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SDTM: a pinball Show Episode 11: Top 10 Backglasses

Straight Down the Middle·video·31m 28s·analyzed·Apr 11, 2017
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.027

TL;DR

Top 10 pinball backglasses ranked by visual impact and artistic quality.

Summary

Zach Sharpe and Greg from Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show rank their top 10 pinball backglasses (translites), emphasizing overall visual impact, artistic quality, and how well they draw players in. The list spans eras from classic Gottlieb and Bally machines to modern games, with selections based on color, composition, storytelling, and how the backglass makes viewers want to own the machine. The hosts debate inclusion criteria, discuss honorable mentions, and acknowledge the subjective nature of rating artwork across thousands of pinball machines.

Key Claims

  • Medieval Madness backglass is extremely busy with many layered details including dragon, ogres, water elements, skulls, fires, and lizards.

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe describing Medieval Madness at #10

  • Paragon is not a mirrored backglass, just a regular 1980s Bally backglass

    medium confidence · Greg discussing Paragon at #9

  • X-Men Magneto Limited Edition only had 250 units produced

    low confidence · Greg stating production number for X-Men Magneto LE at #7

  • Spirit backglass is an Alvin Gottlieb design with minimal art elements—primarily just a face with a spinning disc behind it

    high confidence · Both hosts discussing Spirit at #6

  • Haunted House backglass uses a unique green color that is neither too lime nor too dark, creating an eerie atmosphere

    high confidence · Greg and Zach discussing Haunted House at #2

  • Fathom backglass was seen at Louisville Pinball Expo and stood out as one of the prettiest machines there

    high confidence · Both hosts discussing Fathom at #1

  • Elvira's House of Horrors original is a translite, but CPR makes a backglass version that looks even better

    medium confidence · Zach Sharpe discussing Elvira at #3

  • Black Hole and Spirit are similar in that they're not overly mesmerizing in traditional art but rely on spinning discs and LED effects

    medium confidence · Greg arguing against Black Hole inclusion versus Spirit

Notable Quotes

  • “It is like one of the busiest back glasses that you'll ever see.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 4:00 — Describing the detail complexity of Medieval Madness backglass

  • “This is a back glass, Greg, that makes me want to buy this game... It's one of the things that would pull me in.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 6:49 — Core philosophy: backglass art alone can drive purchase decisions

  • “For me, if I'm going to own an 80s game, it's going to be purely for aesthetic reasons.”

    Greg@ 9:26 — Reveals motivation for older game collecting—art over gameplay

  • “It stands out to me. Every time I see that in a lineup, I go for it. I look at it and I pay attention. It's so freaking good.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 11:36 — X-Men Magneto LE consistently catches eye among other machines

  • “Without that back glass, I think I would have walked by that... I would have thought, man, 80s. And it's an odd laid out game.”

    Greg@ 13:36 — Spirit backglass elevates perception of entire machine despite weak layout

  • “It's not as lime as a Ghostbusters, but it's not as green as something else. It is a nice in-between green.”

    Zach Sharpe@ 20:31 — Specific color analysis driving Haunted House to #2

  • “I don't think there was a prettier machine at Pinball Expo this year at all. That or spirit.”

Entities

Zach SharpepersonGregpersonStraight Down the Middle: a pinball showorganizationMedieval MadnessgameParagongameStargazergameX-Men Magneto Limited EditiongameSpiritgame

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Hosts explicitly invite viewer participation (Paragon tattoo challenge, Spirit video requests, honorable mention feedback on social media)

    high · Send it to us on Facebook, Send some shit to this guy, If you've got a video send it to us

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinside Top 100 referenced as significant community benchmark for game quality and popularity

    medium · Medieval Madness is Pinside's favorite game. And with due reason because the art is fantastic

  • ?

    competitive_signal: Pinball Expo as significant event for evaluating machines in person, influencing critical rankings and community perception

    medium · we went to the Louisville Pinball Expo and we fell in love... one of the things that I think pushed it over the top for us was seeing that in person

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Backglass art can be the primary or sole driver of machine purchase and ownership; gameplay secondary for collectors of older machines

    high · For me, if I'm going to own an 80s game, it's going to be purely for aesthetic reasons... I only want this pin because of the back glass

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: X-Men Magneto LE perception elevated through repeated visibility; initially overlooked but now stands out consistently

    medium · Every time that I'm scrolling through for sale... it stands out to me. The Wolverine one... I passed it by

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.094

0:00
Hey what's happening everybody it's Zach with Straight Down the Middle. This here's my buddy Greg and this week we're going to do some top 10s again. You ready for some top 10s? Ready for some more top 10s. Hell yeah. So this week we are going to do, what are we going to do this week? Top 10 And back glass. Back glasses. Some people's favorite part of the machine. It draws you in from a marketing standpoint. It does draw you in. You see a pretty back glass, like right now, you're looking at back glass. Well, trans lights. But for the sake of what we're doing a top ten for this week, is we're doing back glasses, trans lights. Yeah. And we were thinking about it and we thought, does this mean the quality of the work? Does this mean mirrored back glass? Does this mean the artistry on it? Does this mean the LEDs behind the back glass? What the hell? How are you going to rate a top ten trains light back glass? So we kind of came up with an agreement that it's an overall. Yeah, the back glass is the sort of draw you in the most. What stands out every time you walk into an arcade or somebody's room with a bunch of pens in somebody's collection? What back glass stands out every time you're there? I know which one. Oh, yeah. But you disagreed with me.
1:26
You know. It kind of knocked that down a little bit on this one. It was a little rough. This was a hard one. They're all hard lists. We've said it. Mods was really hard. Ten of anything is really tough. It is really tough. Pinball, how many machines are there? There's thousands. Yeah, yeah. Especially art. I mean, art is a big thing. Pinball, it's art itself. I mean, that was a huge thing back in the day. I mean, that's what made pins sort of what pins were. They cranked out art like crazy. Some stuff turned out great. Some stuff turned out bad. But a lot of people took a lot of time, man. some crazy vivid imaginations, especially in some of those 80s pens. Oh, that's right. You know, it's fantastic. So what we try to do is we try to integrate everything there is about a back glass or a trans light. So for some of our picks, it's not going to have mirrored back glass, and it's not going to be an 80s pen. But then for some of our picks, it will be. Or some of our picks will like one thing that is so strong that it just overrode everything else. So I made a list. Greg made a list. We discussed. We edited. We yelled at one another. I made fun of him for picking some of the shit he was picking. And some of these you're really going to probably disagree with until you maybe think about what we're talking about, about how it draws you in. Because there were some of them that we just could not believe honestly within ourselves that ranked so high just because, again, it was based on we started talking about what drew you in. What back glasses always stand out in your head and draws you to that pin? And again, some of them were kind of unexpected and they kind of jumped up a few notches. So with that being said, let's hit the top ten list of bad glasses and trans light and pinball. All right. Number ten, Greg. This was not on my original list. No. But you talked me into it. Yeah.

Zach Sharpe@ 22:49 — Fathom deemed among best-looking machines at major event

  • “It takes a theme that you don't see in pinball. The underwater theme. You don't see a lot of underwater pins.”

    Greg@ 23:52 — Fathom's unique theme positioning as key differentiator for #1 ranking

    • Genie
    game
    Xenongame
    Elvira's House of Horrorsgame
    Haunted Housegame
    Fathomgame
    Louisville Pinball Expoevent
    John Papadukeperson
    Alvin Gottliebperson
    Black Holegame
    Sorcerergame
    Sea Witchgame
    Black Knight 2000game
    3:09
    Go ahead and say what it is. All right. Number ten is medieval madness. A trans light. Yes. And the argument that I gave Zach was I said, focus on it. I said, it somewhat draws you in. Now, this one draws me in a little less than others. But I was like, this is one that if you really look at it, man, there's a lot going on. I mean, there's a ton going on. And it's a pretty dynamic, manly, like powerful. It does draw you in. You've got, as you guys are seeing in the pics I'll throw up for you guys, there's just, like Greg was saying, if you look really closely at different things, there's so many different stories you can tell with this. You've got the dragon. You've got the ogres behind him. You have, as I'm looking tighter on my computer here, like even in the water, there's stuff going on in the water. There's stuff everywhere. There's skulls embedded into the castle. There's fires. There's a damn lizard. It is like one of the busiest back glasses that you'll ever see. And I think. And the guy just looks badass. It's just like raw testosterone coming out of the castle.
    4:11
    You get a little too much raw testosterone here. Okay. That's powerful. Check this guy for some HGH. Is that what it's called? Right here.
    4:24
    Jose Canseco over here. Okay, so Medieval Madness number 10. It's a lot of people's favorite game. Pinside's favorite game. And with due reason because the art is fantastic on it. It looks beautiful. And it does bring you in and remind you really even looking at the translate how great that game is. And how fun. It's a fun art. It's a fun game. So let's move on to number nine. Number nine, what do we got, Greg? Paragon.
    4:52
    Paragon. You guys are probably thinking right now, these jackasses put Paragon number nine? What is going to be 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1? It's another one of those argument things. I had to kind of talk Zach down a little bit. Yeah, I had this thing up in the top five at least, I think. And the only reason, I'll be honest, the only thing that kind of killed it with me, because it is fantastic, but it just kind of wasn't. Just not the sort of thing I'm into. You kept saying it's just not, it's beautiful art, but it's not something that I would necessarily want in my basement or just representing my game room kind of thing. Yeah, I mean, it looks like a badass tattoo. I mean, which I'm not against, but it's just not a tattoo or something like I would get. I don't know. I hope that somebody out there has, if somebody's got a Paragon tattoo, that would be the most badass thing ever. Send it to us on Facebook. Oh, especially the chick. Like, all right, so let's talk about the actual artwork. So I don't know enough about the story of Paragon. I don't know if it is a mythical creature. It looks mythical, yeah. I don't know what the hell it is. It looks like a line to me with some eagle's wings and a badass guy on top that's – and they're getting ready to either – I don't know. I think he's saving her from the tiger. The tiger's trying to – The tiger's going to get the chick, and he's slaying the – I don't know. It's pretty bad, but I mean. The chick is – We might have – She is very nice. We might have – She's very nice on it. She is very nice. Just the posing and the colors and even the lighting on it. And they even throw in red in the background. They throw a little green in the wings just to make it pop a little bit.
    6:25
    This is one of my favorite back glasses ever. Now, what would have put it over the top? I don't believe this was a mirrored back glass. I think this is just a regular back glass, 80s typical ballet back glass. Man, if that had some mirror to it, that would probably make it. Put it over the top. But just the still shot tells such a damn story. It's a good story. Again, we've talked about this with mods. Mods that make you want to buy the game. This is a back glass, Greg, that makes me want to buy this game. Yeah. Just because I want to see it out in my game room. It's one of the things that would pull me in. Still, it's not my theme thing. It's kind of like fish tails. People love fish tails. It's great art. I love fishing, but I just... I hate fishing, but I like the art. I can't stand fish tails. I can't stand it. So, overall, Paragon is freaking awesome. Hold up. Before we move on, I'm looking at the computer. Where's the freaking lizard tail coming from? Is that that beast too? Yeah, it's his tail. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I've seen that before. I wish we knew more about the mythology. We should have looked it up. Yeah. Okay, so now we're going to move on to number eight. You know what I was going to do, to be fair? I was about to make a crack at your mother-in-law or something.
    7:33
    I didn't do that. I would have given you that. I didn't. Did she watch the video? I don't know. I didn't do it because I was like, yeah, it might be going a little bit over the top. Well, about viewers. Okay.
    7:43
    All right, so what are we on now? The next one is your baby, right? Yes I a baby I mean It is your baby It pulls me to it I argued with it You didn even really think about this one did you until I brought it up It was on my It fell short of my top ten But once you started talking about it, it needs to be in the top ten. It's really... It's beautiful. So, at number eight, we have Stargazer. A lot of people are saying, woohoo! The underrated... I think it's a Stern game. Old, older game. But what do you love about it? Her! No, you don't love her? She's just gorgeous. She's good and thick. What man doesn't like a nice, thick woman? Look at her. Like, she's gorgeous. I mean, beautiful. She's got her tapestries, all the colorful tapestries that looks good on the pinball machine. It is. It's a rainbow color. Zach can argue. He said there's not enough going on. He didn't feel necessarily. There's some dark parts in it that kind of, you know. Yeah, but I mean, her, she's just, she's kind of dominant and just. She pulls you in. Yes, and even her eyes, like the look. The eyes. If you guys haven't seen it, look this up. Yeah, it's a very – the gaze that she's given. And that's all you need is her. I like – what I do like about this, my favorite part of this back glass, I guess it's a chick, whatever, but it's the swords. The swords that are down beside her because the artist, it almost looks like they drew it in a way that looks reflective. Yeah. And I don't think it's a – if it is, we're rookies. I'm sorry. But it's reflecting all the colors off of her, off of the drapes that are rolling over her hair and everything. Now, if I were to buy a Stargazer, half of the reason would be because of the back. Oh, yeah. Easily. You know what? I'm at a point where I love newer stuff so much, and I'm not ripping on anybody that likes the older games. I like playing them at a buddy's house and drinking some beer. But for me, if I'm going to own an 80s game, it's going to be purely for aesthetic reasons. I know you like some of the EMs and stuff like that. I just don't get into them at all. Like a Black Pyramid. Zach hates Black Pyramid. But I've been looking for a Black Pyramid. And the art's not overly fantastic about it, but it's neat. It's kind of got that Indiana Jones type feel to it in a way. Buy an Indiana Jones. I can't afford one. Oh, shut up. It's so expensive, but it's beautiful. And that's why, like Black Pyramid, if you LED that right, it is gorgeous. And it's not about the gameplay. It's because I just literally want to sit in my basement with an art piece. I think this is the second time you've brought up Black Pyramid.
    10:04
    I'm set on games, certain games and stuff I'm set on. I swear to God, if he talks about Lethal Weapon, it's not happening. That's ugly. What did you pick in our top ten? I was like, what the hell are you thinking? It was something stupid. Oh, my gosh. What was it? I'll think of it. It'll come to me while we're running through. We both had a couple stupid ones. He had to tell me, like, dude, no, come on. Come on. Whatever it was, I remember it being good. It was good. Last action here was great.
    10:30
    Arnold's face right there. Mangled Arnold. All right, so let's move to numero seven. All right, number seven was kind of my, I was pushing for. Yeah. It is the only real modern game that we have on the list.
    10:44
    Sorry to spoiler alert. And it's a game that not a lot of people pay attention to very much. No, they don't like it. It's a game that I think they only made $250 of. And that game is X-Men Magneto Limited Edition. Yes. This thing, oh my God. The mirror work on this, just where they put the mirrors, and with the electrocution, it fits the reflective mirror so much, the colors of purple, blues, reds, and that graphite, that steel feel to it. Yes, and this is one of the ones that Zach had that I didn't think about. And then I was like, you know what, man? That is a game that literally every time that I'm scrolling through games for sale or something, it stands out to me. The Wolverine one, it does not stand out to me. It's okay. I passed by it. But the Magneto, just the colors alone, it draws me in. And I was like, you know what? I will agree with you on that one. To put it on there because it's a pin that pulls me in. Every time I see that in a lineup, I go for it. I look at it and I pay attention. It's so freaking pretty. I was just at a guy's house.
    11:45
    Well, you guys seen it. Tom's house. And he had one there. And it was next to Lord of the Rings. What was it next to? Ghostbusters Premium. White Water.
    11:57
    It wasn't even close. Yeah. It wasn't even close. It was gorgeous. Damn, look at that thing. In any comic book art, man, I love a comic book art. That's true. So hopefully you guys agree with that. I'm big into that. Some of the newer stuff, Translight stuff, Photoshop stuff is crap. I'm with you. But this X-Men Magneto Limited Edition, boy, oh, boy, it's hard to top that as a backlash. I agree. All right, let's move on to, oh, this is my, no. I love it. Oh, this is, yeah. This is me. This is one that kind of we went to the Louisville Spinball Expo. and we fell in love. It was the most beautiful example I'd ever seen. It was like almost, I'd say it was fully restored. It was fully restored. I think, somebody was telling me, I think it was Cleveland Pinball or Cincinnati Pinball. I think it's Cincinnati Pinball, the group that bought it or brought it down. Yeah, I think almost that whole row of pins was with Cincinnati area. So is this our only Gottlieb? No, it's not. No. There's one more. There is one more. So we're, spirit, not the spirit yeah just spirit and this is a thing there's not a lot of art to it there's not a lot it's a face it's just a face a man with no face yeah with a spinning disc behind it but damn is it mesmerizing it is awesome yeah I mean it literally pulls you in especially if it's LED correctly and the colors that one at Expo I wish that somebody if somebody sent us a video or sent us a picture so we can post it because that thing that was nuts Yeah, it don't matter what pin that was next to it. It's going to stand out. You literally would just stand there and you just – Yeah. You just stand there. Without that back glass, I think I would have walked by that. You would have, yeah. You would have – nobody would have cared. I would have thought, man, 80s. And it's an odd laid out game, back glass aside. It's just – Didn't it make you like it though? Yes, I loved it. Chelsea – my wife loved it, man. I think it's a cool layout game too. Yeah, it is. But, man, it's just – it's really wicked. It's a neat thing. And those things are freaking rare. You can't find them. They're expensive. Yeah, you can't find them. Especially not in that shape. It was so pretty. It was. So yeah, check that out. Somebody look it up if you haven't seen it. Find a video of it. A picture doesn't do any justice. You've got to find a video of it. If you've got a video, send it to us. We'd love to disperse it and show everybody else. Yeah. But at number six is Spirit. Yeah. Okay. One of the only good Gottliebs. No, you like Gottliebs. I like... No, just Stargate. Freddy's Nightmare. No, that's okay.
    14:27
    Stargate, though. I like Stargate. Sturgate. Sturgate's fantastic. It was a good movie, too. Actually, it's not bad. No, it's okay. Number five. Oh, crap. I think, what'd you want this, number one? This is my number one favorite. I couldn't do it. Backglass. I couldn't do it. But with his not even ranking the damn thing, it kind of fell right in the middle at number five. But without a doubt, the greatest backglass of all time, not on our list, but on our list, number five, is, it's a freaking godly two, isn't it? No, we got two more. We had two more. Yeah, because the other one. Yeah. Is that now? No, that one's not. All right. Sorry. Zach, you're stalling. Number five is freaking genie. Genie is the most beautiful. No. Beautiful. No, it's not. It does nothing for me. I'm like trying to look at the camera, but I'm being mesmerized by the genie coming out of the bottle there and the wizard. I just can't get it. I like wizards and boobs. I just can't get into it. Those are two strong things. It is. I mean, in theory, it's fantastic. No, in actuality. Look at that, and I just can't. It's not a... And it's even got side chick. Wizard side chick. Something's unbalanced that just doesn't pull me in. It something that doesn grab me like some of the other games Because our number two I think some people are going to call us crazy but the thing pulls me in This just doesn do that Again this back glass I don't know, even the play field art on this thing. This thing's a work of art. I like the play field art a little better. But, I mean, you have to wait at least 30 seconds for the ball to get to the flipper. But once you hit it and you wait again. But, man, I love this thing. I want this fully restored, set up, and I probably wouldn't even let people play it. I'd be like, no, it's not fun. Don't play it. It just looks good. Zach's dreams were crushed when I knocked that pin down. Oh, man. They were crushed. He was so upset on it. You guys, hey, send some shit to this guy for saying Genie doesn't belong in the top ten. Or send some shit to me, but you all are wrong. Genie is awesome. I'm curious on how many people are going to take your side. What? No. All right, check out Genie. You guys see the pictures right now, and you guys are drooling right now. I know it. No, you're not. You're making fun of me. That's not cool. So? Number four. This was an odd one for me. It was pretty high up for both of us. Yeah, we both agree, but it's odd. It's so weird. So at number four. Xenon.
    16:45
    Xenon, yeah. What do you think about it? I mean, what is she? A robot? An alien robot? Like, what is... Is she not? Is she attractive? Is she not? Because she's a robot? Her lip's kind of hot. Yeah, like, what is it? And what's she doing? Yeah, the best thing about this is the actual glass itself. The LEDs that almost make it stereotypical. Or 3D. Yeah. Kind of 3D. And then her, just big mug right in the middle. And you don't know what the hell she is. But it's like you said, it's somewhat attractive and beautiful. And you're like, I like it, but I don't know why. I feel like a weirdo. Yeah, I'm like, what is it about this? But it's another one of those things. It just, your eye goes to it. You guys love some Xenon, don't you? The gameplay's pretty fun on Xenon. I wouldn't mind having one at some point. But that Magglass, man. God, it's pretty. Oh, I love it. So now the number three. I love this one. Oh, man, I love this one. I'm surprised this one wasn't our number one. Oh, man. I think the reason it wasn't is because it is a Translight. While we didn't care about it entering into our top ten, at the end of the day, you can't have a Translight as the top ten. And it's really good art, but it's not overwhelmingly good art. I think it was maybe one of the best arts ever on a backblaster. Yeah, but it's not overwhelming. It's not this... So cool. I don't know how to explain what it is tell them Greg what it is tell them what number three is Elvira and the Party Monster oh man you guys love that one who doesn't love Elvira I love Elvira she oh my god especially if you grew up in the 80s yeah she's old enough to be my grandma but she's still attractive to this well Elvira the character doesn't probably doesn't age or she's probably like 500 or something what's she a vampire what the hell is she I don't know a ghoul the woman of what is it the woman of darkness yeah or something yeah but I mean you know it's hot I mean you get Elvira it's so cool I love all the universal monsters you've got Dracula and you've got Frankenstein you've got Werewolf you've got the headless guy and this is another one of those back glasses with the art that it tells a story in every little piece you look at like it's busy she's holding a hot dog like how great is that how do you not like a woman holding a hot dog come on freaking hot dog yeah the hot dog I'm trying to think. Let's see what else. She's got all kinds of foods and stuff.
    19:09
    Every piece of that art is packed with something. It's like what we're doing now. It makes you get up close to it and stare at it. Yeah, it's like, what is that now? But over here, what is this? Here's what makes this so beautiful. Even the little intricacies where the scores are, it has the gates that go up right in between. And I think that CPR makes Elvira into a back glass for you. I think the original is a Translight. I hope I'm not wrong. I think the original is a Translight, but they will do a back glass. And I heard those look even better. Oh, I guarantee you. Elvira. So good. It's our girl, isn't it? I love her. Yeah. So, moving on to number two. And I think this one is going to be the one that kind of surprises people, maybe. I love it. But it stands out to me more than any pen that I've ever seen. I only, honestly. Another guy like. No lie. I only want this pen because of the back glass. No, that's not fair. I like the gameplay for an old game. It's not bad. Okay. It's different. Number two. Haunted House. Oh, yeah.
    20:14
    So, I mean, what stands out? I mean, why? You know what stands out to me? The time that they took and the colors that they used. They used a green, like a sky, which is eerie. It's a green, like you don't see that green in pins. Yeah. You've never seen it before. I think that's one thing that stands out. It's not as lime as a Ghostbusters, but it's not as green as something else. It is a nice in-between green. Then you've got that dark blue that shows that it's nighttime. It's like a tombstone. Yeah, they're not a neon color, but it's something that's just vibrant and bold. But the best thing about this is that blood red logo, Haunted House, right in the middle. I mean, that font itself is just terrific. And then the Gottlieb guys on the backlash, you take it off. Each room is segregated. Like separators in between there. Yeah, so that you can keep the light in that particular room in the house itself. So you have like a ghoulish woman out the front door, and then you've got a headless person. Well, it doesn't cause the house to wash out either. So when you light the windows, it doesn't wash the darkness of the house or mess up any of the other colors. It's totally two-dimensional, but it feels real. It does. It feels like you're really seeing it in the distance. And again, I don't know if it's just the colors alone, just this cool, creepy house. It feels great when you're looking at it. It just draws you in. And you know, another thing that sort of has that green that will draw your eye in too is that Ulrich package on the shadow. It sort of has that same color scheme. Yeah, that's true. Almost. It'll sort of... Now this, what this is, because it's a back glass, the colors are richer and they're deeper Yes. And your trans lights kind of washed out feeling. Yes, I agree. So, haunted house. I mean, put that bad boy up on your wall. Yeah. And stick some lights behind it because, wow. That's gorgeous. That's number two for a reason, my friend. Yes, it is. This is our top ten. That thing is number two. I'd almost went number one, but number one's too pretty. Number one's beautiful. It's just gorgeous. It stands out and you just stare at it. And again, colors. Mesmerizing. That's right. So, when you guys are thinking about number one, you're probably like, hey, dipshits. It's pure gone. or what other ones you know what we left off we'll talk about that in a minute but you're going to think about this one as number one for us was Fathom Bally's Fathom and another thing it was in that same lineup with Spirit at Expo and that's one of the things that I think pushed it over the top for us was seeing that in person and seeing how gorgeous that thing was lit up it stood out beyond I think I don't think there was a prettier machine at Expo this year at all. That or spirit. Yeah, and again, it was the colors. It's the blues, the greens. It's just the story it tells. I mean, these mermaids are taking the, are they taking him down? Well, they're not even like mermaids. They're not even like a full mermaid. They're almost like an, not a sea snake, but they've got fins. Yeah, but it's like a long tail, almost like a serpentine. Yes, yes, very much so. Oh, man, it is just so. And there's boobs. Yeah, I always do.
    23:21
    But they're gorgeous. You know what's funny? We're not even those guys. No, we're not those guys. But we're still guys. But it's fun to say boob. Okay. So are they drawing him down underwater Yeah they going to kill him You think they kill him Yeah he struggling They not saving him They might not be killing him What they might be doing is taking him underwater I don't know. I don't know if they're killing him, buddy. Could have gotten any creeper. I don't know. And there's fish. What I do love about this, one of my favorite things about this, making it number one, is that it takes a theme that you don't see in pinball. The underwater theme. You don't see a lot of ocean. Which I would love to see in a pinball machine. I would freaking love to see an underwater coral. Our big thing is like an octopus. Yeah. Just a killer octopus. Something like that. Like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea or something. I'm not a huge fan of that. Like Captain Nemo and different things like that. But this back glass is awesome. And, again, attention to detail. If you look at this back glass, again, I'll show a picture. But look up to your left, top left corner. You see his boat, the bottom of his boat. And it tells that story. Like, did he fall in? Did they come and pull him under? Why isn't he wearing a shirt? I don't think he's wearing a shirt. No. He's got a scuba tank on and a couple things. He's got a fed. Why are his shorts that short? It was the time period. Maybe he's European. So he was underwater. He's got his little flippers on. Or did he know of these women being in here? I don't think he did. He's like, I'm into lizard snake women. I wouldn't mind being taken by them. I'd go out on a boat. You'd go out on a boat? I'd go out on a boat. That's his number one fathom. It's so awesome. So we can't do a top 10 list without talking about some honorable mentions. Yeah, because there's so many. Yeah, there's a couple of them that I just wanted to scream at Greg. I didn't get that loud with him, did I? No. I wanted to. But we argued for a long time. Okay. He would not allow me to put Black Hole in the top 10. I don't do it. I mean, it's a neat – but there's just – It's one of the best ever. They don't beat Spirit. I mean, they're sort of in the same thing in a way. They're both not, like, overly mesmerizing in art. but their name but and the spinning disc and the LEDs behind it and the purples and blues and I love Space Shuttle and stuff like I love all that but I just no Black Hole I couldn't get into you like Space Shuttle I like Space Shuttle but you don't like Black Hole no I like Space Station oh this stupid pinball show partnership is done yeah because it's Black Hole Black but the name itself is kind of bad Black Hole okay Sorcerer that's another cool one Sorcerer maybe I'll throw up a picture of that Sorcerer is awesome but it kind of fell in that the 80s ballet stuff. It's like there's better ones out there. Sea Witch. Kind of an underrated back blast. It's really pretty. I like it. Sea Witch. Strikes and Spares with the chick right in front there with the standing up and the people in the background, what they're doing. It's really cool. Diner. It's a trans light, I believe. I don't really care for Diner. I know you like it. A lot of people love the theme. I love the theme. I'm not big on the... The theme's really good. The colors are really good. It's a straight Americana. Yeah, it is. You've got the people in the springs, and you can see them moving around in the diner. That's neat. I love that. And Black Knight 2000. That's a beautiful mirrored. Again, something odd that draws you into that. Yeah. It's like, what the hell theme is that? I guess it's a knight, but that's weird. Yeah. So those were some honorable mentions. And last month, we couldn't do our worst top three because we didn't want to go bust We have them this time. Oh, boy, do we ever. Okay. This, people will not argue with. No, I think they will. Really? Which one? The worst one. I think they will. Oh, yeah. Well, maybe that one. Okay. So we'll start out easy. You guys can think of them. You're already thinking of that bodacious body, aren't you? Hard body. Oh, that man-woman. Up front. You kind of resemble her.
    27:11
    You resemble. Yeah, but there's weird, creepy people that are working out in the 80s. Why in the hell would you ever make that a theme? I think it was Big and Callie or something. I don't know. No. I don't know why you'd ever want to walk in and go, you know, I want to play hard body. Wow. That's the game for me. And Raven. Oh, boy. Rambo. Chick Rambo, boy, with washed out trans life. Wasn't that a movie? I don't think so. I hope it wasn't a movie.
    27:43
    Raven. I just can't get into that. Wow. It's super, super bad. Kind of a cool name. Here's the thing that's so funny. I would own both of those games just because they're so ugly. It's like that hipster kind of thing. It's like, oh, they're so uncool. They're cool, man. You wouldn't own a hard body? No, I wouldn't own a hard body. And another one that we didn't put on here that hard body reminds me of is Spring Break. Oh, Spring Break. Okay, I'm just going to go down to Cancun or Florida and I'm going to take a picture. And there we go. We got a back glass. Oh, it's bad. Secret Service is bad. There's a lot of bad ones. But the one that I hate the most and you didn't fight on. No. I'm sorry, Spooky. I'm so sorry. but America's Most Haunted is the most freaking hideous. Like your first game come out and you come out with that shit. And we like your company. Love it. I love the games. I love America's Most Haunted. Every time I look at that, I'm like, oh, man, you've got a ghost theme and you're putting humans on there? Yeah. The hell are you doing? It's like a bad version of like Goosebumps. It's like a Goosebumps book cover. I love Goosebumps. I got a Goosebumps poster in my book. You do? So we love you, Spooky. I love your themes. I love the Rob Zombie. We're going to review that here soon. Love Rob Zombie game. I like America's Most Haunted. We're super stoked about Jetsons. We're super stoked about what the third pin's going to be. So don't get us wrong. We're busting your chops here because, boy, oh, boy, we love you. But what the hell was that? You know, though, honestly, though, I don't know if it's just because it's kind of odd, but it does kind of draw me in when I see it, when I'm scrolling through, and I see it. Not in a good way, but it does make me take a second look. What the hell is that?
    29:27
    And I've had people, when I say that, people have tried to explain it to me. They're like, well, no, it's kind of the theme, you know, they're investigators and it's fun. I'm like, nope, you've got a ghost theme. You put some freaking ghost on there. You could have went so many other directions. And that game is so quirky and fun. It's got character. I love the call-outs on that game. And then that back glass. You know what? I'm surprised nobody's made an alternate back glass for that. Because I promise you, I wouldn't own that game because of that freaking Translator. I agree.
    29:56
    I agree. Rob Zombie's cool. Somebody will come out with it unless we're just dead wrong and everybody loves it. People are like, you're out of your damn mind. No, that thing is hideous. It's so ugly. So there you go, guys. That's our top ten bat glasses. Go easy on us. Do you think we were close? Do you think we were far away? Email, or not email.
    30:14
    YouTube us. Yeah, YouTube us. Write us on Facebook. Instagram, Facebook. Tell us if we're crazy. Tell us if we hit the nail on the head. Yeah. Let us know what you guys think. We want to hear from you guys. And tell us about what your favorite back glasses are or what's your least favorite back glasses. And we'll throw some pictures up. And if you guys enjoyed this episode and you've enjoyed any of our other episodes, be sure to subscribe. Yeah. Check us out on YouTube. Yeah, because we're releasing more and more content every week. We've got some exciting things coming up, too. We do have exciting things. We're really digging it. All right, guys. Thanks for watching Straight Down the Middle with Zach and Greg. We'll see you next week. See ya.
    30:51
    You had a fling with a fling shot. You're rolling out the alley in a game. I tried to cradle you with my flipper. It was all in vain.
    31:03
    Baby, baby, baby, why are you doing me wrong? Do me wrong. Hello. I feel like Jay Cutler sometimes. You look like fucking Jay Cutler. You do. Actually, you do. I kind of like that. He's not mad.
    31:24
    Poor bastard. All right.