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Don's Pinball Podcast Sunday Livestream 10/26/2025

Don's Pinball Podcast Live Streams (YouTube)·video·40m 50s·analyzed·Oct 27, 2025
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Don discusses Spooky's sellout, plans Beetlejuice midnight event, reflects on industry drama.

Summary

Don (host of Don's Pinball Podcast) broadcasts a live stream from Wisconsin discussing Spooky Pinball's massive sellout success with their latest release (Winchester), anticipating the Beetlejuice announcement, and planning an unprecedented midnight release event to secure deposits. He reflects on recent industry reconciliations, discusses virtual pinball cabinets, and engages with community chat about themes, licensing, and the competitive pinball landscape.

Key Claims

  • Spooky's latest game (Winchester) sold out in two days, outpacing Barrels of Fun's previous sellout record

    high confidence · Don stated this directly as an established fact during livestream

  • Every distributor allocation list for the game sold out immediately, with no distributor dropouts from their interest lists

    high confidence · Don explains the allocation process: distributors received allotments and went to pre-existing lists, filling all spots without attrition

  • Only approximately 100 Beetlejuice units may be available for direct public sales at launch

    medium confidence · Don: 'there's only a hundred or so that end up being like available for direct sales and then those are going to go quick'

  • Beetlejuice announcement is expected to happen 'sometime soon'

    medium confidence · Don: 'this game Beetlejuice, when it does get announced, which should be sometime soon'

  • A midnight release event for Beetlejuice will occur in Benton (Don's location), requiring RSVP via email with a password

    high confidence · Don describes the RSVP logistics in detail, with noon password release and first-come-first-serve email signup

  • Don owns 18 pinball machines and traded out a virtual pinball cabinet (UltraVP 5.0) for an Ultraman cabinet

    high confidence · Don describes his collection trajectory: Dark Knight → Guns and Roses → virtual cabinet → 18 real machines → Ultraman cab swap

  • Stern is unlikely to release a Ghostbusters Remastered within the next two months

    medium confidence · Don predicts: 'In the next two months, no, I don't think so' regarding Ghostbusters remaster

  • Don recently reconciled with Spooky Pinball and is now on their 'rolls,' but was not forced to do so

    high confidence · Don: 'reconciliations have been happening amongst pinball' and clarifies 'The only thing these guys at Spooky asked of me was that I need to start hunting now'

Notable Quotes

  • “Spooky's like, 'Hold my goblet of blood.' Because uh because we're gonna we're going to top that even.”

    Don@ 1:55 — Humorous reference to Spooky Pinball's domination of the recent market, comparing Winchester's success to Barrels of Fun's prior sellout

  • “Like when they got out there, like that was it... So like they're gone.”

    Don@ 2:29 — Emphasizing the complete sell-through of distributor allocations and the scarcity of remaining inventory

  • “there's going to be fist fights in a parking lot in Benton in the middle of the night”

    Don@ 4:43 — Expresses concern about FOMO-driven chaos if demand exceeds supply at the midnight release event

  • “I just wanted to put stuff out. Everybody's got a hundred bad episodes in them. I wanted to get my hundred out, right?”

    Don@ 9:47 — Explains his creative philosophy and motivation for starting the podcast

  • “Now it's turned into like tens of people emailing me like, 'I need to buy my plane ticket. What's the day?'”

    Don@ 4:30 — Illustrates the scale and intensity of community interest in attending the Beetlejuice midnight release

  • “I would love to have a camera person so we can do like more content and then have an editor that can edit that for me because I'll go around and generate stuff non-stop.”

    Don@ 17:06 — Reveals production constraints limiting his output despite high motivation

Entities

DonpersonSpooky LukepersonSpooky PinballcompanyWinchestergameBeetlejuicegameBarrels of FuncompanyStern PinballcompanyFlipping Outcompany

Signals

  • ?

    product_launch: Spooky Pinball's Winchester game achieved record-breaking sellout in two days, exhausting all distributor allocations with zero dropouts from pre-interest lists

    high · Don: 'Winchester came out, did amazingly well. Outpaced everybody's expectations... Every DRO list is sold out'

  • ?

    machine_intel: Beetlejuice from Spooky Pinball expected to be officially announced 'sometime soon' with extremely limited public availability (~100 units)

    high · Don: 'this game Beetlejuice, when it does get announced, which should be sometime soon... there's only a hundred or so that end up being like available for direct sales'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Beetlejuice generating unprecedented pre-announcement demand with dozens of community members requesting attendance details and willing to travel/take time off work for midnight release

    high · Don: 'tens of people emailing me like, I need to buy my plane ticket. What's the day? I got to get the time off work'

  • ?

    event_signal: First-ever midnight release event for pinball machine (unprecedented in industry history), planned for Benton, Wisconsin location using password-protected RSVP system to manage allocation scarcity

    high · Don: 'It's never been done with pinball... I think we're going to do it' and describes email RSVP with password and first-come-first-serve mechanics

  • ?

    industry_signal: Recent reconciliation within pinball community; Don publicly resolves prior tensions and confirms ongoing collaboration with Spooky Pinball without being forced

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:11
Oh man, that was super fun. So, starting kind of quick here because I got to get out of town, but Spooky Luke had to have a live stream this morning for some reason. Microphone check real quick. Let's make sure we're going. And then we kind of got to get through this a little abbreviated this morning, but we're going to make it happen. What? And everybody shows up. We got some spooky pinballs here for the spooky sold out Sunday live stream. Let me get my lights going. Freaking studio. Uh worked last night. Went to Quick Trip. It was super awesome. I think was the beginning of the the craziest sellout in pinball history. Amazing. So, thank you, Luke. We're heading to the Dells. Maybe I'll end up at Benton today. Who knows what's going to happen. I got to get out of town. Law your No, no. I got a uh a little business I got to take care of in the Wisconsin Dells this morning. We'll be doing that and then it's all about getting prepped for another announcement that'll be very exciting and maybe one of the only ways that people can guarantee that they can secure a Beetlejuice at this point if they weren't listening to me already and getting on a distributor list. Chat, pop up in here now. Boom. There we go. All right. I'll uh I'll arrange myself here. I'll slightly block D and D real quick. Which can I say? Having a hell of a time with D and D, man. Uh last night I unlocked the Barbarian. Super fun. Um yeah, like more games like this, please. Stern. I wish Star Wars had incorporations of Dn D. But this ain't about Stern right now. This is Spooky's time. Winchester came out, did amazingly well. Outpaced everybody's expectations. Whoa. Barrels of fun with a sellout in two days. Spooky's like, "Hold my goblet of blood." Because uh because we're gonna we're going to top that even. Every DRO list is sold out. Um and I had heard months ago and mentioned to everybody that the allocated aotments for distributors, they already had interest lists that were eclipsing what they were going to get. And that was the case. That's what happened. Uh they turned around, they got their aotments a couple of days ago. they went to their list and they're like, "Here's the cuto off." And nobody dropped out. Everybody that was on a list took their game. So like when they got out there, like that was it. Um so I know companies like Flipping Out aren't actually taking money yet, but there's no room on the list. So like like like they're gone. Need to get the shotgun handle for my evil dead. Absolutely. Uh morning Dana. How you doing? How you doing? Good to see you. Um, my homie, good morning, Don. Pink palm puff besties. Yes. I'm so glad you're here. Uh, can I call you Triple P? Um, man, if I could star you, that's the best freaking name. Um, all right. So, I don't have any official like word that I can release, but this game Beetlejuice, when it does get announced, which should be sometime soon, I think we might find out more about it even sooner. Um, there's going to be some still available for the public, but like kind of not really. Like maybe there's only a hundred or so that end up being like available for direct sales and then those are going to go quick. So, I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun if we could throw a little event together on the day of launch as early as possible? What if you just turned up in person and got to pick one up? That was the idea. just some friends hanging out in a parking lot on a frozen November evening and then getting your game that way. And I think it's going to happen. Never been done before in pinball. We used to line up a GameStop for like a Call of Duty release or for like the Nintendo Wii. I had a tent I was in to get myself a Wii U um when they were getting restocked again. Super fun. I spent a lot of time out on curbs waiting for things. It's never been done with pinball. I think we're going to do it. I think I can finally get all the details out. I just had to figure out now how to manage it. This idea came about as like, let's just get some friends together at the house. We'll storm the castle at midnight. We'll put our deposits in and just like take selfie pictures of ourselves. It's going to be fun. Now it's turned into like tens of people emailing me like, "I need to buy my plane ticket. What's the day? I got to get the time off work." And I'm thinking, dude, if there's only so many games available and we just have like more people than they have games, there's going to be fist fights in a parking lot in Benton in the middle of the night. And I want to try to avoid that. So, I'm trying to come up with a way that we can, you know, reasonably have a rush to get maybe a spot for the pre-release party so that at least, you know, before you take time off work and travel all the way out that like your game is secured. So, that's what I'm working on right now. I think I came up with a fairly fair way to do it, but I think no matter what happens, people are going to be disappointed, left out, FOMO. It's going to be bad. So, short of releasing another thousand Beetlejuice games. I don't know any way to avoid that. So, that's just it's going to happen. But, everybody that does get a game is going to be super happy. And so, that'll be the counterbalance there. Phantom Tilt, have you come to Tennessee yet? Yeah. Phantom Tilt, where are you guys at? I believe I believe they're in Tennessee. Uh, killing it there. Um, released a show last night. Everybody's doing shows right now. It's like pinball's back on. The doldrums are over. Fall is here. And I I feel like I could do a show every other day with just like everything that's going on. Um, Expo was was amazing. I feel like I feel like Expo needs to be twice as long just just to be able to see everything because I sure didn't. Morning,

  • Virtual pinball cabinet technology (UltraVP) depreciates significantly each year as new versions release

    high confidence · Don describes owning a 5.0 model while 8.0 exists, noting 'every year there's a brand new one' with better specs, making older units lose value

  • The Zagnut candy bar was the candy used in the Beetlejuice film

    high confidence · Don: 'That was the candy from the film Beetlejuice, man' and discusses its use in the iconic scene

  • “I wouldn't be the best at pinball, so like that game had all the gameplay and more. The light shows, it was like, it was so incredible having that game.”

    Don@ 13:52 — Explains his evolution from casual Stern player to serious collector via Jersey Jack Guns and Roses

  • “the strongest triple threat ever... Winchester, Beetlejuice, and Ghostbusters Remastered”

    Don@ 24:58 — Articulates hypothetical best-case scenario for the market that would rival Harry Potter's dominance

  • “It's a great candy bar... Zagnut's definitely funny. And like, I knew about Zagnut cuz I was a weird kid.”

    Don@ 29:17 — Defends the cultural significance of the Zagnut candy bar as an authentic film reference

  • “I think Stern can really pivot like that. If I was them, I would have Ghostbusters ready to go. I'd have Lord of the Rings ready to go and then just have them, you know, on the back burner.”

    Don@ 25:23 — Offers business advice to Stern about maintaining a strategic reserve of blockbuster licenses for market downturns

    • Charlie Emery
    person
    Guns and Rosesgame
    Dark Knightgame
    Godzillagame
    Rick and Mortygame
    Iron Maidengame
    Harry Pottergame
    Walking Deadgame
    Evil Deadgame
    Ultramangame
    Bentonlocation
    Wisconsin Dellslocation
    Pinball Round Tableorganization
    IFPAorganization
    We Are Pinballorganization
    Phantom Tiltorganization
    Super Awesome Pinball Showorganization

    high · Don: 'reconciliations have been happening amongst pinball... I wasn't forced to do it or anything. The only thing these guys at Spooky asked of me was that I need to start hunting now'

  • $

    market_signal: Distributor allocation model completely exhausted; pre-order lists oversubscribed; no direct sales availability (except ~100 units) suggests structural supply shortage or deliberate limited production strategy

    high · Don: 'interest lists that were eclipsing what they were going to get... they turned around, they got their allotments a couple of days ago... Everybody that was on a list took their game'

  • ?

    content_signal: Don increasingly favoring livestreams over edited long-form content due to lower production friction and immediate community interaction

    medium · Don: 'live streaming has been a lifeline because you can just hit start, go, it goes out to people. There's no editing' and describes need for editor/camera support for scaled production

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Discussion of candy bar licensing in classic films (Zagnut in Beetlejuice, Reese's Pieces in ET, Baby Ruth in Goonies/Caddyshack) as creative constraint that sometimes improves comedic effect

    medium · Don discusses how M&Ms licensing was too expensive so ET used Reese's Pieces; Beetlejuice used niche Zagnut candy bar; implications for pinball licensing decisions

  • ?

    product_strategy: Don advises Stern to maintain 'back burner' ready development of blockbuster licenses (Ghostbusters, Lord of the Rings, Tron) to deploy during market downturns

    low · Don: 'If I was them, I would have Ghostbusters ready to go. I'd have Lord of the Rings ready to go and then just have them on the back burner... if there's a little bit of a downturn, you're like, we're just gonna reach back and grab this'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Industry sentiment strongly positive following Winchester success and anticipated Beetlejuice announcement; described as 'doldrums are over, fall is here'

    high · Don: 'Expo was amazing... It's like pinball's back on. The doldrums are over. Fall is here... I could do a show every other day with just like everything that's going on'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Spooky Luke actively managing announcements and strategic timing; appears to be making business/announcement decisions at Spooky Pinball

    medium · Don asks 'Luke, what's up today on Sunday? Should we come down?' and 'Can we expect something this weekend? This week?' suggesting Luke controls announcement timing

  • ?

    technology_signal: UltraVP cabinet technology depreciates rapidly (5.0 to 8.0 versions); annual upgrades with better haptics/screens drive secondary market losses and force upgrades to maintain value

    high · Don: 'every year there's a brand new one... The software is better... the longer I had it, like the less it was going to be worth... I went ahead and got it out'

    • 6:06
    Monica. All right, I guess my audio is working okay. Otherwise, I've just been talking. You guys would have told me by now.
    6:16
    Um, have you gone to Game yet? All right, so I need some recommendations. I had somebody email me. What are the spots in Nashville, Tennessee that need to be hit? I know Game Galaxy's come up before. I know Glenn's House comes up all the time. Like what are the good spots? I know Nashville is a cool town. I've been there. Last time I was there, I mainly went to this indoor skate park. Had a great bowl. It was super awesome. Um but I haven't done like the pinball stuff in Nashville.
    6:48
    Yeah. You know, every now and then I hit a hard reset. Like the beard just gets a little unmanageable and it's like unless I spend a lot of time detailing it and sculpting it, it's like tell you what, let's just let's just go back. Let's go back to clean shaven young dawn and then then we'll go ahead and uh we'll grow it back. It's coming back. I can get a beard in a week. I don't know. It's it's my superpower. Look, you can watch me grow it in real time. See, it's coming in. Cats and coffee. Who are these people? I love this. Who's red puffy bits or pink puffy bits? That's so funny. You guys are wild. Um, so I was actually gonna run out the house and and and forget to do a live stream. And then, uh, Mr. Spooky Luke, who he must be getting ready, um, encouraged me to go ahead and do it. So, here we are. I'll be getting out of the house, going to the Dells today. Uh, a little business to attend to on a Sunday, grab some breakfast, and then we'll be back home, and I'm going to jump back on D and D and start playing as this barbarian character. Uh, which is super fun.
    7:57
    This is your mama. Oh, mama's here. Perfect. Cats and coffee. I love it. Well, then who's pink puffiness?
    8:06
    I guess the algorithm must be working better because I didn't even post anything about this. I just went live and already had two people like when I hit live. That was crazy. Um, so, uh, reconciliations have been happening amongst pinball. Want to speak to that. Nothing that was forced. It's just like, you know, it's a matter of carrying around the burden kind of sucks. And so I do feel a lot more freer now. Just did a show with Canada and I know some people may say, um, you know, Don Don, you sold out or something. I didn't sell nobody gave me any money. Um, but like I wasn't forced to do it or anything. Uh, people are like, well, well, you you're you're on the the rolls at Spooky, so you had to do it. It's like that's not the case. The only thing these guys at Spooky asked of me was that I need to start hunting now. Like that was that was the only thing. Um I think my interview was just telling fart jokes in the driveway. So I I think I fit in there. Um I'm here for it. I went and bought a hunting hat and blaze orange. It's a quick trip and blazed one. So I think I I think I fully became Wisconsin.
    9:16
    But you know, it's fine. Um, you know, and if there's somebody out there that's being an ass and, you know, you you don't like them for that reason or whatever, I'm sure whatever reason you have is just fine. I'm not telling anybody what to do. Um, you know, I I'll still call it like I see it, but like I'm not going to avoid a pinball event because of somebody that's going there. Um, I I just I'm not interested in that. When I started the podcast, I did it for myself. Um, I was like, whether one person listens or 10, either way, it's fine. and I just wanted to put stuff out. Everybody's got a hundred bad episodes in them. I wanted to get my hundred out, right? Um, but now because of like all the connections in the community and stuff, I feel like now I have to do it for everybody else, which is like lets me enjoy it on a completely separate level, which is amazing. So, you know, having infighting and things I don't feel are best for everybody else out there. You know, I certainly don't like to listen to all that stuff. So, that kind of plays into it as well. I think we're in a good spot now. Um, you know, but people know who they are. People know how they are. So, you know, I'm not expecting, you know, miracles. I I'm only responsible for myself. And I still like to clown when I have time and opportunity to do so. I can't read the chat in these though in the dark. Jesus, too. It's too hard. Grand pinball today. Uh, what should have stopped at 100? Christopher, Mr. Franchie. Oh, you butthole. So, like there was this adage, I think I think it came from artists that everybody's got like a hundred bad drawings in them, so just get them out of the way and then get to your good stuff. And like the moral there is you're going to improve over time, right? Um, and so I took that adage like, let me get my 100 bad episodes out there and then we'll do a hundred more bad episodes and then 100 more after that.
    11:11
    My goal, Franchie, don't change. My goal was to um make it on to the super awesome pinball show. And I thought if I just if I just keep putting out great content that I would get invited there eventually and then my content was so good that they had to just go up and cancel the show altogether. I don't know that the show ever really went away. I think it's just on on an extended hiatus, but dude, I would love for just like a super awesome pinball show episode to just drop. Um, I think that that was one of my favorites when I first started. And I dude, dude, I get it. I get how difficult it is to wrangle other people to record with. And then, you know, editing takes a lot of time. Enzo, I will never stop cosplaying if it's funny. Even if it's only funny to me, I'm going to keep doing it. You ran us off with your high quality. That cannot be true. It had to be some I'm thinking it's a love triangle or a love tetrahedrin that went on. Something went down in the hot tub. I know there's a story, but yeah, like I, you know, I love the big episode. Town Rumor wants to know, "How do you feel about Okay, let me tell you how I feel about I feel about like this. I feel all about myself. I think your comment may have gotten truncated there. Virtual pinball. Let's talk about that real quick. I love virtual pinball. I got a virtual pinball machine. My uh which one was it? It was It was the UltraVP from Recck Room World. Now they're VP cabs. It was very expensive. It It was the only machine that I've played that had great haptics and felt like one to one um between actually pushing the buttons and seeing the things on the screen. Like there was no lag in this machine. It was great. I had it for two, three years. It was like $9,500. I mean, it it was like the price of a Stern Premium, which is nuts. I specifically wanted one bad enough that I went and scheduled extra shifts to work so that I could then pay for it. Charlie, no, that's totally perfect. Didn't you email me today? All right. Game Galaxy. Everybody list your things in Nashville in the chat that are cool because homeboy's going there. Um, so my idea was getting into pinball. I had one pinball machine. It was a Stern Dark Knight. I traded that in and I got a brand new and boxed limited edition Guns and Roses, which blew my mind going from Stern like like pre-spike one to a Jersey Jack machine loaded with all those lights. And you know, I wasn't the best at pinball, so like that game had all the gameplay and more. The light shows, it was like, it was so incredible having that game. And then I was like, okay, I don't want to end up with 10 games in my basement. So, let me get a virtual machine so that I can have all the Valley Williams games. I can have some of the newer Stern games. I can have stuff that never came out, stuff that's rare, Big Bang Bar, whatever, all in one cabinet. So I could have that gameplay, have the variety, but also have the actual machine too. So best of both worlds situations. And that was the plan. And then Godzilla came and Rick and Morty came and I don't know, Iron Maiden showed up at some point. And then you know what happened, right? And so I got to the point where I now had 18 games downstairs. I didn't really need the virtual because I had the variety and I had the reel. And so I made a deal and I swapped out my VP cab for an Ultramman butter cabinet, which I have now. So, you know, a good lateral move, I think. Um, I like Virtual Pinball for the fact that you have the gameplay, the sounds, the rules, right? Real is always better, but having 1400 games in your cabinet is fun, too. If you just want to go play Frontier for a little bit, you can go do that in your virtual cabinet. Now, the problem with the UltraVPs is is every year like there's a brand new one. I had a 5.0. They're up to 8.0 now with like the screens are even better. There's even better haptics in there. The software is better. So, it's kind of like you have to buy this thing and then a year later the value goes way down and then you have to like reby if you want the next biggest one. So, it was like, I need to upgrade it because there's just there's VR implementation, 3D implementation, like all kinds of stuff is going on with these things. And so, the longer I had it, like the less it was going to be worth. So, you know, I I went ahead and got it out. Methodone would like to know if we're getting a Phantom Tilt podcast soon. I hope, man. I hope. You know, but you can't force it. You got to be feeling it, feeling the energy to get in there and record. You don't want to just hit record and like try to force a show. It's going to be horrible. So, I want to hear all about um Ryan's trip through the U. This is a major trip they're on. I I love that Monik and I did a seven-week trip around the US one year and it was like one of the the most mind expanding things that you can do and these guys are on something similar. Like imagine seeing Wisconsin and Nashville and Florida all for the first time. You know what that's like? So, that's going to be awesome. I'm gonna scroll back to Franchie's comment here. We just started interviewing everyone for a second and third time. We felt we did what we set out to do. Plus, we all got really busy and tired of doing all the production editing yourself. I now I get it, man. Dude, I totally get it. Like, it can be a lot. Uh, live streaming has been a lifeline because you can just hit start, go, it goes out to people. There's no editing. We interact and then we're done and it publishes on its own. I love that. Um, I feel like at this point I need like a team. Like I'd love to have a camera person so we can do like more content and then have an editor that can edit that for me because I'll go around and generate stuff non-stop. But it's like you have to sit down and then you have to edit and it's like at some point I need to work, I need to eat, I need to go skateboarding. So I just don't have time.
    17:22
    Live streams are the way to go. I I think it's a component. I still like the recorded session. Here's what we're going to get through. Here's the perspective. Let's get it out. Here's what the community is saying. Here's great ideas. Please, somebody use them. Um, but the interactivity of the live stream though is good as well. So, you got to do both. And I like doing both. I think I did an episode yesterday. Felt really good. Was in was in the pocket. Hopefully, people liked it. Um, when you start doing shows with like other people, three people, and it's like, ah, this is kind of exhausting. You know, I'm good for about 30 minutes or so, and then I want to go do something else. So, it's hard for me to do like a 90minute show all the time. So, um, I like doing the lives here. The lives Patreon has live now, too. And that's it's super easy to just go on anytime and like there it is. Um because you could just do silly stuff and it just you know pops up, people watch it and then it it moves on. It doesn't like clog up your YouTube. I'll do podcast with Franchie. I'll do all the work. Franchie. Oh, perfect. Hold my pocket.
    18:35
    Luke, what's up today on Sunday? Should we come down? I'm not gonna be that far away. Like I haven't even had time to launch this. I have this Star Wars shooter rod. What do you guys think? It's a Death Star. It fits in the hand. I think it'd be fun. I made some extra. I was going to post it on Facebook or something. I do these for 60. If somebody wants one, I'm gonna send some out. But it's a good shooter rod that feels better in the hand than the uh than the Stormtrooper helmet does. It's shiny, you know. Reggie says, "Why does your head look different? What did you do?" I took it out of my rear. is hold my pickle. Yes,
    19:20
    Monica. You know I'll hold your pickle. Give me that pickle, man. If you offer me a pickle, I'm I'm a whole I'm a I'm a fist it. I'm a hand it. What What were we saying, Don? Full mitt. A full mitt. Give me that pickle. We're full mitting it. Yeah. If you hand me a pickle, I'm going to grab it with my entire hand like a monkey. All right. Method wants the Spirit of Dawn back. It's coming, man. It's growing in right now. Like next week it'll be there.
    19:55
    Franchie slaps. Man, that was so funny. [laughter] I remember that. Um >> Franchie, when you move into Benton, I
    20:01
    Franchie, when you move into Benton, I
    20:01
    Franchie, when you move into Benton, I can um I'll just start playing loud music and I'll force my neighbors to sell their home and then you can just go ahead and move into that one.
    20:12
    I want to hear about Ryan's pickle experiences. It was mind-blowing, I'll tell you that. We got to get Enzo a boat ticket out here so he can come visit. I do slap. Just ask bug. That was super funny. So, I haven't heard when we're hearing about Beetlejuice, but I don't know that that the community can really hold back very much more. Um, people are ready to just explode. Um, I really want to I really want to do this event. I think I have a fun way to do it. Um, when are you going to move to the new house? Slowly over the next couple months. I I think after January, we'll be there most of the time. Um, here's what I'm thinking. Um, the people that want to come for a midnight release, we're going to have to RSVP it. I have to find out like how many games are going to be available so I know how many spots because I don't want 50 people showing up and there's like 25 games and then we're all fighting, you know. So I think uh I think I'll just have like an email RSVP list and you'll have to use a password so that everybody will will know about the process that you have to email for a spot. They're free, but you know, just to make sure that everybody that comes can be guaranteed a deposit spot. And then I'll um I'll post like at noon that day, everybody will know what time. I'll just post everywhere the password. Then you just email me with that password and I'll just take people first come, first serve. We'll fill in there. And then that way at least everybody that takes time off work that travels will be assured that they'll be able to secure a deposit if that's what they want. And if you want to bring a friend just to hang out, we'll bring a friend to hang out, too. But I think that's the safest way to do it. I don't want people, you know, getting super upset. The closest airport would be uh Deuke, Iowa. It's about 20 minutes away. Deuke essentially just flies to and from Chicago. And so it's the kind of thing that like once you would fly to Chicago, it'd probably be quicker to just get a car and drive the two hours to Benton rather than wait like two hours for a connecting flight and fly to Deuke and then come in. Um, but Madison, Wisconsin is close as well. It's only about an hour and a half. So, uh, Madison's got flights from just about everywhere, including direct from Texas. Um, so that might be an option for people as well. Duki. Yeah, it it's it's spelled Duki. Um I almost took the berries to Duki. We went to the Mississippi River. That was fun. Did you guys have fun in St. Louis? I haven't even heard how that went.
    23:00
    Um but I I think that with the fact that when this game launches, you're going to go to the website, the games are going to be gone and it's going to be crashed and like that's it. So, it may be worthwhile putting forth the effort. You know what? I'm just going to fly out. We're going to go to Don's house. We're going to go to the factory. We're going to secure the deposit. I'll know I have it. And I would also like it if uh one of the games can be there, too. So, at minimum, you can actually see the game and probably have a little bit of time to play it. I'll have details. We're still working it out, but that's the plan. Otherwise, we just have to say, "Forget it. We can't do it. Just do your best with the website and go with that. All right, St. Louis was awesome. How long have we been going? 25 minutes. I gotta get out of here, you guys. Um, Luke, are you still around? Give us a comment. Give us some sage advice. Can we expect something this weekend? This week? Is it a surprise? Do you want me to shut up? He's over there like, "Don, shut the hell up. We're planning something.
    24:12
    But like I know that if I really wanted this game, which I do, um I would be willing to put forward the effort to go out and and yeah, midnight release it. Yeah. Do you think Stern will do a remastered Ghostbusters this year? No, I don't think they'll do it. Yes, I think they're going to. No, I don't. Eventually, but this year, no. In the next two months, no, I don't think so. Um, Stern would break the hobby if they did that. If they, uh, you know, instead of Walking Dead, if they decided, you know what, grab that Ghostbusters we've been working on. F it. Everybody, all programmers, get on Ghostbusters right now. We're dropping that. I think that would be the only thing that would just like explode the whole pinball community. We get Winchester, Beetlejuice, and Ghostbusters Remastered. the strongest triple threat ever. Like the only thing that could contend with Harry Potter's juggernaut status. Um, I would love to see that, but I don't think it's going to happen. Um, I don't think I don't know if that Stern can really pivot like that. If I was them, I would I'm sure they looked at this like I would have Ghostbusters ready to go. I'd have Lord of the Rings ready to go and then just have them, you know, on the back burner. And so if games are selling and everything's going fine, great. But if there's a big downturn and you need a heavy hitter, you just reach back. Lord of the Rings remastered. Boom. Ghostbusters remastered. Thousandle's gone. Boom. Uh, premiums running out the door. Pros. No, no, we're not doing pros. Just boom, boom. Like, yeah, I would do that. Kevin thinks they should do Night of the Living Dead. That is an an open source license right now. Like, you don't have to pay a licensing fee for that. It's public domain. Yeah. Um, don't worry about uh any [snorts] licensing issues.
    26:10
    Do you think Stern? Okay. No. Uh, sign me up. Lucas laughs at me. Are you a big fan of the Beetlejuice movie? Hells yes. I I I quoted it most of my young adulthood. Hey, we even dress the same. Hey, come here. Come here. I got something for you. I love that, man. I love that.
    26:30
    Yeah, like have have Tron ready to go, Ghostbusters ready to go, Lord of the Rings ready to go, or at least like parb baked so they're right there. So, if there's like a little bit of a downturn, you're like, we're just gonna reach back and grab this and boom, print some money because it absolutely would at this point, like once Beetlejuice comes out and, you know, we all bought Winchester, um, Walking Dead would sit there and I'd be like, I like that, but at some point, especially if it's doesn't have any clips from the show, if there's no show clips and it's just comic book, then like I don't mind getting one. It's going to be the definitive Walking Dead, but I don't need it now. I'll wait. I'll wait. Hey, got something for you. The freaking Zagnus. I was listening to the pinball round table and these guys had no idea what the Zagnut was. Um they're like, "Yeah, Bug was handing out these weird candy bars. Is this just a Wisconsin thing?" It's like that was the candy from the film Beetlejuice, man. And it it's like they still make this candy bar, but it's always been a little niche, a little hard to find. Um, it's better than a Butterfinger, I think. Um, and it was probably a thing where like Eminem Mars was like too much. Like Snickers was too much. So, they're able to go back and like we need we need a candy bar here. We can do a Zagnut and and still do the the gag. Got something for you. Oh, yeah. Come on. Fly. >> I love it. Um, so, uh, that's the reason
    27:57
    I love it. Um, so, uh, that's the reason
    27:57
    I love it. Um, so, uh, that's the reason that Reese's Pieces is an ET because they wanted to use M&M's and the licensing for Eminem was too much and they were able to get Reese's Pieces and then Reese's Pieces absolutely blew up after being used in that film. And like to this day, it's still like I I like it better than M&M's. All from ET. All which would make another great theme. Please, can we make an ET pinball machine? Somebody
    28:28
    Oh, and then um I think a type of candy bar was the joke. It was okay. I think it Come on. They would have held up a Hershey bar if they could have. I I think it it was it was obscure and at the time like this is Tim Burton. He's only made a couple of films. How do you bribe someone with a candy bar? That's good. That seems like recconing. Um but I see what you mean. Like it's a crappy candy bar and it's a fly. Okay. So, the, you know,
    28:59
    yeah, um, Eminem could have turned it down, too, or for whatever reason, they just couldn't go forward with it. And, um, I will challenge that theory, though, Mr. Christopher, because I think that Zagnuts are the opposite of a candy bar. I think it's a great candy bar. Zagnut's definitely funny. And like, I knew about Zagnut cuz I was a weird kid. So, when I saw that, I was like, that's awesome. It's a freaking Zagnut. Zagnut is funnier, and they're delicious. And I'm trying to come up with like a chocolate martini that we can make with a with a crushed Zagnut dusted rim for like the drink of the the event.
    29:43
    I don't know. just take like hot chocolate and vodka and then uh you know put a put a Zagnut frosted rim. I don't think they can do Ghostbusters or Lord of the Ring licenses. They can. It'll it just cost money, but I think they can do it.
    30:02
    Scott Avery, Google Zagnut. You could probably order them on Amazon direct. It is essentially a butter finger without the chocolate and just has like some crushed coconut on it. It It's like if you took a Cho Stick, if you know what those are, and like crushed it into candy bar shape. That's kind of what it's like. Goonies has a Baby Ruth. ET has the Reese's Pieces. Beetlejuice has the Zagnut. What other What other ' 80s movies had a candy bar.
    30:32
    So yeah, go just just Google Zagnut, you'll see the candy bar. They're delicious, by the way. And I actually found one in Maine when I was out there and I bought a couple and I ate one and brought one home. I can't wait for this game. I hope we get some info soon.
    30:54
    Freaking spooky. All right, guys. I got to run. Let's get some Let's get some comments out there. Yeah, Catty Shack was also a Baby Ruth that was floating in the pool. That works because Baby Ruth, it's a caramel ball, caramel uh candy bar covered in peanuts, then covered in chocolate, so it looks like a floating turd. So that was funny. And then they played the Jaws music. I love the 80s, man. I thought the teaser was today. People are saying that Cracker Barrel has Zegnut. They do. Okay. Go to Cracker Barrel. You can get yourself one if you need a double chocolate vodka. Okay. All right, Eric, help me come up with this drink. I was watching a video on YouTube about defunct 70s candy bars last night. How about screw ball whiskey is peanut butter flavored. So, there could probably be a whiskey drink as well. Maybe we can have two. A zagnut whiskey drink. But the people that can't do peanut butter, well, they can have a zagnut. I don't want to cause any kind of allergies. Um, the people that can't handle peanuts, they can go ahead and have a white claw. I think that's fair. Was there any candy bars in Gremlins there? I gota I think there was. Somebody Google researched that because they got fed after midnight. I think they got into some candy and either in Gremlins one or two I I think they got into a candy bar, but like was there a branded one? I can't remember. Um I know Pepsi was in uh Back to the Future.
    32:29
    100 Grand bars are they're okay. It's like a a caramel version of a Nestle's Crunch.
    32:42
    Guy's going to hit the road. Uh, yes, I will go to the giant quick trip in the Dells. Oh, shoot, Ryan. There was another quick trip in the Dells. There's They built two more Quick Trips in the Dells. They're both brand new. We should have hit both of those, too. We just didn't have enough pe time, people. We didn't have enough time. Whatchamacallits are still around. They're delicious. Um, there's two brand new Quick Trips that we could have went to also, and I think we drove by them. We just We didn't have the time. We were going hard the entire time you guys were here.
    33:19
    I'm just glad that my my friends from Australia were able to go to like my local Quick Trip. Mind-blowing. That's like when I went to their local chicken treat. Feels like Jason Wrightman's Ghost Corps production company was trying to push Ghostbusters licensing. So it now is it the Ghostbusters licensing that's available but like some of the actors from the films weren't. So you could like you could use the world of Ghostbusters and you could use Ecto1 but you couldn't use Vinkman, you know? Like you got to think about all that stuff too. I would love you guys moved to Platville. We can all go hunting. I miss Marathon Bar and Chocolate Light. I have no idea what that stuff is. Is that weird Detroit area snacks? Snickers was gremlins. Thank you, Monica. Thank you, Monica. Are we ready to go? How close are you to House on a Rock right now? Two hours. When I move, 1 hour. And since Winchester Mystery House did so well, I'm going to pitch House on the Rock. Let's make a House on the Rock pinball machine.
    34:29
    Yeah, Eminem should have went on it, but at the time, you know, Spielberg's name wasn't as huge and legendary as it is now. Um, you know, someone turned around and made Mac and Me, and that sucked, except for the kid in the wheelchair getting pushed off a cliff. It's the best part of the movie. That and the cameo from Ronald McDonald. Otherwise, the Mac and Me alien is the ugliest thing I think I've seen in film. Ghostbusters had a crunch. Nice. I met the guys from the Australia Pinball Museum at Expo. That's awesome. Monica, where you at? Can we go? Are we ready? Is the car warmed up? Is my Diet Coke ready? All right, we'll go a couple more minutes, then I got to get out of here. Phantom Tilt. They were a little odd, though. Funny. All right, Mon's ready. For a Wisconsin company like Spooky, House on the Rock would be amazing. Yeah. Um, I'm so bummed. Like we didn't have enough time, but we I was going to take my friends to House on the Rock, but instead we just had a great time with the spooky folks. Like I wouldn't trade that. We still did the better thing. It's just we could have done that, too. House on the Rock has this infinity room that's cantalvered out over a a creasse. That could be a focal point. It's got so many weird rooms in it. It's just like a big mysterious mansion full of weird, eclectic, strange stuff.
    35:52
    Yeah, for real. We got to go. House on the Rock. It's the greatest roadside attraction that I found in in the United States. Like outside of like Disneyland or something. But like as far as like weird roadside things that are in the middle of nowhere but are completely mind-blowing, um, House on the Rock is it. Um, I follow a lot of people on YouTube that travel around to roadside attractions. Adam the Woo, Carpet Bagger, and like they all agree that like House on the Rock is the greatest of the roadside attractions. There it's just so much that's there and you can't really explain what it is.
    36:34
    Now, Frank Lloyd Wright didn't have anything to Well, nothing directly to do with House on the Rock. Um Frank Lidd Wright is down the street. He's got Talison, which is like his one of his big installations. Some say it's a bit culty or whatever. Um, and so this guy that did uh House on the Rock, wanted to be an architect and work with him, Frank Lloyd Wright, but of course he was dismissed. So he was like, "Heck it, I'm going to build my own shack in the woods." And it grew from there. So it's definitely like taking inspirations from that like 1950s, 1960s strange architecture style. So this guy built this house on this rock on the top of a mountain in Wisconsin and then just started collecting things and just went from there. Falling Water is in uh near Pittsburgh. That that's a Franklidd ride home. But like parts of House in the Rock like you tell that they're inspired by places like Falling Water and like the same kind of idea.
    37:32
    Alex Jordan. Yeah, that's the guy. And so this guy just started building and then it just became a tourist attraction. Slowly grew over time and now the best way to describe it I think is a collection of collections. So dollous, copper kettles, just all of that. Someone's texting me. All right, Luke. Oh, I just got my allocation for the midnight release and
    38:12
    but it's what we got to do. So, um yeah, this will be good. Um it's not going to be the kind of thing where you can show up with 20 people you hired and just purchase all the games for resale. Um I have to find a way to make it fair for everybody so nobody feels like it was it was an unfair selection process. Um, but there's not going to be that many. There's just not that many left. Um, I I think they I think they gave as much allocation as they could to all the dealers. Um, and I think they they have some for themselves to sell and it's about half of what I was expecting them to do. So, man, these guys could have just like cut down the allocations, sold half of the games from the website, they could have charged $2,000 more, and they're not. And they're not. These guys are men of men and a woman of integrity.
    39:08
    The largest problem is many of us already have committed to one elsewhere. That's not a problem. That's fantastic. That's fantastic. If you're committed, great, dude. Celebrate. Celebrate. Um, this is going to be like a last chance for um, you know, those intrepid people willing to do something stupid to get a pinball machine.
    39:30
    Yeah. I I think, you know, originally they were probably thinking of only doing like another 8.88, but they're like, we got to push it. We got to push it. And yeah, um I I think even at 1200 this would have been super limited, but it's not what it is. That's not what it is. And you know what the funniest thing? There's a reason they don't make 2,000 games is because they just say they get bored after a while and they want to get on to something else. This is the greatest business. I love these guys. They're really just just doing doing what they want. And um everybody that gets a game like feels like they have something special. I love that guys. We'll talk soon. I think there's more stuff coming today. Is there a fix for Europe and for us for Beetle? Uh, Stefan. Um, I don't know, man. Fly out. [laughter]
    40:24
    Yeah, I don't even know what the split for, uh, for Europe is. I'm going to go. Maybe I'll end up in Benton today. I'll try to ask him directly. Um, but I'll talk to you all soon. You know that more information is going to come today. So, um, keep your eye on the internet. I don't think, you know, it's like sales are going to open today and you need to you need to drop, but I think we're going to get some more information. So this can be done in as civilized a manner as as possible. It's freaking Beetlejuice. I want a Zagnut.