Episode 365: Australia’s Jason Lambert and Simon Peel

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·22m 23s·analyzed·Jun 20, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.029

TL;DR

Lambert and Peel discuss Australian pinball scene, Brisbane Masters event logistics, and Haggis Pinball emergence.

Summary

Jeff Teal interviews Australian competitive pinball players Jason Lambert and Simon Peel at the EPC/IFPA 18 World Championships in Germany. The conversation covers Brisbane Masters (a 10-day tournament festival Lambert co-organizes), Australia's pinball scene, the growth of tournaments vs. leagues, Haggis Pinball homebrew game production, and how players discovered pinball. Lambert discusses upcoming BPAC logistics (expecting ~200 players), while Peel reflects on international tournament travel and the importance of physical pinball vs. digital alternatives.

Key Claims

Brisbane Masters is planning 12 months ahead and expecting around 200 registered players for the upcoming event (7-8 weeks away from recording date).
high confidence · Jason Lambert, describing BPAC planning process
Most machines at Brisbane Masters come from private collections, with additional support from arcades and barcades.
high confidence · Jason Lambert explaining machine sourcing
Brisbane Masters created or popularized the 'whopper farms' tournament format (10 days of consecutive daily tournaments), which spread to other events like District 82 and Bulls and Balls in Sweden.
high confidence · Jeff Teal and Jason Lambert discussing event history
Colin Urban won Brisbane Masters three consecutive times (2019, 2022, 2023), with North American winners dominating the event.
high confidence · Jeff Teal noting tournament winner history
Australia has approximately 1,600 registered/rated pinball tournament players.
high confidence · Jason Lambert providing player registration data
Haggis Pinball (Australian homebrew manufacturer) made a major showing at Texas Pinball Festival with heavy interest in purchasing their games.
high confidence · Jeff Teal discussing Haggis's market reception
Playfield protectors create different playing conditions (reduced grip, glass-like feel) that tournament players find challenging.
medium confidence · Simon Peel discussing Godzilla machine at Bulls and Balls with playfield protector
Australia's tournament scene is primarily tournament-based rather than league-based, a precedent set when tournaments first came to Australia in 2012.
high confidence · Jason Lambert explaining Australian competitive scene structure

Notable Quotes

“The Brisbane Masters is planning 12 months ahead. as soon as one event's finished we're already planning next year that's probably on a slightly smaller scale compared to where we are right now”
Jason Lambert @ ~11:30 — Reveals the immense organizational effort behind Brisbane Masters and its scale relative to international events like EPC
“I suppose in In some ways, good to know that we potentially created history to some degree. So, yeah, I mean, who's going to push the bar even further next time? We're going to go two full weeks next time, 14 days.”
Jason Lambert @ ~18:15 — Hints at potential expansion of Brisbane Masters to 14-day format, escalating the whopper farms concept
“Probably wouldn't have been thought of, you know, 10, 15 years ago. I mean, obviously, we had Hankin Pinballs 20, 30, 40 years ago. But, yeah, to see Haggis producing pinballs and flying the flag for Australia and machine production is just fantastic.”
Simon Peel @ ~26:30 — Acknowledges Haggis Pinball as a historic development for Australian pinball manufacturing
“There's that physical kinetics that at the moment cannot be emulated by a computer that I've seen. There's that little lag. It's like milliseconds, and it just feels different.”
Simon Peel @ ~41:00 — Articulates core difference between physical and digital pinball, relevant to market discussions about emulation
“three years in a row, Brisbane Masters. Well, actually, if you take out the COVID year of 2021 where it was only locals only, but if you go back the year before that when travel was still a thing, and back in 2019, Colin Urban won that one too.”
[name withheld pending review] @ ~58:00 — Documents North American dominance of Brisbane Masters tournament wins, raises competitive dynamics
“And I think if you do take yourself seriously in Australia, you get torn down very quickly.”
Simon Peel @ ~32:00 — Reflects on Australian cultural attitudes toward humor and self-importance, distinguishing the community

Entities

Jason Lambertperson Simon Peelperson[name withheld pending review]person[name withheld pending review]personBrisbane MasterseventBPACeventColin Urbanperson

Signals

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event_signal: Brisbane Masters expecting ~200 players, 12-month planning cycle, considering expansion to 14-day format from current 10-day schedule
high · Jason Lambert states '160 registered at this stage' with expectation of '200' total, discusses 12-month planning ahead, mentions potential '14 days' expansion
?
community_signal: Brisbane Masters' 'whopper farms' multi-day tournament format (10 consecutive daily tournaments) has become a template adopted by other international events including District 82 and Bulls and Balls in Sweden
high · Jeff Teal notes 'we see it obviously at district 82 we see it here at bulls and balls in folda boras open as well too in sweden but it all started with brisbane masters'
?
competitive_signal: North American players dominant at Brisbane Masters: Colin Urban won 3 consecutive times (2019, 2022, 2023), with Escher Lefkoff and Steve Bowen also winning recent editions
high · Jeff Teal documents 'three IFPA Brisbane Masters in a row have been won by the Yanks' with Colin Urban winning 2019, 2022, 2023
?
community_signal: Australian pinball scene primarily tournament-based rather than league-based, a structural precedent set in 2012 when tournaments first arrived in country; ~1,600 registered players
high · Jason Lambert explains 'when the tournament scene first came to Australia back in 2012, pretty much everything was set up as tournaments' and cites '1,600 rated players or ranked players at home'
?
product_concern: Playfield protectors (protective glass/coating) alter ball physics and grip characteristics, creating different playing conditions that tournament players find challenging or unnerving compared to bare wood

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.067

0:00

it's time for another pinball profile i'm your host jeff teal so you can find everything on pinballprofile.com we're on facebook we're on twitter and instagram at pinball profile you can email pinballprofile at gmail.com and if you'd like to show your support that would be wonderful you can do so on patreon.com slash pinball profile don't worry The show will always be free, but thank you to great supporters like GME Law, Fox Cities, Pinball, LuaW, and so many others. Rod DC, can't thank you enough for your support. So, I'm here in Germany right now, which is a long way for me to go, but it's longer perhaps for these two gentlemen because they have come from Australia. I'm talking to Jason Lambert and Simon Peel. Jason, how are you? Yeah, good thanks, Jeff. Thanks for having me on. Nice to finally see you. And Peely, I've seen this guy a few times, including an event that may have happened in Australia some few years ago. But actually, forget the big win. I'm not the kind of person to brag about. Never talk to that. Yeah, I never mention it. But I did see you, funny enough, at District 82. I mean, here you are in Germany, but District 82, you made the hike. I did indeed. I love an international tournament, playing against all these great kids especially. But, you know, guys like yourself make the complete the tournament. It's always great fun. Just great fun. You make it sound like I'm filling the voids. The kids are the good ones and then old farts like me. I get what you're saying, Simon. Hang on. I'm five years older than you, I think. Yeah, but you look 10 years younger. So that's the trick, right? Anyway, Simon, it's good to see you. We'll get back to you in a second here. Lambo, this is exciting for you. You've always been one of the top players in Australia. I think of Richard Rhodes, of course, Simon and others. I'm not going to say Ryan C. He doesn't do enough. but the World Championships, it's not always easy to get to but here you are in Germany, you have to be excited. Absolutely, it's my second venture into the World Championship, first time EPC, first time in Germany. Absolutely amazing to be here. And what's neat is we're seeing people from 20 different countries, certainly in the IFP18. We're recording this two days before IFP18 begins so who knows, maybe I'm talking to one of the winners right here But the exciting thing is 20 different countries. And because of what you do in Australia, coming up in July, you are one of the people, along with Jimmy Nails, and I'm sure there's many others, that run Brisbane Masters. That is a big undertaking. So you know what it's like here in Germany to see all these people from other countries flock to a big event. So you know the pressure. Oh, for sure. I mean, the Brisbane Masters is planning 12 months ahead. as soon as one event's finished we're already planning next year that's probably on a slightly smaller scale compared to where we are right now I can only imagine what they've been up to in terms of setting up events here and things like that so it's a big effort from everyone that's involved here and yeah looking forward to running BPAC again it's only 7-8 weeks away until that happens down under so yeah love to see plenty more come along if possible, plenty of room for more Simon, I'll ask you because obviously Lambo's got a vested interest in this but he's definitely talking about a great event that's actually now part of the Stern Pro Circuit what does Brisbane Masters mean to you and obviously to Australia? Well, it's sort of an example of what the guys over in the US and certainly Europe do and this is a great pinball festival you could say and much like the Brisbane Masters is with a series of tournaments ranging from classics and to even the horrid flip frenzies. Maybe there's one at the end, but people do enjoy all facets of games. It's a great venue. The great thing about the Brisbane Masters is the venue and the space and obviously the organisation, but the space where it's held, there's plenty of room to swing someone if you'd enjoy that sort of stuff. It's a little different here, isn't it, Geoff? Yeah, some high ceilings. there lots of space i've certainly enjoyed watching the streams but you know when i think of brisbane masters and i think of the history of it forget where we are in 2023 when we first before covet heard of brisbane masters that was wow 10 days of pinball it was perhaps the creation of what they call the whopper farms where you could go to an event and play a tournament every single day and just cash in on the whoppers you and jimmy nails jason might have created a bit of a monster in that and uh you know now we see it obviously at district 82 we see it here at bulls and balls in folda boras open as well too in sweden but it all started with brisbane masters yeah it certainly provides value for money for people who are traveling in particular even just back at home in uh traveling interstate uh it makes it makes the trip worthwhile it's i mean it's certainly a tiring affair after 10 days by all means but uh yeah i mean it's i suppose in In some ways, good to know that we potentially created history to some degree. So, yeah, I mean, who's going to push the bar even further next time? We're going to go two full weeks next time, 14 days. Wow. I mean, 10 days, that is a lot of pinball, a lot of excitement in beautiful Queensland. As Dr. John tells me, it's the most beautiful part of all Australia, if not the world. I've got to go to the Gold Coast. But 10 days, that's a lot of dad jokes for Dr. John. Too many. Well he is renowned for his dad jokes I guess He a funny guy He a funny guy for sure and I know it means a lot to him to have Brisbane Masters So you said you about seven weeks away 12 months of planning You're expecting at least, what, almost 200 people maybe show up? Yeah, so I think there's about 160 registered at this stage, but we always get a few late ticket sales. So, yeah, we're definitely expecting 200. I mean, we were planning to have about 200 at last year's event, but we had a few people come down with COVID throughout the event, which obviously can happen with big crowds and things like that. But yeah, I mean, if we can at least beat last year, I think it was about 170-odd that ended up participating last year. 200 would be the magic number. That's definitely the goal. And then who knows where it could go from there. You've got the machine certainly to hold that and all the different venues too. Like this right now, we're playing the EPC. We're playing the IFPA Olympics and then, of course, the IFPA 18. But, you know, you don't have to play all the events. You can take a day off and maybe see the Gold Coast and things like that. And, you know, what is, Simon, you've done a lot of traveling. What is the best way to describe to people who've never been to Australia, especially on the eastern coast, what is the best way to describe what you'll be seeing if you were to come to Brisbane Masters? Well, I'm a Victorian. I hate to admit it, but Queensland is a very beautiful state. and the weather consistently, because down south it's a bit cooler, so we look forward to going to Brisbane and it's often about 8 degrees warmer. So we always love to go up there and so you're going to get some beautiful beaches. I think they've got the top two beaches in the world in the top ten or something. So that's just an example of the beauty, but you just have to drive out of Brisbane north, you know, 100 kilometres and you see the tropics of Australia, just a wonderful place. And, of course, the people aren't bad. The beer's okay as well. That's funny. I saw somebody here at Bulls and Balls with a Foster's cup. And I don't know if it was – I think actually they gave it to you. It wasn't a Foster's beer. It was just a glass. And it's the little-known secret for those that have been to Australia. Nobody here in Australia drinks Foster's. No, Foster's is terrible. Don't drink it. I mean, I know we should be promoting things, but no, bosses is terrible. The beer here is heaps better. Oh, in Germany? Yeah, this is where it all began for sure. Absolutely. So to get that many games, how is the community coming together? I mean, is it private collections? I know Jimmy Nails and others are bringing games. How do you get all those games at BPAC? Again, it just comes down to the wonderful community we have back at home. And it's not just at home. It's around the world. like the pinball community is just amazing and as soon as we put the call out asking for machines and assistance and things like that people just willingly put their hand up and say yeah i'll donate machines and things like that i mean sometimes we might have to sort of uh just give people a bit of a nudge here or there but uh yeah i mean as i said the community back at home just amazing most most machines that will be there will be from private collections which is just fantastic and obviously a few arcade and barcades and things like that at home is supplying as well but yeah again just the outpouring of support by the community is is fabulous as always so simon when you travel like you did to district 82 and came to north america and you're here in germany right now you sometimes get to see games quicker than you do in your home country because it takes a little longer for some of the games to get to australia so when you come here when you first came, let's say, to District 82. What was kind of the eye-opening thing for you? Well, District 82, the classics, I love the classics, and I'll fart like you, Jeff, and we love them. They play superb. I mean, the spinners at District 82, my goodness, do they spin. Like, the way Eric looks after those games there, it's a huge cross-section of decades, and all the games work perfectly. I guess, you know, they've got a luxury in the US and having a venue like that. You know, we don't have in Australia, we don't have a venue where we might have a cross-section of all those old and new. Like, just the quality of games, and certainly here at Bulls and Balls, I think the games play fantastically. I think the tilts are a little bit tight for the way I play. Oh, you just spoke too loud. You just tilted three machines.

12:24

Keep it PG. Where can I start, Ryan? Now, look, it is an example of an Australian. I think we take the piss out of ourselves. Oh, yeah, exactly. And Canadians, I think there could be other countries, without mentioning any names, that perhaps don't take themselves a little bit seriously. And Australians certainly don't do that. And I think if you do take yourself seriously in Australia, you get torn down very quickly. Very quickly. It's funny you should say that, because years ago, honeymoon cruise, I was on a cruise, 2,100 people, but 700 were Australians. in. So now you knew maybe a handful at best, but really connected with them and just thought we're similar in a lot of ways. That sense of humor, the, the, uh, you know, not taking yourself too seriously. It was kind of fun, but all right, Lambo, your thoughts on that Marty and Ryan C. Oh, good blokes. Good blokes. Why are you winking? Why are you crying? Why are you like laughing? Why did you say that? To be honest, I haven't really had a lot to do with Ryan and Marty because we do live in different states and things like that. But, I mean, a few times we have come across him. I mean, I've played Marty a few times in tournaments. I haven't played Ryan so much in tournaments over the years, but Marty, I think, has probably gotten the better of me a few times, I think. He needs to play more. He's a good player. I agree. I agree. But, like yourself with Brisbane Masters, he was involved heavily with Melbourne Silver Bowl, right? Is that something that's still going to happen? Yeah, we do miss that, Marty. And, like, I know you're busy with all the other stuff, and that's understandable, but your organization skills from Melbourne Silver Ball, you've got tournaments going. Obviously, Ryan does so much for the tournament scene in Melbourne. You're missed, Marty. I know you're busy, so if you can sort of swing it around possibly, that would be great. Well, that's interesting you should say that. We were talking about Ryan C. When Ryan C, you first listened to head-to-head, you listened to, like probably most people in pinball, they were there for the collections. They were there to see the new games. They were analyzing the sounds, the code, this, that, the shots. and then somehow he got the tournament bug and did he get the bug i mean i'm not going to say it was pandemic like but he really is a big driving force in melbourne and victoria with tournaments and is that something that's more common in australia because i always hear leagues aren't a big thing but kind of tournaments and comps is still the main thing but not so much leagues what was the tournament slash league scene like in australia uh so leagues there's a few more leagues starting to happen back at home. I know Victoria, in Melbourne, were doing a league there, a couple of leagues, I think, to start this year off. But I think they're phasing that out and going back to the single tournaments. There's a couple of leagues happening in Brisbane as well. A couple of IFBA ones and there's also a social one out of Netherworld as well that runs every, I think, Sunday fortnight or something or other. But for the most part, it's pretty much tournaments. And I think when the tournament scene first came to Australia back in 2012, pretty much everything was set up as tournaments. So I think the precedent was set that everything was tournament-based and not so much league-based. But it's great that we do have different levels of tournaments back at home, whether it's a social comp with a handful of players with a small format, or whether it's, again, bigger scale like Brisbane Masters or the now state championships and things like that as well. So, yeah, I mean, that's where it's at at the moment. We've got about, what, 1,600 rated players or ranked players at home, or registered players, I should say. And it's only getting better and better. I mean, sure, COVID sort of set that back a little bit, but we're sort of heading in the positive direction once again. So, yeah. It's nice to see shows like BPAC and Melbourne Silver Bowl and TASPEN, I think, is another one, Simon. So these shows are good ways for people in Australia to really embrace, whether it's competitions, collecting, or just pinball in general? Well, I mean, how do you get away from the children? Like, you could pay $80 for a new game online. A new game, sure. Yeah, and it's like, you know, pinball machines are so expensive, so it's where you can play them on site, or, you know, who makes them available at home. So I don't quite know how you get to the kids, because obviously building it from the kids up Like it often fathers who sort of pass that interest down as we seen here this week You know there so many great father teams effectively ZMAC, Asher, you know, Neil Graff, and there's just, you're right, so many more. So that's how you, I mean, you need to move away from that and get other kids that may be interested in Fortnite. I don't even know the games, but how do you get them into, you know, pinball, which is quite something you cannot emulate. and I will say I went out to Stefan out here, this guy has sort of a trailer I went in there, he had a VR he had an Amigo old EM but he had a V-Cab but it was gorgeous and it had every game and more on there. Yes, so playing that really instilled my position on physical versus trying to emulate a pinball machine. I don't know how you're going to ever do it There's that physical kinetics that at the moment cannot be emulated by a computer that I've seen. There's that little lag. It's like milliseconds, and it just feels different. Yeah. But if it's an introduction to pinball, whether it's an app or whether it's pinball arcade or pinball effects? That's quite true. I don't want to really... It's different. Yeah, it is different. But it's cheaper to do something with that. Well, that's quite a good point because, as I mentioned, $10,000 for a game, minimum in Australia. You don't need to buy one. You can go to an arcade. But like you say, if you're used to playing on Pinball FX or on a PlayStation or Xbox or a V-Cab or something where it's not costing you $10,000 for a new machine, that gets you hooked. You see a row and you're like, whoa. And I know for me, I was playing on one of those arcades, Pinball Arcade, and I had never played the physical game Flight 2000. But I was like, this is kind of a fun game. One came out for sale cheap. I bought one. And the only reason I bought it was because of playing it virtually. So it's interesting how we get into it. How did you get into pinball? My first memory was being about four years old. Mom and Dad used to bowl at the local Tempin Bowling Center. And we just used to obviously tag along. Being four years old, we used to go watch everyone go play the machines in the arcade. And, I mean, yeah, there was plenty of video games. but I was hooked on watching everyone play pinball and my first memory is probably mousing around, hearing the squeals of the letters being called out and things like that. So, yeah, so that's my first memory, I think, of pinball really, that mousing around game and that's stuck with my mind ever since really. Good game. And you're a lot younger than you and I, Simon, but Simon, for you I guess it would have been wood rails, right? Do you know, it was EMs. I was like a kid and I saw an EM, maybe a wedgehead. Sure. Actually, joker poker. You know, it's quite rare, the EM. The EM version, sure. It was at the fish and chip shop where many fish and chip shop milk bars in Australia had games. And as soon as I saw that ball roll, you know, there was something special about it. And 10 cents a game in those days. And I sort of lost interest for 30 years, really. Didn't play much. But, you know, I love it. There's no doubt about it. Love it. It's nice to come back. So with you, with Melison around, Jason, with you, with Joker Poker, with Ryan C, with the back glass of Strikes and Spares. It's funny how we all get into it, but I wish you the best of luck this weekend. And, of course, at BPAC, at the Brisbane Masters. And, again, where can people find out more about Brisbane Masters, Jason? Yeah, there's bnepac.org.