomplete software. That's right. That's right. Now you have a great place in Chicago, 257. Yep. And you have now dialed in there and you've played it a lot, I guarantee. I have. What do you think of the game? I think the evolution has been really good. I usually would stop in, play it once a month, and then write a long-ass email to Pat Lawler and crew that would mostly get ignored. But it was sort of like, by the end of it, I sort of felt like I was writing my own diary to the design team. But Joe Katz is, at this point, kind of the lead programmer with respect to rules. And he's in our pinball league, and I've known him for a really long time. And I think we've had a lot of conversations over the design of the rules for that game. And I think he's gotten it to a really nice place, a place that we've certainly argued over some things that I would focus on more than not. And, you know, back when the game started, you know, and he got to watch me cradle out every mode because starting a mode was the only way of letting your locks and the points were so multiball heavy. It's like I didn't care about playing the mode. The mode was the gatekeeper to where the points were in the multiball. So I wanted to save every mode to light the next multiball. and that's evolved now to you know as i as i wrote the design team i'm like if if there's always going to be balancing issues with games right like that's just you're constantly it's like plate spinning trying to figure out you know the best way to get everything as equal as possible and if you don't want people to cradle out modes because that's an embarrassment to all the time and effort you've put into these features in the game, then as a default, make sure the exploits in your game are defaulted to the way you want people to play the game, right? So if you were going to have points available easier in dialed in, make the modes worth more than the multiballs if that's what you want people to play. So I think, you know, them shifting to that sort of philosophy i mean they i remember you know getting getting message from joe of just like like knowing that they had put a new build in and the next time that i went to 257 and and it was like go ahead yeah cradle out your mode go ahead enjoy and then it's like i start the multiball and it's like what the fuck it's like and and you realize that like you know they loaded all these points available into the mode and it's like yeah man i'm gonna play this now and it's like thank you we want you to play this and it's like well there you go you're getting what you want and I'm getting what I want. So Bruce, do you know who hated Dialed In when it was revealed? No, who? Pinside. You know who loves it now? I know, Pinside. Pinside! They can't get enough of it. It's amazing. The waves have turned. Some people actually played the game. What a concept. It's crazy. It is crazy. So, uh, now when you go to Pinburg, are you going to be there for the, are you going to be leaving for one like quarter day like you did for papa or you're gonna be there for the whole time i unless my wife is pregnant and like seven months in and i'm not aware okay she hasn't put on that much weight so she would nearly be a shocker i i plan on being there the whole time and only taking one flight out it's kind of exciting good are you going out with your brother yes okay is your father coming he is not this year he is uh he's old he and i and i think so the first year is sort of his birthday present he's gone the last two years and it's fallen on his birthday now when they switched it to the summer fall whatever and he was excited to go the first year the second year it was like we just signed him up and bought him his ticket and plane ticket and hotel room and everything and you could tell that there was like less enthusiasm about going but he went and stuck it out. Because he's like, you know, when we were going into this year before the Pembroke registration, you know, Zach and I were like, hey, man, you know, we'll ask you this year instead of just pushing you into this, but do you want to go? And he's like, I'm an old man, guys. Like, I just, it's a lot of play. It is, it is. And for him, he's pushing 70. And he's just like, he plays in the league, and he's just like, I just, I don't know if I have it in me anymore. to do the two full days and so we're if anything we're giving him the year off maybe for maybe for his for his 70th birthday maybe we'll make him go again there you go my father's in the same boat how old is how old is he ron he'll be turning 69 this year yeah so is my dad so there you go it's like yeah it's tough because my day he's very excited about the concept of playing and then you know walking back up to the hotel rooms in between rounds to like reapply his knee brace. I mean, it's just, you know, the knee brace, put some icy hot on the back. I mean, it's a process. I always thought, you know, for my father, his timing wasn't the best. I think he missed out on his prime years because there just was no pinball where he was. I mean, he got to play where he played the tavern he went to had one game, and he would always have the high score on it. Him or some other guy, and they'd flip-flop. and then we didn't really play again until the 2000s you know so he kind of i think he even when he would play he'd be like man i can't hit shots like i could before yeah my dad my dad lives that too of of wishing he was the guy in the courtroom still and not only with like the skills that he had back then but also like the confidence and arrogance that he had, which I think actually you sort of need in that upper level, like the knowing you're going to just go blow this game up right now. There's a certain level of like, you need to genuinely believe that of yourself to help make it happen versus sort of just like hoping it's going to happen and worrying about what's going to happen. I think my dad had that level of self-confidence that is really needed today. It would have been interesting to see, you know, how he would have fared. Two questions for you. Yes. Good. I have like three minutes. I know. Go. The court, remember last time you talked about how you guys found the court notes? Yes. Whatever happened. Nothing from the notes yet unless the voicemail I got from Steve Epstein today, which I have not listened to, is that he has them now. Okay. For what holiday just happened? I don't know. Somebody's birthday? It feels like it was like a Thanksgiving dinner at my parents' house. Maybe it was someone's birthday. Maybe Zach's wife's birthday. But we had, oh no, it was Passover. Passover Seder at the Sharp Household. My dad dug out some of the old tapes, and we got to, he wouldn't let us listen to the courthouse hearing yet, but he also said the quality of that tape is not particularly great because you just hear, I guess, a lot of the game being played. Because it's so, I mean, you guys have seen it in streaming. It's a big reason why the gameplay doesn't get streamed. It's because it overtakes, you know, everything else that's going on. But we got to hear some random interview from him back in that time period, which was kind of funny because he sounded a lot like me, which is kind of crazy. That is wild. Second question, real fast before. Yes. What were your thoughts about the Sanctum selling out in two minutes? I think it's pretty awesome. And I think for the biggest part of that, I think it's one of the biggest things for that we sort of have gotten some initial hatred on the circuit is that the it's now going to be so much harder for a new event to like make it because now it's whopper based. And it's like, well, it's sort of a chicken and the egg thing in terms of like you don't get an event with huge whoppers unless it's important or whatever. And I'm a big believer because I've walked the walk in building events out of nothing. and I know Ron can attest I think he played back in the old Pimbrell days I don't know if you did Bruce or not back oh yeah you know mid mid 2000s but but I sort of just had this idea for this team thing that sort of just came out of nothing and the first year was like nine teams and by the end of it we had you know 40 teams of four players and it was insane and I think what the sanctum has proven is that sometimes all you need is a really unique format to make something important and novel and something that people want to attend. And lucky for those people looking to get on the circuit is we're now, because we're measuring in Whoppers, you know, we're measuring based on that attendance of if you can convince these people to show up to your event by whatever means a huge prize pool a novel format you know whatever like you can make it out of nothing and and and the same time guys with their format i know that like zach and keith ellen are both signed up from here in chicago and we'll be making the trip so i i think i think it's really awesome to see those guys you know start with something that was probably sort of novel for them locally and it's just become a thing now yes and stomp will of course be a circuit event oh my god i can't wait just wait for the fourth year of stop it's gonna be great you guys will be cutting off uh you know turning turning down people yeah you can think that's gotta be it well thank you again josh thank you my pleasure boys you are always welcome thank you again i got i have a good game you like game you hate okay okay here i'll throw this at you and then i'll go it's the same game i thought about this while in the shower this morning and the game is demolition man if with and it with the claw disabled i love it and with the claw enabled i hate it yes and for those that don't know just set it up set it up that way because the the way to play and doing your lock freezes over and over and over and over and over and over and over again if the claw is enabled just really makes the game so one-dimensional that you wish Lyman could do a code update today like he does for his games today. But you can't because it's stuck in 90s Williams hell. But there's the software adjustment of disabling that claw and how it opens up the flow of the game and how those claw awards work. It makes it a completely different game and a game that I happen to really love. So take that, the same game, love and hate it. Excellent. Excellent. And you now add it to the question of the week. Oh, okay. But you can't be here for that. You can't be here for that. It's a secret. Goodbye. Enjoy. I will listen to it tomorrow. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Later, guys. Bye-bye. And that was Josh Sharpe, again, president of IFPA, filling us in on the Stern Pro Circuit, which just sounds really cool. It'll be even great when Stomp is on it. It's going to be great. We're going to stomp the circuit. So we talked a little bit about news with Dutch Pinball and how that company's dead. It's dead, Jim. It really is. For Bruce, it's dead. And Dialed In was kind of officially I mean I know they sent some out to locations but they actually had their first like big trucks going out and Jack did a standard cartwheel that he does So hopefully Bruce will be getting his soon. I think you're getting the call first. I really do. Whoa, okay, he's changing it up. So you think I'm getting the call first. All right. Because when they call me, I'm just going to give them your name. Oh. I'm going to be a nice guy. How nice. Because I spent money already, so, you know. So, everyone's probably halfway through the episode going, what is the question? The question of the week now is going to be a little changed since Josh gave us an answer. But we're going to ask for what two games does Josh Sharpe hate? What two games? One you just got a few minutes ago. So, one you just – if you just listened to the episode, you got it. So, what two games does Josh Sharpe hate? And you cannot go by videotape. It's what's been on our podcast. What? Is there something on videotape where he says he hates something else? Yeah, he says it half the time. God, don't do it. He screams and yells and does his own, you know. Well, no, he just hates how he's playing that game. It doesn't mean he hates the game. No, it could be a hate game too, though. Don't hate the player. Hate the game. It's got to be a hate game said on this podcast. Yep. So, any other news? Stomp. Stomp. Have you heard about Stomp? Stomp is great. Stomp is coming up July 15th on the east side of Albany. Now, you know what I'm really disappointed about a little bit? Uh-oh. What are you disappointed about? We've had barely any New Robert Englunds players sign up. Come on, New Robert Englunds. I think they're afraid of the New York. I think they are afraid because, I mean, I'm actually close to New Robert Englunds. I mean, I am very close. You are knocking on the door. You're almost rooting for Boston. No. Which is a safe thing to say. No, no, no, no, no, no. I think those chowderheads out there need to get out here and play some pinball in New York State. Red Sox suck. Yeah, Red Sox suck. Tom Brady sucks. Come on, bring it on. Let's go. But he is so close. You know, I'm surprised you don't go to Chuck Webster's house, you know. He's got some good games there, including a Quicksilver. Well, I was going to go when the one time you went there, or you were going to go, remember, for the state finals, but you didn't? I had to cancel out. Yeah. But that's been cool. So Stomp is coming up July 15th. We have a lot of people signed up. We can always use more. We can take more. It's four hours of match play. We'll have finals afterwards, and we have some nice trophies set up and good cold hard cash for everyone who's the big winner. George Takei will be there. You'll have to take a picture with Mr. Takei. He is looking so... He's looking very dapper. Zach will be there. Zach will be there. Steven Bowden from Abonis will be there. Tim Balls. Tim Balls. Well, he's running the tournament, so I hope he's there. Eric Russell. Jason Ford. It's just the who's who of the Slam Tilt Podcast will be there. Meet all the celebrities. Pinball Princess. So, you know, you'll meet everyone. Maybe you'll even get all the autographs from all the people who've listened. You know what we should do? We just get a Sharpie and everyone autographs George. Oh. Yeah, I think that's what we'll do. Yeah. On his body. On his body, not his face. You've got to leave his face alone. You've got a face. Oh, don't touch my face. No. Unless you have something. And please, no vulgar writing on him either. Yes. Keep it classy or as classy as we can be. Bruce allows. Yes, which ain't that classy. And we had an arrival to level zero. Yes, you did. Quicksilver has arrived. You got a delivery from Bruce a la Zach's Shipping. Now, isn't that funny what Zach moves pinball machines in? What's funny? You know what car he's moving pinball machines in? Oh, yeah. It's a small one. It's a Honda fit, folks. It fit. It did. Yep, Quicksilver. I've got to do a once-over on it. The back glass, the repro black back glass looks insane. It really does, compared to the old one. The old one was bad. I didn't know he made those. Yes, he did. Can we say who made them, or is it a secret? No, you win. John Greatrich, he did an incredible job on it when you see it. and of course it looks better with incandescent bulbs behind it than LEDs. Yep, I'll be taking some of them out, though. That's another tip. If you want to keep the incandescent look, you do not need as many bulbs as they put in there. They over-lit almost every backless, especially 90s Williams games. They put way, way too many lights in there. Did you notice how all the light sockets work, though? Yes, they do. Let's see. Well, I'll make an assessment, looked at it. The drop targets are all new. Which, that was not my choice. Which is bad, yep. Our listeners know how we feel about that. So I will have to get a shim for the two banks because they are sitting too low. Which I told them how to do, and now we have a game plan. We have a game plan. The pop-upper ring that we talked about, that's broken. Which somebody famous noticed also. Yeah, Mr. Keith Hellman made a comment. Hi, Keith. He actually, because it sounds like he has a Quicksilver also. and said how they play better, and I can attest to that. So what I'm going to do is actually where it's broken, it's broken in the front, like where the ball is not going to hit it that often. So I'm going to attempt to superglue it, and then we're just going to leave it for now. Because where it needs to pop, it will be fine. Let's see, what else? I was very happy to know that Keith actually listens. I did not know that. I did not know that either, but I... We do. I'm very actually... I'm very actually... I'm very actually impressed. We're actually getting some good IFPA players listening to us. It's because we're getting good guests. I have a new contest. Uh-oh. Count how many times you say actually. That could be the next question. We could do it. You could do it closest without going over or something. Actually. That means we'd have to count. I really don't want to do that. No, I don't want to do that either. But, yes, Quicksilver, hopefully ready to kick ass, ready for the tournament. And I have an idea. I ran this by Timmy. Oh, but you didn't run it by me? You'll like this idea. You'll like this idea. Okay. Well, we already talked about there's going to be the match play tournament. But then we also mentioned we're probably going to have a game where you just buy entries on and try to get the best score you can. And then at the end, and they do this at Rock Fantasy a lot, have, like, the top four people, The top four scores go at it for the money. For the money. Yep. Yep. And that's what they typically do with, like, launch parties. They'll do that on whatever the new game is. Okay, hold on. I am sensing which game it is already. Well, we already know it's going to be Stars. Of course it's going to be Stars. It has to be Stars. What else could it be? However, I'm going to sweeten the deal. And this is from something that Papa did. Maybe one or two years he did it. Oh, you're putting a $100 bill in there or a $50 bill? Oh, he's already. I know how this goes. So the high score on there right now is Bruce's $333,000. So I think $400,000 is a reasonable score. So whoever is the first to get $400,000 will win the $100 that will be taped to the apron. $100? $100. Wow. Of course, you could say, well, why couldn't it just be whoever beats Bruce's score? are like, well, there's going to be players that are better than Bruce or I. Yes. It's only like 60... I'd say 500,000. See, if you see that high score is 33,000 and I have to get 400,000, it seems very doable. It does seem, but it's not. Yeah. And hopefully... If no one breaks it, I take home the $100? No, it's just no. What the fuck? I earned that. No, no, no. It just stays there. Just like it popped, it would just stay taped to the apron. Okay. For the next stop. There you go. Next stop. It'll just stay there. We won't even move it. I also, for your repairs, did you do anything else for repairs this past week? Okay. Okay. Stars fixed the display that just needed the usual re-solder job. Fixed the Harlem credit display, which had the same issue. attempted to fix the 9-ball display but did not have any luck and Bruce thinks it's the decoder chip which would suck because I don't have any of those. We're going to have to do something with that. If I can't get enough working displays, we might have to go the LED route. Or maybe I'll do this. I'll give you two of my originals that work and we'll split up the cost of an LED. I'll take the LEDs. Okay, we can do that. How's that sound? See? See? Partnership with Sterns? Me and Ron got this down pat. Honestly, we're like brothers. You got to get the old Sterns because you need to know other people at old Sterns because this is the only frigging way you're going to get parts. Yes. So I have two. Yeah. The sevens are no burns at all. So I have two others. So if you want all four, the old ones too. One doesn't do anything. It just... I have the same problem with the third one, the decoder chip. So you get two chips. You might even get a full set there. I think you can get the chips. That's right. You can. They are harder, though, to get. I thought Big Daddy Enterprises sold them. You might. I thought he had part of it, because he has the rebuilt kits, but I thought he also sold the chips. I could be wrong there. Okay, so anything else for repairs besides your displays? Oh, and for the Quicksilver, you got something. Yes, I did. Because something in the Quicksilver was missing. It was missing. And one of the few things it was missing, a knocker. Knocker. so you got from ebay you got a dirty used knocker used knocker dirty used knocker i know it was a dirty used knocker but it's complete so i've been i've been it was actually funny i saw this on ebay what a month ago it was grouped with a stern transformer and a rectifier board. Not rectifier board. It was a rectifier board, yes. And it was all grouped together and it said, you know, this I want for $220. I'm like, I don't want to spend $220 for a used knocker, a questionable rectifier board, and probably a good transformer because transformers usually don't go that bad. And it is a stern one, which is a little more robust as Scott has taught us. But I didn't want to do that. So I started emailing the guy, emailing the guy, emailing the guy, and suddenly, boom. Knocker, dirty knocker in my hand. It only cost you $120. No. No, no. Not even close. But I got a dirty knocker in my hand that I want to share with my friend. Yes, of course you do. Of course I do. And I'm going to take it and put it right in that sea witch you sold me that doesn't have a knocker. Nope. Oh, damn. I thought there was another sea witch for sale in Buffalo. Gone in three hours. Because people know Sea Witch is awesome. It is. I wish my Ghostbusters would go that quickly. Yeah. How's that going? Well, I think the last week's episode I said I put it on pinball classifieds. Nothing. I put it on pin side. I've had three offers of trades so far. Two for pirates. One for Simpsons pinball party. Oh, well, that's okay. We're not even close. So that's pretty much all I've got. I'm kind of disappointed, honestly. I really thought it would sell quicker. We told you. Whatever. But I had a feeling it might take longer because there was someone out there who had a nice one, just like mine, for the same price that I put mine out for, and his was out there for weeks before it finally sold. So, oh, well. It's still out there. Ghostbusters. It's on Pinside. Look it up. It could be yours. Beautiful condition. Jason Plourd, who has been on the show, said he's trying to sell his new in-box Smog, and it's on Pinside. Is it on Pinside or is it on Mr. Pinball Classifieds also? But he's looking for $7,700. What's a Smog? Smog Hobbit. Okay. Just for those who might be like, Smog? Yes. What the hell is that? Brand new in the box, sitting there waiting. And he actually offered up, we'll come to your house and set it up. So Jason's going to pay for our plane flight and the truck. I'm only kidding. Really? I was about to say, that's kind of crazy, all right. It is. So my repairs was getting the Quicksilver ready for Ron to receive and started to work on the Stargazer a little bit. Yeah, I finally get to work on Stargazer now. And I have two bad displays in it, which now lead to our past discussion. One is completely dead, and one is a bad decoder chip. I'm also going to be, this week, hopefully Saturday or Sunday, heating up the back of my Paragon playfield and pushing out my Golden Cliffs star insert. Is that a star insert? Star burst insert, I think. Star burst insert, okay. And I'm going to push that out and put a new one in. Oh, bye. Oh, bye. So, oh, I got redemption this week. Oh, Bruce, before you start that, did you get your trim? Oh, so you're admitting now I was right? What? What are you talking about? You got your trim, right? You got your lift trim. Yes, my lift trim. Yeah, because that's what it's called, of course. Everyone knows it's trim. Yeah. What did I call it again? Oh, well, I said it was a lift channel. Lift channel. Which technically is where it settles into on the game. But what did Marco call it? Lift trim. Mmm. And, wait a second. Now, the funny thing is, all the new people in the hobby, the past five or six years, all called it what you called it, lift channel. All the old-timers I know called it trim. Yeah, it's trim. It's trim, folks. winner winner chicken dinner yeah hope you're happy i am i'm very long again hope you're happy and you're standing there on all your happiness and you you rule the world we're both going to uh be at pintastic and we're going to ask for requests don't forget ron will take trade bait for either a cheetah or dragon fist towards his ghostbusters premium so you're thinking it's not going to be sold by then no jesus are you looking for anything else at fantastic ron it's like parts this is the time to maybe we can get some deals going parts uh yeah if anyone has any um plastic um plastic pop bumper rings you know for old sterns if anyone has uh old stern flipper bats or stern playfields with bats included and flippers or old stern playfields uh that they want to sell just chunker playfields contact us we'll talk to you beforehand and we'll get it all set up also i'm looking for stargazer targets for the zodiac signs ah the big targets yes which are so insane like they weren't even in the stern parts catalog that i have yes yes so i need those So if you've got a couple, I'll take a couple. Whatever you've got. Whatever you've got because they're used in Dragon Fist too, so I could always use them whenever I get my Dragon Fist. Also, I need a Bally Bottom Transformer plate for a Fathom Error game in the cabinet. I need one of the whole complete with the fuse block, the board, and the transformer. So I want the whole thing. You've got one from a Junker game, come talk to me, email me. Put attention, Bruce. I'm interested in buying a Pintastic. And any Stern parts. Old Stern, not new Stern. We love old Stern. Yes, we do. I think that might be the next tattoo after Bally. No. Don't forget, Ron's looking for that Cheetah Dragon Fist. No Star Wars yet. No video. It's coming. Worst game in the Pinside history. Yep, Pinside says it's the worst game. Worst game. It's like the worst games in Pinside history would be like Dialed In, ACDC when it first came out. I remember they hated that. The Angus face was like the worst thing ever. They hate Star Wars. They've been pretty dead on with their predictions, man. Oh, and they loved Ghostbusters. So, again, they've been pretty dead on with their predictions. Yeah. So, would I buy that? Oh, okay. No, actually, everyone was asking about this. All right. Ticket number 25-299-881-3000. Midway's Rotation 8 pinball machine. I've never seen one before until this day. I have never heard of this. And that's saying a lot if we haven't heard of it. I know. The first time I saw it was an hour ago. The hell? It's a midway pinball machine. Yeah, it looks like it's using a bunch of 8-ball parts. It is using a bunch of 8-ball parts. It's got the 8-ball pop-upper caps. I mean, the exact ones from 8-ball. Spinner. Interesting. Now, the thing that's coolest about this game is you can actually sit at each corner, and the play field rotates. Oh, God. Okay, so the whole player goes in rotates. So the player does not have to move, the four players. All right. You do buttons. You look at the fourth picture. Flipper buttons, north, east, south, and west players. Oh, God. Look at the plungers they put on there. They're all offset. Oh, my goodness. I know. Probably didn't make many of these, I'm guessing. They didn't have a count there. but if you look on IPDB and look at the board set it is not any you would think they use a ballet board set nope they use a midway style board set which is the video game board set or like a gorf not a gorf board set because they use a cage style but almost like a galaxium board set alright it is very weird I think the main gimmick is probably that it spins yes and I like the bank shot on this one I would not buy this for $2,500. No, but it is rare. I mean, it could be. I've never seen one. If someone collects these tabletop games, maybe this is the one they've been waiting for. Yep. So he's asking make-off for two, so it's a possibility at all. But I thought that was definitely a wow. I agree. Ticket number 182621739. 0-5-1. Space Shuttle. This is the game that brought back pinball. $800. Or at very least the game that kept the lights on. Yes. As the story goes, it was at the annual AOMA, whatever it was called, amusement show, that Williams brought this in. and supposedly the management had decreed if they didn't pre-order a certain number of them, they were going to shut down the pinball division. And they did. And they did. And not shut it down. They got the orders. Of course. This one's $7.99. Project machine selling as is. Has not been plugged in. Needs total cabinet repaint. Yeah, I love the side art because there is none. Yeah, there is none. Some asset damage. Looks complete. Selling as is, no exchange. Pick up in Wilmington, Delaware. This machine started the pinball resurgence of the 80s. Bring this great machine back to glory. Playfield's not bad, actually, on it. You have one little wear spot in the middle. The coin door looks weird. What, is that the camera angle or what? And why does the picture say it's from 1-1-2016? I'm guessing he just didn't reset his... Yeah, probably didn't reset his clock. The coin door is... Right. He uses a William style like that, but it looks like it's spackle painted. Yeah. Somebody had fun with that one. Yeah, yeah. The coin door is all messed up. Yeah. The play field is probably... The best part of it. Best part of it. It's rare for a space shuttle. Yeah, because it doesn't appear to be mylard, yet there's wear, but it's not a lot of it. There's wear on the top. There's wear on the top above the USA. Oh, okay. But if somebody wants a project for $799, make them an offer of $500. See what you get. Our Deadly Listeners. Going back now, waiting for the next one to come through. Okay, guys, this is back. This is back. Ticket number 152-588-769-048. And no, it's not the bunghole crane. Oh, this again. It's cheaper, though. A lot cheaper this time. This is, if you remember from one of our previous shows, we had the Mata Hari Playfield coffee table. What was it last time? $7.50. $7.50. Now it's only $4.50. Yep. And it has a nice playfield. I think we remarked on that last time. Yeah, it's touched up, but it's better than a lot of Mata Hari's out that I've seen. I think it's a cool little gimmick. I told you, if I own a Model Hari, I'd buy this, put my old play field in this, and put this play field in my new machine or my machine. But for $450? Bruce would buy that. I'd buy that for now. Now we're talking reasonable price. All right. Okay. A couple more. I've really loaded up this week. Oh, my. Oh, my. Okay. Here's the good one. Ticket number 302-353-321-658. Hot dogging. Restored. Restored back to its glory days. Oh, it has LEDs, which I'm sure Bruce loves. Oh, it gets better. It gets better. Oh, they did all kinds of the multicolored LEDs in the back glass. Yay. They keep stripped and re so it better than my cabinet Three new boards installed playfield detailed What Okay Okay Now I got to bring that one out for a few more seconds What does that mean Wait wait wait. LEDs installed and bench tested. Playfield is interesting as a T contains inline drop targets, kickback kicker. It's a great game. Local pick-em in Jersey. So, let's go through the pictures, Ron. You see the first one in all of its LED glory. Yeah, and And they left the glass on for all the pictures because, you know, I love that. If you look at the play field in the second shot, does it look a little weird? It looks weird. Okay. It could be the glass, too. And the flippers are wrong. Flippers are wrong. It's got Williams flippers. But, you know, that just makes it because it's been, you know, it's been brought back to its glory. Former glory is a Williams game. And play field details. Hey, it'll get rid of the flipper hop probably. It probably will. Now, the stencil cabinet is not too good on the third shot. You mean the picture isn't too good? No, the actual stenciling. If you look at the stencil job, all of its glory is not too gloryful. Okay. Gloryful? Gloryful. Wait. Gloryful. Here comes the glory. Go to the fourth picture. Yeah. Look at the touch-ups. Well, touch-ups on what? I'm looking at the drop targets, which have bizarre. Like, bizarre. It looks like somebody took a magic marker and put, like, a star on it. Yeah. You even notice that? Okay, it's better. No, no, no. It's better. Look at the special when lit in Spot Letter in 5000. Special. Oh, it's written in. Oh, it's written in, like, Sharpie or something. Yeah. Like somebody put white out. Yeah. And then the snow around the pop bumper, look at the white around that. I think he made like three-dimensional. It doesn't look good is what you're saying. Oh, my God. It's fucking thing. Poor thing's like train wreck. So you would not buy this? I would not buy this at all. Okay. But yeah, it's just I felt bad because I was like, all right. You don't see many hot doggons. And I was like, oh, this is cool. It came on my search. I have hot doggon in my search. And I looked and I went, the only thing I like is his plastic's good. His lube plastic is good. My lube plastic's bad. If anyone's got a loop plastic or plastics for hot dogging, I need two of them. Well, what two do you need, Bruce? A loop plastic above the drop targets in the back for the multiplier drop targets. And one of my flipper, the right flipper, not the right flipper, but the kick sling, which is actually where the third flipper sits. I need that plastic also. So if you bring going a Pentastic, you got plastics for hot dogging. Bruce is picking up a lot of stuff at Pentastic, it sounds like. Oh, my God. Look at all the – I'm reading at the other one. I'm going back to that first flipper, you know, the picture with the third flipper. And he did the other thing on the other side with the special spot letter. He wrote it all in hand also too. Here's the funniest thing I ever saw. $1,876.54. So he went $1,000 and went backwards from $8,7654. Yeah. Yeah, and it's like the opening bid. I think he's a little – I take away the one. change the 8 to a 4 and we got something going. 470, wow, okay. The boards and the playfields is completely shot. Yeah. So I would not buy this. I think that's it. I think it's time for the mail ball bag. Mail ball bag time. We had a lot of responses for our second question. Some wrong answers. fails, but a lot of right answers. So I'm getting my part of the sack up. Oh, God. Something just popped in the sack. It just did. Riding on the fly. Riding on the fly. The pinball princess. She would have no way of knowing that we were recording early with Josh. No. So the thing I have to say to people right now is we have the two contests going on. One is to become our 50th show guest. We have a couple people involved with that, but we can always use more people. Just write in and say, hey, I want to be on your show. Hang out with the boys. You have until next Friday. Not this Friday. Next Friday. So you have one more podcast. One more podcast after this and one day after that podcast coming out. So send us an email. Say you want to be on the show. You can be on the show. and you can yawn with bruce you can yawn with bruce i can teach you how to yawn uh we asked scott about our pop bumper ring and he says uh they don't break at least somebody somebody does something stupid now does that does anything look stupid on that pop bumper ring no not really and it's weird though where it broke is it broke in the front where you would think it doesn't really get hit that often it's kind of weird and uh scott agreed with me of course with the trim channel. Of course he did. And there was a Quicksilver mod to reset the multiplier out of every ball, but it's old and I don't have a tested known form. And that's the form that Keith actually has. Yeah, Keith Owens Quicksilver. Yes. Which I kind of like and he needs to give it to us. Oh, and Scott, if you're listening, is there any way you could like quickly come up with a fix, not a fix, or a modification for Star Trek Next Generation it just removes the video mode. I'm totally serious. Just make it so it's never, like, it just doesn't give you the video mode. Just give you $25 million? Yeah, like, it would be so much better. You can't choose left. You can only choose right. Or you can only choose, you know, left instead of right. Yeah, just like, there's no video mode, period. So, Scott, you have your work cut out for you. We'll expect a response within three days. Three days of listening to the podcast. Next email is from Alex Huffman. Hi, Alex. Hi, Alex. Thanks for listening. He was correct with the answers, and he actually added one just to cover his bases. So he was a smart boy. Also, it is a Lyft channel. He was wrong. So sorry, Alex. Fail. The trim is around. He thought like you. The trim is protecting around the rest of the glass, and he really enjoys his Thursdays at work. Glad we make his work day good. How was your work today, Ron? It was all right. Mine sucked. Okay, next email. We got a lot of mail. Ryan Cooper, K-U-I-P-E-R. Maybe I said that wrong. Who knows? Got his three answers right. I gave him the old emails back saying, you are correct. And then we got a famous person emailing in, the pinball princess. Well, how about Benjamin Crane? Benjamin Crane, he's a friend of mine. Oh. And he failed. He answered one. He answered Eric Russell. And we said in the things, three. Yeah, three. Oh, then he came back and said, well, how about all three Eric Russells? Oh. I said, no. No, someone already took that gimmick. Yes, they did. The pinball princess took that gimmick. And she said, joke one, Eric Russell, Eric Russell S, Eric Russell C and Y. Joke answer two, me, myself, and I. Which is then the real answer, of course, was Eric Russell, me, and Timmy Sexton. Timmy. Everyone has email. On the phone, he'll be good. She was doing this as she was standing almost next to me. As I was playing the Stern Army thing at Rock Fantasy there. Which I didn't realize it was like a combined total of the two different Stern Army things. So I actually was completely out of it. Fail. Before I even started. I didn't realize that. But you might have got a cheat on something, but we'll talk about that when you're ready. Yeah, yeah. That's a long shot, but yeah. And then she says, PPS, Ron, I'm right next to you. And then she goes, PPS, hi, Bruce. So thank you, Steph. Brian from Mass Pinball, he guessed three guests. He got Tim, Steve, and Steve Outen and Steph. Yep. And he says, while I'm at it, I'm on the lookout for a big game. I live in Massachusetts. so if you find one around, please let me know. And I came back saying, well, that's funny. Ron's big game came from Massachusetts. Yes, it did. And we had a joke. Me and Zach were talking about this. Every pinball machine I bought from Massachusetts needed a ton of work. Every pinball machine mostly I bought from New York worked pretty good. Pennsylvania, so-so. New Jersey, good. Connecticut, good. but everyone from Massachusetts has been basket cases for me. Ryan C. also gave us some good answers. Nice job. Ryan C. Aaron Pennington gave us some good answers. So thank you, Aaron, for listening. Sean F. also gave us some good answers. Thank you, Sean. He says, thanks for intending and informing me every week. You two are the Laverton Shirley of pinball. Oh, my. So I came back and said, you're right. Congratulations. Thanks for the kind words, but which one is which? He said, that's for you guys to figure out. What an exciting new segment and a great theme for a stern-necked pimple. A new machine, Laverne and Shirley. With me and Ron as, so, Ron, I hate to say it, I'm Laverne. So you're Penny Marshall. So I'm the other one. So I'm the one who's not in the last season of the show, even though my name is still, like the name of the show is still Laverne and Shirley. That was bizarre. Yes, it was. So I'm Laverne, I think. Tell me what you think, folks. I'll go with that. All right, we got another email from Ryan C. Yo, this is all you now. G'day, lads. I went down to the Australian distributor the other day and updated it, dialed in to 1.13. They are busy and it was still in beta code. Oh, my. I played for about three hours on it. Wow, what a fucking game. This always felt amazing to shoot, but with all the new modes, multiballs, and objectives, it's just an amazing next-level experience. I take it he likes the game, it seems. Everyone's finally agreeing with us. My only issue with the game, and this is probably me just trying to save myself from spending $14,000 dues. It's a real currency. It's dollary dues. Dollary dues. It's a real currency. Look it up. There's a YouTube link here. It's the call-outs part of the fanfare. The light show shaker parts of the fanfare. fine, but the news presenter fanfare just doesn't add to the excitement. And it's a very exciting game when you start multiball and you hear a guy in a D4 saying, no, you're dialed in. It would be awesome if the guy sang jackpot like the evil guy running the corporation, but they seem to be going to the news presenter route. I actually like the news presenter route. I understand some people like that. I wanted to sing jackpot one, jackpot two. Every game should say that. It should. I agree with that. Anyways, it got me thinking. Is there a moment in pinball that you think is epic, but the fanfare just doesn't match the situation? For me, it's on Tron, my favorite game, sound also by David Thiel. To finish Lifecycle Multiball, you need to get a three-way combo jackpot. If you don't combo it, it resets within a couple of seconds. It's pretty hard comparatively, but when you do it, there is just some weird sound effect. No massive light show. No one's screaming, you just got a three-way combo, you amazing bastard. Good point. That would be a hell of a quote there. Also, you guys are always joking about who will get the darling first. I think it calls for a bet. Whoever gets theirs second must do something. Yeah, question marks and says, please hand me your mailbag for your suggestions. So we'll make a bet then. Okay, what's the bet? I have something if I get my machine first. Okay, if you get your machine first, I have to do what? I am the host. You're the host of the show. You are the co-host of the episode. All right. So if I get mine first, you have to tell me at least five things you like about barbed wire. Actually, I don't mind barbed wire for part of the rules. The gauntlet game. The rules. I can do that. There you go. Wow, you can pick five things. You hated that game. I hate the game, but I know how to play it. All right. You got the next one. Retroactive 85. Hi, Ron and Bruce. This is the first time I've written the podcaster, so hello. Hello. Hello. You guys are rocking and providing fun content for almost 50 episodes in. Fun guests, good mix between tournament and collective talk, and humor to brighten even the most boring of software development tasks. So I guess he's a software developer. That's kind of cool. to answer the question he answered correctly keep up the good work thank you very much you are right with your good answers keep on listening thanks again that's Kevin thank you Kevin Harry Jackson he gave us a good three answers got the three guests right and he's in New Jersey great state because that's my home state so thank you for listening Harry Scott Scott sent an email with a screenshot for something that Bruce needs to look at. Okay, so here we go. Follow directions, you bell again, he says. And it says, this machine must be plugged into a properly grounded outlet to prevent shock hazard and to ensure proper game operation. Do not use a cheater plug to defeat the ground pin. Do not cut off the ground pin. There you go. The Shaka. So, Bruce, ground your effing games. Nope. Nope. See what you said it was? Okay, no questions. So, it was your favorite game, like the Mr. Kilowatt? You know, you put your hands on there. How much electricity can you take? God, you guys are such wimps. No, I don't want to get shocked when I play a damn pinball machine. Okay, next time, I'm going to make a video of them. I'm going to put a voltmeter between it and see how much current is going through, between one machine to the other. Just to say, like, see, it's only this much, you pussy. You got it. Okay. All right. Here we go. Pinball princess. Pinball princess again. Times two. So we got Deer Slam Tilt Podcast. Somehow I managed to procrastinate writing a letter covering thoughts accrued over the last four episodes episodes to the last minute. That probably means I will be rolling five entire episodes worth of fan mail into one humongous, okay, bolus, B-O-L-U-S. Do you know what that is? Are you on mute? I was on mute, but I'm looking right now. I'm looking at the... B-O-L-U-S. I'm sure it is because her grasp of the English language is at a much higher level than almost anyone I know. So let's see what bolus is. It's a small, rounded mass of a substance. So that is the correct word. Oh, my. I'm probably saying, oh, my, bolus. Probably in some other language, it's probably a swear word, and it'll be blocked on all the videos. That probably means I'll be – yes. Five episodes – let me try that again. That probably means I'll be rolling five entire episodes worth of fan mail to one humongous bolus and sticking it down the throat of the mail ball bag. Ooh. Mail bag ball. Slam ball bag. Email ejaculation station. Wow. You know, the fun part of this segment, I would call it doing the fast, yeah, I'm really, I'm sorry, I'm screwing this up here. I would call it doing five fast thoughts in the spirit of another wildly entertaining, wildly popular pinball podcast that is effectively or officially on hiatus, but there is a strong possibility that my writing on full tilt will yield a product that could deem anything but fast. Nevertheless, for the sake of time, I will try to do so here. Here we go. Five fast thoughts, or if you would prefer a different spin, a quartet of quick quips. First of all, I am super excited for this upcoming stomp. So are we. I know I may have mentioned it before, but it's great to know that it is, in fact, a pinball tournament and not a percussion performance. Although I must admit, those two things may not be all that separate. A slap-happy player or a loud flipper button might easily constitute a percussive arrangement and would certainly fit the unorthodox instruments of the group. Well, we will hear a lot of slamming on the side of cabinets. That we will. Let's see. Second, I may not have heard correctly, but I do believe that Bruce touted Steven Bowden as the first return guest on Pinball Profile. That is simply incorrect. Not counting the two-parter with Bo and Karen's, the first repeat guest was Bo and Karen's, actually. I thought it was Josh Sharpe, so I, too, stand corrected. The point is moot, though. In the end, what matters is that we got to hear more from Steve. It's always great hearing from friendly voices in the pinball community, especially when they're part of the Slam Tilt crew. Woo-hoo! Steven Bowden. I failed. Final bonus. Steven Bowden. Final bonus. Jeff Teolis, pinball profile. Yes. Third, though I'm not abstaining from commenting on any of the episodes in depth, I do want to bring up how enjoyable it has been to listen to the guest on your podcast. So she likes to guess. As much as hearing the Slam Tilt crew makes me think of the Straw Hat crew. But who's Luffy pronounced Luffy and gives the impression of a ragtag, eccentric group of heroes. As such, every person who comes on really knocks it out of the park. I don't think I've had one interview episode where I've left going, hey, that person wasn't so great. Putting yourself out in the podcast takes multiple steel balls, and so far it's really paid off. And there have been so many excellent moments in each interview episode. It highlights how many awesome people there are in the pinball community. Major disclaimer, I'm not saying this is the boast. I could very well be the exception to this rule. In fact, I am not included in this rule at all unless you count real-time interaction as listening. I lack the silvery steel balls to listen to my own interview. I am the outlier that should not be counted. Thank you. Let's see, thought four. There is no thought four. No thought four. Okay. It's kind of like a Gottlieb best of list. so uh it's really not a quartet then yeah it is thought five after babbling on about poetry for however long i would be remiss if i neglected to add a parting poem to the slam tilt poetry slam tilt the redundancy is strong with that one poetry slam tilt there's an excellent blended pun in there somewhere. So here's a haiku. Oh, a haiku, sorry. I'm thinking of the wrestler. Haiku. Pinball. A haiku. Plunge the silver ball. Try to aim for many points. Fuck. It fucking drained. That is a haiku. Hopefully not waiting last moment this time. Player 31915 P.S. Indefinitely not just thought for relocated Rob Zombie launch party on Sunday at Rock Fantasy. Did you know there's going to be a Rock Zombie launch party at Rock Fantasy, Bruce? Yes. Not excited? Bruce is just not excited with Rob Zombie. He thinks it sucks. It does suck. I tell you, I was there Thursday, and Tim has found some kind of exploit for it where you just get seemingly limitless multiball and jackpots like crazy, and he's playing it, and he's getting jackpot after jackpot, and Jerry Bernhardt was just watching and was like, this game fucking sucks. It does suck. I remember with a fucking fried chicken bucket in the freaking game. It was just freaking moron. Like South Park with a toilet. It makes sense. Okay. Mr. Hankey. Mr. Hankey, the Christmas poo. You love me and I love you. All right, enough. Time to pay some bills. www.pinballlifter.com come check out my website we are giving away a pinball helper to one lucky person it will answer this week's question going towards our contest to be rattled off next week the question is what game does Josh Sharpe hate now you got to give us both games because he added a second one in this episode so that is our question don't forget But we have Flipper Fidelity, who sells Stern pinball machines, Stern accessories, and Flipper Fidelity speaker systems and lighting kits. Come check him out. We get nothing from him. As we've always said, we will not take anybody's money. Unlike a lot of pinball companies. Yes. So come check him out. Tell him we sent you. He's a good friend of the show. He sold us both games. We love him. We love him! show is coming up Rock Fantasy this Sunday for the Rob Zombie tournament I think this Thursday is also what pinball tournament is this Thursday this is another weird title one you love to see these weird title ones pinball in space featuring Space Station Future Spa and Eliminator of Chess Bursters and next month is Summertime Shenanigans and time for some pinball R&R. Also, don't forget, Pintastic's coming up in two weeks. And then Stomp is in three weeks. Pinberg's in five weeks. And the Saratoga Pinball Show is sometime in August, August 12th. So, Ron, how do people get in touch with us and answer our trivia questions? Our questions? Our contest questions? Yes! You can converse with us and get back to us and email us at our email address, which is slamtillpodcast at gmail.com. You can check out us on Facebook. Just search for Slam Tilt Podcast. You can also look out for us, our videos on YouTube. Just search for Slam Tilt Podcast. This has been Episode 48, Blazing Saddles. Well, we should go eat some beans now. Eat some beans with Mongo. Mongo! Mongo, pawn, and game of life. Yes. Say goodbye, Bruce. Goodbye, Bruce Nightingale Sr., and happy birthday. If you try, hold my mind, hold my mind. It's guaranteed to keep you alive. _(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 94d6cf54-3e91-4df7-8e88-829c4280d907*