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The Super Awesome Pinball Show - S2 E24 - Zofia Ryan

The Super Awesome Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 23m·analyzed·Jan 30, 2021
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TL;DR

Bonus SAPS episode with Zofia Ryan (American Pinball SE), news on Spooky's pivot to video, Harry Potter pinball intel, and Deep Root delays.

Summary

Christopher Franchi and Christian Line host a bonus episode featuring an interview with Zofia Ryan, newly hired senior engineer at American Pinball, along with David Fix and Mrs. Pin (Christian's wife). The episode covers personal pinball anecdotes, industry news including Spooky Pinball's podcast ending, rumors about Harry Potter pinball, Pinball Brothers' Alien delays, and Deep Root's latest production delays. The hosts discuss aftermarket customization trends and preview upcoming content.

Key Claims

  • Zofia Ryan is the new senior engineer at American Pinball

    high confidence · Christopher Franchi introduces her as 'the new senior engineer at American Pinball' at the episode opening

  • Spooky Pinball's monthly podcast will end in February after 11 years; transitioning to YouTube video format

    high confidence · Charlie Emery informed Franchi; described as 'exclusive' news for this show

  • Harry Potter pinball is not being designed by Brian Eddy or any current manufacturer

    high confidence · Joe Kamenec confirmed to Franchi that 'it's not being done' by Brian Eddy; stated as exclusive intel

  • Joe Kamenec would want George Gomez as a collaborator if he designed Harry Potter

    high confidence · Direct statement from Joe Kamenec in conversation with Franchi: 'he said George Gomez'

  • Pinball Brothers' Alien games had firmware issues preventing US shipment; now fixed with delivery expected this week

    high confidence · Franchi reports Cointaker confirmation of two games arriving this week

  • Deep Root is experiencing another production delay for their arcade/pinball game project

    high confidence · Email notification received before recording; project now in third+ year of development

  • Deep Root has presold approximately 130 games (70 arcade editions, 60 extra editions) at $8,000 and $13,000 respectively

    medium confidence · Franchi states figures from recent email; characterizes pricing as higher than Stern's standard games

  • Multimorphic P3 now offers interchangeable art blades and playfield plastics as aftermarket customization options

    high confidence · News segment coverage of P3 product announcement

  • Zen Studios is launching a new video show called 'The Pinball Show' with a reveal tonight

    high confidence · Franchi reports as breaking news before episode recording

Notable Quotes

  • “That's not funny. It's just true.”

    Mrs. Pin (Sarah) @ pre-sleep comment — Humorous insight into late-night semi-conscious spouse commentary; humanizes the hosts

  • “Care bears, you know, the shooter rod could be shaped like a little care bear belly and the little symbol on the care bear on it frenchie could do some sick art on that cabinet it would be so great”

    Mrs. Pin (Sarah) @ half-asleep state — Jestful machine concept discussion; shows spouse engagement with pinball design despite not being primary enthusiast

  • “If he was going to get the license, then he would want to design the game himself.”

    Christopher Franchi (paraphrasing Joe Kamenec) @ Harry Potter discussion — Reveals Joe Kamenec's position on potential Harry Potter IP; clarifies he hasn't declined project outright

  • “An amazing game... you're always going to have people who hate the game and you're always going to have people who love it.”

    Christian Line @ Harry Potter discussion — Acknowledges licensed IP inherent challenge; references Led Zeppelin as recent example of mixed reception

  • “It's been three full years in the making... more than that and it is just it's insane to me”

    Christian Line @ Deep Root discussion — Expresses frustration with extended Deep Root delays and credibility erosion

  • “At this point, I can't believe that they're not charging about $25 million for each game. That's probably what they need to charge to break even at this point.”

    Christian Line @ Deep Root pricing discussion — Sarcastic commentary on Deep Root's financial viability given years of delays

  • “I'll believe it when I see it.”

    Christian Line @ Deep Root discussion — Summarizes community skepticism about Deep Root delivery promises

  • “P3 doesn't come out with a new game all the time but they definitely keep themselves in the news with stuff like this... their marketing is great”

Entities

Zofia RyanpersonChristopher FranchipersonChristian LinepersonMrs. Pin (Sarah)personDavid FixpersonGeorge GomezpersonJoe KamenecpersonCharlie Emeryperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: George Gomez providing direct technical support to community members (45-minute consultation with Franchi on Beatles pinball); sending Christmas cards to podcasters

    high · Franchi's story of fixing Beatles pinball after Gomez consultation; Christmas card receipt from Gomez

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Harry Potter pinball status: Joe Kamenec has not declined license but is waiting on IP availability; would design himself if acquiring it; George Gomez named as preferred collaborator

    high · Franchi's exclusive interview with Joe Kamenec clarifying Harry Potter is 'not being done' by Brian Eddy but hasn't been offered to Kamenec either

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Zofia Ryan hired as senior engineer at American Pinball; previously designed Whodunit (early speech callouts + reels machine)

    high · Episode introduction and correction segment identifies Zofia Ryan as Whodunit designer and new American Pinball employee

  • ?

    announcement: Zen Studios launching 'The Pinball Show' YouTube video series tonight with unspecified major reveal; transition from traditional media format

    high · Franchi reports as breaking news; airs tonight with 'big reveal' planned

  • ?

    product_strategy: Deep Root experiencing third+ year delay; parts availability, lock bar redesign, UL testing cited as blockers; presold customers waiting indefinitely

    high · Email notification sent to preorder customers detailing latest delay; Franchi characterizes as 'not a surprise' given company history

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.250

0:00
Sometimes we're funny, sometimes we suck. She's a lady. This program contains dirty potty mouth. Because we like to swear. Hey! The following is an ad-hoc radio production. He-he-he.
0:28
Welcome to Super. Awesome Pinball Show With your host Pinball artist Christopher Franchi And Dr. Pin himself Christian Line Sponsored by Cointicker.com Chicago-Gaming.com And BackAlleyCreations.com Close in there We shouldn't stop Until we're satisfied
1:00
Hey there, all you pinball rock stars out there, and welcome to a very special bonus episode, number 24 of the Super Awesome Pinball Show. I'm Christopher Franchi, and today we talk to the new senior engineer at American Pinball, and she's a lady, Miss Zofia Ryan. Also joining us is David Fix and our favorite special co-host, Mrs. Pin. All that and more on the Super Awesome Pinball Show, yeah!
1:23
Was that the Kool-Aid Man? Oh no! Oh yeah! Hi, Colin! Hey everybody, it's Dr. Penn. What's up, Doc? Welcome to a special episode. Unexpected, but when we get a chance to interview someone like Sophia Ryan and do it with one of our all-time favorite co-hosts, who just happens to be my amazing wife, we don't let it pass. Welcome to the show, Mrs. Penn. Hey! So happy to be here. Hey, girl! Welcome aboard, Lady Penn. Thank you. I'm happy to be back. Yeah, we weren't expecting to do an episode. You know, Roger Sharp Part 2 is still coming up. Part 1 was amazing. I'm excited to get into the second half of that where we get into a lot of random interesting topics. But we had to kind of bridge the gap with an opportunity that we just got to interview Zofia. So that's coming up and that's a really fun interview. I know. And I just, you know, kind of wedged my way onto this episode. Absolutely. Yeah, every once in a while. You wedgest. Yeah, right? Exactly. All right, so before we get into our last two weeks in pinball, I did want to throw in a correction from our last episode because one of the questions in our Stump the Stash game show was, what was the first game to have both reels and speech call-outs? And the answer was Woe Nelly by Whizbang, one of Greg Ferrer's games. But when talking about the reels, Greg meant score reels, but we were technically wrong because Raymond Davidson reached out and told me that Whodunit had actually come first. There were slot machine reels in the middle of that game and speech call-outs, and Zofia Ryan actually did that. So thanks, Raymond, for the heads up. I know that we really should have said score reels because the answer was Woe Nelly, but technically we weren't correct.

  • Christopher Franchi has a one-of-one Batman pinball with artist edition plaque and custom artwork

    high confidence · Franchi describes his own machine in response to Jersey Jack's band edition news

    • Mrs. Pin (Sarah) @ P3 Multimorphic discussion — Identifies strategic product accessory marketing as effective differentiation

  • “There is a huge huge market for this and I'm talking beyond mods and I'm talking beyond like toppers”

    Mrs. Pin (Sarah) @ P3 customization discussion — Identifies emerging aftermarket customization market segment beyond toppers/mods

  • “My guardian angel, Mr. Gomez, came through.”

    Christopher Franchi @ Beatles pinball fix discussion — George Gomez technical support story; illustrates community respect for Stern's chief designer

    • Spooky Pinball
    company
    American Pinballcompany
    Pinball Brotherscompany
    Deep Root Pinballcompany
    Multimorphic P3product
    Zen Studioscompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Super Awesome Pinball Showorganization
    Cointakercompany
    Beatles (pinball)product
    Whodunitproduct
  • ?

    product_strategy: P3 Multimorphic identifying and capitalizing on aftermarket customization market gap; Mrs. Pin identifies massive untapped market for affordable customization accessories

    medium · Mrs. Pin analysis: 'huge huge market for this and I'm talking beyond mods and I'm talking beyond like toppers'; describes as way for collectors to refresh machines affordably

  • ?

    product_strategy: Multimorphic P3 expanding accessories ecosystem with interchangeable art blades and playfield plastics for customization without buying new machines

    high · News segment coverage of P3 product additions; Mrs. Pin identifies this as major market opportunity beyond traditional toppers/mods

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Harry Potter pinball licensing rumors circulating but unconfirmed; Kamenec has not been approached; status quo is no active designer working on it

    high · Franchi confirms rumors existed but clarifies with Joe Kamenec that project is not active with any manufacturer

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Negative sentiment toward Deep Root credibility; community skepticism at 'I'll believe it when I see it' level after multiple delays and unfulfilled timeline promises

    high · Christian Line's repeated criticism: 'I'm dead waiting', pricing higher than Stern despite delays, surprise customers are still depositing money

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spooky Pinball pivoting podcast content strategy from monthly audio format to YouTube video production; leveraging video editing capabilities for enhanced content

    high · Charlie Emery exclusive announcement; 11-year podcast ending, transitioning to video; company already producing horror movie video content

    • 3:00
    Thank God for David Raymondson coming on and coming to your rescue. That's right. Thanks, Dave. Yeah, right, Dave? That's right. David Raymondson, my good buddy.
    3:09
    He and I go way back. We won't tell Coin Taker so the puppies will still get a bag of food. That's right. It's too late to renege on that. Okay, okay. Sorry.
    3:18
    Hello and welcome to French and Christian's past few weeks in Ping Bull. Now pass the vodka or I will break you. American Douchebag.
    3:28
    Oh, okay, so, Frenchie, what you been doing in pinball lately, dude? The good news is I fixed my Beatles pinball machine. Yeah. It was the center drop targets weren't working properly, and I discovered that the wires were just too tight. The wires were kind of pulling towards the harness and away from the mech, so I cut a couple of zip ties and loosened up the wires and then put some zip ties back on it, and now it works fine, so yay! It's crazy. And you figured that out, Franchi, or did you have help? Remember, I talked to George Gomez for like 45 minutes on a Saturday afternoon, and we talked about things that it could be. So that was sort of the last thing, because I didn't want to do that. So I tried everything else, and nothing worked. And I'm like, well, I'll give this a go, and it worked. So yeah, my guardian angel, Mr. Gomez, came through. Is there any better feeling than having an issue with your pinball machine and then fixing it and then being able to play it without any issues? It's like the clouds part and the sun shines through. I would have to say that I'm about to go break a couple things on a couple of our pinball machines just so I can call Georgie up and get a little advice. Little tech support from Gomez himself. Right? Like, I mean, honestly, well, we did get a Christmas card from him. I talked about that on the show, but you should probably talk about it because you were geeking out as hard, if not harder than I was. I get the mail and it has this like very square, distinct handwriting on the front of it. And it says to the pin family. And I'm like, oh, man, somebody sent us a card. That's so sweet. And then I opened it up and it's one of the cool MoMA 3D pinball machine cards. And I opened it up and then I turned it around and it just said, happy holidays from George. And I was like, OMG.
    5:10
    It was my first real like, holy shit, I have made it. And it was totally because of Christian. but I was like we have made it in the pinball world because we get a Christmas card from freaking George Gomez it was pretty awesome that same day we got one from Scott Denisey as well we were we were geeking out pretty hard that day it was awesome it was so great it was so so great okay well back to my week yeah sorry sorry I take things over Frenchie you know who I am I can't help myself I know and yet I still invite you back because I love you oh thanks even if I can't call your husband yeah it's okay it's only when the kids are trying to take baths or do homework and i'm like you answered that phone i will cut you fucking fucker all right so what else have you been doing lately nothing else really pinball related i've been doing a lot of artwork stuff still working on my two projects and i did a record cover for the original drummer from kiss that's really cool a 45 cover uh yeah he came out with a song with a guy named richie scarlett who i think he was the lead guitarist for Ace Frehley's band, who was an ex-KISS member as well. So he's tied into the KISS family. Anyway, they came out with a song together and I did the artwork for that. Coming out with an Evil Dead 40th anniversary poster. That's cool. Really cool. How long does it take you to do these, man? Well, the Evil Dead thing I did a long time ago, but I was never happy with it. Okay. So I found that it was the 40th anniversary and I'm like, this is a perfect opportunity to go in and redo this and make it really the way I want. A lot of the art was pretty close to where I wanted it, but it just needed some work. It needed some color adjustments and different things, a little bit of tweaking and stuff. So I'm happy with it now. It looks great. Yeah, I think that's it. Got your Christmas stuff backed up and ready to go. That's hysterical. I actually love it because then it's like we're celebrating Christmas for like weeks and weeks and weeks. That's what I told them. There's no rush. No, there's no rush. I think it's amazing. My tree is still up over my shoulder here. All the ornaments have been taken off and put away. We still have our Christmas cards out. I told you we put them around the cabinets and we put them on ribbons. So we still have probably, what, 100 Christmas cards in our kitchen just hanging. Because they're so awesome to look at. Yeah, they are. It hurts to take them down, especially this year with all of the pinball cards that we got. We send out like 300 Christmas cards. So that's why we get so many back. Because we get sympathy Christmas cards where people get our cards and they have to send us back. Well, they sent us one. God damn it. Your card's in your box of goodies. so i know right it's awesome anyway what'd you guys do the past couple well i should say the past week because we just did a show a week ago yeah it's just been a week well we've been fixing my my indiana jones we had our buddy jim from jt amusements come out and he spent about five hours trying to fix it and unfortunately it's still not working and if jim has a hard time doing it it's uh it's it's got some issues so he's gonna come back and try and fix that but apparently the optos and the idle head are kind of wonky and the pop bumper is firing a number of switches all at once So it's all kind of jacked up. I don't really know what to say other than it's out of commission for a while. That's all right. It still looks beautiful. Yeah, it's a sexy looking machine. If you have to, you can push it up next to my cap and Fantazza. We can set them both on fire. That's right. There you go. Sarah and I together came down to the basement the other day, played some GNR. We fired her up and I was trying to teach Sarah the rules. What do you think? What's your overall impression of Guns? I think it's great. I have to say, I didn't realize how many songs of Guns N' Roses I actually knew. And then obviously they're so famous that they come on and I'm like, this is Guns N' Roses. I had no freaking clue. Like, you know, I knew like the big ones. But anyway, so that was fun. And I have come down to the basement on three to four occasions when you have not been home. Exsqueeze me? To play pinball by myself. Why? I mean, why? I fight to get you down here to play with me. No, that's not true. Well, some nights. Some nights it's true. But I have come down and just been like, the girls will be running amok upstairs. And I'm like, fuck this shit. And I come downstairs and play pinball for a little bit. So what are your go-tos? I know you love medieval. No, lately it's been straight up Jurassic Park. And I came down one night and played Guns N' Roses. So Christian's on overnight call. And it just kind of like sucks when you're on overnight call. So I came down and played a little pinball. That's awesome, babe. Why not? It's here. Might as well do it. Well, speaking of late night, I had to tell you this. And I was going to talk to you about this off the air, but I figured it's perfect because she's on the show tonight. Oh, my God. This is amazing. Are you pregnant, Christian? No. Yes, he's about to be. So let me just preface this by saying that this story makes me sound like a total fucking idiot. No, it does not. It does. So right before we go to bed, Sarah has a few minutes where she just gets ridiculously sleepy, but she also gets hilariously funny. and she just says like the most random stuff right before she goes unconscious and it's definitely like an in-between awake and sleep state because she doesn't really remember it well the next day so i've been writing these things down because they're so freaking hilarious that i have to tell her about it the next day so i have a list of like i don't know 20 quotes that are all hilarious and this one is related to you and to pinball so i had to bring it up but say what did you want to say before i read it so i i did remember the one night we were falling asleep and i remember mumbling saying, God, I love dinosaurs and coffee. And then I fell asleep. No, it was followed up. And then you go, that's not funny. Cause I was laughing. She goes, that's not funny. It's just true. I did remember saying, I love dinosaurs. I don't remember saying it's just true. I don't remember that. The one from the other night, here's what she said. And this is like in kind of a trance, you know, what'd be an awesome pinball machine? Care bears, you know, the shooter rod could be shaped like a little care bear belly and the little symbol on the care bear on it frenchie could do some sick art on that cabinet it would be so great she goes rainbow and shit i mean obviously you wouldn't have a drumstick ramp but you'd have a lot of fucking bears oh my god i was dying i was dying i do not remember saying this and it's not like i take like you know valium or anything before bed like this it makes You seem like I'm drunk and I swear to God I'm not. I'm just that tired. And you're just that funny. Like this is one of the big reasons why I love you because you're so freaking hilarious. I was talking to David Fix the other night on the phone and fell asleep. And I was starting to dream as I was dozing off. And I started talking to him about what I was dreaming about. And then I caught myself. I woke up and I'm like, you try to explain your way out of it. You know, you're like, oh, well, you try to justify what you're saying and have it make sense to what you were talking about prior to this. and there was just no way. I'm like, oh, dude, I can't. I don't know what that was. I was falling asleep. Oh, my God. You guys must have some long combos. I don't know. I was laying on the couch. He called, and I was in pass-out mode, so I sat up, and I was talking to him, but then my head kept falling back. Yeah, we've been talking about a lot of stuff lately, so you've got to fall asleep sometime, right? Totally true. Okay, all right, so now let's go to the news. And now, involved in the news with your super awesome eyewitness news crew. don't fucking just read news off the internet you fat piece of shit so jersey jack pinball is sending out some special games to members of the band there's a team edition which is a one-of-a- kind kind of unique version of the game it's a ce with a plaque added with the band member's name and i think it's really cool that the band was so open with them and they gave them all the assets and so jersey jack is just kind of paying it back by hooking them up with a really special version of the game and it looks cool yeah it's awesome yeah that was really nice of jjp did you guys know that i have a game very similar to this i did know this this is your monsters right didn't you have a special version of it nope nope batman batman has a plaque on it that was made in the same batch as all the other plaques that has unique artwork and it says artist edition and it has my signature and it says extra super limited edition one of one that's cool man extra super limited edition because there was a super limited edition so this one is the extra super limited edition that's really cool man yeah so it's an official production run game i don't know why it's not on the internet pinball database it should be as a premium le super le extra super le one of one one of one you got to throw that up there i think you can add games to the internet uh database so throw that up so i'll probably take it down like who's who's screwing around because most people don't know there's no such thing yeah surely this is bullshit and next up i talked to charlie emery today from spooky pinball and he informed me of a little exclusive that we get to drop it's bad news but it's good news the february show of the spooky pinball podcast will be the last it's been 11 years like i don't even know 11 years they've been doing it every month like clockwork and they just started uh about a year ago or so they started a horror movie podcast too but what they're going to be doing instead is they're going to be doing a video show on YouTube. So it's going to be kind of a slightly different format. So you could say it's sad that the podcast is going, but the good news is it's going to be a video show. Yeah, it's the end of an era, but man, I'm really excited to see what they come up with because these guys are super into videos and now when they're talking about a movie or they're talking about something, maybe they could throw a clip in. So I'm excited to see what they've got going. Yeah, for sure. Plus we get to see Charlie's lovely face. That's right. And his hat collection. He has so many. I do. There you go. He does. Chris, did you see the video they did? They kind of edited a quick one together. It's like a mini horror movie set in their factory. I think it was around Halloween. Yeah. So if they do stuff like that, this could be really cool. Yeah. Who knows? All right. Well, next, boys, I've got a pinball exclusive. You guys know how much I freaking love Harry Potter. I've been waiting for this title. I am seriously just waiting for the day that I hear that someone's making this pinball machine. But, you know, lately there's been some rumors flying around that it could be happening. But we were told by our good friend, Frenchie's good friend, because I don't know him personally, although I'm going to just claim to fame right here, Joe Kamenko, that it's not being done. And it's not being done by Brian Eddy. Right. 100%. Not being done. So that was such a disappointment because I felt like I was really excited about this. I mean, Harry Potter, Hagrid, Flying Broomsticks, everything that I could love about these books that I've read 4,000 times. He didn't say it wasn't going to get done per se. He said if he was going to get the license, then he would want to design the game himself. I was talking to Josh from the Loser Kids, and he brought up an interesting comment that he thought it would be really a lot of pressure to have a license that would be that much of a juggernaut. But if anybody can handle it, it's Joe. I mean, the guy's got nerves of steel. and I'll tell you something else too that was not reported so as an extra little bonus nugget in case people think this news is stale I said well surely Joe you'd want to work with somebody on this who would you work with and he said George Gomez oh very nice yeah snap another Batman 66 bringing the band back together gentlemen bringing it back together yeah I mean I just feel like it would be a lot of pressure but at the same time I feel like it could be a huge success right like I do feel like the opportunity would be great for crashing and burning, but it would also be great for like going down, like in history. Yes. An amazing game. Thank you for solving my, we've talked about this many times. I think you have to try to throw the kitchen sink at this game and put as much into it as possible. And hopefully those guys would try and make it special, but you're, you're always going to have people who hate the game and you're always going to people who love it. Like Led Zeppelin is the most recent example of that. Like the people who are Led Zeppelin fans, really like the game. They love it. And there's plenty of people who are not crazy about it. So, you know, you've got to take the good with the bad. And I think they're going to sell a boatload of these, no matter... Just based on theme alone. Yeah, put Harry Potter on the back last, you're going to sell it. Yeah, I guess so. I guess so. I don't know. Anyways, so Joe's going to hang on to that if he ever gets that himself. But Brian Eddy is not on the train. That's right. As of right now, that is the case. And speaking of not being on the train, Pinball Brothers' Alien Games are not on the train to America. Beauty segue, eh? that was nice apparently there's a problem with their firmware and uh it's all fixed now and games are on the way and as a matter of fact coin taker has confirmed that two games are going to be delivered to them this week all right for their show are we going to coin take i was gonna say that like this this is what i've been waiting for as soon as that hits we got to plan a trip fire up the alien and fire up the slushy machine that's right i am not drunk and i'm gonna stand up too and I'm standing up. I'm standing up because I am not, I am not, I am not man, I'm not. You're trying to make me drunk. That slushie machine is insane. So good. I'm going to just bring an inflatable bed and put it in that empty room in the back so that I can have a few slushies and just pass out. It'd be great. I'm sure we'll buy a few more pens when we're out there under the influence of slushie. That's true, man. The last time. Would you shut up, your animal?
    18:29
    So, P3 Multimorphic has new game art. What is it? Well, it's an add-on. It's not really anything that comes with the game, but you can buy additional art blades for the game, which is cool. So cool. And then there are also plastics that you can get that are unique to each game that you can swap into it that just kind of enhance the world under glass, so to speak. It's like a little zhuzh for a pinball machine. You zhuzh that up. I love that shit. These are really cool, too. I think they look great. Do you remember when we went out to Cointaker and I played this game for the first time what did i say it needed plastics yeah and then what do they do and do i get any cash do i get any credit nothing listen you've said in the past that pinball companies have to keep themselves relevant by putting out little things every once in a while sure um and i will tell you man p3 doesn't come out with a new game all the time but they definitely keep themselves in the news with stuff like this i mean i think their marketing is great the little things it really is they're like accessories for your pinball machine i am telling you there is a huge huge market for this and i'm talking beyond mods and i'm talking beyond like toppers i feel like have taken off since we started they have since we started making toppers it's all us and by the way sarah might have a new job after this episode finishes awesome yep i know me and davey he's gonna hook me up so anyways um but yeah this is like the stuff like interchangeable pinball parts, all of the rubbers that now come in all of these amazing colors. And these are little things that you can do to your pinball machine to change it up because people can't afford to have 10, 15 pinball machines in normal life. This is the kind of thing. Says the lady with 10, 15 pinball machines. I know. But that being said, if you consider the fact that most middle-class families cannot afford 10 pinball machines, this is a great way because if they save up, they can buy a great pinball machine that they really love, they can change it up. They can kind of pimp it out and change it up. Maybe they change the little art blades for Christmas. Maybe they do a little zhooshing of the plastics, just like these P3 multimorphic ones. And P3 is a good example of how you could do that, because you actually take the game out, and you can replace it with something else, and it's significantly cheaper, right, than buying a whole new machine. It's like getting a new girlfriend. There you go Exactly right You just test it out give it a little whirl You not keeping around for life just you know trying it on Going on a date Seeing how it goes Christian waits for your response though because he doesn want to laugh at my joke and then get slapped So he wants to make sure you're cool with it first before he slaps you. Dude, why do you think I'm still married? I know how to play this game, Chris. Next up in the news, there is a new pinball show in town. Yeah, it's called The Pinball Show, and it's a new video blog, I guess, by Zen Studios. It airs tonight, so we're not really going to have a chance to talk about this from an educated standpoint. But we know that they're going to come out and talk a little bit about Zen Pinball and focus on their products. But we don't know if they're going to talk about pinball in general. And they did say that they're going to have a big reveal tonight, whatever that means. So tune in and we'll check it out. It should be fun. Yeah, it's exciting. I don't know what any of it means, but I'm psyched. The next news item is something that we literally just found out about before we recorded, so it's still fresh for us, too. But apparently, Deep Root is sending out an email to people who have bought their games saying that there is yet another delay in the production and availability of these games to ship.
    21:56
    Kind of sad to hear. Not necessarily unexpected, though. Yeah, not a surprise. Am I, like, allowed to speak freely about this? You can. Sort of censor myself? Okay, Christian's giving me the semi-fine. No, don't censure. I give you full permission to say whatever you want. We love Steve Bowden, so we don't want to shit on it. I don't really think I'm super surprised. I just don't know. Have these customers put down money? That's my question. Yeah. They have. So the thing is that if you have put down money, I don't know how smart you are. I just don't know. At this point, it's like I'll believe it when I see it. It has been three full years in the making. Three full years. more than that and it is just it's insane to me totally insane they have said for a long time that manufacturing is you know the slowest piece of this and no one has really seen what they're doing and it's a big question mark what didn't you notice when i sent you the email didn't you get the pictures of the production area no oh you didn't you know why because they weren't there oh yeah no it is it's true i feel like it's a sad situation but i also feel like i just don't know put your money where your mouth is like it's been three years i am dead right now i'm not even falling asleep waiting i'm dead waiting they had a timeline for when you could order these things and that has come and gone it's it says that they've sold about uh 70 arcade editions and 60 extra editions so that's 130 and they're going to round up to an additional 30 so 160 total of these games will be available. But the good news is, though, that they did come through on their promise by saying that they were going to be less expensive by charging $8,000 and $13,000. Oh, another fail. What they always said since day one was, we're going to make a better game and we're going to charge less for it. And this is actually more than Stern charges for their games. Yeah, that's true. That's true. I mean, ultimately, you know, the at the door price is a little bit higher than the pre-order price. I mean, at this point, I can't believe that they're not charging about $25 million for each game. That's probably what they need to charge to break even at this point. Was that a grown-up Christian cringe? It's the truth. The truth hurts sometimes.
    24:11
    We've always said on our shows that we wish these guys the best. It's one hit after another for them. I feel for them. Because I know that they don't want to continually put this stuff out and say that they have yet another delay. but man well and a pandemic doesn't help either let's be real exactly and that's what he goes into in the email is that a lot of the reasons why they haven't gotten to where they want is that the parts aren't available there are the lock bar was changed at the last instant like when they first revealed the game there were these points at the end of the lock bar that people were joking about when you nudge the game you wouldn't you'd impale your hand on the edge of this thing they fixed that and i guess the new lockdown bar is a little more expensive and harder to make and i there's lots of things in there they never ul tested the games and that could take five to six weeks to get done yeah yeah i mean let's be real we've been waiting for six months for a dishwasher to be fixed that's true so i mean a specialized lockdown bar we can't even get the like freaking handle or the control nugget or whatever the hell we're waiting for at this point so i'm sorry ma'am your control nuggets on back order the control nuggets are hard to find we've got all the barbecue sauce but we cannot get that damn control nugget okay Yeah, all I know is that it's not a surprise that we're seeing this email. I really feel for the people who are all in. But you can't say that the people who bought this game didn't know that this was a high likelihood of happening after the history of Deep Root. I'm surprised they collected money, though. I'm shocked. Let's interview some people who put money down and got this email and ask them what they think. I'm sure that people will be on plenty of other shows talking about it. I mean, yeah. Good luck to the people who bought it. Good luck to Deep Root. You know, again, more pinball is good pinball. So hopefully, you know, you guys get things going and get these games out finally. I know for sure. Well, guys, you know what? This has been such an amazing pinball news segment. But I am really excited because we have an interview coming up after our commercial break that is sick. We're going to have the amazing Dave Fix and Zofia Ryan on the show. So stick around after the commercial break. We'll be right back.
    26:20
    Guess what? I got a fever. And the only prescription is the Super Awesome Pinball Show. Oh, yeah! Super. Yeah!
    26:39
    Hi. This show is sponsored by Cointaker, distributor of brand new full-size authentic Stern pinball, Chicago gaming, raw thrills, arcade games, and much more. Also a full line of dramatic pinball mods, LED flipper kits, speaker lights, custom laser LED toppers, playfield protectors, Valley Williams parts, pinball apparel, and much more. Get the latest releases and glam out your game room with Cointaker. Everything at your fingertips at Cointaker.com. Get your game on. Okay, Pop, now it's my turn.
    27:10
    Sears has a home version of the pinball game you find in arcades and bowling alleys. So now you can have your own pinball machine right at home. new arcade pinball games from sears not toy pinball they're real pinball new arcade pinball it's what you always wished you had at home sold only at sears hi this is roger sharp josh and zach's dad and i am still alive although after having been on the super awesome pinball show and just wondering why did i put myself through such torment you know I mean, I understand there's a legacy, and I understand that historically there's some relevance to me, but why? Meanwhile, 749 days later... The way that they do their mixing and matching and cutting and slicing and dicing, God only knows how you're going to sound at the end of the day. Please be kind that Roger Sharp doesn't sound like a total idiot, because what would that do to my reputation? Kristen and Christopher, your reputations are already shot to hell. Anyway, thanks, guys.
    28:11
    Now, back to our program. Well, it's about frickin' time. I am the God of Hellfire, and I bring you... The Super Awesome Pinball Show! It's a cool show!
    28:28
    Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman! Sophia Ryan has been a mechanical design engineer for more than 30 years and has achieved valuable experience in design plastic parts, sheet metal parts, mechanical components, and game mechanisms for the gaming industry overall. She was the first woman to be hired as a mechanical engineer at Williams, and she has created many mechanisms for various pinball games and holds six U.S. patents for pinball and casino gaming designs. Sophia has designed the mechanical parts of many pinball games for WMS, where she worked closely with Barry Osler, Bill Putzenruder, Tony Kramer, Walter Smoluka, and Steve Kordek. After some time away, Zofia is returning to pinball to work with American Pinball as their senior mechanical engineer. Welcome to the show, Zofia Ryan.
    29:21
    Zofia is also joined by David Fix, the director of operations and marketing at American Pinball. We had a great time and a lot of fun talking to you and Dennis Norman, and now you're back with more exclusives, so we really appreciate it. Welcome to the show, David. Thank you, guys. It's great to be here, and I'm really happy to bring Zofia with me. and for you guys to know more about the history of Zofia's journey. I mean, you know, there's not many women in pinball, and I am so happy to have her part of the American pinball family as the senior mechanical engineer. So this is absolutely cool. It is. Yeah. Applause, for sure. I'll just tell you this quick story. Dennis Nordman and I were having a conversation about mechanical engineers, and he says there's a girl. She's very talented. She did all these games. She did some games for me, and her name is Zofia. Zofia Bill. And I'm like, okay. And I looked her up and thank goodness I had a little background with the U.S. government for quite a few years, finding people that didn't want to be found. And it took me about an hour and I had Zofia's phone number and she's like, hey, how are you doing? So it was great. And we got her to come talk for a few minutes. And then she shared with me a quick story, which I think some people have been asking about, and I'm going to touch on this, is that she did work at American Pinball for a little bit of time when we first started. Zofia, when you were there originally, you had just worked on a few things for Houdini, but the artwork wasn't even on it yet. Yeah, so basically Houdini game was done by Joe. Majority parts were designed in AutoCAD, so I converted most of them to 3D using SolidWorks. And I created assemblies and helped out with different reviews and almost released everything for the prototype build. but then I left the company. So we didn't, it was finished by other employees. I wanted her to tell her story a little bit about how she got into it. That's what I was going to ask you. How did everything get started, Sofia? Okay, so I got, at first, my very first job, like I was a design engineer, was at Williams Electronics. I was hired on a spot. I went for interview, and next day, the opening job. It was just after college. I didn't have a lot of experience. I was a nervous wreck. But I managed and I began my work with designing and helping out with engineering work. And in a year or so, I got promoted to designer. And then from after that, I was promoted to engineer. It's just a level of accomplishment from a company. Who hired you? Gary Hendricks. He was a mechanical engineer manager. He hired me and he was, I have to say, a real gentleman. I loved working with him. for him he was a great mentor advisor and just very friendly so he actually made me very comfortable and of course all the other co-workers too so everyone is just super nice and there were one girl she was a drafter she would become really good friends but then she got married and she left the company so it was very short time I was helping out with that design first games and then I become a project engineer and working with Barry Osler on several games and Python and Billford Soder and Tony Kramer. He was, that was the very first game I was working on push-ups with Tony Kramer. We want to get into all of the games that you did over there and kind of go through them systematically, but we just wanted to know a little bit about your time there. What was it like coming in as a new engineer, like just from the very beginning, especially as a woman? And did you feel like it was an easy transition or was it difficult? At that time, I wasn't even thinking about it. I didn't even know that anything like problem if woman or man works in engineering was a problem. I felt very comfortable. I become friendly with everyone. We were working our first jobs. We were working drafting boards. We had a big drafting boards with electric erasers, different pencils, cold pencils. It was different. It was very different. And as far as the, yeah, no, I always felt like a part of the team and part of the family. So we had different events. We had different shows. And the other big fun for me was always testing the pinball. So we would have pinball and manufacturing for all the pinballs. And we would have to test and prototype to kind of see if we have any problems, mechanical problems, any issues. So we will write it out, the problems, and that will be addressed during the revision changes. That's awesome. So it doesn't seem like, you know, going in, it was that big of a deal that you were a woman in Pinball. I think now it's really a novelty to see someone who is at your level and a female in this predominantly male world. I heard that you were going to be on the show, and I was like, done. I'm on there. I got to talk with this lady.
    34:10
    It's really cool. I've been there over 30 years at WMS Williams Valley Midway, the vaccine company. And I was the only woman for mechanical engineer. We had some ladies that worked for our bulk materials, helped out with the tests. So there were some women. But it's rare. It is. And then when I was transferred to gaming division, I was the only woman too. But we had other help. help so i will i always want to be friends with ladies also besides men i want to have makeup or something right well i think it's awesome i think it's so great that you went in and and it seems like you just kind of busted on in there and dominated and that's what it what it really takes so and did a lot of great stuff there i know i know your games list and your your resume is very impressive yeah so it took a long time to uh do the game of course it took a long time to get promoted i mean long time for me was like a project you did one project you got promotion because you did such a good job then then i did another project that was wow okay uh i was again promoted uh i think promotions were not like a big racist but title changes and more maybe responsibility that's what i look at it respect yeah for sure for sure sophie i gotta ask you when you first started were you working on vellum were you on that paper that strong paper vellum to design your to draw yourself oh yes and you know i got to tell you a story i it was one of the games the very first games i worked uh there was a blastogram i don't remember exactly which game it was very my first year or second year uh at wms uh so uh the ramp had the three levels And right now in 3D, you just design and just calculate all the information for you. But at that time, I had to do projection on every radius, every corner, every level. So I had like hundreds of lines, horizontal and vertical, and I had to connect them all to create a bottom view or side view. So that was challenging. I consider this most challenging design on a drafting board. Yeah, I would think. After you agreed to do the show, I spoke with Barry Ausler about his time working with you, and he said, she is one of the best mechanical engineers I have ever worked with. She helped make some very complicated mechs for my games. Whatever I threw at her, she was able to do it. I'm hoping that we can work together again someday. How was it working with Barry and with all the other designers there during your time at Williams? Great. Barry is my great friend. He come up with a concept, an idea, and both of us, we would just sit down and talk about this and I would sketch it out or lay it out and we would make corrections and it was always success. And Barry is just a really great friend and he is so easygoing and understanding and he would never feel like offended about disagreeing with him about anything. and I kind of learned a lot from him too. And I mean, I put together a concept and laid it out, but the original was from him. Idea was his. So that was with other game designers too. Even some of the games, I was not a project engineer, so I didn't have like an entire project, but I was helping out with the features of my games. You made some incredible mechs during your time there. You've worked on classic games like Bride of Pinbot and Dracula, Whodunit, Junkyard, and so many more. Do you have any favorite stories of your time working on those projects? Almost every project had a little favorite story and some disappointments too. Like Whodunit. Whodunit is one of my favorite games. I love it. I love it too. What did you do for that game, Zofia? Because we were going to talk earlier in the episode about the jackpot reels. Was that what you did? Okay, so for Whodunit, you know the small play field in the middle of a large playfield. It's a multiple play, so it goes two different levels. You have to shoot the targets to bring up another level. So I was originally designer of entire concept for the mech. It has a motor and brackets that raises two levels playfield. So then we also designed Delic. Delic for the top box, but did not go to production. It was only prototype build. So that was one of my features too, because Dalek rotates and had a really nice plastic culture and then it looked like Dalek. So that's that. Then the other games, I mean, almost every game had a favorite features for me and a challenge. But Pinball Machine has many, many parts. So because of that, I always had like a game designers directing people, helping out. But concept would come from me and game designer. We would negotiate. We would decide which way we want to go. What would be the most feasible and would work with our game rules? That's crazy. So when you were designing and doing all of these things, I know you hold some of the patents for these mechanisms that you came up with. One of which we were reading about was Dracula, actually, the multiball start. What can you tell us about that and your other patents? I mean, that's pretty impressive. The mist multi-ball with the ball floating across the play field is something that everyone even today talks about being one of the coolest things I've ever seen in pinball. So when you talk about it, can you talk a little bit about the mist multi-ball and how you came up with that idea too? Okay, so the idea to carry the ball across the play field was very slow idea. And he laid out the pattern where he wants the ball to be carried. So we really used the screw machine part, the long screw machine part from some previous game. And then we designed all the housings and how the ball with magnets would be carried across the playfield. So that was teamwork. Ian Beriazler and some other people had their input, and that was one of the success stories. Yeah, I mean, that's super cool. So, I mean, how does that work? If somebody else wanted to do the same exact type of thing in their brand-new pinball machine, how does that work, knowing that you hold the patent for it? What process would they have to go through? I think right now, at that time, the patent was WMS, the company that I work. Gotcha. Yeah, so now, so I'm not sure how will this be handled. I think it expired already because it's certain time for patent that expires. Gotcha. And so I don't have a rights to that. That's too bad. You don't get royalties for that. You deserve it. At that time, I think we got $1. Oh, no. $1. Thank you, Louis. Thanks.
    40:52
    You got a raise? I think it's available for everyone that wants to use. I mean, there's a number. It's on a website. Everything is there. It's nothing hidden. So everyone can then use it, whatever they want. But I'm not sure about, David, maybe you know how this patent works. Do they need to get permission now since it's so long time ago? Well, actually, William and WMS and Rick from Planetary Pinball probably still has some rights to the patent. but most of it is, like you said, is expired and it's kind of like open. But, you know, it's a gentleman's agreement to kind of talk to Rick if you wanted to reuse it and, you know, get the tooling and so forth. You know, the game is released. The game is in our case. Anyone can open the playthrough and see how it designed and snap the picture and just go online They go copy copy Can you tell us what you specifically did for the Doctor Who game Was it the ball lock mechanism? Because that still has a wow factor even today. Okay, so for Doctor Who, I did a miniature play field that goes through levels with a Mac. And I did the wire forms and ramps. almost every mechanical parts uh and I think it was Barry Osler working with me on that but he actually kind of helped me to to design it however he wanted to design it that time how about for Junkyard that's another favorite of mine what what did you work on was it the crane the the ball in the crane or okay so for Junkyard uh that was the last game I worked at WMS before I was moved to gaming but just really glad I was not let go just moved to gaming and it was a big deal to me because I stay in a company. But with Junkie, I did some wire programs. And then, you know, that dog that pops out? Yeah, of course. So I was part of the design. And Crane, Brett Cornell, finished the Crane because I was moved. I was not any longer a project. So I started the game, but then worked with a game designer, which is Brett Cornell, and he's the one that finished the game. Okay. For production. So there was a lot of his design, also changes, whatever he then made. So, Zofia, I've got to ask you, you worked on Whodunit. Did you do the slot machine reels underneath the play field? And is that why Williams wanted to move you to the gaming, because you had done slot machine reels already? This is my other favorite project that I did on Whodunit. And it was just released, License B Casino. They actually made also casino game after work after that because we had a license so who done it I designed the wheels I did put the step motors there It was a three wheels three motors and I'm really proud of that design because after putting together I did not have to modify a lot My manager said, you know, I have to congratulate you on this one It's slick and and that Mac was only wheels with our decals okay and leo's will develop it's an injection molded parts with the decals and has us motors and u-shaped sensors so it's very clean assembly and the whole thing is mounted in one huge bracket so the u-shaped bracket with the flanges and it's attached to the playfield underneath the playfield and the large playfield has this really great clear polycarbonate window yeah i love that feature And you had done a roulette scoring device for Popeye as well. So it seems like your transition into casino gaming was kind of in the cards. Yeah, for Popeye, it was really challenging, too, because we were playing back and forth with the whole size on the roulette that spins. And if you had too big a hole, the ball would bounce. So we had to just find the right size for that. And basically, again, it's a couple of discs, has a step motor. It goes around and it's just it's tied up to the rules. So it's not only like a mechanics, but almost every mechanism that we did had to work with the programmers and electrical engineering because they had a huge input in that. They have to develop the rules and other electrical components. Zofia, you know, I think, well, Popeye was after a game like Bride of Pinbot. And those two games were probably what most people would say in the industry, a Python-Angelo game that was, you know, Python was always considered this wild, crazy guy. How did you do working with Python? You know, I mean, what was he like? Any stories about Python? Well, okay. Python was a really good friend of mine. And it's really sad that he's not with us any longer. I had lots of fun with him. He was entertaining, very entertaining. He made me laugh and he postponed some ideas. He said, well we do this later, we do this later. Well, you know, later we can just keep moving. But it was done. He was just really entertaining. I was really amazed with his artwork. He was incredibly talented. Every detail, like the machine, the bite of the pin butt, every little detail, he did this with his fingers, and erasers and adding and changing and never looked right to him, but looked really good to us. So as far as stories, we were just really good friends. I mean, we had lots of fun. We would go after work and celebrate different projects. They were finished and we would go for, you know, cup soda, beer, wine, whatever they want. Yeah, Python was always a wild kind of guy. Sophia, can you tell us, did you have anything to do with working on Pinball Circus with Python? No, I wasn't a project lead on this, but I think I did some detail work for him, some mechanical stuff. So I was helping out just a little bit with different projects, but I was not involved like original design. How about with Pinball 2000? Were you there at that time? No, I was not. Okay, you were off to the gaming side of things. Yes. Okay. Well, you followed the same career trajectory as a lot of people who worked in pinball in the 80s and 90s. You went from the pinball industry to the Williams Casino gaming industry. When did you decide to leave pinball and why did you decide to kind of jump ship into gaming? Okay, I did not. Oh, okay. They moved me. Okay.
    47:16
    So what happened, the pinball division was going down. In other words, there was a huge layoff and only, I think, a few people were left. A couple, we had like a studio, like game designer and like a one team. I think two teams were left, but from my team, Barry and programmers and others, they all had to leave. But they moved me to game company and the director of engineering, he really liked my work. And he kind of said, well, we don't want to lose her. we're going to move her there and I heard this from him well we transferring you there so to the gaming division there was just a startup company so that's how I moved and that's how I was transferred but I did not leave I wouldn't leave how was the transition to the engineering side of things kind of transition well between the two yeah I knew already people and then product was different of course and software so 3d was the same it was a different design different different product so I had to learn quickly but you know it was different but similar because it was still like an art and every part we use things have to be functioning wheels, RCTs, printers, build validators, all that stuff I had to kind of like relearn but I liked it. I liked it a lot and I was there for a long time till we were purchased by Scientific Games and then everyone was let go after a while. Gotcha. It's good to be there.
    48:46
    I mean, how long were you in the gaming world versus the pinball world? And when you were in the gaming world, did you like keep tabs on the pinball scene and try to wiggle your way back in there since you had loved it so much? Or was it like you were kind of happy and it was a faded situation for you to end up in the gaming side of things? Well, I kind of liked the gaming side too. And because I couldn't work anymore for WMS because it didn't exist. Right. I just did not want to go to competitors. I just didn't feel right. And I really liked the gaming division.
    49:19
    So that was the reason. Yeah, that's good, though. I mean, I feel like maybe it was fated. It was supposed to happen. I don't know. I like to think that things happen for a reason like that. Everything happens for a reason. Exactly. Well, Zofia, your boss at the gaming division was a famous pinball designer from Daddy East at the time, wasn't he? Wasn't it Tim Sheckle? No, Tim came to us later on. Okay. But he was in the RECS, yes, but he came later on to gaming. So he was my vice president. He was my upper hire boss, let me tell you that way. So I had a manager that reported to Tim Sack. Got it. He was there before Tim because she was just better, you know. There you go. That's how it goes. Exactly. That's right. Like David had sent me a picture of you, Sophia, holding up a trans light for Bride of Pinball. Yes. And it just made me wonder, you know, these days, you know, pinball has kind of come around to where it should be, where like the sexism and the artwork and all that has kind of been filtered out. But I'm looking at this and I'm wondering, like back then, what were your feelings when it was in full speed ahead? Was it uncomfortable for you or did you just not think anything of it? No, for me at the time, I did not feel I felt very comfortable. I wasn't thinking that way. I was looking at art. All this hard work that Python did. Yeah. She could see the inside art, too. She made it so real, and the sound on this game was incredible. When we were testing the game in a factory, you had to reach some score, and then that would be the brighter pinball would sing the opera. Oh, my gosh. That's so crazy. That was incredible. We were walking, and everyone had a smile on their face. I did not think about anything that, you know, people would think these days. Right. Yeah. Different time. It was. It was a different time for sure. Sophia, did you keep your eyes on what was happening in the pinball world? Obviously, Williams kind of faded off from pinball. But did you look at other companies like Stern and what they were doing and stay interested? Yes, I did. And then I was always in touch with Barry Austin. He was my advisor. so I kind of saw but I did not go to like any like arcades to play and have time I had you know two small boys at home so I was kind of like trying to divide time between my work and my family absolutely you weren't going to the arcades because you had one in your basement right I don't think you know it's funny because I had those games there forever and then when my son my I have two sons. One of them, he was like only six months old. I would put him on top of that, you know, between the flippers. I put him on top of the grass. He was trying to catch the ball through the glass. No. No, no, you do the flippers.
    52:05
    And now he's like in law school. He's a student there. And we were just playing. He was just here for Christmas. We were just playing the game. He goes, yeah, I don't really know how to catch that ball anymore through the glass. I said, that's fine. I was repeating those stories forever to him. That's funny. It's cool that you have every game that you've ever made in your collection. Do you have games beyond your repertoire? Are there other pinball games that you love that are in your home? No, I don't have, but I would love to have Pinball 2000.
    52:37
    Oh, that would be nice. It was such a beautiful game. And with that, almost like 3D screens. And it's just a really nice game. Which one would you take? The Revenge from Mars or the Episode 1 or Wizard Blocks?
    52:52
    I think Adventure Mars I would probably take. Good choice. So it was announced this week that you've been brought on to American Pinball as the senior mechanical engineer. What made you want to jump back into the pinball world? It's just always been with me. And every time it was like I was off from my work all summer. And if I play my pinball machines, I was kind of like, wow, it would be so nice to go back. But everything was going slow these days because of COVID and everything else. So when Dave called me, I said, wow, this is just like, you know, it's a great opportunity to go back into the pinball division. Yeah. Now, a lot of people sort of accuse not all pinball makers, but some pinball makers these days with not being as creative as the old designers used to be, especially back in the 90s and whatnot. And they think that it's maybe a little bit more watered down. Did you see this coming in as a challenge to maybe sort of reignite things and, you know, bring the old Zofia charm back in and show the boys how it's really done? Well, I know there's like a few games. I mean, they still have a great sound and great art and great rules and play. I mean, I wouldn't say that that's not as good as it has. No, I'm talking about the gameplay, basically. I know that the art and a lot of that stuff has, you know, made great leaps, especially with the introduction of myself. I was going to say Munsters and Batman. I don't know about that.
    54:18
    If you're looking at a game like Houdanet, you know, this game has lots of great features. So does Popeye. Okay?
    54:29
    New games, maybe they don't have as many, but it's still exciting, I think. It's still great to play and great to make those games. You know, the magic from Williams is really sought after. A lot of people keep referring to that as the golden age of mechs and that sort of thing that you were involved in. But, you know, as you look from where you were then in Williams to where pinball is now, what do you see as the biggest, you know, advancement and improvements in pinball that are here now that weren't there when you were involved? Yeah, so right now, like I see those games that really have the great LED slidings. These are like, it's a big change. The top box, everything is lit, very nice play fields. everything is shiny it's just really bright leds this is the first thing i'm noticing on every game only one we didn't have that okay we had just uh gli lights light bulbs so did not produce as intensive uh light and i think it's it's a big deal when you have that you know glossy different uh insert lights and then sound of course so it is different it is sound different My oldest game is a push-up. When I played that one, and in comparison, maybe eight years later, which is like a junkyard, it's a big difference. And art and displays, sound, that's a big change. So, I mean, now that you're back with a vengeance here with American Pinball, what is your job going to be? because I'm assuming that in some respects, mechanical engineering doesn't change, but in others, it really does. So what's your primary job going to be? Well, I think as far as my responsibilities, it's not going to change that much. I still have to do all the mechanical parts. I even, if it's designed by a third party or I have to be an originator, but that doesn't change unless Dave has a different plan for me.
    56:24
    Well, let me touch on this too. because, you know, when Dennis and I were talking about mechanical engineers, there was a short list, and Zofia was one of them on the list, because he's like, I want to design cool mechs for our games, and I need somebody like Zofia to help me design these cool mechs for the game. So, like I said, the short list, and she went right to the top of it, so there you go. I'm so happy that Dennis finally got his engineer.
    56:52
    That's right. Three years later. Oh, man. And they worked together. You worked with Dennis on other games, too. You worked on... Yeah, we did an Elvira. I helped him out with a couple things there. So I think, like I said before, I helped with many games. Not because I was just Project Engineering one game, but I did kind of pitch into each one. So, go ahead. I was going to jump over to you and say, you know, what are your hopes and goals for Sophia when she's there with American Pinball? Well, she's already been reaching those. We've had many meetings already about a couple ideas that I have. and she's ready to work on these things. So, you know, I'm ecstatic to have her because, you know, you think about it, a caliber of Zofia's going from paper to then learning CAD, then learning, you know, auto CAD. I mean, solid works. I mean, there are some designers that are still stuck on paper, and some people still stuck on, you know, other things. She was able to transcend and get into this new form of electronics. I mean, it's amazing. I mean, Sophia, I took the same road as you and nobody will never understand our pain. Working on illustration board and doing everything by hand and waxing things down, overlays with acetate and all that. Like we've been through the trenches. I think because we were so good at all technology, that kind of helped all of us to advance with a new technology. I mean, you know, I had a full, if you design things on a drafting board, you know, you have to have a full understanding of what you're designing. So for me to transition to AutoCAD, I love that. And then when I transitioned to 3D, I even loved it more. I mean, I don't want to work on AutoCAD. I want to use 3D only.
    58:34
    So it's just great. So speaking of the new, what pinball mechs have you seen since you've been in the industry of newer games that have really impressed you? That you've said, wow, that's a mechanism that is... Boss. You know, I really like the Pinball 2000. and when they have the mirror and the screen is mirrored and I know nothing is moving, but the software they put in and all the features, the art is just beautiful. That for me was amazing. And some other games that I'm not that familiar because like I said for a while, I wasn't really involved in the scene. Have you seen some newer technology like Multimorphics P3 game with the play field being completely made of a video screen? I did not. Okay. I did not. I did not play. I did not see that, But I think being in casino games involved, we had all these LCDs and everything was on video. We changed from reels to video. And they looked so real. They were not reels, but it was video. So I think that technology is used on business and pinball. It's just incredible. I mean, it has to be exciting, too, to go back to something that you really love to start with. Have you been thinking about things over time? Like, would you, as you were working with the casino games, did you, like, do things for casino games and think, oh, man, that would be really cool for a pinball machine? Or was it just kind of like a totally different world? Well, I always thought about, like, when I was working on a button panel for the casino games. And when, actually, I started working on a touchscreen instead of having buttons with a touchscreen. Right. So, it would be just so nice to have, like, a touchscreen on our top box. Yeah. I think that the speakers, maybe put like a player tracking with our speakers and maybe LCD, small LCD. I always thought this might be a cool idea. So maybe someone will come up with an idea. Dave? Okay.
    60:32
    I got a question for Zofia. I have the luxury of asking these questions because I work with her all the time now. But Zofia, share some stories about Steve Kordick. Now, Steve Kordick was the head of engineering, game design, and he was there right until Pinball 2000. and I'm sure you had to interact with Steve a lot too, right? Yes, yes. Me and Steve and Royce Malucha, we did the Tic-a-Tac-Toe game, which was the narrow version. And it was such a pleasure to work with Steve. Steve, when he walked into the room, he was saying, you are my sunshine, only sunshine. We all loved it. When he was coming, everyone was just, hi, Steve, how are you? Working with him, he had so much experience and everything. So we would kind of ask him for opinion or he would play the game and say, what do you think? And he would always have a good input, say, maybe the flippers, the rubbers are too hard, maybe are too soft, the slingshots may be too hard. Maybe we can change the diameter on our ring. And that was one of his big projects. He actually really worked on those flipper rings and slingshot rims. When working on a pinball machine and deciding what to do from an engineering standpoint, do you feel that there are like a magic number of mechs? Or would you want to just fill the game with as much as possible if money was no object? I think it's always nice when things are moving and flipping and has a sound and light. It's exciting. Even if it's like targets, you always like moving targets. So, yeah, I would think that it would be nice to have all kinds of toys and features on a play field. not just the lights and targets and ramps. Give her lots of money, Dave. Give her lots of money.
    62:16
    Zofia, when you look, when you look at a playfield, are you saying, you know, I need to put at least three max here or is it not that basic? Do you just say let me see where they fit and how much we can get away with So I think every pinball playfield should have max things that are moving in like I said and traveling and getting tired with the sound but you can just have shots and nothing else with it you know Rams are fine but I think it really nice to have things that are moving in, nice toys. Yeah, absolutely. They'll decorate a playfield besides the lights and targets. Well, when we spoke to David before, he had mentioned that his goal was to try and get out two games a year, if possible. How many projects, if you can tell us, are you currently working on? Well, I just started working for my company, Bo, and right now I think, Dave, I'm only going to be working on one big project. I don't know exactly the details yet. We do this sometime this week or next week, so I'm not sure yet. I've just been there three days. Okay.
    63:14
    And she's being very diplomatic because she knows what we're working on, but she's not going to share with you guys because I know you guys are going, What's going on? That's right. What are you guys doing? gotta ask we gotta try i know you guys a for effort babe a for effort yes i'll give you a very unique way of asking that question let's that's right that's right one of the things that you know i think about a lot and actually christian i talk about this all the time is just kind of the lack of female representation and i know that when i started my podcast highlighting women in pinball whether it was the players the designers the engineers anyone who was involved in pinball in any way, you know, that was something that was really important to me because I feel like it's something that was kind of lacking. So do you think that as lead engineer is a big deal, that's a very impressive title just to, you know, put that out there, but do you think that there are barriers for women in this industry? Do you think that it's something that in general women just don't get into in terms of school and don't have the educational background to support these roles or do you think that it's something else? No, I just think that I never thought of this because I'm a woman and I'm maybe denied some things. I never thought that way. Yeah. I was always really focused on stuff that I've been working and everything else, I didn't care. Yeah, I got you. It's not a design and I had full responsibility for that. And it's different time, I don't know, maybe because I'm from Europe and I never thought about any kind of discrimination, let me put this way. I always thought because, well, maybe it's a kind of different field because it's engineering. But I think these days are many electrical engineering ladies that I know and packaging engineers that are my friends. So there are engineering ladies that are in places. So maybe not for pinball or gaming, but I'm sure they are. But no, I never thought of, because I'm a woman, I was denied of anything. Right. Do you think maybe that pinball is just not something that they're attracted to? Like if they're deciding, like, I'm a skilled engineer, what do I want to do? Pinball? Nah. You know, do you think that's it? Is it something that just kind of turns off women? Well, it is complex, though, okay? So it's like when you start working on pinball, it's complex. Things are moving. Things have to work. You have to use different processes. You have to know how to design in sheet metal, in injection mode, and then back and forth and screw machine parts. It's pretty, I think it's pretty complex. I think it is too. And I think more than anything, honestly, people don't even know that there is a pinball industry. I mean, truly, I think part of it is, like until we got into pinball maybe three years ago, Tops, I didn't know there was a pinball scene. I didn't even think about it. And there's a huge amount of women who are into pinball. So I don't think that's it. I don't think that pinball in general is something that is not attractive to women because you know lots and lots of women play pinball especially these days yeah i think so too but you know there are some women engineers that would like to work on medical equipment oh yeah sure no it's it's uh you know i already work on a pinball now than some xerox machine or you know x-ray machine absolutely that's true and i will touch on one thing real quick sophia doesn't know this but we have another junior mechanical engineer who is coming into the ranks with us and she is also a girl and we'll announce that at some point so that's awesome that is awesome well you would ask they yes she'll be working with you she knows solid works and uh it's going to be a joint team her and her boyfriend they both are big into solid works and they love pinball and they they threw their hat in the ring for me to say hey can we get a gig and i said i looked it over i said sure so that's amazing good job an american pinball Kudos to you guys. Really? Are you looking for a topper division by any chance?
    67:11
    You want to design some for me? You should see some of her toppers, David. Her toppers are unbelievable. I'll send you some pictures. They're untoppable. You know what? We can definitely talk about that. Hey, last show I offered Chris a job, so at least now I can offer you a job. Your husband? I don't know about. He's shady. He's a poser. He's only been in pinball for three years. He's a poser.
    67:36
    Oh, man. That's hysterical. That's actually hysterical. I mean, it really is like the smallest world being in the pinball industry. It's crazy. And especially just like the fate that kind of brought Zofia back around to pinball. I feel like this is like one of those, like maybe I'm just like being a, you know, froofy emotional girl, but I feel like it's one of those like really sweet stories, you know, like it came full circle. Yeah, so it's like I feel very fortunate and lucky to be around pinball again. And, I mean, designing even as a simple part gives me great joy. I just love it. It brings a very good memory from WMS. What do your boys say? I mean, you have two boys that are in college, and now they know their mom's going back into the pinball industry, and your husband, he's probably like, oh, great, she's going back. What do they think about this? They probably have no clue about it. My boys said, like, well, great, Mom. Well, I was going to tell you maybe you should do some kind of hobby or get involved in a stuff you always loved, like taking pictures, making little videos. Because I was totally crazy about taking little videos and pictures of my boys growing up. They were so involved in all kinds of sports, and they were musicians. So every concert in high school and every, like, baseball game, I would have videos all day long. It's amazing. When I retire, I'm going to be working on those files that I have, boxes and boxes, and everything in a USB. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. That's awesome. They must be so stoked. I would be so proud if you were my mom and you were like, hey, yeah, no big deal, just took a big job, American pinball, going to be designing those machines. I'd be like, yeah, mom, you rock. The kids must think you're so cool. Yeah, boys and my husband, they were very happy that I accepted the job in Pinball again. They were very, they said, oh, mom, you love it. You just love it. You see Vito, you love it. Oh, that's so nice. But I'm in touch with them. So, because they are, one is at MSU, another one is at Pepperdine Law School. So, it's far away, but we keep in touch every day. And I told him, you got to text and call every day. If you don't, your phone will get cut off because I'm paying for your phone. that's funny that's amazing i am totally gonna do that when when our children are our girls are only 10 and 8 but i've already been like no if you don't do that you're you're done you're toast you were toast this is without a cell phone i don't know if they can survive no they can't so do you have a long list of things that you wanted to bring back into the pinball world now that you're in american pinball like have you have you been compiling a list of things you might want to do? I didn't. I don't really have the list, but as I look at the games, my idea pops out in my head. Maybe we should do this. Maybe for another game, I wouldn't maybe, for example, use this kind of switching system. Maybe I could use something different. Maybe, you know, my favorite, U-shape Aptos. That was always my favorite. I use this on Moodonit. I use different mechanisms in doing my pinball business, my career. I would probably try to use this maybe for the future pinball. But as I watch the current machines, I mean, it's always room for maybe not improvement, but change. Of course. It's always room for change. Not improve maybe necessarily, but again, you know, I respect talent. And I see pinball machines and I see how much work everyone put in, even if this is art or electrical and programming. It's just amazing. It is. it totally is for human fun you know we can touch something in here it's not just a video and getting blind you know right so it's that's crazy well i'm super excited dave i feel like this was a big win obviously pat yourself on the back for this one because really i mean i don't know sophia personally but already i think she's the bomb oh yeah i i think so too it's funny is you know dennis is putting her on this list and i'm like looking at it and when i saw and trust me when i saw miss multiball i saw popeye i saw doctor who i saw all these and bride of pinball one of my wife's favorite games of all times the rotating head the whole nine yards of that game i was like so there is a place for this woman it is in american pinball and because i want her to design cool mechs to be in our games you know and dennis is like i want you know because she worked on the coffin on Scared Sif, right? For Dennis? Yes, I did the linkages and the moving thing. I think it was the coil. I don't remember the details, but yes, I worked with some of that. They're a team already, and there's going to be a lot more surprises coming from American Pinball. Like what? You'll just have to wait. I have to. You have to respect the game that I have to try, right? No, I do. Listen, I hear people So, you know, we had one of our distributors. He came to the shop to pick up a game. And he puts it on Facebook that he was through the shop. He shows all these pictures. And everybody goes, did you see game four? Did you see game four? And he goes, they wouldn't let me see it. And I had to put on the post later. It says, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?
    72:58
    You've got to try. And I respect everybody because, you know, it's a small hobby, but everybody loves it. You know, and I'm happy to have Zofia to be a part of this. And we got some more surprises coming. And you're just going to have to wait. But you guys are going to be, you know, step one was Dennis. Step two is Zofia. We'll wait and see what step three is. And you guys will be like, wow. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait. I can't wait to see what's coming next. Just tune in for the next episode of the Super Awesome Dave Show. And we'll find out.
    73:30
    Welcome to the Super Awesome Dave Show. oh thanks chris thanks i mean dave seems to know some people in the pinball industry so i'm just saying he he's a good addition come on anytime you can come on anytime everybody's getting hired he's like you're hired you're hired you're hired it's great i love it for you job for you exactly i mean look i gave chris and i gave miss pin uh you got the topper division chris has got the art division well yeah that's true zofia you you had said that you know you got a lot of pinball machines and and you you obviously you'd want the pinball 2000 but do you have a favorite pinball machine of all time um you know i think um clean the eastwood okay very hairy yeah we didn't even talk about that one very hairy and i i like this game uh we have our original sound uh clean the eastwood recorded for us actually our sound people flew to south kansas sky thing at that time and recorded like go ahead make my day it's one of my favorites uh i i really like the game i like the sound and um artwork is beautiful and uh he was my favorite movie star oh my gosh that's awesome it is did you get to meet clint at all zofia or no no no no it was the only sound people were lucky to go there and uh work with him but uh we did talk to them about how was clean this work he's a nice guy really nice guy and he took his time to do the recording with them and he was patient and everything and they just told the world of him so that's the thing i always remember that's cool so sofia what did you design did you design the shooting gun mecha on that game then okay i worked on a barrel but gun was reused from previous game, Steve Rich's game. Yes. But I used all the plastic target that you shoot in through the gun, the plastic target, which is made of delrin. That was my big design. So you don't break this, no matter how much you shoot this. So we tried to, when we had the first prototype, we tried to break this with a big hammer. And since it was made of black delrin material, it did not crack. You're the original hammer test. That's a thing these days. A big thing in pinball. Stop! Hammer time! It's still there. And I have some wire rams and other rams. Some bow kick outs, I think. I just have to look at the game. There's just so many. That's cool. Zofia, everybody has a dream theme, a movie, or a superhero, comic book character, cartoon that they would love to see made as a pinball machine. Do you have one? No, I don't. She just wanted to have lots of really cool mechanical toys.
    76:19
    I think we should just stick with lots of music and kind of like make the games that are also movies. Something that is totally violence-free. Just lots of fun and we should really I hope, love arcade so we can locate those games and like used to be and play them and have lots of fun even if it doesn't make a lot of money. So if you want to do a music theme, would you You think maybe like Engelbert Humperdinck? So I send you to the moon.
    76:53
    Chris, we're not talking about your music now. Come on. I want a carpenter's pinball machine. Maybe like sound of music? Okay. I like that one. The hills are alive with the sound of pinball. I love it. How do you see yourself kind of pushing pinball even further? There's not a whole lot you had said to maybe advance certain Macs, but there's ways to change it. Can you think of ways to kind of push pinball into the future from where it is now? I think that other Macs should be probably just kind of like easy to make just for the fun, but not something that is just, let me see, creates a problem and takes the space in a play field. In other words, Macs could be fun, but doesn't have to be complex. Gotcha. Yeah, that makes sense. Keep it simple, stupid. yeah right it's like an expression for a reason no i feel like that is is something that's that's really refreshing too because now i think a lot of times it's all about all the bells and whistles which don't get me wrong i love the bells and whistles on pinball machines but sometimes it's those you know the little things that haven't been brought back and used in a long time that really make a huge impact on a new pinball machine so i'm super excited to see what you guys do in american pinball i mean you know it's fun to like i shoot the targets and target spinning targets, spinning maybe a circle or stumbling, not just necessarily vertical and horizontal, with beautiful colors and lights. And I mean, it's great. People want to make those shots. And it's exciting. It keeps you score high up. And so that's what I think. Zofia, it's been amazing talking to you and getting to know you and your backstory a little bit better. I know that a lot of people are excited to see what you're going to bring to American Pinball. Okay. It's time to show. Hi. Well, I know a lot of people that are glad to have you back. Dave's glad to have you back. We're glad you're back. Dennis Norman's glad you're back. And there's two other people that are very glad that you're back. Mr. George Gomez said to pass on to you, Zofia is very easy to work with and a great mechanical engineer, and I wish her great success at American. And Mr. Joe Kamenko says, welcome back, Cotter. Hope you do good things. Wish you all the best at AAP. Joe Kamenko, I haven't talked to him for a long time. this is great great to hear but i hope that gives you the warm fuzzies oh it does it does it's love to hear that you're clearly super loved thank you so much for coming on sophia okay you know thank you very much for having me on that's great i hope i uh answered your questions and uh i hope i was able to explain this the way you were expecting absolutely yes absolutely you did a great job thank you very much thanks very much sophia David, is there anything else that you want to talk about? She said it all, man. It's tough to follow this. You can't, you know? We're, like, stoked to have Zofia. And just, guys, keep listening. Keep your eyes open for the more fun things coming from American Pinball. Zofia, I talked to Dave earlier today, and he said that it was perfectly okay for you to tell us all the games that are on your schedule right now. No, no, no, no, no, no. Nice try, Chris. That was a nice try. A for effort there. Hey, it's a top secret. all right guys well thank you so much it's been a lot of fun great thank you very much good night good night guys well david we can't wait until the next big reveal so we can have you back on in probably a week all right well that does it for david fix and sophia ryan of american pinball what a great interview we really wish her the best uh she great stories what a sweet sweet woman and uh what a fantastic designer i can't wait to see what she comes up with what you guys think she did such a great job i can't wait i think she she seems like she's awesome i can't wait to see what she does yeah i'm really excited that she's coming back into the industry given her pedigree which is just you know amazing with all the games she's worked on all the mechs that she's done that are some of the coolest in pinball that we haven't seen replicated since her time so hopefully she brings some of that to the new games that they're coming out with and if she does you know i don't i can't see how they're going to go wrong absolutely so thanks david and sophia for being on the show and mrs pin thank you so much you know i cherish when you come on the show and we'd love to have you back anytime well gentlemen this has been a pleasure yes yes it's always fun to have you on it is always fun we have a good time there it is check out our sweet swag at silverballswag.com and don't forget about the super awesome pinball t-shirt club that is starting february that will be our first edition shirt that's only going to last one month month of february and that's it and we'll have a new one in march so if you want it jump on it you can email us at superawesomepinball at gmail.com. And don't forget to tune in for our next episode where we will finally conclude the awesome interview that we did with Roger Sharp. You're not going to want to miss that. We had a lot of fun. That's right. So we'll see you in the next episode, everybody. Good night. Good night, everyone. Good night.
    81:42
    It's the Super Awesome Pinball Show and it's super awesome I just thought you should know What they're super freshy And Dr. Finn Can't get up off your asses And go to bed Cause it's super awesome If you'd like to drop us a line or ask a question We can be reached at superawesomepinball at gmail.com Questions or comments may be read on the air The original content of the show is copyright 2021 Asshat Radio Productions. No part of the show may be reproduced or rebroadcast without written permission. That means you don't play it on your show. The commentary and opinions here by the cast and guests do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the sponsors, Cointaker, Chicago Gaming Company, and Back Alley Creations. Their sponsorships of this show only serve to add to their continuing support of the pinball community. Cause we're gonna be legends.
    82:45
    Gonna get their attention. What we're doing here ain't just scary It's about to be legendary Okay, okay, show's over, folks. Bye-bye. Hey, your fucking chalupa sucks, bitch!
    83:11
    It was very satisfying. Go ahead, make my day. Take care.