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SDTM: a pinball show Episode 24: Top 10 Toppers

Straight Down the Middle·video·23m 3s·analyzed·Jul 3, 2017
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claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 · $0.032

TL;DR

Top 10 ranking of production pinball toppers emphasizing integration, lighting, and thematic fit.

Summary

Zach Sharpe and Greg conduct a ranked discussion of the top 10 production pinball toppers, emphasizing integration with game themes and lighting effects. The list includes Whirlwind (ranked #1 for its pioneering fan mechanism), Attack from Mars remake, Game of Thrones Premium, Kiss, and others, with extensive discussion of aesthetic and functional qualities. The hosts also cover honorable mentions and worst toppers, advocating for thematic cohesion and criticizing purely decorative figure-based toppers.

Key Claims

  • There is an active 'no toppers club' thread on Pinside opposing topper use

    high confidence · Zach Sharpe mentions existence of Pinside thread with topper opposition

  • Whirlwind topper was one of the first factory-made toppers ever created

    high confidence · Greg states it was 'made by the factory' and 'one of the first toppers ever made'

  • The original Whitewater topper has foil that cannot be adequately reproduced

    medium confidence · Greg explains original has foil, reproductions fail to match shine quality; he owned a brushed reproduction

  • Twister attempted to replicate the Whirlwind fan mechanism but failed to capture the original concept

    medium confidence · Hosts state 'Twister tried to do it' with a fan but 'you can't repeat greatness like that'

  • Chicago Gaming Company designed the Attack from Mars remake topper with input from the original game's art designer

    high confidence · Hosts state topper 'was designed by the actual art designer of the game'

  • Game of Thrones Premium Edition Walking Dead topper has interactive head displays that light up during gameplay

    high confidence · Zach explains 'whenever you're defeating the heads in the game, they light up' and behave differently in 'track mode'

  • Kiss topper is so bright it can be difficult to play under

    high confidence · Greg states 'It is so bright... It is almost hard to play at times' and 'It is so bright'

  • The Dredd topper (eagle) is the most memorable visual element of that game for one host

    high confidence · Greg states 'I remember the topper more than would I do anything else about Dredd'

  • Laser Riffick toppers cost $180-$250, significantly less than Sam Stern toppers

    high confidence · Greg compares pricing: 'you're going to spend $180 to $250' for Laser Riffick vs implicit higher cost for Sam Stern

Notable Quotes

  • “All the pinball topper hate out there is unjustified. Really? There's a lot of hate? There is a Pinside thread that's a no toppers club.”

    Zach Sharpe @ Early in discussion — Establishes that topper opposition exists within the community despite both hosts' preference for toppers

  • “I think our favorite word on the show is integration... Anytime they can interact, that's good. Anytime they can light up, flash. Anytime they add to the aura of the game and the beauty of it.”

    Greg @ Iron Man Tilt Topper discussion — Establishes the hosts' core criteria for ranking toppers: thematic integration and interactive lighting

  • “It is one thing that pictures and video does not justify. You've got to see it in person... That Kiss topper, man, makes me want it in my game room.”

    Greg @ Kiss topper discussion — Emphasizes that Kiss topper's visual impact cannot be captured on video; suggests toppers can drive purchasing decisions

  • “You put LED strip in there? Yeah. Put it on flashers? I like it a lot... You put it on flashers? Yeah. Okay, good. I agree with it.”

    Zach Sharpe and Greg @ Whirlwind discussion — Confirms Whirlwind topper enhancement possibilities through modern LED installation

  • “I really wanted Dredd in there... the eagle, it stands out. It fills up the head. It does. It fills up the head. And I told Zach, I said, man, if you're looking at the games, I remember the topper more than would I do anything else about Dredd.”

    Greg @ Honorable mentions section — Illustrates how strong topper design can overshadow other game elements in player memory

  • “I don't like the figures, yeah. I know why you're tempted to do it, because I'm tempted to stick things... I don't like a lot of figures.”

    Zach Sharpe @ Worst toppers discussion — Establishes the hosts' clear preference against action-figure style toppers despite acknowledging the temptation

  • “Whirlwind... It's not the best looking. It's kind of hokey looking. But it fits the game... Just because it was interactive, it was one of the first.”

Entities

Zach SharpepersonGregpersonSam SternpersonSchmittypersonLaser RiffickpersonChicago Gaming CompanycompanyTilt Toppercompany

Signals

  • ?

    community_signal: Pinball community actively discusses and ranks topper designs with strong opinions on what constitutes 'good' topper design; community has standards for integration and against decorative figures

    high · Entire episode dedicated to topper rankings; discussion of community reactions to tournament toppers; mention of Pinside thread; hosts anticipate 'hate messages' for certain opinions

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Active community debate exists regarding topper usage with dedicated 'no toppers club' on Pinside forum opposing decorative toppers; hosts advocate for toppers as valuable aesthetic and interactive enhancements

    high · Zach mentions 'There is a Pinside thread that's a no toppers club' and discusses community 'topper hate' while both hosts defend topper value

  • ?

    design_philosophy: Top-tier topper design emphasizes thematic integration, interactive lighting responsiveness to gameplay, and cohesion with game aesthetic over pure visual complexity or figurative elements

    high · Hosts repeatedly prioritize 'integration,' 'interactive' lighting, and thematic fit; criticize action-figure toppers as 'tacky'; praise simple but integrated designs like Taxi and Demolition Man

  • ?

    event_signal: Chicago Gaming Company's Attack from Mars remake topper designed by original game's art director, suggesting collaboration between modern manufacturers and legacy game designers

    high · Hosts note topper 'was designed by the actual art designer of the game' and praise the result as beautiful integration

  • $

    market_signal: Significant pricing variance in topper market: premium manufacturers (Sam Stern) command higher prices than budget alternatives (Laser Riffick $180-$250) with hosts noting quality parity at lower price points

Topics

Topper design philosophy and integrationprimaryLighting and interactivity in toppersprimaryThematic cohesion between toppers and game themesprimaryTopper manufacturer quality and pricing comparisonprimaryHistorical significance of Whirlwind toppersecondaryCommunity opposition to topperssecondaryDIY LED modifications for topperssecondaryAction figure vs integrated topper design debatesecondary

Sentiment

positive(0.78)— Hosts are enthusiastic advocates for well-designed toppers and demonstrate extensive knowledge. Tone is casual, friendly, and supportive despite some joking criticism of poorly designed toppers. Clear passion for the topic and the featured games. Some dismissive remarks about action-figure toppers and certain aesthetic choices, but balanced with acknowledgment of design constraints.

Transcript

youtube_groq_whisper · $0.069

How in the hell are you guys doing? This is Straight Down the Middle with... You don't like that intro, huh? I like it. You're just feeling good. It's like everyone else. This is Zach and Greg. What are we doing this week, Greg? We're doing top 10 toppers. Oh, you just wanted to echo in here, don't you? It's not my girl. Hello. I know you have a nice basement. Top 10 pinball toppers. So what does that mean? We have the rules here. Does that mean? We didn't do one-offs. No one-offs? No one-offs. No one-offs. We did production toppers. Production and factory toppers. And factory toppers, yes. I like it. I do too. Are you a topper guy? Actually, you know, I am. I really do like toppers. I do too. All the pinball topper hate out there is unjustified. Really? There's a lot of hate? There is a pin side thread that's a no toppers club. I actually like them, man. I think all those guys just have low ceilings. I like them to light up here. My opinion is they've got to lift the tile up to put their topper on. You know what? Schmitty has that for his wizard of Oz. Sorry, Schmitty. You love me, but yeah. I told him just to notch it out. I would just set it around it because I'd laugh at myself. I feel like that's awesome. I like pinball toppers. I'm always looking to add. I'm going to get a couple for these two, though. Because there's a weird dead space between your ceiling and that, so it lights up. I don't know. It adds a little bit. There's some tacky toppers out there. Yeah. I'm not big on, like, action figures and shit out there. That's right. That's right. And we'll talk about that in our bottom three toppers. Yes. Oh, yes. Okay. So let's start out, Greg. Number 10. What is the number 10? I'll take this. Listen, you sit back. I'd do a print-off. Antonio Cruz control. I'll be the hype man. I got this. What's up in number 10? Woo, woo, woo. Number 10 is by Tilt Topper. It's the Iron Man. Fantastic. The Iron Man. Yeah, it's really cool just because. The glowing core. I love that glowing core. I do too. Plus, it looks like it's part of the machine. Yeah. Part of that machine. So, Tilt Topper makes some really nice toppers. And it obviously grabs the theme very well. Yeah. I like toppers that are integrated. Yes. Anytime they can interact with. That's our favorite word on the show is integration. Yeah. Cohesion. Synergy. Yes. So anytime they can interact, that's good. Anytime they can light up, flash. Anytime they add to the aura of the game and the beauty of it. I agree. I like it. I do too. So what do you guys think about Iron Man tilt topper? It's nice. If you haven't seen it, look it up. All right. Number nine. Now this one, we're going back in the day on this one. Okay. Maybe one of the first original toppers. Back in the days of 1990. Uh-oh. What is it? It's high speed or getaway. Take your pick. It's the beacon. So the beacon on top, number nine, is the beacon topper. Or I'm going to go ahead and throw in an honorable mention for Lethal Weapon 3. Jesus Christ. I like that game. Okay. Same thing. Same thing. But it just doesn't fit the theme. It does. They're policemen. Woo! Woo! We're arresting you. what's really cool about getaway or high speed is that whenever you're getting away from the police you got your multiball it goes off yes like you're evading the police and the cool thing is it's very simple but it lights up your whole game well especially on the first one it is fantastic like it really does add to the ambiance and make you feel like you're really running from the police you know you're it's a damn silver ball that you're beating around but it it really does feel like you're a bathing and you're doing something. F-14 is really good as well because it's got the three colored bulbs, the red, white, and blue. But I like high speed. High speed integrates it better. Yeah, I think so. It does. So that's our number nine. Number eight, Gregor Week. Gregor Week. It's his one beer. Half a beer. Alright. Wait until we get to number one. He's going to be on the floor. Alright, number eight is by Tilt Topper as well. Lord of the Rings. And I do like this one. This is a very classic look. You own this one on one of your boards. Yeah, I've had this one. If I was to go out and get a Lord of the Rings topper, it would be this one. I like that it lights very well and then it's got that pulsing ring insignia right in the middle. Again, anything flashing, the beauty of the machine, I really like. I agree. Alright, where are we at? Number 7? Yeah. 10, 9, And I kind of fought for this one to be a little higher, but, you know, he whines. Well, you fought for it to be in the top ten. Yeah. Yeah. But I fought for it to be a little higher. It's a good one. It's white water. White water. The waterfall. Yeah. I mean, it's not the most beautiful, but it's pretty damn cool. The original. Yeah. Not the reproduction. The grief. The original has foil on it. Yeah. So when the light, what's cool is there's a light bar right in front of it, and it's programmed. It has its own little board in there, because I had one that was brushed. They're very rare. The original ones are hard to find because of that foil. And they cannot reproduce them adequately yet to make them really shine like the original. But it looks like water is cascading off. And there's different patterns you can run and different things. I think it's beautiful. What I'm not crazy about is that damn plastic dome. Yeah, that's what I was saying. It looks a little cheap in a weird way, but it's really fantastic of what they did. Yeah it the reason why fishtails isn in the top ten Yeah It just a little hokey You got it in there Bone Busters Bone Busters It a really neat topper but it really terrible It's the same thing. You got the stuffed animal gopher that is cool, but just looks like shit. Yeah, I agree. So, for number seven is Whitewater by Williams. All right, number six. Now we're going to get contemporary, guys. This one will throw it. Yeah. It is hard. Because it's a crap game. Oh, look at you busting on Gomez. No, I'm not busting on Gomez. Oh, it's busting on Gomez. That's busting on your boy. No, I'm saying it's more programming. Oh, you're going to blame him on the programming? It's Batman 66, Ellie, and Super Ellie. Stern makes some badass toppers, man. For whatever anybody wants to say about Stern, the damn toppers are integrated and they're awesome. So this one's got Batman and Robin in the Batmobile up top. And then you've got a bat signal that you can shine on the ceiling, on the side of your wall, anywhere you want to. And everybody's like, oh, you can buy that signal for like $10. Who cares? We're not talking price here. We're talking it's just cool. Yeah, it looks good with the machine. It really fits. It fits perfect. Yeah, it fits perfect. All right, so where are we at? Number five. One, two, three, four. I like this one. One, two, three, four, five. It's pretty good. Number five. The Walking Dead. Yeah, The Walking Dead by Stern. It shows the governor's aquarium. Yeah, full of heads. Now, what I like about this, again, it's integrated. So whenever you're defeating the heads in the game, they light up. And then in the track mode, they shine different. So it's really cool. What I would like to see different is maybe a bigger aquarium. Yeah, it is small because it is kind of, I mean, it's not hard to tell what's going on there, but a little bit bigger. And I'd actually like to fill it with water and some air bubbles. You know what? When they were talking about developing that thing, they talked about finding a way, but then they were like, you know what? Somebody will bust it. Water above an electronics is a bad idea. Because some dumbass will bust it or something. Oh, yeah. That will happen. Because I agree, man. I think, like, any way that they could have to make little air bubbles going in there, that would have been sick. It would have been even – see, here's my problem with it, though. I always have a problem with things, don't I? I always want to button up things, just like our T-shirt design. I don't know. So, when you have the premium, the Translite is of the aquariums. I feel like you really can't put the aquarium on top of the aquarium and then have the aquarium. Yeah, it's a little overlooking. It's a little overlooked. If you guys have a premium out there, what I would do is I'd buy the topper. I'd buy the Pro Translite. But I'm also, really, because I don't know. It doesn't Slash with the Pro Translite, but I think I like it on LE the best. Oh, with the mirrored back glass? Yeah. Oh, perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Something just adds to it a little bit. But the LE Cabinart sucks. I think. Yeah, I'm not big on that cabinet. It's a different story. Different episode. Number four. Number four. And I like this one a lot. I do too. It's weird. Everybody hates this game, but it's Kiss, isn't it? Yeah, Kiss. Kiss! The first time I saw this, Topper, because you think, oh, it's just light up Kiss. But it literally, they made that, it literally looks like stage light. It does. It is so bright. It is so bright. And it literally gleams just like. It's almost hard to play at times. Yeah, it is fantastic. But it goes like if you change different songs, it'll flash based on that. I don't even know how it does it. If it's with the sound, I don't know how it is. But boy, oh boy, it looks great. I love that Kiss Topper. Don't knock it until you've seen it in person because a lot of you out there might be saying, but go see one in person. It is one thing that pictures and video does not justify. You've got to see it in person. That's a good point. It's one of those things when we're talking about top ten mods is this mod makes me want to buy the game. That Kiss Topper, man, makes me want it in my game room. I just want the code to get complete on Kiss because I like the play field. I like the toys on it. I like the topper. I don't mind any of the art. Yeah, the play is great on Kiss. Yeah, I just want the code because I want that game, but I'm afraid I get bored with it really quick if the code's that short. You know what? I've been thinking about a Kiss, too. Oh, I like it. I like it a lot. I've played two of them. I don't like the music very much. You like Kiss? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I don't like it. Well, man. Yeah, I like it. I'm okay to stand up and say, you know what? Kiss music's kind of shit. I don't really. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of it. It's not like I'm freaking out. There are some awesome songs at Kiss. Yeah. I mean, I'm not a big fan. I've never bought a CD or anything, but I like them. They're cool. I like it. So that, my friend, was number four. How does he get better than that, Greg? How do we get better? Game of Thrones. Game of Thrones is better. That's number three. It's by Stern again. And I know these are Stern after Stern, but you guys, these... And I'm not super wild about this one. I do like that it displays the houses that you... It's interactive. Yeah, that you've completed. It's three-dimensional. It's not just a 2D print of something. I mean, it's neat looking, but it's so small. It's another one of those things that the dragon's so small. It's not really small. I don't know. The dragon flaps. I want a big-ass dragon up there like the, you know, what's the creature from the Black Lagoon, where they put the creature as the topper, the big gigantic creature? Yeah, that's horrible. That's horrible. That's in my bottom. I hate that shit. The vampire. The vampire's terrible, but the creature is sick. I'll give you that. The creature's the best of them all. Yeah, it's awesome. I mean, I didn't obviously want a damn dragon that big, but, like, I want a big dragon. I want a bigger dragon on top of there. It's really cool. I mean, it's pricey. I want a dragon that at least spans almost the width of the head. Okay. I like that. Give it to me. Give it to me. On your Game of Thrones Pro. Yeah. You're going to buy one, I bet. I kind of like it. It's ugly as can be. That's why you need a topper. Dress it up a little bit. All right, that was number three, guys. number two. I haven't seen this one in person. You don need to You got a video of it It that one It Attack from Mars Remake Yes the remake So it I think it on the LE Get on the LE. What I really like about this, again, it's interactive. It's got the UFOs with the LEDs. Yeah. Or, what is it? They scan, I don't know. And then the alien pops. Yeah. And it moves around. I like it. And it was designed by the actual art designer of the game. Who did the game, yeah. Come on. It looks good. I like it a lot. It's beautiful. I like UFOs, too. It's beautiful. So good job, Chicago Gaming. Keep up with those toppers. Yeah, let's do this. Especially when you come out with Monster Bash and when you come out with, right? I hope so. Do you? Eh, well. Cactus Canyon with a topper? That'd be pretty cool, right? Cactus Canyon ain't bad. I love Monster Bash, but I just want it to be affordable. Yeah, it'll be with Medieval Madness. Yeah, that's what word is, man. All right, so that was number two. What the hell is number one? What are we missing, Greg? Number one is Whirlwind. Whirlwind. And I like this one a lot. I like it a lot. And we went back and forth quite a bit on it about why this should be number one and why it shouldn't. It is the ultimate topper. It's made by the factory. Yeah, it was made by the factory. It was early. One of the first toppers ever made. One of the first toppers, exactly. And it was integrated. It's not the best looking. It's kind of hokey looking. But it fits the game. I think it looks great. It fits the rest of the game. You put LED strip in there? Yeah. Put it on flashers? I like it a lot. So I agree with it. Just because it was interactive, it was one of the first. It's one of the most talked about. And what Topper stands out is one of the most. And if you hear the story of how it developed, like, I think the story was they were just hanging out. I'd like to think they were drinking some beer and trying to figure out this game. And somebody was like, damn, we should, like, get that fan real quick. And then they put it up there. It was like, oh, that would be really cool if there was an actual fan. And Twister tried to do it. Second tried to do it with Twister, but Twister is literally just a fan. It's not. It's not. You can't repeat greatness like that. No, you can't. But it's fantastic. So Whirlwind, fan topper. I think it's great artwork. I like it. It's easy. It's simple. It makes sense of the game. And it's not like it's blowing on your face the whole time. It only blows on your face whenever you start the mode or whatever the heck it is. So it's integrated well and everything else. I don't. So what do you guys think about our top ten? That number one being Whirlwind. That's kind of her oddball. And so let's go with honorable mentions. All right. So I've got a list of honorable mentions. Yeah, I'm going to mention mine because I had to fight for this one. You guys are probably going to disagree with it. But I really wanted Dredd in there. And it sounds stupid, but that freaking, what is it, a falcon? It's an eagle. An eagle? Yeah. An eagle. But the eagle, it stands out. It's just a big, solid mass. But it stands out. It fills up the head. It does. It fills up the head. And I told Zach, I said, man, if you're looking at games, I remember the topper more than would I do anything else about Dredd. Backglass, anything else. I was like, that topper stands out. So I really fought for that topper to be in the top ten. But I can understand just because it's just there. It's just there. Yeah. It's kind of like Adam's family. That's an honorable mention as well. Yeah, but Adam's family is kind of ugly. I like the cloud, but it doesn't do anything. You can put some LEDs in it if you guys have an Adam's family. I wouldn't be that bad boy. Just run it through the back of the head into your front LED on the train flight. Yeah, get some major so you need to. Yeah. Yeah. So another, just we're going to shoot off a list here of honorable mentions. Hobbit. Laser Riffick did a really good Hobbit, and that was their Jersey Jacks. Basically, they said, there's your topper. It's by Laser Riffick. And Schmitty has one. It looks really, really good. Hopefully not through a ceiling. That one doesn't. No, that one doesn't. We'll film that soon. Yeah. We'll film that. We'll review that soon. No Good Gophers by Laser Riffick. That's not bad. It's a really sharp, sharp. Laser Riffick does, what I like about Laser Riffick is there's nothing over the top. You're not going to spend $500, $600 on these things. You're going to spend $180 to $250. But your Aerosmith was from Laser Riffick. I thought it was really good. It rivaled Stern's. That's right. I liked it a lot. It was half the price. Yeah, I liked it. Doc Ock Spider-Man for the vault for Tilt Topper. It was a really beautiful one as well. Jurassic Park by Tilt Topper. I haven't seen the Dress Up Park one. That's beautiful. And then one of the most simplest but beautiful toppers by Laserific was Demoman. Oh, yes. Demolition Man. It just has their side profiles and it's bright blue. Just really classic. It looks really good. Adam's Family Topper. Taxi. To end out the honorable mentions here. I do agree with Taxi. It's simple, but it fits. Yeah. It's the top of the... Again, the integration. Yeah, why not? Like that badge. It's a taxi sign. That's right. What's our worst toppers? I was going to say the damn stupid Draculas and stuff hanging off of Monster Bash and all that. Yeah, I don't like the Dracula one. I don't like a lot of figures. I don't like the figures, yeah. I know why you're tempted to do it, because I'm tempted to stick things. Now, on Shadow, I've got the toy car. That's cool. Oh, the model, yeah. Yeah, and then I LED it and stuff like that. Yeah, and some of the people, they're Ghostbuster actors. That's one of my newer games. I'm loving it. Newer couple games here. That's nice. Look who went away from new games. So pretty. I know. That's right. So nice. What else do I hate? Topper. Oh, the worst topper of all time is the stern tournament topper. I don't know, man. The cardboard tournament play. I mean, it's so plain that something stands out about it. You would have one on you. I would. I would, for sure. Fires of the Caribbean tournament play. I would. The Spider-Man tournament play. Yeah would we run in a tournament here Greg Oh it just looks good I don know why I can explain it I guess so You going to get a lot of hate for that There all kinds of people with a tournament topper You going to get so many more hate messages than normal. Why is there hate on me? Tournament play. Because you make rude comments like that. That's true. It's a fantastic topper, guys. Is it? It's not the most creative. It's not the most innovative. But damn it, it fits. Mr. Neutral over here. I like it. I like What do you like about it? I have no clue. It stands out and it grabs me every time I see it. Looks like shit if you have one on there. Tear it off now or people are going to make fun of you. All right. So that's it. That's it. That's top ten, man. Ten was like five minutes long. We breezed out. Now what are you going to say about that? And after one beer, I'm loaded, man. That's right. Yeah, we're going to cut this thing out. All right, guys. Check out the other Straight Down the Middle videos. Thanks again to Larry at Flip N Out Pinball for sponsoring this show. Go out and check his website out for all your newest Jersey Jacks, Chicago Gaming, as well as American Pinball Machines. He's got all kinds of mods. Oh, speaking of flipping out pinball, if you guys have ordered the Attack from Mars, right? A lot of people have ordered the remake. Check out his coin door, his custom coin door for it. I like it. That thing is awesome. If you're going to spend that much on a machine, dress up that front because that's what everybody sees. All these little cabinet snobs out there are like, no, you've got fade on the cabinet. Most of us guys, we put our machines together so you don't see it. Even I kind of got over that. The front is the most important part. I agree. Put his coin door on there. That thing is awesome. I agree. You can see it in person. And don't forget, we've got our shirts still for sale, our SDTM shirts. That's right. Yeah. Get them while you can. They're going to sell out. They're not going to sell out. They could. Help support us. There's already been quite a few orders. We don't like asking you guys for money, but we would like to upgrade equipment and stuff like that. And we're going to do that by giving you something. We're going to soundproof this son of a bitch. So we need about $25,000. Yeah, I don't know where else to film besides your place. but support us in buying the straight down the middle either our original art t-shirt or the regular logo t-shirt we'd love to see them out at shows and stuff like that that would be kick ass maybe we'll get a picture they're pretty cool shirts especially the octopus I like it me and Greg put that together so check that out shoot a paypal over to him order that thing we're taking orders for a couple weeks here I guess that's it buddy check out the other videos check those out And then check out our next video that's coming out in a couple days. Yep. Woo! Happy ball slinging! Ball slinging. Ball slinging. Where did that come from? Oh, ball slinging. Yeah. I was thinking ball slinging. I was thinking like, what? Ball slinging? Who says, keep flipping maybe, but ball slinging? Gotta be innovative, man. Ball slinging. Gotta be innovative. Okay. Okay. Lost in the zone. I like it though. I hate it. I like it. It's better in person. That's really smart. I've worn this shirt about four times on this show. This is the most uncomfortable t-shirt ever Looks wonderful What do you do though? You get a gift for Father's Day and you hate it What do you do? Do you wear it? This or that? You want sex? You love it Really? I love all my Father's Day gifts You get good ones No, not this year No, not this year Chelsea's going to watch it Mine was good, but I got it in a plastic frame. You never buy anybody a plastic frame. Come on. That's just chintzing out. Might as well just put it in the tube. I know. Give me the tube. In daylight. Yeah. And did you know that early is after that? So it's early daylight. Oh, really? Early daylight. I'm like, it gets better and better every time I come here. Early daylight. So you go through early and then you go through daylight. Yeah. And then after that, you're late in the night. I live in sunset. That's crazy, man. That's all I had today. I was like, really? Early in the day life. It's okay. It's rolling. It's rolling. All right. Top ten. God, this shirt is so uncomfortable, Greg. Someone's sitting next to you. A pinball show for pinball people. I'm Zach Minney here with Straight Down the Middle Pinball Show. Pinball for pinball people. Testing, testing. Does my hair look good? Are you molesting my setup? No, you'll see it later. Alright, my hair okay? Yep. Is it not? No, it's perfect. Like an asshole. I'm going to wipe it. You're my only friend. Alright. Got to have my beer. First one he's ever had. Virgin. My virgin beer. I've been drinking Zima for so long. It tastes good. You ready to get lost in the zone? I think I may have sat on a rubber ducky.
  • The Whitewater plastic dome on the original topper looks 'cheap in a weird way' despite the innovative water cascade lighting effect

    high confidence · Zach acknowledges the dome looks cheap but praises the innovative foil and lighting design

  • Greg and Zach @ Number 1 topper reveal — Justifies ranking Whirlwind #1 based on historical significance and function rather than aesthetic appeal

  • “The front is the most important part... Put his coin door on there. That thing is awesome.”

    Zach Sharpe @ Sponsor section — Establishes that cosmetic front-facing elements (coin doors, cabinet art) are high priority for game appearance

  • “They're really cool shirts especially the octopus... maybe we'll get a picture they're really cool shirts... Gotta be innovative, man. Ball slinging.”

    Zach Sharpe and Greg @ Closing section — Promotional content for merchandise and upcoming catchphrases

  • “The Walking Dead... whenever you're defeating the heads in the game, they light up. And then in the track mode, they shine different. So it's really cool.”

    Zach Sharpe @ Walking Dead topper discussion (#5) — Demonstrates how interactive toppers respond to gameplay state changes, enhancing immersion

  • Jersey Jack Pinball
    company
    Larryperson
    Attack from Marsgame
    Whirlwindgame
    Whitewatergame
    Kissgame
    Game of Thronesgame
    The Walking Deadgame
    Batman 66game
    High Speedgame
    Lord of the Ringsgame
    Iron Mangame
    Dreddgame
    Demolition Mangame
    Straight Down the Middle: a pinball showorganization
    Flip N Out Pinballcompany
    Pinsideorganization
    Barnyardcompany
    Medisinyl Modscompany

    high · Greg compares Laser Riffick pricing ($180-$250) to Sam Stern's implicit premium pricing and notes Aerosmith topper 'rivaled Sam Stern's' at 'half the price'

  • ?

    product_strategy: Topper manufacturers distinguish through design philosophy: Sam Stern emphasizes high-production integrated designs, Laser Riffick focuses on affordable simplicity, Tilt Topper produces thematic integration

    medium · Multiple manufacturers compared across ranks with distinct aesthetic and functional approaches; Sam Stern described as 'badass' but expensive; Laser Riffick praised for 'nothing over the top' and affordability

  • ?

    product_strategy: Whirlwind topper can be upgraded with modern LED strip lighting installed through flashers, suggesting ongoing enhancement opportunities for classic toppers

    medium · Greg asks 'You put LED strip in there?' regarding Whirlwind and confirms LED flasher installation possibilities

  • ~

    sentiment_shift: Kiss pinball game's poor reception does not extend to its topper; the topper is highly regarded and described as potentially drive-worthy for game purchase despite lukewarm reviews of game code

    medium · Hosts discuss Kiss's incomplete code and mediocre game design but simultaneously praise topper as must-see-in-person and ranking it #4; Zach considers buying game primarily for topper

  • ?

    technology_signal: Original Whitewater topper's foil material cannot be adequately reproduced by modern manufacturing, limiting availability of original design's visual effect and driving demand for rare originals

    high · Greg states 'The original ones are hard to find because of that foil' and 'They cannot reproduce them adequately yet to make them really shine like the original'