DPP #14 "New GnR topper! Loads of newsbits! We say goodbye to SAPS. Meetup info!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·18m 21s·analyzed·Feb 9, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Don covers GnR topper, Spooky news, SAPS shutdown, Wednesday Addams patent, and announces Pittsburgh meetup.

Summary

Don's Pinball Podcast Episode 14 covers Lior's new limited-edition Guns N' Roses topper ($2,350, 350 units), Spooky Pinball scratch-and-dent playfield sales and Scooby-Doo launch party in Scranton PA (Feb 26), the shutdown of Super Awesome Pinball Show after 46 episodes, patent filings for Wednesday Addams and Pink Floyd pinball machines, Bond 60th shipping news, and Big Trouble in Little China virtual pinball conversion from expired Wrath of Olympus layout. Don announces his first meetup at Helicon Brewing in Oakdale PA on Sunday Feb 12 at 2pm.

Key Claims

Lior's Guns N' Roses topper for Jersey Jack Seminole features 300 LED lights and is priced at $2,350 with 350 limited edition units
high confidence · Don provides specific pricing, unit count, LED specification, and website theartofpinballshop.com
Scooby-Doo launch party hosted by Pinball Star at Batari arcade in Scranton PA on February 26th with two machines and optional tournament
high confidence · Don cites specific venue (101 Adams Avenue, Batari), date, and event details from Spooky announcement
Super Awesome Pinball Show (SAPS) is ending after 46 episodes, with the final episode from December
high confidence · Don reports this directly as recent news from the show hosts (Chris Franchi, Jefferson Parsons, Dr. Pin)
Patent filing discovered for Wednesday Addams pinball machine based on Netflix series
high confidence · Don reports this from Naps Arcade patent search posting; notes licensing feasibility given Netflix's past success with Stranger Things
Big Trouble in Little China virtual pinball was created by applying a new license to the expired Wrath of Olympus layout after patent expiration in May of last year
high confidence · Don cites his own experience with the virtual pinball, conversation with friend Steve, and Naps Arcade reporting
Addams Family (1991) produced in 11,000+ units, making it possibly the best-selling pinball machine of all time
medium confidence · Don states as industry knowledge; acknowledges uncertainty with 'maybe in the 20s' (thousands)
Bond 60th is shipping this week and should see unboxings by weekend
high confidence · Don reports shipping timeline as current news
Helicon Brewing in Oakdale PA has approximately 30-40 pinball machines in excellent condition
medium confidence · Don reports from personal experience visiting 'a few months ago'; notes brewery is 'well on the pinball map'

Notable Quotes

“this guy this guy is actually carving things and creating art and then looks like he does resin casts of that that are either with dyed resins or resins and painted or maybe both”
Don @ ~3:00 — Describes Lior's artistic process and quality differentiation from mass production
“two thousand three hundred and fifty dollars so um looking at this in two different ways first off the thing looks amazing great product would love to have it”
Don @ ~5:30 — Acknowledges premium pricing while recognizing value and potential collectible appreciation
“They decided to put it on, hopefully, a hiatus, but sounds like it's quits. They don't want to have the obligation of running this podcast, I guess, the way they want to.”
Don @ ~11:30 — Characterizes SAPS shutdown as being about creative/quality control, not audience interest
“And it's so hard to say goodbye Until yesterday On God, Franchi. Can you believe that I got that on the third take?”
Don @ ~13:45 — Tribute/goodbye to SAPS using modified lyrics; shows personal connection to Chris Franchi's work
“I think that would translate extremely well into a pinball machine. So what company, whatever company picked that up, I hope you run with it because I'm seeing some dark and spooky pinball tales in the future.”
Don @ ~16:20 — Expresses enthusiasm for Wednesday Addams potential as pinball IP with thematic alignment
“I think if this table is actively in development and coming out in the next year, year and a half, I think we'd see a successful machine.”
Don @ ~17:00 — Prediction about Wednesday Addams timing window for market success
“what a great movie action-packed quirky i mean just the right kind of thing for pinball so since i do own an ultra vp um on the new uh software that i got big trouble little china was included”
Don @ ~19:30 — Personal endorsement of Big Trouble in Little China as strong pinball IP based on gameplay experience

Entities

LiorpersonThe Art of PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyPinball StarcompanySuper Awesome Pinball Show (SAPS)organizationChris FranchipersonJefferson ParsonspersonDr. PinpersonNaps Arcadecompany

Signals

?
business_signal: American Pinball had ownership/licensing for Wrath of Olympus project that did not materialize; patent now expired and layout repurposed by others
medium · Don reports: 'american pinball had a light had a license or a patent or plans or owned the rights to produce Wrath of Olympus' which is now repurposed as Big Trouble in Little China virtual pinball
?
community_signal: Don organizes first in-person meetup at Helicon Brewing as direct community engagement strategy; demonstrates pinball podcast community growth beyond audio format
high · Don announces formal meetup Feb 12, 2pm at Helicon Brewing (102 Union Avenue, Oakdale PA 15071); provides contact info for interested attendees
~
sentiment_shift: Super Awesome Pinball Show shutdown represents significant loss to pinball podcast ecosystem; ended after 46 episodes due to quality/time obligations rather than audience disinterest
high · Don: 'They decided to put it on, hopefully, a hiatus, but sounds like it's quits. They don't want to have the obligation of running this podcast, I guess, the way they want to.'
?
event_signal: Scooby-Doo launch party scheduled for Feb 26 in Scranton PA indicates Spooky production ramping up with machines ready for distribution within ~2 weeks
high · Don notes: 'that tells me that production, at least on some of the preliminary machines, is wrapping up probably like this week, you know, for them to get shipped out'
?
leak_detection: Patent filing for Wednesday Addams pinball detected via Naps Arcade patent search; represents unannounced game in early patent phase

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.055

0:00

heading back up in here on a tuesday welcome everybody it's your boy don pinball podcast episode 14 and the first episode from the road i am traveling boarded a plane the other day in chicago now here in the pittsburgh pennsylvania area for a few days what here to check out some of the local scene some of the local pinball machines and get myself a sandwich with french fries stuck in it. I've got more news and information coming up, including an exclusive event that I'll get to right now. Slamming, man, slamming like a face full of news for this week. What's up everybody? So I'm traveling. I decided to get out of town for a little bit to a quick flight over to some of my former stomping grounds near the great city of Pittsburgh. Yens feel me, right? So I'm going to drop some information on you. First off, coming from our buddy, Lior. You know this guy that does the art of pinball toppers? He has been working diligently for a few years at least on a topper for, are you ready for this? Guns and Roses. Jersey Jack Seminole Machine with the excellent light show. And boy, did this guy compliment that. There is a nice crowned, resin-sculpted, painted image of the skull from Axl Rose with the guns there, also in resin-carved displays like he does with a great light show up there, and they're now for sale. So looking at this, really what this guy does, and I own a few of his mods. I got all three of the ones that he did for Godzilla. I got the shooter bullet rod for Guns N' Roses. This guy is from The Art of Pinball, which, in fact, is his website, theartofpinballshop.com. He has a new one. Formerly he was selling and I think still is selling some products through Little Shop of Games down there in Florida. You can see from their site. but this man is very much an artist modder i mean i've got a 3d printer i i do some you know 3d modeling and then create plastic things to stick into machines but this guy this guy is actually carving things and creating art and then looks like he does resin casts of that that are either with dyed resins or resins and painted or maybe both but man he's got a 3d sculpt of a giant an Axl Rolls skull with guns, with roses, and then it looks like maybe an acrylic back plate and 300 LED lights. What? So this thing looks amazing. There is a YouTube video. Finding out where to go view this, though, is a little bit difficult. I saw it through a Facebook page that just popped up. But if you do go to theartofpinballshop.com, all one word, you can see this thing. Now, reviewing it in two different ways. I've seen the pictures and I've looked at the video, and I mean this thing looks flawless I mean I think I would want it it's limited in addition to only 350 pieces and you can either leave a deposit for one with full payment due on shipping or you can pay in full now and get one of the earlier builds so if you want one you may need to go quick now the other part of this is the cost so right now the deposit is $750 the full price for this amazing looking light show guns and roses custom sculpt from the artiste himself can be yours for two thousand three hundred and fifty dollars so um looking at this in two different ways first off the thing looks amazing great product would love to have it then with limited editions of only 350 and with the le version of guns and roses having an edition size of 5,000, there can be some significant demand for this device. So, you know, this thing even could be potentially flippable. So as far as the build quality, it looks like the same quality that we've seen from Lior. And so I think I'd give this thing a 10 out of 10. If I would only have added one more thing from, you know, my depth of speculation of what I could want for it, maybe like an LCD screen, like that Jersey Jack Pirates topper that was custom built that came out. But other than that, I would love to have this thing on top of my machine. On the other hand, it's $2,350. But you know, I mean, this thing is kind of primed to be able to actually increase in value. I mean, if he sticks to this limited edition size of only 350, and they're gone, and somebody wants one, I mean right So our prices are subjective And that what this thing is It more art than something that was mass produced and made to be bolted on So the price I going to leave that up to the consumer but man it looks like a great product It hard to find the site It's hard to Google to find the site. And maybe he's sticking off on himself and starting a new business for himself separate from Little Shop of Games. Not sure on that, but at theartofpinballshop.com, you can click on that and you can find your way to the, I think he called it the music pin topper, but we all know what it is. And there's a great video, a link to a YouTube video that really shows off the whole light display for this thing. So fantastic work, Lior. You know, keep killing it, man. All right. Spooky Pinball, a little bit of news here. We're getting closer and closer to this new game coming out, and there's going to be some opportunities to play it this month, believe it or not. First off, they did post that they must be cleaning out their closets. They've got a lot of scratch and dent deals right now. So if you want, say, a play field from one of their games for art on your wall for a total of $375, act now because they do have limited supplies available. And your boy did go on some of these. So they had a few Scooby-Doo play fields, which promptly sold out. But they had a couple of Jetsons. They had some Alice Cooper. They had a Domino's pizza.

5:46

They have Halloween and Ultraman are available, both the full play field size and also the smaller playfield size. Now at home, I managed to pick up a scratch and dent Guns N' Roses playfield from Jersey Jack, signed by Eric, the man. And I got that hanging on my wall and I walked by and I rubbed my fingers down its playfield. There's no scratches on this thing. One of the holes that was drilled was off center, so it can't be used in a game, but it can be used on my wall and it looks fantastic. And so adding to that, my wife indulged herself a bit. So we got a Domino's and a Jetson's playfield. coming for the walls. So thank you, Spooky Pinball. If you want some, they still have them. So give them a shout out. They're for sale on their site. So go ahead and get one. I think shipping's fairly inexpensive. In other Scooby, Scooby Spooky. Man, how many times have I made that mistake? So Scooby-Doo is having a launch party. The first one has been announced. Pinball Star is hosting one in Scranton, Pennsylvania. So there will be at Batari, is the name of the arcade. The Electric City Pinball Tournament is taking place on this month, February 26th, the day before your boy's birthday here. That is a Sunday. I didn't get a time here. I'll probably have to give them a call or look for the flyer online. But they're having a Scooby-Doo launch party. They said they will have two machines. They will have a tournament, but you do not have to enter the tournament to play the machine. That's fantastic. So probably show up, hang out at the arcade, get in line, play the game, and then there's going to be a tournament as well. So that is all kicking off at Batari at 101 Adams Avenue in the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania on February 26th, a Sunday. That's coming up. That's what, like two weeks, right? So that tells me that production, at least on some of the preliminary machines, is wrapping up probably like this week, you know, for them to get shipped out and unboxed and shopped and ready to go. So shout out to our boys over there at Spooky. In other general pinball news, particularly the pinball broadcasting space, we've seen a sudden end to one of the big names in pinball podcasting. Saps, the super awesome pinball show consisting of Chris Franchi, Jefferson Parsons, and some guy named Dr. Pin, which is one of the shows that I would listen to regularly. They decided to put it on, hopefully, a hiatus, but sounds like it's quits. They don't want to have the obligation of running this podcast, I guess, the way they want to. Or they don't have the time to make it to the quality that they want. So they announced that they're taking a break. So it looks like the last show was the one from December. Looking back, it looks like they've done 46 episodes. Now, there's some pinball podcasts that I listen to just about every episode that comes out. Of those include The Pinball Show, super awesome pinball podcast. uh canada's pinball podcast for news and reviews you can't fear to lose um what else do i listen to uh i like loser kid i like uh pinball party jason there um god what was the other one i had totally blanking right now the other one i listened to anyway it's buffalo pinball how could i forget those guys so um super awesome pinball show was one of the pinball episodes content that I would listen to every month when they came out So um they will be missed here but man thank you for doing 46 fantastic episodes And when I had a plane flight when I had trips in the car that were one of the ones that I went to you know and they had that long format of conversation of you know three people talking that you got to participate in. You can listen to it all the way through. I will listen to it in segments sometimes when I was driving. And they had fantastic interviews from, you know, industry insiders. So their perspective is going to be missed on the podcast Battlefront. And so for them, I really think there's only one thing that I can do to pay tribute, to help repay them for the entertainment they provided me, and that is to take a moment to... And it's so hard to say goodbye Until yesterday On God, Franchi. Can you believe that I got that on the third take? But best of luck, guys. These guys are still going to be around, and I'm sure they'll surface in some format. So thank you for the memories, guys. All right, so rounding up some other news, I perused Nap Arcade, as I do, And man, there's been a lot. I mean, this guy has consistent drops of nuggets and never lets us down. So thank you, Jason Knapp. One of his postings he just put up was actually like a patent file search for copyrighted names for pinball machines. So always a good well to dig in. Now, you know, concepts come and go. A lot of things that are patented never end up going to fruition. But projects that do end up at fruition start as a patent. So unsurprisingly, there was patents for Jaws, patents for Godfather. But then there was a patent for something along the names of Wednesday Adams. What? Now, Wednesday Adams is no stranger to pinball. I mean, wasn't Adams family with Raul Julia, the best-selling pinball machine probably of all time, right? 11,000 of these were produced. Maybe more, maybe in the 20s. But due to licensing constraints of, I mean, Christopher Lloyd was in that film. Raul Julia was in that film. and the rest, the great Christina Ricci, and whoever modeled the thing. So getting all that licensing on board to rerun Addams Family would be, I believe, difficult. Fortunately, it was produced in large numbers, so there are a lot of existing machines out there that are being restored. I've seen it firsthand. But Wednesday Addams is a new show on Netflix that apparently is fairly popular. I know my wife's digging it. I don't have a lot of time for Netflix, so I haven't had time to dig into it. but yeah, I like that creepy, kooky kind of gloomy theme. I think that would translate extremely well into a pinball machine. So what company, whatever company picked that up, I hope you run with it because I'm seeing some dark and spooky pinball tales in the future. And I would see it. I mean, that looks like a hot license right now. I don't think it's a license that would be hard to get. I know Netflix is all about promotion and there's been successful licenses from them before with stranger things. So I could see this going. You know, Mandalorian was another licensed property that came out. It was popular. It was hitting at the right time, and then a machine came out. So I think who's going to be making Wednesday Adams? I could see this thing being made. You know, a lot of other things, Wrath of Olympus, for instance, you know, patents come and go on. But, yeah, this thing, I think this thing has legs. I think there's a good window right now. I think if this table is actively in development and coming out in the next year, year and a half, I think we'd see a successful machine. So I had to follow this one through to fruition. Also reported there was one from Pink Floyd as well. Seminal favorite band. You know, if we're still into the dad rock music, pin machines, I could see this one maybe happening. In other news, Bond 60th is on the line, I think, as I speak, and shipping out this week. So we should be seeing some unboxings as soon as maybe this weekend, you know, if someone's getting it. Does that mean that surely someplace in Chicago will have one of these things unboxed and try to be the first out on the line? um so this weekend will there be one this weekend i'm flying back home on sunday and i'm landing in chicago and if there's a bond 60th that i can uh you know bring myself in front of i'm gonna make all plans for doing that so we'll stay tuned in other nap news um american pinball there were a little article run on there and this is fun because i had a little part in this i found out so uh the story is that american pinball had a light had a license or a patent or plans or owned the rights to produce Wrath of Olympus which is a game I not sure who produced it or got the layout or concept but it was going to be another one of these games Legends of Valhalla A Battle of Olympus open source, unlicensed material that you can make a game from. And apparently there was a layout that was made. Now, the patent apparently has expired last May of last year, so I don't think they're bringing this project to fruition, but somebody has taken it, and somebody has applied a different licensing theme to the same layout and it is now available as a virtual pinball machine and that license oh it's a good one guys this is big trouble in little china what low pan man lightning chinatown what a great movie action-packed quirky i mean just the right kind of thing for pinball so since i do own an ultra vp um on the new uh software that i got big trouble little china was included so i was actually live streaming this the other week. And I was getting to talk to my friend online who was following the stream, Steve, and he was overjoyed at this information and wanted to see the play. So I streamed it for a bit. I sent him some photos and he passed them on to just about anybody that could be involved to make this an actual machine because it shoots well. And I think, you know, with some tweaking, it could translate to an awesome machine, you know, if this license could be got. So that showed up on NapaCade, including the screen captures that I had sent to Steve. So So, you know, I've arrived. I showed up on NAPS Arcade site. That's fantastic. I got to reach out to Jason and tell him thank you for doing that.

15:15

And thanks for, you know, just giving us the great news that we do. Happy or congratulations on the crystals from the Pinball Awards, Jason. I think you earned it. So back to me, back to what I like to talk about. So I'm on the road. I'm here in Pittsburgh. I will be hitting up a couple of arcades. There's one in Morgantown, West Virginia. So if you're in the Morgantown area or you're going to be in the Pittsburgh region and you want to like meet up, shout out, get a sandwich or something, holler at me. Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com is a great way to do it or send a message to the Facebook site at the same name. Don's Pinball Podcast. Click follow. I'm trying to build up those followers to 100 so I can access those analytics. But I am planning on doing my first meetup at Helicon Brewery, which is in the Pittsburgh region. Oakdale, I think, is the name of the town. So I will be there on Sunday at 2 p.m. at Helicon. Oh, shoot, I need to get the address for you. Yes, that's Helicon Brewing at 102 Union Avenue in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, 15071, if you want to arrive by private package. But this is a place that's well on the pinball map. I mean, the place is pretty famous. About, what, 30 to 40 machines. They're always bringing in new supply. The machines they have are in great condition. plus the whole place is one of those big breweries so nothing goes better with pinball than beer and I think that's why we've been seeing so many of these pin bars show up you know craft beer lumberjack outfits and pinball I mean what other things would you want so this place I was just there a few months ago I've even taken the family there too on a road trip we stopped by south side of the Philadelphia Philadelphia Pittsburgh area this place actually had two toy story four machines when that came out, so that was fun. One of those has since been going to this other arcade in West Virginia I'll be going to, another pin bar, it turns out. They also had an Alice Cooper. That was the first place I finally got to play one from Spooky Pinball, so I'm going to go and spend some time on that. I have some obligations in the morning, but 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. I'm planning on parking my butt there and playing some pinball. Are you in the area? Do you want to come by? I've got stickers. I've got shout-outs. We could take selfies, get some suds and a hug if you're weird, but otherwise I'll be playing some pinball so if you want to stop by, pick up a sticker give me a high five, give a shout out and we can talk about pinball and food and whatever else you'd like, I'll be there at Helicon I haven't contacted them so this is strictly unofficial but their hours show that they're open, I'm going to be there playing so come say what up, I'll be wearing the shirt so that's Helicon Brewing 2pm this Sunday the 12th over there in Oakdale, Pennsylvania so I believe that brings me to the time that I need to drop the hip hop outro first pinball podcast from the road hope you guys enjoyed it um i may be doing another one a little later in the week but definitely planning on being there sunday and then i'll leave my reviews and if i come across the bond 60th you will hear my reviews as soon as i play it so thanks everybody be sure to check the facebook group for live streams and email don's pinball podcast at gmail.com i'm still sending out sickers man later