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Episode 119: Head2Head&Red

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·34m 42s·held·Apr 1, 2018
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Head to Head2Head Pinball hosts visit Pinball Profile to discuss their podcast journey and debate classic machines.

Summary

Jeff Teolis hosts Martin Robbins and Ryan C from Head to Head A A Pinball Podcast on Pinball Profile for an April Fool's edition. Ryan C recounts his North American pinball tour visiting Vegas, Texas, New York, and Toronto, while the hosts discuss their podcast origins, chemistry, editing processes, and personal anecdotes. The episode features a playful 'Slam the Top 100' segment where they debate classic pinball machines (Tales of the Arabian Night, Fathom, and Taxi).

Key Claims

  • Ryan C recently won his first tournament at Pixel Alley in Melbourne, a two-strikes format with ~17 players

    high confidence · Martin Robbins confirmed this on the podcast, noting it was at Pixel Alley and was a two-strikes tournament

  • Head to Head A A Pinball Podcast ran for approximately 2.5 years before ending due to host burnout

    medium confidence · Jeff Teolis references the podcast as a landmark fixture and mentions it ended, context suggests this from KB knowledge base

  • Martin and Ryan didn't know each other well before starting the podcast—they had only met twice, once to buy mirror blades

    high confidence · Martin stated directly: 'Ryan and I didn't know each other really all that well before we did the podcast. I think we'd met each other twice. I bought some mirror blades off him once.'

  • Ryan C was a regular emailer to Slam Tilt Podcast before starting Head to Head2Head Pinball

    high confidence · Ryan C confirmed: 'I was a bit of a slam groupie I still am I love those guys I was listening to their latest podcast at like 2 a.m.' and discussed his first correction email being read with a ridiculous accent by Ron

  • Martin edits Head to Head2Head Pinball episodes immediately after recording and takes 2-6 hours for a 2-3 hour show

    high confidence · Martin stated: 'most nights we do record for two, two and a half hours, sometimes nearly three hours, and then it's probably a good two, three hours after that editing' and sometimes 'five, six hours, particularly when there's interviews'

  • Ryan C placed 11th (equal with multiple others) out of 24 in a tournament at Sunshine Laundromat in New York

    high confidence · Ryan C directly stated: 'I came 11th, but it was equal 11th with a lot of people. A little out of 24 people.'

  • This is Ryan C's last solo trip to North America—his wife stated future trips would cost ~$20,000 if family joins

    high confidence · Ryan C stated: 'she has told me that this is the last trip I'm going to by myself. So I guess the next time I have to either try and reconvince her and get her to change her mind or go on a holiday that will probably go from costing me a couple of thousand dollars to $20,000'

Notable Quotes

  • “I'm playing with your cats... Zeppelin, yes, he's on your bed, I think, right now.”

    Ryan C @ early in episode — Establishes the casual, humorous tone and that Ryan C is staying at Jeff Teolis's house during his North American tour

  • “It's the back end of the Ryan World Tour. And when I say world, I mean North American tour.”

    Martin Robbins @ early segment — Self-deprecating humor about Ryan C's extensive North American pinball travel itinerary

  • “I was a bit of a slam groupie I still am I love those guys... Ron just read it out in just a ridiculous accent and I just found it hilarious that it was just so over the top.”

    Ryan C @ podcast origins discussion — Explains how Ryan C's early engagement with Slam Tilt Podcast led to the inception of Head to Head Pinball

  • “There are more of them, but still 15 minutes versus two plus hours. And Martin, you get that task. Is it a big chore?”

    Jeff Teolis @ editing discussion — Acknowledges the substantial editing burden on Martin Robbins for Head to Head Pinball episodes

  • “The fact that you can do it, and there's definitely a progression when you listen to head-to-Head2Head Pinball. If you start from the beginning and listen to where we are right now in the 30s, the shows just get better and better and better.”

    Jeff Teolis @ chemistry discussion — High praise for the chemistry development between Martin and Ryan C despite not knowing each other beforehand

  • “I don't know anyone in Canada or in the US that aren't pinball people. So I want to hang around people and do the sites, but I can't do the sites with non-pinball people because I don't know pinball people.”

    Ryan C @ tourism discussion — Humorous observation about the tight-knit nature of the pinball community and Ryan's social circles

  • “I jammed my hand. Again, this is a day before me going to the circuit finals... I broke my thumbnail. It's like a torture. It's like someone sticking bamboo under your nail.”

    Jeff Teolis — Jeff's comedic recounting of injuring himself playing foosball with Ryan C just before a major tournament

Entities

Head to Head Pinball PodcastorganizationJeff TeolispersonMartin RobbinspersonRyan CpersonPinball ProfileorganizationSlam Tilt PodcastorganizationRon Hallettperson

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Head to Head Pinball Podcast achieved high production quality and community engagement, influencing subsequent podcast creations; Australian pinball community actively engaged with content

    high · Jeff Teolis stated: 'everybody listening to this podcast definitely listens to your wonderful podcast, Head to Head Pinball' and praised their chemistry and editorial quality

  • ?

    content_signal: Head to Head Pinball pioneered specific format segments like 'Slam the Top 100' that encourage community engagement and voting on machine debates

    high · The podcast features a random number generator system to compare top 100 Pinside machines with 30-second arguments and rebuttals, posted to Facebook for community voting

  • ?

    competitive_signal: International players (Australian Ryan C) actively touring North America for tournament participation; major events like Pinburgh, Cabin Fever, and Sunshine Laundromat tournaments are regular draws

    high · Ryan C completed extensive tour hitting Texas Pinball Festival, New York tournaments, and planning Pinburgh and Pinball for Change tournaments in Canada

  • ?

    community_signal: International pinball enthusiasts undertaking significant travel to North American pinball events; family obligations creating constraints on participation frequency

    high · Ryan C's wife stated this is his last solo trip; future family trips would increase costs from $2k to $20k; Ryan planning year-long advance for this trip

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Successful podcast partnerships can develop quickly despite limited prior acquaintance when hosts have strong communication skills and complementary expertise

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.104

0:00
It's time for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teobolis. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. No fans of Pinball Profile. I wasn't whacked in the head with a boomerang. That would be one of our guests today joining us for the April Fool's edition of Pinball Profile. And what better fools than our good friends and a wonderful broadcasting team of Martin and Ryan. Hello, boys. How are you? We're great. Very good. How are you? Very good. And I think everybody listening to this podcast definitely listens to your wonderful podcast, Head to Head Pinball. and it's great to have you not only on this pinball profile, but one of you actually staying at my house. He's upstairs right now in my room. I have no idea what you're doing. Ryan, what are you doing? I'm playing with your cats.
1:13
It killed you to say cat, didn't it? But my cat, Zeppelin, yes, he's on your bed, I think, right now. Sorry, I hope you're not allergic. I'm paying the cat. Okay, sure. This is Turnabout is Fair Play because I think when I was on your head-to-head pinball podcast, it was early in the morning for me, 6 in the morning, and it was very late at night for you two. Total reversal right now. It is, and I'm not joking, 3.30 in the morning here in the greater Toronto area for Ryan and myself. What about for you, Martin? It's 6.30, but I will say it's not like you've stayed up till 3.30 in the morning just because you're recording this podcast. It's the only reason.
1:57
Don't believe it. Yes, it's the back end of the Ryan World Tour. And when I say world, I mean North American tour. We heard part of it a few weeks ago on Head to Head Pinball Podcast. And by the time this airs, you'll probably hear the second week. But, Ryan, for a recap of where you've been and what you've been doing since you came over from Australia, how did your little tour start? It's been great. I mean, I flew into Vegas and saw a couple of shows and walked around and saw the sights and all the quirky people that are around. I also checked out the Pinball Hall of Fame and the New York IK Bar. Then I headed to Texas, Fresco, for the Texas Pinball Festival, which was absolutely amazing and enjoyed seeing everyone there. and I'm going to go to the list of pinball machines and places I saw there. But, yeah, absolutely amazing experience. Didn't get to see the city, maybe another time. Flew from there to New York and I got to play some pinball at Pioneers and Sunshine with Greg Pavarelli and met Levy there and both great places and saw the sights, did the touristy things. Got to experience my first snowstorm. And then I left there and I'm in Toronto right now hanging out with a great guy called Jeff Teolis and he's taking me to Cabin Fever and we went to a comedy club, learned how to heckle from the world's best heckler, Jeff Tills. And yeah, I met Ben and the crew at Cabin Fever and I'm going to check out Tills tomorrow. And I think I'll be playing in a tournament called Pinball for Change, Jeff. That's right. Martin, I got him set up in the tournament. So for those that don't know Martin and Ryan, and I, again, don't believe anybody does, but I'll just recap it. Martin is a great player and has played in many competitions. Ryan is more of a collector. and has kind of played a few competitions, but that's not what it's all about for you. So, Martin, I want you to know that while he was here, I found a tournament for him to play, and he's playing with a couple of great players, top 100 players in Adam Becker and Jack Tabb. And so we'll see how he does in a Canadian comp. Well, you've got to know that his pinball playing was always really good, but he did actually win his first tournament recently. We sort of mentioned that on the podcast. So he's really starting to enjoy it. Yeah, where did he win that tournament? It was a place called Pixel Alley in Melbourne, and it was basically a two-strikes tournament, so it was nothing too serious. But there were 17 or so players there. Speaking of strikes, again, for those who don't know Ryan, how he got into pinball was the strikes and spares game. Not that he enjoyed playing it, but, boy, did you admire that backlash, didn't you, Ryan? I was a young kid, and the internet wasn't around back then, so that's all I can say on your PG show. What I've learned right now, Martin, this kills me. He showed me a bunch of posts, whether it's on Aussie Arcade or maybe the head-to-head pinball forums or whatever the case may be. Every time someone posts a strikes and spare pitcher, they always tag Ryan now. And he said, why did you bring that up? He was telling me in the car. And I said, I didn't bring it up. You did it on your very first podcast. So that's how you got into pinball. And I laughed and laughed and laughed. Yeah, pretty much anything he says sticks. So it's either strikes and spares or people talk about his triceps. Oh, my goodness. You know, you interviewed Eric, the creator of Pirates of the Caribbean for Jersey Jack, and there's a million questions I can think of. But there are questions I wouldn't have thought of about how did you get your triceps so big?

  • Ryan C was at Chicago Pinball Expo in 2016 previously

    high confidence · Ryan C confirmed: 'That was a last-minute trip that I literally planned, you know, two or three days before I left' and was in 2016

    • @ foosball injury discussion

  • “Tales of the Arabian Night, an absolutely beautiful game a world under the glass... The wizard mode that you battle, which is like Showdown, is pretty much a copy of. This was the original.”

    Ryan C @ Slam the Top 100 segment — Ryan C's argument for Tales of the Arabian Nights in the machine debate, highlighting John Popadiuk's design

  • “Taxi, what a boring game. You're simulating having one of the worst jobs in the world, and you're picking up a guy called Gorby.”

    Ryan C @ Slam the Top 100 rebuttal — Humorous rebuttal criticizing Taxi while promoting his chosen machine, with comedic character name observation

  • “Well, let's start with Taxi. You said at the end of your spiel that there is no game like Taxi. Well, there is, and it's Diner. And it is a much better version of Taxi.”

    Martin Robbins @ Slam the Top 100 final rebuttal — Martin's counter-argument asserting Diner's superiority to Taxi, challenging Jeff's machine selection

    • Texas Pinball Festival
    event
    Cabin Fevervenue
    Sunshine Laundromatvenue
    Pixel Alleyvenue
    Pinburghevent
    Pinball Hall of Famevenue
    [name withheld pending review]venue
    John Popadiukperson
    Greg Freresperson
    Mark Ritchieperson
    Tales of the Arabian Nightsgame
    Fathomgame
    Taxigame
    Dinergame
    Aussie Arcadeorganization

    high · Martin and Ryan knew each other only twice before launching podcast; rapid chemistry development noted by Jeff; Martin's technical knowledge complemented by Ryan's tournament expertise

  • ?

    content_signal: Long-form pinball podcasts require substantial post-production editing (2-6 hours for 2-3 hour episodes) for quality control and conversational flow

    high · Martin edits immediately after recording, often 5-6 hours for interviews; sometimes edits at 6am after overnight recording; perfectionist approach to flow and audio cleanup

  • ?

    community_signal: International pinball players and content creators form tight social networks; Australian pinball community actively engaging with broader global pinball community

    high · Ryan C's comments about only knowing pinball people in North America; extensive tagging on forums related to his 'Strikes and Spares' backstory; Australian hosts reaching international audiences

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Professional tournament players face logistical challenges balancing sleep deprivation, travel, and competitive performance; home responsibilities conflict with tournament participation

    high · Jeff recording with 3-4 hours sleep over two weeks before circuit finals; Ryan C unable to do non-pinball activities due to limited social network outside pinball; family negotiations required for tournament travel

  • $

    market_signal: North American pinball venues concentrated in major cities (Vegas, New York, Toronto, Texas); international players route travel to hit multiple venue clusters

    medium · Ryan C's itinerary: Vegas (Hall of Fame, bar venues), Texas (Texas Pinball Festival), New York (multiple locations), Toronto (Cabin Fever, Tilts, tournaments)

  • ?

    community_signal: Successful pinball podcasts balance serious content (game reviews, tournament coverage) with humor and personality; Australian humor and cultural references resonate with broader community

    high · Jeff praised Head to Head's humor approach; Ryan C referenced 'Strikes and Spares' becoming a meme; podcast described as '50% news, 50% having a laugh'; Australian references (Wiggles, Kylie Minogue) incorporated

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Community continues to actively debate and celebrate classic pinball designers (John Popadiuk, Mark Ritchie, Greg Frares); playfield artwork and game flow remain key evaluation criteria

    high · Slam the Top 100 segment debates Tales of the Arabian Nights vs Fathom vs Taxi; emphasis on art quality, designer legacy, mode variety, and mechanical innovation as debate points

    • 5:27
    That's Ryan's. That's obviously what's on Ryan's mind. I guess. But you've got to remember as well, with our podcast, look, let's say it's 50% news. 50% at best. And the rest of the podcast is us just having a bit of a laugh. So even if something is relatively serious, we'll pretty much find the funny side of it. So, you know, one of the first questions that, you know, we ask Eric Minear is, how'd you get your triceps so big? That's just what we do, right? Ryan, you saw him in Texas. What did he say to you when you saw him? I mean, like, literally the first thing he did was said how the triceps are going and showed me his in real life. And then he said, well, when you get there, then you have to go for your calves. So pinball calves is the next big thing. And he, yeah, he has massive calves. But anyway, I think that meme and that whole thing is done. Let's concentrate on him being an MMA. No, Mark, it's not. And you've got to feed that. Please. It's not. Yeah, you know what? Triceps are done. It's all about the calves now. Got it. That's right. I have to tell you, since being on your head-to-head pinball podcast, which was, I've told this to many people, probably the most fun I've had doing any of this kind of pinball broadcasting. It was a real hoot, and I thank you for that. But since then, out of the woodwork or out of jail, as the case may be in Australia, so many Australians have contacted me, and I really love your sense of humor, and I've told you that before in person, and I'll do that on this podcast. We have this common bond of pinball, but as you mentioned about even head-to-head, you want to have a little bit of humor. And it's what I like about these podcasts, the personal touch. You do it. Our good friends at Slam Tilt definitely do that. And did you kind of get that idea from listening to Slam Tilt? Because Ryan was a regular emailer, and shortly after that, you got your own podcast going. Is that kind of where it started? Yeah, kind of. I did hear Ryan on a couple of other podcasts and heard him on Slam Tilt as well. And the story goes that two years before that, I had wanted to get a podcast started, and it was pretty much at the early stages. I had somebody in mind that I wanted to do it with, and just as I was about to approach that person, Pinheads started their podcast in Australia, and I thought, oh, well, that's done. It's over.
    7:49
    Sorry, boys, but I hadn't really been listening to Slamdilt all that much when I approached Ryan. So I can't personally say that we did model ourselves on their format, but what we did like was that they kept it light. They kept it fun. They had great chemistry. Ryan and I didn't know each other really all that well before we did the podcast. I think we'd met each other twice. I bought some mirror blades off him once.
    8:14
    But there was just something there that I just – the way we were talking to each other, we could have just talked for hours, and I thought, you know what? Maybe this could be the way to rekindle it. Pinheads had been on hiatus for a while, and then I heard him on Slam Tilt, and I went, mate, how about we do it? And he was in. Ryan your recollection of how this all started for head pinball Well I mean I didn get access to Marty Brainstorming this two years before he contacted me But yeah I was a bit of a slam groupie I still am I love those guys I was listening to their latest podcast at like 2 a.m. in the morning when I was leaving from Central Station, the last train out of the city. And they just make me laugh. And I used to always email in because the first email was a correction. I was trying to correct them for something. and Ron, I said I'm from Australia and Ron just read it out in just a ridiculous accent and I just found it hilarious that it was just so over the top. So I said, geez, I want to see what I can get away with. I just kept on writing these outlandish kind of emails and they read it out everyone. So when it was their 50th episode, I said I'd love to talk to you guys and yeah, Marty heard it. I was on holiday. He texted me and he said I think it'd be great if we started a podcast and he promised he would do all the editing which is the part that I would never want to do. And yeah, we agreed and started a website and the rest is history. I know every podcaster that I've talked to does editing, myself included. Mine's a lot easier because it's a lot shorter. There are more of them, but still 15 minutes versus two plus hours. And Martin, you get that task. Is it a big chore? Like I was talking to Ron, they had some breakouts with Colin McAlpine. He was recently on Slamtail Podcast, and Ron told me, and I hope it's not in confidence, Ron, forgive me if it is, five hours of editing it took to do a two-hour show. What about for you, Martin? Look, there have been some episodes where it has taken me probably five, six hours, particularly when there's interviews that are being edited in. But I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to the flow of the conversation, so I make sure everything does flow and seems conversational. but there's also a lot of audio cleanup as well. So most nights we do record for two, two and a half hours, sometimes nearly three hours, and then it's probably a good two, three hours after that editing, and then that's why we sort of get the episode out, usually around midnight, one o'clock our time. So you edit right after doing the show, so you're only halfway done, you've recorded it, and then you go right to it? Absolutely, and it's because it's fresh in my mind, the areas that I need to edit. so I wouldn't want to do it any other time. And there have been some times when we've done interviews with people midweek and then I've edited the night of the podcast and I forget. And I then get a message first thing in the morning from Ryan saying, you forgot to edit this out, you forgot to edit this out. I'm like, oh, damn. So I get up at 6 o'clock in the morning, do an edit and then re-upload. What amazed me about the two of you is that you really didn't know each other and that is a hard, hard chemistry. I'm going to tell you from a radio standpoint, I've done a few morning shows, and you have to work with a partner, and it doesn't always gel. You have to learn each other's patterns and really when to talk and when to listen, and you two have picked it up very, very quickly. I don't know if it's luck, if it's practice. It works, whatever you're doing. I think of other two-team podcasters. Ron and Bruce have known each other for a long, long time, and I'm sure that's the case with others too, Tommy and Taylor for this flip, and definitely Nick and Kevin from the Bro Group. And, you know, even when the worldwide guys do it, Nate and Steven and Josh, they all know each other. But you guys didn't. And the fact that you can do it, and there's definitely a progression when you listen to head-to-head pinball. If you start from the beginning and listen to where we are right now in the 30s, the shows just get better and better and better. So kudos to you guys for that. Yeah, look, I think one of the things of that is that most of my job that I do is communicating with people. So I do that, you know, eight to nine hours a day. So I know when I've got good rapport with somebody pretty much instantly. And, you know, the first time I went to pick up those mirror blades from Ryan, I had to go somewhere. But we spoke for probably 45 minutes to an hour. And you could just tell right then that we could communicate really well and it was really good to and fro. So I kind of knew that that would work at that stage. But it didn't bother you that the markup that Ryan put on those mirror blades was so high?
    13:00
    And I didn't get mate's weights. No, but they were a good price. I remember you emailed me from Papa saying, can you please hold some for me? Because I was doing this at an absolutely ridiculous price. Is that right? Absolutely. I was at Papa.
    13:14
    But, you know, the good thing is that, you know, I knew of Ryan. I didn't know Ryan. Ryan, before we did the podcast, it must be known, he's very well known in the pinball scene, particularly at Aussie Arcade, the main forum that we have in Australia. So very well known.
    13:33
    So when I sort of thought I wanted to do the podcast, what I really saw in Ryan was all the technical knowledge about pinball that I don't have. I know rules and I know tournaments and I know how to play games, but I don't really know rules all that deep. And I've been on record saying many times, just God forbid if I ever have to lift up a play field because I just don't get into that kind of stuff. So I wanted as part of the podcast to learn all that stuff from Ryan. I knew that he would have that and I'd have the tournament side. Martin, you and I first met at InDisc. You were also on Pinball Profile when we did the recap in January. but you're also coming back and hearing Ryan's trip, which is just so pinball related. I mean, everywhere he went in Vegas, in Texas, in New York, in Toronto, you've got a big trip coming up with Pinberg as well. Are you going to be doing as much pinball as Ryan or just kind of seeing some sights? Well, first, can I just say that we actually met last year at Papa. Oh, damn it. You're right. Clearly that wasn't memorable, that moment when you thought I was Jordan Treadway's dad. Let's just gloss over that. I even emailed you after. I feel like such a jerk.
    14:51
    That is true. I've forgiven you. I'm just going to mention it every time. No, so look, I am coming to Pinnberg, and I'm coming to Toronto, so I am going to come and see you beforehand. But really, Pinnberg for me, the four days of Pinnberg are it. anything outside of that really probably not all that pinball related yeah you know i think of when i'm going to go away and hopefully maybe if i'm lucky enough i'll get to go to italy next year for ifpa 16 week or whatever maybe playing in it doubt it but just the fact that i want to go and see some of the other things you go away across the pond and ryan's done that too i don't know if i could do the whole time doing pinball but ryan has managed it ryan i mean no you got you're exaggerating okay really you have okay in vegas i probably spent a total of like maybe three hours playing pinball right texas obviously the entire time new york um the first day i didn't do anything pinball related the second day i went to jersey jack and then um the pinball museum there so I guess that was a mostly a pinball day but it was mainly about meeting Jack and then the last day it was snowed in like literally you couldn't go outside okay I went to Central Park and I walked through the snow for an hour and I wasn't wearing proper boots and my socks got all wet and that was just like and then I went to Sunshine Laundromat and took my shoes off and I was wearing socks throughout the entire place so like what do you mean to do when it's minus one outside Celsius and it's in a snowstorm. So you played a tournament at Sunshine Laundromat. How'd you go? I came 11th, but it was equal 11th with a lot of people.
    16:37
    A little out of 24 people. It was fun. So, I don't know. You're making me sound, Jeff, like I came here. I would do more things, but I don't know anyone in Canada or in the US that aren't pinball people. So I want to hang around people and do the sites, but I can't do the sites with non-pinball people because I don't know pinball people. So if they want to go and play pinball. Ryan, please let me share this with anyone listening to Pinball Profile who's ever been to Canada or lives in Canada. Ryan said he's coming, and this is March. I'm coming to Toronto. Here's what I want to do. I hear it's great. I would love to go to Canada's Wonderland. It doesn't open until May. It a seasonal amusement park What else did you want to do You wanted to ride the Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls And when you were telling me this in February sometimes the falls is frozen So you basically want to see a wall of ice. Watch Game of Thrones, dude.
    17:34
    Canada Islands? Oh, yeah. You wanted to go to Toronto Island, too. And I don't know anybody who goes to Toronto Island. The Toronto Yacht Club's there. I've been there. They've got a Centerville thing. It's a great tourist, especially with kids. Ryan, by the way, is not with his kids. So he wanted to go to Centerville and Toronto Island. Again, seasonal. Nothing's going on there right now. He's a big kid. I guess. But we found some things for him to do, so he's managed well. But, Ryan, you've been to North America before. I don't know how many times, but I do know you were at Chicago Expo before, correct? That's right. Yeah, in 2016. Does that mean this is kind of an every one or two year trip thing for you, for pinball? That was a last-minute trip that I literally planned, you know, two or three days before I left and got permission from the better half. This one was planned for a long time, like maybe a year in advance. I kind of asked for permission from the bus, and she said yes, but as the dates kind of crept up, so she said, how the heck did you convince me to let you go to the U.S. for two weeks and leave me here with the kids? So she has told me that this is the last trip I'm going to by myself. So I guess the next time I have to either try and reconvince her and get her to change her mind or go on a holiday that will probably go from costing me a couple of thousand dollars to $20,000, which is probably not worth it. Well, at the time of this recording, I'm heading off to Chicago the next day. Again, a brilliant move right before you're about to play in the circuit finals to have one, maybe two hours sleep and then have to play Trent and Bowen and Keith. Now I've got to build an excuse, though. When they beat the living hell out of me, it'll be like, oh, I haven't slept at all. Yeah, at least you've got a good excuse. You should edit this tonight, Jeff, and then release it so then they can hear it and feel sorry for you and give you some pity points, some pity whoppers. Pity whoppers. Come on. That's got to be a thing. That needs to be a new column, pity whoppers. I think my whole whopper experience are pity whoppers. I think that's really where I've climbed the charts. But we have to negotiate with our better halves and our families to see when we can do these kind of trips, these tournaments. I know Josh Sharp, I've asked him many times, you're going to go to this tournament, you're going to go to this tournament. And he just laughs at me and says, you know, not a chance. He's tried to butter up his wife a few times with some great spa packages, not buying it. And it's funny. It's tough to get out and play tournaments. It really requires a lot of ability to have that opportunity to afford to go to these things, the time off, and really the family sometimes gets put on the back burner. So I think your wife is very nice for letting you go on this long trip, but she might be on to something. Yeah, this could be the last one for you for a while. Yeah, so I'm saving every moment, and I don't need to sleep like you, Jeff. You don't need to sleep? I've been on three or four hours of sleep for two weeks. I'm pretty good. Also, can we – Do you want to talk about our double games, Jeff?
    20:39
    Hold on a second. What are we going to do today? Yes. Martin, you'll like this. I assume you do this in Australia. You throw a dollar down and you say, okay, winner takes the buck kind of thing. No, we just don't do that. Seriously? No, we don't do that at all. I'll bring it back. It'll be a thing now. Okay. In Canada, we call them loony throwdowns because the dollar is a loony coin. And dollar throwdowns. I know they happen in the States because I think I was playing in Kentucky, and I played with Andy Rosa and Alex Kuzmarchuk and Evan Bingham and lost a lot of dollars that way. They were fun dollars. Don't anybody say that I was promoting gambling to a minor because that just obviously didn't happen. But fun dollars. Anyway, so, yeah, the loony throwdowns here in Canada are very, very big. And I think what Ryan's big mouth is trying to say is that maybe he kicked the living heck out of me in the last two hours. But he's forgetting that when we went to player one and Jerry was kind enough to let us play all the new games, it was a beatdown on Ryan. Well, what happened, Jeff? Because, I mean, I wasn't really trying. I was straight off the plane. I hadn't had any coffee or anything. And you were so into it that what happened when we were playing foosball, Jeff? Martin, I've had a few pinball injuries, which is pathetic to say, even those which never, ever be put side by side, pinball injuries. Pimberg last year, right after the broadcast when we were doing the finals, I was packing a sleeping bag or something. It was something into a tight bag, and I jammed my finger, and I had a thing called mallet finger. So it looked like you couldn't flex your finger. And it was my middle finger too. So if I were to flip somebody the bird, it would kind of make them puzzled because is he giving me the finger or not because it looks like a broken finger. It's like, what's wrong with this guy? I feel sorry for him. He's trying to tell me off, but look at him. He's deformed. Did that packing a sleeping bag last year. Today, Big Mouth Ryan and I are playing foosball, and he's bragging about, I've got a foosball table at home. I'm killing him, by the way, but I'm also trying to win. You're killing me two to one. It was first to three. Devastating. Destroying him, Martin. I tried to rip the ball as quick as I could and make a big save, and I jammed my hand. Again, this is a day before me going to the circuit finals, which is something I try to work hard to get to, and thankfully so many people said no that I actually get to go. Jam my hand. I broke my thumbnail. It's like a torture. It's like someone sticking bamboo under your nail. I smashed my nail. Blood. I was like, oh, this is not good. He's got a Dora the Explorer band-aid on their nail. It was SpongeBob. Come on.
    23:22
    The wiggles. Okay. For those, this is an inside thing. I picked Ryan up at the airport. I'll show a picture of it on our Facebook page. Dressed in full Australian gear, it's been on the Head to Head Pinball podcast Facebook page. I'll post it again. But when he gets into my car, all Australian music, everything I could think of, including the Wiggles. Wiggles, yeah, Colin Minogue, Men at Work, In Excess, Midnight Oil. Anyway, that was fun. I want to say to you two guys, I love your podcast. And here's a quick sample of one of the things you occasionally hear on head-to-head pinball. A little feature we're going to do on Pinball Profile called Slam the Top 100. Martin, explain how that works. Okay, so what we do is we do a random number generated by Google, and that number corresponds to a pinball machine in the top 100 of Pinside. And then we have 30 seconds to talk about the merits of our pinball machine against the other people. And then we have 30 seconds of rebuttal, if that's what we so desire. And then we post it up on Facebook and then people vote to see who had the most convincing argument. However, it usually ends up people voting for the machine they like the most. Or the person they like the most in Lucas's case. Yes, thank you, Lucas. But people can vote. You know, there's no real rhyme or reason. You could vote for the machine you've played, you're familiar with, or the argument. Nobody's going to vote for the argument. It's going to be what machine they like the best. I think. This is going to be very hard to do the rebuttal without swearing. Oh, yeah.
    25:03
    If I haven't said that off the top, head-to-head is for mature or immature audiences only, please. It's very immature audiences. Okay, so I will, because I'm on Skype right now. I don't know how to do it. I can generate the number. Who wants the first number? I'll go last. So you guys decide between the two of you. I'll do mine first. I can't do the Google voice thing because I'm talking on my phone. Ryan, please generate a number between 1 and 100. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 12. What? According to Pinside, you get, oh, I love this game, Tales of the Arabian Night. World on the Glass. Okay. Martin, generating a number. Go ahead. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. 34. 34?
    25:46
    Fathom. Fathom, a Bally 1981 game. Okay. Oh my gosh, no chance. Great artwork. Do you like that game? We'll get to my argument shortly.
    25:56
    Okay, please, please, please. Give me a good number Here we are A random number from 1 to 100 for Jeff Teolis 66 These are all really random generated Taxi This is from racesfromrandom Okay, I have Taxi, the Williams 1988 game. It's not too bad. So how it will work is because Ryan had the highest number, he'll go first, or the best ranked number is the best way to maybe talk about that. Since Ryan has the best ranked number, you will go first, and then Ryan, and then I will go. 30 seconds on the clock and then we will have a rebuttal where we can talk more about our games or abuse other people's games. So, with no sleep, Ryan, let's put 30 seconds on the clock. On your mark, get set, Ryan, go. Tales of the Arabian Nights, an absolutely beautiful game a world under the glass. John Papaduke, the game that commands the highest amount of money. Absolutely stunning playfields. The genie that you hit to start a mode. The lamp that twirls around which is pretty much the only thing you do in the game.
    27:03
    The wizard mode that you battle, which is like Showdown, is pretty much a copy of. This was the original. John Papaduke, legendary designer. 30 seconds. Now, if you haven't heard Head to Head Pinball podcast, Martin, I'm going to put in a little rule here on Pinball Profile. No, I understand. You are not allowed to read off the flyer like you do and cheat on head-to-head. That. Ah. Can't believe you would think that I would say that. Oh, it's just a coincidence. It's word for word. You even say trademark in it. I would never say something like use the multi-ball feature to double or triple or play field value depending on how many balls are in play. I don't need a flyer for this. Okay, 30 seconds. Martin, go. Okay, fathom. Fathom is by far the best ballet game of this era. It came out in 1980. It has got spectacular art by Greg Frares. I mean, seriously, the guy can do no wrong. Great call-outs. Absolutely love the call-outs. Love the music.
    28:07
    Absolutely stunning game. Lots of fun. I know that there is some sort of exploits that people have, but if you play the game the way it's intended, it is an amazing game. Okay. He had a couple seconds left. Didn't need them. He's pretty confident.
    28:21
    I have to do Taxi. Okay, let me put 60 seconds on the clock. 30 seconds, Jeff. No cheating. All right, 30 seconds. I didn't know. Taking advantage of being half asleep here. Here we go. 30 seconds to talk about Taxi. A great Mark Ritchie game. You know you like Mark Ritchie games because of that flow. You think of Fishtails, you know, the going back and forth. Now Kingpin. Well, Taxi's got it, too. You get the five great characters there. The wonderful art by Python Angelo. So fun. The game is an all-time classic. They liked it so much they made Diner, which is very similar. It's got Gorby. It's got Lola. It's really Marilyn. They've got Santa Claus, Dracula. No other game is like Taxi. I wish my rebuttal was 60 seconds because I want to trash these pins. Okay. Yeah. Hold on a second here. You get 30 seconds to have a rebuttal or plug your own. So Ryan C., go now. Taxi, what a boring game. You're simulating having one of the worst jobs in the world, and you're picking up a guy called Gorby. Gorby sounds like what comes out of my kid's nose when she gets sick at school.
    29:31
    Absolute snooze fest. On the other hand, Toten is Aladdin. It's pretty much a rebuttal of Aladdin, which is one of the greatest Disney movies of all time. A whole new world. Don't you dare close your eyes.
    29:43
    Fathom. Yeah, great game if you want a headache. Those sounds are... Sorry, dude. You blew it. No, that was good. That was good. Gorby. That was good. What is Gorby? Gorbachev. Okay. What are you, five years old? Yes. You old bastard.
    30:03
    All right. Will he talk about his game Fathom, or will he try to bash Taxi and Tales of Arabian Night? 30 seconds. Martin, go. Well, let's start with Taxi. You said at the end of your spiel that there is no game like Taxi. Well, there is, and it's Diner. And it is a much better version of Taxi, which just had very simple rules. It's a brutal game. There's not much fun to be had. Tales of the Arabian Nights, John Popperduke, that's all I need to say there. Fathom, beautiful, great sounds, just the best game of its era. I have 30 seconds to do a rebuttal or praise my own game, and I'm going to do something that's never been done on Slam the Top 100. Ready? Go. I cannot tell a lie. I hate Taxi. I can't stand the game. It's my game. I had this dumb thing picked for me. I do not like the game because a lot of times hitting Pinbot is so darn hard. If you go halfway up the left ramp, you come back down, see you later. The Outlanes, I don't like it. Why did I get Taxi? I'm falling on the sword. I vote for Fathom. Yes!
    31:10
    To come in second place. I wasn't done. Toten's going to get the win. so anyway we will see how this turns out i'm sorry toten is ryan and i were talking about toten i said it's like one of my all-time favorite games i can't do it integrity something that i pride myself on pinball profile martin i would love to talk to you for much longer you know how pinball profile works we're way overboard right now i know well that's the head-to-head way right minimum two hours and ryan uh i'd say so long see you later but i think you're in my guest room so i'll see you in the morning cool guys head-to-head pinball podcast it is fantastic it was nominated for the best podcast in the twippies uh they might have solicited a few votes whatever no no big deal no big deal no shame there but all joking aside really well earned too because you guys do a great service to the pinball community. You're entertaining. Martin, we're all going to see at Pinburg too, and there's a lot of us going there. So I know, Ryan, you've had a lot of fun in North America. It's Martin up next in July. And guys, keep up the great work. Where can we find Head to Head Pinball Podcast? Well, you can find us at headtoheadpinball.com. You can also go to our Facebook page. Just look up Head to Head Pinball. We are also on Twitter at H2H Pinball. We're on Instagram. We're on Google Play. Oh, God, we are literally everywhere. We went all out with this thing. And also on forums. You'll check us out on forums as well. Excellent. Ryan, it's great to have you here in Toronto, and it's great to hear you ask those great questions on Head to Head. Questions like, how did you get into pinball? You'll find out when you listen to Head to Head. All right? I mean, that is a Ryan C. special.
    33:00
    Oh, gosh. I just want to go to sleep now. You boys need some sleep. By the way, Ryan and I, there's a little bonus treat, too. I don't think I told you this, Martin. On an upcoming Pinball Profile very, very soon, we interviewed Jerry Power from Player One, and I let Ryan kind of do it on the fly with me, too. So Ryan's doing his best Pinball Profile impressions. I cannot wait. You'll hear that very, very soon. It's brilliant. I mean, really, really some deep, deep stuff from Ryan. You'll enjoy it. Ryan, would you like to say anything? This has been your Pinball Profile. You can find our group on Facebook. We're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile. Email us at pinballprofile at gmail.com. And please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. I'm Shmesh Meolis. Jeff Teolis' evil twin with a moustache. Signing out. Oh, boy.
    33:58
    Or his evil twin. I don't know. It was Ben or Legitimate Son. I couldn't figure out which one was funnier. Ryan, I want to thank you for increasing my home insurance premiums for staying at my house for some reason. Thanks. I don't know if that's just a little bias towards Australians. I know everything's fine. I took an inventory. And I want to thank you two guys for making Roo Sacks the biggest thing in North America. It is the pinball craze, and it's all because of you two guys. Well, technically, it's because of Scott Denisey, really. But, you know, we're just, you know, promoting the cause. But Scott mentioned it on your show. So thank you very much, boys. No worries. Thank you, mate. I'm going to bed. I'm Jeff Teel.