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Episode 13 – Sweet Georgia Brown

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·held·Oct 6, 2016
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

American Pinball restructuring news, York show recap, Heighway Pinball rumors debunked.

Summary

Ron Hallett and Bruce Nightingale discuss American Pinball restructuring efforts under new leadership, recap the York White Rose Pinball Show with tournament results and vendor activity, address rumors about Heighway Pinball employee losses, and share personal acquisition stories from the show including a Harlem Globetrotters machine. They cover show etiquette complaints and tournament logistics.

Key Claims

  • American Pinball plans to complete the Magic Girl series (including Houdini, Wizard of Oz, and Zombies) before addressing other titles, with new leadership focused on becoming a boutique pinball company.

    high confidence · Ron referencing an interview with American Pinball's CFO from Pinball Magazine podcast

  • Heighway Pinball experienced major employee losses according to a post on Rec Games Pinball forum; Andrew Highway personally responded denying these claims.

    medium confidence · Ron discussing Rec Games Pinball forum post where Highway addressed rumors of employee loss

  • The Pittsburgh Pinball Open had a 13-year-old runner-up and featured Tim Sexton losing to Steven Bowden in the quarterfinals on Avatar.

    high confidence · Bruce discussing Pittsburgh tournament results

  • The York White Rose Pinball Game Room Show had 185 machines on Friday and 145 on Saturday, with a nearby three-alarm fire Friday night.

    high confidence · Ron's show report from York venue

  • A Harlem Globetrotters machine was purchased at the York show for $1,000 and resold to Ron by Bruce's friend.

    high confidence · Ron describing the Harlem Globetrotters acquisition story from York flea market

Notable Quotes

  • “They are, you know, they really want to get, they want to clear the name of what sounds like John, you know, very much, and to make everything right for the whole pinball community.”

    Ron @ ~7:00-8:00 — Describes American Pinball's new direction under new leadership to rehabilitate the brand's reputation

  • “He doesn't have to give sales numbers. Stern doesn't give sales numbers. So why are you caring about... If you don't care about sales... If you're going to ask about sales numbers, ask for everyone or don't ask at all.”

    Ron @ ~12:00 — Defends Highway Pinball's response to employee loss rumors and privacy regarding sales figures

  • “The playfield is incredible so I know Ron's gonna be very happy it's one of the games he always comes over and plays in my house.”

    Bruce @ ~35:00 — Describes the Harlem Globetrotters machine's condition and Ron's interest in the game

  • “People who brought nice games, thank you very much. It's always appreciated when you bring a nice game.”

    Bruce @ ~60:00 — Shows appreciation for well-maintained machines at shows while criticizing poor condition equipment

  • “I'm positive that my shit will break and I'll have to fix it. That's the one thing I'm positive about pinball.”

    Bruce @ ~62:00 — Humorous but resigned comment about pinball machine reliability issues

Entities

Ron HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonAmerican PinballcompanyPinball MagazineorganizationHeighway PinballcompanySteven BowdenpersonTim Sextonperson

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: American Pinball under new ownership (Vincent LP) planning to complete Magic Girls series (Houdini, Wizard of Oz, Zombies) as boutique manufacturer before addressing other titles

    high · Ron citing 15-minute Pinball Magazine podcast interview with American Pinball CFO about restructuring strategy

  • ?

    industry_signal: Highway Pinball addressed rumors of major employee losses on Rec Games Pinball forum; owner personally responded denying claims

    medium · Ron describing forum post and Highway's response, noting Highway refused to share sales numbers citing Stern's privacy practices

  • ?

    venue_signal: York White Rose Pinball Game Room Show relocated to larger venue, hosted 185 machines Friday and 145 Saturday with dual tournaments

    high · Ron's detailed show report with vendor list (Mayfair, Coin Taker, Pinball Star, Mike Francesca, jukebox collectors, Starship Fantasy playfield vendor)

  • ?

    event_signal: Pittsburgh Pinball Open had competitive play with 13-year-old runner-up; Steven Bowden defeated Tim Sexton in quarterfinals on Avatar

    high · Bruce discussing tournament details including Bowden's unavailability for Papa/circuit due to school district finals

  • ?

    operational_signal: Multiple complaints about show participants failing to maintain machine quality (no credits, broken flippers, burned out bulbs, extra balls enabled, hogging games with lines behind them)

    high · Bruce extensively criticizing vendors and participants for poor machine maintenance and lack of player courtesy

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.232

0:00
Before you die, there is something you should know about us, Lone Star. What? I am your father's, brother's, nephew's, cousin's former roommate.
0:12
What's that make us? Absolutely nothing! Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slam Tilt Podcast, a show about all things pinball. I'm Ron Hallett here with my co-host and still on probation, Bruce Nightingale. Bruce, he's back. Back again. Yes, and welcome to episode 13, which we're up to Star Trek 5.
0:54
Yes, the final frontier, the worst Star Trek movie. definitely the worst with the original cast yes it sucked bad it did and actually here's a funny story i never saw it when it came out i only saw it like maybe last year it's like okay now i see what all the fuss is about it really is bad very bad i saw it at a drive-in a what what we still had them up in new jersey ah yes yes okay we still have them up here too actually We have one right around the corner from my house. Very nice. So how's it going, Bruce? Now, Bruce said last week we were going to have a guest.
1:36
But I had to change dates because of tomorrow is my wedding anniversary. So I don't think the wife and I are going to be able to do that. Priorities. Priorities, Bruce. It's called life or death. Fail. Yes. So I chose life, and I'm choosing to go out to dinner with my wife on our 13th. So it actually is fitting.
2:01
Oh, yeah. And it's the 13th year of my life. You have chosen wisely. I have. So, yes, we're going out to dinner. So it will probably be next week, and then I have a special guest. I just told Ron for the first time five minutes ago, but we're going to hold it back a little bit. We're going to definitely, definitely hold it back, yes. It's someone the pinball community would be familiar with, especially by some of his videos. Yes, he actually made videos before people made videos. Yes, that is true. He alone actually was commended by Jersey Jack for helping him sell more of a particular game, which I can't say because it may give away who it is. So enough clues. Yes, but he is very interested. We're going to pick a time together. but I've known him for a long time so it was very easy he was very excited so he is going to be our third guest probably and maybe we have to get Tim Balls back here because I know a lot of people requested him back yes and we'll be talking about him so as the Nazis said Raiders of the Lost Ark what shall we talk about yes so news what do you got we really haven't had many updates. I don't think.
Tim Sexton
person
York White Rose Pinball Game Room Showevent
Pittsburgh Pinball Openevent
Dennis Nordmanperson
Barry Ourslerperson
Frank Guidaperson
Howard Levineperson
Kevin Stoneperson
[name withheld pending review]organization
Stern Pinballcompany
Zach Sharpeperson
Jeff McAfeeperson
[name withheld pending review]person
  • ?

    collector_signal: Active secondary market for classic machines at shows; Harlem Globetrotters sold for $1,000, Pinball Pool for $650, Centaur sold to Kevin Stone

    high · Bruce's detailed acquisitions and sales activity at York show flea market and vendors

  • ?

    product_concern: Multiple machines at shows displayed poor maintenance: display flicker, soundboard issues, missing credits functionality, broken flippers, burned bulbs

    high · Bruce's observations of machines at York show, particularly noting vendors calling out broken machines throughout Saturday

  • ?

    community_signal: Slam Tilt Podcast gaining traction with show attendees enthusiastically approaching booth; merchandise inquiries noted

    medium · Ron reporting multiple people coming to booth expressing podcast enthusiasm and inquiring about shirts

  • ?

    content_signal: Special guest lined up for next episode—community video creator with early YouTube history, specifically credited by Jersey Jack for game sales assistance; details being held to avoid reveal

    high · Ron and Bruce teasing unidentified guest with clues about early video history and Jersey Jack endorsement

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Discussion of best practices for bringing machines to shows: ensure credits, working flippers, lit bulbs, disabled extra balls, responsible player etiquette to maximize play opportunities

    high · Extensive Bruce commentary on proper show machine setup and operator/collector responsibilities

  • $

    market_signal: Slam Tilt booth achieved 50% more sales than previous year at York show; booth operators (Ron/Bruce) actively acquiring and reselling machines during event

    high · Ron reporting strong sales performance and describing Harlem Globetrotters and Pinball Pool acquisitions

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Discussion of classic pinball designers for American Pinball hire: Dennis Nordman (unavailable—involved with Alien), Barry Osler (health issues), Ryan Eddy mentioned but noted as having left industry years ago

    medium · Ron and Bruce debating designer options for American Pinball, noting constraints on availability

    • 3:21
    Wasn't there an interview or something with the American Pinball people? Yes, from the Pinball Magazine.
    3:29
    He actually posted his first podcast ever, which I listened to this morning. He had a 15-minute interview with the owner or the main CFO of American Pinball. It sounded like the other guy was the marketing guy like what almost what jody does so cfo used the cheap flipping officer yes we keep it pinball related yes that was bad very bad so so what was the uh what was the crux of the interview uh just that they're trying to become a boutique pinball company first and then they'll see what happens down the road their plan is to truly make all of the magic girls plus with houdini and then they will then address the last two which is the wizard of oz and i forget the it Raza or whatever it was. It stands for something. Zombies. Yeah, it's zombies. So they are, you know, they really want to get, they want to clear the name of what sounds like John, you know, very much, and to make everything right for the whole pinball community. I wonder why, I mean, isn't Barry Osler out there? Isn't, like, Dennis Nordman out there? I'm surprised they picked. Barry Osler's family has had a lot of health issues in the past couple of years, so maybe he's not up to it. I agree with Dennis Norman. Dennis would be a great person to have, but it seems like he's helped out a little bit with aliens.
    5:01
    Alien. Don't be like the Expo and say the wrong name. But here's who I want to see somebody, if they could get him hired, Ryan Eddy. He's in video games now. How do you know he wants to do it? He got out of it back in the day. He got out of it. No, he didn't get back out of it that day. Yes, he did. The last two years at Williams, he didn't even do any games. He went to Midway.
    5:26
    He was with Midway. He left before they even shut down. Because he saw the writing on the wall because he wasn't going to be able to make another game.
    5:34
    But or we get Mark Ritchie back. That would be another kick-ass designer. I'm just wondering why they just picked the guy with the most baggage you could possibly pick. It was kind of weird.
    5:49
    Maybe he came to him and said, hey, I have all these ideas. You want to be a boutique? I was a boutique. I don't know. You got to help me, dearie. Help me. I'm poor, and I'm impoverished, and I need to clear my name.
    6:05
    So, yeah. Yeah. So, yeah, who knows with that. But it was a pretty good interview. You know, you didn't learn too much, but you learned a little bit. Sounds like they're going to be at Expo on Friday morning.
    6:19
    That's what they also stated in the podcast. So Friday morning. I think it's 9.15 in the morning. So I'm going to see. I'm going to be in Expo Brawl. So I'm going to miss that. Maybe you need to eject for a few minutes.
    6:31
    Yeah. Yeah, you can. I know you can. So the other thing I saw. This was not. I don't think this was on Pinside. What? Oh, my God. Yes, because I not only go to Pinside. For those out there, there's three main sources. Well, four, I guess. You have Facebook, of course. Yes. Then you have Pinside. Yes. You have Tilt Forums. Yes. And then you have the old RGP, Wreck Games Pinball. And on Wreck Games Pinball, there was some dude on there just saying how Highway was having major issues and it lost, like, a ton of employees. and Andrew Highway himself actually ended up posting on there saying that's not true. And then people were asking him, well, give away your sales numbers. Like, why would I do that? It was interesting. Why would he do that? There was no reason. Why would he post at all on anything? That I never understand. Well, he probably heard that if it is not true, it is slanderous stuff. So he was trying to put the finger in the dike to try to hold back the possible flood. Because you saw what happened with Dutch Pinball when they had a couple holes in their dike and it just flooded. Yeah, when their main marketing guy left and just said, like, they're bleeding money and you can't build it. Yeah, that whole episode. Yeah, and they kind of ignored it for a little while in the beginning. so I can see trying to... They ignored it until everyone started asking for refunds. Exactly. So I can see your point of trying to cut it off before it gets really bad out there. Did he do the right thing? It all depends on the situation. I personally feel he did do the right thing.
    8:19
    He doesn't have to give sales numbers. Stern doesn't give sales numbers. No. So why are you caring about... If you don't care about sales... If you're going to ask about sales numbers, ask for everyone or don't ask at all. Yeah. I just thought that was interesting that that was there of all places. Yeah. And he actually – and it was him. Well, that's good though. This is interesting. I still read RGP all the time.
    8:43
    Not as busy as it used to be, of course. No, no. But it's still – if you want good tech advice, I definitely would recommend people check that out. Yes. The veterans are on there. Yes. I guess we're veterans, huh? Oh, God. I'm sure. Oh, God damn bastards. Well, you know, just to follow around that, they had the Pittsburgh Pinball Open this weekend. Yes, we did. And the runner-up, I believe, was 13 years old. God. Just bringing that up. Yeah. Oh, God. Well, there was a couple tournaments this weekend. Yes. They had the, like I said, the Pittsburgh Pinball Open, which is in, well, I think Southside, Pittsburgh. Yep. I'm not sure what exact location it's in. I don't know either, but a lot of our friends were in the mix. Yep. Tim Balls, Mr. Tim Sexton himself was there. Steve Bowden was there. Levy. He was there? Yep. I think so. No, he wasn't. No, he wasn't there. He wasn't there, but Zen was there. And Greg Pavarelli, another one of the New York City guys, was there. Yep. I noticed Tim lost to Mr. Bowden in the quarterfinals. Yes, he did. They went to the full – they were playing three out of five game matches, and their final game was on Avatar.
    10:11
    Yes, and it didn't look like Timmy got much of a chance because it wasn't close. Oh, boy. The camera on Avatar was not working, but just by – they still had the camera where you could see all the players, and Timmy was not happy. He definitely looked like, man, I got no chance at all. That's bullshit.
    10:30
    We'll have to ask him what happened there. We will have to ask him in his next, hopefully, showing. And as Mr. Bowden said, his circuit points will go into the abyss. Yes, they will because he is not going.
    10:42
    Yes, because he works for a school district, and they have their finals the same week that they do Papa and the circuit. So he cannot play in it, like ever. he has to leave work Friday, drive up, and then try to have basically one and a half days to qualify instead of the full three. So I don't think there's any more news, so we can go right to show report. Show report, yes, yes. I was lucky enough to go down to Ansel at the York White Rose Pinball Game Room Show. uh it was friday and saturday and needless to say there was a lot of fire and rain there but we'll get into that in a few seconds fire fire it's definitely rain oh we had a ton of rain it rained most it rained about half the day friday and almost all the day saturday i actually had to load back up in the full pouring rain so that wasn't fun so this is in york this is in york Pennsylvania, which also has one of the Harley factories is there. Yes, one of the two. They make something specific. They make the Sportster.
    11:57
    I wanted to get the shout out to any Harley guys. Oh, yeah. And gals. The pinball show went pretty well. They had 185 pinball machines on Friday. They were down to 145 on Saturday for sales and that kind of stuff. I did sell the Avatar. is off to its new home. So I have a... And Sopranos did not sell.
    12:23
    Oh, was that the one? Okay, Sopranos did not sell. How about the Scared Stiff? You were waiting on that. We were still waiting on that guy. So I'll get into that after the show report. Okay. We had a very good weekend of sales. I had a lot of people come up to the booth, actually, at State. They love the podcast. So whoever did come up, I'm giving out the big shout-out right now. To the pinball lifter booth. Yes, they were. Lifter.
    12:47
    I said that. Yes, I didn't say lifters. I know your site better than you do. Yes, I know you do. And everyone came up really excited about the show. I was very happy, very excited to hear people with their feedback.
    13:00
    And then there was the apology to Mr. Keeler. I did apologize again in person to Mr. Keeler. And we had a man hug afterwards. So that was very good. Good time. uh friday morning i go out into the flea market and i see something outside in the uh trucks and ron told me he saw this beforehand yeah somebody somebody shot some video somewhere and i saw this so i kind of texted bruce like uh can you take a little peek at this particular item and i did and i took a couple of fast shots and it was a harlem globetrotters and uh he luckily the guy had a generator when i bought my harlem globetrotters i bought it two years ago exactly the same guy was selling it but he didn't have a generator so i was going on a pig out of poke which for me on a bally not a bad thing you know i don't mind that at all so uh i he powers it up i go let's check it out so first he pulls down the back glass the back glass is perfect look at the play field perfect uh one of the displays display number one's got a little flicker to it so i didn't mind that much guess what that's a display issue the soundboard has a little bit of issues it's actually a little weird sound so it could be a capacitor not worried about that at all but it booted up played great i'm playing it and i go how much do you want for he goes i want a grand so there i am on the phone with ron and at the same time ron doesn't even know this i'm telling eric because eric also wants one and i said well i know eric was asking about the same game two seconds after ron was because he must have seen pictures of it so both of them i said first one and then ron's already calling me how much okay it's this much what do you think i said it's really nice see what you can do okay two minutes later ron you now own a harlem globetrotters yes so and then two minutes later eric goes here's a ron did you know this buy it you can take all the good parts off of your off of mine put it on yours and i'll take this one i was like oh i said sorry man he already bought it so uh i packed it up to the booth this play field is incredible so i know ron's gonna be very happy it's one of the games he always comes over and plays in my house and now that i have inquired in the availability of yours on at least one occasion i believe that one and paragon i always ask about because you have them right next to each other i believe i do yes they are right next to each other but so then not feeling so bad uh he saw another picture eric did and he goes there's a pinball pool there like yeah it's really nice he goes well how much is that one i go well the guy's asking 650 or best offer you know so i said i'm not the guy to go for got leave system once but luckily zach was there and zach owns a couple of got leaves so i said zach come over with me well you can help me in checking out the game so we're checking it out and um and he goes oh it's really nice i clear-coded the play field like oh wait you clear-coded it he goes oh yeah feel it there's no insert where you know insert divots or anything i'm feeling i'm like wow this is really smooth he goes yeah i cleared it you know i got one broken plastic here i go well it says 650 best offer blah blah blah we get down to it call eric i go oh by the way i got it for you he's like great i go oh by the way it's clear-coated no i'm like yeah so that worked out really well too so i didn't buy a game i bought two games for my buddies there you go ladies and gentlemen very nice and and you sold the sold the avatard i sold the avatard we did really well at the show for ourselves at the booth uh the vendors uh there was mayfair uh there was uh coin taker there was joe from pinball star there was mike francesca showing off some games uh there was a jukebox guys that were giving away a jukebox there was a jukebox collectors association a A couple of the other – there was the guy who now does all the play fields and the ramps that bought – what's his name?
    17:29
    From Georgia. It's like Starfleet or something. Yeah, Starfield. I'm saying it wrong. I really – Starship Fantasy or something? Starship something, yes. But they were there selling play fields. I was looking at the Medusa one, almost drooling over it, saying I should buy this, I should buy this, but I didn't.
    17:50
    A couple other vendors. There was Jeff from Classic Arcade, Jeff McAfee. He was selling a Centaur, which actually did sell to Kevin Stone, bought it. So it did go to a good home. Fellow IFPA player from Virginia.
    18:08
    Good games there. Not great. We did. There was two tournaments there. And the first day was a supposed classics tournament, but we played all new games. So I guess what's old is new again, or what's new is old again in this case. Yeah, and it was pretty foobarred where we were playing. It was 12 of us. We had 12 people play in this tournament, or 15, sorry, 15 played in the tournament. Top four moved on.
    18:39
    Mr. Keeler, we were talking to each other a little bit. He finished fifth. I got to – there was a gentleman who was from Virginia who finished fourth, but he couldn't come back the next day because we couldn't finish the finals in an hour time.
    18:54
    So for the finals, it was myself, Frank G, which is – I can never say his name right. G-U-I-D-A. Say it. I'm not going to try to say it. Yeah, thank you. Sorry, Frank. Yeah, sorry, Frank. He is a listener. He's going to be so pissed. I don want to butcher his last name I don want to butcher his last name I believe it Frank Guida I think he said that If it wrong you can totally blast us Not me I didn say it Yeah, if we say it wrong, you can totally blast me. Just record something. We'll play it on the podcast where you insult us. And there was also, who was the third person I played against? Howard Levine. Howard Levine, another Orange County guy. Actually, Frank and Howard, both Orange County guys. Yes. So I was actually battling on Orange County guys. I had a great time with them. I liked playing those guys. It was a tiebreaker. After four games, me and Frank were tied. Since I was the top seed, I got the pick, picked the last game. So what game selection did you have? You said newer games. Let's give it a little background there. We had one old game, which was Countdown. Ah, excellent. Excellent old game. Then we had Addams Family, Championship Pub, and Demoman. That's your classic start. Okay, okay. One of my pet peeves, folks, it's not Championship Pub. Everyone calls it that. It's The Champion Pub. Let's all say that. The Champion Pub. Of course, it's not like Bruce ever owned one. Oh, wait a minute. Oh, I did. Oh.
    20:31
    But I – so me and Frank were tied, seven points each, and I got to pick the last game, and I picked Champion Pub. The Champion Pub. But I picked it, and what got me over the edge? Video mode, Spitting Gallery. That's bad. Boo. I loved it. Boo. That's like playing Star Trek Next Gen and just doing these stupid obstacle thing over and over again. Boo.
    20:59
    Come on. But I did it one-handed. Oh, okay. Then that's fine. Okay. So I won that one that we finished on Saturday morning. And then Saturday had another tournament. There was 28 people in that tournament. I got bumped pretty quick, but I really was glad, too, because we were getting busy in the booth. Howard took me out first game, and then the guy who finished like sixth or fifth took me out in the second game. It was a double elimination tournament. Any game and a place you can play. I played a couple of the oldies. I liked Algar. I played Supersonic. Oh, Algar. Hold on. Let me write that down. I got to use that for a future game I hate because I already have one for today. Oh, my God. I love Algar. Algar is a turd. Algar is fun. Turd. This one's fast, actually. It was ugly. I don't care. Fast. Whatever. It's a turd. It's a wide-bodied turd with shitty artwork.
    21:55
    Well, whatever the hell. What is that thing on there? There's the original Lion Man, if you will. That's the original Lion Man. He's the original Lion Man. It's a piece of shit. But Howard and Keeler and Frank and even I was busting the guy who was running the tournament because he was by himself on Friday and it was all over the place. We didn't know what the hell half the people were doing there. And it got a little better on Saturday, but it was. And then, of course, I hear Keeler the whole time. You got to talk about this on your podcast. Better make fun of this on your podcast.
    22:29
    So, OK, so we made fun of it. Yes. I'm laughing. See, I'm laughing. So there you go. But we have to be positive in pinball. Pinball is positive. It is positive. It is very positive. So I'm positive that my shit will break and I'll have to fix it. That's the one thing I'm positive about pinball. Totally true. And the game will probably win in the end. But the fire was Friday night at 6 o'clock. There was a fire right down the road, and it turned into a three-alarm fire that was in an old sporting goods shop with bullets.
    23:06
    So bullets were going off in the fire. And, oh, by the way, next door was an abandoned gas station. Oh, nice. It was really close before it hit a blow-up. Yeah, but they got it. Was there a fire at the game? I mean, was there a fire game at the show for irony? Yes, there was. Yes, and I went over to it and rang the bell. And wait, Saturday, next door to the old building where they used to have the show at York, they had a cat convention.
    23:33
    A cat convention. Okay, so is it a different place than what I was used to going? Yes. The building that you used to go to was the furthest one away. The one next to it to the right is now where the show is at. It's a lot bigger. So they had a cat show. So guess what was inside at our place? Bad cats. You got it. I played also in the tournament, and I did some of the old meow, meow, meow.
    23:58
    Meow, meow, meow, meow. Overall, a very good show. I enjoyed it very much. It's so laid back. It's nice. They had a nice row of bingos there. The guys who brought the bingos, they had, like, I think 15 bingos. Yeah, it seems to me the consensus is basically a laid-back Allentown with a good selection of EMs, usually. Oh, very good selection of EMs. Solid states were lacking. But was that – I saw the blackout there. I think it's the same footage I saw the Harlem in, but wasn't that the same one that's always at Allentown? Yes. I believe. Okay.
    24:32
    I will say, and people on Pinside were actually talking about this today, and the quality of the games that people brought were lacking, I hate to say. I'm not being mean to it, but guess what? You go to a show and you're going to bring a game, keep credits on it. Make sure the flippers work. make sure the bulbs aren't burned out make sure it actually does flip yes that's very important and i'll say from when i brought games to shows i would advise people to number one don't put them on five ball no unless it's an em that's yeah but but don't put your like i don't know don't put your spider-man in there and then put it on five ball if you're going to bring a game to the show and you know how to repair your games that's another pet peeve of mine but uh if you know how to repair the games most of these guys do what i do i even though i brought my two games and they weren't really for general public i bring my goodie box which is my repair bin which is going to be my soldering iron basic hand tools assortment of parts fuses a couple coils just in case i if a if i don't have it there maybe i could buy it there b if i do have it i can get it back up and running fast with a volt meter you always need a volt meter also but just a basic stuff some of these guys they're just going there and like that i hooked it up i'm gonna walk away and get my free entry and walk around they were calling out so many people during the show saturday your machine's down your machine's got an issue your machine has no credits come on basics guys i know some got games don't can't put credits on aka early valleys that kind of stuff that i totally understand but if you're walking around the show i don't understand that i'll tell you why any early valley or stern you can set the replay value to like ridiculously low do guarantee credits even on the shittiest game so that's not even an excuse i i hate hearing that one i know but system one and system 80 got leaves you can't and some of the williams you can't either i think the threes and fours you can't uh you definitely can do it on a four because i have my flash as a four okay maybe on a three i can see okay yeah i think that is it so the way i look at it is guess what? Put credits on there. Even if you can't put credits on there, go around. You're going to check it on your machine. Make sure it's working. You hope. Some of these guys weren't, but that's just one of my pet peeves. People who brought nice games, thank you very much. It's always appreciated when you bring a nice game. People who spent money with the vendors, very appreciated, including myself. We did really good at the show. We did 50% more than we did last year. Very good show for us. We were very happy. As I said, loved hearing all the people come up say about the Slam Tilt podcast. One person even inquired about the shirt, Ron. And guess which shirt they picked? Oh, the one without the offensive stuff on it. Wrong. Well, that's a typical pinhead, man. They're very offensive.
    27:28
    So, actually, that was very good. It was good to talk to Keeler. I did apologize. I even said to him, if he has another show, give me a week before. Maybe I'll come down and work on a couple things. Huh? So I was even doing that. One more pet peeve about games. Please turn off your extra balls. Yes. That too. The reason I say this is just because the idea when you bring games to a show, you don't want people on the games all day. You want as many people to get to play the games as possible.
    28:02
    And if you get some better players, if you have a game that's like on five ball with extra balls on, you can just play the thing forever. I mean, I will try. If I'm at a show and there's a game like that, I will walk away just so I don't want to hog the game. Other people want to play it. But I'm not saying you have to make the games ridiculously hard so people are just totally pissed because the games last two seconds. That's me. Especially if there's a line behind you and you get to play like two seconds and you're done and someone's behind you. Oh, can I play next? No, that's my pet peeve. People sitting in front of a game and playing and playing, and they know people are behind them. They hear them talking about, hey, I can't wait to play this game, and you just hit the start button again. Common etiquette at a pinball show should be if you're playing a game and you're done, turn around. Look both ways. Look to your left shoulder. Look to your right shoulder. Say, okay, no one behind me. Now I can start again. Or if somebody's behind me, were you waiting for playing this game? It sounds like a video The pinball safety tips Be sure to look both ways Before hitting the start button Yes, because I saw so many people You see that at all the shows Then they hit like four players Four player game, I love those Or if it's one of those, say it's like a six player game Seen that before, oh that's awesome Then they walk away So you have like six players in the middle You just shut the game off Just reboot the game
    29:36
    It is. It is really sad. But that's just a couple of my pet peeves. But it went really well. Great job. I agree. It went really well, and I wasn't even there.
    29:46
    Yeah, so Ron should be hopefully getting his game this weekend. Well, that's because you have found yet another game. I'm hoping. We're still wheeling and dealing. Still wheeling and dealing? Okay, okay. Still got to wait and see. But what game is it? I can't say yet. I don't want to jinx anything. You don't want to jinx anything. Never jinx. Well, speaking of jinx, how is the scare stiff coming?
    30:13
    Oh, God. If you remember from the last show, we were, okay, he was going to send a check, and it was in the mail. But you didn't get it yet. He said if you didn't get it by a certain time, you wanted to pay it out.
    30:24
    Wednesday, came and gone. No money. Thursday, check comes. Well, there you go. No, no, no, no. But he emails me Thursday morning saying, oh, you haven't gotten the check in? I'm like, no, I haven't gotten a check yet. I said, I need the PayPal money. Well, I'm going to cancel the check.
    30:41
    Okay. We canceled the check. So you knew, once he said that, you knew you were going to get it. Of course. And then I said to the guy, you want to wait until the, nope, nope, I'm going to cancel it right now. I'm afraid that's gone. I said, okay, so you're going to PayPal me some money?
    30:53
    He just wanted out, I think. He said, contact me after the show. So guess what I haven't done yet? Oh, you haven't done, okay. Nope, nope, I'm not going to. I contacted him before the show saying, hey, send me some payment money. I won't even bring it to the show. Never responded back. So I think he was a dreamer. I think he kind of thought, oh, maybe I can get it cheaper somewhere else. I don't think you'll get as nice as one as mine. Mine is really, really nice. It's funny. I'm still thinking of going back to York. So the guy that had the Harlem Glickfors was the same guy you got yours from? Yes. That's good. That's crazy. Wait, it gets better. And I bought the Freedom from him at Allentown. this guy gets the games man he does he gets some guys pieces but you know how much i paid for my harlem right i'm not we're not allowed to say but do you know how much i paid for yours right yes i paid half uh well of course but wait no but my backlash was shot that's right you got another backlash at a later date yes you did yes you did so so just looking at my list here we got the york show. We got the PPO, if you will. And there's really not much going on in the news. I have one request, though. Oh, you've got a request. Yes, what is the request? One of my friends, Mike Dimas, from Canada, say hi to all of our Canadian friends. Eh? Please don't say eh. They probably hate that. Eh? Why do you take it off, eh? I make fun of him when I come down to Buffalo. Oh.
    32:26
    He is actually trying to win something and he asked for our help all of our listeners he actually has a request he's trying to get spookies actually has a mascot the little ghost and it's okay okay before you get into this i'll say this has absolutely nothing to do with the thing two podcasts ago this was actually this came up before that way before way before this request and we we We held off in good conscience last week on bringing this up because we just did not think this would be cool. But if anyone we offended before is listening and said they're doing it again, this was a request before any of the shitstorm happened. Just to let you know, I want to get that out there. This has been a public announcement. Okay, please continue. Okay, and so he is trying to get his suggestion, his name, to be called Spooky's mascot. His name is Floaty.
    33:32
    Floaty the ghost. So if you guys can, if you go to Spooky Pinball's main web page, and you go to the lower right-hand side, there's a list of names. Please pick Floaty. He is leading right now, but no lead is too strong. Okay, well, what are the other names? I don't even care. You don't even care? We won't even read these on the air. Because guess what? We help a listener.
    34:03
    Yes, yes, we help. And Casper was not an option. Nope. No. So we help a listener. We help Mike. So Mike listens to us. We're going to get the plug back. We're listening to him. So go there. Vote. Vote for the float. There you go. I like that. Vote for the float. There you go. All right. So, Ron, repairs. Okay. Actually, right before the podcast, I was working on some stuff again. Taking – You sell T2.
    34:35
    Yes, yes. Wow, I should bring that up. Yeah, I keep bringing up how I'm, like, selling the games, and then I sell it, and I don't even mention it. Yes, I ended up selling it to someone who lived, like, 10 minutes away. They stopped by Friday, looked at it, and the guy's a newer guy. He's probably my age, but he's just kind of getting into it now. You know, he's making room in the man cave and all that stuff. So he liked the game, but he had to get the okay from the wife.
    35:06
    No, no, no. He has to learn now. When it comes to pinball. He had to get the okay from the wife. No, no, no, no, no, no. When it comes to pinball, ask for forgiveness and permission. My wife knows this all too well. She is probably listening probably right now when we release the podcast going. That's what she does all the time to me. He kills me. Well, at least you get cheaper games now, so it's not such a big deal.
    35:36
    That's true. And I get games for other people instead of myself, really. I think when you're being like a beat-up Freedom Homer, it's like, okay, that couldn't have cost that much. No, but she still looks at it and goes, that's not as fun as the other ones. I'm like, I can't win. so yeah he i was kind of worried though because he said you know i'll text you tonight you know if i got the permission i always worry i always worry about those you know and and actually no i'm getting the timeline wrong he actually came over wednesday that's right he came over wednesday night looked at it and i'll text you tonight and he did not it was like 9 30 it's getting kind of late he has not texted me so i texted him like uh i made a decision because i I had two other people who were like, I'll give you the money. I can pick it up this weekend. But I was trying to help out the local guy. Of course. I don't blame you. And he actually was the first one who got through. The first dude was like, are you going to be in Allentown anytime soon? And then another guy is, are you going to be in Chicago for the Expo? Can you bring it there? And then one guy from New Orleans, like, I'll buy it now. Will you ship it? But, you know, so I texted him, and he texted me back. Yeah, yeah, yep.
    36:56
    I'll pick it up Saturday, you know. So he agreed on a time, and he showed up actually with his daughter.
    37:03
    We got the game in his SUV, and she played some Metallica because she wanted to play Metallica. So there you go.
    37:12
    Who brought that game upstairs with you? That would be the stair climber. Oh, and you. hey well at least that well that time you were more like standing behind it like he's gonna be able to catch it if it falls down ron has an escalera yes very very handy very quite handy i have one up on him now yes he has a freaking elevator i'm sorry a dumbwaiter i have a dumbwaiter so that's the easiest way to do it that is the easiest way to do it so but yeah he picked it up and then he texted me later on he had a picture of it in his house. My son just got a big game on it.
    37:49
    I've hopefully given another one the sickness, so hopefully I'll see him just starting to buy games like crazy, and then I'll get out of control. It'll be great. So hopefully I've contributed to someone else's sickness. So that was the Terminator too, so that is sold. I have to move with my arrangement in the basement. I'm actually going to be moving, no fear, to the back wall, that will be the spot for Harlem.
    38:17
    And then where the T2 was, that will be possibly Ghostbusters. We'll see. I was able to get a hold of the – oh, did I mention that in the last podcast? You mentioned that he was – you did not get in touch with him, but I know. Okay, okay. So, yeah, that's right, yeah. So yeah the last podcast I emailed the distributor got no response I called him Wednesday and found out why I didn get a response because he is on a cruise right now With your game, spending your money. Yes. Whoever he has there backing him up was able to, he said, like, yeah, we're supposed to, actually this week, supposedly, they're supposed to start getting them in. So anticipate a call this week, I was told. So we'll see what happens.
    39:01
    Ghostbusters. Yes, yes, Ghostbusters. I played another one. And? You still love it? He's nodding. Yes. No? Uh, okay. So, uh, repairs. Repairs. I actually like Kiss better. Well, especially since now I've seen Tim play it, and I saw the Bowen tutorial, and now all of a sudden I have more interest in it. Right? Interesting. It's a fun game. Yeah. And this is, Bruce hated it when it came out. He was like, I don't like it at all. I didn't like it at all. Well, the rules in the beginning were very, very bad. they were very bad. They've actually gotten a lot better. Well, I think a certain programmer ended up working on it. Yeah, I think so. Our favorite one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A certain programmer at Stern ended up working on it. Might be LFS. Might be his initials. Yeah, I think he's kicked my ass at tournaments before. Yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. Okay. So I was working on the Stars again. Yes. Took some more out of the spring.
    39:56
    We'll see how that goes. I played like three or four games. Was cooperating. And then while the guy was over here looking at the Terminator, he came downstairs and he played a couple of my games.
    40:10
    I turned them all on, you know, the big reveal, you know, and you turn them all on. And I noticed nine ball score displays were having some issues, two of them. Oh, of course. That always happens. Yeah, so I re-soldered the pins on all of them. It fixed the one. The other one, I think, is actually some other kind of issue that it's having. Oh, no. I'll have to get to that at some point. But it's player four right now. The first three work. There you go. Unless I'm having some tournament, four-player tournaments, then I'll have to get it fixed. I think that's it.
    40:46
    I got to see one of our favorite buddies this week, and I got your parts, too. Yes, yes. Oh, that's right. Yes. I have not seen Scott in the longest time. Scott, the classic Stern fanatic. Yes, we've both known Scott for, I've probably known Scott for at least 10 years. You've probably known him for at least 9 or 10 also. Scott is a very fun guy. I got to meet his girlfriend too, which was very nice to see and everything like that. He would be great for the podcast. He is extremely blunt. I've asked him actually too. And he said he had to listen to us first, so you'll have to pull the strings on that one. Well, yes, he asked me for a link to the podcast that didn't require him to download iTunes. Okay, good. Which I gave him. I should have told him, like, skip the first couple. Get to the more recent ones. They're better. The meat and potatoes? I think they're all good. They're all classics. They're all good. Come on. I don't think there's any podcast, any show where you could say, like, oh, the first couple episodes were the best.
    41:55
    I think ours are. God, I think we're going for Grammys. Oh, okay. Okay. Whatever you say, Bruce. Yes, but he was always very blunt about – he was the one that said like he hated Party Zone so much that if somebody picked it against him in a tournament, he would just forfeit. Gotcha. Yeah, no, he's the one that was making fun because I bought a No Fear that he won. I bought it from him at the tournament in Allentown about seven years ago, and he's like, what did you ever do with that? I said I sold it to York right afterwards. So we were talking about that. We had a good time. We were talking about a lot of old sterns and your games and my games. He asked what I had, and he was very impressed. I miss Scott. Scott is very down to earth, and he'll tell you exactly how he feels. I like that. Yeah, he used to have the P-TWain tournaments. Yes. Standing for a pinball tournament without an interesting name. Yes. I actually have one of the awards from his tournament. First place, okay, yes. Back in the day, there used to be the monthly Masters tournaments, which would take place in the tri-state area. They were done like match play format, and they would just keep playing rounds until you ran out of time. Yes. And they would always end on time. So I did buy some things. Well, how about repairs? Okay, we'll do first repairs. You're the one who brought it up. I always bring it up. What if you broke now? I didn't do anything.
    43:31
    There you go. Dak's coming over Thursday. We're going to play with Centaur. And then Friday, I get to deliver Eric's game, so I'll probably be working on that when we deliver it, because it is a Gottlieb System 1. I'm starting to think Centaur is like, I can't remember her name, the one in Family Guy that was pregnant for like 10 seasons. Yes. It's kind of like, you know, are you ever going to have the baby? Are you ever going to play the Centaur? Joe's wife. uh actually i took it apart two days ago a year ago so it is now a one year and two days of a procedure i've been doing on this centaur don't forget i did have the whole cabinet sent out i had the playfield sent out for clear so that took a while too but uh my uh my hot dog it took only four months the centaur is taking a lot longer but well worth it because it's actually better. So I did buy some stuff at the show. You bought some stuff at the York show, and what would that be?
    44:34
    He's got a pop-up cap that is from a ballet game. What is that from? I should know what that's from, shouldn't I? You should know what it's from. A future spa? You got it. Oh, good guess. I just saw that it's a woman, so I thought it had to be a future spa. Okay, another pop-up cap. Oh, that could be anything. No, it's not. It's a ballet. Look at the center. Yeah, it's a star thing. What's a star? You own the game now. Oh, stars? Nope. No. You own the game. Oh, that's from, okay, so that's a Harlem Globetrotters. You got it. All right. Next one.
    45:09
    We got a, oh, Paragon Pop-Upper Cat. You got it. Scintillating, as all the people can obviously see this. Oh, star targets for, I guess you could use that at nine ball. There's games you can use that for. They are for Tombstones. And then... The good old bullseye target. Valleys. Oh, yeah. Very nice. Yep.
    45:34
    Got them all from Jeff at Classic Arcades. Nice. Very nice. See, so I did buy some stuff. But as I said, no repairs. I was too busy getting the show stuff ready. No breakdowns at the show either, so that's another good thing.
    45:51
    People played a lot of Sopranos. thought I had it sold towards the end and it didn't work out. We were close. I'm happy.
    46:01
    But you got the Avatar. Avatar is gone. Maybe. You never know. Scared stiff. And then, as I said, I'm probably going to bring to GameCon. I'm going to probably bring Simpsons and Party Zone. We'll be up for sale.
    46:14
    Where are you bringing it? Oh, we talked about that. GameCon. Yes. All right, so let's get into our usual segments here. Games to like and games to hate. So I'm going to start with a like.
    46:34
    Of course, we're getting to the point where half the time I think I've already said this before. Have I said pinbot before? Nope. Okay. Cool, I can say jackpot in a future episode. So pinbot, System 11 goodness. Yes. another excellent Barry Asler design classic visor play feels so good they used it twice yes for game to hate Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man Valley Turd but the best cabinet I didn't pick the video game one at least this is the actual pinball one they had one at the show Baby Pac-Man oh yes Baby Pac-Man that's not even a pinball machine It's a video game with a pinball element. Yes. It's really what it is. But that's how you get your dots. No, whatever. I never liked Pac-Man. Why would I like the pinball machine? Yeah, true. Why? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Turd. Fail. Bally fail.
    47:34
    But the one cool thing about Mr. and Mrs. Pac-Man that most people don't know is the skill shot on that. There is a skill shot on that game. Okay. The skill shot is walking away and not plunging. You win. no the best skill shot is actually is to take the game and take the parts out of the game and use it for better games yes yes i agree i agree excellent okay what agreement now your turn uh i'm gonna shock some people now again i like shock i love giving the shocker chaka con okay no soccer shocker all right shock master what are we doing uh game i like i just picked it up for Eric, so I can still call it Pinball Pool. Yeah, it's a good game. Very good game. System 1, wow. I have to say, we have the biggest disproportion. I mean, we give a lot of System 1 love, and then we bashed the shit out of System 1, too. It's like some good games and some turds. Oh, I actually, the funny thing was, going back to the York show, right next to Harlem Globetrotters was, Ron, I took a picture of it and sent it to you. Close Encounters of the Third kind and it did sell that shit oh yeah i bet it sold use it for parts you can use it for parts to keep the pinball pool running yep 9 30 no yawning allowed on 9 30 it's always yeah that's late for you because you're old it is i am old game i hate was also at york bad girls oh godly Oh, God, it was terrible. God, there's no fun in it. That's a bad pool game. Remember last week I talked about bad cue ball wizard? Cue ball wizard is an A title compared to bad girls. Okay. And doesn't it have, like, the photo back glasses? Photo back glasses, and it has the pool table in the middle. That's supposed to tell you what ball to go for next or what's available on the play field.
    49:39
    Oh, what a terrible game. not a fan terrible clunky game and then one at down at york was really bad you know what i like when we give our list you know there's someone out there like bad girls is like the favorite game it's like what do you mean it has great features it's got okay the artwork does suck but it's fun to play what are you talking about it's the cheapest fun game you can buy around here and there's someone out there saying harlow globetrotters what a turd with the stupid double flippers and you drain yourself, piece of shit Valley. Get a Williams game. They really made good game. No. No? Yeah, they did. They made Firepower.
    50:20
    And Black Knight? Let's go head to head. And Algar? Oh, well, see, there's a fail right there. Oh, Algar's great.
    50:28
    I actually like Algar better than Firepower. Oh, oh, oh, that hurt. That hurt. I might have to pause this. I might have to edit that out. I don't know if I can listen to it. I like Algar because it's got some fun shots. Oh, it's a wide turd. No, but it's a fun wide turd. It's a big, wide turd. If you notice, I like wide turds.
    50:51
    It's like you take a shit, you know, that big, long shit that clogs up the toilet bowl. That's what Algar is. It's just a big, long turd. You can make it fast. You can make it fun. You can make it fast. Okay, maybe you can make it fast if you put it up on two-by-fours, but you ain't making it fun, ever. I definitely. The good thing about Williams' early systems. Okay, what makes Algar good? Convince me. Okay. A couple spinners. Kick up.
    51:20
    Two sets of drop targets. What else we got there? Three pop bumpers. Up on the top, you had the four in lanes, and you had the pachinko thing on the side. Yeah, but isn't the whole game you just hit the pachinko thing and then reset it, and that's where all the points are? No. Oh, no. Please enlighten me on the awesome rule set of this game. Spinners. Go for multipliers. Always. Spinners all day. Once you get another flipper, the problem is people think, oh, I can get that pachinko shot and get the fast points. What's the key in pinball? Keeping the ball in play. When you go for that pachinko shot, half the time it's going to go back down and go out the right drain.
    51:59
    Okay, how do you get the bonus multiplier? Spinner, up top, all four lanes. Oh, one of the 16 lanes that are up top. No, it's more than four, isn't it? Oh, no, yeah, there's four and a hole in the center. Yes. Yeah, good luck getting it through four. If you get it in a hole in the center, you add to the letter.
    52:16
    That's Algar, baby. Adds a letter and suck? I think it says suck right across the letters. No, it doesn't. It's good, clean, family fun. What do you got to lose? I guess it is family fun. I mean, it's so bizarre looking. You can't even say it's offensive. It's just like, what is that? It's Lion Man original. Yes. I'd rather play Scorpion if I was going to play wide body. Oh, no. God, no. I'd shoot myself. Nope. Larry DeMar rules that, man. Yeah, but the problem is the shots suck. You can't badmouth that. Shots suck. That upper left play field, like the freaking stupid Gottlieb circus and all those other stupid, And let's have an upper play field with two flippers, but no real reason for it. Okay, this is what we're going to do. We're going to have a poll here. We're going to have a poll for the two or three listeners who actually send us emails. Given a choice between Algar and Scorpion, what is the better game? Algar by far. Algar or Scorpion. I say Scorpion by far. I say Algar by far. Plus, Scorpion has multiball. You don't need multiball. Well, actually, you don't need multiball. Do you have multi-ball in Harlem?
    53:28
    I'm just saying, to me, that's one. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Do you have multi-ball in Harlem? No. Is it a great game? Yes. Done. You have multi-ball in Scorpion, but it's not just multi-ball. It has the feature of the timer. The longer you can keep the multi-ball going, the more the timer goes up. And if you just try to trap the ball, the timer will stop.
    53:53
    Early Larry DeMar awesomeness. You cannot. It's his game. You cannot insult it. Wait a sec. I can insult the game because the shots still fucking suck on it. The rule set is good. I will give you that. But the shots suck.
    54:06
    Eh, I'd rather play that than Algar any day. No, Algar any day. I love this. Arguing about games is awesome.
    54:14
    Algar rules. So what was your game to hate again? It's so long ago. I forgot. Oh, my hate. Bad girls.
    54:25
    So let's go right into our next segment, the features, the play field features we'd like to see, or just the features we'd like to see. And I have one that I ripped off from Keith Owen because there was a discussion on TIL forums about how difficult it is to move out lane posts on a lot of the Stern games because they put the ramps directly over them. Yeah. As opposed to the Williams games where you could just loosen a nut and slide the thing up or down. Or a cutout in the ramp that you actually can access the screw. Yeah. So his idea, and I thought this would be cool, motorized outlaying posts, they get wider the longer you play. Excellent. So you stole the idea. I totally stole the idea. I thought that was so good. It's just like, yeah, I'd like to see that. That would be awesome. I have to agree. It is a great idea. Maybe you take it to the next level. They get wider, and when they get full width, it just drops down, so it disappears. So now there are no outlaying posts. That's even better. I like that. Of course, that would probably cost a ridiculous amount for an outlane post feature. Maybe if you can make them move fast, you can have them actually hit the ball. You know, like the Medusa, the, what is it called? The thing in the center. The something of the gods, or is that in Fireball? Oh, the thunder of the gods. Yeah, it's in Fireball, too, also. Yeah, Little Demon. That almost is like the player control kickback, except it's in the center. It is. It actually does work really well. Yeah, it does. So, what's your feature, Bruce? I'm going the total opposite way of Ron. what else is new what else is new i'm going for the outlaying in in england they have a rule if you have no control to stop to drain the ball it cannot be sold in england so what they have to do and they did back until i think they changed the law back in 2001 2002 is that it actually had button actually all sterns came with four buttons instead of two but all start well the european or England Sterns. You had to add your two lower flippers closest to you were for the flipper buttons for controlling the flippers themselves. The upper two buttons, one on each side, controlled two up kick posts that actually blocked a ball from going down the out lane. Blame.
    56:44
    Perfect. The everlasting ball save. The everlasting gobstopper of pinball. Yeah. Blame. So as Ron wants to make you drain and make you not enjoy the game, I want to make the game better for everyone. Yes, yes. Telly, hello, man. Yes, we were so bad. We're such terrible players in England that we absolutely have to have those posts. Wonderful. I don't think the guy from Pinball News would like to hear you say that. Oh, Martin? Martin would not like to hear that. Martin is a way better player than I am. Of course, I know. I mean, honestly, Martin from Pinball News, the publisher of Pinball News, he is an awesome player. He plays in European tournaments, but he almost never plays here because he's covering the seminars and doing all his Pinball News duties. If he actually played in any of the tournaments here, I think you would see his name up there. He'd be getting high FBA points like crazy. I agree totally. Yeah. But I want that. I want to save pinball. So we've got to bring that back. so we gotta make things easier again so we gotta bring back the 40 minute game times don we already have that in some games Like what Some of these locations Recent games like what
    58:03
    Let's think about this. Some Simpsons can go long. Isn't that recent? Yeah. Maybe Star Trek? Hold on. Perfect game. Game of Thrones. When people are getting $13 billion and taking 50 minutes. Okay. Yeah, I'll give you that. But a lot of that is – see, a lot of the Game of Thrones stuff, you can easily – you just turn up all savers, outlay post, move them. You can do a minimal amount of things to make it hard. Oh, I agree. Something like Lord of the Rings is like you have to take the post out. You have to ridiculously butcher the software settings to make it super hard. I didn't. Mine's pretty brutal. You know that.
    58:44
    Yeah, but you could still have long games on. I know, but I can make it brutal. That's not even being brutal. It was actually the longest ball of times, but they were not as long as everyone thought they were going to be. My lord.
    58:56
    My lord. My sweet lord. Oh, my lord. Yes, my sweet lord of the rings. Yes. Great, now we'll get sued. Yes. Because we don't use any copyright material, just every opening. No, just every opening. Just every opening. I wonder what that's going to be this week. I have no idea. Only Ron knows these things. Yeah, I don't know. I have to figure that one out. Yes.
    59:23
    So what do we else? I think we're coming near the end here. I think we've done our allotted time. Have we found the final frontier? We have found the final frontier. And wasn't it like he was God or something? Yes, that's what we were talking about. Or he was saying he was God. See, so my Lord and God comes all together. Yeah. Oh, that movie sucked. Didn't Uhura have like a really disturbing dance number in that, if I recall? Yes, she did, yeah. Yes.
    59:51
    Oh, my. I do not find that even remotely attractive. I didn't think you did, George, back in the 30s. No, no, no, no.
    60:02
    Oh, my. Yes, oh, my. So I'll be doing some repairs this week of getting Centaur fully done, adding some pop bumper caps and starting to work, hopefully, getting my parts. I inquired from Marco about my parts, so hopefully, hopefully I get some drop targets for a nine ball and start working on that. Good luck on that. Have fun with all your trough switches and lock switches. Well, luckily I have my buddy coming out since I've done him a big favor. Yes, yes, yes. So one more thing we're going to talk about. And that is? Me going possibly to Europe.
    60:43
    Oh, goodness gracious me. Well, we should talk about, like, the first time you went. Oh, what, right after the tournament? Well, the parade that you saw there. Parade? The parade, yes.
    61:00
    If we have any European listeners, well, for the American listeners, they're going to be like, no, there's no way this is true. But it is. I'll tell this one. Let me go to the story first. Okay, go into the story. Okay, so I, at the time, just lost my job. They had to lay off. I lost my job. And luckily, one of my ex-customers, very good friend of mine, Randy, he actually owns an arcade in Indianapolis, Randy Bear. Great guy. He said, hey, if you want, come out to Europe. I'll give you a week's worth of work for this much money. Okay. So he gets me the hotel. It's in this little town in the Netherlands. Very nice place.
    61:45
    I get to the place, and the hotel's not open yet. So it's raining. It's drizzling. I can barely – I'm in the alcove of the hotel. What time is this? It is 2 o'clock in the afternoon. 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and the hotel is not open yet. Not open yet. So I'm sitting in the alcove. I get on the Wi-Fi, and I get on FaceTime. The funny thing is the day before I had a tournament at my house, and I had to leave my tournament early. Luckily, Ron was there. Ron always stays over when we have a tournament, and his father was there, and Kathy was there. And they see me. I just got off of Red Eye. I know, not Red Eye, but across the Atlantic, took a car service, dropped me off in front of the hotel, and there I am freezing, shivering in front of this alcove on Wi-Fi on FaceTime. And all of a sudden I see this parade coming down the street, and now I'll give it to Ron because I have to stop my laughter. This will just – Yes, he sees this parade coming down, and he's looking at it, and he's like, it looks like all these people are in blackface. And we're like, no, no, no way. No, that can't be true. I turn the camera around. Yep. And it's like, yes, this parade of people in blackface. Yes. And it turns out, and I looked this up, it is a – and it is controversial even there where people have tried to get rid of this. But it's one of those like, it's a custom. We've been doing this for 100 years. It's supposed to be – 400 years. Yeah. It's supposed to be like – it's supposed to be like a chimney sweep. Yes. And it's some kind of like – it's not even like a real character. It's just like this image of a chimney sweep, and it's supposed to be like black soot on his face.
    63:39
    But it comes off like blackface. Yes. And it's one of those deals where they're having groups trying to get rid of it, and like the mayor or whatever, the town, no, this was our custom.
    63:52
    But that was very, very bizarre. I didn't believe him when he said it. I had to show you guys. And then I had to look it up because I still didn't believe him. But, yes, that was an interesting moment. That's when you know you're in a different country. Different continent. Yeah, different continent. Different a lot of things there. So hopefully I'll be going back out there the week before the tournament again this year. My tournaments always fall right around it. But hopefully I'll go out there this year, do some work for Randy.
    64:25
    I think I got a permission from my company. So I'll be spending another week. But the good thing is if I leave a day early and rent a car, there's actually a tournament in the Netherlands. A tournament in the Netherlands. Is it IFPA? It is IFPA. All right. It is CW 2016.
    64:45
    It's the clubhouse event at the Dutch Pinball Association. And the funny thing is, the week before this, I think there's an open house actually at Dutch Pinball also. And I think I saw that. Hold on. Let me go to Facebook real fast. I think there's an open house for Dutch Pinball.
    65:08
    And I think it might be the same. Let's see. Dutch Pinball. Yep. They have an open house for November 4th and 5th for Dutch Pinball. You can actually go to the factory tour.
    65:20
    So we'll need a factory report. I know. We will be truly an international podcast. Yes. It's 150 euros, though. For what? Just to go there? Including dinner, hotel, entrance fee for the weekend. But what is 150 euros? About how much is that? About almost, yeah, about 185, 190. Okay. So Friday at 2 o'clock, you get the ARA plus factory tour. You get a three-course dinner and then a bowling party and then a good night's sleep. And then the next day is Clubhouse weekend, which is the one that I'm talking about going to, and then play pinball. Interesting. Yeah, so I think I might have to – I'm hoping this will all work out. And if it does, you're going to see my ugly mug doing the old FaceTime lives, Facebook lives. Very nice. Like I said, a truly international podcast. It could be. We will find out. So are we ready for the events? Ready for the events. Upcoming event calendar. I feel like watching the old WWF wrestling in the 80s where they'd have the little truck going by. We'll be coming to your area in an upcoming show. Yes.
    66:42
    Pioneer Fall Knockout, October 9th, down in New York City. Greg Pavarelli is hosting this tournament.
    66:50
    Go check it out. It's Sunday. Good time had by all in New York City. Keeler's Birthday Bash in Middletown, New York, October 15th. Since now, me and Keeler are all lovey-dovey, kumbaya, hand in hand. Yeah, he's giving you the finger right now over the podcast. He probably is. But he picked up a neat little thing for Rock Fantasy because he's into the Native American thing. I don't want to offend anyone. And he got another figurine, like another statue he actually has in the store. It looks like it was for an old tobacco shop.
    67:26
    It's five and a half, six feet tall, wood, with an Indian holding a thing of cigars. Yes, and I know also fellow Orange County member Howard picked up another bowling-themed game. Yes, he did. Howard, I believe his dad was a professional bowler, and his whole game room, his whole setup is all bowling-themed. Yes. To the point where he even has, I think, the Simpsons bowling video game. He has some of the arcade bowling games, like old school. He has the chairs you sit down from a bowling alley, like the bowling chairs. He has the racks that you put the balls on there. It's like shelves. I have some information. I'm going to put it out. Howard's talking about buying another bowling game, the newest bowling game.
    68:23
    Oh, okay. That would be the Big Lebowski. Yes. He fell in love with it there. He really fell in love with it, and he was talking to me about it. He goes, Bruce, how do you sell six or seven games to make one game that you really want? Ooh, okay. I said, it's just what you feel. He goes, I really love the game. I might sell some things. So I encouraged him to go with his gut and with his heart and saying, hey, if you really want to go for this, go for it. I would say sleep on it a couple days, then figure it out. Oh, no, he was going to do it right away either.
    69:00
    But, you know, I played Big Lou Bask even this weekend. It was fun. It was a lot of fun. And he's looking to have a tournament also at his house sometime in November. That'd be very good. I know he was talking about that.
    69:11
    Syracuse Solid State Shenanigans, October 20th from 4.30 to 8.30 p.m. Love that name. Yes, that's in eastern Syracuse. All right. An old mall. Good place. Comic book store. October 29th Buffalo, New York The Domino's Pinball Launch Party Come play Domino's Pinball For the first time In Binghamton New tournament just popped up this week In October 30th Binghamton is going to have their First tournament in I think Almost a year Is it the Moonwalker Arcade one? It is at the Moonwalker Arcade October 30th I might go to that one On a Sunday, again. Sunday.
    69:59
    But I do like that one. It'd be hard to go from Buffalo to theirs. That's what I'm kind of like. Yeah.
    70:06
    Yeah. Retro Gamecom, the next week after is November 5th and 6th. That's in Syracuse. Big Yod. There you go. Central New York, Western New York, pinball, and also Buffalo pinball should be there. giving all the goodness of pinball to all the people of upstate New York. And don't forget, Expo is October 13th through the... Yes, yes. Expo is October 13th through the 16th. Yes. And one of the two Slam Tilt podcast members will be there. Yes, I will be there. I'll be... Say hi, walking around. Yes. I will be trying to get the scoop on at least a couple. I mean, I'll actually be attending, hopefully, the Jersey Jack seminar. Wherever a new game will be revealed, I will try to be there. Excellent. Probably except for the Houdini one, just because I'm going to be an expo brawl. Fail. Sorry. It's a partner's tournament. I always play with my dad. I know. We always get eliminated around the same. we make it usually semi-final so somewhere in the same area we're always eliminated hopefully cheetah is there again this year because that's kind of like our official game that's cool and then the last but not least a final event is mine the finger leaks open registrations opened up yesterday at 8 p.m which was sunday 40 people max we are already have 23 Three people signed up. Fortunately, I will not be there. I know.
    71:50
    That's Ron's southern vacation. Replay Florida, baby. Yes. So we'll have a show report from that, and we will have a tournament report from myself. All these reports. It feels like I'm doing work. It's supposed to be fun.
    72:06
    You're not having fun right now? Sure. I am, too. You'll be having fun this weekend. When you're working. Oh, yes. Yes, I'll be working this weekend. Saturday into Sunday, life in IT is always fun. Yes. Well, at least I'm hourly. Oh, wait a minute. I'm not. I'm salaried, so I don't get it. Oh, never mind. Ha-ha. Yeah, fail. I said ha-ha. Yes.
    72:30
    So that's the tournament schedule. Yes. I'm sorry, the show schedule. I just thought of something. What's that? The name for your game room. Okay. I don't know why you just don't use. I mean, you said you were a fan. Just use Xanadu.
    72:48
    You could even rip off the logo if you wanted to. Oh, that'd be fucking cool. You walk in and just you hear Olivia Newton-John singing.
    72:57
    Yes, we can. There you go. See, for my arcade, when I called it level zero, I ripped off the Z from Zenith, like the old Zenith televisions for the logo. It looks excellent. There you go. I'm actually showing Ron right now. Showing me the cover. Yeah. It's the stately home of Bruce whatever – what's your middle name? I'm not giving that away. Okay. Bruce, middle name Nightingale. Yes. But maybe I think you might have the winner. You can have roller skates. Actually, you have Skateball there. That's kind of like you could just change the artwork. So it's Olivia Newton-John. Wait, no. every time a door the door opens i can have the speakers automatically play on an ipod
    73:46
    right coolness level is lowering geek master yes i think i think ron you are really honest i think i think we got an idea there I think this is it. So that is episode 13. Final Frontier.
    74:10
    I think it's only 13 episodes. Well, now, this is another good thing about 13. We are now one-fourth done of the year. One-fourth done of the year. Huh? We've been on for 13 weeks. Yes. 13 times 4 is 52. Yes, okay. We are on a quarter of a year. Quarter of a year, yes. so get the banners get the freaking sparklers out we're gonna have a um we're gonna have like a anniversary special we'll have like an anniversary special like all kinds of like guests and it'll be like four hours long no no we're gonna actually do it better i think oh we're gonna do better yes i already have a slam tilt tournament nope even better and we're talking about this in episode 13 who the hell knows what's gonna happen this is the funny part okay yes exactly it will be the seven days of Slam Tilt Podcasts. Each day leading up to the one year anniversary, we will have an episode No, you are so high. Oh, that will be so painful. And guess what? We're going to edit your ass off. Oh, God, that's going to be killer. I have stated this already.
    75:25
    There'll be 15 minute episodes. That's it. No. No, no. You must give the people what they want. Give the people way too much to, like, I'm not listening to all this shit. Are you kidding me? We have lives, you know, just because you guys don't. I don't have a life at all either, I know.
    75:43
    But I guess I have two empty spots in the basement, so I'm going to be moving games hopefully in the next day or two. All right. So we're going to have some more room down at the Williams end, which will soon become Valley End. It will be. so again that was episode 13 thanks everyone be sure to check us out at our Facebook page just search for Slam Tilt Podcast on Facebook check out our YouTube channel which hopefully after Expo we'll actually have some more videos on there just search for Slam Tilt yeah just oh yeah to do the tour of your game room yeah so just search for Slam Tilt Podcast on YouTube and be sure to write us and praise us you have our permission to worship us or Or complain about me. Or complain about Bruce at slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com. That's slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com. Did you see one of the comments that somebody said? They said we never can end the show because Bruce keeps talking? No, they talked about the 14 times I use aka. Did you use that in this episode at all? Not at all. Okay, so we're going to say goodbye to Bruce Nightingale, aka Bally Bruce. a.k.a. Xanadu. Yes. Goodbye. Bye.