# The Pinball Show Correspondents - August 9, 2021

**Source:** The Pinball Show  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2021-08-09  
**Duration:** 5m 19s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.thepinballnetwork.net/e/the-pinball-show-correspondents-august-9-2021/

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## Analysis

The Pinball Show reports on major industry moves in August 2021: Steve Ritchie joins Jersey Jack Pinball alongside Pat Lawlor and Eric Menyer; Spooky Pinball streams Halloween and Ultraman gameplay revealing rules and assets; Haggis Pinball provides manufacturing update on Fathom production; speculation emerges about Lyman Sheets potentially contracting with Chicago Gaming Company to work on Pulp Fiction and other projects.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Steve Ritchie has joined Jersey Jack Pinball after departing Stern — _Ken Rudberg reports on official JJP announcement and posted video of Ritchie's first day_
- [HIGH] Pat Lawlor and Steve Ritchie collaborated on some of the greatest games in pinball history at Bally Williams — _Pat Lawlor quote from JJP press release confirming prior collaboration and excitement to work together again_
- [MEDIUM] Rumors exist that Pat Lawlor and Steve Ritchie don't get along — _Ken Rudberg mentions rumors but both designers publicly deny tension via JJP press release quotes_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball streamed Halloween and Ultraman gameplay via Jack Danger on Deadflip Facebook — _Dr. John reports stream was uploaded and featured hosts Bug and Lucas discussing rules_
- [HIGH] Haggis Pinball's Fathom cabinets are starting to be cut and Celts game finalization is underway — _Damien released factory update on Haggis Facebook showing production progress_
- [MEDIUM] Lyman Sheets is rumored to be leaving Stern and possibly doing contract work for Chicago Gaming Company — _Morrison cites rumor that has been circulating and mentions speculation he was finishing Elvira and Cactus Canyon code simultaneously_
- [LOW] Mark Ritchie and Lyman Sheets may be working on two games together, one being Pulp Fiction — _Morrison cites rumor from Canada's Pinball Podcast_
- [MEDIUM] Cactus Canyon code has been finished in some capacity — _Morrison assesses that production sounds ready to come out soon based on available information_

### Notable Quotes

> "I'm thrilled to be able to work with Steve again. Some of the greatest games in pinball history happened when the two of us worked together and collaborated on a daily basis."
> — **Pat Lawlor**, N/A
> _Lawlor publicly addresses and denies rumors of tension with Steve Ritchie, emphasizing their successful prior collaboration_

> "I'm very excited to begin a new gaming adventure at Jersey Jack Pinball. I have known Jack for more than 30 years and I'm delighted that we will be working together. It's going to be awesome."
> — **Steve Ritchie**, N/A
> _Ritchie's official statement on joining JJP, establishing long-standing relationship with Jack Abbas and expressing enthusiasm_

> "things are looking good, and if you want to know a little bit about the troubles of pinball manufacturing, have a look at the Facebook update, including problems with footpath construction"
> — **Dr. John**, N/A
> _References Haggis Pinball's operational challenges beyond game design, including infrastructure and supply chain issues_

> "Could CGC be ramping up to drop two games in a 12-month window?"
> — **Morrison**, N/A
> _Speculation about Chicago Gaming Company's production capacity and potential release schedule acceleration_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Steve Ritchie | person | Legendary pinball designer who left Stern and joined Jersey Jack Pinball; previously collaborated with Pat Lawlor at Bally Williams |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Premium boutique pinball manufacturer announcing Steve Ritchie hire; design team includes Pat Lawlor and Eric Menyer |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Legendary pinball designer at Jersey Jack Pinball; has worked with Steve Ritchie previously at Bally Williams; publicly denies rumors of tension with Ritchie |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer based in Benton, Wisconsin; streaming Halloween and Ultraman gameplay reveals via Jack Danger |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer and content creator at Spooky Pinball; streamed Halloween and Ultraman gameplay on Deadflip Facebook |
| Haggis Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer experiencing production delays; Damien is managing Fathom cabinet cutting and Celts finalization |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Pinball manufacturer; rumored to be in contract work with Lyman Sheets for code design on multiple titles |
| Lyman Sheets | person | Legendary pinball code designer at Stern; rumored to be leaving and potentially contracting with CGC; speculation he was finishing Elvira and Cactus Canyon code |
| Eric Menyer | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer; described as relative newcomer to pinball design; designer of Guns N' Roses |
| Bug | person | Co-host of Spooky Pinball's gameplay reveal stream discussing Halloween and Ultraman rules |
| Halloween | game | Spooky Pinball title with gameplay revealed via stream; receiving updates to video assets and callouts based on community feedback |
| Ultraman | game | Spooky Pinball title with gameplay revealed via stream alongside Halloween |
| Pulp Fiction | game | Rumored Chicago Gaming Company project potentially involving Mark Ritchie and Lyman Sheets collaboration |
| Cactus Canyon | game | Chicago Gaming Company game with code reportedly finished; topper design featuring shooting gallery mechanic (Hogan's Alley/Wild Gunman style) |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer losing designer Steve Ritchie to Jersey Jack; Lyman Sheets rumored to be departing |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game designed by Eric Menyer |
| Bally Williams | company | Historic pinball manufacturer where Steve Ritchie and Pat Lawlor previously collaborated |
| Fathom | game | Haggis Pinball title in production; cabinets starting to be cut as of report date |
| Mark Ritchie | person | Pinball designer rumored to be collaborating with Lyman Sheets on multiple projects including potential Pulp Fiction |
| The Pinball Show | organization | Podcast media outlet providing industry news and updates via correspondent reporters |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Personnel moves and designer migration, Jersey Jack Pinball design team composition, Spooky Pinball game reveals and community reception, Chicago Gaming Company production and pipeline
- **Secondary:** Haggis Pinball manufacturing progress and delays, Pinball designer rumors and interpersonal dynamics, Game code development and production timelines

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.72) — Generally optimistic tone across all segments with excitement about major personnel moves (Ritchie to JJP) and game reveals (Spooky). Minor uncertainty/skepticism about CGC release timing and Lyman Sheets rumors. Manufacturing challenges noted for Haggis but presented as expected industry friction.

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Spooky Pinball conducting public gameplay streams via Jack Danger on Deadflip to reveal Halloween and Ultraman and address community concerns (confidence: high) — Dr. John reports stream occurred, noting community feedback (Pinside discussion) and Spooky's plan to add more video assets/callouts
- **[design_philosophy]** Spooky Pinball design team (via Charlie Emery assessment) characterizes Halloween as 'packed' with rules content and gameplay depth (confidence: medium) — Dr. John reports Charlie Emery's characterization and notes gameplay appears suitable for home players, tournament viability uncertain
- **[market_signal]** Chicago Gaming Company potentially accelerating production capacity with possibility of releasing two games within 12-month window (confidence: low) — Morrison poses speculative question about CGC ramping up releases; Pulp Fiction rumor combined with Cactus Canyon readiness suggests pipeline acceleration
- **[personnel_signal]** Lyman Sheets rumored to be departing Stern Pinball for potential contract work with Chicago Gaming Company (confidence: medium) — Morrison reports rumor and speculates Sheets was finishing Elvira and Cactus Canyon code simultaneously
- **[personnel_signal]** Steve Ritchie leaves Stern Pinball and joins Jersey Jack Pinball, reuniting with legendary designer Pat Lawlor (confidence: high) — Official JJP announcement with video of first day; both designers provide public quotes confirming move
- **[announcement]** Cactus Canyon code reported as finished with topper featuring shooting gallery mechanics (confidence: medium) — Morrison assesses production appears ready imminently based on code completion and topper design (Hogan's Alley/Wild Gunman reference)
- **[product_strategy]** Haggis Pinball experiencing manufacturing challenges including cabinet cutting delays and infrastructure (footpath construction) issues (confidence: high) — Damien's factory update on Facebook cited; Dr. John explicitly notes 'troubles of pinball manufacturing' visible in update
- **[rumor_hype]** Speculation that Pat Lawlor and Steve Ritchie have interpersonal tensions despite public denials (confidence: low) — Ken Rudberg explicitly mentions 'rumors that they just don't get along' but both provide reassuring quotes denying tension

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## Transcript

 The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. Pinball is a game of skill. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle. It's time for The Pinball Show. It's pinball with personality. It's time for TPN Industry News. Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. It's been a busy week for Jersey Jack after Monday's blockbuster announcement that one of Pinball's most loved designers has come on board. Steve Ritchie is now with Jersey Jack Pinball and back in the company of another iconic designer, Pat Lawler. Eric Meunier, the relative newcomer to pinball design and designer of Jersey Jack's most recent offering, Guns N' Roses, rounds out the design team. Jersey Jack posted an exciting, if somewhat awkward, video of Steve coming through the company's front doors on his first day of work There some questions regarding how excited Pat and Steve are to be working together again as there are rumors that they just don get along Steve and Pat worked together back in the Bally Williams days, and for his part, Pat tried to put these rumors to rest with a quote from Jersey Jack's recent press release. Quote, I'm thrilled to be able to work with Steve again. Some of the greatest games in pinball history happened when the two of us worked together and collaborated on a daily basis. End quote. Steve sounds excited as well, saying, quote, I'm very excited to begin a new gaming adventure at Jersey Jack Pinball. I have known Jack for more than 30 years and I'm delighted that we will be working together. It's going to be awesome. End quote. Now that Steve has settled in after his first week, I'm sure the hard work is about to begin. For the Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg. Hi and welcome to this week's SHIT Update with Dr. John on the Pinball Show. So this week it's all about Jack Danger's stream revealing Halloween and Ultraman gameplay from Spooky HQ in Benton, Wisconsin. The stream has been uploaded to the Deadflip Facebook page for those who missed the live stream but a number of hours of gameplay in depth was shown by Jack on both games with hosts Bug and Lucas going through the rules Generally, everything was accepted well in Pinside, well as well as can be expected, with more video assets and callouts to be added to Halloween in particular to keep people calm in the future. I'll be interested to hear Zach and Dennis' opinion of gameplay and rules, but for a spooky game, it does seem packed, as Charlie suggested, and I think it's going to be a lot of fun. Whether it stands the test of time for tournaments or not, we'll wait and see, but for those who purchased it, I think they'll all be happy after having watched the stream. And on the Haggis front, Damien has just released an update on his Haggis Facebook page with a factory tour, letting people know where he's at in the Fathom build progress. Cabinets are starting to be cut as at tomorrow, and the finalisation of the Celts games are underway. Things are looking good, and if you want to know a little bit about the troubles of pinball manufacturing, have a look at the Facebook update, including problems with footpath construction. You'll know more once you've seen that. And that's it for this week. Check out the Deadflip Facebook page for the stream and see what you think of Spooky latest update Catch you all next week I'm Morrison here with your Chicago Gaming Company update for the week. A lot has been happening in the world of pinball since our last update with Steve Ritchie leaving Stern, also rumors of Lyman Sheets leaving, and possibly doing contract work for CGC. The rumor that Lyman was going to CGC has been around for some time. Is it possible that Lyman was finishing Elvira and finishing Code on Cactus Canyon at the same time? Also recently rumored on Canada's Pinball Podcast was that Mark Ritchie and Lyman may be working on two games together, one being the long-speculated Pulp Fiction. We'll have to wait and see on those. As far as Cactus Canyon recap news, it's starting to sound like the Code has been finished in some capacity. The topper is some type of shooting gallery. I'm hoping a Hogan's Alley, Wild Gunman type situation. It certainly feels like this thing is ready to come out any time now. Could CGC be ramping up to drop two games in a 12-month window? Well, I guess only time will tell. Back to you guys.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: b99087a1-85cd-47c8-9445-3f13ce182ced*