Hey, Beavis. Now look what you did. Hit the alarm. The red button. Uh, we've hit that one before. She doesn't say anything. See? Try that phone down there. Let's see if we can get security. Oh, yeah, yeah. Good idea. Call here. It's ringing. Hello? Hey, how's it going? We're stuck on an elevator. With this girl and, um, uh-huh. Um, yeah, yeah, she's pretty hot. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Give me the phone. I'll talk to them. Yeah, dumbass, give it to her. You know what I'm saying? Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, This is the Slam Tilt Podcast, the show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with the other host, Bruce Nightingale. Howdy ho, neighboroskies. And this is episode 217, the Big Expo post-game extravaganza. How was it? It was good. Yeah? Okay, now we're done. Okay, thank you very much. See you later, guys. You can send your emails to Slam Tilt Podcast. Okay. Before we get into that, I've got a couple things first, just to get through quickly. But then most of this is going to be Expo. Expo. Expo. Expo. Expo. Let's see. What's the first thing? New York City Pinball Championships. The thing I completely forgot to mention in the last episode. We never mentioned it at all. Which is? Complete failure. Well, we're waiting. Yeah, the thing I went to and I totally forgot to mention. Yes, the New York City Pinball Championships in beautiful downtown Manhattan. I could walk everywhere, though. That was nice. Yes. You had two hotels. That was really nice of you, too. I had two hotels? Yeah, didn't you have one in Brooklyn and then one in – Oh, yes. Yeah, that whole shit, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. Pretty expensive hotels, too. You know, the city on Earth is really fucking expensive. All in our train. The train back was late leaving and they blame Penn Station. So they put us on the wrong track. Whoops. We won't even notice for how many years. Yeah. Yeah. I didn't win anything. I did well actually no that's not true I won $81 ooh no no I did qualify for classics that was nice and I made it through one round and then lost and I played way more Xenon than I ever want to play again and let's see what other highlights I mean, I actually like the game selection. That's good. For classics. So for classics, they had Harlem Gold Trotters, Meteor, Sinbad, which I didn't play. That was too hard for me. Stars. Somebody who loves Sinbad, you did not like? No, I don't like playing in tournaments. It's too hard. Stars. Stars. TX Sector. Can you dig it? Xenon. And then Gottlieb Atlantis. And now that the game is just called now, right now, right now, right now, what's happening is happening right now. Now. Now. OK. Later. No, no. Now. Before. No. Now. Or we can go into space balls saying, you know, when did that happen? Just now. I missed it. Yes. uh yeah so i i qualified i i needed to get i played a ton of harlem and xenon trying to get decent scores it took a while a lot of pumping and dumping a lot of voiding void void void but i made it and yeah one voice of good game and i had a good game of meteor and finals that was nice. That's good. And then the next round, even though I played like shit, I had a chance at the last game. I think I had to win, which didn't happen, so I was eliminated. You are the biggest loser. I am the biggest loser. Goodbye. So let's see. Who won? Who did win? Let's see. Let's see what it says. I'm right at Neverdrains right now looking. The winner was Daniel Roan. EY. Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. And let's see. The women's final, it was Kate won, right? Yeah, Kate Martin won. Yep. So let's see. And then for the A Division finals. Oh, wait a minute. This one says bad. It's bad. Oh, replacement A Division finals. There we go. You know it's bad. It's bad. Same on you. Jason Soller won in a playoff. Playoff? Playoffs? Yeah, he won on Ironman. Ooh. So that was the New York City Pinball Championships. Ta-da. I'm trying to think. Did anything else interesting happen? Oh, yeah. Did somebody get a drink thrown on them? No. Okay. Well, actually, it might have happened in the room next to me. They were doing a lot in the room next to me. Okay. Yeah, yeah. So I think this was Sunday? Sunday. Sunday. Sunday. Sunday. I think it was Sunday morning. Or it might have been Saturday morning. Either way, it was 7.52 a.m. And I'm laying there. I was awake already. And I hear this noise coming from the room next to me. What would that be? Is that what I think it is? Well, I'm going to cue this up right now because I actually recorded it. Wow. So you invasively intruded and recorded. Invasively. Now, remember, this is a one-party state, Bruce. We know this. This is what I hear. And, folks, I did not get this from anywhere on the Internet. I actually recorded this. And this is from just laying in my bed, what I could hear. So here we go. All righty. So what do you think, Bruce? I'm a little hot and bothered by that yeah someone was riding the baloney pony that early in the morning yes so you've been immortalized on the Slamtail Podcast yes congratulations people from room 7 1712 I don't remember my room number I'm just going to the room next to me there you go that's what I always remember about the New York City Well, this New York City pinball championships. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Next. Let's move on. Let's see. I have a note here. I guess Josh Sharpe said somewhere on Pinside that the Cactus Canyon, the Lyman Code. Yes, should be out next year. Yeah, summer of 2024, hopefully. So there you go. So Cactus Canyon owners, assuming you can ever get your game, because they have not been cranking them out too quickly. But there you go. There you go. I think last episode we talked about the circuit finals. We did. The ones from the previous year. Yes. Now, I don't remember, were they over yet when we recorded the previous ones? Were they finished airing them? I don't remember. Well, anyway, Carl D'Python Anghelo won. So if we didn't mention that last episode, I don't remember. So now we had this year's circuit finals. This has happened before Expo. And this was streamed on – who streamed this? Backhand? Backhand pinball? Mark's side. Yeah, so they didn't do the latter this year. They did some kind of – it's all like head-to-head. Best of three. Best of three. So you better be on your game or you're fucked. And our very own Zach was in it. Yes. And he got through at least one round. The first round. Yeah. He beat the other Lefkoff. Yes. Escher's dad. Yes, he did. Out of Lefkoff. Then he lost the next round against I don't remember who. Yeah, it was another Zach. Oh, he played the other Zach. Zach McCarthy. Oh, yeah. He wasn't going to win that one. So, no. No. Because these were all on new Stern games. Yes. Zach told me the story, and I started laughing when he kept on telling me the story of his tournament. He kept on getting beat on the Soul Gem on all four games of Avengers he played. And he kept on picking. I'm like, why are you picking this? Telling you the story, he's like, I thought I did pretty good. And then, you know, I got $250 million. You know, I'm feeling pretty good. Ball three. Guy has $10 million, comes back, hits a soul gem, boom, boom, boom, boom, leaps right over me. And it happened four games. So the soul gem is, like, really important? I guess. Okay. I have no idea. I have no idea. I still don't understand that game. And the winner of the circuit finals was Escher. Escher won again. Escher left off one. So he gets a game. He gets a free game! Uh, let's see. Was that it? I mean, they had other pre expo stuff, but let's get into expo. I went to, this was my 20th expo, Bruce. Yes. Next year is 40. So you've been, you're now at 50%. Yeah. I've been, yeah. 50%. Yeah. Uh, but wait a minute. I'll always be under 50%, right? Cause it's impossible for me to. No. You can always go higher. No, I can't go higher. Once it goes over. If you go to 50 and you go to 30, you're bigger than 50%. It's math. But I'm always 20%. I guess so. Okay. So right now you have 20 and it's your 39. Uh-huh. So you're already over 50%. If you go to 50 and you go to 30 straight, you're way over 50%. Oh, yeah, you're right. Math is good. Engineering math is even better. Holy fuck-a-loo-roo. One plus one is three. Everyone knows this. You're just used to zero and ones. I have to deal with a lot more numbers. So I went there with Dad. Yes, you did, of course. And I played everything. Everything? Everything. So I have a list here of all the games. You played Bukkake Blues? Bukkake Blues. That's the new home pin. Yes, it is. Yes. Bukkake Blues. That makes sense. actually i mean in taiwan it could be like um tentacle monsters and stuff and yeah asian hooker oh god yes they get um steel panther to do the yes all right all right so i sent you the list of all the games yes you did i'll let you choose the order what would you like me to talk about first choose the order hold on get back to the order so give me two seconds because and there were announcements before expo we'll go over those as we hit each game get the fuck out of here get the fuck out of here what which game is that get the fuck out of here get the fuck get the fuck oh gtf galactic tank force yes since we've had them on the past month or two we can talk about get the fuck all right uh funk get the They had a very large display. They did. I had lots of GTFs all over the place. I played, I had over a billion in a game. By far my best game ever. But I have some gripes. Uh-oh. And not necessarily game-specific gripes. Okay. Flippers. They're too weak. They're too weak. This is a show, though. Their flippers have always been weird. I don't know how to explain it. If you flip early, they're powerful, but the closer they get to the end of the flipper, they get progressively weaker and go off way to the left or right, depending on which flipper. Okay. So I'm trying to hit the ramp. It barely makes it. Yeah, I was trying to get into the start mode scoop or saucer, and after a certain point, I couldn't do it anymore. because it would just die. God, what is with you, man? You're humble, do you? So, and the other thing is the sound. Did you know, it sounds like... Tinny. Yeah, yes, tinny. It's like if you took the treble and just cranked it all the way up. What do you mean, like this? You've got to be almost like you're ordering a Burger King. Yes, perfect. Exactly, I know. That's perfect. That's exactly what it sounds like. I know it does, I know. It cuts through everything, so if you really wanted your game to be heard, I guess that's good, but it doesn't sound. There's an attack coming! Oh, my God! Wow, you're pretty good at that. Can I have your order, please? Yes. Welcome to the world. Yeah, what do you want? Butthole. So, man, a new talent. But, yeah, that's basically what it sounds like. And I know there's no way the actual sounds, like if they had WAV files, they sound like that. That's got to be the sound system. I don't know. It could be the soundboard you're using. Who knows? I wish they would make that sound better because I think the game is getting shortchanged by that sound quality to me. All in all, it was fine. I mean, like I said, they had a big display. They had their other games there. Did you see Mr. Bowden? I saw Mr. Bowden. I saw David Fick's baby. Yeah! The American dream of American pinball, baby. He had his hat on. He was doing his expo thing, baby. I'm waiting for them to start selling games at shows. Selling games at shows? Yeah, distributors. You know, manufacturers. Right then and there. Take them off the floor right now. Well, one manufacturer did that. I know they did. That's why I'm bringing that up. So that was GTF. That was Get the Funk Out, Bruce. Get the Funk. Get the Funk. funk get the funk we're gonna go for uh elvira blood red kiss okay so for those at home you may remember uh i believe it was two years ago for the 40th anniversary they came out with the elvira what was it 40th anniversary i think it was off the jurisdiction elvira 40th anniversary which was like 25 000 yep uh well it's one of those set your price whatever so it was like 25k and And you had people still waiting for their premiums like, yo, what the fuck? What the fuck? Well, there's still people probably waiting for premiums that were going, hey, what the fuck? And the people who had the 40th anniversary, they saw this thing, which was about $10,000 less, and were going, hey, what the fuck? I'll say, you remember when you went to the factory tour and you saw Star Trek Elite? Yeah, at the end, yes. And you immediately like, I need to change my order. I need to change my order from premium to yes. And I've never regretted it. I guarantee you there were people who saw this game and did something like that. Like, I need this game now. It's beautiful. It is beautiful looking. It is gorgeous. Yes. Beautiful. So I guarantee you people, good job. They put it there. They had the velvet ropes around it like they had Batman 66 the one year. Yeah. So you couldn't actually play it, which I – whatever. Everyone's played it. There it is. So you know what I have to say to that? What? Cash grab! It is 100% a cash grab, but it's a smart cash grab, and they're going to sell all of them. Yeah, of course. I think it's like, what, is it 500? I think so, yes. At least 500. I mean, they'll sell that when they do the Godzilla 70th anniversary edition next year. I'm sure they'll do. They'll sell all those. It was a good move. Oh, since I mentioned I was at the factory, I took a factory tour. You did? Who was the guy that walked you around? I don't remember. Great. You're way to be the ultimate reporter. I'm sorry. He was one of the sales dudes, and me and Dad kind of hung at the back of the group, and I was just showing him things and stuff. That was a big factory. Big. Really big. So basically, it was the same as all the other factory tours I took. It just took longer because the place is physically way bigger. How big was it? It was really big. Oh, my. I thought it was like the Amazon warehouse when it was pulled up. Like, holy shit, that whole building is stern? Damn. Yeah, they have this whole office section when you first walk in, like tons and tons of, I wouldn't say cubicles, like the lower ones, the open office area, whatever they call them. The grunts. But they were all empty. They didn't have anything in them. So I don't know if more people are coming over or what. And the rest of it was pretty much the same. The press was there, the famous Gottlieb Press. That puts the starter holes in every play field from every game they've ever made at Stern. It's been gone through this device, which they bought from Gottlieb when they went out of business. Yep. So I was happy to see that. Did you go ahead and rub it? I did not rub it. I may have touched it, though. Okay. Oh, my. Yeah, they're making a ton of Deadpools. Oh, that's good. In the cabinet section, they were all like Deadpools. Got the scene putting the decals on and that stuff. It was cool. It was crowded as fuck. Fucking waiting outside. Meaning there was a line that went on. I thought it was like waiting to watch Star Wars back in the day in the movie theater. You're glad it wasn't cold, was it? It was cool. It wasn't that cold. But yeah. They had, I don't know, 10, 20 school buses. Of course, you know, Rob Berkshire is no expense with the buses. As you know, because last year was the Jersey Jack did it, and they set like a max limit, and they had their own buses, which were actual nice buses. Yeah, charter buses. These were school buses. I'm like five, eight and a half, a buck fifty, and I could barely fit the seats in this thing. So, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But it saves them money, I guess. So there you go. It does. Yeah. And they took us all in groups. It was the usual deal. It just took – left at 9, didn't get back until almost noon. But the driver didn't – A good time had by all. Yeah, the driver didn't have any issues finding it. Good, that's good because I wasn't there to – Yeah, you weren't there to talk him through. All right. What's next, Bruce? What's the next game? Bologna Pony. Bologna Pony. That might be the title of the episode, but that was not one of the games. Damn it. uh that might have that probably would have been a um python game yeah probably would have been yes after after zingy bingy that was the sequel baloney the sequel baloney pony alien ripley okay so like another cash grab this is like the fourth edition that we're talking about no the original no the original alien we had the highway version yes then you had the le highway version. Yes. Then you had the Pinball Brothers version. Then you had the LV. The first one that was actually lit up so you can actually see the fucking ball. And then the fifth one. And now they have the Ripley version. Which, okay. The Translight has Ripley but you can't see her face. Yeah, of course not. So it's like, uh. But I was told by multiple people that she is in the videos. At least some of them. but I never saw her but she's supposedly in there all I know is if they don't have the get away from her you bitch in there somewhere they have failed completely they had I think three aliens they had two LVs and then I went to the Ripley one and was bummed to see that it doesn't have the lighting of the LV so it's darker well it's only $74 or $79.99 Yes, it's actually the best-priced game of all of them. It makes no fucking sense. And they have – Hey, we make it cheaper now. The euro goes down. So they had some of the accessories there. The topper was pretty cool. The topper is cool. I really agree with that. Supposedly the tail moves on it and all that. Of course, it would have been nicer if they showed it on top of the game actually working. Working, yeah. But I don't think that's even – We haven't integrated that yet. I don't think it's even coded yet. So they – yeah. Next Tuesday. Next Tuesday. They had two LVs next to each other. The one, the flippers were fine. The other one, they were pointed to hell, like on your Stargazer. I don't understand why you would do that, but yeah. Oh, and they broke a glass. Oh. Yeah, do not put the glass down on concrete. Never. It exploded. That was – Never. You see them sweep all that stuff up. Let's see. Anything else about Alien? I mean, I still like Alien. You're going to buy one right now. I still like Alien. My dad likes Alien. If someone else made it, I'd probably buy it. Yeah. Especially at that price. You've heard all the horror stories. Especially at that price. Hey, we make it good for you. We make it even cheaper. Yeah. They do make it good, but, I mean, if your computer fails every couple of months and you have to get a new one, I mean, if the company never goes out of the business, you're fucked. Yeah. Hey, guess what? You get the Italian discount. The Italian discount. Okay. What next? Queen Translight. uh okay the queen translate was quite um underwhelming yes it's literally just it's it's the queen logo yeah that's it but i think it's better than the original one because poor what's his name john what is it what's his name john deacon yeah the speaker grill in his dick or whatever and his hair just they've been around for 20 years and you picked the worst era of his hair. But, I mean, it was authentic. That's what his hair was like. I know, but it was... And the colorful neon crap that he was wearing at the same time. I'm a fuzzy penis head. Come get me. It's called the 80s, Bruce. Come on. No, no. There's some things just leaving the 80s. Yeah, I'd still prefer the original Translight. I think that was... It was weak. Very weak. It was very weak, and they were ragging it up, and I was like, ugh. Yeah, when I saw that, it's like, that's it? Yeah. It's just literally a plain, solid color with the Queen logo on it. The regal Queen logo. Yep. Let's go to the next one. Venom! All right, Venom. I played pros, premiums. I kind of have a little more of an idea what I'm doing. You just follow the colors. Follow the flashing colors. All the colors. Watch yourself when you hit the action button because you will be blinded. I played a game where I canceled every multi until I had the six balls Yep And then yeah I got to see one of the great light shows that you would probably hate Oh I seen it Yeah And I had like 600 million 700 something like that It was a good game. Yeah, you get the six and then you get carnage with it and then you're doing pretty good. Yeah. It was all right. I played fine. After that, you're screwed. If you've got a bad multiball, money shot right in your face. it's pretty bad okay what next bruce uh let's go elements and honey factory we had to go from a good game to uh like what do you what do you think of venom uh it shoots fine i think it shoots really well yeah it shoots i like that you can back flip You can backhand everything known to man because the flip is going way up. That's what I like about that. Yeah. I think the art animation is good. Oh, yeah. The sounds are really good. I think it's a good game, but it's not selling. No, the Ellie's didn't sell well. No. Elements and Puny Factory. Okay, so Pinball Adventures was there in their booth, and they had one Puny Factory and one Elements. The first thing I'll say, after playing both of them, it's hard to believe it's the same company because Punny Factory, whatever you think of the game, we know you don't like it. It was a game. It was a complete game. It shot fine. It's a single level street level game. Snappy flippers, snappy slings, played fine. Had a while to make it good. Yeah, it was okay. Elements. they should not have brought that to the show. No, way too early. That was nowhere near ready. It made them look bad. They should have waited six months. They should have waited six months and brought it to Texas. At a certain point, they just stopped putting the top glass back in. They just left it off because it had it off so much. It would lock up, reboot, hang up. How many sales was he getting from that show? Was it for sale? No, I'm just saying. People, you know, oh, yeah, wow. Let's put it this way. If you brought that over to the homebrew section, they would have been like, hmm, you might have wanted to work on this a little more before you brought it to the homebrew section. That's how not done it is. So we weren't even in beta stage. And the reason I say it's hard to believe it's the same company is the cabin is completely different. Yeah, I know. They changed it. They put the display above the backbox. Think heavy metal meltdown topper, and that's where it is. That's where the display is. I know. So it's super high, number one. It's like, Jesus, hope your basement doesn't have a low ceiling. You're going to have issues there. Hopefully they thought about this before they were high. They have another display on the apron. I noticed the side art where it says elements and then it actually said limit LE edition or limited edition the S in elements and the N in addition were partially cut off by the leg like the art went too far over so it cut it off I thought that was just like ugh okay so we give that one a the slings the flippers were weak the slings made Toy Story slings look powerful by comparison Wow. It had an upper play field, which I like little mini upper playfields. I like little mini playfields in general. Like games like Timeline that has a little mini area with its own flippers and all that. I like that shit. So I wanted to play that. So you've got to hit a drop target down, and then you hit it in a saucer, and then the fuck fires it up into the upper play field, right? First time I did that, it just airmailed. It overshot the entire upper play field, fell off, and so, okay. Roll down the hallway. So I did it again. I did it again. Did the same thing. So remember, the top glass is off. So I just took the fucking ball and put it on the upper play field. And I'm hitting it like that. That was fine. Had like some drop targets on the top. Fine. It had, well, you're a sick guy who likes Algar. You know how Algar has the little balls that you hit? Yeah, you hit the captain ball. The captain ball and bounce one over to the other and that kind of shit. Well, they had that with two full-size pinballs, a captive ball, and it was like Rick and Morty, the lock shot, where you can hit the ball and it'll go to the other side. That's what this does, but they're captive balls. I didn't feel that was particularly satisfying. You hit the ramp, and it's supposed to go along this – I wouldn't even say it's a habit trail. It's like this big metal piece that's supposed to ride along, and it just kept falling off, so it wouldn't make it to the right flipper. Like I said, it kept locking up, having issues. They should not have brought this game. Yeah, it made them look really bad. It made them look really bad. And because of the total cabinet redesign, it made it look like there were two different manufacturers. Because you have one game that plays completely and is snappy, and then you have the other game that, I mean, not only did it have all these issues, I think it could use a little bit of a redesign. I mean, it had the little part in the center with a little effect where it looks like it goes into infinity. Okay, that was like the one cool thing. Yeah, I thought that was – was it like a timeline thing? Yes. It was like the time machine – yeah, whatever. That Williams one. Yes. But it's like an optical effect. Like it goes on forever. Valley. That's Valley. Oh, it goes on forever. Yes. Yeah, they shouldn't have brought it. It will only hurt them. That was not a good decision. No. It's pretty bad when you're showing off a game at Exposition and the glass is off and you're just hoping for people to not let it lock up or fuck up on you. That's not good. Well, I guess they were using it as a test, but I mean. That's not like, no, you don't put down a game. No. One of five shows that are some of the biggest shows for your hobby and your sales people who can purchase and have buying power out the kazoo. Yeah, you don't do that. No. No. No. What next? sad songs they say oh we're gonna go right so much so turn them on turn them on turn on those sad songs that's uh not in the game that's not in the game actually that's sad when all hope is gone i did like this set list but that one wasn't in there but they did so they did have i'm still standing yeah yeah yeah yeah but that was the worst secret of the whole show uh yeah everyone knew yeah everyone knows that well they announced before the show they had the trailer yeah an insane trailer like people are floating in air while playing it was a really cheesy patch it gave me douche chills it gave me douche chills i showed it i showed it to kathy no i showed the kathy I got to like, what the fuck is this? You get douche chills for everything. It was a high-budget, well-made piece. Douche chills. Yeah, well, you probably got douche chills on the Toy Story one where the guy's like, yay! Yes, I did. Exactly. So you get everything. Yeah, the creepiness of that one. Like, yay! I'm in Chuck E. Cheese and stirring all the little kids. Yay! Oh, my God. Oh. Oh. It's like that TV commercial for, what's it called? It's one of the phone companies, and the guy from – Greg, what's the one that had the gay guy as their friend for the big redhead, tall redhead, and the gay guy that she lived with? I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh, my god. Well, there's a TV commercial, and he jumps in to the kid's party and wishes – blows out the candle on the guy, on the kid, and wishes for a new iPhone 15. Uh-huh. Why would you have a creepy guy into a kid's birthday party like in a Chuck E. Cheese? It's like, oh, my God. This is really creepy. Elton John. Yes. That was the longest. They had three of them, and the lines were long. I had to wait. Three? That's really disappointing. I had to wait. Yeah, they had more labyrinths there. But I had to wait almost an hour to get on. And I – Saturday morning I was down there first thing, and it was already a lie. Like how does this happen? Let's see. Well, they unveiled it at the seminar, which they did the thing – like they had them outside the seminar doors without any blankets on them or anything. You see, it's like Elton John. And then they had to clear out the seminar room so they could set up. Like why? We already know what it is. I know. Whatever. Everyone out. Everyone out. Literally, it was everyone out. Let's see. It looks fantastic. Yes, it looks great. It looks incredible. It's Star Trek. Well, first thing, they did away with the limited edition. So now it's the Platinum Edition and the Collector's Edition. Same price, $12,000 for the Platinum, $15,000 for the Collector's Edition. um just discussing with them and and when i was there their idea is they're putting they're going to put more into the platinum edition so this one comes with the radcals it comes with the topper thing it comes with the art blades a lot of the stuff that was extra comes with now but they weren't going to lower the price obviously yeah um i played it my father played it the next day and I told a couple people what I thought and then I asked my dad well what did you think and he used the same fucking line that I used which is it plays like a stern well of course it does because it's I don't just mean the fact that it's a Steve Ritchie design I mean flippers strong slings strong it literally plays like a stern game they've been listening to you finally uh just me i'm not the only one to and you could see they had um cameras on i think all three of them so you could see overhead shot and you could just see it when you're looking at the the video how fast how much faster the thing is playing how much peppier it is um it's because i did it you know i'm steve rittratone these flippers suck i'm not accepting this i want slings that work um yes it's star trek a little led zeppelin maybe some other games i don't know i know Steve Ritchie has said you know i had to get the bill of materials you know i had to cut things out of my game blah blah blah i don't know where the bill of materials were as far as mechs you know what i mean i didn't see anything in this that was like i didn't see all of a sudden like a supercharger or 20 drop targets or anything with it. All this stuff that was in it, that was more, you know, more expensive or, or it had nothing to do with mechs. It was all bling. And play and my pay salary. That's why the piano has, as a display, it's the whole side of it is a display like a DMD. and it looks good and elton john i guess with elvis you know it only moved he only moved his hips and his arm up and down so it's like we gotta have a move more away so elton john sits at the piano in his uh dodger stadium outfit and he's and he play his hands his arms move and his head moves like he turns back forth it's cool it's cool it's got a crocodile thing because it's got a rocket and it's got the tiny dancer and it has as as you said bruce you called it you said this this song was going to be in there ben ball wizard is in there of course it is yeah including all the um the footage from tommy is in there yep the movie so i'm surprised about that i didn't even think about that till just now it's like wait a minute yeah they got that's the footage from the movie. It's great footage. It's a great scene. The TV characters were Will and Grace. Oh, okay. For those at home who care. Yes, and the gay friend was Jack. That's the one that's at the creepy kids party. Go back to what it had to play. Played good? Plays good. Plays really good. It plays 12,000 good? No, nothing plays 12,000 good. But it looks tremendous. It played good. I kind of knew what to do immediately, which for a Jersey Jack game, I knew what coder probably wasn't on the game. Yeah. Let's put it that way. And then I found out, yeah, like the lead on this is Bill Grupp, who used to be at Williams. He did Congo. He did Demoman. And it's – yeah, it's like when the skill shot – one of the skill shot options is light crocodile lock. Like, oh, okay. And then you see the crocodile and the lock is in front. I'm like, gee, I think if I – I know what to do. I know what to do. I'm sure there's more. Did it have the Jersey Jack multiball issue? Like every three seconds you get a multiball? You get a multiball and you get a multiball. Good. No, I had to lock balls to get a multiball. No, stop it. There's locks in the croc, locks in the croc, and then there's a piano. His piano is a lock. It has locks, and you can see the balls in the piano. I saw that. That was pretty cool. And I guess if you get the Rocketman multiball and the Crocodile, it's like the Rocket Croc multiball or something like that. I'm rocking in my crotch, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, yeah, I mean, it looked tremendous. I guess they did the Platinum the playfield art is the same on both except for Elton himself he has a different outfit on depending on whether you got the CE or the Platinum, other than that it's the same the cabin is different the Platinum edition was Christopher Franchi did that and then the CE was done by John Yousi and someone else I don't have a lot of notes with me we're just shooting the shit in this podcast I'm not going crazy with research. We're not critical. Yeah. I mean – $12,000, not worth it. It's so much higher than anyone else. It is. I mean, I know – They have really priced themselves out of – they priced themselves out of operators. Yeah. Except for boutique operators. It looks fantastic, but, man, it's like two grand more than an LV. $12,000 is a price of some L.E.s. Yeah, L.E.s. Yeah. It's just – I do want to play it more, though, because it's my guy. It's Steve Ritchie. It's my man. And it plays like – if you put a pinball aficionado, put that play field in front of him and say, who designed this? He'd be like, oh, Steve Ritchie. Even before he played it, he'd probably say that just looking at it. It's like, oh, we got the three bank in the center. Yep. The left's got kind of multiple shots like Zeppelin. So, yeah, I liked it. I liked it a lot. It seemed like it was a good hit. And it got me singing Elton John songs. I kept Elton John songs in my head after playing the thing. And he's on the game. He's literally the first thing I heard. Welcome to my pinball machine. And the main narrator sounded like it was a British woman, because it's got to be a British somebody. That's the rule. When you drain and the ball gets back to you, like the ball saves, they go, I'm still standing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know, but yeah, that would be good. I'm still standing, ball save. Yes. That is in the game. Yep. Okay, Labyrinth, the surprise of the show, I would say. Yeah, so we'll go into some background of Labyrinth before we talk about the game. So they were the company that kept sending all these emails about the mystery pinball company, which was annoying. But we did mention them. And then they finally announced who they were, and they had a trailer for the game. Aussies. Yeah. Well, no, it's not. They're Texas. It's just the CEO was an Aussie. Yes, that's where I go. So David Maness, who used to be with Spooky. Yep. And interestingly, listen to the interview on Dr. John's Aussie Pinball Podcast. Yes. because it pretty much explains everything about the company and the formation. It's basically, it's him and I believe Brian Savage is his name, who he had the factory. So they had, like they mentioned, they already had the factory. They have all the parts for the game. For 11, they're going to make 1,100 of these. I think it's 10,600. Yep. Is the price. Two different Translites. Two different Translites. One with Bowie on it and the other one without Bowie on it. um they did before the show they had a couple of gameplay videos from uh bow and karen's it was one of the ones working on the game like rules and it was weird because they they advertised there's going to be a gameplay video from from bow and karen's and i'm like this is a good idea they're not going to do a stream they're going to have a pre-made video this is good so if they have any issues you know they don't look like like morons on the on the stream but then i then when it's like okay it's available i went to the barrels of fun which is their name yeah horrible horrible name but barrels of fun pinball i went to their youtube site and it made premiere sound good and it wasn't there because it was on wormholes youtube site now i know wormhole they're a streamer out of texas which makes sense and that's that's where it is currently one of the games is that uh location in texas but i would have like why did you put it on another that that confused me yes and then the actual that it wasn't lit very well the game you could see a bunch of other games in the background and i'm thinking like if i'm i'm showing my game off i don't want to see any other no should be all by itself i want all just my game or two games next to it of the same all three games next to it and they didn't and they didn't have like direct video in and all that stuff and but i watched the video um and but then like a A week later, they had a second one, and they must have either got complaints or had a bunch of morons like me who said the same thing because the video was on their YouTube channel. I think it was from the same location, but this time they had a bunch of light on the play field so you could see it. They had Bowen in a black background. He couldn't see any other games. His front and center was labyrinth, nothing else. And then he had direct in for the videos. It has two video displays. It has the regular LCD, and it has another LCD in the back panel. which the funny thing is that the idea from that, from that came when David David Van Es bought one of those, just those narrow long displays from the deep root liquidation and said like, I wonder if this would fit in the back panel. Like, Oh, this is perfect. So something good came out of deep room. Something. That's right, brother. That was my idea. Robert Mueller. I wanted that. I stole it from you. I'm going to sue him because I need money, brother. Like I said, the third wife needs a new ring. Okay. Okay. So, but then I went to watch the video and when they recorded it, they did 30 frames, 30 frames per second instead of 60. And if you ever try to watch it, if you have to watch pinball at 60, you can't watch, when you watch it at 30, it looks like a real media video from the nineties. You can't do it. I can't, I couldn't do it. I know. So you almost had it. You almost had it. So I was kind of worried after that. This is like the first thing I'm seeing. It's like, That didn't go overly well. But then their display, they had, Jesus, four, five. Actually, they might have up to seven games there. And these were like production games. It's not like this was a prototype. Like, no, these are our production games. They had long lines the whole show. Me and my dad played it. And I will say playing it, it felt like, I was playing a game from a company that's already made multiple games. That's good. That's like the highest price because it felt like just an actual full production game from a major manufacturer. That's what it felt like. The sculpts and everything alone are excellent. I like Muppets. I'm sorry, Puppets or whatever. When they talk, their little heads come up and jump around. I love that shit. I was – Yay! Bouncing heads! Yay! It shot fine. I couldn't get that deep into it. I did from the first video I watched, Bo and Karen's video. I had at least a little idea what the hell to do on the game. But I kind of sucked. I didn't play that long. We know that. But, yeah, I couldn't believe the play field art was Johnny Crapp, the same guy who did the Stern Jurassic Park. because it doesn't look anything. Totally different style. Totally different style. Yeah, they have the Translight with Bowie, and then they have the alternate Translight with no Bowie. Yeah. I was impressed. I like the Bowie better. I mean, it was like, here's the game. Yep. Here's what we're going to sell it at. Here's what we're going to sell it at. And, yeah, they're in boxes. Here you go. And supposedly they're sold out all from their own website. Yeah, they can only get through distributors. Yep. They have so many they're going to sell through their own website, and already sold out. And from everything I've heard, they're selling like hotcakes. Yep. So, hit of the show would have to be Labyrinth in my mind. Labyrinth, yes. For surprise and for – do you think Elton John should have got best game? Best game? That's what it got. It got the show best game. Uh. Uh. Not when you have Labyrinth that had a ton of shit on it and was like, you know, $2,000 less. I mean, time will tell. Oh, of course. I mean, it's running on the Fast Board, the Fast system. Which is always cringy a little bit. Well, it's what? Because all the homebrewers use it? Yeah, and then some of the, what's it called? The Fathom used it. Yeah, Fathom uses it. The new remakes from Chicago Gaming. They use it? I know. It's just – one thing against it, it just was not very good. I might be wrong on that one as far as – I think that was incorrect. I take that back. I don't know. But I know – I think they use it on a proprietary system, honestly. But yeah, it's good. I mean, it was – yeah, I was impressed. and you know I'm pretty jaded so it's hard to impress me yeah he's a stubborn asshole and I ran into Brian Savage the other guy the other main guy with the company he says I listen to your podcast and I'm like oh shit did we say anything bad about that and then I realized he was talking about Silverball Chronicles so I'm like wow okay I'm okay yeah Silverball Chronicles the other podcast I'm on which can be listened to on the pinball network so he doesn't listen the slam tilt no but you'll be happy every other person that came up to me that said i love your podcast it was slam tilt they were talking about so good he was literally he was the only i think he was one of the only and it might have been one more but he was one of the only uh silver ball chronicles one so did you tell him that i also have another podcast or no he didn even do that Uh no because we talking about it like he like ah asshole Actually I said only good things about him So you should like it. You should see, but he'll never hear it. And you don't plug it enough on the other one. Now, if it was dark crystal, that would be cooler. Yeah. Yeah. I might've, but the interesting thing I thought was in the David Van Es interview on the Aussie pinball podcast, how he said he, He was the one who got Halloween license. He got Scooby-Doo license. He got the next two licenses they're doing. So it's just like, what are they going to do when they run out of the licenses he got for them? Because he worked in the film industry, so he had contacts. That's how he got a lot of these licenses. Or maybe he'll just – because it seemed like he still got along with this. It's not like the other spooky people left who seem to get banned from their site or whatever. Jaded and pissed off and banned. He said it was literally when COVID started, he got sick. He didn't want to drive because he lived in Texas. Drive up from Texas to Wisconsin every month. It was just killer, and he didn't want to do it anymore. Okay. Ninja Escape. Ninja Eclipse. Eclipse. Sorry, Eclipse. Sorry. I can't see. All I can say is 9,600? No. No. No, thank you. No. No. It looked like a – what was the cheesy pinball company? Zizzle. Zizzle. Enlarged. Yes. They went with a – A very unorthodox cabinet and very unorthodox backbox. Yeah. When you make things smaller, people immediately think cheaper. Yes. So to me, that's a mistake right out of the bat because they're just going to – even if – most of the pinball cabinet is space. it doesn't have anything in it but still uh it just makes it look cheaper uh i went to play i played a game and it's three flipper game and when i hit the right flipper the upper flipper didn't flip and they're like oh it's the other button like other button you have to hit another button you're doing the multi-morphic multiple button thing uh and they said like well on the other one we have them both on the same button we're experimenting so i gave him some advice i put it on the same fucking button. Yeah, stage it. Stage the fucking flipper. When you have Donald Trump hands like me, small hands, I literally had to reach way down to hit the second button to shoot the upper flipper. Don't do that. Yeah, bad idea. How did it flip? How did it play? For $9,600. No. No. No. I mean, the video looked pretty nice. I mean, there wasn't anything horrendous, but I just don't see them selling. They might've wanted to wait a little bit more, get it a little more done before they brought it. Same thing. I mean, not, it wasn't, it wasn't elements level put that way. No, that's good. But, um, but for $9,600, it should have waited longer. And that's too much. No one's, no one's going to pay that. No one's going to pay that. I agree. Eight ball beyond in the homebrew section. It was the hit of the homebrew section. Really? Yes. I will say, I don't remember what the name of the game was, but I got to give a shout out to good old Brian Smith. Nice. At Valentine. He brought a head-to-head pinball game. Think Joust, but like in a full-size cabinet. Yeah. And that's what it was. You could battle each other. That was cool. It was. Hold on. I'll tell you in two seconds. So while you're looking that up, but 8 Ball Beyond, yeah. Battle Stations. Battle Stations. Yep. other than the they do like the um what's you know in deadpool the mech suit voice yeah jackpot jackpot yeah it was like that but really really shrill and i i found it unpleasant to listen to i would have rather it sounded they were going for the robotic voice but it was kind of like a high-pitched version of someone you know who smoked too much who's got the thingamabobby in there, you know, like really, it was like, Oh, I would have preferred if they just, just use the same type of thing they did for mech suit would have been perfect. That's about my only complaint. Okay. Play good. I mean, it's eight ball. So if you know how to play eight ball, you know how to play this game. You get the ball at seven balls and then go for the eight ball. And it's got a cool little turnaround shot. I get the eight ball. Then it comes around to a side flipper shot and you hit it into a scoop. We need to get something else. Nice. I mean, and it seemed pretty complete, like TNA complete. Like someone could probably make this game if they wanted to. That would be a cool thing. Yeah. What's next? Beavis and Butthead. It had a lot of issues. The ball kept getting stuck in the subway. I know he was rushing to get that there. He might have wanted to wait a little longer. Yeah, that sucks. That's what I'll say. I like that he had clips from the old episodes and the new stuff. Nice. So that was nice. But, yeah, I think that needs some more time in the oven. Yeah, more cooking. Needs more cooking time. Project Pinball Tournament. Project Pinball Tournament. Oh, you're going through my list? Yes. Yes, they had a Project Pinball Tournament, and it was for inclusiveness for people with disabilities to be able to play pinball. Yes. So they had pinball machines with like you used your foot, foot pedals. And then they had a row of machines in the tournament that you use like a controller with three buttons on it. That you flip the left and right flippers and then the center button like launches the ball. So that was pretty cool. So I played in the tournament. Top eight qualified. I qualified. Yay. And I made it to the finals. I made it to the final four. And we all got our asses kicked by like a 12-year-old. Excellent. Yep. Excellent. That I prefer. Yep, and I finished fourth, but it raised a lot of money, awareness. It was a good thing. That's the best thing ever. I didn't play in any of the regular tournaments, so it was nice playing in that one, and I feel like I did a good thing. Good thing. Yeah, done a good thing. So I've got a couple questions on your list here. Uh-huh. Jeff hates Beavis and Butthead? Yeah. I talked to Jeff Teolis, and he told me that whenever he listens to our episode, he just fast-forwards the first couple seconds to get past the Beavis and Buck. What the fuck, Jeff? Yep. I am very disappointed in him. He's Simpsons all the way. He's on Team Simpsons. Wow. And as Mike Judge, he'd rather watch King of the Hill, which King of the Hill is good, too. King of the Hill is good, but no Beavis and Buckhead. I'm just, yeah, that disappointed me so much I had to put that on the notes. Yes, I see that. So you were humbled by the listeners. Did anyone come up and hug you? They did a lot of like they're going to hug me, but didn't. People should have hugged them. I felt like an Iron Sheik opponent. I was humbled. So what did they all go, hey, tell me. I wasn't there, so talk about it. Yeah, how they love the show and guys are great and that kind of stuff. Very humbling, I must say. I'm not used to that kind of stuff. I don't know how to react. but I got to talk to a lot of our listeners, including several that actually write to the ball bag on a regular basis. I mean, I have a listeners like fireball classic. Yep. It's the best fireball. Yes. Yep. So an agreement. So yeah. Um, I don't know how much more I could say. I, I don't remember everyone's individual name. So I feel like if I just mentioned one or two people, then I'm leaving out everyone else. But yeah. But thank you. Thank you very much. I have been humbled. Shit. We get something to – is that all you want to talk about with Expo? Anything else? Did we go through all the games? I'm looking at my notes. Wow, you're right. Did you see the Olympics again this year? The pinball Olympics. I didn't see any of the videos. This is an event that takes place I think on Saturdays. Yes. So if by Saturday you don't want to go to the convention center because everything is going to be crowded and you're going to stand in lines to get on any new games, and you're not playing in the main tournament, which we didn't talk about that one, but you can go to the Pinball Olympics, which is like 40 minutes away. You have to pre-buy, too. Yeah, pre-buy, yes. You have to buy tickets. They have a bus that goes there. You can purchase that, too. But it's not like – I think it's like 45 minutes away. It's not overly close. No, no, it's not. But they do all kinds of crazy things. They got a game with a treadmill on it. You get to play through a washing machine. I'm sorry, a dryer to play Dirty Harry. You have to lay in a dryer to play Dirty Harry. And what, get spun around? No, no, you don't get spun around. You just lay in it. You actually are inside the drum. Your body is, your torso is inside, and your legs are hanging out, and you're playing Dirty Harry. Mm-hmm. Fucking awesome. Turn it on spin, man! Whenever I see that, I just think of Beavis and the Butthead when they wash the dog. Yeah. They just put it in the washer. The machine and hit the button. Washing the dog! Washing the dog! Washing the dog! Washing the dog! So did you get me a hat? I did not get a hat. I'm sorry. What the fuck? I asked you for one thing. Josh from the Loser Kid fan club, he was there with his son. I don't know if he was just selling hats or if he had people. He resold, but then some people. Yeah. He said, I have extra hats. Come see me. I didn't see him after you asked me. I'm sorry. Fail. I fail. Fail. But shout out to Loser Kid because somehow they got Larry DeMar on their podcast. I know. Larry DeMar is very. Larry DeMar has never been on a podcast to my knowledge. I know back in the day with TopCast, Joshua Clay was trying to get him. It was like him and Pat Waller that were the holdouts. He eventually got Waller on, but he never could get DeMar on. Yep. And he just doesn't do these kind of things. Nope, he's not his way. Yeah. So congrats. You've done the impossible. So hopefully he's retired now, so hopefully he just deals dirt on everyone. Yes. You know, like, oh, I couldn't stand working with Steve Ritchie. Oh, such a pain in the ass. Oh. Because they did not get along. Programming those damn games in the early days. I was thinking of all the programmers that Steve Ritchie has blown through. Oh, God. Like fucking dirty underwear. I think Dwight is like the only person that obviously that could get along with him. Keeps on going back for more. Yeah. Even he, I think, eventually was like, yeah, I'm done. I'm done. So then poor Timmy. He had to be there. Yes. Timmer. So who else did you see there that you were happy to see? I'm happy to see everyone. It was great. No, you know what I mean. I saw Joe C., Pinball to Jones. His voice was already gone by like Friday. Wow. Yeah. I saw people from the Pinball Network. I've been told I need to sing more. People like the singing, so. We should just sing Elton John songs, I guess. We should do duets. Duets with Slam and Tilt. Yikes. I'm the guy voice. You're the girl voice. You do something to me that I can't explain. Where's my Kenny Rogers? Hold me closer and I feel no pain. Actually, they do have the Dolly Parton one. Yes, they do. Islands in the stream. That is what we are. Thank you very much. Thank you. No one else between us. Out of me belong. Okay, now he's wasted, Elvis. You fucking whore, Tramp. Just show me those cans one more time. Okay, Bruce. All right. We're going to be in two weeks together. Well, we have one more thing about Expo. Tournaments. Oh, that's right. I forgot about tournaments. They went on forever. It's just a tournament that never ends. I got back. I got back to Albany and they were still going. So just briefly, let's see. Elizabeth Gieske. I'm going by the bracket. Elizabeth Gieske. won the women's tournament. I believe she works for Stern, so that's not fair. Let's see. What else? Classics. Who the hell won Classics in the end? I think that went down to the very last game. Like they did the thing with the loser's bracket and the loser won, so then they had to have another game. Zach Parks won. Zach? It says Zach Parks. And let's see. We got A Division. Who the hell won that? I think Escher won. What else? Yeah. Escher won. So that means he won two games this weekend. Yeah. Because I'm the tax man. Yeah, I'm the tax man. They probably just sold them back immediately. Probably. Hey, you want two more games? Yeah, we need them. Go ahead. There you go. Yeah, and that was the tournament. They played the bracket from hell. They played forever. It went on and on and on. All in the latest and greatest turns. I had no interest. No interest at all. The classics, I actually didn't play in this year. Yeah, Zach said the classics were not good this year. I think Bob Matthews said it was one of the worst titles he's seen. Yeah, there was a lot of bad. I don't know. Really? There was. There were some good games in there. No, there really wasn't. Really? Yeah. Hold on. Zach was rattling off the list, and I was like, oh, my God. Really? What? High hand. That was the only good. Yes, good. High hand. Trident. If you like Trident. It's okay. King Diamond. Yeah, King Diamond's pretty bad. Wait a minute. Is that a kiss song? King Diamond. No, no, no, no. Kickoff. Yeah, bad. Hot tip. There you go. Yes, good game. High hand. Harlem Globetrotters. Come on. Okay, yeah. Drop a card. Okay. Dom, I assume it's Domino. Domino, yes. Yeah, bad game. And Bristol. Yeah, Bristol Hills. Oh, I thought it was after Connecticut. No, Bristol Hills. Okay. Yeah, not a great selection. Okay. All right. Not one Stern in the Classic, except for Trident. Trident. Yeah. Not one Stern, except that one Stern. That Stern, that one. Seems like that's the new tournament game, Trident. I was like, why? Well, for those of you who always ask me, is Bruce here? Want to go to a show? Here's your chance. There's going to be an event where we're both going to be at. And 98 of our closest friends. 98 of our closest friends. That's the Sanctum 24-hour. And the good thing is I already got COVID, so I don't have to worry about this now. You're like, fuck! I got in. I was on the waiting list. You did. I'm currently 100th out of 100. Wow. So you moved on in. I'm glad the email didn't go to my spam. That would have sucked. Oh, that would have really sucked. But I got the email. The thing is we're doing a major deal at work that weekend, but I need to be available for Sunday, which means like three hours of sleep maybe but that's fine that's the way I would do it anyway so it really doesn't affect anything and yeah I'm in and me and Bruce are going to go down together this is so exciting well we're going to drive in separate cars oh we are? yeah because you don't want to be with me in the car because you'll be afraid of driving me after playing 24 hours what? I thought we were going to go in the same car then you can just drop me off on the way back oh you're going to drive me and drop me off? Drive you and drop you off? I got a further drive. You drive after we get done with the tournament. Well, Bruce. Bruce. Now, remember, you wanted to have ice cream at Guptal's. I know, so I'm going to have it the night before. You're going to have it the night before because it's literally the last Friday they're open. Is it nice? Yes. That weekend is their last weekend, and they close until March. Oh, boy. It's the perfect timing. It's perfect timing. Mm-hmm. What are they open from? From what's it called? No, no, I mean daylight savings. Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah. See? Got that down. Isn't it great? And we gain an hour. Or we lose an hour. We lose an hour. We lose an hour. No, we go back. We gain an hour. We gain an hour? Gain an hour. I think it starts at 10 a.m. Fall back. Yes, fall back. It starts at 10 a.m. and ends at 9 a.m. Yeah. Fall back, spring ahead. Yes. Okay. Yep. Yep. So we're in. You're in. You're in. Yeah, lots of urine. Zach ain't going to be in. No way. Zach did not get in. He's like 90-something. No, no, on the waiting list of the other 100. 90-something, yes. Yeah. There is no possible way. No. Yeah, that'll be fun. So if you want to meet us there, although if you're not in the tournament, then you're probably not going to be there. But if anyone wants to just drive us back, that would be great. That'd be great. I'd love that. Great. Yeah, we've got to leave early, don't we? Yes, we do. Probably like 5, 5, 6 o'clock. No. In the morning? Ugh. I don't want to stay down there. It's like $150. You stay in a hotel room. You're in there for a little bit, and then, okay, look it up, go. No, I mean like when we leave. It's like how long is the drive? Like two and a half hours? I think two and a half hours from Mer- Mer- Mer- Yeah, you're right. We do have to get up earlier. Okay. Yes, we do. I'd be up at that. See, that's the thing. I'd be up at that hour anyway. I'm always up at that hour. I'm up at 345 every day. Yeah, we're the two early birds. So this is. It works out well. Make sure I don't bring any sugar with me. Just lots of snacks and lots of water. And you get to drive in a new CRV. Ooh, new CRV. The one that can't hold any games. Fail. It still holds games. Not with the head on it, though. It does. You just got to turn it aside. Turn on its side. I'll do it all the time. So what else do we want to talk about now? Well, I hear there's going to be a launch party coming up at the RPC, the Rochester Pinball Collective. Where is that again? Rochester. Idiot. It's at 349 West Commercial Street, East Rochester, New York. What sweet number? 2965. Yeah. And that's going to be this weekend. It is this weekend. Are you coming out this weekend? Yes. Nice. I did not notice. I will be there. So if you want to meet both of us again, you come on down. Come on down. You will get to see the two of Slam and Tilt together as I play shitty at another RPC tournament and don't win anything. You never win anything. Nope. Nope, I don't. But you get to play in a new Venom LE. Of course it's an LE because RPC only does LEs. Only the best. Only the best for RPC. and I've gotten another game eventually will be off my bucket list oh I've owned once I've owned one once but it didn't work it wait a minute I'm having a chance now to buy another one what you couldn't fix it back then or what no it was way too the play field was way too oh so what what is it you own one you own one I own one you own one and it's not a stern so what does that tell I don't know. I don't want to guess. Just tell me. Just tell me. Harlem Gold Trotters? It's got big stars in it. It's got big stars in it. Big stars. Oh, Alien Star. Yes. Yes. My NOS Alien Star back glass is installed. Five big stars. Yeah. Yes, I have a chance to buy one, so I will be buying it from somebody. And that will be one of the last games I think I'm going to be holding out for. Wow, this collection is complete. It's pretty much complete, I feel. Right now, I am working on the Aussie Abortion. Aussie Abortion? What? Okay, let's get to repairs. I actually don't have any because I haven't really been playing my own games. Yep. So what do you got? I sent a picture to you, and personally to you. I have the Aussie abortion, and Ryan C. is probably laughing right now, hopefully. Yeah, it's Quicksilver. It's my Quicksilver I got from Australia, mate. Well, Shitsilver is what you called, yes. Yeah, I called it Shitsilver. The play field is on the rotisserie. The top side's all blown off and taken off. Now I'm getting started to the bottom side. So you're going to be putting in that new Mirko Quicksilver play field? Yep, I am. Oh, and our games have probably gotten cheaper now. We lost some value on Dragon Fist now. Ah, because Mirko came out with a play field. And you just told me tonight that I was really shocked about Beehive. Beehive. The people who did Star, I suppose they're going to be doing Dragon Fist also. Yep. Which now there's only 302 games, and you're going to make probably 50 playfields minimum. Yeah, they're all going to be these scratch-billed Dragon Fists all over the place. They are already talking about it. So much it's not even funny. Yep. So our game's went down in value, Ron. Yep. Unfortunately. Yep. But I don't really care. It's not getting sold. No. It's mine, so I'm fine with that. Everyone loves the fist. Everyone needs a fist. Everyone needs the fist. Repairs. Actually, I have been testing some new code from Scott. For? Hi, Scott. For? For? Cheetah. Oh. With more options. With more options than to turn off more shit and with the proper blue cheetah sounds. Good. Yep. Because I am not liking the black sounds. Oh, yes, the black and yellow cheetah. Yeah. The production or the whatever. The regular cheetah sounds suck. Yeah, suck. They do suck. They really do. I didn't really sound that bad until I switched. They're like, ugh. It's douchey. Ugh. It is very douchey. Like, I have the black one at home, and it's right next to me, actually. Well, everyone, here we go. I am first. This is the first time recording downstairs in the repair room. Yes. At the house. Mm-hmm. I have a – the basement originally was two-thirds me, one-third Kathy. But most of her stuff she does is during winter for summer stuff, for summer sales. In doing that, she can't have it nice and warm down here as she wants it. So she took over the spare bedroom with her stuff. I knocked down all the wallage that we had. The wallage. which was actually shelving I made as a room. And I took over her area, and I have a nice little work area with my dual rotisserie. I have tables around it, and I have plenty of room to record, and my computer's down here. My mesh internet's working great. Yeah. See? We're doing good. Yeah, Bruce sounds good. I sound great. Oh, my. Great. So I've been repairing that. also repairs. Here we go. You're going to laugh at me. Star Trek Optos. Oh, boy. Yes, but not the next generation Optos. It's the Star Trek Stern underneath the ship Optos. Second time I've had to go into this one. The wire actually pulled out of one of the Optos. There I had to tear it all apart. Get back into it. We cheated a little bit. We took just enough stuff off, had a right-angle screwdriver, took off the – it was the front opto. Excuse me. Sorry. First you're on because it is past my bedtime. It's past his bedtime. We pulled it off. We glued it back in. The opto lead pulled out We glued the opto leads because those are like cabled all the way down to the board We glued them to the Opto and then reattached it so there less stress on the wiring and it works again So now I have to this week clean it, and it will be back on the floor before Venom's show. And then Hot Tip. I had this problem when I was at Buffalo when we were doing the Beast. We brought Hot Tip out there, and for like an hour, it would just go through all five balls instantaneously. Like ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, done. Game over. So I was talking to Zach. Zach's like, I remember we did that once before. So we'll have to go back into it. It's all together back at the co-op. We're going to try to fix that. Then Bad Girls is ready. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad. Hopefully we'll get that on the floor. I'd like to see that go out there. Get that out. And then I want to then hook up Fireball Classic. Fireball Classic. And get that at least in the back room set up so we can see what's wrong with the soundboard, which I already have a good idea. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I got one for you, Bruce. I forgot about this one. So Bruce had his countdown. He sent his countdown to me. via Mr. Zach. Mr. Fry. Yes. Mr. Fry. I picked it, and then he was going to go straight from – he brought it to his dad's, and then from there they went to York. Yes. So I picked the game up, and I'm like 10 minutes away from – or driving. I'm like 10 minutes after I left the house, and I'm thinking like, I don't remember the legs or anything else. So I get back. It's like, yeah, it's just a game. No legs. So I message him like, where are the legs at? Where's the legs? Oh. Okay. So. Then he goes, I didn't remember seeing the bolts at the RPC. Well, yeah. I'm like, you boner. They're in the box with the score, with the manual. He's like, oh, I didn't look in there. Oh, there was a manual? There's a manual and everything. Oh, yeah. I didn't get that. No, it was all of RPC. I walk in the next day and I'm like, hmm. Yeah. Yeah, so basically, he got back to York and then immediately left, and he left the legs there. And I'm there like, is there any bolts? Like, no. No bolts, no keys. How am I going to get into the game? Well, you'll have to eventually wait for him, I guess. Well, the key for the game is the same one RPC uses, the tubular one. So I got in there. That's fine. But then there's no key for the backbox in the clip that's inside. Nope, because it's in the key holder. Well, yeah. So I was able to reach inside and unscrew the lock. It just has a nut on it that just moves two rods. So I was able to unscrew that actually pretty easy, and I actually got the lock out. So I put a new lock in there, Bruce. Oh, thank you. Yeah, a new lock with the key that's actually now on the holder. So it's great. But I still had no bolts, but that's not a problem because I had that piece of shit Dipsy Doodle that I tore down, and I used those bolts for countdown. So they got to be used in an actual good game. Yes. And now the game is set up, and it's beautiful. I had to – what did I do? And you had to get the legs from Zach. Yeah, I went and got the legs. The flippers were a little cockeyed. I did just the one flipper. Oh, wow. The 5X light wasn't working. I had to, like, screw with the socket a bit. And then it just came to life, and now it's working every time. Like, oh, of course. All right. All incandescents, of course, because it's Bruce's game. It's my game. You are not allowed to change that. Oh, I did put one LED in there. For what? Coindor. Coindor. Jesus Christ. You need the nightlight. You need the nightlight in his living room, guys. Well, because it was out. Both lights were out in the Coindor. so I put my cheap LEDs in the one and I went to do the other one and the socket is like in two pieces it must have fell apart at some point so yeah I can't do anything with that it's a three lead so it's a Cyclops coin door now it's a night light for when you're going to the bathroom when you're going to go drink some water and that kind of stuff and the sound board occasionally garbles for some reason it's weird It won't do it like in the bonus countdown. That's fine. But at little places, you'll hear it when we play it. I never noticed it. Yeah, it does a little garble thing. Did you receive the connector? It could be a connector pin. Oh, yeah, I haven't touched it. I haven't touched anything, Bruce. Well, you said you were going to make it better. I haven't touched anything. Play with my pins. And I did see the connector you talked about, like, don't put this in the wrong way. Yes. And it literally says on it, this on top, sticker on top. and it's like, yeah, you could totally put this in either way. Wow, what a horrible design. What a horrible design. Yep. Yep. Yeah, I check the pins, make sure they're all not, you know, because it just uses a press-on connector there. The press-on nails? Yes, just like on the side, because the soundboard on the Countdown is on the bottom. It's inside the Countdown. Yeah, and the crazy thing, I read about it, like you could actually replace it with a chime unit and it would work. Yes, it would. It's crazy. I'd like to try that one time maybe like because I think someone did that somewhere because I played a countdown once that had the chimes which threw me off yeah I think it would be pretty neat yeah um yeah I had to go that story it's like no legs okay I have the legs where's the oh no balls like what did you oh that's all Zach damn it that's all Zach yeah that's why I use all his damn balls from his shitty dipsy doodle dipsy doodle it's right behind me where it belongs not being played Wowzers Really pissed me off You gotta talk to the other story about Countdown What about Countdown? You have to tell the other story What's the other story? Oh my god, what have you been complaining about for months About Countdown Oh my fucking god, you are getting too old for this Yeah, I am What did I complain about? Your memory sucks It does Reset? Drop targets? Oh, yeah, every Countdown I've played it resets the drop targets first and then the ball comes out. But it must be because every countdown I played has new boards in it. And Bruce has an original one, which is weird because the ball comes out first and then the drop targets reset. Just like Zax does. Yes. And you said, this is totally wrong. And we're like, no, this is totally right. Well, it's wrong if you have the other boards, I guess. Exactly. You reminded me, since you mentioned my terrible memory, I did forget one story. When I was at the New York City Pinball Championships, the day after the Classics, like Sunday, when I'm waiting for my train to arrive. The last train to Albany. Yeah, I went to the Classics tournament area. And they have the games on and people are playing. I'm getting like revenge on various games that screwed them during the tournament. Of course. So I played Sinbad. Okay. And I'm going to play this until I get 5X. Half an hour later and 30 or so games later, I still had not done it, and I gave up. Wow. And then I told everyone that I tried that. I couldn't do it. So I'm hanging out for another couple hours. And then before I leave, I decide I go in. I'll play one more time. First ball. Like immediate 5X. Like immediate 5X within probably a minute. Boom. Had like 300K. Had a couple extra balls. Yeah. It's just this game is insane. I don't get it. It's crazy. Nice. Crazy, Bruce. It's crazy. Crazy. I want to talk about some new products I found. Ooh, new products? Like for your hair? Hair products? Yes. Yeah, my hair product for my hair that's so flowing and long. fucking dick astroglide a new a new version what's the one that was uh from uh what's his name from uh coming to america oh the the hair stuff yeah i don't remember oh what was that i gotta look it up yeah but what are these new products bruce hold on coming to america oh jesus hair product oh soul glow soul glow that's the name of the title soul glow oh i think that's a better title than baloney pony myself it is definitely soul glow okay that's funny even if i didn't even know the context that would be fun okay a couple new products from pinball life our favorite stern place okay first classic stern stainless steel side rails are now available. Oh? Did you notice? No, I did not. See, you can get factory for standard body games only, because they are different for the wide bodies. But they will fit for your new redo of your Dragon Fist that you're going to be making. My new Dragon Fist I'm building, yes. So that is pretty cool. Next thing I didn't know is when you're doing a playfield swap, You know the wood rails for your playfield edges all around your top of your playfield? Yes, the ones that keep it from warping, hopefully. Yes, and also keeping the ball inside your playfield and that kind of stuff also. They sell that by a half-foot length. Uh-huh. They sell it from one-half foot to four feet. So you can get that vinyl wrapped. Pretty neat. So for your new Dragonfish, you have two of the pieces ready to rock. okay exciting huh it's exciting i'm very excited it's almost like if i had a home pro i can just buy all my parts from pinball i i know go figure right you pretty much can yes you can so it's pretty cool that you know you do get a chance to uh to build your own game yes yeah which is kind of cool all right went through all the items i think it's time for ball bag I love my ball bag we'll end it with a ball bag I love my ball bag glad you love your ball bag Bruce I love my ball bag it's old and wrinkled okay let's see this is from Jesse hi Jesse he was at stop stop stop alright we're gonna stop he says hey again first of all stop was so cool Ron, I was impressed by the condition of the games, the selection of games, and how professionally the tourney operated. Probably thanks to Bruce being far, far away. Wow. But the thing that has stuck with me the most since then is the spinners. Most satisfying spinner rips I've experienced anywhere. What is your secret to making spinners so absolutely dialed in? Lube. He loves the lube, boys and girls. Lives for it. Make sure the bracket isn't bent all to shit. Yeah. That is odd. Make sure the bracket's good. Sand down the metal on the, what do you call that, the part that sticks out of the spinner? Just the wire form, I guess. Yeah, the wire form. The wire, yes. Just sand them down so they're smooth. Yes. And then use some Teflon lube, which I got from Radio Shack. I'm on the same tube almost 20 years now. Yeah. It will last forever. He doesn't get to use that lube a lot, guys, boys and girls. and then adjust the switch correctly underneath the play field. Yes. Which one day maybe I'll do a video on, maybe. Let's see. What's so cool to see the rips count up and up on Quicksilver? I guess it's a Scott Rom thing. Yes, it is. I also have a newfound appreciation for the early Sterns. Had no idea how cool some of these games are. Some? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out. Time out. Some? Are you saying they're all cool? Every one of them? All cool. Okay, go ahead. Stargazer. Yes, in particular. Also, if it's of any interest, wanted to give you an update on Superstar, which I wrote to you about previously. Thanks for your take on the AC to DC flipper situation. Remember, you wanted more powerful flippers. Hey, it's your game. Do what you want. That's the same exact line that Bruce said to that guy at the show that had all the LEDs in Demoman. Remember that? Yeah. When he said it looked like shit, like right next to him, and he was the owner. He said it was my game. That's literally what you said. Yep, I totally. Do what you want. Anyway, the Pinside post kept going, and one user wondered, why couldn't you add a variable resistor and make your flipper strength adjustable? He said he got that idea from an old Chicago coin baseball game that had it, but had never tried it on a pin before. So I tried it, and it works great. It's an enormous upgrade from those garbage early 70s Williams slippers. Anything's better than that. So they are now DC with rheostat resistors on each flipper. The dials are mounted underneath the plate fill and are adjustable from the coin door. Time will tell, but I'm feeling pretty confident that I won't be obliterating the plastics with unfettered DC power. Thanks for hosting Stomp and look forward to the next one. Thank you. Yes, thank you, sir. We're having that in April or March, late March, I think it's going to be. In the Rochester Pinball Collective. Yes. Stomp 5 West. what belt will Bruce make this time? I got an email from George Spelvin, who is the mystery pinball company. Hey, George, how you doing? Can I get some stickers, please? The pizza party is actually October 20th, not the 19th. Sorry for the confusion. See you there. Yes, and I did see the party. Yes, it was nice. I didn't get any pizza. I got to be a good boy. I wanted to be a good boy. Wow. I will say their company name is terrible, but the logo is good. Yeah, I will say that. And what I'll say is just think of it instead of a pinball, because their logo is an exclamation point with the balls, the pinball. Think of it as it's not the pinball. It's a barrel. It's a barrel. And you're looking into the barrel from above. See? And it's fun. See? That's right. That's right. It's barrels of fun pinball. Right. All right. the Goblin King awaits your arrival in the labyrinth. Also from George again. All right. Get rid of those. Okay. Let's see. Hey guys, YouTube channel I follow for a few years, finally released a video on pinball. There will be another part coming soon-ish. Definitely good watch. If you can throw it in on your show notes, Tim. Thank you, Tim. And yes, it's called technology connections. Just look them up on YouTube. And I actually watched it. It's like a 52-minute video, the first one. And he goes over, what was it? Aztec. Oh, God. Yeah. Okay. What's wrong with Aztec? I hate that game. Really? It's got a spinner. Yeah. What's the problem? But again, that's technology connections. Check them out. Email here from Robert. subject is stars it says you guys get bought at the 5k price for a minty stars okay what's the right price for a stars in two grand in three three four levels of condition i guess that means like four star like like what's the most primo stars like what what is the most it should be for a super primo stars thirty five hundred thirty five hundred dollars thirty five on that Yeah. Okay. What do you say? I'll go with that. I don't know anything about pricing. You're the pricing guy. It says, you two are the experts, actually, Bruce. Let us know. So there you go, Rob. $3,500. Yeah. P.S. Bruce might be an asshole, but he's our asshole and has a good heart. Yes, and it's hairy, too. Oh. Your heart or your asshole? Both. Okay. Let's see. Note to the Slamto Podcast. This is from Daniel. Hi, Daniel. Hi, Daniel. What's up, Slam Tilt guys? I had a making Bruce proud moment, and I thought I would share. Uh-oh. I'm working on restoring a meteor, and I pulled out the LEDs and replaced them with incandescent bulbs. Fuck yeah. Yeah, have fun with those melting plastics. I've run out of my supply of incandescent bulbs. where would you recommend buying new incandescent bulbs amusements plus amusements plus are they like on the internet somewhere on the internet so amusements better to call them ah and wreck and say hey i want a lot of fucking bulbs there you go and they will get they will take care of you tell them that bruce sent you okay he says take care daniel ps ron i hope to see you at expo this week. I think I did. Maybe I think I talked to Daniel. Maybe you could show me the ways on some early solid states. Did you show him? Who did you play with during this whole weekend? Mostly dad. Well, that's good. Yeah. Let's see. Last one. Oh, no. My ball bag is emptying. Okay. It never gets all right never it's been 217 of oh my god oh my god all right this is from greg let's see someone sent me this link and i immediately thought of bruce you're welcome greg all right it's it's called www.billiesballbags.com oh god do i want to look at this oh my god no what is it oh you take a look at it it's just scrotums all over the place. I'll leave that for you. And bumholes. We were just talking, are they hairy or not hairy? Let's see. I'm trying to see if they put hair on any of these. It doesn't look like it. I'm sorry, Bruce. Good lord. On that note... Oh, man. Okay, I gotta... I gotta delete my browser. Delete my history. That's like that eBay thing. What did you have? What was that thing on eBay that you had the one time? The condom machine we had. Yeah, I think Raymond was on it. So it was something very offensive. It was great. Yeah, it was great. But don't forget, everyone get their soul glow. Soul glow. Yes, and go to Expo, folks, because I was thinking about this, too. Because they're in that convention center, and it's so big, There's so much room. There is a lot of room. I never feel crowded. The sound is dispersed. They had the air conditioning cranked to obscene levels to the point where I was wearing a coat on Friday in there, which means for most people, they were probably very comfortable. Very comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. And I got to see when I go to Texas again, it's getting near the California extreme levels where I don't know. I totally agree. I don't know. It's so crowded. It's so loud. It's the only show I have to put earplugs in. It's sound hits you as you walk in the room. It's just too small of a room for all the stuff they have in there now. They really need to get into a bigger facility, in my opinion. And it's a longer flight as opposed to just a direct flight from Albany. Direct flight, which is nice, yeah. Yeah, which is nice. There you go. There you go. Yeah, that's your ticket. There you go. There you go. That's your ticket. Yeah. All right, Peter. That's right. I think it's time to end this show. What do you think? All right. Oh, that's right. I really want to end this show very soon. I'll be put out for almost two hours. Actually, no. It's like an hour and 45 minutes. No, it's an hour and 45 minutes. And when you cut it down to that, you know, some of my obscene things, it'll be down to 143. No, all your obscenities must end or must stay in. Yes. Must stay in. Must stay in. Can I get a blowjob with a side of rice, please? Man, these GTF call-outs are very exciting. They're awesome. I love it. Oh, my God. Wait, can I get some ice cream on that, too? That's true. Save the ice cream. Can I squirt some whipped cream on there also? Stop. Stop. All right. This has been episode 217. Soul glue. Soul glue. We are the Slam Tilt Podcast. you can send us emails to our ball bag at slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com that's slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com and don't forget we talk about all of them everyone who mails in unless they say I don't want to put on the show it's going to get read on the show so just remember that yes check out our website www.slamtiltpodcast.com all our links are in the upper right hand corner Say hi to our friends Hi to everybody out there Yes Hi Zach Everyone in the clusterbuck Thank you Hi Pinball Princess Glad to see you're back Ray's been cheating on us again He's on another podcast again Oh no Yep Yeah but he is pinball Yeah I know He listens to podcasts immediately I know All of them Alright I think that's it You got anything else You got your name ready to go are you prepared i am ready to go well i don't know you're in the basement now you're in a new surroundings i mean i am all good okay i'm glad to see you're all good all right until next time everybody say goodbye bruce goodbye russell dagger If you try, hold my mind, hold my mind. It's guaranteed to keep you alive. Meteor! Level Zero! Clusterfuck! George Takei! Tim Balls! Bruce Isms! Tournament Talk! Car Holder! Cheetah! Oh my. Oh my. Oh my. Oh, my. Say goodbye, Bruce. Goodbye, Russell Dagger. Sounds like a porn name. Love it. Russell, actually, yeah That is a good name That is a fucking great porn name Like Eric Everhard Yeah I agree That's pretty cool