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The Pinball Show Ep 86: Rush Pinball Production, Holy Cannoli, Gomez’ 2022 Game, & The Pinball Award Season

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 42m·analyzed·Jan 4, 2022
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.031

TL;DR

Rush Pinball announced; Godfather rumored for JJP; George Gomez designing new Stern game for 2022

Summary

The Pinball Show Episode 86 covers major 2022 pinball announcements including Rush pinball's official reveal by Stern with production timelines, speculation about designer assignments and pricing, discussion of The Godfather rumored as Jersey Jack's next title, the Pinball Awards season, and George Gomez's announcement of a new Stern game coming late 2022. The episode opens with year-end reflections and hosts giving humorous gift exchanges.

Key Claims

  • Rush Pinball announced by Stern with teaser on December 28th, likely reveal the following week

    high confidence · Hosts discuss teaser video with owl imagery, expect reveal shortly after recording date

  • Rush will be the weakest of Stern's 2022 cornerstones despite not being a flop

    medium confidence · Dennis predicts Rush sales based on band IP performance trends; references Q1 seasonal weakness and historical band game underperformance vs. GNR/Iron Maiden

  • George Gomez confirmed designing a Stern game releasing late 2022

    high confidence · Gomez stated this on YouTube channel Pinball Television interview

  • The Godfather rumored as Jersey Jack Pinball's next title after Guns N' Roses

    medium confidence · Ken Rudberg reports rumor circulating in pinball community with divided opinion on theme viability

  • Rush LEs likely to sell out and potentially see price increases

    medium confidence · Hosts speculate based on LE collector demand patterns and Stern's track record

  • Pro and Premium Rush pricing expected to match Godzilla pricing with no changes

    medium confidence · Host speculation based on recent Stern pricing patterns

  • Stern production shutdown occurs first two weeks of January for inventory; Rush Pros to start mid-January

    high confidence · Hosts discuss documented Stern production schedule

  • John Borg likely designer of Rush based on his Facebook activity about the band

    medium confidence · Host notes Borg's social media engagement as indicator; acknowledges speculation

Notable Quotes

  • “I think it will be the weakest of the cornerstones for 2022”

    Dennis @ ~16:10 — Predicts Rush's market performance despite strong demand for Stern LEs

  • “Bands are generally speaking the weakest thing to go off of [as licensed IP]”

    Zach @ ~17:45 — Articulates industry analysis of band IP performance vs. other themes

  • “GNR turned it into a literal concert under glass...a different experience than we've ever received in pinball”

    Dennis @ ~18:20 — Explains why Guns N' Roses succeeded where other band games underperformed

  • “The LEs are just speculation fodder at this stage. People buy them for the hope to flip them”

    Zach @ ~26:15 — Commentary on collector speculative behavior driving LE sales regardless of theme

  • “Bonham is the greatest drummer of a successful band ever. That's like there is no debate.”

    Dennis @ ~21:30 — Brief aside comparing drummers; shows host enthusiasm about Rush musicians

Entities

RushgameStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyJohn BorgpersonGeorge GomezpersonEric MenyerpersonKen CromwellpersonPat Lawlerperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern LEs consistently sell out regardless of theme; speculation suggests Stern has optimized LE collector appeal through design strategy

    medium · Hosts note all Stern LEs reportedly sold out; Zach suggests LE buyers motivated by flipping/speculation rather than theme preference

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Rush positioned as weakest of Stern's 2022 cornerstones due to band IP underperformance trend; exceptions noted (GNR with exceptional access/concert playfield, ACDC/Zeppelin stronger IP)

    medium · Dennis predicts Rush will underperform vs. other 2022 Stern releases; cites band genre weakness in licensed IP compared to GNR success formula

  • ?

    design_philosophy: John Borg characterized as favoring bash toys and creating challenging/difficult layouts; typecast risk similar to Steve Richie's samey designs

    medium · Hosts discuss Borg's layout variety and tendency toward bash toy incorporation; compare to other designers' patterns

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Guns N' Roses succeeded due to unparalleled access including Slash endorsement and 'carte blanche' creative freedom; Rush likely lacks equivalent licensing advantage

    medium · Hosts explain GNR success as exception built on exceptional artist collaboration; contrast Rush's expected more standard licensing agreement

  • $

    market_signal: Q1 seasonal weakness documented for both watch sales and pinball purchases; Rush Pro production starting mid-January after Stern shutdown

    high · Hosts draw parallel between watch industry Q1 slump and expected pinball seasonality; reference Stern's documented January shutdown

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.307

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. Peace out 2021 and hello 2022. The Ghost of Christmas Taste visited Dennis this week as the Creasle and I throw out the stupid year-end review stuff, and we give you what we always give you, the most recent and relevant pinball news with personality. This week, we discuss Rush Pinball being announced with production timelines, what to expect in the new Stern game, rules of owning collectible sneakers, Q1 Stern production timelines, the top anger-inducing pinball machines, Holy Cannoli, the rumor of Godfather being the next Menier title. The Pinball Awards season. Who's going to win, who should win, and who got snubbed. The TPN channel launch and even more content daily for you. Pinball Market Trades, a truly horrifying pinball topper. Getting Rippled, and a pinball bounty update. 2021 may have given us the pinball show's utter podcast dominance, but it tooketh away the beloved Betty White. And for that I say, EAST 2021! Toy, toy, toy, toy, tube up, catch you outside!
1:32
How about that? Thank you for being a friend To travel down the road and back again Your heart is true You're a pal and a confidant Pinball is a game of skill For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle.
1:57
It's time for the Pinball Show. It's pinball with personality. Happy New Year to everyone, all the listeners of the Pinball Show. This is episode 86, and you've got your host here, Zach, and my best pal, Dennis Creasel. Dennis, how are you this 2022? It's going okay. There's a lot going on in the world of pinball, especially at the beginning of this year. We're going to get to it all, listener, I assure you that. But first, we're going to talk about some of the holidays. Did you have a great holiday? yeah it went pretty well i did until betty white died yeah that was uh i don't think every yep no one was expecting it there was in the same no one was expecting it well she was 99 but you know everyone was all the talk had been for the last like three months about her 100th birthday and there had been no reports of her being ill or anything so that's what i mean that's how Betty White goes. When someone's 99, anything could – it could be a moment's notice. But everyone was just excited, I think. She's one of the few people – it seems like anymore – one of the few people left where in a very – not to get overly political, but in a very divided nation, like everyone liked Betty White. It didn't matter what your ideology was. She was a global treasure. Yep. And one that's – I've said before, listeners, still there's an attraction there by me. I don't know why. She was just a sweet, sweet, beautiful, beautiful person.
The Godfather
game
Guns N' Rosesgame
Zachperson
Dennis Creaselperson
Ken Rudbergperson
Matt Morrisonperson
Tom Graffperson
  • ?

    personnel_signal: John Borg likely designer of Rush based on social media activity; possible new artist also being considered for cabinet/artwork

    medium · Hosts note Borg's Rush posting on Facebook and his history with challenging layouts; acknowledge new artist speculation

  • ?

    personnel_signal: George Gomez confirmed designing new Stern game releasing late 2022; notable return of legendary designer to active development

    high · George Gomez stated on YouTube's Pinball Television interview that he's designing a Stern game for 2022 late-year release

  • ?

    announcement: Rush Pinball officially announced by Stern with December 28 teaser video; reveal expected early 2022 with production starting mid-January after Stern's Q1 inventory shutdown

    high · Hosts discuss teaser with owl imagery and confirm timeline; Ken Rudberg correspondence confirms announcement

  • ?

    product_strategy: Rush expected to follow three-tier pricing model (Pro/Premium/LE) matching Godzilla pricing; LEs anticipated to potentially see price increases

    medium · Hosts speculate based on recent Stern patterns and LE demand; note LE collector behavior drives sales regardless of theme

  • ?

    rumor_hype: The Godfather confirmed as rumored next Jersey Jack Pinball title; community opinion divided on theme viability (assassination/mob gameplay vs. outdated IP)

    medium · Ken Rudberg reports months of circulating rumors; describes divided fan opinion on theme potential

    • 3:44
    She will be very much missed. And we also lost somebody else, not to start the show down here, but we lost Marco Specialties founder but owner, Mark Mandeltorn. Did you ever work with him? Yes. Not directly. Kind of indirectly at shows and different things. They were kind enough to sponsor straight down the middle for a number of years and worked with them at shows, talking to them, collaborating with them. So just kind of bending each other's ears on media ideas and stuff and couldn't have been a better guy and a harder-working family man. So I will dearly miss him. So we lost a couple of great people. The Betty White thing, of course, we didn't know her, but I'm attracted to her. And Mark, too. So our thoughts go out to the families and all the friends over at Marco's Specialties. A quick moment of silence for Betty White and Mark Mandelthorpe. all right so 2021 what an asshole of a year yeah i think everyone thought it was going to be better than 2020 and in some ways it was and in many ways it was not it wasn't but christmas was good over at the mini household we had a lot of fun didn't have to assemble too much stuff either how about that did everyone uh was it warm did you guys get to go into the above ground pool No, there was chestnuts roasting on an open fire, though. We were all in the living room with a nice roasty fire. In identical pajamas?
    5:11
    Yes. I wasn't wearing mine, but yes. Absolutely. That was a thing. That was most certainly a thing. And I wasn't assembling anything. My daughter from Santa Claus, she got a 3D printer.
    5:26
    Oh, you know, I've never had one of those. My brother-in-law has one. He likes it. Yeah, she's a little engineer at heart, so she's eight, eight years old, I think. How bad of a dad am I, eight or nine? She's eight. Yeah, I mean, it doesn't really matter. Well, boy, she's just been cranking out all kinds of stuff, and it's been a lot of fun with the 3D printer. So if she gets interested in that, we'll give her an upgrade. Mm-hmm. Anything in particular that you receive from family? I know that the ghost of Christmas taste visited you this last week.
    5:58
    Well, as you know, Zach, taste is very relative. I did get my ceiling fan, though. Did you really? Yep. My dad came over on, yeah, I think it's three speed, and it's dimmable. My last one, I don't think the dimmer worked right. Obviously, that's the switch to the wall. So we installed a new wall switch. Now, most people don't know that. I can't remember if it was even in the episode or not, but I participated in, I think it was the last Cluster Vuck that Slam Tilt Podcast did. Okay, yeah. And I had my, yeah. Well, I had my face cam, my little webcam on for it. And Christopher Franchi, I remember, saw my panel for my fan and light, and he made fun of how old-timey it looked. The knob – that it wasn't a slider switch. It was a knob. Yeah. So in honor of that, I upgraded to just a new knob. So it's still just as old-fashioned 1980s looking as before. Wow. So, yeah, my dad came over and helped with the wiring and getting the new fan mounted on the ceiling. and so that's what I did over the weekend. I got to tell you, Dennis, I get confused with ceiling fans more so than sometimes even updating pinball code. Really? Yeah, there's two pull tuggy things and one's the light and one goes to the motor, but then the motor you get to click so many times you never know. There should be like a little TNA display up there that shows L for low, M for medium, H for high, O for off, and then you get the switch debacle. So has the switch overridden the motor? It's a mess. I don't like it. I see. The only thing I really didn't care for, I mean, I was pretty quickly able to figure out that this was a three-speed. I think my last one was a five, though, which was that really confused me. So I'm like, am I at the fifth or am I going to turn it off? I don't know. What is that? Medium high. And the little switch on the side of the fan. because I looked, it wasn't labeled because I'm like, okay, is this in clockwise mode or counterclockwise mode? Because, you know, you're supposed to go. Up or down. Do you change those, listener? I do, but I never remember which one is correct. So I do have it in winter mode right now. I'd have to get scaffolding to change my living room fans.
    8:11
    Oh, yeah, my living room, that ceiling is massive. On my step ladder, I can reach the hanging lamp. I can't reach the fan. I don't think I'll change that fan because I would need some sort of massive ladder to get to it. I don't want you to break yourself. And so we did talk about the Ghost of Christmas Taste did come and visited the Creasel home with 12 Days of Christmas. Strangely, with only 11 items. Well, the 12th one was a big old wet kiss next time I see you. I figured you can wait for that one. so we do we did issue a contest to you listeners uh from our facebook page that said hey dennis is receiving 12 days of christmas from yours truly if you guys can correctly guess one of the gifts there's up to 12 prizes here then you will uh receive a prize from from the pinball show and we do have one winner you guys kind of suck only one out of all these because they could have guessed anything and some of them i think were doable to be honest i think some of them were guessing things like a new car and stupid stuff yeah guys he has an above ground pool he's not gonna buy me a car maybe a scooter but a vespa yeah i think some of the suggestions were good jeremy out there said that rubber band collection starter kit that was nice well that would have been clever uh we had a zizzle machine rethemed to the nord man begins by ryan I like that one that's clever though you'd have to hunt for a Zizzle at this point they're probably expensive very rare I love that Lisa Castleman said it's Castleman improved at Guardians of the Galaxy that's a good one they aren't doing another run until 2023 I know too hard to get Carrie Wing was good she said very practical young lady she said a Stern Insider Connected Kit and I thought you know what I'm going to jot that down for another gift that was a good idea I could see it. It would sit right there next to a shaker motor for a spike game because I don't own one. It's like, are you dropping hints that I need to buy from flipping out? Get me an insider-connected kit with no game. Buy, buy, buy. No game. Her husband, Mike Cassman, said there's nothing like a good read for Christmas, and it was a book titled Profiting from Market Trends. Oh, that was a good one. Jordan Burger said a screaming goat. James, our friend James, said a second Gottlieb hoop so that he can link them together with a special topper. Yes. How about that? And he also said a Pizza West gift card, which I thought was very practical and probably a good idea. Still, you lose. Let's see. Michael Jones said a pair of underwear in a Nordman art print. I like it. Oh, Jay Sellers with the burn here. He said a gift, huh? How about a sense of humor? Oh!
    11:01
    So mean. Then he followed up with... The second funniest person in pinball. He wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for all that you do. Well, it's too late. Kevin Hart said a PS5. Well, I'm not... I had a friend of mine said, Zaxxler got you a PS5 so you could have given it to me. Oh, well... Because I usually only play one console per generation. So with the Xbox, I'm not in the market for a PS5. Our friend Lucas said a portable stripper pole. why would I need a second oh there it is there have been assumptions made you know what we have two winners do we? yeah because Dylan on here did say a smooch I didn't even see that and I just announced that was the 12th gift okay alright well we're going to get you out of prize there Dylan our other winner was Tim Lee Tim? Tim Lee with his podcast over on The Poor Man's. So congratulations, Tim Lee. We will announce what you were correct on. But first, I started, I was above the weather one night, and a little pun there, and started just ordering Dennis some movies that I knew would piss him off. But ones that he should see over and over, and those include Toy Story. I've seen it. Toy Story 2? Haven't seen it. It's a classic. Toy Story 3? Haven't seen it. It's greatness. Toy Story 4. Never will see it. Still holds up. The Goonies. I've seen that several times. Yeah, you've seen a couple more. Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I have not seen that one. Jim Carrey's phenomenal. Interstellar. I'd only seen that once. I actually have watched this now that you sent it. Oh, man. All right, all right, all right. Better than Event Horizon. You still can't. No. It's a good movie, though. It is good. um i still i they couldn't get the robot sounds very well balanced it's hard to hear the robot he's so good though i forgot what his name was but oh probably my favorite yeah tars when he's oh my gosh when you get that organ in the background and he's just treading on that water to go get the oh so good he's like organs there was an awful lot of organ music yeah i shouldn't have got i shouldn't have sent you a a hamilton pilot i should have sent you the hamilton field murph all the murph murph they they that was a prop watch for that movie and it was so popular it took them years but hamilton actually made one actually made one yep and the second sand has the morris code on it in loom oh to glow i'm gonna watch that film tonight again day and then i had to get you the classics adam sandler's that's a billy madison and happy gilmore yeah i've seen i've seen a lot i happy gilmore i think it's a true classic i actually I'm not a huge Billy Madison fan. I know most people think that's his best movie, but I don't. This is his breakdown. It's one of his better movies, but not one of his best. Not his best. Happy Gilmore is his best. It can be our milk. And then, so those are the films. And then, Tim Lee was correct. I did get you a pair of your very own, probably first Air Jordans. Yes. Wow. As a Ute, I never wore high tops or anything that came up high on the ankle because they hurt my ankles. Yeah. I always rolled out Air Jordans. But I put them on, and they don't seem uncomfortable to adult ankle dentists. I love that Dennis is a practicality listener because I did message him after he received them, and I said, look, this is more of a joke. A joke, but not a joke. I know that you won't necessarily wear these or like these. You did talk about the high top thing, and I was like, okay, well, it is almost a mid. It's a high, Tom. Yeah, it's not as high as I thought it would be. Yeah, it's sort of a mid-high. And there's a couple things I told you. I said, look, this is – Yeah, they're like rules. They are. These are really like a dry weather only shoe. It's a dry weather only. They love asphalt. These are really like an indoor house only shoe. They don't like a lot of activity or bending. Like you don't want to crease your jays. They're called Air Jordans, but they're really more like Air Jodies. And I said, you know, don't get them wet. They're like gremlins. Don't feed them after midnight. Please, for the love of everything, they don't like grass. They don't like dirt. And they are not going to be comfortable. They were developed and designed in 88, and not a lot has changed. I did try to – They're not going to be comfortable. They're not. Basically, they're stilettos. No, they are. They are the man's version of a stiletto. And I said they're special event shoes. And so I gave you all these warnings and all of that. I think I nailed the pairing because I have a fun time nailing the pairing of a person and their personality with a pair of Jordans. So for Dennis Creasel, I gifted the iconic Jordan 3. Very, very iconic, classic, classic shoe. Probably one of the greatest designs ever in sportswear and sneakers. Very iconic Jordan 3 in the racer blue colorway. I was jealous, Dennis, because I want a pair of these so, so bad. They're dead stock, so for those sneaker heads out there, they are dead stock. You can't, I think that was a 2021, late or early 2021, 2020 release, so you cannot find them. But it is a perfect matching with Dennis. Not too crazy, not too wild, but still, it will turn heads. It will get attention from the people out there. You might get laid wearing those. That's just a warning for you, Dennis. Yeah, well, I often carry a lot of risks. And you came back and you were like, it'll be my everyday shoe. And I'm like, what? Like, yeah, you're very practical. Yeah, I don't really have special occasion shoes. But I didn't turn them into the mowing shoes. Thanks. Because you said don't use them in grass. Those poor things are going to look like shit in a month. No, they'll be fine. And I'll put them on the other side. I'll see. I might have another. I think I actually have another pair of Nike shocks I probably could get out. Probably about as uncomfortable as shocks. But, yeah, if you would be so kind, we would love a picture of you wearing these shoes at some point. We'll throw them on Facebook. Yeah, I have one. They're so beautiful. I want to ride them. Beautiful shoe. Also beautiful. I found you. This is the hardest gift of all for anybody this Christmas. I found you the limited edition Step Right Up watch that was artwork by Ryan Claytor. That was not an easy task. I forgot you even knew about that. Oh, yeah. I don't forget about my din-din and what he likes. I thought you said you missed out on that one. Yeah, by about an hour, unfortunately. I knew the day it was going to go on sale, but I wasn't ever given a time. They're based in London.
    17:39
    They launched it at noon, which was 6 a.m., and I didn't check the site until 7. My naive ass just thought, I'll just find one of the people who's got one of these. Yeah, just find one. Just find one of the 100.
    17:53
    Now, it wasn't that easy, but we did find one, and special thank you to that person out there to help make that happen. I'm wearing it right now. Are you really? Yep. I picture you wearing this wristwatch and wearing especially these shoes. This is good taste. You're going to look fly. Maybe a nice fade, new haircut. Just walking up in these fresh J's, kicking open the door of Pizza West during the next tournament. All I hear is this. Gossip, gossip. Just stop it. Everybody know I'm a motherfucking monster. I'm going to need to see your fucking hands at the concert. Ah, so good. So 12 days of Christmas, we got two winners. I'm going to send you guys out the brand new, the dazzled, Pinball Show Collectors Decal. Those are not cheap. No, they're not. You can also purchase them on flippingoutpinball.com. But yeah, you guys will have that coming out. I'll contact, I know Tim Lee's address. I'll contact the other person. And as a special gift, stay tuned very soon for the Straight Down the Middle episode of the surprise gift that I gave Greg Bone for Christmas.
    19:03
    Should be a lot of fun. He's going to lose his shit. So do we have any correspondence? Yeah, we have a couple of correspondence. We did not issue correspondence gifts. Sorry, guys. You were on the naughty list. But let's see what they've got drummed up this week in our pinball news. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.
    19:24
    Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. For everyone interested in finding out how the Guns N' Roses pinball machine came to be, there's an excellent new video that has recently been posted. It's a presentation by the game's designer, Eric Menyer, that he did at the Pintastic Pinball and Game Room Expo. It's called A Deep Dive into Guns N' Roses, and it contains a ton of details and background about the game's development, including sections on audio, animation, playfield design, art, and behind the scenes. There's a lot of insider knowledge about the game here, including why a specific poster was included on the LE cabinet and how the call-outs were recorded with coaching from Eric. If you have any interest at all in Jersey Jack Pinball's Guns N' Roses, I would highly recommend checking it out. You can find it on YouTube by searching Deep Dive into Guns N' Roses Pinball. Rumors about Jersey Jack Pinball's next titles have been circulating for months, and there's a new one that pinball fans have been discussing. If it's true, be prepared to get an offer you can't refuse. Yes, the rumored next title from Eric Menier is The Godfather. The discussion has been divisive, with some calling this a perfect theme that would allow for assassinations of rival family bosses in an attempt to take control of the mob. Others have called it an outdated IP with not a lot of action. I guess we can add this to the list of potential titles that the heavy-hitting roster of designers will look at next. Let's hope we get a chance to see a couple of them in the months ahead. And finally, our friend Ken Cromwell has released a holiday-themed podcast from Jersey Jack Pinball that contains wishes for the new year from many employees, including some of the more well-known ones like Pat Lawler and Steve Ritchie. It's always great to hear what's up at the company from Ken, and it's a feel-good podcast to start the new year. And I hope that all of your pinball wishes come true for 2022. For the Pinball Show, this has been Ken Rudberg. Hey, this is Kaz with a quick update on American Pinball. I reached out to Dave Brennan and Steve Bowden. They both informed me that American Pinball is trying to crank out games as fast as possible. And also there's a code update for Legends of Valhalla. It's version 2.1.1.2.3.0. It's got some bug fixes and additional updates for that game. Hope everybody has a great new year and has fun playing pinball. For the Pinball Show, this is Brian Costner. Well, Dennis, you know that Rush, the band, the Canadian band, the Maples, was announced by Stern Pinball this last week, a video teaser on December 28th, with a likely reveal probably this week. I saw a comment. I saw the teaser trailer with the owl, and I go, is this Harry Potter? Oh, wow.
    22:24
    I saw a comment that said, oh, great, we got a Guardians of Gogogool, or whatever that film was. I like the owl. What else are they going to use? I don't know anything about Rush. I know like two other songs. I know that Tom Graff loves them. Yeah. Matt Morrison is in love with them. Matt Morrison has been, he messaged me, showed me a picture. He's been wearing Rush different concert and album T-shirts and hats as a good luck charm that this game is going to be good.
    22:53
    He's like just praying that this game is going to be good. So we did get that announcement this last weekend. What do you expect from this game? Do you expect it to be a hit? Do you expect it to be an underdog? Do you expect it to be a flop? Without seeing anything, of course. Right, right. Obviously, I haven't seen anything. No, I mean, if I were to go ahead and guess, I think that it will, you know, I don't know if I necessarily use the word underdog. I'm going to go ahead and say, because it's basically a 2022 release, obviously. It hasn't come out before. We just saw the teaser in 2021. um i think it will be the weakest of the cornerstones for 2022 how about that okay so you're but i don't think it'll be a flop you're going loser kid winter curse uh yeah i mean i don't it's not that i subscribed though to their their theory that there's the winter no there's some there's some logic behind it you're back back in the you know we were talking about step right up earlier back in the wristwatch world like january through april is a dead time for watches everyone who wanted to buy bought them for gifts for christmas and then until you get your tax return like people just don't buy yeah and q1 right right so yeah q1 is a is a bad quarter for watch sales so it would make sense as well for homeowners to behave similarly when it comes to pinball machines but i but setting that aside i think the fundamental problem is it's the same thing with iron maiden despite it being a really good game bands especially as we've dug deeper into the barrel we have become i mean it's just they're just not they're not the strong sellers anymore as when it comes to using licensed ip it's like bands are generally speaking the weakest thing to to go off of led zeppelin is a more popular band than rush and look at its sales yeah the one exception was guns and roses and that was because it's jjp and they threw you know they turned it into an like a literal concert under glass i think they kind of turned the page there with gnr and it was a different experience than we've ever received in pinball almost to the the degree of waz's lcd i would argue so that yeah that was a bit different a little bit of an outlier there i think it moved because of what they did on the play field as in terms of features not that it was gn but gnr is a huge band don't get me wrong it was i mean and you know they had that unparalleled access with slash in terms of basically carte blanche on being able to do anything they wanted. And I don't think that's going to be the case with Rush. I think GNR music is more popular than Rush, too. It is It is Rush is a well band I would rank that like band I going to say they more popular than Iron Maiden is but they less popular than Zeppelin They're less popular than ACDC. They're less popular than GNR. I saw you arguing with Tom Graff about where their drummer lines up in the top one. We weren't arguing. We were having a discussion.
    25:52
    Bonham is the greatest drummer of a successful band ever. That's like there is no debate. okay pert's up there though he he was tom was arguing because i as just an example i gave him a list of rolling stones top 100 which he doesn't respect as a rag which is fine yeah he did laugh at that didn't he oh yeah no but i mean even they even if you don't like them they still had neil purdette what fourth out of 100 i mean he was still way up there but you know a band is not just his drum drum line no no absolutely not what about the guy from uh from motley crew come on Big Dick himself. Is he not a good drummer? Yeah, I don't know where he fell on the list. You know, my only crew would have probably been a better overall band. Probably fell about 12 deep, if you know what I mean.
    26:37
    I set myself up for that joke. I know, so you went ahead and did it. I think Rush is about it. I'm going to set myself up. I'm going to execute this joke.
    26:46
    Do we know who's on Rules yet? Now, we don't know details yet. We're recording Sunday for a Monday airing. I'm expecting a Tuesday showing of it maybe I'm wrong, I don't know but I expect a Tuesday showing I also would expect a John Borg design I don't think we're really reaching there given how much he's posting about Rush now on his personal Facebook, yeah I don't know who's coding it I'm guessing a Tim Sexton if I were to guess but I don't know you think so? Raymond Davidson did the last band pin do you think he might be the band guy? Raymond's now a band dude. He only gets bands. I hope not. I don't want Ray to get stuck on just band pins. He's typecast. Maybe it'll be a group effort again, kind of like some of those were. I don't know. But Tim Saxon's going to have to be doing something. Sure, sure. But it's been longer since we've seen Lonnie Ropp do code.
    27:45
    Stranger Things was his last game. That's true. Tanya. and Tanya was busy doing the insider connected thing but he's done with that now right yeah he's done with it and we know that how long ago was his part with that done versus when they needed to start getting the rules done for Rush I don't know maybe he's on the next one so I don't know I don't even know I'm hearing there's a maybe a new artist on this one so we'll see what that has in store for us new ours John board games typically are difficult shooters uh here as of late he's he's made some tough shooters yeah i'd say he's he's pretty well i mean he arguably i would say he's probably of stern's regular designers known as being the most brutal on layout and he's he needs to be careful because he's falling into that uh he hasn't fallen into it yet but some of the criticisms of a steve richie very samey designs so yeah i did see on one of the probably was pinball enthusiasts but i don't remember exactly someone had put up a poll and it's like so uh Which layout will this be reused from? Sort of. Is this going to be the, you know, Guardians sort of Iron Man? Guardians Metallica kind of thing? Or the Reflipper Tron Turtles?
    28:57
    I'm going to say, you know, he's done layout choice-wise. I think he does more variety than he's often given credit for. But I will typecast him and speculate that there will be a Bash toy. Okay. he's oftentimes the basher. He's sort of seen as the one who favors the bash toy above all others. I just hope they don't bash the poor owl.
    29:22
    His head spins around when you hit him. They'd be like Bobo from Clash of the Titans. Nope. No reference there. No. Unfortunate. Now that would be a good theme. Gotta do the 80s one though. Clash of the Titans, really? Yeah. It'd sell the Boz Will's Rush. Just so you would have the Bobo Owl So his head could rotate around. I say that, man, but – And the witch is, the eye, the eye, give us the eye. What the – sounds like something off The Labyrinth. No, that's a film. Yeah, well, I mean, it's sort of the same era, so. I don't – I say – I was teasing this being maybe not a big sales monster, but L.E.s are pretty much – they're sold out to my knowledge. But they're always sold out. But I think they're going to go 1,000 L.E.s again.
    30:07
    And – The demand's there. I think we may see another price increase for the L.E.s. Sure, why not? The LEs are just speculation fodder at this stage. People buy them for the hope to flip them, so they're going to sell no matter what the theme is. I'm thinking something tells me that they, over at Stern, we'll talk about it at Market Trends, but they've got LEs figured out, and they know what these collectors really want in the looks of a game. So something tells me that the LE might be a looker. So we'll see. We'll have to see what this new artist, if it is a new artist, does. Because you know they're going to be compared to all these other pinball artists who are beloved. Absolutely. I think we're going to see the same pricing on the Pro and Premium as Godzilla, so no changes there. We know that production is likely going to start two to three weeks for the Pros. Remember, everybody, that the first two weeks of January, Stern Pinball does a shutdown for inventory reasons. So they'll probably start mid-January on the pros, and then LAs will ship late January. Be on the lookout for brand new TPN podcasts that will likely cover all there is to cover on the rumored John Borg's Rush by Stern Pinball. Also, another developing story we've been hearing is that recently on the YouTube channel Pinball Television out of, I believe, France, They interviewed George Gomez, and George Gomez said on their program that he will be designing a game for Stern Pinball this year. And he said you're going to see it toward the end of the year in 2022. He talked about it as if it was not planned that way, but circumstances arose that required him to step in and design a game. My best guest listener, this is likely George stepping in to design the game that Steve Ritchie was on. Do you like your homie-gomie pen shaken or stirred? Insider Connect is still a huge thing in pinball. I'm finally starting to get the kids out there a little bit slowly. I get to answer that email 12 times a day. But somebody was telling me that the recent changes on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dwight Sullivan coded TMNT is kind of a game changer when it comes to Insider Connected. And that interests me. I'm going to look into this a little bit more, listener. But somebody said this one's kind of going under the radar. It needs to be brought to everyone's attention that Dwight and team are kind of going out of the box for what Insider Connected is capable of doing with regard to upgrading your Turtles. and once upgraded, starting new games and having that upgrade already intact kind of thing. I need more details to understand. Yeah, myself as well. But all I know is kind of a game changer, as told by somebody that knows pinball very well. And they said, you know, upgrading your turtles and just having attributes or having things that you've earned that then go on. You're building them throughout the lifetime of a game, the lifetime of ownership. Other production updates. So the Insider Connected kits, as I was talking about, listener, they are just now starting to push out the consumer ones. So operator ones have gone out. They'll continue to go out to operators. But the home kits are now kind of going out as well. Again, supply issues, they're going to go out as fast as possible. They've been able to get some kits out, but we've got hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds ordered. and we haven't received even 100 yet, so we'll see. Other production updates. The Mandalorian Premium. You've been waiting a year, it feels like. The majority of them were pushed again to February run. Damn it. It's going to come out after they finish doing Book of Boba Fett. They got a couple in December, but last week here.
    34:11
    I've forgotten what Baby Yoda's face even looks like. It's been so long. I forgot what payments look like because everybody's backing out of theirs. You can't. Pinball people don't like to wait. I don't like to wait. I'm with them. So, yeah, we've got Mandalorian premiums getting pushed back. We've got Deadpool premiums getting pushed. They were supposed to be done in December because they've already been pushed. Yeah, you were talking December. I heard all these people online all excited about their Deadpools. They've already been pushed the six months to December. Now they're going to get pushed to next year, which means increased price, which also they're telling us there's no ETA at this point. If this game gets pushed, if its birth gets pushed any later, it's going to come out ready to tend the bar.
    34:57
    Grab me a rag. I got to wipe the table. Yeah, very concerned. Oh, yeah. I think Deadpool Pro and Premiums were slated to run this next summer, 2022. So I don't know. Maybe it gets pushed all the way to then. I have no clue. So you're seeing prices of Deadpool skyrocket right now. January, like I said, we're looking at that stern shutdown. And then the second half of that is going to be Rush Pros and LEs. February, we're going to get Rush Premiums. And then you're going to get another run of Mandalorian Pro and Premium. So those premium pre-order people, don't fear. You're going to get yours in February. In March, they're going to roll out some Godzilla Pros and Premiums as well as another Avengers Pro and Premium run. And then April, we'll probably see some more Rush Pros and Premiums, and then a run of Jurassic Park Pro and Premiums. So that's your Q1 schedule update for Stern Pinball.
    35:52
    Speaking of schedules, man, consistency over at Straight Down the Middle of Pinball Show. Did you check that out? Two new videos. I've seen them on my YouTube feed, but I have not watched them yet. But you guys have had a couple videos come out. That's right. Godzilla Review. I think we're pushing over 10,000 views the first week, so people are liking that one. Well, you are a very popular channel. Oh, yeah. B Plus Greg has added it again, and he's wrong, and I'll tell you why in that video. Go check that out. As well as the top 10 most anger-inducing pinball machines. Any come to mind, Dennis? Walking Dead, Flash Gordon. Okay, Walking Dead, Flash Gordon. Flash Gordon, spoiler alert, didn't make it. It should have, but it didn't. I discussed it, but it didn't make it. But Walking Dead did. Absolutely.
    36:40
    But I bring it up now because the number one is a stern. The Walking Dead's a stern. And I will say that I think you own two of the top ten that we rated. I own two sterns. Yeah.
    36:58
    Star Trek is definitely not in that list. No, I was going to say, surely you wouldn't put Star Trek in anger-inducing. It's a relatively easy player. You can backhand an Orbit on that, right? Yep. You can backhand an Orbit on that game. You backhand everything on that game. Backhand a scoop. Okay. I can't backhand the scoop. Backhand everything else. On that top ten most anger-inducing pinball machines list on Straight Down the Middle, Dennis, there's also maybe a couple Jersey Jack pinball machines.
    37:27
    Wow. I know this last week correspondent Ken Rudberg shared with us that Godfather, listener, is rumored as Eric Menier's next game.
    37:37
    Godfather. Yeah, I talked a little bit about this in Rumor Corner on Eclectic Gamers Podcast. That's right. You heard it there. What do you think about the theming of Godfather for pinball? Not great. I don't either. There's so many other mob things that I think work better. Godfather is such a drama. I just don't. It's iconic. I can think of all sorts of cool imagery you could embed in it. But, I mean, I don't know. A lot of people haven't seen Godfather. It really, it's mostly talk. That's really what it is. Do we get a horse head anywhere in that game? Sure, yeah, I think so. You think so? Yeah. How are you going to depict that? I mean, it won't be, like, realistic. It'll be weird. Cartoon horse head? Like Bojack Horseman? No, I think it's going to look like one of the stupid horse mascots from football games. I want it to look, like, really fake. Here's the other thing. If you do go Godfather, are you going to have assets? Or do you go like open world Godfather? Like Mafia the video game? Well, and there were some Godfather video games. Oh, okay. But surely they're not doing that. Were they any good? You want to tie it to the movie. People don't know the games as well. It's not like Deadpool. We're going to get the theme song, which is really pinball-esque, let me tell you. Oh, my gosh. didn't you want to didn't that feel like multiball to you right there makes me want to go a friend should always underestimate your virtues and an enemy overestimate your faults I think I said that right you're not going to get any of the major actors to do the call outs so why Godfather I it other than it's super famous I mean it was best picture and Godfather 2 was best picture I mean they're great movies they are truly great movies If you have not seen Godfather or Godfather Part 2, I do highly recommend them. Sure. They're phenomenal. I probably rewatch them once every year, year and a half or so. Not three. I don't rewatch. I own all of them, but I watch those two. Do you think you get Godfather 3 in this? God, I hope not.
    39:44
    Maybe Godfather 3 isn't as terrible as I remember. It's just, well, I remember Sofia Coppola could not act in it at all. She's just truly awful. and she's a great director but she can't she couldn't act then at least and it's just now that one has action that's got like the attack helicopter that shoots up the room and stuff but no it's just no it's no goodfellas what yeah it's like goodfellas scarface casino there's a lot of you i mean well look at how sopranos work do you you know it's like there's so many other Sopranos than, honestly. There's so many mob-themed ones that are just more encapsulated to that kind of, you know, rough-and-tumble, shootout-style thing, or you want to do something like The Untouchables or something. Maybe Paramount made J.J.P. an offer they couldn't refuse.
    40:36
    Soon to be on Paramount Plus, The Mountain. The Yellowstone Channel. What else can you get? You know, Yellowstone's really good. Have you seen it? I've heard. It's really good. Greg tells me that. My family tells me that. Yep, Yellowstone. Really good.
    40:54
    But what else is on? Bar Rescue. They could do Bar Rescue. John Taffer will do the call-outs. He will. I just want my Al Pacino yelling at people. I don't want the subdued Michael Corleone.
    41:11
    Son of a woman. We'll do Son of a Woman. They pulled me back in. That's what I'm wanting. I'm going to teach you how to tango. Oh, man. They should have done Donnie Brosco.
    41:27
    Shit. I can't get Johnny Depp. Heat. There you go. Pacino and De Niro, heat. Do insomnia. Like, jeez. Oh, yeah, insomnia. What is this? Then everyone's going to be sad because you can't have Robin Williams.
    41:42
    Any given Sunday. Come on. What is this? Sin of a woman. Damn it. Okay, well, so the rumor is done. I'm going to get expelled out of my rich prep school.
    41:55
    Not my problem. We're going to New York. Oh, my gosh. Is Fredo going to be in here? Fredo. Oh, maybe. Is that guy still alive? Maybe he could do the call-outs because I don't know who else you could get.
    42:09
    Fucking traitor. So, Godfather. that's that's that okay maybe they'll implement the triple spinning cannoli i'm so sorry my daughter's wedding day What are the modes going to be? Escape Cuba? I don't...
    42:46
    So, how did this license... I don't want to... I don't want to stereotype, but Jersey Jack seemed like a regional area where they might think this is a great idea. The Corleone family was a New York family. Okay, well, Jersey, New York, there's a bridge, right? There's a river. There is a bridge. Okay.
    43:15
    Maybe, just maybe. That's why they're not doing Beach Boys, right? That's why they've reached out to do Godfather. Talk about dad rock when we start seeing Beach Boys. Hey, fucking sign me up for a Beach Boys pin today. I know more of their songs, so. Today. I love the color of the ocean wave And the way the sunlight plays upon her head A jack when Harry had to be behind this one. Had to be. There's some kind of deal made that I don't want to be privy to regarding Godfather's away. After I'm dead, a man will approach you with an offer. That man is a traitor. I got a Twippy you can't refuse.
    44:09
    All right. We'll see. I hope it knocks my socks off. Eric, many of your games generally are full of stuff, so we shall wait and see on that one. I still wish there was rumors of Avatar. I hope that's true. We already had an Avatar. Give me more. Give me more Avatar. Maybe after the new movies finally come out. there's like three or four more coming they've been saying that for years i know they're gonna be sensational all right jersey jack also had a just a wonderful end of the year podcast episode with ken cromwell and jjp employees yeah that was that was great i want more of that and if you guys listen carefully a couple little nuggets in there too i see you crummy i see you a couple nugs in there i love my crummy what can i say spooky pinball i love spooky pinball here recently too So they got a new code update for Halloween and Ultraman. You love code updates. Yes, I love code updates. So for this one, they're adding new content. So some depth here that I can appreciate. Two new expert level modes in each game, both Ultraman and Halloween. They even, I think it was a nice touch, Bug did a video posted by Spooky Pinball on YouTube to explain these new features. One of them is called Stalker mode. Stalker. So does Ultraman stalk his prey or what? I don't know what the Ultraman counterpart is, but the Halloween of Stalker mode where there's like four quadrants, and there's Michaels in one of the quadrants based on area of the play field, and you are signified by Laurie in another one, and he will go around. And if he gets in your quadrant, you've got to hurry up before he kills your ass. And you can try to kill him.
    45:50
    I'm telling you, listener, I'm telling you right now, So don't have any preconceived ideas about this game until you get some good time on it. Because this last weekend I had over, I feel like Joel Engelberth had my family over this last weekend. Yeah, you had your family. One of them was engineering you a solution. I had my local pinball buddies over. Let's see, I had four of them over to play this for the first time. They put a healthy amount of games on it. and at the end of it all two and a half said this game is super super fun and and pretty novel they really really liked it one doesn't like any spooky games and the other he was a half or he was like no i i think i do kind of like this game i don't know it just keeps getting better i enjoy playing it it's brutal and it has a lot of effects now i will say i'm maybe exaggerating a little bit Dennis, but every game you play, you've got to pull the glass. That sucks. That's a lot of glass pulling, even if it's not quite every game. Yeah, and I need to just sit down and actually tune mine in.
    46:57
    Pulling glass for whether it's the subways that come up in the end lanes or ball traps. Subways? Yeah, ball traps in the subways. Hey, you know, that's my idea of a mode. Have it so Michael's hiding in one of the subway scoops.
    47:10
    Because the odds are like one out of, what, 19? and if you hit that one you die he's basically pennywise in the sewer there's a theme i've got a balloon for you i think that theme would work phenomenally oh yeah yeah yeah i think i get well i have to hedge you know i haven't actually seen any of the movies and i only got about halfway through the book before i got bored yep shit okay well i know i was reading the book in middle school and i got about halfway through and i hit flashback number four and deal with flashbacks very well back then. I was just like, I'm done with this book. Yeah, I didn't read any of it. But it is my favorite horror film series. And I just, I never caught the original Tim Curry miniseries. Oh, so good. So I never saw it. But it might not hold up. I haven't seen the new one. I grew up on that. So there's just so much nostalgia. But I knew, because I had read the first half of the book, I knew a lot of the references because I had read them. I knew about the kid and the storm drain and all that. And for whatever it's worth, horror film fanatics out there, they're going to get mad at me saying this, but the new It holds up in spades. It's really, really, really good.
    48:21
    It's reviewed well. I've seen that it reviewed well. It's almost like a fantasy type of horror film. I just, I love, well, it's Stephen King for you, but, all right, sorry, classic Halloween. Okay. All right. But this Halloween, it's a true classic. You know what else is scary in the world of pinball? No. The Pinball Network stream channel has begun, and it's scary that even after we've already begun, we've already expanded. We're working diligently to add even more content for you, the viewer and supporter. Wow. Our sponsors are happy, too. They thought we were just going to do five streamers over a five-day period. Nope. They're like, well, we can do better than that, right? Probably. Like Ishmael and Kingpin. The Amish do everything the regular people do, but in another half. Yeah. So we had five. Now we've got nine. We don't have a cow, Zach. We have a bull.
    49:15
    So glad you know that film. Nine. Count them. Nine different streams each and every week. That means every day is an update. Every single day you're going to have TPN channel content. A quick update to the schedule, Dennis. Sunday at 10 o'clock, 9 Central's Fliptronic. That's Jordan and Becca. Jordan and Becca from Fliptronic. Monday, 10 to 9 Central, we have Hottie from Frisco Pinball. Tuesday, 8, 7 Central, we have the Castleman's Mike Lisa Carter from the Pinballers. Wednesday, a double feature starting at 7.30 Eastern, Top Rope Pinball's Robert Byers. Followed up by Wednesday at 10, 9 Central, Joel Engelberth from Triple Dream. How about it? I am flipping out streams. We roll into Thursday with another doubleheader, 7 o'clock, 6 central. Chuck Wirt with SDTM Pinball, and then followed up by 10-9 centrals, George Fisher from Don't Panic Flip. Friday night, you guys are hanging out on the weekends, ready to party. You can do so with Jordan and Becca from Hup Challenge at 5.30, 4.30 central. And then Saturday late night, once you're super drunk or super high or inebriated in some manner, Tommy McNicholas is going to help sober you up.
    50:32
    Jedi McMuffin. That's a slate right there. Man, Dennis, we did it. That was my vision. I wanted all seven days filled. You did. And we come out of the gates like it. Thank you to our sponsors. And I think they're starting, I think they started last night. We'll have, yeah, tonight. For those listening on Monday, it will be Hottie with Frisco. So this is going to be a lot of fun. A lot of fun. I've noticed the YouTube channel has been getting a lot more subs lately. All those VODs, people. All those VODs you can check out that next day on GoFollow like and subscribe to the YouTube TPN channel And we can talk about TPN without talking about the crystals The 2021 crystals The ballots have went out now to the vetted judging pool Right, Dennis? Yes, I did that while you were getting these show notes. Woo-hoo! So all of you vetted judges out there, make sure to be as objective as you can. Really deeply think and consider. This isn't a people's choice. Anybody can vote. No, your gardener isn't voting here. It's you. And we very much, once vetted, respect your knowledge and opinion. Don't be a fanboy or fangirl. The email reminds them about that. And we had 55 approved judges. We have a couple that I didn't hear back from. And if I do in time and we're able to vet them out, it might grow by a couple. Statistically speaking, that is a great sample size. Yeah. Hopefully, last year we had 40, and all 40 did vote. So I'm hoping all 55 will. But the window's pretty tight. We're closing it out Friday. Oh, I see. It doesn't take long. I actually did my ballot this morning. It doesn't take long to do, but it does take some time. I got you. And as a reminder, you, listener, can also participate in the crystals this year. Remember, the Pinball Machine Hall of Fame needs your votes. Voting is now open. It's going to close in two weeks. So get your votes in there. what that is is picking in each era a machine that should be inducted into the pinball machine hall of fame last year we got one machine from each of those eras this year we're going to be this is going to be second class of the pinball machine hall of fame so you got to do that that's so much fun you can catch the link of that voting process on facebook so the pinball network on facebook or likely at thepinballindustryawards.com or I think we have thepinballmachinehalloffame.com. Yeah, yeah, there's a domain for it. So go check it out now and let us know. Email us at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. Let us know what you went with. We'll talk about it maybe next week. Also, another award ceremony coming up very soon, the 2021 Twippies. Twink. I think this is the fifth year. I don't know a good sound to do for them. Fifth year. The sound for the Twippies is a crashing of a Franchi foot. onto a plastic trophy. That was humorous. I know people, I guess, weren't in the room, didn't understand what was happening.
    53:28
    I thought it was super obvious that he was just joking in the room. Maybe it's something that's lost on TV. I'm not sure. Yeah, but pinball people aren't the most, you know, pinball people are very literal. No, well, that's true. I've found that I've always, though this is, I'm sure, true for everything, but I've found there are a surprising number, to me, surprising number of people that don't seem to have a sense of humor at all. Yeah. So, yeah. But the Twippies are coming, and the favorite nominees were announced. They do that pre-voting where you open vote, and then the top ten from those open votes will be in the actual ballot that you can drop down. Check them. Blah, blah, blah. Okay. I found that this very much differs for me, Dennis, from the Crystals and kind of why there is a different award vision there, I guess. where it's, I don't know, this year there felt like there every year is going to be some snubs, right? It happens in the Oscars and everything. Some snubs in my opinion this year as well, and that's why there's two different awards.
    54:29
    Well, I wouldn't say the Pinball Industry Awards exist because of the snubs and the favorites. No, no, no. But the approaches are pretty different. I mean, and obviously on Pinball Industry Awards, we really shook up from how we did the Excellence Awards last year versus this year. This year now, the category judges are making the selections, and they're going to do write-ins, just flat-out write-ins, and we'll see how that works because I have no idea how that's going to turn out. Yeah, and I think we all agree that crystals are going to continue to change over the years. They're going to morph into what they need to be. I know. The Twippies have evolved. They make changes based off of stuff as well. But yeah, just like with any, you know, whether it's a people's choice or not people's choice, when you come out with a list of stuff that are going to be eligible out of a larger collective list, there's always going to be the issue of the snub. Sure. That's sort of inevitable. I actually haven't gone through any of this other than someone posted on the TPN Discord the podcast one. So that's like the only one I've really looked at. Yeah, I can't say that this isn't – there are not correct people in there, but it just – it still kind of kills me that it feels sometimes like some spam vote. Like you can just – you can get in there if you really work hard enough at it. Well, I don't know how many – that would be interesting. I don't know if they published it or not, how many people submit in the pre-vote. Like I didn't. Yeah, I didn't either. For example, I have before. I did not this time. I did go there, I think, on the last day because I realized I hadn't. I looked at the first list, and it wasn't alphabetical, and I thought, I'm not hunting. Yes. And I closed it. Good point. I was like, no, I don't have the time for that. So the top ten Twippy nominees for their favorite categories, streamer, Buffalo Pinball, Dead Flip, Flippin' Out Pinball, Fox City's Pinball, Tom Graham, Hot Nudge, IE Pinball, Carl D'Angelo, Canadian's Facebook Live, Laser Lose. Laser Lose is probably streaming right now. Loose Flip and RB Flip France. Good list there. It's hard for me to award this category without listing the likes of Mystery Pinball Theater 3000. I think that's a snub for Manu. He is moving the industry with just his work alone, as well as Don't Panic Flip. Georgia, Don't Panic Flip. I don't know how you list 10 without listing him. Fliptronic wasn't in there. They were in there last year. and Hup Challenge. Those four are huge pinball streamers. But who would you kill to put them in? Because someone has to die for another to win. Oof. Yeah, I mean, I see one, two, three, four, five. I'm going to tell you right now, sorry, Joel, and sorry, BD and Bill. Flipping out pinball does not deserve it over mystery pinball, and don't panic flip. They just don't.
    57:18
    But maybe I'm biased there. But, yep, I don't know. Podcast, Top Ten, Backbox, Pinball Podcast, Brody Even Talk Pinball, Canadian Pinball Podcast, Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, Pinball Mag, The Pinball Podcast. Not familiar? I think I got abbreviated because it's so long. It's Pinball News and Pinball Magazine, Pinball Podcast, or Podcast, not Pinball Podcast. No.
    57:41
    Oh. No? Are you sure, though? There's a – I don't know. I thought it might have been the France one.
    57:48
    Then I'm not sure. The only one I knew of was, okay, because I guess that is different because there is Pinball News and Pinball Magazine podcast, which is a different name. I know that there's a YouTube called Pinball Mag.
    58:01
    Okay. They have a podcast. Yeah. Interesting. But I don't know if it is. I'm really bad. I've added no pinball podcast this year because my travel has been non-existent. So I've actually just slimmed down as shows have died. I've just not replaced them. It's not with pinball shows. Yes. I don't know if – oh, that's interesting. So I don't know. Huh. Okay. I had assumed that this was Martin and Jonathan's. And it may be. Maybe I'm – okay. So for a favorite YouTube channel, it just says Pinball Mag. So maybe that is different from – I just thought it was The Pinball Podcast. Oh. I just thought that there was only so much room allowed. So it was going to say like Pinball Magazine, Pinball – but that's not actually the name of the podcast either. Yeah, it's not. I believe it's Pinball News and Pinball Magazine Podcast. Yeah, nor is it really that great, if I'm being honest. Anyway, I don't know what it is if it's not them, so okay. I don't know. So we had those. Let's see. Pinball Profile, Jeff Tillis. Silver Ball Chronicles from TPN, well-deserved there. The Pinball Show. The Slam Tilt Podcast. Good to see those guys in there. The Super Awesome Pinball Show, which kind of a dead show was in there. But the snubs for me, Dennis? See, I thought this list looked less snubby than last year's. I did. Yeah, last year's didn't have Loser Kid and didn't have Silver Ball Chronicles. Oh, okay. I thought that both – because they were full-year podcasts, and they had – I mean, Loser Kid had a lot of big interviews last year, and Silver Ball Chronicles – well, I mean, we know from behind the scenes, but it's an immensely popular show. I mean, a lot of people who hate pinball podcasts like Silver Ball Chronicles because it's actually talking about something meaningful. Sure, sure. Not just like what we're doing. It is well, well, well done. So anyway, to me, those were like, when I looked last year, I was like, those two should have been on the list. But that's what's tough for me, though, Dennis. Numbers don't lie. And Final Round Pinball Podcast, I guarantee you, has more listens than the majority of those podcasts. Sure, but it's not about who just has them. It's not a, otherwise, it wouldn't be easier. No, I'm saying numbers as a reflection. Submit your analytics, and then they'll just put the top most listened podcast. Saying numbers as a reflection, a measurement of popularity. Final Round Pinball Podcast is a damn good show, and I don't know. I listen to all pinball podcasts. Final Round should definitely be in there. Surprised that Poor Man's Pinball Podcast wasn't in there. A lot of changes this year. Nonetheless, just surprising. Yeah, I didn't know when they had their changes and if that made an impact. And Triple Drain, I didn't know what was getting in there because they're new. Yeah, that's true. I wasn't surprised. It's too new. But, again, numbers don't lie on that one either. It has a hot podcast. Sure. I was surprised to see Super Awesome Pinball Show, to be honest with you. I, again – You think they barely met criteria? Barely? I don't remember. I mean, I didn't check what the criteria for the Twippies were. All I remembered was that the show under the structure that I was listening to ended really early in the year. And when they said that the show was done, I ended my subscription. So I haven't heard anything. The tough part this time of the year is always with these damn podcasters, media people. Why are we so difficult? We got ransoms out now.
    61:16
    That's what Saps was. I saw on Facebook. They vote ransom. Instead of like saying, you know, we didn't do that much this year. Come on. They said, vote for us for best podcast. And if we win, we'll be back with a biweekly show, specials and other cool stuff. All caps, bring back super awesome. So you heard it there on their Facebook. in order to hear their podcast you have to pay a pay no you have to vote for them as the best podcast so you like that shit come on come on branchy well you know i did a ransom once and i don't like ransoms because they bite you and make you do something you don't want to do so for those that don't remember way back in the day i was co-hosting on a show called the twip podcast and i decided that i would uh help drive up some and i don't know why i did it because i didn't get a share of these sales but it's like i'm gonna help sell those market trend shirts and so i said hey you know they sell what was it 75 or 50 50 shirts i think it was i do a market trends thinking there's no way that people are gonna buy this t-shirt and then you know what guy, his name's Neil, punished me. He did. Punished me and I had to research this stupid market trend thing and do a market trend. And so, the moral of the story is don't do ransom stuff because if you don't want to do what you're saying you're going to do, if you do it and then you have to and you're like, yeah, this sucks. We'll see because Super Awesome is going to be back regardless, guys. It doesn't matter if you vote for him or not. But, I don't know. Favorite YouTube? That was a normal list of people I would expect to see.
    62:57
    Nothing really big there. The only thing I will note on YouTube, this happened last year. I tried to stop it from last year, but it happened again. Flippin' Out Pinball, thank you guys for the votes for getting into that top 10 favorite YouTube channel, I will say. However, I checked a couple times now.
    63:15
    Flippin' Out is not eligible for this category, so it is taking a spot, unfortunately, that it shouldn't be. So do not vote for Flippin' Out Pinball for the Twippy's favorite YouTube channel. Please do not vote for that. 999. They don't fit criteria there based on the number of videos. So don't vote. Don't vote. If you want to vote for YouTube, vote for one of the other nine that are there. Except for, let's see. Ooh, Marv Loco's in there. I like Marv Loco. And Papa TV. I have to check that. What the hell does Papa TV do? Do they do the tutorials maybe still? I, you know, I think I saw one come out. I didn't watch it. The Criterion, man. I was fighting for that when I was at Twiggy's. I don't know. I don't vet this stuff. Papa won one year. They weren't even eligible.
    64:04
    Pinball Mag. They do have subtitles. I watched that the other day. I like that. Straight down the middle. Tilt. Tilt's doing some good stuff. TNT. He's kind of due. Todd Tucky over there. Cary Hardy's good. Buffalo Pinball's great. Abe Flip's a lot of good tutorials there. And Favorite Accessory. I was just chuckling because they have Favorite Mod nominees. Those are from, you know. Those are, is that mods or third party and accessories? Yeah, that's third party stuff. Okay. They're calling mods. I get it. Accessories, they're calling the manufacturers making these things. But then I was really confused because they have Penwoofer in here. They have Scorbit in here. And I'm like, well, isn't that a mod? Or it's a mod. I don't know the definition of a mod. Well, like Scorbit, it comes in integrated on JJP Games, but then it's a separate mod if you want it. Well, but score bit's weird because it's like straddling both lines. Mm-hmm. Because it's a mod for non-JJP games, and then it's with JJP games, so it's like both. Sure. Why not both? That is true. So I don't really understand that one. I saw Invisiglass by JJP, and I'm like... Oh, they invented it?
    65:12
    But... What? Why is Invisiglass in there? Why not? I don't know. It's weird. It's not a new mod. maybe it's maybe it's a new formula extra busy i don't i don't doesn't smudge this is what i would i always lose my argument but it's like the same with the pia's i'm like can we drop the accessory category outright i'm not a part of awards because i can't get past decisions at times i can't get past them i don't uh awards it's hard i'll say it is hard but it's doable you get it's very doable it's objective there's decisions that are made that don't make sense i don't know you it's it's interesting where just in my own experience where you get bogged down on some of the smallest stuff because of trying to you're like splitting the atom here on some of these things like i like the score bit one i could it'd be like you don't want to list them in both do you no so but they qualify i guess i can see the argument for it going into that category but like pinwoofer i don't get that pinwoofer i don't get that that's a mod but maybe there's justification and I am just blatantly wrong. Read the minutes. I'll probably be wrong on the next thing. Award season has hit us. I want to just run down pretty quick some of our picks or what we would pick or who we think should be identified mostly in these award shows. So for the sake of the differences between the Twippies and the Crystals, we'll just kind of talk about some of the game stuff and some of the excellent stuff in media. What about best theme, Dennis? Based on theme alone, this is the Twippy thing. Well, yeah, theme alone, Mandalorian. Mandalorian, yes. Yeah, it's the new hotness. And it's tied into Star Wars, which is the old hotness. So there you go. So that Mandalorian may get a win there. Best animations in display?
    67:00
    That's a tough one. We've got, basically, listener, we've got Ultraman, Halloween, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Silver Falls, Shoot and Scoop. These are multi-morphic things. Legends of Valhalla by American Pinball. Jurassic Park, the pin version. The Mandalorian, Godzilla, Led Zeppelin. Yeah, I mean, I would probably go with Godzilla on this just because I thought the clever use of the integration of those really campy clips worked well without feeling like, oh, no, we're not hearing the dialogue. We're not having bubbly Bobozilla. Not going Halloween, huh? Right. Well, I don't. Yeah. I've only, on older code, I've watched some footage of the Halloween clips and absolutely not. Absolutely not. Yeah, give me Godzilla. They did a lot of custom work. I visually, I love the Mandalorian because it's got cut scenes from the stuff I love. But the work alone, objectively, I think it is, without a doubt, Godzilla. Light show? Godzilla's got a good light show. Led Zeppelin. Yeah, you know, actually, for Pinball Industry Awards, because I've actually done my ballot, I can tell you I abstained on this category because I wasn't comfortable picking. Halloween and Ultraman have really good light shows. They do, but so does the premium LE of Zeppelin. Yes. Yeah, with the expression lighting. But my problem is I haven't been able to play a premium Zeppelin, so I haven't gotten to – I've only seen it on video. I thought it looked really good, though, so I leaned to that actually. Legends of Valhalla? I didn't feel I could do it. Legends of Valhalla have all RGB, so. Yeah, yeah. Jurassic Park, the pen, I think is pretty standard. Mandalorian is – oh, it's Dwight Sullivan. Yes. I like that light show on Godzilla. For me, the three that I was kind of thinking on was, as long as Premium Plus, Zeppelin, Mandalorian, yes, was on my short list, and so was Halloween. Anyway, so those are kind of like the three that I think are most likely to get it. For me, Halloween is going to get there, or Ultraman is going to get there. For me, it's not there quite yet. I would say, personally, Godzilla is a great light show. Led Zeppelin is hard to not vote for.
    69:07
    But lighting for me is a moment. And the Mandalorian for me is, it got so many lighting moments in that game. I have to go Mandalorian for that. I mean, and that's the one I had the experience on. So I've like, out of location, I've played it and gone into the mode and the whole lighting scheme changes. Like you're in that cold blue when you're dealing with the ice spiders and stuff. It ties it in really well. It ties the room together. The scope shot, whenever you get those jackpots, that's a feel-good shot. All right, what about the toys and gimmicks? Godzilla, right? Yeah, yeah, and any model because I think the Newton ball magnet. That's phenomenal. Even if you only pick one toy and gimmick, that would win. Right, but if you go into the premium, then you've got the cool collapsing building diverter and the breakable bridge. Magnet magic. It wins more. It just wins more. Yeah, there's no – that's not going to be a chase. Best theme integration. Same for Godzilla, premium and above in particular, because the actual dropping of a building, that's so Godzilla. Dropping of a bridge, that's so Godzilla.
    70:13
    It is. Defeating the – I just thought it did the best. There's a lot of integration there. Legends of Valhalla, meh. No. Jurassic Park fan, Mandalorian was good. Led Zeppelin really does pull you in. To that vibe. Yeah, but what, like, what, like, theme integration? I just, uh, Magic Mystery Tour spinner that only comes up on the expensive model? I don't know. It's going to go down to Godzilla. I don't think it's going to go down to anything. It will be Godzilla that wins. It will be Godzilla. I don't think you should forget about Halloween there. The music, the lighting.
    70:51
    See, for theme integration, I, as, I guess, fair or unfair, everyone has their own opinion. My problem is the moment you stuck three Michael Myers toys on the play field, you took me out. But they have the hedge. That is an iconic scene. Yes, but they have three hedges, which is not the movie. It wasn't three hedges. It was one. It was one hedge with one Michael, not putting in three. To me, it's weird. It's just weird. Yeah. I think Godzilla wins this, and I think Mandalorian comes in second. Yeah, just for popularity's sake. Best music and sound effects? oh music you know now that's weird you know like on pias we carve it out so and i know some people disagree i think carrie hardy last year kind of ranted about uh when guns and roses but i yeah so for me zeppelin which i love zeppelin as a band this best music yeah i didn't have stairway in the in the game they still had a lot of really good ones so i really like listening to the led zeppelin pen because i like listening to les up so music wise i think zeppelin is a winner sound effect wise i gotta go godzilla yeah the sound effects in godzilla are phenomenal have they integrated that little girl yet into the game no i don't think so get her in the game maybe uh led zeppelin for music yeah you make the same argument i would make then i mean that's just it's like and now what do i think wins i think godzilla wins um because I think people liked how they integrated the Blue Acer cult song, and then people actually realized the theme is good, too, of Godzilla's theme, and that works really well. So I really enjoy the whole original music package of Godzilla, so I think that's where the original voters will go. And I say I have not played Sorcerer's Apprentice, Silver Falls, or Shoot and Scoop, but I have reviewed plenty of video and sound on that, so I'm familiar, but those aren't even close.
    72:45
    What is it? There's a special – Scott Denisey for Silver Falls did a – there's a genre. Nick Baldrige probably shoot me a message because I can't remember. It was like Chill Hop or something. Anyway, it didn't click with me when I heard it. So for me, it was different, but it didn't appeal to my taste. Yeah, if you're going music, give me Led Zeppelin. Sound effects, give me Godzilla. But my personal selfish pick, again, I'm in love with the call-outs of Halloween because they're so campy and they're so bad that they're great. And me and my buddies, when we're playing, we talk in that voice all the time. But Godzilla, you can put the call-outs in Japanese. That's cool. And look, Mandalorian is great too. I love boom, right when you're playing. Well, you see, in terms of call-outs, and that's the thing. It's like if I were to carve it all up, it'd be like music, I'd do Zeppelin. Sound effects, I'd do Godzilla. And call-outs, I would do Mandalorian. That's perfect. Yeah, that's what we should do. What about best rules?
    73:47
    Zilla. Yeah, absolutely. Come on. Best play-filled gameplay and layout? Godzilla. Zilla, yeah. Artwork. Godzilla will win, but... Yeah, it will. I actually am supporting Mandalorian on this. Oh, okay.
    74:03
    There's a good argument there. And if it wasn't Mandalorian, I'd probably do Halloween. Halloween's a really good art package, especially on the exterior of that game. And that's the thing. Halloween more so when we're talking back Translight and Cabinet than Clayfield. Ultraman's probably good. The main art on Ultraman, I don't know what this says about me, but it always looks like it should be Ultra Woman, like with the breasts, like there's cleavage. Some of the artwork, it's just strange. Silver Falls, I don't even know if that qualifies in shoot and scoop. Legends of Valhalla, that's not going to win. Jurassic Park the pen you could argue Johnny Crab I'm going Godzilla and if we're splitting this on artwork like the crystals do from play field to cabinet is there any difference there yeah there could be I'm still probably you're probably still Zilla both Halloween cabinet might make a run for it though I'm more supportive of Halloween for the cabinet I was the same with Rob Zombie I thought the Translight and the Cabinet were really, really good. I did not like the playfield on Rob Zombie. Now, I don't hate the art on the playfield of Halloween. I just think that the rest of the package is better. Dude, you're right. That Mandalorian artwork does make a good – I'm just thinking of the Translights and the Backglasses. They are phenomenal. I just thought Mandalorian looked really, really good. I really, really liked it. The turret on the LE with him and that big gun.
    75:35
    And so it's just – I think it's a really strong package. I think in a way it's a little underappreciated, but, I mean, compared to other Star Wars art we've gotten before, I thought it's an excellent, excellent job. And, well, I really like the characters and the integration in the art that was for Godzilla. For me, it's too Marvel method, so I'm not backing it. Okay. All right. And then Game of the Year is going to be Godzilla. Yeah. Good. Okay. What about the podcast? You going to the pinball show? I don't think we'll win. but you think that's where it's at, right? I mean, if I were... It's... Yeah, you're wanting me to say objectively which one of the ten would I pick? Yeah, I would pick us. Wow! Because I think we're both consistent and you cover the meaningful news and you just have to put up with some stupid jokes and sound effects or voiceovers. Yeah, I'd say if judges... And that's what the show is. If judges do not vote for the pinball show, you're wrong. And if you want better stupid voice effects vote for Slam Tilt I could see an argument for Slam Tilt for the historical piece I don't think people vote for historical pieces. For that argument, Kaneda, to give him another win, would be the historical argument as well. Yeah, he's been going for five years or so, five or longer years. Yeah, his show started about a month before Eclectic Gamers started. And his is one of the most popular, most polarizing one is Canada's Podcast. I don't know if any of the other shows are polarizing. I can see an argument for, well, it depends on if Scott at Loser Kid is talking about Deep Root. I don't think that was polarizing. I think that was passionate. Yeah. This is passionate. I think that pinball, when it comes to pinball profile, I prefer Final Round and Jeff's tone and content on that more so. uh yeah i i would agree with you but that's i have a bias in favor of multiple hosts i don't like single host podcast structure generally now pinball profile is tricky because of course he's always got a guest yeah but because that's always changing you don't have a consistent banter yeah because it really depends on the other person so that's just just what i like to listen to if we're talking twippies i can see i can see silver ball chronicles making a run just because it is quality wise very good and probably very important to the media pinball industry. Not to be disrespectful to any other show and a lot of these honestly I don't listen to. I've got way back on my number of pinball podcasts but of the list of 10 it's the only one that jumps out to me as being well researched. Okay. Yeah. I can see that. I can see that but we'll see. Kaneda for the Twippy Kaneda will win that one and then for the crystals i don't know crystals is usually more of a quality type of recognition more so than listen numbers well and because it's a write-in you know it could be beyond these these 10 you know a poor man's could end up in there or we just don't know we just don't and hell if it was listener numbers the pinball show would win and and in terms of in terms of pias i left it blank okay because because i'm on two different shows so i just felt like as a judge i should stay out of that one. I think things like Final Round and the Puppet Pals.
    78:59
    Them Puppet Pals. Puppet Pals is not going to get it. They have enough episodes. YouTube channel. I think we may see a Kerry Hardy win this year. You might. I think we may. Don't underestimate, even though the output has been critiqued quite a bit, that Straight Down the Middle is extremely popular when it does have videos come out. I think I counted we had close to 30. So, yeah, 20, 30. That's not bad. We did a lot of stuff that was more industry-focused kind of stuff, sizzle reel, promo kind of stuff. Right, right. And there will always be some that will be like – they'll miss the ye olde days. They'll be like me and be like, you know, I'd rather see more this or that than that. But, you know, one person's this or that is another person's I'd rather just see more smoke effects. Yeah, I mean, look, if I'm being objective, Abe flips and tilt and straight down the middle It'll have the best quality, and it's not close. Not even close. The stuff that Tilt's doing over there, it's phenomenal. A-flips, phenomenal, phenomenal stuff. Now, there's also, though, you want to talk about the historic pool. There's sort of the… TNT? Yeah, a lot of people are like TNT has been snubbed, and the wrong must be righted. I think that, I'm going to be real here, he peaked whenever there wasn't an award show. So he wins that. It's more of a, you know, Todd wins that. It's more of a recognition for all that he has done because every one of his damn videos is entertaining. Sure. But, you know, hey, I mean, that was Denzel Washington's Academy Award for Training Day. And he's like, yeah, this wasn't my best role. But people were like, you've been snubbed so many other times. Leonardo DiCaprio, reverent kind of thing. So, yep, yep, yep. Favorite website, Pinside. I mean, who else is going to get it? Either Pinside or Twip. We'll win that. I don't think so. Oh, Twip won it last year, didn't they? Yeah, it did.
    80:58
    Let's be fair. Twip hadn't done a damn thing this second half of the year. That's why maybe Pinside wins this time. Yeah. I don't even know why they're in the top ten. The things that just go dead for a long time, come on. Favorite mods? I have no idea on mods. I buy them all, so that'd be tough. Leor's sculpted T-Rex head is really, really, really good. It's tough for a game-specific one to win. It is. But his, I think, could win. Indiana Jones Disneyland Edition cabinet, again, no clue why that's in there. I don't think that's for sale. It was a one-off. It's not a mod. Come on. Sorry.
    81:37
    You're getting your dander in it. I know. Dander. Should be a part of one of these things. Ah, damn it. Yeah, I'd go maybe. I like medicinal mod stuff, too. The Grogu should win it, I think, because that was awesome. That might actually, because a lot of people were just pleased that it was like, we stuck it to the man and showed Stern how it's done. Yeah, and either that or Lior's. Lior's is personally just hard to deal with, and so I probably wouldn't vote for him. But favorite accessories?
    82:07
    Insider Connected. Yes. Yes, I think so. Insider Connected. Homebrew, it's going to be Ferris Bueller winning that one for the Twippies. give me Bill and Madison but favorite location I don't know because I haven't been to all of them favorite convention maybe Jack Bar they've been pushing for votes I'm going to do a total bias here District 82 doesn't buy from me but Tom does Jack Bar buys from us I'm going to go Jack Bar here yeah they're the only location on that list what the hell people definitely Jack Bar put in your vote now favorite convention there was no TPF so this is actually it's going to be Expo That's my guess, yeah. The underdog for me is Pinsonati or MGC. But favorite competitive pinball player who gives a shit?
    82:55
    Give me Ray Day all day for that kind of stuff. Yeah, yeah, I'd probably be giving Ray Day as best. Favorite tournament nominees? I don't know. I don't play tournaments, so I can't say. Yeah, I'd leave it blank. Mobile app, who gives a shit?
    83:10
    And when I'm saying that, it's my own personal opinion. I don't give a shit. Yeah, Pindigo for me. Favorite topper. Now this is where I like it. I love that they still do, at Twippy's, they still do favorite topper. You got the Guns N' Roses Halloween.
    83:24
    Indiana Jones was phenomenal. Led Zeppelin was phenomenal. The Stadium Topper by Pink Graphics for GNR, really good. Stranger Things was awesome. Ultraman. For me, it's between Stranger Things, Led Zeppelin, or Indiana Jones. and I'm going to go you know what, for me, Stranger Things. Absolutely, positively bringing back an old feature that Infinity lighting. I just love that thing. Stranger Things, yes, I'm sold on that. And two very appreciated excellence categories in the crystals. We've got Pinball Writing. I haven't done enough research yet to accurately answer that one. Yeah. You didn't do any articles this year, did you? Nope. I didn't think so. Yeah, I don't know about that one.
    84:18
    Photography, Larson up there. Christian Larson's doing some really good work up in the New York area. Okay, and then also an excellence in pinball social media. I like NAP here. Yeah, yes. I like NAP there, NAP Arcade. And then, which I love this idea, the Harry Williams Pinball Legacy Award. You don't have to say anything because you're kind of part of this, But there's a lot of people, like a lifetime achievement here, that could fit into this. That's going to be a fun one there. So we go to the award show, and I'm excited about all of it this time of year, all the fighting and bickering and all of that. So there's some of Dennis and I's picks for the award show, and objectively the right ones, of course.
    84:59
    To end out the news this week, we got a couple of cool IFPA announcements. They announced some end-of-the-year awards. Did you see these, Dennis? It's award season. Oh, my gosh. TPN's very own Ray Day is awarded the world's greatest pinball player for 2021. How good does that feel? Probably better than number two. Oh, that's not Josh Sharp, I don't think. But we had IFPA's player of the year, Arvid Flaggair, or Flaggar. I don't know how they go there. So nice job, Arvid. And rookie of the year was Mike Weinberg. That could have been you if you'd only tried, Zach. Yeah, well. One day, Dennis. One day.
    85:41
    It's that time of the week where we give you, we, where I give you the uncontended, undisputed, award-winning, if there was one, pinball podcast segment, not only of 2021 people, but let's not bullshit ourselves, which segment is better in all of history regarding pinball podcast. Is there one, Dennis?
    86:04
    Huh? Yeah. See, even practical Dennis knows that it's the winner. And it's pinball market trends. Trending up this week, I've got to tell you, is April O'Neil. She got a makeover. I don't know if you checked this out. There's a thread out there where someone was doing their name is Scandal. Scandalous. They were a scandal making this upgrade code for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles by Stern Pinball. They redid all of the animations for Robot April O'Neil.
    86:37
    Robotech is not back now. She now is the highlight of this game. The most beautiful probably animation we've ever seen in a pinball game. That's a strong take, but one that's going to be hard to be argued. Go check out Scandal's coding mod for April O'Neil. Again, as a reminder, it probably voids your warranty and all of that stuff, but damn it's cool. Also training up this week, we're talking about machines, it's the Stern LEs. We've done it before, but if numbers don't lie, and I can only report the facts, the facts are that training up are Stern LEs. Collect them all. That's what it feels like right now. Because it doesn't matter what damn Stern, you list a Stern LE, and it's going to be going for way more than what MSRP was on it brand new. Even things like Aerosmiths are up. Even things like Led Zeppelins are selling for $12,000 a piece now. For some reason, Stern has cornered the market on the collectibles in the collector's corner. Stern LEs. Huge. Right now, I'm going to give you a quick rundown. Dennis? Listener, I'm going to give you a quick rundown on the kind of secondary market price of these Stern LEs. Let's go down the list. Most recent one was Godzilla. Godzilla LE came out, what, $10,500. Right now, that's a $16,000 game. Wow. $16,000. That's a lot. What else we got right before that is Mandalorian. Mandalorians are selling for $12,000 to $14,000 for an LA. Holy moly. Going whittling our way down. Led Zeppelin just seeing one sell for, I believe, $11,000 or $12,000. That's the going rate even on Led Zeppelin. Go down past that. Avengers Infinity Quest. That one's kind of plateaued. It hasn't seen the increase, but still, it was always like an above $10,000 price. It's still $11,000 or so. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that's kind of low one of the bunch but you're still going to have to pay $9,500 to $10,500 for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles LE they're all up Stranger Things LE, don't get me started that's a $16,000 game believe it or not, couldn't you even believe that Dennis? Stranger Things LE $16,000 no Elvira House of Whores LE $18,000, $16,000 something like that, it's up there, hell the premiums They're selling for $12,000. Jurassic Park, that's a $20,000 LE, listener. $20,000 for a Jurassic Park LE. Does anything beat it? Black Knight LE, that's about a $10,000 game. Munsters LE, good luck finding one under $10,000. You're not going to find it. I don't care how many people hate that game. It's a beauty there, Clark. Iron Maiden LE, you never see come up. Never, never, never see an Iron Maiden LE pop up anymore. And if it does, it's an $18,000 game minimum. Deadpool LE, that's right now I think they're going for about $15,000, $16,000. And we'll stop. What else we got? Guardians LE, I've been trying to get one, Dennis. There's one right now for $16,500, no topper, and I can't do it. I can't. I cannot do it. I think that's a – Why can't you do it? Just because. Come on. $16,000 for Guardians LE? No. Not doing that. Nope. You can keep your mustard powder coat. Nope, I'll just jack out a premium. I think the going rate's about $14 for a Guardians LE. Star Wars LE, actually the comic premium's going a little bit higher than a Star Wars LE, but still, Star Wars LE, around $11,000, $12,000. Aerosmith LE is up there, $12,000 to $14,000. Ghostbusters LE, that's the one that can match Jurassic Park. Ghostbusters LEs are now $20,000 machines.
    90:19
    And it keeps going. Kiss LEs way up there. Game of Thrones LEs back up there. Again, WWE, there's where you're not going to have to pay too much for. All streaming out this week is The Ripple. You know anything about The Ripple? No. Alert. Stolen pinball. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Uh-oh. There was a thread on Pinside. Probably my favorite thread of the year. Minus all the toxicity of the Canadian Threads recently.
    90:46
    Somebody stole a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from, I believe, Tennessee. They had it shipped. I don't know what happened. You have to go read the thread. That's not important. The important part is that it was supposed to go to the West Coast, and it landed somewhere in Idaho, right? And there's this thread that opened up, Dennis and listener, that people are, be on the lookout for a turtles that was stolen, scammed, right? So this guy in Boise, Idaho, by the name of Ripple, who is trending up in a big way this year, not even this week, the ripple was presented reached out about buying this machine didn't know it was the turtles that was stolen he started asking questions getting pictures, doing his due diligence and purchasing a used pinball machine then he remembered that there was a threat about a missing turtles and there were some things that kept making him go back to thinking man that sounds a lot like so he went above and beyond out of his own way, taking his own time to research more and more and he found out, damn it, I think this is the stolen turtles.
    91:53
    Now, most people in this situation, what would they do? They might call the police and say, hey, you know. Yeah, they'd probably call the coppers. Yeah, and the coppers would be like, hey, that's Tennessee, Jerusalem. So all this is written up. You've got to read through this, listener. So he went above and beyond. He was able to set up a sting operation with the local police in Idaho, and they caught this son of a bitch that stole the turtles. I shit you not. Wow. The Ripple got back the turtles for this buyer. Now, it's going to be locked up in the court system. So I think it's in like the, what do they call it, the repo area or something. It's in the evidence area for a while. But he said that they got the machine to the Ripple's house to set up the sting. And it looked unharmed. And nothing was stripped off of it. they got the game back. Nice. Ripple.
    92:49
    Nicely done. Man, us pinball people stick together. So I have to trend up the ripple this week. I think his name is going to be like an adjective now. No, you got rippled if you get caught. Fuck around. Get rippled. That's all I'm saying. This next game is not going to get rippled though because trending down is Guns and Roses. Ellie. What the hell? Why is that? I don't really get that from Jersey Jack Pinball. Still coming out with them. They're not down much, but any time in this marketplace you can buy something for less than MSRP on a used game, hey, that's a trend. Right now you can get a GNR LE for about $10,500. Maybe $10,000 if you work hard enough, but about $500 to $1,000 under MSRP. And in the world of where we're at right now in the marketplace and pinball, that's trending down. Coincidentally enough, But Wonka is trending back up again. I think that's kind of a scarcity thing. They're not actively selling them anymore from the factory. So we're seeing Wonka, CEs especially, start rivaling that. Believe it or not, it's rivaling that of GNRCs. Yep. That's what the marketplace says. I think people are just itching for that next patent while they're paying. Here comes Toy Story question mark.
    94:06
    Deal of the week, I don't have one for you. If you want to buy something, go to the Facebook page of Living Down Pinball. I just listed 25 games this last week. How about that? New Year's special. That's a lot of games. It's nice of you to let me buy one. Some of them are market priced, so I've been getting hate on some of them. I think I've got a $12,000 or $13,000 Star Wars premium comic up there. Numbers don't lie. I'm just listening for what the market holds. But I do have a deal of the... This one's an interesting one. If you guys go to Pinside right now, you're going to find a modded out Walking Dead Pro with Topper right outside of Kennesaw, Georgia.
    94:44
    This is Kyle's Car 81. It's by Kyle's or Kyle Scar 81. Do you think it's talking about Kyle's car or his scar? Will I not pose?
    94:55
    You got a scar from working on his car? Quite possibly. I think I know Kyle. Good dude. And I'm not ripping on him for his price. His price is ridiculous. He's got this thing loaded down. It does shoot better than an LE. You know yourself, Dennis. The pro is where it's at. Color DMD, clean sound mod. There's shaker. It's loaded down. It looks beautiful. $7,800 is a little high, but that's not why you're getting the WTF this week. He has a custom topper on this thing. Ooh. And this custom topper. Oh, shit. I fucking clicked on it. I told myself I would not click on this thing. You clicked. Damn it. Because it's trying to resemble the fish tank, so it's got three zombie heads up there. but this thing is so heinous and terrifying. It truly, it is very, very morbid. It is really scary. I don't scare easily. This thing is just disgusting.
    95:53
    So if you like horror and stuff like that, you may be up to this. It's very difficult for me to see. That's how terrifying this thing is. I could not have that on my machine. It looks bad because it looks like it could be real heads. that's the problem Dennis maybe they are and that's why I'm trending this thing WTF because that one in the middle looks like a corpse John Papaduke I'm just saying that was your deal terrifying and a recent update on our new sub segment called pinball bounty Dennis do you think the pinball bounty has been fulfilled I don't know I had two people contact me since the last episode saying they thought it was an incredibly tacky segment. Oh, of course they would. They always message you. Because they're like, I don't want to say this to Zach, but whoa, talk about it. This is a bad flex look to do this stuff. Man or woman up. Have the ovaries or the balls to contact me. No, they want me to help sanitize this and protect them from your wrath. The update is, pinball bounties so far are getting great feedback on my end. They love the idea because they want to get paid. And there's an individual that is on the bounty list for a thousand dollar reward because he did set me up with coincidentally enough one of my buddies in pinball so he's going to get money for nothing but uh working uh looking at a deal for a hep restored whitewater dennis i'd do anything for this game it's so pretty okay so we're close we are close and i will not issue another pinball bounty until this one is fulfilled how How about that? Is that fair?
    97:32
    Okay. It's going to take three to six months for this damn game because he's not going to let it go. But it's close. And ladies and gentlemen, as always, I'm just here to report the facts. You know that because numbers do not lie on pinball market trends.
    97:52
    All right, let's call it a show, Dennis. Number 86 in the books here. Happy 2022 to everybody. Thanks for hanging out with us this holiday season and making it special. And for the last year or so, I thought about doing a year-end review, right? But no, we do a week-end review here. That's what we do best at the Pinball Show, and I think we do it better than anybody. So thank you for the ongoing support, love, merchandise, sales, the votes, whatever you can do to help support us. I very much appreciate it, and I know Dennis does too. Right, Dennis? Do you?
    98:24
    Sure. Somebody just bought a Nordman T-shirt. Where can people catch you from now to next time? Watch You Seek Forum? I am over there, but it's probably easiest to email me at eclecticgamerspodcast.gmail.com or go to facebook.com slash eclecticgamerspodcast and send a message. That does work, and you can reach us both at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. Also, check out straight down the middle, videos. We've got top ten most anger-inducing pinball machines as well as Godzilla review coming up next. I believe we may have a film review and we may have a GNR review, as well as just kind of our recapping of all the work that we were able to give you guys in 2021.
    99:03
    Sponsor, as always, Flippin' Out Pinball product showcase this week is a pre-owned Monster Bash SE loaded down to the brim. Full custom powder coat and all the pretty mods. $10,995. Buy, buy, buy! Coming by. And like I said, go to our Facebook page, follow us there at Flippin' Out Pinball. I'm telling you, if I have a used game or something special that does pop up, like Elvira 40, did you see a picture of that, Dennis? Mm-hmm. Posted that on there. So we've got about 25 machines for sale. That's the best place to put them. They take too long to do it at the website. They sell too fast. So check them out there. I also got an alien. Dennis, I got my alien finally.
    99:37
    Yes. It's not unboxed yet. It's still sitting in the box. And in my personal collection, I did also add, so I added Alien, Medieval Madness LE, and Attack from Mars LE. I know you like the Attack from Horrors. Yep, it's cool. I'm prepping for that Cactus Canyon LA to come in, so I had to give it a brother and sister there. But I'm not opening up the Elvira 40. But we got other things as well. Toppers, Stranger Things toppers, Deadpool toppers, I believe, armor, Indiana Jones toppers, a lot of banners, Escalers, you name it, merchandise. TPN last week, there was a slew of things. So much that I think you should probably just go to our Facebook page, follow us there, so that you can see all the wonderful stuff that does come up. I did want to point out Manu over at Mystery Pinball Theater 3000 did a charity stream and raised thousands upon thousands of dollars for a charity. So nicely done there. See, Dennis, that's what I'm talking about right there. Pembassador, if there is one. There's not an award for Pembassador. Well, there should be an award for Pembassador. Also had a really fun time on Wild Dog Arcade's Happy New Year celebration where they joined Pendiana Jones. Go back and watch the VOD of that. Pride Pinball had a very Merry Christmas stream December 25th. Go check out the VOD for that because Santa Claus conquers the Martians in that episode. And coming up, we have an Iron Battle, part of the Don't Panic Flip love. They're battling Tron between Don't Panic Flip and Pez Johnson with Jedi McMuffin moderating. That's coming up this Tuesday. So that's tomorrow. That's soon. Mountain time. 10 p.m. mountain, which means nothing to people. So that is 11 central and midnight eastern. All right, Dennis, I think that's it, man. That should be a Silver Ball Chronicles next week sometime. What are they going to cover? I don't know. Hopefully not a shit topic. History. All right, this episode is history. 2021 is history. For Dennis Creasel, I'm Zach Manning. And remember, folks, even if you've got a triple spinning cannoli, that horse head don't hunt. That horse head don't hunt. And always practice safe pinball. And during the pinball awards season, I want you guys to do something for me. Please vote for who you want to win and who you appreciate, whether it be a machine or a media creator. Not what other people want you to do. If you're taking the time to vote, vote for who you think deserves the recognition for their hard work and what they bring to this industry each and every year.