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Episode - 30 - What - A-wonderful - World

The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·26m 35s·analyzed·Mar 15, 2020
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

COVID-era pinball industry update with new game announcements and show cancellations.

Summary

Spencer Klingon hosts Episode 30 of The Spinner Is Lit Pinball Podcast recorded on March 14, 2020, during the early COVID-19 pandemic. The episode opens with personal messages about kindness and community support during the crisis, including disclosure of his wife's stage 4 melanoma battle. The bulk covers pinball industry news: American Pinball's Hot Wheels announcement, Deep Root Pinball's Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland showcase, Spooky Pinball's Rick and Morty shipping with positive reception, Jersey Jack's Pirates of the Caribbean code update, Stern's Heavy Metal contract game, and Ben Heck's return to Spooky Pinball for a licensed title with Chicago Gaming Company. Multiple major pinball shows are canceled due to COVID-19, including Texas Pinball Festival and Midwest Gaming Classic.

Key Claims

  • American Pinball's Hot Wheels is the third title from American Pinball, coming in at lower price point than Houdini and Oktoberfest, estimated at $6,200–$6,400

    medium confidence · Spencer Klingon discussing new game alert and pricing rumors

  • Spooky Pinball's Rick and Morty is shipping and receiving positive feedback, with some units already on location

    high confidence · Spencer Klingon reporting on current Spooky production status and location placements

  • Deep Root Pinball's facility release day in Texas was scheduled for March 25, 2020, to showcase Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland

    high confidence · Spencer Klingon detailing Deep Root Pinball's planned March 25 event

  • Texas Pinball Festival has been canceled due to coronavirus

    high confidence · Spencer Klingon announcing TPF cancellation alongside other major show cancellations

  • Ben Heck is returning to pinball design at Spooky, partnering with Chicago Gaming Company for manufacturing

    high confidence · Spencer Klingon announcing Ben Heck's return to the industry at Spooky Pinball

  • Jersey Jack Pinball has new code coming for Pirates of the Caribbean

    medium confidence · Spencer Klingon reporting on code update for JJP Pirates of the Caribbean

  • Stern's Heavy Metal is a contract game based on the Heavy Metal magazine, pricing around 8k, releasing end of March

    medium confidence · Spencer Klingon describing Heavy Metal specifications and pricing

Notable Quotes

  • “Leave something for others... don't be greedy you'll get by show some kindness to others folks we're all in this together”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:02:00 — Host's opening message about community support and kindness during COVID-19 pandemic

  • “My lovely wife, Marianne Rusty, is in the middle of battling stage four melanoma. She's undergoing immunotherapy.”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:06:00 — Personal disclosure of host's family health crisis, providing context for his community-focused messaging

  • “I'm a little man with big big shoulders i can carry a lot of weight”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:08:30 — Host expressing resilience and willingness to support others despite personal challenges

  • “Ben Heck is back in pinball, kids. The legendary Ben Heck and Dorn is back at Spooky designing a licensed team.”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:27:00 — Major personnel announcement of legendary designer returning to active pinball development

  • “Rick and Morty's gonna keep them busy for the next 18 months or about 17 months now”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:28:30 — Assessment of Spooky's production timeline and capacity constraints from Rick and Morty shipping

  • “Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming Classic, And the Arcade Expo and Banning have all unfortunately been canceled.”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:35:00 — Official announcement of major pinball show cancellations due to COVID-19

  • “It's been three years to the day since he passed since we lost him... try to be what he was a good human, a good man, a good person.”

    Spencer Klingon @ ~00:50:00 — Memorial to Steve Sharland on third anniversary of his passing, connecting to broader community values messaging

Entities

Spencer KlingonpersonMarianne RustypersonAmerican PinballcompanyHot WheelsgameSpooky PinballcompanyRick and MortygameBen HeckpersonDeep Root PinballcompanyRetro Atomic Zombie Adventureland

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: American Pinball announces Hot Wheels as third licensed title with estimated $6,200–$6,400 price point

    high · Spencer explicitly announces 'new game alert american pinball hot wheels' and describes mechanics, pricing, and production details

  • ?

    product_launch: Spooky Pinball's Rick and Morty is actively shipping with positive community reception and location placements

    high · Spencer reports 'Spooky Pinball Rick and Morty are shipping and boy howdy are they shipping getting a lot of positive feedback' and lists multiple venue locations

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Ben Heck returns to pinball industry at Spooky Pinball for licensed title design in partnership with Chicago Gaming Company

    high · Spencer announces 'Ben Heck is back in pinball, kids. The legendary Ben Heck and Dorn is back at Spooky designing a licensed team'

  • ?

    code_update: Jersey Jack Pinball releasing new code for Pirates of the Caribbean to add depth to existing game

    medium · Spencer reports 'There is new code. New code coming up, or just got released, not sure which, for Pirates of the Caribbean' and notes it will 'make that game even deeper and even better'

  • ?

    event_signal: Multiple major pinball shows canceled due to COVID-19: Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming Classic, Arcade Expo

    high · Spencer states 'Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming Classic, And the Arcade Expo and Banning have all unfortunately been canceled'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.080

0:00
Thank you. Welcome to the Spinner's Look Pinball Podcast. I'm your host, Spencer Klingon. Tonight's episode, episode 30. What a wonderful world.
2:12
Oh, let's jump right into it, shall we? We're going to talk about pinball, being as a pinball podcast and all.
2:20
But let's just get right into the news here. The coronavirus. We all know about it, unless you've been living in a Tibetan monastery for the past eight weeks or so.
2:36
I want to talk about it a little bit. You know, it's in the news. It's on everybody's mind. It's on my mind, certainly.
2:43
It's certainly changed a lot of things lately in our world. I'm going to start off with leave something for others. There's a lot of panic. Panic is the worst thing in the world for people or any animal for that matter.
3:02
Panic creates chaos, creates danger. People get hurt. So when you're out in the world, don't panic. Stay calm.
3:14
game
John Papadiukperson
Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
Pirates of the Caribbeangame
Stern Pinballcompany
Heavy Metalgame
Chicago Gaming Companycompany
Texas Pinball Festivalevent
Midwest Gaming Classicevent
Golden State Pinball Festivalevent
Capital Corridor Pinball Leagueorganization
Michael Hosierperson
Steve Sharlandperson
Kathy Sharlandperson
?

competitive_signal: Capital Corridor Pinball League season postponed/canceled; other league tournaments being suspended due to COVID-19

high · Spencer reports 'Our pinball league I play in, the Capital Corridor Pinball League, well, just yesterday we got word the rest of our season is now postponed or essentially canceled'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Jersey Jack Pinball rumored to be developing Guns N' Roses but no official announcement or preview

    low · Spencer notes 'Still got the rumors about Guns N' Roses coming out soon. Nothing substantiated really. It's pretty much a given that's what it's going to be. But it hasn't been officially announced'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Chicago Gaming Company partnering with Spooky Pinball to manufacture Ben Heck's licensed title, enabling faster production and more units

    high · Spencer explains partnership allows Spooky to 'Be able to get a lot more units out a lot more quickly' while managing Rick and Morty production

  • $

    market_signal: American Pinball positioning Hot Wheels as lower-price entry vs. premium titles Houdini and Oktoberfest

    medium · Spencer notes Hot Wheels 'Looks like a little bit lower price title from the previous two' and estimates pricing 'a couple hundred, maybe at most 400 or 300 more than a stern pro'

  • ?

    venue_signal: Rick and Morty machines placed at multiple venues: Coin Op Game Room (Sacramento), Alamo Drafthouse (San Francisco), Ace Goge (Los Angeles locations), Atta Ball (Seattle)

    high · Spencer provides specific venue names and addresses for Rick and Morty locations across West Coast

  • ?

    community_signal: Community expressing support for event organizers and commissioners forced to cancel shows and leagues due to COVID-19

    medium · Spencer emphasizes 'all of us have his back' regarding league commissioner and urges attendees to 'be supportive to those organizers and people who put forth so much effort'

  • ?

    product_concern: Rick and Morty machines receiving some constructive criticism on right flipper loop shot with spinner, requiring tuning adjustments

    medium · Spencer reports 'a little bit of constructive criticism might need some adjustment especially in the off the right flipper the loop shot with the spinner sometimes needs a little bit of extra help get it dialed in properly'

    • Be a good human. Be a good person. Leave something for others. You're going to the store. You got to get groceries. You got to get stuff. there's 820 packs of toilet paper you don't need all eight okay you need one maybe two leave some for somebody else food water toilet paper hand sanitizer whatever it is don't be greedy you'll get by show some kindness to others folks we're all in this together and it'll be over soon it's a virus it's not the zombie apocalypse okay some people are going to get sick unfortunately some people are going to die we hope and pray that it doesn't happen but it most certainly will but like everything else this too shall pass give blood uh if you've ever given blood now's a great time blood banks are in very short supply it's a gift of life man you can help out your fellow man could be a friend or loved one could be a complete stranger and someday it could be you that needs it so uh if you're feeling froggy man get out there i plan on doing that in the next uh few days week or two uh it's time for myths. Got a pretty full plate lately and we're going to get to that. Help a neighbor or a co-worker, a friend, somebody. You know, you see somebody that's just having a rough go at it. Maybe they might, you know, need something from the store if you're going anywhere. They might be elderly. They might have sick people in their house. They might have, you know, a spouse, somebody who needs extra help right now. They might have a house full of kids. Something. Lend a hand where you can, man. Be a good human.
    5:16
    You know, you never know what someone else is dealing with. I'll tell you about my last few days. My last weeks.
    5:29
    I won't get too deep into it. I've been doing some stuff on my own at home. A lot going on. Been taking a little bit of extra responsibility around the house with basic daily chores.
    5:44
    Some of you know me in the real world, not just from listening to me on the podcast and my lovely wife.
    5:51
    My wife, Marianne Rusty, is in the middle of battling stage four. I want to say skin cancer, but that's not the technical name. melanoma. She's doing okay. She's really tired a lot. She's undergoing not chemotherapy. I'm sorry. It's been a long week.
    6:21
    Immunotherapy. And she's also anemic. So they were giving her iron. First treatment of the iron with her first treatment immunotherapy went fine. She went back on Tuesday just for iron So just the iron Go ahead and go to work Okay honey she had an allergic reaction to the iron she okay she fine she you know home she with us home resting um just a lot right now anyway but hey man i'm a little man with big big shoulders i can carry a lot of weight i just want to share that with you uh the listeners like i said some of this some of my listeners out there some of our listeners you know us in real life you know my lovely wife and we're going to get through this like we get through everything but i just wanted to share that so you know you see somebody at the store you see somebody at work um you know you never know what they're dealing with man and with all this out of stress sometimes a pat on the back a hug a kind word can go a long way we're all pinheads out there i know all the pinheads out they're good good people and so um give a little extra man if you got it to give give a little extra so anyway so we're gonna jump into pinball now finally you're like wow that was kind of a downer so you know it's not all bad man it's not all bad you know i'm at home at the kitchen table studios my whole family's here and uh it's all good so new game alert american pinball hot wheels have you guys seen this out there you may or may not have seen hot wheels um it's the third title from american pinball it's a standard body if you know their work uh their first title was houdini Their second title was Oktoberfest. Those games are pretty jam-packed with a lot of stuff. Looks like Hot Wheels is a little less jam-packed. I wouldn't call it barren. If you've seen some pictures so far, some pictures and some video, not the best quality, but gives us an idea.
    8:39
    Apparently, it's going to be a little bit lower price title from the previous two. It's supposed to be coming in just a, rumors are, a couple hundred, maybe at most 400 or 300 more than a stern pro is right now at 6100 so we're looking somewhere 62 to 6400 is what i'm being told standard fan layout you know what it kind of reminds me a little bit uh a theme wise of like high speed or getaway you know it's about hot wheels uh if you grew up somewhere from you know the late 60s to now uh you probably played with hot wheels as a kid and uh you know the theme uh the artwork's real bright colorful looks real pretty of course it's got some orange track on it's got two ramps it's got a vertical up kicker loop it's uh got lots of targets to shoot at spinners got a drop target to get to knock down to get to the vertical up kicker um time will tell man but it looks like it'll shoot fast and fun you know if you if you're thinking about buying one hey take the plunge what the hell what's the worst that could happen right it's pinball it's all good oh good coffee um looking forward to playing this eventually it'll show up somewhere hopefully on location nearby or private collector or you know god willing a show and we're going to talk about some shows here in a little bit.
    10:12
    So first license theme, you know, interesting theme choice for the license choice. But you know what? Give it a chance, man. Don't just say, you know, not my theme or whatever. I know a lot of people out there don't like Metallica as a theme or Iron Maiden, but they love the games because of the rule sets and the way they shoot. So just be open-minded. let's move on to deep root pinball they were supposed to have the release day for you know where they're going to have their facility in Texas open to people bought in to the Zidware games and to the pinball media and that's still happening March 25th they were going to be showcasing the game just a couple days later or the next day I believe at Texas Pinball Festival, which if you haven't heard, has been canceled this year due to the coronavirus. And we're going to talk about that more just a little bit.
    11:20
    But anyway, so the release is still on. So they showed a few months ago at the Houston Arcade Expo, they showed some working prototype games of Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland. the title from John Papaduke they're supposed to be showing the final production model of the game and it'll be playable coming up on March 25th so look for that online some people are going, some pinball media I'm sure they'll have a lot to say maybe some pictures and video and about some innovations that are going on under the hood of that game and some other cool stuff, maybe even some cool surprises who knows, right? Spooky Pinball Rick and Morty are shipping and boy howdy are they shipping getting a lot of positive feedback about that game a little bit of constructive criticism might need some adjustment especially in the off the right flipper the loop shot with the spinner sometimes needs a little bit of extra help get it dialed in properly from what I hear at the factory over there it's spooky that they've been working to make sure those are going out as dialed in as possible and uh you can play a few of those are on location already we're real lucky here in the sacramento area we've got one on location i'm seriously considering going and playing it tomorrow that'll be sunday today's uh saturday March 14th, 2020.
    12:54
    Anyway, we've got one in the Bay Area, in San Francisco, at the Alamo Drafthouse at 2550 Mission Street in San Francisco, California. If you're in Sacramento area, it's Coin Op Game Room on K Street. I didn't look up the address. I know where it is I can drive there without using my GPS yes you look it up man Google it If you in the Southern California area there two locations of Ace Goge and from what I understand, you can get fantastic Korean barbecue. But they have two of them, one at each location. First one's at 6705 Fallbrook Avenue in West Hills, California. And the other one is at 7128 Van Nuys Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The City of Angels. Pinheads. The next closest one is in Seattle, Washington at Atta Ball. 315 North 36th Street in Seattle. So if you're in the area, you know, you check Pinball Map, man. Or look around if you got a private collector nearby that's got one. You know, offer to bring pizza beer. I'm pretty sure a lot of people that do have one already would be happy to share it.
    14:17
    Jersey Jack Pinball. Still got the rumors about Guns N' Roses coming out soon. Nothing substantiated really. It's pretty much a given that's what it's going to be. But it hasn't been officially announced. Nothing's been previewed or leaked that I'm aware of. There is new code. New code coming up, or just got released, not sure which, for Pirates of the Caribbean. So all you Jersey Jack Pirates of the Caribbean owners, you got a whole bunch of cool new code I hear coming out. It's going to make that game even deeper and even better. So if you're one of the fortunate ones to have gotten a hold of one of those, congrats, man. It's going to get a whole lot better, I'm told.
    15:04
    Excuse me. no I don't have a virus I'm just choking on my own coffee pardon me Stern Pinball, heavy metal it's a contract game if you're not familiar with heavy metal it's a science fiction fantasy magazine started in the mid late 70's still running today as far as I know did a couple of movies based on some stories that appeared in the magazine over the years. The first one was a 1980 fantastic movie. I own it on both VHS and DVD.
    15:43
    Great movie soundtrack, which I own as well. Great music from that. And then there was a sequel, Heavy Metal FAKK2. Original title is Heavy Metal 2000. Anyway, this is based on the magazine, but it's got some artwork. I think the Backlash might have some artwork from the movie. one of the characters that appeared in the movie. It's a contract game. It's the same layout as the Star Wars Home Pin, but unlike the Star Wars Home Pin, this one I guess is going to have a coin door with the coin slots. I might actually have coin mechs. Not sure.
    16:23
    Music from Sebastian Bach of Skid Row. It's looking in the 8k price range. Hmm. Okay. Well, they're going to be releasing that sometime towards the end of this month.
    16:38
    Speaking of Spooky, we were talking about it a minute ago. Ben Heck is back in pinball, kids. The legendary Ben Heck and Dorn is back at Spooky designing a licensed team. We still don't know the title.
    16:54
    It's going to be a partnership with Chicago Gaming Company where they're going to actually do the manufacturing of the games. Spooky's got a couple three licenses already lined up but you know uh Rick and Morty's gonna keep them busy for the next 18 months or about 17 months now and uh they're gonna have to have their hands full with getting those off the line and out to uh operators and home collectors so uh it's gonna be really cool man I'm really excited looking forward to seeing what Ben Hent can deliver to the pinball world.
    17:31
    Be able to get a lot more units out a lot more quickly. It's an exciting time in pinball. So much going on. So many companies putting out quality games for us to play in our homes, at shows, and on location.
    17:45
    Haggis Pinball, Keltz, is being built. I don't know if they're actually shipping any yet. I know they're going to have some future shows as soon as all this recent unpleasant this blows over golden state pinball festival is still a go as of right now right now we're 63 days away we'll keep you posted on this podcast on pin side tilt forums clove clove whatever you want to call it uh facebook uh twitter and um instagram so if you're planning on attending the Golden State Pinball Festival,
    18:26
    just keep an eye out on social media, man. We'll keep you posted of any changes that might occur. And as of right now, the Northwest Show, which is the first week of June, is still on the books to go as well.
    18:47
    Texas Pinball Festival, Midwest Gaming Classic, And the Arcade Expo and Banning have all unfortunately been canceled. I'm sure that nobody came to these decisions lightly.
    19:03
    And, you know, the community seems to be rallying around everybody, being as supportive as possible. They put, I can't even, I'm a volunteer and an attendee. Golden State Pinball Fest don't have been in the past at Pinagogo. go and I can tell you just as a volunteer I put in a lot of hours for a lot of weeks and months leading up to showtime and the organizers put in 10 times that amount all of us volunteers and organizers put in a lot of our own time a lot of our own money to make these shows happen and it's a labor of love you know nobody does it to make well some people do it to make money and that okay there nothing wrong with that but we all do it because we love it So you know if you were thinking about buying a shirt or some swag from any of these shows that have unfortunately you know due to no fault of their own have had to cancel out man don wait Don't hesitate. You know what? It's going to be money well spent. it's going to take a little bit of the you know of the burden off them because you know these shows they have to front the money for you know the location and insurance and you know advertising the posters and the t-shirts and the swag and it all costs money man and these guys are all out some serious coins so if you can help take a little bit of the edge off that burden for them by picking up a cool shirt or a coffee mug or some other swag you know and then and uh you can you know wear that or have it with you and raise a flag and show your support right on do that i plan on doing that as well so again uh midwest gaming classic texas pinball festival and the arcade at expo in banning at this time have been canceled. I know an awful lot of pinball leagues and tournaments are being canceled. Our pinball league I play in, the Capital Corridor Pinball League, well, just yesterday we got word the rest of our season is now postponed or essentially canceled.
    21:34
    Whenever all this is over, we'll be picking up playing playoffs. you know it wasn't any decision for our commissioner michael hosier to make um he put a lot of time and thought into it uh all of us have his back he's a brother we all love him and that's i'm telling you this is a guy who truly loves pinball and he's a real asset to the pinball community uh he's a guy who works tirelessly at golden state pinball festival to put on the tournaments he puts on tournaments and opens up his home as well as league uh he's just a good dude and uh you know we all support his decision nobody likes it you know but we all support it and uh if you're in a league playing tournaments and they're getting canceled be supportive to those organizers and people who put forth so much effort uh to put those on because nobody wanted to do that right now and i wanted to go a little longer i just i've been wanting to get a show out and i'm working on some other stuff and with everything that's been going on this last work week i uh had a home and garden show for my company so i worked straight through after getting dental work done and then getting a infection i'm fine antibiotics some uh advil and then on top of everything else that's going on too so in the last 10 days two weeks has been a challenge uh an old saying says god never gives us more than we can handle apparently i can handle a lot who knew so yeah i'm just a cranky old sailor never says retreat never says surrender clinically I believe I'm insane but you know anyway folks if any of you out there ever just feeling stressed, alone tired, afraid reach out to me at thespinnerslit at gmail.com we can talk we can text, we can talk on the phone if you're in the area man we can get together and have lunch, go play pinball you know, talk get weird whatever i'm here for you you know just think of me as a voice on the radio except you know it's the internet but you get the idea um just keep being excellent to each other everyone be kind to each other um today i'm gonna leave the show off with this or i'm gonna end the show with this today uh march 14th is the third anniversary of the passing of Steve Sharland and communicated briefly with Steve's wife Kathy give her and Steve's lovely daughters a shout out wonderful people great family and it's been three years to the day since he passed since we lost him everybody out there listening to this podcast try to be what he was a good human, a good man, a good person. He was a good pinhead. He was a good friend and I miss him.
    25:04
    So take that with you. Try to be patient and kind and caring. Love everybody. Life's too short, man. And you never know.
    25:16
    Tomorrow's not promised anybody or some such thing. I don't know, man. all I know is spring's on the horizon this'll pass we're gonna be back at the shows playing pinball we're gonna be back at our leagues and our jobs and family gatherings summer's coming and we're gonna be playing a lot of new pinball a lot of old ones so hug and kiss people close to you make sure to tell them you love them keep a good thought for everybody stay calm and play pinball keep america strong
    26:19
    Thank you.