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Ep 34: The Zack of All Trade with Zach Sharpe
39 Plays5 years ago
Last but not least in this Sharpe Trifecta we interview Mr Stern Marketing himself, Zach Sharpe! We see if we can break his number one response of, "I can neither confirm or deny". Hint, it's not as easy as you would think. With plenty uncertain about the future, Zach gives us as much as he can about the future of Stern Pinball after Covid-19. Enjoy!
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:00:06
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast.
00:00:09
Speaker
We are on episode 34 with me, my co-captain as always.
00:00:12
Speaker
Scott Larson.
00:00:15
Speaker
And we decided we would finish out this wonderful sharp week with whom, my good man?
00:00:22
Speaker
Well, we finished out the trilogy strong and today we have the director of marketing at Stern, Mr. Zach Sharp.
00:00:30
Speaker
How are you doing today, Zach?
00:00:33
Speaker
Must be a pretty slow news day if you're trying to do the final sharp in the sharp trifecta, but I appreciate it.
00:00:39
Speaker
I'm doing okay.
00:00:41
Speaker
Actually, we needed to build up because we needed to get the background and now you are currently helping drive the market leader in pinball.
00:00:51
Speaker
And so it actually makes a good end piece so we can get your perspective on how things are now and where you see them in the future.
00:00:59
Speaker
you know what, that was a great answer.
Zach's Pinball Family Legacy
00:01:01
Speaker
You know, I could also say, you know, it's kind of like the last dance, which I know Josh alluded to, but you know, I just watched episodes three and four.
00:01:08
Speaker
So you can say this is the last dance of the Sharp podcast trilogy.
00:01:13
Speaker
So, you know, as long as it's not like a Highlander, there can only be one.
00:01:17
Speaker
I'm happy with your answer there.
00:01:20
Speaker
So let's go.
00:01:21
Speaker
Well, you shouldn't be so modest because we reached out before and you're like, you really should talk to my brother, Josh and my dad, Roger.
00:01:27
Speaker
And we're like,
00:01:28
Speaker
We feel too intimidated to talk to them because, I mean, your dad's such an amazing figure in the community and whatnot.
00:01:35
Speaker
And, you know, Josh is awesome, too.
00:01:37
Speaker
And we're just like, are you sure?
00:01:39
Speaker
And you're like, yeah, hit them up first and we'll talk later.
00:01:42
Speaker
I'm like, not many people that we meet in the podcasting realm.
00:01:45
Speaker
It's like, you know what?
00:01:47
Speaker
You should interview these people first.
00:01:48
Speaker
And then, you know, they do a lot better than I do.
00:01:52
Speaker
And I'm just like, but you're a man over marketing of Stern.
00:01:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:01:56
Speaker
I doubt they'd be terrible with these things.
00:02:00
Speaker
I like, you know, actions speak louder than words.
00:02:02
Speaker
And my father and Josh, they speak a lot and I let them, you know, have their space.
Childhood Memories and Video Games
00:02:10
Speaker
I think we're going to take the same approach.
00:02:12
Speaker
We're going to start referring people to better podcasts when they ask us for interviews and then we'll come back.
00:02:18
Speaker
Oh, that's funny.
00:02:19
Speaker
We talk about head-to-head, they're not operating anymore.
00:02:22
Speaker
That's true.
00:02:23
Speaker
That's true.
00:02:27
Speaker
Okay, so Zach, so first question, how much money is in the jar that's I'm Zach, not Josh?
00:02:36
Speaker
Oh, God, I've lost count.
00:02:37
Speaker
Once I've eclipsed, you know, like $10,000, I just stopped tracking.
00:02:44
Speaker
It's good.
00:02:44
Speaker
It's a good college fund for Benson.
00:02:47
Speaker
There you go.
00:02:49
Speaker
It's saving up for the next LE title, right?
00:02:52
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:02:54
Speaker
So I want to start off.
00:02:55
Speaker
We did talk with your dad and it was great because we brought a lot of information that I had no idea about from him taking the shot up until he actually joined Williams.
00:03:07
Speaker
I found it fascinating.
00:03:08
Speaker
There was about a 10 year gap where he was involved in pinball, but more as a contract worker as opposed to directly involved.
00:03:14
Speaker
So I want to you grew up when he was actually working at Williams Valley Midway.
00:03:22
Speaker
Want to get your thoughts on growing up in that environment and what are some things that jumped out at your memories?
00:03:29
Speaker
I would say the best or biggest memory was having the best birthday parties.
00:03:35
Speaker
Because while most kids, you know, might go to Enchanted Castle or Chuck E. Cheese, I would take my friends to the Williams factory and we'd play games in the lunchroom as well as going to other places.
00:03:47
Speaker
So that was always the memory that stuck out most was being able to go to the factory as a kid, just not understanding the sheer scope and scale of what was happening.
00:03:59
Speaker
What was your favorite game from back then?
00:04:03
Speaker
You know, I mean,
00:04:05
Speaker
From a Williams perspective, I could not even tell you just because they all kind of blended together.
00:04:11
Speaker
But growing up, you know, I love Sharpshooter and Cyclops, but if there was one game that I gravitated more towards, and maybe because it was in my bedroom, it was Jack in the Box, old Gottlieb game.
00:04:26
Speaker
So growing up, did you feel like, you know, this is what I need to do?
00:04:29
Speaker
This is I'm going to follow my father's footsteps or was it just kind of
00:04:33
Speaker
an awesome childhood you didn't really pay much more attention to than that?
00:04:38
Speaker
More of the latter.
00:04:40
Speaker
I would say, funny enough, and I know this sounds blasphemous, I was more of a video game fan growing up.
00:04:46
Speaker
Josh gravitated more towards pinball than I did.
00:04:50
Speaker
We were both into sports, but I played video games more than pinball.
00:04:55
Speaker
And it wasn't until I got into the competitive realm that pinball really kind of hooked me.
00:05:03
Speaker
Now, when did you start getting into that?
00:05:05
Speaker
Because Josh mentioned that your dad actually said, yeah, I'm not going to let you guys compete in that.
00:05:11
Speaker
And in some ways he viewed that as a forbidden fruit, almost a whet his appetite to actually, I want to do this.
00:05:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:05:18
Speaker
So growing up, you know, there was,
00:05:21
Speaker
pretty much only one show, uh, pinball expo.
00:05:25
Speaker
So that would be like our one time of year where we would go.
00:05:30
Speaker
Um, we'd get embarrassed because people would be asking our father for his autograph, which we thought was just insane.
00:05:36
Speaker
Like, why are people asking for his autograph?
00:05:37
Speaker
That's weird.
00:05:39
Speaker
Um, but we saw some kids playing in this roped off area and it's like, Oh, what's going on over there?
00:05:46
Speaker
And there's trophies.
00:05:48
Speaker
Oh, well, they're winning trophies by playing pinball?
00:05:51
Speaker
Like, Dad, can we go over there?
00:05:53
Speaker
No, no.
00:05:54
Speaker
Josh, Zach, those are other people playing.
00:05:56
Speaker
You guys can play over in the free play area.
00:05:59
Speaker
And he kind of just kept deflecting, deflecting, deflecting.
00:06:03
Speaker
And, you know, this only happened once per year.
00:06:05
Speaker
And we just kept asking, like, we keep seeing kids winning these, like, giant teddy bears and these trophies.
00:06:11
Speaker
And, you know, we're pretty good at this.
00:06:13
Speaker
We play against our friends and we're constantly beating them at pinball.
00:06:18
Speaker
Josh and I were both in karate, so we were used to high-level competition and getting trophies for performing under pressure.
00:06:26
Speaker
But when it came to asking our father to compete on the pinball level, he just kept deflecting, and it took years.
00:06:35
Speaker
I don't even know how many years it took just begging and pleading to let us just please compete.
00:06:41
Speaker
And I understand his perspective.
00:06:43
Speaker
You know, he holds pinball so dear to his heart.
00:06:46
Speaker
I'm sure he would hate to see his two sons have like a sibling rivalry, you know, falling out because we're both competing at pinball.
00:06:56
Speaker
But it was the complete opposite.
00:06:58
Speaker
Once he let us compete, if anything, it close, closing Josh and I, our relationship, we became closer.
00:07:07
Speaker
So if anything, it,
00:07:09
Speaker
It helped that.
00:07:11
Speaker
And we happened to be pretty decent at it and won a lot of stuffed animals.
00:07:16
Speaker
So at what age did you actually start competing?
00:07:22
Speaker
I believe I was 12 or 11 going on 12 when we competed in our first tournament.
00:07:29
Speaker
So I was 12 and Josh would have been 14.
00:07:33
Speaker
So you said that you liked video games more growing up.
00:07:35
Speaker
What was some of the games you gravitated towards?
00:07:38
Speaker
I don't know if you've heard of this game called Mortal Kombat, but that was definitely one of our favorites.
00:07:44
Speaker
And NBA Jam, NFL Blitz, a lot of sports games.
00:07:49
Speaker
RBI Baseball, if you want to go the old Nintendo route.
00:07:53
Speaker
Zelda, Mario Brothers, the classics, but definitely the sports games, sports and fighting games.
00:08:00
Speaker
So did you and Josh fight over who was going to be your dad in NBA Jam?
00:08:05
Speaker
You know what?
00:08:05
Speaker
Josh probably played as my dad more than I did.
00:08:09
Speaker
I was always just, you know, let me get the Bulls.
00:08:11
Speaker
Let's go.
00:08:12
Speaker
Okay, wait.
00:08:14
Speaker
Your dad's in an NBA Jam?
00:08:16
Speaker
I didn't know this.
00:08:17
Speaker
Yes.
00:08:18
Speaker
Not only is he in an NBA Jam, it's Tournament Edition, not the original.
00:08:22
Speaker
So the second one, if you put in his initials and his birthday, which I hate saying it's his birthday because then people might do the math and figure out how old he is.
00:08:33
Speaker
But you could also play as him in NFL Blitz.
00:08:37
Speaker
So that was a fun moment when I was a freshman in college, and me and my dorm suite mates were playing NFL Blitz for the first time.
00:08:47
Speaker
And I put in this code, and all of a sudden, it's not only my dad's head, but I would put in the code for giant head mode.
00:08:55
Speaker
So it was a giant head of my dad playing NFL Blitz, and my roommates were like, what is going on here?
00:09:01
Speaker
It's like, that is my dad.
00:09:03
Speaker
Scott must not have been paying attention because your brother Josh gave out the code of how to pick out your dad on the episode we recorded with him.
00:09:10
Speaker
Okay, well, he said the code, but I didn't know what the code was, and I figured I didn't want to look stupid by saying I have no idea what you're talking about.
00:09:19
Speaker
Well, now you have to find an NBA jam or NFL blitz out there.
00:09:24
Speaker
I actually played a lot of NFL blitz.
00:09:27
Speaker
I loved that game.
00:09:28
Speaker
It was great.
00:09:30
Speaker
It was so good.
00:09:32
Speaker
You grow up, you end up going to college.
College and Career Choices
00:09:35
Speaker
And tell us about your thought process and your career path by going to college.
00:09:40
Speaker
Yeah, so my career path was definitely unique.
00:09:44
Speaker
So I almost went to an art school.
00:09:47
Speaker
I've kind of always been creative and artistic.
00:09:51
Speaker
I took a lot of AP art classes and had my portfolio all created, was meeting and talking to the Chicago Art Institute.
00:10:02
Speaker
But there was something kind of not nagging at me, but kind of concerned that I didn't want to become a starving artist.
00:10:09
Speaker
And if I put all my eggs in the basket of trying to be an artist, I was afraid that I would, I don't want to say resent it, but if my whole livelihood and financial sanity was at the crux of doing artwork day in and day out, I was afraid I would not only get burned out by it, but just lose my passion overall.
00:10:32
Speaker
So not to follow in Josh's footsteps, but, you know, he went to our in-state school, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
00:10:40
Speaker
And I just thought, well, you know, I could always just go to a big school, take as many classes as possible and see if there's something that might connect with me.
00:10:50
Speaker
So I went to the School of Business and took marketing, advertising, accounting, you name it, every class under the sun.
00:10:59
Speaker
I even took ice skating, which, by the way, was incredible.
00:11:02
Speaker
I loved ice skating, my favorite class by far.
00:11:06
Speaker
But it was advertising that really stood out because I saw it as a way of not only being creative, but kind of utilizing the creative part of my brain.
00:11:17
Speaker
So once I got into advertising, I was not looking back.
00:11:22
Speaker
I just wanted to do everything from an advertising perspective.
00:11:27
Speaker
And I...
00:11:28
Speaker
I lean more towards the copywriting side, um, just coming up with taglines and copy versus the design side.
00:11:37
Speaker
So after, you know, my, my stint at school, which, um, included a semester studying abroad in Australia, which that was, if anything drew me more into not to go on a tangent, geez, I felt like my father just going on, uh, diatribes here.
00:11:58
Speaker
No, I was in no rush to graduate.
00:12:01
Speaker
So I intentionally withheld a class I needed to graduate and studied abroad.
00:12:08
Speaker
So I went to Sydney, Australia for five months.
00:12:12
Speaker
And that was by far one of the coolest experiences of my life.
00:12:17
Speaker
But if anything, it made me love pinball even more because that was the longest I was away from it.
00:12:24
Speaker
And I never realized how much I loved it.
00:12:27
Speaker
And especially on the competition side, that was when Papa Seven, it was the first time it came back.
00:12:32
Speaker
I missed it.
00:12:33
Speaker
So it was the first tournament I watched from afar and, you know, rooting on Josh.
00:12:39
Speaker
And I just wanted to.
00:12:41
Speaker
Nothing more than to fly back and compete in that.
00:12:44
Speaker
So if anything, I grew to love pinball when I was out there.
00:12:50
Speaker
It was the first time I really started reading the forums.
00:12:53
Speaker
So there was no pin side, but, you know, there was our GP.
00:12:56
Speaker
That was the first.
00:12:57
Speaker
I always made fun of Josh because he would always read that stuff.
00:13:00
Speaker
And I'm like, I have zero interest in any of that.
00:13:04
Speaker
And that was the first time I kind of got hooked into the forums.
00:13:08
Speaker
And, you know, I kind of never looked back.
00:13:11
Speaker
So let me get back to what you're asking.
00:13:14
Speaker
So in college, never thought of pinball, loved advertising, graduated college and wanted to work in an ad agency at all costs.
00:13:25
Speaker
So I found a small agency outside of the Chicago area and it was as an account coordinator, so not as a copywriter.
00:13:34
Speaker
So I thought, well, let me just get in there.
00:13:37
Speaker
I can maybe do some copywriting on the side and
00:13:41
Speaker
That's where I kind of fell in love with more of the project management aspect and not on the copy side.
00:13:47
Speaker
Because in school, you can have whatever clients you want.
00:13:52
Speaker
Oh, great.
00:13:52
Speaker
I can create this Budweiser campaign.
00:13:55
Speaker
This is fun.
00:13:56
Speaker
Versus the real world where it's like, hey, Zach, can you write this eight-page diabetes brochure?
00:14:02
Speaker
Oh, that sounds fantastic.
00:14:04
Speaker
It felt more like homework than a creative outlet.
00:14:09
Speaker
But I like being kind of
00:14:11
Speaker
the head producer and overseeing projects from start to finish and working with clients.
00:14:17
Speaker
I kind of always had this analogy that an account manager is almost like a waiter at a restaurant where you're taking, I don't want to say orders from the client, but you're working with a creative team, which is the chefs.
00:14:30
Speaker
And you're trying to create this masterful dinner or lunch for the client.
00:14:36
Speaker
And I enjoyed, you know, delivering those,
00:14:39
Speaker
delicious meals on time, on budget and exceeding expectations.
00:14:45
Speaker
So what, what took you from doing these little, these, these little advertisement stuff and focused you more towards Stern?
00:14:54
Speaker
I mean, obviously there's a, there's a gap in between there.
00:14:57
Speaker
Oh yeah, no, there's a definite gap.
00:14:59
Speaker
And this was a funny, uh, it was a long, a long story in the making, but, um,
00:15:05
Speaker
As a side job, I was a contributing writer, both Josh and I, for Play Meter magazine.
00:15:12
Speaker
It was at the time the lead coin-operated magazine.
00:15:16
Speaker
And we were picking up the baton from our father from his Critics' Corner column.
00:15:22
Speaker
And it was called Critics' Corner 2.
00:15:24
Speaker
And we would review new equipment.
00:15:26
Speaker
So it was a fun way of just being connected to the coin-op industry, but not in a full employment capacity.
00:15:35
Speaker
So we would, the great thing about doing that article once a month was it allowed us to travel to the two big trade shows.
00:15:42
Speaker
So there was, you know, the amusement expo and the AMOA show.
00:15:47
Speaker
So it would be cool to, you know, going to Vegas twice a year, even before I was 21 and, you know, playing all the new games, both video and pinball.
00:15:57
Speaker
And we kept that going for, so, I mean, until almost, I know Josh had a,
00:16:05
Speaker
retire when he started working for raw thrills and it was kind of a conflict of interest but you know i wasn't at stern so i i mean i literally was writing for that magazine up until um i got employed by stern but you know one of the first stops josh and i would always make would be at the stern booth at these trade shows and you know we've known gary for forever and everyone else at the company and
00:16:32
Speaker
I remember John Buscaglia asking me, he's our chief revenue officer and my boss, and he was asking me, have you ever thought about working in pinball?
00:16:43
Speaker
And at the time, my mindset was completely different.
00:16:47
Speaker
I loved the agency I worked for.
00:16:49
Speaker
So in my mind, my goal was to get Stern as a client.
00:16:53
Speaker
I never thought of like having the light bulb moment of, oh, I can work inside Stern.
00:16:58
Speaker
It was more of how can I get Stern to be a client of ours?
00:17:01
Speaker
So when he asked me that at the time, you know, I was so happy with my job at Iris Worldwide, the agency I was at, that I kind of laughed him off and not to be disrespectful, but I was just like, no, I'm good, but thank
Joining Stern Pinball
00:17:15
Speaker
you.
00:17:15
Speaker
Like, I'm like, what can I get to, you know, get Stern as a client?
00:17:18
Speaker
And, you know, it kind of went nowhere.
00:17:20
Speaker
But he planted the seed at that trade show.
00:17:23
Speaker
And I was talking to Josh afterwards.
00:17:24
Speaker
I'm like, I don't know if he was being serious or not.
00:17:27
Speaker
And maybe I shouldn't have just laughed it off.
00:17:29
Speaker
I'm like, I kind of took stock that day and I planted the seed.
00:17:33
Speaker
I'm like, you know what?
00:17:34
Speaker
The next time he asked me that question, I'll be way more receptive to it.
00:17:38
Speaker
So fast forward, you know, four years later from when he asked me that.
00:17:44
Speaker
And I'm like, I'm interested.
00:17:47
Speaker
And the rest is history.
00:17:49
Speaker
So how long have you been at Stern now?
00:17:52
Speaker
It will be three years, I want to say, this summer.
00:17:57
Speaker
Yeah, three years this July.
00:18:01
Speaker
So what has it been like working at Stern?
00:18:03
Speaker
Is it a lot different now that you're behind the curtain?
00:18:08
Speaker
Not entirely different.
00:18:10
Speaker
Again, maybe just because not only did I grow up
00:18:14
Speaker
around the industry when my dad was at Williams, but even just knowing and being under an NDA with Stern since I was 16 years old, giving rules input and design ideas back in the day with Josh, I would say nothing really shocked or surprised me.
00:18:35
Speaker
Really?
00:18:36
Speaker
Nothing?
00:18:38
Speaker
All right.
00:18:38
Speaker
Well, maybe not nothing.
00:18:40
Speaker
I would say until you're all right, I'll try to frame this better until you're really in the mix of things.
00:18:47
Speaker
And, you know, I'm not just talking about taking a factory tour, but just seeing everyone all throughout the factory doing the work.
00:18:55
Speaker
You know, it takes so many people to take these concepts from paper or computer and taking that and making something physical and tangible.
00:19:04
Speaker
So I would say if anything, it just opened my eyes more to
Manufacturing and Industry Insights
00:19:09
Speaker
the process.
00:19:09
Speaker
You know, there's so many amazing people that, you know, I never came across when I was not with the company and it just boggles my mind how it comes together.
00:19:19
Speaker
I know personally and maybe others, we take, um,
00:19:23
Speaker
for granted how easy it is just to flip on a switch, press the start button, and being instantly transported into whatever universe is in front of you.
00:19:33
Speaker
But all of the work, all of the miles of wire, everything that goes into creating these masterpieces, you almost just take for granted.
00:19:42
Speaker
So seeing how the sausage is made, it is cool, and it never gets old.
00:19:48
Speaker
Now, actually, I want to get into that a little bit.
00:19:52
Speaker
You've always been you've always prided yourself, at least Stern has, at made in the USA, or at least domestic manufacturing, when a lot of things are being exported to different countries to
00:20:06
Speaker
assemble and everything like that.
00:20:08
Speaker
So talk about the challenges of trying to maintain that that made in the USA stamp of saying, yes, we are we're a local company.
00:20:18
Speaker
We work here and there are advantages to do it this way.
00:20:22
Speaker
But there are also some challenges.
00:20:24
Speaker
Yeah, I mean,
00:20:25
Speaker
It's kind of outside my role of expertise and I'm not in supply chain management.
00:20:31
Speaker
I think it certainly helps, at least from the Chicago aspect, that there's so much tribal knowledge and resources for pinball creation.
00:20:42
Speaker
I mean, there's a reason why there's kind of the moniker, you know, pinball is to Chicago as automobiles are to Detroit.
00:20:50
Speaker
There's just some inherent...
00:20:54
Speaker
tribal knowledge that has just been passed generation to generation.
00:20:58
Speaker
Now that's not to say that, you know, automobiles can't be produced outside of Detroit or pinball can't be produced outside of Chicago, but I'm sure there's advantages that I'm not even aware of and maybe even challenges, but there there's a reason why there's so much happening in the lifeblood of Chicago stems from Chicago that, you know, predates, you know, even my father.
00:21:24
Speaker
So I want to talk about a little bit of your realm of what you do at Stern with the recent events of just some of the stuff.
00:21:32
Speaker
And if you can't answer, you know, just tell me no.
00:21:36
Speaker
But, you know, there's been like pictures of like Keith, that one giving an award and we see a certain topper in the background or there's a conference call catch of a video of all the designers together and Dwight just happens to have something on his shoulder.
00:21:51
Speaker
Are those intentional?
00:21:52
Speaker
Is that something that just
00:21:54
Speaker
You know, you guys went, well, whoops, it got passed, passed, and we call it good.
00:21:57
Speaker
Or how does that work?
00:22:00
Speaker
This is why I like to just say, you know, we can neither confirm nor deny.
00:22:06
Speaker
Understandable.
00:22:07
Speaker
All right.
00:22:09
Speaker
Isn't that better than just saying I plead the fifth?
00:22:11
Speaker
I mean, neither confirm nor deny, you know, it leaves it open to either or.
00:22:17
Speaker
You just don't know.
00:22:19
Speaker
considering I'm not under an NDA because I really know nothing behind the scenes.
00:22:24
Speaker
One, I would suspect that if it's not intentional, it's certainly clever guerrilla marketing.
00:22:30
Speaker
So it makes us talk about it, at least in the pinball media.
00:22:35
Speaker
And I say that's a huge advantage.
00:22:37
Speaker
So if it's not intentional, I think you should keep doing it anyway.
00:22:40
Speaker
So...
00:22:41
Speaker
Well, I can neither confirm nor deny my approval or disapproval of that comment.
00:22:46
Speaker
So thank you.
00:22:49
Speaker
Can you cut between the time when your dad was at Williams Valley?
00:22:55
Speaker
That was a golden age of pinball in the 90s, but it certainly didn't end on a high note.
00:23:02
Speaker
However, you're doing a very similar job now when, aside from this recent quarantine thing, it actually felt like it was on this upswing and this growth.
00:23:15
Speaker
So why don't you define the difference between then and now?
00:23:20
Speaker
And why is it on the ascendance now as opposed to the decline in the 90s?
00:23:27
Speaker
Well, I am certainly no expert, but I'll do my best to give my perspective on things.
00:23:34
Speaker
You know, first and foremost, I think it's apples and oranges just from a company perspective.
00:23:39
Speaker
You know, Williams is a publicly traded company with shareholders and, you know, Stern is privately owned.
00:23:46
Speaker
So
Technological Advances and Industry Comparisons
00:23:47
Speaker
it's kind of different because, you know, if Stern was publicly traded and say that our
00:23:54
Speaker
our shooter rods were the most profitable item period.
00:23:58
Speaker
It doesn't matter if we make a pinball machine, only the shooter rod is profitable.
00:24:03
Speaker
And the shareholders vote on saying, you know what, Stern, you should stop making pinball machines, only make shooter rods.
00:24:10
Speaker
I don't care where they go, just make shooter rods.
00:24:12
Speaker
Like the landscape of Stern can completely change.
00:24:15
Speaker
And, you know, it's kind of no different than Williams.
00:24:18
Speaker
It wasn't that pinball wasn't profitable.
00:24:20
Speaker
And I know not to...
00:24:23
Speaker
say the stories that everyone's heard a million times, you know, it wasn't like Pinball 2000 even failed.
00:24:28
Speaker
It was successful.
00:24:30
Speaker
It's just when you're comparing the profitability of a slot machine versus a pinball machine, hey, do you want to make $100 on your investment or $10 on your investment?
00:24:41
Speaker
It's like, you know, from a shareholder perspective who has no ties to pinball specifically, hey, I want to make more money.
00:24:49
Speaker
So you should do that.
00:24:51
Speaker
So it's kind of tough to compare.
00:24:55
Speaker
But on a personal selfish level, I love the landscape of pinball today versus back then, because not only was it a different model, I mean, back then it was, I don't want to say completely driven, but mostly driven by the commercial market, where, you know, games were designed to produce.
00:25:16
Speaker
And essentially, that was it, you know, you would get your
00:25:19
Speaker
No good gophers, Terminator 2 on location.
00:25:22
Speaker
And that was the end of that game.
00:25:25
Speaker
That is what it is.
00:25:27
Speaker
And the one thing I love with just not only the improvement in technology, but just broadening the pinball market to the consumer market is that
00:25:39
Speaker
you know, we're able to refine and revisit and sometimes even redesign a current game's rule set.
00:25:47
Speaker
Josh and I, selfishly, we always joked that, you know, there's so many good games from the 90s that we, you know, we just love to play.
00:25:54
Speaker
But, you know, due to software bugs, we just, we can't use them in the events that we personally run for the IPA.
00:26:02
Speaker
And it's like, if that happened today, where, you know,
00:26:05
Speaker
wow, there's this game-breaking bug on Jurassic Park.
00:26:09
Speaker
We can't use this game ever again because it's complete.
00:26:14
Speaker
Nowadays, it's like, oh, wow, there's this game-breaking bug.
00:26:17
Speaker
Next week, there's a code update release.
00:26:19
Speaker
You update the machine, and everything is perfect.
00:26:21
Speaker
So I think there's a lot of cool things now that just weren't possible back then.
00:26:28
Speaker
Yeah, I've actually heard two stories.
00:26:30
Speaker
One, I heard one story where someone brought up that issue with Lyman and when he went to a competition.
00:26:36
Speaker
So he was actually coding like an update to fix that, like before the competition.
00:26:42
Speaker
So, you know, that's kind of an amazing.
00:26:44
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's pretty amazing.
00:26:46
Speaker
However, on the flip side, as a marketer,
00:26:49
Speaker
Um, there are amazing marketing potential for slot machines.
00:26:53
Speaker
I mean, I went through, uh, I was in Vegas for a conference about two years ago and I walked through and I saw a shark NATO.
00:27:00
Speaker
And so I'm hoping that that actually crosses over and we get a shark NATO pinball machine coming out.
00:27:05
Speaker
Hey, you never know.
00:27:09
Speaker
I know that you've got like Tim Sexton down there now and you saying that you've had kind of a more video game background.
00:27:14
Speaker
Do you feel like video games are starting to influence kind of pinball to help improve where they're going nowadays?
00:27:20
Speaker
I think it can only help.
00:27:22
Speaker
I don't think it hurts.
00:27:23
Speaker
I mean, I think as things evolve and progress, it's always good to have fresh ideas, fresh thinking, fresh perspectives.
00:27:33
Speaker
You know, sometimes when you sit to something so close, so often, I don't want to say you have blinders on, but you just might not see things differently.
00:27:43
Speaker
Yeah.
00:27:44
Speaker
So getting on that, you have an amazing collection of pinball talent in the Chicago area.
00:27:51
Speaker
So I'm going to create your foursome and I want you to pick the four games that you're going to play.
00:27:57
Speaker
So I'm going to put you, I'm going to put Keith Elwin, I'm going to put Tim Sexton, and I'm going to put Josh Sharp in your group.
00:28:05
Speaker
Now you Keith wins.
00:28:07
Speaker
All right, cool.
00:28:08
Speaker
So we're going to play.
00:28:09
Speaker
All right.
00:28:11
Speaker
OK, well, I'm giving you the advantage.
00:28:13
Speaker
I'm letting you select four games that will either play to your strengths or play to their weaknesses.
00:28:24
Speaker
You know what?
00:28:24
Speaker
I love playing everything, so.
00:28:27
Speaker
I don't know if there's anything that gives me more of a advantage.
00:28:31
Speaker
I mean, I, I will, I'm never afraid and I'll never pick games that I perceive as my opponents being weaker at.
00:28:39
Speaker
So can I pick the same game four times over?
00:28:42
Speaker
Then I would say rollercoaster tycoon.
00:28:45
Speaker
Let's go.
00:28:45
Speaker
Wow.
00:28:47
Speaker
Really?
00:28:49
Speaker
Yes.
00:28:49
Speaker
Yeah.
00:28:50
Speaker
I'm not joking for, for some reason.
00:28:52
Speaker
That game, I just excel at better than I think anyone on the planet.
00:28:57
Speaker
If there was one game that it's like my life depended on winning, I would pick Roller Coaster Tycoon against anyone.
00:29:05
Speaker
It has some pretty ramps or the wire forms.
00:29:08
Speaker
I am jealous of those.
Personal Pinball Collection and Preferences
00:29:11
Speaker
But outside of that, I mean, you know, I guess I, you know, I have to go with the oldies that I grew up with.
00:29:15
Speaker
Let's bring in a sharpshooter, Cyclops and a jumping jack just to keep things interesting.
00:29:23
Speaker
Okay, so how many games do you personally have in your collection?
00:29:28
Speaker
I own eight.
00:29:30
Speaker
And what are they?
00:29:32
Speaker
I've got a jumping jack, a taxi, which funny enough, this is, if I do ever decide to sell this game, it's got a pretty cool unique history because I bought that game from no other than Scott Denisi.
00:29:47
Speaker
And this was like maybe 10 years ago.
00:29:50
Speaker
So this is before anyone knew who Scott Denisi was
00:29:53
Speaker
They really didn't even know who I was besides just being Roger's kids or Josh's little brother.
00:29:58
Speaker
So I actually bought Scott Denise's taxi.
00:30:03
Speaker
I've got a Walking Dead, Iron Maiden, Frontier, Cyclops, Sharpshooter, and Jurassic Park.
00:30:12
Speaker
Do you have the premiums on Iron Maiden and Jurassic Park?
00:30:16
Speaker
Yes.
00:30:17
Speaker
And Walking Dead.
00:30:18
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah.
00:30:19
Speaker
Yeah, people say the crossbow shot is the game changer on Walking Dead.
00:30:24
Speaker
No, it's a Walker Bombs.
00:30:27
Speaker
Oh, OK.
00:30:27
Speaker
There you go.
00:30:29
Speaker
So that's a pretty tight selection of games.
00:30:33
Speaker
So what makes a perfect game?
00:30:37
Speaker
Or is that even possible to make a perfect game?
00:30:40
Speaker
Can I say Jurassic Park?
00:30:43
Speaker
You can.
00:30:43
Speaker
You and Josh.
00:30:46
Speaker
That and Cyclops are perfect games.
00:30:49
Speaker
And then, you know, there's a lot of others that, you know, that can come close.
00:30:54
Speaker
But, I mean, I mean, truly, I mean, a perfect game.
00:30:59
Speaker
I don't know if there's ever a 100% perfect game because I feel like everything can always be improved or modified or nothing will ever be 100%.
00:31:11
Speaker
But I think there's definitely some games that are right on the precipice of it.
00:31:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:31:19
Speaker
Yeah, I certainly am waiting for the ability to sell a few games so I can actually get my own Jurassic Park.
00:31:26
Speaker
Hopefully when production wraps up, I'll be able to get one.
00:31:29
Speaker
You will not be disappointed.
00:31:31
Speaker
Yeah, no, my friend actually has a Jurassic Park LE and he lives two miles away from me.
00:31:38
Speaker
So I go over to his house all the time when I can.
00:31:42
Speaker
So I got to ask, though, because you're saying Jurassic Park is the perfect game.
00:31:47
Speaker
What would you say to the fanboys of Lord of the Rings then?
00:31:51
Speaker
I mean, that's a fantastic game as well.
00:31:54
Speaker
It's kind of like deep dish pizza and thin crust.
00:31:58
Speaker
I mean, I love them both.
00:32:00
Speaker
You know, a nice steak and even chicken.
00:32:04
Speaker
I love them both.
00:32:05
Speaker
And those are two games that I love them both.
00:32:09
Speaker
You know, it'll be interesting if they face off in the Stern Showdown, who wins this.
00:32:14
Speaker
Nice.
00:32:14
Speaker
Okay, so getting back to Chicago pizza, what's the best one?
00:32:18
Speaker
Personally, Lou Malnati's.
00:32:21
Speaker
Okay.
00:32:21
Speaker
That is my favorite deep dish Chicago pizza by far.
00:32:26
Speaker
I'm pretty sure Keith, that one said Gino East.
00:32:28
Speaker
So we might have to have a face off here.
00:32:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, Gino's East is good.
00:32:35
Speaker
I mean, don't get me wrong.
00:32:35
Speaker
I mean, to me, there is no bad pizza.
00:32:39
Speaker
So after I talked to Josh, I did order some pizza from Lou.
00:32:45
Speaker
So it should be here this week and I'll be able to try that out.
00:32:49
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:32:50
Speaker
And not to go back to my Australia story.
Pinball as a Pandemic Escape
00:32:53
Speaker
My birthday actually took place when I was in Australia and my family, they
00:32:59
Speaker
delivered because it delivers worldwide.
00:33:01
Speaker
They surprised me with Lou Malnati's pizza when I was in Australia because I was away from my Chicago style pizza.
00:33:08
Speaker
So that was one of the best pizzas I ever ate was that cooking that Lou Malnati is when I was, you know, deprived of it for, you know, multiple months.
00:33:18
Speaker
So,
00:33:19
Speaker
So I wanted to get in and I've asked your dad this, I asked Josh this.
00:33:24
Speaker
So tech support.
00:33:26
Speaker
So I just saw that Marco is starting a tech stream, which is great because I am such a tech newbie when it comes to getting underneath.
00:33:36
Speaker
I can do some things, but not much.
00:33:38
Speaker
Has Stern ever considered doing like a pinball maintenance for beginners?
00:33:43
Speaker
Hey, you're buying a new machine.
00:33:44
Speaker
Here are the 10 things you should know how to get underneath and fix.
00:33:49
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely been considered.
00:33:52
Speaker
And, you know, I don't want to say that it's not in the works.
00:33:56
Speaker
You know, we've definitely held tech service schools.
00:34:00
Speaker
This is more on the commercial side versus the consumer side.
00:34:04
Speaker
So, you know, at those trade shows that are for, you know, operators, we do hold those kind of classes and teaching them, you know, best practices with pinball maintenance and repair.
00:34:17
Speaker
So it is definitely something that has happened throughout the history of Stern.
00:34:21
Speaker
It's just more or less if there's a way to package that and deliver it either to a different audience or just having a different area for that content to live.
00:34:32
Speaker
So I know Scott has talked about kind of the barrier to entry to pinball being maybe some service or whatnot.
00:34:39
Speaker
Does Stern perceive a certain barrier to entry and how are you guys tackling to overcome that?
00:34:46
Speaker
I wouldn't say that there's, I mean, so much a barrier to entry.
00:34:50
Speaker
I mean, if anything, it could be, you know, price, regardless of, you know, which product we're talking about.
00:34:58
Speaker
You know, pinball is a luxury item.
00:35:00
Speaker
And, you know, given the current economic state, you know, with a lot of people unemployed, it's, you know, it'll be interesting to see how things shake out.
00:35:08
Speaker
But, you know,
00:35:10
Speaker
Currently, a lot of people are transitioning their vacation funds into a purchase of a brand new Stranger Things or Jurassic Park.
00:35:18
Speaker
So it'll definitely be interesting to see how everything that's out once we get a handle on all this COVID-19 stuff.
00:35:28
Speaker
Can you talk to us kind of what Stern's doing to help combat the COVID-19 with your guys' company and whatnot?
00:35:35
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would say...
00:35:37
Speaker
Definitely just trying to highlight, you know, not only how fun pinball is, but it's a great escape.
00:35:44
Speaker
Funny enough, I have never played and I'm saying played in quotations, more pinball in my life in my home collection than during this time.
00:35:54
Speaker
Because my son has taken an obsessive liking to it.
00:36:00
Speaker
So
00:36:00
Speaker
it's sometimes some of the first things he will say when he's waking up, we hear on the monitor pin, pin ball, pin ball.
00:36:08
Speaker
And it's just like, wow, dude, like we will go down after breakfast or after brushing your teeth or after lunch or even before bedtime.
00:36:16
Speaker
So really it's just trying to, you know, highlight that, you know, pinball is still around.
00:36:22
Speaker
People are enjoying it.
00:36:24
Speaker
We kind of have this hashtag play strong and, you know, people are starting to share their stories of how pinball is
00:36:31
Speaker
you know, is saving them, whether that is, you know, through sanity or just an escape from whatever problems they may be facing.
00:36:40
Speaker
And it's just a way for people to be connected.
00:36:43
Speaker
I know we can't physically be connected with one another, but to be able to be connected digitally or even just, you know, playing and sharing your high score on a machine or even watching a live stream, you might not even own a pinball machine, but you're able to kind of watch the action and that scratches the pinball itch or you play it digitally.
00:37:05
Speaker
Is there one game he likes more than another?
00:37:08
Speaker
To quote Gary Stern, the latest one he's playing.
00:37:15
Speaker
You know what?
00:37:17
Speaker
He loves Jurassic Park because he wants to say hello to the dinosaur.
00:37:23
Speaker
He likes Sharpshooter because I've been pointing out that it's Grampy and Grammy.
00:37:27
Speaker
Even though I don't like saying that that's Grammy on the back glass, I do kind of point that it's Grampy.
00:37:34
Speaker
But now he loves hitting start.
00:37:37
Speaker
He can plunge a ball and he knows to work the flippers.
00:37:40
Speaker
So now we'll see how much this, I don't want to say it's a fad, but we'll see how long it lasts.
00:37:47
Speaker
It seems like there's no signs of it slowing down anytime soon.
00:37:51
Speaker
So I know you talked about kind of digital a little bit.
00:37:54
Speaker
I know that Stern has their own Stern Pinball Arcade with Farsight.
00:37:58
Speaker
Is there anything that you guys are trying to do to maybe further that or is it kind of dead in the water?
00:38:03
Speaker
Can you really talk of that?
00:38:05
Speaker
You know, no comment on my end for right now.
00:38:07
Speaker
I mean, things are, you know, always in development.
Stern's Production and Customization
00:38:10
Speaker
It's just a different landscape, digital versus physical.
00:38:14
Speaker
It's, you know, completely different departments, different licensing.
00:38:17
Speaker
So it's not always an apples to apples situation.
00:38:22
Speaker
So Zach, do you mind if we talk a little bit about manufacturing at Stern?
00:38:27
Speaker
You guys have, you guys in many ways have a much more refined process than a lot of, a lot of other companies.
00:38:36
Speaker
You have now, correct me if I'm wrong.
00:38:38
Speaker
You have two lines going.
00:38:40
Speaker
Is that correct?
00:38:41
Speaker
Technically we have three.
00:38:43
Speaker
We have, um,
00:38:45
Speaker
Two main production lines.
00:38:46
Speaker
So that's probably what you're referring to.
00:38:48
Speaker
Like the two main lines that almost mirror each other.
00:38:52
Speaker
I don't know if either of you have been on the Stern Factory Tour.
00:38:55
Speaker
I don't, but I want to come to this... If Expo is happening, since I was planning on...
00:39:02
Speaker
spending my uh you know my credit to go to a festival this year i was going to go to texas because they were going to do the a lot of reveals but now i'm hoping to push that to expo so i can actually come on the tour well you know what we won't put a date like a year date on it but the next time you come to expo um you should definitely come on the factory tour absolutely but yeah we have like the two main production lines so that's
00:39:28
Speaker
Whenever you've seen pictures or even videos, that's like the main production line of our pinball machines.
00:39:36
Speaker
But we do have a third smaller production line near the cable assembly area where we can handle conversions and accessory production.
00:39:50
Speaker
Okay.
00:39:50
Speaker
Converting what?
00:39:51
Speaker
Like, tell me more about that.
00:39:52
Speaker
Conversions?
00:39:53
Speaker
What do you mean by that?
00:39:55
Speaker
Yeah, so converting, so with machines, if it's in the U.S. versus overseas, it's different power supply, different coinage.
00:40:07
Speaker
So the conversion line is literally converting a U.S. game to a European game.
00:40:14
Speaker
So say that we made an initial production of machines
00:40:20
Speaker
100 Deadpools and we originally planned 75 being domestic and 25 being European.
00:40:27
Speaker
And lo and behold, Germany wants 30 Deadpools out of nowhere.
00:40:32
Speaker
They ran out of stock inventory and they really need it.
00:40:35
Speaker
And we need to fill a container.
00:40:37
Speaker
Well, we need to convert five of those domestic games that we've built to European
00:40:46
Speaker
coinage power you name it so that that is that line where it will handle conversions if that makes sense so zach i know that uh stern has has publicly announced the last couple years that they do so many cornerstones i think it's three or four a year with covid and everything that's happening so far um do you guys still look to be on that same schedule or
00:41:11
Speaker
Or has that changed now?
00:41:13
Speaker
And does also to like Stranger Things, since it came out so late last year, does that count towards your cornerstones this year?
00:41:18
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, we don't put ourselves like on a scheduled date of like, all right, well, this is technically last year's cornerstone.
00:41:25
Speaker
But, you know, roughly in a 12 month period, you know, we will have three cornerstone titles and
00:41:33
Speaker
You know, as of right now, I mean, we're still planning to keep that cadence in some capacity, but, you know, obviously if stay at home orders and restrictions to manufacturing extend further, I mean, it could certainly impact it.
00:41:47
Speaker
Not going to lie.
00:41:48
Speaker
So on the lines, if when you have it set up and you turn on the lights and you start going, how much time does it take to make one pinball machine from start to finish?
00:42:02
Speaker
Yeah, so it roughly takes 30 man hours or people hours.
00:42:07
Speaker
I don't know.
00:42:07
Speaker
They've always used the word man hours, but it's kind of people hours.
00:42:10
Speaker
It's 30 hours from start to finish.
00:42:14
Speaker
Okay, and how does that usually go in like a sequential?
00:42:18
Speaker
Obviously there's downtime where on an assembly line, you move to the next section and it may not hop on.
00:42:24
Speaker
So let me just say I put a red dot on a Deadpool and I say, okay, go.
00:42:30
Speaker
I'm just going to see how long the typical cadence is for it to go from, okay, go time to we're boxing it.
00:42:39
Speaker
Yes.
00:42:40
Speaker
So, I mean, it's weird because like, I don't know, like all the specific data just because I don't work on the production line.
00:42:46
Speaker
And, you know, depending on when parts are coming in, they might build, you know, like a Deadpool up to a certain part.
00:42:53
Speaker
And it's like, oh, we were waiting on new Katana sword ramps to come in or little Deadpools.
00:42:59
Speaker
So they might build it up to a certain point, put it to the side and wait for that, you know, those parts to come in.
00:43:06
Speaker
But from start to finish, if you were just going to kind of steamroll through, it would be 30 hours from start to finish of assembling.
00:43:15
Speaker
So my question is, Zach, I know with COVID shutting everything down and whatnot, and you guys are kind of at a standstill, when you guys finally get the green light, whether it be from the governor of Chicago or of Illinois or whatnot, are you pretty much going to pick up right where you guys left off?
00:43:30
Speaker
Is it going to have to be a slow ramp-up process?
00:43:34
Speaker
I mean, again, it depends on...
00:43:37
Speaker
the definition of opening up.
00:43:39
Speaker
I know there's a lot of kind of slowly easing into the ramp up of not just manufacturing, but all businesses, you know, is a 25% capacity, 50% capacity.
00:43:53
Speaker
So I wouldn't say it's just a light switch.
00:43:56
Speaker
It's more kind of like a dimmer switch.
00:43:58
Speaker
So I think, you know, no doubt once we are officially open for business in whatever capacity, um,
00:44:06
Speaker
We've got a lot of games to build, no doubt, but it'll just be, you know, a slow migration to full capacity, I'm sure.
00:44:16
Speaker
Just with, you know, proper social distancing guidelines and just, you know, first and foremost, keeping everyone safe.
00:44:24
Speaker
For sure.
00:44:25
Speaker
So I guess the other question I have too, and I understand if you can't answer this one or not.
00:44:29
Speaker
Typically, we've done the research for the past three or four years and Stern has
00:44:35
Speaker
It's pretty good to release a title March, April, May.
00:44:38
Speaker
Can we expect to see a new title shortly after you guys are able to ramp back up?
00:44:45
Speaker
You know what?
00:44:46
Speaker
I mean, just stick around and watch.
00:44:49
Speaker
You never know.
00:44:49
Speaker
You can't predict the future.
00:44:51
Speaker
But I would say we are ready to build a lot of new stuff.
00:44:56
Speaker
Love it.
00:44:58
Speaker
One thing that's been happening, I would say, in the last five to seven years in pinball is people have been customizing their pinball machines more.
00:45:10
Speaker
You saw it more really with Tron, and even to some extent, Lord of the Rings, where people, they took the glass off and they created mods and they put things on there.
00:45:21
Speaker
Now Stern has started to get into that business.
00:45:25
Speaker
Tell me a little more about the philosophy on that and what you feel is Stern's role in that because car companies have done this for years.
00:45:35
Speaker
Oh, you want a chrome gear shifter?
00:45:38
Speaker
That's fine.
00:45:38
Speaker
Oh, you want red stitching?
00:45:42
Speaker
You want something?
00:45:44
Speaker
That's fine.
00:45:44
Speaker
So tell me more about Stern's philosophy on that.
00:45:47
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, it's definitely, you know, like pimping out your ride.
00:45:51
Speaker
And I know Harley-Davidson, you know, ownership, they're really big into the Harley-Davidson model.
00:45:57
Speaker
And, you know, it's kind of like building up your motorcycle.
00:46:01
Speaker
You know, you want chrome pipes versus the standard.
00:46:03
Speaker
And, you know, I'm not a motorcycle guy, so I can dive deeper into that.
00:46:08
Speaker
But, you know, it's no different than a pinball machine.
00:46:11
Speaker
You know, it doesn't make sense from initial building on especially the pro model.
00:46:16
Speaker
a lot of these are going into bars and locations and they could care less about some kind of Chrome add on or toys or gimmicks that could potentially, you know, break or fall off with 10,000 plus plays.
00:46:29
Speaker
But, you know, for a home collector or enthusiasts, you know, they love to trick out their machines.
00:46:35
Speaker
You know, every game is going to be different on that level of accessory because depending on, you know, the license that that's license IP.
00:46:46
Speaker
So,
00:46:47
Speaker
if it's Deadpool or Marvel, they might not be cool with you hitting or bashing a certain character.
00:46:54
Speaker
So I know on the secondhand market, there's a lot of people who are creative with trying to come up with mods.
00:47:01
Speaker
And at least from a stern perspective, there's certain limitations to what the licensor will allow.
Balancing Home and Commercial Markets
00:47:10
Speaker
Yeah, I guess it'd be the same as seeing alternate trance lights.
00:47:13
Speaker
And I'm not talking the risque ones.
00:47:15
Speaker
I'm just talking to people who are like, oh, so for Iron Maiden, for example, people like, you know what?
00:47:19
Speaker
I just really like the live after death trance light, you know, just the album cover.
00:47:24
Speaker
That's what I grew up with.
00:47:25
Speaker
So I've seen people obviously do that probably without permission from the intellectual property.
00:47:31
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:33
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:34
Speaker
So I'm assuming it's a very similar thing where you're like, I would love to do this, but I can't.
00:47:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:47:38
Speaker
I mean, it's no different than the art packages and everything that our design team comes up with.
00:47:45
Speaker
You know, it's like, we really want to do this T-Rex theme.
00:47:48
Speaker
And it's like the licensor be like, no, we really like a Raptor.
00:47:52
Speaker
It's like, okay, we're going to go with a Raptor theme.
00:47:56
Speaker
So, I mean, it is, you know, we're constantly working with the licensor to bring their product, uh,
00:48:04
Speaker
to light the way that they envision it.
00:48:06
Speaker
And sometimes we provide them with ideas that they're like, oh yeah, we really like that.
00:48:10
Speaker
And sometimes it's vice versa.
00:48:12
Speaker
Sometimes the licensor comes back with an idea that we originally didn't think of and it helps make the product better.
00:48:21
Speaker
So on the same lines of the accessories and whatnot, my question is there's been complaints of why doesn't Stern just release the topper and all the accessories, not necessarily with the
00:48:33
Speaker
the pinball machine, but as an add on at the beginning, instead of six months to a year down the road, is there, is there reasoning behind that or?
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:42
Speaker
I mean, again, in a perfect world, yes, it would be ready upon launch, but sometimes there's factors that are out of our control, whether it's a parts issue or again, working with the licensor, sometimes, you know, add-ons are through a different department entirely.
00:49:00
Speaker
I mean, not to bring up the Star Wars topper, but let's just say, you know, that was a long road to get that to market.
00:49:07
Speaker
And, you know, ultimately, you
00:49:10
Speaker
You know, we're happy with the end result, but you know, in a perfect world, it would be ready upon launch, but sometimes there's just factors on approvals, manufacturing of those specific parts that, you know, delay the launch.
00:49:26
Speaker
Right.
00:49:26
Speaker
What you're saying is, you don't, you're not going to hold up a game because you're waiting on approval of a shooter rod.
00:49:32
Speaker
Yes, exactly.
00:49:33
Speaker
Again, and this goes to my point of, you know, the pro model going out to the marketplace.
00:49:39
Speaker
You know, most operators, they couldn't care less for a shooter rod or a topper or side blades.
00:49:47
Speaker
They want to get their new game in the market to get people in their stools, buying drinks, buying food, playing the newest game.
00:49:54
Speaker
And that, you know, that's the bread and butter for Stern is, you know, creating and producing new pinball machines.
00:50:00
Speaker
You know, while we do everything pinball with, you know, merchandise, accessories, and, you know, digital products,
00:50:07
Speaker
At the forefront, it is still the pinball machine that resonates.
00:50:13
Speaker
Zach, how do you balance a home market and an operator market?
00:50:19
Speaker
Very carefully.
00:50:20
Speaker
No, I mean, it's kind of the model between the pro and the premium LE.
00:50:29
Speaker
So the premium LE model kind of services that home market.
00:50:35
Speaker
You know, it's souped up a little bit more.
00:50:37
Speaker
There's more toys and gimmicks.
00:50:39
Speaker
And that pro model really is for the operator market.
00:50:44
Speaker
But the games are so fun that it kind of, it bleeds across all facets.
00:50:50
Speaker
So, you know, while on paper, you might say, all right, the pro is for the commercial market.
00:50:55
Speaker
Premium LE is for
00:50:58
Speaker
the enthusiast consumer market.
00:51:01
Speaker
I'm sure you've seen it in your neck of the woods.
00:51:03
Speaker
There's a lot of
00:51:05
Speaker
operators who are also enthusiasts.
00:51:07
Speaker
So we've seen more and more, not only premium, but LE games going out on location, which is kind of crazy.
00:51:15
Speaker
I know that there's, you know, some stern army locations like Helicon Brewery in Pittsburgh.
00:51:22
Speaker
There's On Tilt at Ace Goge outside of LA, and they only operate LE games, which is incredible because, you know, there's a lot of people who
00:51:34
Speaker
These limited games, it's like they don't even want to play it because it's like this is pristine.
00:51:39
Speaker
And it's like there's other people are like, no, I want people to play this LE model in the market.
00:51:45
Speaker
So it's kind of blurred lines with the consumer and commercial market nowadays more than ever before.
00:51:53
Speaker
It's interesting how some features will actually change the feel of a game.
00:51:57
Speaker
The two games I can think of where they're both good, but you have to choose your style.
00:52:05
Speaker
Game of Thrones has the upper play field where it's a completely different feel if you have the upper play field versus the pro.
00:52:12
Speaker
And it's the same thing with Black Knight.
00:52:13
Speaker
I mean, Black Knight, the pro seems to be this...
00:52:17
Speaker
these high energy velocity ride where when you have the upper play field, it's a little more of a throwback to the original black night where you have that, uh, that lull in the speed, I guess.
00:52:30
Speaker
Yeah, no, I mean, and sometimes even with games that, you know, from a top overhead view, it looks like there's not much differentiation.
00:52:39
Speaker
I mean, look no further than Jurassic park.
00:52:41
Speaker
If you were to just look quick, quickly side by side, it's like, Oh, they look kind of the same.
00:52:47
Speaker
But that premium LE has a T-Rex that will eat the ball, throw it around.
00:52:51
Speaker
You've got the little raptor pen, the horizontal helicopter, spinning blade.
00:52:56
Speaker
So it's those nice little subtle touches that, you know, a home enthusiast will gravitate towards and want to connect with.
00:53:05
Speaker
Versus, you know, on location, it's like, yeah, you know, I don't necessarily need that.
00:53:10
Speaker
But I mean, to your point, there's some games where it is much more of a drastic difference.
00:53:16
Speaker
We talked about Josh, I think last year we mentioned, and I was talking about the differences between a premium and an LE.
00:53:22
Speaker
And he actually said he doesn't actually put shaker motors in his machines or turn them on.
00:53:28
Speaker
What do you personally like to play with at home?
00:53:33
Speaker
I'm really bare bones.
00:53:34
Speaker
I know I've got the premium.
00:53:36
Speaker
I don't dress up my games.
00:53:38
Speaker
So while I think shaker motors and art blades and side rails are cool,
00:53:46
Speaker
That's just not my jam.
00:53:47
Speaker
I just, I love just playing the game.
Nostalgia and Potential Collaborations
00:53:50
Speaker
But I mean, when I do play an example of a machine with a shaker motor, I mean, it is usually involved in choreographed really cool.
00:54:00
Speaker
So, you know, if it's a T-Rex stomping and you're feeling the game like go doodoo doodoo, or even on a game like Ghostbusters when you're starting storage facility multiball and the game is just vibrating and going crazy, it definitely can enhance the experience.
00:54:17
Speaker
It's almost like, not to date myself, but with Nintendo 64 back in the day, there was the rumble pack that you could add to the controller.
00:54:26
Speaker
And when you'd play Mario Kart or something, it would vibrate when you're getting hit with a red turtle shell.
00:54:34
Speaker
It's definitely a unique experience.
00:54:38
Speaker
Well, to date me, then I actually go back to the original Atari Intellivision.
00:54:43
Speaker
So that was a big leap to go from Atari to Intellivision.
00:54:48
Speaker
And then when Nintendo came out with their original Nintendo Entertainment System, that was the crazy good graphics.
00:54:56
Speaker
And now they look like pixelated garbage, but I still have more fun playing those.
00:55:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:55:01
Speaker
Oh, yeah.
00:55:01
Speaker
I mean, I just remember the first time that Nintendo 64 came out.
00:55:05
Speaker
I think that was the one system that completely blew me away with that Super Mario 64.
00:55:12
Speaker
Josh and I would ride our bikes over to the closest Toys R Us, rest in peace, and we would play on their free little consoles.
00:55:20
Speaker
And it was like, we can't wait to play this at home.
00:55:22
Speaker
This is incredible.
00:55:24
Speaker
Yeah, I actually still play that one with my kids.
00:55:28
Speaker
And then Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.
00:55:30
Speaker
I mean, that was so good.
00:55:34
Speaker
Okay, so you've seen this before.
00:55:37
Speaker
There's so much nostalgia associated with Nintendo.
00:55:42
Speaker
Why don't we get a Zelda game?
00:55:43
Speaker
Come on.
00:55:44
Speaker
It's like a Zelda game or a Metroid or, hey, I would take an updated Super Mario.
00:55:51
Speaker
I mean, we can look at this.
00:55:52
Speaker
I mean, it'd be so much fun.
00:55:54
Speaker
I'd totally put it in my house.
00:55:55
Speaker
Josh loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and he is all on board with a possible game with that license.
00:56:02
Speaker
I would be all on board with a Nintendo license.
00:56:05
Speaker
I always like to say, you never know.
00:56:10
Speaker
Zach, with JJP moving kind of all their services to Chicago and whatnot, does it change the landscape for you guys?
00:56:20
Speaker
I don't think so.
00:56:22
Speaker
If anything, maybe we'll see a few friendly faces at Portillo's or other, you know, lunch spots.
00:56:28
Speaker
But no, I mean, I think it's still business as usual for both companies.
00:56:33
Speaker
I mean,
00:56:34
Speaker
I think the load again, and I was kind of saying how, you know, Chicago is kind of the forefront of pinball manufacturing.
00:56:41
Speaker
I think at the end of the day though, in terms of distribution and selling the games worldwide, just the sheer location of the production, I don't think it would change either of our models necessarily.
00:56:52
Speaker
So, um, no, I, I think it's all, it's all good.
00:56:57
Speaker
More pinball is good for everyone.
00:57:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:01
Speaker
So, um,
00:57:03
Speaker
To put some of the minds at rest at home, is it like when you see someone from JJP at the same Burger King as you guys, you get out the brass knuckles and it's like West Side Story?
00:57:14
Speaker
The sharks and the jets?
00:57:16
Speaker
Yeah.
00:57:17
Speaker
It's a dance fight.
00:57:17
Speaker
I would love to see a dance fight.
00:57:19
Speaker
You know, I am a pretty good dancer.
00:57:21
Speaker
You know, my wife and I had a choreographed dance for our wedding.
00:57:26
Speaker
But no, you know, it's at least me personally.
00:57:30
Speaker
I can't speak to everybody.
00:57:33
Speaker
I've known pretty much everyone in this industry since I was a toddler.
00:57:37
Speaker
So to me, it is all good.
00:57:40
Speaker
Even before I started working at CERN and when I first started working, I've got no bad blood with anyone.
00:57:45
Speaker
So I'm all for more pinball in the world.
00:57:48
Speaker
So when I see anyone from any other company, it is met with a hello and a goodbye.
00:57:56
Speaker
Awesome.
00:57:58
Speaker
I like that just because I think too much
00:58:00
Speaker
There's definitely the fanboys out there, and there's this weird division sometimes in the community.
Community Camaraderie and Resilience
00:58:05
Speaker
I think they have a hard time understanding.
00:58:07
Speaker
It's like we're all on the same team because we're all doing pinball together, you know?
00:58:12
Speaker
Yeah, I almost equate it to sports where, well, I won't use the Bulls and Pistons as an example because that is real bad blood, but you hear from, like, professional athletes, and it's like you almost project your own personal opinion of, like,
00:58:27
Speaker
yeah, you know, the Patriots hate the Colts, you know, screw Peyton Manning, Tom Brady hates them.
00:58:33
Speaker
And it's like, no, they're actually really good friends.
00:58:35
Speaker
They're going to play some golf.
00:58:36
Speaker
And it's like, there's no bad blood before, you know, between them and not to say that they're not competitive.
00:58:41
Speaker
And when they play each other, you know, it's not to the death necessarily, but you know, when the game's over, it's like, Hey, you know, good game.
00:58:49
Speaker
And it's, you know, good sportsman sportsmanship.
00:58:53
Speaker
And I like to think I'm a,
00:58:55
Speaker
kind of an optimistic person that by and large, most people are cool with each other.
00:59:00
Speaker
Yeah, I'm with you.
00:59:02
Speaker
I think it's, you even see it on the forums in pinball where there's some, I guess, a
00:59:10
Speaker
people who take aggressive stances.
00:59:12
Speaker
And I've never really understood that because this is my escape.
00:59:15
Speaker
Uh, there's enough drama that we have in our own lives, just in a, in business and in family or whatever.
00:59:22
Speaker
Like, I don't see the reason to bring it to what I consider an enthusiast, hobby driven, uh, market.
00:59:29
Speaker
Life's too short to be negative.
00:59:31
Speaker
So, uh, I've always been a positive person and especially when there's things that's out of my control, I,
00:59:40
Speaker
don't freak out because it's out of my control.
00:59:43
Speaker
So I always try to look at the glass half full.
00:59:48
Speaker
So Josh and I just got our own copies of Pinball by your dad.
00:59:55
Speaker
So when are you and your brother going to write Pinball 2!
01:00:01
Speaker
You know what?
01:00:02
Speaker
I'll leave that to Josh.
01:00:04
Speaker
You know what?
01:00:04
Speaker
I will volunteer myself to do the marketing and promotion of the book, but I will nominate Josh to actually write it.
01:00:11
Speaker
Okay.
01:00:13
Speaker
There's some awesome pictures in that book, though.
01:00:17
Speaker
I open up that book and I can smell the environment of my childhood.
01:00:23
Speaker
Oh, yeah, it's funny because my dad literally just sent an email to my mom, Josh, and I with a picture that was on the cutting room floor.
01:00:32
Speaker
So it actually was not in the book.
01:00:35
Speaker
And it was his book in the window of like a corner bookstore from New York.
01:00:43
Speaker
And it looks really, it almost looks like straight out of
01:00:47
Speaker
It was, you know, the 70s or 80s.
01:00:50
Speaker
And it just looks so dated, but cool that it's like there's just a window wall of pinball books.
01:00:57
Speaker
It's really cool.
01:00:57
Speaker
Okay, so I actually just sent you a picture.
01:01:00
Speaker
I was scanning through the book and I can, I really can smell this picture.
01:01:05
Speaker
It's actually two people playing a pinball machine and they have a Budweiser and three packs of cigarettes on there.
01:01:13
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome.
01:01:14
Speaker
A different time, right?
01:01:16
Speaker
It's a completely different time.
01:01:17
Speaker
It's like back in the days when airplanes had a smoking section and a non-smoking section.
01:01:22
Speaker
Yeah.
01:01:23
Speaker
Or Denny's, I guess.
01:01:26
Speaker
So, Zach, is there anything you can tell us about the future of pinball in general and where you see it heading and whatnot?
01:01:34
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's definitely unique times because, I mean, there's
01:01:39
Speaker
so many different ways to answer that.
01:01:41
Speaker
I mean, look at the competitive side, you know, when are IFPA sanctioned events going to happen?
01:01:47
Speaker
And, you know, I couldn't tell you, I know at the end of the day, pinball is not going away.
01:01:53
Speaker
I mean, it, it, it, it is so much fun that it's just never going away.
01:01:59
Speaker
Now in what capacity that is out, you know, the commercial market,
01:02:04
Speaker
I don't know.
01:02:05
Speaker
I mean, I know that there's certain areas that have gotten hit harder by this pandemic.
01:02:09
Speaker
And, you know, there's some arcades and arcade bars that, you know, might not recover.
01:02:15
Speaker
But, you know, when everything is kind of back to the new normal, I think that, you know, pinball ultimately will, you know, exceed and pick up right where it left off.
01:02:28
Speaker
So I think, you know, pinball is not going away.
01:02:31
Speaker
And, you know, from a Stern perspective, you know, we have a lot of cool stuff that we're going to be building and, you know, sharing with the world.
01:02:38
Speaker
And that's, you know, to the market as well as the whole market.
01:02:42
Speaker
So I know that you guys don't release numbers at all, but I know that the Adams family is touted as the highest selling modern pinball machine to date.
01:02:51
Speaker
If you guys sold a pinball machine that outdid the 22 or 23,000 that Adams family did, would you guys release those numbers and kind of take the trophy from Williams and Valley?
01:03:02
Speaker
You never know.
01:03:06
Speaker
Probably not, but you never know.
01:03:09
Speaker
Where is the next place for people to encounter pinball?
01:03:15
Speaker
I've talked about this with... Well, Josh and I have.
01:03:17
Speaker
We've talked about this with your dad.
01:03:19
Speaker
We've talked about this with your brother.
01:03:21
Speaker
Where are the new places people are going to encounter pinball?
01:03:25
Speaker
Because the arcades that you and I grew up on, they don't exist anymore.
01:03:30
Speaker
Yeah, I mean...
Digital Pinball and Competitive Scene
01:03:32
Speaker
Is this the question of like post COVID-19 or kind of like before stuff went off the rails?
01:03:39
Speaker
You know, I, okay.
01:03:41
Speaker
So I work in a hospital and I just view that this is, yes, this year, I think we're just going to take a mulligan on.
01:03:48
Speaker
We're going to get through whatever's going on and then everybody's going to go back to their groove.
01:03:53
Speaker
And so I would argue that people are going to go back.
01:03:57
Speaker
People are going to go back to Disneyland.
01:03:58
Speaker
They're going to go to the amusement parks.
01:04:00
Speaker
They're going to go to the water parks.
01:04:01
Speaker
They're,
01:04:02
Speaker
they're going to go back to all the places where they found entertainment before.
01:04:05
Speaker
And so how do we get people to see pinball more in the entertainment wild?
01:04:13
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, I would say from that regard, it's still business as usual.
01:04:19
Speaker
I mean, certain army locations have been increasing and popping up all over the place.
01:04:23
Speaker
So
01:04:24
Speaker
Again, there's places for people to be playing these new games and even the older titles.
01:04:31
Speaker
On the digital front, I know there's a lot of people that have gotten into the hobby because of, you know, playing the Stern Pinball arcade.
01:04:40
Speaker
It's like, wow, there's a real Ghostbusters I can play on location, not just on my phone.
01:04:46
Speaker
And again, that's just organic reach of people being introduced and becoming aware of pinball.
01:04:54
Speaker
I know from like an e-sport perspective, the Stern Pro Circuit is growing year over year and
01:05:00
Speaker
That's another touch point of new people getting involved.
01:05:04
Speaker
I think it's really cool how even just on a competitive side, the youth is just dominating and that alone can introduce an entirely new generation of players.
01:05:16
Speaker
If a kid who's watching, you know, just stuff on Twitch randomly stumbles on Jack Danger's stream or, you know, Papa's broadcast of the Sturm Pro Circuit final and they see this kid
01:05:28
Speaker
playing pinball and dominating.
01:05:30
Speaker
And it's like, oh, wow, that's a kid my age doing something that looks kind of cool.
01:05:35
Speaker
And they're playing a Guardians of the Galaxy.
01:05:37
Speaker
Oh, I like that theme.
01:05:38
Speaker
Let me find out more about what this pinball thing is.
01:05:42
Speaker
And it's almost no different than how Josh and I got roped into the competitive side.
01:05:47
Speaker
You know, we saw other little kids playing and competing for trophies and it piqued our interest.
01:05:53
Speaker
And once we tried it, we've never looked back.
01:05:57
Speaker
So I don't know if you listen to other podcasts or whatnot.
01:06:00
Speaker
We know that you listen to us exclusively, right?
01:06:03
Speaker
Of course.
01:06:05
Speaker
So my question to you is we had Zach Many, formerly of This Week in Pinball now, of the Pinball Show, reach out to us because your dad, he said that your dad validated one of his ideas.
01:06:18
Speaker
So I want to run this cross specifically to you and see what your thoughts are on this.
01:06:25
Speaker
Go.
01:06:25
Speaker
Go for it.
01:06:27
Speaker
Okay, in competitive pinball, Zach thinks the best way to reach out to everyone is to have like 10 competitive pinball machines that have no theme.
01:06:37
Speaker
And I'm trying to think exactly how he puts this.
01:06:41
Speaker
That way you could televise them, you wouldn't have any issues with licensing and stuff like that.
01:06:45
Speaker
And then the landscape would be pretty much just even across the field because one person couldn't learn more about a machine than another.
01:06:54
Speaker
Is that something that's even realistic?
01:06:57
Speaker
I don't know.
01:06:58
Speaker
I keep hearing this idea kicked around and I want a professional's opinion.
01:07:02
Speaker
Let's put it that way.
01:07:03
Speaker
That's a, you know, it's an interesting, I'll give like two, two answers to that one.
01:07:10
Speaker
And this is me with my IFPA hat on whatever works to get like more exposure for pinball.
01:07:18
Speaker
I'm all for.
01:07:19
Speaker
So if you had ESPN or some other big entity,
01:07:23
Speaker
saying, hey, we will cut you a million dollar prize for your players if you play on this.
01:07:31
Speaker
And I would be all for it.
01:07:33
Speaker
I mean, it was funny because Josh and I, you know, we've spoken with so many different production companies who've been trying to launch, you know, some kind of pinball initiative.
01:07:43
Speaker
And there were some wacky ideas, like almost like an amazing race style pinball competition.
01:07:49
Speaker
And it's like, yes, awesome.
01:07:50
Speaker
I don't care if this is the, how pinball is distributed to the masses where people are playing a pinball machine underwater or playing a pinball machine while climbing rocks to get to the next level.
01:08:02
Speaker
And then they have to play a ball.
01:08:03
Speaker
So from that perspective, I am all for whatever can get pinball out to the masses.
01:08:10
Speaker
Yeah.
01:08:10
Speaker
Whether it changes the infrastructure of what a game is or removes the theme from Zach's perspective, like, cool, I'm all for it.
01:08:21
Speaker
But taking a more realistic approach, I think that if you're telling me that this game that has no branding
01:08:28
Speaker
is going to resonate versus, hey, these people are competing on Star Wars from a just sheer mass visibility perspective.
01:08:38
Speaker
I mean, you tell me, is game number one going to resonate more versus Star Wars?
01:08:46
Speaker
Yeah, I think that you have to have the marketing involved with that.
01:08:51
Speaker
The challenge with, and I'll use golf as an example, and I'll even use something like bowling or air hockey, because I've talked about this before.
01:09:03
Speaker
There's a documentary called Way of the Puck, and it talks about competitive air hockey, but the challenge is,
01:09:11
Speaker
Once you buy a table, you have it.
01:09:13
Speaker
That's pretty much it.
01:09:15
Speaker
It's not like they're coming out with new technology.
01:09:17
Speaker
They're not changing every year.
01:09:19
Speaker
And so in many ways, that kind of stagnated that competitive aspect because there wasn't really a market for new product out there.
01:09:27
Speaker
However, on the golf side,
01:09:29
Speaker
the manufacturers are what drive the tour because they're always coming out with a new ball or a new head.
01:09:37
Speaker
And so the game's slowly changing.
01:09:39
Speaker
And that's actually where the money is in golf.
01:09:42
Speaker
And people want that new technology.
01:09:44
Speaker
They want that...
01:09:45
Speaker
that evolving experience.
01:09:48
Speaker
And I would say the same thing with pinball.
01:09:50
Speaker
You don't want to have 10 standard games.
01:09:53
Speaker
You actually want to say, oh, well, this game is is pushing the limits this way and this game is pushing the limits this way.
01:09:59
Speaker
If you look at the greatest hits from the Williams Valley era in the 90s,
01:10:04
Speaker
they couldn't really compete very well with a standard game.
01:10:07
Speaker
If you released that game without the nostalgia factor, it's not going to compete very well with a current game because the rules on the current game, they're so much deeper.
01:10:17
Speaker
The games are more refined now.
01:10:20
Speaker
And so you're going to have a different experience now than you would have in 1995 or 1975 or 1955.
01:10:24
Speaker
It's just a different situation.
01:10:25
Speaker
So I think...
01:10:30
Speaker
The technology is pushing any field forward.
01:10:34
Speaker
And if you don't have that aspect, I think it'll stagnate and die.
01:10:38
Speaker
Yep.
01:10:38
Speaker
And I mean, just to kind of go along with that, I mean, you look at formats of tournaments, it's like, what would resonate well with the viewing audience?
01:10:49
Speaker
Is it timed challenges where it's you play two minutes or three minutes and whoever has the highest score wins?
01:10:55
Speaker
Is it objective based?
01:10:56
Speaker
You know, the first person to start this multiball or,
01:11:00
Speaker
achieve some kind of scoring threshold, you know, something that's more digestible for somebody who is walking off the street and it doesn't know anything about pinball.
01:11:10
Speaker
Sometimes you need to distill it to the easiest form for them to understand what they're watching.
01:11:17
Speaker
Yeah.
01:11:17
Speaker
And I mentioned this to Keith Elwin, and I think I mentioned this to your brother and that he
01:11:24
Speaker
It's brilliant having that mini game mode in Jurassic Park.
01:11:29
Speaker
Oh, it's so much fun.
01:11:31
Speaker
Okay, but that is such a great opportunity to say, okay, we know there is a giant game out there.
01:11:39
Speaker
We're going to focus on these aspects.
01:11:41
Speaker
Now, that's where you can televise.
01:11:43
Speaker
This is where, like Billiards, this is the reason why Nineball became the game is because it's a fast game.
01:11:51
Speaker
It's quick to understand and you can still see the skills.
01:11:53
Speaker
Yeah.
01:11:54
Speaker
And having that escape mode in Jurassic Park, it's the same thing.
01:11:58
Speaker
It's a fast mode.
01:11:59
Speaker
People understand it and you can still display your skills.
01:12:03
Speaker
Yep.
01:12:03
Speaker
I mean, hell, you can even do pinball horse, you know, trick shots.
01:12:08
Speaker
So do you think here in the future, because the other thing too is people have said, you know, the appeal of basketball, the appeal of soccer is that it is a timed sport.
01:12:19
Speaker
And you know, at the end of the day,
01:12:21
Speaker
you know, once that 90 minutes is up in soccer or the two hours in basketball or whatever it may be, people know that it's going to be over at a certain time.
01:12:31
Speaker
Do you think timed events are going to become more desirable for competition or for streaming and whatnot?
01:12:38
Speaker
Again, you don't know because it depends on your audience.
01:12:42
Speaker
I mean, I know like with a lot of typical competitions, you know,
01:12:47
Speaker
There is no time constraint.
01:12:49
Speaker
So guess what?
01:12:50
Speaker
They're going to just play out their games however they're normally going to do it.
01:12:54
Speaker
But, you know, maybe there's a unique side event that does implement some kind of time restriction.
01:12:59
Speaker
And I know it's not quite at that same level, but the whole flip
01:13:03
Speaker
flip frenzy craze that, you know, there is that component of trying to get in as many matches as possible.
01:13:10
Speaker
And you don't necessarily want to keep playing your one current game because you want to get back in the mix and try to improve your win loss record and everything.
01:13:19
Speaker
So it definitely will evolve.
01:13:22
Speaker
I mean, there's no doubt.
01:13:25
Speaker
You know, we were talking to your dad and he talked about there was back in the day, they had prizes like new car and these high end cash prizes.
01:13:32
Speaker
Do you think,
01:13:33
Speaker
we'll ever be able to get competitive pinball back to a point where the competitors see a bigger cash investment to their prizes.
01:13:42
Speaker
I don't see why not.
01:13:45
Speaker
I mean, I think the world's our oyster and the more, you know, e-sports kind of takes off and even just with the Sturm Pro Circuit, I mean, year over year, it's trending up.
01:13:56
Speaker
So you look at Pemberg, it's trending up.
01:14:00
Speaker
Every big competition that
01:14:02
Speaker
prize package is trending up.
01:14:03
Speaker
While it might not be spiking like a crazy exponential curve, it is still trending up.
01:14:10
Speaker
So like I said, the sky is the limit.
Moving Machines and Home Setups
01:14:15
Speaker
And I could use a new car.
01:14:16
Speaker
So I hope the car dealerships out there are listening.
01:14:22
Speaker
I wish they actually had, uh, this car is good for pinball moving like that, that checkbox, because I bought a car.
01:14:29
Speaker
Actually, I, my car is five years old now and I took it to pick up one of my first, uh, games and it was an iron man and we loaded it and I couldn't close the back.
01:14:40
Speaker
Yup.
01:14:41
Speaker
It's funny.
01:14:42
Speaker
Cause when, uh, my wife and I were, uh, moving from our condo to our current house, when we were looking, I would always bring a tape measure.
01:14:51
Speaker
And whenever we got to the basement, that was like the first thing that I went to was measuring the door and, you know, certain houses.
01:14:58
Speaker
It's like, oh, we love this place.
01:15:00
Speaker
It's like, nope, can't fit a game down the basement.
01:15:02
Speaker
So that's a that's a nonstarter.
01:15:04
Speaker
And it was funny because people, the realtors that we were getting the houses shown would look at me weird, like, what is he measuring the basement door for?
01:15:14
Speaker
Usually, you know, that's not usually what they see somebody looking at first thing.
01:15:18
Speaker
So it was funny how people would be like, Oh, you got pinball machines and Oh, this gate or this house won't work because a game cannot fit through the door.
01:15:27
Speaker
It's no different than a car.
01:15:28
Speaker
It's like, I got to make sure that this SUV can fit a pinball machine.
01:15:33
Speaker
So I love that.
01:15:34
Speaker
Uh, I think there's like a pin side thread, you know, will a machine fit in blank car?
01:15:40
Speaker
It definitely helps.
01:15:43
Speaker
Well, it's funny too.
01:15:43
Speaker
Cause, um,
01:15:45
Speaker
Recently, because of the economy, the way it's went, we've decided to buy a house instead of build.
01:15:50
Speaker
And it's that same thing.
01:15:51
Speaker
We're with the realtor.
01:15:52
Speaker
And she just chuckles.
01:15:53
Speaker
She's like, I've never had this be a concern for a customer before.
01:15:59
Speaker
And my wife just calls them our other children.
01:16:01
Speaker
Yep, we have to consider the other children and where they're going to live.
01:16:04
Speaker
That's funny.
01:16:07
Speaker
I'm actually looking into getting a dolly so I can just move them up and down my stairs.
01:16:12
Speaker
I have this staircase of death out the back where I guarantee they would have never approved this if anybody actually had looked at it OSHA standard wise.
01:16:22
Speaker
But we do have a staircase that goes downstairs that has a 90 degree angle in it.
01:16:28
Speaker
However, I mean, they are heater air conditioner is in the basement and they got those down.
01:16:33
Speaker
So I think I could get pinball machines up and down.
01:16:36
Speaker
Yeah, Josh and I have had some interesting pinball moves back in the day, especially when he had a pinball machine in his college apartment that was like four flights up and 90 degree turns.
01:16:48
Speaker
And yeah, that wasn't fun.
01:16:50
Speaker
There was a lot of pizza and beer involved for payment.
01:16:54
Speaker
I liked, I don't know if you ever saw Jeff Patterson's way that he got his in and out of the basement.
01:16:59
Speaker
He takes out a window and he's got like two joists and he's got like a dolly system that he just puts the,
01:17:05
Speaker
The pinball machine on it just brings it up through the window well and out through the house and he's good to go.
01:17:11
Speaker
Oh, wow.
01:17:11
Speaker
No, I have not seen it.
01:17:13
Speaker
That's awesome.
01:17:14
Speaker
I think there's people who have the walk-in basements that are like, yeah, piece of cake.
01:17:19
Speaker
It's like, screw you.
01:17:20
Speaker
God.
01:17:21
Speaker
It's like, no, you don't move a pinball machine that easy.
01:17:24
Speaker
It's got to be a little stressful.
01:17:26
Speaker
Well, I have a walk-in basement, but seriously, it's these stone steps that are meant to look nice.
01:17:33
Speaker
I'm like, oh man, I would never have done that.
01:17:35
Speaker
It's this weird angled curve on them too.
01:17:38
Speaker
It's horrible.
01:17:41
Speaker
Yeah, my new house has got a walk-out basement.
01:17:43
Speaker
And there's no steps in between the outside and the inside.
01:17:46
Speaker
So it's going to be nice and easy.
01:17:47
Speaker
Easy breezy.
01:17:48
Speaker
I hate you so much.
Conclusion and Contact Information
01:17:52
Speaker
Well, Zach, is there anything else that you would like to wrap up and give your summary statement?
01:17:56
Speaker
No, I mean, I think, you know, I just hope that, you know, outside of a pinball perspective, you know, I hope everyone's just staying safe, you know, staying the course.
01:18:05
Speaker
You know, pinball is, you know, so much fun that I always hate seeing people dive into whatever negative side of things.
01:18:14
Speaker
So, you know, try to remain positive, you know, stay safe and keep flipping.
01:18:20
Speaker
Yeah.
01:18:20
Speaker
Thanks so much for coming on.
01:18:21
Speaker
We really appreciate it.
01:18:22
Speaker
We know that it's, you know, you, you, everybody who comes on our show, they do it out of the love of the game.
01:18:28
Speaker
And we really do appreciate you helping out the enthusiast, the enthusiast market and the enthusiast drive to actually get more pinball.
01:18:38
Speaker
It's nice to have an insider's perspective on this.
01:18:40
Speaker
Yeah, no, definitely.
01:18:41
Speaker
And thank you guys.
01:18:43
Speaker
I mean, you guys are, you know, one of the many, you know, content creators and,
01:18:49
Speaker
I appreciate what you guys do.
01:18:50
Speaker
It's entertainment for me.
01:18:52
Speaker
I listen to your guys' podcasts and it's fun.
01:18:57
Speaker
It warms my heart that there's so many people out there that are so passionate about pinball.
01:19:01
Speaker
Well, thank you.
01:19:02
Speaker
We really appreciate that.
01:19:03
Speaker
We enjoy doing this and we couldn't even imagine how to do your job.
01:19:07
Speaker
You do a great job there at Stern and you always leave us wanting more when it comes to your marketing.
01:19:15
Speaker
I'll take that as a compliment, so thank you.
01:19:17
Speaker
Okay, so Zach, if people want to get anything from Stern, buy a shirt, buy a hat.
01:19:24
Speaker
I've actually been buying so much from the Stern shop because they keep sending it because right now it's free shipping.
01:19:31
Speaker
So tell me how to get the Stern lifestyle brand and how to get a new pinball machine and if they need to, how to get a hold of you.
01:19:37
Speaker
You know what?
01:19:38
Speaker
Just go to sternpinball.com.
01:19:40
Speaker
And if you want to reach me directly, zach.sharp at sternpinball.com.
01:19:45
Speaker
I always respond to every email that comes in.
01:19:50
Speaker
So if you didn't get a response, it might have gone to my junker spam.
01:19:53
Speaker
So don't send me bad links.
01:19:56
Speaker
All right.
01:19:56
Speaker
And if you want to pick up a new Stern Pinball machine, what's the best way to find a dealership or a distributor?
01:20:02
Speaker
Yeah, if you go on the Stern Pinball website under Buy a Game, you can search for the closest dealer to you by zip code.
01:20:12
Speaker
Well, it's funny, too.
01:20:13
Speaker
I just want to point this out.
01:20:14
Speaker
So a couple months back, I was having issues with my Stern Insider package arriving, and I got a hold of Stern, the phone number or something on there, and they're like, oh, yeah, you need to talk to Zach.
01:20:24
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, they're not going to send me to Zach Sharp.
01:20:26
Speaker
And they sent me to you, and I was like, oh, I didn't realize I was going to get you.
01:20:29
Speaker
Like...
01:20:31
Speaker
So it's really cool that you're the go-to guy.
01:20:34
Speaker
I'm a Zach of all trades.
01:20:36
Speaker
I know Shelly Sachs, for people who know the Data East Stern history, she's the iconic figure behind Gary.
01:20:45
Speaker
She's always been known as the Jack of all trades.
01:20:48
Speaker
So I can't take that moniker, so I will go with the Zach of all trades.
01:20:53
Speaker
Nice.
01:20:53
Speaker
Well, I did get my Stern Insider packet with no problem, so I appreciate that.
01:20:59
Speaker
Good to hear.
01:20:59
Speaker
Thank you for the support.
01:21:02
Speaker
All right, Josh, if they want to get a hold of us, how do they get a hold of us?
01:21:05
Speaker
So if you want to get a hold of us, we are loser kid pinball podcast.
01:21:09
Speaker
You can email us at loser kid pinball podcast at gmail.com, or you can hit us up on Facebook.
01:21:14
Speaker
We seem to respond very well there.
01:21:16
Speaker
We also have an Instagram account and you've guessed it.
01:21:19
Speaker
It's at loser kid pinball podcast.
01:21:21
Speaker
Easy enough, right?
01:21:23
Speaker
So.
01:21:24
Speaker
All right.
01:21:24
Speaker
And we do have a website coming up.
01:21:26
Speaker
We just need to get it designed and it'll be out there.
01:21:30
Speaker
Mainly have a lot of links to friends of the show and certainly the manufacturers.
01:21:34
Speaker
So that is pending.
01:21:38
Speaker
Well, awesome.
01:21:38
Speaker
I think that pretty much wraps it up for our interview.
01:21:41
Speaker
Like once again, thank you, Zach, for coming on and filling out the sharp trifecta as we're naming this.
01:21:48
Speaker
Yep.
01:21:49
Speaker
You have to get my mom on here and that can truly be the last dance.
01:21:53
Speaker
We might have to consider that.
01:21:56
Speaker
Well, awesome.
01:21:59
Speaker
Anything else, Scott?
01:22:01
Speaker
Other than a cough?
01:22:02
Speaker
No, I'm good.
01:22:03
Speaker
Thanks.
01:22:04
Speaker
All right.
01:22:04
Speaker
Later.