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TPF Pre-Show 2026

LoserKid Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·1h 8m·analyzed·Mar 19, 2026
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TL;DR

Pre-TPF 2026 news roundup covering Pokemon, American Pinball reboot, and manufacturer strategies.

Summary

Loser Kid Pinball Podcast episode 190 covers pre-TPF 2026 news from Dallas, discussing upcoming reveals including Stern's Pokemon, Multimorphic's strategic pivot away from TPF, American Pinball's reboot under new ownership with fresh design talent, and other manufacturer announcements. Hosts Josh Roop and Scott Larson discuss manufacturing quality control challenges, game design philosophy (gameplay vs. theme immersion), and community sentiment around limited editions and collectibility.

Key Claims

  • Stern's Pokemon pinball is starting to ship and get into venues; there has been a minor issue with the orbit playfield element.

    high confidence · Josh Roop and Scott Larson discussing Pokemon availability and mechanical issues at local barcades

  • Multimorphic is strategically not revealing a new game at TPF 2026, instead planning to announce when they are ready to ship within a short window.

    high confidence · Josh and Scott discussing Multimorphic's decision based on email update subscription announcement

  • American Pinball has been acquired by J.B. Vincent LP and represents a complete reboot of the company.

    high confidence · Josh Roop stating 'American pinball was bought out by jb vincent' and calling it 'a total flush and reboot'

  • American Pinball has announced a partnership with Planetary Pinball Supply to make classic Williams/Bally remakes.

    high confidence · Josh discussing Rick from Planetary Pinball announcing partnership for remakes

  • Rob of Electric Playground and Nick (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater homebrew designer) have signed on to American Pinball as product director and designer respectively.

    high confidence · Josh Roop providing announcement 'just a couple weeks ago' with specific role assignments

  • Melvin (formerly of DPX/Dutch Pinball) was hired by American Pinball within 24 hours of his departure from Dutch Pinball.

    high confidence · Josh describing the rapid transition: 'Melvin wasn't even gone from Dutch after his announcement for like a full 24 hours when American reached out'

  • American Pinball is reportedly bringing a revamped Houdini to TPF 2026, based on assembly line photos and artwork leaks.

    medium confidence · Josh Roop: 'My understanding is they're bringing Houdini back. They're giving it a facelift. And yeah, that's what I've been told is gonna be at Texas Pinball Festival.'

  • Godzilla is on track to be the best-selling modern pinball game and may challenge Addams Family's all-time sales record.

Notable Quotes

  • “Stern's handing it off to two people that's let's be frank they don't give a crap about pinball they just want a job”

    Josh Roop @ ~15:00 — Critical commentary on Stern's manufacturing quality control at scale vs. boutique manufacturers

  • “pinball is becoming more like it was a collectible item before but it's truly becoming a collectible now right we're seeing that with like Pokemon le we saw that with Winchester we saw that with Beetlejuice like it sold out those three alone sold out within 48 hours”

    Josh Roop @ ~32:00 — Identifies shift in market toward FOMO-driven collectibility and limited edition buying behavior

  • “if Lamborghini came and said, Hey, because we want you to make a pinball machine. And so just because it's associated with that brand... that is so few and far between”

    Scott Larson @ ~35:00 — References Supreme pinball as unique brand collaboration model, contextualizes Pokemon's similar positioning

  • “I think one of the problems that Multimorphic has had is they show at Texas because they want to go to Texas because that's their backyard, right? And they don't ship for another six months.”

    Scott Larson @ ~28:00 — Explains rationale for Multimorphic's strategic pivot to later announcements aligned with shipping windows

  • “You're producing pinball in Chicago. Your president lives in St. Louis. Your designer lives in St. Louis... We're starting to see this trend of like... the assembly line will be in Chicago, but we're going to scatter the pieces to the wind. How well can you keep that going?”

    Scott Larson @ ~55:00 — Identifies structural risk in American Pinball's geographically distributed leadership model for manufacturing

  • “Just because that's their best selling game doesn't mean that it's going to make them more money. People who have Houdini, or want Houdini, already have it.”

    Josh Roop @ ~60:00 — Questions strategic value of remaking existing titles vs. creating new IP for American Pinball

  • “Ametron's the difference... Ametron had a lot of control over American because obviously the people front the bill.”

Entities

Josh RooppersonScott LarsonpersonZach SharpepersonNicole MenypersonStephaniepersonRobpersonNickpersonMelvin Williamsperson

Signals

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern Pokemon has reported issues with orbit playfield element not functioning properly; adjustments needed to tooling and plastic placement over artwork

    high · Josh Roop and Scott Larson discussing orbit issues: 'There has been a little bit of an issue with the orbit and I'm hoping they were able to fix that' and 'they just haven't pushed that back'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Discussion of inherent quality control gaps in large-scale manufacturing (Stern, Jersey Jack) vs. boutique manufacturers (Spooky), with designers having to directly supervise assembly line workers on specific procedures like Newton ball installation

    high · Josh and Scott's extended discussion of assembly line worker commitment variance and need for direct designer supervision on complex components

  • ?

    product_strategy: Multimorphic's strategic decision to skip TPF 2026 and instead announce games closer to shipping window (within 2 weeks to 1 month) to maximize conversion and retain demand; positioning as response to competitive pressure from Stern's rapid shipping model

    high · Scott: 'I think with this whole like, I think Portal's been a great hit for them... why not reveal when you're ready to ship or within a month'

  • ?

    business_signal: American Pinball acquired by J.B. Vincent LP represents complete operational reboot; previous dysfunction attributed to Ametron investor control; new leadership structure separates manufacturing (Chicago) from design/product teams (St. Louis/Europe)

    high · Josh: 'it's a reboot. It's a total flush and reboot.' Scott identifies investor control as dysfunction source: 'Ametron had a lot of control over American because obviously the people front the bill'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.204

0:00
Thanks for tuning into the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, episode 190. I'm saying that because we're 10 episodes away from 200. Dun dun dun. I am Josh Roop. With me, my co-captain. Scott Larson. And Scott, there is, actually, there was a new reveal today. That's true. If you want to get Yukon Yeti, who you call him? Yeah, call Zach and Nicole Meny at Flip N Out Pinball. They've always hooked me up with all my needs. And hey, if you want to pick up that new Yukon Yeti, if you missed out on that white water, then you can get the newer version of it made by Turner Pinball. Yep. And this is bright and shiny. It's definitely it's definitely led.
0:45
Well, we can get we can dig in this later. But I'm like, if you want the legendary edition, sure, Zach, right? That's, that's what they're calling this edition. So it's pre TPF, where it's It's that time of the year where we're starting to see some reveals. So we're doing a pre-TPFF episode to kind of go through the news. We're on TPF Eve, so it starts tomorrow if I remember correctly. And then, yeah, it's in Dallas. Yeah, it's like Friday night, Saturday, and then Sunday. It is actually one of the festivals that really has a meaningful Sunday. A lot of them really, Sunday is just, you know, get out of town. Leaving Des Moines D'down. Now happy days. Alex K必, Salutations from�� complete cashier. 3 But between that and some of the live events that are no longer at TPF, I don't think we've really seen the difference that has happened there. Yeah, but I also wonder if Expo has taken a lot of hints from the success of TPF. And they've incorporated a lot of the things to make Expo more successful. Expo also happens to have a lot of the manufacturers right there. It has the tours usually and so they have been able to incorporate a lot of the good things about TPF. TPF is still, it's more of a fan experience. It's not so much of a vendor thing. So it still has that element but it does feel like it's changed a little bit. A little bit. But that's the other part. This is all just what I'm hearing. It sounds like the incentives to bring your games to TPF have been kind of truncated a little bit, and so that's kind of hindered a little bit of what's been going on there. I don't know. I'd like to get back down to TPF. We've got a handful of friends going down. Pinball Pursuit, they're heading down right now. They just sent me a picture. His whole family's going. That's amazing. I'm excited for them. One other, I don't know if These people are going, but I want to give them a shout out. I have them here on our notes. Punk Rock Pinball, specifically Stephanie. I forget that my wife tags me and stuff on social media, and she always does the family stuff while I try to just do this, right? Like I don't... Anyhow, she tagged me. So for those that don't know, my son was diagnosed with celiacs back in December, and it's been quite the transition. And then a couple months later, his twin sister was diagnosed with it as well. But when Stephanie had heard, when she saw on Facebook that Grayson had been tagged, or that Grayson had been diagnosed with celiacs, she reached out. She works for a company called Jackson, and this company specializes in potato chips, sweet potato, veggie straws, stuff like that. And she just wanted to, she's like, I want to send you like a care package because their Food is like missing the top nine allergens and like it's just really good product and so they shipped it out to me and my son was so excited that he got this box for himself this is before Nora was diagnosed but seriously you didn't have to do that I really appreciate I really appreciate those that reached out to to help to to talk to me about it there was a lot of people that reached out it's it's amazing how much you don't know what it This is a production of WGBH. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

medium confidence · Scott discussing Godzilla sales trajectory: 'Godzilla is on track to be the best selling modern game. Who knows? Who knows if it'll beat Adam's Family?'

  • Spooky Pinball's Beetlejuice sold out within 48 hours, along with Pokemon LE and Winchester Mystery House.

    high confidence · Josh: 'Beetlejuice like it sold out those three alone sold out within 48 hours'

  • Hot Wheels license for American Pinball expired in December 2025 and was not renewed.

    high confidence · Josh: 'The Hot Wheels license expired in December 2025 and they were not allowed to renew it.'

    • Scott Larson @ ~65:00 — Attributes American Pinball's historical dysfunction to investor interference, sees new ownership as potential reset

  • “With no AIMTRON in the picture, I am cautiously optimistic.”

    Scott Larson @ ~66:00 — Explicit acknowledgment that removal of Ametron's control is necessary condition for American Pinball turnaround

  • “pinball has to be up there when you're talking about someone buying a complex operating mechanical machine for mainly entertainment. The only thing you could possibly say is maybe like a motorcycle or a side by side.”

    Josh Roop @ ~22:00 — Contextualizes manufacturing complexity of pinball among consumer products

  • “There are certainly different ways... I would argue King Kong would have been number one for 2025 if they would have put the Star Wars theme on it.”

    Scott Larson @ ~45:00 — Hypothetical assessment of how IP licensing could have altered 2025 sales hierarchy

    • J.B. Vincent
    person
    Rickperson
    Jimperson
    Keith Elwinperson
    Turner Pinballcompany
    Chicago Gaming Companycompany
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Multimorphiccompany
    American Pinballcompany
    Dutch Pinballcompany
    Hexa Pinballcompany
    Planetary Pinball Supplycompany
    Flip N Out Pinballcompany
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Loser Kid Pinball Podcastorganization

    personnel_signal: American Pinball hired Rob (Electric Playground) as Product Director and Nick (Tony Hawk's Pro Skater homebrew designer) as Designer, plus Melvin (formerly DPX/Dutch Pinball) within 24 hours of his departure from Dutch

    high · Josh detailing hires: 'Rob of the Electric Playground... Nick that did the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater homebrew... Melvin wasn't even gone from Dutch after his announcement for like a full 24 hours when American reached out'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community sentiment toward American Pinball shifting from pessimism under Ametron control to cautious optimism with new ownership, but hosts emphasize need for proof of concept before belief change; Scott explicitly skeptical despite fresh faces

    high · Josh: 'I'm cautiously optimistic' vs. Scott: 'I'm skeptical. I'm not even optimistic on this... I don't really expect anything to change'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Pinball market shifting from collectible-oriented to true collectibility driven by FOMO; recent LE games (Pokemon LE, Winchester, Beetlejuice) sold out within 48 hours; secondary market prices inflating (Pokemon LE trading at $20k+)

    high · Josh: 'pinball is becoming more like it was a collectible item before but it's truly becoming a collectible now... sold out within 48 hours' and 'I know that Pokemon is a huge, huge thing... people are selling them for 20,000 right now'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Keith Elwin's design track record of consistent hits (Godzilla, King Kong, Avengers) creates competitive pressure for other manufacturers; Jersey Jack preemptively paused Avatar to avoid competing with King Kong in 2025

    medium · Scott: 'Keith is more hit than miss... His games were hits... King Kong from Keith Elwin coming out... makes sense for them to be nervous'

  • $

    market_signal: Planetary Pinball Supply now partnering with fourth or fifth company for classic Williams/Bally remakes; raises questions about which licenses remain available and whether remaining titles have sufficient demand

    medium · Josh: 'this has the fourth or fifth company that's agreed with Planetary' and questioning 'What licenses haven't been taken already?'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Spooky Pinball consciously focuses on theme immersion and artistic presentation over complex rule sets and optimal flow; positions games for theme-immersion audience rather than gameplay purists; discussed as successful market segmentation strategy

    high · Scott: 'Spooky has never dominated on the best flowing game... they have dominated on theme immersions... they just kind of know where their audience is'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Hot Wheels license expired December 2025 and American Pinball was not permitted to renew; affects future remake plans

    high · Josh: 'The Hot Wheels license expired in December 2025 and they were not allowed to renew it.'

  • ?

    content_signal: Pinball content creators like Knapp Arcade actively sourcing and sharing international manufacturer media (French Hexa Pinball Three Musketeers video); demonstrates global community engagement despite language barriers

    medium · Josh: 'Knapp Arcade did a little write up on this... I could not find this video literally anywhere else' and 'I don't speak French either'

    • 5:06
    We know Pokemon was revealed last month and so they're not going to be revealing another game by TPF. Yeah. But this will probably be the first time people get their hands on a Pokemon. Yes. And this is, they're starting to get out in the wild. Our local barcade has been able to start. They just got it last weekend, I believe. They got the pro version. I have not, I've been so busy, I've not had a chance to get up there and try it out. But they are getting out there. So I'm really curious to see what people's experience has been. There has been a little bit of an issue with the orbit and I'm hoping they were able to fix that. I mean, Josh, what are your thoughts on that? I think it's just adjusting some tooling in the tooling process. You could even see like the orbit itself actually goes over the artwork for some odd reason. They just haven't pushed that back. And so if you're worried about it, it's literally you take the plastic off, you unscrew the So take that one guy and drive on the back of aρι and roll over a bonnet, PINBALL PANTS AND Dokilis, and Mr. Pants's He is not a human, to whom you re a reflection, Mr. Panty, but a connected member of two countries, more to the atomic encounter, than to any future life silence,樣 erschrafors, comprendintatOUR, and thee he world. Mrs MacKellar究擊ess, bu diversity 감inoneseler valeabor st'at N Castappia, Matische, Dallara, dwizivilligco ne llu r". ikk, We're the best! Next up,։ Jack, we've both been in their places and they're big enough that they it's not like spooky who's enthusiasts that can keep an eye on the line 100% because they're pretty much the ones doing it right Stern's handing it off to two people that's let's be frank they don't give a crap about pinball they just want a job well okay okay that's not that's that's not fair that there are people who obviously their main job is the assembly line of pinball right yes but But okay, yeah, so they they care about the product. People who work still care about even if you don't care about playing pinball per se, you still are going to care about your product because as a business, you don't want to have the complaints about hey, the product is not working the way it's designed. So we've we've heard stories though like where designers get feedback of like like a Newton ball isn't staying on and it says literally in the instructions like use Teflon tape or use whatever you know to secure the Newton ball and they had to go out on the line and like stand over someone to be like you're not doing this properly you need to do this. There will always be some gaps certainly and considering any assembly line you're going to have People who are less committed to that one job for sure. You're saying this so professionally.
    8:27
    Okay. My point being is, is like Jersey Jack and Stern might have those quality control issues that might slip through the gaps because it's hard when you have 50, 100 employees on an assembly line. 200 individual people touching the game before it goes. Yes, you're going to have variations on commitment to quality for sure. Yeah. You don't know if someone's girlfriend broke up with them that week and they just don't care. You know what I'm saying? Anywho, point being is, is like, I agree with you. It's not a condemnation. It's not a justification. It's just pinball is pinball. And it's, it is amazing how much goes into these games before they get into our house, right? Like outside of a car, I don't know what other product has this much going into it before it gets into your house. Not mechanical for consumer-based consumption. Like there will be business based consumption that will have similar high complexity machines. But certainly pinball has to be up there when you're talking about someone buying a complex operating mechanical machine for mainly entertainment. The only thing you could possibly say is maybe like a motorcycle or a side by side. And, but those are, when you're talking about manufacturing, they do 20, 40, a thousand times the amount of volume. And so they're going to have, uh, they're going to spit through some, some errors pretty quickly. So speaking of, well, Stern's making these games, Pokemon, you and I have not played it yet because one just barely came available in the wild here at Kidos. It just popped up Saturday, I want to say. But everything I'm hearing, it is back to not basics, like obviously this has more rules and code and depth and modernization than a 1990s Bally Williams, but I'm hearing a lot of great things. It's nice to have a straightforward game every once in a while. I think this one's going to have quite the tell on it. I just, I'm excited to play this game. MyASON5
    11:01
    Okay, so right now is that the, the. Jason Cosplayer slugging isn't a problem. I've never heard of it. You guys, besides theә 응 i tortilla ś
    11:26
    Сよろしく We've got a million pictures. Yeah. That is crazy. But hey, pretty ingenious. And hey, if people were getting entertainment at the same time, I think it's interesting. Nothing's for free, right? Like you're still somehow... Your time still costs money too. Yep. So I don't know. I'm excited. I'm jealous of people getting to go play this Pokemon down there. We do know that Jersey Jack Pinball is not bringing anything. Like they won't be revealing anything. And I hope that they do. I'm excited. I hope that Jack does not go into the Harry Potter and be like, Sonic the Hedgehog's coming back, save your money. Yeah, it'd be pretty hard to submarine Harry Potter. It's true. I just I feel bad for that Avatar panel. Well, I feel bad for the Avatar team. I it was definitely mistimed. I I'm guessing they were feeling some heat from King Kong with the possibility I believe that could be another Godzilla situation which would siphon sales. So I understand why he did it. It is just unfortunate how it turned out. But at that time King Kong hadn't even revealed. It wouldn't reveal. No, but it was... Okay, Godzilla is on track to be the best selling modern game. Who knows? Who knows if it'll beat Adam's Family? I don't know. But it is certainly on trend and it doesn't seem to show signs of slowing down and they're still making it in record amounts. So having another similar game from Keith Elwin coming out, it makes sense for them to be nervous. Even if you have a monster theme like Harry Potter. Oh yeah. And the thing is, is Keith is more hit than miss, right? Like you could argue all of his games were hits. Whether you agree with Avengers or not, it's still an amazing flow game. And if you overcomplicate it, yeah, it can be stressful, but like honestly, it's pretty The game still shoots really well. Shoots really well, and it can be overly simplified of just collect the Avengers and you can get to the end. You know what I'm saying? There are certainly different ways. I still like it. I just, I find it one of the most dynamic layouts, the way that you can move the ball path around. I would argue King Kong would have been number one for 2025 if they would have put the Star Wars theme on it. Probably. Yeah. So I just dedim So, they did go to Pinball at the Beach. I'm hearing if you are a theme immersive person, this is a game for you. I have heard complaints that it plays fairly easy. And then I've heard complaints that plays really hard. So I don't know where the gameplay is at. And I really wish I could get my hands on one of these to be like, yeah, it's one way or the other. Okay, Spooky has never dominated on the best flowing game. They never have. They have dominated on theme immersions, and they've also dominated on having sculpts and presentation. I mean, their art has always been S tier. So that's really where they focus. And really, I think they just kind of know where their audience is. The you know Texas Chainsaw they know their audience Evil Dead I'm really it does know their audience and so they they certainly succeed at that um I think Beetlejuice will hit exactly where the people who want a spooky game will hit because I I don't think you'll ever going to be competing at least currently with Spooky's lineup at like the best flowing game or the best The best, you know, the best coded game. That's not really who they are at this point, but they are excellent at theme presentation and theme immersion. I agree. And I think, honestly, pinball is different for every person. And I think if you are a true, like, purist pinball enthusiast, it doesn't matter the theme so long as the game and the rules and everything are great, right? All right. It could be the worst game in the world. Theme wise, you know, shadow. Sure. Okay. I will argue though, even having like the best, there's a reason why they have art on them. There's a reason why they have themes on them. Because if you just had a white, like think of Deadpool. Okay. Look at the white wood of Deadpool and it's pretty bare. It's a fun game because the rules and the artwork and the experience brings you in. But if you just had the white wood and even the rule set, so just say a scoring rule set without any sort of theme immersion, it would not be the same game. True, but games like, I don't know, This Is Spinal Tap and Thunderbirds? Okay. You know. Okay, but those aren't great games. Those are terrible games. Exactly. That's what I'm saying. So if you a pinball purist it all about the gameplay and the rules And that why people that love King Kong I feel fall more in that pinball enthusiast because the theme itself is almost like an original theme when you get off of a book 100 years ago Jeff Lerner, Jr.: It'd be like Phantom of the Opera, really. Phantom of the Opera came out today because it's an old book, really. Yeah, and and I think there's people that are more of a pinball immersion, right? Like they want they want the Evil Dads, they want the Beetlejuice, they want the Addams Family that draws you in and it's Showtime! Yes, you know what I'm saying? And there are some people it's a mix of both. But I just I think that Spooky's really found their group and I think they've done an excellent job at it. And it's those theme immersion people that want to feel like they're part of the license they're All of these are the things that you're experiencing. So, just my thought. But, alright, let's talk about the last one that will not be at Texas, which is very unusual for this company. Multimorphic announced this last month through their email update. If you've not subscribed to their email, do so. But they are not showing at TPF this year, which is... Smart. It is very smart. It's smart. Yes. I agree. I think one of the problems that Multimorphic has had is they show at Texas because they want to go to Texas because that's their backyard, right? And they don't ship for another six months. And so I think with this whole like, I think Portal's been a great hit for them. I think it helps them push into financially going to later. And so why not reveal when you're ready to ship or within a month, right? Like Stern reveals and then you're anywhere from two weeks. Stern reveals, Harry Potter, same thing. Correct. If you jump on it now, you can get it. P3 is definitely smart in saying we are going to wait and announce the next game when we have a short window of shipping because the quickest way of selling something and retaining the demand is to have someone be able to buy it and have it in their hands within two weeks. I agree and I think as much as people don't want to hear this pinball is becoming more like it was a collectible item before but it's truly becoming a collectible now right we're seeing that with like Pokemon le we saw that with Winchester we saw that with Beetlejuice like it sold out those three alone sold out within 48 hours okay collectible versus hype I'm gonna say that's a little different because I guarantee eventually the Pokemon like right now yes we're hearing like crazy crazy things for certain I'm sure. But you're going to get the same thing. And you remember how Foo Fighters was was a big hit and then everybody just saw it. They played it. And there's always a new shiny object coming. I guarantee when Winchester gets out here, you'll still be able to pick it up for probably around 13 when maybe maybe 14, maybe 15, just because the limited nature of it. But I don't see it realistically being In the meantime, in workouts we are in, all employers require a Vegaи besonders demeanor. An obviousather pedigree to support futurecare will determine the outcome of the program. This effort is likely to take away many of the benefits of continuing a regularฯ so-called It depends on the audience, right? Like it depends on the audience that are buying these games. I mean, one that we always skip over that blew everyone's socks off. Like no one knew this was happening. And if you would have told me to buy 10 of them, I would have laughed at you, but I would have thanked you if I did it. Supreme. Supreme released in 2018. Well, okay. It was a home edition. That's a totally different scenario. That's a totally different scenario. It was that was Supreme. And it's like if Lamborghini came and said, Hey, because we want you to make a pinball machine. And so just because it's associated with that brand. Now I still do not get at all what the drive of Supreme is or the, but it's the brand that breeds exclusivity. And so that was engineered into it, but that is so few and far between. Yeah. But I think it goes back to your audience. We couldn't even get one. Do you remember? There were people who reached out to me and said, Hey, I mentioned getting a Supreme. How can I get one? I'm like, I don't know. I just asked Stern. Like I had no idea what, what Supreme was at the time. Sam. But here's the thing though, like Pokemon, I feel like is positioned a little bit in that way as well. I mean, Jake or Logan Paul sold his Pikachu illustrator card the same week Pokemon revealed for $16.5 million. There's an this audience like pinball is pretty niche. I think once it starts getting out there and people start seeing it like this is a thing. I half wonder if those LEs are still going to go up. I think people are selling them for 20,000 right now. They may. I could be completely wrong on this. I know that Pokemon is a huge, huge thing. There are going to be a billion premiums available that you can blingify up to a Pokemon adjacent LE. And so unless you really care about having the LE, yeah, I don't know. I still like my Godzilla premium more than I like the Godzilla LE. And that's me. Even if I went, the reason why I didn't buy the 30th, sorry, the 70th, because I liked This artwork better than the 70 artwork because the 70 artwork was a foiled version of the of the le
    22:57
    no i agree all right let's talk about the companies actually gonna be there they're gonna be showing stuff they've teased us uh let's start with the one that hasn't fully revealed yet uh well i guess there's two of them american pinball so let's let's get up to speed because it's been it's been a minute since you've i've talked news yeah um american pinball was bought out by jb vincent More at www.acmal jersey passangsport.com
    23:48
    I would say for all intents and purposes, it's a reboot. It's a total flush and reboot. Yes. So they've announced a couple times here already. So Rick with Planetary Pinball announced a partnership with American to make more remakes, which this has the fourth or fifth company that's agreed with Planetary. Yeah. So what licenses haven't been taken already? Why hasn't it been picked over? WANDA KANGEN fraud media MapBr 1507 when these companies do agreements to it seems like they're taking seven or eight titles at a time you're i'm saying yeah the challenge though is that the secret sauce that CGC has had with their remakes and yes we all know that they have a terrible manufacturing timeline yeah but the product was always So, I'm not going to go into too much detail about the game itself, but I do want to make sure that you guys are aware of the fact that the game is good. Sometimes great, really. So, the fact that they were able to have a near perfect version with modern components of an older game made it so, hey, buying Attack from Mars was great, buying Medieval Madness was great, and even Monster Bash, which is probably the runt of the four, Cactus Canyon. Oh, by the way, I do want to give a big thank you to CGC. So they sent me out a test kit. Okay. I installed the test kit. We already talked about this before. And I actually found that I had an error in mine where the door, the saloon door would open up and then it wouldn't shut back down. So, so I actually reached out to them and Jim took everything. He took everything that was going on and they sent me out a new one to replace that one. So I haven't, I was a little curious when I was talking to Josh Sharp about how far I was getting in the game. It was because the door wasn't shutting on me. So I'm very thankful for CGC for sending out another one. I will uninstall the old one and reinstall the new one and then I will give a report on that. But yes. So if you look at the CGC games, they were able to capture the four most in demand games and keep it at a high quality, which is why you're still seeing people saying, okay, I still want those. American Pinball has not had that same level of quality control on their manufactured games. And whether or not they can do that, people are still interested in a high quality reproduction of a classic game. Having Tales of the Arabian Nights, having Theater of Magic, having Circus Voltaire, All these games would find homes in people's houses as long as they were a quality reproduction of it. I guess the jury's still out on whether or not American Pinball can replicate that. They have a factory. It is on the smaller side. We've talked about it. And can they actually put out a quality game without any bugs? I guess we shall see. True. And so, with American, so they've made those changes, right? So they made the agreement. And then this, just a couple weeks ago, they announced that Rob of the Electric Playground, which we've had on, we helped them reveal their attack from Mars Topper. And Nick that did the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater homebrew, which flabbergasted and floored everyone at Expo, have now signed on to American Pinball. Nick is a designer, Rob is a product director. So it seems like they're starting to put the right cogs in the right spot to really get this machine moving. I'm hopeful. I guess I'll put I'm hopeful, cautiously optimistic. Okay, but they've done this before, right? Yes, yes, this seems to be AP's... They found, you know, they found Ryan to do, you know, who had the great Sonic game, the homebrew game. Yep. They brought him on and that didn't pan out. And so I'm hoping that with a new approach, they may be able to make it pan out this time. I'm still just holding my breath though because they haven't shown anything that would make me have faith in their company right now. So I also forgot, Melvin, formerly of DPX, so Dutch Pinball and DPX decided to split ways. New investors came into Dutch Pinball and said, hey, this is an extra division, it's extra weight. We have different views, yes. Yes, correct. And so Melvin wasn't even gone from Dutch after his announcement for like a full 24 hours when American reached out and gave him a job as well. I agree with you. So here's my concerns. So my concerns are we're still producing in Chicago, which is fine. I don't think that's a bad thing. That's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's pinballs. But you're producing pinball in Chicago. Your president lives in St. Louis. Your designer lives in St. Louis. Your product director lives in St. Louis. Melvin, I don't know exactly what he's over. I can't remember. But he lives in Europe. We're starting to see this trend of like, so the assembly line will be in Chicago, but we're going to scatter the pieces to the wind. How well can you keep that going? That's a big question. It's really, that's how startups are. That's not how manufacturing, like high volume quality manufacturing is done. You have to have people who are connected more when you're deciding to step up. So I'm curious, again, prove me wrong. I am willing to be proven wrong, but you have to actually make a proof of concept before I'll believe you. Same here. And so American announced this week they are bringing, let me verbatim, working on something exciting for Texas Pinball Festival with the picture of them with an assembly line with playfields upside down so you can't see exactly what it is. But we have seen bits and pieces of artwork. My understanding is they're bringing Houdini back. They're giving it a facelift. And yeah, I that's what I've been told is gonna be at Texas Pinball Festival. So if it's Houdini, okay, but that is, they tried to cram one too many shots in that game. And it is it is a really hard game, even opening up for anybody who's an even like elite players, you have to have a big enough tolerance for a shot that elite players will still have I'm not sure Houdini's that game. I would argue it's their best selling game. Probably is. Yeah, it probably is. But just because that's their best selling game doesn't mean that it's going to make them more money. People who have Houdini, or want Houdini, already have it. True. And let's break it down. Like Oktoberfest, it's a good shooting game, but I don't think it has the legs to be redone. The Hot Wheels license expired in December 2025 and they were not allowed to renew it. That was so basic of a game. I'm not sure. I don't think you do another Legends of Valhalla rerun because A we don't know if the license is like how that all unfolded right. There's still Galactic Tank Forces in the warehouse. They're never making that game. Yeah, and Barry O's Barbecue. So... Again, never making that game. Yeah. You're back to Houdini. And if you need to bridge the gap from when you bought the company, you need something on the line, start bringing in a little bit of cash to reinvest, it's probably the best way to do it. Or a proof of concept that you can make a functioning, high-quality pinball machine. Yeah. So maybe that's what they're doing. Yeah. I'm excited to see a couple things, because if you remember, the original Houdini had a weird cabinet. It had a unique cabinet. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say weird. Unique. But... Divergent cabinet. Are you going to do that again? I doubt it. If you want to cut back on costs, like if you want, you know what I'm saying? Standard cabinet. Yeah. Um, I think you could open up the shots a little bit, not by a ton. And then there's a couple of spots that like often rejected that I think you could work on. I think you'd almost have to take one of the shots out and put a few millimeters in each shot. The weirdest part you want to know, okay, I've been digging into American for the last little bit, just because there was a lot of discussions with us in American around a certain project that never revealed.
    33:16
    And so any who the point being is, is I went on because I insert clips into the video as we're talking so like people can see, oh, this is what they're talking about. Right. So I looked up Houdini. They released a trailer for it last year. And I'm like, this game's been out for like almost a decade now. Why are we redoing a new trailer for it? So I thought that was pretty weird and unique. The other weird thing about American and maybe I don't know, maybe orbit games has dissolved. Nothing has done been done to update their website. Nothing has done been done to update their Facebook. Essentially, when American got their What was that game they tried to Whirloball? Whirloball. Yeah, they didn't sell one of those. You don think they sold a single one There no way No way Yeah maybe the company mom bought one That it Maybe Ametron bought one I guess It's, that was laughably bad. So I half wonder if like, Orbit Games is no more, because it just... It should be no more. It should never have been. Yeah, so it's gonna be interesting. I'm excited. I'm cautiously optimistic for American, but like Scott said, I need a proof of concept. I'm skeptical. I'm not even optimistic on this. Really? Yeah. With it being fresh faces, I'm optimistic. I hope that they'll do the best. I don't really expect anything to change. With no AIMTRON in the picture, I am cautiously optimistic. Let me put that away. I really don't think... because that's the difference that's going around, right? Like, Ametron has always been involved from the beginning. When J-Pop was like, I want to make Houdini, and then when they realized this man don't know how to make a game, so they brought in Joe Balser, and then everything that happened around that, and then COVID hit, and they fired like half their people, and they brought in the David Fix era, and then the firing of David Fix and the new era of nothing being really produced. I don't know. The sellout, that's the difference, right? Ametron's the difference. And Ametron had a lot of control over American because obviously the people front the bill. So I really think if JB Vincent is going to invest and he's as big as a pinball enthusiast as he says, let's give this a couple of years and let's see how this works out. Okay. I wish them the best. I am not holding my breath at all. I agree. All right. Let's move on to the next one that semi revealed. We'll probably see more of it this weekend. Hexa Pinball from France. You remember their Space Hunt. They are now bringing out their next game, Three Musketeers. Okay. So Knapp Arcade did a little write up on this. Thanks Knapp, because I could not find this video literally anywhere else. I don't know how he got a hold of it. I don't speak French either, so may that... Jason knows people. He gets things. He does. And so, um, 15 seconds long, it's a musketeer walking up to a pinball machine that has been completely blurred out. Yeah. Anything. Does this do anything for you, Scott? Um, I like the candy bars. Yeah, okay. When was the last time a Three Musketeers movie has even been done? Um, the last one I think was, uh, wasn't it Chris O'Donnell? and Charlie's vanishing there we're we're old now all the people who and none of us we were peripherally I guess aware of the story but nothing that would make me think And now we're talking about the pinball machine. I guess it's in public domain. It's free. You're right. There was a, in 2023, there was a Three Musketeers, Dark Taun movie, but it was like, I don't even know if it went to theaters. It might have been like a straight. It was probably direct to 8-track release. Yeah, exactly. Okay, it's an interesting theme. I kind of think Pride and Prejudice would have more legs than this would. But hey, again, it depends. I don't know what their business model is, how many games they need to sell, what is considered a success for them, and if maybe a run of 100 is... I doubt they sold more than 50 space hunts. Well, I wonder what their success, what their success line is. True. And they are France based. Like, we don't know how, like, Three Musketeers might be amazing over there, regardless of if you're actually paying for a license or if you're using because the story's been around since mid 1800s, probably before that. Yeah. I just, that's the other thing too, like let's be honest, we're still in this weird space with terrorists right now and like Congress struck them down but like there's pushback and yada yada yada. I doubt that they're selling any of these in the United States. I don't know. Maybe 10 to very eclectic people who want something that's different than Godzilla. Yeah. Well, what's crazy too is like not like the terror like not even just the tariff thing like you have to claim product like you have to bring that product back with you to like I don't know any who yeah that's a whole other side tangent we don't go on so yeah so so three musketeers does nothing for you no I don't think it does a space hunt didn't really didn't know anything for me either three musketeers does nothing for me if the gameplay was good and the rules were awesome I would consider it Okay, sure, but this is now you're getting into like ninja eclipse territory where you're saying I thought ninja eclipse was fun enough and I thought that Looney Tunes was fun enough. Yeah, so it's that's kind of where where that level could possibly be. But it would be like coming out with a Bugs Bunny movie right now or, you know, Bugs Bunny anything right now. Like you have to be dunking on spooky. They came out with Looney Tunes just like a couple of years ago. Well, okay, but what I am saying is that you have to be over like 50 to even remember when Looney Tunes was on TV. Yeah. And it's actually I, I find it interesting. I just went to this a year ago, and Looney Tunes came out by Spooky or two years ago. And I looked up, okay, I wonder what a box set of like, you know, Looney Tunes cartoons or something like that would be. They don't even have like a good collection. And Easy collection to buy and consume. It's all chopped up into all these rando, weird.
    40:21
    Like seasons, and I don't understand why they don't have a better way of doing it, but I'm just saying even that is, you know, Looney Tunes. It's not relevant to anybody under 50. I doubt it is. It is so great. So Cartoon Network actually does have a modern Looney Tunes on right now, but it's not Teen Titans. It's not like you know I'm saying like yeah there is there are other properties at Cartoon Network I feel like that do a good job of being in the cultural zeitgeist. Right.
    40:55
    You'd have better luck with Batman the animated series. It's called the Looney Tunes show. I'm sorry. It came out in 2011 and only ran for two seasons. Huh? I how many years ago is that Josh? That's been 13 years ago. They still rerun it. It's syndicated. So I could have swore it was newer though. It's not relevant. It's literally not relevant. Man, Hannah. Okay. Think of coming out with Hannah Barbera. You have to be in your sixties to remember that. Yeah, true. Yeah. Speaking of which, if you want a Looney Tunes pinball machine, go to spookypinball.com. I'm pretty sure you can still order one right now. Sure. Okay. And again, I thought, I thought Looney Tunes was fine. I really did. It was it was that it was the side of Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Wasn't their website says you can still buy a collector's edition. Sure. In stock. Yeah, I am. I thought it was actually fine for what it was offering. Yeah, yeah. It was a great game. But I agree with you to a point. There's certain licenses like Three Musketeers. See, here's the thing is Looney Tunes. I feels more relevant than Three Musketeers.
    42:03
    Of course it is. Yeah. So that's exactly my point is like they should have come up with C-Sense & Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice or I dunno, Downtown Abbey or something like that. they should do Bridgerton. oh yeah, they'd have to, they'd have to edit that one. oh, no, maybe that's the untapped market, girls that read and watch spicy material yes, yes, Fifty Shades of Pinball, that's what's missing in the market no one's tried, who's done the research algorithm on that, I wanna know I do not want to know your your screen search if you've done the research algorithm on that. Oh, I know a couple people that would probably have done the research just just to see if it's serious now. Sure. It's the same. I'm making read certain magazines for the articles. No, there's people that generally are in pinball that are searching for good themes that resonate with pinball that would make money. I'm not talking about people that are reading Fifty Shades of Gray and be like, this would make a great pinball machine. No, no. I'm talking about actual All of these are people behind the scenes doing research. Okay. I guarantee Three Musketeers is not in the top 1000 desirable topic or titles. I wonder how many they're going to make of these and what the price is going to be. Again, less than 50. That's really what it comes down to. I'm guessing less than 50. And if that's really their success point, then good for them. They're finding something that it's a product that I don't think anybody wants, but maybe if there's enough demand, sure. Sure. Alright, speaking of You Said Ninja clips, we have had it officially revealed today. It is March 18th, it is Wednesday. Yukon Yeti, which is the direct follow up to Whitewater from 1992, or 93, I apologize, which is probably wrong anyway. Do you know how many people reach out to correct us? Holy crap. Okay, it's a 2013 Whitewater. Okay, alright. Okay, so no, it's a 2026 Whitewater. Oh, there you go. Okay. I was just making a joke that I know obviously wrong. Yeah, okay. Okay. It it looks it looks like they took Whitewater and skinned it and added a physical ball lock elevator. Well, and here's the other interest. Did you watch the trailer? Did you happen to watch the I watched part of it. I was at work. And so I don't really, I can't really watch videos when I'm at work. You're watching a video while someone someone's getting their kidney taken out. Sure, why not? Yeah, why not? Oh yeah, he's still good. He's good. Yep. Anywho, I do find it interesting, like, the main shot from Whitewater is literally in this game. So they've taken the upper playfield and they've reversed it. So instead of shooting to the left and up, it shoots the right and up. But even that up center shot that's on Whitewater that like goes into a ball lock or into a Vuck and then goes up onto the upper playfield is literally in this game. So like it's, which is great. It's a throwback. That was the most memorable part of that game. I do like them flipping the upper playfield. I feel like it opens up. My one complaint with Whitewater, it's a really great game, but the whole right side of the playfield is blocked by the upper playfield, and also you just have a bunch of pops in there. So you never see the ball coming through. And so the right side really isn't used in that game. So it's a lot of up the center and the left, right? So I'm excited to see this. I, I, Whitewater's one of the ones that I really thoroughly enjoyed as I got into pinball when I first got in. Yeah. Here's my concern.
    45:39
    And I don't know how, like you and I were talking about this behind the scenes. We have the same concern.
    45:46
    How many companies passed up on making this game? We know for sure publicly American did. Yeah. And I don't know. We just assumed it was the fallout between G, GTF and Riot. Yeah. They, and yeah, there's no way that's, that's, that's like dating But I'm pretty for sure this one was pitched at Stern and the reason being Dennis worked there for like a decade before he moved on to well he wasn't working there for a minute and then he did some stuff for Multimorphic he did Lexi Lightspeed and then like so I guarantee this game has been pitched a couple times what about this game makes it that other companies have passed and Turner's the one that's like we're doing it you know I'm saying Well, okay, now this is me speculating, okay? Okay. So Dennis has done many games. He was designing, what, in the 80s? Or early 90s? 1982, his first game was Rapid Fire. Okay, so he's been around and designing, okay? There are companies out there that are familiar with him, established companies that he has made games for. We have Pirates of the Caribbean Stern game. We have Elvira. That's another Stern game, but he left at the end of that one before it was even made. So Stern took that across the finish line.
    47:16
    Well, he's been around and he's done like Wo Nelly and that. The challenge I have is that it's possible that companies that have worked with him have I've decided that he's not their best option for a designer. Now, this is, I've never met Dennis. I don't know him personally. I don't even know any stories about him. Okay. But I am saying that Jersey Jack knew that Dennis was out there when they were trying to build up their, you know, their arsenal of designers. Stern has an arsenal of designers. And at some point, Dennis departed Stern for whatever reason. OK, so you have the two major companies where where Dennis has an established record of making games and they weren't interested. So it makes me wonder why. Whitewater, this is obviously a just a revamped Whitewater, right? So it makes me wonder, OK, so if they didn't want to do it and Whitewater. It still is a beloved title. It's a fun title. It's not the deepest one. It's not a tournament game. But a very, a two-ed up Whitewater is still a good time. So if given all that, why would they not be interested in a version of Whitewater that could possibly sell? The question is, why wouldn't they take a risk on it? And I think it's just because they felt they had better options. So if they felt they had better options and American, okay, I can discount American just because the GTF fallout. But I don't think that there's a lot of people who were chomping at the bit to do this. I don't disagree. Um, looking at the playfield, like honestly, it does look good in my opinion. Sure. One of my negatives when it comes to pinball, granted everyone plays differently, I don't like, I don't mind physical ball locks. Sure. But the weird staircase that houses like six balls and I get that like once you get multiball, it drains, like it dumps them all at the same time at you. Avalanche. Yeah. And so I just I'm I don't know. I want to get my hands on this game. I want to play it. Like I said, I am a white water fan. So Yukon Yeti is is a happy sight to see. Right. One thing I want to you and I were talking about this earlier, but we kind of did go through Dennis Norman's lineup of games he made. So let's go really quick. Barry O's BBQ, Avira, House of Horrors, Galactus Tank Force, Primus, Zombielig. So if you didn't know Zombielig, it was a pitch and bat that he did in between jobs, I guess. Lexi Lightspeed, Paps, Ken Crusher, Wo Nelly. So Wo Nelly, Paps, and Primus are all the same layout. They probably just was like a white. That's a reskin. Yeah. Will of Fortune, Pirates of the Caribbean. His first game back at Stern was a Simpsons Kooky Circus. It was a redemption machine, right? His last game, so then we're going back into the 90s, right? Scared Stiff, Demoman, Whitewater. That's three solid games right there. Partied Zone, which is fine, it's not a bad one. Dr. Dude, Blackwater 100, which is like known for its rarity, right? That kind of a fun one just because it an interesting motorcycle one And I It I it is definitely a niche title to say the least I feel like it it it a showpiece right Like it's also like Banzai Run, right? Like Banzai Run is a fun game. Yeah. But it was that 80s like and I've heard people who love Blackwater 100 or they hate it, right? Yeah. Party Animals, Special Force and Rapid Fire. Yeah. So that is 40 years worth of design wrapped up. And what is that? 20, 20 ish titles. How many solid games would you say? So I would say six. Probably about six. Oh, sorry. I forgot one that is on this list. Sorry. Indy 500. Yeah. Which is all another which is another solid one from Valley Williams. And I would say I actually like Stern Pirates of the Caribbean. It's still one of my one of my games. I still like it and I'm glad I have it. It's a it is a solid game. But okay, of all those games, which ones would I consider buying? Okay, I'll say Stern, Stern Pirates of the Caribbean, I would say that one, Whitewater. I think Elvira's fine. Scared stiff, I actually think is more fun than House of Horrors. It's gonna be cut for the era. It is what it is. Okay, and then I'm really kind of stalling out of the ones that I would be interested in. I know that that's, that may not be the best way of looking at things. But I'm your typical collector who will buy games and put them in my basement. And if that if my last game that he designed that I'm pretty interested in would be the Stern Pirates of the Caribbean that was like 2006. So, that's 20 years ago. Yeah. And he's been around for a long time and bouncing from job to job. So, it tends to tell me that they feel there's better options out there. Yeah. Well, me personally, I've owned Whitewater. I searched it out. I got a deal on it. I got it. The only other game I've ever owned that's a test for me is Doctor Dude. The reason being is it was at a local arcade here in town. I can't break him. The dude owed me money and he went under and he's like, just take the game. Take the dude. So I took it and I put it at a local pizza joint and it was fine. It's Dr. Dude. Of this list, I have considered buying Demoman. It is a cheap game. Like it is for that Bally Williams. Well, that's fine. I'm just not- It's heavy as sin though. And it's got weird handles. I think the handles are kind of fun. They are fun. But what I'm saying is it's again trying to get into your basement. It's just one extra thing to fight, right? No, no, especially with Demoman's a wide body, too. So it just becomes like a series of unfortunate events. Scared stuff. Fantastic game. And it is what it is. It's not a deep game, but it's a fun game. And especially if you have the like the bony beast mod with the moving eyes, it looks really cool.
    54:14
    Pirates of the Caribbean. Really good game for Dennis Norman. And then I would agree House of Horrors is really good as well. Yeah. So basically the, I would say Indy 500, Indy 500. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, but still what's one, two, three, four, five, six. Over a 40 year career. Aren't you going to hope that you have someone who has a little higher track record of hits? True. And maybe we're not giving enough credit to Dennis. Could be. Maybe. Looking at like, seriously, looking at this though, it looks, it looks solid. Like I, there's a weird empanada on the, on the, the apron, but Hey, and, uh, but I, I'm excited for a white water 2.0. I want to try it. I definitely want to play this and it definitely looks, it looks pretty good. And Turner actually, um, the ninja eclipse I thought was very solid. The Merlin's arcade. I thought was a little interesting choice on that. ants Satlay, столнарились, fiéisarian, synagogues, Fiskitriop combat Status. Each annár Kannab meat moved down in 10 years? HAILL-F Guinness World Record The 500 could be achievable for them. And this could be the right, the right marriage of Dennis and a small company who views success in limited numbers. They do have an all-inclusive package, which includes anti-reflective glass, shaker, shaker motor, premium sound with LED speakers, cabinet interior art blades, cabinet backsliders. I'm sorry, that's not clicking right now. We also have a dust cover and a topper premium Norman the Light topper for $12,250. Okay. So, which honestly isn't bad because if you bought it all separately Yeah, the topper itself is $1,500. You probably are pretty close to let's say $1,500, two grand, you know, you're $15,000. Yeah, you're definitely saving some money if you buy the all-in package, right? Yeah. If you're going to buy this, you're going to buy the big package. Yeah. Yep. I don't know. I would like to be down there playing this game because like I said, I that white water was always one of my grails and I got into my my collection and I really really loved it. The problem was and I could have made it harder. I was just it was constantly I was getting to the end of the river to wet willies and it just became one of those things where like even if I made it harder, I just don't know if I play it anymore. Right. And at some point you're like, okay, I'm done. Yeah. And, and then you go like, is this a big enough girl to see in the collection? So, um, yeah, I think, I think Turner's doing more, like right than they are wrong with this one. And the reason being is it's an established designer that is revered for, for handful of titles, you're taking one, arguably one of his top five games, and making it a sequel. The art is a little here or there. It depends I think it's solid with what Turner has done, like with Ninja Eclipse. It's very similar to that. Yeah. I think overall, I think this is a good step forward for Turner if they're looking to produce more numbers. There's a lot going for them on this. I don't see a picture of the topper, how they showed it. I don't see it, but it's listed. Just curious as to what it would be. Live on lily.com they like mod nitrogen real life Speaker 1 I think King Kong is actually a it's a great game and there are a lot of people who decided that they just wanted to do the you know the pro because they didn't want the Kong dong and the and the spider so Kong gong I don't know the dong where you hit it it goes dong so okay don't make it weird okay that so there are And I think the pro probably sells more than the premium on Kong. So if they want to get that spider grab, sure. Does it integrate well with the code? Do you have to download the pro code? So I'm curious as to how that integrates. It looks great though. Davey does things high quality. So the King Kong Skull Mountain looks amazing. The, uh, you know, the, yeah, the spider looks certainly a lot better than what Stern had. Yeah. I mean, Stern's looks a little bit, just like a, you know, a, a rubber spider dude that it's great, you know, so fine. So when we talked to Keith Elwin about the spider during our interview, he said that the, the spider itself is actually controlled by the magnet. Like there's either metal or something on the bottom part of the spider and when it So you really don't need anything special code wise for the spider. Yeah. But the whole point of the spider was to kind of slow the ball a little bit. Yeah. Yep. All right. Okay. I think it's still cool. The next reveal is amazing. The card blaster, the automatic card dispenser for, it is being shown for Pokemon, but I bet you could retrofit this to whatever you wanted. Yeah, brilliant. Like, okay, it is totally brilliant. The only thing I am concerned about, though, is it like, people will try to break into that and steal cards. That's my only concern. So I just want to make sure and Davey can vote can voice his concern, because I'm sure he thought about this. Yeah. When they load the the Pokemon vending machines, they have to have security. Yeah, yeah, no, I agree. So yeah, there is that. And I had the same thought as well. But still, give the people what they want. Yeah, it is cool. Yeah. And that's exactly what you want for a Pokemon game. And this that's how you drive more people to pinball. You want the younger generation it you I get to play a pinball machine. And if I do well enough, I get a Pokemon card. Get them addicted to gambling. Absolutely. Exactly. Do it. Do it right. Yep. And then today's, so we haven't seen the fourth one yet, but today's reveal was the ultimate Balrog for Lord of the Rings. Which I think is interesting because I know that he's done other, like he's done Creature from the Black Lagoon and stuff like that, but he's tended to stay more of the more recent stuff. So to do a throwback to Lord of the Rings, I think is really cool. Well, how old is Creature? 92. Okay, so Lord of the Rings is 10 years after that. Yeah, that's what I'm like. There's a billion out there. So it's for the man that does like Godzilla, King Kong, Jaws, Dungeons and Dragons, Jurassic Park, Big Lebowski, Foo Fighters. You see where I'm going with this? Oh, sure. He's definitely catering more toward the modern high volume games. But having Lord of the Rings and I guarantee there's high suspicion that at some point, Lord of the Rings is going to get remade. Yeah. And my gosh, have you seen the... He's not doing Wheel of Fortune mod. Have you seen the mimic for Dungeons and Dragons, the mimic chest? Oh my goodness. Oh yeah, no, that's cool. Oh my goodness. That's so good. Davey, I don't know how you come up with this stuff. I just... Well, yeah, just dude. Yeah. And if you have Davey mods, you know, and like I even talked about this on the Market Trends video that, or this week's Pinball Market, sorry. Zach Meny has trademarked Pinball Market Trends. But my point being is like games that are tastefully modded do sell higher and Davies mods have proven that time and time again. Davies are something that will actually be a marketing thing that you can say, I have this. But yes, absolutely. My gosh, that Dungeons & Dragons mimic mod, that tongue goes out. That's awesome. Awesome. Yes, it's insane. Like I have the Bowie mod in my jaws. I've got all of them for Godzilla except for the theater building that comes down. They just elevate. Yeah, I still need to get the upper right noodle one. I actually just found out that my new one's ready for Davey, so I'm interested in that. But yeah, the back right noodle one, I guess I, the noodle soup one or whatever, yeah, I didn't get around to ordering that yet. Well, even the skull mod, the skull mountain for King Kong. Yeah, it's awesome. Oh my goodness. Just seriously, like Davey, holy crap. I don't know. Yeah, the noodle bar one is the one I don't have and the lollipop one, I guess the lolly.
    64:14
    Yeah. And like, it just goes to show like every year that they've had Twippies, he's won an award If they have a category for mod, like just insane. So Davey, seriously, hats off to you. I think that pretty much does it for our TPF Roundup. Is there anything? I'm curious to see what other people are looking forward to going down there. It is definitely more of a festival atmosphere. Uh, we mentioned Monster League Hockey is going to be down there. So recheck that out. How did we forget? Uh, Jake Danzig is going to be down there with his Monster Hockey League. Yup. So it's a go go and play that is it's a lot of fun. It's a head to head. So it's very few games are like that. When he said this is gonna be the last time it's gonna be seen publicly before it goes into into analysis for production. Sure. Yes. Mm-hmm. And so go get your hands on it. I I will be shocked if there isn't a line for that game because Seriously, that game is insane. So cool
    65:16
    Yeah, Scott I just want to give a quick shout out to our patreon. We did a hangout this last week. Yeah, it was our first one. I was down in St. George and so my reception was a little spotty. I was tired. But we had a good time talking and If you want to be basically involved in like one of our shows, that's pretty much what we talked about and any any topic you guys wanted to talk about we were more than welcome, more than free to talk about it. Yep. So they asked questions that we were able to talk about off the record that we do not have NDA signed with. So I don't think we have any NDAs at this point. So yeah, I mean, we we will obviously respect we will respect the manufacturers who share information to be time released with us. Yeah. But for the most part, this is kind of how the hangout is. So if you ever want to be a part of a loser kid episode, being part of the hangout is a is a great way of doing it. And I That was a lot of fun. We were going around asking people what they thought, what they were looking forward to. Well, we appreciate those that do support us via Patreon. They're amazing and you help us keep creating content here at Loser Kid. It keeps the lights on for sure. Yes. If you don't want to support Loser Kid via Patreon, you can go to silverballswag.com and get a shirt, get one of our baseball jerseys. It is baseball season. You can get a hat. Well, sorry, we don't. Well, we do sell a couple of different hats there, but we don't sell V-Loser. We sell a couple of different hats, yeah. We don't sell the Loser Kid Hat. And as soon as we- It's still a Loser Kid Hat, just not the ones we hand out. We are monitoring the situation with the shoes. So we did have to take the shoes off the website because of the shenanigans. It was just too expensive at the moment. So they will be re-released when the time is right. Yes, we will announce it like top of the mountain style, right? Like it's coming out. So, like I said, that's one way you get something out of it, we get something out of it. We appreciate the support. If you want to hit us up on the socials, you know, that's another way you can help support us. At Loser Kid Pinball, everywhere, YouTube, all the jazz, right? If you want to email us, it's LoserKidPinballPodcast at gmail.com. Alrighty. I think that does it for us, Scott. You got any last words for us? You know, it's March Madness. BYU is in the tournament, and so I'm wearing my BYU hat and hoping they do well. Producers FRP on Board, Funding on Institutes of�Rشт and operative★Portrait,
    68:08
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