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Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 98 - More Than Meets The Eye!

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·26m 6s·analyzed·May 21, 2026
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Stern Transformers media event coverage with game details and shipping timeline.

Summary

Hosts from Poor Man's A Pinball Podcast (Foghorn Leghorn and Craft Brew Buddy) attended Stern's media event for the Transformers pinball machine. They discuss the game's impressive code depth (four distinct modes), licensing collaboration with Hasbro, original voice actors Peter Cullen and Frank Welker, and the lead programmer Elizabeth Gieske. Shipping timeline: Pro in late May/early June, Premium/LE in June. LE limited to 750 units.

Key Claims

  • Transformers pinball has four different game modes in development/finalization

    high confidence · Hosts directly witnessed at Stern media event; described as 'coding four machines in one rollout'

  • Elizabeth Gieske is the head coder for Transformers and this is her first lead position

    high confidence · Stated by hosts after speaking with her at media event; she worked on Dungeons and Dragons and Jaws previously

  • Transformers game draws from 1984 animated TV show with a dedicated 1986 movie mode featuring 'The Touch' by Stan Bush

    high confidence · Hosts attended demo and heard audio; Hasbro approved inclusion of movie content

  • Pro model will ship late May/early June; Premium and LE in June

    high confidence · Stern officially stated shipping timeline at media event

  • Transformers LE is limited to 750 units

    high confidence · Stern stated at media event; matches pattern of Pokemon LE production numbers

  • Pokemon licensing delays are not Stern's fault; Pokemon legal team approval is extensive

    high confidence · Stern developer explained at media event; Pokemon code shown in dev mode on developer's phone

  • Soundwave opens up on Premium/LE to dispense multiball; redirected on Pro model

    high confidence · Hosts observed playfield differences between models at media event

  • Peter Cullen and Frank Welker recorded voice callouts for Transformers

    high confidence · Hosts witnessed voice work demonstration at Stern media event

  • A Taylor Swift or Hello Kitty pinball machine would be the highest-selling pinball ever made

    low confidence · Host speculation during discussion about expanding pinball's market appeal to non-core audiences

Notable Quotes

  • “It's literally like coding four machines in one rollout”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ early segment — Illustrates the scope of Transformers' code complexity and development effort

  • “Hasbro was kind of like, do it. Yeah, do whatever you want. Here's your crap. Go, go, man, go.”

    Craft Brew Buddy @ mid segment — Highlights Hasbro's permissive approach to licensing vs. Pokemon's strict controls

  • “When your legal team is bigger than the entire company making your pinball machine.”

    Foghorn Leghorn @ mid segment — Explanation for Pokemon licensing delays; underscores scale of IP holder bureaucracy

  • “If they made a Taylor Swift pinball machine, that would be the highest selling pinball machine in the history of pinball.”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ late segment — Speculation about market expansion beyond core enthusiasts; identifies adjacent fandom as potential untapped market

  • “It feels more like a family when you're there. Because everybody there knows who you are.”

    Craft Brew Buddy @ late segment — Reflects relationship between media personalities and Stern staff; fourth invited media event

  • “Pinball is where I go to make the rest of the world go away, kind of, in some ways.”

    Foghorn Leghorn @ mid-late segment — Personal reflection on why filming during gameplay was distracting; humanizes competitor experience

  • “They cannot do everything everyone wants. There's no way they could make a transformer that actually transforms.”

    Craft Brew Buddy @ late segment — Acknowledges design limitations and mod maker role in extending playfield possibilities

  • “You got Pokemon, you got Hello Kitty, you got Godzilla. And then I guess just a ramen noodles. That's what I would put up there.”

    Foghorn Leghorn @ late segment — Playful discussion of potential future Stern themes targeting Japanese IP market; Mount Fuji reference

Entities

Stern PinballcompanyElizabeth GieskepersonTransformers pinballgameFoghorn LeghornpersonCraft Brew BuddypersonSethpersonGeorge GomezpersonGary Sternperson

Signals

  • ?

    machine_intel: Transformers pinball official specifications: four distinct game modes, 1984 TV show and 1986 movie themes, original voice actors included, Soundwave multiball dispenser, multiple mech toys, expression lighting cabinet variants

    high · Hosts attended Stern media event and directly observed game, heard developer explanations, witnessed voice work

  • ?

    product_launch: Transformers Pro ships late May/early June; Premium and LE ship in June; LE limited to 750 units

    high · Stern officially stated timeline at media event; hosts confirmed date

  • ?

    product_strategy: LE production strategy is not secondary-market FOMO-driven; games kept in production long-term for locations (referenced as 'forever' or extended runs); over 750 units may diminish scarcity appeal

    medium · Hosts noted Transformers LE won't be artificially scarce like classic limited runs; Godzilla and Pokemon referenced as permanent production lines

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Pokemon licensing requires approval from massive legal team at IP holder; approval bottleneck not attributable to Stern; Hasbro (Transformers) took permissive approach allowing creative freedom

    high · Developer explained Pokemon delays at media event; Hasbro's permissive stance directly observed in game design decisions

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Transformers represents shift toward post-launch code development model where games ship with base code, then expand with major modes added afterward; parallels video game industry's bloated development cycles

    high · Hosts noted four modes being 'finalized before rollout or after rollout'; base code shipping 'very close to complete' with expansion planned

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.078

0:00
Now who's responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person? I say, I say, I say, pay attention now boy, this is of course Foghorn Leghorn presents the Pinball Junk Drawer. You all asked for it, I say, you all asked for it now, you're gonna get it. Boy, oh boy, are you gonna get it. Go, I say, go away boy, you bother me. The podcast that's here to tell you all about more than meets the eye. I'm talking about, of course, the Pinball Junk Joe.
0:35
Junk Joe. Yes. The Pinball Junk Joe. Big Show 98. My name is Foghorn Leghorn. With me, as always, Craft Brew Buddy. What's up, buddy?
0:46
Yep. Jack Danger approved. New name for Crafter Sally's Buddy. So, it's the Foghorn and Buddy Show. That's funny. Yeah, it was.
1:00
Hey, Buddy. That's what Jack Danger said to Crafty Sally as we were walking in. So, we're going to run with it, and we're making up new shirts as you speak. Foghorn and Buddy. The super happy fun time, Crafty, or Foghorn and Buddy Hour.
1:20
Nice. Yeah. So, of course, this is going to be all about Transformers because we were invited to the Media Stern event, which is always honored. We're always honored that we're invited and we always have a wonderful time.
1:34

Transformers topper accessory will be available in a couple months

medium confidence · Hosts report Stern stated this timeline; noted accessory delays are common for Stern

Zach Sharpe
person
Jack Dangerperson
Kyle Sperryperson
Peter Cullenperson
Frank Welkerperson
Hasbrocompany
Pokemongame
Poor Man's Pinball Podcastorganization
Godzillagame
Star Warsgame
Pinsideorganization
  • ?

    personnel_signal: Elizabeth Gieske elevated to lead programmer role on Transformers; first lead position; prior experience on Dungeons & Dragons and Jaws; community noted appreciation for female representation in pinball code design

    high · Hosts spoke with Gieske at media event; explicitly noted positive reception to her visibility in field

  • ?

    community_signal: Stern maintains curated media event invitations to manage information flow and suppress 'nonsense noise'; hosts on fourth invitation, indicating stable relationship; staff recognizes podcast by name

    high · Hosts explicitly praised Stern's media strategy; noted staff familiarity and repeat invitations; described 'family' atmosphere at events

  • $

    market_signal: Discussion of potential Taylor Swift or Hello Kitty pinball machines as market expansion plays; would attract non-core audiences but face maintenance/technical barriers; hosts suggest Stern prioritizes IP breadth to reach casual/secondary markets

    low · Speculation by hosts on drive to media event; acknowledged this represents departure from core enthusiast appeal but monetarily lucrative for manufacturer

  • ?

    product_concern: Stern accessories (toppers, etc.) have delayed availability compared to base game release; topper for Transformers estimated 'couple months' after launch; known industry pain point

    medium · Hosts noted pattern of slow accessory rollout; Stern acknowledged topper timeline at media event

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Transformers Pro stripped of Soundwave multiball mechanism (redirects balls instead); Premium/LE feature Soundwave opening; suggests Pro targets operators/locations with reliability focus; higher tiers add show elements

    high · Hosts observed and described mechanical differences between models at media event; discussed rationale (operator durability vs. show value)

  • ?

    industry_signal: Stern and other major manufacturers (JJP, Spooky, Stern) actively monitor community forums (Pinside) and social media for feedback; not dismissive of player sentiment but constrained by IP holder requirements

    high · Hosts noted manufacturers 'hear all this' and 'know what they're trying to do'; referenced Pokemon delays as IP-holder issue not manufacturer apathy

  • ?

    venue_signal: Transformers expected to perform well as location machine; hosts predict strong operator adoption; game designed with operator durability concerns (Pro model choices) balanced against location appeal

    medium · Hosts stated 'if you have a location, this is going to be a winner for sure'; discussed Pro/Premium differentiation strategy as location vs. collector split

    • I kind of look at how they approach this, how Stern approaches this, and I really think they are smart for how they do it to try to help keep some of the nonsense noise down. The reality of how this all works in the back end is not even close to how it's perceived how it works. Like how licenses are got and how approval is done and how long this takes and how many people it takes. And during the one, Seth had mentioned that it's kind of not like one person anymore and he referenced the video game industry. And that is one thing that I have been noticing over the years, past years, is this is becoming like, video games used to be kind of simple and simplistic and like one or two people would work on them and they'd get them out and they'd be whatever, some phone game. And they got more bloated and more bloated and more bloated until it was now one game has an entire company working on it. And then as soon as that game goes out, okay, then they're on to the next one. But you're talking about so many resources, you know, which is expected but kind of not really baked into the bottom line. You know, video games still have to hit a certain number, although that is higher and higher every year.
    2:59
    It's still the fact that now it takes more and more people to do it, you know, and that's the same with pinball. You can see it in the polish and the coding and the different modes. This new Transformer game has, what, four different modes that they're finalizing before rollout. Or not before rollout.
    3:21
    After rollout, they have some that they kind of talked about. And the head coder, what's her name? Elizabeth. So we have it somewhere. We do. Elizabeth Gieske? Sure. Geisk? Sure. Sorry. We talked to her at length, actually. And, you know, it's literally like coding four machines in one rollout, you know. Yeah. Four games. Four games, yeah. So it was first impressions. What did you think about the game? It's so fun. Yeah. There's so much going on. I think we played like four or five games and then I found some new paths that I hadn't seen at all before. Right, yeah. And there's that one little hook shot to the left where it's a ramp, but it's kind of a tough shot. It's purposely made tough, you know. Yeah.
    4:25
    When they talked about the presentation, I was really, I don't know much about Transformers. I know of them. Of course, everyone knows about Transformers, but I didn't really watch it.
    4:36
    But they, like Hasbro, the company that owns Transformers, like really leaned in and just let them go. Right. Now, this is all based on the TV show, the animated TV show from the 80s. 1984 TV show. And then there is going to be one mode that is based on the 1986 movie. Yeah, which they played that there's some song that must be an internet meme. Yes. It's called The Touch. By Stan Bush. As soon as you hear it, everyone started applauding and everyone started like laughing and it was like it was cool because they were kind of like they were like, yeah, Hasbro was like, do it. Yeah. You know, they get it. They're in on they're in on it. They get it. It's cool and funny. You can laugh at stuff and still protect your brand. One of the other things is that they got the original voice actor, Peter Cullen. And then also what? Welker, right? Frank Welker. And they showed those guys doing it because they came down and did the call outs, which is awesome.
    5:41
    And as soon as that guy started talking, I was like, oh, I remember this because my brother was big into Transformers. Yeah, and it does like those cut scenes, like those flash. I remember them from G.I. Joe, but it must have been Transformers, where like a bright noise goes and then like a flash, and then that's like the start of a mode kind of thing. It was really well done. It was. It was great seeing it, you know, and I know one of the things I've already, we're already starting it, folks. Like, there's a ton of mechs in this thing. Yeah. And everyone's like, how come Optimus Prime transformed? Well, because an 18-wheeler doesn't really fit under a tiny little world underclass. Sorry, folks. That would equal that the only thing on it and it would go and then it would go back and I be like well I got Optimist I guess or whatever you want to say And we were talking about I understand Superfans he like the big guy right But okay, they packed all these mechs in here, more and more and more, everyone just keeps asking for more, and you're like, because they've got to make money. You know, you can't lose a grand on everything you sell. It's kind of the opposite.
    6:58
    But, and plus a mod maker is going to do something. There'll be some guy that makes something that like smashes through the glass and punches you in the face and goes, oh, that was such a great mod. And, you know, and then they just get to keep buying sheets of glass or whatever the hell. It's totally avoiding all warranties and ruining all the code for whomever idiot buys it down the road looking in the mirror. So, you know, you just go, well, whatever. So that's fine.
    7:25
    They gave a lot. There is a lot in this game. There is, yeah. Pro is stripped as... Well, I mean, it's not completely stripped. The mods are different. Oh, the mechs, yeah. Yeah, the mechs are different. Well, they have to be. Yeah. You're going to have some guy that doesn't fix his machine and keep it up, puts it out, and okay, a couple months it stops working anyway because it's getting the crap beat out of it and some kid dumped a soda down it, you know. It's the tape player in the premium and the LE. It opens up and that's where the balls come out for the multiball. Right. What's his name? I don't know. Soundwave. Soundwave. Yeah, Soundwave. In the pro, he doesn't open up. They are redirected. Yeah, yeah. And then the cannon. The cannon on, is that Optimus Prime? No, no. I forget the guy's name. Doesn't matter. Again, we're showing we don't really know.
    8:22
    But it's funny because even though I say I don't know Transformers, I recognize the sounds, I recognize the audio, the voice.
    8:30
    It's cool. They also addressed that this is going to be very close to complete code when it rolls out, the base code. And I think they've been hearing and hearing and hearing about what are you doing with Pokemon? Pokemon, Pokemon, Pokemon. And that is not of their fruition. No. That we, I know, we saw them showing us stuff on their phones. Right. It's done. This is not Stern's fault. Right. And I think they had it in dev mode when we were at that media event. The Pokemon one. Yes. And one of the developers had it on his phone. Yeah, he was like. So he showed us all. Of course, he's a tester. Right. Or he's doing it. He needs to, yeah. And so, you know, I think they hear it.
    9:23
    All these pinball companies, every one of them, I'm almost sure every one of them, is very in tune with the pinball world. They all know Pinside. They all know all these different groups and forums and all this kind of stuff. So they hear what people say. It's not that they don't. I don't think any pinball company doesn't care.
    9:43
    One or two of them. But the main ones, you know, the JJPs, the Spookies, the Stern, you know, I'm sure Turner, they hear all this and they know what they're trying to do. So just sometimes if you have a massively important IEP, they hold the keys. And it's not like, I think something he mentioned was it's not just one person that is looking at what they're trying to do. So it's an entire team at Pokemon that has to approve every single thing. Yep. And also they're very particular. And he did mention the same breath. That's why they're like who they are. Yeah. You know, when your legal team is bigger than the entire company making your pinball machine. Right. Well, you know, and they weren't disparaging. No. This is the way life goes. Yeah. It's just that Hasbro was kind of like, do it. Yeah, do whatever you want. Here's your crap. Go, go, man, go. Right. And they did. And it shows how this game plays and how loaded it is. We had a lot of fun. We always have a lot of fun when we go there. We do. I took my tilty bobblehead and an ink pen and had people signing it. I missed the king. I didn't get Gary Stern's signature on it. He left early and I knew I should have jumped in when I saw him and I didn't. But I got Seth, I got George Gomez's majestic signature. Oh my goodness. I want to take that and put it on a shirt. I don't know. He might yell at me, but if I send him one, he might not. You got Kyle. Kyle and Jack Danger and Joe and Zach Sharp. Yep. And the programmer. Elizabeth. Elizabeth, the only one to sign in gold. Yeah. Very nice. We took a gold pen and a white pen. So it was cool. Seth might be like, no, I'm not doing that, but he was cool. He was like, sure, I will. That was awesome. He doesn't get his approach as much as Gary does. Probably not. Gary's Gary. Right. So I got my signed tilty bobblehead, and then we played all day. I thought I was going to break 2,200 games played, but I was six short, which is okay. Yeah, you were so close. I was close, and we had some really good games. Crafter Sally was really on. She was shooting well. It's tough playing the featured game at the media event. There's a lot going on, including people filming and people doing stuff. Taking pictures of it. Action.
    12:18
    It's a solitary thing for me. Pinball is where I go to make the rest of the world go away, kind of, in some ways. So everyone filming me as I'm playing, I'm kind of like, okay, everyone. So I get it. It's not them, it's me. Right. But it's still exciting. It's so awesome having this time with them. Yeah. You know. And it's awesome going there.
    12:44
    It feels more like a, I don't know, this is going to sound weird, but like a family when you're there. Because everybody there knows who you are. All of the people that work at Stern. They know us Yes Now This is our fourth one Yeah And we not this is purposeful We not like weird or in your face or we don do anything goofy I think we aren't as out there as everybody else that's there because we're not on camera. We choose to just audio. So a lot of the more flamboyant, they're doing their shtick and that's good. That's not a negative. I'm not saying that's a negative thing. We are just more in the background. But they all know us.
    13:38
    So it's very fun and I always look forward to seeing them again, as dumb as that sounds. But we had a great time. It was another quick turn though, which we went down the night before, like left work, Got home, you know, packed the car, drove down there, went to sleep, got up and ate at the same place. No, I made you take me to Stern the night before so I could get a picture of it all lit up because it looked so cool. Yes, you did. It was funny. So we did the night before, we did those night shots, which is beautiful. I'm glad you did. Yeah. And we stayed at the same place. And now we're, I'm starting to go to this, what's a garden? Rose garden. I'm starting to make like our ritual be wake up, go to the Rose Garden, eat breakfast, then go to Stern because it's right around the corner. The pinball news guy suggested that we go there last time. So we're like, oh, let's go again. Yeah, it's cool. They're nice. They have really French, really good French toast. Yeah. And we didn't, we skipped the tour this time. Yeah. And that gave us a little bit more time in there. Although I wish I would have taken the tour, but I also value the time listening to the creators talk. I thought that they, I thought we would have missed more if we had gone on the tour, but I don't think that was the case this time. Yeah, it's been, it changes and morphs every time. And there's a lot of the key stuff is always there for these media days and these events. But the one with Elwynn, it was a very formal, the team was standing between the two machines of Kong. And they were really going through step by step. And then some are just a little bit more loosey-goosey, which is fine. Everyone has their own styles, and that's what makes it cool. Yeah, I thought it was really cool that there was a woman pinball programmer. Oh, yeah. Well, she's actually, I forget which one her first one was, but... Did she say Dungeons and Dragons? It might have been. She came out. She was on Dungeons and Dragons and Jaws. Yeah. But I don't think she was the lead on those, and this was her first lead. Oh, nice. Well, she knows her stuff. She's really good. Yeah, she does. Well, and I think she did the Jaws, and I think that's where she kind of, everyone's like, wow, this code's awesome. Yeah. Because everyone loves the Jaws code. It's going to have some neat things. It has a hidden cyber coin system, which is kind of like the... Shark's Teeth where you gain these coins and then you can buy like a training module. It says Prime Training. Prime Training that shows you some of these hidden tricks and stuff. It's going to have a head-to-head. Yes. Where you... Optimus versus Megatron. There you go. And it's going to be really cool. It's going to be like a two-player, but one player gets the right flipper and one player gets the left flipper. Right. And then the upper flipper is going to be whoever hits it first. Yeah, and that's going to be the action button. Nice. Yeah, it's fun. It's very they're doing a lot of new stuff and a lot of cool stuff.
    16:46
    Overall, my overall impressions, not even loving Transformers. Right. Is it's a great game. I can see locations going to do good. And I can see most people are going to want, if you have like a big collection or if you have like a couple new Sterns and you're looking for another one, this is definitely a good choice. I think the last couple have been really awesome games. I like Pokemon a lot. I know maybe people like buying and selling them. The LE to me, when I play the LE, I'm like, oh my God, this is such a great game. It's just such a fun game. I'm sorry it is. So talking about the LEs, they said that it's going to be limited to 750. That seems to be their number, isn't it? Yeah. That was Pokemon. I think Star Wars. Maybe Star Wars was more. I can't remember. I can't remember either. But yeah. There was one that was like a specific number for. Yeah. I think Star Wars was like 1977 or something like that or 977. I think it was. Which is fine. To me, anything over like $1,000, I was like, is it even limited then really? I mean, that's a lot out there.
    17:56
    But this is one they're going to make forever. Not forever, but for a long time. This will be on and off the line for a long time. So I don't think it's, they're not shooting for secondary market limited, like, oh, we got to get it now. It's a fun game though. I love that. I didn't think I'd like that split, like half purple, half red. Oh, yeah. It was so cool looking. It had the foil cabinet and it had the mirrored background. And then it has the speakers or was it on the side of the cabinet? Both. That expression lighting. One is purple and one is red. This is neat. They had a lot of touches going on in there.
    18:40
    So, I mean, overall, I'll play them every time I see one. Right. I don't know if we'd ever own one. No, I don't know. I would buy one. Yeah, I don't know. If money was no object, I'd buy every pinball machine. But yeah, this is one I'll definitely play a lot on location. Like this one, Pokemon, Star Wars is always hanging around as one I might buy. Yeah, the new one. Yeah, I like it a lot. I do too. God, I like it. Every time I play it, I'm like, I like this game. Right. I know.
    19:11
    So very cool. Anything? No, there's not going to be a beer section this time. We're kind of focusing just on Transformers and Crafter Sally has the flight to take. Yeah. So, you know, that's the way that goes. Right. And we don have numbers but we will catch up next time with numbers for sure What else do we have on this Anything other than They did say that the pros will start to ship in late May early June And then the LEs and the premiums will start in June Nice. Yeah.
    19:44
    When Stern shows you something, it's available. You can get it, you know. They'll start cranking them out. Yeah. They were working on Pokemon, I think, in the factory. Yeah. I envision Pokemon, Godzilla. Those are going to be ones that are kind of hanging around forever. I had said, you know, if they get Hello Kitty and like ramen, they own Japan. They have all the Japan. That's the Mount Rushmore of Japan or Mount Fuji, I guess, of Japan. Yeah. Would be that, you know, you got Pokemon, you got Hello Kitty, you got Godzilla. And then I guess just a ramen noodles. That's what I would put up there. Or they could just mod them that ramen noodles come out the front when you reach a certain score. You know. Yeah. Right. So, hey, write us with your favorite Mount Fuji Rushmore Japan thing. Yeah. It was at pinballjd at gmail.com. One last thing that was pretty cool because we were ordering, we ordered some stuff and then the one lady was talking to us for quite some time and she was talking about like women in pinball. And we had had this long discussion driving down because if you're trapped in a car with me for three hours, we're going to talk. Yeah. And I was like, what are some things that are out there? And we both had mentioned Taylor Swift. Yeah. Now, I think a lot of pinball people would be like, what? Are you kidding me? Yeah. If they made a Taylor Swift pinball machine, that would be the highest selling pinball machine in the history of pinball. Right. It just would. And everyone in pinball is like, that's crazy. No way. Wrong. Right. The Swifties are a, they're kind of a league of their own as far as fandom and as far as stuff like that. I also don't think you would want that many complete novices to buy your product. That would lead to some real problems. It might not, though. I mean, if they do it right, like, they could probably get it so that, you know, like, there's training. Yeah, that's true. Like, oh, I just meant for, like, upkeep. Pinball machines have to be opened up and fixed. Oh, yeah. And, well, local technicians would love it, I guess. Yeah. But, so, and then, like, I said, I had said Hello Kitty would be, like, Hello Kitty should be the next one that they make. Again, I know these are not smash hits with the pinball crowd, but they'd be smash hits for wallets of Stern, that's for sure. They'd be like, wow, we have to move money to go to the bathroom. We had Taylor Swift and Hello Kitty, and our main pinball groups hate us, but we are now the Bill Jillionaires, because that's all we do is pump out 7,000 of those a day. But it did make me a little sad that the merchandise lady knows us really well. Why not? We're her best customer. Right.
    22:31
    Every time we're there. She's like, I know you from somewhere. I was like, we were here for the lesson. Oh, yeah, you bought a bunch of stuff. Yep, we sure did. Oh, which reminds me, you're still holding on to them stickers we swindled out of her. Oh, yeah. I need one or two of them, you know. Yeah, I do. So, all joking aside, it was wonderful. Yeah. It's always a wonderful time. We had to split a little earlier this time, which I did not enjoy because we could have stayed for dinner. Yeah, because we just, it took us like four and a half hours to get home. Yeah, the drive home was one of the worst ones, which usually it's not too bad. There's going to be a slowdown in Chicago, red for about six miles. Yeah, but this was like five times. Yeah, it happened a lot. For about 20 minutes each time. Yeah, it killed us. But whatever. Yeah. Fun times. Check out all the stuff online. Stern immediately had released all the information. There's all the sizzle reels out there. There's all the information about it. Check them out. Hit up your local distributor or your favorite distributor and at least give it a look-see because if you have a location, this is going to be a winner for sure. And if you dig Transformers well, then get one now. Yeah. And then don't forget to reach out to the mod makers about when's that Optimus Prime going to take up 90% of your play field of the class. And maybe they can make it that Optimus Prime eats the ball. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Sharky ball, now Optimus eat ball. What was that you took a picture of while we were there? Somebody had cut out of one of those banners, the shark from the Jaws. The Jaws shark. And then they cut out a Pokemon ball and put it on the shark's mouth. Shark eat Pokeball. And I took a picture of it because that was the greatest picture I've ever taken. Right. That's just them knowing their market. Right. So, yeah. But, again, some of this stuff, don't complain too much. It is a wonderful game. Yeah. And, you know, they cannot do everything everyone wants. Right. There's no way they could make a transformer that actually transforms. I don't think so. That's for toppers and mod makers to do. And then just do that. Like, you know. Which I don't. Somebody asked about the topper. And I think they said a couple months. Yeah. Right? They know.
    24:51
    One knock on Stern is their accessories are not available so quick. You know, it takes a little while. I mean, they're doing the important part. Yeah, they'll get it. You know, and maybe they'll even do a secondary factory, like a second factory that focuses on just doing that stuff or another part. And then they just become another division. Who knows? Yeah. You know, there's very intelligent people running this place that know a lot more than me and you. So, you know, I'm sure they understand. They hear it. Plus, they like money. So, you know, that's cool. And we like them to like money so they continue making pinballs so it's one big symbiotic relationship. Everyone, kumbaya, everyone. I kid, I don't like these. All right, you got anything else? I don't think so. I don't think so either. Thank you very much, Stern, for inviting us. If you dig Transformers, go check one out. At least play a couple and see which one might be right for you. And that's the end of it. We'll see you next time with our regular content. And just wanted to get one in the bag, so to speak. Yes.
    25:56
    That's it, man. Game over, man. Game over.