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DPP #104 "TPF reveals? Looney Tunes stream! Let's Pinball!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·36m 12s·analyzed·Feb 23, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

TPF preview: Spooky's two new games headline show; Don compares JAWS (Premium/LE) over Elton John Platinum on code depth.

Summary

Don from Don's A A Pinball Podcast discusses Texas Pinball Festival (TPF) happening March 15, 2024, previewing expected game announcements and booth experiences. He highlights Spooky Pinball bringing 15 machines including TCM and Looney Tunes premieres, Multimorphic's The Princess Bride module, American Pinball rumored new original-theme game, and other manufacturers. Don compares Elton John Platinum vs. JAWS (Premium/LE) as a case study in game selection, concluding JAWS (Premium/LE) offers superior code depth despite Elton John aesthetic appeal. He announces his own TPF booth activities including interviews, giveaways, and merchandise.

Key Claims

  • Spooky Pinball is bringing 15 games to TPF, including TCM and Looney Tunes, with a butter cabinet on display

    high confidence · Don reporting from discussion with Bug during Screaming Stream; stated as confirmed plan from Spooky ownership

  • American Pinball is rumored to unveil a new original-theme game at TPF (possibly a Barry Osler game), following two original titles before a licensed theme

    medium confidence · Don citing rumors heard; describes as 'strong hint' but not official confirmation

  • Multimorphic will have The The Princess Bride module playable at TPF, possibly in collector's edition cabinet form with sword-hilt buttons

    high confidence · Don states 'for sure' based on prior knowledge; describes expected experience

  • Butter cabinet upgrade pricing has escalated from $1,000 (Rick and Morty) to $1,200, $1,400 (Scooby), now $1,500 (Looney Tunes/TCM)

    high confidence · Don citing cost progression confirmed by Spooky Pinball representatives during stream discussion

  • Stern is rumored to announce a black-and-white Godzilla Anniversary Edition at $9,600 (non-LE pricing) with possible sparkly blue highlights

    medium confidence · Don describing 'strong rumor' and speculation based on pattern from black-and-white Elvira success; not confirmed

  • Jersey Jack Pinball is expected to release a new game in summer 2024 or fall 2024, with unconfirmed 'bomb license theme' rumored

    medium confidence · Don speculating based on JJP's stated goal of multiple games per 12-month period and 'finger on the pulse' rumors; explicitly stated as unconfirmed

  • JAWS (Premium/LE) offers superior code depth and gameplay compared to Elton John Platinum Edition due to ranking system, story progression, and side quests

    high confidence · Don's direct gameplay analysis and personal recommendation based on played experience with both games

  • Show floor games sold with discount at the conclusion of event (saw $500-$600 savings on Halloween at MGC); pricing tends to lower as show progresses unless stock runs out

Notable Quotes

  • “This theme would be better served by a complete play field and not just the back one-third, but here we are.”

    Don @ early discussion of Princess Bride — Articulates common community concern about Multimorphic's modular approach limiting full theme expression; Don then rationalizes acceptance

  • “You've got to see it. You've got to feel it. You've got to touch it. You've got to lick it if no one's looking and if you can stand the salty taste.”

    Don @ butter cabinet discussion — Humorous but emphatic endorsement of butter cabinet's visual superiority requiring in-person experience

  • “When I play Elton John, the songs are great, but you're playing a jukebox. A very great shooting, well-lit, well-engineered, satisfying to shoot jukebox of lights with Elton John music.”

    Don @ Elton John vs Jaws comparison — Core critique of Elton John's gameplay as arcade-focused without story depth, supporting Jaws LE preference

  • “JAWS (Premium/LE) you have a ranking system as you're playing. You collecting shark teeth shark jaws upgrading from minnow to guppy to sturgeon... There's some side quests that you can do.”

    Don @ Jaws LE praise — Details Jaws LE's progression mechanics as differentiator from Elton John's loop-based gameplay

  • “I think the fit and finish is still superior on Elton John. However, the JAWS (Premium/LE) is one of the most loaded LEs we've seen from Stern, which I'm glad they're going in that direction.”

    Don @ Jaws LE physical features — Acknowledges Elton John aesthetic superiority while crediting Stern for packed LE spec on Jaws

  • “The strong rumor is for an anniversary edition of Godzilla... imagine a black and white Godzilla with like some sparkly blue highlights... if the black and white didn't help out Munsters and make it super desirable.”

    Don @ Stern speculation section — Speculative but credible rumor about Godzilla variant grounded in Munsters precedent; uncertainty acknowledged

Entities

DonpersonBugpersonSterlingpersonChris TurnerpersonKen CronepersonDannypersonMichael BarnardpersonSpooky PinballcompanyMultimorphic

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival (March 15, 2024) expected to feature two major new Spooky Pinball games (Looney Tunes, TCM) as centerpieces with 15-machine presence, Multimorphic Princess Bride module debut, American Pinball new original-theme game rumor, and possible Stern variants

    high · Spooky confirmed bringing 15 games via stream discussion; Multimorphic Princess Bride described as 'for sure' at show; American Pinball described as likely with new game based on rumors

  • ?

    product_strategy: Spooky Pinball's butter cabinet upgrade costs rising from $1,000 to $1,500 over 4 game generations (Rick and Morty, Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes/TCM), attributed to third-party supplier costs

    high · Don citing progression: Rick/Morty $1,000 → Scooby $1,400 → current $1,500; Spooky representatives confirmed cost passed through from supplier

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Jaws LE identified as having significantly deeper code with ranking system (minnow to sturgeon progression), story-driven modes, side quests, and concurrent background progression vs. Elton John Platinum's loop-based arcade jukebox gameplay without narrative arc

    high · Don's direct gameplay analysis comparing both machines side-by-side, explicitly preferring Jaws LE for long-term replay value despite Elton John's aesthetic superiority

  • $

    market_signal: Pinball show floor machines sold at MSRP initially, discounting as show progresses unless stock depletes; buyer can achieve $500-$600 savings by purchasing show-demo machines at end of event

    medium · Don citing personal Halloween purchase at MGC saving $500-$600 on show-played demo; general pattern observed across shows

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.109

0:00
Don's Pinball Podcast is graciously brought to you by Mad Pinball, Northeastern Ohio's finest servicer of all things Jersey Jack, stern, spooky pinball, barrels of fun. Call or email Jeff at MadPinball.com. Get yourself on a list for the next 17 Jersey Jack collector's editions so you never miss one of the best box of light shows available in pinball. Jeff at MadPinball.com. He's not hard on the eyes and he's not hard on the prices either, so be sure to hit him up.
0:30
Without further ado, let's just jump into episode 104 completely off the cuff. No show notes for this one. We're just going to take a look at where we are currently in the pinball world in the greater diaspora. And we're going to reflect on that and celebrate all things silver ball and flippers.
1:00
Welcome everybody and let's talk about the state of pinball for the week of February 23rd, 2024. We are in the lead up to one of the preeminent pinball events of the year, Texas Pinball Festival, going down in Frisco, Texas on the 15th of March. It's three weeks away, you guys. We are practically there. I can just taste the barbecue, and just all the food in Texas just tastes better than just anywhere else. Definitely better than Wisconsin. They know spice down there. So what are we going to see when we walk into the Texas Pinball Festival? I was sitting on my drive home this morning from the night shift at work, and I was reflecting on where we were 12 months ago. We had March Madness in pinball last time. We had Pulp Fiction just dropped. Galactic Tank 4. Spooky Pinball was new out with Scooby-Doo. Venom was there, I think. We had like a ton of games we're all releasing. I think, you know, Punny Factory was coming out. Ninja Eclipse. It was madness. Madness is what was going on. So this year, barring some surprises, you know, I don't think we're going to reach the heights of like seven brand new games on the show floor, but there's still some things to be hype and excited about. Speaking of which, I think we're going to see, and I'm hearing more and more confirmation as time's going on, These rumors are picking up that American Pinball, purveyors of Galactic Tank Force, is going to do a repeat in March and may have a new game for us to play on the show floor. What we know for sure is that Multimorphic will have a brand new machine with a killer, in my eyes, AAA theme, Princess Bride. If you've never seen the movie, go do yourself a favor and see that family-friendly, funny film starring Andre the Giant, Vizzini, Inigo, the Six-Fingered Man. It's madness. The cliffs of insanity, right? It's inconceivable. for you to miss this theme. Now, I share the sentiment with many folks out there, and I've been cruising around the pin side watching the Facebook threads. A lot of people feel the same way I do. This theme would be better served by a complete play field and not just the back one-third, but here we are. So here's how I've made some peace with that when it comes to the multi-morphic machine. You know, they have got the license for Princess Bride. It's unlikely that we'll see anybody else do a Princess Bride pinball machine. But we are getting a Princess Bride pinball-themed experience. And just because Multimorphic wasn't doing it doesn't mean somebody else necessarily would. So we're left with the decision of no Princess Bride pinball experience versus Princess Bride and pinball. So I still think this is a net gain. I think where we come down to differences is really when you talk about price and value. and I know that's one of the chief marketing points of the Multimorphic machine is you buy one machine and then you're paying much less price for modules and you're technically getting more games. But when you break down the numbers, is that really favorable considering you have to dump 12K to begin with it? We could argue for hours it's one of my favorite things to do. Maybe we could do that in person. But what I will be doing is hitting up the Multimorphic booth and just running down the row, playing some more Lexi Lightspeed, some more time with Heist. Final Resistance will be there a lot of people still haven't had a chance to play this game so if they have that on the show floor that's going to be fantastic I can't imagine a world in which they don't I'll spend some more time with Weird Al and then Princess Bride will be there for sure hopefully they have at least two versions hopefully they have a version with that collector's edition cabinet with those weird swords that you have to interlace your fingers with to reach the buttons can't wait to see what that experience is like what's it like slapping sword hilts so that will be fun so I will definitely be there so we'll for sure get in that game probably getting some new new from American Pinball can't wait to see what they come out with now the rumors have been that this is another original themed game not you know a big AAA license and apparently from the last time I've heard their next two games will actually be original themes followed by a license theme after that so let's look forward to that and play some dang pinball now who's going to have the game of the show probably the guys that may have the game of the year already, and that's our friends from Benton and Spooky Pinball. So last night on Bug's Streaming Stream, Screaming Stream. You guys and your tongue twisters. Scooby, Spooky, Streaming Bug, Screaming Stream. Anyway, he was doing Looney Tunes gameplay. It was at 7 p.m. last night. Right around when my shift was starting, so by the time I had signed out and clocked in and put on my smock and my hip wader boots to wade through the blood, I had missed the gameplay version component of it, that'll be up on YouTube later from what he was saying, but I got in there right for the discussion at the end of his Screamin' stream which is like one of the best parts of it his gameplay is on point, I mean the guy's good at pinball, but it's fun to get the back and forth because it's really just a candid time to talk to the owners and rulers of Spooky Pinball so they were mentioning a couple of things about TPF, they're going to be there in force with an even larger presence than they were last year, which, if I can remind you, was full of Scooby-Doo, including a Mystery Machine van. And so they're going even bigger this year with 15 games they're bringing, 15 of these games. They're going to have TCM and Looney Tunes, which I think I can absolutely see these having the biggest lines of the show. Pulp Fiction won that last year. But the hype regarding TCM and especially Looney Tunes is fierce. This is going to be most people's first times they're going to be able to play these games and figure out, you know, if you've been holding off on ordering one, this could put you over the top. Now, if you want to see what a butter cabinet looks like, they'll also apparently are going to bring one, and we kind of talked Bug into doing a Looney Tunes, so hopefully he will follow through and get us a butter cabinet Looney Tunes that we can all rub our greasy, nacho-ridden fingers all over at the show floor. But the important thing is people can see what the butter cabinet really looks like in person. and it's hard to convey the real upgrade you get in graphic density through YouTube videos and just through pictures. I mean, you've got to see it. You've got to feel it. You've got to touch it. You've got to lick it if no one's looking and if you can stand the salty taste. But they'll have one on the show floor, so go check that out. And everybody knows what the butter is. But just in case, so we're all on the same planet here. normally with an arcade pinball cabinet you get a nice decal with some gloss on it and it's stuck on the cabinet on every side, the butter system is essentially taking those wooden plywood cabinet components and direct printing the graphic on the wood itself and then clear coating that really exactly the same way you would do a play field, so you're building your pinball cabinet and back box and front of the cabinet out of play field basically. So the whole thing is just, it's just amazing. It looks better in every form of light. It's glossy. It's just inviting you to come rub your fingers all over it. I love it. Now, it's an expensive upgrade, currently at $1,500. And from what I hear from the guys, this is really just the cost of what it costs their third-party supplier to get that to them. In the past, the Rick and Morty days, it was a $1,000 upgrade. Then it went to $1,200, $1,400 for Scooby. Now It's 15, so it's not free. But, man, if you're planning on having a game and it's going to be your showpiece or you have one or two games in the collection and it will be in a prominent spot, you're not looking to play in it and flip it in a couple of weeks, consider it because you're really getting the best version of that game you can. Regardless, you'll be able to make up your mind on the show floor if you go because you'll be able to run your hands all over that cabinet. If you want to pick yourself up one of these games, If you want to go ahead and skip the line and not have to wait now, we're probably eight months out if you were to order today, you can go ahead and pick one of these games up from the show floor including a Butter Cabinet Looney Tunes which is amazing So if you were considering getting yourself a TCM or a Looney Tunes I think you wouldn be terribly served by going ahead and emailing squirrel at spookypinball.com and telling you you want one of these show games. Maybe you could set it up ahead of time. Now, show games tend to sell a little bit cheaper at a discount at the show floor. You have to pick them up at the end of the show. I got my Halloween that way at MGC one year. It had about 400 plays by the end of the weekend, but I saved myself about $500, $600 or so. Now, when the show starts, I've seen the games go for MSRP if you want to go ahead and secure that one. But as the show goes on, the prices tend to wheel and deal a bit. But then you run the risk of their being sold out. But Scooby-Doo will be there in abundance. If you want a new in-box Scooby-Doo, they have them ready to ship right now. As long as you don't need the Butter Cavern upgrade, that is backlogged a bit. But this could be a way to jump the line on a TCM or Looney Tunes. If you're completely infatuated with the game, like I was the first time I played it, you can go ahead and pick one of those up. So check it out. I really think Spooky's probably going to have a good chance of ruling the show with all the hype surrounding their two new games. So that's awesome. What else are we going to see? American Pinball is going to have a brand-new game, rumored to be the Barry Osler game.

medium confidence · Don citing personal experience from MGC event and general show floor pricing patterns observed

company
American Pinballcompany
Stern Pinballcompany
Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
Chicago Gaming Companycompany
Turner Pinballcompany
Texas Pinball Festival (TPF)event
Looney Tunesgame
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (SE)game
The Princess Bridegame
JAWS (Premium/LE)game
Elton John Platinum Editiongame
Godzilla Premium / Godzilla Anniversary Editiongame
Ninja Eclipsegame
Pulp Fictiongame
Mad Pinballcompany
Balls of Steel Pinball Leagueorganization

rumor_hype: Strong rumor of Stern announcing black-and-white Godzilla Anniversary Edition at $9,600 (non-limited edition) with possible sparkly blue accents, grounded in success of black-and-white Munsters variant

medium · Don describes as 'strong rumor' heard; speculation on design grounded in Munsters precedent; explicitly states 'just kicking around the idea' and uncertainty about reveal at TPF

  • ?

    rumor_hype: American Pinball rumored to reveal new original-theme game at TPF (possibly Barry Osler game), with roadmap suggesting two more original themes before licensed title

    medium · Don citing 'more and more confirmation' of rumors; describes 'strong hint' but not official; mentions pipeline of two originals then license

  • ?

    product_launch: Spooky Pinball planning to showcase Looney Tunes butter cabinet at TPF; Don negotiated with Bug to film cabinet for YouTube demonstration; emphasizes in-person inspection necessary to appreciate graphic density upgrade

    high · Bug confirmed via stream that butter cabinet will be present; Don describes effort to get footage for audience who cannot attend

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Chicago Gaming Company Pulp Fiction machines beginning slow 'drip feed' exit from factory to locations; no major bottleneck reported; Don expecting to receive standard edition during year

    medium · Don observing 'more and more of them pop up on locations' with 'nice slow drip feed cadence'; noting production appears on track

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern accessory pipeline for Venom and Foo Fighters stalled; community awaiting shooter rods, toppers, art blades, expression lights, armor upgrades for extended period; Don hoping show floor release announcement at TPF

    medium · Don stating 'We've been waiting. We've been more than fair and more than patient with them. Haven't heard a peep' and speculating show floor announcement as reason for silence

  • ?

    business_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball targeting multiple game releases per 12-month period; Elton John (October 2023) suggests next title expected summer 2024 minimum, with fall 2024 near-certain deadline to meet annual goal

    medium · Don calculating release timing: 'six months from release of Elton John... they want to target more than one game in 12-month period... summertime would be earliest... almost assuredly by the fall'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jersey Jack Pinball rumored to have 'bomb license theme' coming in summer/fall 2024; described as desirable but completely unconfirmed; possible examples include movie or band license

    low · Don stating 'just with my finger on the pulse as it is, nothing confirmed or anything, but I'm hearing that we've got another just bomb license theme coming' and explicitly acknowledging 'I don't know what it is'

  • ?

    content_signal: Don's Pinball Podcast expanding TPF presence with on-floor booth featuring live recording equipment, interviews with industry figures (targeting Michael Barnard, American Pinball), merchandise sales (banners $99, premium t-shirts), and giveaways including VIP Patreon meet-and-greet

    high · Don describing booth setup, interview targets, merchandise specifics, and VIP plan in detail; booth location allows immediate recording vs. previous hotel-room-based interviews

    • 10:15
    I have a strong hint that it's probably going to be there and playable. So that will be fun. We'll swing through there. Hopefully they have some more GTFs. and there's a new code update I heard as well through the pipeline, so maybe that'll be there. We'll see if there's some new modes, maybe some new call-outs from Anoya,
    10:33
    maybe some new guardrails and airballs. Who knows? Who knows? We'll go ahead and see what's down there. I was talking to Chris Turner at Turner Pinball the other day. He's going to be there with Ninja Eclipse once again. Now, the last place we were able to play that was at Expo back in October, and that was really kind of the debut of this new cabinet design that he had come up with. where he said, you know, there's really no reason to put an extra cubic footage into this cabinet, so let's release this nice streamlined machine with legs that look like it's on stilts. So he took some feedback, and we'll be adding a coin door and a full arcade-sized cabinet. Bless him for doing that, man. I love it. So that will be back there at the show floor again. So go check that out. Go check out Ninja Eclipse. I was starting to cook up some ideas, too, that I think would be fun for Texas Pinball Festival, since I'll have a booth there with my boy Sterling with Balls of Steel Pinball League in the Georgia region. So I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun to go play Dawn for t-shirts over at Ninja Eclipse? So we'll try to work out some time to do that. I don't have any details on it yet, but I want to go over there and I want to play some more Ninja Eclipse. And if you can come over there and you can best me, I'll get you a t-shirt. How about that? That would be fun. I have some other little fun giveaways that I'll be doing at TPF. More details on that to come. including, I think, a VIP meet-and-greet or cocktail soiree with the producer-level members for the Patreon, because I like to give back all the joy that I get back from y'all there. So looking forward to that. So Turner Pinball will be there. American Pinball is going to be there. Stern, what are they going to have? It's probably just going to be a lot of Jaws and some Venoms and some James Bonds, and that's where we go. I don't know if Stern is going to have their own booth there or if they're going to be there through, like, Marco Specialties, which they've done before. So we'll see what happens. I remember from my last TPF experience about two years ago that they were fairly well represented. Gosh, that was the first place I got to play Rush. I fell in love with the game. That was the first place I got to play Godzilla, which was a game that on theme, you know, and in my naivete kind of coming into this hobby at this level, I was like, oh, Godzilla, that's not a theme that really resonates with me. Wasn't there already a Godzilla pinball machine? I don't know. So I walked by and nobody was playing it. And I'm like, okay, well, I guess I should give this a shot. And boy, am I glad I did that. So it turns out that I had walked up to a Godzilla premium. And all of a sudden, buildings are collapsing. All of a sudden, balls are getting stuck to Mechagodzilla. My mind is being blown by this, you know, I mean, it's Godzilla. It's the goat. But that was like a pivotal moment when I was really struck by like how well playing a pinball machine can be, how cool mechanisms can really be in the modern era. You know, so that was amazing. So I'm looking for more of that. people will be able to get those experiences if you haven't got to play a Venom premium I'm sure they'll have one there we'll be playing new James Bond code coming back to that game after the launch from last year that game has grown so much just in code and everything in the one year that it's been since it's been released so happy to see more of that maybe they'll have a Bond 60th too so we can all play it CGC will probably be there with their Pulp Fiction so they've been dragging around the country now they're finally starting to leave the factories. I'm seeing more and more of them pop up on locations. So hopefully they can continue that nice slow drip feed cadence that they're having. And maybe before next year I might actually have my standard edition Pulp Fiction already kicking around some topper ideas. So don't think I'm going topless on mine. But we'll look forward to that. So it'll be fun to play Pulp Fiction again.
    14:07
    Probably without as much hype this year because it's been out for a year so those lines won't be as long. And maybe they'll have more machines on the show floor. Who else do we have to talk about? Jersey, Jack, Pinball. They didn't have anything brand new for us last March. I think that was still Godfather was kind of ruling the roost. That was the first time a lot of people got to play the collector's edition, though, with those gold lines. So, man, what a fantastic looking machine that is. It's not the worst playing machine. Theme doesn't do a ton for me. It's not really a thematic environment I want to spend a lot of time in. It's just personally. You might feel differently, and it's your favorite game, and triple bolt it to the floor, and that's totally fine. they had Elton John released earlier in the year in October, blowing minds with that box of lights, a game that I wasn't even expecting to really find desirable, but went and played it and blew my mind with how well it played, and I strongly considered getting one, I still might down the road there's just too many other things in front of it right now for my limited pinball funds but not to say it's not an excellent playing game it is quite fantastic For me right now, and I was talking to a good friend of mine of the show, Danny, how you doing, buddy? He was trying to decide between Elton John Platinum Edition and a Jaws LE, and that got me to thinking, like, where would I come down? You know, assuming that both of these games were around the same price, let's say, you know, the Platinum Edition Jersey Jack game is $12,000 MSRP, plus, say, $400 for shipping. Jaws LE is going for $12,999, but let's say you got free shipping. So let's say the cost and difference was negligible. Let's say you're in with a distributor, and they cut you a $500 deal with free shipping, and then you had to pay your distro $400 to ship Elton John, so you're right there at $12,500. Which game do you get? They both play exceptionally well. They're both very well-themed. The fit and finish is great on both cabinets. Strong edge to Elton John with the rad cows, with the glitter that you get. Jaws LE, though, they did do a couple of extra things. Speaker lights, expression speaker lights, in fact. They powder-coated armor, the armor's laser cut, and they give you a shooter rod there. So I think the fit and finish is still superior on Elton John. However, the Jaws LE is one of the most loaded LEs we've seen from Stern, which I'm glad they're going in that direction. So where does it come down then? For me, it came down to code and gameplay. I think the layout on Elton John, the ramps are definitely superior on Elton John for sure, especially that mid ramp that goes up and locks in the piano I love that, the Rocketman launched ramp on the right under that upper flipper it's just pure magic and I love the death drop ramp that comes out next to the flipper, if you've played Elton John you know but for me, when I look at the LE of Jaws, I've played the premium playfield I've played the upper playfield, the wave shot I like how wave shots if they don't make it all the way up that 180 they fall into the other wire form just kind of like fun things the flipper lock mechanism. I would still give the layout an edge to Elton John's because those ramps, you cannot go wrong with those ramps. But when it comes down to the code and the gameplay, I fell on the side of Jaws. I think if I had both of these games in front of me, both of them were costing the same amount of money, I think Jaws Premium, Jaws LE is the one that I would go for. And the reason is because when I play Elton John, the songs are great, but you're playing a jukebox. A very great shooting, well-lit, well-engineered, satisfying to shoot jukebox of lights with Elton John music. There's not a story-driven element there. There's no ranking system. Every game you start, it's like, let's go after the multi-balls. Let's see if we can stack Crocodile Rock and Rocketman. It's more arcade-y playing, you know, more kind of how Venom plays, where it very much you start a game you have that experience and that kind of where you at Whereas with Jaws you have a ranking system as you playing You collecting shark teeth shark jaws upgrading from minnow to guppy to sturgeon I think and then on up Also, as you're playing, there's some side quests that you can do. You get into the bounty hunt mode where you can select your shark that you want to go after. And then the modes are played just like the kaiju modes in Godzilla where you have to hit so many spinners, so many pop bumpers, so many ramps or whatever. you know, to satisfy it. And then you hit the reel-to-reel in your fish, and all that is in the background of the regular modes in the game, so it's going on concurrently. So for me, the code and the scenes and playing through the movie adds much more depth and adventure than you have with Elton John, you know. You're not starting out as a young Elton John, writing songs, landing gigs, getting bigger stadiums to finally, like, blow up Wembley Stadium or Red Rocks or was it the Hollywood Bowl where he did the Dodgers sequined jumpsuit? like, you know, if that was the crowning achievement. I would like to see more of an adventure for a game that I would, you know, they've just drawn more to that. You know, I love how they did Foo Fighters where you're, you know, journeying through the cities and everything. So that's kind of where I came down. The thing that put Jaws at least over the top for me, and this was my recommendation, it's what I would have done, is that depth of the code. I think I'm going to have a lot more time coming back to that game and progressing farther than I would with Elton John. But, man, does that game look amazing. Now, we're putting the Elton John Platinum Edition against the Jaws LE. When you go to that collector's edition of Elton John, there's nothing that can touch that game in terms of just pound for pound the amount of glitter that's in it, the Dodger sequin suit that's on the play field there at the bottom. Just I love it. The laser projections up at the top, the LCD screens. Like, it's a spectacle. It's a complete spectacle. And if those were the same price, that would tip the scale for sure in Jersey Jack's favor because, dang it, they can make a great-looking box of lights. They can make a spectacle in your game room. It's just fantastic. But, you know, my recommendation for, you know, pound for pound, dollar for dollar, price for price, fin for sequin, Jaws OE is where I came down on that. So there's your aside for the show. I'm getting so excited about TPF. I'll be there on Thursday. I'm bringing a whole bunch of fun stuff. I'm going to have a booth, and I'm coming up with a bunch of cool booth ideas. One thing the booth is going to allow me to do is to bring my recording equipment to the show floor. At Expo, I had a room at the hotel, but it was still quite a walk and then up the elevators. If I wanted to do an interview, I had to coax people back to my room. And for the most part, they were agreeable, but you could tell it was a little like, are we just recording? And that's where we start. We just see where it goes. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But this time, I'll be able to have my machine right there.
    20:47
    Microphone's ready to go. So everybody from artists on pinball, I've been talking and reaching out to Mike Barnard. I think he's going to come by and give us a little recording. I made some inroads with American Pinball over the last week, which I'm very excited about, so I might be able to get some of them over there. Who knows who I'll run into that I can strong-arm into sitting down for five minutes and just giving us some information and details. I'm excited about that. I'll be able to recap the day-by-day playbook as we go on the show floor. And, hey, if you're walking by and there's an open mic, jump on and spit some games, spit some lyrics, spit some bars. We'll do some freestyle rap battles, whatever you want, man. all that is possible because i'll be located on the show for i'm so excited about that we'll also be doing giveaways from the uh the the show there i don't know if i'm going to be doing raffles or like a treasure hunt that's still up in the air uh vip meet and greets will be happening if you want me to sign things go ahead and bring it by whether it's a a poster keychain or your newborn's forehead whatever you want man you know i've got sharpies you just you just give me the canvas and we'll do that so that's all going to be fun i'll probably have some fun things to sell from the show. Things like maybe I'll bring some trans lights. I'm going to have the new Don's Pinball Podcast banner in very limited quantities. Price point for this, I'm looking at $99. It's a full-size, stern-style banner. I'll even sign it for you if you want. It looks amazing. It's got the Wonka outfit, man. It's on its way to the house. I can't wait to get my hands on them, and I'll be posting pictures as soon as I do. But I'll have some of those available, too, if you're like a super fan and you want to get in on it. The new t-shirts are ordered with the new graphic design. We went ahead and got them silkscreened. Nothing but premium quality here. This is going to be the best blend t-shirt that you can get. I want to have the best merchandise in Dosh Garnet. That's what I'm about. Who else did we leave out? We hit Multimorphic. They'll be pretty big at the show. Spooky is going to land like a thunderclap with their two new games. Stern will be present. Jersey Dog will be present. I'm not expecting anything new from them. The one wild card I would say, and this is just going to kind of where Stern's at, You know, they've sprung things on us before. Nobody was really expecting O-Virus Bloodbred Kissed, another limited edition version, to release at Expo, but there it was. So could they have something else? The strong rumor is for an anniversary edition of Godzilla. I've heard people kicking around the idea of a black and white Godzilla, which this would be on brand, given that, you know, the movie started in the 1940s or whatever, back in the black and white days. but just like they had the red accents and the blood red kiss Elvira, imagine a black and white Godzilla with like some sparkly blue highlights in there maybe like a blue, black and gray motif, I think that could be super cool, now we were all doubting in person Elvira looks already so great, so vibrant, so purple and so green like really would you do black and white and gosh darn it if that's not the best looking art package of the bunch if the black and white didn't help out Munsters and make it super desirable. There's a Munsters right now in Minnesota for $12,000 OBO premium black and white edition with the Mockingbird topper.
    23:56
    And I'm sitting here like Roger Rabbit when he's shaving a haircut, wanting to bounce on that. Thank God for the low cash flow funds in the pinball budget that I haven't done on that yet. But I think a Godzilla black and white anniversary edition, especially the fact that they've announced that it won't be a limited edition so it's not going to be $12,999 it's going to be like $9,600 man, if you were waiting on a Godzilla that's going to be the Godzilla to own so will we see that at the show? who knows, I don't know if we will or not but if anything new would come it would probably be another version of a machine from Stern, so we'll look forward and we'll see what they have what they may have and I probably put a stronger possibility on this is some accessories for a couple of games that we've been waiting on for quite a while I'm talking about Venom and Foo Fighter accessories, shooter rods, toppers, art blades, expression lights, armor upgrades, all that stuff. All that stuff. We've been waiting. We've been more than fair and more than patient with them. Haven't heard a peep on anything coming out. And I'm hoping that is because they're planning on releasing them at the show floor. What if we get there and they're like, hey, do you guys want some expression light kits for Foo Fighters? We have them here new in box just for people at the show. Come and get them. Everybody else get on the preorder list. Wouldn't that be fantastic? So we'll wait and we'll see that.
    25:16
    Jersey Jack, I'm not expecting a new game from them until at least the summer. Elton John still feels very brand new, even though it was, gosh, it's been nearly six months now since October. October, November, December, January, February, March will be six months from the release of Elton John. And they want to target more than one game in a 12-month period. But they still have another six months for that to happen. So I think summertime would be the earliest I would expect to see anything from Jersey Jack. Almost assuredly by the fall there would be another game out. And from what I'm hearing, you know, just with my finger on the pulse as it is, nothing confirmed or anything, but I'm hearing that we've got another just bomb license theme coming, and I can't wait. Bomb like the kids in the 90s used to say bomb. What do the kids say now?
    26:04
    It'll be bussin'. Jersey Jack's going to be bussin' with their new theme from what I'm hearing. I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's a movie. I don't know if it's a band. I don't know if it's Garbage Pail Kids, the movie. We'll just have to wait and see. But I'm expecting something a little later. So probably won't be anything brand new or revolutionary from Jersey Jack. Maybe they'll reveal some new code updates. Maybe they'll reveal their replacement for the Scorbit system that they removed. Or maybe it'll just be Jersey Jack in another outfit, and we'll go have some handshakes and hang out with Ken Cromwell, which is always a good time. I feel like I'm missing somebody. I don't know if Pinball Adventures will be there with their Pony Factory and I don't know if their Elements has been redone and that'll be on site I don't know at Texas if it'll be there who else are we missing this is how we do it with those show notes here just off the cuff just riffing about pinball on a what is it Friday what's going on for the rest of the week well next week is my birthday and my birthday will be on a Tuesday and Tuesday is not a bad day to stream because I don think anybody really owns Tuesdays possibly American pinball I can remember for sure which day they doing but I will be live streaming on my birthday something whether it gameplay whether it just me talking There's me at Walmart maybe. I think of all the live streams I do, the Walmart ones probably get the best reception. We'll be doing something on Tuesday. So if anybody's out there and wants to get me a present, there's still some shipping days available. Does anybody have something cool new in box they want to send me? Spooky Pinball, what are you guys doing? You're throwing some games together, you're throwing them out of the factory. It wouldn't be the worst thing if you were to show up and maybe bring a couple of games new in the box. I don't know, man. You guys are certainly invited up any time. Free skate session and hypnotic shots will be flowing. So whether or not drinking on stream is a good idea or not, the Jägermeister would say no, but we'll do what the fan community wants, and certainly that's where we're at. But my birthday's coming up. I can't wait. I'm going to be playing pinball on my birthday for sure, and I've got a great selection of things right behind me to jump into. I have been playing Labyrinth every single day since I unboxed it. I've got to say the new code with the topper callouts, it just blows my mind. As you're playing, you play a couple of balls, and then there's some comments from the peanut gallery sitting on top of the machine. Talk about interaction, man. Now I know we were kind of a little disappointed that these Muppet characters didn't have articulatable mouths and everything. But the lights blink, the LED lights from the bottom strobe on them. The two outer goblins turn their heads side to side, so there's some motion up there. And when you're playing a pinball machine and then you hear the sound come and you see the motion, I think it's perfect. I don't know that adding articulated mouths would really have added much else to it. Now, of course, when you're sitting there looking, you're like, of course, I want these to be fully animatronic, articulated, sticking tongues out and laughing at me. but I really don't think for the player that would have added a dang thing different other than some extra servo noise. So this topper is amazing. I don't know that it's going to fit in everybody's game room. It is twice the height easily of any of the Stern toppers. So it has a commanding presence. As far as the gameplay itself, I'm having a good time with it. I really think the score is fairly well balanced.
    29:24
    My grand champion score is 60 million points, And to get there, I got about three extra balls, and I played all but one of the base modes in one game. So I saw most of the game playing just like well outside of my league. I thought I was almost, well, I was one mode away from, I think, getting to the wizard mode there at the end of the game. I don't even know if that mode's coded yet. So that was fun for me. I'm learning the game. I'm learning the shots. It's tight but fair. and I'm starting to experiment with increasing the power of the flippers, which is fairly easy to do. I love the menu system there. Stern's, you know, I mean, tried and true, their menu navigation system works, but they have this huge, beautiful LCD screen and they put up a dot matrix display for you to go through. And I get that's what arcade operators have been using forever. I get that it works, so they're hesitant to mess with it, but it's nice to see a better user interface with more navigatable menus. Similar to like a Jersey Jack That's how the Barrels of Fun tends to do it It's easy to go in there Switch things out You can adjust the frequency of the topper callouts When I first had it I turned it up all the way And every five minutes sitting downstairs There's goblins talking on a track mode So as fun as that was I had to turn it down because it was freaking the dogs out But now playing When you hit certain shots they'll come up with their comments And so far I'm still hearing new dialogue As I'm going through So if I could talk directly on camera to two barrels of fun, I would say the only thing that I really want you to do at this point, first off, you guys are killing it. But, you know, if you could add even more topper callouts, I would not be upset. I think that would be amazing. People, when you get a chance to play this game in a setting where you can really hear the topper, I think it's going to blow some people away. I've got number 86, 89 of Relic Edition. I think they just hit a milestone of shipping 100 games. So we're only 10% into the production of this So I'm happy to see where the rest of the year goes Barrels of Fun, they're from Texas We're going to see their games on the show floor When are we going to see the next game from them? Probably 800 games from now is probably when we're going to see it They have a total edition size of 1100 for Labyrinth that they announced And that was kind of like, that would be the most we would make Meaning that they're planning on building 1100 machines and probably with QC only shipping around 1,000. And I think that's totally fine. That seems to be a good sweet spot for them. And I can't wait to see what else they're bringing. And apparently they're bringing more than just pinball. They want to be more than just the pinball cabinets themselves. They want to get into the licensed entertainment and merchandise space. So maybe they'll have a sculpted Jareth statue that you can put in the corner of your game room or something. Or maybe they'll land some other themes and not make pinball machines out of them, but other collectibles and statuettes and maquettes and toppers and animatronics and things like that. I think there's room in that space for that. I think, you know, collectors, when they're bound to a theme, man, you know, they're in it. I would say this. Anybody else that makes a Muppet pinball machine, I'm already on a preorder list for it. I can't wait. If somebody would do my dream of the Muppet show, you know, straight from the 1970s, let's do it, man. Oh, man, I love me some Muppets. I'm in the right age category for it, man. Just bring it. Just bring me Muppets. As an aside, if anybody hasn't seen Muppets Family Christmas, it was a made-for-TV special that came out sometime in the 80s, early 90s. It's just completely fantastic. Not Muppets Christmas Carol, which was a feature film retelling of the Dickens tale. This is Muppets Family Christmas. This is about the Muppets traveling to Fozzie Bear's grandma's house or mother's house for the holidays. They get snowed in, but they make the best of it. It's a musical. It's fun. It's zany, and it includes, like, every Muppets franchise character, from Sesame Street to Fraggles. They're all in there. Jim Henson makes an appearance probably for his final time. Go check this out. It's probably on YouTube. It might be streaming on Prime or something. But Muppet Family Christmas, do yourself a favor and watch this made-for-TV special. It's, like, probably my favorite piece of Muppets content outside of Muppet Vision 3D from the Disney parks. So go check that out. This has been your Daily Muppets update. What else do we have? Looking around the game room, I'm going to be playing some more pinball, man. I'm going to be making more content. I'm going to be making more merchandise. I'm going to be cranking out 3D-printed things as fast as I can do. I've got some cool things for Jaws coming up that I'll be bringing to TPF, and I try to bring things at a consumer-friendly, consumer-focused price. I'm just happy to be having fun in pinball, not trying to gouge anybody. So check it out. for you folks on the Patreon. I hope you're loving all the extra content that I throw up on there. I want to keep this show free. I don't want to take the whole show behind a paywall, but at the same time, $5 is precious to me. If you're willing to help me support what I'm doing here, which it is rather expensive to do merchandise and buy equipment and recording stuff and all that business.
    34:31
    It's big plans for even more expansions that I want to do. For you, investing in me, even that $5 a month, it means so much. So I want to give things back, uh, whether it's sending stickers out. Um, but I like to drop extra content, uh, maybe things that aren't quite set for, uh, you know, for public release. Maybe I heard something in, in a little bit of not, not strict confidence, but like maybe kind of keep this on the down low. It goes right up on the Patreon there. Uh, things that will be public, uh, later, but maybe there's early on rumblings. I try to put that stuff on the Patreon. anything, uh, just to get a little more background in the process of what I'm doing. I have a good time on the Patreon there. I've been asked to do some Zoom meetings with the higher tier level members, so that's something we'll be kicking off this month. We're going to have some sort of event at TPF. It's all coming together. It's going to come together in the next few weeks. I think by next week, we're going to have a lot more of it shored up because I'm off next week. It's going to be my birthday. It's going to be fantastic. Spooky Pinball, everybody else, you're invited over. Just let me know. Bring a machine or two with you if you want to come up. Anything else? I think that's enough for now. We're screaming into the weekend. It's going to be fantastic. Go play yourself some pinball. We live in a good time for it.
    35:46
    The Hans Pinball Podcast at gmail.com is a great way to get at me. Otherwise, join the Discord, join the Patreon, join the Girl Scouts. I don't care. Get yourself some cookies. I still got some for sale. Hang out on the Facebook page. We're up to 1,100 followers on Facebook, and I'm just humbled. Humble. Thank you so much. More YouTube content is right around the corner. So thanks everybody. Go get yourself a mimosa. Later.