# DPP #37 "Buckle up Punny factory, beat down is coming"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-04-25  
**Duration:** 24m 32s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-37-Buckle-up-Punny-factory--beat-down-is-coming-e22vhp6

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## Analysis

Don expresses strong criticism of Pinball Adventures' debut game Punny Factory after watching their launch stream, arguing the $6,500–$7,000 price point is unjustified given the limited layout (17 stand-up targets, minimal ramps, two small mechanisms), weak marketing execution, and uninspiring theme. He contrasts it unfavorably with Stern's recent releases and calls for constructive improvements. He also covers Stern's shipping timeline for Foo Fighters (LEs delivering within days, Premiums following) and secondary market pricing ($15K+), positioning it as a strong collector investment.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Punny Factory is priced at $6,500–$7,000, matching a Stern Pro tier — _Don states this directly as the entry price point for the game_
- [HIGH] Punny Factory contains 17 stand-up targets, only two main mechanisms, minimal ramps, and limited mode depth — _Don describes the playfield layout in detail after watching the stream_
- [HIGH] Foo Fighters LE started shipping to distributors on Wednesday (two days from air date) with at least one unit in Fort Myers, Florida — _Don cites posts on Facebook from people contacted by distributors with arrival dates starting that week_
- [HIGH] Foo Fighters LE is listed at $14,999–$17,000 on Pinside secondary market — _Don observes at least one NIB listing at $15K and mentions a dealer asking $16,999–$17,000_
- [MEDIUM] Foo Fighters LE sold out at $12,999 MSRP — _Don infers sell-out status from secondary market pricing and the single NIB listing at $15K_
- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball's America's Most Haunted (150 units) was a limited introductory product that generated goodwill and funded subsequent games — _Don cites this as a historical precedent for launch strategy in the industry_
- [MEDIUM] Expression light kits for music pins are $350–$700 depending on title (Led Zeppelin $350, Rush $499, Foo Fighters estimated $550–$700) — _Don provides pricing estimates based on prior Stern releases_
- [MEDIUM] Foo Fighters Pro is loaded with ramps and shots comparable to other recent Stern titles — _Don compares Punny Factory unfavorably to Foo Fighters Pro, which he recently played_
- [HIGH] Lyman Sheets' code on Elvira House of Horrors creates deep, integrated gameplay with synchronized light shows and music — _Don describes his personal experience finishing two modes and entering House Party multiball_
- [HIGH] Punny Factory's launch stream lacked professional narration, camera setup, and product presentation equivalent to Jack Danger's Galactic Tank Force stream — _Don critiques the stream production quality and contrasts it with industry standards_

### Notable Quotes

> "I feel like they were just sticking ice picks in my eyes. Man, what's going on? Ice picks in my eyes. Ice picks in my ears. You're breaking my heart, Puny Factory."
> — **Don**, early in episode
> _Establishes Don's emotional investment and opening frustration with Punny Factory's reveal_

> "If it was a homebrew, I'd be like, all right, it's a pretty good homebrew. But because they are asking for $6,500 to $7,000, putting it directly on the par of a Stern Pro, I feel like they're just asking too much."
> — **Don**, theme section
> _Core criticism: layout quality does not justify professional-tier pricing_

> "To make a game like this, even if the biggest companies, it's an 18-month to 24-month process, from inception to testing to Whitewood to getting the artists where they need to be and then licensing and all that. And so it's a long path to go down. It's a long path to go down if you're committed to a bad idea to begin with."
> — **Don**, theme section
> _Argues theme choice is fundamental; a poor theme idea compounds opportunity cost over long development cycle_

> "What is the deal with the puns? That doesn't make any dang sense. I don't have any connection to that."
> — **Don**, theme section
> _Questions the thematic coherence and player appeal of the pun-factory concept_

> "If you're going to ask for $6,500, I just played Foo Fighters Pro on location about an hour ago. There's ramps and locations and pathways galore in there. Look at that and pick two things and put them in your game and then ask for $6,500."
> — **Don**, layout section
> _Direct competitive comparison; argues market expectations at this price are set by Stern's recent work_

> "This is what elevates that game from just being a simple fan layout to integrated with deep code. That's fun. The light shows that were coming on, the music, it all worked together."
> — **Don**, Stern Pinball section
> _Articulates the difference between mechanical novelty and code-driven depth; Lyman Sheets' design philosophy_

> "So premiums have to be on the line. They have to be in boxes. They have to be on trucks right now in order to be delivered."
> — **Don**, Stern shipping section
> _Inference about supply chain; Premiums imminent based on LE distribution starting_

> "If you're sitting on a Foo Fighters LE, consider strongly. Do you want to flip that and then go ahead and get a premium for half price with your proceeds?"
> — **Don**, Foo Fighters market analysis
> _Investment advice; signals strong secondary market demand and price disparity between tiers_

> "I want them to invite me over there and let me help them out or beat me with baseball bats whatever they do in Canada later"
> — **Don**, closing remarks
> _Tone-lightening joke; reaffirms genuine intent to help despite harsh critique_

> "I'm turning into such a Stern fanboy, man."
> — **Don**, Stern section
> _Self-aware acknowledgment of shifting enthusiasm toward Stern's recent product quality_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pinball Adventures | company | Debut pinball manufacturer launching Punny Factory; subject of Don's primary critique |
| Punny Factory | game | Pinball Adventures' first commercial release; a pun-themed cartoon factory game priced $6,500–$7,000 |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; Don praises recent releases (Foo Fighters, Elvira, Godzilla, Star Wars, Rush) for depth and execution |
| Foo Fighters | game | Recent Stern music pin; LE sold out at $12,999; shipping to distributors and dealers; secondary market at $15K–$17K |
| Foo Fighters (Pro) | game | Entry tier; used as benchmark for layout and shot complexity vs. Punny Factory |
| Foo Fighters (Limited Edition) | game | Premium tier; includes expression lights, shaker motor, VisiGlass, art blades; first shipments arriving mid-episode air date |
| Foo Fighters (Premium) | game | Mid tier; production/delivery imminent following LE shipments |
| Elvira House of Horrors | game | Stern release; praised by Don for code depth (Lyman Sheets), light integration, and gameplay experience; example of modern pro design |
| Lyman Sheets | person | Code designer on Elvira House of Horrors; credited for deep, integrated rule set and light/music synchronization |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer and streamer; praised for professional, well-narrated Galactic Tank Force stream as counterexample to Punny Factory's poor presentation |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | Referenced as example of poorly positioned pop bumpers (behind main obstacle); also mentioned alongside Galactic Battle Space Tank |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; passionate collector, home player, and vocal critic; primary speaker throughout episode |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Established boutique manufacturer; America's Most Haunted cited as model launch strategy (limited run to build goodwill) |
| America's Most Haunted | game | Spooky Pinball's 150-unit limited intro game; used as historical precedent for successful boutique launch |
| Rush | game | Recent Stern music pin; mentioned as LE with expression lights and sculpted logo; compared to Foo Fighters |
| Star Wars | game | Stern release owned by Don; part of his recent Stern acquisition streak |
| Godzilla | game | Stern release owned by Don |
| Iron Maiden | game | Referenced as example of well-designed pop bumper integration with shot threads and orbits |
| Medieval Madness | game | Referenced as example of interesting pop bumper gameplay (building jet scores) |
| Pulp Fiction | game | Recent release Don hesitated on due to demand uncertainty; sold out despite his caution |
| Pinside | organization | Pinball marketplace and community forum; used as source for secondary market pricing data |
| Fort Myers, Florida | event | Location of distributor receiving first Foo Fighters LE shipment on Wednesday per Facebook posts |
| Don Knotts | person | Actor/comedian whose voice impression is used for Punny Factory call-outs; Don criticizes the impression quality and repetitiveness |
| Toontown | IP | Referenced as alternative theme direction for cartoon factory game (e.g., 'Toontown Factory Explosion Adventure') |
| Splatoon | IP | Referenced as example Nintendo IP that could elevate a cartoon factory concept with licensing and theme coherence |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Punny Factory game design and layout critique, Pricing strategy for boutique/startup pinball manufacturers, Product launch and marketing execution, Stern Pinball's recent releases and code quality, Foo Fighters LE shipping timeline and secondary market pricing
- **Secondary:** Industry precedents and launch strategies (Spooky, America's Most Haunted), Professional stream production standards vs. amateur execution, Secondary market investment dynamics and resale value, Game theme selection and narrative coherence
- **Mentioned:** Collector vs. operator expectations for pinball machines

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.25) — Don expresses sharp criticism and frustration with Punny Factory's execution, theme, and pricing, but tempers it with genuine desire to help the company succeed and acknowledged respect for their cabinet build quality. His tone toward Stern is enthusiastically positive. Overall sentiment is negative toward Punny Factory, positive toward Stern, and mixed/hopeful toward Pinball Adventures' future.

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** Punny Factory criticized for limited playfield interactivity: 17 stand-up targets, only two main mechanisms (factory and Varia target), minimal ramps, no visible modes beyond multiball, and unclear shot progression (confidence: high) — Don's detailed layout analysis from watching the stream; comparison to stand-up target density and shot options in recent Stern releases
- **[design_philosophy]** Don argues pun-factory theme lacks intuitive appeal and thematic justification; suggests alternative cartoon factory themes with clearer IP tie-ins (Toontown, Splatoon) would better justify development cost and long production cycle (confidence: high) — Don's extended critique of theme selection and counterfactual theme suggestions; assertion that theme choice compounds 18–24-month development opportunity cost
- **[product_strategy]** Punny Factory priced at $6,500–$7,000 (Stern Pro tier) despite layout comparable to homebrew; Don argues boutique startup should either reduce price, bundle next-game discount, or add mechanical features to justify parity with established manufacturers (confidence: high) — Don's repeated price-to-content critique; proposal for $1,500 discount on second game as early-adopter incentive; comparison to Stern Pro feature density
- **[content_signal]** Punny Factory's launch stream criticized for poor narration, awkward camera work, unclear presenter roles, muffled audio, and lack of educational commentary; contrasted unfavorably with industry standards (Jack Danger's Galactic Tank Force stream) (confidence: high) — Don's detailed critique of stream production; comparison to professional streaming precedent; description of stream as resembling 'leaked webcam footage'
- **[market_signal]** Foo Fighters LE selling at $15K–$17K on Pinside secondary market despite $12,999 MSRP; Don interprets as strong sell-out signal and positive investment indicator for early buyers (confidence: high) — Don observes single NIB listing at $14,999 and dealer asking $16,999; compares unfavorably to Bond 60th LE resale value (~$15K); estimates expression lights add $550–$700 value
- **[product_launch]** Foo Fighters LE shipments to distributors beginning mid-episode (Wednesday, two days from air date); Premiums expected to follow imminently based on supply chain logic (confidence: high) — Don cites Facebook posts from distributors confirming arrival dates starting Wednesday; infers Premium production imminent based on LE distribution pattern
- **[code_update]** Lyman Sheets' code on Elvira House of Horrors praised for synchronized light shows, music, and integrated mode progression; Don describes this as exemplar of code-driven gameplay depth that elevates mechanical novelty (confidence: high) — Don's personal gameplay experience finishing two modes, entering House Party multiball, and noting continued discovery at 250M+ points; explicit attribution to Lyman Sheets
- **[sentiment_shift]** Don's enthusiasm for Stern Pinball rising ('turning into such a Stern fanboy'), citing recent Pro/Premium release quality; contrasts sharply with newcomer Pinball Adventures' execution (confidence: high) — Don's self-aware acknowledgment of Stern favoritism; inventory of recent acquisitions (Star Wars, Elvira, Godzilla, Rush); enthusiastic gameplay description
- **[community_signal]** Punny Factory represents high-risk early-adopter purchase from untested manufacturer at premium price point; Don notes secondary market depreciation risk (estimating $3,800–$4,400 resale vs. $6,500 MSRP) and suggests early buyers could face 30–40% losses (confidence: high) — Don's secondary market price prediction based on early Stern release depreciation; explicit warning to early buyers; comparison to Pulp Fiction's sold-out success
- **[business_signal]** Pinball Adventures' Punny Factory positioned as introductory product for new manufacturer; compared unfavorably to Spooky Pinball's America's Most Haunted (150 units, limited goodwill builder) as a model launch strategy; Don suggests bundle incentive or next-game discount would improve risk profile for early buyers (confidence: high) — Don's explicit comparison to Spooky precedent; proposal for $1,500 early-adopter discount on next game; note that Punny Factory run is 110–120 units
- **[design_innovation]** Punny Factory features minimal mechanical innovation: factory mechanism positioned far back (compared unfavorably to Galactic Tank Force tank placement), single Varia target, no ramps or wire forms, pop bumpers isolated behind factory obstacle with unclear strategic purpose (confidence: high) — Don's detailed mechanical critique; specific comparisons to Rush, Iron Maiden, and Medieval Madness as exemplars of integrated pop bumper design
- **[regulatory_signal]** Don suggests licensing deals with IP holders (Nintendo Splatoon, Cartoon Network Toontown-type properties) could have added value and justification for development cost; pun-factory as original IP lacks inherent thematic pull (confidence: medium) — Don's counterfactual licensing suggestions; note that Stern's recent music pins (Rush, Foo Fighters) leverage major IP to justify premium pricing

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## Transcript

 Who's fired up? I'm fired up tonight. I want to talk about something. Start the music. Don's Pinball Podcast coming to you live. I had to do a show tonight because I am fired up after watching that Honey Factory stream. I feel personally attacked. I'm going to get into why and the whys and hows and what have yous of why exactly that is. Here coming up in a minute. I'm just going to fume for a bit. I'm going to try to calm myself down, organize my thoughts, and wait for the drop. I need a drink or something. Here we go. Let me get this out of the way first. I'm doing this from a position of trying to be helpful. I want to be positive. I want to help these people out. But my God, watching that stream today, I felt like they were just sticking ice picks in my eyes. Man, what's going on? Ice picks in my eyes. Ice picks in my ears. You're breaking my heart, Puny Factory. And here's the reason why. Okay, this game, looking at it, watching the stream now, if it was a homebrew, I'd be like, all right, it's a pretty good homebrew. You know, maybe I'd play it. Maybe I'd play all three balls. Maybe I'd play two and walk away bored. I don't know. But because they are asking for $6,500 to $7,000, putting it directly on the par of a Stern Pro, I feel like they're just asking too much from me. They're asking too much. They need to get some pushback here. I'm going to try to give them some constructive criticism, as constructive as I can be, because I want them to do well. I want there to be more competition in the marketplace. I think that benefits all of us that don't own pinball companies. I mean, if there's a dark horse company out there making good product, it's going to be a counterbalance to Stern just dominating the entire market, to J.J.P. dominating their space. It'll keep Spooky on their toes. It inspires competition, which brings out the best in the people that are out there. and I'm going to break this game down from what I've been seeing. All right, I watched the stream. I watched an hour of the stream today. It's disappointing is what it is because I think there's potential here and it's being wasted and it doesn't have to be. It does not have to be this way. Let's start with the theme, Punny Factory. This is a make-believe factory that makes puns, that makes cartoon characters that are puns. It's half of a lime with a lantern. Get it? He's called Lamplight or Limelight. fantastic okay where did this where did this theme come from you know besides a dumpster nobody is clamoring for this okay you know you would look at the theme of the game and the layout and it looks like a factory that you're in like a make-believe kind of you know kitsy factory and things can be off the wall off the wall is okay junkyard is off the wall that's a game that's bizarre but it's loaded with mechanisms and it's done in a fun way that's interesting which is not what we have here. Okay, so you want to make a factory with cartoon characters. So make that. Make Toontown Factory Explosion Adventure. You know, the factory on the dark side of Toontown, and they're manufacturing fireworks, and some evil cartoon got in there, and things are blowing up, and there's crates popping off, and there's balls locking in places. And then you get your cartoon artist, you know, a fiver or something, to draw up 20 different original cartoon characters. Here's a dog character, here's a rabbit character, here's a carrot character, and here's a wacky cop, right? You know, so you get 20 characters, you put them in this factory, and you play around with it. What is the deal with the puns? That doesn't make any dang sense. I don't have any connection to that. If this was Toontown Funhouse Factory Adventure, I'd be interested from the jump, regardless of what the layout and everything looks like. But Punny Factory, okay, I'll set this straight real quick. To make a game like this, even if the biggest companies, it's an 18-month to 24-month process, from inception to testing to Whitewood to getting the artists where they need to be and then licensing and all that, right? And so it's a long path to go down. It's a long path to go down if you're committed to a bad idea to begin with. So if you're going to go down this path, people, start with a freaking map, you know? Ask some people for directions. Hey, we're going to go down the Puny Factory path. What do you think? I don't think that's a very good idea. I think Toontown Factory Blast Battle would be a much better place to go. Oh, hey, thank you. Hey, we're making this kind of battlefield here with cartoon characters. Can we partner with Nintendo and make a Splatoon game or something? Maybe we'll raise our price $500 to cover some licensing, and there we go. My God. I've got so many. I've got too many ideas coming out. They're like the Puny Factory exploded in my brain, and I've got lamp lights coming out of my nose. So with the theme, I think they could have. you came up with five different thumbnails of a cartoon factory to blow up, and this would be like choice number four at best. Moving on to the layout. Okay, 17 stand-up targets is not fun to me. Okay, guys, this layout is bordered on either side by about 15 stand-up targets, and then there are a few that you can shoot straight on. Those are stand-up targets. They're not the drop targets. Not the targets like a five bank of targets that can drop and then reset, or hey, maybe they drop and there's something interesting to hit on the other side of that. I was watching this gameplay and I didn't see it go into any modes except for a multiball. Now, benefit of the doubt, code could be early. I don't know how because this game is supposedly being in production for four years, but there should be some modes or something you can do. I was watching this stream, watching the layout, and I'd see the player, whoever it was at the time, cradle up a ball. And I'm thinking, okay, if I was in that position, right, I'd have the ball cradled. I'd be looking for a shot to shoot, and I couldn't really find anything. There's only two real mechanisms to speak of within the game. The little factory itself, which is kind of set farther back than the Galactic Galaxy Tank Force, Galactic Battle Space Tank. So, I mean, that's okay. And then the other thing is this little Varia target off to the left that didn't seem to really do much. Again, maybe something's waiting to be coded later. But, like, that's it. You hit those two things, and then what, right? Where are the ramps? Can I get a ramp Can I get a wire form Can I get something to shoot There an orbit but when I was watching the stream it didn even orbit there two gates up there at the top that stop it and then it rolls over those in-lane targets and can we talk about those two okay this is a classic theme or the scheme or uh a a form of construction within pinball right you got the three targets up top you roll through those lanes you can control which ones are lit with the flippers you light them all and you get a multiplier, right? So what happens? You light two lights, and you go and you get that third one, and then what happens? They strobe to let you know, like, hey, you were awarded a prize, and then they go blank. These, and again, code can fix this, but when I saw them all light up, they just go out, and that's it. And then, you know, the little four-inch LCD screen in the back plays a little multiplier. You know, like, so what am I shooting at here? Let's talk about the factory mix. So supposedly there's 50 of these pun cartoon creepy demon characters in the game. And when you shoot into the factory, which is guarded by a drop target, there's a Vuck in there. And that Vuck shoots up, throws the ball through that little clear plexiglass toilet paper roll. And then it goes down this, you know, winding Lombard Street kind of motif. And then back to the in lane. And like that's it as far as somewhere you can shoot the ball where it does something interesting. The Varia target didn't look great to me. There's a bank of pop bumpers, but they're sitting behind the factory. So there's no way to really get in there unless you try to shoot this half orbit and have it drain down through the lanes. Or you hook it around off one of the 17 stand-up targets. Maybe that's what they're for. Pop bumpers are fun. I like pop bumpers in pinball. They remind me of pinball. I like that. But do something interesting with them. In this case, they're sitting there like Galactic Tank Force sitting behind the tank where they're not really approachable or interactive or really serve a point. If you look at games like Iron Maiden, look at games like Rush. These pop bumpers are all cloistered off to the side, and there's actually a path you can thread the needle through these things to hit an orbit, and it feels good when you do that. You can throw it up into the pops, and it pops around in there to kind of build up jet scores or something, like with Medieval Madness. These, I didn't see any of that. And again, it could be rescued with code, but it's been years already here, guys. So what is there interesting to shoot in this game? I couldn't find anything. I don't want to just sit and hit stand-up targets all day, And especially if I fill up the stand-up targets, give me something. Give me some kind of payoff. Go into a mode. Go into like, you know, punny free-for-all where these things are running all over the place. Or like a projector comes on and then light up on the play field. Give me something. You know, I can't complain too much about the lights. The lights were good. I mean, somebody had, you know, kind of orchestrated a package with, you know, some kind of, you know, program to go ahead and put like an interesting enough light show. I think the lights themselves are fine. but when it comes to the music can i get to the sounds and call outs what is up with the don knots impersonator i feel like i'm in mayberry as a character in a cast of characters he'd be kind of fun right i'm thinking like diner i'm thinking like taxi uh you know where there's all these uh different caricatures of real people that would come out like that would be interesting elvira house of horrors does this fantastic when there's five different floating heads that you can get out of the deadhead crypt and each one is a kitsy kind of send up of some kind of characteristic you know whether it's the boston guy or the weird mummy or the old lady you know so that would fit in there but the whole game don not screaming to me whoa we got to get these ponies back to the farm or whatever you know um that was grating the the standby music when a new player is coming up and it just sits there and just like like that's it over and over my god i was going crazy so the layout needs some help i mean it's you know where that very is back there next to the orbit, just put a plastic ramp. And you don't have to spend a lot of engineering costs. Go buy a rack of the plastic ramps from Elvira. Throw one of those things in there. At least give me something interesting that I can shoot. And if I could get a wire form, that would be fantastic. If you're going to ask for $6,500, I just played Foo Fighters Pro on location about an hour ago. There's ramps and locations and pathways galore in there. Look at that and pick two things and put them in your game and then ask for $6,500. But if you're going to ask for $6,500 for 17 stand-up targets, pop bumpers that don't make sense, and an orbit that I can't orbit while Don Knotts is screaming at me, and I've got to sit there with the brr-brr-brr-brr-brr. Come on, bro. Bruh. Focus group, man. You know, people are out there. People want to help. Have me sign an NDA. I'll come in there, and I'll give you my support, man. You know, you're launching a brand-new company. Like, all eyes are on this, right? And there's drawing comparisons with Spooky Pinball. America's Most Haunted was a game that was built, only 150 of them, just to get them out there. And they curried goodwill, and they sold those games, and they used the profits from those games to make their next games. And I know that that's where these guys are going. I know that the introductory price for a professional-made pinball machine is right around $6,000, but come on, bro. You've got to do the work here. Throw a couple of ramps in there or something. Now, let's talk about a little bit of marketing, something I think that would have made this a lot more palatable. They're making 110 of these. These are going to be bought by people that are going out and risking buying a brand new game from an untested company. How about if you're going to charge $6,500 for a game from a company that hasn't really put anything out there yet, how about you say, look, you go ahead and trust us, you get this game. Our next game is right around the corner. We're going to take the funds from the sales and the proceeds from this to fund the building of that, and we're going to have more in it. And a way to thank you for being our early supporters, we're going to give you $1,500 off the cost of our next game. So at least you don't feel like it's lost money, right? Okay, let's say they sell 50 pony factories. Okay, four months later, these things are showing up on Pinside. How much do you think they're going to go for? They're not going to go for $6,500. You could get a new one for that. These are going to be priced at $3,800 to $4,400. I mean, all day, right? So your customers, the ones that are going to be funding the early parts of your company, are going to be losing money right off the jump Am I crazy Am I odd Am I off base I mean I had trouble reading the room with Pulp Fiction L Lee You know I didn see how much demand was really there for that. I wanted to be a little cautious and play it first because it was a game, you know, that I love the theme, okay, and the call-out seemed great, but I wanted to see some gameplay. I wanted to maybe play it first. Okay, but they sold out. They sold out. Good job. These, I don't think, have sold out. I'm doing this because I want to help these guys out, you know, bro. So can we talk about the art for a second? The art on the play field, I don't hate it. It's fine. It's a cartoon factory that is perfectly serviceable. The back glass though, I hate looking at it. I don't like that. You know, I don't know if this, the artist may be a great person. I don't know if they've done other work or anything, but it looks, I don't want to look at it. You know, build a factory and throw three of your main puns on there and like stylized format you know like angry birds or something you know but you got this like cartoon guy getting kicked out on his butt you got don not screaming at me well make an ass out of yourself or what i kept hearing that over and over what is going on with this why are you giving me a little six inch screen you know screens are cheap now you're charging full price at least go with the budget screens that stern's using you know throw that in there um you know i wasn't able to hear the sound in person maybe they invested in the speakers that'd be fantastic i will give them credit where it is due i think their cabinet looks great i i don't even hate the idea of the engraved version the 10 units they're building with their you know uh belarusian birch or whatever where it looks like it's embossed from the outside i mean that's cool that's variety they're only asking 500 for that that's not an insult but at the entry price there's got to be something more to this game am i missing something you guys the stream the stream guys you're unveiling the game to the world man don't flub the stream i'm watching this and i'm watching these guys play i have no idea who they are there's some guy in the background with a high viz jacket on is he there to collect the garbage who's this guy is he the designer of the game did he do the music did he do the call outs did he design the coin slots who are these people nobody's narrating like hey what's up thanks for coming to the stream. We're Pinball Adventures. This is our first game of many. We're very excited. Here is Puny Factory. We're going to show it to you. Here's the layouts. Here's the shots. We're going to start. Here's the ball. We shoot it. It goes up here. There's a skill shot here. There's a skill shot here. Oh, look, Tony got the second skill shot. Fantastic. Watch out for that drain. All right, now what he wants to do is hit five of these stand-up targets on the left, and we're going to start the first mode, and here we go into it. Tell me what I'm watching. you know they didn't have a microphone set up i hear conversations in the background or at least the people talking are being picked up from a microphone that sounds like it's in the other room i don't know what's happening it's like i'm watching you know like a you know leaked webcam footage that i'm not supposed to see like some ip cam got hacked and i'm watching these guys kind of you know play around by themselves in this warehouse you know throw up a banner behind there you know get something going uh you know jack danger is fantastic at doing this you know i mean look at the galactic tank force stream we could hear what was going on we could see every time there was a ball trap we could see every time they had to pull the glass off and reset the game you know but we were able to participate in it we could hear the sound hear the music um you know you don't have to be at jack danger level i mean i get it you guys are doing this on your own then that's fantastic and to be commended but please bro you know like like you know either get someone there that can narrate and let me know what i'm freaking looking at or you know say you This is not our area of specialty. This is not where our expertise is. And then look around for people. I'll come up there and narrate the dang thing if you want. That's fine. I want to play this game. I want to play all the new games. But what I'm not enticed to do is based off of what I've seen to buy this game. Because I don't think there's much in it. I think I'm going to be bored with it after 45 minutes. I don't think for launching a new company, this was the project to put forward. Or at least not at this price point. Or at least not without doing like a bundle and say, okay, it's $6,500 for this, but you can get our next game for $4,500. It's going to be even more loaded. You're going to love it or something. Give me something, you guys. Good cabinet. I like that they're painting the whole inside of the cabinet. I think it's completely unnecessary, but I don't hate it. That's fine. I like that the art blades go all the way to the bottom of the cabinet. Again, completely not needed. But yeah, kind of cool. I like that idea that I'm getting something special. I like what they've done with the wheels and the rails from what I've seen from the video I'd like to see them if they would you know flip the camera around say okay we're gonna take the glass off gonna take the Lock bar off. Let me show you how this mechanism works. Let me show you how easy it is to bring this Table in and out, you know lift and drop in the play field You know show me what the underside of the play field looks like tell me what kind of maintenance things I'm gonna have to do That was none of that man. Come on punny factory, you know, you put out the the launch trailers and everything and all right That's fine. You know, I'm seeing some gameplay but like brother, you know Am I wrong? Did I miss all of this? Has all this been revealed years ago and I just wasn't in the hobby deep enough to see it at that point? But I want people to do well and succeed. But there's just a couple little changes here. And this launch, I think, would have been much more successful. Maybe they're going to sell it all 120. It doesn't matter what the heck I have to say. I would still like to go play this game on location. I think the lights are good. The cabinet appears to be built well. But why, though? Why? Why would you go down the road? as hard as it is to launch a pinball company. And this is what you're bringing out. You know, am I misreading the room and 17 standup targets is a pinball adventure? Is that a pinball adventure? I'm going to pause for dramatic effect. So guys, again, I don't know if my opinion is worth anything, but if you want some advice, I'm happy to give it. I honestly want you guys to do well. I want you to counterbalance some of the big guys. I want you to be a dark horse so we can all root for and believe in. And I'm just sitting there like not seeing it with this game. Moving on, a couple of other things I want to cover today. Stern Pinball. Let's get to them. I'm turning into such a Stern fanboy, man. I've got Star Wars and Elvira House of Horrors and Godzilla and Rush. And I just loving them man I had the best game I ever had on Elvira House of Horrors yesterday You know I not the world best pinball player but I was able to finish two modes and then get into House Party and then get into Gappa Angry And all of a sudden, I'm understanding this is the depth of the code that people have been talking about. This is the magic of that Lyman Sheets code. This is what elevates that game from just being a simple fan layout to integrated with deep code. That's fun. The light shows that were coming on, the music, it all worked together. and I've dug through my cabinet and I'm now bringing out some leg bolts to bolt Elvira to the ground because that was such a fantastic experience. I only got about 250 million points, guys, and people are in the billy club in this game. So there's even more for me to discover, but I'm digging this game, man. I just had the greatest time. So I'm going to stern fanboy it up, if you don't mind. Now, on the line, I speculated on the last show that the Ellies were on the line, but then the Premiers would also be around the corner. Well, Ellies are being delivered and I'm seeing posts now on the Foo Fighters pages on Facebook that people have been contacted by the distros and not only have paid for their games, but they have dates that these games are arriving at distributors and that date is starting in two days, on Wednesday. The first person supposed to get the distributor said they'll be receiving the game on Wednesday and then shipping out to customers. So premiums have to be on the line. They have to be in boxes. They have to be on trucks right now in order to be delivered. And I think this was a distributor down in Fort Myers, Florida, which is a fair bit away of Chicago. I'm fired up tonight. Can you tell? God, I must be speaking like a mile a minute. I sound like a manic nut, but I'm sorry. The punny factory did it to me. I'm going to have to check myself into the punny farm. LEs are on delivery right now. The premiums sound like they're being delivered and made right now. I wonder if there was like a pause or an issue with LEs or maybe their first allotments are done and maybe they didn't sell out but they've sold through. I will have to comment on that next because I noticed that there is a Stern LE for sale on Pinside on the marketplace for $14,999. 15K, 15 racks to the young ones to get yourself one of these Stern LEs. And the reason for that is probably because they did sell out. You know, not just sold through, but sold out and sold TF out. I mean, are you feeling me? I've been able to play the Pro a few times, and this thing is madness. So this is a good game. the limited edition of this version just like rush comes with the expression light kit and we still today do not have a date for either the rush lights although we know that they're coming but the foo fighter lights when are they coming out are the lights what's holding up the le production because the premiums don't ship with the lights the le's do maybe that was the issue maybe they need to get caught up with the light kits you know given that they need to send these out for the rush games they need to send these out with the le's i think they would give the priority to the le's so maybe that is the reason for the pause that is purely speculation i have no insider information but i do have insider connected and it is telling me that this game will be out soon in my living room i hope so the cost for the le now i have done some speculation because i like to do math i like to look at the matrices of the different trim levels for these games and see what is a good buy because a good buy with an le like a stranger things or something or Tron or Star Trek is a lot different than getting the Bond LE or the Mandalorian LE where it's lost a little bit of value, you feel me? So it looks like this was a strong buy if you got in on LE. Now, it was $12,999, so $13K, highest that LE has been from Stern and probably not going to be going down given that they're selling out, right? But because this is a music pin, you get the expression lights. The expression lights for Led Zeppelin were like $350. They're $499 for Rush. They're probably going to be $550 to $599 for Foo Fighters when they come out. If that, maybe they'll go a full $700. A full $700. So you've got that built-in price. And then Shaker Motor and VisiGlass, Art Blades, and all that business. So it still would have been cheaper to put together a premium with the upgrades. But not by that much now, guys. Probably only about $1,500. And if you went in at $13,000 and got yourself a Foo Fighters and you're unboxing it in your house, it looks like you could list one new in box for $15,000 on Pinside right now and be on par with what's already there. And there's only one listed. It's not like there's 10 games listed and that's the highest priced one. There's one. So time will tell where this price is going to hold. But I would feel fairly confident if I went in on an LE that I'm going to hold some value and probably make some. So that was a good buy. congratulations to you guys you put yourself out there and you got a game that looks like in the market is worth more than what you paid for and that always makes you feel good especially when you're shelling out so much money for these things to begin with i can't believe it now uh i have also seen word um and you know who knows if they'll actually get this but i saw either a distributor or a dealer that said i do have a foo fighters limited edition and market rate it's going to go for $16,999. $17,000. $17,000. $2,000 more than you can get a Bond 60th on resale for. Now, what's going on, family? Now, probably wouldn't get that price, but would he get $15,500? Would he get $16,000? I think that's reasonable. So if you're sitting on a Foo Fighters LE, consider strongly. Do you want to flip that and then go ahead and get a premium for half price with your proceeds? I think you could do it, but you won't have the lights and you won't have me drooling over your game with the lights. I do like the powder-coated armor. I like that they put the Foo Fighters logo, at least the letters, in the side. I wish it was sculpted uniquely, though, like Rush was, like the Elvira higher trim levels. But it is what it is. I need to calm down, man. I felt personally attacked by that stream, and I had to go and put my information out there. Do you have a problem with what I said? Please let me know. DonSpinballPodcast at gmail.com. Follow me on the Facebook page. check into one of my live streams even if you do if you want to i want to hear the information i want pinball adventures to do well i want them to take my advice in the spirit with which it is given i want them to invite me over there and let me help them out or beat me with baseball bats whatever they do in canada later

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: d3909b19-2014-47e9-875d-52dabe783298*