Ep 68: Pinball Legend Joe Kaminkow

PodcastAnalysis updated 4d agoSep 3, 20211 hr 14 min listen

From the creator

Joe talks about growing up in the coin op biz, Williams, and starting a business partnership with Gary Stern.

Highlights

Space Shuttle (1984) saved Williams from bankruptcy: the company needed 4,500+ orders to reopen, and Space Shuttle sold at least 7,000 units.
Joe Kaminkow designed the first pinball game for Data East/Stern (later known as Stern Pinball) on Thanksgiving Day 1986, completing playfield design by Monday.
Stern was among the first two licensors in the world to secure The Simpsons IP, identifying the brand while it was still on The Tracy Ullman Show.
Back to the Future pinball was designed and released in just six weeks from licensing to completion, with the playfield designed in two days.
Lethal Weapon sold nearly 11,000 units and is rarely seen for sale on the secondary market despite being 20+ years old.
Licensed pinball machines retain higher resale value than generic titles because operators resell them for the original purchase price or more after 1-2 years of operation.
Joe Kaminkow was instrumental in pioneering dot-matrix displays in pinball, though Stern initially chose smaller displays for cost reasons before later transitioning to larger ones.
The Beatles pinball license may be the most expensive license in pinball history, costing 'million-dollar-plus,' and Kaminkow pursued it for a decade before securing it.
At IGT, Kaminkow modernized slow engineering processes; a task quoted at six months was completed in four hours after he challenged the methodology.
IGT stock rose from $14 per share to approximately $200 per share during Kaminkow's early tenure at the company.

“If it wasn't for that game, Williams wouldn't exist. Williams would have closed.”

Joe Kaminkow

“We were the second licensor in the world to have the Simpsons... we identified this brand and went after it.”

Joe Kaminkow

“The playfield we did in two days and programmed it in a month.”

Joe Kaminkow

“I never see a Lethal Weapon hardly ever for sale... these games had they're just like a sponge. They got sucked up and they're just gone.”

Joe Kaminkow

“The Beatles I pursued for a decade... It may be the only, you know, million-dollar-plus license in the history of our business.”

Joe Kaminkow

“I joined them. I didn't think the business was big enough to financially support both Gary and I.”

Joe Kaminkow

“You look at, you know, the new stuff Gary makes these days, and you put it next to a dot matrix game, it looks like a dinosaur, right?”

Joe Kaminkow

“I was able to secure the Batman 66 title and get Adam to agree to participate in it... It was really one of the last projects Adam ever worked on.”

Joe Kaminkow