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DPP #17 "Scooby is landing on location tonight! Bond 60th soon! Pinmarch is around the conrner! I drop my Dream Theme music pin idea!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·27m 50s·analyzed·Feb 18, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Bond 60th in production, Scooby-Doo shipping to locations, Multimorphic/Scott Denise tease Project Carbon module.

Summary

Don discusses recent pinball news including Bond 60th entering production, Scooby-Doo Where Are You shipping to locations (IO Arcade Madison, Blue Moon Bar & Grill), Project Carbon teaser from Multimorphic with Scott Denise, three upcoming conventions (Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming, Louisville Arcade Expo), and modding news. He analyzes Multimorphic's pricing and production barriers, then pitches Jimmy Buffett/Margaritaville as an ideal pinball license with broad appeal and existing merchandise ecosystem.

Key Claims

  • Bond 60th production photo released showing game being assembled at Stern's Oak Park, Illinois factory

    high confidence · Don saw official production photo from Stern factory this week

  • Godzilla Premium production run delayed Bond 60th assembly by taking its manufacturing slot

    medium confidence · Don states 'the run of Godzilla Premium that they were planning on doing went ahead and took its spot' but presents as explanation of delay

  • Scooby-Doo Where Are You machine #2 shipping to IO Arcade Madison tonight (Friday evening)

    high confidence · Spooky Pinball posted pickup notification last night; IO Arcade confirmed via location posting

  • IO Arcade will have Scooby available 11 a.m.–2 p.m. weekends; 21+ bar hours weeknights

    high confidence · Location posted scheduling information

  • Multimorphic's Weird Al module + base platform + LE topper costs ~$13,000

    high confidence · Don states this figure from personal knowledge of pricing

  • Stern Bond 60th Pro configuration (without ramp/jetpack) costs ~$6,900

    medium confidence · Don provides price estimate based on recent Stern pricing

  • Multimorphic typical order-to-delivery timeline is approximately one year

    medium confidence · Don states 'if you were to order a game today... it's going to be one year from now when you can expect delivery'

  • American Pinball new game (likely Galactic Space Tank Battle Force) confirmed for Texas Pinball Festival through official TPF channels

    medium confidence · Don states 'we got a little bit of official confirmation on this because apparently through the official channels with the Texas Pinball Festival, there is mention of a new game from American Pinball'

Notable Quotes

  • “I like this idea of, let's give us a full reveal. We all know you are making a game, so it's not an industry secret. but release a little teaser and kind of give us a taste on what to expect.”

    Don @ early mid-show — Criticism of industry marketing practices; advocates for transparency and early teaser strategy like Multimorphic using Project Carbon

  • “The price to entry for this is a barrier for me... my thirteen thousand dollars would be tied up and i'd be seeing maybe foo fighters come by maybe jaws come by indiana jones come by venom come by galactic space godfather all this stuff would be coming and my money would already be tied up in a multi-morphic.”

    Don @ Multimorphic discussion section — Articulates core concern with Multimorphic investment model—cash lockup vs. pipeline competition

  • “Jimmy Buffett has to happen. What do you think? Have I ranted about Jimmy Buffett long enough? Am I off base? Does nobody else want this machine?”

    Don @ final third of episode — Passionate pitch for Margaritaville pinball license; demonstrates community desire for non-rock-legacy music themes

  • “If these were sitting at distributors ready to go and a distro, you know, may finagle you into, you know, knocking 500 bucks off the price, just go now and you can skip delivery and get it in your house, it would be a lot more tempting”

    Don @ Multimorphic analysis section — Suggests availability/distributor model would improve adoption and perception of Multimorphic

  • “Pinball is always better in the home versus out in a CD arcade because you know it well taken care of. There's low plays on it. It's not beat up. Nobody spilled Corona all over it.”

    Don @ Multimorphic home environment discussion — Explains why home testing/ownership different from location/arcade play experience

  • “I think the problem is just finding enough people to physically put these things together. I mean, it requires a bit of technical skill. It's not something that you can come from the Birkenstock factory and then just go right to work on these things.”

    Don @ Multimorphic production analysis — Identifies root cause of Multimorphic production delays—rural Texas location, skilled labor shortage, technical complexity

Entities

DonpersonScott DenisepersonStern PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyMultimorphic (P3)companyAmerican PinballcompanyBond 60thgameScooby-Doo Where Are You?gameProject Carbon

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Multimorphic faces production capacity constraints in rural Texas; skilled labor shortage and geographic isolation creating bottleneck for module manufacturing

    medium · Don analyzes 'finding enough people to physically put these things together... requires a bit of technical skill... in a rural area where there's maybe not a lot of population'

  • ?

    community_signal: Don's podcast merchandise (t-shirts) selling to community; distribution expected mid-February; represents monetization of podcast audience

    high · Don announces t-shirt preorder fulfillment around February 22; $25 total price (shipping included); limited production run

  • ?

    event_signal: Three major pinball conventions converging within single month window (Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming, Louisville Arcade Expo) creating 'mad' announcement/reveal season

    high · Don emphasizes 'we're a month away from, what, three different conferences? This is going to be crazy.'

  • ?

    leak_detection: Project Carbon (Multimorphic module by Scott Denise) details revealed via teaser video before formal announcement

    high · Multimorphic released teaser video on YouTube showing backglass animation; industrial/dark theme visible from video

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Jimmy Buffett/Margaritaville identified as underexploited pinball IP with existing merchandise ecosystem, resort infrastructure, and trans-generational/trans-genre appeal; Don pitches as licensing opportunity for Stern or Jersey Jack

    medium · Don argues 'This is definitely a grandpa rock band, a dad rock band, a mom rock band, a college adult band' with established Margaritaville resorts, beer line, merchandise as evidence of IP maturity

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.083

0:00
What's up? We've made it to Friday, everybody. Episode 17 of Don's Pinball Podcast is ready for your ear holes. I finally got some news and it's coming in. So we're going to go and talk about all of the things that are occurring this week, including games on the line. We are a month away from, what, three different conferences? This is going to be crazy. Also, we should be seeing a brand new game like this evening on location. I'm going to get into all that and more coming up in just a second.
0:38
Can you tell I'm high on the energy right now? I've been waiting to do another show, and finally, the news is coming in.
0:45
Can you believe it? Bond 60th is actually on the line. I saw today Stern had released a production photo from their factory in, was it Oak Park, Illinois? Chicago land area. And Bond 60th is now being hammered and whammered together Finally, so what happened? We've been waiting for this game I thought it would be on location by now Well, it turns out there was some sort of parts delay Or at least that's the excuse And it sounds reasonable given the multitude of parts Required to build a modern pinball today So what had happened was that run of Godzilla Premium That they were planning on doing Went ahead and took its spot So there should be some freshly minted, boxed up smelling like factory cardboard Godzilla premiums on their way to customers now. So that's fantastic.
1:32
And Bond is finally getting put together. So this week, that's probably going to happen, and then they'll be shipping out. And so this time next week, could we expect to actually be able to play something on location or at least see a live stream on what the gameplay and code is like for this new Bond game? I think that's reasonable. But there's some other information, which I had just found out. So tonight, Madison, Wisconsin, the first spooky pinball, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, will be available to play on location at IO Arcade in the city of Madison. So late last night, they had posted that they were at the factory in Benton, Wisconsin, picking up their freshly shrink-wrapped, I think it's number two, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? And so that will be on display at this 21 and over bar slash arcade. But fear not, young ones. On Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., it is all agents. So where are your weekend plans? Cancel that wedding you were planning on going to. Tell your fiancée that she's going to have to wait one more week because Scooby is on display, and we can all go down and play it. So the word is from IO Arcade. They're at 924 Williamson Street in Madison, downtown right there by the courthouse, the state capitol building, the university district. I'm sure it's got a name, but that's supposed to be there, like, tonight to play. Now, I've got a work engagement, so I can't be there tonight, but I sure as heck can be there with the fam at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday. So I'm excited for that, and barring any major disruptions, your boy is going to be there. So we finally get to play Scooby-Doo, like now. It's happening, finally. I'm so excited. And then Bond is right up around the corner, man. Pin March is starting early. The madness has clearly hit. And speaking of that, I remember last episode, news had broke that our boy Scott Denise, the musical mastermind behind such classics as Total Nuclear Annihilation and Rick and Morty, which I do have in the arcade, fantastic game, he is heading a project with Multimorphic. That's this hybrid virtual pinball slash real pinball slash order and wait a year production company based out in the middle of nowhere, Texas, from what I gather. So they have these interchangeable modules for this half-virtual, half-real pinball machine. The guys that really put a face on the map with Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilarity that released, what was it, last year. So he is heading up a project, and it's got a codename. The codename is Carbon. Carbon, what is that, the sixth element of the 18? I can't remember. I got a chemistry minor you'd think I'd remember. Project Carbon, Scott Dinesi, program designer on it. They released a little, I wouldn't call it a sizzle reel, just a little teaser video. And it looks like a back glass animation talking about everybody that's on the production and art and what have you for programming this game. So is this right around the corner? Is this a year away? That I still don't know. But it's cool that they're dropping teasers like this. And this is what I'd wish other companies would do. So hitherto for now, the major marketing push from pinball companies is to release what game they're making at the same time that they are asking for deposits or getting ready to ship it. So you have to see this machine and make a decision. Otherwise, you're going to be at the back of the queue, which isn't very consumer-friendly. I like this idea of, let's give us a full reveal. We all know you are making a game, so it's not an industry secret. but release a little teaser and kind of give us a taste on what to expect. Help us temper those expectations so there's no letdown, there's no artificial buildup, and we can stay hyped for this product. I mean, come on. It's 2023. Let's not be anachronistic. But, you know, pinball's going to pinball. So it's cool that they released this thing. So at least we have kind of like an idea of what kind of theme scope this is going to be. It's not going to be, you know, fantasy forest fairytale creatures. It looks to be more along the lines of the theme of Total Nuclear Annihilation. It kind of had a stark video, a lot of grays, some metals, and the music was slamming, of course. So I'm looking forward. I'm excited to see what this game is. I'm going to talk about Multimorphic here a little bit later, but that is great that that dropped. You can check that out on YouTube. I think Scott at EC's site has it. Multimorphic probably does too. I'll see if I can post a link on my Facebook page. I've just got a whole list of things I'm just going to run down. We talked about Project Carbon for the P3. We talked about how Godzilla Jump Bond, the Bond 60th, is on the line. Scooby-Doo is shipping. You can play it tonight, it looks like.

  • “So if I was designing it, let's see, what sort of machine? I'd be walking up to the machine. I would see a lot of blues and greens. The art would be, you know, a beach and, you know, sailboats off there, maybe a sunset, maybe a sunset mode.”

    Don @ Jimmy Buffett/Margaritaville game design pitch — Detailed creative vision for hypothetical Margaritaville pinball—demonstrates knowledge of theme-appropriate design

    • game
    Weird Al's Museum of Natural Hilaritygame
    IO Arcadeorganization
    Blue Moon Bar and Grillorganization
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Midwest Gaming Conventionevent
    Louisville Arcade Expoevent
    Diddy Modsperson
    Stumbler Tokyoperson
    Mezelmodsperson
    Godzilla Premiumgame
    Jimmy Buffett / Margaritavilleproduct
  • $

    market_signal: Multimorphic P3 platform entry cost (~$13k) perceived as barrier relative to competitive Stern Pro offerings (~$6.9k base); cash lockup vs. pipeline competition creates disincentive

    high · Don explicitly contrasts Multimorphic pricing with Stern Bond pricing; articulates cash-tie-up concern against competing game releases

  • ?

    announcement: Bond 60th officially entered production phase with factory photo release; expected to ship within week of announcement

    high · Stern released production photo from Oak Park factory; Don saw this officially this week

  • ?

    product_strategy: Godzilla Premium production run consumed Bond 60th manufacturing slot, pushing Bond timeline

    medium · Don explains 'the run of Godzilla Premium that they were planning on doing went ahead and took its spot' as reason for Bond delay

  • ?

    product_strategy: American Pinball new title (Galactic Space Tank Battle Force rumored) officially confirmed for Texas Pinball Festival via TPF channels

    medium · Don states 'we got a little bit of official confirmation on this because apparently through the official channels with the Texas Pinball Festival, there is mention of a new game from American Pinball'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Stern game reveal strategy may shift to post-convention announcement/drop following Texas Pinball Festival; loose lips at show expected to confirm unreleased titles

    low · Don speculates Stern may announce week after TPF; 'loose lips are going to sink that ship' suggesting insider leaks expected from convention

  • ?

    technology_signal: Multimorphic P3 platform demonstrates modular game interchange model; IR ball tracking for video integration; positions as alternative to traditional pinball machine architecture

    high · Don describes three-quarter screen playfield with physical flippers/ramps; drop-in module swapping; IR ball tracking system enabling video interactivity

    • 6:13
    Oh, and other news. For those of you that have ordered T-shirts, I've got a date. The order is in, and the shirts will be here around the 22nd of February, like sometime in that week. I've got the proofs done. I've got a ton of extra larges. So for those of you that have ordered, I'm going to get back to you soon with ordering information. Send your boy $20 plus $5 for shipping, $25 out the door, domestic U.S., T-shirt directly to you. Shoot yourself a picture of you wearing it and strut around town, man, because you are going to be wearing some limited edition merchandise because not many of these are going to exist. So those are coming. If you want one, donspinballpodcast.gmail.com. Just give me an address, and I will send you a PayPal link. Throw me some ducats I throw it in the mail as soon as like the week after next So you be strutting around spring break weekend repping the gear I mean what better than that So that's coming. Oh, what else do we have? A couple things I want to get to later. Oh, let's talk about more other related news. I mentioned that there are three conventions coming up. We know about Texas Pinball Festival, the big guy, right? That's happening later this month, towards the end of the month, in Frisco, Texas, near Dallas. Twin Cities. Sister Cities? What do you call Dallas-Fort Worth? Anyway, the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area. And then you've got the other convention, which is in Milwaukee. Midwest Gaming Convention. It's a hybrid pinball plus arcade plus tabletop game plus retro gaming big extravaganza. Did that last year. That'll be fantastic. Also occurring around the same time. But there's one more! And that is the Louisville Arcade Expo. And so I checked my schedule and I do have that open, so I'm thinking of making the trip down to Louisville, Kentucky, all one syllable, so I can get my arcade convention on and see if I can get some hands-on some more games. I don't know if there'll be any gameplay reveals. The news around the podcast-verse is that Texas Pinball Festival will be one place where we can play at least, very likely, two new games, one of those being Scooby-Doo, which will now be on location. The other one may be this game, coming from American Pinball. And in fact, we got a little bit of official confirmation on this because apparently through the official channels with the Texas Pinball Festival, there is mention of a new game from American Pinball being there. So is this Galactic Space Tank Battle Force where you fold the cabinet down and it looks like a tank for some reason?
    8:36
    Why would that be a feature? I don't know. I'm excited about this game. The hype train is definitely far out of the station on this. So this could be the game that helps define American pinball, right? Makers of Oktoberfest and Legends of Valhalla and, you know, the Houdini, right? But this is like kind of the first modern game that I am going to be available for the launch of. So I'm excited about that coming. So much news. So much mod news even. Diddy, my boy from Diddy Mods. Now, this is a guy that creates really nice plastic or resin sculpts of buildings. He made the Nagel Oil Building for Godzilla. He made the Electrical Pylon Towers for Godzilla, among others. He's got a new mod for Bond. Well, he's got two mods for Bond. I already covered the Villain Mansion.
    9:26
    What is it? Spectre. The Spectre Villain Mansion for the, not Bond 60th, but the Bond Dr. No Thunderball version. The George Gomez version. There's a new mod. And he was mentioned he was working on a rocket tower. And so there's a new video of it out, actually. And in addition to a rocket tower, there's also a crane with like a warhead tip or something dangling from it. So when you hit the vibrating rocket on the Bond play field, they can actually go and smack this thing like an old-timey railroad mailbag. So that was very interesting. In other Bond news, not medicinal mods, Mezelmods has come up with, I don't know if this is a complete different sculpt for the rocket missile or if this is like a skin that goes over it, but it looks metallic and has the big CCCP letters on it and has a lot higher detail than what originally shipped with the game. So if I had myself a Bond, I for sure would get this Mezelmod rocket. I'd probably get Diddy's Tower. I would definitely get Diddy's villain headquarters, so I think that's great. So check that out, Diddy Mods through Pinside and its Facebook page.
    10:36
    I finally got it. Did I mention this last time? The Stumbler Tokyo lighted sign mod. I finally got mine in the mail after months and months of waiting and backordering and being on a wish list. It's finally mine. I was able to install it without too much difficulty. And, man, that thing is, you know, everybody's been saying that this is mod of the year, right? This Tokyo neon sign that replaces the flat plastic in front of the Mechagodzilla on the Godzilla Premium and LE. Can you use it? I think you can use it on the Pro as well. Really adds a cool new dimension. I thought from the pictures and videos I saw, it was just kind of like a light-up plastic sign, but it actually has some programming in it so the lights flicker just like an old neon-lit sign would, you know, kind of like a seedy part of Tokyo. So that is dope. I finally got one. Shout-out to Stumbler. I told him I'd call him out on my cast today. He's got tons of other mods. He's located in the U.K., so check him out on Pinside. for all that goodness that my boy has.
    11:36
    Covering Multimorphic once again. So they're in the news again, of course, because Scott Denise is releasing a module soon. When? We don't know.
    11:45
    But I wanted to talk about this company. So for those of you who don't know, this is a company called Multimorphic, or P3, or both, and they make a modular hybrid pinball machine. The best way I can describe it. So the play field, three-quarters of it is a screen, but it has actual flippers and mechanisms on top as well as ramps. And what you can do with this is take the glass off, and then that back third of the play field is actually a little module that you can pick up and remove and interchange. And I think the programming for the game is included within that module too. So it's drop in, hook it up, hook the ramps up, turn it on, and you've got a brand new pinball machine. So the idea is that rather than have five machines in your basement, you can have this one machine that plays with physical balls, physical flippers, and physical ramps and mechanisms, but is also integrated with sound and video, as well as some kind of intra-red ball tracking system for the screen, so there's some interactivity. But you can just buy these small modules where you could all store them on the floor next to the machine and then drop them in and have like five different games without having five physically different machines. A couple of things That does come at a cost I know the cost to get Weird Al's Module and the base platform And I think the limited edition topper Came out to like $13,000 Which is a bit high when you compare it to the cost Of say a Stern Pro Like the new Bond If you wanted the Bond with the rocket and everything Just not the ramp or the jetpack It would set you back $6,900 Brand new, out of the box, never been touched before This machine would cost Around $9,000 or so So plus you $3,000 or $3,500 for the module itself. And then there was another upgrade fee if you wanted the cool topper of the accordion with Weird Al, which why would you not? So the price to entry for this is a barrier for me. The gameplay is fun enough. I mean, I've played this device a few times, Texas Pinball Festival. I played it again at Pinball Expo in Chicago. It's fun. I've met some people online that have invited me over to come try theirs in the home environment. Things always play better in the home environment You know with pinball it kind of the opposite with furniture Furniture is always more comfortable in the store than it is when you get it home right But pinball is the opposite Pinball is always better in the home versus out in a CD arcade because you know it well taken care of. There's low plays on it. It's not beat up. Nobody spilled Corona all over it. You know, the flippers are strong and working. When something breaks, it gets fixed right away. So games always do hit better. They hit different in the home environment. So I'm excited to go check out some of these home arcades that do have the multi-morphic, especially so I can get some more time on Weird Al.
    14:23
    But the only other issue is, aside from the price being a little bit higher than where you'd else entry into some other games, the wait list, production on this seems to be a bear.
    14:35
    From what I understand, they live out in rural Texas, kind of adjacent to the Austin area, not in a major city. And I think the problem is just finding enough people to physically put these things together. I mean, it requires a bit of technical skill. It's not something that you can come from the Birkenstock factory and then just go right to work on these things. I mean, you'd have to train a bit to be able to build these modules and put them together. I don't know if the parts that you need are different because you have the complexity of a traditional pinball machine because these are physical parts of physical play field, physical ramps and things. But then you also have the complexity of electronics, right? You have to get this electronic screen, sensors for the intra-red sensing, and all that business. So there's just some added complexity in the setting of being in a rural area where there's maybe not a lot of population that's at the skill that you need to build things. Plus, there's a job shortage or hiring shortage everywhere, right? There's more jobs than there are people that can take them right now. So the competition is high. And so if you were to order a game today, say, you know what? I'm convinced. I know Denise's is coming out. I like Weird Al. Maybe I want to pick up Heist as well. I'm going to go ahead and put my order in today. It's going to be one year from now when you can expect delivery. and that's hard that's hard to tie up your cash for that long um especially because a year from now we're going to have six seven other games that we haven't even seen yet they're going to be released and if you if i were to buy a multi-morphic now my thirteen thousand dollars would be tied up and i'd be seeing maybe foo fighters come by maybe jaws come by indiana jones come by venom come by galactic space godfather all this stuff would be coming and my money would already be tied up in a multi-morphic. So that just has me hesitant, you know. If these were sitting at distributors ready to go and a distro, you know, may finagle you into, you know, knocking 500 bucks off the price, just go now and you can skip delivery and get it in your house, it would be a lot more tempting, a lot more easy to get this. And I think the adoption for the device would be higher if they could find a way to get the production where it needs to be. because this is really a system that's an investment.
    16:40
    You're trusting in the system to stay solvent so that they can come out with future modules. The idea is that you make the investment today so that you can get these modules in in the future. And if the company folds in a year because they just don't have any operating revenue because they've run into these roadblocks, the future of that is just uncertain at best. I think it's a fantastic idea. I have a lot of faith in the creativity of the people that came up with this. but there's a lot of steps. There's a lot of dominoes that have to fall in order to have a successful company like this, and there's just that uncertainty. So I wish them all the best, and I'll promote them the best I can. I want to play all of their games, but those are the barriers I could see if I'm being honest. All right, I'm glad we had a heart-to-heart for Multimorphic. One more thing. There are multiple flippers on these games, and there's also multiple flipper buttons per side, and can we address that for a second? I'm assuming this is either an aesthetic choice on the part of the designer or it was necessary because of the modularity or something of the system. But is there a way in the software at least that you can configure it so that when you hit the right flipper button, all the flippers on the right side of the machine fire, and when you hit the left flipper, all the left ones fire, so I don't have to fumble around between an upper flipper or a lower flipper? It's hard enough for me to remember to hit a MagnaSave button, let alone multiple flipper buttons or multiple flippers. So, yeah, the next time you guys meet and come up with R&D or spitballing ideas, take that one from me for free. If that's able to be integrated, I would think that would be reasonable. I would do that. Okay, I'm going to move on from Multimorphic.
    18:17
    And let me see what else I got on my list. I covered the Louisville Arcade Expo. I didn't say the dates are March 10th, 11th, and 12th. I mentioned IO Arcade in Madison is getting Scooby-Doo. How could I forget to mention that Blue Moon in Madison is also getting the game Monday afternoon. I just heard from them today. They gave me an instant message. Thanks, guy.
    18:36
    2535 University Avenue in Madison will have their Scooby-Doo on Monday afternoon. So stop by. They're a bar and grill. They're all ages. So stop in, get yourself a Blue Moon, get yourself some tacos and some cheese nuggets, and then go play some Scooby-Doo. And while you're there, play another collection of limited edition games as well as Stranger Things Pro. Great collection. Very tournament-centric. Very pinball-friendly place at Blue Moon Bar and Grill in Madison. So that's all these two Scoobies that are near me. How about in your neck of the woods? Chicago area, I'm sure there's some places that will have them too. I just haven't heard of them yet. And then after this, we'll be on the hunt for Bond 60 in the wild. Can you believe it? I'm so excited. I did want to get to something else. I did a live stream last night, just kind of riffing, and one of the things we were discussing was music pins. And, you know, the subject of dream theme music pins came up. Now, I know there's been a rap about dad rock, right, for these machines. You have ACDC and Metallica and Rush.
    19:38
    What other pins? Beatles. You know, some of these classic rock. There's still no hip hop that's been done. No pop music. No Taylor Swift. No Katy Perry.
    19:48
    but I have thought from time to time, uh, a thought that thought that into my head, just like poo bear. So I've got a music theme that I think would work really well for pinball. And I haven't heard a rumor or a peep about this. Now, the thing is with this license, it has very broad generational appeal. Okay. This is definitely a grandpa rock band, a dad rock band, a mom rock band, a college adult band. Um, really it's almost like, Dave Matthews Band Plus as far as the reach of this artist is still performing, is still touring, is still selling out stadiums. And in addition to that, this artist has merchandise lined up to the hilt to the point that there are resorts associated with this license. There's product lines that already exist along with this license. There's a line of beer. And there's a culture that's really built up around here. And it's also trans genre, right? It's not just rock. it also a little bit country too It has that broad base appeal And course I talking about the infabitable that a word Mr Jimmy Buffett So can you imagine for a second Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville pinball machine and why we do not have one of these yet? I will wait while you answer.
    21:07
    Right, so there's Margaritaville everything, man. If you want a Margaritaville pitcher, boom, they got you. If you want some Landshark beer, they got it. You want a belt, you want flip-flops, you want a dad hula t-shirt, you want to go stay at the Margaritaville Barn Grill Resort and Lounge, you can do that all over the country and in the Caribbean. This place is like Señor Frogs, man. They're everywhere, everywhere. So this is really not only favorable music that a lot of people like, it's fun. It's Caribbean, it's sailing away, it's cheeseburger in paradise, it's lost shaker of salt, there's always a woman to blame, but it's really my fault. Like this is America. This is the culture. This is Jimmy Buffett. This is Margaritaville. Why can I not play this pinball machine yet? And I don't think this is a hard license to get because the whole – the brand is really set up to merchandise already.
    22:01
    So this isn't like approaching the estate of Prince or the estate of Raul Julia and trying to explain to them like what you're trying to do with that license, what a pinball machine is, how you can't pay $10 million up front for a license to make 1,200 games.
    22:18
    What studio would do this? Obstern is definitely capable. I mean, they can churn these things out. And in the numbers and demand that it would have, I could see them doing it. Jersey Jack on a good day, I could see taking this license and making a premier machine out of it, especially with how well Guns N' Roses was themed and degraded, especially because Slash from Guns N' Roses was personally involved in the development of that game. So if there's a studio that's, number one, capable, and number two, willing to work directly with the artist or at least the artist's people, I think we could have a magical game here. So I'm going to put this out into the ether for free. Somebody out there, somebody, I need you to be capable. I don't want you getting this license and taking five years for it to come out, taking early adopter nonrefundable deposits, and then taking eight years to put it out. Like that won't work. But for everybody else, step up to the plate and make Margaritaville work. Who would design it? Really, I could see different people having different takes. If I was designing it, let's see, what sort of machine?
    23:20
    I'd be walking up to the machine. I would see a lot of blues and greens. The art would be, you know, a beach and, you know, sailboats off there, maybe a sunset, maybe a sunset mode. The play field I could see as being definitely a beach or cabana downfield by the flippers and the slingshots, some plastic resin chaise lounges on top of the slings. And so you're sitting there playing from the beach, looking out across the sand and the little boardwalk there. Maybe there's some boardwalk ramps that come down. And then you hit the waves about two-thirds of the way up the play field. And then, you know, maybe a sailboat that's out there that you can launch and lock balls onto. So there's got to be a Margaritaville blender somewhere, you know, some Landshark bottles. But that's how I would go up to it. This would be like a really mellow machine. Go up and play it. And it could have like a daytime mode and a nighttime mode. Like the lights could kind of kick low for like some of the slower songs, sound of the waves, and just like put on the ball save. So if you drain, your ball just keeps kicking out, and you're just going around, you know, hitting the targets, listening to the music. and then you can have like a more frantic, you know, volcano blow mode. You can have a volcano topper. You can have volcano lights in the back glass that could come on for that mode and everything turns red, you know, when the volcano blows. Man, somebody's got to make this because if not, I'm going to get so deep into this hobby that I'm going to make the dang thing myself because I just think Jimmy Buffett has to happen. What do you think? Have I ranted about Jimmy Buffett long enough? Am I off base? Does nobody else want this machine? If you want it, Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com or the Facebook page is Don Pinsball Podcast. Leave me a note. Let me know what your thoughts are on that theme. A couple of other things I want to get to to finish off this episode.
    25:05
    Texas Pinball Festival, what's going to be going on from each company? So, Stern, I know we were expecting to see Venom, and then it became Foo Fighters, then it became, well, maybe it could be either one, and then Jack Danger was called back to the home office, And then now there's some rumors trickling out, thanks, K-Man, of the game being released the week after Texas Pinball Festival. So maybe the strategy there is Stern makes a showing. They show their games that they got. They sell what they got. They network. And then they get back to the factory afterwards and start cranking these things out and do the big drop and everything when everybody's back at headquarters. So that looks like it's something that could happen. Nobody knows for sure. These are all rumors. Are we going to see Galactic Tank Force? I mean, it's sounding like, yeah, what's that worth? It's worth its weight in rumor. That's what it's worth. But I could see it happening. If I was putting $5 down on it, I'd put $5 down on seeing something from American Pinball. I'd put $5 down on not seeing something new from Stern, but maybe hearing more rumblings about what's actually going on. Somebody's going to be drinking and having a party, and then loose lips are going to sink that ship, and we're going to get some more confirmation probably is what I'm expecting. My $5 is definitely going on seeing Scooby-Doo. maybe it's like three to four machines at Texas pinball festival. And they're probably going to be for sale too. They'll probably have two regular and two, uh, well, will they have any of the, uh, butter edition cabinets? Maybe. Um, so you may be able to pick one up for a discount. They may already be pre-sold by the time the, the convention happens. If you want one, I'd reach out to spooky and email squirrel at spooky pinball and see if, uh, you're interested in picking up one from the show floor. Maybe ask him, maybe they can bring you one. Uh, what else? Uh, Pulp fiction. I mean, That's a rumor. I'd put my $5 in a bucket of nachos, to be honest. I don't think I would bet one way or the other. This is still a wild rumor to me that I don't know the base of where it's coming from. So, sure, it just as easily could show up as not show up. And to me, 50-50 is not a great bet. But $5 nachos, that's always a great bet, especially in Texas. What else did I write down that I need to talk about?
    27:11
    Want another song to see at TPF? I don't know what the heck I was saying there. Oh, Jersey Jack, Godfather, are we going to see anything? Again, I'm going to sit back and crunch my nachos and just watch and see what's coming. Anyway, that's what I got.
    27:25
    Are you liking these episodes, everybody? Do you want a t-shirt? $25 to me at paypal.com. Don's Pinball Podcast, gmail.com. I'll let you know where to send it. Get your fresh threads, man. Spring break's coming up. You've got to represent on Panama City Beach, buddies.
    27:42
    Good night. DJ, play me out. Hit it.