I'm gonna start a podcast that has no focus and it'll take up an inordinate amount of time. In the second millennium, the world changed. Vast arcade industries were reduced to dust. The war of the home console had decimated public space pinball to near extinction. As operators sold off and disposed of countless machines, from this a new order emerged. It brought the collectors, packing what remained into mega collections, ravaging and laying claim to whatever pieces survived. They created the restorers, who meticulously preserved the amusement artifacts. And now the enthusiasts, who are responsible for the creation of the new industry. Pinball has reemerged. I am the law, defense noted. You now have 20 seconds to comply. As you do the compliant judge, there's 10 of us, only 2 of you. Welcome to the Pinball Restorers Podcast. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Pinball Restorers Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Lister. How's it going? I'm sorry for the long break. Life got in the way. Work had piled up. I ended up doing a bunch of travel. Aside from that, a lot of responsibilities at home. My wife needed a lot more help. I am a step-parent to two wonderful twins. And at 15 years old, I just needed a lot of help and guidance. So I kind of had to take a step back and deal with family priorities. But I am now back. The dust has settled on quite a few things and a lot has happened and there's a lot of new things going on. And there's a bunch of stuff that's going on in the background that I could periodically work on to get to this point. So what I'm going to do first is I'm going to talk about this show. This show is going to be a new format. 45 minute episodes. I'm going to do a featured public play space per episode. We're going to be tackling topics a little bit more in depth For instance about circuit boards, for instance, replacement displays I try to make commercials for the little businesses that provide parts that didn't used to exist And from stuff that some people have been very nervous about purchasing in the hobby You see that something is either sold internationally, it takes a while to get to Sometimes that creates reluctancy that's for anybody who owns a scott leap system one that's like you know ordering pascal all in one board yes you're getting it from france um for anybody who uh buys from pinball technologies which makes a wonderful classic ballet stern mpu that allows you to actually put your own sounds on it you're getting that from germany and it can take a while to come and so sometimes people don't have a taste for it or haven't seen it applied and maybe sometimes that leads to reluctancy So having ordered some of these things, and a few of my friends who've ordered some of these things, we can actually give you some feedback on, you know, was this a good thing, was it a bad thing, and so forth. So just a lot more details. I have a few more guests coming up. I interviewed Jake Danzig, who built the Dukes of Hazzard pinball machine. Aside from owning Pinball Investments, his business, and the wonderful, wonderful daily adventures he has with that sweet dog, Jesse. Aside from that, I've gotten to know quite a few people better since Expo. Expo was a lot of fun. I didn't get to do the shows right before it because the minute I got back, I was already out of town. And then I literally was out of town every week for about a month and a half there. And I did post some videos of my little pinball adventures I'd have while I was out there. So when I went to Milwaukee, I got to play Congo and original Williams Monster Bash inside this gutter punk metal bar called Vegas Pub. It was awesome. When your bartender's wearing a shirt that says, Planned Parenthood, don't fuck with us, don't fuck without us. It's kind of the vibe I'm used to, having once been in that type of music scene. And then I went to Up Down Milwaukee, and we have an Up Down location here, but the one in Milwaukee has two levels, which makes it a little easier to crowd in as many games as they have. Yeah, I mean, I got to enjoy that, and then when I got sent to Detroit, I went to Barcade. similarly styled but had a couple of some older gems in there like they had Junkyard, they had Theater of Magic and I just enjoyed being able to go do some public space play while I was in the middle of a Midwest adventure. I'm going to post some of the recap videos on our YouTube channel and as I said Expo was great. It was nice seeing Todd Tuckey. It was nice hanging out with Tim and Tom from Twins Arcade, meeting up with Doc Mack from Galloping Ghost Arcade, long conversation with Greg Ferreres. Obviously, Walter Day was there. Yes, I did receive a card and there was a ceremony for that and that was kind of fun. Talked to Kaneda for a brief moment. When I spoke to Kaneda, he was kind of by himself in there and I was just saying, hey, Matt, Pinball Restores podcast. And he actually apparently knew who I was, which surprised me because I'm like, why would you listen to this? In fact, I'm amazed anybody listens to this. We just had a brief conversation just saying like, you know, I'm just happy to be here. It's kind of fun to get a little bit of the geek to mount. Met up with Drew Bovair from the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast and his wonderful wife. I also helped Drew break down his game before he left because we haul in games. And I did bring a game. I brought, I can say I was the only one to bring a game plan game. I brought Supernova. I did end up with it going down twice. One was due to a flipper coil sleeve. And then somebody, when they had plugged in the arcade game on the opposite side of mine, had moved my plug. and basically tore the wires out and didn't say anything. So thankfully, some of the vendors like the Mayfair, which sells a ton of electrical parts and just pinball parts I was able to get everything I needed quickly to get that back up and running Pinball Wizard was there There was guys from Easy Pinball that manufactured pinball cabinets Obviously me and Jeff Miller were hanging out Jeffrey Jones is another restorer. I got to talk to him. Lonnie Meehan, another friend of mine, and hung out with those guys for a while. Talked to Rob Burke. I did come home with a pinball machine from there. Not a new one, and I didn't win one. I happened to buy a 1980 Williams Scorpion for about 600 bucks I believe I paid and then loaded that in the back of the truck on top of my game brought it home and my wife still freaked out it was it was cool it was cool to see Project Pinball the non-profit what else did we see there it was just a just a variety I mean I some of the games in the public space area were a little of beat-up vintage, I would say, for some of them. But Players Cabs, Players Cabs, I don't mind playing them. A lot of the games were Rob Burke's personal collection. A lot of the EMs that were present. There was the guys, Bruce from Outside Edge was there. There was View Vendors for CPR. And Las Vegas Playfields, a company that restores playfields. If you haven't heard of them, check them out. They're actually really nice guys. Beautiful work on that, Gottlieb Amazing Spider-Man. I did get to play one of my favorite Gottlieb titles. actually Wipeout was there. Episode one was down the entire time. I think two games started on fire but it was cool to see some of the other odd stuff like a Varkon, Rat Race. Me and Jeff Miller were playing Joust and we're both just like why don't they make another one of these because you know head-to-head pinball was fun. Yeah and then when you go into the vendors area and you know that's where Zach Meaney with Flip N Out Pinball was there. They were live streaming Godzilla. Jack Danger was there you know promoting um that he had just done the Jurassic Park um Retro Ralph from Arcade Pickers and from his channel Chasing Nostalgia was there and hung out with Todd Tucky Kerry Hardy obviously was there and he was also helping out the guys with uh Penn Stadium yeah it was one of those things where you're up literally till three in the morning and back at it at eight in the morning and there was just a bunch of stuff to just look around and want to buy I mean the Mayfair had an amazing collection of back glasses. I did purchase one from him, too. I actually spent more money than I want to admit, because I did buy a hard top. I did buy a mint Close Encounters of the Third Kind back glass I've yet to put in my game. Pinball Wizard was selling a ton of electronics. In fact, he actually had a couple of Rotten Dog boards that at the time were scarce. They're now back in stock. But it was just a great experience, and I wish I had done more to stream from there or went live more often, but I was just running around being busy, dropped a bottle off to Drew Bover, and I thought it was kind of funny. It was like you were the high school student that had four bottles of booze in the backpack as you're walking around. Glenn Von Molesky with Pinball Place, they were there, and he was pitching his pin crawler, which is different than an Escalera. It's got motorized, non-marking tank treads, and it holds a considerable amount of weight and it's very easy to use. And he brought like a set of stairs and a docking platform just to see it in action. And apparently a couple of you guys bought it from a heating and cooling company. They've loved it, loved seeing that because they're like, well, aside from moving pinball machines, you can move a water heater upstairs very easily. So nothing wrong with that type of investment when you purchase something like that. Yeah, I talked to David Fix for a little bit because, you know, one of the things I did notice about Expo was, where are the kids? You know, a friend of mine, Tanner, I've had on here before, he's a STEM teacher, and he's been bringing pinball machines into STEM classes when they do an event called, similar to Kane's Arcade, and I was talking to Fix about that for a minute, and whether he remembers this conversation or not, I think we were both pretty drunk, or at least I was, but I think I conveyed it, because I did end up with his card and his personal number after it, to try and set something up for next year where the Thursday and Friday during the day, because it's not even open to the public until after four o'clock, you could do a workshop with some teachers, get the kids in there, and then let them play in that free play area so they get exposed and pinball can continue on into the next generation. So I'm going to be going back. I did not make TPF or Pintastic just because I've just been working and just dealing with a lot here but i will be going to expo again this uh this coming expo but for expo i'm going to try to bring 14 games of my own and then a friend of mine is also going to be a vendor so he has a few more so we'll be we'll be bringing in a decent supply of some of stuff and there are some things that were i've already talked to a few other people about uh to try and set up a little bit more in-depth history like a seminar about the history of these games or something that can visually be seen so anyways there's more conversations happening i'm going to reach out to burke and kind of give my proposal for a bunch of stuff and what i propose like ideas to like an event you know i don't be like hey this is a great idea you should just do this i have this idea if you'd like to implement this i can help do that um so that's the bigger part is like you know if i have to be part of the volunteer staff tearing down games and stuff like that that doesn't bother me i actually i would love to spend my whole vacation there advertising wow so people need help figuring out what to buy and then you help them minnesota's only 100 pinball bar huge variety of games including classics like attack from mars medieval madness to the newest titles such as godzilla and rush hosting leagues and tournaments with drink specials daily and a large selection of local and national craft brews also known for their famous hot dogs. Located at 113 East 26th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Find out more at TiltPinballBar Are you ever going to move out of the basement Pinball Basement your premier electronics replacement specialist Brand new boards for Bally Williams featuring WPC 89 and WPC 95 boards Wide array of new and used parts. Find out more at pinballbasement.com The EM Scorekeeper, your electromechanical pinball solution for saving your high score. Non-invasive add-on that allows you to program your high score via the flipper buttons buttons and proudly show on an LCD display seats directly into the scorecard slots of an apron. Find out more at TheEMScoreKeeper.com. Now for some pinball news. With that music, folks, it is time for some pinball news in the realm of pinball restoration. Sadly, this starts on a somber note. For those that did not know, Marco, the founder of Marco specialties actually passed away. The business will continue on and our deepest condolences to the family and the friends that he has made in this hobby, as well as Imoto Harney, who has done a lot of media work for them and promotions. So our hearts go out to them. They are going to continue on. They also now run seven days a week. So again, hey, at least we can still get our parts. His legacy lives on in every machine that we actually bring back to life. in supply chain issues. Rotten Dog System 3 through 7 boards are back in stock. I've seen this on Pinball Life, K's Arcade, as well as Pinball Wizard. CPR is back at it. And for anybody who doesn't know this, Classic Playfield Reproductions just released Xenon and Spectrum. And Spectrum is going to be a very limited run due to the fact there's very few of those games surviving. So if you need it, this is the time to get it. Outside Edge has just released their 8-Ball and teased Electra for their hard tops. Pinball Basement has game plan MPUs in production as well as a System 11 board and display system. So keep an eye out on pinballbasement.com to see when those are either released or if they already have been. Pinball Pimp has Stern's Big Game and Trident stencil sets as well as Williams' Skill Pool, Lady Luck, and Magic City. So, hey, art is half the battle, and the cabinet is the box for the game we restore. So please hit them up or put your orders in, get the parts you need. And that concludes Pinball Restoration News. Um, does internet porn know you're cheating on it? Pinball Featured YouTube Video. And in this segment, we are going to feature a video of somebody doing a restoration project. And the person in question, and the channel in question, is Captain Retro, a.k.a. Kevin Cotland. He has recently restored an old Williams Time Warp Barry Osler designed game. It was a train wreck, and I highly recommend watching his channel because he actually does quite a few instructional videos like how to apply pinball pin stencils, how to install hard top. He always is like the king of arcade picks to an extent. I have no idea where he's finding some of these games and the prices he pays. But he loves to restore stuff. He loves to also talk about vintage gaming and a few other things. so please go ahead and check him out. So with the coin door shut, it comes to life and it goes straight to attract mode. and the only two scoreboards are working are the top top set it's only flashing the high score on that one it's not flashing it over here there's all kind of issues with this they're just very dirty every every sensor every trigger every switch is dirty it popped the other drop targets up but it did not pop these up it did earlier so it's got you know it's just filthy dirty contacts those are kicking with a couple issues and obviously a filthy disgusting play field that's going to get completely stripped and a brand new hard top put on it all this plastic is gonna get pulled off and clean I'll do my best to clean everything we can get all the new screws and hardware in and make it look like it's brand new again Wolfpack technologies featuring DIY LED display kits for Bally Stern Williams data East and Gottlieb easy to follow instructions and and designed with the novice solderer in mind. Find out more at WolfpackTech.com. What are you buying? What are you selling? Muzzy Ball. The pinball place. Your premier retailer and authorized dealer for Stern, Jersey Jack, and American Pinball. Large selection of new and used games, parts, and accessories. Find out more at pinballplace.com. moving on and if you've actually been continuing to listen i know that i put a couple of commercials in there and i try to actually add sounds and stuff but it you know it's just something fun to do and i don't get paid for this i don't get paid by any of the companies i just prop these up in fact some of these guys don't even know they actually have a commercial running so just because some of these guys are not easy to get a hold of but i always send a copy of the commercial often an email so that they actually get it. So just clarifying that. But as I said, Expo is great. There's other new things. I've learned a lot from a lot of other people. I've been witnessing some amazing restorations, some amazing projects. And I know that this is like a lot of like updates, a little bit of news. And you know, at the end of the day, it's still just fun. So personally, out of my own projects, my own collection, which some people have actually asked about so I'll actually tell what machines I have. Going from left to right in my basement, I have a Stern Wildfire, I have a Bally Lost World Gottlieb Pinball Pool Gottlieb Close Encounters of the Third Kind I have an Atari Space Riders I have a Gottlieb Amazing Spider I have a Williams Laser Ball I have a Williams Blackout I have a Williams Scorpion, I have a Game Plan Supernova, and I have a Williams Tri-Zone. In my garage, I have a Bally Playboy, I have a Williams Road Kings, I have a Bally Rocketship three and then at work I actually have my Mario Andretti as well as my second laser ball and there's a little project game I have I actually took and I'll post a picture of it but I actually took a really crappy Wonder Wizard demolition derby and I stuffed it inside of a full-sized arcade cabinet that I made and it has a coin door and it has a soundboard in it so it actually makes its own noises so it doesn't really improve the game much it just makes it fun and i'll probably sell it off to somebody who just wants to use it for the cabinet for a v-pin or maybe somebody might actually want it but it was just something to keep me busy so that's the games i have um let's see here journeys i've taken with pinball restoration well oh i've had to buy from a variety of people uh new month i got a couple of boards from them i did have uh an mpu serviced by houston pinball again for my Atari Space Riders. I managed to get quite a few of the plastics actually for my Mario Andretti because I do have a new old stock play field that I'm actually going to be gutting and rebuilding that game. I'm always surprised by the resiliency of System 3 games just because there were so many parts missing yet the game still worked. But aside from that I've been out and about playing pinball. I've actually fallen in love playing Cactus Canyon Remake. And maybe because I actually prefer more of an open play field with a couple of skill shots, but that's just me. And, you know, when I go out and I get to play, one of the places I do go to, and this is the featured location of this show, is Tilt. It is Minneapolis. It's in Minneapolis. It's Minnesota's only 100% pinball bar. They're not like an arcade. They are literally a bar that is themed around pinball. They have a lot of games. In fact, they cycle through them all the time. In fact, sometimes if I go three days later, something I was playing on isn't there anymore. But they did manage to get a Pabst can crusher in there, and that was originally made by Whizbang and then was produced by Stern. Let's see here. What else did they just get in? They do have the Rush LE, Cactus Canyon Remake. They have Stranger Things. They have Godzilla, World Cup Soccer. They have The Shadow. They have Congo, both with alternate black back glasses and fully restored. Let's see here. They have Funhaus with Rudy's New Nightmare upgrade. Let's see here. Rick and Morty is still there. Halloween is still there. Let's see here. They have Avengers, Spider-Man. I'm trying to think. It's just so many. They also have Wizard of Oz and I want, yes, and Willy Wonka. So, I mean, there's just a ton that goes in there. But they also have other games like ACDC Iron Maiden. I mean, I've watched titles just cycle in and cycle out. So they're just an awesome location. They're really on top of it. And they started originally with just a couple of older games. I mean, I remember when they first opened, they had like an old Stern Meteor in their collection. and it's only grown from there. On Tuesday nights, sometimes games are set to free play. They also have a featured DJ that they'll actually have come in the third Monday of every month. If you happen to be a connoisseur of craft beers, Minnesota actually has a huge craft beer market, so they feature local and national brews, and they're actually decent. And I myself am a liquor guy, so I'm usually drinking a cocktail. But the food is actually good. Cuban sandwich is great. They're known for the hot dogs. And they also host leagues and they have tournaments. And you can find out all about that at tiltpinballbar.com. And, yeah, I'm going to feature that location. I'm also going to feature locations across the United States. That's going to be the new thing, too. You know, give a little summary of a place. You might find some hidden gems. They do exist. I've played some games out in the wild that I'm like, I can't believe they have this. And so I also recommend going to Pinball Map to find out where a game is in public space, aside from what's listed on Pinside. And again, just go out there and have some fun. I like playing older games on top of newer games. So, you know, classics are great. New games are also awesome. So it's just a huge hobby. So again, I'm adding a few different segments. And just because I am running out of time, I also have a lot of shows in production, so I don't want to eat up all of my RSS feed. I just want to say thank you for hanging in there, and thank you for continuing to download. I have seen that people have given me feedback saying, hey, when are you going to do a show? Things are back up and running. I'm going to put out a lot of material, and I'm going to start updating the YouTube channel with a summary video of some of these locations and places I play. And again, check out Captain Retro's channel. Again, also, you know, look at all of it. Back in the news section, check out all the suppliers. If you happen to own some of those games, hey, this is your opportunity to get the parts. So that's all I have to say on this. Till next time, keep it flippin'. This is Matt signing off. This is Drew Bovair, and when you're done listening to Matt talk out of his ass, head on over to the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast and have a drink and play some pinball. This has been a Ruby Butt Production. Ruby, get out of the litter box!