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Ep 187: Star Wars to John Wick | Inside Stern Pinball Art with Randy Martinez

PodcastAnalysis updated 3d ago1 hr 4 min listen
From the creator

Randy Martinez is the artist behind John Wick, The Mandalorian, and Star Wars Pinball at Stern. We talk about the creative process behind licensed pinball art, and what it's like working inside...

Listen on LoserKid Pinball Podcast

Highlights

  • Randy was recommended to Stern by a colleague from his Topps trading card days
  • Lucasfilm specifically requested Randy for Mandalorian after seeing his Star Wars Comic work
  • Randy deliberately designs each game edition (Pro/Premium/LE) to have distinct visual personalities rather than repeating the same art
  • Star Wars Comic initially offered Randy the Avengers: Infinity Quest project, which went to Jeremy instead
  • Greg Ferris is primarily responsible for decisions about which art package becomes Pro/Premium/LE assignments
  • Different IP holders (Lucasfilm, Warner Bros, Marvel, Universal) require different artistic 'languages' and approval processes
  • Star Wars Comic photorealistic art faced criticism for appearing like 'sticker art' or a 'lunchbox'
  • Randy intentionally corrected the Emperor character on Star Wars Comic playfield from prequel version to Return of the Jedi version

Notable quotes

“always be cool to people. You never know when that's going to come back to you. And it really did.”
Randy Martinez
“there's a different language with Lucasfilm there's a different language with Warner Brothers Universal and so on”
Randy Martinez
“the fans won't let you fudge in Star Wars. You know, it's like they look at all these little details.”
Randy Martinez
“I don't want you to confuse any of the versions with one another. I want them to have their own life like they're like their kids, you know.”
Randy Martinez
“I'm probably undiagnosed ADD, I just can't do it. So I just I relish the opportunity to take each one of these versions of the pinball machines to give them their own life.”
Randy Martinez
“my portfolio at that point was pretty much Star Wars and Marvel. And that was about it. As an artist, you just kind of want to have a little bit more well-rounded kind of a portfolio”
Randy Martinez
“Lucasfilm once gave me the nickname, the Swiss Army Knife of Star Wars artists”
Randy Martinez

Entities

  • Lucasfilm· company
  • Marvel Fine Art· company
  • Stern Pinball· company
  • Topps· company
  • Chicago Pinball Expo· event
  • Avengers: Infinity Quest· game
  • Jaws· game
  • John Wick· game
  • Mandalorian· game
  • Star Wars Comic Edition· game
  • George Gomez· person
  • Greg Ferris· person
  • Jeremy· person
  • Jerry Thompson· person
  • Josh Roop· person
  • Randy Martinez· person
  • Scott Larson· person

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