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Episode 31: Harry Potter - The Final Countdown, will it live up to the hype?!

The Flipside Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·52m 21s·analyzed·May 3, 2025
cbdbdd3b-bf37-4e58-953a-cc9010ceac95
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Retro Ralph analyzes Harry Potter hype, JJP pricing strategy, and quality comparisons in pinball market.

Summary

Retro Ralph discusses the highly anticipated Harry Potter pinball machine from Jersey Jack, analyzing its pricing tiers (Arcade $10k, Wizard ~$11.9k, CE $14.9k), comparing Jersey Jack's design philosophy and quality to Stern, and expressing optimism about the game's potential despite concerns about unlimited CE production killing collectibility. He also praises Spooky's quality leap with Evil Dead and speculates on upcoming games.

Key Claims

  • Jersey Jack sells approximately 90% of their machines to home buyers, compared to Stern's 70%

    high confidence · Retro Ralph citing JJP's internal metrics on sales distribution

  • Harry Potter will share the same playfield across Arcade, Wizard, and CE editions

    high confidence · Retro Ralph explaining JJP's approach differs from Stern's cost reduction strategy

  • Jersey Jack had a flipper feel issue that they addressed, making it more responsive similar to Stern's standard

    medium confidence · Retro Ralph noting changes starting with Elton John and expecting it to roll into Harry Potter

  • The Arcade Edition of Harry Potter is priced at $10,000 and will lack features like Invisiglass, art blades, powder-coated armor, and shaker motor

    high confidence · Retro Ralph detailing the specifications and cost differences between editions

  • Jersey Jack is making unlimited CEs for Harry Potter rather than capping production

    high confidence · Retro Ralph discussing community concerns about this decision affecting collectibility

  • Eric Menear is the lead designer for Harry Potter

    high confidence · Retro Ralph identifying Menear and noting his passion for the Harry Potter IP

  • JJP's Arcade Edition strategy previously had 'marginal success' with Guns N' Roses

    medium confidence · Retro Ralph citing operator location penetration challenges for JJP compared to Stern

  • Jersey Jack is roughly the second-largest pinball manufacturer in the world by volume and sales

    medium confidence · Retro Ralph's assessment based on market observation

Notable Quotes

  • “Jersey Jack said so, and that's the bottom line. Because Jersey Jack said so.”

    Retro Ralph @ early — Humorous reference to Stone Cold Steve Austin, emphasizing JJP's definitive announcement of Harry Potter

  • “They have all these assets. They have all the assets to the movies... if you say all the assets. So knowing that, let's take that as fact.”

    Retro Ralph @ mid — Referencing Jack's statement about licensing all movie assets and the design challenge this creates

  • “I think Jersey Jack almost got penalized for being transparent with their community... they got people excited about something that was a prototype and then when they had to take that mech out... it was almost like people lost interest.”

    Retro Ralph @ mid — Reflecting on the Pirates of the Caribbean prototype issue and community relations

  • “If this thing plays good, I think this might be the game where you're going to want to get your hands on it.”

    Retro Ralph @ late — Expressing confidence that Harry Potter could be the defining JJP game for fence-sitters

  • “It doesn't feel like a Spooky game in the sense that it feels like they've upped their quality so much that this is like the next level of their progression.”

    Retro Ralph @ late — Praising Evil Dead's quality benchmark and Spooky's advancement

Entities

Retro RalphpersonJersey Jack PinballcompanyStern PinballcompanyHarry PottergameEric MenearpersonJack DangerpersonKen CromwellpersonZach Sharpeperson

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Harry Potter edition pricing confirmed: Arcade $10k, Wizard ~$11.9k, CE $14.9k

    high · Retro Ralph states specific pricing for all three main editions

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack announcing unlimited CE production for Harry Potter instead of limiting quantities

    high · Retro Ralph discusses community concern that unlimited CEs kill collectibility, noting JJP's philosophy of access over scarcity

  • ?

    design_philosophy: All Harry Potter editions (Arcade, Wizard, CE) share identical playfield mechanics and shots

    high · Retro Ralph explains this differentiates JJP from Stern's cost-reduction approach on Pros

  • ?

    product_concern: Jersey Jack addressed historical flipper feel complaints, making response more snappy/responsive like Stern

    medium · Retro Ralph notes improvement visible in Elton John and expected in Harry Potter

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack struggles with location/arcade operator market penetration compared to Stern (90% home vs 70% home)

    medium · Retro Ralph cites JJP's own metrics and notes Arcade Edition strategy attempt to address this, with prior Guns N' Roses Arcade Edition having 'marginal success'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Positive sentiment toward Spooky Pinball's quality leap with Evil Dead; seen as new industry benchmark

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.157

0:00
Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the flip side podcast. I am your host Retro Ralph, and we are here for episode 31. There's been so much going on in pinball. New games are dropping like it seems every day, but there's been a little tiny lull in the new games coming out because there's one giant, massive IP coming out and it's the next one. We all know that it's Harry Potter. Jersey Jack said so, and that's the bottom line. Because Jersey Jack said so. No, but actually, by the way, it was kind of funny because the way Jack did promote that almost seemed like he was tapping into his inner Stone Cold Steve Austin, I think. But anyway, this is it. This is the final countdown. Now, we don't know when it's coming, but we can put in a little bit of speculation in here. But I know I'm really excited because what are they going to do with this massive, massive IP that everyone is definitely waiting for in the pinball community? And there's a lot of excitement behind it. But before we dive into that and some other topics, we're going to have a word from our sponsor, Flip N Out Pinball.
1:25
Are you looking for a new pinball machine, a used pinball machine, or to trade in your old pinball machine for something new? Look no further than Flip N Out Pinball. They can handle all your pinball needs, they ship anywhere in the United States, and they will give you the best experience in the business. Check out the link to Flip N Out Pinball in the video description for more information. Now, back to the video. Alright, so guys, that was our little ad for Flip N Out Pinball. Thank you for the sponsorship, Zach and Nicole Meny. I will tell you this. So listen to me here. If you have any games that you need to get rid of, trade in, whatever, because you're looking for the new games. Times are a little tough, money might be a little tight, but maybe there's some stale games in your collection. Let's move those on. Zach and Nicole Meny can do, oh my mic is a little hot here, Zach and Nicole Meny can do some awesome trades for you guys. They make it pretty painful. Additional £1,298.99 dollars of Jez
2:49
Nicole Minney
person
Evil Deadgame
Spooky Pinballcompany
Christopher Franchiperson
King Konggame
Pirates of the Caribbeangame
Dialed In!game
Elton Johngame
Dunegame
Medieval Madnessgame
Kale Hernandezperson
Jamie Birchallperson
Robperson

high · Retro Ralph dedicates significant airtime to praising Evil Dead quality and expressing excitement about Spooky's future direction

  • ?

    design_innovation: Evil Dead's art package (Christopher Franchi) makes dark/gory theme approachable while maintaining quality

    medium · Retro Ralph praises how artwork balances aesthetic appeal with horror theme

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Community speculation about JJP's next game after Harry Potter includes Top Gun and The Matrix

    low · Retro Ralph mentions hearing rumors and expresses preference for The Matrix over Top Gun thematically

  • ?

    content_signal: Retro Ralph launching monthly JBS show roundtable podcast with Kale Hernandez and Jamie Birchall

    high · Retro Ralph describes show format as loose roundtable with monthly rotating host agendas, expects Harry Potter to release before his June episode

  • ?

    product_launch: Harry Potter pinball expected to release within 'next couple of weeks' from May 3rd 2025 recording date

    medium · Retro Ralph notes he recorded on May 3rd, game missed that target, predicts 'next couple of weeks' for launch

  • ?

    industry_signal: Boutique manufacturers (Spooky, JJP) competing on quality differentiation while facing operator market penetration challenges

    medium · Retro Ralph contrasts Spooky's rising quality trajectory with JJP's operator location struggles and their response with Arcade Edition

  • ?

    community_signal: Community divided on unlimited CE production—collectibility vs accessibility tension

    medium · Retro Ralph acknowledges community being 'upset' about unlimited CEs, explains JJP's access-focused philosophy as counterpoint

    • Get used out there in the community. But anyways, guys, let's dive right into it. So we had so many games come out, right? We've got, uh, we, we had evil dead. It's almost like, how can you forget about evil dead? I, we talked about it on the JBS show. If you're unfamiliar with the JBS show, it's a round table podcast that I do with myself, Kale Hernandez and Jamie Burchill of the JBS show, formerly of wormhole pinball. And it's just a fun, it's a fun thing. I'd say what differentiates it from maybe other podcasts is we have a very, very loose agenda. And it's just kind of like three dudes hanging out, talking pinball. We each actually are, at least the way we're going to move the show forward is we're each going to have the topics for whatever week is our week. So far it's been Jamie's week and Kale's week or sorry, not week, but month. The show is going to be monthly. And then I will have mine in probably in June. So sometime in June, my, my, uh, agenda for that will be, but that'll be interesting because by then. And by the next episode, I'm thinking Harry Potter will have come out. So let's just recap the games that came out really quick. We had a lot of them, right? We had so many games and they're all kind of on top of each other. You know, first you had King Kong. Well, no, we'll go rewind a little bit. You had Dune. I'm sorry, I'm all over the place. I haven't had my coffee or any caffeine this morning. I'm trying to think of the order of the way they even came out. Because you had Merlin's Arcade, you had Dune, you had Medieval Madness remake, which was like the Merlin something edition or whatever the heck it was. Then you had Evil Dead, I'm not doing this in order of what they came out. And then yeah, I think King Kong, I probably said these all over again, I'm seriously losing my mind, there's just so many. And then, yeah, now we're gonna have Harry Potter. So, before we get into Harry Potter, I just, because there's a ton of anticipation for this. Ryan Alpharp
    5:10
    I've gotten to know Jack a bit over the years and the guy is a really sweet guy. He's a really nice guy, but I think he's competitive by nature, right? And, um, and he wants to, you know, I think his company, Jersey Jack, they, they have kind of set out since their existence to create a very high end pinball experience, right? It's from the way it looks, the way it's designed. They really are bold about we don't cut corners on quality or, um, you know, if it's going to be flat plastics versus some kind of sculpt. Gotta say have you any КП за Крм, Бр Uhh, 1939? KQС Are you out? Yo K%, tope that blue 0, 60% 0, 100% NO! K%іЋ f0n9 рБł dance RnO31 C0r 9 여기서, RnO31 Can you touch the block 0, 7% 0, 60% 0, experience rеd wish star and iOt لكن я Wolfsburg o cost bientôt Sye challenges at the beginning of the event and many more.
    6:36
    I'm listening to this, I'm recording this on Saturday, May 3rd. So they've missed that date, but I don't think they were ever intending on doing anything that date, at least from what I can tell. So my guess would be in the next couple of weeks, we're going to see this game. And when we do see this game, the question is, you know, is this going to be the Jersey Jack game that you must own? So they're doing some interesting different things with this launch than they did with other games. For instance, here's one major change. They're saying that they will make as many CEs as there are, as there is demand. Now the CE is an expensive, it's expensive, right? Their CE, but you could argue their CE definitely has more value than a Stern LE. It just does. You're getting a topper, you're getting, um, why am I keep thinking about things you're getting? Uh, you know, you're getting the topper, you're getting sort of like the newer technology that they have, larger screens. So there's a lot of things you're getting with theirs. The topper especially is just included. So you're just, you're getting a bit more with their games. Most of the time you're getting like very funky, custom powder coatings. Stern, you know, I'm a little disappointed in Stern's latest. I love the King Kong by the way. I just got it the other day. We just streamed it last night and it's a really, really fun game. But I did choose to get the LE on this one. Part of it was because I wanted to get it early. I wanted to get early access to it so I could stream it for you guys, create some content for you guys And I, and also I wanted that game. Now I, but the thing is with this one and Rudy, when Rudy and I were unboxing it, we're going to get back to Kong in a second. When we were unboxing it, I was a little disappointed in the fact that the artwork looks nice. They're doing the foiled artwork, but like I, I ended up doing so many things to my Stern games to get them to a level that I like them. Like for instance, every single Stern game that I put out there or that I buy, no matter whether, whether it's an LE, a pro or premium. I use pinwoofer. So I go with the pinwoofer amplifier, the power wave amplifier. I put their speakers in it, their subwoofer. So like that comes at a cost. And I always do that because I don't think the speakers that they put in the LE are great. Now if I compare that to the stock Jersey Jack sound system, their shaker motor just seems like higher quality. The audio, the stock audio package seems better. And I like the fact that I can control the volume of my game from L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L.E. to L I can't do that on a Stern unless I go buy another thing. I gotta go buy the headphone jack. Now I've gotten a little bit of wise to that. Now I buy the Pinball Life version of it because it's $50. You missed, it just doesn't have the Stern logo, but it does the exact same thing. I'll put a link in the description if you're interested in that. Not that I'm trying to say you shouldn't buy the Stern one if that's the one you want, and I know people want to keep it on brand, but the Pinball Life one does exactly the same thing. So anyway, so long story short, the Kong LE, I don't know if I feel like is just has, I don't know, I probably would have done the premium if I could do it over again, but I really wanted early access to it. So that was the real reason why I got the LE on this one. And, and I'll tell you from our live stream, we were really enjoying it. But that's not the topic of this. The hot the topic of this is is Harry Potter. So we know Harry Potter, there's eight movies, right? So that alone, you think about it, like, that's a lot of content. And Jack, if we're We're going by what Jack said. They have all these assets. They have all the assets to the movies. They have, you know, he just basically said all the assets. He didn't get specific as to what all the assets mean, but obviously if you break down a movie, there's a lot that goes into if you say all the assets. So knowing that, let's take that for that, that's, that's, that's fact. They got all these assets. There's eight movies. It's like, how do you design a pinball machine that does that justice in one pinball experience? That's a lot of content. So I gotta think that's a big undertaking for them to figure out how are they gonna make that work. I did a little bit of some research because I was curious about Harry Potter because I watched it with my kids but I hadn't revisited it in a long time and we definitely didn't watch all eight movies. I think we got to like five or six and then I think my kids lost interest over the years so then we just never, I never went back and watched them. So I'm going back and watching like the first, just to get a little hyped myself for what's to come. I'm going to be honest with you, I've been watching a lot of Harry Potter films and they're great movies. Like I didn't realize, I guess, I don't know, they were impactful to me but not to the point I wanted to rewatch them. And now watching them many, many years later, I'm like, wow, these are really actually pretty fun movies. So I think, and there's a lot of moments in there that you could turn into, a lot of moments that you could turn into a pinball experience. So we'll see. I mean, Eric Menyer is the lead designer. I, you know, I know that he really, he's someone that's really passionate about Harry Potter. So I don't, I think they're putting the right person on the job, uh, at least from, from JJP's bench. And, and, uh, I don't know. I, I think I'm excited about that. So you got the CE. So here's the breakdown. You've got the arcade version. We'll get, we'll get to that one second. The arcade version, the wizard version, which is their normal LE and then the CE, which is the collector's edition. So this is what we know about those so far. The arcade edition is something they did. The last time they did that was with was with Guns N' Roses.
    11:53
    And from what I hear, it had marginal success, like they were not successful in getting that game, that arcade version of the game in to operator locations, because I think that's that's the one thing that Jersey Jack has. I think some of their momentum that they have is probably most of their momentum is with the home buyer. And they talk about how their percentage of the home, their percentage of sales is something like 90% home. So Stern is like 70% home. So Stern definitely has more of a presence on location. And you can go on pinball map and really see that, right? That most places operate Stern Pros or Stern Premiums. There are locations that operate LEs. I can't imagine as a business owner why I would wanna make a $13,000 investment knowing that I gotta pay this machine back and it's gotta make some money. I would probably go with the Pro or a Premium if I was an operator. But but anyways, I think what what what JJP wants to do is like, look, we have this gigantic license. I think it's pretty safe to say that this is probably going to sell well, you know what I mean? I mean, even if even if the game, even if the game is just an average game, I think it going to absolutely sell well because it a great theme for pinball You know what I mean Fantasy is such a great theme for pinball So I think it going to do well But I really believe that they had a meeting over there and they said, guys, this IP is giant. We really have had struggles penetrating the on locations, you know, bars and barcades and things like that. I think they've struggled there. But I do think there's value in having your games there because it's more exposure to the brand. So, they're going to offer this arcade version at $10,000. And keep in mind, this arcade version might actually be pretty appealing to someone at home too, because of the cost. Jersey Jack machines are expensive, but they're going to offer this arcade version at $10,000. Sure, it's going to not have some of the signature Jersey Jack things. It's not going to have Invisiglass. It's probably not going to have the art blades. It's not going to have powder-coated side armor. It's probably not going to have a shaker motor, but it's going to have the same playfield. So the arcade, the LE and the CE will all share the same playfields. You won't be missing any shots, anything, all the mechanisms. That's pretty cool because that definitely differs from their competition. Stern, I don't want to say strips out the pros, but Stern finds ways to make the pros, you know, a cost effective solution, but still kind of paying true to the game. Now they didn't always do that though. Sometimes they took out major gameplay elements which totally changed the way the game played and you and some could argue that it was like a completely different game. Like I'll use Venom for instance. I do not like Venom Pro. I really like the mechanism that changes the game and that was the tagline of the game. You know, choose your character, change the game. That doesn't exist on the Pro so it's kind of like it goes against it. Anyway, so there's some mistakes that Stern's made along the way. I think Stern's getting smarter now and going, hey, we got to we got to equip the pros especially Hold on, so you know, it's like again, I guess it's hard to. Talk about indoor gambling, gotta try anything that gives 3 million over here, okay? Pretty insane. All right. If you're listening on this, I think you can hear my foot. That's not good for Breast rims. It's like the median for拜, your head out, Worley-Reymond. It's like everybody's like, what? Bro, I need some kind ofwichpad. This is the issue that probably may be the most banked game online that I've ever played. Let's get started. So, that's the thing. I don't know if I have to say this, but I think that the game is going to be a little different than the original version because it's going to be a little different than the original version. It's going to be a little different from the original version, but it's going to be a little different from the original version. So, I think that the original version might be... If the game is successful, right, if everyone's like the reaction is good, they believe it plays well, that it's packed with things that bring you into the movie, right? Because I think that's the thing is, will this game suck me into that Harry Potter universe? Where, you know, King Kong, it's interesting because Stern took the totally opposite approach and went, hey, we're just going to make up our own story. And so that's interesting where Jersey Jack is trying to figure out how do I make a pinball experience around a gigantic IP. So all right, let's go back to the models for a minute. So you've got the arcade version and I think everything's going to be true. My guess would be that the arcade would probably also share the artwork of the wizard, but probably not have the radcals. It'll probably be just like a straight vinyl decal, which is something that they don't typically do. Just to kind of get that cost in line. So 10 grand. I mean, I don't think that's unreasonable and I kind of feel like they're not stripping that much stuff out of it. Now, I don't know. My hope is that they offer all those things as accessories. So then if someone just wants to add a couple of those things like shaker motor me is shaker motor to me as part of the pinball experience. Like I want to have that. And art blades to me are also something that helps like create the world under glass. So I don't know. I don't know. Art blades to me are not negotiable things. Like I always add those two games like they're in there no matter what. I need art blades. I don't know. I just I don't want to see black sides. That's just I'm a fan of the game, but I'm not a fan of the game itself. I'm more interested in the gameplay and the game itself. I just love that it ties everything together. Especially when done right, the manufacturer art blades usually tie in really well. It's usually the same artist that did the playfield, so it looks great. So then you got the wizard version, that's your middle tier version. I expect you're going to have all of the same things you'd have on a regular JJP LE. Gales & hyper Sarah Windsor for the Hell One And it'll be I'm very, very curious to see what they do with this game. And this is just some personal opinions I have about Jersey Jack. So I I filmed a video out there when they launched Avatar just to go. It was it was Ken Cromwell, their CMO, and he reached out to me and he was like, Hey, why don't you just come over like no pressure? You don't even have to film anything. But he goes, Look, I really like your your the way you approach this whole hobby, your fare in your in your criticism. And you just seem to be an ambassador for the hobby. That was his words, not mine. And I said, I said, I was grateful. I was like, yeah, I'd love to come over. So I did. And I got to say, like, it's a different vibe than Stern over there in the sense that Stern feels like a larger company that's more polished, I guess, like a little bit more corporate, maybe. And when you walk into JJP, it's maybe a little bit more gritty. But I appreciate that at the same time. And everyone seems like a big giant family over there. When I went there to film, According to the Robert Zobredko, Robert Sängen, Megan Moore, The K cep 758 ctv
    19:26
    I'm not going to be shilling for spooky on this podcast, but the quality seemed great. It's very good. Like very, very high quality. Now, the only thing that was kind of interesting is I didn't realize how much heavier a Jersey Jack pinball machine is than a Stern pinball machine. And I don't know exactly why that is. I don't know if they're using like denser wood or what it is exactly. I know they have like these gigantic metal rails under the playfield and maybe that adds some weight. AMG RE Support Up I think by size, they're probably the second largest pinball manufacturer in the world still. I think that's about where they are. I would think. Especially by volume and sales. So I want them to have a win, you know? But I don't feel like, for me, there hasn't been a modern... There's a couple of Jersey Jack machines where I was like, man, if I could get my hands on that, I would love to have it. One of them was Pirates of the Caribbean, but those are like trying to find, you know, trying to pan for gold. You just can't get them and when you do find them, people want $30,000 for them. And there's a whole backstory as to why. It's unfortunate, but I feel like the whole backstory around Pirates of the Caribbean is, and this sucks actually if you think about it, Jersey Jack almost got penalized for being transparent with their community. They brought those games, so they were trying to make the community a part of Pirates of the Caribbean experience before it got fully produced as like this is the production game. So they were bringing different various prototypes to pinball shows. And so there was like the three spinning discs from the movie in the middle of the playfield. And I think, I don't know if I have this right, but I think the talk track or I think the way it went is the team, the mechanical engineering team over at Jersey Jack was just having, they were having reliability issues with this mechanism. So it wasn't that they didn't want to put this mechanism in and it seemed like people really liked it at shows and stuff. So it's almost like they got people excited about something that was a prototype and then when they had to take that mech out and put a different mech in that wasn't quite as detailed or didn't quite work the same, it was almost like people lost interest or I don't know, I don't know at that time because I wasn't a podcaster so I don't know if people were like just slamming them and I don't know, it's just really unfortunate because it's almost like they got screwed for being open with the community and saying we want you to see the progress as it comes out so we're going to bring it to shows. So that is one that I really, really enjoy. Dialed In is another one I really enjoy. I really like Elton John. I didn't have a not a time to log on Elton John until more recently. I think I told said this on another podcast. It was Rob over at Electric Playground who taught me how to play it, or at least gave me some guidance about a play at the wormhole during the Twippies. And he was really Rob was like really, really.
    22:35
    Enthusiastic and passionate about about Elton John, and sometimes I can't get back past certain licenses. I'm like, I just don't like Elton John. It looked beautiful, obviously, but I was like, that's Elton John. I'm not like the biggest fan of the music. It's and I think a lot of people our age aren't necessarily like gigantic Elton John fans. But but when Rob was was so enthusiastic and excited for me to play it and for it to teach me, which, by the way, Rob, I did really did really did appreciate that when you did that. I when he left, I think he left and he was like teaching me how to do like the skill shots and stuff. And I was like, man, this game's actually really, really good. And I could see myself in the future picking up an Elton John if I can find one at a good price. I don't like it enough to pay full price for it only because, you know, Jersey Jack games are expensive. And if I am going to buy one, I want it to be the one. And so I feel like this license is going to be if they do it right, because they they definitely fix their flipper issue at Elton John. Elton John felt different. Now, I don't know, you could argue that Jersey Jack maybe didn't think they had a flipper issue because they're like, look, our flippers just feel different than let's say a Stern flipper does. Stern flippers are just real snappy, right? Real snappy, real responsive, strong. And I felt like theirs felt a little bit mushy and a little bit weak. And that had been the case for a long time. But I think if you maybe just got used to that, you just like, oh, that's how our Jersey Jack plays. But I do think that was a smart move for them to resolve that because or at least not resolve that, but make it more what people were comfortable with. Because I just feel like that's sort of the ...and a lot of the boutiques have also adopted similar flipper feels to Stern, even though Stern still has a very unique flipper feel. I just can't quite pinpoint it, but it's definitely something about it that just feels a little bit more responsible, more snappy.
    24:26
    They sort of said, all right, we're going to do that. We're going to listen to the community. We're going to do it. So we're, we're, you know, that will obviously probably roll into Harry Potter. I would imagine that's probably gonna be the standard going forward. So if this thing plays good, I think this might be the game where you, you know, you're, you're, you're going to get your hands on it and you'll have to, uh, you know, you can't be, you know, you're going to have to make the, you know, you know, your own way of doing this, right? I think this might be the game that people decide the ones that were always on the fence about a Jersey Jack game now that you have the arcade edition, you know, the Wizards a little bit more expensive, but kind of in line with I think it's a little cheaper than a excuse me, sorry, a little bit cheaper than I don't even know what those are. I don't even know what us what is a what is a middle tier I thought it was 11 9 let's see I don't even know that's really bad Jersey Jack I'll just say Avatar Ellie let's see oh it is it's 11 9 so it's a it's a thousand dollars cheaper than a than a Stern Ellie and I do think I don't know I think if you compared the two now the radcals over the foiled art I think the radcals are definitely a better you know better there Seam closer than ever to see All of these, I don't know if I've ever seen a pinball game, but I've never seen a pinball game that's so much more competitive than a Stern LE. I think a Stern LE would be, it is interesting. I mean, you can, I did some analysis on this, not going to deep dive you guys on cost, but I did an analysis of the last 10 years to see if pinball prices had stayed with inflation or gone above inflate the US inflation rate. The pro and premium are below US inflation rate So I feel like those are even though they expensive I not is a little It like one of those things where you gotta know going into the LE Like I really think this is the reality of it Like you need to know that you buying the LE because you want something that they only making a limited amount of And you want it now. You want to be the first to get it. Now that's a new thing.
    26:26
    You don't get a topper with it like you do with an LE from Jersey Jacks. So I just think they're probably in the LE is tracking above inflation. So you could argue that there's less value in an LE, but also if you get a premium, like you have to do factor this in. If you get a premium and you add all the things you would do to the LE, are you close to that price? I still think you'd come in under it. I still think you would with the exception of, I think if you had to do a cabinet expression light kit, those are pretty expensive. So I've never done all the math to put it all together and see like if you got a premium And basically did almost everything, maybe outside of like the powder coated armor, like things you could buy as accessories. Like, would you actually get it? Uh, close. I wish I just wish on the Ellie's they would do things like, like Jersey Jack tends to just pack in a little bit more, but anyways, so that's what we know they have. You have arcade, you have wizard. So again, under the Ellie price and then the CE, which is 14, nine. So you're talking to the C is really expensive. So we'll see, like, are they going to do something to that CE where you're like, oh my God, I have to have it. Now they did decide they're not going to cap the amount of CEs. I know that has some people upset because they're like, oh, well, they're not collector's editions if you're only making if you make as many as if you'll make a ton of them, then it's not a collector's edition. But I think the philosophy over at Jersey Jack is that they don't want to see people not be able to get access to games that they want. I think that's sort of their mindset. At least that's what it seems like to me is that they just want to have access to it. But that does, I can hear the argument from the community that, well, that does kill the collectability of it because now anyone can have it because they'll make unlimited. I mean, if you have 15 grand, burn all your pocket, anyone can have it. So we'll see, man. I think the community is excited for Harry Potter. At least that's my read on it. And, you know, it's just another new game. And with Jersey, with Jersey Jack, it tends to be one game a year so that there's a lot of anticipation because that's a lot of waiting. I mean, a year isn't that long, but it seems like it when you're Grand diedள contribution I think I've heard Top Gun, I've heard Matrix, there's been a couple other rumors.
    28:58
    Top Gun, I don't know. I feel like even when I went to my last amusement expo and I played Raw Thrills Top Gun video game, I feel like that that we waited a little long to get a Top Gun, but I don't know. Maybe that's it. I don't know. I don't know if that's going to be a theme. I feel like the Matrix would be, I like Top Gun, but I feel like the Matrix you could make way more I'm going to be doing a lot more pinball moments out of the matrix than you could Top Gun, at least in my opinion. But I don't know if you guys have heard a rumor about the next game after Harry Potter, let me know. Because I'm kind of I kind of have fun doing the speculation thing. But yeah, so that's where we're at. I was gonna pivot back to spooky because I was talking about quality. Spooky man, they are and I know we talked about it on the JBS show. And I know it probably sounds like I'm I just want to let you know, I paid my own money to buy a Evil Dead. No one's giving me an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on an Evil Dead. I didn't get a discount on mutation with your team I don't want to say this because it sounds disrespectful and I don't mean it to sound disrespectful. It doesn't feel like a spooky game in the sense that it feels like they've upped their quality so much that this is like the next level of their progression. And I think, I don't know, I didn't talk to them personally, but it feels like they were trying to make a statement with this, right? Like, hey, we are going to build this to the best of our ability. They're going to take as much feedback and all the data about any issues and problems we've had in the past. And of course they were addressing those things along the way as they made games. I think their quality has continued to get better. But this just feels like they put a stake in the ground. We're here, we're Spooky Pinball, and we are going to... This is our new benchmark. We're going to continue to get better. And so for a boutique pinball company, it's really cool. And I was just listening to the Nudge Magazine's podcast, the Nudgecast. Go check them out if you haven't already. Ian's a good dude over there. And Bug was on. And man, it's just a cool, they have a really cool story over there as to like how the brand got established and then just all the passionate people that work over there. So I'm really kind of excited. I think if I had to say like what company am I most excited to see what they'll do next, it's spooky. Like I really, I'm really curious. And even though I'm not a horror theme, that's not like really something that speaks to me. I've said this on other podcasts, it's really cool when you can create a game with a theme that I don't care about or, you know, that I'm not interested in. But the gameplay, the quality, the shots, the feel, the overall feel of the game, the theme integration is so good that I still want to get it. Despite the fact that like I'm not into the theme is, is amazing. That means you just did a really good job. Good job. And I know I said this on another podcast too, but Christopher Franchi created approachable artwork for a theme that's really dark and gory and like, you know what I mean? Campy. But he created an art package that also makes it approachable, where if you're probably an evil dead fan, you're like, that's really cool. But if you're not, you're like, this thing's beautiful. There's blood on it, but it's beautiful. Like how does that even go together? Right? Like I don't look at things that are bloody and go, that's beautiful. But I look at that art and go, man, how the hell did he do that? Like it's just really, really good. And I think if you're a good artist, you can make something approachable that maybe, or take something that really to me, Evil Dead is very,
    32:38
    I don't know, it's not mainstream, that's for sure. It's a cult thing. It is a cult following to Evil Dead. But if you can take something that like really, the most of the general public is not really that into and get people into it, I don't know. That's just a crazy, that is a crazy feat to be able to do, Especially with a pinball experience, so like, congrats to Spooky Pinball. I can't wait to get my game. It comes on Tuesday. I'll tell a little quick story really quick. And I don't want to upset anybody by this story, by the way, and I don't want you to think I got some special treatment. But basically, Pinball Star was going to Allentown Pinfest. They're there right now. If you're watching this, I think this is the... this might be the day two of Allentown Pinfest. And I, through my buddy, Scott Parisi, who works with Todd over at TNT Amusements, he's like, hey man, I actually asked him, I was like, hey, do you know anybody that might have an Evil Dead? Because you couldn't get one. Like, literally, they were all allocated for. You could not get them. So he's like, I think, I think my buddy over at Pinball Star has some, because I think he bought like the last 30 of them or whatever. He's like, I know he's bringing some to Allentown Pin Fest. Let me see if you can buy the floor model. The floor model and I'm like yeah but that doesn't help me because I'm not in Pennsylvania then I got to get shipped he's like well let me just look into it so he puts me on a thread with the owner over there super nice guy by the way but his name is escaping me and he goes hey uh you know I heard you might be interested in an Evil Dead I do have one you can buy the show floor one thing is you're gonna have to be responsible from getting it from Pennsylvania to your house and I was like okay fine I used to ship arcade games all over the country many of them hundreds of them Justin
    34:45
    Areall Sitajn, Taylor M. Потомka, Kensey, It's going to be a new out of the box thing. And then if you want to do an unboxing video, you can do that. They didn't even, they didn't even say that. I'm saying that, but they didn't say anything like because you're a YouTuber or anything like that. They didn't nothing, but I thought that was a really nice gesture because, um, you know, I think they are just like, look, if, if he's going to make content on it, it would be a little bit more interesting if it was a new inbox. So they bit the, uh, they bit the shipping cost to make that happen. So I just think I really do appreciate that. I haven't actually reached out to bug directly, but I do have his cell phone now. I'm gonna do that. And then they sent me this shirt. They sent me the Spooky Shills shirt. So I guess I'm officially in the spooky family and I will have a spooky game. That is a factory I would love to tour at one point too. I'm sure I would get the same feeling from them as I did at Jersey Jack, maybe just on a smaller scale, cause they're not as big, but I can tell just from listening to the Nudge cast and Bug that, man, they have a lot of passion for pinball over there. And I had no idea, he's gonna kill me for saying this, I had no idea how young Bug is. I have a lot of, um, I admire that a lot that he's, um, kind of a younger man who's really, I mean, he's running a pinball company. I mean, that is how fricking cool is that? So I don't know that just, I look at that and, uh, you know, I work with Mason Conrad. He's, he helps me with my, my video production. He helps me with, um, editing and stuff like that. Um, I know I do a lot of the, anything you see on my channel that's filmed for the most part is probably 99% me. I'm not sure if you can hear me. Maybe 95% me. But the editing at this point is almost exclusive to Mason. But I kind of focus on the audio and the video aspects of the project. And then the editing, you know, I might give Mason guidance as to what I'm looking for, the vibe I'm looking for, and he handles the editing. And I just, Mason is an entrepreneur. He's a younger kid. And like, I always appreciate that work ethic and drive. And I feel like Bug is that guy. Like, it's cool. And he's running a whole company. So I mean, I just think that's really awesome. I think it's cool. I look forward to getting to know the people over there a bit more. Because now I feel like I know the people over at Stern, really great people. I know the people over at JJP. I know only David Van Es. Well, I guess I know Brian Savage too over at... I don't know them that well though. But I feel like I know Jersey Jack and Stern employees fairly well. I just... Barrels of Fun's a newer relationship, David Van Es and... Actually, I have something I have to say, David Van Es is going to kill me for this, but you know, I bought a labyrinth. I traded a, I traded my Black Knight Sword of Rage Pro for a labyrinth. I'm a big fan of the labyrinth movies or movie. And I don't know, I just didn't love it. And I don't want to make it seem like I'm saying don't go buy it or don't go. That's not what I'm saying. If you really love the labyrinth, you'll probably really like the game. There's just something about it that I didn't like. I don't know if it was just, it felt different. Like the theme integration is cool. Like there's something like there's a, there's a, if you know that if you're familiar with the movies, there's a bog of eternal of eternal stench mode. And if you don't complete the mode, then any, all this, anything you hit on the play field after you don't complete the mode is a fart noise. Like I love that. It's just funny, right? It's just funny stuff like that. They have the helping hands. They have the little, the nipper things. They have the dudes that take their head off. I don't remember what those things are called. I look like hell today. Oh my gosh, you're watching on the video. I look rough.
    39:01
    Wow, I don't look very good. Anyways, I gotta get a good night's sleep tonight or something. So yeah, I don't know. I just, it just didn't speak to me. And so I ended up I ended up actually trading my labyrinth for a 007 premium And if y know y y know me if you know me I had a bond pro and I got rid of it that I modded to all hell and I always regretted getting rid of that game because that a really really fun game so anyways no no uh no hard feelings to anybody over at barrels of fun I I enjoyed it I guess while I had it it just wasn a game for me and and sometimes that happens sometimes there a game that just isn for you but that doesn mean because it not for me Monday at 10 p.m. on NHS 이렇게 I put probably like a good 250 games on it, maybe a little bit more, but yeah, I don't know. We'll see. Maybe I'll revisit it in the future, but I will say Dune looks pretty cool. I have not watched the new movies. There's two of them, I think. I have not watched them, but Ian over at Nudge was like really urging me to watch them. He's like, dude, you're really gonna like them. Like he's like, you're really gonna like them. So I don't know. And they do some really cool things. I'll say like visually when you look at that Barrels of Fun Dune game, it looks really solid. Like it just looks cool if you're a Dune fan and it integrates a lot of the things. I used to actually, I said this before on another podcast episode, but I used to play Dune 2, the game for PC and I loved that game. So I had, but I didn't really, and I watched the David Lynch movies a long time ago. I don't know why in my mind I feel like when I rented them, it was like, I think it's a double VHS case. That's how I remember it. I think my buddy, Ryan, was really into Dune. I remember watching it and being like, man, this is slow. It had exciting parts in it every now and then, but it was just slow. I hope the new movies aren't slow like that, because I don't know. I don't really like slow movies. I would rather have stuff that... I don't mind character building and stuff, obviously, but if it gets too slow, I kind of lose interest. All right. I want to take some voicemails real quick, because I haven't done that in a while. There's only three of them. If you guys want, really, I would love it if you guys would leave voicemails. So in the link of the description of this video, and if you're listening to it on Spotify, I'll put it in the comments or Apple Podcasts. Go leave me a voicemail, anything you want, about pinball, pinball repair, if I can answer that, what games I like, don't like, you know, definitely, definitely do that. But we're going to do voicemails real quick. All right, the first one, it doesn't have a name. It says anonymous. So let's see what anonymous has to say.
    41:48
    Hello. That is Pat Benatar, Love is a Battlefield. There we go. In your newest podcast, you talked about pinball co-leaders, and you were definitely a gateway drug for me in pinball. I appreciate what you've done, Ralph, and I just look forward to you continuing in the hobby. Thank you. That's awesome, man. I appreciate that, dude. Thank you. I wish you had said who you what your name is. I would have called you out. But that's, that's awesome, man. I appreciate that. I do feel like I try to be an ambassador. I try to be a good lead lead by example and be a good, a good positive force in the hobby. So I appreciate that. All right, next one says John from Canada. This one's labeled. I get my damn system to play these things. I don't know why they're not it's not. There we go. Hey Retro Ralph, my name is John from Ontario, Canada. Luckily I was able to secure to buy myself a limited edition King Kong. Man, they sold out fast, real quick. So hopefully that you get a chance to get one too because you really like Stern pinballs. That's very true. I do like Stern Pinball. I don't know why my editor keeps trying to play different songs. Okay, so, John, I didn't know they sold out. I don't think that's true yet, but maybe if you're from Canada, maybe the distros in Canada sold out. I do think they're still available in the United States if you want a Kong LE specifically. John, I am happy that I got the LE because I got it early, but I do think in this one, In this instance, had I thought about it a little bit more and didn't jump the gun, and if I didn't care about getting something earlier and have had access to it earlier, I think the premium would have made the most sense on this one. But it is beautiful. I mean, we unboxed it. The one thing I think like was kind of a miss on it though is like they put the powder coated side armor on all the LEs. They went with like a black and then there's like a gold accent in it. I kind of feel like they could have done something a little more with the side armor. I feel like it's underwhelming on the side armor. I don't know. It's weird. I don't... Normally I get real hype for the LEs and on this one I'm not so much, but I already bought it and it's here. I'm not getting rid of it. And in the game, man, Kong has so much potential. It's good in its current state, but if they do what they did with the code on Jaws or Godzilla, or even Jurassic Park for that matter, this will be in a top list of games for sure. I don't think... people need to get off this whole dethrone Godzilla thing. I don't think that's going to happen, but I do think it's going to be known as one of Elwin's great games. I really do. It is so fun to shoot. Like, I can't even stress that enough.
    45:00
    It is so fun. There's that little bank of drop targets seems, oh, it's just a bank of drop targets in the top left and you have the little flipper. I'm finally starting to master, I didn't do it so well with it on the live stream. I'm definitely starting to master the blocker that blocks your ball from going down the river. If you can work that just right, you can spend some time in that drop target area, but also there's like this fun shot right there I'm going to be talking about the spider that you can hit from that little flipper too. It's like almost directly in line with it. There's just a lot of... that's really fun. I do find qualifying the multiball with those drop targets is really fun for King Kong Multiball. The spider... I don't know. I told you guys I wasn't that into the spider before. I still don't really love the way it looks. It's kind of cool what it does but I hope someone makes a mod for that spider that makes it look different. I don't know why I don't like the... it just has this like look to me that it looks cheesy but I guess you could argue it's kind of it kind of fits with the way they did the theme artwork. I don't know but John congrats on your LE. I think you're gonna really love you're gonna really no matter what you're gonna really love the game. The game is freaking fun as hell. Alright we got one more voicemail and then we'll wrap this show up. Hey Ralph, remember that time I sent you a book called Crowdfunded Superheroes which was about superhero characters becoming social media influencers and Retro Ralph was a superhero and then one of the side characters? Okay. I need to do some explaining here. So Chad is someone I went to high school with. I had not talked to Chad in probably like, I don't know, 20 years or something, maybe longer than that. And I had done a lot. I was doing live streams during COVID and he was joining the live streams. So it was cool. I really loved this guy in high school and I'll tell you why. He's very artistic and he would always be writing. So it's really cool that he's become an author in his adult life because he was just always creative. And the one thing about Chad that was so cool is Chad sat behind me in like maybe math class. I can't remember. He was either in front of me or behind me. I can't remember. But the cool thing about Chad is I could give Chad a concept. Tim Kitzrow, Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. david potatoes and softball
    48:10
    So maybe he told me this, but I did not know I was a character in this book. So I guess it was the premise of the book, which I have to read now, is action heroes becoming social media influencers or something like that. So let's continue to listen to it. I did not listen to this yet. So let's let's go through and listen to it and then and then we'll see what else Chad has to say. Well, that book is now available for audible audiobook. My question is, do people who do pinball tournaments, do they ever listen to music or audio books on headphones while they're playing pinball? Okay, so Chad's asking do people, it's cool, congrats Chad that it's available on audio book. He's asking if people listen to music when they play pinball tournaments or something. They absolutely do, Chad. I tried that, it wasn't good for me. I think people, there are people that like to just stay kind of, I don't know, locked in on the game and I think music helps them do that. I don't like it. It doesn't work for me. But yeah, they do. I don't know if people listen to audiobooks, but they definitely listen to music. Like, is that a thing? Do they like drown out the other noise and play pinball? Is that a thing? Because if you want to listen to an audiobook where Retro Ralph is a superhero while beating him at pinball, crowdfunded superheroes now on Audible. All right, well, Chad, I'm going to... Chad, I am going to absolutely put that... I will put a link to your book on Audible in the if people are interested. I didn't really realize until more recently that I'm a character in the book. So I'd love to know like what you wrote about me in the book. So I'm definitely gonna need to either listen to it or, or read it. So yeah, I'll have a link to the book in the physical form and also the audio audiobook. That's really cool. Thanks, Chad for the message. But yes, people do listen to music. And I'm going to be They do it to, I think, drown out the rest of the arcade noise. Alright, we're coming up on an hour. I appreciate, I really appreciate everybody joining. I'm gonna hit the outro music here. But I'm having such a blast. It's, I think the next podcast I do... Let's see, I'm trying to think about this. Yeah, by the ne- I'm gonna guess that by the next podcast I do, Harry Potter may be out into the world. So we will be absolutely talking about deep diving and discussing Harry Potter as well as the rest of the pinball community because I can tell you I think it's, I don't know, I feel like, I feel it. I can feel it.
    50:47
    Do you think Jersey Jack needs a win? When have they had a game that everybody wants and they now have an IP in the top three IPs in the world? I think it goes either Star Wars, Pokemon, Harry Potter, something like that. They're in the top three. I mean right there. How often as a company do you have that opportunity? I know they know how big this opportunity is. I can't imagine they're going to mess this up. I really, and I wouldn't want them to. I really, I want everybody to succeed. I want these companies to succeed. The more of this stuff we get out there, the more they can keep making it. Robert Min Juice, Kim's 40th birthday tomorrow, so definitely wish her a happy birthday. She would really appreciate that. And we will see you on the flip side. Take care, guys.
    52:14
    Love this song, man.