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Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 53 - Silverball Swag Product Launch and surviving a project desert

Poor Man's Pinball Podcast·podcast_episode·analyzed·Aug 14, 2024
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.026

TL;DR

Pinball Junk Drawer launches Silverball Swag merch while hosts lament project drought and plan brewery tour.

Summary

Pinball Junk Drawer Episode 53 covers the hosts' merchandise launch on Silverball Swag, including t-shirts, pint glasses, stickers, and pin sets featuring new 70s-style branding. The episode features reflections on a prolonged "project desert" where several restoration opportunities fell through over the past 1.5 years, discussions about Insider Connect streaks on pinball machines, and a beer-focused segment about an upcoming trip to Sprecher's brewery in Glendale, Wisconsin.

Key Claims

  • Achieved 121-day Insider Connect streak with 600+ games played

    high confidence · Host (Foghorn Leghorn character) discussing personal Insider Connect achievement on their machines

  • Had three major restoration/project opportunities fall through in the past 1.5 years due to life circumstances (house fire, divorce, death, inheritance complications)

    high confidence · Host describing specific failed opportunities: neighbor's machine, deceased person's basement collection, and another unspecified project

  • Machine prices have depreciated dramatically in the past 1-1.5 years

    medium confidence · Host speculating that earlier machine purchase would have resulted in overpayment compared to current market rates

  • Elton John by Jersey Jack has sold really well

    medium confidence · Host opinion on game performance and merchandising success

  • Jersey Jack released branded merchandise for Elton John (shirts/wardrobe items)

    medium confidence · Hosts discussing JJP merchandise offerings following game release

  • Rumors about Harry Potter and X-Men '97 pinball machines (attributed to Stern)

    low confidence · Host mentions unverified rumors: 'teased the harry potter yeah now and the x-men 97 is the nick stern'

  • Pinball machine development typically takes 2-3 years

    medium confidence · Host general industry knowledge statement about design-to-release timeline

  • Project Pinball is a 501(c) nonprofit placing machines in children's hospitals with some augmented for disabled children access

    high confidence · Host citing Project Pinball's mission statement from organization representative Dan

Notable Quotes

  • “i say i say i say pay attention now boy this is of course foghorn leghorn presents the pinball junk drawer”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ opening — Establishes show's comedic character voice and branding

  • “the only pinball podcast that doesn't have never as an option”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ opening — Show tagline explaining their commitment to always finding content/engagement

  • “over the last five years to even get a project even to get someone else's project like we've had at least three things completely fall through”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ project drought segment — Core topic: frustration with prolonged lack of restoration opportunities

  • “idle hands are the devil's work”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ project drought discussion — Expresses frustration about lack of active projects to work on

  • “Something will come up. That's what we've been saying for a year and a half, though. What will break that streak?”

    Craft Brew Sally (co-host) @ project drought closing — Co-host skepticism about prospects improving

  • “go to silverballswag.com. And if you just type in pinball junk drawer, we have men's shirts, ladies, men's T-shirts, ladies T-shirts. We have a pint glass”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ merchandise segment — Official product launch announcement and direct promotion

  • “I know Don from Don's Pinball Podcast always does really cool stuff. And he really rewards people that promote him along the way. So I think we should follow in his footsteps.”

    Foghorn Leghorn (host) @ merchandise strategy discussion — References Don's Pinball Podcast as model for community engagement and merchandising strategy

  • “it's summer, nothing's going on. Well, I guarantee the people at the pinball companies aren't saying nothing's going on.”

    Craft Brew Sally (co-host) — Notes that summer content drought doesn't reflect actual manufacturer activity

Entities

Pinball Junk DrawerorganizationSilverball SwagcompanyDon's Pinball PodcastorganizationSprecher's BreweryvenueProject PinballorganizationStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanyCraft Brew SallypersonInsider Connectproduct

Signals

  • ?

    content_signal: Pinball Junk Drawer launches branded merchandise on Silverball Swag platform with multiple SKUs (t-shirts, pint glass, stickers, pins) featuring 70s-inspired design aesthetic

    high · Direct announcement: 'We are now on Silver Ball Swag' with detailed product listing and silverballswag.com URL

  • ?

    community_signal: Hosts modeling community reward strategy after Don's Pinball Podcast, planning to reward listeners wearing branded merchandise at Expo events

    high · Quote: 'I know Don from Don's Pinball Podcast always does really cool stuff... So I think we should follow in his footsteps'

  • $

    market_signal: Hosts observe significant machine price depreciation over past 1-1.5 years; earlier bulk purchase opportunity would have resulted in financial loss at current market rates

    medium · Host reflection: 'in that time they like the prices have dropped dramatically so i would probably would have overpaid'

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Unconfirmed rumors of Harry Potter and X-Men '97 pinball machines in development, attributed to Stern; hosts note these are typical summer speculation without substantiation

    low · Host: 'there was they teased the harry potter yeah now and the x-men 97 is the nick stern that they're talking about which we have never even watched that'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Host expressing prolonged frustration with lack of restoration projects; describes multiple opportunities falling through due to life circumstances (house fire, divorce, death, inheritance issues)

    high · Extended segment detailing three failed project opportunities over 1.5 years; closing sentiment: 'That's what we've been saying for a year and a half, though. What will break that streak?'

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.062

0:00
now who's responsible i say who's responsible for this unwarranted attack on my person i say i say pay attention now boy this is of course foghorn leghorn presents the pinball junk drawer you all asked for it i say as you all asked for it now you're gonna get it boy oh boy are you gonna get it go i say go away boy you bother me we're back the only pinball podcast that doesn't have never as an option my name is ball going like it weren't it with me as always craft proof sally and we're sussing out the details for a later segment this is of course the pinball juncture or big show 53 and i'm i'm too angry to do the show but what can i tell you it's the summer months so everyone means there's no content so everyone's dusting off their top 10 lists and creating drama where there isn't any because pinball. Yay! So here's our top ten. No, I'm just kidding. We don't have a top ten this week. We already did a top ten. Yes, yep. We did them. Maybe we could do our top ten top tens. No, I don't think we want to.
1:13
Exciting news is I finally hit one of my milestones, two milestones on my Insider Connect, which took more dedication than you'd imagine. I hit the 120 day streak so that means i've played pinball for 121 days now and uh there's a little one by the king crown so i'm kind of like oh that means there's way more and yep there is so how many are there uh all it's infinity infinity they don't show infinity but the next rack goes to 240 so you can just play forever but i was pretty excited to get the 120 streak are you gonna try to go for a whole year oh i don't know and then i did the uh you know because it's a lot harder to play every single day than you think it might be right of the 120 days i'm i couldn't give you a percentage of days i actually wanted to come down here and play so it forced me to and uh the longer you play the more i'm like boy i wish i had more than two machines with this uh insider connect on so if we had three or four insider connects then i would probably do a little bit be a little bit easier yeah so and i actually and i broke uh 600 games played wow so yeah so i'm getting there i had 300 and 348 days played total but my streak is now 121 i did keep going so that you know because it did show like there's a couple low-hanging fruit ones that like 123 then 125 and 127. So like they do some real easy ones to keep you going I think because I think they know when people hit 120 they're like and I'm done playing pinball for a while. And they're like but look for three more you'll get the next one and you're like okay you bastards. My total days played. Looks like I have a hundred days. A hundred days. Oh total days played. My max streak is 11. 11 or roughly 110 less than me. Yes. Oh, man. Yeah, see? Now you have to rub it in, too. Maybe I shouldn't have looked. You shouldn't have. Yeah, it's all make-believe numbers. When the asteroid hits, none of it matters anyway. It doesn't discriminate. It'll just extinct us from the planet. Oh, I'm clearly close to. I should play today. You get 12. No. No, no, no. Not that one. A milestone badge of today could be 350 games played. See? And I already have them on because I knew I would be playing at least one. So that's big news. We went and played at Lumberjack Johnny's. I don't know. That was just to go play, I think. Was there a reason other than just pinball? We were going grocery shopping. Oh, yeah.
@ industry discussion
Doctor Dude
game
Elton Johngame
Harry Pottergame
X-Men '97game
  • ?

    business_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball expanding merchandising strategy beyond machines; Elton John game supported with branded apparel and lifestyle products

    medium · Hosts noting: 'jersey jack also came out with some like shirts and stuff finally' and 'bedazzled Dodgers shirt' reference to lifestyle merchandising

  • ?

    industry_signal: Summer months create content lull in pinball media (reduced announcements, increased speculation); hosts note manufacturers likely working behind scenes despite lack of public updates

    high · Host: 'it's the summer months so everyone means there's no content so everyone's dusting off their top 10 lists and creating drama' and co-host: 'I guarantee the people at the pinball companies aren't saying nothing's going on'

  • ?

    operational_signal: Difficulty sourcing restoration projects in local market; multiple opportunities discussed but none materialized (inherited collections, private sales, estate liquidations)

    high · Multiple specific examples: neighbor's inherited machine, deceased collector's basement collection, other unspecified opportunities all fell through

  • ?

    community_signal: Project Pinball positioned as alternative community contribution model; 501(c) nonprofit distributing machines to children's hospitals with accessibility modifications

    high · Direct promotion: 'projectpinball.org a yes... 501c dedicated to putting pinball machines into children's hospitals, setting them on free... augmented for kids with disabilities'

  • ?

    gameplay_signal: Insider Connect system incentivizes daily play through streak mechanics and milestone badges; hosts discussing engagement strategy with low-hanging fruit rewards at 120, 123, 125, 127-day intervals

    high · Host discussing milestone system: 'they do some real easy ones to keep you going I think because I think they know when people hit 120 they're like and I'm done playing pinball'

  • ?

    product_concern: Doctor Dude restoration includes unresolved electrical/lighting gremlins despite functional status

    medium · Host noting: 'bondo did got it working for the most part although there's some gremlins i still have to chase down but it's a working machine'

    • 3:50
    I have to give myself mental preparedness to go grocery shopping, so we played pinball. Yeah. We did have some exciting news.
    3:59
    We are now on Silver Ball Swag. Yes. So we will be doing an official commercial to drop in because I sure would like to become a Silver Ball Swag promoter and partner. So for now, today, we'll just say make sure you're representing the pinball junk drawer correctly and go to go to silverballswag.com. And if you just type in pinball junk drawer, we have men's shirts, ladies, men's T-shirts, ladies T-shirts. We have a pint glass because, well, you know. Craft Brew Sally. Yeah, Craft Brew Sally. And then we have stickers, a sticker kit, a set, and a pin set. Like, not a bowling pin set, like pins. I don't know. And then we also have, I have a second. Now, we have that new logo, which is that 70s Funkadelic style. And then just for fun, I also threw in a pizza guy giving the okay sign saying, Pinball Junk drawer. So if you like pizza and pinball which I know many of you do you can also flex your awesome deep dive by buying the pinball junk drawers pizza it a it a good pinball junk drawer i should have done that but i didn want to get any you know mafia hit things on me i don't i don't think they like that very much so i avoided that luckily dodged that bullet literally and physically figuratively so go out and please grab us we'd have to figure something cool out like we have to get some we're going to get some of our own stickers made just to have. Yeah. And I think we'll have to do something like if we see people out and about at the expo with a pinball junk drawer shirt, maybe we'll give them stickers or we'll have to think of something cool. Because I know Don from Don's Pinball Podcast always does really cool stuff. And he really rewards people that promote him along the way. So I think we should follow in his footsteps. He's a good example of kind of like making people feel good for making you feel good. Yeah. So, you know, it's all cyclical, man. Circlical? Cyclical? I shouldn't use words I can't say. I think it's cyclical. I think it is. It's all one hakuna matata. So there you go. No. Make sure.
    6:14
    Hold up a little baby lion and run out and buy some awesome pinball junk drawer stickers and shirts to fit your. Oh, my goodness. Because nobody, any, if I know pinball people, they love shirts. some of the more famous pinball people you could have a 120 day streak and they won't have a duplicate shirt. That's how many pinball shirts they have so hopefully we can join some of their deep dives into their closet. That would be awesome. It was pretty exciting. We're going to keep on trying to continue and grow it. We have a couple ideas for like a craft brew one because well craft brew Sally needs to represent. And we'll figure it out. So yay for Silver Ball Swag. Thanks to them for making the process very easy and painless. It was very easy and painless. It was. So good on those guys there. Good. If you're a pinball media creator, hit them up. Silver Ball Swag is where to go. All right. And I'm trying to think of what else we had today. You know, one thing that did strike me because I had you had teased that a friend of yours needed a pinball machine worked on. And I said, yay, I'll fix that. Or I'll at least go there and tell them that I can't fix it, but I could probably fix it. And that immediately fell through because of, I don't know, house caught on fire, divorce, something. Who knows? Doesn't matter. and it struck me about how incredibly challenging it has been over the last five years to even get a project even to get someone else's project like we've had at least three things completely fall through that were like i was like kind of mentally preparing for it like the neighbor lady was like oh there's this old pinball machine at at her husband's dad house and it's an old one it hasn't worked for a while and i was like oh man yeah bring it you could bring it here and we'll bring it and i'll just we'll get to it man we'll get working and find you know troubleshoot some of these things i think that was shortly after the doctor dude and we were all like because we had finished fix the doctor dude and put new stickers on it feeling good right bondo did got it working for the most part although there's some gremlins i still have to chase down but it's a working machine right like lights and crap like that you know so yeah and then she's just like ah we just figured we'll wait till wait till you know they inherited i guess i don't know i was like okay well if you ever want to bring it over please do yeah and then then then i had that one where it was that that person passed away and it was an entire basement of projects and and a lifetime of stuff and I was like you tell them we'll come down and we'll take a look and evaluate it and then maybe we can come to it like an agreement on a price and we'll clear the entire lot out and that was none of them worked except for just one or something like that and in my brain I'm already kind of like oh my god we'd have to get a storage unit but it would be worth it unless we can fix them and then we'd start fixing these and cataloging you know I was like very excited now never happened nothing ever happened with it you know a friend of the dead guy came and got the one that worked or something like that and then just you know nothing so nothing on that one and that one bummed me out pretty hard i thought that was gonna be awesome because then you're talking about multiple projects you know like a line of them and at the time though i guess it's i should be thankful because i would have overpaid yeah because now prices have depreciated quite a bit since last a year and a half ago basically i think it was when that lady approached me maybe a year doesn't matter in that time yeah in that time they like the prices have dropped dramatically so i would probably would have overpaid and we'd be sitting on a loss on everything across the board so i don know i guess in a good way it good that it fell through but i sure wish i was uh working on one of those projects idle hands are the devil work as they say you know something like that is that the right word probably if not let put it on a t-shirt and sell it at silver ball swag right idle hands are the devil's work something sure should probably find the right quote golden fiddles are the devil's hands at rest not working you remember that old saint saying sure we all do So I don't know. I'm just trying to, man, I wish I could break out of this bunk and get a hold of something. Right. You know.
    10:46
    Anything. Kind of. I'm starting to look at these EMs. I'm like, $1,200 for an EM, eh? And I'm like, stop. No, stop it. And I slap myself and I slowly back away from the computer and just don't make that mistake. But, eh, I don't know. I mean, something will come up. That's what we've been saying for a year and a half, though. What will break that streak? Crafter Sally. I don't know. I don't either. I don't know if you're close enough to the mic. I am. Oh, are you? I'm too close, then I'm too far. Yes, it's the constant struggle. So I don't know. Other than that, not a whole lot of news coming out. I know there's lots of tons of rumors. Most of them will be false. And we always say, oh, it's summer, nothing's going on. Well, I guarantee the people at the pinball companies aren't saying nothing's going on. Well, they're probably working on the things that are going to be going on. Yes, and they're very... sure that some stuff will probably happen right before expo yeah well it also takes two to three years for a machine yeah maybe probably something close to that maybe not that anymore but it takes a long time so but you haven't heard it was like all those rumors hit and then nothing yeah because like there was they teased the harry potter yeah now and the x-men 97 is the nick stern that they're talking about which we have never even watched that i heard it's good i mean maybe we'll watch it right it's uh yeah i don't know it's where you'd assume stern's gonna hit soon and then so will so will um you know elton john has sold really well i think really well it's a good machine it's a it's a fun machine and i think they i think jersey jack also came out with some like shirts and stuff finally so if you liked elton john you could buy the wardrobe stuff with it oh that's awesome yeah i mean i think it just has like you know jersey jack pinball or something I'm sure. It doesn't say. It's not Elton John-esque. Which would be. They came out with like a mink stole and like star glasses and stuff. No, no, no. They need that like bedazzled Dodgers shirt. All of it. Do it all. That's what Jersey Jackson leaned in hard and just went bedazzled everything. They're like brought back a whole fad. You're like, yeah.
    12:58
    70s. No. We just. We're done? I don't know. I'm trying to think. There's not really a whole lot else. We've been playing pinball and just looking forward to Expo. Yeah. Now, you know, now I got to have, the saddest thing about the, having our stuff online is now I'm going to have to like buy our shirts. I know. I should have worked on a deal and said, well, we need two free, otherwise we're going to go take our wares elsewhere. And the guy would have went, where are you going to go? Where are you going to go? Right. I think some of the places run their own and I just don't have that in me. I barely have it in me to make a logo.
    13:36
    I mean, we should have kept the thing. We should have kept the screen printing stuff. Well, you never know what the future holds. Right. If I don't get another pinball project soon, I'm going to have to just get a screen printing thing. Get a screen printing project.
    13:53
    Oh, well. That's funny. I think it's time for everyone's favorite drop-in, unless you have anything else. Got anything else to go over? I don't think so. Wow. It's going to be a short show today. yeah this is yeah this is a rough week in pinball the fans have spoken and we have listened it's beer journal review with me craft bruce alley
    14:31
    All right, and we're back. So what beer-related shenanigans do you have for us this week, Craft Brew?
    14:40
    Well, we are anticipating a trip to Sprecher this weekend, and we are all very excited about it. What'd you say all of us are excited about it? Aren't you excited about it? No, not really. I've been trying to get out of it, but you won't let me.
    14:59
    No. That's why you said, oh, when do you want to go? Is never an option? No, never is not an option. Never is not an option. So I'm driving to Milwaukee to look at root beer. Yes. I think you're kind of ripping the fans off. Root beer is not root beer. Well, I think they do other things as well. Oh, you think so? Yes. Okay. I'm looking at their website right now. Tell everyone all about Sprecher What is Sprecher Sprecher I believe started by making craft soda Like all kinds of flavors But it looks like they do brew beer as well So like their kettle is warmed by fire instead of just electricity? Yeah. Is that fire roasted? Fire brewed? Fire brewed. Yeah. I never understood that, though, because it's the same as like fire, like a pizza oven over like the fire. Who cares, man? Just give me pizza. I think it gives it a different flavor, though. don't you think like that when we go to those places that have the like wood fire grills yeah i guess you're right it tastes different than just a just a regular old thing that was done on like a pizza stone all i remember is my sister and brother-in-law went down to sprecker's and they came back and they're like try some of these and i was like wow these are really good and then i turned around and looked at the calories and i was like wow this is like my week's worth of calories in the soda uh it also to me it also stinks of a place that i'm going to spend way too much money on stuff that really we shouldn't buy at all and i'll be like driving back in my head i'm gonna be like why did we spend 148 at sprecker's why would i i wouldn't have ever done that and there you have it maybe not so i'm kind of i'm excited because i like to go on brewery tours and yeah so you're gonna count that as okay well i guess if it does make i guess it depends we'll see when we get there but it looks like they brew beer as well so did you ever did you like shrekers did you know them their soda is good have we had i know we've had this the soda my sister had brought yeah we've had it before um when when tau and chris were here okay they had it so they had the root beer and then um so we've had like grape soda and grapes that grape soda had like three or four hundred calories in it that's what i'm telling you for a bottle i'm like i don't thing i want to go to shrekers i might i might get diabetes just by going through the door i need a thing that thing on my arm right but it looks like they do have a hefeweizen oh see well then i guess technically you haven't completely misled the listening audience just a little bit maybe just a little bit well i have a feeling if there's beer to find you'll find it yeah you know i can find a brewery anywhere oh that's the other problem after shrekers well we're down here. Nah. Here's three other places I'm going to have to drive. Sober. Because I'm the designated driver driving from place to place. Not at all upset about it either. No. Oh man. Just Brecker. So there you go. We're going to be driving down to is it Milwaukee? It is I think Glendale.
    18:04
    Is that like little Milwaukee? Possibly. Hopefully there are no bums asking for a dollar six. I guarantee there's going to be at least one. There's going to be a cost. Anytime you get near a city, you better get your panhandling fighting gloves out. Because it's going to be a struggle getting from car to door to bathrooms, everything. Everyone's popping out asking for things.
    18:29
    It's like, I need that money for my problems. You get that. Shoot. I have my own problems I have to pay for. So, whatever. Right. So there you have it. anything else before we say goodbye go out and play pinball go out go to silver ball swag and represent the pinball junk drawer like only our fans can right and while you're at it you may as well visit pinball or project pinball.org project pinball.org a yes shaking down little kids for quarters they do not they promised dan was like we do not we are we are actually a 501c dedicated to putting pinball machines into children's hospitals, setting them on free, keeping them running, which we know is the rub here in this wonderful hobby of ours. And some places they have them augmented for kids with disabilities. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. I didn't know that. I think you told me that before and it went out of my brain. Probably because I was drinking too much Spreckers and I just lost my short-term memory.
    19:31
    Whoops. No, that's not how it worked. Oh, well. so yeah hit up projectpinball.org they have raffles you might win something we don't ever seem to but you might never know then email us and rub it in our face saying well I just bought five dollars worth of raffles and I won three pinball machines oh my goodness and make sure you make fun of pinball junk drawer and tell them they're losers don't write us that email I don't want that email okay that's good dude you got anything else crap for selling I do not alright well thanks for listening and thanks for supporting pinball any way you can we'll see you next time with hopefully more content and a better attitude for you crafters yes it's always me i'm a ray of sunshine and an overflowing fountain of human kindness and you're over there just bringing everyone down yes jk all right thanks everyone we'll see you next time that's it man game over man game over