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Episode 39 – Pinball Princess

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Apr 20, 2017
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Slam Tilt interviews competitive player Stephanie Guida on her pinball journey and goals.

Summary

Slam Tilt Podcast Episode 39 features an interview with Stephanie Guida (ranked 1,437th IFPA), a competitive pinball player from Orange County, New York, and the first female guest on the show. Stephanie discusses her journey from childhood exposure to pinball through her father to becoming a serious tournament competitor, her goals of breaking the top 1,000 rankings and eventually becoming the best female player in the world, and her favorite games (Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Metallica). The hosts also cover local tournament news, venue updates, and community developments including the Morristown Game Vault three-day tournament.

Key Claims

  • Stephanie Guida is ranked 1,437th in IFPA rankings and is the first woman to qualify in Upstate New York Top 16

    high confidence · Bruce Nightingale introduction at episode start

  • Stephanie has played in approximately 45 tournaments/leagues, with only one counting towards her IFPA ranking this year

    high confidence · Stephanie discussing her tournament participation and ranking frustration

  • Stephanie won first place at the Stars Tournament at Crazy Levee's Flantorium

    high confidence · Direct confirmation from Stephanie during interview

  • Rock Fantasy has approximately 30+ pinball games and recently acquired Aerosmith and Batman 66

    high confidence · Stephanie describing her home venue Rock Fantasy Pinball League

  • Bruce Nightingale's last IFPA-counted tournament result was December 30, 2016

    high confidence · Bruce's self-disclosure during ranking discussion

  • The Morristown Game Vault tournament will run May 19-21 with entry fees of $15 for all-day pass plus $5-$10 for qualifying games, with proceeds going to leukemia and lymphoma society

    high confidence · Bruce citing news from Fun with Bonus podcast

  • Slam Tilt Podcast reached 100 Facebook likes and at least 10 iTunes reviews

    high confidence · News segment discussion by Bruce and Ron

  • Keith Johnson (formerly of Jersey Jack) will be joining Stern to finish Wheel of Fortune

    medium confidence · Ron's joke/comment about podcast acquiring Stern investment — unclear if serious or comedic

Notable Quotes

  • “My dad spent his entire life priming me for that, and it's kind of taken a life of its own.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~12:00 — Summarizes how childhood exposure through her father led to her competitive pinball career

  • “I want to break the top 1,000 at some point. Real long-term goal would be to be the best female player in the world, if not the best player in the world, period.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~25:30 — States her competitive goals clearly and ambitiously

  • “I've spent this entire year, I've played in over 10 things...exactly one of them has counted towards my ranking. That shit needs to stop.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~28:00 — Expresses frustration with tournament results not advancing her rankings

  • “I have a Holy Trinity. And they all start with M. Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Metallica.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~35:00 — Identifies her three favorite games, all with Lyman software

  • “My last one is December 30th, 2016.”

    Bruce Nightingale @ ~30:00 — Reveals Bruce has no recent IFPA-counted tournament results, longer than Stephanie's drought

  • “Aerosmith is like, it's like Kiss where it's just one big-ass orbit.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~40:00 — Provides first-play impression of recently added Aerosmith at Rock Fantasy

  • “We bought part of Stern. We are now one of the investors. We have fired the people Bruce doesn't like.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~43:00 — Humorous/ambiguous claim about podcast acquiring Stern stake (likely comedic)

  • “I don't want to. It's a lot of plastic. I know games vaguely by name. If you start saying in terms of what's your favorite Williams or Bally, I will just look at you blankly.”

    Stephanie Guida @ ~37:00 — Shows self-awareness about knowledge gaps regarding classic manufacturer history

Entities

Stephanie GuidapersonRon HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonKeelerpersonTim BallpersonLymanpersonKeith JohnsonpersonJT Harrisonperson

Signals

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Hosts and guest express deep appreciation for Lyman's software design across multiple games (Metallica, ACDC, Spider-Man, Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, AFM), treating him as industry standout

    high · Extensive discussion of Lyman's games being 'Holy Trinity' favorites, repeated praise, attempt to get him on the podcast

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Mixed-to-positive first impressions of Aerosmith at Rock Fantasy; initial appeal tempered by plunging difficulty complaints similar to Kiss

    high · Stephanie: 'on first play, I liked it' but complains about plunging mechanics and draining; compares negatively to Kiss; notes elevator multiball is cool

  • ?

    venue_signal: Rock Fantasy actively rotating and upgrading game collection; recently added Aerosmith and Batman 66, removed NASCAR, maintains 30+ game lineup with seasonal updates

    high · Stephanie describes Rock Fantasy as her home base with 'what, 30-something games now' and notes Keeler 'always changing it up'; newest games are Aerosmith and Batman 66

  • ?

    community_signal: Slam Tilt Podcast growing audience engagement: reached 100 Facebook likes and 10+ iTunes reviews; third consecutive episode with guest speaker

    high · News segment discusses milestone achievements in social media engagement

  • ?

    event_signal: Morristown Game Vault hosting three-day tournament (May 19-21) with charity tie-in to leukemia/lymphoma society, accessible to Orange County/northeastern players

    high · Bruce reporting tournament details: qualifying May 19-20, finals May 21, $15 all-day pass plus $5-$10 per entry, proceeds to charity

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.321

0:00
50, 60, 55, 12, shut up, 75, 65, 86, 87, 83, 84, shut up, 85, 86, 81, 1, 1, 1. It's still short, fellas. Uh, better count it again, sir. Yeah, you didn't get all the penny. No way, guys, we're still missing money. I didn't do it It was like some foreigner Yeah Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York This is the Slam Tilt Podcast a show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my co-host, Bruce Nightingale. Glasses, baby, glasses. Yes, four eyes of Bruce Nightingale. Sounds like a kung fu movie. Oh, yeah. Yes, I'm back. Welcome to episode 39, Tomorrow Never Dies. And we're dedicating this episode to Clifton James. He died today at the age of 96. And you might be asking yourself, who the hell is that? But we mentioned him. Twice. He was the sheriff who was in Live and Let Die. And then he was, I believe, vacationing on The Man with the Golden Gun in the second appearance.
1:42
We thought, man, he's got to be really old. And he was really old. And he was on Dukes of Hazzard, too. He was on Dukes of Hazzard? Yep. Was he like Boss Hogg's brother or something? Nope, nope. He was another cop from another county. That fits. It does. See? It does fit. But we have a guest. A guest for the third consecutive show, I believe. Yes, let's work for me, baby. Let's work for me.
2:09
And since you're so good with the last names, we'll let you introduce the guest, Bruce. She is ranked 1,437th right now in the IFPA rankings. And she is the first woman on the Slamtel podcast. And she is one of the only, she's actually the only woman to actually qualify in the Upstate New York Top 16. This is Stephanie Guida.
2:36
Yes, you got it. You got it. You said it right. Yes, Stephanie is the one who wrote the beautiful letter. It was spoken by Ron in English, the Queen's. Oh, the Queen's English, as opposed to American English. Yes, which is like Ebonics.
Jamie Brunridgeperson
Slam Tilt Podcastorganization
Rock Fantasy Pinball Leaguevenue
Orange County Pinball Cluborganization
Morristown Game Vaultvenue
Pinburgevent
Summer Solstice Slamevent
Sunshine Laundromatvenue
Pinball Galleryvenue
Aerosmithgame
Monster Bashgame
Medieval Madnessgame
Metallicagame
Wheel of Fortunegame
  • ?

    competitive_signal: Tournament drought for multiple players: Stephanie has only 1 IFPA-counted result this year despite 10+ tournament entries; Bruce has none since December 2016, both seeking recovery

    high · Stephanie: 'exactly one of them has counted towards my ranking. That shit needs to stop.' Bruce admits 'My last one is December 30th, 2016'

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Stephanie maintains winning head-to-head record against JT Harrison across multiple tournament formats; record is 3-6 vs Bruce and 3-13 vs Ron

    high · Detailed discussion of matchup records pulled from IFPA system during interview

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Stephanie self-identifies shot accuracy and strategic decision-making as primary skill gaps; plans to document ruleset strategies using Scrivener to improve competitively

    high · Stephanie describes need to move beyond 'flip randomly and hope for the best' mentality and creating technical manual of rulesets

  • ?

    product_concern: Aerosmith at Rock Fantasy receiving criticism for excessive/difficult plunging mechanic causing unexpected drains; Stephanie notes hard plunge and soft plunge both lead to drains from different slingshots

    high · Stephanie: 'you plunge it...you soft plunge it, and you hit something wrong, and it drains' and 'Hard plunge, hit a slingshot...and go out the right out lane'

  • ?

    business_signal: Ambiguous/comedic reference by Ron to Slam Tilt investing in Stern and making personnel changes; context suggests likely jest but unclear

    low · Ron: 'We have a deal in place. We bought part of Stern. We are now one of the investors' and 'He will be joining Stern' (Keith Johnson to finish Wheel of Fortune)

  • ?

    collector_signal: Stephanie dreams of owning machines (willing to sacrifice bedroom space); interested in collecting Hulk head trophy and Indonesian bowling pin trophy as pinball achievement markers

    high · Stephanie: 'Can't wait to get my own place and my own pins...I can sleep under the machines' and 'I want the Hulk head...I need the Hulk head to complete my pinball goals'

    • 2:58
    Not quite sure how close to proper Queen's English it was. It might have been a bit more of a dialect.
    3:03
    Sorry, English. So welcome to the podcast, Deb. Hi, great to be here. Long-time listener, first-time guest. And we've known you for years. We remember when she was just coming to shows and she was, now I'm looking at her, she's kicking her asses. Member of the Orange County Pinball Club? Yes, she is. So, Steph, why don't you tell us a little about yourself, just like our first-time guests usually give a little mini bio.
    3:32
    Okay. Well, my name is Stephanie. Hi. I play in the Orange County Pinball Club slash Rock Fantasy Pinball League.
    3:43
    Rock Fantasy is basically my home base because, I mean, it's got, what, 30-something games now? and Keeler's always changing it up. We've got Aerosmith and Batman 66 are the newest ones. He just got rid of NASCAR. I don't know what's replacing it, if anything.
    4:02
    And I've been playing pinball pretty much all my life. My dad was kind of a pinhead, so when I was really little, I don't even remember how young I was little. My dad would play in a league down at Sports World in Paramus, New Jersey, and I don't remember the pinball machines.
    4:26
    I remember being there and going, Dad, I want to play mini golf, because they had gone to dark mini golf right by the pins, and I was like, that looks awesome, and I can't play these pins. Can we do that? And so I grew up. It was the late 90s, early 1000s. the dark days of pinball rolled through. Everybody closed down. Pinball machines became scarce. My dad, being a pinhead, as I just mentioned, would go looking for pins on location, desperate to find something, anything. We would take random one-hour, two-hour drives to places in Jersey and in Connecticut. Ogdensburg, New Jersey, had a great place with several machines. And, of course, once we find a place, we go there three times and it closes down because, you know, freaking typical, right? But my dad would basically be hauling me around, and as a kid, I'm like, oh, I don't want to go on an hour-and-a-half drive. And as a kid, I would also think, oh, great, I get to play pinball machine, flip three times, oh, look, it's drained. I was not really good at pinball. I played like a kid who had no idea what she was doing. And if you ever see me on a machine that I played as a kid, I will do really, really badly on it because I'm still in that mindset.
    5:52
    But, you know, 16, 17 years of being of that, and I figured out it rubbed off on me because there was one point when I was looking at colleges, one of the colleges I looked at was RIT. And it was some kind of like overnight stay. And so we're going around the grounds, you know, they're giving us a tour. They bring us to the rec room. There's a freaking Pirates of the Caribbean in the rec room at RIT. Yep. Or at least there was, like... There's now three pins there. There's three pins there now. Holy crap. I made the wrong choice.
    6:30
    Long Island has no pinball to speak of. It's freaking travesty. But I remember going there and texting my dad, Dad, there's pinball here, because my dad was the one who brought me up, and he had looked for pins in the area and found nothing.
    6:48
    And so I was really excited. I remember I had a friend there who I had made on that trip, and I was like, you have to play this. And she was like, I've played it on the computer. It's not that fun. I'm like, just play it. And we played a couple of games. She's like, you're right, this is a lot more fun than I thought. And so that was about the point where I realized that it really had rubbed off on me. I was, you know, into pinball. and that kind of just percolated for a while and then, let's see, it was February of 2015. I'd graduated college. I was kind of just hanging around. My dad's like, hey, you know, I've told you for a while that I had a pinball league that I was going to. Why don't you come with me for one? And I'm like, eh, I don't know. And eventually dad convinced me and I went and it was at Rock Fantasy.
    7:38
    And I had fun, more fun than I anticipated. So I went with him the next week, and the next week, and the next week, and it kind of just spiraled from there, and now I play competitively a lot. We gave it a crack, and now she's hooked. Yeah, that's good. That's good. That's good stuff. First one's free. Yeah. My dad spent his entire life priming me for that, and it's kind of taken a life of its own. Oh, yeah. And now I'm a pinhead. That's a great thing to be. At least that's what we think on this podcast. Yep. Can't wait to get my own place and my own pins. Do you have any pins or does your dad have any pins? No.
    8:27
    It's a longtime dream for both of us. We've talked and I have a room at his house. And we both talked that if we were to come across a pin, I can sleep on the couch. It's okay. It's a sacrifice I am willing to make. Ron, give her a pin. Give her a pin, Ron. Hey, did you have an 8-Ball Champ? I do have an 8-Ball Champ for sale.
    8:52
    As you say, that's my least favorite game of all time. I hate no game more than that. Isn't 8-Ball Champ effectively 8-Ball Deluxe? I don't know. No, it's actually more Fathom. Well, it has the same gate in the back, but it's more... Yeah, it's eight ball champ rule set, but I think a better play field because the pool balls are spread out amongst the play field instead of all in the one target bank area.
    9:19
    At least I think it's a better game. I look it up. You need to buy it. Or Ron needs to buy it. It does have one of the worst back glasses ever. Yes. Terrible, terrible back glass. I mean, the play field art's all right, but the back glass is horrible. what the that dude's like popping out of what is he grabbing his crotch oh yeah he's actually touching himself yes yeah it's yeah I told you it's not a very good backless oh my god the guy in the back is grabbing his crotch too what the hell is this it's man love because you know there's barely any women in that one so it's all man love you know he's like the guy yeah there's one woman yeah the guy's bent over the table and the other guy's like I'll be taking care of him later Oh, my gosh. That is a very provocative backlash. Oh, my. It's probably a boring backlash, too. I told you. So you started into the competitive thing, and you've been playing at the bigger tournaments. You've been to Pinburg? Yes. I've been to Pinburg exactly once, and I'm planning on going again this year. Woo-hoo! So how many different tournaments have you played in so far? Tournaments, tournaments?
    10:37
    Not that many comparatively. I did one up at Bruce's. I do remember that. Yeah. Yes, you came up and played with all the other Orange County pinball guys. Yes. And I think they all had a good time at the old house. Yes, definitely. The games were wonderful. Thank you. Thank you very much. I played in something like 45 tournaments slash leagues. the biggest one being Pinberg most of them are hosted at Rock Fantasy because again that's my home base I've been down to Sunshine a couple of times but I think only once or twice for tournaments there was a Bells and Chimes tournament one weekend and it was the day after the Sweet Talker tournament in Wakefield, Massachusetts and I remember I went up to the Sweet Talker, got second place, drove down the next day, met up with one of my friends, and she drove the rest of the way down to Brooklyn so we could play in the tournament. Now, Steph, I see you have won first place.
    11:51
    Um, won official first place. Yes, and what tournament was that? That was the Stars Tournament at Crazy Levee's Flantorium. Not the Stars Tournament. Not the one-ball tournament, which was, that was insanity, and it's all right, but in the actual Stars tournament, I managed to pull off the win, and that was, that was for real. We're all just owners of Stars. We must bow to her.
    12:19
    Yes. We're not worthy. Yes, we're not worthy. Yes. Yeah, and I didn't lose on a Stars after that tournament until I played at the Sanctum a few weeks ago. It was like, there was one time that I went, I think, to the pinball gallery in Malvern-ish, PA, and someone challenged me to a dollar game because I went with a couple of the Orange County guys. They challenged me to a dollar game, so I took their money. Yeah!
    12:48
    Stars is a brutal game, and I actually used to hate that game when I first started playing because my first time playing Stars was up in the Orange County Pinball Club, And it was actually that same Stars was in the Stars tournament, because there was left Stars and right Stars. Right Stars was Keeler's old Stars. And it was like, oh, I recognize you. I like you. I will not be a complete dick to you. And so I managed to actually get a decent score on it somehow. That's good.
    13:22
    Stars is a brutal game, but a fun game that makes you want to keep on going back for more and more. Yes, it kind of really is. Like I said, at first I hated it because I hated how much it was kicking my ass, and then it was like, I actually am having more fun than I anticipated on this game. It seems to be a common opinion to the game, because they had it at Classics at Papa, one of the rounds, and it definitely had one of the longest queues.
    13:50
    And people were the most pissed at it, but they could not stop playing it. They just played it over and over and over. It's a strange addiction. It is the strangest of stars addiction. So you've been to most of the places I know of. So you've been to Sunshine, Sunshine Laundromat, Pinball Gallery, Cross Rock Fantasy. Most places I know of. So you've been all around.
    14:14
    So what are your pinball goals, or if you have any future pinball goals? Other than get a machine or 10. Or 10. Oh, man. Look, I can already see where that slope is going, and I've resigned myself to that's what it's going to end up being. I'm going to end up having a house full of pinball and maybe a bed. Actually, I can sleep under the machines. I'm small enough. I can do it.
    14:46
    Just push two wide bodies together, and there we go. I have a canopy. Pinball goals? Well, I want to break the top 1,000 at some point. real long-term goal would be to be the best female player in the world, if not the best player in the world, period. Take that number one spot. Ha, ha, ha, ha.
    15:06
    That's a long way to go. I can't even beat you guys. I like that goal. That's a good goal. Hey, aim high. And shoot yourself in the foot.
    15:17
    He does that, right? Yeah, he does. All right, so... Okay, to that end, What would you say are the things you would need to work on as a player?
    15:28
    Well, shot accuracy is the obvious one, because if we were all 100% accurate, we would be playing until the games just broke down and would not score anything anymore. Beyond that, as I had said earlier, I started playing pinball as a kid. As a kid, it was flip randomly and hope for the best. When I started playing competitively, I realized I'm still thinking flip randomly, hope for the best. My intuition has kind of improved. You know, I can kind of guesstimate on shots, and I can usually figure out which shiny thing to aim for. Oh, shiny thing. Yeah.
    16:12
    Go for the thing that's lit and hope for the best. But that doesn't always pay off. So I've actually started, I had an incredible Scrivener document when I wrote the letter to the Slam Tilt podcast. I actually had, like, Scrivener is a writing software, so the same software I would write a novel on, I wrote your letter on, which would explain why it's so damn long. I created a new Scrivener document in which I'm going to document rule sets and strategies.
    16:42
    I'm going to go full Timbales on this thing, basically, is what I need to do to improve. Are you going to write them like a novel? That would be interesting. It would be more like a technical manual, probably. I mean, I could probably find a way to novelize them all. To me, that would be interesting. To somehow make a rule set seem interesting to a non-pinhead. Novelize it.
    17:08
    I mean, you already know rules better than I do. when Stephanie was telling me to hit the launch button on Monster Bash to get, like, free hits on things, which I didn't know about. If it's lit. Yeah, if it's lit. But I didn't even know that. And AFN does the same thing also. Oh, does it? Yes, it does, when you're going into Martians. And if you have a Martian bomb, you can actually do the same thing. Well, Medieval Madness also has show bombs. Yes, it does. So I guess that's a theme. It's a Lyman thing. There you go. He likes killing things with buttons. Yep. Troll bombs and AFM and monster bash and walker kills. And cannon shots and your ball for ACDC. Oh, they have VIP passes. Yep. Got it. Yep.
    17:55
    He believes in giving you free things. Yeah, hey. Now, with your goal of being under 1,000, and how do you feel like you're going to expand by trying to go to more tournaments in the area, or are you going to try just playing local tournaments more, or a combination of both?
    18:19
    Well, my first step towards that is I have to stop sucking. I've spent this entire year, I've played in over 10 things, as you'll see on my IFPA page. exactly one of them has counted towards my ranking. That shit needs to stop. I need to start, I don't know if it's my mindset or my skill set or what, but I need to figure out that problem and fix it, because if I can come, if I can figure out, you know, how to win locally even, I can start inching my score to a higher, lower, better ranking, and And if I have the time and money, I will expand to going to more tournaments. I'm not exactly in a situation where I can just go to every Papa Circuit tournament around the country. Ideally, I would just be like every weekend, up, going to Buffalo, up, going to San Diego, going here, going there. If I could go to a pinball convention every weekend, you're damn right I would. but money is a thing, and I don't have a lot of it. Well, Steph, I'm going to make you feel even better. How's this? You said you only had one this year, counting towards your IFP rankings? Yep. I have none. Seriously? Seriously. My last one is December 30th, 2016.
    19:50
    Oh, man. Man, you suck, Bruce. Well, my head's been up my ass for the past five, six months. But that's going to change in the next couple of months, guys. I know. I got glasses, and I'm going to the Buffalo Pinball Spring Open, and I got league finals this weekend, and I got league in Syracuse. So it's all going to come together. Very good, Bruce. I went up 25 places somehow due to the classics. Yeah. Nice. I'm finishing like 28th and like 50th or something because I got no points for B. You know, make the playoffs in B, but you get nothing because – You get nothing. Zero. You drink fizzy lifting drinks and you get nothing. Good day, sir.
    20:37
    So, Steph, if you were to get some games, what kind of games do you gravitate to? What kind of games do you like?
    20:44
    I have a Holy Trinity. Oh. And they all start with M. Monster Bash. Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, Metallica. Okay. How about Motor Dome? No, no Motor Dome? No. Motor who? Exactly. Hang on. She has a little kiddo. Believe me, you don't want to play it. I don't want to. It's a lot of plastic.
    21:05
    I know games vaguely by name. If you start saying in terms of what's your favorite Williams or Bally, I will just look at you blankly. My brain went on complete brain fart, and I referred to Future Spot as an old stern. That's how bad I am with that. Oh, my God. That's not good.
    21:27
    Nope. I got all three, Steph. Come on up. So what was the holy trend again? We got Medieval Madness. Oh, no. Monster Bash is gone. Monster Bash and Metallica fail, Bruce. You shouldn't have sold it.
    21:38
    Well, they paid for bills. But Medieval's here and Metallica Premium's here sitting there waiting. And she's used to that with Keeler because he has the LE. So same play field, ready to rock. So it's the Lyman thing again. That's the Lyman. Maybe just, you know, Lyman rules. You know, Lyman is the man. He is the man. If Lyman isn't listening, he is the big man. Sorry. I don't think you're getting him on, Bruce. Sorry. I'm trying. He keeps trying. I think he's in a fantasy world. Hey, good luck. I hope you do. I hope we do, too. That'd be freaking awesome. Slamtail, aren't you the guys that were bashing us? No, no, he's not coming on. No, no, no, we never bashed. We have never bashed Lyman, ever. Well, yeah, but you bashed Stern a lot. But not his games. Not his games. Of course. That's it. Yeah, okay. I like your thinking there. I like your thinking. My thinking is sound and proper and everything else. I'm looking right now. Hold on. How many games do you have downstairs in your basement that have Lyman software on them?
    22:44
    Well, Metallica, ACDC, Spider-Man. I think that's it. I also have medieval. Oh, Demoman, the home version. The home version, yeah. One of the first versions of Warcraft. Yep. And I had Iron Man. Yeah, I had Iron Man. He tweaked it towards the end.
    23:05
    I'm sure he made it more awesome than it ever had been before. Yeah. Nope, Lyman's a fan. Lyman, we are a fan of you. That is definitely true. That's definitely true. So, Rock Fantasy's your home turf. See, we got another Rock Fantasy person here, Bruce. Come on, we'll convert you back in. Oh, no. No? Nope.
    23:27
    Especially since the hit was put out and he's sick Stephanie on me. I am not a good hit man. You lost to both of us. You know that, don't you? Yes. That's nice, Bruce. That's nice. I know. I won exactly. In fact, it was the same. It was like the same pattern for both of you. It was, got crushed the first game. I made a really stupid game choice the second game. I barely won the third game, and then I got crushed the last game, and I was out. For both of y'all. But she is a great player.
    24:06
    I'm trying to think of the times I've played Stephanie. Other than that, I remember playing Harlan Globetrotters. I know what your ranking is again, sir. Huh? I know what your ranking is again, sir. Oh, that list thing? Okay, what's my ranking?
    24:20
    Mine, she is 3-6. She's won three and lost six. And those games, and against you, she, because you play more down in Orange County, she's won three and lost 13 to you, Ron. Which is bizarre because it's not actually head-to-head. It's just record in the same, yeah, it's kind of weird. But the best thing is she's actually got a winning record against JT Harrison.
    24:47
    Of course. Well, because a lot of that's league, and he doesn't show up to every league thing. I kind of show up to every league thing. Nope. You have wins against him in Rock Fantasy Summer Open, Flipoff Hunger,
    25:03
    Fantasy Project Pinball Tournament, End of Summer Open, Rock Fantasy Monthly, Monthly, and another Monthly.
    25:13
    We kid, JT. You ever have that one guy that you know is going to be late for every tournament, who's probably going to miss the first round? That's JT. Yep. Which is probably also why, because a lot of those, it may have been like, three rounds, oh, hey, guys. Hey, you got me? Can I punch? He'll just pay in and play, even if he has no chance, because he's missed so many rounds. What was I saying before? Oh, Harlem Globetrotters. How's the tap passing coming? Um, Keeler doesn't have Harlem in the shop anymore, so I haven't really gotten the chance to practice. And the last time I saw it said Harlem, it was out of credit, and I don't think we could find the key. Fail, fail. Fail. I think he moved it to his place. I think it's in one of the sheds now. It's in the pirate shed. Yeah. It's like second or third from the edge. And on the edge is Hurricane, which is also out now. Nothing wrong with that. Oh, yeah, you hate Hurricane for whatever reason. I hate Hurricane. Freaking weird game, man. See?
    26:17
    Bruce has unnatural hate towards a lot of games, although you'll probably like my choice for game I hate today. It's right up your alley. Oh, boy. So are we going to do some news now? Want to do news? Yep, and Steph can join in any time and pop in and make some comments, and we'll go back and talk more about the love of pinball. Love of pinball. What's going on in the news, Bruce? I was going to leave that up to you Oh I don know what going on Well Steph actually before we start what do you think of Aerosmith so far
    26:52
    Healer's Aerosmith, I mean, on first play, I liked it. What I don't like about it is that plunging, Aerosmith is like, it's like Kiss where it's just one big-ass orbit. it. I've had a few balls where it's like, you plunge it, and you know, you soft plunge it, and you hit something wrong, and it drains. So it hard plunges, auto plunges, and it goes down the other way. I had it go down, I had it like soft plunge, hit the right slingshot, and go out the left out lane. Hard plunge, hit a slingshot, or the bumpers, and go out the right out lane. So I'm kind of mad at it right now, but past that mishap, it's pretty fun. I mean, I actually like Aerosmith's music, unlike the game that I kind of just compared it to. Sorry, Bruce. No, he knows Kiss sucks. I like Kiss, but I actually like Aerosmith's music, too. Yeah, but Aerosmith, I mean, Aerosmith, it's not a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. The lock shot's kind of hard to get. I usually get it to bounce in there by accident. But again, I think I mentioned accuracy is one of the things I really have to work on. So it's a really tight shot.
    28:14
    The orbits are kind of tight shots as well, so that might be why I'm draining so much. But the elevator multiball is pretty cool to get. I like the way that they did the modes because the way that you fill up the flowers to hit the shots, I think. I'm trying to remember. Tim Ball has explained it at some point before the tutorial. Like, when we first got it and the way he explained it, it came off really cool. When I play it, it's just like, oh, I lost my ball.
    28:48
    The Toy Box multi-ball is pretty cool. watching the balls come rolling out like that. Never mind that it's the Indiana Jones game all over again. It's a cool multi-ball. I do like the right ramp. It's a pain in the butt, but I like it anyway. Just the way that the ball flows over the ramp is pretty cool.
    29:13
    See, I'm not really good at giving impressions because I can never get very far in new games. It usually takes me about a year to get used to a game. Ron's got good impressions. He does really good impressions.
    29:25
    Well, it's funny. Your review is almost the same as far as the plunging part. That was Tim's big beef. Yes. Too much plunging, too much plunging. And I was like, do you want the ball, do you think he can just hand the ball to your flipper, just put it right down there for you? He wants a Tales of Arabian Nights and a World Cup Soccer. Well, I mean. To me, it's part of, like, the risk-reward that if you want less plunging, then you don't go for any more than three ball multi-ball.
    29:56
    I could say. You know, that's, you know. True. But the point is to make you drain. To make you drain and make the game shorter, more money for Keeler and the operator.
    30:10
    Crickets. Training is bad. We don't want training. We want to play forever. Yeah, I do like that they out of the box went, oh, that elevator kick out is going to be a bitch. And they did the thing that they did with Gene Simmons' head. When it kicks out, the ball save comes on. They do do that for the elevator.
    30:36
    Yeah, I remember the Brock Fantasy's kiss especially had major issues with the Gene's head. Oh, my God. Where it pretty much would go down. Yeah, out of the box. It would go down the middle every time. That's probably one of my funniest rock fantasy stories is the fact that when we had the Kiss launch party, we ended it playing the old Kiss. Yes, I remember that. The new Kiss broke down and didn't survive.
    31:03
    That was pretty bad. I remember that. That was the first night that I held the Hulk head, I think. I won the side tournament that day. Oh, you got the Hulk head? That's one of my... That's on my pinball list. I want the Hulk head. I've held the Hulk head twice, I think. Oh.
    31:24
    Never in a tournament. In a side tournament, yes. During a league night, yes. But during an actual open tournament, no. Not yet. I want the Hulk head. Because I've got the Indonesian bowling pin of doom. I just need the Hulk head. I need the Hulk head to complete my pinball goals. See, those are my goals.
    31:53
    You were saying, Bruce? No, I'm just laughing at your goals, guys. Well, don't forget, Howard does have a tournament coming up next weekend, right? That is correct. It's probably going to be there, I hope. Is that next week? Yes, it is, 29th. It's the 29th. I have no sense of time. When's the 28th?
    32:10
    Next Saturday. It is? It's the 29th. 28th would be Friday. Okay. I'll look it up on my calendar. Oh, right. It's Tuesday. I thought it was Friday for some reason. Wow.
    32:21
    I wish it was Friday. I just hope the work keeps you over. I'm sorry. I'm like, it's Tuesday and it feels like Friday. That's not good. I'm going to be really upset tomorrow morning. Yes, yes, you will. Ron, are you looking forward to Aerosmith?
    32:35
    I've already played it. No, no, no. Forward to it. What do you mean forward to it? We can touch the box. Touch the box? What are you talking about? What did we send a check away for, you bonehead?
    32:48
    Oh, we can talk about that? A little bit. All right. I didn't know. Bruce, you know, it's like, don't talk about this. Don't talk about this. I got to make sure. We have a deal in place. We have a deal. We bought part of Stern. We are now one of the investors. Yes.
    33:09
    We have fired the people Bruce doesn't like. Oh, God, there are so many. We have gotten Keith Johnson away from Jersey Jack. He will be joining Stern.
    33:20
    And he's going to finish Wheel of Fortune. He's going to finish Wheel of Fortune, finally, for everyone to enjoy. All 500 of them that exist. Okay, there may be more than that, but sorry. So what's going on at Pinball News, Bruce?
    33:35
    First, a cool thing coming up. I saw it on Fun with Bonus a couple days ago. the Morristown Game Vault is going to have a three-day tournament.
    33:47
    Now, to review, is that the place that's in a bank? It's in a bank. Have you been there, Steph? No, but I do know where Morristown is. That's not that far. That's just down 287. Like, all of 287. So, the qualifying takes place May 19th from 5 to 11, and May 20 from 10 to 11. The finals run to 21st. So how far is it from me? You're going distance. Yeah, me. An hour further than Middletown. An hour and 10 minutes further. It's over three hours. Okay. But it's closer than eight on the break. Okay, so it's between three and three and a half hours. I got you. Yes.
    34:31
    So it's going to be... The entry fee is $15 for an all-day pass to enjoy 100 games, plus $5 for three qualifying games, or $10 for seven games. Enter as many times as you want. There's two divisions, advanced and novice. The number of finals is to be determined by the number of players entered. Winners will receive trophies, prizes, and bragging rights. And the good thing about this is the tournament proceeds will go towards leukemia and lymphoma society. So, very cool thing. And Hotel Room Block is reserved at the Morristown Hyatt. And is there a website we can go to look at all this wonderful information? MorristownGameVault.com. That's www.MorristownGameVault, all one word, .com. Got it. Yep, so definitely want to check that out.
    35:23
    More news. We hit 100 likes on Facebook. We did? We did. I need to go on our Facebook page more often. Congrats, guys. That's freaking awesome. Thank you. I'm happy about it, too. I have not checked iTunes today I think we got a couple more well last time I was there there was 8 reviews or 8 whatever then I went again and it was 10 so that's at least 2 more let's go look at them and see what they look like but in between that let's get a jump start on Allentown News one of the guys who is a good friend of mine Jamie Brunridge is actually selling playfield protectors the ones that are made over in Europe He's actually doing a bulk deal where he's going to get all of them shipped to Allentown. He has a booth at Allentown. So if you buy them on the Playfield Protectors website, you're going to pay $98, and you'll get free shipping, and you can pick them up in Allentown. What is a Playfield Protector? Just a big thing in my life.
    36:27
    It's made of Vivac, which is a PET-G plastic. It's CNC lasered cut. and it makes your playfield smooth again. So what you do is you take the whole top piece off your whole playfield, you lay the sheet down, and you put everything back over it,
    36:46
    and it protects it and makes it like, say, if you have, like, an older game, a.k.a. a Starz, and you have inserts that are sunken or raised, this will actually make it so it's smooth again. Won't it play probably obscenely fast? Yeah. Yeah, it will. Of course. I figured there was an ulterior motive there. Of course.
    37:08
    It's only .5 of a millimeter thick. It's even less visible, and there's new, less adjusting of switches, because what it used to be, it used to be a lot thicker. So when your ball rolled over the switches, you had to adjust them to make them work better. But for $98, you get a whole smooth play field. It's good for the older games. I would definitely recommend it. I've actually been thinking about it. They do make one for, I think, nine ball. I'm going to look right now in the search. they do make one for Paragon too. Nope, they don't want to make one for Nineball, but they do make one for Paragon and Harlem. They make one for Harlem.
    37:44
    So for $98 and free shipping, so you just grab it and go, it's a good deal. So there's five days left in this deal. So the deal, you can't, after the 23rd of April,
    37:58
    you can't get the free shipping to Allentown. You can't pick it up at Allentown. It's only for that. So when you actually purchase these and you go into the cart, you do for shipping, you're going to push in Allentown.
    38:10
    Definitely, I would definitely hook it up if you're planning on getting one of these, and it's cheaper than what's on the price on it. So go for it.
    38:19
    Ron also gave me some good news today. I did. Yes, you did. What was that? About the downloads we've been getting lately.
    38:29
    Downloads we've been getting lately? Oh, just our statistics. Yes. Once again, thanks to all our listeners for our continued awesome stats. Yes. Would you like to see that? I would blow it away. Yeah, I'm always blown. I'm blown away at more than 10 people listen, honestly. I know. I was blown away when at least I had three or four listeners come up to me at Papa.
    38:53
    Like, really? You know, we've got guys from Pittsburgh, guys from Georgia, guys from California. Like, we're countrywide, man. International. Oh, we're international. That's from Australia, right? We're going to go to Australia someday just to meet our Australia listeners.
    39:12
    That would be kind of cool, actually. I'd be digging that. I wouldn't be digging the plane flight, though. That would suck. The Slam Tilt World Tour. I think we're going to repurpose the Harlem Globetrotters, and we're just going to call it the Slam Tilt World Tour. We'll have goofy artwork of us, like, on top of a globe instead of the Harlem Globetrotters. It will have, like, Tim Balls and all the other characters, like Steve Bowden, you know, it could be on there. That's freaking cool. What do you think? Yeah, I think that's a good idea, actually. You could just put all these characters on there.
    39:42
    Artists, make it happen. But the numbers have been very impressive. The spinners? Yes. The spinners. The left one would be Bruce's head. The caricatures.
    39:53
    The left one would be Bruce's head from the back, so the right one's Ron. We'll make it, like, kiss, like, the back of its tongue, so you just flip it and it's, like, Gene's tongue coming out or something like that. Well, no, you would have to have Beavis and Butthead on the other side. Oh. Good. Oh, actually, yeah. Which one of you is Beavis and which one of you is Butthead, though? I'm Beavis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm Beavis. Sorry. I call Beavis.
    40:16
    Sorry, Bruce. Yeah. No. You got to go, uh, yeah. There you go. We did get one. We did get one from iTunes. From the Beavis and Butler intros to different segments, this is one of my favorite podcasts. Thank you. Great. Pinball. Peace to 000001. Wow. A lot of zeros. But keep them coming, guys, on iTunes, please.
    40:44
    We love the support. I realized last week at the end of the podcast, we were so into it, we completely forgot to do our usual plugs at the end for, like, the web page, the YouTube page. the email and such. I was just so giddy getting a Sharp. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know, Steph, if you heard it. I mean, he got so overexcited about Sharp's dislike of Twilight Zone. I did. Yeah. Yes, I remember. You were practically jumping out of your seat, it sounded like. I was. I was so excited. First, he's like, he's talking about originally how, oh, I love the Twilight Zone. I grew up with it. I loved them. Like, oh, no, another lover. and then he turned around and spun it 180. Do you realize he was talking about the fact that in a tournament, there was only one strategy for it? I know, but still. But there was a lot of other cool things in the game, but you never go for it in a tournament, and that was his issue. Not necessarily that the game was complete crap. He said he hated it. You cannot. And your title even. You wrote the title. Yeah, I did. I did write the title. So guess what?
    41:50
    Winner. Wait, can I not go to the Valley? It's Williams with the Valley name. Yes. Yeah. Let's see. I'll do a quick history lesson in around, what, 88? I think it was around 88. 88, 89. After Blackwater, what is it, 500? 100. Blackwater 100 was the last Valley game. After that, they were bought by Williams.
    42:15
    Williams, being smart, knowing there's still money to be made off the Valley name, they kept the Valley name. But basically, anything that says Bally on it after Blackwater 100 is actually a Williams game. Now, Atlantis is the mutt of them all. Oh, is it? It's still using the 6803 board set. It's the last game to use it, but it's using the Williams System 11 sound board.
    42:44
    Oh, I can't make a thumbs up in audio. Sorry. Two thumbs up. You've got to step into the tech side so she knows what 6803 is, as I ask you every week what it is because I keep forgetting the number.
    42:58
    And what is 6803, Ron? It's the board set they used after the, what's the other one called? Well, their regular board set they used forever. They went 6803, which is known for two things. Why is it called 6803? Oh, is that what the CPU is or something? Yes, it is. Very good. That's the CPU chip. Yeah, it's basically known for two things. having a crap load of lights because they could support it, and having a horrific number pad thing that you were supposed to use to change all the settings. Everyone hated.
    43:31
    I swear to God, it sucks, but there's a ton of information in there. It's good and bad. I've been using it now for the eight-ball champ. I had to turn off the eight extra balls. It took me ten minutes.
    43:44
    Yeah, that's not a good thing. No. Ten minutes. I know, but it's so much information that you can do on it. Once you access and get used to it, it's actually kind of cool.
    43:56
    Yeah, too much info. Let me just read the manual. Change dip switch to turn off. Oh, boom. There, done. I know. I agree. I'm right with you. Fail.
    44:05
    So you were saying Allentown? Allentown coming up. So, Steph, are you going to Allentown? Yes. I'm going to try to go Saturday because this Friday I have this lame thing called work, which I need to go. I took off. I take off every year. I take off Thursday and Friday. Yeah, I'm not used to this concept of having vacation time. It's relatively new to me still, and so I'm, like, trying to ration it out as much as I can, and by the time I thought, oh, I could take that day off, it was too late to request it anyway.
    44:43
    Actually, there's advantages and disadvantages to getting into pinball later like I did. Disadvantage is my skills were already eroding before I even had them because I was too old. But positive, I had a lot of vacation time, so I could actually go to a lot of shows.
    45:00
    So, Alan, are you going to play in the tournament, Steph? Most likely, yes. The good thing about that tournament is there's limited entries.
    45:10
    Oh, is there? Yeah, it's a limit. There is. it's like, what is it? I can't remember how many a day it is.
    45:17
    But you can only play like 10 or 12 a day. And then your score's got to hold up. Which means you can actually enjoy the rest of the show. And the farmer's market. Yes. You can stop by the booth and visit thepinballlifter.com, guys. And get an autograph from Ron and Bruce, the Slam Hill podcast. The banner's getting built. Ron? Okay. Okay, so I'm going to be there as an autograph? Okay. Yes. Oh, yeah, I'm getting the banner done. Is it going to be like Elvira at the Texas show? Am I going to have a line going out the door? I hope so.
    45:53
    I'll be in the farmer's market. I'll also be out in the outdoor, the flea market. Actually, it's outdoor and indoor. Yes.
    46:01
    Perusing for pinball parts. Yes, always. Always been, and who knows? Maybe we'll help Steph buy a pinball machine. although it is Allentown the prices can tend to be a little eh yeah I wait for now Steph if you're going to buy a Pimble machine this year Pintastic yeah Pintastic is probably a better bet prices were really good there last year prices tend to be a little better yeah Allentown I don't know the last few years you'll see like I don't know Just these games that are not in very good shape for ridiculous prices. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. I just, eh. But I did get the nine ball at the old Pentastic, and I got the, what was it? Every year I've gotten a machine at Allentown. Last year was the eight ball deluxe.
    46:53
    The year before was hot dogging. Yeah, hot dogging. You've got to love that when you pick up a game and some dude comes up to you, I got an NOS play field for that. Would you want it? I don't know how you run into all this luck with the games. It's kind of ridiculous. I just, well, Steph, you heard the story about hotdogging, right?
    47:10
    I heard the story of it blowing up when you put the switches in. Oh, yeah, well, that's true, too, yes. I like that story better. And I remember it at Cal, but I don't remember the story of your acquisition of hotdogging. I got the hotdogging. I knew the guy who was selling the hotdogging. I've known him for years, and he pulls out the truck, and I go, what's in the truck? And he goes, oh, there's an old Bally back there. I'm like, well, which one? He goes, hotdogging. I'm like, oh, well, pull it out. I'm interested first. He goes, you've got first dibs. So he pulls it out, opens up the head, powers it up, no sound and no flippers. I'm like, oh, well, how much do you want for it? He goes, price, blah, blah, blah. The play field in the middle, in the middle of the inserts, right going straight down in between the flippers, it says hot dogging.
    47:56
    And it's worn. It's worn like four inches on each side of it. The play field was terrible. So we started dicking around. I said, I'll buy it anyway. I like an old Bally. I had three of the wide bodies. This would be number four. So I bring it back to the booth.
    48:12
    Actually, I didn't bring it back to the booth. I let it set up. It was set up in his area still. And about an hour later, I'm sitting in my booth, and a guy comes up. He goes, hey, I heard you bought the hot dog. Like, yeah, yeah. He goes, well, you want to buy a playfield for it, too? And I knew who it was. It was the guy who was selling it was actually the guy who runs York. I said, well, yeah, how much do you want for the playfield? He goes, oh, well, I got this much. And it was $150, Steph, for a brand-new NOS Playfield.
    48:40
    That's a good deal, I take it? Oh, my God. I'm like, well, where is it? Do you have it with you? He's like, no, no, no, my wife has it. I'm like, so. I'm sitting there like, I don't want to ship anything. He goes, but I'll have her bring it up in another hour or two.
    48:52
    Two hours later, I gave him the money. Two hours later, he's sitting in my booth. Ron comes over. He goes, what's this? Because he saw me. He bought the game. I said, well, somebody just sold me this. He's like, no way. And at the time, Ron was a hater of hot-dogging. Yeah. Yeah, I'd say a disliker of hot-dogging. So we played the other one that was at the show, and what did Ron do? He became a liker of hot-dogging. Love the beautifulness of ballets. The beautifulness of a skiing theme, because that does so well. It does. Yeah. It does. Yeah, Wipeout is such a great game.
    49:32
    No, it's not. You ever see Wipeout stuff? With the ski lift thing? I feel like there was one at the Sanctum. I also feel like it was the one that was not working.
    49:43
    That sounds about right. Oh. Yeah, it has the ski lift. Doesn't the thing do the Path of Adventure where it moves back and forth when the ball comes down? Yeah. Something like that. Yeah, okay. Yeah. I like the slingshot flipper sort of thing on Hot Dog, and I don't think I played this when I was at your house, Bruce. Oh, Hot Dog. Or maybe I did. I don't even remember. I played something in that area.
    50:08
    Was it this? I don't remember the slingshot flipper, but that looks interesting slash super annoying. Oh, it's great. And on the right-hand side, that's the right-side drain area, like the middle drain area. If you get the center lane, the K in the center lane up top, an up-kick post holds up there. and then when it goes on the right-hand side drain area, the ball gets stopped, and it counts down your bonus and then kicks the ball back into play.
    50:38
    So I got a question for you, Bruce. I have an answer for you. Are you going to grind your games now so Steph doesn't get a shock? Nope. I mean, if you don't care about me, at least you should care about Steph. Well, Steph's not going to be up here right away, so I have time.
    50:52
    Well, Steph needs to get points, though, because Ron's going to have a tournament this summer. that's what I've been told yep how does that sound Steph? three hours away from you?
    51:03
    what Albany area? yeah Albany no that should be closer if Orange County is your home base two and a half hours that's like two and a half hours and I can yeah there are people I could visit up there and make that into a day yeah there you go that's not far at all the idea was to have it like a dialed in. It's kind of like the Rock Fantasy has all the launch parties.
    51:33
    Yeah, but Bruce is convinced that the dialed in is not arriving until like next year. He's like, now, hold on. The dialed ins are going to be coming out when they said? Actually, I got an email from my distributor and it was one of those things where I think it said I wasn't supposed to say anything. Let me read it here. I love those kind of, you know, don't say anything. Here's your information, but do not repeat this to anyone. Yeah, do not repeat it, but it's just... Very vague, isn't it? Yeah, it's nothing official, but, I mean, it's looking more summer-ish now. Yeah, how you doing? Yeah. Stop, stop. You are so negative. I feel like it was a launch party that didn't have the actual game. I feel like the Ghostbusters launch party or something like that, one of the Rock Fantasy launch parties, Stern decided to push back the delivery of the game or the distributor did.
    52:33
    I don't remember what exactly happened, but it was a launch party or some kind of thing like that without said game. So this could be the, we bet that we would have dialed in, let's see if it actually happens tournament. I like that. If I say we tell Jersey Jack, hey, we're going to have a tournament on such and such date in the summer, we want the game early. We made a bet on that. Bowed in. Jersey Jack, answer the call. Answer the call, Jersey Jack. Well, I read, well, from the email I'm not supposed to divulge, it should be here by the summer, hopefully. Maybe. Maybe not. Wait a second. The summer ends September 20th. No, before then. Before then. I'm just saying, the summer ends September 20th. Well the thing is the New York State IFPA representative wanted to have a tournament in my house so he could gauge the possibility of using it for the state finals Oh so we have to do that So yes that was expressed to me during Papa Good. Oh, state finals, like state state finals. State state finals, yes. Real state finals out of New York City. The New York City finals. Yeah, the New York City finals. Because, you know, after.
    53:53
    Tri-state, that's right. Tri-state selfies. If you listen to the podcast last week, and I mentioned, like, with the Super League, you know, losing most of its, you know, whatever, and Josh kind of said, well, you know, like it hadn't. Well, now I see what he means because I just happened to go there to look up to see if the pop-up points had posted, and I looked at the New York State, or should I say New York City, rankings, and, like, 15 of the 16 top ones are all Super Leaguers. Yes, they are. Yeah. Super League is still kind of jacked. Yeah, the only one who's not is our friend Eric Russell. Yes, he is. He's hanging out in 16th. I mean, New York City also has a lot more tournaments than Central College. Well, it's going to get worse now. You know that, Ron, don't you? It's going to get worse. Why is it going to get worse? The Tri-State Selfie League.
    54:44
    Oh, what's the Tri-State Selfie League? Oh, you haven't heard that either. That's what it sounds like. Well, I've gotten Facebook things for it, but I haven't really paid attention. Oh, yes. It's for New York City, New Jersey, and they're trying to get either Connecticut or Philadelphia to join also. So more points for each state. Philadelphia?
    55:07
    Yeah, that's not a state, Bruce. But, well, Pennsylvania. But they're saying Philadelphia area they'd like to try, or Connecticut, which would be the sanctum. Yeah, basically the sanctum, yes. Well, can I just take pictures of my own games and submit them as a selfie? No. No? Why not? Only eight on the break or modern or...
    55:27
    Sunshine? I think one of those, or sunshine. Maybe it was sunshine instead of modern. I think it was. Maybe you're right. But, yeah, it's another chance for us to fall further and further behind. But maybe they won't do it next year because it'll be a dollar charge for every tournament they run.
    55:42
    Steph, what's your thoughts on that? I understand why people are upset about it because money is a thing and can be kind of annoying to come by. And it might discourage less competitive players, especially if they have to pony up the extra dollar. And for tournament organizers who want to offset that, if you have a large amount of players come in, now suddenly you have to pay, you know, X amount of dollars. It's what, a dollar a person, right? Mm-hmm. Yep. And, I mean, that could add up real fast. And if you're going from a purely financial standpoint, the cost could outweigh the benefit real quick. But from a competitive standpoint, from the idea of funding the finals and making it such that the prize pools are bigger, making the stakes higher for those who are in the higher end of competitive echelons, it makes sense from that standpoint. It's whether it'll balance out. We'll see who's, like, more competitive in tournaments and leagues and who's more, I guess, casual because in the end, we're all paying in. Only a small percentile will get any long-term benefit of that because the finals, you know, there's a limited amount of qualifiers and of that, only one person advances to the finals in the nationals, right? Yep. For the state. Yeah. Yeah, so.
    57:12
    I know, a lot of money. Did they have it so that the prize pool paid out the top 16, or was it only the top four? Top 16. Okay, okay. Yeah, that was one of them. Like 75% actually goes to the actual state final, and then 25% is to the nationals. On another podcast, I actually had a great idea. The winner gets taxed. The winner gets taxed with the fee.
    57:37
    The winner gets taxed. What does that mean? Like a winner's, because people are saying most of the people who are going to win have a chance to be in the top 16. Okay, wait a minute. So if I'm in a tournament, 30 people, if I win, I pay $30. Yes, part of the money of the winning money, say, usually is 40 or 50%. $30 would come off that as a winner's tax.
    58:01
    Maybe that was actually a pretty good idea. Operator's tax? Well, instead of paying, say if there's 30 people, instead of the 30 people paying, the winner is really going to be paying for it because the odds of that winner's points going towards the finals and getting into the state finals, he's actually paying for everyone to be involved.
    58:21
    I like him, actually. That was actually a good idea. Like I said, I reserve judgment. We'll see how it goes. But after kind of looking at the top 16 for New York, I kind of feel like I'm just paying a dollar to other people. Again. Yeah, and there's going to be a lot of players who will feel like that. I can understand why there would be some backlash against it. And plus another thing that was brought up that was so, from another podcast, the Flippin' Podcast, I think it was, they were talking about how Papa and Pimberg gets all their rankings from IFPA. Now, if there's some fresh players or players who don't want to be putting in the dollar,
    59:01
    the rankings are going to be all fucked up now. so now people who are now starting off can be starting off in a really crappy group or being in a D starting position eventually or a B starting or a C starting and move their way up get the first round easy and then get a nice jumping it's going to screw everything up, it really can screw everything up I agree with that part of it pay the fucking dollar that's all I say So you want me to go up to pay. Hey, New York City, here's my dollar. Here's my dollar. Here you go. It's going to be that. It is going to be that. But guess what? We always have the upstate finals.
    59:45
    And we have Buffalo. Like your one shot, your one shot to get major points to possibly get a chance to be in the New York City finals. That's true. This is what it boils down to. I don't know. If I sound less than enthusiastic this week, that kind of bummed me out. Ron's a little discouraged. That kind of bummed me out. Yeah, when I saw that, it's like, oh, it really hasn't changed. It's pretty much the same. I mean, Tim is like 18th.
    60:14
    I'm way down there. I'm 14th. Yeah, that's kind of frightening. Tim Balls is 18th. Considering how he plays? Yeah. I know. Yeah, someone of that skill level is only 18th. That's crazy. It also depends on the number of events, too. because a lot of his stuff is like the Sanctum and things like Papa where he played, you know. Yeah, he's busy winning every knockout at the Sanctum ever or something like that. Yeah, yeah. He won at the Sanctum again. I think they were giving him heat for that.
    60:43
    I love when he takes shit for winning. That's always good. So what were we talking about? Oh, we were talking about the points. Oh, we were talking about Allentown. Okay. So, yeah, Allentown. Allentown's going to be cool. So, Steph, what was your first pinball show?
    61:00
    Me? Yeah. The catchiest show. Well, it wouldn't have been Pinfest. It would have been an Allentown convention called the Wizards Pinball Convention. Ooh, just the winter one. No, no, no. Oh, the, it would have been the May one. It was, because Pinfest, it almost started using the name Pinfest, what, 2013, 2014? Yeah, it was the item buying it. I have shirts in my closet that say Wizards Pinball Convention 1999-2000. I don't know if that was just my dad getting me shirts or if it's my dad's shirts or what, but I know that when my dad and I, you know, that kind of became a habit of ours to go to the Allentown Convention.
    61:46
    I've never been to York. I have a white rose shirt from 1990-something. I think it is 99 I don't think I went to that I think that brought that back for me but my first show would have been the Wizards pinball before it was pinfest and I remember being looking at all these games when I was a kid I hated EMs because I was at the level of well it's just going to hit something and go down what this is not fun. So I would find the two or three games that I liked at the time, also known as if Allentown didn't have a monster bash, I was bored in 10 minutes.
    62:33
    And I remember watching people play at the one handed tournaments and then the main tournament and going, wow, people playing tournaments. I could never do that.
    62:43
    Actual thoughts from me. I do remember being amused by the pinball parts, I had never played a pin bot or at least I thought I never had I think I had a video game of it like a old handheld thing of it but I never knew that I played a pin bot but I just my earliest memory of that is Allentown seeing the spiral skill shot thing and going that's a cool thing and my dad going yes that is from pin bot oh at the parts desk yeah like the parts kind of fascinated like shiny thing that I don't understand what it does. That was probably James' booth. Pinball, what was it called? Pinball. Ink. Yeah, pinball ink. Because he had that. It was always the ramps table. He'd have all the ramps, and then he'd have the little spiral thing, and he'd have the no-fear mountain thing. It was always there. That's interesting, because that was my first show also.
    63:46
    And when I went there, it was in the mall. the strip mall whatever that they had before it was at the fairgrounds where it is now oh i think it was at the fairgrounds by the time i started going because i remembered the endlessly long farmer's market of amazingness which is still amazing it is still amazing and i can't wait yeah i think it was only at this strip mall like the first year i went there so that was 2004 so that means from 2005 on it's been at the uh the fairgrounds oh so it must have moved away from either that or i'm just remembering wrong i don't know i was like 10 well it's at the fairgrounds like 2005 it started being at the fairgrounds but it was just on one side yeah like the smaller side yeah and then and then it moved to like the larger side and now it's like the entire building, which is kind of amazing. I remember it used to be, it used to cohabitate with some kind of computer show, right? Like there was some kind of thing going on on the other side. And then there was like one year there was a car show and they had a car outside. Yeah, there would always be... I feel like there was a gun show one time too. I know that where they were advertising for a gun show.
    64:58
    Guns and firearms. I should clarify. I think. I'm not sure. I didn't know. You're right. There was. So that's coming up. That's just in a couple weeks. Three weeks. That's going to be awesome. And you get to deliver a game in three weeks, that means. Yeah, Scott doesn't know if he's going to be there. If not, I'm going to drop it off with a vendor that he knows. His target pool of awesomeness. Yeah.
    65:28
    Hey, I like the game. I like the game, but that one sounds like not a fun game at all. Well, hey, for what he pays for it, I'm sure he'll be very happy.
    65:38
    Let's see. What other news do we got? Oh, it's a yawn? It's a yawn? Okay, so I think we're ready for the games you like, games you hate. Yes, totally.
    65:50
    As our guest, Steph. She gets to go first. Game you like or game you hate. Okay, so I get game choice, not order?
    65:59
    Game choice or order. You can do either or. I'll go last. Okay. Hey, there you go. Ron is the host. You go first. So for a game I like, and I brought it up last week and got a groan from Bruce, so I knew I had to use it. Road Kings.
    66:20
    Yeah. There we go. I got another groan. Mission accomplished. I found it thoroughly enjoyable. And for a game I dislike, I have. and I played this at Papa when I was there just doing alley passes back and forth and it's just it's another wide body I believe Amazing Spider-Man Oh God, it's bad with the wonderful system of sounds do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do-do but not cool like Countdown It is a wide body and they have one at the game Museum of Play up here in Rochester How about you, Bruce? What do you got for me? Game I like. Okay.
    67:08
    Williams. Of course. Nope, nope. Blowing you all out of the water. It's EM day today. Aztec. Okay. Okay, I'll give you that. I just played that. Aztec. That's the game with the right hand. You go in and it kicks it out. And if you're lucky, it hits the bumper, goes in, you get points. and if you're lucky, it'll do that like 10 times, which I've seen happen. Or how many letters you have in Aztec spells.
    67:38
    If you have one letter, it's 5,000 per time. If you have two letters, 10, and you go all the way up. Does it have a spinner? It does. On the left-hand side, if you hit the middle lane, you get nice spin spins. It also has a, doesn't it have a target right dead between the flippers? No, no, no. Or am I thinking of another game? I'm trying to think, because one of the guys in the Orange County Pinball Club has it. I might be thinking, am I missing it with Calm? The Calm Monaco, that game. The one with the moving target. Yeah. Monaco has the moving target. That's Howard's game. And if you want to attempt to be French, which I'm probably totally fucking that up.
    68:23
    See, she swore for us first time. Great. Oh, really? You can swear all you want. I'm a sailor. Yeah, you should hear it during the Orange County Pinball Club nights. Yeah. Not as bad as me. Well, Bruce, I don't know. I don't know, Bruce. I don't know. Oh, wow. Yeah.
    68:43
    We would have to have someone stand by. You know, never mind the yon counter. We would need a swear counter.
    68:51
    Hello? Just a random phone. Hello? Hello. Welcome. You're on the Slam Show podcast. What do you got for us? Caller, what do you have? Caller. You are the third caller. You win nothing. Thank you.
    69:10
    So, Aztec, good game. Okay, what do you hate? What Gottlieb system three are we picking this week? Fail on your account. We're going EM, baby.
    69:21
    It's an EM day for Bruce. Really? Okay. It's an alley EM. A Bally EM that you hate? Ooh, okay. Odds and evens. What the hell is odds and evens? Oh, you know it so well. It's with the cheesy guy from, like, the 70s with the thin wire mustache. It's a single-player Bally from 1973, 72.
    69:43
    All right, I'm looking it up now. It's a roulette game? It's a roulette game. It's terrible. Um, where are the shots? There is none. What the hell is on the right?
    70:00
    There's like a gate and then another gate. Yeah, it's just a terrible game. All right, so I'm looking at it. All right, so we got, well, we got no spinners. So number one, number one penalty. It has, what, one, two, three different, like, gates? Well, it's got two gates and then a wire form thing on the left. Three pop-uppers right in the middle, a hole directly in front of you, Oh, there's another gate thing on the... Oh, Jesus.
    70:28
    It's terrible. One, two, three, four of them. Yeah. It doesn't look very good. No, it's terrible. The bumpers are off-center from the wheel, and it's annoying me. See, so I picked a good hate, didn't I? Yeah, yeah, it looks crappy. I agree. You have to make the move like two inches to the left.
    70:51
    Someone's going to write in and say, how dare you pick that? It's great. Have you ever played it? Yes. And they always sell cheap at freaking Allentown. There's one or two games you can actually find really cheap at Allentown.
    71:02
    So, Steph. Yes. Fix. Okay. So, I already said Monster Bash, Medieval Madness, and Metallica. That would be cheating. Y'all know I like Harlem, so that would be cheating. So, I'm going to go next on my list. This is a game. You'll probably, they'll just find out who made it. It's a Gottlieb, apparently.
    71:31
    It's an EM Gottlieb. You're okay with EM Gottliebs, right? Okay. 300. Bowling theme from Howard. 300. Yes. Yeah. The only thing I don't like about 300, I'm going to be honest with you, is that off-center spinner. It's a little off-center. Isn't that how I remember correctly? Yeah. It kills it a little bit. Yes. That can be annoying. I know what you mean, but I don't know. It's satisfying enough. Let me just pull it up here because it's got the – oh, yeah, I have no trouble with the off-center spin. Yeah. It doesn't have the back box animation with the balls. Yes, it has the bonus balls. Yeah. Which is kind of – I think it's the same mech as like they have a soccer game. Yes, the soccer one also. Yeah, and I think it does the exact same thing, and they probably reused the same stuff. Oh, yeah. It's got the lanes on the side. Yeah.
    72:28
    Yep. Yeah. It's a good game. Yeah. It's a fun game. Game you hate. Better be a god. Be very disappointed in you.
    72:38
    I wouldn't know if you told me. You're actually going to be disappointed in me because I think you had this game. Ooh.
    72:48
    It is... yeah discern of the early variety not early as in stars early as in monopoly early but it's not monopoly it's the Simpsons pinball party yay yes or as I like to call it the Simpsons house ball party which is exactly why I hate it you just didn't play the right ones oh no she's right I mean 100% come on stay with your gut it's you know Come on. The ones that I played, I mean, I've seen people get good scores on it.
    73:26
    Zen came up from the city once and played it for like an hour and got some ridiculous score on it. But it's like, you just have to grind and hit all the shots over and over again. And for me, it was more often than not. Plunge, attempt to get a squishy, fail to get a squishy, drain. Okay, fantastic. I now have a score of 5,000. Woo-hoo! It just, the shots never really seemed to be that fun. It was more frustrating than not. I think on the way home from Allentown, because I have a habit of this, I passed by a laundromat, so I just kind of pulled in to see if it had pinball. It did. It was a Simpsons pinball party. I was not that upset that I couldn't get to it. because there was like a dumpster or some kind of wagon or chair or it was off i don't remember exactly what happened but i couldn't get to it and i was just like all right i wouldn't pay the 50 cents anyway maybe if my if my ability to navigate rule sets was better maybe if my shot accuracy was better i might learn to like it i'm not gonna say that i hate a game forever and ever I was going to say Bram Stoker's Dracula, and I finally got on that game's good side for about five minutes and got a grand champ score of, like, 700 million on that thing. So I can't say I hate it anymore, even though those three targets are peeing in the ass.
    74:58
    10 million, 20 million, 30 million. Oh, wait a minute. Didn't say someone, did they like the jackpot call? So, man, $30 million!
    75:11
    There you go. Back when we actually could afford to get the star to do the voice. Yeah. That's one thing I noticed on a lot of these games. Well, you got Ernie Hudson, right, for Ghostbusters, right?
    75:21
    Yeah, but, yeah. But, you know, you play, like, Demoman and they're still alone doing actual calls. Jesus, you play Dirty Harry, who played Clint Eastwood, who was old then, and even he's doing voiceovers. You play Dracula, you get Dracula himself on the game. It's like they can't really do that anymore.
    75:41
    I mean, they got what's-his-face for Star Trek, but that's only because he was a pinhead. He wanted to do it. They got Adam West because they just dug him up. He doesn't even sound like Adam West anymore. He sounds horribly old. If you squeeze the flippers, it's not that bad.
    75:58
    Yes, old chum. Really old. Yes. When you don't sound like yourself anymore because you're so old, it's time to stop. Just move on. Move on. Milk it for all you can, Adam. He's got money. He's Mayor West. Most people know he's Mayor West. They don't even know he's Batman. I know. I love that. Batman.
    76:20
    All right. So, I love it. Are you ready for the goodness? I love it. Goodness of what? The mail ball bag. Oh, God. The slam ball bag. Yes. The mail ball bag. Please, there's ladies' pride there. Come on, do you know, know you know, Shane. Okay, Steph, what name do you like better? The slam-till ball bag or the mail-ball bag? Or the mail-ball bag. I think having you guys argue over it every episode is the best way. There you go. Which one do you prefer?
    76:53
    Slam-ball or mail-ball? Well, it depends. Do you want to just describe a scrotum, or do you want to describe being kicked in the nuts?
    77:05
    It leaves it to your imagination. You know, it's so long, I actually forget what I put for the description. I think I call it the slam ball bag in the actual description. Yes. Something like that. If that's what you described it as, then perhaps that's what you should have it as? It's the slam ball bag. It was your birthday, but I go for the fun one. Oh, we've stayed on this way too long. I'll read the first one. Do you really have the... It's called The Scrotum. We're going to go... Okay, the first letter out of The Scrotum. No, it's just The Scrotum.
    77:41
    We got... Oh, and you actually said how much you like this game. I do. So we're going to see how much you think it's going to cost. Total Annihilation, which I did play, and it was quite entertaining. The sound is awesome. and a mix of newer type stuff, but with older stuff, like the older style displays. I really like that. So now Spooky's going to be making Total Annihilation, and Ryan C. wants to know how much we think it's going to cost.
    78:16
    So, Steph, have you heard or seen anything besides us talking about Total Annihilation? Have you seen the videos or anything like that? Not really. Fail.
    78:27
    On that one thing, I was not prepared. Okay. I'll give you that. So what would you pay for that, Ron, since you're the only one of the three of us who have played it? What would I pay? What do you think it should sell for and also what would you pay? I wouldn't pay more than what a pro costs. Okay, so you're saying $52. Yeah, I mean, for what's on there. I mean, it's single level. There's no ramp. It's using, I mean, it does have an LCD screen. And it also has, it's unusual it has an LCD screen, but it also uses the old school displays, which I like. But overall, I mean, it's not extremely complex.
    79:13
    Wait until you look at the underneath, they say. Don't forget you see the picture underneath. Yeah, I'm looking right, I'm looking underneath the play field. I just see a lot of pink light. Yeah, exactly. but if it's more than $52 that's what I would pay I think it'll be more than $52 I think it won't be any less than what they're charging for the Jetsons and all that it's going to be like between $62 and $6,500 that's what I think they'll sell for now if you look at Domino's they have a little more stuff in there Anchovies they got Ramperoni oh the game yes I gotcha and that's $52 right now until the end of the month. How much is Jetson's, though?
    79:56
    63, 62? Yeah, which has about the same amount of stuff in it. Yeah, but it's not worth that. It really isn't. The soundtrack's great. I like everything, but it's not worth it. If they sell them all, it's worth it. Oh, it is. But the thing is they not going to limit the run either They going to run 50 at a time All right Okay So I don think there going to be much of a demand It might only be 50 Who knows We see I think it going to be priced out of its realization.
    80:31
    All right. That's what I feel. You get the next one. This is from Jim Brill, because I know he gave me that one because I had to say the name, and that's what really sucks. Thank you for following up on episode 36, The Texas Tornado. So the Bobby Orr pinball power play you played on Friday was the one I brought. So was that the one you liked more, or was it the Saturday one you liked more, Ron? I can't remember. I didn't like either anymore. I just was wondering which one was his. I think I had a particularly high score on the one I played Friday. That I do remember. That's the one I thought might be his because the rule set was set up like we suggested.
    81:09
    Okay. he enjoyed reliving Texas Pinball Festival on episode 36 and catching up on the parts he missed this week he's on vacation in Orlando for the Star Wars celebration but today he's on vacation from my vacation he's loaning I loaned my brother my pass for the show and relaxing at the hotel listening to Sleep Tilt Podcast, I mean Slam Tilt Podcast he's listening to some STP he listened to 36 and he's proceeding to episodes 38 and 37. Hope you enjoyed them. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jim, from Dallas, Texas. And when you're at the Star Wars Celebration, you will not be seeing Stern there.
    81:49
    No, they did not show up. No, but while they pulled out, I don't think the game's ready yet. No, there were still hints and haws. There were still... Wow. What, for that hard secret of Star Wars being next? Oh, yeah. Yeah, the worst kept secret in pinball. Hey, Steph, did you know that Star Wars is going to be Stern's next game?
    82:08
    What? Yes, it is. That is a bombshell hint. It's a bombshell. You heard it here first. You speak of, I never would have said. I knew since last October.
    82:24
    Well, yeah, Bruce has his inside sources, so, you know, he's a little ahead of the curve. Yeah. We got Eric Russell, number one. I think it might be Eric Russell, number one, because it's not Eric. No, actually, number two. It's Eric S. Russell. It's not Eric Russell CNY. So, yeah, it's Eric S. Russell, number two. He's almost coming up with our podcast.
    82:47
    He takes you to task for your X-Men over ACDC, Spider-Man, Walking Dead, Iron Man, Game of Thrones, Family Guy, Tron, et cetera. Even High Roller Casino. I like X-Men, but that's just crazy. Well, actually, ACDC is starting to get old on me a little bit. Ooh. It is starting to, a little bit. A little bit. Walking Dead, I like, but I don't like the way it comes out of the pop bumpers. That annoys the piss out of me. Iron Man, I had, got rid of. Game of Thrones, you can throw that fucking way in the garbage. Family Guy, eh, you don't get so much of Family Guy. Tron, High Roller Casino, I got to give him that one. I really do like High Roller Casino, but there's just something about an X-Men Pro. Steph, what do you think of X-Men Pro? I know Steven had one for a while. Was X-Men Pro the one that was at Rock Fantasy? Yes, it is. Yes. Okay.
    83:42
    I'm trying to think of something to say other than Wolverine can suck my dick. Oh, my. Really, really, really obnoxious at times. And, I mean, the X-Wing 3 multiball is kind of the, oh, my God.
    84:01
    Yes, the panting. I never really got that, what that was supposed to. He's trying to escape. Oh, he's trying to escape. Okay, the movie. He's trying to escape, and he's trying to get out from the facility.
    84:12
    But, I mean, that's the obvious thing to go for. Was that... Wait. X-Men. That's the one that had the Talimod, the Shadow King. Even though everyone goes for Sentinels, right? I like Sentinels better.
    84:28
    Everyone seems to play Sentinels in Iron Man. You guys get four points, that's why. And you also get Deadpool in there helping you out. Yes, Deadpool has helped you and is knocking on the DMD display. I love that.
    84:42
    They really made a good improvement on the last rule set. Yeah, I mean, it's not a bad game. It's just not my favorite choice. I would go for other games in Rock Fantasy before I went for that, personally. Agreed. I still say the best version of it I ever played was the Whitewood. Say that again. Because it had no Wolverine. If I was going to do it, I would change the target and make Wolverine smaller. Yeah, well, or just remove him. I'll tell you, it played so good without Wolverine in there. It was so good.
    85:18
    Let's see. There's another part I'm not supposed to read on the air. So I won't read that. Let's see. saying Mr. Bowden's comments on Frontier when he was going through the games were spot on.
    85:34
    Da-da-da-da. He was, oh, he wholeheartedly agrees with Mr. Bowden that games that imbalance the scoring on different balls, i.e. like double bonus on the last ball, are crap. So dumb.
    85:45
    Keep up the good work. Cheetah. Cheetah's awesome. It is. I mean, the double bonus thing, I'm sure you could easily make a software adjustment to that and make that not a thing, but... Because Cheetah does have the double score on the last ball thing, right?
    86:04
    I'm fairly certain it does. I don't know. I don't think so. Sterns didn't do that in the early ones. Maybe I'm thinking of Big Brave, which is right next to Cheetah. Yeah, yes. I'm thinking that has it. Yes, Big Brave definitely has it. I feel like Cheetah I have a double bonus on the last ball, and I don't know why. I must be going crazy. I think you're going crazy. I might be going crazy. Although the head scotch rule said on it, so who knows what he put in there.
    86:35
    No. I'll just have to go and play Cheetah. Oh, no. What a horrible thing. No. Cheetah's great. I keep trying to get it. You're going to get it again. Oh, sorry.
    86:46
    I even bought that one. I'm freaking four hours away. I want that Cheetah. Okay. I want that Cheetah. Come on, Steve. Give it to me. I'm not going to give it to you. You know that.
    87:00
    Well, you've already had people like, that's a rock fantasy tradition. A cheetah sitting there. And it has been there probably the longest of any game I can think of. I mean, that was their – that's the game that did the screw job on poor Mr. Bowden with the flaky slingshots that cost them a tournament. And that was a long time ago. Oh, that's when they had the one finals game on Star Wars. the Center Ramp Fest.
    87:27
    He had a Star Wars? Yeah, he had a Star Wars briefly, and he sold it almost immediately. And I just remember he had it for the tournament, and I had no idea how to play it, and everyone was telling me, just hit the center ramp. Like, okay, then what? Nothing. You just hit the center ramp. Like, really? And it was the most boring thing you've ever seen. Oh, God. It's horrible. It's like Police Force, almost. Oh, my God.
    87:51
    Not a fan of Batman? I mean, Police Force? I just think that was supposed to be Batman. Did you see the artwork?
    87:59
    There's actual artwork of when it was supposed to be Batman? Yep. If you go to Facebook. I never saw that.
    88:06
    Actually, James just got it this week, actually. A person actually from Pinball Inc. So if you go to, I think it's under Pinball Inc. under Facebook. So let me go real fast.
    88:18
    There, yep. It's under Pinball Inc. So go to Pinball Inc. So if I go to Facebook, I will search for Pinball. INC. And I get it comes with pinballs.c. Pinball Inc. Okay, I click on that. Taking pinball to a new level. Scroll down. Oh.
    88:39
    Okay. Is it supposed to be like Oh, okay. That was first drawing for it. Python Android. Okay. So, how come it looks a lot like high speed, the back glass. That looks a lot like high speed. I know it does.
    89:01
    Hey, don't forget, I made high speed also. That is true. I am Python. I made high speed. I did the artwork. I did the superior artwork that was in the back glass, not the shitty play field artwork that was done. I did not do that. Now, what I noticed is there's no center ramp on this one.
    89:21
    No. Now, actually, I was looking through some of my pinball stuff that I had in storage, and I have Steve Ritchie's original CAD drawing for Avatar.
    89:35
    Yes. Which I don't know. I don't know how many of our listeners know that. My dad has it, too. Yeah. When Steve, after 24, Steve's next game was going to be Avatar. That was going to be his game. And he did a full Playfield CAD drawing for it. So what's our next... I think we got another one. Yes, we do. We got a couple more.
    89:58
    Jim Mueller. Looks like the TCA train is getting more and more passengers. Woo! Josh, let's go. I'm on board. Yep. Shouldn't be no... It should be full in no time with that riveting review from Josh in this week's episode. Yes. Keep the episodes coming. Cheers, Jim. He's on pin side.
    90:18
    Captive underscore ball. Thank you, Jim. All right. And what I believe is the last email until Bruce tells me it's not. But it is. Is it? It is. I'm still looking. He's still looking. This is Ryan, our other Ryan, Ryan from Wisconsin. And this is like a tech question. And it's very apropos for this one. It seems that the couch on my Simpson spin ball party has been acting up. After locking multiple balls and starting couch multi-ball, Occasionally all the balls drop at once, not one at a time. This will cause the balls to jam under the upper play field. This doesn't happen all the time. Maybe one out of ten times couch multi-ball has started. What would be the best place to start looking to resolve this?
    91:04
    I would check the opto first. There is an opto in the end of the couch. I would also check the coil, make sure it's actually firing, stopping it each time, the release part of it. Make sure it's not sticking down and actually dropping and not pulsing.
    91:23
    You might get a sticky stuff coil. That would be the first two things I would check because the opto tells when the coil is to fire down to let release. So if the opto thinks there's a ball still there it's not moved, it's still going to be pulled down. That would be the first two things I would check. The opto would make sure your coil is not sticky. and in receipt connectors also after that.
    91:46
    Okay. And after that, if that doesn't work, you can sell it and put it in a laundromat where Steph will not play it. Yeah.
    91:56
    Oh, my. Unless I'm really starved for pinball, in which case I will play pretty much anything.
    92:04
    Don't get George Takai's birthday this week. Takai, actually. Yeah, Takai. No, she's right. It's Takai. No, Takai. Because Takai in Japanese means expensive, so... Oh, he's expensive, all right. You're trying to get him in any one of these stories. I think that's what he's saying. Please don't say Takai. It's Takei. Takei is... Takei. Yes. That's what he said. I've heard him in interviews, and it's Takei. Hello, I'm George Takei. Say my name right, Bruce. Well, you said it wrong, too, so I didn't go there. I say that all the time, bro, because that's why everyone says it sounds better when you say it that way. Because you say, oh my, it's George Takei. If you say, oh my, it's George Takei, it doesn't work.
    92:50
    But his birthday is coming up this week, guys, so. Please vote for me. I will do a better job helming this country.
    93:00
    Because he's the best at the helm of all time. You're on two. So, Steph, do you have any Tim rants?
    93:11
    Isn't Timmy doing a Tim rant today anymore? He did it. I was watching part of it while we were... Oh, yeah? Did he say someone else was doing it, and he put some bizarre film up? No, it's Alter Ego. It's whatever his ego was on that one. It's Alter Ego. Did he play another character or something? Alex Jones or whatever the hell. Alex Jones? Oh, no. So is it like actually him, like just being another character? Yes, yes. He was doing it yesterday at the Sanctum also. Oh, okay. Okay, everyone.
    93:43
    All right, so should we have alter egos then? Should I be like Ronnie Tilt in your Bruce Slam or something? No. No? It's hard enough just to keep myself.
    93:56
    Yes. I got a name for you. Four Eyes Bruce. All right. No, no, no. Sorry. No. The original name that you gave me long ago is perfect.
    94:09
    Mr. Extra Ball. Yes. Although when you think of the context of the whole slam ball bag thing, that takes on a whole new meaning. Just saying. Oh, my.
    94:23
    I got parts for sale up on Pinside. He's got parts for sale, folks. Look it up. What's your Pinside ID? D-R-G-N-L-A-I-R. Dragon's Lair, folks. Lots of parts. And if anybody wants an eight-ball champ, I'd probably be bringing it down to Allentown.
    94:41
    Didn't you just get that? I did. Yeah, he did. This is the problem with Bruce. I'm trying to go better. I'm trying to go newer. Why are you selling it so quick, though? Actually, older. I'm trying to go, but... Why are you selling it so quick? You D-L-E-D'd it. Yes, I did. Thank God. And now you're going... So basically, you're just like the LED Avenger. You just buy games to rescue them from the clutches of LEDs and pass them on to get another game to rescue them from the clutches of LEDs. Please, rinse, repeat. I like that. You're the LED Avenger. Actually, you'd be more like the incandescent Avenger, I guess. You're standing up for incandescent bulbs everywhere. But that needed to be DLED because that looked, you know, not all LEDs are bad, but oh, my God. It was unplayable. Captain Chaos.
    95:40
    You know what that's from, don't you? No, what's that from? Cannonball Run. Dom DeLuise. Oh. I'm Captain Chaos. This is my friend Kato. Say hello, Kato. I haven't been a cop very long.
    95:58
    We might have five listeners who got that. I know. I love it. Although Jackie Chan was in Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run 2.
    96:06
    Yes. So. Crickets again there. Eight Ball Champ, guys. Buy it up. Excuse me. Buy it up by Eight Ball Champ. It's a three-on game.
    96:21
    Yeah, apparently. Yes. So no Tim Rance from Steph tonight? How floaty games can get, you know. Tell us everything.
    96:35
    Oh, dear God. Captain Floaty himself, Bruce. Captain Floaty. Yeah, I think that is your new name, Captain Floaty, Bruce. Nope. It's Mr. Extra Ball or Mr. Loop. I don't know.
    96:53
    What do you hate about pinball right now? What do I hate? The way that playfield designs will occasionally allow for balls to get stuck in really random, really stupid places. Like, you know, at the very back of the playfield, there have been a couple of games. I feel like maybe not ACDC. I know Toton has one of these spots, Tesla Arabian Nights, below the ramp on the left side, like above the orbit, but below the ramp. There's like this little nook that an air ball is just like, it can just perfectly land in and you can't get it the hell out. I remember on High Roller Casino up at Moonwalker, I think both times I've been up at Moonwalker, there's some side sling near the what's it is it the craps that's the random on the left side there's like a sling there that the ball has just gotten randomly stuck there and been like why have you done this it gets stuck underneath the rubber so you have to you know open up the game stop gameplay sometimes it'll get stuck on top of a dead pop bumper. I think Kyra Lucas, you know, also did this. And it's just like, dead pop bumpers. Those two. Those are just, why? Those traitors bastards of a pop bumper when it's like, I'm going to touch this bumper. It's not going to register anything. It's just going to sit there and kind of fall flat and roll in a way that you were not expecting because you were expecting it to get flung way the hell over there. Instead, it's just going to roll calmly onto the slingshot that possibly also doesn't work.
    98:47
    And just... Steph, don't blame the pop bumper. Blame the person that owns the machine that hasn't adjusted the pop bumper correctly.
    99:00
    Um... That's exactly it. Because, wait a second, it's not the game's fault that somebody hasn't adjusted the switch or the spoon properly. Don't blame the player. Blame the game. No, maybe not. It's the game.
    99:15
    But yeah, balls getting stuck in random-ass places is kind of annoying. Just, you know, because it interrupts gameplay. You know, you're in the middle of doing something, and the best part is when you're in the middle of a multiball, and you're like, wait, how do I still have a multiball? Oh, it's because a ball got stuck between, like, the Hulk's butt cheek and the back of the game for some reason, and now you have to go, like, extricate yourself from that, and now you feel like an ass because you've been playing with a ball stuck the whole time, so you've had some kind of advantage, and it just overcomplicates things and gets more frustrating than a pinball machine should. Like, pinball machines can frustrate you. Please see Starz for more information on that. but when it's like a mechanical error, like balls getting stuck all the way at the back or underneath a ramp or in some random place that they should not be, it's like, why have you done this to me? And it's just,
    100:26
    you know, just, just once on a pinball broadcast, I want to hear someone say the ball is stuck on the Hulk's butt cheek. They're getting it free now. Oh, my.
    100:38
    So, all right. I think that's a wrap. I think we've got, well, the upcoming shows, we have Allentown. Yes. We have the Howard's Tournament. Yes. The Castile Classic, which I believe is actually three tournaments. Three tournaments in one. I think starting, like, at 9 in the morning. Two days, three tournaments, all fun.
    101:01
    P.M. I'll be up in Buffalo at the Buffalo Pinball Spring Open defending my title. Well, good luck. Thank you. I will be also this Friday. You'll be winning with your new glasses. It's the new Bruce. This Friday is Syracuse League Night number three.
    101:20
    Come one, come all. It's if you go to Syracuse Pinball or CNY Pinball, actually, on Facebook, you'll get the information. It's actually at Wizards Pinball in Syracuse.
    101:38
    And, Ron, you're going to love the new title for your favorite tournament. Oh, yes. I love these guys. Okay, what do we got? What do we got?
    101:48
    You sitting down for this one? Yes, I'm ready. He said, I hope you started practicing for the Syracuse Pinheads present I pinball the fool April's tournament. What? Okay, say that again. You totally lost me. I pinball the fool April's tournament.
    102:09
    I pinball the fool. I pinball the fool. Because you know why? Imagine he's got a Mr. T comic signed by Mr. T himself and a Mr. T poster and folder and comic handed by Mr. T.
    102:26
    Oh man, that's bad. For a minute I thought you were going to tell me there was an A-Team pin that I didn't know about. I was about to be very upset. That would be awesome. Like a big van in the middle. Oh, yeah. And everything would explode. Yes. Retheme a NASCAR. Instead of the test car, it's the van.
    102:44
    A random car will be the spinner because the cars in that show just go flying in random directions just with way too many flips to be physically possible, and it is awesome. And no one will ever die. no matter what happens. A helicopter can crash into a cliff and they will survive. There's an actual episode where that happened.
    103:07
    Yikes. They just have a lot of Phoenix downs. So that's April 27th. And then what was it? There's a couple more things coming up. April, well, league finals for Western Europe pinball this weekend. And what else do we have here? Rock Fantasy has the latter half of its monthly tournament on Thursday, April 20th. Okay. That is good, which is two days, which will be the day we release this. Yep. So I'm sure I'm going to hear about that from some of the guys.
    103:46
    What, you being on the radio? Yeah, because I know at least one or two people, I'm sure more than that, but I know at least one or two people mentioned when you guys read my letter, so I know at least that many people So we found our two listeners. We found them!
    104:05
    And you mentioned both of them this podcast, if I recall. Oh, okay. Let's leave it more of a surprise. Or a mystery.
    104:16
    Yeah, and I'm sure that more of the guys listen to it. I just know of a few people specifically. I haven't taking a poll of, hey, who is this Islam to help?
    104:27
    I think you need to. I mean, I could if you'd like, but. Oh, God. So don't forget www.pinballlifter.com. Come check us out. We're going to be at Allentown with two spots.
    104:43
    As soon as you walk in the front door, just go down the left aisle along the wall and see us. We're on the left-hand side. Say hi. Ask for Ron's autograph. Ron will be sitting there. From Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 a.m. You're going to be there the whole day. You're just going to glue your stuff to the chair? Yeah. Yes. Chain. You can go to his booth and see what game he's already purchased the Thursday before the show opened. Sitting there. Probably some old dally at this point. You can also catch us on Facebook. Just search for Slam Tilt Podcast. Also on YouTube. just put up a video of my final walkthrough ever of the Papa facility. As the tear streams down my cheek.
    105:30
    And it's a short one, only around 12 minutes. It's about as quickly as I can get through the building.
    105:35
    Kind of sad. I'm bummed. I was bummed when I was walking around there. I was sad around the parking. The parking situation, yeah, was terrible. You can reach us, Sarah's Correspondence, at our email, slam2podcast at gmail.com. I'd like to give a big thank you once again to Steph Guida for joining us this evening. Thanks for having me, guys. Steph, you're always welcome on. It was a huge honor. Okay, cool. I got something for you, Bruce. I got one final thing for you that you'll like. Oh, my. As I'm walking around after the tournament's over, well, actually, at some point when I was walking around Papa, there's Jim Pelcito playing High Roller Casino. I go up to him like, you like this game? Oh, yeah, it's a good game. I think he said he owned one, too. Jackal. In my eyes, the game just, it just, it went up a notch, I have to say. Say? I'll have to give it more of a chance, Bruce. I mean, I have to mend my ways. Very cool. So say goodbye, Bruce.
    106:36
    Goodbye, Todd Stever. Thank you.