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The Spinner Is Lit - Episode 58 Let's A Go - Go

The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 56m·analyzed·Sep 29, 2023
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Spinner Is Lit Ep. 58: Reno team league launch, GTF/Weird Al PC issues, upcoming shows

Summary

Episode 58 of The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast features hosts Spencer, Dan, and Mark discussing their September pinball activities, including league play, tournament results, and new acquisitions. Dan acquired Galactic Tank Force and discusses PC architecture challenges with modern pinball machines. The hosts highlight a new team-based pinball league in Reno with innovative scoring mechanics and discuss upcoming pinball shows including Mile High Pinball and Arcade Showdown (Sept 29-Oct 1) and Pinagogo (Oct 13-15).

Key Claims

  • Galactic Tank Force had a show game history at Golden State Pinball in May, played 700-800 times in a weekend

    high confidence · Dan describing his GTF acquisition and its broken-in condition

  • Dan accidentally deleted the limited edition graphics file on Weird Al by accessing the file system

    high confidence · Dan explaining technical issues with Weird Al registration and graphics

  • P3 (Pinball Operating System) is complex with multiple nested menus and sub-menus, challenging for casual users

    high confidence · Dan discussing difficulty with P3 platform on PC-based machines

  • Reno now has 11 out of 16 top players in Nevada State Championships rankings, versus 5 from Vegas

    high confidence · Mark stating Reno's dominance in state rankings

  • Reno's new team-based pinball league uses match play calculations for skill balancing with a 21-point cap to prevent sandbagging

    high confidence · Mark explaining the Reno team league structure and scoring system

  • The Reno team league format includes singles, doubles, and stall ball rounds with bonus points for team dedication

    high confidence · Mark describing the five-round competition format

  • Weird Al has become the must-see attraction for non-hardcore players and kids at venues

    high confidence · Dan noting Al's appeal to casual players at his September league event

  • Final Resistance has had a re-reveal stream and looks impressive visually

    medium confidence · Dan mentioning watching a re-reveal stream of Final Resistance

  • Reno has gained approximately 150 new players in Nevada through local scene growth

    medium confidence · Mark estimating player growth in the state from Reno activity alone

Notable Quotes

  • “I just hate pinball machines that are based on a PC architecture because I know just enough about computers to really fuck things up, but I don't really know enough about computers to really fix things.”

    Dan @ ~15:00 — Core frustration with modern PC-based pinball machine support and accessibility

  • “Al has kind of become the thing. Like, everyone sees that game and just goes, oh, my God, what is this?”

    Dan @ ~20:00 — Observations on Weird Al's mass-market appeal and cultural cachet

  • “B trophy is super meaningful... when somebody who hasn't ever won gets a trophy to take home from something that you spent three months doing, it's really exciting.”

    Dan @ ~45:00 — Commentary on inclusivity and achievement in competitive pinball leagues

  • “We have 11 people out of the 16 that are from Reno, Sparks area, that are in the top 16 for Nevada State Championships. So there's only five from Vegas.”

    Mark @ ~75:00 — Market signal of Reno's rapid rise in competitive pinball scene

  • “It's kind of like our own little thing that we're putting together, trying it out... a true pinball league where you're actually playing against teams.”

    Mark @ ~65:00 — Innovation in pinball league format inspired by non-IFPA models

  • “Pinagogo is definitely the quintessential, original, OG Northern California pinball show.”

    Dan @ ~135:00 — Historical and cultural significance of Pinagogo in regional pinball community

  • “I almost don't like the whole IFPA aspect because I think that people start to take it almost a little too serious and they forget that it should be fun.”

    Dan @ ~105:00 — Critique of competitive structure's impact on community culture

  • “We are now dominating the top 16 in Reno... That's a nice bragging right.”

    Mark @ ~92:00 — Reno scene growth and competitive strength

Entities

DanpersonMarkpersonSpencerpersonGalactic Tank ForcegameWeird AlgameFinal ResistancegameVenomgame

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Reno pinball community experiencing rapid growth with new players joining weekly, 11 out of 16 top Nevada players now from Reno area, estimated 150 new players in state from Reno activity

    high · Mark: 'We keep getting new players on a weekly basis. I don't know. We probably have increased the number of total players in Nevada by 150 just from Reno alone.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Reno implementing first true team-based pinball league with non-IFPA format, custom software tracking, multiple competition types (singles, doubles, stall ball), and skill-based balancing to prevent sandbagging

    high · Mark detailed explanation of team league structure, scoring mechanics, and software package created by David Mosher

  • ?

    product_concern: PC-based pinball machines (Multimorphic P3, American Pinball) present significant technical barriers for home owners; file system access risks, registration database issues for early serial numbers, complex software interface

    high · Dan: 'I just hate pinball machines that are based on a PC architecture because I know just enough about computers to really fuck things up, but I don't really know enough about computers to really fix things.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Weird Al machine demonstrating strong appeal to non-competitive players, casual audiences, and younger players; significant draw at league events and public venues

    high · Dan: 'Al has kind of become the thing. Like, everyone sees that game and just goes, oh, my God, what is this?... for most people, for most kids, and a lot of, like, the non, like, hardcore tournament pinheads'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.351

0:00
Hey, welcome to the Spinner's Lit Pinball Podcast. Today's episode is episode 58. We're still debating. I hope to be determined. Yeah, we're still debating on a topic. I'm decided. Yeah, undecided. Episode 58, make your own title.
0:34
It's the end of September. I'll always go with that. Last week is September 2023. There, happy Dan? He is. Do you remember the end of September? I still love Earth, Wind, and Fire. They rock. Anyway, go back to junior high days. So it's episode 58 of the Spinners Look Pinball Podcast. I'm your host, Spencer, and with you, my co-host with the roundtable, Dan. Hey, what's going on, guys? And Mark. Hey, what's going on, everybody?
1:05
What's going on? It's pinball. We've got, you know, some stuff going on, man, and coming up, so it's really exciting, you know. It's fall. The leaves are starting. First, you know, fall just started earlier this week, and the leaves are starting to change, but it's still nice out, and we'll get some stuff done.
1:24
We'll start with Dan. Dan, you've got some latest acquisitions. I don't remember. Did we talk about picking stuff up at the last show? I mean, I know we talked about Weird Al, right? We talked about Weird Al, and then you got rid of... I got rid of Ninja Turtles, and I got Galactic Tank Force. I did a swap with Jason from Reno.
1:46
Yeah, nice. So far, the game's really fun, and I managed to make a little bit of a mess of the software, so I'm trying to figure that out. But, yeah, that's actually a really good game. Artistically, I don't think anybody could touch what Franchi did. Like, I think it is a great-looking machine. And gameplay-wise, it's a Nordman, so you know it's really, really solid gameplay-wise. And I do know that, you know, a lot of people have had trouble with air balls and balls flying off the targets. And, you know, my game was a show game. So it had, you know, spent the weekend at Golden State Pinball back in May. And so I think it might have gotten a lot of its initial idiosyncrasies just kind of beaten out of it by getting played, you know, probably 700, 800 times in a weekend. But, yeah, man, it's my first American pinball. And the one thing that it makes me feel, same thing I'm going through on my Weird Al, is I just hate pinball machines that are based on a PC architecture because I know just enough about computers to really fuck things up, but I don't really know enough about computers to really fix things. And I went inside and I monkeyed around. I did it with Weird Al and I deleted some files and completely by accident. I still blame Multimorphic for that. Love you, Jerry. I know you're not listening. And then on GTF, I did the same thing yesterday. I went into the BIOS. I saved something when I shouldn't have saved something, and now the machine, the computer doesn't see the machine, or the machine doesn't see the computer. So I'm going through some pain trying to get support from American. Not that it's necessarily American's fault. I did call. I love to message it is the weekend. I'm realistic about these things. But when I go in and I try to register, it turns out that I have a super early machine and I put in my serial number and the website doesn't believe that that's a real serial number. Like, I guess it's too low. So I'm like, oh, my gosh, man. Like, I'm just technologically having one of these times in my life where it's just like I can't win. and just everything I touch just goes haywire.

Pinagogo typically has 200+ games and benefits from being geographically close for Northern California hosts

medium confidence · Hosts discussing Pinagogo's scale and convenience as a local show

American Pinball
company
Multimorphiccompany
Sterncompany
Ted McGintyperson
Mike Morettiperson
David Mosherperson
Joe Abateperson
Roryperson
Rickperson
Chelseaperson
Christopher Franchiperson
Pinagogoevent
Mile High Pinball and Arcade Showdownevent
Golden State Pinballvenue
Flipper Roomvenue
Playfield 76venue
Press Startvenue
Comic Kingdomvenue

event_signal: Multiple fall 2023 pinball shows upcoming: Mile High Pinball (Sept 29-Oct 1 in Denver), Pinagogo (Oct 13-15 in Dixon); hosts planning attendance with focus on playing new releases like Venom

high · Spencer discussing Mile High show and Mark/Dan both attending Pinagogo with plans to play Venom and other new releases

  • ?

    venue_signal: Reno has developed robust venue infrastructure with Press Start, Playfield 76, Comic Kingdom, and private locations supporting frequent tournaments and league play; Joe Abate maintenance improvements raising venue quality

    high · Mark: detailed description of four home venues and ongoing tournaments, praise for Joe Abate's maintenance at Playfield 76

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Reno/Sparks area establishing competitive dominance in Nevada with 11 of 16 top-16 state-ranked players; organized team league elevating competitive structure

    high · Mark: 'We have 11 people out of the 16 that are from Reno, Sparks area, that are in the top 16 for Nevada State Championships. So there's only five from Vegas.'

  • ?

    product_concern: American Pinball serial number registration system failing for early production units; website validation rejecting legitimately low serial numbers as invalid

    high · Dan: 'I put in my serial number and the website doesn't believe that that's a real serial number. Like, I guess it's too low.'

  • ?

    historical_signal: Pinagogo established as original and quintessential Northern California pinball show; hosts trace their community origins back to Pinagogo; show maintains charity focus and community-first ethos

    high · Dan: 'Pinagogo is definitely the quintessential, original, OG Northern California pinball show.' Hosts discussing how they all started at Pinagogo and met through the show

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Subtle tension emerging between IFPA-structured competitive pinball and community-focused casual play; hosts expressing preference for less serious, more fun-oriented league formats

    medium · Dan: 'I almost don't like the whole IFPA aspect because I think that people start to take it almost a little too serious and they forget that it should be fun.'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Reno team league innovating pinball competitive format with skill-based point capping (21-point max), match play calculations for balance, bonus points for attendance/dedication, and round-specific game types

    high · Mark's detailed explanation of league format preventing sandbagging and the software tool for tracking/automation

    • 4:19
    So I just need to get this thing working. I need to get this thing updated, and I just need to stop messing with it.
    4:29
    So, Dan, did you fix Weird Al? No. So I did finally figure out, like, we had a communications breakdown, but I did finally get it registered, so I did need to open a ticket. The thing with Weird Al is Weird Al works completely, but I deleted the graphics file that has the limited edition graphics. So it just plays the standard edition graphics. Okay. Which looks fine. It doesn't change anything in the gameplay. It's just the title screen image and some of the backgrounds of, like, the menus and stuff would have the same graphics that you see on the side of the LE. And mine have the SE graphics. Oh, okay. You know. And then also I just kind of need somebody, like I just really need somebody to like show me how to use P3. Like I want to believe that I'm a smart man and I can puzzle through these things. But like P3 is definitely, you know, there's a lot to that platform. It's not just, hey, pinball. It's like, you know, there's menus and there's sub menus and there's sub side menus and there's a menu for this and a loader for that. And I'm just like, I can see why some of the people who own P3 for a month or two go like, yeah, this isn't for me because I'm not that big of a tinkerer. Like I haven't even dared to rip out the owl module and try to swap in heist yet because I just, I just want it to work right now.
    5:57
    Yeah. It's been a big hit. You know, September was a really busy month. You know, I hosted league, which is always fun, you know, having 20-plus people over to experience your collection. I didn't quite trust GCF or Al enough to put them in as competition games, but, you know, they were available for practice and for recreational play, and they both took a lot of plays, and people really liked them. Al, I think, has just really become, for most people, for most kids, and a lot of, like, the non, like, hardcore tournament pinheads, Al has kind of become the thing. Like, everyone sees that game and just goes, oh, my God, what is this? Nice. Oh, yeah. That's awesome. You know, this is P3. It's, you know, it's the next big thing, right? Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. It's 10 years old, and everybody thinks it's just amazing. And I have been watching. I try not to ever overindulge on content for stuff that I know that I'm going to get, but I did watch that big old re-reveal stream of Final Resistance.
    7:06
    And, yeah, that just looks— That game looks so good. It looks cool as hell, right? It does. It really does. I'm excited about that. So we hosted League, and then we went to playoffs in Folsom, where I didn't do especially well. And, but I had fun, you know, always have fun. And, you know, I did post the results on the website. So it was great to see Rory win one. You know, it was really, really exciting. He had a close call last season that he was beating himself up over it. Then we go to Golden State Volunteer Party the next day at the Flipper Room, which if you're in Northern California, I'm sure you know the Flipper Room. that place is just astonishing, and it was great of board member Mike Moretti to host us. And it was a big party. There were a lot of people there.
    8:02
    Spencer, man, you should have come. I wish I could have came, too. Yeah, Mark, I mean, you were great, but, like, you know, all these guys are, like, Spencer people. You know, and Spencer is just, you know, such a personality and an instrumental part of the show in, you know, the Spencer way that, like, you know, he would have really enjoyed it. And his presence was missed, you know. We would have loved to have seen him. But we understand. Then we had the Lodi playoffs, which is the one that I host.
    8:36
    Actually, I got the time frame wrong. We had Folsom playoffs. Then we had Flipper Room. Then I hosted. Then we had Lodi playoffs, and that's the league that I host. and, you know, Rick won that, not surprisingly. And that was fantastic. This was my first time solo actually running the playoffs without any backup.
    8:59
    And, you know, it went off without a hitch, you know, really, really well. You know, congratulations to Rick and Jason and Cheddar, who did real, real well, And to Chelsea, who she won B and just, you know, love it, love it or hate it, you know, if you have to play in the B division because you didn't make A, like, the competition was fierce and she was so excited to win that B. For Chelsea. That's awesome. That's nice for the B division when the competition is actually tougher. I think that the thing about B is, and this isn't to cast any aspirations, right? We've gotten to the point, I think, where it's like if you look at our various leagues, there's a group of winners.
    9:50
    And occasionally somebody will rise from the ranks and they'll make a run and maybe they'll even win. But for the most part, you're going to see your Ted's, you're going to see your Rick's, you're going to see your Mark's.
    10:03
    and that's great. You know, we love you guys. We love that you're great at pinball. But, like, for some of our people, especially in our leagues, you know, you've got a lot of people who they show up faithfully every single week and they play their games to the best of their abilities and they just don't make the cut for A. And that B trophy is super meaningful. And, you know, I've won and was really, really excited to win, and I've won B and was really, really excited to win B. but like when somebody who hasn't ever won gets a trophy to take home from something that, you know, you spent three months doing, you know, and maybe you've done 10 times, you know, it's really exciting. She's like a little tick tock of it. It's just hilarious. And I posted the pictures on our website if anybody wants to see them, but it was awesome because then, then after that, we invited ourselves over to our good friend, Mike's house, my career's house, and then we have like a six-hour pinball after party in his garage arcade. Oh, that's too cool. That was just a ton of pinball last month. And next month, I'm sure we're going to talk about it a little bit. There's a ton of pinball too. So, yeah, man, it was a great pinball month for your old boy, Dan. How about you, Mark? How was your pinball month? My pinball month was pretty good in September. I pulled off a win on a Saturday, which was exciting.
    11:32
    I still haven't got a first place for a while for Tuesday nights, but Ted is gone for two weeks, so I might have a chance unless Jeffrey gets back. So, yeah, Ted and I are always going head-to-head towards the end.
    11:46
    But, yeah, he's out of town doing work with his job. So I have a shot at maybe doing pretty well this Tuesday. We'll see how it goes. And Saturday was really fun because we had the – well, they don't call it flipper frenzy anymore, but it's the match play where you play 16 rounds and you get to play all people. So it's kind of like a flip frenzy, but it's more allowed by the IFPA. So that was really fun. That was just a couple weeks ago where I pulled off that win, and that helped me. I was trying to – I'm trying to get back into the second position again. and I dropped to fourth. And you kind of took the summer off. You were traveling, and when you were showing up, you weren't the Mark that we normally know. Right, and school didn't help either, getting adjusted to that and just having those rough days and then coming to play pinball at night was a nice outlet to relieve the stress, but it didn't help with the competition. I choked a lot and just wasn't on full energy capacity to be able to really pull it off to do well. There were a couple times where I couldn't even make it in the top eight. Yeah, I think it was the top eight that make it into the playoffs for that every Tuesday night. But now I'm starting to get back up into that top eight. So it feels good. And the main part of it is I really enjoy playing it. it's always fun with the competition that's out there. And there are some really tough players to play against here in Reno. And there's a couple that were pretty much every tournament in the past, like three, four years ago, this person was like on the bottom of the list. And now she's like in the top eight now. So it just goes to show you that as people play more and more and practice, they get to be really good players. And it's really nice to see these people that I was thinking in the past, It's like, oh, my gosh, they really have a lot to improve. And now all of a sudden they're playing out of their minds. So it's really great to see that. The other thing that's happening in Reno, and it's a first, is we have just started the team competition of actually having a true pinball league. So instead of having it where you go in a tournament and you play against other people and you're playing for yourself based on your ranking, you're actually playing against teams. So Ted McGinty put together this league of six teams where we have home teams or the home locations are Press Start, Jim's Place, Playfield 76, and Comic Kingdom. And we travel to those different ones having two teams play against each other. So it's pretty much just like a real league. It reminds me a lot of tennis when I played in USTA where you have a captain and you have to find out if people are committing to that week. And then we have it all set up with software now. David Mosher has put together a whole software package now for an app that keeps track of scores, that does the point distribution, that shows stats. It's really cool. So it's kind of like our own little thing that we're putting together, trying it out. Ted went to a pinball show at Northwest in Seattle and talked to people about, is there anybody there that is putting together a league where you play against teams? And he got all these ideas, came back, put together this whole entire document of what we're going to do for our rules and our scoring and all those kinds of things with the formats. And we came up with a really cool format. When you first play your first round, you play singles, and then you play doubles, and they play doubles again. Actually, I take it back. You play doubles first, then you play singles twice, in the second and third round. Then you play a doubles round in fourth, and then you play in the fifth round a stall ball. So you have both teams playing against each other, and the survival of the fittest, whoever is left over for the number of players, is the number of extra bonus points you get for that fifth round. So it's really cool. He has a couple of scoring, like a bonus round, so if you can get all six players to play, it's really four at a minimum, but you can have six. and then those bonus games can add a couple more points to show your dedication and your accountability to being there for those meets. And so far, my team has been doing great as far as showing up. We've had six people every time. So it's been a really fun experience to have an actual competition against another team. Now, am I playing really well in it? Not so much because I'm the captain. So I cannot think straight when I'm captaining and choosing the machines and getting players associated and all that stuff. And then when it's my turn to play, I just choke. So I'm hoping that now this week we have the players actually entering in the scores and their actual scores of the game. So it takes a little longer. But then the points are determined for doubles.
    17:06
    It's who beats the other person for their score. for each player on the opposing team. And then if you combine the scores and it equals greater than the scores of the other team when you add them together, then you get another extra point for that. So you could get three points, basically, for winning if you totally take it over. Actually, you can get more than that. You can get one point for each person, and then you have the bonus point where if you add the scores together. So it's kind of interesting how it all plays out. and with the software it will now have it all set up so that it will all take care of the calculations for you and all you have to do is just put in the scores. I love that. We got something like that similar thanks to David Hosier and the league. So quick question for you. Let me rewind a little bit. So your guys' teams are based on those four major locations or those are just where you play? Those are where we play, but we chose something that was geographically close to us to be the captain.
    18:09
    So which team is yours? So I am Playfield 76, and we're called Bankshot. And the reason we're called that is because that was the game that Roger Sharp played to legalize pinball in New York. I actually love that because that gives you the aspect of, like, you guys have home games, and you guys have away games, and there's, like, advantages. like when you guys are having the home team advantage, even though we all know there's no such thing as home field advantage in pinball. As soon as you try to do well on your own games, they betray you. Exactly. But I absolutely think that that's super cool because, yeah, you guys are going to be able to or are able to or are currently doing like, you know, okay, well, now the Comic Kingdom team is playing on their home turf. And so, yeah, you guys are coming in trying to claim rights. I was really trying to push something like that when we had the three different CCPL leagues, and it didn't exactly work super well because, you know, we have a lot of crossover. But I was really trying to push that it's just like, oh, you know, each team, you know, each league has a champion, and each champion represents, and, you know, stuff like that. And, you know, oh, man, we can't let, you know, a North Fat guy show us up at interleague. But I think that I was, I think I'm the only one who really tries to put a whole like sportscaster tilt on running my department. I'm always trying to send out recaps and get people excited. Some people really appreciate it, though. They like the immersion.
    19:46
    Yeah, it's a lot of fun for people. And it's not, there's no IFPA involved because the format wouldn't work with it. But it's just a lot of fun to have players of all different levels. And the way we do that is you're probably going to ask that question. So the way we make it even is we go by the calculations in match play. And we go by that to determine the level. And then we have a point system where six is the highest level player. I would be, I kind of drop to a five, but I'm kind of between a five and six, depending on how well I do in the tournaments. Humble brag. I'm sorry? Humble brag. Yeah, well, I don't know if that's a humble brag, but you get the idea. I go back and forth, but we have other players that are level two or level one, and then you can't go beyond 21 points. So that way you're not having a team that is sandbagging against another team to make it unfair. So Ted really thought that through, and it gives an opportunity for people who can't make it to the tournaments on Tuesday night, placed in pinball on Sunday night, which is actually tonight as well. And we play over at Press Start. The good news is we have mostly subs that we're playing against. So we have a good shot at getting out of the hole of being last place right now. So, yeah, we got to step it up tonight. And I do too because I keep losing my matches. And then that doesn't help not being able to get our points for our team. but it's just a great group of people to have fun playing competitively in a different mindset because it's totally different when you're playing against a team because it's like you don't want to let your partner down when you're playing doubles and and vice versa and when you play singles it's kind of a little more pressure when you're playing head-to-head so yeah it's it's a lot of fun and so far it's going really well except we had some snap little glitches in the software here and there, you know, bugs to work out. But boy, Dave did a really good job designing the software. It's really nice. So it sounds super cool and really, really fun. Yeah, it's really cool. I, you know, I almost, I almost don't like the whole IFPA aspect, you know, because I think that people start to take it almost a little too serious and they forget that it should be fun when they're stressing about whoppers and state rankings and stuff like that. Fortunately, I think that we've never dealt with that, the hyper-competitiveness of it too much. I think that there's a fine line in, like, these kind of club leagues between wanting to win and being so obsessed with winning that it's, like, almost exacting it, right? But at the same time, that's spoken like a true loser.
    22:36
    That's true. Yeah, you're right about that. Spoken like a true loser? Damn, that's cold. That's fucking cold, Mark.
    22:48
    No, I know exactly what you're saying. Those whopper points really get to me too because when I'm playing on Tuesday night, I'm like, oh, I could just get a couple more points to get past Jeffrey. And it's like, well, I'm now kind of at the point of no return where I have 20 matches under my belt, so it's going to take the difference of the lowest score to bump me up. So I could pass up Jeffrey, but then that's about probably as far as I can get unless I really wail in the last couple of weeks before we close out of our ranking for the state and pull off a first-place position in the state rankings. Well, that's the biggest problem. We don't have enough to qualify for. Right. You just have to be top 16, right? That's all you really have to worry about unless you want to have advantage picking machines when you're in the state championships. But here's the greatest thing about it. We are now dominating the top 16 in Reno. We have 11 people out of the 16 that are from Reno, Sparks area, that are in the top 16 for Nevada State Championships. So there's only five from Vegas. So, yeah, that's a nice bragging right. Well, you guys, again, you guys have got a real scene up there now. Yeah, we do. You know, and that's awesome that you guys have four or at least three locations, right? Four or three locations, and then there's a private spot that you guys play at. That's correct. Between Playfield 76 and Comet Kingdom and, of course, Press Start, which is just, you know, again, I just think that's the most fantastic place. And I got to give a shout-out to Joe Abate. I don't know if it's Abate or Abate. I thought it was Abate. Like I always thought it was a bot day. But I'm giving him a shout out for keeping those games maintained at Playfield 76. People are a lot more happier, and the communication between him and I are wonderful, where he is fixing things on a weekly basis. So if you are listening to this show, Joe, thank you so much. You're doing an awesome job keeping those games maintained. and let me know any situations that arise before we have gameplay. And if you're not listening, come on, bro. Don't be a dick. Yeah, exactly. We're your buddies. Listen to our show. Yes. We need some listeners. That's right. Yeah. So anyway, that's the cool scene that's happening in Reno. We still have the Saturday tournaments. And on top of that, we also have tournaments now on Sunday beyond just the league where we play the first week of the month at Comet Kingdom that Cody hosts for those particular events. So, yeah, there's a lot going on in Reno. And we keep getting new players on a weekly basis. I don't know. We probably have increased the number of total players in Nevada by 150 just from Reno alone. So it's pretty awesome. Well, if we're shooting for an hour-long show, Mark, good job. You just blew that out of the water.
    26:02
    I don't think you breathe, to be honest. Once you start going, it's just an avalanche. Spencer, are you awake?
    26:10
    I think Spencer laughed. I think I've talked him out of it. I think you are. I have my mute on. I'm sorry. Okay. I have my thing on my desk or something. Well, that was nice of you. That makes my editing way easier. So, thank you. Well, see, I'm thinking, well, I know with all the extra work of writing papers and stuff, you have your hands full. Yeah, thanks. No, you know, I don't have anything to talk about. I mean, other than, because I've just had so many other irons in the fire lately, you know. But we do actually have stuff to talk about because we've got upcoming shows.
    26:46
    And we're going to be attending some of those upcoming shows in just a few short days or weeks. I'm going to start with the one I'll be going to next week. And that's the Mile High Pinball and Arcade Showdown. And that's, of course, in Denver, the Denver area. It's at the Denver Marriott. It's September 29th, 30th, and October 1st. So that's next weekend.
    27:12
    It's pinball machines, arcade games. They've got a tournament, of course, a pretty well-known tournament.
    27:21
    They've got, like, a beer garden, brew fest thing going on. I didn't make it last year due to weather, but the weather's looking good this year, so I'll be making it the second time I'm going. I'm really excited about it. It's a good show, and I haven't had a chance to play Venom, and I know JJ from Game Exchange will be there because that's his home show. So we'll be giving some time on Venom, and I'll report back because I know all of us, because you guys have got a show to go to as well, and we're going to talk about that in a minute. But again, that's the Mile High Pinball and Arcade Show now, September 29th, 30th, October 1st at the Denver Marriott. And then coming up October 13th, 14th, and 15th, the longest running pinball show west of the Mississippi, the original Pinagogo.
    28:09
    Oh, yeah. Dixon, I know both of you guys are going. I'm going this year. Yes, I'm going. The OG. The OG, man. I really don't know that, but I can't make it. But just a few days before that, I'll have my daughter and son-in-law here.
    28:28
    Well, it's the 13th, 14th, and 15th this year, right? Yeah. Yes. So a Friday the 13th in October. Yeah, cool, huh? And then we're starting Pentagogo. I don't know if that's a good sign, but, you know, Pentagogo is, I think, it's where we all started. I think that that's just, you know, just the most honest thing to say is just like we all started off at Pinnagogo. Spencer met the group at Pinnagogo. I actually got introduced to the league at Pinnagogo. That's how I met Spencer. Yeah.
    29:04
    You know, I think that. Mark I don believe Russ can I invite him to play in a game with us on Hobbit Hobbit at Pinnagogo Yeah Yeah Oh yeah You know I think Pinnagogo we can all trace our Northern California pinball origins back to Pinnagogo And while it's not in the same, you know, time slot it used to be because Golden State took that over, I think that the fall show is awesome, and it's definitely more appropriate weather for the facility out there in Dixon. Oh, boy. Yeah. Totally agree. Yeah.
    29:44
    It's the coolest, most laid-back, you know, buddy show. You know, just two rooms full of pinball machines and your friends in this small, this little out-of-the-way Northern California town. It's dirt cheap, you know. Everything goes to charity.
    30:05
    I believe that's still true, right? They still do the Boys and Girls Club? I think so. Yeah, they still do it for charity, absolutely.
    30:14
    Yeah, and it's just straight out, you know, it's just straight out the very definition of a community show. And there's a lot of games to play. And like you said, there's a lot of people that sell games, so you can get a really good deal.
    30:28
    Yeah, you know, there's always a good deal or two that I miss out on at Pentagogo. Mm-hmm. Yep. The other thing, too, about Pinnagogo is there's no tournament, so you don't have to worry about wasting time. Because a lot of times when you go to a show, you're like, oh, man, I played in the tournament all weekend. I didn't get to see the show. This one is nice because you just can go and play pinball all day, and you don't have to worry about missing out on a tournament or playing in a tournament. So it's kind of nice. You don't have to worry about any of that kind of stuff. Like you said, kickback. And they always have new games. I'm sure they're going to have plenty of Venoms. I know when I went, I think it was two or three years ago, they had Godzilla, and they also had the Stern Insider Connect that was just starting to be online, typing it out. I think we were, weirdly enough, just randomly. Yeah. We were like the first, like the public unveiling, like they just decided to show up with it. But, yeah, well, we got Pinball Pirate. He does show specials and typically has a few of the newest. So hopefully, yeah, we'll get some Venoms, and hopefully some people will bring some of the other spring announcements. Maybe if I can get Galactic Tank Force sorted out, I'll bring it. That would be a great one for you to bring. I'm going to hold my breath, though.
    31:50
    Honestly, one of the things about Pinnagogo, and I feel a little guilty saying it, because back in the day I took games to Pinnagogo every single year, and now I take games to Golden State every single year. And Pinnagogo is almost always for me the show that I just want to just enjoy.
    32:07
    I don't want to have to schlep games in and out. It's always such a hassle. But I'll watch the show list, and if there's an opportunity, maybe I'll man up and I'll bring something cool. But, yeah, I love Pinnagogo. And it's just, for me, again, it's close enough to home that, you know, I can pop in earlier, I can pop in later, I can even, you know, I can even run home and then run back if I want to. But, yeah, Pinnagogo is definitely the quintessential, maybe not the ultimate Northern California show. I mean, I don't know if it ever was. We've always had California Extreme and now Golden State. But it's definitely the quintessential, original, OG Northern California pinball show. Yes. And the other thing, too, is they do have a lot of games. Don't they have at least 200 games?
    33:08
    Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't try to put a number on it. They have a big room. They have a lot, though. With a ton of games. And typically the crowds are manageable. the pentagogo has never gotten so busy that you're like oh my god why am i here but at the same time i've never felt like especially uh the last few years like pentagogo is ever so busy that like you have to wait too darn long to get on anything and especially if you kind of manage when you're there and when you go and you take your your lunch and dinner break and stuff like that that, like, you can probably be involved in multiplayer games on everything and not feel like, oh, my God, I just wanted to play this. How come I have to wait for an hour? Yes. And Friday night is the best night that I like to go because you can get on any machine and play all the newest games and have a very small line to play. In this case, it would probably be Venom. And I'm hoping they have a premium or an LE to play so we can see the difference between the two. Yeah, I played the Pro at California Extreme,
    34:18
    and, you know, they had lots of premiums there, but I just didn't want to wait. You know, there's just other things to do, other games to play, other friends to hang out with, so I didn't make it back around. But I definitely want to see the premium. Everyone I know who's played it so far has had a pretty good opinion of it. Good. We have one coming to Comic Kingdom as soon as it gets delivered, which is probably going to be October, end of October. Yeah, which makes a ton of sense, right? You know, Venom, Comic Kingdom. I know that Cody loves all the comic book themes. Yes, and he got a Deadpool Pro that he just acquired, and he's working on a Spider-Man. So, yeah, he's getting all comic book themed, which is awesome. And I'm excited to play it, especially being able to save your progress and then be able to go back to it. That's a perfect venue to do that, right? I mean, couldn't be a better place to do that. So I'm excited. Yeah, no, that's – I know next show we'll be talking about, you know, our experiences at the shows, and then I know Ben will be the talk because none of us have really played. Well, Dan, you didn't want to play, but you wanted to play a couple games on the pro, so it'd be nice to be able to sit down. Yeah, I played a couple games and they were over fast. Yeah. No, I'm really looking forward to playing it and not being able to talk about it. It's quick as a hiccup.
    35:41
    No, it's going to be a lot of fun. Another cool thing about Pentegogo is even though we have Golden State, you'll see games that show up at Golden State that don't show up at Pentegogo and vice versa. Like I've never, ever seen. The last Pentegogo I went to was the 2019.
    35:59
    And they had a really, really – somebody brought a really, really nice example of Class of 1812. And it's a game you hardly ever see anywhere. You don't see that anywhere. You're right. You've got to be glued to that game all show. Rusty and I played it a lot. We played a bunch of games on that. And it's such a goofy, silly, fun game, you know.
    36:24
    And the example, whoever brought it, thank you for bringing that. You know, it played flawlessly. I mean, just like butter. Like a fresh new out-of-the-box starter. It just, everything worked as it should. You know, there wasn't a single bulb out. I mean, it was a nice show. You know the crazy thing about, I mean, I don't know if it's pinball shows everywhere or if it's just Northern California pinball shows or what, but, like, people will bring, like, crazy stuff. Yeah. Like, you know, we had the I.O. Moon at Golden State, right? There's, like, one of those. Yeah. A couple years ago at Pinnagogo, somebody brought a kingpin. I think the Kingpin. Yeah, the Kingpin. And if you go to California Extreme, good luck getting within 10 feet of Kingpin or the Big Bang. But, like, dude, you can walk up and play. We played multiple times. Jeff Claybaugh, I was playing with him. We were playing King of the Losers, and he just, I think he wizard-moded it. Like, he just wrecked that game. and it was just super, super awesome to go to this show. And, you know, back in the day, you know, people would bring, you know, Todd, you know, rest in peace, would bring, you know, Taxis Canyon when Taxis Canyon was the big deal and we have, you know, a lineup of everybody bringing their spirits.
    37:52
    You know, the Northern California pinball collectors are notoriously unselfish and willing to share their collections with the masses. Yeah, another one you see is Bride of Pinbot 2.0. I know that was at Golden State, but it sometimes shows up at Pinnagogo, too. Well, Golden State was definitely there because I'm sure it was Eric's. Yep.
    38:14
    You probably let you borrow that if you want to hang on to it for a while. He doesn't seem to ever want it at home. He doesn't like it? He likes it. He's not going to give it away, but, boy, if you want to borrow that game, he's like, come pick it up. Okay. That's cool. Yeah, he's had that for a long time. He was a real early adopter on that. Okay.
    38:37
    It's a lot of fun. It's a lot, though, so I don't trust it. Yeah. Easy base pinball. The work of the devil. Easy base, yeah. You know, that's the nice thing about, you know, everybody's local shows. They have special ones that have been around for a while. They have a history. And, like, for Pinnagogo, that's, you know, that's still our home show. You know, even though I live here now, you know, Peningogo and Golden State are still my home shows.
    39:05
    Talking about home shows and like that, we have the new boys in town. We talked about this, I think, last episode, the Vancouver Island Pinball Expo. This is their very first show, and it's the local Vancouver Island Pinball League and Pinball Club. They're putting it on. And that's actually, it's the same weekend as the Mile High show. September 29th through October 1st, Sunday. And that's at the Community Hall. And I'm going to screw up the name. It's just outside of Vancouver. It's Nanamo, N-A-N-A-I-M-O, Nanamo, British Columbia. So if you're in the British Columbia area, man, check that show out. Support that show. And they've got some pretty cool looking posters, I think. I think we've got posters made. I'm sure the artwork for the show is really cool. And then later in October, we have the real, real OG, Pinball Expo in Chicago. The Pinball Expo. And that's in Schaumburg. Will be revealed. Yep, Schaumburg, Illinois, 18th through the 21st of October. So that's like Thursday through Sunday. Yeah, it's Wednesday, actually. Wednesday through Sunday. It's a long-running show. It is, yeah. 39 years according to their website wow they've been around a long time and it keeps getting better every year I know they listen to the feedback and I would love to go back one of these days flights are just so expensive now to fly anywhere so it's like I'll just stay home in my area ridiculously expensive so but yeah it's a good one for a show where you want to have vendors and actual major pinball companies reveal their new games. I have a feeling, maybe. It seems like to me, Jersey Jack would be a good time to reveal their next game. And I'm really hoping, but I'm not going to hold my breath, that the Cactus Canyon code, we get a sneak peek of it, I hope. But I don't know. It just doesn't seem promising. But maybe that would be a good time to reveal it. And then, I don't know, some other reveals that we might not expect. That mystery one, that looks pretty cool underneath the play field, but I have no idea what it's going to be. A mystery company. Not even just a mystery game, but a mystery company. Yeah, a mystery company.
    41:38
    That's been out there doing their little viral. Who is that? Their little viral, you know, exclamation point. I don't know, man. I'm worried. Watching the deep root. They're back from the dead. John Poppins is back. He's coming for you, Spencer. I will beat whole fucking ass.
    41:58
    Whatever. You didn't go to the bottom. Now don't act like he slighted you personally. I don't know, man. You know, everyone's saying JJP3 or JJP10, right? And everyone's saying, you know, is it going to be Steve Ritchie? I mean, I guess the next JJP game is definitely Steve Ritchie.
    42:18
    But is it Elton John? Are they done selling? I mean, are they done selling Godfather, right? Yeah. You know, I feel like Godfather is actually just starting to pick up some momentum and in the next game, especially if it's some sort of like AAA movie franchise,
    42:38
    might, you know, hurt it. But JJP is weird because, like, I get ads from JJP, and they're still slinging Guns N' Roses. You know, they're still slinging Toy Story. They're still slinging Godfather, especially because it's their current game. So they don't seem to have like this, this is what we're pushing right now, nothing else exists. So maybe they will be comfortable revealing that next game already. I mean, Godfather was, was it last Expo or was it Texas? Let me think.
    43:11
    When was Godfather revealed? Has Godfather been out for a year? That's how fast time flies. Am I mistaken? I thought it was Midwest Gaming Classic. Oh, maybe? I don't know. Because it was really, really, really new when it got to Golden State.
    43:30
    Yeah. Like, it had just been out, like, a short time. That's true. So, yeah, it probably wasn't Expo. So, I mean, it feels a little early for a New Jersey Jack announcement. Yeah, maybe Texas or Midwest.
    43:46
    I don't know. That's exciting. They always make beautiful games. I had a chance to see the Godfather CE. That is one gorgeous game. Oh, my gosh. It's so gorgeous. I enjoyed shooting it, man. I enjoyed playing it. And it's fun. Yeah, it's a fun game. You know what, man? I know that there are those people out there who, you know, if it's not Stern, it's not pinball, and there's the people out there who will just give anything a chance. I'm kind of more like that, I think. I love my JJP games. You know, I wouldn't mind having more. I think that they, even with the games that they're doing now where people are just like, oh, they're not as full as they used to be, you know, they're still amazing games. You know, they've got more going on than anybody else. and in a world where, you know, Stern, who has a track record of success at this point, brings out a game that feels as kind of, you know, it's so software dependent, right? You know, Venom, that it's nice to see that, you know, there's still a billion shots and a million weird little diverters and whoopsie-doos and stuff like that to shoot. And if it's not the tournament player's game, you know, it's not the tournament player's game. But there's a lot of games that you can play for tournament. You know, yeah, I think that the Jersey Jack games are great. So I still would love to spend more quality time on a Godfather. I haven't gotten to play as much besides that at a couple shows. But I was laughing the other day because I was reading a post where somebody was like, hey, you know, I don't like this whole leveling up thing.
    45:28
    You know, what if I just want to play pinball? And it's like, well, great. You know, there's 100 years worth of machines that you can play. Right. You know, this is something else. It doesn't mean it's going to be every single game. It just means that it's another option for these companies to bring us more immersion and something different and fun. So, you know, but, yeah, J.J.P., Elton John, Steve Ritchie, whatever it's going to be. Let's see what you have to offer. Yeah, you know, show us something cool. Apparently it's Steve Ritchie Unleashed, so, you know. Hopefully no cell phone or iPad. No fear, too. Yeah, it'll have an iPad screen. We play pinball on it. Yeah, that's what we all want. So coming up You know because the weather's changing I mean always this fall Coming up after Expo Actually I'm going to go backwards Before Expo We have the White Rose Game Room Show and that's October 6th Through October 8th And that's in New York Just Google it But it's coming up so if you're in that area And then we have In November, we have the Houston Arcade Expo Oh yeah, that's a big one I thought that was the last One of the season before spring But it's not Cincinnati is, and theirs is December 1st Through 3rd, and of course that's through Cincinnati, Ohio So that's just rounding out the shows For the season I mean, I'm always excited when a new game comes out And a new mystery company You know, and they're not, they're just showing the underneath of a play film, some good-looking stuff. There's magnets and all kinds of cool stuff. It looks pretty cool. I'm just going to reserve, you know, again, that's great you guys, you know, showing some stuff. When you show up, actually show up, don't show up empty-handed. It's like coming to a potluck and not bringing anything, you know. It's like, we're the new pinball company. when you show up to say we're the new guys in town, show up. No bones, no bullshit. You show up with a truck with at least 10 games in box ready to go to customers or don't show up at all. I don't know. That might be a little optimistic. Don't show up at a show with a box of lights or some plastics and talk a lot of shit and go, but we got really good artwork. We had really good artwork on a game at Golden State Pinball that I never got to play because it never fucking worked. Are you talking about what, Cosmic Carnival? Cosmic Carnival. Yeah. So, you know, it's like, but we got Dirty Donnie. Because he kept saying no, and he just kept offering the money until he finally went, fuck it, okay, you know. And that came straight from Donnie. He's like, I don't want to deal with these guys. But they just kept offering me more money. And finally I thought, God, I can, you know, that's a hell of a payday. Yeah, let's do this, you know. Well, since it completely screwed his contract with Stern. It did. And the artwork is beautiful. Probably not his best call. Artwork doesn't make a game. Artwork enhances a game. You go, God, that game is beautiful. It's got really nice artwork. Well, does it shoot worth a shit? You know? Does it actually play? Can you actually finish? Can you actually start a game on it? You know? I mean, the rubber's got to meet the road. And if you can't deliver the pizza, then you know what, man? Just go away. Shut your mouth and just tuck your tail, you know, between your legs and walk away like a fucking man. That would be a funny show topic.
    49:10
    That's artwork on the worst games. Well, yeah, okay, that would win. That would be a good one. That would be great. Yeah, that would be a good one. But you can't play it, you know, because it doesn't, you know, I mean, or you have, like, fun games. It has to have actually been released, so no cosmic carnival. Right, right. Well, technically, they made over 100 of them, so they made more than, say, anything coming from HomePen. All these guys, just go away. I'm sure they sold more than 100 Thunderbirds.
    49:41
    I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, it was made in China. Like, come on. Yeah. They kind of made 100.
    49:50
    Well, you know, talking about artwork, actually, you know, the one that has been on my mind a lot lately because I think it peaked in the 90s. You still have the occasional game where you go, oh, wow, that's got a really cool toy or mech, you know. And so I was thinking about my top five favorite toys or mechs. Is this your segue to the show topic? It is. Man, that was clumsy as crap. Well, you know what?
    50:21
    I'm sorry. I respect the attempt to keep it moving though it's because I'm not drinking it's not my car it ain't our fault that you fell asleep you should be sharper because you got a nap in I actually didn't know it's about tournaments in Reno for 30 minutes no actually I was just I was politely listening because I told you I got shit to talk about you went into a stupor No, but you know, because normally we record the show in the evening, and we're recording early in the day. Right, and you're always asleep, so that's why we're recording during the day, so we can awake. Because I'm sober now, so, you know. You're sober? Well, that's the problem. I know, because I got a new beard that I want to showcase. I'll do it up the next episode. It's from a local brewery. They do that on, so, I have a question. Do either of you guys listen to the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast? I do. Yeah. What in the hell is going on over there?
    51:24
    It's like three different shows, right? Like, there's this guy who's always complaining they're about to quit. There's a guy and another lady, and the lady loves beer. Craft Brew Sally. Yeah, Craft Brew Sally, yeah. Like, I love their episodes. And then there's, like, one with, like, Raymond Davidson and Rachel and Ray or whatever it is. And I'm just like, I download that every single week. I never know what I'm going to get.
    51:54
    Quite a surprise. You know, and the other thing, too, is it's kind of like the pinball network, but instead it's the poor man's pinball network. Yeah. I had to flip everything around because I used to listen on,
    52:07
    I can't tell you, I listened to one episode. While you're thinking of that, Spencer, I listened to one episode that was like, it reminded me so much of the old Solo Spencer episode. Where it was just like, I think it's Pitcher Spencer, like, sitting at his kitchen table in a dark room, just talking to us on the internet about pinball. I miss those episodes. Yeah, the dog. Yeah, that. He got out of the trash. Oh, Stitcher. I was looking around. Stitcher and Stitcher died. They went away. RIP Bud, the pinball dog.
    52:40
    Yeah. Oh, that's funny. What was the man in dog form? Not have Daisy, but Daisy upstairs probably asleep on the couch or chasing the chickens. Don't say your name out loud. She'll start barking. There you go, right? With that, it's really funny. So we could download her out in the back. Okay, so our topic this week. Our topic this week. Top five pinball toys. Yeah, or mess. So, all right, I'll start. So are we going to go 5-5-5, 4-4-4, 3-3-3, 2-2-2, 1-1-1, or are we each going to do our top five? Let's do it that way. off-start and then you go and then we'll do this.
    53:16
    So my number five and I'll probably get some heat for this and I don't give a fuck because I just think it's cool. That's bullshit.
    53:28
    No, because well now I'm going to move because I got fucking raked over the coals of my bad segue. No, I'm kidding.
    53:35
    Oh, we ain't done yet. Not even close. is Rescue 911, the helicopter. The most commonly broken Mac. I know. The deep and large. It's just, and I mean, you know, people rank on that game. It's not a bad game. It suffers from the same fate as that era of those premier Gottliebs. There's just not a crazy deep rule set, you know. But, and the helicopter is the main thing, and it does it a lot. But I never get tired of watching that thing just grab the ball and do its little thing. To me, it's fun. It's like if you remember the toy, the Gurry Bird?
    54:15
    Yes. Do you remember those? Okay, because I have one. I had the bike for fire rescue set or whatever. That was back when they weren't afraid to make toys that could conceivably fuck you up.
    54:26
    I mean, yeah, man. You get that thing tangled in your mullet and you're just not having a good day. You know what I mean? It was that, there was, you know, Lawn Darts, there was Clackers. I mean, all our shit would fucking kill you or fuck you up. You know? I got Lawn Darts. I bought it, like, Pinnagogo, like, ten years back. Oh, yeah, Lawn Darts. You don't like lower bands. Yeah, they were banned. Because a kid literally got killed. Some kid in the neighborhood rolled those things up and down. So, you know, wear a helmet and duck, kids.
    55:07
    Hours of family fun. If I can't play, it ain't fun. There you go. So, you know, from Blamo. But anyway, no, that's my number one. That's a good one. And one that, again, I think a lot of people who've probably seen that game have unfortunately not gotten to see in action because it is always broken. It breaks a lot. Yeah. And it is cool you can release it, too, in those certain spots that people might not know about. Yeah, you just push the slipper button and it'll release the ball, yeah. Yeah, it's cool. It's just I don't like the waiting of having to wait for it to go. Mine is actually kind of similar. Yeah. All right. So mine is the Data Glove from Johnny Mnemonic. Oh, yeah. So very similar sort of theory. It's a ball mover.
    55:53
    When I got Johnny Mnemonic, you know, I don't think I'd ever even played it. Like, I don't think I even played that game when I ended up with one. And the first time I watched that ball go whipping up into that glove, and then you move it across and you drop it into that thing, or it carries it over and it drops in the pop bumper, I was like, I thought it was all Magnus. I didn't realize there was a kicker, but I was like, this is amazing. Like, this is so cool. And it's instrumental to the gameplay of that game, and it is slow. And it does slow down a game that, besides that, is just a speed demon. But I think that that is a really well-themed, well-instituted toy that about 99% of the times you see one of those games in the wild is super broken. So it has a kicker. Yeah, there's a block.
    56:46
    And it just pops the ball up, and then the magnet magnetizes and catches the ball. It's like a six-inch lift. Like, you see the ball go from the bottom of the play field to the top, and it's kind of set in, right? But I didn't realize that at first because, you know, it was like my second working pinball machine. And so I just thought that the magnet was just, like, whipping that ball up. Yeah, me too, me too. I'm like, dude, that's amazing. Well, that's a great way to do an optical illusion, you know, have a little illusion going on there. And it was definitely one of those, like, George Gomez, That's like that early George Gomez, like where he wanted to make, put toys in his games, like a bank of drop targets and a bobblehead. Sorry, Deadpool fans weren't going to do it. The toys in his games had to be outrageous. That's good. And I still think that Johnny Mnemonic is one of the very best. That is a good one for five.
    57:45
    Your turn, Mark. Well, mine is kind of boring, but I still think it's cool. I love when the castle blows up in Medieval Madness. So I made it five just because it is really neat when you know that you destroyed the castle and it just goes, and then it all of a sudden, you know, goes back to normal. Like, oh, yeah, I got to blow up another castle. So I just love that. Love the lights with it. I'm going to say for the record, you're crazy. Really? Yeah. Okay. Because for most people, that's like a one or a two. really it's coming back because it's definitely on my list it's much higher on my list surprisingly it not on my list but it is cool The medieval madness castle right Like how genius is that thing Yeah And not just because of the fact that it blows up, but the drawbridge, right? Which is true. Yeah. Like, you know, which is a bit of a bash toy and then, and then the portcullis, the gate, which is another bash toy. And then it becomes like a shot. And then you have that leaping, the lock shot into the castle wall.
    59:00
    Oh, you have a good point. There's a lot into the castle, and I was just thinking of the explosion. And the light show and the theming of it. Yeah, it's so good. Yeah. Okay, well, sorry to. No, we're definitely going to run over each other's toes on this, right? I'm sure a few of us are going to come up with the same stuff. Yeah, man. I don't think you're crazy or boring at all. I think that's a mwah. If you have four that are better than that, I'm going to be as impressed as hell. Okay. You're a challenge accepted, Daniel. All right. Okay. We got Spence. My number four, you probably will have this on your list because you own this game. My number four is Bram Stoker's Dracula, the missed multiball.
    59:47
    I don't have the miss on my list. You ought to keep in mind that my misters never work. There's another one that never works. Not never, but when you're the first three. You know, when the first two of the three. Okay, so my first one, things always broken on the helicopter. Your first one, the hand, the John M. Monaghan. Once people get those dialed in and do the aftermarket repairs or whatever, then they work pretty good. but out of the box when that game first came out, I know I've heard George Gomez go, wow, I can't believe people figured out how to keep these things working so well. Well, you know, I've heard that. And then, yeah, it was a missed multi-ball. When it works, it's awesome. And unfortunately, it doesn't work all the time. As big of a dig as I just took on Deadpool for its biggest toy being drop targets in a bobblehead, I mean, you know, there's a reason. Like I said There's a lot of great games coming out But not a lot of really cool Mechs, I mean once in a while you see something really cool And go oh man that's really cool Myst is genius Though, like, and I think the only other Game that I can really think of that's something Similar to that is like if you get like the Limited edition of like Kiss Or was it Wizard of Oz I think Also where they have it on the backboard Yes, and that's just like a magnet On like a Worm drive Yeah. And and I can tell you what I know about it. There's optos. There's there's controlled gates. There's this magnet. And then there's like this arcane black magic that somehow makes it all work together. that I think I need to sacrifice a virgin on the play field to get that fucking toy to work because, man, there are so many things that need to work right for that to work, and I just can't lick it. I mean, I'll figure it out. We were thinking about it the other day when Brian, friend of the show, Brian came by and he did some airbrushing, not even airbrushing, he did some handbrushing. He's going to bring some color back to the cabinet, which just makes the rest of the cabinet look worse, but the letters look amazing. And, yeah, we are going to figure it missed out because that's a cool one. That's one that didn't even occur to me, so that's a good pick, Spencer. Thank you. Yeah, we walked back to go like 10, but I think we'll keep it at 5. So, yeah, I mean, it's fun to watch. And when you get it, you're like, oh, that's so cool. All right, well, my number four, speaking of fun to watch, and this is going to be one that's near and dear to your heart, is the supercharger. Oh, yeah. It's so funny you mention that. A new supercharger. I didn't think of that one. It's so genius, right? Like, it's just a magnetic accelerator. And, you know, they use that magnetic accelerator gimmick in a lot of games.
    62:45
    But just watching the ball just whip around. And then if you get, like, two or three balls in there, And it actually, like, you can feel it. Like, it has such force it kind of shimmy-shakes the game. Yes, it does. Like, you can feel the play field moving. Like, that was just one of those things. I know that, you know, they've gone back to that same thing. You know, you have that hyper loop thing in Star Wars. But, yeah, just it's so satisfying, and it makes that cool sound. And the game counts down with the amount of loops, although I don't think it's incredibly accurate. and then the ball comes whizzing out of it, like down that wire form at like 7,000 miles an hour.
    63:28
    And one great thing about the supercharger is it generally works because mechanically it's not incredibly complex. It's optos and it's magnets. And so most of the time the supercharger functions.
    63:44
    That's a good one. That is a really good one. And that is a definite wow when you play that game. and especially when you try to get the big jackpots and you try to get, you know, try to get as many loops as you can. Oh, that's so cool. And it makes that noise because it's ready. Wee-oo, wee-oo, wee-oo. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh!
    64:03
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Also, the best super jackpot noise in pinball, right up there with the creature. Yeah, that ding, ding, boom, yeah. Ding, ding, ding. Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's amazing. That's so good, yeah. Oh, that is good. That's a good one.
    64:22
    All right. I guess it's my turn, huh? All right. So my number four is the power in Twilight Zone. I love how you can control the ball with magnets. That was a real wow when I first saw Twilight Zone, when I first played it when I was a kid. Like the power field? The power field. Oh, that's good. So cool. Because how you're like, damn, that ball is moving without anything hitting it. It's just magnets. But, you know, you don't think that. You're like, I can actually control this ball to get into that, you know, into that scoop or whatever you want to call it, you know. The Twilight Zone could almost, it could just be like, what are the best five, you know, toys on the Twilight Zone? Yeah, so true. And I think the power is one of those that kind of, you know, probably because it's not like mechanically complicated, works. It works. It works, right? It's just a piece of wood and some magnets and a scoop. Yep. And I love about it is, you know, you can just try to get and defeat the power by just, you know, timing it right when it bounces off, just hitting it once. Or you can try to whack it, you know, side to side to build up points and then, you know, try to cash it out right at the end. And sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. That's a good strategy call, too, because I was thinking about that the other day. we were having a conversation about people who just sort of, like people who just sort of wail on the buttons as opposed to people who try to like, like targeted flip it. And I was like, man, I've always just been like, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. But the movement of the ball, you know, I said, even if you drain, you normally get 20 million points because you hit so many targets.
    66:03
    Right. Yeah. You get a lot of points if you just get it back and forth, you know, between the sides, you know? And then, of course, when you, you know, when you drain, it's like, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. That just pisses me off every time. I just want to go back up there and defeat them. Or when you get the kill and the hand, like, you know, thing is hitting, boom, boom, boom, and it lords you a door panel. So cool. Or when you hit the jackpot in Powerball Mania. Powerball is awesome. Yeah, God, that's a really good one. I almost don't even, that's definitely a toy, but I almost don't even think of that as a toy because it's such a game feature, but it is, like, super, super good. Like, my thought of, like, a toy is, like, the gumball machine, but, yeah, that's a great call. Yeah, a toy, you know, maybe a gizmo or something, you know, that does mechanical or, I mean, because even though it's magnets, it's still, like, a mechanical moving thing. Magnets. How does it work?
    67:02
    Interesting. Yeah. You know, and the thing, too, it was really funny. If you really can bank it, you know, when you're playing a power ball and you get it up into the power and you get two or three in there, oh, it's so much fun. But I did not get lucky. I could not get it in the top. Oh, it was pissing me off because I was like, I was just, you know, nailing it right up that power ramp, no problem. I had like two balls in there, and I could not get them into the top. Oh, it was pissing me off. If you get two balls in there, like, yeah, it's really hard because they just get in each other's way. They get into each other's way. I also think that, and I wish the game would detect it, but they didn't put a ball sensor up there. I think you should get something if you manage to sneak the Powerball up there.
    67:49
    Yes. Because, like, you can do it. Like, if you hit the thing while the gate's in the wrong position and the Powerball goes through, and it's just there, right? Like, the game knows that there's a ball there because the opto triggers, but, like, the game doesn't know it's the Powerball. That's true. But if they put, like, one of the Yeti sensors there, somebody knew that you got the Powerball in there, and the power got super pissed, that would have been rad. Yeah. That's cool. There's a rewrite software, upgrade or rewrite. That's a good idea. No, good choice, man. I mean, all good choices.
    68:22
    It's really funny, Dan, because number three, my number three, is Getaway. It's a supercharger. I knew you would have the getaway in there. Yeah, I mean, because, yeah, you have to. I mean, and, you know, just whenever I play, you know, just getting the ball up there and getting it going, but if you get two or even three in the supercharger, and then it's like, and you're like, if you can get all three balls up there going at once, that's a rarity. But when you can do it, you know, like a multi-ball. It's so fun. Oh, yeah, yeah. And it's, you know, again, it's not the most complex mech, but, I mean, it's just that wow factor. No matter how many times I do it, even if it's just a single ball up there, I always get excited, especially when you play a really crisp one and then they just fly around that little trap. That's just a blast, you know. It's the satisfaction factor. It is. The satisfaction factor.
    69:20
    It is. It's very satisfying. It's just good fun. You know, it's just like in Creech when I can get a good roll going on multi-ball. And you get, what is it, the, what's the little disc thing at the bottom of the right flipper? The, what do they call that? The saucer, the bowl? The saucer, the bowl, yeah. It's kind of the name. But, yeah, and you get that thing that's circling around. Circle. Whirlpool, right? It's a whirlpool. Thank you. I love that too, but that's not in my top five. But, you know, that satisfaction, like, oh, man, this is fun. I'm just having a good time. But, yeah, Getaway is my number three for that reason, just all the reasons Dan already said. I knew we'd have something that crossed over. So, yeah, that's it. Nice. Dan, what's yours? I'm going to redo mine a little bit on the fly. This was higher than what was mentioned earlier. But right in the middle, I'm going to put the castle. Okay For the reasons that we mentioned earlier I think that the Medieval Madness Castle Is the quintessential Game making toy Like it's just It does everything It's instrumental Thematically it's perfect You know when you look at that castle And that game You're just like okay I think that all these List is probably like it's a little malleable Like things will go up and things will go down But it's a very, very important feature to that game. And, you know, I think that for a lot of people, the Medieval Madness is like the number one toy. And for me, it's definitely like any given day, it'll be the number one toy. Probably the first time that I hit it, the next time I play Medieval, I'll be like, oh, yeah, this is definitely the number one toy. Yep.
    71:13
    Cool. All right. My third is the Magic Trunk in Theater of Magic. What's that? I like that one just because it's cool. You can bash it, and then it flips around, and then finally get to the multi-ball. You have to get it, and how it just snaps into place when it grabs it is so cool. No kicker required. No kicker required, exactly. And then on top of that, I don't know why, but it just seemed like magic to me when I first played it when I was younger, how the ball just disappeared, just like metamorphosis. So even though it just dropped it, just something about it, like, oh, my gosh, the ball is gone. It disappeared. It's just, I don't know, just something really cool about it. But I like how the feature is it's a bash toy. It holds the ball, and it spins around. And that's one mech that does break a lot as well. A bash toy, a target, a scoop. Yeah. And everything. Like you were just saying, it also requires voodoo to keep it working right. It does, and I never noticed it, but that plate is purposely on an angle, isn't it, so that it knows when it registered when it grabs the ball. I don't think it's intentionally that way. I think it's just sort of the way some of the trunks are set up. Okay. You know, we have a feeder that we bought, you know, already restored, like legitimate restored. And, like, the guy who had this game before us did every conceivable upgrade that was available for that moment in time. And it's got like all the aftermarket boards and all the extra sensors, auto eddies, the whole works. And it is, again, much like your Miss Multiball. There's a lot of 90s technology, 90s pinball technology, that's working in some sort of unholy concert to keep that thing running. like it really is a very cool super complicated kind of mechanism cool and yeah it makes the game right like you know it makes the game even though it's a fucking box in the middle of your play but it has the magic trunk have to do with anything it works it makes the game yeah because it lets you start the mode and then on top of that you have that little opening that you have to shoot, and it's so satisfying when you make it in there for the jackpots. You know, that's, of course, how you can bank a lot of points if you just keep hitting that. Like, this is another topic, one other day, but, like, I think, you know, Magic is one of the most overrated pinball machines that there ever was.
    73:52
    But it does have a lot of cool toys. And, again, yeah, the Tronca is pretty sweet. Yeah. Cool. Good choice. It's a solid choice. I mean, and there's no wrong answers here. Is anyone going to get us out of the 90s?
    74:11
    I'm going to do that right now. Glad you asked. One, number two. Wow, good segue. Fuck, who's tummy's fucking on today? It's not me. No, my number two is Earthshaker.
    74:24
    Oh, the shaker motor. Well, the shaker motor is part of the total package, but it's not just his first game with the shaker motor. Or is it the fault line? It's the fault line. Because when you get the shaker motor shaking the game, you're like, holy crap, this thing shakes like an earthquake. And even the shaker motor has become a thing, right? Yeah, it's become a thing, right. At the moment, the shaker motor was a toy. Like, Earthshaker, I think, was the only game to have done that, right? Yeah.
    74:55
    And so it was a feature, a very unique feature of that game. Like Jurassic Park, you know, you go all the way back to the fat train. interview talking about Jurassic Park. And they will use that well. They use the shakers in everything. I think that they were the beginning of the corruption, the standardization of the shaker motor. Yeah. But with Earthshaker, it was a combination. You had the shaker motor shaking the game and then California and Nevada split. And the ball rolls right down the middle. That is a mind-blowing pick, buddy. It is such a good call. Oh my God, man. I didn't even think of that. That's a good one.
    75:36
    And that's what I'm saying. Oh, sir, you are 100% right. Well, and that's the thing, man. It's not a cool feature. It is a cool feature. And you're like, oh, holy shit. I mean, and actually you've played the game a thousand times. You're like, all right, cool, you know. But the first time you ever see that, especially as you grew up where we all did, where, you know, well, I mean, Mark, you're actually from the Midwest, but, you know, Frank Gany, who grew up in the Sacramento Valley and grew up with earthquakes, you know, that kind of gets more close to home. There were earth shakers everywhere. The quintessential California machine. Absolutely. They were all over the Midwest, too? Yeah. You could sell a bunch of them. And, you know, the thing about it, too, is there's nothing like the earth shaker motor. Yeah. It really, truly does the best job out of any even modern shakers these days. Right. There's something about it. Like, literally, you're afraid that you're going to tilt the machine. Yeah. Because it's so good. It's so powerful. Yeah. It's awesome. It's a good one.
    76:43
    Thank you. It's immersion really, I mean, it really immerses you into the game. Well, just like, you know, we were talking about just a minute ago, the theater of magic, you know, that magic trunk, it really, you know, the ball just disappearing and levitating, you know, on the magnet and all that. it really brings you into the whole world of magic. It's like, holy shit, the ball's levitating. Holy shit, the ball disappeared. And the same thing with Dracula. Look, the ball's levitating across the play field, like it's possessed.
    77:15
    So those things that really pull you in. And it's also very much, you're actively participating when you're playing the game and you shoot the ball and, you know, the game shakes and it cracks the states in half and the ball rolls right between the two of them. Like, that's the coolest thing ever. That is. You know. What a smart feature. Good one. Smart feature. Good one to have done, you know. Yep. And more and more as I get older, more and more I'm really appreciating that era between 1980 and 1990 because you saw so much change and so much innovation. not that there isn't now but like now when you're saying those things it's like damn I forgot all these that I was considering you mean some of your age of music for the 80s yeah that's my number two gentlemen okay that's a good one shoot that's a good one number two for me is Rudy you were reading my mind but I didn't choose that one but I knew that was something okay cool keep going So, yeah, what feature, and I mean, I guess the kind of like the medieval castle kind of, you know, it's the same sort of idea, right? It's the focal point of the play field. It interacts with the ball in a lot of ways. It acts like a bash toy. It acts like a scoop. But unlike the castle, you know, I'm sure it has its animation. It sits there. It does its thing.
    78:48
    Rudy, like, makes Funhouse, right? Mm-hmm. Like, he talks to you, the jaw moves, the eyes track the ball, they open, they close.
    79:01
    You know, he, you know, comments on your progress, he makes fun of you. But to me, the most genius thing that that thing does is when you put him to sleep and he's snoring, his jaw quivers. Yes. And it's just what kind of attention to detail is that? But, like, it's just, you know, Funhouse would still be a cool shooting game if it didn't have that big head there and it was just some sort of scoop and some sort of target. But, like, the fact of the matter is, like, Rudy being in there, absolutely the amazing mechanical man, you know, like, he makes that game. and just I still don't feel like in terms of, again, you know, the early 90s, late 80s pinball technology, you know, there's nothing complicated going on in there. It's solenoids. It's springs. It's, you know, levers and whatnot. But just they did so much, and it was so creative, and it was so smart. And honestly, you know, with the exception of his eye linkage always breaking, 99% of the time Rudy always works yeah Rudy's pretty dependable like that jaw does its thing yeah sometimes he has those like kind of stoned dead looking eyes and Rudy was one of those features that again you know it was so nice they did it twice right you know he came back in red and tan never as good as the original like Rudy's as good as the original I agree. And, you know, it's always great, you know, that just the character of Rudy was great, but his toy is one of the ultimates. Well, come on. They put Disneyland inside a pinball machine. That's the best way I could describe it. It was an audio animatronic. I always view Earthshaker as like an older, like decrepit carnival. Even though the game doesn't really represent it like that. It's bright. There's, you know, there's happy people and there's light bulbs and stuff. But, like, I don't know why. I think because I play on Brian's kind of, like, shady-looking Earthshaker a lot. Like, I always think of Earthshaker a little more, or not Earthshaker, but Funhouse as a little bit more sinister than it's probably supposed to be. It reminds me of that movie Magic. You don't know the drama, right? There's that trap door, man. Stop running around. Do you remember that creepy movie from the 70s, Magic? No. Okay, that's what it reminded me of because it's got the same look as Rudy. It's kind of freaky. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it's cool. Anthony Hopkins played that weird ventriloquist on me. That was crazy. Yes, exactly. That's what it reminded me of when I first saw that machine. Pat Lawler plagiarized Rudy. Yep. He got the idea. Yeah.
    81:53
    Yeah. Cool. So Mark, that's a good one. That's a good one. Number two. All right, so can we change something on the fly or no? You can't change one rule, man. There's no rule. All right, so I originally had missed multi-ball as number two just because I thought it was so cool to see the ball go across the play field. But I'm going to add – I'm going to replace this one since we've talked about missed so much. The building in Godzilla. Okay. You had to take us out of the 90s. I had to take out of the 90s, yeah. So, yeah, the building because it's one of those feelings like Adam's family where you really get excited about multi-ball starting. When Godzilla shakes, you know, and it goes, and then the building starts to collapse. There's something cool about that. The lock mechanism is great. And then the other thing that's cool is how it has diverters as the building goes down. Genius. And on top of that, the way that they engineered it, it has not had hardly any problems that people have reported with the screw mechanism that they use. Well, give it 20 years. Yeah, 20 years, yeah. But it would use a screwdriver, right? It was the same kind of thing?
    83:05
    An exceptional worm drive, right? A worm drive. Sorry, a worm drive. The only Godzilla that I've ever had an opportunity to really dig around inside of has been a pro, and I haven't even had to take the glass off of that yet. Yeah.
    83:17
    It's cool. That's a good one. Isn't it by far, like, I can't think of any toy on any stern that's even in the same league. Yep. I mean, is there another one? Nope. I can't think of anything in a modern way.
    83:31
    Yeah. I mean, the Batman 66 turntable thing is pretty outrageous. It's pretty crazy. But, yeah. And I thought real hard about that building, too. I was like, is anyone going to say Godzilla building? I had not even crossed my mind, but it's a great building. I would have felt guilty not including that in the top five. No, that's true. You know, the Mechagodzilla setup for that is really cool, too, with the turntable, with the targets, and then the spear gets exposed, and then you launch it, and the magnet catches it. Like, that's also a cool toy. But, yeah, nothing has the dramatic impact and the effect on gameplay that the bridge does, not the bridge that the building does. The bridge is cool, too. Bridge is cool, too. I love hitting that bridge multi-ball and it just kind of flops that's so cool and there was when you make the bridge collapse is that shaking that's cool too the one thing I don't like about the building is just you know and like I said it does get you stoked for your first multi-ball start but like once you've seen it happen like a million times it's a little less cool and I know that there's a mod that fixes it and some people have said that you're not even supposed to do it like you're supposed to just sort of let them go and play off the replunges. I hate the fact that it basically dumps all three balls down the drain. Yeah, I don't like that either. That's true. Like, you know, but some people have said that that's almost intentional, like it's supposed to slow the game down or something gets you started. So like when you put in the diverter thing so it goes the other way, I'm like, I don't know, I like it better when they're playable, but that's a really cool feature. Yeah.
    85:21
    Making on a bit of the time expander, which it totally rips off. Oh, that's true. Pretty good. No, it's awesome. All right. That's great.
    85:34
    Are we on number one now? We're on number one. Oh, my goodness. I should go on, Spencer. It better be good, or you know I'm going to make fun of you. You stole all my thunder, Dan. You did it again. I know, right? The getaway one. I know. I was like, that's going to be number one. He's going to want to kick me in the nuts. I'll tell you what I'll do is to add a little flavor to it before I do my number one. I'll do – I've been thinking a lot about that. I actually have two on the cover. No, don't do any honorable mentions because you might honorably mention our number one. Yeah. There's no way I'm going to – You can do honorable mentions after. Okay. All right. Yeah. Okay. So go to number one. My number one is Funhouse.
    86:10
    Okay. Rudy, sorry I ripped you off. I'm sorry. That's all right. But no, you know what I'm thinking? I mean, okay. Every time Pat Long came out with something, you came out, oh, like, look, kind of a vertical play-thriller in the back glass. It's extremely funny that you just read that, by the way. Oh, shit. Okay.
    86:28
    And then Earthshaker, and then Whirlwind, which if you give me a choice of any of the story of Earthshaker, Whirlwind, or Funhouse, Whirlwind's still my favorite of those three to play.
    86:42
    And I love all three. And then you go, okay, I'm going to put talking, interacting ventriloquist dummy head in the fucking game. I'm going to make this thing to where, like you said, the eyes will track the ball. He'll lightly kind of rib you until you get the clock set to where you're going to close the park. And then he's going to become a dick. You know what I mean?
    87:10
    He went from being okay to being pissed off. Why is he pissed off at me? You know what I mean? I mean, like, just, like, he took it so far over the edge to another level, you know, with that game, and nobody had ever seen anything like it before. Like, you know, everybody, okay, I've seen a ramp at this point. I've seen multi-ball, you know, talking pinball, music. Okay, yeah. It like this thing has a talking ventriloquist head that like swallows the ball or chokes on the ball and it talks and it goes to sleep Like you said at the bottom the jaw will kind of quiver when he snoring I mean you know It the best man Like it just the coolest the stupidest little feature It adds nothing to the game, but when you notice it, you're just like, oh, man, these guys knew what they were doing. And then when you shoot it into the mouth, it's like.
    88:01
    What's really great is when you're a multi-ball and you hold yourself. Well, you make your jackpot shot, and he screams, right? You make your jackpot shot on the trap door. And you can get another ball set up at the perfect time, and while he's screaming, you knock it into his mouth, and then you really – it's not – I don't think the scoring is that great on that actual maneuver, but when you can do it, it's kind of like the three-way combo on Whirlwind. You don't hear it often, but when you can hit it and pull it off, it's like, oh, yeah, that was awesome.
    88:42
    Like I've literally only done the Rudy maneuver where I've gotten the jackpot shot and he screams and I shoot a ball into the mouth and he's in the middle of screaming. I've only done that maybe twice. That's cool. I've got to try that. It's not easy.
    88:58
    What you have to do is you have to set up. Okay, so you have to get your multi-ball going, and you got, okay, so you'll spit out the one ball, and I just let that thing drain usually or flip to try to get it anywhere.
    89:14
    So you get your second ball out of the lock, and you knock it around, and then knock it into the trap door, and then hopefully do it fast enough to where you get your third ball coming out of the lock, and you're able to get it in his mouth while he's screaming. It's a really difficult maneuver. But that's my number one. Good one.
    89:38
    All right, I'm dying, Dan. What's your number one? All right, well, mine, and honestly, this one's probably less technically impressive than some of the others, and I think Spencer will probably get it as soon as I say this, but back in the day, I would literally play this game just to make this happen.
    89:57
    Okay. And that's the thing hand on Adam's family. I just think that that's the coolest, like, best scaled feature. Like, the hand reaching out of the box and just grabbing the ball and taking it in. I mean, obviously, you know, it doesn't have, you know, all the various degrees of interactivity with the game that, like, the castle does or that, like, the Rudy head does. But, like, just, it's such a perfect feature for that game.
    90:35
    And the fact that it's, like, appropriately, like, the illusion is so good. It really adds character to the game. No, no, no. It's like he's really getting there right. And they choreograph it so well. Yeah.
    90:51
    You know, I just, I love, I love the thing. I just think it's the coolest. and it's definitely, you know, again, compared to some of these features, it doesn't interact with the ball as much.
    91:06
    Although I do love it, yeah, when he's like, no, no, no, and he puts it back. And you get a lot of points for that. I always think like, oh, I didn't shoot that at the right time. And you get like $5 million for it. Yeah, because it's when you get your thing award. Yeah. And it's not ready to lock a ball, you know, so it's not going to dump it on you out of the thing. But, yeah, you know, it's just a really meaningful toy to the game.
    91:30
    And just, again, it's just the illusion of it is so good. And I know that technically there is a lot going on. There's a motor. There's a magnet. You know, there's the saucer. But, yeah, man, it's not quite as crazy as some of these voodoo, you know, black magic, like 20 things working in concert features. But, yeah, it's really good. And back in the 90s, again, if I punched 50 cents into Adam's family and, like, managed to boot my game so hard I didn't get to see Thing come out and grab a ball, I would be so mad because I just always wanted to see that happen. Like, I love, love, love the Thing hand on Adam's family. To this day, that's why the game is so popular is people love to see Thing grab the ball. Absolutely. It's just, yeah, it's the stupidest thing, but it's so good. And it's something that Thing always was always popping out of a little box in the show. You know, he'd write something down with a pencil, or he'd snap his fingers or point or do sign language. And so you always expected, oh, Thing will come out during the show. So in the game, they're like, oh, Thing, what's Thing doing? Oh, he's grabbing the ball? Holy crap, that's so cool. Or were they like, you know, not now, Thing, you know. Was it, that's it, Thing, lend a hand. Yeah, that's a fair thing. I love the scene in the movie where he's trying really hard to communicate with Doman. Yes. The one that's been kidnapped.
    92:59
    And he ends up, he grabs a pen, it doesn't work, and he tries to do sign language, and it doesn't work. Finally, he grabs a spoon, and he starts, like, tapping out more code. That's right. Yeah, I remember that. Slow down. I hate it when you stutter. Oh, my God, that was funny. That's a good scene. Yeah, and that's a perfect example of theme integration, right? I mean, creativity takes something that's minimal with a magnet on the end of a finger, and boom, you got something that's magic. Yeah. It's cool.
    93:30
    All right. Pressure's on. Here it is. Pressure is on. So this kind of fits a little with Rudy, but it's one of my favorite games to this day. It still is. and that is a character that taunts you, just like Rudy,
    93:49
    but there's so many aspects of this mechanic or this mech that really makes it exciting to play, and that is the Circus Voltaire Ringmaster. I knew you were going to go there. I hadn't actually thought about you going there, but it makes perfect sense now. Now, the reason why I chose it is because, number one, it's a bash toy. Yeah. Number two, it raises up so you can lock a ball in there. Number three, it has a magnet on top so that it sometimes, I know the video version likes to swirl around, and obviously that's not true with the actual machine, but it is cool how it just all of a sudden just flings it off its head and it goes wherever. Sometimes it goes into the lock shot for the wire, I think. Yeah, it throws it onto the ramp. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I just love it how it will come down and it comes up and it taunts you and it lights up when it's there and you can hit it. And even though you're not really hitting it, it's used in OptoSensors, but it still looks like when you smash it, it registers. I don't know, there's just something about it. It's just really cool. It adds a lot to the character of that game. And it is a thing on a spring, but a really massive spring that really works. So that's my favorite. I love that one. and I know that's a complicated mech that breaks a lot, too, and it's kind of funny. I have two that are Papa Duke. So, yeah, he made some really good games, but I really like that one just because it has a lot to do with the gameplay. You know, when you have to do a multi-ball, you have to go into the scoop, which is really not a scoop, but it kind of is because when it raises up and then the ball magically appears somewhere else once you get it in there. I don't know. It's just cool. It's really well-intentioned. It was the Ballad of the Williams games, you know. That was the era where every game you came out with, you were going to see something you'd never, ever seen before in a football machine. And it was going to be something cool. You know, to this day, Circus Voltaire is one of my favorites. I love it. It's so weird and quirky and different.
    95:58
    And I love that game, you know. And you go back to, like, you know, the trunk, the soccer ball. And World Cup Soccer was a nice, you know, one.
    96:08
    was it the shooting star in Tales of the Raining Nights. Oh yeah, that's right, the star. And you've never seen anything like that before. And of course, the magic trunk. And those games are all still sought after today for a good reason. And they're fun shooting, fun playing games. Now, here's an interesting observation that I just noticed. And, Dan, you might be interested in this, too. The majority of our mechs in the top five had to do with magnets. How do they work? Isn't that interesting? Yeah, that is interesting. I don't know. The great thing about magnets and pinball machines really is that, like, you almost need it, right? Because you want something magical to happen. And, like, unless you have, like, a claw that grabs the ball. Like, here was one I was really, like, thinking about, and that's the Davies Jurassic Park T-Rex. Yeah. Yes. So, you know, it's a saucer, and then the T-Rex leans down, and he grabs the ball, and he, you know, it slides down a tube, and he chews. And, you know, it looks around. It tracks the ball. like I'm like oh man that's a really cool feature it just looks like kind of cheesy but it's really really cool but it's one of the few like mechanisms that will like grab a ball but it won't use a magnet right like the magnet is so important to a lot of these features because it creates the magic of like this feature grabs the ball it takes the ball on a ride Like it puts the ball or moves the ball somewhere else. And I think that almost any good toy, like it needs that degree of like it interacts with the ball, it moves the ball, you know, or it lets the ball move.
    98:17
    Well, magnets allows it to repel or attract. Right. So that's what's nice. You've got two variables to work with with magnets. Well, how often? I mean, I don't know. you don't see too often other than like maybe the power, right, where it actually throws the ball. Oh, gosh, yeah. Grabbing the ball. I guess that's a pretty good observation.
    98:39
    I'm surprised I didn't even think of Jurassic Park, the modern one from Stern. That one's pretty good too. Like I said, there's a lot. There's a lot of them out there. I'll throw a couple more just off the top of my head. Yeah. And one's a magnet, and that's the shadow to the – Oh, yeah, the shadow, yeah. How it sticks it into the lock, that's cool, too. You know that? Yeah, the sanctum lock. The sanctum lock, yeah. That's a tiny – that's like a tiny thing, too, right? Like it's just a drop-away target and a magnet, but it's so cool. It's so cool. It pulls it back and then – Are there, like, two magnets that do that, or is it just one? It's just one, I think. It's just the choreography of it, right? It grabs the ball, and it holds it, and then the wall slides down, and then it whoops it back up, and, like, it's so cool. Every time that you see that, you're just like, oh, that's fucking cool. Yeah, it is. And the 50th time you see that, you go, oh, that's fucking cool. It's the best thing. Cool. That and then, because you can take this for two games, and the one that I have in mind is Aerosmith and the Jackie in the box where it throws the ball, and the box opens up, catches the ball. And you can also go with the thing, the mech on Houdini, because that kind of did it first. Which, like, launches it even further. I don't think Houdini was first, right? Wasn't Aerosmith before Houdini? I thought Houdini was first.
    99:58
    I don't think Aerosmith was first. We didn't look it up. But it's a cool mech and a cool feature. You know, it's like, for me, that never gets old, watching that. So that's kind of true.
    100:09
    Like, that's the whole thing, is you always kind of wonder if that's going to work. Yeah, yeah. Is it going to land it? And when it does land it and it launches all the way across. It's so cool. I'll go one older and I'll finish up my segment on this with my other honorable mention. I'm going to go really old school. Gold ball.
    100:30
    Oh, yeah. How the fuck does it, how does it know the ball is gold? How does it know to kick out the gold ball? Yeah. It's got a little, there's a, Tom Tuckett did a, you know, back in the days when he was doing those pinball videos. It's like, you know, how do you play it or how it works or whatever. And he did gold ball. And he showed it's got like a little down in the trough, it's got a little trap door that closes and opens to release the gold ball. I have no idea how the game knows that the gold ball is out there. I don't think it actually knows it's a gold ball. It simply knows that it dispensed the gold ball and that drained the gold. Right, yeah, yeah. But, I mean, it's kind of like you said, Dan, kind of like that. But it's still magic, right? that, you know, black magic. But the illusion is good. The illusion is good. And like you said, Mark, you referenced Disney animatronics and Disney magic. And it's that old school Disney where it's like, you know, kids, this isn't really real, but we're going to make it so realistic you'll think it's real. Like the Highland Mansion. You know, like Pirates of the Caribbean, you know. It's a suspension of disbelief because they make the illusion look so good.
    101:43
    And that comes to my conclusion that we need to have cooler Max and Pinball. Please, please bring it. Bring that Wild Factor back. Oh, I went to the Caribbean, man. The Black Pearl. Bring it back. Yeah. But yeah. Oh, gosh, the ship. That's a really good one. That one's a cool, too. Shoot. It's not really a toy, or is that just like an upper play field with a cannon?
    102:07
    I don't know. That's hard to say. I don't know. Well, no, I'm thinking of one of the first toys. If they put this in a new stern, it would blow people's socks off. It's a freaking cannon in Black Rose. Yes. Yeah. Where you can shoot at, like, four or five different playfield targets, and it pops out of the playfield. Oh, that's cool, too. And, you know, and again, it's like you get that chance to sink the ship. Like, you can move through the game with it, but finally when you get the sink shiplet and you sink the ship and it does the whole animation and the jackpot sound and everything, like, that's a cool. Yeah. A cool feature. That's a good one, too. There's a lot. There's a lot of honorable mentions, for sure. You know, the Black Knight from Sword of Rage is really, really cool. Yeah, it is. Oh, yeah. Like, I wish that they'd animated his head on the play field like they animated on the topper. I also wish that my topper wasn't broken. Thanks, Vern. The topper isn't broken? No. I had that thing in the box for three years. I had it out of the box for 60 days, and that's already failed. Oh, shit. No. You don't think it's still covered under warranty, do you?
    103:13
    I actually had a big, long talk with the pinball pirate about it, about some troubleshooting steps, and I'll probably just end up putting it in the box and taking it to him. He'll fix that. The pinball pirate fixes everything. The pinball pirate's a righteous dude.
    103:31
    Yeah, no, that, you know what, I see, I knew that that topic would actually be more fun. because you guys, when I first met you, you're like, eh, yeah, okay, yeah. Like, no, no, it'll be good. We said, Spencer, we think your ideas are terrible. And that you're a terrible person. My segway sucked too. Dan, you did a good segway tonight, but. It was completely, I was channeling you. It was a good segway, but it was really abrupt. Like, it wasn't that it was bad as much as it was just like. It was like me not, like not straight away, Just like, just turn, like, just shift the three lanes over to like, off-road. It looks like a Tron life cycle turn. It's just like, boom.
    104:15
    Like, well, we're done with this, and now we're moving into the traffic. You loser. I have beats the fuck, yeah. Slam across eight lanes in traffic. You're like, boom. I've got a story about that, about my little boss. He, every time, and I'll finish this up real quick. Every single time that the McRib comes out, I get two phone calls. Because I'll be out working. One from my old boss Because he goes nuts Whenever they have this back And one from Rusty And whoever calls first I'll say if Rusty calls first Concord he cares I don't think they're that great Rusty still pissed at me Because 10 years ago or more I said AM PM has the same thing And it was like I told him there was no God or something Just like how dare you That's a pretender to the throne Anyway So my mistake of having a McRib every year. And I'm always just like, oh, my God, why do people like me? I know. I don't care. Yeah. Kind of in the same vein. Like I bought Brian a shamrock shake one year. And now every everything. Patrick's tape. Brian's like, give you Dan. I hear this story from my boss's kids They were from California And Because at the time it was his Not the end of the McRib story? No I wanted to finish this So he's driving an R250 super cab truck right And he's got his Two daughters I think his son's with him His wife and the dog of course So he slams he sees the McRib sign and a McDonald's. So he's in Southern California on a freeway and slams across five lanes of traffic, slides sideways into the parking lot, and then his youngest daughter wants to order a salad, and he comes out and glued up.
    106:13
    She's like, I'm working for McGriff, damn it! It's like, and to this day, I just give a shit about that. You know, it's like, you broke how many traffic laws to get to that drive-thru or whatever. At least one. At least one, yeah.
    106:31
    I'm with you. I'm like, I just, you know, yeah, anyway. It's not like, you know, the worst thing to ever happen. It's just like. It's just not great, you know. And even Rusty said, you know, last, whatever, two or three years ago, two years ago, I don't know when they had them last. And I guess it was about a year ago because we were living here. And she goes, now they've really gone downhill. They're not very good anymore. You know, give yourself like a rack of ribs. yeah the smoker or smoke it right because you want the bone just to basically slide out put your favorite barbecue sauce on slice up some white onions put some pickles on it and get a good bun boom probably rewrite your wife's DNA she will probably do things to you that you never even conceived her doing last weekend you know I got a good tip on making the ribs I got a good tip Hey, pull off the bone was pull off that silver skin on the back. That's not even a tip. That's just like something you're supposed to do. I know, but I'm so lazy, man. I just don't do it. And I did it, and the ribs came out, pull off the bone. I'm not getting tender, you know, before, but now. And apparently you're not supposed to be able to pull the bone right out, right? Like that means that they're overcooked. Overcooked, but it's like they fall off the bone. But who cares? It's good. I know. I'm like, that tastes, you know, overcooked my ribs. I mean, that just felt wonderful. We should do a whole episode of just barbecue food to make for playing pinball. We'll do that next summer. Okay, I want to point out. Pinball, now let's talk about barbecuing. We're almost at two hours. You're like, how are we even going to have, we don't have much to talk about. How are we going to get an hour in? I immediately knew we were going to make it when, you know, I talked about the Reno tournament scene for like 40 minutes. And it was fucking riveting, by the way. I'm not even acting on you, Mark. I was so interested.
    108:31
    I was like, why did I find Mark? I didn't mute my mic so Mark wouldn't have any outside distraction noise. Spencer went down the street and bought a burger. I just listened. I enjoyed it. So I miss league and tournaments, you know. I really want to play in the Reno team league, man. I wish that I could commit to being up there every Sunday, but I just can't. But that sounds like the most fun.
    108:59
    I'm going to really try to make Lodi final after parties a thing, man. There you go. I'm telling you, dude, it was almost more fun than the finals. Like, finals is great. You know, we all bring food, like too much food, which is one of the great things about the Lodi finals compared to the Folsom finals. Sorry, Folsom, just admit it. You guys, your food game is weak. Our food game in Lodi is strong.
    109:24
    And, you know, it's really fun. Like, finals is great. Spencer remembers finals, I'm sure. Yeah, because if you did good, you had a chance of getting a trophy, and you had fun anyway, you might win a few bucks. And if you did bad, it was okay, because you could lick your wounds with the other losers by doing around the world of fast food. It's about paychecks. Yeah, exactly. Well, I'm out.
    109:50
    I'm out. I ate four corn dogs. It was you and me, Dan, and I don't know who. I think it was maybe like George or somebody. And we spent the whole afternoon sitting at the buffet table, and you look over at me like, where are you at? It's like, okay, I'm on my second round of round the world. I'm heading towards. I just finished another chili dog from Wienerschnitzel and two more tacos from Jim Boy's. I'm heading back over to KFC, you know. At the end of the day, I can't even drive home. I'm either going to just blow up or I'm going to puke because I ate so much good food. Ew.
    110:29
    But, yeah, I'm just saying, you know, playoffs is great, but, like, the after-party thing, like, dude, that was super epic. That sounds ethically good. I might actually fly out for that. I don't know if it's going to be as good if we plan it rather than just it spontaneously appeared, though. I actually looked at flights to fly out for the volunteer party. But, God, like Mark said, flights have just gotten easier. You should fly out for Pinnagogo. You can't. I got my daughter coming. You don't got, like, rent cars or anything? No, I know. I got rides. I got places to stay. I just can't do it because I got my daughter coming, like, the week before. I know. I tried to get Will down here, too, but he's not coming. That would have been great. But yeah, he's still helping his dag nurse back to health.
    111:16
    Well, all right, boys. We're bringing it right in towards two hours. So mission accomplished. Another two-hour show. All right. Thank you. Yeah, shout-outs and thank yous. Shout-outs and thank yous. Thank yous to all of our wonderful listeners that support this show and keep it going. and to all the wonderful people who work tirelessly to put on all these wonderful pinball shows that we go and attend and get to see new games in the old and make new friends and see old ones.
    111:48
    Except that one guy. You know who I'm talking about. Not you. Yeah, it's all grassroots and it's all volunteering, man. I mean, very, very, very few people get paid any money to do this. There's a few. but trust me when I tell you they earn that money and then some so shout out and thank you to all the people around here and put them on location and keep them working nicely for us to go play and enjoy awesome Dan you know what I just want to throw it out to the usual suspects right you know of course a big thanks to you guys for you know doing this with us it's always fun a big thanks to the whole CCPL and everybody involved. You guys keep me playing pinball.
    112:37
    Another one out to Mike Moretti for having our GSPF party there and to the GSPF powers that be for putting the party together. For Max and Adam for riding with me and showing me a good day. Mike Garcia for being a great impromptu host and he's going to actually be an official CCPL host this season. So that's going to be fun. And I seriously doubt he listens, but to Don from Don's Pinball Podcast, who I was interacting with online a bit, and loving your show. Loving his show. Yeah, you seem like a really righteous dude. Yeah. And I respect the motivation. Like, I don't know how you do so many shows, because we have a hard time getting together once a month. Yeah, exactly. You think we're going to the dentist's office until we get started, then we're like, oh, yeah, this is actually pretty fun. And so, you know, just another one, you know, to you guys, you know, to Spencer and to Mark.
    113:36
    I wouldn't want to be doing this with anybody else. Which is good because I think we've run all the other guys away.
    113:44
    My shout out is to you guys, of course. It's nice to have a show. I know we were kind of a little on hiatus for a month, but it was good stuff. Really fun. Somebody had to be traveling the goddamn world. Yeah, I know, exactly. Good point. We actually have something fun to listen to and talk about. Yeah, it's good stuff. So I really enjoyed the talk and chatting. Way to bring the content. There you go.
    114:10
    I've got to give a shout-out to Ted McGinty and David Mosher for putting together the Reno Pinball Federation League is what it's called, just so you know. So it is a great opportunity for us to have fun and try a team competition. So it couldn't have happened without Ted, you know, communicating with people and getting ideas and putting it together, and Dave for putting the software together to help us make it a lot easier for us as captains. So, anyway, that's my shout-outs for this show. Those are all really nice, guys.
    114:45
    There's so much good stuff going on. I know I still kind of, you know, beat up on the old J-pop thing when it comes up. I don't bring it up. Damn. No, I'm kidding. But, no. It's not our fault that you have a man crush on J-Pop And he's letting you down Well, you know, one time he actually put out a TV game How he gets my crew to help Yeah, now he won't go there He won't go there He should probably edit that out Yeah, edit that out So, okay Mark's like, I'm not editing shit I gotta grade 60 more papers You guys better record clean this week Yeah, well, for the most part, I've been self-editing by hitting the mute button. Like right now, if you can hear, I can hear somebody's up there running the water. You can hear it. No, I can't hear. Jamie ran the washer earlier, and I was really pissed off. I thought I was going to show up. So hopefully it doesn't. Yeah, nobody's running the washer. You can listen to us on our home flagship of SoundCloud. You can listen to us on iTunes. And we may be somewhere else, I'm not sure, because, you know, this is a hobby, not my day job. You can reach us at our email at thecenterislit at gmail.com. Go out and support Location Pinball. Support your local pinball shows. You know, go, have fun, buy some swag.
    116:07
    Represent. Wear it on the street. You girl! Yeah, share pinball, man. Talk to people about it. Get your local bar or pub or put a pinball machine or two or six in the joint. class to join up a bit. So with that, gentlemen, I will start us off to take us out. Play pinball. Keep America strong.
    116:51
    you