Episode 329: The legacy of Marc Mandeltort

“Mark always used to like to say it was recession-proof. We didn't even notice the 2008 crisis was happening until after the fact. It turns out when people get laid off and lose their jobs, they go home and work on their pinball machines.”

“Pinball is not just a game. It's a media in itself. It's very unique, and that's special.”

“He would engage somebody who doesn't own any games at the same level as he did Gary Stern. And that was phenomenal about Mark is he cared about pinball so much that he wanted to introduce it to everybody.”

“He was like, you know, he's our mentor. You'll hear that from Marco, too. Marco's known him for a lot longer than I have. But, you know, to me, too, is also the muse.”

“We realized a lot of our customers are suppliers, and there's a lot of overlap between all of that, and it's all because of the community. And so that's why we've invested so heavily in all the pinball show circuits.”

“We like to consider, or I do like to consider us as carnies. We're like pinball carnies. We come in, set up a big, wild spectacle of events, and then pack it all up and go to the next town.”

“He's a pretty quiet guy, and so the shows is where he really opened up, and I think that was really rewarding for all of us.”

“Stern had closed their doors in 2008. We probably wouldn't be having this discussion right now. So we're, you know, pinball, like the game itself, sometimes you've got to be a little bit lucky, too.”