# 75: Toppers no, Harry Potter YES!!

**Source:** Pinball Party Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-06-06  
**Duration:** 43m 8s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://pinballparty.podbean.com/e/toppers-no-harry-potter-yes/

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## Analysis

Jason from Pinball Party Podcast discusses a slow news week in pinball, covering American Pinball's struggles, the prevalence of expensive toppers (particularly John Wick and Jaws), and most significantly, unconfirmed rumors that Jersey Jack Pinball's next game is Harry Potter based on the films. He also highlights Dutch Pinball Exclusive's announcement of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and confirms American Pinball is working on He-Man Masters of the Universe after Cuphead.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Jersey Jack Pinball's next game is Harry Potter, based on the films rather than just the Wizarding World — _Jason Knapp via knapparcade.com, citing 'one of the most knowledgeable pinball people' as source; Jason acknowledges this is rumor-based, not official_
- [LOW] Eric Minier may be the designer of JJP's next game instead of Mark Seiden — _Jason Knapp rumor report; explicitly noted as unconfirmed and based on 'competitive intelligence'_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball is working on He-Man Masters of the Universe after Cuphead — _Jason reports David Fix 'basically confirmed' this in Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast June episode_
- [MEDIUM] Christopher Franchi is doing the art for He-Man — _Jason Knapp citing David Fix interview in Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast_
- [HIGH] Dutch Pinball Exclusive's Alice in Wonderland is based on a paper concept by John Papadiuk from his failed Zidware company — _Official Dutch Pinball announcement, features art by Zombie Yeti, playfield by Melvin Brewer Williams_
- [MEDIUM] Medieval Madness rerun is coming 'sooner rather than later' — _Knapp Arcade report citing a tease; Jason notes this was originally teased for early 2023 or 2024_
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball is scheduled to reveal official Jaws topper and other accessories within a week — _Jason Knapp reporting he has 'very good authority' on this timeline_
- [MEDIUM] American Pinball's Barbecue Challenge layout will be used as a white label game for other themes — _Jason Knapp citing David Fix in Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast_

### Notable Quotes

> "It sucks because I love Hot Wheels. First and foremost, I love pinball. And second, I actually really like Hot Wheels a lot. And I don't wish anyone in this hobby to be not doing great, whether it's pinball or media or myself or anyone. But, you know, at some point it becomes kind of humorous, right?"
> — **Jason (Pinball Party host)**, Early in episode
> _Expresses empathy for American Pinball's struggles while acknowledging pattern of failures_

> "Medieval Madness is just one of those Donkey Kong Marios of pinball... Either is Mario. But Mario is fun regardless."
> — **Jason**, Mid-episode
> _Defends classic games against complexity criticism; compares Medieval Madness to timeless gaming appeal_

> "So when aliens in the quadrillion years in the future look back, someone, some little asshole, like myself, doing research on Earth's history, will notice this and be like, what the fuck? And they'll show their friend like, lol, look at what the humans did in 2024."
> — **Jason**, Topper segment
> _Humorous critique of expensive topper manufacturing as absurd from cosmic perspective_

> "This is one of the most exciting themes in pinball since I've gotten into it... In the top five, for sure, themes."
> — **Jason**, Alice in Wonderland segment
> _Strong enthusiasm for Alice in Wonderland IP; identifies it as top-tier theme_

> "Harry Potter will do that. Harry Potter most definitely will bring people outside of the pinball world into the pinball world just like Star Wars does."
> — **Jason**, Harry Potter discussion
> _Identifies Harry Potter as major IP with mainstream appeal potential for pinball_

> "JJP destroys it when it comes to theme and World Under Glass in a good way. They give you what you want... there's always a little bit of jank even in the best [Stern]. It's a little jank but it's good jank but it's a little jank."
> — **Jason**, Harry Potter analysis
> _Compares manufacturer strengths: JJP on theme execution vs. Stern on flipper feel with minor imperfections_

> "To nitpick, Half-Blood Prince, they should have done a lot more with Tom Marvolo... Tom Marvolo Gaunt and all that stuff. They didn't touch that really at all in the Half-Blood Prince movie."
> — **Jason**, Harry Potter deep dive
> _Demonstrates deep engagement with Harry Potter source material; suggests potential for rich game design_

> "For $2,000, are you effing kidding me? What is happening? Why? Don't do that. Don't make mistakes with your money."
> — **Jason**, Topper pricing criticism
> _Direct criticism of topper pricing ($2,000 for Foo Fighters example) as poor value_

> "I have a white rabbit tattoo on my arm... I like it enough to permanently alter my human body, which is it's weird to say that, you know, what they say and it sucks I shouldn't say it and I think about it sometimes."
> — **Jason**, Alice discussion
> _Demonstrates personal commitment to Alice in Wonderland theme beyond casual fandom_

> "My batting average here has been pretty good... Nothing is 100%, but my batting average here has been pretty good."
> — **Jason Knapp**, Harry Potter rumor section
> _Knapp establishes credibility track record while acknowledging rumors are unconfirmed_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; rumored to be developing Harry Potter game next |
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer; discussed as struggling with games like Cuphead and Barbecue Challenge; reported to be working on He-Man Masters of the Universe |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; known for flipper feel and marketing strategy; releasing Jaws topper soon |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer announcing Alice's Adventures in Wonderland through new subsidiary Dutch Pinball Exclusive |
| Jason Knapp | person | Pinball industry news source and website operator (knapparcade.com); provides rumors and industry intelligence to Pinball Party |
| Jason | person | Host of Pinball Party Podcast; enthusiast, collector, operator of pinball machines; provides commentary and analysis |
| John Papadiuk | person | Pinball designer; created paper concept for Alice in Wonderland at failed company Zidware |
| Melvin Brewer Williams | person | Pinball designer; created playable game version from Papadiuk's Alice in Wonderland paper layout for Dutch Pinball Exclusive |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Renowned pinball artist; created black and white art for original Alice in Wonderland mock-up |
| Eric Minier | person | Rumored to potentially be designer of Jersey Jack Pinball's next game (Harry Potter), possibly before Mark Seiden's game |
| Mark Seiden | person | Jersey Jack Pinball designer; has game in development, possibly after Minier's game in release order |
| David Fix | person | American Pinball representative; confirmed He-Man Masters of the Universe in June Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Renowned pinball artist; doing artwork for American Pinball's He-Man Masters of the Universe |
| Joe Kamikow | person | Pinball industry figure; previously leaked/mentioned Harry Potter connection to Jersey Jack Pinball |
| Zach Minney | person | Owner of Flippin' Out Pinball distributor; Jason recommends contacting for Dutch Pinball Exclusive orders |
| Harry Potter | game | Rumored upcoming Jersey Jack Pinball game based on the film franchise; not officially confirmed |
| Alice's Adventures in Wonderland | game | Officially announced by Dutch Pinball Exclusive; based on John Papadiuk's Zidware paper concept; third quarter 2024 reveal planned |
| He-Man Masters of the Universe | game | Confirmed upcoming American Pinball title after Cuphead; art by Christopher Franchi |
| Medieval Madness | game | Classic pinball game; rumored new run coming 'sooner rather than later' |
| Jaws | game | Stern Pinball game; topper and accessories scheduled for release within a week; designed by Keith Elwin |
| Wormhole Pinball | company | Pinball-related podcast/media; recently had Jason as guest on episode 30 |
| Knapp Arcade | company | Jason Knapp's pinball news website and outlet; primary source for industry rumors and news discussed in episode |
| Flippin' Out Pinball | company | Distributor run by Zach Minney; handling Dutch Pinball Exclusive orders and wait list |
| Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast | media | Monthly podcast covering pinball industry; source for confirmation of American Pinball's He-Man title |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Jersey Jack Pinball's next game (Harry Potter rumors), Pinball accessory toppers and their high pricing, Dutch Pinball Exclusive's Alice in Wonderland announcement, American Pinball's business struggles and upcoming He-Man game
- **Secondary:** Stern Pinball's Jaws topper release timeline, Medieval Madness rerun production, Pinball market slowdown and collector sentiment, Theme licensing strategy in pinball

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.45) — Positive enthusiasm for Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter rumors; negative sentiment toward American Pinball's trajectory, expensive toppers, and market conditions; frustrated with industry inefficiencies but optimistic about potential of major IP licensing

### Signals

- **[machine_intel]** Jersey Jack Pinball's next game rumored to be Harry Potter based on film franchise, with Eric Minier possibly designing it before Mark Seiden's game (confidence: medium) — Jason Knapp report citing knowledgeable source; also aligns with Canadian Pinball Podcast reporting; Joe Kamikow previously mentioned; Jason has personal knowledge lining up details about multi-film game
- **[product_launch]** Dutch Pinball Exclusive officially announces Alice's Adventures in Wonderland with third quarter reveal; hand-sculpted playfields, laser-finished ball guides, interactive sculpted topper (confidence: high) — Official Dutch Pinball announcement quoted; game evolved from John Papadiuk's paper concept at Zidware; designed by Melvin Brewer Williams with art by Zombie Yeti
- **[product_launch]** American Pinball confirmed to be working on He-Man Masters of the Universe after Cuphead, with art by Christopher Franchi (confidence: medium) — Jason Knapp reports David Fix 'basically confirmed' in Pinball News and Pinball Magazine June podcast; Franchi's involvement stated as confirmed
- **[product_launch]** Stern Pinball scheduled to reveal official Jaws topper and accessories within one week (confidence: high) — Jason Knapp states he has 'very good authority' on this timeline; singular topper expected; simpler than Black Knight or Foo Fighters designs
- **[business_signal]** American Pinball experiencing ongoing business struggles including rumors of sales issues, potential sale, IPO discussions (confidence: medium) — Jason receives multiple texts from people about American Pinball 'doing not great from multiple angles'; persistent industry gossip about sale/IPO status
- **[market_signal]** Pinball topper market facing significant pricing pressure and declining collector interest; toppers viewed as overpriced niche product (confidence: high) — Jason criticizes topper pricing (e.g., $2,000 Foo Fighters topper); notes declining market value makes toppers less appealing; cites only 1-2 sales per topper despite R&D costs
- **[design_philosophy]** JJP valued for theme execution and avoiding jank; Stern known for flipper feel despite minor imperfections; different design philosophies affecting collector preference (confidence: medium) — Jason directly compares: 'JJP destroys it when it comes to theme' vs. Stern having 'a little jank but it's good jank'; suggests JJP better positioned for prestige IP
- **[product_strategy]** Harry Potter license for pinball valued as major IP with mainstream appeal; positioning as answer to market slowdown and better investment than John Wick toppers (confidence: medium) — Jason identifies Harry Potter as game that will 'bring people outside of the pinball world' similar to Star Wars; contrasts with John Wick's poor reception
- **[product_launch]** Medieval Madness new run coming 'sooner rather than later'; initially teased for early 2023/2024 with long delay (confidence: medium) — Knapp Arcade reports tease; Jason notes persistent delays and initial early timeline
- **[product_strategy]** American Pinball Barbecue Challenge layout being used as white label template for other themes (confidence: medium) — Jason Knapp citing David Fix in Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast; suggests cost-reduction approach
- **[sentiment_shift]** Shifting collector priorities away from expensive accessories (toppers) toward major IP licenses as better value propositions (confidence: medium) — Jason acknowledges own regrets buying toppers; argues market conditions favor core game investment over accessories
- **[content_signal]** Jason from Pinball Party Podcast appeared as guest on Wormhole Pinball podcast episode 30 (confidence: high) — Self-reported; promotional mention of episode availability

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## Transcript

 Oh, and just like that, I hit record and my voice goes out to the world. Welcome to the Pinball Party Podcast. My name is Jason. With me is all of you. Slow News Week. I guess that can be said all the time in pinball. just because, you know, games come out a couple times a year and there's not a ton of industries. There's not a ton of manufacturers. So sometimes, you know, there's no juice. There's no tea. But I did join Wormhole Pinball's recent podcast. You can go check that out at Wormhole Pinball YouTube channel or Facebook or they have a podcast feed as well. Jamie, that was a great conversation. Thanks for inviting me on. So I did do a little bit of pinball. Go check out Wormhole Pinball. And I think the episode, I think it's 30, episode 30. And it just says like Jason from the pinball party or something like that. So if you're not sick of listening to me, which I am, go check that out at Wormhole Pinball. Well, it is Thursday, June 6th, a fine morning, 745 a.m. Coffee time. I figured let's hit record. I've been struggling with what do we talk about? no new games, rumors. Eh. Eh. It's one of those times where it's just kind of a lull. Definitely a summer lull in pinball, but that's per usual. So what we're going to do in this unplanned episode is we're going to fill it in ourselves. That's what she said. Again, it's too easy. That's what... Yeah. All right. We are going to go to knapparcade.com, Nap Arcade, Jason Nap, and he's going to make part of this episode for us. Let's see what's in the noobs. And I haven't been paying attention for about a week. So, yeah, okay. Well, I will say, and I haven't listened to other podcasts or anything, which is good. I've gotten a lot of texts from random people about American pinball doing not great. From multi-angle. And surprise, right? It sucks because I love Hot Wheels. First and foremost, I love pinball. And second, I actually really like Hot Wheels a lot. And I don't wish anyone in this hobby to be not doing great, whether it's pinball or media or myself or anyone. But, you know, at some point it becomes kind of humorous, right? Like, what are you doing? So I'm scrolling down to the old What's Next for American Pinball in the old NAP Arcade. And yeah, Cuphead, right? I, Cuphead is awesome Steamboat Willie style animation video game, full stop. Should it be in pinball? If pinball was as popular as, like, video games or even came close, sure. And I applaud the, like, the get of, like, that is a really cool idea. But even, I think, if Stern made Cuphead, I don't know how well it would do. It doesn't matter. It's not a knock against American Pinball in their license choice. Okay, no, maybe it is. It's not their ability to make the game, because even though Galactic Tank Force is bad, it's still kind of solidly made, kind of. There's no good way to really wrap up that whole thing, the sentence that I've gotten myself into, of trying to skirt the line between no insult to the people working on American Pinball games. god damn some of them are so beautiful and solid as a rock but it's just the trajectory lately from gtf to barbecue to to the the persistent news of you know are they gonna sell are they not gonna sell what's aim chan doing are they gonna sell are they gonna ipo and all yeah yeah so uh that's what american pinball is up to same as always um let's see iconic pinball location moms M-O-M's, organic, finds a new home, planetary pinball, shares details. Can I skip that? Thank you. Not because anything against him or throwing shade, to use a newer vernacular, but it just doesn't, I have no commentary. All right. Another run of medieval madness finally coming. Haggis not quite dead yet. Man, okay, no drama, but here comes the Haggis stuff, right? I have a strange aversion to talking about this because my little baby, my little sweetheart, Meth, part of him is kind of part of Haggis in a way, the Marty side of Meth. So if Meth would not be here without Marty and out of respect for that, I'm going to not touch the Haggis thing with a 10-foot pole. so medieval madness though they are well there's a tease that there's going to be a new run of medieval madness which was initially teased for like what's the beginning of 2023 or even 2024 a long time ago medieval madness have you heard of it very popular game long story short here is it's tentatively going to be brought back sooner rather than later and that is a great thing instead of making a bunch of new games just keep pumping out medieval madnesses and attack from mars and to a lesser extent monster bashes i know a lot of people who would buy the the former two medieval madness and attack from mars you shitting me like maybe not even three trims just make the medium trim uh what is it limited uh special edition you know the wider color dmd it's a No-brainer. The flippers don't feel great, at least on Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars. From playing them myself, they don't feel the same. They for sure don't. Monster Bash, I haven't really noticed much of a difference. So I would hope that that was software-related and some sort of latency, and that would be fixed in the Medieval Madness upcoming run, rumored, it looks like. Hmm. We shall see. But that would be great. Medieval Madness is just one of those Donkey Kong Marios of pinball that, like, say what you will. Oh, it's not as complex as it is today. Yeah, true. Either is Mario. But Mario is fun regardless. Getting done playing Elden Ring and the DLC and Jesus and all that, you still want to play a little Mario. Or at least I do. All right, moving on up. What's been going on in pinball? American pinball has become public. Okay. clues about upcoming John Wick topper from pinball. We are really digging deep into like, who cares? Not Jason, not who cares to what you're writing about, but man, like pinball toppers. Are we really doing this in like right now's market while pinball prices are going down, even new stuff? And like, but let's still buy toppers or like let's make toppers for games that aren't selling that great as well. I don't, I feel like that whole little club is dying fast. Pinball is already a niche and it's a powerful niche. And then the topper thing is a niche. But during COVID, sure. When like pinball machines themselves held value to a certain extent. Don't go in your head, you assholes of like, oh no, Jason, don't think of it as an investment. Shut up. Shut up. Don't let that get in your head. Just continue on. All right, relax. When pinball held their value surprisingly for a couple years, or at least maintained the majority of it, toppers, okay, yeah, you want to really pimp out your collection thing. You want to pet your prize and do this and have all these extra $1,000 to $3,000 things on top of your machine that you look at kind of once in a while and then you regret. You do regret it after a while. or only a couple of your machines have it so then you have to have more toppers. You can get super neurotic there and then you can go listen to podcasts and then tell them how to do their job because you're a huge fan and you're too deep in it and you start regretting all the money you have into it so you're trying to find joy elsewhere and then you find joy from bringing other people down because you have a lot of money and you're white and you assume because you can afford a pinball machine that your opinion matters to someone else because you have more money and yeah, we can go down that road. But I think some of that has passed of the pinball values going down toppers like tossing on another couple grand that is not even in the ballpark of let's say my mindset as a consumer who is um in this pinball hobby deep again deep enough to do a podcast so i and i've bought and sold and traded many machines to do this. I've owned two toppers. Two toppers. One was a Stranger Things topper because it just came with the game. I didn't buy it separately. I was like, okay. And then I sold it immediately. Within two hours. Got it home. Great. Sold it. Second one was The Walking Dead. And that was the only one that I was like, you know, I want that topper. Because I had a Walking Dead premium, the whole fish tank vibe was there and um the topper was from someone somewhat local knew him good deal not a steal but a good deal you know so i was like why not let's let's be an asshole for a bit and buy a topper i'll be one of those guys i got it and within a day i was like yeah ah what the hell did i do why what's wrong with me and it yeah it it brought not even close to the amount of joy that it cost. So I sold it. Now, toppers for like Foo Fighters was the last kind of... Well okay No let take the most popular game Godzilla Topper comes out Hilarious right The making fun of that topper topper was the best Where someone had that shitty toy and a Kleenex coming out of his mouth To me, that is worth way more money than the topper that actually came out. I actually like the topper that came out. Don't get me wrong. But the price to all this is the crux. Same with pinball. Like, if that Godzilla topper was like $300, fuck yeah. Or at least much closer to F yeah there. Because, yeah, I mean, you're already spending $6,000 to $10,000 on the game. What's a couple hundred bucks? Sure, I'll give you that. Like a shooter rod? Well, certain shooter rods like the Amber shooter rod in Jurassic Park, which is money. Yes, a couple hundred bucks for something that actually just seems right. Yeah, when it's not forced. So the money for a topper should be a very accessory price. But as much as I love Foo Fighters and as much as impressive as that topper is, for $2,000, are you effing kidding me? What is happening? Why? Don't do that. Don't make mistakes with your money. Or, hey, actually, I'm not trying to tell you what to do. I'm telling myself, don't make mistakes with your money. So I don't. and to see like John Wick like oh a topper news coming who show me who is buying these aside from a couple of the LE people and even that is niche so the two people that bought John Wick LEs who just lost $4,000 mistake of those two people one of the two people will buy a topper and no one will care so we're going to make all these toppers we're going to sell one total and we're spending how much money on rnd manufacturing scheduling uh creation shipping me talking about it in the grand scheme of life before ai takes over from the dawn of time big bang god pick your poison to now this is happening we're making a john wick topper for a pinball machine. So when aliens in the quadrillion years in the future look back, someone, some little asshole, like myself, doing research on Earth's history, will notice this and be like, what the fuck? And they'll show their friend like, lol, look at what the humans did in 2024. You know, and they'll... If right now the news cycle is like 24 hours, then it'll be like 10 seconds. So for like 10 seconds in this, it's worth it, right? In 10 seconds in the severely distant future, some aliens or future AI will look back at this and be like, that's fucking hilarious. And then they'll move on. So is that worth what we're doing? I don't know. Maybe. If I look at it from that context, humor for future sentient beings, worth it. Okay. Topper Day Part 2. God damn it. Details on Stern's upcoming Jaws Topper. At least this one may be slightly more popular than John Wick. But as someone who has owned Jaws and then sold it and, my God, the market, it's not really that popular. And not a lot of people love it, including myself. I liked it a little bit quick. And then, like, it's a solid game. But it's, you know, I think the heydays of, like, oh, my God, these things are the second best thing of all time. Nah. All right. Let's look at this. Yeah, he's also talking about how he doesn't own toppers. Okay, keep telling myself that drop ceilings in my basement are too low for toppers. Okay, Julian Dick Hamill is back this time with analysis of the code in Stern's Pinball Jaws. All right, so we're getting this from code in, yeah, a little deep code. So beyond the fact that the topper is a billboard that is lighting and that it can be set to work in a track mode, the code doesn't provide a lot of information. However, wait, we now know that the two toppers node boards are mentioned in Jaws instruction manual specifically mentions a billboard topper and a shark attack topper. God, who cares? Oh, yeah, I just don't care. Toppers, come on. Okay. Two days ago, Stern Pinball to release Jaws accessories within the next week. I have it on very good authority that Stern Pinball is scheduled to reveal its official topper, singular, and other accessories for Jaws Pinball within the next week. Well, that's pretty exciting. And I mean that. At least it's very close to release this time. Where Foo Fighters, man, you should have... I mean, Expression Lights, incredible. Should have done it much sooner. Yeah, despite the mention of two node boards for the game that this previous post, let's just skip all that. It'll be one topper. It'll be simpler than the Black Knight Sword of Rage and Foo Fighters options. Official accessories to be released same time as a topper. Okay. And he notes, it's interesting that the Jaws topper has somehow passed the Venom topper in release order. Is it? I mean, sure, but that game, you know, it's Venom. So, you know, again, they'll sell one just like the John Wick. Jaws, at least, is by Keith Elwin and at least has that going for it. All right. Just 24 hours ago, Dutch Pinball Exclusive teases upcoming Alice in Wonderland pinball. All right. This morning, Dutch Pinball's officially confirmed the first title from its new subsidiary, Dutch Pinball exclusive, DPX, will be based upon the paper pinball mock-up that John Papadiuk created at his failed company, Zidware, Alice in Wonderland. Despite Papaduke's inability to bring any games to market with Zidware, many people fell in love with the black and white art that renowned pinball artist Zombie Yeti created for the original mock-up. Melvin Brower Williams took the game's original paper layout and created a playable game out of it. DPX stated it would reveal the game during the third quarter of this year. Okay. Here's the quote. It is with great pleasure and excitement that we officially announce our new title from DPX Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. For some time now, rumors have been circulating, but we can confirm that this highly anticipated game is indeed Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Some may be familiar with the original concept design by John Papadiuk, initially named Alice in Wonderland. Okay, so they took it from Alice in Wonderland to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Okay. This game has evolved from a paper concept into an extraordinary pinball machine. It features hand-sculpted playfield plastics as opposed to machine-sculpted, so that means I'll buy, right? God, who cares? Richly colored playfields. Laser-finished ball guides. Yeah. I prefer when lasers finish my ball guides. I don't know about you, so this guy's talking my language. Or girl. And a stunning interactive sculpted topper. God fucking damn it. Jesus! Okay, we offer not just a pinball machine, but a piece of art for your home. That I buy, actually. Yeah, so it's designed and engineered by Melvin Brower. Brewer? Apologies if I'm getting that name wrong. Hyphen Williams. More information will be revealed in the coming months. Join Alice on her wonderful adventure and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. Fuck yeah, dude. While we are not accepting orders of deposit this time, you can contact your preferred distributor to be added to the wait list. Okay, so I hope... Oh, no, I know. Wait, Dutch Pinball? Yeah, flipping out you handling that shit? Because if you're going to reach out to your preferred distributor, I know who I'm going to reach out to. From toppers, arm-wrestling, to me, I've got it figured out. Flip N Out Pinball, figured out. When I take a pinball, I think Flip N Out Pinball. Flip N Out Pinball, figured out. When I buy, buy, buy, I buy from Flip N Out Pinball. Buy, buy, buy! Flippin' Bird Pinball, run by Zach and his numerous family affiliates. Order, buy, buy, buy, trade in, get good deals, get free shipping, deal with people who don't suck balls, and all that good stuff. And specifically on Alice in Wonderland, for me, this is one of the most exciting themes in pinball since I've gotten into it, like buying and doing the stupid crazy stuff. One of the most. In the top five, for sure, themes. Very much partially due to the inspiration in The Matrix quite a bit. of Alice in Wonderland. You know, it's the, even though it's obvious just to say it because I want to say it. Alice in Wonderland is just a practice in life outside of this physical realm of just like day-to-day expectations. You know, it's a mind-bending, expand your perception of reality. And I love that. That is, that's my shit. And that's a lot of yours. And that's awesome. so that it's going to be a pinball theme is bananas awesome yeah I have a white rabbit tattoo on my arm so maybe again that would be like well okay I like it enough to be I like it enough to permanently alter my human body which is it's weird to say that you know what they say and it sucks I shouldn't say it and I think about it sometimes when I first got my first tattoo the tattoo artist or someone was like you know just kind of a warning there is some people who like regret a tattoo so much that they like you know it's like psychologically they can't stop like thinking about it or scratching they want to rip their skin off and like okay fuck me Jesus man like so sometimes that creeps in my head of like oh my god am I going to give myself an anxiety attack because of what I've done to my body and the tattoo I don't side tangent but yeah Alice in Wonderland, man by ditch, Dutch pinball. That's, you know, I would rather it from them than, let's say, American pinball, you know? So that's cool. John Papadiuk designed, I mean, okay, say what you will, but I'll just say that's still got some positive parts to it. I'm very excited to see where this goes. The art alone incredible The theme so yes pinball sells better in very popular licensed themes yes that being said this is one of the most exciting themes to me for sure um and looking at the paper playfield when you look at it it's got the vibe man aside from the art the kind of curvy spirally oh it really looks cool so please contact flippin bird pinball to get on the super advanced wait list um i wonder how these are going to be priced you know what are they going to do man this screams boutique to me but like the correct boutique you know not like the shitty boutique not like i know that barbecue is just it's not a boutique but like that's like what you know This is a little more, yeah. Anyway, I'm very excited for Alice in Wonderland and for everyone else who is excited as well. I feel you. Let's get this done. Not that we're going to do anything, but now we feel like we're part of a team. What else is going on? Oh, okay. Nine hours ago. I like the image here. the image here is the poster of the very first harry potter movie the philosopher's stone or sorcerer's stone depending on how you want to get down so i'm just going to read this one straight up because that what is going on here entitled the late night big news post jjp's next game american basically confirms what's on deck and more okay here we go well i jason nap this has come from him i'm just reading it thanks jason nap go check out nap arcade.com this is where all this is coming from. I'm just stealing his shit. Well, I was about to go to bed and all of a sudden I stumbled across a ton of cool pinball news. So I'll stay up a bit longer to share with everyone. I appreciate it because you're helping this podcast happen. First up, we have Jersey Jack Pinball. I just spoke with one of the most knowledgeable pinball people I know. And according to what they told me, Jersey Jack Pinball's next game is indeed Harry Potter. Oh God, that's so good. It's been rumored that JJP has the theme locked up for a long time now. However, since Joe Kamikow spilled the beans many months ago, this confirmation that I just received jibes. Jibes? I'll say it. Jibes with what Canada's Pinball Podcast has been saying this week as well. In addition to the fact that JGP Next Game is heavily rumored to be Harry Potter, I've also been hearing the game is actually based on the films and not just the Wizarding World, as many as myself, including, has expected. Man, this is... There's things I know that I'm just not saying here, but I'm... You know, some of these things are lining up. Lastly, I also heard today that Eric Minier may be the designer of J.J.P.'s next game, not Mark Seiden. Mark's game is still in the works for sure, but Minier may be next in the release order. As always, I will add a disclaimer here that none of this is official news from J.J.P. It is based on rumors that I've heard from knowledgeable sources and years on my part of sifting through competitive intelligence. Nothing is 100%, but my batting average here has been pretty good. Wee-woo, that's a lot of stuff, but that's not all. Why not lump all of today's news into one post? Okay, I'm going to talk about the Harry Potter in a second. I just finished listening to the June episode of the Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast. Link below. In it, David Fix basically confirmed that He-Man... Wait, He-Man Masters of the Universe is the game that the company is working on for after Cuphead. Damn it. I love He-Man, so like, damn it. He also stated that renowned artist Christopher Franchi is doing the art for He-Man. Okay, well, there we go. Christopher Franchi has incredible art. So that is a, that is wonderful. It's hard for me to explain how, at midnight, how I got that from this interview, but trust me, I'm 100% positive now. Okay. David Fix also stated that the layout for Burial's Barbecue Challenge will be used as a white label game for other themes. Okay. I'm going to, okay. Okay. I just got to get some sleep. All right. Harry Potter. So what do I know that I can not burn bridges? that would line up let me just say that I'll use very vague terms as well from reliable sources that I know, I do know that the game that he is referencing whether it's the next game or the one that's either Matrix or Harry Potter I do know that it is a multi-film game and that is from a yeah just like he's saying I'll just double down on a very reliable source so in my head and sometimes verbiage Harry Potter or Matrix is kind of what fits the bill of some of these some of these things um yeah and with with that you know Joe Kamikow kind of spoiling the like hey they do have it and all that prior um that lines up as well with with some of this um and uh yeah that is what this hobby needs is an injection of a theme like this where you know stern's marketing of like bringing in um what's the guy's name ralph retro well retro well people like that you know outside of the industry of of who have a lot of followers and all that and spend time and side note i i don't spend time doing the social media stuff like i should i I guess, to grow this because I just I hate social media and I hate it. So if anyone ever wants to help, I guess, with the pinball party, social media and grow this more and do stuff. Sure. I'm not going to do it because I hate it. I got to get a divvy out things, delegate. But anyway, Stern's thing of getting all that media outside interest and like, hey, get in outside of pinball. Get these influencers for John Wick. nah okay yeah the sentiment is good but uh harry potter will do that harry potter most definitely will bring people outside of the pinball world into the pinball world just like star wars does star wars very much and turtles um i have many firsthand experiences of people outside of pinball wanting to get into pinball because of the teenage mutant ninja turtles theme where I've told them, like, don't get into pinball in that game. You will hate it. I love the theme, and I think the game, I'm polar. It's a one or it's awesome. It's, whew. But Harry Potter, Harry Potter fans, including myself, like, it is a fantastic story. It is a fantastic set of movies. It is a fantastic set of books. you add all that up and for us pinball and you give it to the correct company to make it who will treat it like it should be treated like a Wizard of Oz or a Hobbit or you know Flippers and Widebody all that kind of little small stuff aside JJP destroys it when it comes to theme and World Under Glass in a good way they give you what you want and I like as awesome as Stern is and they are they have great flipper feel and they're the fuck they're like the rock and roll pinball it's it's obviously great but there's always a little bit of jank even in the best it's a little jank but it's good jank but it's a little jank um now jjp does have their own things not to say that they're perfect but jank is not one of them it's always like wow and then you have to look for the jank and a little bit of stuff um and i think they would know how expensive this license would be to get that all right let's not let's not fuck around this is let's let's let's give this our all let's do it and and it will pay super dividends oh my god if you know if all this is true um and it would line up better than muppets that's for sure um Yeah, so going back to the, it's a good story, it's a good set of movies, it's a good set of books. Yeah, some people are too old and they're like, oh, Harry Potter. Okay, I get it. But some of us were in the right age at the right time where it came out. And for me, my introduction into Harry Potter where I, because I was, I mean, I was at least in my late teens, right? I need to actually look when, specifically Prisoner of Azkaban. Well, so the film specifically, 2004. So how old was I? I was 21. So, you know, The Sorcerer's Stone, at least from a movie standpoint, was a little like kiddie to me. And I hadn't seen it. And I was like, what is it? You know, it's a little bit. But I still like, I like adventure. I like Star Wars. I like Lord of the Rings. It was adjacent, you know. And that was the time where people would stand in line at like Borders Books and obsess over this and look forward to the next release. So there was at least like a curiosity of like, all right, I will check out what this is. and I saw Prisoner of Azkaban. I mean, my memory is a little shit on this, but I vaguely remember it being my introduction to Harry Potter, full stop, was not the books. It was Prisoner of Azkaban, the movie. And for those who know the books or the movie, that is where it takes a little more of a mature turn for me in a fantastic way. And I thought it was a great movie. And I saw it with, I think I saw it with my wife. um, wait, I didn't know her then. No, no, no, I did not know her. Um, but I saw it. That's what we introduced each or I introduced her to it with prisoner of Azkaban. Anyway, I saw prisoner of Azkaban. I was like, okay, that's cool. I went back, um, and watched the first one and then the second one as you do. And yeah, the first one is still very kiddy and like, all right, it's a little cringy, but it very much stayed true to the book. And then the second one and, uh, um, goblet of fire, the mullets kind of got me, But the story was good. And when I got to Order of the Phoenix, I remember my wife and I would watch that on repeat in our home theater, the projector, just because it was when I built the first one. And, you know, the cinematography was pretty great in that. And you could see the turn of the story and the pieces starting to fit of where it's going. And yeah, and then I at that point, I listened to all the audio books by Jim Dale while I was painting that summer. I remember very vividly and the books are great. Um, and with Jim Dale, man, he fucking kills it. So and I remember getting to you know the point of like all right I I watched order the Phoenix the movies of half Prince and deathly hollows Um we not out Do I do it Do I just listen to listen to the books And yeah I had to I had to know what happened because I was like at the edge of my seat You know, it's such a great story. Man, it's rare that the book, the story is great. The books are great. The movies are great. Of course, there's people that they could have done some of this better in the movies. And yeah, you'll always have that. But at the end of the day, the averages, they did a great job with the movies. To nitpick, Half-Blood Prince, they should have done a lot more with Tom Marvolo. God damn it. Tom Marvolo, you know what I mean? All the backstory that Dumbledore and Harry travel back to all the time to see the real, like, why Voldemort is the way he is. Yeah, Tom Marvolo gaunt and all that stuff. They didn't touch that really at all in the Half-Blood Prince movie. So Harry Potter podcast some other time. Maybe we'll do an all Harry Potter deep dive when this gets announced. I hope it does, my God. So yeah, Harry Potter, J.J.P., a possibility. And another reason in this market that's slowing down in pinball to save money for like don't spend it on John Wick and lose your ass when you sell it. When Harry Potter might come out. Or the Metallica remake. Much better things to come. And, man, Harry Potter. Please, J.J.P., Ken, come on. Let's do that, please. All right, since I'm running out of nap arcade stuff to talk about, let's take a quick peek at the old pin side, the toxic hellhole of all of this and see how prices are doing. Oh, people are listing their old Metallicas. Surprise, surprise, right? Okay, prices. Oh, man, they're still going down. Things aren't selling. Gross. Yeah, I mean, now's a good time to buy if you want to buy games to a certain extent or maybe don't because... they're still going down. I know from looking at a lot of, at least a couple weeks ago when I was paying more attention. If you want a Simpsons pinball party, I've never seen prices this good comparatively on Simpsons pinball party. Of course, it's been when the market was like years and years ago. Yes, but, or an Ultraman. An Ultraman, when you want an Ultraman, they're basically free. If you want an Ultraman, here's a great way to fish for an Ultraman. List any game, any game, and put like, oh, willing to trade, you will get an Ultraman offer for sure. Hey, would you take an Ultraman plus a million dollars in cash? Hey, would you take an Ultraman? Hey, would you take an Ultraman? Here's the offers you're going to get. Hey, just checking in. I know this is not in your trade list. Seeing if you want an Ultraman plus cash. You'll get that. Hey, I know this wasn't on your trade list, but I have a Led Zeppelin Pro plus cash. You have any interest? Yeah, no. Hey, I have a Venom Premium. Seeing if you're looking to trade. You want any interest on that? No. Hey, I know this wasn't on your trade list, but I have an AIQ Pro. So you'll get those offers, and then you either ignore them or you say, no thanks, because I didn't put that on there. Like I'm new to pinball, I'm like, oh, Ultraman. Oh, yeah, maybe I'll have some interest in Ultraman. That's a great game. Let me get on that. There's a great deal on Hot Wheels for $5,200 OBO, so probably $4,800 in this market. you can get out of New Jersey that looks tasty Foo Fighters unfortunately is still down in the high 7's 8 and that unfortunately I want it to level off so I can buy one I miss that game so much there's still no Iron Man Vaults anywhere that's a game I would really like to be playing right now yeah it's a good price for a game it's a lot of fun for a brief time Iron Man vault. Remake those, but don't charge seven grand. Charge six grand and just sell a few of them. All right, let's take a quick look at the top few. What's in the forum here? Yeah, okay, Jurassic Park movie code update. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. Elton John hype thread, Next American pinball. Ugh, boring, boring. Stern distributors in full panic mode with John Wayne. I guess yeah um that's funny that's a i like this so let's click on that um and let's see what all these toxic posts are about let's scroll to the last page um okay no post in five hours has the panic finally been brought under control i was thinking the same thing the crowd must have moved on to new thread flavor of the week uh here we go uh pinball prices am i right guys limited additions. What's the deal with that? Warehouse is filled with unsold machines. Don't make me laugh. Anyone? Hello? Ever noticed there are no guns on the art of John Wick? Pokemon? Car market is like pinball market. Yeah, they're just looking to stir the pot. Yeah. Again, why I haven't been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks and things are dying down and that's why the John Wick thing was such a, oh my god, wasn't much going on. So, to wrap up this kind of podcast and I got to get going, do my thing, and thanks everyone for joining. We went through a bunch of news. American Pinball, still going down. Just, whatever, doing their thing. They have He-Man, Christopher Franchi on art. Amazing. Let's hope it goes back to the Hot Wheels way of doing things. Skip Cuphead and go to He-Man. fucking age. Do it. That could bring you back. I'm looking forward to He-Man because it's He-Man. I know Rachel Bess is as well and apologies that it's American Pinball instead of Stern because actually He-Man would fit Stern's brand and everything so well or even Spooky's to be honest. American Pinball just doesn't have any through line. It's just kind of scatter shot. A little of this, a little of barbecue, a little Galactic Tank Force, Hot Wheels. I don't fucking know. What's working? Nothing? Just keep going. I don't know. Um, toppers. We talked a lot about toppers and what the hell, what the hell? That's just a rhetorical. What the hell with toppers? Stop. Just stop it. Um, stop. And last but not least, but most exciting Harry Potter possibility. The things we know, um, a multi-film game is coming. Very reliable sources are saying, in fact, it is Harry Potter. and not only that it's the movies my god that would yes let's end on that let's hope for the future the Jersey Jack pinball a friend of the shows a friend of ours a maker of some of the most fantastic games out there most beautiful games out there most expensive yes but on something like Harry Potter ok sure make it an expensive awesome game we will buy it and that's a game where like, hey, the code isn't finished yet. That's fine. It's Harry Potter. Just keep it coming. You know, oh, we've got the first three movies in. Cool. Give us a new movie every month. I don't care. It's Harry Potter. Amazing. Let me put it in my living room. My whole family, my kids, my cousins, everyone will want to play it because it's fucking Harry Potter. My God. All right. Thanks for joining everyone. Have a great rest of the week and some deep dives coming soon. Thanks to all the listeners, the Patreon subscribers. if you want to join Patreon please do paid or free is fine paid you'll get access to the deep dives and some other stuff but it really is a good community to just chat about pinball or of you know similar pinball fans that are listening here because I don't spend a lot of time on Facebook because it's Facebook you know and or Instagram or any social media because it's just bad it's bad for mental health it's just it's trash so Patreon is where we kind of have the most interaction between each other. We used to do the Discord thing. We might go back to Discord right in and let me know what you think, but I just want to avoid Facebook and all the... It's like this, for real. When I'm on Facebook, which I rarely am because I don't like it, I never feel good mentally or even physically. I get done with it, whatever it is I'm doing. It doesn't feel good, honestly, for real. I don't like it. Same with Instagram. You get in those scrolling things and you're just like what am i doing i don't feel good when i'm on patreon for some reason well probably because it's just really dedicated to like it's the people that listen to this um so we have similar likes or dislikes of course there's like disagreements don't get me wrong with different people but it's like you're actively there to talk to this not just the human condition thrown in a very wide like science experiment facebook or whatever and just like go. And it's just, there's some good, but there's so much bad and there's so much pompous and there's so much toxicity. There's so much. I block so many people all the time. I'm not going to listen to that. I'm not going to. I don't have time. I want to enjoy this. So, long story short, if you want to join the Pinball Party community, join us on Patreon, patreon.com slash pinball party. Yes, there's some paid tiers, which you can get access to additional content. People love it. And you can get stickers and stuff like that but even just to hang out and talk to some awesome people get advice on games either from us or opinions and just talk about pinball in a very safe environment there is no toxic anything allowed get the fuck out of here the instant that happens you're gone it but yeah no one who joined has done anything but that's kind of the that is the thing there um yeah come join thanks for listening everyone out there we'll talk to you later Thank you.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f4d03f7a-0671-4154-97c8-0a33a0b185d5*