Episode 328: The Pinball Profile Top 10 Most Intriguing People of 2021

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·13m 48s·analyzed·Jan 14, 2022

Analysis

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TL;DR

Pinball Profile Top 10 of 2021 celebrates tournament organizers, competitors, and homebrew designers shaping the community.

Summary

Jeff Teolis presents Pinball Profile's annual Top 10 Most Intriguing People of 2021, honoring individuals who shaped the pinball community during a challenging pandemic year. The list includes tournament organizers (Jim Belsito, Eric Thorne, Tobias Wagerman), competitive players (Anna Neal, Carlos de la Cerda, Wayne Tedder), industry figures (Tim Arnold, Mark Mandeltort), and homebrew designers who represent the future of pinball. The episode emphasizes gratitude for first responders, celebrates the opening of the new Pinball Hall of Fame on the Las Vegas Strip, and highlights the growing influence of smaller manufacturers (Haggis, Spooky, Multimorphic) and emerging homebrew talent.

Key Claims

Wayne Tedder set a Guinness World Record by playing Stern Pinball's The Beatles for 48 straight hours in October 2021 at Player One Amusements in Toronto, raising money for Path of Play.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis directly reports this achievement as #5 on the list; described as 'something no one else has ever done'; previous record was 30 hours.
The new Pinball Hall of Fame relocated to the Las Vegas Strip across from Mandalay Bay, is 25,000 square feet (double the previous size), and is open seven days a week.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis describes Tim Arnold's achievement as #9; provides specific location, size, and operational details.
Mark Mandeltort of Marco Specialties passed away peacefully in his sleep on December 19, 2021.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis reports as #8 on the list; describes Mandeltort's legacy in machine preservation and sourcing obscure parts.
Anna Neal won the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational in 2021, earning a brand new Avengers Infinity Quest machine.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis reports as #7; also notes she was 2019 Pinball Expo Women's Champ and came second in 2021.
Haggis Pinball announced five classic Bally titles to be remade and reworked, with Fathom revisited first with new code released in 2021.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis mentions this as part of #2 ranking (smaller company owners); Damien Harton of Haggis Pinball credited.
Spooky Pinball released two titles in 2021 (Halloween and Ultraman), both selling out instantly despite increased production.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis reports as part of #2 ranking; attributes to Charlie Emery of Spooky Pinball.
Multimorphic has 14 different games available with user-created games in development; brought on Colin McAlpine and Bowen Kerins as expert player consultants for a new licensed game.
high confidence · Jeff Teolis reports as part of #2 ranking; Jerry Stellenberg of Multimorphic credited.
American Pinball announced the American Dream Contest at Expo for selecting a homebrew designer for full-scale production, with entries including Ryan McQuaid's Sonic the Hedgehog spinball and Zach Fry's poker machine.

Notable Quotes

“As we look forward to 2022, there are new pins like Rush, many more to follow, and hopefully we'll be getting back together again soon.”
Jeff Teolis @ Opening — Signals Rush as a confirmed 2022 release; reflects post-pandemic optimism for community events.
“It absolutely amazes me the time, the money, and sacrifices that people like Jim Belcido do to give back to our community.”
Jeff Teolis @ Discussing Jim Belsito (#4) — Emphasizes community impact of tournament organizers managing logistical challenges (Museum of Pinball facility loss, relocation to Riverside Convention Center).
“If you think of some of the big tournaments we've lost over the years, like Pinburg and the Buffalo Pinball Summer Open, at least Tobias, Christian, and Eric are filling the competitive void in some aspect.”
Jeff Teolis @ Discussing #3 (tournament directors) — References historically significant tournaments that are no longer held; suggests multi-day regional events (Bulls and Balls, Boras Open, District 82) are filling the gap.
“The future looks bright for these three companies as they make their niche into the pinball market share.”
Jeff Teolis @ Summarizing #2 (smaller manufacturers) — Reflects optimism about market differentiation and viability of non-Stern manufacturers (Haggis, Spooky, Multimorphic).
“It's people like this that are the future of pinball, and maybe they are the most passionate of all of us. They are the homebrew designers.”
Jeff Teolis @ Introducing #1 ranking — Positions homebrew designers as the most important emerging force in pinball; highlights passion and innovation as defining characteristics.
“I have always been amazed at the hours and hours of effort these designers put in, and then to see their end result is fantastic.”
Jeff Teolis @ Discussing homebrew designers (#1) — Emphasizes the time investment and craftsmanship involved in homebrew machine creation.
“We might just see similar paths for today's homebrew specialists. Jack Danger got into it with his Deadflip pinball machine. Then the next thing you know, he's made a Jurassic Park pin and now works for Stern.”

Entities

Jeff Teolisperson Jim BelsitopersonTim ArnoldpersonMark MandeltortpersonAnna NealpersonCarlos de la CerdapersonWayne Tedderperson

Signals

?
business_signal: Three smaller manufacturers (Haggis, Spooky, Multimorphic) gained significant market share and influence in 2021; characterized as 'niche' but substantial operations.
high · Ranked as #2 on list; Jeff Teolis notes these companies 'made great strides' with Haggis expanding factory/staff during lockdown, Spooky releasing two sellout titles, Multimorphic growing to 14 games.
?
event_signal: Walter Day and Emoto Harney created Superstars of 2021 trading card series featuring hundreds of community members and their machines, providing morale boost during pandemic.
high · Ranked #10; Jeff Teolis notes this was 'nice gesture to highlight some of them' and describes positive reception (example: Julie Dorsers' enthusiasm about Wonder Woman card).
?
competitive_signal: Multi-day tournament events (Bulls and Balls, Boras Open, District 82) filling competitive void left by discontinued major events (Pinburg, Buffalo Pinball Summer Open).
high · Jeff Teolis explicitly states these new events are 'filling the competitive void'; notes that to reach top 50 world rankings, players must attend these major weekends.
?
event_signal: IFPA Open championship displaced from Museum of Pinball in Southern California and relocated to Riverside Convention Center for February 2022 due to museum closure and machine liquidation.
high · Jeff Teolis documents this as major logistical challenge managed by Jim Belsito, Carl D'Angelo, Bob Matthews; Belsito providing 60-70 machines for relocated event.
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market_signal: Multimorphic hired expert competitive players Colin McAlpine and Bowen Kerins as consultants for new licensed game rule set development.

Topics

Community recognition and impactprimaryHomebrew designers and career pathwaysprimaryTournament organization and competitive pinballprimarySmaller manufacturers vs. established playersprimaryPandemic's impact on pinball events and communitysecondaryMachine preservation and restorationsecondaryStreaming and digital engagementsecondaryPinball Hall of Fame expansionsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Predominantly celebratory and grateful tone throughout, honoring individuals who contributed to community resilience during pandemic. Strong emphasis on passion, dedication, and future optimism. Only minor sad note is the passing of Mark Mandeltort, which is treated with respect and gratitude for his legacy.

Transcript

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Welcome to this special year-end episode of Pinball Profile. My name is Geoff Teels. You can find everything on pinballprofile.com. All past episodes, subscriptions, and more. We're on Twitter and Instagram at Pinball Profile. You can find us on Facebook and email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. As we look forward to 2022, there are new pins like Rush, many more to follow, and hopefully we'll be getting back together again soon. Before that, let's take a look back at 2021. It's my annual tradition of highlighting those in our hobby that have caught our attention over the past 12 months. It's the Pinball Profile top 10 list of the most intriguing people for 2021. Yet another difficult year for so many people as the pandemic continues with lockdowns, health concerns, supply issues, inflation, and struggles for a lot of our family and friends. My wish is that 2022 will turn out to be a great year for all, and my hope is to see many of you at a pinball event near you. Through all these challenges, we've seen some individuals shine bright in 2021. Again, a massive thank you to the first responders and essential workers who gave so much to give back to their communities. Thank you from everybody listening to Pinball Profile for your care and service to others. Also, I must mention how proud I was of the show organizers and tournament directors who made sure we were safe at these events when they opened up once again this past August with the IFPA endorsements. I went to a few in the past few months, and never once was I concerned about safety. In my top 10 list, the only rule I have is that you cannot appear in back-to-back years. That's so we can highlight different individuals year-to-year. Here's my list from 2020 in alphabetical order. Carl D'Python Anghelo, Steve Epstein, Laura Fraley, the IFPA Women's Advisory Board, Norma Jennings, Escher Lefkoff, Kevin Martin, Eric Meunier, Eric Stone, and Søren Rorhe. So now let's get to the Pinball Profile Top 10 Most Intriguing People of 2021. Note, there is no way my list will match your top 10 list, but I'll explain why these people caught my attention. Here they are in no particular order. 10. I don't need to tell you that 2021 was difficult, but one person was able to put a lot of smiles on people's faces. Walter Day and his superstars of 2021 trading cards. We all know Walter as the founder of Twin Galaxies, which tracks world records for gaming, but with the recruitment help of Emoto Harney, Walter was able to grab hundreds of different everyday people in the community and their unique pinball machines. These images of people and their game were immortalized on the Superstars of 2021 series. It was a very nice gesture to highlight some of them on a trading card. I know the first time I saw Julie Dorsers, months after lockdown, she was thrilled to give me her Wonder Woman trading card. I'm sure she wasn't alone. Thanks on behalf of many to Walter Day. Number 9. Pinball couldn't be bigger in 2021. Literally. I mean, you couldn't miss pinball if you tried. And it's not just the sign that says Pinball. It's the new Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas, thanks to Tim Arnold. A massive undertaking to move to the strip with more visibility and size 25 square feet open seven days a week it twice the size of the previous one and you cannot miss it It right across from Mandalay Bay. Think of how many pictures you've seen with the new iconic pinball sign. Any pinhead who's been to Vegas certainly has posted it on their Facebook page. Tim Arnold is a character indeed, but the former operator has come a long way since his days in Lansing, Michigan. It was a large undertaking to make this move to the Strip, but after a few bumps and delays, Tim was able to see his dream come true. Even with all the things you can do in Las Vegas, Tim and his new Pinball Hall of Fame may get more travelers and tourists into our hobby, and that can only be a good thing. Number 8. As the Pinball Hall of Fame showcases a large collection, many people like you and me have been able to maintain machines thanks to one man, the late Mark Mendeltort of Marco Specialties. On December 19th, Mark passed away peacefully in his sleep, but his legacy will live on forever. For Mark, pinball was a pastime and a lifestyle. He wanted machines to be preserved for generations so new people could discover them and enjoy them just like Mark did. His company and the many staff that he gave pinball careers to inspired thousands of people to fix games and prevented many machines from the scrapyard. Mark was up for any challenge to find an obscure part that would help bring a machine back to life. You'll hear more about Mark, his passion and life on the next Pinball Profile when some of his staff and family join me for a fitting tribute. Number 7. For more than half of 2021, we weren't able to have IFPA-sanctioned events. Competitive players long for those matches. There's just this great adrenaline that comes with playing pinball against others. But Stern Pinball found a way to have a competition we could enjoy from our homes as we watched online and eventually ESPN. It was the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational and the winner was our number seven on this list, Anna Neal. People in Chicago know about Anna's skills, but this event and stream let others know what many have known for quite some time. Anna can play with the best of them. She won the Pinball Expo's Women's Champ in 2019 and almost repeated this year, coming in second. But for the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational, she went up against seven others on an Avengers Infinity Quest machine and had to compete tasks faster than her opponents. When it was all said and done, Anna was the last person standing and for her efforts, she won a brand new inbox Avengers machine. You can catch Anna on Twitch on Hot Nudge along with Rebecca Hinsdale and Jane Verwise. Speaking of streaming, that brings us to number six on the Pinball Profile Top 10 Most Intriguing People of 2021. And no one streams more than this person. As the Chungus Army will confirm, Carlos de la Cerda from Ohio is the undisputed marathon streamer. 8, 9, 10 hours? No problem for Lazelos. You'll see a large variety of different games, all while blowing them up for some memorable high scores and VODs. It's not easy to stream for that long. The body needs energy. That's where a little dancing helps, some great music, and not to mention some grippos with plastic fork in hand. As far as playing outside of streams, Carlos cracked the top 25 in the world with great runs at Pinball Expo, Pinsonati, and District 82. Good chance he's on Twitch right now, so go there and throw him some subs and some bits, because Carlos deserves every accolade he gets. Number 5 Sure 10 hours of streaming is impressive but that is child play compared to our number 5 He a name you might not recognize but he did something no one else has ever done He Wayne Tedder of Brampton Ontario Back in October at Player One Amusements outside of Toronto, Wayne set the world record for the longest playing of pinball of the same game. Wayne played Stern Pinball's The Beatles for 48 straight hours. It earned him the Guinness World Record. This was all captured on Twitch on the Playroom Experiment. Wayne also raised money for Path of Play to put a pinball machine into a school to be used by kids with special needs. In case you were wondering what the old world record was, it was 30 straight hours. Wayne did 48. Congratulations once again, you crushed it. Number four is not only a world champion, but he also holds the IFPA World Championship, thanks to him and others. And let's just say with the pandemic and other factors, it has not been an easy year. But that's no problem for Jim Belsito. After a 2020 successful edition of the Open, pinball's newest major, 2021 presented problems like no other. The January Indisc event was cancelled as the world was shut down, but then later in the year, the home of It Never Drains in Southern California saw its home base, the Museum of Pinball, unsuccessfully make the move to Palm Springs and eventually sell off their entire catalogue of machines and lease out their facility. So now Indisc and the IFPA Open didn't have a home. Thanks to Jim, Carl D'Python Anghelo, Bob Matthews, and others, a new home was found at the Riverside Convention Center. The event takes place this February 3rd to 6th, but because it's a convention center, that means pinball machines are needed. Jim is going to have 60, 70 machines on site for the many tournaments, including machines he has had as earners on location. It absolutely amazes me the time, the money, and sacrifices that people like Jim Belcido do to give back to our community. Number three, as Indus grows and grows, others have taken note of this massive slew of tournaments on one weekend. So the next person to identify in the Pinball Profile Top 10 Most Intriguing People, it's the Whopper-Hungry tournament directors and organizers. It's no easy task to put on a set of tournaments, make sure the games are in order, get the volunteers, the techs, media, etc. to make these events happen. We saw what Jimmy Nails has been doing with the multi-day Brisbane Masters, But now you can add three more TDs to this Whopperfest list. Germany Country Director Tobias Wagerman and his Bulls and Balls events, Boras Open TD Christian Holmsten of Sweden, and Eric Thorne of District 82 in Wisconsin. These three men put on multi-day events with the world's top players in attendance. The grind of these tourneys was a real endurance test, not only to play in them, but to register before they sold out instantly. If you think of some of the big tournaments we've lost over the years, like Pinburg and the Buffalo Pinball Summer Open, At least Tobias, Christian, and Eric are filling the competitive void in some aspect. In fact, if you want to be a top 50 player in the world, you better get to their big tournament weekends. Number two. If I don't mention him, there's a good chance he'll possibly kill me. Martin Robbins. He's not on the list, but his boss is. Damian Hartin of Haggis Pinball makes the list, as does Charlie Emery of Spooky Pinball and Gerry Stellenberg of Multimorphic. These three owners of the quote-unquote smaller pinball companies, although really there's nothing small about their operations, they have made great strides in 2021. First with Damien building a new factory hiring more staff facing the world longest lockdown and creating a buzz with not only Celts being shipped but the announcement of five classic Bally titles to be remade and reworked Soon we see Fathom revisited with new code out in the wild, plus more classic Bally games to be announced, as well as a new original machine. The Emery family went big in 2021. They gave us two titles with Halloween and Ultraman, both selling out instantly, even with their increased amount of games available. And Multimorphic continues to grow. They have 14 different games you can play with users creating new ones as we speak. As Multimorphic prepares for a new licensed game this year, they brought on two expert players for consulting in Colin MacAlpine and Bowen Kerins. Those two will definitely help make the rules even better than they already are. The future looks bright for these three companies as they make their niche into the pinball market share. Before we get to number one, let's recap the pinball profile top 10 most intriguing people of 2021. Number 10, Walter Day and his superstars of 2021 pinball trading cards. 9. Tim Arnold, owner of the Pinball Hall of Fame in Las Vegas 8. The late Mark Mandeltort, founder of Marco Specialties 7. Anna Neal, winner of the Stern Heads Up Pinball Invitational 6. Top player and marathon streamer Carlos de la Cerda 5. Guinness World Record holder Wayne Tedder 4. Indus co-tournament director Jim Belcido 3. The Whopper Hungry tournament directors and organizers Number two, the quote unquote smaller pinball company owners. That brings us to our final spot on the top 10 list. This one was easy for me. It's people like this that are the future of pinball, and maybe they are the most passionate of all of us. They are the homebrew designers. I have always been amazed at the hours and hours of effort these designers put in, and then to see their end result is fantastic. You've heard me talk to people on this show in the past, like Ed Owens regarding his Ghost in the Shell machine, or Mark in City with his Nightmare Before Christmas pin. And we all remember when Keith Elwin turned his old Archer homebrew into a resume for Stern Pinball. I think it's safe to say that was a success. The same could be said for Scott Denisey when he created Total Nuclear Annihilation before Spooky put it into production. We might just see similar paths for today's homebrew specialists. Jack Danger got into it with his Deadflip pinball machine. Then the next thing you know, he's made a Jurassic Park pin and now works for Stern. Mark Seiden worked on his Metroid homebrew pinball machine for years to rave reviews, and now he's a designer at Jersey Jack Pinball. Scott Gullix has done a couple of homebrews. First it was Wrath of Olympus, then he created Legends of Valhalla, and now it's a mass-produced hit for American Pinball. Speaking of American Pinball, they announced at Expo their American Dream Contest in which a future homebrew designer may be selected for full-scale production. Lots to choose from, including Ryan McQuaid's popular Sonic the Hedgehog spinball, or Zach Fry's unique poker machine. Who knows, but it is great to see new minds share their vision of pinball. We hope you enjoyed the list. This has been Pinball Profile, which you can find on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at pinballprofile. Go to pinballprofile.com for all your subscriptions and past episodes, and you can email us, pinballprofile at gmail.com. I'm Jeff Teolis. R.I.P. Check it out.