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Episode 65 – Pirates Take Over

Slam Tilt Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Oct 19, 2017
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.035

TL;DR

Pinball Expo coverage: Pirates of the Caribbean revealed, attendance down, Stern/Jersey Jack/American Pinball seminars discussed.

Summary

Ron Hallett and Bruce Nightingale discuss their coverage of Pinball Expo, focusing on new game announcements, seminars with manufacturers, and tournament play. Key reveals include Jersey Jack's Pirates of the Caribbean pinball machine with 21 playable characters, American Pinball's Houdini updates, and production insights from Stern. The hosts cover venue atmosphere decline, vendor participation changes, and gameplay impressions of multiple new titles.

Key Claims

  • Pinball Expo attendance and game count were noticeably lower than previous years

    high confidence · Ron directly observed the event and reported 'Less games, less attendance' and 'The hall was empty Sunday morning'

  • Pinball Inc., the longest vendor at Expo for 17 years, is not returning next year and will focus on Texas Pinball Festival instead

    high confidence · Ron stated directly: 'Pinball Inc., who has been the longest vendor at Expo for 17 years straight, is not going back to Expo next year'

  • Pirates of the Caribbean has 21 playable characters with three billion possible gameplay combinations

    high confidence · Eric M. presented game features in seminar: 'you could pick one of 21 characters and have three billion possibilities of things you can do'

  • Jersey Jack's Pirates of the Caribbean pricing is $8,500 (Pro), $9,500 (LE), and $12,500 (Collector's Edition)

    high confidence · Ron reported during Jersey Jack seminar: '$8,500, $9,500, and $12,500'

  • American Pinball changed Houdini's DMD from vertical to horizontal orientation

    high confidence · Ron attended American Pinball seminar: 'We set a vertical display, a little DMD display. It's now horizontal'

  • George Gomez apologized for promising code updates every two weeks for Batman 66, citing resource constraints

    high confidence · Ron reported from Stern panel: 'George Gomez said he should have never said that they were going to have code every two weeks. apologizes for that'

  • Big Lebowski's new manufacturing arrangement creates a Ponzi-like situation where new buyers will receive machines before original backers

    medium confidence · Ron explained manufacturer setup: 'people who put all their money in and they're going to get their big Lebowski's after the people who buy now. What? It's the Ponzi scheme'

  • Stern is shifting focus toward distributor/operator market over home market, with Premiums and LEs still targeting home collectors

Notable Quotes

  • “Less games, less attendance. Yeah, that's not good.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~15:30 — Reflects broader concern about Expo's declining draw and vendor participation

  • “It's the Ponzi scheme. We have no money to build your machines, so we must get new money to buy and make all machines.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~1:06:00 — Harsh criticism of Big Lebowski's pre-order manufacturing model and cash flow problems

  • “Don't pre-buy. Ever. Ever pre-buy. I would not give these guys one red cent.”

    Ron Hallett @ ~1:07:30 — Strong warning to community about pre-order risk with Big Lebowski after three-year wait for backers

  • “Let me play pinball. Yeah, that's pretty much what I was saying. Let me play pinball.”

    Ron Hallett / Bruce Nightingale @ ~31:00 — Criticism of long, boring video modes on newer machines like Houdini; reflects player frustration with game design direction

  • “The sound is incredible. If you're not bobbing your head up and down, what's wrong with you?”

    Ron Hallett @ ~1:25:00 — High praise for TNA's audio design, representing strong positive reception of Spooky game

  • “I have 22 followers...Congratulations. You know when you have my Twitter? Zero.”

    Ron Hallett / Jersey Jack representative @ ~54:00 — Humorous but pointed exchange revealing disconnect between podcast hosts and corporate representatives

  • “You can pick one of 21 characters and have three billion possibilities of things you can do.”

    Eric M. (Jersey Jack) @ ~38:00 — Key pitch point for Pirates' rules depth and character variety; most characters marked 'coming soon'

  • “The rocking upper play field could be removed with one screw. Operator-friendly.”

    Eric M. (Jersey Jack) @ ~47:00 — Design consideration for operator convenience on expensive machine; contrasts with high price point

Entities

Ron HallettpersonBruce NightingalepersonSteve RitchiepersonGeorge GomezpersonKeith ElwinpersonZach SharppersonEric M.personGary Sternperson

Signals

  • ?

    event_signal: Pinball Expo reported lower attendance, fewer games on display, and smaller banquet than previous years; characterized as concerning trend

    high · Ron: 'Less games, less attendance...the hall was empty Sunday morning' and 'less scary part to me' regarding venue health

  • ?

    venue_signal: Pinball Inc., 17-year vendor at Expo, departing to focus on Texas Pinball Festival instead

    high · Ron: 'Pinball Inc., who has been the longest vendor at Expo for 17 years straight, is not going back to Expo next year. He is going to concentrate on Texas Pinball Festival'

  • ?

    machine_intel: Pirates of the Caribbean officially revealed at Jersey Jack Expo seminar with 21 characters, upper rocking playfield, button mechanics, pricing tiers

    high · Official seminar presentation; Ron: 'They take the cover off and Pirates of the Caribbean...21 characters...and have three billion possibilities'

  • ?

    product_concern: Pirates of the Caribbean exhibits significantly reduced performance in vendor hall vs. seminar room due to venue power delivery problems

    high · Ron repeatedly: 'in the seminar room when it was played...it plays wicked fast...when they brought it into the vendor hall...Everything was weaker. Again, low power situation'

  • ?

    product_concern: Big Lebowski using pre-order funds to manufacture machines for new customers before fulfilling original backers; described as Ponzi scheme

    high · Ron: 'people who put all their money in and they're going to get their big Lebowski's after the people who buy now...It's the Ponzi scheme. We have no money to build your machines, so we must get new money to buy and make all machines'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.234

0:00
Life, class. That's what animation means. Movement. Your characters can move in any style at all, limited only by the boundaries of your own imagination. You'll learn that being an animator is very hard work, but if you pour your heart into your labor, you just might pull off a miracle. Through the movement of colored shapes, you'll reveal the beauty of the human spirit. He said pull off. Yeah.
0:33
Coming to you from beautiful upstate New York, this is the Slam Tilt Podcast, a show about all things pinball. I'm your host, Ron Hallett, here with my co-host, Bruce Nightingale. Yes, I can pick a winner.
1:00
Yeah, you really went out on a limb with that one, Bruce. I did, but wait a sec. I picked it a week ago. Actually, nine days ago I picked it. What difference does that make? How many people played in it?
1:14
Yeah, but it's... How many people played in it? It's Keith Elwin. He's the one. That's like me saying, I think the Golden State Warriors are going to win the finals this year. That's the baseball team, right? Yeah, it's the baseball team, Bruce. Okay, good. Got that down. So this is episode 65, Curse of the Pink Panther. Oh, boy. This is a big old stinker. Yeah, this is the one where the – and I guess Trail of the Pink Panther, the previous one, and this one were filmed at the same time. And they – oh, I found the thing about the lawsuit when I said Peter Sellers' wife sued for $3 million, and she did win $1 million. Oh, that's good. So she won some money. This was the one where they're trying to get the new Icluso.
1:59

high confidence · Ron at Stern panel: 'they're going more towards now the distributor route and not to the home market more' with clarification on Pro/Premium/LE segmentation

  • Pirates of the Caribbean has power delivery issues in vendor hall that affected gameplay feel compared to seminar demo

    high confidence · Ron repeatedly noted: 'in the seminar room when it was played...it plays wicked fast...when they brought it into the vendor hall...Everything was weaker'

  • Steve Ritchie provided factory tour and shared details about Lucasfilm licensing negotiations that he declined to repeat publicly

    high confidence · Ron reported: 'Our tour guide was Steve Ritchie himself...He told us all kinds of things about working with Lucasfilm that I probably shouldn't repeat'

    • Steve Bowden
    person
    Pinball Expoevent
    Pirates of the Caribbeangame
    Houdinigame
    TNA (Total Nuclear Annihilation)game
    Stern Pinballcompany
    Jersey Jack Pinballcompany
    American Pinballcompany
    Spooky Pinballcompany
    Pinball Inc.company
    Big Lebowskigame
    Texas Pinball Festivalevent
    Pinsideorganization
    Batman 66game
    Star Warsgame
    Fathomgame
  • ?

    code_update: George Gomez apologized for promising Batman 66 code updates every two weeks; acknowledged multiple false starts and scrapped implementations

    high · Ron: 'George Gomez said he should have never said that they were going to have code every two weeks...they've tried stuff and scrapped it. And tried stuff and scrapped it'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Video modes on newer machines (Houdini, others) criticized by hosts as detracting from pinball experience; button-activated modes viewed negatively

    high · Ron on Houdini video mode: 'It sucked. Oh, God. I hate these video modes...lasted almost a full minute...I just let it time out. It's like, God, give me the ball back. Let me play pinball'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern confirming clear segmentation: Pro models for operators, Premium/LE for home collectors; shifting toward distributor route rather than direct home sales

    high · Ron: 'they're going more towards now the distributor route and not to the home market more' with qualification that Pro remains operator-focused

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack Pirates pricing ($8,500-$12,500) creates tension with Stern operator pricing (~$5,000); operators mathematically prefer buying 3 Sterns to 2 Jersey Jacks

    high · Ron: 'You can buy three Sterns for two Jersey Jacks...for an operator, it's better to do that but it all depends on how pirates goes'

  • ?

    design_innovation: Pirates features rocking upper playfield (Path of Adventure) that tilts side-to-side; removable with single screw for operator convenience

    high · Ron: 'the upper play field, the Path of Adventure...They rocked back and forth...They said how the upper play field, the rocking upper play field could be removed with one screw'

  • ?

    licensing_signal: Steve Ritchie revealed behind-the-scenes details of Lucasfilm negotiations (Star Wars licensing); indicated challenging partnership dynamics

    medium · Ron: 'He told us all kinds of things about working with Lucasfilm that I probably shouldn't repeat...if you think Lucasfilm was hard to work with, you may be right'

  • ?

    manufacturing_signal: American Pinball made multiple tweaks to Houdini between announcement and Expo (DMD orientation change, lighting improvements); catapult success rate initially high but power-dependent

    high · Ron: 'They changed it a little bit? Little tweaks? Little tweaks...We set a vertical display...It's now horizontal...95% plus success rate...both times [failed]'

    • They didn't really call him Icluso, but the new character and the idea was actually it would move to the U.S.
    2:06
    and it would take place in New York City. So they had an American guy play it and it sucked. Yikes. It's bad. Yeah, it's bad.
    2:19
    How's it going, Bruce? I don't have weekends anymore. I have work ends. You made that decision, man. Yeah. Call me stupid. Call me nutty. Call me something else. I do that anyway. But I have more games for the bar. Ooh. What do you mean more? So you've purchased more games? I didn't purchase them. Oh. People are giving me games. They're just giving you games? Yes, to put in the bar. Like what?
    2:47
    Oh, boy. Do I want to tell you now? Or should I leave people in suspense? Because Ron doesn't even know. but I'll tell anyway since I'm a little gossip. I have a Big Bang Bar. I've got a Capcom Kingpin that I'm putting in, the only one on location. No, you'll be happy with the one. Okay. Demoman. Demolish Man, all right. And then the other one is Lion Man. Oh, really? Swords of Fury? That's a good System 11.
    3:18
    It's okay. I was never that crazy about it. I like it. It is Steve Kirk, though. So that's a good thing, isn't it? We will have a couple Steve Kirks in there. That's right. You're going to have a Stars in there, too? Yes, I will. Ah, nice. See? How about that Cheetah?
    3:36
    Well, we need one, and if somebody wants to trade, oh, boy, it's early tonight again. If somebody wants to trade, I am up for a trade. Come on. I have a Centaur trade bait.
    3:48
    Again, that's for a Cheetah. Yes. So cash and your cheetah for my minty centaur. Want to hear something funny? What's that? In the expo program, it had a thing for Rob Burke looking for the following games. Oh, no. Stern Stargazer. Oh, God. God Leaves Spirit. God. And Stern Cheetah. Oh, boy. Like, damn it, he can't find one either. We have no chance. We have chances. We always do. If you said to me a year ago we were going to have a Quicksilver and I would have a Stargazer, you almost did laugh at me. Yeah, but you always seem to find games. I do. You're the game finder. But yes, I was good with my pick, though.
    4:35
    The one came through for me. Thanks, Keith. So did you win money on them or something? Oh, yeah, I bet odds on them.
    4:42
    Vegas rules. And the stream was awesome. Oh, wait. It was. Oh. There wasn't a stream. Oh, well. Well, it's not a circuit event, though, right? It is a circuit event. I thought it wasn't anymore. Oh, that's right. It wasn't. It's going to be next year. Yeah. And Fred won Classics. Yes, he did. So how was Expo, Ron, since you are our eyes on location?
    5:08
    It was less populated. Yeah, I noticed that the hall was empty Sunday morning. Less games, less attendance. Yeah, that's not good. Yeah, it's not good. It's good if you wanted to play games. This is the first Expo in a long time I was able to just get on anything I wanted. I was kind of disappointed today that Pinball Inc., who has been the longest vendor at Expo for 17 years straight, is not going back to Expo next year. He is going to concentrate on Texas Pinball.
    5:40
    Festival. TPF, yes. Interesting. So, yeah, that's not a good thing either. That won't help defendants. I was trying to think. Yeah, the free play room was, you know, I think Mr. Pace actually, I think his lucky star is that Phoebe brings her games in. Yeah. Yes, I agree. The one corner is like the Phoebe area, and it's all like the high-end games that people always want to play. You know, your Attack from Mars, your Monster Bashes, all that stuff. Yes. And then she brings the surprises. She's the one who brings the Starlight, Warlock. Although this year, she brought a catacomb.
    6:21
    Nice. You had some toast there. Yeah, I had some toast. And, man, that thing was brutally hard. Oh, I don't remember it being that hard. Of course, I don't know if I played one that fast before. Just insane. Very difficult. I don't know. The high score was 800K on it. I had 400K, and I thought I had a good game. So that was brutal. And then she had what I would say is the nicest fathom I have ever seen. That's cool. And I would say all the games I've ever seen, the best artwork in a game, I have to give to Fathom. Of course. It's a belly. Yeah, but that is the best artwork. I noticed details in that play field I never noticed before because I'd never seen a play field that looked this good before. Like at the very top of the play field, there's a woman in a bikini on a deck looking down, because the rest of it's actually happening underwater. Underwater, yes. And why are the mermaids attacking the guy? They're like, you can see they're like ripping off his oxygen.
    7:24
    Why do they want to kill him? I don't get it. Because he's invading their space. Ah, okay. But I got something coming for me. I just got my confirmation.
    7:34
    Dialed in. Backglass. Backglass for what? Sea Witch. Oh, okay. Just got the confirmation just now. Excellent. So, Expo. First day. So, yeah. Like I was saying, less games, less people, which was the more scary part to me. Yeah. Yeah, because, and like the banquet, much smaller. Did you bid on a brick? Huh? Yeah, I seriously thought of bidding on it, but then the price got too high. Yeah. They sold bricks from the Bally Factory. So, literal Bally bricks. Yes. One went for $3.55 and one went for $3.30. Yeah. I would say the banquet was maybe three-quarters the size of what it usually is. Mm-hmm. So, enough doom and gloom. Let's get on with Expo here. First day, you walked in. How many people came up to you and actually swamped you for autographs? Nobody. No autographs. How many people came up to you and said, hey, aren't you? Three or four. Oh, that's cool. Best part is Vince, the corn, he was going around with like his name, like his name tag. He made copies. So I had his name tag on, so I was the corn. You were the corn. And someone was doing one with Gary Stern, sort of all these Gary Sterns around. Yeah, so that was pretty funny. We got there earlier than anticipated and we were able to go on the factory tour. Oh, wow, cool. And how's the new factory? I've never, I haven't been there. It's the same as it was when we went there two years ago. I've been there. Yeah. They had at least, man, four or five games that I saw being cranked out. They had, including, they had like, still had Metallica's, Aerosmith, Star Wars, Ghostbusters.
    9:36
    I mean, they had some Star Wars LEs were there. Our tour guide was Steve Ritchie himself. Oh, that must have been a pleasure for you, sir. He told us all kinds of things about working with Lucasfilm that I probably shouldn't repeat. And that is up to you. Yeah. He said it on the tour, but I won't say it. You can figure it out. They're the best. Yeah, if you think Lucasfilm was hard to work with, you may be right. You may be right. So that was the tour. I wish they had better transportation and those school buses. They are very uncomfortable. I totally agree. And no one ever knows how to get there. Except for me. I actually, one year, was telling the driver how to go there. Yep, the old factory. Well, this one, it's like we got to a certain point, and I had my ways out, and I'm telling the guy where to go. Yikes. It's like, come on. This guy doesn't have a phone. He doesn't have GPS. This is ridiculous. Come on. No GPS for you. Yeah. So when we're done with that, came back and kind of hung out, waiting for the seminars to begin. Okay. And I went to the American Pinball Seminar. Okay, and how was that? It was good. They basically went over the company, who's in the company, the plan, the plans for Houdini. They changed it a little bit? Little tweaks? Little tweaks. Little tweaks, little improvements in lighting. Yep. We set a vertical display, a little DMD display. It's now horizontal. Yes, the one on the play field. Yes. And I would say their vendor area was suffering from low power condition because when I played the Houdini,
    11:21
    they were saying in the seminar how the trunk, the catapult into the trunk is like a 95% plus success rate. I played a game, hit it twice, and it failed both times. Wow. It was short. Oh, my. Yeah. It just felt kind of sluggish, so I figured it was just a low power issue. And they had a video mode. What do you got to do with that? It sucked. Oh, God. I hate these video modes. I think they have a button. Yeah, that's right. Yes, they do. Everyone has a button now. They all have a button now. We'll get into that. But they had a button on the lockdown bar. And, oh, I know how to describe this. Hypersports.
    12:02
    The archery contest. You know, when you've got to hold the button down longer. to get the different height. Different arch. That's what this was. You throw cards at targets. One is close to you, one is further away. The longer you hold it down, the further it goes.
    12:19
    Yeah, it was exciting as it sounds. I literally, and it was way too long. It lasted almost a full minute. The last 30 seconds, I just let it time out. It's like, God, give me the ball back. Let me play pinball. Yeah, that's pretty much what I was saying. Let me play pinball. So they're planning on shipping, I think, at the end of the year, they're talking? Yes, that was the plan. Cool. Then I went to the up-close with Gary Stern. Oh, my. You weren't banned? No, I was not banned. Okay, I'll make sure.
    12:54
    After you gave out that phone number, I thought you were going to be banned. You gave out the phone number. I didn't know such thing. Okay. You're the host. That's true. So, uh... Since they didn't really have any games in their cycle that were coming out, it was just like, what's going on? And talked about the Stern Army and some upcoming things and the state of the Stern address and come to our Stern-O-Rama party on Friday night and did questions about code, Batman 66, what's going on. George Gomez said he should have never said that they were going to have code every two weeks. apologizes for that. I guess the issue with that is they just according to him, that's all Lyman is working on. Which is the way it should be, I agree. It's the Batman code, but it sounds like they've had a few false starts. Like they've tried stuff and scrapped it. And tried stuff and scrapped it. And that's been the delays. Well, I have faith in Lyman, I just don't have faith in the game.
    13:59
    They were running .8 at the show, weren't they? So it was a newer version. Yes. And they had... I'm trying to think who was up on the stage. Zach Sharp was up on the stage. Ooh!
    14:11
    Part of Stern now. Oh, and Dwight was there. I so wanted to ask him, like, hey, Dwight, can you just say video modes are awesome? I want to record it. Oh, God. Thank God. I said it to you. I heard somebody asked George if he would actually own a Kiss. George Gomez? Yes, because he was talking about George was like, you know, I want to have Batman 66. You know, I own this game. I want it to be the best game. And somebody stood up right after and said, so would you want to own a kiss?
    14:43
    I don't remember that. Supposedly somebody said that. Okay. Yeah. All right. I was right there, and I don't remember that. So maybe I have to look at the footage, or maybe I left it somewhere. I'm pretty sure I stayed there to the end. Nothing more of notes there? Except for they're going more towards now the distributor route and not to the home market more, right? Not really. I mean, they're very clear on that. The premiums and LEs are for the home market. And we're still concerned about the operator because we are having our pro model. Yes. Yep. So, which is, when we get into the Jersey Jack thing later, I thought it was funny. I saw like pin side posts like dark days for Stern. Yeah. It's like, um, sir makes like three games a year.
    15:33
    Jersey Jack makes like one game a year. And what do you think operators are going to buy? Are they going to buy the, what's the $8,500 pirates of the Caribbean or the $5,000 star Wars? Well, you can buy three Sterns for two Jersey Jacks. Yeah. So, so for an operator, it's better to do that but it all depends on how pirates goes and we see dialed ins taken off for them even let's talk about this honestly when people go to an arcade wizard of oz is very bright very attractive you know people want to play that even the hobbit is i don't know i i think jersey jack's turning a corner but let's see let's see i like the gameplay but we'll talk about that in a few minutes of course well speaking of jersey jack yes the next seminar was an evening with Jersey Jack Pinball. With the Buffalo Pinball guys. Yes, they were there for the filming. And Steve. Steve Bowden. Hi, Steve. Fun little bonus.
    16:34
    So they, and this was interesting, they started the seminar with Jersey Jack, and then he introduced the team, and then kind of that was it. You didn't hear from him again. First they went to the money guy.
    16:49
    One of the investors, the guys that bailed them out there. And then they went to their CEO, who was like the business side of the company, and they just said like where they're going, what they're doing, you know, how they're, all the stuff behind the scenes, they're getting in better order, the ordering, the manufacturing, all that stuff. All stuff on the business side. And then they had Eric, and I'm not even going to attempt to say his last name. M. Eric M. I was hoping Bruce would try to say it. Nope. I'm not that dumb.
    17:25
    Eric, one thing we didn't say is everyone pretty much knew it was pirates. Yeah. But we actually had photos of it beforehand that leaked out. Yep. There was some that leaked out on Pinside, but, of course, Bruce, being Bruce, he had other, like you had the whole flyer. Ron's like, here, here's a picture of pirates. Don't send this out yet because it's going to come in a couple hours. So I go, well, check the Facebook message I sent you 15, 20 minutes ago. Yeah. And then Ron just puts back a smiley face like, oh.
    17:56
    The rumors were whoever was printing the flyers was the leak, something like that. Whatever. It is a shame. I thought it would be really cool if all that was a ruse and purposely leaked it. Oh, that would be fun. Then they take it off and it's something totally different. That would have been the most awesome thing. Toy story. Yeah. That would have been the most awesome thing ever, but alas, they took it off. It was, well, first Eric M. Yes. Did a little spiel about himself, you know, how he got into it, and then went into the game features, which I'm sure many people in the crowd were having, like, stiffies when he started to go into the, you know, we have, what, six diverters, four pop bumpers, this, this, this, this, this. It's like, you know, you could pick one of 21 characters and have three billion possibilities of things you can do and all this stuff. And then they show the game. Take the cover off and Pirates of the Caribbean. And then everyone makes a mad rush for the games. And then the Buffalo Pinball guys streamed it. So go check it out if you want to see it. You can even see the stalker in the background. Oh, yeah. I came in later. I figured the crowd had died down. And it was just Nick and Kevin, the Buffalo guys, Steve Bowden, and then Keith Johnson, who was basically giving all the rules And you can see Steve Bowden intently listening Like yes more input More More As they were playing and I this specter in the background because I was hoping to get in on a game, and then they said we had to leave, because the vendor hall was, the seminar room was, I think it was for the 10 o'clock. It was the 10 o'clock seminar, so we got booted. Which was Lloyd. Yep. I did get to play it later in the vendor room, which, just to bring up this again, and this is another common theme, in the seminar room when it was played, and if you watch the stream, it plays wicked fast. Yes. When they brought it into the vendor hall, these are the same games, same settings. Mm-hmm. Everything was weaker. Again, low power situation. Low power. Even watching Eric, he was going into the settings and cranked the flipper settings, the flipper power, all that. Still didn't really make a difference. So that hotel, wherever they are, because it's like that. It was like that with Dialed In. Like when we played Dialed In last year in the seminar room, it played fast as hell. And then when they brought it to the vendor area, it was way underpowered, which kind of sucks. But I played a ton of Pirates. the little inner loop repeatable loop shot gets my immediate attention of course the hole under the flipper was cool yes i thought i've never seen that before that's an actual shot at one of the multi balls like you hit one jackpot and that's like the super and the arrow there's an arrow pointing to it the the compass that points to where what shot you should be shooting yep so that was cool the friggin button they had to do the button for the gold which they basically ripped off the TIE fighter thing whenever you hear gold you hit the button to collect gold and you collect so much gold and it lights a multi ball but they're also using the button it also locks in some kind of award thing yes per the call spelling something but But the rules already lost me. But they had 21 characters, and most of them would say, coming soon. Yeah, I know. So don't pick them because they're not coded yet. Then you had the upper play field, the Path of Adventure.
    21:57
    They rocked back and forth. That was cool. Wasn't working 100% the way they wanted it to. Speaking with Eric, it kept just going to the left a lot instead of rocking all the way back and forth.
    22:13
    So when you would, the idea was you shot all the targets, and then you could load the cannon, which would be a much better shot from the right flipper, but you really couldn't get on the flipper because it would just lean left. So they were aware of that. They got a subway under there with all these diverters. I don't think it's Starstruck next-gen type fun. Yeah. They said how the upper play field, the rocking upper play field could be removed with one screw. Yep. You know, operator-friendly. I don't know if the price is operator-friendly. No. God. $8,500, $9,500, and $12,500. Yeah.
    22:50
    Which makes this Bally Strikes and Spares, my friend, selling for $950. Excellent. Yes. You want a Bally Strikes and Spares, don't you? No.
    23:02
    The standard. Hey, Neil. They have the standard. The LE, which is the same as the standard, but with just bling. You get the powder-coated armor, the Viziglass, the shaker motor, the starfield thing in the back. All RGB lights instead of white. All RGB GI, I guess. Yes, yes. And you get decals for the targets, which were nice. Some of the decals, like the decals for the targets in the rocking play field, were purposely worn. The art was to make them look worn. Yes. At first I thought it was dirt, but when I looked at it, it was the actual artwork, which was cool. Then they had the collector's edition there, which has totally different artwork and all this barnacle stuff on the... Yeah, I didn't like that at all. I just didn't like it. No, but the cool thing is the play field is totally different. No, it's not. On the CE. No, no, it's not. Well... That's my other... Yeah, it's the top three quarters is the same. Yes, but the bottom. From the part where the face where it's Johnny Depp on the other two versions, instead it's the Davy Jones guy. From there down, and there's an abrupt color change, if you look at it, where it transitions to him. That's the difference. And the back glass, instead of a skull, it has Davy Jones' face. And I'm assuming the cabinet artwork's different. And it has a cool-ass topper, but it's only available in the collector's edition. And supposedly will only work in the collector's edition. Oh, cool. which I asked if there's going to be any toppers for dialed in, like for my LE. Like, no.
    24:41
    Like, really? You can just give me like a topper? Even like some of the weaker ones, like they have for Wizard of Oz, like the etched one or whatever the hell it was. Yeah. That was disappointing. Like, come on. Nine grand, you can't give me a topper. Not even for tilt? Not even for tilt. Wow. Nope. I said, don't you know who you're talking to? Don't you know? And they said, no, who are you? I have 22 followers.
    25:09
    On what, your Twitter? Yes. Congratulations. You know when you have my Twitter? Zero. Yeah, because I don't have Twitter. No, I mean 22 following listeners.
    25:20
    Listeners. Yeah, for us. Oh, that's right. You sure it's not 23? Well, I don't know. So that was... Pirates. Pirates, the big reveal. Cool. And went well. Okay, so next morning you woke up and you had a pinball tournament. Expo Brawl. And? A staple. And donuts. Also a staple. I love the donuts. When you come out to Buffalo next time, we have to go to Paula's Donuts. Okay. They have red velvet. Red velvet. Oh, they're fucking awesome. I think they have something like that because they did have red donuts. Yep, the red velvet rock.
    26:01
    So it was me and my dad. Yep. How did you and Dad do? We made it into, after the two qualifying rounds, we were in B. And then we got our asses handed to us. I mean, I had, the last two rounds, I was consistent. I had like a 17 and an 18. But my father had like a 20-something. He kind of blew up the last round. And our opponents had like, what did they have? A 17 and a 12.
    26:28
    Yeah, we got our asses handed to us. You got snookered. Yeah. And then you were done. Then we were done, yep. So then I went over and played more Pirates.
    26:37
    And more loving it. That's when I noticed, like, wow, this doesn't seem as powerful as it was when I was watching it in the seminar. Yeah, I can imagine. And I moved, like, the ones seemed to be playing a little better than the other ones. So that's the one I, they had like five or six of them there. Which is impressive. Yeah, and it also keeps the lines down. Being that the attendance was kind of down anyway. but the fact that they had so many of them that also kept the lines down.
    27:06
    That's nice. So that was nice. And then I walked around the vendor hall, and look, they have big Lebowskis there. How? Do they have big Lebowskis? No, no, they had one. One? One new one? No, no, it's the same prototype that was there like three years ago. Oh, what, they didn't get the delivery from China? No, no, same display, too. the same thing they bring with the rug and some same thing they bring every year so what we're talking about is uh big levowski brought their new builder their new uh manufacturer i didn't attend that seminar i guess it's online it is i watched it oh okay so what do they do the guy actually has uh three places they build in they build in uh holland who's the guy i can't even The name, it was a really weird name. It's their manufacturer. Their new manufacturer. Okay. They build in China, Israel, and I think they said Germany. Germany or Dutch. I know, Dutch, you know. So they have three locations that looks like they're going to build the big Lebowskis in China.
    28:14
    Now, here's the worst thing about it. So people who put all their money in and they're going to get their big Lebowski's after the people who buy now. What? It's the Ponzi scheme. We have no money to build your machines, so we must get new money to buy and make all machines. Yeah, you are a wild and crazy guy. Fucking ridiculous. This company is just a joke now. Interesting.
    28:50
    So, wait, I've been waiting three years for my pinball machine. Somebody pays $10,000 now, if they make it, can get the first one.
    29:00
    Yeah. Fail. Total fucking, I would not give this company one red cent and I'd be suing in a second.
    29:09
    Good luck, though. They're in Europe. Nothing's going to happen there. Oh, you can sue in Europe. It's even easier to sue in Europe. Well, we'll see if you ever get any money. I say you get nothing.
    29:19
    I would just want them to be poor. Because guess what? They've made people poor. Hey, don't pre-buy. Ever. Ever pre-buy. I would not give these guys one red cent. And people were, I was reading Pimpside like, oh, yeah, maybe I'm going to go buy it. I'm like, hello? Have you been watching for the past three years?
    29:42
    Why don't you get a Pirates if you really need to spend money? Or a TNA. Yes. Yeah. Which I know somebody fell in love with.
    29:51
    Ah, it was good. It was good. I had a brief moment where I thought maybe of buying it, but it passed. It passed. Because I would say the game is a great game for multiplayer. Yes. I want to see this game in a pop-up final bad. I want to see this. But as far as in my area, there's no scene. There's no one here that's going to play me, you know, unless I have a tournament at my house. So it's going to be sitting there, and if you play it solo, it's pretty much short plunge, get control lock ball, short plunge, start multi-ball, hit grid targets, hit scoop, go up to the top and get the reactor critical and then blow it up. same pattern same thing you're going to do every time over and over I'm not saying it ain't fun oh it's fun I agree it's supposed to be shallow that's the whole point yes and it is there is risk reward like if you have the reactor is critical it's ready to blow up and there will be a random shot that will light up it's basically like your jackpot if you will think of it as a jackpot if you're in single ball play you don't want to hit it because you're only going to get like 40,000. You want to get multi-ball and hit it, because if you have two balls in a place, it's 2X. Three balls in a place, it's 3X.
    31:21
    So there's a greed factor. Like I have this slip, but I'm going to lock balls instead. Yeah. So I like that. I always like the risk-reward. I think most people like that. The sound is incredible. It is incredible. If you're not bobbing your head up and down, what's wrong with you? That's all I have to say. and they weren't originally supposed to have one there.
    31:44
    They were at the Pinball Life party. I know, I know. But the guy brought one on Friday. It was in the Double Danger booth and then that one left and then sometime Saturday morning another one took its place.
    31:58
    So they actually had two different ones there at different times. And that always had a line. That always had a crowd around it. let me see any other interesting things i'm looking at the uh rest of the schedule for did you go to the valley did you go to that belly missing no i never went to the belly thing i'm sorry fail i'm sorry so let's see so friday let me look here if i went to any of these uh nope just went to the sternorama and how was that how many old sterns were there i saw a Stargazer and I saw Galaxy.
    32:38
    Yes. There you go. That's it? Well, they had a Flight 2000, but it wouldn't boot. Because they were bringing them over from the Logan's Arcade. Yes. Now, they must have fixed it because the next day it was in the free play area and worked fine. So they must have fixed it at some point, but it wasn't working the whole time I was there. They called it Sternorama, but realistically it was the same as the party they usually have Friday night. Like the one they had two years ago and the ones prior to that. Which it was very sparse for that, too. It was sparsely attended, yeah. I was able to get on machines, which was weird. Did that get free beer? Of course he did. Good man. Yeah, free beer, which they had free beer before. They used to call it an evening with stern pinballs, what it usually would be called. So they just called it a fancier name, and they did have more games than they usually have. But other than that, it was the same thing. They had, you know, I think Jack Danger hosted the last one, like two years ago. and it had the same DJ that they had before. So I didn't really see much of a difference. They had a sweet stargazer there. Yep. I don't know what else to say. It was pretty much the same thing. The autograph thing, you want to get the – I can't remember who they had there. I didn't go in that section. Pretty much the same.
    33:54
    And it had the head-to-head challenge, which I believe Escher Lefkoff won everything. He won like every match or however they were doing. It was on Star Wars. So they had all these different goals.
    34:09
    When they were getting ready to get the Star Wars games in there, they were, I was over at the Stern booth talking to Josh Sharp was over there and talking to Josh Sharp and Zach Sharp and ended up playing Star Wars against them.
    34:27
    Well, Zach had to bail because he got a phone call. but I did beat Josh in the second game. I lost the first game. I beat him in the second game legitimately, although by rule I would have beat him anyway because he did a death save. Oh.
    34:41
    So he's there like, technically I lost anyway, but I had a pretty good game. And he was telling me how the rules have gotten too complicated. Yes, this is Josh Sharp saying that. He's saying it's gotten too complicated.
    34:55
    He had some funny stories, but basically how the game's now, it's like they're flashing everything at you. Like, what am I supposed to shoot? Hit for the flashing shot. Everything is flashing.
    35:05
    So when I was over there, they were getting ready for the Sternorama, and your pal, the Mr. Video Mode, Dwight Sullivan, was over there. Oh, no. I wanted to record him saying, video modes rule, Bruce. Oh, God. He's a nice guy. I like Dwight. He was taking the Stern, whatever they call it, their Invisiglass.
    35:29
    He's taking it out of the package, and then he was going to Windex it. And I was like, I don't think you're supposed to do that. At least the Invisiglass says you're not supposed to use Windex on it. Yeah. Like, oh, really? So they just wiped it off. It was fine. I'm going to make a video mode after you, Ron. Thanks. Well, I got to play the Gyrus video mode. Yeah, and? I think I was hitting the button to accelerate when I think I should have just been holding it down.
    35:56
    Like with my chin or something while I was maneuvering. Wake up, Bruce. Bruce loves video modes. Wake up. Oh, yes. Hey, how's it going? It's going good. So that was Friday. Saturday is just kind of a relaxing day because games are already starting to leave on Saturday and I'd like to bring this up in the free play area there was a few games that were brought in put on legs and the back box was never raised on them they were just sitting there so I don't get it other than if you brought that in just to get a free pass,
    36:48
    fuck you. Okay, if you have another reason, that's fine, but I never saw, the games were never turned on that I saw. They still have blankets and stuff on them. They brought them in, put legs on them, there was like a grand lizard, there was like two other ones in the corner, and they were just sitting there. It's like, really?
    37:10
    Like, what's the point? That pissed me off. Tim would have been happy. They had a killer Robocop there at the Extra Loud Edition, or whatever Tim calls it, the LE, the Loud Edition. Yes. And they had it up loud. The Wrecking Crew is here. There must be settings on there to make it harder, because this one, getting the lanes on top did not like characters.
    37:35
    You had to actually hit the targets. Let's see. Anything else? There was Blackjack there. Ooh, great. He was happy. kill that in a tournament, of course. Got a little blackjack. There's a beautiful silver ball mania. Fortunately, it was silver ball mania. Yeah. So it was like horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe, horseshoe. But there was kings of right target was there. So I nined that out. I put a picture on the slant. I saw that. That was all like on two balls, and I had to tilt out. That is terrible. Terrible. That is terrible. It's a really nice play field. I wish they... Well, is there an alternate ROM, or was there a deal where someone changed the switch? They changed the switches. They switched the switch between its middle and the end. Yeah. So for those who don't know what we're talking about, it's Kings of Steel. It has a right target.
    38:26
    King and right target. Yeah. If you just tap S over, hit the right target. Control, tap S over, hit the right target. You can do that all day and just turn the game over.
    38:38
    Other than that, it was kind of relaxing after that. to our listeners that came up to me, like Ryan from Wisconsin, a frequent emailer. He was there. Excellent. Hi, Ryan. So we talked for a while. Is Bruce really a dick in person? Yeah, that's one of the things he asked. I said, yes, most definitely. Of course I am So it weird how some people like they talk about a particular podcast a particular episode Like, you know, I really I didn't really like that one episode. I didn't like that guest. And then someone else for the same guest will be like, oh, I love that guest. That was one of the best guests you have.
    39:17
    I think that's it because the rest of it, like I didn't play in the tournament. Fail. That's what people said. They were very disappointed you didn't play in it. No, don't care. Don't care. And if I actually played good and somehow ended up in a final situation for Sunday, I'm screwed because we left at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Ah. I have no desire to stay there.
    39:38
    I saw that the expo hall was almost empty by like 11 o'clock in the morning. That would never happen before, so it must be really getting. Yeah. That's the way it is, man. Yeah. It's kind of sad. Texas is the new expo. It's kind of sad. Hey, it can be fixed.
    39:55
    Oh, it can be. It starts at the top. Oh, I totally agree. You can only piss so many people off so many times before they, was it the boy who cried wolf or whatever? Yes. They say it so many times. That's a bad analogy, but something like that. And the last part of the expo, usually for me, is going to the de-banquet. Yes. That's always good. The food's always good. I love the food and the dessert items. Ooh. cookies, brownies. Sometimes I feel like I just want to fill my plate with that stuff and not even deal with the food. Gotcha. But the food was excellent. It always is.
    40:34
    They had like five inductions into the Hall of Fame. Yeah, Lloyd was one. It went too long. No, Lloyd wasn't in the Hall of Fame. He got in the other thing. Oh. There was a Hall of Fame, and then there was the appreciation thing. Oh, yeah. And it just goes too long. It's too long. I was at the table with my dad, Coy, and Mr. Bowden.
    40:55
    And at the end, we were, like, tapping. We're tapping. Nice. So we left and played some more Pirates. Smart move. Yeah.
    41:05
    Overall, overall, your expo. Oh, my expo was excellent. I mean, it was less games, but it was also less people, so I got to play more stuff. It was relaxing.
    41:17
    It was a cool reveal. I mean, Jersey Jack definitely was, I think, the star of the expo. But the timing was, it came out.
    41:27
    I know on Coast to Coast Pinball, Nate mentioned this, and I kind of agree with him how they might be hurting their dialed-in sales.
    41:37
    I think they are a little bit. Maybe because it's going to kind of cut into that. I think Jersey Jack should give some kind of bonus or something to the Buffalo guys. Just for if you watch the stream and you read the comments, like, you know, people, holy shit, I'm going to buy this. You know, I was going to go to Star Wars, but now I'm going to buy this. I was going to get this, but now I'm going to buy this. You got to love the impulse buyers. Yeah. That's what you want, man. I'm going to buy this. I need it now. Got to get it. And it's similar to like the dialed in situation. Physically, it's all there.
    42:14
    All works pretty much. It's just fine tuning and software. they said what first quarter of next year so but i could see that they seem to be they seem to be able to do this faster now it does seem to be able to go faster i hope so kapow pinball is going to be bringing out a pinball next year yes they had during the banquet um joe kamikawa was not there but he had a bunch of pre-filmed things that he did and one of the things he said is he's going to have a game there. No. What do you think it's going to be, Bruce?
    42:51
    Expensive. The name of the game is just going to be called Expensive. Money grab. Cash grab.
    43:02
    Monopoly Super Platinum Edition. Quadruple platinum. Coded in platinum. I don't know what it's going to be. Do you have any ideas? No. I want Spaceballs or nothing. Spaceballs!
    43:19
    Hey, maybe they can get McMaranus out of retirement. I mean, he did Flintstones. I know, God. Who else? Mel Brooks? Maybe they can get him. Maybe they can get Colonel Sanders.
    43:31
    Yeah. I mean, they could get... I'm not chicken! They can't get John Candy or Dom DeLuise, unfortunately. Yeah. Sound clips, that's what's good for them. Yeah. This trusty sidekick. Puke! That's barf. Puke, barf, whatever.
    43:54
    So, yeah. So, it was an enjoyable expo for me. So, how's your cabinet coming? You posted a picture before you left. Ah, the mystery game. So, is this repairs? We're going to get into that, yes. Okay, so, repairs.
    44:08
    Gluing the cabinet back together. We're done with one side. We're now on the back of the mystery game. Yes. The play field is downstairs, and I have, since I've been given a time limit, which we'll talk about, by Mr. Bruce, I'm doing some minimal stuff on the play field, just replacing some sockets and fixing, just going through the flipper mechs a little bit, which the one was already completely replaced, so it's not that much I really have to do. On the other flipper Mac, they replaced the Paul plunger assembly, but they didn't replace the EOS switch, and the EOS switch wasn't even the right one. The one tab was actually too long, but it still worked. But it wasn't right. And then the way it was mounted, it wasn't even screwed in tight because it couldn't be because the parts were not the right parts. Luckily, I went into my box of miscellaneous Ballystern parts, and I had what I needed for that. So, getting that as ready as I can. Mm-hmm. That's pretty much it, because I didn't really play many games last week, because I was at Expo. I have a lot of hacks. You have a lot of hacks. Yes, you hack a lot. You really need to fix your games better. Well, I got that Sea Witch, and we got it all booted or anything like that, so now we're going through the wiring hacks that you saw. We? You and who? Me and Mr. Zach. Hi, Zach. We were joking because they wired up the slingshots coils and the slingshots together. Huh? So when you hit the right slingshot, both coils fired for the slingshots. When you hit the left slingshot, both coils fired for the slingshots. It was kind of like the old pop bumpers, you know, where you'd hit one and all of them would go off at once. So it's a design. It's meant to do that, right? Yeah. So we cut all the wiring off, and then we had nothing on the right side. So I'm like, huh, I wonder if the transistor's bad. So we start looking at the wiring. Let's make sure the wiring – and the wire's cut. Why is the wire cut? So turn off the machine. It's out of the wire back on the thing.
    46:29
    And the coil starts going dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk, dunk. It's okay. Turn it off. Just a switch. Perfect. Doesn't fuck up again. so somebody hacked it so it would kick the slingshots because they couldn't adjust a switch yes people are fucking stupid yes you need to really stay away from pinball machines i totally agree and then it gets even better my five watt i'm sorry five watt resistor for the upper left flipper is bad so they bypass the resistor so i can actually play the slingshot i haven't got it And yet I have to order that. But so the game plays now 100%. All the light sockets that I found bad are replaced. My back glass, as you heard before, is coming in. So that's a good thing. But I was just like, oh, my God. Just wiring, cutting out wiring and everything like that. And I bought some LEDs this week, boys and girls. What? Hold on. Okay, Bruce, you want me to edit that out? No. Did you make a mistake? No, I did not make a mistake. Okay. Ron taught me two things this past year. Only two? LEDs are good for the light for behind and the coin doors, for light for the coin doors.
    47:45
    And pop-upers. Nope. Bruce prefers to have those pop-upers really hot. Yes, I do. And second, for the back glasses. Wow. So. Really? No pop-upers? Nope. Not even on the old ones where it's like right by the thing and they burn? Like my mystery game that has holes, actual holes were burnt through. Disco Inferno. Burn, baby, burn. Dun, dun, dun, dun, baby, burn. Oh, actually, I didn't mention, or maybe I mentioned this in a previous episode, but this is also on the mystery game. Mm-hmm.
    48:25
    Actually, if I say what this is, it gives away the manufacturer. Nope, you have to wait. So I have to wait. I'll have to wait. But when are we going to see this mystery game? Well, I'll have to wait until next week because by next week, everyone will have seen the game. Yes. Because Tim Balls and Bruce were able to agree on a date. Yes, we were. And we're going to go on a date Sunday.
    48:52
    Sunday. Sunday, Sunday. Because no one will be watching football or anything. No, they'll be watching us. We'll be watching us because the football games are boring. You need to watch the stream. So there's going to be two streams on Sunday.
    49:08
    One, which one's first, us or them? Us or them? You mean him or us? Us or them, him or us. Is it going to be Tim Balls or is it going to be our stream first? I say we go with Tim Balls first. We can do that. What time?
    49:24
    Noon. Noon? Noon. Noon? Noon. We're doing noon. It's noon, so we've got to make sure Tim's up by 7 in the morning. Ah, does he know it's noon? He knows it's noon. Okay. I just got the message from him 10 minutes ago. So noon to 1, and then the other one 1 to 2, that kind of thing? Noon to 1.30, and then the other one from 1.30 to 3. I'm driving out there. This is a big, momentous occasion. Big, momentous occasion. First time all three of us will be on a stream playing. Mm-hmm. That is true. This will be the first. and what we're going to be doing is on the Tim Ball stream, Tim Sexton, Tim Balls, we'll be streaming dialed in. Okay. And Tim is going to show us how to play the game. Yes, he will. And we might have two special guests with us. Meaning other than me and you, two other people. Me, you, and Tim, plus possibly two other people. Plus possibly two other people. Okay. Wow, it's going to be a crowded stream. Yeah, it's going to be a crowded basement. You know, your room's barely big enough for those 29 games.
    50:32
    And, folks, when we say this stuff, I literally have no idea who he's talking about. He doesn't. We're like the ultimate, we keep secrets from each other all the time. Yeah, I just want him to be surprised when somebody rings the doorbell and he goes, Really? You?
    50:47
    So that'll be the first stream. Yes. And then right when that stream ends, we will go to stream two. With the mystery game. The mystery game. It is a game that has never been streamed to my knowledge. There is literally only two videos of it on YouTube. So you want to watch. One Eastern, 12 Central, 11 Mountain, 10 Pacific. Very good. For the special mystery game on Slam Tilt Podcast Twitch feed. The Slam stream. So you're not involved then? Oh, you're right. It's the Slam Tilt Stream. Thank you. Okay, good. I didn't want that pressure on me.
    51:35
    We have a guest next week that's going to be really exciting too. Yes, we have a guest next week. And then we're going to have – I'm going to leave that one secretive next week. You're going to leave it secretive. Another Bruce-ism, folks. Yes. But two weeks after that, we're going to hopefully have Oren Day on, and then we're going to hopefully have some guy who gave us some cards. whose voice rules. He should have a podcast with that voice. I know he should. But a podcast is a lot of work, you know. Yeah, is it? Well, especially when I have to edit you. If I had someone else, I'd probably be able to edit in five minutes and be done. Have you got a Jeff Teolis? Hi, I'm Jeff Teolis, Pinball Profile. Hi, Jeff. You would actually have an easy time.
    52:21
    So, speaking of contests. Ah, yes. our contest has come to its conclusion. It has. We had a lot of input. Yes, I want to personally thank all the listeners for your pictures because they were awesome, even if I am a woman in most of them. Ron is woman, hear him roar as he's headed out the door.
    52:47
    I'm trying to get it waiting for the pictures to come up because we got a couple more new ones. Okay, so first there was the one, the last entry that came in was Ronnie, which is actually the Rocky Backglass, but they renamed Ronnie with our true own Ron as Rocky Balboa.
    53:09
    Thank you, Pinball Princess. Yes. Then she also gave one before that, and this has the most people on a bag class. yeah it has bruce me we both have great asses we're both women this time yes george decay you're throwing george decay the uh band is trying to eric russell yep eric russell jeff teolis is being thrown as a tomato this is this is the cactus jack's back glass by the way i don't think we we said no i didn't say And then the egg is the pinball princess. The banana is Raymond Davidson. The tomato is Nick Lane. Yep. The pumpkin is Kevin Manning.
    54:00
    And Tim Balls is the watermelon. And there's 69 credits on the pinball machine. Of course there is. So after that, then we have Centaur.
    54:12
    That was good. That was really good. I am the centaur. Ron is the female riding me. Oh, bye. Hi there, Bruce. And I have George Takei on my arm as a tattoo.
    54:30
    Oh, really? I didn't notice that part of it. Yes. Perhaps. And it's younger George Takei from the early Star Trek days. Oh, bye. So that was actually very funny. I will give big props out to that. Then we have me. as Mr. Captain Fantastic.
    54:49
    And on the pinball machine, I loved it, was Bally Bruce. So very cool. Plus there was a couple of We Hate LEDs in the background. No more video modes.
    55:03
    And Tim Balls is grabbing George Takai. Yeah, we'll just leave it at that. And there's Ronnie in the back with the sign with the We Hate LEDs and again, you're the female. Of course I am. Of course you are. And that was all for this week's entry. So we have to pick two winners. Or do we?
    55:31
    You know what? I think we should pick three winners. We have four sets of cards. So we're going to use three of the four card sets and make three winners. Instead of two. because we care about our listeners more than ourselves. So thank you, everyone who sent in. So we both agreed on one, truly. We were both – Truly as opposed to any fake way. No, truly. Truly, okay. When you get a truly from me, what does that mean? Oh, yeah, you're right. Yes. The first – I actually – would you call – who would you make the grand prize winner? or do you want to go third place, second place, and then first?
    56:14
    Third place, I would pick whodunit. Okay, that's what I was agreeing with also. Oh, we agreed with something. Yes, we did. Whodunit definitely was a good third place.
    56:28
    Tim sent that in. So, Tim, you know who you are. Send me your mailing address so we can send you out a free pack of critical hit cards for yourself. Nice job. second place I love the future spa too it just captures the awesomeness that is with George Takai with a six pack abs and Tim Balls pumping some iron and Ron looking pretty hot there I think the future spa is definitely our second place so congratulations I forget who sent that one in It was from Casey. Casey, yes. So Casey, please send me your mailing address, and we'll hook up your cards free of charge. And now? The grand prize winner. He's a foreigner.
    57:27
    He's a foreigner. That's nice. Is he Canadian? He's Canadian, eh? So he's like, you know, he's half American, half U.S. So we agree on the number one then? We do agree on number one. Yes, it was the Slam Busters. Yep. Joe C., great job. That was incredible, the picture that you sent in with almost everyone. And I'm not a woman. And you're not a woman. One of the few that you weren't a woman. Yep. I do want to give honorable mentions to the Centaur one. Centaur one, definitely. The Cactus Jack. Ronnie. also I still love the Captain Fantastic really good everyone was great though I'm going to say if I had 10 sets of cards I would have given out 10 sets because everyone really kicked in thank you for everyone hopefully we'll have another contest in the next couple weeks we maybe give away something else for everyone and if you want to donate a prize to give away please message us We will plug the crap out of your item And then you. No. Oh, my. So just to review, we have Whodunit. With third place.
    58:46
    Future Spa. Second place. And the Ghostbusters, better known as Slam Busters. As first place. Congratulations, everyone. Woo-hoo! Critical hit. And thank you, Cardangelo. Yes, Carl. Did a great job donating those. Thank you again. And once we get your addresses, we'll send them out.
    59:08
    So, Color DMD. What did I bring out? That won not two, but three games, Ron. And you won two of them.
    59:18
    Really? Well, one was Star Trek, right? Yes, it was. The brand new Star Trek. So, oh, yeah, when you come over, you can help me set that up in the living room so I can get ready to take pictures of it so I can get it sold. Hopefully. I pulled my muscle. I broke a rib in my side, actually, last week. Broke a rib? I did.
    59:37
    So, I mean, I actually had to pick that demo man. Oh, my God. Thank God I have an elevator. I had to get it on the elevator and bring it down the stairs and then bring the Swords of Fury downstairs. And, oh, my side was killing me for three days. So, I take it you're not taking the Galaga? Oh, I am. Oh, Jesus. That's why I'm bringing over people. okay now you're finally getting it aren't you you know luckily i have you'll have an escalera so that will get at least up an escalera and we can probably use the bill code doors because i have a the pneumatic tire attachment for the escalera unless it's raining so you should be unless it's raining so you should be able to roll it roll it and roll it roll it on the lawn unlike what we originally brought it down there oh god yeah but i think that'll be much easier than trying to get it up the interior stairs. Yes. So when the guy sent the Slam Busters picture in, he had a question for you. He did. He had a question about the Lefkoffs. Yes, about the three multiballs in CSI. Ah, yes. And who did each one? Yes, so it was Lonnie Ropp, Keith Johnson, and Lyman Sheets. each did one of the three multiballs in the game. So we're going to tell you now who did what.
    60:58
    So which one did, and did you guess these? And did you guess correctly? I guessed two out of three right. Wait a minute. If you guessed two right, then the third one's automatically right. No. What? Wait a minute. I got confused. Oh, I have confused my head. That doesn't even make any sense. I guessed the first two right, and then I got the third one wrong. Yes. Huh? I was thinking it couldn't be him, so I was doubting myself. What? Yeah, it was really weird. I wrote it down. Okay. So, the three multiballs are skull multiball, was it microscope multiball, and centrifuge multiball. So, who did the skull multiball? Lonnie. Who did the microscope multiball? Lyman. And who did the centrifuge multiball? Keith. Yes. So there you go. There's the answer to the question. Yes, thank you, Joe. Did we have any other mail?
    61:56
    No, most of them were just the contest. Oh, we had one or two. We had one from Soren. Yes. It was the resident WPC rule modifier software guy. Yes, it was. And I was incorrect again. What else is new? Well, I was bringing up the trap door and dialed in how I had to make the adjustment. And I was bringing up other trap doors. I mentioned whodunit, which he corrects me that the design on whodunit is actually different to the ones that I was thinking of, like the ones on Jackpot, Funhaus, Whirlwind, Getaway. So the whodunit one has a linear style design reminiscent of drop targets, where the other ones are using a pivot arm. If it is as stable and durable, I would say the linear design is the better one. As on the pivot design, the ramp sometimes has trouble going all the way down as per its own weight. Plus, the assembly has a smaller footprint on the ramp, looking a little nicer. And he says, play better. Yes, he did. We did have one extra back glass. For the contest? Yes, we did. And it was? We could not post it. And why not? Because Scott Charles sent it. Oh, that one, yes. Let's just say the name of the game, and this is the legitimate name of the game, is Big Dick. Yes. Which was a re-theme that was done many years ago.
    63:31
    And let's just say, yeah, he could not, we would not post this. No, no, no. But we're both women. And Scott was the man, so that's really scary, isn't it? Yeah, this is very disturbing. And, of course, the score in the display is 69. 69, of course it is.
    63:52
    I'm just looking at it. I'm getting disturbed. Yes, that is very freaky. Oh, God, no. I don't know if I can continue. I think we need to end the podcast. Wow.
    64:04
    So next week's guest I cannot wait to have on. I'm very excited about that. Don't forget about our weekend stuff.
    64:13
    Let's go to have some fun now. And guess what? With our next weekend's guest, we finally get to go over 1978 Gottlieb vs. Williams.
    64:21
    Yes. Don't forget that, folks. I am so winning that. I know you are. Wow, he's giving up already. Now, remember, your whole point is you're supposed to sell. Sell, sell, sell. Let's go back to the colored DMDs. We had Star Trek.
    64:38
    What's the next one? I don't know. You tell me. Godzilla. All right. Godzilla. A perennial Papa favorite. It is. And the third one you own.
    64:51
    Dirty Harry? Oh, that was already... Oh, World Cup Soccer! Oh, hmm. Yeah, see? Wow, this is difficult. I know. They're right next to each other, too, Dirty Harry and the World Cup Soccer. Are you lucky, punk? Well, are you? Oh, my.
    65:20
    You want to hear something funny? If you have a dirty hair, go into the settings, and you can turn on instructional speech, and you can hear him giving you directions. Oh, my God. No, that's an option. It's off by default, but I turned it on once. Like, you know, hit the ramp, hit the – oh, God, turn this off immediately.
    65:40
    Yikes. It's like the fake chime sounds in, like, Future Spa. That's bad, too. I didn't know there was, like, fake sounds in Flash. Oh, yeah. On that sound board. In the 80s, it was really bad. 79, 80, boy, they tried some weird stuff, and it sucked. Also, on that sound board, if you toggle it, it makes completely different sounds. I did not know this.
    66:03
    Learn something new every day. So, are you ready, Ron? Would you buy that? Or would you not buy that? Oh, we're going to do this? All right. We're going to do this. All right. Again, this is, but we're assuming everyone knows what this segment is. This is from the wonderful world of eBay. We pick various auctions that we think you may want to buy or completely stay away from. Yep. So are you ready, Ron? I am ready. Ticket number 322-830-818080.
    66:43
    This is right by your house. Well, within an hour. From Doleville, New York. Don't know if it's a redneck area. It is. It's 2,400 people.
    66:58
    That doesn't mean it's a redneck area because there's not many. Oh, it's a redneck area. Okay. So it's a Williams F-14 Tomcat pinball machine.
    67:09
    A whopping three pictures with a glass on it. Actually, half of the play field covered up. On one of the pictures. Two of the pictures. And then one. Oh, wow. You want to talk about a tight quarters. Do not try to slide this machine. No, you'll bang it right into the wall. Bang a ring to the wall or the staircase. Oh, my.
    67:30
    So let's see what we got for the comments here. This is an older pinball machine. It is in excellent condition, but does have a short and would need a little attention.
    67:42
    But $9.95. And if you can get better pictures of the playfield, although it's probably full playfield mylar. Yeah, the inserts look pretty good. Yeah, the inserts look like the lettering's there, so the mylar's probably still intact. So it's just a matter of stability and electronics.
    68:00
    Are you ready for another one? So would we buy that? Sounds like you would. I might. We give it a cursory look. Yes. All right, next one. Ticket number 172927740878.
    68:20
    F14 Tomcat pinball machine by Williams. Excellent working condition. Did we get the price of the last one? It was $9.95. This one is $9.10 right now with 15 bids on it. Which means it must be quite popular. It's in Buffalo, New York. Let's see what we got. Lettering's all there on the inserts. And the glass is off. This machine works and plays 100%. Playfield is in excellent shape. Plastics are perfect. All four displays are bright and clear with no missing lines or segments. Back glass is perfect. Boards are clean with no hacks. I like the wording. Sounds like it's a person who knows something about what they're doing. That's good.
    68:59
    218 sales with 100% positive feedback. Lights are all working on top. Picture with the, oh, nice pictures. Oh, very nice pictures. Wow, you should get that just based on that alone.
    69:14
    Yep, all the beacons are working. Cabinet art looks nice. We would definitely buy this. Yes, I definitely would get in on this one. Yeah, but it's 15-bit, so it's liable to get up high. Oh, yeah. How many? We've got four days left on it. Yeah, so people will be able to see it.
    69:32
    Now we're going to go for some politically incorrect. Oh, no. No, more edits? Okay. Yeah, ready for editing. Yep. Ticket number 332-408-406-946. Rare Big Engine. Early example of political incorrectness. That's the exact title of it. That's the exact title. Let's see. New PBR Plastics and Coindor.
    70:06
    Very nice play field when this game was made. Some Native Americans were on the line. Brought to Gottlieb, that engine is a slur. They changed the name to Big Indian. This is a rare Big Indian. I have never seen this before. I am willing to bring to the curb for the shipping company there. Yes, I've never seen Big Indian before. Yep. I have seen Big Indian. Yep, Big Indian we actually have in the state of New York that somebody has on location. But I never saw a Big Indian. No, actually, no, this, yeah, this is a rock fantasy. Yes, exactly. Big Indian.
    70:45
    It's got nice blurry pictures. Yeah. That are horrible. It has one decent play field one. Which isn't bad. The plastics on the top are just plain white. Is that? Yeah, that's the way it's supposed to be. Really? Okay. Yep. The most blurry, crappy back glass picture ever. I know. That is pretty bad. 1,200. Yeah, I wouldn't buy that. But I wanted to bring up a big fail.
    71:11
    I'm curious how many they made. Yeah. I don't know. We can look that up on IPDB. I'm looking it up right now. Sample games are produced as big engines, so it's a sample game. Yeah.
    71:23
    So this is a sample. So some Gottlieb collector would probably really want this. I did not even know that, that the Gottlieb Wiring and Assembly Plant in South Dakota complained about this.
    71:33
    The Native American Place at Gottlieb's Wiring and Assembly Plant in South Dakota complained about this, so a name was changed to Big Indian.
    71:40
    Stalling production for three months. Interesting For $1,200 would you buy that? If you're a Gottlieb historical nut And a rare one You definitely would not want to break the back glass Because I think it's the only thing That actually says Big Engine on Or maybe the scorecards do too I wouldn't know There's no pictures Are you ready for another one? Yep Ticket number 162712 589 625 Alright. Data East Lethal Weapon 3. Mm-hmm. See, it doesn't have the topper. It does. It has the topper.
    72:26
    Oh, it's LED'd out. Of course it is. Well, it has different colors. Of course it is. I'm sure you love that. $1,100. Maybe he'd take some money off if we could get the LEDs out The cabinet's rough in the front Actually, it's very rough Yeah, the cabinet is extremely rough I agree So, yeah Oh, he actually shows underneath the playfield, wow Yeah, so give him points for that one Playfield looks blurry Yeah I don't know I wouldn't buy that. No. Even at $1,100 now. It's Lethal Weapon.
    73:11
    I mean, I love Lethal Weapon, but you can usually always find these. They made a ton of them. Yep. We're both going in. Does that signify the end of the segment? It's getting there, yeah. That's the end of that segment. Okay.
    73:27
    So what else do we have? I do not have anything else for anyone, Mr. Bond. Okay. Except for find me a cheetah. Cheetah.
    73:40
    And bar working. A lot of bar work. So what's been going on with the bar? I was doing sinks this past weekend, and painting is 99% done now. Kathy's doing a really good job with that. And next, he's got to fix another two sinks. And then had to call the landlord. The roof's leaking, so he's fixing the roof this week, hopefully. and uh that's it we're getting stuff ready yeah fine all right we're finishing up here because bruce is on you i'm dying i am dying here so let's pay some bills www.pinballlifter.com come check us out for your lifters tilters helpers wheel kits use your brain not your back also check out the silver ball saloon.com hopefully they'll soon have numbers up for when we're going to open check out our facebook page for silver wall saloon and for pinball lifter don't forget to like us our slam tilt podcast page also please pinball star joe newhart selling Jersey Jack, American Pinball, and Spooky Pinballs. Yep, and also Chicago Gaming with AFM and MMR.
    74:59
    Also, we have Flip Fidelity, Mike Pupo. Best sound system for your pinball machines is with him. Check him out. Don't forget we get no money from him. Just tell him we sent you. We just like those guys. and thanks to all the wonderful other podcasts we're getting too numerous to mention now on every podcast thank you all you other pinball podcasts you rock we love you all thank you to Steve Mountain Fun with Bonus Tim Balls yes next week we'll have a guest on so less work for me yeah less work for me too because when we have guests on I have to edit less because you talk less what the fuck see See? See, look at all the stuff I'm going to have to edit out now. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
    75:49
    So don't forget our stream. Yes. So we will be, when I post this, I'll put a little reminder. But we're starting at noon. Yes. On Tim Ball's stream.
    76:01
    So just go to Twitch and look for Tim Ball's. Please subscribe to Tim Ball's. We will be on there first. and then when that ends we will be going over to the Slam Tilt stream Oh my! and the games we'll be doing are Dialed In first Tim will be teaching us how to play Dialed In which I need to learn because I suck and then we'll be going to the Mystery Game and it's not Q It's not or Kingpin No it's not So we are the Slam Tilt Podcast Look for us on Facebook Also our YouTube channel Search for Slam Tilt Podcast and our Twitch channel, Slam Tilt Podcast. You can reach us at slamtiltpodcast at gmail.com. Please send your correspondence and your hate mail to Bruce. Yes. Hi. Hate me. Hate me now. This has been episode 65, Curse of the Pink Panther. Well, first I want to say thank you to getting to Carl D'Angelo for donating those cards to us. Say goodbye, Bruce. Goodbye, Lucas Barton. Oh my mind, oh my mind Can you boogie, can you slide? Oh my mind, oh my mind You can boogie if you try Oh my mind, oh my mind Guaranteed to keep you alive
    77:38
    Oh my.