Ep 11 - Jack Guarnieri: The Pinball Wizard of Customer Service

• Passion and adaptability are crucial for long-term success in niche luxury markets, especially when creating toys that the wealthy crave
• Identifying new markets (like home pinball sales) can lead to significant business opportunities
• Exceptional customer service can turn challenges into loyal customers and an extended "family"
• Embracing technological advancements can revitalize traditional products and industries
• Building a strong personal brand can become a valuable business asset

Disclaimer: [00:00:00] The following podcast by Fusion Family Wealth, LLC Fusion is intended for general information purposes only. No portion of the podcast serves as the receipt of or is a substitute for personalized investment advice from Fusion or any other investment professional of your choosing. Please see additional important disclosure at the end of this podcast.

A copy of Fusion's current written disclosure brochure discussing our advisory [00:00:15] services and fees is available upon request or at www.fusionfamilywealth.com.

Voiceover: Welcome to The Crazy Wealthy Podcast with your host, Jonathan Blau. Whether you're just starting out or are [00:00:30] an experienced investor, join Jonathan as he seeks to illuminate and demystify the complexities of making consistently rational financial decisions. Under conditions of uncertainty, he'll chat with professionals from the advice world, [00:00:45] entrepreneurs, executives.

And more to share fresh perspectives on making sound decisions that maximize your wealth. And now here's your host.[00:01:00] 

Jonathan Blau: Alright. Welcome to another episode of The Crazy Wealthy Podcast. I'm happy today to have as a guest, uh, uh, uh, a long time, uh, friend and, and, um. Someone who introduced me to the world of, uh, of pinball machines a [00:01:15] long time ago. And, um, I don't know, about 20 some odd years ago. And I'm still still engaging in the, in the world of pinball machines.

So, Jack Garri, uh, welcome to the podcast. Crazy Wealthy. Good to have you. 

Jack Guarnieri: Thank you, Jonathan. It's been, uh, it's been great to know you all these years. It's [00:01:30] been a lot of fun. 

Jonathan Blau: Likewise, likewise. Um, my wife doesn't share that same sentiment, but that's a whole different story. Uh, so Jack, uh, you know, you and I met through a, a, a friend, [00:01:45] uh, of mine who, who, when he, um.

Bought his new house in Long Island. He, he built, uh, Dave and Buster's basically in his basement. And, uh, he made double wide, 

Jack Guarnieri: he made double wide doors so we could get games in there. 

Jonathan Blau: I remember, I remember the story. [00:02:00] Yeah. And then, uh, I also remember when there was a flood and you guys had to come and get everything out and put it back in.

But, um, I, I, you know, my means were a little more modest than his back then, but I was still impressed by. By looking at all these games and, and, uh, so I, uh, he [00:02:15] put me in touch with you when and when you were pinball sales.com, and then, um, and I had only good experiences. So we, we, we got, uh, I mean, I, our basement wasn't any slouch.

We had, I think we had, uh, we have a ski ball. A couple of papa [00:02:30] shots that are like nine or 10 feet high. Yeah. Um, checks, hockey, uh, a, a video game. And, but, but it's still, he had much, he had much more, but we had a good time with it. And then recently in, in Montauk, we, we got the Elton John pinball, which we'll talk about and, uh, [00:02:45] and another arcade game.

But, um, talk to me about how you got started. I know you were recently in town and country. I was reading, uh, that, you know, 1970 or so, you, you were fixing pinball machines. How did, how did you learn to fix pinball machines and how [00:03:00] did that happen and lead, lead to everything else? 

Jack Guarnieri: You know, when I was, when I was younger, let's say about 14, 15 years old, I was on CB radio and I met a lot of friends on cb and everybody was, for those 

Jonathan Blau: who don't know that citizens band, I mean, I remember those days.

That was [00:03:15] the 

Jack Guarnieri: internet. That was the internet of the 1970s. So, uh, right, so that was social media in 1975. So as a kid I was, uh, curious about electronics and all my friends that I met on cb, they would be tinkering with electronics. [00:03:30] And, um, you know, it went, it got more of a, of a, uh, a hold on me that I loved electronics and in school, in high school it was an electronics lab.

And, uh, half of my senior semester, I stayed in the electronics lab [00:03:45] and I didn't go to any of the other classes. So I got a 99 in every, in electronics, but not so good in everything else. But I had a, I had to catch up. I passed all the regents and everything I got outta high school. They were happy to get rid of me.

And, um, I, I said, you know what, lemme take a [00:04:00] break for six months. I'll go get a job before I go to college. Uh, 'cause I didn't register anywhere. I was thinking about going to Hofstra for electronics or something like that. And, um, I, I answered an in the newspaper for a pinball mechanic. One of my friends was fixing [00:04:15] pinball machines at a operator in, in Brooklyn, uh, where I was.

And I said, if he could do it, I could do it. I'm smarter than him. So, uh, that was the beginning. Uh, this gentleman, Heinz Mag Linsky, who was doing it 30 [00:04:30] years at the time, which is an old guy, I'm over 40 years doing it. Uh, he hired me and, uh, I learned, 

Jonathan Blau: yeah, I learned and, and so. One of the things that mentioned in the article is that, uh, in the seventies when you [00:04:45] started fixing pinball machines and you were, you were buying them and placing them in pizzerias and in stores and, and on a revenue share basis, right.

In those days, I guess the quarters went in and if you placed the machines, they shared some of that revenue with you. Right. And [00:05:00] then it evolved, obviously into something much greater. You. It said that you identified an opportunity where you recognized that, uh, people of means wanted to have these machines in their homes.

How, how, what, what led you to that revelation? 

Jack Guarnieri: Well, [00:05:15] I was running a distributorship called Mondal Distributing in New Jersey while I had my amusement center and while I had games out on the route and while I was repairing games for other people. So I was pretty busy, um, let's call it around the end of 19 98, [00:05:30] 19 99.

I had a customer in FAO Schwarz, the uh, famous toy store. 

Jonathan Blau: Oh yeah. 

Jack Guarnieri: And the games they would put in their catalog would come from me and, uh, they would mark them up significantly. There [00:05:45] was really not much of an internet to check any prices. So maybe a pinball machine that cost them $5,000, sold for $8,000.

And, um, they were all going to people's homes. They were rich people or movie stars and actors. [00:06:00] Uh, football players and basketball players, but I, I said to myself, you know, everybody wants these games and if they have a credit card, they could buy them. And, um, in, in, uh, September of 1999, pinball sales.com was [00:06:15] born and the idea was to sell commercial arcade, pinball machines and video games to home to the consumer market.

Jonathan Blau: Well, and it worked right? It worked. You told me you became one of the leading, uh, distributors for Stern Yeah. Pinball for [00:06:30] many years around the globe. 

Jack Guarnieri: Yeah. They were the only company making pinball machines, so it was kind of easy. Um, it was not easy becoming a distributor because the people at Stern pinball didn't believe that I'd be in business for long because who [00:06:45] wants a pinball machine in their house?

This big contraption. Of, uh, of, uh, wires and, and all the nuts and bolts and everything, who wants that in their home? But I felt that people would want it in their home. And I thought that once they [00:07:00] get into the home, when the kids play them and they grow up, they're gonna wanna go out in the wild and find pinball machines.

And that's basically what's happening right now. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. It's great. So, so when I met you, you were basically, uh, pinball sales.com and I, I got. [00:07:15] Any game I wanted from you, any arcade game from a pinball machine to a ski ball, to a video arcade game, 

Jack Guarnieri: we sold, we sold driving games for $30,000 we sold. Right? 

Jonathan Blau: Not to me you didn't, but virtual, 

Jack Guarnieri: virtual golf games, we sold world to jukeboxes.

We, you know, [00:07:30] everything. 

Jonathan Blau: Right? So from that, you then became, um, uh, in 2011, you went into the pinball manufacturing business for lack of a better. A description. Yeah. And, and you became Jersey Jack pinball, first of all, [00:07:45] um, and competed, I guess with Stern. But t talk to me about, uh, how, what the origin of the name Jersey Jack Pinball, and then we'll talk about, uh Yeah.

The evolution of the company. 

Jack Guarnieri: Okay. In October of 2004, I was [00:08:00] asked to write a column in Replay magazine. Replay Magazine is the, the industry's premier trade magazine, and it's read. By, uh, about right now about four or 5,000 operating companies, companies that operate amusement games all [00:08:15] over the country.

And, um, you know, the column, I needed a name and Eddie Adla, the, the, uh, owner of, uh, the magazine called me up and he said, Hey, you are Jersey Jack. And I said, who's Jersey Jack? [00:08:30] You are Jersey Jack. That's the name you're gonna write under. And I said, I'm from Brooklyn. I, I'm, you know. He says, well, you're from Jersey now and you're a jersey jack and you're gonna like it.

And so when I started the company, I didn't know what I was gonna call the [00:08:45] company. And a bunch of my customers are like, call it Jersey Jack pinball jersey. I don't want it named after me. I'm not that. My ego is big, but not that big in my, I'm not that no cystic. But we did it. It's stuck in, 

Jonathan Blau: um, 

Jack Guarnieri: Jersey 

Jonathan Blau: Jack.

I actually [00:09:00] liked the name from my memory. I think that, uh, pinball sales was based in New Jersey. Right. 

Jack Guarnieri: Oh yeah. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, so, so that was that, that there's some connection, so. I want to dig into some other things. I ca I grew, I was born in Queens. You were born in Brooklyn. [00:09:15] And you know, in my business, wealth management, um, I always felt like while we do have minimums our firm in place, but that, putting that aside, everybody needs what we do.

Everybody needs some kind of plan so that they don't run out of money in their lifetime or so that [00:09:30] they make sure their money, that their, their goals are met financially and so forth. So everybody needs it right at every level. But you have, you have a tagline that you use for your business. What's the tagline?

I 

Jack Guarnieri: reluctantly say we sell everything nobody needs, but um, it's everything [00:09:45] everybody wants and, right. 

Jonathan Blau: So, so, but in, in, what's interesting is, you know, you distributed games basically, uh, for, for the majority of your career. And my feeling is getting to know you over all these years. Almost 25 years, I think.

Um, [00:10:00] what I noticed is you and I have something very similar, you know, so there's lots of people who provide planning services, lots of people, and there are people, you know, distributing games. I mean, it's, some are a commodity. Anyone could do it if they want to get there. There's, there's no [00:10:15] barriers to entry, so to speak, right?

I mean, and so to me, what make, what, what I always, uh, what I always. Um, took pride in is I, I always wanted, even when I was an accountant at Arthur Anderson, I always wanted to do the best work so that my [00:10:30] clients would come back and say, thank you and you really helped me. And then there was always a sense of satisfaction.

It was never about making a lot of money. You know, when I said that, that, that happened, thankfully, or whatever, but, but that wasn't the goal. Right. And I always notice with you, [00:10:45] you know, now your business is, is much bigger than when I first met you, but when I first met you, you were still, you had a significant position in the industry.

Um, and you've never changed. You know, if I have an issue and I call Jack, I get, Jack, you were relaying a story to me that you [00:11:00] still have an old number that, that, you know, press one if this press, and then three is if you, you know, Jack, and then you answer the phone and someone says the why, why'd you answer the phone?

Because you call them. Right. You know, so that's what I always loved about you, and I think, thank you. You know [00:11:15] what leads to success in general, in my business, in your business is that when you take pride of ownership and, and what's most important is to make the customer happy and Yeah. So I have to replace something.

Jonathan, I'm gonna send, you just sent me. [00:11:30] Basketball's to replace 'em. My machine is, I didn't ask you to send them to me. I wanted to get, but you sent them to me and, 'cause I told you I, I, my basketballs are going bad. But, but you worry, you're not worried about, okay, now how am I gonna make up for the $80 or whatever it costs me.

You never [00:11:45] do that. And I, I'm the same way. If someone calls me and asks me something. Um, I'm always available. And so I think that it's a lesson for today's generation, right? You, you just, um, if you work hard, but you also take pride of ownership and put [00:12:00] the customer first. Whoever the customer is, customer is multiple.

Uh, it's the end customer, the client investing in money with me. It's, it's the, uh, it's their accountant and their lawyer who need my help. The service. It's every, so when you recognize that, but I don't know how you [00:12:15] teach that. You and I were talking on the phone yesterday and I, I said something. You said you think that you were thinking exactly the same thing.

That I would hate to start my business today. Because the, the level of employees available, just their [00:12:30] attitudes are so different that I, I think it would be very difficult. Not everybody talking about, 

Jack Guarnieri: not everybody, but they get paint brushed, you know, with the same brush. Yeah. You know, as a 

Jonathan Blau: general thing, you know, I, 

Jack Guarnieri: I always wanted to treat people like I wanted to be treated.

And when I [00:12:45] talk to a customer on the phone, I picture my mom or my dad and my sister, my brother, my wife on the other end of the phone, and what. How can I, how can I solve the problem even today? Uh, you know, I'm involved in a lot of things in, in my company, [00:13:00] uh, less than I was years ago. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about how much money's in the bank or anything like that, right?

Um, you know, when, when a, when a situation becomes elevated to a point. Where the customer is frustrated, [00:13:15] we don't wanna have that. So, um, they'll break the glass under fire extinguisher and I'll get a call or an email and I'll call the customer. And the most irate customer. The amazing thing, it's just so funny to me and humbling when I call the customer, the customer's like, oh, [00:13:30] I didn't wanna bother you.

Uh, I, I, I can't believe you're calling me. Whatever. They're apologizing to me for that problem. And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Listen, it's the other way around. I'm thankful for you. Being a customer of ours and how can we solve your problem? [00:13:45] We, we solve the problem. We take, I take lemons and I make 'em into, into lemonade, you know?

Uh, yeah. 

Jonathan Blau: But you always have, again, I know you for all these years, and it's, it's true. I mean, and I'm the same way, you know, someone will call me. Yeah. Oh, I didn't want to get you, I meant to call the office. You know, if the phones, if it, if in the [00:14:00] odd chance, which happens, sometimes there's three or four people on the phone.

So that there's no one, there's no phone line. It, it bounces to my cell phone. That's just the way it works. And I'll answer the phone. So I didn't mean to call you like, well, that's okay. I'm happy. I'm happy to, I'm happy to get a chance to catch up with you and I'm happy [00:14:15] to, to, to, to help you, uh, direct the call if I can't help you but you, um.

When I was reading the article, it has cost you $2 million it said, to build, to, to develop a game. So the machines cost, I don't know, from 10 to $15,000 depending upon which machine [00:14:30] you get. So really it sounds like you have to sell 200 machines, basically, or so maybe. Maybe to just to break even. Right.

150 to say 

Jack Guarnieri: machines, to break even 

Jonathan Blau: a thousand. 

Jack Guarnieri: Yeah. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, so that's what people sometimes [00:14:45] don't realize. When you look at the end product and you look at the price, you say, why am I paying so much? But you know, if you look at a 

Jack Guarnieri: couch and it's a thousand dollars for the couch, the furniture still probably paid $250 for it.

You know, there's a big markup. Uh, and a lot of other [00:15:00] things. We have a small markup, we're not gonna get rich. Um, but we're gonna have a nice business with, uh, you know, that supports several hundred people. In the company and all the vendors and all the suppliers and distributors we have around the world.[00:15:15] 

And, uh, it's, it's what I do. 

Jonathan Blau: And I also read in the article that, uh, the guy, I never watched a show, I'm embarrassed to say my wife loves the show, Ted Lasso. She keeps telling me to watch it, but it says that, uh, he's, he, he's bought several of your machines. Uh, Jason Su 

Jack Guarnieri: is a friend. [00:15:30] I mean, I know him about 10 years or so.

And, um. He's bought games, uh, on Ted Lasso. In some of the episodes, you see the Wizard of Oz game in the pub and he plays it and other characters play it and everything. So it's, it's part of the [00:15:45] set and they're, they're back filming in London right now, and I could tell you there's a Wizard of Oz game in the pub again for season four.

Jonathan Blau: That's great. So, so Jack, when I, you know, I, I had a, an interesting childhood in that my dad was, had [00:16:00] rheumatic fever when he grew up and caused him to have a, a mitral valve issue, had a stroke when I was 11, was paralyzed and then passed away. So I really didn't have a childhood where, um, you know, I didn't have a lot of, uh.

The same things some other kids I grew up with had [00:16:15] where I, I was, I was, uh, challenged that way and we didn't have money and that kind of thing. So I never had a lot of cool stuff growing up. Um, and I, I don't, no regrets. It's just what it was. But I attribute that. To why [00:16:30] I overdid it with my kids a little bit, and that was a mistake.

It's something I advise my clients not to do. My wife always says, why don't you do what you tell your clients to do with your kids? But it's not always so easy. But I, I look at my, um, when I saw my friend's basement. And I feel [00:16:45] like some of that was for me to make up for what I didn't have as a child, you know, as I got these great games and I would go down to the basement.

Yeah, the kids did it, but I went probably down more than they did for the first five years. Um, but I want you to talk about what you see in your [00:17:00] clients. Like why, why the, uh, why, why the demand, uh, from adults for these kind of things that nobody needs that are expensive. Well, 

Jack Guarnieri: some of it is what you touched on.

It's, um. Recapturing the youth, uh, sharing what they [00:17:15] love with the next generation or two. Um, when I see my grandchildren come play my games, uh, I love it, you know, uh, the little guy, he's one and a half little Oliver. And, um, he'll sit on a stool with my wife and he'll just, [00:17:30] he'll at the lights and hit one side, one flipper 'cause it can't reach across the game.

And then my, my granddaughter, Olivia, she's already a champion pinball player along with Gary, little Gary. 'cause she's nine and he's seven. So they're bigger. They could see it. You know, there's a step stool that they could [00:17:45] climb on when they were smaller to get to see it. Um, you know, it's a feel good product.

It's a mechanical, electronic device that's extremely complicated, but we make it simple for the people that buy it and own it. [00:18:00] Uh, they're very easy to understand, very easy to set up. The games are, are, uh, programmed and designed. They're difficult, they're easy to play, difficult to master, so we want you to have fun playing it.

Um, [00:18:15] but it's gonna be a challenge. And what we revealed with Harry Potter, our latest game, which is behind me, which took you, by the way, how long to, uh, to, to, to get to production. Oh my goodness. About 10 years to get the license. It was well worth eight years, right? Oh, with Harry [00:18:30] Potter, we have, uh, these QR codes that are on the screen, but we also give you a key fob.

You can point hold this up and point it at the camera on the game before you start the game. And you can play easy, uh, medium or hard [00:18:45] settings. So all the settings change for the one game. So if you have young people that really don't play pinball and they get frustrated 'cause they get to the point in the game and they lose the ball, this'll make it a little easier for them and teach them how to play a little bit better.

Jonathan Blau: Uh, that's, that's, [00:19:00] that's interesting. Yeah. By the way, I'm enjoying, we're enjoying, we'd recently bought the, uh. Elton John game, as you know. And uh, we bought that for our house in Montauk 'cause we have a small basement there, so we only have a couple of games. But, um, but we enjoyed it. And we actually got [00:19:15] a, an artist at the local Montauk show who, uh, had an Elton John painting an original.

You know, with all the, you know, with, with the, uh, Crocodo from cro 

Jack Guarnieri: Yeah. You sent your picture. It was beautiful. I saw 

Jonathan Blau: your picture. Yeah, so it looks great. Like, you know, the, the picture I said to him, how much would [00:19:30] it be to get a, you know, we wanted a larger one to fit on the wall. He said, oh, I thought he was gonna say two $3,000.

There's $350. I said, great, well that was fucking three years. So he said, but the only thing is when we deliver it to you, you know, I forget where he was, he wasn't in Florida, but somewhere outta town. It's [00:19:45] like, shipping's expensive now. Probably 300 to ship. I said, no problem. Let's do it. So he, he created the original was great, and then he calls me the day before it's shipping, says, listen, I have some bad news.

I said, what happened? He said, the shipping is actually six 50. I can't control it. I said, you know what, [00:20:00] let's cancel it. I said, I'm just kidding. We just sent, send the picture. We good. So he said, he said, but the, the shipping cost twice as much as as the picture, but it looks great. It looks great. No, it looked really 

Jack Guarnieri: good.

I thought. I thought the picture was a lot more than that. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. Right. Fair. I mean, he did a great [00:20:15] job show. On the positive side, what was most. Surprising to you throughout your career in, as it relates to the, to what you've done and seen unfold in, in the, uh, game industry. And then what, what, what, what were some of the things that might have been either most [00:20:30] disappointing or surprising on the downside?

Jack Guarnieri: Interesting. Uh, what was most, what was most satisfying or surprising, uh, was I guess the change in technology, because when I started doing this. [00:20:45] There were electromechanical pinball machines with, with score wheels that went around. And we got out of that. We got into electronic games with a digital score, and then I brought the whole industry into the 21st century with the big [00:21:00] HD flat screen, uh, monitor in the game.

Yeah. Uh, different type of sound system, RGB LEDs, which are LEDs that change thousands of colors. 

Jonathan Blau: I have that on the [00:21:15] Elton John. I noticed that. Yeah. We have it. It's different. You know, 

Jack Guarnieri: back in the day you had a white light bulb go through, uh, an insert, which was, uh, blue or red or green. It was always gonna be blue or red or green, you know, and that Then we're gonna change color.

Now we [00:21:30] do amazing light shows. We have amazing sound systems. The toppers on the games are unbelievable. There's an Elton John game and, and there's the topper of, of the game. You know, if you, there's little glare. But you know, they're, I [00:21:45] say they're playable artwork because they are, and I always said that we, we don't design anything with a calculator.

We design it with passion. Yeah. But I think the, the leaps of technology in games, uh, especially pinball, has been, [00:22:00] uh, uh, meteoric, I mean, really in, in, you know, the last 50 years. And you'd expect that because, uh. Who knows what they'll be in another 50 years. I don't know. I probably, yeah, with 

Jonathan Blau: ai, who knows where, what's gonna happen.

Yeah. So a and, and, and on [00:22:15] on the other side of it, what, what things were most surprising to you, maybe on the negative side or disappointing? 

Jack Guarnieri: Um, you know, I wouldn't say disappointed. I wish the world would know that there's still pinball machines and that's what we're trying to do. Yeah. [00:22:30] Um. We have vendors.

We have vendors that come to the building. I had a guy pull up with a truck one time with a paintball gun when I had pinball sales.com, and he said he thought it was a paintball place, and it's not paintball, it's pinball. What is that? [00:22:45] 

Jonathan Blau: It's 

Jack Guarnieri: like, oh, they still make those things. You know, like we, we get that often, you know, we're in our little world.

We go to our pinball shows with thousands of pinball, pinheads come. To the shows. We're in our own community. We're in our own [00:23:00] leagues. Um. 

Jonathan Blau: I would imagine some of what you're describing, the awareness part is probably 'cause like when I grew up, I went to the pizza place, there's a pinball machine. I went to the shopping center, there was a, there was a place with arcade games.

Right. They don't have that anymore. Right. So not 

Jack Guarnieri: really, [00:23:15] no, not really. Um, you don't, you don't see them, but now you see them in everybody's home. 

Jonathan Blau: That's what I'm saying. But, but people who aren't going to other people's homes, where's their awareness coming from? That's what it is. I'm gonna help you figure that one out.

The big chains. 

Jack Guarnieri: The big chains like Dave and Busters and Chuck E. Cheese. They [00:23:30] had pinball for a while many years ago, and, uh, pinball requires a little bit extra skill to have somebody repair it. So, you know, redemption games mostly just replacing tickets. Putting tickets in the [00:23:45] games and the revenue they make in amusement centers is far outweighs the revenue of pinball machine can make.

Jonathan Blau: So, Jack, one last question I have for you that I'm curious about. For, for the clients who bought, who are your customers? Like me, longtime customers, [00:24:00] how on average do, do you find that they're buying often, like once a year buying a new thing or replacing something or, or is it just um, periodically and unpredictable?

Jack Guarnieri: It's periodically and unpredictable for the most part. Yeah. [00:24:15] There are, there are people that by every collector edition game, we built sight unseen. Okay. There's, there's, there's a guy, Vince Evans, who's a musician. He's a really great guy down in, uh, Maryland area, and he sends a picture of his [00:24:30] game room and, um, it's, it's the, it's, he calls it the house that Jack built and God bless him and everybody else liked that.

Um, you, you wanna have fun, you wanna have variety. All of our games are different. They all [00:24:45] play different than each other, but they all look like brother and sister. Yeah, they're in the same family with all the same energy and effort put into the development and design of them. 

Jonathan Blau: Well, I, I love all the games I've always gotten from you.

And, and more importantly, I love the service and I love the, the friendship we developed over the [00:25:00] years. Um, how, how do, how do people who are listening, if they want to, uh, find out what's available, uh, get in touch with you, either phone or email, whatever it is. 

Jack Guarnieri: They could go to jersey jack pinball.com, J-E-R-S-E-Y, jack pinball.com.

[00:25:15] Uh, if somebody wants to call me. 4 7 3 Jack, 804, 7 3 Jack. It's been the same number for so many years. People call me all hours of the day and night because we have distributors and customers around the world. So I know in [00:25:30] Australia's 14 hours ahead right now, I know Belgium is seven hours ahead. You know, I know.

Pretty much everywhere around the world. Well, I'm 

Jonathan Blau: just gonna say, um, to the audience and I'll let you continue on. There's nobody else I would wanna, um, [00:25:45] uh, call for, for, for, for anything, uh, that I wanna spend money on that absolutely you don't need in this, in this category. Um, and, and, and, and the big reason is 'cause it's you, you know, you, you, you're there.

Available. You're knowledgeable. Uh, anything that goes wrong, we figure [00:26:00] it out. It's never, it's, and it's not just me. 

Jack Guarnieri: There's a whole, there's a whole company of really great people supporting you. Well, it's 

Jonathan Blau: your culture though. It's like my company, the culture drips from the top. That's true. 

Jack Guarnieri: That's true.

You know, and, uh, the culture drips 

Jonathan Blau: from the top. 

Jack Guarnieri: It's, it is very humbling, really. [00:26:15] Um, some customers that we have, uh, children of customers I started with, and, uh, a lot of, a lot of times what happens is, uh. You become friends like we did and um. [00:26:30] You get to spend quality time with people aside from pinball, which is great too.

So you have an extended family? 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. We recently this year just discovered our mutual love for Jackie Mason. That was great. We must have spent an hour on the phone. You should know. 

Jack Guarnieri: Everybody knows a building they could have bought for [00:26:45] 35 bucks. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah. Right 

Jack Guarnieri: by it. Now. Now it's too late now. Now late. It's too late.

It's too late now. 

Jonathan Blau: It's too late now. We can't even get into this. 'cause we'll be, we'll be another hour. But Jack, Jack, thanks so much for being a guest today. Uh, really enjoyed the, uh, the [00:27:00] conversation. My pleasure, John, and enjoy the rest of the summer. 

Jack Guarnieri: You too. 

Jonathan Blau: Thank you. 

Jack Guarnieri: Alright, 

Jonathan Blau: thanks. Thanks for listening to this episode of Crazy Wealthy Podcast.

You can get us on, uh crazy wealthy podcast.com, all your favorite [00:27:15] podcast venues, and our website, fusion family wealth.com. Stay tuned to hear. Amy's calling for the recap of today's episode. Hi 

Amy Blau: hon. Hello, honey. I just want you to know that I just got my high [00:27:30] score on the Elton John pinball machine. I still haven't beaten your high score, but it's my own personal high.

Well, 

Jonathan Blau: congratulations. That means you're, uh, not spending enough time in the kitchen. 

Amy Blau: Oh, okay. You should say, I'm not [00:27:45] spending enough time at work, is what you should be saying. But I do know that I, the reason why I got on the machine is 'cause I know you had a call with your buddy Jack today, so I wanted to hear all about it.

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, Jack Garner. I call him the pinball wizard. He, [00:28:00] um, he's one of the leading people in the industry in, in, uh, games for the home. All kinds of arcade games, not just pinball, but uh, video games and, uh, foosball, all, all those kinds of games, high end, uh, to medium end. [00:28:15] And he's been in the business for, uh, many decades now.

He's an industry leader and a, and a great guy. 

Amy Blau: Did he tell you all about how he got started with it? 

Jonathan Blau: He did. In fact, interestingly, a couple weeks ago, he was, um, he was [00:28:30] highlighted in Town and Country Magazine. Uh, so I had a pre-read of that before we, we talked about, um, in his own words how he got started.

But basically he discovered when he was 14, 15 and he was on CB Radio. Those things. We had the [00:28:45] antennas on the back of the car and he had, uh, developed a group of friends all into electronics and so he discovered his love for electronics and uh, then when he was in high school, he spent, he said half his time in the electronics lab and, uh, [00:29:00] to the detriment of everything else that he wasn't doing well in.

He got like a 99 electronics and basically didn't do anything with anything else. Um, and when he, uh, when he got, uh, ready to apply for colleges, he decided to take a little break and he took a job with [00:29:15] someone repairing pinball machines. And that's kind of how it all started for him. 

Amy Blau: Wow, isn't that interesting?

Sometimes you don't need to go to college for things that you're really good at. 

Jonathan Blau: No, it's true. It's true. But he, so, so [00:29:30] from there he, um. You know, he, he kind of had an idea in the, uh, seventies that, um, when, when, when he, when he really was getting going, that, um. Yeah. Rather than just have pinball [00:29:45] machines and pizza places and that kind of thing.

Uh, where, where he would kind of put the pinball machines in the pizza place and he would share in the revenues from every quarter that someone put in the machine to play. He had the idea that, uh, wealthy people, and [00:30:00] not even that wealthy, anyone who had a credit card, right, they could buy these things for their home.

And he eventually became, before he started his own pinball company in 2011. In addition to his other, uh, gaming company that he started many decades earlier, he [00:30:15] was the biggest distributor in the world for stern pinball machines, which was the leading pinball machine maker. And he brought the idea to them that, uh, people should, would wanna have these in their homes.

And they kinda laughed it off. He really, um, helped [00:30:30] pioneer the home game industry. And in 2011, he started his own pinball company that competes with Stern called Jersey Jack. And what he, he calls it, um, he calls it, uh, really playable [00:30:45] artwork, right? So he, so like the pinball machine we have in Montauk. We recently bought the Elton John.

You see it, it's like artwork. It has the tiny dancer, it has the, uh, crocodile from crocodile rock, and it's, it's just cool to watch. So that was, that was his [00:31:00] whole thing. And, and, and he also described how the machines started off as electromechanical games. If you remember those white wheels that turned like you had, like, the first wheel might say a six, and then the second one is zero.

And so it, it, it went from that. [00:31:15] Uh, to electronic. And then he pioneered the whole, um, HD screen, uh, concept now where you see all the cool color shows and everything else. So he really, um, he, he really, uh, took the industry, um, almost [00:31:30] single-handedly to, to another level. 

Amy Blau: And actually, now that you're talking about that, he really did a pivot probably before he even knew he had to.

If you walk into any pizza place these days, you don't generally see a pinball machine anymore. [00:31:45] 

Jonathan Blau: Right. Well, one of the things he said to that point is when I said to him one of the things that the most surprising on the positive side for you, and he talked about the advancement of technology in the, in the gaming industry.

But then I said, what about on the, on the opposite side? [00:32:00] And he said today he wishes there was more an awareness that pinball machines exist. Right. So So that's the challenge. Like, because you don't see them. Right? So there's no awareness in general like they used to be. We used to go play them in the, uh, in the [00:32:15] arcades.

Amy Blau: Well, it's funny you say that because over, I think it was over Father's Day weekend, we had the whole family out and I was playing pinball with the kids. And they were beating me, you know, left and right and I said to them, guys, this isn't fair. Like when [00:32:30] I grew up, I'd go to the pizza place every day at lunch and I play pinball.

And I was so good at it. How are you guys so good at it? Without having gone to the pizza place all these days, and they reminded me, grew up in our houses where pinball [00:32:45] machines were always very important to you and it, most kids are not like our kids. Most kids have not seen pinball machines in years and years and years.

So it is, 

Jonathan Blau: you said that we, you cut out a little bit, but I guess what you were saying is they said Yeah, they [00:33:00] didn't play it in the, in the pizza places, but they grew up with it in our house. Exactly, yeah. 

Amy Blau: And most of their friends really don't know pinball, so it, it kind of is a, a dying art almost. 

Jonathan Blau: Yeah, well, but he, he's really doing well with [00:33:15] it.

And, um, what's, what's interesting is, is just to talk about Jack for a second outside, what made him successful in my view is, is kind of like I was, something I relate to. I tried to become a master in my craft of, of behavioral [00:33:30] counseling and everything. And I'm always trying to enhance what I know and learn more to help my clients.

Um, but I'm always available as you know, to my clients. Yes, 2, 4, 7. And, and that's Jack. You know, Jack is very successful. If I, when we got the few games for the [00:33:45] basement here, I call him on a Saturday, he answers his cell phone. He was telling me he has this leftover number from the old days when it's J now it's Jersey Jack pinball, his pinball company, um, where he makes what he calls the playable art.

But before that it was, it [00:34:00] was pinball machines.com, outta New Jersey, big, um, just overall video game distributor along with pinball. And he's just always, always available. So he said he has a leftover number, one of those numbers where you dial in and it says, press one if you want this, press two if you want [00:34:15] that.

By four. It says press four to, to, to reach Jack Gar. So he said, so someone called recently and he answered the phone. I guess when they press four and they're like, Jack, what are you doing answering the phone? He goes, well, you called me. 

Amy Blau: Oh, that's funny. That's that's very much [00:34:30] like you, it, it's almost another dying hard.

The dying hard of customer service. And even just this weekend, uh, one of our machines, I know you said needed service. You called him and he said he'd have someone out, you know, to take care of things. 

Jonathan Blau: Yep. No, that's what's wonderful. I [00:34:45] really relate to that. Like he has the same, uh, the same customer service mentality approach.

His customers are his friends and, and we really relate to each other that way. That's why he's kind of become a good friend over the years. And, and we also recently discovered a [00:35:00] mutual love for Jackie Mason, so that was another bonding experience we had. 

Amy Blau: Oh, okay. Another dying art. But I'm just curious.

Do Mo, I guess I would assume at this point, because it's, it's so hard to come by these pinball machines. These are [00:35:15] really pin machines that. People who have a lot of excess income, that's what they spend their money on. It's not just a regular everyday person that goes and spends their money on this stuff.

Jonathan Blau: The Jersey Jack pinball machines, like the collectors, like the Elton [00:35:30] John machines, are they, they're expensive. So I think that those, those are people who really want the, um, the, the art type of experience. But there are less expensive machines that, as Jack said, you know, anyone with a credit card could really buy them.

Amy Blau: So the other stuff is [00:35:45] made for people who just like their choice, right? What was the biggest takeaway you took from your conversation with Jack? I know you've known him over all these years, but from this podcast, what was the biggest takeaway you had? 

Jonathan Blau: Well, I had [00:36:00] confirmation that, you know, whatever field somebody's in, you don't become successful because you're chasing success in the form of material success.

Money, specifically, you become successful because you're passionate about [00:36:15] something. You follow your passion. And when you're sharing your passion, which is how I look at it with your clients and how he looks at it, he's not, not making money from his clients, he's sharing his passion with his friends. And that's how I look at my business.

And when you have all of those [00:36:30] ingredients, the, the, the, the, the passion, the the, the wanting to share it with people and, and when that's what's leading then, then those are the people who really achieve the highest levels of success. And this is just, was one other confirmation of that. [00:36:45] 

Amy Blau: Well, that, that definitely summarizes you in a nutshell because I know you live, breathe, and sleep what you do, and I'm assuming he does the same.

So it does make sense that the successful people are the ones who are gonna really believe in [00:37:00] what they do. Having said that, I believe that I need to even get my score even higher and maybe hit your high score. So I'm going to take off from here and go back to my pinball playing. 

Jonathan Blau: Alright, go have fun and, [00:37:15] uh, until next time, uh, love you again.

Love you too. Have fun. See you soon. Bye bye.

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