Raymond Davidson is doing great pinball code work

Pinball artwork has improved dramatically since the early 2000s

Christopher Franchi has made significant artistic contributions to modern pinball machines

Jeremy Packer is doing excellent pinball artwork on contemporary machines

Guns N' Roses pinball has masterpiece-level code

Ghostbusters: Afterlife is an excellent movie with great nostalgia and cameos

Launching Poor Man's Happy Hour as a Facebook Live show with shorter episodes and guest spots

Scott Ian left Facebook for personal reasons and mental health

Creature pinball machine is still working well after restoration

Dan Lucen's interview was the worst interview by far

The podcast hit its stride around episode 30

Scott Ian started a new job in 2024

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast is at episode 109

Multiple people have reached out wanting to be co-hosts for new projects

Ballarama Pinball has a working prototype in Scott's garage with playfield and new mechanical devices

Scott Ian considered launching a pinball company 15 years ago but abandoned plans due to existing competitor in Melbourne and family commitments

Grant is a homebrew pinball designer and collector with 20-25 machines at home and nearly brought his own design to market

Scott Ian has patented multiple mechanical innovations to differentiate Ballarama machines from competitors

The Kickstarter will target 300 machines at $10,000 each ($3M total funding); two-phase payment of $5,000 + $5,000 (18 months later)

Ballarama Pinball's first game will be an unlicensed, original sci-fi themed machine (similar model to American Pinball's Houdini Master of Mystery)

Scott Ian has worked as a mechanical engineer for 40 years designing intricate mechanisms and managing manufacturing operations

Scott Ian has been co-host and primary editor/producer for the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast for two years

Scott Ian has stepped down from Poor Man's Pinball Podcast

Scott Ian's departure was for family reasons

Halloween and Ultraman are sold out at the consumer level but all units are allocated to distributors

Words spoken on the podcast affect people positively or negatively, so treating others with respect is important

The upper playfield and Grogu toy mechanic in Star Wars: The Mandalorian is a significant flaw (rated F)

Ghostbusters pinball machine was mistakenly shipped to Scott Ian's address instead of intended recipient

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball completely missed Scott Ian despite his nostalgia for the IP

Creature pin restoration cost approximately $10,000

Star Wars: The Mandalorian has better shots and layout than the original Star Wars pinball machine

Tough Stuff foam cleaner effectively brightened Scott Ian's playfield after testing

Carnauba wax is the standard/recommended playfield wax for pinball machine maintenance

Scott Ian sold his Oktoberfest to fund the Creature restoration and is breaking even on parts

Deadpool is a superior game to Oktoberfest that appeals to approximately 90% of players more strongly

Oktoberfest is a good introductory game for non-pinheads and experienced players alike

Pinball Arcade table originally cost $2,000 when Scott Ian discovered it around 2001-2002

Scott Ian will acquire Pinball Arcade table at full market pricing

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast aims to reach 100 episodes then consider wrapping up

Jack Danger beat Deadpool pinball by reaching the game's memory limit at approximately 4+ billion points.

System 11 machines like Meteor provide better dollar-for-dollar value than contemporary Stern pinball machines.

Star Wars Comic Premium Edition Stern pinball is no longer in production.

Modern pinball machines lack the cheesy, nostalgic sound effects found in classic System 11 games.

Carpeted stairs can safely transport pinball machines without damage.

Scott Ian lost 20 pounds during COVID recovery by quitting drinking and sugar

Star Wars Premium Edition is no longer in production and is becoming scarce on the secondary market

Deadpool Premium Edition will be rerun in March with new production

Neo Skywalker is a high-quality pinball clearcoat specialist operating within 30 minutes of the host

Pinswap Rentals charges a 12% platform fee per transaction

A person with four to five machines could generate approximately $2,000 per month by renting them

The rental platform will help distributors discover leads in their local areas and monetize used inventory

Newer Stern machines (2010 and up) average $400-450 per month rental, with newer machines closer to $500 per month

1990s Williams games rent for $350-$400 per month depending on title

Two newer Stern machines renting at $500 each would generate $1,000 per month in owner income

Pinswap Rentals is the first peer-to-peer pinball rental platform of its kind

Stranger Things pinball had a lukewarm market reception

Any pinball machine under $7,000 is a fair price

All X-Men movies are bad quality films

The Mandalorian Season 2 is better than Season 1

Jon Favreau directed multiple episodes of The Mandalorian Season 2

Jon Favreau could not direct first season Mandalorian episodes because he was finishing The Jungle Book

Jon Favreau should have directed the Star Wars sequel trilogy instead of J.J. Abrams

The 2017 Mummy remake failed so badly that Universal cancelled its planned Dark Universe/monsters expanded franchise

The original X-Men film was released in drive-in theaters rather than regular theaters

Rey should not need to be anyone's daughter to be powerful with the Force

Gary Stern resists including two spinners on Pro editions due to cost concerns

Iron Maiden was an exception to Gary Stern's resistance to two spinners on Pro editions

The Avengers art package by Jeremy Packer is well-integrated and comparable to AC/DC Pro and The Beatles in design cohesion

Stern Avengers is one of the most feature-packed Stern games in a long time with stacked features

Restored vintage pinball machines don't have sufficient resale value to justify restoration investment

The timing of announcing Avengers is problematic given current production backlogs

Avengers should have been released as a Home Pin Pinball instead of a cornerstone

Black Panther would have been a better pinball choice than Avengers

Pre-mixed old-fashioned cocktails from taps taste overly sweet and are inferior to hand-made versions

Sabrosa served a Bloody Mary with cheese and cilantro instead of traditional preparation

Vanguard restaurant in Bayview has a basement where sausages are made on-site

Josh Kugler's coding work deserves more recognition despite unit sales limitations

American Pinball is 'three for three' on approval with Oktoberfest, Hot Wheels, and Houdini Master of Mystery

Hot Wheels has a Red Light Mania mode with 45-second, 6-ball multiball

Hot Wheels has very fast, smooth shots comparable to a Steve Richie game

Hot Wheels would be good for parties and first-time buyers, but may lack depth for experienced collectors in large collections

Fathom is a gorgeous but shallow game that doesn't hold up well gameplay-wise despite its aesthetic beauty

The sequel trilogy lacks coherent narrative structure, character arcs, and villain development compared to original and prequel trilogies

The Meg (2018) achieved $530 million worldwide box office

Boba Fett is being announced as character returning in The Mandalorian Season 2, played by the actor who played Jango Fett in the prequels

J.J. Abrams built his career on unresolved mysteries and fan service rather than proper narrative resolution

Star Wars franchise is 'absolutely destroyed' and 'just done' as a creative property

Scott Ian saved approximately $30 on a $300 purchase from Pinball Stadiums using 'poorman' discount code, receiving free shipping plus additional savings

Scott Ian has owned Metallica for about 3-4 years

Metallica is a perfect pinball machine where every shot feels good and the rules are just right

Elvira's House of Horrors has greater replayability than X-Men

Scott Ian's current Jurassic Park high score is approximately 500 million

Scott Ian has only experienced Ripley's Believe It or Not through the Pinball Arcade app, not in person

Christopher Franchi's artwork on Batman 66 is superior to his work on Guardians of the Galaxy

Arcade games have short lifespan before player boredom compared to pinball

Modern pinball games cost $7,000 or more

A beer vendor offered a promotion of buy one, get three free beers for $5-6

New Orleans police had an explicit tolerance policy: don't urinate or defecate in streets, otherwise anything goes during Mardi Gras

The Mardi Gras trip occurred approximately 8-9 years prior to this podcast episode

The podcast Poor Man's Pinball should be pulling higher listener numbers

They observed a man dressed as Zorro with a camcorder who was masturbating while filming the parade

Pierre Lafitte was a historical pirate who established a naval fortress with 60 cannons off the coast of Galveston and helped defend New Orleans against the British

Laser War playfield was initially 6-7/10 condition and improved to 9/10 after restoration

Flock Foam Roller produces smoother clear-coat finishes with less air bubble formation than standard foam rollers

Jeremy Packer's real name is Jonathan (surname unspecified) and he uses a professional artist name

Jurassic Park's art package resembles 1980s coloring books

Flat earthers and Holocaust deniers use the same pseudoscientific approach: seeking one piece of evidence to confirm predetermined beliefs rather than using replication-based science

Flat earthers spent ~$100,000 on a geosynchronous device to prove Earth is flat but it measured 15 degrees of tilt

Amazon generic DeWalt batteries cost about one-third the price of branded batteries and perform similarly in testing

The Nazi guard in the Ohio case was found not guilty of being 'Ivan the Terrible' despite being confirmed as a concentration camp guard

Aaron Hernandez killed himself before his trial concluded, which technically cleared his name on appeal

A retired cop accused of molesting his daughter has delayed his trial for 25+ years by claiming terminal illness

The Barefoot Bandit was a young Washington state resident who stole planes without pilot training and crashed them

Modern paintbrushes have half the bristle thickness and inferior materials compared to 50-year-old Purdy brushes

A customer's vintage Purdy paintbrush from the 1960s-70s had been used for 50+ years with only an inch of bristle worn down

Pinball machine pricing increases year-over-year and manufacturers continue selling more units annually despite cost increases

The Laser War topper (limited edition out of 2,500 units) had approximately 500 made and very few have survived in working condition

There is recent evidence suggesting Tasmanian tigers may still exist in Tasmania, though none have been caught.

Tasmanian tigers went extinct approximately 80 years ago.

Nintendo Mini console was gifted to Scott Ian as a best man's gift but remains largely unplayed despite wife's initial enthusiasm

VR Oculus Rift graphics fidelity is comparable to PlayStation 4 level, while Quest is comparable to Nintendo 64 level

Legend of Zelda pinball machine would be desirable product for Nintendo IP licensing in pinball market

VR technology pricing is expected to decline significantly; Quest projected to reach ~$199 within one year

Scott Ian built a $1,200-1,500 PC in early 2019 specifically for VR compatibility

Rick and Morty won't sell out quickly because 750 units is a lot of machines and the fanbase isn't large enough

Cartoon Network may license content rather than own it outright, similar to HGTV's model

Jurassic Park is currently #3 on Pinside rankings

You could buy a complete Firepower machine for the same price as the Star Wars topper with shipping

Elvira's House of Horrors used no licensing fees for B-movie clips

Christopher Franchi designed the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast merchandise shirt in under an hour

Oktoberfest is priced significantly lower than Scott Ian's Whitewater acquisition cost

Robert Dave Mueller either doesn't care what people think or tends to overshare information

Game of Thrones (Premium Edition) artwork is more entertaining than Star Wars despite both using clip art

Women in pinball community are being driven away by inappropriate behavior and jokes from male players/streamers

Robert Dave Mueller gave significant behind-the-scenes revelations about Deep Root Pinball on Kaneda's Pinball Podcast

An Oktoberfest machine in Tennessee was listed for just over $5,000 with under 200 plays

Middle-tier collectors would prefer Jurassic Park Premium or Willy Wonka over Raza at $7,500 price point

Scientists created Element 115 in 2016, confirming Lazar's 1980s claims

Commander David Fravor filmed a cigar-shaped UFO on camera that tilted and moved as described by Lazar

Bob Lazar worked at Area 51 on a crashed UFO with anti-gravity propulsion powered by Element 115

Firepower is a Harry Williams System 6 and the first multi-ball game

Licensed pinball themes sell significantly more units than original IP

17,000 Firepower units were produced by Harry Williams

Metallica is code by Lyman Sheets with same designer as Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars

Brian Eddy is currently working at Stern Pinball on an unannounced game design

Jeremy Packer is the artist for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pinball game

The Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium Edition) video release was a dramatic improvement over the static photography that preceded it

Stern's next two releases are supposed to be exceptional, with the second one potentially coming this year or next

George Gomez may have added inserts to Elvira's playfield design after initial completion to enable more coding complexity

Elvira's House of Horrors artwork is substandard compared to Spooky Pinball's Christopher Franchi style

Road Kings is a System 11 game from 1986 that costs under $1,000

Adams Family was released immediately after Shane Black Axl Rose in July 1992

Shane Black Axl Rose production was limited to approximately 3,000 units

Barnyard is so difficult that only top 2% of players score above 1 million

Laser Quest is a solid state game known for spinners and drop targets with cool 1980s-era sounds

Guns N' Roses was Scott Ian's first pinball machine

Scott Ian would purchase Star Wars Home Edition at $2,500 but not at $4,000+

Alice Cooper represents significant quality and design leap for Spooky Pinball compared to earlier titles

Stern Pinball (Sam and Gary Stern) is expanding into Chinese pinball market

Kaneda's Pinball Podcast has been criticizing Willy Wonka asset synchronization for approximately three weeks

Jersey Jack Pinball's Jack lied to Jeff Patterson about asset synchronization being on development roadmap

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory will be a very strong-selling game for Jersey Jack Pinball

Brian Eddy is working on an unannounced pinball project (speculation: possibly Bill & Ted)

Jersey Jack Pinball's Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory is fun to play and has solid playfield layout and shots

Community criticism of Willy Wonka on forums is premature without sufficient hands-on play time

Keith Johnson (designer) indicated The Wizard of Oz code is comparable to Lord of the Rings from a design standpoint

Willy Wonka Standard Edition will retain significant secondary market value and sell for approximately $6,800 after one year of use

'March of the Sand Worm' is Scott Ian's favorite track on the Black Knight soundtrack

Scott Ian has always been a pinball enthusiast rather than a video game player throughout his life

Black Knight Sword of Rage is a very aggressive and intense game

Scott Ian composed the music/soundtrack for Black Knight Sword of Rage pinball machine

Scott Ian from Anthrax composed the music for Black Knight: Swords of Rage