DPP #233 "Yukon Gold Rush!!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·22m 35s·analyzed·Mar 18, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.014

TL;DR

Turner Pinball announces Yukon Yeti: Whitewater spiritual successor, 500 units, $10k, shipping summer.

Summary

Don's Pinball Podcast covers the surprise announcement of Yukon Yeti, Turner Pinball's third original game and spiritual successor to Williams' classic Whitewater (1993). The machine features a Yukon/gold rush theme with modern mechanics including a five-ball avalanche multiball, dual-path upper playfield, roller coaster ramp, and 12 modes plus two wizard modes. Limited to 500 units at $10,000 base price with optional $2,250 accessory package; shipping summer 2024, units already available at TPF (Pinball Expo) this weekend.

Key Claims

Yukon Yeti is Turner Pinball's third game (after Ninja Eclipse and Merlin's Arcade)
high confidence · Don mentions this is Turner's third game and references the prior releases; confirmed by media kit details
500 units being manufactured at $10,000 base price with $2,250 optional accessory package
high confidence · Don reads directly from the media kit PDF provided by Chris Turner
Games shipping summer 2024 with $2,000 deposit required to reserve
high confidence · Media kit details; Don confirms these are available for order now at turnerpinball.com
At least two Yukon Yeti units will be playable at TPF (Pinball Expo) starting Friday
high confidence · Don states he heard this from reliable sources; games en route to Embassy Suites Convention Hall and Family Fun Center
Game features 12 modes plus two wizard modes and five-ball avalanche multiball with stair-stepper mechanism
high confidence · Media kit specifications; Don's detailed gameplay analysis based on photos and Chris Turner demonstration
Whitewater 2/Yukon Yeti concept originated from Dennis Nordman's long-rumored foamcore design that Turner brought to life
medium confidence · Don states 'Dennis Nordman's long-rumored, oft-shared foamcore image has now had the breath of life breathed into it from Turner' but notes Turner also reworked and added his own design elements
Game uses Turner's patented one-piece lift-off top cabinet design with wireless RGB LED lighting system
high confidence · Don describes the cabinet engineering in detail based on media kit and prior Turner game experience
Winchester sold 525 units in 48 hours before Expo; Pokemon LEs had significant sales surge
medium confidence · Don uses these as comparative data points for estimating Yukon Yeti sellout potential; references market trends

Notable Quotes

“Whitewater 2 is upon us goes by the name of Yukon Yeti. Dennis Nordman's long-rumored, oft-shared foamcore image has now had the breath of life breathed into it from Turner.”
Don @ ~0:40 — Confirms the spiritual successor concept and credits both original designer and modern manufacturer
“This is a brand new game. So it's not like they just took Whitewater and spray painted white snow capped peaks on it.”
Don @ ~50:00 — Emphasizes this is a redesigned game, not a remaster, which impacts value proposition and sales potential
“I showed my wife the trailer and she's like, yeah, we should totally get that. So this is a family friendly game. It's not going to offend anybody.”
Don @ ~51:00 — Notes broad market appeal and potential for wider consumer base beyond hardcore enthusiasts
“I told Chris, like, I know you're going to get there. You're going to make a game that I got to have. And then I started hearing this Yukon Yeti rumor. And I'm like, please let this be the one.”
Don @ ~54:00 — Shows Don's personal investment in Turner's success and the specific design elements (ramps) he values
“There's 500 of these games being made. They're going to be $10,000. Right off the bat. They're going to ship this summer.”
Don @ ~25:00 — Core product specifications; establishes pricing tier and availability window
“My concern was, you know, how well is this engineered? Are you getting any air balls off these airtime hills? And he said, no, we spent some time, we got the numbers and trajectories right, and it really does hug the ramp.”
Don @ ~33:00 — Indicates Turner's attention to mechanical engineering detail on the signature roller coaster ramp feature
“Is this going to be an instant sellout or is it going to be more of a slower burn? I think it's going to sell reasonably well.”
Don @ ~49:00 — Don's assessment of sales velocity; suggests strong but possibly not instantaneous demand

Entities

Donperson Chris Turnerperson Dennis Nordmanperson Turner PinballcompanyYukon YetigameWhitewatergame

Signals

?
product_launch: Turner Pinball officially announces Yukon Yeti as third original game; limited to 500 units at $10,000 base price; shipping summer 2024; orders available now at turnerpinball.com with $2,000 deposit
high · Don reads media kit provided by Chris Turner; game revealed simultaneously with podcast release; units already en route to TPF
?
product_strategy: Turner adopted single-tier production (500 units) instead of multi-tier model used by Merlin's Arcade; bundled accessories into $2,250 'all in package' to simplify manufacturing and avoid a la carte complexity
high · Don explains: 'He took the feedback...Just make the best one that you can and just have that out there' and notes Turner learned from past customization challenges at other manufacturers
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collector_signal: Don assesses potential for rapid sellout based on: boutique brand loyalty, spiritual successor status to beloved classic, limited run of 500, expected geographic distribution (100 existing fans, 50 Australia, 50 Europe = ~300 domestic), and period of speculators driving market
medium · Don: 'I think it's going to sell reasonably well...Is this going to be a day one sellout? Maybe.' References Winchester's 525-unit 48-hour sell-out and Pokemon LE surge
$
market_signal: Base machine at $10,000 with $2,250 optional accessory package positions Yukon Yeti in mid-to-premium tier; cheaper than high-end Stern LEs but premium vs. standard cabinets; summer 2024 shipping suggests good lead time for market absorption
high · Media kit specifies: base $10,000, accessories $2,250, $2,000 deposit; summer shipping window
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Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.068

0:00

Oh man, hello, the gold rush is on. Let's get our rafts, let's go up to the Yukon for the Yukon Yeti experience. The gold is tingling, but only 500 buckets are available. Will you make the call? Was that shilly enough? Let's talk about it.

0:30

Dude, this is amazing, man. Today is the day. It's coming. It was sprung upon us. We've heard rumors. There's been a lot of rumors going around. There's going to be a new game at TPF. At least two? And now, boom, the shoe dropped. I had a friend send me a media kit from my good friend Chris Turner down there in San Antonio from Turner Pinball. It turns out that the rumors were true. Whitewater 2 Is Upon Us goes by the name of Yukon Yeti. Dennis Nordman's long-rumored, oft-shared foamcore image has now had the breath of life breathed into it from Turner. Here it is. I want to talk all about it. If everything works out, this episode should come out as soon as the game is revealed. And so while I don't have gameplay review, I have looked at all the images and things. And in this time of pinball sellouts, you know, sometimes you got to move a little quick. And so I want to give my listeners the best opportunity by getting my take on it. All right. I look through all the photos. Let's let's talk about what is this game. This game is the virtual successor. Virtual? To Whitewater, right? The seminal 90s classic. We all love the roller coaster ramp, the whirlpool, the boulders and everything. Well, the idea was, what if we could do another updated version of this game, but do it in some like colder climate? The Yukon, instead of a Bigfoot, we got a Yeti and there's gold and such. But we still stick to what defined Whitewater as a game, that upper playfield with the multiple shots, the articulating Sasquatch device and the roller coaster ramp, of course, like the thing we want. And then plus it up and add to it, make it a modern game, modern modes, wizard modes and such. And so it looks like that's what Chris has done. Now, this wasn't strictly just the foam core layout just breathed life into and brought into fruition. He's reworked this a bit. So there's elements of his own design in there too. And he even told me yesterday when we were talking, he's like, Don, there was areas where maybe something could fit in and we went ahead and put something in there. And I love that. You don't need to crowd the playfield, but if you've got an area and a mechanism could fit in there, a Newton ball, a domin dec disputation domin dec 暓 fab qu g chat don that Singer sat title GI I'm a fan of pinball as a fan of mining in general and like gold rush and boom towns and all that like this speaks to me man this is the trilogy effort from from from Turner I'm here for this is what I was waiting for and and boy deliver let's talk about it let's talk about it from what I could gather I found nine shots in this play field that while they do fan out I don't think you could I mean every game's a fan layout at this point that's like the meme but I don't think this is the fanniest fan ever Let's go shots left to right, just like see what we're getting here, just on the main playfield. There is a mode start saucer to the left, is underneath that roller coaster ramp might be hard to see from the top down version, but yesterday he was walking me around through all the shots. So that far left shot will be in there to a saucer and that will be your mode start. You've got a left orbit next to that of course, and then this giant mechanism in the game. All right, this is like probably after the roller coaster ramp, I think they're calling it the The World Pool Ramp or Whitewater Ramp. This will be the focal point. This big sculpted mountain, kind of in the same position that Carnage was on Venom. So I saw this and I was like, do I shoot up this? What is this? This is a maximal five ball physical ball lock avalanche, multiball starting mechanism. The way this works, remember when you were at the flea market as a kid and you saw that little toy with the plastic stair stepping and the little penguins or whatever on wheels James Wineside, Simon Kim, Scott Wilinter, and Nick Foster. Cecil險.

5:34

IFables expressly Stair mech drops out and these balls just kind of roll back down and just immediately feed into the playfield You can see that from the trailer reveal video But I also been told and shown that the balls can also continue up the staircase tip over and that will also feed the upper flipper on the upper playfield So there's an alternative way to use this too. It's not strictly just the physical ball lock and drop. The balls can progress up there and then spill over. So that's kind of cool. I can dig that. Next to that, you've got the shot that feeds the upper playfield vertical up kicker that will pop the ball up there, the VUK. Next to that, there's a Newton ball, which I didn't count in my nine shots, but it's there as well. And then right next to that is a ball that will, or a path that will go in, kind of like a mini orbit, hit a pop bumper, and then it looks like the balls scream right back out again. So kind of like a fast re-delivery system. Now playing it, I'll have to play it to know for sure, but is this going to feel like that shot on Kong where the ball goes back, winds up, hits the punch back target and then comes back out again? Because that could be super fun. You got three, a nest of three pop-uppers that are back there. Kind of similar in territory to where they were in Whitewater. Whitewater was lower and to the right and you shot through them for the orbit. These kind of are tucked up in there underneath the upper playfield. Next to that shot, okay, I'm trying to remember, I'm trying to remember. Next to that shot, to the right of the pop bumper, this, oh, that might be the punchback shot. Alright, there's two shots at either side of the pop bumper. One of them will feed a wire form that will safely feed the right upper flipper. The other one goes up for a punchback. And just trying to think back to when I was walking through this game, I can't remember which one was there. Regardless, we'll see it in the first gameplay video there. Oh, you have a couple of stand-up targets. I don't really count those as shots. And then the right orbit is to the right. And then it keeps going. And this is where you get nine shots in a playfield without making it feel totally crowded. Because there's an upper flipper shot on that right upper flipper. Underneath there, there's an area for a physical ball lock. There's a post and a couple of opto switches underneath that plastic of the Yeti. And this is fun. You can also hit that post from below. If you put a ball underneath that upper flipper, it'll sit there and stage against that post. The Winning Pinball Show, Knapp Arcade, Bally Williams, Straight Down the Middle, Bally Williams,

9:40

I think that will probably deliver the ball down to that wire form so he can mess with you. You can think you got the shot but then you're going to fall into there. Otherwise, if it's shut, then you can shoot in there and I guess that's where you get loot and gold and stuff. So fun. Those are the shots. Whitewater II, Yukon Yeti is here. Do you want to know some details? Well, Don's got them for you. Let me click over to my little PDF document here. Where the heck did it go? Oh, sweet. Talk amongst yourselves while I find this dang thing. Get it up here. There it is. Okay. That was in my web browser. So Yukon Yeti, here it is. Here's the straight dirt. There's 500 of these games being made. They're going to be $10,000. Okay. Right off the bat. They're going to ship this summer. They're available right now. Turnerpinball.com to order. I think that's the basic info. So if you've got to have this game, just pause this, go run out and that's where you can find it. Turnerpinball.com. So he doesn't do the multiple tier levels like we saw with Merlin's Arcade where there was 500 legendary versions and 800 of like more of an open arcade edition. He took the feedback like, listen, you know, you're doing small runs of these games. Just make the best one that you can and just have that out there. You know, if you're going to have an evergreen title where you're going to have a limited version and then just an unlimited arcade, then I think it's okay to do it that way. Today we will be reading from the Reusement for Doc Mart府 a午 Kia Mar cole persona ho kye he Fala no Pi w rela Miomedn by Marcella Oy Pro Content de Christie Watson price point Now there are options okay This can always get difficult He took the feedback It always hard manufacturing if you do all this a la carte stuff You know, ask Spooky Pinball 10 years ago when they were trying to do this and pull it off. Complicates everything, delays manufacturing. You know, if someone's like, I want the extra pop bumper, but I don't want this, but I want one art blade, but not two. Powder coat it, but do it this color. It's just, everything is complex. I was like, listen, if you're going to have an accessory package, just bundle it together so there's value in there. And then people are just kind of like all in at that point. And I think that's what he called it. It's down here. The all in package, two thousand two hundred fifty dollars on top of the game. What does that get you? So the game comes with a plastic topper. It looks similar in construction to what we saw with Merlin's Arcades upgraded one, but essentially a trio of flat plastics that are underlit and, you know, has some game interactivity with the lights and such. There is an articulated Yeti toppler available and it's in this bundle package. So the 2250 will get you the upgraded topper. That's the biggie that you get with it. But then a bunch of other quality of life improvements. Invisiglass, shaker, knocker, art blades he mentioned to me. You even swap out the wooden sliding rails on the back of the cabinet like for transportation with some nylon slippery ones. So that's kind of cool. You get RGB speakers. It says speaker upgrade. So I wonder if it does come with like a sound upgrade as well. What else is in here? Let's see the the media kit here. Articulating Yeti head, Northern Lights topper, anti reflective glass, which is awesome shaker knocker premium sound speaker LEDs, art blades, cabin sliders, oh, and a dust cover gets thrown in there too if you want the accessories. So I mean, at this point, I would say, you know, if you're, if you're into this game, go ahead and get it. I'm sure he'll let you add on the package later if you don't reserve it up front. It's a $2,000 deposit to get your spot for one of these if you want one. That looks like it. Let's read through the gameplay features here. So they're claiming 12 modes plus two wizard modes. The five ball avalanche ball lock. We talked about that. Wavy Rapids ramp. That's what they're calling it. It looks like a little bit more of an extreme version of the Whitewater ramp. Now, the trailer that I saw didn't actually show off the ramp. I don't know how that got missed there, but when I was doing my little Zoom call with him, he showed the ball going through there. My concern was, you know, how well is this engineered? Are you getting any air balls off these airtime hills? And he said, no, we spent some time, we got the numbers and trajectories right, and it really does hug the ramp. And it looked pretty cool, man. I love a roller coaster ramp. I love a roller coaster in general, so I love it since it's on here. Dual path upper playfield, we covered that. Hidden Yeti ball lock. I asked him what he meant by this because I was thinking maybe there was another physical ball lock up underneath the Yeti. This refers to that under flipper lock shot on the right. So that's that. So there's two optos in there so you can have two balls in for a multiball. Probably you put a third in and then it kicks off into it or maybe there's some mode based tie in there. But it's fun. You can put a ball underneath the flipper and then you can also then come and hit the post, Newton ball action it and then release it. I guess if it's ready for it. So that's fun. Trading post progression. I don't know what that means. I don't know if that's inserts on there, but there you go. Yukon Yeti sculpt centerpiece, looks good. Gold Rush theme inspired by the Klondike. So yeah, this is the Northern Yukon version of Whitewater, updated for the modern age. Better, more robust roller coaster ramps, got more exciting things going on with it. Serviceable layout, the five ball stair stepper, a big Yeti up there. But this is a modern game too. So there's an LCD screen with graphics and things. We've seen the modes that they had with Ninja Eclipse and Merlin. So we kind of know what they're capable of and what the animation style is like. The cabinet comes with a powder trim, no matter which one you get. I like that. Very few games really pull off the white powder coat, but Jaws LE did, and this one does as well. And I dig that. So I talked to them. There's been no changes to the cabinet. The cabinet is still the Turner design. So the whole thing is, you know, engineered well and has that lift off top one piece glass and armor combo system. So if you haven't seen a Turner game, you open the coin door, reach underneath there, there's a latch that you pop, and then the whole thing just comes up and you can take the glass off with the armor. The lockdown bar, the back armor, the side armor all comes off together as one piece. So you can just set it on the ground without having to, like, put your glass down and have it break or something. The RGB LEDs are the same that we've seen from Turner. They're permanently impregnated in this like lift top cover. I wonder what the name of this is. They come up with like an industry name for what this is. But it all comes off as one piece and you can just set it aside. The whole thing's wireless. There's contact plates inside that power the lights. So once everything comes down in probably one of the most satisfying clicks in pinball, then the contacts make contact and your lights work there. So that cabinet design is the same, full-size back box, speakers that are up in there. So this will be fun. Don, is this game going to be a TPF? Yes. Don, are there two going to be a TPF? That's what I'm hearing. I'm hearing that starting, dude, tomorrow's Thursday. TPF is starting tomorrow. There's going to be two of these Yukon Yetis there at least to play from what I understand right now. I think they're currently in route to the Embassy Suites Convention Hall and Family Fun Center for Next Detailed hand playfields sculpts So yeah they freaking everywhere Removable glass frame standard size tempered glass Of course the upgrade comes with the Invisiglass Connectorless RGB LED lighting yeah we talked about that and the premium cabin construction. All right, so I think we covered everything there. So the take-home points, there's 500 of them. They're $10,000. There's a $2,200 topper accessory upgrade package that brings in all the quality of life stuff you want, Bigger, better topper with articulations, Invisiglass. He told me Art Blades, but I'm not sure yet if those are included. I'm waiting to hear back from him. You know the base game or not, you get the sliders, RGB lights, Invisiglass shaker and knocker and shaker. You gotta have a shaker motor for this game, man. I mean, it's got an avalanche multiball. You want to feel that rumble. So how's this game gonna do? Yeah. So I wasn't sure yesterday when I first talked to him what the addition size was gonna be. We saw 525 Winchesters sell out in 48 hours before Expo. We saw the run on Pokemon LEs. You know, I mean, Whitewater 2, Yukon Yeti is not at the level of a Pokemon as far as an IP, but we're talking about 500 boutique games and we're talking about the spiritual successor to a very beloved 90s classic. This isn't a remaster. This is a brand new game. So it's not like they just took Whitewater and spray painted white snow capped peaks on it. Tim Kitzrow in Clemson, arteries. 3 I was trying to think of today, you know, is this game going to be an instant sellout or is it going to be more of a slower burn? And knowing Turner Pinball now since his inception really and knowing people that buy Turner games, listen, the hundred people that bought Ninja Eclipse are just true fans of pinball and a hundred of these are probably already sold to them, right? I would imagine 50 would go to Australia, maybe another 50 to Europe. Right now that only leaves about 300. We're in a period where there's both the speculators and the FOMO driving everything, and for only 300 of these base games that would be in play, I think it's going to sell reasonably well. I think he's going to be able to hit his goals. Is this going to be a day one sellout? Maybe. I'm going to be watching to see. Don, are you getting one? I showed my wife the trailer and she's like, yeah, we should totally get that. So this is a family friendly game. It's not going to offend anybody. So it's got that going for them as well. The other thing is TPF starts Friday. Okay, so, you know, the people that say, well, I really have to play it before I buy it. They're gonna be able to do that here in about 48 hours. And then I think you'll see some more sales from that. So is it gonna last the weekend of TPF? I probably chance it, it might not actually. So way to go, Chris, man. I'm excited for this game. I really wanna play it. I wanna get down to TPF. I love this man. This new game day, it's getting revealed today and I get to play it this weekend with one of my good friends in pinball. I'm excited, man. I'm gonna go play me some Yukon Yeti. It finally came out. You know, Ninja Eclipse, while fun, was not the theme. It didn't grab me, you know, but it was his first game. Got a hundred of them, got them out there. You know, he took the feedback from Expo initially, came out with a full-size cabinet, which we love him for. Merlin's Arcade was there next year. Fun game. I needed a little bit more, man. I need some ramps in my games. I need roller coaster ramps. And so I told Chris, like, I know you're going to get there. You're going to make a game that I got to have. And then I started hearing this Yukon Yeti rumor. And I'm like, please let this be the one. Let this be the one. And it looks like we got it. So what I haven't seen is a gameplay trailer video or a live stream. Hopefully that happens. Well, we're going to see that this weekend. Well, heck, better than that, I'm going to be able to play the damn thing. I'm going to be there live streaming it. Cool toy will be there live streaming it. They're very good at doing those very early on the show floor live streams. So look for those. We're going to have gameplay streams this weekend. We're going to have gameplay reviews firsthand this weekend. You're going to be able to Google all the trailer and everything today, and then maybe make a decision. And I'll try to keep tabs to see like how well this thing is selling, but I don't know, man, this thing may come get completely sold out and be gone by the end of the day too. I have no idea, but I'm super excited for pinball. I've got to get ready for TPF. I'm still not even packed yet. I got a job interview later today, but let me just take a moment and recognize Chris Turner and the team for what he's done here and bringing out his third game, which I can't wait to come and play this man. What a time to be in pinball, man. It's new pinball day right away. This is great. The game's gonna be shipping this summer even, so it's not like you have to wait that long. $2,000 deposit. I think I covered everything. Turn to pinball.com to get an order in there. You can order direct. Email me, donspinballpodcastgmail.com. Let's meet up at TPF. Are you gonna be there? Come by the Beetle Tent right next to the spooky pinball booth. It's gonna be awesome. Gonna have at least one Beetlejuice in a tent. Intimate environments, soft drink in hand, let's play some pinball. It's TPF time y'all. I'm excited. I'll talk to you later.