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Pinball Expo 2025 with Owner Rob Berk
1.4k Plays10 days ago
Rob Berk sits down with us to talk about Pinball Expo 41 and everything it holds in store for the pinball industry/community this year
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Transcript
Introduction and New Pinball Games
00:00:07
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the loser kid pinball podcast. I am Josh Rupp with me. My co-captain as always Scott Larson, Scott, it's expo time. Oh, you got a bunch of games coming out. Star Wars just came out. Where are you getting your star Wars if you're getting one?
00:00:20
Speaker
So ah Zach and Nicole, many flipping out pinball. So definitely hook, ah hit them up and they will hook you up. I also have my medieval madness Merlin coming at some point. And I did get the cactus Canyon upgrade kit through them. So ah reach out to them if you want your new used,
00:00:35
Speaker
basically anything pinball reach out to him and they'll be able to make it happen. I hear that cactus Canyon kit is amazing. Have you got installed yet? I haven't. Yeah. I haven't been able to, cause I've been so busy.
00:00:46
Speaker
Party animal. Yeah.
Guest Introduction: Rob Burke
00:00:49
Speaker
With us today is a gentleman that has impacted the pinball industry in such a positive way. He is growing the hobby year by year through pinball expo.
00:01:00
Speaker
And he just got a world record for the biggest arcade in the world. Biggest pinball collection actually. Biggest pinball collection in the world but through pastimes arcade.
00:01:12
Speaker
I want to welcome on Rob Burke. How you doing, Rob? Good guys. Thank you for hanging in there with me. We had little technical difficulties. Check, check, check. But it's all good. Thanks for the savviness of Scott.
00:01:24
Speaker
Well, Josh, you kind of buried the lead. ah Rob has been involved in Pinball Expo forever.
History of Pinball Expo
00:01:30
Speaker
And so yeah we the reason why we have him on is because we have Pinball Expo coming up. And this is two weeks two weeks from Tuesday. Season 41 of Pinball Expo, you know the 41st one. And so, Rob, this has been amazing. You've been doing this forever.
00:01:48
Speaker
So why don't you give us a recap of recap as to why Pinball Expo and how it's changed over the years? So here you go. This is back here in the time when there was no internet and the only communication or the best communication for us pinball fans was pinball collectors quarterly, which was the quarterly pinball publication from Steve young.
00:02:12
Speaker
So he was the connection the, to the outside world. Young, the quarterback. Yeah. of The 49ers. Yeah. Steve young from New York. Yeah.
00:02:22
Speaker
yeah Anyways. Um, You know, ah he mentioned about a pinball club in Akron, Ohio, which I'd never heard of before. A pinball club. I said, man, that sounds kind of cool. So I was about 45-minute drive from Akron. So I went there one time completely blindsided. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what it was like.
00:02:39
Speaker
And it was just fellow collectors. And what they did was every month they would meet at a different guy's house just to play pinball and shoot the bull. So – We were involved with that for several years and met a couple of guys that never known and um all good guys.
00:02:54
Speaker
And I said to one time, one of the meetings, I said, what would you guys think if we had like a national pinball collector's convention? So some of them kind of brushed it off. Oh, yeah. Okay.
00:03:05
Speaker
So um I decided to put a letter together with the help of Bill Kurtz. Anyone here know Bill Kurtz? I don't know. Bill Kurtz wrote a book on pinball and also pinball arcades.
00:03:16
Speaker
along with Gary Flower, I believe, way back when. But anyways, he helped me drop this questionnaire. Basically, would you be interested in attending a national pinball collector's convention?
00:03:27
Speaker
And we used Steve Young's mailing list of whatever he had as far as his ah readership. And we got the surveys back, and overwhelmingly, yes, let's do it. And I also mentioned what location, and most people picked Chicago.
00:03:41
Speaker
So the whole reason for me doing it was to honor my heroes who were the pinball designers and the artists. Because in my mind, whether it be ballet or gottlet, it was always the big wigs on on the penthouse floor that always got all the accolades and all the recognition, not the workers.
00:03:59
Speaker
So that was my dream is to recognize them. And in the we had Alvin Gottlieb, our guest speaker at the banquet, who gave a three-hour seminar or three-hour talk, which was a long talk.
00:04:12
Speaker
he He went over every game that Gottlieb made in this seminar or in this talk. And it was pretty pretty crazy. But near the end of the banquet, I had four guys come up front, Steve Kordak, Norm Clark, Wayne Nines, and Harvey Heiss.
00:04:28
Speaker
And I said, ladies and gentlemen, these guys are responsible for producing over 600 games. Well, everybody was stood up and clapped. And some of these guys had tears in their eyes because they they couldn't believe it.
00:04:40
Speaker
After all these years in this in this industry, but no one ever recognized them. Because to me, they were the true heroes. They're the ones that laid out the games. So we recognized them, and and it was a great success.
00:04:51
Speaker
And as Dick Bluchell said, it was 11. That's how he he coined the first convention first show. And six months in the following year, people started saying, when's the next show? And i said, there is no next show. We're done.
00:05:04
Speaker
They said, oh, you're going to do one more. All right, one more. And then another one. And then another one. So this is number 41.
Growth and Influence of Pinball Expo
00:05:11
Speaker
So, you know, it's pretty amazing, even Scott, like you mentioned, to do this show. and When you think about other guys that do shows and in the hobby, you know, we were the first.
00:05:21
Speaker
But when I see some of the guys, even the Texas show, I mean, you know, Ed started that show way back when. But after a while, he got burnt out of whatever reason he sold to somebody else. But how many guys can you say that started a show and is still with this show to this day?
00:05:35
Speaker
It's true. Unbelievable for me to even consider it. Think about Well, and my question is, cause we've only been involved in the last five years and this has obviously been going on for 41 years. Yeah. and We've seen exponential growth over these last five years. You're exactly right.
00:05:50
Speaker
What do you attribute that to? Um, well, a couple of things. I think, you know, I try really hard for me to anyways, to have a really interesting seminars, but you know, we keep adding more and more to the event. I mean, for the 40, especially we we lost our mind.
00:06:07
Speaker
Um, in having factory tours. I think we have either three or four factory tours, which is just insane. And, you I make such a push to bring in new vendors in the vendor area.
00:06:23
Speaker
that I think that helps add to it. And then guys like yourselves, you know, you you put spread the word through your podcast. People that don't even know about Expo, when they once they hear about it, it's like, hey, man, maybe I should check it out.
00:06:34
Speaker
And more and more people, you spreading the word, so to speak, that, hey, man, you got it it's something it's an event you've got to check out at least one time. And when they do, it's like, man, this is really unreal. It's wonderful. It's great.
00:06:47
Speaker
And it's the wow factor when you walk in there like, man, There's so much to see. it Truthfully, there's not enough hours in a day to see everything. But it's been ah it's been a fun ride, to be honest you guys. And after the 40th, I didn't know if there was going to be one and done or that would be my last show.
00:07:04
Speaker
And then I thought to myself, you know, who else do I know that's got the passion that continue the show and keep it going and keep the fire going and keep the interest going and and shows the enthusiasm that I do?
00:07:16
Speaker
And I didn't know anyone ah outside of Josh and Scott. But I didn't know if they if they could quit their job and you know do Pinball Expo 24-7. yeah I don't know how you do it. I do yeah not know how you do your business with Pastime Arcades while doing Chicago Expo. You really got yourself stretched then. but i'm Really, guys. There's no way I could do it. yeah yeah it's it's been It's been fun doing it. I do it for the people. To me, that's what it's all about. with them when they're When they're happy, I'm i'm happy. To hear you guys give a positive accolades, that makes me feel like you know I'm doing a good job.
00:07:51
Speaker
So Rob, let's talk about this. Over the last little bit, you have expanded beyond like a small weekend thing almost but you know about four or five days in the show. And so tell me more about how it's expanded. and Now we have factory tours and we have other things involved for people who are coming to to see the passion for pinball.
00:08:12
Speaker
We know that pinball is mostly manufactured in Chicago. And so tell us how that integrates. So if i if this is my first time coming to the show, I want you to tell me, hey, here are the highlights.
What to Expect at the Expo
00:08:24
Speaker
These are the things that you definitely need to see.
00:08:27
Speaker
Well, first thing when you're going to walk in the show, there's going be a wow factor, the size of the show. You know, we've got 100,000 square feet. Next is, it might be whoever you see walking down the hallway.
00:08:43
Speaker
Hey, look, there's steve Steve Ritchie, or is there's this guy or that guy. And then you just see the the sheer magnitude of not only the size of the show, but the the different vendors.
00:08:55
Speaker
And you'll see people that you typically don't hear about at pinball shows. For instance, we have Hexa. Hexa is that company out of France that for the first time they're they're they're vending at Expo and theyre they're bringing their latest game, Space Hunt.
00:09:11
Speaker
But... um I don't know. are you guys anywhere near the the internet where you could pull up my homepage for one second? I want to show you guys one thing. I am near the interweb. Yes. Okay. So I'm on pinball expo. All right. So scroll down the homepage.
00:09:26
Speaker
I think it's like ah a green bar across there. And is's ah it's a guitar company. If you could. Oh, let's see. Going down. go Are you talking Sithura?
00:09:37
Speaker
You got it. Okay. These guys, they asked. I never heard them. Where'd you find them? I don't know how I found these guys, but found them out of Canada. What these guys do is they get new and used pinball play fields and they cut them out to make electric guitars.
00:09:56
Speaker
Okay. Okay. Here's Ed Robertson. very ladies He has bought guitars from these guys. They're going to have eight guitars on display at the show. Yeah, a little known fact that Josh and I actually have two guitars currently being customized by Sathura 4. Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
00:10:19
Speaker
but i mean Did you know they were coming to the show? Yeah, no, I've talked to them behind the scenes. So mine is a Silver Ball Mania. oh and And didn't you get an Earthshaker, Josh?
00:10:30
Speaker
I did get an earth shaker. And the things that I love about this too, is he's actually putting our logo, the loser kid in the fretboard at the number 12. So this logo that's on my hat, this is on the fretboard.
00:10:41
Speaker
You've got to play some music at expo with his guitars. That would be so great.
00:10:48
Speaker
But anyways, we're excited to see him and and definitely see it, see it in person. Mine. He's, he's been sending me pictures and it looks great. It's amazing. amazing but you know, there's so many new vendors besides him that are coming.
00:11:01
Speaker
um Besides the guys from France, we have a a guy, Vincent Mods. He's a mod maker out of Germany that's coming this year. I have a guy coming out of Hungary.
00:11:12
Speaker
When you think of Hungary, what city do you think of? ah Budapest. You got it. This guy from Budapest, he manufactures glass. So he has already shipped like a a crate full of pinball play field glass he's going to sell at Expo.
00:11:29
Speaker
Oh, wow. So he'll be there as as as a first-time vendor. So, you know, there's there's so much happening. Another thing that I'm really excited about is i have been asking Marco, Marco Specialty, for years to bring a big display at Expo.
00:11:48
Speaker
And I tried and I tried. And maybe this year it never happened. Maybe next year it never happened. So finally, i saw Marco Ramirez. And along with Emoto, they pulled off the unpoll ah um i thought unthinkable.
00:12:04
Speaker
And that is they're going to have a 70-foot by 80-foot booth at Expo. I mean, we're talking massive. But in there, they're going to have the home brews.
00:12:16
Speaker
But also in there, they're going to have the Marco supermarkets. And what that's going to entail is basically scratch and dent sale of everything they've sold, overproduction, extra inventory, whatever it may be, to Z, ramps, who knows, plastic sets, whatever they got there.
00:12:38
Speaker
And they're going to sell them at the supermarket at discount pricing. So you just imagine diving into that thing and there's going to be racks and racks full of goodies. You don't know what you're going to see next. And I'm really excited about that.
00:12:54
Speaker
So one question I have to you had this massive pinball machine there. It's bigger than Hercules. ah Is it going to be again there again this year? And is it going to be playable? i I will only answer that question if you give me the name of the machine.
00:13:08
Speaker
Oh, it's Aaron Davis, right? It's Aaron's game. It's a space theme. I know that. That's a half point. Give me one more information. I'll let you go. It's about twice as big as Hercules.
00:13:21
Speaker
And fast. ah isn' Isn't Aaron Davis so bringing it from Seattle? No, you just lost that half point. Oh, okay. So the game is called Mothership.
00:13:32
Speaker
Oh, okay. Well, it's an alien thing. No, when I was growing up, i The Hercules just came onto the arcade scene and people were playing them. I thought it was just outstanding have this massive monster of a machine.
00:13:45
Speaker
So over the years, as as pinball has evolved, I thought to myself, wouldn't it be cool to have Hercules hercoise shape or size machine that was multi-ball?
00:13:57
Speaker
So um Tanner Petz started the game and then I had Ernie Silverberg finish it. But we're going to have a mothership working on the Florida Expo this year. Yes and sir. you Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, ah the the there'll be audio and it'll be everything.
00:14:17
Speaker
So
Unique Machines and Events at Expo
00:14:18
Speaker
um get ready, Josh. You can be first in line, but it's going to be nuts. You know what what? What ball are you using? Because didn't Hercules use a cue ball? Exactly right. And according to Ernie, I think they're using a ball a little bit smaller than that.
00:14:32
Speaker
I'm not even sure where he got it, but he explained with a bunch of different ball sizes to see what would work. You know, you can imagine this ball is going to be jumping up ramps and going around ro curbs and ramps and so forth. So they they think they found the right size ball to work on it.
00:14:50
Speaker
It's going to be nuts, guys. I hope that Josh gives me a chance to play it at least once. you you better get your quarters lined up but um yeah mothership has go become a reality so uh I was hoping to have it for the 40th, because the 40th, I just lost my mind for that show.
00:15:08
Speaker
But what's interesting to me is, um based on the hotel registrations, we have as much, if not more, people coming Expo this year than last year.
00:15:19
Speaker
So i mean I'm excited about that, because i you know I always think every five years, you know you have an an extra explosion of people coming. But it looks like the momentum is continuing. ah The Stern Tour is be special.
00:15:32
Speaker
And I say that because this year is the first time Stern says we are going to, because they want people to see their their place. We going to give a gift to a away to all those who come to the Stern Tour that will not be available anywhere else.
00:15:47
Speaker
So what that gift is, I don't know, even myself. But the way Gary Stern is talking, it's got to be something special. That's awesome. That was way cool. So, you know, we got the Stern tour and then like we talked about, the homebrew is going to be nuts.
00:16:03
Speaker
For me, what's especially exciting is Steamboat Willie is coming. If anyone's heard that, that game's coming. Awesome. Pet's coming and a ton of other ones, including the latest one from Jake Danzig.
00:16:15
Speaker
And ah all he can say is get ready. People I know that have worked on it said, when you see it, you're going to stop on your tracks and say, sold, I want to buy it.
00:16:26
Speaker
So I don't know. Jake's last one was Dukes of Hazzard, right? Yeah. But I've never seen this game, but I hear it. It's just beyond fabulous. So there's going to be so many homebrews in the show. And what's really cool, and I'm glad Josh and you, Scott, are both sitting down.
00:16:46
Speaker
For the first time, we got a homebrew coming from the country of France. Very cool. And that game is called The Invaders. Oh, yeah. I've seen this online. It's it's insanely cool. Got like a little hand with a gun that pops out and a spaceship.
00:17:01
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. thats Josh, so if you're playing Mothership, then I'm going to run over and play The Invaders. Sounds good to me. We'll trade off. yeah yeah but why us be nice i mean, guys ah there and in the video land listening to us, imagine the magnitude this show. that There's so much to offer, so much to do.
00:17:24
Speaker
ah you know, sometimes people call me up from California. And they say, hey, I'm coming to Expo for a Saturday and Sunday only. I said, buddy, do me a favor. Tell your boss you're going to have COVID that week.
00:17:35
Speaker
You've got to come the whole time because there's just too much to see. And there's also that there's also tournaments too. so So definitely an Expo tournament. If you're into the tournament player, ah then absolutely. ah Tell me about the tournament option.
00:17:51
Speaker
Well, of course, we we have the flip-off tournament that's – oh wow Deborah is helping me out with that. And that's in its own room. And they they have their own deal. And, you know, I'm not really into the into the tournament scene, but that's going to be a big deal. And they expect 300 to 400 people this year. So more and more people that have been in that tournament really like how it's run. And it's a good operation. Plus, since they're there, they can check out the Pinball Expo.
00:18:18
Speaker
But um one other thing, we we have another tournament going on. And we are having a pinball tournament. hit ball tourna yeah so Last year, this thing this this booth was awesome. The people putting it on dressed up like they were. It was like speakeasies. Yeah, yes they were great. yeah Clapper dress and all that stuff. It was awesome. Oh, it was great. And you could win medals if you were able to achieve certain goals.
00:18:44
Speaker
Did you play it on Josh? Oh, yeah. I'm i'm in. i'm I love doing this last year. This is one of the coolest things. It'll be even bigger. And there'll be some 1930 games for sale because what's happening is more people, and including myself, that see these 30 games, you kind of get hooked on them. I mean, they're simplistic, but they're cool in their own way.
00:19:05
Speaker
And we're really excited about this. This, this, this 1930s thing is really taken off. Thanks to Cliff and Colleen, his wife. I mean, they, they've done a great job of, like you said, dressing up as the part, they have that bar scene back there and they have the, the 1930s apron or a lamp with a lamp shade of the the the styling with all the tassels coming out of it. And it just, you know, everything they did is first class.
00:19:31
Speaker
And, uh, The tournament should be fun. the But there's a lot of other surprises going on. One of them is Joe Kamikawa. Do any of you guys know Joe Kamikawa? Oh, yes. We know Joe. We actually had him on one time, and we were we were talking about multiple things. But it was kind of licensing, and it it was it was a great interview, and he had a good time.
00:19:53
Speaker
Joe Kamikawa, to me, is really an unsung hero because a lot of people don't know about him. But those that do and get a chance to know Joe, the guy and the man, Realize he is a wealth of information, very intelligent guy, knowledgeable guy about the industry.
00:20:09
Speaker
But along with Gary Stern, and they started Daddy East Pinball. So we're going to have a seminar this year with Joe and Gary, and they're going to go through all the games that they built at Daddy East.
00:20:20
Speaker
So that to me should be very interesting. But um so i'm I'm talking to Joe about Pinball Expo and about the homebrew session. He says, Rob, He said, want to do you a favor. He said, oh, yeah, what's that?
00:20:34
Speaker
He said, I want to get a team of guys, and we want to be – we want to judge the home brews. So this crazy Joe has come up with about 40 different awards.
00:20:46
Speaker
Best artwork, best cabinet, best wiring, most unusual theme. And they're going to go around and grade some of these guys and give them awards to the home brew guys. So I think that's going really fun, really cool. He he is – He's a full of energy and full of pinball, and it and he will be there.
00:21:02
Speaker
So for anyone that doesn't know Joe Kamekow, there's another claim to fame that he did that to me makes him the most famous pinball guy that I know. And if you guys know what I'm talking about, the Beatles pinball machine.
00:21:16
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I was going actually have one. So I love the Beatles pinball machine. It's great. Joe Kamekow. Yep. He took a million dollars out of his pocket. to build a dream, you know, for anyone in the pinball scene, hey man, couldn't someone make a Beatles pinball machine? Wouldn't that be cool?
00:21:35
Speaker
Well, Joe Kamekaw made it happen. This guy is a dynamic individual and I'm hoping those here that listen to your podcast will make an effort to come to to his seminar because he'll talk about the daddy's days, but then those are any questions and someone hopefully out there in the audience will say, hey Joe, tell us about the Beatles.
Joe Kamekow's Impact
00:21:56
Speaker
because I think it's just amazing. It's fabulous that he did it. Oh yeah, he talked about the- Got the money to pull it off. Yeah. He talked about that on our show. It was pretty crazy. Some the, like they only meet like twice a year to go over licensing stuff.
00:22:10
Speaker
I think it's like once a year. It was once a year. Yeah. Oh yeah. The whole, the whole process. So that's definitely going to be worth it. Cause Joe's got a wealth of information too. And I know he owns part of the, the back to the future rights for some stuff.
00:22:23
Speaker
Um, I know he's involved in the musical, the back to the future musical. So there's always been speculation. Yeah. Who's there with that? the the team behind Back to the Future. But Joe's got his hands in everything. and Ask him about his car collection. that's I've seen it.
00:22:38
Speaker
Yes. But, you know, he's also very big into the theater. You mentioned it Back to the Future. So he's got he's got some money into that into that play they had it there in New York City. So the the guy is really an interesting gentleman.
00:22:52
Speaker
Anyone that's coming to Expo, make sure you see Joe. And by the way, we also have the autograph area. So um we have a lot of guys coming to that. I've asked the guys from Hexa that did the, yeah the pinball space hunt. I've asked him to have their his team at the autograph session, but and anyone it's just really interested in meeting Steve Ritchie or Pat Lawler. In fact, when i I spoke to Pat, last year was supposed to be his last year coming to Expo, but I asked him to give me a favor give me one more year.
00:23:25
Speaker
But, um, I don't know if if if you're listening, Arnish realizes the impact he had on this on this industry because everything he he designed turned to gold. Starting with Adam's family, Funhaus, the list just goes on and on.
00:23:40
Speaker
And Yeah. So you'll you'll see him at the autograph session as well as his seminar he does with Larry DeMar. But I highly suggest that even for those people that don't come to seminars, they really should make an effort to come to Pat Lawler's because um he's an intelligent guy and he is a great designer. So he's giving a seminar.
00:24:00
Speaker
Steve Ritchie is giving a seminar. And his seminar will be basically the life and times of Steve Ritchie, starting with Airborne Adventures at Atari to his latest game with Jersey Jack.
00:24:11
Speaker
So this is gonna be another another great seminar. I'm asking you, Scotty, to take Josh with you and go see these guys. Well, speaking of which, we're actually doing a seminar too. On Friday morning at 11 a.m., Scott and I are teaming up with Flippin' Out Pinball, ah Joel and Jared, and also Retro Ralph.
00:24:29
Speaker
And we're gonna be talking about content creation. So if it's something that's always intrigued you, if it's something you've always wanted to delve into, there are certain things that I do that people ask, like, why did you do that when it comes to but ah when we're we're promoting?
00:24:42
Speaker
You know, we have... a wealth of ah knowledge when it comes to that. We've been doing this for seven years now here in January.
Networking Opportunities at Expo
00:24:49
Speaker
And ah there's, there's a lot of stuff that if, if you knew getting into this hobby um it would be, it would set you ahead so much further.
00:24:57
Speaker
So come join us on that as well. What was I going say? You know, there's going to be so much content at expo this year that you should be able to get enough speakers for the next 20 years.
00:25:12
Speaker
Oh yeah. but you um Have you guys ever done any any international ah interviews with some of the international guys?
00:25:20
Speaker
A few. We did the... ah Mark Silk. Yeah, we've had Mark Silk a few times on. We've also had the Predator guys. ah They came on. just did Predator reveal.
00:25:32
Speaker
And so... Martin Robbins. We've had him on. Yeah, we've had we've had a handful of people. handle Does Jeff Tolis count? He's from Canada. Yeah, he's pushing it, man.
00:25:44
Speaker
It depends if Trump buys Canada or not, I guess. Good luck. Yeah. But, um you know, some more thing I was going to share with you guys is oh Jeff Moorhead's coming.
00:25:58
Speaker
ah Jeff Moorhead's the guy that purchased the Shea Arcade, you know, the the glasses and so forth they make for the Godlet Games. ah So he will be coming. Are you playing arcade games with us while you're interviewing?
00:26:15
Speaker
Got little Space Invaders going on. But... um Jeff is going to bring either he's getting either four or five boosts, nothing but the pinball backglasses and also
Accommodations and Travel Logistics
00:26:30
Speaker
parts, parts and more parts.
00:26:33
Speaker
Used parts, old parts. And people love digging through his box to see what he's got. So we've got several guys this year that are selling parts. So lot of people like to rummage through this stuff.
00:26:45
Speaker
So between Marco doing their deal, their supermarket deal they're calling it. And a guy like Jeff Moorhead, there's going to be – there's something for everyone, be honest with you guys. No matter what aspect of pinball you're into, there'll be guys there for it.
00:26:58
Speaker
yeah You know, i'm I'm going to tell a story about some of us were playing – And there's a giant free play area, which is great, because Rob, you bring you bring some games that I've never seen before and had a lot of fun playing those games.
00:27:11
Speaker
And for all those out there, and ah friendly competitions, we did dollar games. But was what was even more fun is when we upped the ante. And so, yes, you'd play the dollar game. So if you won, you know then you'd get the $4.
00:27:26
Speaker
But what we did is we added a penalty phase. And so anybody who was lowest gets the lowest score has to take a picture of shame posing like the back glass.
00:27:38
Speaker
ah And so a lot of those a lot of those old games, let's just say it got a little interesting with some of those old backglasses and trance lights because ah it it definitely increased the level of enjoyment. Because the funny thing is it went from people wanting to win and wanting to win the dollars to you absolutely just don't want to be the last one.
00:28:00
Speaker
Yeah, very cool. Love it. Well, you know, um, you mentioned about the game. So we, we bring, once again, we'll be bringing a bunch of games from the arcade here, uh, to the show. And, um, we're bringing a couple of the Australian games again, which people had a real kick out of seeing them.
00:28:16
Speaker
And, um, that should be a lot of fun. Just trying to think of some special titles. um We're bringing a couple of games made by Keenan. more of the EM games.
00:28:27
Speaker
um But that should be interesting for the people that have never seen these games before. Plus, and more of those games from Europe. Like you mentioned about some of these games here that there should be a lot of fun for people to see that stuff.
00:28:40
Speaker
We had one guy reach out to me from ah the Netherlands. And he said, I want to get a booth at Xbox. said, what's up? He said, want to bring a container over of games made for the European market.
00:28:55
Speaker
Now, anyone that's been to Pastimes will see we we have a whole wall of European games like this. And this guy has got these kind of games that he'll sell at Expo this year. So what titles he's bringing, I don't know.
00:29:08
Speaker
But you mentioned, Scott, about titles that you don't normally see. All those titles he'll be bringing to Expo this year for sale. So that's going to be pretty wild.
00:29:19
Speaker
One question from our audience, ah from a Julie, she wants to know um about food options. She didn't know if you were going to try to see if you could get some food trucks or something at Expo this year.
00:29:31
Speaker
Yeah, i mean we we we have the concession stand in front of Expo. And of course, the the hotel's got their selection of restaurants. ah We haven't looked into that truck option yet, honestly. So I will make a note of that we'll look into that.
00:29:44
Speaker
And so let's talk about hotel options. So I'm actually, i am one of the late guys too. So I'm trying to look for hotel reservations and there's a lot of places that don't, well, I know the Renaissance right now doesn't have any, anything available, but it looks like we have home suites. We have Hyatt, we have embassy suites.
00:30:00
Speaker
Tell me how close they are to expo and how easy that would be to stay there and come. I think the ah homeward is the closest as far as walking, but think the others are offering, um,
00:30:12
Speaker
They are offering shuttles to get to to the Renaissance. Okay. I have to admit, though, you know, but when I first did the show there, ah rooms didn't sell it about maybe um a month or two before the show started.
00:30:26
Speaker
But the past two years, that they've sold out maybe the first month we we put them on, we put them open to book. So, you know, more and more people are are learning about our show and and are enjoying it to the point where they're making it.
00:30:41
Speaker
an effort to get there sooner rather than later. pretty impressive too, because that hotel is what, 16, 17 floors tall. It's just, there's so many rooms there. So it's impressive that this many people coming from around the world to the home place of pinball Chicago, filling up that hotel and showing love to these people that have, ah they they've had a long since their childhood through pinball, you know, or our even arcade, like with Steve Ritchie and Mortal Kombat and stuff like that. So. I mean, guys, you gotta remember, you know, when I, when I did the show the first year,
00:31:11
Speaker
ah That first year, in fact, we we toured Gotland. But at the time, Gotland was very closed-lipped. Their people didn't mingle with other manufacturers.
00:31:21
Speaker
And, you know, it was like taboo to even talk to their people. So I think it was the first first year we we toured their factory. But that was like, you know, we we broke down a barrier. People couldn't believe it. How in the world did you make that happen? But it was a big thrill for a lot of us because we had never walked through a pinball factory for one.
00:31:42
Speaker
But to see of all companies, the almighty Godlet that was so quiet about everything to finally open up their doors to the general public was pretty unbelievable.
00:31:55
Speaker
Now tell me more about the, the tours. So I know we have Stern pinball. Is anyone else offering pinball tours this year? Well, not really. Cause mean, we just do the, the we try to do one tour a year. I mean, last year was an exception because it was the 40th.
00:32:09
Speaker
Sure. But that, that, that was a nightmare putting that together. And, um, not all the guys were in favor of it, but, uh, all the manufacturers ended up doing, doing it, enjoyed it. And, uh,
00:32:22
Speaker
The people enjoyed it, but I mean, that's a lot of busting around from this place. was sure. And they have to shut down the factory basically during it. So I totally understand. But there are some things that looks like I'm i'm just looking quickly at your site.
00:32:35
Speaker
And so Stern has a Make-A-Wish thing that they're trying to to get going. and so They're donating a game. Yep. And Jersey Jack too, it looks like, a a limited edition avatar.
00:32:48
Speaker
So Jersey Jack will be handling the raffle from their booth, and we'll do the Stern raffle at our booth. But yeah, they're there. Plus, we got Project Pinball, guys. the Project Pinball is pretty nuts, too.
00:33:00
Speaker
The question I have for you, Rob, there's usually new games at Expo. i'm not going to ask you what the titles are, but can you give us an idea of how many new games we could see at Expo this year? Well, I mean, Jersey Jack is the same titles we know.
00:33:14
Speaker
Stern, you know, they just did the Star Wars. I don't know.
Engaging Younger Attendees
00:33:19
Speaker
There was talk about Stern maybe showing something else, but I don't know of the title or what it is. um ah Chicago Gaming, I haven't heard anything. ah Yeah, nothing new that I'm aware of that any surprises other than maybe some of the European guys.
00:33:38
Speaker
Okay. Do you know if Pinball Brothers is bringing over Predator? Because that's this will be one of the first times people in America will even bring over. don't mean Pinball Brothers, but but they're having some of the local distributors bring the game.
00:33:50
Speaker
But yeah, Predator won't be there. Now, the question is, do I want to buy that game? I hear it's pretty good, but i haven I haven't seen it yet. I want to see it. Yeah, that's that's always my recommendation.
00:34:02
Speaker
Everywhere I go, Josh wants to be there. So Josh, are you going to be a predator? Are you going to be a mothership? Are you going to be what? Space hunt. Well, this is a couple of days long, so I'm just going to take my sweet time. I'm going to go to a mall. There you go.
00:34:17
Speaker
I was going to put one of those um air tag on them to find out where he is. I know where he's at. no Make sure i go a different direction. Okay. Okay. So if, uh, so I'm my son, I'm bringing him first time.
00:34:31
Speaker
He is going to be 14. So what are the things i need to prepare my son for? And how can I make it engaging for a 14 year old? Because we know there are different attention spans and he's definitely not as, uh, as deep in the weeds of pinball nerddom that Josh and I may be.
00:34:50
Speaker
So, uh, how can I make it fun for him? Okay. Number one, there's There's a free play area so he can play all the games there. And they're all the games from the we've got some games from the 50s, the 60s, everything.
00:35:03
Speaker
So he can play those games. Number two, there's going to be a kid's tournament. Number three, there's a guy by the name of Tanner Walters. there They call him the pinball scientist. And he's going to have a workshop there on making a pinball machine.
00:35:19
Speaker
So a gate ah toy came out from one of the made one of the manufacturers, and they have all these components to build this pinball machine. So he can come to that booth, and they'll give him a brand-new box that he can open up and and build this pinball machine.
00:35:33
Speaker
So that should be interesting, we know, for the kids. Then we have the ah Project Pinball's got their raffle, where, you you know, there's there's stuff there A to Z that he might want to put his raffle ticket in to get something. I think there'll be some flippy toys in there, too, for for you flippy junkies.
00:35:50
Speaker
um but he'll have that as well. And he also will have the opportunity to meet other pinball kids his age, including pinball ladies.
00:36:07
Speaker
So this will be a chance for him to to get Dapper Dan to get his hat out and, you know, say, hello, I'd like to meet you. i'd like to. So this is a chance for for dad to get lost and help meet some people out there.
00:36:23
Speaker
that'll be lost on Josh, you're bringing your kid too, right? I'm bringing my wife. you bring your life yeah She's bringing her kid, which is me. oh god yeah so what's advice for We keep hearing this. This is my first expo. I'm so excited.
00:36:37
Speaker
what do you have What's your advice for these first-time attendees? you know That's a great question because initially it hits them with a bam. you know Where do you go first? Where do you turn first?
00:36:50
Speaker
I guess look at the schedule of events and see if anything and in particular you know gets gets your attention. um A lot of people don't hit the seminars, but think once they start looking at some them, there might be a few of them that piqued their interest so they could do that.
00:37:05
Speaker
um Then, of course, the tour is always ah a special treat for a lot of people. But you know what happens too is that you know the opening night, Wednesday night, we have the bumper blast at Interium. Have you guys been that Interium yet?
00:37:18
Speaker
yeah Oh, yeah. Amazing. So that's always fun. But also, it's the chance to meet the pinball enthusiasts from around the world. So whether it be an interium or just on on the show floor, yeah next thing you know, you're talking to somebody, hey, let's play a game of pinball together.
00:37:34
Speaker
And then you you learn that from Italy or Spain or something, and next thing you know, you got a pin pal. But um there's so much happening. is it Okay, pin pal. Where did start?
00:37:46
Speaker
did Did you say pen pal, ah Rob? Because I think they'll just text them. There you go. Well, speaking Inventarium, we also have the Media Mixer Thursday night. ah Colin from Kineticist is putting that on along with Scorbit.
00:38:01
Speaker
We're going to be there. or We've already signed up to be there. Yeah, when would you offer that? ah Six to nine, if I remember correctly. But is this the media then? No. So the media. They're available.
00:38:13
Speaker
Tickets are available. The media is going to be there, but you come meet your favorite personalities like us. Yeah. when we Triple drain or Craig Bobby, whoever may be. And ah come hang out with us and ah have some nachos and we'll play some pinball too. Yeah.
00:38:27
Speaker
You know, that's the thing, Josh, there's so much going on. Like you mentioned with, with, with that deal. Plus, you know, they have that pinball Olympics. Jay brand does that thing.
00:38:39
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely that's insane. That is a fantastic. fun It's like an unhinged frat boy event. yeah So absolutely go up. It is it is hilarious. It is awesome. It is a little bit of a drive. So just keep that in mind.
00:38:52
Speaker
ah But it definitely has some fun challenges. What is that all day Saturday? What's the hour to them? Yeah, usually about noon to four. But with the hour drive out and hour drive back. Yeah, it it's all day this Saturday.
Pinball Olympics and Side Events
00:39:04
Speaker
um Is it noon to four a.m. or p.m.?
00:39:07
Speaker
P.m. P.m. And it's all you can eat tacos. That's what you should be. You should be hitting up Jay for his contact for the tacos because those tacos are probably some of the best tacos I've ever had. Oh, he doesn't make them?
00:39:19
Speaker
No, he hires a a caterer to bring them. You know that's the trouble with the hotel. You know, because you're in the hotel property, you got to use their people for everything. You know, one time but we wanted ah we had movie night we wanted to have popcorn and stuff.
00:39:34
Speaker
they They were going to charge like $8 for a bowl of popcorn. let me tell something. That bowl was like this. And it wasn't this. It's just crazy.
00:39:44
Speaker
Okay, I just looked it up. Pinball Life. It looks like there's currently no tickets, but knows? Oh, the tickets sell within minutes. Yeah, tickets sell out. But you may be able to email or see if there's a way of of backdoor entering. if the best The best way to do it, I've had to do this a couple times now. The best way to do this, go on pinside.com and look up the Pinball Olympics forum.
00:40:05
Speaker
And then there's always going to be people that have bought tickets and then weren't able to go or whatnot. It's $100 a ticket. ah it's hundred bucks a ticket it's 125 now, but it does come with like, it is food, drink, everything. So and it's, it's an event. He's, he's putting it on and feeding you. It's a whole afternoon of fun. So, yeah. So I, I thought I went to Jay's house about a year or so ago before the event.
00:40:30
Speaker
Cause I wanted to see it, but it's pretty, pretty doggone nuts. yeah's was Did you go, did you go to the beaded curtain room? The family friendly show. Yeah.
00:40:45
Speaker
I'm like, ball oh, this is, yeah. i Okay. I would say for anybody concerned, there's like 99 games there and there's only two that are like super risque. So you can always avoid those, but they do make you giggle a little bit. so But that's the thing though, Scott, there's so much happening that week at PenBull Expo, which is crazy.
00:41:03
Speaker
Yeah. There's not enough hours in a day. Yeah. There isn't. And my wife and i are coming in actually early a day early because she wants to go downtown and see Chicago. so we're going to go see the Gangsters and Ghosts tour.
00:41:15
Speaker
Yeah. And then we'll do pinball for the next five days, you know? Good for you. Well, you know what was going to say to you guys? um Flippy will be returning after after a year's absence. He'll be back. That's awesome. Wait, Flippy wasn't there last year? Because I saw the signs. Yeah, he was there. What Okay.
00:41:38
Speaker
As many years as you've seen him. Oh, gotcha. He'll be back with his sister Flipette and maybe the little brother Chip. We don't know yet. Oh, there you go. There's a couple of unique games that come to Expo.
00:41:49
Speaker
i can't remember if they were this year, there this year, but I know they've been there in the past and they're, they're super unique. because there's only a handful of these made in the whole world, like rat race. It's where it's a cocktail pinball where the whole we don't have race, we do have just though.
00:42:03
Speaker
Yeah, we'll have just there this year. Okay. Yeah. Joust is fun. it's It's an interesting game. And, you know, it's hard to find a working one. So definitely switch out.
00:42:13
Speaker
My advice for anybody going to these places is, okay, it's always fun to play the big games, you know, going, you know, playing Godzilla, King Kong, go play Harry Potter, go play all these games. Try to reach out and find like those games where you will never find them anywhere else.
00:42:29
Speaker
And it was, yeah, like pinball circus was supposedly there last year. I never saw it They were supposedly... yeah know it wasnna knock off ah yeah yeah it was so It was a A was a fan creation homage.
00:42:43
Speaker
yeah still That is a really cool homage. For a game, there's only two of in the whole world. yeah well the the The one at at Hall of Fame hasn't been functioning for years. I think I just played it once. You know you know the most bu you guys mentioned it. We have this arcade here in our hometown called it The Pastimes.
00:43:02
Speaker
yeah I'm not sure if you guys have looked it up, but I heard these games. You're welcome to the guys and check it out. But we have 600 games. oh Well, 90% working at any given time. Anything could break down. Okay, but then we definitely need to go with those. yeah really Josh, we should fly out for a weekend and and check pastimes.
00:43:21
Speaker
Yeah, but let's get off. That's the trouble. Yeah. What did you just say, Rob? What does the wife let him take off? Oh, well. oh I'm i'm sure maybe sure she would.
00:43:34
Speaker
Yeah. She's never been to Ohio before, man. It's time to go.
Hall of Fame and Screenings
00:43:37
Speaker
the one thing guys have learned is happy wife, happy life. Yep. And we've also learned when she's right, she's right. And when she's wrong, she's right.
00:43:45
Speaker
Well, in our marriage, we actually have ah we have three but two votes and she gets the tiebreaker. Okay, same idea. yeah And when we're both wrong, I'm wrong. And she's still right.
00:43:58
Speaker
Drop me beat, man. you got some new ones. and ye ah Cool, Rob. Honestly, I think that we've We've been going at this for about 45 minutes. We really appreciate you coming on. Is there anything that you feel like we haven't covered that you really want to talk about with Expo?
00:44:13
Speaker
um Well, ah another thing is if you guys knew Mark Helms, he wrote a movie. He gave a pinball movie several years ago, but Mark Helms is coming back. He'll be showing a movie there.
00:44:25
Speaker
And another fellow has got a movie he's showing. So there'll be two mo pinball movies will be played in the evening at Expo. So that that'll be new and different. So one will be the The Man Who Saved the Game, the Roger Sharp movie?
00:44:37
Speaker
No, no, no. We've been there already a couple years ago. Pinball the American Game. that It looks like it's Friday at 9 p.m. And there's one, I think, it Saturday too? Yeah, For Your Amusement Saturday at, or and actually, what is it now? Thursday night.
00:44:54
Speaker
There you go. For Your Amusement 9.30. Yep. yep So we have that, and then we have... um Dwight giving his, and yeah let's make a deal. can do about night Come. It's always great.
00:45:08
Speaker
It's always great. It's amazing. It's always big too. Dwight is actually one of the best MCs out there. He is, he is awesome. Yeah. yeah And you know, that's becoming more and more popular once the word gets out. Oh yeah.
00:45:20
Speaker
By the way, um we will also have our hall of fame ceremony, you know, ah on Friday at five 30, we'll induct our latest hall of fame people. And, um, We'll be saying a couple of tributes to some of those people that have passed away.
00:45:35
Speaker
So Rob Anthony and Fred fred Young. and do you guys ah do you guys ever meet Fred Young in your travels? don't know I did not, no. So Fred Young was the guy who does all the voices.
00:45:48
Speaker
So he passed last year, so we'll miss him. But um it's all positive energy, guys. right Anyone that's thinking about coming, it's all positive energy. And it's all about pinball and friendship. and so So give us the dates.
00:46:03
Speaker
ah Tell us what dates they are, where to get tickets, and ah and how they can get that information.
Final Thoughts and Promotions
00:46:10
Speaker
October 15th to the 18th, and all the tickets are through the website, or you can buy them when you get there that day.
00:46:19
Speaker
And if you're doing the tournament, make sure you don't leave on the 19th, because usually finals go into to the 19th. Yes. They go until Sunday, that's correct. Yep. so Well, awesome.
00:46:30
Speaker
but You know, it it's great being with you guys. I thank you for for reaching out and look forward to you guys seeing you guys on the show and seeing you guys on Nuts. For sure. It'll be fun, though. i mean, we should get a picture of you and I, a couple pictures of pers are you know you ah running ahead of me ah one picture and me at running ahead of you on another picture.
00:46:49
Speaker
Josh, that sounds good. yeah He plays dirty. Yeah. A lot of fun guys for everybody. and And I thank you guys for coming and Scott, thanks for coming this year. I'd like to get your comments when you're done, but I hope that you really enjoy it Like I'm sure you will.
00:47:03
Speaker
Yeah, no, it'll be great. Rob, if you want someone to get ahold of you, what's the best way to get ahold of you? Three, three, oh, three, three, oh, seven, one, six. okay Okay. 31, 39. you have any questions or comments? that sponsor man given It is a and ah To our millions of listens. That is questionable. A million phone calls we hang up.
00:47:25
Speaker
I wouldn't call everybody but the spamsters. The spam guys have got out of control, man. All these guys from India are just crazy with their spamsters. I text them back because I have fun with it.
00:47:37
Speaker
We were like, hey, you meeting up tonight? And I'm like, absolutely. ah Meet me at the place at 8 o'clock and get get a get a room and or whatever. ah Get a table and I'll meet you there. and Me, the same thing. they They get these random text messages.
00:47:49
Speaker
Hey, how you been? Or whatever. Why are you in my phone? Yeah, I don't know how they get in there, man. I'm the same way. They say, I'm doing good. I miss you. How you been?
00:48:01
Speaker
They don't know me Adam. So finally, after about ah five minutes, he says, hi, my name was... ah whatever. What's your, here's how I leave Scott.
00:48:13
Speaker
yeah I said, I'm sorry. My mother told me never talk to strangers. Goodbye. No, I usually say something like, that is your mom proud of what you're doing for a living? Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:24
Speaker
I've done something like that too. but you I said, why why do you waste your time with us? Can't you yeah i think of something better to do? yeah And then this girl replied, well, I'm very wealthy. My father owns his business.
00:48:36
Speaker
And I said to him, yeah, he owns his business and you're wasting your time with me. All right.
00:48:41
Speaker
If you want to get a hold of us, Yeah, go ahead. We are loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com. You can get ahold of us on all the socials at loser kid pinball. If you're looking to get a loser kid hat, remember you only have till Monday.
00:48:53
Speaker
You must What day, Josh? Monday, September, Monday, September 29th. I think it is. I hope so the guests on your show get a free hat. Yeah, they do. We'll bring you one.
00:49:04
Speaker
Yeah, I should really do it though. You you should put one in in the project pinball auction. Oh, definitely. You know, that'd be a nice thing to get some money to fundraise on that. Yeah, for sure. um If you want some Silver Ball swag, go silverballswag.com slash loserkid.
00:49:20
Speaker
Also, don't forget, this weekend is the Pinball, or not the Pinball Award, sorry, the Podcast Awards, which we've been nominated for in the Games and Hobbies section. So check that out their website, thepodcastawards.com, for time for g ceremonial the ceremony. I have a question you.
00:49:37
Speaker
Who was the, cause i don't know who was the first pinball podcast? What'd you say? I don't know. Remember Clay Harrell used to interview guys and stuff with top cast. Was that the name of it?
00:49:50
Speaker
I think so. I don't know. That's a really good question. night Back in the day, i mean, the the original pinball podcast with Don and Jeff, they had those two sharps. He went around to yeah the different manufacturers and record them back in the 70s and stuff like that. That's a tape cast.
00:50:08
Speaker
um Yeah, that was coast to coast. Yeah, and there were a few back in the day, but. Yeah. How would I might say maybe Clay Harrell? Because he's one of the first guys who started interviewing these people.
00:50:20
Speaker
Yep, yep. You guys be well. Have a safe weekend and sing pinball. And thank you for reaching out to me. I appreciate it. Definitely. Scott, give us our last words. See you Expo.