# DPP #216 "The Walking DOA"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-11-07  
**Duration:** 25m 35s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-216-The-Walking-DOA-e3akbup

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## Analysis

Don critiques Stern Pinball's Walking Dead Remastered launch, focusing on insufficient cabinet art differentiation, missing foil accents, and lack of premium accessories at $13,000 LE pricing. He contrasts this with positive reception of Barrels of Fun's Winchester Mystery House and builds anticipation for Spooky Pinball's Beetlejuice midnight release event, positioning boutique manufacturers as competitive threats to Stern's industry dominance.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Walking Dead Remastered looks too similar to other Stern games (Deadpool, Godzilla) due to shared red/purple color saturation — _Direct observation from launch trailer and leaked photos; Don's repeated emphasis on visual homogeneity across recent Stern releases_
- [HIGH] Stern removed foil accents from LE cabinet art starting after Dungeons & Dragons, citing art direction preferences — _Don's account of asking Stern team at Fall of the Empire media day; confirmed absence on King Kong and Walking Dead LEs_
- [HIGH] Walking Dead Remastered lacks show footage/assets on LCD screen, instead featuring recreated dot matrix animations — _Don's direct observation contrasting with Metallica Remastered which had asset integration_
- [HIGH] Beetlejuice pre-pre-sold out and only ~100 units may be available on Spooky's website at launch — _Don's direct involvement organizing midnight release party; 20 pre-release deposit slots filled in ~90 seconds_
- [HIGH] Barrels of Fun conducted location testing at Pinball Expo with four Winchester Mystery House units for tweaks — _Don referencing feedback received from Barrels of Fun; explanation for staggered production timeline_
- [HIGH] Walking Dead Remastered has incomplete/missing accessories standard (no topper, no shooter rod, coin door not powder-coated) — _Don's itemized list of LE shortcomings requiring separate purchases_
- [HIGH] Winchester Mystery House sold out at $11,600 price point with Evergloss cabinet finish — _Don's enthusiasm for pricing and finish quality; attributed to Barrels' value proposition vs. Stern_
- [MEDIUM] Beetlejuice is positioned as potential 'Game of the Year' and best year-end finish in pinball in 4-5 years — _Don's prediction based on pre-sales momentum and Winchester Mystery House strength, not on actual gameplay analysis_

### Notable Quotes

> "is this the Walking Deadpool what did they make here"
> — **Don**, ~10:15
> _Humorous but cutting critique of visual homogeneity with Deadpool; became community meme_

> "the response I got was, well, this isn't really what the art direction wanted to go. And I'm thinking like, well, it's not the direction that my money, my wallet wants to go."
> — **Don**, ~18:30
> _Core tension: Stern's artistic choice vs. collector expectations; ties pricing to design premium_

> "You were asking us for top of market $13,000 for this machine. You were inviting valid criticism back."
> — **Don**, ~24:45
> _Legitimizes criticism as proportional to premium pricing; reframes pushback as rational consumer response_

> "I want to feel like I have something special if I have an LE and please Stern give me permission to feel special by putting something cool on the cabinet it's just a rad cab for cripes sakes"
> — **Don**, ~26:00
> _Direct appeal to Stern; identifies rad cabs as achievable differentiation lacking on recent LEs_

> "Stern Pinball, industry leader, remastered game, Lyman Sheets code, struggling to remain relevant in a sea from these two battling boutiques"
> — **Don**, ~35:15
> _Major sentiment shift: positions Stern as vulnerable to boutique competition (Spooky, Barrels)_

> "Beetlejuice said, here, hold my bug juice. Boom. Pre-pre-pre-sellout."
> — **Don**, ~34:45
> _Captures market momentum shift favoring Spooky; demonstrates rapid FOMO dynamics_

> "This game is going to be the unstoppable juggernaut of the year. Calling it now."
> — **Don**, ~27:30
> _Bold GOTY prediction for Beetlejuice before gameplay widely available; betting credibility on hype_

> "I've played it. Game is good. Case closed."
> — **Don**, ~27:35
> _Cryptic insider claim; Don has hands-on access to Beetlejuice before public release_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | 2025 Stern Pinball remaster (Spike 3) criticized for art direction, missing premium accessories, and high $13k LE pricing; features Lyman Sheets code and Expression Lighting |
| Beetlejuice | game | Spooky Pinball 2025 release based on Tim Burton film; pre-pre-sold out; 999-unit LE at $9,999; midnight release party Nov 13 organized by Don; Danny Elfman soundtrack; 'Game of the Year' candidate |
| Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun 2025 release; $11,600 price point with Evergloss finish; sold out; location-tested at Pinball Expo; praised for value and aesthetic |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; organizer of Beetlejuice midnight release; Patreon supporter/content creator; positioned as industry insider with advance game access |
| Stern Pinball | company | Industry-leading manufacturer; criticized for declining cabinet art quality, removed foil accents post-D&D, premium pricing without differentiation; Walking Dead Remastered underperforming vs. boutique competition |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer gaining market momentum; Beetlejuice positioned as major success; represented as credible competitor to Stern in 2025 |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer (aka Deep Root Pinball); Winchester Mystery House praised for design, testing methodology, and value pricing; emerging as competitive threat |
| Bug | person | Co-owner/creative director of Spooky Pinball; guest on We Are Pinball recording for Beetlejuice deep-dive; demonstrated Spooky Speak voice integration feature |
| Genghis | person | Co-host of We Are Pinball podcast with Don; recording Beetlejuice episode under embargo until Nov 14 |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Pinball artist; referenced as benchmark for high-quality cabinet art; Don notes Walking Dead Remastered art doesn't match this standard |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Spooky Pinball artist; referenced as contemporary standard-bearer for cabinet art quality that Stern should match |
| Lyman Sheets | person | Code designer for Walking Dead Remastered; legendary competitive player; credited with original Walking Dead code |
| Mad Pinball | company | Pinball distributor (Jeff and Corbin); sponsor of Don's podcast; handling pre-order coordination for Beetlejuice and future Spooky releases |
| Carrie Hardy | person | Pinball content creator; produced music stream with Brady Hearn showcasing Beetlejuice soundtrack and original compositions |
| Brady Hearn | person | Musician/composer; created original Beetlejuice-themed music for content collaboration with Carrie Hardy |
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host (Kaneda's Pinball Podcast); received exclusive Bug POV footage; mentioned as having critical perspective on Stern design choices |
| Elvira 40th Anniversary Edition | game | Reference standard for premium cabinet art quality; featured rad cabs that Don loved and attempted to recreate on Premium Elvira |
| Metallica Remastered | game | Comparison point: positive example of LCD screen asset utilization and cohesive design; 500 LEs sold out immediately |
| John Wick | game | Stern LE example with foil accents (candle wicks) that impressed Don; secondary market acquisition referenced |
| King Kong | game | Stern LE criticized for lacking visual differentiation from Pro/Premium versions; repeated criticism pattern for Stern LEs |
| Fall of the Empire | game | Stern game; Don asked about missing foil accents at media day; received non-committal 'art direction' response from Stern team |
| Universal Studios (International Drive) | location | Don's vacation location; where he encountered Jurassic Park Pro machine at Gods and Monsters shop |
| Pinball Expo | event | Location where Barrels tested Winchester Mystery House; where Don saw Elvira 40th Anniversary cabinet; community gathering space |
| We Are Pinball | organization | Podcast co-hosted by Don and Genghis; recording Beetlejuice episode under embargo; major community platform |
| Loser Kid Pinball Podcast | organization | Pinball podcast; expected to cover Beetlejuice release coordination; part of coordinated content ecosystem |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Cabinet art quality and differentiation on Stern premium editions, Foil accents and rad cabs as LE differentiators, Walking Dead Remastered design critique and market reception, Pricing justification and value proposition at $13,000 LE tier, Boutique manufacturers (Spooky, Barrels) competitive advantage vs. Stern, Beetlejuice FOMO and midnight release event logistics
- **Secondary:** LCD screen asset utilization in remastered games, Location testing and production methodology (Barrels case study)

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Negative on Walking Dead Remastered's art/value package (0.2), neutral-positive on gameplay/mechanics (0.5), highly positive on Beetlejuice hype and boutique competition (0.8). Overall tempered by frustrated critique of industry leader's design choices while celebrating alternative manufacturers gaining market share.

### Signals

- **[event_signal]** Beetlejuice midnight release party (Nov 13) at Don's residence; 20 pre-release deposit slots filled in ~90 seconds; highly anticipated community gathering with national attendees and catering (confidence: high) — '20 of them went 20 of them came 20 of them went almost immediately in about 90 seconds'; 'Spooky's 14th game' release becoming major industry event
- **[competitive_signal]** Boutique manufacturers (Spooky Beetlejuice, Barrels Winchester Mystery House) gaining competitive advantage over Stern through superior value, design finish, and manufacturing methodology (confidence: high) — 'Stern Pinball, industry leader, remastered game, Lyman Sheets code, struggling to remain relevant in a sea from these two battling boutiques'; Beetlejuice pre-pre-sellout vs. Walking Dead struggling
- **[design_philosophy]** Walking Dead Remastered cabinet art lacks visual differentiation from other Stern 2024-2025 releases (Deadpool, Godzilla); homogeneous red/purple color saturation across portfolio (confidence: high) — 'Don stand back 30 feet and look at a row and lineup of zombie idiot art games every game looks the same'; 'is this the Walking Deadpool what did they make here'
- **[design_philosophy]** Stern removed foil accents from LE art direction after Dungeons & Dragons despite collector preference; 'art direction' rationale overriding market feedback (confidence: high) — 'The response I got was, well, this isn't really what the art direction wanted to go. And I'm thinking like, well, it's not the direction that my money, my wallet wants to go'
- **[market_signal]** Winchester Mystery House sold out at lower price point ($11,600) with premium finish (Evergloss), demonstrating collector preference for value and materials over brand prestige (confidence: high) — 'at $11,600, what a great price point no wonder they sold out'; praised as counterpoint to Stern's $13k Walking Dead
- **[community_signal]** Don positioned as insider with hands-on Beetlejuice access before public embargo (Nov 14); claims gameplay quality justifies GOTY positioning without needing to watch full streams (confidence: high) — 'I've played it. Game is good. Case closed'; organizing midnight release party implies pre-release hands-on time
- **[market_signal]** $13,000 LE pricing unsustainable without corresponding premium design elements (foil accents, rad cabs, accessories); pricing-to-value mismatch perception driving community pushback (confidence: high) — 'These prices that are at top of market...Make it look like that. It doesn't seem to me to require that much more effort'; 'I would love to pay $9,500, but I'd be happy paying $10,500 if it had foil accents, if it had a topper, if it had a shooter rod'
- **[product_concern]** Walking Dead Remastered missing standard LE accessories: no topper, no shooter rod, unpowder-coated coin door; incomplete package requiring post-purchase investment (confidence: high) — 'given the fact that the coin door is not powder-coated, given the fact that there's no topper that's there, given the fact there's no shooter rod that's there, those are all things that I'm going to have to purchase down the road'
- **[product_strategy]** Barrels of Fun conducting location-based iterative testing at Pinball Expo before full production rollout; 4-6 week production ramp expected post-testing phase (confidence: high) — 'they went back and they're able to make some tweaks that will be great going forward...I don't expect to see that for another four to six weeks potentially'
- **[rumor_hype]** Next major Stern releases rumored to be Fallout, Pokémon, or Generation 1 Transformers based on 'big 1, 2, 3 rumors' circulating in community (confidence: medium) — 'whether it's Fallout, whether it's Pokémon, whether it's Generation 1 Transformers, those are the big 1, 2, 3 rumors that I'm hearing'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community pushback on Walking Dead Remastered framed as proportional to premium pricing rather than nitpicky; signals normalized criticism of Stern's market positioning (confidence: high) — 'You were asking us for top of market $13,000 for this machine. You were inviting valid criticism back'; 'if this game was $9,500...these people that are dismissing the art are just like blowhards...But for these prices, we can afford to be more critical'
- **[technology_signal]** Walking Dead Remastered utilizes LCD screen but lacks show footage/asset integration; instead recreates dot matrix animations, missing opportunity for premium content differentiation (confidence: high) — 'I wanted assets. I wanted to watch episodes and moments from the show...I can't do that. I can watch animations. I can watch recreations of the dot matrix displays'; contrast with Metallica Remastered approach

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## Transcript

 what's up all my lovelies how you doing it's don down here from florida being florida man for episode number 216 don's pinball podcast gather around everybody as we discuss what's going on in the hobby that we all love which is pinball new machines new takes new drama landing with a thud just like the walking dead and the walking dent that it put into my wallet if i i haven't ordered one i haven't ordered one yet we'll get into we'll get into that and why hello everybody welcome back again don's pinball podcast we're down here in florida i'm trying to follow the news and it's coming so fast and so quick i can barely keep up there's podcasts dropping left and right i'm way behind in everything uh mainly because i'm i'm having fun at universal i'm riding roller coasters i'm going to wawa i'm doing all of the florida things that we love, including spending some time on a surprise Jurassic Park Pro over at this Gods and Monsters shop over at International Drive that I just happened to get into. Having a great time over here. So we got The Walking Dead dropped on us. Well, it dropped. We knew it was coming out on the 4th. I think it was standing in line for a Minions ride or something. And I'm watching the launch trailer and the information and stuff, and just like everybody else, I was smacked right in the face with the art. the take on this game has been just just diabolically brutal from one segment of the population uh and there is a there is a more reasonable more moderate take on this as well from people that have this game ordered and they're like you know i'm sure this is going to look better in person and whatever so i kind of have my take i haven't heard everybody else's podcast everybody else's take on this i have seen the memes i've seen some some rather extreme comments which seems a little excessive given that we're talking about a pinball machine and a pinball machine redressing of the walking dead which is a super fun game like a game that i to date have only played on location i've considered getting it at home but the thing that stopped me is the the fact that i do enjoy a nice spike 2 system i do enjoy a nice upgraded gameplay um and this one doesn't have it has a dmd but it has all that charm and it's so far it's remained something fun to play on location for me but now it's been fully remastered and I will say that I think the game seems to be fun like I like the upgrades and everything that I've seen so far I haven't gone through it with all the nuance you know of like a fine-tooth comb you know sitting at home trying to digest everything I can from a pinball machine but from what I have seen you know from a nap arcade level view uh the game as far as a product looks fine now it looks like Deadpool for sure and we've heard this criticism from Stern before all of their games look the same Don stand back 30 feet and look at a row and lineup of uh of zombie idiotic art games every game looks the same blah blah blah blah um now I get the nuance that you know a uh a Godzilla will look different than a Walking Dead but they all kind of have if you squint your eyes that kind of you know red color saturation or something this surprised me because I was expecting uh like like an update to the walking dead art i don't think the art on the cabinet particularly was of you know relativistic quality to what we've been expecting from the likes of a christopher francher or even a zombie yeti to date um it was more you know a photoshopped logo and that was kind of what you got there you got an absolutely grotesque take on the play field which was you know fantastic i think i totally fit the aesthetics that we were going for for zombie annihilation apocalyptic game but i think it could have been tightened up and brought up to modern standards and so just seeing the leaked photos that came out like immediately at the launch or just post launch or whatever i was seeing when i was standing in line for men in black alien attack i was like is this the walking deadpool what did they make here a little tongue in cheek there but i think the art direction is something uh that we need to put a pin in and discuss for a moment there's been a definite downslide in the quality of the cabinet art and i know you don't play the cabinet art i know when the game is in the lineup it doesn't really matter don when you're going to see it only if you put it on the end or something but i want to go back to the halcyon days of el virus 40th anniversary edition when i first saw that cabinet the first one i saw was one of zach many's machines that he brought to an expo three years ago or something that was the first time i got to see the 40th anniversary elvira in person i was completely enraptured with it to the point that when they did another run of the premiums i got one and then raised hell and high water trying to find somebody that could recreate graphics similar to that and then i went ahead and and to kaneda's dismay uh totally threw brand new graphics all over my new in box premium alvira to make it as close to an approximation of the 40th anniversary as i could get i loved that art man and of course i couldn't match in like the fine the fine detail that the radcal and like the matte and the shiny finish and the interplay that was there like i love that so much i would love if that was just the standard that we had i know that that radcals cost maybe six times the cost of a decal but really when you're talking about a game that costs five figures okay for pros decals are fine but can we radcal everything from premium up that collector's level you know the fully featured game that we want come can you give me something like that now stern to their credit have given us an elevated type of decal when it comes to a limited edition purchase, and it was the foil decal and the foil accents. John Wick was a game that didn't knock my socks completely off with what was on the play field, but walking through that factory at the very first media day extravaganza the Stern Pinball did, and we saw John Wick in its LE format with the foiled accents on the candles like the candle wicks themselves like the wicks of John Wick It was jumping out at me it looked fantastic I had to try to find a way to have one I did shout out to Mad Pinball thank you Corbin and Jeff you guys are amazing uh for letting me get in on one of those unsold John Wicks um back in the day the LEs I felt like I really had something they didn't bring it in terms of the powder coat it was just a matte black finish they didn't bring it in the case of the armor with the laser cut etchings it was just a cutout for a sticker which is a trend that we've got to get away from but they did bring it with the decal graphics man it looked fantastic best looking part of that game for sure for sure was the foil accents and then we saw them take just a giant step back after Dungeons and Dragons when it came to follow the empire when it came to King Kong and now when it comes to Walking Dead we're just getting decals with saturations and no life fin there. I asked the team when I was at the media day for Fall of the Empire, what is missing? Where are the foil accents for this Hoth scene, this battle, right? There's explosions, there's cannon fire, there's laser cannons. I mean, there's all kinds of opportunities for nice embellishments there of foil to really pop out for those people that are at the peak tier level. And the response I got was, well, this isn't really what the art direction wanted to go. It wasn't the direction they wanted to go. And I'm thinking like, well, it's not the direction that my money, my wallet wants to go. I want to have premium graphics. Listen, I can get a premium pinball machine from Stern Pinball. I can buy a shaker motor and visiglass, the lights. I can upgrade the speakers myself. I can do all of that. The things that I can't do personally are replicate a mirrored back glass without hundreds of dollars. And I can't replicate easily the foil decals at least, or like a nice rad cal. I can't easily recreate that. I've tried. It's a lot of effort to get close, and I still wasn't even close to it. So that is the difference. If I do go in on an LE or I'm happy to find one on the secondary market for a good price, like that's really what I want. Rush looked amazing with the foiling on the cabinet. And I want to get back to that. I think a lot of the pushback that we're getting about the art direction on the game such as The Walking Dead is because of those embellishments that we're not seeing. We're not seeing the value that's there. I want to see something that I can't replicate myself. I can get decals made. I can hire an artist. I can have them do something. Yeah, it's a one-off, so we don't have permissions and everything. We don't have direct access to the assets or the style guide that Stern Pinball would use, but I could still get something and have graphics made of what I want my take to be, and then I can just slap them on the side and take a razor knife and cut them just like I'm putting grip tape on a skateboard. Like, I've done that. You know, it's a bit of a pain, but it's relativistically simply to do. But when it comes to, like, foil accents, that's difficult to replicate. When it comes to Radcal finishes, that's difficult to replicate. That's what I want to see, and I think that's what we were all hoping for, a return to form from Stern in the form of an amazing pinball cabinet. And then when you put this thing out where you squint your eyes 50% and you see Deadpool, you see Godzilla, it's like, where's the difference here? This is supposed to be zombie apocalypse, man. This LE should look like one of the best LEs Stern has ever done. Look at the Elvira Blood Red Kiss. Have that be the level that we want to get to. Bring me that level. And I don't think anybody would be complaining. I think the 500 would be sold out. And I think we'd be extolling the virtues of Stern Pinball right now. Now, it just sucks that this art is becoming the focus of everything because it looks like everything else that they put into The Walking Dead Remastered looks, I'll hesitate a moment, I won't say phenomenal, but as far as the gameplay and the game field elements that are in there, those look fine. I like that. I actually don't mind the art that's on the play field. That looks good. It was just I wanted something special for the cabinet. My one other holdback, of course, is the assets. We got this huge Spike 3 LCD screen. LCD screens came out after The Walking Dead originally was released. It had that dot matrix display. We were going with pixelated graphics, which have their charm. But now in the LCD era, I wanted assets. I wanted to watch episodes and moments from the show. I haven't seen the show. I wanted to watch it on my pinball machine, and I can't do that. I can watch animations. I can watch recreations of the dot matrix displays. I think when it comes to, you know, Metallica Remastered, kind of going off that aesthetic and then having its own style, that was the complete package. That was amazing. Those 500 LEs sold out immediately. When it comes to The Walking Dead Remastered, I think all we're seeing is just animated bits of the old dot matrix displays and things like that. Now, I'm sure we're going to see more once we finally get some streaming content of this game, But I think that is the other part where it's really faltering, which is too bad because it seems like the crossbow has been re-engineered. But again, like I'm looking at the crossbow. I'm seeing this, you know, it's a coil that's in there. I don't know if it's on a servo or what kind of mechanism, maybe a separate motor or something that rotates it out. I'm sure that it works better than the original one now that they've been able to go back to it. But the simple things, like there's this, there's a square metal tubing that is housing this device. and you know you could have dipped it into a glossy brown powder coat or something so it would have looked like a crossbow at least you know in in square tube form instead of just a bare metal here it is we put it in there throw some decals on there man you know we've got an art direction department i've got all these assets you've got a decal printer there i'm sure you know throw some decals on this thing so it actually looks like crossbow and not just bare metal sticking out you You know, it's those tiny little things that really would have brought this cohesive package together a bit more. And I think that's where some of the pushbacks coming from. Now, it's always fun to pick at the giant juggernaut in the industry. You know, Stern Pinball makes more games than anybody else. They can have all their games out to you in the next week. If I wanted a Walking Dead LE, I could have one, if not this week, next week. I'm sure of it. I'm sure of it. And that's a great benefit to Stern Pinball. They able to have great relationships with these licenses that are just about the only person aside from JJP that can get into Disney Good Graces and bring us some of that magical IP in pinball form And it just sucks that this is the focus of this game now These are prices that are at top of market, right? The $10,000 premium, the $13,000 limited edition. Make it look like that. It doesn't seem to me to require that much more effort to go with Radcow, to go with Foil Accent. even if you are going to go with this sort of red and purplish, highly saturated appearing color scheme and everything. Now, as far as the game, because remember, there is a pinball game at the end of all this. I'm sure it's really fun. I'm sure it probably plays a lot better than The Walking Dead OG did. I know that people are now going back and picking up those Walking Deads that were dumped on the market in anticipation of the remastered release. And I get that. But for me, I think I would still like to have one of these remastered. Even given all those critiques I've just gone through, I still want a Walking Dead LE. The problem is, I don't think, given the package, given the fact that the coin door is not powder-coated, given the fact that there's no topper that's there, given the fact there's no shooter rod that's there, those are all things that I'm going to have to purchase down the road. I just don't want to get this game for $13,000 right now. I would love to pay, I mean, I'd love to pay $9,500, but I'd be happy paying $10,500. I'd be happy paying $13,000 if it had foil accents, if it had a topper, if it had a shooter rod, and it was just a complete package. Look, we remastered this. Here it is. Come and get it. It's replete with all of the flashing lights and everything. I think the expression lights and the inside of the cabinet, and now bringing back that aspect of them being on the outside, just like Star Trek LE, I think that's a great direction to go into. I'm glad they did it. And if it wasn't for the fact that there doesn't appear to be any kind of foil accents on the outside of the art, and it's missing some decals and things, I probably would be in on this. But the fact is that I'm going to have to get this game for $13 from a dealer, and then I'm going to have to get the accessories down the road. And my level of exuberance and desire for this game doesn't quite match that price point. I think that's why we're pushing back, which we're allowed to do. you were asking us for top of market $13,000 for this machine. You were inviting valid criticism back, like, I don't like the art. That may sound nitpicky, but this price that you're charging is not nitpicky. So for that price, you're going to get this. If this game was $9,500, which I still think would be quite a fair price, I would say, yeah, these people that are dismissing the art are just like blowhards. Blowhards! Full of blowhardiness, sir. But for these prices, we can afford to be more critical, and I think that is apt. And that's probably where a lot of this pushback is coming from. I have not lived on pin side in the last week, so I've been in lines and going on rides. So I can't speak to if maybe there's an aspect or something that I'm missing. And if I have missed it, apologies. Don Spinball Podcast at gmail.com is where you can come at me or on the Discord or on the Facebook page, and we can continue this conversation there. So there's The Walking Dead. We knew it was coming. We weren't sure exactly what we were going to get, and then we saw it, and we saw the price, and you're getting some pushback. You're getting some pushback. My hope is that whatever this next game is, whether it's Fallout, whether it's Pokemon, whether it's Generation 1 Transformers, those are the big 1, 2, 3 rumors that I'm hearing, I hope that they take the decals that they ordered and they start throwing those on pros for locations and they order some Radcal or whatever type of graphics you put on Elvira 40th, on a viral blood bread kiss and make that the standard for the limited edition for the love of pete i don't want to see another king kong situation king kong le came out with the same graphic design as the pro and premium on the same what are we doing what are we doing i want to feel like i have something special if i have an le and please stern give me permission to feel special by putting something cool on the cabinet it's just a rad cow for cripes sakes you already have the art you've got great artists there give us that finish give us that polish so yes i want my friends to come over and run their greasy hands up and down the cabinet because it's that much fun to do uh winchester mystery house is on location looks like it's over to ace go yeah i don't know if it's the van nuys location or the other one there but i'm glad that we're seeing some games on location when i last heard from barrels of fun regarding their winchester mystery house there was a lot of good uh feedback good uh good test and adjust that had happened on location at pinball expo with these four games that were running open to soup to nuts the entire show that they went back and they're able to make some tweaks that will be great going forward that's what happens when you build machines and get them out to the public to play you're going to get that instant feedback those little tweaks the little nuance that you can get in there and just really fine-tune them so that is happening right now and so i think that's why we're not seeing unboxings of winchester mystery house every week now because they probably haven't really hit their stride in production. I don't expect to see that for another four to six weeks potentially, although they may start rolling out soon. I want to know, would somebody near Benton, Wisconsin, please get this game and invite me over so I can go play it. But I want to rub my hands up and down the cabinet because they have those cool, what they're calling Evergloss, which to me, uncultured swine is some sort of rad cow. I love that. And at 11.6, what a great price point no wonder they sold out um so um i would like it if industry leader stern pinball could match that with their their top tier additions uh maybe there's a practical reason why they haven't maybe they will text me at one in the morning and let me know um i haven't listened to that that canada show at all yet but i it's time to see that i've been i've been on rides i've been in lines and and and going on rides i haven't had time to get caught up on the the pinball podcastetry, but we will be doing that. Programming note, WAP is recording tomorrow. We are Pinball, my partner show that I do with Cengiz, and we're having none other than the next topic up. Spooky Pinball's Bug and Luke are going to join us. We're going to talk all about Beetlejuice, and we're going to record that episode with, like, everything revealed about the game, and then it won't be released for another week because we still have to wait until the 14th for the embargo and everything But we be compiling everything there It going to be a banger episode It be a great counterpoint a counterpart to the release that will be going on So Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice man This game is going to be the unstoppable juggernaut of the year. Calling it now. Calling it now. Call me a liar. I guess time will tell. But this game that pre-pre-sold out, as we all know, is just about unstoppable. But, Don, nobody's seen it yet. What if the game's not good? I've played it. Game is good. case closed um we are starting to see a little bit more information computering out from this uh in in in accordance in precedence of the midnight release party which will be happening on november 13th it's a thursday night everybody's going to come over to my house it is completely booked uh spots were free to get uh 20 of them went 20 of them came 20 of them went almost immediately in about 90 seconds uh so we have fans from all over the country that are coalescing for a gathering a midnight gathering to celebrate the release of beetlejuice it's going to happen on the evening of november 13th and each one of these 20 invited guests that were lucky enough to email me the code word undead in a timely fashion and and still be fortunately lucky are able to put secured deposits in for this game and avoid the rush that's going to happen at probably between 10 and noon on November 14th, the official release date of Beetlejuice, of which there may only be 100 games on the website, and they're going to go quicker than the website's going to crash. I'm calling it right now. So this is going to be a super fun event that everybody's going to come to. I'm very fortunate to be in a position where I'm working strongly with Spooky Pinball and the community to really make this happen, and I think it's really winning for just about everybody that's involved. I'm sorry I couldn't have 100 people at this event because I definitely could have filled it. I could have filled the dance list. If this goes off without too much of a hitch and turns out to be something fun, positive for the community, I think we can look at something even better next time. I'm telling you right now, so there's no teary eyes a year from now when we're talking about the release of Spooky's 14th game. Maybe it's 15th by now. Go ahead and put yourself on a list. email Corbin at madpinball.com email Jeff at madpinball.com and tell him listen, put me down for whatever the next spooky game is and when it's revealed I want to have first right of refusal on whether or not I want it. That's the best position to be in get in on other distributors as well whoever you like, but I know Jeff and Corbin do this, they don't take pre-order money your spot is secure with them, you can trust them, that's why I work with Mad Pinball and why they sponsor the show and why they're just nice guys to be around. I mean, a lot of you guys met him at Pinball Expo. Beetlejuice's midnight release party is going to be a catered affair with fun gifts. We're going to have t-shirts. We have logos drawn up. It's become insane how amazing this thing's going to be. And then at midnight, we're all going to screen the trailer at the house, put in our deposits, and then later that morning, the trailer will be out for everybody. The WAP episode will be out for everybody. Loser kids, I'm sure, are talking to people. It's going to be nuts. In anticipation of that, we do have a couple of other content creation specific locked nuggets about this game carrie hardy uh got with brady heard and put out a uh a stream of some of the music of beetlejuice and this stuff slaps so hard like it's not you know we of course we oingo boingo did the dang uh or danny Danny Elfman did the music for beetlejuice and of course it slaps it's amazing um but there was also some carefully curated music, original music, from Brady Hearn, where it captures that Beetlejuice aesthetic, but it's almost like it's extra tracks that we've never heard before. And even though it's a brand new, ground-up musical creation, it still sounds as if it could have come out in the movie, and now it's in the game. So that's amazing. Check that out on the Cary Hardy's channel. I just saw an exclusive from Bug that he had given to Kaneda. Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, guys put that up on his Patreon there if you have access to it, and Bug just recorded a little POV of his face, like a point of Bug view, a POV of him walking into the room where Beetlejuice was in front of him. He didn't show the game, but he showed off some of what spooky speak can do, and it can do more than just turn on your game, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice. There's other clever phrases and things that are in there. Beetlejuice will engage and talk back you like he's freaking Siri, man. I love it. So I just had time to watch that little nugget. It's about a minute long. If you or a friend have access to Canada's Pinball Podcast, Patreon, that's there for you to go check out. We are at this point, let's see, it's the 6th of November for me. Seven days from now, it'll be the 13th. That's the midnight release. We're a week away from seeing arguably game of the year in arguably the best year finish I've seen in the last four to five years that I've actually been paying attention to this industry. We've had Winchester's Mystery House come out and just beat all expectations out of nowhere. And then Beetlejuice said, here, hold my bug juice. Boom. Pre-pre-pre-sell out. And then we see Walking Dead struggling to keep up. Stern Pinball, industry leader, remastered game, Lyman Sheets code, struggling to remain relevant in a sea from these two battling boutiques, man. That's the time of pinball that we are in right now and I love covering this stuff I love delivering it to you I deliver it through patreon at patreon.com backslash don's pinball podcast five dollars come on come on over man come see some of the cool stuff we have there uh the giveaways are getting caught up soon email me at don's pinball podcast gmail.com and interact directly as many people do it's one of the fun things I do uh during my day anything else I will tell you as soon as I hear about it let's play that outro music and go get some dinner one week away from the best midnight release ever in pinball the history first i don't know how much is gonna match this there's gonna be torches there might be horses hopefully not police officers it's going down in benton i can't wait i'll tell you all about it we'll be live streaming from there. Follow me on the YouTube page. Y'all be good. We'll talk later.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: c6a956b9-6a97-40a3-8bb6-f0fc60092625*