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Episode Summary: 

John Popadiuk, also known as J-Pop, created some of the most interesting and whimsical playfield designs of the 1990s. He went from a god tier Bally-Williams designer to a start-up pinball company owner and finally to a pinball pariah.  John once described his journey as “a long tale of woe in some cases, but also tales of glory in others.”

His name was once included with other Pinball Legends, but in 2022, J-Pop had been reduced to a pinball leper. People would often say, ‘What could J-Pop have done with Bally-Williams had never closed’? Now, the question most likely heard is ‘Where did it all go wrong?’ Does J-Pop deserve all the criticism and abuse that has sullied his legacy?

This month, we go Down the Rabbit Hole With John Popadiuk.

 

Sources: 

Wikipedia: John Popadiuk. Here, Zizzle. Here.

YouTube. NWPAS 2012 Seminar #08 – John Popadiuk. Here.

Pinball Mag, Nick _O. John Popadiuk – Pinball Designer. Here.

Pinball Shenaigans. Alice in Wonderland Prototype. Here.

Pinball Profile. Episode 326: Michael Hanley and Shane Jackson. Here.

Coast 2 Coast Pinball. An Evening with John Popadiuk. Wayback Machine. Here.

Dan Cowles and Kristi Highum. Zombies, Yetis & Pinball. Dec 2014. Here.

Greet, Kayla. Skill Shot – Zombie Yeti Artist Profile. Here.

Pinball Super Nova. John Popadiuk: Another One Bites the Dust. Here.

Pinball News. American Pinball Goes Public. Sept 2016 Here.

Horacze, Stan. Popular Science. The curious story of Magic Girl. Apr 2017. Here

The Pinside Stuff: Here. Here. Here.

Shalhoub, Michael (2004). The Pinball compendium: 1982 to Present. Schiffer Publishing, Lt. Here