# DPP #61 "JP30! Should you get one? AZ trip recap!"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-08-16  
**Duration:** 23m 20s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-61-JP30--Should-you-get-one--AZ-trip-recap-e286b3k

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## Analysis

Don Sharpe discusses the surprise announcement of Jurassic Park 30th Jurassic Park (Limited Edition) (500 units at $12,999), shares his Arizona trip visiting pinball locations (Catalina Brewing Company in Tucson and Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe/Phoenix), reports on production pipeline updates (Venom (Pro) shipping end of month, November production gap, speculation about Stranger Things rerun), and covers community content and personnel moves (Art of Pinball/Lior officially joining Dutch Pinball).

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern announced Jurassic Park 30th Jurassic Park (Limited Edition) with 500 additional units at $12,999 to add to the original 500 Jurassic Park (Limited Edition) sold out units, bringing total Jurassic Park (Limited Edition) to 1,000 units — _Don Sharpe, citing official Stern teaser and distributor confirmations received this morning_
- [HIGH] JP30 LE units are already available for order through Stern's online platform and distributor allotments, expected to ship soon — _Don checked with distributors and confirmed machines are ready to roll off the line within the next week or so_
- [HIGH] Jurassic Park (Premium/LE) pricing was $12,999 and secondary market units are trading around that price with some listings asking $17,500 — _Don checked Pinside listings and observed current secondary market pricing_
- [MEDIUM] Stern production schedule shows a gap in November, with Venom (Pro) shipping end of month and Premium/LE versions in September, leaving November open — _Don's own speculation and reporting based on production schedule updates heard three months ago_
- [MEDIUM] Star Wars and James Bond 007 (Pro) production runs were bumped from their originally scheduled slots to 2024+ — _Don's reporting on Stern production schedule changes_
- [HIGH] Mad Pinball distributor indicated Stern can produce 500 LEs in two weeks, leaving hope for a Stranger Things rerun despite JP30 announcement — _Don's direct contact with distributor of choice Mad Pinball_
- [MEDIUM] Deadpool (Pro) unexpectedly shipped out of the factory earlier than originally scheduled (months early) — _Don reporting on factory production observations_
- [HIGH] Iron Maiden and Avengers have been retired from Stern production; Star Wars and Deadpool are still in production — _Don's production status update based on distributor intelligence_
- [HIGH] Art of Pinball (Lior) is officially working with Dutch Pinball on Big Lebowski and other projects — _Lior officially announced partnership; Don confirmed via recent communication with Barry from Dutch Pinball_
- [HIGH] The Avengers (Limited Edition) with yellow powder coat is holding value at approximately $12,999 in the secondary market — _Don checked online pricing for The Avengers (LE) after playing one in Tucson_

### Notable Quotes

> "At 500 of these, I think we're going to see a sellout for sure. I am not going to go on one though."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~12:45
> _Personal financial decision regarding JP30 LE; reveals host's conservative approach despite strong market signal_

> "Are we going to see, I'm sure somebody's going to buy one of these Jurassic Park and automatically list it as new in box $14,000 at least. But is it going to sell at that?"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~14:30
> _Speculation on secondary market behavior and flipping dynamics for JP30 LE_

> "the humidity does make a difference... in the desert, it can be hot, but you can still go outside and do things. [In the South] you go outside you can do nothing you could do no kind of physical activity because you're just winded"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~17:00
> _Tangential commentary during venue description but shows conversational podcast style_

> "And then all of that changes as soon as you walk in the door to this place. What a cool bar... like they took four rooms out of this mini mall, attached them all together."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~24:30
> _Enthusiastic venue endorsement of Electric Bat Arcade describing its unique setup_

> "All the games were working all the games were in good condition like these things are taken care of... these guys really do speak and walk the walk"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~26:45
> _Praise for Electric Bat Arcade's game maintenance standards and operator dedication_

> "I think just go ahead and release something already... I don't know what kind of hype you're building up because we're not building towards a known announcement or anything."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~31:00
> _Criticism of Mystery Pinball Company's teaser campaign as unclear and unfocused_

> "don spinball podcast he's a cool guy talk about him right kind of self-serving... I don't take pinball content creation seriously"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~34:30
> _Don's self-aware commentary on community dynamics and his approach to content creation and community interaction_

> "I think me and Joel get along because, you know, we're both like not high-end tournament winner kind of players... it's nice to know there's someone else out there that just enjoys playing pinball"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~37:00
> _Reveals shared sensibility with Triple Drain podcast host Joel, positioning both as 'casual enthusiasts' rather than elite competitors_

> "That color, dear listener, if you're interested, is Prismatic Colors Illusion Cherry powder coat. And it looks kind of a darker burgundy, like in the low lights. But in the highlights, it sings, man."
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~38:30
> _Detailed appreciation of custom powder coat work on Iron Maiden, showing collector aesthetic engagement_

> "I've been offered a trade for one of my games for a big Lebowski and I'm actually seriously considering it"
> — **[name withheld pending review]**, ~42:00
> _Indicates serious collector interest in upcoming Dutch Pinball Big Lebowski machine and potential game trade activity_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| [name withheld pending review] | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; home collector and content creator; currently traveling; based in West Virginia; advocate for arcade locations and operator support |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; announced Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary LE; managing production schedule with November gap; retiring Iron Maiden and Avengers from production |
| Jurassic Park (Limited Edition) | product | Stern announced 500-unit run at $12,999 (LE price) to bring total JP LE to 1,000; new art on sides, backglass logo, possibly new powder coat options; units ready to ship soon |
| Mad Pinball | company | Pinball distributor; Don's distributor of choice; confirmed Stern production capacity and offered reassurance about potential Stranger Things rerun |
| Catalina Brewing Company | venue | Bar in Tucson, Arizona neighborhood; hosts pinball including Stern Galaxy, Stern Meteor, Independence Day, and Avengers LE; Don visited and left promotional materials |
| Electric Bat Arcade | venue | Arcade in Tempe/Phoenix area (Arizona); located behind abandoned mini mall at Yucca Tap Room; ~57 games spanning generations; well-maintained equipment; run by operators Kale and Rachel; punk rock/music venue atmosphere |
| Joel | person | Host of Triple Drain podcast and Flipping Out with Friends live streams; Wisconsin-based; creates grade-A pinball content; casual/enthusiast player like Don; shouted out Don on recent podcast episode |
| Lior | person | Art of Pinball; sculptor/artist; officially announced working with Dutch Pinball; creating Big Lebowski sculpts and other artwork |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; Barry is a contact/representative; collaborating with Lior/Art of Pinball; developing Big Lebowski machine |
| [name withheld pending review] | company | Unannounced/teaser company; dropping stickers (exclamation point with lightning bolts/flipper design) at various locations; building hype for unknown game/product |
| Elvira's House of Horrors | product | Stern pinball game; had 40th anniversary limited edition (199 units) that commanded high prices ($22,000+ secondary market); Don compared JP30 pricing strategy to Elvira 40th |
| Jurassic Park Limited Edition | product | Original Stern Jurassic Park LE; 500 units sold out; pricing ~$12,999; secondary market value holding at approximately that price; new toppers expected |
| Avengers Limited Edition (Infinity Quest) | product | Stern game with yellow powder coat variant; holding value at ~$12,999; Don played it in Tucson and praised the yellow powder coat with sparkly clear coat finish |
| Stranger Things | product | Stern pinball game; rumors of rerun in November production gap; originally released with 1,000 LE target (was not all LEs); Don hopes for rerun over JP30 acquisition |
| Venom | product | Stern pinball game; Pros shipping end of month (August); Premium/LE versions following in September |
| Deadpool | product | Stern pinball game; Pros unexpectedly shipped early from factory; still in production alongside Star Wars |
| Iron Maiden | product | Stern pinball game; retired from production; Don owns one with custom Prismatic Colors Illusion Cherry powder coat |
| Pinball Party podcast | organization | Podcast featuring hosts including Jason and others; covers pinball arcade locations and culture; recommended Electric Bat Arcade which Don visited based on show |
| Triple Drain Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast hosted by Joel; two-hour format; entertained Don during his drive from Pittsburgh to West Virginia |
| Pinside | organization | Online pinball community/marketplace; Don checked for Jurassic Park LE secondary market listings and pricing |
| Big Lebowski | product | Upcoming Dutch Pinball machine; Lior creating sculpt of White Russian character; Don considering trading one of his games for it |
| [name withheld pending review] | person | Representative/owner of Dutch Pinball; communicating with Don about Big Lebowski sculpture and projects |
| Bond 60th | product | Pinball game at Electric Bat Arcade; James Bond themed; one of newer Stern titles with updated code |
| John Youssi | person | Mentioned in context of Bond 60th at Electric Bat Arcade; likely designer or notable figure associated with the game |

### Signals

- **[announcement]** Stern Pinball officially announced Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Limited Edition with 500 units at $12,999, bringing total JP LE production to 1,000 units; announcement dropped via teaser this morning with full reveal promised for August 17th (confidence: high) — Don received Stern teaser confirmation and verified through multiple distributor contacts that machines are already allocated and ready to ship
- **[product_launch]** JP30 LE units are in immediate availability with orders already being placed through Stern's online platform and distributor channels; expected to ship within the next week (confidence: high) — Don confirmed units are ready to roll off production line and distributors have allotments already in hand
- **[collector_signal]** Jurassic Park LE maintaining strong secondary market value at ~$12,999 (original LE price) with some speculative listings at $17,500; Don notes this differs from Elvira 40th which achieved $22,000+ secondary prices (confidence: high) — Don checked Pinside listings and observed pricing range; compared to Elvira 40th anniversary behavior
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Stern production schedule shows November gap; Venom Pros shipping end of August, Premium/LE in September, leaving November open; speculation about either Stranger Things rerun or next 'Cornerstone' flagship title filling this gap (confidence: medium) — Don reported hearing about three-month-old schedule information indicating November blank slot; distributor (Mad Pinball) confirmed Stern capacity to run 500 LEs in two weeks
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Star Wars and James Bond Pro production runs were bumped from their originally scheduled slots to well into 2024 (confidence: medium) — Don's reporting on Stern schedule changes; specific games mentioned were originally slated for runs but moved far out
- **[product_strategy]** Stern's strategy of releasing anniversary/variant limited editions (e.g., Elvira 40th, now JP30) at premium pricing to expand production of popular titles; JP30 priced at original LE price ($12,999) rather than premium price ($15,000+) (confidence: high) — Don analyzed JP30 pricing vs Elvira 40th pricing model; speculated Stern could have charged $15k but chose $12,999
- **[product_concern]** Yellow powder coat finishes remain controversial in pinball community despite some appreciation; Don noted yellow finishes on Simpsons and Avengers LE, with sparkly clear coat variation generating warmer reception in-person (confidence: medium) — Don's personal observation at Catalina Brewing Company playing Avengers LE with yellow powder coat; acknowledged general community consensus against yellow powder
- **[venue_signal]** Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe/Phoenix demonstrates strong operator maintenance standards with all games functional, well-maintained playfields and ramps, working modes and lights across classic and modern titles (confidence: high) — Don visited and played multiple games (Whodunit, No Fear, Tales from the Crypt, Dracula, etc.) all in excellent working condition; explicitly praised maintenance standards
- **[industry_signal]** Distributor (Mad Pinball) indicated Stern manufacturing can produce 500 LEs in approximately two weeks, suggesting production flexibility and alleviating concerns about JP30 blocking other title runs (confidence: high) — Direct communication between Don and Mad Pinball distributor offering reassurance about Stranger Things rerun possibility despite JP30 announcement
- **[personnel_signal]** Lior (Art of Pinball) officially announced partnership with Dutch Pinball for Big Lebowski machine and other projects, including custom sculpture work (confidence: high) — Lior made official announcement; Don confirmed via direct communication with Barry from Dutch Pinball
- **[rumor_hype]** Mystery Pinball Company conducting sticker campaign at venues (exclamation point with lightning bolts/flipper design) generating community confusion about identity and upcoming product; Don critical of unfocused teaser approach lacking concrete announcement (confidence: medium) — Don encountered Mystery Pinball Company sticker at Electric Bat Arcade; expressed skepticism about hype-building effectiveness without clear announcement target
- **[community_signal]** Growing interconnection between pinball podcasts (Don's, Triple Drain, Pinball Party) with hosts cross-promoting and collaborating; community appreciates casual enthusiast perspective over tournament-focused content (confidence: medium) — Don discussed Joel's Triple Drain podcast, shared music from drive, received shout-out on air, discussed shared sensibility as non-tournament players

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## Transcript

 sliding back into your midweek what's going on it's don's pinball podcast episode number 61 can you believe it back from a bit of a hiatus i'm still on the road but i'm gonna check back in and give everybody an update on everything that's been going on so grab your camping chairs it's still summertime get your feet out of the fire jeffrey back up pick up that marshmallow don't poke your brother with a stick it's pinball talking time that's what we're gonna get into in just a minute as soon as the music finishes. Because that's generally how it goes and how we slide right into the introduction of what's going on. What's up, everybody? It's been a bit of a hiatus there, about a week since I've podcasted something. I've been traveling all over the place, staying up for days at a time on one plane or another, early flights and work, and you know how all that gets. But we have also some news. I guess this kind of, it fit perfectly with me traveling a lot because there was also not a ton of news over the last several days. But then, this morning, as I'm getting caught up on everybody else's episodes that they're coming out with, the pinball show dropped, the triple dream dropped, and then you know what? The Jurassic Park 30th anniversary LE announcement dropped. The teaser from Stern Pinball Today. Sitting there waiting for my rental car and what happens to come across my phone, but the Jurassic Park 30th anniversary, something is happening. And then quickly that was followed up with online confirmations from distributors that there will be 500 Jurassic Park 30th anniversary limited editions added to the already released 500 Jurassic Park limited editions that sold out. But that's not all. It'll also come in at the low, low price of $13,000. $12,999, which is the current LE price. So at first I was, you know, taking like, is this going to be another rehash of a Elvira 40th anniversary edition? Man, what a beautiful game that was, right? Elvira's House of Horrors came out and then they came out with the limited edition. Then they had this 40th anniversary, like special other, other limited edition, limited to only 199 sold for, what did that sell for? You know, the five figures at least, right? And then they're going for 22,000 and stuff on the resale market. And the thing is so beautiful that I went out and bought myself a premium and redressed that up to approximate that same look. Now, is that what we're getting here? I'm not certain that that's what this is going to be because this is coming out at the LE price. This looks like the other 500 to bring the Jurassic Park limited editions up to a total of 1,000. But probably, and this is speculation on my part, but I think what we're going to get now is going to be the new art for the sides, a new back glass logo, and then probably the same art blades. Nothing changed with the code, I would imagine, but we'll see a powder coat. Are they going to do the same green powder coat? Are they going to do something different? That I guess we'll have to wait and see, but you're not going to have to wait that long because I think about an hour ago, people that spend that extra $40 to $60 for that Stern Super Insider Connected or whatever, Insider, pinball marketing branding we need to talk about a little bit, hashtag pin stadium, but whatever. They're already for sale. That limited a number that they're going to sell on the site. I've checked around with a couple distributors this morning, and they've already got their allotments. And so these things are supposed to be shipping soon. Now, going back to the Stern production schedule updates, we had heard that, well, we had heard from me and speculating from others, that there was going to be a hole in November there. I think three months ago we had heard about that in the production schedule. There was just kind of like a blank hole. And I thought, well, maybe that's where they're going to slot in the next cornerstone. But the Venoms are coming at the end of this month and into next month, so it still leaves that November hole. And then what we've also seen is games that had previously been announced for runs then. I think James Bond Pro was going to get run there. There was going to be a run of Star Wars in the lead up to the holidays. But those got bumped, got bumped way into 2024. four. And so now there's been all this speculation that Stranger Things is going to be rerun, but then we're hearing that, you know, this Jurassic Park 30th is just dropping with more information probably to come with a full reveal tomorrow, the 17th, according to the Stern teaser. But then I'm also hearing that these things are like ready to roll off the line right now. So, you know, at first I was like, okay, you know, maybe it's going to be some Jurassic Park code. Then we found out it's going to be a limited edition. And that was dashing my hopes for the Stranger Things that I'm waiting for. But then if these things are actually running out here, the factory in the next week or so that still leaves that november hole we'll see we'll see i reached out to to my distro um uh of choice mad pinball and just you know they haven't heard anything official about stranger things but they reassured me don even if they're running 500 le's stern can do that in two weeks don't give up hope yet on that stranger things rerun so am i going in on this jurassic park 30th is it a good financial decision well i mean of course not we know the answer to that. At 500 of these, I think we're going to see a sellout for sure. I am not going to go on one though. I'm going to wait on my money pool that I have right now because I have a couple of expenses coming up. Number one, I'm paying my student loans off next month. They're going to be dead. They're going to be dead and gone. That has to take priority. Plus, I don't want to go in on a Jurassic bargain and find out that Stranger Things is right around the corner or they decided to just drop Jaws super limited edition or something amazing on us or I come across a whirlwind that I just have to have. I don't know. I love Jurassic Park. This looks like to be a good version. And to speak to the speculative aspect of this, I did go on to Pinside. There are two currently listed for sale Jurassic Park LEs from that original run One of them going for which yesterday would have seemed like okay I mean I kind of guess that probably what it should go for now it looking like a steal because it comes with some mods and it comes with a topper it comes with under a thousand plays and a small chip in the armor and a spot that you probably would never see it's underneath the lock bar so I think you know somebody if you miss out on this $500 tomorrow and you still really have to have one that wouldn't be a bad way to go some other jokers got one listed for $17,500, and that one can go ahead and sit there for all I care. I don't think he's going to get that. So what's different really with this and the Elvira 40th? The Elvira 40th really seemed to command those high prices. It did have some signatures and some other things that came with it, but really it was just an art package redo, right? It was a different side armor, the kind of drippy bloody kind of cut frame. It had the purple, which we liked. It had that purple graphics on the side that look so great in person. But you know, why does that command such a high price, but this Jurassic Park 500 will go for $12,999? Are we going to see, I'm sure somebody's going to buy one of these Jurassic Parks and automatically list it as new in box $14,000 at least. But is it going to sell at that? Maybe. You know, somebody's probably going to miss out on one of the initial runs of $500, decide they really have to have it. And you may be able to eke out an extra $1,000 in flipping profit, but that's not enough for me to take the gamble. Not when there's still a rumored Stranger Things sitting in my heart that I want to get. We're going to find out more tomorrow. But yeah, Jurassic Park 30th edition. If you're waiting for a definitive version of Jurassic Park and you got some money sitting around and you're okay with the current LE prices, I think call your distro right now and get in on one of these. $12,999. I think they could have got $15, but they didn't do that. So, thank you, Stern. Also, does this mean we can look forward to another run of some Jurassic Park toppers? coming out of the new topper factory they're putting together. I would speculate, yes, we'll have to wait and see on that. What else is going on? Stranger Things rerun, talked about that. Jurassic Park 30th, covered that. Any Venom news to report? I guess we're going to be seeing the pros here at the end of the month. At least that's the last I heard. None have shown up on location yet. Although somebody I heard in Florida, there was one location with a premium. I heard that on the Triple Drain podcast earlier today. but we'll look for those at the end of the month over the pros premium le's to follow in september and then we're going to get to that november hole and i hope it's filled with the stranger things please i guess we could speculate a bit stranger things will they do another limited edition run of these because if you remember stranger things was released before we were doing a total of a thousand le's but what would they come up with like another 350 or so or would they just run the premiums again i don't know i'm not going to speculate on that it could be all over the place It may not even ever happen. Otherwise, what I had heard from, kind of surprisingly from Stern, sticking on them, some Deadpool pros creeped out of the factory earlier. And I guess those weren't slated until months from now. But I don't know if they just, you know, whoever is managing product production in the factory was looking around and said, hey, here's a stack of Translites over here and some Playfields. And, you know, we kind of got caught up earlier today. Let's run out some of these Deadpool pros. So if you're waiting on one of those, have at it. Surprisingly, still in production, Star Wars, still in production, Deadpool. Because they have just retired Iron Maiden. They've just retired Avengers. So if you want to get into any of those, I think distributors are fully in stock right now. But I think everybody else is just taking this kind of wait-and-see attitude because as we saw today with just Jurassic Park LE dropping in our laps, things can happen quickly with the juggernaut that is Stern. and there's your Deadpool tie-in. Ed Boon. Let's move on to what I've been up to. So I've just gotten back. I haven't gotten back. I was just in Arizona for four days redoing some vinyl floors in my parents' house. We accomplished everything in three days, and then that was fantastic. It is warm out in the Tucson region, 109 degrees Fahrenheit average during the day. And, you know, it feels warm. It is that desert heat. It's like this, okay? For folks that live in the deep south, Mississippi, Alabama, humidity, who hear 109 degrees and think, my God, how can you survive? The humidity does make a difference. And here's that difference. I know. 109 degrees. It's not the heat or the humidity, whatever. It's hot. I'll give you that. It's hot all day. The difference is in the desert, it can be hot, but you can still go outside and do things. Yeah, it's not very fun to stand around. Yeah, your car's smoking hot when you come back to it. But you can still accomplish activities of daily living. in the south 95 degrees even 85 degrees with high humidity you go outside you can do nothing you could do no kind of physical activity because you're just you're just winded like everybody is walking around talking like rick ross raps man in the south in the summertime man um you know i'm here in in northern west virginia it's not that humid up here but you go down south you go kentucky tennessee beyond that line and it is just miserable right you know it's like uh walk outside and it's like you just jumped out of the shower. You're soaking wet. The air is so thick. It's like you're breathing through a wet towel. You can't do nothing, even if the temperature is a little bit lower. So there is something to be said about the dry desert heat. There's also something to be said about the dry desert pinball. I went to a couple of locations. Want to give some location shout outs here. First up in Tucson, actually right around the corner from my parents' neighborhood, I went to the Catalina Brewing Company. Great little bar, you know, friendly little place, kind of tucked away in one of the neighborhoods there. But they had a good lineup of games there, including a, well, they had the Stern lineups, right? You know, Mandalorian Pro, got some more time on that. Yeah, I'm warming up to it. I'm warming up to it. Had a kind of Stern Galaxy. What else do they have? A Stern Meteor, or whoever made Meteor. They had an Independence Day I got to play for a while Fun game plastic ramps chaotic in the back But the game that really stood out and the reason I went back again a second time was they had an Avengers Limited Edition on site Now, this is a game I don't think I've played the Limited Edition yet. So I just want to shout it out a little bit, especially because it has that controversial yellow powder coating. Now, I think the general rule and the general take is that you have to be a crazy person to put yellow powder coat on a pinball machine because it just it hits a little weird I've seen it on Simpsons pinball party and it's like look staring into the eyes of jaundice itself right it's like I'm holding a giant legal pad in my hands but I will say in person seeing the yellow powder coat with the sparkly clear coat over it it was a little magical it warmed up to it it hits differently with that sparkle you gotta see it in person though and then I was remarking on the gameplay of Avengers Infinity Quest itself it's a game I don't have you know 30 hours on or anything there's still a lot of code there to explore I was getting a little frustrated with it because you know I'm used to jumping on a Godzilla and having you know at least a 300 million point game and this one I'm barely breaking 100 like what the heck is going on but I think that's just kind of how that game is all right so shout out to Avengers le um i went online and it's actually holding up some good value pretty much like 12 9 99 almost like it's right there so uh le that's holding its value fun game to play wouldn't mind putting some more time on one don't know if i'd get one but if i did get one it'd be a premium and i think i actually would go for that yellow powder coat if i could get like this the sparkly clear coat on it and replicate that look so catalina brewing company friendly folks i left some stickers there I threw one of my magnets on the coin box, on the coin door of Avengers. Hopefully they don't get mad. It's not a sticker. It's just a magnet. Peel it off. Go take it home. Throw it on your, what do people put food in at home? Refrigerators. And I think it could work good there. Kind of one of my calling cards. They reached out to me online. Thanks for the stuff. Thanks for coming by and shouting us out. So check that place out in Tucson, Arizona. Moving on, I went to another little arcade, a little arcade that I had been hearing about for quite some time. a little arcade I heard about on the Pinball Party podcast. Kale and Rachel's Place, the electric bat arcade in Tempe, Arizona, Phoenix metro area. I never miss a Pinball Party podcast. I mean, it's my Wisconsin homie, man. I got to support the guy. Plus, he's interesting. Plus, Neon Dale's growing on me. So I like everything that Jason's got going on over there, especially Kale and Rachel that are on there all the time. These guys are operators that also really enjoy pinball, and they keep the games in their arcade in good condition. They've got two locations. I guess one up at Flagstaff. Also, shout out to Cool Town. Don has spent some time up in Staff as well. Anyway, or Flag. I forget what they refer to it as. Electric Bat Arcade. So I took some time off from my laying of the vinyl floors. I drove the 90 minutes at 100 miles an hour up to Phoenix area and dropped by the Electric Bat Arcade. And I've got to say, first impressions, guys, wow. I pull into the parking lot, and I'm like, GPS, where in the heck did you bring me? To set the stage for the folks that have not been to this awesome arcade, um it basically take a mini mall a strip mall and then drive around the back of it and then behind it have another abandoned mini mall covered in graffiti of a very high caliber um and then just you know kind of randos straggling around the parking lot um you know some fences around some boarded up businesses and then a cop car parked in the back and that's kind of like what you're driving into so um i first fortunately someone had told me like you know electric bad doesn't actually have any signage at all so you're gonna look for a place called the yucca tap room and that's what I found behind this mini mall. So I'm like, this is the place. And I had to reassure my wife about four different times that yeah, no, no, I think this is where we're supposed to be. And then all of that changes as soon as you walk in the door to this place. What a cool bar. It's not really dive bar-y. It's more like kind of a punk rock live music venue across four different rooms. Like they took four rooms out of this mini mall, attached them all together. And that's the sprawling indoor kind of almost speakeasy vibe to this place, right? So you walk in, you got a bar, a pool table. You go into the next room, there's a bigger bar and a stage for some local music. Great music venue. This is the type of place that I would have hung out at, you know, back in my street skateboarding rat days, right? And then, you know, still you're walking. You go into the next room, and that's when you finally get to some pinball. And then out of nowhere, here's like 57 or so games of just spanning the generations, man, with a really cool vibe. Like there's a little tiki bar that they built in there. there's mannequins for some reason wearing t-shirts it's very avant-garde um it is a bathroom with plenty of places for me to put stickers so i i stickered the toilet up so if you go there go ahead and pee on my stickers you earn points um but it just it's great to see a play like what a cool collection this place has i'm going to shout it out so first off all the games were working all the games were in good condition like these things are taken care of so ramps aren't broken you know your lights aren't missing like these guys really do you just speak and walk the walk that they speak the talk of, right? And so that was the fun part of going there. Games were on quarters or tokens. I played with both, but it's just fun to see, you know, okay, you got the newer sterns with, you know, updated code. They had a Bond 60th over there, you know, one of the first things John Youssi when you're walking around exploring these two game rooms, you know, but they also have a lot of these throwback games, all these classic games from the DMD era that I myself don't have a ton of time on. You know, they had, even from before then, they had a diner that I got to play. I got to play a whodunit for the first time. They've got a really nice whirlwind, but also things like Tales from the Crypt. Dracula was there, the Bram Stoker game. They had a hot dog in Just a lot of games that I just haven played a ton or I only played them at a convention maybe a little bit here and there or when you find one it so broken and old and uncared for that it doesn really replicate that same experience I played a No Fear for the first time and every ramp shot was working All the modes were working the lights were working It was like I was right back into 1996 or whenever that game came out. So what a very just excellent collection of pinball in a really cool location, in a really sketchy parking lot, in a blisteringly hot Arizona town. So I went in, I bought a t-shirt from the nice lady that was working at the bar. Didn't pump, bump into the kale or the Rachel, but I'm, you know, they've got a ton of stuff to do. They don't need to hang around waiting for me to show up. I left stickers everywhere. I put stuff up. I left some coasters there on the bar. So, you know, if you frequent there, go ahead and pick it up. I found one of those stickers from the mystery pinball company, that guy that's been going around, I'm assuming guy, you know, dropping off little hints and things, that little exclamation point with the lightning bolts made with a flipper or something. I think his campaign is working if the purpose of his campaign was just to drop stickers around and keep everybody confused on what's going on. As far as building up hype to this new company with this new game, we still don't know, like, is this just unused deep root assets? Like, what the heck's going on? I think just go ahead and release something already. Or, you know, if you're not ready for production, you know, just stop what you're doing. Because I don't know what kind of hype you're building up because we're not building towards a known announcement or anything. But it was cool seeing something drop there. I wonder if it was one of the dudes I was actually playing with there. So Electric Pad Arcade, cool place. Bought the T-shirt. I went there. Don't worry about it. If you go into a sketchy parking lot, you're in the right place. So I want to move on to some other content that I have been listening to. The new Triple Dream podcast came out. And when you know Joel, he does these live streams, the flipping out with friends. I drop in there whenever it pops up on my phone to watch some pinball. generally i've been doing it from the road um and then uh you know they had popped up a message a couple days ago on their facebook page like what do you guys want to talk about we're going to be recording soon you know give us some topics so that's a good idea if you have anything you want to hear me talk about email me at don spinball podcast gmail.com i will put it on there and shout you out homie um but i you know i put it in there i was in the checkout line of target or something it's popped up on my phone real quick and i'm like hey don spinball podcast he's a cool guy talk about him right kind of self-serving um you know and then somebody took issue with it like this is embarrassing this is pandering sir how dare you drop into their thread and do this and i'm always careful when i go into other people's work i don't want to just drop in and plug myself but i was in a kind of a goofy mood no standing in line at target or whatever the heck it was uh popped up on the phone i dropped it in there it's a yeah i don't take pinball content creation seriously uh and i don't think it's a thing that i will ever get there this is this is a fun hobby for me and so some something that seems funny for me i will drop it off there if you are offended or you don't want me you know dropping in being ridiculous in your thread you know let me know i won't go where i'm not invited or wanted but regardless but joel being the solid dude that he is actually managed to shout me out on his podcast so what a cool guy that is um you know i'm glad we're friends i watch his uh streams i'm going to continue to do that sir because i love the grade a content that you provide so everybody if you haven't heard of this this podcast triple drain. Yeah, go ahead and check it out. I think, you know, I think me and Joel get along because, you know, we're both like not high-end tournament winner kind of players, you know? So we kind of, like, it's nice to know there's someone else out there that just enjoys playing pinball and try as hard as we might, you know, don't seem to crack through to whatever is going on, you know, these people who are like, you know, savant level flipper guys, right? So that was fun. They had a great, like, two-hour long podcast. My whole drive from Pittsburgh down here to Kingwood, West Virginia. Was completely entertained with the triple drain, guys. What else is going on in the game room? Before I left the house, I just got my powder coat back for Iron Maiden. I posted the photos of that. That color, dear listener, if you're interested, is Prismatic Colors Illusion Cherry powder coat. And it looks kind of a darker burgundy, like in the low lights. But in the highlights, it sings, man. It's very glittery. I love it. I love my Iron Maiden. a couple other tidbits I wanted to get to I talked about this on my Friday night live that I did poolside in Arizona but Mr. Lior Mr. Art of Pinball himself has now announced who he's officially working with we knew he was working with a pinball company it's Dutch Pinball so that's fantastic Barry from Dutch is a cool dude I was emailing him again earlier this week he is sending me that sculpt of the white Russian for the Big Lebowski I need to am I going to get the Big Lebowski first or I'm going to get this this uh sculpt oh who knows we'll see I've been offered a trade for one of my games for a big Lebowski and I'm actually seriously considering it dear listener thank you for joining me for episode number 61 of Don's Pinball Podcast I know it's been a few days since I had anything to come out but I'm going to get right back into the swing of things I love what I do here if you want to uh interact Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com is a great way to do it or on the Facebook page thank you so much to the folks that have actually decided to take their lives to the next level by becoming a baller and pledging $5 per month to me that I will use to go and distribute in pinball arcades throughout the country. And I will extol your virtues, dear listener and Patreon subscriber. Hopefully I made your morning drive a little more interesting or your afternoon run. If you're one of those people that cares about their body, Don's Pinball Podcast, gmail.com. Let me know what you think. Follow along on the Facebook page even. Reach out, interact. I love doing giveaways on Friday on the live streams. I am hoping to be live streaming soon of actual pinball gameplay. So be cool. Go get yourself a Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary Edition. Treat yourself, listener.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: e44cb7b4-09af-40ba-b0d5-44e7efb1fdac*