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Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·10m 3s·analyzed·Oct 3, 2023

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Don announces Mad Pinball sponsorship deal and discusses delayed Stranger Things release rumors.

Summary

Don announces a sponsorship deal with Mad Pinball distributor Jeff, explaining the terms (monetary compensation for ad airtime, no sales commission to preserve objectivity) and his relationship history with the distributor. He discusses waiting for Stranger Things Pro/Premium Edition news, Stern's new merchandise offerings, and upcoming content plans including appearances at Pinball Expo.

Key Claims

Stranger Things Pro and Premium Edition were rumored to be revealed and released by Sam Stern on Tuesday, with distributor releases expected Monday
medium confidence · Don's Pinball Podcast host Don, discussing rumored release timeline as of Monday afternoon Central Time
Stern Premium Edition pinball machines increased in price from $8,500 to $9,500 range (96-99 pricing tier)
medium confidence · Don describing market price increase for Premium Edition machines
Mad Pinball is an official Stern distributor and does not carry Chicago Gaming Company titles
high confidence · Don verified distributor status directly with Stern and confirmed exclusion of Chicago Gaming Company
Stern released light-up wall bumpers at $499 and a 5-foot, 50-pound Stern alley sign at $2,000 with shooter rod attachment
high confidence · Don discussing newly released Stern merchandise
Don has Godzilla Premium Edition, Foo Fighters Premium Edition, Elvira's House of Horrors Premium Edition, Venom on order, Pulp Fiction on order, and Stranger Things on order
high confidence · Don describing his personal game collection status and pending orders

Notable Quotes

“I am now sponsored by Mad Pinball. Jeff over at Mad Pinball dot com. We just worked this out yesterday. And so I'm over the moon about this.”
Don (podcast host) @ early in episode — Announcement of sponsorship deal, emotional resonance with skateboarding sponsor analogy at episode end
“What I'm not getting is a portion of the games that get bought from him, you know, so I'm not going to, you know, lose my objectivity when it comes to, you know, a game that comes out, you're not going to say that this game is great if it sucks on the hopes that you'll go buy one and I'll get a cut of that.”
Don @ early sponsorship discussion — Establishes ethical boundaries of sponsorship arrangement and credibility preservation
“I was on a year long waiting list from all the major distributors, Kingpin, Cointaker, flippingout... Mad Pinball entered the chat. Never heard of him before... This is totally going to be a scam.”
Don @ mid-episode backstory — Explains initial skepticism and vetting process that led to the partnership
“It's all we wanted. We got the old video cameras out and we used to make Sponsor Me videos and try to send them to skate shops and companies... Getting a sponsor was the hugest thing in the world.”
Don @ episode conclusion — Personal context for sponsorship significance, drawing parallel to skateboarding career
“he deals with, uh, every company except for Chicago Gaming Company... but everybody else you know he deals with even Pinball Adventures.”
Don @ distributor capabilities discussion — Clarifies Mad Pinball's product range and distributor relationships
“Monday was the day that was supposed to be when Stranger Things was coming out... Haven't heard anything yet... it's afternoon on Monday Central Time, and I haven't heard anything from the distributors”
Don @ opening segment — Indicates delayed or missed Stranger Things Pro/Premium release timeline
“I'm in Stranger Things limbo right now. Like I'm in the upside down right now.”

Entities

DonpersonJeffpersonMad Pinballcompany Sam Sternperson John PopadiukpersonStern PinballcompanyChicago Gaming Companycompany Kingpincompany

Signals

?
product_launch: Stranger Things Pro and Premium Edition release rumored for Monday/Tuesday but has not materialized as of Monday afternoon Central Time; no distributor announcements received
high · Don states 'Haven't heard anything yet' as of afternoon Monday; expected Monday distributor release and Tuesday public release did not occur as scheduled
$
market_signal: Stern Premium Edition machines experienced notable price increase from $8,500 to $9,500 range, with specific tier pricing at 96-99 level
medium · Don mentions 'Premium Edition games went from 8500 to 9500... they went up to 96 or that guy is 99 now'
?
supply_chain_signal: Limited distributor allotments for popular Premium Edition machines; major distributors maintain year-long waiting lists while smaller distributors like Mad Pinball can offer MSRP access and faster fulfillment
high · Don waited year-long lists at Kingpin, Cointaker, flippingout; Mad Pinball offered Godzilla and Elvira Premium Editions without long waits
?
content_signal: Podcast content creator securing first formal sponsorship deal with pinball distributor; structure emphasizes ad revenue rather than sales commission to preserve editorial independence
high · Don announces Mad Pinball sponsorship with explicit terms: 'receiving a monetary benefit in exchange for airtime' but 'not getting a portion of the games that get bought'
?
personnel_signal: Don expanding content reach through industry panel appearances; scheduled to appear on Mad Pinball marketing panel Thursday with co-host John Popadiuk discussing Pinball Expo

Topics

Sponsorship and monetization ethics in content creationprimaryStranger Things Pro/Premium Edition release timing and distributor communicationprimaryDistributor relationships and inventory allocation in pinball marketprimaryStern Pinball merchandise offerings and pricingsecondaryPremium Edition pinball machine pricing trendssecondaryPinball Expo upcoming content and community engagementsecondaryContent creator journey and personal perspective on sponsorshipsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Don is enthusiastic about sponsorship deal and expresses gratitude for the partnership. Mild frustration with delayed Stranger Things release, but overall optimistic tone about future content opportunities. Emotional resonance when discussing sponsorship significance relative to skateboarding career.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.030

Boom, what's up Patreon? It is, what even day is it? I think it's Monday. Welcome to another week. Monday was the day that was supposed to be when Stranger Things was coming out. I'm gonna get into this on the podcast and everything. Haven't heard anything yet. Haven't heard anything yet. But the rumor was that Stranger Things Pro and Premium were being revealed and released by Stern on Tuesday. And then first it was we were gonna hear stuff over the weekend. Then it was gonna be, well, they're gonna release things to the distributors on Monday. And then on Tuesday is when it's going to still be released. So far, it's afternoon on Monday Central Time, and I haven't heard anything from the distributors, and I've been stalking them all, especially Jeff over at Mad Pinball. He's available at Jeff at Mad Pinball dot com. That is relevant. And part of the reason why I'm doing this Patreon podcast for you is because I have moved from being associated with Mad Pinball to now officially, officially sponsored. How about that? I am now sponsored by Mad Pinball. Jeff over at Mad Pinball dot com. We just worked this out yesterday. And so I'm over the moon about this. What this means is that I'm going to be able to get more games to review, unbox, and set up and it's going to give me access to more content and things than I otherwise would be able to. Now I'm not basically sponsored. By that I mean I'm receiving a small monetary benefit in exchange for airtime airing an ad which I can play for you guys here. It's this cool like 50 second ad. I'm that Jeff put together and released. So I'll put that in the episodes. You know, people can listen to them. And then in exchange for that, I get a small monetary kickback. What I'm not getting is a portion of games that get bought from him, you know, so I'm not going to, you know, lose my objectivity when it comes to, you know, a game that comes out, you're not going to say that this game is great if it sucks on the hopes that you'll go buy one and I'll get a cut of that. Okay, that's not how this works. I explained to him that this is how I wanted to do it. You know, I still I'm not going to get into this in detail on the podcast, but I'll share with you guys. So what had happened was, this was about a year ago, I wanted Godzilla Premium and I was on a year long waiting list from all the major distributors, Kingpin, Cointaker, flippingout. I was on the list. I was like, okay, I'm just gonna get my name in there and then maybe a year from now, you know, at least I'll get my Godzilla Premium, right? This week in Pinball is the game It still like an awesome game So Mad Pinball entered the chat Never heard of him before But I was in a thread on Facebook and he just popped in there like hey if anybody would like Godzilla premium for MSRP email me I got one You know I got a spot or I got an allotment or something And at first I thinking who the heck is mad pinball This is totally got to be a scam And this was also just before that huge price increase where the premium games went from 8500 to 9500 And they up to 96 or That guy is 99 now or whatever. One of the premiums. Yeah, they were 80 something and then went to 96. Anyways, so I was like, I vetted them, right? I put this guy through the ringer, man. I checked with Stern, make sure he was listed as an official distributor, cross checked the website, called the number to make sure it connected to them and everything. And it turns out he was legit. And one of the early segments on the podcast was actually a trusted dealer spotlight. The idea being, anybody that I've had successful dealings with, I would feature on the podcast. So people would know, okay, at least this guy This week's topic of the week is Pinball and how it seems vetted because there's so many scam folks out there. And then since then, we've been in good cahoots. I like it because Mad Pinball is not one of these giant distributors that already has 300 people on a waiting list for whatever the next Elwin is. When it came time for Elvira, I couldn't get on a list anywhere because people had been waiting years for them to do another run of Elvira. And then Jeff contacted me, he's like, hey, I've got two Elvira spots. Did you want one? And I was like, well, yeah. I ended up getting Elvira and I never thought I'd get a House of Horrors and boom there he was. He was out of state for me so it shipped straight to my house and I got to unbox the thing. When Foo Fighters came out, I swear I saw the factory Friday at Stern, the premiums being built and then FedEx was contacting me and they had a machine coming to my house. I got one of the first ones off the line. I've had good dealings with them and I felt comfortable endorsing them. He reached out to me and he's like, hey I like what you're doing. Um, you know, we'd, we'd like to maintain our good relationship here. Don't do anything official. Just, you know, casually mentioned that that's where you get your games. And so that's kind of what I've been doing. Cause it's kind of what I was going to do anyway. Um, and now they're like, you know what? Um, let's make it official. Right. Um, and also here's an ad. Can you drop it in your podcast? And I feel comfortable doing that because he's a distributor that I dig. Um, he deals with, uh, every company except for Chicago gaming company. There's only a few distributors for CGC. It turns out flipping outs one, um, Ball Stars another one You know but everybody else you know he deals with even pinball adventures So he been great to deal with to like he hasn jerked me around He gives me solid info If he got allotments he got allotments And if not he he let me know So it kind of cool So I happy to be partnered with him He sent me a whole box of stuff a few months ago just to do giveaways and promotional things And I like doing that So in addition to giving away my t I throw some mad pinball stuff in there too you know so I want to continue that This will kind of allow me to do it in a more open manner He even invited me onto their marketing panel they doing on Thursday and I'm here with my co-host, John Papadiuk, and I'm going to be talking about the Pinball Expo. So, you know, it's kind of the evolution of a good working relationship here. Let me play you their jingle and then guys, give me your thoughts, what you think. Oh, wait, I gotta hang on. Hang on a second. Oh, dude. How do I in the midst of recording go back to switch the sounds here? Okay, I figured it out. It was much easier than I was thinking. Here it is. Flipper's stuck and now I'm sad Played pinball with my dad Peter Pinn called Mad Pinball Topper's mods ain't got a mall Call 1-800-MAD-PINBALL Need more words that rhyme with all I like that synthesized voice at the end, dude, that pinball. So I've listened to this like 30 times now and it just like bangs through my head. So it's kind of a cool jingle. It grew on me, you know, at first I wasn't sure what to think, but yeah, I'm kind of digging it. So hopefully this is well received. I'm not doing as well. I suppose this is selling out at some point because I'm receiving now monetary benefit from the work that I'm doing. But it's just like any other form of art. And I think it's reasonable. What I want to do is partner with companies that I like, you know, and then that I could actually endorse, you know, and they have a good product and I want to I don't want to be, you know, sitting there Win Schilling something trying to, you know, earn money off the backs of my best listeners, you know, on an inferior product. So, you know, buy your games from who you buy your games from, if you want to get a game and I don know if I the only one here but he got a big list Jeff at MadPinball He hook you up he hooked me up And so you know he he my boy there So you know I want to share it with you guys first I probably do an official podcast tomorrow I want to figure out what's going on with Stranger Things. If we don't see anything tomorrow, then I'll be able to, you know, release an actual podcast about what's all is going on. But I'm already like, you know, my mind's already racing about other tie-in products that we can do. This is going to be able to fund me to be able to do more giveaways, you know, appearances, make banners and things. So I really want to kick this off and and you know use the resources that he's providing to you know jump this up just make it more entertaining for everybody. Also I kind of dig the jingle so that's what I got now. Otherwise this week you know Stern released those lights I don't know if you've seen them there's like a light up pop bumper for the wall it's $499 and then there's a $2,000 5 foot 50 pound Stern alley sign which has a shooter rod up at the side of it which I kind of dig but it's two grand. If you're excited about it, you've already bought it. And if you're not buying it, it's two grand and that's that's reasonable All right. Thanks everybody for continuing to be a patreon supporter. Here's the information as I know it now We're gonna be getting a deluge of information in a couple weeks in this run-up to Expo. So I'm really excited about that I'm working way too much, but I'm having some breaks coming up and I want to keep these interactions going So, you know comment below, you know, what your thoughts are or whatever All of these are great ideas for the podcast. I'm stoked on this man. I was a skateboarder forever. Like 20 years starting in my teens. Getting a sponsor was the hugest thing in the world. It's all we wanted. We got the old video cameras out and we used to make Sponsor Me videos and try to send them to skate shops and companies and things if we had the means. There was one kid in the neighborhood who had a sponsor and maybe they would give him wheels every now and then. You just seem like the coolest guy. And so like, you know, it means a lot to me that someone's like, Hey, you know, we like what you do. We want to support you. Here's a way we can do it. Let's make it happen. So I'm excited about it. I hope you guys are excited about it. I hope you like the content that I try to provide to everybody. Comment down below. Give me your thoughts. What do you want to hear in the podcast tomorrow? Give it to me. I'll put it out there. I've got some exciting things. Halloween will be leaving soon and Venom is on order. Pulp Fiction still on order. Who knows when that's going to happen. And now, like Stranger Things, I'm in Stranger Things limbo right now. Like I'm in the UV zone upside down right now. Alright, thanks everybody. Take care of yourself and have yourself a good week too, man. Later.