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Ep 12 - Holiday Show 2021

Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·47m 14s·held·Dec 22, 2021
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

JJP holiday episode: new hires, staff reflections, multiple games in pipeline for 2022 launch.

Summary

Jersey Jack Pinball hosted a holiday episode featuring staff introductions and reflections on 2021 and expectations for 2022. The episode showcased new hires (Mark Seiden as game designer, mechanical engineers Darren Lalby and Chris Talko, associate engineer Dan Lachcik) and longtime staff (legendary designer Steve Ritchie, Eric Meunier, Duncan Brown, Ted Estes). Key themes include excitement for upcoming game releases, return to in-person pinball shows, factory expansion and production increases, and the company's growing design pipeline with multiple projects in development.

Key Claims

  • Mark Seiden joined Jersey Jack Pinball approximately four months prior (October 2021) as a game designer

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell and Joe Katz discussion about Mark's hiring timeline during the episode

  • Jersey Jack Pinball has no new hardware platform coming out in 2022

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell directly corrected Chris Talko assumption about a new platform release

  • Steve Ritchie last worked with Keith P. Johnson on a game in 2008 before rejoining Jersey Jack

    high confidence · Keith P. Johnson's statement about their previous collaboration timeline

  • Bill Grupp spent the majority of 2021 in factory operations and production rather than software development

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell and Joe Katz commentary on Bill's year of work

  • Jersey Jack Pinball is currently hiring and actively expanding its team

    high confidence · Leslie Torres' HR announcement with careers email provided

  • Ted Estes has been with Jersey Jack Pinball for approximately nine years (will be nine years by January 2022) and this is the longest he's ever worked at one company

    high confidence · Ted Estes' direct statement at end of segment

  • Multiple games are in development pipeline at Jersey Jack with more projects in progress than Ted Estes has ever seen in his tenure

    high confidence · Ted Estes: 'We have so many balls in the air right now. I've never seen anything like that since I've been here.'

  • Guns N' Roses has been a huge commercial success for Jersey Jack Pinball

    high confidence · Ken Cromwell and Joe Katz commentary on Guns N' Roses reception

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm looking forward to buying a house that can hold 40 pinball machines.”

    Mark Seiden @ Early in staff introductions — Establishes Mark Seiden's passion for pinball collecting and hints at his enthusiasm for the hobby

  • “I'm not in jail. Also, I'm very happy to be working at Jersey Jack Pinball.”

    Steve Ritchie @ During game designer segment — Humorous but reveals Steve Ritchie's appreciation for his employment opportunity at JJP

  • “We have so many balls in the air right now. I've never seen anything like that since I've been here.”

    Ted Estes @ Late in episode — Indicates substantial game development pipeline with multiple projects in simultaneous development

  • “Pinball is about community. It's about friendships, about connecting. No better way to do that than at a pinball show.”

    Ken Cromwell @ During discussion of returning to shows — Emphasizes the community-driven nature of pinball culture

  • “The last game I worked on Steve with was back in 2008. So it's obviously been a while.”

    Keith P. Johnson @ During discussion of Steve Ritchie — Establishes timeline of Keith and Steve's previous collaboration

  • “The last time I had actually been in a pinball factory was back in the Williams days, over 20 years ago.”

    Ted Estes @ During his segment — Ted Estes has 20+ year gap in factory experience, highlighting continuity of legacy in modern pinball manufacturing

Entities

Ken CromwellpersonKeith P. JohnsonpersonJoe KatzpersonMark SeidenpersonSteve RitchiepersonEric MeunierpersonDarren Lalbyperson

Signals

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball hired multiple new staff members in 2021: Mark Seiden (October 2021 game designer), three mechanical/associate engineers (Darren Lalby, Dan Lachek, Chris Talko), and is actively recruiting. Leslie Torres notes company is 'currently hiring' and building team.

    high · Multiple new hire introductions across all departments; Leslie Torres explicit hiring announcement; Kevin Paxson promotion trajectory from final test to Metal Lab

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Steve Ritchie rejoined Jersey Jack Pinball after 13+ year gap from last collaboration with Keith P. Johnson (2008), strengthening design roster alongside Mark Seiden and Eric Minier

    high · Keith P. Johnson: 'The last game I worked on Steve with was back in 2008'; Ken Cromwell confirms 'it's been great to talk with him and bounce ideas off'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Factory output increased significantly in 2021; Bill Grupp spent year optimizing production processes. Multiple sources confirm increased production capacity and 'we're making more games now because of things that he implemented'

    high · Joe Katz: 'we're making more games now because of things that he [Bill] implemented'; Peter Dorn's new project management role suggests scaling operations

  • ?

    community_signal: Return to in-person pinball shows in 2021 after 18-24 month COVID hiatus. Barry Engler, Eric Minier, and Ken Cromwell all highlight significance of returning to shows. Eric Minier attended multiple shows (Expo, MGC, Pintastic) within 4-5 weeks.

    high · Multiple staff praising return to shows; Eric Minier traveled to three major shows; Ken Cromwell: 'It was just awesome to be at Expo and talking to people again'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.142

0:00
Hey, what's going on, Pinball Land? Welcome to the holiday episode of the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast. My name is Ken Cromwell. With me today in studio, I've got a couple special studio guests. In studio guests, to my left, we've got Keith Johnson. To my right, Joe Katz. gentlemen, introduce yourselves. Keith, what's up? Hey, how's it going, Ken? This is Keith Johnson. I am the director of software over at Jersey Jack Pinball. And Merry Christmas, everyone. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays. To my right, Joe Katz. What's up, Joe? Hey, Ken, how you doing? Happy holidays to all. And let's see what kind of magic we make. Joe, also a software designer here I do saw pinball. And you remember Joe and Keith both from past podcasts and from Twitch streams here at Jersey Jack Pinball. And these guys have been in the industry for a long time. The purpose of today's podcast is simply this. We've got staff here at Jersey Jack Pinball. What we thought it would be fun to do would be to ask staff here what was a few things that they looked forward to this prior year, or this current year, I should say, in 2021, and what are things they're looking forward to in 2022. You are going to hear a lot of different voices here from the company, from the designers to the engineers to everyone. We've got human resources that even came in here and from ownership. So without further ado, let's get this going. You guys ready? Yeah, let's go. All right, let's go.
1:35
All right. My name is Darren Lalby. I am the new mechanical engineer on the JJP team, and I have the pleasure of working with Eric Buhner. For 2021, I'm thankful for my family, and I'm also thankful to have this opportunity to work with JJP on these new designs that they got coming out with. As far as 2022, I will get a chance to see my first game release, and I am looking forward to improving my pinball skills. A lot of the guys have been sending me videos and doing a few things to show me what I'm lacking. and playing Guns N' Roses on my lunch hour really helps out. My name is Dan Lachek, and I'm with Jersey Jack Pinball as an associate engineer. And last 2021, I am extremely thankful for getting a job in the pinball industry as being a fan. In 2022, I am definitely looking forward to some of the games coming down the pipeline at Jersey Jack Pinball. Hi, my name is Chris Talco. I'm a mechanical engineer with Jersey Jack Pinball. and for 2021, I'm very thankful just to have the opportunity to work with Jersey Jack. I started here halfway through the year, and I really appreciate the opportunity to be part of the team here and be part of the company. I'm also, given the past year, I'm very thankful that my family's had a very safe and healthy and good 2021. And for 2022, looking forward to more of the same. Obviously, another safe and happy year. And I'm also looking forward to getting even more involved with Jersey Jack, being a bigger part of the design teams and being part of the release of a new platform and a new theme. Hi, this is Mark Seiden, game designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. In 2021, I was thankful for my friends, my family, my continued good health, and new opportunities. In 2022, I'm looking forward to meeting new friends, going on new adventures, and buying a house that can hold 40 pinball machines. all right so we heard from chris telco dan lejcik darren lobby and uh new designer here mark seiden what do you guys think about those guys all four of those guys are new to the company this year it's great to have them on board and see what they bring in terms of their expertise and their ideas and their dreams and getting them into the expanded roles of uh getting our new games out this year uh yeah when darren first started i saw him poking around and dialed in a lot and i thought it was interesting to try to first see what he was picking up on by just playing and not having any idea of what to do and then it was kind of fun to kind of give him a few pointers and kind of let him know hey you know charge the phone play a mode yeah right and i think over time he sort of started to kind of get an idea of what to do now he's obviously moved on to play other games too but But when he first came, he was playing DI quite a bit and seemed to be really into it. I think it's interesting. So these guys, coming onto the company, all four of these guys for the first time this year, it will be the first time they kind of experience a reveal or a launch. I know Chris had mentioned that he was looking forward to a new platform, which is actually a reveal. We don't have a new platform coming. Do we have a new platform coming? That I wasn't aware of. Okay, so no new platform. But, I mean, it's always exciting. I can remember last year in October going through the first reveal of the company. It's an exciting time. So it's good for those guys. Welcome to Jersey Jack. And then let's focus on Mark Seiden for a second. What's going on with Mark? So Mark comes into the company. When did Mark come in here? Do you remember? I want to say it was about four months ago. Okay. So Mark came in about four months ago. I think it was in October, I think. Time is a blur to me. Time is a blur. That's true. I wake up sometimes and literally, I don't know if it's Tuesday or Thursday or if it's the 12th or the 27th. I mean, that's just how it goes. Yeah, both. Obviously, Mark is no stranger to pinball and Dan Lacek has been around, too. Chris and Darren are both new to the industry. So it'll be exciting to see how they take to it and get some kind of outsider ideas into the whole thing. One thing, I did sit with Mark for a bit and play his Metroid in a more intimate environment instead of just being in an expo hall where you can't even pay attention to it. And you don't really. So I basically sat with him for a while and played that. And he sort of walked me through some of his ideas. And there's some really cool ideas in there. And I'm very much looking forward to seeing what he does for real. Absolutely. You guys ready for the next group? Sure. All right.
Dan Lachcik
person
Chris Talkoperson
Kevin Paxsonperson
Rob Rodakperson
Peter Dornperson
Barry Englerperson
Jordan Woodperson
Leslie Torresperson
JT Harkeyperson
Bill Gruppperson
Duncan Brownperson
Ted Estesperson
Mark Molitorperson
Pat Lawlorperson
Jersey Jack Pinballcompany

machine_intel: Multiple games in active development at Jersey Jack Pinball. Ted Estes notes 'We have so many balls in the air right now. I've never seen anything like that since I've been here.' Two new designers (Steve Ritchie, Mark Seiden) on board; games expected to release in 2022.

high · Ted Estes: 'We have so many balls in the air right now... there's all kinds of things in the works'; Rob Rodak: 'I am very excited about the titles we have coming up. Wish I could talk about them more'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack Pinball has released games from designer Eric Minier (Guns N' Roses, previous title) and is actively developing games from Steve Ritchie, Mark Seiden, and others with emphasis on individual designer portfolios

    medium · Ken Cromwell: 'Obviously, the two games that he [Eric] and I have worked on so far have had really great reception'; Eric Minier looking forward to 'releasing more games'

  • ?

    product_concern: Jersey Jack Pinball maintaining strict confidentiality around unreleased game titles. Rob Rodak and others indicate they cannot discuss upcoming titles in detail.

    high · Rob Rodak: 'I am very excited about the titles we have coming up. Wish I could talk about them more, but can't right now'

  • ?

    design_innovation: JT Harkey pursuing completion of advanced wizard modes across Jersey Jack games (Melt the Witch on Wizard of Oz, Kill Smog on Hobbit, The Most Secret Machine on Willy Wonka). Indicates deep, sophisticated rule design in modern pinball titles.

    high · JT Harkey's statement about pursuing modes; Duncan Brown's discussion of watching JT's progression through advanced game modes over seven years

  • $

    market_signal: Guns N' Roses pinball machine described as 'huge success' by Ken Cromwell and Joe Katz, generating 'great news for the company, great news for our customers'

    high · Ken Cromwell: 'Guns N' Roses being such a huge success, great news for the company, great news for our customers. Just a real fun game.'

  • ?

    event_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball attended and participated in multiple pinball expos in late 2021: Pinball Expo, Midwest Gaming Classic (MGC), and Pintastic. Eric Minier represented company at shows.

    high · Eric Minier: 'Going to Pinball Expo, going to Midwest Gaming Classic, and going to Pintastic'; Ken Cromwell confirms Eric attended 'three different pinball shows within about four or five weeks'

  • ?

    historical_signal: Ted Estes worked at Williams pinball factory 20+ years ago before company shutdown, returns to pinball manufacturing with Jersey Jack in 2021, bridging legacy era of Williams/Bally with modern pinball renaissance

    high · Ted Estes: 'The last time I had actually been in a pinball factory was back in the Williams days, over 20 years ago... it was right after they announced the shutdown and star wars episode one was still in the line'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Internal documentation of player skill development: Duncan Brown observes JT Harkey's progression from basic pinball fundamentals to advanced techniques over approximately seven years, learning flipper control and strategic thinking

    medium · Duncan Brown: 'When he first started... I basically saw somebody who knew the fundamentals of pinball but didn't know much past that. But that was also practically seven years ago already. And now when I watch, I see a guy who has slowly watched the way Eric, Keith, and I play'

    • 5:59
    My name is Kevin Paxson. I'm the prototype engineer at Jersey Jack. Things I'm thankful for in 2021 was being put into the position of prototype engineer. Never been more excited to be doing anything. The thing I'm looking forward to the most in 2022 is seeing some of my ideas being put into actual pinball machines releasing in 2022. Hi, my name is Rob Rodak. I'm the production support technician here at Jersey Jack Pinball. Something I'm thankful for in 2021 is getting to be a part of this great team. There's a lot of fun, excellent people here at this company, and it's great to come in here and make some very fun games each day. And for 2022, I'm very excited about the titles we have coming up. Wish I could talk about them more, but can't right now. I can't wait to let them out. My name is Peter Dorn. I'm mechanical engineering and transitioning into project management here at Jersey Jack Pinball. I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas And for those of you over in Europe And some of us here in America Where we celebrate Krampusnacht We have a lot of fun with all of it You know, it's all fun and games what we do And that's what I'm basically thankful for For the last year here that we've had Is we've been having a lot of fun With what we've been doing Putting out a lot of pinball games here And growing and just getting to some much better things in our future too. And I say that with a smile on my face, even though you can't see me, because I know what's coming and I know everybody's going to enjoy it. So I really do want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And I hope everybody has a much more prosperous and happy New Year and hopefully getting out of the things that we're currently experiencing worldwide. So again, Merry Christmas to everyone. Hi, I'm Steve Ritchie, and I'm a game designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. The things I'm really grateful for in 2021 are I'm not in jail.
    8:07
    Also, I'm very happy to be working at Jersey Jack Pinball. I look forward to 2022, and my wishes are to get my game out sometime during that year and for COVID to go away forever. Steve Ritchie's happy not to be in jail but he's also thankful to be working at Jersey Jack Pinball so that's the natural payoff there is the offset for Steve yeah it's awesome to have Steve here after he showed up the first day we just fell right back into our old pattern like we'd seen each other every day for years or whatever so it's awesome to be working with Steve again and looking forward to great things to come. Hey, Keith, so when you worked with Steve before, has he changed at all? Is he pretty much the same guy? I mean, how long has it been since the last time you worked on a game with him? So the last game I worked on Steve with was back in 2008. So it's obviously been a while. But like I said, he's not really changed that much. Yeah. You know, I still appreciate his humor and his quirks. And, you know, I think he still appreciates mine. God knows we've all got him. Right. Right. So but it's been it's been great to talk with him and bounce ideas off. And we just fell right back into our old pattern. And Joe, you've been working with Steve quite a bit since he's come over. Yeah, it's interesting. I didn't really know him too well. I had met him a couple of times in the past, but lately I've been talking to him a lot and we've been kind of bouncing ideas off each other. And, yeah, I'm interested to see what he comes up with in the future. Yeah. Peter Dorn just transitioned into or he's transitioning into a project management position. What is a project manager? Well, I think it's mostly about scheduling and keeping people on target and on task and getting things done in an expected period of time and unexpected dates. because in order to hit the production line, you've got to make dates along the way so that all the people involved from designers and programmers and artists and mechanical engineers and purchasers and all that kind of stuff, quality inspection, inventory room, all those people need time to do their jobs, and that all is going to get figured out by Peter. Sounds like a pretty big responsibility, Joe. It absolutely is a big responsibility, and I think he is more than up for the task. Absolutely. And I think he is ready to really rock and roll. That guy's here at the crack of dawn. He is. We use interoffice telegram for communications here, and that guy, I've said it before, he's like my alarm clock. At 4.30, 5 o'clock in the morning, Peter's in the building, and he sends that message, and I know it's time to get up and get ready for work. A couple other guys that have been here for a long time, and that's Kevin Paxson and Rob Rodak. Rob, kind of the jack of all trades. I've seen him in here doing everything from setting up structures to game testing to what does he not do? I guess it's kind of the question with Rob. And then with Kevin, again, coming from final test, and now he's doing buildup, right? So I first met Kevin a few years ago when he was at level 257 in charge of surface, and the selfie league was going on there at the time that I was in and Joe was in and a number of people were in. and talked to him a lot, and eventually he got an opportunity to leave 257 and go to NAMCO parent division and was working in service there. And he reached out shortly after we moved to this building, and we got him a job as a final tester, and he was doing a great job in final test and other parts of the line and now he transitioned to the Metal Lab where he builds up Whitewoods and prototypes and all that kind of thing for all the new games we have coming out So in a pretty short period of time, he's definitely made some big transitions, and it's great to see someone be so successful like Kevin is. It's great to see people that are so motivated and enthusiastic about pinball come into the industry and then excel within the industry because of their enthusiasm and their skill set. So, I mean, it's pretty nice. Yeah, I totally agree. I was going to say the exact same thing. It's just really cool to see somebody come in who's into it, do the job, do the job well, and then get promoted to a different job that he really wants to do too. And I just – it's a fascinating story to see something like that happen. And it's not me. It's somebody else. Somebody else I'm watching go from one position to another. Right. It's pretty cool. All right. Sounds good. Let's hear who we have coming up next.
    12:44
    This is Barry Engler, customer service manager here over at Jersey Jack Pinball. I'm thankful for 21 to be able to start attending pinball shows. Of course, I'm thankful for my health and my family. And in 22, I am looking forward to all the innovative cutting-edge designs here at Jersey Jack. We are pushing the boundaries and breaking the mold. Hey, this is Jordan Wood, NetSuite developer at Jersey Jack. I handled the development for some of the unseen background systems. Super grateful for in 2021. The opportunity to work here has been really awesome. Working with a fun product and some great people. My fiance definitely falls in what I'm grateful for. She's been a huge blessing and I wouldn't actually have found her without this job and moving states. As far as 2022, getting married, catching up on some guitar playing, finishing up the restoration of my Hobbit machine, and then find a place for it to live because I don't know if the wife's going to appreciate it in the house. So we shall see. Hi, I'm Leslie Torres. I'm the HR manager here at JJP. 2021 has been a good year. I joined the family in July and I couldn't be happier. We have a great team here. I look forward to what 2022 is going to bring as we continue building and adding to our great team. We're currently hiring. Come help us build fun.
    14:07
    All right, so we've got Barry Engler, Jordan Wood, Leslie Torres. Barry, one of the busiest guys here in the building, no doubt about it. From a customer service aspect, there's a lot of responsibility and there's a lot of correspondence, and it's a huge job. It's a big undertaking.
    14:22
    Absolutely, and even just the little bit that I help out with it in terms of answering questions or trying to – Wait, so you're helping out with customer service? When did this happen? Well, it's like when you go anywhere and you get second-tier support. Ah, I got you. It's like if he doesn't know if something works or if he's really stumped by something, then I will try and help him out however I can, if I can. And if I can't, I'll ask my team. Has anyone got any idea what's going on? So, yeah, I mean, everyone helps however we can. Right.
    14:59
    And God bless them for doing that job. Yeah, Joe, how many customer service emails are you answering every day?
    15:06
    Not too many of them, but I do help out if Keith needs help. Is that what it is, your third-tier support after Keith, the second-tier support? Exactly. That's outstanding. Jordan Wood talks about – this is another guy that's extremely busy throughout the building, and I know he's setting up a lot of different systems within inventory with NetSuite, et cetera. But two things I wanted to talk about really quickly with Jordan. One, and we were talking about earlier, is that he is the owner of a Hobbit pinball machine that he purchased here. I think it was a prototype, right? I believe it was a prototype. I'm just waiting for it to become something. It's been inoperable for a little bit. Right. It's been a paperweight for, I don't know, a few months now. I'm waiting to flip it so I could tell him what's wrong with it. Let's go, Jordan. And I'm sure his wife will be thrilled when he brings home a 400-pound pinball machine into their new house. He's engaged to be married. His fiance has that to look forward to. So pinball machines taking up space, Keith. Yeah. Well, I've got 12 in my basement. Ah, look at that.
    16:04
    It's definitely a blessing and a curse. We were talking about Mark Seiden, what he had. He was looking for a house that will hold like 46 pinball machines or 40 pinball machines. He doesn't know what he's got himself into. Those guys are – that's pretty crazy. Something else that I find interesting here when we talk about Jordan, and it just kind of hit me for a second, is that there's a lot of guitar players here, right? So we've got Jordan who plays guitar. Steve Ritchie plays guitar. Rob Rodak plays guitar. J.T. Harkey plays guitar. Bass. What? Bass doesn't count? It's the bass. Oh, my gosh. For feedback, what's your email address? He knows my email address. Trust me. Well, I'm not worried about him.
    16:45
    I mean, I own guitars. I wouldn't consider myself a guitar player, but that's something that kind of fascinates me. Owner, Brett Abbas, guitar player. musician um i don't know i just find it interesting is there is there like this correlation between people being musically inclined and wanting to work in the industry or is it just purely coincidental i don't know what population percentage is playing guitar these days but it just seems like there's a lot of guitar players here could be maybe a creativity thing or something i mean this this job in terms of design right obviously requires endless creativity um and in all aspects of it you know not just in rules or play field but problems need to be solved and sometimes they need to be solved creatively i myself am a trumpet player so are you a trumpet player yeah i mean i admittedly haven't played in like 20 years but yeah well i have no musical talent so we could just start there but there you go but something barry said that i think we should talk about is sort of the return to shows that's something i don't think we really touched on too much and hopefully that will continue. I don't know how that's going to go this year, but it was just awesome to be at Expo and talking to people again and seeing people smile about playing your games. It was just amazing. It's just such a long time. That's an excellent point that you bring that up. It was refreshing to be back at Expo and Expo was busy. There was a lot of people there and it was a lot of fun. It was good seeing people and connecting with people that you really haven't seen other than maybe a Zoom or something like that over the past 18, 24 months. So absolutely. I'm hoping that the show schedules keep wide open and people are still continuing to host these shows. Pinball is about community. It's about friendships, about connecting. No better way to do that than at a pinball show. It's the only way. And the other interesting thing I thought about Expo was that I saw a lot of people I recognized and, you know, been around. But I saw a lot of new faces that I had no idea who they were, too. So, you know, the hobby is definitely growing and getting stronger. And I think Expo definitely kind of showed that. And then finally, Leslie Torres coming over running HR over here at Jersey Jack Pinball. Super fun to be around. Leslie's just a good personality to be in the building. And she wants you to know, come on over here. Help us make fun. You can send a resume or just general correspondence with questions about employment to careers at jerseyjackpinball.com. So say hello to Leslie. Tell her that the Jersey Jack Pinball podcast sent you over there, and let's get you a job in pinball. What do you say? Yeah, maybe you could be the next Kevin Paxson. Oh. This is J.T. Harkey. I'm a software engineer at Jersey Jack Pinball. In 2021, I was grateful that my family and friends were all safe from COVID and nobody got sick. Over the past two years, I've been doing challenges on all our games, trying to get to parts of them that I've never been to before, like Melt the Witch on Wizard of Oz and Kill Smog on Hobbit. in 2022 I am going to get to the most secret machine on Willy Wonka which is pretty cool because that's a mode that I wrote and I've never actually gotten to it legitimately. Hi this is Bill Grupp I'm a software engineer at Jersey Jack Pinball.
    19:51
    I'm thankful for all the help we've had at our company in building pinball machines for 2022 I look forward to having some time to slow down and enjoy life.
    20:03
    Thank you. Hi, I'm Duncan Brown, senior software designer here at Jersey Jack Pinball. And for 2021, I am thankful that after over a decade, I finally got a house with a basement again. So my entire collection of pinballs has been off in foster homes and storage units, but it's now all back together under one roof. In 2022, I'm looking forward to remodeling the house to make it livable, and then I can start actually setting up the pinball machines again. And there's a lot of paneling and carpeted bathrooms to take care of in this house first. Looking forward to it. Hey, this is Eric Minier, game designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. A couple things that I'm thankful for in 2021.
    20:47
    No one in my family, direct family, has gotten sick from COVID. So I'm pretty thankful for that. In the pinball world, I was very excited to be able to see people again at pinball shows. Got to see some of my friends from across the country and across the world. that we haven't seen in over two years. So that was awesome. Going to Pinball Expo, going to Midwest Gaming Classic, and going to Pintastic. It was just a blast to hang out with people again in person, play games. In 2022, I'm highly looking forward to releasing more games, making awesome pinball machines for everyone in the world to love and enjoy.
    21:28
    All right, so we just heard from J.C. Harkey, Bill Grubb, Duncan Brown, and Eric Minier. Let's talk about Bill first.
    21:35
    Bill spent the majority of the last year helping out in the factory and getting it going. We haven't seen him in the software department much. He's finally getting back to coding things, and he spent a lot of hours here trying to get everything up and running. So I can completely get where he's coming from. I mean, that's fascinating to me for him to go from a software programming responsibilities and be able to go into that factory and really get it humming and make it run efficiently. And, I mean, we're making more games now because of things that he implemented going back for, what, almost a year or past a year. It's just amazing. I mean, great job. That guy, he's early in and he's late out. That's just the kind of guy that he is. He's a rock star. He is a rock star. What about J.T. Harkey? You share an office with JT, right? Yeah, I do. Yeah, the JT thing he's been talking about trying to get different wizard modes in our games has been quite an interesting journey to watch, honestly. When he first started and I watched him play, I basically saw somebody who knew the fundamentals of pinball but didn't know much past that. But that was also practically seven years ago already. And now when I watch, I see a guy who has slowly watched the way Eric, Keith, and I play, and I could see him starting to use things that we do that not a lot of people do in pinball. So it's been kind of fun to watch him journey through these things, especially like Wonka's Office, which was something that he started with. And at that time, that was the old code of Wonka. So getting to Wonka's Office was a bit more of a challenge than it may be right now today. But when he did that, it was really cool to see that. And then you know Melting the Witch and Killing Smog are two just very satisfying things to do in pinball So just to do them and be like yeah I did it it just a great feeling So it been a lot of fun to watch him kind of journey through these games and kind of tackle them one at a time. And I'm looking forward to The Most Secret Machine because I think on 2.0, I think he has a realistic chance to do it. Sure. He's just got to start playing again, and I look forward to seeing it happen. And I've been on these journeys with you guys. It's just kind of I've seen him experience the triumph of completing these tasks. And I'm trying to remember which one was it that he was trying to achieve for forever to show you that he can do it. And then you had the day off and it was it melting the witch. I believe it was melting the witch. And you weren't here. I wasn't here. And, you know, he took pictures and I said, well, I mean, that's a picture, but I didn't really actually see it happen. I mean, you could take the glass off and taking that picture for all I know. Horrible. But, yeah, no, it's been a lot of fun because I'd creep up on like we have like a little arcade window that's outside of our arcade looking into the arcade and i'd sort of creep up on the window and i don't want him to know that i'm behind him because i think it makes him start to get a little nervous if i'm watching so i would sort of like creep behind but then watch as he's playing it's been kind of fun to watch it's really cool to see someone journey from just being an average pinball player to really starting to understand some of the more advanced fundamentals and his skills i mean his flipper skills are coming a long way long he's he's pulling off stuff that i haven't even tried not that i'm the no i'll tell all of awesome pinballness but i can hold my own i could just tell watching him play that he's thinking through a lot more of what he's doing and that's sort of a task that takes a little time to get used to caring about so it's been kind of fun to watch and duncan he's talking about this house that he uh purchased that he's gutted and he's renovated i'll tell you what i feel like i should live in the house because i've been watching those updates on telegram over the last it's like the uh it's like the home improvement channel like almost every single day with duncan and uh i mean i'm seeing that whole house go from gutted to uh I feel like a personal sense of satisfaction seeing it through. Right. He's our own HGTV show. Yes, he is. But they've done a heck of a job so far. Yeah. I'm sure they've still got a ways to go, but it's been pretty cool watching them do all that stuff themselves. And then who do we have? Oh, and Eric. Oh, the elephant in the room, Eric. Yeah, Eric Minier. Eric talks about pinball shows again. He's been traveling the circuit, it seems. I know he was a guest at Pintastic. He was at Expo. I'm trying to think if there's anywhere else. MGC, he was out that way. So he's been within about four or five weeks, I think he was at three different pinball shows representing Jersey Jack. And Guns N' Roses being such a huge success, great news for the company, great news for our customers. Just a real fun game. I know there's a lot of anticipation to see what he's working on next. Yeah, working with Eric so closely on his first two games, it's been great seeing him mature as a designer and take feedback from people, make the best decisions for the games. And obviously, the two games that he and I have worked on so far have had really great reception. We're proud of them, and we're going to be super proud of the next game we come out with. Yeah, and Eric was a big reason that even I was able to get my foot in the door here at Jersey Jack. So I mean, for that, I'm forever grateful. But it is exciting to kind of see his level of intensity, but also the sense of humor that he brings to work every single day. and likes to discuss the occasional beverage. So kudos to you, Eric.
    26:58
    Hey, this is Mark Molitor, an artist at Jersey Jack Pinball. I'm thankful for all the cool stuff we do here at Jersey Jack, and I get to do what I love and make art. It's a lot of fun, work with some cool guys. And I'm looking forward to not wearing a mask in 2022, hopefully. I'm getting really sick of these masks. So, hey, I'm Ted Estes. I do a lot of software development around here. I've worked on all of the games starting back to Wizard of Oz. And I feel like I put a little effort in around here on making our games as good as they can be. You know, 2021 was a pretty interesting year, if I think about it. The last time I had actually been in a pinball factory was back in the Williams days, over 20 years ago. it was right after they announced the shutdown and star wars episode one was still in the line and i said well i gotta buy a game and i arranged to go follow my game being made down the line and so you know 20 years ago that was that was a long time and so 2021 all of a sudden this factory has now sprung up around me you know so every day i walk in through the factory door see our game is being built and it uh it brings back memories of those williams days i think that's probably my most exciting thing about 2021 to see all that happening so you know i'm thinking about 2022 i think we've got some exciting things coming up and i know that sounds kind of corny from a corporate perspective but it really is true we got two new designers on board and uh there's all kinds of things in the works right now. We have so many balls in the air right now. I've never seen anything like that since I've been here. And like I mentioned, I've been here for a while.
    28:55
    It'll be nine years come January for me. And this really, this is the longest I've ever worked at any one company. So I think it's, you know, it's like a nice little personal milestone. Hi, this is Pat Lawler. I'd like to take a few moments to say thank you to all of our customers, players and our distributors for a great 2021 we look forward to the coming year and we plan on bringing you even more sparkling inventive things thanks all right so hearing from ted estes uh pat lawler and mark molitor that round uh mark artists here at jersey jack pinball now it's interesting because for those of you that might not be as familiar with Mark as far as what he's worked on. I think he's worked on a little bit of everything, but of great notoriety that the Guns N' Roses Standard Edition cabinet was Mark Molitor's design. Great artist. I'm really looking forward to see how Jersey Jack Pinball utilizes Mark in the future going forward, because I know that there's a lot of things that are happening and some games that I've seen you guys working on that he's knocking it out of the park on.
    30:06
    Yeah. You know, JP gets a lot of credit, but... And that's JP to win. Like JP DeWin, yeah. Famous. Yeah, very famous in the pinball industry, and rightfully so because he's a wizard.
    30:19
    Is he a pinball wizard, Joe? No, but he's a wizard with the art. But Mark is doing some really great things here, and I've seen him also kind of go from being like, oh, I could help out to throw whatever you got at me, and I'll tackle it. And it's been really cool to see somebody else sort of take the reins in art. you know jp obviously sort of directing everybody but it's great to see mark just take a bunch of tasks and just knock them out now and not have to rely on jp for stuff it's been really cool to see for sure yeah mark's done an awesome job since he's been here and like we were talking about with the scg and our cabinet it was just staring at that cabinet art that they gave me the idea to do desert demolition as a final mode okay and then and then along with that it was like well why don't we just use artwork from all the cabinets and the final modes so that's what we wound up doing with with the additional of the the war games thing on the the fourth one um but it was uh yeah it's that ideas come from everywhere you just never know when they're going to pop up sometimes and and seeing mark turn uh that cabinet into you know artwork for an actual mode in the game you know it's he's done it all so far and he'll keep doing more and more great stuff for us it was one of those aha moments that like i've had a lot of those here but that was one we were all like yeah let's start using the art and make these wizard modes out of it and we were all like yes it was it was one of those great moments that you have in a creative environment one of many i've had here but one that particularly stands out then you have ted estes he's talking about the last time prior to working here, 20 years ago, kind of seeing a pinball factory close, I suppose, for the lack of a better term, and kind of watching a new factory here be born starting last year. That's pretty fascinating. Yeah, he literally got the next to last game of Star Wars Episode I off the Williams line and had all the factory people sign it and that kind of thing. So he was definitely there at the end. Yeah, right. Yeah, I've been in pinball factories a little bit more than him. He was out of the industry for a while, but I totally get what he's saying. I mean, there's nothing like walking into a building with a pinball factory. Just, you know, the smells, the sounds, all the things going on. It's incredible, and it's awesome, and it's really great to walk into every day. It reminds me of kind of the heart of the building. I mean, that's where everything's pumping, and then everything else, There's like there's arteries that branch out. I was surprised that that nine years was the longest he had been here or been at any company. Not a good employee, Ted.
    33:10
    Can't last past eight years. Well, I mean, Jersey Jack is the longest I've worked in anywhere, too. So, you know. Oh, yeah. So you're what, 10 years? Yeah.
    33:21
    February 1st or whatever will be 11 years for me. Yeah. So it's a lot of years. I've got about 20 months under my belt here, Keith. Not bad, not bad. Not bad. How about you, Joe? How many years do you have here? It'll be seven next October. Wow. A little over six. See, I'm in line for parking, but someone's going to have to leave. You're going to have to get behind me on that one. Yeah, exactly.
    33:42
    Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Ted and Pat, I can both say that I've learned a lot from. And I think, you know, Pat especially, you know, has definitely dropped knowledge on me during Dialed In, during Wonka, during whatever else we may do. It's given me new ways to approach how to put a game together, and I'm grateful for those lessons.
    34:13
    Very good. You mentioned Pat Lawler. I mean, this is, to a certain extent, the house that Pat built when you kind of go out in that factory. And you look at it, I know Pat, Bill grew up very instrumental in getting that factory set up. And after a very long, illustrious pinball career with Pat Lawler, to come here and then really just set up a new factory seems like quite the accomplishment. You don't get a lot of opportunities to start a pinball factory or build one up or move one or whatever it is you want to say that we did. But it's an awesome experience. It was really cool to watch it happen. Both the previous ones I've been in were there since before I got there. But seeing it from the beginning, it's different than for someone like me who's been in the industry for 20 years. It was a very cool experience. Yeah. I remember walking in here. I don't even remember what month it was, but it was before we even moved into here. And to set the tone too you guys were working out of Bensonville Illinois for what eight nine years before Because the manufacturing was being done in Lakewood New Jersey And then of like last year the company moves over here So everything under one roof. So now, you know, you're, you're doing what you're doing, but you also have that factory, which is in the same, same building. Yeah. When we came over here to just kind of look at the place after they had told us we were going to move and just sort of walking through this empty factory and now going back there and walking around being like, wow, like we went from literally an empty factory room to a working pinball factory. It's been quite a vision to see come together. It's better for all of us that that factory is here. All right, let's close it out. You guys ready? A few more people here.
    36:06
    Hi, everyone. It's Jen from Jersey Jack Pinball. I want to wish everyone a very happy, safe and healthy 2022. I hope we can all get a bit of more normalcy as we head into the new year and be able to spend more time with family, friends and just enjoy each other's company. I want to thank all of our loyal and amazing customer base, all of our distributors, whether you have come into the industry just recently or have been with us since the beginning. You're all incredible and we cannot thank you enough for your ongoing support. We love you and we cannot wait for what 2022 has in store for us as far as pinball goes. I think you're all going to be very excited and can't wait. Hey everybody, it's Jersey Jack. Time of the year to reflect on the past year. Count your blessings, be happy with what you have, and look forward to next year. I'm especially excited. 2022 should be a lot of fun. I'd like to see two games come out from Jersey Jack pinball. I'm an eternal optimist, everybody knows that. And I just hope everybody has your flipper fingers ready with some great games coming from us in 2022. So happy new year. Happy holidays. Stay healthy. Be well. Love everybody. Thank you.
    37:37
    So we know Jack and Jen started the company January 1st, 2011. And, you know, it's always good to hear from Jack and from Jen. It's nice hearing from Jen and Jack. I don't think I've heard Jen in years because, you know, I haven't been to New Jersey in quite a while. Saw Jack at Expo, obviously, so it was good to see him again. It's always nice to hear from those two, and glad you were able to get them on. Yeah, Jack is, you know, they're both fun people. And, you know, Jack has this persona about him that people, they tend to gravitate towards him. And, you know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, especially with his daughter, Jen. And, you know, Jack, obviously somebody else very instrumental for me having an opportunity to get my foot in the door here. And for that, you know, I'm always thankful. And it's fun because I get an opportunity to work with Jen on some things. And she's always somebody that is direct and gets the job done, but she's never overbearing. It never makes me feel as if, you know, I'm overly stressed. So, Jen, for that, I also I thank you. So now we couldn't get everybody here on the podcast, unfortunately, just with schedules and people being busy, some people on vacation. We did have one more person that wanted to come in and say hi. He couldn't do it live. He did it remotely. Company owner, Brett Abbas.
    38:54
    Looking back at 2021, I'm just filled with so much gratitude and thanks towards everyone here who works at Jersey Jack Pinball, who's put their heart and souls into creating these games, and our customers who've been supporting us for many years. And we're finally seeing a lot of success at this company. And the sky's the limit. 2022 is going to be an amazing year. I cannot wait to show the world what we've been working on.
    39:22
    All right, so there's Brett Abbas setting the tone for an exciting 2022. I know it's hard from a company standpoint, right? Like we know what's in the can. We know what's getting ready to come out.
    39:32
    We obviously can't reveal anything until it's intended to be revealed. So when you hear a lot of I can't wait to see this and I can't wait to do that, it sounds like a can't accompany response. Quite honestly, it's not. It's exciting. I can't wait to market some of the things that we have coming up here real soon. With Brett and his father, Leonard, right now, it's good having these guys in the roles that they're in just because they're pinball people.
    39:57
    And you think about people coming in and investing into a company, owning a company. You hope that they're passionate about the product that you're putting out. And there's without a doubt, these two guys definitely are. Yeah, I've only worked at a couple of real places for real jobs, and I feel like having this kind of passion at the top level is amazing. Unheard of, for that matter. It's crucial for a business like a pinball business to exist because anyone who just comes in and is expecting to, you know, make a zillion dollars making pinball machines, all of a sudden, sadly, you're living a pipe dream. But, you know, these guys love pinball. They love what we do. And we're so grateful for them to be leading us into new and exciting places in the future. Yeah, absolutely. To even be here at all is because of them. And I couldn't be more thankful for that. So, again, Brett, Leonard, thank you guys very much. You guys are very generous, and we appreciate everything that you're doing for the company and for pinball. So I think at this point, guys, we're going to wrap this up in this holiday edition of the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast. But before we do that, I wanted to ask each one of you, Keith Johnson and Joe Katz, what are some things that you were thankful for in 2021? And what are you both looking forward to in 2022? Let's start with Keith. Well, it's been quite a year, obviously. The thing I guess that I'm most personally grateful for was induction of the Pinball Expo Hall of Fame. That's right. Congratulations. It was a great honor and I greatly appreciate it. I didn't, you know, since it's kind of sprung on you, you don't really get a chance to prepare for it. But I definitely want to thank my family, you know, my wife, Christine, and my daughter, Katie, for putting up with my silly job for however long I've been. I've been in the industry for 20 years and Christine's been with me for most of that time. So it's been it's been quite a ride having been laid off twice in the industry. and now rocketing to major success here at JJP. And it's been a roller coaster, but I don't know that I would change anything that I've done. So it's been a very strange and very personally gratifying 2021. And I'm looking forward to 2022, hopefully seeing more people again, hopefully everyone getting healthy, and just hope everyone keeps liking the stuff that we come out with. Outstanding, Keith. let's go over to Joe Katz. Yeah. I'm obviously thankful for all the obvious things that everyone keeps talking about and family and health and us moving the factory here and us having a lot of success with Guns N' Roses and people liking what I did with Wonka. All that's great. But this is a pinball podcast. So I feel like there's nothing better or more thankful to be thankful for than, you know, a Grace, Grace Attaball?
    43:04
    I mean, how could you not be thankful for that? Do you want to explain what that is at all? Nah, I think people will understand. Alright, there you go. It's a little Easter egg in the podcast.
    43:17
    And, you know, looking forward, you know, again, it's I hate to repeat what everybody said, but I really just look forward to continuing to expand the pinball universe in any way possible. What are you thankful for, Ken? I am thankful for, obviously, friends and family and health. I mean, those are things that you take them for granted, but, I mean, you've got to be thankful for those, and I'm thankful for those. As it pertains to pinball, though, I'm thankful that I get to come to a place every single day where I legitimately feel like I'm hanging out with some buddies. We're all working towards the same goal. We're getting work done. and the conversations that we have on a daily basis while we're all trying to work towards the same goal. I've never worked at a place that comes close to that, and that it's actually pinball makes it so much better. I mean, nothing against making wooden bowls, but I can see me hanging out and having some fun with people making wooden bowls, but I mean, I'm not passionate about making a wooden bowl. I'm passionate about pinball. I'm passionate about making pinball. I'm passionate about sharing pinball. I'm passionate about marketing pinball, those sort of things. And, you know, for next year, I'm just looking forward to kind of continuing that. Looking forward to coming to work every single day. And, you know, there's some things that I've been working on personally that I'm hoping that I can share within pinball. And, you know, maybe more news about that later just from a personal perspective. But, yeah, I mean, sky's the limit here. Sounds cliche. I am looking forward to sharing what we have in store for 2022 from the company standpoint because I think a lot of people are going to be pretty happy. including myself. I agree. I'm thankful for you guys sitting down here and taking the time to do this podcast. Holidays are always a great time of year. Always festive. Always fun.
    45:03
    We wish you and yours happy holidays here from the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast. For Keith Johnson and Joe Katz, I'm Ken Cromwell. Whatever you do, don't forget to take some time out of your day and play some pinball. So long, everybody. Are we rolling? Hello, hello. CQDX? Okay. Hi, this is JT. I work in the J.T. Harkey.
    45:25
    Unless you're a witness protection these days. Or you just go by the programmer known as J.T. Previously known.
    45:34
    This is Mark's. Take two. He's got two words. Yeah, almost. Staring at the monitor all day, hardly getting up or anything. Get up to pee, that's it.
    45:47
    You can say whatever you want. Okay. Have fun with it. I like that you're thankful you're not in jail. Everybody should be thankful.
    45:54
    I like that. That's good. Hi, this is Barry Engler. I am the service manager here at Jersey Jack Pinball. Boo! Shrap-dap-shrap-shrap.
    46:06
    Start over. Why are we going to start over? Let's roll with it. All right. Sorry, man. All right. So, once again, this is Barry Engler. Don't say once again. You just got to start over. That was my fault. All right. Ken Cremwell is a jerk. There you go. You know what it is? I'm fucking rusty. I used to be able to be pretty fluid with this. This is what happens when you do two podcasts a year. That's true. Can you leave that in there? Yeah, I will leave that in there. Actually, I'm rusty. There's definitely B-roll there. I'm stumbling and mumbling and I'm like... Or at least service at level 257 in Schaumburg Mall. In Woodfield Mall. All right, let me try this one more time. That's what you get when you only come on two podcasts a year I would believe it Alright Are we rolling? Hello, hello CQDX? Okay