EP25 Jimmy Lipham My Journey Into Pinball
In Episode 25 of The Pinball Studio Podcast, we sit down with Jimmy Lipham, owner and creator of Pinlights, to explore his personal journey through the world of pinball. Jimmy shares how he first...
Highlights
- Jimmy started collecting pinball machines in 2008, with his first machine being a Space Shuttle for $250 from a church in Winterville, Georgia
- Jimmy created a Pinball 2000 custom software rendition of Demolition Man around 2011, which is how he met Scott Danesi, Gerry Stellenberg, and early homebrew folks
- Jimmy and 86 Pixels launched Pinlights in April (year not specified, but context suggests 2020-2021) as an entry-level, diffused, slimline lighting product
- John Papadiuk was the first pinball company person to reach out to Jimmy, offering an unpaid 'pinball apprentice' position requiring relocation to Chicago
- Gerry Stellenberg at Multimorphic called Jimmy after the Papadiuk opportunity fell through
- Pinlights now supports Spike 2 and Spike 3 natively, with ongoing development for Chicago Gaming and JJP systems integration
- Jimmy received a school note about his handwriting in kindergarten (circa 1993) because he was writing sevens in DMD style, inspired by Terminator 2 pinball
- Jimmy attended college on a bowling scholarship
Notable quotes
“So I was always a builder. Right. So like the fun in my childhood was kind of building your own toys.”
“My whole existence on this earth is, I guess, going to be known for trying to protect people from rainbow puke.”
“I'd flip out, too. And this is probably before all the shit hit the fan.”
“It turns out a lot of people were just looking for, hey, just give me some light, some even light, and where we evolve from.”
“If it's right, it's because she packed it. If it's wrong, it's definitely because I packed it.”
“We would much rather integrate rather than reinvent the wheel.”
“What he was offering was, like, you can be a pinball apprentice. That sounds great until you realize that an apprentice doesn't get paid.”
Entities
- 86 Pixels· company
- Barrels of Fun· company
- Chicago Gaming· company
- Jersey Jack Pinball· company
- Multimorphic· company
- Pinlights· company
- Spooky Pinball· company
- Stern Pinball· company
- Pinball Flipper Expo· event
- Cirqus Voltaire· game
- Demolition Man (Pinball 2000)· game
- Foo Fighters· game
- Ghostbusters· game
- Goonies· game
- Stranger Things· game
- Theatre of Magic· game
- Twilight Zone· game
- Wizard Blocks· game
- Elena Lipham· person
- Gerry Stellenberg· person
- Jimmy Lipham· person
- John Papadiuk· person
- Kerry Hardy· person
- Scott Danesi· person
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