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Ep 187: Star Wars to John Wick | Inside Stern Pinball Art with Randy Martinez
1.4k Plays28 days ago
Randy Martinez is the artist behind John Wick, The Mandalorian, and Star Wars Pinball at Stern. We talk about the creative process behind licensed pinball art, and what it's like working inside Stern's design team.
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Transcript
Introduction to Loser Kid Pinball Podcast
00:00:07
Speaker
Thanks for tuning into the loser kid pinball podcast. I am Josh Rupp with me. My co-captain as always Scott Larson and Scott, we're going talking some art today. If you want the Mandalorian, I don't think they're making that anymore. John wick.
00:00:21
Speaker
Well, Okay. Hey, Mandalorian, John Wick, Star Wars comic book, stop ah a um either home edition or
Randy Martinez and the Mandalorian Banner
00:00:29
Speaker
whatever. There lots of options here. And I have my banner next to me, my Mandalorian banner, which is done by Randy Martinez, who we're going to talk to today. But if you're looking for all your pinball needs, just go ahead and reach out to Zach and Nicole Minney at Flippin' Out
Pinball Leveling Tool Gift Discussion
00:00:42
Speaker
Pinball. New and new stuff, including accessories, they're always really good to work with.
00:00:46
Speaker
Yep, definitely. You know, and it's funny too, because... um i I've been moving the collection collection around a little bit and I forgot after I moved it to level it. and I was teaching my son, we we got one of these pin levels for Christmas. I was really excited about it. It's this cool little toy that like, not toy, it's a tool.
00:01:04
Speaker
and I obviously have it upside down. but You just stick it on the play field and then it it gives you the up and down, the left and the right. But the cool part is you can save the game in it and the pitch and then you can actually set it on the glass.
00:01:17
Speaker
And it will stay to that game and you can save it up to like 20 games or something on here. But it was funny because i was showing my son Carter, who's now 15, how to do this thing.
00:01:28
Speaker
And he's like, dad, um, he's like, Princess Bride is an eight degree pitch. I was like, oh dang, like no wonder we can't hit some of the stuff on here. Like ah when I moved it, I forgot to re-level it. So it's ah it's a fun reminder, but seriously, go check this out. They're on Pinside and I'll i'll drop a link to the shop below, but enough of that.
Randy Martinez's Pinball Art Journey
00:01:51
Speaker
Randy Martinez is joining us today. This man jumped on the pinball scene in 2017 with Star Wars Comic Edition and then wowed us again with Mandalorian and killed it with John Wick.
00:02:04
Speaker
And whether you like guns or not, it doesn't matter because the weaponry was amazing on this thing. Randy, thanks for joining us and being on the show today. Thanks for having me, man. So we we we got to hang out a lot this ah this October because ah and we we got to pick you up and bring you over to Expo when we were there in town in Chicago. And it was really great to chit-chat with you and kind of some of the stuff. And so we we were like, we got to have this guy on.
00:02:31
Speaker
Right, Scott? A few moments later. Hey, Scott, you're muted. Okay, fine. I'll unmute me.
00:02:40
Speaker
I'm just like, Randy's not saying anything. I'm not like, is he saying something? I just can't hear it. Yeah. So, so we don't want to break this line it's a little awkward. ah Okay.
00:02:54
Speaker
so So the thing about a lot of pinball machines people don't realize is when you look at ah a white wood or a, you know, just a, a their, their production, and stereo not stereotype, their prototype when they're trying to do out all the shots, it really looks kind of bare. And I remember back in the day, seeing the original white wood of Deadpool and it, it looked,
00:03:16
Speaker
super bare and eventually when the art gets in all the all the inserts get in and now it looks like a machine that you are you are familiar with and so the the best part about the art is that it's really um it's the first thing you see when you walk into a game but you don't realize there's a lot of constraints that you're working around because it's not like you're just doing a poster and slapping it on the pin on the play field So Randy, what is your background in pinball and and how did you get into this crazy hobby?
First Visit to Stern Factory Experience
00:03:51
Speaker
Well, first off, thank you guys for the ride to Stern and back from Stern during the ah the pinball festival there in Chicago. I was trying to find a ride and you guys came through for me. So thank you for that. But it it was really great hanging out with you guys and getting to know you and your families and seeing that. This is my first time seeing the Stern factory.
00:04:12
Speaker
So seeing it with ah with new friends was was great as well. So that's first things first. So thank you. Well, the ah funny part about that is we, we were in one of the first tours because we, we had something, we had a seminar later and because, because we were in this, it was like the seven, out nine o'clock. I can't remember exactly what it was, but we, we walked through and George sees you and he's like, Hey, it's Randy Martinez. He's talking around. And then later Josh gets a message. He's like, Hey, you guys were at the tour. Yeah.
00:04:43
Speaker
Like, yeah, we were with Randy, but I think he saw my jersey or something like that in the clip. So it was funny. Yeah, like, I didn't notice you guys were there until we went back through the footage. And he's like, Josh, I saw you. When did you come through? And the funnier part is, is because Jerry Thompson, I ran into him earlier that, or it was the day before. I was like, hey, Jerry, how you He's like, you're coming to the tour tomorrow, right? I do. We have a seminar like right during the tour. And he's like, come early.
00:05:10
Speaker
and I'll get you in. And then I get text letters like, as so long as you bring Randy Martinez. I was like, a lot oh, sure. Like, people get celebrity status too on this. What else what else are you going to tell me? like So it was awesome. Well, that was great. So so thank you for that. and Yeah, George is great. and i I was not expecting him to do that, but it's cool. Hey, I'm here. I'm here. yeah That was fun. But to answer your question, which is how did I get into
Getting His First Stern Project
00:05:38
Speaker
pinball? um I, it was it was one of the craziest things. I really didn't know that it was something that I could do, ah in terms of incorporating it into, to my illustration career.
00:05:51
Speaker
I got an email from, um, I think it was Greg Ferris. I didn't know who that was. And, uh, he's like, I'm from Stern, uh, pinball, would you be interested in illustrating a pinball machine? And I'm like, uh, yeah, that'd be awesome.
00:06:05
Speaker
Um, so they, you know, talk to me on the phone, turns out, that I was recommended by a gentleman at Stern who worked with me at Topps years ago when he used to do artwork for trading cards for Topps.
00:06:19
Speaker
And he recommended me and they needed an artist. And so that's kind of where that got together. so that's why i always tell the kids out there, like always be cool to people.
00:06:30
Speaker
You never know when that's gonna come back to and And it really did. So I was really happy about that and I'm forever thankful.
00:06:39
Speaker
now Now, you also have a history in Star Wars. They were specifically asking you about, hey, we have we have the Star Wars thing. And in many ways, I get it There are a lot of people who they they like the the photorealistic stuff that was done for the original machine. However, there were some criticisms when some people were like, well, is it sticker art? Is it kind of like a lunchbox? is All that kind of stuff.
00:07:04
Speaker
And now they approached you, it seems like with the intention on, hey, this guy has a history in Star Wars and specifically the comic book style of Star Wars, which is a little different than a lot of people notice. If you look at the early stuff in Star Wars, especially the the early set on the, the star war, like 78, 79, there's a lot more, uh, different styles than you would have anticipated with your, with what people have normally seen with star Wars. And so tell me about them saying, Hey, we want you to ah check out and see if you can work your style, work with us. And by the way, you're getting a great theme.
00:07:45
Speaker
Yeah. So I had started doing artwork officially with Lucasfilm in 1999.
Transition from Lucasfilm to Pinball Art
00:07:51
Speaker
when Star Wars Episode I came out, started it off with Star Wars Kids Magazine, and that led into the Star Wars Insider, then that led to Topps, and so on and so on and so on. So I had been steeped in not just Star Wars, because I was a huge fan, but with Lucasfilm.
00:08:07
Speaker
And when you work with these licenses, they're all a little bit different, and i like to say there's kind of ah like a different language. ah There's a different language with Lucasfilm, there's a different language with Warner Brothers, Universal, and so on.
00:08:20
Speaker
um So coming into the project, they they were a little behind, not like crazy behind, ah but they needed somebody who knew the language because they really didn't have time for throw a couple of sketches out there.
00:08:35
Speaker
Then they need to be at feedback and then I got to make the changes, then send it out and got feedback. They kind of needed sketches done, send it in needs it to be approved like on the first take And I can do that because I just, and they knew me. So they, they trusted. I knew what I was doing. They trusted. I knew the property and things like that. So that was a huge feather in my cap and getting the job.
00:08:58
Speaker
And then once I did my first sample for them, they knew that was the, I was the right person for the job. But but as far as later on, I was told that initially they were told by Lucasfilm to, Oh, just take whatever you want from the comics, which posed,
00:09:15
Speaker
a little bit of an extra problem because that's Marvel. It's, it is Lucasfilm, but there's also Marvel and those artists that they had to deal with and, and they had workarounds and stuff like that.
00:09:27
Speaker
um But the main problem was that from Stern, they weren't the, but so I loved those comics. I just want to say, I love the early star Wars comics. It's what I grew up on.
00:09:41
Speaker
um It's not a ah case of the art being bad. it's the art was done so fast when star Wars came out, as everybody knows, they just tried to put out as much as they could. And they still are kind of like that, but speed, they didn't have the technology we have now.
00:09:58
Speaker
And so a lot of the art um was very sketchy, done very fast. The likenesses weren't there. And that was really important for Stern. And so they asked Lucasfilm if they could use their own artists. And so that's when they, went out and looked for their own artists and that's when they found me.
00:10:18
Speaker
So obviously you've had a background in doing this before. So was it, was it hard to integrate into Stern or was it, it was it kind of just fluid as you started this process?
Versatility in Star Wars Art for Stern
00:10:28
Speaker
It was pretty fluid. I mean, my, my career and Lucasfilm once gave me the nickname, the Swiss army knife of star Wars artists.
00:10:37
Speaker
And that's because no matter what project they threw at me, whatever the license or whatever the art wass that artwork was going to be on. i've I've literally done everything from 3D artwork to cartooning caricature to straight illustration. I've done everything.
00:10:53
Speaker
And so when I was coming into it, it was pretty fluid because that's just how I am. I can work in everything. So when they told me what they wanted Stern, when they told me what they wanted, you know i i I did a couple of samples of my own just to get my head into the comics thing and then shot them off the the sample, which is ah similar to the um the premium side of Darth Vader in the carbon freezing chamber with Luke in the background. it It wasn't that piece totally, but it was it was similar with the the different lighting hitting you know Vader with the oranges and stuff. And that was really important to that piece because I thought that was really important to the old comics. you know Nowadays,
00:11:36
Speaker
um that because we can do Photoshop and things like that, there there's there was a lot of years where was just kind of smoothing out the color with airbrush and things like that. Whereas in the old days, they didn't have that. So you had to be creative with how the artwork looked.
00:11:54
Speaker
And so you had a lot of, well, kind of like what we did with John Wick with the neon noir and you got like, you know, a magenta on this side and a yellow coming over on this side. And it was because of the limitations of the printing process but it created a whole different type of artwork work. And to me, that was the artwork genre of comics that I grew up with.
00:12:15
Speaker
So wasn't when I came into the star Wars project and they knew it was comics. I really tried to get my head into that. I went and looked at those old comics, the star Wars comics. um Luckily also i was, I was also working with Marvel fine art and creating paintings for them, which are different than the comic art, but my head was in the comic book world at the time. So,
00:12:36
Speaker
It just really worked out well. The only thing that I was not ready for was the workload. I had no idea how much work was involved with that. I mean, the most that I had done in terms of a full illustration was ah two or three trading cards um that were due in three months, you know, and that was no problem for me. Now this huge thing, you know, with a and learning, but i think I'm getting ahead of myself in the questions. So anyways, I get excited.
00:13:06
Speaker
That's awesome. Well, and there is a lot to this. I mean, I know that you're not, so when you do the artwork, it's not solely you, right? Like you do a ton of it, but there's a little bit of help here and there, but for the most, you're kind of the maestro of everything, right? Or do you do it all?
00:13:23
Speaker
Um, well, I have to give credit to Greg Ferris, who is my guidance through, through it all. Um, I would say the decision-making, um, is part actually, I was surprised at how much freedom and the decision-making that I had a lot of cases in terms of composition and choices of of where things go, not necessarily which characters we use. They told me which characters they want, things like that. But um yeah, they they gave me a lot of freedom and i I definitely brought something different to the package that I don't think they were expecting in terms of
00:14:05
Speaker
Not just my enthusiasm, because I think anybody coming into this their first time is going to be enthusiastic ah because it's new and it's so cool because it's pinball machine. But I'm enthusiastic about art.
00:14:16
Speaker
my My thing was was I don't want just this drawing of Darth Vader and that drawing of Luke Skywalker to be cool. I want it all to look really great together. i want there to be some sort of narrative going on. And i want it to look like a standing piece of art not just a mishmash of different ideas.
00:14:38
Speaker
um I wanted it all to be cohesive. And so with that, mean, to the project and, you know, Greg Ferris is already like that. And we just, we worked really well together and um yeah, maybe that was why they gave me a little more freedom with making decision-making because also was the the subject matter.
00:15:00
Speaker
I came in, with so much more knowledge of the star Wars world than anybody, you know, it's like, it was like, I knew at least 80 to 90% more than everybody in the room at any given time, including the people at Lucasfilm. That's just my geekery for over all the years, um, which they, they welcomed. They, they loved that because there was some decisions being made,
00:15:25
Speaker
ah that I'm like, you know, that, that doesn't really make a lot of sense. They're like, yeah, well it's, it's, we can fudge on things. I'm like, Oh, the fans won't let you fudge in star Wars. You know, it's like, they look at all these little details.
00:15:37
Speaker
And they're okay. So, you know, after like the first month, they kind of realized like Randy knows what he's talking about. Just, you know, let her make some of those decisions. ah But, but really it's ah to answer it more specifically your question.
00:15:51
Speaker
ah I would say 90% it, uh, and I'm including the decision-making, um, as far as composition, it was, it was me. Um, the actual execution of the art is a hundred percent me.
00:16:06
Speaker
Um, but, uh, I, there's no way I could have done that project or any of these projects that I worked on without, without Greg. Um, a great art director is, is worth their weight in gold.
00:16:20
Speaker
Now tell me how, so, the project had already been released as the, you know, as the, the photo, the photo type art on it. Now you're coming to it and they're like, okay, here is the layout with the inserts already intact.
00:16:35
Speaker
How are you going to, move your art around the space available to to tell a story. And that's the whole point of having a pinball play field in the art is you're telling a story about how the shots are going to flow and why you put different people different people on different shots. So tell me about that learning curve of ah ah doing that. because And your first one was the Star Wars comic package.
Stylistic Challenges of Star Wars Pinball Art
00:17:01
Speaker
Yeah, and I was lucky in that for Star Wars comics, I really just had to redo the art. um I didn't have to worry about showing where the shots go. i just had to do everything there in my style. I did a couple of of corrections in terms of what scenes or what characters should be and where or what versions. So for instance, the Obi-Wan facing off Darth the Vader and the center of the play field and the Emperor's behind them.
00:17:30
Speaker
And on the the Photoshop version, they used... think it might have even been a uh i don't know it might have been like a prequel version of the emperor i know it wasn't the correct one and so i went back and i changed that to the um the uh the return of the jedi version of the emperor and and i've i've gotten a lot of responses of that people saying thank you because it's like you know it's That's important to Star Wars fans, you know? Wait, you didn't want ah you don't want the Empire Strikes Back version with the monkey eyes?
00:18:06
Speaker
but but but You know that story, right? Yeah, of course. Superimposed, yeahpose yeah Yeah, monkey eyes. The bottom of the woman. Yeah, yeah. yeah ah I feel like I missed something. Can someone please explain? All right. So Randy and I are roughly the same age. So we we grew up in the same, like he and i grew up, in okay, this is the the Bane.
00:18:30
Speaker
Like we were born in this universe. you know were yeah It molded us. And it it is true in many ways that you find out all these little things you're like, oh that is so cool. So in The Empire Strikes Back, the original one,
00:18:44
Speaker
the emperor was an amalgamation of like um chimpanzee eyes and the lower fate, the lower half was a woman's face.
00:18:55
Speaker
And so it's, it's completely different than what people see now is because they've swapped out, you know, emperor Palpatine for that. Right. For those who don't might not remember it was a hologram.
00:19:07
Speaker
Yeah, it was a hologram. Yeah. So that's how they can superimpose the two halves of the face. Yeah. And so I knew was, it was just a cool scene because the emperor's only on for maybe 30 seconds. It's when he, it's when he goes in like context and they're in the asteroid belt. And so that's, that's why I was asking you about the, the monkey eyes because yes, that is just one weird thing of star Wars lore. But if you're Randy and my is age, then you are going to remember that.
00:19:36
Speaker
i'll tell you, I definitely thought of it. i mean, just if we're going to be like, you know, hardcore, but I knew again, knowing the Lucasfilm language, they would never let that go. yeah you know So I'm like, I'm happy with the Emperor one, just as long as he looks you know the right time frame of movies.
00:19:53
Speaker
And then there's some little things in there. But but yeah, that that experience, um I'm really happy that I paid attention to the artwork, how it was used to tell the story, how to tell where the shots are, how to tell what the rules are.
00:20:10
Speaker
um That was really important as going into The Mandalorian. Okay, so let's let's talk about that because you you did the Star Wars comic book. And by the way, I'm looking behind you. Which version of that is behind you? Because it looks like a slightly different side art than I'm used to.
00:20:31
Speaker
That's the pro. That's the, ah okay. Cause I pulled up on, I literally pulled up on Stern's website and the, the pro picture looks a little different. Really? ah Well, there's a, there's an X wing on the other side.
00:20:44
Speaker
Oh, okay. Well, it's it's basically the same, same thing. It's, it's, it's either side is the battle over Endor. Yeah. And one side has the, and I'm telling you, this is, this is like how deep I was going. I wanted to tell stories.
00:21:00
Speaker
So on the right side, If you look closely, the empire is winning. If you look on the left side, if you look closely, the rebels are winning. Okay. So there's, there's a whole lot of stuff going on there that a lot of people, I don't know if people put the pieces together, but it, it made it a lot of fun for me. Okay. A side note, have you, did you see the fan art, uh, the fan video of OB b one and Darth Vader fighting? It was like, it was, it was like this fan video that was like 10 minutes.
00:21:29
Speaker
It's probably the the best lightsaber fight I've ever seen. That's really good. I'll have to send it to you. Okay. I've seen it. Oh yeah. haven't seen it Yeah. i think it's a it's It's well done, but I i think there's, I'm not a huge fan of of the correcting that people want to do. I think it's just, it's part is a time capsule of its time.
00:21:55
Speaker
And was that was original like a video. And so I was thinking that it looked a little more dynamic because obviously they could show ah a more dynamic fight than, you know, Alec Guinness was pretty old when he, when he fought. So was, it wasn't able to do all the, uh, acrobatic stuff. Oh, definitely entertaining to watch, but I would, I would never in a million years suggest that they would, uh,
00:22:20
Speaker
go back and do a special, special edition. Oh no, no, no. pa heeg guinnesss jumping around Oh my gosh. that Those were terrible. Those were so actually, they're going to be re-releasing like the original in the theater. Did you hear this?
00:22:34
Speaker
again yeah Yeah. The, the unadulterated version. So, okay. So we'll move on. You, you got the star Wars comic and then they, they approached you to do this guy over here on my shoulder. It's a, it's Mandalorian.
00:22:49
Speaker
So that's not true. Oh, tell me more. Well, it's not totally true. Okay. all right All right. This is why we have you on. Yeah.
00:23:01
Speaker
So when we finished Star Wars comics, of course, the pandemic hit. And that was a real bummer because um people at Stern were were really just going crazy over how it was looking. And they're telling all the conventions they wanted me to go to. And they're going to start promoting it. And then pandemic hit. It just killed everything.
00:23:24
Speaker
So that was a real bummer. They said, but don't worry. We've got something coming for you. We want you do so. contacted me and they actually offered me the Avengers, the Infinity Quest game.
00:23:36
Speaker
And I did samples and everything like that and they loved it. ah But just ultimately it didn't didn't go to me in the history. It went to Jeremy and that's great. He did a great job on that. um But when I didn't get it, they're like, don't worry, we've got something coming for you.
00:23:53
Speaker
And so week goes by and we're where everybody's locked in, locked down at home. And I'm like, don't know what I'm going to do you know? ah So they contact me like, do you want to work on the Mandalorian? I was like, what do you think?
00:24:08
Speaker
but Yeah. And so, yeah, not only did they ask me, they said that Lucasfilm asked for me specifically because they liked the work I did with Star Wars comics and they just kind of wanted to keep that kind of a look going and, and worked well with, with the, with the company, obviously it was a really good experience. So,
00:24:28
Speaker
During the pandemic, i was super I'm super grateful that I had that opportunity and actually was working. um So it it really saved me. And very, very lucky.
Mandalorian Pinball's Unique Art Style
00:24:44
Speaker
Getting all serious. yeah no That's good. The Mandalorian is great. I love the Mandalorian art. Yeah, it's it's pretty fantastic. it's One of things that stands out about the game is the art. And the thing I love about Mandalorian, the thing I've loved about all your games so far, is they are so uniquely different from one another. like The Mando LE looks like it's just polished chrome, polished platinum, whatever you want to call it.
00:25:12
Speaker
Beskar. Polished Beskar. Yeah. and but And the other additions, just they all stand separately on their own, but they all look so great. what i mean what makes What drives you to go in this kind of detail and this much work into one of these games?
00:25:29
Speaker
Well, it it was it goes back to Star Wars comics. And um one of the things that Greg told me was, you know and for that one, it was two versions of the same game, is that they wanted to make them thematically different than one another.
00:25:46
Speaker
And so I looked at a lot of the, excuse me, a lot of the other pinball machines. And i just kind of thought, you know, a way that I could stand out was to really try to make every single version its own character, its own life, its own personality. And nothing against what anybody else is doing.
00:26:07
Speaker
But I just wanted, like like you say, which version is that? Because I know it's not the premium, right? Like, you know you know what the premium looks like. You know what that the the the pro looks like.
00:26:18
Speaker
And everybody, same thing with Mandalorian and Wick. And it means a lot to me, actually, when people say that, because that's my intention, is I don't want you to confuse any of the versions with one another. I want them to have their own life like their like their kids, you know? And um so that's just the artist in me, I think.
00:26:39
Speaker
um I'm already doing one idea on one pinball machine. So it's kind of like, I look at it as like canvases. You know, if I got three canvases lined up, you know, I, I'm going to paint something on this one and I'm definitely not going to do it on the second one. I'm definitely not going to do it on the third one. Now they might be, I'll be the same character, but I'm going to do something different because it's honestly, just to be frank, it's not, it's no fun just trying the same thing and painting the same thing over and over and over again. And,
00:27:09
Speaker
ah some some walks of this career choice of mine in art, that is a detriment because you sometimes for some jobs do have to do the same things over and over and that's fine.
00:27:21
Speaker
But for me, and I'm probably undiagnosed ADD, I just can't do it. So I just, I relish the opportunity to take each one of these versions of the pinball machines to give them their own life.
00:27:39
Speaker
when you, know i should say when you're doing three different art packages, do you, in your mind have a,
Decision-Making in Pinball Art Versions
00:27:47
Speaker
an idea? This he feels like the pro one. This feels like the premium. This feels like the LE, or do you just let the art packages speak for themselves and let Stern decide that?
00:27:58
Speaker
um I would say on that, those choices are ultimately, i have nothing to do with it. If I have any influence, it's like, 5% of the dust the discussion.
00:28:11
Speaker
um It really comes down to their marketing and and things like that. But I definitely put my input in there. And again, I credit a lot of that to to Greg Ferris and he make sure or made sure he retired, but he made sure that I didn't focus like on one piece, like, okay, this is gonna be the premium. This is gonna be that. Let's just just just do equally good on everything.
00:28:38
Speaker
not that we're going to do less on anything, but just, I mean, yeah I like that approach better, you know? And then once we get everything rolling out there and how things are coming together, ah we'll kind of make the decision. What's going to be the premium. What's the pro, what's the, the LE. And so, you know, all the, the extra bells and whistles and stuff and how great the LE looks, uh, I, that's, that's, that's all Greg, you know, he's, he, he was like a wizard with a,
00:29:07
Speaker
with the mirror and the polished look, like you said, and just that kind of whole idea. i don't know if it was his idea to do the make it Beskar. ah It might have been.
00:29:19
Speaker
but But he definitely guided that one there. once Once we had an idea of the artwork we wanted to use and and ideas. But the first one that we really kind of put together was the the pro in terms of a theme.
00:29:32
Speaker
Because we knew, and we didn't know it was going to be the pro. it's just it was just a package. and we knew that we wanted to do a spaghetti Western kind of feel. And we knew that the other versions of that game would kind of spawn out of that, and whatever version of that is.
00:29:48
Speaker
So I literally went online and, and in books that I have, and just, I really studied into spaghetti Westerns and the old posters and wanted to get the feel to that. And, um, uh, I love it because it's an education for me and, uh, learning things and,
00:30:07
Speaker
So that one right behind you, the Mandalorian poster that you have, that was based on the spaghetti Western. And and it really did. Everything else came out of that. the The premium became you know the story of yeah not even good versus evil. He's literally walking in the line right between the two on the bad class.
00:30:27
Speaker
you You have all the bad guys on one side, good guys on the other. That's kind his story. And so that's that kind of a clash. And then the last one, of course, is we've we're just calling it Beskar as we were working on it. And the whole thing just has that kind of blue kind of a tint to it. That's like metallic.
00:30:46
Speaker
And yeah, so yeah, you're taking me back. I haven't thought about this stuff in a while. I absolutely love it. I mean, your artwork is fantastic. And one, i mean, we've talked about Mando and,
00:31:01
Speaker
we can't let go John wick, like seriously seeing the Ellie on this, the whole like stained glass, the, the chapel fill with the golds.
00:31:14
Speaker
Was it your idea with the foil on that too? Cause it, you asked Greg again, just Greg again. Oh my goodness. thatss So good. That was one of the things just to jump ahead is why, and I keep mentioning his name, but, um, he, he's not only just, just, a unbelievable mentor to me through this whole thing. I could call him, text him anytime when I had questions about everything.
00:31:37
Speaker
Now that we're on the subject, how did how did John Wick fall into your lap? like How did this all happen? So John Wick came just shortly after my birthday. I'll always remember were here in Las Vegas, having a good time, and and I got a call from Greg. He's like, how would you like to work on John Wick? And I'm like, well, Greg, you you really don't need to ask me anymore just come and say, I got this for you.
00:32:04
Speaker
You know, i I told me, I love working with you guys. And and yeah, I would love to. At the time, like I didn't have anything on my plate and I was kind of hoping that I would get Jaws. I had heard Jaws was coming down the pipeline and Jaws is my favorite movie of all time, not even close to anything else. And I just, I would have, I would have loved to have done that.
00:32:27
Speaker
But ultimately i'm I'm happy that I didn't. Uh, because i am, I just, I really loved doing John Wick for a few reasons. Number one was my portfolio at that point was pretty much Star Wars and Marvel. And that was about it. Um, as a, as an artist, you just kind of want to have a little bit more well-rounded kind of a portfolio, at least subject matter. And, and boy, John Wick was so different from any of that.
00:32:59
Speaker
And, uh, different type of storytelling and the, the art in the movie, the art direction in the movie was just incredible. And it introduced me to a whole other genre, a whole different way of thinking, ah different philosophies that affected the rest of of my art in the different things that I do.
00:33:20
Speaker
So ah yeah. So when we picked that up, I was just so excited. And that's, pretty much how that happened to answer
Influence of John Wick's Style on Art
00:33:30
Speaker
your question. It was that this time was pretty simple.
00:33:33
Speaker
How familiar were you with the John Wick franchise before they asked you? I'd seen all of them except for four, which was when I, when I got the job for what was coming out in about three months.
00:33:47
Speaker
So I had not seen four obviously. And, but I I'd seen the three movies before that. um I wouldn't say I saw them a lot, but I was impressed with them. I thought, again, the the art direction was really cool. So going back to watch them again was a lot of fun looking at a different, more more observant eye. I was looking at everything, you know, going on the background, looking at the color.
00:34:15
Speaker
ah read a lot about it. And they use what's called the neo-noir style, which is where they use a lot of the reflective color from like neon or different things like that.
00:34:30
Speaker
And so like, I think before that, the best example of was like Blade Runner. And so I was looking at older movies like that too. Just, just, I started to get really into the neon noir kind of a thing. And like I was saying before, it bled into the other parts of my art career. And so for my paintings that I do for the gallery, um I was doing, Batman, Scooby-Doo, they they had just gotten Warner Brothers license, so i was able to do all those characters, and I was doing Neon Noir of all those things. And I couldn't tell anybody why, because people say, where is this coming from? This is great.
00:35:08
Speaker
And I'm like, i don't know, I just got an idea. it's so um But it was it was really, really, yeah it really was changing. It changed my the course of my career, and at least of creative creatively speaking.
00:35:24
Speaker
which is awesome. like so So the real question is what's your art looking like nowadays? but but but but i Hypothetically speaking. i can't go This is a frustrating thing for what I do. you know is i ah i absolutely love of what i do. yeah The the one percent is that i can't talk about anything that i'm working on and so it's it leaves me with sometimes up to a year of things that I can't talk about. So people don't write me and ask me what i'm doing, or I do interviews, what am I doing? And like, I got to put my head like a year ago of something that released finally, you know, um, whether it's pinball or trading cards or or something, you know, anything.
00:36:10
Speaker
So, uh, Well, and we talked about at the beginning of the episode that we took you into Stern and we got to do that in the, the walkthrough and everything. Did we mention this? You did the mural, like the massive mural. Yeah. As you walk into Stern, this thing is huge. It spans the whole length of one side of the building.
00:36:28
Speaker
It's, it's nuts. It kind of wraps around. It's a, it's inside. It's, it's probably, it looks like it's about 20 feet tall and it just goes all the way around. I mean, it's, it's impressive. Yeah.
00:36:40
Speaker
how How did you end up doing this? So this was a, ah it was collaborative in terms of um conceptualizing. And so George Gomez spearheaded it and asked me if I would do it. And I said, absolutely. And so they but had me come up with a couple of ideas that they didn't use. um and And I understand why, like one of them was like doing space with astronauts and pinball machines and stuff.
00:37:10
Speaker
And I seen what it looks like up there now that that wouldn't have worked. It just was too non-relative to what they do. So they just kind of brought an idea that they already already had ah of doing a closeup of a pinball machine.
00:37:26
Speaker
And what we did with that pinball machine, that was kind of left for me to kind of create that and the angle. So um it was It was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be because it's a really weird angle of the machine.
00:37:41
Speaker
And so you got all those graphics. i yeah I'm used to either doing like this or like this or like this, but this is kind of like this weird angle. So actually had to go um to the the Pinball Hall of Fame here in Las Vegas because we wanted to be a little ah little on the retro side. They didn't want it to look like Star Wars pinball machine that I have. And I had to try to take pictures at at weird angles that was trying to fit.
00:38:10
Speaker
and I still had to bend some things. So yeah, yeah it was, it was a challenge, but, but doing it, I was just so honored to, to have them ask me. And then just that, you know, my artwork is representing to the world at the outside, you know, stern pinball. And that just, it means a lot to me.
00:38:30
Speaker
um And, and, that they would even ask me to do that. So, and there's some influences in there. Some of the, the decorative um art that's on the the pinball ah play field on that is derivative of some of the, this work that Jeremy had done for some, ah some different promotional things that they did long ago.
00:38:55
Speaker
And so that was there. And I wrote him and said, hey man, they want me to use this. It's okay. I'm real touchy about that. you know, using other people's artwork in any way. So he's like, absolutely. It's like, I i think they actually own it so they can do whatever they want with it.
00:39:09
Speaker
And so, but I care, you know, I'm just, I'm ethical like that. I like to make sure. And so, but yeah, it's ah really cool. So what has been your favorite part about this, this new chapter? And so the last almost 10 years now, you've actually been able to do things on pinball.
00:39:29
Speaker
So ah one, how has it changed your, your style and two, have you, have you gotten
Impact of Pinball Projects on Artistic Workflow
00:39:36
Speaker
into pinball? Have you started playing your, your own, uh, your own games and, and started ah figuring out the, know, guess the addictive quality of having pinball machines?
00:39:46
Speaker
Well, the biggest thing that has changed, ah me is my, my workflow. Um, it's just because there's so much work involved with the pinball machines. It, it ah just by necessity, it changed the way that I work and that I have to set hours in the day. And in order for everything to come out a certain way, you know, when I'm, when I was younger, you know, had to stay up all night and, and do things at the last minute. And, and it still comes out looking good. And, and I, you know, in a pinch, I can still do that, but I don't like to, it's, it's no fun on my body or my sleep or anything like that, but just the amount of work you you have to start,
00:40:28
Speaker
like I said, uh, setting time each day to do that. So once a pinball machine is, is done in a project, it's now affecting everything else that I do, uh, in the same way, I I'm so much more organized than I ever was before, uh, doing pinball machines in terms of my artwork, I should say everything else is kind of a mess, but my desk is like, what's going on.
00:40:54
Speaker
But, uh, But yeah, that and then just like I explained, like the influence from working on John Wick, ah the different styles and things like that. um be The kind of comic book kind of a look.
00:41:09
Speaker
I like to say it's it's I use the line that is traditional for comic books, but then i try to use more of a painterly kind of a coloring style. I don't I really don't like using the airbrush tool on digital that much because it's like too perfect.
00:41:30
Speaker
So I like using brushes. um i use Procreate on my iPad and it's just got a million brushes that are just incredible for that. I can adjust them and I'm trying to find new brushes all the time and adjust them so that I can ah give it some more character rather than just a smooth gradation.
00:41:50
Speaker
I'm looking at the the clouds on right behind you on the Mandalorian. And I remember which brush I used on that, you know, and I didn't want that smooth look. And even if you look at the Mandalorian himself on there, you can see there's, there's kind of some jaggedness to the, to the, the color being put on there. And it's not just smooth. And that was completely intentional because I didn't want it to look um just shiny, shiny, shiny. I wanted it to look like it had some texture to it and some grit. And then I also,
00:42:22
Speaker
fed into the whole spaghetti Western. yeah Everything's dusty kind of, you know, so it's, it's affected me in a lot of ways. Those are just a few. That actually totally is um consistent with the star Wars universe. One thing that before star Wars, all the future shows, you know, star Trek and, you know, Buck Rogers, all all these, you know, battle star Galactica, these types of things, everything was so clean in the future.
00:42:50
Speaker
And ah Star Wars was the first time that he actually showed, hey yeah, if it's, I know it's ah in a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but it is still very science science fiction-y.
00:43:02
Speaker
And being able to have like, hey, this is this is how it would look with people using it daily. And you have C-3PO who has a ah different color leg.
00:43:13
Speaker
So at some point he has the, you know, he, has and a lot of people don't even realize that he has that, that gold, you know, that, that gold chrome metallic stuff. But I think it says left lower leg is silver.
00:43:27
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, Originally, it wasn't as emphasized, but when you watch it, you're like, yeah, okay. So this is, i imagine the ah the futuristic car that's coming down the street that has a different color door that they ah they grabbed from a different car because it got in accident or something.
00:43:44
Speaker
so i don't I don't think anybody realized that about C-3PO until the special edition when they cleaned up all the negatives and everything. Yeah, but yeah and that was in the original. It really was. But you're right. I didn't know that either because I had the C-3PO toy and the the toy didn't have the the lower leg those that was ah chrome because it was cheaper to make it one color.
00:44:07
Speaker
Um, but yeah, no, I, I do like that. It does look a lot more, uh, rough and that, and that's not a, and that's not saying it's not refined, but it does look more like it's battle hardened.
00:44:24
Speaker
Right. Right. So that, that style has, um, it's, it's opened up a few doors with things, um, that I do. And, I've been using that with, uh,
00:44:35
Speaker
the The San Francisco Giants has did a piece for them that's going to be a T-shirt that everybody gets in the stadium next this next season. That's kind of cool.
00:44:45
Speaker
But it's very similar kind of style that I did line with that kind of gritty kind of paintbrush. So it's, ah yeah, the your question was how did affect me? And and a lot of those things, just when you you when you get to practice something and work on something in a certain way, um i have probably anything you do in life,
00:45:04
Speaker
um It just starts taking a an influence. And then when you like it, you like doing it, you know, is the big thing. And and I really liked what I was doing. So he just kind of like, yeah, I'm going to put that to the forefront of, of the things that I do.
00:45:17
Speaker
And, um, and then it just does my confidence as a, as an artist and as a professional, I should say even more than and an artist, you know, I mean, Stern's a big company, you know, and, um,
00:45:30
Speaker
So adding that to my client list was, was really big and getting treated like a professional and, uh, getting the feedback from, my, my client about the things that I would really stress to try to do as a professional. it It's really boosted me in terms of like, yeah, I've been doing, I've been doing the right things, you know, over all the years. And sometimes you don't know because you're, you're, you, you want to stay ethical. You want to stay, uh, working hard and you try to,
00:45:59
Speaker
there's a social side to this, you know, in terms of working with clients and meeting people and you just, you you don't know until you get the feedback, you know, and, and sometimes jobs come and you get them and, and that's it.
00:46:14
Speaker
And they don't tell you why most of the time it's just because that project ends and the company wants to go somewhere else, but you don't know. It's like that artist, or like, did i say something wrong? Did I do something? Like, I don't know. Am I hearing from CPL anymore? And,
00:46:28
Speaker
Like I said, 99% of the time, that's not what it is. But again, you don't know. so um And then just hearing from fans like you guys you know and and telling me that the the finer points that I don't have to tell you about and you see it, it's like, okay, it's good.
00:46:44
Speaker
It's really good. And you know one game that many people haven't got to see in person that you did that was fantastic was Coming to America. You've got to tell me how this came about.
Involvement in Coming to America Project
00:46:57
Speaker
So that was pretty unexpected. So I, a Kyle Smet, I don't know if you know Kyle. He's a homebrew guy and he he's, he's very good at what he does.
00:47:11
Speaker
And he did the big trouble in little China homebrew. And he had me do the topper for that, where the hands light up for the, for the lightning character and the the blades on that. And it was a lot of fun. but Again,
00:47:25
Speaker
I love doing these projects like out of left field that i I haven't done before. So that was fun. And after that, he put me in touch with the oh the the gentleman who made the Coming to America.
00:47:41
Speaker
And we talked about it and had a great conversation. And we just started going for it. And he loved my ideas. And it just worked out great.
00:47:53
Speaker
And yeah. It was really cool. Ricardo, he's a good guy. And he's really good at what he does, him and his team. ah the The crazy thing with them is that he went to Expo, I think. It was as as an expoer.
00:48:10
Speaker
don't know. It was one of the big shows. He went to Expo a year ago. and he's like, I like this. I'm going to do that. like I'm going to make one. I'll be here next year with with one of my own. i was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody says that and everything. He's like, okay.
00:48:23
Speaker
And so he went home and started working on it and he got his team together and contacted me. And, uh, a year later, there he was, you know, in the homebrew section at a expo and, and winning awards and, uh, and, and meeting everybody and such a nice guy just fit into the community really well. And, um, I was just, it was, I was really happy. The art was, and the theme was just received so well by all the fans.
00:48:52
Speaker
And, um, it's It's a funny thing because you know he was working on it right up during the show. you know And so he had the play field on – I forget whose booth it was where or you can work on your play fields. I can't remember whose it was. But he had he got more exposure on the play field that way from everybody than being in his section in the homebrew area.
00:49:19
Speaker
um And it it forced people to, Oh my God, what's that? We'll go check out the cabinet. It's over there. And they would rush over there to go see it. um So yeah, I was, I was just, I was really proud of it and I was just really happy ah for, for them and, and for Ricardo. And it was, a yeah, it was a fun piece too.
00:49:40
Speaker
Are there any themes that you're a fan of that you would, you would love to take a chomp at? Absolutely. i mean, who wouldn't, you know, um I have, if people always ask, it what's your wish list? So ah my number one wish list that I told ah won't happen but on an official level would be a Seinfeld pinball machine.
00:50:03
Speaker
Yeah. That would it be amazing. I'd love that. It'd be so great. yeah I don't even know if there was any opportunity for me to do artwork on that, if it would be appropriate, but but you can imagine all of the the modes, you know, you can do the puppy shirt mode and the ultimate is to be in the master of your own domain. Yeah. The master of your domain.
00:50:24
Speaker
That's the way that's the wizard mode, by the way. Whatever. We need a Festivus mode or a Festivus. Yeah. Actually, that would be that would be so great if you had a game that rotated themes depending on what time of year it was. Oh, yes. That would be cool. That would be cool. Your your games all of a sudden just magically have a like a Christmas theme or a Halloween theme added to the game.
00:50:48
Speaker
You know what would be great if there was an ugly baby mode? Like, you know how you have frenzy modes and pinball machines? But every time you hit a switch, it'd be someone trying to compliment the baby. yeah And when you finally, like, when you finish the mode, it's Kramer just freaks out. like it's right and so It's breathtaking. Yeah. Okay. So here's... What do you think he looks like? Lyndon Johnson.
00:51:09
Speaker
Okay. I have a funny story about babies. So my friend... yeah put your way Before you start okay see guys laughing right now. Yeah. one yes I think it would make a great machine. oh it was so good. Yeah, it would.
00:51:24
Speaker
got me sold. you I love that. I love that. The in Seinfeld iss actually one of those shows that you can still watch and it's funny. Because there's a lot of shows that were funny at the time that like, if I watch friends now, I'm like, it's painful. i'm saying The jokes don't land. It's not there. It's not that funny. It's, it feels very dated. Seinfeld something that would continue to go on.
00:51:51
Speaker
So no, no soup for No soup for you. I know that guy. know no i know that guy That's just Nazi.
00:52:01
Speaker
The real one or the actor? Yeah, Larry, the actor. Oh, yeah. That's awesome. Yeah, he's he's ah he's a character actor. from from He's done all kinds of stuff. but Of course, that's what he's most famous for. Yeah, yeah, And I got to know him from doing the different comic book conventions where he's signing autographs and we have common friends and things like that. And we both ended up at a friend's birthday party up in the Hollywood Hills and having a great time. And my friend had a guitar and I pulled it out and I start playing it.
00:52:30
Speaker
and it's playing a little blues and Larry comes in and he starts singing and I'm like, we should do a song called like the soup Nazi blues. And and he did, he started singing the soup Nazi blues.
00:52:41
Speaker
That's amazing. Okay. That's that something, okay. This is something we know about and we didn't even bring up. You actually play guitar. I do. Yeah. Yeah. So for a while, but I have enough to be able to play and sing. Okay.
00:52:54
Speaker
Did you see a non-canical song in Teinfeld apparently? Yeah. oh Did you see the guitars that Josh and I made out of pinball play field? ah yeah Mine's upstairs. i wish yeah so i know I know. Mine's upstairs too. but It's a shaker one. it's It's made out of an earth shaker play field. from Sithar Guitars, Daniel up in Canada. Amazing. We're going to have him on too, but yeah ah Randy, you've got to see these guitars. We'll we'll send you pictures after. He was at Expo, right? Yeah, correct. yes those were Those were our guitars. like this that too mine was Mine was Silver Ball Mania. Mine was Oshaker. Loved it. That's awesome. I told him he should make a John Wick one if he's willing to tear one up.
00:53:40
Speaker
He said, if you're willing to send a play field, he can find the play field. He can make it. Yeah. Do you know anyone that might can get a hand on John with play field? Maybe that's not to be perfect. Actually, that's, that's the whole point is getting a second and, and yeah,
00:53:55
Speaker
they They modify it so you can't use it as a play field. But yeah, it's ah that would be awesome. if If you're interested in that, we can definitely we can definitely ah hook you up with that. We've been toying around with the ideas of ah getting some Metallica guitars made because that would be awesome too.
00:54:10
Speaker
It would be even it cool if you, I know this would probably be hard, but you know how like he's holding the sword in the artwork. I mean, that's not on the play field. It might be the side cap, but holding the sword, but if you could position it right. So the neck looks like it's the sword that John looks holding. and That would be legit. Yeah.
00:54:27
Speaker
I did something similar with like that with, ah with star Wars years ago, back in 2007. I did um i did a a poster called Sith Rocks and it featured Darth Maul playing a double-ended guitar.
00:54:41
Speaker
Oh, that's funny. He's jumping. It has all the Sith in the background. It has the Vader's like singing. And instead of ah the lights that like the kiss lettering, it says Sith instead of kiss.
00:54:52
Speaker
General Grievous is playing drums. And then it has the emperor playing the cowbell. Oh, that's awesome. love that I'm telling you that that him playing the cowbell yeah sold more prints, just that. yeah Because I was able to sell prints at the Star Wars convention. And just the when people saw the cowbell, the emperor playing cowbell. And in 2007, that was still a pretty new.
00:55:16
Speaker
I mean, it's still funny. More cowbell. More cowbell. Back then. Yeah. So oh I got to get that. Okay. We'll have to send pictures of the guitars. You'll have to send us pictures of that. Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:55:28
Speaker
definitely Well, i have I have one final question for you, Randy, and then we're going to wrap this up. But my final question is, I'm not going to ask you any titles or anything like that. Do we get to see more of Randy Martinez in pinball artwork ah coming out?
00:55:42
Speaker
Yes, definitely. you definitely um well i can't We talked a little bit at this beginning. I can't say what it is and I can't announce it, but it's something um that is not really related to anything you would normally think of.
00:55:57
Speaker
is coming out in spring. So look for that. It's more on the toy side of things. So to keep a lookout for that, or at least for an announcement coming from my way. And then the the other stuff I can't talk about.
00:56:09
Speaker
Perfect. right we got see your art Your art lends so well to pinball. I just think a lot of people are excited to know you know if we're going to see you in pinball again because I think you're just you're one of the greats. like And it's great to start just bringing you back and and using you on projects. I think you do a fantastic job. You're a wonderful illustrator.
00:56:30
Speaker
Let's keep it going. I want to keep seeing more Randy Martinez. Thank you. You know what? I have to say that I really... enjoy this. I enjoy the the the fans. and you know I've done comic book conventions and I've done all kinds of things with my art and the pinball community has been really great and they've been really
Supportive Pinball Community and Creativity
00:56:50
Speaker
welcoming.
00:56:50
Speaker
Probably some of it is that in the comic book convention world, everybody's pretty young. Everybody's a little older in the pinball area, so at least closer to our age. So I appreciate that. and But everybody's so nice.
00:57:04
Speaker
and very creative. I mean, I do the art side of the, Oh my gosh, the engineering side of ideas of, of, you know, one just at a glance would think, okay, it's a pinball machine. Like what do you, it's probably what I thought when they first called me, like what possibly more could you do with a pinball machine?
00:57:26
Speaker
You do a lot. i you A lot. Yeah. Yeah. People doing just amazing yeah things. And, um, You know, I get dipping my foot into the homebrew area has been really great. And it's really fun because, you know, there's there's no rules, really, you know, um except for, you know, see how deep somebody's pocket is. yeah That's about the only rule there is, you know, and people trying things and and at expos seeing some things that didn't necessarily work.
00:58:02
Speaker
but idea was there, you know, and it's like, you know, next year they'll be back and it will work, you know, and they're they're the ones who are like, kind of like who's revolutionizing the game. Is it, is it the companies anymore or is it the players and the and the the fans? You know, it's, it's a really interesting um thing that's different from all of the other communities I've been involved with through my art.
00:58:29
Speaker
Yeah, it it certainly is a collaborative process. it nut When there's only one game in town, then you get stagnation. And then and we I've talked about this so long. Stern in the 2000s, that was challenging because they they had they had a monopoly on the market and they didn't have the collaboration that they saw. Oh, well, this person is doing this. How come we didn't do that? And and now you're seeing, you know, at least six viable pinball companies out there that are able to produce their own things. And it really has driven the innovation in pinball to, to a different level. And even the way that they're presenting the games with, you know, with barrels of fun, having the, having the LCD, like,
00:59:14
Speaker
in the back of the play field and it helps out with that. It's, there's so many different things that I've still yet to be tapped in pinball. I'm really looking forward to it. Well, I really like some of the the different um themes.
00:59:29
Speaker
So even like the Winchester theme was really cool. I mean, I grew up going by there. i never went in, but I went up in California. We knew all about it. We knew the mystery and the the story and all that. And that's just that they took that theme And it's actually perfect for pinball with all the different.
00:59:47
Speaker
Crazy. That house is crazy. It's nuts. But if you could put that with pinball, it was great. And then again, in the, the, some of the things in the homebrew area, that, that, that steamboat Willie one was like, Oh yeah, it it was what that was, it was really, it was so clean.
01:00:03
Speaker
Yeah. With, it was used with the top or had steam. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's, it's, it's wild, man. And and it pushes me. um not in a competitive, like got to be better than everybody kind of thing, but it just pushes me to want to be in that, that, that river of creativity with everybody because you know what, it's fun. And that's what I always say about art. And anybody asks like, how do I do this? How to do that?
01:00:32
Speaker
You know, the key is just have fun. And if you're not having fun, then that's the only way you can make your art or whatever it is in this life wrong. Just to remember to fun. Exactly.
Connecting with Randy Martinez Online
01:00:44
Speaker
Randy, if if you want someone to get a hold of you, what's the best way they can get a hold of you? ah You go to my website, which is randymartinez.art. That is the easiest way. If you want to go on social media, most all of my social media is randymartinez40. 40 was my basketball number in high school. can Can't let it go. Awesome.
01:01:06
Speaker
Well, if you want to get hold of us, ah we are Loser Kid Pinball Podcast at gml.com. We are at Loser Kid Pinball on all the socials. um Anything you can think of.
01:01:17
Speaker
ah We do sell silverballswag.com slash Loser Kid. wearing the Loser Kid Attacks Pinball shirt. It's even got the little logo on the side. I don't know if I don't. Randy's sport. I had too. Yeah. That's awesome.
01:01:32
Speaker
It's super comfortable, isn't it? It is. It is. It like it like squeezes my head a little bit. It's like you know support socks. Yes. We only do those like once a year, and we don't do very many of them. So they ah if you're interested in one of those hats, you listen out for us. well we'll ah We'll announce another run of them probably here in the future.
01:01:52
Speaker
But, uh, other than that, Scott, do we have anything else? You know what that that's pretty much it, but definitely go and check out Randy's page. Uh, Randy's he's a, easy he's one of the good guys in the hobby and, in any hobby you can find toxicity. If you're looking for it Randy's not one of them.
01:02:10
Speaker
Thanks. Oh, and I do want to mention this to all the fans out there. and and I do like to communicate and things like that. I try to get back to everybody that writes me. Um, but, uh,
01:02:21
Speaker
This does help, this one thing, that when you talk to people at a different pinball, your favorite pinball companies, tell them the artists that you like. you know Not just me, I mean, I'm saying that to benefit me, but whoever your artists like, say those things, they they take notes on those things. And and when you do that, it the it keeps me in business.
01:02:40
Speaker
um So I appreciate that. Okay, everyone, time to spam at sternpinball.com. randy martinez needs to be on more pinball we want to follow the empire of comic edition yes awesome if you want make demands you can just tell them how much you like are the art true true okay just slide it slide into the dms okay scott give us our last words you know i just go play more pinball and i'm heading to guatemala on friday so yes in about two weeks good for you man
01:03:17
Speaker
you