Journalist Tool

Kineticist

  • HDashboard
  • IItems
  • ↓Ingest
  • SSources
  • KBeats
  • BBriefs
  • RIntel
  • QSearch
  • NName Review
  • +Health

v0.1.0

← Back to items

DPP #50 "Silver Episode! Back with a juicy rumor in your general direction!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·31m 58s·analyzed·Jun 27, 2023
View original
Export .md

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.036

TL;DR

DPP #50: Monty Python rumor, Spooky Halloween code, Jersey Jack skepticism, Stern topper re-runs.

Summary

Don discusses episode 50 of his podcast, covering multiple pinball industry rumors and news. Key items include: a code update for Spooky's Halloween that reignited his interest in the machine; a rumor that Ben Heck (Spooky Pinball) and Chicago Gaming are collaborating on a Monty Python–themed pinball machine; potential re-runs of scarce Stern toppers (Elvira, Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park); speculation about Jersey Jack's business viability and code completion issues with their games; and field reports from locations like Interium in Chicago. Don expresses skepticism about Jersey Jack's future and consumer confidence, while praising the code quality of Spooky's Halloween update and Stern's Pulp Fiction.

Key Claims

  • Spooky Pinball released Halloween code version 1.11 with new multiball, graphics, and features

    high confidence · Don reporting on his personal machine update and immediate play experience with the new code

  • Ben Heck, Spooky Pinball, and Chicago Gaming Company are rumored to be collaborating on a Monty Python–themed pinball machine

    medium confidence · Don presenting as 'juicy rumor' from unspecified source; prefaced as 'heard it here first unless you heard it from somebody else'

  • The Princess Bride pinball license has been secured, possibly by Spooky Pinball

    low confidence · Rumor allegedly dropped by Kaneda and described as 'sixth-hand knowledge' from a licensing expo conversation

  • Stern is planning to re-run previously vaulted toppers including Elvira House of Horrors, Iron Maiden, and Jurassic Park at original MSRP

    medium confidence · Don citing 'multiple sources' but noting these 'haven't been confirmed by Stern'; notes Elvira previously resold for €1,900 ($2,000+ USD)

  • Jersey Jack Pinball sold Godfather Collector Edition direct to consumers, holding back ~500 units of a 1,000-unit run

    medium confidence · Don referencing a rumor he 'had heard' but acknowledges lack of transparency and confirmable numbers

  • Jersey Jack has secured the license for an Elton John–themed pinball machine

    medium confidence · Don citing 'strong rumor' from 'multiple sources' and 'people familiar with licensing'

  • Jersey Jack's code completion has been inconsistent; Pirates of the Caribbean and Guns N' Roses both have incomplete code and missing wizard modes

    high confidence · Don recounting conversations with Pirates of the Caribbean owners and his own observations over five years post-release

  • Stern has a production gap in December that was previously filled by runs of traditional/vault games

    medium confidence · Don speculating this may signal a new Stern title or third 'cornerstone' game for the year, but described as rumor/speculation

Notable Quotes

  • “This code is fire, yo. I haven't even explored a tenth of the new things that are in there.”

    Don @ ~3:45 — Direct reaction to Halloween 1.11 code update; demonstrates sentiment shift from wanting to sell the machine to reconsidering

  • “Mr. Ben Heck, Mr. Spooky Pinball, and Mr. Chicago Gaming Company, I don't know if that's proper pronouns, are working on a collaboration together? Can you believe that? What a fantastic rumor. You're welcome.”

    Don @ ~7:20 — Presenting the Monty Python collaboration rumor as a major reveal; tone suggests this is original/exclusive info he's sharing

  • “Maybe you shouldn't go ahead and purchase that one yet... maybe call a distributor and get yourself on a list for these.”

    Don @ ~13:00 — Warning against high secondary-market Stern topper purchases in anticipation of re-runs

  • “If they're going to sell these games for this high price, you know, and try to be like the luxury good of pinball, but they're not giving us the luxury code that we should be getting... there's just not a lot of consumer confidence built in me with a Jersey Jack machine.”

    Don @ ~19:30 — Articulates core skepticism about Jersey Jack's value proposition tied to incomplete code and missing content

  • “What if they decide one day, you know what, we're going to look at our five least performing divisions and we're going to cut them off... What happens if Jersey Jack just goes out of business?”

    Don @ ~20:15 — Expresses concern about Jersey Jack's financial independence and risk of discontinuation under corporate parent

  • “The more time I put on that [Pulp Fiction], the more I assured that this game is just fire. This game is very cool.”

    Don @ ~27:00 — Positive assessment of Stern's Pulp Fiction; contrasts favorably with premium Bond pricing

  • “I'm now caught up on all my orders that came in while I was gone... You should have received tracking.”

    Don @ ~25:30 — Community engagement signal; administrative update on Patreon fulfillment

Entities

Don GarrisonpersonBen HeckpersonSpooky PinballcompanyChicago Gaming CompanycompanyStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyJack Guarnieriperson

Signals

  • ?

    code_update: Spooky Pinball releases Halloween code version 1.11 with new multiball, graphics, and features; Don reports reignited interest and changed sales plans for his personal machine

    high · Don states 'This code is fire, yo' and mentions discovering new multiball, new LCD graphics, and achieving 25M score on second game; reconsidering sale of his machine

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Ben Heck (Spooky Pinball) rumored to be collaborating with Chicago Gaming Company on a Monty Python–themed pinball machine

    medium · Don presents this as 'juicy rumor' from unspecified source; cites no official confirmation; described as potential major theme with multiple possible IP angles (Life of Brian, Ministry of Silly Walks, etc.)

  • ?

    rumor_hype: The Princess Bride pinball license allegedly secured, possibly by Spooky Pinball; rumor sourced through Kaneda from licensing expo conversation

    low · Don acknowledges this is 'sixth-hand knowledge' and speculates Spooky is the licensee but emphasizes uncertainty ('maybe sort of, I don't know')

  • ?

    product_strategy: Stern Pinball rumored to be re-running previously scarce toppers (Elvira House of Horrors, Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park) at original MSRP, potentially undercutting high secondary-market prices

    medium · Don cites 'multiple sources' but notes Stern has not officially confirmed; references Elvira topper selling for €1,900 ($2,000+) on secondary market; warns collectors not to purchase high-priced toppers yet

  • ?

    product_concern: Jersey Jack Pinball has history of incomplete code on major releases (Pirates of the Caribbean, Guns N' Roses); missing wizard modes and assets not delivered despite five-year-plus development windows

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.096

0:00
Do one more shout out before we shut this down. Don's Pinball Podcast, if you haven't shut this out yet, is like a 30-minute stream of the subconscious.
0:09
Don by himself just talking at you about current topics and – I was listening. Don's Pinball Podcast, it's another podcast, and that guy – I haven't heard a ton of his stuff, but I was recommended. I was told that on his latest episode – Like, there were this guy in there that's called Dom.
0:28
Dom's Pinball Show something, a new guy. 90-minute shows, like, what's going on? Only Dom's got it figured out. Later, everybody.
0:39
Bravo. Bravissimo. Okay. Hey, everybody. Just wanted to take a minute and do a little intro there. This is episode number 50 of Don's Pinball Podcast. It's about to start now. I'm just so humbled, hashtag blessed about all the feedback I'm receiving. The listenership that's been increasing. We're doing over 300 now per every episode. Already blew through my wildest aspirations that I had for this. And I'm going to see this as we're on the right track. And I'm going to keep going with this. So enjoy episode number 50. I had a great time putting it together for you. I'm back in the studio. And I'm just going to hit back into the same content release schedule I've been doing. So, as always, send me content. I love it, everybody. Thank you so much. Enjoy the episode.
1:30
I'm back in the studio, ladies and gentlemen, Don's Pinball Podcast. This is, what is it, a silver anniversary? This is episode number 50, halfway to the goal for 100. Will we get there this year? With your help and mine, I think we can make it. There's been so many news and rumors dropping. I'm going to get to all of that for you soon. Buckle up if you're on your way home, David. I don't want you running off the road when this blast hits you in the face.
Kaneda
person
Brian Eddyperson
Todd McFarlaneperson
Ozzy Osbourneperson
Andrew McBainperson
Jeffperson
Liorperson
Donaldperson
Steve Bowdenperson
Halloween (Spooky Pinball)game
Foo Fighters (Stern)game
Venom (Stern)game
Monty Pythongame
The Princess Bridegame
Elton Johngame
Pulp Fiction (Stern)game
Godfather (Jersey Jack)game
Galactic Tank Force (Spooky Pinball)game

high · Don recounts conversations with Pirates of the Caribbean owners about missing assets and wizard mode; notes Guns N' Roses still lacks final code; frames as pattern undermining luxury positioning

  • ?

    business_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball operates as a division of larger conglomerate; Don expresses concern about financial viability and risk of discontinuation if parent company underperforms

    medium · Don speculates JJP is 'not solvent' on its own and funded by parent company's other divisions; references Jack Guarnieri seeking financial help post-Wizard of Oz; questions sustainability if parent decides to divest

  • $

    market_signal: Jersey Jack positioning as 'luxury good' of pinball at premium pricing, but failing to deliver corresponding luxury code and theme quality vs. competitors

    high · Don critiques JJP for high MSRP ($12,999+) without matching code completion and theme appeal; contrasts negatively with Spooky (Halloween enthusiasm) and notes himself losing interest in additional JJP machines

  • ?

    event_signal: San Diego Comic-Con (July 20–23) expected to be venue for Stern Pinball's Venom machine reveal; reduced A-list talent presence due to actor/writer strikes

    high · Don notes Comic-Con dates and speculates this as timing for Venom reveal; mentions Stern was present last year during Bond launch; notes 'reduced attention' due to strikes

  • ?

    machine_intel: Stern Pinball has production capacity gap in December; speculation that this may signal upcoming new title (possibly Venom-related or third 'cornerstone' game) or vault re-release

    medium · Don notes December hole was previously filled by traditional/vault game runs; speculates gap may indicate new Venom-related project or third cornerstone title, but acknowledges this is speculative

  • ?

    product_concern: Galactic Tank Force's mid-field stand-up target ball-fix (visor mod) may be inadequate; ball launches and bent drop targets still observed even after installation

    medium · Don reports playing GTF at Interium with new visor mod; notes visor is only 0.5–0.75 inches wide vs. Spooky's 2.5-inch plexiglass deflector on similar targets; observed ongoing issues despite mod

  • ?

    content_signal: Don's Pinball Podcast reaches episode 50; reports 300+ listeners per episode and growth exceeding initial expectations; launching Patreon with insider content

    high · Don states 'we're doing over 300 now per every episode' and mentions surpassing 'wildest aspirations'; announces Patreon.com/donspinballpodcast at $5/month with exclusive trip reviews and insider info

  • ?

    collector_signal: Limited edition toppers (Godzilla, Elvira House of Horrors, Iron Maiden) experiencing extreme secondary-market inflation; Don's Godzilla topper pre-ordered through Mad Pinball; Elvira trading for 2–3x MSRP

    high · Don reports Godzilla topper 'on the way' from Mad Pinball; references Elvira at €1,900 ($2,000+) vs. original MSRP ~$800–900; notes Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park re-runs rumored

    • 2:04
    Nothing a little better than intros. What do you guys think? Hey, thanks for joining me here for 50 flipping episodes, all of at least 15 minutes long, 15 to 30. I come in here and I fill that void for you to bring you my views through my lens of all the happenings and trappenings in the world, the exciting and profitable and ever money-driving world of pinball. Welcome, everybody, to Don's Lustrous Pinball Podcast, episode 50. Got a whole list of things to get through today. I'm back home. I'm back from my trip two weeks in Europe, and I did a couple of shows from the road. They worked okay, but I do love my home mixer. I think the voice, at least in my headphones, sounds better. Let's get into some news. Spinning the wheel, we land on spooky pinball, Wisconsin's most finest, right? Halloween received an update. We're at 1.11 code now. And I had listed my machine on the podcast for sale. I was going to list it at 7,800. I would love 8,200. But for my listeners, I was going to do 7,500. And then I got home yesterday, late last evening. I've got the new code in there. and playing through it again, I'm like re-energized with this freaking game now. Now I don't know if I want to let it go. I don't know if I want to necessarily get rid of it now. I think I might want to hang on to this thing. This code is fire, yo. I haven't even explored a tenth of the new things that are in there. I haven't looked through the whole list of everything or watched Bugs' video yet. I've just been busy since I got home. But I did get the code in there, and I have put a couple of games through there, and I'm finding a new multiball that I haven't discovered before, new graphics up on the LCD, which is always warranted. And, you know, I put up an excellent score, 25 million on my second game with the new code. So I don't know. The code is making me play better. Or maybe I just got Halloween on the brain. But when you kill Michael Myers in there and then you go into that multi-ball reward and that Halloween music kicks in and the red lights and the LED on the play field, it's a magical moment, man. You know, the naysayers aren't really into this game. I can see why. If you don't like the theme of Halloween, you're not going to appreciate the game to the level that I am digging it at. and a lot of the other Halloween fans are. I posted a picture of my current setup of my machine and my wall full of all the Halloween decorations I got from Spirit last year on Michael Myers' Halloween Facebook page, just for people that like that movie in general. And I got, like, great comments showering back for me. So, like, for the right person, this is the right game. And my version is pretty sweet with that Vento Man house mod with the LCD lights, the guy from the UK that made that. Man, what a pretty game. and when you get into a good game, it's fantastic. It's a game that I like to play a couple of games on and then take a break for a while and then come back to. Whereas Foo Fighters, I put through like 13 games in a row today just trying to clear two cities, you know, just because it's that flow monster. So it's a different type of game. You know, for me, I don't appreciate Ultraman the same way because I don't have that connection with the theme and the layout's identical. So if you're not into the theme, I totally get it. You're not wrong if you don't love this game, but don't dismiss the people that do dig it. What a fun game. Let's stay on spooky pinball for a moment. I had a nice, juicy, juicy, drippy rumor come through that I haven't heard from anyone else that I'm going to get to in a moment. But first, what about the other rumor floating out there that Kaneda dropped about he heard that somebody, okay, this is like, I think, sixth-hand knowledge now. But somebody told him that while at the licensing expo, they had heard that the license holder for The Princess Bride, that classic movie with the kid from, what was it, Homefront? No, Home Alone? No, The Fred Savage, The Fred Savage Show. But anyway, you know, the RUSs, the rodents of unusual size, anyone need a peanut, an Ingo Montoya, that whole bit, inconceivable, right? The Princess Frickin' Bride, fantastic movie, misleading name, but they secured the license. Somebody secured the license for pinball, and maybe sort of, I don't know, that sounds familiar, it's spooky pinball. We'll just have to wait and see on that. This is a theme that, while I don't think it moves mountains, I don't know if you would sell out 4,500 editions on the first day, but for the again for the right person this is the right theme i love this movie been watching it since childhood but i think if i didn't know about it already and i just came across that i'd say the princess bride what is that like the princess diaries uninterested but for everybody else if you've never seen it don't know anything about it look up this movie it is a good time like that's like saying i don't want to watch cabin in the woods because i don't like horror films and cabin in the woods is such a take on horror films that's different that it's worth watching. The Princess Bride is the same way. Carrie Ewells, man. The guy from Robin Hood Men in Tights. Andrea the Giant's in it. Inigo Montoya's in it.
    6:36
    The guy from all those shows that character actors the guy who played Vassini. His name escapes me. Fantastic film. Six-figured man. It's got intrigue, murder, double crosses, true love. It's got a holocaust cloak. It's got an albino. It's got a tortured room built into an old oak tree. It's got it all. Everything you would want. If you like Willow, if you like these kind of things, this would make a good pin. As much as a good pin that this would make, I kind of think Willow would probably make an equally good pin. But that's where I'm at on that. Should I just drop a juicy, juicy rumor nugget on you right now?
    7:09
    So what about this rumor that came across the news desk that Mr. Ben Heck, Mr. Spooky Pinball, and Mr. Chicago Gaming Company, I don't know if that's proper pronouns, are working on a collaboration together? Can you believe that? What a fantastic rumor. You're welcome. Let's move on. Oh, wait. Oh, there's more. I just read through to the next page. This is based on a theme. This project collaboration they have is based on a theme that is quite huge, and it's Monty Python. I will pause for effect so you don't drive off the road. Correct yourself. Hopefully you have some self-driving on. Monty Python-themed pinball machine, Ben Hex CGC spooky pinball. That's the extent of the rumor that I heard. What do you think of that? Let's just speculate for a moment. Let's not speculate. It could be anything. Is this Life of Brian Is this a whole of Monty Python Is this the Ministry of Silly Walks the Pinball Adventure I think any one of those would be a winner and I can wait to hear more from that So you heard it here first unless you heard it from somebody else Moving on, what else do we have?
    8:09
    Dutch Pinball is hiring people, so if you're looking for a job and you speak Dutch, go work at Dutch Pinball. Moving on to Topper Production. No, let's talk about Sperm Pinball.
    8:19
    Sperm Pinball. Where are we at with them? We are on the cusp of another release. We got hit with all that information, all that deluge of new drops in March. And then it was like, okay, well, what are we going to cover for the next six months, right? There's not going to be anything else to talk about. I've been doing nothing but talking about content straight since March. And here we are about to go into another launch of a game, a game that we've known about already for a year, but it's now super exciting that it's finally coming out. Mr. Brian Eddy, Mr. Zombie Yardy on art, Zombie Yardy, Zombie Yeti on art for Venom. Are we finally going to get there? This kind of anti-hero, villain-esque character designed by Mr. Todd McFarlane of Spawn fame and also voiced or lends his talent, Mr. Ozzy Osbourne, with music. Also, Ozzy does play an in-canon character in the Venom universe. And if you remember back a year ago at San Diego Comic-Con, Stern Pinball was there while they were floundering through a Bond 60th anniversary launch. and apparently that was going to be the perfect well it would have been the perfect time to release Venom but they didn't, I guess they had to set Venom back because they had a contract date due with Bond to get that out, whatever here we are, reset the clock, one year later back at San Diego Comic Con and there's not going to be the extra added attention of Disney, Marvel and everybody else due to actors and writers strikes right now apparently that's what I'm hearing about San Diego Comic Con a lot of these big panels are now not scheduled A-list talent is not currently penciled in to be at the Comic-Con. So Venom, the floor is all yours. Go ahead and take it and run with it, baby.
    9:55
    So we'll have to speculate and see which, you know, I'll do my normal thing, like which version you should get once the game is revealed, if it is actually Venom. When it comes down to LEs versus premium, that's always kind of what you want to know. I mean, you know, your market will dictate, your budget will dictate if you go pro or premium. But, you know, the premium accoutrements tend to be fun, and so you should at least get the premium level, but when should you go for the LE? So I was talking this over with the wife, and I was looking back at the recent LE releases. Now, with Foo Fighters, it seems to be trading at slightly higher than MSRP. So if you win out on an LE with Foo Fighters, you make a good decision for a couple of reasons. I think your resale value is preserved. I think you might even be able to turn a small profit on it if you were to flip it. Also, it came with the expression lights, which are still unavailable, and, you know, it's another $500 upgrade. Now, the powder-coating armor you can get, I got it myself for about $500 from a powder-coater pinball refinery. So, you know, the value seems to be there for something like a music pin, like a Foo Fighters. But for a Venom, if there's not going to be expression lights, if this is just going to be standard powder-coated armor and interior art blades and not a whole lot else except for, you know, glass, back glass instead of a trans light and a signature, I don't know if that'll be worth it, justifying the cost. Now that these things are running $12,999 MSRP. But, you know, let's see. Hopefully they come out with something that's got unique armor, just like the Rush LE did, that was limited to just that version or the Star Wars LE. That, I think, would make it more of a, yes, I think I should get this. You know, make sure there's an interesting shooter rod that comes with it. You know, shaker, knocker, and all that business. So we'll talk about that, hopefully, in another three weeks when this game is fully revealed. And I, for one, can't wait. Let's talk toppers. Now, I've got my Godzilla topper on the way. Jeff at Mad Pinball was ever so kind to hook me up when they were announced. He had one left, and I was able to get it. So thank you, Jeff. He is now taking people's names on a list for a second run. So Jeff at MadPinball.com, go ahead and get out to him. If you'd like to get yourself on a list for this unexpectedly improving in the public eyes Godzilla topper. Can we get a plume? Hashtag plume, please. The vaping Godzilla. I can't wait for this. Oh, I'm going to talk about something real quick. As a joke, I put a mod for the topper on Pinside. It was a fluorescent green zip tie for the tale of Godzilla. I listed it up there for $15 and all this superfluous information, like this was going to be the greatest topper thing ever for you. I think it called it the Atomic Nuclear Edition zip tie Godzilla tail tamer or something. I was also going to throw in a t-shirt with it too, so it wasn't just a total joke. Pinside took my ad down. There's another ad right now, though, for a forest green colored zip tie for $2 now. So I wasn't the first one to this, and I don't appreciate my ad being taken down pin side. Well, that's fine. They can do what they want to do. It was a joke anyway. But, you know, you send an email or something. Anyway, if you want to order one, I still have the zip tie, and I'll still include a T-shirt. Just email me, donspinballpodcast at gmail.com, if you are interested. I have T-shirts in stock today ready to ship. What else do we have, though? There's been some other juicy Stern topper rumors that have been coming out, especially about a ton of toppers that have been unobtainable that are now going to be back in production, back in production for original MSRP? Are you talking about things like Elvira House of Horrors topper that sold for around $800 to $900 originally and has been going for upwards of €1,900? I saw an ad place yesterday on Facebook Marketplace from the European market, €1,900, which is over $2,000 USD for the Elvira topper. Well, hang on, hang on. Maybe you shouldn't go ahead and purchase that one yet. Maybe you should wait because it seems that they're going to rerun not only this topper, but Iron Maiden, Jurassic Park. I didn't hear Deadpool, but there are going to be some reruns of Stern toppers. So if there's been one you've been sitting on and you're hemming and hawing on paying double the price on the internet for it, maybe call a distributor and get yourself on a list for these. Now, these haven't been confirmed by Stern, but I've been hearing from multiple sources that there's another future run of toppers upcoming. I hope they keep their accessories in production, given that they're going to go into a new production space. So here's to hoping for that. So what do we have? We covered that. San Diego Comic-Con is going to be in the end of the month, 7-20 to the 23rd, July 20th to the 23rd. So that's in just over three weeks. So I'm excited for that. Regarding the Iron Maiden topper, the rumors have not speculated which one this will be. Will it be the Aces High topper? Will it be the Egyptian topper? I'm preferable to the Egyptian versus the other one. But we don't know that yet. But that'll vira-topper. I think that's the one that's been highest on the resale market, the one that I've been on the fence on going on. And I'm actually recreating my own right now. But it appears it may be available again.
    14:43
    Also, there's a rumor of a Ghostbusters vault. I don't know. This has been a perennial rumor I've heard for a long time. I've heard that they want to vault Ghostbusters. Everybody wants them to vault Lord of the Rings. Who knows what's really going to happen? Will they vault a DMD game again? will they take a DMD game and update it with an LCD and reduce some graphics? That would be fantastic if you're going to do that much, want to just release a whole new game who knows, who knows what's going to happen but there's a rumored hole in the production schedule with Stern Pinball in December and that was filled in with runs of their traditional games that they've had so it's weird that right before Christmas they have kind of created a vacancy there now, the pragmatic part of me says well that vacancy is just there to see what's hot leading into the holidays and that's what will fill the production line but the speculative side of me is saying that, well, maybe this is going to be for a Joe Kamikawa Kapow title or a vault title or maybe the third cornerstone of the year. Weird, because Venom is just getting released, but we'll see. We'll see. I'll call it Codename Venom for now. So we'll see what comes up with that. There's still a December hole. Let's move along. Should I talk about Jersey Jack for a moment? Is this a number two pinball company? Do we really know? Nobody releases their numbers or what they're selling except for Spooky Pinball and Pinball Adventures for that matter So where is JJP in this whole thing You know I actually posted and honestly I wasn trolling I was on their page and they had posted the topper for the collector edition of Godfather which I'm a fan of. I'm a fan of double knockers. I think that's awesome. More knockers, more fun, if you ask me. So I asked them, are there any more available? Because I had heard a rumor, right, that Jersey Jack, now they were selling the CEs direct when they were released, which, you know, to the chagrin of distributors, that's money that's left on the table that could be going to the distros. Anyway, I had heard they had held back about 500 units of their 1,000-unit run and gave the rest to distributors to sell, and the other ones they sold direct. Now, they've said they sold out, but did they sell out of all 500, or did they sell out of, like, 150? There's no way for us to know because there's no transparency there. So I was just asking them, hey, do you guys have any more? And they said, no, they're all sold out. Check your distro for an LE or whatever.
    16:46
    You know, and I kind of went back and forth on them a little bit, But honestly, I wasn't trying to troll them. I'm just truly trying to find out, like, are there extra CEs available? If this game is not selling well, which, I mean, we don't know. You'd have to ask every distributor.
    16:59
    And, you know, I guess we'll know once we start seeing, like, how many of these CEs are available and posted publicly, right? But, I mean, even then, you know, we're not going to find out true numbers or anything. But regardless, if their line isn't moving because their godfathers are sold through and they're just sitting on excess inventory, and if the toy stories are not also moving, which the market would seem to indicate, they're going to need to run another game here. And the strong rumor here is Elton John. I've heard this from multiple sources. I've heard from people familiar with licensing that the license for Elton John has been gotten and it's been gotten by them. Eh, I don't know. You know, I've heard people do the take that Jack Winery is coming up with the themes. I guess it's ostensibly his company or at least his name on it. And I'm sure for, you know, what is he, like 62, 61 years old, you know, For him, Godfather was probably the biggest movie of the time that was out for his young adulthood. So for him, he's got some nostalgia for Godfather that I don't. I mean, this is a theme that doesn't really talk to me. Toy Story, I was interested in, even though I'm not the hugest Toy Story fan. I do big Disney games. But the fact that it was Toy Story 4 just fell flat for me. Elton John doesn't get me excited and passionate to go and play it. So this is going to be a game that I'm going to want to play on location, and I'm not rushing out to buy. I've sold my Guns N' Roses. I enjoyed it. I got the enjoyment out of it. My friend wanted it. He offered a good price. I got it off to him. But I'm not looking at repopulating with another Jersey Jack because there's a couple of things with the company transparency-wise that do bother me. One of that was with code. I know the owners of Pirates of the Caribbean, when I was first getting into pinball, I heard from them, you know, where's the rest of our code? Where is the, you know, some of the assets that are missing? Where's the wizard mode at the end? And it just wasn't coming. And since it's been, you know, it's five years since that game came out, and we're still not seeing finished code, is this a pattern? Seems to be, because I think there's still some final code missing that we're not seeing with Guns N' Roses.
    18:54
    You know, if they're going to sell these games for this high price, you know, and try to be like the luxury good of pinball, but they're not giving us the luxury code that we should be getting, and we're not getting the luxury themes that we should be getting, eh, I don't know. Like, there's just not a lot of consumer confidence built in me with a Jersey Jack machine. The other thing is this company, I don't know if the pinball revenue itself is enough to drive them. I think they're part of a conglomerate, and they do have corporate overlords that have other multiply successful divisions that are funding this project, which is fine, totally fine. But what if they decide one day, you know what, we're going to look at our five least performing divisions and we're going to cut them off or sell them off or they're going to go to their own divisions, and if they're not solvent, they're just going to fail on their own. What happens if Jersey Jack just goes out of business? I mean, wasn't that where Jack Winery was, you know, following Wizard of Oz and was looking for some financial help and he found a buyer for the company? So if they get in that position again and there's not somebody that's there to step in to bail them out, are they just going to go away? And then for sure, we're not going to get any code updates. For sure, we're not going to have any service updates. And so those, you know, that lack of consumer confidence for me is kind of standing between me and going in on another one of their games or at least, you know, MSRP new in box for sure. Let me know if you're with me. Don's Pinball Podcast, GMO.com. Let me know kind of where you're at. When I first got into this, you know, about a year ago and I was so enthralled with my Guns N' Roses, I went out and I wanted to play every Jersey Jack game I did. And then I was thinking, wouldn't it be fun to kind of have like every one of their games in the lineup? Right. And now, you know, I didn't think I'd be here a year later. Like, I just don't know if I want to go on any more of their games again, unless it's, you know, a good price. I don't know. That's kind of where I'm at with them. Let me know what you think. Strongly rumored that Lior from Art of Pinball is not working officially with them. I think that's a good thing. I don't have a problem with how their games are made and put together. I was just playing Godfather the other day at Interium, and it just kind of, you know, I played three games, and my balls kind of drained fast, and I wasn't really sure exactly what I'm going to be shooting for, and I wasn't really interested in finding out. I think that the theme isn't driving me towards it. The sound effects, they don't do anything for me personally. So I guess I feel about Godfather how a lot of people feel about Halloween. It's just not the game for me, and that's where I am on it. But I do love the double knockers, and I love that topper. I would sit and play with the topper all day. I'd rather play with the topper than the pinball machine. Is that a hot take? Let's move on to pinball adventures. Mr. Andrew McBain's company, A Pony Factory, has left the factory and has followed I've been following it across the country. This was also serviced by Mad Pinball. Since I follow them, I was able to follow the journey as they were updating where this game is. This game is now at the Oasis Arcade in Lithia Springs, Georgia. Donald down there, he's got an Airbnb with an awesome game room attached to it. There's now a punny factory there. The next time I'm in Georgia, I'm going to stop by and play this thing. I still really want to play this game. After interviewing Andrew, that was episode 47. Evan, if you guys want to go back and listen to it. Thanks for everybody that has listened and commented.
    22:02
    You know, there's a lot of opinions around there about the company, about the guy himself, but my interactions have been perfectly adequate, and I think he makes some good products, and I'm just going to kind of stay at that level. But I think Punny Factory appears to be very well built. It's not the most robust game as far as, you know, ramps and mechanisms and jump things, which is kind of what I like, but I like where they're starting out, and they're taking things slow. and he's funded by his other companies that he owns. And so he said he only needs to sell about 10 of these things to break even on the cost of the first game. So, I mean, that's still a win to me. And I'm curious to see elements which should be playable from what he was saying at Expo in October. So that's where we're at with that. But the news is a punny factory has left the factory and has made it into the hands of a customer, and a great addition to be sure. So I'll look for that in talks with the owner to get some reviews there once he gets a chance to play it some more.
    22:57
    Otherwise, I've got some podcast news. I'm now caught up on all my orders that came in while I was gone, so thanks for bearing with me through that. So anybody that's ordered stickers and T-shirts, they're now in the mail, on the way, and you should have received tracking.
    23:10
    I've got a trip review coming up on my Patreon page. That's patreon.com slash donspinballpodcast. $5 a month gets you access not only to emotional support for yours truly, but also insider information, some other things that I tend to share that are a little more of a personal nature that I wouldn't really put out here on the podcast in general. That's available to you. I'm not holding back a whole lot of information behind a paywall. That's not the style that I've gone with yet. But I do put more embellishments into the information that I release on the podcast behind the Patreon. So come check it out if you would be so inclined. What else do we got? All right, so I hit the road. I landed back in Chicago about, I don't know, it seems like a day ago. three days ago, a week ago, I have no idea. Sometime in the last 48 hours And when in Chicago I stopped by Interium So I was able to put more time on Pulp Fiction and the more time I put on that the more I assured that this game is just fire This game is very cool This is a cool game. I said this before,
    24:07
    but Bond 60th is a very kind of cool game to have. It's a very expensive game to have. Pulp Fiction does not have that paywall, though barrier to entry. $8,000 for the special edition. The play feels the same and has everything that the collectors does without just some of the embellishments and that topper. So, yeah, I'm even more sold on this game. It's fun to play. It's something that's easy to learn and then has some difficulty to master. So it seems to be just about perfect. So I'm totally in on one of these now at this point. I was also able to play Galactic Tank Force at Interium. This is one of the only locations that has one that I could play.
    24:48
    And it actually has that ball fix. So Steve Bowden had a rundown. I think it was Steve Bowden that had a rundown on how to install this device, or one of their techs did. And so they come up with these two metal brackets that are supposed to help with the air balls that are coming from the five stand-up targets that are directly over the center drain lane, right? So the first one goes underneath the play field and helps to reinforce the five stand-up targets. I guess this is to keep them from bending backwards, so now they're at a steeper, almost 45-degree angle to just launch balls over the flippers. The other one is kind of like a sun visor, right? like a metal visor that extends over the front of the stand-up targets, I guess to deflect balls that do get launched. I'm not sure that it's adequate, though, because as I was playing it, I was still launching balls, and some of the drop targets were still bent at weird angles. Not all of them, you know, so I guess it'll take some more playtesting to see where this thing comes out. Now, Spooky Pinball has a game called Halloween and Ultraman that has a plastic plexiglass deflector over the midfield stand-up targets. the drop targets, and that seems to work adequately, and it's about two and a half inches wide. This new visor is only about a half to three quarters of an inch. I don't know that that's going to be enough to stop a high-velocity ball, especially in the periphery. I certainly didn't notice much of a difference, and I've played this game without the fix and now with the fix. You know, when I was playing the game, if I was, you know, I was just brutalizing that tank to see, you know, was this helping? You know, my games were averaging under 100 million points. When I ignored the tank completely and just shot for the ramps and the pops and things, I found myself having a heck of a lot more enjoyment. I found myself having scores of like half a billion points instead of, you know, under 100 million. And so I think the thing to do is just avoid that tank altogether and score those shots with ricochets off the slings and things, which, you know, is a little unfortunate given that it's so central in the game right there. This is a game that every time I play the first game on it I'm like, I really, really want this game I like the lights, I like the shaker motor I like the interactivity I like that it's weird I have a passion for the absurd I love absurdity and silliness in life There can't be enough of it And this game fits strongly into that category So this seems to be right up in my wheelhouse But then into the end of that first game And after my subsequent games I'm like, I'm just going back to Pulp Fiction Or I'm going to go play Iron Maiden or something else man. I just can't with this game anymore. What this game needs, in my opinion, is a jerry ramp, right? So this was the aftermarket mod that was done for Rick and Morty, where you actually remove the stand-up jerry target that's on the left there, and you install this whole 3D-molded channel with a micro-switch in it that triggers that same stand-up target, but it works as a way to send balls up to the portal, like an alternate way besides that one ramp that tends to reject. And so if this game had a jerry ramp, here's what would happen. So, you know, imagine you remove the five stand-up targets, you just put them down below the field, and you install a 3D-printed plastic insert underneath the tank with two channels in it, you know, one on the left and one on the right, kind of funnel-shaped so they would catch the balls, and you put micro-switches in there that trigger the same way that the stand-up targets do. Now, when you shoot a tank, you know, if you hit that center stand-up target, instead of hitting the target and causing damage, you pass straight through the tank, hitting the micro-switch, triggering the damage, but sending the ball straight up into the pops behind there so it then can come down the normal course and not just straight down the freaking middle over that ball save mechanism that they have. In this way, it's like you're shooting these balls, and these balls are penetrating the tank like a space laser. I think that would work a lot more. That would be a better approach for me for playing this game. Then the stand-up targets would just send it straight back to me. Alternatively, you could hit the stand-up targets a few times, and they drop out of sight, and then you can pass through shots through the tank. That would be more fun for me. That's some free information. That's some free inspiration for the aftermarket mod makers that are better at CAD drawings than I am. So let me be your muse. Somebody make a jerry ramp for Galactic Tank Force, and I think I'll reconsider buying it because if we can fix the tank, I can live with everything else because I think the game is well built. I like the lights. I love the lights. I like how the music thumps, and I like that it's kooky, and I like that it's absurd. But if you could just fix that tank, I would reconsider this. So somebody get to work on a jerry mod, a jerry ramp for the Galactic Tank Force. Take that home with you. What else do we got that I got to get to you? Oh, so afterwards, I was at an interium, and I had posted I was there, and I leave stickers on games when I go to arcades like this, and I post them online and say, hey, anybody in the area, come down, get some free stickers or something, and I left them on the machines. It's kind of my calling card. So David from Roscoe, Illinois, got out to me, and he's like, hey, why don't you come by Louie's Tap House near Rockford sometime and leave some stickers there? And I was like, bet, because it was on my way home, so I'm not going to be there in an hour. And I was. I showed up at Louie's Tap House in Roscoe, Illinois. They got about eight Stern games, all premiums or high levels. And I guess the Rockford pinball guys, they do a lot of tournaments there. And so I'm learning more about the Rockford, Illinois pinball syndicate, which I'd like to do some more work with. I even found out through David, listener of the show, good meeting you, guy. I hope you enjoy your swag I gave you. Sorry, I didn't have a T-shirt. I'll make it up to you. But he told me about a local high school, Hononegah High School down there, and they have a pinball club in their high school. How fantastic is that? I'm going to encourage my child to try to, you know, when she does get to high school in a few years, to go ahead and start a club like this because how fun would that be to provide a machine to the school for the kids to play after hours with and for, you know, the science kids to go through there and kind of muck about, take it apart, put it back together, you know, and do some practical hands-on learning with something fun like pinball, especially something fun with an age-appropriate theme that they would dig. So shout-out to you guys at the Hononegah High School. That's just freaking awesome. What else can we do? I'm going to wrap the show up. We're 20 minutes or 29 minutes. Thanks, everybody, for tuning in to episode number 50. I can't believe I made it this far. I'm so happy, and I want to celebrate. So I'm going to celebrate by doing a giveaway. I'm going to give away one of the things that I have, which is a T-shirt. So if you want a random T-shirt from Don's Pinball Podcast, why don't you just win one, huh? Here's how it's going to work. I'm going to post this episode on the Facebook page. So go to the Facebook page at Don's Pinball Podcast and just leave a comment, any kind of comment, some feedback, some words of wisdom, what you had for lunch, especially what you had for lunch. I want to know that. Put it on there, and then later on at the end of the week, I'll randomly pick a person, and I'll contact you, and I'll send you out a free T-shirt. How does that sound? Yes.
    31:27
    That does sound awesome. Thank you, Airhorn. So get at me at Don's Pinball Podcast at gmail.com. Go to the Patreon at patreon.com. Join and listen to my trip report. It was fantastic. I went to the Matterhorn for Christ's sakes. Also, go to the Facebook page, Don's Pinball Podcast. Look for this posting and leave a comment. And by Friday, I'll pick a random person and we'll give it to you. Otherwise, for this week, I think I'll do some live streams. Thank you for joining me. Great love, everybody.