Trent Interview!

Don's Pinball Podcast (patreon feed)·podcast_episode·21m 59s·analyzed·Mar 4, 2024

Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.028

TL;DR

Interactive Pinball's Trent Kennedy unveils shark-eating ball mod for Stern Jaws, launching at $475.

Summary

Trent Kennedy, founder of Interactive Pinball in Kamloops, discusses his newly developed shark-eating ball mod for Stern's Jaws pinball machine. The mod was designed and prototyped in just days by leveraging a covered hole in the Pro Vault Edition playfield. Kennedy details the technical implementation using 3D-printed components, his design philosophy prioritizing durability and serviceability, and his plans to develop versions for Premium and Elite editions. The mod will retail for $475 USD with availability expected within weeks, and is available for testing at Alchemy Brewing in Kamloops.

Key Claims

Stern uses a single playfield design across Pro, Premium, and Elite editions, with holes covered on lower-tier models to create the appearance of fewer features
high confidence · Host Don explains this economy-of-scale strategy, referencing precedent with Foo Fighters where Jack Danger's post hole was simply covered in Pro Vault Edition
Trent Kennedy designed and prototyped the shark mod from Thursday night receipt to Tuesday video release
high confidence · Kennedy states: 'I got the Pro Vault Edition on Thursday night. I played it with my buddy on Thursday night and then woke up Friday morning started working on it, had it fit, went through a few iterations and released the video on Tuesday.'
The shark head is 3D-printed in TPU material for durability and flexibility rather than PETG
high confidence · Kennedy: 'I was gonna do PETG. The teeth do hold up, but I just wanted to go with something a little bit more durable and flexible... I'm leaning more towards a TPU.'
The mod uses a buck system with a subway mechanism allowing the ball to be eaten by the shark on clean mouth hits
high confidence · Kennedy describes the mechanics and states hitting the shark's mouth or sides results in different outcomes - center hits are scoops, side hits are unsafe posts
Interactive Pinball's Jerry Ramp mod for Rick and Morty drove significant pre-order demand
high confidence · Host states it was 'Game changing mod for Rick and Morty made that portal shot just even more fun,' and Kennedy notes he originally made it for himself before demand grew
Kennedy has a substantial pre-order list with no deposit required; early list members will receive first manufacturing runs
high confidence · Kennedy: 'I've got a large pre-order list... I'm not doing any commitment based thing but if you're on the list then you're gonna be getting it first when I start manufacturing this.'
The mod will be available for testing at Alchemy Brewing in Kamloops starting early next week
high confidence · Kennedy states: 'I should be getting it in there in there early next week' and confirms location is 'Alchemy Brewing in Kamloops, Bad Cats'

Notable Quotes

“I got the Pro Vault Edition on Thursday night. I played it with my buddy on Thursday night and then woke up Friday morning started working on it, had it fit, went through a few iterations and released the video on Tuesday.”
Trent Kennedy — Demonstrates the speed of iteration and prototyping enabled by 3D printing technology and the gap between Pro and Premium editions
“So you use kind of a loophole in Stern's production process... they kind of make the one playfield and then take the little extra bonuses that are in there on the higher tier levels and just kind of cover them up with metal”
Don (host) — Reveals Stern's manufacturing strategy and how aftermarket modders exploit intentional design gaps
“I make things that I would want and then people find out about them and then they start asking me how to order... The difference is like when I make something for myself, it's not consumer grade. It's good enough for what I want. And then if there's enough interest, then yeah, I'll make it so that people can purchase it.”
Trent Kennedy — Articulates Kennedy's design philosophy and explains the path from personal modification to commercial product
“It's a tough shot though I mean I can repeatedly hit it a few times, but it's a it's not as difficult as the demo man, but it's probably a little bit more difficult than getting up the Rush ramp.”
Trent Kennedy — Clarifies the difficulty balance of the shark-eating ball shot relative to other Jaws playfield features
“$475 plus shipping... a few weeks so soon. So that's pretty quick then in a couple weeks, not sometime in 2025.”
Don (host) and Trent Kennedy — Establishes pricing and accelerated timeline for production and delivery
“I know one of the concerns initially was like okay so you turn this into a scoop so basically that shot that was up into the shark... Most of the time it's still a dangerous shot.”
Don (host) — Addresses potential concern that mod trivializes difficult shot; Kennedy confirms it remains challenging
“Serviceability is a big thing for me. I mean I root machines as well so it's going to be easy to do and easily maintainable.”

Entities

Trent KennedypersonInteractive PinballcompanyJaws (Stern Pinball)gameRick and Morty (Spooky Pinball)gameStern PinballcompanyKeith Elwinperson Jack Dangerperson Donperson

Signals

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design_innovation: Trent Kennedy leveraged 3D printing to rapidly prototype a complex shark-eating ball mechanism, enabling iterative design from Thursday delivery to Tuesday release
high · Kennedy describes custom TPU shark head and printed subway buck system designed for tight geometric constraints; completed in 5 days with multiple design iterations
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manufacturing_signal: Stern uses single playfield with masked holes across Pro, Premium, and Elite editions to reduce manufacturing costs while maintaining feature differentiation perception
high · Host Don explains this strategy explicitly, referencing Foo Fighters precedent where Jack Danger's post fits in covered hole; host notes Jaws playfield has similar covered hole in Pro Vault Edition
$
market_signal: Significant pre-order interest for shark-eating ball mod despite initial social media skepticism; Kennedy states 'good amount' of pre-orders with growth trajectory justifying commercial production
high · Kennedy: 'I didn't know how it was gonna go... The telling tale is how many people are signed up and yeah a good amount and definitely worth pursuing for me'
?
product_launch: Interactive Pinball shark-eating ball mod launching at $475 USD within weeks; Pro Vault Edition ready first, Premium Edition in development with expected release soon after
high · Kennedy confirms pricing, timeline ('a couple weeks, not sometime in 2025'), and phased release plan (Pro first, Premium next); public testing available early next week at Alchemy Brewing
?
product_strategy: Interactive Pinball intentionally develops mods for commercial sale only after personal use demonstrates demand; prioritizes durability, serviceability, and customer support post-launch

Topics

Aftermarket mods and 3D-printing customizationprimaryStern Pinball manufacturing and edition-tiering strategyprimaryJaws pinball machine design and mechanicsprimaryProduct development from concept to consumer availabilitysecondaryInteractive Pinball mods (Jerry Ramp, shark-eating ball)primaryPinball location testing and community engagementsecondaryMaterials science in 3D printing (TPU vs PETG durability)secondaryServiceability and post-purchase customer supportsecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.85)— Strong enthusiasm from both host and guest regarding the mod's innovation, speed of development, and market reception. Positive tone around product quality, durability testing, and customer support philosophy. No significant negativity; minor acknowledgment of initial skeptical comments on social media, but these are quickly overshadowed by positive reception and pre-order demand.

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.066

Alright, so earlier this year Stern pinball has blessed us with the pinball machine that was rumored and it finally came to fruition of the 1975 action horror amazing monumental film Jaws. And in our heads as we were thinking through this Keith Elwin layout, we had ideas for mechanisms that we were going to see was there going to be an orca that sank into the ocean but sure enough, there would have been a shark that rose up from the playfield to at least eat the ball. Now the game that we got came just short of that expectation but Trent Kennedy was not going to take that lying down he sprang into action and brought us the shark eating ball mod for Josh Trentkennedy how are you doing sir? Great great thanks for having me. Yeah thanks for coming on man. Interactive Pinball is that your company's name? Yes. And you're from Kamloops. Now people may know you from the Jerry Ramp which I got myself one of those. Game changing mod for Rick and Morty made that portal shot just even more fun and then here you are we're just on the eve optimistic statutory portion, um, and I kind of assumed that the pro, so the version that I've, I've released is for the pro right now. And I saw that the, like, there was a large hole for the shark to come up in the premium and Ellie. And I was like, I was looking at the playfield from the images and it seemed like the plus or the metal piece where the captain ball is, which is covering a larger hole. So I was like, I can make something work there with the shark to eat the ball. And, uh, yeah, so I designed a subway buck system and all of that. I had that prepped and ready for when I received I was able to do some adjustments to my design and get it to fit pretty quickly. I got the pro on Thursday night. I played the shit out of it. Well, no swearing. Okay, go with it. Played it with my buddy on Thursday night and then woke up and Friday morning started working on it, had it fit, went through a few iterations and released the video on Tuesday. That's amazing. That's amazing. So you use kind of a loophole in Stern's production process. And I've I've seen them do this before with foo fighters where you know to conserve and use economies of scale they kind of make the one playfield and then take the little extra bonuses that are in the higher tier levels and just kind of cover them up with metal you know we saw that with the the the dill danger post that would pop up with foo fighters I mean there was a hole in that playfield and they just simply covered it for the pro so you know it wasn't there it wasn't available but it was there so there is that hole that pit in the middle for the shark to come up on the pro they just found a way to cover it ah so you took advantage of that and that's how you The yeah yeah so was able to switch out the capital ball and able to keep the three octos that are there for the Now they're in front of the Sharks head instead of like behind the captain ball Okay, so you still have the three shots to hit and now you're hitting it with like the ball you play with rather than the Captain ball rolling over those off those. Okay, so your shark head stays fixed in place It doesn't raise or lower from the playfield, but it moves side to side Closed- The After replacing servos that burn out. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you've got that now is that scoop that's that scoop then is always open and available then right? It is yeah, okay, and then and then drops. It's a tough shot though I mean I can repeatedly hit it a few times, but it It's a it's not as difficult as the Demogorgon, but it's probably a little bit more difficult than getting up the rush ramp The game is a game of time machine. And then for the subway that's underneath there was that a like off-the-shelf product that you found that was already, you know Some you know vacuum form or is that printed? No, it's it's all printed With really thick walls and durable materials, so I'm not worried about it I've been doing a few different versions of ramps and once they're installed into the machine Then they're strong with printing the issue is the Z direction is that your weak direction? The And, um, yeah, I've been doing durability testing on it all and it's all rock solid, so I'm very excited about it. And it needs to be printed because of the geometry, it's really tight in certain areas in the back, so to be able to manipulate metal into those shapes it wouldn't be as easy to do. I bet. And repeatable, and the cost would just get crazy, so I'm trying to keep the cost down for this mod. Yeah, so that kind of explains how you were able to get this from concept to, you know, working prototype as quickly as you did. Because you were able to just kind of custom do the design then print it there. Is there a ball that staged back there on the Vuck Because it seems like it comes pretty quick No it is quick I calling it a fast Vuck Um and it uh the way that it enters into the head of the plunger and the switch arrangement that I have in there it just allows it to pop up right away Earlier versions I actually was just looping around like ten balls in this one little kind of Vuck shape that would come back right into the entrance and I would have ten balls in there just shooting around constantly. C Skipp facial Helvetica olduğu constitutional Discord The Sometimes but that was never the intention and I didn't think people would notice I Did Notice it right before I released the video but people are Sharp big big caught it I don't know okay But yeah, so no change to the rules of the game whatsoever Yeah, so right now this has been developed and designed for the pro But are you still thinking is it possible to do one for the premium le have you been able to look under the playfield of? one of those yet Not yet. I should be picking it up next week my pro our premium. Sorry um and I'll be in development for that portion of it. I've got again the majority of that one designed I just need to do the fitment so expect a video for that in the coming weeks. And would this be so are you planning on for that there's a whole mechanism that lifts that boat out of the way and then that you know the shark bash toy comes up out of the playfield. Are you thinking of changing that shark bash toy that comes out to have a way to go in there or just remove the whole thing and put in what you have with the pro? I'll keep the captive ball for the premium because it's just another added element to fun. And yeah, when the boat rises on the premium in LEA, I assume they shut those optos off because the ball actually rolls to the back of to the front of the boat over top of optos. So it wouldn't work to totally replace that mechanism unless I added in an extra switch somewhere. But yeah, this will be I'm planning to replace the shark that's in that with the shark that can eat the ball. Not only the Jen D es, Jacob Hoo, and Loren de Right, whose comments mentioned the Popậ� definitぎon Colorado, are highly awaitedудogors of thisufficientpinkball universo, plug buyersipse empire기azarNabear I'll try to keep as much preassembled as possible. And install is going to be fairly straightforward. There's no extra holes you need to drill in your playfield, or even the backboard at this point. And there's like a control board, like circuit that is going to be mounted to the bottom of the subway. There's a couple switch integrated into it like a box system. So yeah, it is pretty complex, but I'm going to create a This Week in Pinballacun해설 Seasonantial The Time Proper connectors for everything. Okay That's awesome. Yeah. All right. So I guess practical questions. What are you calling this thing? Is it the sharkinator is that there's a the the the gobble jaws? The jabber was the ball-eater jaws the ball-eater all right. I like it. I like it straight to the point tells me what it is The That have have people been already pre-ordering this I know you had a like a little interest list But you know are people yeah, but deposits in or where we have with no deposits. I don't take deposits for these items um I've got a large pre-order list. Yeah, see how many people and I'm wanting you to mend I'm not doing any commitment based thing But if you're on the list then you're gonna be getting it first when I start manufacturing This Week in Pinball Okay okay cuz ya know I already saw a lot of the hot takes ya know poppin on the facebook when i saw it I was like this looks amazing ya know it adds dimensions and kinetic movement to the game that's not otherwise there but then of course like yeah I saw some comments initially early on like who the heck would want this thing but then I guess the real the real tell for how popular this is, is you know do you have people signed up on the list and it sounds like you do yeah and I mean I didn't know how it was gonna go I wanted this for me The telling tale is how many people are signed up and yeah it a good amount and definitely worth pursuing for me so I gonna spend the time to make it easy for install and nice and durable for people I think that's a good take. I've been dipping my toe into mod making you know flipper toppers and kind of simple things just learning 3D printing but what I found is I'm just I make things that I would want and then people find out about them and then they start asking me how to order and then that Shaobyakov Wolski Bardze, Roby envie Winter &eman So then I made that for me and I actually put Rick and Morty up for sale and people saw the ramp and everybody was inquiring about it. So I was, okay, I guess I could make this and spent a lot of time kind of perfecting it for like consumer use rather than just something for myself. So that's the difference. Like when I make something for myself, it's not consumer grade. It's good enough for what I want. And then if there's enough interest, then yeah, I'll make it so that people can purchase it. Yeah, and I like with the JerryRamp that you actually put a microswitch in there so that you know you're still registering that shot against that stand-up target that it replaces. But it just adds an extra fun option and it's not an easy shot to make at all. You know, it's not like it made the portal easier. But I found that it did two things. It did give me as you know something extra to shoot for that was really satisfying to hit. But also any shot that was fair up that you know original trough when it would hit that I think it was PTG PETG Trails, I'm trying to get the tomato into the soup can or the pot and it's just a really difficult like it's difficult at the end of them that multiball so you're kind of put into Jerry's shoes so everything's difficult so now you got a shot and it's actually hitting the shot through like through the air because it jumps and then goes into the portal which is the hole so yeah I don't know it was just that always made me smile at the end of me seeks multiball yeah yeah when you're doing something like that where you're creating like a new And there's always the risk of you know kind of almost tarnishing the gameplay and taking some of the challenge out of it But that was designed in a way that it really does add something new that's still difficult but rewarding to hit so that was fun So it's like it's like when Game Genie came out and breathed new life in your NES game, you know, you're like yes This is great. This is it loves me to enjoy it even more so, you know, I like that Had a lot of people message me that same thing like I was thinking about selling it now that the chair around The following content is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental and unintentional. You know, keep on top of Instagram comments and Messenger comments and then TikTok things and Snapchats which disappear and all that. Yeah, I get you. You know better than me. It's a lot. All right. So did you settle on a final cost for this? Yeah, $4.75 plus shipping. $4.75. Is that USD? Yes. And the shipping, I could calculate it, but it's over 1.5 kilograms of material. Second Left wife Farakt an twisting Espa whe so theme style style style mess style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style style Mark, so yeah, a few weeks so soon. So that's pretty quick then in a couple weeks, not sometime in 2025. Yeah, no. Yeah, I'm going to be putting jaws on location. I started started a family pinball league with a buddy of mine. Actually, we met through starting it. Nick, who was on the live stream that I did. Okay, we started cameras pinball league. And so I we have machines in a bar. So I'll be putting jaws in there so people can be testing it. Alchemy brewing people want to come try it out should be getting it in there early next week and so it's like you got a test rig set up back there, too Yeah, so I've been bashing various designs of the shark head In in rush actually it kind of sitting where the ramp at the time machine is all right What did you actually make the the shark head out of itself I leaning more towards a TPU It gonna be 3d printed This Week in Pinball tatto 365 Top haired Sch cra I 26 Foundation consolidated I was gonna do Petchi. The teeth do hold up, but I just wanted to go with something a little bit more durable and flexible. So it's almost a rubber like material. I don't know if you've tried printing with TPU. Oh, yeah. Yeah. It's got some give but yeah, it is stronger. I'm using it actually to make those little pinball support feet for the legs. Oh Cool. Yeah, so the silicone so I can print those myself and yeah, they're pretty durable. imp franchise There's little inserts you just undo two screws from the bottom of the playfield and then there'll be two inserts you pull the rubbers out, replace the rubbers, put them back in and put the two screws back in. So serviceability is a big thing for me. I mean I root machines as well so it's got to be easy to do and easily maintainable. So so far with the shark head and your test rig there you haven't got any split lips or anything? Tim Knapp, Yeah, no, I have on earlier designs, but now it's getting to the point where it's it'll be over and I did one another day It was a 4,000 hit straight to one single tooth caught over and over and it didn't split That's awesome to continue testing it and like I said the teeth don't get any direct hits But I just want to make it durable so yeah And you've been around for a while in case anybody did have any you know issues with a split or something or needed some support Post launch. Oh, yeah Well dude that's exciting man. I was just amazed at how quickly you came up with this too. Like you know the game was barely you know at getting out let alone you know you're out there in Kamloops like BC right and then all of a sudden it's like hey everybody's talking about like the meme was just starting like the Sharkey ball right and all of a sudden like here it is like ready to go with a VUX system and a subway and everything you know which was that was that was impressive. Yeah for the pro I was originally envisioning a ramp The game is a bit more of a free opto, so you kind of hit through the shark's mouth over one of the free optos onto the wire form but this is more fun because you get a bash, it's essentially a bash toy, you're hitting the shark in the face and then it also is, it can eat the ball if you hit it with a clean shot to the mouth. I have a much better understanding of it now. I know one of the concerns initially was like okay so you turn this into a scoop so basically that shot that was up into the shark that was you know or that shot up in the ball that was dangerous now that danger's gone but you know you're only hitting into the buck some of the time. Most of the time it's still a dangerous shot. It is yeah. If you hit either side of the mouth it's like hitting the post on either side of the captive ball so it's not safe and even if you hit it like pretty square on the mouth if you hit it like pretty square on the mouth it's not safe. k dawnye hesitateępress.tipt corresponding to acquisition.多少 instance please write out. havThere is also a subscription summer for 1 Kings McC lacking is small handgun. In the winter, children ready to play moeten use, before on sayedela death of the description we can understand tell AtomicELLER you know if somebody could get a pro there mod it out so we can try it that would be fun I think yeah yeah yeah I'll let you know I'm working with the distributor to potentially get one done that would be I want to make it there but I've got a baby on the way oh congratulations sir the due dates just earth thank you do dates just around texts in both festivals so I'd love to be there but I don't want to miss birth my first son so perfect yeah there there there there's there's a ball A lot of puns here but I'm going to let it go. I want recognition that I thought of something. Alright, well cool. Anything else you want to talk about with it that we didn't cover yet? Um... No... I know what's going on location. I've been doing a lot of testing. Where's your location at? It's at Alchemy Brewing in Kamloops, BC. Okay, alright. Beautiful town, not only for the shark eating ball that you can go play on location, but also for the game. Nikola Asst controllaprop Когда exterior, Vtech Karaskill kmdongal Trakasari, Online Ashда Terefani, Pharaoh Justice M Allesfair-, Terryочьhaver, Gil Mineska, Akeli intranetahahahakedidaksafydgafklpjzakkaro lefted tambiént chillen y A y Wheel Please come back on the next time you create something amazing like this. Yeah, we'll do nothing nothing in the line yet, but it's just kind of a whatever I feel Enough creativity to start designing. I'll just go for it. Awesome, man. Well, thanks again