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Jaws reveal impressions

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·31m 12s·analyzed·Jan 5, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Don analyzes Jaws reveal, criticizes marketing timing and Premium supply scarcity, reviews playfield design.

Summary

Don provides impressions of the newly revealed Jaws pinball machine by Stern, discussing the marketing rollout timing, supply constraints on Premium editions, playfield design differences between Pro/Premium/LE variants, and art direction by Michael Bernard. He also covers personal projects including Stranger Things cabinet customization, 3D-printed mods, and upcoming Spooky Pinball purchases, while addressing community criticism about his mod-selling practices.

Key Claims

  • Stern distributors are already selling out of Jaws Premiums despite only making a short amount in February, and Stern appears to be artificially holding supply down to push customers to Pro models

    high confidence · Don, discussing Jaws availability and production strategy

  • The Jaws LE is possibly the best LE cornerstone Stern has released

    high confidence · Don's personal assessment based on playfield design and features

  • Michael Bernard (Jaws artist) faced criticism about art direction, but design decisions like comic-style character renders between flippers were dictated by the licensor, not the artist

    high confidence · Don, referencing his previous interview with Michael Bernard about Rush

  • Jaws Pro design removes the upper playfield, the shark pop-up toy, and limits access to certain shots compared to Premium/LE versions

    high confidence · Don's detailed playfield analysis comparing Pro vs Premium/LE variants

  • Stern's marketing strategy involved a 'Shark Week' teaser campaign that failed to control leaks; footage leaked across YouTube and was widely distributed before official trailers dropped

    high confidence · Don discussing the uncontrolled leak dispersal and poor marketing timing

  • Spooky Pinball will provide long-term code updates and support (8+ years) for their topper releases, unlike Stern's approach of sell-and-shelf strategy

    medium confidence · Don's comparison of Spooky vs Stern post-release support philosophy

  • Don has sold Venom and Foo Fighters pinball machines to fund purchases of two new Spooky games arriving next month

    high confidence · Don discussing his personal purchasing and sale activity

  • 3D-printed mods using free Thingiverse files constitute fair use/derivative work if transformed through printing and sold as physical products, similar to reaction videos

    medium confidence · Don's legal/ethical justification for printing and selling Thingiverse designs at $60

Notable Quotes

  • “They had this whole Shark Week thing planned, which I'm sure that as they've been having meetings over the last six to eight months, this probably seemed like a good idea. But there's enough leaks and this is such a big, huge game that of course everything was going to be leaked out, man.”

    Don @ early in episode — Critiques Stern's marketing strategy and inevitability of leaks for major releases

  • “I don't want to be like stuck in like a feeding frenzy, you know, for this type of game. Like I need to have one. I need to be the first. I need to push old ladies out of the way to get this. You know, forget it, dude. I'm not going to Black Friday this thing.”

    Don @ mid-episode — Expresses frustration with artificial scarcity tactics forcing competitive buying behavior

  • “That shark looks goofy. It looks like a hand puppet that you got at PetSmart man. Look at this thing. It does not look menacing.”

    Don @ mid-episode — Critical initial reaction to Jaws shark toy design before potential community improvements

  • “Spooky Pinball is not Stern Pinball. We know this. The strength of that is they're not going to turn and burn on a production run of these toppers, sell them, and then leave it on the shelf for five years.”

    Don @ late in episode — Contrasts manufacturer philosophies on long-term support and community engagement

  • “I've just been playing pinball today working on pinball machines all day. I've been working in the mod lab all week, and I'm getting orders out to people, and they're like, thank you for making these.”

    Don @ late in episode — Reflects on personal fulfillment from community engagement and mod production

Entities

DonpersonMichael BernardpersonStern PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyJaws (50th Anniversary)gameChristopher FranchipersonLoser KidpersonJason Knappperson

Signals

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern appears to be deliberately limiting Premium production quantities to artificially create scarcity and funnel customers toward Pro models, which Don views as anticompetitive and market-manipulating

    high · Don states: 'they're artificially holding the supply down' and questions why Stern isn't making '1,500 Premiums being made over a two-week period' for a cornerstone release

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Community sentiment turning negative on Stern's marketing timing and leak-control strategy for Jaws reveal; perceived as chaotic and poorly coordinated

    high · Don criticizes the timing: 'it's kind of all over the place, man' and describes leaked footage being 'instantly dispersed like a cluster bomb all over the place'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Jaws demonstrates significant mechanical differences across tier variants (Pro lacks upper playfield, shark pop-up, and Orca), creating substantially different gameplay experiences that may differentiate market segments

    high · Don's detailed comparison shows Pro has faster wave shot mechanics while Premium/LE have S-turn and different ball velocity due to upper playfield architecture

  • ?

    product_concern: The Jaws shark toy design receives initial criticism for appearing cartoonish/non-menacing rather than threatening; Don speculates aftermarket designers like Diddy may create 3D print replacements

    medium · Don: 'That shark looks goofy. It looks like a hand puppet that you got at PetSmart man' and notes 'The eyes are too close together or too far apart'

  • ?

    industry_signal: Clear contrast emerging between Stern's 'sell and abandon' model vs Spooky Pinball's long-term code support commitment (8+ years), creating differentiation in customer loyalty and perceived value

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.094

0:00
Because you wanted to see it, I'm going to bring you some Late Night Dawn. Is anything going on at all this week in Pinball? How come the timing never works out for these things, man? Like two days ago when they did that teaser trailer, I was like, let's go, let's see what you got. And then what did we get? We got leaked footage, you know, potato quality images, still shots from this, you know, floating around Ellie, whatever. and then it's like come on can we just see like what's going on you know distributors are already selling out of the premiums why are they only making a short amount in february you know they're just trying to shove everybody to get these pros and try to get these venoms out of the way and then like today like i'm busy down in the arcade all day i got stranger things strewn across the entire game room getting everything together and getting it like where it needs to be and then i got a friend that comes by and we're just like hanging out playing some games actually playing pinball like the thing that i like to do meanwhile that's when like we're finally getting trailers dropping stern's doing this podcast or whatever where they've talked about everything uh spooky pinball is here uh they've got a new topper they're coming out with uh they're doing a live stream talking about all the new code and stuff like i'm trying to pay attention to that play in the chat play pinball with my friend here you know i'm working on some uh 3d print projects and in the meantime i'm just like trying to finally enjoy stranger things now they got everything all together. And so I'm like lost with everything. Um, but I did have some time to peek in. I did see the trailer, you know, two or three hours after it was released at this point. And so we finally got a lot of answers, uh, that we were wanting. Um, you know, and I want to talk about the marketing a bit too, for this game. Cause like, you know, it's kind of all over the place, man, the art for this game looks sweet though, man. Um, I'm bummed cause I can't get a premium anywhere, but the game looks awesome.
1:51
So here's the thing. They had this whole Shark Week thing planned, which I'm sure that as they've been having meetings over the last six to eight months, this probably seemed like a good idea. I don't have a degree in marketing, but this probably would build some anticipation leading toward a reveal. But there's enough moles and this is such a big, huge game that of course everything was going to be leaked out, man. We already knew this game was coming. We knew who was making it. We had rumors have been going on for the last four weeks about the spinning reel, where it's going to be, the shark in the play field, all that business. So I would have preferred if they would have gave us that teaser trailer like, this is the game. And then maybe the next day or even later that same day, like the morning it starts with a teaser, okay, we're getting a new game, get ready. Dealers probably got keyed in the night before, let's go. And then at noon they have like a story trailer. And then at 2pm there's a gameplay trailer release where you get all the assets, all the everything. Photos of the play field, some quick shots of the action, you know what's going on. And then later on that evening somebody got hold of one of the games and now there's a live stream of gameplay. You're kind of enthused throughout the whole day. But the other thing that you could do is let your customers in on what this game is, what it's going to cost, how they're going to get it, which version they want to get so they can run out and go grab it. Like, is this a game that you need to have the LE for? I don't quite think so. Although this is probably one of the best LE cornerstone. This is the best LE cornerstone I think they've come out with. You know, but you know, is the premium going to be okay? Would I be all right with a pro? You know, because let's, let's be honest, Elwynn's a mixed bag when it comes to the pro versus the premium. When you look at things like Iron Maiden, when you look at Avengers Infinity Quest, People like the Pros better than the Premium When it comes to Godzilla, the Premium is the one That you would want to have in your house With all the features of the game So Jaws could have went either way For sure, I think now Just looking at the images I'm over on Kineticist, he's got a lot of good high quality images Of the playfields The Pro, I'm sure it's going to be fun Playing it at arcade, but like Come on man, you've got to have that Orca It's weird that they kept the Wave Shot But they got rid of the shark that comes up They kept the Chum Bucket, I wouldn't have thought that would have been part of it.
Stranger Things
game
Scooby-Doo (Spooky Topper)game
Venomgame
Foo Fightersgame
Elvira and the Party Monstersgame
Iron Maidengame
Avengers Infinity Questgame
Godzillagame
Dark Star projector materialproduct
Custom Pinball (Etsy seller)person
Cab Customperson
Dave from Denverperson
Bugperson
Thingiversewebsite

high · Don explicitly contrasts: Spooky 'are going to be improving code and things to it' for years, while Stern 'turn and burn on a production run' then 'leave it on the shelf for five years'

  • ?

    community_signal: Thriving aftermarket mod economy emerging with Don producing and selling printed designs at lower price points than official Stern merchandise, creating pricing pressure and customer value alternatives

    high · Don selling Elvira mods at $60 vs Stern's $250-$275 rails; Cab Custom armor at ~140 euros vs Stern's $270; customer feedback: 'Your price is more than fair'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Artificial scarcity creating 'Black Friday' competitive buying dynamics that turn off serious collectors like Don, who refuse to participate in manufactured FOMO despite wanting machines

    high · Don refuses to buy Premium: 'I'm not getting up at 5 a.m. and standing at the door to Walmart' and 'If I can't walk up and get one like a normal human being, then miss me with it'

  • ?

    content_signal: Pinball content creation accelerating with multiple simultaneous releases (Stern podcast, Spooky live stream with 300+ viewers, Jenga's video, Don's planned deeper analysis), creating content saturation and viewer fragmentation

    high · Don: 'There's so much content right now' and notes Spooky stream had '300 people or something watching' while multiple creators posting analysis

  • ?

    product_launch: Spooky Pinball Scooby topper shipping imminently with planned community unboxing and live install stream; Don positioning as launch day content event

    high · Don: 'I guess they're going to be shipping soon, and so when I have one, I'm unboxing it, I'm talking about it with you guys first, and then I'll jump on and we'll do a live stream'

  • ?

    community_signal: Licensors (not designers) making creative decisions about art direction (e.g., comic-style character renders on Jaws/Rush), limiting artist freedom and creating community criticism about aesthetic choices

    high · Don: Michael Bernard 'didn't have control over' comic character renders on Rush; 'that wasn't his idea' and 'that's what the licensor wanted them to put there'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Stern appears using tier-based manufacturing to optimize for LE sellout and Pro distribution while constraining Premium mid-tier supply, suggesting deliberate market segmentation and scarcity pricing

    medium · Don speculates: 'they're just trying to shove everybody to get these Pros and try to get these Venoms out of the way and then' focus on LE sales

    • 4:13
    You can actually see what's going on back here. There's a lot of dead space back in that corner, though, to be honest. Like, looking at the pro, I'm kind of looking at this image in high detail for the first time. But you know what I mean? Like, wouldn't the marketing have worked better if, like, your first introduction to this game was, like, actual assets, you know, released throughout the day to build hype so that you could then, you know, plan on, you know, I need to sell a game to get this. Let me talk to my distributor. Let me get my name on a list. Let me get a deposit in there. Let me list my game.
    4:44
    I've been up in the air here this whole time because I'm still waiting for the actual assets of what's in there. Meanwhile,
    4:52
    they've released so few numbers for the premium that right now you can go get a pro anywhere you want if you want it. There's people that still do have premiums here and there. I'm hearing about them like, Don, I could get you in one. I don't want to do it that way. I mean, for a premium, a game that's not limited, for the first run, it shouldn't be that hard to get in on one. And so it seems like they're artificially holding the supply down. And that just kind of soured me to the whole business, man. You know, the LEs, it looks like they sold out. They look like they're fairly complimented with the Kutcher Mon and everything. But like, you know, how come there's not, you know, 1,500 premiums being made over a two-week period at Stern? For this Cornerstone, they just dropped. And I kind of have the sense that that's what they're going to do, and it's just they're holding back on the supply right now to kind of shift people more towards the pros and get them out and then make sure that LEs sell out. I don't know what's going on with them. But, you know, marketing-wise, I would have liked, as a customer, my first experience with the game being like actual quality assets, at least, not just this leaked video that's been going around. So I guess we'll have to hear about what the fallout of all that is. I was sent the video. Everybody was sent the video, man. And the thing was everywhere. It was on YouTube. So it's not like, you know, one person got it and then it just propagated from there. I mean, this thing was like instantly dispersed like a cluster bomb all over the place. So I don't know. Am I getting one? No. Well, at least not right now. If I hear that they have some premiums available and I can just go to my distributor like a normal human and get one, fine. I don't want to be like stuck in like a feeding frenzy, you know, for this type of game. Like I need to have one. I need to be the first. I need to push old ladies out of the way to get this. You know, forget it, dude. I'm not going to Black Friday this thing. I'm not getting up at 5 a.m. and standing at the door to Walmart waiting for them to open up so I can push people out of the way just to get my first non-limited machine. If I can't walk up and get one like a normal human being, then miss me with it. I'll go do something else, man. I'll go play my Stranger Things. I'll be fine with that. But that being said, I would like to have one of these if they become available in a realistic fashion. Let's talk about the Pro. That shark looks goofy. It looks like a hand puppet That you got at PetSmart man Look at this thing It does not look menacing I don't know what it is The eyes are too close together Or too far apart Shooting this playfield shot from up above It's like Smiling Joe Shark right here It looks like Mr. Manatee It doesn't look like a menacing shark I like the plastic cage he's in I'm sure Diddy's already working on a 3D sculpt Of that that'll look more rugged Is somebody going to like a redo another shark puppet, who knows I think it's fine, you can tell it's a shark you can tell what it's supposed to be it looks funny from this angle so what else do we got? shots starting from the left you got the spinner with an opto I love that and I can see what it actually does It goes to this little 180 and then where does it feed Feeds right down in the in lane That's cool. Is there a gate down there? It doesn't look like it.
    7:57
    And then you don't have that extra ramp coming off the orca shot to backfill in there to the spinner. So that's different gameplay mechanic-wise. All right, the wave shot. So it's finally been announced. Like, what the heck is going on behind the chum bucket, and how do you get to this unused venom mech back here. So you're going to have to rip this shot to the left of the chum bucket. It's going to do 90 degrees to the right and then 180 and then up into the upper play field or in this case on the pro, just jump into this ramp, which feeds the – oh, okay, it drops in and feeds that area where you can trap up on the upper right flipper. I think that's cool. I haven't seen that used a whole heck of a lot. I know there was that magnet in roller games that would hold a ball and then you can flip it. So it kind of has some Roller Games vibes. I wasn't expecting to see that. So that looks fun. And then you can shoot this cross shot. Where does it go? Through the gate and then down to feed the left flipper? Oh, it'll probably stop at that up post. Okay. So the bilateral up posts, that's kind of cool. Way to start modes without a scoop. I know Elwin talked about he didn't like scoops, so that makes sense. I got some Cliff Note versions from Loser Kid about the podcast that Gatstern did. And so apparently they did have at one point The shark would gobble balls But then he was just like a sharp shaped scoop And I know L1 doesn't like those So you know I'm fine with him not eating the ball I guess What else we got So we got the 180 ramp We got the chum bucket So there's like two captive balls right next to each other It's kind of weird I like the chum bucket I want to see what mod people do with that So you got to put lights in it or something And then we got a fishing reel And then like my favorite shot of the game Looks to be what would be the right orbit That far right shot that zooms up through the building and goes behind the play field and comes out like threading the needle through the wave ramp. I like that. Can we talk about how the wave ramp actually has some wave graphics on it? It looks like the whole thing needs to be taken out in powder-coated blue, though, so the whole thing looks like a ramp or a wave, or at least put like a sticker or something on it. Tilt graphics get on that. I want to see a 3D print of that building back there. I need a 3D Amity billboard. I love – okay, so the upper play field. field on the premium le it blocks the view of the back of the play field uh that the pro doesn't so you have like amity harbor right there love that art dude mike bernard like killed it um glad he was on this game this is the second game after rush um he was on an episode about 20 episodes back i interviewed him about rush um he was he's getting a lot of crap from from the typical people that come on and tell uh you know say you know crap about art every game that comes out um but I will say like the biggest thing that people argued about on Rush was the comic look of the characters that were down at the, you know, where Jaws is here between the flippers. And that was the one thing like he didn't have control over. Like that wasn't his idea. I think he made it clear in the interview. You know, that's what the licensor wanted them to put there. And it was like the one thing that people had problems with about Rush's art was like the comic look of the three guys down there. And it's like he didn't have any say over that. people have been talking about how this play field looks empty what do you mean? it doesn't look like the busy type of play field like you get with Stranger Things or you get with a Zombie Yeti game where it's just art everywhere there's some room for things to breathe here it's taking place in the ocean but really there's little sharks here and there there's inserts where they make sense but it's not just insert pasta everywhere and down below it just kind of empties you have that shark, that iconic scene I even like the stickers they put on the apron here For the pro Game looks cool Stand up target Moving back and forth like the monster bash What do you call it Dracula guy that's cool I like the reel Oh dude there's no pop bumper On the pro Oh yeah there it is So is this a sculpt of the barrel on the pro That's cool they left that in Alright so So, you know, it probably looks fun. Code's going to sell it. It's got some interesting things going on here. Like, there's no real true orbit. There's that far left shot that returns to the left flipper, but, like, it comes down through the in lane, and there's, like, a little gap there. That's kind of cool. I like the outposts. You know, they're going to do, like, that bond thing, but they're on both sides now. I like trapping up with that right upper flipper. And it's cool. There's, like, some pier pilings there, too, supporting the wire form. So, yeah, I call this a win. It looks cool. Let's pop over to the premium here. I'll give you some of my thoughts here. So, dude, the premium LE, man, you know, it's got the Orca. That's awesome. But you're missing the Amity Harbor back there, dude.
    12:38
    That sucks. It's, like, totally not even there because the Orca goes back through the play field. This is the version I would want to get, though.
    12:47
    Yeah, man, too bad there's not a way to, like, incorporate, like, that art and that vista, but then also have, like, some more interesting shots. So what do you get? You get an extra wire form that back feeds up that left lane. You got four exits off of the, off the upper play field or four shots, right? You got ship's wheel, which looks to be repeatable. You can feed into the wire form that back fills. Okay. Or you can shoot off the left. There's a standup target that's up there too. So that's kind of cool. And then that feeds over to the trap up block.
    13:18
    So I guess if you just, this is going to be slower, right? So the pro is going to play faster. The wave shot is going to go right into the wire form And right down to where you can trap up There's like a little S turn here on the upper play field That's going to slow it up Have it roll off and then you're not going to get the velocity There's no way to get any velocity off this ramp That you're going to have with the pro So these games are going to play differently I wonder how much stop and go there's going to be With the shark that pops up What else is missing on the pro though? Like the upper play field and the back filling ramp Right? The shark that comes up Is that it? Because I was thinking the Chum Bucket would just be a stand-up target, kind of like how Iron Maiden was with the Oracle. You know, the Oracle's like that cool Newton Ball mech, and then, you know, there's a flasher and stuff. But, like, in the Pro, it's just a stand-up target? I thought they were going to do that. So what's the third thing missing?
    14:09
    I'll have to go over this a little bit more to see. Oh, how about these stand-up targets? I heard something about the stand-up targets not being there in the Pro. No, they're on the Pro. Oh, man. I hope this is – I haven't had time to digest all this stuff. Man, I've been working all day. Let me cover that. So yesterday I got word that my powder coat for Stranger Things was totally done, and I could go pick it up. So I picked it up yesterday, and then throughout yesterday I've been, you know, working on putting that on there. I'm also redoing all the projector material to the Dark Star 9 samples that I got. It's such a great upgrade if you've got the projector. Go get you some samples of that Dark Star material. it increases the visibility by at least 50-60% which is great, even if the room is lit up, there's more clarity and really if you have the premium Stranger Things that's what you want get those acrylic art blades from Custom Pinball on Facebook, he's a French dude he's a guy I thought was a scam but he just forgot to ship my order eventually I got it for Big Lebowski, I got them on Stranger Things they're the best ones that I've seen they're acrylic, they're shiny I like the finish of them. They look dope. I threw them in. I put, you know, all the armor on Stranger Things. I did Dirty Magic is the color, and it's like it's purple. It's like an illusion. It looks fantastic.
    15:29
    I put some photos up for y here soon Also I got the custom cut armor from Cab Custom who he also doing Jaws armor He already posted up about it today on Facebook So you know when it comes to like armor upgrades if you go with Stern you're going to be paying, like, $270 or something for just, like, some painted side rails, like the Elvira rails, you know. They look okay, but if you've already powder-coated your machine, they're not going to match it. They're essentially lollipops that are painted.
    15:58
    They have them for Stranger Things as well. and I think they're like $250, $275. Cab Custom, man, is like 140 euros, 30 to ship to you. So still under 200 bucks and they're laser cut. And then, you know, they can come with a wrinkle coat or you can go get a powder coat for like 15 bucks anywhere locally. And I think they're like a much step above. I'm going to share the pictures of the cabinet, dude. It came out so good. Also, me and this guy Dave from Denver, we're working on an audio project. I got a Fozzy amp, some Alpine speakers in the cabinet and like a big thumping cabinet speaker, all with speaker lights on it. And it's like thumping, like it's so loud. It's so damn loud and so much audio coming out of this game now. It's like three steps beyond whatever I was able to get with a pin woofer. Maybe I'm not an audiophile and like the clarity is what I'm missing, but like I'm hearing everything, dude. And it's like shaking the room. The entire house can hear when I'm playing pinball. So I can't wait until we can get this like as a releasable product. And really what it's going to be is you go buy the speakers on Amazon, you go buy the amp on Amazon, and then we have a wiring harness that we're coming up with and speaker mounts, grill mounts, and lights. So you can buy this package and then go pick what level of speakers you want to get, and all of it will be still cheaper than a pin woofer and I think sounds better and definitely a lot easier to install. So I'm excited about that. I'm glad he's letting me try it out. I tried the kicker speakers with Venom. Definitely it was awesome. But going with the 5x9 Alpine speakers, boom, dude. It looks great. I'll share some photos here pretty soon. So that's kind of like how my day has been going. I've been talking to Spooky Pinball, working on getting myself a Scooby Topper. I had to do it. Had to get me one. I'm super excited.
    17:42
    I was trying to watch their live stream, man, because, like, I'm trying to help Bug out and get some support there. But they had, like, 300 people or something watching. So that was awesome. Flipping out with friends That 300 people on their live stream Talking about Jaws last night I listened to that whole thing It's been a good time But there's so much content right now And I've just been busy With actually playing and enjoying pinball That I haven't been able to go through at all So Jenga's already got his video up I didn't get to jump in on that The other thing I've been doing I've been working all week on this Getting these Elvira mods The Crypt mods together in a level that I'm very happy with. These look awesome. I'm selling them for $60, and with just a little bit of controversy this morning, they're going really well. People are liking them. People are buying them, and that makes me happy. What I did is I printed out the files that are on Thinker version. You can get them for free. If you've got a 3D printer, you can print them up yourselves. I've got a higher-end printer that I invested in, and so now I can print in multiple colors, so it all comes out as one unit.
    18:47
    The thing just looks awesome. The resolution is really good. I'm just trying to make them available to people, and I'm charging for my time and the materials that it takes to get it.
    18:58
    And then I want to keep building up. I want to build up my experience. I want to get to the point that I can make some really cool original mods, but I need some time to work through this. I'm in the cover band stage right now. If you're a musician, you start off playing other people's music, and then as you do that and you gain experience, your music gets better, and then you're able to kind of go out on your own. Like, that's a natural progression of things. You know, so right now I'm making, you know, simple little mods, like my Brush Drumstick mod. That was great. And then now I'm trying these files I've got. I'm improving on them, and I'm just making them available. I'm not selling them for $200 like the other dude is. It's $60, and they're going, and people are digging them, and great. I want to give some away. I'm printing up tons of them now. Each time I do a run of them, they're even better. I'm adding more things to it, more details. So, like, it's really fun that I'm having. Um, this morning someone got at me because, you know, like, like accusing me of like stealing this guy's files and selling them to make a profit. It's like, these files are available for free. I'm just printing them up and putting them out there. You know, um, I don't see it as any different as like, you know, if I'm going and, you know, I found somebody's recipe and I'm making it and selling it in my restaurant. Like, you know, like that's, that's an okay thing to do. Uh, I'm not, you know, tricking anybody. I'm not trying to like, you know, here's where it would be a problem. and people have told me just ignore it and I should that's what I'm going to do but if I was taking these files these digital files and going on a site and selling them and say hey give me $5 and I will send you these digital files that would totally be wrong like that's what the licensing means that licensing thing not for commercial use don't buy don't steal these files and then sell them to somebody else or digitally alter them slightly and then sell them on without attributing where they came from. But to just go on Etsy and print things out and make them available to people that don't have the time or the equipment to go make it and still want to get one, that's fair use, right? It's derivative work. It's like me doing a reaction video to something, using somebody else's content, but as long as it's transformative, then that should be okay. Anyway, that's kind of my take on it. It was just a bunch of nonsense. Thanks to the producers for helping me out this morning because I was trying to convey to these dudes where I was coming, and they just weren't ready. They already had their argument. They were white knighting for some random Thingiverse file. It was weird. I'm just going to ignore it.
    21:29
    The Spooky Topper, I can't wait to look more into that. I can't wait to get one. I guess they're going to be shipping soon, and so when I have one, I'm unboxing it. I'm talking about it with you guys first, and then I'll jump on and we'll do a live stream, and install and review it and everything. And I can't wait to see the code that's going to come with that. Spooky Pinball is not Stern Pinball. We know this. The strength of that is they're not going to turn and burn on a production run of these toppers, sell them, and then leave it on the shelf for five years and then maybe do another run if there's demand. They're going to release this topper, and for the next eight years, these guys are going to be improving code and things to it and taking what they learn and using that to make the next one. So, you know, I'm happy to support these guys. I'm happy to give them constructive criticism, and they're absolutely open to it, and I think we can all benefit. You don't have to buy a spooky game. You don't have to be your favorite or anything. But the guys are cool. The guys are cool, and they're really trying hard. They work hard, and that's what I want to support more than anything else. I'm over the moon about their two new games I'm getting. I should be getting those next month I'm just so fortunate that I'm in a position to do that the reason I'm able to do that is because I sold Venom and I sold Foo Fighters and I'm using the funds for that to go towards the purchase of those and then I'll have them and then if something comes along that I need better than what I got then we let it go right so sorry for the ramble I just wanted to get some insight out there because I know everybody's going nuts with this doing their reaction videos and all that and I've just been I've been playing pinball today working on pinball machines all day. I've been working in the mod lab all week, and I'm getting orders out to people, and they're like, thank you for making these. I really appreciate it. Your price is more than fair Can I send you a tip I like it fine It fine Just enjoy them Tell your friends Oh I also I got the files to make those little placards that go behind your badge for your Stern machines You know, where it says Pro Premium LE, where you just have that regular plastic. You can 3D print a nice little back frame for it. I've got them. If you're on Patreon and you want one of those, you just email me, donspinballpodcastgmail.com. Give me a color, and I will make one and send it to you with some stickers. I can put it in a regular envelope and mail it to you That's no problem Free of charge, you're on Patreon, I love you guys If you want 10 of these things Just let me know what colors you want And I will get them out to you I've just put one on every Stern machine I have down here, I think they look awesome And there's no need to rush out And pay $20 on Pinside or $8 on Pinside To the No Gouge people Just let me know, I'm your homie I'm going to hook you up And that's what we're going to do So if you've got a Stern machine You do not need to have a naked badge anymore. I will hook you up, brother. You just have to let me know as a benefit to y'all. So what I'm going to do tonight is I'm going to upload this for Patreon, and it's going to stay with you guys. Once I have some time tomorrow to kind of look over everything, digest it all, I'll do a podcast episode where I'll go into a little more detail on all this business. But, you know, I just wanted to share this with you. Like, this really is what I've been doing all week. It's been glorious being off for a week at home where I can work on these things. I have ideas. I want to go and redo the whole game room here. But I'm leveling up my skills when it comes to mods, and I want to reward my friends for sticking with me. So I hope to get to the point that I can have kind of a stable store full of cool little mods and things. And if you guys need one, just let me know, and we can see if we can hook it up, do random giveaways or something. We'll figure it out. I want to work on my topper some more and get that into production Danny's got his coming I can't wait to see what he thinks of it very happy for how it came out I did one of those flipping out style featurette videos for my Elvira topper I've got all the footage shot I just have to sit down and edit it I want it to look similar to what flipping out does also me and my buddy this is crazy my new friend Christopher Franchi you may have heard of him He's been talking to me, and I'm doing a skit on his Super Awesome Pinball podcast. Year in Review is coming on the 13th. So that's crazy. So in between the tournament that I was at yesterday at District 1, I've also been talking back and forth in France. He's doing recordings for the skit that's going to be on there. I think it's hilarious. Hopefully you all dig it. And then he's talking about doing another project too. So, yeah, I guess that's a thing that's happening. this life is crazy this hobby has been fun and I'm trying to put into it what I'm getting out it's like a positive feedback loop the more I put into it the more it happens and everybody seems to be enjoying it and I love the feedback that I'm getting from everybody when I look at the Facebook followers I was looking at getting to 888 it seems like a week ago and we're up to 960, 970 now We're going to be 1,000 soon. And then, like, you know, 5,000 is the next level. And it's just, it keeps building. And it's just, like, is this real? Here's another thing, right? Y'all know I'm medical, okay? And one of the questions that I ask people if they're suffering from schizophrenia or certain mental disorders is I check for paranoia because that can be a manifestation of that or severe anxiety can cause it. To the point that you ask people, you know, when you see somebody on the street that's a stranger, do you think they're out to get you? when you read the newspaper do you feel like it's talking about you when you listen to the radio do you feel a sense that the radio was like talking about you or something and then like I'm driving the car the other day and I'm listening to the pinball junk drawer because I love it and all of a sudden they're talking about me and I'm like oh my god this is what I ask schizophrenics if they experience you know driving you hear radio and it's like intrusive thoughts like they're talking to you and about you and generally that's a delusion but in this case it was real I was listening to the Flippin Out with Friends the other day and then I came up on there too, it's so weird to consume the content of my hobby just like anybody else and then like they're talking about you, you know, it's strange and weird and wonderful and yeah I'm just enjoying it while it lasts because nothing is promised in this but I want to keep putting out the energy that I'm getting in, I appreciate every single one of you for hanging out here, and I want to reward you as best I can. It was as much free time that I get that comes up. So if you need a badge for your Stern game, you let me know, and I will mail it out to you. The best way is to email me, donspinballpodcast at gmail.com. I know we talk in DMs, we talk in the Discord, and all that's fine. The problem is that's not very searchable. I jump around with conversations, and text messages go for hours sometimes, and then I have to go back and try to find out, like, where's that address? What did he want? What was the color? like it gets lost. But if I have email, I can put things in folders and then come back to it and say, okay, these are all the people. This is what they wanted. I can make sure they're all shipped and then I can put them all in a ship folder and then I can keep track of it that way. So that's why I like the email. Don spin ball pockets at gmail.com. Great way to get ahold of me. Um, otherwise, you know, reach out any way you can. I'll always remind you if that's totally fine, but like to guarantee that you actually get what you wanted. Uh, that's the best thing to do. If I've promised you something, a t-shirt sticker back something and you didn't get it. Um, I have had a couple of instances where things were lost in the mail and I've resent them. But if you haven't gotten anything, don't think that I forgot about you. Just reach out to me, dude. Now I'll make it right because I hate like, you know, dude said he was going to send me something and it never came. And it's like I may have forgotten. It may have got lost in a text list. It might be on a Facebook messenger like like with Facebook. I've got like a regular Facebook messenger. And then I have like a business suite one that started when I started the podcast page. And like the way that you search it is different from the regular one and it's different on the desktop versus my phone. So like it's sometimes no fault of my own that these things happen. Anyway, this is pinball. We're having fun. You know, there's a big frenzy, of course, with all the content folks today. And rather than, you know, throw my family to the side and just like, you know, consume, consume and then regurgitate. I picked through it as I could as it came. but I was also like turning wrenches on machines all day and it was so, so fun and satisfying and frustrating and fun at the same time. I had a great game on LaBouse. I had a great game on Elvira. That's why I do this. So thanks for hanging with me and bearing with me through this. I'm going to keep the content going. We are in Season 2 of Don's Pinball Podcast. Man, I'm so excited. Do I have any outro music? What's this button?
    30:22
    What the heck was I using this for? I'm on like page 3 of my sounds here and I'm trying to see what's even going on here in a world with a shark and a boat okay that's enough of that I want to give you guys a good outro what do we have whoa we don't need that there we go good old standby hip hop beats man at some point I'm going to get to my theme park podcast I just know it I recorded one episode just for fun. Send it out to some exclusive people. If you want to listen to that, let me know. I'll send it to you, too. More to come from the Patreon. And again, let me know what you guys need. I got some new stickers in. I'd love to send them out to somebody. Next giveaway will be in February on the 15th. Take care of yourself.