Episode 381: Mezel Mods at 10 years!
For a decade, Mezel Mods have made pinball machines more exciting with their unique designs. Hear from Kristin Browning-Mezel and mod designer Catherine Nevera live at Expo this past October. Check...
Highlights
- Catherine joined Mezel Mods approximately 3 years ago and has significantly improved the quality of mod designs
- Early mod designs took 2-3 months to develop, but current designs are completed within a couple of weeks due to experience
- Mezel Mods designs mods to look like they could have come with the game originally, fitting seamlessly into existing design language
- New games at Expo include Labyrinth, Turner Pinball, Elements, and Elton John, with Elton John releasing publicly within the hour
- Tim, the third partner at Mezel Mods, works in semiconductor manufacturing in New Mexico and does not attend shows
Notable quotes
“a lot of what I try to do is backwards engineer from what they already have in the game...it's a lot easier to not go past the dimensions of what the game makers have already done”
“one of my first major mods took two, three months to fully develop, and now they're out within a couple of weeks. So a lot of it has just been experience and really learning how to execute certain things in a timely manner”
“you've got to make sure it fits. It can't clash...some of them I'm like, I immediately know what I want to do. And then some of them I'm like, oh, my gosh. I've got homework.”
“the factory buildings the one on the left it just says subway it's a completely glass office building, but it's labeled a subway...that's what they're trying to sell you, but that doesn't really evoke the feeling of a subway”
“we definitely have a much shorter design time than I would say most other, just in general, like product companies. We are very quick relative to when we start on something and when we finish it”
Entities
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Mezel Mods· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Pinball Expo· event
- Texas Pinball Festival· event
- Elements· game
- Elton John· game
- Foo Fighters· game
- Godfather· game
- Godzilla· game
- Labyrinth· game
- Led Zeppelin· game
- Rush· game
- Turner Pinball· game
- Pinball Profile· organization
- Catherine Navarro· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Kristen· person
- Rob Burke· person
- Tim· person
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