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The Pinball Show Ep 79: The Middle Class Man‘s Pinball Podcast

The Pinball Show·podcast_episode·1h 14m·analyzed·Oct 18, 2021
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.039

TL;DR

Drew Boyfair joins TPS; Stern appoints Disney exec Seth Davis as president; Godzilla praised as 'funnest shooting machine' despite incomplete code.

Summary

The Pinball Show Episode 79 features Drew Boyfair from Poor Man's Pinball Podcast as first-time co-host, discussing his collection, the pinball media landscape post-Ian departure, and major industry news including Stern's new president Seth Davis (from Disney) and Godzilla's code updates. The episode covers market trends, Jersey Jack updates, and design philosophy around moment makers and art direction.

Key Claims

  • Seth Davis appointed as Stern Pinball President, moving from Walt Disney Company after 13 years; Gary Stern moves to Chairman/CEO

    high confidence · Craig Bobby correspondent news segment - official personnel announcement

  • Seth Davis was head of product management for Disney's connected experiences and digital games, and earned Six Sigma Black Belt certification at GE

    high confidence · Craig Bobby's detailed background on new Stern president

  • Godzilla received Wi-Fi update capability in version .79, making updates as simple as connecting a TV or refrigerator to internet

    high confidence · Drew's direct experience updating Godzilla Pro via Wi-Fi; took ~15 minutes

  • Keith Elwin designed floating flipper on Godzilla which took the most time to develop and align

    high confidence · Zach citing Keith Elwin's appearance on Loser Kid Pinball Podcast episode 106

  • Godzilla currently has incomplete code with three skill shots (four more coming), seven battles, four city modes (not fully implemented), and multiple wizard modes

    high confidence · Zach referencing Keith Elwin's interview on Loser Kids; Zach's direct playtime confirms incomplete city implementation

  • Godzilla's middle spinner is unusually wide, resembling classic Bally/Williams era spinners, unlike modern Stern's typically thin spinners

    medium confidence · Zach's observation: 'I don't know another Stern game recently that has a big old spinner on it'

  • Godzilla Premium Comic Edition Star Wars is valued at $12,000 on secondary market and will sell within 48 hours at that price

    medium confidence · Zach's market valuation of Drew's machine; Drew initially estimated $9,500

  • Harrison Drake (engineer) is responsible for balancing budget and 'bomb' (mechanism complexity) in pinball design, not the designer

    medium confidence · Zach citing Keith Elwin's comments on Loser Kids about engineer responsibility

Notable Quotes

  • “This game's going to be pretty damn full. But it's just not there yet.”

    Zach @ ~52:00 — Summarizes Godzilla's state: excellent mechanics and design but incomplete code implementation

  • “I am kind of the Doc Finlay myself... You're sitting on a $12,000 pinball machine.”

    Zach @ ~15:00 — Market valuation assertion for Star Wars Premium Comic Edition showing strong secondary market performance

  • “The designers have gotten celebrity status... So I think it is a little unfair. But I also think that a lot of these guys have done a good job... They always give credit to these other people.”

    Drew @ ~44:00 — Commentary on credit inequality between designers (celebrities) and engineers in pinball industry

  • “This is one of the funnest shooting pinball machines in all of pinball history. It is unique, it's fresh, but it is designed by the master that has become Keith Elwin. I can't stop shooting this thing.”

    Zach @ ~56:00 — High praise for Godzilla's gameplay mechanics despite code concerns

  • “Once you open up the coin door and you press the buttons... there's like a new one that just says net, like the internet, and you just click on it... It took me, I think it was like 15 minutes to download... and I don't want to go back.”

    Drew @ ~37:00 — User experience validation of Stern's new Wi-Fi update system simplicity

  • “I hate some of the negativity and the mudslinging... we can all have differences in opinions, and it doesn't have to be nasty.”

    Drew @ ~22:00 — Commentary on pinball media community dynamics and interpersonal tensions

  • “With that type of experience, it's not hard to see that Seth was hired to continue to usher Stern toward ensuring that their digital product offering is as robust and industry as their pinball product has been.”

    Craig Bobby @ ~30:00 — Analysis of Stern's strategic pivot toward digital/online gaming under new leadership

Entities

Drew BoyfairpersonSeth DavispersonGary SternpersonKeith ElwinpersonIanpersonZachpersonHarrison Drakeperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Stern positioning digital product offerings as strategic priority under new leadership; Seth Davis hire signals continued investment in online/connected experiences alongside manufacturing

    high · Craig Bobby: 'Seth was hired to continue usher Stern toward ensuring digital product offering is as robust as pinball product has been on manufacturing side'

  • ?

    community_signal: Poor Man's Pinball Podcast undergoing format evolution post-Ian departure; planning reunion episode but acknowledging loss of 'rock' and editing burden

    high · Drew: 'I'm lost without him... incredibly difficult... that's all I've known'; reunion to feature 'less about pinball' with Ian catching up on community gossip

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball media community experiencing interpersonal tensions and negativity; Drew expressing frustration with 'mudslinging' and calling for constructive dialogue

    medium · Drew: 'I hate some of the negativity and the mudslinging... it doesn't have to be nasty'; emphasis on community being 'great' and 'fun-loving'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Debate over Godzilla's colorized modern art vs. monochrome classic film aesthetic; some community members preferring black-and-white despite unanimous praise for color design execution

    medium · Zach: 'I heard Dennis Creasel say that... They wanted what – you've got the clips from the film... I don't get that'; Zach's broccoli analogy defending colorization

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Modern Stern spinner design evolution: Godzilla features unusually wide middle spinner (classic Bally/Williams era style) unlike recent thin-spinner Stern games

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.223

0:00
Warning, the following episode contains adult language and screaming goats. Listener discretion is advised.
0:11
The Pinball Network is online. Launching The Pinball Show. The Pinball Show is here again as your favorite pinball podcast that brings you the goods each and every week. This week we welcome a first-time TPS co-host, of which I have a long history with, as we chat Godzilla already being called one of the greatest new co-hosts. Elwin playing second fiddle on the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. A new Stern Pinball President. A new Stern Pinball Pin. Ken Rudberg weaving some correspondent gold with news from Jersey Jack. Other highlights including a Haggis update. The return of a staple in the competition pinball scene. TPN filling the gaps. Pinball market trends. and our co-host getting caught by his short and curlies. Let's go, buttholes! How did that become a term of endearment? Oh.
1:07
Pinball is a game of skill. For some, it's a passion and a lifestyle. It's time for the Pinball Show.
1:20
It's pinball with personality. I'm gonna need someone to care. Son of a bitch, give me a drink. One other night, I just can't be me.
1:39
Son of a bitch, if I drink it clean, I'm gonna drink my life away. Hey everybody, welcome back to the Pinball Show. We're rolling right into episode 79. I've got a treat for you today. A little biscuit. You guys want a little piece, a little lick, a little taste of this one. Introducing for the first time on the Pinball Show, a friend of mine and a friend of many here listening. He came out of the media gates a couple of years ago on fire and drunk. With Chicago Pinball Expo coming up in the next week or two, it's only fitting that he and I reminisce on one of the most talked and laughed about social stories in the community for the past decade. Sure, he may be drunk. Sure, he may be poor. And sure, he may have offered my wonderful wife a sweaty beer and booger-soaked podcast t-shirt at the last expo. But the man is as beloved as a Greg Bone. Ladies and gentlemen, the last standing poor man, welcome to the pinball show, Drew Boyfair! Oh, wow, that was quite an intro there, Zach. and I can't believe that you call my debauchery a social event. I love it. You like the social event? That was probably the best part of your whole spiel was great, but yeah, just like, oh, the social event of the season. It was better than saying dick in hand thrown up in urinal. Yeah, yeah, but it's so good, so good. I love it. Whenever that occurred, because it was a talked about situation, because everybody loves you and they could laugh with you and laugh with me, was that a thing when you because you were just getting into media were you like oh i was brand new like we had just started getting quite a few listens and people just started learning who we were and um we actually got more listens because of it i think wow how about that uh yeah no the community has been great and you know a lot of people came out and just said hey you know we're all we're all human we all you know do stupid shit from time to time but here we are no, it's been great no one unfriended me because of it that I'm aware of that's one of the things I've respected about you since I've known you man is your sense of humor and sense of humility I love that in a person and I couldn't think of anyone else I would love to have on this week than you so thanks for coming by well thanks for inviting me I'm really glad that we can finally get this recorded and yeah I'm excited do you even listen to podcasts anymore oh yeah oh yeah no I'm still I'm still 100 miles an hour into pinball with my with my new career you know I'm afforded some more time which is great so I spend a little bit of that with my family and I spend a lot of that with pinball many of you know drew from the being the host of the poor man's pinball podcast and videocast it's underwent a lot of changes here lately as your best friend and co-host ian kind of removed himself as ian or ian uh really a little mythic quest uh reference uh removed himself from the show and you've been finding your way through what's going to work for you in the future we all love it we all support you hell you guys have a tribe uh a cult whatever you guys want to call it but there's a beautiful amount of people in there that i'm friends with so i i love listening to to everything you do but I didn't know if you still had that fire and that passion. It sounds like you do. I do, but kind of to touch on your point there, I am trying to find my voice because no one can replace Ian, obviously. No one can replace the camaraderie that we have. Shit, we've been friends for over 20 years.

  • Poor Man's Pinball Podcast had reunion discussion planned with Ian (now sidelined from show) but not returning as regular co-host

    high confidence · Drew and Zach discussion; reunion will be 'less about pinball' with Ian catching up

  • Godzilla is described as 'one of the funnest shooting pinball machines in all of pinball history' with phenomenal sound and campy fun animation

    medium confidence · Zach's personal opinion after significant playtime; acknowledges code incompleteness as limiting factor

    • “I'm two and oh... Maybe he's the GOAT everywhere else, but only on podcasting do I get the numbers of GOAT status.”

    Zach @ ~43:00 — Humorous competition between Zach's podcast appearance numbers vs. Keith Elwin's Loser Kids appearance

  • “There are seven battles, four city modes, two or three micro-wizard modes... Never heard that term before.”

    Zach @ ~51:00 — Novel game design terminology ('micro-wizard modes') emerging in modern Stern architecture

  • “When you put on headphones in Ghostbusters or Star Wars, you hear some amazing sounds that are just going on that you don't normally hear. It's like a new experience.”

    Drew @ ~48:00 — Customer experience insight about audio production quality (Jerry Thompson) and aftermarket enhancements

    • Jerry Thompsonperson
    Craig Bobbyperson
    Ken Rudbergperson
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    Walt Disney Companycompany
    General Electriccompany
    Godzillagame
    Star Wars Premium Comic Editiongame
    Dialed Ingame
    Guns N' Rosesgame
    Poor Man's Pinball Podcastmedia
    Loser Kid Pinball Podcastmedia
    The Pinball Showmedia
    Chicago Pinball Expoevent
    Ted Estesperson
    Dwight Sullivanperson
    Dennis Creaselperson

    medium · Zach's observation: 'I don't know another Stern game recently that has a big old spinner on it... damned if that thing isn't a big wide spinner'

  • $

    market_signal: Star Wars Premium Comic Edition maintaining strong secondary market value ($12k) with fast turnover; comic artwork variant driving premium valuation

    medium · Zach's market assessment: 'will sell within 48 hours' at $12k; Drew's original estimate of $9.5k upgraded by Zach; Drew acknowledges 'probably worth more than when I bought it'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Engineer role underrecognized in pinball design: Harrison Drake responsible for budget/complexity balancing in Godzilla, but designer (Keith Elwin) receives primary credit/celebrity status

    medium · Zach citing Keith Elwin interview on Loser Kids; Drew: 'Designers have gotten celebrity status... unfair... engineers get short end of focus stick'

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Seth Davis appointed as Stern Pinball President from Walt Disney Company; strategic hire indicating Stern's pivot toward digital/online gaming expansion

    high · Craig Bobby correspondent segment; Davis brings 13 years Disney experience in digital games, product management, and Imagineering; Six Sigma manufacturing background

  • ?

    product_strategy: Jersey Jack Dialed In experiencing 'renaissance' with community support post-code 1.75 update (Wi-Fi integration, scorebit support); Pirates of the Caribbean still awaiting promised code updates

    medium · Ken Rudberg correspondent update; Dialed In 'undergoing little bit of a renaissance'; Pirates 'still nothing on that front'

  • ?

    product_concern: Godzilla incomplete at release: only 3 of 7 skill shots coded, city modes non-functional, multiple wizard modes underdeveloped despite exceptional mechanical design

    high · Zach's playtime confirms Keith Elwin's Loser Kids interview details; Zach: 'if you're not in a multi-ball you're not scoring points'; 'the code, the code's not there'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Positive reception of Godzilla's mechanical design and playability despite code incompleteness; community viewing incomplete code as temporary vs. design failure

    medium · Zach: 'funnest shooting pinball machines in all of pinball history'... 'I can't stop shooting this thing'; contrasts with Stranger Things initial reception but eventual redemption via code

  • ?

    technology_signal: Stern implementing simplified Wi-Fi update capability across machines (Godzilla version .79), eliminating need for USB/dongle/Mac complexity

    high · Drew's direct experience: 'It's super easy... like if you were linking up TV or refrigerator... took like 15 minutes'

    • 5:24
    I was actually out with him last night. We were drinking. We had Tribe member Eric, just a quick little shout-out. His wife is pregnant. So we were, yeah, Tribe Member Eric, he's Tribe Member number four. We were celebrating, so the three of us were out just having a great time last night. Is it Eric's? Yes. Okay, good. Well, we think so. I didn't know if that's why Ian was celebrating with you.
    5:49
    Shout out to Eric. Oh, I love it, I love it. But, yeah, so I'm trying to find my voice in the pinball world, in the pinball media world, because I do enjoy it so much, but it's tough without them because that's all I've known since I've been in media, and now I'm flying solo. So we'll see where it takes me. Hey, I can relate. I can relate there.
    6:13
    Yeah, you've been through quite a few changes over the pinball media landscape. Yeah, I've worked with Greg Bone for years upon years, and we still work together not as frequently on Straight Down the Middle as I would like to, but we still work with one another. But when I jumped into podcasting, it was with the idea that it was kind of solo with Jeff Patterson and Twit Podcast. And then it rolled into finding my podcasting soulmate in Dennis Creasel. So they're out there. They're just waiting for you. Or go solo. Hell, who knows. With this great audience that you have, I do want to share a little nugget if I can. I love nugs. I know you love the nugs. so I'm teasing this right now on the pinball show that very soon there might be a reunion with Ian and Drew oh wow can we get a video on that though yeah we talked about it last night and Ian's not coming back to the podcast I don't want everyone to get too excited but we discussed it and he loves it too so we're probably going to be having a reunion It'll be a podcast of you just updating him, Drew, on what he's missed, because we know that Ian's probably like, eh, screw it, I'm not keeping up anymore. Oh, yeah, no, it's probably going to be less about pinball than we talked about before, if that's even possible. I know, right?
    7:39
    Emu Wars and all kinds of stuff. I'm a follower, I'm a watcher, I'm a listener. All right, Drew, so I want to know, before we get into the correspondents and their news for the week, what's your current collection looking like? It's shaped up pretty nicely in the last 12 months. Let's hear really how much of a poor man you are. What's your collection?
    7:58
    So we'll go down the list. Ghostbusters Pro. Love it. Mousing Around, which I keep telling everyone, everyone needs a System 11 game. I don't care which one it is, but everyone needs one, right? I agree. And then right next to Mousing Around is another System 11, Earthshaker. Oh, very nice. underrated game very underrated you know what and that was one of the least expensive modern games i ever bought absolutely and i i freaking love it then we have uh simpsons pinball party which has survived the longest in my collection you still own that well you love that theme though right i love the theme it's one of my favorites and i've had that one for about three years now you'll never have a problem selling it nope nope not at all and then uh one of your beloved pins It's Star Wars Premium Comic Edition. Oh, thank you so much for just loving and cherishing that one. Oh, I do love it. Thank you. Star Wars is another great theme, and you're right. You can't do that without the Hyperloop. Thank you. You just can't. Is it not one of the coolest toys and most effective? It is. The only thing, I know it's been beaten to death, but that shot is one of the hardest shots in pinball. Is your fork messed up or something? Yeah, I've been tweaking. I've had it for about, I don't know, maybe a year now or a little less, and I've tweaked it, I've worked on it, and I can manage to get it, but it's a tough shot. It really is. It's a tough shot, but when you hit it and it sucks it up there, there's nothing like it. Oh, it's a beautiful pinball moment, right, the moment makers? Mm-hmm. You had to pay a little extra for that, didn't you? I did, but you know what? I think it's probably worth more than when I bought it, I would assume. How much do you think that is worth? I get a dollar amount that I think it's worth. I think that to the right buyer, you're probably sitting at $9,500. Oh, you're selling yourself short. I'll buy it for $9,000 today. No. What do you think? You've got yourself. You heard it here, and I am kind of the Doc Finlay myself. You are the market master. We are kind of the market masters. You're sitting on a $12,000 pinball machine. Shut up. I promise you. Wow. You post that thing for $12,000, Drew, and it will sell within 48 hours. Holy. See, I haven't been keeping up too much with it because, you know, it's kind of, I don't want to say it's bolted, but, you know, I'm enjoying it. And you're a big Star Wars guy. Yeah, yeah. But that makes me feel better because, yeah, we'll get into that later. You made money on that thing. It's holding its value wonderfully well. And we'll talk about the Star Wars Premium later on, maybe in market trends. But what's really killing it for that machine is the comic artwork.
    10:48
    It's a whole new game with the comic art. Next to that, we have another one of your favorites, Zach, The Shadow. Oh, The Shadow knows. He does. Are you a Shadow fanboy? No, I'm not. But I just really enjoy the game. It's hard.
    11:06
    I've never watched the movie. I need to see the movie. No, you don't. No? No. But it's a bitch of a game, but I love it. It is. It's kind of easy to get into, but then trying to get to final battle, there's all kinds of good stuff going on in there. I need to get another one. I got rid of mine. Did you only own it once? Oh, shit. I've owned it like seven times. Oh, my God. They just keep coming and going. I just need a restored one. That's my next step. That's where I'm at. and it's not easy to get one of those done. Got it. You know how it is. I'm collecting parts now for a Shadow of the Storm. Yeah, yeah. If you really want a nice one, you just start buying up what you can, right? Mm-hmm. Absolutely. I love it. And then sitting next to Shadow, another great theme, and I'm a huge fan, Spider-Man. Oh, yeah, you do like that game. Yes. Did you get the original then? Yes, I do have the original with the great Jameson call-outs. Yep. Parker! Yep. Yeah. It's amazing. I truly love it. Yeah, another great theme. I don't know if it'll last forever, but right now I'm just having a lot of fun with it. That's like a dream theme for you, though, Spider-Man. It is. The problem I have, it's a traditional Steve Ritchie layout. You kind of put that next to a Star Trek, and you've got the same game, right? Yeah. In a lot of ways. It's got more character than Star Trek, so you're good there. It does. It does, for sure. and then of course laser war everyone who's listened to the poor man's yeah the poor man's pinball podcast knows uh you know i bought ian a laser war you know way back when and we fixed it off and we spent way too much money on it and as soon as i get my basement done it's it's going to be put down there so we're excited about that and then i will probably be purchasing ian's deadpool as well so we've talked about that man that is a killer collection uh i'm pretty proud of it pretty pretty proud of it i uh i like where it's at right now and uh i'm looking at a few things but right now i'm pretty happy so when are you going to change the name to middle class pinball podcast maybe that'll be the next evolution zach that's right who knows middle class man pinball podcast we do okay that's your that's your tagline yeah yeah we do all right we do okay we take a couple vacations a year yeah pretty much no no gold-plated toilets but you know I've got to ask, though. Over the last year or so, a lot of changes, ups and downs. Was it a difficult decision to continue not only pinballing, because I knew you'd be in pinball, but just creating content after your best buddy exits a show? Oh, yeah. Yeah, incredibly difficult. Like I mentioned before, this sounds kind of cliche, but I'm lost without him. He was my rock. He was doing all the editing. You know, he certainly has taught me a lot of that kind of stuff throughout the years. They say editing pinball is hard. It is. It's probably harder in manufacturing. Of course it is. Maybe Robert Mueller should have made a podcast. Too soon?
    14:17
    I didn't even add that to the notes this week. That poor man with the SEC. Not poor man, fucking, but the SEC. Oh, oh. He's buying pinball machines on credit cards and shit. Oh. What a nightmare that whole thing is. Yeah, that's like two podcasts. You could talk about all that shit.
    14:36
    Yeah, it's tough. I mean, you know, and you have a family as well, so you know the amount of time and energy it takes, and then you get something recorded, right? This is kind of the biggest struggle for me. I get it recorded, and then I have to find time to edit it. Yeah, recording is the easy part. Yes, yeah, you sit down, you have a great conversation about pinball like we're doing right now, right? And then you're like, oh, shit, now I've got to spend another few hours listening to it again and making it production worthy. Yep.
    15:09
    I usually say to every hour you podcast, it's three hours editing. Three to one. So if I do two hours here, that's six hours of editing. Oh, so you're talking, yeah, a whole day, eight hours. It's a nightmare. Is there anything in pinball podcasting or media or content creation and it kind of grinds your gears besides editing? What pisses you off? We really want to know. Like you said, I'm kind of this fun-loving guy who just enjoys talking to people, and I'm pretty positive by nature, so I hate some of the negativity and the mudslinging. Oh, I see. You know, I just think we can all have differences in opinions, and it doesn't have to be nasty.
    15:52
    Not that you're pointing it in my direction. No, no, no. I'm pointing two fingers at Zach right now. So, no, I mean, we've all done it. I find myself in a mud puddle every now and then. Yeah, I get it. Sure. And, you know, we've managed to stay pretty clear of that stuff. And we've had a couple, you know, hiccups over the years. I'd love to know. We've got to get drunk at Expo. I want to know about those stories.
    16:15
    Yeah, we might be able to share a few. But, you know, pinball is supposed to be fun. And, like I said, I understand these things cost a lot of money and all that stuff. But, you know, some of the stuff is just uncalled for, just flat out uncalled for. So, you know, if you have a difference of opinion with someone, just talk to them. Yeah. Be an adult. Well, what isn't uncalled for is the news this week. And our TPS correspondents are going to deliver for you this week. It's time for TPN Industry News.
    16:49
    Hello and welcome to the Pinball Showster News Update. I'm Craig Bobby. Backglass Art, the game actually looks very well done for a home pin and will most likely continue Stern's streak of delivering a less costly version of one of their most popular pins of all time. But the big Stern news story of the week has to be from the front office as longtime owner and president Gary Stern announced that he is stepping down as president and moving into the chairman and CEO position while newcomer Seth Davis from the Walt Disney Company steps in to fill the president's role, reporting to Gary. The relatively young 43-year-old Seth Davis comes to Stern after working for 13 years for Disney and most notably as head of product management for connected experiences with Disney games and consumer products as part of Walt Disney's Imagineering. He was also leader of Disney's digital games console and PC line of business and as director of Disney games strategy, market analytics, and product planning. With that type of experience, it's not hard to see that Seth was hired to continue to usher Stern toward ensuring that their digital product offering is as robust and industry as their pinball product has been on the manufacturing side What does this mean for consumers operators and players alike It means watch Stern go even deeper into their online digital offerings to ensure their games give players not only the best mechanical, but also digital pinball experience possible. Before Disney, Seth spent eight years working for General Electric, where he did four national rotations through GE business units and earned his Six Sigma Black Belt certification, meaning he knows his way around a manufacturing plant as well. Now, Seth, as the first order of business, do you think we could get an LCD screen on the new Jurassic Park home pin that is larger than a first-generation iPhone for $4,600?
    19:16
    Sheesh! Well, that's all for this week for The Pinball Show. I'm Craig Bobby. Catch you on the flip side. Hi, this is Ken Rudberg with your Jersey Jack update. I'm going to try something different this week. In order to compete with Craig Bobby's update, I thought I'd spice up my segment with a new intro inspired by Zack from a few episodes ago. So, here goes.
    19:48
    It's time to hear about some Game Cut updates. These games are getting better with some updated code. So the code updates this week begin with Dialed In, moving up to the whopping 1.75 version. This includes Wi-Fi integration with a dongle, as well as scorebit and achievement support. Dialed In has been undergoing a little bit of a renaissance recently, with a lot of people showing their support for that game, even with the theme. and this code support is sure to be well received. In addition, Guns N' Roses is moving up to version 1.24. This includes a new pinball moment designed by software designer Ted Estes. This moment is experienced right when you start a game and is sure to put people in the mood for a Guns N' Roses concert experience as they play. And this leaves Pirates of the Caribbean with a new code update in the hopes and dreams of all the people owning that machine still nothing on that front and it's not quite complete so hopefully something will come along soon. So that's it on updates for the Pinball Show this has been Ken Rudberg Let's jump into the news we heard Craig Bobby talking about Stern Pinball Drew Godzilla got a code update version .79 the hell How did it get a code update? Is it even out on location? something i play right now i know i know it's so tough for you i get it came out at like seven six which i thought was i haven't seen a code this early in a while they got it and they got a nice bump in seven nine but we get another another update yeah i have played godzilla pro i've even played around with the whole insider connected and getting online and competing and I did update my game using Wi-Fi, which is a really big breakthrough for me, true, because I can't figure out what the Mac and the dongles and the USB, I just suck at that kind of stuff. So was it as easy as they've been touting now? Yes, I love it. It's super easy. Once you, because you know, like in a stern menu, once you open up the coin door and you press the buttons, like you have options like audit, adjustments and all that. Yep. So there's like a new one that just says net, like the internet, and you just click on it. It's just like if you were linking up like TV or refrigerator, toaster, whatever the hell you're linking up to the internet. It searches for a system. You find it, you enter your password, and you're connected. Wow. It's that easy. And then you can just go out, and if there is a Wi-Fi update available, you can just download it. It took me, I think it was like 15 minutes to download. It'll depend on the speed of your internet listener. But it was super simple, and I don't want to go back. That's for sure. Is there an option to plug in an Ethernet cable? There is. Oh, okay. I believe there is. It would be quicker even then. So we got a code update, tweaking, balancing things. We still have a lot of stuff that's not coded. We'll talk about that. And we'll also talk about Keith Elwin, the designer of Godzilla, joining the Loser Kids for a chat last week. he was talking about a lot of things go back to that podcast listen to it uh we're having a little competition over there with the loser kids they believe that keith elwyn's show is going to surpass the listens that i received when i went on this show so i don't know that's keith elwyn and loser kids that's a that's a tough combination to beat yeah i've you know i've i beat him twice before um okay i'm two and oh and i think uh hopefully i'll i'll withhold this victory he He may be the GOAT everywhere else, but only on podcasting do I get the numbers of GOAT status. So shout out to Keith Elwin. But he joined the Loser Kids. He talked about a lot of interesting things. A couple things we'll touch on. Drew, he said that, and I didn't even know this, it's usually up to the engineer in this situation, I think Harrison Drake, the engineer to figure out how to keep that budget balanced and the bomb and all of that when it comes to creating a pinball machine. It makes sense to me, but I don't know why I thought the designer was probably the figurehead when it comes to keeping that budget balanced. Do you think that the engineers in pinball sometimes get the short end of the focus stick? Oh, absolutely. I mean, you know, it's kind of like anything, you know, your movies, music, you know, you have the star and then you have all the people that make them look good and sound good, right? Yeah, that's a good point. Kind of like a director. Yeah, absolutely. Sometimes the director doesn't get all the love, but they're the ones that put the story together. You know, pinball designers have, you know, they're the celebrities, right? Yes, they are. You know, everyone knows who they are. You know, if I run into Rick Nagel on the street, I won't know who he is. Poor Rick. Well, I know. I like what he does. You know what I mean? But I have no idea what he looks like.
    24:55
    What about a Harrison Drake? Same thing. You know, like I said, I know these names because I'm in, you know, I'm really deep into pinball. But, you know, but I know who Keith Elwin is. You know, I know who Steve Ritchie is. I know, you know. So, yeah, then they've gotten celebrity status. So I think it is a little unfair. But I also think that a lot of these guys have done a good job, you know, when they're announcing their games and talking about it. They always give credit to these other people. That's true. It's a good teamwork. You know, Jerry Thompson, right? I love Jerry. I'm just going to go a little off page here for a second. No, not you. Yeah, not me.
    25:34
    I got headphone kits for all my Stern games, right? Oh, good call. When you put on headphones in Ghostbusters or Star Wars, you hear some amazing sounds that are just going on that you don't normally hear.
    25:48
    It's like a new experience. Oh, absolutely. You're giving Thompson a chop right now. No, I recommend that to everyone, and I think about that. So, yeah, Jerry Thompson. Well done, sir. The first time I did that was I hooked up headphones, because it comes standard for the most part on Jersey Jacks, hooked one up for The Hobbit. And not to rave The Hobbit more, but, oh, man, talk about sucking you into the game. That'll do it. Sure. And with the price of these games, I don't know why they all don't have headphone kits. It drives me bananas. I mean, once again, that's a whole other podcast. Yeah, he just did one with Mike Williams. it was like so you pay how much for another code or another mode what yep yep listen to the poor man's pinball podcast episode 106 keith ellen was talking about his recent creation saying right now there's three current skill shots but we have another three or four more coming he talked about designing and aligning that floating flipper up top that third flipper and the associated ball guide he said that thing right there is actually that's what took the most time more than anything else is that floating flipper it's wonderfully designed and i love that loop shot on the game as you will as you will feel whenever you get to play this listener i wanted to know he's got three spinners in this game drew and we know what a stern spinner looks like nowadays it's a it's a thin one everybody always bitches about it and they're like man i wish i wish they were like the spinners of the old like these big old metal spinners that spin And so there are all these skinny little spinners. They all spin well, right? We're now getting audio. Speaking of audio, we're getting some great audio packages associated with spinners and stern games especially. Nobody's talked about this, and I could be wrong, but the middle spinner on Godzilla, damned if that thing isn't a big wide spinner. It feels and looks great, but I don't know that there's any other stern game as of late that has that big wide spinner. So is it, I haven't looked at it up close, is it like twice as wide? Yeah, it looks like a typical spinner from the Bally Williams or an early Bally, early solid state era. Okay, okay.
    28:05
    You know I'm talking about like Ghostbusters. Think of left spinner Ghostbusters. Thin little guy. Yeah, yeah. I don't know another Stern game recently that has a big old spinner on it. No. Listener, message us at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com if you can think of one. I may just be having a brain fart here, but I loved seeing that, and I love hitting the damn thing. Regarding code, he said that there are seven battles, four city modes, two or three micro-wizard modes. Never heard that term before. Two mini-wizard modes and another wizard mode. This game's going to be pretty damn full. But it's just not there yet. Wouldn't two or three micro-wizard modes be like just other modes? Yeah, I don't know what that is. A micro wizard mode?
    28:51
    Is that enough? We have many wizard modes. Now we're going to have micro wizard modes. I'm down, though. No, it sounds interesting. If it's a moment, I am down. You've got a lot of moment maker pins in your collection. A lot, actually. Yes. Star Wars is full with moments. Ghostbusters is filled with moments. You like Dwight Sullivan, it sounds like to me. I am a Dwight Sullivan fan. Even The Shadow is filled with moments.
    29:20
    For my money, Mousing Around has some really, really great moments in it. It does. It really does. You trap the bowls and the mouse traps, and then you hit that jackpot during the multi-ball. Yes. Get it. Keith Elwin said on this podcast that cities are not fully implemented yet. They don't really do much. They're going to be similar to the Jurassic Park paddocks, and you get objectives in each city, but they're not really coded yet. I have found that to be true. I've played this game a fair amount of times, listener, and I'm going to say it right now. Hashtag shill it up all you want. This is one of the funnest shooting pinball machines in all of pinball history. It is unique, it's fresh, but it is designed by the master that has become Keith Elwin. I can't stop shooting this thing. The light show is even great already. The sound package is phenomenal. The animation is campy and fun. But the code, the code's not there.
    30:27
    I hate to harp on it, but I feel like it's like group multi-ball all day. Maybe it's harsh, maybe it's not that bad. but if you're not in a multi-ball you're not scoring points when is the last time though would you say that Stern has disappointed on code after some time has passed people didn't like Stranger Things code initially yeah but they do now that's my point there are very few games it has been a while we've had a lot of code out of the gate on these things I would say it's probably Star Wars yeah people still don't like that code They still poo-poo on that. But that had a lot in it at release. I think it was like Guardians, maybe. Where Guardians came out, people were like, oh, it shoots great, it looks great. But then, yeah, I didn't even talk about the art package. See that thing in person. And let's see all the haters say that it's a bad art package. No. It's beautiful. Do you think they should have made a black and white version? Hell no. Okay. Hell no. No, no, no, no. I've talked with a lot of people in pinball. I've listened to your show. I listen to a lot of shows, and people have said they wanted that old Godzilla. They wanted what – you've got the clips from the film. That's the artwork I want. I've heard Dennis Creasel say that.
    31:47
    That doesn't compute in my mind. I don't get that. That's like saying, hey, we're about to celebrate broccoli, right?
    31:55
    To celebrate broccoli, we can do one of two things. We can make it look great, or we can fucking make it look like broccoli. Now, if we make it look like broccoli, that's original to what broccoli is. Or we can make it actually look nice in the lineup of other vegetables in your plate. I say, make the broccoli look good.
    32:19
    That's a weird analogy. I don't know if that's the best analogy, but the point is taken. But I'm just thinking about what happened with Munsters. you know there were a lot of people that really enjoyed the black and white and then there were a lot of people that really didn't like it i remember i argued with you guys for a while about that oh yeah remember that back in the day i do i do oh man it was a few years ago now and my memory shit that's how special you are to me oh thanks zach now we do know that uh there are some features that aren't fully coded yet for example they were asking him about the scoop because we know keith that one generally don't like scoops. He said, eh, in this layout, it really kind of was needed. He needed it for a couple of reasons. But he said, like, for example, Godzilla power-up feature is coming, and it's going to need the scoop for that. So I do kind of like progressing with the updates. I will say I'm a weirdo like that. I like that because then it's almost like you get a new little game every month or so. Yeah, I don't know why people, I mean, I understand why people don't like it, but I'm the same way. It's like, hey, you gave me a new code. Now I got some new stuff to, you know, objectives and things to do. So that's fine. That's good. Absolutely. He talked about his progression of design. He said he learned a lot from Jurassic Park. Maybe it was a little bit too difficult to shoot. So for Godzilla, he wanted to increase the mechanical devices, but typically that will reduce flow. So he wanted to focus on how to create flow with the devices and following the devices functioning. He doesn't like to repeat himself. Keith Elwin doesn't, which is why it was good for Godzilla not to have a shot through the pops and include a scoop. At the end of the day, he indicated on that podcast, go listen to it, Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, that Godzilla has surpassed Jurassic Park as Keith's favorite design game. Wow. That's saying a lot. That is saying a lot. That's saying a whole hell of a lot. When are you going to get to play this? Actually, one just landed. um there's a there's a couple here in the milwaukee area now so sweet yeah i should be i should be able to get around in the next week or so but i am i am really excited and while i'm not huge on the theme i mean um i was actually just telling you in this last night like i might get this game because i love keith allen i love every game he's ever made i've owned you know or had every game he's ever made in my home holy cow like yeah this thing is no exception well and that's what i was I'm in the middle of recording a video and editing it up, but I tell the viewer that the code, in my opinion, has some ways to go. But coincidentally, to order a premium of one of these Godzillas, you're going to have to wait a little bit. So you've got some time here for the code to catch up regardless. So a lot of people are wanting this pinball machine. And did you have any issues with the magnet? I haven't yet, no. but I haven't put a ton of games on it to where it's on location or anything. They did have some magnet. I don't know if the new code update .79 helped with that. It may have, but I don't know offhand. I haven't noticed anything. But I did notice that when playing it on the older code, the ball stays stuck there too long. That's just a coding thing. They can reduce that ball. Because I'm sitting here like, drop the damn ball. Come on, come on. There's no reason for that ball to still be up there in the sequence. So, that's a coding thing. I think once they fix that, it will help immensely. I'm not too worried about that one. Okay, okay, excellent. A lot of people are worried about this next story. Stern Pinball announcing that 43-year-old Seth Davis is the new president of Stern Pinball, according to this press release. Gary Stern, the founder of Stern Pinball, he's going to continue being that chairman and a CEO of the company. Dave Peterson also continuing as vice chairman and executive vice president. I think he's co-owner as well. A lifelong gamer, Seth Davis, prior to joining Stern Pinball, spent a combined 21 years at the Walt Disney Company and General Electric Company, which is making people think, what is he bringing to the table? And he was very successful initiating and structuring and getting Disney+, ESPN+, those subscription-based services off the ground. Very successful at that. People fear, Drew, that they're going to do the same thing with Stern Pinball. What are your thoughts? Yeah, I would say I'm a little concerned only because we all know how most corporations are, right? Especially Disney. They like money. Yeah, they love money. And I like to think that it going to be business as usual and it sounds like it probably will be but perhaps over time we going to see some radical changes that are going to increase cost even more and you know maybe start yanking some more stuff out again so they can be more and more profitable you know because let's be honest they they got us by the short and curlies right now because everybody...
    37:29
    Everybody... Check, I looked at my junk right now. I don't have any short and curly. I shave that bitch bold.
    37:36
    We'll post that on the Poor Man's Pinball page. I know. Shave or no shave. Pictures of Zach's nuts. No, I just... You know, we are over a barrel, right? Because, you know, we're all clamoring for these toys. I know. And there's no sign of the demand letting up. So I've always said this, you know, the capitalist side of me, I'm like, go Stern, go, right? Make as much money as you possibly can because I love it. But at the same time, I'm like, holy cow, where does this thing end, right?
    38:08
    So like I said, I'm not too concerned and, you know, I'm still okay and I can still buy games because now I have a good enough collection that I can swap games in and out, which is really nice. That is true. But for people getting into this hobby, that's who I worry about. I am sick and tired of the subscription-based shit. Like back in my day, Drew, and you can relate to this, you don't have to pay monthly for shit. Like in software and programming now, there's no options to buy standalone things anymore. You have to pay like Adobe and After Effects and Illustrator and stuff. You have to pay for subscriber-based bullshit. I've got to ask you, listener emails at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. Drew, I'm going to ask you, how many subscription-based television bullshit programs are you part of right now? You know, it's funny you say that because my wife and I cut the cable cord like, I don't know, 10 years ago. Oh, yeah. And we're paying more now than we ever did. Oh, shit. We cut the satellite. We're like, screw you, DirecTV. And then here we are. We're like, Hulu, Prime, Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu. What is going on? Yep. I hate this shit. nothing in life is free right we all thought oh yeah we're cutting the cord and now we get we get netflix and it's eight bucks a month and now i don't even know what netflix is we just pay for it you know it's probably a hundred dollars a month for all i know i know but uh i can't watch a football game anymore drew i hate to rant but it's funny you say that because yeah last week i was struggling to watch my beloved packers because i'm like how do i do this and i like you know i download this yahoo app and it's like pay for this and i'm like what the hell i can't just watch football yes and here's the bitch of it this is my side rant that has nothing to do with pinball but it pisses me off each and every sunday i'm sitting here editing i'm like man i would just love to have a football game on but i can't because i can't uh you can't i don't have local channels because i cut the cable and i can't get the nfl network i'm willing dumb nfl to pay you two to five hundred dollars a year i am willing but here you go you're you're like no we're not me give you that option because you are eligible for direct tv so if you are eligible for direct tv you have to go that route that's bullshit it is it is oh i just want to watch football see they got you by the short and curlies got me by the the bald and after shaving all right so but yeah it's uh like i said it will be business as usual because you know we do have a secret weapon in Stern and his name is George Gomez. Hmm. And our homie, go me, you trust, huh? George Gomez. He seems like the absolute nicest guy you could ever meet. Like he's like, he's like your uncle that comes over and he's just like, Hey, I got gifts for everybody. You know, I can attest to that. He's a genius too, which helps. He is so, he is so smart. And, um, you know, I hope, you know, and I know he's getting close to retirement age too. So, you know, the hope was always, How about he runs Stern Pinball? I know. People have been talking about that. Where's George's chance there?
    41:17
    Maybe he's happy to do what he wants. You know, he probably is because if he takes over Gary's job, he doesn't get to run the design team, right? Yeah, that's true. And it's all about revenue and pulling in money, and I don't know if George's background is really strong in finance and all of that. So that's what this Seth Davis is going to bring. I hope it's a good thing at the end of the day because maybe this helps the partnership between Disney IPs. If he has some good, strong contacts over there, if they need some of the big Disney licenses, maybe they get more intellectual property with this little nugget in their pocket. So there's a big nugget. Well, who is it? I guess we're going to have to wait and see. Oh, Craig Bobby. Oh, Craig. We don't have to wait and see very long. You see how that transition worked there. For Stern Pinball's next release title, it's already here. Jurassic Park The Pen series, the home version. Zach, why do they keep releasing games?
    42:18
    As a dealer, I'm like, what are you doing? Don't misunderstand. I'm so happy that we see new games so often, but with this part shortage and everything else, I don't know what they're doing. I mean, can anyone fill us in on that? I have no clue, but I have no explanation. I want them to make the games back order too, but parts delays. It's like, well, if you don't have parts, make something else. What can we make without these parts? Yeah. I, you know what? I mean, I guess that does make smart sense then, but I just, and there's a lot of licensing restrictions that says, Hey, if you sign up for this, for this licensing, it has to be out by set date. I don't know what the answer is because I'm not behind the scenes there. We're not going to see a cornerstone title before Christmas. Are we?
    43:06
    Shortly after you will. shortly after. We'll see another Cornerstone be released before all of my customers get their Mandalorian premiums. Mandalorian, not Godzilla. Mandalorian. That's a sore subject. I don't want to... Stern Pinball releases Jurassic Park the Pin designed by Jack Danger from Dead Flip Pinball Streaming and rules by Ways and Chang. So there's a new designer in house here in Jack Danger. A lot of people are familiar with him as kind of the streaming media king for the last decade or so. So I think that helps out here. This thing is going to launch in November 2021. We're going to start seeing them rolling out of the factory. And it is, I can't say it's full code. It's full code for a home model. You get two wizard modes, two multi-balls. You get a lot of cool little things in there. You even get a cool mech with that dinosaur that spits out balls that you didn't get on the commercial pro. There's a lot going for this. I think that's great. And the only problem is they're pitting this up against one of the greatest games of all time, which is Jurassic Park. Yeah. It wasn't like Star Wars. A lot of people didn't like Star Wars. And then the pin comes out, and they're like, oh, this layout's okay. And it adds something. But compared to a Jurassic Park Pro, it just – no, I think it looks fun. I think it looks great. I feel the same way. I'm with you. In comparison, it's tough. Yep. The good thing that it does have going for it, listeners, is that if I had 50 Jurassic Park Pros available to me, I'd buy every one of them and I'd sell them all before Christmas, probably all before the end of November. So maybe this is just another option for families at home or if you want to put in your break room. So I get why they're doing it. I don't know sales numbers to know whether or not this makes sense or if this is kind of a we're putting our apples in this basket. Are you putting apples or eggs? I don't know which one. Don't scramble. Don't scramble the apples. But you put them in this basket in hopes that you get a better return in the future with subsequent titles in the home series. I'm thinking. Sure, sure. Because I'm going to be honest. Our sales are not for this. The Star Wars weren't great. our customers are a different customer base than many though we talked about that on the last podcast through but same thing with jurassic park we sales numbers haven't been very few and hopefully other distributors are having better luck but it is as i expected it to be sales-wise okay okay well like i said i'm excited for jack um you know we've always had a pretty good relationship with jack on the poor man's pinball podcast and you know i wish him all the success in the world and you know who knows maybe he'll be designing you know uh cornerstone game soon absolutely if given the opportunity i don't see why why he wouldn't uh when we're comparing the jurassic park the pin to the star wars the pin i found it a little interesting here there's there's some comparisons for me there's no opto spinners in jurassic park like there wasn't star wars there was nothing more satisfying drew than hitting that opto spinner uh for leia and seeing that thing just going nuts. We don't get that in here. Well, they had to leave money for the T-Rex head, right? Yep. There's a better toy in this than Star Wars. That is very true. We've seen a recent stream of Jack Danger and his wife and Dwayson and I forgot, maybe Nick Wayna. They were at Stern Pinball this last weekend streaming this.
    46:44
    I got to hand it to Jack. This thing looks like it shoots well. It really looks like it shoots well. Do you think we'll see them at Expo, I'm sure, right? I think you'll probably see a few. The production's not going to be going yet, so we may see a few pre-production kind of prototypes there just to show it off if I had to guess. Now, for my money, though, if I'm looking at the layout between this and Star Wars, I still think give me Star Wars. I really like the Star Wars layout. I like what they did with Star Wars with the drop targets in front of the Death Star. Yes, and that left ramp that whips around like Monster Bash. George Gomez. It's hard to beat George Gomez. Very much so. And the passive ball lock for the R2-D2 just falls in there and then you have to hit it out to start a multi-ball. I like it and I like the art better on Star Wars the comic version than I do. Wow, that's hit. I mean, Randy Martinez is amazing. But I like the Jurassic Park Johnny Crap artwork better than I like the Photoshoppy Star Wars. So, there's plus and minuses. I'm looking forward to shooting it. I did like, I saw when Jack was streaming it, he like plunged it and left it alone, didn't flip, and it bounced right into that Raptor pit. And I'm like, oh, that's really smart. I really like that. It's like a passive skill shot. Hopefully we sell a ton of these things. Hopefully they hold up and they shoot well. Until then, the jury's still out. Speaking of the jury, the jury's convened, and they said the Jersey Jack pinball is offering online connectivity of most of their games now. I mean, now we get GNR with achievements. We've got Dialed In with achievements. We've got Willy Wonka with achievements. and they're free free i love free we all love free absolutely so go over to if you got a jersey jack pinball machine get that bad boy updated so that you can start achieving the different awards in there i still don't have that done because i gotta do one more code update on on wonka and i don't it's the fucking that's a dongle man i don't i can't oh god sorry haggis pinball is also in the news damien released a video update on the delays and their overall goals in the coming months and year uh long video but very transparent i'm i know that there's some some people out there that are starting to come down pretty hard on haggis i'm not there yet i still believe in this company still believe in the people that are part of it because i know them and i'm excited to get my fathom on it there's not much to say when it comes to haggis besides their entire continent has been shut down and it sucks. Yeah, they're really struggling. I appreciate how honest he was in that video. And he's been very transparent since the beginning, which is great. I just hope there aren't external factors that, you know, make it increasingly difficult. And there are, but you know what I mean? Yeah. Like, there could be things that are coming, you know, in the near future with all this hyperinflation stuff people are talking about. But, you know, it seems like they're chugging along and it's just going to take them longer than anticipated. A lot of it is out of their hands. Do you think you would ever own Fathom Remake Mermaid? Yeah, I think it's a great, it might be a little out of my price range for what it is, but I think it's a great game and yeah, possibly. Yeah, I'm interested to see what Marty can do with that code package. The game looks phenomenal. Oh, it's one of the most beautiful packages out there. Well, have you ever seen my package? I mean, we talked about it. Smooth as a baby's behind. Maybe we'll do a little role reversal. Spears is next. Oh, my God. Was it Spears? Yeah, it was Spears. Maybe you can help me out. Get to my friend Greg Bone.
    50:32
    People ask me all the time. They're like, so what's his wiener look like? And I'm like, guys, I'll never tell. Besides, it's huge. But, I mean, I'll never say. Always a gentleman. You know, I just wasn't a gentleman enough to offer a hand.
    50:50
    I see what you did there. I was there for you. As Carl D'Angelo was there for many of you guys, you guys thought Ndisc was gone. Damn it, no, it's not. Carl D'Angelo says, we ain't going out that easy. You can create a place and sell weed all you want, But N-Disc is here, and it's alive, and the Open is back February 3rd through the 6th, 2022. A lot of people's favorite, their favorite tournament. Oh, that's awesome. That's good news. So congratulations to the IU Pinball N-Disc team. All of the, it never drains over there. They do a phenomenal job. I thought they'd take another year off to get back together on these things, but nope. They're rocking and rolling in February, so mark your calendars now. And speaking of marking your calendars,
    51:34
    shameless plug here, Drew. I'm sorry, but it's got to be said. Numbers don't lie. And you know I only report the facts here. And I got to show the Pinball Network, a.k.a. TPN, some love. Drew, we are expanding. The Pinball Network is not the evil empire that everybody thought it was going to be a year and a half ago. And I'm just so proud of everybody that is part of this and the group of friends that we've all become because of this and all of the content that we're churning out in high quality and entertainment for everybody out there. I feel like we're actually now making a difference in pinball as a group, and I couldn't be more proud. For example, we added five or six people to the streaming affiliates last week. We've got some more really exciting news this week, different media options that are going to be announced. For example, listener, Friday. Friday I was hanging out. I click onto Twitch. And shit you not, Drew, there was seven different pinball streamers on Twitch, and they were all supporting TPN with a TPN badge. And that kind of stuff is unbelievable. That's teamwork at its finest. It is so cool to see pinball streaming kind of taking off a bit. But, I mean, Jack's always been, like you said, the king. But there's a lot of different niches now, and it's really cool to see all this enthusiasm for pinball. And you'll know more why in the future. We've been talking to a lot of different companies, and we talked about that.
    53:09
    Jack's got his hands full. He is busy. He's designing games now. He even said publicly he was going to take a step back. And as a representative of the Pinball Network, I'm here to say we're going to help fill that gap. That's our goal. And we're going to fill that gap with teamwork. And sorry, I'm just a proud, excited teammate here. No, you should be. I mean, like I said, all the different streams and everything coming up, and pinball is just exploding. It has been just amazing. Even over in your neck of the woods, Rachel. Rachel is doing the women's flip stuff with Fox Cities now. Rachel Loogie has been an amazing asset to the pinball community. She is, yeah, you know, all these women's tournaments. And, you know, she's just a great ambassador for pinball. And if you get a chance to see her at Expo or MGC, say hi. She is just fun. She is just fun to be around. She is kick-ass, and she brings so much to this community. Thank you, Rachel. So we've got big things coming up at the Pinball Network. Please follow, like, and subscribe so that you can stay up to date with all of those things, including merchandising. buy a t-shirt buy a hoodie you or underwear hell i don't care i'll send you some undies there drew have you sold more than one yet yeah absolutely we've we've now sold yeah we've sold puppet pal undies we've sold nordman undies we've sold great bone undies i think i even sold uh some undies but i think if you buy one now you still may have a chance to receive it before expo i don't want to see your undies but if you have a shirt or we have the nordman series now everybody's loving that That Nordman is very cool. I do dig that, yeah.
    54:51
    Okay, listeners, it is time to get you caught up to all of next week's water cooler talk. In the only place in pinball podcasting you can fill your cup with the current market prices and popularity. Gulp, gulp, motherfucker, it's Pinball Market Trends!
    55:11
    Exclusively homed on the Pinball Network. trending up this week in a big way is that big-ass Hobbit pinball machine. I've been shilling this son of a biscuit for about four years now. When I was doing videos on the Hobbit back in 2017, I wanted you to experience the joy and immersion that is the Hobbit.
    55:33
    It takes four years for you guys to realize that No it just the marketplace right now Zach is really high so everything else went high But this damn thing went exponentially higher than it going right a year ago two years ago etc The hobbits right now are going to set you back on the secondary market about $9,000 to $10,000.
    55:50
    Damn, son! $9,000 to $10,000? You know what you can do with $9,000 to $10,000? Buy a time machine, go back to 2018 and buy one for $6,000! And you still have a time machine. Now, would I buy one for $9,000 to $10,000? if I was dripping with money that I had nothing to do with, maybe. Is it worth that?
    56:14
    The immersion and experience you're going to get is top notch and unlike most anything else made in pinball. So you put a dollar amount on that. I don't know. But it's hot, hot, hot, trending up, up, up.
    56:26
    Also trending up this week is Saturday nights. Oh, yeah. What'd you do last Saturday night, baby? I got insider connected. Now, Saturday nights is training up, and a customer reminded me of that a couple of nights ago. They messaged me, and they said, look, I'm half drunk, and... They were full drunk. I'm half drunk, and I want to buy a machine. And I said, ah, crazy, which one you want? They said, Godzilla, bah!
    56:57
    And I said, ah, bro, excellent choice. And we sold him a Godzilla. Buy, buy, buy! Saturday nights is training up because I love that many of you listeners out there have one too many drinks. And that's when you call your boy, Zach. You're feeling frisky. You got that credit card out and you're ready to buy, buy, buy.
    57:18
    Man, Saturday nights are good for flipping out pinball. So next Saturday, this drink's on me. Oh, listeners, you don't know how many people are tipsy or they're buzzing pretty good when they order their pinball machine. They're like, I don't give a shit what my spouse says. I've wanted a Jurassic Park forever. And they wake up the next morning and they're like, oh shit, I got an invoice for Jurassic Park and a topper.
    57:45
    Oh, we're not taking advantage of people. We don't even collect a deposit. Sometimes those sales, you know, get canceled the next day or a week later. But for the most part, they stick. Shout out to Saturday nights. Where you at Sunday? Also trending up this week. I'm going to keep it rolling here. trending up is that Fox City stream of the Super Series this last week. District 82 up in Wisconsin. Tom Graff, Fox City's pinball. Eric and all of those individuals who made that event happen at District 82. There's not enough words in this pinball market trend that can express the gratitude and the appreciation that myself and thousands of other pinball people in this community feel about you guys and the events that you've been doing this last year. You guys are killing it. I've trended you up before, so you'd think I'd take a break. But numbers don't lie, and I can only report the facts. And the fact is, hey, Tom Graff, you own Twitch Pinball for an entire weekend.
    58:49
    Bravo. Not only did you own it, my friend, the quality was superb. The commentaries for all you commentators out there, superb. Thank you for doing that. And that beautiful TPN, well, it didn't have to be a TPN. It was nice. But all of you who went out, supported, played in that tournament, man, Pemburg's gone. What's going to replace it?
    59:13
    Some say it may come from Southern California. Others say it may come from Wisconsin. And I say, let's have both. Congratulations over there, team. Nicely done. I can't say the same for the things this week that are trending down. trending down this week is The Walking Dead. My love of a game of The Walking Dead. Y'all are high out there. Y'all are drunk. It ain't Saturday. You guys are just making bad choices. I don't know. Why do you guys keep selling these games for so cheap? The Walking Dead, for some reason, continues to be one of the cheapest masterpiece pinball machines of all time. I don't get it. Maybe it's the theme? Is it the artwork? It's certainly not the layout or the code. Guys, right now, a pro, you can get one for like upper fours, lower fives. how how anybody has one new in box or one fresh minty with that topper the aquarium topper message me i'll give you some money for it this is ridiculous right now the walking dead on the pin side top 100 it's not horrible it's like in the 20s or 30s but upon further inspection if you look at the pro model the pro model remember they just they lump them all together pro premium le whatever that's the highest that's where you're going to land on the the top 100 The Pro, if you would separate that from the Premium, the Pro is ranked at 61.
    60:35
    If that thing falls to 70, we riot. This is stupid. 61. I even think Dennis Creasel would agree with me as he owns that pinball machine.
    60:44
    I know you guys hate hearing it, but it all goes back to difficult pins do not rank high. They just don't. Play better. Speaking of playing better, also trending down this week is roller games go for the wall it's roller games I used to love this game and here's the noob in me five years ago you heard me roller games is the shit it's fantastic you guys don't get it it's so underrated guess what guys roller games is not underrated roller games not that good of a pinball machine it's campy sure it's fun to shoot I'd argue that a bit. But if you need a magnet to assist you doing a side ramp shot, you're not good enough. I might get hate for this. Email me at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com. I don't care. But you guys know when you lay your head down at night and you have that Roller Games in your collection and you've been thinking about a couple other System 11 games, you know deep down in your heart they are much better than Roller Games. Hell, Drew said it himself, mousing around. Way better game than Roller Games. I'd even argue the F-14. Bastard and brutal as it is, better game than roller games. I like the songs too, but it's a snoozer. And numbers don't lie. This thing on the secondary market, low twos. You get this thing for low 2000s, maybe mid 2000s if it's nice. Diamond plate play field, they didn't make a whole lot of those, so those go a little higher. But I think you pass on roller games. Artwork is just atrocious. There's campy, fun, atrocious artwork that's still cute, and then there's roller games. Let's elevate that hate and make it a little love. in this week's Deals of the Week. Buy, buy, buy! Deal of the Week this week, Drew and I were talking about it. It's that beautiful Star Wars Premium pinball machine. You're not going to save a buck or two if you try to buy a comic edition of that game, but if you were okay with the original artwork on Star Wars Premium, there is one on Pinside right now, right outside of Irvine, California, a little bit north of Oceanside. Josh Dan is the Pinside user's name, and he's selling a Star Wars Premium, excellent shape, no cosmetic flaws, plays great, shooter lane protector, shaker motor this is this is a nice game seven grand seven grand listener in 2022 these new in the box will be nine thousand dollars msrp let that sink in they're wanting seven thousand dollars for arguably one of the greatest stern pinball machines ever made gotta go premium don't go pro on that one he says firm that's kind of a turn off i'd say hey 6800 bucks cash i'll come pick it up today. Get it done, people. That's a good one. Bye-bye-bye! Yep. Bye-bye-bye. I agree. And kumbaya today. I think we're all going to agree on this next one, because this week's deals of the WTF is a doozy. Ah!
    63:34
    WTF to this game on Pinside. Oh. I like the game okay. It's a Kiss Pro by Stern Pinball. And it was recently taken out of the box. So recently, September 10th. Pinsider by the name of Mallory. I'm so sorry, Mallory. So sorry that your pinball machine is somehow exponentially priced higher than your neighbors in Irvine because right outside of San Francisco's San Jose area the map shows it being right in the lake there and I know they don't live under what maybe they do maybe that's why this pin is so expensive on pin side because you've got to go to fucking Atlantis just to get it that would make sense written out a submarine because for a kiss pro I don't care that you just removed it from the box. I don't care if it's bone stock with nine plays on it. Why did you even open it up if you're only going to put nine plays on it? You would have actually received more money if you just kept it in the box. Whatever. It's a brand new one. There's video of it. And these people are probably great. They probably donate to charity. They probably walk old people across the road. But you're not fooling me for a Kiss Pro at $12,500. Don't buy this. Don't buy this. They have a nice setup. I see a pin cover for the glass. This kiss is looking good. Wait a minute.
    64:50
    Out of the box, you put those ugly colored leg protectors? Okay. I'm done. Nothing more to see here. Nothing more to see. A $12,500 Kiss Pro that's overpriced by five grand. Okay. All right. Tune in next week to see who gets voted off the island and whether or not the submarine made it to Atlantis to buy that overpriced Kiss machine. Set your TiVo now, bitches. They still make TiVo.
    65:20
    Man. Hopefully you sold stock on that one. And this week's Pimbo Market Trends. All right, let's close down the show, Jeff Fundrew. Oh, Zach, this has been great. We need to do this a little more often, I think. Let's do it. because this is, you know, no offense to the people I've been recording with, but, you know, they don't do this for a living like you do. I mean, numbers don't lie. And the fact that you're going to edit it, you're going to make me sound better than I really am, which is great.
    65:57
    So I'm just really excited to, like I said, you know, have this conversation, you know, be in the media, be a part of it, and just thank you so much for all of that. Oh, you're the best, man. You're a great buddy because of pinball. So that's why I'm always so thankful for this community and for this industry because it brings me people like you into my life that selfishly I can have close. So thanks for that. And thanks for all the support that you have over at Portman's with flipping out pinball. That means the world to me as well. We really appreciate the partnership because, you know, you've helped us get, you know, our tribe members some games. You did something really nice for Glenn recently, Glenn Wechter. You'll have to ask Lynn, side note, ask him if he received a little note on that pinball machine. He did. He sent me the picture. That's awesome. I forgot about that. He never sent anything to me. Oh, really? No, he sent me a text message like the second he got it. He got it like the next day. It was crazy. Yeah, yeah. No, thank you so much for that. He is over the moon because, you know, the prices are getting crazy, and the way you helped him out was just truly amazing. So thank you. Got Glenn a game. I was happy to help out. You can reach me at thepinballnetwork at gmail.com or over at straight down the middle at sdtmpinball at gmail.com. Straight down the middle, we've got a couple videos, I believe, coming out, either there or Flippin' Out Pinballs YouTube. Go follow, like, and subscribe. I have a series of Godzilla videos coming out, maybe an unboxing, maybe a Stern Insider how-to, maybe a sizzle reel, maybe a gameplay video. Product showcase this week for our sponsor, Flippin' Out Pinball, We're going to keep it Willy Wonka. Keep it silly. Keep it Willy. We're throwing that in the product showcase this week because I think we may have an extra or two coming next week when these first runs come out. So get on the website, purchase yours now, and now it's online. Also getting a queue for the Penn Series game, Star Wars Jurassic Park. We do have some Star Wars the Penn comic, the pretty artwork, in stock. Ready to go under that Christmas tree. taking pre-orders for Godzilla, taking pre-orders for the accessories. I did just get some Mando armor in, that awesome Mandalorian gun armor. Woo-woo! Order yours now. The best way to do that is to email me at Zach, Z-A-C-H, at flip, the letter N, out to pinball.com. We still have a couple spots left for that upcoming Beatles Gold Run. Once those are gone, they're gone, gone, gone. Big Buck Hunter, all the Roll Thrills games. If you guys want a game that hasn't been announced yet that you're smelling. Maybe it comes out. You're getting the feels. Maybe you want to throw your name down for something really cool. Email me, text me. You can text me at 812-457-9711. We'll get you on that list. I've got a lot of accessories right now. Stranger Things art blades and shooter rods. Guardians of the Galaxy shooter rods. I believe I've got the art blades for it. A lot of Deadpool stuff right now. I don't have the topper yet. Toppers are on a bit of delay around the board. We may be out of Jurassic Park toppers now But I still have the amber lit shooter rods Art blades, turtles art blades Oh I did just get some Some more turtles armor in That was gone for a while but it's back Turtles armor, the manhole cover looking armor Get that now, iron maiden shooter rods Art blades, banners baby We got them banners I think, did I get some monsters banners? I think I might And we're still waiting on Mando accessories Like the shooter rod and the art blades, but we do have that armor. That's the best one out of all of them anyway. Escalera, I don't know if you've heard it by now, but you can save on shipping and not have to pay that $200 to $300 shipping fee for an Escalera and the wait time if you pre-order one by emailing me today. I can bring it to Expo. I don't want to ship these. They're paying to ask to ship. So I've got some extras that I'm going to pre-sell, bring to Expo, so you can pick up at Expo. that's an expo special if i've ever heard one no waiting less money it's escalera stair climbing hand trucks with big wheels oh tpn last week we had a triple drain pinball podcast it was very enjoyable go check that out and as i've mentioned earlier the pinball super series of district 82 was streamed on fox city's pinball stream go watch the video on demand of that congratulations to all the winners congrats to all of the participants six tournaments one weekend Tom and the rest of the group over at District 82 are going to need to go into hibernation. But not for too long because we have Expo coming up, ladies and gentlemen. We even had a TPN Top Ten this week, top ten streaming clips with a very happy ending, not suitable for work or for children or for pets, for that matter. Check it out on the TPN Facebook page. This week at TPN, we're going to get a Silver Ball Chronicles, I believe, and maybe a couple more surprises. Wanted to have you guys show some love for Serif that joined the TPN affiliates this week with their channel, twitch.tv slash Serif, S-E-I-R-I-F, Serif. Fantastic stream. Welcome aboard. Welcome to the team. Also this week on TPN, we have another battle. You guys love these battles. I do too. This time, it falls on the 21st of October at 9 p.m. Mountain Time. George, nobody goes by Mountain Time. 8 p.m. Central on Don't Panic Flip. George. versus Chuck Wirt, straight down the middle. Oh, that's going to be a good one. And they're battling the official pinball machine of the Slam Tilt Podcast. They're on stars, baby. Going to be a lot of ringing and a lot of dinging. So lend your eyes and support over there this week for that iron battle. That'll be a lot of fun. And special shout-out this week before closing the show, well wishes to Hup Challenges Becca, recovering from surgery. The value and content she brings to this industry, let alone the pinball network is hard to put into words so when we heard that she was recovering from surgery i just wanted to send her and jordan the best wishes we love you guys and we hope you feel well soon hashtag yens guys thanks yens love y'all all right bro there it's time to wrap it up for drew boy there i'm zach minnie and to all the tribe members out there the poor man's pinball podcast when you find yourself and you've lost your keys or maybe even your cell phone, remember the first place you should always look is your butthole. No!
    72:27
    That's going to sting. I'm glad cell phones are getting smaller. Maybe I'm not. And always practice safe, pinball, and don't get caught by the short and curlies. Manscape up! Have a great week, everyone. I wonder what's inside your butthole. I wonder what's inside your coat If you need to take a break or anything, just let me know.
    72:57
    Yeah, I might have to let the dogs out at some point, but we're good right now. Is that a fucking euphemism for letting cock hang out? Yep. Well, that's already out. Let the dog out. Let it out. All right, let's have some fucking fun, dude. Let's do it, man. I love it. Let's go.
    73:13
    Okay, go ahead. What's his name? obi obi like obi-wan obi why are you whining why are you barking i know the lab is uh which one do you like better oh obi obi's my boy he's he's he's a crier but he's my boy sorry chewy yeah push comes to shove your ass is going in the stove pretty much time's just getting hard
    73:48
    The views expressed on this podcast don't necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Obviously, they don't really care as much as we do about buttholes and what's inside them. So thanks for listening, guys. Have a great day. Bye-bye.