# Bonus show for #158

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-11-18  
**Duration:** 18m 16s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-show-for-116215634

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## Analysis

Don discusses American Pinball troubled situation following a Spirit meme he created that allegedly prompted legal threats, leading him to boycott coverage until their sales director reached out. He visited their factory pre-launch of Barry O's Barbecue Challenge, learned about cancelled projects (Yukon Yeti, Food Truck, Cuphead, Masters of the Universe license), and speculates the company has cash flow problems preventing parts orders. He also teases upcoming Spooky Pinball announcements and his coverage of IAAPA and Freeplay Florida events.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] American Pinball sent legal threats to Don over a Spirit meme about their rumored sale in October 2023 — _Don directly stated he received texts warning him about 'tortuous interference of a business' and was urged not to cover American Pinball_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball cancelled or shelved Yukon Yeti due to expensive custom plastic ramps and six-figure investment in new boards — _Don speculated about decision-making: 'I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made'_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball's Signature Edition of Barry O's Barbecue Challenge did not sell out — _Don: 'I honestly think they did... Um so what do they do now'_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball has cash flow problems preventing parts orders for unreleased games including Cuphead — _Don speculates: 'If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released'_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball may announce a new game around late November before or after Thanksgiving — _Don teasing Bug at Expo about release timing; Bug's response 'better move it up' suggests imminent announcement_
- [LOW] American Pinball was pursuing a Masters of the Universe license but lacked progress to show the licensor when licensing fees were due — _Don: 'they had a license like it may have been masters of the university man and it was time for them to pay the licensor their deposit'_
- [HIGH] Don cancelled plans to cover American Pinball due to the legal threats but reconciled after their new sales director invited him to the factory — _Don: 'I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all' but then 'I get a call from their new sales director'_

### Notable Quotes

> "Get out of here with that. Get out of here with that. So I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all. If they're going to be sending me legal threats, that's not cool, man."
> — **Don**, early segment
> _Explains his initial decision to boycott American Pinball coverage over perceived legal intimidation_

> "I saw pictures of the Whitewood of Food Truck. It looks so much better than the barbecue. It looked fun. It looked fun. It was an upper playfield that had three stand-up targets that looked like a soda fountain."
> — **Don**, mid segment
> _Describes a cancelled American Pinball game with innovative playfield design that was scrapped in favor of Barrio's Barbecue Challenge_

> "I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made and all that. They had just laid down six figures to come up with these new boards and everything."
> — **Don**, mid segment
> _Speculates on why expensive projects like Yukon Yeti were cancelled due to manufacturing costs and capital constraints_

> "I don't know what the decision behind releasing Barry O's Barbecue Challenge challenge was. And I think that was the thinking. I think they were looking at the bill of materials... Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000 for the top end one."
> — **Don**, mid segment
> _Explains pricing strategy and market saturation concerns driving game selection decisions_

> "If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released. I hate to say it, but that also makes the most sense."
> — **Don**, late segment
> _Directly suggests American Pinball has cash flow problems preventing production commitment for games like Cuphead_

> "He's working on it nearly two years now and like wants to show it, but needs the money. You gotta get the parts, man."
> — **Don**, late segment
> _References a designer (implied to be working on Cuphead) unable to proceed without capital for parts procurement_

> "I think we're going to know more soon. And it might be soon like this next week. So if they're releasing in November, I kind of think it would happen. Either it would have to be the week before Thanksgiving or the week after."
> — **Don**, spooky segment
> _Predicts Spooky Pinball announcement timing in narrow window before/after Thanksgiving_

> "Even if I did have something to tell you, like a little tease or something, I wouldn't be able to tell you what the next thing is. And you'd be just as heartbroken, like, I'm going to want to know more."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, spooky segment
> _Confirms Spooky has news to announce but is under embargo; teases imminent reveal_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast, podcast personality covering industry news and personal pinball projects |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball machine manufacturer; subject of recent business troubles, cancelled projects, and legal dispute with Don |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer with upcoming game announcement expected around November/Thanksgiving |
| Bug | person | Representative from Spooky Pinball; teased by Don about game release timing at Expo |
| David Fix | person | American Pinball employee who gave Don factory tours; described as gracious and hospitable |
| Barry O's Barbecue Challenge | game | American Pinball's recently released game; launched about a week after Don's factory visit in March; signature edition did not sell out |
| Yukon Yeti | game | American Pinball cancelled/shelved project featuring custom plastic ramps; requires six-figure board investment |
| Food Truck | game | American Pinball cancelled project with innovative upper playfield featuring soda fountain targets and fry basket ball lock; whitewood shown to Don |
| Cuphead | game | American Pinball game in development for nearly two years; designer unable to proceed due to lack of capital for parts; unreleased with uncertain production date |
| Masters of the Universe | product | American Pinball license referenced; licensing fees came due but company lacked progress to show licensor |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | Recent release mentioned as market reference; $16,000 units not moving, affecting American Pinball's pricing strategy |
| IAAPA | event | Industry event where Don will attend Thursday-Friday; occurring same weekend as another show at Universal |
| Freeplay Florida | event | Event Don plans to attend Friday night and Saturday after IAAPA; accepted his media application |
| Zelda | product | Don's personal homebrew/custom pinball project currently in suspended development; he plans to resume work on grounding wires |
| [name withheld pending review] | company | Retail chain referenced in meme Don created about American Pinball's rumored sale in October 2023 |

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** American Pinball appears to have cash flow problems preventing parts procurement for unreleased games, suggesting capital constraints affecting production capacity (confidence: medium) — Don's speculation: 'If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released' regarding Cuphead and other games
- **[industry_signal]** American Pinball allegedly sent legal threats to Don over a meme, creating relationship tension that Don resolved through factory visit (confidence: high) — Don received texts warning about 'tortious interference of a business' and decided to boycott coverage until sales director initiated reconciliation
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball cancelled or shelved multiple significant projects: Yukon Yeti, Food Truck, Cuphead, and Masters of the Universe license due to cost and cash constraints (confidence: medium) — Don's factory visit revealed multiple whitewood projects scrapped; licensing fees came due but company lacked progress to show licensor
- **[market_signal]** High-priced pinball machines ($12,000-$16,000) are not moving well, affecting American Pinball's strategy to release lower-cost alternatives like Barrio's Barbecue Challenge (confidence: medium) — Don: 'Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000'
- **[rumor_hype]** Spooky Pinball has new game announcement imminent, likely before or after Thanksgiving 2024, teased through Bug's response to Don at Expo (confidence: medium) — Bug told Don to move up release date from 'day after Christmas' and later stated 'Even if I did have something to tell you... I wouldn't be able to tell you' implying embargo on imminent announcement
- **[product_strategy]** American Pinball switched from expensive custom-built games (Yukon Yeti, Food Truck) to simpler, lower-cost design (Barrio's Barbecue Challenge) to manage manufacturing expenses (confidence: medium) — Don's analysis of bill of materials and six-figure board investment deterring continued custom ramp development
- **[machine_intel]** Multiple American Pinball games in various states: Food Truck had playable whitewood, Cuphead in multi-year development, Yukon Yeti cancelled, Masters of the Universe license status uncertain (confidence: medium) — Don's first-hand factory visit and direct observation of prototype materials
- **[content_signal]** Don securing media credentials for IAAPA and Freeplay Florida events; plans cross-platform coverage with other podcasting personalities (confidence: high) — Don: 'I just felt out there their media application and I didn't expect to hear anything and then pretty pretty short order I got an email back saying like we'd love to have you here'
- **[community_signal]** Don's reconciliation with American Pinball after legal dispute represents recovery of industry relationship; Dave Fix described as consistently gracious and supportive (confidence: high) — Don's willingness to visit factory after initial boycott; positive remarks about Dave Fix's hospitality and food
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball's Signature Edition of Barrio's Barbecue Challenge did not sell out, indicating limited market demand for premium tier (confidence: medium) — Don: 'I honestly think they did... Um so what do they do now' when asked if signature editions sold out

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## Transcript

Pinball, pinball ultradeck, pinball💛 했. Out penhander grade yay This week in Pinball, we have some jams a little bit here with Kool and the gang as we go depth into more behind the scenes stuff. I just finished recording episode 148. Now this episode started with a discussion about American Pinball and what in the ever-loving heck is happening over there. I'm caught. I'm torn. Because I'm friends with these guys, right? So they had reached out to me. You know, there was a rumor that Ametron was being sold and everything was going belly up or American Pinball was being sold. The case of the pinball. It was October last year. It was October last year when that happened. And me, you know, just having right place, right time. Decided to make a meme commemorating all the talk online about America Pinball and their impending sale. So I found online on Google Maps, Google image search a picture of their factory and then I just, you know, photoshopped a Spirit pinball, Spirit pinball, Spirit Halloween banner out in front of it, you know. Just because like that was a meme like a year ago, right? We were all doing spirit Halloween memes. You know, like, if some business wasn't doing well, you would make a joke by putting a spirit Halloween thing up there. You know, people were complaining about, you know, Disneyland or something not doing that, something they liked, so they just like found some image, made a grayscale, and then put a spirit Halloween there, like it's over, right? It was a meme. It was very much 2003. 2023. So then I get people texting me like, Don, you should look up torturous interference of a business or something, like I stepped on someone's toes or something making an internet meme. Get out of here with that. Get out of here with that. So I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all. If they're going to be sending me legal threats, that's not cool, man. It's not cool, it's not fun, it's not helpful. And it kind of goes against everything that I am here, which is, you know, fun, helpful, and I try to be cool. So I wrote them off. And then I get a call from their new sales director. Hey Don, we wanna connect man, why don't you come by the factory? And I'm like, oh my god, are they gonna kidnap me? What's going on? But I threw caution to the wind, headed on down there, and they were ready to launch a new game, and that game was Barrio's Barbecue Challenge. And this is about a week before the reveal. So this was March, so all this kind of bled over from October into March. So I go in there and I'm like, I was hearing the rumors that they had a Barrio game, I thought it was Food Truck. By the way, I saw pictures of the Whitewood of Food Truck. It looks so much better than the barbecue. It looked fun. It looked fun. It was an upper playfield that had three, um, three stand-up targets that looked like a soda fountain. So as you would hit those, you would like make different drinks and things. Kinda fun. Like a throwback to diner, you know? You get up at the upper playfield and you gotta make that drink or whatever. It had a fry basket, like a deep fryer basket that would hold two balls as a physical ball lock and then I'm assuming they would dump out of there. So fun. So fun. This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic Brian Bowen, Dave Anderson belleondond Strangezenop interject.mickeweight, jajennap impatpipe, undf convictions énorma, khaliacon. benim husn't I want to hand it Here we are Sergeant can zen and Charlie Ah, on the other hand I think so. So what is the real purpose of low-level ball nickname packages? The bottom line there is we can Initially use them to and understand Everyone in the blog will understand the nature of ball nicknames I text him You know if I with a friend or something that hasn been there we swing by the factory You know Dave Fix has always been gracious walked me around and stuff even after hours when everybody goes home You know so like the guy been cool to me right He bought me food which makes you cool like for life for me man So like I don want them to fail or nothing But I don know what the decision behind releasing This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Terminate It'll gets released in Berrio's BBQ challenge. And I think that was the thinking. I think that was the thinking. I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made and all that. They had just laid down six figures to come up with these new boards and everything. And so then it would probably be a big ask to be like, all right, we want to, you know, grant the photo. Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000 for the top end one. This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic Huge Logitech freezer Shift pain andiscuous transliteregonate Octaneunov Housecares. Michal MORA to sell out at near So here all this revenue we going to get and then we going to run into this will be our next project for the next year And then you show back up and it like well that must have been an uncomfortable meeting Must have been an uncomfortable meeting Hey let do that you know third quarter follow up How are those signature editions going Did they sell out Well well I don know I don think they did I honestly think they did Um so what do they do now Now they like okay well you know what I had heard is they had a license like it may have been masters of the university man and it was time for them to pay the licensor their deposit or their licensing fee or something so they could get to work and get final approval And when they went over to get the money the money holder said Well what do you got to show us And I guess what they had to show or they didn have much to show This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, translite proportering panel in backbox that is backlit during playelectronic Game of Thrones unint This Week in Pinball, Blackwater, Knapparcade, Pinballbedingt And I was like, gosh, what's the guy's name? The Sonic kid. I keep forgetting his name whenever I'm recording. But like, this is like his big game. He's working on it nearly two years now and like wants to show it, but needs the money. You gotta get the parts, man. Have they not ordered the parts yet? If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released. I hate to say it, but that also makes the most sense. It makes the most sense to me that Cuphead's parts are not available yet, so they can't commit to a date to launch this thing because thing. mandor hanging subtree Unh intéressant Bring Part Cary Hardy cancellium C유 B avec l'oeilmail Isaac Normal growth Pay languages Illust Alum You know, kick off polycade, kick some new, you know, find your niche within the hobby and then bring us some good games, please. I just don't think it's happening. And I'm worried. I'm honestly worried. What else is going on? Are we going to see Spooky's new game? I haven't heard anything. I was talking to Bug and I was teasing him at Expo and I'm like, hey dude, I'm going to start telling everybody that your game's coming out the day after Christmas, so get ready. And he's like, better move it up. And I'm like, what? Are you serious? StreamloaderCanada, StreamloaderFanChannel, narrings accusedinline.com Alland, And it's fine. It's fine. Even if I did have something to tell you, like a little tease or something, I wouldn't be able to tell you what the next thing is. And you'd be just as heartbroken, like, I'm going to want to know more. I think we're going to know more soon. And it might be soon like this next week. So if they're releasing in November, I kind of think it would happen. Either it would have to be the week before Thanksgiving or the week after. And Thanksgiving is the last week. Friendly, It time to Device nyaa And ya The feedback I hearing is that the bonus episodes are very worthwhile and very much appreciated So I think if I can as long as I have some content to give out some behind the scenes stuff I keep doing these as soon as I record an episode I just finished up the last one and then just took a breath and then hit record and then I wanted to get more into kind of like my personal feelings behind what I think is going on with AP. I don't want it to be that way, but man, I think it may be. Alright, so spooky. I'm going to be coming back. This game's going to be looking super tight. I'm doing things to it that I didn't think I was going to from the outset. You know, like I was going to do armor, Powder Coat, Shooter Rod, Coin Door Insert, Flipper Toppers. Prambhala, Minister at Fur **** burned stuffed-down picture stunt Sidney Putnicks, Bloodpointing avocado dew PJ Summir Luther,Kobler,T Busy,WOMM, neinz arranarner, Terrieb decorise, JessInt, trebleία hobie, King C lose and èventuali the WT newsletterntext.tv I have a couple of medium holiday t-shirts left and I do have an excel left if anybody would want it I'll go ahead and email me we'll get it out to you dawnspinballpodcast at gmail.com help me cover some of the costs and the shipping but I'll get that out to you and you can wear it for the holidays how about that how about that um Zelda is in is in a uh suspended development right now uh just while I'm trying to get caught up on all the other projects and things I have going um but I think I'm going to dedicate tomorrow Monday to just working on Zelda I'm going to get the grounding wires in there I really want to get the thing at least Hunter Buford, Ihe, www.crankpinfittings.com Out of those guys if anybody knows them man, I found out about this show It was going on the same weekend as IAAPA So I'll be at IAAPA off for Thursday and Friday and then I'll probably head over to Universal as well, too And then Freeplay, Florida Friday night and Saturday. I may be over there. So that'll be super cool I got myself. I just I felt out there their media application and I didn't expect to hear anything and then pretty pretty short order I got an email back saying like we'd love to have you here. So I'll be going around covering all of that Dwyane kitnarkey, and other pinball podcasting personality. I'll just put that out there. I don't want to reveal it just yet because I want it to be a surprise. It's going to be fun. But that's going to be coming up in just a month. Between now and then, I think we're going to see some new love from Spooky Pinball. And I think that's cool. And I think it's time to see where we are in the YouTube Disco playlist. What's the best thing you've learned and what's your favorite part of the game? Man, it's been hard to shake off like the post-election Nonsense and just try to like try to be stress Put your best face forward feel the Sun on your face. Just kind of where I'm getting now And so let's get back into the good times. Let's control the things that we have control over We won't sweat the things we don't have control over And we'll try to get through this together Interpatientally expected啦!

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: db385ab9-3d47-4e08-91e8-517427d51ea6*