# Episode 107: Goodbye 2020

**Source:** This Flippin' Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2020-12-31  
**Duration:** 30m 2s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/thisflippinpodcast/episodes/Episode-107-Goodbye-2020-eodmpf

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## Analysis

Tommy Skinner's year-end wrap-up for This Flippin' Podcast (Episode 107) reflects on 2020's pinball landscape during the pandemic. He discusses recently played games (Hot Wheels by American Pinball, Guns N' Roses LE by Jersey Jack, Avengers and Iron Maiden by Stern), location updates at North End Pub, a successful 12-hour charity stream raising $2,720 for Sleep in Heavenly Peace, and broader industry themes including Stern's new streaming user agreement and cancelled shows like Pinberg.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Hot Wheels from American Pinball has better flipper feel than their previous titles (Houdini, Oktoberfest) and would have been a strong seller if 2020 had pinball shows — _Tommy Skinner, after playing Hot Wheels at Padovans in Missouri_
- [HIGH] Guns N' Roses LE by Jersey Jack features a dual-choice mechanic (cash jackpot or add ball) that makes the game exciting for competitive play — _Tommy Skinner, based on second game experience and observation of Cal D'Angelo's stream_
- [HIGH] Avengers Premium from Stern is Tommy's best-earning game ever and has attracted new players to North End Pub — _Tommy Skinner, location operator perspective_
- [HIGH] Stern released code updates for Iron Maiden, Avengers, and Jurassic Park with improved animations and polish — _Tommy Skinner, noting recent code update experience_
- [MEDIUM] Jersey Jack Pinball is building Guns N' Roses SE (pro) models intermittently rather than in dedicated production runs due to high LE sales — _Tommy Skinner, via distributor communication about his order status_
- [HIGH] Stern has announced a new user agreement regarding who can stream their machines, involving Twitch — _Tommy Skinner, noting this as an emerging 2021 issue_
- [HIGH] 12-hour charity stream on December 26th raised over $2,720 across Facebook donations, PayPal, Venmo, cash, and merchandise auctions for Sleep in Heavenly Peace — _Tommy Skinner, detailed account of fundraiser results_
- [HIGH] Pinberg tournament has been cancelled and refunds are being issued to registered players — _Tommy Skinner, noting refunds received this week_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think Hot Wheels would have actually been a really good seller...I think American Pinball kind of got screwed a little bit on the pandemic here, like everyone did with everything. but I think that game is going to be a sleeper hit in the years to come."
> — **Tommy Skinner**, ~12:00
> _Assessment of American Pinball's market position and Hot Wheels' commercial potential despite pandemic timing_

> "shout out eric and keith on designing something that gives the player a choice and it makes the game really really exciting...That makes for a really exciting competition game head-to-head because no matter how bad your ball one and two are going, on ball three, if you get into a song and get into a rhythm, you have this huge, huge chance to come back by cashing in a massive jackpot."
> — **Tommy Skinner**, ~19:00
> _Praise for Guns N' Roses mechanical design philosophy and competitive balance_

> "when you think about the fact that pinball toppers for these machines right now that are coming out would pay for four beds for children to have a place to sleep every night it just makes you realize how fucked up our world is in a really sad and depressing way"
> — **Tommy Skinner**, ~48:00
> _Socioeconomic commentary linking pinball accessory pricing to charitable perspective_

> "we hit the initial $400 goal like honestly probably within an hour or two of posting just from people making Facebook donations...it just went on and different people played on stream...and we raised another 200 real quick...it was really really cool"
> — **Tommy Skinner**, ~52:00
> _Reflection on community generosity during the charity stream event_

> "I look forward to that. I know Texas Pinball Festival has already announced they're not having a 2021 show, and I don't blame them. That would be roughly three months away if it were to be taking place, and I just don't think it's safe at that point."
> — **Tommy Skinner**, ~75:00
> _Industry perspective on post-pandemic show recovery timeline_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Tommy Skinner | person | Host of This Flippin' Podcast, pinball location operator at North End Pub, podcast co-creator, content creator, teacher/coach |
| Taylor | person | Co-host of This Flippin' Podcast (on sabbatical), Reese Rails product creator/retailer |
| This Flippin' Podcast | organization | Pinball-focused podcast and content platform, celebrating 5+ years of operation, hosts Tommy Skinner and Taylor |
| North End Pub | venue | Pinball location operated by Tommy Skinner, expanded to 25+ machines, hosted charity stream and events |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer, produces Hot Wheels, Houdini, Oktoberfest; flipper design improvements noted |
| Hot Wheels | game | American Pinball title based on Mattel Hot Wheels IP, praised for layout, shots, visuals, and flipper feel; described as potential sleeper hit |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer producing Guns N' Roses LE and SE models; intermittent production model noted |
| Guns N' Roses LE | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title with dual-choice mechanic (cash jackpot vs. add ball), musically themed, competitive appeal noted, Tommy ordered SE model |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; recently released Avengers, Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park; announced new streaming user agreement |
| Avengers Premium | game | Stern title, Tommy's best-earning game, attracted new players, received code updates, has quality issues (wire form break) |
| Iron Maiden | game | Stern title, premium model played and praised, received Polish code updates with improved animations |
| Jurassic Park | game | Stern title, received code update (1.03), featured in Pin Clash tournament organized by Carl D'Angelo |
| Sleep in Heavenly Peace | organization | Charity building bunk beds for children in poverty; Tommy's location hosted 12-hour fundraising stream raising $2,720 for 14 beds |
| John Hawksby | person | Tommy's friend and co-streamer, member of Bearded Villains men's club, volunteers with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, co-organized Holiday Hangover charity stream |
| Carl D'Angelo | person | Pinball streamer and tournament organizer, organized Pin Clash tournament on Jurassic Park, designed portable streaming rig |
| Bob Twitchell | person | Chicago resident who participated in Holiday Hangover stream, matched donations up to $100 for first hour of streaming |
| Pinberg | event | Pinball tournament/show cancelled in 2020, refunds being issued to registered players |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Announced cancellation of 2021 show due to pandemic safety concerns |
| Led Zeppelin | game | Recently unveiled Stern title, features rising spinner mech and magnet lock, missing on pro model, scheduled for streaming reveal by Kyle at Marco Specialties |
| Mark | person | Tommy's business partner at North End Pub, donated coin drop to Sleep in Heavenly Peace charity |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Game reviews and first impressions, Pinball location operations and earnings, Charity streaming and community engagement
- **Secondary:** Code updates and manufacturer quality, Streaming regulation and user agreements, Tournament cancellations and pandemic impact, Pinball show recovery and future outlook

### Sentiment

**Neutral** (0)

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Avengers Premium experiencing wire form breakage; Stern support response delayed (nearly a week without reply); repaired with zip ties (confidence: high) — Tommy noted wire form break after email to Stern without timely response; temporary zip-tie repair in place
- **[design_philosophy]** Guns N' Roses LE features dual-choice mechanic (cash jackpot vs. add ball) designed by Eric and Keith to provide comeback opportunities and player agency in competitive play (confidence: high) — Tommy praised the design, noting it enables comebacks on final ball; Carl D'Angelo's stream demonstrated high jackpot potential
- **[product_strategy]** Jersey Jack Pinball selling high volumes of Guns N' Roses LE, resulting in SE (pro) models being built intermittently into production rather than in dedicated runs (confidence: medium) — Tommy's distributor indicated JJP is fitting SE into production when possible due to heavy LE sales; expected delivery uncertain
- **[code_update]** Stern released code updates for Iron Maiden, Avengers, and other titles featuring improved animations and polish, showing dedication to post-launch support for strong sellers (confidence: high) — Tommy installed v1.03 for Jurassic Park and observed Iron Maiden Polish update with amazing animations; noted this dedication pattern for high-selling titles
- **[sentiment_shift]** American Pinball flipper quality improvement noted and appreciated; Hot Wheels seen as redemptive following Houdini and Oktoberfest experiences (confidence: medium) — Tommy explicitly contrasted Hot Wheels flipper feel favorably to previous American Pinball titles; called out Stern and JJP for design quality
- **[market_signal]** Music-themed pinball games performing well at Tommy's location; strong player appeal for Avengers and potential for Guns N' Roses (confidence: medium) — Tommy noted music pins have done well at his location; Avengers attracted new players; planned to showcase Guns N' Roses on family side
- **[regulatory_signal]** Stern announced new user agreement governing who can stream their machines, involving Twitch, creating uncertainty about 2021 streaming landscape (confidence: high) — Tommy identified this as emerging issue to watch in 2021; noted it will draw attention from community but lacks details on specific restrictions
- **[community_signal]** Successful 12-hour charity stream (Holiday Hangover) for Sleep in Heavenly Peace raised $2,720 with 48-hour notice, demonstrating strong community generosity and solidarity (confidence: high) — Tommy detailed fundraising via Facebook donations, PayPal, Venmo, cash, merchandise auctions; $1,600 raised before streaming began; final tally enabled 14 beds for children
- **[event_signal]** Pinberg tournament cancelled with refunds issued; Texas Pinball Festival cancelled 2021 show; industry shows expected to remain limited through early 2021 (confidence: high) — Tommy received refund for Pinberg; Texas Pinball Festival officially announced 2021 cancellation; Tommy expects more cancellations in coming months
- **[venue_signal]** North End Pub expanded to 25+ machines by end of 2020, including newer releases and loaned titles; hosting events and streamed content (confidence: high) — Tommy noted expansion to 25 machines, added Super Mario Bros Gottlieb, Avengers Premium, Walking Dead Pro on loan; hosted 12-hour charity stream
- **[content_signal]** This Flippin' Podcast has been running for 5+ years with consistent community engagement despite irregular scheduling; Tommy values personal relationships over production consistency (confidence: high) — Tommy reflected on podcast's 5+ year run, missed anniversary, acknowledged irregular episode schedule but emphasis on friendships formed
- **[product_launch]** Stern announced Led Zeppelin pinball with rising spinner mech and magnet lock; premium cabinet features Zeppelin branding; pro model missing magnet lock and ramp (confidence: high) — Tommy noted recent Led Zeppelin unveiling, described mechanics and cabinet differences, scheduled for Marco Specialties streaming reveal with designers Tim and Steve

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## Transcript

 Hey there, what's up everyone? This is Tommy Skinner, host of This Flippin' Podcast. You're listening to episode 100 and something? It's 2020, man. No one's been able to pay attention to things like that. But I want to do a quick, short, end-of-year wrap-up show. Today is my miniature dachshund Layla's 13th birthday, so we're giving her a shout-out. She just looked at me from the couch like, what the hell are you doing, Dad? She turns 13, I turned 35 this year, and pinball continues to thrive through this pandemic as we've seen prices go soaring on other things and lots of new games get released. I will talk about a couple of those in this episode because I finally got a chance to play them. I'll kind of give you a brief update on our location over at North End Pub where we just had an awesome charity event last weekend. and I've continued to add new lapel pins to my Etsy shop, Tommy's Pins, if you are a person who is into lapel pins. So there's stuff to do there. I'm sitting here in my kitchen drinking out of my This Flippin' Podcast mug that was printed by Ulix Store. So if you need something printed, Ulix Store, unique laser engravings, check them out. and our beautiful logo was of course designed by Zach over at Tilt Hammer. If you need some pinball swag just done by an awesome dude, go and hit up Tilt Hammer. They'll get you guys hooked up. Anyway, on that note, 2020 is ending. My location has expanded. We've got more games than we ever have. I think we're up to 25 down there. Most recently I've added in the Super Mario Bros. Gottlieb pin. as well as the Avengers Premium model. And we just had a friend put on loan to our location, a Walking Dead Pro. So we've got some newer stuff down there. In the past couple weeks, Radical said goodbye. It was with us for about three months. Fun game, but just wasn't a long-term keeper for me. That went to our buddy, Berto. He came up and picked it up not too long ago. And he was also the brains behind, or the inspiration behind, my latest pin set based on a F-14 design and I want to wish him a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year here. It was great to get to see him although briefly. I'm glad he's got the Radical now because he really loves it and he's going to probably end up restoring it knowing him and it's going to be amazing. We also had a Simpsons pinball party that was on loan to our location for a few weeks from our buddy Roy over in Missouri. I had picked that up here locally for him and we were gonna deliver it earlier and then i got quarantined because alissa had tested positive for covid19 she is doing okay so uh we're fortunate i never ended up testing positive uh tested twice and i remained negative but we waited a couple weeks to be safe before i delivered that over to him in missouri so went out there a little over the week ago and And that's where we got to visit Padovans over in St. Charles, Missouri as a meet-up spot, grab some lunch, and play a few games. Specifically, I was really excited to play Hot Wheels from American Pinball. And they also had a Guns N' Roses GNR LE from Jersey Jack Pinball. So now that I've actually played those games, I'm willing to talk about them a little bit more. First of all, Hot Wheels, I really enjoy it, actually. I think it's very visually appealing. It has really nice shots, and the rules seem pretty cool. I only got, I think, two or three games on each of these machines, so it wasn't like I went really in-depth, but I got some of the general ideas from it. But I do think that, say, 2020 had pinball shows, I think Hot Wheels would have actually been a really good seller. I think American Pinball kind of got screwed a little bit on the pandemic here, like everyone did with everything. but I think that game is going to be a sleeper hit in the years to come. The layout seemed really nice. The shots were all makeable. The flippers felt better than they have on their previous titles of Houdini and Oktoberfest. I played in Oktoberfest later the same day and was able to definitely feel the difference. So that was good. I don't know what they changed in the flipper design or if it was in the code of the flippers but they felt a little bit better than they previously have. And it's one of those things where it's not like they feel bad. It's just different. So I think if I played it more, I would just adapt to it. But when I only played them on occasion, they just feel different from a modern Stern or a classic Bally Williams, and it throws you off a little bit. But Hot Wheels was fun. Had different multiballs. Could figure out how I was collecting the cars, shooting your RPM targets to increase your multiplier. A lot of good risk-reward type stuff is integrated into the game, which I really love. It was, again, better than I expected. I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to hopefully picking up a used one for at least a little while at some point in the next year or two. I think it would go really well over on the family side of my location. So I could stick it over there in the bowling alley. And I could definitely see how that would draw in some newer, younger players as in the kids. But also Hot Wheels are a classic thing that many adults have grown up playing with. So, American Pinball, thumbs up, great job. Look forward to playing that more in the future and see what else you guys are doing as well. As far as Guns N' Roses goes, I got to play the LE model. And I played one game and it didn't go great, didn't play real well. I was kind of like, eh, it's what I expected. Typical Jersey Jack, everything is flashing. uh you know shots are what they are nothing nothing bad nothing spectacular um i do like the sort of little inner orbit shot that you can shoot that takes the ball into the pops that was probably like my favorite shot on the game as far as the design aspect goes um i understand the skill shot still not a huge fan of it but it is what it is it's not like it's a big deal it's your freaking plunge deal with it uh but then we played a second game and i got you know i got back into a song and i started to do really well in the song and next thing you know like i'm getting that option cashing in my jackpot at whatever value it is or add a ball and keep going uh but not get those points so i absolutely love that design aspect uh shout out eric and keith on designing something that gives the player a choice and it makes the game really really exciting um and not only combined with me getting to play the game but in the past week caldeangelo i.e pinball the best and most professional streams out there also a quick shout out to carl for putting on pin Slash i didn't get to play because it was actually during the quarantine when i was quarantined and my game was out of my location and i wasn going to go risk playing uh when i I could potentially be somebody who was going to spread COVID if I were to go out in public at that point So I did not do it But I got to watch the whole day Just an amazing stream So if you get a chance, go on YouTube, check out the Pin Slash tournament put on by Carl D'Python Anghelo featuring I think like 24 players from around the globe playing on Jurassic Park. An amazing tournament. Anyway, Carl put on like a two, three-hour stream this week for Guns N' Roses, again an LE model. and really demonstrated how high you can build up those song jackpots. It just gives the player tons of options when you want to cash in. To me, that makes for a really exciting competition game head-to-head because no matter how bad your ball one and two are going, on ball three, if you get into a song and get into a rhythm, you have this huge, huge chance to come back by cashing in a massive jackpot. I am looking very forward to playing that game more. I did order the sort of the pro or the standard model, whatever it is that Jersey Jack calls it, the low-end one that doesn't have the upper play field. The reality is I just didn't want to pay the prices of the LE for a Jersey Jack game. That's still kind of out of my range. And I wasn't sure how much I was going to like it. But I do think that the theme and just the appearance, like obviously the game is very visually striking, would do well on my location with my player base as music pins have typically done pretty well for me there when it comes to that sort of thing. So anyway, I ordered one of those. According to my distributor, I am next up. I was really hoping it would be here by Christmas, but it's not. They're sort of building those intermittently because I think they sold so many LEs that they're not doing like a dedicated run to the SE. just kind of fit them into production when they can. That's my impression. So I don't know exactly when it will get here, but I am looking forward to that. I definitely want to organize some sort of an event, unboxing party, launch party, whatever you want to call it for that. It was fun. So congrats to Jersey Jack, enjoying that. Avengers, the newest game that I've had access to from Stern, is doing really well for me on location. quality issues I have had a wire form break I emailed Stern about it almost a week ago and I haven't heard anything back I will email them again here sometime next week I was able to repair it using zip ties so for the moment my game is still functional and playable on location but it is very fun that game has absolutely attracted new players to my location that well people that were there that weren't playing pinball before are now playing because how much they've enjoyed Avengers which has been pretty cool to see. As far as earnings go, it's been my best earning game ever that I've had there. From Stern, that's been really neat. And overall, I think it's really good. They did a great job putting out code updates last week. I mean, it was two weeks ago at this point. But for Maiden and Avengers and a few other games too, I finally installed the Jurassic Park code update that came out, like the 1.03, I think it was, from a couple weeks ago, as well so i've got my three sterns down there all with some updated code the iron maiden polish that is on this latest code the updated animations and stuff just look like amazing and i really appreciate that stern is showing that dedication at least the titles that sell really well as i know i think they're still running maidens because it's a great game to polishing them over the years and continued improvement i don't know if that's an initiative from the company itself from the designer on that game in elwynn or what but it made for a hell of an update uh it's really fun loving that game i did get to put some time on a premium model when we were in st louis area last weekend and man it really made me think about selling my pro and upgrading to a premium it's just a hell of a game so much fun and again i don't care about that music or that band at all but i do care about the fun factor that i have when playing that game and that that is very high on the charts so that part has been awesome um i i did something i thought i would never do i sold my got leave james bond 007 pinball machine and that's going to a friend in indianapolis area so that uh it had some issues took it down to mainstream investments to get repaired he's picking it up from there but i decided to sort of thin out some of the collections so I could have more space. I'm trying to finish up this Stargazer project I've been working on since summer. It's really close, but not quite there. And then my friend Michael Alexander is working on a playfield swap for me on Centaur and finally going to try to have my Centaur playable after having owned it for almost three years. Although most of that time I was waiting to get a new playfield, but now I have that, and hopefully I'll be able to play Centaur pretty soon. so that will be very cool as well those are sort of the collections and status updates obviously since i last recorded stern has unveiled led zeppelin um people have shared all sorts of opinions about the game i visually it's you know i don't love it i do like the premium cabinet with zeppelin on it um i think the the rising spinner mech and magnet lock is a really really cool mechanism. I hate that it's not on the pro because it does make the pro feel pretty empty when it's missing that and a ramp. But overall, it looks like it shoots really well based on some of the streams I've seen. Led Zeppelin's music is good. I like Led Zeppelin. I didn't see how it would fit into pinball really well, but it does. I'm no music expert. We've discussed that. My biggest pull would be for a Spice Girls pinball machine if I wanted music. So there you go. But it looks cool. I'm looking forward to playing it. Not a whole lot to say on it until I get my chance to do that. Today is, by the way, December 31st. It is New Year's Eve. And I know Marco Specialties, my buddy Kyle, will be doing a stream on Led Zeppelin later today featuring Tim and Steve, who were the designers and coder of the machine. And that should be pretty cool to watch and check out as well. So that all ties in as well. Stern has a new sort of user agreement as far as who can stream their machines. There's all sorts of stuff going on with that with Twitch. I don't stream enough to really worry about that or watch enough streaming to worry about that. But that is something going on in the current pinball world that will obviously draw many eyes, ears, and attention, et cetera, in 2021. So keep your eyes and ears peeled about how that goes. As far as streaming goes for me, it's something I do very sporadically. I have no set schedule. I do enjoy it. I enjoy the social aspect of I'm hanging out online with friends and I'm getting to play pinball and just talk while we're doing it. But with that being said, this past weekend, we did the longest stream we've ever done. And we did a 12 hour stream on December 26th, the day after Christmas. We called it the Holiday Hangover. And this stream was a team effort between me and my buddy John Hawksby. And we had other friends come and join us and help actually with the gameplay aspect of it. But roughly two years ago I saw an article about a charity called Sleep and Heavenly Peace And if you guys have not heard of this charity it SHP Sleep in Heavenly Peace What they do is they have essentially designed a very basic bed frame made from lumber and they get together and they build these for children who come from families largely that are living in poverty that don't have a bed to sleep in. and something that probably if you're listening to this and are into pinball, probably something you don't have to worry about. The reality is our pinball hobby, most of us are fairly well off in the world. We're doing okay. We're getting by. We may not be wealthy, but we probably have a bed to sleep in. So anyway, I sent this article to John, and I said this would be cool if we could do something with this. John is an absolutely amazing person, and next thing I knew he's a member of a men's club called the Bearded Villains and they do a lot of charity work. He was putting together groups to go and volunteer for these Sleep in Heavenly Peace bunk bed builds where they literally bring in a bunch of volunteers one day to build and assemble the beds and then they go and deliver them to the homes where these children need beds. So he's been doing that for the past two years and it was really neat for me to see. Unfortunately, their build days are almost always on Saturdays when I'm either working at the bar or coaching wrestling. And the few weekends I get off, I tend to leave town. So I had not really done anything other than be like, hey, man, this is cool. And then John did all sorts of stuff with it for the last couple of years. And it's just been really neat to see. Very proud to say I'm friends with someone who does stuff that amazing with their free time when they could be choosing to do a lot of other things. But anyway, we've been talking about we should do a stream, and we decided to do it for Sleep in Heavenly Peace. We were going to do it the day after Christmas for 12 hours, and our goal was just to raise $400. $400 will buy a complete bunk bed and bedding for a family. So we're providing two beds with all the bedding, sheets, blanket, pillow, etc. for two children for $400. when you think about the fact that pinball toppers for these machines right now that are coming out would pay for four beds for children to have a place to sleep every night it just makes you realize how fucked up our world is in a really sad and depressing way now that I compared it to a pinball topper in my head for the first time but anyway, that was our goal, it was $400 I just recently built a portable streaming rig very similar to the ones designed by Carl D'Python Anghelo and Phil Grimaldi that have been used for tournaments. I didn't go fully wireless. We still have some wires running to ours. But it would allow me to set up quicker and move the stream from machine to machine. So we thought we could pull this off. We weren't really certain, but we were going to try. And I posted about it, I think on Christmas Eve on Facebook like literally just 48 hours notice, hey, we're doing this Saturday. I set up a Facebook donation thing. I said we could take donations all the ways, PayPal, Venmo. I'd have a few items for sale slash auction down during the stream. And it was pretty much open invite. You want to come play pinball for the day, come stream with us, feel free. And initially the plan was to donate the coin drop from that day. What ended up happening really kind of blew our minds. and we hit the initial $400 goal like honestly probably within an hour or two of posting just from people making Facebook donations and never having run a Facebook charity donation thing. When the first one filled up to the $400 mark, I created a second one thinking like, okay, you hit your cap, it probably stops. And it didn't. So I made a second one. That one filled up again very quickly And then people like donated and it went over the $400 limit. And I realized that you could collect more than your initial goal amount. So I just left that one open at that point. Um, by the time we got to the stream, so 48 hours later, we had raised a little over $1,600. So at this point we will be able to donate enough to build eight beds for kids. Um, I, I'm not shy about the fact that I'm an emotional guy when it comes to certain things and helping kids is one of them. The main reason I went into teaching and coaching. Not that I don't enjoy history, but I'm not a fool. I realize social studies isn't life changing, but just being there for kids is. So anyway, as we started that stream, we were already really happy with what we had been able to help raise. Those donations came from a ton of people. We had everyone's names scrolling across the screen for the stream. If you go to our YouTube channel for this flipping podcast, I've uploaded the stream. It did freeze at one point after like nine and a half hours. So it's broken into like a nine and a half hour part and then like a two and a half hour part to put it together. But it's all there. So that was really cool. My co-host, who's, I'm just calling it sabbatical. I refuse to believe he's retired. but Taylor made a very nice donation he said it comes from his customers of James Rees Rails essentially so that's where his money comes from and if you've purchased some James Rees Rails you helped countless others of you that are either pinball friends random friends, wrestling friends donations came from everywhere from my friends, from John's friends, from family members co-workers, there was big and small one of you I'll allow you to remain anonymous and if you want credit later just let me know somebody made a full $400 donation to provide a bunk bed it was really cool and then we started streaming at like noon and we were going to go until midnight and the first like 2-3 hours it was just me and John and then Bob Twitchell showed up from Chicago he came down to help us with the stream right away he said for the next hour up to $100 anything you donate I'll match so instantly people donated so so bob would match and we raised another 200 real quick um and then they kind of just kept flowing in through the day and some of our friends that hang out at the location you know we didn't really again this was all done in like 48 hours didn't plan ahead and they saw what we were doing started asking questions and donated and it just went on and different people played on stream we went from game to game spent about an hour on each machine and uh at the end of the night we ended up with over 2700 2720 i think was our final tally between auctioning stuff donations from facebook from venmo from paypal from cash that people brought in that day it was really really cool um we ended up because uh we had reached that goal so early in the process online. I put all the machines on free play for the day so everyone could just come and hang out and I donated all the coin drop from the previous week instead of doing the one day thing Me and my partner down there Mark took that coin drop and donated all that as well as part of it The bottom line is, in a shit year that was 2020, for the last week of it, it felt really cool because we saw the good in humanity that still exists and to know we're just waiting for the Facebook fundraiser funds to take a little while to come from there into your bank account. When that all comes in, we'll be able to donate the full amount and have provided 14 kids with something that many of us probably take for granted on a regular basis, having a place to lay down at the end of the day, a space that's ours, something that's comfortable and allows us to get a decent night's sleep, which is good for like your physical and mental health. So that was cool. Sorry to get a little emotional talking about it there, but it literally brought tears to our eyes. We were really happy that we were able to contribute to that. We both, financially contributed in our time but to see how many other people out there when we did ask for help and donations were so willing to contribute especially during Christmas when people have usually just spent a lot of money on the holidays and they still took time and contributed that was just amazing so to everyone who donated thank you again for everyone who just came and visited and played that day so it didn't have to be me and John for 12 hours straight thank you that helped immensely um i hope everyone had fun who did come and hang out if you watched it i hope it was entertaining enough um by no means am i a professional streamer uh those guys who do that on a regular basis it really is a a talent it's not something i would want to do but i do enjoy when i do it and especially when we can do it for a cause like that so with our new mobile rig we'll probably be trying to do that a little more often maybe like twice a year instead of once a year now or something but that was a cool experience that was very uplifting uh at the end of the year so thank you for that um there's all sorts of rumors on stuff that's going to come out in 2021 and hopefully there's some pinball shows at some point there's some hope on the horizon uh hopefully all this political stuff just fucking disappears man because sick of it. The election is over. It's been decided. People need to get access to the vaccine. And I'd really like to have a pinball show where I could see my friends again. Like, wherever that is. We've already talked about Pinberg and the heartbreak of that. Refunds have been going out to players who had registered this week. I know, I just got mine. So that part sucks. And hopefully something comes up. I wouldn't expect anything for 2021. but maybe 2022, we can see what rises from the ashes that were Penrith, because something will. Something will take its place. I look forward to that. I know Texas Pinball Festival has already announced they're not having a 2021 show, and I don't blame them. That would be roughly three months away if it were to be taking place, and I just don't think it's safe at that point. I imagine there's other shows that are going to cancel here in the coming months, but hopefully we'll have something. we'll see what ends up happening here again I said this wasn't going to be a really long episode you know we're winding down there thank you for our listeners who've been listening all these years I realize now I think we've been doing this over five years I think we missed our five year anniversary back in the summer at some point I enjoy doing the show I enjoy talking pinball I really really enjoy the friendships I've made because Taylor and I sat down and recorded this weird little show that we do about something that we both care about a lot, pinball, and made some amazing friends from that. And that's why I'll continue to do this show because even if I don't have a ton of time and it's not always convenient and I feel bad when I don't deliver regular content like some of these shows out there do, I still enjoy doing it. I enjoy talking pinball and like I said, most of all the friends I've made from this. this past week as many of you know one of my other major interests is professional wrestling a pro wrestler died who was only 41 they said it was from a his name is Brodie Lee, John Huber formerly Luke Harper in the WWE and anyway it was very surprising he competed less than two months ago and what they've said at this point is it's a non-covid related lung issue and details are still sparse uh but the dude was only 41 he's got kids that are eight and three two young boys i believe and uh he wrestles for aew all elite wrestling um I know many of you out here listening aren't professional wrestling fans, but that was announced Saturday, actually while we were doing our stream. And the amount of love and outpouring from his fellow professional wrestlers about the man's character has been really difficult to read all week because he was a guy who didn't really get his biggest break until maybe six months ago, like right at the start of this pandemic, nine months ago, I guess in March, when he switched to this new company. But he was always highly regarded by the people who knew the most within the industry, the men and women who wrestle in the ring. And so many stories this week about how good of a person he was. So little to do with how good he was in the ring, even though he was, but about how he'd helped so many people. And it really made you reflect because like six, seven weeks ago, the dude was competing in a essentially professional sport, highly athletic person. And six, seven weeks later, he's dead, leaving behind, again, a couple of young children and a wife. and uh anyway it it made you think and reflect so he was a good person which i think is more important than anything else on this planet so try to do good in 2021 i will try to do good in 2021 hug your loved ones tell your friends you love them, that you miss them, go get that cup of coffee, play that game of pinball when you have the chance with them, and I'll be back in 2021 with some more episodes, guys. But for now, John Huber, rest in peace, thank you for your entertainment, enjoyment, and all of you listening, thank you so much for the support over the years. We'll see you in 2021.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: ac36d767-0d6a-404d-8fb7-804173d7263a*