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In this episode we cover the 20 machines that Gottlieb made from 1982-1985 and discuss all the weird, strange, wacky, and good games and innovative designs that they churned out during the doldrum years of the mid 1980s.

But buckle up, there's adult language throughout.

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Our friend Lisa, a pinball tech at Next Level comes on the show to defend her love for Stern's Austin Powers machine from 2001, and makes sure to state clearly that she does NOT like the movies at all. We read all the bad reviews we could find online and Lisa educates us on why they are all wrong.

But be warned if this is your first time, we do use adult language on the show.

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In this episode Alan sets the record straight on the true greatest game of all time, Dennis Nordman's masterpiece, 1993's Whitewater made by Williams. Listen to us discuss why Whitewater not only excels in all aspects, but why it truly transcends the medium.

Normal disclaimer: We curse when we get excited, and this episode is about the GOAT, so there's some spicy language throughout.

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In this episode we discuss 6 names from the EM era that you should be aware of, two from each of the Big Three of Williams, Bally and Gottlieb. This episode really is a love letter to EM machines, and all the very talented designers of pinball's most popular, but least celebrated era.

But as always, we use some adult language when we get really excited, and this is your warning that we are more hopped up than two fat kids on Mountain Dew in this episode!

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AJ of Flip a Coin in Colorado is back to discuss the current affairs of operating brand new pinball machines in the year 2026 and beyond. AJ buys lots of new games from Stern, Barrels of Fun, JJP, and CGC and he's here to cut through all the marketing talk and just discuss the business side of buying NIB games and trying to make money with them on route.

As always though, we might swear a bit throughout...

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This episode we explore the period from 1995-1999 when Gary Stern successfully convinced another Japanese arcade game manufacturer to partner with him and rebrand from Data East to Sega for the North American coin-op pinball market.

These games are mostly pretty low production run games, with some clear cost cutting measures in place, and the art packages are pretty uneven too. Many pinheads haven't seen or played these games very much, if at all, but they still seem to get a bad rap in general if they have. But Alex and Alan explore why these games are generally pretty fun, and they cover them all in this episode.

But as usual, adult language is used in this episode, as in all other episodes.

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In this episode we are joined on the show by veteran pinball machine mover, casual on location pinball player, and Alex's wife, Megan aka the Watergirl and she is here to give her thoughts on all the 2025 pinball releases from her unique perspective as a non-nerd, and non middle-aged man.

Hear about how the average pinball player views all these games, the results are guaranteed to surprise you. But as usual, we do swear in the episode...this is your warning.

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This whole episode is Alex trying to describe to the listener why there has never been a good center ramp in a pinball machine, and even the ones that you think are good, aren't actually center ramps (according to him).

As always when discussing niche nerd topics, we speak fluent profanity in the episode.

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