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The Pinball Show Ep 65: Spooky Lifts Their Top & We See Something Stacked And Loaded

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·2h 2m·analyzed·Jun 28, 2021
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.037

TL;DR

Spooky Pinball reveals three-tier next game with major technical upgrades; industry updates on delays, competitor metrics, and upcoming releases.

Summary

The Pinball Show discusses Spooky Pinball's announcement of their next game with three-tier pricing (Standard/Bloodsuckers/Collectors under $10k), featuring major technical upgrades (Penhek board, Molex connectors, tripled QA staff, easy slides). The episode includes updates from manufacturers (American Pinball Game 4 miscommunication, Stern parts shortages, Jersey Jack social media analysis, Chicago Gaming Cactus Canyon remake speculation) and features guest Lucas Pepke discussing his pinball journey, proud spouse moments from both hosts, and speculation about Spooky's heavily-stacked playfield design.

Key Claims

  • Spooky's new game will have three editions (Standard, Bloodsuckers, Collectors) with no à la carte customization options

    high confidence · Official Spooky announcement via YouTube video by Bug and Charlie

  • Spooky's collector's edition will remain under $10,000 USD

    high confidence · Official Spooky announcement

  • Spooky is transitioning from P-Rock board system back to updated Penhek board for reliability and ease of wiring

    high confidence · Official Spooky announcement

  • American Pinball Game 4 was mistakenly listed for Southern Pride Gaming Expo in August; listing removed due to miscommunication

    high confidence · Statement from Michael Grant to correspondent Brian Kossner

  • Stern has experienced broad part shortages affecting plastics, processors, wires, and switches across their product line

    high confidence · Stern News correspondent Craig Bobby

  • Stern Avengers Infinity Quest machines had weak shooter rod plunges, fixed by $1 red spring replacement

    high confidence · Stern News correspondent report

  • Jersey Jack Pinball has 14.3k Instagram followers vs Spooky's 2.2k and Stern's 44k followers

    high confidence · Social media analysis by Ken Rudberg

  • Spooky's new game features multiple upper playfields and is 'stacked and loaded up to the glass'

    high confidence · Official Spooky announcement via YouTube

  • Eric Kripke previously worked on Cactus Canyon Continue code, but CGC allegedly ghosted him when he followed up

    medium confidence · Correspondence from Matt Morrison citing Eric Kripke's Pinside statement; no direct confirmation from CGC

  • Spooky has tripled supervisory staff on quality control for new game

Notable Quotes

  • “Nostalgia wears a little thin after a while. You know, your Donkey Kong sits collecting dust that looks cool in your game room, but let's get real. You're not playing your Donkey Kong every day.”

    Lucas Pepke @ Early episode — Critique of arcade collecting vs active play culture; establishes guest's perspective on retro gaming

  • “Hey, has anyone ever talked about Beetlejuice as a pinball theme?”

    Nicole (Zach's wife) @ Mid-episode — Unprompted spouse interest in pinball IP, triggering host enthusiasm about licensed themes and missing Beetlejuice machine

  • “She's like, well why can't Grogu pick up the ball? T-Rex picked up the ball... and then she said I don't like the plastic ramps... She wanted a spring on the Razor Crest.”

    Zach describing his wife Talia's Mandalorian feedback @ Mid-episode — Non-expert spouse feedback used as litmus test for game design and player experience; identifies specific mechanical criticism

  • “They set the expectation that they were going to make all of these games in 18 months. And as a pinball company or as a person in general, you can either meet, break, or exceed that expectation and they blew it out of the water.”

    Lucas Pepke @ Spooky discussion — Positive sentiment on Spooky's ability to exceed expectations and manage timelines post-COVID

  • “Stacked and loaded up to the glass with multiple upper playfields.”

    Official Spooky announcement (quoted by hosts) @ During Spooky discussion — Direct quote from manufacturer describing new game's playfield complexity; key design direction teaser

  • “I think there's subways. There's a lot of subways. So the ball is going to be going from different place to different place.”

    Lucas Pepke interpreting playfield rendering @ Spooky rendering analysis — Speculation on new game's ball routing complexity based on leaked playfield underside photo

  • “They are going back to an updated Penhek board system rather than that P3, P-Rock board system.”

    Zach (host) — Confirms major technical pivot from P-Rock to Penhek; suggests lessons learned from previous platform

Entities

Spooky PinballcompanyLucas PepkepersonZach MinipersonNicole (Zach's wife)personTalia (Lucas's wife)personBugpersonCharliepersonDwight SullivanpersonChris Franchiperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Spooky moving to new building; scaling QA staff and implementing standardized three-tier model to manage growth

    high · Spooky announcement includes new building move, tripled QA staff, shift from à la carte to three fixed configurations

  • ?

    community_signal: Spouse/non-expert feedback positioned as critical design validation tool; both hosts provide examples of unprompted spouse interest and constructive criticism

    high · Hosts describe wives' unprompted pinball interest; Talia's specific mechanical feedback (Grogu pickup, ramps, spring mechanisms) used as litmus test for design quality

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Positive sentiment on Spooky's ability to meet/exceed expectations, standardization reducing friction, and transparency in design process

    high · Lucas's extended praise of expectation management and design philosophy; hosts' enthusiastic discussion of technical upgrades

  • ?

    product_concern: Quality control previously a critique of Spooky; company responding with tripled supervisory staff and building relocation to address concerns

    high · Hosts note QA was 'always kind of a critique that Spooky would get'; company response: tripling staff on quality control

  • ?

    leak_detection: Spooky released underside playfield photo that community member 3D rendered; substantial speculation about 'stacked and loaded' multi-level design with subways

    medium · Spooky 'lifted their top' showing playfield underside; Pinside user created 3D rendering; hosts speculate about cascading waterfall design and multiple decks

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.367

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:11
The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. This week's episode of The Pinball Show features a first-time co-host but long-time friend. We discuss taking a shot, porch pirates, proud husband moments, spooky lifting their top for us and showing all that is stacked and loaded. More Mando updates and info, Dwight shows, pinballwizard.com,
0:41
Silver Falls, Zach choosing his own adventure in a new segment, pinball market trends, trending animals, and more. Go ahead and take a shot with us right now on the Pinball Show. Pinball is a game of skill For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle
1:17
It's time for the Pinball Show It's pinball with personality. He's married to a performer and an influencer. He himself is a retro gaming fan and can be found performing for and operating the popular online geek book club that he helped create called Literarily Wasted. The group has recently published their first truly novel piece of literature, I would say, titled Take a Shot Stories No. 1 Beach Trip Beware, which is a crowdsourced adventure book project. Hell, he's one of my favorite artists ever, and he's a truly multifaceted one at that. He likes cats, but I won't hold that against him because they may scratch.
2:27
Ladies and gentlemen, my dearest friend, Lucas Pepke. Hey, Zach. Lucas. Thanks for having me on the show. I'm so excited. How was that intro? Was that accurate at all? Yeah, that was pretty accurate, I'd say. I do love cats. I love pinball. I love video games. I love my wife. You like the retro stuff, man. I like retro stuff, but look, I'm not going to lie. And those of us who have had or have arcade machines, nostalgia wears a little thin after a while. You know, your Donkey Kong. Hey, hard take. Your Donkey Kong sits collecting dust that looks cool in your game room, but let's get real. You're not playing your Donkey Kong every day. Wow. Poor Billy Mitchell is sitting in a corner crying right now. He might be. But he's got his hot sauce. He can be kind of the hot sauce at the corner. The Nintendo cab, though. Hey, you're the hot sauce king. Man, I want to collect the cabs just because they look pretty together. You know, that's really how I know you love a good origin story, Zach, but to cut it short, that's how I got into pinball. I started collecting Nintendo cabs because they are the best, and, you know, Fix-It Felix came out, and I was like, what is this? And I was like, oh, it's a Nintendo cab, so. Fix-It Felix. Okay, what's the, what's Klob or K-Love, what's that? What's that forum? Yeah, I think it's killer list of video games. I don't know. I'm not a forum dweller. I don't really get on Pinside. The only reason I get on Pinside is to look at pictures. It's pretty much low-key. I didn't know when you went to Clobb to buy your fix, it'd feel like if you got scammed by another podcaster. Hey!

high confidence · Official Spooky announcement

@ Technical upgrades discussion

  • “No more mozzarella string cheese glue under your play field of a spooky pinball. There are now Molex connectors everywhere.”

    Zach (host) @ Technical upgrades discussion — Humorous but factual reference to quality control improvement; IDC vs Molex connector upgrade reflects manufacturing learning

  • “Will the code be finished? This is the central theme people keep asking me.”

    Matt Morrison (Chicago Gaming correspondent) @ CGC update — Identifies code completion as key consumer concern for Cactus Canyon Remake; suggests incomplete code may be issue

  • “Spooky Pinball sits at just over 2,200 followers... Stern Pinball... currently have just over 44,000 followers, which is just over three times what Jersey Jack Pinball has.”

    Ken Rudberg (Jersey Jack correspondent) @ Social media analysis — Quantifies follower disparity; uses social media as proxy for company popularity and market position

    • George Gomez
    person
    Eric Kripkeperson
    Michael Grantperson
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    American Pinballcompany
    Chicago Gaming Companycompany
    Penhekproduct
    Back Alley Creationscompany
    Mandaloriangame
    Rick and Mortygame
  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: Industry-wide parts shortages affecting all manufacturers including Stern; delays expected to continue

    high · Stern correspondent reports: 'Part shortages certainly seem to be the way for all pinball manufacturers... delays, delays, and more delays'

  • $

    market_signal: Spooky collector's edition kept under $10k despite significant technical upgrades; positioning against three-tier LE premium pricing trend

    high · Official Spooky statement: collector's edition 'will remain at under $10,000 US'; contrast with CGC's $10k+ secondary market prices

  • ?

    announcement: Spooky Pinball formally announces three-tier next game with Standard/Bloodsuckers/Collectors editions under $10k; detailed technical specifications released via YouTube video

    high · Official announcement by Bug and Charlie on Spooky's YouTube channel with complete trim level specifications

  • ?

    product_strategy: Spooky indicates another video coming next week with possible title reveal for their next game

    high · Correspondent states: 'A little birdies told me there will be another video coming out next week with possibly a title reveal'

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern Avengers Infinity Quest machines shipped with weak plunger springs; quick $1 replacement fix available

    high · Stern correspondent describes GNR-like limp plunges on AIQ machines; $1 red spring replacement resolves issue

  • ?

    rumor_hype: American Pinball Game 4 title remains unconfirmed; speculation about Legends of Valhalla or Sherlock Holmes themes

    medium · Correspondent states: 'There have been many rumors about the new title. Will it be Legends of Valhalla, Sherlock Holmes? We will have to just wait and see'

  • ?

    technology_signal: Spooky transitioning from P-Rock board system back to updated Penhek board, citing improved reliability and easier wiring

    high · Direct statement from Spooky announcement that they've 'gone back to a new version of the pinheck board rather than the P-Rock system'

    • 4:05
    No, you know, I actually started finding Nintendo cabs pretty, at that time, they were popping up pretty regularly, but I was actually going down. I'd actually found plans, and I was building one by scratch with MDF. So that was fun. You know, it was a whole adventure. I had a couple years in arcade stuff, and then the sickness got a hold of me. I was at a barber shop, and my barber had your favorite machine of all time, Zach. How about it? Back to the Future. But, you know, my son was playing it. You know, this little kid doesn't know what a pinball machine is. He's probably four. Is a barber a little kid, a four-year-old? I don't know if I trust that. No, he's better than Chino. Oh, man. Shutting side.
    4:54
    But, yeah, he had brought in a Back to the Future, and my son, his eyes lit up. And he's like, Daddy, what is that? I was like, that's a pinball machine. I realized, you know, I'm in Birmingham, Alabama. There's not a ton of pinball out there where we are. And I realized this kid had never seen a pinball machine. So he jumped on it, and I saw his eyes light up. And I was like, this is fantastic. I've got to get a pinball machine. So I eventually bought that. Oh, you bought that one as your first? Yeah. And you're still in pinball. Congratulations. I'm still in pinball. You know, at the time, you don't know any better, right? You're just like, oh, this is great. The spinner didn't work, it turns out. And I didn't care. I didn't know, you know, the ramp was cracked and broken. But it was magic. And when the light show would hit and you'd hit multiball, it was like the best thing ever, right? Everybody's got to have it there at ease for their first. Yeah, and then I had a RoboCop as my second, which actually is a fantastic game. Sweet jump. That jump. Can someone put a jump ramp back in, pinball designers? Yeah, why are we not? I don't know. Hot Wheels should have had that. I haven't played Hot Wheels. But if they can do it in RoboCop, come on, you can put it in a brand new machine. Balls are made to fly in the air in general. Football, flying in the air. Basketball, flying in the air. Golf ball, flying in the air. And not off of a stand-up target, Ghostbusters. I'm talking about let's find a way to get this ball in the air a la Houdini. Yeah. I mean, look, I am probably one of the least qualified people to be on a pinball podcast. I haven't yet reached my five-year status. I haven't gotten my David Fix certificate in the mail yet. But, you know, I know moments. And when you hit that ramp on RoboCop and the ball flies across the play field, that's just cool. That's probably, again, I haven't played every machine because I'm in a little stern bubble here. in Birmingham, but when you hit that shot, it's an awesome shot. Yeah. You were talking about origin stories. Thank God, because I hate pinball origin stories. They're all the same. I gave you a taste, but they are the same kind of in the end. It's like a reboot of the Spider-Man all over again. Or Batman. Batman's even worse, right? Oh, Batman, yes. Well, Zach, I know that you love for guests to come prepared with their pinball origin stories because that's what Pinball Land wants to hear. So it all started for me back in the barbershop, once upon a time.
    7:18
    And fast forward a couple years later, and here we are today. That's actually the best origin story I've ever heard. Thank you. Well, thank you. I tried. You're very welcome. Yours was a little interesting because of the four-year-old barber, but other than that.
    7:32
    Yeah, it was good. But do you listen to, I know, of course you listen to my podcast because we're friends. Do you generally listen, consume pinball media, or are you more an eclectic, you listen to gaming podcasts or movie podcasts? What's your jam? No, I actually consume a lot of pinball media. I love Eclectic Gamers Podcast. I think that's a good name.
    7:56
    Dennis and Tony do a good mix of both of my interests. But, yeah, I love pinball podcasts. I don't listen to as much since I'm still working remotely, and I hope to continue working remotely forever.
    8:11
    But, yeah, I love all pinball media. I'm a lurker at best. I don't contribute a lot. So, I mean, I'm on Facebook. I love cats on the cats and pinballs. Yeah, oh, man, give me pinball cats. That is the pinnacle of pinball media, pinball cats. And, you know, I don't have any physical pinball machines. I know, Zach, I actually, let me brag. Can I stop for a minute? Yeah. I'm going to brag because I know you've got a huge, you've got a beautiful collection. Some of these guys out there have amazing collections. I have 96 pinball machines. I don't know if the listener knew that. 96. 96, yeah. It's called Pinball FX.
    8:52
    Well, it counts. Yeah, so my cred just went way down. A space saver. Yeah, a space saver. I actually, so when COVID hit, I actually sold, I only had two machines at the time. I had a Deadpool Pro and a Jurassic Park Premium. So those are legit machines. Hell yeah, they are. I actually liquidated them pretty quickly at the time while the market was hot, and I put all that money into my patio space. I pulled a Ken Cromwell and, you know, sold some machines. You terrified me when you did that, man. You scared me. I was like, Luke's gone. He's out. It was the easiest. I was. I was actually heavy into Nintendo DS collecting during COVID. But anyway, that's a that's another topic. Thanks, Goldeneye. Yeah. But yeah, it was the easiest decision at the time because I was like, well, I don't want to invite anyone into my house to play. I'm going to get bored just playing, you know, by myself. Yeah, we we liquidated that, put it into the patio. But I think I've got a couple of machines coming back. So we're going to rebuild the arcade. We will rebuild. and looking forward to that and getting Timball back in. But it's been good. We've been swimming a lot this summer. I don't have the luxury of my own pool. We actually have a pool membership. Well, you know, we're not high rollers. I know, we're not high rollers. Some of us have to climb up a ladder and into the pool.
    10:19
    Now, you talked about dumping all of your money off for a porch. That's really sad. It does bring up a story. this last week I sent a listener a couple of shooter rods, stern shooter rods to a friend and said they were delivered and he was like where's the shooter rods and I'm like it says it was delivered I don't know and he was like they're not here. Listener you know what happened? You know what happened Lucas? I don't know what happened. It appears listener that we were plundered by pinball porch pirates. Have you ever heard of them Lucas? I have not The old porch pirate With Captain Patio leading the way Yeah Porch pirates got a scooter up Now what do people want That don't own a pinball machine What do they do with Scooter rods not one but two Oh Zach I can tell you Oh god One of them was the Avengers Manly friendly show kind of But no, it's, Porch Pirates got me. And they got those screw rods, and I had to eat the cost. Oh, that sucks. Does he have a ring system or something similar where he's able to capture the video? No. No video, no nothing. Needless to say, when I ship over there now, I require a signature.
    11:47
    Yeah. I will say this. You know, maybe there's some remnants of COVID shipping in there. I know I had stuff that said it delivered, and then like three days later it would show up. So let's cross our fingers. Mr. Positivity over here. Yeah, maybe those shooter rods will come in. Don't worry. I'm an optimist. I don't want to know where they've been now.
    12:10
    Signed, happened patio. Okay. That sucks. It does suck. I did have a proud husband moment, though, and then we'll get over to the correspondence here, listener. But a proud pinball husband moment this last week brought tears to my eyes. Oh, it did. Captain Patio. Was Captain Patio, I think that was the right choice of a captain pirate name.
    12:37
    Yeah, I think that works. I think you go there. You can't go Captain Porch because you already mentioned it. No, Captain Deck is a backboard thing. It's too close now. So, proud husband moment. We were sitting outside, my lovely wife, Nicole, and I. And she walked out. And we weren't even talking about pinball. And she says to me, listener, hey, has anyone ever talked about, because she knows that I talked to some of the manufacturers, anybody ever talked about Beetlejuice as a pinball theme? Ooh. My eyes lit up, listener. My heart started beating twice as fast. saliva formed in the corners of my mouth. I was ready to just jump on this woman. Yeah, you were going to word vomit all over her. Yes, she did not know what she brought up. And I said, oh my gosh, I don't know if she was just appeasing me by trying to talk pinball, but it's a good way to turn me on. I was like, oh, actually, yes, it has been discussed, but no development team was really that interested per Chris Franchi from George Gomez. And then he did a Translight, and it was remarkable. It was beautiful. And everybody bought it, even though it was license infringement. But everybody wants a pinball machine themed after Beetlejuice. And she was like, shit, I definitely shouldn't have asked any of that. Yeah, she opened the floodgates. Did you at least show her the Translight? Because it is beautiful. I've shown my family that. And it's like, y'all, look at this. There's a Beetlejuice. Because we like Beetlejuice. It's not my go-to every day, but I used to watch it as a kid all the time. I've read it twice. Be careful.
    14:14
    Sorry, I almost said Dingle Geist. I showed her that, and she agreed. She was like, oh, this is awesome. It was even brought up on this week's Flippin' Out Pinball stream. We had Dwight Sullivan live in stream, and somebody asked him about it, and he was like, he took offense to Gina Davis not being in the art package. He's like, she was, this is my Dwight, she was the star of the show. So Gina Davis was the star. She wasn't in there, so... And I was like, yeah, I'm not sure she's the star. The point of view is from Gina. She's the... No, Dwight. No. Well, I guess technically she is. I can't picture it. I don't have it up right now. There's Alec Baldwin and her as the deceased, the newly married deceased couple. Winona Ryder, I thought, was kind of the main protagonist in that film. and then Michael Keaton comes in as the title character. I don't, and Catherine O'Hara, is that her, I think? Mm-hmm. And the one guy that's always a bad guy in things. Well, I mean, technically, and again, I don't have it up, but aren't they visualized where they've got their creepy masks on, where, like, she pulls her face or something? Yeah, so technically she is there. I mean, that's technically Gina Davis' character. She is there. Okay. Get it right, Dwight. Come on, Dwight. Dwight's always wrong. So, Zach, I actually had a proud pinball spouse moment as well. So my wife and I were, we went on location, like I said, and we played the Mandalorian. And, you know, I think, and if you've been in my shoes, you know the feeling. I haven't. What size do you wear? Where are you up to? About ten and a half? Are you a little guy? Yeah, I'm right at ten and a half. I figured.
    16:03
    My wife is into pinball now. I think I've indoctrinated her because she unannounced the same kind of thing a couple weeks ago. We were on the road, and she was like, you know what? I think I would like these pinball machines in the house. Wow. Unprompted. And she started to list off, and I was like, yes, yes, keep going, keep going to the dark side. So, yeah, we've got room for a couple machines here, and so she's really into it. We got to play the Mandalorian. She did have her feedback, which I love. she's like the ultimate litmus test for any pinball company like if I were the pinball marketing group I would want to have my clipboard and just write down what Talia says and I think she's saying a lot of what many people are saying and we've had a Jurassic Park premium so keep that in mind she's like well why can't Grogu pick up the ball T-Rex picked up the ball and I was like fair sounds good Pennside and then she said I don't like the plastic ramps I was like, fair. I could see that, too. And then what she wanted, I think some of the pinball listeners out there will get a kick out of that. She wanted a spring on the Razor Crest. Razor Crest on a spring? Well, but it's kind of true. She's like, the Razor Crest doesn't do anything when you hit it. And I said, that's an astute point. But, yeah, we've played. So I have played all the newer sterns. I do like that one. I think it's a lot of fun. verdicts out, you know, if I'd want to add it to the collection or not. So that's where we ended, Zach. We had a good time playing Mandalorian, played all the other new stuff out there, and looking forward to getting out and playing more pinball. We're going to dive into that, because I want to know more about your thoughts after playing Mandalorian, as well as Tally's thoughts regarding that game and other games, too. But let's kick it over to the correspondents and see what type of news they have drummed up for us. It's time for TPN Industry News.
    18:08
    Hi and welcome to this week's SHIT update with Dr John on the Pinball Show. So this update is all about Spooky. They've been releasing some teasers on their socials, including a shot on their Facebook page of the underside of the new games playfield. There's been much conjecture on what it could be, with even Zach Mini having a dabble into the reverse side of the playfield, looking at where Mini playfields, and we know there's more than one, and ramps could possibly be placed. Charlie and Bug also released an update on their YouTube channel with details of the next game. Everything except the title, of course. Three different versions of the game that you can order this time, as opposed to the previous games where you could custom build what you wanted. The three editions are called Standard, Bloodsuckers and Collectors. The Bloodsuckers will include Speaker Light Kit, Shaker Motor, Knocker, etc. And the collector's edition will have, as promised, a ton of extra goodies. And this will remain at under $10,000 US. They also explained the fan supply will be much quieter. There are no IDC connectors, only Molex. They have easy slides on the playfield, as per other games, so that you don't drop the playfield of the cabinet, and it makes it easy to take out and put in. Felt League Protectors, three times the number of staff on quality control, which is welcomed. And importantly, they've gone back to a new version of the pinheck board rather than the P-Rock system. They say this is much more reliable and easier to wire. Instead, the new game definitely has two upper playlists. So it should be interesting to see. and a little birdies told me there will be another video coming out next week with possibly a title reveal. There's new bushings available for those with Rick and Morty. If you contact Spooky, they'll be sending them out to customers to reduce that flipper height off the playfield. Exciting times in the shit world. We'll catch you all next week. See you then.
    20:24
    Hey, this is Kaz with a quick American Pinball update. I read recently that Game 4 would be at the Southern Pride Gaming Expo in August, so I reached out to Michael Grant for some more information, and he informed me that Game 4 was not supposed to be published on their website and has not been confirmed by American Pinball to be at that show. There was a miscommunication, and the listing has been removed. The team is hard at work on the new game, and will release more info on Game 4 very soon. There have been many rumors about the new title. Will it be Legends of Valhalla, Sherlock Holmes? We will have to just wait and see. I hope everybody has a great week and has fun playing pinball. For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Kossner.
    21:09
    Hello and welcome to the Pinball Show's Stern News Update. I'm Craig Bobby. Well, part shortages certainly seem to be the way for all pinball manufacturers these days, including the world's largest pinball manufacturer. Yes, delays, delays, and more delays seem to be on the horizon for Stern and all manufacturers of the silver ball, as heart shortages on everything from plastics, processors, wires, switches, you name it. If you've ordered a pinball machine in the last year, there's been some serious, serious delays, which hopefully will not get worse before they get better. For those who recently purchased an Avengers Infinity Quest Infinity Gem, shooter rod from Stern and discovered that your ball plunges now felt more like a limp ball plunge found on all new GNR machines, have no fear. A simple $1 higher tension red spring replacement from Stern will have your gen shooter rod back to normal and feeling more like the mighty Thanos in no time. And lastly, exciting news for those who subscribe to the TPN podcast catcher, and seriously, who doesn't, stay tuned for a real treat as TPN's own Joel Engelberth from Just Another Pinball Podcast is interviewing none other than Stern Pinball's Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, George Gomez. In this week's episode, Joel will dig deep into Gomez's brain on the creation of the pinball classic, Deadpool, as well as what it's like to be at the helm of the world's largest and most productive pinball manufacturer. Well, that's all for this week. For the Pinball Show, I'm Craig Bobby. Catch you on the flip side.
    22:51
    Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. Not a lot of news this week, so I thought I'd do a little market research to compare Jersey Jack's numbers to some of their competitors. Although these pinball companies are very tight-lit when it comes to sales numbers, I thought I could look at their social media numbers to determine how popular these companies are. Using Instagram followers as a proxy for popularity, Jersey Jack Pinball sits at 14.3 thousand followers as of today. How does that compare to some of their competitors? Well, Spooky Pinball has far fewer followers, sitting at just over 2,200. This makes sense as they are a smaller company with lower production runs. Where does the giant of the pinball industry, Stern Pinball, sit? Well, they currently have just over 44,000 followers, which is just over three times what Jersey Jack Pinball has. I'll continue to follow these numbers periodically just to see how all of the companies stand and to see if Jersey Jack makes up some ground against the behemoth Stern. For the Pinball Show, this has been Ken Redberg.
    24:02
    Matt Morrison here with your Chicago Gaming Company update for the week. I haven't had much to report recently, yet I'm starting to get inundated with messages asking about rumors and excitement involving Cactus Canyon Remake. It seems if there was ever a time to release this game, it would have been in the first quarter of 2021, I would have thought, but as CGC's luck would have it, the continued shortage of pinball machines and skyrocketing demand is prospecting buyers now setting their sights even more on the next remake, especially now that the first three CGC LEs are going well over 10K in some instances. I expect this next release to sell out very quickly, but for some buyers, it all depends on one factor. Will the code be finished? This is the central theme people keep asking me, and the answer is, I don't know. Some people are starting to speculate a fathom situation where there'll be two versions selectable when you start the game. If you were hoping for the Cactus Canyon Continue code that Eric Kripke worked on, I wouldn't hold my breath. Eric stated previously that CGC reached out about Cactus Canyon, but when he followed up to see what they were inquiring about, CGC ghosted him. I reached out to Eric on Pinside some time ago with no response. Hopefully all will be answered sooner than later. If you just have to have more Cactus Canyon content, check out my interview with artist John Yowsey. We talk about Cactus Canyon briefly and a lot of other John's work in pinball. That does it for this week. Back to you, guys. All right, we have a big news week when it comes to Spooky Pinball. I think we're going to see and hear a lot of things spooky this week, listener. Until then, we're going to dive into the YouTube video Bug and Charlie created last week here and teased some of the stuff coming from this company. They announced three models for their next game, a standard edition, a Bloodsuckers edition, like we were accustomed to for Rick and Morty, and they are adding a trim level, the collector's edition. Now, listener, specifics on these models or these trim levels, basically, there's no more a la carte options. I was waiting for that because that just takes way too much time. Whenever machines are rolling down the line, you have to specify, well, this one's got the art blades, this one doesn't. So they're doing away with those. The standard editions have few to no add-ons at all. So that's your basic, classic standard edition pinball machine. The Bloodsuckers, that middle level, now feels like a premium where you get mostly all of the add-ons. And then the collector's edition comes in. You get all of the add-ons plus, quote-unquote, bonus features. And one of the big draws for this collector's edition from Spooky Pinball is that it will be under $10,000. That sounds like a big draw, but most people outside of pinball will be like, oh, whoop-de-frickin'-do. Thanks for a $10,000 pinball machine.
    26:49
    Lucas, what do you think about Spooky Pinball's decision to go three-tier model like many others in the industry? I think it's smart. I mean, the only way that we've seen some of these companies win is with standardization. And, look, you standardize and you duplicate, and then you can delegate it to the rest of the team. So if they can standardize on that, and I'm sure they were seeing probably, I'm making an assumption here, They were probably seeing some very similar orders come through on Rick and Morty, where they're like, well, look, everyone's just ordering the butter cab, and I don't even know what all the accessories they had. So it makes a lot of sense. And as they're trying to grow, you can't help but love these guys, right? I've not. Look, here's another thing, another tick off my list of pinball cred to put me in the dumpster. I've not even played a spooky game yet just because they're not around me. Yeah, I've never played one, but I want to go to Benton, Wisconsin, which I've never even heard of before because I think the pinball community is just in love with this company because they and some other companies do it right. And the older I get, I just learned that life is all about setting and managing expectations, and they did it right here. They set the expectation that they were going to make all of these games in 18 months. and as a pinball company or as a person in general, you can either meet, break, or exceed that expectation and they blew it out of the water, right? With COVID, they beat our expectations. So what does that do? They level up in our books. So I would love to support them in the future. Yeah, you're like an old sage over there. You're becoming wise, wise in your years. I think it's- A wizened, yes. A wizened.
    28:40
    You just went down a couple of rumps. I think it's smart as well because of exactly what you're saying, standardization. That way, if they know that they're going to do this many models of this, this many models of this, then they can order those parts and be prepped to do those. They can also do different runs between these trim levels and have a little bit more organization on shipping and whatnot for direct sales or for dealer stuff. They also had some upgrades overall. They talked about an upgraded power supply. No more noisy noise. I think they said that noisy noise, or I'm saying that. They are going back to an updated Penhek board system rather than that P3, P-Rock board system. And I think maybe that saves them some money as well. They do have new custom-staged flipper switches, which people were calling for. There were some issues with lack of EOS or EOS not functioning in the old ones. No more IDC connectors. No, no, no. You'll not see any more mozzarella string cheese glue under your play field of a spooky pinball. There are now Molex connectors everywhere, thankfully. You also get felt metal leg protectors on all models. Yay! Service outlet is easier to access. Yippee! And from Back Alley Creations, easy slides will be going into these games. That is nice. For those of you not familiar, you can purchase them for your Stern games or Jersey Jack or whatever games they're capable of. But Back Alley Creations made easy slides. And you know that big fa-gunk at the end, right when you're pulling up or out of the play field, there's a big fa-gunk. So it is fa-gunk free. So you don't fa-gunk it, you just fa-gunk it. So fa-gunk bad, fa-gunk better. You don't what? Can you hit that again?
    30:25
    Yeah down with the fa up with the fa That was really stupid listeners Sorry There are new flipper mechanisms and bushings as well and their supervisory staff has tripled to emphasize additional quality control And that was always kind of a critique that Spooky would get. Sure, we love them. Sure, their play fields are great. But quality control sometimes is less than can be desired. They are moving into a new building very shortly. And on their next title, they talked about taking, quote, a very different path on the design for it, going on to say that it is, quote, stacked and loaded up to the glass, end quote, with multiple upper playfields or upper, upper playfields? Hashtag stacked and loaded. What the hell does that mean, Lucas? I don't know, but it sounds awesome. Again, their transparency is fantastic. I don't know. I know we've seen some pictures, right, too? They showed us the underside of the playfield. Yes, just last week, Spooky Pinball lifted up their top, and they flashed us with curiosity. They showed us the underside of that playfield. Boom, boom. Did you like what you've seen? Dude, I have no idea what the hell I'm looking at. I did see a rendering. I think someone on Pinside rendered, which, A, congratulations, sir. B, you have way too much time on your hands. actually 3D rendered their conceptualization of what this could look like. And I think there's subways. There's a lot of subways. So the ball is going to be going from different place to different place. I mean, I can't imagine. I just feel I get this sense of this cascading waterfall of pinball, like starting from the top back and coming down, which sounds fantastic. Like a layered 3D puzzle. Have you ever seen that? Yeah, the Puzzle 3D. They're going up. Yeah, they've got different decks and stuff there. I think as we're looking at this, I've got a picture. You're probably looking at the same one, Lucas, of that rendering that the Pensider did. Shout out to them. There's a couple people that did that. Saved me time because I was starting that project of filling in where the inserts would go and the mechs. And somebody already did it. So I took their picture and I flipped it and I flopped it so that it was oriented. So I believe if you're looking at the same picture I am, Lucas, this is what it would be like looking straight down at the machine now. And this is visual, so we'll be short on this, but we see a three bank, looks like a three bank drop target main play field right in the middle of the game. I'm questioning that because sometimes I don't like a three bank right there. I like stranger things. Do I need any more? But maybe that's an entrance because there's inserts behind it. Maybe that's an entrance to an upper play field. I don't see much on this lower play field. I see a lot of lights, a shitload of lights. But like we have a cutout of an upper play field, which tells me, listener, that very likely you're not going to have much access to that side of the play field whenever they cut the entirety of it out. So we're not playing there on the main play field. We're just playing to the left. Maybe in orbit as you're shooting. The shooter lane goes into what looks like an orbit fashion. It might 180, but you may get an orbit out of that. But the primary play field is a bunch of LEDs. I don't even see a lot of targets. Definitely no drop targets. We see a three bank and a lot of left play. You're also going to see three holes in the play field that are going to go to a subway. Now, this subway, I'm guessing that there's not going to be three entrances on the main play field to a subway system. I don't think that would be a good idea. I think this is going to be a pass-through from an upper play field. So we're going to have a two-story drop to a subway. Does that make sense, Lucas? That would be really cool. In my head, and I know this will not be the case, and if it is, I will join the fan club right away, it sounds like it would be an amazing Super Mario Bros. game where you're going through the pipes, and the pipe takes you from the top to the bottom, and you warp over here to the red pipe and the blue pipe and the green pipe. and oh my god, that is one of my themes that it's like, if there's a Nintendo theme, give it to me now, don't care. I have to play every single game to see if it's something I would want to add, but that would be really cool if there was a warp pipe from three levels up. You better have your raccoon bodysuit. I do. That would be a cool upgrade on that game, if you could play and you get the different suits and it does different things. But no, for real, if the ball is traveling from either multiple upper playfields down to the main playfield or vice versa, I don't know how you'd make it go vice versa with gravity. That would take a lot of power. No, John Papaduke does it all the time. It's fine. Right. Yeah, that worked out well. I'm also seeing as I'm looking at this playfield, we get some mechs that we can't really identify. It looks like a flipper on the upper playfield, that subset playfield that's cut out. You get an upper flipper. You get a drop target up there. You get another mech that controls something up there. But if I'm seeing a flipper up there, I'm seeing holes across it, I'm thinking maybe you take a swing on that flipper to one of those subway holes. We also have a subway to the right of the game. That one looks like there's a scoop down in the main playfield, so you'll be able to hit a scoop there that goes into the subway. Both subways lead to the end lanes like a wire-form ramp would on the top side. But in the upside down, there are two mechanisms that are 3D printed and that have servo motors on them that have scared the shit out of the entire hobbyist community. How is that? Those servo motors just are not always reliable. Ah, gotcha. And I see Stern using them more. I see Jersey Jack using them more. I think the manufacturers feel like they're progressing in their design and their durability. But as consumers, we get a little scared, especially if they're being used a lot right there. As a newer hobbyist, that's one of the biggest things that I look for is just reliability.
    36:46
    Look, I have recapped monitors and done enough board work. Oh, well, shit. Minor board work. board work like soldering things on to things. I've recapped some monitors. And you didn't die, so you're good. I didn't die. I was scared to shit that I was going to blow something up. The first time you discharge a monitor, get ready to have your life insurance policy. It's really not scary the more time after you do it a couple times, but yeah, that's scary shit. So I'm technical enough, but I'm at the point too in my life where I don't want to deal with that. I'd rather buy a new game, play the piss out of it and sell it, you know, and not lose a ton of money and move on to something else. I don't have a lot of nostalgia for the older, yeah, hold your ears, Pinball Land. I don't have a lot of nostalgia for the older games because I don't remember playing them. I remember seeing them in the arcade, but I mean, I was on Ninja Turtles and X-Men and, you know, I was more on the arcade side as a kid. I would play Pinball, sure, but I can't remember, if you said what's one pinball machine that you remember playing distinctively as a kid? And I honestly have no idea. So I like some of the old games. Lethal Weapon, Demolition Man, and Terminator 2 are coming to storm your castle right now. I guess. I have played, yes, Lethal Weapon. I have played all those. Demolition Man and Terminator 2, that's like what everybody grew up in the 90s with. Yeah, but again, I guess it's where I am. There was never a ton of pinball to be found. And so, yeah, I remember playing the arcade games. So that's why I don't have a lot of that background that so many of you do. I don't know what this – they said it's going to be unique. It says it's going to be different, stacked and loaded. They keep saying. So I feel like that's coming from the properties that they are utilizing. We don't know what the theme is. Some are speculating that it's Halloween, the horror series. Some are speculating it's Nightmare on Elm Street, which I'm going back and watching now and I love. Some are speculating. I don't do horror themes.
    39:01
    I'm a big scaredy cat. Yeah, I'm a big scaredy cat. No shame. So if it's a horror theme, I'm likely out. I'll play any pinball machine. I don't care. And for that reason, I'm out. But would it be something I would add to my house? No. Stranger Things to me is not horror, but I do like that theme. More sci-fi. That's more sci-fi. That's flat. You can take this out if you want, but I was really looking forward to it. When they said Stranger Things and Brian Eddy and my family and I binge-watched Stranger Things. We love the series. We can't wait for the next part. But it just didn't capture the whimsy of the show. I think it needed a little bit more of the feel-good 80s kind of comedic bits. Yeah, it needed a little bit more Goonies. And less aliens. And it just took it a little dark.
    40:00
    I don't mind. It actually shoots okay, but I don't know. I do want to revisit it because when we played it, it was the first code. So I didn't see a lot of the stuff. Did you play the pro or the premium?
    40:14
    The pro. The premium looks like hot garbage. Next time you're up in southern Indiana, stop by and I'll give you an experience you've never had before. I would really love to play it now with the fresh code. with the, and this was, you know, I played it before they had made any mention of the play field art and the UV kit. And no doubt, if you've got your Stranger Things LE or Premium decked out and you've added even your, what's that material that you can change on your projection mapping? I forget what it's called. It's like Dark Quest. Dark Matter. Yeah, Dark Matter. So to where you really make that projection mapping pop. But I play with the lights on usually. Oh, Lucas.
    41:03
    I know. I'm wearing socks and I'm playing with the lights on, so take it for what it is. In socks with the lights on. Oh.
    41:14
    That's rough. It's kinky, but it's rough. We'll get back to spooky pinball here. Listener, what I think we're going to get here, it's going to be a risky. I'm worried about this one. It's going to be a risky layout and design. We do know that it is a very collaborative effort on this design. And I believe first-time designer, I always think Sputnik, but it's Bunyan, David Van Ness is leading this design, I believe.
    41:43
    He's the Australian guy that they received. Ozzy turned Texas, turned Bentonian. But we know that he is prolific in animation. And I think he probably helped on other designed elements in their games as well, like Alice Cooper. But we're going to get a lot from him. We'll see what his style is over a couple of releases. But with this one, I think we're going to get, for better or worse, we're going to get split-level Bally Williams 80s stuff.
    42:17
    I just think that that's what we're going to get. We're going to get that split level where it's going to very much feel like that main play field isn't used much. and the task is to get to the upper play field. But the 2021 element, you put a play field on top of a play field, yo. So you're going to get two stacked play fields up there. And they're going to be very large, if I were to guess. And I think they are going to, if you didn't like Popeye impeding the vision or Alice Cooper, you're going to get a lot more of that, if I'm guessing here. Could be completely wrong, but after studying this play field, That is what I am seeing. I don't know what necessarily this design lends itself to theme-wise because the main inserts tell a story. They have their, my OCD kind of kicks in, and they're not really even, which kills me. But there is a pattern to them. You've got a main mode, and you've got three little steps that are all the same size as the next three little steps, but in between those steps is another main mode centered. looks like maybe boss battles here. Progress, progress, progress, boss, progress, progress, progress, boss. Mini wizard mode, final wizard mode as you're going up to that three bank. I don't know what it is. I'd love to have a Halloween. I'd really love to have a nightmare on Elm Street. I mean, really. That is probably one of my top three, top four horror-themed films. I think they're really close. I know Charlie was teasing something else on Facebook that it's going to be a big week for Spooky, so we will have to wait and see. But I like to play it like Christmas. I just want to be surprised. I don't spend a lot of time analyzing the mechanisms. A, I don't know what a lot of them do, but it's just fun to wake up and talk about the excitement of seeing the new thing and everything that revolves around that. It's like Christmas. I'm going to wait for Christmas and hopefully be blown away by it. And who knows, maybe want one, but if it's a horror theme, like I said, I'm out. It might just be another bunny suit. You may not get that red rider. I don't know. This is interesting, and I love these types of teases. I think this is a smart type of tease here, but I think this is going to be a risk in design. We'll see. And I like funky designs. I love radical. And keep in mind that one of Charlie and their whole inside joke thing up there is Swords of Fury, and that's a funky, funky designed game. So I think they're going to take a risk here. We'll see if it pays off. Maybe we'll see it this week. We generally will have, from them, we'll have a title announcement, maybe a short homemade video that they do of it. We'll get a Jack Danger stream of it likely, and then probably, if I had to guess, a Super Awesome Pinball Show podcast about it. So I think that's what we'll see maybe this week into next. Stern Pinball in the news. Craig Bobby's reporting more parts delays, so things getting bumped a little bit here and there. They're still shipping stuff, so I'm not as concerned about that because I'm still seeing accessories coming. I'm still seeing games shipping. Of course, I'd like it to be more quicker, but it is what it is. So would I.
    45:37
    I mean, regardless of the delays, I do think, listener, we're going to see some domestic Mandalorian LEs start shipping this week. Hot damn, my baby's coming home. So you've got one, obviously. Mm-hmm. Yep. I've got to figure out how I'm going to unbox it. And as we were talking about before, Dwight Sullivan visited the Flippin' Out Pinball stream live at Studio B this past week with Steve Beattie, Burrito Bill Webb, and Courtney Bowman to chat about and play the Mandalorian Pinball Machine. You'll have to go back and watch that. I think it's on VOD now. As you're hearing this, so go to Flippin' Out YouTube. You can watch it there. But Dwight spoke about a couple things. Go listen there because there's a lot of stuff I couldn't jot it all down for this. One of the things that I thought was cool, he really is about moments and Dwight shows and all of that. He talked about the push for having all of those flasher domes red with Brian Eddy. He was like, I really want them all red. That way he can portray a lot of tone and mood through the use of bright red alert type of lighting, just like Precious Cargo. That's like a wizard mode. After you complete all the multi-balls, he talked about that. He talked about wanting to make the player stop and really experiencing what they're about to get themselves into with the storyline. I love that kind of stuff. Are you a moment maker or a point chaser, Lucas? I actually caught some of that. Oh, I'm a moment maker. The points do not matter to me. And it's arbitrary, right? Like we were playing Turtles, Ninja Turtles Premium on location, and my wife looked over at me. She's like, God, my score sucks. You're like 49,000. And, hey, look, we suck. I admit it. We suck. But I was like, oh, yeah, I've heard that the scoring is way different because then you go over and you play Monster Bash or something. Attack for more than a million. 20 million a shot. So, yeah, I actually caught some of that stream. It's been fun to hear Dwight talk about this. I actually don't get on Twitch a lot, but I actually saw the VOD of, is it Joel Engelberth and Dwight? That was a really good stream because it was just kind of a super casual conversation. I love that Dwight has added some, like, RPG elements to this game. So it's fun because you're making money, doing tasks, and then you go shopping, right? That's kind of typical RPG, and those give you perks within the game. I can wrap my head around that. I cannot wrap my head around the Avengers. And the risk reward of do I want to spend less money but help myself more now in the immediate, or do I want to bank and save that up, that risk reward of getting a larger help later on down your quest? Very RPG. Yeah, that speaks to me way more than the Stern Star Wars code. So, yeah, I know I said it. Don't give me that game. I know. But, look, I have to call out Bill Webb. I caught this part. And he was blaming this family cold in the past two weeks on not watching The Mandalorian. And even Dwight called him out. He's like, dude, The Mandalorian's been out for two years. And Bill's like, oh, yeah, well, I just haven't watched it yet. So, Bill, calling you out, man. Yeah, that's a lame excuse, Ben. I was thinking the same thing. But I'm glad you're feeling better, but no.
    48:56
    I think Bill's not seen Star Wars trilogy at all. No. I swear. No. Come on. It makes me question him as a person, but yeah, hasn't seen it. Dwight did talk about being in the design phase of his next game already. I wonder what it will be. Yeah, he was busting chops about me and my love for pinball, my love for Popeye. pinball machine. But by the end of the stream, Lucas, he came around and he and I will be streaming live together with the group up there at the Flippin' Out Studio B. And we're going to stream Popeye. So we're going to be playing that and we're going to be eating Popeyes. Oh, get out. That's going to be fun. Follow, like, subscribe, twitch.tv slash Flippin' Out Pinball if you want to see Dwight get schooled on some Ousler Popeye. And he was, did you know Dwight's a big Bond film guy? I did not. I like Bond, but I'm not super into Bond. I'm actually a few films behind on the... No Bond? Meh.
    49:59
    Just with my socks and the lights on. Mind me of a Bo Burnham, a genius PC, he does with the sock in his latest... We'll talk about that more later. Dwight believes that Skyfall, a very modern Bond film, wasn't the best one yet. Skyfall. I've not seen all the Bond films, especially the old ones. It's kind of like pinball where it's like, EMs are fun, I guess, because there's nothing else to play. But now that there's cool Bond films, see, I'm with you, Dwight. Skyfall is probably my favorite Bond film of the ones I've seen. Again, I haven't seen the old classics with John Wayne or whoever the hell was in those stupid things. John Wayne. sometimes i like pipping off the audience oh john wayne god john wayne is bond that i'm picturing it in some ways if he if he could have done a british accent like john wayne actually probably would have made a pretty striking bond because he's a big guy shake and not start their pilgrim Oh, man. John Wayne. John Wayne, yeah. That was a deeper cut there.
    51:14
    I called into the show. I gave away some stuff. I got topper blocked by Dwight. That's now a thing. Hashtag topper blocked. I was able to create a new media segment with Dwight that he was not aware of, that I sprung on him, and he did fantastic. A new segment I called, What Am I Doing and Why Do I Care? The challenge was, and you guys will get to take a lot of this, I challenged Dwight to tell me the basic rule set of Mandalorian, which he coded, in 30 seconds. I set a timer, and I said, you've got 30 seconds. If you can get the basis of the vision here on what the player needs to do, in 30 seconds I will give away a stern dust cover map. And he was able to do it. Nailed it. That's the kind of tutorials that I want, especially on, like, reveal stuff. Just give me a basic, where's my journey? the map. You don't have to tell me what I'm going to see on the way. I think they could easily code that in. I mean, when you're walking up to a CERN and you're seeing the slideshow, for lack of a better term, of here are the rules, they could easily kind of code that in or show the player hey, if you hit this button and this button, we'll give you a quick tutorial video. And if it's 30 seconds, that's great. I mean, the tutorial videos, and I think, doesn't Carl D'Angelo do these? They're fantastic, but I think if you actually had a quick little, adding some audio to it to be like, you are Mandalorian, and here's your goal, that's not hard, and I know they can do that. Yeah, you're right. If you hold both flipper buttons in, or something that's more casual, because you get to do casual, maybe the first, you know what, I would say if a game is started with the action button, because that's what noobs do, If the game is started with the action button, a 20-second guide, and you can flip through it, but a guide comes up and says, welcome to the world of the Mandalorian. You are here to X. What you're going to do, and then the inserts on the play field light up, and that's it. That's the only thing that lights up on the whole damn play field. These are your multi-balls. Hit them by hitting these arrows up the middle, and then make the play field show those arrows light up. This is the encounter. This is the upper play field. Get through that to get to this wizard mode. and neither your modes hit both ramps once in the scoop to start a mode complete five to the wizard mode good luck mando or boom and then it goes boom yeah i i totally agree with you my again using my wife is is the litmus test for pinball we're just flailing like both of us are just flailing when we come up to the machine on a new one especially avengers like again god bless it's fun to shoot But, like, I still have no idea. And I've put a couple years on it. What the hell? I get that, you know, it's kind of like Deadpool where, okay, I'm shooting the heroes to build that up. But for what? Why? Why do I care? I am Iron Man. No, you're not. That doesn't sound like Iron Man to me. You certainly are not. You are far from that. So, yeah, if they could figure out a way to easily, and, you know, there definitely have to be some consideration on how you do that. And, of course, the hardcore pinheads would be like, well, I don't want to even have to touch a button. Yeah, some way to skip that easily. But I know that would help as I get more games in the house and you've got a friend over. And they don't know what the hell they're doing, right? They hardly know that pinball exists anymore. And you say, hey, here you go. It's your first time. I'm going to hit this. Watch this quick little thing. Their enjoyment level will go up tenfold knowing a basic understanding of, oh, here's why I'm trying to keep the ball. Yes, I suck and I'm flailing and just trying to keep the ball in play. But, oh, there is a deeper understanding of what I'm trying to do here. Absolutely. And when I play video games, Lucas, I'm the kind of guy when I first play a video game, you better not skip through those intro montages. Those cut sequences, those are like my favorite parts of the game because it pulls you into the storyline before you begin your quest. So I don't know if you're a, do you push through those? I'll figure out the rules myself or the storyline myself. Oh, the first time, no, that's what video games do well is they guide you along and you have a tutorial section. And, you know, sure, of course, you've played multiple as a shooting video game, right? You've played multiple shooters. You know how to aim the stick and do whatever. But, you know, it's the way that they lead you through the story, and the best ones, right, actually wrap the story around that tutorial moment where you're experiencing something. I'm thinking of Bioshock. If anyone's played Bioshock, it's one of my favorite video games. You're thrown into this creepy world, and you pick up a wrench, and the game's telling you what to do with the wrench, and then it throws you into a scenario where you use the wrench, and then you get hurt. this plasmid that gives you an electric power, and it says, hey, use your plasmid on this door to open the door, and you can use it on bad guys. So it's weaving the story into the tutorial. If they can kind of figure out how to do that, your enjoyment level is going to be way higher in the end, and you're probably going to keep more noobs playing pinball longer because they're going to see that there is a different way to do this, or even having some kind of, I know, and I think P3 Multimorphic does this. I've never played one, but they have like tutorial modes, right, or like practice mode, right? Am I making that up? No, I believe they have that, and they have like a safe progress mode, which I think is really smart. Yeah, so if they can do that and wrap that tutorial in, you know, starting with a video thing that's skippable, that's an easy win. But, you know, if that's a thing, and they probably won't do it because they're making so much money as it is. I like that tutorial idea because it reminds me of when you talked about Bioshock. It reminded me of the first time I played it. I think it was Silent Hill where they force you into this dream montage where you're kind of getting your bearings. You know how to move around and function. It's a tutorial, but it doesn't tell you that. You're learning, and it's set up to make you fail because you will get cornered and you will get killed, and you're like, this game sucks. But then it's clever and it makes the main character wake up from a dream. And then boom, there you go. So I love that kind of idea. I love it. I think pinball machines are going to progress more towards that gaming aspect in the future. At least I hope so. With game saving, tutorials, moments. Yeah, I want to be part of that. And what I will say from what I've seen of Dwight, and again, me not knowing anything really about designers or coders. But I know I don't like Star Wars, but I love the concept that he introduced with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Like, great, co-op. That makes sense to me because I used to play co-op Turtles. And Stern and other companies adding and weaving some of those, great. I want a quick and easy mode like Jurassic Park where I just jump into the game and try to escape the island and show someone, hey, you want to see what this game can really do? Let me show it to you really quickly. Half-shell challenge on Turtles. I haven't played Half Shell Challenge, but the same thing. And with Mandalorian, doing something cool and different and unique that you don't always want to jump into it, but like impossible mode seems really neat, right? Like if I'm better than my kids, they don't want to sit there and like, all right, Dad, like get off the game. You're better than us. We get it. I think adding those things is awesome. I think a lot of times Dwight Sullivan gets some criticism from the community about some of the risks that he does take. But I can tell you as creative as his mind is and as much of an enthusiast for just games in general, whether it be board games or mobile games, he's just a big fan of gaming and rules and stuff. He's the perfect person for this. To me, he is a pioneer of pinball coding. You may not always like his balance. You may not always like some of his cut sequences or he's making you do a breadth of different things or tasks that get in your way. But I really, truly think he is a true pioneer in what we will see pinball progress to for decades to come. Yeah, I agree. I like where he's definitely going. What I've seen with Turtles and now Mando, I'm really, because I think he gets that, right? and he is pushing the envelope a little bit towards like, hey, this newer generation of pinball players coming in, they're video gamers, right? They've grown up with these things, and now we've got to introduce them to pinball. How do we make that transition to them so they say, oh, wow, this is like an RPG element. I love RPGs. I like this pinball machine. So, yeah, props. Yeah, and I like how Stern, each and every year, it feels like now they have these base camps of these different developmental teams that give you different flavors for different things. Elwynn, you're going to get a really good competitive base. So you know at least once a year those competitive players are going to lick their chops for a Keith Elwynn game. And then you've got Sullivan coming in. I know Dwight would love to be the competitive people like those deep – and he codes that. He codes it for everybody, but he's that moment maker. And he tells that quest and you go through the journey. So a lot of cool stuff coming. Speaking of cool stuff coming, I love toppers. You know that, right? I do know that. Listeners know that once a long time ago, I was proclaimed the topper king. You're not anymore? Surveyor of all the land. I did a good job, I think, as the topper king. I still am. I think you definitely drove up prices. Good job. I was the ambassador of pinball accessories and toppers And a newcomer emerges from the land of toppers and accessories A special congratulations to young squire Jack Danger of Deadflip This last week, Jack Danger announced on social media that, although late to the party, he will soon be doing the topper accessory reveals for Stern Pinball.
    61:26
    And we're going to see them on the Deadflip streaming channel, the announcements. And I'm being very transparent here, listener. You guys know how much I love toppers and accessories. This one makes me jealous. That would be the dream job. So congratulations. I'm looking forward to seeing every Stern topper and accessory come out of that factory. But now they're putting more weight to these. They're going to have topper reveals on the Deadflip channel.
    61:57
    Cool. I'm not a topper guy I like them They're cool But for the money that I could spend on that I just don't I don't see the value But I know I'll give Jersey Jack props Didn't they recently release one It was like $199 Like that's cool I come down for $199 Give me a Deadpool topper With the dumb little thumb That goes back and forth for $199. I'll buy it all day, but don't come back at me with another $650 after I've spent $6,000. So hashtag overrated. Just add it to the top. Overpriced. I think so. Overpriced. Not overrated. I mean, I think they are cool. I think aesthetically they definitely do add a lot to your game, especially if you're adding art blades and some of the cooler things to make your game pop, but no, not for the price, not for me. Well, speaking of Jersey Jack Pinball, they just opened up their online store, pinballwizard.com.
    63:04
    That's a good URL. Kudos to whoever got that. Kudos to the, I know who it is, but I don't know if they want me to say it, but kudos to whoever got that domain name, pinballwizard.com. That was available? Wow. They're going to be selling accessories and merchandise, as Lucas alluded to, that $1.99 top of their direct, here in the coming weeks. They still said they're aiming for the end of August into September for the start of that GNR Topper production, likely with an announcement of arm blades coming soon as well. And speaking of new, Multimorphic has something new. It's called Silver Falls. Sounds like a geriatric porno to me.
    63:44
    I did see this. Are you listening? It's what? It's Nick Baldridge, one of the co-creators of the Coin-Op Carnival, and his 10-year-old daughter. How cool is that? Look, I've not played a Multimorphic. It is interesting to me, but I think that's really cool that he had a collaborative experience with his daughter. And I saw, too, that Scott Denise is doing music for him. He was also responsible for doing Ranger in the Ruins, I believe, last year. And these are little mini-games. They're not like the biggest, most complex, graphically enhanced complex games. But they're kind of like, I think they're like $150. So it's just another fun way to play Multimorphic, where you don't have to buy a $5,000, $6,000 pinball machine. Pay $150, boom, you get another game. This one works off of the heist play field. I'm trying to think what you're doing. You choose an avatar. You improve your home by spending pin bucks in a shop. Once your needs are met, you can exit, move to the next room, get a new job, get a new home. But, yeah, little Sophia Baldrige and Papa Nick have created a game. And it's neat. I like it. 24 different avatars, three different skin tones, six different voices from which to choose. Allow everyone to play their preferred pace. And there's also team play. And, like you said, Luke, it's a unique chill-hop soundtrack. A first for pinball by Scott Denise. I don't know what Chill Hop is, but if it's gotten easy, I've heard his work. It's very cool. Well, I think it's opposite of the fire slide.
    65:21
    Well, I think, Zach, what's cool to me about Multimorphic is they're giving their community the opportunity to have a platform to tell their stories and make their games. So if it's okay with you, I wanted to introduce a segment on the show. Really? That's kind of out of left field. Yeah. So as you mentioned, I'm one of the co-founders of a online book club called Literarily Wasted. I find this at literarilywasted.club. One of the cool things that I created, I think it's kind of cool, is called Adventures in Reading. It's badass. This is badass. I'll hang my hat on this. I got into streaming a little bit during COVID just as I need to learn this skill. It's coming up and it's prevalent. so I started Adventures in Reading and it's an online reading experience which sounds horrible, right? Like, God, that sounds boring. But we take Choose Your Own Adventure books and we read it online and then the audience actually participates and helps us choose the next path. So if it's okay with you, Zach, I want to do a micro Adventures in Reading. This will be a couple minutes long but I actually wrote this for you. It is called Zach's Great Pinball Road Trip. I wrote it last night. yeah, this is just for you. I wrote it last night.
    66:35
    I've not really edited it, but I've given you a script. You have not seen this script before, correct? That's correct. I have not read through this or nothing. I like an improv, so hopefully they'll win the trouble for this. Listeners out there, I literally did. I wrote this last night and I've highlighted sections for Zach to read in his own voice. This is going to be from Zach's perspective. You've done more work as a co-host than anybody has on this show. Thank you so much. Let's jump into this. I was honored that you reached out to me. Again, this is pinball light, but if you're on your road trip to the beach or you're doing something, but it'll maybe give you a taste for what we're doing in our book community and what we did with this latest adventure book. We call it Take a Shot Stories, number one. Beach Trip Beware. So it's kind of another road trip. How are you going to say beach trip beware without saying it in a tone or a voice or something? Beach trip beware. Yeah. Beach trip beware. That's the great part of these stories is they go in all sorts of different paths, right? There's different outcomes. There's different sections of the adventure. They could be positive. They could be negative. They could be dark. They could be happy. They're always fun. Yeah, they're always fun. And you included Dennis Creasel in the literary piece that you guys made. Yeah, you know, I made friends with Dennis last year, and I appreciate all of the work and output that he puts in. And when he mentioned at one point that he did creative writing, I was like, well, that would be so much fun to give Dennis an outlet, too, to flex his muscles. He actually wrote more. I only wrote one page in this book. He actually wrote more than I did. That's cool. Yeah, it was fun. It's a great way to pull people together during kind of a crazy period. Where can I preorder that real quick? People need to know. Yeah, so in the show notes, you can link it to Amazon or you can go to our website, literarilywasted.club, purchase a hard copy. Look, this is my LE moment, so, you know, if you want to buy a hard copy, it's a limited edition run. Buy, buy, buy! Actually, just through June 30th, so you've only got a couple of days to get that. But the digital enhanced e-book will be available on Amazon for all time. And that's cheap, too, isn't it? Oh, yeah. It's like $1, $2. $2? That's crazy. Yeah. So, listeners, make sure if you want to make your pinball show host, Zach, very happy, go ahead and preorder one of those, either the online version, the offline version, and then email me at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. Let me know that you did that because I want to see who's supporting this because I love this idea. I'm going to get one myself. I think I'm going to get the hard copy version, though. I'm not much of a digital connoisseur. Yeah, me neither. I want a tangible. Yeah, I like it in my hands. Exactly. Okay. Now let's start Zach's great pinball road trip. All right, so Zach, what I want to do is an adventures in reading with you. So as you know, I reached out to you last night, and I asked you a couple questions. It was kind of like Mad Libs, right? I loved it, yeah. Yeah, so I sprinkled those little aspects into the story to make it a little bit more personal for you, maybe drive it home. Was it literary moments?
    69:44
    Yes, yes. There's some literary moments from the answers you gave me into this little story. So again, listener, this will be a couple minutes long. I hope you enjoy it. If not, if it sucks, blame it on me. Skip it. Your life will be fine, and you can listen to Pinball Market Trends. But like I said, Zach does have this story in front of him. I have highlighted the section where he is talking. So let's get right into it, Zach. Okay, let's do it.
    70:10
    It's time for a special edition, a micro edition of Adventures in Reading, brought to you by Literarily Wasted. Today's story is Zach's great pinball road trip. by Lucas Pepke. The North American Pinball Convention is finally here. A weekend full of fantastic pinball experiences awaits you at the show, but a mysterious message may change the course of your pinball life forever. What happens next is up to you, Zach. So get ready and take a shot.
    70:41
    Yeah, I'm at midnight. This is great. Ka-chunk, ka-chunk. You close the back doors on the flipping out van with a deep sense of satisfaction. Excitement fills the air. It's the most anticipated weekend of the year. The North American Pinball Convention is finally here. It's been far too long since you've seen your pinhead friends. You're so excited you could scream. You climb into the cab, crank the engine, and put the van into reverse. Beep, beep. See you later, honey. You yell out the window to your wife as you pull out the drive. Take care of the pool while I'm gone.
    71:15
    Now it's just you, some pinball podcasts, and the open road. Finally, a weekend of pure fun away from the hustle and bustle of work. This year, you're attending the convention strictly as a fan. No booth setup, no escalera stair-climbing hand-truck demos, and most importantly, no drama. You're just an ordinary pinball hobbyist. Life couldn't get better. The most exciting part of this year's pinball convention is the Collector's Showcase. This brand-new exhibit area will feature the most beautiful and pristine classic games from every era, brought in from collectors all around the world. A true white glove experience that comes with its own pricey entrance fee. Oh, and there's also a prize for best in show. A prize that you are going to win because sitting in the back of your van is your fully restored Tales of the Arabian Nights. Full brass, new playfield, new cabinet, new ramps, new plastic, new everything. This machine is likely one of the nicest in the world, of any machine. You drift into a daydream of holding the collector's cup and spoiling your lovely lady with that $50 Red Lobster gift card. Garlic biscuits. Damn, I'm hungry. You think, so you take a swig of your Pepsi and toss a few Cheez-Its into your mouth. Suddenly, Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On blares across the van's speakers, announcing a call from one of your best pinball buds, Ken Cromwell. Beep. This is Zach at Flippin' Out. What can I help you? Bye, bye, bye. Zach, you never let up, do you, man? I can't stop. Won't stop, baby. What's up, Ken? I just got to the convention. Ken replies. This place is hopping, dude. The show organizers said they have a big surprise for VIPs later, too. I have no idea what that means, but I got wind there will be some celebrities in the building that want to hang out and play pinball. No way! You exclaim. That sounds amazing. Well, get here soon. We're going to have a great weekend playing pinball, buddy. All right, man. I'll see you there. Don't get too crazy without me, though. Hey, no promises. Ken teases. You end the call and slap the steering wheel. Woo, this convention is going to rock. You yell into the air as simultaneously your van speakers erupt again, this time a screaming goat.
    73:31
    Your signature text notification tone. Come on, Ken. I'm driving. Don't send me a text. But it's not Ken. You glance at your phone and see an unknown number listed. The text reads, a friend gave me your number. Come and get these machines. They are in the way. Need to go to a good home. No charge. 1976, Country Road 35. Pull around to the barn. There's a picture, too. Holy shit. This looks like the Pinball Cave of Wonders. It's the mother load of all finds. But if I were to veer off course now, I won't make the qualifying for the collector's showcase. It seems like your weekend just got a bit more complicated. All right, Zach, it's time to take a shot. Do you stay on the highway en route to the pinball show, or do you take the next exit to what could be the biggest pinball score of a lifetime? Yeah, I'm definitely taking the next exit. I've got to see what's here. All right. On my way. You text back to the number while simultaneously kicking the flipping out van into overdrive and hastily taking the next exit. If you can keep pace, maybe you'll be able to grab the games, or at least arrange pickup and still make it to the convention in time to qualify your Totem in the showcase. The raw power of the Dodge Pearlmaster Cargo Van's 3.6 liter V6 engine is that of a golden chariot upon an ancient battlefield. You are invincible. The twists and bends of the country roads and the piles of roadkill are no match for a man on a mission with his trusty vehicle. Good thing you recently started carrying raw thrills arcade machines. All that practice on cruise and blast really paid off, and you didn't even kill one cow.
    75:11
    After 45 minutes of playing speed racer through the country's majestic heartland, you eventually reach your destination. Wow, you say under your breath. The sprawling estate seems out of place in the middle of the cornfields, cow pastures, and wind farms. There's something about the architecture that isn't quite right either. It feels like a mansion you'd see somewhere in the Hamptons. Its asymmetrical features decked in shingled siding with expansive porches and sloped roof lines. Simply put, it's exquisite, even if it is out of place. As instructed, you pull into the gravel drive and around the back to the barn. While not as pristine as the main house, the monstrous barn is impressive in its own right with its weathered exterior and antique hardware. It's probably worth a fortune in reclaimed lumber. You put the van into the park and step out into the drive. Whoa, you spooked me. I'm sorry, didn't see there. Standing in front of you is an old man. Correction, an ancient, withered man, only five feet tall or so, in a pristine white suit with matching cane. The only color you see in both his complexion and his attire is one small yellow flower upon his lapel. He must be 139 years old. You think to yourself? Ah, Mr. Minnie, I presume. Our mutual friend said that you would be prompt. You may call me Henry. Uh, Henry? It's nice to meet you. You reach to shake his hand, but he stands resolute, not offering any return of the gesture. Trying to cover the awkwardness of the moment, you carry on. That's fantastic. I didn't know we had a mutual friend. Who is that? Steve. Henry replies quickly. Steve, Steve, Steve Beattie? Steve Bowden? Steve Ritchie? Yes.
    76:52
    Again, awkwardness envelops you. Which one, which one? You think to yourself? Yeah, Steve and I go way back. If you would follow me, the machines are right here. The old man walks slowly to the front of the barn. Step, cane, hobble, step.
    77:11
    Excruciatingly slow. Not one for silence, you begin to ramble. Great, about the games, I saw the picture come through on the text that looks like a ton of games. I'd love to find a way to get these transported for you as quickly as possible, but I only have my van right now. I'm on a bit of a deadline to get over to the North American Pinball Convention. Maybe we could discuss... Henry stops and raises his hand as if to silence you. He slowly reaches inside his pocket and pulls out a remote control with a large red button. He presses the button, and the large ancient barn doors begin to creak open. Some tech old man. You step into the entry of the barn as your eyes adjust to the change of the light. You see pinball machine parts strewn all over the room. This does not look like the pictures you received. It looks like a part hoarder's scrap pile, up to nearly the ceiling in areas. Everything is broken. You step over shards of glass and bits of wood as you take in the full inventory. What a waste of time.
    78:10
    I'm sorry, Henry, but it doesn't really look like anything from the picture that I received. Yes, you'll have to pardon the scrap area. Years of broken games here. I fixed them. Made the better. Oh, you used to fix up games? That's neat. Henry offers no response whatsoever. You pull out your phone and open the photo that you received. Are these games available to see? I'm sure I can help you sort through this junk, but I'd love to get a picture of the entire lot. Ah, yes. The treasure room, as I call it. It's through the door. He points to a door with a small window on the opposite side of the barn. But I seem to have misplaced my key. It must be at the main house. If you'll pardon me, I'll retrieve it and return. Wonderful. So I'll just wait here? Again, without a word, Henry turns slowly and makes his way out of the barn. Step, cane, hobble, step, step, cane, hobble, step. Snails move faster than Henry. The door closes behind him and you're left in the barn with heaps of old pinball machine parts. A true graveyard.
    79:15
    Another text. This time it is Ken. Dude, where are you? We're already having the best time, and guess what? We made some new friends. Get your ass here now. Accompanying the text is a photo. Your buddy Ken throwing back beers and playing pinball with Leonardo DiCaprio and Bo Burnham. Oh, come on, dude. This old man better get back with the key. I can't believe I'm missing this stuff right now. You look across the room at the door with the window, which is covered in dust. There's still time to get back to the van, ditch this crazy old man's pinball hoard, and make it in time to enter your totem into the competition. But those games in the picture, if the games from Henry's text are really behind that door, you could be throwing away your retirement and a find of a lifetime. You spin in a circle, throw your hands up in the air in frustration, and contemplate your next move. All right, Zach, here you go. All right. Let's take a shot. Do you get back in the van and head to the convention, or do you walk over to the door and try to sneak a peek? All right, the first take a shot was pretty simple. This one's, I'm not going to lie, Lucas, this one's tough.
    80:18
    Dude, I've always got to see, though, what's behind the door. I've been to these kind of places before, so I'm going to, I'm definitely going to walk over to the door.
    80:28
    All right, let's move on. You've got the next line. I cannot believe I'm missing my Titanic moment with dreamy Leo for a pinball pipe dream. And with that, you cautiously make your way across the pinball rubble to the door across the room. Anticipation eats at your stomach. The door's old square window may offer a glimpse at your own pure imagination moment. You close your eyes, make a wish, count to three, and wipe away the dust from the window.
    80:55
    You open your eyes to behold a sight that you truly could not have imagined. Screw the collector's showcase. This is the collector's showcase. Henry wasn't lying. A true treasure room. From your limited view, you can make out pristine examples of games from each area. and there, in the middle of them all, is your glorious, glistening grail of a pin, Bally's Radical.
    81:19
    Red lobster be damned. You begin to drool at the thought of entering this wonderland of a room and checking out these machines. Shit, hurry up, Henry. For the hell of it, you turn the doorknob, and to your surprise, the door swings open easily. Yes, I'll just take a look. I'll wait for Henry to come back. A kid in a candy shop can't come close to this delicious treat. Heaven. This is heaven. This is pure pinball joy. Nothing like the scrapyard you witnessed when you first entered the barn. Making your way to inspect the radical closer, you begin to think of the amazing press this find could bring, of all the amazing games you could finally add to your collection, and of the possibility that, crack, you hit the floor like a ton of bricks. Pain sears through the back of your head and through your eyes. Your vision blurs as you fight to keep it together. A blood-soaked pinball leg falls inches from your face. Your blood. You reach for something. Anything.
    82:17
    Everything goes black. Bloop! Something similar to the sound of an artificial stern knocker abruptly brings you back to your senses. The treasure room is no more. You are now in a poorly lit room. The air is heavy and dank with the smell of old, burnt electronic components and other chemicals. You're standing, restrained in some sort of contraption that reminds you of Frankenstein from Monster Bash. At least you're alive. You can turn your head, but it's connected to some sort of cylindrical contraption that runs to the ceiling and over to another machine on the opposite side of the room. Your eyes dart frantically. Blue and green tubes run into the veins of your arms. In the corner of the dark room, illuminated by a single hanging light bulb, is your prized Tales of the Arabian Nights pinball machine. It sits there, powered off, the swinging bulb catching hints of the brass-coated armor.
    83:12
    Damn, it still looks good. You think to yourself. I could totally win that prize. As you settle into your surroundings, you notice two small stainless steel operating tables flanking your restraints. On the table to your left is a soldering iron. It is on and it is hot On the table to your right is a box cutter The blade is exposed and it looks fresh and sharp You think you can reach one And you'd better do it fast Alright, Zach, here you go And this is it, this is it Take a shot Do you attempt to reach for the soldering iron Or do you cut your bonds with the box cutter?
    83:51
    This did not go the way you thought it was going to go No, I think I took the wrong shots before Um Shit, how am I going to get out of this mess I'm like anxious here Okay, so I want the soldering iron What the hell am I going to do with the soldering iron Cut your bonds with the box cutter I think maybe box cutter But Soldering iron feels like the right thing in the story Give me For whatever reason I don't know That's why these are fun Give me the soldering iron The hot soldering iron Final choice Oh man Yes, yeah Let's go hot, scalding, soldering iron. All right, we'll carry on.
    84:30
    Tsk, tsk, tsk. The little old man, Henry, hobbles out from the shadows. His skin is a deathly pallor in the dim light, and his eyes glow like the embers of a dying fire. Did you really think you had a choice, Mr. Minnie? That your choice would matter? It's always so fascinating to see which one they choose, the iron or the blade. What does the choice say about a person when the outcome inevitably leads to futility.
    84:57
    You were once into psychology, correct? What does that say about you, Mr. Many? What are you talking about? Do you respond? Who else is here? Oh, there have been many, Mr. Many. He chuckles. Oh, that's fun. Many, Mr. Many. Did you see what I did there? You're sick, dude. Let me out of here. You tug at your restraints with no avail. It is truly amazing how many of you so-called pinheads fall so easily into my trap. For years I lived here, preying on unsuspecting pinball fanatics to drop by for a visit. Check out the collection. You're all the same in the end. Greedy, blind, lusting over a game, a box of twinkling lights. Well, in my time, we banished greed. I once eradicated the lust that you call pinball for my fair city. I destroyed them all. All of New York, rid of the filth on my watch. And there was peace. No, that's impossible. LaGuardia! That guy really was 139 years old, but how? Not a quick one, are you, Mr. Many? He hobbles on his cane, coming closer to meet your gaze. I go by Henry around these parts, but yes, I am the same Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia, the destroyer of pinball machines. It was a magical time, but alas, my life's mission took its toll on my body. The cancer spread quickly, but the researchers devised this handy contraption, and I was secretly moved to this facility far from the public eye to recover. You see, my machine feeds on your fear, your pain, your passion for pinball, and I reap the rewards, Mr. Many. 140 years of long life thanks to you and your passion. And with the hobby reaching peak resurgence soon, I will have enough life force to return to society, young, refreshed, restored to my former glory. You're sick, old man. correction was sick. But with you I can be healed, born again to continue my mission to rid this world of pinball for good. You have a great deal of passion. It's delicious. Again, he pulls the remote from his jacket and presses the red button. The machine comes to life, illuminating the room in flashes of green and blue light. You feel your veins fill with something that burns as it courses through your body. The air is static now, charged with an energy you've never felt before. LaGuardia's eyes burn brighter as he looks upon you like wounded prey. You won't get away with this! My friends will find me! Your friends are far too occupied with their silly little games, dear boy. Consider this your last ball, Mr. Many. With every life I drain, I come one step closer to regaining my life. Thank you for your exquisite totem. It will make an excellent bait for my next contributor. Oh, and Zack, don't worry one bit. no one will hear you scream. No, no, no, no!
    87:57
    The end. Oh. Holy shit! That was a blast! That was so fucking good. Well, that's, so all joking aside, and you can cut this out, but all joking aside, so we wrote this book with 44 different writers, and it really was, it was a treat, So we basically played telephone. So I started the story and I passed it to a friend and then we went down the chain. And it's all based on a decision tree. So I mapped the decision tree and I signed writers to it. And it actually worked. And the continuity for our stories, actually really good. You'd think it's a shit show, but it actually turned out really nice. So we've got other books kind of in the plan. We wanted to get through this one and see where it went. But through all of this, I was like, you know what? it would actually be fun to make a great pinball adventure, like choose your own adventure book. Kind of like a little love letter to all the weird quirkiness. And so I can't say that I did write this last night, but at the same time, I kind of had a couple hours. That's unbelievable. I kind of had, and I'm not a writer. I do not consider myself a writer, but I do enough copy editing and work that, you know, this is fun. And I had a good time playing Mad Libs with you. And but this is actually one little branch of a story that I kind of had concepted where it's be like, you know, it'd be a lot of fun to do one where you go to a pinball convention. Right. Because so many different things could happen. You know, do you do you eat a burrito and then you go play in a tournament, but you crap yourself because you ate the burrito? And, you know, I think that's that's one of the things that fascinates me is is every every decision you make in life has has a consequence, whether good or bad. Thank you for playing along Yeah, I think so And especially having some RPG elements And decision trees If anyone's ever played Mass Effect Or Fallout Or Knights of the Old Republic A great Star Wars game That affects your character and the outcomes And the story that it tells So I'm kind of fascinated by that I love working with creative people And pulling concepts And kind of making it into a reality So thank you for allowing me the opportunity to have a segment on your show. I appreciate that. This was not just a segment. This was a pinball podcasting moment. I loved it. Take a shot stories, number one, beach trip beware. What you guys just heard was just a little, just a little bit more of a taste of what is to come whenever you purchase that for yourselves. You don't know how much I appreciate this. This is a lot of fun. But sadly, people are going to want more of this now in the future. Maybe I'll be at TPF or Expo one year with a little stand and have some fun with it. If we're not having fun in the hobby, I don't get into all the technical stuff and try to stay out of the drama. But I think that's what fascinates me most about pinball is it's such a unique, diverse little microcosm of people. And you have to think about this. When you look at any entertainment industry, to be one step away from what you would have as your designers, your directors, your artists. Absolutely. Is really such a unique blessing in so many ways. Like you can't call up George Lucas and say, hey, do you want to be on my podcast? But you could call up Dwight Sullivan. I like what you did there with episode six. That's nice. Yeah. So, yeah. So I think we all have to appreciate that as a pinball community. and embrace everyone and really highlight all the differences and unique personalities that we have That what makes it such a cool amazing hobby and why I like to participate in it You super transparent super creative and super fun and positive And in this story, my number, what would lure me into a weird-ass old man's barn? A fully restored radical is my dream game restored because you'll never see it. So that would have drawn me in. I would have taken the risk.
    92:11
    He baited you. Fucking LaGuardia. I just love him as a bad guy. He's the perfect bad guy. Especially that he's still alive.
    92:25
    That's genius. That is brilliant. Now, my gears are turning here. I hope you're listening, Dwight Sullivan. Can we not make pinball code that does something like this, that you have to choose a path throughout your gameplay, and then wizard modes will be ultimately and essentially they're going to be different because of the choices that you have made throughout the journey? Yeah, I think Dwight having his background in board games and I think getting the sense that he's just a lover of, like you said, all games, he would be great. Someone in, because they've got such a good little developer team with P3 Multimorphic having some sort of ability to do something like that. That's what speaks to me. Think about it. You've got two choices, left flipper, right flipper, maybe a third choice of an action button flipper, and you make four to eight decisions along the way, and ultimately at the end of the game, once you complete it, you will have a different storyline. That would keep people coming back over and over again.
    93:30
    Yeah, no doubt. I think we just uncovered something there. Lucas, how's that feel? It's fun. We had a good time. I had a good time writing it. I think you had a good time playing along. I want to do another one.
    93:43
    Alright, ladies and gentlemen, it's going to be hard to top that, but the only thing that's going to top the toppers and top that take a shot segment, man, that's a mouthful, is the one, the only, the legendary, the king of pinball podcasting segments, and sooner or later, the king of all podcast segments. I'm a little delusional. It's whatever. Pinball Market Trends! 50 edition. Yeah, I feel privileged that I got that live. That was the first time that that market trend hit anyone's ear, and it burst my eardrums first. You're a sweet virgin lobe. are now busted. Ew. No, I actually like this segment. Do you? Yeah, no, I've always liked it. I think it's fun. Always liked it. It's morphed over time. It's evolved. No, I mean, it's, look. I think it's self-aware. Evolved or devolved or whatever. It's fun. And, you know, as someone kind of getting into the hobby, I was kind of always, because I'm not, you know, sitting there trolling the ads. It's a good pulse on where the market is. Absolutely. We're going to teach people this week because training up this week is, oh, you got rid of it though, Lucas, Jurassic Park Premium Edition. I did. And LE for that matter, I suppose. But the Premium Edition, if you take a look, and numbers don't lie, I only report the facts here at the pinball shows. Pinball market trends, it has climbed all the way up, up, up, to number two on the pin side top 100. Man, that thing's a sizzler. she's on fire it's a good game that i don't understand you don't understand i yeah well it's you know there's like oh now there's a blinking green area and look i'm i'm basic i'm i am a pinball and so yeah i'm hashtag basic um i really like the ramps and it there are parts of it that were a little clunky i really enjoyed it though while we had it but um i don't know if it'll come back in the collection, honestly. But it is the premium. The premium is the way to go. It is the best art package. The Raptor art package is what I wanted to look at in my game room. Not the kiddie book, you know,
    96:01
    little golden book pro cover. Little golden book? What's the dog's name? The little dog? You know what I'm talking about. Yes. Pokey? is it pokey? it's a little pokey puppy the pro translate looks like a little golden book to me, like these are dinosaurs I liked all three models of them the JP Premium, the LE also going up but climbing up to number two on the pin side top 100 and if you look at the secondary market on Jurassic Park Premiums you're going to find that for a used one it is the same price as the new unboxed one, if not higher Now, there is a small run coming out in July, but I'm telling you it's small because once those are gone, oh, you're not going to see these things made for months upon months. And so if you thought the prices were high now, they'll continue to go up. Also turning up this week is a broken record. And that's because Mandalorian LEs are coming out. They're being shipped as we speak, very likely this week. And that price does not drop to what we've seen, ladies and gentlemen, with Mandalorian. Typically, you will see a pin, hype, hype, hype. It comes out, then it gets shit, shit, shit on the forums. Then you've got to play it. It'll grow on you, hype, hype, hype. Then it's a waxing and waning of how these releases go. With Mandalorian, hype, hype, hype, and it has stayed.
    97:33
    People have seen the code. They've seen the layout. They've seen the full assets. And nobody's talking shit yet. We've got a couple pro owners that had a parts adjustment and one of the welds broke. Okay. I didn't. Yeah, I didn't see that. People still want this game. Generally, you'll get those haters, those code haters. You're going to get the layout clunk haters. You're going to get all of that. This kind of championed through all of that and didn't really receive much criticism at all. So you're seeing prices on Mandalorian LE as if they weren't high enough, they're going to kind of remain high up there for now. at least until we see a new upcoming game. I think there the theme plays such a big part. Sure. As new people come in to the hobby, I think people always see that theme as, okay, I'm a new guy in the hobby. I've got a ton of money. Ooh, I want Mandalorian. Oh, they stopped making them two years ago. Well, I want that one.
    98:32
    I think the theme will always drive that, just like Guns N' Roses and even Stranger Things. I know Stranger Things is almost crept up, right?
    98:42
    Because the theme, people don't know. If they're new and unsuspecting, they may not know the game, but they like that theme. And if they've got the money to throw in an LE in the aftermarket, they're just going to do it. $12,000, they don't blink an eye. Theme does sell, and Mandalorian is certainly no exception there. So if you've got a Mandalorian LE, you're not going to lose money. It's going to be sitting up there for quite some time. Unfortunately, you may lose a buck or two because trimming down this week is doing another episode of the pinball show without the take a shot segment.
    99:16
    I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can write another good one either. So that could have been the one shot. That was it. The one shot. That was it. Also trimming down this week is last week. What do they mean, Zach? I didn't want to turn that off. Well, I introduced a new animal into the repertoire of the pinball show last week.
    99:38
    I didn't get much feedback on it. I got one really, really super positive comment, which keeps me going. Keeps the old turbines spinning. Keeps the old train a-chugging. What the hell are you even talking about? Last episode, I introduced an elephant. The sound of an elephant. Oh, God. Yeah.
    99:58
    Whispers all night. You heard, but... I remember. You did it twice. If memory serves. First one was a little rusty. The second one prevailed a bit. We got positive feedback from one person. Unfortunately, yeah, introducing the elephant.
    100:13
    Was not the fan favorite, but the goat was. Rotad. We don't have any machines trending down this week because I'm not seeing anything really trending down this week. Dude, it's so much easier to just go buy a new machine. Well, if you can find one, but I wouldn't buy. I see some of these prices that people are paying for machines that are old. And look, again, I've already prefaced. I'm new to this hobby, so crucify me. It's all good. But I would no way go and spend $5,500 on some DMD machine. I was waiting for you to say junkyard, the one I got listed.
    100:53
    Sure, I would love to buy a junkyard for $5,500. It's never going to sell. Hey, I already own that, Zach. It's in my Pinball FX library. Sorry, that's the only reason I'm not buying. Maybe training down this week is using machines in general. Buy your new. Buy your, buy your, buy your.
    101:13
    As an educated consumer and someone that does not want to worry about maintenance, and I'm sure that game is in fantastic shape. I just did the pictures. It looks very nice. But, you know, I have to sell this to my wife also, and she has been through some of the struggles and toils of me restoring arcade games, and there's no way. It's peace of mind for me to say I can buy a new game for $6,000 and put it in my game room. The way I tally it up is I say if I were on location, I'd be spending a dollar a game, right? And I know some other people do this. So if I put $1,500, $2,000 worth of games on the machine and I sell it for $5,000, well I'm still kind of on top because I would have spent two grand on location playing it but I had it in the comfort of my own home.
    102:05
    It's good rationalization. I like it. It's rationalizing a crazy toy but in reality you really can't lose much. They don't depreciate that badly. Not right now. Numbers don't lie. It's just getting into it. It's tough to hobby to get into as someone who is either younger with kids or it took me a couple years of flipping games. I know a lot of you are like that too to get into it. I couldn't just be like, oh, yeah, bring two of these to my house. So it's a tough one and a tough road to enter in. Yeah, and I always tell people there is sticker shock getting into this hobby, but I assure you if you buy, buy, buy right, they hold their value. Numbers don't lie. Lucas is right. If you're buying the right title, brand new, and look at Deadpool right now. I love Deadpool. I know you do. Deadpool right now, you can buy a pro, and it's not going to drop in value. It's just not. Plus, when you're buying new from Flippin' Out Pinball Team, you get customer satisfaction and support. You get a warranty. I'll be short. You still get a warranty. And a lot of companies like Stern Pinball, I might add, have a great customer service group that will sometimes, especially working with me and stuff, will figure out parts even after that short-term warranty, I assure you.
    103:30
    Here's my hot take on Deadpool. You ready? Yeah. It has the best sound package in pinball. Boom. Done. There it is. Oh, it's so good. And, of course, again, I haven't played everything. But the music, the original music that they cut for that, and then props to Stern, they threw that soundtrack out there for free. You can go download it on their website. All the retro stuff, like that game just speaks to me. I have had it, and yes, I am rebuying that game because it's so good. That was one, and being a noob and walking up to that game, like my family, we all loved it straight out the box. We don't know any better, right? Same thing with Guardians. I am buying a Guardians because we love it. We've always loved shooting Groot. And I figure, A, that's also a title that they're probably not going to make too much longer. When you go to the Stern website and you scroll down, it's kind of on that bottom rung. They've got to be about done with it. I'm looking for a Guardians myself. Listener out there, if you've got a really minty Guardians, I'd like. I've owned the Pro. I've owned the Premium. I'd like to take a stab at an LE this time around.
    104:37
    So I had an LE on location here. Not me personally, but I've played a lot of the LE, and I don't mind the gold. I think the gold looks cool. Yeah. Especially as you watch Guardians 2 and you see, I forget the race of those people, but their own gold. Oh, yeah, that's right. It fits the theme. It's a beautiful machine. So I'd like to take a bet with that again. Oh, my God. Yeah, those are good games. So designers out there, if any designers are listening, give us that kickback. Like the rocket kickback. Oh, the rocket shot. Yes! It's like it pisses me off because I don't think there's a bowl saver tied to it. But it's just such a simple mechanism that works so well in pinball. Like, replace a scoop with one of those, please. Please. I just love that. Whenever I do my own game, I'm going to put a kickback like that in it. And let's jump over. Let's save you a buck. Let's save you a two in our Deals of the Week. Bye, bye, bye.
    105:34
    Deals of the Week this week. Deals of the week this week And pinball No pinball machines here Let's rummage through here Ah 99 cents for a pre-order online version Take a shot Come on Pre-order now You can't beat that I mean come on My grandpa used to This is very vulgar I'm sorry people But my grandfather was an old country dude He used to always say It's like a sore Peter You can't beat it Bye bye bye Your grandpa said that I live in southern Indiana Born and raised proud of it And my grandpa He was the comedian of the family He was like the He's who everybody He entered a room and everybody was ready for laughs and yeah, that was him and I love every bit of it, even if it's just so wrong, it's so right so yeah, 99 cents take a shot, why not number one beach trip, beware LaGuardia hey, you'll have to I'll give you a fresh version of that PDF and if you want to put it on your TPL website or something, feel free it's the public domain We can't end the greatest pinball podcasting segment without giving you a caution sign to Deals of the... This week is an Indiana Jones. You can find it on Pinside. I don't think you should. But it's under the Pinsider name Sleepy Soupy out of Bountiful, Utah. What the hell is Bountiful in Utah? is this the stern indiana jones or this is the williams the the the beloved williams 93 indiana jones they're selling it and several other machines whatever sells first the rest i'll keep i know what i got they didn't say that i'm open to all i know what i got i'm open to offers i'll provide any and all pictures requested okay we're gonna open fella here. I'm also willing to video chat via Duo. Now we're getting weird. I'm open to offers, but I don't need to sell this. Oh, God. Here we go. I know what I've got. He didn't say that, but it still fits the story. Price too high? Well, send me an offer. Got trades? Shoot me an offer. You're the one selling this thing, buddy, not me. Willing to accommodate shipping arrangements. Folding down the head and wrapping it up. Woo-hoo. Bank transfer. Cash on the glass. There's that another phrase. Pretty soon he's going to be asking his wife. Go check with the wife.
    108:34
    Pictures of the crate that I can build you for $350. Oh, shit. Pin pod? Yeah, don't they clearance out the pin pods? I think you can buy those. It's cheaper than that. Now, last time I caught a little shit when I did this because I did it with a guy that I knew that I liked, the bro bra and uh maybe his his fans thought it was more negative towards him so i'm saying here publicly again it was not negative i consider you a good dude it was just fun it's fun we're poking so the sleepy stubby maybe mother theresa maybe an awesome person but they're trying to sell this indiana jones for fucking fourteen thousand dollars get out of here it's got faded cabinets It's not restored. It's got a shooter lane that looks like a dirty sanctum. No, no, no. The coin door's all jacked up. It looks like somebody tried to pry it open like a 7-Eleven in a bad side of town. This is not working for me. No topper, brass legs that look old as shit. Sell, sell, sell! No. Look at the head, torn up head. For $14,000, you're looking for a restored Indiana Jones. I try to zoom in on these pictures to look at the inserts because we'll check out this play field. They look horrible.
    109:49
    Pictures aren't very clear, though. No, this is a player's condition of Indiana Jones. Nope. This is $9,000. $8,000 tops. That's a big hard no. Unless they're including another game or the truck in the background. That's the only way you're getting to $14,000. You want my best offer? They give you $7,500. and I'll arrange for the shipping without your pinball crate. Sell, sell, sell!
    110:16
    But I will add, though, nicely built crate there, bud. $350? I'd buy that crate. Buy, buy, buy! I mean, it's probably worth more than that in just the scrap lumber, right? Yeah, exactly. But no, when your crate smells better than your old stinky-ass Williams game, that might be a sign. All right, ladies and gentlemen, you can take your shots all you want, but that was Pinball Market Trends! The addition. That was good.
    110:46
    All right, Lucas, my friend, my pal, my amigo, let's close down this show. Now, if people want to get a hold of you after they've bought the take a shots, number one, where can they email literarilywasted? Yeah, you can. Sure. It's literarilywasted at gmail.com. You can get me there. Find us on our Facebook group page. We've got the Literarily Wasted Lounge. love alliteration. Again, great positive community. We have a lot of fun with it. And it's made me a better, more well-rounded reader. And now because we've got so many people that want to do some writing activities, we're doing writing too. So it's a lot of fun. Again, Zach, thanks for letting me play along and host a segment here with you with Adventures in Reading. But, yeah, that's a taste. We keep it light, keep it fun. And if it's not that, then I don't want to be a part of it. Yeah, and I couldn't echo that more, Lucas. I've wanted to have you on here for a long time, and it only made the most sense now that you have something to show off to the world. And we get to play along with that today. And listeners, so thank you so much for coming, for hanging out, and for tolerating and being my friend publicly.
    111:59
    Yeah, it was fun. I had a good time. Thanks again for the offer. and I felt it was apropos to bring something to the table as a co-host. Again, I'm sorry I don't provide a lot of value to the pinball hobby in general, other than I try to be a good person and I try to be positive. Yeah, we bullshit about pinball all the time, so you're a good hobbyist. Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's good. Well, and I do, you know, full transparency, I am a customer of Flippin' Out, so I think that's one of the reasons Zach was like, oh, he's going down the list, right? We all know how it is, Zach, right? You're going down your list and, like, who has half a brain and can talk for an hour and a half? I'll call Lucas up.
    112:40
    But, no, I'm really excited. I've got a Guardians Pro on order. That's a game I've wanted a long time. And, yeah, Zach mentioned Deadpool. I'm buying Deadpool again. That's how much I love that game. I love your buying his life. Oh, it's so good. It's one that we just, you know, again, we sold those machines to do a quick fund of this patio project during COVID. It's Captain Patagon. That's one that we really... I don't think that's going to be a recurring character, but okay. I don't know if it will.
    113:08
    He doesn't have the legs. He's only got one leg and a peg leg. Plank you. I never liked Swag. But, yeah, Deadpool is such a fun game. We love it as a family and cannot wait. That'll be a great Christmas edition.
    113:23
    Maybe for Christmas I'll get you the chromed katana. Do they still have those sides? Oh, you mean like in the... Look, when you look at that game, and that's one of the things that sells you as a new pinball person, like when you walk up and you're like, dude, that game's got a freaking katana in it, and it's used. Like, how freaking cool is that? Funny that you're talking about armor, because as the owner-operator of Flippin' Out Pinball, we do sell authorized Stern accessories, like the upcoming Deadpool topper and armor. Armor's coming back, y'all. Oh, they're bringing the katanas back? Shooter rods are now in stock. Shooter rods are. Yeah, they're bringing, I think they're bringing, we've got some on order. And we have some more available. Here, like, no joke, like, put me down for a second. Look at that. Ladies and gentlemen, that's how it's done. Bye, bye, bye. No, like, because, okay, when you look at those, I've never had the side armor, but I think those ones are actually of value. Because when you look at it, they say B and Arthur on the other side. So one of his katanas is Bea, and the other one is Arthur. Didn't realize that. And it just looks wicked cool. That's really cool. Yeah, so those... They remind me of the Mandalorian armor that everybody's going gaga over right now, too. Well, and honestly, those would look great kind of flanking a middle machine. So if you had those on either end, and you had some middle machines on the end, so you got to see the side armor. Yeah, if you see the side armor. Yeah, wicked cool. Like Deadpool, I don't know who my favorite game designer is, again, because I haven't played enough of them, but if I had to say one right now, it would be George Gomez just because I think that's fantastic. And I think Tanya Klaas and that whole team did such an amazing job with bringing that arcade 2D fighting and the sound effects. I want to see Tanya do another lead. Put him with George Gomez or with Keith Elwin. I think that would be match made in heaven too. I think George made a killer combo. Oh, so good. For real, that will be one that won't leave, I think, just because it's always just hit every aspect for me. It's simple enough. The rules, I actually understand and can explain the rules for someone, but I get so worked up about Deadpool. I think it is probably my favorite machine that I have played. Hit the boom button. Speaking of accessories, flipping out Pinball's product showcase this week is the Batman 66 Artblade. Sure, the run of Batman 66 games is slowly coming to an end. But the Art Blades are now in stock at Flippin' Out Pinball. Contact me at Zach, C-A-C-H, at Flipp, the letter N, outpinball.com. You can text me, 812-457-9711. I don't know if I've got them on the website directly, but you can go take a look, flippinoutpinball.com. We also have Jurassic Park Pro. I think I've got one or two left in stock. Everything else would pretty much take a pre-order shot. July spots of Avengers Pro Premium, Turtles Pro, and Iron Maiden Pro and Premium still open. But we're getting down to the wire on those filling up. I'll have to even double check on some of them. Hot Wheels, we've got some August spots coming up. Deadpool Pro, this is how much this game is loved. Deadpool Pro, I've got a slew of them coming in their next run in December. I maybe have one spot or two left. Maybe. Deadpool Premium, it's being made in December, but it's done joining the Elvira Club. I don't have any spots until 2022 run. GNR LE, it's coming at some point. I've got some spots. Jurassic Park Pro Arcade shooting, I've got one left. That's a fun game. Does that have the force feedback on the guns? Yep, absolutely. Same thing. Oh, yeah. That's fantastic. That's an actual fun. I'd say that's one of the better Raw Thrills shooters. And listeners, when you guys are going out to the arcades, when you're going out to play Fireteam Raven, Halo, or when you're sitting down shooting these games, playing these shooter games, here's what you do. It's called the SDTM rule. You guys want to have fun on arcade games and not just keep plunking in, adding extra balls, like the old Bally Williams pinball games. To really appreciate and create a challenge for yourself regarding these FECs or large-scale arcade games, implement the SDTM rule, which mimics that of pinball. Three balls in pinball, three lives in arcade. Really challenge yourself not to go past that. Otherwise, you're just going to get through the game just like you would having ten balls on a pinball machine. Get to the wizard mode and get tired of it. Three lives. You've got your original life and two continues, and that's it. See how far you can get. Yeah, those are fun. I think raw thrills bringing out the smaller form factor so they can actually fit in your house is a good move. I've had a lot of fun. Those are ones that anyone can jump into and have a good time. And for real, if they come with the force feedback, that really does. It's like adding a shaker motor. The first time I played a pinball machine with a shaker motor, I was giddy. Especially different guns you can get. Oh, it's so cool. And I think that, ladies and gentlemen, I think Greg Bone has actually confirmed that he's getting one. I think we're getting Greg's one. I called him out. I was like, come on, you call yourself a fan and you're not going to have this in your house? He's got like every piece of memory. Yeah, he's intense. Speaking of Greg Bone, we do have a Straight Down the Middle video series video coming out this week. It's a special this or that. We're calling it this or that, who wore it better? Now, on this video, what we're going to do is the last five years or so, we've had to pick between a pro, a premium, and Ellie on all these titles. But listeners, what are you going to do when you just don't know which way to go? Greg and I will help you. where we're going to go through everyone and give you our pick as to the pro, the premium, or the LE on all of the Sterns and all the CGCs and all the JJPs. That's a fun, fun episode. And a couple little nuggets and a couple little treats and Easter eggs along the way on that episode. So tune in for that. TPN last week, nothing happened besides this show. Everybody's on summer vacation, apparently. But this week, Joel Engelberth, speaking of our homie Gomi, he's going to be interviewing George Gomez on just another pinball podcast. Definitely make sure to check that out. Yeah, I've listened to some of those. I like that series. Yeah, absolutely. Nice and chill, old Joe Lingy. Always check out all the TPN streamers. They're doing a hell of a job as well. We'll have a final round this week with Martin Robbins and Jeff Tielis. I don't know who they're going to have on. It'll be a treat, though, as it always is. It's probably Ryan C. again. Right.
    120:11
    Big pecker himself, Ryan C. For Lucas Pepke, I'm Zach Minney Be good to everyone and have some fun playing pinball That's what it's for It's a hobby for most of us And be good humans Be just humans, I like that And always practice safe pinball And make sure your blink cameras are working Because Captain Patio will come and get them sugar eyes Don't want to know where I'm putting them Yeah, up So long everybody Woo!
    120:43
    As well as follow along literally. You did it. We got you. You got me. Beep, beep. See you later, honey.
    120:55
    You yell out the window to your wife as you pull out the drive. Take care of the pool while I'm gone.
    121:02
    Now it's you. Now it's just you. Let's take that paragraph again. You climb into the cab, crank the engine, and put the van in.
    121:20
    I can't wait until you get to the end of this shit. I just want to keep the first one, though. The first one. Okay.
    121:29
    Your vision blurs as you fight to keep it together. A blood-soaked pinball. Ethan's got to bear with me. I love it. All right, this is weird. I'm going to pick it up with crack. Crack. Oh, blood. It's all in my leg.
    121:46
    Okay. It gets even weirder. All right. As well as following along with literal... One more time. As well as following along with literarily wasted. Man, that was a... That's a name there. Literarily wasted. Hey, we got to rob that house. They keep getting butt plugs every... That's right.
    122:08
    It's a clear one. This one lives up. That one's got a skeeter in it.