Date: 5th July, 2013

Ten months after the inaugural issue was officially launched, the second issue of Pinball Magazine is now shipping, and it's even bigger than the first.

Pinball Magazine's second issue

This edition's main interview is with Dennis Nordman and Greg Freres, looking back over their many years in the pinball industry - both individually and working as a team - as well as looking ahead to their latest ventures with Stern and Multimorphic.

The main interview

Pages from the main interview

In addition to the main interview, the second edition includes a number of shorter interviews and articles such as the Beatniks Koolsville custom machine, The Pinball Arcade, and Rob Berk and Mike Pacak from Pinball Expo, which together with the Dennis and Greg main feature pushes up the number of pages by 50% to a letterbox-busting 188 pages, weighing-in at 850g (1lb 13oz).

One of the extra features in issue two

You can also read about how Pinball News began in an interview with the Editor, and hear from Stern Pinball investor Dave Peterson about the potential he saw in the company.

Editor of Pinball Magazine, Jonathan Joosten, told us how this second issue improves upon the first. He said, "As the Editor, I look at some things differently to most readers. Once I had a copy of Issue One in my hands I noticed all sorts of things that could have been improved. All of a sudden I saw typos that I had overlooked, some photos turned out too dark for my liking, and I felt the balance of content between the main interview and the side articles was way off." 

He continued, "Issue 2 has more side articles, most of which will be recurring features. So Issue 3 should also have an article about a museum, an essential website, one or more custom games, a pinball show and so on."

Talking about the the increased number of pages over the first issue - which wasn't exactly lightweight - Jonathan told us, "The cover story in Issue Two is larger than in Issue One since it is a double interview. It was great that Greg Freres was willing to chime in, and I think what Greg is sharing about working at Bally and Williams gives a unique insight into things many readers may not have been aware of."

So is the ten month gap between the first two editions going to be typical for Pinball Magazine? Not according to Jonathan, who hopes is already working on the third edition which he hopes to publish later this year. "From the start I have said I hoped to do two to three issues per year. Issue Two took longer than expected to finish. Issue Three may take less time since I have already done a lot of interviews for the cover story. They still have to be transcribed and edited, but the team is already working on that. It would be great if Issue Three could be finished prior to Pinball Expo, but that seems very unlikely. However, it should hopefully be out this year. So, two issues this year, and for 2014 I expect to do two or three as well. Obviously making a 188-page magazine like Issue Two with a small team of people involves a lot of work."

In the meantime Jonathan is looking for a fulfilment house and publisher to print and distribute the magazine in the US or Canada. This would reduce shipping costs to customers in North America - a significant factor in the overall price for a magazine featuring so many thick glossy pages.

The new second issue of Pinball Magazine - along with the first issue - is available to order from the magazine's website for €15 or $19.80 plus shipping.

© Pinball News 2013