Welcome to the second edition of the freshly relaunched TWIP newsletter. Colin here.

I think I’m going to try to stick with a Friday publishing schedule moving forward. That way, we can mostly focus on items that actually did occur “this week in pinball,” not “last week in pinball," which, if we’re all honest with each other (and I hope this can be a space for that), is what you get if you typically publish on a Monday.

Anyway, the subject line of this email may have caught your eye. It’s a question that certainly drew mine when I was scrolling r/pinball the other day. We know that other types of smoke are bad for things, say cigarettes and cars. But a pinball machine?

It’s not like buying a used game from a “smoke-free home” is a selling point. I’ve never walked into a smoke-free arcade or basement and thought, “Hey, it smells like smoke here; it must be that tar-encrusted EM in the corner.” Have you?

And weed smoke (not that I’m a huge expert or anything) isn’t exactly a smoke stench that lingers. Walk into a room where someone lit up in the last hour, and yeah, you’ll notice it, but days, months, or years later? Kinda rare.

If anything, weed smoke is good for pinball machines, not because of the potential of a contact high, because we all know pinball machines aren’t alive, and that’s silly nonsense, but in the sense that should a pinball machine be excessively exposed to weed smoke, it’s probably in an environment where it’s getting a lot of play from some rad, likely chill-as-eff pinball players.

At least, that’s how I see things. But what say you?

Poll of the Week

Tune in next week for the results!

TWIP Mood Music

Speaking of weed smoke, here’s a song by Tricky! It’s a vibe. When I hear it, I think of a total immersion pinball moment. Like when you’re in a flow state and the multiball hits. I listened to it a lot while writing this edition, so you can, too.

Volunteers Needed

Before we get into the news of the week (this week, not last week), we put up a new piece on Kineticist (thanks, Joe Ciaravino!) about the importance of volunteering for pinball tournaments as a scorekeeper. If you’re newer to pinball and want to learn more or just looking to get more involved in the community, this is a phenomenal way to do so. Personally, I learned a ton of things years ago while volunteering for a local tournament series, and some of my best pinball friends came out of that experience.

A Word from our Sponsors

Pinball Expo is back, baby! Like TWIP, it never went anywhere, but it’s cool that it’s confirmed to be back again for its 40th iteration, which is simply incredible if you think about it. Running a pinball show for 40 years. Think how much has changed in the industry and our lives in that time. Space Shuttle was the hit of the year, which is a far cry from the modern pinball experience.

We hear Expo has some great things in store for their 40th, including extra days, expanded floor space, and a whole lot more. We attended last year and had a heck of a time.

Tickets are available for purchase now.

This Week in Pinball

Pinball of the Week

I was doing some updates on our Pinball Machines Database (tagging games, adding new photos, that kind of thing) when I got to the classic Williams game from 1970, Gay 90’s. I think I first came across this at the last Pinburgh, and I remember the game catching my eye at the time. The game would later show up (maybe the same copy) in the collections of some local players in the New England area, and it remained a curiosity.

Anyway, I never really understood what “Gay 90s” was referring to, had never heard the phrase before, and never bothered to look it up until this week!

Now that I have, I know that “Gay 90’s” refers to the period of the 1890s and was popularized in the 1920s as a way to nostalgically reminisce about a decade of supposed good times.

Weird thing to make an entire pinball machine about if you ask me, kinda like making a game about the Roaring 20s today, but I guess the ’60s were a weird time.

Creator Highlights of the Week

• On Nudge Magazine, Joe Ciarvanio released part 2 of his Unauthorized Hagiography of Python Anghelo (Joe is one busy dude).

• The Pinball Party Podcast released an excellent interview with David Thiel.

• Silverball Chronicles released the 2nd episode in their series on the history of Capcom’s pinball efforts.

• In the crossover event of the year, Dalton Ely was covered in Southern Living, which apparently is still a functioning media entity and not just that cooking magazine my mom subscribed to as a kid in the 90s!

• Pinball Profile had a chat with the man of the week, David Fix. “American pinball's not for sale.”