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DPP #136 "Is Wick a...winner? The road to SFGE"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·36m 5s·analyzed·Jul 18, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

John Wick thrives on location via contracts; Godzilla 70th coming; Avatar/X-Men speculation.

Summary

Don discusses John Wick's unexpected success on location through Stern's Insider Connected contract system, despite critical derision online. He also covers upcoming releases including Godzilla 70th Edition and speculates on potential X-Men and Avatar releases, while sharing maintenance tips on T-molding replacement.

Key Claims

  • John Wick earned 50% more than the #2 game (Pulp Fiction) at Electric Bat Arcade in June

    high confidence · Don cites data from Rachel and Cale at Electric Bat regarding their arcade earnings

  • John Wick contracts are driving location traffic at specific times identified by Stern's Insider Connected data

    high confidence · Don describes how Stern uses app analytics to time contract drops strategically

  • The Deconsecrated Multiball contract on John Wick Pro version has a flaw: balls don't lock on the Pro because there's no physical lock mechanism

    high confidence · Don explains the Pro/Premium/LE mechanical differences affecting the contract

  • Godzilla 70th Anniversary Edition is not an LE, but will be made as long as there's demand

    high confidence · Don clarifies the edition status and availability model

  • X-Men is the strongest rumor for Stern's September Cornerstone release, following their annual Disney Marvel pattern

    medium confidence · Don cites 'different sources' and notes timing aligns with Venom's 12-month cycle

  • Don sold his Godzilla one week prior to news of the 70th Anniversary Edition release

    high confidence · Don describes serendipitous timing of his personal sale

  • Avatar rumors are circulating about a potential Jersey Jack Pinball release, but Don is skeptical of its commercial viability

    low confidence · Don describes hearing rumors 'from a couple of places' with no solid confirmation

  • John Wick LE can currently be purchased for around $10,500 in the secondary market

    medium confidence · Don mentions 'the le can be had for like 10-5 right now'

Notable Quotes

  • “John Wick contracts, what Insider Connected brought us, it's brought us leveling up with Venom, it's brought us contracts and push notifications with John Wick, once they get to a dynamite theme like a Pokemon and all of a sudden there's limited time creatures to capture—Man, it's just going to be solid.”

    Don @ mid-episode — Expresses enthusiasm for the direction of Insider Connected's engagement mechanics and their potential with popular IP

  • “I swear I had to play another 15, 20 games. It was another two hours of playing this game nonstop just to get that. And no other game is compelling enough to make me do that.”

    Don @ early section — Demonstrates the difficulty and addictive nature of John Wick's recent contracts, despite personal frustration

  • “Wick derided online, derided from critics. Yes, it's not Godzilla or Deadpool, it's code is not as complex as James Bond 007's Cornerstone. Is it doesn't shoot as elegantly as Bond 60th, but damn it, I'm having fun with it.”

    Don @ mid-episode — Concedes critical points while defending personal enjoyment; acknowledges the game's position in the competitive landscape

  • “The premium's the sucker bet. Don't buy the premium. And the pro is pretty stripped down so it's kind of like get the LE or just don't.”

    Don @ mid-episode — Strong purchasing recommendation against Premium tier; influential take on John Wick's three-tier pricing strategy

  • “If I had a location, I would have such a hard time putting in a Jersey Jack game at this point. $12,000, if I put an Elton John Platinum Edition in my arcade... when am I ever going to break even?”

    Don @ Avatar section — Articulates location operator concerns about Jersey Jack pricing and ROI dynamics in current market

  • “Harry Potter is a take-my-money-now license. Do it. Put in whatever work you have to to secure that license because that is a guaranteed multi-year selling sales juggernaut machine.”

    Don @ Avatar section — Strong assertion of Harry Potter's market potential as a justification for JJP's investment in licensing

Entities

John WickgameDonpersonStern PinballcompanyInsider ConnectedproductElectric Bat ArcadeorganizationGodzilla 70th Anniversary EditiongameSouthern Fried Gaming Expoevent

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Supply chain constraints affecting distributors; Mad Pinball sold out of Godzilla 70th and 'calling back to try to get more supply'

    medium · Don relays Jeff's inventory situation and recommends customers 'get in with Jeff' early for pre-orders due to demand/supply imbalance

  • ?

    community_signal: Stern implementing contract-based challenges through Insider Connected app to drive location traffic during off-peak times using population data analytics

    high · Don describes Stern timing contract drops based on analytics showing slow periods like 'Tuesday at about 3 p.m.' and coordinating drops with player engagement data

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Three-tier pricing creating poor value in Premium tier relative to LE, with Premium lacking essential features (lights, invisiglass, shaker) requiring additional purchases

    high · Don explicitly advises 'Premium's the sucker bet' and recommends LE or Pro only, detailing feature distribution across tiers

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Harry Potter positioned as guaranteed multi-year sales juggernaut for Jersey Jack, justifying significant licensing investment

    medium · Don emphasizes Harry Potter as 'take-my-money-now license' that is 'guaranteed multi-year selling sales juggernaut machine' vs uncertain Avatar appeal

  • $

    market_signal: Collector preference shifting toward brand-new game releases over redesigns/remakes of classic machines

    medium · Don articulates desire for 'fresh pinball, brand new ideas' and explains why Godzilla/Metallica redesigns wouldn't justify collection entry despite aesthetic appeal

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.108

0:00
it's time once again for an action-packed episode of don's pinball podcast 136 is what we're up to now and i'm going to talk about how john wick and looney tunes are both wins on location for now i got some thoughts on godzilla black and white edition 70th and some x-men and avatar too let's go
0:30
Channeling my inner DJ there. What's up, everybody? I'm coming to you from the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee. One of the coolest places around. If you have a chance to get out here, I got a full trip report on what's going on. Dropping on Patreon later if you want to hear what I've been up to and the other shenanigans. Here's a hint. went to a park that was recently talked about, like very recently, on the pinball show. So check all that out and satiate your appetite for more Don domination. Let's move on to some quickness with John Wick. Some news has been creeping in, some reviews of how this game's going on location, and this game has been far from lauded online in the public discourse. You know, this game, Dead on Arrival, nobody's buying it, Nobody's selling these things. $12,999 for an L.E. Is this game worth it? I'll tell you who it's worth it for, besides myself. It's worth it for locations. And the reason is because of these John Wick contracts. We are three contracts in to this new evolution of Insider Connected. And the whole idea now is that you get a push notification to your phone when one of these quests drops, right? And then you need to rush out and play this game because these things are limited not only by time but by number. They started out, okay, just to test the waters with this contract that is open to 2,000 entries. 2,000 people can claim this, and there's still over 1,000 or so available last time I checked. And it's essentially just play the game until you beat up or collect enough enemies over longitudinally as many plays. It's very easy to get this one. But it was a test, right? Then we saw a contract come out with 200 spots and another one with only 400 spots. And those weren't easy either. and from what I'm hearing, especially from listening to the Electric Badcast they have people as soon as this contract drops that are just showing up at the arcade out of all hours saying, yeah, I'm pretty much here for WIC I saw this at Next Level I was there, I was having a great time amongst 200 plus pinball machines everything well represented no duplicates outside of NBA Fastbreak which completely makes sense and then as I was doing a live stream we got a contract drop for WIC And then all of a sudden, it was just people hogging up WIC and just playing it. Now, if you were a location and you've got a WIC Pro, particularly if you're one of the only ones in town that has it, when one of these contract drops, the people that are chasing these achievements, myself included, are going to descend on where the closest game is and want to get these things. The other part of that is it's not just log in and play this game and get the little contract award. Oh, no, that would be too simple. They're hard, at least for me. I'm finding them quite hard. This most recent one, I think it was the Deconsecrated Multiball. If you're not familiar with WIC or even if you are, this is the multiball that starts after you hit the captive ball to spell Winston to unlock the ball lock, and then you hit the center ramp, and then you hear, you know, ball one locked, ball two locked. Now, if you're playing on a pro, that voice call-out lady is a filthy liar because that ball ain't locking anywhere. It's going back to your left flipper because there's no physical ball lock on a pro. So why would you even play that version? No. The premium and the LE version, though, does have that physical ball lock. There's a diverter on the middle ramp, and it parks them over above the red circle club, where it then releases the balls resplendently into the little hot tub lounge area, which I just love it. Anyway, so you have to play that multi-ball, and you have to score greater than 7.5 million points, which sounds completely straightforward. And it took me, I swear, 25 plays plus to get this thing. I was playing at a free play arcade, so I was just sitting there, and I must have played 10 plays with my friend Hugh there. And, yeah, I was coming close. I was coming close, but I wasn't getting it. And so then I had to table it, fly home, play on my John Wick LE, and I was finally able to get it. But I swear I had to play another 15, 20 games. It was another two hours of playing this game nonstop just to get that. And no other game is compelling enough to make me do that. Just, you know, come home from a trip rather than unpack, spend time with a fam, go watch TV, catch up on emails, you know, work on games. I'm sitting there glued to WIC at home trying to get this dang thing, and I did it. I did get it. But, see, here's the problem, right? So the way that you play this multi-ball is once you start it, every shot basically is lit up green, and you hit these green shots, and they advance and increase the multiplier for the jackpot or the score for the jackpot. The jackpot's collected at the captain ball. Okay, so what I'm finding is that as you do this and you collect these jackpots, the Winston letters will fill up. Once the Winston letters are full, a super jackpot lights up at the middle ramp. All the other green lights are gone except for the middle ramp. And, of course, hitting that will relight all the jackpots and you can keep going. So if you get to the point where you've collected all the jackpots and the super jackpot is lit and then you drain, you're only getting 7,250,000 points, which is what I kept doing over and over. I just couldn't make it up to get that super jackpot. And essentially your score is just limited right there, at least for my playing level. Maybe if I would have built up the multiplier enough or whatever, then I could have gotten it. But it wasn't until I finally focused and got that super jackpot that I got 8.5 million points and scored that thing. But, man, it was stressful. And I was like, I'm not going to let this thing beat me. And I've got to imagine that there's other people like that too. And they're going to arcades and feeding dollars into this game. Rachel and Cale just released the numbers for June, and John Wick took number one. Took number one earner at their arcade, which has over 20 games. All eras represented. Great games, tournament games. Scooby-Doo is there. Whirlwind is there. Tales from the Crypt is there. Bond 60th is there. Like, everything is there, right? And, you know, they do a thing where you could pay $2 on a game, and they pick a different game every month, and that one is one you can compete for cash prizes at the end of the month. Whoever gets scored the most gets the cash pot. but even despite that, John Wick was the one that earned more and not only that, it earned 50% more than the number two game, which was Pulp Fiction that month and I think the reason that it did was because of these damn contracts people are coming in and sure, you would play Wick or something and then go on to Deadpool or Bond or something else, I'm sure unless there was something compelling enough to make you play it and gosh darn it, I think that's working for Wick So the winners with John Wick appear to be locations that are earning money on this game because Stern is just sitting there just driving people to go play that. And Stern has all his Insider Connected data. Insider Connected is free, and essentially, though, Stern is getting all of this free data and free information from this app. They're seeing who's playing, when they're playing. They can look at all the population data, and they can find which times and which locations are the most people playing and logging in. And then they can look and say, okay, well, here Tuesday at about 3 p.m. seems to be a slow time, so let's go ahead and drop that WIC contract then. Here's 100 spots. Go get them, guys. And then you're going to drive people that otherwise wouldn't be thinking pinball location at that time at that time. And it seems like that is working. And, like, I would certainly do that. Fortunately, I've been able to get home every time that there's been a contract available while it's still available, so I can just churn through my machine. But I can say it seems to be that this game is a win for locations, and my LE is a win for me because this allows me to go home and play until I can get it. Now, I'm not taking the glass off and cheating. I don't want to win that way. It would be completely meaningless at that point. I am earning these things, but as a moderately skilled player, it takes me a while to do it. So for me, I'm having a blast with my beautiful-looking John Wick LE. The retail price is $12,999, which is not small change. This is a game that probably won't hold value, though it will hold it better than I would think Venom would. But for right now, it's just like a house, right? The property value only really matters when you're going to sell. So I'm not looking to sell my John Wick LE right now. I'm having fun with the game. I'm making little mods for it. Mezzle's making a ton of mods for it. Everybody's making mods for it. We putting our little doggies in the machine I having fun with it I going to grow the code or grow organically with the code which I like doing that I in on the ground floor with the Wixter I like the theme, and I love that I'm hearing more John Wick call-outs in the game. Yeah, I'm thinking I'm back, right, when you go to start. Of course. Of course you want to hear that. More of that, please, Stern. I know somebody's listening out there. Just keep bringing it. Just get all of the movies. He's got to have like 15 lines of dialogue across four movies. Put all of that in the game for me, please, if you would, if you could do me a solid. I think that'd be awesome. Keanu, dude, if you want to record some custom call-outs, that would be super cool. If anyone out there happens to know this guy, maybe say, hey, you know, we'd go into a recording booth for 15 minutes, lay down some tracks, let's do some pinball. Would definitely love that. It would be appreciated. So Wick derided online, derided from critics. yes it's not Godzilla or Deadpool it's code is not as complex as James Bond 007's Cornerstone is it doesn't shoot as elegantly as Bond 60th but damn it I'm having fun with it and I had fun with Venom too but Venom didn't have contracts like this contract stuff what's Insider Connected brought us it's brought us leveling up with Venom it's brought us contracts and push notifications with John Wick once they get to a dynamite theme like a Pokemon and all of a sudden there's limited time creatures to capture, little creatures you can level up, and just have them longitudinally follow you across arcades and homes and things. Man, it's just going to be solid. I love this. And I love that Jersey Jack Pinball is coming around to something similar to this as well. Although, limited time contracts for Elton John don't quite transition as well as they should. But, I can tell you, I'm having fun with WIC.

“I want to unbox that thing. I want to play it for the first time in my house if possible, just because the dopamine rush is unreal when that happens.”

Don @ X-Men speculation section — Reveals collector psychology regarding new vs. re-released games and personal motivation for home purchases

  • “T-molding is something simple to do. It requires only two tools and takes about 15 to 20 minutes, maybe 25 minutes if it's your first time. But I can do a whole game in 10 minutes or less pretty simply.”

    Don @ closing segment — Practical customization advice demonstrating accessibility of cabinet modifications for collectors

    • Jersey Jack Pinball
    company
    Avatargame
    X-Mengame
    Harry Pottergame
    Godzillagame
    Pulp Fictiongame
    Jack Dangerperson
    John Borgperson
    Rachel and Caleperson
    Jeffperson
    Keanu Reevesperson
    Danielperson
    Sterling / Balls of Steel Pinballperson
    Barrels of Funcompany
    Elton Johngame
    Mezzleperson
    Dan Donahueperson
  • $

    market_signal: John Wick secondary market depreciation with LE prices dropping from $12,999 MSRP to ~$10,500

    medium · Don states 'the le can be had for like 10-5 right now' indicating significant price softening in secondary market

  • $

    market_signal: Location operators facing ROI challenges with $12K+ Jersey Jack games requiring break-even plays that may never materialize

    high · Don calculates needing 12,000 plays to break even and expresses doubt any game achieves that trajectory except in pin bars with secondary revenue

  • ?

    product_strategy: John Wick's mechanical design limitations on Pro tier (missing physical ball lock) directly impact contract difficulty and playability parity

    high · Don details how Deconsecrated Multiball contract is unwinnable on Pro due to lack of physical lock diverter, making Premium/LE mandatory for full experience

  • ?

    product_strategy: Godzilla 70th Anniversary Edition accessories pipeline including Art Blades, toppers, and monochromatic mod availability coming soon

    high · Don confirms third-party modders (Stumbler, Diddy Mods, Tilt Graphics, Pin Graphics) are 'scrambling right now to do monochromatic versions'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jersey Jack Pinball developing Avatar game, but validity questioned with limited source confidence

    low · Don describes hearing Avatar rumors 'from a couple of places here and there, nothing solid, nothing I would hang my hat on'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: X-Men (potentially redesign of prior John Borg version or new Jack Danger layout) suspected for September Stern Cornerstone release

    medium · Don cites multiple unnamed sources and notes timing aligns with annual Marvel licensing cycle; characterizes as 'strongest rumor' but 50-50 confidence

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: John Wick gaining surprising location appeal despite negative critical reception and online derision

    high · Don contrasts game's poor online reputation with concrete #1 earnings data from Electric Bat, attributing success to contract system rather than base gameplay

    • 10:47
    These games aren't cheap. If it's not for you, that's totally okay. Like, don't buy one if you don't want one. But, like, I'm kind of thinking I really like mine that I have. It looks pretty over there. I got a lit frame with an alternate trans light up on the wall by it. I have my own little wick corner. I went ahead and printed myself an oversized number two pencil as a shooter rod. It's so fun. If you're going to be at the Southern Fright Gaming Expo this weekend, you're going to see it because I brought one with me to show off. And if you want one, I'll sell it to you because I have the file. I can go print some more when I get home. But I won't step on Sterling's toes from Balls of Steel Pinball, who also has a little pencil he's shooting around. And, you know what, I'll even plug his more streamlined Ninja Turtle shooter rod. Only $100 with free shipping. Balls of Steel Pinball. Go check him out.
    11:32
    Great job, Sterling. So I'll save Avatar here for a little bit. Let's talk Godzilla 70th Edition. I just heard through that pinball grapevine that not only will this game be on location at the Cedio Comic-Con this weekend, But also, it's going to come to the Southern Pride Gaming Expo in Atlanta, which I'm currently on the road on my way there. I'll be in Atlanta tomorrow night, Thursday night, to get ready for the show to start on Friday. And it seems like some of my friends out there that are industry-connected, they're going to have one of these games there, hopefully insider-connected as well, and you can get a special badge for playing at the Southern Pride Expo. I want to see this game. Everybody, like everybody from fans online to my parents, are convinced that I'm purchasing one of these things. Serendipitously, I sold my Godzilla a week or so prior, so the timing totally fits. I have got a black and white Elvira Bloodbred Kiss. I've got a Monsters Premium black and white I just acquired. Wouldn't it be great in the lineup to have the third black and white game right there? Oh my goodness. The Godzilla black and white 70th anniversary edition. And maybe do some red powder coat on the legs, gloss black powder coat on the lockdown bar and some laser cut side rails from cab custom uh maybe do a red coin door and throw one of those wizard mods panels uh speaker panel magnets across there just have the thing look dope until the black and white topper comes out now i'm not saying i don't think that's a great idea but currently i don't have any definite plans to go and do that and that's fine this game is not an le though we all know this was supposed to be one. Sounds like they'll be made as long as there's demand, and how can there not be? This thing on paper looks fantastic, and it's still Godzilla. Shoot the wamps to light a battle. Come on, you know, kaiju battles. It's still like the greatest game of the modern era. Nothing yet has quite touched it, though, man, Jaws was close. You know, Elton John's climbing up there, but its theme is holding it back.
    13:36
    I want to see some more bangers from Elwynn, man. What are we going to see? So anyway, this game looks awesome. I talked to Jeff at Mad Pinball, jeffatmadpinball.com. If you want to go ahead and put yourself on a list and order something, he's sold out of his Godzilla 70th, and he's already calling back to try to get some more supply there. So, you know, if you're looking for one, get in with Jeff. He tends to get games in, though he's becoming more popular now. Guy's got us the Fresh Pinball podcast as well. Just listen to that episode this week. Dudes are fun. We have a good time. They have that awesome jingle.
    14:05
    Lost my ball, I'm so mad. I'm going to play the whole thing right now, but go check it out, man. It's dope, bad pinball. So, yeah, Godzilla 70th, and it's looking good, dude. It's looking good. So I'll be reporting from the road all this weekend from Southern Friday Gaming Expo. We'll do some live streams. I'll record my thoughts as soon as I play it. I'll let you guys know what I think. $96.99 is its MSRP retail price. If you don't have a Godzilla, yeah, this is kind of the one to get, especially because all the accessories are about to come out again. You'll be able to get the Art Blades. I'm sure everybody is scrambling right now to do monochromatic versions of their mods. So, you know, from Stumbler to Diddy Mods to Tilt Graphics to everybody. Pin Graphics as well. I don't want to leave you guys out. Y'all are going to be making stuff for it. Maybe I'll even make some monochromatic things too because I do love Godzilla. But, you know, all games have to have their cycle where they cycle on through. And I don't think that that is a bad thing. Let's talk about one other thing that came to mind. And that's, as it was kind of mumbling over in my brain, this X-Men speculation. We're supposed to get the Stern Cornerstone out September-ish would make sense to me. Keep hearing X-Men is like the strongest rumor that I keep hearing from different sources. So, yeah, that would totally make sense. You know, they tend to release a Disney Marvel license once a year. Venom was like 12 months ago exactly. So that would kind of line up. every 12 to 18 months have a Disney property come out and this would be it so one thing that came into my brain was what if this isn't like a brand new X-Men 97 layout from Jack Danger that we're anticipating what if this is kind of a redressing of the last X-Men game that we came out John Borg I believe was responsible for that one the one where there was the Magneto edition and the Wolverine edition so what if there was like an X-Men 97 edition of that game or if we brought that game to the modern era in a Spike 2 cabinet or Spike 3 cabinet, maybe that's what it would be. Very exciting if that happened. I don't know. Now, the game shoots great. I played one of the LE editions while I was on the road in the Pacific Northwest up there in Bellingham.
    16:19
    Blanking on his name. The operator that I was hanging out with. God, he's going to kill me. We went to one of his pizza places that he operates, and he had his X-Men there. and it was like totally dope. I'm going to look up his name, man. What am I blanking on? Dude, as soon as I paused it, it was Daniel. God, Daniel. Dang it, Daniel. How could I forget? Anyway, so we played his X-Men there and it was like the first time in a long time that I put some time on it. I got to play it around. The thing shoots well. It's loaded with everything you could want. I could kind of see like, yeah, it would be pretty easy to just go kind of back to that layout and bring it out again. Maybe add a couple of magnets in there or something or a few more than were in there prior, maybe fix up any issues, any maintenance headaches that have happened over the year and redress it. And I hate it that that would kind of make sense that they're doing that. It would kill all of the enthusiasm for it, though, for me. Well, no, I'll take that back. I wouldn't be unenthusiastic towards an X-Men redo like that, but that would be a location playing game for me. I would just go collect the achievements and whatnot on location, and it wouldn't be something that I would look to bring home. I love to get excited about new pinball, fresh pinball, brand new ideas. I want to unbox that thing. I want to play it for the first time in my house if possible, just because the dopamine rush is unreal when that happens. You get the brand new fancy game, get it home, unwrap it, play it. It's super fun. But if it was just a redressing, I would feel like this, how I feel about Godzilla right now being redone or Metallica being redone. It looks cool. I can't wait to go play it on location. but I'm not going to get rid of something from my lineup to put it in That not compelling enough John Wick LE all day that compelling It a brand new game It controversial It makes the haters angry that I enjoying it which makes me enjoy it even more on that level. Plus, objectively, I am having fun with the game. I like the Keanu Reeves stuff. I like the Neon Noir thing they've created. I have the expression lights with it.
    18:18
    I could talk to John Wick for an hour. Look, I think the premium's the sucker bet. Don't buy the premium.
    18:24
    And the pro is pretty stripped down so it's kind of like get the le or just don't but the le can be had for like 10-5 right now so like why would you not go get an le and have uh the best looking machine the stained glass back glass all the lights are already in there who knows when stern's ever going to release them you get invisiglass you get a shaker motor already in there you don't have to put it in there i put a knocker in there i put a start button uh i'm playing with shooter rods and that's kind of all you need to do. That and assemble a topper. Anyway, I talked myself into the LE using that circuitous logic of needing to have all the features. The premium, you would get the cool play field, but you don't get the lights, you don't get anything else. You have to buy the shaker, and you have to buy the invisiglass, and on and on and on and on. The LE is just the full package. There it is. You get the beautiful foil artwork. There's no other way to get that. You get the stained glass back glass. There's no other way to get that. I just think it works, man. And like the bang bang lights that come with the game it's just awesome man you don't get that with the premium you don't get it with the pro at least not yet I don't know maybe they'll surprise us in this fall all the accessories will be available so X-Men speculation I hope I'm not right but I'm kind of thinking I could be I'll be 50-50 on it we'll see what happens and it may not be X-Men at all maybe a completely other cornerstone we'll wait and we will see but I'm cautiously optimistic man once we get to Expos, all these things are going to be answered. So this time will be for having fun at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, playing with a monochromatic Godzilla, and that's what we'll do. Let's talk some Jersey Jack. So I'm hype on Harry Potter, and I'm probably doing a whole lot of disappointment where I'm hyping myself up for something that may not even be real, and then whatever they release is never going to live up to whatever I built up in my head. Also, even if it is Harry Potter or Wizarding World, I'm still probably hyping it up more in my head than it will be in actuality.
    20:21
    Antisappointment. I'm setting myself up for failure. I can't help it. I'm a passionate individual. So now I'm hearing rumors from a couple of places here and there, nothing solid, nothing I would hang my hat on if I was wearing one, about Avatar coming out from J.J.P. So, like, on the one sense I get it, it'll look really great. It'll have a lot of lights and all that stuff. Is it just going to be a way of water? Is it going to be movie one and two? I don't know, man. This story of Avatar is a retelling of Fern Gully. It's a retelling of Pocahontas. We've heard it before. It was a spectacle in the theaters. It made a lot of money. It was very much a movie of its time. If it were to come out today, I don't know that it would be some billion-dollar generating thing. But what do I know? People seem to be still hype on this thing. I do love the land that they built at Disney's Animal Kingdom around Avatar. Gorgeous land. now the park's hardly ever open at night so you can see all the gorgeous lighting and the glow effects but if you are in florida when hollow when animal kingdom is open late um the fall is a good time for that because it gets dark early if you can take a chance and see that area after dark it really is cool um but the sad thing is most people never see that because the park has hardly ever opened that late um you know let's share hotel guests and you can have extended hours or something um but as cool as the land is as cool as the food is and the shop uh the two rides in the land are just lackluster for me and they never really did put that third ride in there it's got one of the worst dark rides ever made um it's gorgeous on the inside you're floating in a wicker basket you know so it's like a boat dark ride um through this really cool themed area with a lot of screens and one impressive animatronic but the whole ride seems to be about you know seven minute, no, not even seven, three minutes long, 20 feet in length. And it's like, just as you're getting going and like the story should really be kicking off. You're at the unload. Like that was it. Like what the heck would happen with the Navi river journey? And then the simulator ride, it's a simulator ride. It's about four minutes long, about three and a half minutes into it, the nausea kicks in. So I don't ride it a whole lot, even though the queue is completely amazing. Um, anyway, so is there, are there legs for avatar? Um, you know, is this a, if this is a $12,000 and $15,000 game? Is it compelling enough to buy? If I had a location, I would have such a hard time putting in a Jersey Jack game at this point. You know, $12,000, if I put an Elton John Platinum Edition in my arcade, it's going to generate a lot of interest. People are going to want to play it. The game plays very well. But, you know, when I'm looking at needing 12,000 plays to break even, when is that ever going to happen, man? You know, is this game going to be going gangbusters for like a year and a half so I can earn back the money that I paid into it? And then will it then continue to earn for the next seven years where it makes sense having this game around? I just don't know, man. If I had a location, I would be very hesitant to invest $12,000 into one spot. You know, maybe pick one up used down the road. I don't know, man. Unless you have like a pin bar or something where the pinball machines are just kind of secondary income. Those are just to get people in the door so they'll then buy $12 themed shots around the games. I think that's where it really works. Otherwise, if you're a high-end collector and you really want to have these things in your home, fine. But is Avatar that compelling? From what I've been hearing from everybody, Harry Potter is a take-my-money-now license. Do it. Put in whatever work you have to to secure that license because that is a guaranteed multi-year selling sales juggernaut machine, which is what you would need right now in the market that we're heading into. so I don't know if there's enough luster there for an avatar why don't you email me donspinballpodcastgmail.com let me know what you think maybe I'm completely tone deaf on this and there's just coast to coast avatar fans that have fistfuls of money and they love this license and they want to play in that world I guess, I don't know stranger things have happened let's do an email corner alright so I got an email from Dan Donahue today what's up just emailing in to say hey don like what you're doing and so i wanted to give you a shout out on the pod because obviously you're listening to this and so let me scroll on back down to where you were because every okay hey don love listening to your shows i really enjoy your content insight into the hobby thanks for providing something for us pinball crazies that need as much content as possible thanks man dan yes dude damn for sure that's exactly why i'm doing this because i i'm like you man we're the same you and me we're the same can't you see um i go through and i listen to all of the podcasts too and then i was reaching a point where i was just getting done with everything and it's like okay so like what now what do i listen to i like to put something on on my headphones i get excited when a new episode of something drops there's new uh pinball junk drawer on the poor man's pinball podcast network i just got that update that there's new stuff out there for myself with foghorn leghorn and craft brew sally go listen to them if you haven't um i love to put them on and then you know go play some pins with my headphones in i tend to play much better when i do that because it's like i kind of get out of my own head a little bit and then i'm kind of on autopilot i tend to be more relaxed and it's super fun i love doing that so if i can give back to the same community uh that gives me so much input that's kind of what it's about so thanks man i love the good word um because it means that somebody out there is listening and not only that They appreciate what I'm doing, which makes me just want to do it even more. So if you're sitting on some comments or something, fire them on to me. Don'sPinballPodcast at gmail.com is a way to get to me, and maybe you'll be featured on a future email corner. Email corner! All right, came across this discussion earlier regarding T-molding replacement and thought, man, this is something that needs to get hyped up because it is at equal parts simple to do and really does change the look of your machine. and so the question was from a novice who hasn't done this before, how many feet of T-molding do I need? So here's the thing. Go on to Amazon and go into T-molding, and there's a company that just sells arcade T-molding. Get the three-quarter inch width. That's what is standard on our machines, especially the Sterns, which is primarily who uses them. And it comes in like 10 and 20-foot rolls. 20 feet is what you need. You don't need 20 feet. You need about 12, and so you'll have a little bit of remnant left over. in case you mess up, you know, just like some buffer there. It's like 20 bucks. It's like a dollar a foot for this stuff. And that's with free shipping on Amazon. So you can't go wrong. So if you got a game and if you're crazy like me and you powder coated it and you want it to match or have like a kind of cohabitating color T is super easy to do You know when I got my Elvira Premium it came with black or red T I took that off and put purple in there because I did a purple powder coat to make it look like the 40th anniversary edition. I redid the cabinet graphics and back box graphics because I'm nuts and really made that thing shine by doing that. When I redid Jaws, I had a Jaws Premium. I peeled off the red that came with it and put on white, and it matched the polar white armor that I'd put on there and made it look like the LE. And it's super simple to do. So I want to put this out there. Maybe you don't want a powder coat. Maybe you don't even want to switch out trans lights or anything. But team-holding is something simple to do. It requires only two tools and takes about 15 to 20 minutes, maybe 25 minutes if it's your first time. But I can do a whole game in 10 minutes or less pretty simply. And here's what you do. Let's just go do a little Dawn's demonstration here. All right, so if you look towards the bottom of your back box, you'll see where the seam is, where the T-molding meets itself. Just get your fingernail in there or a flathead screwdriver and just start pulling it on down. It'll come out, and then just take that in your hand, grip it and rip it. Just pull it all the way out circumferentially around the back box. It'll come out. It'll probably sprinkle some sawdust on the floor. I've seen it occasionally where they've put a drop of glue in somewhere. so sometimes I have had to pull with some pliers or something to get that out but essentially it all just comes out. The only thing holding it in is the little ridges on the T-molding itself and then you can have your own T-molding and you just start pushing it in. I started the exact same spot at the bottom of the back box and just stick it right in there. The other tool you're going to need for this is some diagonal cutting pliers, just the cutting pliers, things you would use to snip zip ties with. I get the standard size ones and what you have to do is cut out that notch around the corner of the back box where it's going in there because it's a T so the long part of the T actually goes into the wood there you've got to remove that for a corner to accommodate that bend so using the diagonal cutting pliers angle in 45 degrees towards the apex of that curve from one side, clip it and then do the same thing from the other side So you're going to cut a 90-degree square angle, you know, 45 degrees from the longitudinal axis. It'll make sense once you do it.
    29:25
    And you just take that little wedge out right where the corner of the back box is going to be and then just kind of press fit it and keep going. There's not really a way to mess it up. If you end up taking off too much, it's salvageable. It's not going to matter. You know, but do the best you can to kind of guesstimate where that bend is going to be and just, you know, cut in 45 degrees from one direction, 45 from the other. pull that little triangle wedge out, and just keep going. Once you come all the way around, that's the tricky bit. Leave yourself an extra inch and just press fit it in. The next thing you do is I take a little rubber mallet that I have. It's actually a little plastic mallet. And I just go around and tap, tap, tap, tap, and tap it all in flush. Once you get to the end, this is the only real tricky part. You have to trim the thing exactly so it meets up nice and flush. What I like to do is, of course, trim it a little bit longer and then eyeball it, take off a little bit more eyeball it then just keep trimming off a little bit at a time until it gets it right perfect and you know if you mess it up slightly no one's really even going to notice but you just have to make sure you cut it as close to square as possible and put it in there then just do the same thing with the other side and there you go you can always use the old t molding that you take off as a measurement so you kind of have a better idea of where to cut but essentially just you know put it in go around if you mess it up you should have enough of a remnant to go around again if need be but like that's it after you do it once or twice man you're going to be a pro at it and then from then on save the pieces you took off of one game because that color might work for another one and guess what it's already cut and ready to go you just kind of put it on in i've done that before a lot of stern games tend to ship with black or red for some reason and so uh those colors will work with a different machine if you want to swap them out give yourself a different look you know so t-molding easy to do um it even comes in a chrome and a gold chrome uh the gold chrome is actually what the john wick le comes with uh and it just looks fire man so it's something simple to do go ahead and try it you're really not going to permanently ruin anything and if you hate it or you really mess it up you can take the original t-molding and put it right back in um and then nobody would be any the wiser so go ahead and try it if you want to give your game a cool look i go ahead and wholeheartedly endorse that uh what else do we have to talk about let's talk about looney tunes the other game that is doing great on location from what i've been able to see i saw this again at next level who had just gotten their looney tunes in and you know i went over there and played it it was playing it was set up and playing great uh no issues with the vuck i didn't see the ball getting stuck behind the drop target so it's one of the newer builds where that's that's been fixed now um and then later on they came back to it and there was a family you know with their kid up on a stool playing looney tunes and i saw the same thing at district one arcade where just you know a parent had brought their kid over to play some pinball and they were just playing looney tunes man the kids sitting there monkey flipping on the thing the cartoons are playing the sound effects are going off and they're just having a great time with it you know how is this game not sold out yet it's got to be close it's got to be close but man yeah um you know we're going to be talking about game of the year and there's some stiff competition this year uh but chiefly i think it's going to come down between Jaws and Looney Tunes as far as Game of the Year. If we're including Elton John as well, it's going to be pretty stiff. Elton John will be going up against Labyrinth as well, although were they included in last year's Game of the Year? I have to go back. We had Twippies, didn't we?
    32:46
    So, yeah. Also, in the social media news, Jenga's Retro Jenga just did a 40-minute video. He just got his Looney Tunes, and I can't wait to hear his opinions. I haven't had time yet to watch his video since I've been on the road, but I'm going to go check that out here soon. Also, Gonzo's Pinball Flipperama. Cool channel. He did like a this or that with Turner Classic Movies. I mean, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Looney Tunes. I think one other game too. And that's been on my watch list. I just haven't quite got to it yet. Mainly because I've been traveling non-stop. I spent last week in the Pacific Northwest and here I am in the South about to go to the deep, deep South.
    33:23
    And so, you know, it's just the time limits on it. But go check it out. Support those guys. They make cool content. I wish my YouTube game was at that level. I'll be having a conversation with Genghis maybe even later tonight for a new WAP episode, so check that out if you're so inclined and you need some more pinball content there. What else did I want to talk about? I think that's about it for now. We'll be dropping a Trip Report podcast on Patreon later with some more speculations and news and things that I've been hearing, so go check that out if you're a Patreon member. If you want to be, five bucks will get you in the door and just go check it out. I'm at 99 members right now. Would you please be member 100? And then as soon as I get back home, we'll be doing another Patreon giveaway. I'm the Mr. Translate Man, so we'll do another Translate giveaway. Maybe I'll give you your option. If you want to translate, you can get a Translate or a Jaws chicken bucket. Those have sold so well that I think I want to cut when the getting's good. And I think I'm going to go ahead and end the run on those. the alternate Jaws bucket, the alternate chum bucket for Jaws. I made a KFC bucket complete with fried chicken. It's completely absurd, makes me laugh, and other people love it too. They've been buying the crap out of it. But I'm thinking I'm ending the production run of that. So if you want one, put an order in now. It's on a Pinside store. Email me or something because I'm about to just cut them off, and then we'll move on to other projects and things. But it's been a successful run, and it's cracked me the ever-loving heck up. So Southern Fried Gaming Expo begins on Friday. I'll be on site on Thursday night. I just heard from the Spooky Crew. They are loaded up, wheels up, and on their way down. Scott Ines from the Voice of Scooby-Doo and all this stuff. Maybe it's Ines. Ines? He's going to be there in person signing stuff, getting photos and autographs and stuff. I'm so excited about this event because I heard there's wrestling there too. It's going to be great. It's going to be a chance to go to a pinball show in a region of the country that I haven't been to before. See some people that maybe aren't able to travel as freely as I am. We'll shake some hands. We'll slap some babies. I'll be playing some dang pinball. Hopefully, I'll be playing Godzilla 70th. And I'll give all of my impressions to you guys as soon as I hear about that. So look forward to that.
    35:39
    Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com is a way to get back to me just like Dan did. And then maybe I'll read your email on the air. otherwise let me know how I'm doing how are you doing join the Patreon join the Discord join the Facebook page let's talk and chat it's all I do is talk to people and it enlivens my life and yours jeffatmanpillow.com Godzilla 70 I can't wait