# #009 Music, Hobbies, and Stuff

**Source:** Punk Rock Pinball Podcast  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-08-14  
**Duration:** 31m 54s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://share.transistor.fm/s/85168ea4

---

## Analysis

In this casual podcast episode, hosts Mike and Stephanie discuss pinball as a hobby, why it's valuable for couples and individuals, and share personal experiences playing with visiting musician Tiff from the band Rodeo Boys. They recommend the Rodeo Boys' album 'Junior,' discuss favorite pinball machines, and play a hypothetical downsizing game where Mike chooses John Wick and would potentially swap it for a Walking Dead remaster if one is released. Stephanie's dream theme is an 'I Think You Should Leave' pinball machine based on the Netflix comedy show.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Stern is rumored to be planning a Walking Dead remaster and possibly a John Borg Cornerstone game — _Mike speculates about Stern announcements at Pinball Expo in October; mentions rumors about Walking Dead and John Borg games being announced before/at Expo_
- [HIGH] Aaron Reddick grand championed John Wick with just under 800 million points with no extra balls — _Mike mentions Aaron Reddick's recent tournament performance on John Wick at their last tournament_
- [HIGH] Stern made an April Fool's joke about an 'I Think You Should Leave' pinball machine last year — _Stephanie mentions Stern posted a Photoshop design as an April Fool's joke and references seeing it_
- [MEDIUM] Uncanny X-Men had plunging issues and minimal code at launch — _Stephanie speculates that Uncanny X-Men didn't sell as well as expected due to minimal code and plunging issues at launch_
- [MEDIUM] Stern is using expression lights in upcoming machines with plans for improved versions — _Mike mentions that Stern is going with expression lights in upcoming games and discussing improved versions_

### Notable Quotes

> "I just love the game. I think it just shoots, like, so smooth. The lights are great. The sound is great. Like, I love the music. I like the modes. I like that it's hard enough that it makes me angry and want to play again."
> — **Mike**, ~44:00
> _Explains Mike's choice of John Wick as his one machine to keep; reveals what makes a game compelling to him_

> "If they do that and the artwork is kickass on the game...I would probably take The Walking Dead over John Wick."
> — **Mike**, ~45:30
> _Conditional preference for Walking Dead remaster if it has strong artwork; indicates anticipation for announcement_

> "I think The Walking Dead is a better pinball experience than Tron."
> — **Mike**, ~46:00
> _Comparative game design assessment; suggests preference in potential remaster choice_

> "It shouldn't be a fucking joke because it is real."
> — **Stephanie**, ~58:00
> _Expresses frustration that Stern's April Fool's joke for 'I Think You Should Leave' pinball should be a real product_

> "I would put an order in the day it's announced. Like Insta order."
> — **Stephanie**, ~1:05:00
> _Strong buy signal for hypothetical 'I Think You Should Leave' pinball machine_

> "Pinball is something that it is really like everybody should go do this with their partner go give it a shot"
> — **Stephanie**, ~35:00
> _Core message about pinball as an accessible shared activity for couples_

> "If you're especially if you're getting to be our age and maybe play sports, but you can't do what you used to do because your knee sucks or your hip sucks or your back sucks. You can play pinball with all kinds of ailments and still do pretty good."
> — **Stephanie**, ~40:00
> _Speaks to accessibility and inclusivity of pinball as a hobby for aging demographics_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Mike | person | Co-host of Punk Rock Pinball Podcast; owns Jaws pinball machine; plays in tournaments |
| Stephanie | person | Co-host of Punk Rock Pinball Podcast; married to Mike; interested in pinball and pop culture themes |
| Tiff Marshall | person | Musician from band Rodeo Boys; visited hosts over weekend; played pinball with them and achieved high scores |
| Rodeo Boys | organization | Rock/alternative band; released album 'Junior'; toured with Smoking Popes; member Tiff visited podcast hosts |
| Aaron Reddick | person | Pinball player who recently grand championed John Wick at tournament with score just under 800 million points |
| John Borg | person | Stern game designer; designed John Wick, Kiss (newer version), Uncanny X-Men, Walking Dead, Tron, and other games; known for skilled plunger work |
| Troy | person | Operator of Tilt Amusements in Decatur, Illinois; owns Star Wars pinball and Evil Dead machines |
| Dennis O'Day | person | Pinball player who participates in league play with hosts; visited their home; plays machines regardless of condition |
| Angie Baird | person | Friend of hosts; one of top Spotify fans of Rodeo Boys; left Noon Whistle hop water at hosts' house |
| Joe Sharp | person | Acquaintance of hosts; mentioned as someone who would buy 'I Think You Should Leave' pinball machine |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; created John Wick, Jaws, Uncanny X-Men, and other machines discussed |
| Jaws | game | Stern pinball machine that sparked hosts' deep interest in pinball hobby; Mike's preferred machine to keep in downsizing scenario |
| John Wick | game | Stern pinball machine designed by John Borg; Mike's first choice to keep in downsizing scenario due to smooth shooting and great aesthetics |
| Uncanny X-Men | game | Stern pinball machine with unusual layout; had plunging issues and minimal code at launch; Tiff achieved high scores on this machine |
| The Walking Dead | game | Stern pinball machine designed by John Borg; rumored to be getting a remaster announcement; potentially Mike's second choice if artwork is improved |
| I Think You Should Leave | game | Proposed/rumored pinball machine based on Netflix sketch comedy show; Stern made April Fool's joke about it; Stephanie's dream theme |
| Godzilla | game | Stern pinball machine mentioned as popular with newcomers to pinball |
| Tron | game | Stern pinball machine designed by John Borg; rumored potential remaster candidate alongside Walking Dead |
| Evil Dead | game | Pinball machine noted for phenomenal artwork and design despite zombie theme; located at Tilt Amusements |
| Kiss (newer) | game | John Borg-designed newer Kiss pinball machine; superior to older original Kiss machine |
| Metallica | game | Stern remaster example cited as having kickass artwork; potentially announced before Pinball Expo |
| Pinball Expo | event | Annual pinball industry event in October where Stern typically announces new games |
| Noon Whistle Brewing | company | Brewery with locations in Lombard and Naperville, Illinois; hosts pinball tournaments; serves Noon Whistle hop water non-alcoholic beverage |
| Tilt Amusements | company | Arcade/amusement location in Decatur, Illinois operated by Troy; features Star Wars and Evil Dead pinball machines |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pinball as a shared couple's hobby, Stern game announcements and remasters (Walking Dead, Tron speculation), Game design preferences and machine rankings, Pinball accessibility for aging/non-athletic players, Dream pinball themes ('I Think You Should Leave' concept)
- **Secondary:** Music recommendation (Rodeo Boys 'Junior' album), Recent visitor experience and gameplay achievements, Pinball venue discovery and accessibility (Pinball Map, breweries)

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.82) — Hosts are enthusiastic and passionate about pinball as a hobby. Tone is warm and inclusive throughout, with genuine encouragement for others to try pinball. Some minor criticism of specific game designs (Shrek, Uncanny X-Men code issues) but overall very positive and supportive. No significant negativity or conflicts.

### Signals

- **[rumor_hype]** Mike speculates that Stern may announce a Walking Dead remaster, potentially at or before Pinball Expo in October. Conditional preference expressed if artwork improves over original. (confidence: medium) — Mike says 'if they do the one of the rumors for Stern is they're going to remaster The Walking Dead' and discusses possibilities for improved artwork similar to Metallica remaster
- **[rumor_hype]** Mike predicts John Borg Cornerstone game will be announced at or before Pinball Expo in October, potentially before Walking Dead. (confidence: medium) — Mike states 'I think we'll see the next John Borg like Cornerstone one at Expo' and speculates about announcement timing patterns
- **[gameplay_signal]** Discussion of how pinball machines with poor condition (leaning, weak flippers, non-functional buttons) can still be fun and playable, but are more challenging. (confidence: high) — Detailed account of playing one-flipper Godzilla machine in Buffalo and still achieving competitive scores
- **[community_signal]** Emphasis on pinball's accessibility for people of all ages, genders, and physical abilities. Frames pinball as viable hobby for aging population with physical limitations. (confidence: high) — Stephanie discusses how people with knee/hip/back problems can still play well, and notes 'there's really no physical advantage between a man or a woman'
- **[machine_intel]** Discussion of reskinning existing layouts rather than creating entirely new machines. Uncanny X-Men layout suggested as strong candidate for 'I Think You Should Leave' theme. (confidence: medium) — Stephanie proposes reskinning successful layouts like Uncanny X-Men or Foo Fighters for new themes rather than designing new playfields
- **[product_strategy]** 'I Think You Should Leave' discussed as having strong potential as a location/bar game, particularly in college towns, appealing to younger demographics. (confidence: medium) — Hosts discuss 'I Think You Should Leave' as 'a really good location game' with appeal to 20-somethings and college-aged players
- **[technology_signal]** Stern mentioned as planning or already implementing expression lights in upcoming machines with plans for improved versions. (confidence: medium) — Mike mentions 'I think they are going to have like an improved version of the expression lights' in context of potential Walking Dead remaster
- **[competitive_signal]** Aaron Reddick achieved tournament grand champion on John Wick with score of just under 800 million points with no extra balls, setting a competitive benchmark. (confidence: high) — Mike references 'At our last tournament, Aaron Reddick, like, grand champed the game with, like, just under 800 million points with, like, no extra balls'
- **[design_philosophy]** Discussion of how finding the right theme matters more than machine condition; recommends trying multiple games to find one that resonates. (confidence: high) — Stephanie advises newcomers to 'find a game that you both like not every game's gonna speak to everybody' and recommends Godzilla as popular with newcomers
- **[product_concern]** Uncanny X-Men identified as having plunging problems at launch and minimal code, which may have impacted sales compared to potential. (confidence: medium) — Stephanie states 'I suspect Uncanny X-Men didn't sell as much as it should have because it launched with like very minimal code and there were some issues with how it plunged'
- **[collector_signal]** In hypothetical downsizing scenario, Mike prioritizes John Wick for its gameplay experience over other machines, with conditional swap for Walking Dead if art improves. (confidence: high) — Mike chooses John Wick but states he would swap it for Walking Dead remaster 'if they do it up like they did Metallica' with kickass artwork

---

## Transcript

 And we're back. Episode 9. Take 2. Take 2. My PC crapped out on the audio on the last one. I think the hard drive is full. We're doing it again. That's alright. Yeah. So here we go. One more time. I just ran up and down the steps and huffing and puffing. Well, you know, that's what happens. What are you going to do? You just got to keep on pushing. But hey, we had the last episode a lot of people watched for us, like big numbers for us. Yeah, it was like awesome. And thank you, everybody, for the comments. Lots of great comments. Seems like a lot of people or a handful of you like own that Star Wars pin and you like it a lot. Yeah, I'm so curious about it. Like I know we don't have a Costco near us in Bloomington. We have to go to Peoria or to Champaign, Illinois if we want a Costco. But I really feel like I want to renew the membership. Just so we can go play it. Yeah, and like Costco just has great stuff. Yeah. We need a Costco in Bloomington. Well, that would be ideal. If anyone from Costco is watching this, put one in Bloomington. We've got a lot of people here. Sam's Club is busy all the time. Yeah, put it in over by the Home Depot. Yeah, Home Depot needs something over there. There's nothing. It's like a ghost town, Home Depot. Just build a little Costco right there. It'd be great. Yeah, please do it. It would be great. Okay, so thanks for those comments. Yeah, like you said, most people super supportive of that. It's not for everybody. Yeah. But... Yeah, one person thought it was like not a good value, underdesigned, overpriced. I don't think it's overpriced, really. I don't think they make it as cheaply as you think they can. If you think it's overpriced, I don't think they could cut it that much and still be in business. No, but I want to go play it. Me too. I want to go play it. Or if somebody happens to live in the area and wants to maybe invite us over to play theirs. I think Troy at Tilt Amusements has not the Home Edition Plus, but he's got the other one. It's the same layout. So, Troy, we've got to come over and play the Star Wars. Yeah. Let us know when you're around. He's in Decatur. That's not too far. I'll go over there just to play that Star Wars. Yeah. He also has Evil Dead. I'd like to play his Evil Dead. He has amazing games there. Yeah. What are we talking about? Well, today, let's talk a little bit about what happened in the Rock Room this week. and then I think we should talk about the importance of hobbies and why maybe for the pinball curious who are you know have been following us following the rock room channel for a while like maybe we should just talk about all the wonderful things about why pinball is a great hobby yeah especially when you're you know like most of the people that youtube tells us is watching this between the ages of like 38 and 55. Yeah. Why it's great for you. So we'll talk about that a little bit. And then, you know, we like to do a You Choose. Yeah. We have a music recommendation. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And Stephanie's dream theme today. Yeah. I think it's going to be a good one. But we had a big weekend. My friend Tiff from the band Rodeo Boys came out Friday and they left just this morning, Sunday. and we went fishing friday night that i've been trying to get them to come out and go fishing with me for a few years now because we've toured together a couple times rodeo boys and smoking popes and tip is really into fishing and me too i've got a little bass boat so we went out friday night we caught some of what i call wipers we call them wipers down here it's a white bass hybrid striper. We caught five or six of those and we kept how many did Tiff fillet? I think four or five. We kept like five of them. I've never filleted fish. I'm like a catch and release guy. Catch, photo and release. Tiff was like, I think these are good to eat. Let's keep some. So we did. Tiff Marshall was wiggling the camera. Sorry about that. He's rolling on his back and wiggling the camera. Yeah, but Tiff chopped them up in the garage, made some fillets. We fried them up at 11 p.m., had a little fish fry. I took the carcasses over to the cornfield at the end of the block and made an offering to the coyotes. The yotes. The yotes, maybe the crows. I don't know. I didn't walk over to see if the carcasses are gone, but I'm pretty sure they are. So nothing went to waste off of these fish. No, but she's a badass. She just, like, humanely killed them and filleted it. And if they would have been dead for a little bit, I think I could do it, but they were still a little twitchy. Yeah. Trigger warning. Might be gross to some people. Yeah, and Tiff is a badass and just knocked it out. Then Saturday we went out, like, all day fishing in, like, 100-degree heat. We didn't catch anything. And then we came back down here and they sang a couple songs, two songs. Right here. Right here, right exactly where we're standing. And we'll be editing those videos, putting them out on the channel here. And that ties into our music recommendation for this week. Also, before you go there, we did, of course, play pinball with TIFF. And they did awesome on the games. In fact, Tiff now has her name up on the Uncanny X-Men. Mm-hmm. So that's pretty cool. And Tiff beat me a couple times on a few games. Tiff was second place on X-Men, on Uncanny X-Men. I think second place on this other X-Men, the 2012 X-Men, beat me. Yep. Yeah, she almost caught me on that one. Third on Pirates, I think. Mm-hmm. I think second on Ripley's. I think they beat you on Ripley's, and I won on Ripley's. Weird. And then it might have been last on Beatles, but we own these games. We play them all the time. Tiff beat both of us on some games we play a lot. It was fun. Good job, Tiff. Come back, Tiff. So you can take the music recommendation. Okay. So Rodeo Boys released this album, I think, last year, maybe this year. I'm not sure, but it's called Junior. If you look in wherever you listen to music or purchase music online, it's the latest album called Junior. And it's a ripper of an album. I don't think there's a stinker of a song on it. I've listened to it a ton. Then my friend Angie Baird, also totally obsessed with Rodeo Boys. I think when we drove out to meet you guys in Cleveland over Memorial Day, she told me she was like one of the top fans. Spotify told her that she's one of the top fans of Rodeo Boys. But it's just great, really, really great. And I think their top song is All-American Man. Which Tiff sang here. We have a video for that one. That's my favorite song of theirs. And then she did Sam's Song, which I think she said is also one of their top songs. Yeah, those are coming up. Real good. Check them out. They're on the road all the time. If John Youssi Rodeo Boys playing near you, go check them out. Yep, they're going to be playing. They got some tours coming up and they playing Fest in Gainesville in October So definitely great live band Yep Great live band Real great Get up close Yeah, they all look cool. They do cool stuff. They got cool moves. Mm-hmm. Bunch of good players. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Definitely check it out. All right. Mike, hobbies. Hobbies. Pinball. The importance of it. Yeah. How sad would you be if we didn't have pinball as a hobby? I can't even imagine. And we haven't been – it's not like we're really super long-time pinballers. Like I've played off and on since the 90s. Like I always liked it. But if there had never been a Jaws pin, we wouldn't be in this situation talking pinball to a camera right now. No. But I think it is just an incredible hobby. You don't have to own a bunch of games. because oftentimes we would just – stuff we'd do together, we'd go to dinner, binge watch shows. You've got your weaving. I have golfing and fishing and stuff, and you like to float on the boat, but there's not a lot that we would actively do together like a hobby. Like a thing. Uh-huh. Yeah, we did a bowling league once. Yeah, that was fun. Or twice maybe we did that. That was fun. Yeah, but pinball is something that we're both pretty much at the same level on. I wouldn't say that we're really good. No. I mean, we're, I guess, in the whole universe of people who play pinball on a regular basis. We're okay. Yeah, when you factor in real casual players, if I look down my scores on the Insider Connected app, most of my high scores are like in the top five percent of a couple that are at least the top 10 and their top five but that's factoring in like anybody that's ever played the game so what i love about it is that it is something that it is really like everybody should go do this with their partner go give it a shot it's like a fun different activity that maybe you don't do every day, and that's cool. So grab $10, open up the Pinball Map app, and find a place near you to play some pinball, and go toss some dollars into that machine and figure it out with your partner or a friend, like if you're not coupled with somebody. Yeah, you don't have to be coupled. I mean, you could go do it by yourself. Pinball, I think, is a fun shared experience. like I play less pinball like if you're not if you're out of town I don't play as much I like playing like with other people so if you're single you can go by yourself it's fun by yourself but take a friend play some two-player games like figure out like oh you need to hit this shot to do that you need to hit that thing to make this happen yeah learn a game together yeah and like really try to learn it and figure out like what do I do to get to these places in the game to make my score go higher yeah yeah and even if the game isn't in the most spectacular condition it's still fun yeah you know if it's maybe leaning a little bit or one of the flippers is a little weak it's just part of the game so still like it it's it can still be fun like dennis um dennis o'day that we play with in league and came over and played at our house he doesn't care how beat up the game is he is he is just like if there is a pinball machine he is playing it yeah and i love that like he's he's not super critical about it it's just like that's the game that's what i got and i'm gonna play it we played one i think it was i think we're in buffalo and on the last tours it was the last tour with popes and off with their heads and we went to a place had some games it was like a godzilla like the left flipper just would not flip just that you hit the button nothing so it was a one flipper game it was either the right i can't remember which flipper now it was but a couple of the guys enough with their heads had played it so i'm like okay well what was your score like 13 million i'm like okay i think i can get that with one flipper and then so it's like ruben and i played and like if it came down towards the dead flipper you just had to kind of nudge the machine so it'd pop over hopefully it would pop over to the flipper that worked and it still is fun to play on just one flipper yeah it's still a challenge right it's a big challenge because you have to like if it's coming down there slowly you've got to like bump the machine and hope you don't i did tilt once because it was like rolling down the in lane and i hit the machine hard enough to get it over to the other flipper but then i tilted it can still be fun and it's a fun thing to do with your partner and or even like with your girlfriends or guy friends or whatever just like it it could make it a an adventure to go do something new and if you're like a bar type person it's just a another thing instead of just like sitting around a table or sitting at the bar like you can take turns playing a pinball game yeah it's a fun way to like have competition and it's like random enough that the better players are going to win most of the time but even if you're a noob like you might just catch a good have a good ball and like compete yeah you know just i think i said on the last episode like my buddy vince who doesn't play beat joe who wins everything he beat joe on john wick it can happen it can happen it can happen just one ball that's all and it's like there's really no physical advantage between a man or a woman or anything so like it's a pretty level playing field so if you are especially if you're getting to be our age and maybe play sports, but you can't do what you used to do because your knee sucks or your hip sucks or your back sucks. You can play pinball with all kinds of ailments and still do pretty good. And even if you, like a lot of the breweries nowadays have pinball machines, if they do tournaments, the odds of those machines being in pretty decent condition are pretty high. So definitely check it out. And if you're not a big drinker, a lot of those breweries have non-alcoholic options. I am totally obsessed with the noon whistle hop water that Angie left at our house. It's so good. It's good. I don't like anything that doesn't have sugar, typically. I'm just like a Coca-Cola guy, drink some sweet tea. But I took some sips of this the other night, and I'm like, that's not bad. I actually sipped it because I thought it was a beer, and I haven't had beer in forever. And I'm like, that's better than beer. It's really good. Yeah. It's just like a good refreshing taste. Anyways, Noon Whistle, I really like this. And I know you do tournaments. We have to get up there and play. Yeah, they're in Lombard and Naperville, Illinois. They've got – one's got six pins, one's got five. It's all modern sterns. Check them out. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Anything else you want to talk about the hobby, hobbying? No, I think – I just would encourage – like it is like i mean i feel like we get along really good which is a good thing because we're married but i feel like pinball has just like added this new thing to our relationship yeah because most of the time now like our conversations daily probably 75 like pinball related like oh did John Youssi the rumors like the next stern games are going to be x y and z and like if it's these then I want these two. Or like I figure out something on Jaws. Like if you get the super spinners you can put that with the machete you can get a lot of points Like we talk this real nerdy stuff Yeah we do But if you get into it you may have those same conversations You might. And it's like something that you both can follow and like both get into. And it's not just like scrolling on your phone. You're physically doing a thing. It's not just like zoning out to Netflix, which we still do. but it's like just some like an activity that everyone can do and i think if you do it enough and you start having some good games like you're gonna like it yeah find a game that you both like not every game's gonna speak to everybody no so like if you play one you're like i don't like that that much play a different one because they're not all the same i i do i've had some people at work say like you've got 15 like aren't they all the same no no not at all not even close No, they all have flippers and a ball. And everything else about the experience is different. So if you play one and you're like, I don't know about this, play a different one. A lot of newcomers seem to really like Godzilla, so find a place that has a Godzilla, play that one. Yeah, and if you have a recommendation on what is your favorite, actually, I would love to know, if you're watching this, what is the game that really connected with you, that made you just, that hooked you? what is it what game was it i mean jaws for me as a as a youth it was uh star trek the next generation and the the day to east jurassic park like those two as i think when i first played jurassic park i was like a teen and then i was in my very early 20s when i played star trek the next generation those two were like this is awesome yeah but then i went a long long time without playing much pinball until we got Jaws. So Jaws is the one that really got us. Yeah, Jaws is the one that clearly sparked a problem. But I remember playing the original Kiss pinball machine a lot. Not the Borg one? No, not the newer one. Like the older one. The old one, like the street level. The John Borg Kiss one is great. It's amazing. I would love to have that one. Okay, Mike, I got a you choose for you. Okay. All right. So it's several years in the future. Okay. And it's time we have to downsize. Okay. Which means we have to downsize the collection. Yeah. We're moving somewhere smaller. It's great. We're going to love it there. Okay. The only thing is, is that there's only enough room for two pins. You just get to choose one of them. I get to choose one of the two. And it doesn't have to be one that we currently have. You have your choice for a slot in this two-pin lineup at our new, smaller home. What are you going to do? So I think anybody that's still watching this, I think a lot of people are going to disagree with me about this. And I'm assuming that we have Jaws because if I'm choosing one, Steph's choosing the other, it will be Jaws. So we'll have a Jaws 50th in the house. So keep that in mind. Yeah. We have Jaws. Right now, of the games that currently exist, I would take John Wick with me. Whoa. Mm-hmm. Really? I just love the game. I think it just shoots, like, so smooth. The lights are great. The sound is great. Like, I love the music. I like the modes. I like that it's hard enough that it makes me angry and want to play again. Hit it again. And at our last tournament, Aaron Reddick, like, grand champed the game with, like, just under 800 million points with, like, no extra balls or anything. so I'm going to need some time to break that score I mean I know this is years in the future but maybe I haven't broken that score yet for me that's a tough score to beat on John Wick so I'm taking John Wick like today but if they do the one of the rumors for Stern is they're going to remaster The Walking Dead and if they do that and the artwork is kickass on the game because the existing one, I really don't care for the art like at all. No, it's like a rainy day. And I love the game. I love playing the game. I love that layout. So if it looks really cool, if they do it up like they did Metallica, I would probably take The Walking Dead over John Wick. Okay. And when is Pinball Expo? October. It's in October. I think we'll see that at Expo, hopefully. I bet we will. I think we'll see the next John Borg like Cornerstone one at Expo you think they'll do both because last time they did Uncanny X-Men got announced just before Expo and then at Expo they unveiled Metallica maybe they'll do that again so maybe they'll do the Borg one like end of September and then at Expo we'll see The Walking Dead I know a lot of people are hoping it's Tron that will be the remaster I think regardless of theme I think The Walking Dead is the better game of Tron versus Walking Dead. I think some people may disagree about that, too. They're both John Borg games. They're both excellent games. I just think The Walking Dead is a better pinball experience than Tron. All right. That's scary. The Walking Dead is kind of creepy. It's creepy. If they do that, do you think it's going to be the TV show or the comic? I bet they'll do the comic. I bet it'll be the comic. Just for licensing purposes, it'd be so much easier. Yeah. I loved the comic. I read a bunch of those comics, and the art's really cool in that. I think the comic would lend itself to looking way cooler, because the artwork in the comic book is really good, so they base it off that style. I think the show makes it tough for artwork. Yeah. But you could, like, we talked about, you know, it's a zombie game. It doesn't have to be pretty, but, like, the Evil Dead is, like, one of the coolest-looking pinball machines ever. And that's based off of a zombie movie. Yeah. The Evil Dead looks phenomenal. So you could make the Walking Dead look as good as the Evil Dead if you had the right person doing the art. So if it's, like, a slick-looking game and they do it up with the lights and everything, and it's supposed to be the Spike, that will be Spike 3, I think. so they should have like really cool options for the lights because i think they're going with like expression lights in everything oh really there's an option oh i think that's cool and i think they are going to have like an improved version of the expression lights my dog's like hacking on stuff you're right there bud but if there's badass lights and the game looks great i'm taking the Walking Dead. All right. Okay. And Wick to the curb, even though I love it. Well, I'm surprised by that answer. Yeah. Really surprised. I think a lot of people would probably say Wick, but this is for me. It's for you. There's no wrong answer. I want John Wick and I want The Walking Dead. And I think some people would poo-poo that, but I don't care. You do you. Yeah. You choose what you choose, I'll choose what I choose. There you go. And with that, Stephanie, you choose your dream theme. Oh my gosh. Over the last week I been thinking about this a lot about what am I going to pick for this And I would really love to come up with an original theme that would be really fun but I haven't really thought of one that is going to do it for me. Nobody would buy it anyway. No. Like original themes, nobody buys them. And this one, Mike, you haven't heard about yet. But this one, I really would love for it to happen. And I don't know, maybe one day it could actually happen. So Stern made a April Fool's joke last year about this, and I want it. It shouldn't be a fucking joke because it is real. This is different than what you did on the previous thing, Finn? She's throwing a curveball here. I know where you're going. Yeah, I want, I think you should leave Pinball, which is the Netflix show with Tim Robinson and I forgot the other guy's name. Oh, no, it's really just Tim Robinson, I think, and his writing partner, who I don't know his name. Anyways, that show on Netflix is hands down one of the funniest things I've seen in years. It's a sketch comedy show, and it is very weird and very hilarious. and there was an announcement that they're coming out with a new season, like I think a credible source. It's been all over the internet. So that's what I want. That's what I want. I want I Think You Should Leave. I want the different skits in there. I want him in a hot dog suit. I want Little Buff Boys. Little Buff Boys. Yeah, they're in goose suits. We goose them up. Goose them up. That's what I want. That I think would be great. I remember seeing that April Fool's, like Stern posted, they had like a Photoshop design, and I think you should leave a pin. I think I commented on that. It's like, make it. Please make it. Make that pin. I mean, so great. Yeah. And why not? Why not? Why not just like, you know, like they – Would that sell a couple thousand? You know what? Hear me out on this, Mike. Yeah. You know, last week we talked about that game that we don't like, Shrek. Yeah. But they took Shrek and they did it two different ways. They skinned it two different ways. You don't have to create a whole new machine. Right, yeah. You know what? Take that Uncanny X-Men. That'd be a cool layout for that. And just re-skin it. Yeah. Just re-skin it. Yeah. I'd buy it. And you know what? That would be, that's actually a great idea. Thank you. Because I think, I suspect Uncanny X-Men didn't sell as much as it should have because it launched with like very minimal code. and there were some issues with how it plunged, which I think they've solved. Mine still doesn't really. I need John Borg to come over and fix the plunge on my X-Men. He said he knows how to do it. So, I mean, I'm sure there's other people qualified to do that. I'd rather have John Borg come down and fix my uncanny X-Men. But I think that that layout deserves another shot. It's awesome. At success. Although I don't know if I think you should leave. is going to be a mega selling theme, but we would buy it. Even though I have the layout. Joe Sharp would buy it. I have the layout already. I know. I'd probably keep Uncanny X-Men and get that one. Yeah. Because. I mean, there's, you could, I mean, they've got so many different layouts out there. So I'm just looking at that one and I think the flow on that is so unusual and like the danger room could end up being. I don't know what you'd put where the Sentinel is. Like, what are you going to bash? and I think he should leave. Maybe. I don't know. I mean, maybe it isn't. Like, wouldn't it be funny if it was like a champion pub kind of thing where something moved in the center and it was slick back and push back here? Because we've got the pro, but on the premium, the thing comes up out of the ground or from under the play field. It's not the ground. You could probably pretty easily make that turn. And like, yeah, you hit it and he's like, slick back. This is push back. No. Uh-huh. So when it's – maybe it starts with the slick back guy and you hit it and he turns around. He's like, I used to be a piece of shit. Uh-huh. Not anymore. Not anymore. People can change. You have to make them change. Yes. Into not being a piece of shit. Yeah. And then like if there's like – I don't know where exactly it would be in there, but there could be the call out of, are you sure about that? Are you sure about that? Are you sure about that? Uh-huh. Maybe it's when you choose a mode that happens. I don't know. He could say that as you drain and it shoots you another ball and the ball saves the line. Yeah. Yeah. Or I think when the ball's draining and the ball save fires you a new ball back, I think that's when he should be like, has that ever happened to you? Has that ever happened to you? Like when the ball drains out the out lane. Yes. Yeah. Uh-huh. That's what I'm choosing. That's like your ball save. Like on Jaws where it's like, Hooper, you ain't watching it. Like on the thing you pick your sleeve. Has that ever happened to you? I would just laugh hysterically all the time. So that one would really make me smile, and I think it's worthy of maybe not the full engineering that goes into a whole new play field, but reskin something. Yeah. I mean, there's a million ones that could reskin. You could reskin John Wick. Take one of the ones that didn't sell as well as you'd hoped. because you've got R&D invested into those layouts. So it could be like Uncanny X-Men. I don't think Foo Fighters sold a shitload. That would be a really good layout for it. I think you should leave. Wick would be too hard, I think. Wick's too hard. So I'm buying that. I'd buy it. Even if it was one of these that if they reskinned one that we currently own, I would buy I think you should leave. I would put an order in the day it's announced. Like Insta order. Yeah. I think it would be great. Do a limited run on it. Uh-huh. I feel like you could sell a thousand of those. Yeah. If you're still watching, would you buy an I Think You Should Leave Pinball Machine? Do you even know the show? If you don't know the show, go watch the show. But I'm buying it. I'm buying it too. I love it. I think that also, excuse me, speaks to a little bit of a younger audience. You know, not much younger, but I feel like, I mean, 20-somethings were really into that show during COVID when it came out. Yeah. I don't know. Could be interesting. Yeah, I feel like it could be a really good location game. Yeah. Maybe somewhere where there's not a lot of kids. Yeah. But for like bars and stuff, it could be a really nice location game, I think. Especially in like college towns and stuff. Yeah. Like the kids, I think, would play that, and it would be hilarious. I want it. I want it. That's not what I was expecting because when we did take one of this, it was a different theme. I'm going to save that one for a different day. Okay. All right. Well, Mike, anything else you want to talk about? No. What do you want to tell the people? Just thanks for watching and thanks for listening. We're getting more downloads on the podcast things every time. the videos are getting a lot more views and a bunch of people subscribed off the last one thank you for that if you're not subscribed please subscribe and please comment yeah we like that yeah we enjoy it and if you have any suggestions on topics you'd like us to cover we're happy to entertain those ideas as well yeah thanks for listening toodaloo bye you

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

---

*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: fb2f674d-b742-4fc2-9ccf-de01f3f4fb4a*