I'm a bird! Hello ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast. This is episode 123. We are going to have another short episode. I wanted to get something out. It's been a while. I've been enjoying my summer. I've been enjoying time with family and friends. I've been doing a lot of pinball. It has been amazing, but I thought, hey, why not? Let's record something. Let's get it done. Today, we're going to talk a little bit about Toy Story after I have watched some videos on it. I have not yet stepped in front of one, but I just wanted to give a few more further impressions. I have talked to several people who have played it, and I think, for the most part, the reviews are mixed. I mean, like anything, and that's fine, and we'll get into that. But I'm really excited today because I want to talk about the rumors that is Venom. So we'll get into that as well. But let's dive right into Toy Story. Let's talk a little bit about it. And if you agree with me, if you disagree with me, don't forget, you can always let me know at poormanspinball.gmail.com Or you can just shoot me a text, 414-828-3739. I'm always happy to talk pinball, discuss pinball, debate pinball, whatever you want. Let's do it. Toy Story. So I really think it is what I thought. And once again, I haven't stepped in front of it yet. And I'm not going to keep poo-pooing it because I haven't. And, you know, all the streams, all the videos have made it seem very easy as far as the rule set is concerned. So that kind of goes along with what I've been saying since day one is that they made this for families. They made this for people with kids. You know, our friend Jeremy Schmitz, our friend Tim Lee, they both got quite a bit of time on it. And they both kind of said the same thing. Hey, it's a great shooter. It's fun. But nowhere near the price. And I think for us pinheads, you know, we're always looking for something great, magical, and wonderful underneath that glass. And, you know, this one just doesn't hit that mark. But once again, for the families, for the kids, you know, if you got a bunch of money and you put this game in your game room, you know, people are going to come over and say, holy cow, that's great. Look at this box of lights. It's amazing. You know, and then just whether it's $8,000, $10,000, or $12,000, you tell somebody who doesn't know anything about pinball how much a pinball costs, and they think you're nuts either way. So, you know what? You can't lose. Enjoy it. Play what you love. I've always said that. There's nothing wrong with that. So, do it. Buy it. Enjoy it. For all you guys who did buy it, gals who bought it, great. That's good. So, you know, I'm not going to spend a whole lot of more time on it because, well, first of all, I want to get in front of one and give you guys maybe a real review on what I think. But I suspect it's going to be the same thing. It's going to be, yep, I played it. It's kind of a cool game, but, you know, it's a new pinball machine. But I just don't think it's worth, you know, the value for me with my collection. You know, but good on Jersey Jack for bringing another one out in the world. There's rumors swirling around that they might be bringing another game out this year yet. Maybe they don't sell quite as many units of this. They get them out the door, they make some money, and they move on to the next thing because they have all these designers now. So hopefully they can be pumping out a few more games, but we'll see how that transpires as we get into the fall here. So let's shift gears a little bit. Let's go to Venom. Lots of rumors this week. Kaneda reported on his Facebook page that he thinks well reported I'm using that term very loosely Chris Chris he put up a post that he thinks Venom is going to be revealed at Comic Con which is happening this weekend I believe so he thinks July 21st at Comic Con it has been confirmed by Stern Pinball they put up a post on their Facebook page that they will have none other than the great, great, great Spider-Man Venom artist, Todd McFarlane. He is the creator of Venom. He is my favorite comic artist. He draws wicked good. He's got this great style about him. And for Venom and Carnage and all these great characters in the Spider-Man universe that he has created, It's very, very cool, very exciting. He is, of course, also the creator of Spawn. So I a little leery on some of this because somebody pointed something out which I had forgotten about because it been so long since it happened But Todd McFarlane and Marvel did not get along for a long time and that why Todd went out on his own and he started his own comic book company Image Comics and that's where Spawn was born and a bunch of other great characters. And I didn't follow Image so much, even though I liked him as an artist. I was kind of a teenager then, doing my own teenager things at that time. But he started that, and like I said, I don't know what the rift was, You can look it up online. I'm sure there's lots of documentation about it. There's been some great documentaries and interviews with Todd over the years. But anyways, he had a pretty big riff with Marvel, so somebody brought that up and said, well, that might not happen. so the rumors go like this one rumor is he could be creating the sculpts for the game because tab mcfarlane um is an artist of all kinds and he over the years has made these amazing toy lines where he does the sculpts himself and and they're really realistic and they're very cool um everyone loves tab mcfarlane toys they're there there's great great great great sculpts so that would be cool to see, but I would really, really, really like to see his art on there. So, you know, people have said both. And maybe it's neither, you know, maybe he's just happens to be at Comic-Con and Stern invited him, but it seems a little unlikely. But, but this just brings my excitement up to about an 11 because I was already looking forward to this game. You know, I heard it was Zombie Eddie on art and we heard it was Brian Eddy. And, you know, I just got Mandalorian and that game I'm having a ton of fun with you know i have a shadow so you know i'm a brian eddy fan i want an attack from mars um i don't want a medieval madness but not because it's not a great game because i'm not going to pay that kind of money for it but um nope brian eddy fan so if he gets you know if he is the designer on this in fact that would be amazing so uh we'll have to wait and see on that but back to you know todd mcfarland i don't know um the other kind of rumor because stern also mention that Ozzy Osbourne is going to be at, um, at the, at the Stern booth as well. Um, cause I guess Todd McFarlane and Ozzy just collaborated on, um, something here recently. So most recently Todd McFarlane did an art package for Ozzy Osbourne called patient number nine. Um, one of his new, um, albums. It was an alternate cover. Um, you know, just kind of some cool, cool Todd McFarlane art. You can go check it out. Patient number nine. Um, so, you know, like I said, what they're doing with Stern, you know, who knows it is, it is very interesting that they will be joining Stern, um, at that booth. Um, maybe, maybe they just all had to pool their money together to afford the booth. I don't know. Maybe Stern cheaped out and said, hey, you want to go halfsy on this booth? I don't think that's the case, but just like I said, it's a little odd. And then somebody made the joke to me about Ozzy. Shit, Ozzy doesn't even know where he is half the time. That's just going to be great if he was doing call-outs, because that's kind of the rumor, and that's what people have been saying, that Ozzy was going to be doing call-outs for this game. So, you know, once again, none of it could be true. All of it could be true. The reason I bring all this up is, A, because it's great pinball news, but more importantly because I'm really excited about all that. You know, I'm not a huge Ozzy Osbourne fan, but, you know, I do like Black Sabbath. I like Ozzy. I've, of course, listened to him over the years, all this great classic rock from the 70s and 80s. So, no, it could be cool if, you know, a new pin gets announced. Once again, it's always a great day, always a great week. So I'm really, really kind of looking forward to that either way. And I'm on the list for a Venom Premium. you know, I'm getting one regardless, but this would just be the icing on the cake. So, you know, a lot of people have been poo-pooing it because they say, you know, Stern has this formula, which, yes, they do. It's why they're successful, you know, and people poo-poo it and say, well, you know, they go from, you know, dad rock to comic book to movie, and then they just kind of repeat. and um you know and i haven't tracked it that closely where i mean i can obviously go back and see when when everything was released but it is kind of their thing they you know they do a comic book and then they do a dad rock and then they might do a movie like jurassic park and then they go back and they do another rock pin you know you know like this year it was you know it was rush and then uh prior to that was mandalorian which isn't quite comic but it's a you know another Disney properties. So it's kind of like, you know, Disney dad rock, um, movie, Disney dad rock movie. But you know what? Once again, until people stop buying, until people change their habits, you know, Stern doesn't have any incentive to change it. And I wouldn't, if I was them, I mean, this formula works, we get so upset and we say, Oh, that sucks. Maybe, you know, you know, you just don't like comics. So you're like, Oh, every second or third pen is a comic pen And that sucks Well you know there there still lots of people who are comic fans who are buying them or you know Hey I you know these dad rock bands are so seventies and eighties Well guess what Other than Led Zeppelin I mean they selling a ton of them So, you know, Rush is in stock, but you know, I'm sure they still got rid of quite a few of those. So, um, got rid of, you know, sold and made lots of money. Um, so, you know, that is what it is. And then they'll come back. Maybe they'll do an Ozzy pin. I don't know. Um, but I'm sure they'll saw a lot of those too. So, um, yep. You guys can't always get what you want, you know, it's Rolling Stones. Um, so yeah, that's, that's kind of my take on that. Um, you know, it's, it's like, like I said, always exciting to get a new pin. I'm, I'm, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm still looking forward to my Godzilla premium, which I hope they're running. They said they're not running anymore this year, which is just crazy. I'm sure they're going to sneak some in somewhere. I missed out on the July run again, so I don't know when it's coming. I hope it's sooner than later. I played in a tournament last night with Rachel. Check out the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast fan page. Rachel and I had a great time at Daryl's house. Tribe pledge member, Daryl. We had an amazing time. Thank you, Amanda and Daryl, for hosting. I was in first place for about half the tournament. It was a flipper frenzy. So for you guys who don't know, that's basically you play one other person and then if you win, you keep playing. And then if you lose, you go into a queue where there were four people in the queue at all times. And then once another game ends, the first person in the queue goes, plays a game. So it's, you know, you're just playing for three hours and it's just as many games as you can get in and it keeps track of wins and losses against the other person. Um, and I was, I was playing really well last night. like really well. I didn't, I think my first, I won my first six, six or seven games. Then I took a loss, um, on Godzilla premium actually. Um, then I took two losses on an EM machine and then I took another loss on Godzilla premium. So Godzilla premium and this one EM machine, um, were four of my six losses. So anyways, I was playing really well, doing great. And then, um, you know, I said I lost a couple, but I was still playing well. Then I had a few more wins. Then I was sitting in third place, and we're down to the last 30 minutes. So I'm squarely in third place. I'm doing well. I'm feeling good. There's only 30 minutes left. Then, you know, I took another loss. And then I'm still in third place, and there's five minutes left on the timer. And I'm like, okay, if I can just wait this out, I'll be okay. Well, another match ended. So I had to play. This was my second time on Godzilla Premium. And I just shit the bed. So because of that loss, it bumped me down to fifth. And there were, I think, 20 people there. So, I mean, it was still a great outing. I had an amazing record. Like I said, I think I only took six losses and 14 wins, I believe. So, you know, I did good. I fought to the end. Rachel ended up taking second. Michael Ryman from Green Bay took first Daryl took third He's the one that if he would have lost I would have probably still been in third place I think was how it was going to work But he won his last match So you know that's pinball baby That's what happens But still an exciting time Great time This was the tournament I won last time So I was really excited about that And to get back But like I said I played well And had a couple of really amazing games On Game of Thrones and Metallica. Metallica I put up a whole bunch of points, got to crank it up, so that was cool. And then Game of Thrones, I just played lights out in two different games, just destroyed it. So I was really, really excited about all that because I'm just getting to be a better player because I'm playing a lot. I am practicing literally every day, having fun with my new life. Like I said, I've been enjoying the summer, but I've also been playing a lot, a lot, a lot of pinball. Special shout-out, tribe member Eric and his wife and Jeremy Schmitz joined us for my birthday on Friday. We went out, distillery tour, had dinner, went to UpDown, played a bunch of games, had fun. My wife was there. Eric's wife was there. We just had a great, great, great time. Got really drunk, just an amazing time. Eric bought me lit frames and surprised me with it when we got home and I stumbled into the house. He's like, here, here's your birthday present. So that's up on the page as well, poor man's pinball fan page. Pinball people are the best people. Eric, special shout out again, man. It was so great hanging out with you. Unfortunately, Ian and his wife couldn't make it. They had other obligations, which is fine, but we did miss you. We had an amazing time. I hoping to get Ian on here again It been a while I think you guys could use a little Ian My little short episodes are fun for me to do but I would really really really just love the camaraderie again I'm going to get Jonathan Hall back on here because he's a fan favorite. We'll get Rachel. Don't forget to listen to Tribe Multiball with Rachel and Tim. They just released another amazing episode this week, which I need to listen to with the Rotters, Jasper, and Madison Rotter. They are amazing people. They are tribe members. So that was a really cool, I heard it was an amazing episode that, like I said, I will listen to today or tomorrow. So don't forget to check that out. Flip N Out Pinball, don't forget to support Zach and Nicole. They are premier sponsors of the Poor Man's Pinball Podcast and the Poor Man's Pinball Network. Doc Finlay, pinballprices.com. He is doing that all for free out of the goodness of his heart. Go to pinballprices.com click the donate button buy Doc Finlay a beer once again this is episode 123 wow 16 minutes I am getting so good at these so good Kaneda I'm coming for you buddy coming for you Twippy number one here we go yeah just love it thanks guys thanks for tuning in poormanspinball at gmail.com send me some feedback we are inducting another tribe member I think next week. So I'm going to check with some of the tribe. We've been working with some pledges, doing some different things. So I want to keep the ball rolling on that. So if you want to be a tribe member, email us, poormanspinball at gmail.com. Let us know. 414-828-3739. Send a text. Tell me you love me. Tell me you hate me. Whatever. It all works. Oh, also another shameless plug. Orbital Albert. Don't forget. He is now a member of the Poor Man's Pinball Network. So if you've been missing him, which I know it's a small community and I know you know how to find him, but, you know, he's part of the Poor Man's Pinball Network. He's been also posting on our page, you know, so you can find him as part of the network and support them as well. You know, him and Rachel and Tim and people have been doing some great and wonderful content for us. So I cannot thank you enough for keeping this network alive because I have not been producing nearly as much content as I should. But we will continue. J-Hall sucks at pinball on Twitch. He's been streaming now for a few weeks, I think almost a month. Go subscribe to him. We got a contest. We're trying to get him some subscribers. So J-Hall sucks at pinball. That's S-U-X. Go support him. We did a couple of little roundtables. We did. He's been just streaming at his house with some of his great games. So just, you know, we appreciate the support. Keep going strong, and we will see you next time. Millions of people living a smoke Maybe it's not too late To learn how to love and forget how to hate And the wounds not healing Life's a busy day I'm going up the rail, got a crazy train. I'm going up the rail, got a crazy train. I know that things are going wrong for me. You gotta listen to my words Yeah guitar solo That's what we need.