Bonus show for #158

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·18m 16s·analyzed·Nov 18, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.024

TL;DR

Don reveals American Pinball internal struggles and cancelled games after reconciling over legal dispute.

Summary

Don discusses American Pinball troubled situation following a Spirit meme he created that allegedly prompted legal threats, leading him to boycott coverage until their sales director reached out. He visited their factory pre-launch of Barry O's Barbecue Challenge, learned about cancelled projects (Yukon Yeti, Food Truck, Cuphead, Masters of the Universe license), and speculates the company has cash flow problems preventing parts orders. He also teases upcoming Spooky Pinball announcements and his coverage of IAAPA and Freeplay Florida events.

Key Claims

American Pinball sent legal threats to Don over a Spirit meme about their rumored sale in October 2023
high confidence · Don directly stated he received texts warning him about 'tortuous interference of a business' and was urged not to cover American Pinball
American Pinball cancelled or shelved Yukon Yeti due to expensive custom plastic ramps and six-figure investment in new boards
medium confidence · Don speculated about decision-making: 'I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made'
American Pinball's Signature Edition of Barry O's Barbecue Challenge did not sell out
medium confidence · Don: 'I honestly think they did... Um so what do they do now'
American Pinball has cash flow problems preventing parts orders for unreleased games including Cuphead
medium confidence · Don speculates: 'If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released'
Spooky Pinball may announce a new game around late November before or after Thanksgiving
medium confidence · Don teasing Bug at Expo about release timing; Bug's response 'better move it up' suggests imminent announcement
American Pinball was pursuing a Masters of the Universe license but lacked progress to show the licensor when licensing fees were due
low confidence · Don: 'they had a license like it may have been masters of the university man and it was time for them to pay the licensor their deposit'
Don cancelled plans to cover American Pinball due to the legal threats but reconciled after their new sales director invited him to the factory
high confidence · Don: 'I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all' but then 'I get a call from their new sales director'

Notable Quotes

“Get out of here with that. Get out of here with that. So I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all. If they're going to be sending me legal threats, that's not cool, man.”
Don @ early segment — Explains his initial decision to boycott American Pinball coverage over perceived legal intimidation
“I saw pictures of the Whitewood of Food Truck. It looks so much better than the barbecue. It looked fun. It looked fun. It was an upper playfield that had three stand-up targets that looked like a soda fountain.”
Don @ mid segment — Describes a cancelled American Pinball game with innovative playfield design that was scrapped in favor of Barrio's Barbecue Challenge
“I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made and all that. They had just laid down six figures to come up with these new boards and everything.”
Don @ mid segment — Speculates on why expensive projects like Yukon Yeti were cancelled due to manufacturing costs and capital constraints
“I don't know what the decision behind releasing Barry O's Barbecue Challenge challenge was. And I think that was the thinking. I think they were looking at the bill of materials... Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000 for the top end one.”
Don @ mid segment — Explains pricing strategy and market saturation concerns driving game selection decisions
“If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released. I hate to say it, but that also makes the most sense.”
Don @ late segment — Directly suggests American Pinball has cash flow problems preventing production commitment for games like Cuphead
“He's working on it nearly two years now and like wants to show it, but needs the money. You gotta get the parts, man.”
Don @ late segment — References a designer (implied to be working on Cuphead) unable to proceed without capital for parts procurement

Entities

Donperson American PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyBugperson David Fixperson Barry O's Barbecue ChallengegameYukon YetigameFood Truckgame

Signals

?
business_signal: American Pinball appears to have cash flow problems preventing parts procurement for unreleased games, suggesting capital constraints affecting production capacity
medium · Don's speculation: 'If they need the cash to get the parts in so they can put this game into production, maybe that's why it hasn't released' regarding Cuphead and other games
?
industry_signal: American Pinball allegedly sent legal threats to Don over a meme, creating relationship tension that Don resolved through factory visit
high · Don received texts warning about 'tortious interference of a business' and decided to boycott coverage until sales director initiated reconciliation
?
product_concern: American Pinball cancelled or shelved multiple significant projects: Yukon Yeti, Food Truck, Cuphead, and Masters of the Universe license due to cost and cash constraints
medium · Don's factory visit revealed multiple whitewood projects scrapped; licensing fees came due but company lacked progress to show licensor
$
market_signal: High-priced pinball machines ($12,000-$16,000) are not moving well, affecting American Pinball's strategy to release lower-cost alternatives like Barrio's Barbecue Challenge
medium · Don: 'Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000'
?
rumor_hype: Spooky Pinball has new game announcement imminent, likely before or after Thanksgiving 2024, teased through Bug's response to Don at Expo

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.055

0:00

Pinball, pinball ultradeck, pinball💛 했. Out penhander grade yay This week in Pinball, we have some jams a little bit here with Kool and the gang as we go depth into more behind the scenes stuff. I just finished recording episode 148. Now this episode started with a discussion about American Pinball and what in the ever-loving heck is happening over there. I'm caught. I'm torn. Because I'm friends with these guys, right? So they had reached out to me. You know, there was a rumor that Ametron was being sold and everything was going belly up or American Pinball was being sold. The case of the pinball. It was October last year. It was October last year when that happened. And me, you know, just having right place, right time. Decided to make a meme commemorating all the talk online about America Pinball and their impending sale. So I found online on Google Maps, Google image search a picture of their factory and then I just, you know, photoshopped a Spirit pinball, Spirit pinball, Spirit Halloween banner out in front of it, you know. Just because like that was a meme like a year ago, right? We were all doing spirit Halloween memes. You know, like, if some business wasn't doing well, you would make a joke by putting a spirit Halloween thing up there. You know, people were complaining about, you know, Disneyland or something not doing that, something they liked, so they just like found some image, made a grayscale, and then put a spirit Halloween there, like it's over, right? It was a meme. It was very much 2003. 2023. So then I get people texting me like, Don, you should look up torturous interference of a business or something, like I stepped on someone's toes or something making an internet meme. Get out of here with that. Get out of here with that. So I decided at the time, I'm just not going to cover this company at all. If they're going to be sending me legal threats, that's not cool, man. It's not cool, it's not fun, it's not helpful. And it kind of goes against everything that I am here, which is, you know, fun, helpful, and I try to be cool. So I wrote them off. And then I get a call from their new sales director. Hey Don, we wanna connect man, why don't you come by the factory? And I'm like, oh my god, are they gonna kidnap me? What's going on? But I threw caution to the wind, headed on down there, and they were ready to launch a new game, and that game was Barrio's Barbecue Challenge. And this is about a week before the reveal. So this was March, so all this kind of bled over from October into March. So I go in there and I'm like, I was hearing the rumors that they had a Barrio game, I thought it was Food Truck. By the way, I saw pictures of the Whitewood of Food Truck. It looks so much better than the barbecue. It looked fun. It looked fun. It was an upper playfield that had three, um, three stand-up targets that looked like a soda fountain. So as you would hit those, you would like make different drinks and things. Kinda fun. Like a throwback to diner, you know? You get up at the upper playfield and you gotta make that drink or whatever. It had a fry basket, like a deep fryer basket that would hold two balls as a physical ball lock and then I'm assuming they would dump out of there. So fun. So fun. This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic Brian Bowen, Dave Anderson belleondond Strangezenop interject.mickeweight, jajennap impatpipe, undf convictions énorma, khaliacon. benim husn't I want to hand it Here we are Sergeant can zen and Charlie Ah, on the other hand I think so. So what is the real purpose of low-level ball nickname packages? The bottom line there is we can Initially use them to and understand Everyone in the blog will understand the nature of ball nicknames I text him You know if I with a friend or something that hasn been there we swing by the factory You know Dave Fix has always been gracious walked me around and stuff even after hours when everybody goes home You know so like the guy been cool to me right He bought me food which makes you cool like for life for me man So like I don want them to fail or nothing But I don know what the decision behind releasing This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Terminate It'll gets released in Berrio's BBQ challenge. And I think that was the thinking. I think that was the thinking. I think they were looking at the bill of materials to make Yukon Yeti with all the plastic ramps that need to be custom made and all that. They had just laid down six figures to come up with these new boards and everything. And so then it would probably be a big ask to be like, all right, we want to, you know, grant the photo. Galactic Tank Force just came out, you know, $16,000 units are not moving. We don't want to release another game that's going to be like $12,000 for the top end one. This Week in Pinball, Black Water, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast, Twippies Awards, transliteelectronic Huge Logitech freezer Shift pain and

“I think we're going to know more soon. And it might be soon like this next week. So if they're releasing in November, I kind of think it would happen. Either it would have to be the week before Thanksgiving or the week after.”

Don @ spooky segment — Predicts Spooky Pinball announcement timing in narrow window before/after Thanksgiving

“Even if I did have something to tell you, like a little tease or something, I wouldn't be able to tell you what the next thing is. And you'd be just as heartbroken, like, I'm going to want to know more.”

[name withheld pending review] @ spooky segment — Confirms Spooky has news to announce but is under embargo; teases imminent reveal

Masters of the Universeproduct

Freeplay Floridaevent

[name withheld pending review]company

medium · Bug told Don to move up release date from 'day after Christmas' and later stated 'Even if I did have something to tell you... I wouldn't be able to tell you' implying embargo on imminent announcement

product_strategy: American Pinball switched from expensive custom-built games (Yukon Yeti, Food Truck) to simpler, lower-cost design (Barrio's Barbecue Challenge) to manage manufacturing expenses

medium · Don's analysis of bill of materials and six-figure board investment deterring continued custom ramp development

machine_intel: Multiple American Pinball games in various states: Food Truck had playable whitewood, Cuphead in multi-year development, Yukon Yeti cancelled, Masters of the Universe license status uncertain

medium · Don's first-hand factory visit and direct observation of prototype materials

content_signal: Don securing media credentials for IAAPA and Freeplay Florida events; plans cross-platform coverage with other podcasting personalities

high · Don: 'I just felt out there their media application and I didn't expect to hear anything and then pretty pretty short order I got an email back saying like we'd love to have you here'

community_signal: Don's reconciliation with American Pinball after legal dispute represents recovery of industry relationship; Dave Fix described as consistently gracious and supportive

high · Don's willingness to visit factory after initial boycott; positive remarks about Dave Fix's hospitality and food

product_concern: American Pinball's Signature Edition of Barrio's Barbecue Challenge did not sell out, indicating limited market demand for premium tier

medium · Don: 'I honestly think they did... Um so what do they do now' when asked if signature editions sold out