# SDTM: a pinball show T-Shirt Episode

**Source:** Straight Down the Middle  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2017-06-23  
**Duration:** 8m 8s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBRcQ6uPfYM

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## Analysis

Straight Down the Middle hosts announce a merchandise campaign to fund show equipment through custom t-shirt sales. They created original artwork featuring a 'drain monster' design and are offering two shirt options ($30 LE and $25 standard) via pre-order through PayPal. Flip N Out Pinball donated prize shirts (Jersey Jack and American Pinball branded tees) for a random drawing among purchasers.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Gregory and co-host Zach created original t-shirt artwork after multiple professional artists declined the project — _Gregory and Zach describe the design process; reached out to artists in and outside the pinball industry with no success_
- [HIGH] SDTM will keep t-shirt pre-orders open for approximately 2-3 weeks to gauge order volume and size distribution — _Both hosts discuss pre-order timeline and rationale for gathering sizing data before initial production run_
- [HIGH] Flip N Out Pinball donated two XL t-shirts (Jersey Jack and American Pinball branded) as raffle prizes for shirt purchasers — _Gregory explicitly states 'Larry at Flip N Out Pinball was nice enough to donate a couple T-shirts' and describes the donated items_
- [HIGH] SDTM will guarantee production of shirts even if only five orders are received, covering the minimum print run cost themselves — _Host states: 'if there are only five people that want a shirt you will get your share you will get your shirt we will we will cover that minimum number of shirts'_

### Notable Quotes

> "We had about had a pinball breakup because of this t-shirt. Like two hours on the line."
> — **Gregory**, ~18:45
> _Illustrates the hosts' investment in design quality and collaborative process, using humor to highlight creative tension_

> "I have a new respect for bands and how they stay together writing a song. Because we barely made it through designing the damn t-shirt."
> — **Gregory**, ~19:30
> _Self-aware commentary on creative collaboration and the difficulty of consensus-based design work_

> "we're really proud of the artwork we're really proud of the t-shirt and we're proud of our fans to be able to support wearing the shirt"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~15:50
> _Core messaging about the merchandise campaign's purpose: community support rather than profit motive_

> "In true pinball fashion, we're going to be taking pre-orders on these things."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~13:30
> _Meta-commentary invoking pinball industry norms (limited editions, pre-orders, FOMO) as justification for merchandise approach_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Straight Down the Middle | organization | Pinball podcast/show hosted by Gregory and Zach; producing custom t-shirt merchandise to fund equipment |
| Gregory | person | Co-host of Straight Down the Middle; handled t-shirt design concept development and artwork creation; described as detail-oriented and particular about creative direction |
| Zach | person | Co-host of Straight Down the Middle; initiated original t-shirt concept which Gregory refined; involved in iterative design process |
| CD Graphics | company | T-shirt production and digitization vendor; Dennis is identified as the point of contact who digitized and cleaned up the SDTM design |
| Dennis | person | Representative at CD Graphics who digitized and processed the SDTM t-shirt design for production |
| Flip N Out Pinball | company | Pinball retailer/distributor; Larry (likely Larry Meny or associate) donated two XL t-shirts (Jersey Jack and American Pinball branded) as raffle prizes for SDTM merchandise campaign |
| Larry | person | Associated with Flip N Out Pinball; donated prize t-shirts for SDTM merchandise raffle |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; one of the prize t-shirts donated to SDTM raffle is Jersey Jack branded |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; one of the prize t-shirts donated to SDTM raffle is American Pinball branded (Houdini themed) |

### Signals

- **[content_signal]** SDTM launching branded merchandise (t-shirts) as primary funding mechanism for show equipment and operations, using pre-order model and limited edition variants to mirror pinball industry practices (confidence: high) — Entire episode dedicated to t-shirt announcement; explicit goal of 'fund our equipment and different things'; two pricing tiers ($25 standard, $30 LE); pre-order structure; raffle incentive
- **[community_signal]** Flip N Out Pinball providing support to SDTM through donated merchandise prizes, indicating collaboration between pinball retailers/distributors and podcast media (confidence: high) — Larry at Flip N Out Pinball donated Jersey Jack and American Pinball branded t-shirts; explicitly mentioned in raffle announcement
- **[community_signal]** SDTM has notable international fan base including Dutch, Canadian, and Australian listeners, requiring special shipping coordination (confidence: high) — Hosts explicitly mention 'Dutch fans that are really big Canadians some Australians' and offer to provide international shipping quotes upon contact
- **[design_innovation]** SDTM created original 'drain monster' artwork rather than generic logo design, requiring multiple design iterations and collaborative refinement with production vendor (confidence: high) — Gregory and Zach describe back-and-forth creative process with CD Graphics; multiple design passes; emphasis on detail and quality over simple branding
- **[market_signal]** Pinball podcast content creators are adopting merchandise sales as direct revenue stream to support production equipment and operations (confidence: medium) — SDTM explicitly states merchandise revenue intended to 'fund our equipment and different things'; positioning as alternative to direct fundraising or advertising

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## Transcript

 You hit it off with a bumper knife, straight down the middle again, middle again. You had a fling with a slingshot, you're rolling out the alley dog again. Alright everybody, welcome back to Straight Down the Middle, a pinball show. It is Gregory and I, and today you've tuned into the t-shirt episode. T-shirts! And you guys are probably like, what the hell is a t-shirt episode? So tell them a little bit about what we did, Greg. We wanted shirts made for SDTM. That's right. And so we reached out to some artists to no avail. Nobody. Well, we had an original concept. Yes. Right? We both agreed on an original concept. We reached out to some artists, some in the pinball industry, some outside of the pinball industry. Nobody wanted anything to do with it. And we were going to pay them, too. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. We wouldn't ask them for free work. So we took it upon ourselves. Zach had an initial concept. I had to talk him down a little bit. As you always do. Initial concept. And then, so I drew up. I was crushing my dreams. This concept for this t-shirt. Based sort of off Zach's idea of what we come to. And then. Original art. Yes, it's original art. All by us. Because then after I drew it up, I sent it over to Zach. Zach worked on it. Tweaked it a little bit. Added a few things. Tightened some stuff up. And then we sent it. that back and forth. Yes, and then we sent it to this place, CD Graphics, that does shirts. And the guy, Dennis, there, he digitized everything for us and went over everything. And then we cleaned it up more. Yeah, cleaned it up a little more and buttoned it up a little bit more and stuff. And then we came up with the image that we have. Yeah. Here. So we're popping it up on the screen right now. Look at that. Alright. So we're wanting to sell some t-shirts. Yes, because like I said, we didn't really want to ask just straight out for money or anything. So we figured we'll raise money with t-shirts. Yeah we try to fund our equipment and different things Yeah but we want to make them kind of cool too We just didn want to do just a regular SDTM on the car We going to have that too Yeah we are Yeah we going to do just some bold white But we also kind of wanted a special edition Yeah. An LE t-shirt. Yeah. I know. Yeah. SDTM LE. And in true pinball fashion, we're going to be taking pre-orders on these things. Yeah. And the reason we're actually doing the pre-orders is so that we can. You're not going to get your money back. Yeah, you will never get your money. We're going to fold after this. We're just playing. Somebody will take it serious. But the reason we're doing pre-orders is just so that we can get a better feel for sizes. Sizes, order number. Order number and everything. We're going to do an initial order, and we'll obviously, after pre-orders, we'll have a stockpile of shirts for anybody who wants them afterwards. But we are asking you to put in the pre-orders now, just so we can gauge numbers and everything for the initial run of shirts. It'll be really cool. So we're going to offer two options, right? Yes. Okay. We're going to offer the limited – what do you call it? No. We don't have a title of the image. It's of the – It's like a drain monster. Yeah, I think that name's been taken somewhere. But, yeah, we'll call it the drain monster. The SBTM drain monster. Those shirts are going to be $30. Yeah. Right? And then the original just regular logo shirt, as you guys are seeing right here, those are going to be $25. Yes. So what we're looking for, we're really looking for some support. maybe reach out there if you guys are a fan of our show or if you hate us but you still watch us anyway maybe buy a t-shirt from us and we will for international orders because I know that we have a couple of Dutch fans that are really big Canadians some Australians so contact us first for special shipping prices on those for the international orders but everything in the continental US so that's not too bad guys for the custom art t-shirts $30 for the original big logo SDT and the pinball show. That going to be How can these people order these shirts We going to put out you see it at the bottom of the screen for our Paypal Just send a Paypal make sure to put your shirt size put your name If you're from Pennside, put your Pennside handle. Your address, we need your address to ship. Your address for shipping. And if you're on YouTube, put your YouTube name on there too, just so we can kind of know who you are. And everything, and then we'll get the shirts sent out. So, the initial run, we're going to open this thing up. up if you guys are watching this hopefully you're watching it uh close to when it was released because i think we'll leave this open for about two or three weeks yeah to get a good uh bulk of orders yeah because you have to have so many t-shirts to order in order to just do it run anyway yeah so regardless i will promise you this regardless if there are only five people that want to you will get your share you will get your shirt we will we will cover that minimum number of shirts uh but hopefully a lot of you guys reach out we're not trying to sell you we are trying to sell you things but we're really proud of the artwork we're really proud of the t-shirt and we're proud of our fans to be able to support wearing the shirt and different things like that giving them as gifts so it's really cool and we also have an incentive greg yes we do we show them the incentives the incentive is we are going to randomly assign for those of you who order one of our t-shirts it doesn't have to be it doesn't matter what yeah it doesn't matter which one if you order a t-shirt you're eligible for a drawing. And Larry at Flip N Out Pinball was nice enough to donate a couple T-shirts. So here we have a Jersey Jack T-shirt. Look at that. Very cool. They are both extra-larges, both T-shirts that we're going to be giving away. For the Husky Man. That's right. It's not too bad. It's not Husky. What a price range. XLA. And an awesome American Pinball T-shirt. Get ready for that Houdini. Yeah, a little Houdini action. So all you've got to do to be eligible for these prizes, is order a t-shirt. Nothing fancy about it. We're going to put everybody's name in a pot who ordered one, and we're going to draw two lucky winners for the shirts. And again, we'll do that at the end of, right before we start shipping the first batch of t-shirts. Yeah. So that be I hoping we keep orders open for two to three weeks get a handful a nice bundle put our order in draw it and then we will ship that T if you so lucky to win one of the two We'll ship that with your SDTM T-shirt. Exactly. That's pretty kick-ass. I think it's pretty cool, man. I think the shirt's cool. I love it. I know. I love it. And who doesn't need another pinball shirt? Well, that's the thing. An original or a nice one. Yeah, we wanted something that you could wear that just necessarily if you want pinball, it just wasn't like, here's pinball. It was nice. I like it. And we painstakingly went through and fought over this. Lots of fighting. Yeah. We had about had a pinball breakup because of this t-shirt. Like two hours on the line. I have a new respect for bands and how they stay together writing a song. Because we barely made it through designing the damn t-shirt. But truly it's because it's important to us. We really cared about. What was the. You don't know. Never mind. I was going to ask you. Was it Lars? No, it wasn't Lars. What was the – from Metallica? What was the drummer? I don't know. The main guy. Yeah, Lars is the main guy. What the hell was his name? You're asking me about the – That's what I said. I said, yeah, you won't know. But that guy was a bitch, and so that's – Are you calling that Metallica here? No, I just – I was very particular. I wanted a really, really nice, very finely detailed shirt for these guys. Yeah. So I fought for all creative differences. Yeah. And at the end, do we both not love it? Yeah, we both love it. Hell, yeah. It's a badass T-shirt. It's a great pawn. So what's your PayPal, buddy? I don't know. I'm going to have to look it up. That's why I said look at the bottom of the screen. I have to look it up. See, this is why we have T-shirt problems, because I prepare and he just rolls with it. It's okay. All right, guys, so that's it. This is the T-shirt episode. Thanks for watching the episode. So in order now, shoot us PayPal. Let's get these shirts ordered. Thanks, guys. Outro Music

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: 95ecf482-908e-4558-8190-46e4ee662e3a*