# #011 Sincere Engineer is Here!

**Source:** Punk Rock Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-08-29  
**Duration:** 32m 7s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://share.transistor.fm/s/200de05c

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## Analysis

Punk Rock Pinball hosts Sincere Engineer's Deanna Belos for a casual conversation about music, touring, and pinball. The episode features Deanna discovering pinball for the first time, learning basic mechanics, and proposing a 'Dirty Work' (1998 film) themed pinball machine as her dream theme. Hosts discuss Spooky Pinball as the indie underdog of the industry, Stern as the market leader, and the passionate community around the hobby.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball founder quit his job to start the company with his son Bug (in his early 20s), hiring Spooky Luke (then recently out of high school) as a mechanical engineer despite no formal background. — _Host admits 'Don't sue me, Spooky' and acknowledges may be getting details wrong, indicating speculation based on known lore rather than direct source._
- [HIGH] Evil Dead pinball by Spooky sold out in a couple months after release of ~998 units at just under $10K, now commanding ~$15K on secondary market. — _Specific production number (998) and pricing data provided with market context; consistent with known Spooky release pattern._
- [LOW] Spooky Pinball has unannounced games in development: rumors indicate Beetlejuice and/or Gremlins are forthcoming. — _Host explicitly frames as 'Rumor has it' and 'not even announced' before disclosing; characterizes as speculation followed by pinball community._
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball employs Mike Whitaker (pinball handle MXV) who creates special skill shots and custom coins for Stern games. — _Direct reference to colleague's employment and specific contributions; treated as established fact by hosts._
- [MEDIUM] Chicago is 'the pinball capital of the world' with most pinball manufacturers historically starting there before some evolved into casino gaming. — _Host presents as established historical fact; aligns with known industry history (Williams, Gottlieb, Bally legacy) but stated informally without sources._

### Notable Quotes

> "If you're not tilting, you're not trying."
> — **Host (teaching Deanna about pinball nudging)**, early segment
> _Core pinball philosophy about active ball control; humorous exchange introducing game mechanics to unfamiliar guest._

> "I've never seen so many dead hookers in all my life."
> — **Deanna (quoting Dirty Work film)**, dream theme segment
> _Establishes tone of Deanna's dream theme proposal; identified as potential game sound bite._

> "What Spooky's doing is like punk rock."
> — **Host**, Spooky discussion
> _Frames Spooky Pinball's DIY ethos as alignment with punk rock values; thematic to podcast identity._

> "They're kind of the underdogs of the pinball industry. Like they are, it's kind of, I don't mean this in a bad way, but kind of like a ragtag group of people who don't have the pedigrees and all the schooling to be designing these."
> — **Host**, Spooky discussion
> _Defines Spooky's market position and cultural appeal; explicitly contrasts with credentialed competitors._

> "No two games are the same. It's not like a video game. The ball is bouncing around. You're never going to play the same exact game."
> — **Host (selling pinball to Deanna)**, mid-show
> _Core value proposition differentiating pinball from digital gaming; analog vs. digital contrast._

> "In today's world of everything being digital, it's kind of cool to play something that's so real."
> — **Host**, mid-show
> _Articulates contemporary appeal of pinball as analog alternative in digital age._

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Deanna Belos | person | Musician from Sincere Engineer; guest on Punk Rock Pinball podcast; visiting to record music at studio and learn about pinball for the first time; proposed 'Dirty Work' themed pinball as dream theme. |
| Sincere Engineer | organization | Musical band; genre positioned as indie/pop-punk with Midwest emo influences; touring with The Front Bottoms and playing Riot Fest; also touring Europe in October with Kali Masi. |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer based in Wisconsin (small town); positioned as indie 'underdog' rival to Stern; known for horror/movie licenses (Evil Dead, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie); rumored to be developing Beetlejuice and/or Gremlins; production quality now rivals Stern and Jersey Jack; founders include Bug (early 20s) and father who quit job to start company. |
| Stern Pinball | company | Largest/dominant pinball manufacturer; based in Oak Grove, Illinois near Chicago; employs Mike Whitaker (MXV); produces three-tier models (Pro/Premium/Limited Edition); machines featured in Punk Rock Pinball studio include Led Zeppelin Pro, Foo Fighters, Jaws 50th Anniversary. |
| The Front Bottoms | organization | Indie/pop-punk band; touring with Sincere Engineer on East Coast/Midwest tour plus Riot Fest after-show; also playing Newport, Kentucky, Louisville area, Grand Rapids. |
| Mike Whitaker (MXV) | person | Stern Pinball employee; creates special skill shots and custom coins for pinball machines; personal friend of Punk Rock Pinball hosts; formerly worked as game tester for Bally/Midway on titles like Mortal Kombat. |
| Bug | person | Runs Spooky Pinball; in early 20s; son of founder who quit previous job to start company. |
| Spooky Luke | person | Hired by Spooky Pinball founder as mechanical engineer despite lacking formal engineering background; was high school student or recently out of high school when hired; credited with figuring out how to build pinball machines. |
| Joe and Shelly | person | Hosts/friends who inspired Punk Rock Pinball hosts to collect machines; own 10+ machines in basement; hosted first 'rando' collectors in their home for tournament; now have even more machines. |
| Roxy's | organization | Pinball/arcade bar in Boston with excellent fried chicken sandwiches; features 30+ well-maintained pinball machines; recommended venue for Sincere Engineer to visit during tour. |
| Jaws 50th Anniversary | product | Stern pinball machine; red-colored premium edition; purchased by Punk Rock Pinball hosts because Jaws is host's favorite movie; inspired them to get into collecting; features in studio. |
| Punk Rock Pinball Podcast | organization | Podcast featuring pinball discussion, guest interviews, and dream theme segments; hosts feature machines from their personal collection; produce merchandise (koozies, hoodies, hats) through anxiousandangry.com; partnered with Ryan for printing/embroidery. |
| The Front Bottoms | organization | Indie rock band touring with Sincere Engineer; described as having 'quirky vibe,' pop-punk/indie genre; similar to Sincere Engineer's aesthetic. |
| Dirty Work | product | 1998 comedy film directed by Bob Saget; stars Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange, Chris Farley, Gary Coleman, Chevy Chase, Adam Sandler; premise involves revenge-for-hire business to fund heart transplant; recently re-released in dirtier R-rated cut (previously PG-13); Deanna's dream pinball theme pitch. |
| Riot Fest | event | Music festival; Sincere Engineer performing after-show with The Front Bottoms in Chicago area. |
| Kali Masi | organization | Chicago band; touring with Sincere Engineer in Europe in October; described as having been guest on Punk Rock Pinball show. |
| Galloping Ghost | organization | Brewery in Downers Grove, Illinois; home to extensive pinball collection; mentioned as potential location for hypothetical adult pinball summer camp with Mike Whitaker. |
| Evil Dead pinball | product | Spooky Pinball game; ~998 units produced; sold out in couple months at just under $10K; now secondary market price ~$15K; example of Spooky's quality progression. |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Pinball manufacturer mentioned as rival to Stern in quality; Spooky Pinball's games now rival both JJP and Stern in quality. |
| Tilt Amusements | organization | Pinball distributor/seller; friends of Punk Rock Pinball hosts; stocks Pro and Premium versions of all featured machines. |
| Williams Electronics | company | Historical pinball manufacturer from Chicago; part of city's pinball manufacturing legacy; evolved into other gaming ventures. |
| Mortal Kombat | product | Video game; Mike Whitaker worked as game tester on title for Bally/Midway. |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball collecting and home ownership, Spooky Pinball as indie/DIY manufacturer and cultural movement, Sincere Engineer music and touring, Dream theme pitching (Dirty Work film adaptation)
- **Secondary:** Pinball game mechanics and learning curve, Chicago's pinball manufacturing history and legacy, Analog vs. digital entertainment value, Pinball manufacturer market dynamics (Stern dominance vs. Spooky growth)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Hosts express genuine enthusiasm for pinball hobby and celebrate Spooky Pinball's DIY ethos as 'punk rock.' Deanna initially skeptical about pinball but warming to the community and experience. Affectionate banter throughout. No significant negativity; even criticism of Ripley's machine framed as humorous ('crappiest game'). Genuine admiration for Band-in-Boston venue recommendations and guest's music career.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Spooky Pinball's quality has reached parity with Stern and Jersey Jack Pinball, representing competitive maturation of boutique manufacturer. (confidence: high) — Host: 'Every machine they make, they get better and better and better and better. And I think they're to the point where quality-wise, they rival Stern. They rival Stern and Jersey Jack.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Punk Rock Pinball hosts actively champion Spooky Pinball as underdog despite being on buying freeze, indicating strong community preference for boutique manufacturer. (confidence: high) — Host: 'We're on a buying freeze right now, but we keep saying that our next one has to be a Spooky pinball machine.'
- **[market_signal]** Spooky Pinball positioned as 'punk rock' indie underdog with DIY ethos, family-run founder story, and no formal engineering pedigree — narrative mirrors punk rock values and appeals to Punk Rock Pinball podcast's aesthetic. (confidence: high) — Multiple host statements: 'What Spooky's doing is like punk rock,' 'ragtag group of people,' emphasis on founder quitting job to start company with teenage hire.
- **[event_signal]** Sincere Engineer touring extensively: East Coast/Midwest tour with The Front Bottoms, Riot Fest after-show, and October Europe solo tour with Kali Masi. (confidence: high) — Deanna confirms tour schedule: 'The Front Bottoms for like two and a half weeks,' Riot Fest, and 'Europe solo in October.'
- **[market_signal]** Evil Dead pinball secondary market price inflation: sold new at just under $10K, now ~$15K due to limited supply and sellout status. (confidence: high) — Host: 'They sold for just under 10K new. Gotcha. But if you want one today, it's like 15K because there's just not that many of them.'
- **[announcement]** Dream theme announcement: Deanna Belos proposes 'Dirty Work' (1998 film) as pinball theme, with potential for Spooky Pinball development based on indie comedy aesthetic. (confidence: medium) — Host pitches Spooky as designer: 'I'm going to say Spooky' based on horror/raunchy comedy content expertise.
- **[product_strategy]** No explicit delays mentioned for any Spooky Pinball games in production; Evil Dead cited as sold out example of successful release. (confidence: high) — Evil Dead ~998 units sold out in 'couple months' at launch; no production delays discussed.
- **[rumor_hype]** Spooky Pinball rumored to be developing Beetlejuice and/or Gremlins; neither officially announced. (confidence: low) — Host: 'Rumor has it they have Beetlejuice. Whoa. Is that new news? It would be. It's not even announced. Rumors.'

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## Transcript

 We're rolling. We're rolling. Hey, welcome to the show. Hello. What's up? Is this episode 11? Yeah, it is. We've done this 11 times, well, more times than that because we keep, you got something on your face, like glitter. How did I get glitter on my face? It's not glitter. It's like, I don't know. What is it? All right, keep going. What is it? What is it? Okay. Okay. If you're not watching this on video, that could be weird. Hey, who's our guest? Our guest today is the sincere engineer. Thanks for having me. Deanna. Thank you. Belos, right? Yep, that's right. All right. What kind of last name is that? I'm like Greek and Lithuanian. Oh, great combo. Yeah, I think it was shortened when my grandma came over. It was like Belopopolis? It was like Tembelos. It was actually a front chop. Oh. Chop the front. Chop the front. You don't hear that very often. That could be like Belosarios. Yeah, no, or Belositis, something like that. But no. Awesome. so Deanna just recorded two songs here in front of these here pinball machines in the foo first upstairs session and it's probably a little boomier like the podcast audio is probably not as good but that's cool but we get Jaws now in there Zepp, Wick you got John Wick in there, you got Black Knight in there because I was sick of looking at Ripley's like our crappiest game and that's like the featured machine in all the videos of Ripley's It's the crappiest thing we have. I don't know anything about pinball. I'm not a big fan, honestly. We haven't even taken you downstairs, but I will tell you this. Ripley's, which has been featured as the backdrop. Believe it or not? Yes. That guy? I love it. It is a very polarizing pinball machine. People either love it or they despise it. We've been prominently featuring it, but now this is like the room of modern Stern. Yeah. Sure. You know nothing about pinball. No, I kind of don't like it because I'm bad at it. So Deanna doesn't like it because she's bad. Just like, you know, like when the ball goes in the middle? Yeah, nobody likes that. It happens all the time. There's things you can do to avoid that. So you've got to, you can like nudge the machine. I thought that's called bump and then shuts it off, right? Well, you can tilt. If you tilt. Oh, tilt. You can't. You're allowed to bump it? Oh, it's part of the game. Oh, I didn't know that. You know, they say if you're not tilting, you're not trying. No, I've never heard them say that. Like, did you ever play on Windows 95, the monster space invaders pinball? Yeah, Attack from Mars. Is that what it's called? Yeah. That's most of my knowledge of pinball. All right, well, you know the basics. There's two flippers. You tilt it, and then the game shuts off. Just don't tilt. But you can nudge it. You have to nudge it. I had no idea that was allowed. You get a nudge, but not tilt. Yeah, we're going to make you a pinball. Yeah. I had no idea. So after we film this, we'll play a game or two. We'll try to get Deanna to love it. All right. So Deanna, since your engineer is going on tour. Yeah, yeah. Like, we had this small little window of time to get you to drive down to Bloomington. Yeah, for sure. It wasn't that bad. It was only an hour and a half. Oh, that's not bad. Yeah. Yeah. That's like, especially for a road warrior. Oh, it was like, yeah, nothing. It's like 15 minutes. Stopped at Wally's. Did you buy anything at Wally's? I got my mom some popcorn. yeah that's cool yeah it always smells like popcorn even at like six o'clock in the morning yeah i've stopped there yeah wallace is like a baby bucky's if you know bucky yeah there's only two of them like a mini bucky where's the other one uh outside of st louis i can't remember if it's on the illinois or missouri side which one's better the one in pontiac or the one i think they're the same okay i've only been to the pontiac one though all right well i'm sure they're almost we're gonna need an update on the other wallace ask another touring band but you are more of a Wally's fan than a Bucky's fan. I guess. Wally's is cooler because it's less, I don't know, to be contrarian, it's less known. Yeah. It's like the new. It's like the DIY Bucky's. Yeah, exactly. It's the underdog. We all root for the underdog. Exactly, yeah. That's why we have the Led Zeppelin Pro pinball machine because people don't like this one. Why not? There's not enough shots and this and that pinball nerd stuff. So we got this one because people don't like it. Got it. Cool. So we are always championing the underdog. You got to put a quarter in and stuff? Not here. Oh, nice. So free play. Free play all day. So your tour, who are you touring with? The Front Bottoms for like two weeks or two and a half weeks. We're doing a Riot Fest after show with them. And then I go to Europe solo in October with Kali Masi from Chicago. Yeah. The Dirty Neil and Spanish Love Songs is headlining. Awesome. Kali Masi's been here on The Rock. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. Awesome. I really enjoy the Front Bottoms. Yeah. I like them a lot. Yeah, they're awesome. I think that'll be a good matchup for you. Totally, yeah. They're like the same quirky sort of vibe. Like, what do you call that genre? What would we call the Front Bottoms and Sincere Engineer genre? I don't know. Because it's not punk, really. Yeah, it's like pop-punk indie, but like I said, the quirkiness kind of is there. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. Weirdo music. Yeah, because I just made a punk rock pinball playlist on Spotify. Yeah, I saw that. You're on there. Thank you. Smoking Popes are on there. And our band, too, is another one where what genre is Smoking Popes? We're not a punk band. No. But you guys get clumped in for sure. Yeah, and you do, too. I mean, Popes are almost like theater. Because Josh's voice is so beautiful. It's like the croon, I guess, is what everyone says. Because I think whatever you would call the Popes is the same thing you would call Sincere Engineer. Yeah. And kind of what you would call the Front Bottoms. The Front Bottoms are a little more kind of indie than either. I know what you're saying, yeah. We're like the branch of the Chicago tree that's like got made fun of by the tough guys. Yeah. I don't know. Yeah, the tough guys had some very strong words for us in the 1990s. Nice. Words I'm not going to repeat on this podcast. Sure. If I was there, maybe save. I don't know. I also love all those bands. I shouldn't do it. This is a made-up high school genre tree. Yeah, we're, like, on, like, the softer side. Yeah, totally. Yeah. I think you have, like, on your records with the full band, like, there's, like, a little bit of kind of the Midwest emo. For sure. Because, like, Adam's drumming is very much, like, inspired from that stuff. Totally. Yeah, we're, like, a... I always say I can tell when somebody comes up to merch if they found me through Red Scare or when we toured with Hot Mulligan. Just by looking at them? It's like, oh, well, also like behavior. Like the punk people are like, hey! And then the younger kids are like, hello? Like shy and the punk people. I don't know. It's cool. It's awesome to have like a lot of groups of people that found the music and enjoy it. So the Front Bottoms Tour, what markets are you, which way are you going? It's like East Coast and Midwest. We're doing like Huntington, Long Island, Ithaca. Are you doing Boston? Are you doing Boston? Boston, yeah, at Roadrunner. And are you doing Asbury Park, New Jersey? No, because they're from New Jersey. They just played a huge show in New Jersey. But you're doing Boston. Yeah. So once we get you to like pinball after we record this. Oh, I heard about the app with the pinballs. Yeah, you're going to get the pinball map app. I've got the spot already picked for you in Boston. That's awesome. When we were just out with Off With Their Heads, me and Jack Sibilski went to Roxy's. Okay. Do you like fried chicken sandwich? Yeah absolutely More than pinball for sure She likes the fried chicken more than pinball That fine Good They got both Hell yeah You going to love pinball eventually Yeah yeah But Roxy's in Boston, excellent fried chicken sandwich. Okay, cool. Maybe the best. It's like a top three for me. Excellent burger. So you eat your food in the front, and then you go in the back, and they have, I don't know, 30-something pinball machines. Cool. And they are in excellent shape. They play as nicely as the ones we have at home. Yeah, awesome. So you and Kyle, and maybe Adam, maybe some of the boys want to go flip a fried chicken sandwich. Do we send a flat Stanley video? Yes. Well, actually, you're going to do it. Oh, yeah. We've got Deanna picked up some of our merch from Ryan this weekend. Yeah, you're wearing the hat. I'm wearing the hat. Nice. So this is for Deanna. Thank you so much. Hell yeah. We've got these cool koozies on anxiousandangry.com. Nice. Thank you, Ryan, for printing those and for embroidering the hat. These sick hoodies. Sick. They are so sick. Stoked. I'm going to wear it and send a picture for Roxy's with my chicken and pinball. You can set them on the machine. Send us pictures along the way. It'll be like we're with you. Exactly. But definitely hit Roxy's in Boston. I know Boston's very hard to get around. Yeah, for sure. Because we played some weird plays. It was three miles from Roxy's, and it took like 40 minutes. Yeah. Is the whole band into this now, though? Is it like easy? Ruben owns a machine. Okay, cool. Ruben owns an Elvira. Nice. And then Jack really just came along with me for the food. Sure, sure. He was hungry. Jack always likes to eat. Yeah. He's a hungry guy. I get it. Younger guy. He's like 32 years old. Kids got to eat. He needs a burger and a shake. For sure. And if you are on the East Coast and you see Front Bottoms coming through with Sincere Engineer, you should go. Yeah. A couple of great bands. Hell yeah. Awesome bands. Is there a third band or just the two? No, just the two of us. Oh, I love a two-band. Me too. Me too. Love the two-band bill. Yeah. That's a great bill. Yeah. And it's only East Coast? It's Grand Rapids, the Chicago Ride Fest After Show, like Kentucky. A lot of places we've never played. That's super cool. Newport, Kentucky, I think it is. And I don't know. I can't think of it, but yeah. Awesome. I think Louisville's on it. Louisville? I don't know how to say it. Louisville? It also might not even be on it, so maybe don't. Because we'll say like up here, we'll say like Louisville. Yeah. But they say like Louisville. Yeah, I would say Louisville, but I caught myself. Louisville? Louisville. I'm very like, if it's written, I'm saying it like that. I'm sorry. That's fine. Don't apologize. I love it. Down there by Louisville, Kentucky. I mean, St. Louis. It makes sense. Yeah, for sure. I'm there with you. Yeah. Yeah. But I think the locals say Louisville. Louisville it's all like just like Louisville I don't know if you know I don't think we're even playing there Mike speaks like southern he can do like I wouldn't even call it like southern midwestern he can he can translate like south of I-80 yes yeah it changes as soon as you go there because I'm like right by the border of it so there's some like fisher guys fisherman guys that watch on YouTube and like stuff will be like what did he just say and I interpret it that's funny do you like fishing Do you know Bill Dance? Oh, yeah, Bill Dance. Yeah, I know Bill Dance. Who doesn't know Bill Dance? You guys should make a pinball version of that. Bill Dance's Fishing Adventure pinball. Put a little Babe Winkleman in there. There could be another fishing machine. There is one from the 90s. Fish Tales. It's called Fish Tales. Nice, nice. But we could stand for a new fishing machine. Yeah. Bill Dance's Fishing Adventure. Are you saying pinball machine? Yeah. Okay, gotcha. That's not your dream theme, though. No. No. No. Should I say mine? Well, let's, yeah, so we do the dream theme every time, every episode. This time, Deanna, who doesn't like pinball yet. Even if you don't like pinball, you can have a dream theme, which is why you should still watch this show. If you don't like pinball, you could still hear about the theme. Well, a wise man once said, everyone loves pinball, they just may not know it yet. Sure. So you're in that. What do you guys like about it? Like, what made you guys? It's a new hobby, right? Look at her flip the script on this. I mean, I want to be included. It looks fun. It looks like you're serving a blast, so I want to be part of it. Sell it to me. The story is we got this Jaws machine. Well, a different version of it that we upgraded to this beautiful 50th edition Jaws pinball machine that has red on it, and it's beautiful. But we got it because it's my favorite movie, and we like pinball. We always wanted a machine, and this one came out like a year and a half ago maybe. We bought it, and we're instantly hooked. And what I love about it is no two games are the same. It's not like a video game. Sure. Like the ball is bouncing around. You're never going to play the same exact game. Sure, and you're like part of it. Oh, yeah. You're like the storyteller. Yes, you are, and it's like it's analog. It's not digital. So it's just, I don't know, in today's world of everything being digital, It's kind of cool to play something that's so real. For sure. And you can do this here instead of spend $100 and go do it at a place that you have to buy two drinks at or something. Yeah, you can spend $6,000 and do it at your house. So maybe financially it didn't make sense, but the convenience. Although, in this day where you know how every time you go out it's like $100? Yeah. It's nice to have stuff at home that makes you feel like you're still out. Well, we love being at home. Yeah. We love it. yeah so part of why we started to love it so much because we got the jaws we love the jaws yeah but then at there used to be a place here called night shop it's gone but we saw they were there was like a pinball tournament there so yeah and we were not good and we went and played yeah and we were like last and second to last i don't remember who was for a while yeah for a few of those but then like we met some people there and like this is fun yeah and then you can tell them about joe and tell her about joe and shelly so our friend joe and shelly who watched the podcast nice um they're they're awesome we went to their house for a home tournament we didn't they didn't know us they said well they've since told us we were the first randos that they let come over to their house but we walked into their basement and they had 10 machines at the time now they have way more but they had 10 machines set up in the basement and they're heroes yeah we're like you can do this like this thing so we were totally inspired by joe and shelly and then all of a And people say, when you get your first pinball machine, just know they multiply. And we haven't even taken you downstairs. Yeah, right, yeah. They multiply. So Joe and Shelly totally inspired us to do this. And it's super fun. It's a fun thing to do with your friends. And it doesn't necessarily have to, like, revolve around drinking, although we encourage other people to drink because then we can beat them. Sure, for sure. But it's a fun thing to do. But it's something that Mike and I, like, I don't know. it's just this hobby that we're so both into it clearly because we have this podcast but we're so into it and it's a fun thing that like we're not talking about work and we're not talking about like oh my god the air conditioning isn't working it's like i'm sure you've talked a crap ton about music yeah and like yeah like you know the political environment's crazy yeah yeah the world's crazy everything's going nuts but like pinball yeah that's awesome i love that if I like pinball, though. Because once you get in there, if you start having a good game, it's like you're just in there. Totally. Like 100% you're in the zone and like, got to hit this, got to hit that. And so for that, maybe it's two minutes, maybe it's 20 minutes. Two minutes. Like that's just you and the flippers, and that's the world. Yeah, it's the zone. Maybe it's like that when you're writing songs or recording stuff, you just get so – Everything else doesn't matter. Yeah. That's awesome. It's that feeling. Yeah. Are these all like is it a collector thing Like are they limited edition or anybody could buy this at any time Anybody could buy it These are mostly so these are all made by Stern Stern. Stern Schill. All right. Our friend Mike MXV works for them. Cool. Whitaker? Mike Whitaker. Oh, nice, cool. I didn't know that. MXV is like his pinball name. Got it, got it, sorry. He's got like special skill shots you can hit on the game. I love that you know Mike. He's got, there's like a coin you can get. I know his pinball mic. I know his photographer mic. Yeah, he's like a jack-of-all-trades kind of guy. So they make, like, this Led Zeppelin machine, for example, or the Foo Fighters. There's a pro version, there's a premium, and there's a limited edition. Gotcha. Most of these are the pro. Gotcha. Because the pro is the cheapest, so I just want more. Yeah, yeah. So the limited edition, they only make a certain number. Sure. And then you can't get those any... So if you want, like, a Jaws limited edition, you're going to have to buy it. It's like a Porsche. Yeah. But these are mostly pros, so you can buy them, you know, if you fall in love today with pinball, you could go to Tilt Amusements, our friends there, and he's got every single one of these in stock, like pro or premium. The Space Jam one's always cool. That's with the ball punch thing, right? I don't know that one. Never mind. No. That's a different arcade game that has a ball punch. But there's a Space Jam one. Is there a Space Jam pinball? I know that there is. I think you're right. I think you're right. It's probably like an older ballet one. I don't think I've played it. Have never played it. Oh, that's crazy. I have. I barely remember, but yeah. Somebody, maybe Dan Wallach? He probably has it. Does he? He's a big Bulls fan. Michael Jordan's on it. He is a huge Michael Jordan fan. Yeah, he is. That's true. Maybe Dan Wallach does. He joined the pinball group. He's in the pinball group. And Diego from Ramona. I don't know if you guys know their band. Their Red Scare band. He used to have one at his apartment. it space jam pinball is 1996 by sega which sega was stern right turned into stern it was because it was like stern sold to sega then became data east and it became stern again i believe so that's crazy 1996 you guys gotta go find that it's designed by joe cam and cow like we don't have any of his but i've played some of his um all right stern from chicago yeah yeah oak grove oh i i heard that right up by their uh girl village up the road over there. That's cool. Nice. That's crazy. Yeah, Chicago, most of the pinball manufacturers started all in Chicago, and then some of them got out of it and turned into, a lot of them kind of evolved into casino kind of gaming. And probably the gaming things you see at bars now, I don't know. I'm assuming. I don't know either. I don't know. But, yeah, Chicago has a deep history with pinball. That's great. Yes. I didn't know. It's like the pinball capital of the world, Chicago. Cool. Yeah, so we're definitely going to make you a pinball enthusiast. Yeah, I want to learn the tilt or whatever. No, not tilt. I think Mike Vinikour should have, like, I don't know if I said this last pinball podcast thing, but I think Mike Vinikour should have, like, a summer camp for adults to learn how to play pinball. That would be awesome. Like the MLB or NBA guys do the summer camps. Yeah, yeah. We need one. Totally. I would sign up. I'll go to Downers Grove or to one of the breweries out there, Galloping Ghost, and he can show us all of the basics. Yeah. We'll Scantron test at the end. Yeah, Mike's a good player, and he knows all those old machines, too, because he was a game tester for Bally, I think. I think. Wasn't he a game tester? He worked testing Mortal Kombat and stuff. Is that like Midway? Is Bally the same as the casino company? Okay. So, yeah, I think Mike worked for, like, Midway and was, like, a game tester. Wow. Crazy. So he's been in, like, gaming forever. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Very cool. We should do the, I want to hear, apparently Deanna already, because we did her music, and I'm like, you should think of a dream theme for a pinball. And she said, I already got one. Oh, my God, I can't wait to hear this. I mean, it's not going to be, like, surprising to, have you guys seen Dirty Work? No. Oh, then this won't even be, like. Wait, Dirty Work. With Norm MacDonald? No. It's like he opens a revenge for hire business? No. Okay, we need to watch Dirty Work. Should I pick something else? No. No, I want to hear all about this. Is this a new movie? No, 98. Norm died also. It's definitely not new. Yeah, that's right. Dirty Work. Okay, we're going to watch Dirty Work tonight. Artie Stephen Lang's in it. Okay, it's a 1998 film, Dirty Work. It's like, I mean, it's my favorite movie in the world, but it wasn't like a box office smash hit or anything. Okay, I love those. It's sick, it's dirty, it's their job. Okay, we're going to watch Dirty Work. So this is going to be, I'm assuming it's comedy. Yes, for sure. So we need a designer for a comedy-themed pinball machine. All right, but tell us a little bit about the movie. They opened a revenge for hire business so that they can get like $50,000 to get a heart transplant for one of their dads because I don't want to spoil anything. Okay. So the heart transplant is probably the wizard mode. You're trying to get there. Like, that's the goal. Yeah, well, Chevy Chase is the surgeon that's willing to do it, but a bookie broke his arm or something. There's a lot of stuff that could happen. I didn't really think it through that far. In the game, could there be a heart? Yeah. Where you smash the ball. Like, you do certain modes, and you smash the ball to get money towards the heart transplant. And maybe it's like a yucky heart, and then when you hit it enough times, it turns out it's a nice heart. Yeah, I love that. We've got to get at it. Wait, what's it called? Dirty work. Dirty work. Okay, I can't wait to – I can't wait. Are there like some quotable lines from – Yes. Give me a couple. Oh, no. They're 90s quotes. Okay. Maybe we don't say those here. Let me try to think of – all the bad ones are coming up. Oh, man. I've never seen so many dead hookers in all my life. Perfect. Okay, that's in the game. That's in the game. Yeah, there's plenty more. That's the sound bite for this entire podcast. It sounds like this show could have been inspiration for I Think You Should Leave. Do you watch that show? Yeah. It's a different form of comedy for sure. But I feel like having a revenge for hire thing. could be a, like, I think you should leave sketch. Totally. Yeah, that was my last movie. You guys gotta watch it. It's great. I've never seen so many dead hookers in all my life. Chris Farley's in it. It's his last movie. Oh, really? Yeah. He's like a tertiary character. Like, Norm really brought out, like, all the, Gary, who's the, um, different strokes kid? Oh, Gary. Gary Coleman? Yes, he's in it. Adam Sandler's in it for a second. Okay, this sounds like an all-star lineup. You gotta watch it. how have we never seen this? I don't know. How have I never even heard of it? I don't know. I don't know, but we're going to watch it. It just recently, do you know like the, the Vendor Syndrome? I think that's what it's called. They do like, I don't know what they do, honestly. But they, they did, they found like the old footage and recut it and it's like the dirtier cut and it's like rated R now because it was like, they cut stuff so it could be PG-13 and now it's rated R. I bought it. I haven't watched it yet. So, oh, you haven't watched it yet. Yeah. All right. All right. So there could be even more that could happen. So Gary Coleman can be in this. Chevy Chase can be in this. Wow, this is like. Yeah. Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler. Adam Sandler needs a pinball machine. He plays the devil, Adam Sandler. The devil? Yeah. There's, somebody made the homebrew Happy Gilmore. Oh that kind of awesome And that looks awesome Yeah There should be a Happy Gilmore pinball Yeah I haven seen it I know I kind of weird about movies I can sit still for very long But that's probably what I should sit through. There's a new one. I have not seen the new one, but the original is very funny. My boyfriend Jeremy said he cried during it. During the new one? Yeah. Awesome. I think it's really about... Not making fun of him. I think it was nostalgic. He loved it. I don't even know what the first one's about, so I can't even like... It's about golf. Yeah. Okay, perfect. He's a golfer. Nice, nice. Bob Barker's in it. Cool. Yeah. Awesome. Oh my God, that's really funny. I'll have to watch it. So Dirty Work Pinball, who's going to make it? Well, I'll... We can choose that because... Yeah, I don't know. I mean, if it sounds like it's a little raunchy... Yes. I'm going to say Spooky. Spooky Pinball. They make the Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Okay, cool. Halloween. Halloween, Evil Dead. All movies. Evil Dead one's fun. A lot of movies. They did a Scooby-Doo and a Looney Tunes, too. Rumor has it they have Beetlejuice. Whoa. Is that new news? It would be. It's not even announced. Rumors. Like we're nerdy enough to follow the rumors. Sure, sure. Nice. Like speculation what the next ones might be. Yeah, yeah. Cool. Rumors are they have Beetlejuice and or Gremlins or both. Okay. Cool. So these guys, and they really put a lot of stuff into the games. Yeah. And they make them up in Wisconsin in this teeny little town. and they are like, I feel like the underdogs of the pinball industry. Like they are, it's kind of, I don't mean this in a bad way, but kind of like a ragtag group of people who don't have the pedigrees and all the schooling to be designing these. Totally. They're just doing it. Yeah, that's awesome. It is awesome. What they're doing is like punk rock. Totally. What Spooky's doing. Yeah. Because the kid that runs it, is it Bug? Mm-hmm. He's in his 20s. Yeah. Like, I think early 20s. Early 20s. Yeah, it was awesome. And, like, I don't know, a decade or so ago, his dad, I don't know what his dad did previously, but his dad, like, basically came home and said, I'm quitting my job. We're starting a pinball company. That's awesome. And they just started making pinball machines. Very cool. And he hired this kid called Spooky Luke, who was not, like, a mechanical engineer, but, like, he was good at figuring stuff out. Sure, yeah. And he was in high school. And he was just out of high school, I think. That's awesome. And the bug guy's dad, I may be getting this wrong. Don't sue me, Spooky. It is the gist of it. Do you know all these people? No. No, we don't know any of these guys. Just know of them. So he just hired Spooky Luke and was like, I need you to figure out how to build these things. Yeah, yeah. And the dude figured it out. That's crazy. And every game, they did a Rick and Morty game was one of their early ones. They had an Alice Cooper one. Cool. Cool. Rob Zombie. Their first games were kind of rough. Yeah, yeah. Because there's no venture capital money into this. It's just this guy that decided, I'm quitting what I do, and we're going to make pinball. That's awesome. So it's super DIY punk kind of thing. So do they make one, and then a company mass produces it? No, they make them all. They make them all? Yeah. Whoa. Is it by order or pre-order? Theirs are all kind of limited. Like the Evil Dead, they made like 998 of them. For sure. And it sold out in like a couple months. So if you want an Evil Dead now. You got to get it used. You got to get it used. And they sold for just under 10K new. Gotcha. But if you want one today, it's like 15K because there's just not that many of them. Yeah, yeah. But every machine they make, they get better and better and better and better. And I think they're to the point where quality-wise, they rival Stern. They rival Stern and Jersey Bad. Yeah, Stern, they're kind of the big guys. You're like big in pinball, like pinball's tiny. Pinball's tiny, but they're the biggest manufacturer in pinball. And Spooky is not, but we root for them. Yeah, me too. Right? Yeah. In fact, we're on a buying freeze right now, but we keep saying that our next one has to be a Spooky pinball machine. Yeah. So maybe it'll be this custom. Are these people like famous? In the pinball world. In pinball. Okay. Can they go out and get recognized at the arcade? Oh, probably. At an arcade or at a pinball convention. Yeah, yeah, that's cool. But they could come to us as a Sincere Engineer show, and nobody's going to know who they are. Got it, got it. It's a safe place for that. Yeah, gotcha. They could go see Front Bottoms and Sincere Engineer and be totally fine. Nice. That's so crazy. I learned so much today. So awesome. I love the theme. I can't wait to watch Dirty Work. Yeah, report back. I'll watch Happy Gilmore and report back. You should watch Happy Gilmore, and then I need to watch the second one since it made your boyfriend cry. Maybe it'll make me cry. I enjoyed the first one. Yeah, it was like a nostalgia. Yeah, like sentimental and awful. That's good. That means they did a good job in the movie. He wasn't let down. I think. I want to see it. Did he go to the movie, like to the show? It's on Netflix. Yeah, it's on Netflix. Okay. I didn't even know if it was out in a theater. Yeah, I don't think it was. I think it's just a Netflix deal. And we're off of Netflix right now? Yeah. We're on a Netflix freeze? Yeah, nice. We'll get it again. Yeah. Maybe it's time to get Netflix again. Well, there's a new season of I Think You Should Leave that they've announced they're going to do. Cool. That was one of Stephanie's dream themes. Yeah, that's awesome. Coffin drop. Yeah. Tables. Tables. Tables. Tables. Stop. I want to hear any questions about the tables. Yeah. the first time we saw that with the I mean the Bones Are Their Money is like the very mainstream one now but I was like dying it was crazy I forget the Bones Are Their Money me too it's like the most it's like my you know it's like the Bucky's of sketches now and I go for the Wally's but it's still amazing I remember how hard I laughed at that it was incredible yeah that whole song would have to be in the machine it would definitely need to be in the machine that's the what is it wizard world yeah the wizard mode there is a place actually if you're ever in fort wayne indiana okay called wizard world an amazing pinball place i stopped there on my way to cleveland badass place yeah i'm ben but i know pretty bad is that where the who song came from the pinball wizard yeah i think that is started the pinball wizard like the wizard wizard mode maybe oh maybe maybe Maybe that's why. Why is a wizard mode called a wizard mode? This, I do not know. This is a question for Mike Vinikour. Yeah. Yeah, Mike, if you're watching. Let's get him on the horn. If you're watching this, Mike, comment down, how did wizard mode, that name, get coined? It's really good. We're going to find out. Hell yeah. I want to know. Deanna with the pressing questions. We're going to do a full investigative report on this. Yes. Cool. We're at 31 minutes. Okay. Cool. So we should wrap it up. let Deanna play a couple games. I've got to learn how to nudge. Nudging is, you know... It seems bad for it. Are they, like, delicate? No, it's fine. They're not delicate. But nudging, it's going to take hundreds and thousands of plays to really develop the nudging skills, but we can get you started today. We're going to get started today. And thank you, Deanna. Thank you for having me. Thanks for the merch. Thanks for bringing the merch. Of course. She brought it down from Ryan. Check out Sincere Engineer on the road. Check out their latest album, Sheep Grills. I know she's working on a new one. Yeah, soon. Well, we're going to be. So, I mean, it's probably going to be out like next year. Yeah. Yeah, right. Oh, yeah. It takes a while. I can't wait. But they've got new stuff in the works. We're excited. Yes. Sheep Grills' best album is 2024? Three. 2023. It was my favorite album of 2023. Best album of 2023. Thank you so much. Sheep Grills. So good. Get it. Thank you. Don't see them at the front bottoms. Thank you. All right. Wrapping it up. Toodaloo. Toodaloo. Toodle-oo.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: f83b561c-17bd-4eca-bf3b-bd12650d6659*