Five Minutes to Tilt #6 – Martin Ayub on Finding the Most Trusted Source in Pinball

Dutch Pinball Museum·video·6m 36s·analyzed·Mar 1, 2026

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Pinball News editor reflects on 25+ years documenting pinball history and industry evolution.

Summary

Martin Ayub, editor of Pinball News since 1999, discusses his role documenting pinball history through journalism, tournament play, and community involvement. He shares how Pinball News has become an essential archive of industry information, illustrated by discovering his own 2005 article was the primary source for current research on Classic Playfield Reproductions' origins.

Key Claims

Martin Ayub founded Pinball News in 1999 in the wake of Bally's closure to demonstrate pinball was still alive
high confidence · Direct personal statement by Martin Ayub: 'i started it in the wake of the closure of Bally because i wanted to spread the word that pinball is still very much alive'
Martin Ayub was UK pinball tournament number one for several years before retiring from competitive play
high confidence · Direct personal statement: 'I was UK number one for a good number of years'
Pinball News is the primary or only available source documenting the origin story of Classic Playfield Reproductions
high confidence · Martin Ayub's anecdote: 'I googled it. And there's hardly anything there. There's one article... And who wrote this? It was me. 21 years ago.'
In 2000, Stern (then 'Sam Stern') was the only major pinball company left standing and prioritized business continuity over game quality
high confidence · Martin Ayub: 'back in 2000, it was just Sam Stern. The only company left standing and they were just putting out whatever games they could. They weren't great games, but hey, they kept the business going'
Class People Republic pinball club in London operates 60-70 machines and is actively maintained
high confidence · Martin Ayub: 'we have between 60 and 70 machines set up in London and easily accessible'

Notable Quotes

“pinball should be about having fun yeah and if you not having fun why why are you doing it”
Martin Ayub @ ~1:30 — Reflects philosophy behind his decision to step back from competitive tournament play due to mental health concerns
“back in 2000, it was just Sam Stern. The only company left standing and they were just putting out whatever games they could. They weren't great games, but hey, they kept the business going”
Martin Ayub@ 5:13 — Historical context on the industry nadir and Stern's critical role in keeping pinball alive
“I googled it. And there's hardly anything there. There's one article... And who wrote this? It was me. 21 years ago.”
Martin Ayub@ 5:51 — Demonstrates Pinball News's historical importance as an archive and the scarcity of alternative sources on industry history
“Because pinball history doesn't live only in machines, it lives in people, in stories that are often told once and then disappear”
Dutch Pinball Museum curator (introductory framing)@ 0:16 — Frames the importance of recording oral histories and industry stories before they are lost

Entities

Martin AyubpersonPinball NewsorganizationDutch Pinball MuseumvenueClass People RepublicvenueClassic Playfield ReproductionscompanyStern PinballcompanyGary Sternperson Sam Sternperson

Signals

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historical_signal: Martin Ayub contextualizes the industry nadir of 2000 when Stern was the sole surviving major manufacturer, describing their output as survival-focused rather than quality-driven
high · Direct quote: 'back in 2000, it was just Sam Stern. The only company left standing and they were just putting out whatever games they could. They weren't great games, but hey, they kept the business going'
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content_signal: Pinball News is actively producing monthly industry roundups with interviews from major figures (Gary Stern, Sam Stern, John Buscaglia, Kevin Weight of CPR)
high · Martin Ayub: 'we do a monthly um pinball industry news roundup which is um covering everything that happened in the previous month at the start of every new month... this month to have interviews with uh Gary Stern Sam Stern john buscalia and also with kevin weight of classic playfield reproductions'
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community_signal: Growth of pinball community infrastructure: London pinball club established, multiple international pinball festivals expanding (including new Austrian festival)
high · Martin Ayub mentions founding Class People Republic in London (60-70 machines), plans to attend Austrian Pinball Festival, Texas Pinball Festival, Dutch Pinball Open, and Pinball Expo
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event_signal: Pinball Expo continues as major three-day event with substantial documentation/recording infrastructure; multiple seminars recorded
high · Martin Ayub: 'Pinball Pinball Expo is like three days of recording seminars, sitting in front of a computer and pointing cameras and sound mixing and recording everything'
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Topics

Pinball journalism and archival documentationprimaryPinball industry history and the 2000 market nadirprimaryPinball community infrastructure (clubs, venues)secondaryCompetitive tournament play and player well-beingsecondaryPlayfield reproduction and restoration industrysecondaryPinball events and community gatheringsecondaryOral history preservation in pinball cultureprimary

Sentiment

positive(0.82)— Martin Ayub expresses pride in his work documenting pinball history, affection for the community, and optimism about pinball's current vibrancy. Reflective and appreciative tone throughout. The anecdote about discovering his own work as the primary historical source is presented with humor and satisfaction rather than concern.

Transcript

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At the Dutch Pinball Museum we collect stories before they are lost. Because pinball history doesn't live only in machines, it lives in people, in stories that are often told once and then disappear. Five minutes, one egg timer, when it rings, the story ends. five minutes right okay my name is martin ayub i'm the editor of pinball news uh which is a website which i've been running since 1999 and started it in the wake of the closure of bally williams because i wanted to spread the word that pinball is still very much alive at a time when everybody thought pinball was dead yeah and these days no one's going to claim that pinball is dead are they It's vibrant. So what I do, well, I edit the website. I maintain the website. I used to be a tournament player for many years. A very good one. Yeah, thanks. I was UK number one for a good number of years. But then I decided to give that up because I wanted to. It wasn't conducive to my health, my mental health. I thought it was making me feel angry with things So I gave that up because pinball should be about having fun yeah and if you not having fun why why are you doing it so uh so i stopped doing that um but i still do the pinball news and um that's even more exciting now than it ever has been so much news in the pinball world uh with um the the uh my podcast companion you know well and three hours this week yes i know we do a monthly um pinball industry news roundup which is um covering everything that happened in the previous month at the start of every new month and there's so much to do and yes we're very fortunate this month to have interviews with uh gary stern john buscalia and also with kevin weight of classic playfield reproductions which will actually bring me back to the the story which i wanted to tell you in in a few moments but But besides that, I'm a small-scale collector. When they say, you know, how many machines have you got? Have you got one? Have you got two? Are you into double digits? I can just about put my hand up for double digits because I have 11 machines. 11? Yeah. No one near your number. But unfortunately, I don't actually get to play any of them because they're all in my garage. And I'm not actually at that house very often. And when I am there, I have so many other things to do. But I still enjoy playing pinball. still enjoy collecting pinball I haven't bought any machines for a while but I'm also one of the founding members of our pinball club in London class people Republic yes and so I did some stuff for them when we set it all up I pay a monthly fee although I haven actually been to them in several years now But the important thing for me was that we should have a pinball club in London because we didn't have anything. And then so even if I can't go there, I used to contribute machines, but when we moved, there was no space for them. So I brought them back home. But the important thing is we have a pinball club that we have between 60 and 70 machines set up in London and easily accessible. and I want that to continue so that's why I keep contributing to it even though it doesn't benefit me directly but and besides that I travel around the world going to these pinball shows meeting you all over the place yeah do a quiz with Jonathan again which we'll be doing at the Texas Pinball Festival in March and then we'll be doing it at the Dutch Pinball Open Expo again in November then I will be going to go to the new Austrian Pinball Festival with Stefan Riedler. I really want to do that. To keep an eye on the time. Bring Mozart to the Kugels. Yes. And then Pinball Expo, of course, where I'll be recording all the seminars, which is another thing I do now. It's a big thing I do. Pinball Expo is like three days of recording seminars, sitting in front of a computer and pointing cameras and sound mixing and recording everything. But it's fun. and also it brings me back to something which I think is very important about pinball. Hobby and the industry is to record these things. Yeah. Because you run an amazing museum the best pinball museum in the world and because of that what so great about it is the historical aspect of it You know how were things done Why were things done? Which a lot of people don't understand. If they weren't there at the time, so many new people are getting into pinball now who don't understand that back in 2000, it was just stern. The only company left standing and they were just putting out whatever games they could. They weren't great games, but hey, they kept the business going and kept the line running. Very important. That's very important there. So I'm aware we've only got like one minute left, so I'm really going to... Round it up, round it up. I haven't even got it. I'll jump to the chase. The funny story. I was doing a story just recently on Classic Paper Reproductions. Yes. The fact that they're having to downscale because one of their founding members is retiring. Yes. And I thought, what I really need is some historical information, exactly how this company started, so I can write the article. I googled it. And there's hardly anything there. There's one article. Oh, right. Okay, here it says it came from this company. It started at Halifax Pinball. It was split into Fantastic Pinball and Classic Playfield Reproductions. And it was founded by these people. And I thought, this is a great article. Where did they get all this information from? So I clicked on it and had a look. And who wrote this? It was me. 21 years ago. Awesome. It's on the Pinball News site back in 2005. So there you go. Thanks, man. Thank you very much.