Iterative hands-on prototyping is superior to digital design tools for homebrew development

The Friday the 13th font in Kyle's game only supports numbers 1-3; using 4+ causes a crash

Ernie Silverbird of Trident Pinball provided critical mentorship and homebrew kits to enable Kyle's first build

Kyle's primary design tools were PowerPoint and CapCut for asset creation

Kyle has a third homebrew game in development scheduled for Texas Pinball Festival 2027 debut

Kyle created both Big Trouble in Little China and Friday the 13th homebrew pinball games

Bootleggers team includes designers of Friday the 13th and Big Trouble in Little China

Ernie designed Monsters Inc. homebrew

Alex Labasco is a contributor on MPF and designed Trogdor

Development of Bootleggers started in November 2025 after Expo

Kyle's first homebrew was a Harry Potter machine that appeared at Expo for the last 2 years

The team plans to have four fully finished, artwork-complete Bootleggers machines at Expo 2026

Bootleggers will be fully open-source with all files published and DIY video tutorials created by end of 2026

The inspiration for the Bootleggers theme came from brainstorming while drinking whiskey in Kyle's bourbon room with Aaron and the team in April (2025)

PEMBOT ROM 2.0 extends Pinbot gameplay from approximately 1.5 minutes to 2.5-3 minutes per ball

Gottlieb System 3 games were substantially cheaper than Bally/Williams games at the same time

Caribbean Cruise was the first Gottlieb System 3 game with only 377 units produced in 1989

System 3 machines had silk-screened wiring diagrams and component labels underneath the playfield

1990s operators acquired pinball games via route deployment for 1-2 years, then traded/scrapped them rather than buying brand new

John Norris was restricted from doing podcasts due to a prior relationship/agreement and was working to resolve it

Operation Thunder has a fuel-based rule system rather than traditional three-ball format

Only 67 Pinsiders own Operation Thunder despite 2,513 units produced, indicating overseas export dominance

Blast from the Past is a good movie featuring Brendan Fraser and Christopher Walken.

The Tetris movie was excellent and worth watching multiple times.

Homebrew designers are using Fusion 360, CAD, and VPX to prototype pinball layouts

Kyle is capable of being a top-5 competitive pinball player if he competed regularly, but health issues limit tournament participation

Kyle is a video producer for Stern Pinball who creates content on pinball mechanics

Ninja Eclipse production model has excellent integrated lighting that rivals or exceeds aftermarket solutions like Pin Stadiums or Pin Lights

Evil Dead was the most-discussed pinball at March shows and won Best Modern at Pin Brew 2025

During a standard 3-minute 3-ball game, players actuate each flipper hundreds of times

The crank and link is the primary component that wears out on a flipper assembly

When replacing crank and link, the coil stop must also be replaced because these parts mate together

Proper flipper end play should be approximately 1/16th inch (about one millimeter or two credit card widths)

Newer Stern games use 5/32 inch Allen head cap screws for coil stop attachment, while older games used 5/16 inch head screws

A worn plunger can mushroom and create friction inside the coil sleeve, necessitating sleeve replacement during rebuild

The flipper bushing can crack and cause undesired play if the machine is heavily used

Only one tool is needed to rebuild flippers: a 5/32 inch Allen wrench

Off-center shooter rod positioning causes bad plunges and reduced ball speed

Barrel spring compression on heavily-used machines causes the shooter rod to protrude too far, weakening auto-plunge

The pivot point screw on the auto-plunger can back out on well-loved games, creating slop that reduces launch power

Shooter rod housing can be adjusted by loosening mounting screws a half to full turn to allow repositioning without removing them

Playing pinball at home in a quiet environment allows you to hear every nuance of the game versus location play

Electric Bat arcade in Arizona is an informal, punk rock dive bar aesthetic with quality pinball machines and affordable beer

Games that underperform in home sales often perform better at arcade locations because players want to try titles they don't own

Foo Fighters LE machines have experienced main board failures causing node board initialization errors

No Good Gophers 2.0 kit with LCD upgrade costs approximately $1,600-2,000 and uses Raspberry Pi

Kyle is the most critical JJP skeptic at the Fresh Pinball table but appreciates light show quality

John Wick Premium car target assembly requires a quarter-inch nut driver for removal

The car target mechanism uses a 180-degree motor rotation to move between two positions

Car position detection is handled by a magnetic sensor board under the playfield

Car hit detection uses optical switches mounted to the playfield rather than the moving assembly

Godfather LE with topper received 415 plays at a tattoo convention over one weekend

Pinball accessory toppers materially increase player attraction and machine engagement at location venues

The shark fin target base is leveled using five Phillips head screws with rubber grommets

Opening the coin door removes 48 volts from the playfield through the interlock switch

The ideal rear positioning is slightly above the playfield for smooth ball transfer

Adjustments should be made slowly with frequent level checks to achieve proper positioning

Upper playfield harnesses are located in the bottom left corner of the playfield on JAWS

Lowering the shark target via diagnostics provides additional clearance for upper playfield removal

Wire form ramp fastening requires two washers—one under the ramp and one above

All upper playfield harness connectors are keyed so they can only connect in one orientation

The flipper tip should be aligned or much closer to the dimple in the playfield for proper trapping and locking function

Opening the coin door removes 48 volts from the playfield, making it safe to service

A 5/32 inch Allen wrench is the correct tool for loosening the flipper crank

The flipper crank must be tightened securely or the flipper back will start to drift

Opening the coin door removes 48 volts from the playfield via interlock switch

The conical spring's smaller opening must face the target carrier bottom, wider side toward the coil

A brass bushing with flange side down sits on the motor shaft and can easily fall out

Shark fin target level can be adjusted using a 3/8 inch nut driver on the leveling post without full disassembly

Friday the 13th homebrew contains voice callouts from 6 real actors from the film series

Friday the 13th homebrew required 1.5 years of development time

Kyle (competitive player) can score $30-40 billion on Jersey Jack's The Godfather

Kyle from Marco's was hired by Stern Pinball in tech support

Kyle produces YouTube Pintech Live videos and is very knowledgeable about pinball technology

Sound quality has improved on recent Poor Man's Pinball episodes

Planet X mode in Godzilla beta code crashed during Kyle's stream testing

Kyle at Stern Pinball creates the on-screen tutorial animations for pinball machines using After Effects software

Kyle rolled over 10 million points on F-14 Tomcat earlier in the tournament

Kyle's mobile pinball streaming rig schematics are publicly available for other streamers to replicate

The shooter lane switch on pinball machines is the most frequently used switch because every single ball uses it during plunge phase

The streaming rig is completely wireless with no cables

This is Kyle's first time attending FreePlay Florida

Kyle created the custom Mini Deadpool graphics and animations for the Deadpool machine

Kyle won the IE Pinball tournament on Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle with Victor 2nd, Mark 3rd, and Tim 4th

Extra balls are disabled on all tournament games

Kyle won Division A of the Thursday night tournament

Kyle achieved a game score over 5 million on Total Nuclear Annihilation

Kyle has the highest high score on Total Nuclear Annihilation in the local league

Kyle won the Total Nuclear Annihilation launch tournament finals

Kyle removed the center post from The Hobbit playfield

Kyle replaced rubber posts and flipper rings with Titan brand components

Titan rubber posts and flipper rings make The Hobbit harder with less bounce

Tournament play of The Hobbit may require lightning flippers and center post removal for standardization

Kyle achieved multiple hole-in-ones on Batman during the tournament

Kyle forgot to use his add-a-ball during Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) and believes this will cost him the tournament