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The Classic Pinball Podcast
The Classic Pinball Podcast
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#138 What a fool believes - The Classic Pinball Podcast

PodcastAnalysis updated 4d ago1 hr 12 min listenBy George
From the creator

George is back. Dave has stories. Another top 10 from Tim Sexton. Why isn’t there Marlboro show content?

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Highlights

  • Stern is releasing games way too early and fixing them later in code updates.
  • Battle Station (Myth Pinball head-to-head) is taking pre-orders in April with delivery by end of 2026.
  • Stern's warranty policy changed: Stern now covers only parts, not labor, on defective units.
  • Pokémon aired a national commercial during the Olympics promoting the brand broadly, not specifically hawking the Stern pinball machine.
  • Mike Dodona at Automated (Stern distributor in Milford, Connecticut) stands by his products even when Stern might not.
  • Secondary market sellers (e.g., 'Pinball Dudes') have high eBay ratings despite selling defective machines to customers.
  • Superman games are notoriously finicky, require specialized Atari board expertise, and are expensive to repair properly.
  • Nine Ball has persistent switch issues on the left side that are difficult to keep adjusted.
  • CPR playfield inventory is discounted, and collectors are buying multiple playfields as speculative purchases.
  • Monster League Hockey head-to-head (Jake Danzig designer) is taking pre-orders with unspecified delivery timeline in 2026.

Notable quotes

“Stern is still releasing games way too early and they, oh, we'll do it in code later. So, not much has changed.”
George
“I have a hard time saying no. I know you do. I'm too much of a nice guy is the problem.”
Dave
“They gave me a whole bunch of sockets to replace and it ain't gonna do anything and that's not it.”
Dave
“I don't understand how they're doing it when people are getting disappointed and they're calling me to clean up the mess on aisle five.”
Dave
“This thing had like a fire. This coil was so burnt up, it stuck on for probably an hour. Nothing left of it and a big burn mark on the wood.”
Dave
“It's why it's the most revered brand in the world, I guess. And the most moneymaker.”
George
“You ran, didn't you? Oh, I did ran, but I talked to him.”
George to Dave
“He goes, you bark. I don't remember that. Yeah, I'm gonna find that.”
George
“If you think about it, my kid collected them back in the 90s. Right. But now they're exposing themselves to a whole nother new generation, younger kids, and people like me who casually know about it only because my son collected them.”
George
“I'm just going to let sleeping dogs lie. It's working.”
Dave

Entities

  • Automated· company
  • CPR (Custom Pinball Renovation)· company
  • Myth Pinball· company
  • Pinball Dudes· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Battle Station· game
  • Genie· game
  • Monster League Hockey· game
  • Nine Ball· game
  • Pokémon· game
  • Space Invaders· game
  • Star Wars: Fall of the Empire· game
  • Tron LE· game
  • The Classic Pinball Podcast· organization
  • Andrew· person
  • Dave· person
  • George· person
  • Jake Danzig· person
  • John· person
  • Mike Dodona· person
  • Mithos (Mark)· person
  • Steve Kirk· person
  • Steve Ritchie· person
  • Tim Sexton· person

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