You hit it off with a bumper now you're straight down the middle again. Middle again. You had a fling with a fling shot. You're rolling out the alley dog again. I tried to cradle you with my flipper. It was all in. All right, what's happening, everybody? This is Zach and Greg with Straight Down the Middle Pinball coming to you with another video. We're here at Casa de Greggs again. Boop, boop. Yay. And today we're going to be doing another top 10 list. This week we're going to be looking at ball locks. Yes. You thrilled? I am thrilled. I like ball locks. You stoked? My favorite thing. I like ball locks. I always need a good ball lock. Well, you do. All right. So what are the criteria for our grading of ball locks today? We said we prefer, anything goes, but we prefer physical ball locks. Definitely, yeah. Yeah. And we tried to separate the actual ball locking mechanism to the start of the multiball. So we're not really ranking the multiball starts because that would be another top ten list. We're looking at the physical ball lock. Which you'll see how they differ. The actual locking mechanism itself plays a big part into it. I do like, before we get into it, more games need to have physical ball locks. Oh, yeah. Especially if it shows them. Yeah. I guess that's one of the things that adds a lot of expense to the game when you're making Yeah, that's true. I mean, that's kind of one of the biggest toys in the mechanical world. Well, not if they use just like a coil or something. Yeah, I mean, it's probably not that difficult for the cool factor that it adds to the game. But it's a lot easier financially just to do a virtual ball lock or something. Yeah, yeah. Or something. It seems like a letdown, though. Every time I play in and it's like ball one lock, but here comes your ball. Yeah, your ball right back. It's like, what's the sense in it locking? I want you to keep the ball. You didn't really lock it. You just triggered a split. I want all three of them to come down at the same time. I agree. Not just start ejecting out of the shooter lane. So we're big ball lockers. I don't know what to say. The segue. So is your mom. Oh, I thought about it for a second. I went there. How would she be a ball lock? Oh, I got it. She locks ball. All right. So, good Lord. Mom joke. It's too damn early, Greg. It is early. It's very early. Good Lord. Too early for ball lock jokes with moms. All right. Let's start with number 10. Number 10, number 10 ball, list of ball locks is Circus Voltaire. Yes. Circus Voltaire. So the high wire ball lock mechanism. I think what makes it really cool is that it go up the ramp, and not that we're reading that, but it goes up the ramp, holds by the magnet, and then it comes down a wire form and it sits there as if the juggler was on the wire. That's neat. So that's really cool. It's more toward the bottom of our list, I think, just because it sits there. It doesn't do a whole lot. There's some other games that's got some really neat, clever mechanisms. It's a really good one. That's what we obviously added, but it's lower. We were thinking, you know, there's a lot of games that do this. Game of Thrones does this. Lord of the Rings does this. But of all the ones that just kind of stack them, we feel like Circus Voltaire did the best job of it. I agree. So that's a good number. So on to number nine. The Simpsons Pinball Party. Yeah, Simpsons. Yes. That's a great game. It is. I like it a lot. I'm kind of, well, I sort of was looking for one. We talked about it the other day. Yeah, yeah. I like the Simpsons a lot. And what's cool about this ball lock in particular is that it is very iconic to the television show. At the beginning of the television show, they all pile in they sit on the couch and there's usually a different uh a scene that the creator does and it's very symbolic because the balls sit on the couch yeah as if yeah and that's one of the things that i like about something like that too is when they integrate the show or show whatever that's exactly right and make it part of the game because it's just got a good feel to it isn't it this is cool man and it loads them up and it spits them out that's a really cool really cool and it's It's not really easy to get them up there. No. I mean, you've got to get to the upper play field, and then you've got to get up to, it's like the triple play field. Yeah. It's up on its own. It's difficult. The whole game's difficult. I really like it. So for us, number nine, Simpsons Pinball Party Ball Lock, is just more iconic than anything because they're actually sitting in the couch. Yeah, I think it's fantastic. So on our way to number eight. Number eight is a game that I hope we review at some point because I freaking hate it. And I'm not real familiar with it. People think I'm crazy when I'm like, I freaking hate it. Zach argued with it because I haven't played it a lot. I don't even want it on this list because I don't like the game. But you argued for this ball a lot. I did. When you explained it to me. It deserves to be on there. Yeah, I was like, that's pretty damn cool. I was like, you've kind of got to have that on there. So number eight is Bride of Pinbot. Not 2.0, not 3.0, not 4.0. Original. Yeah, original Bride of Pinbot. Maybe 2.0, whatever. But Bride of Pinbot. As you're seeing in the pictures, so you're trying to revitalize this robot to be human form. And your first ball lock, I think if I recall correctly, there's one hole in her mouth. Plenty of innuendo there, and I think purposefully so. But you lock the ball in her mouth, and then it releases, and then she transforms into stage two. The whole mechanism actually turns to a whole different face And I think the second one is the eyeballs are then open So you got two balls now I'm right. I want to see that though, man. I obsess too much about balls. I think it sounds awesome. Yeah. So then you hit it in two. So you lock one into one of her eyes and then lock the second one into her second eyes. Then it releases a two ball multiball. Then it transforms again and you've got the entire woman. And I think that's where you lock the three balls. That's neat. It's really cool. It's a shit game, though. If you guys like it, I don't see it. I think everything about the game is kind of innovative. I think the plastics, it's kind of corny. I'm not big on it either. It's classic. Yeah. The left shot, the left orbit shot to the lock or the scoop, that's a really nice shot. Yeah. But other than that, it's left ramp all day. And I know everybody, when you hear that, you're like, no, you don't get it. There's more to it. There is. I get there's more to it. It's just not fun. I don't like it. I don't like it. And like the little inner loop that kind of, ah. Yeah. Okay. I can't talk about that anymore. We'll talk about that later. All right, so number seven? Number seven is a game that is always fun when I play it, but I really don't want to, and I don't like the theme at all. A lot of people in our area own it. Yeah, they do. Rightfully so. We're in Indiana, so number seven is Indianapolis 500. The turbo ball lock on that is almost like a centrifuge-ish thing where you lock the balls. and what's cool about it is it'll keep spinning them as if you're on the racetrack so it'll spin those around uh you'll block ball one two and then three and then when you lock that third ball it shoots them out the back and right towards the flippers again on a wire that's fun yeah i like it so the game itself i just always think it's kind of ugly yeah i think it's like there's something else i'm getting into it i've never been in the kind of the open wheel racing either yeah decent nascar fan are you no i mean i watch it every now and then so what do we know about you you've got you've got autographs of kiana James Rees i watch a little nascar watch nascar i'm all over the place man yeah whatever's fun more to know about greg i love it by the end of these videos we're gonna have like a bio sheet on you with the weirdest random like our report card greg's random facts random facts about greg that's true all right so we know greg's a weirdo And number six is... I'm excited about this one. Yeah, this one's not even in production. So we questioned whether or not to even put it on the list. But it's getting so much hype. We're talking for number six, Ball Lock. We're talking about Total Nuclear Annihilation. That's right, Total Nuclear Annihilation. One of the favorite things in Metallica is the drop line targets. Or the in-lane drop targets. Sorry about that. So, on the older solid-state games, people love those in-lane drop targets. I agree. But what Total Nuclear Annihilation does is it steps it up even more, where it integrates a ball lock into... Behind each target, yeah. Yeah. That's sick. That's freaking awesome. I don't even know. Usually, I'll post pictures of each of these mechanisms. This thing's so new that I don't know if I'll be able to get it. I think there is a picture. I think I've seen a picture of it. If you guys are seeing it, that means I got a picture. If not, that means I failed to get the picture. I could be wrong. I swear I saw a picture. Yeah, I was watching video. Dead Flip did a really cool video where he went up there and played with the guys. He's played it a few times, hasn't he? Yeah. I know he's a big fan of it. The music is so awesome on that game. Yeah. I hope it goes into production, man. It looks really good. And the seat just... Why would you really buy it? You wouldn't buy it. I don't have the money to buy it. Even if you... We go over this. We go over how broke I am every video. But he's not broke. He's bullshit. My wife keeps me broke. So Total Nuclear Annihilation is a really interesting pinball machine. Yeah. And I just, I love those in lane. They're balling hard. It's the Cupid. And even on the third shot, so you lock the one, it stays up, kind of like Star Trek. But Star Trek will let it back down. Yes. So in this, it locks, it keeps it there. Second ball. Locks it. Locks it again behind the first ball. And then I think on the third one, if I've viewed correctly, you actually hit the drop target, which goes down. but it also Newton balls this ball to hit the second drop target, drops that down, and then all three of them come down at the same time. I think you're right. That's awesome. I think it's really cool. Oh, wow. Because you haven't really seen it. I love that. I like anything new that you don't want to see. Yeah, I love that thing. So how about that little sleeper there for number six, Total Nuclear Annihilation. So let's move on to number five. Number five is a game that everybody loves. And it's a basic, simple little trick. But it's really neat. It's visually effective. Number five, we're talking for ball locks, favorite ball locks. We're talking about Metallica Premium LE, and it's that hammer. So the hammer's ugly, guys. I know that. There's plenty of replacements. Ulrich did a replacement a little bit. And there's new guys on Pennside. You'll have to check them out that are doing a skull replacement hammer and a typical smaller hammer that doesn't block the view as much. And it does look really good. But regardless whether it's ugly, it's super cool. The fact that you're pounding through the play field. You're pounding a ball through the play field. The ball drops through the play field. into the coffin and you can see them in there yeah it's pretty damn neat because first time i saw that i was like okay what's this gonna do and then all of a sudden my ball was gone yeah yes and it pamped yes i was like that is awesome yeah i think it's the best thing about the premium honestly i think that's one of the things the live show is pretty cool live show is good but i mean i think that's what really separates the premium from your bro on it that would be one of the cool things and a lot of people don like the premium because they say the hammer clunky gets in the way doesn work all the time yeah but i not going to understand that But I you right that the reason I would want a premium LA is for that damn hammer Yeah, exactly. It's such a cool. It's the only reason I'd really upgrade. So visual. Yeah. I feel it's visual. Agreed. All right, let's move on to Numido, I don't know my Spanish, four. Numido tres cuatro. Cuatro. Had to run through them. We're bad. So what do we got, number four, Greg? C-S-I. C-S-I. skull ball lock. Yeah, the little game that could. So, Pat Lawler game. Nobody plays it. I don't think they made that many of them. I think it's fairly rare. It's towards the end of the Pat Lawler stern where it's probably things he probably wasn't crazy about and it was kind of clunky kind of stuff. But the ball lock on there is really cool because you lock the balls into the skull eyes. The third ball, it releases all of them. But what I really like about it is it just shows the top of the skull first. And then when you lock a ball, it raises up. And then it goes into the eyeball. Just little details. Another one of those games, the only thing that really made me like the game. I played it a few times. It's a good game. It's not bad. It's not terrible. It's not anything. I don't think I'd buy it, but that skull ball lock is what really impressed me. I think the sounds, if the sounds were better, I'd probably buy that game. And another one of those things that fits the theme so well too. It's integration of that theme. And again, it's a ball lock that is visual. you can always tell how many balls you have locked and it's in a way that looks freaking amazing it's just not holding a wire ramp. What do you guys think? You guys like CSI? Shoot us a message. We need to find a CSI. Yeah we should get a hold of one. I've seen a few up on the market but man I don't know if I know of anybody who has one in their collection. I don't either. Somebody had that real nice CSI in the 24 up for sale a while back. Man if that's not a match made in heaven. It really is. I think they're both rare. I think the 24 is kind of rare, too. I think there wasn't very many produced on it. Yeah, they're probably. No. Yeah, I'd love to get a hold of them. All right, so let's move on to number three, the top three, our top three favorite ball locks. This one might take you by surprise. I mean, we won't take you by surprise once we announce it, probably. That's right. We got a newcomer on our hands. You thought Total Nuclear Annihilation was new. This is even newer. So, number three is Aerosmith, the toy box. lock. That's fantastic, man. Shooting it up and then right into it. Shoots right in there. It's got Jackie on the top shaking. But Aerosmith, throwing the balls into the toy box and you can lock not three, but four or five or six. You can just keep passing it up and keep locking your ball. And while that is more code related it's still pretty integrated into the ball lock feature. Yeah, I agree. There's nothing more visual when people see Aerosmith. I was watching, we were at the show and watching people, when it flings up, they're like, oh, my God, that's really cool. Yeah. Because, see, it's kind of neat, the accuracy. I don't know. I just, I like it. And I'm sure you probably have to fine-tune it at times. Well, and also it's kind of neat because if you actually don't have ball, tell me if I'm wrong, if you don't have the ball lock, if you don't have ball lock lit or whatever, it'll hit the trunk and then he mouths you. Like, it'll still eject it sometimes at the trunk. There's a couple options. If the ball's not locked, it'll just do a half kick out. But there is a feature where you actually hit him. Yeah. He doesn't open. Yeah. It throws it up. You hit him. He's like, ow. Yeah, he mousies or something. Yeah. You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses or something like that. Yeah. That's kind of funny. I love it. Aerosmith might be big. Yeah. I think that that's honestly a really neat ball. And the technique has been done, the little trick has been done in other games, but I think it is perfectly executed now. I agree. I agree. It really is different. So on to number two here. And our number two and our number one, we didn't really battle back and forth, but it was one of those things that should number two be number one, but literally— Because we like the game number two better than game number one. Yeah, game number one, because game number one is a good game, but it's— But we have to be objective, Chris. Yes, and so it really was an argument because both of us had number one at number one to begin with. And number two at number two. And number two, literally, yeah, on both of our lists. And so we kept it how it was. What's number two? The shadow. The shadow knows. Yeah, so the sanctum ball lock. Why is sanctum always like, it's a word that makes me feel dirty. Really? Like, yeah, you need to go wash your sanctum. Right? I guess it kind of does, yeah. Every time I say that. I think it's kind of a cool word. I don't know why. Welcome to my sanctum. Yeah, it's kind of cool and mysterious. It sounds better than my sweaty sanctum. That's so true. All right. So our sweaty sanctum is aside. Oh, my God. Why are we so immature? Your worn out sanctum. Take a look at her worn out sanctum. Back on track. So the cool thing about the ball lock in this is the physicality behind it. A magnet catches the ball. It pulls it back a little bit and throws it around to a physical ball lock. Yeah. There's nothing more visually pleasing and pivotal. It's like the shadow disappearing. It's that cool, mysterious thing. It's what Ghostbusters was trying to do with the magnet slings. Yeah. Trying to make it mysterious and ghost-like. Yeah. But it nailed it because it precise Bam It starts fluttering the elevator If you not really paying attention boom your ball gone Yeah And then the brick wall goes back up Yeah I love it It so neat man There's so many great parts. If they ever make a Harry Potter thing, that'd be a really cool thing with like, I know you're not a big Harry Potter fan, aren't you? Sure, I care. Okay, so like D-Gone Alley. So like, remember how in the first, like the bricks? Yeah. That'd be a cool thing for if they ever did a Harry Potter one. That would be cool. Yeah, the walls open up or something. How fun would it be to design that? God, man, I know the impossibilities are endless. If they don't do the wide body on that. No. And I'm really rooting for JJP on that one. You have to. Because, like you said, the wide bodies, you just got so much. And they're so good with their toys and everything. Buildings and stuff. Do it. Get the license. That'd be cool. If they don't already have it. So number one, you guys know what number one is. It's the best physical ball lock in pinball. It's Judge Dredd. Agreed. Yeah, it's Dead World. Yep. It's fantastic. Now, we cheated here. Because it's mod. We cheated, but it was originally designed to go on that game. Yes. They were having problems, I think, overseas, if I'm correct. I think so. So at the last second, 11th hour, they changed the design a little bit. Yeah. But the original is the Dead World mod where you lock the ball. You guys will see videos or pictures I'll throw up there. Most of you are familiar with it. You lock the ball, and it orbits around the Dead World planet. And it sounds simple. I mean, you could maybe argue some of the other things, but it's just so big. It's really big. It's very big. It's fluorescent orange or red. Yeah. Yeah, that's really cool. And then whenever multiball's ready, the crane goes and picks them up. But it's literally telling you the whole time how many balls you have, and it's in space. Yep. Oh, man. I love it. I love it. I think it's definitely – I think really when it comes down to it, if it was a better game. But it's still an easier – it's an easy argument against Shadow and stuff, I think, for the most part. It's a tough argument. Shadow's just so – It was just such a great game anyways. Shadow is... So usually on our top ten list, that was it. Top ten, we got Judge Dredd, number one. Shadow, number two. Aerosmith, ball lock, number three. CSI, four. Metallica, premium LE, number five. Total Nuclear Annihilation, number six. Indianapolis, 500, number seven. Bride of Pinbot, number eight. Simpsons Pinball Party, number nine. And Circus Voltaire, number ten. Usually on our top ten list, Greg, we have a bottom three or worst three or worst ball locks. but really, here's our worst ball locks. Virtual ones. Yeah, yeah. We really hate them. Because I was telling Zach about Lost World. Again, back to Lost World. It's always about Lost World. It's always about Lost World. You have that snagger that comes down, grabs the ball, lifts it up, just like you were capturing the dinosaurs in Lost World. It's visually effective. And then you pull it and dump it in the back of the Humvee. But the thing is, is it doesn't physically lock anywhere. It doesn't lock it in the Humvee. It literally just goes like a subway. How great would that be if they would have locked it? Yeah, if they would have locked it, it would have been really good. Three balls locked in. But it just comes out one of the scoops. It goes down under and comes out one of the scoops. It's a letdown. Yeah, it is. It very much is. So, I mean, you take something like that versus something like CSI or something, and there's so many balls that are possible. He was trying to get Johnny Mnemonic on this damn list again. And you know what? I agreed with him, but I didn't want any more freaking Johnny Mnemonic talk. So it's an honorable mention. Sure. That's where it comes in. We're giving it an honorable mention. Because it's still cool. I mean, you thought, okay, here it goes. launches a ball over, but I mean, you've got a glove, and pow, and then you move it over and adjust it, it's still cool. I do like how it flips up the balls and throws them into play. Yeah, all of that's pretty, well, that's kind of multiball, though. We're into multiball again, but open it up into play, so. So you're talking about that crusty little glove? The crusty glove, yeah. I like that it's just physically, you can see all. Yeah, and again, something like that, like Zach just said, it's another one of those things that were that um we were trying to really do a good job on separating actual multiball from the actual ball lock itself so because we'll have a top 10 on multiball because that one i'm excited about that one yeah so our worst ball lock mechanisms are the ones that are virtual and the ones that don't work a lot yeah i'm trying to think lord of the rings i had trouble troubles a little bit the two balls yeah you're getting stuck and not ready so still cool ball lock yeah i'm trying to think offhand i don't think there's anything that i can think about i'm like that's the ugliest damn ball lock that I've ever seen. No, it's like you said, just anything virtual. I mean, that would have been a hell of a list, just keeping it at that. I don't like that. All right, so from straight down the middle, I'm Zach. This is Sanctum Graves. The wet singer. Oh, the wet singer. See you later, guys. Good Lord, it's early. And subscribe. That's right. And subscribe. I tried to cradle you with my flipper, it was all in vain It was all in vain Baby, baby, baby, why are you doing You're all snot sucked up, alright? I don't have the list, so you're leaving every time What the fuck do you mean you don't have the list? Okay, you gotta help We talked about aliens, where are you? I got a little writer! Okay Fantastic we recording Jason? go you want me to start it all? yeah you gotta start the pinball show off you always do and then I'll be like what's up it's magic girl like is my magic home magic home yeah go ahead it would be easier to edit