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Ep 40: New Horizons with Butch Peel
47 Plays5 years ago
When one door closes, another door opens. Butch Peel joins us and tells about him getting let go at JJP and 72 hours later has a job offer from CGC. Butch reminisces at old times with Jack and JJP but also let's us know how awesome the future is with CGC. You can't keep a good man down!
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Transcript
Episode Introduction
00:00:06
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
00:00:09
Speaker
Hey, it is episode number 40.
00:00:12
Speaker
Today, my co-captain as always... Scott Larson.
00:00:15
Speaker
Let's talk about our friends of the podcast really quick.
00:00:17
Speaker
What do you think, Scott?
00:00:19
Speaker
I think we should.
00:00:19
Speaker
All right, let's do it.
New Pinball Frame Launch
00:00:22
Speaker
So first off, one of our good friends, Brad Hunter with Lit Frames, he is coming out with a new... Can we even talk about this?
00:00:30
Speaker
He's coming out with a new frame.
00:00:32
Speaker
Is this a secret?
00:00:35
Speaker
made it a secret but we're going to tell you you get the you get the inside scoop he's coming out with a new frame and we've we've personally seen this and this thing is sweet i can't wait for you guys to see this um and also if you remember brad albright that was on our show back around christmas time talked about his artwork and
00:00:52
Speaker
Brad Albright and Brad Hunter are teaming up to make some sweet artwork for you guys.
00:00:56
Speaker
And I can't wait for you guys to see this.
00:00:58
Speaker
So go check out his lit frames.
00:01:02
Speaker
You can either get a lit frame now or you can wait until you see these sweet new plexiglass lit frames.
00:01:06
Speaker
And they're beautiful.
Pinball Art and Updates
00:01:08
Speaker
Up next, we've got Brian Allen with Flyland Designs.
00:01:13
Speaker
If you haven't checked out his alternate translates for Medieval Madness, Monster Bash, and Attack for Mars, you've got to go check those out.
00:01:20
Speaker
They're wonderful.
00:01:21
Speaker
Just flylanddesigns.com.
00:01:24
Speaker
Flippin' out.
00:01:26
Speaker
I got the message today that hopefully next week, keep my fingers crossed, I should have my TMNT Pro in my house.
00:01:34
Speaker
If you didn't listen to the Gomez interview on Super Awesome Pinball Show, our homie Gomi gave us an explanation of why everything's been slow, how they've been ramping back up, and how production is getting up to where it was before.
00:01:46
Speaker
And they're even hiring more people.
00:01:47
Speaker
So that is awesome.
00:01:49
Speaker
So I'm excited to see my new TMNT Pro.
Community Contributions
00:01:52
Speaker
And our final friend of the podcast, Jeff Patterson with This Week in Pinball.
00:01:57
Speaker
Go check out his website.
00:01:58
Speaker
He's still doing the thing on the Mondays where you get your email about what's happened in that week, hitting you up on Tuesdays.
00:02:04
Speaker
He's still doing the giveaways.
00:02:06
Speaker
Jeff is an awesome friend of the show.
00:02:07
Speaker
We've been good friends since we began this show, and he's just been great to us.
00:02:11
Speaker
And so if you can, go check him out.
00:02:13
Speaker
He's still doing the Patreon.
00:02:15
Speaker
Hit him a couple bucks.
00:02:16
Speaker
He's a good guy.
00:02:17
Speaker
So...
00:02:18
Speaker
I think that's it for us, Scott, at least for the friends of the podcast, not the show.
Podcast Interruptions
00:02:24
Speaker
Well, I think you have some explanation to do about the last podcast too.
00:02:28
Speaker
It sounds like I was being the bossy pants and talking the entire time.
00:02:33
Speaker
So why don't you actually reveal what happened?
00:02:36
Speaker
Oh my goodness.
00:02:37
Speaker
Okay.
00:02:38
Speaker
First off.
00:02:40
Speaker
Mark was awesome.
00:02:42
Speaker
Mark lives in the United Kingdoms.
00:02:44
Speaker
I don't know if anyone knows that.
00:02:45
Speaker
You could tell by his accent, right?
00:02:47
Speaker
Well, we really cater to our guests and we don't want them to feel like they have to really adjust their schedule to be on our show.
00:02:53
Speaker
So we decided to do it.
00:02:55
Speaker
It was a Friday morning, Thursday morning.
00:02:57
Speaker
It was a Thursday morning.
00:02:59
Speaker
Thursday morning around 9.30, 10.
00:03:02
Speaker
And so I record via my cell phone.
00:03:04
Speaker
That's why my vocals don't sound so great or the recording doesn't.
00:03:07
Speaker
But I don't mind doing that.
00:03:08
Speaker
But the problem is we started recording and I got a text from my wife and I totally spaced that I had a dentist appointment.
00:03:17
Speaker
And so I rushed down to the dentist and that's why you were talking is because you're like, where did I actually edit it out?
00:03:23
Speaker
And you guys are like, where did Josh disappear to?
00:03:25
Speaker
And then I had answered a question, but I actually had the stuff in my mouth.
00:03:29
Speaker
I had like a mouth guardian with a fluoride.
00:03:31
Speaker
And you're like, what the heck is going on over there?
00:03:33
Speaker
I'm like, I'm sorry.
00:03:34
Speaker
I'm at the dentist guys.
00:03:34
Speaker
I totally spaced.
00:03:36
Speaker
And my wife's like, I told you.
00:03:39
Speaker
And I'm like, I know you did.
00:03:40
Speaker
I'm so sorry.
00:03:42
Speaker
So we're talking and we hear the suction in the background.
00:03:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:03:49
Speaker
It turned out great.
00:03:51
Speaker
I mean, Mark was fantastic.
00:03:52
Speaker
I can't wait to have him back on the show.
00:03:53
Speaker
I mean, we had so much positive feedback from that interview.
00:03:59
Speaker
And was it Cosner?
00:04:01
Speaker
I can't remember if it was Cosner or who said it best, but someone said, we are so fortunate to have someone like Mark Silk in the hobby because he's here to give his talent and he doesn't really expect anything in return.
00:04:12
Speaker
And I agree, Mark is fantastic at what he does and he's just an absolute treasure to this hobby.
00:04:18
Speaker
So...
00:04:19
Speaker
That's what happened.
00:04:20
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:20
Speaker
Anyway.
00:04:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:04:22
Speaker
So, so officially we were both doing it, but Josh didn't have his recording mic on.
00:04:27
Speaker
So, and he apparently had a suction in his mouth at the same time.
00:04:30
Speaker
So, well, if you notice, I started talking towards the end.
00:04:33
Speaker
I'm in, I'm in the end a little bit more than I am the beginning, but that's what happened.
00:04:37
Speaker
I was at the dentist.
00:04:39
Speaker
After he said rinse and flush.
00:04:41
Speaker
So, yes.
00:04:43
Speaker
All right.
00:04:43
Speaker
We've had our guests on the hold for five minutes now.
00:04:46
Speaker
If you've already read the title page, you probably know who it is.
00:04:48
Speaker
But Scott, why don't you introduce our guests for us?
Butch Peel's Career Journey
00:04:51
Speaker
So this man has been in the pinball hobby for over 30 years.
00:04:55
Speaker
He actually crossed over to be part of the industry roughly eight years ago when he was hired by Jack to be part of Jersey Jack.
00:05:06
Speaker
And he's had a lot of life altering activities.
00:05:09
Speaker
events that have happened this year that have changed his pinball path.
00:05:13
Speaker
But we'd like to welcome to the show, Butch Peel.
00:05:16
Speaker
How are you doing today, Butch?
00:05:18
Speaker
Oh, I'm doing great.
00:05:19
Speaker
Thank you guys for having me.
00:05:21
Speaker
Heck yes.
00:05:21
Speaker
Well, I was shocked when Scott texted me.
00:05:23
Speaker
He's like, dude, the Butch Peel wants to be on our show.
00:05:25
Speaker
And I've heard so much about you these last couple of months.
00:05:27
Speaker
I was like, can't say no.
00:05:30
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:31
Speaker
I've heard a lot about myself the last couple of months.
00:05:34
Speaker
It's been kind of bizarre.
00:05:36
Speaker
I think you found out more about yourself than you ever knew from other people.
00:05:40
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:41
Speaker
I mean, it's been an interesting few months for sure.
00:05:45
Speaker
I was busy working remotely like I have since day one with JJP when I got the call.
00:05:53
Speaker
And that's really kind of how it came down.
00:05:55
Speaker
A phone call from an HR rep in Florida letting me know that the company no longer had a role for me.
00:06:01
Speaker
And I was kind of informed right at that point that that would be my final day with the company.
00:06:07
Speaker
And while we're talking on the phone to top it all off, the IT people beamed into my laptop and start cutting me out of everything and closing my accounts and changing my passwords.
00:06:18
Speaker
So I went from just working and doing my thing to 15 minutes later, unemployed.
00:06:25
Speaker
That's kind of a real kick in the teeth.
00:06:27
Speaker
Oh, I bet.
00:06:30
Speaker
You know, it's kind of funny because I've listened to many of my favorite people in pinball saying what a terrible feeling, you know, that it would be to let go of your, from your pinball job, you know, be told that you're not needed anymore.
00:06:42
Speaker
And I can independently confirm now that it definitely 100% sucks.
00:06:48
Speaker
Well, you get to, you get to hold that honor with the likes of Dennis Norman now.
00:06:52
Speaker
So, uh, well, he's, he's got a few more companies than me, but.
00:06:57
Speaker
I'm not looking to try and beat that record.
00:06:58
Speaker
Believe me.
00:07:00
Speaker
Steve Ritchie's been let go.
00:07:02
Speaker
Big people have been let go from pinball companies just because of staff swapping situations or different directions, I guess.
00:07:11
Speaker
True, but I don't consider myself a big person.
00:07:15
Speaker
I'm just a regular old guy.
00:07:17
Speaker
I wasn't even sure when I got let go that anybody would even notice that I was gone.
00:07:21
Speaker
Then somehow Kaneda got warned of it.
00:07:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:26
Speaker
And how did, do you know how that happened or was it just like, did you know Kaneda or what?
00:07:30
Speaker
He's got some, some amazing sources in the industry.
00:07:33
Speaker
That's all I can say.
00:07:34
Speaker
Um, I never even talked to the man before and I have to say whatever else Kaneda has, has or hasn't done, he certainly got it right in my, in my case.
00:07:44
Speaker
He, he called it like it was and it was kind of therapeutic to hear it actually.
00:07:50
Speaker
But, um, you know, and then I was feeling pretty low at that point.
00:07:54
Speaker
And, um,
00:07:56
Speaker
Derek started this appreciation thread on Pinside.
00:07:59
Speaker
That was really very touching to me.
00:08:02
Speaker
I want to take a second here to thank everybody who took the time to write some stuff down there.
00:08:06
Speaker
It really helped pull me out of a kind of a dark place.
00:08:10
Speaker
I was really overwhelmed and touched and really humbled by everything that people were saying there.
00:08:15
Speaker
I can't thank you all enough, all of you people.
00:08:17
Speaker
You know how much I love you.
00:08:20
Speaker
Now, that was eight years of your time with the company.
00:08:25
Speaker
So how had things changed over time when you were there?
00:08:30
Speaker
Well, I was recruited and hired by Jersey Jack Guarneri himself.
00:08:35
Speaker
He gave, like I said, nobody like me this amazing opportunity.
00:08:38
Speaker
And my loyalty to him was and probably still is kind of unparalleled.
00:08:43
Speaker
I never would have ever quit that job at JJP.
00:08:47
Speaker
But, you know, the JGP that let me go really isn't a heck of a lot like the JGP that hired me eight years ago.
00:08:55
Speaker
The people in charge now, you know, they just don't seem to value the contributions a guy like me can make to the company.
00:09:02
Speaker
Never got much credit for, you know, writing detailed written documentation, for doing the service videos, for tech support, for customer relations, things like that.
00:09:12
Speaker
They decided they had those things covered with the
00:09:15
Speaker
other people, I guess, and decided they wanted to move in a different direction.
00:09:19
Speaker
You got let go on that Friday and then 72 hours later, you get another call, right?
00:09:24
Speaker
A different call.
00:09:25
Speaker
Yeah.
00:09:27
Speaker
I guess I must've done something right and gotten some people's attention in the past eight years because I got the call from JJP on Friday letting me go.
00:09:36
Speaker
And I got my first call from Chicago Gaming Company on the following Monday.
00:09:41
Speaker
So that was kind of exciting.
00:09:43
Speaker
Again, right about the time all the Canada stuff was hitting, I get this phone call from Chicago Gaming asking me if I have interest in working for their company.
00:09:52
Speaker
And I really wasn't looking for anything else.
00:09:55
Speaker
I was just going to kind of let the industry decide itself what was going to happen with me because I knew I loved it and I have a passion for it.
00:10:03
Speaker
But if I just wasn't needed or wanted anymore, then it would prove out in the pudding as time
Passion for Pinball
00:10:10
Speaker
went by.
00:10:10
Speaker
And
00:10:10
Speaker
not much time went by before I got my answer.
00:10:12
Speaker
So that was kind of cool.
00:10:14
Speaker
That's way awesome.
00:10:16
Speaker
And then, then starting with a big bang there, you know, I, my first day is June 1st and I actually fly up to Chicago to, to meet everybody at the factory and, and I land in the middle of a pandemic and riots both.
00:10:30
Speaker
I get on the ground and they, they pick me up from the airport and we're,
00:10:34
Speaker
literally in the car driving around trying to find me a motel that's not downtown in Chicago because that was on fire the night before.
00:10:42
Speaker
Now, where is Chicago Gaming Company in relation to downtown Chicago?
00:10:47
Speaker
Is it closer to the Elk Grove area?
00:10:50
Speaker
It's in the southwestern portion of Chicago.
00:10:55
Speaker
Cicero, in fact, Chicago.
00:10:59
Speaker
right down below Chicago, Cicero, Illinois, sorry.
00:11:02
Speaker
So at least you weren't anchored to, you have to be in the downtown area so you could get out of there.
00:11:07
Speaker
Right.
00:11:08
Speaker
Although there was some really interesting times around the Cicero plant too.
00:11:14
Speaker
They were rioting within blocks of their liquor stores and things downtown.
00:11:18
Speaker
It was, I guess, a pretty exciting night the night before that I arrived.
00:11:22
Speaker
So I was talking to Doug Dubo about it.
00:11:26
Speaker
He was telling me all the different things
00:11:29
Speaker
things he had to go through the night before.
00:11:31
Speaker
It was a little bit unnerving.
00:11:33
Speaker
Yeah, you're not
00:11:34
Speaker
I'm getting into my comfort zone now, though, with CGC.
00:11:38
Speaker
It takes a little while when you switch companies.
00:11:41
Speaker
You know, you've got your place.
00:11:43
Speaker
You know where you belong, your niche, things that you do and who you work with and all that.
00:11:48
Speaker
So it's getting to know a bunch of new people.
00:11:51
Speaker
I'm making some videos with CGC now, learning their tech support system, familiarizing myself with how their games work, which are obviously quite different from the JJP games that I've known.
00:12:03
Speaker
And I'm having a lot of fun again.
00:12:05
Speaker
These have been very warm and welcoming people to me.
00:12:08
Speaker
It's like a family there, and I already feel like I'm part of it.
00:12:10
Speaker
It's really cool.
00:12:12
Speaker
So I want to rewind a little bit.
00:12:15
Speaker
You've been an enthusiast in the hobby for 30-plus years.
00:12:20
Speaker
And when you cross that threshold from being a hobbyist to working in the industry –
00:12:27
Speaker
What are some of the major things that surprised you or that were confirmatory by you joining ranks with a pinball company?
00:12:36
Speaker
Well, my background was I worked for the Army Research Lab, you know, as an electrical engineer for 30 plus years before I got into the pinball industry.
00:12:47
Speaker
I kind of started, I worked part-time for Jersey Jack Pinball the last five years I worked for the U.S. Army.
00:12:53
Speaker
And so,
00:12:54
Speaker
when I retired from the U S army in 2017, working for the army, I wasn't in the army.
00:13:01
Speaker
I was part of the army behind the army kind of thing, but I was dealing with a lot of things like, you know, IED jammers and things like that, that we did on a day-to-day basis.
00:13:09
Speaker
And I was, I was just kind of shocked by how,
00:13:13
Speaker
people in pinball were thinking, you know, like this is like, you know, doomsday stuff.
00:13:17
Speaker
If this game doesn't get out, if this doesn't happen, you know, it's like, wow, let me put things in perspective for you guys when it's people's lives on the line.
00:13:25
Speaker
So it's a whole different ball game.
00:13:28
Speaker
So, you know, pinball machines, this is, this is fun.
00:13:30
Speaker
And if you can't have fun working for a pinball machine company, you know, you, you have a real problem, but,
00:13:36
Speaker
It was cool to actually start meeting and talking more.
00:13:39
Speaker
Once you get in the industry, people like Steve Ritchie and Mark Ritchie and Greg Freres and Dennis Nordman, a bunch of these people that I had met as a fanboy back in the day.
00:13:53
Speaker
It was kind of cool to talk to them as kind of like peers now.
00:13:57
Speaker
I was enjoying...
Jersey Jack Pinball Contributions
00:14:01
Speaker
working and talking with these guys at shows and seeing them again, seeing them on a regular basis.
00:14:08
Speaker
I was telling my friends, you know, you know, you've got to, you know, you've really made it when, when you're working on a pinball machine in the corner of a, of a hall the day before the Texas Pinball Festival opens.
00:14:20
Speaker
And Steve Ritchie walks clear across the room to come say hello to you.
00:14:24
Speaker
I mean, that was pretty cool.
00:14:26
Speaker
That is way cool.
00:14:27
Speaker
Well, and you're still friends with Jack and whatnot down there at JJP.
00:14:32
Speaker
I mean, it wasn't like it was just a shunning of sorts, right?
00:14:36
Speaker
Yeah.
00:14:37
Speaker
I mean, Jack and I are great friends.
00:14:40
Speaker
I love the guy.
00:14:40
Speaker
He loves me.
00:14:41
Speaker
We talk still quite a bit.
00:14:44
Speaker
He sent me a really nice photo montage of
00:14:47
Speaker
of some times we spent together and some laughs we had when I was with JJP on my birthday this past weekend.
00:14:54
Speaker
So that was really cool.
00:14:56
Speaker
Very touching.
00:14:59
Speaker
It seems that, at least the way I look at things, and I think most people in the industry look at it this way, is that Stern was kind of gasping in the late 2000s.
00:15:13
Speaker
They were releasing Monopoly, Wheel of Fortune, these games that really didn't have much...
00:15:22
Speaker
They weren't that interesting, really.
00:15:26
Speaker
And they seem to be scaling down when Jack came out and said, hey, we're going to build this machine and this is what we're going to do.
00:15:35
Speaker
It seemed to light a fire under everybody.
00:15:38
Speaker
And really, you see that I would say that what you guys did in the early days of Jersey Jack really started this pinball renaissance of building a better, more interesting, more intricate and a more immersive experience.
00:15:53
Speaker
Tell me about that.
00:15:54
Speaker
Oh, and that's 100% right.
00:15:57
Speaker
I mean, that's just – it was really cool to – I had to pinch myself over and over again to get such an amazing opportunity to work with Jack and get in on the ground floor and be there when – I helped build the first eight Wizard of Oz games that went to IAPA the first year in 2013.
00:16:13
Speaker
That was just way cool.
00:16:16
Speaker
And, yeah, he had to start a company to get –
00:16:21
Speaker
be able to have games to sell that people wanted.
00:16:25
Speaker
His customers, he went from being Stern's number one distributor to just selling a couple of hundred games a year.
00:16:34
Speaker
And it didn't take very long to happen.
00:16:35
Speaker
They were just getting tired of the same stuff over and over again.
00:16:38
Speaker
And don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Stern.
00:16:42
Speaker
God bless Stern.
00:16:42
Speaker
They kept pinball going all this time.
00:16:44
Speaker
There never would have been a Jersey Jack pinball.
00:16:46
Speaker
There never would have been my chance if it hadn't been for Stern keeping pinball going.
00:16:50
Speaker
And I know they had some tough times, but we brought a lot of attention to pinball again.
00:16:57
Speaker
And, you know, I used to tell people at shows, it was just amazing to look out at the myriad of faces at these shows.
00:17:04
Speaker
And I said, you know, I've been to a lot of different types of events where you can look out and you can see by the faces and the people around what kind of a show that you're at.
00:17:15
Speaker
You know, if you're at a comic convention or you're at, you know, some kind of a science convention or you're doing something with the military, you know, it just
00:17:24
Speaker
People have this all the same look, but you looked out across a pinball show at all these people and it's just amazing.
00:17:30
Speaker
The cross section, we have people with spiked up hair and mohawks and tattoos and earrings and girls and boys and men and women and old men and old women.
00:17:41
Speaker
And I would defy a lineup of people at a pinball show to be identified by somebody as what they all came together for.
00:17:50
Speaker
It's really cool.
00:17:51
Speaker
Pinball has that kind of effect on people.
00:17:53
Speaker
Well, it's because it brings out the inner child, right?
00:17:55
Speaker
Everyone wants to still be young at heart.
00:17:58
Speaker
And pinball gives that.
00:17:59
Speaker
The nostalgia, the fun, the physicality of the game.
00:18:03
Speaker
The randomness, yeah.
00:18:05
Speaker
Yes.
00:18:05
Speaker
It's not a video game.
00:18:06
Speaker
If I turn left and do this exact same thing, I can try to do that the same way on the next ball in pinball.
00:18:13
Speaker
But I'm going to fail within seconds of being able to repeat completely what I did on the last ball.
Industry Evolution
00:18:18
Speaker
For sure.
00:18:20
Speaker
It's just fun.
00:18:22
Speaker
Yeah, and each game is really so different.
00:18:24
Speaker
And really the interesting thing about, you are right, taking nothing away from Stern.
00:18:30
Speaker
Stern kept pinball really on life support in the 2000s when there was not much else.
00:18:36
Speaker
I would just point out, as you said, I think Jersey Jack opened the door to say, hey, there are other things that you guys can do.
00:18:46
Speaker
And then we know what Stern has done in the last 10 years.
00:18:49
Speaker
They've had probably the best run they've ever had.
00:18:52
Speaker
And it's all based on Jersey Jack saying, hey, why don't you put an LCD back there?
00:18:58
Speaker
Why don't you put more in the game?
00:19:00
Speaker
Why don't you build a more complex machine that can compete with other things?
00:19:04
Speaker
Really, you guys came out roughly about the same time as...
00:19:08
Speaker
that documentary special when lit, which I know, I know has issues with it.
00:19:13
Speaker
And I know they certainly don't portray the average pinball player in a positive light.
00:19:18
Speaker
In some ways it feels a little spinal tap.
00:19:21
Speaker
Wow.
00:19:21
Speaker
You're being very kind.
00:19:22
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:19:23
Speaker
It feels a little mockumentary type, but, but if you look at that, that would have been the end point of pinball.
00:19:32
Speaker
If you guys hadn't come along.
00:19:34
Speaker
Well, Jack, I,
00:19:36
Speaker
Jack was crazy.
00:19:37
Speaker
I mean, I saw him talk.
00:19:39
Speaker
I saw him and Gary Stern talk at the Texas Pinball Festival in 2011.
00:19:44
Speaker
Jack had just launched his company.
00:19:46
Speaker
We're talking, you know, March of 2011.
00:19:49
Speaker
He started on the 1st of January.
00:19:52
Speaker
And I saw Gary Stern talk before him.
00:19:54
Speaker
And people were asking all kinds of questions in the audience.
00:19:57
Speaker
You know, why can't we have a wide body game?
00:20:00
Speaker
Why can't we, you know, put a little more of this in the game?
00:20:03
Speaker
And
00:20:03
Speaker
And, you know, Gary would just give just these kind of, I don't know, put offish, standoffish type answers that, you know, that's not going to happen.
00:20:15
Speaker
No, no, forget about that.
00:20:16
Speaker
No, that'd be way too difficult.
00:20:18
Speaker
And then Jack comes over there and jumps and runs across the stage and leaps up on there and says, let's see Gary Stern do that, you know.
00:20:25
Speaker
And then he starts talking about this game that he's just going to knock out of the park.
00:20:29
Speaker
And they didn't just try to,
00:20:33
Speaker
you know, incrementally make everything in a game better with that first game with Wizard of Oz.
00:20:39
Speaker
Everything was a quantum leap.
00:20:40
Speaker
Every single aspect of the game had to be a quantum leap.
00:20:44
Speaker
And yeah, it was, I tell people all the time, you know, when I worked for Jersey Jack that you'll never see another pinball machine that has all in it.
00:20:52
Speaker
Like, like Wizard of Oz says, they're just not going to happen again.
00:20:56
Speaker
It almost bankrupted a company.
00:20:57
Speaker
Yeah.
00:20:59
Speaker
Well, that's just crazy.
00:21:00
Speaker
You saw everything that was in Wizard of Oz, and the original price for Wizard of Oz first time was $6,500.
00:21:07
Speaker
Yeah, before they decided all the things that were going to be in it.
00:21:12
Speaker
What's funny is my cousin that got me into the hobby, you know, it must've been right before Jack had unveiled the wizard of Oz because, um, he was, he was talking.
00:21:22
Speaker
I was like, do they still make these?
00:21:23
Speaker
You know, we were sitting there, he played circus full tear.
00:21:26
Speaker
We're playing Simpsons pinball party.
00:21:28
Speaker
He said, yeah, they're still making, there's even a new company coming around and they're making wizard of Oz.
00:21:31
Speaker
And I said, Oh really?
00:21:33
Speaker
And he said, yeah, but they're asking 6,500 and no one's ever going to pay that kind of money for, for a pinball machine.
00:21:39
Speaker
And, uh, I think he was wrong.
00:21:42
Speaker
absolutely yeah hindsight's wonderful like that isn't it oh absolutely and and that sounded like a bit a large bit of money back then you know people people jump on jack for setting the price point and bringing up the cost of games and all that and then they jump on it for not charging enough for the game because of the bill of material costs and and all those sorts of things but you know
00:22:06
Speaker
The guy has passion and the company had passion back then.
00:22:10
Speaker
It was amazing, amazing experience working for Jersey Jack Pinball in those years.
00:22:17
Speaker
Yeah, and I would say that I have Wizard of Oz for all those reasons.
Personal Pinball Collection
00:22:22
Speaker
And we've even bought some of the extra mods to put in there.
00:22:27
Speaker
You know, the Red Smoke Witch mod and the Oz lanes and...
00:22:32
Speaker
I got the new the flying monkey mod and, you know, all these fun things just because it is a different machine than all the other ones.
00:22:41
Speaker
And you're telling me I helped you fix yours one time, too.
00:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, I actually I did pull up like you actually tried to help me.
00:22:49
Speaker
It was still beyond my ability.
00:22:51
Speaker
So I actually hired the guy, the local guy to come fix it.
00:22:54
Speaker
But the truth comes out.
00:22:56
Speaker
Well, you tried.
00:22:57
Speaker
I actually pulled up the email when we were talking and in the castle on the upper left, one of the doors wasn't opening.
00:23:05
Speaker
So so you would knock it all and only one door would open.
00:23:08
Speaker
And it turned out that the motor was bad.
00:23:11
Speaker
And so I would have I would have had to have him come back and fix it anyway.
00:23:15
Speaker
But we have a really great tech out here.
00:23:18
Speaker
So he was able to diagnose it really quickly.
00:23:21
Speaker
What did you tell me?
00:23:22
Speaker
You actually, it was, it was funny because you texted me or a friend of mine, Lee Bell humor said, uh, texted me and said, Hey, I'm going to give you your phone number to these guys.
00:23:32
Speaker
So the loser kid podcast, you know, they, I think they'd like to have you on your, their show.
00:23:36
Speaker
And, and that was the day that JJP let me go.
00:23:39
Speaker
I had to answer that text to him saying, I don't work for JJP anymore.
00:23:44
Speaker
And that was kind of difficult.
00:23:46
Speaker
And then we started talking, you and I by texting, what'd you tell me about your game?
00:23:50
Speaker
Yeah.
00:23:51
Speaker
Wait, which one?
00:23:52
Speaker
The Wizard of Oz?
00:23:53
Speaker
It's about the fingerprints, yeah.
00:23:55
Speaker
Oh.
00:23:59
Speaker
I can't remember what I said.
00:24:01
Speaker
You told me that my fingerprints were all your fingerprints.
00:24:03
Speaker
Oh, your fingerprints, yeah.
00:24:04
Speaker
Were forever going to be on your game, and I told you a little bit of Windex will clear that right up.
00:24:08
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:10
Speaker
No, it's yeah, it's just like, well, Lee's a great friend.
00:24:13
Speaker
And obviously now you and I had talked, we met at the Rocky Mountain Pinball Festival last year.
00:24:21
Speaker
And we even played a few games on in the back corner.
00:24:25
Speaker
I remember we played X-Men with a different code on it.
00:24:28
Speaker
And there was a Dungeons and Dragons there that I plunged the ball and actually the post broke off.
00:24:36
Speaker
I was like, sorry, medic, medic.
Joining JJP and Challenges
00:24:41
Speaker
Just broke your game.
00:24:43
Speaker
I felt bad about that, but I'm like, I wasn't doing anything bad about it.
00:24:48
Speaker
Yeah.
00:24:49
Speaker
Sometimes at those shows, you just walk from game to game, and it seems like everything you touch is either broken or you break it in the process.
00:24:56
Speaker
But that's pinball, you know?
00:24:58
Speaker
That's one of the things Jack always used to say, you know?
00:25:01
Speaker
It ain't broke, it ain't pinball.
00:25:03
Speaker
Yeah.
00:25:05
Speaker
So tell me more about your behind the scenes.
00:25:07
Speaker
So exactly what was your role at Jersey Jack?
00:25:12
Speaker
And now transitioning, what is your role at Chicago Game Company?
00:25:17
Speaker
Oh, the way I started with Jersey Jack was like, you know, so many other people did.
00:25:23
Speaker
I saw him talk and saw how excited he was about his
00:25:28
Speaker
his product and I, I went and placed a pre-order, you know, and put some money down.
00:25:32
Speaker
And my wife is a huge, huge wizard of Oz fan.
00:25:35
Speaker
You know, she's got plates and music boxes and figurines and stuff all over the house.
00:25:41
Speaker
And she loves pinball too.
00:25:42
Speaker
And she says, a wizard of Oz pinball, we got to have that.
00:25:47
Speaker
And I told her, yeah, that's great, but I don't know how we're going to afford that.
00:25:51
Speaker
I said, I've never bought a new in box game before.
00:25:53
Speaker
I always bought older ones that were beat up and fixed them up myself.
00:25:56
Speaker
But so,
00:25:58
Speaker
You know, I went and saw Jack talk in 2011 at the Texas pinball festival.
00:26:02
Speaker
Um, I started emailing him, you know, picking my game number and all that stuff for my wizard of Oz and, and, um, he was very approachable.
00:26:10
Speaker
You know, you dialed his number and he answered the damn phone.
00:26:13
Speaker
It was crazy.
00:26:15
Speaker
And so we talk and he, he, uh, started asking for, you know, some, some people to, to, to, uh, give them some kind of, uh,
00:26:25
Speaker
A slogan for his company.
00:26:27
Speaker
And I was up at my mom and dad's house, you know, visiting for the weekend.
00:26:31
Speaker
I had my feet propped up on the table with a cup of coffee in my hand, just got up.
00:26:36
Speaker
And I saw the little post on his forum there, and I answered one.
00:26:41
Speaker
I put down, you know, Jack of all trades, master of fun.
00:26:45
Speaker
I knew from talking and seeing him that he was just so proud of all the things he'd done in pinball, all the different roles he'd played, and how much he thought a game had to be fun to actually be a success.
00:26:57
Speaker
So it just kind of popped into my head.
00:27:00
Speaker
And then I went away from the computer for a while.
00:27:03
Speaker
I didn't notice that he selected it.
00:27:05
Speaker
And somebody put on there, you know, Pin Butch, which was my label at that time,
00:27:11
Speaker
is so you know jersey jack picked your slogan congratulations i'm like holy cow and he patented it trademarked it all this stuff so that was kind of kind of cool and so we talked we kept talking talking i would email him back and forth and one one day i i talked to my wife and i said you know i wonder if uh jack has given any thought to having like a factory authorized repair place for his circuit boards and stuff because
00:27:39
Speaker
you know, I'm trying to think of some way anyway that I could be part of this company and I could help, I could do something just like a bunch of other people were at the same time.
00:27:48
Speaker
Um, and so I said, you know what, I'm going to, I'm going to pitch that idea to him.
00:27:52
Speaker
And so I, I sent him an email and we got on the phone and talked about it a little bit.
00:27:57
Speaker
And by this time, you know, it's rolled around.
00:28:00
Speaker
It's now 2012, the Texas pinball festivals coming up.
00:28:03
Speaker
He says, you know what, why don't we meet when, uh,
00:28:07
Speaker
I come to Texas.
00:28:08
Speaker
You'll be at that show, right?
00:28:09
Speaker
And I said, yeah.
00:28:10
Speaker
He says, why don't we meet and have dinner and we'll talk about a few things.
00:28:15
Speaker
He says, I'd like to find a place for you in the company.
00:28:18
Speaker
And I just about dropped my phone.
00:28:20
Speaker
I was like, oh my God, I think I might've done it.
00:28:24
Speaker
Because like I said, everybody was wanting to help Jack.
00:28:27
Speaker
And I saw that after I started working with Jack.
00:28:29
Speaker
It's like,
00:28:30
Speaker
tons of people offering is there anything I can do what could I help with you know I want to be involved with this because could I could I do this for you could I do that I don't know why he chose me I really just feel blessed for the opportunity that he gave me but so I met him in 2012 we went out to eat and that that was a real ordeal too we were trying to find some place to not eat meat on Good Friday because it happened to be Good Friday when we were there
00:29:00
Speaker
and Jack is a, is a big Catholic guy.
00:29:03
Speaker
I was raised Catholic, but, um, let's just leave it at that.
00:29:07
Speaker
And, uh, so we went to, ended up eating at a, at a, at a, uh, in and out burger.
00:29:13
Speaker
And he's, he's like, Jack is like Mr. Internet guy, you know, always got to tag himself where he's at and show it.
00:29:19
Speaker
And he's telling his wife and his, his priest and everything, what he's doing.
00:29:23
Speaker
And I'm like, Oh, this guy's crazy.
00:29:25
Speaker
And, uh, so he,
00:29:27
Speaker
He actually in the seminar in 2012 at Texas Pinball Festival, he, he called me out in the audience.
00:29:33
Speaker
He says, is Butch Peel here?
00:29:34
Speaker
And I was there with all my family and everything.
00:29:36
Speaker
It was really cool.
00:29:38
Speaker
And he says, he says, that guy's had me stand up.
00:29:44
Speaker
He says, that guy's going to work for me.
00:29:45
Speaker
He's going to do tech support for me.
00:29:47
Speaker
And, and, you know, I'm going to have him teach people how to fix our games.
00:29:50
Speaker
And so that's kind of how it started.
Pinball Manual Writing
00:29:52
Speaker
And then 2012, 2012,
00:29:55
Speaker
kind of almost ended before we could get to the point where we had games and I could actually start, you know, he wanted to bring me up to the factory, show me all how everything worked and get learning how the games worked and all that.
00:30:07
Speaker
But they were having trouble getting the line going and all that.
00:30:10
Speaker
And the factory stood up and all that.
00:30:12
Speaker
And so, you know, I kept asking him, can I come, can I come?
00:30:15
Speaker
And he's like, well, we're not ready yet.
00:30:17
Speaker
We're not ready yet.
00:30:18
Speaker
And I said, is there anything else I can do?
00:30:20
Speaker
He says, well,
00:30:21
Speaker
I need somebody to write the manual.
00:30:22
Speaker
And I said, well, you know, I'm kind of the rare electrical engineer.
00:30:25
Speaker
I actually can write too.
00:30:28
Speaker
And within about two minutes, he was forwarding me all these files and he had all the mechanical guys sending me drawings and boom, you know, it was, we took off.
00:30:38
Speaker
It was like grabbing hold of a, of a 70 mile an hour train going down the track.
00:30:43
Speaker
And then in 2013 at the Texas Pinball Festival, I was giving the Texas Pinball Festival seminar for Jersey Jack.
00:30:49
Speaker
I was representing the company.
00:30:51
Speaker
Jack wasn't there.
00:30:52
Speaker
So it was kind of a whirlwind.
00:30:55
Speaker
Well, and I kind of want to bounce back to CGC because you've been in the hobby for, what did Scott say, 30 years?
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah, 30 plus.
00:31:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:04
Speaker
So you obviously have grown up or fallen in love with the old Williams Valley games and now you get to work on them and whatnot.
00:31:13
Speaker
What is that like?
00:31:14
Speaker
And then my second question, my follow-up question is, is your favorite Valley Williams game Ari made or would you like, what game would you like to see be made?
00:31:26
Speaker
Okay, let's see.
00:31:27
Speaker
Start with the first question.
00:31:30
Speaker
Yeah, it,
00:31:31
Speaker
You know, I cut my teeth on a lot of the Williams stuff.
00:31:36
Speaker
I actually, that's where I learned how to fix and repair.
00:31:39
Speaker
I used to do through the mallard repair circuit boards for Bally and Williams games from the old days, the old Bally, classic Bally's and the Williams and stuff from the 90s and all that.
00:31:51
Speaker
Those are some cool systems to work on.
00:31:54
Speaker
And
00:31:54
Speaker
You know, I used to fix all these different kinds of games, work on all different kinds of games, all different manufacturers, all different eras.
00:32:02
Speaker
I would use my machines that I have in my shop as test fixtures for people's boards.
00:32:07
Speaker
I'd repair them, test them, send them back to them.
00:32:10
Speaker
And I would use a lot of their documentation and I would read these manuals.
00:32:14
Speaker
And I remember coming across certain things in certain manuals from certain manufacturers from certain eras that I thought were incredibly useful.
00:32:23
Speaker
And then I
00:32:24
Speaker
At the other end of that spectrum, I remember coming across a bunch of things, trying to find something I was looking for and thinking, this is the most worthless stuff I've ever seen.
00:32:31
Speaker
This is completely useless.
00:32:33
Speaker
And then errors in there would drive you crazy when they have something misprinted or something like that.
00:32:38
Speaker
So, you know, being an electrical engineer and a perfectionist kind of guy, being able to work with the manuals, I knew what should go in a manual and what –
00:32:49
Speaker
what shouldn't and I really had my idea, clear thought of what a Butch Peel manual would look like.
00:32:56
Speaker
And so, yeah, I'm excited to be working with the same Williams and Bally things with CGC again.
00:33:05
Speaker
It's kind of like when I say I'm trying to familiarize myself with how they work, I'm more talking about their electronic side.
00:33:12
Speaker
It's a completely different ballgame from what JJP had.
00:33:17
Speaker
But, you know, JJP was using some of the same things.
00:33:19
Speaker
I did videos for, you know, the standard Williams flipper mechanisms, pop bumpers, slingshots and all.
00:33:27
Speaker
I think they're still on JJP's website.
00:33:29
Speaker
I don't think they've taken them down.
00:33:31
Speaker
But so, yeah, it's very exciting to kind of circle back to that.
00:33:35
Speaker
And I've kind of laid in bed at night sometimes thinking about how cool it would be to write the kind of manual that I wrote for JJP and that kind of detail.
00:33:46
Speaker
for old Williams and Valley games.
00:33:48
Speaker
You know, I was, I was kind of thinking about pitching that idea to Gene Cunningham way back in the day when he had the rights to that, but, uh, I didn't quite get around to it.
Innovations in Pinball Remakes
00:33:59
Speaker
And when you talk about my favorite game, that's kind of a long answer.
00:34:02
Speaker
That's my Roger Sharp answer right there.
00:34:05
Speaker
Nothing wrong with that.
00:34:06
Speaker
We have another four hours to go.
00:34:09
Speaker
Yeah.
00:34:10
Speaker
Set the alarms, but my, my favorite, uh,
00:34:14
Speaker
My favorite game from the old Bally Williams days, I think it's almost a tie with Medieval Madness and Monster Bash are so close.
00:34:24
Speaker
I think Monster Bash probably is a very, very close second, but I love both of those games, and I thought they were spot on in doing those early on in their remakes.
00:34:35
Speaker
I think those are games people really wanted to have.
00:34:37
Speaker
And what I really love about what CGC is doing is that they're actually –
00:34:44
Speaker
they're actually able to put their stamp on it.
00:34:45
Speaker
They're taking something from a day that where there were really no games made for collectors back in those days.
00:34:52
Speaker
These games were made to be on route.
00:34:54
Speaker
They were made to be paid to play and you didn't have them in your home and stuff like that.
00:34:59
Speaker
So that's why there's so many mods now being made for these older games because you're adding some, some cool features that just weren't cost effective back in the day.
00:35:07
Speaker
And that's where CGC is really, you know, kind of stepping to the forefront and,
00:35:11
Speaker
And Chicago Gaming has made some huge quantum leaps in how those games, some of the technology in those games, the repairability of them, the maintainability of them.
00:35:25
Speaker
And then just the cool features, you know, that they're able to stick on these games now, especially in the limited edition.
00:35:30
Speaker
That's really where, where the company kind of shines and gets to show off what they can do is the mods that they've added to limited edition games.
00:35:39
Speaker
And they, they just make a really great game that much better.
00:35:42
Speaker
And it's kind of,
00:35:43
Speaker
It's kind of cool to be now in the process of talking about what we can do with the next game and stuff with a real team that values your input and wants you involved in everything.
00:35:54
Speaker
Doug's told me that, you know, I want you involved in everything.
00:35:58
Speaker
And I'm like, well, that's good because I like to be involved in everything.
00:36:02
Speaker
Now, I completely agree with you.
00:36:05
Speaker
I have the original, the standard medieval madness remake.
00:36:10
Speaker
And when they came out with the attack from Mars, I actually ordered that day when I saw it and I said, I need to have the limited edition.
00:36:19
Speaker
It was great.
00:36:20
Speaker
I didn't really have room in my collection for Monster Bash, but my friend down the street bought it.
00:36:25
Speaker
And I'm so excited that you guys made it available to upgrade my medieval madness to a Royal type edition where, you know, I'm able to buy my topper.
00:36:37
Speaker
I'm able to buy the light fixture.
00:36:39
Speaker
I'm able to buy all, you know, the extra paneling.
00:36:43
Speaker
And so I just, I'm excited that I just got the confirmation email that says, Hey, are you still interested?
00:36:49
Speaker
And I'm like, yes, I'm still interested in upgrading everything.
00:36:52
Speaker
And it looks fantastic.
00:36:53
Speaker
I love what you are right.
00:36:55
Speaker
What you guys have done with the LE has taken it to a next level.
00:37:01
Speaker
You have hot rodded the game up so much.
00:37:04
Speaker
It is great.
00:37:05
Speaker
It takes a game that's over 20 years old and it modernizes it.
00:37:10
Speaker
Yeah, there's so many, so many cool things.
00:37:12
Speaker
And I love the idea of upgrading the old game too, because medieval madness was such a special case.
00:37:19
Speaker
I mean, it was obviously the,
00:37:20
Speaker
The first game you had to make.
00:37:22
Speaker
I mean, that's the first game that everybody wanted.
00:37:26
Speaker
And so at that time, it was kind of such a convoluted situation and so many different people involved and who was going to do it and how it was going to come to be that.
00:37:36
Speaker
that they really didn't do much with, you know, adding any special bells or whistles to us.
Role at Chicago Gaming Company
00:37:42
Speaker
It was just a, you know, we can make the game and prove that.
00:37:46
Speaker
That in itself will be a huge contribution to the hobby and the industry.
00:37:50
Speaker
And it was.
00:37:51
Speaker
And now that you're able to come in and put some bells and whistles on these other new games, it kind of made medieval madness look a little bit, you know, kind of left out.
00:37:59
Speaker
So that redheaded stepchild syndrome.
00:38:03
Speaker
So,
00:38:04
Speaker
I'm glad to see it got, got its, uh, facelift to, or it's got its whiz bang things that we're adding to it.
00:38:10
Speaker
So with you being the technical guy for CGC, you've got to settle debate and may this one ever be settled.
00:38:17
Speaker
Do you think the older ones play better or do you think the new CGC remakes play better?
00:38:23
Speaker
You know, people used to ask me that a lot at shows, you know, what do you think of those?
00:38:28
Speaker
Because I have all the original games as well.
00:38:31
Speaker
I've collected those and restored my own games.
00:38:36
Speaker
I did my Monster Bash way back when I used to have some time.
00:38:40
Speaker
It was crazy.
00:38:41
Speaker
But, you know, when you remake all of the
00:38:47
Speaker
not remake, that's a bad choice of words.
00:38:49
Speaker
When you rebuild all of the parts in those old games, they play like a brand new game and they really play great.
00:38:56
Speaker
And early on, unfortunately, some of the things, and Jersey Jack went through this as well, weak flippers, where the flippers weren't working as well as they're supposed to.
00:39:07
Speaker
We had a lot of complaints with that, with Wizard of Oz early on too, but
00:39:13
Speaker
and, and the, their coils would heat up and I would like to play.
00:39:17
Speaker
I had one of my best games on a medieval madness, one of the remakes early on.
00:39:20
Speaker
And I just, as I got to my third ball, I couldn't make that, uh, that ramp anymore with the, the, the dragon, it was going halfway up and coming back down.
00:39:30
Speaker
And you could just tell that the, you know, the flippers were getting weak on me.
00:39:33
Speaker
And so I kind of held that in the back of my mind for a long time, but now that I've got, um,
00:39:40
Speaker
the new CGC games.
00:39:41
Speaker
I have games of my own here in my house now from CGC and they play great.
00:39:47
Speaker
I mean, they've, they've gotten through those early days where you're, you're figuring some of those things out.
00:39:52
Speaker
Flippers are a, are a tough thing.
00:39:54
Speaker
And so I would say they're about the same now.
00:39:58
Speaker
I don't see a real huge difference in them.
00:40:00
Speaker
And I wouldn't even really say one's better than the other.
00:40:03
Speaker
I think they're pretty equivalent now in terms of how they play.
00:40:07
Speaker
Now, tell me about, you sent me some pictures, and you're doing a play field swap right now.
00:40:11
Speaker
Why don't you tell me a little bit about that?
00:40:14
Speaker
Oh, that's, you know, since I worked, when I worked for the Army, I used to, you know, do my pinball stuff in the afternoons and evenings and the weekends.
00:40:25
Speaker
And since I retired in 2017, I've just been, it's been pinball all day, every day, 24-7, 365, in some way, shape, or form.
00:40:36
Speaker
all the time.
00:40:36
Speaker
And one of the things that I do, I have a friend that has arcade bar, my buddy, Alex Macias.
00:40:43
Speaker
I'll say hi to him there.
00:40:45
Speaker
Shameless plug for his, his arcade bars down here.
00:40:49
Speaker
I help him keep his pinball machines going.
00:40:51
Speaker
So he has a couple of different locations with, you know, 10 to 15 games each in them.
00:40:56
Speaker
And it's a challenge boy that,
00:40:57
Speaker
But it's also good to see people playing pinball and, you know, putting in the coins and flipping the flippers, even when the kids are doing them over and over, clack, clack, clack, and you're trying to tell them, hey, you know, if you're
00:41:09
Speaker
some waiting for somebody to pitch you a baseball you don't just start swinging as soon as they move their arm do you because you'll never hit the ball that way right you should wait for the ball to come to you then swing that's what you need to do they're flippers the parents look at me like who are you to talk to my kid yeah that kind of thing but anyway we we i help him keep his games going and he always you know would play my games at my house and he said you know i want to have a monster bash one of these days and so he he bought one and it was a re-import from france and
00:41:39
Speaker
Man, those guys really, really did a job on that game.
00:41:42
Speaker
It was really beat up.
00:41:44
Speaker
A lot of homemade welding and a lot of extra special switches and things like this that these guys added to the game over there, modified it.
00:41:54
Speaker
He got to bring it into my shop finally, and it's been sitting in my shop for several years.
00:41:59
Speaker
That's how long it takes me to get things anymore.
00:42:02
Speaker
He finally decided, well, I'm going to spring for a new play field, so.
00:42:07
Speaker
doing a play field swap for a monster bash when my monster bash came in from CGC and he didn't want to even play my new one.
00:42:15
Speaker
He wanted to get his going first so they could play it.
00:42:18
Speaker
And then he would play mine.
00:42:19
Speaker
So he just looked at mine.
00:42:20
Speaker
Then he, he, he played his and,
00:42:23
Speaker
He's still happy he has original.
00:42:24
Speaker
There's something about the original games too that's just cool.
00:42:27
Speaker
The Williams logo and all that stuff is just pretty neat stuff.
00:42:31
Speaker
But, you know, anything to do with pinball, I've pretty much taught myself how to do.
00:42:36
Speaker
I enjoy the heck out of everything pinball.
00:42:38
Speaker
I tell people that at shows and stuff all the time too.
00:42:40
Speaker
I could talk pinball all day long, all night long.
00:42:44
Speaker
You know, there's nothing about it that doesn't excite me.
00:42:47
Speaker
Meanwhile, you know, my –
00:42:49
Speaker
My wife's washer and refrigerator may be on the blink or whatever.
00:42:52
Speaker
The car don't work, but I can't stand working on that stuff.
00:42:57
Speaker
But give me a broken pinball machine and I got to get in there and try and fix it.
00:43:00
Speaker
It just drives me crazy.
00:43:03
Speaker
So I don't know if you can answer this question or not, Butch, and I don't know if you know the answer to the question.
00:43:07
Speaker
If you don't, just say we can move on.
00:43:09
Speaker
But there's been a lot of releases lately.
00:43:12
Speaker
Monster Bash came out, it's almost been two years, hasn't it?
00:43:17
Speaker
Can you tell us if there's a new game coming anytime soon?
00:43:21
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
CGC Advancements
00:43:22
Speaker
Okay.
00:43:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:43:25
Speaker
And I think someone asked a while back, you know, what I'd be doing for, for Chicago gaming, I'm going to be doing a lot of the same things that I was doing before.
00:43:33
Speaker
It's just, you know, it's kind of like my thing.
00:43:36
Speaker
It's, it's, it's what I feel I'm, I'm pretty good at, you know, customer relations, talking to people.
00:43:42
Speaker
I'll be attending shows.
00:43:43
Speaker
I'll still be coming to shows, just have a little different shirt on.
00:43:45
Speaker
That's all standing in front of different games, but still the same guy that loves pinball and,
00:43:51
Speaker
I'm going to be working on, you know, manuals in future and doing tech support, helping with their tech support system.
00:43:59
Speaker
I'm already making a few videos for the company, doing something for their video games first.
00:44:05
Speaker
And then since I got my Chicago gaming pinball machines in last week, I took a ton of footage when I was unpacking them.
00:44:15
Speaker
So I'm making an unboxing your CGC pinball machine video right now currently too.
00:44:21
Speaker
It's a lot of the same things.
00:44:24
Speaker
And obviously, they wouldn't have hired me if they didn't have anything else coming down the pike.
00:44:29
Speaker
So, yeah, there's definitely some things coming.
00:44:32
Speaker
Well, and my very first, my only new unboxing I've ever bought was Monster Bash Limited Edition.
00:44:38
Speaker
And the boxing on it was fantastic.
00:44:40
Speaker
It just, it was a wonderful game.
00:44:42
Speaker
I ended up just barely selling it to make room for more new games.
00:44:47
Speaker
But the quality of the build on these games are just fantastic.
00:44:51
Speaker
I love my CGC games and I have no complaints with them.
00:44:56
Speaker
And I know Scott owns, you own all of them except for Monster Bash, right?
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:45:01
Speaker
Yeah, I do.
00:45:02
Speaker
And my buddy owns all of them.
00:45:05
Speaker
And that's the only reason why I don't have a Monster Bash is because he is a huge Valley Williams 1990s.
00:45:12
Speaker
That's his wheelhouse.
00:45:13
Speaker
And so I go over to his house and I see these amazing games.
00:45:17
Speaker
He has a Restored Scared Stiff.
00:45:20
Speaker
He has a Circus Volterra.
00:45:21
Speaker
That's the nicest I've ever seen.
00:45:22
Speaker
He has the nice Whitewater.
00:45:24
Speaker
He has Indiana Jones.
00:45:26
Speaker
All these games that I... So I've...
00:45:29
Speaker
adopted part of his collection as part of mine, just feeling that if I ever want to go play it, it's just down the street.
00:45:34
Speaker
And so that's the reason why he didn't get the monster bash, but I love it.
00:45:38
Speaker
It's a fun game.
00:45:39
Speaker
Yeah, Josh, you're, you're a hundred percent right.
00:45:41
Speaker
I mean, the, the build quality, I was just amazed with, uh, when, as I was unboxing these games, how sturdy they're built like a tank.
00:45:50
Speaker
I mean, you got down to the smallest details, you got, you know, steel, uh, um,
00:45:58
Speaker
I'm trying to think of the word here, the speaker panels, the steel speaker panels and the speakers in there don't look like something that, you know, you got out of a radio shack trash can behind there.
00:46:09
Speaker
You know, they're fancy looking speakers.
00:46:11
Speaker
The sound systems are amazing.
00:46:13
Speaker
They're mounted on Delrin blocks with routed out areas for the wiring to go down inside so nothing gets pinched.
00:46:21
Speaker
And then there's the huge, that no one else has a huge advantage is, you know, Chicago gaming,
00:46:27
Speaker
is also Churchill cabinets and they make their own play fields.
00:46:33
Speaker
They make their own cabinets.
00:46:35
Speaker
And I mean, when you've got, when you're a cabinet builder, you have these fixtures for putting a cabinet together that are amazing.
00:46:42
Speaker
And I saw them when I was up there, all four sides.
00:46:45
Speaker
It's like a gigantic four-sided clamp as big as a pinball cabinet standing up.
00:46:50
Speaker
You put the pieces in there.
00:46:51
Speaker
You've
00:46:52
Speaker
Brad them together, you glue the heck out of everything, and then you just clamp it together and let it dry.
00:46:58
Speaker
And when it's done, I mean, you could park a truck up on top of it.
00:47:03
Speaker
They're just amazing.
00:47:04
Speaker
And when you're only doing, taking that from one part of your factory to the opposite half where you actually start putting pinball parts in it, and your play field comes from back there right after it was clear-coated, and it's just walked up, pushed with a cart,
00:47:21
Speaker
up to the assembly line, I mean, that's just a huge advantage.
00:47:24
Speaker
You don't have, there was so many headaches in getting pinball play fields shipped in, in the quality.
00:47:30
Speaker
When the left hand is deciding how good your quality your right hand gets, I mean, it doesn't get any better than that.
00:47:38
Speaker
You've got a vested interest that's just amazing and a leg up in doing that.
00:47:45
Speaker
It's a really cool situation.
00:47:48
Speaker
Okay, I actually was, while you were talking about it, I pulled up the website.
00:47:53
Speaker
No, I pulled up the website and I was looking at the different options there just because what you were talking about.
00:47:58
Speaker
And I clicked on the discontinued products and there's Vacation America Pinball.
00:48:04
Speaker
Oh, wow.
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:05
Speaker
I have never heard of this.
00:48:06
Speaker
I saw that.
00:48:07
Speaker
I saw that.
00:48:09
Speaker
Yeah, it's like the worst game ever made or something like that.
00:48:11
Speaker
No, no, no, no, no.
00:48:12
Speaker
That's not true.
00:48:13
Speaker
That's not a good way to say that, John.
00:48:16
Speaker
Sorry.
00:48:17
Speaker
Thunderbirds hold that solidly in number one.
00:48:21
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:22
Speaker
And maybe you'd phrase it more in like, you know, it's not so much fun to play.
00:48:25
Speaker
It's not got so much stuff in it, but it's very well made.
00:48:29
Speaker
I can guarantee you that.
00:48:30
Speaker
I saw it up there.
00:48:31
Speaker
And, you know, Doug showed it to me and, and he was showing me a lot of the things that he did, you know, making things a little bit different.
00:48:38
Speaker
And it's like, you know, that's really cool.
00:48:40
Speaker
Cause Doug's a really neat guy.
00:48:42
Speaker
He wants to be involved in everything too.
00:48:44
Speaker
And not just a, you know, look over your shoulder and not in a second guessing, you know, micromanaging kind of way, but in a, you know, I really interested in how this works, show me, or I'm going to help, you know, learn on my own so I can make some suggestions and speak intelligently of what you're doing.
00:49:01
Speaker
with you.
00:49:02
Speaker
Um, so he, he actually is not afraid to go in there and say, you know, the pop bumper has been made like this for a lot, long, long time.
00:49:10
Speaker
Well, I'm going to make it a little bit different for this game when I try and make my first pinball machine.
Technical Innovations
00:49:15
Speaker
And that's what he did.
00:49:15
Speaker
And he was showing me the unique kind of assembly that he put together.
00:49:20
Speaker
And I'm like, that, that makes a lot of sense.
00:49:22
Speaker
And then, you know, some of the things that happen with, with Williams Valley, um, pop bumpers over time, the way they wear and all that, you know,
00:49:31
Speaker
And this difficulty of taking those apart and how everything, the wiring has to go through the skirt and through the body and through the play field and through all these brackets and everything.
00:49:43
Speaker
It just makes a lot more sense to do things the way he was doing it.
00:49:46
Speaker
And we may end up doing some more things like that.
00:49:49
Speaker
Maybe make some changes in the future.
00:49:51
Speaker
We'll see.
00:49:52
Speaker
It's going to be fun.
00:49:53
Speaker
I will have to admit, I was excited to get a vacation America one time.
00:49:58
Speaker
But the thing was, is it was posted.
00:49:59
Speaker
I found it in six minutes and it was being given away for free.
00:50:03
Speaker
And so I was like, I will be there now.
00:50:06
Speaker
I will be there now.
00:50:08
Speaker
You owned this?
00:50:10
Speaker
No, I didn't get to it fast enough.
00:50:12
Speaker
No.
00:50:14
Speaker
When someone gives away a free pinball machine, it brings out.
00:50:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:18
Speaker
So many people think they want a free pinball machine.
00:50:21
Speaker
They really do.
00:50:22
Speaker
I mean, it sounds so cool.
00:50:23
Speaker
It turned on.
00:50:23
Speaker
It looked good.
00:50:24
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:24
Speaker
Well, hey, it looked in good condition, too.
00:50:27
Speaker
So it was like Rat Race.
00:50:28
Speaker
You remember that movie Rat Race where everyone is like, go and everyone just started going.
00:50:33
Speaker
That's it.
00:50:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:50:34
Speaker
That's what it was.
00:50:35
Speaker
Okay, so let's talk about under the... Because obviously in your remakes, the top is the same.
00:50:42
Speaker
Or at least you're trying to capture that nostalgic feel.
00:50:45
Speaker
But really, underneath it's a completely different game.
00:50:48
Speaker
Because it's not using the technology that was used 20 years ago.
00:50:52
Speaker
They've updated it.
00:50:54
Speaker
And I know some people have talked about, oh, well, you can't work on those.
00:50:58
Speaker
It's like working on a new car.
00:51:00
Speaker
You can't work on new cars.
00:51:01
Speaker
You have to have the old stuff.
00:51:02
Speaker
But...
00:51:04
Speaker
It seems weird that pinball is one of the few fields that is hesitant to adopt new systems, new change, better technology.
00:51:14
Speaker
Yeah, it's not true.
00:51:16
Speaker
You can work on those games.
00:51:18
Speaker
And pinball is, I don't know, one of the things that really...
00:51:23
Speaker
intrigued me about pinball when I was first learning it when I was still going to school learning how to be an electrical engineer was all the electrical and mechanical and the interaction between electrical and mechanical that was just really cool and there's just so much mechanical in a game that you're you're you've got plenty to work on because the mechanical parts what's wears out for the most part I mean
00:51:46
Speaker
electrical stuff, just plain old breaks.
00:51:48
Speaker
Mechanical actually wears and, you know, holes get kind of wallered out and things start breaking off and bending and all the adjustments and all the things that make a pinball machine really play well and dial it in well.
00:52:02
Speaker
Those are all mechanical stuff.
00:52:05
Speaker
There's a few electrical options now, obviously, with strengths and things like that, but
00:52:10
Speaker
There's still plenty to fix on a game.
00:52:12
Speaker
It's not like, oh, my God, a CGC game, you lift the hood and, oh, my God, I can't work on that, you know.
00:52:20
Speaker
You'll see a lot of the same sort of things that you've seen all along because a lot of the build material is identical to what it was back in the day.
00:52:29
Speaker
I mean, Doug, one huge thing that he moved away from was the Matrix version of Switches.
00:52:40
Speaker
and lamps and things like that.
00:52:42
Speaker
Even JJP moved away from matrix lamps because you're using LEDs now and you're gonna control those in a whole different way than just turning on and off an incandescent bulb, which was real easy to do with this matrix thing.
00:52:55
Speaker
And the whole idea of matrix wiring was to reduce wiring under the playfield.
00:53:01
Speaker
You could get 64 switches and 64 lamps under a pinball playfield that you could independently control
00:53:09
Speaker
By just running, you know, eight sets of wires and white ones, eight sets of green ones, eight sets of yellow and eight sets of red ones and just daisy chain them from lamp to lamp or switch to switch.
00:53:20
Speaker
But then you had to have the diodes in there and all that and had to, if you hook it to the wrong one, if something comes loose, if a diode breaks, if a wire breaks and you put it in the wrong...
00:53:30
Speaker
lug the wrong side of the diode you can get some really crazy stuff going on that matrix and Doug just like that was one area where he said I just don't want to have to learn all that and so our games aren't going to have
00:53:43
Speaker
matrix switches.
00:53:44
Speaker
They're going to have switches that are just wired in.
00:53:47
Speaker
And then you think, oh my God, then you're going to have this wiring nightmare.
00:53:51
Speaker
Well, no, you're not because instead of using this, you know, a bundle of cable that looks like the telephone wire at one of these corners of a major intersection in a big city under your play field, you've got a big printed circuit board.
00:54:06
Speaker
What better way to replace wires than just a bunch of traces on a printed circuit board?
00:54:11
Speaker
That's why the,
00:54:12
Speaker
huge printed circuit boards under the play field.
00:54:16
Speaker
It's replacing a ton of wiring and allowing you to get away without having a matrixed switch setup, which very much simplifies things in terms of the way people think.
00:54:30
Speaker
You just got two wires going out to a switch
00:54:34
Speaker
They connect to two of the lugs when the two wires touch together, it makes the switch.
00:54:39
Speaker
You don't have to worry about a diode.
00:54:40
Speaker
You don't have to say, why does that one hook there and this one hook there?
00:54:44
Speaker
It all makes a lot more sense and it all becomes a lot more standardized and simple.
00:54:50
Speaker
Well, and I think that's one of the things too, when you first open up a CGC, you look underneath like my attack from Mars and you're like, what the heck is that?
00:54:57
Speaker
That circuit board is huge, but that makes sense now.
00:55:00
Speaker
Like I never, I guess I'd never thought about how much wiring it cuts out to have that big circuit board in there.
00:55:05
Speaker
That's pretty awesome.
00:55:07
Speaker
And then it's very cheap to have it made in large numbers.
00:55:11
Speaker
You know, they're, they're not expensive when you order a bunch of those big circuit boards.
00:55:17
Speaker
And then you can have it all made on one great big sheet and a fiberglass.
00:55:23
Speaker
And then you just snap off the little pieces that you'll use in other places in the game.
00:55:26
Speaker
It's, it's really quite ingenious and it works really well.
00:55:31
Speaker
I've been very excited about learning how all that, that hooks together under there.
00:55:35
Speaker
You know, the downside is obviously if you have a problem with something on that big board, you have to kind of replace the whole board.
00:55:42
Speaker
It's not kind of modular, but the sorts of things that they have on the,
00:55:46
Speaker
Those are the LEDs, which have a forever lifetime to them.
00:55:51
Speaker
The vibration doesn't seem to be causing problems and things to fail.
00:55:55
Speaker
I mean, I'm looking at the help desk on Chicago Gaming every day.
00:56:00
Speaker
And, man, we've got a really hot day when we've got two problems being worked.
00:56:05
Speaker
I mean, there's not a lot of issues with the games.
00:56:08
Speaker
They're very well made.
00:56:11
Speaker
And the people that make them up at the factory up there really care about what they're doing and they're really good at it.
00:56:17
Speaker
And yeah, it's a fantastic product.
00:56:20
Speaker
I'm proud to be associated with it.
Industry Experiences and Passion
00:56:22
Speaker
I am too.
00:56:23
Speaker
I mean, like I said, I have my attack from Mars.
00:56:24
Speaker
I had my monster bash and I've only had one or two issues with, with both of them combined.
00:56:33
Speaker
And, um, I called in and I think it was Ryan White was originally there.
00:56:39
Speaker
I don't know if he's still there.
00:56:41
Speaker
Yes, he is.
00:56:42
Speaker
And he, he walked me through everything pretty quickly and he addressed all of my concerns.
00:56:47
Speaker
And then I,
00:56:48
Speaker
I had the plastics, you know, how the first run of those attack from Mars, the plastics would crack or whatnot.
00:56:54
Speaker
Send me out a whole new pair of plastics, no problem.
00:56:58
Speaker
And I mean, just took care of me.
00:57:00
Speaker
Like I have no complaints when it comes to CGC.
00:57:03
Speaker
I think they're definitely ahead of the curve with their product just because it's built so well and the customer service is amazing.
00:57:12
Speaker
I'm glad to hear that.
00:57:14
Speaker
Glad to hear that.
00:57:16
Speaker
Well, I was actually just looking at the toppers.
00:57:21
Speaker
So I actually just bought a few toppers.
00:57:24
Speaker
And I'm still amazed at the toppers you guys are able to make at Chicago Gaming Company for the remakes.
00:57:31
Speaker
All three of them are unbelievable.
00:57:34
Speaker
And I can't wait to see what the next game comes out with and what you guys are going to come out with.
00:57:38
Speaker
Because I have 3D sculpt up there and the...
00:57:43
Speaker
the attack for Mars one that goes up and down, that's pretty amazing.
00:57:46
Speaker
And so I interact really cool.
00:57:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:49
Speaker
I love what you guys are doing there.
00:57:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:53
Speaker
I really can't wait to see what you do for the next one.
00:57:56
Speaker
It'll be cool.
00:57:57
Speaker
I love how you package these toppers too.
00:57:59
Speaker
Oh, they're great.
00:58:00
Speaker
They're bulletproof.
00:58:01
Speaker
Oh yeah.
00:58:02
Speaker
When I got my monster bash, I'm like, what's in this coffin of a box?
00:58:06
Speaker
And you're tearing it apart.
00:58:07
Speaker
There's a topper in here.
00:58:09
Speaker
I know.
00:58:09
Speaker
I'm using the box from my games, from the toppers from my games that came in.
00:58:14
Speaker
I'm repurposing them and making shelving units for my daughter's dorm room.
00:58:18
Speaker
with them.
00:58:18
Speaker
I mean, they're, they're built like a tank, even the box that's just to make sure it gets there safe.
00:58:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:23
Speaker
It's just great.
00:58:25
Speaker
I, I kept it for, uh, for about two years because I was like, I don't know if I can throw this way.
00:58:31
Speaker
I finally had to clear out my garage.
00:58:33
Speaker
And so it did finally go, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's built like a tank.
00:58:38
Speaker
I actually had a different topper that was shipped to me and they had dropped it in transport.
00:58:42
Speaker
And so I need to send it back because it got dented, but, uh,
00:58:46
Speaker
Um, yeah, it didn't get dented.
00:58:48
Speaker
It got like torn apart, dude.
00:58:49
Speaker
Okay.
00:58:50
Speaker
It did get torn apart.
00:58:51
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:51
Speaker
All right.
00:58:52
Speaker
Yeah.
00:58:52
Speaker
But you know, the good news is, uh, I got it from Zach and flipping out pinball.
00:58:56
Speaker
I talked to him and he just said, send it back and we'll get another one.
00:58:59
Speaker
And that's totally fine.
00:59:00
Speaker
I, I was looking at it, trying to figure out how to, how to fix it, but ultimately it just was beyond me.
00:59:06
Speaker
And so again, uh, Zach, flip it up pinball.
00:59:09
Speaker
Uh, he said, no question, just send it back and we'll get another one.
00:59:12
Speaker
But I w I was looking at your toppers and
00:59:14
Speaker
And I was thinking, man, if every game that came out had a 3D molded topper, that would be amazing.
00:59:21
Speaker
And the lighting and stuff is crazy too.
00:59:24
Speaker
My buddy that I did the Monster Bash play field swap for, he's like, I'm not really a topper guy, but that topper is amazing.
00:59:33
Speaker
It's really crazy what they did.
00:59:34
Speaker
And the lighting and the game, it changes everything.
00:59:37
Speaker
I mean, the lighting is so important.
00:59:39
Speaker
Those RGB LEDs are amazing.
00:59:41
Speaker
Yeah, it's so much fun.
00:59:43
Speaker
It's just the Attack for Mars one.
00:59:45
Speaker
It's fantastic because it's just it interacts with you.
00:59:48
Speaker
Like you start you press the start button and it depends on the game.
00:59:51
Speaker
But like it hops up and down.
00:59:53
Speaker
You're really coming back to attack me.
00:59:55
Speaker
And he laughs at you.
00:59:56
Speaker
You know, it's just amazing.
00:59:58
Speaker
I love it.
00:59:59
Speaker
Oh, no.
01:00:00
Speaker
You again.
01:00:02
Speaker
Yeah, I love that stuff.
01:00:04
Speaker
Oh, it's perfect.
01:00:05
Speaker
Those are great games.
01:00:06
Speaker
Okay.
01:00:07
Speaker
So the games you got, did you get the standard ones or did you get the SE or did you get the LE?
01:00:12
Speaker
Cause you got all three of them coming down to you, Butch.
01:00:15
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:16
Speaker
Well, you know, that's, that's one of the cool parts about my job is I need to, need to be able to, to support the product and I'm going to make videos and, and whatever else excuse I could think of to get them to send them to me.
01:00:28
Speaker
But no, they were very, very accommodating.
01:00:32
Speaker
It's like, yeah, they understand completely.
01:00:34
Speaker
And so,
01:00:36
Speaker
These are my new games.
01:00:38
Speaker
I'm very proud of them.
01:00:39
Speaker
And they are LE equivalents.
01:00:42
Speaker
They're not... Scott said all three, but is it only three?
01:00:47
Speaker
Wink, wink.
01:00:49
Speaker
So far, wink, wink.
01:00:51
Speaker
Yeah.
01:00:54
Speaker
Hey, you know what?
01:00:56
Speaker
We at Loser Kid Pinball, we are willing to be test locations for you.
01:01:01
Speaker
We have two locations in Utah.
01:01:02
Speaker
That is so nice of you.
01:01:04
Speaker
Yeah.
01:01:05
Speaker
Amazing.
01:01:05
Speaker
It's a private location with no cameras.
01:01:09
Speaker
And so we can get out.
01:01:10
Speaker
So we're happy to test those for you.
01:01:14
Speaker
Yeah, I could tell everyone in my town and they just look at me weird like, why would we give a crap that this is in your home?
01:01:20
Speaker
Oh, come on, Josh.
01:01:21
Speaker
They look at us weird anytime you're talking to someone about pinball.
01:01:24
Speaker
They're like, wait, what?
01:01:26
Speaker
That's funny because I would wear my pinball shirts all over the place.
01:01:32
Speaker
Every time I was at a show, I was wearing the Jersey Jack colors and all that.
01:01:37
Speaker
I would go through the airports and...
01:01:39
Speaker
going through the scanners and all that, the guy's like, are they still make pinball machines?
01:01:45
Speaker
And anytime I brought up the word pinball to somebody, you know, you get those chatty Cathy's alongside you in an airplane, you know, sitting in the seat beside you that they want to talk, talk, talk, talk.
01:01:57
Speaker
And so many people will ask you, you know, where are you headed and what are you going for?
01:02:01
Speaker
You know, it's just kind of a boilerplate kind of question you ask somebody you're sitting beside and they don't really care about the answer.
01:02:08
Speaker
As soon as I say, oh, I'm going up to Cleveland for a pinball show, they just turn like almost a double take and they look with this big grin on their face.
01:02:17
Speaker
Oh, really?
01:02:18
Speaker
That is so cool.
01:02:20
Speaker
That is so cool.
01:02:22
Speaker
And whenever I tell people about pinball stuff, it's like, that is so cool that you get to do that.
01:02:27
Speaker
And I say, yes, I am very blessed to be able to do this.
01:02:31
Speaker
I even got out of a ticket one time.
01:02:34
Speaker
Nice.
01:02:34
Speaker
Now you got to tell us.
01:02:35
Speaker
You got to.
01:02:36
Speaker
Okay, so this story takes place back in, I don't know, early 2000s, something like that.
01:02:41
Speaker
I answered an ad on Mr. Pinball for two old Project Incomplete Pinball machines.
01:02:46
Speaker
I think it was a Doctor Who and a No Fear.
01:02:49
Speaker
Offered the guy 400 bucks for the two of them and he accepted.
01:02:53
Speaker
So then it was just a matter of getting them to me from Jackson, Mississippi.
01:02:57
Speaker
So my sister and I decided to take a ride in her truck and make a road trip out of it and go pick up the machines and come back to New Mexico.
01:03:05
Speaker
So we head out.
01:03:07
Speaker
We're driving all day long that last day trying to get to Jackson, Mississippi, trying to get to our hotel.
01:03:12
Speaker
We had a Holiday Inn Express we were heading towards.
01:03:15
Speaker
And we're in Jackson.
01:03:17
Speaker
We were pulling up towards the exit, getting really close to the exit.
01:03:21
Speaker
And
01:03:21
Speaker
There's a car in front of me going like way under the speed limit.
01:03:24
Speaker
So I just slow way down.
01:03:25
Speaker
You know, I hate when people pull out past me just to cut me off and take an exit.
01:03:30
Speaker
So I wouldn't want to be that guy, you know?
01:03:31
Speaker
So, so I slow down and I pull in behind this guy and just kind of ride it out.
01:03:36
Speaker
My exit's like less than a half a mile away.
01:03:38
Speaker
I'm in good shape, right?
01:03:40
Speaker
Well, as soon as I do that, I notice on the right side of the road, it's dark.
01:03:44
Speaker
It's like 10 o'clock at night and there's a police car sitting there and he has no lights on or anything.
01:03:50
Speaker
He just on the shoulder.
01:03:51
Speaker
just sitting there watching people go by.
01:03:53
Speaker
Well, I guess he was waiting for somebody from New Mexico to come along.
01:03:56
Speaker
So he flipped his lights on and pulls me over and I'm just like right at the foot of the exit to my hotel.
01:04:02
Speaker
My hotel is, I mean, it's right there.
01:04:05
Speaker
We are literally bathed in the light of the hotel sign right there alongside the interstate.
01:04:09
Speaker
So this guy, you know, throws the floodlights on and brings his big bright flashlight out and everything, looking in the bed of the truck, looking around.
01:04:18
Speaker
And he comes walking up.
01:04:19
Speaker
He doesn't really come all the way up to the window.
01:04:20
Speaker
He stops a little short.
01:04:22
Speaker
I look up.
01:04:22
Speaker
I just see a shoulder with a big old radio attached to it.
01:04:25
Speaker
And I hear, I need your license and registration and proof of insurance.
01:04:30
Speaker
So my sister's wrestling around getting the information for him out of the glove box.
01:04:35
Speaker
I'm getting my wallet out.
01:04:36
Speaker
And he asks, where are you all headed tonight?
01:04:38
Speaker
And I pointed at the Holiday Inn Express light and I said, right there.
01:04:43
Speaker
And he asks, you know why I pulled you over?
01:04:45
Speaker
And I said, actually, no, I don't.
01:04:46
Speaker
He says, well,
01:04:47
Speaker
You were following that car way too close there.
01:04:49
Speaker
And I said, well, I was getting ready to take this exit up here, and I didn't want to pull in front of the guy and cut him off.
01:04:54
Speaker
And I thought it was safer to do that.
01:04:57
Speaker
And he just kind of, so he looks at my license registration for a second.
01:05:01
Speaker
And then he says, well, so what brings you to Jackson, Mississippi there, Mr. Peel?
01:05:06
Speaker
And I said, well, I'm picking up some pinball machines tomorrow morning.
01:05:10
Speaker
And all of a sudden, the window is filled with this big smiling face.
01:05:15
Speaker
And he says, oh, really?
01:05:17
Speaker
He says, do you have any idea where I might be able to get a back glass for a Tropic Isle machine?
01:05:23
Speaker
And I just got it chuckling.
01:05:25
Speaker
And eBay is best I can figure.
01:05:28
Speaker
So we talked a little bit about the space shuttle game that I was restoring.
01:05:33
Speaker
And I offered to show him some pictures.
01:05:35
Speaker
And
01:05:35
Speaker
He said, no, I didn't really have time for that.
01:05:37
Speaker
And next thing I know, he's handing me my information back and telling me to enjoy my time in Jackson, Mississippi and enjoy the pinball machines and have a great evening there, Mr. Peel.
01:05:46
Speaker
So never underestimate the power of pinball.
01:05:49
Speaker
Can get you out of some tight spots and do some amazing things for you.
New Beginnings at CGC
01:05:54
Speaker
That is awesome to hear.
01:05:55
Speaker
Now I don't have to get my wife to flirt with the cop.
01:05:57
Speaker
I just bring up pinball and I'll pay out the ticket.
01:06:00
Speaker
It is so cool.
01:06:01
Speaker
I'm telling you, it's so cool.
01:06:02
Speaker
That is way cool.
01:06:04
Speaker
that's hilarious i'm not gonna lie every time i talk about pinball it's the same thing they always like huh okay uh can i come over and play him like it's always the same thing they still make him that's their first question second question can i come over and play him yeah sure yep what the part of of utah i'm from for some odd reason i always ask when i say i'm into pinball you're a pinball wizard and
01:06:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's what they say.
01:06:31
Speaker
Are you a wizard?
01:06:32
Speaker
And I'm like, I don't even know how to answer that, really.
01:06:35
Speaker
I'm not a great player, if that's what you mean by a wizard.
01:06:39
Speaker
I'm no deaf, dumb, and blind kid, you know.
01:06:41
Speaker
Exactly.
01:06:41
Speaker
That's what I want to respond with.
01:06:43
Speaker
Well, I can see you and hear you, so I don't know.
01:06:47
Speaker
And I actually, you know, it's funny, though, with pinballs.
01:06:50
Speaker
I enjoy working on them.
01:06:51
Speaker
I enjoy talking about them.
01:06:52
Speaker
I enjoy playing them all about the same.
01:06:55
Speaker
It's all good with pinball, you know, anything pinball.
01:06:58
Speaker
gets my heart racing.
01:07:00
Speaker
I really enjoy it.
01:07:01
Speaker
Got a passion.
01:07:02
Speaker
I used to tell Jack that all the time.
01:07:03
Speaker
I got a passion that I'd put against anybody's for pinball.
01:07:06
Speaker
It's just an amazing feeling.
01:07:09
Speaker
My favorite is when you see someone after a while and they haven't seen you and they're like, Hey, how's that ping pong going?
01:07:13
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:14
Speaker
I had that happen to me when I was getting games delivered from Jersey Jack, you know, the, a game would show up and this guy would say, I got another ping pong table for you.
01:07:24
Speaker
And I'm like,
01:07:26
Speaker
No, you don't.
01:07:28
Speaker
I love it when they say ping pong and then they know it's not right and they stare at the ground for a second and they look back at you and then they make the hand motions like they're pushing flippers.
01:07:37
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:37
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:38
Speaker
You know.
01:07:38
Speaker
Or flippers moving with their fingers popping up like that.
01:07:41
Speaker
You know, the things, you know.
01:07:43
Speaker
You know, the ping pong, the ping pong.
01:07:46
Speaker
Where you're knocking the ball around.
01:07:48
Speaker
Yeah.
01:07:49
Speaker
It's funny.
01:07:51
Speaker
Well, happy birthday, by the way.
01:07:52
Speaker
Like you said, July 26th.
01:07:54
Speaker
We just found out my birthday is the 25th.
01:07:56
Speaker
Butch's is the 26th.
01:07:57
Speaker
Scott, what were you thinking?
01:07:59
Speaker
You should have been born in July.
01:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, you could have been cool like us.
01:08:02
Speaker
I was born in September.
01:08:04
Speaker
So every seventh year I get Labor Day off for my birthday.
01:08:08
Speaker
Oh, nice.
01:08:10
Speaker
I thought you were going to say every leap year.
01:08:12
Speaker
And I was like, wait a minute.
01:08:15
Speaker
It's every leap year.
01:08:15
Speaker
Absolutely.
01:08:16
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:20
Speaker
Oh my goodness.
01:08:21
Speaker
Well, we've, we've kind of hit the, the hour and 10 minute mark.
01:08:25
Speaker
This is when we kind of start wrapping things up.
01:08:26
Speaker
So is there anything you want to tell us, Butch, that you haven't yet that, uh, may, may with the futures holding for you or I don't know.
01:08:35
Speaker
I'm just real excited.
01:08:37
Speaker
Like I said, to, to be part of something new here to, you know, it's, it's good to get out of your comfort zone every so often and do something new.
01:08:45
Speaker
I had a guy I used to work with at the, uh,
01:08:48
Speaker
for the army that was saying he, he liked to change jobs every few years.
01:08:52
Speaker
And I'm like, I really hate that thought.
01:08:54
Speaker
I wouldn't want to do that, but you know, it's, it's kind of, it's kind of a cool, fresh new start for me.
01:09:01
Speaker
It's, it's really humbling to me.
01:09:03
Speaker
And, and, and, you know, I take it as a, as a great compliment that, that,
01:09:08
Speaker
Doug Duba hired me.
01:09:10
Speaker
I mean, it was the first guy he ever hired that he'd never met before.
01:09:13
Speaker
So that was one of the reasons why I had to come up there in June, just so we could meet and all, because he'd already hired me and he'd never done that before.
01:09:21
Speaker
It was kind of cool.
01:09:22
Speaker
So, you know, I think there's a,
01:09:25
Speaker
there's a place for me in this industry still.
01:09:27
Speaker
I think I have a lot to offer and I'm looking forward to moving forward with a company that appreciates that and values that.
01:09:36
Speaker
So I'm happy.
01:09:37
Speaker
We are too.
01:09:38
Speaker
We're certainly looking forward to your upcoming releases and we'd love to have you circle back around when it's time to talk about your next release or your next project.
01:09:49
Speaker
Hey, you bet.
01:09:49
Speaker
And, you know, one last thing.
01:09:51
Speaker
I kind of lost my dream job, but I didn't lose my friends and I didn't lose, you know, my dreams or my passion.
01:09:59
Speaker
So, you know, this has been a difficult couple of months, but things are definitely looking up and way up right now.
01:10:06
Speaker
And, uh,
01:10:07
Speaker
I'm really excited to be able to see all my friends again when we get out on the other side of this COVID stuff and start having some pinball shows again.
01:10:14
Speaker
It'll be just like it was before.
01:10:17
Speaker
We'll talk pinball and we'll have a blast.
01:10:19
Speaker
So I'm looking forward to seeing everybody out there.
01:10:21
Speaker
And thanks again, everybody, for the well wishes and checking on me.
01:10:25
Speaker
I'm all right.
01:10:26
Speaker
I'm going to be okay.
01:10:28
Speaker
Well, if you want to contact Butch, like he said, he's very rarely working on order tickets because these games are built so well that he just, you know, what is he supposed to do?
01:10:37
Speaker
So just send him an email saying, hey, I know it's not broken, but how you doing?
01:10:42
Speaker
You know?
01:10:43
Speaker
That's right.
01:10:43
Speaker
Butch at Chicago-gaming.com.
01:10:46
Speaker
Send me an email.
01:10:47
Speaker
Yeah.
01:10:48
Speaker
Of course, if you have questions about your pinball machines, just go ahead and say, call Ryan White.
01:10:57
Speaker
Hey, I've got a 1978 solid state.
01:10:59
Speaker
How can you help me with this?
01:11:02
Speaker
Let me count the ways, my man.
01:11:05
Speaker
Thanks, you guys, for having me on.
01:11:06
Speaker
It's been great talking to you.
01:11:09
Speaker
I love having friends like you guys in the business, and you guys are doing a great job.
01:11:13
Speaker
I really appreciate the...
01:11:15
Speaker
the support and I, I really enjoy listening to your podcasts.
01:11:18
Speaker
And so we have some fun.
01:11:20
Speaker
Yeah.
01:11:21
Speaker
We're really enjoying doing it.
01:11:22
Speaker
So we, we haven't had to do this in a while, but we are sending you a swag box for being on.
01:11:28
Speaker
So we actually, you know what, during COVID, I actually just ordered some more swag.
01:11:32
Speaker
So we have hats.
01:11:33
Speaker
We still have beanies.
01:11:35
Speaker
We also got some fun stickers and I even got some rainbow stickers that are like holographic ones.
01:11:41
Speaker
So those are kind of fun too.
01:11:42
Speaker
So, uh,
01:11:44
Speaker
If anybody's interested, go ahead and hit me up, but we will certainly send you a swag bag for being on Bush and we really appreciate it.
01:11:50
Speaker
If it's free, it's for me, dude.
01:11:52
Speaker
So thanks.
01:11:52
Speaker
I appreciate it.
01:11:54
Speaker
Well, I need some of those stickers too.
01:11:55
Speaker
I need, I just got for my birthday, Harbor Freight had, you know, those portable tool carts.
01:12:01
Speaker
And so I've turned mine into a portable pinball repair
Content Amendments
01:12:04
Speaker
station.
01:12:04
Speaker
And so, Hey, watch that tools of the trade video.
01:12:07
Speaker
I mean, tell you how to populate that thing.
01:12:11
Speaker
Oh, absolutely.
01:12:12
Speaker
And I'm going to do an amendment to that one too at CGC.
01:12:14
Speaker
So you'll have a lot more stuff to look at.
01:12:17
Speaker
Well, certainly send us links and we'll definitely distribute those to the powers that be too.
01:12:22
Speaker
You bet, guys.
01:12:23
Speaker
Thanks a lot.
01:12:24
Speaker
You're welcome.
Guest Farewell
01:12:25
Speaker
Thanks, budge.
01:12:26
Speaker
Well, thanks for tuning into the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
01:12:29
Speaker
We'd like to thank our special guest, Butch Peel.
01:12:32
Speaker
Again, friends of the show, please hit them up.
Sponsor Acknowledgments
01:12:36
Speaker
Lit Frames, a great way to illuminate those extra trans lights that you have around.
01:12:40
Speaker
Flyland Designs if you want some alternative art for your pinball machines.
01:12:45
Speaker
And they are officially licensed, so he did go through the right channels.
01:12:50
Speaker
Also, This Week in Pinball, please check out all the new releases in Pinball.
01:12:56
Speaker
And Jeff Patterson does a great job of keeping everything up.
01:12:58
Speaker
And as always, if you need a new pinball machine or a used ones, please hit up Zach and Nicole at Flippin'
Where to Find the Podcast
01:13:06
Speaker
Out Pinball.
01:13:06
Speaker
They're great friends of the show.
01:13:08
Speaker
Josh, if people want to listen to us, what's the best way to listen to us and to reach out?
01:13:15
Speaker
So are based out of SoundCloud.
01:13:16
Speaker
So you can go to soundcloud.com slash Loser Kid Pinball podcast.
01:13:20
Speaker
If you'd like to reach out and talk to us, Facebook is the best way through LoserKidPinball.com or sorry, not LoserKidPinball.com, but.
01:13:28
Speaker
facebook.com slash loser kid pinball we're also on twitter now and we have instagram so hit us up any of those ways we'll contact you and also if you want to give us an email loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com we love talking to you guys it's it's fun to hear from you every once in a while i think scott it's it's getting pretty close to time we won't do it this episode but let's put a swag bag together and give it away on on one of our future episodes
Swag Bag Giveaway
01:13:53
Speaker
Absolutely.
01:13:53
Speaker
We'll just have to find out a way of teasing people to get them to get the threshold in for what they want to do.
01:14:03
Speaker
I agree.
01:14:03
Speaker
Awesome.
01:14:05
Speaker
Well, that's it for us.
01:14:06
Speaker
See you next time, guys.