Ep 13 - We Can't Wait!

Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·22m 49s·held·Oct 17, 2022

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Jersey Jack announces free factory tours and celebrity appearances at Chicago Pinball Expo.

Summary

Ken Crone hosts the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast discussing upcoming activities at the 38th Chicago Pinball Expo (October 19-22). Jersey Jack will offer free factory tours via luxury motor coaches departing every 45 minutes starting at 9 AM Thursday, featuring meet-and-greets with designers including Steve Ritchie, Eric Meunier, and Jack Guarnieri. The booth will feature playable Toy Story 4 (10 LE, 1 CE) and Guns N' Roses games, plus the full JJP back catalog. Additional highlights include an Art & Animation seminar Friday at 9 PM and a special appearance by YouTube personality Gavin Free (The Slow Mo Guys) Saturday 5-9 PM.

Key Claims

Chicago Pinball Expo is in its 38th year and is the only pinball expo run consistently for the last 37 years
high confidence · Ken Crone, podcast host, opening segment on Chicago Pinball Expo
Gavin Free's Willy Wonka ultra slow-motion video has over 1.7 million views
high confidence · Ken Crone, mid-podcast statement about video viewership
Pat Lawlor has decided to retire
high confidence · Ken Crone, discussing Pat Lawlor retirement status regarding Toy Story 4
Jersey Jack will have 7 motor coach departures from Chicago Pinball Expo to their facility, 45 minutes apart, starting at 9:00 AM
high confidence · Ken Crone, detailed logistics explanation of Thursday factory tour program
The round-trip time for the factory tour experience is approximately 90 minutes
high confidence · Ken Crone, tour logistics segment

Notable Quotes

“It was that earthshaker. It was the gateway for everything else that had happened to me in pinball.”
Ken Crone @ ~45:00 — Personal origin story connecting Pat Lawler's Earthshaker design to Cromwell's entire pinball career trajectory, used to emphasize Lawler's legacy impact
“I truly think that Gavin Free is a great ambassador for pinball. He's somebody that's enthusiastic about pinball, knows how to play, knows how to explain a rule set.”
Ken Crone @ ~22:00 — Assessment of content creator value to pinball industry and community engagement
“At this point, pinball manufacturing is probably very similar from company to company, as I said earlier. And we invite you to come on in and check it out. We're proud on how we do things at Jersey Jack, so you can absolutely come on in and be our guest.”
Ken Crone @ ~18:00 — Shows Jersey Jack's confidence and openness, even welcoming competitors to factory tours
“In my opinion, I think Toy Story has proven to be a pretty polarizing game.”
Ken Crone @ ~38:00 — Direct acknowledgment that Toy Story 4 has divided the community opinion despite strong IP and designer
“I would be stunned if somebody walked away from a pinball experience and couldn't find something that they thought was interesting.”
Ken Crone @ ~32:00 — Community growth pitch emphasizing diversity of themes and mechanics as conversion opportunity

Entities

Ken CronepersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyChicago Pinball ExpoeventPat LawlorpersonGavin FreepersonSteve Ritchieperson Eric Meunierperson

Signals

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event_signal: Chicago Pinball Expo factory tour program unprecedented for Jersey Jack Pinball; first time offering free in-person live tours at Expo with luxury motor coaches and meet-and-greet with design team
high · Ken Cromwell: 'Jersey Jack Pinball for the first time ever...we're going to be offering free in-person live tours...This is the 38th year for Chicago Pinball Expo'
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content_signal: Gavin Free's Willy Wonka slow-motion video reached 1.7M+ views, positioned as single most-viewed pinball content in history; generating significant industry awareness and serving as community ambassador
high · Ken Cromwell: 'he produced what I believe is the single most viewed piece of pinball content or video in the history of pinball...over 1.7 million views. Completely viral.'
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personnel_signal: Pat Lawler retired after designing Toy Story 4 for Jersey Jack Pinball; Cromwell confirms retirement status but notes possibility of future returns
high · Ken Cromwell: 'As of right now, Pat's decided that he has gone into retirement. Now, does that mean that he's not going to come back and make another game at some point? I have no idea.'
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community_signal: Ken Cromwell describes Toy Story 4 as 'pretty polarizing' despite iconic IP and legendary designer, suggesting mixed reception in community
high · Ken Cromwell: 'In my opinion, I think Toy Story has proven to be a pretty polarizing game. You've got one of the most iconic pinball licenses of all time coming from Disney and Pixar...And combining that with one of the most iconic pinball designers of all time in Pat Lawler.'
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Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.068

0:00

Hey, what's going on, Pinball Land? Welcome to another episode of the Jersey Jack Pinball Podcast. My name's Ken Cromwell, and I'm your host. So it's been a little while since we've all connected via the podcast. I'm going to do my best to bring you up to speed as to what has been happening at Jersey Jack Pinball since we last spoke. Now, obviously, Jerser Jack Pinball, we released Toy Story 4 by Disney Pixar. We're going to talk a little bit more about that game later in the podcast. What I'd like to do is I'd like to start the show off talking about something that's happening this week, and that's the Chicago Pinball Expo. Now, this is the 38th year for Chicago Pinball Expo. To my knowledge, it's the only pinball expo that's run consistently for the last 37 years. That's going to happen at the Schomburg Renaissance Center October 19th through the 22nd. So as you're walking the show, we encourage you to stop by the Jersey Jack Pinball booth. For a lot of you, this will be the first time that you've had an opportunity to get on Toy Story 4. Now, the games that we're going to have playable set up in our booth to play, we'll have 10 Toy Story LEs. Those are the limited editions. We'll have one Toy Story 4 CE, which is the collector's edition. And then we'll have three Guns N' Roses LEs, again, limited editions. Now, if you want to play our back catalog of games, we've got some good news because our entire catalog will be there set up playable throughout the show. So you'll be able to play a Wizard of Oz, a Hobbit, a Dialed In, a Pirates of the Caribbean, a Willy Wonka. All those games are going to be there as well as Toy Story and Guns N' Roses. So it's a great opportunity for you to get on some games, maybe some games you've never played. One thing that I realized when I was at Texas Pinball Festival, and this was in March, is that for a lot of people, it's the first time you're able to step up and get on these games. And with Toy Story 4 being relatively new, it hasn't been out very long. I would imagine a lot of you, this will be the first time that you get in front of the game and you play it. We're going to get a little bit more into the gameplay and what to expect on Toy Story 4 in just a bit. Now, if we go day by day, Thursday, Friday, Saturday being the main days at Expo that you're going to be visiting inside of the show, I want to tell you some unique things that will be happening with Jersersey Jack Pinball on each one of those days.

2:09

The Slow Mo Guysorganization

TPN (The Pinball Network)organization

Learning Solutionsorganization

Replay Magazineorganization

community_signal: Loser Kid Pinball Podcast and TPN organizing multi-manufacturer 12-hour charity stream 'Flipping the Script' at Chicago Pinball Expo to support autism therapy organization; 100% of proceeds going to Learning Solutions

high · Ken Cromwell: 'all the manufacturers have taken part in the fundraiser...100% of the proceeds, which are monetary, will go directly to that organization'

design_innovation: Jersey Jack Pinball hosting Art & Animation seminar at Chicago Pinball Expo featuring J.P. DeWin, Mark Molitor, and Hall of Famer John Youssi; promises never-before-seen content and behind-the-scenes look at collaborative design process

high · Ken Cromwell: 'there are things that you will see in that seminar that you have never seen...as a pinball enthusiast, if you've got an appreciation for award-winning art and animation in pinball, this is going to be a great seminar'

venue_signal: Chicago Pinball Expo maintaining 38-year continuous operation; positioned as premier pinball convention; 2024 event October 19-22 at Schomburg Renaissance Center

high · Ken Cromwell: 'it's been a little while since we've all connected via the podcast...the Chicago Pinball Expo. Now, this is the 38th year for Chicago Pinball Expo. To my knowledge, it's the only pinball expo that's run consistently for the last 37 years.'

marketing_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball bringing YouTube content creator Gavin Free (The Slow Mo Guys) as special guest to Chicago Pinball Expo Saturday booth appearance; positions influencer as pinball ambassador and leverages viral content success

high · Ken Cromwell: 'Jerserick Jack Pinball, we're bringing in a special guest to the show who will be at the Jerserick Jack Pinball booth...Mr. Gavin Free of the extremely popular YouTube channel, The Slow Mo Guys...I think is a great ambassador for pinball'

business_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball demonstrating production capacity by fielding 10 Toy Story 4 LE units and 1 CE unit plus entire back catalog at Chicago Pinball Expo; full assembly line tour shows simultaneous production of multiple SKUs

high · Ken Cromwell: 'Right now, you'll see Toy Story LE on one of our lines, Toy Story Collector Edition on the other...you'll be walking through that assembly line...we'll have 10 Toy Story LEs...one Toy Story 4 CE...three Guns N' Roses LEs'

operational_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball organizing sophisticated factory tour program with 7 scheduled departures via 56-passenger luxury motor coaches, small-group rotations led by multiple staff members, 90-minute round-trip, photos encouraged, facility access open to competitor employees

high · Ken Cromwell: 'Windy City Limousine...56-passenger motor coaches...buses...in rotation...9.45, 10.30, 11.15, 12, 12.45, and 1.30...split you up into smaller groups'

historical_signal: Ken Cromwell shares personal origin story tracing his entire pinball career to single arcade experience on Pat Lawler's Earthshaker machine at Clearwater Mall decades prior; illustrates designer's lasting influence on consumer pipeline

high · Ken Cromwell: 'if it wasn't for me being exposed and having a positive experience on that Earthshaker Pinball in Clearwater Mall decades prior, I can almost guarantee you that I would not be involved in pinball...For that, Pat, I will be forever grateful.'

Now, on Thursday, right, this is the 20th, this is pretty exciting, Jersersey Jack Pinball for the first time ever. Okay, we're going to be offering free in-person live tours. These aren't virtual tours. This is live. You're going to physically be in our building. We're going to take you through and show you how we make pinball machines. You're going to be able to meet staff, meet and greet. Jack Gugnery is going to be there. Jersey Jen is going to be there. The team at Jersey Jack, people that are making the games will be there. Eric Meunier, Joe Katz, Keith Johnson, Steve Ritchie. Okay, so at this point, you're thinking to yourself, hey, you know what? I think I do want to go on this Jersey Jack pinball tour. I want to see how they make pinball machines. I want to hang out with some of the team members there and maybe ask some questions, right? How do I do this? Where do I go? Where do I sign up? This is going to be as easy as I think it gets, guys, and it's going to start at 9 o'clock on Thursday the 20th. We're going to have the first motor coach that's going to depart Chicago Pinball Expo taking you over to Jersey Jack Pinball. Now, these are luxury 56-passenger motor coaches from Windy City Limousine. You'll come in. There will be a table that will be right outside of the convention center where you would normally enter the vendor hall. And that table, you will see a Jersey Jack Pinball staff member. There will be a sign-up sheet where you can just sign your name in for free. We're not charging anything for the tours. Once you're signed in, you can get yourself on the bus. Now, because of the capacity of 56 passengers, I anticipate that there will be buses that will be to capacity by the time somebody gets to get on a bus or tries to get on a bus. And that's okay because if you miss the 9 o'clock bus, guess what? Now, we have another bus that's coming in 45 minutes. We actually have two buses that'll be in rotation. So you miss the 9 o'clock bus, no problem. At 9.45, you can jump on that bus. If that's not a good time for you, don't worry about it. Because in 45 minutes after that, you will have another bus around 10.30, another one at 11.15, at 12, at 12.45, and at 1.30. So you'll have seven opportunities to get on one of these motor coaches and be brought to Jersey Jack Pinball. All right, so now you're on the motor coach, you're on your way to Jersey Jack Pinball, what's going to happen? Well, when you get there, we're going to split you up into smaller groups. Probably not ideal to try to bring 56 people through a tour at the same time. It's probably a little hectic on both ends. So we're going to split you up into groups. Tour guys that will be there in the morning, you'll have Bill Grupp and Joe Katz from Software at Jersey Jack Pinball, and you'll have Eric Meunier, designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. You'll be assigned to one of those groups, and they're going to take you through. And if I remember correctly, I believe Bill's got to step away for the last couple tours. I'll be stepping in for him. So if you want to come jump on the Ken Cromwell tour, you're welcome to do that on the later tours. I'll be there. So you're with your tour guide. You embark on the tour. And the tour is designed to take you through the facility from start to finish, from parts coming into the door to the assembly of games to, you know, packaging of games and going out the door shipping. So it'll be a unique experience. I mean, you'll be walking through that assembly line. Right now, you'll see Toy Story LE on one of our lines, Toy Story Collector Edition on the other. So you'll have an up-close kind of perspective on how that's taking place. I would almost guarantee, for those of you that have been on pinball tours before, and I certainly have, it's just a fun experience just to kind of have a behind-the-scenes look. And although the idea of manufacturing is very similar throughout the different manufacturers, there's always some subtle differences and maybe a major difference or two that you might see that you haven't seen before. And then at the conclusion of your tour, there's a little bit of time before your departure back to Expo, so we'll have team members there that you can talk to. If you want to mingle with Jersie Jack or Jersie Jen, they're going to be there. You know, Eric Meunier, Steve Ritchie, Joe Katz, Keith Johnson, those guys will be hanging out. You can actually get a photo with those guys We will have a photo area set up specifically for this So if you want to kind of step up and get a picture bring your phones We be able to take those for you No problem You know, and speaking of phones, a popular question is, hey, can I take a picture in the facility? Can I take a picture in the tour? Yeah, absolutely. If you have your phone, you want to take some pictures. We encourage you to do that. It's a situation where you're in a, you know, maybe something that you're not involved with every single day. We want you to be able to take pictures and have memories of that. So for sure, if you want to bring a phone in there and take some pics or a camera, go for it. Another question, hey, what if I work at another manufacturer, Ken? Can I come to the tour? Absolutely. Be our guest. Come on in. Come check out Jerser Jack Pinball. We encourage you to come take a visit. Again, nothing to hide. At this point, pinball manufacturing is probably very similar from company to company, as I said earlier. And we invite you to come on in and check it out. We're proud on how we do things at Jersey Jack, so you can absolutely come on in and be our guest. So at the conclusion of your meet and greet with the staff, you'll be back on. Your motor coach will be taking you back to Chicago Pinball Expo. So I would guesstimate total round-trip time from the time that you leave the Expo, get to Jersey Jack, go through the tour, hang out with staff, and then have your transportation back. I would say roughly probably 90 minutes from the time you leave Expo to your return. So it's not anything that's going to take up the entire day. The tour will be efficient, but it'll be thorough, and then you'll have that opportunity to get back to Expo and get on with your day. And again, those buses leave every 45 minutes, starting at 9 o'clock, 9.45, 10.30, 11.15, 12 o'clock, 12.45, and 1.30 will be the bus departure time. So go in there, come visit us, come hang out. We are excited to do it. It's not anything that we've ever done in Chicago especially, so we're just as excited to do it as we hope that you are to be our guest. Now that's Thursday. Let's go on over to Friday. You've got a full day of Expo. You're having fun. And we ask that you clear your schedule at nine o'clock that evening because we have a seminar that's going to be hosted by J.P. DeWin, Arts and Animation at Jersey Jack Pinball, Mark Molitor, Art and Animation at Jersey Jack Pinball, and Hall of Fame Pinball artist John Yousey. The three of them will be offering a seminar, Art and Animation with Jersey Jack Pinball. Those guys have been working on quite the presentation to kind of give you an inside behind the scenes look as to what happens when these guys are teamed up and working on a game. Now, without letting too much out of the bag, I can say that there are things that you will see in that seminar that you have never seen. So as a pinball enthusiast, if you've got an appreciation for award-winning art and animation in pinball, this is going to be a great seminar for you to stop by, check out. Again, J.P. DeWin, Mark Molitor, John Yowse, Friday night, 9 o'clock seminar.