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Don's Pinball Podcast Sunday Livestream 10/5/25

Don's Pinball Podcast Live Streams (YouTube)·video·1h 9m·held·Oct 6, 2025
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.033

TL;DR

Don streams from new house, discusses Spooky work, Pinball at the Beach recap, and potential game themes.

Summary

Don's Sunday livestream from his new house in Wisconsin covers personal life updates (relocating, new job starting, forklift work at Spooky's facility), Pinball at the Beach event recap, and industry gossip about Cirqus Voltaire action figures. Don discusses forklift operation at Spooky, loading $60-70k of machines, explores potential pinball themes (ET, Mac and Me, Raze), and plans Expo preparations including homebrew topper contests and David Fix merchandise.

Key Claims

  • Cirqus Voltaire action figures have been announced in two sizes (16-inch limited hand-painted and 12-inch), with expected retail around $300 based on tooling costs of $30-80k

    medium confidence · Don discussing new action figure release; notes Leor is doing the sculpts and pricing hasn't been announced yet, but calculates likely price based on production economics

  • Don loaded $60,000-70,000 worth of pinball machines (with toppers) using a forklift at Spooky's facility without breaking anything

    high confidence · Don directly stating he did this work yesterday while working at Spooky production facility

  • Pinball at the Beach ticket launch crashed due to server overload from approximately 200 simultaneous users

    medium confidence · Don describing the ticket sales problem; notes they're upgrading internet capability for next attempt

  • Don is starting a new job next month and relocating to southern Wisconsin, selling off properties and consolidating housing

    high confidence · Don discussing his real estate and relocation plans during the livestream opening

  • Charlie (previous house owner) left 30 pinball machines in the southern Wisconsin house basement, including Banzai Run and King Kong, all of which are now gone

    high confidence · Don lamenting the loss of machines left at the new house property

  • Don has employee discount at Spooky giving 25% off rental vehicles, but availability is never there

    high confidence · Don stating this directly as an employee benefit he's received

  • Don visited Busch Gardens in February with Spooky staff and coaster enthusiast Eric Johnson; saw new reversing Mad Mouse coaster

    high confidence · Don describing the Busch Gardens trip with specific details about who attended and new rides

  • Alice in Wonderland received new code that allows more access to upper playfield via magnet grab-and-sling mechanics, tested at Euro Pinball Championships

    high confidence · Don describing gameplay experience at Vocleberg, Austria; notes magnet overheat limitations

Notable Quotes

  • “I've learned more about what goes into making pinball machines in the last 36 hours than the last three years.”

    Don @ ~12:00 — Indicates Don's hands-on immersion at Spooky production facility is accelerating his industry knowledge

  • “I loaded up $60,000 of with toppers like 70 grand of pinball machines yesterday with a forklift. Didn't break anything.”

    Don @ ~42:00 — Demonstrates Don's practical contribution at Spooky and his operating confidence

  • “Everybody was just there hanging out casually and you didn't feel like you were bothering people. It was super fun.”

    Don @ ~55:00 — Positive sentiment about Pinball at the Beach's intimate, non-competitive social atmosphere vs typical large shows

  • “We're making a game that we can sell to a thousand people. If it was a [game for us]...”

    Don @ ~118:00 — Reflects commercial realism about game design—market appeal matters more than designer nostalgia

  • “Leor's small sculpts are like $200, what's a 16inch hand painted sculpt from Leor going to cost?”

    Don @ ~35:00 — Skepticism about economics and pricing viability of premium Circus Voltaire action figures

  • “There's no money in t-shirts anyway... maybe there's like $8 to $10 a profit... But what's fun is creating interesting stuff and getting it out there.”

    Don @ ~88:00 — Reveals Don's motivation for merchandise is creative expression, not profit

  • “If you're making Freddy and Jasons and you're going to make 100,000 of them, it makes sense to do that and put them in Walmart for $24.99.”

    Don @ ~34:00 — Shows Don's understanding of mass-market toy economics vs limited artisan production

  • “I went late in the day and Cary Hardy had a discount code for Patreon members which I am... I was able to go in and get two tickets with the discount no problem.”

    Don — Documents Patreon member benefit during Pinball at the Beach ticket rush

Entities

DonpersonSpooky PinballcompanyDavid FixpersonSterlingpersonSteve RitchiepersonGeorge GomezpersonJohn BorgpersonMinèperson

Signals

  • ?

    personnel_signal: Don recently hired at Spooky Pinball production facility as forklift operator; new job starting next month in different field; represents growing industry integration

    high · Don discussing forklift work at Spooky, loading expensive machines, employee discount benefits, and separate new job starting next month

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball at the Beach 2025 ticket launch crashed due to server overload; 200 simultaneous users overwhelmed infrastructure; organizers planning upgrade and re-launch

    high · Don describing website crash during ticket sales, noting server couldn't handle traffic, organizers upgrading speeds before re-opening sales

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball at the Beach maintains intimate, non-commercial community atmosphere compared to large expo shows; enables casual designer interaction

    high · Don describing casual mingling with Steve Ritchie, Georgie Gomez, John Borg, without feeling like bothering people; small private party vibe vs massive crowded expos

  • ?

    product_concern: Alice in Wonderland upper playfield magnets overheat with extended play, limiting gameplay time on upper field despite new code improvements

    high · Don testing new Alice code at Euro Pinball Championships, noting magnets overheat if active too long, preventing extended upper playfield play

  • ?

    collector_signal: Circus Voltaire action figures generating pre-announcement interest; limited 16-inch hand-painted version likely to drive FOMO collector demand

    medium · Don noting Leor is sculpting figures, discussing tooling costs and pricing economics suggesting $300+ retail, expressing skepticism about market viability

Transcript

youtube_auto_sub · $0.000

0:17
Just like that, we're back. Is there ever a bad time for the Fix Dragon? What's up everybody? How you doing? This is Don's Forklift Review podcast. As all, let me know audio issues, video issues. I know I look a little bit washed out. I'm sitting in front of the bright southern Wisconsin sun streaming in the window because I want to show off the Haunted Mansion wallpaper in this bedroom. This is a bed, an adult's bedroom, and I am here for it. Hello and welcome to Sunday. Welcome to Sunday, the year of our pinball 2025, 2026 looking to be even more incredible. We now have action figures of Circus Voltater because reasons. We can get into all that. Representing the Barriio, I would love, and this came up yesterday. I would love to uh get a uh David Fix theme rethes barbecue challenge. I had somebody offer me a very inexpensive Burios barbecue yesterday. So, shout out. I still look washed out. I didn't want to make the camera too dark, but there's a lot of brightness coming from the southern sun.
1:27
Burio Brian Ca has been my homie from the beginning. I met him at the Louisville Arcade Expo. Patrick, no. Uh, the old homes are still available. They haven't been listed yet. So, we had to get this closed and then we'll start relocating everything and then we'll do the whole marketing thing. You know, you don't want to just kind of list when it's a work in progress. You really want to stage the homes and then build up some hype in the neighborhood, in the community, amongst people that are looking and then kick it off with an open house weekend. Find the right price, the right weekend, the right staging, and homes can just feeding frenzy. Go quick. Um, I bought and sold several homes so far. That's been the most successful way to do it. So, don't rush. Don't overpric it. Price it right. Build up the hype. uh reach out to local realers who have their client lists and say something awesome is about to go on the market. It's going to go quick. Get in. Boom. We open up and then it goes. So, um I'm taking the the largest piece of the pie will probably go on the market first, followed by will go on down the list, consolidate, and then we'll we'll be relocated down here. cause we're at a triple right now, which is which is excessive, especially since they are no longer uh income properties, but this will be a good re renegotiation. New job is starting next month. Oh man, I have my first pinball machine down here, though. This may be the first time that I've had multiple machines of multiple homes.

  • David Fix was chief/vice president of American Pinball pinball division responsible for Barry O's Barbecue Challenge and Galactic Tank Force, set to launch new game before departure

    medium confidence · Don describing Fix's role at American Pinball; admits uncertainty about exact title

  • ET (1982 Spielberg film) is being pitched as a potential pinball theme with wide appeal due to Universal Studios merchandise and presence

    medium confidence · Don discussing ET pitch with Sterling from Pinball Studios; concerned about gauging actual market interest vs personal enthusiasm

    • @ ~58:00
    Eric Johnson
    person
    Cary Hardyperson
    Leorperson
    Pinball at the Beachevent
    Pinball Expoevent
    Cirqus Voltairegame
    Alice in Wonderlandgame
    Cirqus Voltaireproduct
    Busch Gardensvenue
    Euro Pinball Championshipsevent
    American Pinballcompany
    Electric Playgroundvenue/organization
    Pinball Studioscompany
    ET the Extraterrestrialgame
  • ?

    rumor_hype: ET the Extraterrestrial being pitched as potential pinball theme by Pinball Studios; Sterling has treatment; Don gauging industry interest vs personal enthusiasm

    medium · Don discussing ET pitch with Sterling present on stream; Sterling enthusiastic; Don uncertain if market demand exists beyond personal nostalgia

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Game designers must balance personal creative vision with commercial viability; a thousand-unit market is minimum success threshold, not personal taste

    high · Don stating 'We're making a game that we can sell to a thousand people. If it was a [game for us]...' reflecting commercial realism over designer preference

  • ?

    content_signal: Don planning David Fix celebrity merchandise (t-shirts) as Expo exclusive; profit-driven but creative expression motivation; low margins in apparel

    high · Don discussing David Fix t-shirt plans, noting $8-10 profit per shirt after costs, creating t-shirt printer availability for Expo exclusive sales

  • ?

    event_signal: Don organizing homebrew pinball topper contest at Pinball Expo with community voting; prizes include Iron Maiden and Kong toppers from Electric Playground

    high · Don discussing topper contest logistics, prizes, voting mechanism, and need to design trophies before October 18th Expo date

  • ?

    operational_signal: Spooky Pinball has substantial inventory in production ($60-70k+ machines on pallets); forklift operations with complex spatial constraints in facility

    high · Don describing loading $60-70k Evil Dead machines wedged between other products, trailers, and pallets in confined production space

  • ?

    industry_signal: David Fix departed American Pinball after holding VP/chief role; was preparing new game launch before departure

    medium · Don referencing Fix's past role at American Pinball, noting he 'was set to launch the brand new game' suggesting recent departure

  • $

    market_signal: Premium collectible action figures (16-inch hand-painted) likely pricing $300+ based on $30-80k tooling costs and limited production runs (~500 units)

    medium · Don calculating Circus Voltaire figure pricing based on industry tooling/production economics; Leor's small sculptures cost $200, larger hand-painted versions likely higher

    • 3:04
    Um, listen, none of this is planned, by the way. This all just kind of just happens. Um, you know, forest gumping this stuff, but we're we're failing upwards is what we call it. Is the camera too washed out. I don't want to make it too dark. The pinballs. What a crazy weekend it's been. I've learned I've learned more about what goes into making pinball machines in the last 36 hours than the last three years.
    3:33
    There we go. That's maybe that's a little better. I don't want to make it too dark, but I'm washing out poor burrio here. That's okay. We'll keep it. So, Kevin, to answer your question, I mean, yeah, to answer Kaz's question, no, Charlie didn't leave any machines down here. There were 30 down here. Um, and they're gone. And I'm sad because there were some bangers. There was some rare games. There was some cool games. It was a bonsai run in my basement. Has your basement ever had a bonsai run in it? Um, I may have seen Spooky's King Kong as well. That's gone. I wish I would have left that. That looked fun. It looked fun. Imagine like um like just like the sequel to Rob Zombie because Yeah, I didn't get to play it, but that's I don't know if it was playable anymore, but Allan, how you doing? Um, so we're just kicking it on a Sunday here, man. Um, I came down to the new house this weekend. Uh, picked up some hours at the local uh production facility.
    4:34
    I got to get myself back in a forklift for the first time. Guys, my first job was operating a forklift at a uh home improvement center in Northern California called Yard Birds. And uh it was $8 an hour in 1998 and I was 18 years old and they were like, "Here's a safety video. Watch this and then go get on that forklift and figure it out." And that's what I did. And I destroyed so much merchandise, but I became a competent forklift operator. And dude, I just I jump back on it. Like you guys have seen the spooky factory floor and like all the games and everything that are there. Now imagine a liquid propane sitdown heistister type model forklift, right? And it's not like parked out in the open. It's like wedged in between, you know, Evil Deads in production behind me. Uh the uh the trailer they used to bring games to shows next to me. um fully boxed Evil Deads in front of me. Like like a quarter million dollars of Evil Deads in boxes on pallets right in front of me in this forklift. And I just threaded the needle right through there. Loaded six games up. My house is a big room with dark sponge painted wall as well, [laughter] dude. Oh, [snorts] the the home is dark, man. It's dark in here. We got to light it up. Came a forklift at Lowe's. Was it electric standup or was it liquid propane sitown? I never really got the hang of the standups, but the sitdowns were my jam. My first job was 425 an hour, right? Um, if we're talking first jobs, I mean, my first job was under table working for a contractor as a laborer. Um, my first actual actual job was 725. No, no, no, no, no, no. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Minimum wage was 625 at the time. I started at 650 in a tool bin at a Home Depot clone called Home Base. Yeah. Yeah, I don't like the stand-ups with like the the circular wheel. Like, you really got to learn them. Um, but the same the mentality is the same. Once I put it in my head that driving a forklift is like pushing a shopping cart backwards, that's when it clicked. That's when it clicked for me. Uh, so yeah, now I've got access to forklifts, which is for loading pickup trucks just amazing. So hopefully I won't ever have to like like lift up games into my truck anymore. Um, yeah. So, I started there, went to a different home improvement center where I worked in the garden center where I was unloading trucks, moving pallets of brick and uh fertilizer and all that. So, I learned I learned uh forklifts are are amazing beasts and just powered by powered by the same thing that's running your grill. Johnny remembers Home Bases, right? It was a Home Depot clone and I don't know, it seemed more more punk rock for me to work at Home Base than Home Depot. We still had the aprons. I think I still have my ID somewhere. But that was fun, guys. I've had every job. We'll get to pinball. Oh, Kevin. Absolutely. I've got a Menard's up the street, so we are we are solid. Save big money at Menard's. Um Menard's was much nicer than any of the uh hardware depot stores I worked at. But right, I I did a semester of wood shop. I learned all the hand tools. I used to build stuff. And then I went and worked at home improvement centers because it seemed like the right thing to do. Uh, what I should have done was go to college, but no, I don't know. I've never been to a Builder Square. I haven't been to a Bunnings in Australia either, but I need to go there. But yeah, I did two home improvement centers. Um, and then I wised up and worked at a pizza place. Then I had food. Um, still minimum wage. Uh, pizza, two pizza places. I worked at an Italian restaurant on the grill. Um, and then what did I do? I worked as a tire technician for America's Tire Company. It's the Discount Tire chain brand. If you have Discount Tire, America Tire, Canadian Tire, I think they're also called. That was terrible. I did that for a year. Quit that job. Um, then I finally started enrolling at the junior college and then I started working at hospitals, reception, file clerk, patient transporter. Started as a volunteer, worked up from there and then I've been in hospital stuff since then because the money was way better. Way better. Benefits. What? Yes. Oh, I worked in an event center. Uh, very briefly, this is fun. I was a roadie for Anne Murray, right? Snowbird. Y'all, y'all remember Snowbird? An Murray. Terrible theme for a pinball machine. Don't do it. Jesus, but uh charming lady, I'll say. Oh my god, I forgot. I totally forgot. I worked at KB Toys. Also, Captain 12. This is funny. Um, I I worked at a brand new KB Toy Stores that was opening the same time I was working at the event center. I was also working at KB Toys. This was in the PlayStation era. I was working at KB Toys when Furbies debuted. We had like like a a 500 a.m. opening with a line down the block to buy Furbies. Holy crap.
    9:30
    I remember Kenny Rogers Roers. I was renting a room from some crackheads and it was down the street from a Kenny Rogers Rogers Roers location in California. a Pizza Hut right next to it and I would walk my ass when I had money. Never had a car. When I had money, I would walk up to Pizza Hut and I can get one of their lunch meals and that was like my jam when I had enough money for that. They were like 5.75.
    9:54
    So, imagine opening a brand new KB toy store. Okay, the truck shows up, you get the boxes, you have to peel off the uh pricing labels, price everything in there. We had to stock the entire store because it was brand new and operated for about three years. I was there for about nine months. The best thing was the 25% discount on video games. Amazing. Um, and just like I don't know if I did any work the whole time while I was there. I think I was just playing with things. Um, yeah, it was funny. But then like I started working hospitals and I was like these X-ray techs seem to have it pretty sweet. So I did that and then I was like these med students seem to have it pretty sweet. So then I did that and then these pinball guys have it pretty sweet. So I'm doing that.
    10:41
    Okay, Luke, you did pinball out of high school, though. So, if you were a butcher four years before that, you were like 11 years old chopping meat, which in my head I can see tiny Luke doing that. Wouldn't it be funny if Luke jumped on the live stream? What are you doing right now, man? Wonder if he's going to the factory again. Swing by. That'd be so much fun.
    11:09
    I miss Kenny's. So, you can still go to Kenny Rogers Roers. Thailand or something still has them and you can go still to Kenny's if you want. Hell, I'll go with you.
    11:23
    Who wants to go to Who wants to go on a pilgrimage to Kenny Rogers Roers? Because we can go there. They still exist. I'll have to look up the country, but somewhere in Asia, they're still operating. It might be Philippines or something. It's like Philippines or Thailand, uh, Cambodia, Laos, somewhere. Maybe not Laos, but but somewhere that they still operate. Some of these chains have disappeared from the US like flourish still in other parts of the world.
    11:53
    The meat locker. I didn't I didn't have a job in high school. I tried. I applied to Taco Bell. They didn't hire me.
    12:04
    Luke, what's my job title? There's some doubters. I'll be the forklift operator to be honest. That was fun.
    12:15
    If you think I haven't been pitching spooky titles all freaking weekend. Oh, Enzo's got it. All right, you guys have to try a Chicken Treat. It's a chicken chain. It's in Australia. I think only Western Australia. and I had a burger with a deep fried pineapple on it and I was sold. I never worked at McDonald's. Gizzy Master. Absolutely. Um I don't think there's anything this weekend I have not eaten off the roller grill at the quick trip. Tolbert, thank you. Thank you. We're having a lot of fun. I'm hoping I'm helpful. Um they haven't relegated me strictly to sweeping floors yet, but I'll do it. But uh I got to I got to load up some I loaded up uh $60,000 of with toppers like 70 grand of pinball machines yesterday with a forklift. Didn't break anything. Space balls. How was Beetlejuice? I love that movie. Patrick, my wife's supposed to take me to Australia at some point. She's in Italy right now with her family. Kev, um Australia is great. I waited too long to go there and I I want to go back as soon as I can. Captain 12, I don't know your real name, but we're talking about um Wisconsin Quick Trip with a K, not the QT Quick Trip, which is like than the rest of the Eastern Nation. I know the Quick Trip you're talking about. And to hear people talk about it, I'm like, why is that a big deal? The Quick Trips in Wisconsin, different chain, spelled with K, definitely better than QT. Um but not as good as like Buckyy's Sheets and Waw Wa the Holy Trinity.
    14:00
    Um we can start with The Big Trouble Game. Tommy. Oh, Tommy, I know you. Yeah. Okay. Um so many names and I have to connect them and the majority of people I interact with are strictly online, which does not work for me. Um I've got to see like faces and then I remember people.
    14:21
    Sweet floor. I've tried to find a way to make Karate Kid work as a theme and I can't see it. Um, my buddy Sterling though has a whole treatment for ET, so I think we should do that. I would love Fragle Rock if you can get the licenser to agree to it.
    14:42
    Yeah, I have the employee discount at Spooky. I get 25% off rental vehicles if I ever need to rent a vehicle from Spooky. The problem is they never have availability.
    14:54
    I mean, look, I used to get a quick trip all the time. QTS are everywhere. It's KT or in Iowa, quick star is what they're called. Uh, but KW Wik Trip is like the Wisconsin thing. Early stream day. Yeah. Uh, so woke up early. I got corn fields out the window. Um, I thought I'd come up in the Haunted Mansion room here. We'll try a live stream. Uh, I just got the Wi-Fi hooked up. New router, so I'm testing it. So, this is all I hope I'm not flickering and coming through. Okay. Um, but I've been trying to follow pinball news this weekend. Um, like trolling the internet and like pinside for tips and things is not where my focus has been the last couple days I've been down here. Um, I've been elbow deep in ramps and wire forms, but uh, I have been trying to keep an eye on things. Um, and we saw just a surprise surprise announcement of um, some pinball action figures or, you know, statues or mckettes. No prices yet. Two different versions. A 16inch one, which is going to be pretty big, and a 12 in. Um, the 16in is limited and hand painted. The other one's probably not. So, these things, they're sculpts, right? Leor's doing them. Um, I don't know. We'll probably do a walkthrough at some point. I don't know if we'll get to it today. Um the Mad Cats are sculpts and to make one of these things costs like you know $30 to $80,000 of tooling um just to make the tool to produce this thing and then if they're doing what 500 of them um to recoup their cost you know these things are going to they haven't released a price but they're going to be like 300 bucks right they have to be because what otherwise it's not worth it to make them um I don't think it's a good idea because I don't you know if you're making Freddy and Jason's and you're going to make a h 100,000 of them, it makes sense to do that and put them in Walmart for $24.99. But if you're making these big things and Leor's painting them, Leor's small sculpts are like $200, what's a 16inch hand painted sculpt from Leor going to cost? And like, who did the who did the art because it doesn't look like the ring master from the game? I get that. It's like somebody took a an action figure and just painted it like the ring master, but it doesn't look like And he's kind of a creepy character. Anyway, is anybody like, "Shut up, Don. I've already ordered three of them. I can't wait to take them home and play with them in my bathtub. They're going to have a line of them, I guess." Um, I don't know. I'm not like an action figure guy. like put like I've got so much crap covering shelves I don't have room to put like another nerd statue or like a little anime girl or like a waifu or something, you know?
    17:36
    Don, did you go to pinball the beach last year? Yes. The ticket launch was a disaster yesterday? Yes. Trying to go this year? You should. Didn't go last year. You should have. Um right. Uh I kind of went last minute, you know. I didn't even have a uh I didn't have a ticket. Uh, Spooky was like, "You can come sleep on our floor." I was like, "Dig it." I had the weekend off, so I was like, "Well, let's go." So, we ended up going. Uh, it was fun. It was super fun. Um, glad I went. Got to hang out with the mad guys. The best part of pinball at the beach, cuz I should look into the camera. The, uh, um, big shows that I go to, you know, Expo, TPF, I mean, they're huge, they're massive, you're running around, your voice is gone by the third day. Uh, pinball at the beach was very much like everybody was just walking around, you know, like, "Oh, hey, Steve Richie, how where'd you get that banana daiquiri? Where can I get one?" You know, uh, Georgie Gomez was there, you know, everybody's just kind of milling about. Um, Minè was there teasing everybody. He was just dressed in Harry Potter gear. It's like like he just didn't care anymore. Um, but it was fun. It was very casual. It was it felt more like like a private room at Expo where you could just kind of get away from the crowds, kind of hang out, play some high-end games and just like, you know, talk to your friends and, you know, hey, uh, you know, you designed, you know, or, uh, hey, John Borg, man, you know, you made Turtles. Had a question about this shot. Like, what the hell were you thinking? Or I really like how this turned out. Oh, thanks, man. Like, you know, here's the story behind it. Everybody was just there hanging out casually. and you know, everybody wasn't just like hound dogged where you know, you didn't you felt like you were bothering people. It was super fun. So, I'm glad I went to that. Um, we got emails if we went last year a couple days ago on the second we could buy tickets and it was a pretty s I went late in the day and uh Carrie Hardy had a discount code for Patreon members which I am. So, but he only had a hundred of them and I was able to go in late in the day. I forgot that there were we had early access till later and then I was able to go in there and get two tickets with the discount no problem and check out. Uh the problem was, you know, probably 200 people showed up at once and the poor web server couldn't handle the traffic. So probably what they did is just shut it down for now. They're going to upgrade their internet speeds and capability and then they'll probably announce, you know, a week ahead of time when the next date will be so everybody can try it again. But I think that's good that there'll be demand again because it was a fun show. You know, there weren't like exhibitor booths like you see at shows. Pin Snake didn't have a booth. There was a couple, but it was basically just like a private party. Here's a room full of awesome games. Here's a bunch of cool people. Go hang out. Um, Evil Dead's over there with no line. Go just go nuts on it. I mean, Evil Dead had somebody on it just about the whole time, but we all got to play it as much as we wanted. Avatar as much as we wanted, uh, Labyrinth as much as you wanted. Um, there was a lot of really good versions of games there, too. So, it was just fun to walk around and play with your friends and and be on the beach and not have to worry about, you know, DUIs because you could just walk to your room. Um, and there's plenty of rooms, walking distance, a lot of food. Wasn't able to go, but had to have a t-shirt or Yeah, sure. Uh, I already have an Airbnb next to the hotel. My wife's going with me. So, here's the thing. People were contacting me yesterday, like tons of people like, "Don, I just need two tickets. My wife wants a beach vacation. I want to go play pinball. Can you hook us up?" And you know, I had like 20 people doing that, which I I can't hook up 20 people. Um, but I will say this, uh, based on when I was there before, you only need the ticket to get into the pinball tent. They give you a lanyard and a wristband. Um, that's what we showed to get in there. And after a while, I just kind of left my lanyard in the room and I just went with my wristband. Um, so if you're going with your pinball significant other who just wants to go do beach stuff, doesn't care about going into the actual tent, they don't need to buy a ticket to the show. They just needed to stay in your room and then they can still mingle with everybody. It's just going into the actual pinball tent was the only time you had to show your band. Maybe they had like special events too that I missed. Um, I know they were doing karaoke at one of the bars. I don't know if they were checking um credentials there. Um it didn't seem like it, but um you know what I'm saying is if tickets sell out, but somebody's like, "I have one ticket available." Go ahead and buy it, take your wife, um and just use your ticket for the pinball and let her go play in the beach. It is still a little bit cold in February, but I mean, it was warm enough for shorts and we went into the water. What's the gym at the hotel like? Good question. I think it's very Florida like. I'm sure there was one there. I didn't seek it out the weekend. I was there. I was playing pinball. Good tip. Yeah. So, that's good. So, if for some reason it does like sell out, you know, and there's somebody that's like, I've got one ticket left, go ahead and get it. Um, and bring your your SIG other. Um, you know, and as the show goes on, you know, you could probably find a way in there. Um, yeah. And then once you get there, there's probably somebody that's going to have an extra ticket or leaves early or something, you know. So, I would say all hope is not lost.
    23:00
    Wednesday. Yeah, I and I don't think it was that there was too many people for demand. It was probably just too much demand for the website. Um I think everybody will be able to get tickets and we'll all go and it'll be fun. So, I've got the time booked. I have to make sure I have the time reserved off. There's still a chance that I might be working. I'm starting a new job, so I can't like get like every weekend off to go do pinball stuff.
    23:25
    Yeah. I mean, um, you know, little shop of games, how much web traffic do they get? You know, people come on there and look at inventory. Uh, then maybe they order some stuff, but it's not like, you know, 80 people all at once could probably crash it. The area was okay. It very much felt like like Florida. Uh, we went to Busch Gardens one day, too. Um, I took half the spooky contingent. Um, as well as Eric Johnson, my coaster homie who's also into pinball. We all went to Busch Gardens for a half day. It was super fun. I hadn't been there in a while. U, I got some new credits. What was new there? Um, some kind of reversing Max single car mad mouse's coaster. It's kind of fun. The Geio Cities site. Remember that? Remember Geio Cities? So, yeah. I don't know. Um, is this Melvin from DPX is doing the sculpts? It must be because Leor is involved. Um, I guess it's an idea. I just don't know if there's a market for it. You know what? We're in a market for DPX. Great DPX games. Design a DPX game and make it. Get rid of these dumb themes. I don't want a failed theme. We'll be done Thursday for it. Nice little getaway. Yeah, Bush Gardens is fun. If you're gonna do Raza, Raza is an original theme anyway. Just who owns that? Does anybody own that license for Raz? Just Just do a zombie amusement park and make it better. I don't know why you need to resurrect this garbage. Maybe there's a way to make it fun. I don't know. I'll wait and see. I can't wait to play it. Um, I want to play some more Alice with New Code. Uh, I played the new code at Vocleberg, Austria during the Euro Pinball Championships and I was actually able to get up to the upper play field more often and play around with it and kind of learn um, like how those magnets work. It's more about grabbing the ball and throw it into the sling to try to make your shots. And that felt kind of fun. Um, it's just too bad that that upper playfield has magnets that overheat if they're up there too long. So, you can't be up there um as much as you would like to be for an upper, you know, because sometimes I just want to play an upper play field over and over and get up there.
    25:37
    Yeah, Bush Gardens was fun. Montu still kicks butt. Uh Kumba was down. Um they had one of those premier lam shuttle coasters. Eh, they're okay. I got a credit. Uh Cheetah Hunt is always fun. I really like that ride. Uh, so I mean it was a good time and it wasn't very crowded in February and we'll probably head over to Disney, too. Uh, Disney trip coming up next month. We'll be down there with the Australian contingent of pinball doing Disney and Universal. So, that'll be a good time. Uh, Pinball Expo is coming up soon. I have to get ready. Does anybody want a David Fix t-shirt? Um, I showed a couple of people this Dave Fix shirt I made and there was instant interest. So, what I'm thinking is I may bring my uh t-shirt printer to expo and we can do um Dave Fix shirts as like an expo exclusive if you guys want them. I'll need to order some supplies quickly, but I can get it done if there's demand, you know. Is there more demand for David Fix as my homeboy t-shirts or DPX ring master statueets? What do you want to go home with? a $300 statue or a $25 t-shirt with our homie uh David Fix on it. Let me know in the comments below.
    27:04
    Dude, I'm in a haunted mansion bedroom. How can I not get this house? It's so cool. Kev David Fix um is is our homie, our pinball friend who was the chief something vice president of American pinball. I forget what his exact title was. He's a guy with a curly mustache. Uh responsible for conception of Burio's barbecue challenge. Uh Galactic Tank Force. Um, I think he came in after Valhalla was already being made, but he he basically ran the pinball division of Amtron for the last several years and was set to launch the brand new game from American Pinball. And then, oh, good. I got to remind me to I want to do another round of Chum Buckets, too. I got a lot of stuff to do this week. Um, I'm doing a homebrew topper contest. I would like to bring some of my toppers. So, I have to finish them. Um, Chicago Enzo needs his X-Men topper. I'll probably finish that and bring that to the show. I'll finish uh another Kong Topper and I'll bring that. And I'll at least bring those two. I need to make some Chum Buckets. We'll do another run of them. Um, is he getting kicked back at the T-shirts? Listen, man. He's getting celebrity endorsements from me. You can make a public figure t-shirt. Should we do as a fundraiser for fix?
    28:42
    There's no money in t-shirts anyway. It's why I haven't gone on to um what's the the pinball swag barn or whatever. Silverball swag. Um you know, selling a t-shirt on there, you might get a $150. That doesn't seem worth it. people paying $30 for t-shirts and you get a buck 50. So unless I'm selling a hundred thousand t-shirts, like there's no money. There's no margin in t-shirts. Um I've tried to get it down as low as a ca I can. I can print them myself. I can buy the shirt and then with shipping, you know, maybe there's like8 to$10 a profit where before there was like four to five, you know. But what's fun is creating interesting stuff and getting it out there. And that's why I do it. Kev, are you bringing a topper to the show? No one's emailed me and let me know like what they're bringing. So, I don't know if it's going to be one person. Kev, if you're the only person that shows up with a homebrew topper, you're going to walk away with either an Iron Maiden topper or the Kong Topper from Electric Playground. Those are the two top prizes.
    29:46
    Dude, Kev, if you're the only person that enters, this is going to be phenomenal. You're going to clean up. Oh, shoot. I have to design trophies. I got to get back home today and get to work. All right. Um, Expo is not till the 18th. That gives me over 10 days to finish a couple toppers, print trophies, and Jaws buckets. I'll commit to that. I'll order some fixed shirts. We'll go from there. But Kevin, I would say you have an excellent chance on winning something if you bring something.
    30:22
    Oh, the Pinball Studios finally showed up. our patron saint Sterling. How you doing, buddy? All right. Now that Sterling is here, I'm just trying to gauge interest in a pinball theme, which I kind of think can work, but I but I'm not sure if it's just my own exuberance over it of want it to happen or if there's actual like interest in the industry. So, this is a pinball theme. It's a big one. It's an 80s movie. Um, it's represented at Universal Studios prominently. has a lot of merchandise already. That's why I think there is some wide appeal for it. So, I'm talking about 1984, 1985's Steven Spielberg Classic, ET, the extraterrestrial. [snorts] Um, Sterling thinks this is an awesome idea. I think there could be something there, but I I don't want to like just be clouding the judgment and like come out with a game and it's doing like poor numbers because I'm like, doesn't everybody love this theme? So, ET. Do people dig ET? My topper is a banana tape duck to a piece of plywood. Yeah, I'd vote for it. That's hilarious. 1985. Yeah. 85 was a killer year. Um, the way the topper contest works, too, it's not me picking the best. It's votes from the people. Allen says yes. 1982. ET was 82. No way.
    31:52
    Um, but it's going to be based on votes. So, if your banana on a piece of plywood gets the most votes, you are the winner. That's just how it works. I did pitch Mac and me this weekend. Um, I didn't even get a response from the guys. So, that's the probably the bright response.
    32:15
    Yeah, but Sterl, I don't like We know the theme. We know the rides. We grew up with it. But we're not making a game for us. We're making a game that we can sell to a thousand people. If it was a game we were making for us, there would be some wacky themes and it would be amazing for me, but not for thee. You know, I was five years old when shot theater. So, all right. So, I'm going to do a fact check. ET was what year? because I was I was going to put $5 down that it was 1985,
    32:51
    but if it was 82, I'mma check it, too. It's bugging me. ET year. I mean, I have some ideas. Oh, Jesus. It was 1982. Well, crap, man. That was a small pint. All right, it was 82. Okay, fine. All right, fine.
    33:15
    All right, maybe 1985 was the Atari game. Tell you this though. Um, okay. So, you have a game takes place in a rural area, so you have some woods, so it's got like that wood theme. I wanted to do I wanted to play a game that's in a forest. Um, because I think that's kind of like a fun thematic area. uh games like Bonsai Run and there's another motocross game, Blackwater or something that seem to take place like in mud in woods and that's kind of I want to get I want to get a game that's got that vibe, you know, of like being in the woods being somewhat confined and exploring, right? You're going to have a spaceship in the woods. That's a cool aesthetic. Um you have a little town area. Um cool ramps and things, you know, like Evil Dead takes place kind of in the woods in the back. I like that. All right. So, you have like wood theme. Um, this game needs to have a video mode that is reminiscent of the failed Atari game because just like uh Jaws had those 8-bit video modes, right? And those those other modes that were throwbacks to 80s arcades holographic games, like really gimmicky stuff. It'd be fun to have a uh a game that you could play that looks like the Atari ET game. I mean, you know, it's not that game, but it looks like it. And then you know you're jumping over stuff as ET or whatever falling in pits.
    34:36
    So I would take in heavy inspiration heavy inspiration from the ET adventure the ride uh from the queue from the first half of the ride and nothing from the second half of the ride. that goofy stuff which I mean I love because it's in the ride but my I love the first part of that ride so much it makes up for the second half. You made it to our planet. They wanted to throw some small world in there which it's so goofy that I can see a charm in it. But the first part of the ride is so good. You're just in the dark. You're in the woods. It's at night. There's government scientist troops out there in space suits. You're just trying to escape and get your friend out before he gets experimented on. Escaping from the cops. Escaping from the NASA scientists. Like that's the game I want to play.
    35:27
    The green planet is what it was called. I would love to bring Botanicus in there, you know.
    35:35
    Yeah, that would be hard to get anything from the ride. Botanicus was I don't know if I don't know Spielberg created that. He's got a lot of pull. If Spielberg's people were okay with it, we could we could do it. We could do anything that he was. He's gold. Um, but he's probably expensive, too. I don't know how much this license would cost. It might be cost prohibitive. Um, but I'm starting to think it could really work. And you go to Universal and you go to the gift shop and it's like, here's the Back to the Future section. Uh, here's the Ghostbusters section. Here's the King Kong section. Here's the Jaws section. Like, all these have been pinball machines. Here's a Jurassic Park section and then here's a big ET section today. You can still get ET backpacks and stuff. So, it's like the it's the one theme now that we have King Kong that hasn't been done.
    36:27
    Yeah. forget the extended universe and stuff unless like they allow us to use it like on screen assets, but if you can just use stuff from the movie. Um, come up with a narrator that's like, you know, a scientist or something kind of guiding you trying to save ET. It doesn't have to be anybody. And then, uh, it could be fun, you know, a funk adventure game.
    36:51
    I posted a photo of me as a kid of the ET Facebook. I'll check it out. I was the first fan of the week on the ET Facebook page back in 2012. >> All right,
    36:58
    All right,
    36:58
    All right, so here's the thing. If you guys want an ET pinball machine made, um, tell Spooky Pinball that you want an ET pinball machine made, because if they can hear from 200 people that they want it, they then they'll make it. You know, that's the nice thing. you know, this isn't a corporation that's got uh, you know, meetings all day and and things have to flow through the conduit and you have to align the uh the stakeholders um at the end of the day, all that business, you know, if if enough people are asking for it, like seriously, they'll do it.
    37:41
    So, it doesn't matter who does the call for ET, I don't think it could just be like some voice guiding you, you know? ET needs help. You know, he's in the woods. Gather the items to make his antenna transmitter.
    38:00
    You know, it could just be like um it'd be fun if it was like like wasn't there an older teen girl character in there that was kind of like helping the kids out?
    38:14
    Goonies would make a cool pin, would it? No, I think so. I mean, you know, it's a bunch of kids on an adventure. There's pirates and stuff. Who would you want to make it? I would like to see something like uh I always want to take a theme. I know we can never do this, but it'd be fun to see like a reality show or something where just like you give like a bunch of bakers a cake idea and they have to make their own versions of that cake or that dessert. Like give every pinball company a theme and have them come back an hour later with with a concept of how they would do it. You could get any of the original actors do it easily other than Drew Barrymore. It's getting harder and harder to get actors.
    38:59
    All right, man. Hey, if you want Goonies, tell them because um a a big way that they decide which projects to go forward on is like what things people are asking for because they don't want to have to work hard to sell games. Ideally, they want to reveal a game, have it sell out, and then they can just focus on manufacturing and quality and customer service and just like that's the focus of their company. You know, when you have to like continually go to shows to try to drum up business, it takes a lot of effort away from every other part of it. So, it's it's so much easier. It's so much better for the company. It's better for the consumer if it's just a killer theme that we just we can't wait to, you know, we can't wait to get to the point that we're emailing constantly on every live stream like, "I'm number 272. When is my game coming? Any updates?" You know, like you can't wait to get it, right? I think Gremlins could probably work. I think Goonies could work. ET is better than Goonies for me, but Back to the Future by Mile. All right. Um, this is good feedback. Uh, let them know, man. I mean, if we hit them with overwhelming force for ET, maybe we can get it to happen. My last Gog was named Mai. Yeah. I mean, like, I don't know the whole licensing business, like what's available, what's not. Sometimes things seem like a slam dunk to me and I talk to them and they're like, "Oh yeah, we tried. There's there's no way they will not license it. We tried."
    40:32
    You got to stick with those 80s and 90s and soldier themes to sell out. Yeah. So, like I, you know, I go to theme parks and I'm like, what's selling here? You know, because theme parks want to put things out. They're selling sippy cups. They're selling backpacks. They're selling plush toys. They're selling lanyards, you know? They don't care what's on them. They just want them to sell. And so, I'm looking at what themes they're picking and like Minions stuff flies off the freaking shelf. I would love me a Minions game. Um, that hasn't been done. um Fast and Furious stuff. I don't know, the ride sucks, but you know, it still seems to be like a popular theme that people like. Um but I see a ton of Minion stuff, Back to the Future stuff you always see. Jurassic Park is probably the top theme. Um you do see some Kong stuff, but it's mainly like like Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, Jaws, like the three perennial favorites. Minion stuff, Hello Kitty stuff is all over the place. Harry Potter stuff. Does Spooky want to go with more spooky or horror themes? Um, both. You know, honestly, I think they want, of course, themes of Cell. I I think Yeah, I think Fast and Furious. I'm surprised Stern hasn't done it. This seems like like John Wick could have been Fast and Furious, honestly. Look at John Wick. Is that not Fast and Furious? Like, what's in there that's specific to John Wick? the case that opens up. I think that's the only thing. Add a couple of more cars. Like it plays fast, right? It plays fast. There's a VUK, the ball lock, multiballs, chase the enemies, protect the girl, whatever. That could have been Fast and Furious.
    42:15
    Just think of the summer tribute store at Universal Studios and the brands that they represented. Yeah. Um, Universal Studios does this thing where every year they do what they call a tribute store. And they gut the store every year and rethe it. And last year it was themed as a 1980s video store. You walk in, there's all the VHS tapes of the movies, and then there's merchandise sprinkled around. But as you walk through, it's like you're in just a random independent video store from the 80s. They're like selling VHS uh decks. There's an arcade that was in there with like some fake games. I think Palibius was in there. They had a Palibius cabinet. non-playable, but just theming. Um, and then when you got to the end, that was the room that has the wall of Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, um, Jaws with a like a big ship made and stuff and then a big ET wall. And I'm standing there like, that's been a game. That's been a game. That's going to be a game. ET ET hasn't been done. Eat the guinea pig multiball. The Pinball Amigos made a minions homebrew player at UK Pinfest. Awesome, dude. I think, yeah, imagine, you know, pinball's chaotic. The minions are chaos. They're just nuts and there's bananas and it just doesn't make any sense. And I think it's perfect. Um, wire forms that are uh blue and yellow. We haven't seen a game since like Roller Coaster Tycoon that did wire forms of different colors, you know. Not Well, okay. Spooky just did it with uh uh Scooby-Doo where there was a color for each character, but I'm thinking a lot of blues, a lot of yellows, a lot of minions, a lot of mayhem, exploding mechanisms, and just like just insane call outs. Might as well have ALF. I These are the themes for homebrew. I would go up and play ALF all day. Alf the escape from Melmack or something like you hit the spinner to gain cats and that could be the in-game currency. Follow would be awesome. Oh, I thought that said Stern pinball. Stellar pinball. Follow would be awesome. I really hope they do a Tron remaster. I honestly don't know what's next from Stern. Um I mean I've got money down that they're doing a Walking Dead remaster only because I've heard that so many times. Uh but as far as like is it Pokemon? Is Pokemon delayed? Was Pokemon ever a thing? I have no idea. Is Fallout coming? It would be terrible. Here's a terrible nightmare scenario that Pokemon is being problematic and needs more time. So, they then had to rush Fallout just to meet an arbitrary date. If the game's not ready, then we can wait two months, man. Don't rush out Fallout because Pokemon was have I don't know if this is the case but like that's my nightmare scenario that Pokemon is being problematic and you know there's a mechanism they can't figure out how to work right or something they may end up trashing it replacing it with a plastic it'll just be a scoop or something and then they had to rush a game like Fallout which needs to be baked which needs to have good code before launch. Oh, you know what? I'm using the same background photo from last time. I changed everything. I made a new thumbnail, but I didn't change my uh my deal. Uh, email Jeff at Mad Pinball and buy a game. He's a homie. Oh, this is one from last time. I'm sorry, everybody. You've been looking at the wrong background image. Boom. There we go. So stupid.
    45:53
    Too bad you can't create an 80s TV pinball with multiple themes. That's not a bad idea, right? Like like making one game with 10 licenses. miserable. Can you imagine? Um, but I like the idea of having multiple different themes or the at least you could do a TV show and then have multiple episodes of that TV show represented.
    46:20
    Spooky theme pinball collecting Dawn is the first wizard mode. Oh my god, nobody would want that. Does Jeff sell JJP? Jeff does sell JJP. I've bought JJP's from Jeff and I'm probably buying if not the next JJP, probably the one after that. Yeah, I may get Potter again. Um, but from what I'm hearing, I'm liking themes. Um, what is the Armor Spice you mentioned yesterday? If you can talk about it. Oh, yeah. Um, so, uh, the guy from he's one of the Chicago distributors. uh a great American pinball. Uh this guy entrepreneur, he bought himself like uh Four Evil Deads, I think, and then he pulled the armor off and he got it like airbrush detailed. So, um the armor's got like blood and rust and things spray painted on it. He put the Invisalass in there, topper, butter cabinet, had all the armor airbrushed, I think. you know, some people are doing like really incorrative uh like airbrush work with armor now, you know, so it's not just powder coated. It's I think it's a little excessive, but it does look cool. Um, but he's going to have like four blinged out Evil Deads, Butter Topper, Ghost Glass. Every mod and sculpt from Back Alley Creations will be added to it. And all the the armor is all airbrushed. And then I think these are like, you know, $18,000 games or something. and he's going to have like four of them or something like that. Um he'll have one to show off at the show and then he'll have more like ready to go and he'll be buying those. So the guy kind of took the games and then is doing um like after treatment to them kind of like I do but a bit more high-end um and he's going to have them out there for a high-end price. Now what I do is I get a game and then I make it over to be like the best version of that game but it just sells for MSRP, right? You're not paying a markup for it. Um, my margin is I got to play the game for three months and mod it out. Um, and then you know another game's coming out. So here I get my my my MSRP back for it and I can roll that into the next game. So for me my margin is getting to play pinball, getting to mod pinballs. Um, the buyer, the arcade that's getting them is paying MSRP and getting tricked out games and so they're super happy with that. The Kong build was amazing. I'm getting better at what I'm doing. And um as I make relationships with people that make parts, make art blades, um powder coat, I'm able to get my prices down. So I'm able to actually not only have a margin of actually playing the game, but like there is a little bit of a cash margin too now. Not a lot, not enough to turn into a business, but for the hobby of playing pinball to kind of find a way to pay for itself with I mean the huge time investment making these games over, right? and like you know thinking up thing cool things to do to him. Um but it's definitely not like necessarily cash positive but it is super cool. But this guy's doing cash positive. He's getting games that's high in demand making spectacular versions of them for people that truly just want to like you can still buy one of them. Like they're not sold. So if you want Evil Dead um you know they're selling for like $15,000. You can pay a couple more and get a great version of it.
    49:45
    You're making me want to take a big loss on the two sterns to get a TCM. They're not going up for sale. Wait, what? You're making me want to take a big loss on two good sterns to get a TC. Oh, right. Oh, TCM. Yeah, it's Bug and I will tell you I I think it's our favorite game that they've made.
    50:11
    The game takes many vids for high scores. Huh. Dude, you guys see the Did you guys see the new video mode for Evil Dead? Holy garbage. Holy garbage. They're They're doing some cool stuff. And I don't think it's going to stop with Evil Dead. I think they're Spooky's like reinvented what toppers are, you know, what a $1,500 topper should look like. They're reinventing what video mode should look like. They're reinventing what games should be loaded with at launch. Um, industry leaders, man. And the themes are amazing. TCM right now is my favorite game. Evil Dead number two. Um, and then like nostalgia stuff like Rick and Morty and Halloween that I love. Um, Alice Cooper, I love the theme. But anyway, um, will TCM still be my favorite spooky game in five years? No. No, it won't. Yeah. Oh, no. 100% it won't. Are you kidding? No. All right. Um because I've I'm aware of some things and as good as TCM is and as much as like people need to have it um over the next several years they'll probably be gamers really vying for it which I mean speaks to how great that game is. But yeah, um go get a TCM. They're available. Um you know, get it direct from Spooky. Call Jeff. Um they'll put one together today. Hell, I'll go over there and help assemble it for you. Um, maybe uh we could sign the back of it too if you want. If you want everybody from the factory and the company to sign it, just ask and they have these stickers and they'll everybody will sign it. They'll stick it to the back of the back box for you. That's free if you want it.
    51:57
    Rick and Morty was a hilariously fun game. It wasn't a good game. No one is going to say that the layout is good. Um, but like it's so funny. It's so funny that it's fun. Yeah. Now, imagine a game like Rick and Morty. Imagine a game that's that's as funny as that is. Um, that's as fun of a theme as that is, but it shoots really well and you'll get an idea. Don, what do you think about video screen? Allah barrels of fun or maybe even a screen as a side blades. All bof. That can't be barrels of fun. Oh, wait. No, it is barrels of fun. Yeah. Yeah. screen as side blades would probably I'd be worried about them getting scratched unless they were embedded in the cabinet. Um I love I love a screen as a back the backboard, you know, the back plate that they're calling it. I love what Barrels did there. Um I'm trying to you have to see like how what value that's going to add um for the title versus like some other stuff. But I I love how it worked on Labyrinth and I dig how it works on Dune, how when you're playing, you can see, you know, stuff that's back there. Um there's a game in development that I I pitched the idea for that kind of exact thing, not as big. Um it was going to be a screen that was going to be hidden and then a panel would slide and it would be available and then a panel would cover it up. Um we ended up not using that, but um it's an idea. But yeah, I I I like how they did it with um with Labyrinth. Um the cool thing is, you know, you can have plastics back there with lights behind it. Um or you can have a screen where you can put whatever you want back there. Um it's just it's money and complexity back there. And so the problem is it may displace something else. You know, if you have a big screen back there, which is cool, you can't go behind it with a wire form uh or you can't put a little uh plastic subway behind there. Jaws did that. Monsters did that. I love being able to shoot and have the ball go back behind there and come back out or put mechanisms back there that interact with the ball. Um there's another uh mech that I'm looking at where um a ball travels across that back plate and you can't do that if there's a screen there. So, I I think for the the right game, I think it adds a lot. Um, but there's a lot of uh options that you would sacrifice putting a a big screen back there. So, it just depends on the game. If the game you're making, you know, doesn't utilize anything that goes behind the backboard and it's just going to be a back plate, then that's when you can think of extending that theming throughout the cabinet, you know, because it gives you like kind of an infinite perspective back there, like a vanishing point. um that would just make everything feel deeper. So yeah, imagine Pirates of the Caribbean with like a mode where there's a ship battle going on back there in the background while you're playing and there's like ships and on fire and sinking and barrels barrels floating by and uh cannons firing, you know, and you can have all that in the back.
    55:17
    So yeah, I think there's definitely a place for it for the right game that would be fun for a minions game because you could put just minion mayhem going on back there and explosions and things. I think like for a game like that it would really work, you know, for a game that you're exploring things or you want to do something mechanistically back there. Um, then that's where you're limited. TCM put women on meat hooks back there and we wouldn't have that if there was a screen.
    55:43
    So yeah, but but these are the kind of concepts like when you're when you're putting a game together, like everything is open. Like you can do whatever you want, you know, pitch ideas and like put it in there and see how it works. You know, you can always throw in a ramp, throw in a mech, throw in a vuck. uh throw in a jump ramp, throw in a a magnet catching something and then build it and play it and you could may find out like this kind of sucks. I don't like it. Um or this is really cool. Let's do this. You know, that that's the fun part of it. You know, I have to say that it was a little bit um it was a little bit nerve-wracking trying to put a game together because, you know, I'm like, well, now I'm part of this process. Um, if if I lead these guys astray, I might ruin a good idea. I don't want to do that. Oh god, I dark starred my Stranger Things. The first time I walked up to a Stranger Things premium, I didn't realize that it had projection mapping and I know what projection mapping is. So, when I saw the spinner and a swirl on it, like it it blew my mind like because it wasn't a I didn't think that was possible. And then there it was. And then I saw like the screen and then the projections everywhere else. And that's a cool game. It's a very simple game layout-wise. There's not a ton going on. They're just plastic ramps. Um, you know, the the magnet lock doesn't even work great. But the projection mapping on that game is what keeps it in the collection. Andrew, me and you, I want Muppet Show today. I want Muppet Show. I want Muppet Show with special guests. It all you have to do is just just get the assets for the the show. which I don't know if you can because a show features musicians, celebrities, um something would really be missing without that. Even if like, you know, like Sally Duncan or whatever her name was, um Mark Hamill, this just be so fun, man. Would it be cool if Spooky could do projection mapping on Child's Play with a blank Rudy head to broadcast face emotions? [sighs] You had me until the the Rudy head. I don't like that thing.
    57:53
    Stranger Things has played way more than it should be here. Sta Stranger Things. Um, Child's Play is like one of those other tempoles, right? Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th, Child's Play. They still do Child's Play, haunted walkthroughs. Um, it's still a big theme. There's merchandise. You go to Spirit Halloween if you want to look at spooky themes, like spooky Halloween themes. Go to Spirit Halloween and look at the sections of what they have and what's been done. You know, there's Haunted Mansion. Hell, I I I'm literally in a Haunted Mansion room right now. I would ab I'd buy that game and put it right here. Right in the bedroom right here. Like Like look at this wallpaper. Can we just I mean come on.
    58:42
    Yeah. Everything's obvious about Muppets. I was hoping Barrels like that was going to be their follow-up game. My sun is shifting.
    58:53
    Yeah. I don't So, I don't know. I'm sure they've Here's a window. I don't know if you can see it. H. Not very good. Maybe we'll do Maybe we'll get drunk and do a home tour at some point. The lighting is shifting. I think I need to lighten it up again. Can't see Spooky D Chucky. Um, what else? Uh, Scream is a big theme. Uh, this there some there are themes left in pinball. The problem is it's getting harder and harder to get um actors voices and likenesses. It's an extra level of complexity. Like the the studios are getting more latigious, everybody involved like it's it's getting harder. Um, you might have a licenser that says yes, you can use our theme and uh, yes, you can have the assets and then you make the game and it might be a year until the playfield gets approved and you're sitting on it there like this game's been done for a year. We're not hearing what's going on.
    59:54
    Dude, I would love a I would love a theme park pin. I'd love I played Epcot pin with all the countries. I think that would be a lot easier to do than Universal Studios because you'd have to get Back to the Future and all that business and each one of those is a license. And you know, when you're making an Xbox game for the Connect, you could probably do something like that. When you want a pinball machine, the margins aren't there, the numbers aren't there to make it worthwhile for what you would have to pay to do that.
    60:26
    But yeah, I would I would love a Universal Studios Florida pin. Um I wonder if I don't know how that licensing would be hard. Like it'd be nice if Universal would approach and be like, "We want a hundred of these games made. We want to put them all over um our our back lot. We want to put them in every one of our hotels." Aban Costello meet Frankenstein. I would play it. Oh, Great American Pinball's here. How you doing, sir? We were just talking about you. You want to plug your Evil Dead makeovers? What all's in it? I mentioned it earlier. I love critters. love critters.
    61:03
    Walt Disney theme and include parks somehow. I'm here for it. If you know, contacted Disney that will return calls. That That's the hangup. That's the hangup. Imagine Spaceship Earth right there in the middle and like you could board the Montreal around the park and then, you know, each uh country can be represented. Countries are wide open. You know, you have a world showcase, future world, go on missions. We do need more Universal Monster theme pins. You're hitting it, man. Wasn't Roller Coaster a theme park pin? Uh, Roller Coaster Tycoon was a computer video game pin. That was that license. Um, so while it featured theme park elements, um, it wasn't like like a licensed theme park. I mean, we want to play a game that's got all of our favorite themes in it all in one. That's what a theme park is. You go to a theme park and it's multiple themed areas and you know, you like reacts to it, right? Your mood changes. Sometimes there's tension. Sometimes it's more relaxed and fanciful, you know, and then sometimes, you know, you want to go and have a nice sit down restaurant at this cool theme. Other places you want to do a graband go and have a drink. The Montreal Star Wars Hyperloop. My god. Um,
    62:26
    I love me some Montreals. Um, The Simpsons Pinball Party. I think it's the last pinball machine with a Montreal in it. The Stern game roller coaster. There was a Stern game called Roller Coaster.
    62:43
    Perhaps the Monroe carries the ball. Gap, do you have a show special TCM? All right. Yeah. Uh, we got somebody that wants a a Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and I don't know anybody that has one that wants to sell it, but they are still available. I would love if like that game eventually sells out and then is sought after. What's happening now is um people are calling up One Evil Dead. They're told that's not available. We have Texas Chainsaw Massacre and they're buying that, which is not a bad consolation because that's a great game, especially if you're like looking for horror. It's perfect.
    63:29
    Back alley mods. Okay, those are the um Back Alley. Matt does the uh sculpts and mods. He did the ones in the game already, so he's done even more that for reasons didn't end up in the game, but they're available. So, it's got all of his mods, airbrushed armor, two dead trees, shooterlings shotgun. Okay. So, so like every accessory, I think they're they're they're buttered and invisaglass or spooky glass, right? Too. They'll have six evil deads. All right, guys. Here it is. If you want an evil dead, you're going to pay for it, but you can get one. And it's absolutely loaded. And there's going to be six of them at Expo.
    64:11
    And I'm sure if you tell Great American Pinball you're here because you heard it on Don's Pinball podcast, he'll give you a free hat. I bet he'll do that. [laughter]
    64:26
    But there you go. I mean, not a bad idea. Uh, you know, take some games, trick them out. Bridgeclaw mod numbered one of six expo edition. Is that the mod that's numbered or the game is numbered?
    64:44
    All right. All right. So, there you go, man. Um, a completely modded out, brand new, tricked, tuned Evil Dead. And there's six of them. Oh, were those the six that I just put in your back of your truck yesterday?
    65:02
    There you go. And they were even forklift by me. And you're going to have at least one of them on display there so I can play it, right? Because I want to come I want to come check it out and like ugle over this thing.
    65:26
    Nice. All right, guys. There it is. Uh, we'll close the show out with that. Um, Gap is bringing a trick out. Evil Dead. Are you forklift certified? Absolutely I am. Are you kidding, Sterling? You missed the first part of the show. We talked all about all the jobs that I've had before. Which one of them was a forklift operator? But I still got it. That was fun. I'll forklift more. All six on display. All right. So, I'm hitting the show floor and I'm heading to Predator first. I'm gonna go play that. Then I'm heading to Gap to go check out these Evil Deads. Then I'm going to go see what homebrew stuff showed up. That's a fun way to do to make some special games. Uh Gap, do you have any Texas Chainsaw Massacres? Oh, of course they do. Yeah. Yeah, of course. Still available.
    66:21
    All right, you two connect and um work out a good show price and tell them you want a hat.
    66:36
    I love TCM, man. Oh, new code updates coming, too. It's October, so yeah, now's not a Now's a great time to get that game. Um, I'm not selling mine. It's maniacal, man. The modes are crazy.
    66:53
    All right, guys. Final thoughts. What's going on? I have to go get some breakfast and I'm supposed to record with Jenga sometime soon.
    67:03
    This was fun, man. Uh, ending. All right, ending's queued up. New code for evil. Dude, the new Evil Dead was already great and the new code was massive. I just I played the game the factory game yesterday. Um, that video mode, dude. And like what's going on with the there's like so much in the game now. I don't even I don't even understand it. I need to get it again. Drive down this week and check out the shop. Uh working this week. Um but oh, you know what? Tell you what. Um Gap, we'll chat. I got um I'll be going into Chicago maybe this week because I got to go pick up that Star Wars game. So maybe I could swing by. That would be fun.
    67:54
    Cool, guys. All right, same time next week. Uh I don't know where I'm going to be, but uh we should live stream and then uh I don't know if I'll do I might do a live stream Sunday of Expo and it's just going to be walking around exposing down. Show's coming up soon. I'm excited. Uh be cool to each other. Uh be kind online and let's talk some pinball. I'll talk to you guys next week for sure. And then when I find more information through the week, I like to drop it in the podcast. Email me at donspinballodcastmail.com. You want to know more about what I'm doing down here in Benton, Wisconsin. It's on the Patreon right now at patreon/donspinballodcast. Five bucks. Go listen to it. We got ton of stuff on there. When I hear things or I I get uh deals and stuff, I post it there. Uh email Jeffpinball.com. Get yourself a game. Kev shots. Yeah. Well, let's do live streams at expo the whole time. It's going to be fun. Make yourself a topper. Bring it in. Win a topper to take home with you. Um, if you got to figure out how a way to get uh Walmart or Home Depot, also Home Depot. Um, if you got to find a way to get the topper to the show, make sure you have a way to get a topper that you win back from the show. And we'll talk to you guys later. All right, I'm out. I'm going to get some food. Peace.