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The Pinball Show Ep 90: Upcoming Stern Toppers, 2022 JJP/Spooky Games, & INDISCeivable!

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 10m·held·Feb 7, 2022
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Stern Rush QC issues, topper hype, JJP Toy Story speculation, and 2022 production schedule details.

Summary

Episode 90 of The The The Pinball Show covers Stern's Rush production updates and quality control issues with center scoop wear, upcoming Stern topper announcements (Godzilla, Mandalorian, Rush), Jersey Jack's anticipated Toy Story announcement at Texas Pinball Festival in March, Spooky and American Pinball personnel/game announcements, multiple code updates for Munsters and Rush, and detailed Q1/Q2 production schedules showing Godzilla and Mandalorian receiving May/June additional runs due to backorder demand.

Key Claims

  • Rush (Pro) machines have quality control issues with center scoop wear, clear coat cracking, and flimsy scoop shrouds that warp easily when hit

    high confidence · Craig Bobby (Stern News correspondent) and host Zach Minney both confirm QC issues from early production runs

  • Stern is aware of Rush scoop protector issue and is developing a permanent fix; warranties on submitted protectors will be fulfilled

    high confidence · Zach Minney reports direct communication with Stern Engineering Service Department

  • Mandalorian Topper design is complete and near announcement; the topper alone will be compelling enough to sell Mandalorian machines

    high confidence · Host Zach Minney provides insider confirmation with specific prediction about sales impact

  • Godzilla, Mandalorian, and Rush toppers will be announced in coming weeks; Godzilla topper will likely feature more dynamic/interactive elements than standard Stern toppers

    high confidence · Host Zach Minney with detailed topper roadmap based on insider sources

  • Stern may distribute toppers via allotment system, limiting dealer ordering even for large orders, and could implement limited runs

    medium confidence · Host Zach Minney speculating based on past Stern practices with collectible accessories

  • Jersey Jack Pinball will announce a game at Texas Pinball Festival in March; Toy Story has been rumored for a long time but it could be a different IP

    medium confidence · Ken Rudberg (Jersey Jack correspondent) notes uncertainty despite strong expectation; previous licenses (Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, Guns N' Roses) shipped first

  • American Pinball hired Barry Osler as game designer (40+ years experience, designed 40+ games including Comet, Pinbot, Space Station) and Barry Engler as senior production manager

    high confidence · Brian Kossner (American Pinball correspondent) with complete personnel announcement

  • Stern Pinball production started shipping end of this week into mid-next week with multiple units rolling out over following weeks

Notable Quotes

  • “If you do not own the Mandalorian Pinball Machine, and if you enjoy and like pinball toppers, very soon you will own the Mandalorian Pinball Machine because you will own this Mandalorian Topper. Remember I said this. Mandalorian Topper will sell games.”

    Zach Minney @ ~48:00 — Strong insider prediction about topper-driven machine sales, unprecedented accessory-driven demand

  • “Not so fast as the Cliffy Scoop Protector doesn't match the beveled edge of the scoop shot, which leads to a gap between the playfield edge and the Cliffy Protector, my god, which then leads to the Protector eventually failing as well.”

    Craig Bobby @ ~12:30 — Details of Rush Pro quality control failure showing standard aftermarket solutions don't work

  • “Stern Pinball has fleshed out their production schedule a bit more for Q2 now. We just had Q1 allotments and such. We now have details on the Q2 runs. Stern understands how many Godzillas are on backorder right now.”

    Zach Minney @ ~55:00 — Signals massive demand for Godzilla; Stern responding with additional production capacity

  • “The one thing that keeps me up at night, the frustration, you guys know it, but it's just not being able to fulfill day one orders as fast and quick as possible. It truly cuts me to the core, knowing that many of you have ordered and have waited and will continue to wait throughout the year.”

    Zach Minney @ ~58:00 — Reveals chronic dealer frustration with allocation constraints vs. demand; emotional impact on dealer-customer relationships

  • “There will be a price increase on Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium/LE) because right now I think technically the MSRP on an Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium/LE) is below that of a regular premium. And logically, guys, that doesn't make any sense.”

    Zach Minney @ ~75:00 — Explains market logic behind inevitable Elvira Premium price increase; demonstrates pricing structure tension

  • “Three code updates for Munsters now at V1.21, as the Munsters makes its way, proudly, proudly, onto the Stern Insider Connected Arena. I'm so happy for them.”

    Craig Bobby — Celebrates Munsters achieving Insider Connected status with rapid code iteration

Entities

Zach MinneypersonCraig BobbypersonKen RudbergpersonBarry OslerpersonBarry EnglerpersonEd RobertsonpersonDwight SullivanpersonDennis NordmanpersonStern Pinballcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Rush Pro machines experiencing premature wear, clear coat cracking, and warping of center scoop components in early production runs; aftermarket protectors don't fit properly

    high · Multiple sources (Craig Bobby, host Zach Minney, and dealer network) confirm center scoop shroud defects and protector compatibility issues; Stern Engineering acknowledging and developing fix

  • ?

    product_launch: Stern Godzilla accessories announced: interior art blades ($99.99 with $10 price bump), shooter rod ($179.99), armor ($289.99); topper announcement coming within weeks

    high · Host details all three accessory offerings with specific pricing and estimated shipping windows (week to 2-6 weeks)

  • $

    market_signal: Godzilla and Mandalorian experiencing backorder demand requiring additional production runs in Q2; dealer allotments remain small despite multiple runs

    high · Host cites backorder awareness driving Stern to add May Godzilla run alongside July run; host confirms even large dealers receiving very small allotments of what they order

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern implementing tiered MSRP increases: immediate small increase, January 1 larger increase on Pros/Premiums, and upcoming increase on Elvira Premium (likely $9,800-$10,000 range); unclear on final Elvira pricing

    high · Host details pricing timeline and logic; explains why Elvira Premium price must increase relative to new standard premium MSRP of $8,999

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Stern scaling production with multiple Q2 runs for Godzilla, Mandalorian, Rush, Avengers, and Jurassic Park; allotment system limiting dealer fulfillment despite manufacturing scale

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.210

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:11
The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. Hashtag real news on this week's episode of The Pinball Show. I've got for you the newest production updates from Stern Pinball, Details on the recently announced Godzilla accessories. News about the upcoming Stern Pinball topper reveals. New code updates. My take on owning Rush Pinball for the past couple of weeks. Jersey Jack Pinball's next game release and team member release. Having the brass to earn the glass. What's on deck for Spooky Pinball? In-Disc 2022. Steering you into the promised land with some wild-ass pinball market trends and a brand new pinball bounty. All of this and a whole lot more on episode 90.
1:05
Pinball is a game of skill. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle. It's time for the Pinball Show. It's pinball with personality. Welcome everyone to the award-winning pinball podcast, The Pinball Show. Woo-hoo! Gather around, take a seat, get settled in, because this week's episode is jam-packed with what you want the most, and that is hashtag real news. I'm your host, Zach Minney, and this is episode 90 of The Pinball Show, here exclusively on The Pinball Network. It's only one man, one mic this week, but that's okay. Last week's co-host David Dennis from Silverball Chronicles sullied this studio so badly that until we get it fumigated, I am embarrassed to have on a co-host. A lot going on this week. A lot of new stuff from Stern Pinball, the Indus competition, some news from Jersey Jack, and so on. We'll get to that here shortly, but first, many of you are like me and have been hit heavily with ice and snow covering much of the country here in the United States. Some of you live out of the country or live in igloos. I don't know what to tell you. And without putting you to sleep like Dennis and David did last week talking about the effect, I will say that this past week for me I've found an inverse correlation between ice and age. I don't know what the hell happened to me this last week, listener, but as I made my way outdoors to deliver pinball machines or to yell at my dogs barking at people, I have noticed that something substantially is different from my experiences of trekking through the ice last year. What I'm saying is you know you're getting old when you no longer feel comfortable and secure walking on anything slippery. I used to be like a damn cat. I was fine. I could do cartwheels on the ice. This year, I feel like great-grandpappy's hip just snapping by just the thought of ice. I fear now more than ever the consequences of a fall on ice Never had that worry before A couple nights ago I ventured out to my truck Prior to all this ice coming down I like how warm I can get in the cabin of that truck If I'm making a call or something So I get in there, everything was fine And like a half an hour later I go to get out And you know what happened I felt like my dad riding a one wheel My ass took one step, one step Maybe it's like an equilibrium balance kind of thing Maybe I'm getting top heavy But as soon as my sneaker touched that ice, my ass was down for the count. I didn't fall all the way. I am still fairly agile and flexible. I fell with grace, baby. Caught myself on the door handle. Drink went spilling everywhere in my hair. Some of you are laughing at me right now. And I agree. There's nothing funnier than seeing someone fall on ice. Is there? Maybe somebody accidentally farting. Maybe that tops it. But man, ice falls are great. But yeah, anymore I have as much aversion to ice as these kids nowadays have an aversion to people. Enough about me. You guys want to hear about all of the new things in pinball, and we're going to do so by kicking it over to the TPS correspondents. Let's see what you got, fellas. It's time for TPN Industry News.

high confidence · Host Zach Minney with production timeline from Stern factory schedule

  • Stern added May production run for Godzilla in addition to original July run due to significant backorder demand

    high confidence · Host Zach Minney citing Q2 production schedule update; host notes dealers still receiving very small allotments despite multiple runs

  • Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium/LE) will receive price increase (likely to $9,800-$10,000 range) when November production run occurs; run will not fulfill all dealer orders

    medium confidence · Host Zach Minney providing pricing speculation based on historical studio release pricing patterns and recent MSRP increases

    • @ ~22:00

  • “Stern Pinball has posted new Rush code as well, V.86 for the Pro models, as this code continues to be flushed out and contains numerous game enhancements, additional polish, game adjustments, and more like this.”

    Craig Bobby @ ~23:00 — Tracks Rush code maturation and ongoing refinement during early production phase

  • “All eyes are focused on the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival in March to see if the long-awaited Toy Story will be announced...depending on which new licenses Jersey Jack Pinball has been able to secure it's anyone's guess as to whether this will be Toy Story or something completely different”

    Ken Rudberg @ ~6:30 — Acknowledges JJP announcement expected but with genuine uncertainty about which IP will be revealed

    • Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    American Pinballcompany
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Rushgame
    Godzillagame
    Mandaloriangame
    Munstersgame
    Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Limited Editiongame
    Toy Storygame
    Flip N Out Pinballcompany
    Cliffy Protectorscompany
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Silverball Chroniclesorganization
    Loser Kid Pinball Podcastorganization
    Keith Elwinperson

    high · Detailed Q1/Q2 production schedule provided; host frustrated that even largest dealers getting small fraction of orders fulfilled

  • ?

    collector_signal: Pinball toppers becoming must-have collectible accessories driving game sales; Stern recognizing trend and designing toppers with interactive/coded elements to drive adoption

    high · Host predicts Mandalorian Topper alone will sell machines; host forecasts Stern will code features into future toppers similar to Jurassic Park/Avengers pattern

  • ?

    code_update: Munsters v1.21 released with three updates by Dwight Sullivan; game achieved Insider Connected status; Rush v0.86 released with game enhancements and polish

    high · Craig Bobby reports code updates and Munsters joining Insider Connected; host mentions Rush code continuing refinement cycle

  • ?

    personnel_signal: American Pinball hires Barry Osler (legendary designer, 40+ years, 40+ games) as game designer and Barry Engler as senior production manager (returning from JJP)

    high · Brian Kossner provides complete hiring announcement with Osler's extensive design history and Engler's prior JJP production experience

  • ?

    announcement: Stern announcing Godzilla, Mandalorian, and Rush toppers in coming weeks; Godzilla topper expected to feature more dynamic/interactive elements than past toppers

    high · Host provides insider roadmap with specific timing and design direction hints for each topper; Mandalorian described as complete and near-ready for announcement

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jersey Jack Pinball widely expected to announce Toy Story at Texas Pinball Festival in March 2022, but uncertainty remains about whether it could be different IP given previous license acquisition pattern

    medium · Ken Rudberg notes Toy Story rumored for long time but previous IPs (Wizard of Oz, Willy Wonka, Guns N' Roses) shipped first; genuine uncertainty about March announcement

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Star Wars and Mandalorian licensing issues preventing Insider Connected connectivity for Star Wars pinball machine; similar licensing constraints potentially affecting topper distribution

    medium · Host speculates Mandalorian topper Insider Connected delays mirror historical Star Wars R2-D2 topper licensing issues; notes Mandalorian topper complete but licensing may be shipping constraint

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Dealer-level frustration with Stern allotment system increasing; host expresses that fulfilling demand faster would reduce customer cancellations and improve dealer-customer relationships

    high · Host emotionally describes frustration keeping him up at night; acknowledges dealers facing customer anger over delayed deliveries and potential price increases

    • 4:26
    Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. Not too much to report this week, except that all eyes are focused on the upcoming Texas Pinball Festival in March to see if the long-awaited Toy Story will be announced. Jack and the team will all be there, so that's leading many to believe that there will be a new game announcement at that show. One thing to remember, though, is that Toy Story has been rumored for a very long time. The Wizard of Oz Yellow Brick Road Edition, Willy Wonka and Guns N' Roses have all been released in front of the rumored Toy Story and depending on which new licenses Jersey Jack Pinball has been able to secure it's anyone's guess as to whether this will be Toy Story or something completely different I'll be at the Texas Pinball Festival and make sure to stay on top of any Toy Story or other related Jersey Jack Pinball announcement and one other quick thing If anybody's looking for Wizard of Oz 2.0 light boards, it sounds like Jersey Jack is going to be doing another run that will be available soon, so email them to get put on the list if you're looking for one of those. For The Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg.
    5:42
    Hello and welcome to The Pinball Show's Stern News Update. I'm Craig Bobby. A busy production month for Stern in February, as the manufacturing juggernaut that is Stern Pinball continues to roll on as their initial run of Rush Pro Edition machines started up again after being slightly delayed earlier this month. Speaking of production, Stern released an exciting new behind-the-scenes video on social media this week highlighting their production efforts on their new Rush machine, which is quite something to see if you still haven't seen the amount of effort and time that goes into making these magical mystery machines. But don't look now, true believers. Yes, Houston, we may have a problem. It looks like there may be some quality control issues with the first run of Rush Pros, now that they're mostly done and in the hands of their eager buyers. You know the playbook on this one. Those machines that are built in the early production runs typically have an issue or two that needs to be ironed out. No one likes to see or hear this, but it is what it is. This particular QC issue relates to the scoop shot on Rush. Some Rush Pro owners are seeing premature wear and clear coat cracking around the lip of that scoop shot, and also with a flimsy scoop shroud that seems to warp and dent very easily when hit, on some of those new Rush Pros that have gone out. Which scoop shot you say? Well, sadly, both! Fix it with a couple Cliffy Protectors you say? Well, as seen in Kerry Hardy's recent YouTube video highlighting this issue, Not so fast as the Cliffy Scoop Protector doesn't match the beveled edge of the scoop shot, which leads to a gap between the playfield edge and the Cliffy Protector, my god, which then leads to the Protector eventually failing as well. What's the solution? Well, have no fear. Stern's Quality Control is aware of the issue and is coming up with a fix that should be a permanent solution. We shall have to wait and see. And continuing on with Rush, a shout out to the Loser Kid podcast for their excellent interview with Ed Robertson this week, the lead singer of the Barenaked Ladies, who was hired by Stern as an audio engineer and band liaison on the recent Machine Rush. Ed made his way this past week to the Stern factory to oversee some Rush LE assemblies that are starting to make their way through production now. Similar to what we've seen with the Guns N' Roses machine over at Rivals Jersey Jack Pinball, Ed's passion for pinball and the Rush music were an integral part of this new title, which has been translated to a much deeper and fuller theme experience while playing this game. So bravo to John Borg, Ed Robertson, Tim Sexton, Raymond Davidson, and the rest of Team Rush on this one. And speaking of Bravo, my God, the Munsters Owners Club just can't believe themselves as new code yet again, courtesy of programmer extraordinaire Dwight Sullivan with a code update hat trick. Hold on. Okay. Holy Spirit, activate. Oh, no. Holy Spirit, activate. Activate. All right, let's go. Yes, that's right. Three code updates for Munsters now at V1.21, as the Munsters makes its way, proudly, proudly, onto the Stern Insider Connected Arena. I'm so happy for them. Quickly back to Rush again, Stern Pinball has posted new Rush code as well, V.86 for the Pro models, as this code continues to be flushed out and contains numerous game enhancements, additional polish, game adjustments, and more like this. Well, that's all for this week for the Pinball Show. I'm Craig Bobby. catch you on the flip side hey this is Kaz with an update on American Pinball has announced the hiring of Barry Osler as game designer and Barry Engler as senior production manager Barry Osler has been designing games for more than 40 years since 1978 he last worked at Deep Root with Stephen Dowden and he's designed over 40 games including Comet Pinbot, Space Station Bram Stoker's Dracula Jackbot, Whodunit, Dirty Harry and Zach's favorite Popeye Saves the Earth Now Barry Engler is back at American Pinball after working at JJP for the last two years He previously managed things like the service and production departments I'm excited to see what Dennis Norman and Barry Osler are going to be doing at American Pinball I hope they can capture some of the magic that made the 80's and 90's Valley Williams games so much fun I hope everybody has a great week and has fun playing pinball For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Kossner.
    10:49
    The Godzilla Interior Art Blades, the Shooter Rod, and the Armor. Now, the Godzilla Interior Art Blades look fantastic. We've seen a bump in the price from $89.99 to $99.99 plus shipping, and they're going to be available shortly. They should be shipping out like this week or maybe next. Those are kind of in stock, ready to roll, I've been told. The Godzilla Shooter Rod features the same shaped knob, don't laugh, as Avengers Infinity Quest and Jurassic Park. Kind of that, what is that, an opal, like an egg-like thing? Yeah, it resembles an egg. Looks spectacular. Didn't light up or anything. Just looks solid. The price for that accessory is $179.99 plus shipping. So about the same price as the Jurassic Park and Avengers. The Godzilla armor, really nice die-cut design here showing off King Ghidorah, the three-headed dragon-looking creature thing. I kind of like the shape of this armor set. Really well done. It's not just a sharp cut or anything like that. It is wavy. It goes well with the artwork. That is priced at $289.99 plus shipping. Oof, a little pricey there. Got to have it, though. All in all, I think all three of those accessories look fantastic. I'm going to have to buy the shooter rod for my LE. Many of you with the pro and premium out there are probably looking at buying the trio there. But shipment of the shooter rod and the armor, I would guess, I was talking to Stern. They said, you know, those are going to be out shortly, but the art blades are the ones that are kind of ready to roll now. I'd guess two to six weeks. But put your order in now, though. And yes, for those of you wondering about the Godzilla topper, fear not. We're actually going to be seeing an announcement of the design, the availability, and the pricing in the coming weeks. It's getting close. They're done with it. Speaking of the greatest and the must-have accessory of all time, the pinball topper, other Stern toppers that have yet to be released, that is, Mandalorian topper and Rush topper, should be announced in the coming weeks as well. I'm being told they are getting very close. But announcement is one thing. Shipping is a whole other thing. So just kind of temper your excitement and boost your patience. And more news rolling in here at the Pinball Show. Stern Pinball is now very, very much aware of how much we love pinball toppers. You're welcome. It's not the vid. It's just ice cold. Winter's coming. So much so that I think you're going to see Stern Pinball developing and designing toppers in the future for these titles that very much are interactive. Very much are collectible. very much have things in them that maybe the collector or the pinball player without said topper will not have. Do I think they're going to code more stuff into these toppers as they have with Jurassic Park or with Avengers? Yes. Yes, that's the answer. Yes. To what extent? I don't know, but that's coming. With this big booming trend of pinball toppers over the last year, they now recognize how important of an accessory that this niche little collector community places on them. I don't know what Godzilla topper looks like. I don't. If history repeats itself, we know that Keith Elwin designed games Jurassic Park, Iron Maiden. They all had toppers that they looked great. No real moving parts. We had some molding on the Iron Maiden Aces High topper. Other than that, just kind of your silhouette standard stern topper. Some interactivity, some coded features. I think Godzilla is going to be a lot more of that. but I think you're going to see something maybe a little different with Godzilla Topper. Just a little bit. A little bit more dynamic. Stay tuned. And speaking of staying tuned, Mandalorian Topper, how long have we been waiting for the Mandalorian Topper? If history repeats itself there, ladies and gentlemen, we know that licensing was a hang-up for the original limited edition R2-D2 Topper for the Star Wars title. I don't think it's a surprise that Star Wars and Mandalorian are still struggling to get Insider connected. I think that's a licensing issue as well. But I'm here to confirm that Mandalorian Topper is complete, and it is near announcement. We're getting close, close. But again, when does it ship? That's a whole other thing. I'm not going to give too much about the Mandalorian Topper, but I can tell you this. If you do not own the Mandalorian Pinball Machine, and if you enjoy and like pinball toppers, very soon you will own the Mandalorian Pinball Machine because you will own this Mandalorian Topper. Remember I said this. Mandalorian Topper will sell games. It's not often that a topper alone is an accessory that will sell product and sell the game that it is crowned upon. But every once in a while it happens. And this is that once in a while. Move over, Black Knight? Like my boy CB, we shall wait and see. When do we see the Mandalorian Topper? I mean, we've got upcoming runs of the game itself in February as well as May for Pro, June for Premiums. Maybe we see a May, June, late spring, early summer release. And here's the other sticky when it comes to Stern pinball toppers. I wish I would have just shut my big mouth. I'm somewhat offended by the veracity of some of you all's head nodding at this point. Just cool it down a little bit. But here's the issue. Toppers are such a thing that Stern has implemented in the past and I fear will be in the future, distributing these toppers as they do their games with an allotment. That is, even if Flippin' Out Pinball wants to order 250, 500 Mandalorian toppers on the topper cane, I may not be able to. Yeah, that's some bullshit. I agree with you. If anybody should get toppers, it should be me, right? It also wouldn't surprise me if the Mandalorian topper came out and had a limited run as well. So I don't know. I fear that they're going to do allotments of these damn toppers. I've got a lot of you listeners on the list for the Mandalorian toppers, Rush toppers, Godzilla toppers. We will continue doing everything that we can to fulfill those orders. But keep in mind, Stern Pinball at any moment could punch me in the stomach and say we're limited the amount that we receive. But as always, tune in every Monday. I will keep you up to date on what we hear from Stern Pinball. Now, for all of you Rush lovers and owners out there, the Rush Pinball machine, those accessories still kind of unknown when we're going to see release on those i think it's probably coming any time now especially since the ip was very enmeshed in the design process and the roll out of this game i don't think we're going to see any issues with uh with rolling this out i can say this though while nothing crazy for the armor because you guys haven't seen the armor the shooter rods the topper nothing crazy is coming for the armor or for the shooter rod for that matter for Rush Pinball. We do still get I give you a tidbit here we do still get the die cut greatness that we all do love with the Rush Armor We don get printed graphics We get that nice die cut And the shooter is going to be it kind of a hybrid of what we seen with shooter rods in the past That is something that, oh my gosh, I love about certain shooter rods. And something that I'm just on when it comes to shooter rods. Don't sleep on the shooter rods, people. Or armor for that matter. Try to find the armor of some of those older titles. that can be harder than finding the topper itself. And you want the whole package. There's just something about the whole package when you see all of those accessories on them because they're tastefully done and they look the best, they're designed the best when they come from the factory. Expression lights, same thing. Not sure on release. They do look good. We've seen them in the LEs, and they're a must-have. If you're going to buy the Pro or the Premium, you've got to have the expression lights. They're a game-changer. Okay, sorry. You guys want to know about that Rush topper. Okay, fine. Well, I can confirm here on the pinball show that it is a great, great-looking topper. It's going to be a must-have for all rush owners. And when you see it, you'll know why. Especially for those LE owners. That's all I'm going to say for now. That's it. That's all I'm going to say. Mouth shut.
    18:38
    Hey, guys. Topper haters out there, wake up. I've got some production updates for you for Stern Pinball. This last week we've seen on social media Stern Pinball running a video of the LEs on the line. And ooh, they're nice looking too. I love that steampunk feel. The Rush LEs look good. With reference to the production updates, though, we know the LEs are on the line. You should, end of this week, I think we'll start shipping some of them, if not into mid-next week. That's when you'll start seeing them really hit the trucks there at the Stern factory. And that'll run over the next couple weeks, getting all of them out. Flippin' out LE buyers, your machine is coming! And, of course, as always, with Nicole and I at Flippin' Out Pinball, it's not only coming, but the shipping is free. Don't listen to the fake news out there. Your shipping is free. And you weren't charged over MSRP. That's the flipping out way. If you ordered a Rush Premium pinball machine, they are still aiming for the end of February for those. So that first run will start going out at the end of February. Also here in February on the Stern pinball production schedule, Mandalorian Pro and Premiums. Still on the schedule for February. Now here's a bit of a change. The second run of Rush Pro, during the seminar, Gary was talking about maybe thinking a February run for that second run of Pros. Sadly, the recent schedule update shows that the second run will now not occur until April. So all of you non-location hobbyists out there that ordered that Rush Pro, that second run will start in April now. Oh, man. That's going to be alongside the second Rush Premium run. So we're going to get that second Rush Premium run in April as well. You're going to see one into February and then one in April. But in better production news, Stern Pinball has fleshed out their production schedule a bit more for Q2 now. We just had Q1 allotments and such. We now have details on the Q2 runs. Stern understands how many Godzillas are on backorder right now. And instead of just doing that summer July run, they've added May as well. So that is fantastic news. The downside is that regardless, it doesn't matter the biggest dealers in the country, including myself, we're still only getting a very, very, very small allotment of what is ordered. That's one thing I wish people could better realize. The one thing that keeps me up at night, the frustration, you guys know it, but it's just not being able to fulfill day one orders as fast and quick as possible. It truly cuts me to the core, knowing that many of you have ordered and have waited and will continue to wait throughout the year. A lot of unknowns as well. These schedules are tentative. They change all the time. But at least Stern Pinball is communicating what their schedule is, unlike, I mean, honestly, most of the rest of the manufacturers. At this point, I would rather a manufacturer just tell me nothing than tell me something and blow past that deadline. Because as a dealer, we then communicate that information to our customers, get them all excited, get us excited, and then blast through that. Nothing more frustrating. So yeah, with hot titles like Godzilla and Rush, they're building them as fast as they can. But all dealers, I don't know what algorithm they use to determine allotments and distribution numbers and stuff. But I can tell you we order a shitload, and every time I receive a schedule to show how many we are actually going to receive of each run, it's like a greatest hits of America's Funniest Home Videos. Whiffleball to the nuts. People still waiting on their Mandalorians. Fear not. I told you guys we're going to see that February run of Pro and Premias. We're also going to see an additional Mandalorian Pro run in May and a Premium run in June. They're really kind of doubling up on these last three titles, Godzilla, Mandalorian, and Rush. Boom, boom, boom. They're really pushing those in right now. March, we're still anticipating that Avengers Pro and Premium run to happen, so not much longer wait for that. What a classic game, too. There have been many that have sold, but there are many units of Avengers that will still sell over the next year, following year and such. And we even get a Jurassic Park Pro and Premium run in April. I don't know a dealer across the country that has any open spots for the April run of Jurassic Park, but maybe they're out there. I'm telling customers that are looking for a Jurassic Park Premium, that's kind of the hot one right now. end of the year if not into next year we just we don't know when they're going to run them again i'm guessing end of year beginning of next year kind of like godzilla premium new godzilla premium interested buyers we're looking at 2023 for those of you still waiting for that deadpool god bless you we've seen just a sample of those premiums go out uh last week but they do have runs coming up in july which is nice because originally we thought we'd have to wait until august for deadpool premiums right now the schedule is saying july we still should see those star Wars pros and premiums with the original art package in August. So that's a summer run. Dealers have not been given their allotment numbers of those yet. So that kind of falls in the Q3 zone where we know they're going to do a run, but we don't know how many we're going to get. Same thing. Star Wars, the pen, the original artwork and the comic artwork of Star Wars, the pen. We'll see that another run in September and Jurassic Park, the pen. We thought that was going to be a November run this year. It's actually bumped up to October and hopefully you guys enjoy these production updates. They're very helpful and interesting to me. Give us some feedback at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. You want to hear less of them. I find it useful to inform you guys, but if you don't care, let us know as well. Now, at least 300 of you guys are like, that's great, that's great, Star Wars, blah, blah, blah, Mandalorian, good for it, Godzilla got one coming. What about my damn Elvira premium? I'm not throwing down $25,000 to $30,000 for the 40th anniversary. I just want the damn premium. Interesting little production update note here. We thought end of the year, end of December, that was going to be the soonest. There were some rumors swirling around there. They put them at the end of the year because they're going to cut production. You're not going to see any more El Vagra premiums leaving that Stern factory. But I'm here to tell you, based on the information that I have been given, the official information, we're going to see those in November. And sadly, there's no way in hell they're going to fulfill the entire orders of dealers in November. And I hate to be a Denny Downer, but a lot of you may not see them in November. Some people have been waiting over a year for these. The December spot is now being held for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro and Premiums. Can you believe no TMNT Pro or Premium runs until December? That's a pin with insider connectivity. I think you're going to see some rising secondary prices on that pin throughout the year here. Elvira Premium in November. The other thing to note with Elvira Premium, and I don't hear anybody talking about this, it frustrates a lot of you, hell, it frustrates me, is that when Gary Stern announced to dealers and to the public this past summer that there was going to be a price increase on their next pin, a la Godzilla, that was going to go into effect immediately for Godzilla and then follow through an immediate smaller increase now. And then January 1st, that is January 1st, 2022, what we just experienced, a larger increase of pros and premiums. We also subsequently got an increase in price on the LEs now with Rush LE being $11,100. When he initially told us that, as dealers, we asked, well, what about Elvira? What about Batman? He's already seen a $500 price increase earlier in 2021. Are we going to see another price increase? What's going on here? His response was something to the effect of, you know, Batman is done at the end of the year. So that's kind of a moot point. When it comes to Elvira, we still haven't kind of established what we're doing with the pricing on that. So I know a lot of our customers that inquire about when's my Elvira coming? Why do I have to wait until the end of the year? And I remind them, hey, pricing still isn't, you know, established, confirmed 100% yet. It's tentative. It could change. They're like, well, wait a minute. And they're like, no, I've locked in my price. And while I wish Stern Pinball would conduct business that way and only increase the price of things that haven't been ordered, that's just simply not the case. There will be a price increase on Elvira Premium because right now I think technically the MSRP on an Elvira Premium is below that of a regular premium. And logically, guys, that doesn't make any sense. There's no loophole here for buyers that are like, well, wait a minute. Now, one that I'm not happy with, but you're going to see a price increase. It puts dealers in a bad position because if we were to list them on our websites right now as a preorder, what do we list them at? Some people are telling me, well, my dealer's going to keep my price regardless.
    26:43
    How? Dealers aren't going to, we're not going to lose thousands upon thousands of dollars for something we have no control over. I understand if people cancel their orders. It sucks, but I get it. My guess as to what the price is going to go up to, we know the MSRP on a premium right now is $89.99.
    27:00
    Historically, the price of a studio release title like an Elvira or like a Capow Beatles or a Capow Batman, it was always historically like $800 to $1,000 more than a regular premium. So that's kind of what my guess will be as to the price in the future of an Elvira premium. If they're $89.99 MSRP for a regular premium now, I see the Elvira premiums being a $98, $99, $99, $99, $10,000 game. Don't shoot the messenger. Speaking of unquestionable futures, we heard Craig Bobby reporting some quality issues with the new Rush Pro and the center scoop on that game. I can confirm that, yes, we have had a handful of locations that we sold pros to having issues with their center scoop protector. We don't call it Cliffy because it's not made by Cliffy Renier. Is it Renier or Renier? Cliffy doesn't make them, but it is a product very similar to what Cliffy produces. Stern does it. JJP does it. It's like a metal protector that goes over scoop holes or whatnot. The center scoop is fairly tight on the designed Rush pinball machine. And it looks like these protectors, these metal protectors, are taking one hell of a beating on location. Some to the point that the bowl simply won't eject or it can't go into the scoop. That's concerning. But the good news is that while not ideal, we are still dealing with Stern Pinball. And we know lately Stern Pinball fixes issues that come up. I spoke with Stern Pinball Engineering Service Department about these issues, and they're very well aware of it, and they're working to remedy this as we speak. I had thought maybe they're just going to issue more protectors out, But I think they're going a step further, guys. They've recognized that maybe the design is an issue. They have not said to us dealers whether or not they're going to be increasing the weight thickness of this protector so it doesn't get damaged as easy, or if there's going to be a fixed kit in general. I just know that the warranties that we have submitted for these scoop protectors will be fulfilled once they find a viable fix for it for the future. So stay tuned there. now if the pinball show is the only podcast you listen to god bless you love you smooches but if you listen to others as well you've probably listened to the loser kid pinball podcast our friends over there josh and scott had on ed robertson from the bare naked ladies this last week my buddy ed over there is a big pinhead i know that he's been chasing a recent title if you're listening ed congratulations on snagging that title i'm telling you it's one of my favorite it'll never leave you'll love it to death once you get it tuned in congrats buddy but ed robertson went over and visited the loser kids on their podcast he talked about working with rush as the superstar musician conduit of communication between the band and stern pinball i implore you to go listen to the episode but they were discussing why the song yyz or yyz as ed said why that's not in the rush pinball machine like that's a that's a cornerstone rush song ed robertson said actually but Geddy Lee argued against it. Did not feel that it was the right type of song for this particular machine. Wow! That was surprising to hear. And you haven't heard it all yet. Ed Robertson said that people have not heard a quarter of the call-outs in this game. There is a ton more of dialogue that is coming in future code releases. We're only at point, well we had a new code update this last week for Rush, version .86, speaking of updates mostly fixes and tweaks but we're only at 0.86 we got a long ways to go and the codes are already looking pretty dynamic i think that may be a uh a tournament or a competition pinball darling in the future version 0.86 we also received some additional coding for the expression lights once the le's are released and the accessory unit is released for the pro and premiums so they're adding a lot of work to that i think mike vinicore did all of the light coding for the expression length of Led Zeppelin. Maybe he's doing the ones on Rush as well. Great job. And those Monsters owners out there, I know you love your games. You'll back them up. You got new code to prove it. We're at version 1.20. Wait, wait a minute. Version 1.21. There was an update in the amount of time that version 1.20 came out. Little bug there. 1.21 had to make Insider Connected eligible and working. But also in this new update, there's an impossible gameplay mode that we've come to know from the Mandalorian pinball code where your flippers, you can't trap up. There's a meter. If you trap up, that meter becomes depleted quickly. Once depleted fully, your flippers will die until you build up enough juice again to juice those flippers. That's impossible gameplay. Also added in this version of the new Munster's Code is monster gameplay mode. That's where you get impossible gameplay for player one, and then the rest of the noobs that try to defeat you, they get normal flipper gameplay. We have Insider Connected, as well as other additions and adjustments for the Monsters Pinball Machine. Damn, I still love the looks and play of that game. But, eh, not going to make my collection, though.
    32:03
    I need more. I need more, Dwight. And I'm not going to get it. So, as a personal update, I've been playing the Rush Pro Pinball Machine from Stern Pinball for a couple of weeks now, and I'm really enjoying it. I still don't know all the rules yet. I know that, like, the 1, 2, 3 inserts are for collecting specific combos in the game. I think it's really cool, really novel. I like that. It's kind of like a mini mode that you're trying to collect these different combos. That's fun. I know that hitting the records insert progresses you towards collecting those records, those songs. And I know that the time machine is kind of where you start different songs or modes and such. That's about as much as I know. The record inserts are RGB, so they're different colors. Sometimes they're flashing versus constant. Yeah, I don't know the intricacies of all of this yet. We know that Ray Day and Tim Sexton are on code, so there's going to be all kinds of stacking and qualifying and multiplying and headache-inducing. Led Zeppelin kind of goes over my head in a lot of ways. But overall, the game is fast. It's a great shooter. The ramps are phenomenal. Those alone are going to keep you coming back. It's just they're good Borg ramps. The scoop I'm kind of mixed on. For me, it kind of takes away from that feel-good shot on the bottom right flipper. That bottom right flipper just feels like it doesn't have as many shots as the other two flippers. It just doesn't have as many shots. Now, the other two flippers, bottom left, top right, they make up for it because you get some great, terrific shots with those flippers. But that bottom right flipper, you ever know on games where you're like, what am I doing with this flipper? It's kind of like that. You get the scoop shot, whoop-dee. You've got through the pops, which I'm a fan of, but I still want a gimme flow shot on one of my main flippers and trying to get through those pops on an orbit shot, that's not going to be a consistent thing. And many of you wonder on that Pro, if you haven't played it yet, the Rush Pro has a dead-end shot up the middle, whereas the Premium LE has a VUC that gets you back to the flipper there. The dead-end shot's not horrible, but it's not great on the Pro. Being totally honest, it's not great. I don't think it's even any different of a feel or satisfaction than that is on the Led Zeppelin Pro dead-end shot. Remember that Pro? So it's like it reacts with a nice light show and with a shaker. So it doesn't feel bad. It feels good, but it's just not enough. That return just goes kind of anywhere. The one on mine, you hit that dead end shot, and 25% of the time, it's rushing straight down the middle. See what I did there? Borg, I could have done without that dead end shot. It's kind of useless. I'm not going to lie. The time machine shot, the washing machine right up the middle there, surprisingly tight. and I hit that thing much less than I would have thought of or guessed just based on the pictures alone at the release of this game. Very tight. It's tighter than Lord of the Rings ring shot. Tighter than that. I wonder how the premium LE is going to be, but on the pro, that center shot's tight. Almost to the point that coming off the right wire form to the right flipper again that right flipper doesn give you a lot unless you trap up Then you can kind of backhand it to that center shot But on the fly good luck I going to say the most surprising thing listeners that I've experienced so far in owning Rush Pinball is the music.
    35:18
    Dude, the music rocks. Who would have thought? Didn't really know Rush. I know some of their songs. the theme does squat for me. But man, this is a jam machine. I've got an owner tip for you. Once you receive your machine, go into the settings and decrease the, I think it's the music attenuation significantly to better balance out the levels of music compared to the sound effects and call outs. Right now, with default, out of the box, you're going to have the music be subdued quite a bit under the sounds of the effects and the call outs. This balances it out even more, maybe even gives it a little nod to the music, The music fucking rocks in this game. I play this game louder than I do my other sterns. The music kicks ass, which just kind of surprised the hell out of me. You know what else surprised the hell out of me? Ken Rudberg's impromptu pinball market trends last correspondence segment. Ruddy B, my man, nicely done. David Dennis didn't even see it coming. He owned his ass on that. Ken Rudberg reporting for Jersey Jack Pinball saying that many people are thinking the new game from JJP is going to be seen at Texas Pinball Festival here in March. Hell, Ken was even questioning whether or not it was Toy Story, since that's been rumored so long. What do you guys think? Do you think it's Toy Story? Let's see what my Magic 8-Ball says.
    36:37
    Magic 8-Ball says... That's fucking Toy Story. I'm joking. It says decidedly so, but this is just a toy from the 90s, so can we really trust it? So a lot of people are thinking we're going to see the new JJP game at TPF. Do they have a booth? I think they might be boothing up with Fun Billiards, possibly. Do we see a reveal at TPF? I don't know the answer. My guess? No, we don't see it at TPF. Remember, everybody, Wonka was revealed at MGC. I'm not saying that's when this next one's going to be revealed, but if you notice, it's a little bit closer to Chicago than Texas. Also, GNR reveal did not correspond with any convention show or anything. Those days are kind of numbered. Those days are over. these companies want to control and have a more calculated reveal and they did so with GNR and I'm sorry after what is notably by the pinball community as the greatest pinball reveal of all time Guns and Roses by Jersey Jack Pinball why do anything else if I were guessing I would guess that is how they were will reveal this game now maybe that comes before a convention so that they can get the game out to the public to play at said convention but if I were a guessing guy You're not going to see it be unveiled at a convention. But, hey, most people think I'm wrong about a lot of things. And thanks to Ruddy B for reporting that the Waz 2.0 light boards are going to be available soon at JJP. So contact them if you're interested. What's not going to be available at JJP anytime soon is Barry Engler. Oh, Barry. The hell? Barry was leading the team over in the service department at Jersey Jack Pinball. He announced he was leaving his position at JJP. Now they've got an open position. But don't worry, they still have some other people working in the service department that are available to help. So no biggie there, but Barry no longer is there. So Barry, is he done with pinball? What's going on with Barry? No, no. He's actually ventured back to his previous employer, American Pinball, to run the service department again there. Is that public info? I don't know. But my big question is, my buddy Dave Brennan, what does that mean for Dave Brennan? He was doing service at AP. The hell? I can tell you this, for my money, Dave Brennan over in the service department for American Pinball has single-handedly done more as a single entity for that brand than anyone there. Now, whether that's valid or not, I don't know. But the perception from me, Dave Brennan brings a ton to American Pinball. It makes people feel warm and cozy when they buy an American Pinball machine. So does this mean Dave Brennan's going to JJP? No, I don't think so. People would be crazy not to have that guy around, though. And my apologies for not being here last week. Had to take the week off. Dave Dennis, thanks again for stepping in my huge shoes. But the fellows were talking about the second annual Pinball Industry Awards being held the week before last. That was a blast. Turned out well. Damn, it was pretty. Patting myself on the back for that production work. But damn, it was exhausting to get through. I'm so glad that's over with. I reached out to my production buddy, Emoto Harney, as she's prepping and preparing for the Twippies, because she does all the editing and production over there. And I wish her the best of luck from the editing gods, because, whew, that'll take a lot of your life away. Damn, Emoto's killing it right now. She's doing InDisc. She's got the Shoopies coming up. She has TPF. I don't know how she's going to get it all done. Got your back, Emoto. So congratulations to all the winners of the crystal. and thank you to all who participated, all who supported, viewed, all that reached out, said they loved the Lyman piece, they loved the Hall of Fame stuff. Thank you guys. The VOD, if you guys want to watch the video on demand, you can check it out on the Pinball Network's YouTube page. Trophies are going to be shipping out this week, actually. Woo-hoo! So hopefully some of you winners will have the brass to take a picture and put it on social media, show them off. Going to have the brass to earn the glass. Oh, that's a good one. Many of you are seeing all of the Spooky Pinball Halloween and Ultraman pre-orders go up on the secondary market at losses. And many of you guys don't think these are good ones. I can tell you one good thing. Over at Spooky Pinball, they cranked out 100 pinball machines in the past three weeks. So they are in the thick of it over there in Wisconsin. That's kicking some ass. 100 machines in three weeks. Nicely done, Spooky team. I was talking with Spooky recently. They were telling me that the code continues to mature. They have much, much more to come for owners and players of the Halloween and Ultraman games. told me a couple of things. I continue to be excited. I'll let you guys know once I hate this Halloween machine because Lord knows I'm told that I'm supposed to hate this game. I'm supposed to sell this game. And I'm told this game is junk and is shit. That's what I'm told. But more so than maybe anybody in this industry, Zacky doesn't always do what he's told. I don't hop in bandwagons. I drive bandwagons. I fill up bandwagons. So when are we going to see the next spooky title? What's the next spooky title? Great questions. When are we going to see the next Spooky title? I don't know. I think they'll wrap up production of these games late summer. I don't know. I think fall maybe. Maybe an October release of Spooky's next title. What is it? No clue. But I'm smelling something. I'm smelling another good title. So all of you on the bandwagon of hate, we can make some space for you over here. And we won't judge. It's fine. Come on over. But we'll never forget. Who can you order a Halloween from or an Ultraman from? Well, honestly, you save a lot of money and just buy somebody's spot right now. But for the new title or whatnot, who can you order from? The Spookys have a handful of dealers. Chris up at Kingpin. You've got Game Exchange slash Bower Garden. The overseas ones I don't know so much. You might have to buy direct there. Hell, Spooky still sells direct. Hashtag fail, Spooky. Come on. Shit. You've got Pinball Star. There's some people that sell these games. flipping out pinball question mark hey as always we get what you want you want the new spooky game let us know and that's legit all i can say can i get you a super hoop at flipping out pinball sure why not the truth is we're still working out the details on getting you guys pricing for super hoop availability still haven't finalized the dealer agreement so we're working on that so i don't have much info on super hoop game looks cool as hell though doesn't it some things i love some things i don't like as much but for the price at which i think this thing is it's definitely worth look this is like competing with stern's pin series and it looks damn attractive also attractiveness in the news this week in disc it never drains in southern california 2022 was a big show this last weekend big ass show and tp in the pinball network showing up in a big way a big congratulations to robert byers top rope pinball if you smell what the rock is cooking greg bone calls a tightrope pinball on winning robert byers won classics one tournament at indisc 2022 bobby byers for the win hoosier at heart nicely done my friend and if that's not enough tpn's own travis murray third place and tpn tom graff and fourth on that classics tournament classics two tournament was held a couple days ago escher lefkoff was the winner that young buck over there young man from colorado making it rain some points winning that classics two tournament hell ray day tpn's ray day Raymond Davidson placed third in the Classics II Tournament. Women's Tournament, congratulations to winner Carrie Wing out of the Kansas City area. A good friend to many and one hell of a pinball player. Congrats, Carrie. Match Play Tournament winner Adam McKinney. McKinney getting it done over there. Travis Meary coming in fourth place in the Match Play Tournament. Nicely done, Meary Mann. The Youth Tournament winner Ashlyn Belsito. We've heard that Belsito name before. It runs in the family, baby. Nicely done, Ashlyn. And the Open occurred on Sunday yesterday, but I'm not going to spoil who won that. And that's because I record Sunday morning, so I don't really know who won that. Okay, everybody, I'm popping in. I just watched the finals of InDisc 2022. The rest of the episode prior to and hereafter were done earlier this morning, but I had to chime in and talk a little bit about the finals that I just witnessed and watched InDisc 2022. Overall, what a great group that made it to the finals. at Kaylee George, Raymond Davidson, Zach McCarthy, and Colin Urban. What a fantastic setup to a final. So far, the broadcast has been going just wonderfully, wonderfully done. The commentators are top-notch. I think we need to lock in some contracts for Jeff Teala, Steve Bowden, and Snow Galvin to be all-time finals commentators. Terrific. Everything is just primed, right? The big stage, the biggest stage probably, arguably, in competitive pinball for the entirety of 2022. We've got a young group of people. This is exactly what we want. The exposure is high. We're close to 1,000 different viewers on Twitch. Everything is lined up perfectly. And then we jump into game one. What do we got? What are we playing game one? Roller games. Okay. All right. Fun times. We got some magnets in there. This will be fun. Play some roller games. Okay. Okay, good competition there, game one. All right, game two. What are we playing game two? This is the height and the pinnacle of competition pinball, and I know you guys love when I discuss competition pinball and tournament pinball. What do we got? Game two, guys.
    46:00
    Gottlieb's Stargate. Oh, man, those late Gottlieb games. Prime for the big stage here. Are you serious? Shoot the fucking pyramids? Really? The game's fine. This is the pinnacle? This is what we're getting? This is deciding the champion? Stargate? Who's picking these games? The winners, okay. All right. I mean, look, for the sake of maximizing viewership and exposure to pinball, we get a group of young, talented, competitive players to push this industry and competition pinball forward, and we get Gottlieb Stargate. Woo! Flipper skills on a late Gottlieb. Score balancing phenomenal. This is... At least game three will be better. Game three. Oh, fuck me. Mystery Castle. Alvin G Company. Mystery. This has got to be a joke. Can we pick more irrelevant games in the entire bank? Mystery Castle. Wow.
    47:20
    It all leads up to this. An all-day tournament. Hundreds of players. The cream rising to the top With exception to the choices of the final game titles Jeez It's the fourth quarter Two minutes left And we're going to give Tom Brady a flat football That hits a little too close to home actually, right? What a boner killer Mystery Castle A game no one knows of Again, I'm not saying it's a bad game, but not for this stage. Not only did these games come out before these players were even born, these games came out before their parents were born. How about this? How about finals games on the big stage? Maybe the majority of the games should come from manufacturers that are still in business. Alvin G? Gottlieb? What a great way to showcase pinball. Look, if the players can't pick relevant good games for an entertaining broadcast, how about this? A fucking spinning wheel can pick better games than this. Let's just go through, have the experts pick great competition-level games and titles, put them on a wheel, throw a couple doozies in there. I'm fine with that. Spin the wheel. What do we got? Or, you know what? Better yet. We know that the winner of NDSK 2022, the Open, wins their choice of a Stern premium pinball machine. How exciting is that? Here's what I'm pitching. The champion of the pinball Open gets a machine. They win it once they become champion, but they must choose between one of the titles that are used in the finals. Maybe that'll fix this whole debacle. Stargate and Mystery Castle. I think that would fix it. Oh, Z-Mac, you want a Godzilla Premium? I'm sorry, Z-Mac. Nobody chose a game that is widely exposed to the majority of Joe Public pinball players that go on location. Take your pick. Which one are you going to pick? There's got to be some standardization. You guys hate hearing it from me, but damn it. My competition series pins 1 through 10 would not include any of these games, and that's for a reason. Many of you diehard competition people out there are rolling your eyes. You're yelling at me. This guy don't know shit about competition pinball. And I don't. I've not played in competition. I don't play in tournaments. I don't play in leagues. But I know pinball. I watch a lot of pinball. Hell, I watch a lot of competitive pinball. And I love it. But it always seems like at the apex of our ability as a community and an industry, this is how we end it. putting people to sleep watching soon-to-be champions time out on a shitty-ass Alvin G game that is relevant to less than 1% of pinball players out there. Congratulations. Okay, I'll say a little bit tongue-in-cheek there just to get you guys fired up. Overall, what a competition. Fun to watch. What an open. What an in-disc event. It is definitely worth going back and watching, especially all of the Lazarus shots in the fight. It was greatness. It truly was greatness. So I'm poking the bear a little bit, but that doesn't mean that I really don't feel this way. Damn it. At least one new game. At least one that's still in production. All right, I'm off my soapbox. All right, back to your regularly scheduled podcast. What I can tell you is TPN showing up in a big way during the National Open Pinball Tournament, and that is Brian O'Neill ranking fifth for the Open. Brian, making these people look bad. Ray Day coming in ranked 17th for the Open. Neil Graff, 25th for the Open. Travis Meary ranked 33rd. Stephanie Traub, 34th. D.C. Stephanie and Robert Byers at 39th, all making the cutoff for the Open.
    51:18
    Very, very impressive work. And maybe the most impressive here is Steph. Steph owns when she goes to NDSC. She's like cross-country. I don't give a shit. She shows up during InDisc every time. I think she may be the only female competitor in the open. Hot damn. We need to get Steph on the show. That is how you represent.
    51:44
    Damn, damn proud of Steph there. Nicely done. So proud. Nearly as proud as I am for this week's edition of Pinball Market Trends. Haven't yelled in a while, but Dennis isn't here to snarl at me. So I'll ladder rip. Turning up this week is Stranger Things. Take a look at those prices, haters. Used LEs, Stranger Things, selling between $17,000 and $19,000. There's one new in the box right now listed for $25,000. Making the new in-box premium that I have listed at $14,000 look pretty cheap, if I say so myself. Everybody wants a Stranger Things, and sadly, Stern has informed me that not only are they done with production of the Pro, the premium of this machine they done with the production or any future runs of the UV lighting kit They washed their hands of this special Brian Eddy design game Oh why The new season is close And if you want more evidence of why numbers don lie, and I only report the facts here in the Pinball Market Trends, is that this sexy, sweet little fan layout is climbing up the Pinside Top 100, landing right now at number 16, right above another trending title. Trending up this week is Willy Wonka Baby number 17 on the Pinside Top 100. This is what always happens. They stopped making a game, and now everybody wants it. I scream from the mountaintop, what games are good, what games are bad? You all roll your eyes, and then you finally come to the promised land. No snake oil here, people. I'm telling you, Willy Wonka is great, and I don't have any to sell. I said it when it was released. I said it a year ago, and I've said it now that they're done making the title. Willy Wonka, to me, is the best Jersey Jack pinball game to date. And I got the numbers for you right now. Put this in perspective, listener. Willy Wonka is ranked higher on the Pinside Top 100 than every other Pat Lawler designed game with the exception of Twilight Zone at number 10 I might add but that says a lot that says a ton open up your heart for trust and let me enter ew that was a little gross how about this I may drive a little fast I may drive a little squirrely at times but I'll never steer you wrong that one worked it was almost as good as the glass brass piece and clean out your ears with a Q-tip. Have you seen these things online with the little corkscrew thing, like the wine bottle opener that digs into your ear? I'm interested in it because I do feel like I'm jamming the earwax back in my ear and really fucking up my whole auditory system, but I don't know what to do. What do we do with the ear things? But anyway, what I was getting to is clean out your ears because I'm going to tell you what's trending down this week. And in a way, it's me, I suppose. listener. Shit. Damn. I hope you felt my pain this past week. I got beat up a little bit this, a lot a bit this week on Facebook with some flipping out pinball inventory posts that I had. A lot of people not liking the pricing of the in-stock inventory the flipping out pinball has. Others of you actually understand how the market works. Nicely done. And of course, the Venom to My Spider-Man Pinball Podcast helped the cause by posting our for sale list on his social media, stirring people up even more. Gee, thanks, Chris. And here I thought Chris would be too busy sporting wood over there after figuring out how to get bits and stars from Facebook and his live feed to even worry about my post. But damned if it didn't give him content for a whole week. Look, people, the market matters.
    55:10
    The market is living. It's breathing. It goes up. It goes down. If a stock is high one week or one month, it doesn't mean it's going to be always high. Or it could mean that it appears high, but damned if it isn't low, only to rise again. It fluctuates. So for those of you who did not see this post, what had happened was, at Flippin' Out Pinball Distribution, we do everything that we can to get people the games that they want for the price that they should receive them. That is, no over MSRP price gouging from our customers. We get so many LEs, even if we could sell them for thousands more, we don't. MSRP or lower. That hasn't changed. Free shipping, all new sterns. I bet you can count on your hand how many dealers still provide that. Customer service, we do everything that we can. But the big but here, and I cannot lie, and what those other podcasters can't deny, is that if I get something in on trade and we're getting less than 25% of the allotment of games that we're accustomed to in past years, when I go to list that game, I can no longer sell that game for thousands under what it's worth on the market. You get that, right? If a Jurassic Park premium comes in on trade for another game, I have people out there expecting me to sell that thing for $2,000 less than it's worth. If Nicole and I at Flippin' Out could get as many Jurassic Park premiums as we ordered or as we wanted, absolutely no problem. And the market wouldn't be where it's at, so we wouldn't even have that issue. But as a hypothetical, let's say I have 100 Jurassic Park premiums on order. and the next run comes and I get five. Five. Selling that used one for $2,000 worth its actual value on the secondary market, that is bad business. You don't stay in business when you do that. Do I like pricing machines more than MSRP? No, I don't because I wouldn't want to pay that. Do I pay that as a hobbyist though? Nicole, I hope you're not listening. I do. and you will see very soon later on in pinball market trends that i do do i take things in on trade that are valued higher used than they are new we do we play the market with games coming in just as we do games going out and i hope that people realize that based on the feedback we received through canada's post a lot of people don't realize that though i think they think we're like swindling people ah what you got there jurassic park premium yeah brand new those were $8,000 back in the day. I'll give you a six and sell it for $12,000. No. We're paying for it. Damn, we're paying for it. So yeah, trending down is I guess is my inventory. My apologies for not pricing things 25% under what they're going from everywhere else. He's got a little snark, this guy. Can he loosen up this bit a little bit? I suppose so. Trending down this week is David Dennis co-hosting last week's show. It was bad enough that he shat all over this award-winning podcast segment but the kicker oh the thing that resulted in the recent suspension of him co-hosting for three months here at the pinball show was eating while recording eating this man was consuming food nope inexcusable inconceivable we run a tight ship here dennis crease will tell you you think he's the prickly pear we we have high standards here and a bright shiny trophy to back it up. And while I love accessories, listener, I hate vocal accessories. You want to chew gum? You want to eat crackers during a broadcast? Go do it over on Triple Drink. Because this is the big leagues, baby. And for you, Mr. Silverball Chronicles, that means back to the bullpen. All jokes aside, I appreciate your stepping in. You did a damn good job. But all jokes aside, you really fucked up that segment. Deal of the week this week is flipping out pinball. Of course, I'm so low, I get nobody to stop me. and try to refute this deal of the week. We're selling a Star Wars, the pin comic, lightly used, pre-owned, for the bargain price of $42.99. Buy, buy, buy! That saves like $300. What in the hell can you even buy for $42.99 right now in this market? Not much. This thing is a beauty with the comic version, Obdo Spinner, frickin' drop targets that block the ramp. Come on, George Gomez design. Get out of town. And if that's not enough, we're also going to be providing free shipping on this lightly pre-owned pinball machine $42.99 shipped anywhere in the continental United States that my friends is what we call a deal of the week I can't say the same though for a pinball machine that is featured on pin side right now right outside of Dallas Texas see you soon there Dallas pin side by the name of Teletub I don't know who this is I know a lot of people in Dallas I don't know if I know Teletub selling a shadow one of my favorite games actually my favorite WPC game A stunning shadow, they say. Cab was stripped and painted with new decals. Mantis ramps. The auric translight and speaker panel. Brass mini playfield shroud. Brass wire forms. Mirror blades. LEDs. Color DMD. LED speaker panel. Black chrome gun. Is that black nickel? Titan rubber. Powder coated everywhere. What the hell? What's not to love, Zach? This is your wheelhouse, baby. It's even got the backboard. He didn't even put that. It's got a brick backboard. Oh, man. Don't hate. Celebrate the shadow. What's wrong? In the first, the price is a bit jarring. $8,000. Oh, boh. And when you look at this game, you're thinking, okay, you know what? Cab work's pretty good, actually. See a couple issues with the decals you did. But overall, nice cab work. This pen is a beauty. $8,000 for a brand new cab and a wonderful looking machine. What's wrong with that, Zach? That sounds about right. I wouldn't argue until you see the play field. Sell, sell, sell. So there's sanctumware. So he put a decal over it. Oh, no.
    61:00
    Oh, no. One of the biggest red flags when you guys go out to look for a pinball machine that is touted as a collector's quality or a high-end restore. If you see, number one, pin stadium lights are fine, especially on a shadow. Man, pin stadiums are great on a shadow when set to white. Anytime you see color coming from pin stadiums, red flag. Question their judgment as to what is nice and what is not. Anytime you see colored GI all over, red flag, question their decision making. Anytime you're trying to pick up a shadow that's going to be $8,000, that sanctum better be shaven and clean and oiled. You better oil up that sanctum if you're going to charge $8,000, my friend. But if you look at the pictures, it may look like a nice game once you re-freaking-LED the whole thing, but that decal where the sanctum is does not justify this high price. Look at the shooter lane if you want to see some gnarly sanctum wear. It's like he picked up all the sanctum wear that he covered up with a decal and put it in the shooter lane. Sell, sell, sell! Nope. It makes me question why someone would go through this much work on a cabinet in a shop job and just not swapping the play field while you're at it. You're right there. If you're going to do the job, do it right. I value this particular machine really no more than I do any other run-of-the-mill player's condition shadow. 6,000 tops. If I had an extra $6,000, I wouldn't buy this game. Because to me, it is nothing more than a deal of the...
    62:40
    Maybe somebody will pick up that shadow and show it the love that it deserves. And before we close it out here, I've got to tell you, I've got a special announcement here. The pinball bounty has been fulfilled. Oh, yeah! Pinball Bounty has been fulfilled. Congratulations to the individual who fulfilled that bounty, as well as the seller of the white water that I just purchased. It's en route right now from Texas. Pew, pew! Hopefully she ain't got no bullet holes in the cab. You know why? Because it's a mighty hep. A hep restored white water. Oh, Lord! Pinball Bounty was bountiful. I'm receiving the most beautiful white water in existence. Yep, I had to pay for it. I sure had to pay for it. Oh, did I have to? I'll be paying for it for a while. And I love that I went to submit the $1,000 bounty to the individual who set this up, and they wouldn't take it. And I thought, well, okay. You want some accessories? You want a topper? We'll get you up to $1,000. No, no, no, no, no. And soon I realized that maybe this bounty is going to take an ugly turn because their response to me was, he said, no, no. no money needed right now i can check out your website but quote i may just like having the most influential person in pinball owing me a favor end quote oh no and then they sent me a meme of the godfather scratching his kitty cat with the caption you will owe me for this favor you ask of me and that ladies and gentlemen is terrifying and that just goes to show you be careful what you wish for because you just may get it but that doesn't mean i'm not going to open up another bounty the new bounty let's see what you guys got you're successful we're one for one i've made a deal with the devil but the new bounty being issued today on the pinball show pinball market trends pinball bounty is Bally's Creature from the Black Lagoon. I need you all to find me a creature. The bounty is now out there. It is open and ripe for picking. $1,000 bounty goes out to the individual who can find me the most minty sexy creature on the planet. My stipulations for this bounty are as follows. At minimum it has to be either restored or home use only at minimum. I don't want any playfield wear and I prefer a new playfield, whether it's a repro or whether it's a new old stock. When it comes to that hologram in the window, I'm going to need either a fresh, clean looking green hologram of Creech, or I'm going to need the Mike D replacement mod. One or the other. You can show me the prettiest damn Creech, but if you flop your Creech out and it's blue, I ain't touching it. blood running through that thing no it's not going to happen extra brownie points for someone with a updated swinks snack bar on there and new ramps the thing's got to be new dennis creasles rolling his eyes listening at this dennis how high are we going on this one we damn near got to the max on that they have white water let's hope that this one doesn't doesn't cost as much i don't know if my wallet can take it so there it is ladies and gentlemen and as always i'm just here to report the facts because numbers in fact do not lie on pinball market trends okay all right i'm done flipping the lights off we're calling it a week i'll see you all next week email us at the pinball network at gmail.com if you want to get in contact with dennis creasel myself george fisher david dennis the whole gang here at tpn or go to our website the pinball network please follow like subscribe to anything that we do at tpn whether it's our facebook page whether it's their social medias, Twitches and Facebooks and YouTubes. Go to the YouTube, all the VODs and stuff on YouTube. A brand new pinball gameplay video every single day. Straight down the middle, we should be coming out with a brand new video on YouTube, SDTM. Soon, it may not even be a pinball video. Flippin' Out Pinball. Product showcase this week is actually an Avenger shooter rod. I think we have those back in stock. So if you're looking for an Avengers Infinity Quest illuminated interactive shooter rod, we have those in stock now. I think they're like $1.80 plus shipping. We also still have a couple GNR LEs by Jersey Jack Pinball in stock. Or catch the very limited and rare Batman 66 LE that is pre-owned, ready to go, as well as a Godzilla Pro pre-owned, a Star Wars The Pin comic. I have a new one in box and that pre-owned one that I mentioned on Deals of the Week. We have one more Willy Wonka LE left. One more, but there's a caveat. It took a little bit of damage and shipping, and I accepted it because it's a ding to a cabinet decal. So if a little cabinet decal ding does not bother you, or if you're crafty enough to swap it out for another new decal, then have at it. We have one more Willy Wonka LE left. I also have that rare Zombie All-Star Baseball Pigeon Bat. Cactus Canyon SE and SE Plus. Get your pre-orders in for those. As well as in stock an Elvira 40th Anniversary Pinball Machine. This isn't just the number 40. I have the number 40, but I also have another non-40 that's cheaper. so I think we've got those priced for like $25, $26, I'd have to go check Star Wars Premium Comic pre-owned the one that you all want we have one of those pre-owned ready to go as well as a limited edition R2D2 Star Wars topper that's been pre-owned they both are pricey, ain't no lying about it but if we work together I can probably get that as a bundle a little bit cheaper Godzilla still, people are pre-ordering the hell out of that thing, if you want that this decade go ahead and put your order in now get in the queue, remember at Flippin' Out Pinball We don't take any deposits on a pro or premium from Stern, and we still offer free shipping on all new Sterns. You can't beat that. Get your pre-order rush in as well as pre-ordering and getting on those lists for accessories. If you're wanting a topper that's out or hasn't even been released yet, get on the list with us. I still have some Elite Limited Edition Pinball Indiana Jones Deluxe toppers. We've got banners, I think. Rush banners should be coming in soon. We have another order of Godzilla banners coming in at any point in time. still have other title banners though. Buy some merch. Buy a limited edition custom decal from the Pinball Show or straight in the middle. Buy a t-shirt. Buy a hoodie. We'll see you guys sporting some stuff at TPF. I would love to see that. TPN last week. What was going down? Well, the Pinball Show interviews. Episode 6 occurred. Matt Morrison, the best damn interviewer in the business, I think, interviewing Marco Specialties, Kyle Spiteri, and Crystal Gimnick, formerly from The Plum Podcast. TPN this week. I have a lot of events going on. Like, follow, subscribe to TPN's YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch, and see what is on TPN tonight. Your favorite streamer is going to be there playing one of your favorite games. You might as well stop by and say hello and say the Pinball Show sent you. That would be really nice, actually. And until next week, there's nobody more pin-entertaining, nobody more pin-fluential, and nobody more pin-teresting than your host, Zach Minney, here at the Pinball Show. And always practice safe pinball and Mystery Castle up. Peace out.
    69:56
    Thank you.