Episode 183: Antoinette Johnson

Pinball Profile·podcast_episode·21m 55s·held·Mar 8, 2019

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.030

TL;DR

Antoinette Johnson discusses art, pinball aesthetics, and upcoming The Munsters (Premium) exclusive.

Summary

Jeff Teolis interviews Antoinette Johnson, a distinctive community figure known for her elaborate hand-painted mohawk hairstyles. The conversation covers her life journey across the US, her passion for pinball aesthetics (particularly Elvira and the Party Monsters, Bride of Pinbot, and unconventional games like Orbit 1 and Champion Pub), her work at Marco Specialties, background in performance and film, and her ambitions to design a pinball machine. She reveals that The Munsters (Premium) will be available as a Texas Pinball Festival show special.

Key Claims

Antoinette Johnson has been working at Marco Specialties for almost a year in their South Carolina warehouse
high confidence · Antoinette stated directly: 'you've been with Marco Specialties for almost a year now, and you're there in South Carolina'
Antoinette's first pinball machine was Bride of Pinbot, seen at a roller skating rink during her childhood
high confidence · Antoinette confirmed: 'You recall your first pinball machine, Bride of Pinbot' and described viewing it at 'the skating rink that I grew up going to'
Elvira and the Party Monsters is Antoinette's favorite game and first machine purchase
high confidence · Antoinette stated: 'It was my very first machine that I that I bought. And yeah, it still is my favorite game'
The Munsters (Premium) will debut as a Texas Pinball Festival show special
high confidence · Antoinette announced: 'we have a special release for Texas. It will be the first time that the The Munsters (Premium) will be available as the show special'
Antoinette aspires to design a pinball machine in the future
high confidence · Antoinette confirmed: 'I would [like to design a pinball machine someday]' and stated joining Marco's warehouse was 'one of my tasks...is just learning more, being around different texts, and just coming up with different ideas'
Greg Freres is Antoinette's favorite pinball artist
high confidence · Antoinette stated: 'A lot of the art by Greg Freres is my favorite pinball artist. Fathom is absolutely gorgeous'
Antoinette has appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (background during Halloween parade scene)
high confidence · Antoinette described: 'the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Out of the Shadows movie. You can see me during the Halloween parade that Michelangelo goes to almost at the beginning of the movie'
Antoinette performed as a dancer for Shiny Toy Guns and during The Cure's set change, in front of approximately 70,000 people

Notable Quotes

“I am drawn to games where people think outside of the box. And that rings true in the two games that I do have, being that they're with Haunted House and Banzai Run, that they're kind of a standalone in their own category.”
Antoinette Johnson — Reveals her philosophy on game selection—favoring original, unconventional designs over mainstream acclaim, indicating unique taste in pinball aesthetics
“It was my very first machine that I that I bought. And yeah, it still is my favorite game. Yeah, I hope to own it again very soon.”
Antoinette Johnson — Demonstrates emotional attachment to Elvira and the Party Monsters, suggesting she sold her original machine and intends to repurchase it
“There is no wrong answer to say this is my favorite...One of my favorite games that people can't stand, I love, love playing the game just because it's fun, is Champion Pub.”
Antoinette Johnson — Defends subjective taste against community consensus, emphasizing fun and originality over critical reception
“I would [like to design a pinball machine someday] and that was one of my tasks with joining the crew at the warehouse is just learning more, being around different texts, and just coming up with different ideas.”
Antoinette Johnson — Reveals strategic career development at Marco Specialties aimed at future pinball design work
“we have a special release for Texas. It will be the first time that the The Munsters (Premium) will be available as the show special.”
Antoinette Johnson — Official announcement of Texas Pinball Festival exclusive product availability
“Big shout-out to that whole design team. John Borg and Christopher Franchi, those guys did just an unbelievable job. So beautiful.”
Antoinette Johnson — Public praise for Munsters Premium design team and art direction
“my favorite thing about you is that you're original...you exemplify that”
Jeff Teolis — Host's assessment of Antoinette's defining characteristic in the pinball community

Entities

Antoinette JohnsonpersonJack Dangerperson Jeff Teolisperson Greg Freresperson Christopher Franchiperson John Borgperson Cassandra Peterson

Signals

?
community_signal: Antoinette Johnson operates as a distinctive community ambassador and cultural figure in pinball through her visible presence at events, unique aesthetic, and advocacy for non-mainstream game designs
high · Described as someone people have 'likely seen before' but not heard from; recognized at shows; passionate advocate for unconventional games and artist-centric design philosophy
?
personnel_signal: Antoinette Johnson has integrated into Marco Specialties as warehouse staff with explicit goal of developing skills toward future pinball machine design
high · Working at Marco for almost a year; stated joining warehouse was 'one of my tasks...is just learning more, being around different texts, and just coming up with different ideas'; self-identified as artist with design aspirations
?
event_signal: Texas Pinball Festival will feature Munsters Premium as a show special release—first availability for that SKU
high · Antoinette announced: 'we have a special release for Texas. It will be the first time that the Munsters Premium will be available as the show special. So definitely place your orders for that'
?
design_philosophy: Antoinette's game taste prioritizes artistic vision, mechanical innovation, and originality over mainstream reception or critical consensus
high · Values games that 'think outside of the box' like Orbiter One and Champion Pub despite general dislike; collects Haunted House and Banzai Run as standalone designs; emphasizes Greg Ferrer's artwork and overall machine aesthetics
?
collector_signal: Antoinette owns Haunted House and Banzai Run; previously owned Elvira and the Party Monsters and intends to repurchase it

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.066

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Give me a head with hair, long, beautiful hair, shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen. Give me down to there, hair, shoulder length, long girl, here, baby, there, mama, everywhere, daddy, daddy. It's time now for another Pinball Profile. I'm your host, Jeff Teolis. 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. You've likely seen her before, but have you heard from her before? Well, if not, that's about to change. Antoinette Johnson joins us right now. Hello, Antoinette. Hello, Jeff. It's great to be talking to you. I've enjoyed what I've seen and read. I mean, you were just in Pinball Magazine number five, and it was a great article, so we got to know a little bit more about you. You've been all over the country. We're going to cover all that here on Pinball Profile today, but again, thanks for talking to me. Oh, I'm happy to be here. Now, let's talk a little bit about the most obvious thing, the hair. And I can relate to you in the total opposite way because growing up as a kid, as a ginger, I was always made fun of for my hair. Whereas you, this incredible artist, this spectacular hair, you've always received great compliments for your hair. What's it like? Well, it doesn't always get great compliments. I do get a lot of bird calls. And actually, a very funny story, while I was walking through New York, there was a parrot in an apartment complex, and he could see me outside the window, and the parrot actually started giving me cat calls, which is probably the funniest thing that has ever happened with the hair. Next to, I actually had a dog do a double take on me. I don't know if that's ever happened to anyone before. But for the most part, it's really positive, and it's really wonderful just the response that I've received from everyone in the community. Everyone's been great. I do get a lot of the same questions over and over again. So a lot of my coworkers at Marco can actually answer all of my questions now for me. I'm guessing many of the questions are, how long does it take, which we read was about four to six hours. You get a bit of anxiety as well when you have to do it because it is such a big project. And the one thing I was surprised is that it's kind of really all freehand. You kind of have an idea in your head and you just go from there. Pretty much. And I've noticed because sometimes I've gotten very, very detailed with it. And that takes even longer, of course. At one point, I painted the wolf symbol from the Starks banner in Game of Thrones into my hair. And a lot of people just really, it was kind of a shock. They didn't think that it was real and actually didn't believe that it was real. There were some people that flat out didn't believe that it was my hair. So that was quite funny. So I've not gone quite as detailed since. But, yeah, it's pretty much my blank canvas since when my hair is down, it's just blonde. And then when it's up, it's blonde, and then I can spray or paint anything in it pretty much. You mentioned Game of Thrones. I just heard for Season 8, and I'm not giving any spoiler alerts, the character who plays Sansa Stark wasn't allowed to wash her hair during the entire shooting, whatever months that took to film Season 8 and all the six episodes, wasn't allowed to wash her hair to get that kind of Game of Thrones look. Can you imagine? Oh, my goodness. Well, when I have the hair up, I'll have it up for maybe about a week and go without washing my hair, and that's pretty torturous. So I definitely feel for her. Antoinette, that's the one thing that I was shocked to hear about you, that you can actually sleep with the hair in that special mode. I thought you slept like a bat upside down somewhere. I didn't know how you did it. Actually, pretty much just being like a reverse geisha. I just have my head down. It's very sturdy. I actually have a video on YouTube of my top five questions. And in the video, I actually show how sturdy it is by putting a T-shirt on over my head with the mohawk on. And then it pretty much folds down and then pops right back up again. If anybody thinks they're having a bad hair day, I'm sure you don't want to hear about it. I mean, for what you have to go through to be this great artiste and to see what you do with Marco and all these shows, you don't want to hear about it. Well, you know, people go through different things and everyone's hair is different. Me and my sister, for instance, she constantly has to wash her hair with how oily her hair is, whereas me, it's, well, obviously don't have to wash my hair as much. So, you know, people just go through different things, and sometimes people just need to get it out. But it's so great to be noticed, and my favorite thing about you is that you're original, and that's something that means a lot to me. You know, for many, many years now, I refuse to wear a shirt other than concert shirts or something like that I know somebody else has. It's just I want to be unique. I make sure there's no kind of brand labels or anything like that. I just want my own brand. I want to be original, and I strive for that. And I mean you exemplify that Well thank you so much I would say my biggest inspiration for that since I was probably about five years old I saw Elvira first movie And I just love the way that she carried herself that she was just really, you know, positive about herself and confident. And no matter how many people ridiculed her, she still like kept this positive image of herself and just, you know, did what she felt was right. And I never exactly like wanted to be look, I mean, obviously, Cassandra Peterson, still unbelievably gorgeous, and probably will forever remain insanely gorgeous. Just her whole attitude just inspired me to just be me and just keep a positive frame of mind and not think too much about what other people, you know, think or judge. Cassandra and her Elvira character are spectacular too. I mean, just so funny. I'm a big fan because of her actual comedy. Her Groundlings background means a lot to me as someone who really enjoys comedy. I mean, she is a sharp, sharp woman, a great business person, and not surprised to see the rumor of another Elvira machine coming out because of the popularity of Scared Stiff and your favorite game, Elvira and the Party Monsters. You love that game. Absolutely. It was my very first machine that I bought. And yeah, it still is my favorite game. Yeah, I hope to own it again very soon. Well, I want to think about your pinball experiences. And Elvira certainly is something that you've been drawn to in that pinball machine. You recall your first pinball machine, Bride of Pinbot, another gorgeous looking machine. Is it the art that attracts you for pinball machines? I know that's a big part for you. Honestly, when I used to look at it at the skating rink that I grew up going to, I found every aspect of the machine beautiful, like the mechanics, the playfield, art on the playfield, art on the back glass, the side art. Since it was a standalone machine at the roller rink, I was able to view the entire cabinet, and I just found it outstanding. And I just found myself staring at it more than I would roller skating most of the time. And sadly, I guess the owners of the roller ring did not know how to repair it. So they pretty much just ran it into the ground and eventually got rid of it. I think that was commonplace back in the day. You know, I've heard stories of owner operators, you know, once a machine paid for itself and maybe it wasn't getting played anymore, you would see some of these in the dumpster or just, you know, if it was broken, I can't fix it, but I made its money, it's gone. And I've heard a few of those tales and it kind of breaks my heart as we spend top dollar now for some of these old games and all the refurbishing that goes on it's a different time now than it was it's so very sad yes there's and so many games that are really really great games that just weren't popular you know at their time and i think uh we're quite ahead of their time like uh orbiter one one of my another one of my favorite games i think it's absolutely brilliant you do realize you may be the only person in history to say Orbiter One is one of my favorite games.

9:33

I just get a kick out of it. It's one I recall from my youth, just playing it and just getting to bash and see if you could become the champ. And is it a great pinball machine? No. Is it fun? Absolutely. But once again, one of those aspects of thinking outside the box and just coming up with just new and interesting things, like the jump rope. I love that part of the game, like when the ball does the jump rope. I like it too, but I'm in the minority. I know I am, but you know what? You can't change my mind. I think it's so much fun. And one of the things I like about the game is actually the art and the play field and the design and everything like that. You must have a lot of other favorites other than the Elvira games, the Bride of Pinbot and Orbiter One. What games do you think are art masterpieces? A lot of the art by Greg Ferrer is my favorite pinball artist. Fathom is absolutely gorgeous. Also, the artwork on Williams in Indiana Jones, incredible. And, of course, Bride of Pinball. And actually, one of my favorite back glasses, not one of my favorite games, and a lot of people were saying, oh, just buy the game. I'm like, well, no, I kind of just want the back glass. was a solar ride. Since I love a mechanical horse, I love the futuristic girl that riding the horse and the mirrored back glass I think the whole thing is just so nicely put together And also me being an equestrian it also is really close to me I've been riding horses since probably around five years of age. So just being around horses is really special to me. Can I tell you a story about horse riding, my personal experience? Absolutely. Okay. Now, boy, I mean, we're talking about being polar opposites here. We have the same common interest, but, you know, you have great hair. I'm ridiculed for my hair. You love horse riding. I am terrified of horse riding. I'll tell you why. Let's go back to this little six-year-old boy who went to day camp or whatever, and on Thursdays they would have horse riding, and they said, here you go, Jeff, here's Ace the Wonder Horse. I'll never forget. And they said, they got me on. They said, you know, pull this way if you want to go left. Pull this way if you want to go right. Pull both if you want to stop. Okay, I think I can retain that. I got it. But don't be in part of the hit the dirt club. I'm like, what's hit the dirt club? They said, well, if you fall off, you hit the dirt. And I'm like, oh, thanks for putting that in my head. I wasn't in the hit the dirt club. I was the first inaugural member of the hit the water club. Oh, boy. So we're riding. I'm riding Ace the Wonder Horse. And we're going by a creek. and Ace said, boy, it's pretty hot out. I'm pretty thirsty. Ace leans over to take a drink and I tumble somersault over top of his head into the creek. Can you imagine? So, I mean, all my friends are there. I'm made fun of and I think horses are beautiful. I'm scared to death of riding one. For a brief moment, I worked as a guide in the Hollywood Hills at Sunset Ranch. I would coach many, many terrified adults children on how to ride and basically what you just have to remember with horses it's it's almost like dealing you know you're you're the substitute teacher and you pretty much have to live down the law make sure that uh the horse knows that you're very stern because if the horse senses for one second you're not sure of yourself they run all over you it's true i looked at my little you know what 50 pound body in this beast that was gorgeous and majestic and you know i had no problem feeding it and all that stuff. But when I got on it, I was like, whoa. So you talked about horse riding and you've kind of been all over the United States. You grew up in Florida. You moved to New York City for a time. You were in California and San Fran. Now you're in South Carolina. So you've got to see pretty much most of the country. I know you've driven cross country a few times. You've got to have a lot of favorite pinball places and maybe some places that people haven't been that are listening to this right now. Where are some of the best places you could suggest? As far as New York goes, Rock Fantasy, Jack Bar, and Sunshine Lodge, Matt, wonderful, wonderful places. One of my favorite places in my travels was Game Galaxy, just because you don't normally see really rare games. They definitely have quite a lot, as well as... That's Game Galaxy in Nashville, Tennessee? That is. Okay, all right. And the Pinball Hall of Fame, I know that's a place that you like in Vegas as well. And just recently on a last trip across country, Sister Bar in Albuquerque. Incredible place. There are other places you've been that aren't really pinball related. In fact, you just had a birthday. You and I are both Aquarians, and you just had a birthday where you spent it in a caboose. You realize that most people try to not wind up sleeping in a train, and you chose to sleep in a caboose.

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Well, I grew up loving trains. There was actually a train track not far from our farm, and that's where Tropicana would actually transport all of their oranges to the factory. We would walk the train tracks all the time, and we'd watch the trains. And I was also a big fan of the Get Along Game cartoon when I was little, and always wanted the Caboose Clubhouse. So it's been a childhood dream of mine to stay in a caboose, so I was very happy. That actually wasn't the day of my birthday. My actual birthday was spent at my first day at work in the warehouse at Marco Specialties, which I have to say was incredible. And I love being able to say that, that I love going to work. Yes, you've been with Marco Specialties for almost a year now, and you're there in South Carolina. Tell us what it's like working at Marco Specialties. It's just incredible. I get to work with all sorts of different parts. I get to learn so many new different things. And I'm pretty much, it's like working in family. And we all seem to just, you know, work so well together. And it's fantastic. And all the customers that I've met have been excellent. And we definitely strive to make sure all of our customers are happy. I think most people here listening to Pinball Profile, if they own a machine, at one point or another, my hands up, we've contacted Marcos Specialties and been very, very happy with the service we've received and the products as well. So I very happy that you happy at Marcos Specialties and it more than just doing the events that are a big big part of what you do Antoinette The other things too that I heard about you and maybe you in the right place you would like to design a pinball machine someday correct I would and that was one of my tasks with joining the crew at the warehouse is just learning more, being around different texts, and just coming up with different ideas. And I'm also an artist, so I've come up with a few things, and with all of my inspiration with thinking outside the box, I hope to create something that's really wonderful and can withstand the test of time. Oh, I'm sure what you do will be very, very unique, and I'm sure we're going to see that great work, whether it's on a canvas, whether it's on a machine, whether it's photographs, whatever the case may be. What you do certainly stands out, Antoinette. And I guess that's probably one of the reasons you've been on a few movies and television as well, too. Maybe you want to share some of that. Yes. So the first time I started doing background was when I moved to New York. I had been in a few short films that were filmed upstate. Some of the more memorable things are the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Out of the Shadows movie. You can see me during the Halloween parade that Michelangelo goes to almost at the beginning of the movie. And you can see me just off in the background over his shoulder. What are the turtles wearing? Are they in those special CGI suits or anything like that? Or the actual costumes? The actors that did play the turtles were in special CGI uniforms, yes. Is it safe to assume that you provided your own wardrobe for that movie? Actually, I had brought my own costume since I also used to do a lot of stage performances. I had performed at the Ultra Music Festival. I had danced for Shiny Toy Guns and also danced on the set change for The Cure. So I've accumulated a lot of different costumes and performance wear, and that's what they were looking for, background that had their own costumes and could bring them. So that way they wouldn't have to have wardrobe for over 200 people. Okay. I know about The Cure. That's pretty cool. I'm a big rock fan myself. They're getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Can you tell us about that? I mean, there were some 70,000 people there that you were dancing in front of. It was pretty fun. It ran extremely late and our crew dancer was getting very antsy about it. But it was lots of fun, and the performance was excellent, especially being able to watch it just right offstage. So that was definitely an awesome experience. Even though I wouldn't consider myself an actual dancer, I don't have a problem dancing in front of a large amount of people. I do, however, have a problem with singing in front of a large group of people, which apparently happened at Vancouver, which surprisingly everyone was happy with. I was there with Jack Danger, and to close out the night, I actually sang The Little Mermaid to everyone.