Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

My Road to 1000 Subscribers!

Cary Hardy·video·27m 49s·analyzed·Nov 19, 2019
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Cary Hardy celebrates 1K subscribers, reflecting on channel evolution from basic restorations to polished pinball content.

Summary

Cary Hardy celebrates reaching 1,000 YouTube subscribers by reflecting on his channel's evolution from basic restoration videos to polished content with voiceover, production equipment upgrades, and tutorial series. He traces his journey from arcade restoration (Tekken Tag) through pinball passion, documenting key milestones like his first pinball video (Back to the Future clear coat), breakthrough how-to content (Mylar removal, cleaning and waxing), and viral barn-find videos (Sorcerer, Addams Family). Hardy credits his community engagement, equipment investments (DSLR, studio lighting, green screen), and collaborations (Straight Down the Middle, Pinball Expo appearance) as drivers of channel growth.

Key Claims

  • Cary Hardy started with an arcade machine (Tekken Tag) from a friend Jason, converted it to MAME emulator, then discovered pinball via a cheap non-working machine at an auction.

    high confidence · Direct personal narrative at beginning of video; corroborated by multiple video examples shown.

  • Hardy's first pinball YouTube video was a Back to the Future clear coat restoration in standard definition with no voiceover.

    high confidence · Explicitly stated and shown as clip in video montage.

  • A four-part Black Knight hardtop installation series became a reference resource that people commonly direct others to on pinball forums (e.g., PinSide).

    high confidence · Hardy states: 'when people are asking for how-to videos people usually tend to direct people to this series that is available.'

  • Hardy's barn-find Sorcerer video got the most views the quickest of his content.

    high confidence · Explicitly stated: 'This is the video that I want to say got the most views the quickest.'

  • Hardy was flown to Chicago Pinball Expo by Scott from Penn Stadiums to assist with content creation.

    high confidence · Direct statement: 'Scott from Penn Stadiums paid my way to bring me in there to help him out.'

  • Hardy transitioned from Facebook-only short-form content to YouTube mid-way through the X-Files restoration series.

    high confidence · Stated: 'it wasn't till I was probably about maybe halfway through the X-Files series that I decided you know what I'm gonna put these up on YouTube.'

  • Hardy started at ~20 subscribers and reached 663 subscribers around the one-year anniversary (July 4th) of his X-Files video series.

    high confidence · Directly quoted from video: 'I had maybe in the 20s the 20 range on subscribers now as of recording this I'm at 663.'

  • Hardy has collaborated with Straight Down the Middle on content in addition to his own channel.

    high confidence · Stated: 'I've done videos on two channels including my own with straight down the middle.'

Notable Quotes

  • “I fell in love with doing everything that had to do with these contraptions and it became an addiction and eventually turned into a strong passion of mine.”

    Cary Hardy@ 2:06 — Describes the pivotal moment when pinball transitioned from casual interest to serious hobby obsession.

  • “I want to do a little bit more than just your basic one single camera showing you how to do something i want to do a little bit more of a show a little bit more of finesse to it.”

    Cary Hardy@ 11:01 — Articulates his production philosophy and commitment to quality presentation beyond bare-minimum instructional content.

  • “I still am not used to hearing stuff like that so if i look surprised whenever you would come up to me and like tell me that you enjoyed my content sometimes that would take me a second to process that.”

    Cary Hardy@ 25:27 — Reflects genuine surprise and humility about community recognition at Pinball Expo, showing authentic personality.

  • “What's up everyone and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. If that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below.”

    Cary Hardy@ 16:23 — Signature catchphrase that became consistent branding across his content.

  • “When people are asking for how-to videos people usually tend to direct people to this series that is available.”

    Cary Hardy@ 14:38 — Indicates that Hardy's Black Knight hardtop series achieved significant community authority and peer recommendation status.

Entities

Cary HardypersonJasonpersonStraight Down the MiddleorganizationScottpersonBack to the FuturegameTerminator 2 Judgment DaygameX-Filesgame

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Hardy received direct community recognition and personal engagement at Pinball Expo, with attendees approaching him to praise content and take selfies. This indicates his content has established real community visibility and positive reception beyond YouTube metrics.

    high · Hardy states: 'Thanks to basically all of you out there that recognized me at the expo, came up to me, shook my hand, even got a selfie every once in a while, gave me the compliments.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Hardy systematically upgraded production value and content sophistication over time (standard definition → voiceover → first-person camera → DSLR + green screen + studio lighting), indicating deliberate strategy to improve content quality and audience retention.

    high · Multiple video clips showing progression from basic Tekken Tag footage through increasingly polished productions, culminating in stated purchase of 'Nikon DSLR so this camera is going to give me the ability to give you a much better quality.'

  • ?

    industry_signal: Hardy expanded from solo YouTube channel to collaborating with established pinball media (Straight Down the Middle, This Week in Pinball interview adaptations), indicating maturation into broader ecosystem participation.

    high · Hardy states: 'I've done videos on two channels including my own with straight down the middle' and describes repackaging This Week in Pinball interviews as video content.

  • ?

    industry_signal: Hardy's content quality and community presence achieved sufficient recognition for sponsor-supported travel to major industry event (Chicago Pinball Expo), indicating he is now perceived as valuable media contributor by operators/industry figures.

    high · Hardy: 'Scott from Penn Stadiums paid my way to bring me in there to help him out' at Pinball Expo; received multiple personal compliments and recognition from attendees.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.083

0:00
what's up guys and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball so that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below when I first started doing this channel I never would have even imagined having 100 subscribers and whenever I met that marker that was a big excitement for me and now I've now multiplied that by 10 and I have now hit the 1,000 subscriber mark and that is due to all of you out there that have taken the time and dedication of just clicking on that subscribe button. That's essentially all that really marks is the fact that I've had a thousand people make that decision of hitting that subscribe button. I do have an idea for another video that I want to put on this channel that will celebrate that in another fashion but what I wanted to do on this video was reflect back from my beginning all the way to right now, whether it be just certain highlights or just how I progressed over the time period of starting this channel. Now, some of you know a little bit about my history from listening to me on certain podcasts, but I originally started with an arcade machine, Tekken Tag, that I got from my friend Jason. And that turned into me basically ripping it apart and restoring it somewhat, but turning it into a multiple arcade machine emulator, also known as a main. So I got that and had fun dealing with that, but I wanted to go to an arcade auction. I went to an arcade auction, ended up buying a very cheap pinball machine that was non-working, fixed it, and fell in love with doing everything that had to do with these contraptions. and it became an addiction and eventually turned into a strong passion of mine. And it wouldn't even be until years later that I would decide to turn that passion and interest of the hobby into more by getting involved more into the social side of it and putting things up on YouTube related to it. I never would have even thought about starting up a channel and being just as far along as I am now. I know so my very first video that I put up on here that was pinball related was actually showing off my clear coating job that I did on my back to the future pinball machine these are just going to be clips guys so if you actually want to see the full video by all means travel back on my page find it and feel free to watch it and of course my beginning videos are going to be in a standard definition kind of very poor resolution because once again I was still learning the whole video side of things and high definition and quality at the time wasn't really pertinent to me so here's my back to the future machine
Black Knight
game
Tales of the Arabian Nightsgame
Centaurgame
Sorcerergame
Ms. Pac-Mangame
Addams Familygame
Deep Root Pinballgame
Pinball Expoevent
Houston Arcade Expoevent
This Week in Pinballorganization
CPR (California Pinball Restoration)company
PinSideorganization
Penn Stadiumscompany
  • ?

    content_signal: Hardy's Black Knight hardtop installation series achieved reference-material status in the community, with users regularly directing others to his tutorial on forums like PinSide. Indicates his how-to content fills a knowledge gap.

    high · Hardy: 'when people are asking for how-to videos people usually tend to direct people to this series that is available. The content of the series is going to help out the individuals that really need all the information.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Hardy's barn-find narrative videos (particularly Sorcerer/Addams Family storyline) generated fastest viewership growth, suggesting narrative-driven, documentary-style content resonates more than straightforward tutorials.

    high · Hardy explicitly states about Sorcerer video: 'This is the video that I want to say got the most views the quickest' and describes the narrative arc of the barn find discovery.

    • 3:35
    So when doing this kind of filmography and putting it up on YouTube, I didn't do any kind of voiceover work or really even do anything other than just showing you before, during, and after. And I decided to change that up the next restoration I did. And that was Terminator 2.
    3:57
    Okay, Terminator 2, Judgment Day, Pinball Machine restoration is now complete. this is all the before footage so as you can tell firstly what needed to go was all of the artwork i mean it was flaking and chipping away just by cleaning it deep gouges in the wood right there from the legs a coin door obviously needs to be repainted and clear coated the gun needed to be taken apart, disassembled, cleaned, painted over. This is incandescent bulbs at this time.
    4:33
    Then I swap them out with LEDs to make everything pop. There were no flippers on this machine, as well as the parts that were underneath it that make it go weren't there.
    4:56
    With Terminator 2, I actually did voiceover. And I did my first how-to. This was showing people how to remove Mylar adhesive from their playfield. This was something that, at that time, not a lot of information was available online about it. So I was like I'm gonna take one here and I'm gonna do a little bit of recording voiceover And this was actually my first how-to
    5:31
    What you want to do this is my method you can do what you want a little bit of flour Spread it all out and you can see where the glue is at now definitely because that's where it's sticking And that pretty much gets rid of the glue. Just to show you that it gets rid of it, I'll use some flour again on here just so you can see that it's not going anywhere. And I can just wipe that away. And then of course I show off the complete afterwards restoration of the jackpot machine. This is the video basically that I eventually redid for Straight Down the Middle. this is the first time that you actually get to see me in front of the camera and talking to you and explaining how to go about doing something so this was another step up from what my previous videos were sup everyone gonna do a video here Not sure how long it gonna take for me to do it I just gonna wing it and see what happens
    7:05
    Basically I want to show you how to build a kill room also known as a spray room or a shoot room for a clear Coating your pinball playfield you can adjust accordingly to what you feel Needs to be done or doesn't need to be done
    7:17
    Like I've done this before just on inside the garage so I'm thinking it's going to turn out even better due to the fact that I don't have to worry about adverse weather conditions outside. This is at the point of time where I started to actually go I'm going to do pinball content. Now originally whenever I started doing pinball content it was going to be strictly just for Facebook. I put them together filmed them sped up the time and all that kind of stuff to make them maybe just maybe a minute or two long just to kind of for people to have something to watch while they're scrolling through Facebook and it wasn't till I was probably about maybe halfway through the X-Files series that I decided you know what I'm gonna put these up on YouTube going on guys I'm gonna try to document the repair and restoring of this X-Files pinball machine
    8:16
    all right let's do this the kill room got the legs all clean and sanded down to get any kind of loose debris dirt whatever else could be on there off and now we're going to paint these legs now a lot of the times if it was my machine i'd get them powder coated but we're going to do this the cheapest way possible and that is just by spray painting them and it all depends on what the customer's budget is and this is in his budget not powder coating so what we're going to do is we're going to even do it in a purple then this is when I started to get a little bit more comfortable with being in front of the camera So I decided to start setting up my camera for a webcam base. And my webcam is what I strictly used for a good, almost a full year. These days on modern pinball machines, you can update your pinball machine by downloading the update via the internet and installing it via USB drive. Compare that to what we used to have to do by using a ROM chip, burning the correct revision onto these, and removing the old one, installing the new one. So today we are going to be updating Tales of the Arabian Nights from revision 1.1 to 1.4. Let's get started.
    9:48
    Then I started implementing more of the first person viewpoints. I thought that would be a different perspective for a lot of people to kind of spice things up a little bit. for some people it was a little nauseating because I sped it up really quick and uh from other people they thought it was really entertaining and for the finale of this this is actually the very first time you hear my closeout phrase which I didn't think was going to be considered something that I was going to say all the time
    10:26
    What's up guys? Here is my final episode for the X-Files Pinball Machine. I mean, look at the rubber rings on the flippers. I can't get over this. Look at how they just burst with color. I mean, like, they're there. There they are. There's no mistaking it. By all means, guys, check me out on YouTube. Just search for Cary Hardy. You should be able to find me. And subscribe. You never know, I might post something that you might find interesting. Some do's and some don'ts. Thanks for watching, guys. Peace out. something i was hoping that people would recognize and notice on my videos is that i try to do a little more than just your basic one single camera showing you how to do something i want to do a little bit more of a show a little bit more of finesse to it i mean i know from personal experience from watching certain other individuals videos that i mean i'm like man it'd be nice if the camera would have been at this location or they could have shown this and I was like you know what I'm gonna start doing something like that I'm gonna start being a little more finesse with the camera. Ms. Pac-Man one of the most popular arcade video games of all time from the Golden Age. Over the past decade arcades and film machines have been on the rise again when it comes to putting them into your residential home. With that being said not all of us have the real estate for a slew of machines or multiple different cabinets for arcade machines and ground bolts are completely removed from the harness. That was not me. I did not do that. This is the way the machine was when I got it. So the thing is, it's not going to matter that I don't have the 512 bolts as well as the ground hooked up because I'm not going to be utilizing it. I'm getting all my power and everything from this power supply here. It was then shortly after that where I decided to start doing discussion videos and then I even made my own intro for my videos because at first it was just a quick thumbnail just to get it to where people would see it up on Facebook and I was like you know what I'm going to start implementing thumbnails on my videos but I'm going to also have an intro. Whoa. You're telling me that pinball is not just about keeping the ball up and not letting it go down the middle of the drain. It's about skill madness.
    12:44
    That's it for this video guys, peace out. One of the very first videos that kind of really took off for me was showing people how to clean and wax their play fields because that is something that everyone that owns a pinball machine needs to learn how to do so i was like you know what i'm gonna cast a big net here and just show people how i do it and if they want to do it that way then so be it what's going on guys so you bought yourself a pinball machine did you you've got one congratulations now it's up to you to maintain that pinball machine you can't just have a machine and just play it over and again and expect it to go on forever without having some maintenance and one of the main things I need to tell you how to do is how to clean and wax your machine I see that there more dirt and grime in one particular area I gonna spend a little bit more time in that area if I feel like I the nap That already been evaporated then I gonna put some more nap that like I do right here Discussions or certain things you never know I might post something that you may need to know about so don't forget to subscribe Before you go like this video and leave me a comment down there Do you clean your machine a different way? Is there a better way to go about doing it? Let me know down below until next time guys. Peace out and then a video series began and this one is what I want to say probably helped take this channel to the next level and it is basically showing you how to install a hardtop for a black night now this is something that I want to say a lot of people would agree and still do because I'm on pin side I read the comments is that when people are asking for how-to videos people usually tend to direct people to this series that is available. The content of the series is going to help out the individuals that really need all the information that they can get on how to install this. So it was a four-part series that a lot of people looked to. And of course, the end result turned out fantabulous.
    15:02
    This is Jason, everyone. He's playing his Black Knight for the last time. The last time until that it is a new machine because we are about to disassemble this thing and apply a hard top. That fixes everything
    15:28
    because that may not match up just right so you just need to sand the inserts but get in the other dirt and ground that might be on there.
    16:06
    It wasn't too long after that where I basically created my own introduction line to use on almost all of my videos. What's up everyone and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball. If that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below. The next series that helped a lot of individuals also is the complete Tear Down and Playfield Swap of the Centaur, Jason's Centaur. This helped out a lot of people that needed help with knowing the best method to go about from doing a complete playfield swap. And the way we go about doing it, a lot of people can concur that that method does in fact work pretty well.
    17:02
    Whoa. The only question is, man, what are we going to do? Here we go. It's got a few little mechanics to remove flippers pop bumpers and some targets everything that sticks out on the other Side of the playfield is going to be undone now
    17:43
    Think at this time. I'm like on beer four or five. I Don't know. I don't think I'm I don't think I'm that deep in maybe Maybe two no more than three. I don't know
    17:55
    Well two screws for Jason Oh, two staples for carry. So it's 2v2 right now. Ah, three staples for me.
    18:14
    This is the video that I want to say got the most views the quickest, and that was by going to this barn find that we discovered on craigslist and i go through the complete story at the beginning of it because it was honestly just going to be a joke image that i sent to my buddy jason letting him know about a sorcerer pinball machine and then it just went completely off the rails onto a whole trek that we took to a hoarder's house and went rummaging through a major fire hazard and i'm we didn't get any kind of like bites or anything from critters or whatever but that one tended to get the most views the quickest. On a side note the voice I used to emulate Jason is pretty darn close to how he actually sounds. As you can see this is a sorcerer pinball machine that has obviously seen better days and as a joke I send this image to my buddy Jason and I'm like hey here's your good project machine for all i was expecting in return was a simple lol that's that's really as far as i thought that that conversation was going to be going little did i know that he responds back with tell them we'll come and get it if they have it and want it gone driving right now can't look at a computer this is when i say dude the bottom is falling out the back is caved in i sent this as a joke it's a sorcerer man no it needs a sorcerer in order for it to live again They have a board over the back glass. Playfield has got to be good on it. CPR is making a playfield for sorcerers right now. Now you're scaring me because I'm starting to think you're serious. It may have a better coin door on it. Could swap it out with my black knight. I sent him the phone number to the ad. I was like, this is the number for the ad. If you want it, call him. We are aware of a possible Addams Family title, but it's not in climate control. We're talking like an actual barn find.
    20:16
    These things are not going to look good. If these things look good, I will be amazed. Okay. That thing was under that. Originally it was in that.
    20:37
    Making fun of it. You're like, what? This will never happen. So your dad just owned a laundromat? No he owned the arcade business And the Addams Family that we picked up from that barn find is still in development but here is a video showing you one of the updates that I done for it The ending to that is still in the future, but believe me, it's going to look great. eventually I decided to do a complete upgrade to the equipment that I use by getting me a DSLR as well as the green screen and just trying to really up the production value of my content and strictly all for you guys what's up guys and welcome back to my channel where I talk and do everything pinball so if that sounds interesting to you then hit that subscribe button down below I have not abandoned you I am just trying to up my quality so I've done so by purchasing a studio light kit system along with a Nikon DSLR so this camera is going to give me the ability to give you a much better quality and video to the content that you are viewing then I hit the one-year marker which is July 4th of whenever I first started putting out my X-Files videos and just continuously did videos after that so I did a one-year marker as a thank you for those of you watching the content. Happy 4th of July everyone! I wanted to make a video basically to mark my one-year anniversary for starting my YouTube channel via pinball related only. I want to say that whenever I first started putting out content on my channel I had maybe in the 20s the 20 range on subscribers now as of recording this I'm at 663 since then I've definitely done videos on two channels including my own with straight down the middle as well as this one showing you more how to's other projects that I've done over that time period so within the last ten months for sure I've been doing content for a total two channels. Once again, I purchased a machine without testing it out. So, let's see what we got. I've even done work by just doing simple readings of interviews because a lot of people don't like to read these days. They want to be able to listen to it or even watch it. So, I've taken things from This Week in Pinball and done a complete back and forth with myself interview to give people a little bit more broader range on knowledge of what's going on with Deep Root. Won't have the final art design or code. Is this a soft launch for Deep Root Pinball? No, this is not a launch at all. I specifically kept the announcement very vague as to not signal a launch. And what type of real world data will you be collecting? In-house, we have some multi-tier wear and tear rigs as well as an apocalypse rack for electrical boards. That was when my brother stepped in and made me my own logo. So I promoted that and now I'm using that in my content and I want to say shirts with Superball swag are in the near future.
    24:23
    Not too long ago, I was flown out to Chicago for the Pinball Expo. Scott from Penn Stadiums paid my way to bring me in there to help him out, and I was glad to do so. I got to experience a lot of things, including flying out there. So that was a very fun trip. All of that is on my channel as well.
    24:53
    I want to close this out with a thanks. Thanks to basically all of you out there that recognized me at the expo, came up to me, shook my hand, even got a selfie every once in a while, gave me the compliments letting me know that you enjoy my content that i i mean i still am not used to hearing stuff like that so if i look surprised whenever you would come up to me and like tell me that you enjoyed my content sometimes that would take me a second to process that because i'm like what are you talking about and now it comes to where we are today and that is the most recent news with deep roots reveal of their prototype at the houston arcade expo and i've done old reviews and a little bit of gameplay footage showing off that game. And I've got more content to come, guys. And it's that I feel like people look at these images and they are judging them solely by the images, but if they would read the interviews, they would have a lot of answers to their questions. I mean, look at this. He's got 42 mutual friends. except the damn request robert so here we are with 1 000 subscribers never thought i'd make it let's go for two so once again guys thank you for hitting that subscribe button it really means a lot thank you for taking the stroll down memory lane going from where i've gone from to where i am now it's not a drastic improvement but i'd like to say it is an improvement and of course i will always try to improve further. I've got more content on the way guys. As a matter of fact, if you got any suggestions or anything that you would like me to do or show you or whatever, then feel free to give me the comments down below to let me know. I've got a couple of ideas for videos. One of those I might even make a Christmas episode because it's gonna be pretty special and I'm sure a lot of you are gonna be like it's about time. So if you like what you've seen here give me that thumbs up and if you haven't already guys hit that subscribe button that way you can be notified of whenever i upload something for your viewing pleasure until next time peace out