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LoserKid Pinball Podcast
LoserKid Pinball Podcast
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Ep 18: Double Feature

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 57 min listen
From the creator

Episode 18 is here! We decide to do a double feature so up first we interview Chris Hutchings for High End Pins. Chris answers multiple questions and gives his professional thoughts on today's clear...

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Highlights

  • Chris Hutchins transitioned to full-time pinball restoration in 2004 after customers requested he restore machines they already owned
  • Stern produced only 1-2 games per year in the early 2000s before the 2014 pinball renaissance
  • Building pinball machines from scratch is not economically viable; restoration of existing machines is the better business model
  • Clear coat issues stem from EPA regulations reducing toxic compounds, which paradoxically reduces coating effectiveness
  • Pinball manufacturers likely do not use automotive clear coat and instead use wood-type clear coats
  • A properly cured clear coat should not be indentable with a fingernail after one week of curing
  • Hutchins typically has 3-4 active projects simultaneously but manages 8 total projects with staggered progress
  • Only 4-5 prototype Krull pinball machines were built, and at least one may have been lost in a fire

Notable quotes

“I have OCD, so I started looking at these things. I'm like, you know, I think I could probably take this apart and paint this and do that and, you know, make it look better.”
Chris Hutchins
“You would never survive doing this locally. It's just there's not enough people in Charlotte, North Carolina of all places, that would want a pinball machine restored.”
Chris Hutchins
“The biggest issue that we're seeing is they're clearly not testing this stuff or putting it through a real-world type test because it doesn't take anything just to screw down. Let's just say you screw a post down very tight. You come in the next day, if it's bubbled, then there's a problem.”
Chris Hutchins
“the less toxic the paints, the less they work, which is probably not the most eloquent way to say it, but they just don't, the more toxicity they take out of the paints, the more troublesome they become”
Chris Hutchins
“If I go out there and clear a play field, you know, I'm going to clear a play field. It'll be done within 15 or 20 minutes after I mix the clear and whatever's left over. If I go out there and a couple hours, it's hard”
Chris Hutchins
“I definitely like the WPC games the best just because they're... I've done so many of those in particular that I just – I know everything about them.”
Chris Hutchins

Entities

  • CPR (Classics Pinball Restoration)· company
  • High End Pins· company
  • Stern· company
  • Valley· company
  • Williams/Bally· company
  • Krull· game
  • Loser Kid Pinball Podcast· organization
  • Pinside· organization
  • Brad Albright· person
  • Chris Hutchins· person
  • Jim McCune· person
  • Josh· person
  • Scott· person

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