so i've got some bad news i haven't seen don since the richmond trip that this episode is about this is gonna sound weird but i'm afraid he might have been assimilated he was saying all this stuff about wanting to be part of something bigger and then something about a hive mind. And then the last time I saw him, he was wearing an LED eye patch that he got off Amazon. It was weird. Anyway, I just want to say, Don, if you hear this, if you're still in there, please come back. We miss you. And I need your help editing the next episode, like, soon, okay? This is part one of our recent arcade trip to the Richmond Pinball Collective. Next week will be part two Duh Let's go Come on in Welcome to the theater of magic Welcome to the party dog Welcome to my home Welcome to the bash Wait so what the heck Why How did you meet this guy Why did we go to Richmond Why did we go to Richmond I mean, that was so random, right? Like, what was the... Yeah, well, yeah, so I had decided to ditch all of my coffee gear. Why? Because it's like, it's a lot and I wasn't using everything and... Real quick, a lot in the sense that you have a lot invested or a lot of stuff? It's both. Yeah, like I've acquired a lot of coffee gear and I need to get rid of a lot of it because I'm not using a lot of it anymore, basically. So you love coffee. Yeah, I'm a big coffee guy. Coffee's your favorite food? Favorite beverage, for sure. Maybe favorite food overall. You could eat it. Yeah, you can eat it. You can eat some beans. Yeah, I do it all the time. Trader Joe's has those chocolate-covered coffee beans. But yeah, I've been into coffee for most of my adult life and some of my not-adult life. So then you acquired some equipment to do this next-level coffee operation at your house, and then you're now... Yeah, I have a machine that graphs your coffee. It's like a tablet built in and it graphs the flow rate and water usage and pressure and variables that it's ridiculous. And I'm not enough of a tweaker of things. So I just basically leave it on the same settings all the time and it's just going to waste. Someone else could be using this absurd coffee equipment better than I. So the new thing that you're buying is replacing that machine. And it's replacing that machine and another machine that I just never got rid of. Basically two large espresso machines that are taking up an inordinate amount of space. And I'm going to replace both of them with one very small machine. And so anyways, the one that I want to get is like hard to find. You can't get a new one for like nine months. So a friend of mine found one in Richmond for sale. And I was like, oh, I don't know if I want to drive all like two and a half hours to go pick this thing up until I realized that there's an arcade in Richmond. And then it started to make sense because if I can play pinball somewhere, that's a great excuse. That is the best excuse. What better? So, you know, it was like a twofer because I knew about this place, but I had never been there. You know, what's funny is that I realized that too recently that that's pretty much the second thing I do when I make travel plans. Yeah. Like I look at, okay, where am I going to stay? Yeah. Who's going to be there? Where is pinball? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It can, it can make a trip or not for me. Like, uh, you know, that was the deciding factor, whether I was going to go pick this thing up is that I could go play pinball too. Right. So I'd never even heard of this place, right? Yeah. Um, Richmond Pinball Collective. Correct. The first thing I noticed, right. That got me excited. Cause I, I was also trying to figure out plans and stuff, you know, I'm working and like, I don't know, I was actually going to be working on some editing and stuff. And I was considering not going. Yeah. Right. And then I looked up the game list. Yeah. Well, you sent me the game list. And I also, you sent it to me while I was looking it up as well. Yeah. And I noticed they had a ton of games that I haven't wanted to play for a very long time. Yeah. Older games. Yep. Yep. They don't just have new Sterns and Jersey Jacks like our local place. Yeah. And then the kicker, which made me go, hey, oh, yeah. One-time payment. Oh, yeah. Free play. Free play model. Yep. Pay one time. I guess you have to be a member of the club technically, but you can come in as a guest. Yep. How many times? It was like three times a year. Three times a year. Yeah. Three times a year. I don't know if there's a police. Yeah. I don't know if they're actually being policed. But yeah, because they're technically a private club, there's some, I don't know, rules and ordinances or something about, how many times non-members can attend a private club. But it was like 15 bucks, right, for unlimited for the day. I think they were open one to seven, and we were pretty much there from one to seven. Pretty much the whole time. Yeah, I think the membership was like something around 35 bucks a month or something. So if we lived, I don't know, any closer than we do, that would be a definite no-brainer and maybe even still a no-brainer, like living two and a half hours away, because this is pretty great. Yeah, I would be there all the time. Yeah. I mean, that's like the perfect way to learn games and kind of refine what games you like and what games you don't like, you know, because you don't have to you don't have to focus and stress on every game you play. You're basically losing a dollar. For me, it's like, yeah, you know, when I go to the local arcades, every time a ball drains, I'm like, oh, crap. It's like thirty three point three, three, three, three, three cents, you know? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I mean, like we can easily spend $35 in a day when you're playing a dollar a game and the games are set up bad and they're broken. And it's like half your money like doesn't even buy you pinball, just buys you like a ball stuck in a scoop that doesn't work. Yep. A beer belly and some disappointment. Yeah. But yeah it was Don drove I didn know if my car was going to make it Yeah We were both having some car issues I just been I been very neglectful I sorry Camry Um since I moved closer to work I drive maybe a mile a week Literally. No, I'm kidding. Maybe like three or four literal miles a week. But, uh, yeah, so I've just been kind of enjoying that. Not having to drive, but my car, man, my poor car is kind of getting, left behind, you know, in terms of priorities. You know, it's always funny to me, by the way, on speaking of your car, when I get to the workshop and your car is not parked at your house, but it's parked at the workshop 40 feet away. I'm like, did he drive to work when he could have walked there in probably less time than to drive? It takes me, my commute is 30 seconds walking. uh driving is about 45 seconds okay you know sometimes i do drive to work yes typically it is uh you know when i have other things planned or wanting to leave work right away you gotta save that extra four seconds 15 seconds yeah yeah or maybe you just want to listen to the first 30 seconds of a song in your car i have yeah i have yeah i mean that's pretty much it I got a really tough life. And now for a word from our sponsor. The new car. It is based on what your driving needs are today and what they will be in the future. The new car. It is designed to move people in comfort and with unrivaled efficiency. The new car, the Honda Civic CRX. Honda. And now, back to the show. Yeah, so this place is actually a little bit hard to find because they don't have a very big sign out front, which kind of checks out because they're not you know it's a private club they don't necessarily need to advertise or like have a big flashy sign to draw people in yeah i had to do a semi-illegal maneuver so in order to not have to drive a couple miles and then do u-turn i literally just did some illegal maneuvering yeah with the hope that it was here you know because i still we hadn't seen it yet we drove in kind of drove around the parking lot there was yeah it's not so it wasn't like near downtown richmond or anything i think we had to drive about 15 minutes from downtown which is where I was picking up the espresso machine. Yeah, yeah. It was actually not too far. It was, yeah, 15 minutes sounds about right. But yeah, it's like a little retail strip mall kind of center. The sign was cool. Yeah, we did discover that they had a cool neon sign in the window. Look for the window. Yeah, look for the window with the big neon sign. Yeah, and trust Google Maps. It is where it says it is. If it tells you to turn right, turn right. So we went in there. They've got like a front desk. uh paid our 15 bucks and they have like some snacks and some like they have like a drink cooler yeah they had a little fridge too with um a couple local breweries beer selection which is pretty cool i had a bingo lager it was delicious i enjoyed drinking a local beer at a local pinball collective you will be assimilated yeah so the the collective part of it resistance is futile It's like volunteer run, and it's a non-profit. Amazing. Yeah. We talked to Sam. I think he was an off-duty volunteer who was playing. Yeah. I think he was just hanging out. Yeah, yeah. But I guess he was a part of the quote-unquote collective slash volunteer. You will be assimilated. And Dale. The first thing I noticed was, I don't know, just super cool guys. Yeah. Just super helpful. Do you guys need anything? Any questions? We kind of chatted them up a little bit because we were curious about just the space, like the place in general, the whole collective concept. Resistance is futile. How it worked, the structure of, you know, the... How can we steal this idea? Right, right, right. Yeah, they're super cool, man. I really enjoyed meeting those guys. We took a picture. Thanks, guys, for hosting and super nice to meet you. Yeah, we've got some games in with Sam. Gorgar. Gorgar. You made a comment that I think that's the moment you learn to nudge. like on another level yeah sam is a pro nudger yeah sam has a delicate touch delicate nudge all right so now we're debuting a new segment that you've never heard before called don's 10 second reviews this is nothing like matt's 10 second reviews which you you heard before this is going to be a totally different thing with don instead of matt welcome to don's 10 second reviews masterpiece theater is made possible by a grant from mobile corporation which invites you to join with them in supporting your local public television station um so don i'm ready are you ready i'm ready 10 second review i'm ready williams scorpion i don't know anything technical about it i don't know who designed it i don't know anything about anything except for the fact that it was orange it was fun it has dragons not scorpions i'm a scorpio loved it thanks dale for the recommendation we'll play again need to play again yeah i think there's like a battleship named scorpion but but the main thing on the play field is the dragons okay 10 take a review. Dirty Harry, also known as Geraldo Sucio. Geraldo Sucio. This is my first time comprehensively playing that game that actually was set up and played right. Freaking love it. Okay. I freaking love that game. I don't know what else to say, but I mean, very, oh, very, oh, I wish I could have shot more people. I wish that I just wish I had more time on it. Yeah. Geraldo Sucio. I think, by the way, that's my favorite. I think that's my favorite. That's the Williams? Yep. It got to be up there with one of my favorite Williams games Okay Just in your brief time you made that assessment Correct All right 10 second review NBA fast break NBA fast break Easily easily immediately knew it was like a top seven game for me. It's nostalgic. I used to love basketball. I used to love the dream team. It's fun, fast. George Gomez is the GOAT. I like the low scoring and the crazy call outs. I like the little back glass flipper that you hit the little ball into the thing. That's like a separate little game. NBA Fast Break is going to fastly break my bank because if one comes up for sale close to the New Jersey, I'm going to buy it. 10 second review, Game of Thrones Pro Edition. Meh. Meh. Which I love Game of Thrones. Yeah. Meh. I do like the Pro better than the Premium. I had a good game on it. Meh. Okay. 10-second review. Williams Hurricane. That's the Ferris Wheel Carnival? Yeah. Python Anghelo. Crazy motherfucker. Super fun. It was... When I played it, I felt like this was the beginning of the modern games, the way that it felt, right? One of the first WPC games, yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah, I didn't know that. it very much felt like a modern pinball that I've grown to love and that's what I started playing I like the little ferris wheel I like the clowns holding the flippers that are the drum I like the 3D element slash you are in the playfield world situation with the carnival theme and I still don't really understand I guess it's the name of the rollercoaster probably more Rollercoaster Tycoon than Rollercoaster Tycoon yeah yeah 10 second review F-14 Tomcat. F-14 Tomcat. Fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast, fast. Ramps, ramps, ramps, ramps, ramps. There's no ramps. Oh, uh... Whatever. Returns. It has a lot of returns. A lot of wire forms. There's wire forms everywhere, but no ramps. That's what I meant. Wire forms. A lot of wire forms. Harder to say that fast. Wire form. Wireforms, wireforms, wireforms, wireforms, wireforms. Nailed it. All right. Yeah, that game was fun. It was a ton of fun. There really weren't no ramps in that game? No ramps in that game. None. How do you get the ball up there? It locks them. Different shots will shoot them into the little thing that shoots it up the wire. Oh, crazy. Yeah. I guess it makes sense because airplanes are already in the air. You got to shoot it up there. You can't just ramp up. I guess that... You're a fast player. You're an F-14 Tomcat. You got to already be in the air. That game was awesome. I want that game now. Okay. I think I've... Oh, one more. One more. Totally forgot this one. This is a big one. 10 second review. No fear. No fear. Yeah. Really fun game. Really fun game. Yeah. No fear. It was fast. I wasn't scared. That ramp shot was tough. I got to play it more. Yeah. Callouts were fun. Music's fun. That's the first No Fear based product that I've liked. You didn't wear the shirts back in the day? Nah. Yeah, me either. Nah. I was too afraid. Yeah. And now for an important message. I'll never learn to ski. Especially if you quit trying. Scarlett! You'll never win if you give in. But I just can't do it. Can you ride a bike? Well, sure I can. But could you at first? No, I had to practice for weeks. I think I'm getting the hang of it. That's because you hung in there. Now I know. And knowing is half the battle. G.I. Joe! And now, back to the show. I personally, I'm a really big fan of the collective idea. Yeah. They explain that the members of the collective also own the machines. Yeah. And they'll have tournaments, they'll have events, they have days where they work on each other's machines, where they work together on machines. Yeah. You kind of have a log of issues and repairs. And if you have time one day, you know, while you're on volunteer duty, you can, oh, here's a problem I can fix real quick. And you can kind of take care of it. Freaking awesome. Yeah. I love that idea. I think that for me, the first thing I think of is, wow, I have one game, two games, right? 2.5, hopefully. three um but it kind of opens up the door it's basically what you and i are doing yeah we're basically sharing games in a way yeah you're kind of opening up the door for more people more games more community more events just more interest more pinball yeah and it's awesome like i love that you know if i have a question about something if i need a part maybe maybe you have it maybe dale has it maybe sam maybe somebody you know yeah and and it's it's the idea of having everyone together in one space whether it be at the same time or just in passing as you know you're helping or just hanging out one day um i think that's much needed especially here locally because it seems to be more barcade beer capitalist uh consumer base instead of community and right for the love of pinball based right yeah it's like it's like the our local community is like trying to exist in spite of all of these barriers and like issues and it's like it's a struggle it is it is mainly because the games i think are being neglected you like to say it kind of does a disservice for pinball yeah and i agree because a lot of new players a lot of people that haven't played much play the games like oh it's not not really fun right so how do you get into pinball when you're not having fun right that issue makes me think of why didn't i ever get into pinball until fairly recently it's because every time i ever tried to play it i was like why would i waste my money on this because it's expensive it's expensive the games last 10 seconds if you're bad at it yeah and like and then they don't work and you don't hear them and so it's It such a bad experience It like four or five strikes Yeah I mean there just so much going against just the average person getting into pinball that it just seems impossible Yeah And we see it all the time. Like when we're at an arcade, we see people like actually trying to get into these games and they're so frustrated. Yeah. And, you know, part of that is because they're inexperienced but a lot of it is also because the games are set up kind of aggressively steep and like, you know, the slings are like set super fast and like just all these things it's like why i i hate that man just recently when we played godzilla over at baxter yeah i saw um like a young couple i guess younger maybe maybe like 19 or maybe the early 20s yeah really interested eyeballing the games going up to the games finally put some money in was that the guy like the german guy with the crazy mullet i don't remember i might it might have it was a group of like four kids kind of i think so but they were i don't know i think i heard him say a comment of like oh yeah i really like these things you know and i think they were playing lord of the rings yeah and um which isn't it's not 100 functional right and uh i could just see i could see the excitement just slowly dissipating yeah and then just walk away you know yeah it's like well never mind ball 2.5 right just like well walk away yeah it's a bummer you know because yeah it's a bummer maybe theoretically if the game was set up right it was working everything was was fine they would have stayed enjoyed it become pinball converts who knows yeah there's just too much going against in the in the average arcade around here yeah it's extremely difficult to get into i think which the richmond pinball collective right it's one of the few times i can remember actually being able to hear the games yeah that was awesome and not feeling overcrowded because it wasn't very crowded yeah Wasn't super loud in general. Like ambient noise was not that loud. The music, there was no music. Yeah. I think they said on like certain night, like Friday nights or Saturday nights or something, they pump up the jams a little bit. Which I can't imagine it's that loud. Yeah. You know? I think it's still probably nothing compared to like our local spot. Dude, yeah. We clocked in, I think it clocked in over 90 dB one time when I was over there. Yeah. Which is basically any prolonged exposure after what, like? 80. Yeah, you're causing permanent ear damage. Yeah. Hearing damage. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it was carpeted. They had like drop ceiling kind of somewhat acoustic materials. And yeah, just it sounded normal. It sounded normal in there and not aggressively loud or anything. And there was, you know, a decent number of people there most of the time. Yeah. You know, there was games going, but you could hear it. You could hear them. It was nice. It was great. And also the games were set up well. They were set up great. like amazingly well like the best of anywhere that i've ever played wow that's a that's a strong endorsement yeah and this was hands down the best pinball experience that i've had every other place i've been like flippers okay flippers in raleigh gas station raleigh yeah flippers in uh it's like on the outer banks outer banks yeah north carolina i think it's like i don't know if it's corolla It's near Kitty Hawk. It's on the Outer Banks. It's a great arcade. It's more of a traditional arcade. Tons of games, right? Like 80 or something? Yeah. They hover around 80 games. Yeah. It's a great place to play football. I've been wanting to go there for a very long time. Since I moved up here, I've been wanting to go to Flippers. I think I've been there three times now. I remember the first time when I first joined Pinside. Yeah. And I found the pin map. You could sort by location and size and how many games. And that was the only one that had over 50 games. Yeah. And I was shook, okay? I was shook because I didn't realize there was a place nearby that had – Yeah. It was always like this place called Tomato Jake's that had an avatar by South Point in Durham that I would go to. These like one-offs because I didn't know, man. I didn't know about pin side. I didn't know about this stuff. I just – on location where I would see one, I would go play it, right? Yeah. Yeah. Flippers was like the best place to play pinball in the state, but it's still like a solid four-hour drive for us. Yeah, it's pretty far. But the setups, right? They were good, but still not anywhere as good as Richmond Pinball Collective. They had a huge variety. I think they had roughly 40 machines, which is a lot. It's a lot. It's a lot. Well, especially when they all play pretty well. Yeah. Great. The Terminator 2 was down, and one of the flippers wasn't working. Other than that, everything we played worked. I cannot think of a single other issue that I experienced while I was there. Yeah, everything worked. And not only worked, but was set up correctly, not tilted to one side. You could hear them. They played right. They seemed like the flipper rubbers had been maintained and changed. They seemed clean. I mean, just what? You could play early 80s and late 70s games that actually played like they were kind of fresh. Yeah, it was pretty awesome. First time I've experienced that. Yeah, mind-blown. Mind-blowing. Yeah. Thanks for listening to part one. Part two, we're going to talk about a whole bunch of games. More of Don's not-quite-anywhere-near-10-second reviews. And we might introduce our new podcast producer. I'm going to be out of town this week, and Don's going to finish editing part two. Thanks, Don. I mean, assuming he's able to break free of the hive mind. And one last thing. Never forget. You will be assimilated. Go! Leave this territory now. Return to your home. Evacuate all personnel. you