Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. We are on episode 25. I know it's been a couple weeks, but I've got my co-captain with me as always. Scott Larson. And today, Scott, I figured, you know what? It's our year show. It's been a full year since we started this bad boy. Let's make it special. Let's have our very first female guest on, okay? So coming from San Antonio, Texas, I view her as a pinball ambassador for women. We've got Lauren Gray on. How's it going, Lauren? Oh, thank you so much. Oh, well, happy anniversary, y'all. Thank you. You're welcome. Hey, you know, a year is a big deal. You know, there's the pod fade. People, you know, you get excited and then, you know, it kind of just drifts off. But you guys made it a year. That's awesome. There seems to be two anniversaries. It's a year. So people say, OK, so you actually did it the entire year. And then it seems like the 100 episode drop off. Everybody gets to 100 episodes and then they say, OK, I think we're done. I've said what I wanted to say and I'm out. I'm done. I'm out. I'm out. I'm moving on. Mic drop. Peace out. But well, cool. Tell us, will you please introduce yourself to everyone that may not know you from our audience? Lauren? Sure. Again, my name is Lauren Gray. I am homegrown San Antonio, Texas. I was really originally from Chicago. I came into the hobby a few years ago. I, you know, was told by my husband to find a hobby in a very nice way. He he's an artist and he just was like, don't you have a hobby? I'm like, no. So I went through a whole collection of different hobbies. It was hysterical. was like the year of Lauren finding herself. And I ended up asking myself what I loved when I was a kid. And the thing I came back to was pinball. I loved pinball. So I literally Googled pinball, Texas, you know, groups. And I found out about this little thing called the Bat City Open. And I signed up and I went and that was like my first tournament ever. That was horrifying, but it was super fun. So from there, you know, I really got into the hobby. I met the Bells in Times from Houston, Texas. So I went ahead and founded the Bells and Times chapter in San Antonio, and we're going about 30 ladies strong. So I'm really excited about that. And then in the midst of all of this, because, you know, I went all in into the hobby. I got really into listening to all the pinball podcasts. And I thought, you know, they're all great. I love listening to them. I've listened to you guys. I listen to Twip, Special Inlet, Pinball Profile, you know, Pinball Players podcast, but I just didn't hear a lot of women and a lot of the kind of, I don't want to say struggles, but challenges maybe that women players have sometimes at events or just in the hobby in general. So I wanted to give them a voice. So I'm like, you know what, let's be extra niche-y and we'll have a pinball podcast about ladies and pinball. So again, I started the Backbox Pinball Podcast back in June. So it's been about six months. We've had 30 episodes so far. We've had women all across the hobby and the sport. We've had people who make their living in pinball and we've had people who are competitive players. We've had people who do restoration, people who work for some of the larger pinball manufacturers and distributors like Crystal Gemnick. So it's just been a really fun ride and I really enjoyed it so far. I definitely see myself growing in the hobby and the sport and just enjoy all the people I've met so far. It's interesting you talked about what you liked doing when you were a kid, and you actually gravitated toward pinball. So that surprises me a little bit because when I was growing up in the arcade scene in the 80s, really I didn't see too many women. It was your stereotype, right? It was a whole bunch of 12-year-old – okay, I'm in Utah, so a whole bunch of 12-year-old greasy white dudes. and we're all trying to play Altered Beast or Donkey Kong or whatever. And so I'm curious as to like what part of when were you playing pinball? Were you playing it at like a skating center or in the arcade? And who did you go with? Because at least in my small microcosm, I didn't see too many. Right, right. No, so we had a local arcade inside the mall, Westlakes Mall back in San Antonio. and there was this an arcade and it was one of those things where our dad took us he's like this is the arcade and my you know later I find out that my dad was a super big pinhead and he played pinball all day long at the bowling alley from his hometown in Belleville Illinois and but what he did he's like hey this is a pinball machine I'm like this looks really cool dad how does this work and he sat there and showed me a couple of games and I was hooked and it was a pin bot and that was all I wanted to play I didn't want to play gauntlet I didn't want to play street fighter. I didn't want to play Donkey Kong, whatever. I just wanted to play pinball. And of course the pins grew. This was like late eighties, early nineties. So, you know, we had pinball. I remember many, many, many games of Adam's family and it was just something I really loved. And then over the years, you know, you grow older, we moved away, malls went away. Whenever I ran across a pinball machine, whether it be in a bar or wherever, I would always like, you know, dump some money into it. And I just remember the feeling of a kid just being so excited about pinball. I just, I loved all the mechanics, the lights. It just, to me, it was the, the, the tactile quality of it. Just, you know, I felt like I was more in control and had more, um, kind of, you know, money on the table when it came to pinball as opposed to a video game. That's totally awesome. Like it, it's funny that that's what drew you in is, is, and I don't know if it's the parental guidance that are not, but it's, I don't know. It's just, it's really cool to me. And I grew up in an area that really didn't have pinball. And so like I talked about on our first episode, I actually had to learn pinball from video games. And I know that's actually kind of where we're seeing it come from as well, too. I know there's plenty of people that said, well, I started out with the pinball arcade and I loved it so much. I'm like, where can I buy one of these? And so it's cool to see the different backgrounds where people are coming from getting into the hobby. And people poo-poo pinball arcade, but I love pinball arcade and I will hold the flag for them forever. I play it all the time when I'm sitting in an airport waiting for a plane or, you know, just when I'm not able to actually, you know, play a physical pinball machine. And when I started back into, you know, what is, you know, now my big time hobby, I played a lot of pinball arcade and I still do. When they had that run, when they stopped carrying the Williams titles, I would have bought an obscene amount of pinball games on pinball arcade um but yeah no i really enjoy it so don't don't be mean to pinball arcade they're awesome no i love it too and it's funny because i went in one time to at&t and was like i need to talk about my bill and they're looking at it like well you could save yourself some money if you didn't buy all these pinball tables i'm like okay don't look at that i'm not talking about that talk about these other ones so did you tell your spouse that you spent 250 on uh on getting all the seasons for pinball arcade at that point in time i was still paying the phone bill he now pays the phone bill so i keep my uh purchases to a minimum okay yeah yeah basically i i did the same thing and you know i i agree with you that one of the challenges with pinball has always been especially location pinball it is so dependent on how good of an operator you have yeah um because if you go to a game that is not maintained, it doesn't flow very well, you're not going to put another quarter in. And so if you have like a well-functioning game, and that actually is pretty rare because pinball maintenance is actually pretty, it's labor intensive. We went to a Chuck E. Cheese and my wife said, this was when I first got into it. My wife said, hey, there's a pinball machine over there. You should go check it out. So I wandered over there. It was a Stern Pirates of the Caribbean, and it had one flipper that was completely not even attached. It was just floating free. It didn't have the rubbers on one of them. And I put some money into it because I was just so curious as to how bad it played. But that's the challenge with finding a lot of these classic games is that they really don't play very well just because unless you have them in a home environment or someone who is it's a labor of love and they're maintaining it but there are a lot of really janky machines out there so that is one thing that is really great about the pinball arcade is that the machines play like they were supposed to play i know it's not the same thing It's an electronic simulation of it. But you at least get probably a truer experience for what the game was intended to be by the designer than actually finding one of these beat up games in the wild. Oh, yeah. So, yeah, janking a machine where the rubbers have broken off the flippers and, you know, things don't work. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I always feel bad when, you know, we go somewhere and they're like, oh, yeah, the pinball machine was broken. And I'm like, oh, we've lost another one. And I'm not talking about the machine. I'm talking about the player because it's like if you have a great location and you have machines that are taken care of, the people will come. And I'm lucky. I'm very spoiled. Our location is amazing. What's brewing? They keep the tables and the machines, you know, in pristine condition and they're always working. And if something isn't working, you know, it's off the floor like that day. If they can't get it fixed, they'll like swap it out with something else. And see, we're very fortunate to have that too. Ketos and quarters is just the machines are always perfect. I loved quarters. Quarters was awesome. It is a fun place. And we're excited for Mikey because he's already telling us he's getting one of the Stranger Things premiums in there. So I wish they'd just make it. That place was so cool. It was like a pinball speakeasy. You know, I'm like going down there. I have a picture of me in front of the sign. And I'm like, this place is really cool. So I had a great time. They have a great collection there. Oh, yeah. So I haven't actually been inside quarters, but I'll give you my very contracted story. We decided to get tickets to Wicked, and we had a big group, so we bought eight tickets. And we went down there, and we handed them the tickets, and they looked down and said four of these were for Tuesday. Oh, no! And so we had seen it before. Ironically, we're the ones who organized the event. We had seen it before, and there were two other tickets, and so everybody went into it except for us. And so we're wandering around downtown Salt Lake and just – I would say with a black cloud, kind of annoyed that we couldn't get into the show that we organized. And I will say that on the positive side, we contacted the seller, and she said, I'm so sorry. That was a big mistake. She refunded the show. It wasn't a situation where she was trying to take advantage of us. It was just an honest mistake. And so I thought, oh, and it was snowy and it was nasty and we were all dressed up. And I said, well, let's go to quarters. I haven't been there. I heard about it. So we walked down there and I realized like a block away that I didn't have my license. Oh, no. And so I said, well, we can wander there. We wandered there and they just like, yeah, we can't. We've got a license. You can't get it. I'm just like, okay, one, I don't look 18. And it's fine. I totally get it. It's the liquor license laws that if they don't follow all the rules, then someone could turn them in. But that's my only experience with quarters is that I was down there at the time, and I thought, oh, I'll just go in, and then I couldn't get in because I didn't have my license. But anyway. Aw. I know. Sad, right? That is very sad. So, guys, let's move into the news because I sent over the notes, and I didn't think there was much that's happened. but then I sent over the list. I'm like, uh, there's a little bit that's happened. That's a bit. Just, just a tiny bit. So I got first on here. Let's, let's talk stranger things. Uh, the premium was finally revealed at CLS. Uh, a little bit of, uh, a little bit of uproar because it was in a poorly lit room for this pinball machine and everything looked washed out from the projection. But other than that, I think the game looks great. I haven't played it yet. What are your guys' thoughts? Oh, sure. You know, there are things I like about it. Overall, I haven't played it. I have not seen it in person. I've only seen that CES stream. I saw parts of the Deadflip reveal. And then I've seen a few things on YouTube. It looks okay. I mean, the projection is probably the most interesting thing to me about that game. You know, but it's a lighting situation. And unfortunately, if you've never been in a TV studio or just, you know, had those hot lights on you, they're very bright. So it was really kind of worked against the, you know, the game. Unfortunately, I would love to see it in a more realistic environment. You know, somebody's basement or, you know, a bar or something. I think the projection would would have a bigger sell to me. It looks fun. The thing I like that I like about it, it looks easy to understand to me. Like, you know, you can see the shots, you can see, you know, kind of the progression of what you're supposed to do. And of course, I mean, the projector does look really cool. I'm waiting to see it in person. But I like the idea that the projector, they'll have more assets to add to the projector as you up the code updates. And as the seasons of the show update, from what I understand, they'll add more things to the projector, which I think is kind of cool. I agree. I'm always nervous with new technology. It's one of those catch-22s, right? You want something new and different in the machine, but you also run the risk of something new and different that doesn't actually translate very well to all different environments. and it's challenging for them to find a new thing or a new gimmick that actually works everywhere. So I'm sad that the projector didn't work super well in that, and maybe they hadn't anticipated that that was going to be the situation. Another question is, well, there are other environments where you have a well-lighted situation. For example, Pinberg. Pinberg is, you know, they put the PinStadium Lights on there and they try to make sure that it's well illuminated so you can broadcast it. And if the projector is limited by creating that mood effect, it could actually affect how well you can stream this machine. Yeah, I mean, that's a really great point. I mean, there's a laser disc out there for everybody. This could be the laser disc moment, could be the projector. You know, it's that somebody has to take a step forward and develop something new. I'm just kind of not sold on it yet until I get a little more time watching it. I will say, you know, not super excited about what I've seen. But again, it was just an unfortunate happenstance. But I'm like you guys, my home place that I play at, it's a coffee shop. It's very well lit. I don't know if a projector would really work in there. Well, I want to try a new segment. I've been talking to Lauren and Scott about this for the past couple days. We're going to do what's called the pinball scorecard. Since straight down the middle and dead flip, they've all done their wonderful first impressions, and you get to see the game. I want to do a scorecard on what our thoughts are. So it gives kind of a brief synopsis of where we kind of land with the machine. And since none of us have had our hands on the machine yet, this is going to be a first impression scorecard. So let's try this out. Okay. So on my scorecard, I've got theme first. So all these categories will be out of 10, one out of 10. So let's have Lauren go first, then Scott, and then I'll do it. So Lauren, what's your thoughts, one out of 10 on theme? Theme, I'm going to give them an eight. And that is just because Stranger Things is the most popular and most watched streamed show on Netflix, and I think ever. So, I mean, it's relevant. It's current. The show's still on. We haven't reached back for nostalgia, which I think is kind of something that always happens in pinball. But I think that they did a really good job on theme. And I will fully admit I have not watched the show, but I know enough about the show to see that it looked really well integrated into the machine. Is it a world under glass? Again, since I'm not a fan of the show, I couldn't really tell you. But from what I've seen and the pieces I've seen, I give it a very solid eight. awesome i'm gonna give it an 8.5 and i say that because this is out of the wheelhouse of my demographic which is typically where they're shooting for they're shooting for uh dudes in their 40s who are making their man caves and so that's why you hear all you know hear all the bands from the 80s or the 70s that are coming out and that's why you hear rumors for like a Motley Crue pin and all that stuff of when we were teenagers. The challenge is with and we are benefiting from the diversification of interests that the Internet and and computers have allowed us, is that there doesn't seem to be a collective experience. There doesn't seem to be a collective mega band. There doesn't seem to be a collective amazing show that everybody's seen. You're not going to see Indiana Jones. You're not going to see E.T. Maybe you could get Avengers Endgame, and you could argue that at least that's something that most people have seen. You just don't have that anymore. So for them to go with Stranger Things, it's coming from Netflix, which it's a streaming service that a lot of people have, but you have to pay for it. It's not free. Um, and so that's where, um, a lot of the stuff that we had radio was free MTV. Okay. You, you had, you still had to pay for a cable subscription, but still people knew about that. Um, you use, you have all, you know, back to the future, all these things that everybody did together. Again, they just don't have that anymore. So in today's era, what are you going to do? Well, you're going to find out what has the most buzz among teenagers and basically the 18 to 30-year-old crowd. And a lot of them like Stranger Things. So I'm with Lauren. I actually haven't seen it, but I know enough people who do. And when I shared that Stranger Things was announced, so many people texted back and said, are you getting this machine because I want to play it? so it's probably about as close to a a solid theme that you can get right now so i'm going to give it a nine and the reason being is i have seen stranger things and i'm stranger things is a good show to me it's not fantastic it's not my top 10 but it is a theme that crosses multiple generations i know 11 year old girls that's their favorite show. And I know women that are, you know, 50s, 60s, that's their favorite show because they grew up in the 80s and it's a throwback nostalgia to that time of when they were children. I think it's a win on that front. And so that's why I'm giving it a nine. So, all right, let's move on to Playfield Layout. What is your thoughts on that, Lauren? You know, from the picture, it's a fan. I mean, it's just like, you know, I'm going to give it, I'm going to give it a seven. It looks fun, but at the same time, it doesn't necessarily look super exciting. I feel bad when I say that. It's hard because I haven't played it, so I am just doing this upon looking at videos. I'm not the biggest fan of a fan layout. I mean, they're okay. It's just not my favorite thing, but it looks well laid out and well put together. I like the shot behind the movie screen where the Demogorgon, I guess that's what it's called, pops up. And then, you know, there's some other things that are kind of cool about it, but it looks fun. But I mean, it doesn't like necessarily is the greatest play field, you know, layout I've ever seen. I'm like, it's a fan. I'm like, OK, so I'm going to give it a seven. OK, yeah, I'm with you, Lauren. I'll give it a solid seven because it's safe. I am. So I'm recording in my pinball basement and I'm looking at the exact layout in Attack from Mars and Medieval Madness. And that's where I it's solid. I love those games and people play them all the time. And I know they're Brian Eddy. And it seems like I I have that. And so I give it a seven because it's a solid proven layout but there's nothing about this layout that makes me say oh from the layout alone i have to have this experience i think i have it i am right there with you guys i'm seven for me as well it's nothing innovative but it's also it will probably feel familiar and feel good um it's it's hard to tell for a play playful layout from just a top down video but i'm i'm right there with you i don't it's not inspiring to me by any means yeah all right let's move on to game rules i know this is one we're gonna have to be kind of lenient on considering um it's the code's barely along and and whatnot but what's your thoughts again seven i'm gonna just because it seemed from what i've seen again i haven't i feel like i like the for visual i haven't played it um you know that it seemed like it's got set out with very minimal code so for me it's going to take a long time to develop that that gameplay and those game rules um you know ask me this question again in a year when they've got much more updated code more robust code but for right now from what i've seen i'm giving it a seven and just that's just because of from what i see from the gameplay on the field it looks like it's an easy game to understand Okay. Yeah, and I'm going to give it an undetermined grade just because, yes, the one thing this has going for it is one of the best features of Medieval Madness and Attack from Mars in that you have – and you could even call this play field a throwback play field for a throwback theme in that you have the lights that are in the predictable places. And so you know how many times you hit the orbit You know how many times you hit the ramp because they have those lights that are going to light up I don think it we don have enough to go on to really say whether it great or Spartan I'm confident that they will be able to do something with it just because it will be Attack from Mars 2.0. Yep. So I'm going to give it a seven as well. Um, just because I think it's a good starting point. There wasn't anything that made me groan and say, Hey, this, this is not even close to complete. Uh, I think that from here, they've got a good base and I'm excited to see where they take, take it from here. So, all right, let's move on to toys, which would be, what do we got? We've got the, on the pro, we've got the Demi Gorgon and the flip down ramp. And then on the premium would be the projector and the magnet in the back for the Hertel kinetic powers. I'm going to, you know what, I'm going to give this an 8.5 because it's an 8.5 with kind of a asterisk because I really want to see more of the projector. Just because I just feel like, you know, like as we stated earlier with the things I've seen so far really hasn't wowed me. I'm like, oh, it looks cool. It's a projector. But if it's going to be, oh, well, you're not going to be able to put it in this kind of setting or this kind of setting. You know, I'm not sure on that mechanism yet. The telekinesis 11 thing where the balls hang on the back. That's kind of cool. That little magnet back there. I think that's kind of neat. I was talking to Chris from Kaneda's Pinball Podcast and he described the Demi Gorgon toy as an artichoke, which I now can't get out of my head. I'm like, oh, my God, it is an artichoke. But, I mean, I'm going to give it an 8.5 because I'm glad that they kind of stepped out of the box for the projector. But I just, from what I've seen of the projector, I'm not really excited about it. So I'm kind of like a wait and see on that one. Okay. Yeah, I'll give it, I'm going to say, I'm going to downgrade a little bit. I'm going to say a 6 or a 5.5, just because when you have something in the machine, you need to be able to translate from location to location. And I am so concerned that that projector is not going to move very well. The Demogorgon, it's kind of like the, it's the Balrog. It's in the same location. It's kind of like the Balrog mixed with the ring. And so you can do that. I do think that magnets are underused in pinball and they can be super annoying or they can be a lot of fun. And so I the reason why I'll give it a five point five or six is because, unfortunately, I'm going to put the projector lower. But what does raise it is I find creative use of magnets in machines really fun and interesting on my machines. One of my favorite things is, and I know it's borrowed from Twister, but it's the Magneto multiball that starts in X-Men. It is so much fun to see that ball frozen there and all of them together and then spinning around and they're just exploding everywhere. So I find that would be very interesting to see, to use that as a ball lock. so for me i think the toys on this one i'm going to give it a very solid seven and the reason being we're seeing innovation with something we haven't seen with the uh magnet the projector i still hold reservations but i still think it's something very innovative we haven't seen yet in pinball besides maybe pin to pin 2k and so i'm excited to see if the projector works i think if it does it opens up a new door into pinball that hasn't been seen yet. And so, but like Scott said, like it has to translate well from location to location. But other than that, I solid seven. I mean, it's a, it's a good effort for what we've been given. So I just say we skip gameplay. What do you think? Yeah. I mean, I just don't think it's been out enough. Right now attack from ours 2.0. So, okay. So we'll skip gameplay. Let's move on to lighting. So Lauren, if you'll give us your thoughts on that. The light show I saw looks really great. I think it looks fun. I am going to give this a 7.5. It's no TNA, but it's a nice light show, so 7.5. Yeah, and I'll even upgrade it more. I'll give it an 8, an 8.5 because it does have those dramatic colors, and it's very eye-catching. You will see this if you walk into a bar or some sort of arcade. You're going to see the light show because it is that electric 80s color palette with the lights. You're going to notice it. It feels very – it's like Ghostbusters grabs your attention. I agree. I think I'm right there with you as well. I'm going to do an eight. I think the lighting is great. And it all comes down to that projector for me as well. So let us move on to artwork. So the artwork I saw. So I have to kind of provisionally also state that I am more of a fan of zombie yeti, dirty Donnie kind of comic style art on pinball machines. I'm not a huge fan of the hyper realism photo realism kind of look but I will say that the art there is well done so I'm going to give it an 8 it looks nice it's not the kind of art package that's going to make me want to buy a machine but it looks I recognize everybody I see Winona Ryder I see everybody on the machine it looks like they really were faithful to the show and capturing all the elements of the show I just you know, it's not an art package that wows me, but it's good. Yeah, I, I'm going to go with a five. Um, it does, it, it, it's feels very, very much like a style guide. Um, you get the assets and this is, it feels very much like, um, what Star Wars was. It doesn't feel very pinball-y. It feels like if you took off the art, you could see where all the shots are going because of the lights and the uh just everything else but then it's a okay here's a style guide sticker book and go ahead and put it in and use the colors we use so well i i was a little dismissive of uh willie wonka because i said it kind of looked like a cereal box right if you went if you went and bought wonka o's that's what it's going to be it's going to be the same gene wilder uh pose and if you're gonna get a stranger things backpack this is what you're gonna get so i'm it's fine it's it's true to it um i guess it's not pinball enough for me so i'm gonna give it a seven i think it's a better effort than what we've seen with say the cut and paste of um willie wonka but it's definitely not up to where i think pinball art should be but honestly it it's it's not gonna look bad in a collection it's not like you're gonna step up to it big oh what is what is that like arts come so far from the 90s that honestly this is it's sad it's like this is the standard now and the standard's fantastic so So seven is the average, so I'm going to leave it at seven. Yeah. To borrow a phrase from Nick Lane, it gets the job done. Yep. Exactly. It's not bad. It's not great. It's there. So that's why I'm going to give it a five. It just doesn't feel very enough pinball for me. Cool. Let's move on to sound and music. I'm going to give them a lot of credit here because they seem to have a pretty good working relationship with Netflix and with the creators of the show. So they at least got the soundtrack from the show and a lot of the sound I did here I really like. So I'm going to give them an 8.5. Yeah, and I would give it a 9, even pushing up toward a 10 if I see – if I get there. This feels very much like Spider-Man in that it has the right sounds, the right – it gets you emotionally into the game because of the music. And they got one of the actors from the show to voice things in it, which I think is critical for you to feel like you're involved with the theme. And so if you're going to go big, you do want the sound integration. So I'm glad that they made sure that was a focus. I'm right there with you guys. Nine. I really think nine is good because I think at this point in the game, if you really want to make a difference, you've got to get those custom call-outs from people from the show. The music, the assets are fantastic. I just think of Guardians of the Galaxy I was going to say the same thing I'm looking at you Guardians of the Galaxy my favorite of the Marvel movies and you messed it up because there were no call outs the assets on that thing were terrible I still want it but I'm so hurt about the lack of call outs I agree and Rocket just sounds terrible Oh, yeah. Well, when you talk about the the auditory involvement on a machine, that is really the critical part. If you look at what makes TNA awesome, it's the soundtrack. It's actually getting into it and feeling like you're at a dance club or you're feeling an experience. When you go and play Jurassic Park and you hit it and you get that John Williams, it's the same thing with Star Wars. With Star Wars, you get the John Williams theme. And so it's – yes, this is Star Wars. To put it in context, have you guys ever seen the cut where it shows the end of Star Wars where they're going up for the medal ceremony and it has no music? Oh, no. That sounds awful. It is horrible. I don't think I have. It is. You're watching this and you're thinking, can I escape this so fast? Because it proves how involved music is into the overall experience. If you really look at Star Wars in general and take out the John Williams soundtrack, that would have been a failure, a horrible failure, because the music was so intrinsic to the experience. That's what pinball has become. The music is vital, which is why you feel that Guardians was kind of a miss because they didn't, you know, whether or not they didn't or couldn't. You know, there's certainly argument on to why it happened that way, but they weren't able to get that experience in there. And, of course, when you're getting songs from five to eight different artists, that's a minefield in itself, which is why, you know, Shrek only has All-Star. So, all right. Well, we're kind of talking about this already, but we have call outs is one of the categories. So I was going to give it a nine because they did actually get assets and, you know, actors from the show to the call out. So I'm going to give them a nine just for that. Again, kind of a rehash. If you know you don't have the college or you kind of get, you know, like a Deadpool's another one. I thought that the guy they got was great. I know he's the guy from the animated version of Deadpool, but I was really expecting Ryan Reynolds. I'm just I'm just going to say it. I just feel like they did a really good job with this. And so, yeah, I'm definitely giving them a nine solid nine. yeah and it's call outs and and sound packages seems to be all one in the same right so now i will say it would be a 10 if you had uh you know the spider-man i don't think you can get better call outs than uh jay jonah jonah jameson on there uh and he it is great which is why i would never buy the vault edition just because i would miss all those awesome call outs um but anytime you can get an actor involved and whether or not they're pinball-y enough um it certainly helps out with the experience so you're right nine okay nine it is and i i totally agree as well nine nine because i mean we don't have enough call-outs in here yet they'll add more but what i've heard so far and david david harbors i think it's his name just fantastic like and that's all it takes is It's just one person from the show. I don't understand why. Like, Simpsons is fantastic because we get so many voices. But seriously, like, we just need one voice. If you can't – if you're going to cut, if that's where you're going to cut for your pinball machine, just at least get one voice. That's all I ask for. And then I know we haven't really had our hands on it yet, but quality of build. well um i am going to give this a 7.5 um i haven't heard any you know negative things about the mechs inside the machine i haven't had my hands on it i did see the pictures of the dimpling you know there are you know pros and cons to that you know there's the people that say oh it'll all even out eventually. I'm like, it looks like it needs a case of clear cell on the pictures I've seen. I mean, there were just like tiny little craters everywhere. You know, when I saw that, I'm like, well, I'm like, it kind of just kind of, you know, dampened me a little bit on it. So that's why they're getting like a 7.5 for me until I see more longevity to see how it holds up. you know what i i'm gonna go the a different way um i'm gonna give it a nine and let me tell you why i'm giving it a nine because of all the great manufacturers out there um that you know the top four i guess uh you have uh chicago gaming company you have stern you have jersey jack and you have spooky. Okay. Which one's the most reliable on location? Very true. Stern. And so it's such a fine line to walk. Are there ways of quibbling on things? Absolutely. And I'm with you. The craters on the play field, that is a heartbreaking experience, especially when you just dumped, anywhere from $6,000 to $7,000 on this non-essential toy. Yes, I totally get what you're saying about that it's part of that. However, it's reliable. They always make machines that work well on location, and they have redundancies built in. And so from an operator standpoint, you're going to take a stern all day long just because it can always operate. And that's the harshest environment you can be in is a location. And with the location, you should be able to plug and play. As an operator, you want to be able to say, hey, I'll be there once a week. You don't want to be tweaking it daily. And so for Stern to be able to walk that fine line, are there issues? Absolutely. Are there legitimate concerns? Cabinet build, cheaping out on things. however it's also still one of the cheapest mass-produced machines out there and it still is reliable so i am going to go with just a solid seven um the dimpling's not anything new it's not like we haven't seen this before it's not like you know this is a huge issue uh yeah i don't like i don't like looking at it just it makes me cringe because i'm right there with you lauren it's like The dimpling just, ugh. But they are reliable machines. They've stand the test of time on location. And so I think the quality of build will be just as good with these machines as it has been in the past. And I know that Deep Root has said that they're going to up their game. And so I can't wait to see if that changes anything. But as of right now, average seven for me. So if you guys are following along at home, our scorecards end as follows. Lauren gave it a 63.5 out of 90. Scott, since he decided not to give us any thoughts on game rules, he was saying it was not applicable yet. 53 out of 80, and I gave it 63 out of 90. So we're all pretty much the same. I'd say the average is probably around 7 if you look at everything. And it's – actually, for a game coming out, 7 is – it's a good starting point because if you – you didn't feel the same way about Munsters. When Munsters came out, you thought, hey, this is fun. But for a lot – for enough enthusiasts, it left them feel wanting just because they saw the Wizard Month on the second game. Yep. Yep. but at the same time Munsters was a if you look at the layout and everything it's actually a pretty fun shooter it just doesn't feel like there's enough there so I'm hoping that having this as a solid 7 then it can go up it's pretty unlikely it'll go down even on this layout even if it has basically a fundamental rule set and really if you look at Medieval Madness or attack from Mars, it's not a deep rule set. It's a fundamental rule set. You could do something very similar with this and still it'll get the job done. I'm curious to see what they do to make it or to try to make it epic, I guess. I agree. Completely agree. So, well, I think we spent plenty of time on that. I thought the scorecard would go a little shorter than that, but hey, it's all trying out something new. and please write into us to tell us if you did like the scorecard or if you're like, eh, cut it. But I'm going to see if we can't actually put this as a standalone as well. We'll see. Okay. Here's the question though. So after all is said and done, initial impression, are you going to buy it? Do you want to buy it? If you had, if you had 10,000 in your pocket, would you buy this machine? For me? No. It, it, while it is a great theme for somebody who's a fan of the show i'm not a fan of the show and as well gameplay game design is a drive for me i got to connect with a theme and in stranger things while great is just not something for me okay as far as me i already own attack for mars like i know that's crappy to say but i just i i don't have a desire if if this theme spoke more to me then i'd probably buy it but here's the other problem too everyone on this podcast knows and they've known since july that when we released the news that ninja turtles was coming out and so i'm just i'm waiting like a child for christmas morning for them to unveil ninja turtles so no i'm not buying it so you can you can just buy a tron and put neutral stickers on there oh no yeah let's let's buy a fun house and put fortnight stickers all over that. That'd be fun. Yeah, I'm with you on that. Now, I will say, this is double-edged, because I said that one of the things that I'm impressed with is this is not my demographic. And so I'm giving them high points to say that this game is not for me. And so it is saying it's branching out of the wheelhouse. I'm with you, though. Of all of the games that came out this year, I'm planning on buying Jurassic Park. Agreed. However, again, that's still a win if you look at the big picture because if someone buys one game a year, that's actually a win for the industry. Yeah, and I'm in your same demo essentially, and out of all the games that came out this year, I'm in the same boat. I would have bought Jurassic Park. I love that game. Well, and I'm planning on it. I just need to wait for the thaw and to shake up my collection a little bit, but I will buy a Jurassic Park. And my friend who lives two miles away, he bought a limited edition, so I still can play it. So I know. It's really cool. Well, and I've told you, Scott, over the last how long that it's seriously the hardest decision whether to go to Lord of the Rings or Jurassic Park for me. And I really think – because Jurassic Park, I've played it, and I'm so addicted to it. It's so good. And the code and the game – what Ellen's doing with that and just the gameplay on it, to me, that's the best part of that game. I mean, I just, it's a great shooter. I just, I love everything about it. I can't say enough awesome things about Jurassic Park. Oh, it's so good. I, I, hey, I am with you. Lord of the Rings is one of my, I will own at some point in my life themes, but Jurassic Park is my next one. So I will buy that. So let's talk. I want to talk about this. I don't know if you guys do, but I want to talk about some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle rumors. Are you guys ready for this? And if I pronounce that, someone gave me crap. They're like, you didn't say it right, but hey, we'll just say TMNT. But so the most recent rumors are it's going to have diverters like Alala Shadow. And this is going to be the first machine with internet connectivity. So I don't know if that floats your guys' boat at all. But between that and Zombie Yeti, John Borg's a solid designer. like he's his stuff is good i don't think anyone's like uh like i don't like john boar because it just doesn't flow or i don't know so i'm excited i don't know what were your what are your thoughts i'm not a i mean i remember it and every time somebody says teenage mutant ninja turtles i literally sing the theme song in my head you know teenage mutant ninja turtles heroes in a half shell turtle power i can't help it every time i swear um you know i the theme is nostalgic to me because I do remember the cartoon from like the 80s, 90s. I don't know if I'd necessarily buy, but I'm excited to see it. I'll play it. I'm actually, I just sent you a picture. I'm staring at my four-player one-up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game that I bought over Christmas. It is. It's one of those where, you know, it's fun. It's not my, it never has been my dream theme. and I'm okay with it. It is solidly in the 80s, 90s. And so it takes you back to your childhood. Really it a wait and see on me The theme is hey get the job done It something that a lot of people are interested in and it lends itself very well to theme integration in that you have like five or six built character modes And that's like the easiest way of describing it. You could have a Leonardo mode. You could have a Michelangelo mode. You could have an April O'Neil mode. You could have a Casey Jones mode. So there's all these different ways of just having instant buy-in for the rules. So I'm – it's one of those where, yeah, it's fine. I'm not an LE – I probably will not buy the game unless it is a – it's a wow. But there will be plenty around to buy or to play. So I'm not – and Josh is going to own an LE. You'll get to play it no matter what. I know somebody I know is going to own it. I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy playing it. But, you know, am I going to like is it something I want to run out and buy? Probably not. But I'm excited to see it because it does have that nostalgia factor for me. Well, and we get to throw another rumor into the rumor mill. You're right for this. So there has been talk that they've gotten the voices from the old show, from the 80s show. and the source is telling me it's Rob Paulson, which if it is, that would be awesome. To those people that don't know who he is, in the original series, he was Raphael, but when they rebooted it in 2012, he came back as Donatello. So you get a twofer there. You could actually do multiple voices from two of the turtles. Okay, but he's also 30 years older. So is he like a chain-smoking turtle now with a gravelly voice? It's like, yeah. Gnarly man. It sounds more like he will be the dude from The Big Lebowski. He'll be like an over-the-hill turtle who didn't really apply himself and only ate pizza and played with his nunchucks all day. And so it's, all right, dude, what are we going to do today? Because I don't have any money. No, Rob's a really nice guy. I've met him in person a couple years back. I see how you are. Yeah, okay. No, he's not a chain smoker by any means. No, he's a really cool guy because he's done a ton of voices. So he's done like Pinky – or he did The Brain from Peaky and the Brain. I think he also did Pinky. He just – he's done – you have to look at his repertoire. I think he actually holds – it's either him or I can't – now I'm on the spot. I can't remember the other guy's name. But one of them holds the record for most voiceovers in like cartoons or something like that. and so rob rob's really cool um if you haven't checked these out you should go check out they get a script and they get a bunch of the voice actors together and then they will read the script and they'll just change the voice randomly so it's spongebob one second and then it's like ninja turtles and then it's it's just fantastic so but that that is the rumor hopefully that's true if not i guess we've got to apologize but that that's what our sources are telling us is Rod Paulson's doing some of the custom call-outs for Ninja Turtles. Well, having a voice actor is huge because a voice actor is an extra level of – it's because they are not – okay. They're not just relying on being good-looking. How many actors out there are like, okay, yeah, they're a pretty face on the screen, but really they don't bring much to the table? As a voice actor, that's all you're doing. and so you you have a built-in uh credentials for me um so i i hey i'll be interested to see what happens same here so all right let's move on um i've got hey there's a new podcast alert have i sent this to you earlier today did you did you listen to this so there's a funny story about that so i am listening to it right before we come on to record this and my husband's sitting next to me and I'm playing it and I'm like, oh, good God. I'm laughing. And my husband leans over, he's like, is that who's interviewing you today? And I'm like, oh God, no, no, no, no. This is a new show that we're going to talk about. And he's like, you sound a little jealous. Are you jealous of the Macho Pinball Podcast? I'm like, I am not jealous. He's like, you're jelly. But he did enjoy it. I will say that he's not a pinball podcast connoisseur, but he did enjoy that three minutes of the macho man it's the macho man randy savage apparently has decided to step in the ring and give us some pinball content with the macho man pinball podcast pinball podcast vlog show and if you haven't heard of this yet you've got to go check it out the episodes are a minute to three minutes long it's not much time out of your day i guarantee listen to it in the bathroom while you're you're hiding from everyone at work just do it it's hilarious. You know, it's what it is. It's basically having a plate of Skittles, Ho-Hos, donuts, and Jolt Cola from back in the 80s. You know, it's just this caffeine, sugar, adrenaline rush that you're not going to be able to do anything else. And really, I am jealous of someone who has this much excitement and that brings this much to the table because that is not my personality so i wish i were that guy but yes it is certainly fun go check it out yeah i was waiting for him to yell snap into a slim gym yeah i he was very good um it's definitely not something for the kids because there was a some of it was i was like oh and he tells a whole lot of smack i was like oh my god i was like i please don't please don't be mad at me macho man we can be friends so i'm going to tell you guys a secret right now i can actually do the macho man voice you're ready for this oh no oh yeah this is the macho man randy savage you're ready to step into the ring bring it in bring it in the man across the screen yeah i don't know that's about as good as you're gonna get right now okay okay one that that is the most that's the chai latte um that That's the macho man in a Starbucks, like talking over Nora Jones. That's pretty much – because basically anytime you listen to the macho man, you're thinking, okay, that guy is vocal cordial. I'm going to snap at any moment. Hey, I'm the cream of the crop, you see. Oh, yeah. Snap into a Slim Jim. Oh, come on. You know what, though? I'm going to do it. I know he's all talking smack right now. I'm calling you out, Macho Man. You come on the show. We're going to throw down, right, Scott? No. I am not. Yeah, you stand on that island alone. Exactly. Come on, Lauren. The first male person on your podcast could be Macho Man. Man. Oh, the bar I am setting so, so high. The problem is if that guy came on our show, it would just be a solid beep. Beep. Oh, my goodness. It was a good giggle. So, all right. It was entertaining. I will give him points for entertainment for sure. Yeah. And now Scott's crushed my voice over dreams by saying a macho man in a chai latte. Well, okay. You're like the subdued one. You're basically the, you know, okay. So you're the macho man who has gotten over his hump and he's hanging out with the dude in the bowling alley. And you're polishing your balls. You know, it's time. Oh, my goodness. Okay, let's move on from this. Our friend Joe Lemire reached out and he wanted to thank us because he won his first tournament. And guess what he was wearing? Not his first tournament. Sorry. Well, he was wearing his – he wore our hat. And, of course, our hat propelled him to win the tournament. And so I'm dubbing that the Elwyn effect. you know any anybody who wears our uh our hat gets magical powers so i get it they get a competitive edge is what i told you and this was a very well-fought tournament he took down bowen of all people yeah was bowen wearing his hat so i think that's the problem if bowen was wearing his hat it would have been an even fight but since he may not have been wearing his hat then joe had the edge yep so yeah you guys i love that hat since it's been out everybody talks about the hat If they had had a Twippy for best swag, I think you guys could have had a really good run for your money. I know, right? I pitched that to Jeff, but he's like, no, we're not going to do pinball swag. I was like, dude, come on. I was talking to, I think, my friend Laura Fraley, and we were talking about our friend Jessica DiNardo, who has Soft Plunge, which is her pinball swag company. I love it. I have like a million shirts. But I was like, if they had a swag category, you should enter. And I would love a swag category. You got hats and shirts and pins and all this stuff. You know, it's great. Yeah. I have thought about getting the soft plunge booty shorts, but I think it would raise my wife's eyebrows a little bit. You know what? Jessica and I talked about those booty shorts. She was like, they're amazing. Because I was like, I think I have too much booty for the booty shorts. But she's like, no, no, it'll work. But my favorite is they have – I have the Wu-Tang pinball shirt. Pinball rules everything around me. And then I also have my Golden Girls pinball shirt, and I wear them all the time. But, yeah, y'all's hat is amazing. I love – like when it comes to pinball podcast swag, y'all hands down with the hat. Like totally take it. Well, we'll definitely be getting some hats out to you and your husband. Yay! Oh, he would totally wear it. He's a hat guy. we'll have to, we might either ship it to you. We'll bring it down with you when we get to hang out with you at TPF. Yay. For sure. It's right around the corner. You know, I'm so excited. So, okay. And, and also just an update. I know some people have reached out on beanies and the, and the hats. Yes, we are. We're just making them now. Uh, we took a little bit of time off just because it was the holidays. And so, yes, um, we do have a list of people who were interested in those. And if you're still interested in getting a beanie, The beanies are awesome. I'm a big fan. And hats, too. We always have those in stock. And you, too, can win your next tournament by wearing a beanie or a hat or wearing both and get double down. I can never find my beanie because my son keeps stealing it. Like, dude, give that back. That is not yours. But, yeah. So I've got on here. I totally skipped over this. I don't know why. This has been the biggest talk of the town. And we've kind of talked about this. But what are you guys' thoughts on Twippy's? Do you want to give any predictions? Oh, my gosh. I'll predict things that aren't in our categories. I guess I'll put it that way. It's Jurassic Park's year. Oh, yeah. And so that's what – I think there will be a soft spot for many people with Wonka because a lot of people, that was their dream theme. but if you look at everything that Jurassic Park Duck that was that was the juggernaut that's going to roll through everything and so I I imagine that being any category that that is nominated for I think it'll win I I'm right there with you I I don't see anything else winning well it's going to take it I mean when you're looking at like game of the year um I mean there were some there There was some good stuff out. I mean, I liked Elvira. You know, there was Munster's Star Wars. I'm kind of on the fence on that one. For me, it was kind of down to Jurassic Park and Willy Wonka. And I just think as a whole package, I think Jurassic Park really takes it. This is the last time. I'll let you jump in a second, Josh, and I'll summarize everything. This is where even last year when Josh and I talked about it, this is why I gave it to Iron Maiden, because I'm going to give you points for getting games on location. And that really, if you look at, and really, if you look at what Eric did with Pirates of the Caribbean, I don't think there is a deeper game out there. I think that it's like the code had cancerous growth upon cancerous growth. I don't think there's any, there were no limits to where that code was going. You are never going to see whatever Valinor is for that game because there's not one Valinor. There's like 95 Valinors for that game. And so what they did with that was so epic and unbelievable that I'm going to give them huge points for what they did. However, I still had to give it to Iron Maiden because they got it on location and it was reliable and they could keep doing. Jurassic Park is exactly the same. Josh, go. I'm right there with you. I think the disadvantage for the other companies are there's not enough volume not everyone plays these i still haven't played wonka i know i've got a couple friends that own it i just i haven't had time but jurassic park i've played for hours on end and i've i've played black knight i've played um oh crap what's else what's else in the so we've got black knight cosmic carnival monsters october fest see i've played everything stern but That's because it's so readily available. I can hit it. I don't know anywhere that has Oktoberfest. I've never seen it, Cosmic Carnival. Well, Cosmic Carnival you'll see at shows because it was such a limited run. I played Oktoberfest, and it was a – the challenge with Oktoberfest is the coolest thing in the game is watching the balls roll down that super spirally wire form. Yeah. Okay, that doesn't happen enough in the game. And so that's the – like visually, that's the big thing, and it's kind of far out there. So it doesn't happen enough. You kind of have to have that big moment every – well, when I say the big moment, the big thing in the game, you have to have it like every four to five games. Otherwise, you're going to just not pay attention to it. Yeah. Yeah. So the only other category, it kind of makes me chuckle because like I want to bring up the rookie of the year. I know we're in it. I know you're in it, Lauren. We are both in it, right? I feel very awkward now in this category because like after the drop down came out and it's like Tim Sexton on programming and I mean Brad Brad Albright's fantastic artwork on Led Zeppelin. I'm just like, do we really even qualify for this category now? And it's one of those, and I know it's been talked about multiple times before. I think it's a category that needs to be redefined for the future. You know what? How about we all get participation awards? Yeah, you know, everybody gets a ribbon for this one. I agree with you guys. When I woke up New Year's Day and saw what I was nominated for, I was over the moon. Because I had not even considered Rookie of the Year because I really didn't think I would qualify for something like that. But then I saw that I was nominated. And I mean, wow, thank you, everyone. But I will agree with not only you guys, Dennis from Twip and several other people I've talked to have said the exact same thing. There were no real good parameters or, you know, this category was really undefined. And I could see this being more for specifically to people who work in pinball, like the Tim Sexton's of the world. That makes more sense to me than maybe podcasters, but I do appreciate being nominated. I sure do. I totally agree, and I feel bad for the people that didn't make it into certain categories. Like our friends over at Slapsave, I was really shocked when they didn't make it. I couldn't – you know what? They are so amazing. Fowler, I love him to pieces, and they do such a great show. I mean I really did have a push like I wanted to be nominated I had my own reasons for that I was very happy to just be nominated but the fact that they were left to me they were left off the list I felt really bad I was like they do such a great show oh yeah it's their production is fantastic and so and so but other than that I just I want to make one statement about the Twippies it's pinball guys like let's calm down this is a wonderful way to to congratulate the hobby and i think that a lot of the drama puts a lot of bad taste in a lot of people's mouth i think there's a lot of people out there that that don't want to speak up because they don't feel like they have a place there but like we need to calm calm the drama down just just a hair it is at a pinball award show that i have to explain to like 99 of the people who aren't in pinball like what do you i'm like it's like the people's choice awards for pinball Y'all, that's what it is. And people getting super salty about it. I'm like, it is an award show for pinball. Y'all need to just, you know, bring bring it down a couple of notches. Have a good time. You know, I'm excited because I bought like fancy shoes that I can wear to TPF. I was like, I'm just excited about my pinball outfit. outfit. That's what I'm excited about. There are some categories I'm really excited about, but there's no reason to be hateful or mean or bitter. I'm like, it's a pinball award show. I mean, if you're getting this up in arms about that, I'm like, gosh, I don't know what your life But you need a hug. I'm giving you a hug. Yeah, it's – this is the king and the queen of the prom. Oh, yeah. It's like – Oh, yeah. The people who got nominated even like – I don't want to say campaigning, but they mentioned it. They asked their friends. They talked about like, hey, this is what's going on. But again, it's not a big deal. Seriously. There are no shoe contracts on the line. Let's just take it for what it is. And we're all good. But none of our paychecks are changing with this award. And so, great. And if you win it – and I'm not downplaying people who win. God bless. I'm glad that you are affecting people's lives for the good. And if you continue to win an award, great. You're affecting someone in a positive way. So, great. Let's just keep going. And me personally, we know Jeff Patterson fairly well over at TWIP. And just my hat's off to him. It's a lot of work. and so that's kind of the other reason i'm like come on guys like let's bring the drama back just a little bit i know he takes a brunt of a lot of this and i just this is a very awesome way to celebrate the hobby and i think that that's what we should be doing is celebrating instead of at age you know yeah so let's have let's get together and have some fun it was just i think just a way to celebrate the hobby and people are just taking it way too seriously i mean i'm excited i'm going of stump for the categories i'm in for sure um but yeah at the end of the day if i lose i'm not gonna like you know be bitter party of one you know i'm like oh i didn't win oh well you know you know okay we can't hold on you know what we can do now all of us in this room well room all of us in this chat right now so you know like when leonardo caprio when he doesn't win something it's like oscar nominated leonardo oh my goodness yes i hadn't even thought about that Twippy nominated. That is going to precede everything now. Exactly. However, if we win, I swear I will buy an airplane seat next to me and just put the award on it when I'm flying home and just send a picture. It's like, yeah, yeah, it's my award. They get a seat. Oh, my God. I will say in a slightly serious tone, I was incredibly honored and excited to have my home Bells chapter nominated for League of the Year, which I thought was also kind of a weird category. But I was excited because we were the only ladies chapter to be nominated in that category. So I'm just going to – I will – out of all the things I was nominated for, honestly, this is the one that means the most. I mean, not that I don't want to win the other things, but it's not just me. It's the entire chapter. So if you don't have a horse in the race and you're looking for a chapter to support or a league to support, Bells and Chimes San Antonio, we would love your vote. That would be awesome. I would love to see you up there accepting that award for – on behalf of – I mean, it's Bells and Chimes. So you could do it for the behalf of the women across the world. And honestly, when I'm like stumping for it, that's what I'm doing. I'm like, this isn't just about me. This is about every Bell's chapter, every ladies league that's out there. And we're growing by leaps and bounds every day. More women are entering the hobby every day. And a lot of them start with Bell's chapters or their local ladies league chapter. So I'm you know, I really do consider this a win if we do win for all women in pinball. So I which is kind of like a big thing to think about. But, you know, I mean, again, it's a twippy. I mean, I'm like, you know, it's not world peace or anything, but it's one of those things where this is kind of a main stage for pinball, for the visibility of it, and for a ladies league to win for me would be a really big deal. Okay, I want to hit two more notes before we wrap it up. I know we're running just a hair long. Sorry, guys. No, you're totally fine. So first note is I want to congratulate Special One Lit. Oh, yeah. That 24-hour charity, that was amazing. And that right there is what pinball is about, using your platform for something more. And it's just insane. They raised over $50,000. That's more than what, $15 an hour for people's wage for the year? Yeah, I mean, that is more than the average take-home pay for average America. I mean, that is a lot of money. and he did such an amazing job. I mean, hats off to you guys. I mean, that was amazing. When I saw how much they took in, I was shocked. I mean, he did an amazing job, but that is a whole lot of money to a really good cause. Well, I will say two things. One, great job by Special One Lit. What an amazing thing to do. Also, you hear all the time, there are great people in the hobby. Like, you know, when people put down their flamethrowers and they try to focus on the things that are most important, then this is what's most important is actually finding a common goal that we can all say that's a good goal. And so I'm going to give two shout outs. One, for them for organizing it, because again, that takes a lot of effort and a lot of planning. And you're putting yourself a risk out there, because if you put yourself and you do all the effort and you earn 20 bucks, then you feel really bad. But the fact that everybody stepped up and responded to everything they did, that says a lot for the community on the whole, and that it's so easy to focus on the negative. but this is one giant positive that we can all wear around our necks. Well not only that like just some of the stuff that they got to like the manufacturers backing them like that that monster bash one of a kind play field And I mean just the people and the personnel that came in like roger sharp and just the designers i mean you got scott denisi say next to Steve Ritchie they're entirely two different companies they've come together to to support this cause and it was just it was awesome so hats off to you guys i know ken said he's probably not going to do it 24 hours again or if someone else wants to host it they'll find someone to host it. But I think if you host it, you've got to have it in Chicago because that's where everyone was at. Like that's what you have to. Yeah. I can't, I can't host it in Salt Lake City. It's just not going to work. Exactly. So, so we'll all fly up there. We're going to go fly and host it. Right. So, but no, that was awesome. That was fantastic. So, and the last thing, Lauren, I don't know if you know this, but we always do a segment still when people are on. yes so let me let me spin the prize i'm ready for this okay we got took that tune no no 20 questions oh oh and it's inside the pinball arcade hey look that's your segment surprise surprise surprise surprise so for uh scott that doesn't know hey this is new to me too so so for those that don't know out there lauren on her show does inside the pinball arcade where she asks it's eight questions correct correct and it's kind of like a get to know you what she uses to wrap up her show and i love it and so i just we we have to do this so so so i okay so i have to kind of give you the backstory of this so i when i started of the podcast, I was like, I have to have a segment and, you know, market trends is already taken. So what am I going to do? And I had always loved the show Inside the Actor's Studio, like the one that was real popular in the 90s. So Inside the Pinball Arcade is kind of an homage to that, where it's like you get to know somebody in their pinball mind. So the questions really kind of spun off that show. Okay, cool. So I want to ask these questions to you because I want to, I don't know, Have you asked them to yourself on your show? I can't remember. I have not. Teolis and Parsons, when they had me on, did a modified version because they had heard about the segment. But every once in a while, somebody will ask me, like, hey, what do you like? But I've never had them ask to me on my show. No. So let's start this bad boy off. So question number one. Okay. Lauren, tell us, what game do you love on a pinball arcade? I'm keeping that in or should I do it in the macho man Lauren step into the slim gym which game do you crush on the pinball arcade okay okay my game that I love is Brown Stroker's Dracula I talk about it all the time it is my baby I love it more than life itself it is my favorite game that is awesome I would have trouble bringing that one home because of the artwork on the play field. Yeah. My wife walked by. Yeah. Yeah. So. Yeah, you got the, ah, ah, ah, in the back. Yeah. It's not for the kids, but it is my personal favorite. I'm a very big Barry Ousler fan. Oh, yes. And then also I vividly remember playing that game, and I love it. There are not enough hours in the day for me to talk about how much I love that game. Have you seen the one that was made out of a coffin? Have you seen that one? Yes, I have seen that one. I think that would take it a step too far with the spouse. But I'm going to give kudos to that guy because I'm like, that looks excellent. And I love it. I have all the mods. I want to get the pin soundboard next to upgrade the sounds that are in the game. But yeah, I'm totally trying to mod it out. Do you have the 3D, what is it, the tombstone up there? They have a tombstone topper. That's like a 3d lit up. Um, I'm not a topper person. Like I'm not team Zach many. I'm not a topper person. They're okay. But like, I'm not one of the, that's like the one mod where I'm like, eh, no, I bought like, um, different light up things. And I bought like the graveyard to cover some of the switches. And I bought, um, on pin side, one of the, there was somebody that was selling, um, like a modified cause the, the coffin on there, the guy looks like, uh, well, I've had it said before Ron Jeremy. and it's a terrible, terrible model in there. It's horrible. So I'm like, it was the one thing I hated about the game. So I bought a mod on Pinside where it looks like him coming out of the coffin and his bat man form. And it's very scary looking and I love it. And it lights up. So yeah, I'm all about the mods. Love mods. Nice. All right, question number two. Is this the game that you hate, right? Yes. What game do you hate? um right now it's it's tough because for me game hatred goes a lot for like uh really bad competition moments so right now i'm hating on stargate stargate is a giant dumpster fire i know it's supposed to be like the best got leave ever but i feel it's a bag full of lies um yeah i don't like stargate it kicked me out of the dang space city open and i hate it so much wow that's fantastic Wow. Oh, my goodness. OK. Question number three. So what is your favorite pinball art on the pinball arcade? Oh, you know, day glow neon aside, Randy Savage, I'm going to go with Fathom. I'm a huge fan of that period, like 70s style artwork. you know the the ladies dragging the man into the ocean set aside it is actually one of the most beautiful art packages i think in pinball um and it is definitely on my my must-have list at some point in my collection i totally agree that is a beautiful game it just yeah oh there's not enough thousands out there yeah there is a and i try to keep an eye out when i see one but they just get snapped up so quickly so well in in okay in fairness i'm not sure a fathom is a five thousand dollar game i i love it it's beautiful but when you start looking at okay is it like a jurassic park pro probably not and that's the hard thing with these like you know games like fathom or genie or something where you know people really like it it's it's coveted like it's kind of i put it in the uh oh god what it's flashboard and kind of category people really love it for like nostalgia or art but do i want to pay forty five hundred dollars for it oh no yeah it's tough so i i'm really trying to find that diamond in the rough or something that you know oh i don't know what this is and i'm selling it at my uh estate sale i'm like keeping my fingers i just don't think that's gonna work out for me you never know it might it might so okay question number four what is your favorite pinball sound um so if we're gonna go sound package i'm a it's the intro music to my podcast and that would be tna the soundtrack to tna is amazing and i love the music so so much a particular sound though mech makes is the spinner from harlem globetrotters i love that dang spinner all of them yes um and that's just a particular sound that I love. I do love your TNA intro, but what got me hooked was those first two episodes when you did that song. How you like that? Oh, yeah. Oh, I love that thing. I'd never heard that before. And I was just like, I had that stuck in my ear for three weeks because it just I kept humming it. And then it's why I never heard it. So I'm I'm playing your podcast. I'm trying to just so jam off my phone while playing your podcast to figure out who sings that song. That was, it's great. Yeah, no, the, the songs, how, how do you like that by Ollie Anna? And I'd heard it and I loved it. I switched over to Scott's music because of the copywriting issue. Cause I didn't want to, you know, have any kind of issues and all that. So that's kind of why I went away from that song, but I do love that song. If you listen to the first couple of episodes, that is the intro music before I started switching over to the Denise intro. Yep. So thank you. I love that song. It's a great song. Oh, it's fantastic. The two things correlate my mind as soon as I hear that. So I'm like, hey, where's the backbox podcast? Like I need to hear Lauren now. So anyhow. So Scott with question number five. Okay. Lauren, what is your favorite festival event to play in? oh i i really have to dedicate this episode to the macho man for sure um my um i haven't gotten to get out of texas as much so this is is kind of limited but my favorite uh festival or event really has to be the houston arcade expo um it's kind of like our local expo um i get to see all of my friends we have so much fun it is the party expo for a reason it's at this marriott and it is just one giant party. Whereas like TPF, you know, you have the competition part and it's a lot more like a true expo. There's booths and things like that. Houston Arcade Expo, they do have the tournaments and stuff, but it is like a giant party. There's all kinds of fun to be had. Nice. Alrighty. Well, and, you know, honestly, I'm excited for TPF. I've never been before. This is my first TPF too. So I didn't get to go the last couple of years because it conflicted with my job. So this is going to be my first TPF. Very cool. Okay. Just be careful when they invite you to a, um, like a, um, distributor sponsored dinner. There may be, yeah, let's just say there are some restaurants down there that I think the stakes are wearing more than the, than the waitresses are. Oh yeah. Yeah. I, I do live in Texas. There are a collection of restaurants where I'm like, oh my goodness. Okay. I would hope they wouldn't invite me to that place, but you know, you never know. Yeah. One of our buddies was invited and he walked in and he's like, oh, this is not really our spot. All right. Question number six. What is your grail pin? So I consider BSD my grail. So now that I have my grail, I need to go on another quest. um the the two that i really want one is um and i just think this is more of a money issue than a a possibility is indiana jones um i love i love indiana jones not the stern of the the other indiana jones but um the other one is a cocktail table called night moves um I love that thing so much. I ran into it at a pin golf tournament in Dallas and somebody had it in the back. I'm like, this is the best thing ever because it's so cheesy. If you have not played it, I would go Google it. It's on YouTube. It has like everybody's dressed like they're extra on Miami Vice and it has all the colors and the music is so cheesy. It's the best. So that's like my my big grail. They don't come up that often. So I've been trying to keep an eye out. All right. Question number seven. Ray Scott. Yes, but I'm trying to look up night moves right now. Oh, wow. Yeah, that that that person looks fierce. Have you have you seen the ad? Oh, yeah. It's it's it's a woman who looks like she's wearing. I don't know. It's it's kind of like a combination of a prom dress miniskirt with a rodeo top. it's just it's a look super fresh you know what she makes that her own that is crazy because if you're gonna wow if you're gonna do a go big or go home i'm just it to me was so over the top every time i see it and then you have to hear the music the music is the best part to me yeah it's a really great if you've played it's a lot of fun it actually has a pretty decent rule set for a little cocktail table but um it is 1989 wrapped up with a pretty bow wow that you know what you have to be committed for that to be in your collection oh my god yeah i know i love it okay okay we're in the starbucks now so we're having our chair latte who would you like to play head-to-head oh my god who would i like to play head-to-head or share a coffee with um i would um and i've said randy savage obviously so randy is number one, of course. So number two would be Roger Sharp. The man has an episode of Drunk History. To me, he would be like the person I most want to meet. I have his trading card that he signed that my friend Gene gave to me as a gift. So he's the person I most want to meet and would love to play. He's going to like totally beat me and I'm fine with that. But he would be the person I'd love to play the most. Okay. Now I have a great idea. We need to make rookie trading cards for rookie of the year. Oh my God. That would be the best. And just hand them out to everybody. Just like, no, these are, how many are in the category? Like 25. He's so awesome. Yeah. Just laminate them. Just, it just, maybe you just make one set and hand it to the person like as participation trophy. It's like, here's your rookie card. And we got to be like with the pinball machine, like doing things, you know, with the rookie cards, you'd be like, you know, holding a basketball or holding a bat. You know, we have to be doing things. Oh, yes. Yeah. Doing best is since it's a rookie card, we should all be standing at a machine. But awkward. Oh, yeah. No, it's awkward because we don't we haven't been in the biz yet. So we look really like. Right. So we don't know how to play. It's very Ricky Bobby. I don't know what to do with my hands. You know. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. All right. I'm putting Scott down for that. Yes. Putting you in charge. Nice. Dude, that's got to be the best idea that's come out of Twip so far. Well, yeah. I will say I also do want to get a reversible shirt that you can just take it. One side says, like, winning in life, losing at pinball. And you flip it around. It says losing at pinball, winning at life. Or losing in life, winning at pinball. All right. We're on to the final question. What is your dream fame? Oh, my gosh, this is so hard. I have many dream themes and we collect a list on the Backbox Pinball podcast just in case pinball distributors are wanting to, you know, find some really good ideas. So for me, I have I'm going to say two. What my number one dream theme and I don't understand why this has not been made yet is the Princess Bride. I am a massive fan of that movie. It's one of my favorite movies of all time. I feel that it lends itself to pinball. I feel it checks all the boxes. It lends itself to pinball. It has a story. So it would be really easy to kind of map out as like a quest style game. Most of the actors are still with us. Thank goodness. You could get call outs, hopefully from someone. Yeah, I just think there's just so much there. And it, you know, checks that nostalgia factor for the certain age group that they like to go after. You know, why hasn't that been made? I don't know. I totally agree. Yeah, I don't either. The other one, and I don't feel this would be made. Maybe it's too niche, but if they made Rick and Morty, I don't understand why they can't make Bob's Burgers. That is one of my favorite TV shows. I have all kinds of Bob's Burgers stuff all over my office and house. I love it, and I would love to see that made into a pinball game. Okay, I watched one episode of Bob's Burgers, and I seriously said, what did I just watch? It's a little odd. Like, I'm going to say it's a little odd, and maybe not. A little? Wow. No, okay. It's like niche, niche. I know. It was – like I thought it was fine, but I just – I didn't – I guess I just didn't get it yet. But it was – the kid like shaved his head and grew a mustache like his dad, and so he was like an old man. And she was doing some video thing trying to find out who the phantom pooper was in the – in the school. You know which episode I'm talking about. I do know which episode you're talking about. I was like, this is just so bizarre. It's a little odd. I'm going to totally... It's not the most traditional thing. I'm a huge fan of a TV show called King of the Hill. And the guy who created King of the Hill is the creator behind Bob's Burgers. So it's got a very quirky kind of mentality to it. It's not for everybody. That's why I'm like, I don't think Bob's Burgers would ever be made. It's a little too off the wall. But it's one of my favorite shows. They made a Rick and Morty. Yeah, that's why I'm like, I got a chance. How many people actually got Rick and Morty? It's like, okay, so what is this? And then they made a mistake of watching it with their kids and they're like, whoa. So, sorry, I don't know why. I totally spaced this. I was going to bring this back up a while ago. but I know that one of your favorite shows that you talk about is Big Bang Theory as well. Chuck Lorre, the creator of Big Bang Theory, was actually the guy that wrote the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theme song. No way! I did not know that. Yes, that was one of his first gigs. He was like a traveling tunesman or something. They talked about this. Scott shared it with me. It's like the Toys That Make Us. It's episode one of season three. But they talked to Chuck Lorre and he's like, yeah everyone knows me for big bang and knows me for two and a half men and will and grace but what they don't know is i wrote this song and it's like that is ingrained in my memory i just sang it a little while ago i mean oh my god what a cool fact that's that's really neat i did not know that but yes i'm a huge fan of the big bang theory yeah there are a lot of people who things you don't realize like barry manilow wrote a whole bunch of jingles so like like like a good neighbor State Farm is there. That's Barry Manilow. What? I did not know that either. Yeah, just all these. He was like a jingle writer. And so like all those ones that you know, it's yeah, it's total non sequitur. But you're thinking, oh, I would not have predicted that. And now I have Mandy stuck in my head. So thank you. Oh, Mandy. You came and you gave. Yeah, no. Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome. It could have been the Copacabana. Oh, no. Why do you do this to me? Yes. Hey, that would actually be a great retro 70s game, the Copacabana. Oh, you know what? That would be super fun. So that wraps it up for Inside the Pinball Arcade. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. You're totally fine. You're totally fine. We're going to do karaoke. After we get off this, we're going for karaoke. Going for karaoke. Woo! Yes. We're doing karaoke at TPF. Josh, you're going to come to TPF. Yes. Done. Done. This is – we're going to do karaoke. Nothing is more fun than sober karaoke. Oh, my goodness. It's like junior high dance all over again, just standing in the corner. I'm going to be – have you seen the video of the guy that did tequila? He just sits there the whole time and then he's like, tequila. Yeah, that's pretty much me. It's like I'm – whatever. Okay, so Lauren, if people want to get a hold of you, promote your product. Like this is your moment. Tell us how we can find you and what do you offer? Oh, we offer all the things. I will totally improve your life, I promise you. If you would like to listen to the Backbox Pinball Podcast, we are on most podcasts, catchers of choice, Stitcher, Apple Podcast, you name it, we're probably on it. If you want to go directly to the website, You can visit us at Backbox Pinball Podcast dot Fireside dot FM. Also there we have a swag button. If you really to go with your loser kid hat, you could get the Backbox Pinball Podcast. Yes. So maybe not as cool as the hat, but I like this. And I think it's it's that logo is is money. That is a good logo. So, yeah, we have a local lady, Regina Morales. She's an amazing graphic designer. And I asked her to do something on the fly. I'm like, hey, I need a logo for this podcast I'm starting. Like a day later, she gives me that. I'm like, this is a really amazing logo. And I didn't even tell her. All I said, it was like, it's a podcast and I like the color purple and it's about pinball. Go. And I get that. I'm like, all right, this is a winner. It's fantastic. Thank you. As far as us, we are the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. If you'd like to get a hold of us, we are at Loser Kid Pinball Podcast at gmail.com. You can send us your questions, comments. we do our we're still going to probably do another pinball story so if you want to share your pinball story with us so we can share it with the world please send it in to us and for those like scott said earlier we do have the beanies they're being made i did get the lady told me on monday she's stitching them right now so those that have reached out i'm going to reach out to you this week and let you know when we can get your order to you so other than that oh oh facebook and instagram if you want to get a hold of us that's those are the other two places you can get a hold of us at so well i want to thank you for coming on lauren like it was awesome that we were able to line this all up and have you on oh thank you so much for the invite i really appreciate it i had a great time and i really love your show well thank you and we love your show as well and i'm i'm excited to come down and meet you and let's do some sober sober karaoke sober karaoke yes y'all can be y'all can be sober i'll do the drinking for you so no worries and then you know what if you if you end up getting on that party bus if you guys drive through austin you've got to stop at franklin's barbecue and bring me some franklin's barbecue oh i don't want to stand in line for eight hours hey sorry ain't nobody got time for that there's no food there's no food on the planet that's that good i'm sorry just because we we go there all the time like i am not saying no day no no no no But it's amazing. Everybody I've talked to literally is like the greatest. It's not that long on a weekday, though. You guys will be driving through on a weekday. You know, it's kind of like now I will say I know that Texas Roadhouse is not really Texas barbecue and all that stuff. But it's it's here. It's loud. It takes forever to get into. And it's like, I'm sorry, I'm good. Like, I don't need to wait two hours for food. We're fine. No, no, no, no. I'll take y'all. We got some good barbecue places that you don't have to wait like your entire life for when you're here. No, we'll get you some good Texas barbecue. All right. Sounds good. I'm excited. Let's do it. Deal. You pick the location. We'll buy. Woo-hoo. Woot. All righty. We'll see you, everyone. Bye.