# DPP #132 "In which we party on the 4th, gimme them badges!

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-07-05  
**Duration:** 39m 16s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-132-In-which-we-party-on-the-4th--gimme-them-badges-e2llphn

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## Analysis

Don discusses his July 4th pinball adventures, including gameplay of Funhouse 2.0 kit, Jaws Insider Connected quests and badges, and recent machine acquisitions (Munsters Premium, John Wick LE, WWE WrestleMania LE). He explores the potential of Stern remaking classic Bally Williams games with modern code and Insider Connected integration, and reports on Rush being remade by Stern with new Pro and Premium versions.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Funhouse 2.0 kit plays exceptionally well with modern flipper coils and comprehensive modes including LCD screen that's appropriately sized — _Don played the game on July 4th and described it as 'playing fairly incredible' with fresh components and modern code_
- [HIGH] Insider Connected achievements on Stern machines show up immediately at end of ball, but app badges lag in registering — _Don observed this lag personally when collecting John Wick contract achievements and described the delay as problematic for time-limited contracts_
- [HIGH] Munsters Premium black and white versions trade at $11,000+ on secondary market, above current MSRP for Stern premiums — _Don cited Pinside listings showing two color premiums and black and white versions trading higher due to rarity and superior art package_
- [HIGH] Stern is remaking Rush with Pro and Premium versions currently shipping — _Jeff from Mad Pinball reached out to Don confirming remake; reported by Naps Arcade_
- [MEDIUM] Munsters was produced in limited quantities (sources cite 500-600 LE units) and came out in 2019 before COVID, didn't sell well initially — _Don cited scarcity as reason Munsters has appreciated and noted it was retired early due to poor sales before Stranger Things resurgence model_
- [HIGH] Don is seeing resurgence in games like Black Knight Sword of Rage after they were initially overlooked, with Stern responding by producing more Pros — _Don described the pattern of initial poor sales, later rediscovery, price appreciation, and Stern's subsequent overproduction of new Pros_
- [LOW] There is a rumor of Aerosmith Pro being remade by Stern — _Don stated 'there's still this floating rumor of an Aerosmith Pro' without named source_
- [MEDIUM] WWE WrestleMania LE with Hulk Hogan autograph has recently dropped in secondary market price from near five figures — _Don reported seeing LE versions listed for 'almost five figures' previously but prices have come down significantly_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm a badge hound, man. I've got to have them. So put me out there. I've got to touch grass, breathe the same air as other humans, talked to some other pinball folks like exactly what this thing is designed for"
> — **Don**, mid-episode (Insider Connected discussion)
> _Captures the psychological hook of Insider Connected achievement system in driving location play and community engagement_

> "can you imagine a world in which stern pinball was doing bally williams remakes... what if they made funhouse and then they've got brian eddie in house even what if he could come back and he did the 2.0 kit and code... could you imagine like going through funhouse and trying to play through the entire old game again to collect all the achievements"
> — **Don**, Funhouse discussion
> _Proposes ambitious vision combining Bally remakes, original designers, and Insider Connected, showing how achievements extend game longevity_

> "There's no objectively bad games, just objectively different games... the wooden coaster is a rickety piece of crap... no no no, you just need to know how to ride it... it's got a pops of air time, and you have to ride in the seventh row in the left seat"
> — **Don (citing Ryan from PhantomTale via roller coaster analogy)**, Machine acquisition discussion
> _Frames personal pinball taste as subjective appreciation rather than objective quality, contextualizing his unconventional machine choices_

> "I think the Munsters premium is like an unnumbered LE, basically, right? And you get it tricked out like this one was with Penn Stadiums on the upper and lower play field, Shaker Motor. I got the Art Blades in there."
> — **Don**, Munsters acquisition section
> _Identifies secondary market arbitrage opportunity: Munsters premium as pseudo-LE with superior art package at lower price_

> "I still think the premium's the one to go for. I love that extra wireform ramp, and I don't mind, like, the Starfield graphics on the side."
> — **Don**, Rush remake discussion
> _Shows Don's purchasing philosophy: identifying trim level value propositions when contemplating future acquisitions_

> "Not a terrible game... plays amazing... I don't mind selling a game if I could repurchase it again down the road, you know, easily."
> — **Don**, Black Knight and Rush discussion
> _Reveals collector psychology: willingness to sell duplicates or traded games if they remain accessible on secondary market_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Podcast host, collector, content creator for Don's Pinball Podcast; active in badge hunting and Insider Connected participation |
| Don's Pinball Podcast | media | Podcast series with 130+ episodes covering pinball releases, personal collection updates, and community engagement |
| Funhouse (Bally Williams remake) | game | Remake by Pinball Brothers with 2.0 code kit; features modern LCD screen and updated modes while maintaining classic gameplay |
| Jaws (Stern Pinball) | game | Premium pinball with Insider Connected quests and achievement badges; Don's previous home machine now in circulation |
| Insider Connected (Stern) | product | Stern's achievement/badge system for pinball machines; integrates QR codes and app-based badge tracking with time-limited contracts |
| Munsters Premium (Black and White) | game | 2019 Stern release; recently acquired by Don; trades at $11,000+ secondary market due to scarcity and superior art package |
| John Wick LE (Stern) | game | Don's home machine; currently working through helicopter encounter achievement tracking issues |
| WWE WrestleMania LE (Stern) | game | Recently acquired by Don; in-transit to his arcade; features Hulk Hogan autograph; formerly traded at near-five figures, now cheaper |
| Black Knight Sword of Rage (Stern) | game | Recently remade by Stern with new Pro run; Don secured used Premium with less than 600 plays; experiencing secondary market appreciation |
| Rush (Stern Pinball) | game | Announced remake with Pro and Premium versions shipping now; Don owns original LE acquired for $11,000 at launch |
| Star Wars (Stern Pinball) | game | Don's reference machine for high-scoring baseline; easily achieves 60+ million points without effort |
| Godzilla (Stern) | game | Don's former machine; sold to Cleveland buyer after 2 years; now replaced by Munsters Premium |
| One Up Lounge | location | Pinball venue in Bellingham, Washington; hosting Jaws 50th Anniversary quest event July 10th |
| District 1 | location | Pinball arcade 30 minutes from Don; hosts Insider Connected machines; location where Don collected Jaws fireworks badge on July 4th |
| Next Level | location | Pinball arcade in Pacific Northwest; won Twippy award for best location; Don planning to visit during upcoming travel |
| Galloping Ghost Arcade | location | Arcade in Chicago; Don traveled there specifically to play Munsters with Insider Connected for achievement tracking |
| Mad Pinball (Jeff) | company | Pinball distributor/retailer; Jeff informed Don about Rush remake announcement |
| Naps Arcade | media | Industry news outlet; published article about Rush remake; credited by Don as 'good scoop' |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; implementing Insider Connected system; remakes classic games (Rush confirmed, Munsters/Aerosmith rumored) |
| Pinball Brothers (Euro Pinball Corp) | company | Manufacturer of Funhouse 2.0 remake; based in northern Italy near Milan |
| Ryan (PhantomTale) | person | Pinball community member cited by Don regarding philosophy that games are 'objectively different' rather than objectively bad |
| Brian Eddy | person | Original designer of classic Funhouse (1990); Don speculates on potential involvement in Funhouse 2.0 code development |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist for Munsters game art; Don describes package as 'one of his best' and praises horror aesthetic |
| Southern Fried Gaming Expo | event | Upcoming event in Georgia; Don planning to attend and potentially play Funhouse Midnight Edition |
| Pinside | media | Online pinball community and secondary market tracking; source for Don's price research on Munsters and other machines |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Insider Connected achievement system and badge hunting, Bally Williams remakes and preservation of classic games, Secondary market dynamics and machine appreciation, Stern Pinball's remake strategy (Rush, potential Munsters/Aerosmith), Don's machine acquisitions and collection curation
- **Secondary:** Insider Connected app technical issues and lag, Rare and underappreciated game themes (Munsters, WWE, John Wick), Pinball community travel and event scheduling

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Don is enthusiastic about Insider Connected, Funhouse 2.0, his new acquisitions, and potential Stern remakes. Some concern expressed about John Wick app lag and John Wick LE financial investment risk, but overall tone is celebratory and optimistic. Occasional self-deprecating humor about his unconventional machine choices.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Stern announcing Rush remake (Pro and Premium) with short notice to existing secondary market owners; Don expresses frustration at lack of advance warning (confidence: high) — Don: 'I could have waited a little bit and got a brand new in box pro now... Stern is nothing but secretive'
- **[community_signal]** Insider Connected badges driving location play and social interaction; Don's July 4th trip to District 1 motivated purely by time-limited fireworks badge availability (confidence: high) — Don: 'I wouldn't have gone to District 1 today... if there wasn't this timed quest. I'm a badge hound, man... that led me to touch grass, breathe the same air as other humans'
- **[competitive_signal]** Stern Premium trim level perceived as 'unnumbered LE' by secondary market due to superior art packages; creates pricing parity between trims (confidence: medium) — Don: 'I think the Munsters premium is like an unnumbered LE, basically... The Munsters LE goes for about the same price as the premium does on pin side'
- **[design_philosophy]** Funhouse 2.0 demonstrates successful preservation approach: modern code options, modern LCD screen sizing, contemporary modes while maintaining classic layout (confidence: high) — Don: 'this is like the first time since antiquity when these things were new that I've been able to play a funhouse and have everything functioning... plays fairly incredible'
- **[licensing_signal]** Stern continuing wrestling IP licensing with WWE WrestleMania featuring celebrity authentication (Hulk Hogan autograph) as premium differentiator (confidence: medium) — Don: 'It's got Hulk Hogan's autograph in it. I mean, it's got everything that the regular WWE had plus the classic wrestlers as well'
- **[market_signal]** Rare/undervalued games (Munsters, Black Knight SoR) experiencing secondary market appreciation as players rediscover them, followed by Stern manufacturing new runs (pro editions) (confidence: high) — Don: 'Stranger Things had this resurgence later on... prices skyrocket... same thing has just happened recently with black knight... So what does Stern do? They turn around and put out a bunch of pros'
- **[community_signal]** Don positioning himself as bridge between casual and competitive play through Insider Connected achievement hunting and location visits (confidence: medium) — Don: 'I had to travel around... went all the way to Chicago to Galloping Ghost Arcade just to find a Munsters with Insider Connected so I could try to get some of those achievements'
- **[product_strategy]** Stern implementing post-release enhancement on John Wick (helicopter encounter contract bug) requiring possible software update (confidence: medium) — Don: 'I've played that four or five times now... and it still hasn't registered. Is it a bug in the system and we need to get another software update?'
- **[rumor_hype]** Floating rumor of Aerosmith Pro remake by Stern; low confidence speculation based on Rush pattern (confidence: low) — Don: 'there's still this floating rumor of an Aerosmith Pro. I just played one again today at District 1. I got to say, not a terrible game. Maybe there's a little market for a small run'
- **[technology_signal]** Insider Connected app experiencing lag issues in badge registration, creating friction for time-limited contract tracking (confidence: high) — Don: 'The new badges... the Insider Connected app seems to lag a little bit before they register... it'd be nicer if it would refresh a little quicker'

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## Transcript

 Happy July 4th! It's been a couple days! Time for some dawn in your face, man! Can you believe it? It's July 4th! We are celebrating the nation by blowing up a part of it, and hopefully not ourselves! But why don't you blow up some pinball scores? Here, I'm gonna let the intro play, and then we're gonna get into some stuff, man! Now, Don's Pinball Podcast is sometimes incredible, sometimes regrettable, oftentimes edible. But if you think you are more than incredible, well, you can go ahead and record yourself. Man, I'm a podcaster. I play myself some pinball. Sometimes I'm fantastic. Sometimes it's drastic. But I will always come through, through the static, to bring you news and my views for you. Let's go for Don's Pinball Podcast. It's episode number 130-some-ass. I don't even care. Just having good time fun on July 4th. And this is how it's done. Now, can you imagine I haven't even had a White Claw mango flavored? I got it from my dad. But I'm in here and I'm straightly sober to play some news and views. Over. Well, everybody, can you believe that that fantastic little bit was recorded in one take? In one take. Just bring a little Toby Keith on this holiday of Keith, wherever he is. Now, is there any way to karaoke a Toby Keith song and not do that drunken slur draw thing that he does? I certainly couldn't do it. What's up, everybody? It's Don's pinball mother grabbing podcast or podcast Don, as I was called earlier today over there at District 1, where I went where I had to go to pick up the Jaws quest on July 4th because Jaws is boxed up and it has left District Don. Oh, play the sad song, man. What a game Jaws Premium was. loved the thing, had it all dressed up it played incredible and regrettable it had to leave the dungeon, but that's okay I'm going to go chase it out, it's going to be at the Pacific Northwest coming up on July 10th that's next week, I'll be on site at One Up Lounge in Birmingham Bellingham, Washington and then we're going to Antonio Cruz up and down the Pacific Northwest I'm going to check out next level, I'm so excited heard everything about this place I did win the Twippy for best location this year, looks incredible hopefully there's some edibles It's going to be a good time. I'm looking forward to that, man. I was walking around today, and I was like, it's July. I'm right in the middle of my work week, and I'm like, I just need to get out of town. I need a vacation. And then I look out along the landscape and realize that next week, Pacific Northwest. The week after that, we're down in the Smoky Mountains. And then it's on to Georgia for the Southern Fried Gaming Expo. What are we going to see down there? Hopefully one of those Funhouse Midnight Editions. Let's lead with that. I get to play one of these things. Not the Midnight, but like the budget version or whatever it is of this Bally Williams remake that kind of nobody was asking for. But I got to say, after playing it, like I can tell it's made by the same folks that are doing the Pinwell Brothers games. Because I don't know if I'm just misremembering Funhaus, but a lot of those stand-up targets look an awful lot like the ones on Queen and Alien and so on and so forth. And not a bad thing. I mean, it plays well. but you know I could tell this isn't one that was you know originally made in the 90s I'll tell you how I know that because it plays fairly incredible man um this is like the first time since antiquity when these things were new that I've been able to play a funhouse and have everything functioning brand new flipper coils like fresh out of the box like minty fresh you can hit all the shots and I gotta say you know I was having some fun uh with funhouse now this is my second day playing it So I played that 2.0 code, about 11 million points or something, played through three modes, the haunted coaster video mode, and I got to say, I think I may have prejudged this game a little harshly. Rudy, right, the creepy talking doll, he's still creepy, but at least in the 2.0 code that I played today, you know, it wasn't really like doing a whole ton of call outs that I could hear. I was more into the frenzied action, and it was actually more Rudy, it seemed like, on the LCD screen, which was great because this game has modes now, where it didn't really, at least modes in the modern sense that we recognize them as. So it was fun. There's that Mortal Kombat ripoff one, the Hot Dog Kombat or something. I was cracking up playing that. I love hitting those hot dog targets. I played the duck hunt, and it had the dog from the NES duck hunt game. A shout out there. I like the Mortal Kombat references because this is a Bally Williams game, Williams did Mortal Kombat back in the day, Ed Boon like Mr. Mortal Kombat himself was the voice of Rudy in the original Funhouse so it's like all these like you know hobbies are like kind of cross referencing cross intermingling like they're light cycles in the Tron Matrix man so that was fun, I looked down and I'm reminded that Brian Eddy was the designer of this game back in the day and it got me thinking about something that I want to bring up in just a minute. But yeah, playing Funhaus, it's cool. So the one I played was the original, like the classic version or whatever. But the person that bought it, shout out to my boy Russ, he put in like the extra $400 or something to add the 2.0 kit upgrade into it. And I think that's kind of not a bad way to go if you're really into this thing. Now the Brian Allen artwork absolutely slaps. I have heard some people that aren't that into it. They like more of the classic stuff. but I mean this classic playing game with the benefit of having the new code that you can switch back and forth on I'm kind of seeing it as like this is kind of a cool package so if one of these lands near you definitely go check it out so I'm more excited that these remakes are coming I want them to remake everything now I heard this rumor that Fishtails was being remade and I'm like who the heck wants a Fishtails but if it's made like this and has some 2.0 codes of different modes and stuff I'm kind of on board with it I'm kind of on board with it Isn't it crazy that we're having multiple companies now remaking these Bally Williams games? Of course, CGC came out the gate swinging with Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, Monster Bash. Just big, big, cheesy goodness of games. And then we're like, okay, Twilight Zone's got to come next. Where's Indiana Jones? And it's been nothing, right? And then this little company out there in Italy, northern Italy, near Milan, I've driven by through there, great area. Amazing Yoki, by the way. but they're putting these things together and getting them out and I was digging the quality as far as just playing it on location so I'm excited to see what they have to bring now here's something for you though I've been completely immersed like 95% of the pinball playing public has with these Stern Insider connected events that are going on I boxed up Jaws on July 1st the day of the new quests that are happening right now and before I boxed it up I played the hell out of that game and got all of the badges that were available. It was fantastic. So I had to venture out today to District 1 to go play Jaws on July 4th to go pick up that specific fireworks badge. So I played three times on the 4th of July mode, got myself 93 fireworks. So I did it, and I got to go out and play some games and things. But here's what I was thinking. I'm having so much fun with Insider Connected. It's just a runaway smash success. What a great way to put some longevity into these games. So whoever was responsible for that, you know, has the clairvoyance of Gandalf the White, man. You know, because we like playing these games because the games are fun, right? But how about just giving me one extra reason to go out? I wouldn't have gone to District 1 today. It's 30 minutes away. I've got to work later tonight. I like the place, but I wouldn't have gone out there if there wasn't this timed quest. And I'm just like, I'm a badge hound, man. I've got to have them. So put me out there. I've got to touch grass, breathe the same air as other humans, talked to some other pinball folks like exactly what this thing is designed for and that led me to this thought after i finished playing funhouse i thought what if this will probably never happen but can you imagine a world in which stern pinball was doing bally williams remakes all right they got this huge production facility they're looking for stuff to make what if they made funhouse and then they've got Brian Eddy in house even what if he could come back and he did the 2.0 kit and code and you know they rebuilt these games with like the 2.0 code from the original designer of the game back in the 90s still there right maybe maybe throws a fast lock in there or something and then you have insider connected in an old bally williams game could you imagine like going through funhouse and trying to play through the entire old game again to collect all the achievements and stuff i liked this new build that they did of course you know back in the day it was funhouse dot matrix display or some such uh well now there's a fat uh square looking lcd screen and so it plays the graphics just fine for the classic version for the new version though animations are up there video modes are up there they look great and it is exactly the right size for an lcd screen in a pinball machine because as i'm playing i can look up at the screen i get all the data i get the flashy graphics no dot matrix i mean it's full color high resolution but it doesn have to be the entire size of the backbox like i sitting there watching a movie Love what Jersey Jack is doing It works good for their games But honestly it way overkill I don think I going out on a limb saying that So, you know, just that screen there alone. Like, it's the same size as the one in Labyrinth in the lower play field in the cabinet. Like, that works. Like, that works. I would love to see now Valiant Williams remakes built to this quality with that type of screen, with an option for 2.0 kit, and the OG original code. but man could you add like insider connected achievements scan your qr code in there can you imagine like how devastating that would be man i don't know licensing wise in any way how that would work but how cool would that be if Brian Eddy could revisit a game that he made 40 years ago wait 30 years ago 35 years ago some such um that'd be kind of fun right and then you do a little signature on it and you get like the the best edition of it um you know i agree like i like seeing these classic games and you know the preservation this will be like don't add fast locks to funhouse you don't need to do that and you're probably right but you know the original ones that are restored they can still be there for the classic folks you know if you appreciate this game only in its classic form maybe the new one's not even going to appeal to you at all so mate let's make bring these to a new generation man um god that just like hit me and i was like this this would be kind of fun right let me know in the comments below uh or go join the join the Discord like 50 other people have. The Facebook page is also a great way to keep track and do comments. I like to respond to them. Super fun. I'll post this episode. I don't even know which one it is. 130-something. We're somewhere in there. Anyway, so Funhaus Review, fun game. Much better than what I remember and what I've played on older Funhaus games. I just played an older Funhaus down in Florida. It was fun enough, but, like, this hits a little different. And I think it's because it's got that little Pinball Brother-esque Euro Pinball Corp build to it. It's definitely different. It's definitely not exactly the same. And I think that's okay. I think we can take what's great about what we remember, what came out of the 90s, build it to modern specifications, add some cool modes into it, some throwbacks, even more nostalgia on nostalgia. Love it, man. So I had some fun on Funhaus. Am I buying one? Heck no. I got too many machines here. I'm discounting everything. If you've seen something in the District on Arcade that you'd be interested in, I'm accepting reasonable offers because, like, there's no way I can keep going at this level without putting on another dungeon to the house and start filling that up, and I don't want to get there yet. I think, you know, if you've got one machine, you're doing better than tons of people at home. Like, that's incredible. Like, I dreamed of having one machine at home. Four machines is probably the right number to have. You know, keep it fresh, mix it up, but, you know, I think that'd be great. 10 machines, too much, but okay. And 18, clearly too much for me. I've got to decrease some inventory because I do like playing the new stuff. I like getting the new stuff in the house. Anyway, that's what's up. So what else do we have? Jaws, Quests. Been playing the crap out of them. Collected them all. Love them. Have you noticed, though, that the Insider Connected achievements that you achieve within the game itself, they come up immediately at the end of the ball. Love that. The new badges, though, the Insider Connected app seems to lag a little bit before they register. And when you're doing, like, these new John Wick contracts where you have to kill 200 enemies, and it's, like, limited time, so you want to make sure you get them. And, you know, after every game, you're not keeping track in-game of, like, how many you're achieving. So you want to go and, okay, game's finished. Let me hit refresh. Where am I at? And, like, I was noticing a ton of lag the other day. I finally got on my John Wick LE machine, and I was able to complete that contract. But it did take a while because, you know, some games you only get like three or four enemies. The enemies in the game are the little blue inserts. When you start a ball, there's one. So you hit that shot, you get exactly one enemy. And then as you play and don't drain, more and more are added, and the shots end up being worth more and more. So, like, that's fun. I dig that. But it's kind of cool to be like, okay, you know, I'm limited on time. Especially if I was playing on location, it was costing me a dollar each time. It'd be nicer if it would refresh a little quicker to kind of keep a running track of where you're at. And so I've satisfied all the requirements for the current John Wick achievement badge things. But there's one for starting that helicopter encounter, rooftop helicopter encounter multiball. It's the one where you bash the car until the left orbit lights up and then goes around and triggers it. Now, I've played that four or five times now just in the last couple of days, and it still hasn't registered that I've done it. So I'm wondering, is it because I'm playing on an LE? Is it because I'm playing at home? Is it because there's a bug in the system and we need to get another software update? Has anyone else run into this problem? There was a 4th of July achievement today. All you have to do is get 10 million points on any Stern machine. And so after just having three horrible games on John Wick, where I didn't even break 10 million, just felt sorry for myself, I walked over to Star Wars, which is right behind me. I plunged a ball and got like 75% of the way there just doing that. so you know blew that up with like 60 million points or something without even trying because star wars is just amazing like that makes you feel great about getting high scores um and then like the badge showed up right away so i don't know is it like a wick thing is it a home thing is it inside a connected badge thing is anybody else having this problem because i don't want to let the the week elapse and i haven't captured this badge man i got my completionist uh the sirens blaring here and i really really want that i want that stuff man so let me know if you guys have heard anything about that. All right. So I've returned now from Ohio. I'm back home, back in my home area. Had some friends over this morning. We had a fantastic time. And we were doing a game rotation. So one of my games was out at a friend's house and that's how I was able to get dialed in for about a month. Then I had Wonka for about a month. Got a lot of play on them. Now they're back to their respective homes and everything has settled. And coming back from Ohio, I took out Godzilla, dropped that off, sold to a buddy out in Cleveland, and then I picked up this Munsters Black and White Premium and now I've got this game that I've wanted. Now, I'm gonna draw some ire, I'm certain, from some people. And Ryan from PhantomTale brought this up the other day. There's no objectively bad games, just objectively different games. There's games that most people would think are terrible, but to the people that dig them, they really get them, right? It's like the old roller coaster argument, like, that wooden coaster is a rickety piece of crap. And then the defender will come out and say, no, no, no, you just need to know how to ride it. And everybody else would say, what do you mean you don't have to know how to ride it? A ride is good or a ride is bad. He's like, no, no, but it's got a pops of air time, and you have to ride in the seventh row in the left seat just after it rains, and it sings, man. So, you know, every game will appeal to somebody. so I'm looking back at like my last three gets that I've got and I gotta say they're not you know what everybody else would likely be sought after John Wick right now from what we're hearing not the banger of a seller I think people are burnt from what happened with Venom and Venom's resale prices and so they're cautiously holding off on Wick because there's you know it's not an Elwynn it's not Jaws it's not a huge nostalgic theme you know Back to the Future Fast Times at Ridgemont High Harry Potter or something like that. So people are kind of like a little standoffish. And then especially about the LE, because if one is going to drop in value the most, it's going to be that trim level. But dang, she's pretty. Dang, she's pretty. Now, I got myself a WIC, okay? So probably, obviously, not what everybody's rushing out to purchase right now. I get it. I love it. It's pretty. It works for me. I'm having fun with it. I have a blast every time I play it. The code's only going to get better. All those things are true. Also, maybe not the best financial investment. That can be true as well. Time will show us where we're going there. But I'm having fun with this game. So that's probably strike number one. I think if you were to take 100 people that are into pinball in the know and said, you know, would you buy this? Probably greater than 50% would say no. So I'm in the bottom 50 there. Okay, fine. Munsters. I think I'm also in the bottom 50 there. I've had friends reached out when they heard that I was getting this game and said, I had that game. It just, I love the theme, but it didn't hold up for me. Don't buy it. Dude, don't buy it. So I think I'm clearly in the bottom half again there. But, man, okay, the black and white monsters, man. The show was in black and white. The game's in black and white. I got a black and white Elvira Blood Red Kiss right next to it. And, man, like I'm digging the aesthetic. Franchi on the art. Probably one of his best art packages. If you're like a horror-themed American like I am, like this is right in the wheelhouse, man. Like I dig it. It's campy. It's fun. It's silly. The call-outs are amazing. You got to charge the zap meter. Like, ah, dude, I love it. Plus, this game. All right, I'm going to sell you on this game, okay? This game is also a rare game, right? This thing was built in 2019 before the big COVID blow up. Didn't sell very well. You know, it's not super packed. You know, it's not really rivaling Led Zeppelin for Bottom of the Barrel Spike 2, but, like, it's maybe, you know, not the bottom game, but maybe, like, number three. There's two ramps in it, a lower play field. The Pro doesn't even have that. I get it. But, you know, gameplay-wise, it's something I can wrap my head around. I can put my head around that nostalgia of these five characters, finish these five modes, get to a mini-wizard mode, and blow it up. Okay, so game wasn't a big seller. Came out in 2019 and then was retired because it just wasn't selling. They had to move on to something else. Same thing happened with Stranger Things. Stranger Things had this resurgence later on, made it super popular during COVID, and then none of them were available so you saw prices skyrocket um same thing has just happened recently with black knight sword of rage where you know people were revisiting you know what The pro is one hell of a game plays really fast That topper amazing Steve Ritchie yelling at me. Fast, frenzied arcade action. I kind of want one. And then you go to look, and there's not that many, because there were never that many produced. Not that many were out there. It's going up in popularity. People are holding on to it, and so the prices are up. And so what does Stern do then? As I predicted, they turn around and put out a bunch of pros, and those are being delivered right now. people are unboxing that. I picked Munsters as another game, and people thought it was crazy about Black Knight. They thought it was crazy about Munsters, too. But when you go and look for particularly the premium version, especially the black and white, there's none right now. There's two premiums. They're both the color version on Pinside. The black and white ones come and go, and they're asking like $11,000. That's above MSRP for a Stern premium, even at the current prices. These things are still trading higher than that, and I think that's because of the scarcity of the rarity. This is a fun fact. The Munsters LE goes for about the same price as the premium does on pin side. I've seen these listed, seen these traded, seen these sold. And I think it's because that smashing, awesome black and white art package on that premium. Amazing. You know, the LE, of course, they only made some sources say 500, some sources say 600. But the whole thing looks like a coffin. I get what they were going for, but I just don't think the gold aesthetic, it's just not, it's fine. It's just not as cool looking as that black and white is. And Stern's official art blades, which are available for the premium, which they copied the same graphics from the LE, which they never sold those ones. If you want Munster's art blades, you got ones with just kind of a Munster family and a generic logo for your pro or your color premium. But they did do that same art package of the Munster's mansion hallway with the paintings, the portraits on the wall. but they did it in black and white only for that black and white premium. And I got them in there now. So, like, I think the Munsters premium is like an unnumbered LE, basically, right? And you get it tricked out like this one was with PinStadiums on the upper and lower play field, Shaker Motor. I got the Art Blades in there. I'm making my own mods for it. I'm just having a great time, a great time with these Munsters. And here's the other thing. This game came out way before Insider Connected. So if you find a Munsters on location, chances are, unless you're in a pretty with-it pinball arcade, There's not going to be an Insider Connected thing there. It's hard to get these achievements. I had to travel around. I went all the way to Chicago to Galloping Ghost Arcade just to find a Munsters with Insider Connected so I could try to get some of those achievements and record my scores. Well, this one has it in it, and you can come to my house if you want to play, if you're cool, and get some achievements on it. But all of those are the reasons that kind of went into me getting this. Also, at the same time, I had a buyer for my Godzilla. The pimped-out topper looked amazing, but it's just a game I've had. for two years now. I've played it so much that I don't really go back to it very much. So at the same time that I had an eager buyer for my Godzilla, I had a seller reach out for this Monsters Premium that I've kind of had on my watch list. And so for just marginally more than I was getting from the proceeds from my Godzilla, I got the game that I've been kind of wanting for a while. And I'm like guilty pleasuring all over this thing. So take that into consideration, all right? Yeah, it's got two ramps The code's not super deep. All that's fair, and I'm still having a hell of a time with it. All right, so that's number two. It's probably strike number two. What's strike number three? I went for the gold for this one, baby. I went for the gold. I went for the title belt. I'm talking about Stern's WWE WrestleMania Limited Edition. It's on its way to the District Dawn Arcade right now. Oh, my God. Schooling like a fangirl, like a wrestling mark. I can't wait. This is a game. You want to see a game as derided? This game is derided. The shots are clunky. The whole thing sucks. That orbit can't even save it. There's no gameplay. What the hell even is this? You know, come on. All right. If you can appreciate professional wrestling on the superficial level or like the deeper level that I do, like this hits some points. And I've seen this game, particularly, it's a little bit of rarity too. It doesn't show up on the market a whole lot. I've seen them show up in the last year for like almost five figures for that limited edition, the gold one. It's got Hulk Hogan's autograph in it. I mean, it's got everything that the regular WWE had plus the classic wrestlers as well. Like it's just like the whole package with that music. Anyway, I've seen them come way down in price now. Another game that was on the watch list, I struck when the iron is hot, and that's strike number three. The game probably nobody wants. but I think if you understand kind of my perspective where I'm coming with and how I can have fun with these things, oh, I'm so giddy. So those are the updates for District On and a little bit of my perspective to add in there. Now, for superficial, personal reasons, I'm trying to say stingy reasons, I guess we'll say, I don't want Stern to remake Munsters right now. I went ahead and I got myself a Black Knight Sword of Rage. It took a lot of doing to get it. I was outbid for it or it was sold before I was able to get in on it and then that sale fell through and I swooped in and I was able to get one lucky to get it, plays amazing and then of course they release alright we're making a bunch of new pros so I could have waited a little bit and got a brand new in box pro now I still saved a little money but it would have been nice to know that and Stern is nothing but secretive so I have called Munsters as another one that could potentially be remade I still think there'd be a market for it given the fact that there's just not a lot of these black and white premiums I kind of think that's the trim level they would do Stern just surprised us and went back to the well and is running Rush again so like it could totally happen it's probably going to happen and I'm probably going to be like oh look if I would have just waited I could have got a brand new one of these even though mine has like less than 600 plays it's basically brand new plus it's pimped out it's got the Stern armor on it's all this stuff anyway maybe it'll happen If it doesn't, I think my game will appreciate pretty well. And for fans of this theme in the right market, I think it could do pretty well, too. But we'll see. We'll see what Stern does. So, yeah, Rush came out of nowhere. I was surprised when they went ahead and pulled this back during its production run, which was right in the middle of COVID. I thought it still had plenty of legs. I love Rush. When I turned 40 years old, like, you either get really into World War II or, like, really into Rush. And so I was in the Rush camp. I'm like, man, how have I never heard Tom Sawyer like I'm hearing it now? So at the same time, like I was kind of getting into appreciating Rush, this game gets released. I got myself an LE, picked it up on the secondary market for like $11,000. That's how much it was back then. Now there's 13. But for 11, hell of a game. Glad I had it. But I was surprised when they ended that production run so early. So I'm minding my own business, just ditzing around the house. And then Jeff from Mad Pinball reaches out to me and he's like, hey, Rush is being remade. And I'm like, oh, that makes sense. Pros and premiums. All right. I can dig it. Nap carried the article. Good scoop, Jeff. Thanks for putting that out there. So, yeah, if they're going back to the well for that, there's still this floating rumor of an Aerosmith Pro. I just played one again today at District 1. I got to say, not a terrible game. So, yeah, okay. Maybe there's a little market for a small run of those. Would be nice to have more of them out there with Insider Connected. Now, District 1, it is on Insider Connected, so it would be nice to see more Erasmus out there for us badge collectors and achievement hunters, right? But, yeah, if they're going back to the well for that, I dig it. I still think the premium's the one to go for. I love that extra wireform ramp, and I don't mind, like, the Starfield graphics on the side. And I've entertained picking up a premium Rush down the road at some point, which just kind of gets back to that same theme. Like, I don't mind selling a game if I could repurchase it again down the road, you know, easily. You know, it's not like super rare. So that's what's going on in Stern's world. I've been very Stern heavy here. Let's go to Spooky. All right. I just downloaded the new beta code for Looney Tunes. And I haven't gotten to play it yet. My friends have. Everybody's over this morning. We were loading games up, moving around, having party time. I'm going around being social butterfly, kind of explaining rules on WIC, Pulp Fiction, Lebowski. And then my friends are playing Looney Tunes. They're having a blast with it. I'm checking out the new cartoons. I love every time there's a Looney Tunes code update, there's more cartoon modes to play. That's what you want to do when you're playing Looney Tunes. I'm going to go back to District 1 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin here for a second. As I was walking out, there was this dad and his little girl. She had to be like five or six. And she's over there just monkey flipping on Looney Tunes. And, like, Dad's showing her what to do. And they're watching cartoons. And I'm like, this is what this game was made for, you know. You know, brought my kid to the brewery. We're hanging out. You know, they're done playing Tic-Tac-Toe and, like, that giant oversized Kinect 4. So take her over and let her play some Looney Tunes, right? You know, Rick and Morty's two machines down. Okay, stay away from that one. But, man, Looney Tunes on location as a game to just kind of bring the kid over, let the monkey flip on it. They'll hit ramps. They'll hit magnets. There's a lot of shots in that game. You're going to hear, you know, beeps and boops and things and cartoon sound effects no matter what you're doing. It's bright orange. Man, this game is awesome. It's still in production, too. So, like, you know, that's nice. They didn't have to be in there day one and then they sold out. They're making 750, 880 of these. What was it? What was the numbers again? But, yeah, I'm digging it. I can't wait to go jump into that code. I'm jumping into the Labyrinth code. That just got updated. I love having these games as the updates come because, like, you know, you master the basics of the game. You get an understanding of what going on And then you can go hunt for like the new stuff Like that what I just having so much fun in pinball doing that So thanks Spooky Thanks Spooky Oh man I cannot wait to see the next game that Spooky releases because they keep letting on how excited they are about it. Franchi has been creeping around Benton. I know he's got to be involved. So I have it on fairly good authority that we might see a Christopher Franchi butter cabinet game coming out. Can you imagine that Franchi are with a butter cabinet? If I could get the black and white Munsters in a buttery finished cabinet, like, that would be a splurge. That would be an excess purchase that probably wouldn't return all that much value. But, gosh, that thing would be good to look at. I'm looking at Scooby-Doo's butter cabinet over here, the only butter that I got. Oh, it looks amazing. $1,400 is what that costs. That's craziness. But it's so pretty, though. It's so pretty, though. So I can't wait to put my hands all over a Christopher Franchi butter cabinet. It's probably going to be at a show, because I don't know if I'm going to have the funds to go ahead and splurge again for that, let alone I don't know if I'll have the space. But I guess I have until December, October, January. When's this thing coming out, man? The Avalanche of Games is coming this fall. I can't wait. I'm so excited. We're going to see new stuff from Stern, of course. But we're going to see a New Jersey Jack, probably at IHAPA. It's probably going to be Harry Potter, because they're just going to say, hey, everybody, entire Pinball Marketplace, hold my beer. We're going to come out with this. man, what a great time to be in pinball and the fall is going to get even better Wick will have better code by then we'll probably have a black and white Godzilla and a spike 3 Metallica out, does that mean the Pokemon is going to be spike 3 or Dungeons and Dragons or whatever the heck is coming next, man, I'm going to need some more room down here but I think it just speaks to having fun in pinball, one of the other fun things to do in pinball is poke fun at Haggis pinball apparently So I don't know what to think about this company Other than if you put down money for a deposit For their new game Centaur You had to have known the risks involved And what you were getting into A very interesting pinball show came out this week Where Zach and what's his name Bruce I'm kidding Zach and his compatriot I can't think of his name right now I got his voice right there Aaron? No, it's not Aaron. Man, it's hard when you're live and your memory just lasts. Anyway, so they spent a good deal of time on this guarantee that Zack had put out there saying, if you go ahead and reserve a centaur through me and the company goes belly up, I'll refund you your $1,000 deposit or something. And just like he's getting a lot of vitriol thrown at him, like it's his fault that Haggis has missed a deadline. Haggis has done nothing but miss deadlines for like all of the Fathom Run, The Fathom run that's been said to have been done like two years ago, then it's going to be done by the end of the year, then like for sure by Q1, and like deadlines come, deadlines go. But one thing that doesn't leave the factory is all the Fathoms that have been ordered. So like you have to see that, right? If you know enough to know a pinball distributor and to like hear the news that this remake is being made and it's $17,000 and comes with a leather jacket, like that's bonkers news that the mainstream public can't ever have a hope of understanding. So if you hear that, surely by now you've heard what's been going on with their prior game, Fathom, and the fact that they're just not getting out to people. So, okay, if you really want a Centaur, and I understand people appreciate the game. My friend Russ took me through the game. I'm gaining an understanding of why people do appreciate it. It is cool for what it is. $17,000 of value is not it, man. But if you really wanted to have one and you had to know the risk of putting $1,000 down. Now, the goal was that these things were going to be delivered in 2025, which it's not yet, or by 2025 or something. So I don't understand all the hate towards the dude that's like, not only will you can purchase them through me, but I'll protect your purchase if the company fails. Like, and then understanding that you still knew it was a risk, man. I mean, you got to at this point. You know, when Dutch Pinball comes out with Back to the Future, if they're doing it, I mean, people are going to put down deposits. But then, you know, it took people a lot of time to get their fully paid Big Lebowski's, man. So, like, just like beware. Beware. Be careful. And if you're going to be sus and go ahead and do these things, you can't be mad. that's gotta be the rule there you know you can't like take risk and then get mad when it doesn't pan out like this is nothing but you know haggis has to be the Australian word for risk at this point careful mate don't run a haggis running out in traffic against the robot signal there you know it's gotta be like in the nomoclature of Australia now the slang term for risky venture is haggis oh don't pull a haggis mate right right is it racist to do an Australian accent you guys tell me. But yeah, let's just listen to that. What is the deal with people getting upset? You had to know. You had to know about the risk. And then even then, even if it all pans out and everything went great, you spend $17,000 for a centaur with a leather jacket and helmet. That's so mind-bogglingly crazy to me. Am I the only one? I can't be the only one. All right, well, let's hit one more thing, one more little topic here. Well, we're celebrating our July 4th. I'm having a great time. I'm going to be at work watching fireworks. I can't wait. All right, so JJP has announced pinball connect. All right, so they kicked Scorbit to the curb, and I never really got around to installing Scorbit or trying to figure out what the deal with it was, but I had to have thought that they were coming up with their own design. Kind of weird that they jettisoned Scorbit when they did, unless there was probably some kind of deal that was coming up where Scorbit was like, okay, let's make this thing official. You gave me this promise ring three years ago. I need an engagement ring. And then J.J.P. is like, nope, I'm moving away. Sorry. I got a family in another town. Something, something, something. So it had to be because they were developing this. I love the fact that they are developing this. And if it can compete on the level of Insider Connected or even somewhat close to that, so like your scores are recorded, put some achievements in there. Like I'm down. This is only good for pinball. This will get me going back to play Godfather, going back to play Toy Story 4, going back to play Galactic Tank Force. Oh, wait, they didn't do that one. You know, I'll go on the hunt for a Hobbit so I can go get those Hobbit scores. Like, this would get me to put quarters in the machines on location. Absolutely, for sure. It's got to happen. I love that. I heard some rumblings that the father of Ninja Eclipse, Turner Pinball, is also very much tech savvy. Okay. So they've got a hundred Ninja Eclipses That they're selling through That haven't gone into production yet We were just talking to them the other day Great guy, we have a lot of fun He likes pinball He spent some time on our High level Patreon interactive show That we did So thanks for that Chris, shout out to you Thanks to Bug2 for coming in man That was awesome, everybody had a great time If you haven't hopped onto the Patreon yet Maybe try it for a month And see what all the fun stuff is Because we're just having fun celebrating pinball on there and cracking wise and making jokes and making fun of things that are silly. And that's like okay to do. But he was also mentioning that, you know, he dabbles in the tech field. And I would love to see him come up with like some competing technology. So we could have, of course, Jersey Jack's Pinball Connect, whatever they call it. The Jack Net, I think, would be a great name for it. We got Insider Connected. And then have like a third option that's out there that could be licensed out to other pinball manufacturers that can't take on the expense of like creating from whole cloth uh this you know interconnected matrix network of of development right to make something like this work but what if he could do that and that could be a product that he could then license out so like you know spooky pinball could could have a way to log in through that network and american pinball could do that and we'd all be like hunting out for burritos to go get the burial badge on Barry O Day. Like, can you imagine? I think it would be fun. Friends, let's go into the fall and see what else is going to come out. We're on the precipice of some greatness. And right now, we're in it, man. Go touch grass. Like, look around you. As I sit here in like a dream arcade, the likes of which, you know, like I never would have thought when I was a youngster I could have had something like this. I feel like I'm in an episode of Silver Spoons, honestly. Like, this is crazy. You know, having one machine is amazing. Having double digits, incredibly nuts. Hashtag blessed. I'm having such a great time with it. And I forge great relationships with friends in town here. We come by, we party, we hang out. It's just amazing. Get on this, Corbin or Jeff at MadPinball.com. Order yourself some accessories and whatnots and what have you. I will say this, one parting thought. If they go ahead and do rerun a Munsters Premium Black and White, that probably means they'll also rerun a Munsters Black and White Topper. And then I can go ahead and get something, even though I'll have more competition for the game that I'm super enjoying right now. Don't forget to charge those Zap Meters, everybody. And, like, be cool to each other. Comment down below on the Facebook page. I'm going to go hang out with the Patreon people. We've got more giveaways coming up. I did three John Wick Translight gives away in June, man. What's coming in July? Even more stuff. Come see me at the 1UP Lounge at Belly in Washington. And follow Facebook for more information. and Not Six Flags Great Escape, Southern Fried Gaming Expo. Why do I keep doing that?

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 95fab16d-1f0e-4b89-8d68-9ff88f21d60b*