Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This episode is all about the history of the licensed band pin starting way back in the late 1970s, with a couple dots in the 1990s, and finally into the explosion of them in the 2010s until today.

We talk about the effect it has had on the industry, and why, love 'em or hate 'em, old man band pins are here to stay.

Warning: If you don't know by now, the explicit warning you see listed in your podcatcher is there because we swear when we talk.  So, sensitive ears be warned.

Support the show

Support the show: ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This is the finale episode of our 3-part trilogy of episodes that began with the first episode: Pinball Buyer's Guide, continued in our episode Pinball Maintenance, and finally culminates in this episode right here.

Alex and Alex talk about coming full circle on a pinball machine and give you some hot tips for kicking that giant box of lights down the road.

And if you're new to the show: we do all of that whilst swearing.  This is your warning.

Support the show

Support the show: ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

Companion piece episode here from Alan to talk about how to maintain that pinball machine that Alex convinced y'all to buy in the Pinball Buyer's guide episode.

There's a lot of bad or wildly unnecessary advice and ridiculous precautions out there on the forums, and it can get confusing fast as others loudly argue amongst themselves about what cleaner is or is not appropriate.  Do we replace the balls immediately out of the box? Every 300 plays? Every 10k plays?

And so, we wanted to make this episode to cut through all the noise and help you learn how to properly clean and maintain your pinball machine, when to replace balls, cleaning rubbers, and touch on flipper maintenance like rebuilds too.

Pinball Maintenance 101 in an easy to listen to format!  With cuss words!

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

Scott & Ryan, the creators of the Pinball Map are back on the show to defend Scott's DOTH game: Stern's 2007 machine, Wheel of Fortune.  It's got a tweaked lower playfield, a theme nobody asked for, and code that was never completed.  But Scott loves this game. So listen up as Ryan and Alan read him all the bad reviews pulled from the internet and get his reaction to the haters.

Obligatory: Yes, we swear on this show by adults for adults.

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This is a sequel to our earlier episode 16 - So You Wanna Buy a Pinball Machine?  And in that episode (which we HIGHLY recommend listening to first) we mostly discuss a lot of the things that we wish we knew before we bought our first pinball machines, including a lot of the downsides that you might not even be thinking about.

But this episode is a deeper dive taking the plunge, and in particular, buying used games, which is a whole lot different than buying new machines directly from a distributor.

Alex give a lot of advice for sites to use to search for games, tools and vehicles for moving games, and what to look for.

We mention in the episode a very handy pinside thread that has a list of vehicles that confirmed will fit a pinball machine in them, but here's an easier to read at a glance list from the pinball wiki

As long time listeners know, we're naughty boys on the show and sometimes curse throughout our discussions. This is your warning.

Support the show

Support the Show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This episode features an interview with Ryan and Scott, two regular guys and former roommates who created the Pinball Map all the way back in 2008 right here in Portland, Oregon.

Alan talks to Ryan and Scott about the history of this incredible resource, and they talk about the expansions to bring in more cities and regions, the development of the app, the changes in features over the years, and we end the episode discussing some fun stats and some talk about angry operators.

You can and should support them via their own Ko-fi account 

Just remember, this is a show that features some occasional saucy language. 

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This episode is all about the hotly debated definition of what a fan layout is, what it isn't, whether they are good, or whether they are cookie cutter derivative BS.  We discuss the history of them, some of the most famous ones, and some of the designers most associated with them. And at the end of the episode we even argue about some "modified" fan layouts that really seem to kick the old hornets nest amongst public opinions on how broad or how tightly a fan layout's definition should be.

As always though, this is a show with two adults speaking as adults do. I make zero effort to censor the show, which is just me saying: we say lots of no-no bad words when we get excited.

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This episode, we are joined by our friend Isaac Ruiz, a legendary tournament director and organizer from the Portland scene to discuss the rise of tournament pinball here, breaking the IFPA rankings systems in the early 2010s, developing Brackelope, the world's first software for running pinball tournaments, some format explanations for new players curious about all the jargon, and some advice for players who want to TD their own tournaments in their own local scenes.

But... we are adults, and as such, we swear sometimes. Just like every other episode. 

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

Local Deathsave enthusiast Jeff Hart returns to the show to defend Stern's 2006 game, World Poker Tour against all the internet haters.  This is one of those games with a star studded design team, loaded with mechanical features, and yet it still is widely derided by many pinheads.

Jeff is here to set the record straight, and respond to the all the criticisms.  Maybe it's time for you to give WPT another chance.

Warning: our language gets spicy on occasion. 

Support the show

Support the show: https://ko-fi.com/wedgeheadpodcast

This episode Alan recaps the seminar that he was a panelist on for the 40th Annual Pinball Expo in Chicago and sort of reprises his notes for you all to listen to.

The panelists were 3 independent Arcade Bar Owners, Zespy of Logan Arcade in Chicago, Rachel & Cale of the Electric Bat Arcade in Tempe, and your very own Rhodesie & Alan of Wedgehead in Portland.

The topic was "How to Run a Successful Independent Arcade Bar", and Alan is here chatting with the Waterboy, trying to give a version of the seminar for y'all to listen to even if you weren't at the Expo.

Warning for the sensitive of ears: We use bad and naughty language sometimes.
 

Support the show