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Ep 92: No Pinheads, I Expect You To Wait!
45 Plays3 years ago
We talk mods, Expo, and the biggest news of the week. Bond, or the lack there of.
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Transcript
Excitement for New Bond Pinball
00:00:07
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
00:00:09
Speaker
It is episode 92.
00:00:10
Speaker
I am Josh Roop.
00:00:11
Speaker
With me, my co-captain as always.
00:00:13
Speaker
Scott Larson.
00:00:15
Speaker
And Scott, we have such an unusual week of news here.
00:00:19
Speaker
Yeah, it's, well, it's certainly been interesting.
00:00:22
Speaker
But do you know what's not unusual?
00:00:25
Speaker
Ordering a new pinball machine.
00:00:27
Speaker
Yes.
00:00:28
Speaker
And we know that Stern has officially announced Bond is coming.
00:00:32
Speaker
We just haven't officially seen stuff.
00:00:35
Speaker
Right.
00:00:36
Speaker
So, anyway.
00:00:37
Speaker
So, if you want that new Bond...
00:00:39
Speaker
Who do you hit up, Scott?
00:00:41
Speaker
So I contact Zach and Nicole Minnie at Flippin' Out Pinball.
00:00:44
Speaker
And even if you have, you want one of the newer ones, Godzilla's great, Mandalorian's great, and Rush is great.
00:00:52
Speaker
Rush is actually, since I've had it up, is a lot of fun, and it's a good shooter.
00:00:58
Speaker
So I'm really excited about that one.
00:01:00
Speaker
If you want to get that pre-order in for Bond, definitely go ahead and reach out to them.
00:01:04
Speaker
They can certainly get you on a list.
Iron Maiden and Tokyo Sign Pinball Mods
00:01:06
Speaker
They also have some, I guess, museum quality pieces they're trying to sell.
00:01:12
Speaker
And you can definitely see that on their website too.
00:01:15
Speaker
So at least that section anyway.
00:01:17
Speaker
I don't know if it's necessarily on the website or on their Facebook update, but either way, you can figure it out.
00:01:23
Speaker
Also, Zach's kind of turning into the accessory king.
00:01:25
Speaker
I mean, if you want those toppers, he's got those toppers along with side blades, art blades, all the stuff.
00:01:31
Speaker
If you want any of that, go ahead, hit up Zach.
00:01:34
Speaker
He'll get it for you.
00:01:35
Speaker
And if you do, tell him who's their kid sent you and say happy anniversary.
00:01:39
Speaker
It was his 16th year being married to his wonderful wife, Nicole.
00:01:43
Speaker
So nice.
00:01:43
Speaker
Congratulations to them.
00:01:45
Speaker
Okay, so let's start off.
00:01:47
Speaker
I actually have a quick update on, for those of you who got the Iron Maiden mod, we talked to Steve Govea about and his mass production of the sarcophagus and as the replacement for the plastic.
00:02:03
Speaker
There is, he's not doing these for a mass release, but he did take the Cyborg Eddie and
00:02:10
Speaker
And he updated it and put some shooters on his, like some lights on his lasers.
00:02:16
Speaker
But he also modified the mouth to be more in keeping with how that cyborg Eddie has been portrayed.
00:02:24
Speaker
So that looks really cool.
00:02:28
Speaker
I did ask him if he was planning on doing this for mass production, but he said it's way too much work to actually do that because he's modifying the existing mod or the existing sculpt.
00:02:39
Speaker
But it does look really cool.
00:02:40
Speaker
It looks I guess it looks thematically consistent with his sarcophagus mod.
00:02:46
Speaker
So that looks great.
00:02:49
Speaker
Maybe if you throw enough money at him, he'll make one for you.
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:02:54
Speaker
Say, Steve, I know you're not making this publicly, but hey.
00:02:57
Speaker
On the slide.
00:02:58
Speaker
No, but it's been super nice.
00:03:01
Speaker
And seeing his game progress, it looks really cool.
00:03:06
Speaker
Yeah, definitely.
00:03:07
Speaker
And then speaking of mods, I received a mod last night.
00:03:10
Speaker
And you know me, I'm not huge on mods.
00:03:12
Speaker
You're not a huge modder, yeah.
00:03:14
Speaker
I don't mind if they come with the pinball machine, but I'm not usually the guy that's going to buy one outside and install myself.
00:03:20
Speaker
But we were hanging out in the triple drain chat.
00:03:23
Speaker
We've made one with them.
00:03:24
Speaker
And I think it was Joel that sent us this picture of the Tokyo sign mod that was being made by Stumblr.
00:03:31
Speaker
And it was a limited run.
00:03:32
Speaker
And it's just watching it in action in the video and the pictures.
00:03:36
Speaker
It's quite
Aesthetics and Integration of Mods
00:03:38
Speaker
the eye-catching mod.
00:03:40
Speaker
And I decided, let's give this a try.
00:03:43
Speaker
I ordered it.
00:03:44
Speaker
What's it been?
00:03:45
Speaker
It's been a couple months now.
00:03:46
Speaker
And finally it dropped.
00:03:48
Speaker
I got it last night in the mail.
00:03:50
Speaker
Installed it this morning.
00:03:51
Speaker
Only took about 15, 20 minutes.
00:03:53
Speaker
Not very long.
00:03:55
Speaker
And that's including with kids bothering me and running in and out.
00:03:58
Speaker
And I didn't want their hands inside the pinball machine.
00:04:01
Speaker
really really simple to install i think there's three screws total it's it's really not that bad and some zip ties you got to run the wiring through some wiring harnesses but it's not bad uh overall i am very impressed with this mod from the packaging uh very official showing up a box inside the box so you pull out the box inside of a box it's a black beautiful box pink neon lettering godzilla tokyo sign mod
00:04:26
Speaker
You open that up.
00:04:27
Speaker
It's all like even the feeling.
00:04:30
Speaker
It's not like packing peanuts.
00:04:31
Speaker
It's like this color coded.
00:04:34
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:04:35
Speaker
Feeling that matches the box.
00:04:38
Speaker
And then you pull out your sign and stuff like that.
00:04:40
Speaker
All of it's prepackaged in Ziplocs.
00:04:42
Speaker
Um,
00:04:44
Speaker
I wish they would stick like a post-it note or something in there though saying, hey, this is where you find the instructions because I opened it up and I'm like, this is very intimidating with a couple wiring harnesses.
00:04:54
Speaker
Right, yeah.
00:04:55
Speaker
And this mod, but even like the mod itself, what impresses me is when I think mod, sometimes I think homebrew.
00:05:03
Speaker
Right.
00:05:03
Speaker
I think a lot of us think that, like unless you're talking like,
00:05:06
Speaker
a flat-out company like Muselmods.
00:05:09
Speaker
So I was half expecting
Godzilla and Game Collection Updates
00:05:11
Speaker
this to be kind of like homebrew-ish.
00:05:13
Speaker
I've seen Stumbler stuff in the past, and it's really impressive.
00:05:16
Speaker
But pulling this out, it felt official.
00:05:19
Speaker
It felt like a company, which it probably is, a company that has been making these for years.
00:05:26
Speaker
I mean, even Stumbler's printed on the circuit boards.
00:05:29
Speaker
It's printed on the stickers that were holding together the boxes.
00:05:33
Speaker
I mean, it's crazy that like...
00:05:35
Speaker
This little thing is just, it just looks so official.
00:05:40
Speaker
So like I said, you take the two screws off, you pop out your old sign, you put the new sign in, you run the wiring harness down into the cab, zip tie in into place.
00:05:49
Speaker
You're pretty much good to go.
00:05:51
Speaker
The instructions, those like 25 points or whatever, really it's not too bad because there's extra optional stuff because of like a power splitter if you have one of those in your game or whatever.
00:06:01
Speaker
Anything like that.
00:06:02
Speaker
But honestly, I can't wait to see the other two signs because he's talked about making the two signs in the back that go on the buildings to kind of match the neon Tokyo up front.
00:06:11
Speaker
It is eye-catching.
00:06:13
Speaker
As soon as you turn on this machine because it's receiving power, it's totally black when you turn on the game except for the sign.
00:06:20
Speaker
You got this hot pink neon sign.
00:06:23
Speaker
It's gorgeous.
00:06:24
Speaker
I don't know.
00:06:25
Speaker
It definitely adds to the game and makes it feel... I mean, this game already feels packed as is.
00:06:31
Speaker
Right.
00:06:32
Speaker
And that's one thing I dislike about mods is sometimes... It tends to clutter them up.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yes.
00:06:38
Speaker
I met a guy when I bought my first pinball machine.
00:06:41
Speaker
He used AstroTurf to cover the apron on his No Good Gophers.
00:06:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:45
Speaker
That just seems...
00:06:48
Speaker
I don't know how to put it nicely.
00:06:49
Speaker
Like it just doesn't seem very professional.
00:06:52
Speaker
It looks very much like a, well,
00:06:55
Speaker
Okay, you know those dioramas you made in junior high?
00:06:58
Speaker
Yes.
00:06:59
Speaker
Again.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yes, that's a perfect example.
00:07:02
Speaker
That's always that fine line that you have to walk when you're putting stuff in a game because if it looks closer to something that would have come in the game
Pinball Expo: Attractions and Dining Recommendations
00:07:13
Speaker
from a professional company, then it certainly integrates a lot better.
00:07:17
Speaker
If it looks... I'm not a big fan of taking...
00:07:22
Speaker
like a toy and just throwing in a, like a car or something and just throwing in an led light in it and then just connect it to the bottom.
00:07:29
Speaker
Uh, that it, it, it feels like, Oh, well you just kind of grabbed something off your kid's dresser and put it in there.
00:07:38
Speaker
Um, but if it looks like it should be integrated, then I think it's awesome.
00:07:42
Speaker
I totally agree.
00:07:44
Speaker
And this does, it feels like it is part of the machine.
00:07:47
Speaker
Which number were you, by the way, on the list?
00:07:50
Speaker
Do you remember?
00:07:52
Speaker
253, no, 230.
00:07:53
Speaker
I was in below the 250.
00:07:55
Speaker
So I think I was 235.
00:07:56
Speaker
Cause you're just right.
00:07:58
Speaker
You're right.
00:07:59
Speaker
Like 10 past me.
00:08:00
Speaker
So you should be getting yours.
00:08:01
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:01
Speaker
I actually paid for mine.
00:08:03
Speaker
And so I should be getting mine soon.
00:08:05
Speaker
So I'm that, that's why I was like looking for, Oh, I wonder where Josh is.
00:08:10
Speaker
Oh, I'm 240.
00:08:10
Speaker
Oh, actually you're 239.
00:08:13
Speaker
I'm 240.
00:08:14
Speaker
Oh, nice.
00:08:16
Speaker
So you should be getting yours any day now.
00:08:18
Speaker
I should be getting mine any day.
00:08:20
Speaker
It probably, since Vernal is a little closer to New England, excuse me, then it should, that's probably why it came to you first.
00:08:31
Speaker
You would think that, but the weird part is they ship everything to Salt Lake.
00:08:34
Speaker
So they ship it past me and then they ship it back towards me.
00:08:38
Speaker
So unless if it went through Denver, but I highly doubt it.
00:08:41
Speaker
FedEx usually goes through Salt Lake.
00:08:43
Speaker
Right.
00:08:44
Speaker
But go check out his website, StumblerPinball.com.
00:08:48
Speaker
Davey is awesome.
00:08:49
Speaker
He was great to work with.
00:08:51
Speaker
I can't speak highly enough of this man.
00:08:53
Speaker
The mods are so professional, so well done.
00:08:56
Speaker
And if you haven't looked at his Creature from the Black Lagoon snack bar mod, go check this out as well.
00:09:01
Speaker
It really brings a lot.
00:09:02
Speaker
That's really impressive, too.
00:09:04
Speaker
The one they eat at, like the diner mod.
00:09:07
Speaker
Yep.
00:09:08
Speaker
And even each letter lights up and it looks, it looks like a, a sign you'd see out on the street going to a cafe or whatever, you know?
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:09:18
Speaker
Well, I am looking forward to getting my mod in then for, uh, for that.
00:09:23
Speaker
So,
00:09:24
Speaker
Yeah, it's always that fine line too, because you could legitimately dump in a $2,000 worth of mods into games.
00:09:33
Speaker
Yes.
00:09:33
Speaker
And this wasn't a cheap mod.
00:09:37
Speaker
No.
00:09:37
Speaker
So it can get expensive really quickly.
00:09:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:42
Speaker
I think that's the only reason I did switch out this one because even though the flat plastic works, I think that this adds more depth to the visualization of the game.
00:09:52
Speaker
Sure.
00:09:53
Speaker
Well, and that's why you see a difference between like, well, I'll go back to Iron Maiden.
00:09:59
Speaker
An easy way of making it
00:10:02
Speaker
of bringing down the build of material is to pull out 3D items and replace them with a 2D plastic printed item.
00:10:13
Speaker
Yep.
00:10:13
Speaker
And so, and that's cause that's super cheap.
Logistics of Attending Pinball Expo
00:10:16
Speaker
It's super cheap to manufacture.
00:10:18
Speaker
But actually if you have something that's 3d sculpted, it has to be manufactured, which I mean, if you're doing a volume run, it's not as big of a deal, but most of them, you know, it's that that's the reason why you're paying more for a premium or an LE and that's an easy way for them to scale it back.
00:10:37
Speaker
But it is eye catching when you see it to say, oh yeah, that does make a difference.
00:10:42
Speaker
And like I said, where it kind of integrates with the game, like where it's already replacing something, it makes it look a lot better in my opinion.
00:10:50
Speaker
And Godzilla is a beautiful game.
00:10:52
Speaker
I think that's the other thing too.
00:10:53
Speaker
I don't foresee Godzilla ever leaving my collection.
00:10:56
Speaker
I love this game.
00:10:57
Speaker
It has officially went to the top of my favorite game of all time.
00:11:00
Speaker
I think that having any Elwynn game is actually, like I will always have at least one, but currently I have all four.
00:11:09
Speaker
And I don't really see me moving any out anytime soon.
00:11:14
Speaker
Probably the next one to go for me would be Led Zeppelin just because even my wife's like, I don't really like playing this game.
00:11:20
Speaker
And the theme's great, but I don't have a lot of fun shooting it.
00:11:27
Speaker
I'm also considering like Mandalorian, but I haven't had enough time on it.
00:11:31
Speaker
But it's very similar to, well, I wouldn't say similar, but it doesn't engage me as much.
00:11:38
Speaker
And since I am not a huge fan of a gimmick taking up a huge portion of real estate, that little tilty upper play field, it feels like it shuts the game off a lot more than having a more open play field.
00:11:58
Speaker
I did end up selling Earthshaker, speaking of being a rip games.
00:12:02
Speaker
So I'm just kind of waiting.
00:12:03
Speaker
I'm waiting to see what comes out.
00:12:06
Speaker
But before we move on to that, because we do have some stuff to go off with Bond, I guess.
00:12:13
Speaker
We want to hurry and talk to you about Expo, right?
00:12:15
Speaker
Go ahead.
00:12:16
Speaker
I was going to say, a lot of people...
00:12:18
Speaker
A lot of people, this is their first time going to pinball expo in Chicago.
00:12:22
Speaker
Some of the highlights we'd recommend.
00:12:24
Speaker
Um, and obviously people want to know about this stuff because one of our top listened episodes is pinball expo recapped from last year.
00:12:33
Speaker
Really?
00:12:33
Speaker
Like the one I went around with like my voice recorder.
00:12:37
Speaker
No, that was, I was like that.
00:12:39
Speaker
That was okay.
00:12:40
Speaker
That would have surprised me.
00:12:41
Speaker
No, I'm talking about the one after we came back.
00:12:43
Speaker
It has me and you playing pinball Olympics is our picture.
00:12:46
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah.
00:12:48
Speaker
Pinball Expo is great.
00:12:50
Speaker
The free play area, we hope, is a little different than it was last year.
00:12:55
Speaker
But really, the main focal point of Expo is the manufacturer's area.
00:13:01
Speaker
The place is beautiful.
00:13:03
Speaker
I mean, it's very well lit.
00:13:04
Speaker
I wish this is the one problem I have with it, too, is they only have it open from like 5 to 10.
00:13:10
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:10
Speaker
I will say I did look because of that.
00:13:14
Speaker
I did look at, cause I actually talked to one of our listeners.
00:13:19
Speaker
Her name is Julie and she is, she was asking about going to going to expo.
00:13:25
Speaker
And so I talked to her and I said, well, okay, so here are the things that are a lot of seminars that go during the day, but the event hall is more limited.
00:13:33
Speaker
However, I pulled up to see when the event hall is open and I
00:13:39
Speaker
Thursday, it is open at noon.
00:13:42
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:13:42
Speaker
Cool.
00:13:43
Speaker
And it goes till midnight.
00:13:46
Speaker
Friday, it is open at 10 a.m.
00:13:49
Speaker
and
Seminars and Tournaments at Pinball Expo
00:13:50
Speaker
then goes till midnight.
00:13:53
Speaker
And Saturday, it opens at 10 a.m.
00:13:55
Speaker
So that is a change from last time.
00:13:57
Speaker
But wait, is that specifically just the free play area or is that?
00:14:01
Speaker
It says event hall.
00:14:03
Speaker
I'm not sure what the event hall is.
00:14:07
Speaker
does that include the free play and the vendor area or just the fleet free play area?
00:14:13
Speaker
I'm not sure.
00:14:14
Speaker
I'm not sure either, but that would be exciting if that's the case, because that is my one problem I had with that area is not only was the manufacturer area closed off from like five to 10, but
00:14:25
Speaker
But they also put all the homebrews back in there.
00:14:28
Speaker
It was kind of strange.
00:14:29
Speaker
It was... And that was one thing I walked away kind of regretting is I didn't get to play.
00:14:34
Speaker
I saw Sonic.
00:14:35
Speaker
But everyone was always playing it.
00:14:38
Speaker
And I didn't have time.
00:14:39
Speaker
And even Saturday night when I'm like, Scott, I've got to go to bed.
00:14:42
Speaker
I know it's only 10, but I have to be out of here at 3 in the morning to get on my flight.
00:14:47
Speaker
And you're like, well, just come play at least just a round or two.
00:14:50
Speaker
I'm like, but with the line the way it is, it's insane, you know?
00:14:54
Speaker
But...
00:14:56
Speaker
If that's the case, if the whole thing's open for 10 plus hours.
00:15:00
Speaker
It'll be nice to see.
00:15:01
Speaker
It'll be nice to see.
00:15:03
Speaker
The other thing, too, is know that if you're playing pinball right at midnight when it does all shut down, they will shut off the game.
00:15:10
Speaker
Yes.
00:15:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:11
Speaker
You'll be in the middle of the game.
00:15:12
Speaker
They won't say anything.
00:15:13
Speaker
They're just like, you're done.
00:15:14
Speaker
And click.
00:15:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:15
Speaker
I was like, oh, well, I guess we're done.
00:15:18
Speaker
Like there was no negotiating.
00:15:20
Speaker
It was like, I'm on my last ball.
00:15:22
Speaker
Let's let's let's finish this out.
00:15:23
Speaker
No, they were just like, you're done.
00:15:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:26
Speaker
Seminars were great.
00:15:27
Speaker
I do recommend hanging out for, I hope Dwight does family without the feud again.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yeah, that was fun.
00:15:34
Speaker
That was, that was awesome.
00:15:35
Speaker
I'd highly recommend that one.
00:15:37
Speaker
Uh, any of the manufacturers seminars are fantastic as well.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:44
Speaker
You get a lot of good information there.
00:15:45
Speaker
Plus they give away, they give away prizes and stuff that like that.
00:15:49
Speaker
There's another seminar too, but I'm not allowed to talk about it yet.
00:15:51
Speaker
So, Oh, done, done, done.
00:15:53
Speaker
Um, there's a, okay.
00:15:56
Speaker
Are they doing the, uh, the pinball Olympics, um, again this year, do you know?
00:16:01
Speaker
I don't know.
00:16:02
Speaker
I was going to actually look that up really quick.
00:16:03
Speaker
If you do want to do, I assume they're going to do pinball Olympics.
00:16:06
Speaker
It's just kind of has been going on for years now.
00:16:10
Speaker
And I don't see why they wouldn't do it unless if Banger J says, Hey, that's, I'm not doing it this year.
00:16:15
Speaker
Right.
00:16:15
Speaker
But they've had repeated things on it.
00:16:19
Speaker
Let me hear you.
00:16:20
Speaker
I'm doing the Googles.
00:16:22
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:23
Speaker
I, I saw Jay announced last.
00:16:26
Speaker
Oh, okay.
00:16:26
Speaker
Okay.
00:16:27
Speaker
Actually, the last update I see on their Facebook is from 2021.
00:16:31
Speaker
Yeah, same here.
00:16:34
Speaker
So we'll just have to keep a close eye on that.
00:16:35
Speaker
We are a month and a half out from Expo.
00:16:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:39
Speaker
So we'll kind of try to update.
00:16:41
Speaker
If you can get in on this, it's usually a limited number of tickets, usually about 100.
00:16:45
Speaker
They sell it quick.
00:16:47
Speaker
But if you can go do pinball Olympics, it's definitely experience that is like none other I'd say in the whole world.
00:16:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:57
Speaker
And you will have a great time.
00:16:58
Speaker
It was a blast.
00:16:59
Speaker
It is.
00:17:00
Speaker
You are committing that Saturday though.
00:17:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:03
Speaker
Cause it's about a 45 minute drive.
00:17:06
Speaker
So you need a combination of a ride and,
00:17:09
Speaker
And the ability to stick around for four hours.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yep.
00:17:13
Speaker
Four hours plus.
00:17:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:17:14
Speaker
But they feed you.
00:17:15
Speaker
They have refreshments.
00:17:16
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:17:18
Speaker
It was totally worth it.
00:17:19
Speaker
It was totally worth it.
00:17:21
Speaker
I'm actually kind of surprised the tickets.
00:17:23
Speaker
When we first paid for them, they were $100 a ticket, which that might go up.
00:17:27
Speaker
But there was a lot that they gave you.
00:17:30
Speaker
For your ticket money.
00:17:31
Speaker
Yeah, it was an event.
00:17:33
Speaker
So you played all the games and they had even brought in extra games for, they had a head-to-head Metallica, which was kind of fun because if you went and hit the cross target, it would immediately tilt out the other machine.
Guests and Exclusives at Pinball Expo
00:17:48
Speaker
So just, you're not going to have that set up just all the time, but they pulled in extra games, pulled in a friend to do that.
00:17:56
Speaker
So...
00:17:58
Speaker
I hope they do it again because it was a blast.
00:18:01
Speaker
I agree.
00:18:02
Speaker
Also, Expo, it's the same area.
00:18:04
Speaker
There's not a ton of food there, so you will have to probably find some kind of travel.
00:18:09
Speaker
The hotel does have a shuttle, if I remember correctly, and there are some places close by that weren't too bad.
00:18:15
Speaker
Yeah, it seems like you'll probably be doing a rideshare app and finding a location that's close.
00:18:22
Speaker
It is not in downtown Chicago.
00:18:24
Speaker
I mean, it is kind of in the industrial area where it's not, there's a lot of, I guess, event centers, but it really isn't centered around a place that people gather.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, it almost feels like a suburb to me.
00:18:42
Speaker
It's solely a suburb.
00:18:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's it's also like a it's a suburb.
00:18:47
Speaker
But OK, just imagine your town and then driving like 25 minutes out of town, out of the center of town, because there's always some convention center because the land is cheaper out there.
00:18:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:18:59
Speaker
But it's not really next to any major restaurants because there's not as much traffic out there.
00:19:06
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:07
Speaker
So that's how that happens.
00:19:09
Speaker
It's a great location, though, and there's some really great food nearby.
00:19:12
Speaker
We'd recommend the Chicago deep dish pizza.
00:19:16
Speaker
It's always a fight, though, so I don't know who you'd want to get the recommendation from, but we hear Illuminati's, which I had while we were there.
00:19:24
Speaker
It was delicious.
00:19:24
Speaker
It was really good.
00:19:25
Speaker
And Giridano's, which I think is better, in my opinion.
00:19:29
Speaker
And I think Gino's East, I think that's another one.
00:19:33
Speaker
But, okay, I will say...
00:19:36
Speaker
I think they're all pretty good, but realize it is thick.
00:19:39
Speaker
And so it's like eating a big slice of lasagna.
00:19:43
Speaker
So you are, you're going to have one, maybe two slices.
00:19:48
Speaker
If you go for three, then you're, you're probably going to bust your belly.
00:19:51
Speaker
How many did we, we had, I want to say about 10 people at our booth, maybe a little less.
00:19:56
Speaker
We only had three pizzas and there was plenty of leftovers.
00:19:58
Speaker
There was, yeah.
00:20:01
Speaker
Which is impressive.
00:20:01
Speaker
In my opinion, you always do pizza math, right?
00:20:04
Speaker
You go to the party, they open up the boxes, you count out the people, you're like eight slices per pizza.
00:20:09
Speaker
That gives me about two slices at how many people stare.
00:20:12
Speaker
Sure.
00:20:12
Speaker
Keep an eye on, you know what I'm saying?
00:20:14
Speaker
Everyone does the pizza math.
00:20:15
Speaker
If you don't, you're lying.
00:20:16
Speaker
I promise you that.
00:20:18
Speaker
You didn't do the pizza math correctly at Texas pinball when we had rando dude who walked up and just opened up our pizza box and grabbed three slices and walked away.
00:20:27
Speaker
Folded into like a massive sandwich and was like, thanks.
00:20:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:30
Speaker
No, he didn't say anything.
00:20:32
Speaker
Just picked it up and walked.
00:20:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:35
Speaker
But at the dish places, realize your time is going to be longer.
00:20:40
Speaker
It's going to be 45 minutes to cook it.
00:20:42
Speaker
So sometimes people call in and place the order before they even get there.
00:20:46
Speaker
It didn't feel that long because we had a lot of great people there.
00:20:48
Speaker
We had Jeff Teolas.
00:20:50
Speaker
He had Tim Lee.
00:20:51
Speaker
We had Joel with Triple Jam.
00:20:54
Speaker
Triple Jam.
00:20:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:56
Speaker
Triple Jam.
00:20:57
Speaker
We were just surrounded by all these wonderful people.
00:20:59
Speaker
Tim Lee's wife was there.
00:21:00
Speaker
Amy.
00:21:01
Speaker
It was great to meet her and get to know her as well.
00:21:04
Speaker
Um, so there is that.
00:21:05
Speaker
And then we went and hit lunch with eclectic gamers at Portillo's.
00:21:10
Speaker
If you want to try Italian beef, this is a place to go.
00:21:13
Speaker
Fantastic.
00:21:15
Speaker
Weren't you the only one who like, there was something about your order that was completely different than, uh, Tony and Dennis and mine.
00:21:22
Speaker
You, you all got, I didn't know you could put a sausage inside the sandwich along with your Italian beef.
00:21:28
Speaker
So there was that.
00:21:28
Speaker
And then I got the hot peppers, which are not hot.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:33
Speaker
They were good.
00:21:35
Speaker
They had a lot of flavor, but they were not hot.
00:21:38
Speaker
I think I just got the standard.
00:21:39
Speaker
You know when you walk up, and there's always that one thing.
00:21:42
Speaker
It's like you go to McDonald's, and you're getting a Big Mac.
00:21:45
Speaker
And so I just went and got whatever standard thing they had.
00:21:49
Speaker
Well, I wish I would have gotten the Italian beef with the sausage in the middle.
00:21:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:21:54
Speaker
But if you like French dips, it's very similar.
00:21:57
Speaker
They take the beef.
00:21:57
Speaker
It's got a lot of good flavor.
00:21:58
Speaker
They soak it in like an au jus.
00:22:00
Speaker
And then they put it on your bun.
00:22:02
Speaker
I went with the hot peppers.
00:22:03
Speaker
I recommend the hot peppers.
00:22:04
Speaker
I think it was good.
00:22:05
Speaker
I think I ended up just eating the meat and leaving the soggy bun, but...
00:22:09
Speaker
But other than that, if you have any more questions, I'm more than happy to tell you about Expo.
00:22:13
Speaker
We're really excited.
00:22:14
Speaker
Flipping the script is good to go.
00:22:16
Speaker
I think we've got the schedule pretty well set.
00:22:18
Speaker
We're doing a little adjustments here and there.
00:22:21
Speaker
Some of the guests, Eric Meniere, Keith Elwin, Robert Sharp has agreed his movie premiere does not conflict with Expo.
00:22:30
Speaker
So he will be there and he's on the schedule.
00:22:32
Speaker
We're excited for that.
00:22:33
Speaker
Maybe we'll use this as an opportunity.
00:22:35
Speaker
If there's some product there, we'll get it signed as well for the auction.
00:22:39
Speaker
We're going to be doing 12 hours, 10 a.m.
00:22:41
Speaker
to 10 p.m.
00:22:43
Speaker
on Thursday.
00:22:45
Speaker
And with this going till, did you say midnight on Thursday?
00:22:48
Speaker
Well, it says Thursday is, yeah, it goes to midnight.
00:22:54
Speaker
There's also the, well, finish up what you're talking about, flipping the script.
00:22:58
Speaker
Well, I was just going to say, we're going to be open
Leaked James Bond Pinball Photos
00:23:00
Speaker
the whole time, but it sounds like we'll wrap up a little bit before Expo's done.
00:23:02
Speaker
So if you want to come over and hang out with us afterwards, we're going to have the poor man there.
00:23:07
Speaker
We're going to have Zach Many with Pinball Show slash Straight Down the Middle slash Flippin' Out, whatever you want to talk about.
00:23:14
Speaker
Amanda Hamilton, Bill Webb's going to be there.
00:23:16
Speaker
We've got Craig Bobby is going to do some of the interview as well.
00:23:20
Speaker
He's excited for his guest.
00:23:22
Speaker
Jan Rupert of NoCoinDrop added, which congratulations on the new job, Jan.
00:23:27
Speaker
Hope the move goes well.
00:23:28
Speaker
That's awesome that you got that job over there at Joann's.
00:23:32
Speaker
But other than that,
00:23:34
Speaker
You know, we're going to have so much going on with this.
00:23:36
Speaker
We've got so much product.
00:23:38
Speaker
I'm going to.
00:23:40
Speaker
I want to talk about one of the items donated.
00:23:43
Speaker
I don't know if I can officially talk about yet, but this is a one of a kind product donated to us.
00:23:50
Speaker
I will tell you is a play field, but it's a play field like nothing you've ever seen.
00:23:54
Speaker
And you're going to want this.
00:23:55
Speaker
I want this.
00:23:55
Speaker
Everyone I showed in the group, that's part of the flipping out group.
00:23:58
Speaker
Yeah, I looked at that and I said, I may have to bid on that.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just like, I really want this.
00:24:06
Speaker
And yeah, it's going to be awesome.
00:24:08
Speaker
So when we get the opportunity to, we'll show up probably on the Facebook.
00:24:11
Speaker
Right, on the Facebook.
00:24:14
Speaker
On the book of face.
00:24:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:16
Speaker
So looking at the schedule of events, a couple of things that people may be interested in.
00:24:21
Speaker
Jersey Jack has an in-tour option.
00:24:26
Speaker
It looks like it says 9, 9.45, 10.30, 11, 15, 12, 12.40.
00:24:32
Speaker
So that's on Thursday.
00:24:34
Speaker
Stern is doing a virtual tour on Friday at 10.30.
00:24:38
Speaker
So, Josh, what is your thought on a virtual tour versus a group tour?
00:24:44
Speaker
I enjoyed the virtual tour.
00:24:45
Speaker
I felt like we got to see more in depth behind Stern and you kind of get the best of both worlds with this one because you do have the virtual tours for Stern, but they will have an in-person JJP tour.
00:24:57
Speaker
Right.
00:24:57
Speaker
So if you want to physically go to a pinball manufacturer, you can definitely go to JJP and I guarantee that.
00:25:04
Speaker
it's going to be a similar production line that what Stern has.
00:25:08
Speaker
And with Stern, I agree with you that having the, it was Jack Danger who did it last year where he went around with a camera.
00:25:17
Speaker
He walked into a lot of places that there's no way a tour could go into.
00:25:22
Speaker
So it was, it was quite nice to see that and just a little behind the scenes.
00:25:28
Speaker
No, I totally agree.
00:25:29
Speaker
And I, I highly recommend it if you got opportunity, that's on Thursday too.
00:25:32
Speaker
So, and also there are, there's also tournaments too.
00:25:36
Speaker
So if you're looking for tournaments, there's definitely something about something for almost everybody.
00:25:43
Speaker
There's main A and B there's women's classics kids.
00:25:48
Speaker
There's an Atari pinball expo tournament.
00:25:52
Speaker
So just keep that in mind.
00:25:53
Speaker
If you're looking for some sort of tournament for your skill level, there will be something.
00:25:58
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:58
Speaker
And the tournament is fun.
00:26:00
Speaker
I just recommend if you're going for expo and you want to see the vendor stuff and you want to see what expo has to offer, I would recommend maybe not playing in the tournament on last year.
00:26:10
Speaker
Thursday was really fun.
00:26:12
Speaker
not packed with anything.
00:26:14
Speaker
And so after the Stern tour and with the vendor hall being shut down till five in the afternoon, I'm like, well, I'll just do the tournament then.
00:26:22
Speaker
And so it was nice to do the tournament on Thursday, but then Friday rolled around and it really cut into my schedule because of, well, just the way that the tournament set up.
00:26:30
Speaker
So I recommend if you're going to go for tournament, play in tournament.
00:26:33
Speaker
If you're going to go for the show, go for the show.
00:26:37
Speaker
Other than that, that's, that's my biggest recommendation.
00:26:42
Speaker
I think that's enough about Expo and flipping the script.
00:26:44
Speaker
We're excited for it.
00:26:45
Speaker
Things are ramping up.
00:26:47
Speaker
We're getting so close.
00:26:49
Speaker
Let's talk about what everyone wants to talk about right now.
Speculations on Bond Pinball Designers and Coders
00:26:58
Speaker
Is that your James Bond?
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:00
Speaker
I thought you were going to... Oh, yeah.
00:27:05
Speaker
Great.
00:27:06
Speaker
He's doing his own theme music.
00:27:07
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:27:10
Speaker
No, James Bond.
00:27:11
Speaker
So it was supposed to be revealed today.
00:27:12
Speaker
We're recording at 1154 on Tuesday.
00:27:17
Speaker
It was officially announced by Stern last week that they would be revealing today.
00:27:21
Speaker
But they did not.
00:27:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:23
Speaker
But the interesting part is, is they were supposed to be doing it in conjunction with IAPA out in England.
00:27:28
Speaker
So they were setting up the game yesterday and someone took plenty of photos of it.
00:27:35
Speaker
Unbeknownst to, I guess, the guy setting it up.
00:27:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:38
Speaker
Who knows?
00:27:40
Speaker
I guess I won't get too much into the origin of those photos, but I think everybody who's interested in pinball has seen them.
00:27:47
Speaker
Yep.
00:27:48
Speaker
I think, though, let's try and hit the official notes.
00:27:51
Speaker
So Gomez was on Marco's tech stream last week.
00:27:55
Speaker
If you aren't watching that, you should.
00:27:57
Speaker
Scott's always been talking about this.
00:27:58
Speaker
Like, we need someone to teach us how to fix pinball machines.
00:28:01
Speaker
Marco's picked this up, and they're doing fantastic with it.
00:28:05
Speaker
And they're all recorded, so if you want to go back and look at them, go look at them.
00:28:08
Speaker
But Gomez was on, and he was talking about, yes, I'm doing Bond.
00:28:12
Speaker
Yes, it's...
00:28:14
Speaker
was originally Steve Ritchie's design, but I started, it was so early in the process, I decided to rebuild it from the ground up.
00:28:21
Speaker
He showed off the scuba diver toy.
00:28:24
Speaker
It was really, he did it so quickly.
00:28:26
Speaker
You had to kind of take a screen grab of it and figure out what he was holding up.
00:28:30
Speaker
We're thinking that's under the play field somewhere.
00:28:33
Speaker
He also talked about the Aston Martin car, which is very famous from Goldfinger and having the injector seat from that.
00:28:42
Speaker
in the game as well.
00:28:45
Speaker
And that's kind of what we officially know about bond.
00:28:48
Speaker
Now, unofficially, what are your thoughts of these pictures, Scott?
00:28:51
Speaker
This does look to be a premium because I'm looking at the lower scoop and it looks like it has the illuminated cutout on the left side.
00:29:03
Speaker
So, and that's, that's at least all I can see on that.
00:29:06
Speaker
The game is not powered on it.
00:29:09
Speaker
It obviously has insider connected on one side has what, I don't know if these are directly from the movie posters, but they look very much like they were made in 1960.
00:29:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:22
Speaker
Or 19 directly from the movie posters.
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:24
Speaker
And then on the right side, the art has other movie posters that,
00:29:30
Speaker
Then you get into the playfield.
00:29:33
Speaker
You have a looks like a rocket with a looks like a horseshoe ramp in the upper left.
00:29:39
Speaker
On the right, you have a couple of wire forms.
00:29:42
Speaker
You also have what looks like the pop bumper nest that looks in the upper right part of the playfield.
00:29:51
Speaker
A lot a lot of wire form ramps in this one.
00:29:56
Speaker
Yes.
00:29:56
Speaker
So there's a lot of stuff.
00:29:58
Speaker
And it looks like you have Diamonds Are Forever, You Only Live Twice, Thunderball, Goldfinger.
00:30:07
Speaker
It's all the Connery movies.
00:30:08
Speaker
Yes.
00:30:09
Speaker
It is the Connery.
00:30:09
Speaker
Well, it also has You Only Live Twice because wasn't there like another Bond that like Roger Moore had already started being Bond and then didn't Sean Connery come out with like one more movie?
00:30:21
Speaker
Yeah, they brought him back.
00:30:22
Speaker
Yeah, it was kind of weird.
00:30:23
Speaker
So there was actually two Bonds.
00:30:24
Speaker
There was one that they brought on from one movie and then they did Roger Moore.
00:30:30
Speaker
No, they had like a spoof like Casino Royale, which was originally kind of like a spoof movie.
00:30:36
Speaker
And then they brought that Connery to.
00:30:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:39
Speaker
But I think there was some sort of issues with the licensing at that time in that it was, even though it was Bond, it wasn't really officially released through the Bond network.
00:30:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:52
Speaker
There was something very weird about that because Roger Moore had already done one or two movies.
00:30:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:59
Speaker
So, yeah, and it looks like they're bringing back the crane or something similar because it looks like an arm with a guy in a tux and a jet pack, and it looks like it moves out on the play field.
00:31:14
Speaker
Yep.
00:31:15
Speaker
The rumor has it that this is Gomez, which has a shot that's quite similar to the Katana shot in Deadpool.
00:31:25
Speaker
So that actually... It's not a rumor.
00:31:26
Speaker
He did officially confirm last.
00:31:28
Speaker
Okay.
00:31:28
Speaker
All right.
00:31:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:30
Speaker
So it does feel like a Gomez game.
00:31:34
Speaker
And I don't know.
00:31:37
Speaker
On a scale of excitement, Josh, given the limited amount that we have,
00:31:43
Speaker
How excited are you?
00:31:44
Speaker
And right now we're also going to get into more of the weirdness of this week, but I'm just, I'm going off your initial impression.
00:31:53
Speaker
So on Monday, the photos were leaked and you saw them.
00:31:56
Speaker
What did you think?
00:31:59
Speaker
just looking at artwork alone, wolf, it's rough.
00:32:02
Speaker
It's weird to me.
00:32:03
Speaker
It's weird to me.
00:32:04
Speaker
Like typically you look at a pinball machine.
00:32:06
Speaker
They're pretty symmetrical on the artwork, which is fine.
00:32:08
Speaker
You can use the excuse.
00:32:09
Speaker
Well, slides into my lineup, yada, yada, yada.
00:32:12
Speaker
But like the idea of putting movie posters on one side and then having like a,
00:32:16
Speaker
firefight action scene on the other side with connery who for some odd reasons not holding the airplane controls he's doing his classic bond pose with the the gun up in the air which you know everyone does in the middle of a firefight when an airplane it just it's weird to me it almost looks caricature-ish and so it was really weird and then digging into the play field after looking at these pictures
00:32:39
Speaker
it's definitely unique i don't feel like there's a gomez game that has been made like this before there are similar shots are classic signatures from gomez but i feel like it's kind of a fresh take from gomez versus what we've seen in the past i mean batman 66 was a remake of dark knight uh deadpool was pretty fresh um
00:33:02
Speaker
Beatles was a rehash of Sea Witch, which was just an updated version.
00:33:06
Speaker
So in terms of seeing something new from Gomez, I feel like that is it.
00:33:11
Speaker
I want to see the video on this because looking at the play field, it looks like it could be a lot of fun.
00:33:16
Speaker
I'm concerned at some of the shots because like that, there's like a double ramp on the right side of it.
00:33:21
Speaker
You got the ramp that curves in and then almost T-bones into the side of it.
00:33:27
Speaker
I want to see how that works in action.
00:33:28
Speaker
I'm concerned though of rejects.
00:33:31
Speaker
You shoot that shot and it doesn't actually like hit the metal and turn, do the 180 and go down the ramp.
00:33:38
Speaker
I'm nervous.
00:33:39
Speaker
It'll hit the metal and bounce back down towards you.
00:33:41
Speaker
Yeah.
00:33:42
Speaker
We'll see.
00:33:43
Speaker
Um, and it's hard too, cause there's like foam in the picture, holding the missile into place.
00:33:48
Speaker
Okay.
00:33:49
Speaker
That's obviously what it shipped with because anytime you're, you know, when, when we got Mandalorian, the razor crest was all, you know, packaged up so it doesn't get banged up, but there's a lot of vertical up kickers in this.
00:34:02
Speaker
It looks like that's the only way to get to bond.
00:34:03
Speaker
That's on,
00:34:05
Speaker
the jet pack, but it's cool that there's a, there's a target from above.
00:34:11
Speaker
So it'd be interesting if you can control bond on the arm and then you have to line it up to drop it on the target.
00:34:19
Speaker
Has that ever been done before?
00:34:21
Speaker
I'm not for sure.
00:34:22
Speaker
I know like I'm getting rescue 911 vibes with, with bond on.
00:34:27
Speaker
We had Mick on a stick, right?
00:34:29
Speaker
This is bond bond on a wand.
00:34:31
Speaker
Yes.
00:34:31
Speaker
There you go.
00:34:32
Speaker
So,
00:34:33
Speaker
With the Bond on a wand, are you going to be able to control Bond or is it just going to come out and you just hit the action button when you think it's close enough?
00:34:42
Speaker
I don't know.
00:34:44
Speaker
I feel like Gomez is really known for his mechs.
00:34:46
Speaker
So I feel like this does have some cool mechs in it between the rocket, the jetpack, the ejector seat from the Aston Martin, which appears to be a lid on the car that the ball comes up through, assuming through another vertical up kicker.
00:35:00
Speaker
I don't know.
00:35:01
Speaker
It looks fun.
00:35:03
Speaker
And it's hard to, so we don't know exactly who's doing code, but based off of the shots of the play field from the leaks, you're able to move your multiplier and lock it in with your lockdown bar button.
00:35:18
Speaker
And the only person I can think of that's ever done that before is Dwight with Star Wars.
00:35:22
Speaker
So I'm half wondering if Dwight's on this.
00:35:25
Speaker
That's who I'm leaning towards.
00:35:26
Speaker
Yeah, and Tanya did Deadpool.
00:35:30
Speaker
It wasn't a deep rule set, but it's been very popular because of the balanced nature of it.
00:35:36
Speaker
But Tanya has been really busy with doing Insider Connected from what I understand.
00:35:42
Speaker
And so I don't know if he has time to do something like this, but it could be another Dwight.
Delayed Bond Announcement and Licensing Issues
00:35:50
Speaker
And since there was enough time between Rush and this one, I think you could
00:35:56
Speaker
probably put anybody in there that you wanted.
00:35:59
Speaker
I don't know.
00:35:59
Speaker
Sexton and Ray Day, I think would still be too tied up.
00:36:02
Speaker
Okay.
00:36:02
Speaker
That would be a little tight.
00:36:03
Speaker
I think those are, those are the ones that are out just because they just released rush.
00:36:08
Speaker
But I think the other options are there.
00:36:11
Speaker
Well, and Rick Nagel's always with Elwin and that was, you know, on Godzilla.
00:36:14
Speaker
So, right.
00:36:16
Speaker
Really?
00:36:16
Speaker
What does that leave you with?
00:36:17
Speaker
You've got Dwight, maybe Lonnie Ropp.
00:36:19
Speaker
I'm trying to think who else was, who else was,
00:36:26
Speaker
Who else is there?
00:36:26
Speaker
Dwight, Lonnie, Tanya.
00:36:28
Speaker
And those are the, those are the three that typically come up.
00:36:32
Speaker
So, but let's get, can we get into the weirdness of this?
00:36:35
Speaker
Okay.
00:36:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:36:36
Speaker
So this is the elephant in the room.
00:36:39
Speaker
They, they announced that, Oh, we're going to have this big announcement on, you know?
00:36:45
Speaker
So the teaser came out, what, like Thursday or Friday, something like that came out Tuesday of last week, Tuesday of last week.
00:36:51
Speaker
Okay.
00:36:51
Speaker
Yes.
00:36:52
Speaker
And then in the meantime, there,
00:36:55
Speaker
We had the death of the Queen of England.
00:36:58
Speaker
Yes.
00:36:59
Speaker
And, okay, it's not too much of a shock.
00:37:01
Speaker
She was 96 years old, and she had some health issues associated with age, obviously, in the last couple of years.
00:37:11
Speaker
And so she passed away.
00:37:14
Speaker
Now, it was still announced and set up at the expo or whatever they're calling it.
00:37:22
Speaker
IAPA.
00:37:23
Speaker
IAPA.
00:37:25
Speaker
And that's where the pictures came from.
00:37:29
Speaker
It looked like they were setting up the game and that's where the pictures showed up.
00:37:34
Speaker
However, after that, Stern put an announcement out that, oh, well, in respect for the queen, we are delaying the launch for a week.
00:37:47
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:48
Speaker
Which is even weirder because that was followed by a statement from IAPA saying that.
00:37:53
Speaker
Nothing's happened.
00:37:54
Speaker
Nothing's changing.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yes.
00:37:55
Speaker
Yes.
00:37:56
Speaker
And so it seems like, you know, when there's a statement that is released that it doesn't seem to line up.
00:38:08
Speaker
Something smells funny.
00:38:09
Speaker
Something smells odd.
00:38:11
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:11
Speaker
Because it seems like, okay, I don't really care why they delayed something.
00:38:16
Speaker
I mean, things get delayed all the time.
00:38:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:38:19
Speaker
But it seems like a false flag to say it was because of the queen when nothing else was delayed.
00:38:24
Speaker
Well, there's nothing.
00:38:25
Speaker
Honestly, let's say, let's be realistic here.
00:38:28
Speaker
This has to either come down to a licensor or there has to be something like they forgot to convert these over to
00:38:35
Speaker
uk voltage like there's there's gotta be some kind of major thing there's zero chance that they forgot to to convert it to uk voltage they've been doing they've been doing games uh for europe forever and so my point being is it's like if people saw the leaked photos yeah and then like stern for some odd reason got a bunch of backlash from this it's not like they're changing the artwork in a week they're they're not dumping the game no um yeah
00:39:01
Speaker
Okay, this is what I suspect.
00:39:04
Speaker
I suspect that they were waiting on full approval from the licensor.
00:39:12
Speaker
And the licensor dragged their feet on giving it.
00:39:15
Speaker
Now, we've seen that before.
00:39:18
Speaker
We saw the leaked photos of the Star Wars R2-D2 topper.
00:39:23
Speaker
And then that was in no man's land forever.
00:39:27
Speaker
And then eventually it came out and guess what?
00:39:31
Speaker
It was exactly the same.
00:39:32
Speaker
So are they going to change a game based on a leaked photo?
00:39:38
Speaker
No way.
00:39:39
Speaker
No way.
00:39:40
Speaker
Well, that's if the licensor saw it and was like, what the crap?
00:39:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:44
Speaker
If the licensor only saw the game from a leaked photo and they hadn't been previewed on it, then that's a major problem.
00:39:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:39:52
Speaker
But I don't, I don't think that's the case.
00:39:54
Speaker
Like, and that here's the other hard part too.
00:39:57
Speaker
Like the queen is a fine excuse.
00:40:00
Speaker
I guess that's what we're calling it.
00:40:01
Speaker
It's a convenient excuse.
00:40:02
Speaker
It's a convenient excuse.
00:40:03
Speaker
But,
00:40:04
Speaker
But it really puts Stern in a hard spot when it comes to licensors because it's not like they can come out and flat out say, hey, we're pushing it out because people at Bond said we had to.
00:40:13
Speaker
Because we don't have approval.
00:40:15
Speaker
Yes.
00:40:15
Speaker
Yeah.
00:40:16
Speaker
And so it really puts them in a rock and a hard spot when it comes to licensors because these are the people they're dealing with and they have to be very –
00:40:24
Speaker
Well, you have to play nice with licensors.
00:40:26
Speaker
You can't come in hardball because the bottom line is it's their intellectual property that you are licensing from them to make the game.
00:40:36
Speaker
You don't know the relationships.
00:40:37
Speaker
Well, we don't.
00:40:38
Speaker
They do.
00:40:39
Speaker
They don't know what they know what other relationships will be involved in future titles with a licensor.
00:40:45
Speaker
It's not just James Bond.
00:40:47
Speaker
MGM owns part of this licensing or most of it.
00:40:51
Speaker
MGM owns a bunch of licenses, especially from the 60s, 70s, 80s, which seems to be Stern's wheelhouse of pulling from.
00:40:59
Speaker
So you can't upset the licensor now without...
00:41:03
Speaker
making ways for what could be future problems.
Theory of Dual Bond Pinball Designs
00:41:06
Speaker
So that's where we're at with this.
00:41:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:09
Speaker
It's so, okay.
00:41:10
Speaker
I don't know.
00:41:12
Speaker
What's your initial thought on this?
00:41:14
Speaker
The delay.
00:41:16
Speaker
What do you think?
00:41:16
Speaker
I've already stated that I think this is just pending licensure approval and they anticipated they were getting it and they didn't have it.
00:41:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:25
Speaker
I think that's what it is too.
00:41:27
Speaker
Because all the other things don't sound like there's a lot.
00:41:31
Speaker
And the rumor mill is going wild.
00:41:34
Speaker
Insanely wild right now.
00:41:35
Speaker
You know, like that they're pulling that or Elwynn's releasing his own version of the game.
00:41:41
Speaker
Okay, should we talk about that right now?
00:41:43
Speaker
Okay, go ahead.
00:41:44
Speaker
Okay.
00:41:45
Speaker
So it was posted this morning by Canada's Pinball Podcast.
00:41:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:41:49
Speaker
That L1, because Gomez last week, this is coming from some factual evidence.
00:41:55
Speaker
Gomez last week on Marco says, we're making a pro, a premium, an LE, and then we have a fourth edition.
00:42:04
Speaker
No, I don't think they said that they had a fourth edition.
00:42:05
Speaker
We have a fourth surprise.
00:42:07
Speaker
Right.
00:42:09
Speaker
involved with this sure so a lot of people have been speculating well we're going batman style we're going to do a super le right there's gonna be right well but canada then released a post on his facebook page stating that l1's actually making the fourth game that it's not going to be limited so it's going to be readily available for whoever wants it and the distributor gets to set the price that seems super unlikely to me
00:42:33
Speaker
Because when, and again, we are, we don't have any inside information.
00:42:40
Speaker
We are speculating on someone's speculation.
00:42:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:42:44
Speaker
Right.
00:42:45
Speaker
Okay.
00:42:45
Speaker
So we are on, we are indefinitely, there is nothing that is concrete about our opinions here.
00:42:54
Speaker
However, let's, let's look at this factually though.
00:42:57
Speaker
How much resources go into producing a single game?
00:43:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:43:04
Speaker
How many, and this is obviously calculated into the building materials.
00:43:09
Speaker
How many do they have to sell to break even?
00:43:12
Speaker
I don't know with Stern.
00:43:14
Speaker
Obviously, I don't know either.
00:43:16
Speaker
But Stern has a reputation of making their money off volume sales.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yes.
00:43:23
Speaker
They have, you know, 80, you know, whatever Gary's claiming it is, like 85% of the market share right now.
00:43:31
Speaker
And so it is a crazy amount of stuff.
00:43:35
Speaker
And the reason why they're doing it, we saw this with Toy Story.
00:43:39
Speaker
When Toy Story was released and it was a ultra premium price, the first day it was gangbusters and then ghosts.
00:43:48
Speaker
Because everyone's like, well, $12,000.
00:43:52
Speaker
Is that, is that what I want to pay my money for?
00:43:55
Speaker
So you have to say that JJP at least had the model.
00:44:00
Speaker
I'm not going to make it in volume.
00:44:02
Speaker
I'm going to make it in maximizing my profit per each game.
00:44:07
Speaker
Okay.
00:44:08
Speaker
So that, that would seem completely different than Stern's model.
00:44:15
Speaker
And the,
00:44:17
Speaker
It makes a lot more sense to have a super limited premium edition, the double O's edition, maybe.
00:44:26
Speaker
Because that would actually say, okay, it's the same play field.
00:44:30
Speaker
We're not investing any more resources into it.
00:44:34
Speaker
But we are putting a special art package in it or something like they did with the SLE Batmans.
00:44:43
Speaker
Some sort of special gimmick that sets that aside.
00:44:46
Speaker
However, the play is exactly the same.
00:44:49
Speaker
So that is a complete marketing slash money decision, which I think is smart.
00:44:55
Speaker
I mean, it's not, I'm not, I'm not the whale.
00:44:58
Speaker
I'm not the target, but there are whales and targets out there who say, I want to pay for the exclusivity of my super.
00:45:07
Speaker
So that is my thought process on that.
00:45:10
Speaker
I also think it's super unlikely that Stern would compete against themselves with competing designers.
00:45:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's so weird.
00:45:20
Speaker
This has never been done in the history of pinball, right?
00:45:22
Speaker
We've been doing this almost.
00:45:23
Speaker
Pinball's been around since the 1930s.
00:45:25
Speaker
We're almost at 100 years of pinball.
00:45:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:27
Speaker
And I don't think ever once have they ever had the same theme designed by two different people.
00:45:33
Speaker
It just seems kind of weird to me.
00:45:35
Speaker
The only difference you could say is, yeah, well, okay, there actually have been.
00:45:40
Speaker
But it has been Gomez doing the home pin version or the home version of Spider-Man.
00:45:47
Speaker
or Gomez doing the home version of star Wars or Jack danger doing the home version of Jurassic park.
00:45:53
Speaker
So yes, it has been done, but not simultaneously released and not something that I would say like aggressively competes with the other product.
00:46:06
Speaker
It just so weird to me.
00:46:06
Speaker
What realistic, let's be realistic here.
00:46:09
Speaker
Gomez spends 13 plus months on bond, right?
00:46:13
Speaker
Designing this with his team, right?
00:46:16
Speaker
Say it is Dwight.
00:46:18
Speaker
They've dumped everything into this game.
00:46:20
Speaker
Why would you have Elwin, which is arguably the best designer?
00:46:25
Speaker
He is the best designer right now.
00:46:27
Speaker
He's currently your golden goose, yes.
00:46:28
Speaker
Yes.
00:46:28
Speaker
Out of any of the corporations, any of the manufacturers out there.
00:46:32
Speaker
Yes.
00:46:33
Speaker
Why would you release an Elwin versus a Gomez?
00:46:37
Speaker
The only thing I could come up with, they want a barometer test.
00:46:44
Speaker
They want to gauge...
00:46:46
Speaker
what keith and one does against someone that isn't 100 always a designer because gomez only does designs when when the occasion arrives right right it was never like he did deadpool because uh we know the story about why uh the original designer of that was yes yeah um and then but but look at batman 66 and see it's not see which beetles they're both remakes
00:47:13
Speaker
They're not, they're tweaking.
00:47:14
Speaker
They're not a hundred percent commitment.
00:47:16
Speaker
And it's tweaking an older design.
00:47:18
Speaker
Yes.
00:47:20
Speaker
And so really the last Gomez game besides Deadpool has been six plus years ago, right?
00:47:26
Speaker
Six, seven years ago.
00:47:28
Speaker
Gomez just isn't designing.
00:47:30
Speaker
That's not his job.
00:47:31
Speaker
He's creative chief officer.
00:47:32
Speaker
But why would you, why would you even bother having Gomez and Ellen simultaneously designing the same play field?
00:47:40
Speaker
like I said, unless if it's a barometer test to see what they can get out of an L one, cause it does make sense if a distributor sets the price.
00:47:47
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:48
Speaker
So they're trying to find the ceiling, but they usually do that.
00:47:51
Speaker
They did that for Beatles, right?
00:47:53
Speaker
They did that for the, the platinum or the diamond edition, I think.
00:47:58
Speaker
So the diamond edition, because my understanding is with Beatles, you got 10, you had to buy 13 of them.
00:48:04
Speaker
You got 10 golds.
00:48:05
Speaker
You had two diamonds and, or three diamonds and one, uh,
00:48:10
Speaker
Sorry, three platinums and one diamond or something like that.
00:48:13
Speaker
So it was like you bought 14 games for all the same price and you could sell the other two at whatever markup you wanted.
00:48:21
Speaker
But the difference in this case, though, is those weren't Elwyn's.
00:48:25
Speaker
Well, this is they also weren't a competing design.
00:48:28
Speaker
Like you didn't have the Gomez design Beatles.
00:48:31
Speaker
And it was like, oh, and by the way, here's the Ritchie design Beatles.
00:48:35
Speaker
I think if this is true, it's because they're trying to figure out what they can get for Elwin versus everyone else.
00:48:41
Speaker
Sure.
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
I mean, it could be a good idea.
00:48:45
Speaker
It could be a terrible idea.
00:48:47
Speaker
But if this really is the case that Elwin has made a totally separate game and done his own spin on it and Rick Nagel's on code or whoever's on code, I mean, there's some...
00:49:02
Speaker
there's some things that line up that would make sense.
00:49:04
Speaker
I mean, they push back Eddie's title.
00:49:07
Speaker
If you push it back, that gives you Danger and Eddie in between the next L1.
00:49:13
Speaker
Are we really, is Stern really going to wait another year?
00:49:17
Speaker
They're going to wait two years between L1 releases?
00:49:20
Speaker
That's quite the vacation for L1, especially for a man that's been proven to design games in less than 12 months.
00:49:26
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:27
Speaker
And multiple games.
00:49:28
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:28
Speaker
So do you let your golden goose not make you anything for two years?
00:49:33
Speaker
It doesn't sound right to me.
00:49:34
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:37
Speaker
So I will say there is a sliver of possibility on this.
00:49:40
Speaker
Okay.
00:49:42
Speaker
Being competing design.
00:49:43
Speaker
I'm looking at it from a business standpoint to think I don't understand the resource allocation that would be required to do two competing games.
00:49:54
Speaker
And then you are also competing with yourself.
00:49:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:49:58
Speaker
So I would, if that is their decision, I would disagree with it from an amateur business standpoint.
00:50:05
Speaker
Like it, it doesn't make sense.
00:50:07
Speaker
I say yes and no.
00:50:08
Speaker
And the reason being is, is I think it makes sense because Elwin sells games and they know that.
00:50:15
Speaker
And so making a fourth game like that, just one standard model where you only have to buy those parts for one model versus across three or two, but yeah,
00:50:27
Speaker
And then it's smart in a way that like L1's your biggest seller.
00:50:32
Speaker
If you can narrow it down to one path and maybe this bond is one they want to keep on the line for a long time.
00:50:40
Speaker
It's hard to keep three models or at least two models on the line at all times.
00:50:45
Speaker
You chop it down to one.
00:50:46
Speaker
You focus that.
00:50:48
Speaker
that energy all in that one.
00:50:50
Speaker
I just don't know.
00:50:51
Speaker
I think it is wise in a couple of ways.
00:50:54
Speaker
I think it's bad in a couple of ways.
00:50:56
Speaker
I think if you release a competing L1, Gomez Games is dead on arrival.
00:51:01
Speaker
Maybe, but Deadpool was dead on arrival and now it's become a very popular game.
00:51:06
Speaker
No, Deadpool was not dead on arrival.
00:51:08
Speaker
People liked that game.
00:51:09
Speaker
No, they didn't.
00:51:10
Speaker
They just didn't like the clunkiness.
00:51:11
Speaker
No, they didn't like the game.
00:51:13
Speaker
They thought it was a miss.
00:51:16
Speaker
And then it, cause people weren't buying the Deadpools.
00:51:18
Speaker
So they cut the production short and then it became a desired thing, kind of like stranger things.
00:51:24
Speaker
That was not a big hit when it first came out.
00:51:27
Speaker
And then people decided they really liked the game.
00:51:29
Speaker
Yeah.
00:51:30
Speaker
I don't, but the, with, with that, it just seems like if, again, I'm just saying that's not, do you think the name James Bond is,
00:51:44
Speaker
sells more games or do you think the designer sells more games?
00:51:50
Speaker
I think the designer right now, I think I disagree.
00:51:53
Speaker
I disagree.
00:51:54
Speaker
I disagree because people are still buying thing, uh, games based on theme alone.
00:51:59
Speaker
We have data East one, that war, that theme was King.
00:52:05
Speaker
Like people are paying crazy money for back to the future.
00:52:10
Speaker
Because it is back to the future and it's not a great game.
00:52:13
Speaker
But the game has been elevated for the, over the last 30 years.
Theme vs. Designer: What Drives Pinball Sales?
00:52:17
Speaker
Yes, I agree that theme.
00:52:18
Speaker
I, I think once you're getting into the hobby and for the person that is very casual, enjoys pinball, wants one or two in their basement.
00:52:27
Speaker
Cause there are people, I know people are like, you get the one, you get the bite.
00:52:30
Speaker
No, there is a whole different market out there that you don't know about.
00:52:32
Speaker
That's literally like, Oh, Toy Story is coming out.
00:52:35
Speaker
I'll get one of those.
00:52:37
Speaker
And that's what I'm saying.
00:52:38
Speaker
That's what I'm saying is like, we are talking to a very small demographic people who listen to pinball podcasts.
00:52:43
Speaker
They know who the designers are.
00:52:45
Speaker
They know the game flow.
00:52:46
Speaker
They know the different games.
00:52:48
Speaker
The vast majority of people who playing pinball out there are not in this category.
00:52:54
Speaker
They, they just look at a theme.
00:52:56
Speaker
But theme, speaking of recognizability in this day and age,
00:53:01
Speaker
If theme was king, then Toy Story would have sold gangbusters over Godzilla.
00:53:08
Speaker
Well, okay.
00:53:09
Speaker
I would say that theme.
00:53:10
Speaker
So people bought Toy Story mainly because of the theme and not the designer.
00:53:16
Speaker
Okay.
00:53:18
Speaker
But the price was the limiting factor on that one.
00:53:22
Speaker
The price really way outshot the market when we're starting to see a slowdown in an economy.
00:53:31
Speaker
And so I, I, that definitely affected the toy story sales.
00:53:35
Speaker
Well, I just think though saying that theme is what drives everything.
00:53:38
Speaker
I think that's just too simplistic of an answer.
00:53:40
Speaker
Now, after us diving into this hobby for like just the podcast alone, we've been doing this for almost four years now.
00:53:46
Speaker
I think saying theme alone, just, I didn't say theme alone, but I said the, the primary driver in sales.
00:53:54
Speaker
Yeah.
00:53:54
Speaker
It's the primary driver.
00:53:56
Speaker
Yes.
00:53:56
Speaker
Everything else, the art package, because we always talk about the art package.
00:53:59
Speaker
We talk about the designer, but it really comes down to the theme is the most important thing in an, in a design, which is why Stern doesn't do unlicensed themes.
00:54:12
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:13
Speaker
And they, even black night was, it was a recognizable theme for pinball, but it wasn't a licensed theme and it didn't sell as well.
00:54:22
Speaker
I bet the black night sold better than Led Zeppelin though.
00:54:25
Speaker
It may be.
00:54:26
Speaker
Maybe.
00:54:27
Speaker
My point being is, is theme is theme is the candy wrapper, right?
00:54:32
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:33
Speaker
But the actual gameplay, the code is the taste of the chocolate bar.
00:54:38
Speaker
I agree, but most people are not.
00:54:41
Speaker
The vast majority of players are hacks.
00:54:44
Speaker
They are not your, your top, top 100 players.
00:54:48
Speaker
Yeah, but like a game like Godzilla, even if you're a hack, you feel like you've accomplished something if you don't leave Tokyo.
00:54:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:54:55
Speaker
If you destroy a building and maybe defeat a monster, you still feel accomplished versus Whitewater, which is, it's very woodchoppy.
00:55:04
Speaker
It's getting the rafts down the river.
00:55:06
Speaker
People still love it.
00:55:08
Speaker
But do you really feel accomplished at the end of that game versus Godzilla?
00:55:13
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:15
Speaker
It's also a 30 plus year old game, which is different.
00:55:19
Speaker
Okay.
00:55:21
Speaker
Uh, I, I'm not going to go comparisons right now.
00:55:23
Speaker
Cause my mind's totally far from that.
00:55:25
Speaker
And it's honestly, it's time for us to get wrapping up.
00:55:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:28
Speaker
Um, but I just, okay.
00:55:29
Speaker
So your gut feeling yes or no one game, two designers, my gut feeling.
00:55:36
Speaker
Yes.
00:55:37
Speaker
Okay.
00:55:38
Speaker
My gut feeling is no.
00:55:39
Speaker
I figured as much.
00:55:40
Speaker
So we'll see who's right in two weeks.
00:55:46
Speaker
Not even that, because it'll be Tuesday.
00:55:49
Speaker
Well, I guess, yeah, two weeks.
00:55:50
Speaker
In two weeks, yeah.
00:55:52
Speaker
Maybe we'll record sooner.
00:55:53
Speaker
Who knows?
00:55:54
Speaker
Okay, so where are we at on the scoreboard?
00:55:57
Speaker
So you think it's just Gomez.
00:55:59
Speaker
I think it's Gomez, and I think it's a variety art package, like an SLA thing.
00:56:03
Speaker
And I think that they were delayed because of just licensing pending approval.
00:56:08
Speaker
I agree.
00:56:09
Speaker
It has something to do with the license or not the death of the queen, but we'll go with that.
00:56:14
Speaker
And I really think it makes sense.
00:56:18
Speaker
I'm sorry.
00:56:19
Speaker
I'm a puzzle person.
00:56:21
Speaker
So the fact that they pushed back a title, blamed it on production, and then pushing Elwin's game out for two years versus one, it doesn't make sense.
00:56:33
Speaker
Have your golden goose not laying eggs.
00:56:36
Speaker
Right.
00:56:37
Speaker
So I think it's a possibility.
00:56:40
Speaker
I think it's an interesting marketing challenge.
00:56:44
Speaker
And I don't know.
00:56:45
Speaker
We'll know in a week.
00:56:46
Speaker
We'll know in a week.
00:56:50
Speaker
So, yeah, I guess that wraps it up for us.
00:56:52
Speaker
Do you have anything else, Scott?
00:56:53
Speaker
No, I think it's good.
00:56:54
Speaker
I'll be really interested to see.
00:56:56
Speaker
I'm a wait and see on this theme.
00:56:59
Speaker
Um, it's not an instant buy for me.
00:57:01
Speaker
Um, I've never been a huge bond fan.
00:57:03
Speaker
I, I, I've seen probably half the movies and I appreciate them, but they're it's, it's okay.
00:57:10
Speaker
It Austin powers kind of ruined bond for me because it just made a lot of the older bonds look kind of ridiculous.
00:57:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:17
Speaker
And, and the last five James bonds have been basically, uh, they have retooled as the born identity.
00:57:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:23
Speaker
Well, it's worked for them.
00:57:24
Speaker
It's worked more.
00:57:25
Speaker
Oh, absolutely.
00:57:26
Speaker
More serious tone.
00:57:27
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:29
Speaker
If you want to get a hold of us, we are LoserKidPinballPodcast at gmail.com.
00:57:33
Speaker
We're also on socials, Facebook, Twitter, Twitch, and Instagram at LoserKidPinball.
00:57:39
Speaker
If you'd like to get a hold of us, the easiest way to do it is on Facebook through Messenger.
00:57:44
Speaker
And we hope to see you soon.
00:57:45
Speaker
We hope to see you at Expo.
00:57:47
Speaker
Yeah, that'd be great.
00:57:49
Speaker
Want to send us off, Scott?
00:57:51
Speaker
Yeah, I actually am curious to see what the listeners are thinking.
00:57:54
Speaker
So if you have a take on what, well, one, what the delay was, and two, do you think two designers or one, just send us an email or message us because I'm really curious to find out what the general market feels.
00:58:08
Speaker
I agree.
00:58:10
Speaker
All right.
00:58:10
Speaker
See you in two.
00:58:11
Speaker
Okay, see you.
00:58:46
Speaker
Shut up and sit down.