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Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 26 - Godzilla Update and Stern trollin' ALL OF US

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Jul 20, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Godzilla mods, Stern code updates, and Gary Stern's marketing trolling at licensors conference.

Summary

The Pinball Junk Drawer hosts discuss Godzilla pinball mod deliveries, automatic code updates on Stern machines, and Stern's trolling marketing at a licensors conference where Gary Stern was photographed near Barbie and Pokémon exhibits, sparking community speculation about future licensed machines. The episode is primarily casual banter with minimal substantive pinball news.

Key Claims

  • Stern is planning or considering a Barbie pinball machine based on Gary Stern being photographed at a licensors conference near a Barbie exhibit

    low confidence · Hosts interpret Gary Stern's presence at Barbie exhibit as intentional marketing troll to spark community speculation, but this is speculation about Stern's intent, not confirmation of a game in development

  • A Godzilla King pinball mod (3D printed gold figure) was ordered six months prior and arrived with tacky spray paint that never fully dried

    high confidence · Host describes personal experience with mod delivery and ongoing drying issues

  • Stern machines with Wi-Fi cable support automatic background code downloads, with notification prompts when ready to apply

    high confidence · Host describes personal experience with automatic Godzilla code update system on their machine

  • A recent Stern code update patch was released shortly after the initial update, suggesting the first version had issues

    high confidence · Host received patch email after initial update announcement, took approximately 20 minutes to download plus additional time for installation

Notable Quotes

  • “Stern, you're so evil... they're just sitting there watching and laughing, going, 'I told you they would buy it.'”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ ~mid-episode — Characterizes Stern's marketing strategy as intentional trolling of the community to generate hype

  • “He's been in the business drunk as hell at 90, but he knows what he's doing.”

    Chris Craft Brew Sally @ ~mid-episode — Acknowledges Gary Stern's marketing acumen despite his age and personality

  • “I ordered it like six months ago. I'm like, oh my God, when's this thing gonna dry?”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ ~early episode — Describes quality control issue with Godzilla mod delivery

  • “I have trust issues. So whenever it's—I turn it on when I know there's a new update, then I open the service menu and I watch it.”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ ~opening section — Describes generational mistrust of automatic updates stemming from dial-up era experiences

Entities

Gary SternpersonStern PinballcompanyGodzillagameFoghorn LeghornpersonChris Craft Brew SallypersonDon MarshallpersonSean DixonpersonJeremy Packerperson

Signals

  • ?

    code_update: Stern Godzilla pinball received automatic Wi-Fi code update with subsequent patch released shortly after initial rollout

    high · Host describes receiving initial update notification, then patch email shortly after, suggesting initial version had issues. Update took ~20 minutes to download plus additional installation time.

  • ?

    product_concern: Godzilla King 3D-printed gold mod arrived with tacky spray paint finish that failed to dry after six months of storage

    high · Host ordered mod six months prior, received in tacky condition, remains sticky despite extended curing time. Host contemplating installation despite incomplete drying.

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball community engages in active speculation and hype generation based on Gary Stern's public appearance near licensed IP exhibits

    high · Hosts describe community reaction to Gary Stern being photographed near Barbie and Pokémon exhibits at licensors conference, with community members assuming these signal upcoming licensed machines.

  • ?

    industry_signal: Gary Stern actively engaged in marketing strategy at licensors conferences, using intentional ambiguity to generate community hype

    high · Hosts characterize Gary Stern's appearance at exhibits as deliberate trolling to spark speculation, noting he benefits from community hype while avoiding direct commitments.

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Positive sentiment toward Gary Stern and Stern Pinball's continued engagement and strategic thinking despite his age

    medium · Hosts express relief and appreciation that Gary Stern remains actively involved: 'I was glad that he was still there and doing stuff. You know, I worried about him just drifting off and not being involved anymore.'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.058

0:00
Now who's responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person? I say, I say, I say, pay attention now, boy. This is, of course, Foghorn Leghorn presents the Pinball Junk Drawer. You all asked for it. I say, you all asked for it. Now you're going to get it. Boy, oh boy, are you going to get it. Go, I say, go away, boy. You bother me.
0:25
Oh my gosh, and we are back. my name is Foghorn Leghorn and with me as always Craft Brew Sally and this is We Suck at Video Games wait no it isn't this is what is this? The Pinball Junk Drawer I did that on purpose just to promo a new show that we have on this network the Poor Man's Pinball Network it's called We Suck at Video Games and it's all about Wii games it's fun we have a lot of Wii games so why not get it? Wii that's the joke anyway back to the pinball world uh what what do we got going on this week not not a whole bunch but not a lot of news in the pinball mostly some godzilla stuff yeah godzilla stuff's always good stuff we got uh they had it was weird they had like the download i'm still not sure how that works like we have our machines that are our stern wi-fi cable we have them to set to automatic download so I'm sure it's going in the background but I have trust issues so whenever it's I turn it on when I know there's a new update then I open the service menu and I watch it I'm sure I could just be playing and then all of a sudden I'm sure do you want to restart I did notice that yesterday and I was like okay now I know yes but I would probably do the same thing though I know I'm just I'm old what can I tell you like young people know that things are going on the background and it doesn't bother them. There was a time when that wasn't so automatic. No. And we have trust issues forever. Dial up. It was dial up. Some of us lost computer systems when an update came along because systems weren't exactly legal. But anyway.
2:05
Also dial up. Mostly dial up. You don't know what that is. Ask your grandparents. See if your grandparents still have a disc around that says free minutes on some AOL bullshit. What is it? But I... Anyway, yeah. You'll find it on the internet. Don't look it up. You don't need to go down that rabbit hole. It was nonsense, and you're in a better world right now. So first they said there's an update, and I said, yay. And I didn't do it that night. And then I saw an email, whoopsie doodle, there's a patch to the update. And I went, huh, that means something didn't work right. So I guess I'm glad I waited. But yeah, it went through, no problem. Took like 20 minutes or so. And we have a pretty fast internet. But that was just the download. And then you said it took time for it to actually apply it. Yeah, because it does this install. Then it does the, hey, let me double check to make sure this is installed.
Barbie
product
Pokémonproduct
Project Pinballorganization
Little Shop of Gamescompany
Harpoon Brewerycompany
Carob Brewingcompany
  • ?

    rumor_hype: Community speculation about Barbie and Pokémon as potential future Stern pinball licenses based on Gary Stern's presence at exhibits

    medium · Hosts interpret Gary Stern's appearance near Barbie and Pokémon exhibits as intentional marketing bait, noting community will speculate about both IPs despite no official announcements.

    • 2:55
    It's weird. I don't even know what this one did yet. I mean, I didn't even play it after I did the install because we were running out to see Guardians of the Galaxy 3 because I hadn't gotten kicked in the nuts this week. I don't even have nuts and I got kicked in them. Yes. Thanks, Guardians. Didn't really want to feel good about life or animals or my heart was broken. So good job on you. Not a terrible movie, just a little rough if you like animals. So that's good that now it's updated. I do, I love that system. Rather than trying to like download it from the internet and then taking a flash drive.
    3:29
    And then that, I remember the one time, you remember the Woe Nelly incident? I do. Oh my God. I downloaded it and I know it, it had the readme file in it. It even said, take this out. I'm so dumb. I was like, okie doke. And I plugged it in. I had to contact Stern. They had to send me another flash drive. They sent it to Curly, didn't they? Man, I don't remember what they did. I had to, like, reinstall things because there was a readme file on the flash drive. I was like, oh my. And that's part of the trust issues. You might not have a pinball machine as soon as... Old people and technology. Old people and technology is a bad mix, everyone. I know, I am it. So now it goes, everything's great. thanks for playing and i go thank you automatic systems so that's up and running we we have we got our art blades thank you very much marshall big shout out to marshall at big little shop of games little shop loots florida or lots depends who who you're asking loots florida yes little shop of games he is the man in florida if you need anything you you get a hold of marshall at little shop of games because Marshall's an awesome dude. Yeah, he is. So they showed up quickly I did ask I do this funny thing Anytime I order anything in the notes section I said I always say please ship with love and stickers So it always an interesting thing I've gotten sometimes usually nothing. Sometimes they'll put like a fake kiss on the paper on the invoice. That's funny. I like those stickers arrive sometimes sometimes nothing sometimes candy you know that's that artist Sean Dixon Dickerson. I think Dixon. He does really cool like pinup art stuff, like old style art. He actually drew a personalized like sketch to me, like for the ship with love and stickers. I was like, that is the coolest thing. Oh, what an awesome dude. That was really awesome. So yes. So don't do that because that's my shtick. And then after a while, they'll be like, well, we don't do that anymore because one guy ruined it. Thanks, everyone. so art blades showed up i can't wait to do that i keep talking about this great day when i'm going to install the mods on the on and tighten up all the stuff underneath the thing and i keep not you're just waiting for that one thing not to be sticky anymore oh my god oh my god i or okay one too many mods i've already had one too many mods one too many beers one too many mods so the godzilla i always talk about this big pile of mods i have that i have to install yet well i ordered the giadra king giadra why not cool ass gold figure i'll put that in the middle of the pump up the pop bumpers up there when it arrived it was still tacky like he like the spray paint he painted it gold it was a 3d printed thing and he painted it gold and he must have cleared it or something like that and it was still tacky i was like all right well you know i'll let it sit out it's still tacky i ordered it like six months ago i'm like oh my god when's this thing gonna dry didn't somebody reach out to you about it too someone else is that order that's like laughed and i he probably did what i'm gonna do is you put on rubber gloves and you install it tacky and hope that when you're when you die and whomever gets this machine after it opens up and say oh they put that crappy thing that never dried on they just take out and throw it in the sticky they kind of sticky they cut a mari dimash and just roll it down the hill and it gathers stuff as it rolls because it's still sticky. I'll have to remember that. And I don't know. I don't know if it's ever going to dry. Part of me was like, maybe I should put it outside in the sun, but then it'll melt. Maybe I should like use a heat dryer. Maybe I should. Then it'll just like get bubbly. Maybe should I clear coat it with more. Maybe you should just put it in. Put your gloves on and put it in. Roll the dice.
    7:22
    Roll them bones. Yeah. So soon I'll be angrily, stickily putting some tacky, sticky thing in my my god so is it sticky i or tacky yes or sticky it's stackedy stacked it's taxed you can't you can't combine that word no sticky and tacky don't uh no no you can't combine it at all so sad good try though ah what can i tell you time for a swig of beer you got anything to talk about this week i do well we were first going to talk about the uh hops for the uh beer journal review but secret santa came through again and i got more beer every three months my heart is rebroken by the horrible guy i got and the awesome guy you got i got a really awesome secret santa i got rocks i know you did no you got half price rocks that had nothing to do with pinball oh i got the worst craft brew sally got craft brew for a year damn dog right how you be fronting that sorry okay so before that i'll share with you oh that's okay are you going into your craft beer already no okay i was gonna say because we still have one oh you have something after that no i last week we had mentioned we were going to talk about our hops yes that we're starting to grow we're hop farmers but we're gonna actually push that off till next week and then we'll talk about all the kinds of hops we have oh my god right this is insanity i know we've lost our minds everything we have so okay you talk about you're so cute though you talk about your secret santa but while i wallow in my self pity for the for the for okay go ahead i'm not even gonna i think you have to do the intro first i don't think it's official unless there's an intro you just You said this wasn't the... No, this is. This is? This is. That's your journal review with Craft Brew Sally. We always... Before we signed into that, because we always sign out right after that. So before we also... We also had that Stern was totally like trolling everyone Because what they did was You know people mock Stern They are the kings of trolling people yeah they were at some like licensors conference or something like that and they were sending pictures of gary stern standing by the barbie exhibit and gary stern standing by the pokemon exhibit you're like oh this is gonna just he's a genius he's gonna get people talking and they're gonna follow it they're gonna look and they're gonna be like oh everybody would really like if we did a barbie pinball machine but they hate this one machine yeah right they're watching pin side and of course everyone's crapping their rompers as they always do for everything that they ever put up always they're like oh first of all stern you're so evil second of all i think gary shouldn't do a barbie official stern's doing a barbie pinball machine and you're like oh is it And then they're just sitting there watching and laughing going, I told you they would buy it. And everyone in there is going, they're not going to buy it a 20th time, are they? Yeah, they are. Everyone is. I'm not, but I laugh. No, we know. Because we've interacted with Gary enough to know that he's going to say he's a PR genius. Completely. Yeah, I was going to say maybe not genius, but we'll roll with it. He knows what he's doing. he does he's he's been in the business drunk as hell at 90 but he knows what he's doing yeah he doesn't say anything that like will pin him down on anything yeah but but you could walk away from that conversation be like with a different thing in your mind than i do yeah i think he's i think he's gonna make that barbie machine yeah and not be like oh look at that he was over there. And look at the Barbie. No. So that was great. It was funny seeing him. I was glad that he was still there and doing stuff. You know, I worried about him just drifting off and not being involved anymore. But it looks like he's still involved in the mayhem and that is... He's still in with the wackiness. We need it all. We need all that. Okay. Now I think it's time for the one, the only. Let's cue that music because we know what time it is.
    11:51
    Roll out the barrel. We'll have a barrel of fun. Roll out the barrel. The fans have spoken, and we have listened. It's Beer Journal Review with me, Craft Brew Sally. We'll have a barrel.
    12:09
    Bring out a song of pleasure. Now it's time to roll the barrel. And here we are with Beer Journal Review with Craft Brew Sally. I'm not sure we're set on that title because you kind of flub it every time we start. I'm like, maybe that's a bad name. No, it's fine. Okay. Beer Journal Review. Yes. Beer Journal Review. Yes. Still. Yeah, still. Okay. So go ahead. And action. So I got some more beer this week. Oh, my heart.
    12:42
    My achy, breaky heart. So we have a ring and we get updates when stuff gets delivered. You know, someone's at the front door.
    12:53
    Usually a guy walking his dog or whatnot. Yeah. Well, this time it was somebody came to the door. Foghorn is like, someone's at the door. Wonder what they're bringing us. We didn't order anything from Amazon.
    13:05
    That's not true. We always order something from Amazon. Well, that day we weren't expecting anything from Amazon. Because I didn't get the, hey, your thing's ordered. Hey, your thing's shipped. Hey, your thing's six miles away. Five miles away. Ten stops away. One stop away. How'd we do? I didn't get those 28 things because I really need those for toilet paper or whatever the hell they're dropping off. Anyway, I'll get off my ivory. I'll get off my soapbox. My ivory soapbox that I just got delivered from Amazon. Really? How was it? How do we do? Horrible. No. No, go ahead. So my box this time included beers from Harpoon Brewery from Boston, Massachusetts and carob brewing in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Wow. Yeah. And I was mired in jealousy once again. Oh, my gosh.
    13:58
    It's okay. I told you I will share my beers with you. I'll share my signs that don't have anything to do with pinball with you. Thank you. That's sweet.
    14:10
    I'll put one right where it belongs. In that dumpster on fire. No, go ahead. So my box this time included Summer Style Blonde Ale, Wreck League Hoppy Hazy Pale Ale Key West Pale Ale and Sunshine State Amber Lager I have not had any of these before so I will have to let you know how they are that's awesome but that guy you know what I cannot I think we talked about it I've never seen such generosity now I know that some people give away whole pinball machines that's insane and awesome yeah but this guy did so much yeah if you're on the Secret Santa and you get a guy from Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, man, what a great guy. He gives so much. He is so – Yeah, he's very generous. Unbelievable. You know, if I ever get back home, I should try and look him up and be like, man, thanks because wowzers. We have gotten him each, and I cannot believe how much he's given. He got you the Wonelli-like. That 3D thing, right? Yeah, 3D lit back box and stuff. I'm like, what? Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. You know what? Just so that. And every time I think of that, I'm like, I try to step up and do as much as I can within my budget to make sure I'm trying to do that for whomever I get. Yeah. I failed the first year. I didn't get it. Yeah. And I was like, oh, my God, I got to do more. So this year I tried my best to just like go after it. We have to step up our game, though. Yeah, we do. Yeah. I'm gonna. Because this guy shows you, be awesome. Because this guy is. Because I totally forgot about it until it came. And hold your heart because there will be one more box coming before the end of the year. It's a rolling heart attack of sadness on my part. Jealousy, sadness. Don't be jealous. I know. I won't. I'm happy for you. And I am, again, I'm in awe of how awesome that guy is. Yeah. I forget. Do you know his name? I don't. Okay. If you're listening, Pinsider from Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. Man, from a husband of a landowner.
    16:31
    The Schnecks. The Schnecks from Schnecksville. True story. Go listen to some of our back catalog. There's so many awesome things. So that's cool. And then what? Next week we're going to talk about the hops we're growing because we're hops farmers now. We are hop farmers. I don't have the overalls, so I can't officially say I'm a farmer yet. You could get those Packer overalls. We could both get them. Those striped Packer. Look them up, folks. Just type in Packer overalls. They are glorious. We will both have a pair before the end of... End of days. Yeah.
    17:07
    Yes, I fear you're correct. I would buy them. If our hop farming takes off, we're going to get those overalls. So those will be what we hop farm in. And everything will be full circle. We have had somebody reach out to ask if we do sell our hop. If we ship our hop.
    17:25
    What? My cows in. Oh, not yet. Soon. No, I don't. Okay. So that's it. Again, light pinball week. Not a lot of news. There was some more news about that Hexa pinball that's doing that space fighter or spaceship game. game, but I don't know anything about it. I'll try and do some homework for next time. You got anything else before we sign off? I do not. Alright. Quick show this week. Thanks for listening. Make sure you're going to projectpinball.org. That's a 501c. It's dedicated to putting pinball machines into children's hospitals. Setting them on free. It's not a shakedown for quarters. Making sure they keep running. That's the rub. They have techs in all the areas to keep the machines up and running. They have campaigns all across the country. Look them up. I'm not getting paid to say this. projectpinball.org. Also, check out some of our other shows. As alluded to, we have the We Suck at Video Games podcast that's just launched. We're at show two or three. Two-ish. We just did two, but by the time they hear this, it'll be like three or four. We're from the future. And also, what else? What else do we do? We have other shows. I have a... Who cares? I have a bunch of shows. I do two weekly shows out of radiosaintpete.com. we have an old show called Slow Robot a Go-Go if you like B-movies I'm all over the place I have hundreds of thousands of shows I think the gist of this is projectpinball.org I think that's we're going to sign off on that thanks everyone my name is wasn't always will be boghorn leghorn depending on where you hear me and with me as always Craft Bruce Alley and we'll see you next week same bat time same bat channel scream us out of here see ya That's all, folks.
    19:14
    That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over.