Episode 240: Lego Batman-Joker pinball

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·11m 31s·analyzed·Jan 4, 2020

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

16-year-old builder Luke99 showcases functional Lego Batman pinball machine at Chicago Expo.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Luke Horwath (Luke99), a 16-year-old Lego enthusiast who built a fully functional Lego Batman-Joker themed pinball machine featuring motorized toys, working flippers, a roller coaster, and over 7,000 hand-placed Lego pieces. The machine uses time-based scoring rather than traditional pinball scoring, with all mechanics powered by Lego motors and batteries. Dwight Sullivan from Stern Pinball also appears, offering design feedback and expressing enthusiasm for Luke's work and future projects.

Key Claims

Luke Horwath started the Lego Batman pinball project in July 2018
high confidence · Jeff Teolis introduction stating project began July 2018, displayed at Chicago Expo
The machine contains all 39 villains from the Lego Batman movie
high confidence · Luke Horwath explicitly states 'we've got all 39 villains from the Lego Batman movie here'
The Lego Batman pinball machine uses over 7,000 individually hand-laid pieces with no glue
high confidence · Luke Horwath: 'on my best estimates and all of my individual piece orders, I think we're over 7,000 individually hand-laid pieces, no glue, just the LEGO Clutch Power'
The machine features five total motors powered entirely by Lego motors and batteries
high confidence · Jeff Teolis: 'we've got five total motors, two battery boxes, all completely powered by Lego and their own batteries'
Luke's parents initially refused to buy him a pinball machine, prompting him to build one
high confidence · Luke Horwath: 'they just flat out no...so with my history of Lego and custom builds, I decided, well, I could try building one myself'
Luke has also built a 13,000-piece fully operational Lego claw machine
high confidence · Luke Horwath: 'My latest project was keeping with the life-sized arcade machine theme, a life-sized, fully operational, 13,000-piece Lego claw machine'
Luke is currently working on a secret project related to roller coasters
high confidence · Luke Horwath: 'I've been very, very much into roller coasters lately, and you can expect something big'
Luke's projects now occupy an entire room of his house
high confidence · Luke Horwath: 'Between the pinball machine, claw machine, and then other projects, we're taking up about an entire room of the house'

Notable Quotes

“This is amazing. This is a working Lego pinball machine. Not just any Lego pinball machine. A Lego Batman pinball machine.”
Jeff Teolis @ Opening segment — Sets up the episode's main subject with enthusiasm and context
“I've done a full city layout. I've done other minifigure scale displays. And this is my first ever life-size build, combining my love of Lego and then my hobby of pinball as well.”
Luke Horwath @ Early interview — Establishes Luke's progression from smaller projects to life-sized builds and his dual passion
“So I finally walked into the kitchen at dinner sat down and finally asked the question mom and dad can we get a pinball machine for the basement you know what they said you're grounded no they they just flat out no.”
Luke Horwath @ Mid-interview — Explains the origin story and motivation for building the Lego pinball machine
“One of the more challenging things was definitely building the flippers as it is all mechanical and all Lego.”
Luke Horwath @ Machine explanation segment — Highlights technical challenges in recreating traditional pinball mechanics with Lego
“The Lego motors spin really, really fast, so I needed to gear it down, so smaller to bigger gears, to make sure he could spin slow enough, a perfect difficulty for the player.”
Luke Horwath @ Clayface explanation — Demonstrates engineering problem-solving in adapting Lego components for pinball gameplay
“It's all battery all using the LEGO system so it's all LEGO motors, LEGO wires, and even the battery boxes are LEGO.”
Luke Horwath @ Power system explanation — Shows commitment to maintaining Lego authenticity throughout entire machine
“I would want some cool room. A Slimer. Oh, no, please. What? I'm just kidding. No, no Slimer. This thing that spins. Clayface. Clayface, right? He's pretty cool, and I would want to build some rule on that.”
Dwight Sullivan @ Design feedback segment — Stern designer playfully engages with machine and offers game design perspective

Entities

Luke HorwathpersonLuke99personJeff Teolisperson Dwight SullivanpersonAnnpersonBradypersonLego Batman Joker PinballproductChicago ExpoeventBrick World ChicagoeventLego Claw Machineproduct

Signals

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community_signal: Young builder showcasing custom pinball creation at Chicago Expo demonstrates ongoing community support for homebrew/DIY pinball projects and inter-generational knowledge sharing
high · Luke displayed machine at Chicago Expo and Brick World Chicago; Dwight Sullivan (Stern designer) actively engaged with design feedback; positive reception from Expo attendees
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design_philosophy: Time-based rather than score-based game mechanic represents alternative approach to traditional pinball scoring, influenced by Lego constraints and authenticity goals
high · Luke explicitly states design uses time-based scoring clock rather than traditional scoring due to 'LEGO constraints and the authenticity of the machine I was going for'
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market_signal: Young hobbyist leverages creative problem-solving and existing skillset (Lego building) to overcome material/financial barriers (parental refusal to purchase pinball machine)
high · Luke's origin story: parents said 'flat out no' to buying machine; he responded by building one himself using Lego expertise

Transcript

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0:00

it's time now for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teal so you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile email us pinball profile at gmail.com please subscribe on your favorite podcatcher and check us out on instagram at pinball profile i hope you enjoyed your holidays i had a good time with my family in our house christmas is for kids and they're getting a little bit older, but still, I get to relive my youth when my son Brady opens up and builds his latest Lego creations. I've always liked Lego, but I'm not a fan like our next guest. Luke Horwath, or Luke99 on YouTube, started a project in July of 2018. Many of us got to see it at Chicago Expo. This is amazing. This is a working Lego pinball machine. Not just any Lego pinball machine. A Lego Batman pinball machine. The Batmobile's on it. The Joker's on here. I see, is that Clayface? Clayface and all the other villains. It's all created by Luke Horwath. This is awesome. My God, there's a working rollercoaster on here. There is. There's not only the working rollercoaster, we've got five total motors, two battery boxes, all completely powered by Lego and their own batteries. I see Bane in the background. I see Mr. Freeze. All my favorite villains. Yep. Is that the clock maker? We've got Clock King. We've got Bane. We've got Mr. Freeze. Egghead. We've got Egghead. We've got all 39 villains from the Lego Batman movie here. Wow. Some I don't even know. I'm learning. What's this guy? Calendar Man? Polka Dot Man. We've got Calendar Man back there, too. We've got a little bit of everything. Plenty for people to find. Yeah. So hold on a second here. Now, is your love for pinball or Lego? I know a little bit about Luke 99, and you're a big Lego guy. In fact, you create Lego. I do. So for the past couple years now, I've really been getting into custom creations of my own design. It all started with a five-gallon tub of unsorted brick, which now has become a full workstation in my room. I've done plenty of projects. I've done a full city layout. I've done other minifigure scale displays. And this is my first ever life-size build, combining my love of Lego and then my hobby of pinball as well. I got my kids into Lego very early because it reminded me of my childhood. And by the way, also here, Dwight Sullivan, who is admiring this as well, too. And Dwight and Luke, for me, Lego meant a lot for me as a kid to create your own things. And then, of course, they had the pre-built kits. And then you would follow instructions along. So I got my kids into it saying, you know what? This will help you build someday. See that shelf? I built it because I learned how to do Lego when I was a kid. You think about key and stuff like that right Yeah that right So were you a big Lego guy Dwight Actually no What No So I was a Toggle Block guy Toggle Blocks are like Beta versus VHS I was into the Toggle Blocks and Legos were stupid.

3:14

So, yeah, how long have you been into Lego? So I've been building sets ever since I can remember. My mom and I would open up the box, sit down at the kitchen table. She would help me sort all the pieces. We'd sit through, put the sets together. And then it was about three years ago when I was in seventh or eighth grade that I really got into sorting and doing custom creations, building things in my own design. The pinball aspect is I've always kind of liked pinball machines casually. I've never been super competitive. But whenever I saw one, I would definitely give it a play or two. and this really combines both of my hobbies. So while you're at Expo, are you going to go out and play some of these machines, maybe get some other ideas? Yes, for sure. I've already been out on the floor, got some amazing games here, stuff I've only seen on the internet, finally get to see in person and play. It's amazing. And did you notice on the games that they have certain mods and whatnot? You could probably think, oh, I could do something there. I think LEGO would be a great theme for a pinball machine. Of course, of course, for sure. So many different aspects you can work in. You can go a lot of different directions, a lot of different themes. really as with lego's brand it's only your imagination that limits you so dwight was here as you were originally explaining how this game works you talked about some of the working motors i'm going to show pictures on our facebook page but explain some of the things you have in your lego joker batman pinball machine right so we'll start the very front um we've got the motorized ball return which is just a little track and a conveyor belt that pops the ball up to the rubber band activated plunger. One of the more challenging things was definitely building the flippers as it is all mechanical and all Lego. So that could pose some constraints, but it basically works on a gigantic rod, which goes halfway into the machine. And when pushed in, trips a set of Technic pieces with a rubber band around them, which pushes the flipper back out. And when you let go, just like a real pinball machine, the flipper pops right back into place. We've got Clayface, who spins around slowly, and that was another challenge. The Lego motors spin really, really fast, so I needed to... You had to slow it down. I did. I needed to gear it down, so smaller to bigger gears, to make sure he could spin slow enough, a perfect difficulty for the player. And then we've got the oscillating man-bat, which, once again, is all mechanical. So the motor continuously runs. It's a chain on a couple gears, once again geared down. And there's a couple chain links that are just a little bit wider, which trip some knobs which make Man Bat go back and forth. And then at the very back, we've got the roller coaster, which operates with a chain lift just like you find at an amusement park and another wheel which spins really fast to give it enough kick to make it all the way around the loop Where the power to this It is all battery all using the LEGO system so it's all LEGO motors, LEGO wires, and even the battery boxes are LEGO. So I see the big display on the back, and it's not a score-based game, it's a time-based game. Do you want to explain that? Yeah, that's exactly right. So due to the LEGO constraints and the authenticity of the machine I was going for, it's a big score clock. So as soon as the ball reaches the top of the machine I'll be standing off to the side with a Remote that starts and stops the clock It makes it up to the top, I start the clock That's running one ball One try is all the player gets As soon as the ball drains, I stop the clock And on the top right of the machine We've got a leaderboard with some times And then just like a real pinball machine Keeping with the pinball feel You only get three characters to enter in your name L-R-H, is that you? That's Luke That's me, of course, I play it all the time I've got a home field advantage. I mean, it's a little unfair when you think about it, but it's a lot of fun. I think I could beat the home field advantage. Oh, no cradling up, though. That's cheating. Is that cheating? I think so, yeah. If you get the ball there, just hold it right there, yeah, that'd be cheating. Okay, now, Dwight, having a quick look at this. If you got this, sent you, and said, okay, code it, what's one of the first things that comes to mind? I would want some cool room. A Slimer. Oh, no, please. What? I'm just kidding. No, no Slimer. This thing that spins. Clayface. Clayface, right? He's pretty cool, and I would want to build some rule on that. Like, try to, you know, what happens when you hit him. Like a bash toy? I'm thinking score, but I like the whole time idea. So I'm now spinning ideas about time. And, like, how would you... Like a speed run, maybe? So you've got... Or maybe hitting him adds some time to your clock. Wow. I like that idea a lot. Well, this is good, too. And how many pieces of Lego? Have you figured that out? Yeah. So on my best estimates and all of my individual piece orders, I think we're over 7,000 individually hand-laid pieces, no glue, just the LEGO Clutch Power holding them together. You know, I don't know if LEGO has seen this or not. I was just in actually Denmark, and that is the home of LEGO. And when you go through the airport, there's this huge LEGO Fest. You've got to send this off to Denmark and let them see this. Send your video, your YouTube video. Yeah, that would be something. I mean, I've been to the LEGO store, obviously. I've been at Brick World Chicago when I displayed this, the annual Lego convention. I was actually approached by an employee from Denmark location and talked with him about the machine. Obviously not licensing or product idea, but just license. License. Yeah, exactly. If you're making a homebrew, you do whatever you want. Yeah, that's exactly right. That's exactly right. You were mentioning earlier your mom, Ann, is here as well, too. The whole idea of this was you wanted to buy a pinball machine, correct? That's exactly right. and you had to negotiate with your parents on splitting the costs or Your mom explained to me so I just need you to explain yeah well so uh it wasn exactly that nice uh i have been as i mentioned uh wanting a pinball machine for a while and so i finally walked into the kitchen at dinner sat down and uh finally asked the question mom and dad can we get a pinball machine for the basement you know what they said you're grounded no they they just flat out no uh just no no room for negotiation so with my history of Lego and custom builds, I decided, well, I could try building one myself. It's crazy how good this is. Thank you. Yeah, it's very, very nice, and I'll put a video, too. I'll put a working video on our Facebook page, too. Yeah, perfect. That'd be great. Wow. When's the next one going to be? I mean, you've done one. This is a piece of cake, right? You're going to do another one? Yeah, we'll see. My latest project was keeping with the life-sized arcade machine theme, a life-sized, fully operational, 13,000-piece Lego claw machine. Oh, my God. I saw the pictures. Fully coated with the Lego software and everything. The claw. It's a real claw machine. The claw. Yes. Toys for all knows.