Episode 340: Dave PEZ Johnson
You may have seen "PEZ" on Twitch...or Reddit. Dave streams often on Twitch and shares his love of EM's and other machines. Hear about Dave's other unique hobby, the amazing Colorado pinball scene...
Highlights
- Dave Johnson has been streaming on Twitch for almost two years, starting during COVID
- Dave has been collecting PEZ dispensers for almost 30 years since high school in 1990
- Dave bought his first pinball machine, a 1974 Williams EM 'Dealer Choice,' for $250 from an antique store
- Colorado has an exceptionally strong pinball community with multiple championship-level players including Zach McCarthy, Escher, Adam Lefkoff, Snow Galvin, Donovan Stepp, and others
- Old Chicago was manufactured in April 1976, matching Dave's birth month/year
- Speakeasy (1982) features a rare all-plastic molded playfield and add-a-ball/subtract-a-ball mechanics
- YouTube tutorials and online resources (Marco's Tech Talk, Mark's Basement Arcade, Joe's Classic Video Games) have made EM machine repair significantly more accessible
- Blizzard Mountain Pinball is located at approximately 8,000 feet elevation, nearly a mile and a third high above sea level
Notable quotes
“We're kind of living in this golden age of pinball and arcade game repairs with all of the videos that are on YouTube, people streaming it on Twitch, people just making the videos and all the information that's available out there”
“I like to call it my birthday game. Because according to the pinball database, it says that it was first manufactured in April of 1976, and I was born in April of 1976.”
“How does the machine know he's from Colorado? Meaning that there are so many great players from Colorado.”
“These type of EM machines are not luck-based. I hear a lot of people say, oh, flip a coin, and it's just so not true... there are tons of flipper skills required.”
“They've got a great collection up there. Yeah. Ryan Wanger is operating there now at lions. And we all know Ryan from comet pinball. So it's nice that he's all things pinball.”
“Where else can you play pinball while you're also camping outdoors and having a great time with so many great people? And a lot of people come out from out of state.”
Entities
- Dory Hill· event
- Bowling Queen· game
- Captain Fantastic· game
- Dealer Choice· game
- Dipsy Doodle· game
- Old Chicago· game
- Speakeasy· game
- Pinball Profile· media
- Blizzard Mountain Pinball· organization
- Colorado Pinball Collective· organization
- Colorado Pinball Pub· organization
- Lions Classic Pinball· organization
- Adam Lefkoff· person
- Brian Wanger / Ryan Wanger· person
- Dave Pez Johnson· person
- Donovan Stepp· person
- Escher· person
- Ileana Wiggins· person
- Jeff Teolis· person
- Jordan DeShane· person
- Paul Preston· person
- Snow Galvin· person
- Walt Wood· person
- Zach McCarthy· person
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