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The Pinball Show Ep 69: Pinball Collectors Are People Too & World Changing Pinball Developments

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·48m 58s·analyzed·Jul 26, 2021
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Production updates, mystery Stern announcement, CGC reveal, market trends on custom collecting.

Summary

Zach from The Pinball Show covers Stern production updates (Mandalorian Pro bumped up, Avengers/TMNT delayed), Gary Stern's cryptic "world changing" announcement, Chicago Gaming Company's fourth title reveal pending, Spooky Pinball's Halloween/Ultraman shipping updates, and an extended market trends segment promoting custom collecting over standard LE models while defending pinball collecting culture.

Key Claims

  • Mandalorian Pro production originally scheduled for late August is being bumped up to ship this week

    high confidence · Host Zach discussing Stern production updates directly; specific timeline change mentioned as confirmed information

  • Avengers Pro, Avengers Premium, TMNT Pro and Premium have been put on small delay due to parts sourcing

    high confidence · Host stating confirmed production delay from Stern supply chain issues

  • Gary Stern stated there is a 'world changing' development coming to pinball

    high confidence · Quote from Gary Stern during Stern Insider Program Ask Me Anything, cited via ThisWeekInPinball.com

  • Chicago Gaming Company will not be revealing their fourth title at Allentown show despite earlier reports

    high confidence · Host directly correcting earlier reporting from Canada's Pinball Podcast; stated as fact that CGC reveal is not happening at show

  • CGC's fourth title topper will be interactive target-based like a shooter game

    medium confidence · Host citing Canada's Pinball Podcast reporting on 'rumored' details; labeled as rumor

  • CGC owner Doug Duba wants to keep pricing close to previous releases despite parts inflation

    high confidence · Host stating this as confirmed information about Duba's approach

  • Spooky Pinball Halloween and Ultraman pre-owners have been receiving game numbers this week

    high confidence · Host stating machines are shipping and owners are receiving assigned serial numbers

  • Spooky Pinball will release gameplay video of Halloween or Ultraman this week

    medium confidence · Host speculation based on Allentown show timing and belief Bug won't release low-quality iPhone footage

  • Titan Pinball flipper silicones fixed multiple gameplay issues on host's Rick and Morty machine

    medium confidence · Host personal anecdote about product experience; not sponsorship

Notable Quotes

  • “I could answer that but I'm not going to”

    Gary Stern @ During Stern Insider Program Ask Me Anything — Gary Stern refusing to answer what will drive pinball trends for next 10 years, teasing mystery development

  • “We have a development that is world changing stay tuned for that”

    Gary Stern @ Stern Insider Program Ask Me Anything — Cryptic teaser of unannounced pinball development; major community speculation point

  • “The only thing that Rick and Morty Pinball Machine needs is for you to throw away those factory flipper silicones and just replace them with the Titan Pinball flipper silicones.”

    Zach (Host) @ During product recommendation segment — Product endorsement for aftermarket solution to common game issue; shows community mod culture

  • “So what if some of us like to collect things? We like pretty things.”

    Zach (Host) @ During market trends rant on collector pride — Host defending pinball collector identity against community stigma; broader cultural commentary

  • “The devil's in the details baby and if you're like me and you're a proud of not only being a lover of pinball itself in the game but a collector of that machine, then do some research.”

    Zach (Host) @ Market trends custom collecting segment — Host promoting custom modification as path to more valuable/unique machines than standard LE

  • “I don't see it happening for a long time”

    Zach (Host) @ Discussing Jersey Jack Pinball next release timeline — Speculation that JJP is far from releasing next game due to GNR production continuing and parts issues

  • “CGC really has no interest in taking advantage of the pinball market right now. No interest in exploiting the price.”

    Zach (Host) @ During Chicago Gaming Company pricing discussion — Characterizing CGC's pricing philosophy as consumer-friendly vs. exploitative LE model

  • “I think we see it this week... I think Bug's going to have a video out this week on basic gameplay.”

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyGary SternpersonChicago Gaming CompanycompanyDoug DubapersonSpooky PinballcompanyBugpersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyAmerican Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Host defending collector identity and fighting stigma against collecting in pinball community

    high · Extended rant/segment on collector pride, explicitly addressing gatekeeping and defending aesthetic collecting as valid

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Host promoting collecting non-remade B-list and C-list Williams titles as superior investment strategy to chasing elite titles

    medium · Extended 'Buy Low Sell High' segment advocating B-list titles (NBA Fast Break, Corvette, No Fear) as safer long-term collectibles

  • ?

    event_signal: Allentown show happening end of July; Ultraman confirmed appearing; possible CGC promo video instead of reveal

    high · Host confirming Ultraman appearance and speculating promo video as alternative to cancelled reveal

  • $

    market_signal: Overpriced secondary market listings emerging (Data East Back to the Future at $9,000 when $3,000-$3,500 is typical)

    high · Host identifying pricing bubble on vintage games; warning collectors against overvalued listings

  • ?

    community_signal: Spooky Pinball team (Bug, Squirrel) actively engaging with community and media for content creation

    high · Host noting Squirrel covered giveaway boxes; Bug expected to produce gameplay video this week

  • $

    market_signal: CGC committing to affordable pricing for fourth title despite industry inflation pressures

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.147

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:12
The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. On episode 69 of The Pinball Show, I discuss Stern Pinball production updates, accessories updates world-changing pinball developments chicago gaming's next title release and pricing spooky pinball's halloween gameplay video a special edition of pinball market trends feeling pride as a pinball collector a new segment and trending television this week sprinkle in some nuggets here a few rants there and bam you got yourself the pinball show Nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom, nom. Birds flying high, you know how I feel. Pinball is a game of skill. Sun in the sky, you know how I feel. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle. Breeze drifting on by, you know how I feel. It's time for the Pinball Show. It's a new dawn, it's a new day. It's pinball with personality. It's a new life for me, yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, ooh, and I'm feeling good. I'm locked, I'm loaded, I'm ready to go for episode 69 of the Pinball Show. It feels like it's been a while since I spoke with you guys last, but here we are. A new week, a lot of pinball news, and one hell of a last week. How was you all's last week? Mine, overall, very good. A couple of social hiccups here and there for myself personally this last week regarding pinball, of which I can't really talk about quite yet. But sooner or later, I'll be able to discuss them and will giggle as I see your mouths wide open in disbelief. That's what I felt this last week. But I'm feeling good, better than ever. Believe it or not, we have a lot of news this week. And hey, it may just be you and I today, but pay very close attention this episode because I feel like sprinkling some nuggets today. Correspondents, assemble! What do you guys got for me over there? It's time for TPN Industry News.
2:31
Hello and welcome to the pinball show's stern news update. I'm Craig Bobby. Well, don't look now, but those TMNT loot crates that we reported on months ago are now available. Cowabunga, dudes! Yes, Stern Pinball has teamed up directly with NECA to serve up a heaping helping of total awesomeness in honor of the TMNT pinball game. This exclusive and limited edition Loot Crate box includes pizza magnets, a Rocksteady and Bebop keychain, a Krang beanie, custom t-shirt, and an exclusive Shredder action figure. A definite collector's item for you or the Turtles collector in your life. And don't touch that piping hot pepperoni pie yet, true believers. This just in, attention Stern All Access insiders. limited to only 100 pieces worldwide you have the option to purchase this NECA TMNT crate autographed by the artist that inspired it all Zombie Yeti yes only registered All Access members have the ability to make a purchase while supplies last don't have the Stern All Access Pass but want the loot? register now and become a Stern Insider today and hot on the heels of last week's update Stern has once again posted new code for Steve Ritchie's rock pin classic, Led Zeppelin, V1.05, for the Pro, Premium, and Limited Edition models. This time around, they fixed a coding issue that could prevent the player from advancing their tour locks in USA 1975 Tour, as well as an issue that could cause target lights to flash when they were not able to progress, and lastly, an issue that prevented the Icarus timer from pausing during certain display effects. Well, that's all for this week. For the Pinball Show, I'm Craig Bobby. Catch you on the flip side.

  • Custom-modified Premium edition machines can command higher secondary market prices than LE editions

    medium confidence · Host opinion based on personal collection examples (Jurassic Park and Star Wars Premiums); subjective claim

    • Zach (Host) @ Discussing Spooky Pinball Halloween/Ultraman gameplay reveal timing — Prediction of imminent official gameplay footage at Allentown show

  • “Turning up this week, transforming your America's Most Haunted is a medicinal mods AMH package... you're going to see the value of the machine itself... take a bump on the secondary market just because there's a transformative mod package for it.”

    Zach (Host) @ Market trends section — Illustrating how aftermarket mod packages drive secondary market value; showing community mod economy

  • “Those are the ones that aren't going to be remade. Value on those is always going to go up.”

    Zach (Host) @ Buy Low Sell High segment discussing B-list Williams titles — Investment thesis on collecting: non-remade games as safer collectible value plays than elite titles

    • Dwight Sullivan
    person
    Dave Fixperson
    Zachperson
    Titan Pinballcompany
    Mandaloriangame
    Led Zeppelingame
    TMNTgame
    Avengersgame
    Guns N' Rosesgame
    Halloweengame
    Ultramangame
    Rick and Mortygame
    Zombie Yetiperson
    Joe Abateperson
    Logan Pimbleperson
    Allentown Showevent
    Chicago Pinball Expoevent

    high · Host noting Duba's explicit goal to keep pricing 'close to what we're all used to' despite parts costs

  • ?

    product_strategy: American Pinball game four delayed 'couple more months' from current point; unlikely to ship before Expo 2024

    medium · Host speculation on timeline based on Dave Fix finishing manual and parts issues

  • ?

    product_strategy: Avengers Pro/Premium and TMNT Pro/Premium delayed due to parts supply; Mandalorian Pro bumped up

    high · Host states delays confirmed from Stern; specific part supply constraint cited

  • ?

    product_strategy: Custom-modified Premium machines can exceed LE value on secondary market through specialized modifications

    medium · Host claiming personal Star Wars and Jurassic Park Premiums worth more than LE counterparts due to custom enhancements

  • ?

    product_strategy: Spooky Pinball releasing official gameplay video of Halloween/Ultraman this week at Allentown show

    medium · Host prediction based on show timing and expectation of professional video quality vs. iPhone footage

  • ?

    business_signal: Aftermarket mod ecosystem (toppers, wireforms, silicones) driving secondary market value and game desirability

    high · Medicinal mods AMH package, custom wireforms for Mandalorian, Titan silicones highlighted as value drivers for secondary market

  • ?

    technology_signal: Gary Stern's 'world changing development' teaser suggests major platform/connectivity shift rather than typical game release

    medium · Host speculates this is 'bigger than just software updates' and suggests internet connectivity implementation for Stern games

    • 4:50
    and a massive dialed-in printed manual for $19. These should keep on coming, so keep an eye out for more factory finds in the future. And this past week, Jersey Jack Pinball celebrated a birthday of one of their game co-designers, Saul Hudson. He worked with Eric Menier on the recent release, Guns N' Roses. If you haven't heard of him, it's because he usually goes by his stage name, Slash. Here's wishing him a happy 56th birthday. I hope he gets some time on his personal collector's edition version of the game. For the Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg.
    5:29
    Hey, this is Kaz with a quick update with American Pinball. While there's no major news to report on as the team is still working on game number four, I reached out to Dave Brennan, the tech service manager. He informed me that he is finishing up on the manual for game four and that all games from American Pinball are going to be coming with the printed manuals. He's also been working on a lot of tech videos that you can go check out on the American Pinball's YouTube page. So we all await the new game. I hope everyone has a great week and has fun playing pinball. For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Costner.
    6:06
    Nicely done, correspondents. Let's jump right into the news term, pinball. Thanks for the updated report, Craig Bobby. Craig talking about some updates to Led Zeppelin, some swag boxes from Nika, signed Zombie Eddie stuff. I want to go a little bit further and give you guys what you're not going to hear on other podcasts, and that is some updates to Stern Pinball's production timelines. Now, y'all, the struggle is real with continued supply chain issues from every manufacturer, and Stern Pinball's not excluded. They've got the Mandalorian LE run complete. Their first batch of Mandalorian premiums you guys have been seeing successfully shipped out of the factory and into many locations and homes. All is well there. I believe they're in the middle of a Led Zeppelin premium run as of right now, which hopefully means that those spinner adjustment kits that some of you are needing for your premium LE Led Zeppelin should be coming soon as well. However, there are some upcoming runs of like Avengers Pro, Avengers Premium, Stern's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro, and Premium. those have been put on a small delay as the company just kind of waits for those parts. There's a production update for you right there. Fear not, though, this delay is supposed to be pretty small, but because of some of the parts things, it's going to be running a hair behind. But it's not always doom and gloom and pinball. For example, on a brighter note, the Mandalorian Pro production was scheduled, that next run was scheduled for late August. A long time to wait, late August. that is actually going to get bumped up into the spotlight and you're going to see some of those games leaving the factory this week. Tell me likey. Tell me want wingy. So while Gear Bear over there, Stern Pinball, sometimes has to taketh or modifieth, he gives as well. Such a giver. Now Stern Pinball has not indicated to dealers whether this pro run is going to be the original amount that dealers were scheduled to receive at the end of late August. so stay tuned for more information regarding your upcoming Mandalorian Pro. And no, I haven't forgot about some of you waiting on your wonderfully kick-ass Guardians of the Galaxy Pro machines. They are being run as well as Stern Pinball. Those machines are scheduled to start shipping out this week. Oh, Richard, I'm so happy. Hold me. Yikes. Don't run away from your feelings. You cannot stop that Stern choo-choo train. So congrats to all of the new Guardians owners out there and make sure to keep those games nice and warm and cozy with a fresh shaker motor, art blades, a topper, or other tastefully, tastefully designed pinball mods. Tastefully, people! Speaking of mods, here's the latest update on Stern Pinball official accessories. A lot of people ask, when's the next run of this topper? When can I get art blades for that? Are they still making Jurassic Park shooter rods? Well, production schedule is indicating right now that there are a lot of things on the line coming in August, including got those Mandalorian mods, right? The shooter rod, our blades, the armor. Those are all still supposed to be shipping and producing in August, as well as that Mandalorian topper reveal. Remember, we were supposed to at launch hear more about that in August. So that should be coming up in the next couple of weeks. Led Zeppelin topper, armor, shooter rods, Avengers topper, shooter rods, Stranger Things topper and possibly even those UV light kits. We're still going to try to make those. Jurassic Park toppers. All of this right now, schedule-wise, says August. Stern Pinball is usually very good with production timelines for their machines, but I will say the parts department, accessories department, they're hindered as well by parts supply issues. So that one changes a little bit more than the machines themselves. Ooh, and Black Knight shooter rods? Now in stock. Booyah! Kind of feels like those were pulled from a vault. We haven't seen Black Knight Sword of Rage shooter rods in quite some time. Also this past week, the Stern Insider Program had an Ask Me Anything. Have you guys seen this Ask Me Anything segment for Gary Stern? Now, I found this on ThisWeekInPinball.com, so credit there for pointing this out. But the Stern Insider Program asked Gary Stern probably numerous questions. This one was the one that hit hard for me. Insiders asked Gary What will be the driving trend in pinball For the next 10 years May I say nicely executed question there Insiders And Gary's got an answer He says quote I could answer that but I'm not going to End quote What the fuck Ask me anything Well you can ask Doesn't mean I'm going to answer No Gary Stern did follow up and said quote We have a development That is world changing stay tuned for that end quote world changing our new brake pads are really cool you're not even going to believe it i think he's referring to pinball world changing but even so is this a follow-up tease to the george gomez tease of something big coming in september many of you have talked about rumors of a godzilla and and and while there's no confirmation of that title even coming out. Godzilla's pretty big. But world changing. Maybe Gary's referring to the world changing elements of getting pinball over into if this is a Godzilla Toho license, getting it over into the eastern world? Possibly? Nah, I think it's bigger. I think he's pushing towards this internet connectivity. And when you're hyping it like this, guys, I think we're dealing with more than just your software updates. I feel something big coming from Stern Pinball. And it's not just their next title release. How will your Stern game be transformed by this possible world changing development? Makes you question whether or not you should sell that Stern Pinball machine right now. I want to pump the brakes a little bit. I gotta go to the bathroom, daddy. Not now, damn it. You're tired.
    12:06
    I can't stop! Help There a cliff And your family screaming oh my God we burning alive No, I can't feel my legs! In comes a meat wagon!
    12:26
    And the medic gets out and says, oh my God! Also wanting to remind people that Dwight Sullivan has reached out to me to help promote his upcoming Chicago Pinball Expo seminar that is making a return. You all know it by the name Feud Without the Family. It was a big hit last time, and it's going to be a blast this year as well. But they need your help. I've done it already. I need you, listener, to do it as well. Super simple, and it's kind of fun to fill out. Go to feudwithoutthefamily.com. That's feudwithoutthefamily.com. And submit your answers to questions that will appear in that seminar game. Either game. we'll stick around in chicago and we'll jump to chicago gaming company reports from canada's pinball podcast indicated this week that cgc will be revealing their game at the allentown show next week the only problem is that cgc will not be revealing their game at the allentown show next week you're a huge embarrassing failure what not it now by all means it's coming and sure it's taken damn near an eternity to get this fourth title launched but i do believe that we're going to see cgc's next game before we do ap's next game and before the next turn so do your math there allentown shows the end of this week end of july but and hey who knows maybe just maybe we're going to get a nice video promo of it bink bink there's a sound in my eye like a car it winks my my eye winks like a cartoon characters pink canada's pinball podcast also reporting the functionality of the rumored cactus canyon topper talked about it being an interactive target based like a game up there shooter kind of thing kind of makes sense to the theme sounds really cool and this is the first time i'm hearing about the rumored details of their upcoming title dot dot i'm not supposed to read the dot i will say this the topper is badass okay But it will not be the only mic drop to this industry with their next remake title. Stay tuned. I wonder who's coding this machine.
    14:39
    Huh. Pricing-wise on remake number four, I would imagine it's an increase. It's got to get an increase. But what I can confirm to you listeners is the CGC really has no interest in taking advantage of the pinball market right now. No interest in exploiting the price like we're seeing on medieval madness royal editions. Secondary market sales on those were through the roof. They could do that. They'd still sell. But CGC owner and operator Doug Duba wants to keep the price as close to what we're all used to as possible. A pretty difficult task if you consider the world right now where parts are in short or even non-existent supply. And the cost of materials has exponentially increased over the past year. If Double D's can keep it close, I think he's going to make a lot of you in this community very, very happy. If I were to guess, pure guess, pure speculation. I don't know what the price is going to be, but I would guess for you guys that, what do we have? Medieval Madness, recent rerun of a classic at $8K, plus shipping, special edition at $9K, Royal at $10K. I think we stick to that, but we increase it by $500 to $999. Yeah, my guess would be you've got your similar lineups, but you've got an 8500, a 9500, and a 10-5. Speaking of numbers, Spooky Pinball is in the news this week. Halloween and Ultraman pre-owners have been receiving their game numbers this past week. Did you guys buy an Ultraman or a Halloween? I'm pretty stoked still about it. I think I'm going butter. Halloween. But many of you who did pre-order, you pre-owners, have received what number they're going to have on their edition. Ultimately, it's not really a direct indication of your spot in line, but it does generally give owners an estimate on when they're going to receive their machine. I'm not sure when my personal Halloween CE is coming home, but I am excited for him to get here with his sausage fingers. Everybody wants to know when in the hell are we going to see gameplay? When are we going to see a stream of Halloween and or Ultraman? I think we see it this week. Look, the Allentown show is coming up this week. We know that an Ultraman is going to be making an appearance there. I don't know about Halloween, but we know an Ultraman is going to be there. I just do not believe that Spooky Pinball is interested in their first video for it coming from a shaky-ass iPhone 7. I don't see it. I think Bug's going to have a video out this week on basic gameplay. Boom! And, listener, I had a revelation this last week with my Rick and Morty pinball machine. You guys know how much I love this game. It's got pros, it's got cons, but it's not leaving. I love it. I've not really messed with many fixes. You guys hear about a lot of fixes and tweaks that you have to do to get this thing running right. I have found the best fix for that game. The best fix. I don't think I've talked about it here. No, it's not adjusting the inner orbit metal guide. Might be a hell, but no, not that. Forget the flipper bushings. EOS. No. And for God's sake, put down those damn pliers. The only thing that Rick and Morty Pinball Machine needs is for you to throw away those factory flipper silicones and just replace them with the Titan Pinball flipper silicones.
    17:54
    Titan's not a sponsor. I just like really nice shit that works. I swapped out those flipper rubbers with the Titan Pinball flipper silicones. First game, GC'd that bitch. 150 mil, and I reached the wizard mode. First time I've done that. it felt so damn good but it's amazing how a silicone can fix so many issues that a game may be having if you're feeling out of touch with any of your pinball machines it just doesn't feel right the flipper mechanics are just something there maybe it's too bouncy i'm telling you get some of these titan pinball flipper silicones and the difference is a good thing more control more response it's a good product and a very special thank you to spooky squirrel out there and the rest of the spooky team because you guys remember i did that contest where i gave away some mystery boxes from spooky some swag for three of you lucky winners out there i attempted to purchase the giveaway mystery boxes through the website and all that and squirrel over a spooky chuckled and she was like we we took care of it zach a freaking kind gesture thank you bentonians what a swell bunch of people no big news with jersey jack pinball or american pinball gnr still kind of trickling out into people's homes american pinball still kind of quiet as they themselves battle parts supply issues jjp's battling parts supplies issues jersey jack pinball's next release hell they're still making gnrs i don't see it happening for a long time. American Pinball's next release, well, I just don't think we see it for a couple more months. Now we're running close to Expo, in which Dave Fix has kind of a partnership that he's worked in the past with Expo. It kind of makes sense to me there. No way they have two machines this year, as they were saying. There's no way. They can prove me wrong, but I don't see it. What you got over there, Fixie? Let's have some fun as we always do on the Pinball Show with our favorite pinball segment, the Jekyll to my hide. This is Pinball Market Trends.
    20:03
    Aw, were you let down? Or were you happy that I didn't scream it in your ear? This is going to be a fun one this week because I'm going to have an expanded special edition of Pinball Market Trends. So here we go. Trending up this week, very mod heavy, is Joe Abate. Many of you may or may not know Joe, but he had a recent Facebook post on Pinball Enthusiast to show off his Grogu coming alive in his Mandalorian Ellie pinball machine. He did it! This is exactly what I was talking about. It is exactly, exactly to the T of what I thought could have been done. So bringing the child to life will be a thing in the future. And he was the first one that stuck his flag in those uncharted waters. Nicely done, Joe. And speaking of Mandalorian, also training up this week is Custom Wireforms by Logan Pimble on Pinside. When the Mandalorian Pro was announced, You've seen those plastic ramps instead of metal wire forms that were seen on the premium LE. And many of you were not happy. We're not happy little pin side campers. No, no, no. I want wire. Give me wire. Logan did. For $220 shipped, you can now order a set of custom wire forms for your Mandalorian pro game. Damn, I love mods. This is like a functional mod. You've got aesthetic mods. You've got functional mods. You've got tacky ass mods. You have mods that transform a game. Turning up this week, transforming your America's Most Haunted is a medicinal mods AMH package that was just revealed and announced. It is a mod package so big, so dynamic, and so limited that it alone, call me crazy, but you're going to see the value of the machine itself. America's Most Haunted dipping in the recent year, you're going to see that take a bump on the secondary market just because there's a transformative mod package for it. Oftentimes, many of you are screaming at your radio at how wrong I am until I'm right. And for the life of me, so many people don't have the humility just to say, you know what, you were right. Stranger Things. Turtles. Ghostbusters. I'm coming down with something. It's not the vid. Popeye sorry that last one many of you still disagree with and just like Gare Bear I may giveth but I also taketh because trending down this week is more conceptual trending down in pinball is the idea that a limited edition model is the best and most collectible model you know what's even more rare and collectible than an LE a CE not I'm just semantics sake CE and LE the same thing they're the most limited a custom pinball machine hear me out i'm not talking about toppers and mods no i own a couple of stern premiums that i would guarantee sell for more money to collectors than their le counterparts how you may ask well custom work that differentiates it from the others the devil's in the details baby and if you're like me and you're a proud of not only being a lover of pinball itself in the game but a collector of that machine, then do some research. Find some special ways to make it your own. One of the things that I've become sick and tired of, and I've kind of shielded myself from it at times, don't admit you're a collector. Oh, how vain, how pretentious would it be to collect? People collect shit. It's what we do. Is there any purpose? No. Yeah, let's go down Alice's rabbit hole there on purpose. No. If you like playing competitively, you don't get shit on. If you like playing only at home, chasing wizard modes, you don't get shit on anymore. We're finally getting to a point within our community that we're actually accepting people. What a novel idea. Hot damn. Are you a points chaser? Sweet. A moment maker? Awesome. Are you a collector? Yeah. Tommy is a Scorpio. He likes biking and he's never been laid. So what if some of us like to collect things? We like pretty things. I don't want to hear anything from people that have got their phone directly on their nose as they're finding Pokemon in the supermarket. People collect things. I don't know if this is a human behavior thing. I don't want to get that deep, but especially like me, I like collecting shit. Sports cards or art pieces or some people collect vinyl, music. We all like collecting things It gives us a sense of purpose It makes us feel I don know like we have a story to tell Like we enjoy the details and things There nothing wrong with it Well then I get all excited I'm like JoJo, the idiot circus boy with a pretty new pet. And sooner or later, there will be nothing wrong with it, perception-wise, in our community. I hope. I'm going to keep fighting for that. I'll be the poster child for pinball collectability. He's a big, dumb animal, isn't he, folks? Can't play the topper. That's fine. Just don't shit on me for enjoying it on my game. I don't see the art when I'm playing the game. That's fair. You don't hear me shitting on you for not appreciating zombie Eddie art. So piss off if I like it. I'm picking up your sarcasm. Well, I should hope so because I'm laying it on pretty thick. My point here, I don't want some of you feeling guilty out there because you like collecting really nice stuff. You do you. So I stroke it and I pet it. If that means you don't mind a routed pro just because you have fun playing pinball and really don't give two shits about the looks of it or you do you. It's awesome Bang the hell out of that thing If you like games to look like they've come from a museum And you don't like playing them that much And they're kind of like a collector car You do you Hell yeah Can I come look? Get a little tickle? A little touch? I'll wipe it off Or be like me I want them the nicest possible when I get them But once they're mine I'll bang around on them just like they're an old Gottlieb It's a little rant there, but the examples that I have, like my particular Jurassic Park and Star Wars Comic Edition premiums, they're not LEs. They're both premiums. But given what makes them special, I would not trade them for an LE, even if the LE had cash added. So that's what I mean. I can't go into detail about the enhancements that I've added to these, but I can tell you that having the LE is just not always the best in the pinball collector world. For all you collector nerds out there like me, that next step from LE or CE is custom. Some examples would be like custom artwork that you had to commission out, or hell, mods that you had to commission out. Reach out to a mod maker. You're going to have to pay for it, but your game will be different. Things that nobody can just readily and availability just get. Maybe add some of the typical features that you do find in an LE with a twist, even if some of those are considered unobtainium. That's what I'm saying. If you run into a problem or a roadblock, find a way around and find a solution to get what you want in life.
    26:51
    Shit's getting deep, yo. But the only way to pay for those expensive ass machines is to save a buck or to save a two, and I'll do it for you here in Deals of the Week. Bye, bye, bye! Deal of the Week this week is a Monster Bash limited edition off of Pinside. Pinsider Lou Duva. Hey, Lou! Out of Chesapeake, Virginia. $89.50 for an LE of Monster Bash? I don't want it in my collection. It's not my jam of a game, but it is pretty. And at $89.50, if the market continues the way this is, that's undervalued. I think that thing sells for $10.11 all day. Buy, buy, buy! If it's still available and you like Monster Bash, I'd pick that one up. However, one that I would not pick up, I wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. Makes my tummy hurt just looking at this listing. It's your featured deal of the... Help!
    27:41
    Oh! Going to Facebook right now on Pinball for Sale. that group there's a listing by ryan jalipsy jalispy jalispy for a data east bank to the future it's a pin that doesn't even exist figment of your imagination but the one that he has it's fully shopped and it's tested by a professional that's a quote don't pay attention to the planking cabinet and the shit that's wrong in the play now don't pay attention to that all right guys let's do a quiz here what does the data east bank to the future what's that going to run you typically a nice condition one people people people what three grand tops maybe 35 if the thing hasn't been played much but not nine thousand dollars sell sell sell remember my big old uh lecture and spiel up top don't judge no yep i'm judging there's like a threshold of judge to be considerate and supportive of all minus the outliers. $9,000 for data that leads back to the future. You could have one brand new box and it wouldn't be worth $9,000. And the kicker is shipping. If you want to ship this damn thing, you can pay for that too.
    28:55
    Alright, this expanded edition of Pinball Market Trends this week is going to feature a new segment. I don't know if I've done this before, but I like the idea of it and I'm sure you will as well. We're going to call this Pinball Market Trends Buy Low Sell High. I'm going to go through a couple scenarios, situations, products, things that you see that I would definitely buy low on in general. Or that I most certainly would be selling high while I can. Buy low this week is the Attack from Mars LE.
    29:27
    In general, if you can find one of these that are not commanding the price of a Medieval Madness LE, the AFM LE is more collectible, people. you can't buy the topper buy low on an attack from mars le an additional buy low this week is the collection of bally williams b-list titles that are in impeccable and great shape you guys have heard me the last couple of weeks you've seen me on social media trying to snag up all of these b-list title bally williams oftentimes they don't get the love of a medieval Madness or an Attack from Mars or anything like that, but they're just as fun. Sometimes the rules are better. Sometimes the themes are better. The toys might be bad. It's hard to beat Medieval Madness, Castle, or the UFO and Attack from Mars, but you get what I'm saying. This is where I'm taking part of my collection. I've got a newer side of my collection, and I've got an older side of my collection. The older side, as a collector, again, don't play these games often, but I like to collect them, or the B-list, sometimes C-list titles. Those are the ones that I think you should buy low on. I'm giving you my secret right now. Those are the ones that aren't going to be remade. Value on those is always going to go up. If the general market of pinball is going up, that's going to be at the forefront of what is going to go up. I'm not talking about a shopped game, guys. No. Anybody can shop a game. Anybody could redo the rubbers. No. I'm talking about the top 2% condition of these titles. If you find one, it's really hard to put a price on them. Call me crazy, but buying low makes a lot of sense there. Picked up an NBA fast break that was essentially brand new. A Corvette, essentially brand new. A No Fear that I just plopped a lot of money on. Is No Fear my favorite game? No, I do enjoy it a lot. I don't like the title. But are they going to remake a No Fear? No. And while all this hype train and these huge numbers are being given for these elite titles, so too at some point will be the nicest version of a b level that you just don't see restored that you don't see around in mint condition you'll always be able to pick up a medieval madness like new or an attack from mars like new hell of fathom like new these are the ones you're going to see increase in price also buy low i would buy low on purchasing mods just in case this is a just in case buying low if you like a particular game and you don't own it yet and you think down the line at some point you're going to own that game pull the trigger on those mods you will not be disappointed that you do and led zeppelin looks like a game that i'd really love to enjoy buying at some point funds aren't there but at some point i know i'll own a led zeppelin i'm here to tell you at some point that topper may not be available those expression lighting kits may not be available for your future pro grab them now put them on a shelf and if you see the market start losing money on these products? Sure, sell them. I'm telling you right now, numbers don't lie. I only report the facts, and we're not seeing anyone lose money on mods in general, especially toppers, especially shooter rods. You'll thank me later. Bye, bye, bye now. I do the same thing. I call it the flipping out vault. I've got a vault of products that I don't have a game for, and you're seeing and you're hearing more people in this industry do this. More people in the community are, and it's not like you've got to stockpile five or six to flip them. No, no, no, I'm not saying that. I'm just saying I would have been really happy if I would have thought of this earlier and grabbed like a Guardians topper. What were they selling for? 400 bucks? 350? Because now I want a Guardians game. Finding one with a topper is not as easy. Another buy low is Stern Pros and Premiums. Buy, buy, buy! I teased it earlier. If you've got a Stern Pro, a Spike 2 Stern Pro with an LCD screen or a Premium that you really like, but maybe on the chopping block, then hold on. When I hear George Gomez going out publicly and Gary Stern going out publicly and telling us that something huge is happening that's going to change the industry, I pump my brakes. Hold on a bit. Let's see what's coming up around that bend. Because I can tell you this, the reason I'm buying low on these things, because if Stern enhances gameplay by a significant degree this fall, what do you think the prices of these games are now going to be in comparison to other games that are not connected to the Internet? and look still all speculation i have no clue when the hell's coming up they're surely not going to tell me but i can tell you it feels different i've been in pinball a while this feels different and i know cgc they don't have internet connectivity coming up spooky acted like they're a bit off on it jersey jack's got it going with the score bit and i think you're going to see and hear of some pretty big things coming up with that as well but stern is the one that does these things. They've got the biggest catalog of titles. And speaking of Jersey Jack Pinball, I'm doing a buy low this week on Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road.
    34:20
    Buy, buy, buy! Yep. Teased it a little bit. Even more so now. Cat's out of the bag. That's the one that will be going up in value. And my argument may not appear to hold water, but numbers don't lie. It's the most up-to-date one. It's a beautiful, beautiful edition. It has the preferred cabinet and operating system in it. 2.0 light system is nothing to worry about that's the addition that people will be chasing but not all things in pinball are by low no no no no some things in my opinion are at the peak of where they're going while these things are hot you need to sell high sell sell sell right now i'd be selling high on centaur do we have a confirmation from haggis pinball that they're going to be doing a centaur nope we sure don't but if i'm haggis pinball and i'm going to be redoing an early solid state bally williams i'm doing centaur if you got a centaur sell the damn thing now sell high i've seen the prices of fathoms that are fully restored now that this remake has been announced brutal sell high on your centaur also sell high on your l-vibra premium sell sell sell if you have no intention on keeping this thing and you want to maximize what you can get out of it, you better list it. You don't have to be in a super fast rush to list it. You've got a couple months here, but when they run these again and there's more and more and more and more and more and more coming out, it's supply and demand that price will drop a little bit. I'm not saying that for the LE or the signature LE. No, for the Elvira Premium. It's kind of mind-boggling right now that they're going for more than MSRP used. I don't think that lasts forever. Same goes with selling high on Guns N' Roses LE.
    36:02
    Sell, sell, sell! And you've seen this kind of taper off a little bit. It's come down to reality a little bit. I've reported on that. I think it continues to come down. I see that pattern. I'm seeing it in the numbers. I would sell high on GNRL right now while you can. Fantastic game. One of the most special pinball machines ever made. Ever! But with that is a continued production line that's going to continue making them. Everyone that leaves that factory has the ability to lower the value of the next. I don't see this dropping as much on the CEs, but still. Oh, my gosh, just last week, guys. Oh, whew. I listed my GNR CE right for trade I talked to you today about some of these higher HEP restored or Brian Kelly restored or Schmitty restored stuff that you just not going to find or a home use only that has seen 200 plays on it, a 90s game. You're not going to find these things. So I think to myself, I don't want to get rid of my GNRCE by any means,
    37:03
    but it's kind of at the top of the market right now. As a collector and a lover of pinball, I need to maximize what I can get right now for that in efforts to get games that are impossible to find. Maybe there's somebody out there that really is gung-ho over GNRCE right now and is willing to give up the beauties that are those fully restored or minty games. So I do that. I get a lot of thumbs down on Pinside. That's normal. I was expecting that. Put the flip in flipping out. That was actually a decent one. I laughed at that one. No, it's my personal collection game. I'm not trying to sell it. I'm trying to trade it. And I'll own one again. But I think it'll be easy to find one in the future. A little bit more than finding a fully restored whitewater. I just do. And I got a lot of downvotes, as I typically do when you do anything like this. But boy, oh boy. Oh, what'd you do? But sweet mother of pearl, I got a private message from someone not happy with me for listing that. Not happy at all. And apparently, a handful of distributors not happy at all with me and saying, quote unquote, horrible things about me. I'm friends with so many distributors, so many good, good, great, hardworking distributors out there that deserve your business. So many. Message me. I'll give you the list of them. Man, some of you shitheads out there, you know who you are. I feel like that guy. Remember SportsCenter years back? I'm a man. I'm 40. Got an issue. Just reach out to a guy. That's all. Come on the show. It'll be fun. We can talk about distributing games. Good times. I'm going to close off this pinball market trends with non-pinball market trends.
    38:35
    We're going to focus this week on trending television. Trending up this week is on Netflix. The Movies That Made Us, Season 2. Did you guys watch The Movies That Made Us, a series on Season 1? This season has Jurassic Park, Man, Back to the Future, Pretty Woman. It's got Pretty Woman and Forrest Gump. Alabama! One of my favorites ever. Robert Zemeckis, love you. So we got some Spielberg in there, some Zemeckis in there. Zemecki. You gotta check it out. Also trending up this week in television is a recommendation from my son. My son's so young that some of the irreverent shit that they watch nowadays is just stupid. It's not good. Makes me feel like I'm on a rocking chair throwing a brave long beard. He recommended it to me seven times now. Dad, you gotta watch this. It's a film by Rian Johnson who I do like. It's called Knives Out. I gotta check this out on Amazon. Knives Out, Blockbuster Cast and My Son Couldn't Have Been More Correct Nailed it! He nailed that recommendation Nicely done, Dominic If you haven't seen Knives Out, do yourself a favor and watch all the way through It's fantastic He also recommended something else and damned if he wasn't right again is a TV series that you can find on Netflix right now called Community A lot of people are yelling right now Of course that community is good It's Dan Harmon, co-creator of Rick and Morty and he's right! I thought it was a gaggy, stupid kind of sitcom-y thing. Nope, I was wrong. Community is great. And Dan Harmon, I trust. Many of you have been watching this one. Training up this week is Loki Season 1 on Disney+. That Tom. Mmm, he's a hunk. But Season 1 came to a close this past week or so. And I'm liking it better than WandaVision. Believe it or not, it's a good, good, awesome show. It's no Mandalorian good, but it's a great show. people shitting on that last episode i thought it was one of my faves it's got me pumped up for season two so if you like any of the marvel cinematic universe kind of stuff check out loki and the last one trending up this week in television i could not trend high enough which is what i would call a modern masterpiece a genius that we don't see much of in a lifetime it can be found on netflix it's the third television special from one of the most creative masterminds of all time. Young guy by the name of Bo Burnham. The show is called Inside. You can't call it a comedy. You can't call it a drama. It's more like being John Malkovich than it is anything. It will make you think. It is so well done, so ambitious, so talent-filled that me trying to explain it on a podcast would be a fucking joke. I've watched it three times and it's one of the greatest pieces of film I've ever experienced it's so deep it's not like hipster meta deep because that shit pisses me off too some of the content kind of goes there but no it's just if you're a fan of film and if you're a fan of comedy and writing it's everything unfortunately turning down this week in television is m night shamalon's old i'll preface this by saying i haven't seen it but the reviews are coming in and oh poor m night shamalon i love a lot of his stuff give me some village give me some sides give me six cents hell give me the happening i was a fan from day one loved it all these had some shit stuff in there i'm not hearing great things about old after seeing the preview not that thrilled either i'll report back but for now reviews don't lie when trending down is old also trending down oh you guys are gonna be mad about this army of darkness oh i'm sorry look i could have swore i didn't like it when i was a kid i watched it again just to see and i hated it even more. Now, it's not a bad film. It's actually quite well done. It's got some moments in it. In theory, I enjoy this film, Army of Darkness, but it sucked. It was boring. Nothing scary. Nothing really suspenseful. It thinks it's cuter than it is. It felt more like a Monty Python movie than it did an actual genius that Evil Dead was. Send your hate mail to thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. I'll argue until I'm blue in the face because Army of Darkness just isn't good. Sorry. Oh, speaking of crap, I had to endure this last week. Turning down a Space Jam 2. You're no Michael Jordan. I think that's the official title here. Everybody get up. It's time to slam now. We got the real jam going down. Welcome to the Space Jam. What a shit movie. You guys know you wanted to watch it. I love the first Space Jam. Bill Murray, Michael Jordan, actual Looney Tunes, even the non-canceled versions space jam 2 comes out and oh they were so smart they had all of these assets from this warner brothers studio that they brought harry potter into when you see harry potter assets being referenced in a film you've got all of these licenses they can use at their disposal and they still can't find a way to make an entertaining film i like watching lebron james play basketball. I struggled to watch LeBron James act. I struggled to sit through a film that had one of the weakest scripts that I've seen in a while. The writing was bad. Poor Don Cheadle. Legendary Don Cheadle. Couldn't get out of the way of this writing. So cliche. So bad. A mess. And it didn't have to be. It reminds me of something else trending down in television this week and that was the NBA Finals.
    44:07
    You're just hurt because your sons didn't win. but yeah I would have liked my sons to have won and they didn't but I wasn't happy with my sons you know why? because trying to sit through the NBA finals especially the last couple games that are supposed to be bouts of physical and mental competition ended up being a fucking childhood playground the players were babies and look I'm going to preface it Zach you're just getting older you don't get it you don't get the youth nowadays maybe I don't maybe that's why there is so much gray in my beard I'm losing hair. It was hard to watch these crying-ass players. This isn't sport. Referees had no clue how to call things. Players had no clue how to have integrity. How about play the damn game, and if you get fouled and it's not called, take one on the chin. Hustle back down the court. Get them next time. Don't be a blabbering-ass baby whining, crying, flopping around like a dead fucking fish. Come on, guys. I love the NBA. I love basketball. But when I see this garbage, it makes me not want to tune in. If you shoot a shot and you miss it, it doesn't mean you're fouled every time. Or maybe it does and the referees are too scared to call a foul. I don't know. NBA, get your shit together. There was no leaders out there. The coaches weren't leaders, the referees weren't leaders, and the players, sure as the hell, were not leaders. Whining and crying. How can you win a championship or even be in the finals and feel good about it if your ass was crying for calls all the time? It muddies the achievement. Bust your ass, win with integrity, and win in a way that's right, or don't play at all.
    45:45
    It's very black and white for me there. And that's why I hate this next thing. Last training down in television this week. My wife, this is a poke at her. I love you, babe, but every once in a while she'll dabble upon just some trashy, trashy television. I do the same thing. I watch junk too, but she's been watching Love Island Season 3. Oh, boy. Again, I think it's just an age thing. I'm getting older and I yell at people from my porch. If this is what the youth is, disgusting, overly sexualized, trash with no vocabulary or any sense of education or original thought, it makes me angry. Every time I come in, she's watching and I watch for a couple minutes. The rest of my night's ruined because these people are horrible human beings. Email us at the pinball network at gmail.com. If you've been watching any of these, if you agree, if you disagree, post it on Facebook as well. Let's get some chatter going on and some discussion about natural pastime that many of us are a part of.
    46:46
    Closing out the show, thanks for hanging with us on Episode 69. We'll have Dennis back next week. Follow, like, and subscribe to Pinball Network. That would be greatly appreciated. And our sponsor plug for the week is my company, Flippin' Out Pinball. We're going to showcase the product this week as a Hot Wheels. We have some coming this week, and not all of them are pre-ordered. So if you're looking for a Hot Wheels, grab that up. I don't know when they're going to make them next, so snag it. Still taking Mandalorian pre-orders, early 2022, as well as all the other hotness that Stern Pinball or JJP or Chicago Gaming or anybody's making. Raw Thrills, we'll back order, but get on those as well. Stranger Things Pro, one of those, buy, buy now. Got some in the September run coming up. We've got Art Blades, we've got banners. Escalator turnarounds are about eight to ten weeks still. But if you're wanting it in the future, pull the trigger now. TPN last week had Triple Dream Pinball Podcast Episode 4, Now with Jingles, a new segment. And the fan favorite segment, Tom Talks.
    47:41
    Critically acclaimed. Also last week we had Final Round Pinball Podcast Episode 38 with special guest and great friend, Joe Fox. God, I love Foxtrot. Check that out. We also are going to have Final Round next week as well as they're catching up to their schedule. And we couldn't be happier. A lot of laughs in Episode 38. So until then, I'll catch you guys next week. This is Zach Minney with The Pinball Show. And remember to always practice safe pinball. And do it with honesty, integrity, passion, and fun. Or don't do it at all. Peace out, everybody.
    48:28
    Oh, I'm feeling good Thank you.