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Episode 180: AJ and Jon Replogle

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·31m 46s·analyzed·Feb 23, 2019
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TL;DR

Pinball Profile interviews John and AJ Replogle on family, Pinball Dojo, Replay FX, and community.

Summary

Pinball Profile Episode 180 features an in-depth interview with John and AJ Replogle from Pittsburgh. The episode covers their recent life changes (new baby Nellie), the opening of Pinball Dojo as a clubhouse for Pittsburgh Pinball League, their involvement with Replay FX and Pinberg tournaments, John's past as a professional wrestler (character name Al the Plumber), AJ's involvement in their progressive rock band Twilight Machine, their vintage pinball collection, and their perspectives on upcoming Star Wars films.

Key Claims

  • John and AJ Replogle opened Pinball Dojo as a clubhouse for Pittsburgh Pinball League after losing their previous south side location to condo development

    high confidence · John explains the genesis of Dojo project starting with Jake Koljacek, needing large space they could afford, and that the building allows them to rent other properties to offset costs

  • Pinball Dojo will eventually have 5,000-6,000 square feet of pinball play area across multiple rooms

    high confidence · John states they currently have two rooms opened with electric just completed on upstairs section

  • John performed as professional wrestler 'Al the Plumber' for Make-A-Wish Foundation charity wrestling in his college days

    high confidence · John describes character entering ring with large plunger, being beaten by 'bad guys' in scripted matches to raise money for charity

  • John competed in Pennsylvania pinball state championships and finished second to Alexander Kazmarchuk

    high confidence · John confirms he made the finals and Alexander 'rolled right over' him; Jeff notes this is top three hardest state championship to win

  • Flashback (John's prog rock band) recorded four albums; the band was temporarily suspended when AJ met John due to search for bass player or drummer

    high confidence · John states band was called Twilight Machine and AJ met him when band was 'temporarily suspended' looking for member

  • Pittsburgh Pinberg tournament includes a 'Fight Club' series of tournaments run by Doug Polka specifically for testing all Pinberg machines before the main event

    high confidence · John explains Fight Club name originated from secrecy around pre-tournament machine testing; now publicly run to identify problems and ensure smooth tournament operation

  • AJ and John own a Super Orbit pinball machine purchased for $100 at a church yard sale years ago

    high confidence · John confirms purchase price; AJ explains she plays it well using spinner-to-pops strategy rather than very target

Notable Quotes

  • “I'd say it's a work in progress. I mean, it's going to take, well, possibly years until it reaches its full potential. But right now we have two rooms opened up.”

    John Replogle @ early in interview — Describes realistic expectations for Pinball Dojo completion and current operational status

  • “Do not attempt this at home. Yeah, don't do this at home. This is not a good idea. We probably shouldn't have done it, but we did.”

    John Replogle @ discussing water pinball photo — Humorous acknowledgment of safety violation during famous Papa TV roadshow segment filmed in water

  • “I was no Rick Wakeman either. But I would love to find some good Rick Wakeman capes and wear them on stage because I love those capes.”

    John Replogle @ discussing prog rock band experience — Shows John's humor and appreciation for prog rock aesthetic

  • “The first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. I know. I know. Fight Club, at one point, it actually was a very secretive thing.”

    John Replogle @ discussing Pinberg testing tournaments — Explains origin of 'Fight Club' name and its evolution from secretive testing to public tournament series

  • “It's such a great game. It's one of those intense games. It reminds me not the play field but just the intensity of a game like Stars too where you can just have a great game or just brick and see you later”

    AJ Replogle @ discussing Super Orbit — Shows AJ's deep knowledge of vintage pinball games and their unique challenge characteristics

  • “I have no pride about being beaten up by my wife. On the machines. On the machines.”

    John Replogle @ discussing Super Orbit losses — Humorous exchange about AJ's superior performance on Super Orbit in their home collection

  • “I didn't mind The Last Jedi too much. I'm not looking forward to a CGI Leia. I will say that.”

    AJ Replogle @ end of interview — Shows AJ's nuanced take on Star Wars Episode IX anticipation and concerns about Carrie Fisher CGI

Entities

John ReploglepersonAJ ReploglepersonPittsburgh Pinball LeagueorganizationPinball DojovenueReplay FXeventPinbergeventPapa Pinball TVmediaAlexander KazmarchukpersonTwilight Machine

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Pinball Dojo business model involves purchasing large building and renting other properties to offset clubhouse costs for Pittsburgh Pinball League

    high · John explains 'only way to do it was to buy a large building that we could rent other properties out on and have a really nice space upstairs'

  • ?

    community_signal: John and AJ Replogle actively organizing Replay FX, Pinberg, and Papa Pinball TV content with extensive volunteer support networks, demonstrating high level of community infrastructure building

    high · Multiple references to tournament organization, volunteer coordination, and content production across multiple venues and events

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball community has capacity to support event daycare needs for parents with newborns, suggesting openness to family-inclusive tournament infrastructure

    medium · John and AJ propose 'Pinball daycare' as desired feature for 2019 events; discussed alongside Josh Sharp and Zach Sharp also having newborns

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Pennsylvania state championship noted as 'top three hardest to win' by host, Alexander Kazmarchuk emerging as strong young player defeating established competitors DJ, Chris, Nathaniel, and John Replogle

    high · Jeff describes championship difficulty; detailed breakdown of Kazmarchuk's tournament bracket progression

  • ?

    event_signal: Replay FX confirmed as ongoing major Pittsburgh pinball convention with 2019 scheduled performances by Flashback band

    high · John confirms 'Flashback is going to be at Replay FX 2019' and discussions of organizing other musical acts

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.095

0:00
it's time now for another pinball profile you can find our group on facebook we're also on twitter at pinball profile emails pinball profile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either itunes stitcher or google play we go now to pittsburgh where we talk to john and aj replogle how are you Good, Jeff. How are you doing? Hi, Jeff. Good. It's nice to hear from you. It's probably just as cold there as it is here. It is. It's cold, but I doubt it is as cold as you have it up there. I hear that they're building igloos in Ontario. It has been a huge year for both of you two as your family has expanded last August. Congratulations on baby Nellie, and cute as a button, too. How's Nellie doing? She's doing really well. Really well. Great. I think August was the last time we slept, but, you know.
1:02
That's the fun with a newborn, isn't it? Oh, yes. And like most new parents, that means probably pinball takes a little bit of a back burner. But you two decided, you know what? Yeah, we're going to have a baby, but we're also going to open up the Pinball Dojo. Well, yeah. The dojo was a project that started with Jake Koljacek and myself last year. We were looking for a place to put a new clubhouse for the Pittsburgh Pinball League, and we had lost our old space on the south side because they were tearing it down to build condos. So we had to find something that was large enough to hold pinball machines and in the price range that the group could afford. And the only way to do it was to buy a large building that we could rent other properties out on and have a really nice space upstairs that we can put the machines in that can be affordable. And it's been going well so far? Yeah, it's going well. I mean, I'd say it's a work in progress. I mean, it's going to take, well, possibly years until it reaches its full potential. But right now we have two rooms opened up. We just got the electric done on the one upstairs section. So in total, we'll probably have 5,000 or 6,000 square feet of pinball area to play with up there. I like that it's full service, too. I think I saw Evan Bookbinder standing on a box, too, that you provided so he could actually play some of the games. Well, you know, Evan was complaining that the legs on that particular machine were the incorrect legs. And I believe that was a passive-aggressive protest to say that I should change the legs on that Hollywood Heat. It's just a tall of the Genesis, though. He looked great. It was a good look. I don't know how much he could shake the machine being on that box or whatever he was, but I was quite impressed. And that box can come in handy, too, because Pittsburgh, with all the rivers and the bridges, sometimes you get a lot of water. I think last year was a record year for Pittsburgh, too. In fact, there's that famous picture of you, John, playing fishtails in the water. We're going to post it on Facebook. For those that don't know, how did that come all about? Okay. Well, this was a number of years ago at this point. And Mark was doing some filming for his Papa TV roadshow idea that he was doing. So Mark and I grabbed a machine, a generator, our fishing waders and our fishing poles, and we headed out to around Confluence, Pennsylvania, which is sort of the middle of Pennsylvania, and there's not really many people out that way. And we wanted to do some good filming. You can actually still see the Papa TV roadshow full segment of that, which is a lot more than just the picture. But the picture was made famous. There's nobody out there, just to give you an idea. And we're filming and doing our stuff. And this guy in a truck skids off to the side of the road, gets out, takes out his cell phone, and just snaps a picture of us. I mean, why not? If you're just driving down the road and you see people playing pinball on the stream, might as well take a picture. But it went crazy on Reddit. And I guess that's sort of now my 15 minutes of fame. This is your second 15 minutes. Second 15 minutes. What's the first? That was your first 15 being on Pinball Profile. That's your second. Oh, my goodness. Well, yeah. I don't even know how to tell the story properly because I'm so honored to be on Pinball Profile. You've been on before. Actually, you both have been before, but it's about time to have your own episode. So I didn't realize that that was more than just a picture. I had no idea, or at least forgot, that you were actually playing the machine. It wasn't just a photo shoot. That was something that Mark and I were both fairly nervous about because we had the machine hooked up to a generator. And if you take a good close look at that picture, you can see the power cord is hanging off the side of the machine. And we made sure the plug was not submerged. And we were both nervous about that. You know, like, you know, you should not be playing a pinball machine in the water. That's just not a good idea. Do not attempt this at home. Yeah, don't do this at home. This is not a good idea. We probably shouldn't have done it, but we did. AJ, your husband is now a parent. And what is your daughter going to think when she sees that? That one? I don't think, I think by the time she sees that photo, that's probably not going to be too surprising for her.

Papa Pinball TV broadcasts occur Monday or Tuesday nights on YouTube with producers including James Coons as main producer

high confidence · John gives special shout-out to James Coons and mentions Jake, Doug, and Lewis helping during his reduced involvement due to newborn

  • “I don't like J.J. Abrams in general. Oh, man. Pretty harsh. I don't. I typically avoid his movies outright.”

    AJ Replogle @ discussing Star Wars filmmakers — Demonstrates AJ's critical stance on directorial approach to storytelling and narrative cohesion

    • organization
    Jake Koljacekperson
    Doug Polkaperson
    James Coonsperson
    Super Orbitgame
    Twilight Zonegame
    Evan Bookbinderperson
    Jeff Teolisperson
    Adam Beckerperson
    Eric Stoneperson
    Josh Sharpperson
    Zach Sharpperson
  • ?

    venue_signal: Pittsburgh pinball infrastructure undergoing modernization with Pinball Dojo replacing aging Papa facility; old facility sold and empty, new facility has concrete loading dock replacing wooden structure

    high · John discusses loss of old south side facility, building new Dojo, and improvement from wooden to concrete loading dock at new Papa facility location

    • 5:18
    One of my favorite things with that photo specifically was like the weekend after they did it. Because they hadn't put it on the Papa Roadshow yet, because Mark was still trying to edit all this stuff together. But the weekend after they did that, my sister sent me a text like early in the morning, being like, this guy looks like John.
    5:35
    She actually saw it on the Reddit thing before we did. So that's how we found out about the photo in the first place. Then I had to let her know, that is John. So then you think your daughter will be fine with that picture, or you think when she grows up. What about when people ask your daughter, hey, was your dad a wrestler? Well, he was. So she'll have to say yes.
    5:58
    All right, give us the details about John as a wrestler. Well, okay. That story is not quite as interesting. I love this story.
    6:11
    Back in my college days. Before we met. Yes, before we met. I did some professional wrestling, and we did it for charity. We did charity wrestling for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And my stage name was Al the Plumber. And I would always show up to the wrestling ring with a large plunger. which invariably I would be beaten with sometime during the match. So I was a stereotypical, the big dumb wrestler that the bad guys would beat up on. You were a jabroni. A jabroni. I thought it was a face. Is that what they call it, a face? Yeah, I never heard of jabroni before. I thought a jabroni was somebody who always, you know, kind of was in there to make someone else look good. Well, yeah, that was sort of my, that was my job. So that would be applicable. And I've been told there's a video somewhere, and we have spent the last 18 years trying to find this video. Or at least I have.
    7:05
    Sometimes it's best to let sleeping wrestling lie. If anybody out there knows where this video is, I want to see it. But we raised money for charity and we had a good time doing it. So it was fun. John, you and I share that in common. We have both grappled in a squared circle in our lifetime. What? Yes. Yours truly was once known as the Red Fury. Oh!
    7:32
    Okay, Red Fury. On Pinball Profile, you're going to have to explain the story of Red Fury, please. Okay, so because I'm in radio, we get to emcee a bunch of different events. And there was this event called the Hardcore Wrestling that was coming to London, Ontario. And they were bringing in the Honky Tonk Man and Jimmy Superfly Snooker and some of these others I think Iron Sheik was even there So some pretty big names Yeah they said do you want to emcee it I said emcee it I want to wrestle in it
    8:03
    So what we did, because it was a talk sports radio station, myself and my buddy Tom, we would go on air and we would have somebody call us. Yes, it was a plant, but I hate to spoil that for people. It was fake. I'm sorry. We had this person call and heckle us and just abuse us and say, look, I'm going to kick the living tar out of you at the hardcore wrestling event. We're like, bring it on. You know where we'll be. Come see us. So we're emceeing. We're announcing all these people that are going to be there. And all of a sudden, this guy stands up and he starts yelling at us. We're like, hey, you got something to say? Come into the ring. He comes in. He starts yapping on the mic. My buddy gives him a elbow across the head. He goes down. I pick him up. give him a body slam, throw him against the ropes, clothesline him, pin him for three count. Piece of cake, right? And you know what? Just ending the heckler right there and then. You think that would be the end of it? We've sent this person in traction. No. A month later, the next hardcore event, a bigger event. I mean, this is huge. And all of a sudden, as we're announcing, we're just ready to announce this time. We just need to announce. But then on the stage comes the heckler, and he's got a neck brace and crutches, and he's there.
    9:18
    he's there to apologize to us. So we said, you know what? Just beat it. And sadly, we turned our backs on him, and he took the crutch, bam, across the back of our heads. We went down. He grabs the mic, says, I want a referee in here. I want to make this official. A ref comes in, and then all of a sudden, he's getting ready to beat us. He says a few words, and then I do like an Undertaker sit-up. and then i beat the living tar out of this guy get ready for three count the ref goes one two and then folds his arms i'm like hey ref what's going on he goes well you know how it is bam he smashes me in the head so the ref knocks me out he pulls his referee shirt off and it says the heckler too oh my goodness my partner and i are just radio announcers these are two professional wrestlers and we're in a steel cage they are beating the tar out of us then thank god out of nowhere a masked person walked into the ring and beat the hecklers with this metal sheet that looked a lot like a cookie sheet bam across the head bam across the head we made got the three count we won We took the mask off, and it was a girl, and she beat them up. It was great. We hiked her up on her shoulders, carried them up the ring. It was awesome, and that was the end of the wrestling career for the Red Fury. You know, so. I see a future cage match here going on, Alva Plummer and Red Fury. Oh, gosh, no. I think my wrestling days are over. Info World Championships. You said something interesting there, Jeff. You said, you know, that it's all fake. and I used to actually take offense to that because people would say, oh, that's just fake. Well, when somebody jumps off the top turnbuckle and lands on you, gravity is a real thing. Like, I took some bumps in wrestling. I remember we did a Royal Rumble one time, and I got clotheslined out of the ring, and I came back and I did a full flip as I was against the ropes, and the guy clotheslined me out. I did a full flip, hit the lower end of the ring with my lower back, And I was literally lying on the ground saying the, you know, we had a safety word that if you were actually injured. And I was lying on the ground down there. I couldn't get up. I was hurt because, you know, so, yeah, it's choreographed. But fake, I never liked the word fake in the script. Unbelievable athletes. I'm not saying I am. But, I mean, ours was obviously schtick. It was really more of a radio promotion than anything else. But, yeah, definitely you have to be in great, great shape for that. And you see some of the injuries that happen in wrestling, whether it's on the local level or obviously the big stage. And they're in great shape, no question about it. So, yes, not fake. They're athletes. Maybe it's scripted, but it certainly involves a lot of physicality. Definitely scripted. No argument with that. We've just lost all of our wrestling fans. Thanks very much. No, no, because actually I remember just watching something recently. They were saying how most people acknowledge that it's scripted, but they watch it for those moments that aren't scripted. Those moments where somebody went too far, and it's live. So, like, if somebody goes too far and somebody else reacts to it, like, those are the moments you're really watching for. So, AJ, John just told us this was in his college days, and before you two met, I thought that was really the thing that was going to bring you together. Was it that, or was it more the musician, the flashback, John? What was it that really brought you two together? I'm trying to figure out what did bring us together. I mean, I remember when I first met him, but that was just, I was at his house. So it wasn't, at the time I met him, his band was actually temporarily suspended because you were looking for a bass player or a drummer. One of the two. We went through a lot of those.
    13:14
    It's tough being in a band, isn't it? I mean, it's tough being in any kind of group where you have to rely on others. Yeah. At that point I was playing in a progressive rock band and we struggled. I mean, we recorded a lot of material. We recorded four albums with that band. It was called Twilight Machine.
    13:34
    Which is why I often call Twilight Zone the pinball machine, sometimes Twilight Machine. I use that phrase a lot. Yeah. And you were in a prog rock band. You're the guy tickling the ivories. That's a major instrument in prog rock. Yeah, I was never. He's amazing, whatever. I was never Kevin Moore, but, you know. Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman. I was no Rick Wakeman either. But I would love to find some good Rick Wakeman capes and wear them on stage because I love those capes. I so love those capes. And the stacks, too. I mean. Oh, gosh.
    14:10
    Just amazing. Well, we get to see you play at Replay FX and Pinberg, I assume and hope that will be, again, the case in 2019. Yeah. Flashback is going to be at Replay FX 2019. I don't know exactly when we'll be scheduled yet, but we're working on putting together the other musical acts right now. And we have some really good returning ones, and we'll have some fresh faces as well. AJ, John, I've talked to many people in the Pittsburgh community and people from outside too, like Bo and Karen's, and the people that volunteer to bring ReplayFX together. I am amazed at how much hard work is put into that before and after. forget the actual four days of the event. I'm talking about the weeks leading up. I'm talking about the teardown and the rebuild afterwards. And I hope it's gratifying for both you two and everyone else at Volunteers because it is such a huge commitment that I hope everybody realizes without these people, this thing just doesn't happen. It's really wonderful when we go take trips and we visit other places. I think we recognize better now what it takes to put on an event. I remember we went to Indisc two years ago, and we just sort of relaxed and had a good time. But we recognized the work that Carl, Jim, and Bob Matthews and others put into putting on a good show. The less that you notice the tournament directors and the scorekeepers at a show, the better run that show is. Yeah. I mean, the more seamless they make it, the more enjoyable the show is, and it's really easy for people to overlook it because of the fact that it is that well managed I think the biggest reward for all the people doing replay effects is seeing people there having a good time enjoying it That the reward. We get to say, okay, we work for this event, but we'll go enjoy other stuff in our life, and we're making something special for other people. I could list all the names involved with it, but there's a lot of people involved with making replay effects happen at this point. A lot of people. People that you don't even normally hear about. Because you've got people who are really running the show that everybody knows, but there's a lot of people supporting those tournament directors and managers and everything else just so that half a dozen people could not run that show by themselves. No, it takes a village. And they recognize that, too. I mean, they're very appreciative of everybody who volunteers with them. But look at last year in 2018. You also had people that flew in and paid hotel rooms to volunteer and assist, whether it's as a tech or a TD or what? I think that really shows how much they like I said, the people managing the show really do appreciate it. Like they know that the show itself is going to be enjoyable and they know that they're going to be they're not just going to be dismissed after doing that much work. Like it's everybody everybody's very open with each other about how much work goes into it and how it just it wouldn't happen if everybody didn't pull together. I feel and hope that people are thanking you all the time. I don't even think I do it enough because it really is incredible that we all get to enjoy that pleasure for the sacrifices that you make. And AJ, for you, even last year, you were super prego. You come up to Toronto to help in the IFPA 15. John's playing in the event, and there you are helping out Denise at Adam Becker's. And there's just another example of, you know, you've got other things to do. But, no, there you are helping out another great tournament. Except I was there, and, you know, I don't mind helping out. I don't see it as work. It's just part of being there. Well, there aren't a lot of people like you, and God bless the people that are like you for doing that, because some people do take it for granted, and I wish that wasn't the case, which brings me to my next question to both of you. What are some of the things you'd like to see continue in 2019 and maybe some of the things you'd like to see change this year? Oh, I think we have one big thing that we'd like to see at every pinball event from here on out. You want to? Daycare, so we can both play at the same time. Pinball daycare.
    18:25
    Daycare, that is a good idea. I think of all the people that are probably going to miss a few pinball tournaments because they have a newborn. And Josh Sharp, Zach Sharp, those are two of the people that have newborns. And certainly you're in that boat as well, too. Life gets in the way, and daycare would be great. But didn't you once tell me, AJ, I think it was at Louisville, you said, yeah, daycare would be great, but do you really want some of these pinball people volunteering for daycare? Good point. Good point.
    18:57
    I don't know. So I think we have a wonderful community in the pinball group overall, and I think we'd have plenty of people that we'd be happy to have watching our child, as long as he's hand sanitized after touching the machine. Yeah, hand sanitized to the elbows. There you go. It is tough to get out and play, John, I would imagine, for both of you. And it seems, John, when you do get out, you make it count because you're still one of the greatest players in the world, in the top 50. and I know you'd be a lot higher too if you played at Pinberg, for example, and some of these other events, but you do make it count. You almost won the Pennsylvania championship, which is top three hardest to win. You came up second to Alexander Kazmarchuk, who is a fantastic young player. Alexander kicked absolute butt this year at the state championships. I cannot say enough good things. He went through, I don't know, I'm trying to remember what his first record was. I know he beat DJ, he beat Chris, he beat Nathaniel. Nathaniel, DJ, Chris, and then me. That's a gauntlet. DJ was playing like some sort of monster at the event. So DJ got knocked out what I would call before his destined time on that day. And then Alexander beat Chris more convincingly. And I played even fairly well in the finals against Alexander. And he rolled right over me. He rolled right over me, and it was awesome to see. He's great, but if he doesn't go to Vegas, that means you would be going. Well, I'm thinking about doing it if he decides not to go. I would love to make the trip out to Vegas just because I've never been to Las Vegas myself, and I hear it's actually a little warmer than in Pennsylvania. Definitely. Oh, yeah, for sure. It's a good time. I'm looking forward to that trip as well. I have to take out Adam Becker between now and then. I've got to saw him off at the knees. Did I say that out loud? I probably should edit that out. You know, I have a chainsaw that I keep down in my basement. I could send it up to Ontario. No, no, don't. No, come on. That's ridiculous. Don't do that. Bring it. The golden chainsaw. Do it. Do it now.
    21:08
    Speaking of violence, what is this Pinberg Fight Club? Are we allowed to talk about that? Are we allowed to talk about Fight Club? What is the big fight club that happens in Pittsburgh? Well, the first rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. I know. Fight Club, at one point, it actually was a very secretive thing. When we first started Pinberg, we needed to test all those machines. But we were afraid of the backlash we would get for testing all those machines. And so we'd have groups of people who would come up, and we called it Fight Club at that point because you weren't supposed to talk about it. But those machines needed to be tested before the tournament. That criticism bothers me, and I've heard that in other places too. You have to test the machines. Yeah. Once you move the machine, it's not the same machine anymore, too. It doesn't matter. You still have to test them. You're getting a machine ready for hundreds of people. No worries about that at all. Yeah, so Fight Club is now run by Doug Polka. Doug runs a series of tournaments that are for the primary purpose of testing all the Pinberg machines, and they have to be played. We have to find the problems, and every year there's problems. So the only way to make sure the tournament runs smoothly for everybody once we get it to the convention center is to test it. And we make it fun for people by having a little tournament match play involved in doing that testing. AJ, speaking of playing games, I remember you telling me a story about some of the games that you had at your home that John may have purchased at a church bazaar or something like that. and you were in love with the games and you kept kind of beating John on one and John wanted to sell one. Is that still the case or what was that story all about? Yeah, we still have Super Orbit. It's going to take a long time for Super Orbit to be removed from our collection because I do fairly well on that game. It's a great game. Are you ripping the spinner? Are you going for the very target? Or are you doing the Greg DeFeo method and getting it up to the pops? I normally do spinner to pops. Spinner to pops. I don't trust the very target. Just the reject on it? Is that what you're concerned about? A couple things. Very targets sometimes get stuck, so then you don't even get the points for hitting it. There's, of course, the fact that when it rejects, it could go straight down the middle. If you hit the post on that, it could bounce to the out lane, like just continue that arc. It's a lot less safe, whereas shooting the spinner takes it up to the upper play field, and then it's not going to drain while it's up there. It's such a great game. It's one of those intense games. It reminds me not the play field but just the intensity of a game like Stars too where you can just have a great game or just brick and see you later I love Super Orbit Oh, yeah. When I walk up to it, I always introduce it. I make it remember that this is the rep logo it likes. Yeah.
    24:03
    That game was actually, I managed to pick that up for $100 quite a few years ago. Wow. At a church yard sale. That game has cost me way more than $100 over the years because I've lost quite a few tournaments. We've taken it out to tournaments and stuff, and it always chooses the most improper time to hand me my hat. Sounds like you've lost a little more than money, a little pride, too, maybe in your own household. Well, I have no pride about being beaten up by my wife. On the machines.
    24:39
    Well, I know we're going to be seeing you, ReplayFX and Pinberg, and also the things you do on Papa Pinball TV. That also is another example of a lot of work put forward by a lot of different people to bring us great entertainment in the form of videos and tutorials. Yeah. I'd like to actually give a special shout-out for a guy who's been doing a lot of work for the Papa TV broadcast, and that's James Coons. James is the main producer of our main producer roles, and he organizes a lot of the stuff. he is not by any means the only person doing that but he's done an amazing amount of work and i haven't been able to be as involved in recent months here you know because of the whole act of having a child so there's been quite a few people who have taken up the slack jake and him and of course doug and and lewis and i can't even mention all the people because i know i will forget some so thank you to all of them because they're keeping the dream alive yes thank you to all of them it's definitely enjoyable to watch pop a pinball on youtube and james i've worked with for the last couple of years at replay fx and pinberg and uh just gets better every year it's uh you got a real pro team there that's for sure yeah yeah pop a pinball you can watch on youtube whether it's on monday nights or tuesday nights it's great to see the variety of people that certainly show up and again the variety of games as well too so uh those have been a lot of go-tos before I actually play some of these games. I check on Papa Pinball on YouTube and get some great information. So thanks for that work, for sure. The last time we saw any action at the old Papa facility, which is now empty and sold and gone, all the machines are gone, was last year's PPO, which was a nice surprise to see people there. And John, in typical fashion, made the final four. So that had to be nice, especially at that facility for you. Oh yeah, that was wonderful to be able to play fairly well on the final. Eric Stone beat me in the finals, but I mean, there was lots of good players there and I could have gone out at any time during that tournament. And I just enjoyed having, being able to play one final event there before it went away. But in that same breath, you have to be happy to see in one way, the facility now in a different place, because as you know, the old facility didn't have a loading dock and you were the loading dock. Well, for quite a few years we built a wooden loading dock to make sure the stuff could get out onto the big trucks to get to replay effects and yeah I'm very happy to see that we actually have a regular concrete loading dock now although I gotta say I'm I was very attached to that old building and there was lots of work done to make that a wonderful pinball facility by many people and I don't know I'm gonna miss it I won't miss the threat of flooding and I won't miss the lack of the loading dock but beyond that i will definitely miss it or the parking yeah i mean the parking was rough or the dilapidated building hey interestingly enough the dilapidated building across the street is being torn down right now or is already torn down i should say wow a little too late that's right we look forward to things here in 2019 with the replogle family and all that you do And AJ, 2019 is another year for another Star Wars movie. You and I are big Star Wars fans. And what do you think about Episode IX coming out? Are you excited for it? Are you disappointed after The Last Jedi? Give me some Star Wars stuff here. I actually, I didn't mind The Last Jedi too much. I'm not looking forward to a CGI Leia. I will say that. Because I don't figure they have to do that. I mean, Carrie Fisher and everything, but... Do you want to know what they're doing? No, I've actually really avoided any information about it. Then I won't tell you.
    28:45
    I just rather have the total surprise. I haven't watched any trailers. I've managed to keep myself kind of sheltered from all the other ones before seeing them, just so that I do have that kind of moment of enjoying it for what it is in the moment, not wondering, oh, well, when is this going to happen? Yeah, good for you. I'm like a kid at Christmas, wanting to peek around the corner. or where are the gifts and stuff, which is terrible because it's so much better when you're just surprised. So I think it'll be great, too. I love what J.J. Abrams did with The Force Awakens.
    29:19
    I'm not a J.J. Abrams fan, though. No? Why? No. Okay, so I will say J.J. Abrams does really well at the concept of, like, throwing things against the wall and seeing what sticks. But tying those pieces together to make a conclusive ending is not something I've ever seen in any of the stuff that he's done. Like Lost, which was terrible? I don't know. Yes. I love the beginning of Lost. Yeah. I just don't. I'm very afraid of. I don't like J.J. Abrams in general. Oh, man. Pretty harsh. I don't. I typically avoid his movies outright. Wow. Yeah. All right. We'll see. I mean, I can't avoid this one, but I'm prepared to be disappointed. I'll put it that way. I think a few people are after the last couple of movies. See, I enjoyed Solo. I thought it was fun. I mean, certainly he's no Harrison Ford, but... I thought Solo was great. Yeah, it was fun. I liked it. Star Wars, they're supposed to be fun movies. Yes. It's not David Lynch. You know, it's not supposed to be.
    30:22
    That's true. Oh, David Lynch directing Star Wars. That would be interesting. No, I was in Kubrick. I was having Kubrick do Star Wars.
    30:30
    I heard Quentin Tarantino might do the next Star Trek movie. Star Trek 5, like someone else doing number 4, but he's going to do 5. What do you think of that? I don't think there's ever been that much blood in any Star Trek movie. That would be scary. Just the dialogues. I just kind of think like the violence. Like Star Trek movies are not generally violent. I would enjoy watching that from just a curiosity perspective more than anything.
    30:57
    It'd be like Khan, who's a vampire. Yes, yes, yes. I think the subtitle of the movie might be There Will Be Green Blood Hey thanks very much all the best to you too and Nellie as well and I look forward to seeing you both soon Thanks a lot Jeff Thanks for having us on Thanks great to be here This has been your Pinball Profile you can find our group on Facebook we're also on Twitter at Pinball Profile email us pinballprofile at gmail.com and please subscribe on either iTunes, Stitcher or Google Play I'm Jeff Teolis © transcript Emily Beynon