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The Spinner is Lit Pinball Podcast
The Spinner is Lit Pinball Podcast
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episode 40. fall in flip out

PodcastAnalysis updated 2d ago1 hr 55 min listen
From the creator

all the news of pinball. with special guests.

Listen on The Spinner is Lit Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • Robert Dave Mueller is under SEC investigation and being sued for allegedly funneling ~$58 million in stolen retirement investments into Deep Root Pinball over five years with minimal game production.
  • Deep Root Pinball created multiple LLCs (approximately 8-9 companies) to funnel and obscure money from Mueller's insurance/investment fraud scheme.
  • Stern is implementing QR code connectivity on newer machines (starting with at least Godzilla or later) to enable online leaderboards and remote tournament play.
  • Stern raised prices by $500 for Pro models and $1,000 for Premium models due to supply constraints and high demand.
  • JJP (Jersey Jack Pinball) currently has near-complete sellout across models with 6-month to 1-year backlog; Mandalorian sold out for approximately one month.
  • Chicago Gaming's classic remakes (Attack from Mars, Monster Bash) were originally priced at $6,000 but distributors are now charging $8,000-$9,000; Chicago Gaming maintained original pricing.
  • Pre-order money for Deep Root games may be recoverable if held in escrow accounts, though outcome depends on legal proceedings.
  • Papa Duke (John Papaduke) has not successfully produced a real pinball game in approximately 23 years.
  • Stern previously implemented QR codes on Transformers that linked to promotional content (sternpinball.com/Transformers).
  • Deadpool Pro pricing increased from original ~$5,900 to $6,400+ due to Stern's recent price bump, making earlier pre-orders valuable.

Notable quotes

“They never built. Again they never did anything they took a bunch of people. They stole and swindled a bunch of people.”
Spencer
“I can guarantee you, okay, to any new aspiring pinball companies, I can guarantee your success if you just do this one thing, this one little thing. Stay the fuck away from Papa Duke. He's poison. He's a cancer. He's a fucking turd in the punch bowl.”
Spencer
“What was the company he did before Zizzle? Papadook. With the little pinballs.”
Host (unnamed)
“They probably need to come up with some sort of way to make sure that the pins have a similar setup and the glasses on them, I think that that's going to be the epic win of the whole connected story.”
Host (Brian)
“You know, if somebody really wants it, they're going to pay and you're going to get more money. Worst case scenario, it's going to give you a chance to catch up with your orders while at the same time making more money.”
Host
“Six months down the road, 12 months down the road, whatever it is when they catch up, hey, man, this is reality. Stuff doesn't usually go back down in price.”
Host
“Try getting a new in-box game, man. You know, you're down to, like, maybe a Hot Wheels. Maybe. Everybody else has sold out of everything.”
Host
“The $6,000 that they were charging for the classics of Attack from Mars and Monster Bash were by far the best deals in pinball, and I really regret not jumping in on those now.”
Jeff Claiborne

Entities

  • American Pinball· company
  • Chicago Gaming· company
  • Deep Root Pinball· company
  • Dutch Pinball· company
  • Flippin' Out Pinball· company
  • Game Exchange (JJ)· company
  • Heighway Pinball· company
  • Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP)· company
  • Pinball Brothers· company
  • Spooky Pinball· company
  • Stern Pinball Inc.· company
  • Scorbit· company/platform
  • Deadpool (Stern)· game
  • Escalera· game
  • Mandalorian (JJP)· game
  • SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)· organization
  • Brian· person
  • Dan· person
  • Jeff Claiborne· person
  • John Papaduke (Papa Duke)· person
  • Robert Dave Mueller· person
  • Spencer· person
  • Steve Bowen· person
  • Steve Ritchie· person
  • Zach Minney· person

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