Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

We Are Pinball #60 "Sonic Boom or Bust?! Come Hang with the Gang!"

We Are Pinball (WAP)·podcast_episode·1h 7m·analyzed·Jun 28, 2026
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Don reviews Jersey Jack's Sonic pinball machine and discusses recent game launches and industry design trends.

Summary

Don and Genghis discuss their hands-on experience with Jersey Jack Pinball newly launched Sonic the Hedgehog machine. Don provides detailed gameplay impressions covering shot layout, the interactive Robotnik toy, upper playfield design, and rule depth including the wizard mode. They also discuss the game's licensing limitations (no 16-bit assets or classic Sega jingle), product tiers ($10k-$15k pricing), and Jersey Jack's launch strategy. The conversation touches on incoming games (Yeti, Beetlejuice, Winchester) and analyzes recent designer hype around Karl D'Angelo game.

Key Claims

  • Jersey Jack could not license the classic Sega jingle or 16-bit Sonic assets because Sega is exclusively pushing modern CGI Sonic branding across all media

    high confidence · Don explaining licensing constraints during gameplay discussion

  • Sonic has an upper playfield-focused design with a simplified lower playfield that mirrors Pokemon's battle layout

    high confidence · Don's detailed gameplay analysis comparing layouts to Pokemon

  • Jersey Jack's new marketing team restricted all filming during Don's visit due to unapproved wizard mode assets and past licensor controversies about leaked content

    high confidence · Don explaining upper management's decision to prohibit video recording

  • Yeti production is scheduled to begin in July with delivery expected in August, though parts delays may push timeline

    medium confidence · Don's update on Yeti production timeline from Turner

  • Barrels of Fun pushed Winchester Mystery House delivery from September to October/November 2025

    high confidence · Don reporting updated delivery timeline from Barrels of Fun

  • Winchester Mystery House has sold approximately 150-200 units with sustained secondary market hype despite limited production

    medium confidence · Genghis noting unit count and sustained collector interest

  • Sonic Pinball has no pop bumpers, no interactive video modes, and no physical ball lock mechanisms

    high confidence · Don's explicit gameplay observations

  • Karl DeAngelo designed Wings as his first commercial game after his homebrew caught Barrels of Fun's attention

    high confidence · Discussion of Wings designer background and Barrels' recruitment

Notable Quotes

  • “It's not a matter that they couldn't get that logo. It's just like that wasn't available to be pushed in any kind of media, right? So whatever.”

    Don @ ~12:00 — Clarifies the distinction between licensing cost barriers and brand strategy decisions—Sega simply isn't licensing legacy assets to any partner.

  • “The shots are fairly open. They're not like wide open gimme shots, but it's not a brick fest. It's a fun layout on the lower, which everybody loves.”

    Don @ ~20:00 — Overall positive gameplay assessment that establishes Sonic as accessible but not trivial.

  • “Robotnik comes out. He's fun to battle. He goes away, and then you totally can't see him anymore... He goes up and down. He's interactive. It's almost like a Slimer is what it felt like.”

    Don @ ~28:00 — Describes the interactive Robotnik toy as a standout mechanical feature, elevating it above passive toys.

  • “The game's super fun to play. I want to go play it again... There's probably more design in that upper play field than the shots on the lower, aside from the engineering for the loop.”

    Don @ ~45:00 — Distills overall impression: fun gameplay with upper playfield as primary design focus.

  • “When they're like, actually, upper management came down. They don't want any videos or anything yet... There's still some assets that were in the code of the machines that I was playing that weren't finally approved yet.”

    Don @ ~65:00 — Reveals JJP's operational caution around licensor approval—a significant industry constraint.

  • “If you like the way this game plays, that people should buy the $15,000 edition, or is it cool with the non-topper $10,000 one?... Aside from the Shaker Motor, there's nothing else that directly impacts gameplay.”

    Don @ ~42:00 — Provides practical guidance on product tier differentiation and value proposition for buyers.

  • “Just because you're great at tournament pinball and great at pinball in general doesn't necessarily mean you're going to translate to a good designer.”

Entities

Jersey Jack PinballcompanySteve RitchiepersonDonperson[name withheld pending review]personSonic the HedgehoggameBarrels of FuncompanyWinchester Mystery Housegame

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Jersey Jack Pinball officially launched Sonic the Hedgehog with three product tiers: Pro ($10k), Standard ($12k with upgrades), and LE/Premium ($15k). Launch included teaser campaign over one week followed by 20-minute making-of video.

    high · Don's detailed visit to JJP facility after public launch; three-tier pricing structure confirmed.

  • ?

    design_innovation: Sonic features interactive Robotnik toy that registers physical hits, avoids the ball by moving up/down, and increases difficulty across phases—distinguishing it from passive magnetic toys like Bond's wand or Batman's crane.

    high · Don's detailed description: 'He registers hits, and he can go up and avoid your ball and then drop back down... progressively harder.'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Sonic's core gameplay depth concentrated in upper playfield with translucent polycarbonate edges lit via fiber optic-like edge lighting. Lower playfield described as simplified, nearly identical to Pokemon layout.

    high · Don: 'All the engineering is at that upper playfield... it's a half a playfield size... most simple layout. Orbit, left ramp, right ramp, and a middle bash shot.'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Jersey Jack unable to license classic Sega jingle or 16-bit Sonic imagery. Not a licensing cost issue but brand strategy: Sega exclusively licenses modern CGI Sonic across all media partners.

    high · Don: 'It's not a matter that they couldn't get that logo. It's just like that wasn't available to be pushed in any kind of media.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Jersey Jack restricted filming during Don's visit because wizard mode assets in the machines hadn't received final licensor approval. Indicates ongoing IP clearance constraints post-launch.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.202

0:00
I can't stop bobbing my head to the Scott Denisi fire, man. I think we should fire up a WAP episode number 60, dude. We almost qualified for retirement at this point. Retro Django, how you doing? Number 60, baby, with Scott Denizy supporting us with his great music. I am doing hot in Denmark. How about you? Dude, fantastic. It's warm here. It's muggy. It's Wisconsin. We're having a good time. I'm going to celebrate the holiday pretty soon. And then I think I'm going to come to Denmark, too, just for funsies. We're going to have some fun, baby. Dude, hell yeah. Tivoli, Bakken. I want to do it all, man. I want to get a Kringle. We're going to cruise in Copenhagen, man. We're going to have some fun. I want to chillax in Christiana. I've been hearing about it for decades.
0:57
You know what? I don't even know where Christiana is, to be honest. It's at Junkies Place, but I think it was last year or something, our government cleaned Christiana. They didn't want Junkie Street in the middle of Copenhagen. So that smoking, what's it called? Marijuana? What's it called? The thing they smoke? It's called the Gange, dude. The Gange, man. Yeah. It's not, I mean, it's back in the 60s or 70s or something. Who does that today? You know what I tasted yesterday? Oh, I can't wait to hear this. Coca-Cola Zero for the first time in my life. Oh, how was that? It wasn't bad. It was okay. So how was Jersey Jack's brand new game that you just played Donnie Donnie? I mean, it was okay.
1:49
But, like, no, that's not enough. I mean, pussy's okay. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You cannot say it like that. I wasn't. So a game just came out. I was emailing, calling everybody, following up sources, trying to get in there because I just wanted to play it, right? And I know I didn't get any, you know, special invites to secret media days or nothing like that, but I was like, can I just come? When it launches to the public, then can I come and play it then? Is it going to be over at Interium in Chicago? Where's it going to be? And so fortunately, they got back to me and they're like, all right, Don, the game's going to launch. You can come by the next day. Steve will be here. Talk to him. Play the game. And I'm like, yes, bet. We're going to do that. So I was super excited. I'd seen the release materials. I saw the layout and everything, like all the published photos and stuff. But I didn't see that there was a really in-depth featurette or anything. So I went in, essentially knowing it was a Sonic game. I kind of had an idea of the shots. But I don't know how it shot. Was it brick-fest? Was it open? Was it fast? What the hell theme was it on? Was there 16-bit stuff? Was it going to say Sega when I turned it on? Sega!

[name withheld pending review] @ ~105:00 — Articulates industry consensus on designer talent vs. playing talent—relevant to hype around Carl D'Angelo.

  • “One game, it's just too soon. I'm not saying he's a bad designer, but it's just too early to put them up at that level.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ ~100:00 — Tempers premature comparisons of Wings designer to Keith Elwin, establishing healthy skepticism about single-game hype.

  • “Yeti's coming. Beetlejuice is almost done... Winchester is like at some point will show up at the house.”

    Don @ ~85:00 — Summarizes incoming acquisitions and production status across multiple manufacturers.

  • “He's the new Keith Elwin, then I'm like, cool down, buddy. Let me cool down. Let him do five, six bangers.”

    [name withheld pending review] @ ~102:00 — Reflects community tendency to over-hype emerging designers and the resistance from experienced observers.

    • Yeti
    game
    Beetlejuicegame
    Wingsgame
    Karl DeAngeloperson
    Keith Elwinperson
    Pokemon Pinballgame
    Eric Meunierperson
    Mark Seidenperson
    Fall of the Empiregame
    Cary Hardyperson
    We Are Pinballorganization
    Godzillagame
    Jawsgame
    [name withheld pending review]company
    Turnerperson

    high · Don: 'There's still some assets that were in the code of the machines that I was playing that weren't finally approved yet.'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Barrels of Fun pushed Winchester Mystery House delivery from September to October/November 2025. Don, having purchased final unit in distributor queue, expects November delivery.

    high · Don: 'They did say they were going to be done with every game by September. Now it's looking like it's October... realistically, probably November.'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Sonic's $12k Special edition adds $2k over $10k Arcade for Invisiglass, shaker motor, art upgrades (Radcals vs decals), topper, and blue powder coat. All cosmetic except shaker motor; shaker motor aftermarket alternative at ~$109.

    high · Detailed pricing breakdown: 'Aside from the Shaker Motor, there's nothing else that directly impacts gameplay.'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Winchester Mystery House maintains strong collector demand and secondary market value despite limited production (~150-200 units). Hype sustained by designer reputation (Carl D'Angelo) and scarcity, with continued availability constraints through November.

    high · Genghis: 'There's like 150 or 200 of them out there, and there's still tremendous hype and value behind this game.'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Community prematurely comparing Carl D'Angelo to Keith Elwin after single game design (Wings). Genghis cautions against this trend: 'Let him do five, six bangers. Then call me and tell me he's the new... Keith Elwin.'

    high · Discussion of Wings hype and need for measured assessment of emerging designers.

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Sonic and Pokemon share near-identical lower playfield layouts (orbit, left ramp, right ramp, center bash). Designers likely converged independently rather than collaborating, reflecting industry-wide design conventions.

    medium · Don: 'It's Pokemon. What the hell? It's Pokemon... two games will come out from two different companies at the same time, and they'll have the same thing in them.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Jersey Jack's 20-minute making-of video featuring Steve Ritchie, Eric Minier, and Mark Seiden well-received by Genghis for passion and team dynamic. Earlier 1-minute teaser clip poorly received. Contrasts with corporate Stern approach.

    high · Genghis: 'After day two, when I watched that video, I got hyped. Now I just cannot wait.' vs. criticism of earlier teaser approach.

  • ?

    supply_chain_signal: Yeti production timeline pushed from earlier estimates. Don notes 'parts delays' with overseas suppliers as likely cause. Turner (Barrels of Fun) expected to confirm updated July production start.

    medium · Don: 'The holdup was waiting on parts... must be parts from overseas... production was looking to start in July.'

    • 2:58
    So no, it doesn't do that. Oh. So no, it doesn't. So it's not because they didn't try. It's because they couldn't get it, essentially. They couldn't get permission to use that little jingle and stuff. It was too expensive. Expensive or just not available. Like sometimes the stuff, you know, because think about it. So the theme, right, it's Sonic the Hedgehog. So let's say you own the IP of Sonic, right, and you're churning out video games every year for the Switch or whatever, mobile games. You have your character defined that you're using now. You know, it's the kind of CGI modern Sonic, not 16-bit. So anything you produce, you don't want to have, you know, that 16-bit Sonic. You want to have the one that you're currently pushing, whether you're making underwear, T-shirts, toothpaste holders, or pinball machines. That's what you're pushing. And you have a modern Sega logo that's branded with it, so they're not pushing that old one, even though that's what we would like. I would have done that. I mean, pinball is old school, so I think it would fit perfect in a pinball machine. Jersey Jack would have done that too, but it may not even been a matter of, well, you've got to pay us more for it. If it was some other companies, I would think that. But no, it's just a matter of like, sorry, it's not available for any price. We're not pushing that brand logo. This is our official brand logo. You can use this. So it's not a matter that they couldn't get that logo. It's just like that wasn't available to be pushed in any kind of media, right? So whatever. There's a lot of things that I was expecting to see in this game that I didn't. The Green Valley Hill Zone 1 loop was not in profile where I could see it like the video game. I'm still not sure about exactly what assets we're going to end up with on the screen because I noticed it was just kind of a loop of just Sonic running. It wasn't like progressing through a stage or anything.
    4:47
    There's no blue ball zooming around anywhere or whatever. There's no physical ball lock. The game, though, that they delivered is super fun to play, right? So I don't know if you have specific questions on it, but I've kind of covered it. The shots are fairly open. They're not like wide open gimme shots, but it's not a brick fest. It's a fan layout on the lower, which everybody loves. And then the upper play field is fun. It feels like it's big enough, but not too big. The translucitness really helps. I like how the lights come in and edge light the edge of the play field. I don't know if you see that on videos, but like playing the game, the edge of that polycarbonate upper play field has like light transmitted through it. Almost like fiber optic kind of. The whole edge can light up different colors. That was fun. Robotnik comes out. He's fun to battle. He goes away, and then you totally can't see him anymore. It was a lot more fun to play with than Bond on a Wand was or a crane on Batman where all it does is swing out and swing back. He goes up and down. He's interactive. It's almost like a Slimer is what it felt like. Okay, so you hit it. It's not just an opto. You physically hit it. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, he registers hits, and he can go up and avoid your ball and then drop back down. The first time you battle him, he comes out, he's really easy to beat. The second time he comes out, maybe there's a shot you have to hit to lower him down, then it's a hurry up to hit him before he pops back up again. So he'll get progressively harder.
    6:14
    And if that translates to longevity at home for you, then great. So I see there are some different characters. I played the Sega version when I was a little kid. I mean, it was all about Mario, Nintendo, and Sonic was, you know, a wannabe poor man's Mario here where I live. It was never as big as Super Mario. So I tried it once or twice, but I know there are some different characters. There is a purple one or a pink one. I don't know their names. Yeah, I mean. They are shown on the playthrough. Shadow one. So when you start, when you make a three-player game, can you choose between different characters and have different animations on the screen? No, and so that's where I don't know if it's just like my playing wasn't good enough to get to where these characters unlock. Like you're playing a Sonic. There's no character selection or anything. Oh, okay. There's a shot to a stand-up target on the left that's got a post that can pop up, and supposedly that plays into the team modes where you can like build up your characters or something and then play modes there. I didn't see much of that, but I mean it was my first like 10 plays on a game, so I was really just trying to hit every shot and see what they do, really.
    7:31
    So I didn't get like super deep into code. They did take the glass off and showed me on one of the machines that had a wizard mode programmed into it. They went around and showed how to do that, set that up and let me play it, you know, and that was fun. So it's essentially you have to go on a scavenger hunt in the game on the upper play field and hit like 45 spinners, hit the orbit five times, bash something, hit the targets like a number of times. Then you can like build up your gem emerald in the middle of the game. And then that goes into a mode where Knuckles comes out, destroys the gem, and then you have to go collect all the pieces of it. And there's like there's multiple phases of it. So it's kind of fun, you know. Oh, it reminds me of Iron Maiden. Yeah. Where you have to do 100 spins, 80 ram shots and all that. I love stuff like that. I do. Okay, so you... Yeah, I do too. I just wish the spinner was on the lower play field.
    8:23
    Yeah, at the orbit shots, right? Yeah, yeah. Because it has got the rings there. There you can hit them and... Collecting the rings. Like, that's what I was expecting. I don't know. I think the image of Sonic that I built up in my head was different from what they delivered, so I'm still trying to jive the two.
    8:42
    Do you remember on the video game, when Sonic runs in chaos and he hits a trap or a needle or something, he falls down and he loses like 40 rings flying out of him.
    8:56
    Is something like that implemented in the pinball? Yeah, it's when you tilt. So if you tilt out, then you lose all your rings you've gathered or something. Oh, okay, okay. So there's not a dangerous shot and you ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. No, like, now I don't know if they'll program that in there. Maybe a shot will turn red and it's like avoid that because that's the spike trap or something. You know, I suppose that's possible. But as far as like a physical thing, like don't hit this pop bumper, you'll lose rings. That's not a thing. No, no. This game doesn't have pop bumpers. No pop bumpers. I couldn't see, no, no pops. They're slings. Again, in the game, Sonic, when he's in ball mode, he pops through these star pop bumper looking things. I know, I know. I don't know if it's only 16-bit. If the new Sonic doesn't have it, I have no idea. It'd be kind of cool if there was a video mode where he could actually play the game on the screen for a little bit. Something simple, just like run, run, hit a button to jump or something. I think that would be fun. Maybe we'll see some of that. But as far as what I saw, nothing on the screen was interactive. As of right now, I got this told like six months ago. One of my friends hit me up and he said, do you like video modes in pinball machines? And I'm like, no, I hate video modes in pinball machines. And then he says, how do you think video mode in Sonic Pinball will be? I'm like, I don't know, but that's the only game I probably want to see a video mode in. And he said, you know what? There are no video modes in Sonic. Oh, okay. And I couldn't share it with you, sorry. So there is nothing, buddy. That'd be fun if like while he's running, you could hit the button to make him jump and like land on enemies and collect rings or something, you know, just like a simple little diversion. Doesn't have to be very long, but just like, oh, I'm up there now. Let me see if I can grab some rings real quick. Oh, sweet. It fits with this team, absolutely. But JJP is also known for making second run anniversary edition, yellow brick, red emirate stone edition. Maybe next year, maybe down the road, they will make a 16-bit art edition. I mean, why not? I thought that's what the arcade edition was going to look like, you know. Oh! Or like, or if you're doing a collector's edition, like that's the only one that has like the 16-bit vibe to it. I think that would have been a cool way to go with it. You know, the art, like, so on the actual machine, it looks really nice with that rad cow with the sparkles and everything. You know, the characters are vibrant colors. But it's still just like a couple of characters on each side, you know, kind of. But maybe that's what they had to go by in the style guide. Is it true that the arcade and the C has the same art?
    11:45
    You know, I didn't notice much of a difference. I'll have to go look at the pictures. They didn't stand out to me. But then the arcade and the wizard edition for Harry Potter had the same art. You know, heroes on one side, villains on the other. One was D-Cal, one was Rad-Cal. That was the difference. So I think they may have done the same thing. If they are different, it wasn't enough to really, you know, jar me. But the CE definitely does look different.
    12:12
    I'm not the biggest art guy, but the Playfield art is the same, I think. Yeah, absolutely. So you saw both the $10,000 version and the $15,000 version. And the $12,000. All three were there. And the $12,000. All right. So the listener that is thinking about buying this game, I mean, the Playfield has everything in it on the arcade version. So for me, when I think J.J.P. games, they're under $10,000 games now. I mean, the bill of material is made from that also. So would you say, if you like the way this game plays, that people should buy the $15,000 edition, or is it cool with the non-topper $10,000 one? So, yeah, so you have the $10,000, you have the $12,000, right? The extra $2,000 that gets you to the special version gives you Invisiglass, Shaker Motor, Art Blades, Radcals instead of decals, and a plastic topper with some lighting integration to it. So, and a blue powder coated armor set. So, like, if that's worth $2,000 for you, it's all just, you know, aside from the Shaker Motor, there's nothing else that directly impacts gameplay. It's just really the look and kind of the feel of the cabinet itself. You know, so you decide if that's important to you. If you just want the game, maybe get the arcade and a shaker motor would be not a bad way to go.
    13:38
    Shaker motor is like $100, right? Yeah, shaker, $109 usually. Yeah, and very, very easy to install. And to be honest, shaker motor does give a real cool effect. I mean, it's really super bang for your buck, so that's a must upgrade. It makes it feel like a living machine, you know, rather than just some lady laying in your bed not moving or breathing, you know. All right, all right. So in general, you were saying it's a fun game. It's fun, yeah. The game's super fun to play. I want to go play it again. I like hitting the shots in the lower playfield. It was fun playing in the upper playfield. There was good nudge opportunities with that post that's in the middle there. All the shots felt really smooth, even on the upper playfield, which when it's normally a confined space, Sometimes those shots can feel a little like not as flowy, I guess. But, you know, ripping the spinner and going right back to the flipper, you could hit that with either flipper. That was fun. The orbits felt fun. You could rip a shot through the upper orbit and then keep the flipper held up, and when it came back, it would bounce off your flipper to the other side. So if you wanted to set up a shot over there, you could do that. Like there's some – there's probably more design in that upper play field than the shots on the lower, aside from the engineering for the loop. The loop is pretty cool. And the lower play field is pretty almost one-to-one copy from Pokemon, right? Dude, it's Pokemon. What the hell? It's Pokemon. What's going on? How did two games – because I know these guys don't talk to each other and compare notes with design. It's just so weird that we see things like two games will come out from two different companies at the same time, and they'll have the same thing in them. Like we saw Beetlejuice and Fall of the Empire both have that magnet save between the flippers, you know. So there's been other instances where things have come out. It's like, is this just where people's heads are at that both people came up with the same idea? But the battle area in Sonic has two slings. It's a little more elongated. It's got two slings that are powered instead of having the pop bumper like Pokemon has. It has the magnet under the play field like the premium and LE does. It's got the shot up the middle.
    15:47
    Sonic has a drop target that can pop up right there. So sometimes it's locked out and you can't get up there. When you shoot the middle on Sonic, it Vux up to the upper playfield, whereas it just dumps into the orbit on Pokemon. But when you shoot in there, the ball does the same stuff. But then we saw this area on Foo Fighters as well, underneath the alien guy, where it was like a little captive area, the ball could bounce back and forth. So it's not like we've never seen this before. It's just kind of cool that both came out at the same time. I feel like the normal playfield or what you want to call it, the playfield, on the playfield, yeah. This is the most simple layout. Orbit, left ram, right ram, and a middle bash shot, right? Just like in Pokemon. So I feel like that's a 20-minute design and that's it. And all the engineering is at that upper playfield. So for me, when I think about this game, it's an upper playfield concentrated game. And it's a half a playfield size. So for me I mean to be honest when this game launched I had very very high expectations I want to ask you what do you think about the launch of this whole game first So, I mean, I don't like extended teasers, and they kind of kept it to just a week, you know. They did release that Steve Ritchie picture, like the king is returning and it's blue, you know, but they didn't confirm the title or anything. And then we got like a couple of shots of Playfield like leading up like every day there was like something else. I don't think that was needed. I think just, you know, confirm the theme that's coming and then just like let's go, you know. When Jaws came out, they did kind of a Shark Week thing where like each day they revealed something else about the game. But like by the second day, everything was already blurry pictured leaked anyway. So like that ruined it. I just was really excited to see the game, you know. So I'm like just tell me when it's coming out and then when you're going to show it. And then show me everything.
    17:45
    But when it did drop, what I want to see, and this goes to every company, I want to see a quick 90-second trailer of just like, here's the game, the thing that's going to go out and YouTube ads and stuff. Then I want to see like, you know, a 10-minute or 8 or 10-minute featurette talking to the people, what they designed, why they did what they did. And then I'd like to see like a 30-minute gameplay overhead, just, you know, a couple of people playing a two-player game and just showing off the shots and things. It can be edited. It doesn't have to be just a live stream. But that's what I'd like to see. Hit me with a 90-second trailer. Give me a 10-minute making of why we did what we did. And then give me some gameplay I can look at just to get a sense on what's going on. I'd love to see that. This was kind of all over the place.
    18:32
    People says that, yeah. Fair point you got there. I'm a bit different there. Oh, no. Yeah, but it's okay. I think they did these, I think it was a week where they showed small cabinet, the shooter lane, something from the play field. They teased us. I like getting teased a lot, but when I wrote on We Are Pinball Facebook or on our Patreon, people were like, stop teasing, show us the game. So not everybody liked it, but I really, really enjoy getting teased. We're all different. I liked it. The game got launched. They came out with one minute AI clip that was so fast, I couldn't fathom what was going on. It was just, I didn't like that one minute video, right? And then we got Retro Ralph Dash Mason video. It took me three times to go through that video. I didn't like, for me, Steve Ritchie is the king. He's a legend, okay? And I also really, really, really like Eric Minier. Those two guys standing behind the door and looking at this one-up arcade guy, like, it just, it ruined my vision of these legends, okay? It just doesn't work. It doesn't work, Donnie. But, and I made a video and I said, if you want to do this, use freaking Zach Manny. I mean, Zach Manny's videos are so amazing, especially when he did the help with the GNR, when he does with the spook videos. I love it. And then the day after, we got JJP's, what was it, the 20-minute long video? That was good. I like that. Yeah. That, like, the passion. It's not only Steve Ritchie that's talking there. He is so positive, so energized, so energy drinks and everything. He's just passionate. He's like that in person, man. He's incredible. Not only him, because if this was Stern, then, you know, Keith Hildman is getting interviewed, and that's it. Here, we've got Eric Minier. He's passionate. They interview Mark Seidel. He's happy and passionate. It's like one family, one team. And it just, after day two, when I watched that video, I got hyped. Now I just cannot wait. So it's so important with a proper release. Yeah, and like my sense before I went in there was that this is kind of like a more corporate kind of layout, you know, the kind of place that would, you know, not tolerate my brand of tomfoolery technically. But after going there and just like meeting everybody, sometimes for the second or third time, I really get a sense that these guys really like what they're doing there. And they all seem pretty cordial. Like that was super fun. You know, I was greeted at the door like, Don, come on in. We're glad you're here. Thanks. I met their new marketing guy. He just started a couple months ago. Steve came out, you know, and they took me back to play the game. And my second game, Steve walked by and he's like, shoot this. What are you doing? Don't trap up. Come on, keep it going. And I'm like, yes, dude, this is awesome. How cool is that? That's gold, man. That's gold. Donnie, when you were in there, I told you, film, freaking everything, send it to me. I will make a video we can talk about. And then you are like, no, I have nothing. What the heck? They would not allow me to film anything at all. But the game is out already. How can you not get a – I know. Is it because they don't know who you are or what's going on with this marketing kit? That's above my pay grade, man, because I had asked on the way in there. What I asked for is I'd like to play the game first for however long you let me, 20 minutes, 10 minutes, and then let me talk to Steve because then I'll have some context to be able to talk to him. And I'd like to just take maybe a couple minutes of just some gameplay shots. And they're like, yeah, that's fine. And then when I'm rolling up in there, they're like, actually, upper management came down. They don't want any videos or anything yet.
    22:55
    And the reason I think is two things. They had a gameplay video that was going to come out. And then there's still some assets that were in the code of the machines that I was playing that weren't finally approved yet. So that wizard mode that I got to play wasn't in the code that's going to be launching unless it's been approved already. So I think that was part of it. There's been some controversy, sir, within the pinball space and licensors about secret things getting out, getting back to the licensor, and the licensor being pissed off.
    23:27
    We don't want that. They just want to avoid any of that. And so I get it. And, you know, I wasn't there, like, just as the public off the street. Like, I asked. I got approvals. I got to come in. So they made some special arrangements for me, even though the game's been, you know, officially revealed. So, you know, I have to abide by their rules and respect their house, you know. Yeah. Okay. Well, that makes sense. Otherwise, the game is out. How can we not film it? Right. And that's what I was thinking. I'm like, listen, I'm not asking for extra special access. I'll wait until the game launches. I just want to know as a member of the public, how's the quickest place I can get my hands on it so I can spread the word about it and get to play it. They had the, what's his name, Nazi quoting guy. What was his name? Oh, no. What's his name?
    24:20
    Did he make videos? What is that? The gun guy, Danity. Oh, the Nazi guy. I said quoting guy, not the Nazi guy. That's the quoting guy. That's totally taken out of context. I think you're being our good friend and brother, Kerry Hardy, down there in Texas. Yes, yes. He was in there. Did he make a video? And was he not allowed to film? Do you know that? I don't know. He did that pin lights video. That's what keeps popping up on my feed. So I haven't seen if he did a Sonic video or not. Okay, maybe he wasn't allowed either. He was at the Stern event. Oh, wait, wait a second, wait a second. He was at the Stern event, and I think he did, I know they went to American Pinball.
    25:05
    I think they might have went to, I don't know if they went to Jersey Jack as well that time either. Okay, okay, it's fine. Yeah, that's fine. So all in all, you played the game. The Nazi quoting guy. For context, I think you're referring to the dubbed video from The Underfall where Hitler is in his bunker upset and people over... They put subtitles of hilarious things that he's saying. And so Kerry did this video that was just gold about... Who's the guy that did Toy Story 4? Pat Lawler. Just ridiculing Eric about not putting that triple spinning disc in Pirates. It's like the most petty pinball thing ever. And just to see the subtitles he put under an angry Hitler during his downfall was just hilarious.
    25:59
    So you did buy everything. Did you buy this? No, but that's only because I'm buying everything else, I think.
    26:10
    Okay, so you didn't buy Sonic. I did. But, yeah, okay. But you have other games on the way. Is that it? All right. Real talk. So, you know, Yeti's coming. Beetlejuice is almost done. Wait, Yeti comes in August, right? That's soon. Last time I heard it was July. The holdup was waiting on parts. So I'm guessing, you know, not parts from pinball life, but must be parts from overseas. So I'll check back in with Turner and see where we're at on that. But as of like six weeks ago, I think the plan was production was looking to start in July. I know I got in there really soon. I was in the Turner's Reserve Club where you can get premier access as long as you order early. And so I did that. So I'm hoping to get one of the early ones. But we got that coming. Beetlejuice is almost finished. And Winchester is like at some point will show up at the house. Dude, you bought a Winchester also? I got the last one that Kingpin had the night before Expo started. Oh, nice. I know. Do you know when you'll get that game?
    27:24
    So, update from Barrels of Fun. They did say they were going to be done with every game by September. Now it's looking like it's October. It's got pushed back a little bit. So, realistically, probably November. Because I had the last one from my distributor that I went with, I'm probably totally at the end of his build cycle, or at the end of their build cycle. So that's what I'm expecting. Aren't you excited for that one? I'm excited for it. It is holding... I mean, people have played it. There's like 150 or 200 of them out there, and there's still tremendous hype and value behind this game. It looks great. It's got that cool Brian Allen art. There's not another game that's like this. It's the closest thing we have to a Haunted Mansion game. It was limited because, honestly, who would have thought they would have sold that many?
    28:17
    That fast, also. And it's because of the designer, too. People know him from IE Pinball, and it's like his first foray into a commercial game, and they're thinking that the Barrels has an Elwyn now. And so, yeah, don't miss out on this. So just a lot of factors. Also, remember, Fall of the Empire had just come out and underwhelmed the whole community so much that people were like, well, I'm not buying that, but I want something. And then you turn around and like, here it is. Mysterious game, Brad Albright art, a known person in the pinball realm doing design, Carl D'Angelo. Yeah, how are you not missing out on that? And I was just getting ready to buy this house that I'm in. So I'm like, I definitely don't need a new game right now, but I got one. Yeah, but you got one. So his name is Cart D'Angelo. That's the designer of Wings. Yeah. He did a great job. It's his first game, right? Commercial. First commercial. Yeah, he was working on a homebrew, and then he was picked up by Barrels, and I believe they said, listen, we love that homebrew design. Come design this for us, and then keep working on what you're working on. And that might be coming up then, too. He did a great job. There's nothing there. I love a lot of the shots, the turntable, everything, team integration, nothing negative. I just have one thing to say, and that is when people say to me, Jengiz, he's the new Keith Elwin, then I'm like, cool down, buddy. Let me cool down. Let him do five, six bangers. Then call me and tell me he's the new or next Keith Elwin because one game, it's just too soon. I'm not saying he's a bad designer, but it's just too early to put them up at that level. Yeah, yeah. Just because you're great at tournament pinball and great at pinball in general doesn't necessarily mean you're going to translate to a good designer. And I think where we see Keith really excel is he's a good player, but he has a flow that he puts into his games. But then he's also invested in the entirety of the game too, not just the layout, but the rules, the modes. How is this game going to feel and progress? And we saw that, especially with Godzilla. It's there in Jaws, a bit of it in Kong. You don't see so much in Avengers Infinity Quest. So there's been some hits and misses, but definitely more hits than miss. So Carl seems like he brought in a game that's got a lot of cool stuff in it, man. Pepper's ghost effects, rotating turntable that is actually interesting. And then all the spooky, spooky stuff, too. It's awesome. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's just my kind of game. So he did a great job. I just don't know about, you said Keith Elwin, when he designed Godzilla, when you play the game, it feels like when he designed these shots, he was thinking about the modes of these shots also, the way he plays these spinners and everything, it's just so deep. I'm not saying he's not as good as him, but it's just too early to put him up. Keith Elwin is just, he's the best man, he's amazing. But remember, it's not because he's as good as Elwin. It's because people are thinking that this might be it. And so they wanted to get in on it. And I think that helped really push the sales.
    31:52
    Yeah. Yeah, it sold out in like 24 hours. Yeah. We had David Vaness in here congratulating him. I hope their next game will do the same. So they're doing something you can go, you can pay and be in a club. Oh, the Barrels Reserve. Yeah. So how is it? Is it something like the next game is limited to $500, but if you're in a club you can buy more than $500? Is it like that? It's basically like insurance. So you pay $75 a year and you're in this club. And if they release a game and the game sells out within seven days, no matter whatever the edition size is, if you're in that club at that point, that's when it will activate and give you an additional seven days to go ahead and, And purchase one. Then after 14 days, all sales are cut off and they'll release what the final numbers of the build will be, is how it's supposed to work. As far as the transparency of that, I don't know who's monitoring that bit of it, but I think most people don't care and they joined it anyway.
    33:00
    Okay, so what you're saying the next game, let's say something something, it comes out and they say this is limited to 500. And they sell those 500 for the FOMO people. They want this 500 limited games and it's sold out in 24 hours. And then all the people that's in this club can buy 500, 1, 500, 2, 500, 3. Is that what you mean? That's what I mean. Or are they first served of the total 500? No, you don't get priority access. So the quickest way to get a game is to buy it as soon as possible, which is risky. What this will do is guarantee that if you were out of town on a business trip you were on a flight for 10 hours the game released and sold out by the time you landed and you didn even know about it you could then go and still be able to get one You're not going to worry about missing out. Now, you'll be at the end of the line, but yeah. I understand that part. The part I want to know is I'm investing $12,000 in this, let's say, 500 limited game.
    34:05
    Can the all access group buy so it will be out in the world total 859 games? Is that what it means? So it's not limited to 500? Or is it 500 total? But if you are in this club, you have first access. I want the limitation cap to be the limitation, you know, the number. So, for instance, if this was around for Winchester and Winchester sold out in 48 hours, you'd have another week, if you were a member, to buy yourself an additional Winchester. But wait, Winchester sold out because you got told 500 only, that's freaking it. You want this special item, 500 only. So what if they do their next game and they say there's only 300? And then knowing that they have 600 people in their club, they'll probably sell 800 altogether doing it that way. But then I don't buy the 300 game that says it's limited to... Well, here's the other thing.
    35:07
    Or how will they control... Then they should just open up the... They should not put a limited number on it. Just open up and then time limited or something. Because you cannot say 500 Winchesters, you buy, I buy, and then two weeks later, there's like 944 Winchesters now. Now, realistically, probably 80% of the people that are in this club are probably going to buy a game at launch within the first seven days anyway. And so when it does sell out, how many people will be left after seven days of sales to then come back and buy another one? So is this for a scalper? Like I can buy a game when it launches and then if it sells out, I have an option to buy an additional one and then I can sell both. Maybe? I don't know. But you cannot scalp if it's unlimited. Oh, you know what? So, no, it'll be limited because after whatever the seven-day windows close, like, that's it, right? So you'll know the limit. Okay, so it's time. When it releases, it doesn't have no limitation, but it's time limited after seven days. Is that what you're saying? That's true, yeah.
    36:19
    Okay, so then you have no FOMO at game release. That's not a good idea. You need to create some sort of FOMO. Yeah, so I don't know how this is going to play out because I haven't seen anybody do something like this on this scale. Spooky had a fan club that if you were a member, you got like when a game released, you had a one week window to go ahead and purchase and then it opened to the general public. But it was still a fixed pool of numbers, you know. Yeah, but that was like first come, first served. And so for Halloween, Halloween sold out during that period before it got to public release because I wasn't able to get one because I wasn't in the club. That model I understand, but this one I don't know what it means because do not release a game unlimited. If you don't have FOMO as a boutique company, if Goonies, when it comes out, when Spooky says, we're just building as many as we sell, oh my God, that just won't work. They have a great thing going on, thousand games, 10,000, that's it. It works. Don't do anything with it. But this, it's fast money for Bars of Fun, I understand, and it's fine. We need FOMO. We need limitation. How many in total? It's going to be interesting to see what happens next. Because if a game releases and they're like, we're making a thousand of whatever this is, never ending story, whatever, then by day seven, if they're still, you know, they only sold 600, then you never get to use this club benefit because the games are still available. So that's a scenario. That's why they have to make the number lesser. I mean, like 500, like Winchester, 500, 600. But then when they say, the reason I'm saying this, many years back we had a company that was called American Pinball. They came out with Legends of Valhalla limited to 300. And those 300 sold in an instant. And then they came out, yeah, they sold fast. So now it's limited to 600. People were furious. They were furious. You don't get it, Tony. You don't do that. I don't want anything like this. Yeah, I don't want anything like this to David Veneza. I like David, man. Friend of the show. I just want to know how do we do this. The other point to this is if you exercise that club benefit and purchase a game, you can only purchase it direct from barrels, and they will not let you transfer a deposit to somebody else. You have to take delivery of that game before you can scalp it. So is this a sense on, you know, if I was a club member, I'm watching the market, they launch a game, I buy the first day, so I get my game, and then the game sells out in two days. I go ahead and exercise my club benefit to buy another one, and then when I get my game, I can turn around and sell it, knowing that I'll get that later one to replace it. Then I get to sell one to scalp and one to have, like, is that something? I didn't say anything in the fine print about it. Free market, baby.
    39:32
    Look, there's another thing. If they only sell direct, some distros, you can scalp a game, call the distro and say, I want the game delivered to this guy. I sold it. Some distros are okay with it. But how is Bars of Fun with it? Will they say no if-ing way? As far as I know, as long as your distro is okay with it, you can do it that way. But if you buy a game direct from them, they won't let you do that. They won't. Okay. So again, you are killing the FOMO, the scalpel market. And if you – I know scalpers are harming in the one hand. But on the other hand, they're creating this false kind of Pokemon for $25,000 market, you know. I think we're better with regard to scalpers in our hobby than a lot of other places. Because if you look at Pokemon cards, there's grown adults that go out to the stores. As soon as the product hits there, they just fight each other to grab them all and run out.
    40:40
    This way, you can only buy one game from a distributor for a really high-demand title, usually, unless something's going on. You'll be on a list, and you'll be able to get one. Now, you might be on five different lists with five different distributors, and then if you do that, Maybe you have an opportunity to buy five of them, but that's a lot of risk that you're going to be able to sell these for profit. So I think at most people might, oh, I was on two lists. I happened to get two so I can scalp one and keep one. But I don't know that that is the death to the industry.
    41:13
    I just want to say this move by Bars of Fun, first of all, if they get, I don't know, 1,500 new members, that's easy money for them. That's the first part. The second part, if they only sell direct this way, they're making more money cutting out the distros cut. So it's more money for Barrels of Fun. So I understand. I think it's a win for them any different way you look at it. Yeah, for sure. I understand the move from them. When I talked with Pinball Brothers, I was like, before we released Predator Pinball, limit it to $300. I said it so hard, limited to 300 and they didn't.
    41:57
    I'm not the marketing guy over there. They should have just listened to that little part, guys. It's so important. Because how many do they sell? How many do they sell? 150?
    42:09
    100? I have no idea. I think it's about 220 or something. It's just a number I heard but not confirmation or nothing. If they would have limited it to $300, they probably would have sold $300. But if they limited it to $500, they sell $200. No, they didn't limit to $500. It was just open. You can buy the normal and the trophy edition. So that's what I mean. We have to learn from everything, right? So we have to – I love David Van Ness. He's such a sweetheart. We just need limitation. If he says 500 and the club members are first come first serve, then I understand. But if he means 500, we sell them out. But if you, because if the club guys want to buy, it's 1100 now.
    43:03
    That's not cool. I think if you're a boutique company with a product like this, it's so important to hit that number correctly. Find out what number is a company you'd be happy with if you sold and then sell that. If it's 500 and you sell 500, you're happy. Don't be like, oh, we could have sold an extra 150. It's like, make another game.
    43:25
    Donnie, I'm business educated. If you're a doctor, let me tell you, they need to sell one, they need to build one less game that they could have sold. That's the sweet spot. Well, because imagine if your company has the reputation of if you're able to get one of those games, it's going to be worth a lot. And even if you don't sell it, you like knowing that you own something like that. And then you're going to buy the next one. So, yeah. Listen to this. You're David Venice. You're sitting there in your company eating your donuts. Okay. Hello, mate. And you have the – what was the doll he had at the background? He had dolls? Tales from the Crypt. Yeah, he had the – don't you remember when he was on our show? He had the Tales from the Crypt guy in the background. The Crypt Keeper? Yeah, Crypt Keeper. He made the noise. So you're David Vines. You're sitting there. You have sold 525 Winchesters for $11,600. Okay, cool, David. And then you go to Marketplace and you see your games you're building and selling. I mean, that sells for $20,000 now. How does that make you feel?
    44:40
    You're a small boutique company. So, yeah, but if you – that's why you pick a number and you're like, if we sell this many, we're happy. And then if the customers can get more for them, they're happy. They're going to come back, buy from us again. We're going to be solvent. We're always going to have a reliable group of people that are buying our games. We'll price them to what we're happy with and then go from – so, yeah, otherwise – Ideal World, that's Donnie's purple, clean heart. It doesn't work like that. He sees this. He's like, damn it. No, what do they say in Australia?
    45:15
    Crikey. They were too cheap. Okay, the games were too cheap. And it was 525 were too limited, too low limited. He is. It will irritate them. And what was his name? Frank D'Angelo. He's like, man, I'm this cool competition player. We could have sold 750. Why didn't we? That's maybe why they're doing this move. It's a dog's cunt, mate. That's what they would say. When we do this, is it racism shit? I don't hope so. I'm not racist. Only if you call him a bogan because I've gotten some pushback throwing that word around online. Bogan? What the heck is that? It's the Australian word for like white trash, hillbilly, redneck, ignorant, uneducated kind of person. My kind of people.
    46:09
    Dear listener, we're recording. In my background on this show, we have our wall picture on my background. On Don's background, what I'm looking at is He-Man and his mouth is open and he looks like he's getting something very big in his ass. And just before that, he had two big titties and his head in between them.
    46:37
    Now he just, he has major tits and his head between them. Come on, I know this is WAP, but... I have a hobby, okay?
    46:49
    Donnie likes big tits. That's it. Donnie, Donnie, where is the money? Oh, my God. Winchester, mystery, brah. Yeah. Donnie, we just talked about money. We just split our Patreon money this month.
    47:09
    Yeah, baby. Thank you for all Patreon supporters, and thank you for our high-level supporters. Ozzy, we love you. Dude, Ozzy and Antonio, I've met them in person, they're awesome cool guys.
    47:22
    Ozzy, he's on premium level, 50 bucks each month, so thank you Ozzy. So is Alberto, Antonio Banderas, Ben Marua, he's on 50 bucks also.
    47:35
    And Josh Cox, he's on limited edition, $100, so thank you, thank you guys, we really appreciate it. We just got like $2,600, right Tony? Yeah, this is months of saving up. This is so cool. Our high-level supporters, I met them all in public. They're all awesome. I want to hang out with Anthony some more. I want to hang out with Ozzy some more. I miss Josh Cox. He's been in my house. We have this threesome open. They can always come in contact with us on Messenger. Right, Donnie? Yeah. They know more than anyone.
    48:07
    So, yeah, Ozzy, your T-shirts are on the way, buddy. Donnie is going to – you're not going to get ugly colors. We have ugly colored T-shirts now. We're going to get some proper ones, and we're going to send out T-shirts too. Oh, I wonder if I can go to Southern Fried Gaming Expo this year. It's at the end of July.
    48:27
    Do you know what Cale Hernandez said when you and I meet in two weeks? When we run towards each other, when we jump in the air. It's going to be like a nuclear explosion when they meet. Yeah, Cale said there will be an explosion or something. I can't do the Cale accent. He's got like that low country South Carolina kind of. Man, I love Kale. He's such a cool guy. He's a cool guy. Yeah, I love Kale. You know what? Some people are like, yeah, Kale, he's the new guy on his electric. No, do not underestimate that guy. I have male conversation with Kale 10 years ago. He was selling pinball parts. That guy goes back. He's an OG. Kale Hernandez is an OG. He's in the club. I love him. So there's nothing. Kale's roots run deep.
    49:21
    Also, Donnie, when we make new shows, the listens are always higher than the last one. Love it. Except the show with Kale. When we had Kale over, he's like, his numbers are still going up. I don't know why. That guy's Wob Viagra, dude. We just got to like, yeah. Jamie Burchill figured it out, man. He's like, how do I become relevant? I just, I go grab like two top personalities and put them on there. He's got Rad Ralph and the Kale-ster. I love Kale, man. Oh, you know what? When we had Jamie over here, that doesn't count. Because one second before we start recording, Jamie said, and I was ready with like 20 questions to Jamie and JBS show. And then he said, no, this is for his show. And we were all just confused what's going on. So it was a very confusing show. So it doesn't count. I want Jamie in here again. We need to reset that. Yeah, yeah. We got to get Jengiz out to Pinball Expo or something or TPF and then we could just have like this like cluster brother bomb.
    50:29
    Explode with everybody. It's going to be good, man. It's going to be good. That would be a cursed hot tub if we all got in there No man People are so I mean you have to see how people are riding Just like you come here I will pick you up, and you can sleep here and be – So you didn't buy this game, but you bought Winchester. You talked about Winchester, but we don't know what's going on. So there's a cruise. Are you going to go to the cruise? I mean, listen, okay? I was thinking about going on a Royal Caribbean cruise anyway. I love those ships. My friend goes on them all the time. I pretty much do Disney cruises, so I want to try out Royal Caribbean anyway. I was looking at one out of Galveston, which is where this one is leaving from, and if you book at the special group rate, it's less than the cost of going through Costco, where I typically book stuff. So it's a cheaper way to do a Royal Caribbean cruise, even if you do zero of the pinball stuff. So I think I'm going to hype this up a little bit. I'm going to give it my gold thumb of approval, because it sounds like even if you didn't do the pinball stuff, it'd still be fun. But imagine going on a cruise on a huge ship with tons of stuff to do and you can still go and play some pinball.
    51:40
    What's Chris writing to us? Chris Colouris from Canada's Pinball Podcast. What's he writing? He's like, don't do it. He's like, don't do it. He's so cryptic. He's just like, don't do it. He's like, Jengiz, the only thing you need to do is now just talk with Tom and tell him, don't do it, Donnie. Don't do it.
    52:00
    He's like the guy in the airport that just doesn't talk to you, but looks over and he's like, don't get on that plane. And then walks away and you're like, what do you mean don't get on that plane? What's going to happen? What do you know?
    52:09
    Oh, man. Chris is on fire. This month he has been on fire, man. He's been dropping like all these shows. And I think I'm agreeing with him a lot this week, too, on Sonic. Yeah, you said that, yeah. Two things can be true, right? Sonic is a really fun game to play. And I'm okay not buying it. And it doesn't mean like I don't like the game, I don't like the designer, I don't like the company. You know, it's just it's a lot of money. And I don't know, you know, if I was already a crypto billionaire, I'd probably buy three of them. You know, but for right now, you know, when I bought Winchester, I was just buying a house. So it wasn't a great time. Right now, I just paid off the house. So it's still not a great time.
    52:49
    But, you know, but I don't need it right this second. It's summertime. I'm going on a trip. I'm going to come out and see my homie here pretty soon. Yeah, baby. That's going to be awesome. And the game is not limited. That's it. And if I had it, honestly, if I had the game on a box, on a pallet in my downstairs right now, I think I'm too busy right now to spend time unboxing it, get it set up, because I'm getting ready for this trip, you know. So by the time I wind down from summer, maybe the prices will be a little lower. I can go ahead and get me one, man. Or you know what I want? You know what I want? A $7,500 Godfather Limited Collector's Edition. And guess what? That's how much they are now. I waited it. I waited it out. Now they're $7,500. I can go pick one up in Chicago from some guy, and then I can get my Gold Lions. Damn it. I think I'll go do that. Look, here's what's going to happen. We need to come over here in two weeks. We got promised that we will get an early build of Sonic Connectors Edition and we fly it home. So there's like one day transportation. So when you visit me, we will open up Retro Arcade here in Denmark and you can play all the Sonic you want here. You can film all the Sonic you want here. And by the time you go back, you can buy it in the secondary market. That's dope. I didn't realize that. I'm going to play at Jengiz's house. You can play there. You can play the Godfather Collector's Edition. You can play whatever you want. We have everything ready to you over here. So, side note, did you buy Transformers? Oh, no.
    54:32
    What's going on, Donnie? I mean, it's another game that, like, it's fun. But it's a new in-box turn at release. You don't buy new in-box turns at release. Their code's not nearly complete yet. And then by the time you're kind of bored of the game, you still haven't played the good code yet. So you buy new in-box Stern games down the road. You don't buy them at launch, I've decided. New rule to myself. But everybody's saying Transformers has amazing code.
    54:58
    I mean, for launch, yeah. And maybe this game was cooking longer. But I think I'd rather have it once code's more complete.
    55:06
    Because I had Jaws for a while, and then I had to sell it after it was all made over. And that was before we got those cool 8-bit video modes and stuff. So it's like, now I've got to go chase one down again. So I think for Transformers, I'm going to go ahead and get it once Raiden's got his cool mod out, the toppers are out. Maybe I could pick up a topper and a shaker motor and a premium edition for less money down the road. I'll go pick that up with my Sonic, yeah. Yeah, what's your top three games on your location, on your collection that you could probably sell and have some room, have some money? Top three, let me hear that. You know, I don't, that'd be hard. We have sold a lot of your games through this show. Yeah, I know, I know. Like Star Wars I don't want to sell, Monsters I don't want to sell, TCM Looney Tunes I want to keep, Pulp Fiction I considered. I have a Dungeons & Dragons L.E., so that's one, if I had to pick something. My Wrestlemania Limited Edition. Wrestlemania! Do you have the signature one with Hulk Hogan? Hulk Hogan's signature, only 400 of these made. It's got a wrestling bell in there, so when you get a replay, no knocker. The knocker hits the bell. It's awesome. Should they make a new wrestling pinball machine? Yes, absolutely. Are you kidding me? It's going to be WWE. No, no, no, not E. F. You know from Hulk Hogan, Randall Sanders. What was the guy with the snake? Do you remember him? Jake the Snake Roberts? Can you imagine how hard... And those two brothers that did this, was it Bush Brothers? Yeah, Bushwick frickin' God. Bushwick something brothers, yeah. The guy with the wood, Hacksaw... Hacksaw Jim Duggett, Hacksaw Jim Duggett, Junkyard Dogg, Rowdy Roddy Piper. Iron Sheik. Yeah. Iron Sheik? Yeah. Can you imagine how hard a game, like a modern game, like with a screen and all this footage, it's released now with classic wrestlers. Yes. How fucking hard that would hit. But they had to go up to the 90s. I think it was in 91 they jumped over to the Ultimate Warrior. He came in there. We need him also. So like from 87 to 92 or something, that era, WWF, oh, that's awesome. I would even love like 90s wrestlers, like when John Cena was just coming out, Undertaker was killing it, Mankind, you know, Rage in the Cage matches. Yeah, but not this with the Rock and all these news. I don't like the Rock era and all that. I want the old stuff, man. The OG. When Hulk Hogan lifted Andre the Giant, oh my goodness. That was good. That could be freaking incredible. That's got some potential. I don't know what company I could talk into doing it. I don't think Sermon would do it again. It wasn't a success when this one came out. It's not the greatest layout, but because it's full of classic wrestlers, there's Hulk Hogan's signature in there, And this LE is loaded. Like this is one where you don't want to get the Pro. You want the LE, and there's only a few of them. I only had the LE. Oh, I only had the Pro, and it didn't have the Hulk Hogan Mule. It is the one. I am a real American. Mine has it. Yeah, you have the LE, man. And the reason you bought the LE was because of me. It was. I got the Pro, and I was like, it's an awesome game. Well, I mean, that's why I took another look at it. And I saw it through your eyes. And then I was like, you know what? I'm going to keep my eyes open for an LE if it becomes available. And damn it, it sure showed up on Facebook. I managed to grab it. A great version, low plays. Theme is so important, Donnie. Theme is just so important. And when it hits you, it hits you. Look at Pokemon theme. Okay, let's go five years back. All the companies, all the releases for the last five years. Just tell me a more simple playfield layout than Pokemon. More simple than Pokemon. Last five years, all the companies. That's easy. It's Blues Brothers, Spinal Tire. I don't know Blues Brothers. What company is that? I don't know that. Home Pin. I don't know what that is. Real companies that make games. Drained, Cosmic Cart Racing.
    59:37
    What the heck is Drained? Oh, it's a P3. Isn't that the virtual Pimball game? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, come on. All right, all right, all right. Let me think, let me think. Real Pinball. Okay, so Munsters has a pretty basic-ish layout, I would say. Dude, the Munsters, do you have the premium with the under? Yes. Yeah, yeah. That's more advanced than Pokemon layout. Black Knight Sword of Rage Pro is similar. It's got that big neck in the front.
    60:08
    As far as like a simple layout. The Pro, but it's... No, it has more shots. It has more shots on the Pro. Oh, I got it. Fall of the Empire. That has eight shots. Yeah, but they're all dumb. I don't know. They didn't sell it to us Europeans. Venom. I'll counter with Venom. Wait, I played Venom two days ago. It has some ramps that are very steep going up. It was feel-good shots for me. I guess Venom Pro.
    60:48
    I don't think we can count that because that has things. So a game that has things removed from it is very similar to Pokemon.
    60:58
    It's probably what I'm going to end up on. But when we talk Pokemon Ellie and Venom Ellie, Venom Ellie has more. Everything for the last 10 years has more in it. But how did it sell? It sold like crazy, Pokemon. Why? Because of the theme. Not because of the shots on layout. I get what you're saying. Because of the freaking theme. That's it. Theme is everything. If I open a pinball company, I would get a great theme. That's it.
    61:27
    Absolutely. ABBA? Does ABBA have more shots? Will ABBA sell? Come on. Is that a great theme? Is ABBA a great theme? Also, I got told, what was it? Van Halen?
    61:44
    Van Halen? Is that going to sell 5,000 games? No. I mean, it's just Star Trek from the 60s? No. Why? Like, dude, the people that watch that series are dead now. It's like Star Trek The Next Generation, if they redid that as a modern pin, I'd buy that right now. Right now. I want to buy that. I want to put a deposit on it. Yeah, that's the 90s. But there's a huge difference from 60s to 90s. The only thing that's freaking motherfucking awesome from the 60s is Goldfinger 1964 James Bond. Oh my God. That's the only thing. I love the theme of James Bond. I just don't like the cornerstone layout.
    62:36
    I played it two days ago. That left orbit, you shoot the spinner, and it goes up all the way back, back to your left. That's my favorite shot in the game. You're talking more magical than that. Yeah, so it's got one of the – I love those shots. Stranger Things has it too in the left orbit where it will go around and come up to wire form. I love a long shot like that. Like I'm sending my pinball on a journey. Curse through that orbit up to the wire form. Make your way back down here. It was even lit. The mode didn't care about it and I looped that shot. I loved it. Jump over to the right flipper again and bam. Oh my God. So I wrote on Stern Enthusiast yesterday, and if enough people raise their hands and say, Stern, listen to us, when they remake their games, please, for the love of God, include pro versions. I want a Walking Dead pro. Of the remasters? Yes. I want a Metallica pro. And I want the Goldfinger pro. No, because when I buy a pro, I pay the premium price, $12,000 shipping here in Denmark. So a pro costs $10,000 for me. So that, we need Stern to listen. Donnie, you have to say this on Donald's Pinball Podcast. Also, make it so. Make them in pro versions. So with Walking Dead, they probably actually would have sold a lot more with the remaster. Yes! People love Walking Dead pro version. Yeah, and I think the idea of remastering Walking Dead was a good idea, but leaving out all the video assets from the show killed it. Killed it. Oh, yeah. I need those modes. I need the call-outs. I need the scenes to play as I'm playing. What did they do with Metallica? They edit Metallica. So good. Metallica is one of the best games Stern's done in the last five years. So good. The remaster? Oh, man. Yeah, and it's sold so well, but you have the whole game in the pro. If it was a pro, I would have bought it, but I don't have the money for the premium elite stuff. So when they make, if they make Goldfinger, the beautiful lady that gets killed with that gold on her body, on the sides of the cabinet, on the bag box, in the middle of the play field, I don't care, but in a pro, if it's only premium elite, I won't buy it. Because on James Bond, the Bond on the wand, waste of money. And that glass where you can see them dive, waste of money. Yeah, that was, okay, we're going to talk pros versus premiums of which pros you have to have. James Bond, absolutely. You got the world's shortest wire form as a physical ball lock. You lose that. The Bond on the wand, which wasn't exciting. And then, yeah, the underwater scene, which, like, I mean, it's better than nothing, but, like, it doesn't do anything for the gameplay. So like what else am I getting? Yeah. So the only thing you're paying $3,000, the only thing you're really getting your stuff for is it has this wire form around the dildo so it can lock three balls there. That's cool, but it's not $3,000 cool.
    65:57
    Yeah, and you get the rocket. That's really what I want to hit. You get the rocket. You get the drop-down targets. You get that psycho spinner shot. You have got all the crazy ram shot with the upper left flipper.
    66:10
    What a nice game. And I love the theme. I love the Sean Connery everything. I just want it in a pro version for the price of a premium. That's how I feel. I hope you will join this and tell this on your show. Also, Gengiz from Denmark wants a Goldfinger in pro. All right. I'll reach out to my contacts at Stern. If they still work there, and I'll let them know. So yeah, so I guess what we need to find out then and talk about is what would be the next remaster from Stern?
    66:48
    I just played Ghostbusters. Let's do that. Ghostbusters. I'm hearing some rumors. I think it may be coming. I don't know from who, but I would love to see it. This has been We Are Pinball, episode number 60. We love you guys. Head over to patreon.com backslash wearepinball. And email us at wearepinball69 at gmail.com. And we'll be back in your face quicker than you can spray mace into someone else's face.
    67:26
    May you have many wives.