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Episode 112 – The Beastie Boy

Head2Head Pinball·podcast_episode·14m 58s·analyzed·Oct 7, 2019
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 (batch) · $0.022

TL;DR

Star Wars Vault Edition art refresh announced; Stranger Things rumors emerge from artist teasers.

Summary

Head2Head Pinball discusses the new Star Wars Vault Edition artwork, its pricing implications for Australian collectors, and speculation about upcoming machines including Stranger Things based on Dirty Donny's Instagram post. The episode features returning guest Ryan discussing his shift away from competitive pinball toward collecting and venue operations, plus deep dives into game design philosophy and licensing complexity.

Key Claims

  • The original 2017 Star Wars machine's biggest criticism was artwork quality, not mechanics

    high confidence · Ryan and Martin discussing original Star Wars reception; confirmed by both hosts as consensus view

  • Star Wars (Pro) pricing in Australia has risen to approximately $9,250 AUD

    high confidence · Martin states this directly; Ryan confirms the figure

  • Pro pinball machine pricing in Australia increased by approximately $1,000 AUD within the past year

    medium confidence · Ryan mentions 'about a year ago, pros were $1,000 cheaper' and prices have risen again

  • A Stern patent for downloadable music/jukebox functionality in pinball machines was originally filed in early March 2018 and published recently

    high confidence · Martin cites patent search results; provides specific filing and publication dates

  • Dirty Donny posted a 'sneak peek' of Stranger Things artwork on Instagram, suggesting it as a potential upcoming pinball machine

    medium confidence · Ryan discusses Donny Gillies posting Stranger Things art; both acknowledge this is speculation based on artist work

  • Game of Thrones was scheduled to receive a Vault Edition release a couple months prior but didn't happen; received a code update instead

    medium confidence · Martin states 'I've heard was that apparently Game of Thrones was due to be a vault as well' - qualified as hearsay

  • The new Star Wars Vault Edition artwork is by Randy Martinez

    medium confidence · Martin references 'Randy Martinez' as the artist; not fully confirmed in conversation

  • People are actively selling/offloading 2017 Star Wars machines following the Vault Edition announcement

    medium confidence · Ryan observes secondary market activity: 'People are just offloading the original one left, right and centre'

  • Donny Gillies previously created Aerosmith artwork that Stern allowed him to publish in a book without officially announcing the machine

Notable Quotes

  • “Comic fucking Sans. What? Okay. On the show notes, I called it the Comic Sans edition purely for your benefit because, you know, we saw the pictures and, you know, we'll get about what we think about the new art in a second. And all I saw was you whinging about fucking Comic Sans.”

    Ryan @ early in episode — Opening criticism of the font choice on Star Wars Vault Edition promotional materials; sets tone for artwork discussion

  • “It's the trick now, it's the zombie yeti trick. If you have really detailed art, or the dirty dummy trick, I guess you could say, the more detailed the art is, it looks like the art is a feature of the game.”

    Martin @ mid-episode — Articulates design principle about how detailed artwork creates visual illusion of complexity in playfield design

  • “But it's pinball. You buy these things with your heart. You lose money with your heart, as we've all done.”

    Ryan @ mid-episode — Explains collector psychology and emotional attachment driving machine purchases despite financial losses

  • “I don't know. I don't know the plans. I don't know how long these things take, what the development cycle for these things are. It's hard to know when or why Stern are making these decisions, why now's the time for this.”

    Ryan @ discussing Star Wars timing — Acknowledges uncertainty around manufacturer decision-making and product planning cycles

  • “These plans that they have take a while. It's not like they can go, great, I've got this idea, boom, let's do it.”

    Martin @ discussing patent and approval processes — Explains complexity of manufacturing timelines, licensing approvals, and development constraints

  • “Yeah, I mean, when he worked as a software designer, like the software on his games are really cool. And then I guess he was half software, half design for some games. But then, yeah, the three games were Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, and The Shadow.”

    Ryan @ discussing Brian Eddy — Identifies Brian Eddy's legendary three-game pinball design legacy

Entities

MartinpersonRyanpersonJoe LemirepersonStern PinballcompanyStar Wars (Stern machine)gameDonny GilliespersonRandy MartinezpersonDirty Donnyperson

Signals

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern releasing Star Wars with completely redesigned artwork as Vault Edition, addressing primary historical criticism of 2017 original

    high · Direct discussion of Vault Edition announcement with new artwork by Randy Martinez; hosts confirm this is official release

  • $

    market_signal: Australian pro pinball pricing has risen $1,000+ in past year; current Star Wars Pro $9,250 AUD; premiums up $450 AUD; supply constraints on some titles

    high · Martin and Ryan explicitly discuss multiple price increases; reference to exchange rate impacts; Jurassic Parks sold out

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Star Wars reputation shifting as players explore game at home rather than tournament settings; deeper ruleset appreciation emerging

    medium · Ryan notes game needs home exploration to appreciate complexity; mentions Colin MacAlpine post on strategy; cites Dwight Sullivan claiming it as 'best pin ever'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Original 2017 Star Wars machines being offloaded to secondary market following Vault Edition announcement; original not retaining premium pricing

    high · Ryan states 'People are just offloading the original one left, right and centre'; both acknowledge 95% of buyers will prefer new art version

  • ?

    technology_signal: Stern patent (filed March 2018, published recently) enables downloadable music/DLC functionality for pinball machines via network override

    high · Martin discovered and describes patent details; speculates could enable jukebox or DLC music models; filed March 2018 per patent records

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.042

0:00
The End Welcome everybody to the Head to Head Pinball Podcast. This is episode 112. My name's Martin and with me... It's Joe Lemire. G'day, Governor. That's what he sounds like, right? No. It's me, it's Ryan. How you going? He's not really British if that's the kind of accent you're trying to do. Yeah, I'm not very good at accents, but hi Marty, how you going? What are you doing back on the podcast? Well, you sent me a message the other day, Marty, and let me just read through the message, Marty, and you can choose to leave it in or out if you want.
1:07
Martin, hey, want to come on the show next week? Ryan, sure. Martin, awesome, Joe is away. Ryan, sweet, no sandwich. And that, you know, just in case people don't realize, that was in reference to the sex sandwich that me, Joe and Marty had last time.
1:26
And Marty said, ah, ha, ha, ha, ha. And I said, just regular old sex. Marty, people still message me and they're like, do you and Martin hate each other now? Like, is that why? Like, people are talking. And I'm like, no.
1:43
Okay, so the funny, I don't know, someone said that, you know, I get messaged all the time saying I miss Ryan. And I'm like, well, I don't. I see you all the time. Like, I see you all the time. I stream from your place. We talk all the time. You know, we love each other. Yeah, I think not enough people watch the stream because I'm like, dude, he was over my house like yesterday and we're eating pizza and playing Pimball and streaming Pimball. Correct. So me and Manny still love each other a bit too much.
2:11

medium confidence · Ryan recalls Expo story from approximately 2016; treats as historical precedent for artist leaks

  • The Shadow is an unpopular theme that limits the machine's secondary market value despite strong gameplay mechanics

    medium confidence · Ryan discusses Shadow's poor theme reception; notes it doesn't command high secondary market prices

    • “You're like, all right, it's a tag from us. Thunderbirds. It was something that I have in my house, Marty, and I would never let that. Oh, fuck, I played that game. It's so fucking bad, Marty. Oh, my gosh.”

    Ryan @ licensing restrictions story — Anecdote about TV filming licensing restrictions revealing broader IP complexity in pinball

  • “The Shadow, that's a movie. And they're like, it's a movie. I'm like, yeah, that's Alec Baldwin right there. And they all looked at me like I was, like some fucking joke, like no one remembers that movie, no one gives a shit about The Shadow except for Pinball People.”

    Ryan @ Shadow theme discussion — Illustrates how Shadow theme has become niche/irrelevant outside pinball community

  • “I mean, it looks better, but not like by miles. This isn't like, oh, my God, Zombie Yeti. Oh, my God, Donny Gillies (Dirty Donny). Oh my God, Christopher Franchi. It's not that, right? It's newer, it's fresh, and it's 20% better or something.”

    Ryan @ Star Wars Vault Edition assessment — Qualified assessment of artwork improvement; references legendary artists as higher standard

  • “Well, you sent me a message the other day, Marty, and let me just read through the message, Marty, and you can choose to leave it in or out if you want. Martin, hey, want to come on the show next week? Ryan, sure. Martin, awesome, Joe is away. Ryan, sweet, no sandwich.”

    Ryan @ episode opening — Addresses community speculation about interpersonal dynamics between hosts; clarifies friendship despite absence

    • Brian Eddy
    person
    George Gomezperson
    Christopher Franchiperson
    Moondog Worldvenue
    Spider-Man (Vault Edition)game
    Stranger Things (unreleased pinball)game
    Game of Thrones (Stern machine)game
    The Shadowgame
    Medieval Madnessgame
    Attack from Marsgame
    Guardians of the Galaxy (Stern machine)game
    Zach Sharpeperson
    Josh Sharpeperson
    Metallica (Stern machine)game
    Walking Dead (Stern machine)game
    DeepRoot Pinballcompany
    Data East Star Warsgame
  • ?

    rumor_hype: Stranger Things pinball speculation based on Dirty Donny Instagram post showing artwork; community treating as strong signal of upcoming announcement

    medium · Ryan notes Donny posted 'sneak peek at Stranger Things'; both acknowledge this is speculation but credible given artist track record; theme has been discussed for some time

  • ?

    product_strategy: Manufacturing decisions take months/years of planning; licensing approvals, patent processes, and development cycles create long lead times between concept and release

    high · Martin explains patent filed in 2018 still pending; discusses how Star Wars Home Edition and Vault Edition likely planned separately; discusses approval complexity

  • ?

    design_innovation: Detailed artwork creates psychological illusion of playfield complexity even when underlying layout unchanged; 'Zombie Yeti trick' and 'Dirty Donny trick' referenced

    medium · Martin explains how detailed art makes wide-open playfields feel less bare; references this as design principle used successfully in other games

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Complex games like Star Wars and Game of Thrones require community embrace and home exploration; tournament play insufficient for ruleset mastery; frequency of new releases challenges adoption

    medium · Ryan notes Star Wars 'so complex' requires home play; compares unfavorably to classic era when fewer pins released; discusses rules taking up 'brain capacity'

  • ?

    community_signal: Collectors increasingly treating machines as venue/social tools rather than practice/competition platforms; home collections not played solo; competitive play declining

    medium · Martin describes shift away from solo play; Ryan notes Martin stopped competitive play; both acknowledge machines mostly played during group streaming/visits rather than solo practice

  • ?

    licensing_signal: TV/film licensing creates strict IP constraints; even unlicensed machine filming requires legal approval; Stern and artists navigate complex approval chains with rights holders

    medium · Ryan recounts Channel 7 filming requiring legal approval to show licensed machines; had to blur cabinet art; couldn't show Hobbit despite owning machine

  • ?

    product_concern: Poor theme choice (The Shadow) significantly limits secondary market value and tier classification despite strong mechanical/software design; theme recognition critical to pricing

    medium · Ryan notes Shadow goes for 6+ AUD but would be 'A-Title' if had better theme; discusses how license/theme drives collector demand independent of gameplay quality

    • What have you been up to, though? Like, I know. I know and I don't care. But what have you been up to? In life or in Pimball, Marty? Am I going to get like philosophical here, you know? No, no one's interested in that. I've been on a journey to rediscover myself. I'm going through a midlife crisis. No, in Pimball. Well, yeah, I mean, a lot of my efforts are being concentrated on that new venue, Moondog World, and I guess we'll talk about that a bit later in the podcast. But yeah, it's just, I mean, it's like you kind of said on the podcast last week and yes, I still do listen, Marty. I know you do. You know, like you've stopped playing competitive Pinball and it's probably not because you don't enjoy it. It's just like you want to concentrate your Pinball efforts on other things. And as much as I love talking about Pinball, you know, I guess the podcast is something that I needed a break from I mean, I've found a better balance in my pinball hobby life, you know, keeping it to something I do once every month or once every two months or something.
    3:17
    Yeah, and you're still collecting. Like, since the last time we spoke, how many, like 10, 12 machines that you've collected? Yeah, the other day I bought some machines and I was just like, oh, shit, that's like the sixth pin in the last month and a bit. So, yeah, I still… Tell everybody what you bought. So, Jurassic Park, and some of these are for location. A Woolly Wonka. What else did I buy? I bought a Stars the other day, my second Stars, for no reason at all besides just like it just came up and I'm like, yeah, why not? It was pretty cheap. I bought an Ali, a Stern Ali. That needs a bit of work. But I'm not playing Pinball. Remember when we had like, you know, we're like going on our pinball journey and we were talking and we're like, You know, like Zach Sharp and Josh Sharp, like they don't really play Pimball anymore. Like what's that about? And that's kind of like where I'm at now. Like I'll play Pimball but like not alone at home. Like I don't do it in my spare time anymore. I do it when I have people over, when you come over to stream.
    4:23
    I don't practice, you know, for competitions. I use Pimball now as an excuse to go out and, you know, to get out of the house. So I don't necessarily think I need a large collection, but it doesn't seem to stop me from buying a lot of pinball machines.
    4:41
    Yeah, I understand what you mean. You've got to find your joy in it. And yeah, I just wasn't finding competitions as joyful as I once thought. It doesn't mean I don't love pinball as much as I did. But, you know, and I'm the same with my machines at home, albeit I have infinitely less than you. I, for a long time, used to just walk past them and they'd gather dust and that's why I started streaming because it gave me an excuse to play them and that's why I play them twice a week. Otherwise, they'd still be gathering dust. Yeah, and as much as we've talked about our love for The Walking Dead, I have probably played The Walking Dead and Metallica the least. If you check the audits on those two machines, it is frightening how little I've played those machines because I've always been afraid that if I overplay them, then they'll leave the collection and I never want them to leave the collection. So, you know, like, you know, something like Demolition Man or something, like I'll play that to my ears, you know, go red, because I know that if I get sick of it, you know, I can buy it for cheap or this, this and that. So good to see that you're still as irrational as you are.
    5:59
    Seriously, I know what it is. You've got a connection with these machines. I've got a connection with Lime and Sheets. I think that's what it is. Yeah, it is. Yeah. Well, shall we get into some Pinball news? Go for it, Manny. What's been happening? Well, the funny thing is, like, normally we're like, news, news, news, news, news, news, news, for weeks. You've been telling me that you've sort of been a little bit out of the loop when it comes to news, but I'm pretty sure you didn't miss the new Star Wars machine announcement, and you couldn't see my new with the inverted commas around it. Yeah. What did you think? Yeah, it's officially called the Comic Sans Edition, Marty. The best font in the fucking universe, Marty. Like, if you're going to choose a font to represent your company, what font do you choose, Marty? Comic fucking Sans. What? Okay. On the show notes, I called it the Comic Sans edition purely for your benefit because, you know, we saw the pictures and, you know, we'll get about what we think about the new art in a second. And all I saw was you whinging about fucking Comic Sans. I don't get the Comic Sans hate. Sure, it's probably an overused and it's a simple font, but, you know, get over it. It's just a font. It's kind of like when people were learning how to use the internet back in the days, Marty.
    7:23
    Do you know what I mean? People would be like, oh, what font do I use? Like, oh, this looks like a fun font. And then people would just kind of use it to death. We were just like, this is not a professional font. We don't represent our company. It was like, what was that thing that you could do in Microsoft Word where you can make like banners, like font that was kind of like… Scrolling? No, was it scrolling? Something like that kind of like font that had like stroke and you can choose like 20 different types and people used to like use it for headings for office stuff. Oh, WordArt. WordArt, that's it, WordArt. Remember WordArt? I do. Yeah, like that's what Comic Sans is where like WordArt was really cool when you were like the first person that clicked in those menus and used it. Like, oh, wow, how'd you do that? You know, like that's really advanced. and then everyone started doing it for everything and you're like fuck word art right that's what Comic Sans is. Comic Sans is like that font where it was cool for a little while on the internet and yeah and then it wasn't. But hey I'm just thinking about my childhood. It's not even that font it's different and it's fine it was just funny to kind of see it there. Okay. So, obviously, the pro and the premium Star Wars, which was released in 2017, arguably, Ryan, biggest criticism.
    8:49
    Yes, definitely. That's all people were upset about, just the artwork and that's it. Just the art. That's it. The thing about the wide open playfield and, you know. The death star shot that you can't hit, the lack of theme integration, the call-outs that don't make any sense. The multiplier rules that people don't utilize properly. What do we call it? The haves and have-nots of Pimball. You either get the rules or you don't. And then the Josh Sharpgate saying you don't need to fucking move the multiplier and me calling it fucking bullshit.
    9:22
    There's just so much drama behind this one. The hate is strong with this one. Dwight Sullivan calling it his best pin ever. No, it is pretty good. Hey, I actually had one in my house. Yeah, this is kind of like between the last time I was on the podcast and now. And I picked it up for someone interstate and I was at my house and I was really starting to enjoy exploring because when you play it in competition, playing games in competitions, Marty, you know this. I know this. Especially when it's a new pin, usually you just kind of hate it because the code isn't developed enough, you just do one thing and the rules aren't fleshed out enough for you to enjoy it. And a game like Star Wars is one of those ones where you really kind of have to enjoy it at home because there are a million different paths you can take, right? Did you see that post that I think was Colin McAlpine or anything posted in that group chat with all the different strategies and masks behind it? You're like, holy shit, this makes my brain hurt. That's Star Wars.
    10:25
    Yeah. Yes. But the art. But the art, yes, back to the art, yes. Yes. So the art really was, I would say, its biggest criticism. It's so not, Mark. That's what I just went on a ramble about. It's not the biggest criticism, but sure. It was at the time. When it first came out, because obviously you couldn't play it, right? Yes. When it first came out, people were just, you know, torches and pitchforks, right? It was, how dare you ruin my childhood, which pretty much was the sentiment. It was, you've ruined my childhood. And if we're honest, like, I think we even talked about it because it was back in that day. Nobody really put their name to the art as well. And we found out, you know, since then that it was a team of people and they were, you know, LucasArts people. And it was just pretty uninspired, I think, is the best way to describe it. Well, they've now decided to right that wrong, Ryan. Yeah. Do you think they have succeeded? Yeah, if we ignore the font.
    11:26
    It does. Okay. I mean, it looks better, but not like by miles. This isn't like, oh, my God, Zambi Yeti. Oh, my God, Dirty Donny. Oh my God, Christopher Franchier. It's not that, right? It's newer, it's fresh, and it's 20% better or something. And the cool thing about it is that my understanding, it's the same price as, I mean, unless like in Australia, the prices of pins have gone up. Did you put that in the show notes, Money? The prices of pins in Australia have gone up. Oh my gosh, our exchange rate is fucked. It really is. Pros have gone up. I mean, and there was a price rise like not long ago, and now it's gone up again. So I think about a year ago, pros were $1,000 cheaper, $1,000 cheaper. And it's just getting to insane levels where a pro, or the cheapest, the entry-level pin now, like this Star Wars pin is I think $9,250. Is that right? Yeah, I think you're right. Yeah, and premiums have gone up $450 Australian dollars and alleys haven't gone up because JPs are sold out, Jurassic Parks, there's no alley of this. The next alley we will see what the price price is, but probably at least half a grand. Yeah. So yeah, the art, Marty. So what do you think? Well, it kind of reminds me of when Spider-Man Vault Edition came out because the original obviously had photorealistic art and then they changed it and it kind of did freshen it up. I think this has freshened it up. I think it's done the one thing that I hoped it would do but I still don't think it's a slam dunk and that is give you the illusion that the play field isn't so wide open. Oh my gosh, I was about to say that. It's the trick, it's the trick now, it's the zombie yeti trick. If you have really detailed art, or the dirty dummy trick, I guess you could say, the more detailed the art is, it looks like the art is a feature of the game. It looks like the artwork is a toy, when it's not. But it gives you that illusion and it makes you, you know, when we talk about these price rises and bang for buck, which, let's be honest, is kind of bullshit because all of us like just a machine that's fun to play.
    13:47
    But when we're spending that much money, we psychologically need that extra kick to be like, oh, yeah, there's value for money here. The coil count or, you know, whatever the meme is, it's up there. Yes. So, yeah. You know what? I like the look of them. I think that they are comparable with the Data East Star Wars, and I think people have sort of called that out as well. I think they could have done something more than look at the original art and make a cartoon version of the original art, you know, like the original layout, the way it is. Yeah. But there probably wasn't much more you could do given you've still got to use the same blueprint of the playfield where all the inserts are. So it's a massive improvement. The cabinet art, though, is it completely different? I mean, the Pro still has the TIE Fighter, which is similar, but it seems a lot more detailed. But the other one was kind of fairly bare with what pictures and what was going on there. Whereas this seems like there's more details and things going on in the background.
    14:59
    And this is like my biggest gripe with the, I guess, the Jurassic Park art is that it doesn't scream Jurassic Park. It doesn't have that brand recognition where if you look at this Star Wars, I think it's more recognizable immediately than, well, especially Jurassic Park, but also the Star Wars of two years ago.
    15:23
    Yeah, I would agree with you. My question is why? Why do they do it? Yeah. Well, money, I guess. Because they could? Yeah. Because there's more demand for it, I guess? Yeah I mean realistically how much does it cost to you know I think most of the money will probably be in sending the redone artwork to you know the lawyers and jumping back and forth with approvals But the great thing about art money is that it's a once-off cost. If they decided to, like with the Spider-Man VE, they decided to rejig all of the toys and they have to get new molds for that. Per machine it's going to cost X amount.
    16:09
    You know, they got rid of certain things, they added certain things, they redid the dots. Those custom toys, they are a per machine cost. So if they end up costing more than what was in the original machine, because they have to get new molds and this and this and that, then they have to pass that cost on, and the Spider-Man VE ended up costing more, right? Yeah, right. The artwork on this, everything else I believe is the same, so the artwork on this is a once-off cost. And say it costs, for example, $20,000 or $30,000. It could be like way less or way more. I don't really care to speculate on that.
    16:43
    Yeah, it's a one-stop cost. And the amount of new business that it'll bring in because it's fresh, surely that's a justified cost.
    16:55
    And do you think because of this new look, people will start selling their 2017 machines? Yeah, I think...
    17:04
    It's a loaded question. We both know the answer to this. The answer is yes. People are just offloading the original one left, right and centre. Yeah, it's kind of like a bit of a... Well, it's kind of like what happened with Munster's premium, right? Everyone's just like, well, I can't, you know, I'm a premium person. I want the pro. I want that little play field. They get the premium thinking, you know, it's black and white. It's unique. And then all of a sudden Stern say, okay, we're making the, you know, the colored premium now. And then people are like, well, you know, if I don't want the, if I didn't really want the black and white one now, you know, there's an option. So people will, I guess they always refer to, I guess Spider-Man VE is different, right? Because Spider-Man VE is, you know, there's the original call-outs from the movie. A lot of people like that. There's the dots. There'll be fans of both, right? And there's obviously a higher cost as well. Whereas with Star Wars, it's kind of like, you know, I'm guessing some people don't like the art, but 95% of people are going to be like, ah, I'll get the new version, right? Yeah, exactly right. And the old version isn't selling at high prices is what I'm seeing as well. Yeah.
    18:17
    But it's pinball. You buy these things with your heart. You lose money with your heart, as we've all done. I think it's interesting. I'm going to bring up the pin. Yes. So the home edition. So when, I guess what I'm trying to ask is when did they know that this art was going to happen and did they know when they were doing the home edition? Are you saying that this competes with the Home Edition? Do you think they've exhausted their sales already for the Home Edition and they said, okay, well, let's keep this Star Wars train rolling and this is Phase 5 or whatever they are in there? Yeah, I guess they probably decided to do this after they'd already done the Home Machine because otherwise you would put this new art on the Home Machine.
    19:10
    I can't even remember. What does the artwork look like on the Home Edition? Is it a clone of the original or is it a modified version? Okay. Yes, it is. It's modified, but it's the same art style. They pretty much used a very similar palette and layout and some of the imagery. It looks very similar to the full Star Wars. Yeah.
    19:31
    I guess it wasn't a big enough thing to delay that entire project and think we're not going to cannibalize our own sales by not having this art that nobody knows that exists. You know, so I don't think they're mutually exclusive and really affect each other. Yeah, fair enough. It does look like the Data East version, right? Like from a glance, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, for sure.
    19:59
    Yeah, I like it, but I would never own it. Although, kind of what you're saying, the more you play it, and again, it's one of those ones where, as a home game, where it's not costing you coins and it's not in competition. Yes. You can take your time to explore. Yes. And discover, yeah. And if the ball just does an unfair drain, it's like, ah, well, I'll just do another game. Yeah.
    20:23
    Yeah. There really is. It's one of those games that it's so complex. And I think complex games like this and, I mean, even Game of Thrones was complex when it comes out. It's really up to the community to embrace it or dismiss it. And with the frequency of games coming out, I think it's harder for people to embrace complex games. Like Simpsons and Lord of the Rings when they came out were so deep and complex. And yes, they ticked all the other boxes about being enjoyable and call out some theme integration. But people were like hungry for that because they're like, we get a couple of pins a year and that's it. But now there's so many pins for tournament people and the general public to consume.
    21:13
    It takes a long time. How much brain capacity, how much knowledge and space in your brain does knowing the Star Wars rules take up that is not allowing other information to be stored in there? Yeah, I know. I don't know. I don't know the plans. I don't know how long these things take, what the development cycle for these things are. It's hard to know when or why Stern are making these decisions, why now's the time for this, why they didn't do it with the pin.
    21:49
    What I'd heard was that apparently Game of Thrones was due to be a vault as well. That was slated for a couple of months ago. That didn't happen. That's why it got a code update. This is what I'm hearing as well. So I don't know. You know, these plans just, I don't know, they take time. And Ryan, I'm now going to send you a link and I'm going to edit this, everybody, so you don't have to watch or listen to Ryan reading what I'm sending him. But I'm sending you something interesting for us to discuss. Okay.
    22:28
    So don't read it out. Okay. Abstract. Background. Okay. Ooh. Okay. Well, hey, I'm only like fucking one paragraph in, wait. You don't need to read much more than that. Okay. Right? Okay. Okay, so basically what I like to do in my spare time, Ryan, is search the interwebs for pinball stuff and every once in a while I stumble across some gold. Do you remember the first gold that I discovered years ago? It was the American Pinball Oktoberfest. Yes, Oktoberfest. Yes. So I've done a bit of patent searching. Yeah, obviously you do it once a month because this was filed in early September, Marty. Well, that was when it was published. Yeah, okay, yeah. It was filed a long time ago. And so basically what this is, this is a patent that's been published. You can search for guys. I'm not going to show you how to do this stuff because I lose my exclusives, right? But basically what has been published is, and so therefore it's proposed patent, to make a machine, a pinball machine, able to download new music to be played in the pinball machine. Effectively turning a pinball machine into a jukebox.
    24:05
    Could it be, I mean, could it be DLC? Could it be... Yes, it could be many things like that. But this is from Stern. So it's public, guys. I haven't got anything that's private. You can search for it. But basically what it's a patent for, the ability to override music in the actual machine itself via a network. I wonder if this is just the update system in general. But then they wouldn't specifically talk about music. The following describes a system method for allowing users to modify a Pimball machine. In particular, the following describes a system and method for allowing a user to modify the music, e.g. songs, that will be played by the Pimball machine. To this end, the modified Pimball machine includes a posting device. Oh, no, this gets really boring.
    24:56
    It really does. It's a very long document. Well, that's actually the wrong thing. But the reason why I bring that up, not to go, ooh, look at me, I've got this thing about patents. And all this kind of stuff. We sort of talked about this as an option, probably even Iron Maiden days or Kiss days or stuff like that, you know, the ability to actually, you know, upload music. But the point of it is, this patent was originally filed early 2018. Oh, it was too. March. Yeah, okay. So it got approved a month ago or less than a month ago? Yeah, well, it got published, so it's still patent pending. So the point of it is that, you know, these plans that they have take a while. It's not like they can go, great, I've got this idea, boom, let's do it. So they may have been talking about this art ages ago to get it sort of redone, the comic art by, what's his name again? Randy Martinez.
    26:01
    And they've got the development cycle of the Star Wars Home Edition and they're like, well, you know what, we're just not quite there with the approvals from LucasArts or Disney, whoever owns them these days. So we've got this schedule of the home. It's just got to go out even though we know this art's going to be approved. We'll keep it for a later version of Star Wars when it comes out. It's just plans. Like you just can't do these things instantly. There's approvals. There's permissions. There's obviously we can see patents, all that kind of stuff. It's a complex business, guys. Yes.
    26:38
    Wasn't DeepRoot telling everyone that if they want to license their patents, they should contact DeepRoot? So maybe George Gomez sent an email and this is what's happening.
    26:50
    He signed over the patent to them. No. I'm joking. So there you go. So anyway, but speaking of schedules. Yes. No, terrible segue there. But what we did see this week was we're going to go into full speculation mode already, right? Like, let's get a full-blown connection. Stop it. So, what we saw this week was Dirty Donny did a picture. He did a picture, did he, buddy? He did a picture. That's what I commented on Instagram. I said, hey, man, you did a picture. Well done.
    27:28
    So, basically, what he's done, it's really funny because what he's done, he's actually just put up a bit of a picture saying, Hey, here's a sneak peek at my Stranger Things art, right? Pretty sure it says sneak peel. But anyway, it says sneak peek at Stranger Things. And someone has gone, hmm, hang on, isn't he a pinball artist and he's doing Stranger Things? Okay, Stranger Things, definitely in the next pinball machine. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it might be, there's definitely some smoke there where people have been talking about Stranger Things for a while, but in terms of art, we have to remember that Dirty Donny also did a lot of Guardians of the Galaxy art, because Christopher Franchi was the one who did the artwork for that. And, I mean, yes, it's obviously not part of a potential Pinball machine because Stern wouldn't let him publish that. Even though, actually, wait a second, even though, do you remember at Expo like two years ago? Or no, 2016, where Aerosmith was going to come out and then it didn't. Batman got pushed ahead of it, but Dirty Donny already printed his book and Stern allowed him to sell the book with the Aerosmith art in there. And they just like played dumb. They're like, oh no, we haven't announced anything.
    28:50
    It could happen. And it could be that this is the Brian Eddy machine that everybody's been waiting for. Who's Brian Eddy, mate? Just for people that are new to Pinball, let people know who Brian Eddy is.
    29:03
    He is a very famous Pinball designer for designing only a small amount of machines, but beloved. Like some of the most loved machines in the world ever and Shadow. Oh, you're trying to trigger me, Marty. And you are. You are. Because don't you dare talk about the Shadow like that. No. It's weird because, I mean, when he worked as a software designer, like the software on his games are really cool. And then I guess he was half software, half design for some games. But then, yeah, the three games were Medieval Madness, Attack from Mars, and The Shadow. And The Shadow obviously suffered from a horrible theme choice. Did I tell you, Marnie, that when – I can't remember if I told this story or not. When I had the camera crew in my house filming for Channel 9? No, Channel 7.
    30:01
    And they walked in. They're like, look, this is not a news channel. A news channel, we can film any license we want because it's for the news. This is a TV show, so we can't show – like the lawyer department are going absolutely nuts. So we took pictures of this place before we came down here. We can't show The Hobbit. We can't show any brands, right? Really? Yep. And I – so if you look back at that video, everything's blurred out except for the Playfield art that doesn't have like logos and stuff. And I didn't tell them, hey, you know, like, Attack from Mars is also owned by, you know, like, you know, PBS and all these rights holders, like, they all have rights. Because, you know, I didn't want them to access the show. I knew that, you know, they wouldn't care, the rights holders for that.
    30:48
    So when they were like, so what's your favorite machine, Ryan? And I'm like, Tron. And like, no, cut, start again. Really? When we say what's your favorite machine, choose one that's not a license. I'm like, all right, it's a tag from us.
    31:03
    Thunderbirds. It was something that I have in my house, Marty, and I would never let that. Oh, fuck, I played that game. It's so fucking bad, Marty. Oh, my gosh.
    31:12
    It really is. It's so bad. Everything that people say is true. You really when you hear people bagging like you know you what do you call it an oppositionist sometimes You like well if everyone bagging it I want to give it a go and give my own opinion And you tend to be more positive Yeah I mean like when people talk about it being the worst game ever you like well it can be that bad Everyone just jumping on this train because it funny And then you play it and you like oh yes It is actually that bad, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, it looks nice. It's just a piece of shit. It's just a, yeah.
    31:46
    What were we talking about? Ah, yeah, fucking sidetracked. Okay, so The Shadow is such a shit theme that they said, they walked in, they're like, okay, we can do Attack from Mars. And I can't remember what the other theme was. Whitewater and this one here. And I'm like, The Shadow, that's a movie. And they're like, it's a movie. I'm like, yeah, that's Alec Baldwin right there. And they all looked at me like I was, like some fucking joke, like no one remembers that movie, no one gives a shit about The Shadow except for Pinball People. There we go. Yeah. That was a 10 minute fucking story about The Shadow. See, that's what you do when you fucking trigger me, Marty. Okay.
    32:25
    So I streamed it a couple of weeks ago. Yes. What did you stream? You streamed Eric's one. No, I streamed Cursed. Ah, okay, yeah, yeah. And it's in really good condition. I like it. And what it is, it's one of these bang-for-buck games. It's got a terrible theme, so it doesn't necessarily get the big dollar prices that the game's asked for. It's, well, it doesn't. Okay, it's probably the highest cost game that's risen out of, like, the C Division or something. Like, it's on A-Title, but it's very close to being an A-Title now. They go for six plus in Australia. I reckon if it had a decent theme, it would be an A title because the layout is actually really quite good. I actually really like flipping it. I just, you know, the rules I'm a bit cool about, if I'm really honest. And again, that, you know, what I've played with these bigger games, you can't have both. Either the upper loop works really well and it's repeatable or you can hit the scoop on the side for whatever it is to start whatever it is. You know what I'm talking about. Ah, the Khan multiple start. What did you call me? Yeah. You idiot. So you either have a machine that has really easy to get into the Khan shot or it's easy to do repeatable loops. You can never get a machine that does both. You can get a machine, Marty, that if you do one loop, then you hold up the flipper and it goes straight into calm. And that is just – and Keith Allen's Jurassic Park does something similar where if you hit up the middle and then you hit – the loop is so fast, you hold it up, bang, into supply drop.
    34:16
    You know, there's little quirks like that with each machine. The shadow is best enjoyed, for me personally, and I know you're going to not agree with me, when the game is an absolute bitch to play. Like when it's just brutal, you can't miss your shots. That's what makes it fun. You can't, like the most loops I've ever gotten on mine is probably three or four because it's just lightning fast. The games that I see people play that are slow and floaty with weak upper flippers where you can loop all day long, that's when I think the shadow is not a fun game when it's a slow game. And there's a lot of games like that, Marty. There's a lot of games that when it's slow and floaty, it can ruin the game because it's just not meant to be enjoyed that way.
    34:59
    I've never – people are like, oh, yeah, I had Shadow. I finished it. It kind of got boring. I'm like, cool. You would never finish my Shadow. I've never got even close. Like, it is that hard. Yeah. I never start your Shadow. Piece of shit. Well, no, but the one that I streamed was actually quite fast, but as I was saying, it was, you couldn't hold up the flipper to get it into the Kahn lock. And you got some pop-outs too. But you could do repeatable loops, and they were really satisfying. I mean, it's the base of, like, both of Keith Allen's games. Like, where do you think he got the Iron Maiden loop? Like, I'm pretty sure that's inspired of The Shadow, right?
    35:39
    Yeah. Probably the original Jurassic Park. He loves that game. He really does. I mean, you and me, Marty, we like, you know, we've talked about it before, we like different things in Pinball. Because for me, a game that shoots well now trumps everything. And then the game that made me realize that was The Hobbit, you know, like, I didn't realize what I liked in Pinball until I played The Hobbit. And I'm like, well, it's got all the software, it's got all the theme integration, it's got everything. But the one thing that it's lacking is it's not fun to shoot. Whereas I can play a game like Demolition Man which is lacking in so many areas but because it shoots well I rock solid when I play it, Marty. Go on, go on. Yes, go on. More detail.
    36:30
    It's got great call-outs, Ryan. You idiot. No. Do you know another game that's got really good call-outs? Johnny Numanic? The Walking Dead.
    36:43
    Well, no, I haven't done it in such a long time. Looks like we got ourselves a swimmer. I've gotten used to them. They're not actually that bad anymore. They're not bobbly bobo animals.
    36:55
    Yeah, fair enough. That's why Jurassic Park is so good, Marty. We'll talk about that later. Yeah, we will. You know what? American Girl have got a dull pimple machine. There you go. It's news. Whatever. Fucking talk about it more, Marty. Can't just say that. This is big news. Okay, this is what I'll tell you about. Yeah, you know about this shit. I do. Do you know what American Girl is? An American Girl doll? It just looks like a Barbie that isn't... No, wrong. Wrong. Do you know what Supreme is? It's a lifestyle brand and apparently so asterned. Right. So, this is what American Girl dolls are, right? So, the reason why... No, let me explain this to you. I'll explain this by giving you a real life example. Yeah. Okay.
    37:44
    When I went to America for the first time as an adult, I say that because I went when I was three years old, but I don't remember it.
    37:52
    So when I went my first time as an adult was when I went to Indisc. Yeah. Really? When I said, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's probably like two, three years ago, maybe. One time for you drinks.
    38:06
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was. And so on my own, I mean, like I had been before, but this is my first like just exploring on my own. And when I told my daughter that I was going to America, she's like, oh, you have to get me an American Girl doll. And I'm like, oh, what? She said, American Girl doll, you have to buy me one. They are the best, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I went, okay, sure, I'll get you an American Girl doll. So I only had a very small window of opportunity. I had to get off the plane in LA, drive to a shopping mall and go to the American Girl Doll shop. And this is not just a little doll shop. This was like over two levels department store just for American Girl Dolls. And I bought two dolls, one for my two girls at the time. They were like $200 each.
    39:08
    Yes, US. And then you've got to buy outfits for them. Because no, you can't just buy the doll and it's boring, standard outfit. Okay, so they're not coming naked or anything. No, no, no, no, no. They're actually dressed. But the appeal of the American Girl doll is their creepiness because they're sort of meant to be semi-realistic. But it's more so the clothes that they put on would be something that you would buy in a department store. Like it's just high quality fashion for dolls. So when I saw that there's now a pinball machine available for American Girl Doll for $150 US, that's a bargain. That's a fucking bargain.
    39:56
    And it's available as well. I'm guessing, I mean, this is pretty fresh-ish news, so I'm guessing we're going to hear more about it soon. So what we saw on the Deadflip Facebook page is that George Gomez already has one, I believe. So I'm guessing he was involved in the design process of this, Marty? Yeah, must have been. Are you saying it's a Gomez design? Yeah, he's a pretty busy guy, Marty. He's always got that thing where he wants to reduce the costs of Pimble machines down, right? So he did the pin, he did the other version of the pin, he did the Sea Witch re-theme, so he's hitting Pimble at all angles. They want to be all things Pinball. Yeah, they weren't bullshitting. And he said that Stern is a lifestyle brand. Obviously, there's no Stern logos on this or anything, but it is mechanical in the sense that there's no coils in there.
    40:56
    The flippers are like you press them all the way in. They're not hitting a switch. Or if you listen to that YouTube video that people were passing around, the flappers. Did you see that? The flappers? I saw that woman call it the flappers.
    41:10
    Hilarious. It is interesting they went for the hippie design, right? Like the piece and the love of that. So Pinball hasn't existed in the last 50 years. Was that the 60s, Marty, or the 70s? That was the hippie stage.
    41:23
    Late 60s, early 70s. Yeah, okay. So it's got three pop bumpers, no outlanes. Oh my gosh, this is like the opposite of, and a very small flipper gap. So they know their audience, Marty. They do. They improve every time a new machine comes out. Yeah. So, anyway, so Julie's Pinball Machine from American Girl. It's yours for $150 US. You're going to buy one, Marty. Don't. Three interest-free payments of $50. So, get yourself into debt over a fake Pinball Machine. Yeah. My girls don't play with their American Girl dolls anymore, so I'm not going to be getting them one of these. Okay, yeah. Why are they so expensive?
    42:05
    I don't know. Is Barbie just not a thing anymore? Is Barbie just trash? I think so. She's old news. Moving on from American Girl, just staying on Pinball hardware for now, there's a new mod for Wizard of Oz, right? Oh my gosh. The guy who's the best at modding Wizard of Oz is Steve Gouveia. Please tell me it's from Steve Gouveia, Marty. It is absolutely from Steve Gouveia. He that bought us the Red Smoke Witch mod. I've got to say that slowly. And the Flappy Monkey. What's it called? The Winged Monkey. Winged Monkey mod. Yeah, I've had it for so long, Marty. People are, oh my gosh, people are dying for that. And that's what happens when you come on the Head to Head Pinball podcast and announce your mod. It just goes viral. It goes crazy. Apparently, we are the media, Marty. We are the media. Since I left fucking podcasting, all of a sudden, it's just like, media, media.
    43:14
    Everyone's banging their drum, right? Yeah, correct. So, the new mod, it's actually by Steve and another person as well. I can't remember the name. Apologies.
    43:23
    It's actually probably, I don't know. It's in that vein of it just is a really nice cosmetic enhancement to the game. And effectively, it's the, I don't know, the top lanes. There's only really two of them. The Oz lanes. The Oz lanes, effectively. And there's two lights on top. They are now the big Oz letters that are illuminated. Cool. Sign me up, Manny. Yeah, I think they're probably already sold out, I'd imagine. Is it a limited run? I think it's because it's a collaboration, Steve isn't making them, so I think he designed it and somebody else is making them. Yeah, I think they're doing them in batches. Yeah, Steve is obviously time poor because everyone's just like, man, you just quit your job and make the monkeys full time and this, this and that. And he's like, no, well, when you have a good job, it's just like, I don't want to be making monkeys all day. No, exactly. So we'll link that to the Pinside thread. Go and check it out. It looks amazing. And I've got my name down for one. Sweet. Do you? 100% money. It's on Pinside. I haven't logged on. I saw the picture of it. Yeah, not yet. Soon. Okay, cool. So Pimball locations, Ryan. Yes. Now, you mentioned it earlier. Yes. Something about get a dog up here? Yes. Is that what you said? I can't talk about it.
    44:55
    Craft beer, Marty, is absolutely huge in Australia. And I know you're not only a beer lover, Marty, you're a craft beer supporter. I am all about that IPA. Yeah, your beard, the way you dress. I know you love craft beer.
    45:12
    But seriously, craft beer is huge in Australia. There's an independent company. A lot of them get bought out by the big couple of beer companies and they kind of lose their essence, right? They lose their originality. But there's a group called Moondog and they're huge in Australia. And I caught wind pretty early that they were opening up a new location and I had no idea how big this place was going to be. We'll link a video in the show notes because I can try and describe it, but you can kind of see it, especially in person for it to do justice. It's a $9 million build, Australian dollars.
    45:55
    Basically, it's a warehouse bigger than the MCG, which is the biggest stadium in the Southern Hemisphere.
    46:03
    What? Yeah. Is it that big? Yes, the capacity is 700 people in the brewery location. People dub it as an adult playground. All these wanky terms, but you just have to go there and experience it because people generally, I mean, some people like to go to places that are absolutely empty and that's what they like about, like, you know, dive bars that look like absolute shit. I was like, oh, that's cool because we're at a dive bar and blah, blah, blah. Some people like going where there's lots of people at. And I was at the launch of this Marty and they were at capacity and it was absolutely insane because I was talking about it with some people. Is there a location in Melbourne, like a bar or some kind of place where they serve alcohol and food that has a capacity of five, six, seven hundred people?
    46:57
    Not that I know of. There is a there another place that kind of like that It called Public something Public House or something I don know what it called I look it up whilst you talking Keep going Yeah So basically I got in pretty early and when it was in development I rocked up to this address and I like oh my gosh this is an industrial section What am I doing here? And I walked in and I was just amazed by this place of the size. And they showed me this little corner and they're like, you can fit one Pinball machine here, right? And I was like, no fucking way. If you are building a place that is going to be this popular and is going to be this outlandish, like there's a waterfall and a lagoon and beach chairs, a retractable roof, like the size of like two houses that let sun in.
    47:48
    I want space for at least X amount. And they gave a space for Seven to me and Reality Games, which is a company here in Melbourne. And we have an awesome collection there. We've got Ghostbusters Pro with the new code, Willy Wonka, Star Trek Pro, Jurassic Park, No Fear, and Game of Thrones LE, I believe the only one on site, and the Guardians of the Galaxy Premium. So, seven great machines, and yeah, it's exciting, Marty, because it is a popular place, right? And that's what you need. It's all good sighting pinball machines at places that people don't go or just pinheads go, but when they're in the public eye. I mean, this was on Channel 7 News, Channel 9, Triple M. It's kind of blown up because no one's done a place like this before. So that's what adults are interested in, right? Like going to new places. It's the kind of venue or location that you kind of hear about. Like, it's just so freaking over the top. The fact that it's got, like, let's call it an indoor lagoon, like, effectively, and fountains. And, you know, it's got the little, they call it, like, the little hidden pinball arcade. Pinball, is that what they called it? Yeah, yeah. I used a very old-fashioned term for it, but it's just on a grand scale. I haven't had a chance to get out there, but from what I've heard, it wasn't just opening night. Ever since, it's been absolutely packed as well. Yeah, I went on Sunday to drop mine and I was in the area. And yeah, I mean, it's one thing to plan for a venue that has 700 people, but when 700 people actually come, I can get hot in certain places. I recommend everyone go and check it out, but if you're the kind of person that doesn't like a lot of people, just chill for a bit. I'm actually running a tournament there, the very first tournament. It was registered a while ago, obviously, in hopes that it would be open by now, and it is. It's like an unofficial Jurassic Park launch. I've got all the merch there. I'm going to be giving away stuff. Come or don't come? Because when you run events at any other venue, you're like, come, come down, come, please. No one's going to fucking be there but us, where I'm just like, hey, come, but there's also going to be half a thousand people there. So if you don't come, it's still cool because there's 500 fucking people here. So yeah, it's going to be fun to see how it is. Okay, good. But I also did notice that another very popular venue in Melbourne, Pinball Paradise, is up for sale.
    50:36
    Yeah, everyone's got like Gumtree alerts and kind of stuff set up so you get emailed every time some piece of shit machine tries to get sold for 10 grand.
    50:46
    But yeah, there was a listing that came up for $145,000 or something. I'm like, oh, that's an expensive Pinball machine.
    50:55
    But it was, yeah, it was Pinball Paradise. I think it was Australia's only or Australia's first dedicated pinball bar. What was the tagline, Marty? You used to have a machine there. I did. I honestly can't remember. And it was one that was behind the hidden door. It looked like a bookcase. That was a thing. Every new place needs a thing, Marty, right?
    51:16
    Yeah. So, yeah. Anyway, it's up for sale. So, if you want to buy a pinball venue, go for it. That other place I was talking about, the General Public is what it's called. And it's a big sort of adult, but also I guess family. It's almost like a Dave and Buster's. But I reckon that would probably have, you know. Do they have female machines, Martin? Should I? They do. Oh, they do? Yes, they do. But don't worry. Somebody's already got in. Okay.
    51:45
    So, there you go. Check out Moondog and buy Pimball Paradise. That's the two things to do on your list. And, yeah. Yeah. Hey. Hey. There was someone that knew you were coming on the show this week and they just wanted to have a bit of a chat with you. Okay. Ah, for fuck's sake. What the hell is Ryan doing back on the show? Whose great idea was it to bring this bogan back? Last week you asked Joe if he's a god. So this week it's opposite. Marty, ask Ryan if he's a dog. Oh, moon dog, moon dog, moon dog. Keep your tail between your legs. We get it. You love dogs. But here's the tip, beastie boy. Peanut butter is meant to be spread on bread, not your crotch. What do you use a vegemite, you bastard? Let me guess. Ryan wants to talk about his new hot pinball boner. No, it's not the new Elvira game. That's not his style. I bet the creep chubbed up to the new American Doll Pinball. I haven't been this excited since Tracy's fingers. Alright, Marty and Ryan, once again, head to head, back the way it was. A piece of shit! You fuck off!
    53:04
    You're a fucking, you're a c***, Marty, you set me up so hard. You're like, talk about a fucking moondog. And then you go and research this other place, I'm just talking to myself, fucking seven minutes, and then you play that. You set me up. Oh my gosh. Fucking Pinside PD.
    53:27
    Good times. A piece of shit. That's what we are, Marty. Yeah. Oh, well, good standards. Consistent we are. Yep. So, there you go. What other stuff do you have hidden in the show notes, Marty?
    53:43
    Just hiding all these patents and Pinside PD. Did you see my show note, how it's hidden there? That was just my note to myself. Don't forget. Anyway, so I'm going to label this social media watch. Social media watch.
    54:09
    So, do you have enough pinball t-shirts? You know me, Marty. I threw away like 15 of them recently. I donated them, sorry, I donated them. I can't bring myself to get rid of pinball t-shirts. I've got so many of them and I will never wear some of them ever again. They're pinball shirts, they're part of my life, I can't get rid of them. Okay. Are you bullshitting or you've got a hoard of them? No, that's true. I've got so many, I've got about 40 pinball t-shirts. Easy. Yeah, I've stopped wearing them, Marty. I think I only wear them to pinball events. Yeah. Yeah, okay. Keep going. I wear them for streaming. So, Silverball Swag is now open. So, silverballswag.com. This is a joint venture. Jeff from Dispeaking Pinball and Made of His Will, they've got this website out there. So, go crazy, guys. Go buy some T-shirts. It's cool stuff.
    55:10
    Yeah. Does the Pimball Media get free T-shirts, Marty? There has to be something that the Pimball Media get, right? Well, at least you. Yeah. Well, you know, if I did, I wouldn't be mentioning it on the podcast, Ryan. Jeff, send us some free shit, please. We'll say good things about the Twippies this year. Come on, Jeff.
    55:31
    Vote for the Twippies. They're very important. Validation, guys. Validation. Zach Manny, oh my gosh, he's thirsting for the Twippies so hard. I can feel his twippy boner all the way from Australia. I just had to mention that. Anyway, keep on going. What else have we got, Mike? Awesome. Bye, T-shirts. No, that's it. I was going to say what's happened your week in Pinball, but you've really given your months in Pinball, haven't you? Yeah, just basically obsessing over this Moondog venue and making sure everything's right. And yeah, that's it. I mean, I got Ali. It doesn't work. And it's just like I just get it and I put it up on legs. And I'm like, all right, it'll just sit there like not working. I've got like I've got Quicksilver that there's someone that wants that the shit silver version that I've got to pack up and send. And I just like I don't even go into the pinball room anymore. So sorry to the person who is waiting for that very patiently. You know who you are. I'm sorry.
    56:36
    That's my public apology. Fair enough. Well, then let me talk about my week because yours was really boring. So I got to stream courtesy of a good friend of the show, Dylan. He works for a company called Rubik's in Melbourne City, and they happen to have seven Pinball machines in their office. Sure, why not? Seven. I'd streamed there previously their Deadpool Ellie. Oh, God, I can't even remember what they've got. They've got a Beatles Gold, obviously Deadpool Pro, they've got an ACDC, they've got a Munsters Premium, and the one next to Black Knight. So I got to stream Black Knight Sword of Rage, the Ellie. Hey, now, you know, you know my thoughts on Black Knight. I haven't been very kind.
    57:29
    Do you think now, having streamed the limited edition, which is the first time I've ever played a premium or a limited edition, for three hours, whether I have changed my tune on Black Knight Sword of Rage?
    57:45
    Ah, I mean, this is one of those binary things, Marty. Yeah, it could go either way, couldn't it? Well, not go either way. You're not going to be like, oh, I'm a bit cool on it. It's either going to be like, I still fucking hate it, or I'm coming around to it now, I like it. So which one, Marty? Just fucking tell me which one. Okay, I really enjoyed playing it. It is a very flawed game, though. And I say that only because the upper play field is interesting in that it's actually got, the shot to the catapult is really freaking satisfying if you get it. And the other target up there is great when you get it as well. There's nothing else up there and the ball stays up there quite a lot. So you're doing loops and you're doing reverse loops and you're hitting repeatable shots that don't sort of go anywhere. So I wish that upper play field had more in it. But as I think with most premiums and limited edition Sterns, I think they increased the bill of materials overall. Just everything that goes into it just has more of a premium feel. So it actually just felt more enjoyable to flip the game in its entirety compared to a pro. So probably the downside of it really is that after the three hours I went, okay, I've played it, I've enjoyed it, okay, I'm done. Yeah.
    59:18
    It really does play different to the Pro because of obviously the lack of the upper player field. And I remember when Joe first described the Black Knight Pro, he kind of described it perfectly and the exact same thing that I experienced that, You know what you have to do and you have to hit the shots, but then if you miss the shots, you're completely fucked. Or you have to recover. It's not one of those games where you miss a shot like Deadpool and it ricochets on something else and comes back nicely.
    59:48
    It's just so hard and brutal, but it gives you that adrenaline rush. Whereas the addition of the upper playfield alleviates a lot of that because, yeah, you're right, it does bounce around a lot. And it really depends on how the tilt bob is set up because if it's loose enough that you can kind of bump it up there, you can not keep the ball there forever. But when you miss a shot and then it slowly comes down from the left and it has that kind of that rubber starting, that's when you kind of give it a nudge and then you can do another loop and get it back going again. But if it's set up tight enough that you can't nudge it, I think that makes the game more enjoyable. Hmm. Put a dollar in it on site or play it at someone's house because it's fun. It's just a piece of shit beyond that.
    61:02
    Batman 66 was the other game. Sweet. You're looking through your photos, weren't you? Yeah, I am. Cool. There you go. A couple of events. PAX is on this weekend. PAX Melbourne 11th to the 13th, I'm assuming, if that's two days after.
    61:19
    And it's only three more weeks to flip out. So Flip Frenzy tickets are now available. So I'll link those for people that are going to come to Melbourne for that.
    61:30
    And the last thing, Ryan, I know you've seen this, is I can now turn my machines on and off with a voice command. And I'm very happy about that. Holy shit, mate. Are you going to link that in the show notes? I might do. I might. I know. I'm crackly now, aren't I? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, okay, well we're pretty much finished, it doesn't matter. We are finished. So, for those people that have been listening, Ryan's been crackly in and out this entire episode. We have stopped and started this podcast how many times tonight? Five? Six? Five or six times, I don't know. Yeah, I'm feeling very, very self-conscious about my podcasting abilities now.
    62:10
    So, thanks for everybody that's writing in saying they want Ryan back. That's what you get, crackly. So, a crackly ass motherfucker. Petey was right. Yeah, you get a crackly guy who doesn't know anything about Pimball anymore, right? It like added nothing to the fucking conversation, right? Come back, though.
    62:28
    Anyway, thank you very much for coming on, Ryan. Do appreciate it. Thanks, everybody, for listening. And we will speak to you again next week.
    62:36
    Episode 112. Wait, before we go, Marty, did you ever listen to 112, the band? No. No? Do you want me to sing you out? No, I'm not going to sing you out because it's fucking crackly. Crackly. All right. See you. Bye.