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Episode 33 – Blackout

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Mar 2, 2017
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Tornado interrupts pinball tournament; hosts discuss weekend tournaments and game acquisitions.

Summary

Ron and Bruce discuss their weekend activities, including Ron's experience at the Fantasy Winter Open tournament where a tornado knocked out power mid-event, forcing organizers to cancel the remaining rounds and award payouts. They cover local tournament results, game acquisitions (Medieval Madness Remake, Metallica Premium, Star Trek Avatar LE, Scared Stiff), upcoming Arcade Pinball Expo appearance in California, and various pinball-related news including Aerosmith and Aliens machine releases.

Key Claims

  • A tornado/thunderstorm knocked out power at Fantasy pinball location during tournament, causing event cancellation

    high confidence · Ron described experiencing power loss mid-tournament with 'loud rattling sound' indicating tornado, trees down, widespread area damage

  • Ron finished 18th place before power outage at Fantasy Winter Open

    high confidence · Ron stated he was '18th' when 'the lights went out' during round play

  • Pinball PCB discontinued making most main boards (driver/CPU boards), only doing power boards now

    medium confidence · Soren from Copenhagen mentioned this via Pinside feedback; hosts acknowledged the news with negative reaction

  • There are now five Star Wars pinball machines total (Bally Star Trek count is four)

    medium confidence · Ron counted: Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars, Star Wars Trilogy, Star Wars Episode I, plus new trilogy machine coming

  • Steve Keeler owns medieval-themed games except Episode 1, including World Cup Soccer, Theater of Magic, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Circus Voltaire

    high confidence · Ron stated Steve Keeler 'owns all of [designer]'s The Games except for Episode 1' and listed specific titles

  • Ron placed 4th at Sweetheart's tournament playing Disco 79

    high confidence · Ron stated 'i went to the uh tournament on thursday the sweetheart's tournament and i ... fourth'

  • Ron finished 3rd in Western New York League Night 7

    high confidence · Ron said 'I did finish third in that league for the first night'

  • Texas Pinball Festival is a confirmed circuit event for 2025

    high confidence · Ron made correction: 'Texas Pinball Festival is one of the winners' for circuit inclusion 'for this year'

Notable Quotes

  • “The lights went out... the power went out... you could just hear this rattling, this loud rattling sound, and you realize there's like a frigging tornado thunderstorm going on outside.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~24:00 — Dramatic description of tornado event that interrupted tournament mid-play

  • “It was one of those bizarre things where like, you had a lot of places with power out, but then there were random places with power on.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~25:00 — Illustrates the scattered nature of power outage during emergency weather event

  • “I only missed one round... I was 18th, and we're in the middle of a round. And I'm waiting to play my third ball... when, literally, the lights went out.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~23:30 — Establishes Ron's tournament position at moment of power failure

  • “Pinball PCB... actually discontinued making most of their main boards. I think they're just doing the power boards now. They're not doing the driver board. They're not doing the CPU board. So, bad move.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ ~47:00 — Reports business change affecting aftermarket board availability for vintage machines

  • “Well, there's four Star Wars. Well, there's the The Empire Strikes Back one... There's Star Wars, Star Wars Trilogy, Star Wars Episode I. So this will be the fifth one. So they will go ahead of Star Trek in the count.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~37:00 — Clarifies Star Wars/Star Trek machine count in pinball history

  • “So he owns all of [designer]'s The Games except for Episode 1. He has World Cup Soccer, Theater of Magic, Tales of the Arabian Nights, and Circus Voltaire.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~29:00 — Documents Steve Keeler's game collection and creates humor around Steve/John Papaduka resemblance

  • “Do I want to spend $600 downstairs, or do I buy a new pinball machine? Oh, well, come on. You get a new pinball machine. Of course.”

    Bruce Nightingale / Ron Hallett @ ~67:00 — Humorous exchange about priorities between home renovation and pinball acquisition

Entities

Ron HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonSteve KeelerpersonSteven BowdenpersonTimpersonJohn PapadukapersonJosh SharppersonSorenpersonSlam Tilt Podcastorganization

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Post-tornado community gathering at adjacent bar with pinball machines; tournament director and players socialized, played games, took commemorative photos by candlelight

    high · Ron described group pizza dinner, dart games with Tim, continuation of pinball play at nearby location after main venue lost power

  • ?

    community_signal: Texas Pinball Festival confirmed as circuit event for 2025 IFPA season, providing competitive points opportunities for regional players

    high · Ron made correction clarifying tournament is circuit event 'for this year' despite initial assumption it was future-year only event

  • ?

    community_signal: Listener feedback on Slam Tilt Podcast highlights appreciation for technical content segments; international audience from Copenhagen and Canada mentioned

    medium · Soren from Copenhagen and Fighter from Alberta provided Pinside feedback praising technical discussions in previous episode

  • ?

    event_signal: Fantasy Winter Open tournament interrupted by severe tornado/thunderstorm; power outage forced cancellation of remaining rounds; event rescheduled payouts based on standings

    high · Ron described power loss, tornado sounds, tree damage, and organizer decision to abandon tournament after utility company indicated 11+ hour outage

  • $

    market_signal: Vintage pinball machines available on secondary market; examples include $500 Starz game in California, Whodunit translites from Australia commanding premium pricing

    medium · Ron noted Starz sighting and purchased Whodunit translite from Australia at price exceeding typical Stern translite cost

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.168

0:00
Boys, that's no way to show manners. Um, hi, butthead. Hi, Master Beavis. I was supposed to introduce me, bunghole. Um, uh, welcome to a restaurant.
0:15
Yeah, um, can you, like, take my order? Yeah, get me some nachos, buttwipe. Listen, you little twerp. This is my job. This is how I make money. Don't screw with me. Now, how about using some manners?
0:32
Manners? Fuck. Don't screw with him. Yeah. He should have liked a touch. Yeah. He tried to touch my wiener. What? You little liar. Back off, you pervert. He's lying. Hey, don't you dare lay a finger on my students. Beavis, did he hit you? Yes, sir, he did. Thank you for your concern. Why, you little dirtball!
1:14
Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slam Tilt Podcast, a show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my co-host, Bruce Nightingale. For your eyes only, only for you. And welcome to episode 33, For Your Eyes Only. Oh my. A vast improvement over the Moonraker. If you notice, only one person voted on the Moonraker, and they gave it a thumbs up. So, again. Fail.
1:49
Fail. Nope. Fail. For Your Eyes Only with the memorable theme song. Yes. It's done by Sheena Easton, who appears in the actual credit sequence. I think the first time that ever happened.
2:03

  • “There's a Starz for $500 in California... We could drive it back.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ ~66:00 — Joking suggestion about spontaneous cross-country pinball acquisition during upcoming California trip

    • Fantasy Winter Openevent
    Arcade Pinball Expoevent
    Western New York Leagueorganization
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Pinball PCBcompany
    Medieval Madness Remakegame
    Metallica Premium Editiongame
    Star Trek James Cameron's Avatar Limited Editiongame
    Scared Stiffgame
    Aerosmithgame
    Aliensgame
    Star Wars Trilogygame
    Disco 79game
    KISSgame
    Whodunitgame
  • ?

    community_signal: Steve Keeler's collection of classic pinball machines (World Cup Soccer, Theater of Magic, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Circus Voltaire) noted as subject of community humor regarding designer association

    medium · Discussion of Steve Keeler's game collection with joke about community mistaking him for John Papaduka; suggestion of costume appearance at expo

  • ?

    announcement: Star Wars Trilogy pinball machine officially announced as fifth Star Wars title in pinball history, designed by Steve Ritchie based on original trilogy

    medium · Ron discussed upcoming Star Wars Trilogy title and counted machine history across manufacturers

  • ?

    product_strategy: Bruce Nightingale acquiring tier-2/premium-tier machines (Medieval Madness Remake, Metallica Premium, Star Trek Avatar LE) for home collection expansion

    high · Bruce listed five upcoming games from barn storage: MMR, Metallica Premium, Star Trek Avatar LE, AC/DC Premium, Scared Stiff

  • ?

    technology_signal: Pinball PCB discontinued CPU and driver board production, now only manufacturing power boards; significant impact on aftermarket vintage machine repair options

    medium · Soren from Copenhagen reported via Pinside that PCB 'discontinued making most of their main boards' with hosts expressing disappointment about legacy impact

    • She was in it for obvious reasons. I thought it was really good. One of the better. See, as a burgeoning geek, I like the part where he's given the description and he's putting it in the computer of the assassin dude, and then they run it through and print it out. Like, you know, this is like, wow, this is incredible technology. I know, the bubble printer. Yeah, the bubble printer, and he's doing it on what looked like a vector monitor or something. He's making his head. Yep, there you go. That's him. So, Ron, how was your weekend? Very unique. It was very dark. I played lights out, baby. That's all I got to say. Playing lights out. Yeah. But we'll get to that in a few minutes. News of the week. Pigs in space.
    3:02
    I got nothing. Nothing? Nothing at all? There's been no news? Not really, actually. Ron, do you have anything?
    3:10
    People are selling magic girls. Oh, they're selling them like hotcakes. They're trying to. Coin takers trying to sell theirs. And Rob Burke of Pinball Expo selling his. Very interesting. Yeah, it's pretty bad when people are trying to sell their games off right away. Maybe trying for a quick buck.
    3:29
    But who knows? All right, first one. I'm putting heart into it this time because I got criticized. I didn't put enough heart in my yawns. Yeah, you got to put more heart in your yawns. Yeah, okay.
    3:42
    I was just going through some of my old podcasts. Not our old podcast, but an old Python Angelo podcast from this old podcast. What was it called? This old podcast? Whatever it was. Topcast. That's what it was called. And it's funny because he insults almost everyone on this particular podcast. But he called John Papaduka con man, which I thought was pretty interesting. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Yes. He was ahead of the curve. Yes, yes, he was. So, Ron, I was checking out our reservations. We're going somewhere? We're going somewhere. Where are we going? In three weeks from when this broadcast is let go, we'll be in California. Come see us at Arcade Expo. In Benning, California. Yes. You might have trouble getting through our security, but if you get through them, you can get our autographs. We will allow you to worship us. Yeah, it ain't going to happen. Oh, well. But we get a long drive after we take our nice flight across the country. So, yeah, let me – okay, we got to fly into L.A. Yes. And we got to get a rental car. Yes. And how long do we have to drive? Two and a half hours.
    5:02
    And I don't land until about 9.15. Luckily, I have my bag with me, so probably just run, go to the rental car and drive and probably got to grab some food on the way home. or there are two, you know, so we'll probably get to the hotel room at 1, 1 or 2, but that gives us 12 hours to sleep before the show starts at 2.30 in the afternoon.
    5:23
    Sounds good to me. We'll be ready to play until our fingers bleed, if you will. Yes, all old sterns and valleys.
    5:34
    Speaking of that, I think I sent somebody a picture tonight. Yeah, that was quite disgusting. Oh, the other picture. Oh, yeah. I'm sorry. Oh, hold on. I edit that out. Let me just get the time here. This is at, okay.
    5:50
    Yeah, you sent me a picture of an old valley. One back into the fold. It's actually the half-owned one I have. Viking is at my house now because I had so much room. Oh, yeah, you have so much room now. Tons and tons of room. And then tomorrow I'll set up Freedom.
    6:10
    It's actually going to get set up. Before it gets burned? Yeah, before it gets burned. God. So, yeah, Viking's a good game. So I like it. I'm a fan of Viking. I love the sounds, actually. You can't hear it at Keeler's. The sounds are really kick-ass.
    6:31
    I love the old, like, you can kind of tell what they were trying to go for. Yeah, I know. With some of the sounds. Like, if you play Black Knight, when you get a million, you hear the applause. you know like oh is that supposed to be applause oh and i i finally realized i've owned or not owned i have held timeline in my house for five years i didn't know that freaking thing had a bell it has a bell it has a bell in it so it's never worked no it's worked i just scared the crap out of myself yesterday with it when i got over one uh one million oh so it just hasn't been played in so long, no one's gotten over a million. Okay. All of a sudden that thing, and it doesn't ring like, you know, it rings like, you know, like Black Knight. Like, let's hammer on this bill for like five seconds. Like, holy crap, what the hell is this? So that was kind of funny. So is the timeline yours at this point? I'm considering it mine. Okay.
    7:31
    Whatever. Sounds good. Yeah. Any other news? Any more pieces of news? Not really. Not much happened in the last week. Just kind of waiting for the Aerosmiths to start getting out there. I see a lot of announcements for Aerosmith launch parties.
    7:53
    Aliens are arriving. That's about it. Yeah. The alien gameplay looks pretty good. That's the problem. When you do these every week, you're not always going to get all the 50 zillion news items like you do on some weeks. Yeah. That's the price you pay for being regular. That sounded weird. Yes. I'm always regular. I poop every morning. I'm sure you do. Sometimes in the toilet. Yes, sometimes. Sometimes in my pants.
    8:23
    Classy as always. As always. So what did you do last weekend, Bruce? Anything interesting? I finally finished all the painting. The painting is completely done downstairs. Got Viking back to the house.
    8:41
    Set up all the games. All are level. Next I have to do is bring up the next five from the barn. Hopefully I'll do that in a week or two. And what are those five? What do we got? Medieval Madness MMR. Medieval Madness Remake.
    8:58
    Metallica Premium. Star Trek LE. ACDC Premium. and My Dad Scared Stiff. So this is like the high-end stuff coming over. Yes. Yes, but the AFM's been nice and warm for you. I'm sure it has. What did Dad say? He was confused because we did so many different trades. I think he thought the last ridiculous one that Scott said was the official one. Like the AFM and Scared Stiff for like Stars and Stargazer. No. Yeah. No. What was the last official trade? No, the last one was really just Stargazer.
    9:45
    And it was AFM and Scared Stiff just for Stargazer. Yeah, which is totally ridiculous. Ridiculous on your part. Yes, it would be. So what's the last real trade offer? I told you. I had somebody in my ear complaining about it. aka Kathy. You're not getting rid of AFM. AFM's one of my favorites. I lost Monster Bash. I gotta give it out. I agree with that, but maybe that's Garrett Stiff. Your dad likes Garrett Stiff. Yeah, but I'm not too crazy about it. How do you love it? I don't hate it, but it's too easy to get to wizard mode. You make it hard. You go for the ultimate wizard mode.
    10:34
    What is that? The web thing? Yes. You complete all the – okay. Yes. If you can do that, then you're the champ. I've gotten to it once. So we've got five games coming over. Yep. So what are we trading? Come on. I want to see which. Well, this – my weekend.
    10:56
    Skip right over that. Just think, we'll have all weekend to talk about in three weeks. Yes. Yes, we will. You can work on me all week. Oh, my.
    11:07
    So this weekend, I think I mentioned this last week. It was the Rock Fantasy Winter Open. Yes. And, of course, it was like 70 degrees out, which is just bizarre. But I had the issue that they were starting at noon, and it's all match play, just round after round of match play. So you can afford to miss maybe one round, two rounds. Yes. So I thought best case scenario, I'd only miss one round. I had a stair climb at 1030.
    11:38
    The stair climb takes place in the Corning Tower, which is the largest, it's the tallest building in Albany. It's 42 stories.
    11:47
    Yikes. Yeah, yikes. So everything worked out. I mean, it was all best case scenario. They started right at 1030. I started at 10.36 on my way up, and I finished at around 10.46.
    12:01
    I got under 10 minutes for 42 flights. Didn't feel like I was going to die this time like I did last time because I actually trained for it this time. Just got a bottle of water, went right back downstairs via the elevator, got right to my car, and off I – I still had my shorts on. Off I went. I was out of there before 11 to – off to Rock Fantasy. Stopped at a rest stop to actually get my pants back on. Oh, my. So then I got there right as they were finishing up round one, so I only missed one round. Okay. So I kept trading like I would get first places and I would get last places. I kept doing that. It was kind of around the middle of the pack. And they were doing a thing where it was like the top 16 go into the A division playoffs and the remainder do like a B division type thing.
    12:49
    And I can't remember what the format was. I never really pay attention. So where did you end up? Well, I was 18th.
    12:58
    Oh, so you weren't B then. No, well, this is like 5 o'clock, so there's at least two more rounds ahead. And I'm 18th, and we're in the middle of a round. And I'm waiting to play my third ball of ACDC. Okay. When, literally, the lights went out. What, did you fall down and pass out? No, the power went out. What? Doesn't he have backup generators there? Well, at first you're thinking like Blue Breaker or something, but this was different. Because the lights went out, and you could just hear this rattling, this loud rattling sound, and you realize there's like a frigging tornado thunderstorm going on outside. It's a twister. It's a twister. Yeah, it actually was like a tornado part of it. It ended up like trees were down. um there was like um there was all kinds of damage around the area and the power was dead um steve keeler the owner he had a lot of like at least a little led like flashlights and stuff so he putting those up everywhere and candles But the Wizard of Oz stayed on right Because He doesn have a Wizard of Oz Oh, okay. How about Twister? Did Twister stay on? Twister. He doesn't have a Twister. So we were like, oh, shit. You know, what are we going to do? I mean, and it was one of those bizarre things where like, you had a lot of places with power out, but then there were random places with power on. Like, there's a bar, like, right next door to Rock Fantasy, and they actually had power. So it's like we're sitting around, okay, what do we do?
    14:33
    Now, Tim was the head... Yep, tournament director. Tournament director. What did he decide? The original thought was maybe we can do a thing where we wait until, like, seven, which is when the finals were going to start. if power's still off, then if anyone wants their money back, they just get their money back. And then the hardcores can wait until maybe eight to play a playoff. And if the power's still not on, then just they get their money back, and it's just whatever. Hey, I had a better idea. Why don't you get one of those cardboard pinball machines and play them?
    15:11
    Well, they were talking about, you know, hey, you know, the bar next door has power. We can get a couple games. Let's pick up a game. Yeah. Oh, my God. No. But it was eventually decided after hours. And after Steve called the utility company and they said the power wouldn't be on until like after 11, that they would just do the payouts.
    15:34
    You know, whoever was in first got first. If you bitched enough, you would just get your money back. Did you bitch enough? I – no. Come on. No, I didn't bitch. and Steve bought some pizzas and said, you know, anyone wants to, we can go to, went to the bar next door and we had pizzas.
    15:55
    Those of us who went, it was like me, Tim, Steve Bowden, if I'm a bonus. Wow, because we did miss Steve Bowden last week, the first time in 31, 32 episodes. Yep, what are we missing this time? Steve Bowden, if I'm a bonus. Steve Bowden. And Isaac.
    16:12
    And Steve Keeler and there were other people there whose names are escaping me. I got to play Tim in darts. I beat him one game. Oh, he beat me the first game. I beat him the second game.
    16:24
    So we downloaded a dart app to keep score. They've got apps for everything, man. It's insane. Oh, yes, they do. So it was a good time. We were there for like an hour. We talked about the fact that everyone thinks that Steve Keeler is John Papaduke. and it was either Steve or Tim that suggested he should wear a Magic Girl shirt to Allentown. What do you think? I love it. I'll help the buy-in for that one. Get a Magic Girl shirt and run around and stop Papa Dude. And maybe have a booth where he's got Circus Voltaire and Tales of the Arabian Nights in it or something. Because he actually owns, and this is the funny part, he owns all of Papa Dude's games except for Episode 1. He has World Cup Soccer, Theater of Magic, Tales of the Arabian Nights, and Circus Voltaire.
    17:20
    When we were done there, it's like, okay, we're all going to leave. We go walking past Rock Fantasy, and the lights are on. This is like 9 o'clock, and it's like, hey, we go in there, and sure enough, there's power.
    17:32
    So I played some more Cheetah. Tim played a tournament game because they were running the Stern tournament game for the month. they were running on over there was KISS. Okay. So he got to play a game of KISS, and he got first place, knowing no one else was going to be able to beat his score, because they all left.
    17:50
    It was the end of the month. I thought that was pretty cool. So, yeah, like I said, I played some cheat. I played some KISS. I actually got my name up for once on something.
    18:02
    Overall, it was a very interesting day. I mean, when the power went out, I think Steve Outen did, like, he was live streaming from there saying that zombies have taken over zombie pinball land.
    18:17
    So, and they took some really cool pictures of basically people, like the award ceremony, they're accepting the awards by candlelight. So some pretty cool photos came out of the deal.
    18:32
    So a splendid time was had by all until the power went out, but then was still had by some people. there you go so i went to the uh tournament on thursday the sweetheart's tournament and i got fourth i failed i blew up i hang grenaded but i made it funny for everyone else they had a uh they have a em there i picked em and i picked disco 79 so another fun time i loved it i got i got a points question for you okay how often do they update the upstate points when i tell them to because i literally have like i played a rock fantasy and like i'm not even on the upstate board no i know i usually i do it once every other month but i gave for the first month two months i usually do it all because there's not so many tournaments but this year there is syracuse guys already have 12 tournaments in the first two months all right but it will be i'll be i'll be giving it up in a couple days i'll be emailing Mr. Josh Sharp. Hi, Josh. How are you? How are you? I got a little reactor leak here. Take us a while to lock it down. What's your ID?
    19:45
    This is an interesting conversation anyway. Bruce, we're going to have company. Okay. Sorry. Sorry. Did we already go over the Star Wars movies?
    19:55
    Did we do that? Well, we did Star Trek. No, we did Star Wars in the beginning. Okay. We still have one to come up, and we still have, you know, we talked about Rogue One, but the new one coming out. But we'll talk about that when the pinball machine comes out. What?
    20:10
    The worst gift secret in the world. You mean the Star Wars Trilogy pinball machine that's coming out, designed by Steve Ritchie? Yeah, the early one. Well, based on the original trilogy, which pretty much all the Star Wars games have been based on, well, except for Episode I. But we won't talk about that one. No, not at all. No. Actually, I think they need another one to match the Star Trek count. I mean, well, actually, have they gone ahead of Star Trek? Let's see. There's Bally Star Trek. Yep. There's Star Trek.
    20:41
    There's Star Trek The Next Generation. Yep. There's Star Trek. Yeah, it's four. Yep. Well, there's four Star Wars. Well, there's the Empire Strikes Back one. Yep. With lots of Darth Vader on it. There's Star Wars, Star Wars Trilogy, Star Wars Episode I. So this will be the fifth one. So they will go ahead of Star Trek in the count.
    21:07
    All right. So you finished fourth, huh? Yep, fourth. Very bad. And then I had League this weekend. Western New York League. League Night 7.
    21:18
    What's a league? We've talked about this before. You're just too lazy to come drive out. I'm too lazy to drive two hours. I'm sorry. Yes. Unfortunately, I'm missing league next month in central New York because of our trip. But luckily in our league, you can miss one night. Only one night? Only one night you can miss. All right. Very strict. They take your lowest score or your zero if you miss it, and they throw it on out.
    21:48
    But I did finish third in that league for the first night. The one I wanted you to come out for? Fail. third? Come on, unacceptable. Eric, a fifth. That's totally unacceptable. Come on, Eric. Which Eric was that? That can't be Eric CNY. He wouldn't have let that happen. That'd be Eric S. Eric CNY would not have let that happen.
    22:09
    I will say one thing, Ron. I know Ron is a chocolate carnivore. Connoisseur. But yes, carnivore is true also. Yes, it is. I've been having the Hershey Cookie Lair Crunch Chocolate Bars. I had the mint one, which is dark chocolate with mint.
    22:29
    Oh, my God. It freaking rocks. Let's see. Got lots of feedback on our last episode. Yes. Copy some of those feedback. Scott has a lot of fans. Well, he's a great guy. So Scott's listening. He's got a lot of fans of the deep technical explanations. Yes. Especially in other countries. I know. We didn't realize we had so many. Yeah. We have, well, okay, now these are screen names because this is from Pinside. So we have Soren. Soren, yeah. We have Soren from Copenhagen and Fighter, F-Y-T-R, from Canada, Alberta, who both like the technical discussions. Soren from Copenhagen mentioned that Pinball PCB, who we plugged a lot on the show, actually discontinued making most of their main boards. I think they're just doing the power boards now. They're not doing the driver board. They're not doing the CPU board.
    23:36
    So, bad move. Yeah, that's kind of sad because their boards kicked ass. They had the best one. I mean, my Black Knight and my Firepower both have their boards in there. I've had them for 12 years. Now, the thing is, if you ever sell it, you'll have to buy a Rotten Dog one, swap them out, and then keep those boards. Or get the original ones fixed and put them back in. You could do that, too. You can do that, too. The Rotten Dog one's a single board, right?
    24:06
    Yes. Yeah, so that might be a better financial thing to do, just get one and put it in and take the other two. One and done. Yep.
    24:14
    Good idea. So, yes. So we like the technical talk, too. So when we have that going on, I never know how much people are going to, like, space out or fall asleep or how many people are interested. But we try to, like, you know, if you're sick of all the tournament talk, well, then we've got some tech talk. If you're sick of that, we'll just be goofballs. There's just a lot of different options on this podcast. It can go any way. it can be intelligent or stupid in all areas in between and we got it all covered that's for damn sure so work downstairs did you do any I started on the big game which was basically taking one look at the rectifier board seeing the burnt to shit to connector and the burnt pin and deciding yeah I'm probably just going to replace the rectifier board since I have another one so I just took I took the whole wood panel out, and I will get to work on that soon.
    25:17
    And just for the next couple of podcasts, if I am a little behind on work and stuff like that, it's because of work between we're doing a major project at work, which I will be extremely busy in March, in addition to the trip me and Bruce are going on.
    25:35
    So I may be, when you ask me, like, what have I done? And I say nothing. Don't be like, loser. No, that's what I've done. I was at for months. Yeah. So I did that. Trying to think anything else.
    25:51
    That's about it. I was just kind of planning out where the dialed in is going to go, like what it were about, so I'm going to do that. Trying to think the best use of space.
    26:01
    I also have some new ideas for the game room. We'll see how they pan out. Some different things I want to try with the floor. Oh, so we're going to get a carpet?
    26:15
    Kind of. Okay. Those one-foot squares? No, no. What I want to do is my father, he occasionally gets these runners, which if you don't know what that is, that's like the little pieces of carpet. Usually they'll have like a company logo or something on them when you walk into a place. I believe that's technically a runner. He gets all these booze runners. I figured what I'd do, and they're not long enough, obviously, for the entire row, but I figured I'm going to put one in the center of each row. So I have, let's see, three, four different sections. So that way I could have, like, you know, the Jack Daniels section, you know, whatever other booze section, so they'll each have their own booze. If you get a Jack Daniels one, I'd like one. Well, I have the Jack Daniels fire hydrant. I know. I want that. The Jack Daniels Fire Hydrant. That's my trophy. That's going to be like my Hulk head that they have at Rock Fantasy. Winners gets to hold the Hulk head, you will get to hold the Jack Daniels Fire Hydrant. How come I didn't get to hold it when I won it? Because I didn't have it when you were there. Fail. Sorry, I don't have a time machine. Yeah, you do. Get a time machine. Do it right now. So, yeah, I was going to get runners, like, for in front of the games, but then, like, the center of it is going to be some booze item. So that's the idea. We'll see how that goes. Just trying some new stuff in the game room. Gotcha. Yep. I was actually looking at, well, we're doing carpet upstairs and the whole house upstairs. So that's coming in two weeks. I've been moving all the stuff downstairs to the empty side of the game room and putting all of our storage down there But I been looking at carpets at Ollie Does anyone know what an Ollie is Do you know what an Ollie is Muhammad Ali store No, Ollie's. Ollie. Oh, like Ollie, Ollie, Oxenfree, Ollie? Yes, but there's a store called Ollie's. Okay, I have no idea what that is. Okay. It's like the discount and all that stuff. Crazy Ollie's? Yes. His prices are insane? Almost. Okay. They have actually carpet there 12 by 15 feet of old remnant carpets or that kind of stuff. Well, they have five at my local Ollie's the same color. So all five, if I go with that, we could possibly carpet the whole basement for $600.
    28:43
    Very good. But do I want to spend $600 downstairs, or do I buy a new pinball machine? Oh, well, come on. You get a new pinball machine. Of course. That's what I usually think about the same way. Yeah. Of course you do. Do you have one in mind?
    29:00
    I would love to have a couple in mind, but I don't know yet. Well, you know, there was a Starz for $500 in California. What?
    29:08
    It's funny. I saw that. It was, I don't know if it was on eBay, Pinsight, or whatever. I saw All Starz, and I saw, oh, it's in California. And then when I was at Rock Fantasy, they were actually mentioning it. Oh, look, there's a Starz. Well, it's in California, though. We could drive it back. Wow, you are insane. No, I'm not doing that. Cross-country stars trip? We could be back in a couple days fast. In a couple days fast. Yeah, okay. Yeah. It must have been on Pinside because I don't see it on eBay. Okay. It might have been on Pinside. See, folks, the lengths people will go to to get a stars. It's just that's how awesome stars is. It's insane. I have a correction to make.
    29:55
    Who screwed up? I did. Woo-hoo! On the circuit voting. Alley-octagon freeze? Yeah, the circuit voting that completed for events to be included in the circuit. Texas Pinball Festival is one of the winners.
    30:12
    And I remarked how, you know, a bummer that, you know, I won't get to experience that this year because I figured it was for next year. not realizing, dumbass, the circuit hasn't really started yet. It was for this year.
    30:24
    So the Texas Pinball Festival tournament this year is a circuit event. So more points for me, baby. If you can qualify. I can salvage my 400 in the world ranking.
    30:38
    Are you at 400? You're actually worse, I think. Actually, I was like 399. Let's see. I'm like 23rd in New York now, thanks to the lack of Super League.
    30:52
    Ron is 399. I'm 23rd in New York. That's the highest I've been in New York in a while. 27th now. Oh, what? 27th, I'm just telling you right now. I looked at it right before we went on the air. 27. Oh, come on. Come on. I just literally looked at it. I looked at it. And I'm 48th. Okay. This doesn't make any sense. I told you.
    31:19
    Yeah, for my fourth place at the Flipping February Pinball of Love, I got .28 points. Whole .28 points? Whole .28 points. Let's see. Ron Hallett Jr. New York, 27th. Told you. Bastard. I'm not freaking yanking you. It's a good thing. Oh, I'm actually 54th now in New York. but that's weird because it's going to update because I'm 48th when I click on it but I'm 54th when it says otherwise so we'll see I haven't been doing much tournaments lately I don't feel like games are like games you hate today this week I'm not feeling it either I don't have any me neither that's good I'm going to my eBay though and let's see what we got on the eBay what we got on the eBay's The internets? The internet. I actually did order a new Bally board, though. A new Bally board? The new CPU boards. Oh, okay.
    32:25
    You'll never guess what I ordered. I don't know. An Alltech board. No. This was actually dumb. I don't know why I did this, but it bothered me. I have a whodunit translate on the way.
    32:39
    Oh, boy. Isn't that great? It is. How much? More than a Stern Translate would be. Wow, okay. Yikes. It's coming from Australia.
    32:53
    Oh, okay. So I know who that's coming from. Oh, yes, because the ones that bought the rights to everything. Yeah, they have them in Australia.
    33:00
    Okay, so game you want to buy or game you want to sell? Game you want or game I'd buy that? Yeah, let's try that again. It's I'd buy that. I'd buy that or I would not buy that. Yes. Which Steve Bowden, fun with bonus, remarked that we need to keep that part. Which one? He enjoyed the I would not buy that. Yeah, when you actually look at some of them, that's very funny. That Playboy, that back glass was incredible. It was. That was incredible. Because it's like, what? It's missing the back glass. No, it isn't. It's there. Do you believe no one's bought it yet? You know, I can't believe it, man. a faded game that's been outside for probably years. I can't believe no one would want to buy that. I had one of mine. I was watching. I've been watching it. It's just funny how some of these eBay people go. Three weeks ago, this seller listed a pinball machine,
    33:56
    and the first he listed an 8-ball pinball machine, Valley 8-ball from 1978 with Fonzie on it. He listed it for $900 the first time. Nobody bid on it. So what do most people do when you relist a pinball machine that hasn't sold for $900? You put it for a lower price. Or the same. Okay. This guy actually went up $100 and put it to $1,000. Okay. And guess what has not happened since? It hasn't sold? You got it.
    34:32
    I'm just like, really? Really? Yeah. I like when they bid on their own thing or have their buddies bid on it. Yes, those are classic, too. Yeah, which, you know, since eBay changed, you used to be able to actually see who was bidding on stuff.
    34:48
    Now you can't. You just see calls. I mean, you could tell if it's the same person bidding on stuff. But, I mean, you'd watch auctions and it was so obvious.
    34:58
    There'd be, like, you know, someone's buddy bidding up. Because you would see the same thing listed multiple times with the same person bidding it up. and it was so easy to see in the history. It was very easy. But, you know, it would have helped us out with the stars thing. It would have because I would have then said, get the fuck off my fucking lawn, kid. You would have just called Ron and said, like, I really, really need this star, so please stop bidding. And you wouldn't have. No.
    35:22
    Well, I bid at the last second. I bid with, like, one half a second left. I know you did. Should have went to $1,000. Okay, you would have had it then. I wouldn't have bid that much.
    35:33
    Okay, I got two. Two for what? Which one are we talking about here? Do we want them or not? Games I'd buy. Okay, Bruce would buy these. Well, first ones from last week. Alien Poker did not sell. Okay. It was relisted for $7.50 again. Ticket number 172552-843-429. So that one was in New Jersey.
    35:56
    And does Steve Pound know pinball machines? I know he has a Congo, a new in-box, Lord of the – I said it again. Yes. Game of Thrones, which he hasn't opened. And I know he also has a World Cup soccer. Okay. I didn't know that. So one game I'd buy is ticket number 142295318759.
    36:29
    Harlem Globetrotters pinball machine. The back glass is misbeat, but the play field? Yeah, it has been sitting three years in decent shape, but legs are missing. And it's got some graffiti on the side. Free local pickup in Maryland. Let's see. Let's look at that play field. Okay, obviously the play field's got full mylar. Yes, of course. That's the only way it looks like that. It's really nice, actually. Yes, it is. All the spinners have been replaced.
    37:02
    Yes. They're like the... They're not... Yeah, they don't have the basketball on them. Nope. There's no legs as a machine. Just look in here.
    37:13
    But not bad. No. Of course, Ronnie's Pet Peeve. They left the glass on when they took the damn picture.
    37:26
    Guess what? I've sold all my machines with glass on. Shut up. Why do you think the back glass is bad? I really can't even see. You can tell on the bottom. Oh, okay, the cracking on the bottom. Let's see if it looks all right. And the J, the lower right-hand side connector is probably screwed up because if you look at the scoring displays, they're all screwed up on that same picture. They are? Look at the first picture, the one on the side. The one on the side. uh that might have been just strobing no because one and three are the same as two and four that's usually the connector being flucked up flucked up flucked up but for 775 you offer them 650 you buy legs from pinball life you got a nice harlem there yeah i always i always felt sorry for the dudes on the uh the borders so you have like the five starters, and then you have the poor bench players on the side. At least the guy on the left got to, like, just stand there. The two guys on the right, the guy on the bottom is getting – they're standing on his head. I mean, that sucks. What did that guy do? He must have been, like, the least popular globetrotter. He must have been.
    38:44
    Got a little question for you. Okay. If you look at the picture of the – the close-up of the back box. which one side or front uh front okay there was a game to the right you should be able to identify it tell me what it is and before you listen folks because he'll be able to identify it pause the podcast and if you go look at it just go to the uh third from the last picture up to fail what a dumbass you told the pause it so they paused it oh they're too late too late typical bruce even I can't edit that out yes you can that is classic you need to pause because you're gonna and then you just say the answer so the answer is break shot for those at home yes what do I win?
    39:39
    nothing you win what's behind door number 3 or $500 or what's behind door number 2 I'll take door number two, of course, always. Nope, it's a donkey. You lose. Yeah.
    39:53
    Okay, are you ready for the next one? Okay, is this still something I should buy? Yes. And I think you would, actually. I would have bought the Harlem Globetrotters, but I already have it. I would have bought it, actually, just for the play field and sell it at Allentown.
    40:08
    Okay, are you ready? ticket number 142293050839. This one's going to be a shocker. It's a Gottlieb? It is a Gottlieb. You picked a Gottlieb? Yes, but a good Gottlieb. But it's not a System 3. Oh, it's not. Very important, folks. Oh, what a brilliant picture. I know. The first picture's pretty bad. It's blurry as fuck. Come on. Jesus. Maybe the other ones are. Okay, that one's better. Oh, it looks like the LED did it.
    40:44
    Well, either that or there's just massive glare on the glass that they didn't take off. Why is it so hard to take off? Whatever.
    40:52
    Oh, we got lots of drop targets. Another card-themed game. It's actually based off of, like, a couple of the old games from that. Yeah, this looks very familiar. So this is obviously based off of, yeah, one of their old EMs. Yep. Yeah, I played this one before. Of course. Good targets in the lanes behind it. Yep. Yep, yep, yepers.
    41:14
    Yeah, they were making games like this in 1983, folks. This is why they died. Wow. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Actually, they continued on for another 13 years before they died. Before they died. I always did, like, the side rails with the little, what do you call that? Like, the way that's done. Like an armor, not an armor coating, but what do they call it? Yeah, exactly. What do they call it? Like ridges on it and stuff. Diamond plate. Not diamond plate. That's the plate seal. No. No, no. They also called diamond plating.
    41:50
    They did. Okay. For trucks and that kind of stuff, for pickup trucks. I think you just like it because the back glass looks eerily reminiscent of Blackjack I know I do miss Blackjack But for or best offer it in New City New York which is down by I think it in Long Island as you would say Yes.
    42:18
    Not a bad deal. I think that's a keeper and a goer. 100% positive feedback. Oh, my. We forgot one more email. we were going over to comments from the thing the movie the thing the John Carpenter's version or the original wise ass better than being a dumbass I'm the dumbass well our advice we had multiple good advice actually we had the what was the last one was it the whirlwind or was it another whirlwind It was two whirlwinds. We fixed the one whirlwind with the opto. Oh, yeah, there was the up-down ramp. And that was a switch also. That was a switch also. So we're two for two. We can fix all of your whirlwind problems. We can fix all of your whirlwind. If it's another game, it might have an issue. But whirlwind, definitely. Yes. So he's asking, he says that. Who's he? Ryan. I don't want to say his last name. Ryan from Wisconsin. He's the guy we helped the whirlwind with. He's the Opto Whirlwind guy.
    43:28
    You want to read that one? I'll get the next one. I just wanted to thank you for the help with my whirlwind. I cleaned the Optos, and it seems to have solved the issue.
    43:37
    We're invited to a Chinese restaurant in Milwaukee. Woo-hoo. Let's see. I like Chinese. Yes. He says, I must admit I'm not a great player. My nudging is terrible. Are there any videos or tutorials you recommend for proper player techniques? I would just go to poppa.org look up the tutorials the Bowen tutorials are excellent you can also go to let me get this right pinballvideos.com they just have a whole index of all kinds of games and there are many that will say tutorial on them and I would look for those and if you're looking for nudging I would look for possibly older games like I think there's a Paragon one you know maybe go for some older games but bowen i mean he's got he shows some nudging like he'll do like a death save on some of them so kind of advanced stuff that that you probably never do but it does show a lot of of cool stuff um also um keith ellen's pinball 101 video excellent video an excellent video i recommend that those that those where i would go trying to find the next message but i can't find aaron's message oh you mean the one i have up right in front of me okay you read it then because i'm a prepared podcaster i am a terrible podcaster thanks for the help fellows it was the switch oh we butchered his name of course so now he's just aaron a or aaron a aaron a aaron a aaron how's that better did i get it right did i nailed it I'm sure you nailed it.
    45:19
    Now we like all the people who actually comment to us and everything like that. So when we're making comments and goofy stuff, that means you actually like us. So keep on listening, boys and girls. Keep on listening. I think that's all the messages. That's all the correspondence we had. This is a pretty late week. It is a late week. It is a late week for your eyes only. only for you only for you all right so are you ready to pay bills in or upcoming events are there upcoming events at all yes there is there's the first www.pinballlifter.com come check out the site i've been getting a lot of quotes lately out and selling some stuff so it's a great thing for everyone come on come all check us all out this weekend the tournament play the shittiest games yes play the shittiest games and pocket here are there any got leave system threes in the lineup uh yes there is of course there is and what would that be water world water oh man uh you know you you you would like this my father actually does um Read Pinside now, believe it or not. Oh, my God. And there was a whole bunch of posts about how shitty Gottlieb System 3s were. It's somewhere on there. He thought it was hilarious. He said, I'm surprised Bruce hasn't posted in this string.
    46:56
    Did you just tell him that I don't post on Pinside that much? No, I didn't tell him that. Yeah, because I don't post on Pinside that much, boys and girls. Pinside is not my life. I post on Pitside every week to tell everyone that the podcast is ready. Yep. I post once in a while for wants and buys for, like, shows coming up. Don't forget, guys, I need a Viking back glass. I need a fathom. I need Ron to trade me Sea Witch and Stars. I need… Sea Witch and Stars? You just… I just bought Sea Witch. Well, I'll take it back. Sea Witch, Stars, and…
    47:32
    Sure, I fixed the Rector Fireboard, and then you'll take it back. Boo! What's wrong with that? It's like a free repair. Exactly.
    47:42
    But, yeah, I need some stuff to fill a basement with, number four. And you need some sleep. Damn! But I'm actually opening up my Hershey's cookie there, crunch, mint. Other than that, we are going to be out at... Well, where's the tournament taking place? I think we just got into the... Pocketeer. Pocketeer on...
    48:04
    Oh, you did say that. This Saturday, doors open at 11. We start at 12, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Four hours of A tournament match play, and for B, it's two hours of tournament match play. So you said we. Are you participating in the tournament? I am because I have to drop off the Simpsons is going bye-bye. Simpsons pinball party. Yep. So will anything be streamed? I don't know. They didn't say much about that. What else you got? We'll be in California in a couple weeks.
    48:40
    On March 18th, Rock Fantasy will be holding the Aerosmith launch party. Mm. Da-na-na-na, da-na-na-na, da-na-na-na, da-na-na-na, da-na-na-na. Walk this way. They're getting a pro.
    48:56
    That's cool. That's about it, really. Oh, well, the Texas Pinball Festival will be the weekend after that, Which I also mean, I'll be happy at.
    49:05
    Very cool. Is it good, Bruce? It's very good. Oh, my God. I'm sure all the listeners love hearing it. Yes, they do. And other thing I repaired besides getting Viking up and running, and I put the color DMD fully in. I had a couple issues with that.
    49:25
    The connector. I've got to replace the cable going from the color DMD to the actual driver board for the color DMD. Once in a while, if you shake the game really hard, you'll get gibberish on the screen, and then you've got to reseat the cable. Color DMD for what game? For my, we talked about it last week, Lord of the Rings. Okay.
    49:45
    Just thought I'd have you mention it. People are like, color DMD in a Viking? Holy shit, I wonder what that looks like. No, they do have color LEDs. It's got cool, like, it'll probably be cool, like, Viking graphics and stuff in it. Oh, that'd be friggin' sweet.
    50:00
    I saw Steve Bowden talked about LEDs in one of his things. One of his things? For those who don't know what the things are, on Steve Bowden's site, fun with bonus, he's running, like, these various polls will pop up as you navigate through his site, where it'll just say, you know, which would you rather win, Pinberg or Papa? you know, or which is the best game. It'll have like Pinbot, Jackbot, Bride of Pinbot, or Bride of Pinbot 2.0, which I would vote for Jackbot. I'd vote for Jackbot too, which Kevin Manny just picked up with Jackbot. Yes, jealous.
    50:39
    It's like you get the awesome play field of Pinbot with the rules of a WPC game. Maybe I need to talk to some rule guy. Maybe I should ask him to come on. Who would that be? Who's your favorite, my favorite rule guy?
    50:53
    Yeah, like he's going to come on a podcast. He hasn't done it for anybody else, so maybe we can get him on. Actually, he has come on. He was on a TopCast back in the day. Back in the day. And for those who don't know what we're talking about, we're talking about Lyman, but I just don't see that happening. I can beg. You can beg. Remember me? I'm the guy that tried to beat you and lost. I beg your humble forgiveness. could you please appear at our podcast? We'd really like it. We would love it. We'll talk all about your games. Which of course we would. Of course we would.
    51:30
    So Ron. Yes, sir. Are you ready to drive two and a half hours once we land? Where are you going through on your connections? I don't have a connection. I'd have to look at the schedule. Fail. So I'm supposed to have my plane schedule up in front of me. Are you flying United? Of course I'm flying United. I had to pay the ridiculous, what, $300 or whatever it is to rebook. Are you going through Newark? Yes, I am, I believe. Oh, Newark, Gold Cross. Oh, that's going to suck. Yes, it will. That's going to suck hard. Yes, it will. But, hey, guess what? I guarantee you I know we're going to eat one day when we're out in California.
    52:10
    What, where? Oh, In-N-Out Burger? We got it, baby. Yes. Yes, In-N-Out Burger back. It's been a while. So I arrive at 520. So you've got four hours away from me. Oh, Jesus. Hopefully there's something to do at LAX. Maybe I can have you get the rental car. Maybe I can put you on as a second driver, and then you can grab the car and just meet me right at the front.
    52:35
    Get in! Yeah, because I don't land until 907. Yeah. Well, the funny thing is, when do you leave? When do I leave? Of course, I just got out of there.
    52:46
    Ah, killing me. I'm sure this is a scintillating conversation for the listeners. It is. I'll be leaving at 10, 15 a.m. Okay. I don't leave the East Coast until 6.07.
    53:00
    Yes. Very nice. I know. I'm going to work all day. Wow. That means I've got to have – what the hell is the layover? Oh, God. Jesus, the layover is almost three hours.
    53:12
    And then you get to come home on a red eye. Yeah, on a red eye. And then you go back out again, what, Thursday or Friday? Well, then I go back to work, you know, the very next day, Tuesday. And, yeah, it'll be fun. It'll be great. I will take some footage for the Slam Tilt YouTube channel. Gonna have the whole world on a plate. Starting here, starting now. Sorry. I think airplane whenever I hear that. That's why I was singing it that way.
    53:43
    Ethel Ruman thanks you. Yes. who is, uh, isn't she related to George Clooney? Or no, that's, what am I saying? That's Rosemary Clooney. I'm sorry. Hey, well, just think. You didn't fuck up, like, saying this is the best picture.
    53:57
    Oh, the best, yeah. I heard about that. I mean, I don't watch any of that shit. I didn't say I don't watch any of that either. It's just weird that they let him get as far as, like, into their acceptance speeches before someone, like, oh, wait a minute. Hold on.
    54:12
    So are we done? We're done. Goodbye. No. So, once again, thank you for listening to the Slam to a Podcast, episode 33, for your eyes only. Which the bad guy was somebody. He was a Russian. Oh, he was a Russian? Yeah. They really didn't have memorable, they didn't have as many memorable villains later on. No. Well, they did have Christopher Walken. True. And actually, I like Louis Jourdan, but he's in the next one. We'll get to that in the next episode. Ooh. Fuser. Yes. So that's episode 33 for your eyes only. Once again, we can be found at Slam Tilt Podcast on Facebook, also on YouTube. Just look up Slam Tilt Podcast. Our Twitch channel is also called Slam Tilt Podcast. See a pattern developing here.
    55:02
    Correspondence can be sent to us at slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com. With all your questions, your tech questions, if you want to meet us in California at the show, We can have lunch with you or dinner. Autograph sessions, interviews, anything you want. Ah, shit, I got ordered a shirt. A shirt? What shirt?
    55:24
    Check your out hole. Check, ah, no. Yes. Wow, that's like 30 podcasts ago. I know, but what a memory. Yeah, and you remember what I said, like, I'll never wear that. If I buy it and you all say it's just got the other thing on it, you won't be able to turn around and look and bind. Ugh.
    55:43
    Bye, everybody. Say goodbye, Bruce. Goodbye, Kathleen Nightingale.