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The Pinball Show Ep 50: Entering A New Pinball Era

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 31m·held·Mar 1, 2021
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

Pinball market undergoing structural change: supply constraints, FOMO pricing, location vs. home player tension.

Summary

The The The Pinball Show returns for Episode 50 with hosts Zach Sharpe and Dennis Dice analyzing a dramatic shift in the pinball market landscape driven by pandemic-related supply chain constraints, increased home entertainment demand, and strategic pricing decisions by manufacturers. The episode covers manufacturer pricing increases (Stern $500, Jersey Jack $1,000), extended pre-order windows (6-8 months), secondary market inflation, and a critical disagreement with Roger Sharpe assertion that location pinball is essential to the industry's future. Zach announces Flip N Flip N Out Pinball facility expansion (3-4x lumber cost overages) and frames the current market as driven by collectability FOMO across multiple hobbies (cards, watches, pinball) with uncertain sustainability post-pandemic.

Key Claims

  • Jersey Jack implemented a $1,000 mid-run price increase on Guns N' Roses during production

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe, discussing official manufacturer pricing increases in market landscape analysis

  • Stern increased Batman 66 and Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium/LE) by $500 and all titles by $100 at start of year

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe, citing official price hikes as evidence of market shifts

  • Dealers now pre-order pinball machines 6-8 months in advance due to sell-out cycles

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe (dealer perspective), describing production allocation changes from 2019 to present

  • Wood costs have increased 3-4x (or more) above pre-pandemic estimates

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe, discussing Flip N Out Pinball facility expansion cost overages

  • Jersey Jack machines occupy three of the top five Pinside 100 rankings: #5 Pirates of the Caribbean, #3 Guns N' Roses, #1 Willy Wonka

    high confidence · Ken Rudberg (Jersey Jack correspondent), citing specific secondary market prices ($18k-$22.5k range)

  • Roger Sharpe stated on The Super Awesome Pinball Show that location pinball is the future and criticized Munsters for poor location performance

    medium confidence · Zach Sharpe reporting on Sharp's recent interview; Zach disagrees with Sharp's analysis

  • Zach disagrees with Roger Sharpe, attributing Munsters' underperformance to code depth/theme rather than lack of location deployment

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe direct critique following Sharp's quote

  • Competitive players at a location survey identified Munsters as their least favorite game among 12 machines

    medium confidence · Zach Sharpe (personal polling/location operator experience), qualitative feedback

  • Pokemon cards and collectible card prices have surged; retailers now ration card sales with specific distribution times

Notable Quotes

  • “We're in the depths of a pinball news apocalypse. When will it end?”

    Craig Bobby (correspondent) @ ~10:30 — Comic critique of Stern's puzzle swag reveal and lack of game code updates; reflects community frustration with slow news cycle

  • “Jersey Jack Pinball touches turns to gold, much like a golden ticket in a Wonka bar.”

    Ken Rudberg (correspondent) @ ~15:00 — Describes Jersey Jack's strong secondary market momentum with three games in Top 5; foreshadows pricing ceiling question

  • “We're ordering sometimes six to eight months in advance because all the prior months are going to be sold out.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~28:00 — Core supply-side structural change; demonstrates scarcity-driven market dynamics post-pandemic

  • “If by fluctuation you mean going up and only up, sure. That's a fluctuation, yeah.”

    Dennis Dice @ ~22:00 — Sarcastic acknowledgment that pricing has moved unidirectionally upward; skeptical of 'fluctuation' framing

  • “Whenever it comes to collectability and desirability and putting people in these homes and making them feel claustrophobic and they've got to be heard, they're going to spend some money, logic goes right out that window.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~38:00 — Articulates FOMO-driven collectability psychology across hobbies during isolation; explains irrational pricing

  • “I polled the people at the location we had it at... A majority of the people I asked, it was their least favorite game on location.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~52:00 — Direct refutation of Roger Sharp's claim; empirical location player feedback contradicts location-focused criticism

  • “Roger, if you're saying 85% to 90% of homeowners are the lifeblood right now, then that's who you're selling to for the moment. Still stick them in the locations. That's great. But if that's your lifeblood, then the one correlation I see between those numbers is a direct comparison with that lack of code depth.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~56:00 — Strategic reframing of Sharp's argument; prioritizes home market demands while critiquing Munsters code design

Entities

Zach SharpepersonDennis DicepersonRoger SharpepersonKen RudbergpersonCraig BobbypersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack Pinballcompany

Signals

  • $

    market_signal: Manufacturer baseline price increases ($100 Stern, $500 Batman/Elvira, $1,000 JJP Guns N' Roses mid-run) coupled with secondary market inflation across all game tiers; Zach estimates increase beyond raw material costs

    high · Zach: 'We've seen price increases officially and unofficially... $500 for Stern Pinball in Batman 66 and Elvira Premium. Not to mention a $100 price increase at the beginning of the year.' Ken: '$1,000 price increase at the beginning of the month.' Dennis: 'I don't think that's all for materials. I think there's additional profit built into those numbers.'

  • ?

    supply_chain_signal: Fundamental shift from mass inventory/monthly allocations (pre-2019) to 6-8 month pre-order cycles with fixed dealer allocations; dealers unable to meet concurrent demand

    high · Zach: 'When they're running a game for, let's say, a week... they would just mass produce the hell out of it... This was circa 2019. That has changed. Now dealers are ordering sometimes six to eight months in advance... I've got five coming in the first run in April. Well, I've got another 10 coming in July.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Pinball production limited by raw material availability (copper, steel, wood 3-4x cost inflation), social distancing manufacturing constraints, and competing demand from automotive, electronics sectors

    high · Dennis: 'You have a lot of people that have been staying at home more... demand for copper... pinball is having to try and buy their share of wiring, their share of steel, their share of wood.' Zach: 'Pricing is three times the estimate we would have received prior to the pandemic.'

  • $

    market_signal: Across-the-board used pinball and accessory price increases; FOMO-driven collector behavior; secondary market as proxy for primary demand spillover

    high · Zach: 'On the secondary market, we're seeing a lot of price increases... people are caring now about things that a year ago, people didn't really care about... UV light kits... they're running out. We've got to get them, and the prices keep increasing.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.276

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:11
The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. Thanks for tuning in to The Pinball Show. Did you miss us? We sure missed you. This week Dennis and I discuss the ever-changing market landscape in pinball We also talk about the new year, new goals We disagree with Roger Sharp New additions to the pin-dangered species list Fucking puzzles? Ah, fucking puzzles Richie suggests fixes to LZ JJP production updates A new podcast alert Tom Cobra chats with Morrison Cactus Canyon prototype mechs and toys slash show some love to the Pinball Industry Awards. Loser kids are in the news. Isn't Jack Hager an action star? Dennis and Zach argue between J-Pop and Ousler. Pinball market trends. Questionable local conventions. Deals of the WTF. SDTM rebranding. Flipping out pinball announcement. TPN last week, TPN this week. All of this and more right now on the Pinball Show. Yep, let's go.
1:29
Pinball is a game of skills. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle. It's time for the Pinball Show. It's pinball with personality.
1:45
Hello and salutations to all you listeners out there. I'm Zach, many alongside Dennis Creasel for the Pinball Show podcast, episode 50. Dennis, we're on episode 50. We're back. I've been sitting on a beach earning 20%. Really? No. Do you like the sand between your toes? No, I hate sand. I don't have diamond hands, yo. Why am I not surprised that you hate sunny beaches and sand? It's not the sun that I dislike on the beach. It's the sand. It's gritty and it gets everywhere. It gets in your cracks and crevice? It's coarse. When's the last time you've been to the beach?

high confidence · Zach Sharpe, citing Meijer retail observation of 10+ hour queues for 3 PM card distribution

  • Stern and Jersey Jack price increases likely include profit margins beyond material cost inflation

    medium confidence · Dennis Dice opinion on manufacturer pricing strategy; speculative but reasoned analysis

  • “I don't know if I'm going to buy new machines anymore. I haven't decided yet. It's really expensive now, and it's not at the rate of inflation. It's really expensive. It is.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~63:00 — Existential market concern: even an engaged dealer/collector signals potential exit due to pricing above inflation; foreshadows demand elasticity

  • “I think the Stern pinball kind of built itself up to the degree of what it is, listener, because of the Stern Pro model. It was affordable. Get it out affordable.”

    Zach Sharpe @ ~61:00 — Historical market analysis; credits Pro tier affordability as driver of Stern's dominance; implies pricing strategy risks this advantage

  • “With a $1,000 price increase at the beginning of the month and sky-high secondary market prices, we'll have to see if the ceiling has been reached or if it'll just get blasted through again.”

    Ken Rudberg @ ~16:00 — Uncertainty about pricing sustainability; frames JJP pricing as either approaching or potentially breaching ceiling

    • Flip N Out Pinball
    company
    Munstersgame
    Guns N' Rosesgame
    Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factorygame
    Pirates of the Caribbeangame
    Batman 66game
    Elvira's House of Horrors (Premium/LE)game
    Deadpool (Pro)game
    Iron Mangame
    The Pinball Showorganization
    The Pinball Network (TPN)organization
    Pinsideorganization
    American Pinballcompany
    Loser Kid Pinball Podcastorganization
    The Super Awesome Pinball Showorganization
    Zombie Yetiperson
    Nicole Menyperson
  • ?

    collector_signal: Pandemic-driven collectability boom spans pinball, sports cards, Pokemon cards, watches, Garbage Pail Kids—isolation-enabled hobby acquisition cycles; rationing mechanisms emerging (card shop queues 10+ hours)

    high · Zach: 'Pokemon cards are nuts right now... Garbage Pail Kid cards are coming back... Collection hobbies are easy to do in isolation... They are blowing up... I got there right before 3 o'clock when they were going to start rationing out these cards... what time did you get here?... 10 a.m. For a fucking baseball card.'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Zach (engaged dealer/collector) signals hesitation about continued new machine purchases due to pricing beyond inflation; existential market sustainability concern

    medium · Zach: 'I don't know if I'm going to buy new machines anymore. I haven't decided yet... It's really expensive now, and it's not at the rate of inflation. It's really expensive. It is.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Zach argues game success depends on code depth/rule quality (Munsters failure) rather than location availability; theme alone insufficient; contrasts with Roger Sharp's location-focused framework

    medium · Zach: 'The one correlation I see between those numbers is a direct comparison with that lack of code depth... I felt like i'm constantly having to hit the action button... it's flashing blue at me constantly it's obnoxious.'

  • ?

    industry_signal: Fundamental disagreement between Roger Sharp (location-focused survival model) and Zach (home collector-driven current market); dispute over Munsters causation; reflects broader strategic divergence

    high · Zach: 'I do not [agree with Roger Sharp]... He still believes solely in location pinball... Well, Raj, looks like it's working to me.' Dennis: 'He's got a point... Munsters came out... we were at the height of location pinball under the new resurgence... That was when Munsters came out... That's not a good excuse.'

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern/JJP price increases interpreted as profit optimization within scarcity/FOMO environment rather than pure cost-pass-through; builds on pre-order demand without inventory risk

    medium · Dennis: 'I think the $500 increases in particular and for Jersey Jack, the $1,000, I don't think that's all for materials. I think there's additional profit built into those numbers.' Zach: 'Are they deliberately slowing things down or raising prices just for profit purposes... Taking advantage of the opportunity they have as a business. Yeah, I think...'

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball dominance on secondary market: three games in Top 5 (Willy Wonka #1, Guns N' Roses #3, Pirates of the Caribbean #5) with elevated pricing ($18k-$22.5k); Ken questions sustainability of 'golden touch'

    high · Ken: 'There are not one, not two, but three Jersey Jack machines sitting in the top five spots... unexpectedly, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory [is] in the number one spot... How much longer can this last?'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Location operator feedback (Zach's survey of 12 machines) indicates Munsters as least favorite despite release during location pinball resurgence; competitive players find code unintuitive/shallow

    medium · Zach: 'I polled the people at the location we had it at... The majority of the people I asked, it was their least favorite game on location... which one would it be [if you could get rid of one]?... A majority of the people said Munsters.'

  • ?

    business_signal: Flip N Out Pinball's new complex construction costs 3-4x pre-pandemic estimates; tangible supply chain/material cost impact on downstream vendors

    high · Zach: 'We're getting ready to break ground... We're going to be building a brand-new complex for Flip N Out Pinball... pricing is three times the estimate we would have received prior to the pandemic.'

    • 2:25
    I don't remember. I suppose something like 30 years ago. Holy shit. Is your idea of a vacation include beaches? Absolutely not. Absolutely not? What is your idea of a good vacay? I actually prefer the cold, so snow would be a better vacation.
    2:44
    You're joking. No. I think people just say that just so they can be contrary. No, I went once for three weeks to Alaska for snowmobiling. Oh, horrible. No, it's fun. This afternoon. That's why we're doing this a day early. But she's got me going up to some, I don't know if it's like the Grinches mountaintop, somewhere where there's snow that I'm supposed to inner tube and sled with the kids all day. I don't know about that. But I want to point out that you're taking this month off and how things deteriorate And we couldn't even have the record time back. I know. That day was given up probably forever.
    3:25
    We are back, though, and better than ever. Maybe worse than ever. I'm not sure. But we have a lot of celebrations. I forgot totally last time, Dennis, that we had hit our TPN, that is, one-year anniversary.
    3:39
    One whole year. Wow. Boy, time's flown, hasn't it? It was a long year. I don't agree. shit it was a long year wasn't it oh well and i think it uh it's nice that we're starting off a season two ish feel here with episode 50 tp in one year i did i talked about that i appeared on the final round pinball podcast with uh with martin robbins and jeff tealess over there at tpn and we talked about that and he he said that and i was like oh shit i guess it has been a whole year. It feels like five. Yeah, well, they had it pretty easy. Well, when you have me on, I do all the heavy lifting, so I just sat back and the listens started rolling in. I think that's how it works. We'll have to ask Loser Kid.
    4:27
    I'm feisty today, Dennis. Hold on tight. I can tell that. So we get a new year, and I thought with new year comes new goals. Do you have any goals? No, we don't. I don't do resolutions. We had a whole conversation about this. I'm talking about TPN. We have some good goals and ideas this year, though. yeah uh hopefully we then probably some new content creators we can see that one if they want to be on boarded to to bring in and some will push off the plank maybe no no we're not gonna do it uh speaking of new i got a new computer finally is it is that a pc see i want to go into song finally i know it was what would it really see it no it's not a pc you can't even hear that it's a it's a mac Of course it is. A Mac. And special shout out to my friend that works at Apple and was able to hook a pal up. So thank you. Now it's the same model of Mac and everything. It's just juiced up. It's ready for 3D rendering, baby. Now all you have to do is know how to do all that stuff. Yeah, I can't even figure out Illustrator right now. So we've got new year, new goals. I've got a new computer. Did you get a new haircut or anything? No. Do we have new correspondence? We don't even know. We still got an opening. We have a Deep Root opening, people. That's right. Chris has to be replaced. He was my favorite. Well, that's what happens when somebody becomes your favorite.
    5:56
    It drives them away. So if anybody's wanting to audition for the Deep Root correspondent segment, email us at the gmail. Email us at the pinball. Email us at the gmail. Y'all get your emails in on the Gmail. Give us several impressions of how you would cover Deep Root, preferably with something Southern like how I'm talking. Well, I reckon we kick it over to the correspondents right now. Giddy up. It's time for TPN Industry News.
    6:32
    Hello and welcome back to the Pinball Show's Stern News Update. I'm Craig Bobby. And speaking of welcome back, Zach and Dennis, welcome back, we missed you, and please don't ever leave us again. Like, ever. Now fortunately we have some juicy Stern news on your first day back. After much social media teasing with partially finished puzzles, the world's largest pinball manufacturer proudly revealed their latest pinball creation, introducing... Puzzles by Stern? Yes, you heard correctly. Two actual 1000-piece puzzles were officially revealed on the Stern online store in two puzzling pinball-based themes, one in a pinball wizard theme by your favorite Stern artist in mind, Zombie Yeti, and another samurai-themed puzzle by urban Aztec artist Jesse Hernandez. Bring on the jazz music and Prozac? Good news! With this latest swag reveal, Stern Puzzles have jumped to 99 in the top 100 best pinball-themed swag list on Pinside, just ahead of Dog Whistles and just behind Lip Bomb. And much to Den Den's afternoon delight, we don't even have any code updates to report on. Fellas, we truly are in the depths of a pinball news apocalypse. When will it end? Well, that's all for this week. For the Pinball Show, I'm Craig Bobby. Catch you on the flip side.
    8:07
    Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update, and it is great to be back from our February hiatus. And while we were gone, Jersey Jack pinball has gotten a bit of a glow up. JJP machines are trending up everywhere, and let's take a look at the pin side top 100 to tell us where they stand. There are not one, not two, but three Jersey Jack machines sitting in the top five spots right now and not in the order you'd expect. Sitting in the number five spot right now is Jersey Jack's Pirates of the Caribbean. There are a bunch of these for sale right now and prices seem to be a bit off the rails at $18,000, $20,000, $22,500, and several of these marked as pending. Some people really, really want this game. Sitting in the number three spot, Jersey Jack's Guns and Roses. A number of collector's edition games are selling right now with prices ranging from $18,000 to $20,000.
    9:08
    And in the number one spot sits, unexpectedly, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Lately, it seems like everything Jersey Jack touches turns to gold, much like a golden ticket in a Wonka bar. How much longer can this last? Well, with a $1,000 price increase at the beginning of the month and sky-high secondary market prices, we'll have to see if the ceiling has been reached or if it'll just get blasted through again. For The Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg.
    9:41
    Hey, this is Kaz with an American Pinball Update. The Loser Kid Pinball Podcast on their latest show, Episode 54. They had David Fix and Jack Hager as guests. Jack is the new art director at American Pinball. It was a fun episode that talked about his years working on pinball, video games, slot and redemption games. And also check out the Superfly Autos Coffee Talk Live. They had Josh Kugler and Michael Grant on to talk all things Hot Wheels Pinball. Check out the American Pinball Facebook page for more info and links on that. Hope everybody has a great week and has fun playing pinball. For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Costner.
    10:22
    It's always great, you know, Zach, to hear from the few correspondents we still have. Well, they're going to be bringing some really fun and new innovative stuff as well for the pinball show this year, 2021. So giddy up indeed. Now, I thought it would be fun, Dennis and listener, as we're kicking off second year, episode 50 here at the pinball show, to cover something that is not specific to a manufacturer per se or news in that matter. Something I've noticed from a qualitative standpoint over the last year is that the market in pinball, the landscape is really changing. It is undergoing a big change, in my opinion, from maybe I'm just looking at it through my eyes and I'm wrong, but it feels like a lot of things are changing, both as a competition player, as a hobbyist, as a collector, even as a dealer, a manufacturer. Everything is changing. I think that this is more global with regard to our country in general. There's a lot of industries that are ever-changing, especially right now. We've got political changes. We have public health changes. A lot of things are going on. But I thought it would be fun to kind of focus in on this and maybe some strong takes or some good analysis on how the market landscape is changing and pinball. This sounds like a really extended pinball market trend. No, no, no, no, no. Yes, yes, yes, yes. For example, pricing. We've seen a lot of price fluctuation and changing over last year. Would you agree or disagree? If by fluctuation you mean going up and only up, sure. That's a fluctuation, yeah. So we've got official pricing increases from the manufacturers. We had a price hike from Jersey Jack Pinball mid-run on Guns N' Roses. And I would say that was a very significant increase, too. It was over 10%. Yes, exactly. So very, very significant there. We had a couple of titles seeing price increases here as of late at $500 for Stern Pinball in Batman 66 in Elvira Premium. Not to mention a $100 price increase at the beginning of the year for all titles. And prior to that, we had Avengers at $100, blah, blah, blah, blah. So we've seen price increases officially and unofficially. I guess it would be unofficial. On the secondary market, we're seeing a lot of price increases on the secondary market, not just for pinball machines, but for spanning almost all pinball machines and almost all accessories. And people are caring now, Dennis, about things that a year ago, five years ago, people didn't really care too much about. Or maybe there was some fans of toppers or side armor, accessories, UV light kits. Maybe they did care about them and they bought them, but never to the degree that, holy shit, FOMO, they're running out. We've got to get them, and the prices keep increasing. So I really see a lot of changes in the marketplace. I was thinking about this the other night since I don't have a podcast to do anymore. I had a whole month to think. But even when it goes to purchasing, man, you haven't been in the market lately, Dennis, for a new pinball machine, But a lot of these listeners can attest to the fact that even buying a pinball machine now is different. Because of this global pandemic, gone are the days that Stern Pinball or Jersey Jack Pinball will inventory a lot of games. When they're running a game for, let's say, a week, typically they would run it for a week or two and they would just mass produce the hell out of it. They would have an abundance of them at the factory and then they would give you inventory updates throughout the month. This was circa 2019.
    14:07
    That has changed. Now dealers are ordering. We're ordering sometimes six to eight months in advance because all the prior months are going to be sold out. Like March pens are sold out. April pens sold out. May, June. We're in July that I'm looking at. July, August. Sometimes even later than that on what I'm ordering. I'm just giving a guess as a dealer. So that's changing as well. And when that changes to that degree, then we know what our allotment is on a Deadpool Pro that's running in, you know, say April or March. I think it's running in March. So, for example, Dennis, I've got Elvira. I know that I've got, you know, 20 on order. Let's say that. Well, I've got five coming in the first run in April. Okay. Well, I've got another 10 coming in July. Well, then I know I have another five coming after that. So a lot of customers and you buyers at home, listeners out there, don't wreck your car. But these individuals are contacting us and saying, hey, I'm interested in Elvira. And we simply say, well, our next two runs are full. How about that third run in the fall, winter? That's what potential listeners right now are dealing with, Dennis, when they go to buy one of these, maybe these hot titles. Do you find that similar to other industries? Is this something that's new to you? What are your thoughts? I do think you're seeing it in other industries. Okay. It is odd, but I think this is probably driven, in my view, by – and I don't think this is particularly shocking to any listener. But it's just simply – I mean it's a supply and demand, and we've got two things going on. You have a lot of people that have been staying at home more and are interested in home entertainment options. So I think that has helped drive the homeowner desire for pinball machines. This would explain why the used market is also going up. It's like, oh, I want something for my home.
    16:06
    I'm not in the market, can't afford, don't want to wait for a new game. I'm going to buy a used game. So people are able – obviously, it's a seller's market. And then on the supply side, social distancing, decreased flow of raw materials, costs are going up on those. So it's slower to build them and more expensive to build them than it was. That should be temporary, but that's the condition we live in currently. And so those costs are manifesting in such a way that even the new products are both slower to get because of the steps that are necessary for the construction and then demand raw materials costs and people just having to wait. And one of my other hobbies is on watches, and we see that in watches as well. So watches, the watch industry and the hobbyist community and watches, is that seeing an increase in that desirability and have-to-have-it kind of thing, supply and demand? Yeah, and again, on that side, because obviously it's like, well, but if you're working from home, why would you need to wear a watch? It's sort of the logic that people start to have. And then the problem is it's a hobby where when you're sitting at home alone and not doing anything, it's real easy to start going online and looking, going, yeah, I'd like to add to the collection. And I'll give you an example. I bought a watch over the summer in 2020, and its value on the used market is up 50%. Wow.
    17:39
    Okay, so that's exactly what I'm talking about. Yes. Wow. So it's the same thing. And the manufacturers, their production is way down, way down. I heard – again, instead of a cardument, I'll give you a watchument. Rolex's production for 2020 was down 20 percent because they were shut down for two months. Okay. So it wasn't a parts supply issue? I mean they are competing for things that pinball and automotive is competing for as well, like steel. I mean everyone wants the same materials that they did before. But a lot of it was they had to have the factories closed. What steps are they taking to distance their employees if they had to take steps? And we know that definitely impacts the line of pinball, perhaps more so than it would, say, a watch industry where people are probably already more spread out. But automotive is sort of the same way. They have to take certain steps. Obviously, that's a very robotic industry compared to pinball where you have a lot of manual labor. But, you know, that was a big speculation with Jersey Jack on why are the – why are people still waiting for their CEs? Well, they sold all of them, and then it took time to get the line going. And then is the line as efficient as it would have been pre-COVID? Probably not. And, yeah, we did see a break in those CEs where we got about half of them, and then we saw a halt. And then all of a sudden we saw standards going up, and we were like, wait, standards? The hell are you running standards for? Well, probably a supply issue there. And so you have all this high demand on certain things that normally wouldn't necessarily face the same demand. And I think actually versus cars and watches, I think pinball, though, saw a real big demand spike because it's entertainment that people realize, oh, we can have it in the home environment. Sure. And you're at home so much, all of a sudden that quote-unquote need feels more important. But even from – so you've got the – on the supply side though, you've got the social distancing requirements and the slowdowns and shutdowns that impacted production and that's still having a ripple effect through people wanting games. Coupled with those same restrictions are in play in all sorts of the raw material industries that people like pinball manufacturers have to rely on. So the demand for copper, if you're producing less copper and you're competing with all the wiring that everything else, the computers and the phones for their circuit boards and automotive, they all want wires.
    20:07
    And pinball is having to try and buy their share of wiring, their share of steel, their share of wood. I've heard – I think we touched on this with Tony with Eclectic Gamers, but woodworkers that he knows are talking about – I've heard as much as certain types of wood being double. Oh, no. It's more than that. It's more than double. So it's like, I mean, everyone, everything's more expensive now. So, of course, that's bleeding into all sorts of stuff. I wonder if it's not somewhat a controlled fear. This is the hippie in me. A controlled fear thing, not only with pinball in this industry, but everywhere. Or is it a supply thing? Maybe it started as a supply issue, and then now we can fudge it a little. For example, you talked about wood being double. I'm here to announce something that's really exciting for Nicole and I at Flippin' Out Pinball, but we're getting ready to break ground. Well, not here soon because we're on the schedule. We're going to be building a brand-new complex for Flippin' Out Pinball, a big showroom and everything, and we're really excited about that. But pricing is three times the estimate we would have received prior to the pandemic. So yes, three to four times that lumber cost. And you talked about logic. You said logic. And I think you're right. Whenever it comes to collectability and desirability and putting people in these homes and making them feel claustrophobic and they've got to be heard, they're going to spend some money, they want to identify with something, logic goes right out that window. When we have collectability in things like watches or pinball machines, I'm seeing this zeitgeist, if you will. I don't know why everything's exploding right now. I was at yesterday because I still don't do the sports card thing, but it still interests me to some degree. Just as an example, Pokemon cards are nuts right now. They are even garbage pail kid cards are coming back right now. Collection hobbies are easy to do in isolation, and that's why they can drop. They are blowing up. So I went to Meijer yesterday because Meijer now, I don't know if you guys have a Meijer. Is Meijer a national thing? It's like a Walmart kind of thing. I'm not familiar with it. M-E-I-J-E-R. So it's like an outlet, a Target, a Walmart. So they sell sports cards. These places have gone so crazy, listener. They now divvy out. You have to come at a certain day at 3 o'clock. And what happens? So I went in there just for shits and giggles. And I go in there. And this is for all cards. I got the Pokemons. I got the sporting cards and all that. a line from the back of the store to the front door. And I got there right before 3 o when they were going to start rationing out these cards And they asked the person in the front line what time did you get here Any guess as to what time If 3 o Noon?
    23:06
    10 a.m. For a fucking baseball card. So that's what I'm saying. Everything is going nuts right now. We're seeing that in pinball. That's why the prices are going up. But what I'm asking you, listener, and you email us, And Dennis, do you think Stern notices that, and do you think they're playing with that a little bit? Yes, I definitely think they notice it. Playing with it, I don't know. Do you know what I mean by that, though? Like are they deliberately slowing things down or raising prices just for profit purposes or something like that? Not taking advantage to a negative degree, but taking advantage of the opportunity they have as a business. Yeah, I think the $500 increases in particular and for Jersey Jack, the $1,000, I don't think that's all for materials. I think there's additional profit built into those numbers. Okay. Here's what – in terms of the market landscape is changing. Here's what I think. As things relax, as things go back to normal, I'm not going to describe all this necessarily as a bubble. But I do think you will see a contraction on some of this stuff. Maybe a puddle? Well, the way I think – it depends on what element we're talking about. So like on the used pen prices, on the older pen prices, on the B tier and C tier things that have skyrocketed in price because people were just desperate to have a project or have a game to play in their home. Those people that aren't really in the hobby as collectors but just did that because of isolation and needing to stay at home, I think they will sell. I think they will get out. They'll be like, we're not playing it anymore. They're not really going to care if they lose money on it. They got their fun out of it. I think those prices, they may not return to the pre-pandemic price, but I do think they will decrease. But that said, I think every increase in manufacturer institutes, they will not back off on.
    24:57
    That's interesting. I think the only way you would see them back off on it is if all of a sudden they are actually not selling enough pens anymore. Sure, sure. But with all the hardcore people still, I mean, if people are willing to wait eight or ten months for Elvira, why why uh you know under the scenario why not just keep your embedded 500 price increase that's what i see stern doing especially with regard to dealers like i think it is in their best interest to get all of these pre-orders from dealers as they are because they're securing they have to just they they're building what they're selling instead of sitting on inventory thus which equals money or quates to money so i think they're going to continue doing that because it's in their best interest. It's hard for us as dealers. But then it still drives that desirability of, oh shit, I know that if they are making Jurassic Park Pro in April, dealers only get so many. I need to get on that list so that I can secure one that way when April comes, I don't have to scrounge around and find a Jurassic Park Pro. I think that that's going to continue to a big degree. And that's tough. That is a tough one. And it drives people wanting these things. Did you hear Roger Sharp? He was on the Super Awesome Pinball Show a couple weeks ago. Yes, I heard that interview. He was kind of talking about the market landscape or just the industry landscape and how it's changing. He still believes solely in location pinball. He thinks that games like a Munsters didn't do well because of lack of that location pinball. Do you agree on that? No, I do not. He said, quote, commercial locations are the future for the industry. There's only so many home people. He went on to say that 85% to 90% of homeowners are the lifeblood of the industry right now. He said, but that's not going to work. Well, Raj, looks like it's working to me.
    26:57
    I agree with him in part on that. I think the idea there is that homeowners, okay, so we're seeing a surge, but a lot of the people who are buying for the home are people that still have a memory of location pinball. as where I think he's coming from. And that if you actually want the pinball to survive the next generation, it's not going to be strong enough just hoping that the kids of homeowners, whatever percentage of them are going to uptake pinball is going to be enough to keep the industry alive. You have to spread pinball organically some other way to a larger audience. And that's where the commercial location comes into play. That being said, Stern fully knows the landscape. And when Munsters came out, I get that it's not the 90s, but we were at the height of location pinball under the new resurgence. So that's not a good excuse for that game. And that was pre-pandemic. Exactly. That's what I mean. That's when we were at the height of our powers when it came to barcades and all that. That was when Munsters came out. I only have played Munsters in other than I think I played a couple of games at a show, but I've only played it on location. I polled the people at the location we had it at where we had it and I believe 11 other games. The majority of the people I asked, it was their least favorite game on location. It wasn't everyone, but it was most people. It's like if I could – my question was of these 12 games, which one – if you could get rid of one, which one would it be? And I'm not a plurality. A majority of the people said Munsters. And I didn't know whenever he was speaking in that interview if he maybe made a mistake and was referring to Stranger Things because I think his argument would have been stronger there. That makes more sense because of the location taking away the ability to experience it.
    28:41
    Yeah, with regard to the Munsters, Roger, there was, to me, pretty common sense why the Munsters doesn't do well, quote unquote, whatever that means. And that's because of – it's not because of location. It's a beauty. Theme hurts it a little bit, but ultimately, shoot, it's great. It's the code. People, Roger, if you're saying 85% to 90% of homeowners are the lifeblood right now, then that's who you're selling to for the moment. Still stick them in the locations. That's great. But if that's your lifeblood, then the one correlation I see between those numbers is a direct comparison with that lack of code depth. So that's what did it. I don't think there's anything else, really. It's weird, though, because Iron Man does very well on location, and it doesn't have depth of code. We accepted that as what it was prior to. I mean, if you still put Iron Man out on location, it does well. It does well, sure. But I think there, that might be more because to casuals, actually, I think the theme is terrible. I think the theme was terrible. I don't think it was good for homeowners. I think it was terrible for location. Munsters? No one knows the Munsters anymore. Sure, sure. Yeah, as well as when you say Iron Man is probably five times the license, if not higher, than the Munsters. Now, the people I was polling, they were competitive players. And in a way, you would almost think, okay, well, easy to quickly to understand code. Isn't that a good thing from the competitive player? But it just, I mean, the rules didn't do anything for anyone. I don't enjoy playing them. I don't hate it, but I feel nothing when I play it. And I guess if I were to critique, if you were to ask me, Dennis, what's like something that just doesn't work for you when you play the monsters? it would be i felt like i'm constantly having to hit the action button like all the time it's flashing blue at me oh okay and from the competitive player standpoint is whenever it flashes blue you need to hit it like you don't build it up you don't save it you just need to constantly smash it's like it's lit all the time so i'm just like i don't know what's going on but it's flashing at me constantly it's obnoxious yeah uh it was just interesting that we got that comparison from roger anyway i don't i don't agree i i disagree with him about that it that it's that location play had something to do with Munster's lack of success. I just don't think that's true. I think I know where he's coming from, and I agree. Like you were saying, the importance of location pinball, you've got to get it out there the next year. I get all of that, but right now I don't think there should be a focus on that as much. I think we'd focus on that lifeblood if that's what it is. I understand distributors don't have a priority to focus on location pinball. I do think manufacturers, If they're thinking long-term survival, they definitely need to keep an eye on how to breed more players.
    31:24
    And location is going to be the way to do it. Especially if these prices keep going up, it's going to get to the point where they're pricing themselves out of a lot of homeowners. Yeah, because I think the Stern pinball kind of built itself up to the degree of what it is, listener, because of the Stern Pro model. I just do. It's affordable. Get it out affordable. It was. Yeah. Yeah, but it's the cheapest. It's oftentimes the most fun. I don't know if I'm going to buy new machines anymore. I haven't decided yet. Oh, you're one of those guys. It's really expensive now, and it's not at the rate of inflation. It's really expensive. It is. It is really expensive, but relative to what? I mean, it's all relative.
    32:03
    Relative to most other rec room stuff. I don't see, yeah, but when it comes to pricing of pinball machines, Dennis, I don't see it as being expensive at all. I think the risk-reward, if you will, on purchasing this product that is a pinball machine is quite low compared to almost any other consumer electronic you can buy.
    32:24
    Most other consumer electronics I can buy are significantly cheaper. Sure, but the return rate is horrible. You could almost lose more on a television set than you can a pinball machine. I can't think of a product right now that doesn't return its value better. They get bored of their television and gets rid of it. This doesn't happen. The television's only – what do you keep a television for, two years? Ten. Ten? Well, the tech doesn't upgrade fast enough. So, I mean – Yeah. When do you do an upgrade when there's a major – like I did an upgrade from 1080i to 1080p, and then I did an upgrade from 1080p to 4K. I mean this doesn't every two years. It's not a phone. Well, you keep your pinball machine that long. Yes, I do. Yeah. I agree with you that it's not that you're going to lose your shirt on pinball. No. It's still a big sunk cost to just have sitting in your house that you're going to play 30 minutes a week. I always tell people it takes a lot to get into this hobby, but when you're getting out, you get your money back. But five years ago, that wasn't true. You can sell it at any point. It didn't take a lot to get into this hobby. Maybe it took a lot to get into this hobby new like you were some operator, but you could go used market and buy a whole lot of fully working games for under $2,000. Yeah, that day is over. It's gone. Well, then your consumer market is changing, and it's not changing by growing. You might be selling more new pins, but the number of potential people that can get into the hobby is shrinking as the price goes up. It's just – I mean, it's simple. It's just simple math. Then why are people spending so much more money than they usually do? That's a hard one to believe.
    34:04
    Thus, I think why the prices are increasing because – Well, from a distributor perspective, what do you care if more people can't get in on the U side that the number of people getting in on the U side is going down? How would that affect you or potential people? It doesn't. No, no. You're just selling to the expanding number of people that are going upscale on the new side, and that part is still growing. I'm just saying that the maximum size of your balloon is smaller than it used to be. But we're not fully inflated anyway. So in that regard, from a current market standpoint, it doesn't really matter. That's why prices are going up because the demand is still higher than the supply. And it has breached this collectability type of things where people are just going nuts over them. They're just going nuts. It's like baseball cards or Pokemon cards. Yeah, and once people are – the mass gathering restrictions and stuff are fully relaxed, I'm curious to see how many actually stay engaged with that. But we'll see. I don't know. And speaking of changes, Roger Sharp did say that he doesn't think that pinball is going to see any semblance of normalcy until 2023. It's a long time away. He could be right on that. I think that's – I don't – I think it will have – I think we'll be more normal before then, I think. I believe so as well. I think by 2022 – I mean, it's a question of what you consider normalcy. But, I mean, we might be in a world where you see just permanently you see more people wearing masks. But that's not going to stop people from going out and playing pinball. Sure. once they're vaccinated i mean by and large we are expecting people to be vaccinated who want to be vaccinated definitely by the end of the summer especially once here we are johnson and johnson's almost completely on boarded at this point so and we're expecting distributions this week of that vaccine it's ready to go but johnson johnson's already got over 20 million vials ready when the fda gave the right right they'd still like they're right while we're recording this there's still some final little things that are being voted on but all the safety things have been signed off the you know it's everyone accelerated the they're working the weekend basically so but it's just i mean we're it's it's once people are vaccinated and you're getting you know there are all the discussions like confidence goes back but well yeah it's going to be people that were high risk that are avoiding because they're worried that they would have a severe complication from the disease are going to be protected maybe they'll still get like with johnson johnson maybe they'll still get COVID, but they won't expect to be hospitalized. People aren't – we're not – it's like with a lot of diseases. We're okay with getting sick as long as it's not going to make us really sick. That's right. So once you have that, more and more stuff is being relaxed. I mean my – the health departments I work with, they're already talking about – most of them are allowing proms this year. They're just like, we're just telling them, please wear masks.
    37:08
    How do you make out with masks on? Well, they can, when they're isolated away from the rest of the group, they can take the masks down. Oh, can they still tickle?
    37:18
    Probably. Tickle one another behind the bleachers. One of them is recommending that they just, they pre-COVID test. They're sending rapid antigen tests to the schools and saying, everyone who goes to prom should just do this test the two days before and then go to prom. I thought they'd do like a virtual prom. uh honestly the schools probably wouldn't stand for it at this point so some of this is some of this is just living with the practical reality that certain controls that we did a year ago would never be tolerated anymore people are just sick of it but um but but the main reason why there's less concern is that by the time the proms actually happen all of the teachers in our state should be vaccinated so it's like okay well the people that are most likely to get seriously ill are going to have their vaccines at that point so we've got two-thirds of our teachers already vaccinated. Oh, that's actually good. I would recommend you guys go and listen, listening to this Roger Sharp episode because I liked listening to Roger. It was really good. He even said some, some other things that raised my eyebrows. Like, um, we've, we've become a bit quote, celebrity driven in quote, he's referring to, uh, designers such as Scott Denise and Keith Elwin, like one of us kind of thing. Um, that's driving, uh, influence in his opinion. He even talked about like Brian Eddy's return with Stranger Things, he knew that that was going to be a failure, and Eddy couldn't do anything about it. There's just too much hype, him coming back, and all of that. So go listen to that episode. It was a lot of fun. And I think he's right in reference to this whole influence and celebrity-driven kind of stuff.
    38:56
    Manufacturers don't want to believe it, but again, if we're talking about 85% to 90% of homeowners being the lifeblood of this industry, then I'm telling you right now, whether you want to believe it or not, there are a lot of influencers out there. That's all I'm saying. There are a lot of influencers out there. It works. Speaking of Stern pinball, Stern over the last couple weeks, man, whew, that's some doozies. We got the UV light kit for Stranger Things. That's now considered a pinball endangered species. Do you know that? Nope. That's a new term. No one cares because no one owns Stranger Things. Bullshit. Those things are flying off the shelf. Oh, man. So the UV light kit for the premium LE can no longer be ordered. And I think the pro kits for the UV are endangered as well. I don't think, I think they're making what they're making and that's it. So good luck finding one of those. That's going to be your next topper. I've told you guys this over and over listeners. You guys know I'm like fucking pinball Nostradamus over here predicting these things. I told you about stranger things. You guys didn't believe me. Now everybody's salivating for that damn game. I told you about Willy Wonka. Everybody said, you're a shill, Zach. Where are all the apologies? That's what I want to know, you fucking people out there that rip on me that I'm trying to sell games. When I'm trying to give you guys a heads up on what's going to be great, you just don't believe me. But I don't get no apologies. Wonka's great. That's what I feel like. UV light kits are the new topper. Good luck finding one in six months under $1,000. Think I'm right?
    40:28
    I don't care. They're also not making Stranger Things in 2021. Because no one wants it. You heard it here. They want it now. I'm amazed that they had no plans to make it. I thought they wouldn't have any plans to make it in 2020. Oh!
    40:43
    You've heard it here. So premiums, especially premiums. Premiums are gone at Stern, people. They're gone. I get more requests for Stranger Things now than I do for the majority of the catalog that I have out right now. Stranger Things is going to continue, as I've said before, continue to go up. And fucking puzzles? Did you see this whole thing with Stern Pinball and the puzzles? A little bit, but I don't like puzzles, so I didn't pay much attention to it. I'm surprised you're not a puzzle piecer. I hate puzzles. You hate them? Yeah. Did something bad happen in childhood with a puzzle piece? Jigsaw puzzles? They're so unfun. I don't understand the appeal.
    41:24
    Not a puzzle guy. That's very surprising. Not a jigsaw-style puzzle. I'm sure there are plenty of puzzle types I like. That is not one of them. You like polynomial puzzles? Oh, fucking puzzles. So everybody thought that Puzzle Pieces was a secret code for hinting the new Godzilla game by Stern Pinball. That's what everybody was thinking. I don't even know if it's Godzilla. I have no clue on this next release. Zero.
    41:52
    I'm like left in a closet. I have no clue what's coming out. You believe me? I don't care. I do know that that puzzle ended up being the fucking puzzle. Starting selling puzzles. Congratulations. Because that's what lifestyle brands do. Supreme is known for their puzzles. Now, what if I were to tell you, I think there might be something a little deeper there lurking in the dark. So they had this puzzle that they're now selling by Zombie Yeti and by an individual by the name of Jesse Hernandez from Urban Aztec. I think there's something there, Dennis. Okay. Listener, I think there's something there with this Jesse Hernandez fella. And I've got to say, I hope there's something there because after looking at his portfolio, I think it's a male. Could be a female. After looking at their portfolio online, they are a phenomenal artist. Stern, if this is a puzzle piece, you're like meta mind-fucking us, please let it be true. Let Jesse Hernandez. I think maybe this artist is too popular for the likes of Contract Stern, maybe. I don't know. But they do damn good work.
    43:06
    Speaking of good work, Steve Ritchie, always working, man. Always working. Led Zeppelin, he's trying to help people because that electric magnet spinner on the Premium LE versions is having some, I won't say widespread issues, but significant issues on a lot of machines that are going out. Uh-oh. Have you heard that, Des? Better get the pro. He did come out a couple weeks ago saying, hey, here's how to tweak that. Bend the brackets that hold that spinner. Bend them apart a little bit. That will free up that spinner to spin more freely. Free up the spinner to spin more freely. Man, Zach, it's been a while. Now, that helped a lot of people, but it didn't help others. We have had customers with some spinner issues. Just have them bend it more. bend it baby no but then i even had it on my le that same issue and it it took more than just bending that my recommendation for you guys try the richie method where you i'll take it like a needle nose pliers stick it in there and spread the needle nose legs apart hey and that way that bracket will spread out more because the angle of the wire holding that spinner sometimes gets bogged down so if you spread the bracket it frees it up a little bit some people will do that listener, I know this is boring to some, but helpful to others, when you do that, sometimes that spinner, the ass of that spinner will be facing towards you, so the ball will hit that hard and not spin. If that is the case, pull that bracket apart, pull the spinner out, flip it around, and put it back in. That way the butt is sticking towards the back. Not perfect, but it will still you can rip the hell out of that thing until they find a proper fix.
    44:49
    And that's your tip of the day. Steve Ritchie followed up by a statement on Facebook this weekend. He said, quote, guys were working hard on resolving spinner target EM unit issues. I read all the comments in the Led Zeppelin owner's thread, and I want to assure you that a solution is in the works. Pat Powers and the guys at Stern Customer Service are doing their best to resolve your problems, and they are the best in the business. Please be patient until we get these issues resolved. Thanks, Steve Ritchie. Still haven't played Led Zeppelin, have you? No, but I did enjoy you explaining how to repair something for five minutes to our audience, which less than 5% own this game. Listener, you're damned if you do. You're damned if you don't. If I don't, then you would say that I don't know anything about pinball. Don't we have some code updates to talk about? We don't. Jersey Jack pinball we have. We've mentioned it already, but GNR standards, for some reason, went back on the line. I believe they're all shipped now, so you're not going to see any more Jersey Jack GNR standards. Are you sure this time? I'm never sure. Communication from them is always subpar. You probably won't because they're $1,000 more now. GNR CEs are back on the line Hot damn We did get information this week that in one to three weeks we will have the remainder of our CEs shipped And then they all be done right With GNR. No, then they're going to be making LEs for the next two years. I thought you said that the CEs should be the very last to go. I didn't say that. See what you did, Bruce? I forget.
    46:18
    I think CE Toy Story Rumors should be first. How about that? Does that make it feel better? Oh, and again, marketplace stuff. For some of us dealers that take these interested lists, Dennis even knows they're filling up like fast. Well, that's because people haven't heard about the next $1,000 increase that will hit Toy Story.
    46:39
    That's a good question. Do you think that JJP's next game sees an additional increase in price? I hadn't until Tony, my co-host over at the EGP, pitched that idea as to why it was – because it seems so strange to do a mid-run GNR price hike. But I like the theory that, yeah, they knew $2,000 would be too much, so let's do $1,000 now and $1,000 again. So, yes, now I do think so. With their decision to increase the price when they did, I think that there is a strong possibility that we're going to see the CE maybe even more than – one of you guys mentioned 15K. You wouldn't see any surprise from me. I use that as an example, I think, with the super, you know, talk about like Batman, Super Ellie sort of thing. You wouldn't see me surprised at all if Jersey Jack said their CEs are now 15K for their new title. I think I had suggested that I could see Jersey Jack positioning themselves as a company that doesn't sell anything under five figures.
    47:34
    Because I'm not sure they keep the standard. It didn't feel like they really wanted to support that standard much, did it? Yeah, but then they made more, so I don't know anymore. I don't know a lot about a lot of this. No, they simply made what was ordered. Okay. Yeah, they weren't increasing. Oh, well, then that's probably that they – Yeah, they just wanted to finish that up. That makes some more sense. Okay. Yeah. Well, just, I mean, especially if they think that location pinball is going to struggle for a little while, maybe for the next game you just sort of drop that. Because the whole idea for their standards, as far as they've ever presented publicly, is that's really – for them it's really targeted to actual location pinball play. I think Stern says that for their pros as well, but they know they get a lot of homeowner sales that just want the most affordable option. But here's the thing. If it is Pat Lawler next, he's an operator heavy type of designer. Yeah, but adapt or die. Oh, speaking of the good old days, we have a new podcast on TPN.
    48:32
    Working title, but it's called the Pinball Show Interviews. We had this idea at the onset of TPN, the pinball show, Jason Fowler doing it. But in steps in CGC correspondent Matt Morrison, or should I say podcast host now, that interviewed Tom Capera.
    48:51
    You know, Tommy boy. I do now. I finished the interview this morning. Boy, what a great, great to me. What a great interview. A lot of fun facts. We have not heard much of Tom, if at all, in the past. We've probably heard of him in the past, but Tom was really, really informative, and he was the individual listener that created Cactus Canyon.
    49:16
    Matty Morrison thought, hey, why not go to the designer of Cactus Canyon, since that's the rumored title from CGC, next, and talk about his impressive background, long-term contract work with Stern. He did all of the mechs in Elvira's House of Horrors. no one could be more relevant than tom capera and boy he's worked for nasa doing cats oh this guy's good i just love that they talked about the complexity of the corvette engine i need one of those games listeners find me a nice corvette if listeners can find me a nice corvette i want a corvette a nice radical a nice black rose i'll give up my elvira ellie I'm sure if you're willing to pay, they can find you anything you want. I don't know if they can. I think they can. I'm willing to buy, buy, buy. But I need nice ones, like top one percentile nice ones. I love Tom Capera because he ran the topper studio for WMS, and he's done all the toppers for Stern leading up to the Munsters. Once the Munsters came, he was off the lead for toppers.
    50:24
    Maybe he's really the topper king. Am I just an apprentice, Dennis? I don't know maybe we'll have to see you make your own topper I will hey sneak peek I do have some mods that I'm working on well I'll be sure to copy them he did all the mechs on Elvira and Beatles he talked about some distortion printing processing techniques on Elvira this guy I couldn't help but he does sound very scientific right and he did his voice ring a bell to anybody i hate even bringing this up but it was just so good he sounded like the the scientists on the simpsons to me i did not i did not get that read he's like then we did our cast game and then he did not sound like that he did not he did not sound like that distortion painting on the ovary thousand hey that's so inaccurate he talked about of vira a lot which i really enjoyed talking about the prototype ramps and and some of the mechs like the crypt had eight positions instead of three it was super complex i'm not going to get into it all here but you guys have got to go listen to it a lot of stuff on cactus canyon like the saloon doors remember that is the prototype bash toy in front of a bash toy they got rid of that why they got rid of that the lit up uh drop targets diverter for the train toy oh yeah the diverter for the train toy the the center ramp being like a um what do you call a v ramp there's a lot of stuff when they asked him about cactus canyon getting remade he said regarding the other remakes quote i don't think they flip as well they're close but they're not the same he went on to say quote it's nice that more of them will be out there but he said they certainly haven't called me in quote he was referencing like uh just checking it out if it was cactus canyon or giving any feedback that may help them he hasn't even played the cactus canyon continued code this is this is the designer of but he did say that it's not the same game so yeah he did allude to that eric pripke contacted him and uh matt correal correal I don't know sorry Matt he contacted them and they were somewhat interested but then realized that Eric's vision went way beyond what they were interested in being a part of so they said it was a different game no longer that Morrison asked Capera when we're going to see some of his work again from Stern Pinball because he's still that contract contracted worker and Mr. Capera said he was referencing quote mechanical signature again? He said, this summer, you'll see new stuff from me. Uh-oh. He talked about working with Gomez a lot. Yeah, he likes working with Gomez.
    53:24
    I like to see him and Brian Eddy team up. That's what I'd like to see. Well, I don't know. Brian Eddy was doomed to fail, according to Roger. According to my game room, he's still really high up there. Knock him dead, Eddy. Okay, moving on. Man, there was so much information. I want you guys to go listen to that. I'm just looking at the notes here. There's a lot of good stuff. A lot of good stuff. The Pinball Industry Awards. What a pain in the ass. See what I did there? We'll play it one more time. I did. Did you know that rock sensation and historical icon Slash was down with the Pinball Industry Awards? Yeah, I saw him post on Instagram about it. That made me horny, man. Not going to lie. He shared his excitement for the crystal winnings of Guns N' Roses by Jersey Jack Pinball. Shared it on social media. Thank you, Slash. I think Slash is a listener.
    54:23
    Rock on. I don't think so. Really? Yeah. If you are Slash, write in at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com and say yes, but I will never listen again. Just text me, Slash. Me and you, we're good. The Loser Kids, they got a local written piece about them after being awarded a crystal from the Pimlin Industry Awards. I read that. That was nice. It was well written. I heard you whining about not getting a quote.
    54:49
    I was just like, they talked to everyone except me. I just felt a little slighted. Because you're the best writer out of everybody. Well, I mean, for me to write the article. You know, I actually had that happen once with the press. This was years ago. Really? Yes, I was explaining something. And the reporter just asked, could I send you the start of my story and you just type what you mean?
    55:13
    And I did. I sent it back. Oh, man. I was like, this is the weirdest. I was like, this feels wrong. Like, for journalistic ethics, I'm not sure this is right. Was it the Missouri Gazette? It doesn't lie like my ethics, so I'll do it for you. It was, oh, no, it was a, I can't remember which paper it was. It was a bigger one, though. Wow. It's probably fine. I think he was worried about messing up a quote or something. But most of the time when they call me now, they have recorders running. I always just assume they're recording. Because usually the quotes are extremely accurate now. Back in the day, quotes were constant. Almost every quote that I ever read of me had something wrong with it. I don't even write in and correct them. I mean, the context is the same, it's usually. But you'll be like, no, I never used that word. They used the wrong word. I like the fact that Loser Kid's got a local piece written about him. That was really cool. Even Gavin from the multi-million follower slow-mo guy's YouTube channel, Gavin was so appreciative of their earned crystal that he shared a pic with us on our email, sharing a pic of the hardware there. Nicely done. And for those of you interested in more of the statistical analyses of the voting and how the voting went down, TPN's webmaster, George Fisher, has updated the website so you can see those results more visually now. Yep, all graphed out. Thank you, Jorge. American Pinball hires Jack Hager as art director. Yeah, I'm kicking ass and taking names. His name makes me think of a fighter pilot. Yeah, doesn't it? Right into the danger zone?
    56:54
    No. Ringmaster himself, Dave Fix, came in with Jack Hager. I see Dave Fix in a lot of these interviews, but they were interviewed by Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. That is Jack Hager and Dave Fix, so good interview. But you know what I've noticed? I don't know if there's anything here. Maybe I do. But they talk about Coogler a lot. Whatever happened to Joe Schober? Well, I know Coogler was sort of like, by my understanding, he was like the lead person in charge over all the code development. So I guess I'm not too surprised to hear about Kugler. But yes, I haven't heard about Schober in quite a while, which I personally, in terms of code, I favor. I like Schober's approach. I think it's very respectful to competitive play. I think he was the highlight of Alien Pinball from Highway. And so I wish I had heard more about Schober, but I haven't heard about him in quite a while. It's almost like if a pinball manufacturer picked up a Joe Schober, you wouldn't be angry, huh? No, no. I think he's a lot of really good ideas. It's kind of like what we've expected to see with Steve Bowden, just his innate knowledge of what make good rules. Joe Schober's got that too. I could tell where his influences on the rules in Oktoberfest made it, from a code perspective, more interesting than Houdini. Sure, absolutely. There's some stacking, some depth to that game, yes. And I'm like, this is Shober stuff. This is from his mind. What was that? That was a ferret. Oh, it sounded like Schmeagle. Oh, Schmeagle? Joe Schmeagle? So, listeners. Yes, Joe Shober is my precious, yes. But where's he go? Where's the Shober go? It's Weasel. You haven't had any programmers Yeah Speaking of weasels I watched Willie's Wonderland Have you seen that one yet?
    59:02
    With Nick Cage No Where the animatronics at the Chuck E. Cheese come to life And they try to kill everybody What? This is a thing? This is a fucking thing Is this like The Croods 3?
    59:16
    No It may have been the same perception while viewing. But no. Yeah, the Willy's Wonderland. It's a spin on like Five Nights at Freddy's kind of thing. Interesting. It was interesting. So, listener out there, that last story was a wink-wink hit if you guys still didn't pick up on the Joe Showber thing. Okay, Deep Brew Pinball. Did you know the next game is Food Truck confirmed? Food Truck? I did not. Barry Ousler on design. Food Truck. Yeah, it was courtesy of the Final Round Pinball podcast. I have not heard that interview yet. A couple days ago, they interviewed Steve Bowden. Now, I've got to say, I love you more than anybody else loves you in pinball. That's a fact. Sorry, everybody else out there.
    60:02
    It's like your parents love for you and your sisters love for you and your family and then probably me and then other people. So I preface this by saying I love you, Dennis. I'm willing to get a tattoo probably. We'll talk. but Steve Bowden, fuck, that guy really is lovable.
    60:25
    Nicest guy in pinball. Nicest person in pinball. Even me, the bombiest bomb of all bombs, can't outdo Steve Bowden. Because I love you so much and you're the second nicest pinball it's been deemed, I'm always looking out for my boy Dennis. But no. Nope, I'm not. I'm always trying to find flaws in Steve Bowden, but damn it, he's so likable. It's disgusting, isn't it? It almost is. Yep. He makes me want that Raza. That's, what? Steve. Oh, he shouldn't be able to do that. It's his power. It's his superpower. I just want to support him. He did talk about Raza. He's been playing a lot of Raza. He described it. I just imagine you having drinks at a bar with Steve Bowden. You wake up the next day inside a pin pod. and you're just like how did i get here i bought this how did this happen oh man yeah and then they cause you to make sure you're okay and not hung over and your ringtone is just pin pod where's the pin pod he described the game as quick and fast he kept going back to those phrasings quick quick are we talking food truck a food truck yes sorry about that okay uh to clarify they were asking him since that's the next game what's it like quick fast quick as a like a bunny one more game kind of thing he talked about just completing tasks as fast as you can serving the orders quick or it will affect your performance you'll get bad ratings and reviews i love bad yelp yeah so that's that's what it sounds like so he kept going back to that outsource speed fast speed felt very uh bsd to me but yeah you know i mean as we've and we've remarked on this a lot. I really do think that Deep Root would be better served to do one of their license themes and generate sales. But that said, I have wondered, ever since I saw the first public discussion after the slides, after the Deep Six went and the Twip piece that came out and showed what all the upcoming titles were, the reaction to Food Truck, in a way, especially if it's a good player, but saying that aside, I wondered if just given the feedback of people while they initially really ridiculed it from the name to the generalized concept to the acknowledgment that it kind of sounds sequel to diner-esque. This is almost like a snakes on a plane situation where it's almost a so bad it's good. It's Nick Cage. It's so bad we're going to buy it. The Nick Cage of pinball themes. It might work. It might actually do really. I actually at this point do think Food Truck will outsell Raza. I'm just going to base off of this description and just the almost ironic hype around food truck that I think it sells more than Raza and for me based on the layout and the looks in gameplay of Raza I'd almost hedge my bet there too I was going to say because I don't want to upset you and the fact that Osler is a better designer than Papadu he is what do you mean by design though? It depends on what you mean by design. The creation of the generalized layout responsibilities of the play field is what I mean by design. See, design to me is more than just angles.
    63:47
    Design to me is the lead creative designer as well. So with respect to that, that would be tough. I mean, responsibility coming up with some of the toy concepts and stuff. Sure, I agree with you. I'd have a hard time arguing if it was just about layout and geometry. So what, you think that a stupid plastic balloon on Circus Voltaire is more interesting than the rising three-layer mech that was on Doctor Who? Okay, fine. You want to throw shots? I'm saying bearing those toys, too. Alcler, I love you, but designing the same fucking ramp on 20 games like Bad Cats and BSD and Mousing Around, and you fill in another Alcler ramp that's the same left ramp hugger all the way around the orbit? I'd rather go with the same lame-ass skill shot thing that Papaduke put on all his games. That is lame. I get that that's lame, but if we're going to throw in shots at Papaduke for that, Ousler designs are Ousler designs.
    64:45
    You know, I think in a night fight, Ousler would win. I think he's better with a blade. Yeah, I don't know what Papaduke would do. He would spend too much time trying to design a weapon, and she'd just get shanked.
    64:57
    That's mean. Mine was nice. And ladies and gentlemen, that was your Joke of the Week. Joke of the Week! And I think Ousler's ramps shoot nicer than Papa Duke's. I do. But they lack the imagination that nobody can bring like John Papa Duke. People don't want imagination. They want fun. I want whimsy. Oh, God. Whimsy is so overrated. Tickle my whimsy, y'all. Book up, book up, book up, book up. did you know the main antagonist in food truck is called the roach how fitting i thought it was the roach coach so no i thought it was a little different but i but not much different yeah i don't think i'm gonna get behind that game it's gonna be way too difficult to truck you're gonna hey if steve talks to you over a couple briskies you're gonna be into that game it might work i love the argument we should continue that at some other time another episode No, I don't want to. I don't like arguing. I do love my Popeye, though. Same fucking left ramp.
    66:05
    Dennis, the people have spoken. They keep on asking me where's my market trends at. I guess it's right here. You know, we didn't pick a bad month to go because there was like no news in February. But boy, there were some market trends!
    66:20
    Oh! full steam ahead baby here comes the market trends that wasn't a song right can I make my own songs up no that's still I can't do that quit we have an agreement in place quit trying to loophole through it there are no loopholes I don't put in loopholes why did I sign with blood ink no you didn't have regular ink available turning up this week is wonka c like a Motherfucker! Wonka CE, baby!
    66:53
    Not that I didn't tell everybody so, but it is at its peak right now. Not to mention it being sold out at JJP. They're going with them. I tried to buy some. I was a little bit too wink. Just a bit outside on that purchase.
    67:10
    But not only that, but it's at the pin side top 100 number one! Wonka CE! Wow! Wow, the medieval madness fans won't stand for that for long. Man, I'm going to light it and back up, Terry. This thing is going into the stratosphere.
    67:27
    You want to know what else is training up? It's JJP's Pirates of the Caribbean. Man. Still? We take a month off, Dennis, and Pirates of the Caribbean is now a $20,000 machine for the LE? Oh, my God. What is going on? That's why we opened the show with a changing landscape discussion.
    67:47
    P-O-T-C-L-E-2-0-K-W-T-P. I think maybe 18 right now for one. Yeah, everybody was listening, Dennis. We were sleeping, they were listening. And I talked about it earlier in this episode, but turning up is that UV Juicy Light Kit for Stranger Things Stern Pinball. The award-winning UV Light Kit. Maybe that's what happened again. Shit! maybe the pinball industry awards is a trend machine in and of itself are you saying that the pinball industry awards slam tilted the uv light kit well not only uv light kit but i think we might have done that for uh for the price increase on g and r g and r yeah i saw yeah i did see an ad where she pointed out that it had won an award and shit loser kids are in the news now we've got slash turning up as the pinball industry wars that was the one flaw with that loser kid article they needed a direct link to their swag shop so they could have sold more hats oh yeah that would have been a good idea and last thing training up this week or this month shit who am I to show me your toppers everybody Boom boom Get your beads out y Toppers are here And they flashing Ho ho ho And they keep going up. You name a topper that's decreased in price and I'll slap your ass. I don't think there are any. All OEM manufactured toppers are on the rise. They continue to be on the rise. So I'm going to continue saying that. But I don't, there was a link there. Didn't Marty Crow go on? Hmm? Didn't Mardi Gras happen here recently? I don't know. That was Mardi Gras. Like one city celebrates that. Yeah. And I've never been to New Orleans.
    69:31
    I'd still look at Fat Tuesday's toppers, if you know what I mean. Come on, baby. Hell yes. Show me your toppers. Yeah, toppers are on fire right now. They're still selling really, really, really high. Wow. Man. But I will say that you're going to see if I'm forecasting here, if I'm pulling a little Eric Stone there on the green screen, we've got the clouded skies coming in the midwest and you're going to see topper prices hold steady a little bit astern is going to be redoing some more of those ovira toppers followed by more teenage mutant ninja turtles toppers also you're going to see oh what's that coming into the cold front oh we got avengers toppers that are also going to be coming back into production a little bit so you're going to be seeing a lot of different toppers still no word on stranger things so stop basket but what goes up must ultimately come down and trending down this week is the lord of the rings it goes against all of our uh pinball industry award stuff because that one well that was a gemmy category yeah it was yeah lord of the rings if you look at the polynomials and they don't lie last time i checked not a lot of love for lord of the rings right this second it always fluctuates it's a market people but no lord of the rings it's not it didn't go up with everything else i'll put it that way it was already pretty high yeah but it's still sitting around six nothing special those things were bumping up to the sevens and yeah that's in the sixes for a nice one so she's down a little bit right now also trending down this week is snow delays and shipment companies in general shit never since i've been in the industry as a business owner have we seen shipment delays and changes quite like this i had games sitting at terminals for a week dennis i don't know how do people buy buy buy if i'm sitting there i i'd sympathize but we had our entire state's vaccine shipment for covid delayed by a week so i don't have a lot of sympathy oh did you guys get hit hard with the snow no not particularly we did get snow but It wasn't, I mean, nothing atypical for the state. We're still beneath the average for the year. But the rest of the nation's impacts impacted us. Oh, I see. Because those vaccines aren't made in Kansas. We get them brought in from McKesson. Poor Texas.
    71:52
    Here's my impersonation of Texas here. Oh, my God, the world is going to end. The sky is falling. My pipes are bursting.
    72:03
    That was Texas, ladies and gentlemen. My impression of Texas was, whew, I still have power. What? $7,000?
    72:14
    Man. Such a quicker joke and better done. No pew-pew Texas joke there? No. I don't know why I think of pew-pew when I think of Texas. They do enjoy firearms. Well, if you are going to be in Texas, you've got to have a fiddle in your band. Also trending down this week is that damn electric magnet spinner.
    72:34
    Sorry, Richie. It's bothering a lot of people. He told people how to fix it. He told people? And if people didn't listen, they can listen to the five minutes you went on about it. Oh, shit.
    72:46
    25 seconds. You're a safe people's machine, sir. No one's listening is going to do that. Oh, they will, too. No one listening owns that game.
    72:56
    And last thing trending down this week, I had a lot of buildup. Sorry, people. You know how that is, Dennis. Go a little bit too long without releasing. my max is about three weeks i'm not gonna lie i turn into a different person at three weeks i'm like the hulk humping furniture and shit also trending down this week is kentucky gun shows legit pew pew what do you uh ever been to a kentucky gun show dennis i've only been to an oklahoma gun show how was it there were a lot of guns well that makes sense to me it's the first time I ever saw a business card that said KKK. Wow.
    73:34
    Okay. I wasn't expecting that turn. So it was like a title? Like an association? Someone at one of the vendor booths had stuff out and they had like cards and Triple K swag. They had a card for the clan.
    73:54
    I don't remember if it was like a memento card or if this person was actually a clan member with cards. Man, I thought Martin dropping a C word on final round was edgy. Clan gear, get your clan gear.
    74:09
    Wow, clan swag. No, this took a weird turn, but no, the Kentucky Gun Show. Me and the missus took our daughter to a Louisville, Kentucky cheer competition.
    74:22
    And in that same convention complex next door, conveniently and oddly, at the same time was a gun show. Why set up a gun show next to a cheer competition? They probably were just both rented space and weren't aware of each other's existence.
    74:40
    Such a weird, weird thing. But I wanted to tell you guys, it's trending down because I'm fine with the gun stuff. You do your thing. Do your thing blue, do your thing red. Keep fighting about it, I don't give a shit. But when it comes to guns, they can kill me. So I'm a little bit, what was the word? I'm a little bit more cautious? Terrified. Terrified is a perfect word, Dennis Greasel. Yes, I'm fucking terrified when people are just toting guns around. And this is why. When you go to a Kentucky gun show, ladies and gentlemen, you don't get normal gun toters. No, no, no, no, no. I had to move because my anxiety got so bad. We were up front. and the amount of people willy-nilly just walking out with these death devices in the air, cocking them. Is that the right verbiage? Cocking? Depending on the gun, sure. They were putting bullets in the fucking thing and doing the cock. Oh, they were loading them? Yes, and then they would put them in their holster that was concealed. So it was just on their hip or on their ankle. and yes and i'm like i i don't know enough about guns nicole but that right there is pointing in the face of somebody so very very irresponsible oh yeah poor poor uh poor safety well people don't have to be trained in safety so and you know what i'm gonna be a little judgy here i'm gonna be a little snooty here because yeah for some of these individuals i do feel like i'm better than them because they came from the depths of fucking Mordor to get these guns. And I won't even describe them. But, wow, different breeds of people indeed. Whew. Scared the shit out of me. Bunch of kids walking in there coming out with guns. What is the world coming to? Man, I'm going to get some angry emails on that one. Probably, man. All right, let's shift over before I get pew-pewed in my ass. Let's go to deals of the week. Bye, bye, bye. Listen, there's not a fucking deal of the week. Sell, sell, sell. There's no deals of the week this week. Everything's up right now, so you're not going to really find a deal out there. So we need to shift over to deals of the... What the fuck are you talking about? The Chinaman is not the issue here, dude.
    77:07
    Deals of the what the fuck this week. We've got a Teenage Mutant Ninja. Fuck me. On Pennside. by the... Why do I always see the word Colonel and think of colon? L Colonel. E-L-C-O-L-O-N-E-L. I think it's L Colonel. Out of Dracula, Georgia. Dracula's brother. Dracula.
    77:31
    This is a new inbox. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro. Trades are considered. Hot damn. As far as I can tell, the Stern Toppers are sold out. Hashtag fake news. not making any claims to be in the know on this one uh this is i'm just reading the description i had to choose this designation because i'm not a distributor but stern warranty applies how do you know we'll advise on registration any guesses as to the price of this crazy product it's a pro uh you're saying crazy price i'll say 6500 keep in mind ladies and gentlemen the msrp on a continued to be produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pro is $59.99.
    78:16
    Get them from Flippin' Out. That's why I went above that because you've put it in this category. And you're still too low! $7,400 is our best offer. Sell, sell, sell! Hopefully he's got some crack. He's smoking it. Another deal of the... What the fuck are you talking? He peed on my rug! He peed on the dude's rug. This one is a friendly deal of the WTF. because it's so negative sometimes about these WTFs that this one's a positive.
    78:45
    And this is for, on Pennside, it's more of a, what the fuck is going on here? It's love and support.
    78:53
    On Pennside, by the username R5G, outside of Reno. Good old Reno. And this makes sense. It is a theme appropriate to that area. It's a casino big six wheel. Boomtown Reno 40 to 60 years old It's a spin wheel for the casinos Okay What the fuck is it? Exactly That's why it's a deal with the what the fuck What is it doing on pin side number one Number two I think it's not probably a bad deal It's 900 bucks Big old wheel Because you have a lot of context about how much those wheels go for I'm just saying the looks of it As an appraiser Maybe I can be an appraiser. Oh, so you're an appraiser. Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Pod Wars. I'm a pinball appraiser. I didn't realize who I was talking to. I am an actual pinball appraiser. But this isn't pinball. Pinball Roadshow. I wouldn't trust you to appraise my car.
    79:53
    You should. Why? Are you really familiar with the Corolla? No, because I look up things. I'm good. I'm good like that. I didn't think you had a Corolla. I do. Some say it is the Hellcat of Toyota Should have went with the Prius I did think about that I did I'm a full blown pinball appraiser Any messages I get from people Not buying games from me Still asking for prices I have a buddy I'll consider him a buddy Because we talk a lot He recently bought a What did he buy? He didn't buy it from me But he wanted to share that he bought it An Avengers I forget what it was. But he was like, hey, man, just wanted to let you know, look what I bought this weekend. And I wanted to message back, I don't fucking care what you bought. So negative. You used to care about this hobby, but now it's all just money, money, money. It was a joke. I was like, congrats, man. It was 50% I cared, and I was glad that he got the penny, 1 in 50% hashtag dead to me. so the big wheel here uh i like that it's got a leather spinner a flapper are we still talking about this do you not get aroused when you hear the sound of these big casino wheels like at a fair or something who's gonna where would you put where's it gonna stop no i don't care stop where's it gonna stop oh like number five did you guys ever have the fairs at your in kansas City where they shake up the mouse in the box and they let him go and whatever the hole he goes down, you put the little quarter on there and you win?
    81:38
    Or is that just Indiana? I'm sure we had that in the 1820s. We still got it. The carnies, these stinky old marble smoking carnies, they have the mice and they have them in a box and they spin the wheel and then they drop the mouse and whatever the hole goes in. That sounds cruel. it is it is okay that was your pinball back baby market trends savory man between the kentucky gun shows and the spinning mice and the flapper it's a good show but let's close it down can we take another month off episode 50 y'all it's in the books we made it we made it to the threshold You and Tony have been on fire lately. Can you let people know how they can reach out to you between now and two weeks from now? Just go to eclecticgamers.com or email eclecticgamerspodcast at gmail.com or go to facebook.com slash eclecticgamerspodcast to reach out. Sensational. How's that t-shirt work coming? Oh, my God. I didn't hear back from the last artist I contacted, and I'm just like, never mind. Maybe we'll wait until episode 200. Hey, listeners, we'll note that I am in negotiations right now with a couple artists for the Pinball Show merch and TPN merch. I did a little of that on our time off, Dennis. They can reach out to us, you lovely listeners, at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. Go visit the website at thepinball.network. That's a lot of fun. Twitter.
    83:16
    I guess. David Dennis manages all that. Still going through new stuff 2021 that we're excited about. and oh big announcement straight down the middle is rebranding did you see the new video no i wouldn't yeah you wouldn't because it's it's airing after we record this but people don't know because we edit it rebranding a little bit over straight down the middle we're dropping the moniker of pinball show gone you're gonna cover more than pinball it's just cold straight down the middle and we are covering more than pinball ladies and gentlemen we've got a video out now an unboxing of we're talking about all of these trends at Flippin' Out Pinball, Nicole and I have branched out past pinball because we see there's a big ceiling on pinball right now only manufacturers can make so much and people are flocking towards arcade machines beautiful arcade machines so we did a video unboxing and set up and gameplay of Big Buck Hunter Reloaded by Raw Thrills so you gotta check that out it has Terminator Salvation built into it I played that and about wrecked my arms. Check that out. Greg and I are going to be sitting down giving our first impressions of that game along with many other games. And while I'm at it, I'm going to mention some of that inventory from flipping out pinball. Oh, yes.
    84:34
    Many other games. That could be your little quote on the side of your van. Many other games. Well, I do have a new promo that's airing, too. I haven't seen that either. See? A lot of big stuff since we've been going. That's what I've been doing. Yeah, I don't really care. I've been doing a lot of it. One of my new phrases is, and I like it, it's make every day a wizard mode. See? Aw. That's a good one. That's decent. Make every day a wizard mode with the best pinball and arcade machines on the planet. That's what the promo says. Love it. And when in doubt, flipping out. That's all on the new promo. It doesn't even rhyme. It's not any good. Are you flipping out? All right. Machine Showcase this week is actually the Big Buck Hunter Reloaded. So check that bad boy out. It's actually cheaper than some pinball machines. I think it's cheaper than all pinball machines. New ones, that is. So that's a lot of fun. We've got Avengers Pro and Premium in stock. TMNT Pro and Premium. I'm trying to surplus stuff for you guys. Stranger Things Pro, Led Zeppelin Pro. We've got Premiums coming in a month, I believe. You've got Hot Wheels? Hot Wheels is in stock. Wow. Yeah. MMR accessories in stock. Avengers side art armor in stock. Stranger Things side art in stock. Banners, banners. Who got them banners? Flippin' out, does. You can still pre-order Alien. And the interested lists, for real, this isn't a ploy to sell you on shit because we don't take deposits for anything on a rumored list or an interested list. But if you are serious about wanting the next Stern LE with us, you've got to get on that list because it is filling up and we're not going to be able to make any guarantees as soon as numbers get a little higher. So do that. Deadpool JP Premium spots are filling up. That is Jurassic Park. And Golden Tee 2021, maybe everybody's favorite arcade game, is arriving in a couple weeks. Oh, my gosh, Dennis. Our website now has like 50 arcade products. Skee-Ball stuff, you see that? The big JP arcade stuff. I haven't looked since you've done your website redesign. Do you have one of those giant carnival wheels that goes thicky, thick, thick, thick? Thicky, thick, thick, thick. We don't have that. I'm sure we deal for ice now. We deal for Raw Thrills. Ice. Immigration.
    86:56
    Well, our children are cage-free, though. I hope they're not free-range. I'll have to call SRS. Free-range chickens, cage-free. Okay. So we get a lot of cool stuff You're touching your kids right now Eating corn off the dirt outside It's very Indiana It is well It fits in with the Kentucky Gun Show People come by and they're like Why are you letting your kids eat out of the dirt And you're just like I'm raising them up to be like the mice in the carny games Or on the Cinderella movie I love that Gus Gus Oh the Gus Gus mouse Gus Gus And he has the corn in it He goes, because he stacks up too much. So yeah, the next couple of videos you guys are going to see from us over the next month or so, you're going to see a really cool JP Jurassic Park arcade unboxing, Golden Tee unboxing. So if you guys want any of that stuff, it's not just pinball now. If you want the coolest pinball, if you want the coolest arcade, if you've got 50 pinball machines, you need a Raw Thrills game, right? You've got to have something to spice it up. My kids and Nicole have been playing that Big Buck Hunter Reloaded. more than anything they've played for the entirety of this year pinball-wise. You know, you could have bought them guns at the gun show and just gone and actually shot deer. Oh, my gosh. I told Nicole, I said, if I die in this parking lot at a Kentucky gun show during a global pandemic and a cheer competition, Dennis Creasel will never let this down, that his co-host died in this situation. I can't, Nicole. So we did. We pulled to the back of the parking lot. I would have enhanced the story, though. I would have been like, you were probably there to sell your under-the-counter iPhones. Oh, yep. You went back to your old ways, wheeling and dealing. I thought it was a showdown.
    88:54
    TPN, last week we had the final round pinball podcast, a couple of them, episodes with myself, yours truly, and Steve Bowden. Oh, I see the juxtaposition there. Oh, you clever bastards. It took one of the most disliked people and one of the most liked people the next week. Thanks, fellas. We had just another pinball podcast, and he chatted with Ray Day. Oh, Joel over there. Uh-huh. Hmm. You may see some more stuff coming from Joel in regard to streaming. Stay tuned for that. A little tease. We got a little flipper sighting on the midweek show. A little flipper. Talking about Led Zeppelin. We had off-the-record submissions. we have Jesse J and the Goat Bump I like that they deemed you the greatest of all time well that was basically an inevitable outcome really given the competition you don't need to snort at that I liked your arguments too I'm great in short bursts I loved your I love your arguments too so that's why I'm terming you the Goat Bump Oh!
    90:04
    Know anybody that ever bombed a goat in high school? Is that an Indiana thing, too? We don't have goats around here. And then we talked about the new show, the Pinball Show Interviews Working Title, episode one with Tom Capera. Check that out. Yep. What's coming up this week on TPN? We may... I've been hearing from Steve and Moppy over there that they're on the search for their second relic. I don't get it. They're puppets, but it's audio only. Thank you. Thank you for that. You're welcome. That's a T-shirt. they should have that to their shirt shop how can they be puppets if we can't see them we're working on some stuff behind the scenes are we even people I don't know maybe we're puppets too how do people know took the blue pill didn't you for Dennis Creasel I'm Zach Manning and stay tuned for a new lifestyle brand feature where you can buy a UV kit for a puzzle and always practice safe pinball and go to flippinoutpinball.com because we added a bunch of shit and they're the coolest toys on the planet. You're going to want them. Bye, bye, bye. Up. So long, everybody. Shalong, everybody.
    91:10
    Shalong. I'm sorry. After that ending, what can I do? Everybody out. Yeah. Rock your body out. Yeah. Everybody out. Rock your body right. Backstreet's back, everybody Rock your body Everybody Rock your body Everybody Backstreet's back, alright