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Flog #29 De gameroom van Kurt in België

Dutch Pinball Museum·video·24m 41s·analyzed·Mar 17, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.025

TL;DR

Museum tour of Belgian collector Kurt's 126-machine pinball collection and interview about his hobby.

Summary

A Dutch Pinball Museum podcast episode documenting Kurt Louis's extensive private pinball collection in Belgium, featuring approximately 126 machines across multiple floors including rare and themed cabinets. The episode includes a collection tour, personal interview with Kurt about his 9-year collecting journey, and the acquisition of a Spirit machine for the museum.

Key Claims

  • Kurt Louis has approximately 126 pinball machines in his collection

    high confidence · Kurt states: 'with the two that were still on sale, I'm at 126'

  • Kurt has 20 Spike 2 cabinets (out of 21 total Spike 2 machines ever made, missing only one)

    high confidence · Kurt: 'I have 20 Spike 2 cabinets' and 'All of them, if I counted correctly, there should be 21 of them in total with Joss and me'

  • The The Addams Family is the best-selling pinball machine ever with approximately 20,270 units

    high confidence · Hosts discuss production numbers; fact-check segment confirms 'bowl of the The The Addams Family with 20,270'

  • Spirit was produced in very limited quantities (approximately 1,200-1,300 units)

    medium confidence · Hosts state: 'A very special cabinet, made more than 1200 times, or more than 1200 times, or very little, 1300 times, somewhere in between'

  • Centaur pinball machine was only produced approximately 780-1,200 times

    medium confidence · Discussion of rarity; hosts debate the exact production number between 1,200 and 780

  • Kurt started his collection 9 years ago with a World Poker Tour machine

    high confidence · Kurt: 'Nine years ago. First cash register... It was the World Poker Tour'

  • Kurt built his game room himself without hiring architects, only an engineer for stability measurements

    high confidence · Kurt: 'No architect came to the fore, only an engineer for the measurements of the stability. And the rest we did ourselves'

  • Stern introduced Spike 2 hardware platform in 2017 with screen integration

    high confidence · Host: 'Stern started in 2017 with a new kind of clipboard with a screen inside, a laptop screen'

Notable Quotes

  • “I always say, my wife is to blame for my big collection. I taste a bit the same. Did you let your wife go? My wife let me go completely.”

    Kurt Louis@ 19:23 — Reveals the personal dynamic behind Kurt's extensive collecting hobby and how his wife's support enabled expansion from casual interest to major collection

  • “Everything around me is being used... Oeh, these are still with toppers. Yes, a bottle.”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 2:39 — Observation about Kurt's meticulous attention to complete original and customized toppers across his collection

  • “Well, I was in any case busy with a pot with the Flash Gordon, everything around me is being used.”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 0:51 — Establishes the tour context and sets tone for documenting the comprehensive nature of Kurt's collection management

  • “If you come to our museum and you go to the titles, you have quite a big overlap. But here are also cabinets that you have never seen before.”

    [name withheld pending review]@ 7:29 — Contrasts Kurt's collection with the museum's existing holdings, noting the rarity and uniqueness of machines in his collection

  • “I haven't counted any cabinets, it's a bit of a do-do. But how many flip cabinets do you have in your collection? I have a bit too many that I can put away, so I can put away a few cabinets.”

    Kurt Louis@ 20:45 — Demonstrates Kurt's understated humor about the scale of his collection and potential for downsizing

Entities

Kurt LouispersonDutch Pinball MuseumorganizationStern PinballcompanyThe Addams FamilygameSpiritgameTwilight ZonegameFlash GordongameTri Zonegame

Signals

  • ?

    collector_signal: Kurt's collection of 126 machines includes extremely rare titles (Centaur at ~780-1,200 units, Spirit at ~1,200-1,300 units) and a complete Spike 2 set (20 of 21 total machines), indicating both massive scale and curator-level attention to rarity and completeness

    high · Kurt confirms 126 machines total; 20 Spike 2 cabinets out of 21 ever produced; multiple rare machines documented

  • ?

    venue_signal: Kurt has built a multi-level private game room complex in Belgium (basement, ground floor, upper floors) with climate control, themed bar area, and careful machine placement, representing significant infrastructure investment

    high · Tour documents basement collection, ground floor, upper floors, Godfather-themed bar with Chesterfield chairs, climate-controlled storage

  • ?

    collector_signal: Extensive use of custom toppers and machine modifications throughout Kurt's collection (Pirates of the Caribbean with mountains/octopus/ladder additions, Mandalorian with interactive topper, Circus Forte with all-green components), showing high-end collector focus on aesthetic enhancement

    high · Multiple machines documented with custom toppers and themed additions; Pirates example with 'all extra things'; Mandalorian topper providing extra gameplay

  • ?

    community_signal: Dutch Pinball Museum actively acquiring machines from private collectors (acquiring Spirit from Kurt), suggesting collaborative relationship between institutional museums and elite private collectors

    high · Museum team visits Kurt's collection, acquires Spirit machine for museum placement, documents collection for media

  • $

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.074

0:00
In 2019 we started this podcast as the C forecasts were tet different even more. We also have Flash on.
0:32
Now you have a Queen flip cabinet from Pinball Brothers, but you also have a Flash Gordon. And where does the front end come from? Man, the flip cabinet is in such a state, it's going to be a bit of a mess what we're going to see today.
0:48
But we're not here to flip, are we? Well, I was in any case busy with a pot with the Flash Gordon, everything around me is being used. We're going to take you with us today in Belgium. We have a world tour behind us. And watch out, what you're going to get is not to be taken into account.
1:09
This is an emergency. Help me out of the fire. Who doesn't know Goldband from The Hague? Goldband is a band formed by cracking three pieces of doorknobs together. And they could sing nicely. And they borrowed the name of their band from a product that doorknobs use a lot. Goldband. Look around us. Where are we? We are today in Belgium with a man, his name is Kurt Louis and he is a pinball player. And not just a pinball player, he has I believe 50 pinball players in service. And what is a pinball player? That is a stucado. We are going to look at the collection today. With Kurt, fantastic, but we are also going to give him a deep interview. We are going to put the fire on his shoulder for a moment. What he has to say about the flipping world and his collection. This is the Tri-Zone.
Centaurgame
Black Knightgame
Pirates of the Caribbeangame
Godfathergame
Jawsgame
Elton Johngame
Godzillagame
Mandaloriangame
Stranger Thingsgame
Walking Deadgame
Batman 66game
Spike 3product

market_signal: Detailed discussion of production quantities (Addams Family 20,270 units, Three-Zone 19,505 units, Centaur 780-1,200 units, Spirit 1,200-1,300 units) indicates community interest in rarity as value driver

high · Hosts fact-check production numbers; discussion of why certain machines are rare; emphasis on scarcity of specific titles

  • ?

    collector_signal: Kurt organizes collection by theme and era (music room with Elton John, Godfather-themed bar setting, basement housing character/superhero machines), suggesting curated collecting beyond simple acquisition

    high · Documented placement of Elton John in music room, Godfather in themed bar, separate basement for character-themed games

  • ?

    product_strategy: Kurt's ownership of 20 of 21 Spike 2 machines ever produced (introduced 2017) demonstrates modern hardware platform becoming collectible category with completionist appeal

    high · Kurt: 'I miss one... All of them, if I counted correctly, there should be 21 of them in total'; owns 20 Spike 2 cabinets

  • ?

    historical_signal: Discussion of 1990s as 'most beloved time period' and preference for Bally/Williams 90s era machines alongside complete Spike 2 collection suggests multi-generational appeal and nostalgic collecting patterns

    medium · Host: 'The 90's was the most beloved time period'; Kurt focuses on Bally Williams 90s machines and complete Spike 2 collection

  • ?

    operational_signal: Kurt maintains specific environmental conditions for machine preservation (avoiding damp basements, requiring proper placement), indicating sophisticated understanding of long-term game maintenance

    high · Kurt: 'They still have to be in a good place, that's a good preservation experience. Yes. Just in a cold space with too much moisture. No, they have to be in a good place.'

  • ?

    collector_signal: Despite 126-machine collection, Kurt indicates willingness to downsize and carefully place machines, suggesting shift from acquisition-focused to curation-focused collecting phase

    medium · Kurt: 'I have a bit too many that I can put away, so I can put away a few cabinets... they still have to be in a good place'

  • ?

    content_signal: Dutch Pinball Museum's podcast series documents private European collections through in-depth tours and interviews, establishing content strategy around collector stories and machine documentation

    high · Full-length podcast episode dedicated to Kurt's collection tour; integration of personal interview with machine documentation

    • 2:01
    This is a power play with Cutter 2. Cutter 2, but I made one of them. You'll see that later. It's been restored recently.
    2:14
    And this is for Stern. Oh wow, you don't see that very often. No, not very often. Do you have any work to do? Yes, the cabinet has the playfields, all the ramps they need. But the cabinet still has... You always wonder how something like this comes about, right? What kind of life do you have behind your back if you look like this?
    2:39
    Oeh, these are still with toppers. Yes, a bottle. If the Adams Family hadn't been there, this would have been the most produced flipper cabinet ever. 50 less than the Adams Family. The best-selling cabinet was Pivrici. Yes, but because it was the old cabinet and Dot Mattress came to it, they produced 50 more of the Adams Family, so they broke this record. They wanted to sell the Adams Family. Otherwise, without the Adams Family, this would have been the most produced flipper cabinet ever. Here the department, fact check for a moment. The lunch was clearly just a little too much alcohol, because the most produced flipper boxes are on three, a bottle of 19,505, a bowl of Bally with 20,230 and just a little more than the bowl of the Addams Family with 20,270, with a thousand more after that. So gentlemen, next time at lunch, just plain water again.
    3:44
    And why? Because of the OJS. Yes, it's nice. But when I see a FATM, my heart opens up more. Good period. It's a Centaur. Yes, they're very good. I don't understand this one either, that it's only been built so few times. This one is only built about 1200 times. That's quite a rare case. I think it's about 780. I'm wrong. Yes, we're going to check it out.
    4:14
    I understand that it should have been a Tony Hawk flip cabinet. I don't think they got that around. Yes, that's a shame. Especially during the good period. Yes, I keep the blood nice cabinet. Heyburn is here. We know him. When they got rid of the wood with the wood rails, they went to Formica. Because that was the new material to work with. If I find something more interesting, it's Formica.
    4:44
    Tomorrow's face will just be a nice wooden wood rail. And then we have Radicals, and there are only 1200 of them made.
    4:55
    There are only two of them. Unbelievable. Black Knight. Ah, clearly the better powerplay of the two. Wow. Yes, solid and well-designed. Damn.
    5:11
    And I see a No Good Govers back there, but you also have two of those, because if your son says that's my favorite club, I'll put him in the middle. Yes, I can't take it away. No, but he can't play it either. It's a war at my house. But he can't play it either. Yes, I hope he does, but he's being robbed. Yes. He'll come back. Yes, Frontier, you'll never see that either. It's also a full one. Yes. Only the supply and the instance are done. Yes. I still like the originality. Yes. But it's a different kind of cabinet. Yes. Wow. And everyone thinks that Iron Maiden was the first case of Keith Elwin, but of course it was made earlier with a spectacular headlight. So beautiful.
    5:54
    Let's see if it fits in. It's really ... I think in the 80s they could come up with so many beautiful things, smart things. I don't know how to explain this. like Jeff Booth pencils Playfields and such But those playfields are all bigger now they all getting smaller Probably because of budgeting You know this is a box where a lot of people are already smuggling That you think, if I ever get a collection like this, then this is the ultimate. And this is just a side box for you.
    6:35
    Three floors. Is this the Belgian three or is it the German three? I don't know anymore, but that refers to another movie. I say so often, of course we can all start naming cabinets, but the atmosphere is all so, you walk by and you see it. Point of attention, Harlem Globetrotters, one of my favorites and in a beautiful state. I just played it. Guys, guys, guys, if you have the time, the energy, the money, the opportunities to show your flip cabinets in such a way, but also in such a way, that is a dream for every flip cabinet collector. Having the cabinet is one thing, taking care of it to the point that it is beautiful again. I'm really just mourning all that beautiful stuff. A lot of famous titles, also a lot of nice unknown titles. If you come to our museum and you go to the titles, you have quite a big overlap. But here are also cabinets that you have never seen before. And when they're there, it's so stretched out with toppers, things that are on top of it, color screens, the caps in it, I know it all. This gentleman is going all out in his hobby. In his hobby. Only, let's get this straight, in his hobby. We are in Belgium. Yes. We are now on the ground floor. And on the ground floor is a nice collection. We are going upstairs soon. Upstairs is something special. We have a basement. That will be exciting. Look. Pirates of the Caribbean. An example, right? We always see creatures from the Black Lagoon. But look. Toppers. You can't make a whole story about top players, but keep an eye on them. And if you see a top player passing by in your corner of the eye, that's great. Look at this one, Pius of the Caribbean. We've had it in the museum once. But this one, look at the mountains, the octopus, the ladder, all extra things. You can go completely crazy with that. That's a lot of work to install. Apparently they've found the time and energy to do that. Willy Wonka became very popular because of his new film. Of course there are now three of them, the original, of which this flip box was made, with Gene Wilder. And then of course we have the Johnny Depp version and you now have the prequel. What happened? How did Willy Wonka become? Yes, The Simpsons Pinball Party, yes, great. Tron, one of my favorites. A great fan, the big Lebowski, the dude, but he was already Flynn in the movie Tron. Hey man, it's your lucky day. Yes, it's my lucky day, I believe that. Snoopy, the James Bond, 60th edition. I'm a fan of the Thunderbolts, but I'm also a fan of the Thunderbolts. This is a limited edition, this is a limited edition, both are limited editions, but they're totally different. And to see them next to each other, really great. I don't know what happens when I press the buttons, but watch out for the buttons. No, I thought it would work, but it all shoots. And, uh, great. Godfather. Kurt is completely crazy about The Godfather. I have a lot of things around the theme, we'll see that at the top. Nice leather chairs, maybe we'll just smoke a cigar. And I've made this joke quite often, but plug and play.
    10:15
    Skateboarding. Kurt used to tell me that he had a hobby of his own, skateboarding. Maybe you still have old pictures, we can put them back in, but it doesn't matter. Tony Hawk from Belgium, how would they call it here? Tony Hawk. Tony's Gateboard. You have to keep it, I think it's great. Circus Forte, of course a green cabinet, but that you even have the green bolts, the lock bar, the side rails, the head cabinet, all green, green, green. And also green plastics in it. The skinny ringmaster head, have you ever seen that? Compared to others. The first prototype is a skinny ringmaster head, little guy. This manga had been in the kitchen for a long time now, I have a memory. But when I started watching those comics and had the bad time the TV series was going so bad I just didn't want to give it a penny. Were you Fairyland? About Deathproofnob ciud right? How do you guy think of those comics? I think it's a nice place, maybe the kids like it. I was totally in love with this place. I just said that. Flash Gordon, if anyone wants to look, they also have a Flash Gordon in this state and he wants to go from there. Yes, you can find me. What a beautiful closet. And then, yes, we are here with a double agenda. We are coming to get this. A Spirit for our museum. A very special cabinet, made more than 1200 times, or more than 1200 times, or very little, 1300 times, somewhere in between. Just turn it on very quickly, just the atmosphere. With a very rotating, present headlight, we're going to fix it. Look how beautiful, a white body, you will hardly find it anywhere. We are going to take it to our museum today. Hello welcome We just came from the ground floor and we are going into the basement And I have told that this basement has absolutely no child themes from Flippenkasten Why I have no idea but we in Belpi
    12:29
    Yes, you'll have it under your house as a basement. Where do we have to start? Yes, we can turn left, we can turn right, whatever you want. Make a turn. Do you see flip cabinets without a topper? Yes, I see one. That won't be a mistake, right? It will probably be something, but we have understood that we have had water damage recently and it might just be that the Avengers topper has suffered water damage, but all the toppers you can imagine are just on here. And as an example, we have the Mandalorian here and a topper, it's very expensive. So this is a topper, it's a topper anyway, but this is a topper and there is an extra game in it. And if you connect it, the ClipperCast recognizes that it is connected and then you can play an extra game there. I've never seen it, I would like to experience it in a moment, but yes, it's really phenomenal. Phenomenal. The Venom top is not there yet apparently. There is just an insider connect on it, but that is also forgiven. I think it's so cool that we are not only going to talk about tops. All tops, no, all top cabinets, we also do tops of course, are there. All kinds of superheroes, Star Trek, Star Wars, all kinds of things, heroes, Godzilla's. Yes, I understand that children are being protected here, because it would be a fear if you I'm sure you've seen this before, when you're a child, in a basement, when this is locked up with so many special themes. You wouldn't be happy about that, would you? Ghostbusters or... nice to introduce. I've seen this one before. This is one of the first top films that really came out. If you can watch the Walking Dead series, there was a series, an episode, where heads were kept in glass boxes, in a kind of aquarium. They also made an aquarium box with heads, which is also very common here.
    14:30
    The coins, the black and white edition. They made a limited edition that is very colorful and the premium of it. We always thought, we're going to make it in black and white. And actually black and white has become rarer for me than the colored edition. I don't know how many of them are sold, but it stands out more than the colored version. And yes, Black Knights, War of Raids. I rock, don't I? Look, one of the most beautiful tops ever made. A fan of Steve Ritchie, who knows something about it. I am really phenomenal. Stranger Things, Alien, a bit of a strange duck in the gut. I will ask Curtis what he thinks about it and why he has it. Because yes, it is a special one. All in all, a nice row of boxes in this room.
    15:24
    Twilight Zone seems to be one of the first boxes of Kurt's. He will probably tell us about it soon. Yes, and this, yes, we are not going to do that because it is all special.
    15:36
    But we have seen these boxes before, right? And the Batman 66. Imagine there's no heaven. I heard that the Beatles were welcomed by Kurt with his masterful guitar playing. Because during the day he's busy, but in the evening he plays the piano in the bar to earn an extra stover. We meet Kurt in his natural habitat. The golden records of Kurt. He says Kurt says I have a lot of golden records and I thought he was in a lot of bands but that's not true at all. They are his golden records. How do I interpret this when I say I have a lot of gold records? If I say to Jan Smit, I have a lot of gold records, I'll understand that. But would Jan Smit also have a gold record from someone else? It's very impressive, it's a collection to be sold. What I also understood, here are doing very hard business deals. He takes a nexus here, he sets it down, and here the deals are closed and nobody dares to refuse. Otherwise you would get a horse head between the layers. Nice setting. Here is Kurt playing. A pretty good player, right? He can do a good job with Europe. I don't underestimate him. I've seen highscores that I can only dream of. And... No, the bar. If you're tired of flipping, you go to the bar and you can use a drink. I've seen some drinks, and I think I'm getting out of my feet. Like I said, all the music here, from Metallica to Led Zeppelin, Rush, I know it. And then here... The Golden Earring
    17:55
    Nice photo wall with lots of celebrities and of course our Dutch pride, the Golden Earring, which is of course inextricably connected to the Twilight Zone. What a young couple.
    18:15
    We going to ask you to tell us that you the godfather of Belgian pinball Godfather I wouldn call it that Well let just it like that Liefhebber Liefhebber You have ranks and standards in that world the capos whatever Well, we think you're the godfather. What do you have in common? Tell me. 44, 45 years. Born in Belgium. Worked in Omogen. Started a successful business. And tell me more. Nine years ago. First cash register. And... It starts with one cabinet. The first cabinet was... More Zendarenogh cabinets, then more... It was the World Poker Tour, I understood? Yes. And pretty quickly after that all the... Indiana Jones and the Twilight Zone. And the Twilight Zone. That's the second night of course. But where did it go wrong? Yes, I'm sorry. My wife says midlife crisis. Midlife crisis. But you're still pretty young. And nine years ago, when it started, you didn't have a midlife crisis. I always say, my wife is to blame for my big collection. I taste a bit the same. Did you let your wife go? My wife let me go completely. And then you see what I want to do. But letting go doesn't work, right? No, you've built it up quite a bit. Because I understand it started as just a hobby at home. You think nice, a bit with the kids. Friends and family came by, you went to play and then it started to grow. When did you really start to think about what you wanted to do? I had this house next to me, I had put some flipboards in it, and I had the barn next to it. Then I could do my own thing here with my wife. And then I let it go completely. Fortunately, I can do everything myself and make the rules myself that not many people will come to the pass when they are here for the techniques in the game room. But yeah, all the work, everything was done by myself. No architect came to the fore, only an engineer for the measurements of the stability. And the rest we did ourselves. Wow, that's really great. I can't see it. A lot of work after hiring me. It really shines. You've put something in that's really magnificent. If I said to the people in the front, I'll make this and that, let him tell me. They don't believe it. I haven't counted any cabinets, it's a bit of a do-do. But how many flip cabinets do you have in your collection? I have a bit too many that I can put away, so I can put away a few cabinets. But I'm sitting at, with the two that were still on sale, I'm at 126. But in the meantime I'm a bit downsized. Well, I saw... They still have to be in a good place, that's a good preservation experience. Yes. Just in a cold space with too much moisture. No, they have to be in a good place. I was just looking at your impressive Spike 2 collection, I have to explain that. Stern started in 2017 with a new kind of clipboard with a screen inside, a laptop screen. Yes. I didn't miss one, right? Do you have them all? Do you have all the Spike? I miss one. You miss one? Yes, that one is still coming, Jols. Yes. Yes, but that one is not there yet. So... I still don't know who's coming. And then LA. All of them, if I counted correctly, there should be 21 of them in total with Joss and me. So you have 20... Spijk 2 cabinets. I have to check Insider Connect, but I think Tayoka is never going to be there. I had done some homework last week. But 20 Spijk 2 cabinets. We are in a time frame. The 90's was the most beloved time period for a lot of people because it was a very beautiful generation. I think we're overstepping that. Yes, I'm a big fan of the Bally Williams and the Tate of the 90's. And then you have Spike 2, Jaws and Elton John. And we're in the music room here, so I can imagine where Elton John is going. He's going this way. He's coming up this way. I've only seen an elevator somewhere, so you need a basement and a first floor. Do you have any show friends? Well, I also have some friends and myself. We still have to do a little bit of sport, because Flipper is also a bit of sport, but light sport, so we still have to do a little bit of bodybuilding. Otherwise it is handled by hand. So it's a nice steak slot, a nice straight table, everything goes together or in one go? In one go up. In one go up and then smoke it for 10 minutes with a delicious whiskey in the sauce. Well, I'm also here to help. So when I'm near Moesjou, I come by to help and then have a whiskey. In these beautiful Chesterfield chairs. And I could have understood something. Oh!
    23:12
    Yes, you can also watch a fantastic movie. My God. Yes, thank you very much for letting us come by. I found it very pleasant. I've been watching my eyes. Maybe we'll flip a pot. I've got 5 balls and 4 extra balls and a pot with all 3 of them. It's going to be night work, but we won't let you... No, I'll put them all on 3 balls. On 3 balls. Without extra balls. No, it's not a penalty. Kurt, thank you. And thank you for the lunch. My pleasure. And thank you for your visit. My pleasure. And we're taking the Spirit with us. We're going to give you a nice place in our museum. Yes, we can do that. Thank you. Goodbye.
    24:19
    All rights reserved.