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DPP E3 "News, rumors, events, and STORY TIME!"

Don's Pinball Podcast (regular feed)·podcast_episode·20m 32s·analyzed·Jan 7, 2023
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Analysis

claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Don discusses Bond 60 pricing, Twilight Zone remake rumor, tournament debut, and personal machine purchase stories.

Summary

Don's Pinball Podcast Episode 3 covers news on Bond 60th Anniversary Edition ($20k pricing), a rumor about Chicago Gaming Company remaking Twilight Zone, upcoming events including Don's first tournament at District One Pinball, and extensive personal stories about purchasing his first machine (Stern Batman Dark Knight) and recent upgrades (Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses, Spooky Scooby-Doo on order). Don discusses dealer connections, machine pricing trends, and his experience as a new collector entering the market.

Key Claims

  • Bond 60th Anniversary Edition is priced at $20,000

    high confidence · Don directly states this price point and discusses the premium tier strategy for this machine

  • Chicago Gaming Company is developing a Twilight Zone remake with modern hardware

    medium confidence · Don describes this as 'a rumor' but notes he's 'heard other places too whispered' and received 'another good confirmation,' indicating credible but unconfirmed industry gossip

  • Stranger Things Premium pinball machine has appreciated significantly in secondary market (from $9,000 new to $13,500-$14,500 used)

    high confidence · Don documents his personal knowledge of the original $9,000 sale and current Pinside listings he reviewed

  • Jersey Jack Wizard of Oz pioneered RGB LED lighting standard in pinball

    high confidence · Don credits Jersey Jack as introducing RGB lighting that became industry standard, and notes Wizard of Oz was their first game

  • Spooky Pinball's Scooby-Doo has a production run of 1,969 machines via Fang Club pre-orders

    high confidence · Don states he is 'somewhere' in the Fang Club pre-order pool of 1,969 total machines and received order number 7

Notable Quotes

  • “what machine would compel me to pay two to three times the going rate of any other brand new in-box machine that I have bought or would buy? I mean, I'm thinking moving parts, hamster wheels, a monkey in there turning a crank”

    Don @ ~5:00 — Don expresses skepticism about Bond 60's $20k price point and questions what premium value justifies the price multiplier

  • “I don't think that Stern Pinball went to their currently most acclaimed designer and said, we want you to put as much as you can into this to really make it a premium product”

    Don @ ~10:00 — Don speculates Bond 60 may have been originally designed as a lower-cost home game and retrofitted into a premium product, rather than designed as premium from the start

  • “I mean, Jersey Jack, dialed in. What is that, a cell phone game? I've never heard of that.”

    Don @ ~34:00 — Don humorously describes his initial ignorance as a new collector encountering Jersey Jack Pinball for the first time

  • “God, what a darling. And me, I'm like, well, shoot, I've already kind of become okay with a 5800. I know I'm not comfortable doing 9, and since learning about it, I've kind of hit myself in the head every day since then for not going on it.”

    Don @ ~42:00 — Don expresses regret over not purchasing Stranger Things Premium at $9,000 new, noting secondary market prices have doubled since

  • “I watched the videos now how to set them up you know get the stool put the legs on it but at the time you know i backed this thing up to my patio door my wife and i just kind of manhandled this thing onto the kitchen table”

    Don @ ~48:00 — Don describes humorously improper handling of his first machine delivery, contrasting with proper technique he learned later

  • “I'm in the 750 somewhere there. So I'm really excited and can't wait to get that”

    Don @ ~67:00 — Don confirms his Spooky Scooby-Doo pre-order through Fang Club membership and states he received order number 7

Entities

DonpersonTimpersonStern PinballcompanyJersey Jack PinballcompanySpooky PinballcompanyChicago Gaming CompanycompanyBond 60th Anniversary Editiongame

Signals

  • ?

    business_signal: Eau Claire Games and Arcade actively acquiring new inventory; Tim offering special pricing to podcast audience ($6,999 for Mandalorian Pro with podcast mention discount from $7,399)

    high · Don reports Tim 'constantly getting deals' and has current stock of Mandalorian Pro, Turtles Pro, and recently-acquired signed Terminator 2; mentions podcast discount strategy

  • ?

    event_signal: District One Pinball hosting Bond 60 tournament January 8, 2023 in Stevens Point, Wisconsin; Don attending his first tournament with $20 entry fee

    high · Don confirms: 'District one pinball in Stevens Point, Wisconsin is hosting a bond tournament this Sunday, January 8th, 2023, $20 to enter starts at 2 PM. And I'm going to go for it. I'm going to be in my first tournament.'

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Positive sentiment toward Jersey Jack Pinball's Dialed In game among competitive/enthusiast players due to shooting qualities; Don expresses appreciation after playing machine

    medium · Don describes Dialed In as 'kind of a darling pinball machine among people that, you know, are really into such things because it shoots very well. And I've since played it now and I can appreciate it'

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Spooky Pinball's Scooby-Doo balances wide-body format with narrow-body playability through compact playfield design while maintaining 5 ramps and upper playfield features

    medium · Don states: 'they've used more kind of like the actual usable play field is more like the typical game from what I've seen from the videos. And so it should play fast like a typical narrow body but have the available space for ramps'

  • ?

Transcript

groq_whisper · $0.062

0:00
what's going on everybody i've got some new intro music here for don's pinball podcast coming through with episode three we've got news i've got rumors i've got events coming up i've got story time i'm going to talk about how i got my first machine and what that experience was like i'll also talk about my newest recent purchase that's upcoming all that and more coming together soon so button up that coffee don't spill it on your tie put your foot on the pedal and get to work y'all man i'm back i've been having a great time doing these and just uh coming up with ideas man i've got a list of things to do for at least another five episodes so i may break 10 before i lose interest in this all kidding aside i'm having a great time doing this first off with the news man bond is still up there this week so i do want to make one more little kind of update with how it's been going. So I've been following the release of the 60th version. This is the fourth machine that you could buy. It's $20,000.
1:06
And when I think about it in my head, what machine would compel me to pay two to three times the going rate of any other brand new in-box machine that I have bought or would buy? I mean, I'm thinking moving parts, hamster wheels, a monkey in there turning a crank, getting things going out of something outrageous. so I kind of narrowed it down I've been reading a lot of people's comments I've been listening to all the other podcasts and getting all the hot takes and it really comes down to I think one of two situations either this is what the licensor wanted they said we want your best designer we want you to design something simple and we want some throwback elements like these scoring wheels mechanically that are on it instead of the digital or the big LCD screens and so yeah maybe they just built the product that they were told by the licensor to buy could be regardless it looks like it's going to be fun to play I'm looking forward to playing it but I definitely do not have one on order now the other you know more pragmatic practical side of me can see this being designed as a kind of a lower price point skew for the company for the home use similar to the other home versions of games that they've designed, where they don't have a ton of ramps, a ton of mechanisms, but they are fun to play. I could see this easily fitting in that space, and that was the original job given to the designer, and he came up with a fantastic layout that fits that sort of skew. And then somebody got on there and said, wait a minute, let's flip the script on this. Let's use our premium parts in this, maybe add some spinners, and then let's release it as a limited supply premium product. And that would have nothing that the designer did wrong, but more of just a corporate decision. And working myself in a corporate environment, I could see this sort of thing happening through committee decisions. So I kind of think it's going to be one or the other. Either this was designed as a home game and then got committed into being $20,000. What I don't think happened is I don't think that Stern Pinball went to their currently most acclaimed designer and said, we want you to put as much as you can into this to really make it a premium product. I'm looking at the most recent comparison, the Batman Special Limited Edition version that came out. This was limited to only 80 machines out of the thousands from the general production run. and I believe that this version, which kind of fits in this kind of price point area of being certainly special premium level,
Stranger Things Premiumgame
Twilight Zone (remake rumor)game
Wizard of Ozgame
Guns N' Roses Limited Editiongame
Scooby-Doogame
Batman Dark Knightgame
District One Pinballlocation
Eau Claire Games and Arcadelocation
Pinball Starcompany
Tilt Pinball / Tilt Pinbarlocation
Steve Ritchieperson
Jack Guaraniperson
Hobbit (Jersey Jack)game
Pinball Expoevent
Fang Cluborganization
Rick and Mortygame
Halloween Michael Myersgame
Insomniac Villageperson/entity

licensing_signal: Spooky Pinball's Scooby-Doo represents wide-body format adoption for secondary game release; Batman, Rick and Morty, Halloween Michael Myers indicate strong licensed IP strategy

medium · Don notes Spooky's consistent use of recognizable IP themes and Fang Club exclusive pre-order model; contrasts sold-out Rick and Morty (750 units) with managed pre-order approach for Scooby-Doo

  • $

    market_signal: Stranger Things Premium pinball has experienced significant secondary market appreciation ($9,000 new to $13,500-$14,500 used), indicating strong collector demand and scarcity

    high · Don documents both original purchase price and current Pinside listings showing $4,500-$5,500 markup; attributes part of appreciation to UV light kit and custom modifications no longer available

  • ?

    community_signal: Don transitioned from Stern Batman Dark Knight (first machine) to Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses LE (upgrade); dealer Tim facilitated white-glove delivery service

    high · Don states: 'I've since traded it in for a Jersey Jack, as it turns out. I got a Guns and Roses limited edition, also from Tim' and 'He even delivered it, too. Had one of his techs come out, white-gloved it'

  • $

    market_signal: Don questions Bond 60th Anniversary Edition's $20,000 price point, suggesting it may be 2-3x the value compared to other new machines, and speculates it was either licensed-mandated design or a home game retrofitted to premium tier

    high · Don states: 'what machine would compel me to pay two to three times the going rate of any other brand new in-box machine' and analyzes whether Stern was asked to maximize premium components or simply marked up an existing design

  • ?

    announcement: Spooky Pinball Scooby-Doo wide-body confirmed with 1,969-unit production run via Fang Club pre-orders; livestream planned for later January 2023

    high · Don provides order number (#7) and production total (1,969 machines); expects delivery summer 2023; references upcoming livestream from Spooky's Benton, Wisconsin location

  • ?

    rumor_hype: Chicago Gaming Company planning Twilight Zone remake with modern hardware; described as 'rumor' but with multiple confirmations from different sources in the community

    medium · Don states: 'this rumor, I've only been podcasting for a week and I'm getting rumors sent to me' and 'I've heard other places too whispered, but I did get another good confirmation' regarding Chicago Gaming Company's Twilight Zone project

  • ?

    technology_signal: Jersey Jack Pinball pioneered RGB LED lighting and giant LCD screens as industry standard; Wizard of Oz credited as breakthrough implementation that raised bar for entire industry

    high · Don explains: 'Their first game was Wizard of Oz... dazzles... Giant LCD screen. I'd never seen that before on a pinball machine... I think it really brought everybody else up to, okay, we need to start doing better graphics and bigger screens'

    • 3:54
    it had a personalized call out from Adam West, I believe. I believe when you bought this game, you kind of registered it, provided your name and then Adam West, the actor that portrayed Batman in the 1960s Batman series, actually had a personalized call out with your name. Now, that is the kind of thing that if I was so inclined to purchase a pinball machine worth the price of a vehicle that I would kind of expect you know premium finishes um you know sparkling foil graphics a topper that's you know amazing looking I mean the topper for the Batman special limited edition it looked like the top dome of the Batmobile with Batman and Robin sitting there and that spinning uh you know flashy police light right there in the middle. I mean, that's super cool. If I was, you know, into collecting, really into Batman, like that was my show growing up, you know, I would totally be interested in that. And I think it'd be satisfied even at a high price point like that. And like, Bond's kind of the same way. I don't know. You know, it is what it is. It's going to sell or it won't. And, you know, we'll let the market decide there. Either way, I'm going to go play it. I have heard of a location in Minnesota Tilt Pinball or Tilt Pinbar I been there one time already Great place great selection of games And the games that they had were very good versions of them too So they've already come out online and said that they've got one on order. They're going to have one. You can come play it. So I'm excited to get there and play. What a cool location. Parking was a little bit of a difficulty. However, there's, I think there's like a city museum or some university that's right there. I parked in the parking garage. I think I paid $5 for an hour or so and I went down and I played pinball for a while. So shout out to Tilt Pinball. Great place. I had a good time there. Next up, I got a rumor. I've only been podcasting for a week and I'm getting rumors sent to me. So this rumor, I've heard other places too whispered, but I did get another good confirmation that Chicago Gaming Company, the pinball company that is into right now doing remakes of older games with modern hardware and modern sensibilities is going to be cooking up another fairly sought after um kind of yeah not vintage like 1970s pinball but like strictly like from the 90s and that would be the twilight zone rod serling um the wide body pinball machine that's packed with everything including a gumball machine a clock weird magnets um everything that you would expect i've played this game i mean i played it in antiquity back in the 90s i'd play it and I have played it recently I've played it virtually and yeah it's I mean this thing's loaded with I don't even know what's going on in this game when I play it I haven't played it enough to figure out everywhere the ball can go how it gets there but you know if you want bang for your buck as far as mechanisms interest theme integration I mean you can't go wrong with Twilight Zone it's commanded a fairly higher price because of that and you know good restored versions are showstoppers. I was at Pinball Expo and somebody, I forget the company that had it on display, but they had a complete black and white version of it. Like they reprinted a play field or just painted over an existing one and they changed all the aesthetics to just black and white. So it looks like you're watching a black and white episode of the Twilight Zone and in person, man, those contrasting colors, I mean, they just pop. So would the black and white edition be an option? I mean, if you're going to build this thing from the ground up, I think you really should offer that as a tier level, like, you know, have, you know, your entry level tier, whatever they call it, you know, a premium and, you know, kind of a limited edition one. And that would be something, whereas, you know what, there's the black and white edition, you know, I don't know if you want to chrome the rails out too to get that sparkle pop, but man, it's pretty. Good job to whoever did that. Events, I found out, well, I guess I kind of had knew about this, but now I just realized I actually have the day off work. District one pinball in Stevens Point, Wisconsin is hosting a bond tournament this Sunday, January 8th, 2023, $20 to enter starts at 2 PM. And I'm going to go for it. I'm going to be in my first tournament. I was just there the other day. It's a, you know, my local kind of pin bar place. It's a brewery and they, they have a bar there. It's bring your own food. They have tons of games. They have live music on the weekends and they have about 12 to 15, pinball machines and they just got Bond in. I think they replaced Avengers that they had sold off. But yeah, games are quarters, four quarters to play. And they are on Insider Connected as well. Although the last time I was there, I think there was a problem with the Wi-Fi. So my 274 million score is not recorded anywhere. So I got to go repeat that, but I'm excited. It's going to be fun to go hang out. It's $20. And then I heard they're going to have free play too, kind of peripherally around that so looking forward to that should be fun my first tournament okay let's transition now into story time do you guys want to hear a story all right story time so i mentioned previously that i had bought in my first pinball machine around july of last year 2021 so i'm in this a year and a half so the story goes i was on facebook marketplace i was already pre-contemplative about buying a pinball machine and i see this ad from eau claire games and arcade in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, posted by Tim, and found out that he sells games. So my wife and I mosey on up there. We play everything on the line, and we settle on a Stern Batman Dark Knight. Home use only $5,800 at the time. Price has gone up since then. Played really well, and that's the one we ultimately decided on. But before we purchased that, Tim had us walk around. He kind of showed us everything he has. I mean, he's got arcade machines. I think he had some Slush Puppy slow-cone machines. He had some virtual pinball machines, too, as well as arcade games. So he took us over into the back room, though, and said, hey, I got these other games, too, that are in. They're not on the floor yet. And that was my first introduction to Jersey Jack games. He's like, I got some Jersey Jacks here. I've got Hobbit. I've got Dialed In. I've got a Wizard of Oz. And I'm like, dude, I have no idea what the heck a Jersey Jack even is. I recognize Stern. I knew Williams and Gottlieb from back in the day. But I was new at this. So I didn realize that a former distributor in New Jersey a guy named Jack Guarani he started his own company and kind of really started doing some revolutionary things with regard to just packing games.
    10:26
    These games seem to have lighting that I hadn't seen before, the RGB that's now kind of the standard in pinball.
    10:33
    Their first game was Wizard of Oz. And it's just, I mean, you couldn't pick a better game to have rainbow RGB lighting. And man, it dazzles. Giant LCD screen. I'd never seen that before on a pinball machine. And it's been kind of a hallmark that they've done. And I think it really brought everybody else up to, okay, we need to start doing better graphics and bigger screens now than just that dot matrix display that you remember from the 90s. So, I mean, I didn't know. I was like, Jersey Jack, dialed in. What is that, a cell phone game? I've never heard of that. And he seemed like really excited, like I got one of these, you know. Turns out it's kind of a darling pinball machine among people that, you know, are really into such things because it shoots very well. And I've since played it now and I can appreciate it. But at the time I'm like, man, I don't know. You know, I'm already, I've convinced myself, okay, I think I could do a 5800 right now. But, you know, you got a Hobbit. I think it was Black Arrow Edition, if I remember correctly. I'm not sure. Correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe that was $11,000. And I was thinking, ooh, there's like a new freaking Hobbit. I love that theme. You know, I'd never seen the pinball machine before. It's a big wide body. It's full of everything. I mean, my socks were knocked clear off when I saw it. But, you know, at the time, it was like double of what I was thinking of spending. So I didn't go on that. I didn't go on The Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of Oz, oh, God, what did he want for that? It was around that same price range. It was loaded with mods, though. It was a very good version of that game. I dialed it. I don't really recall because I didn't know much about that.
    11:59
    And then, so I thanked him. You know, I drooled over his machines. They were beautiful and kind of woke me to what is available in the pinball market. Then he walked me over to this giant gray box about the size of a refrigerator and said, I've got something over here too, new in box I'm selling for $9,000. It was this game called Stranger Things. Premium? $9,000?
    12:23
    Yeah, so anybody that knows, this is a game that is considerably appreciated in value. it's by Stern from the show Stranger Things it was kind of a sleeper when it was first released this was years before I became kind of aware of pinball but has since become kind of a darling as the show grew in popularity as people started to recognize how innovative the game was the premium version actually has a projector so it projects moving images onto the spinners and this big back movie screen in the play field which folds down, turns to a ramp. Demogorgon's hiding behind it. You can bash the crap out of him. And then it's got a UV light mode that has since come out. It's got a load of cool mods that really changed the look of the game. God, what a darling. And me, I'm like, well, shoot, I've already kind of become okay with a 5800. I know I'm not comfortable doing 9, and since learning about it, I've kind of hit myself in the head every day since then for not going on it. So I'm cruising Pinside right now, and so for the Stranger Things Premium. There's a nice loaded one now, $14,500. The only other one that's listed right now is around $13,500. And so these are kind of the only available premium ones right now. And I mean, what is that? That's it's $5,000 more than what I would have spent new in box if I would have got that. This one that's $14,500 though, I mean, it does come with the Ultraviolet light kit, which I don't even think is available anymore. And the cool thing about the play field for Stranger Things is that it has some glow in the dark or UV reactive paint within the play field. So when the lights change to the ultraviolet, the whole game glows completely different. Like you're in that upside down from the show. So that's Boss. It comes with a topper. I don't know. I think it's a little hard to get as well. It's got the D20 light up shooter knob, which I've seen that available, but that's $200 and a shaker motor. so another $100 there. So, man, I mean, if you were going to go on one of these, this one's over in Oregon, 14.5, but what a pretty game that is. And it plays fun. It's got those magnets in the back. I'd like to get some more time on a premium if I could find one. The first one I played was out there in Lake – Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire. It's an amusement park up there. And that was the first time I actually got to play one since seeing it in that box, and I'm like, my God, look at these projections. I'm blown away. we probably should have went on that so tim uh hopefully you gave that to a good home so we go for back for batman and you know i've never moved one of these things before he loaded into my truck for me um but then getting this home you know i didn't realize that it's okay to flip up a pinball machine onto its back and you know just hand truck it around put it where you want i watched the videos now how to set them up you know get the stool put the legs on it but at the time you know i backed this thing up to my patio door my wife and i just kind of manhandled this thing onto the kitchen table put the legs on and then get it over into place and slide it So there definitely was an easier way we could have done that and have since moved machines now properly uh but you know when you know what i get this thing home plug it in turn it on lights come on everything's going great it's in attract mode the start light is flashing it's on free play hit the button and nothing it's not doing anything so uh found out that the uh wire had come off the solder so that day i was now soldering. I went ahead and put it back on though, and I hadn't had any problems since then. It was great. I've since traded it in for a Jersey Jack, as it turns out. I got a Guns and Roses limited edition, also from Tim. So thanks, buddy. So I reached out to Tim again. He's constantly getting deals. So he's got a ton of games for sale, as he always does. Currently, he's got a couple of new in boxes. So if you're looking for a Mandalorian Pro or Turtles Pro, both of those are listed at $7,399 however he did say that if you mentioned that you heard it on Don's Pinball Podcast he's willing to do a deal on the Mando new inbox $6,999 go get it now there we go alright so he can be reached online at Eau Claire Games and Arcade on the Facebook page or by telephone at 715-864-2823 he also passed on to me that he does have a Terminator 2 that was just recently shopped and signed by Steve Ritchie, known as Pinball Designer, but also Voice of Shao Kahn from Mortal Kombat? What? I was blown away when I heard that because I'm an old Mortal Kombat fan too. Anyway, 715-864-2823 T2 signed recently shopped $5,500. Go buy it now.
    17:07
    Cool. Alright. Moving on. So, yeah, so that was my first purchase. It was an experience. I'm glad I went through it. Glad I made some good connections. And then it turned it into an even better upgrade down the road.
    17:22
    So, your Guns N' Roses is going strong. He even delivered it, too. Had one of his techs come out, white-gloved it, escalared it down my stairs. I didn't have to lift a finger. And it's been fun since then. I've got it modded off to heck, and I'm having a good time with it. so currently let's see i am i'm working on something else i'm working on something else for my buddies over there that's spooky pinball man they've done it so spooky i first heard about these guys around the same time and uh i learned about spooky pinball uh shortly after i got into pinball when i looked for another game called rick and morty that i came across and oh that is a theme I'd be all over and it turns out that 750 other people were about two years before I was really into pinball because they sold right the heck out and then when I was following them they released another theme that I'm really into Halloween Michael Myers come on man I come from that horror rap community and Michael Myers was like an icon within there so I went in on that those sold out so now that I'm aware and I'm in a better position I was a member of the fang club and I got in on Scooby-Doo. So super excited for that.
    18:37
    I got my number back too. I went ahead and bought from Joe over at Pinball Star. I got number seven. I'm in the 750 somewhere there. So I'm really excited and can't wait to get that. So this is another, it's a wide body game. This is wider than the normal play fields are, like Hobbit, like Twilight Zone. What they've done with this one though, is they've used more kind of like the actual usable play field is more like the typical game from what I've seen from the videos. And so it should play fast like a typical narrow body but have the available space for ramps and things that I super enjoy. I mean, it's got five ramps in it. It's got a huge upper play field. I'm kind of into that too. And I'm just excited. So we should be hearing some more from our friends down in Benton, Wisconsin once they get around to doing their live stream, which is supposed to be sometime later this month. So I'm excited for that. I want to watch that. I'm expecting to get my game. I don't know if they're going to do a full 18-month build cycle. That's probably fairly conservative.
    19:37
    Seeing that I'm right around in the middle of their 1,969 possible machines that they'll be building, I'm expecting something sometime this summer, man. I'll be playing some Scooby. So I'm excited. I'm trying to pick some room in my downstairs to fit this in, but it's looking good. I'm excited. I can't wait. so I think that's a good recap on everything that we have now we hit some story time and everything so I hope I made your drive more enjoyable today if nothing else thanks everybody thanks also to my buddy out insomniac village in buenos aires argentina for the new intro and outro music y'all what do you think it's slick man I'm feeling it all right everybody have yourselves a good week. I'll be back. I'll be in a tournament. I'll report back after then. All right, out.