# DPP #97 "Anyone wanna buy a pinball company?"

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2024-01-25  
**Duration:** 26m 9s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/donspinballpodcast/episodes/DPP-97-Anyone-wanna-buy-a-pinball-company-e2etbpq

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## Analysis

Don discusses the bombshell rumor that Ametron is seeking a buyer for American Pinball, analyzing the company's production challenges, marketing missteps, and financial viability. He also covers Spooky's new interactive Scooby-Doo topper with code updates, Stern's Jaws supply chain delays, upcoming Cornerstone releases (including potential Raiders of the Lost Ark), and Texas Pinball Festival plans.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Ametron is looking for a buyer for American Pinball — _Kale from Pinball Party Podcast texted Don about this rumor; Don notes this is unverified but makes logical sense given the company's output levels._
- [HIGH] American Pinball's goal was to make 300 games per year, while Spooky makes 300 per quarter — _Don cites David Fix's public statement about AP's production targets and contrasts with known Spooky output._
- [MEDIUM] Stern encountered supply chain delays from Chinese factory, reducing Premium production from expected 1500 units to only a few hundred — _Don spoke with multiple distributors who reported receiving 30% of expected inventory for Jaws Premium._
- [HIGH] Stern is returning to three Cornerstone releases per year cadence — _Don states this as official from Stern with Jaws in January, another expected May-June, and fall release._
- [LOW] Raiders of the Lost Ark is being considered/rumored as the next Stern Cornerstone Indiana Jones title — _Don heard whispers of this alongside D&D, John Wick, and Pokemon; marks speculation about which Indy film would be chosen._
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Scooby-Doo toppers are ready to ship 'this week' — _Don spoke with Spooky and reports toppers shipping soon; game releases within weeks pending final resin sculpts from Back Alley Creations._
- [HIGH] American Pinball's $16,000 Galactic Tank Force Signature Edition included a refillable pint glass and thermos now sold separately for $30 — _Don directly observed the pricing disconnect between LE exclusive items and later standalone sales, citing poor marketing/product decisions._

### Notable Quotes

> "Would any of you like to purchase a pinball company?"
> — **Don**, Opening
> _Attention-grabbing headline for the episode's main news item about American Pinball being for sale._

> "Spooky makes 300 games a quarter right... and then they're spooky right... part of a consortium from a larger company right this Ametron... they've got production facilities in every time zone around the world right like they're huge"
> — **Don**, Mid-episode
> _Establishes context for why American Pinball's lower production volume is problematic compared to competitors._

> "I would say by May or June, we'll get another title. And then that gives us time to have another fall release so that by the time we get back to January 2025, there'll be another Cornerstone ready."
> — **Don**, Late episode
> _Confirms Stern's three-per-year Cornerstone release schedule and anticipated timing._

> "Raiders of the Lost Ark started it all... It's got the crumbling temple with the angry temple idol... Jock Lindsay is flying the float plane with the tag numbers of C-3PO. Come on. This is the film."
> — **Don**, Near end
> _Passionate speculation about Raiders of the Lost Ark as ideal Indiana Jones pinball IP; demonstrates fan enthusiasm for specific theme selection._

> "The bookcase mechanism, clever little rack and pinion design system with one of those kind of more robust servo motors... plays little clips... Not that you can see it as the player, but like my wife was sitting there watching cartoons while I was playing."
> — **Don**, Spooky section
> _Details the technical execution and appeal of the interactive Scooby-Doo topper beyond gameplay._

> "If what's in my head materializes in this dimension, it's going to knock your socks completely off."
> — **Don**, Texas Pinball Festival section
> _Teases unannounced Texas Pinball Festival giveaway/event plans; builds anticipation for community engagement._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| American Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer reportedly seeking a buyer via parent company Ametron; produces Hot Wheels, Galactic Tank Force, and other original IP games. |
| Ametron | company | Parent company/consortium of American Pinball with global circuit board manufacturing facilities; seeking buyer for American Pinball subsidiary. |
| Don | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; independent observer analyzing industry trends, owns Scooby-Doo topper and has Jaws Premium on order. |
| David Fix | person | Manager at American Pinball; publicly stated company's goal of 300 games/year and focus on quality playfield treatment. |
| Kale | person | Co-host of Pinball Party Podcast who texted Don the American Pinball/Ametron buyer news. |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer shipping interactive Scooby-Doo toppers with servo-driven bookcase mechanism and improved code; has Looney Tunes and TCM in production. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer experiencing supply chain delays on Jaws Premium; committed to three Cornerstone releases per year. |
| Jaws (Stern) | game | January 2024 Cornerstone release; experiencing supply constraints reducing Premium production; Don has Premium on order for March delivery. |
| Venom (Stern) | game | Recent release overproduced for demand; LE versions available under $10k on secondary market. |
| Back Alley Creations | company | Sculptor/supplier of resin-cast toppers for Spooky games; holding final painted 3D sculpts pending shipment. |
| Raiders of the Lost Ark | game | Rumored potential next Stern Cornerstone Indiana Jones title; Don speculates enthusiastically about this IP choice. |
| Pokemon | game | Rumored potential Stern Cornerstone title; Don expresses strong desire for this game with Jack Danger and Zombie Yeti involvement. |
| Dungeons and Dragons | game | Rumored potential Stern Cornerstone title mentioned alongside John Wick and Pokemon. |
| Barry's Food Truck | game | American Pinball original IP title coming next; expected to appear at Texas Pinball Festival. |
| Scooby-Doo (Spooky) | game | Spooky Collector's Edition with interactive bookcase topper; recent code update praised for video mode unlock satisfaction. |
| Texas Pinball Festival | event | Upcoming event where Don will have booth co-sponsored with Balls of Steel Pinball; location for Barry's Food Truck reveal anticipated. |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer; Don tags him for potential Pokemon designer role alongside Zombie Yeti. |
| Zombie Yeti | person | Stern art department head; Don proposes as potential designer for Pokemon Cornerstone title. |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist whose decorated lunchbox sold separately for $30; referenced regarding American Pinball marketing decisions. |
| Galactic Tank Force | game | American Pinball title with confusing marketing, $16k Signature Edition that included items later sold separately, utilized SAG actors and production flying for video shoots. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** American Pinball sale/buyer search, Production volume and capacity constraints, Stern supply chain delays (Jaws Premium), Spooky interactive toppers and code updates, Stern 2024 Cornerstone release schedule
- **Secondary:** Rumored upcoming game titles (Raiders, Pokemon, D&D, John Wick), Texas Pinball Festival announcements and events
- **Mentioned:** Twippy Awards ceremony details

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.55) — Don expresses concern about American Pinball's viability but maintains optimistic outlook on broader industry. He is enthusiastic about Spooky's topper technology and Jaws gameplay, though critical of Venom production decisions. Speculatively excited about potential Cornerstone titles, especially Raiders of the Lost Ark.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** American Pinball's production volume (targeting 300/year) insufficient to sustain operations; suspected high marketing spend as percentage of revenue makes profitability questionable. (confidence: medium) — Don observes factory videos show low activity compared to Stern; David Fix cites 300/year goal while Spooky makes 300/quarter; marketing budget analysis suggests unfavorable business model.
- **[business_signal]** Ametron seeking buyer for American Pinball subsidiary indicates parent company divesting from pinball manufacturing venture. (confidence: medium) — Kale from Pinball Party Podcast reported via text that Ametron is looking for buyer; rumor released to podcast audience but not yet officially confirmed.
- **[sentiment_shift]** Strong enthusiast interest in Pokemon pinball; Don advocates enthusiastically for Jack Danger and Zombie Yeti as designers, indicating community preference for specific designer/IP pairings. (confidence: low) — Don: 'Jack Danger, Pokemon, Zombie Yeti, make it happen. Make it happen. I want that game. I want that game.'
- **[market_signal]** Venom LE machines available under $10k on secondary market, indicating overproduction relative to demand; Stern should move toward Jaws Premium model to avoid similar oversupply. (confidence: high) — Don observed 'if you wanted to get out and dress up your arcade... pick yourself up an LE for under 10 grand right now' and contrasts with earlier full pricing.
- **[market_signal]** American Pinball's marketing strategy fails on LE tier differentiation; $16k Signature Edition items (pint glass, thermos) later sold for $30 standalone, undermining scarcity/exclusivity value proposition. (confidence: high) — Don directly observed and critiques the pricing strategy: 'weird decisions like $16,000 signature edition has a refillable pint glass and an exclusive thermos, which now is available for I think 30 bucks.'
- **[announcement]** Spooky preparing to ship Scooby-Doo toppers within days; Looney Tunes and TCM CE games within weeks pending final resin sculpts from Back Alley Creations. (confidence: high) — Don spoke with Spooky directly: 'they have the toppers ready to ship here pretty soon' and 'sounds like they're waiting for those to put in the games, and then the first ones will start to go out.'
- **[product_strategy]** Stern Jaws Premium experiencing significant supply chain delays from Chinese factory; production reduced to 'a few hundred' units instead of expected 1500 in 2.5 weeks. (confidence: medium) — Don spoke with multiple distributors reporting receipt of ~30% of expected inventory; attributable to supply line issues from China factory.
- **[product_strategy]** Spooky Scooby-Doo interactive bookcase topper successfully integrating servo-driven mechanism with code updates; model for potential future collector edition enhancements on other titles. (confidence: high) — Don tested topper extensively: 'The bookcase mechanism, clever little rack and pinion design system... comes on... when you trigger one of the villain attack modes... stays open for the rest of the game.'
- **[product_strategy]** Stern committing to three Cornerstone releases annually (Jaws Jan, next ~May-June, fall 2024) establishing predictable release cadence. (confidence: high) — Don cites official Stern statement: 'they're back to the production schedule and pace and cadence of doing three Cornerstone releases per year.'
- **[rumor_hype]** Multiple rumors circulating about next Stern Cornerstone titles: Dungeons & Dragons, John Wick, Pokemon, and Raiders of the Lost Ark (for Indiana Jones IP). (confidence: low) — Don heard 'whispers from multiple places, you know, and kind of being consistent' regarding D&D, John Wick, Pokemon; separate whisper about 'Raiders of the Lost Ark.'
- **[business_signal]** Supply constraints on Jaws Premium may be artificially maintaining demand and secondary market pricing; Don acknowledges uncertainty but notes positive effect for Stern's resale market. (confidence: low) — Don speculates 'I'm not totally convinced that Stern is artificially limiting supply... but if they truly did run into some production delays, I think this it'll only help them out.'

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## Transcript

 Bring me that microphone. It's time to slice this pizza. Don's Pinball Podcast is coming back once again. Hello, everybody in the midweek. It's episode number 97 for those of you keeping track. Would any of you like to purchase a pinball company? We've got more to talk about and more. I already gave that away. Coming up now, let's do it. Hit me. Well, welcome once again, everybody. Grab the carpet squares. Let's cuddle up here for some carpet time this morning. It's the preschool episode. We're all going to talk here. So I'm fresh off of the Pinball Party podcast with my good buddy Jason, fellow Wisconsinite. And, you know, listening to it, started in the car, went down to the 3D print lab. You know, it's a good time anyway, anytime you're invited to the Pinball Party. And then just at the end there, Kalebro happened to get a text message about Ametron looking for a buyer for American Pinball. Huge news. Give me a drop. Thunder, like a ton of bricks. Did we not see something like this coming? All right. This is a company that I've been speculating and I've made known that the way they operate, the way they act, the way from my position as an outside observer, this looks like a company that is part of a larger consortium, probably operates largely kind of on their own. And they can't be making a ton of money because they're not producing a ton of games to support everything. when we see video footage from the factory, it's not a hive of activity. Look at the Stern Factory Fridays. Look at the Stern Tour. I mean, I was in the new factory building, and it's just like walking into a beehive of activity, right? Like you're in the wasp nest. There's people who are going all over the place. There's a wiring department. There's a sticker department. There's cabinets coming in. There's people testing games. There's multiple lines of games getting screwed together, and they're going out the door. And we know they're going out the door because they're showing up in locations. People are doing unboxings. You know, people are getting caught up on their orders. You know, we know, like, they're making games. We know that when Jersey Jack is in production mode, games are coming out from them. We know Chicago Gaming Company. Okay, I don't know what goes on over there. But when it comes to American pinball, right, you know, we get occasional interviews. David Fix, lovely character. Haven't met the man, haven't had the pleasure myself, but I've seen him running around, you know, managing things at the expo or whatever. but he comes on and he talks about in his last interview that he did publicly that like their goal was to make 300 games in a year and I'm like you know spooky pinballs make it 300 games a quarter right and then they're they're spooky right and you know and this is like you know yeah part of a consortium from a from a larger company right this aimtron these guys that print these massive circuit boards and and you know the sun never sets on the aimtron empire because they've got production facilities in every time zone around the world right like they're huge so to me this looked like kind of a company that uh you know if it was it's not struggling to survive off the uh the the hoist of its own petard right you know these are guys that could probably make games operate in the red and then you know they're they're just a tax write-off to the greater consortium right you know but i don't know the details i don't know their numbers i don't know what they're actually putting out um but my position as an observer shows that i know i can go to Interium and play every one of the American pinball games. But, you know, other than finding a random Hot Wheels here and there, they're just not out in the public, which, you know, tells me that they're not made in great quantities. Reason being, I would think, you know, Cale and his issues with GTF aside, if I had an operating location, I think I would have a GTF there just because I think, you know, this is a game that people would like to play on location. Not a lot of people are going to have it in the home, you know. So yeah, so he had just revealed that he you got a text message from some source that they're looking for a buyer. And that does not surprise me. I don't see how this company makes money with, you know, as lovely as the games look and, you know, they're not doing huge volumes. So they're probably not getting huge volume discounts. David fix appears to be focused on quality. You know, he, he mentioned, you know, getting in there, uh, the, the, the playfields in, you know, and having them in a big crate that's custom built so they can off gas before they go in and all this other business. Um, you know, I know they're hiring designers. I know they're paying a lot of money in production to get, you know, actual actors. These guys look like they're SAG card holders to come out there and film those scenes for Galactic Tank Force, you know, with props and everything and flying these people out to appear at the expo. Like, that stuff's not cheap. You know, their marketing budget as a percentage of their gross income has got to be, you know, not favorable for a business final exam. Let's just say it that way. Uh, so, uh, it, the one thing, you know, and again, I'm outside observer, but the one thing from watching this company, I could see them really needing is some sort of a overarching, you know, project manager, right. Um, you know, somebody that can, uh, you know, kind of coordinate everything for them, you know, uh, know when to say when, you know, um, you know, I think if there was some, uh, you know, some more, uh, pushback, you know, from some marketing people, some focus groups, I think GTF would have came out a little bit more cohesive and at least the, the, the story and everything would have been conveyed in a more consumer friendly manner. And you wouldn't have these weird decisions like, you know, $16,000 signature edition has a refillable pint glass and an exclusive thermos, which now is available for, I think 30 bucks with the, the gorgeous Christopher Franchi decorated lunchbox. So what's going on? Just a ton of strange decisions. the kind of decisions that would come from a company that wasn't, you know, in impending financial peril. So what's going to happen now, right? If, you know, I don't run a pinball company, but if it was in their situation where they put, you know, hey, Don, I want you to be in charge for six weeks, I would say, let's get a killer license. Let's get our killer app out there and really like, like push some games out the door. Let's put 1500 games, you know, pre-ordered, let get them out Let get them out in a year You know that that what I would start with But instead what we heard from Fix himself is that you know it not the next three games that are all original licenses but it the next two And one of them you know can be considered a license So what he means by that is Barry's Food Truck is coming out next, and then Whitewater 2, the Yukon Yeti, whatever, and then probably some license theme, whether it's Sonic or something else, will be coming out, you know, in a year. But at the clip that they go, you know, this might be three years down the road before we get to that license title. And, you know, we've been wondering, like, is there going to be an American pinball around then? I know we do need an American pinball around. I think more competition is good for the industry just to be that check and balance against the Stern, Jersey Jack, spooky pinball, you know, so everybody's competing. And we as the consumers win. We'll win on price. We'll win on value. And we'll win on theme. We'll win on gameplay. um you know if we go back to the days of just having one dominant company um that's unchallenged i think you know quality will suffer so you know i'm not rooting against this company but this all would make sense now this is rumor this came out of uh kale's mouth from the pinball party podcast that just just was released that i finished not more than five minutes ago um but i this makes this makes logical sense to me so occam's razor being what it is somebody needs to buy american pinball. Now who would do this? Who would do this? Would another consortium look at adding on, uh, you know, this company into the lineup? I'm not sure why you would. Um, what's proprietary about American pinball? Um, the hot wheels game, galactic tank force game, uh, you know, some of the other games that they've produced. Um, I think they've kind of met demand. I don't know that they have a back catalog that people are really, you know, running around like paying, you know, $16,000 or more for a Houdini, right. Where another company could run those. Um, so where's the uh you know where's the cheese here um i guess they have a production facility but you know is that isn't that aimtron i mean when we saw the uh the expo tour video for american pinball it's on the uh the dutch pinball museum youtube site you can go and watch it this recent tour that they did during the chicago expo in october you know they walked around this facility and they were showing off a lot of these aimtron owned uh production machines that were making circuit boards uh motherboards all kinds of stuff um and so it looked like they were really kind of sharing their production facilities. So, you know, if this company was for sale, are you going to get that facility? Cause that would be a big asset to have. And if not, what are you really getting besides the logo? Um, gosh, man, I can't wait to see what happens to this. Maybe it's true. Maybe it's not. Who would buy this? Would, um, would, would JJP's parent company step up, purchase American pinball just to kind of shut it down and get some of those assets and maybe take over their service line. I, you know, I don't know that that would work. Um, you know, with, with some other company absorb them. Um, I don't know. I'm going to put some feelers out and not have heard this and see if I can find out any, anything else. But, um, you know, nap arcade, he may actually already have something up about this with maybe some more information than I even have. Um, I'll go ahead and check for that. Why not just do it live? We'll do it live over recording. Um, let's see. First up on nap arcade, how many games Jersey Jack pinball has development. Okay. So he's recapping the awesome Gonzo's pinball flipperama video, a sit down interview with Jersey Jack. It was out in the UK, only takes 15 minutes. Go watch it if you don't. I love watching me some Jack. Recently, there was that picture that surfaced of Jack and, you know, old Gary Stern in a warm embrace. So it's good to see that they're getting along. Sounds like they were buying drinks for each other and one of them was buying dinner for somebody else. I like that. And I think that's wholesome. You know, I don't see these companies as in direct competition because I think they're serving different sections of the market. You know, Jersey Jack hitting that 10% of, you know, high-end, sparkly, I-have-to-own-it market for the home. And, you know, kind of high-end locations. And then the other 90% being served by Stern Pinball. But, you know, it's fun that they get along. That was good. That was a wholesome picture. I'm glad I got to see that. So, yeah, a lot of news dropping here in the middle of the week. What the heck is going to happen with the rest of it? What else do I have to talk about? Spooky Pinball is in the news. They are in the news because they are in my basement, as you know. I received my Scooby-Doo topper at the end of last week, and boy, I'm glad that I did. I got it all hooked up, and the thing just looks great. I've had it for about a week. I've put 20 games through it, having fun with that bookcase. I will say that the bookcase mechanism, clever little rack and pinion design system with one of those kind of more robust servo motors on it, comes on with the game when you trigger one of the villain attack modes or the video mode. And there may be some more or some more coming. And then once it's open, it stays open for the rest of the game, you know, playing little clips. The fun thing is when you are in a character battle, it is playing like what appears to be like that whole episode up there on that little screen. And not that you can see it as the player, but like, you know, my wife was sitting there, you know, watching cartoons while I was playing. So it's fun. It's fun. You know, it's a little bit more than just some cut plastics that came on the OEM included topper. So that was nice. I've even seen where my buddy Wes has even taken the old topper and taken those pieces off and has hung them on the back of the other one, making it like into a super hybrid topper. So I'll probably try that out soon. You know, it's fun. It's fun. the code though is the other unsung hero of this. If you haven't played the new Scooby-Doo code update, what are you doing with your life, man? This thing is awesome. The video mode itself is okay. Video modes are video modes, but unlocking it is pretty dang satisfying. The three shots to the drain on the upper play field in quick succession, then you hit that red sling up there, and then it's that secret passage shot down on the main play field that activates it. and then you get to take a break and go up there and throw Scooby Snacks down a hallway. Who doesn't love to do that? I'd like to see the code continue to improve and maybe get other villains running back and forth randomly up there, maybe a couple of Easter eggs. Bug, why don't you get you and Luke up there too? It's just like every now and then just characters are run out, if the licensor allows. I think that'd be funny. But, you know, more call-outs, more modes. They're getting more activation of some of the inserts that didn't really do anything before. So like the green ghost that you can try to grab as he randomly runs around the playfield. It's fun. It's good times. I think people are going to love this topper once they get their hands on it. When are they going to get their hands on it? I heard because I talked to him and asked him that they have the toppers ready to ship here pretty soon So I would imagine this week they may be going out to people But so far the install wasn too difficult and then once it in there and hooked up it been working just fine There's a way to calibrate it so that your door opens and closes smoothly and starts and stops where it should. So yeah, we're having fun with it. And with that big screen up there and the way that these guys are committed to coding and improving their games as time goes on, I think we may see even some more that's up there. So is this going to be a new thing for Spooky? Um, I, I, I'd be, uh, I'd be in favor of that, uh, because the collector's edition versions, well, here's the thing. Their collector's editions are probably always going to include a vinyl cut topper. Like we've been seeing with Halloween, um, an Ultraman and Rick and Morty and, uh, you know, Scooby-Doo here and, uh, Looney Tunes and TCM both have that kind of, you know, depth of field and multiple layer acrylic topper. Um, but then I don't see any, any problem with them coming out with something more robust with a higher build of materials to offer as an option. You know, you don't have to have it. Some people have ceilings that don't even permit the vinyl toppers that come with the CE. So I think that's fun. I'd like to see them, you know, as more of an accessory, even something you could even put on the wall so it interacts as you're playing the game. I don't think there's any problem with that. So I'm looking forward to see if these guys revisit this well, depending on how this experiment goes for them, to see if we get some with Looney Tunes and with TCM. Because, you know, if you could get like some more Looney Tunes characters, maybe animated ones up on the topper. I think I would be down for that. Projections would be fun. I'd like to see him do some stuff with that. Light shows, you know, imagine, you know, playing a game and a disco ball lights come out or something and like fill your room with like glittery lights. I think there's a lot of room to go with these integrated toppers. And Spencer's Gifts is full of things to decorate your game room and dress it in light and lasers. So let's get some laser toppers, man. I want to see some Class C laser devices sitting on top of my machine. So we'll see what happens. We'll see what happens. While I have the guys on the horn, it's a flurry of activity there at the Spooky Headquarters right now. They've got these toppers ready to go out. They've got Scooby-Doo's on the line still. And they got their two new games on the line. And it sounds like, to me, that they're nearly ready to start shipping these games. Like within a matter of a few weeks, when I spoke with them, I think it was the 3D sculpts that they were waiting for. The final ones, the final resin painted ones. I think they're still coming from Back Alley Creations. It sounds like they're waiting for those to put in the games, and then the first ones will start to go out. Hopefully I'm low on that list so I can get my Looney Tunes and TCM soon and start playing and, heck, maybe even get back into some live streaming for everybody. So that's what's going on over there at Spooky. Stern Pinball is furiously churning through the first run of the Jaws Pros. I'm back from my trip last week where I was able to go play the Jaws Pro and Premium. I've given my thoughts on the last episode that I did. I like this game. I'm happy to say that I did secure one with Old Town Pinball. They did have a premium for me. Thank you, Sterling, for the hookup with Will down there. So we've got one on order. I'm expecting to have it probably by the first or second week of March. I think that'll be in development at the end of February. And then hopefully I can run down to the factory and pick it up or from that adjacent warehouse and get it to my house. And then we'll do another live unboxing and giveaways and fun stuff. um because you know how i like to do those so uh you know this game uh it's going to be fun the game shoots well already i've shot all the shots that are in it um i enjoy the uh the the code that's in there and the assets that they got from the movie so if this is the earliest that we ever see the code and it's already pretty fun right now i can't wait to see like where this gets to once we're closer to 1.0 1.1 um so yeah jaws solid game gonna be a hit gonna sell better than venom I think we know that. When it comes to production numbers, I was a little taken aback that, you know, given that this game has been done for what sounds like a while design-wise, and I'm sure has been slated to be released when it was, that Stern is running into some supply line issues coming from the factory in China that's going to delay the start of the run of premiums to the point that they're only making, they haven't released any numbers. but you know, I was expecting, you know, 1500 premiums to come off the line in two to three weeks, like two and a half weeks or so. Uh, and it sounds like they're only going to do a few hundred, um, because, uh, from talking to several distributors in my hunt for a Jaws premium, now that I was kind of a little late to the game on deciding that I wanted to get it, uh, sounds like they weren't getting nearly what they were expecting, like maybe 30% of what they were expecting. I haven't heard any hard numbers from anybody. Uh, but the sense that I got was, uh, they were, they were expecting money much more than they did get. Uh, so that is going to have the bonus effect with Stern of keeping demand up for this game and will probably be pretty refreshing to distributors coming off of Venom where that game I feel is probably overproduced for the demand that existed at the time. Venom also came out at a time when the market was on its way dipping down. It's also not a AAA license and the gameplay field is quite barren. Now the code makes up for a ton, especially on that premium. The way the play field changes, the gameplay is fun. I think the gameplay is compelling. I think the art is great. And I became a believer in Venom. Venom Premium. Venom Pro, I still don't know if I would own that one unless I had an arcade. And even then, I'd probably feel pity. Well, the good news is that if you wanted to get out and dress up your arcade and you've been late to the party on Venom, go ahead and pick yourself up an LE for under 10 grand right now and get the best looking version of Venom and the best playing version of Venom as well out for your arcade. So, you know, that's what I would do. If I had held off by now, I probably would have spent the extra 1500 bucks or whatever, and just went ahead and got one for 10 grand. So, you know, that's Venom. I don't think Jaws is going to suffer the same fate though. I'm not totally convinced that Stern is artificially limiting supply on just that premium line in order to, you know, bolster the price in the resale market. But, you know, if they truly did run into some production delays, I think this it'll only help them out. It'll allow them to put some other games on the line as well. And they'll have the line as tied up with Jaws Premium and then still have pent up demand going into the year. So, you know, maybe it was a situation where they took some lemons and they're making themselves some lemonade about it. I know I feel much better that I've been able to secure one Now I feel like I one of the lucky ones But I feel bad for people that were missing out similar to how I was when I was a little late to the party And by the time I showed up they already kind of sold through So we see what happens for the rest of the year. Speaking of, we're going to get two more Cornerstone releases from Stern. They've said that they're back to the production schedule and pace and cadence, love that word, of doing three Cornerstone releases per year. The first one, Jaws, that we got in January. Jaws in January. So I would say by May or June, we'll get another title. And then that gives us time to have another fall release so that by the time we get back to January 2025, there'll be another Cornerstone ready. So that's probably how the year is going to go out. I haven't heard anything official. I haven't heard what the next game is. I've heard whispers from multiple places, you know, and kind of being consistent. So I would think that the next themes are already picked out. The games are probably already designed. I don't know who's designing them. But again, I've heard Dungeons and Dragons. I've heard John Wick. I've heard Pokemon, which Jack Danger, Pokemon, Zombie Yeti, make it happen. Make it happen. I want that game. I want that game. But then there's also, you know, the fourth game that is supposed to come out, you know, we knew about the, you know, the last three of all Met Expectations. So we're supposed to get an Indiana Jones machine at some point. And so far, I haven't heard like a lick of that since, since it was revealed by Kaneda last year or a year ago that we were getting Venom, Jaws, Foo Fighters, and Indiana Jones. Well, so far, three for three. So the next one would be an Indiana Jones. And then another whisper did come through me, and the whisper said, Raiders of the Lost Ark. And my interest immediately perked up. So we've had two Indiana Jones pinball machines, and they've all kind of been a consortium, consolidation of multiple different titles. The first one being a trilogy, and then I think they threw Crystal Skull in the last Stern release. So for them to come back and pick the OG daddy, I mean, as much as I love Temple of Doom, as much as Last Crusade really elevated the trilogy, Raiders of the Lost Ark started it all. Raiders of the Lost Ark has all of the tropes that you would want from a serialized 1940s type film, right? It's got the crumbling temple with the angry temple idol. And you steal the gold idol. There's booby traps that get set off as you go out. Jock Lindsay is flying the float plane with the tag numbers of C-3PO. Come on. This is the film. You've got Cairo. You've got a snake pit. You've got the Ark of the Covenant. You've got zombies with their faces melting off. It's got everything you would want from an Indiana Jones adventure. and you don't have to worry about cramming in absolutely everything from the entirety of the zeitgeist is Shia LaBeouf. Feel free to sit this one out, send your leather jacket if you want, but, but, but, but have a seat over there. I should drop in like the, just do it sound right here. Um, you know, but I think everything, everything, uh, that is in that movie would be good for pinball shooter rod could be either a gun or a whip, you know, come on. Um, you know, I'm already got the you know the topper has to have a rolling ball on it or be like a sculpted temple up there with like flames and sconces and and have some motion to it i'm already seeing it right now so i think if like the next two cornerstones are raiders of the lost ark and pokemon 2024 there's going to be a rabid um uh fight for game of the year with all these titles those three from stern the two that we got from spooky and barry's food truck from american pinball I'll have to see how the rest of the year goes. Just a smattering of news all over the place. Some company in Australia announced another game for $7,800 that's pool themed. I don't know. Go listen to somebody else talk about it. I don't even know that much about it. I'm not terribly excited about it. You know, Little Shop of Horrors has been dropped as a theme from somebody. Who knows? Everybody and their grandma is making a new pinball company right now. I think that's fun and exciting, and I can't wait to see how it shakes out. Was there anything else that I wanted to cover today? talked about food truck. When are we going to see it? Probably Texas pinball festival. Maybe that was probably what was penciled in to happen. Um, so I would expect, uh, we'll, we'll know more by TPF. This is going to be, this is going to be a fun TPF. I will be there in person. I will be there with my own booth, uh, co-sponsored with balls of steel pinball. Uh, Sterling pinball will be there too. Sterling pinball is not his last name, but I'm going to start calling that from now. I'm cooking up some really wacky ideas when it comes to giveaways, from the podcast at TPF. I don't think just coming up and saying whitewater is going to cut it anymore. We need to do something. We need to step it up. I'm thinking some sort of scavenger hunt, something fun, something interactive. So don't be surprised. Well, actually, you know what? Prepare yourself to be surprised because if what comes to fruition, if what's in my head materializes in this dimension, it's going to knock your socks completely off. So make sure you bring a staple gun to staple your wig back down because Don's Pinball Pocket is about to blow it out to the wall. What else did we have? That's about it. We should hear about the Twippies here pretty soon, the Twippy results. I've been recruited by my friends over at the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast to record a small little snippet of video and get that over to them. I will be doing that this week, and then they will be putting out a video that's got everybody's Twippy results. So everybody has an opinion about the Twippy show this year. The show's not happening live in person. I don't know if it's happening at TPF. I don't know if it already happened and the video will be released at TPF. I don't know if the video is going to come out this weekend. I don't know that yet. I'm going to record something fun, though, so at least I can be responsible for my segment and make sure it's cool. For everybody else out there, be sure to email me at donspinballpodcasts at gmail.com. Let's do something fun, man. Tell me what you're most excited about, what rumor of 2024 you were excited about, and then maybe I'll read them on the next podcast. That would be a fun thing to do, right? We'll drive that interactivity. So go ahead and email me at DonSpinBawakasGmail.com. Follow the Facebook page because I'm always dropping content there, especially like last-minute live streams. There might be one tonight. Who knows? Who knows? But if you want to get more DonTent, that's not a bad way to do it. Anything else? Go ahead and have yourself a great rest of the week, and as soon as some more nuts shake out of the rumor tree, I'll be sure to jump on here and let you know my thoughts about them. I don't hold anything back. I like to share with everybody, and we'll see what happens, man. We'll see what happens. You cannot be mad at me for that. Like and subscribe or whatever. Bookmark the YouTube page. There may be some more content coming up there in the next few weeks. Eat your vegetables.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f7f00073-ce57-4ad0-9f7f-fb64d4dacd28*