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Episode 185: 2019 Stern Pro Circuit recap

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·31m 53s·held·Mar 15, 2019
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

2019 Stern Pro Circuit finals coverage with player interviews and game design insights from George Gomez.

Summary

Pinball Profile covers the 2019 Stern Pro Circuit finals at Bottom Lounge in Chicago, featuring interviews with 40 elite players competing in a challenging, tightly-configured tournament format. Key discussions center on game difficulty settings, tournament format critiques (10 games instead of 12, game selection inequities for lower seeds), the strength of Stern's recent game releases (Deadpool, Munsters, Beatles), and insights from George Gomez on design philosophy and player collaboration. Andy Rosa wins the event after a 13+ hour grind.

Key Claims

  • Stern opened 2018 with Iron Maiden as a super-strong title, and Deadpool was expected to be 'filler' but Stern pushed back on that expectation

    high confidence · George Gomez, discussing 2018 releases: 'And originally everybody was like, yeah, okay, well, Maiden's so strong, Deadpool's going to be filler. And I was like, yeah, over my dead body.'

  • The Stern Pro Circuit games were configured with significantly increased difficulty: out lane posts removed, rubbers removed, settings set to hard, and Herman in Munsters set to require 7 shots instead of 2 to start multiball

    high confidence · Python Anghelo: 'out lane post removed, rubber's removed, settings to hard, so nothing's free. Settings hard. If you're playing Munsters, you know how Herman normally has two shots to start multiball? Yeah. It's seven.'

  • There were 10 games in the 2019 circuit compared to 12 in 2018, reducing game selection for lower-seeded players

    high confidence · Colin Urban and Jeff Lee discussion: 'And last year there were 12 games, so there was a little more of a selection. There were only 10 games here this year.'

  • George Gomez worked with world-class players including Zach (Sharp), Keith (Elwin), and Tim to inform game design decisions

    high confidence · George Gomez: 'And so, you know, it was easy from that perspective... And I mean, nine Beatles songs? Come on. I mean, how do you not succeed with that?... That's something different that we've seen over the last year, year and a half with Stern.'

  • Beatles was originally conceived as reworking Seawitch but evolved into a completely new game; no posts are in the same place despite starting from Mike Kubin's Seawitch layout

    high confidence · George Gomez: 'I clearly started with Seawitch, but if you took the two play field layouts and you put them on top of each other, there isn't a single post in the same place.'

  • Keith Elwin, Zach Parks, and other top seeds lost in the first round despite their seeding advantage

    high confidence · Phil Birnbaum: 'Did I see Steven Bowden maybe? Zach Sharpe, his second time out in the Stern Pro Circuit in the first round.'

Notable Quotes

  • “With 40 of the best players here, so I guess you've got to make it difficult or would we be here for days and days? You could be here a little longer, but I think they're a little bit harder than what they should be.”

    Python Anghelo @ early in episode — Critiques the extreme difficulty settings of the tournament machines; reflects broader tension between preventing long gameplay vs. maintaining fair play

  • “I mean, pinball is tough in general when you take off the ball saves and you make the games a little harder. You know, what I've noticed is that a lot of the games are either hit or miss.”

    Phil Birnbaum @ mid-episode — Observes that extreme difficulty settings create feast-or-famine scoring dynamics, making tournament outcomes volatile

  • “Yeah, the game's definitely tough. The setup's nice. I like the location. I like the room. It's got a good feel to it. But yeah, the game's playing tough.”

    Python Anghelo @ early — Balances appreciation for event logistics with criticism of game difficulty tuning

  • “Over my dead body. So over my dead body it's going to be filler.”

    George Gomez @ late-episode — Expresses conviction that Deadpool would be a strong title, rejecting industry expectations that it would underperform Iron Maiden

  • “You know what? It's tough with all these players, and one thing that I think, in fairness to you, Colin, the difficulty that you had today, you were the 10th seed. You did not get to pick a game.”

    Jeff Lee @ mid-episode — Highlights format inequity: lowest seeds have no game selection and face the same grueling lineup

  • “When Lyman and I sat down to talk about what we were going to do, originally we talked about trying to refresh the original Dark Knight play field that we did. And we said, you know, we weren't really happy with the left side of the game. So it started out as we're going to refresh the left side of the game. And before you knew it, we built a whole new game.”

    George Gomez @ late-episode — Reveals design evolution of Batman 66, showing how iterative design philosophy led to a complete redesign

Entities

Jeff LeepersonGeorge GomezpersonKeith ElwinpersonZach SharpepersonPython AnghelopersonColin UrbanpersonAndy Rosaperson

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Multiple players and organizers discussed tournament format issues: reduction from 12 to 10 games disadvantaged lower seeds; lack of game selection for 8th/9th/10th seeds; suggestion to mandate at least one classic and one modern per group

    high · Colin Urban, Phil Birnbaum, and Jeff Teoles extensively debated format; Colin played only Cheetah, Ali, Stars four times with no modern games

  • ?

    product_concern: Extreme difficulty settings at tournament (removed outposts/rubbers, hard settings, extreme shot requirements) led to criticism that games were too hard even for elite players; concerns this was overdone compared to Deadpool Pro settings

    high · Carl D'Python Anghelo: 'Deadpool is more factory, and it's playing longer, so you can make the other games play a little longer and still make it fair'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: George Gomez detailed design process for Batman 66 and Beatles; both games went through extensive iteration informed by player feedback and classic game analysis

    high · George Gomez: Batman 66 started as left-side refresh but became a full redesign; Beatles reworked Sea Witch with zero overlapping post placement

  • ?

    design_philosophy: George Gomez emphasized collaborative design with world-class players (Zach Sharp, Keith Elwin, Tim); also noted Stern maintains deep bench of excellent non-tournament players; philosophy balances respect for classic games with modernization

    high · George Gomez: 'it's nice to have young and old and guys of all different levels in terms of player skill contributing to the design of the games'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.096

0:00
It's time now for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teoles. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. It was a treat to spend some time in Chicago at Bottom Lounge for the Stern Pro Circuit. 40 of the best circuit players from 2018 gathered for this special invite-only event. So many of your favorite players were there and great machines from Stern. Here's what some of the participants had to say. Carl D'Angelo made the trip from California along with Jim Balcido here at the Stern Pro Circuit at Bottom Lounge in Chicago. What do you think of the setup and the game so far? Yeah, the game's definitely tough. The setup's nice. I like the location. I like the room. It's got a good feel to it. But yeah, the game's playing tough. out lane post removed, rubber's removed, settings to hard, so nothing's free. Settings hard. If you're playing Munsters, you know how Herman normally has two shots to start multi-ball? Yeah. It's seven. Wow. Yeah, I didn't play it yet. Glad I haven't had to yet. I saw even on Iron Maiden, aces high. You're like, okay, I got some relief. I'm in a multi-ball. Two second ball save. Yeah, and then your ball's gone instantly just about. Outposts are gone. I mean, you've got 40 of the best players here, so I guess you've got to make it difficult or would we be here for days and days? You could be here a little longer, but I think they're a little bit harder than what they should be. I mean, Deadpool is more factory, and it's playing longer, so you can make the other games play a little longer and still make it fair. This is coming from a guy. I played some of your games at InDisc, all right? All right, all right. Here it comes. Yeah, yeah. Some of them are a little tight. What was that, RoboWar with the gate gone? All right, all right. So you want to get the games from... It's a different format. So this is a finals-based format. I prefer longer playing games. With the qualifying, you need to shorten that game time down to three to four minutes. And RoboWar, without that game, is lasting 10, 15 minutes per game. Yes, there are only 10 games here. Last year there were 12, and unfortunately with 10, the bus drivers get to pick the first game. Well, when you're in Group 10, like, oh, I don't know, myself, you get whatever is left over. Thus, the cheetah, back-to-back games. Have you had to play that masterpiece yet? No, I warmed up on it, but no. It's great. I actually like Chita a lot, but it's just very, very difficult. I mean, I saw Alberto try to hit the top drop targets to get his multipliers going. As he said, you need a bazooka to knock those things down. To get them down? You go for the right instead. That's not a bad idea. Why didn't you tell me that before I got a 0-1-1? Why didn't you come to me? All right, next time. Thanks very much, Carl. Yeah, welcome, Jeff. Trent Augustine once again at the Stern Pro Circuit. Last year, the number one seed, I know, because he smoked me along with Bo and Karen. He fell in advance. How are you doing this year? Doing well so far. I think I'm going to make it through the first round. It is really tough. You know, I think of you last year. You were the number one seed. There really wasn't much of an advantage because you had to get through two tough rounds. Then it gets a lot easier because then you go through the ladder. But the first two rounds are really tough in this format. They are. They're very tough.

Andy Rosa won the 2019 Stern Pro Circuit after a 13+ hour tournament, drinking large amounts of water but not using other energy supplements

high confidence · Andy Rosa post-win interview: 'Honestly, I still have energy... No, just drinking a lot of water. I've drank so much water today, it's ridiculous.'

  • Munsters was selling very well and new code was coming out, with Deadpool premiums rolling out of the Stern factory

    high confidence · Trent Augustine discussing inventory: 'Munsters has been selling very well... I saw you at the Stern Factory on Friday, and they were rolling a bunch of Deadpool premiums out, so Deadpool has been doing really well.'

  • The Heads Up Challenge evolved from three games to five games and now uses live match play bracket management instead of pen-and-paper scoring

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe: 'The first three times it's been done, it was three games. We have five games now... Now that it's all through match play, it's not pen and paper.'

  • 2019 was expected to be an even stronger year than 2018 for Stern, with Munsters as a strong release and unspecified titles with Golden Girls IP

    medium confidence · George Gomez teasing 2019: 'I did see Betty White voicing some Golden Girl lines. I won't say any more, George.'

  • “I mean, we had world-class players before, right? We had guys like Lyman, right? And we have a lot of guys that are incredibly good players. They just don't play in tournaments, so no one knows who they are.”

    George Gomez @ late-episode — Contextualizes the hire of tournament stars, noting Stern always had excellent players but tournament visibility was new

  • “That game was the difference between 15th and fourth place. That was probably like a $400 ball of Iron Maiden.”

    Jeff Lee @ mid-episode — Illustrates the high variance and stakes of tournament play; a single ball can swing a player's placement significantly

  • “I was shocked. But, you know, after that tournament, it's just like, it's hard to do something like that again.”

    Colin Urban @ mid-episode — Reflects on winning InDisc and the difficulty of repeating tournament success; illustrates competitive depth

  • “Honestly, I still have energy, which I'm really shocked at that. I don't know how, but I do for some reason.”

    Andy Rosa @ end of episode — Winner's reflection after 13+ hour grind; shows physical toll of competitive pinball tournaments

    • Phil Birnbaum
    person
    Trent Augustineperson
    Raymond Davidsonperson
    Alex Harmonperson
    Justin Robertsperson
    Paul Karrasperson
    Josh Sharpperson
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Bottom Loungevenue
    Stern Pro Circuitevent
    Iron Maidengame
    Deadpoolgame
    Munstersgame
    Beatlesgame
    Batman 66game
    Pinball at the Zooevent
    Heads Up Challengeevent

    business_signal: Trent Augustine reported strong 2018 sales: Munsters selling very well, Deadpool rolling out premiums at factory, Devil Pro earning very well; Stern had excellent year overall

    high · Trent Augustine: 'Munsters has been selling very well... Deadpool has been doing well... Devil Pro's doing great, earning very, very well... It's been a great year for Stern'

  • ?

    product_strategy: George Gomez explicitly rejected industry expectation that Deadpool would be 'filler' behind Iron Maiden; Stern intentionally positioned both as strong titles with Deadpool and Beatles bookending 2018

    high · George Gomez: 'originally everybody was like, yeah, okay, well, Maiden's so strong, Deadpool's going to be filler. And I was like, yeah, over my dead body'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: George Gomez indicated Stern's design studio and development staff expanded as business grew; brought in younger talent and world-class tournament players like Zach Sharp, Keith Elwin

    high · George Gomez: 'we grow on the strength of our business. As the business has grown, we've managed to grow the development staff... it's nice to have young and old'

  • ?

    community_signal: Justin Roberts (musician) integrated into pinball community; musician fanbase attending pinball events; pinball players watching live performances; shows community growth beyond core pinball demographic

    high · Elisa Parks told Jeff that her son Zach Parks (now top 40 player) attended Justin Roberts concerts; Justin planning to buy Monster Bash

  • ?

    competitive_signal: High-seeded elite players (Keith Elwin, Zach Sharp, Zach Parks) lost in first round; tournament outcome highly variable; single ball swings could determine 15+ place difference

    high · Jeff Teoles: 'That game was the difference between 15th and fourth place. That was probably like a $400 ball of Iron Maiden'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: George Gomez hinted at Golden Girls pinball machine for 2019; mentioned seeing 'Betty White voicing some Golden Girl lines' but refused to confirm

    medium · George Gomez cryptic teaser: 'I did see Betty White voicing some Golden Girl lines. I won't say any more, George.'

  • ?

    event_signal: Heads Up Challenge evolved from three-game format to five-game format; shifted from pen-and-paper scoring to live match play bracket management (likely Excel-based); improved tournament efficiency

    high · Zach Sharp: 'The first three times it's been done, it was three games. We have five games now... Now that it's all through match play, it's not pen and paper'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Stern Pro Circuit grew from first year (2018) to second year (2019) with expanded Heads Up Challenge; Bottom Lounge venue managing large crowds; event attracting non-pinball enthusiasts

    high · Zach Sharp: 'improvement and getting bigger, better every year'; George Gomez: 'so many of these people are not even pinball people, but they're going to be after tonight'

    • 3:16
    The advantage you do have is you get to pick game. But, you know, everybody from six on down doesn't have a lot of choice when choosing games. Now, last year, when you do pick, which you are also doing this year, do you pick based on your strengths or, depending on the score, maybe the weaknesses of others? Both. A little bit of both? Oh, yeah. Okay. Take everything into consideration. And the lineup this year compared to last year, it's a little different. You've got less classics. Last year, in fact, the first round, you picked all classic games. Right. I think so. So what do you think? Do you like the mix this year, or do you think it should be maybe 50-50? Well, that doesn't matter to me. I mean, the circuit event really, you know, it's qualifying on all games of all types. What do you think of some of the newer games? I know you're doing really well with Tilt Amusements. I assume Munsters is selling very well. Munsters has been selling very well. A lot of fun. The new code coming out is going to be a blast. I saw you at the Stern Factory on Friday, and they were rolling a bunch of Deadpool premiums out, so Deadpool has been doing really well. Deadpool has been doing well. Yeah, very well. We just did some premiums up there. Devil Pro's doing great, earning very, very well. And the new code for that's also a blast. It's got to be good for you at Tilt Amusements, but it's been a great year for Stern, and we're seeing it here today. It's actually been a great year for just about everybody in the point-of-amusement industry. Everything's been doing well. And I have a feeling 2019 will even be better. So far, so good. Okay, Trent, thanks. Thank you. Here with a couple of guys across the street in the dining lounge, as we like to call it here at the Stern Pro Circuit, and I'm with Paul Karras, who made his first trip to the dance. I was in your spot last year, last person to get in, and good experience, though, right? Good experience. I wish I got a point. I wasn't going to say anything. We could have just missed, and we would have won. Right, right, right. It's on the stream, so I can't hide from it. Pretty embarrassing, but I'm happy to be here. But look at the quality of players you played. I mean, all 40 are fantastic. Right, yeah. There's no denying the level of skill here at the finals. And we're recording this Saturday, so I assume you're going to blow it up the Heads Up Challenge. That's why you came. Yeah, that's the real reason I'm here. All right, thanks very much, and thanks for the G Fuel. Thank you, man. Phil Birnbaum, he advanced to the next round. I know because I helped him because he was in my group. But I'm not surprised. One of the best players, and certainly with the Classics lineup that we had to play with Stars and Ali and Cheetah. Phil is an expert when it comes to that. Did you have fun? I did. It's your first time at the Stern Pro Center. It certainly is. it's a bit of a ways to go for some people for maybe four games. So I guess you, unlike Paul and myself, realize I'm going to make it worth my while. I get to play eight games today. We don't know what's going to happen in round two, but, I mean, some heavyweights lost in the first round. Keith Elwin was out. Who else? Did I see Steve Bowden maybe? Zach Sharp, his second time out in the Stern Pro Circuit in the first round. Yep. The games are tough. Let's be honest about that. I was talking to Carl D'Angelo before. I mean, you expect that in this turn pro circuit and definitely with the Papa games that we know. We don't want to be here all day, but, I mean, you really have to be sharp on these games. Yeah, I mean, pinball is tough in general when you take off the ball saves and you make the games a little harder. You know, what I've noticed is that a lot of the games are either hit or miss. I mean, you've got guys blowing it up and getting billion on Guardians of the Galaxy, and at the same time you've got somebody getting, you know, four million on Iron Maiden. So it seems like it's feast or famine. Keith Elwin got eight million on Maiden on his first game, and I think that just kind of set him back. I mean, do you expect that ever to happen? It happens to everyone, right? I mean, it's random and sometimes you just have a bad game and you've got to deal with it. All right, well, have a good one in round two. Thank you. I will try. Have four. Thank you. Appreciate it.
    6:54
    Another person advancing into round two from Michigan, Alex Harmon, who's getting ready for his own little tournament, but first here at the Stern Pro Circuit. It's tough to get through the second round and you're one of the lucky 20. Yeah, especially when you're one of the bottom groups. I was playing Ali and Stars. I was just happy to get through playing good people. Who was in your group? It was Louis Bevins, Chris Basler, and Fred Richardson. Yeah, they're all great players. I mean, that's what you get when you come to this. Well, let's talk about your big tournament coming up, also part of the Stern Pro Circuit, Pinball at the Zoo in Kalamazoo, Michigan. You've got to be excited for that in April. I'm pumped for it. We're on the circuit again. We were on the circuit a couple years ago.
    7:32
    It's April 25th through the 27th. Last weekend in April, yeah. Great facility too. And tell us what you're gonna see there. What kind of tournaments are going on? Yeah, so we have four tournaments. Two tournaments running all weekend and two free dailies. So it's a lot of IFPA tournament points, a lot of Stern Circuit points. Come out and have fun. Dollar a game it real cheap to play It all for charity so we try to do it for a good cause You did that for charity last year and I think that great That very unique in today tournament scene but that's good on you for giving back to the community. We just like the vibe that happens when you run a charity tournament, and I think it's important to have at least one stop on the circuit via charity tournament. So we're happy we're the one. And that'll be pinball at the zoo. Alex Harmon, thanks very much. Good luck in April. Thank you, Jeff. I'm with Colin Urban here at the Stern Pro Circuit. We were in the same group in the first group, and we're watching group two now. Yes, we are. We're around two, aren't we, buddy? We are. You know what? It's tough with all these players, and I want to give you credit for what you've done already this year. Yeah. You won IndyS, which is incredible. Tell us about that. Yeah, you know, that was one of the largest tournaments in California, if not the biggest. And going into the final round, you know, I was just happy to make it to the final four again for two years in a row. I was super happy about that. And then the last game was on Iron Maiden, and the only way for me to win was for me to get first and for Jim to get last. And that's exactly what happened. Everything went perfect.
    9:09
    An amazing ball won, probably my best ball won I've ever had in a pinball tournament. And then it kind of all fell in place, and then I ended up winning. I was shocked. But, you know, after that tournament, it's just like, it's hard to do something like that again. So, you know, I'm bummed about today, but it's like, I've already had a good start to the year. You've already won some big tournaments in your short career. You're a young man. What are you, 16 now? 16, yeah. And I don't know where that Indus tournament ranks. Pretty high. As far as your favorite win, would it be number one?
    9:47
    Yeah, it's probably up there. I don't know if it's number one, but it's definitely top three, top five. City champs, pretty impressive. Yeah, I would probably say that's my favorite, just because it's my first big circuit event win, and it's always going to be there. And let's not forget what you did last year at the Stern Pro Circuit, the first time it was at Bottom Lounge. You made it to the finals with Josh Sharp. Josh wound up winning, but it makes you appreciate how difficult this tournament is with the ladder match. It is. Getting out of the first couple of rounds, it means nothing. And the one thing that I think, in fairness to you, Colin, the difficulty that you had today, you were the 10th seed. You did not get to pick a game. You had games picked for you, which is very unfortunate as the bus driver. Yeah, you know, I really don't like that part of the format just because it's, you know, for being the top 10, you should be able to have a good choice of games, not being forced to play a game. I mean, sure, you get position, but I feel like this would be a little bit of a rule-tweaking, because I would have loved to play some of the more modern games, but I was forced to play the same classics over and over. We played Cheetah, Cheetah, Ollie, and Stars, and that's it. So not one new game for you, Colin. I know. And last year there were 12 games, so there was a little more of a selection. There were only 10 games here this year, and maybe, hopefully, fingers crossed, there'll be 12 next year to give that person, like yourself, intent, even 8th, 9th, at least an option of a few games. Right. Yeah, and this year there's a lot more modern games, too. Last year there were four or five moderns. There were seven moderns, but there were five classics. So seven this year, but it doesn't mean anything to those players in the 8th, 9th, 10th group. Yeah, you know, I think the way they should do it is, you know, each group should have to play, you know, a classic. Every group should have to play a modern just to mix it up. That's interesting. No one suggested that, but with four games, that's not a bad idea. Right, right. And I think a 4-2-1-0 scoring across four games is fine. I think that's cool. But I think forcing people that just play all the brand-new games, oh, by the way, you have to play Ali, you have to play Stars at some point. I think that would be an interesting strategy. Well, I'm going to close this interview right now. But since both you and I got booted out of round one, let's sit down and figure out how to make this tournament better and really how we can advance. That's what really comes down to it. That's what matters. Paul, thanks very much. Yeah. Thank you. Year two of the Stern Pro Circuit, again at Bottom Lounge, and one of the guys to bring this together is Zach Sharp, Director of Marketing. I want to give you kudos, not for your play, because you've exited in the first round two years in a row, like yours truly, but the event itself, the circuit, the 20 events that lead up to this big day. Zach, congratulations. Thank you. It's actually the first Stern Pro Circuit. Last year it was still pop. I thought it was the Stern Pro Circuit last year. Oh, Stern helped run it. I have a shirt that says Stern on it last year. Are you sure? The yellow shirt? It says it, but it was legitimately the Papa Circuit final. So you lost in the Papa Circuit and in the Stern Pro Circuit. Correct. What will it be changed next year so you can make it a trifecta of losing? Stay tuned.
    12:57
    Hey, but I won the belt the year before that. All right. So there you go. And let's get your brother did well last year. He did. There's no sharp three feet, unfortunately. The nice thing about you and your brother exiting in the Stern Pro Circuit this year is the split is nice and easy, 50-50. It is easy. IRS thanks us. Yes, that and baby diapers have been changed back at Josh's help. I actually saw Benson here earlier. You did? Yeah. He'll be here tomorrow as well. Tomorrow is the Heads Up Challenge. Now, that's a big event. And, again, open to anybody. If you ever are in the Chicago area and you see it's coming, do it because it's a great time. You've got a three-strikes tournament, and we've got five different machines, the latest from Stern. You've got to be excited about the Heads Up Challenge, but it's just not something you can do anywhere, is it? No. I mean, you need multiple versions of games and the space to run it. So it's nice to have that piggyback the Stern Pro Circuit because it gives players who are out here, they're not traveling for one event. Like me, four games and you're done. Yourself, four games and you're done two years in a row. Your drive home is a little easier than mine, that's for sure. And I flew last year, which was crazy. But I'll tell you what about that heads-up challenge. And it's really evolved too because the first three times it's been done, it was three games. We have five games now. and a three-strike tournament. So you're actually going to be here for a lot longer. And again, what I love about it, again, the evolution of it, is I might not know how to execute the challenge, but you and the tournament directors tell the players before they start, here's the mission, here's how you do it. I love that. Oh, yeah. Hey, is it three strikes? I actually don't know the rules. It is. You've got a long day tomorrow, kid. Yeah, but we also save time because there's more machines, so more matches going on at the same time. And now that it's all through match play, it's not pen and paper. I didn't know the match play thing. It was Excel's French, you know. Josh is crooked Excel. It might have been Lotus even. It was the challenge where I'm updating and it's a live double elimination bracket. So that's going to save time.
    15:09
    Andreas, God bless you. The Great Dane does wonderful things here. He does. Boy, this tournament's nuts. I mean, I watched Belsito take a zero on his first two games in round one and then came back to win in a tiebreaker against your brother, against Zach Parks. This is where you really see some of the best players and the efforts from what they've done all year long. It's fantastic. Oh, yeah. I mean, and look at the crowd. All these people. I mean, so many of these people are not even pinball people, but they're going to be after tonight. For sure. And bottom lounge does a great job here. You've got to be proud with what you've done. It's really grown. Hey, that's the goal. improvement and getting bigger, better every year. All the best to you, Zach and Stern Pinball You done fantastic and I know 2019 is going to be a big big year Thank you sir I losing my voice I imagine my next guest is as well too because what an exciting Game 4 Round 2, to get into the elimination bracket. Raymond Davidson had to watch Robert Gagnon blow up Iron Maiden and you had to put up, oh, I don't know, 200 million on your last ball and you did it. I know. It was all in one mummy multi-ball, too. It just kept going and it kept adding more balls and getting jackpots and super jackpots. And I just, just like, it just never ended. It was, it was amazing. It's so funny watching Robert stage the ball and then getting his Luke jackpots. You had Luke going really well earlier in the game and then, whoops, you missed once, you missed late, there goes the left. It's gone. It's worth points, but it's just so dangerous. But I love going for it right off the bat because you saw that. I was in second place without really doing anything. Like, it was just Luke's, right? It wasn't until Robert put up a huge score that I had to start doing some other stuff. So I love going loops on that game. I think it's so much fun. But on ball three, that's when you probably should not go for loops anymore. Well, I saw that you did because you were nailing it. You had some big points. Yeah, during multi-ball I had one trapped up and just kept it going and going and going and got my jackpot and my super jackpot and my power jackpot for the win. Oh, that was sweet. It helps when that's trapped on the left flipper when you're trying to hit loop jackpots. Yeah. At some point, I just, the reason I went for the power jackpot with the left flipper is because I was not going to let go of the right ball. When I had the ball trapped on the right, I was not going to let it go because I had trooper lit. And I did not want to double drain. You know, I want to make sure I can get trooper. Raymond, let's talk about this format. Okay, so right now, going into this round, you were the top seed left, correct? Yes. He bowed out. So, in round one and in round two, you have to play just like schlubs like me and have to survive. Look at how tight it was in this one. And now, because it's in the final ten in the elimination, you're guaranteed the final four because you're going to be weak. It's crazy. It's like that game was the difference between 15th and fourth place. That was probably like a $400 ball of Iron Maiden. It was ridiculous. Well, there's a reason you're the number one player, Raymond. All the best in the final four here at the Stern Pro Circuit. Thank you so much, Jeff. Well, this is a treat as we're here at the Stern Pro Circuit Finals. George Gomez himself is here, and we're watching three of his games be blown up here. And fan favorites, too. Batman 66, we see the Beatles, and we see Deadpool. You've done very, very well in such a short period of time, over and above your amazing career. But, I mean, your recent titles here are absolutely fantastic. Thanks, George. Thanks. I mean, it was a ton of work to do those games, I'll tell you that right now. They are hard fought, but I'm very, very happy that people love them. I mean, it's really a joy for me to come here and see people enjoy the games. And that mech on Batman 66, no, you're laughing, but I know it's your masterpiece. It's so unique. It does so many different things. and you've got to be happy to see. You know, when Lyman and I sat down to talk about what we were going to do, originally we talked about trying to refresh the original Dark Knight play field that we did. And we said, you know, we weren't really happy with the left side of the game. So it started out as we're going to refresh the left side of the game. And before you knew it, we built a whole new game.
    19:32
    Well, let's move on to Beatles. I mean, that is a game. When I heard it was going to be like Sea Witch, okay, yeah, kind of. But it's a totally different game, and I've talked to a lot of the competitors here. We all love playing Beatles. So with that one, it was really funny to watch the reaction when we showed the photos because everybody said, oh, you just ripped off Sea Witch. No. And, you know, I mean, I clearly started with Sea Witch, but if you took the two play field layouts and you put them on top of each other, there isn't a single post in the same place. Yeah. So it is his layout. I mean, it is Mike Kubin's basic layout, and all I did was tweak a lot of things that are sort of taken for granted in our world today, right? I mean, like, you know, we take orbits for granted. Well, you know, when Mike did that game, orbits weren't that much of a big deal. George, on the original Sea Witch, I don't think I've ever made two consecutive loop shots. There you go. Whereas this, I enjoy going for the loops. Yep. And so it was a matter of trying to respect what he did so that it felt like a game from a different era, but at the same time modernize it so that we could play it and enjoy it. Because honestly, we had a Sea Witch. We had Keith's, Keith Ellen's personal Sea Witch in the studio. And I brought it in and we played it, played it. And then I got a hold of all the guys that were really familiar with the game. Zach and Keith and all these guys. And I said, okay, all right, so what did you hate about the game? And everybody was like, right away, I've got to be able to make that shot from lower flippers. And I've got to be able to do this, and I want to do that. So, I mean, it was easy from that perspective. And I mean, nine Beatles songs? Come on. I mean, how do you not succeed with that? For sure. Now, that's interesting. You talked about Zach and Keith and Tim. That's something different that we've seen over the last year, year and a half with Stern. and you've got three fantastic world-class players there. That's probably changed things, I would assume, a little bit for designers like yourself? Well, I mean, we had world-class players before, right? We had guys like Lyman, right? And we have a lot of guys that are incredibly good players. They just don't play in tournaments, so no one knows who they are. So we have guys like Mike Vinicore, who's like an amazing player, right? And so, but the magic is, you know, our company has always, you know, we've always been essentially self-funded. So we grow on the strength of our business. As the business has grown, we've managed to grow the development staff. My studio has grown. The software division is really good. Yeah, and I've grown every aspect of it. And I need to bring in some new blood because, let's face it, I mean, you know, I'm old. and 30 tops.
    22:18
    Oh, I wish. So, you know, it's nice to have young and old and guys of all different levels in terms of player skill contributing to the design of the games. And that's what we have right now. We have a really good buzz in the studio. I mean, if you haven't figured it out from the class, from the great games that we've been putting out.
    22:46
    We're having a great time. We're having a great time, and it's that confluence of skills and enthusiasm that's making these amazing games. I was just at the Stern Factory on Friday, spent a half an hour with Dwight Sullivan talking about games, and I'm looking at Deadpool right now. I did the factory tour, Deadpool Premium on the line, so that game's doing very well for you. Oh, yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I mean, we had a strong year, right? We opened with Maiden, super strong title. And originally everybody was like, yeah, okay, well, Maiden's so strong, Deadpool's going to be filler. And I was like, yeah, over my dead body.
    23:25
    So over my dead body it's going to be filler. So, you know, I mean, so I think and then, you know, we finished the year out with Beatles. It was a tough year for me because I was working on Deadpool and Beatles at the same time. So I was a bitch. But I'm very happy that we pushed through it. 2018 was a great year, and I've said this to Zach just recently, 2019 I think is even going to be better. Yeah, we've got some strong stuff. I mean you seen Munsters The next one is going to floor you And then there one after that You know I don want to say anything but I did see Betty White voicing some Golden Girl lines. I won't say any more, George. I don't want to put you on the spot. Thanks very much, George. Oh, you're welcome. The Stern Pro Circuit, he said he wanted to come. He is here. You just heard him on Pinball Profile. Justin Roberts is here from nearby in Chicago. What do you think of it so far, Justin? It's pretty amazing. Been having a great time. I'm glad you're here because we actually haven't met. We just connected on Twitter and certainly talked on the show, but I'm glad you made it out. And I think when we recorded that interview, you were talking about getting a game, and you're getting closer and closer. What's the game going to be, Justin? I'm 90% sure Monster Bash, but I'm not 100% there. Are you 100% sure you're getting a game? Yes, absolutely. So if Monster Bash isn't the game you get, my gut feeling is it might be the second or the third. See, this was the talk that made my wife, Anna, concerned, was the multiple game problem of getting a pinball machine. Because like I said before, she's seen my vinyl collection, so she's frightened of my collecting. Yeah, and pinball might take a little more space, might be a little more expensive. Right, exactly. But I think you're going to do very well with Monster Bash. I know you're a big AFM fan as well, too. Yes. Have you been watching some of the competition here? You're seeing the world's best. I have. I'm here with my friend Eric, who in high school, I think, won the state Minnesota tournament. And he and I have been watching and enjoying it. It is a lot of fun. So what's the latest for you? I know you're touring a lot and certainly playing with the not-ready-for-nap-time players. Yeah, we're actually playing a concert tomorrow in Evanston, Illinois in the morning. And it's an all-request show. And one of the requests is Ghostbusters. Oh, nice. Very, very cool. Did you have to learn it or did you just know it? We know it because I also play in an 80s cover band with the same two members. Hold on a second. Now, when you say an 80s cover band, was it a Huey Lewis cover band? We have done Huey Lewis, but we do anything. It's the same thing. we do Devo we do anything written in the 80s like Replacements R.E.M. like Madonna you name it but it's three it's guitar, bass and drums and a keyboard that is used very sparely so it's like minimalist 80s music we do hip hop we do anything like it's just gotta be written in the 80s I like it a lot I think that's gonna be great and we're called part time lovers after the absolutely terrible Stevie Wonder song so as long as you stay away like Bruce Willis cover songs. We haven't done that yet. No Bruno? Not yet.
    26:44
    You know what? Some of the players here came up to me and said, I heard that interview you did on Pinball Profile with Justin Roberts. Her name was Elisa Parks, and she said, I love that so much. It touched my heart because I used to take my son, Zach, to your concerts. She knew about Willie Was a Whale, and in fact, Zach Parks, that person that you used to sing to, is one of the top 40 players here in Stern Pro Circuit. No way! That's the best. Oh, my gosh. So I have my headphones on. Who knows? Maybe they're listening to Justin Roberts. You don't know.
    27:18
    Anyway, great to finally meet you. Great to meet you. Thank you for coming out, and let's go play some pinball. Sounds great. It finally happened. Andy Rosa is our winner in 2019 at the Stern Pro Circuit, and what a long, grinding effort to get here. 13-plus hours. How are you feeling, buddy? Honestly, I still have energy, which I'm really shocked at that. I don't know how, but I do for some reason. Well, it's adrenaline right now running in. I mean, I know at times people are getting tired. I don't know, were you Red Bulling it or anything? No, just drinking a lot of water. I've drank so much water today, it's ridiculous.
    27:54
    And you know what? I mentioned earlier on the stream, if Halogen isn't a sponsor of you personally, they darn well should be because that headlight worked like a charm. and it's something I really am impressed with too. Tell us why you chose to use the headlight on the forehead. I started probably using it the past couple of years. All of a sudden my game got better. I'm like, maybe I'm not seeing things right, and I just started doing it. But it wasn't on all games because I noticed on Guardians it was off. You know, I think because it was bright enough on Guardians, I actually forgot to turn it on. Okay, okay. Yeah. But, I mean, you've played so many different games with Alex Harmon. It came down to two great Michigan players, and I know Alex is a good buddy of yours. You're a big supporter of his pinball bazoo coming up in April. It's nice for you probably, if one of us had to win, it was going to be one of us from Michigan, correct? Right. I honestly thought he was going to take me. He won the Michigan State Championship. He's been on fire. And I've watched him. I met him a few years ago, and he has got so great, so quick. He's really good.
    28:56
    And two, how special was it that you were here with your son, Alex is here, with his father watching right but phil's a great player the left officer both in the right turn pro circuit it's kind of nice to see these generations of pinball and here you are a victor too showing probably andy jr hey the old man still got something in the tank right it feels good for the older guys to win sometimes and the game selection too i mean for those who watch on the stream take a look at it because andy had to come back after losing game one and it's the best two out of three. I know you were disappointed after that first game, but you know what? That last game is so difficult to win, and it came down to Beatles and Star Wars, which you were victorious in. Right. It's tough, and I mean, I'm not that good at Iron Man. Unfortunately, I really need to play that game a lot more. Or Iron Maiden, I'm sorry. It is a fantastic machine, obviously. I just need to learn it with the code.
    29:49
    Beatles, I love that game, and Star Wars is so fast. That game was tough. That was exciting. And you went Leia, which we were So, noticing on the stream, Jack Danger has been praising Leia. What made you choose Leia versus R2-D2, which most players were picking? I have to give a shout-out to Evan Bingham because he messaged me and he said, look, for your last game, pick it. Trust me. I just said, okay. And just like that. Yeah. With $2,500 on the line with a new Stern pinball machine, and you did it just like that. I was thinking of it because I usually pick R2-D2 like you said, and you know those loop shots and stuff are tough. It's too tough. They're tough. They're too tough. So, on the tougher settings, maybe Leia is better. Maybe, right. So I tried it, and I rolled with it. I was kind of skeptical, but I just did it, and I'm shocked that it worked, but it did. It was awesome. Stern Pro Circuit Finals champion. How good does that sound? I'm still in shock. I can't even believe it. You've won a lot of big tournaments. Is this the biggest for you? I think so, especially just going nonstop from the get-go. And you got $2,500 and a new Stern pinball machine. Any game you're looking at? If they'll let me pick Batman, that's what I'm picking. Sure, why not? I'm all over it. That's what I want. Andy, best to you, all your fans in Flint, Michigan, too. Well played today. Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. Congratulations to Andy Rosa once again for winning the Stern Pro Circuit, a huge prize with the new Stern machine and $2,500. Alex Harmon coming in second place. Also want to shout out to Nick Zendayos, who the next day won the Heads Up Challenge. It came down between him and Kaylee George. Kaylee had to get by Escher Lefkoff in the semifinals, and Nick Zendayos, your winner of a new Stern pinball machine. It was a lot of fun, and I highly recommend for you to seek out the next Stern Pro Circuit event. This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Jeff Teolas.
    31:52
    We'll see you next week.