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76: Is This Thing On?!

Pinball Party Podcast·podcast_episode·40m 10s·analyzed·Jul 20, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.034

TL;DR

Pinball Party reconnects: Godzilla B&W, Metallica rumors, Haggis closure, JJP pipeline speculation.

Summary

Two hosts reconnect after a month-long podcast hiatus to discuss recent pinball industry developments, including Stern's black-and-white Godzilla release, rumors of upcoming Stern Metallica on Spike 3 hardware, Jersey Jack's rumored pipeline (Harry Potter, Matrix, Muppets, Avatar), Haggis Pinball's closure and administration, and the strong performance of John Wick and Pulp Fiction in location earnings. The hosts also discuss broader lifestyle topics including car hobbies, social media burnout, and the health of the pinball venue operator scene.

Key Claims

  • Stern released a black-and-white Godzilla variant

    high confidence · Host confirms Stern released a black-and-white Godzilla and mentions potentially buying one if they didn't already own an original

  • Metallica is coming out on Spike 3 system with new art but same layout as a previous game

    medium confidence · Hosts discuss Metallica rumors based on 'all the same stuff you're hearing,' confirming Spike 3, new art, and reference to Gomez stating cabinet will be different but not wildly different

  • Haggis Pinball entered administration, closed factory, and shut down online presence

    high confidence · Host cites news post: 'Haggis Pinball enters external, quote, administration, takes down online presence, and closes doors. Closes factory'

  • Jersey Jack pinball machines now cost $50K+ for base level, with CE versions at $75K+

    medium confidence · Host estimates Jersey Jack pricing based on recent market observations

  • John Wick has become the top-earning game at location venues, surpassing Pulp Fiction

    high confidence · Arcade operator host confirms: 'John Wick absolutely destroyed Pulp Fiction and earnings' and mentions tournaments breaking records with 100+ people on regular Tuesdays

  • Jersey Jack is rumored to have multiple upcoming games including Harry Potter, Matrix, Muppets, and Avatar

    low confidence · Host cites Nap Arcade as source for rumors but notes these are speculative; no official confirmation mentioned

  • Stern Pulse on Avatar is not selling well; machines sitting at $5K or best offer

    medium confidence · Host observed secondary market pricing for Stern Avatar machines on marketplace

  • Black Knight Sword of Rage received a new production run

    high confidence · Host confirms: 'I know when I kind of took a little pause a month or so back, Black Knight Sword of Rage was just about to come out. You know, another run of that'

Notable Quotes

  • “Once you go black and white, you never go back.”

    Host (Jason?) @ early in episode — Humorous reference to owning an original black-and-white Godzilla and preference for that version

  • “my favorite thing about the game is not playing it. It's I loved the color I loved Zombie Yeti's artwork and the color scheme and once you add the art blades that thing just fucking pops it's beautiful it really is beautiful”

    Co-host @ mid-episode during Godzilla discussion — Reveals aesthetic prioritization over gameplay for this particular theme

  • “If you're at a job and for like two years straight, you're like, oh, I hate everything about this... get laid off or quit that shit. Because it's true. After a while, it's just a blessing in disguise.”

    Host (Jason?) @ mid-episode during life update — Personal advice about career satisfaction, contextualizes his renewed energy and focus away from pinball

  • “Pinball's hard. It's impressive what Stern does. It's impressive what Spooky and Jersey Jack do.”

    Co-host @ during Haggis Pinball discussion — Industry acknowledgment of manufacturing difficulty and competitive landscape

  • “Pinside is the rotten death hole of pinball on the internet.”

    Host (Jason?) @ near end of episode — Strong criticism of pinball community forum culture and toxic behavior

  • “John Wick absolutely destroyed Pulp Fiction and earnings”

    Co-host (arcade operator) @ final segment on game performance — Market signal about location earnings and game popularity shift

  • “I've stayed off of Instagram, Facebook... and it just feels even better. So I stayed off of social media entirely all the way up until pinball party”

    Host (Jason?) @ social media discussion section — Illustrates host's broader lifestyle shift and criticism of social media addiction

  • “If this was like a Bram Stoker's Dracula in black and white, easy black and white. Faux show.”

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyGodzilla (Stern)gameMetallicagameJersey Jack PinballcompanyHaggis PinballcompanyJohn WickgamePulp Fictiongame

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Stern released black-and-white Godzilla variant alongside original color version, generating collector discussion and secondary market comparisons

    high · Host confirms: 'Stern released a really cool-looking Godzilla, and if I didn't have one, I would buy one' and hosts discuss color vs. B&W preference dynamics

  • ?

    machine_intel: Metallica confirmed as Stern's next release on Spike 3 hardware with new art but same playfield layout as Spike 2 predecessor

    medium · Hosts confirm rumors from 'all the same stuff you're hearing' and reference Gomez statement about cabinet being 'different but not wildly different'

  • ?

    business_signal: Haggis Pinball entered administration, closed factory, and ceased operations; customers affected with unshipped machines

    high · Host cites news: 'Haggis Pinball enters external administration, takes down online presence, and closes doors. Closes factory' and discusses customer impact

  • $

    market_signal: Stern Pulse on Avatar struggling with sales; secondary market machines listed at $5K or best offer, indicating weak theme resonance

    medium · Host observes: 'Stern Pulse on Avatar... machines sitting at like 5,000 or best offer' and notes 'people don't really care' about Avatar IP in pinball context

  • ?

    competitive_signal: John Wick has surpassed Pulp Fiction as top-earning game at location venues; limited contracts with push notifications driving significant traffic

    high · Arcade operator states: 'John Wick absolutely destroyed Pulp Fiction and earnings' and 'people have been getting together. They want to get together, have a good time. Pulp Fiction... was the king... finally John Wick... destroyed'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.120

0:00
Oh yeah. Sup. I mean you can turn it down we're recording everything who cares let's do it live fix it in post man it's good to be back I hesitate to say it back I just wanted to record middle of the day Friday I haven't recorded a pinball party in oh I don't know six years I think it's been a little over a month and what happens a guy takes a break from doing a podcast for a while president's ear or previous president's ear gets shot off. Microsoft just stops working for a day. Godzilla just turns black and white. Haggis doesn't really, you know, there's Haggis or is there? They're gone.
1:17
Podcasts are just dropping. The used pinball market is hot trash. You've got to catch me up on what's happening in the pinball world. I don't even know my ass from my elbow. which way is up, which way is down, other than like, man, an excuse to talk to you and just catch me up on pinball. So what did I miss aside from everything I just said?
1:42
Man, you know, that's it. But it's not all doom and gloom. We're either going to be controlled by a felon or a senile individual.
1:57
But let's just talk this. Can we turn this into a political talk show? I think that, yeah. Well, if we can do political plus religious, I would like, let's talk about our beliefs. Oh, dude, that would be so good. Yeah. Christian anarchist radio. Oh, welcome. Yeah, you're pinball news. Do we believe in God, and is Biden or Trump the better president, factually? East of the Rockies, you're on the air.
2:21

  • John Wick now has limited contracts with push notifications that drive traffic to arcades

    high confidence · Arcade operator details: 'limited contracts are out that have the push notifications. So, you know, you get a push notification to your phone, new limited contract, get to your closest arcade. And man, people are loving these things'

  • Zach Minney (Flippin' Out) and Greg Bone created a mock-up of black-and-white Godzilla with blue tint about a year ago

    medium confidence · Host credits them for a mock-up that preceded Stern's official release: 'they used a blue color instead of red. And I got to say, I liked their mock-up better than Stern's here'

    • Host (Jason?) @ during Godzilla color variant discussion — Hypothetical IP-based preference indicating theme importance to color choice

    Black Knight Sword of Rage
    game
    Zach Minneyperson
    Greg Boneperson
    Stern Pulse on Avatargame
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    American Pinballcompany
    Zombie Yetiperson
    Gomezperson
    Tim Sextonperson
    Flippin' Out Pinballcompany
    Nap Arcadecompany
    Pinsidewebsite
    Rachelperson
  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack base-level machines priced at $50K+, with CE versions at $75K+, reflecting premium market positioning and limited customer base

    medium · Host estimates based on market observation: 'What do they cost now? 50 grand for one Jersey Jack pinball machine, probably? Yeah. Well, that's the beginning level is 50, and then it goes up from there. 75 for the CE'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Multiple Jersey Jack titles rumored to be in development: Harry Potter (strong), Matrix (strong), Muppets (mixed reaction), Avatar (negative reception)

    low · Host cites Nap Arcade source: 'there's going to be a game or two coming out soon... one is going to be a banger of a theme. And there's the Harry Potter rumor... The Matrix rumor... Muppets... possible Avatar'

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinside forum culture remains toxic and argumentative; hosts actively avoiding participation, representing broader community withdrawal from that platform

    high · Host describes Pinside as 'the rotten death hole of pinball on the internet' and details toxic dogpiling behavior, leading to decision to stay off platform

  • ?

    event_signal: Location tournaments breaking participation records; never dropping below 100 people on regular Tuesday tournaments; new formats introduced (team relay tournaments)

    high · Arcade operator confirms: 'our tournaments are still breaking records. You know, we never get under like 100 people now on a Tuesday, regular old Tuesday. We've added more tournaments throughout the week'

  • ?

    design_innovation: John Wick's limited contracts feature push notifications to drive arcade traffic and encourage collecting behavior; novel engagement mechanic showing strong player response

    high · Host details: 'limited contracts are out that have the push notifications. So, you know, you get a push notification to your phone, new limited contract, get to your closest arcade. And man, people are loving these things. People love collecting these things'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: American Pinball has significant backlog of completed machines waiting in boxes at factory; offering discounts to clear inventory

    medium · Host notes: 'I talked to somebody who recently went to the factory, and they're just sitting in the boxes waiting. So take that $500 off or whatever they're offering'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Podcast host experiencing positive sentiment shift after stepping back from pinball and social media; renewed energy from job change and alternative hobbies (track cars, UTVs)

    high · Host describes career change as 'blessing in disguise' and states: 'I just don't like any of that stuff [social media]... it feels so much better not doing any of it' after month-long break

    • Yeah, I mean, you nailed it. Stern released a really cool-looking Godzilla, and if I didn't have one, I would buy one.
    2:29
    You're saying if you didn't have an OG, you'd go black and white. Right, of course, yeah. Once you go black and white, you never go back. Man, what do you think? It looks cool, right?
    2:39
    Yes, I actually like, shout out to Zach Many. I think he still exists, flipping out and all that, you know, flipping out, whatever.
    2:48
    Him and Greg Boner did a mock-up like a year ago of a potential black and white Godzilla, and they used a blue color instead of red. And I got to say, I liked their mock-up better than Stern's here.
    3:01
    But that was the kits of death because Stern, if they would have done blue, Zach would be like, where's my cut?
    3:08
    Sure. So they had to do something different. As you can see from me wearing blue, and I got too much blue in this shot, but it's fine. And you're wearing red. Wow, that's not even planned. I'm more of a blue guy than a red guy, so for what it's worth. if I didn't have a Godzilla I wouldn't get this and I don't have a Godzilla and I won't get this I have no pinball machines right now I haven't I literally haven't played pinball in damn six weeks eight weeks and before we get back into the Godzilla I must say for those who have been staying up with my adventures over the last year with tinnitus tendinitis if I don't play pinball I'm great my hands work perfectly so i think that's been a major factor in like good yeah good but like man i want to play pinball you know yeah but my body once the weather's better come down here it's a little hot right now yeah what are you rocking down there 150 degrees actually it's nice right now it's 104 the high is going to be 111 out of here jesus it's nice at 104 Yeah.
    4:20
    We're at, what are we at, 78? Yeah. Freezing. I might come visit you. Yeah, put a hoodie on. We can go to Lit.
    4:31
    Yeah, we can go to Lit, double I-T. All right. Godzilla, black and white. You know, if it was up to me and the pinball fairy in front of me said, and I mean that in the magical sense of fairy, not like, you know what I mean, both same time political yeah yeah yeah do you believe in god yes or no please write into pinball party podcast at gmail.com your religious beliefs and who should win the election i would probably take the colored godzilla my favorite thing about godzilla um can we stop calling it the colored godzilla because like the last the last three podcasts i listened to they call it the you know the the old godzilla the less desirable colored one and then you know the new one is the black and white so we have to come up with a different name for it i mean i do like how it's trending towards kind of like a racist innuendo which i could lean into um not in a positive way but um okay let me think about that but you know to go all over the place because it's been six weeks so buckle up that's just what's going to happen i got too much to say to listen to to learn so the agenda is non-existent aside from the old pulling up nap arcade and finding out some stuff that i'm not aware of the last feedback email i got from a customer i would say that our listeners are more customers than fans i like to think of as you know business transactions. What a clown, I must say. They wrote in a good three paragraphs of negative feedback, which was phenomenal. It's one that I actually shared with my family, my parents, last week on We're at the Cabin. And they found it hilarious. Do all this, change all your show. It's all bad. Too much innuendo. You shouldn't say all this. Don't make fun of it. I've been listening for a long time and okay uh so you you may know who you are if you are that sent me a very long you know my mom laughed at it and and and is a big fan of the show i'm doing so i mean whatever point you're trying to make i'm i'm so sorry um but uh we're doing fine on this end um and let me catch up you or or the the customers um man you sent me over text you know we still keep up via a text. I'm doing great. I just got to say that. I switched careers about three months ago. You know, I got laid off, switched jobs. It was rough. It's rough out there. And, you know, change management at a new place and learning a whole new thing and doing a different thing. But man, it was a blessing in disguise getting laid off from that place. I mean, you even know, and probably, you know, I use this podcast as like a place of just like venting sometimes, or even just life, like, man, my advice, you shouldn't take it, but not you specifically, but to our customers. If you're at a job and for like two years straight, you're like, oh, I hate everything about this. And you find yourself doing other things like, I don't know, recording podcasts during work hours, driving 10-hour round trips to get pinball machines, playing pinball, getting sponsored, meeting people at another arcade, doing podcasts with people at that other arcade, and then doing like a 12 days of balls thing, all during working hours because you're doing whatever you can to avoid your job, get laid off or quit that shit. Because it's true. After a while, it's just a blessing in disguise.
    8:12
    It's not that because I haven't been doing pinball, that's why I've been doing great. But I just wanted to say it for all the customers out there who are wondering.
    8:22
    So for ending my last feedback on some three-paragraph negative feedback thing, just who cares? you know whatever this is this is just for fun at this point and um yeah anyway not that anyone asked but i figured it's might as well catch up because it's everyone where'd you go did you die are you okay i've been doing great that's what i've been doing long winded and circle back to your question about godzilla black and white and the colored black and white what skittles versus black licorice i don't know what do we call the first one i don't know the the original and the new one okay the original or some people original and the black and white yeah original in the black and white so so tell me this if they if they uh when they originally released godzilla and they would have done the og full full color and or the black and white which one would you have gone with like day one straight off the rip kind of like monsters right god damn so godzilla my it doesn't do anything for my theme so i've i think what i was about to say a while back before i just totally went off the rails my favorite thing about the game is not playing it it's i loved the color i loved zombie yeti's artwork and the color scheme and once you add the art blades that thing just fucking pops it's beautiful it really is beautiful so if Godzilla was a theme that like meant more to me like let's say this was Star Wars or Lord of the Rings ooh shit I don know cause this fits cause it black and white Godzilla what else Like if this was a Pulp Fiction in black and white I get the black and white Oh that would be tough You know what I mean? Yeah. If it was like, what else has been, if this was like a Bram Stoker's Dracula in black and white, easy black and white. Faux show.
    10:17
    I don't know. If this had a blue tint. No. Yeah. A blue tint or a green tint instead of a red tint, whatever you want to call it. Tint is not the right word. I don't know what I would pick yeah thank you very much I would love to see this in person because this is one of those things where black and white you see like the lights those are multicolored but then the play field is black and white obviously the inserts I want to see how that looks in real life but same it's kind of like the first time I saw the Elvira Blood Red Kiss edition you really need to see that one in person it is amazing absolutely gorgeous and to that previous emails um point it's probably like the first time i saw a breast in real life you didn't want to talk about like you know things like right so let's let's do that you know you see a breast in in the playboy or penthouse whatever it is back then and you're like that's that's nice or you see it on you know late night on the tv the scrambled you're trying to just get that like your teacher leans over oh you know and the right her blouse hangs down yeah Yeah, oops. And you're like, well, here I am. Here I am and there you are. So as a boy, which I think a lot of us listening are, a lot of the customers of the pinball party are men, you want to see a breast. And you're like, well, let me, to some, let me actually see what all the fuss is about in real life. And you see one and you're like, okay, I see what the fuss is about. It's as beautiful as you thought. and this could be that. This could be pinball's breast if that works.
    11:54
    Stern, you can use that one. Feel free. Come on, invite me on site. Use the Stern's pinball breast acronym. What the hell?
    12:04
    Alright, so Godzilla came out. I haven't looked at the pin side threads. I would love to see because there's probably so many angry people about, oh, Oh, now my Godzilla's worth so much less.
    12:17
    That'd be fun to read. I know when I kind of took a little pause a month or so back, Black Knight Sword of Rage was just about to come out. You know, another run of that. Correct, yep. Yeah, did you guys get one? Did you have one? Well, luckily we already have one, so we didn't have to get one. But it's a great game. Hell yeah, it is. And I'm glad they're running them for anybody who hasn't picked one up yet. Yeah, go get a Black Knight sword. Man, damn it. I've spent too much money lately on cars. So, like, I have no pinball money right now. I have a car in the mail, as one does. I did another dumb thing and bought a car with my phone. And then it was getting delivered. So, are you getting rid – you were riding around on – you had the Mazda. Is that right? I did have the Mazda. So the Mazda, and I'm going to have another one. I treat cars like I did pinball machines. They're going to come and go. Is this your daily driver or like a hobby car? No, this is the just put your foot on the gas and hold it as far down as it can the whole time car, hobby car. I wanted to get a track car to, well, not a track car specifically, but a car that I could take to the track, whether it's autocross, Track Night of America, Track Days, for those familiar with the vernacular, you know what I'm talking about. And Mazda MX-5s, also known as Miatas, your standard soft top needs a roll bar to be SCCA certified to go on a track day. If you have an RF, a Tagra top, T-top, which is what I had, which is a hard top that can, like, transform into a, you know, convertible, you can technically use those at track night of america and track days at least in wisconsin where i am and i emailed the scca to find out if i could and it took so long to get back to me because like i didn't want to put a roll bar in my uh mx5 rf so i listed it for sale just in case because i bought it at the price i could sell it and not lose and make money because i bought it as a tester to see if i really wanted a miata long term so i bought one that's relatively used and cheap and it convinced me i did want one as opposed to like i've been through a gr corolla a golf r civic type r a lot of track focus kind of shit manual cars and um i wanted a miata so i sold it and then they got back to me and said yeah you can totally use those attractives like well fuck me i gotta buy another one then but it was fine because we my wife and i both love the car drive it all the time in the summer at the top down cranking like tupac we're white so if you crank tupac in a miata in like a in in a suburban town it's hilarious it's like the beginning of office space right yes and yeah yeah yeah um yeah what what kind of engine does this thing have it has a four cylinder six cylinder yeah four cylinder the same one that's in like a mazda three and they're standard whatever it's not turbo it's not supercharged but in a car that's only like 2300 pounds yeah fucking go it feels like you're always just you know what i like my uh my cousin is into all those cars and at one point he had a honda s2000 yes yes man and that's a light car with a v6 it was it was it was dangerous it's miata's like a lot of people will choose between those i mean they don't make that's 2000 anymore but yeah it's the same thing of like it's a small light car that you can buy a tesla or a fucking hellcat or something with tons of horsepower and like yeah push the gas and you're going to get some torque up your asshole and it'll feel great but then suddenly you're going 200 miles an hour and you get pulled over and that's your fun or like a s2000 or miata you just hold your foot down as far as it goes and just go everywhere and it feels like you're going 100 miles an hour but you're going like 36 yeah it feels awesome Yeah. Okay. All right, back to pinball before we lose everybody. Yeah. Sorry, come back. Customers, they've paid for their content.
    16:20
    Black Knight Sword of Rage, I don't have any pinball money to buy that. I want to. I should. Because to get back off pinball, because that's what's important, right when I ordered this newer Miata, Club with the Brembo and the Recaro seat package, for those who know what I'm talking about, get fucked. It's so dumb that I did it. Um, then we drove a UTV in the trails in Northern Wisconsin and I fell in love with off-road UTV side by side. I'm like, all right, there's another 20 grand that's got to go to something fun. That's stupid. So all this pinball money has been shifted into adrenaline sports, um, which is also fun. But now I, now there's some stuff coming, right? There's Black Knight Sword of Rage that I would like to have six to $7,000 to put into and play it for two days and then sell it. and the rumored upcoming Metallica, which, man, that is going to be the one to be like, Jason, you've got to shift some funds around and buy that fucking game. I just got a text two nights ago from some random, like, hey, when's this Metallica coming out? And I was like, why is someone texting me about Metallica? And then it clicked, like, oh, it's a pinball thing. I forgot about that.
    17:33
    So can we talk about Metallica again for a second? That seems to be what's coming out next, right? seems like it yeah god damn from all the rumors I'm hearing all the same stuff you're hearing yeah well I haven't been hearing anything for the last month it's all the same okay Spike 3 apparently same layout different art yeah different art and different like the area where the snake is and the area where Sparky is, you know, that would have to be different too, because all of that stuff is Dirty Donnie stuff. And from what I understand, this is all new art.
    18:22
    But, you know, same layout. This is going to be the new Spike 3 system. So, you know, I'm guessing you're going to get a larger display.
    18:35
    Yeah. The only thing we know for sure, Gomez has said the cabinet is going to be different. That's right. But it's not going to be wildly different. So what I'm thinking is larger display because it just makes sense. I mean, LCD displays, I mean, they're dirt cheap. Why not put a bigger one in, right? That's what you said. Yes. Yeah, there you go. um you know bigger screen bigger speakers maybe or just shifted speakers yeah and and um most importantly for the for the gameplay you're just gonna you're gonna be able to have the programmers are gonna have more options uh because one thing when we were at the uh the factory and tim uh sexton was showing us uh john wick they said they were really pushing what spike 2 could do i mean they were running out of of you know inputs outputs i don't know all the technical aspects of all that so you know with spy 3 you're going to have a more powerful system where they'll be able to do more uh you know because with the with the speaker lights and the uh the lights in the side what's it called expression lighting yeah you know being able to control all that and and more with this new system.
    19:57
    Yeah. I looking forward to that I don know what else to say I want Metallica I been looking forward to that since the rumors started I was going to say a week and a half ago By that I meant a year and a half ago when those rumors started
    20:12
    I'm looking at Nap Arcade in the realm of rumors, and Nap is bringing up that we all know to shift to Jersey Jack pinball, there's going to be a game or two coming out soon. I mean, I know a couple things, but from what I know, one is going to be a banger of a theme. And there's the Harry Potter rumor, which I'll please. There's the Matrix rumor, which goddamn please. And then there's like Muppets, like, eh. And then he's talking about the possible Avatar.
    20:43
    So, yeah, I, like, I get it. You know, Avatar to some people, but like in pinball, we've done it. But also, like, it does not, in my opinion, I don't think it holds weight that, like, even compared to Muppets. Even though I'm not a huge Muppets fan, like Avatar, people don't really care about the way of water.
    21:04
    What do you think about Avatar? Maybe I'm out of touch, but I have not seen either Avatar movie. And I don't see people around the arcade going, damn, I wish we could get another Avatar. Yeah, right. Or wearing Avatar shirts or just like dressing up. And even though it's like the biggest movie ever, I still don't hear a lot of talk about it.
    21:29
    It seems, though, that Jersey Jack's games are kind of a leg behind when it comes to their theme. Like Wizard of Oz, all right, amazing theme. Don't get me wrong, Billy. When it comes to, like, you were about 40 years late, a little late on that one. Elton John, like, you know, a little past his prime.
    21:50
    Still incredible. Don't get me wrong. It's like if they release, like, a Michael Jackson, it's like, all right, well, you know, you did it, boys, but still. Michael Jackson, Prince, whatever, yeah. Right. Yeah, Princeton diddle, but yeah. I mean, and then you got Godfather. Again, like about 30 years too late. Guns and Roses. Bob Marley. Yeah, well, yeah, you're about 30 years too late on Guns and Roses, on like these themes, like Avatar. Like, well, you're about 15 years too late. So, I mean, maybe it would line up with like, what are you doing? You know, but. No, it makes sense. You're right.
    22:24
    Yeah. Then, well, Hobbit was, Hobbit is like the only one. Because even Pirates was like a little late from when Pirates was huge. Hobbit was like right when it was still going. Yeah. Which is unusual for them.
    22:41
    Okay. Avatar. Hopefully not. But if it is, if it's Avatar or Muppets, like, what do they cost now? 50 grand for one Jersey Jack pinball machine, probably? Yeah. Well, that's the beginning level is 50, and then it goes up from there. 75 for the CE.
    22:58
    Okay, so I'm avoiding pinball. Six weeks. Not intentionally, like, ugh, but it just hasn't been around. And I see this post that Haggis Pinball enters external, quote, administration, takes down online presence, and closes doors.
    23:16
    Closes factory. so there was all these rumors and speculation whatever you want to call it backed up by like facts of like people not getting their games and like problems with money and then like oh no how dare you how dare you why would you say anything like that and like oops oops we close our doors oops sorry that's shady right yeah i think it goes back to man wait until the game is made before you give somebody some money. I mean, people have been saying this for years, you know, especially after Deep Root.
    23:53
    But, you know, man, buyer beware. I mean, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, I'm sure there are a lot of people that are absolutely screwed. I'm not sure how, you know, the money is working between, you know, the distributor and the company, but the company has no money. I mean, that's nothing, you know. there we are yeah yeah i mean haggis is toast right i mean i don't want to get sued for what is it slander or yada i mean they're closing the doors i think it's i don't think they have money to get an attorney to sue you overseas but that's a good point yeah yeah all right well i'm not saying anything bad just seems like they're out of business and people are screwed that sucks yeah yeah yeah it does suck because i mean they man they they came out with a beautiful, beautiful product with Fathom. Yes, it had a, you know, anybody who's tried the Route One understands that it has issues.
    24:51
    But, yeah, they were doing something really cool. And the whole company, all the people that worked there seemed to be excited. And it was just unfortunate. This is, I mean, pinball, pinball's hard. It's impressive what Stern does. It's impressive what Spooky and Jersey Jack do. Not as impressive with American, but they got the backing of a big company behind them. But yeah, pinball's hard in one slight misstep and everything can come crumbling down. There is at least the thing with American pinball. I forgot about like GTF and then the barbecue game, which is just funny. At least they're shipping their games and they're giving their customer, you know, they got that going. And they have a lot to ship because I talked to somebody who recently went to the factory, and they're just sitting in the boxes waiting. So take that $500 off or whatever they're offering.
    25:51
    Yeah, they're on sale probably because people don't want to buy them. Yeah. Yep. I took a quick peek at the old Pinside. For those unaware, Pinside is the rotten death hole of pinball on the internet. Go check it out. You can get yelled at. You can get sworn at. You can get priced. Don't you feel good staying off of that for a little bit?
    26:11
    I can't go back. So I had to, you know, I created an account for some reason. But the only reason I've historically ever used Pinside is for find some repair tips or advice if I run into an issue. But once I can't remember why I started an account. Rachel wanted me to do one for some reason. And then so I started like, well, let me see what this is all about. And it's like there's like a dozen people that are just waiting to dogpile them. They just want to argue.
    26:42
    And it's just like you get caught in this loop. And it's just like, man, it's just better to stay off that site, man.
    26:50
    And I would add. Yeah. What were you saying about it? Well, I'll say the one thing that I want to go back to. You said what you said, I think, is very important for a lot more than just that. I was just taking a quick peek at like if Avatar is the game for J.J.P. Hey, how's the Stern Pulse on Avatar? How are those? So no one wants them, and they're sitting at like 5,000 or best offer. So you'd think if you would take a theme, they're like, all right, well, let's take a theme that's doing really well and just give it the Jersey Jack sparkle. You'd pick something like Star Wars, even Turtles, something that sells well, maybe not the greatest game. But Avatar, not only was it not one of the greatest games, a lot of people just don't fucking like it and the theme. They don't like. So not to poo-poo the rumor, it's just I'll poo-poo if that rumor is true. I think that they shouldn't do that. But pin side, garbage hole, all that, staying off it is great. What also is great is not doing this, I've stayed off of Instagram, Facebook, which feels even better. So for some context, I never had a social media account aside from MySpace back in the day because if you're 40, you rolled with MySpace because it was the goat and it's just trash. Then Facebook came out and everything else and TikTok and now the world is just the worst. And so I stayed off of social media entirely all the way up until pinball party because I had no reason to. I had no Facebook account. I had no Instagram. I had no TikTok. I had nothing in it because I don't want it. I don't want it. I like to be by myself. I don't want to talk to people from high school. I don't want to send pictures of myself eating a hamburger with my hand up my ass or whatever people do on there. But with the pinball party and like, oh, I want to grow some numbers or do shit or whatever, started posting more and then posting on Facebook and then you see the numbers go up and then you were helping on Instagram as well, which is like getting a lot of followers. I mean, you did awesome. But then I found myself checking it multiple times a day and looking for the hearts, looking for the follows and to get that little dopamine hit and then like i would check way too many times and now that i haven't like even when i looked at it the other day i think i just shared something dumb i didn't want to be on it like so i good i just don't like any of that stuff i know it's like necessary and you have to do your business and you should and it's great but like i just know like 20 30 years from now we're going to look at it like uh people look at smoking now um i mean it's it's bad it's it's it's addictive you get on there you get in that dopamine feedback loop and then all of a sudden you're like holy shit i was on here for four hours yeah you know it's it there's it's not good um it's not good it's gonna it's gonna be slow but um it's it's happening already with the with the younger kids, there's already this trend to not be on social media. Good. Yeah. And like reading an actual book is picking up. Book sales are up, just like vinyl's up. These kids that have grown up with the internet they want to experience what I experienced a world without the internet So I hope but it going to take a couple of decades for us to see real change
    30:16
    Yeah, everything you just said, I'm just kind of like basking in what you said because it's true and it's taking a step away from pinball. Inadvertently, I took a step away from all of that, And I don't want to come back to any of that of even, you know, to take a peek behind the curtain of being on Facebook or Instagram or any of those and like seeing posts from Nudge, Electric Bat, Don's Pinball Podcast, Kaneda, Flippin' Out, you know, Brody even talking, name a pinball thing. And like you get caught up in this like none of that matters. You know, when all that paused, the only thing that remained is like I would still text with you. I'd still text with Zach from deep dives and that's kind of it all that superfluous dumb bullshit that didn't matter still doesn't matter and now I just don't have to touch it it's weird how you think you're smarter than that, stronger than that pick something but it gets you and you have to be involved and it feels so much better not doing any of it 100% But I do miss the act of playing pinball. It's only been six weeks for me, but like, you know, what have you been playing lately? Like, I know you're running the arcade and doing all that, but like, what have you been enjoying playing lately?
    31:41
    We've, yes, it's really interesting. Despite what mainstream media is saying about the economy, what pinball media is saying about John Wick. Oh, I forgot about John Wick. Yeah, pinball. Holy shit. I mean, our tournaments are still breaking records. You know, we never get under like 100 people now on a Tuesday, regular old Tuesday. We've added more tournaments throughout the week, just like fun tournaments. We've added a team tournament where you grab you and two of your friends. You know, so a three-man team. Where do you grab them? You grab them. Yeah. And then it takes balls of steel, Jason. Hey-oh. But one player plays the first ball. One player plays the second ball. One player plays the third. So it's a relay race of a pinball tournament. Yeah, fun stuff, like non-IFPA stuff, just fun stuff. And people have been getting together. They want to get together, have a good time. Pulp Fiction, I don't know if you've been listening to the podcast, but for the past several months or whenever Pulp Fiction dropped, that was the king. That was the top dog as far as earnings go. and uh and and jaws was released and jaws wasn't able to to dethrone pulp fiction finally john wick absolutely destroyed pulp fiction and earnings um so no shit yeah people are loving john wick i don't know if you've heard but now the the limited contracts are out that have the push notifications. So, you know, you get a push notification to your phone, new limited contract, get to your closest arcade. And man, people are loving these things. People love collecting these things. I talked about this on the podcast, but when the first one dropped, Rachel and I were in the office doing office stuff and we got the notification and we looked at each other and immediately jumped up and ran the John Wick. Of course, we were the first ones on it. But as we're playing, people start coming in through the doors. I mean, this is working. This is amazing. Yeah. And kudos to Stern for making this happen, man. It is absolutely working, and people love it.
    34:07
    Damn. Well, I wouldn't discount the fact that you guys aren't dumb, you and Rachel. You make a good community. You get what to do. where like i won't i won't throw other places under the bus but you do it well um so that yeah i don't know i'll just say like i would say that i am not super encouraged to like go out to my arcade and look at my push notifications i don't give a shit um like i don't i don't want to go and see some of these people what am i doing here um because it's just not concentrated on it's It's just not how it is. But John Wick, so it beat Pulp Fiction. Did it remain like at least consistently up there or was it like a blip and then gone?
    34:55
    No, it's still way up there. And it earned 50% more than Pulp Fiction. How is Jaws doing? I know you brought it up in that conversation. Is it just like kind of middle of the pack? Oh, and Jaws is doing – no, no. It's doing fine. It's up there. It's in the top five. Okay.
    35:16
    Yeah. I still haven't played John Wick. John Wick's cool. I think you would like it. I would almost tell you to just go ahead and buy one, but I don't want to put you and me in that position. So I want you to go on location. But I think you would really dig it because it's fast and furious like a Black Knight Pro. and we have the John Wick Pro I've played both and both of them are awesome the shots are exactly the same except for the crate shot but it's fast and it's cool I think it has that look I definitely like and I think you'd be into too like that Blade Runner you know Matrix kind of look you know neon Tokyo kind of thing going on but all that combined with the contracts, I think it's a lot of fun. And there's a lot more code to come. They're dropping more and more, and they've added some cool call-outs. But I think it's a very cool game, especially after Jaws. Jaws is a very bright game. And yeah, it's scary because the shark's chasing you, but this is truly a dark, really cool dark underworld that you're immersed into. and I'm digging it. I think you'd like it. I've got to find a time to play it. I think I'd have to drive an hour and a half. We'll see if I do it. I don't know if I will. I'll get to it.
    36:52
    When is the next release? Do you know by any game? Is it going to be October? Probably by the time we're at Expo? I think we're going to see Americans next game at Expo.
    37:08
    Cuphead? Cuphead, yep. And then after that, I mean, Cuphead's probably going to be horrible. Right. And the only reason I say that is because Dave Wick, no, Dave Fix, Dave Wick. Dave Wick, good.
    37:28
    I mean, Dave Fix even was on a podcast and saying the team wasn't interested in that license. Good, good, good. And it's very important. Gomez has even talked about this, how important. I mean, it just makes sense how important it is to have a team hyped about the IP. Right. That that's what makes a great game. You know, you want your team like excited, excited to clock in and make this thing happen. And and he publicly said they're not into Cuphead. But what they are into is the license after that, which is apparently He-Man.
    38:12
    I mean, I want it to just not be them making it, but yeah. Yeah. He-Man. So Expo, you think Metallica or a JJP game?
    38:23
    I don't know about that. All I know is I talked to somebody who talked to David Fix, and he said the plan is to have the Cuphead at Expo.
    38:35
    David Wick. Yeah. Yep. All right. So I got to cut this short. I got to run. I got to do stuff. I wanted to hit record. Full disclosure, I sent Kayla a text like, hey, I'm going to hit record. Do you want to join? 15 minutes, we just started going. So thank you for dropping everything under the sun and joining this here podcast.
    38:54
    I'll probably release another pinball party podcast. I don't know. Sometime. Maybe never. But it was good to talk to you. It was good to talk to anyone. Where can people find you? you can find me at at electric bat arcade on instagram electric bat arcade on facebook we have a website electricbatarcade.com and this sunday we are having the dog days of summer two uh pinball tournament big big pinball tournament starts at noon on sunday come on out at electric bat arcade fucking a well 120 degrees go to electric bat arcade go buy your pinballs at flippingoutpinball.com, when I buy my pinball shit, I buy from Flipping Out. From Topper's Art Blades Premiums, I've got it figured out. Flipping Out. When I think of pinball, I think Flipping Out.
    39:58
    When I think of pinball, I think Flipping Out. out. Slippin' out. See it out. When I buy, buy, buy, I buy from Slippin' Out. Buy, buy, buy.