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Episode 207: Pintastic’s Who’s Who

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·52m 44s·analyzed·Jul 14, 2019
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TL;DR

Pinball Profile's Pintastic recap features industry interviews, actor appearances, and code update discussions.

Summary

Jeff Teolis hosts a comprehensive recap of Pintastic 2019 in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, featuring interviews with pinball industry figures, Willy Wonka actors, American Pinball's Joe Balser, restoration expert Ashley Ludwig, and designer Tim Sexton discussing Black Knight Sword of Rage code updates. The episode highlights the Trash Talker League Challenge, new pinball initiatives, and community engagement across multiple venues and leagues.

Key Claims

  • Chuck Webster is now operating the Starlight Lounge in Amesbury, Massachusetts with seven pinball machines and is hosting the New England Pinball League there

    high confidence · Direct interview with Chuck Webster discussing his new operator role

  • The Trash Talker League Challenge is moving from ReplayFX to Pintastic due to ReplayFX's unwillingness to host it, with multiple leagues competing including New England Pinball League, Crap League (Connecticut/Rhode Island), Sunshine League, and North Star League

    high confidence · Chuck Webster explains the event structure and participating leagues

  • Jersey Jack's Willy Wonka pinball machine is in production and being played at Pintastic, with everything handmade at the factory

    high confidence · Peter Ostrom and Julie Cole discuss the Willy Wonka machine at Pintastic; Peter mentions manufacturer handmade production

  • American Pinball's Oktoberfest received tweaks and fixes to its shots after Expo feedback, demonstrating the company's commitment to post-release adjustments

    high confidence · Joe Balser (American Pinball) describes discovering and fixing shot issues identified during Expo testing

  • Black Knight Sword of Rage Premium and LE versions received a new code update including Ransom Wizard mode and Last Chance mode features

    high confidence · Tim Sexton describes the new code features for Premium tier

  • Project Pinball has donated over 30 pinball machines to children's hospitals with eight more planned for that month

    high confidence · Peter Ostrom mentions Project Pinball's therapeutic pinball donation initiative

  • Ashley Ludwig operates a pinball restoration business in Rochester, New York, reaching customers across the country and internationally

    high confidence · Ashley Ludwig discusses her restoration work and customer outreach

  • Stern produces games without post-release tweaks (contrasted with American Pinball's willingness to adjust)

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm taking over a location that a couple of my friends have, Mike and Mitch. It's called the Starlight Lounge in Amesbury. And right now we have seven pins... and I'm hosting the New England Pinball League there.”

    Chuck Webster @ Early in episode — Announcement of Webster's transition to operator role and league hosting

  • “Playing the pinball machine is a narcissistic exercise for me... it's more fun because it's also me.”

    Paris Stemmon (Mike TV) @ Mid-episode — Actor reflecting on the unique experience of playing a game featuring himself

  • “Everything's handmade at their factory, which is impressive.”

    Peter Ostrom (Charlie Bucket) @ Mid-episode — Commentary on Jersey Jack's manufacturing approach for Willy Wonka

  • “We just hope it continues... But you weren't a big tournament guy... No, I've never been in tournaments when I was a kid.”

    Joe Balser (American Pinball) @ Mid-episode — Reveals Balser's background without tournament focus

  • “We had to do a few things on Oktoberfest to make it better... We noticed at Expo there were just some shots that just weren't right.”

    Joe Balser @ Mid-episode — Demonstrates American Pinball's post-release iteration approach

  • “It's a labor of love... If you put time into it, you can always save it.”

    Ashley Ludwig @ Late in episode — Philosophy on restoration work and machine preservation

  • “The new code for the Premium is a bunch of things. First, you get the Ransom Wizard mode... and a last chance mode.”

    Tim Sexton @ Late in episode — Details on Black Knight Sword of Rage code update features

Entities

Jeff TeolispersonChuck WebsterpersonPintasticeventNew England Pinball LeagueorganizationMrs. Pin / Christian LinepersonDr. PinpersonParis StemmonpersonJulie ColepersonPeter Ostromperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern manufacturing philosophy contrast: 'Here's the game' approach without post-release tweaks, versus American Pinball's willingness to iterate

    medium · Joe Balser commentary comparing manufacturer approaches to post-release adjustments

  • ?

    community_signal: Project Pinball therapeutic initiative donating 30+ machines to children's hospitals with 8 more planned

    high · Peter Ostrom discusses Project Pinball's work at Pintastic

  • ?

    community_signal: Podcaster seminar held at Pintastic with panel discussion; new podcasts announced including Backbox Pinball Podcast from San Antonio

    medium · Jeff Teolis mentions podcast seminar and new show debuts

  • ?

    event_signal: Trash Talker League Challenge relocated from ReplayFX to Pintastic; multi-league competitive event including New England, Connecticut/Rhode Island (Crap League), Sunshine, North Star, and Boston Bells teams

    high · Chuck Webster describes event structure and participating leagues at length

  • ?

    event_signal: Pintastic 2019 in Sturbridge, MA confirmed as major industry event with actor appearances (Willy Wonka cast), manufacturer presence, tournaments, and vendor showcases

    high · Jeff Teolis detailed coverage of event with multiple interviews and participants

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.152

0:00
Oompa, oompa, doopity-doo, I've got a perfect puzzle for you. Oompa, doopity-doo, if you are wise, you'll listen to me. It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teels. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter, at Pinball Profile. Email us, pinballprofile, at gmail.com, and please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher. Before we get to episode 207 and my recap of a couple weekends ago at Pintastic, I want to say congratulations to our good friends at Head to Head Pinball, their 100th episode. Same shout out to Jeff Patterson of This Week in Pinball, now two years running. Also a one-year anniversary for Special Unlit. Hello to the new podcasters, including Backbox Pinball Podcast from San Antonio and Lauren Gray. There's another new podcast you'll hear in this recap with George and Dr. Dave. There were so many great people to see at Pintastic. I had an amazing time. I'm looking forward to it already in 2020. Gabe, Derek, Dave, all the volunteers and organizers, you did a wonderful job. Thanks for having me. It was great to see all the vendors, all the players, all the collectors, all the people who enjoyed a little bit of fireball. The tournaments were fun. You can see some of those on Backhand Pinball. You'll hear all about it as we recap Pintastic. On my way to Sturbridge to go to Pintastic, and who should pick me up at Logan but the legendary Chuck Webster. And I thought I would talk to him right now in the car for a couple reasons. One, in case something should happen, that this will be a document and you can find the bodies. But Chuck, how are you, buddy? And thanks for doing this. I'm doing great, Jeff. Nice to see you again. See, another good thing about getting you on right now is being in mass for the weekend. I'm going to be able to hopefully dissect and understand what the hell you people in chowder heads say, because it's a very strange language you have. I don't know what you're talking about, Jeff, but we speak perfect Queen's English. Everyone else talks funny. It's not us Bostonians. Can I buy an R, please? Sure, Jeff. So we're in your car right now. There's a game in the back. What is this? Blackjack? What is that? I've got two games. I've got Blackjack and I have Torpedo Alley.
2:03
Torpedo Alley. All right. Now, you're also doing something a little new and I'll give you a little plug, too, because you've got a lot of games in your place and you've got different themes, but you're now an operator. What happened? I am, Jeff. I'm taking over a location that a couple of my friends have, Mike and Mitch. It's called the Starlight Lounge in Amesbury. And right now we have seven pins, a couple video games. Hopefully I'll squeeze another pin in there at some point. And we're hosting the New England Pinball League there. And I'm going to have some tournaments coming up in August. We'll probably do. And, yeah, it's going to be a nice little operation. Now, do the tournaments kind of bring attention to that? Are there pins there, or people already know that pins are there? No, no one really knew the pins were there. So hosting league there, and I'm going to try to build up the crowd, the pinball crowd, by having these events and just give the pins more exposure and actually get some more people going to the restaurant as well. Okay, now we're going to Pintastic, and it's not going to be at ReplayFX this year, but there is a different version of the Trash Talker. So tell me what's going on. What do I have to do? Who do I have to beat? All right, yes, we're going to have the Trash Talker League Challenge. This started out because ReplayFX, they couldn't handle the Trash Talker. They were too dignified to handle the trash talker. They had class? Is that the word you're looking for? Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say. They had some class. That's a good way of putting it. So instead, we're going to do a trash talker league challenge up at Pintastic. It started off with New England Pinball League against the Crap League, the Connecticut and Rhode Island area pinball league. And long story short, we invited a couple more leagues. Sunshine's going to be coming in. We're going to invite the podcasters. They kind of choked last time. But we're going to invite the podcasters to play in it. Boston Bells may have a team. New England Pinball League will have a women's and men's team. Adam up in Montreal is going to have a team. I forget what his league is. North Star. North Star, that's it, North Star. Yeah, it should be a great event. And I'm sure there will be a couple other leagues that jump in at the last minute too. All right, I'm off to Expo with Chuck Webster right now. Thanks for picking me up. Tell my wife and kids I love them. Good to see you, Jeff. All right, we're here at Pintastic's Silver Bowl Rumble where all the great players are here in this Stern Pro Circuit. And when I mean great players, I'm talking about none other than Mrs. and Dr. Pin. I just saw Mrs. Pin saucet on Dragon Fist. No, he didn't saucet, did he? I totally missed the saucer. Sorry. Is there even a saucer? No. Oh, okay. Not that I saw. So what is your strategy on Dragon Fist? You kind of had some practice, too, at Ron Howlett's. I did. Ron taught me everything he knows, which means that my score was, like, not totally awful. It was, like, just sort of awful. Now, I know it's a big goal for you to get to tournaments and stuff, so this is a big one. I don't know how many Stern Pro circuits you've done. I think you did Pinfest in Allentown, and you've got Pinberg coming up. Yes. What else? Major Whoppers. I don't know. What else are we playing in? We're playing here. We're going to Pinberg. Pinberg is the big one. Nothing else planned for... Oh, we've got a tournament in Harrisburg at the River City Blues Club. Critical hit. There's a lot of vendors in here, and I kind of want to see Mrs. Pin pull out some of her swag. Christian, Dr. Pin, what the hell? Why isn't she doing it? You know, she really should. We're kind of the kind of people that we see, the players that we love, and we just hand out swag. We have probably spent way more money than we should have on swag, but it's fun. We love the people in pinball, and we like to hook them up with shirts. I don't know about pinball skills, but I do know that 3D printers and silk screeners and t-shirt makers were made for the pins. We have a big event tonight, don't we? A little podcaster panel. We do. Are you nervous? Sort of. I've seen some of the questions that they're going to be asking. What are they? Oh, I can't tell you because that would be a huge advantage. Well, yeah, so you get the advantage but not everybody else? I wrote them. Oh, okay. What are they? I don't know. By the way, be careful. I saw that rat inside Petey here. I think he's here. I would love to give Petey a big hug. You would? Of course. Oh, boy. Make sure your whistle's in standby in case it gets a little creepy. All right, thanks, Mrs. Pint. Thanks, Schmeff Schmeolis. The kids from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory are here at Pintastic, and one of them right now, Mike TV. Paris Stemmon joins us. Hello, Paris. How are you? I'm well. I hope you have a good mic because there are a lot of pinball machines playing behind me. I want to know what you're thinking about this new pinball machine that's behind you. I've played it once. I've looked at some videos of it online. I've taken a look at the flowchart.

medium confidence · Joe Balser states 'Here's the game' approach from Stern versus American Pinball's iteration

Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
Joe Balserperson
American Pinballcompany
Ashley Ludwigperson
Tim Sextonperson
Black Knight Sword of Ragegame
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factorygame
Project Pinballorganization
Stern Pinballcompany
Trash Talker League Challengeevent
Starlight Loungelocation

personnel_signal: Chuck Webster transitions from collector to operator role, taking over Starlight Lounge in Amesbury with seven pinball machines and hosting New England Pinball League

high · Direct interview with Webster about operator business

  • ?

    announcement: Jersey Jack Pinball's Willy Wonka machine is in production and playable at Pintastic; handmade manufacturing at factory

    high · Multiple cast members playing the machine; Peter Ostrom confirms handmade production quality

  • ?

    product_strategy: Black Knight Sword of Rage Premium/LE receives new code update with Ransom Wizard mode (retro alphanumeric display effects) and Last Chance mode (30-second drain recovery with unlimited ball feeds)

    high · Tim Sexton detailed explanation of new code features at Pintastic

  • ?

    product_concern: American Pinball's Oktoberfest required post-release shot tweaks after Expo feedback, indicating potential pre-launch readiness issues

    medium · Joe Balser explains shots weren't right at Expo and had to be fixed post-reveal

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Gene Wilder's legacy and care for Julie Cole during Willy Wonka filming; Oompa Loompas provided informal supervision per Rusty Goff account

    medium · Julie Cole recounts Gene Wilder's paternal behavior and recent revelation from Oompa Loompa

    • 6:50
    Yeah, I had a feeling if I said flowchart, that would be a buzzword for you. It looks great. I mean, as I understand it, not being a pinball geek myself, Jersey Jacks makes some of the best stuff going. as someone who is a board game geek, but not necessarily a pinball geek, it looks awesome. When you see the images taken from that iconic movie, whether it's in the pinball machine, whether it's in slot machines, what are your feelings like some 45, almost 50 years later? You know, playing the pinball machine is a narcissistic exercise for me, right? I sit there, I push the buttons, I'm trying to not let the balls go down, but at the same time, it's like, hey, that's my voice. So I know that sound bite, or there's a whole section which is WonkaVision, and, you know, pictures of me. I mean, if it's fun to play as a pinball machine, it's more fun because it's also me. When I watch that movie, which I've seen several times, as I'm sure you have as well, I look at that WonkaVision, I think, that's the original iPad, in a way. I'm thinking they've got a device in the pinball machine that looks a lot like an iPad, I guess. it's the original iPad I mean I was actually transported into that device they're not really there yet I don't know if that's the original iPad it looks like it on the machine for sure but anyway I can also tell you that what they did is in a very sort of land of the giants kind of a way and I'm speaking to your older viewers when I say that they built a big set piece for me to walk around in and jump down from I wonder what it was like for you working with the other actors, the Oompa Loompas in costume and whatnot, being a young kid, because I think of things like Wizard of Oz, and if I saw the monkeys, they scared the heck of me as a kid watching the movie. What is it like for you as a child actor seeing these Oompa Loompas, who are wonderful people when the camera's not on, but they're a little intimidating to see these coming around everywhere, and of course everything that goes on in that fantastic world? Sure. I mean, honestly, it was 1970. I was 11, so I certainly hadn't met 10 little people all at the same time in the same place. It was more the green hair that freaked me out, not the little people. I'm trying to think if they were in makeup when I first met them, and I think they actually were. And I can remember a moment of sort of nudging my mom and going, oh, look, here they are. But it quickly passes, and there were just other actors on set and more people to have fun with. You know, there's the scary tunnel scene and that kind of stuff. And people ask me if you're really scared. I mean, you know, I have the benefit of being backstage and it being clearly a fabrication. Whereas if somebody who's seven and they watch the movie and they're suspending their disbelief and really sort of, I'm making quote marks because this is a sound interview. if they are actually going into the film as they watch it. It's not the same sort of experience that I have. I can tell you that even though I wasn't suspending my disbelief in that way, just the actual experience of going every day to the ever-changing sets and physical props and music and candy and colors and food, it was good. It was fun. Paris, Mike TV, thank you very, very much for this. Thank you very much. I hope you have fun today. I'm with Julie Cole, Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory here at Pintastic, and I'm watching you playing the Jersey Jack game. It looks like you're having a lot of fun. Yeah, but I have no skill in this at all, so you're being very tactful and saying you're looking at me failing. But I know you're enjoying it, and you're probably a second away from saying, I want it now! Oh, I so want one. I so want one. It's great fun. It's totally addictive. It is fun, and it's great for you to see all the different images, and they really captured the movie inside this pinball machine and they've really got a lot in there. No, it's fantastic. There's so many elements that you're kind of looking at the ball and then you forget what's going on in the screen and somewhere else. So how on earth you can be tactical with it, I don't know, because there's so much to look at. Practice, practice, practice. Well, you're part of a movie that means so much to so many different people and I don't know if this is true and you've probably answered this question several times, but forgive me for asking because this is the first time I've met you. I wonder, I heard a rumor when they shot the movie, the first time you saw the set, the Chocolate Factory, did that in fact happen? Like, that's a real reaction. Well, that's kind of what the director thought. That was his intention. But actually, I'd already been shown around the scene, the stage before, by a very nice, well-meaning stagehand. And then we got the missive from the director that we were not allowed to see the set. But it was too late. But you're an actress, so you just had to pretend. I did. I didn't tell him. But 30 years later, we were in New York, and he was telling this story yet again, that it was about the first time we saw the chocolate room, and I thought, oh, I have to come clean now. Finally, the truth. Yeah. His language was colorful. It's so great to see this still now reaching different generations. I mean, we all saw it as children. Our children are seeing it. And now this is going to live on in the memory of this pinball machine, slot machines. There's so much going on. Did you know it was this special when you made the movie that many years ago? No, not at all. I mean, who had any idea of the spin-offs? You know, we're coming up to the 50th anniversary, and it's hard to believe that all this stuff is still happening. I read an interview once with you, and you were talking so fondly about Gene Wilder, who passed away a few years ago. He meant a lot to you. Yeah, he was very lovely and very kind. I was the only one of the kids that didn have a member of the family with them when we were filming in Germany and he found that out after a couple of weeks And funnily enough I was only told this in April this year by Rusty Goff one of the Oompa Loompas who apparently Gene said, come on, boys, we've got to make sure she's okay. And they all kind of looked after me. I love that kind of father figure about Gene. It just speaks of his charm for sure. Now, you know, Willy Wonka's got a pinball machine. But, you know, I see Mike TV here and Charlie Bucket. but none of these people have a rock band named after their character. No, they don't, do they? So, Baruch Assault, the first time you heard that band come out in the 90s, what were you thinking? Everybody kept coming up to me and saying, what do you think of the band, what do you think of the band? And they weren't well known in the UK. So anyway, eventually somebody gave me a CD, and we're kind of in contact, but still actually haven't met up. Julie, the last question. As a child actor, and I look at what Mike had to do, and yourself, and the character played at Gustafsloop, you kids were kind of brats as it is mentioned in the game so i wonder if it was first of all fun to play that bratty character it had to be great to sink your teeth into that kind of just over the top character but what happened after the fact when you went to school when you met your friends or did they people think oh you're really like veruca salt some did but i was at theater school in london so it was you know it's just like you know who's on what yeah it was i was at school with jack wilde who was in oliver and various other you know other kids that were in other movies so it was just like oh you're just doing your job and you go back to normal life julie thank you very much and enjoy willy wonka it's a great pinball machine and thanks for coming yeah i want one now peter ostrom's here charlie bucket enjoying watching you playing willy wonka and the chocolate factory you're really into this pinball machine i'm not very good i'm watching some of these people that know what they're doing and uh they're incredible my hand eye coordination is very good right now but uh maybe this would be a good thing for me to have it'll prevent alzheimer's disease down the road you think so actually you know what a lot of pinball is used for therapy so oh for sure absolutely in fact over here you'll see uh project pinball and they donate pinball machines to all kinds of children's hospital they put over 30 in so far oh wow another eight this month wow so uh yeah it's very therapeutic i can see it's it's addicting for sure but i like seeing that you're into it were you ever a pinball player no never never so how many times have you played pinball can you count it on one hand pretty much one hand right exactly and i probably doubled it right now in the last half hour you've played less pinball than there are golden tickets i think that's true that's true but it's very impressive you've got to like the animations that they've used what's your favorite thing about the pinball machine well i I think the Everlasting Gobstopper and the WonkaVision camera looks wonderful. I mean, they've added so much to it. But I was talking to the owner and the manufacturer, and basically everything's handmade at their factory, which is impressive. So they've done a nice job with it. And I've been here all day, and there's been a constant line of people wanting to play this. So it looks like he's got a hit. It's a winner for sure. Now, here's what I want to know about the movie. It was such a big success. It's just been replayed over and over again. And so many people love it and have seen it several times. You can recite word for word. Were you ever hoping that they would make Charlie in the Glass Elevator? Oh, probably not. I was ready to be done with it when it was over. Really? Now, what did you say? Well, I mean, I had a great experience.
    16:22
    Tough to top? Right, top to top. So it's kind of amazing in this world of sequels that they didn't do something. Even now, they did the remake. What did you think of the remake? It was okay, but it was a completely different film.
    16:42
    It's in a different category than where we are. It has that Tim Burton feel to it. It does. It was great, but that film has its fans, and we kind of have our fans. The hardest thing for me to get over the new movie was, as much as Johnny Depp is a fantastic actor, there is only one Willie Wanton in Gene Wilder. I heard a story about he insisted when he came out of the factory and walked out to meet the crowd that he did the somersault at the limp. That was all him. That was all him, and nobody knew. We didn't know that he was going to do that. So, nice surprise. I saw recently on Saturday Night Live they did a skit of Willy Wonka. Did you see that where they were basically talking about all the grandparents in the bed there? Right, right. It was pretty funny. Yeah, they've beaten us up pretty good on Saturday Night Live. But that's okay. But it's out of love, right? Right. It's such a great movie. Peter, thank you very much for coming to Pintastic and enjoy playing the pinball with us. Very good. Thank you so much. I'm here at American Pinball playing one-handed Oktoberfest. The other hand is occupying a beer right now, and Joe Balser is here. Joe, great games here. Houdini, this, Oktoberfest. A lot of people are playing them and enjoying them. Hey, thanks, Jeff. It's a fun game to do. We just hope it continues. I'm playing in the tournament. You weren't a big tournament guy. You know, I've talked to other manufacturers, other guys like yourself who've made some great games, but that was never your thing, was it? No, I've never been in tournaments when I was a kid. Growing up, I really didn't do a lot of football. But you did do something, didn't you? Yeah, so as a kid, 12, 13 years old, I used to go into this Aneta Hotel in Cicero, Illinois. That's where I grew up. And they had a ballyho game in there. And it was flipperless, but you played like a tic-tac-toe on the back glass. Any games that you would win, you walked to the bar, they would click a button underneath the bar, and they would knock off all the credits that you got, and then you would get paid. So on a 10-cents game, you could make some serious bucks. Yeah, and I would be walking around with $10, $20 bills in my pocket, and I was a 12-, 13-year-old kid, so I was the big guy. King of the hill. Yes, I was. No wonder you fell in love with pinball. Yeah, and that was without flippers. So once you got to the flipper games, it got a lot more fun. And maybe I now understand why pinball might have been banned for a little bit. Yeah, it might have been, yeah. Oh, geez. Again, we were talking about American Pinball. We were talking about Oktoberfest. Since the last time I've seen you, more code update. The games are now selling, and it's really coming together. I always liked it from the beginning. Even when I played it the first time at Expo, only six modes. You know why I like it? Because I like the shots. And then modes come after that. If you've got the shots, you know a good game's coming. The shots are working. We enjoyed it as a whitewood. So if you can get a good whitewood playing, you kind of know that once you get real code in, light, show, sound, it becomes something special. And the shots that you were 100% on, you guys actually went back and fixed them, which is incredible. Yeah, we had to. We noticed at Expo there were just some shots that just weren't right. We were trying to push the game out before it's ready to go. And, you know, once you find that you have to make these tweaks to make it better, you have to do that. Joe, it's interesting because a lot of other manufacturers don't do that. Here's the game. We're not going back and tweaking it. Here's the game. Obviously, Jersey Jack had to do with the production issue of Pirates, but when Stern puts out a game, here's the game. You had a good focus group, in a way, of all those people at Expo playing the game and giving you good feedback. Did that help? Yeah, it does help. We just have to be careful about unveiling a game if it's really not ready to ship. So that's the ladder we're climbing now. The next time we show a game, the game will be shipping or ready to ship at that point. So we can't have that lag time anymore. You know, the industry has shifted a little bit, obviously shifted away from the pre-sales, the pre-orders. But easier said than done with production. It's not an easy thing, especially with the tinkering. Right. And you know what? Does the timeline matter now? Because now you can buy the game. Now you can get Houdini. You can get Oktoberfest. So, yes, you might have had to wait a little bit. But if you love that game like I do, you can go get it. See, and as a manufacturer, the owners want to look at the numbers. So they want a timeline of basically an aggressive timeline. But on a pinball machine, we could agree on a timeline and disagree on a timeline at the same time. Because once you start shooting the game and feeling the game and understanding the game, there are tweaks and changes that will come up. Obviously, the longer you have a game soaking as you're shooting it, then the more changes that can happen. You know what I mean? And if you look at something for a long time, because you're looking at that thing, you're going to want to change it. So at some point you have to cut it off. Yeah. But we had to do a few things on Oktoberfest to make it better. Well, I can't imagine the balancing act from a production side, especially in a smaller company like American Pinball. But, my goodness, I root for you guys big time and all the companies who are making great pinball. And, Joe, I've loved your games for years, so thanks very much. All right, thank you, Jeff. Have a great show. Well, I'm happy to see her here at Pintastic, Ashley Ludwig, who's made it up from Rochester, New York. And the reason I'm happy to see you is, first of all, I want to tell you firsthand, I love what you do. You are saving pinball machines from graveyards and creating masterpieces. It's a real labor of love. Oh, yeah. No, it's a labor of love, and I'm happy to be here. This is a lot of fun. It's really exciting. Is there anything you come across, you go, I just can't fix it, I can't do it? It's too far gone. There's some projects or some machines that we get that are really bad condition. And I'll be honest and tell people that it might be more money to restore it than it is worth. But some people, there's a sentimental value, and they'll just say, I don't care what the cost is. I really want this machine restored because it was my dad bought this for me when I was a kid, and he passed away, and it has a lot of sentimental value.
    22:56
    You know, it's just, if you put time into it, you can always save it. Ashley, when I think of some of the older games, and I think of the Stern Electronic games, and any games that weren't clear-coded, they're rough in what we call now players' games, and if they play well, they just might look a little rough. Those are probably the easiest fixes for you other than time consuming. Yeah, they tend to be. It always depends. Sometimes a lot of, even just like a big dent or gouge in a machine can even be a lot more labor intensive where you just really have to make sure and fill in sand and make it perfect before you can paint it and clear it, hide what was there. Now with all the play fields being redone and 3D printing and plastics and we're seeing people kind of saving these old games, It must make it a little easier, but there are a lot of times finding schematics and wiring, and those must be confusing for, well, for me for sure. What is it like for someone brilliant like you? I mean, it's hard when you're working on a machine and you absolutely cannot get plastics for it or you cannot find a schematic for it, even online, and it forces you to really make phone calls and do what you can. but I have a guide that I'll reach out to if I need one plastic specifically. It's expensive, but I can send it to him, and he will scan it in, reprint it. So that technology is really great to have, but I just can't do it all the time. I've heard you on Slam Tilt Podcast, obviously being in Rochester. I've hosted myself on Pinball Profile, the great video piece that was done of the incredible work that you do. Are you finding people are reaching out from across the country to contact you? Yeah, absolutely. People even all over the world have been reaching out, even if it's just to say, hey, I see what you're doing and it's cool. And that's the greatest thing about it, really. Well, I'm not surprised. You do fantastic work. Thanks very much, Ashley. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it. One of the special guests here at Pintastic, because of his fine work on Black Knight Sword of Rage, he can't join us right now, so I've got Tim Sexton. Hey Tim, how are you? Great, Jeff. How are you? I'm good. I'm just bugging you. You had your seminar. No tournament people showed up because it a grind to do this fantastic rumble but I sure the seminar went well Yeah these 30 queues you know there no time to even come and say hello These tournament guys got to sit in the sweaty cramped area in the tournament area I brought seven t-shirts. I might go through all of them today. It's so hot here. I think you will. You're going to be sweating it out once I take down all your scores, too. I had the high on break shot, and you came up and got three times as much. Okay, fine. You work at a pinball factory, all right? We didn't make break shot. You have all access to this crap, and you're a coder, so you know secret crap. Listen, I want to tell you, all kidding aside, Black Knight Starter Age just keeps growing and growing on me. I haven't tried the new code. I know it's only for Premium and LE, but for those who haven't tried it, what's in the new code? So the new code for the Premium is a bunch of things. First, you get the Ransom Wizard mode from Black Knight 2000s in there, and it's got the alphanumeric display with all the effects, you know, flail equals million, war equals millions. Everything's lit. And it kind of looks like the retro mode, but updated for the Black Knight 2001. What we also have for the premium is a last chance mode. If you drain out an outlane on your last ball and you haven't played your multiball yet on the upper playfield, you have 30 seconds by default, lower flippers disabled, but unlimited ball feeds up to the top playfield. and your goal is to lock all the remaining balls in that catapult lock-up device to get the Super Catapult Multi-Ball, which is a four-ball version of Catapult Multi-Ball with the base scoring is set in last chance. Are you going to be done in like 20 minutes? Yeah. Okay, go on. You can re-lock balls to get 2X and 3X jackpots. So it's a big update for the premium. All right. And you know what? That's good if you're playing it on location too. Right. Maybe the ball goes quick. and it's a fast game for even some of the best players. But I like that almost, Daddy, here's your third multi-ball. But you've got to earn it. You do. You do have to earn it now. And if you go down the center, you're not going to get it. You've got to go down an out lane. If you miss with the Magna Save, you'll get another chance on the last ball in play. And it just goes up to the upper play field. So lower foot first, completely disabled. All you can do is lane change. Miss with the Magna Save, that is the best part of my game. I press Magna Save when I see it hit a sling. maybe it'll go there. Maybe. My success rate on Magnus slings, I don't even think 10%. No? It's tough. You've got to get used to it. It's the new button placement. I've had a few extra months practice over everyone else, but I think people will get the hang of it. It is a unique game. I love playing it. Congratulations, Tim. Thank you, Jeff. You know what's harder than finding a Willy Wonka golden ticket? Finding an Australian you can actually talk to and get along with because they're just such vile human beings. Kit, of course. William Gill is one of those great Australians, and he's from Sydney. Hey, William, how are you? I'm well, Jeff. How's yourself? I'm good. You came to our pinball podcast seminar. What did you think? I was really impressed. I got to see the other half of Head to Head that I hadn't met before, and I hadn't seen any of you others, so it's good to put faces to the names and voices. You were looking to probably fall asleep, too. I think you were having trouble with insomnia, and so coming to that podcaster's seminar really helped you, I'm sure. Yeah, there was a bit of that going on. Not with the podcast. I've had about seven hours sleep in the last three days with flights and things like that. Also, did you just arrive? I flew into L.A. Thursday morning and got here 1 a.m. Friday morning. So when you're in Sydney, do you look on the map and go, you know what, I want to hit the U.S. and I want to go to Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Is that what you look at? Well, I was coming over for work and I just looked up using the IFBA app, what's close and blah blah here I am in pin testing but I have to say all kidding aside you know I love Australia and I'm looking forward to going there in January the growth of pinball in Australia is like nothing else we've seen I guess the games are hard to get so you have a lot of the newer games but the tournaments like Brisbane Masters coming up in August I mean the several days of that it's just exploding all across Australia I know Sydney's probably not it's not Not there yet. We're trying. The problem with Sydney is we have such a spread out city. The traffic on the weekend is worse than peak hour. And people just go, it's just too hard to get there. There's nowhere to park. So after work, during the week, it's just really, really tough. Where do you go to play pinball? I know you're trying to do things on Sundays in Sydney. I've got family in Brisbane, so I go up there quite a bit. And how far is Sydney from Brisbane?
    29:48
    A 10-hour drive. It's about an hour flight. Sydney's basically in the middle between Melbourne and Brisbane Okay, out of all of Australia The hot spot for pinball is It's not Melbourne? Not Melbourne, Brisbane You've got to go to Brisbane to play good pinball There's just so much of it They're playing three or four times a week I like it I'm going to have to find a way to squeeze that in When I head over there in the winter Yes, I've seen my mother more in the last two years Than probably the previous 20 And she lives in Brisbane So I've got somewhere to stay I love you, Mom I've got to play See ya Hey, William, thanks for stopping by Thanks for the words nice to meet you it's too bad this is audio because you can't see what just happened 10 cartwheels in a row jersey jack did it right now and he's not even out of breath oh man i'm telling you i think my last one was a forward roll there backflip so i did notice that uh triple sow cow i think as they say in skating triple sound but the reason i think you're doing these cartwheels and are excited because look at the lineups look at everyone loving willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The kids are here. It's been a great Pintastic for you. I love it. You know, timing worked out really well with this. We shipped games before July 4th, as I hoped we would. And I wanted to have our distributor at the show, Automated, have real in-box production games here at the show, which I think he sold four or five of them. So it was great. And even Gabe opened up his game, and he put it on the floor. So that was pretty cool. Yeah, very nice. It's a beautiful game. I've enjoyed talking to Joe Katz about what he's done here. Pat Lawler, another home run for Pat. It's just so exciting to see what you're doing at Jersey Jack. And you're a man of your word, too. You said when the next game comes out, we're going to ship right away. And you did that. We did, and we still want to continue to get better. The reaction of people, the little kids are the best. So many young people playing pinball. and this show, having the Wonka kids here, it also brought in people that love the movie and now they've gotten to discover pinball. So it's really a wonderful thing Gabe did and the other staff at Pintastic and I love when a plan comes together, right? Well, not only that too, we're missing the big thing about this game too is the entry-level price is something that we haven't seen from Jersey Jack. It's certainly a lot more affordable if that's something you're looking at. I mean, there are people that love the collector's pieces, and why wouldn't you? But you've made a much more affordable game, too, that has all the bells and whistles. The company's very conscious that these are products that people with extra money buy. And we're trying to get more games in more people's hands. And lowering the price is not something you hear pretty much any manufacturer in the United States doing right now. So $1,000 is a lot of money. Yeah. It moved the needle for a lot of people in the home to buy the game, as well as commercial operators, barcades, places like that. So, you know, we were able to do it, and we made it happen. I saw Eric Menear here as well, and in fact, I was playing Pirates of the Caribbean when he was here. I'm like, Eric, get over here. Tell me what to do. Make the shots. Yeah. There's a game that has just, I mean, if we could see a graph of when it first came out, oh, a lot of interest and stuff. oh, you know what, another Pirates game, but wait a second here. This is like nothing else. And I've said this to Eric, and I'll say it to you too, Jack. Out of all the games that have come out in the last five years, any company, you pick it, I can't compare Pirates of the Caribbean to anything else. It is that unique and that good, and a bit of a risk for you taking this young Eric on, a new designer, but it is such a fantastic and fun and great multiplayer game. I love the game. I think it's just going to grow and grow in popularity. I can't disagree with any of that. You had me at hello. You had me at argh!
    33:49
    Great theme. I always love the theme. Everybody loves Pirates and that franchise. Wonderful visuals that you have in the game and the storytelling and all the mechanics of the game. Wide body. Beautiful game. I love it. Keith Johnson and I have been chatting online, but let everybody know how Keith's doing because there's a lot of fans of Kiefer. Keith's doing great, and he's taking better care of himself, and he's been back at work, and he's a close friend of mine personally. He was one of the first people that I knew Jersey Jack needed to get the company going, and I care very much about him and his wife and his family, and I'm happy that he's feeling a lot better. 2019 is already a great year for Jersey Jack pinball. It's only going to get better. Well, remember, I'm going to say it again. We're going to show another brand-new game this year at some point at the end of the year. So the promise was that we would show two games exclusive of Yellow Brick Road, which is selling very well. We only have a few left, and it's very exciting. It's taken a while, but look, the little acorn you put in a ground doesn't turn into a big oak tree overnight. Everything takes time. Jack, you talk about that Yellow Brick Road edition of Wizard of Oz, a game that came out in 2013. We're six years later. And that's the staying power of the Jersey Jack games. And I know, I'm assuming when you get an original license, it's maybe a three-year period. But you can always go back to the drawing board, cut a check, and get more production, as you've probably done with Wizard of Oz. I have a feeling you're going to do that with some of these other games as well. It wouldn't surprise me. And you know I say never say never. So the demand is there. We have, I don't think it's a secret, we have over, I think we have over 1,400 Willy Wonka games on order right now. And we will disclose shortly all the details of what the CE game is. CE buyers, you know, this is a different group. Some of the CE buyers buy a standard game, or they buy an LE, believe it or not. while they're waiting for their CE game, and then they sell off their LE or their standard game, or they put it in a different house, or they sell it to a friend. So I think it's really a lot of fun. We're in a really good place right now, and I just want to keep the momentum going. Momentum is really an important thing for any sports franchise. It's also important for a company, and we have momentum on our side right now. You certainly do. Jack, great seeing you again. Thank you. And really, you know, this is not just to my credit. We have a lot, a lot of people in the company, design teams, everybody from the people that put parts in a box, all the people on the assembly line, people that design everything and do the artwork. Everybody is one team, and everybody deserves the credit. Personally, I really appreciate all their effort and all their passion for everything they do. It shows in the games, and a great company in Jersey Jack. Congratulations. Jeff, thank you. Thank you for always doing everything positive for pinball, even for other companies aside from us. I appreciate it. It's great. You know why you say that, too? It's not because of what I said. It's because healthy pinball everywhere is healthy for the industry and more people buying pinball machines. You know what? Maybe their first game is another company, but then you see this game and they go Willy Wonka. That's right. I love that movie. So it just kind of grows and grows. That's right. It's all good. Healthy pinball is good. It's all good. Thank you. Thanks, Jack. Uh-oh, new kid in town, another podcast. But I want to check this one out, the Classic Pinball Podcast with George Jasek and Dr. Dave, Dave O'Neill. And they're here right now. They were checking out how some of the other podcasters were doing at Pintastic. Dr. Dave, what do you think of finally getting on a podcast? It's about time. I don't know. We've been around for the block for quite a long time, and it's kind of cool. A lot of good knowledge here George and I have a fresh perspective And George approached me with this whole idea It like I don have the time time to do it but George if you want to drive this thing I don mind coming in and helping out and throw my knowledge at it too and we both speak very passionately about the whole pinball thing I care about the knowledge when I listen to people like yourself I really want to learn something but you've actually got the pipes too so it's good that you're doing it oh thanks, thank you very much it's a lot of fun how hard was it to get them to do it George? not hard, it took us a long time because we're trying to find a friendly platform to do it on. I'm not super technical. So, that being said, we just had a podcaster's panel. There are a lot of podcasts that have popped up. I think it's great. I love the variety. I assume you're using something like an Audacity or Skype. What do you got? Anchor. Anchor's good, too? Yeah, yeah. Well, for somebody who's not technical, it's pretty easy. It's not robust, but it'll work for now. And I'm going to take the tips that I learned from you and some of the other podcasters tonight. It was great. Go with the other podcasters. I don't know what I'm doing.
    39:01
    Yeah, editing is kind of the key with these things. It's the real difficulty because you want it to sound as best as possible. And once it's out there, you don't go back and fix it. You should have taken that um and ah out of there. So you really have to be conscious of that. Is that something you're aware of when you're recording? No, we're kind of doing stream of consciousness. And we kind of have such a good, the only thing we're conscious of is we should be, just stop, pause kind of thing so we know when to cut. But otherwise, we just kind of, we just keep rolling. Like cameras rolling, and George will look at it after the fact and say, you know what? This is all good. We're just going to cut print. Go. Okay. Now, do you have an agenda? Do you send each other sheets? Okay, here's the order of operations of what we're going to do. Oh, wow. Free wheel. I took some notes down for our first show just to kind of put some bumpers on it, keep us focused. But I don't really see them, so he kind of hits me blindside, and it's like, okay, I'll just roll. We want to keep it fresh. I mean, it's the dialogue between Dave and I. We're friends for a long time. We share commonality on what we collect. So that chemistry, I hope it comes through. You know the hardest episode to do, George and Dave? It's the first one because they all get easier after that, right? You learn a few things, and it's the fear of like, oh, is this good enough and all that stuff. Just get it out there, and then each one will get better and better. So, again, check out the classic pinball podcast, correct? Please. All right. Please do. Thanks, Dr. Dave. Thanks, George. Thank you, Jeff. For legal reasons, there will never be a clusterfuck on Pinball Profile. This is the closest you're going to get to on a Friday night at Pintastic. My goodness, I'm in a room of ten people here. I'll go around the room. Introduce yourself. Mr. Ron Hallett Sr. How are you? Yeah, I'm Mr. Ron Hallett Sr. All right. From Riptide. Hello, Stephanie. Hi, Jeff. And Ron Jr., how are you? Good evening. Where's Stewie? He's somewhere. Come on. Hey, what? lot. There, Stewie. Dr. Pin, the second best ginger in pinball. How are you, buddy? How you doing, Jeff? Great to be here. And your better half, Mrs. Pin, what's shaking? Shaking, lots shaking. You were part of the podcaster panel. How'd that go for you? It was great. I was sitting next to the nicest people. Jeff Marsons. Can't stand the guy. All right. From head to head, I guess you would say? Leslie. Leslie? By extension. Yes, by extension. Yes. Joe's better half. Joe's not even here. Joe Lemaire, who's now the new Ryan on Head to Head, not here. Zach, Mr. Controversial, who you hear once in a while on Slam Tilt. How are you, buddy? Yo. You've got to give me more than, not only one word answer, one syllable. There's two letters in yo. Give me a little more than that. Not stirred. Mr. Personality in the house. And also, Christopher Franchi and his daughter, Presley Hillo. Yo. Oh, jeez. Preston, you'll say more. I'm the number one redhead in pinball. Oh, I didn't even... Oh, why'd I give Christian number two? You're right about that. Oh, and Joel Lemaire just showed up. Hey, Joel, how are you? We're doing it ourselves on Pinball Profile, because head-to-head couldn't do it. Where the hell's Parsons? So, everyone having fun at Pintastic. Stephanie, tell me what you're thinking about Pintastic. Yeah, this is my third year or so. Okay. Ranking it? One, two, three. Where is it? Better every year? Solid two. Solid two? What was number one? What went on? Well, I mean, there's still lots of fantastic to go, but, I mean, there's a very comfy couch in the Southern New Hampshire Pinball Club room that we had like an introvert couch moment. Yeah, me, Ron, Steve Baden, all sitting on the couch, kind of introverting together, not ready to go home, but not really willing to do the dollar games. Nothing makes me more happy to hear about this introverted group that all do podcasts. It just makes no sense. But God bless you and Riptide. We all love it. All right, Dr. Pin, you're wearing your Womp shirt. Your wife and the swag. Do you just go like, this is enough already? No, I love it. I like to fuel the... She kicked you under the table. You don't really mean that. I do. She makes some incredibly amazing swag. But like San Antonio is calling her now for trophies. They're doing trophies at Pin Fest. They're doing it here at Pintastic. That's great. Enough. She's gotten a little bit in the deep end in terms of getting requests every weekend for more and more trophies, but she loves doing it. She does a great job doing it, so more power to her. I guess better that than trying to jimmy up Attack for Mars to beat some of your high scores, right? She does that too, I heard in the last podcast. The Tilt Bob is gone, and the settings have gotten a whole lot easier. Hold on a second here. Mrs. Pinn, I heard about this, and I don't want to throw any names out there, Jeff Patterson, twip. Taking off the tilt bob on home games. What's this all about? I'm going to clue you in. This is like an exclusive. Guess who removed the tilt bob? It wasn't me. What?
    44:01
    Here's the bus and here's me. Ba-dum-ba-dum. Speed bump. Christian, he goes under. Mr. Franchion, I'll give you the last word. Anything to say other than yo? Yeah, I've decided that I'm changing my name. To? Well, you got Dirty Donnie, you got Zombie Yeti, so I'm changing my name to... Stinky Chris? No, Dirty Zombie Sexist.
    44:27
    Hasn't that already been put out there once in a while? Christopher, love your work. Yeah, it's not original. I stole it from someone else. All right, listen to the rest of this clusterfuck on head-to-head pinball, because I'm sure it's going to be messy. I'm here with Steve Ritchie. Steve, congratulations. Oh, thanks. Black Knight Sword of Rage. After so many years of Black Knight, the game originally, the original one, got me into pinball. And then you had Black Knight 2000, and we've seen a lot of licensed games and themed games, but not Steve Ritchie. And I told you in the very first pinball profile, Steve Ritchie is a license. Steve Ritchie is a theme. And I'm so glad to see Black Knight come out and be very, very successful. Congratulations. Thanks a lot. It was great to make. Fun. I'm working with Tim Saxton for the first time sort of an unknown quantity in the beginning he's done great he's totally passionate about pinball and I loved working with him I don't know if any other designers would be given maybe the free will that you've been given and the trust to do something that's not totally out of the box but the fact that it wasn't a movie a rock band it is Black Knight It is really pure pinball. And was that a fight for you to get that title to make Black Knight 3? Well, they were stupid to let me, don't you think? No, come on. Just kidding.
    45:52
    It was kind of tough, but I think I felt my fatigue with working with licenses. It wore on me a little bit. And with Black Knight, we didn't have to report to anybody, really. We just pretty much let everybody create. We got together and figured out exactly what we're going to do. and we didn't have a lot of outside, you know, opinion or anything else. We just, everybody got to create, and it's like we picked the best of all the concepts that we wanted to or thought about anyway, and they're in the game. And I think it was really good for everybody on the team, especially like I saw a breakthrough in video artwork on the screen, no question. And it's like it's because those guys were into it just as much as we were because they got to contribute to the theme. When you're working with a license, you're working with stuff that people have already made, and you have to be true to it. Well, Black Knight, we sort of let her roll with a little bit of containment. Not much, though.
    46:59
    I don't have an iron fist. It's like if it's good, it's going in the game. If it's bad and it takes more than one opinion, it's not in the game. Can I ask a question about the toy, the greatest toy in pinball this year? You really think so? I do. It's the most unique. I don't know how difficult mechanically it was to make and to tinker and all that other things, but it is pretty impressive. I mean, it is so interactive. So I do believe it is the best toy in pinball. I think it is too. You know, he talks to you. The Black Knight is a bastard. it's basically somebody you really don't want to meet in real life and uh i don't know i like how he's it is interactive the flail is awesome and it's like kind of scary but it probably doesn't drain you half as much as you think it's gonna and i i like the shield action also the toy as a whole i think it's fun as hell it's got four skates and a lot of interaction and our topper is even better where do you see that anyway it's uh it's been a lot of fun and um i just i'm happy to be here happy that black knight sword of rage is available you mentioned tim sexton i did there are a lot of young people coming in yeah and you and i might be on the older side of things but you showed that you still got a few tricks up your sleeve and well it's like they influence me too you know they They teach me what millennials want pretty much. And it's like, good lesson.
    48:30
    I have stories, but I can't tell them here. I can't tell them anywhere. Someday. Yeah. The Steve Ritchie book. Someday in the Steve Ritchie book. All the best, Steve. Thanks, and look forward to the next game. Thanks for having me. All good things come to an end, and that's the case with Fintastic here in New England. And it's back home, but what a great time in Sturbridge. Congratulations to all the organizers. A lot of fun, too. The tournaments were great. Stephen Bowden was the pro circuit winner. Emily May was the women's winner. And great tournaments, both of them well run by Jim Swain and Kristen Gregory. I'm in the car right now on my way to Boston with the Hendersons, Joshua and his father, Mark. Josh, it's always great to see you, and good to see you at pinball events. I know school's been keeping you busy. It has been, yes. Did you enjoy the show? Tell me what you liked the best. I liked it. It was pretty good. I was there last year. And I think the biggest thing that I liked about it was that I had the chance to play new games like Willy Wonka, Oktoberfest, and it was a lot of fun. Yeah, there were some great lineups of both those machines, too. Of course, Black Knight was there and all the other games. It was something special. Mark, what did you think of the show? I liked it. It was one of the first times I've been at a pinball weekend where they served free beer. So who doesn't like free beer? And that was with Oktoberfest. and that was a promotion. I may have noticed that once or twice. Yeah, it was neat because they have that side flipper thing where you can play one-handed, so that was fun. I've seen Joshua, actually, back at Expo with the American Pinball really crushing the Houdini game, and I know you're a big fan of the American games. Yeah, I enjoy them. I think that the rule sheets are really creative,
    50:11
    and once you get into the theme, there's all these little details that were put in by the programmers and the artists, and I appreciate it, and I hope that they do well. You also are a big fan of that Jersey Jack-Willy Wonka game. In fact, you got a nice poster signed by Jack and by the artist and by the three kids there. That was nice to have them there. It was. It was awesome. It was great to meet them. So we're off to Boston right now, and Mark was telling me in the car here that the place in Boston for pinball, and I don't know this to be true or not, so I'm going to take Mark on his word. Roxy's is the place we have to check out. Is that it? Yeah, absolutely.