Thoughts About Pinball - 2019 Review
Here are some brief thoughts about pinball happenings, on a national level as well as a personal basis, that happened over the past year. I did a similar post last year so I might as well keep the feature going...that includes revisiting topics I speculated about in the 2018 Review post, and how it differed from what actually happened in 2019.
Pinball Podcasts
This is particularly relevant as I recently wrote about Poor Man's Pinball Podcast. Last year I suggested that we are in the golden age of pinball podcasts with many to choose from. Last year i was listening to the This Week In Pinball Podcast, the Special When Lit Podcast, and the Head to Head Pinball Podcast. However, while I initially like Zach and he sometimes makes me laugh, his opinions are way off and he acts like he's right and everyone else is wrong. Special When Lit should be called the Ken Cromwell Podcast because he is always interrupting or talking over the top of co-host Bill...it's incredibly frustrating because I think Bill has a a great voice for radio and great opinions, but Ken dominates the podcast way too much and disrespects Bill. My favorite Special When Lit podcast was the April Fool's release when Ken went to TWIP and another host joined Bill...I had never heard Bill talk so much and I really liked it, but it only lasted one episode. Head2Head lost Ryan and added Joe Lemire, it didn't quite have the same dynamic but was still entertaining. So I dropped the TWIP podcast and Special When Lit. In place of those I now listen to Poor Man's Pinball Podcast and the Slap Save Podcast. With Head2Head going on hiatus, I'll need to find a replacement, perhaps the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, the Backbox Podcast or maybe Mrs. Pin's podcast.
Whitewater Rebuild Completed
My Whitewater is now rebuilt and fully functional. I added an additional power supply to drive mods (including lighted flipper buttons) and avoid resets. Now if I could just find that damn 3-D translite I seemed to have misplaced...
Creature Rebuild Started
Late last year I started a rebuild on my Creature from the Black Lagoon, including a new playfield from Mirco. The game was in pretty bad shape. The rebuild is close to being done and all that's left to do is to install ramps and some mods. This will be the subject of an upcoming post.
Additions to the Collection
The Munsters and Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle were added to the collection last year, without selling off a game. The collection now stands at 12. Game #13 will be added later this year. I don't understand what Stern is doing with Munsters code...this could be one of the most popular games ever made yet their decision to say code is complete has not only caused a lot of hate, but also tanked the secondary market value of the machine. Combined with playfield quality issues it has caused me to avoid any future new in box purchases from them. ACNC is kind of in the same boat for code but it sounds like new code will drop anytime now and fix a lot of problems while adding new features. Yay for Spooky, boo for Stern.
Godzilla & Stern
Godzilla King of the Monsters was better than the previous movie but still could have set the bar higher. I'm really hoping Godzilla vs. King Kong goes next level and that Stern bases their Godzilla pin on it. I still won't buy a new in box version, though, for reasons I described above.
Bucket List
A couple of years ago I created a "bucket list", late solid state, DMD, or LCD games that had yet to play. Thanks to my visit to 1Up in Denver and Next Level in Portland, I was able to cross a lot of games off my bucket list. These are the games I have played for the first time since creating the original bucket list: 24, America's Most Haunted, Baywatch, Corvette, CSI, Dialed In, Dirty Harry, High Roller Casino, Independence Day, Lethal Weapon 3, Maverick, Mustang, Robocop, Secret Service, Sharkey's Shootout, Space Jam, Star Wars (Stern), Pabst Can Crusher, Twister, Radical, Party Animal, Fire!, Hurricane, and Mousin' Around. Recent releases (games released after my bucket list post) that I've played: Houdini, Oktoberfest, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbirds, Iron Maiden, Monster Bash Remake, The Beatles, KISS (Stern), Star Wars (Stern), Total Nuclear Annihilation, The Munsters, Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, Deadpool, Pirates of the Caribbean (Jersey Jack), Willy Wonka, Black Knight Sword of Rage, and Batman '66. Wow!
Jurassic Park
The game looks awesome and I can't wait to flip it! I don't really care that they didn't get assets.
Rick and Morty
I'm not a fan of the show, but I'm happy for those who are and I'm still going to play it when I get a chance. I'm really happy for Spooky and hope this translate into a huge hit. Selling out in less than 4 hours is a good first step.
Stranger Things
I'm going to withhold judgement until I see it and play it. Brian Eddy created my favorite game (Attack From Mars) so he definitely has earned some leeway from me.
Elivra's House of Horrors
Sometime this year I'll be adding this machine. I'm not happy about the playfield issues Stern had but I haven't heard about any issues on EHOH. This will be #13 in the collection and probably the last machine added for quite some time. The game looks fun and I think I'm going to really enjoy it. Lyman Sheats on code makes it a slam dunk. I like the B-movie theme, but my friend Alan isn't as much of a fan, as he was wanting more innuendo and sexiness.
Deeproot
What the hell are these guys doing? Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland was underwhelming and they still haven't launched a single game. They had better get off their asses and get games out. Every dollar spent on other titles is money not spent on Deeproot products.
American Pinball
What the hell are these guys doing? Hot Wheels??? They would have been better off sticking with Sherlock Holmes or a video game asset like Zelda. But I didn't really think much when Oktoberfest was announced and it turned out to be a good game, so who knows?
Ghostbuster Code
It was good to see the Ghostbusters code finally drop and make it solid. I like Dwight Sullivan and I'm glad he got this done. I might have to seriously consider one in the future, as I already liked the game before the code drop.
Toppers
I'm not a huge fan of toppers. I seriously wouldn't miss White Water or Fish Tales toppers if they weren't on my game. I do have to admit some of the new toppers are really cool. Black Knight Sword of Rage has, in my mind, the best topper out there along with the Attack From Mars Remake. The Munsters and ACNC both have interactive toppers, but do I really want to spend that much money on them? I remain conflicted on this.
Operating Games
Pinball machines are pretty sparse in my area (Southwest Washington), you have to drive to Portland to find any decent places to play. I'm seriously considering getting a license and operating a few machines in the local area. More to come regarding this in the future.
Pinball Podcasts
This is particularly relevant as I recently wrote about Poor Man's Pinball Podcast. Last year I suggested that we are in the golden age of pinball podcasts with many to choose from. Last year i was listening to the This Week In Pinball Podcast, the Special When Lit Podcast, and the Head to Head Pinball Podcast. However, while I initially like Zach and he sometimes makes me laugh, his opinions are way off and he acts like he's right and everyone else is wrong. Special When Lit should be called the Ken Cromwell Podcast because he is always interrupting or talking over the top of co-host Bill...it's incredibly frustrating because I think Bill has a a great voice for radio and great opinions, but Ken dominates the podcast way too much and disrespects Bill. My favorite Special When Lit podcast was the April Fool's release when Ken went to TWIP and another host joined Bill...I had never heard Bill talk so much and I really liked it, but it only lasted one episode. Head2Head lost Ryan and added Joe Lemire, it didn't quite have the same dynamic but was still entertaining. So I dropped the TWIP podcast and Special When Lit. In place of those I now listen to Poor Man's Pinball Podcast and the Slap Save Podcast. With Head2Head going on hiatus, I'll need to find a replacement, perhaps the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, the Backbox Podcast or maybe Mrs. Pin's podcast.
Whitewater Rebuild Completed
My Whitewater is now rebuilt and fully functional. I added an additional power supply to drive mods (including lighted flipper buttons) and avoid resets. Now if I could just find that damn 3-D translite I seemed to have misplaced...
Creature Rebuild Started
Late last year I started a rebuild on my Creature from the Black Lagoon, including a new playfield from Mirco. The game was in pretty bad shape. The rebuild is close to being done and all that's left to do is to install ramps and some mods. This will be the subject of an upcoming post.
Additions to the Collection
The Munsters and Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle were added to the collection last year, without selling off a game. The collection now stands at 12. Game #13 will be added later this year. I don't understand what Stern is doing with Munsters code...this could be one of the most popular games ever made yet their decision to say code is complete has not only caused a lot of hate, but also tanked the secondary market value of the machine. Combined with playfield quality issues it has caused me to avoid any future new in box purchases from them. ACNC is kind of in the same boat for code but it sounds like new code will drop anytime now and fix a lot of problems while adding new features. Yay for Spooky, boo for Stern.
Godzilla & Stern
Godzilla King of the Monsters was better than the previous movie but still could have set the bar higher. I'm really hoping Godzilla vs. King Kong goes next level and that Stern bases their Godzilla pin on it. I still won't buy a new in box version, though, for reasons I described above.
Bucket List
A couple of years ago I created a "bucket list", late solid state, DMD, or LCD games that had yet to play. Thanks to my visit to 1Up in Denver and Next Level in Portland, I was able to cross a lot of games off my bucket list. These are the games I have played for the first time since creating the original bucket list: 24, America's Most Haunted, Baywatch, Corvette, CSI, Dialed In, Dirty Harry, High Roller Casino, Independence Day, Lethal Weapon 3, Maverick, Mustang, Robocop, Secret Service, Sharkey's Shootout, Space Jam, Star Wars (Stern), Pabst Can Crusher, Twister, Radical, Party Animal, Fire!, Hurricane, and Mousin' Around. Recent releases (games released after my bucket list post) that I've played: Houdini, Oktoberfest, Guardians of the Galaxy, Thunderbirds, Iron Maiden, Monster Bash Remake, The Beatles, KISS (Stern), Star Wars (Stern), Total Nuclear Annihilation, The Munsters, Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle, Deadpool, Pirates of the Caribbean (Jersey Jack), Willy Wonka, Black Knight Sword of Rage, and Batman '66. Wow!
Jurassic Park
The game looks awesome and I can't wait to flip it! I don't really care that they didn't get assets.
Rick and Morty
I'm not a fan of the show, but I'm happy for those who are and I'm still going to play it when I get a chance. I'm really happy for Spooky and hope this translate into a huge hit. Selling out in less than 4 hours is a good first step.
Stranger Things
I'm going to withhold judgement until I see it and play it. Brian Eddy created my favorite game (Attack From Mars) so he definitely has earned some leeway from me.
Elivra's House of Horrors
Sometime this year I'll be adding this machine. I'm not happy about the playfield issues Stern had but I haven't heard about any issues on EHOH. This will be #13 in the collection and probably the last machine added for quite some time. The game looks fun and I think I'm going to really enjoy it. Lyman Sheats on code makes it a slam dunk. I like the B-movie theme, but my friend Alan isn't as much of a fan, as he was wanting more innuendo and sexiness.
Deeproot
What the hell are these guys doing? Retro Atomic Zombie Adventureland was underwhelming and they still haven't launched a single game. They had better get off their asses and get games out. Every dollar spent on other titles is money not spent on Deeproot products.
American Pinball
What the hell are these guys doing? Hot Wheels??? They would have been better off sticking with Sherlock Holmes or a video game asset like Zelda. But I didn't really think much when Oktoberfest was announced and it turned out to be a good game, so who knows?
Ghostbuster Code
It was good to see the Ghostbusters code finally drop and make it solid. I like Dwight Sullivan and I'm glad he got this done. I might have to seriously consider one in the future, as I already liked the game before the code drop.
Toppers
I'm not a huge fan of toppers. I seriously wouldn't miss White Water or Fish Tales toppers if they weren't on my game. I do have to admit some of the new toppers are really cool. Black Knight Sword of Rage has, in my mind, the best topper out there along with the Attack From Mars Remake. The Munsters and ACNC both have interactive toppers, but do I really want to spend that much money on them? I remain conflicted on this.
Operating Games
Pinball machines are pretty sparse in my area (Southwest Washington), you have to drive to Portland to find any decent places to play. I'm seriously considering getting a license and operating a few machines in the local area. More to come regarding this in the future.
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