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DPP #73 "Stranger Things confirmed! Glory!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·17m 47s·analyzed·Oct 3, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Stranger Things confirmed for rerun; Mad Pinball sponsorship announced; Foo Fighters wizard mode reviewed.

Summary

Don announces Stern's official confirmation of a Stranger Things rerun for holiday 2024, with Pro and Premium editions being produced but minimal details (pricing, code updates, UV kit inclusion) still unknown. He also reveals a sponsorship deal with Mad Pinball distributor and reviews Foo Fighters' new wizard mode code update, noting its extreme difficulty.

Key Claims

  • Stern Pinball officially confirmed Stranger Things Pro and Premium reruns launching this holiday season via a flyer sent to distributors.

    high confidence · Don received the official flyer this morning from Stern with confirmed reruns of Pro and Premium editions.

  • Stranger Things machines have been selling for thousands of dollars over MSRP on the secondary market for the last two years due to code improvements and show popularity.

    high confidence · Don directly observed secondary market pricing, noting one Premium listed at $12,000 and recent sales in the $14,000-$15,000 range.

  • The original Stranger Things release was poorly received due to incomplete code and low initial sales, but popularity resurged with improved code and renewed show interest.

    high confidence · Don's direct historical assessment based on market observation over several years.

  • Stern has not yet publicly confirmed pricing, unit quantities, production timeline, code updates, or UV kit inclusion for the Stranger Things rerun.

    high confidence · Don contacted distributor Jeff at Mad Pinball who confirmed he has no additional details beyond the flyer; Don states 'We know nothing at this point.'

  • Mad Pinball has secured an official sponsorship deal with Don's Pinball Podcast, with monetary contribution in exchange for airtime and promotional mentions.

    high confidence · Don announced the deal directly and explained the partnership structure.

  • Foo Fighters wizard mode requires completing nearly all game content (all cities, multiple multiballs) and defeating the Overlord 5-6 times before unlocking, with extreme time constraints making organic completion very difficult.

    high confidence · Don performed hands-on testing with glass removed and detailed the specific requirements and difficulty.

  • Custom armor reproductions for Venom LE and other limited edition machines are now available from vendors like Cab Customs and Medisinyl Mods.

    medium confidence · Don mentioned Facebook postings for Venom armor and reported on the mod community trend of replicating LE features.

Notable Quotes

  • “This game is screaming back into production this holiday season.”

    Don (paraphrasing Stern flyer) @ ~0:00-0:30 — Opening confirmation of Stranger Things rerun announcement.

  • “And either do most distributors, because I've reached out to, you know, Jeff with Mad Pinball asking like, okay, guy, you know, give me the deets. And he's like, I've got no information. I've got all the same information that you do.”

    Don @ ~1:45 — Demonstrates that even major distributors lack details beyond the official flyer.

  • “If you can even find an LE, they're going for stupid money.”

    Don @ ~3:30 — Illustrates severe secondary market pricing premiums prior to the rerun announcement.

  • “I think the people that you'd have to feel worst for would be the ones who just shelled out, you know, $14,000, $15,000 for a premium given that they're going to be re-released now.”

    Don @ ~4:15 — Acknowledges market disruption risk for recent premium buyers.

  • “They are monetarily contributing to the podcast in exchange for some airtime.”

    Don @ ~7:00 — Explicit statement of Mad Pinball sponsorship terms.

  • “If a game is great I'll tell you how great it is if it sucks I'll tell you why I think it sucks.”

    Don @ ~8:30 — Reaffirms editorial independence despite new sponsorship deal.

  • “And that why I enjoy it. So I enjoy this little plastic duck. They not very expensive.”

    Don @ ~9:45 — Reflects Don's personal philosophy on mods and customization as subjective preference.

  • “If you can organically complete this Foo Fighters mode, you're awesome. And my hat is off to you, sir or madam, because that is quite a feat.”

    Don @ ~14:00 — Acknowledges extreme difficulty of Foo Fighters wizard mode completion.

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyDonpersonMad PinballcompanyJeffpersonStranger ThingsgameFoo FightersgameJurassic Park 30thgameGodzilla Premiumgame

Signals

  • ?

    announcement: Stern Pinball officially confirmed Stranger Things Pro and Premium rerun via distributor flyer for holiday 2024 production.

    high · Don received official flyer this morning with upside-down themed artwork showing both Pro and Premium editions.

  • $

    market_signal: Stranger Things secondary market pricing is extremely elevated ($12K-$15K range for premiums) due to long production gap and code quality improvements; rerun announcement likely to devalue existing inventory.

    high · Don documented recent sales at $14,000-$15,000 and noted machines 'selling for thousands of dollars over MSRP for the last two years.'

  • ?

    product_launch: Stranger Things rerun fills November production slot at Stern previously speculated to be either Cornerstone, Foo Fighters, or Venom rerun.

    high · Don stated: 'This is probably what's going in that November opening in the production schedule for Stern that we were postificating on.'

  • ?

    product_concern: Critical product details remain unconfirmed despite official announcement: pricing, unit quantities, timeline, code updates, and UV kit inclusion all unknown even to major distributors.

    high · Don confirmed distributor Jeff has no additional information beyond the flyer; stated 'We know nothing at this point.'

  • ?

    code_update: Foo Fighters received wizard mode code update featuring Overlord final boss battle with extreme difficulty and time constraints; requires nearly complete game mastery to access organically.

    high · Don performed hands-on testing and detailed multi-phase final battle mechanics with dual life bar system and strict time limits.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.053

0:00
pinball podcast fun time is back to us again it's episode number 72 of don's pinball podcast we got some deep news dumps stern pinball just released their stern of the union for october we've got some confirmation on some stranger things that are coming up this holiday season for you
0:30
We'll be right back. but a flyer for freaking Stranger Things. Oh, by the way, this game is screaming back into production this holiday season. And that's what we get. And a link to click on distributors. So this has been the rumor, like gaining speed all season. And then this last week, there's been tweetings from the birdies talking about, you know, Tuesdays, there's going to be some information coming. And first off, it was going to be, it's going to be revealed to distros over the weekend and then we'll hear about it. And then it's been crickets. And then it was going to be, well, Monday, we'll hear something with the distros. and then Tuesday they'll reveal all the details. And then again, crickets. So I'm sitting here this morning like, what the heck, man? You know, I was supposed to have some Stranger Things fun news this week or whatever. And then, yeah, this morning, boom, there it is, the flyer. It's still hot in the email inboxes everywhere, you know, sitting there. So what we got was a upside-down themed flyer for Stranger Things, premium on top, upside-down, pro on the bottom. So it seems like we're going to get, not like the JP30 where we got the second limited edition run of 500 games. No, we're getting reruns of the Pro and the Premium. And that's all we know. There's deliciously little information available. What is the price going to be? How many units are being made? When exactly is this being done? Is the UV kit going to be included with it or not? Is there any updated code? We know nothing at this point. And either do most distributors, because I've reached out to, you know, Jeff with Mad Pinball asking like, okay, guy, you know, give me the deets. And he's like, I've got no information. I've got all the same information that you do. So we're still waiting. So what will probably happen is later today, there'll be an email or a conference call or something to distributors giving them information. Because right now, all we have from this like huge nuclear dump of, yes, it's been revealed, Stranger Things is being made again this holiday season. That's all we got. And we got a link to here's our distributors list. So no doubt people are scrambling, calling their distributors, asking, okay, so what are the details? How much is this game going to be? When's it going to be made? How many are there? Updated code. And they're going to be like, we don't know anything. So we'll hopefully have some newer information throughout the day about that. But, yeah, stranger things. It is happening. The rumors were true. Stern's running it again. And this is probably what's going in that November opening in the production schedule for Stern that we were postificating, totally a word, on what was going to be run then. This is it. Not a new Cornerstone. Not another run of Foo Fighters. Not another run of Venoms. No, no. This will be the Stranger Things slot. So that's cool, right? We're going back to Hawkins, Indiana for another run of this game. Now, historically, this was a game that was released several years ago to little fanfare, right? Because of the preliminariness of the code and it wasn't really seen as, you know, the darling of the day, right? And so not a lot of them were sold and then they kind of went out of production and Stern just kind of moved on to the next games. Then there's been a resurgence of popularity, really attributing to the popularity of the theme itself and the show getting more popular, as well as the code getting more complete on the game, to the point that this game has been selling for thousands of dollars over MSRP for the last two years, you know, that I can note. If you can even find an LE, they're going for stupid money. And the premiums are all you know Now since this rumor has been gaining traction you know this game which had been trading for and with the various accoutrements added to it one did pop up yesterday or the day before at $12,000, you know, come and get it. So I think the people that you'd have to feel worst for would be the ones who just shelled out, you know, $14,000, $15,000 for a premium given that they're going to be re-released now. But there was no way to know. There was no way to know. So what's going to happen to the market on the Stranger Things machines? Who knows? We still don't have confirmation from Stern on what the price is going to be.

  • Stern is running a Jurassic Park Quest event this month tied to Insighted Connected accounts with virtual DNA badge unlocks.

    high confidence · Don reported details from Stern's October State of the Union release about the quest mechanics and badge system.

    • “I had to take the glass off and cheat in order to even see this mode.”

    Don @ ~13:30 — Demonstrates wizard mode is designed for highly skilled players only.

    Elvira House of Horrors
    game
    Venom LEgame
    Insighted Connectedproduct
    Pinball Lifecompany
    Cab Customscompany
    Medisinyl Modscompany
    Iron Maidengame
    Star Warsgame
    Tommy the Duckperson
  • ?

    design_innovation: Foo Fighters wizard mode uses extreme skill requirements (complete all cities, multiple multiballs, 5-6 Overlord defeats) and tight time constraints as design gating mechanism for endgame content.

    high · Don noted: 'the amount of shots that are needed and particularly the time constraints that are put on it, make this a challenging mode to complete.'

  • ?

    community_signal: Don's Pinball Podcast secured official sponsorship deal with Mad Pinball distributor, marking first formal monetary partnership for the podcast.

    high · Don announced: 'Don's Pinball Podcast now has an official distribution partner with Mad Pinball. They are monetarily contributing to the podcast in exchange for some airtime.'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Growing trend of reproducing limited edition features (custom armor, trans lights) for base-tier machines to bridge the price/feature gap; community divided on taste of aftermarket mods.

    medium · Don reported availability of Venom armor reproductions, Stranger Things LE trans lights, and Jurassic Park 30th trans lights; noted community tensions around mod proliferation.

  • ?

    technology_signal: Stern expanding Insighted Connected platform with Jurassic Park Quest event featuring virtual DNA badge system tied to online accounts.

    medium · Don detailed Jurassic Park Quest mechanics involving daily DNA strand collection across five dinosaurs with tiers from 10M to 150M points.

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Stranger Things has shifted from initial 'darling-less' reception to highly desired collectible due to show popularity surge and code maturation; rerun announcement drives market reset.

    high · Don noted original release faced 'little fanfare' but game 'has been selling for thousands of dollars over MSRP for the last two years' and LE machines going for 'stupid money.'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Aftermarket vendors (Cab Customs, Medisinyl Mods) are replicating limited edition exclusive features (armor, trans lights) and selling to base-tier machine owners seeking premium aesthetic at lower cost.

    medium · Don mentioned Venom LE armor reproductions, Ellie armor replication for Star Wars, and Stranger Things LE trans lights all available through Facebook vendor postings.

    • 5:01
    You know, I'm hoping that it's going to stick with the MSRP that they've been going with. And my hope is that it's going to have at least that UV light kit included. Whether there'll be some new code, I don't know. They did come out with a code update for Jurassic Park 30th when they released that so i'm hoping that there'll be some crumb of something but based on the photos i think we're getting the same art packages as before and yeah so stranger things is happening more information to come uh what else was in the uh the the news release today from the stern of the union for october well you know there's venom le launch parties that are going off the le's are going out on location soon they'll be unboxed um of which of to note there is a reproduction company that makes custom armor for pinball machines. And it looks like they're coming out with the limited edition versions of the Venom armor. So I've got an order in, full review to come. But if you search around the internet on Facebook, you can find links to that and more. What else was there? They talked about the new Jurassic Park Quest that's coming out this month. Basically, you go play Jurassic Park either on location or on home with your Insighted Connected account. And then there's virtual badges that you can unlock. Like you'll, you get, you know, one DNA strand per day per dinosaur. There's five different dinosaurs or whatever you need to connect, collect between five all the way down to two for the T-Rex DNA strands to unlock that badge for that dino. And if you get all the dino badges, you get a bonus badge. So if you're into virtual collecting or something, there's that. But basically it's all based on, you know, levels of score that you get, you know, 10 to 15 million points, get you one creature all the way up to 150 million point game will get you you know qualified towards that t-rex badge if you're so into that seems like it's going on for a whole month um i'm still a little unclear it says you can earn one strand per day does that mean you have to play every single day and then you know are they awarding you the strand of like the lowest skill level that you get to or or how does that work who knows i will see but that's something fun you know especially if you have a jurassic park at home you know go fire it up this month and earn you some unlocks because you know they're they're virtual they are worthless but dang if they aren't fun to collect, right? Otherwise, it was some Stern Pro Circuit stuff. I can't even pretend to understand how tournaments work and all that business, and that was in there. But for now, we have confirmation that Stranger Things was released. Otherwise, I've got some huge news, some huge podcast news, some huge personal podcast news, and I'm so happy and so pleasurable to announce that Don's Pinball Podcast now has an official distribution partner with Mad Pinball. Now, I've talked about Mad Pinball before. They've been my distributor of choice since Godzilla Premium, since they were actually able to get me one at MSRP without having a one-year waiting list. And now they've gone and made it official. They are monetarily contributing to the podcast in exchange for some airtime. And check out this great new jingle that they sent me.
    8:04
    with my dad are you looking for a new machine topper or accessory email jeff at mad pinball.com tell him don sent you whether it a topper whether it a machine he the man of your pinball dreams don get angry get mad but what all right man i been playing through that jingle like at least a hundred times in the last couple days since i got it man i love those those pinball vibes at the end there so here's what's happening i'm not getting you know kickbacks based on how many customers i send him or you know how much you pay for a game or whatever um but they've been my distro because it's been easier to get into the head of the lists with them. I've been able to get, you know, that Godzilla premium before the price increase when everybody had them, you know, for like a one year waitlist or something, you know, Mad Pinball enters the chat and they're like, hey, you know, I've got one MSRP if anybody wants one. I thought it was a scam. I thoroughly vetted these guys. And then early on in the podcast, when I started doing this segment called Trusted Dealer Spotlight, they were one of my first ones because I was so impressed that they were actually, you know, real and dealing fair in this game that was selling on the secondary market for thousands over MSRP. Since then, when Elvira came out for its run, I mean, I was nowhere on any lists for that. But they contacted me and they said, Hey, Don, we know you expressed an interest. We've got Elvira House of Horrors. Did you want to get one? And doggone it if they didn't get that to me into my house. When Foo Fighters came out, I mean, I remember seeing the Friday update builds from Stern Pinball. And then shortly thereafter, the FedEx truck was showing up in my driveway with a Foo Fighters premium. So I've had a good working relationship with these guys. I went and met Jeff with Mad Pinball. He's out in the Akron, Cleveland area. And yeah, I went out there, met him personally about a month ago when I was out there. And he owns a punty factory and he's been touring around to arcades. And not only was I able to stop by and play the dang thing, but he let me live stream it. You know, I'm like, hey, is there any way I could, you know, bring some equipment and live stream this game on location? I had never done that before. He's like, oh yeah, sure. Bring your stuff by. Here's the keys. Lock up when you're done and just love me there with the machine on free play those face fantastic so um i'm happy to you know champion those people that are out there um you know putting positivity out into the ether and you know just seem to be cool guys to deal with what this is going to allow me to do is kind of more of what i've already been doing you know um you know i'm still going to stay you know objective if a game is great i'll tell you how great it is if it sucks i'll tell you why I think it sucks. And I'll be able to keep doing giveaways, man. So I think this is going to make it even more, you know, official that we have a channel that we're working through. And, you know, I'll be able to get, you know, t-shirts and bugs and stickers and other stuff to give away in the live streams. Because that's really part of what I do. And it's what I like. It's what I look for. You know, I'm posting in Stern's posts every couple weeks when they put up something. You know, we're giving away something to someone in the comment groups. So I just put that energy back out into the universe. So now I'll be able to do it officially. So thanks, Mad Pinball. Man, sure is humbling for you guys to take that interest in me. So what else do we got? Pinball Life sent me another package of things because I ordered from them. Thank you for the Stern Pinball on-off switch extendable accessibility tool. I guess that's what we'll call it. As a switch turning rod, it is not the best, but maybe it's got some other alternative motives. Either way, it was only 12 bucks, so thanks for that. In addition, I got myself a half dozen plastic ducks. These are duck mods for pinball machines. They make no sense at all. Why does your pinball machine need a plastic duck in it? It doesn't. Is it cool? I think so. Did you buy half a dozen? For Sheezle, I did. So I threw that in my Iron Maiden in honor of my good friend, Tommy the Duck, who is a fan of both Iron Maiden and ducks. And so that just, it went together like peas and carrots, let me tell you. like peanut butter and jelly. I threw one in Foo Fighters. I'm just having fun with these plastic ducks. Somebody reached out and they were like, this is what I don't like about mods, right? People just throwing random things in their machines. You know, I personally don't like it. I have to buy a game and remove these things. And so I will say, look, I agree that it's really up to the taste of the individual owner. You know, I've seen Godzillas that are loaded with every kind of press on little toy plastic mod, you know, dump truck, fire truck, airplane, giant larva grub monster, and it does get a bit cluttered, you know, to me. However, one thing that he said was like, you know, this is absurd to have a duck in Iron Maiden. And to that, I say, yes sir it is absurd And that why I enjoy it So I enjoy this little plastic duck They not very expensive I think they Pinball Life has a ton of them So go get you some In the meantime as I am in the mod community I do like upgrading my machines. Limited edition machines are limited by price and limited by availability. But they do come with some really cool features. And so I, of course, it's known I do like to put some of those features in my lower tier games just to kind of elevate them a bit. And one of the things that I've been impressed with, the most is when there's custom armor that's made that sets that limited edition apart, aside from just taking off the shelf armor powder coating and put it on like Godzilla had. So there is someone's replicated the Venom armor from the limited edition that is now available. There's Facebook postings for it. Cab Customs, go check it out if you want to get you some.
    14:06
    I was able to get the Ellie armor duplicated for my Star Wars. I love it. It lights up. It looks like a Death Star. I think that's fantastic. Well, the move and trend now is into trans lights. So, you know, somebody's already replicated the Jurassic Park 30th trans lights, like those are available. You know, someone's doing another run of Stranger Things LE trans lights, like how timely and topical is that? Those things are out there and available. You know, if you support that sort of nonsense, have at it. If you don't, that's fine too. But I'm just reporting that that is a thing that exists and that is out there. Otherwise, finishing up news this week or for the beginning part of this week, Foo Fighters had a code update and I did get a wizard mode and I was able to play it and I do have a little first time review. So I did have to really take the glass off and cheat in order to get to the wizard mode. Really, you have to complete like every single thing there is in the game, hit all the cities, do both of the multi balls, maybe even three of the multi balls, maybe the multi balls twice or something, eventually, I was able to get it to unlock. And then it seems like I had to shoot the the overlord, like five or six times to get it to start. But then once the mode started, you know, it was fun. It's basically a space battle between, you know, you and the overlord. And essentially, it's just you hit all the shots. And there's, I think, three different kind of phases for that final wizard mode. And basically, it's hit all the shots and then hit the overlord and then you know, rinse and repeat. and you go fighting the Overlord himself, some cartoon scenes play and everything. It's got, you know, custom animations and things, which I do appreciate. And then it climaxes into, you know, a Fubat battle in space with the Overlord in his big astromech, as you would expect. And then, you know, hit all the shots again and then, you know, fire into the Overlord, finally defeating him. And then everybody has a peaceful resolution at the end. It was fun to do, but man, it's something that I do not have the skills to do this on three balls. No, sir. Not even three balls with two extra balls. I have it on 10 ball adventure mode right now, and I can make it through the mini wizard modes, but I can't get to the final one. So, you know, I had to take the glass off and cheat in order to even see this mode. It was fun though, but I will say the amount of shots that are needed and particularly the time constraints that are put on it, make this a challenging mode to complete. So if you can organically complete this Foo Fighters mode, you're awesome. And my hat is off to you, sir or madam, because that is quite a feat. I hope to get there someday, but my skills just aren't there. The final battle, there's two life bars, actually, and you have to make shots to chip away at the life bar for the Overlord. Meanwhile, your life bar is being chipped away. And so, honestly, I mean, even if I got my ball one, I got to that phase and I still had 10 balls left, I couldn't finish this mode, not in the time restraints required before you would totally run out of energy. and so yeah there is a nice and satisfying you know conclusion to the video so you know if you want i would you know take a sock stick it in the drain and then just you know play through the balls so you can get through this mode just to see it because i think it does bookend the story of the game and the overlord and the alien of the battle and how cool of a person dave grohl is in general so play through that that was fun what else do i got for you i think that's all for this episode but thank you all for joining me and let me know your thoughts and views and what do you want me to do to improve i'm gonna keep at it and doing this 73 episodes deep man are we gonna cut 100 this year mayhaps thank you to mad pinball for sponsoring i'm ever so humbled for that i'm hoping to uh really uh start ordering a bunch of crap that i can give away now to the fans um thanks everybody for listening and i'll see you around the internets man stranger things it's here later