The Pinball Show Ep 89: Stern Production Updates & How NOT To Market Trends

TL;DR

Production delays persist across manufacturers; Lyman Sheets memorial; Iron Man Vault discontinued.

Summary

Key Claims

• Lyman Sheets died by suicide on January 19, 2022, after a long battle with mental illness

  high confidence · Funeral obituary read on air; family explicitly disclosed cause of death in funeral program

• Lyman Sheets designed or co-created software for over 45 pinball machines across three decades

  high confidence · Craig Bobby segment; cited machines include Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, Attack from Mars, The Walking Dead, Metallica, Tron, Batman 66, Elvira House of Horrors, Cactus Canyon Remake

• Rush Pro production line was delayed 7-10 days due to part shortages; production resumed with LE run to begin by end of week

  high confidence · Production update segment by Ken Rudberg; Premium run expected week of February 21st

• Deadpool Premiums were finally built this last week after being delayed since December, expected to ship early February

  high confidence · Host notes on production backlog; orders pushed back multiple times from December through January

• Iron Man Vault has been formally discontinued; all pending orders terminated

  high confidence · Host states: 'the orders that were pending. They have actually terminated all future runs. It is done, done, done.'

• Godzilla received code update V.90 with new features including Planet X Wizard Mode, Smog Monster Frenzy, verbal countdown for ball release

  high confidence · David Dennis reading code notes; described as 'fairly large' update

• Haggis Pinball has commenced manufacturing on Fathom Mermaid Edition with Series Ticket Holders to receive games first

  high confidence · Dr John update; manufacturing anticipated to commence in four weeks

• There are 17 Guns N' Roses Jersey Jack machines currently listed on Pinside: 8 LEs ($9.5-10k), 5 CEs ($17-21.6k), 4 SEs ($7.5-8k)

  high confidence · Ken Rudberg Jersey Jack market update with specific price ranges and quantities

Notable Quotes

• “His rule sets are seen as groundbreaking and still serve as the backbone for modern pinball rules design.”

  Craig Bobby (Stern news segment, reading tribute to Lyman Sheets) @ Early segment — Captures Lyman's lasting technical impact on pinball industry

• “After a courageous and long battle with mental illness, Lyman died by suicide on January 19, 2022. His soul is finally at peace.”

  David Dennis (reading Lyman Sheets obituary) @ Mid-episode — Family's explicit public statement normalizing mental health discussion in pinball community

• “I'm glad that the family was willing to actually say that, because at least here in the U.S., historically, there was a stigma associated with suicide, and it takes a lot of work to get rid of that stigma.”

  Dennis Creasel @ Post-obituary discussion — Host emphasizes importance of destigmatizing mental health in pinball community

• “The Hobbit is priced higher than GNR. There are two listed for 11k each. That is a huge bump up for that game.”

  Ken Rudberg (Jersey Jack market update) @ Market trends segment — Secondary market pricing shows Hobbit appreciating faster than premium Guns N' Roses CEs

• “Well, you're all SOL now, guys. I'm sorry. You're going to have to go to the secondary market and buy your Iron Man vault for $1,000 less used.”

  Dennis Creasel @ Late production update segment — Delivers discontinuation blow to customers waiting on Iron Man Vault orders

• “I think probably the two worst phone calls to make to somebody who's on a list is, one, the price of your pin has gone up by $1,000 or $2,000 from when you put your name on the list. the other one is that the game is totally cancelled that's the worst.”

  David Dennis @ Iron Man Vault discussion — Captures pattern of Stern pricing increases and cancellations affecting customers on waitlists

• “Deadpool Premiums are expected to, well, no, apparently this last week they were built...I remember the announcement of them supposing to be done in December. But it got pushed back.”

Entities

Signals

• ?

  business_signal: Stern pattern of price increases and product cancellations affecting waitlist customers identified as recurring pain point

  medium · David Dennis: 'the two worst phone calls to make to somebody who's on a list is, one, the price of your pin has gone up...the other one is that the game is totally cancelled'

• ?

  community_signal: Family of Lyman Sheets publicly normalized mental health discussion by explicitly stating suicide in funeral program; community response on Pinside forum includes sharing personal mental health struggles

  high · David Dennis: 'I'm glad that the family was willing to actually say that...takes a lot of work to get rid of that stigma'; Dennis Creasel: 'I've seen such on Pinside. A lot of people are really talking about their own battles with mental illness'

• ?

  competitive_signal: Spooky Pinball staff member Bug Emery won Iowa State Pinball Invitational; playtesting work at manufacturer translating to competitive tournament success

  high · Dr. John: 'Corwin Bug Emery for winning the Iowa State Pinball Invitational. All that playtesting at work has paid dividends'

• ?

  leak_detection: Potential Toy Story machine sighting in Jersey Jack Instagram background; very low confidence due to image quality but signals community excitement and speculation about unannounced title

  low · Ken Rudberg: 'blurry to say anything about what this game is. I think it just points to the excitement that's building over this title, and what people are trying to do to glean any little piece of information'

• $

  market_signal: Jersey Jack secondary market shows 17 Guns N' Roses machines available; Hobbit appreciating faster than GNR CEs; indicates market saturation or dealer liquidation