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PNP 597-B&W Godzilla TopperGATE & Accessories+ $1,000USD Alice Pin Playfield Revealed

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·13m 38s·analyzed·Nov 14, 2024
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Godzilla 70th accessories praised; $1K Alice in Wonderland pinball announced as potential market disruptor.

Summary

Orbital Albert hosts episode 597 of Pinball Nerds Podcast from his shower, discussing Stern's Godzilla 70th Anniversary black and white edition accessories (topper, art blades, side armor, shooter rod) and providing early impressions of a new sub-$1,000 Alice in Wonderland pinball machine revealed at Chicago Pinball Expo by a company featuring 1UP Arcade personnel. Albert defends the topper's design choices against criticism, praises the aesthetic improvements over standard Godzilla, and encourages the community to support affordable entry-level pinball as a gateway to the hobby.

Key Claims

  • Godzilla 70th Anniversary is prettier than the standard Godzilla, which is already one of the prettiest machines ever made

    medium confidence · Orbital Albert's subjective aesthetic assessment of the machine's visual design

  • The new Alice in Wonderland pinball machine will be priced under $1,000 USD with a target of $999

    high confidence · Direct statement about company's pricing goal mentioned by Orbital Albert based on information from the Chicago Pinball Expo reveal

  • The Alice in Wonderland playfield features two orbits, two ramps, one captive ball, and three pop bumpers

    high confidence · Orbital Albert describing the playfield layout after reviewing high-resolution pictures and videos from Nap Arcade

  • The black and white topper contains yellow in the burning building effect and blue/green accents that match playfield inserts, speaker lighting, and screen

    high confidence · Orbital Albert's detailed analysis of the topper's color design and integration with other machine elements

  • A sub-$1,000 quality pinball machine could serve as a gateway drug to introduce new players to the hobby

    medium confidence · Orbital Albert's opinion about affordable entry-level machines and their market potential

Notable Quotes

  • “Godzilla 70th is prettier than Godzilla, and Godzilla's already one of the prettiest machines that ever existed, so Stern, you have outdone yourselves.”

    Orbital Albert @ ~08:30 — Strong praise for Stern's aesthetic improvements on the 70th Anniversary edition

  • “I'm not gonna lie that's it right when I saw it I was like that's all I could think of... once you see it you will never unsee it it does kinda look like a little bit of a butt plug”

    Orbital Albert @ ~09:15 — Commentary on the Mothra egg shooter rod design; humorous but memorable product feedback

  • “If this company that's making this Alice in Wonderland... can make a good theme for under $999 or even $1299, getting that sweet spot under $1,500, it's going to be the gateway drug to get people into pinball”

    Orbital Albert @ ~22:00 — Strategic market analysis predicting impact of sub-$1K pinball on industry growth

  • “Although I do think that you know, it's not that exciting of a play field... I liked the artwork. I did say I did like the artwork. I just don't love the theme.”

    Orbital Albert @ ~23:30 — Balanced criticism: acknowledges playfield simplicity but appreciates artwork, questions theme selection

  • “If I were a company like Stern, I'd almost be championing a small company like this to get in there and do a good job because they're almost like feeding you new customers and new younger customers.”

    Orbital Albert @ ~25:00 — Strategic perspective on how affordable machines benefit the entire industry ecosystem

Entities

Orbital AlbertpersonStern PinballcompanyGodzilla 70th AnniversarygameAlice in Wonderlandgame1UP ArcadecompanyChicago Pinball ExpoeventNap ArcadecompanyJason NappersonDonpersonPinball Nerds Podcast

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Community pushback (specifically 'Canada'/Saturday Morning Spectacular personality) criticizing Godzilla 70th black and white topper for containing non-black-and-white color elements

    medium · Albert acknowledges criticism: 'he... said something to the extent of it was lazy that Stern released a black and white topper that's not black and white'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Content creators encouraged to support new affordable manufacturer rather than dismissing product due to theme limitations; strategic importance of gateway machines emphasized

    high · 'please, other content creators, don't completely crap on this poor company' and extensive argument about stepping stone effect in hobby adoption

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Alice in Wonderland playfield design characterized as simple/basic but appropriate for sub-$1,000 price point; theme chosen as concern rather than mechanical execution

    medium · 'it's not that exciting of a play field... I liked the artwork... I just don't love the theme' and assessment of appropriate feature set for price point

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Alice in Wonderland selected as theme for affordable entry-level machine despite perceived limited appeal to younger demographics unfamiliar with IP

    medium · Albert's concern: 'The problem. Children aren't into Alice in Wonderland... my sons... don't know who or what Alice in Wonderland is' and suggestion for licensing younger/contemporary IP

  • $

    market_signal: New affordable sub-$1,000 pinball machine entering market targeting gateway players and lower price point consumers currently unable to access $4,000+ premium machines

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.041

0:00
All together now, he's on the rebound. Hear the sound of our buddy, oh, lo, dear Torby. Pinball now to rejoice.
0:14
He's tugging pinball, craft beer and coffee, mixed with syrup and honey, hopes to laugh with his family in a random tangent.
0:21
Stories of his boys. He's on the poor man's pod network. We're gonna get more listeners for the Pinball Nerds Podcast.
0:32
Coming to you from beautiful River Hibbert, Nova Scotia. Welcome back Pinball Nerds, episode 597 of your fifth favorite pinball podcast. My name is Orbital Albert and this last week on Canada's Saturday Morning Spectacular, he said, Pinball Nerds Podcast? Yeah, I love it. Except for it sounds like, you know, it's just a guy talking in the shower. Now, I don't usually talk in the shower. I talk pretty much everywhere else, of course. But not in the shower. And I thought, this is an opportunity. Or is it a challenge? Was he challenging me? I've done some pretty crazy podcasts from some pretty crazy places.
1:16
Walking the Goats before, I've done that one. While Collecting Maple Syrup, I've done that one. Oh, from a roller coaster. are probably my favorite. I've done that also, but I have never done a podcast from the shower, and well, it's a very, very cold and windy day here in River Hibbert's Nova Scotia, so I thought, hey, why don't I enjoy myself a nice hot shower, and I do apologize. No, not really. The sound volume is not going to be great, and if you want to skip this episode because you're like a sound nerd and it bugs you too much that it's not perfect sound quality, go ahead and skip it. I'm jeopardizing wrecking my snowball mic and even worse, my gaming laptop by doing this. But, you know, I've got the window open to crack. We should be fine. It's just going to be a nice quick show today.
organization
Poor Man's Pinball Networkorganization
Canadaperson
Mark Silkperson

high · Alice in Wonderland pricing target of $999 USD; Albert's analysis of consumer price sensitivity and stepping stone effect

  • ?

    announcement: Alice in Wonderland pinball machine by 1UP Arcade-affiliated company officially revealed at Chicago Pinball Expo with confirmed playfield specifications

    high · Detailed playfield layout provided: 'two orbits... two ramps... one captive ball... three pops' with reference to Nap Arcade's media coverage

  • ?

    product_strategy: Godzilla 70th Anniversary edition features distinct black and white aesthetic treatment with colored accents integrated across topper, speaker lighting, playfield inserts, and screen for cohesive visual design

    high · Detailed color matching analysis: 'color matches to a couple of the spots on the play field that have those in the inserts and then it also color matches to the screen and more importantly it color matches to the speakers'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Godzilla 70th Anniversary represents aesthetic improvement over standard Godzilla with upgraded art blades, side armor with foil accents, and redesigned accessories

    high · 'Godzilla 70th is prettier than Godzilla, and Godzilla's already one of the prettiest machines that ever existed' and detailed praise for side armor and foiling

    • 2:03
    So what is today's show about? Episode 597 is all about Toppergate. Da-da-da. So Godzilla 70th, black and white edition, just released all of their accessories. including but not limited to that beautiful topper that looks and to me personally this probably is not going to be my most family-friendly podcast i will just say that so uh uh earmuffs earbuds earphones whatever uh listen at home something like that okay there we go it was a little it was a little too hot i had to turn it down there just a bit but uh canada this morning speaking of the man who challenged me to do this so it kind of fits that we're talking about him today. He had posted that he, you know, said something to the extent of it was lazy that Stern released a black and white topper that's not black and white. Now, do I kind of get where he is coming from? Because they did actually name it the black and white topper. Okay. So I get where he's coming from because there is some yellows in the background of the burning building. You need yellow to, you know, black or white cannot show burning. So you need that. And then on the flip side of that, guess what? It matches the blue that you're seeing, the little bits of blue or green that you see especially well the blue I guess maybe the blue is maybe mixing with the yellow to make it look kind of greeny a little that looks so good because it color matches to a couple of the spots on the play field that have those in the inserts and then it also color matches to the screen and more importantly it color matches to the speakers so the speaker light kit i also think is incredible i think the topper is great i wouldn't change it at all i do kind maybe the name i would just maybe change the name to just like 70th anniversary i think they actually i think stern actually called it correct me if i'm wrong guys but I think they called it like the black and white topper sorry just let me put this out for a sec here oh my god I never thought imagine hot boxing well going to do a pinball podcast that's even better so you know it's kind of we're doing the three birds with one stone here I'm not going to lie I don't have any conditioner in right now or anything like that that's a lot to think of but I did however grab a semi-waterproof uh pokemon card and write down my notes here so So I wanted to talk first about, before we go back to the topper for a second, let's just talk about the art blades. The art blades are incredible. In black and white, I don't know what it is. I don't know what it is about it. But just, I just, I think the black and white art blades, I think I would have to get the black and white art blades. The colored ones don't do it for me as much as these ones. I don't know why. But they're gorgeous. The side armor. The side armor is probably in the top five side armors I've ever seen. the side armor is absolutely crazy it is perfect i just wanted to check on my sound volume there it looks pretty okay it looks okay-ish i'll say not great but not horrible so the side armor has like that dragon or is that i don't think it's mothra it's one of the one of the godzilla creatures it's got like the three serpent heads or whatever it looks like and it's coming out and then it's got the red foil coming behind it so oh my god that side armor is incredible gotta be top five side armor I've ever seen. I've already said Godzilla 70th is prettier than Godzilla, and Godzilla's already one of the prettiest machines that ever existed, so Stern, you have outdone yourselves. Take a little bibble-a-bibble-a-bubble-a-bow. Busta. All right, now, the one thing I gotta talk about here, this is definitely not safe for work, so I'll just tell you that right now. The one thing I gotta talk about is the shooter rod, the mothra, that egg, the Mothra egg the plunger it looks kinda like a butt plug I'm not gonna lie that's it right when I saw it I was like that's all I could think of uh I don't know why once you see it you will never unsee it does kinda look like a little bit of a butt plug but it also it looks cool it looks fun obviously the Mothra egg makes sense uh on Jurassic Park when they have like you know the uh the thing in the amber the fly or whatever that looks really cool and this kinda reminds me that gave me those vibes I like the smooth soft ones like that that you just pull back the nice thing is too with it being smooth soft and small you're not likely to bang onto it like a large uh plunger like you would so now what else is it about about it that I can really say other than from what I can understand they're not increasing prices on it which seems like it's good uh but to be honest I didn't I didn't reference the last accessory prices so don't count me out on that. I'm sure another content provider will let you know on that. That is to say, I love the art blades I love the black and white I absolutely love the foiling I think like the best thing of all this is definitely and I hardly ever say this but the side armor with that foil the red foil coming out that just looks so cool. The topper looks really neat. I do look like that, that, that like, and again, I don't think this is going to be a, become a big topper gate. I think that sometimes, uh, Chris and many other pinball nerds get too nitpicky about stuff like that. I think it matches like your speaker colors. Aren't just going to be black and white. Cause that would look silly. the burning building has to be yellow and yeah they toss in some blue i think it looks good i think it accents it um anyways to each their own if you don't love the topper then don't buy it and i bet you there'll be modders out there somehow some way that make only a black and white at this point this is just another uh reason for the modders to go crazy so i'm throwing away the notes guys here's my pokemon card i'm ripping it up oh sorry lantern you got all ripped up sir All right, the last thing I want to talk about this should be a quicker discussion Uh, because honestly, I don't want my computer to get too soaked and uh, I gotta worship off and stuff in here. This is i'm legitimately having my shower for the day Okay, I saved it for right now. Usually I do it earlier in the day, but I knew my son was sleeping till 4 p.m. We're about to have dinner here in the family. We got a little uh,
    8:00
    I don't know what it is like a little oriental little asian food pack with like the little spring rolls and all the different you know, they come out around Christmas time. It's not Christmas yet. Sorry, I won't say the C word. I will say happy Memorial Day, happy Veterans Day, wherever you are. To all of the hardworking people, my Omanopa helped out in World War II. So shout out to Betsy and shout out to Adrian, of course, my middle name named after him, partially after him and my other grandfather. But the last thing I want to talk about is this Alice in Wonderland. And I have not talked about it yet, but there is a new company that was revealed recently at the Chicago Pinball Expo,
    8:39
    and Alice in Wonderland is their first pin. And it's one of the dudes from 1UP Arcade. You guys have probably already heard all about it. And a lot of you guys are going to see this playfield. It was just revealed. Thank you, Nap, on Nap Arcade. That's also where I got the high-resolution pictures and the link to the Stern one. So thank you, Nap Arcade. Jason Nap, cheers to you and everything you do there. Appreciate it. And I took a look here at all the pictures and videos of the playfield. Now, it doesn't have artwork yet. Many of you have already seen it if you're listening to this. But if you haven't, head over to NAP Arcade and follow along as I'm talking about it. You know, there's two orbits. Surprise, surprise. There's two ramps, which is good. There is actually, you know, they do look kind of like, they look like how you'd expect. Now, when they said they could come in under $1,000, I thought there's no way. $1,000 US. They want to be at like $9.99. That's the goal from what I understood. Can they do it? I don't know. If they can do it and turn a profit and they can maybe get, I would say, a more relevant or newer theme that especially children would love. That's the problem. Children aren't into Alice in Wonderland. If I were working with the marketing for this company, I'd say your first one's got to be a banger. It's got to be like something 1990 or newer. I know they can't go out and get a Ninja Turtles license or something. Obviously, Stern has that. But I'm trying to think off the top of my head. And I don't think Alice in Wonderland, neither of my sons know who or what Alice in Wonderland is. when I went to show them that video, I not only had to warn them about how graphic the artwork was, the other Alice in Wonderland of course, but I also had to say like this video is really poorly done so please please please one it will be sold on that video this thing will be sold online so pay the big bucks to get a good video done are you listening that would be great um what else can I tell you well I don't want to be late for dinner I don't want to get all wrinkled up I just saw a drip literally fall down and hit this microphone so that's probably not wonderful but I will tell you guys uh this was kind of fun it was a little experimental. I probably won't be doing more podcasts from the shower. I think I did a podcast once from the, did I do a podcast from the shower once? I did a podcast in the bath once. I don't know. Who knows? You know, you know that you have a problem if you can't remember if you've ever podcasted. If you do 600 podcasts and guest appearances on another 20, you'll start to eventually, you know, it'll all blend together eventually. But that being said, I just wanted to come in here and do a quick show. I want to talk a little bit about how I truly believe that if this company that's making this Alice in Wonderland, even though that I don't think this theme is a banger, I really truly believe that if they can make a good theme for under $999 or even $1299, getting that sweet spot under $1,500, it's going to be the gateway drug to get people into pinball because you're going to play this and fall in love with it. Many of you listening right now, just like me, fell in love with pinball on some tiny little machine you got at Christmas or a mid-level one or a Zizzle or a Zazzle or, you know, even an EM that didn't have half of the, an EM or a solid state that didn't have half the bells and whistles that today's modern pins have. And you may not have ever stepped up to buy a modern pin had you not done all those stepping stones to get where you are now in pinball. So if you're listening to me, please, other content creators, don't completely crap on this poor company. Because although I do think that, you know, it's not that exciting of a play field, you know, there's one captive ball, there's three pops, but it is what you would expect for under $1,000.
    12:03
    At the same time, I liked the artwork. I did say I did like the artwork. I just don't love the theme. But I will say this. I can't wait to see what they do. I'm excited to cover it. I think it's interesting. I don't know if I would be a customer at it because I don't think it would have deep enough code for me nor should it because it's going to be a stepping stone. But all these people that are walking around at Costco and they're humming and hawing and thinking about spending, you know, 4K on getting a Stern Home Edition when they, if they couldn't quite make that jump to spending 4k, there's a lot of people who will make the jump to spend a thousand. So if I were a company like Stern, I'd almost be championing a small company like this to get in there and do a good job because they're almost like feeding you new customers and new younger customers. If they can get a good, like if they did Bob the Builder, obviously I don't want Bob the Builder. I mean, you'd bring in Mark Silk for the voice. Obviously, there you go. A shout out to Mark Silk. He was on the show last year. That was so fun. Anyways, I never thought I'd shout people out While I'm here in the shower But I have to give one last shout out to Don From Don's Pinball Podcast He was so kind, he came up with a really cool idea The other day And he agreed with me, it's going to be a great idea If we do a top 5 rad and 1 bad For an upcoming pinball machine that's coming out Very, very, very soon, don't worry I'll be back in a couple days Until next time pinball nerds Hopefully I didn't wreck my computer or my speaker And remember to eat, sleep, and breathe Pinball from the shower. Oh, whoa. Oh, okay. I legit almost wiped it there. But I'm okay.
    13:34
    I'm okay, hopefully.