# Kaneda's Saturday Morning Spectacular July 18 **Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives **Type:** video **Published:** 2026-07-18 **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oqy_Wg4PHw --- ## Analysis Kaneda discusses market saturation, manufacturer oversaturation, and community-first values in pinball; he positions himself as independent and integrity-focused, criticizes Gerry Stellenberg timing and sales mystery, teases exclusive leaks about upcoming games from Multimorphic and Barrels of Fun, and digresses into personal anecdotes about community relationships, forgiveness, and his family. ### Key Claims - [MEDIUM] Stern Pinball sells more games in three days than Multimorphic has sold in a decade — _Kaneda, direct statement comparing manufacturer sales volumes_ - [MEDIUM] Sonic sales are not great; Transformer sales are abysmal — _Kaneda discussing recent Stern releases and market performance_ - [LOW] Only about 300-399 Tales of the Arabian Knights special edition units were sold — _Kaneda, uncertain phrasing ('I don't know if they sold 300 and was it 399')_ - [MEDIUM] Kaneda has the most subscribers in pinball content creator history — _Kaneda's repeated self-assertion throughout the show_ - [HIGH] Jerry Stellenberg is releasing a new Multimorphic game in approximately 9-10 days — _Kaneda directly states 'Gerry Stellenberg is going to drop a new game in in like what is it like 10 days, nine days'_ - [HIGH] Multimorphic refuses to reveal total unit sales across all platforms — _Kaneda: 'Multimorphic will not reveal how many total units they've sold. Why is that a mystery?'_ - [HIGH] A Barrels of Fun game announcement is planned for Thursday night at 8pm EDT exclusively for Canada Club members — _Kaneda announces exclusive Thursday reveal before Barrels of Fun's official announcement_ - [HIGH] A dual-theme Multimorphic P3 game exists but has not been publicly announced — _Kaneda offers $200 donation for exclusive leak: 'the other theme that is being released on Multimorphic P3. It is a dual theme game'_ ### Notable Quotes > "the games are overpriced. It's less magic in these games than ever before. It's all about the software and the lights and the toppers these days." > — **Kaneda**, early > _Core critique of current market—philosophical position on game value_ > "Stern Pinball sells more games in three days than Jerry has sold in a decade. Think about that." > — **Kaneda**, middle > _Damning comparison of Multimorphic's commercial performance vs. market leader_ > "It's a solution looking for a problem is the phrase, Brian. But yeah, Jerry solved a problem nobody really has." > — **Kaneda**, middle > _Critique of Multimorphic's P3 platform as addressing non-existent market need_ > "I'm not going to sacrifice anything that I do here. I'm not going to sell out my integrity for that pinball salary everybody's chasing. I'm not going to take payment in games." > — **Kaneda**, early > _Statement of content creator independence and values_ > "It is embarrassing if you make a pinball machine and you can't sell more units than Canada has subscribers. That is the definition of failure in the 2026 Encyclopedia Britannica." > — **Kaneda**, late > _Self-promotional dig at Multimorphic; suggests P3 unit sales below his subscriber count_ > "Ralph just needs to take the gloves off... and then we'll be everyone will be like we're good." > — **Kaneda**, middle > _Reference to Retro Ralph's signature glove appearance; indicates ongoing interpersonal tension_ > "we're spending twice the world's medium income... on a single pinball machine that we already have many of. And if you can't zoom out and say, 'Hey, this is all stupid,' like, it's fun to be stupid." > — **Kaneda**, middle > _Meta-commentary on hobby's financial excess and absurdity_ > "Anyone who says their job is to grow the hobby is shrinking their little pee pee." > — **Kaneda**, late > _Cynical take on industry growth narrative; dismisses manufacturers' stated mission_ > "I spent the price of a pinball machine on a vacation to Italy that honestly I'll remember for the rest of my life. I don't remember owning like most of my pinball machines nearly as fondly." > — **Kaneda**, early > _Personal value shift away from collecting toward experiences_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Saturday Morning Spectacular, pinball content creator with largest subscriber base in pinball media, known for independence from manufacturer sponsorship and community-focused commentary | | Jerry Stellenberg | person | Owner/CEO of Multimorphic, releasing a new P3 game imminently; criticized by Kaneda for poor timing and opacity on sales figures | | Retro Ralph | person | Pinball content creator and podcast host; publicly feuding with Kaneda; refuses to engage with Kaneda in collaborative chat; subject of ongoing criticism for taking things too seriously | | Brenda | person | Kaneda's wife; Irish-accented, discussed as potential pinball machine dealer; recipient of Italy vacation funded by Kaneda instead of game purchases | | [name withheld pending review] | person | Founder/owner of Barrels of Fun; controls release announcement timing; planning new game reveal | | Doug Mo Jr. | person | Kaneda Patreon supporter; upped monthly subscription to $100/month; reconciled with Kaneda after years of distance | | Lyman F. Sheats Jr. | person | Legendary pinball code designer; attended dinner where Kaneda got drunk and elbowed someone; involved in past incident with Kaneda | | Multimorphic | company | Pinball platform manufacturer; produces P3 modular system; criticized for opacity on sales, poor market timing, and lack of community demand; planning dual-theme P3 game | | Stern Pinball | company | Market-leading pinball manufacturer; sells significantly more units than competitors (Kaneda: 3 days of sales > Multimorphic decade) | | Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer; David Van Ness-led; planning new game announcement Thursday night EDT exclusive to Canada Club | | Jamie | person | Pinball community figure; co-host or collaborator; trying to reconcile Kaneda and Retro Ralph; described as 'getting it' by Kaneda | | Kale | person | Pinball community figure; described as 'getting it' alongside Jamie; trying to bridge gaps between content creators | | Carrie | person | Collector friend of Kaneda; recently received Sonic CE; has elaborate garage setup (Kaneda calls it 'redneck Tron') | | Sonic | game | Recent Stern release; Carrie recently acquired one; noted as easier to obtain than Harry Potter | | Transformers | game | Recent Stern release; Kaneda describes sales as 'abysmal' | | Tales of the Arabian Nights | game | Special/limited edition release; Kaneda estimates 300-399 units sold; poor sales performance cited | | Harry Potter | game | Jersey Jack Pinball game; referenced as highly difficult to obtain relative to recent releases; high demand | | Kim Mitchell | person | Donated money for Kaneda's previous microphone years ago; contributed to 6 Twippy awards | | Zombie Yeti | person | Artwork/design figure in pinball; claimed Kaneda was 'ruining his life'; topic of forgiveness discussion | | Tim Sexton | person | Individual to whom Kaneda threw a drink while drunk; involved in past incident | ### Signals - **[market_signal]** Sonic and Transformers from Stern experiencing poor sales; only 300-399 special edition Tales of the Arabian Knights units sold, suggesting slowdown in new release adoption (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Sonic sales are not great. Transformer sales are abysmal... only about 300 and was it 399 or 300 Tales of the Arabian Knight editions' - **[business_signal]** 13 manufacturers competing in a finite market; oversaturation of new releases creating consumer fatigue and decision paralysis (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'oversaturation of manufacturers now' and 'Jerry Stelenberg is teasing like he's got Superman or Batman' with mediocre IP; consumer spending pivoting to experiences (Italy vacation) over machines - **[product_strategy]** Jerry Stellenberg planning Multimorphic P3 release during summer downturn; Kaneda criticizes timing as idiotic marketing (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'it is idiotic that Jerry Stelenberg is going to drop a new game in like what is it like 10 days, nine days?' and 'It's just the whole thing is idiot. It's like the marketing in this industry is idiotic' - **[business_signal]** Multimorphic's platform not gaining traction despite decade of availability; Kaneda claims more YouTube subscribers than P3 unit sales (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I have more subscribers than they've sold units' and 'It is embarrassing if you make a pinball machine and you can't sell more units than Canada has subscribers' - **[industry_signal]** Ongoing public feud between Kaneda and Retro Ralph; Ralph refuses to engage publicly; Kaneda attempting reconciliation while criticizing Ralph's sensitivity (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Ralph just does does not engage' and 'Ralph refuses to just engage, bro' and 'Ralph just needs to take the gloves off' - **[community_signal]** Kaneda positioning himself as sole independent, integrity-focused voice; calling out other creators for taking manufacturer payments or sponsorships ('pinball salary chasing') (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I'm not going to take payment in games' and repeated criticism of creators who do vs his own Patreon model - **[collector_signal]** Collectors experiencing decision fatigue and purchase hesitation; Kaneda notes summer spending shift away from games toward experiences; multiple releases competing for limited buyer attention (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'I spent the price of a pinball machine on a vacation to Italy that honestly I'll remember for the rest of my life. I don't remember owning like most of my pinball machines nearly as fondly' - **[content_signal]** Kaneda using exclusive leaks and early reveals to drive Patreon engagement; planning to reveal Barrels of Fun game before official announcement; selling Multimorphic P3 theme info for $200 donations (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'for $200... I will tell you the other theme that is being released on Multimorphic P3' and Thursday exclusive Barrels of Fun reveal for Canada Club members - **[leak_detection]** Dual-theme Multimorphic P3 game exists but not yet publicly announced; theme unknown but monetized as exclusive information (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'For $200... I will tell you the other theme that is being released on Multimorphic P3. It is a dual theme game. This is a Caneda exclusive. Nobody knows' - **[sentiment_shift]** Shift in community sentiment away from relentless new-game pursuit toward appreciation of existing collections and experience-based spending (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Maybe the best stuff isn't always the next thing... maybe we should just learn to appreciate them' and personal pivot to Italy vacation over Sonic CE - **[design_philosophy]** Current games criticized as having half the mechanical depth of 1990s machines despite 3x higher price points; reliance on software and cosmetics over playfield design (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'There's half the mechs in them that there were in the 90s when games were 2500... It's all about the software and the lights and the toppers these days' - **[manufacturing_signal]** Multimorphic refuses to disclose total platform sales figures; lack of transparency cited as red flag by observer (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Multimorphic will not reveal how many total units they've sold. Why is that a mystery?... The reason why we know it's a mystery is Stern Pinball sells more games in three days than Jerry has sold in a decade' --- ## Transcript Oh, we're live. Hold on a second. It is dark in this room. Let me go get my hat. And I had the wrong glasses on. Good morning everybody. Happy Saturday morning. Spectacular. I am your host Caneda. What is everybody doing? Barcelona in the house. Oh, feels good to be back from Sicily, from Italy. Well, it actually doesn't feel good. I miss it more than anything. If you've never been to Italia, as they would say in Italy. How's everybody doing? This is going to be a very fun episode of of our Saturday morning spectacular because I can feel it. I feel it. We got a new microphone. The old one, it sounds so much better. The old one is busted. This trusted mic won me six twies. Six Twippies about six, seven years. Kim Mitchell donated money for a new mic years ago. We've we've we've used this one and it's you the back fell off and it sounds so much better. Shore has improved their technology. No popping. How does it sound everybody? Cause thank you for the dollar. Ciao chia bellas everybody. When where's Azie at? Pete Rosen. We're gonna get the big guys in the house. I want to give a shout out to my one of my biggest contributors now on the Patreon. We're gonna give him a nice shout out. good circle of um circle of life if you will do you know the thing is this there are still those people out there they're they exist on pinside they hold on to this anger towards Canada to me they don't understand why we're here every week why we're why we've got the most subscribers in the history of pinball content creators why people would tune in to a guy who doesn't take payment in games. Why would they tune into a guy that's not going to stream the latest code updates? Because the hobby really the value is in the community and everybody knows this. The games are overpriced. It's less magic in these games than ever before. It's all about the software and the lights and the toppers these days. You know what I'm saying? And ultimately, this is what the topic of today's show is going to be because we've got an oversaturation of manufacturers now. Jerry Stellenberg is teasing like he's got Superman or Batman and it's it's Dungeon Crawler Carl. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, this is where we're at. Like, everyone's marketing their stuff like it's the next best thing. And the truth is this. I think everyone's starting to realize this. Maybe the best stuff isn't always the next thing. And maybe the games we've had over the years have been incredible. And maybe we should just learn to appreciate them. And I know most of you don't get to wizard modes in most of your games. You don't complete your games. And you don't even play most of your games. You can't. Once you have five or more, you're really not intimately experiencing those games as frequently as you'd like to. I I know this. I collected arcade machines. I collected pinball machines. I've had them all. I've had And I know what it's like. I know how hard it is to find time. But what's not hard to find time is the time we spend with each other. And that's why the community is always the number one thing. That's why Pinsite has so many more users than people that buy new and box. is why manufacturers don't want you to pause a little bit and think about maybe you're happy with what you have. It's a it's a weird narrative, right? The bye. It's funny when I see people like I want to thank I want to thank like like as if a dealer or Dro really had to work hard to get you a game. They didn't do anything. But maybe one day soon you're going to be able to buy from Brenda. I'm I'm trying to do that deal. Not me, man. I'm not going to sacrifice anything that I do here. I'm not going to sell out my integrity for that pinball salary everybody's chasing. I'm not going to take payment in games. Nope. But my beautiful wife, she's like, "What should I do next?" I'm like, "Well, you're good at everyone loves you, Brenda. Like, you're good at sales. Maybe sell some pinball machines." I mean, I I think a lot of people would buy from Brenda. I do. I know most of my fans would. I know most. and she doesn't have to start a dealership or a distribution center and you know you know where she's going to go. You know where she's going to land and you know picking up the phone and having that beautiful Irish accent ask you what you need lads. What can I get you? [sighs and gasps] I love your team play before you pay now. Yeah. Well Albert man it's like that's the thing man. I you know I've noticed this lately and I've been saying this with Sonic. I've been saying this with Transformers saying this but especially with Sonic it this notion this notion that you you can find something fun not want to buy it right away and encourage everybody to to get some time on it before you write a check is like a foreign notion to a lot of people. Now, I don't I actually think the majority of people, Albert, are adopting this behavior. Sonic sales are not great. Transformer sales are abysmal. I I think that we're in a period now where I don't know if they sold 300 and was it 399 or 300 Tales of the Arabian Knight editions, the special ones. The sales are not there. When you think about it on a global level, a company can't sell 500 units easily to it just goes to show you either how small our hobby is or how patient the hobby is now becoming 100% the summer months. I I spent the price of a pinball machine on a vacation to Italy that honestly I'll remember for the rest of my life. I don't remember owning like most of my pinball machines nearly as fondly. Uh Hans, I agree, man. It's like this this the cadence of releases. Like to me it's idiotic that Jerry Stelenberg is going to drop a new game in in like what is it like 10 days, nine days? Jerry Stalenberg thinks now is the time. It's just the whole thing is idiot. It's like the marketing in this industry is idiotic. It is it is amateur hour. It is pedestrian and it is without strategy. You know, if you're Jerry and you want to drop, I don't care what's in this multimorphic game. It is not the time to ask people for, you know, to to write a check for $13, 000 or $14, 000. He he needs to, you know, and it is like I don't know like if he finished all the portal builds or how many they built. I you know I still to this day I don't like the fact that Multimorphic will not reveal how many total units they've sold. Why is that a mystery? His whole platform is about connectivity and if you own one, you can go online and connect with other users. Why is it a mystery how many he's sold in like a decade of sales? And the reason why we know it's a mystery is Stern Pinball sells more games in three days than Jerry has sold in a decade. Think about that. So Multimorphic to me is like they're like beyond boutique. They're they're like a nano manufacturer. you order a game, you're going to wait forever to get it. And you know, it's like this for some people, sure. And look, I 100% think there's going to be some cool mechs in this game. I've been saying it religiously. He has some of the best engineers in all of pinball and they should go get jobs at, you know, look who's hiring right now. American Pinball. If I was a designer over at Multimmorphic, if I'm Scott Deni, if I'm somebody all these guys joining Glenn now is doing sound like why why would you want to work in a place on a platform that the community has said they don't want? What? You're you're going to create demand now after a decade of people saying this isn't the platform for us. It's not a problem looking for a solution. It's a solution looking for a problem is the phrase, Brian. But yeah, Jerry solved a problem nobody really has. Canada, as a G1 Transformers fan, I think you're going to be pleasantly surprised with the Transformers premium ar. Um, uh, yeah. Well, look, look, man. Eerie Arcade 814. I know. I will I I I get it. I get it. The code it teleports you back to the 80s arcade. I'll tell you right now. Um All right. Here we go. You guys want a Canad exclusive? I usually do this on Patreon, but you know, here's what we're going to do. I just got an exclusive bit of information. Um, and you know how we do it. You know how we roll. Where's my Where's my screen here? Hold on. It's not that one. Maybe it's this one. It's not that one. Where? Wait. Where? Where is my Chrome? Hold on. I can't see myself. I lost my window. All right. Wait. Where? It's not this one. It's not that one. Oh my god. Hold on, guys. I'm trying to find myself. H where? All right. We're going to do this real quick. It has to be one. There's only two windows here. It's got to be one of these. It's got to be here somewhere. Nope. All right, that's closed down. Did I close out? Is it here? Oh my god. Am I Did I I don't Oh, there we are. Okay, sorry guys. All right, here's the deal. You know me, I love to sell information because I'm a I'm a I'm a information [] like that. If we raise Here we go. I don't know if Aussy's in the house. I don't know. Maybe Don's going to be the guy today. Hans for $200. This is not a lot of money. We get this from Aussie and and Pete Rosen every week. for $200. Going to get Brenda a nice bottle of saka tonight for our date night. I will tell you the other theme that is being released on Multimorphic P3. It is a dual theme game. This is a Caneda exclusive. Nobody knows. Nobody knows yet. 200 bucks. That's it. What's it worth to you? Oh man, I love spoiling all these company secrets. It's so much fun. We're going to spoil Barrels of Fun's new game, Thursday night. I've been seeing all the guesses. It's fun. It's a It's been fun. You know, David loves to control the mystery. This time he's not. And this time it's going to be Canada. And this time we're going to have some fun. For everyone who who doesn't know, on Thursday night at 8:00 Eastern time EDT, my Canada Club members will get exclusively what the next game from Barrels of Fun is going to be if Barrels doesn't scoop me. Now, what's funny is if they scoop me, I don't really care. You know what I'm saying? Like I look, I've been doing this for years. There is no more audience to be had. You know what I'm saying? It's like, you know, like I've been at 700 and something for five years now. You know, we've got the most we got the most subscribers in totality out of any pinball content creator. I'm super thankful for everybody. Which leads me to another big shout out to my man Doug Mo Jr. over there in Texas, baby. With the $100 a month, he upped his monthly subscription to that. Doug, thank you. He said, "Have a drink in Italy with Brenda on me." He's going to keep it at that for a few months. He said, "Thank you, Doug." You know, for those of you out there sitting at $5 a month, baby, I still love you guys, but you got to realize what Doug Mo Jr. just did. Iceman 44, baby. What he just did in just three months, he's going to give me what it takes you guys three years to do. I know some of you got deep pockets and I've never and I said I will never do this. Even though this is not smart, even though Patreon keeps encouraging me to do this, I haven't raised the prices. It is still $5. $5. Well, yeah, Albert 750 Canadian. You know, you for you got to charge you that wildfire tax, you know, the forest fire tax. You know what's funny is is how little people care. We can't even raise 200 bucks to get the next theme from Multimorphic. It's just how little Even Jerry's like, "Man, we're safe, man. Nobody wants to hear it." Glad you two are Bill. I'm glad too, man. Like you know what's crazy is for I would say months Iceman was in the chat. He was a subscriber and I was like man this is just someone trolling me because I thought Doug like couldn't stand me and then I was like wait it's him and he had blocked my number on his phone so like all these text messages I was I was sending him over the years weren't getting to him. And I you know what I love? Nothing more than a reconciliation of men. You know, we're all we're all on the same hobby. We're all the same geeks. You know, the the hardest part the hardest dude to like crack and Kale will say this and Jame is Retro Ralph can't just get over it and be cool with Canada. Like I don't get it. He still won't just even when I'm on a chat with Jamie, Kale, and Ralph. Ralph just does does not engage. And you know, Ralph will learn sooner than later. The ultimate thing with Canada is just let let him be him. Let me be me. Just take the piss out of it. You know what I'm saying? He takes it too seriously. Like he literally can't just We all jab at each other. We all He his like feelings are hurt, right? And it's like no man. Like nothing is personal. Nothing is that sensitive. What he And look, I'm cool with Don and Jen, everybody, man. Zack, like there's no drama anywhere happening, but Ralph refuses to just engage, bro. It's just pinball, man. I get it. I make fun of like you get getting paid with a game. I make fun of you chasing a pinball salary. Yeah, man. This is all stuff we all should be making fun of. Like I'm I think it's amazing you get paid with the game. I do. I think Mason does most of the work. But I think it's amaz that even that joke like they AH you know they're all like using like it's like dude we're we're all kings of nothing. And when you reach that point Ralph you and I've been doing it for almost a decade longer than you Ralph. I mean this when you go another 10 years doing pinball content, bro, you will be exactly in this mindset. It's all stupid, bro. It's all stupid. We are spending twice the world's medium income. twice the world, the average human being's medium income annually on a single pinball machine that we already have many of. And if you can't zoom out and say, "Hey, this is all stupid." Like, it's fun to be stupid. It's fun to engage with stupid things and have a stupid good time with my boys, but you got to zoom out. You got to zoom out. We joked about my stroke when I was still in the billing dude like look guys right like all these guys know it it's all entertainment but the moment you take it personally is like the moment you you and this is the thing is like when Ralph would say stuff like yo man he's bad for my mental health it's like dude no man like this isn't the only reason you got there and I mean this when when you just take the red pill and you realize like, man, it's like, you know, we're we're all in this weird space. We're buying these things that are so overpriced. There's half the mechs in them that there were in the 90s when games were 2500. I'm putting an ad for a dealership in front of my content and I'm wondering why people call me a shill, right? Right. I mean there's like on some level there's like maybe I am shilling a little bit. We all shill a little bit. But again like you know even Zach like embraced that like he had shirts that said shill on it like that. See, once you lean into your own narrative, then it's okay, you know, and like like the thing with Rob, too, and I and I love his relationships with these manufacturers, but it's like you just it's fun to come out and say like, "Look, man, I can't bag on how hard Sonic is or how repetitive the gameplay is because I went over there and took payment in a game." Like, you know what I'm saying? Like, I'm so here's here's my view. Dan, what's up, brother? Dan, you know, and Dan, thank you for the note. Um, Dan just checked in on my mother who's battling cancer right now and she is a warrior, a Sicilian. She is like the strongest woman on the planet. She's 83, maybe 84. And you know what I love about my mom is she's battling cancer. She's basically like been in pain her whole life since I've known her. She's been handicapped most of my life. And you know, she had to walk with crutches and she's just she's just like an iron horse, though. And it's amazing. You know, when I call her up, she's just like, she's still my mom. Like, you know, she's not fighting cancer. She's not this. She's she's she's just like she's like, I hate your haircut. You know what I'm saying? It's like I love that my parents my whole life I'm 49. My parents aren't now like my buddy. Like, they're not now my friend. Like they are still my boomer parents that don't have time for my nonsense. Yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like they raised me. They sent me to private schools, boarding schools. Like they got me situated with an apartment. They've helped out like, you know, with cars when I was younger. Like they're just like they're done, [laughter] you know? I love that because what I respect so much about my parents is that they provided and they parented me. I I know sometimes like when I drink, you're like, well, like they didn't do a good job. Well, they did do a good job. Trust me, I I'm out there in the world and I see what's out there. They played the role of provider, of caretaker, of parent, of like disciplinarian. Like, they did it. Okay. And that's amazing. So, Dana, man, I don't know, man. I don't I think Ralph will get it one day. The moment Ralph is going to get it, here's here's going to be two things. There's only two things we need. An apology for doing Arcade OneUp content. We just need an apology. It just, you know what I'm saying? Like you you can't you can't there never should have been an arcade oneup any and again like he should just make fun of that. You know what I'm saying? Like it's funny. It's funny. And then the second thing that Ralph just needs to do and and once he does this we're all going to be like dude's no longer like shill it. Needs to take the gloves off. I I mean that like he just needs to take those silly gloves off like and then we'll be everyone will be like we're good. See, even this is funny, man. Like, see the thing is this is he used to come in here and be in the chat and he used to be fun, right? And and this is what h I've noticed this. This is what happens. And Don will tell you this, Jenas will tell you this. The more you create distance, the more awkward you make it, right? It's like the more you sort of hang out here, the more you realize like, yeah, like this is silly. Like we're just all having fun. Like I'm a little, you know, we're all trolling each other a little bit. It's fun. Like I'll give you an example. Like I'm friends with Carrie, right? And I know Carrie can take the jokes, right? So when I say to people like, "Oh, Carrie, you're you're turning your garage into what looks like uh it's a little bit of like a redneck Tron environment." You know, it's funny, right? It's f Carrie's garage to me is hysterical because if I did that to my garage, I would probably get divorced. And I love like we got his delivery of his Sonic CE. The garage door opens, the motorcycles there covered, and like it's like this Tron ceiling and in rolls the Sonic CE. And you know, it's one of Car's dream themes. He got one right away. Look, everyone's getting their Sonics right away because like it's not as hard to get as Harry Potter. We all know that. Um yeah, but like we can laugh at that if he's a redneck Tron. Like that's funny. Like if we call Carrie's garage redneck Tron like arena like it's funny and Carrie won't care. You know when I go to shows like I always end up hanging out with Carrie with Melvin with like you know all you dudes here like we all have a good time like that you know it's like I mean I'm not doing seminars. I'm not going to tell you how to how to spread the pinball joy and how to grow the hobby. You know that's always like my I always love go we're going to grow the hobby. We're going to No, you're not. You're not growing anything. All right. Okay. Anyone who says their job is to grow the hobby is shrinking their little pee pee. Okay, just just being honest. Like you're you're not getting any action in the bedroom if you tell people publicly you're here to grow the pinball hobby. It's just like, yeah, man, it's not happening. It's not happening, man. Like there's no more people don't wake up. They're like, man, there's war, there's there's disease, there's famine, there's housing crisis. But what we really need to do is grow the pinball hobby. That's what we need to do. 13 manufacturers making games ain't enough. We need more. You want some exclusive news right now, mofos? Now that I'm hot, I got this new mic. It It regulates. Wow. It just regulated my volume right there. You want some exclusive Canadian news? Should we do it? All right, here's the deal. I'm going to give you exclusive news on spooky, exclusive news on multimorphic. But you know, but here's the thing. Jamie, what's up, brother? Jamie, man, I I love Jamie, by the way. Jamie, see Jamie and Kale, man. Like, what? Like, those two dudes get it. Like, they get it. The new mic is amazing. They get it. Jaime gets it. Jaime's like, man, and Jamie Ralph is Jaime's boy. I know Jaime's trying, man. Kale's trying. Jamie, when you called him up, you were like, "Man, CAN HE'S NOT GOOD FOR MY MENTAL HEALTH. I CAN'T I CAN'T FIND THE ANGLE. IT'S RIGHT HERE. RALPH, YOU JUST GOT TO JOIN. Join us and and complete. Take off the gloves and join us. #angle. Oh man. Man, there's like this hot chick. Have you seen this hot chick? Her name's like retro something. She's like this hot chick with tattoos. And I can say hot chick without any word because I married the hottest chick on the planet. I mean, in Italy with Brenda in like it was like I was like with a bond girl. She is You look at Brener, you're like you don't look your age. You gave out you pumped out two kids. She is smoking. I am so lucky. I am so in love. And you know what I love about being in love? You know what I love about it is like everywhere I go at this age, it is interesting because all I see are either young kids out who don't understand you're never going to find love this way or old creepy people my age out there who are like divorced and like acting like kids again and like you ain't going to find love that way. And when you have love and you have a partnership that is built on, it is so awesome. If there is one thing I never think about, it's my relationship. Whenever I have friends who are like, oh, you know, they're like in therapy, they're doing like it's over. It's over. You know, that's why you got to pick your partner right. WHEN YOU PICK YOUR partner right, it's amazing. When you get it wrong, man, it's you're in a prison cell of your own. Dude, I have friends, not going to name names. It is so sad when I go out with them and they're like, "Oh man, like they've got multiple kids and they're like they can't stand their wives and and they literally they they just are in hell. And then I'm just like, man, I don't know, man. I just I don't know. I just spent the price of a Sonic CE on a trip to Italy for Brenda and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Her birthday's coming up and I'm going to spoil her. I have I have the greatest gift like the the thing is with this gift it's got such great meaning and it it this gift goes back to I think our like third date in New York City and it was amazing. I was like I was just kind of seeing a couple other Irishamean girls. They were just happen to be that you know [clears throat] and again you know me canate I don't sleep with women. and I go on dates right away. I don't sleep with women right away. I sleep with my wife now. But, you know, the ultimate power of dating a woman is just don't sleep with them until you're ready. Once you do that, they will you get you get the real version of them, right? No woman wants to sleep with a guy right away and then like then figure out if there's a connection. And I always say that like I say that to my sister-in-laws, everybody I know. If you really want to build a foundation of love, don't sleep with someone right away. It is important to know that you are intimately compatible for sure. But if you go all the way right away and then you try to figure it out after it changes everything. And when you take away the power of a woman's like sexuality and you like I want to get to know you. I mean it it blows them away. Anyway, it was like our fourth date and I Yeah. Again, I was just seeing a few other girls and they were Irish American, not off the boat Irish. And Brenda said to me, "Why would you date impostors when you could have the real thing?" And I'm I looked at her like, "That is the sexiest thing anybody's ever said to me with that Irish accent and those beautiful Irish." I was just like, "That was it. I never went on another date with another one of them." All right, here's the deal. P3 Multimorphic. Geez. I I mean I have more subscribers than they've sold units. Jamie, that's you know what I'm saying? I always said like the the biggest It's embarrassing if you make a pinball machine and you can't sell more units than Canada has subscribers. That is the definition of failure in the 2026 Encyclopedia Britannica. Okay. Canada has more subscribers than we've sold of units. Okay, that's okay. Here we go. I don't care. I don't You know, you guys, I I gotta be honest. The donations today pretty much suck because Azy's not in the house. Where is Azie right now? Somebody text I'm gonna Someone text I'm going to text Azie right now. Get into the Saturday morning spectacular. I'm going to text him right now. I'm about to blow the lid off a lot of stuff right now. And you heard it from I got all the I got all this information from Retro Ralph. I got to be honest. Thank you, Ralph, for giving me all this information. See, this is why Jamie's like, you're just making it worse, Chris. You're making it worse when you say that you got all this information from Ralph and he leaked it. You This is it, Jamie. Are we Are you not entertained? Let's get Azie in here. Hold on. Get in the show. Where are you? Okay. About to drop some big leaks. Look at this guy. Look at Tony, man. Tony 6684 coming out of nowhere, baby. Hope the best for your mother. Thank you, Tony. My wife is in her third year of remission from breast cancer, but trying your mental health to anything pinball related means you either have deeper issues or the best life ever, and that's your only problem in life. Antonio, Antonio, man, I I first of all, thank you so much for the donation. And you are 100% right. See, when I heard stuff like Zombie Yeti said I was ruining his life, Retro Ralph said I was bad for his mental health. When I hear these things, I'm like, man, do you guys like have no real issues in life, you know? my family will never be uh I I'll tell you this though, like I understand on some level, right, when when someone in the pinball world tries to like actually destroy your livelihood, like that's a thing, man. Like that happened to me. I had a newborn baby and a pinball manufacturer tried to get me fired from my job that I I had worked 20some years to reach this level in my industry. And because I said disparaging things about their game that everybody was saying, they tried to get me terminated from work. They didn't come to me first and ask me to be kinder on their brand. They didn't have a They went to the legal team of my organization and the legal team's initial response was immediate termination while I had a newborn baby, a mortgage. This is what a pinball company did to me. And I'm telling you, like I've forgiven all that. You know, it's water under the bridge. I've I've I've spoken to the the to the individuals involved in that incident since then. And there's no bad blood. There's none. Literally like like I made a mistake making some content at work. I think they made a mistake trying to do like trying to get me fired. And I think I paid the price financially bigger than you would ever imagine. But you know what? It's all good now. Um, and I I believe in forgiveness, man. I You know what I mean? People are How many of you out there believe in God or believe in forgiveness? I you know I don't I don't even think you need to believe in like Jesus or God or be a Buddhist or you know Dowist like in the end if we don't forgive because you know what forgiveness requires empathy. So I can empathize even though this in the moment it killed me and made me angry and like I literally was I went from being the most confident man on the planet to basically almost in tears. How am I going to provide for my family if I lose my job right now during one of the most expensive periods of my life because of the cheapest thing I do which is make pinball content. Right? I mean, I make I make 10 times more in my day job than I do on this job, right? But there's a level of satisfaction and fulfillment that this thing gives me that my day job does not because what this job gives me is comm community what not I mean what this content gives me is a community is a belonging is a creative freedom that I don't have anywhere else in my life that is priceless and that is why you know I I I I I I cherish this content on a level that is hard for everybody to understand. But again, to get back to it, forgiveness is everything in life. Like if if we don't and and here's the thing about forgiveness and and I mean and we'll get to the pinball leaks in a second, gang. And I know a lot of you like this is why the most important person everybody needs to learn how to forgive is themselves. We all make mistakes. We all do dumb stuff. Like I throw a drink in a guy's face, Tim Stexon, and I'm drunk and I'm I got drunk with Lyman Sheets and his and Penny at at dinner and I I didn't realize you couldn't stand over a line and you couldn't cheer and I got drunk and I made a mistake, right? And like I literally like elbowed John at Jack Bar like we like and then he proposed to his wife, his beautiful wife on my show because he forgave me. Don Jenga like forgiveness, empathy. I understand why that pinball manufacturer did what they did because they needed sales or they were going to go out of business. That's forgiveness. See, I texted Aussie and he's in. All right, LET'S GET THIS BABY GOING. AUSSIEY'S IN THE HOUSE. OH AUSSIE get Okay, Aussie, but you you just unlocked because we're at 200. You unlocked all Azie, my brother. You unlocked all the leaks. Are we ready? Enough about enough about this forgiveness. Ralph's never going to forgive me. You know why people don't forgive when you're like? Because you you because they take themselves too seriously. The moment you stop taking yourself seriously, the moment you open yourself up to being vulnerable, to being empathetic, to forgiving, that is what we should teach all the kids. But also don't be a loser, right? Don't be uptight. pinball content and you know tell my kid don't be a loser. Hey Chris, if you and Don can make up I yeah I it's two-sided brother. See Don like the thing of this is you just got to hang out more and Jenis I want to thank Jenis because Jenis was the facilitator and Jamie and Kale are trying but Ralph doesn't hang out. He just doesn't engage. I should put the Ralph gloves on. We should shake hands with the gloves on. We should shake like we should shake forehead like all like four like with both hands at the same time. Like [laughter] Jamie's like, "You're making it worse." And Kale's gonna be like, "This is the greatest show ever, man. You didn't even talk about pinball." And you got more more people are watching now. It's like, "Don't talk about pinball. Talk about life." You know what I'm saying? It's like it's so boring. Like, man, Sonic's got eight levels and they're all the same with screen savers. And I just realized that the game is pretty barren and you just keep battling Eggman and all it is is chopping wood to get to a higher score and you're not allowed to say that. And you got to save the game's amazing and even though the upper playfield is one of the hardest, most frustrating. Yeah, it's fun though. It's different. It's fun. I have fun. You going to buy? No, I'm not going TO BUY. IT'S FUN THOUGH. IT'S FUN. I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. I GOT TO SAY EVERYTHING'S GREAT. YOU GUYS DON'T GET IT. YOU DON'T WIN SIX TRIPPIES FOR FAVORITE PINBALL PODCASTER out there and you lose with a hundred more first place votes. YOU DON'T GET THERE. You don't get there by lying about the game. I'm the most honest mofo in pinball and they know it. Jenis knows it. Don is out there like we talk daily, bro. And like not and Jen is right. It's like it's like there's like a brotherhood happening and either you want to be in the brotherhood of pinball content creators or you're out on you're in an island, you know, making where you do where you do like YouTube videos where you do this. Is Sonic worth the hype? I DON'T KNOW. IS GANADA GOING TO SAY SOMETHING? IS HE GOING TO GIVE THE LEAKS? I DON'T KNOW. I I YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME. HANDS ARE LIKE THIS. I DON'T I DON'T KNOW. WELL, WHO KNOWS? What's wrong with this guy? He's sober on a FEW CUPS OF CAR. AND I CAN'T KEEP UP with this dude. They don't want to do the twippies again because they know Canada's back at the gates, baby. Like Hannibal, dude. Forget the Odyssey, baby. Christopher Nolman is going to make the Canada like documentary next. Because the thing is this. This is where it's at. Okay. Are we 125 people, 200 bucks? ARE WE READY? JENIS IS LIKE, "Do it, baby." AUSSIEY'S LIKE, "DO IT, BABY." ICEMAN 44, THIS IS FOR YOU, BROTHER. DOUG MO JR. AND KADA. SEE, WHEN WE'RE CONNECTED, like it's it's unstoppable. We got the best from Texas, the best from New York City. Jamie Jamie's from New York City. This is why Jamie I wish you guys could have heard the phone calls Jamie and I had like we're like I'm going to kick your ass and he's like no I'm going to kick your ass first. Me I Jamie I didn't tell you this. I was taking a bubble bath when when I was when we were cursing each other out. Like that's how New Yorkers do it. Baby, we ain't going to fight. We're both a bunch of wimps. We know like we're all like it doesn't matter how like much I go to the gym. I'm a lover not a fighter. I'll get my ass kicked 99% of the fights I'd get into. Like when I go out there, like, dude, I am like 5'9, 165 wet with a wet clothes on. I I'm I'm getting thrown through every window, bro. All right, here's the deal. Here's the deal. Are we ready? We ready? All right. LEAK NUMBER ONE EXCLUSIVELY on the Canada Saturday morning spectacular. And if you're not a club member, sign up, mofos. Stop being cheap. It's $5 a month. Here we go. The second theme that is part of the dungeon crawler Carl two themes on one modular game. Okay, you know what that means? So it's like you put in the modular and you're going to get two games for the price of one. The first game is Dungeon Crawler Carl. All right. Never heard of it until this year. not listening to the audiobooks. I'm too busy, you know. I don't know. You know what I'm doing with my my retro rap gloves on? I'm I'm rubbing one out, baby. I I don't have time for these audio books. The second thing that will be on the P3 multimorphic platform coming out in 10 days. You heard it here first. Jason Nap, love you, brother. Maybe. Maybe he he might put this up. I don't know. Every once in a while. I don't know. I love Jason. He know he he always gives me credit. Yeah, Jason's a good guy. Like Jason knows what the next Barrels game is because I keep texting him. I call him, he won't respond to me, which means he knows. And he doesn't like because I kind of like I'm like I know you know. I know you know, Jason. I know you know. I can tell you know. And I can tell what you're doing. You don't want to spoil it, but you're doing what you do. I love I love what he does. He dances around it. It's called the nap walts. I called it the nap walts. Once Jason starts doing his walts, you know he knows. It's beautiful. I love Naps. Knaps Arcade, babe. If you don't go there, screw Pinside. Screw everything else. Naps Arcade. Okay, the second theme is actually one of my favorite books of all time. And it is like one of the books in the series is one of my favorite books ever. And it's a book that is so beautiful. Like the concept of it that when you die at your funeral, everyone always gets up there and says fake stuff about who you were. Like I never saw him argue with anybody. He was always love. They go around and they collect real stories from who you were from the people you truly loved. And they say that the person who delivers the eulogy is known as the speaker for the dead. It's beautiful book. If you've never read this book, it will change your life. Everyone should have a speaker for the dead at their funeral. Ender Game is the book series. Not a great movie, but a great book series. So, the second theme on multimorphic platform will be Ender Game. It's not bad. Now, will it be the Enders Game movie? I don't know, right? What will the assets be? But it wasn't a great movie. Harrison Ford was in it. It's one of the greatest books ever. If you've never read Ender Game, the like the just the story is amazing and the twist at the end is one of the greatest sci-fi twists ever. Like, it's so good. I'm not going to spoil it. Anyway, there we go. Still don't care. I know. Look, look, gang. I don't think this is going to move games. The talking cat is um is from dungeon crawler Carl. You guys are funny, man. Zero wagers. I love it. You guys want some more exclusive news? Exclusive news here. I don't know. Sometimes my Patreon subscribers get like, man, what are we signing up for? You're signing up because it's the greatest damn chat in pinball history. You're signing up because I do two to three podcasts a week. You're signing up because you're just saying thank you. That's what it is. I have people that subscribe. They don't even listen to the podcast. They just want to say this dude is worthy of five bucks a month. You know, in a world in which people now subscribe to their doorbells. You know what I'm saying? Like literally, most of us, we we subscribe to our doorbell every month just so we can get notifications that someone stole our Amazon package. All right, you ready for another rumor? Or this is this is I heard this is happening. So, I'm here to tell you right now, spooky pinball goonies. We all know it's Goonies. But here's the other thing. It is the total number of Goony's machines. No show games this time, but the number is going to increase by 30% which is a lot. There will be 1, 299 Goonies available. And there may be an SLE as well, which if they did an SLE, I would assume it will be just something like like 84, like the number like the the year the movie came out. So, 1299 Goonies. It's a lot. It's a big increase when you think 30% more games. I, you know, I don't know. The show games are gone. What's wrong, John? 1299. That's what I'm hearing. You know, look, I I I think they almost made like Well, isn't John isn't making 300 more? Help me with this math, John. If they normally make 999, isn't making 300 more 30% more games, John? Like, I'm not that smart at math. Well, no, John. The thing is this. The normal number is 999. That's the starting point. The show game. I'm not I know they made the look I I think what John is saying is yes. Like they probably made 1300 Beetlejuices. If you think they didn't make like over 200 show games, gang, there's a reason why the show games are not numbered. You know it. So, yeah, maybe it's the same amount. Okay. Yeah, we we all understand what we what each other. Here's another bit of exclusive news for I think people may not know this, but I'm here to tell you this that Goonies I'm just gonna say Goonies is a widebody game. Goonies is widebody like Evil Dead. Did you know that? Are Ralph and me friends now? Will this make its way onto Nap's arcade? Will people say on pin side, thou who shall not be named just said Goonies is wide body? We knew that. Okay, everybody knew that. All right, cool. Let's see what else we got. Um, well, you know, I should probably just tell you what the next Barrels game is right now. Uh, but I build it as a Thursday evening thing and it wouldn't be fair to everybody who told the wife they can't make date night because of that. [sighs and gasps] Oh my god. Let's talk about Sonic first. Um, what's every how many of you have played Sonic? I'm really hurdles coins. Thank you for what you do. Even on vacation, but still here for us. That's true dedication. Keep the leaks coming. Thank you so much, man. I really appreciate it. And you know, doing the show in Italy was a lot of fun. It was like 4:00 in Sicily. It's very hot in Italy, so it was nice to have a little break. And I, you know, me, no matter where I am in the world, I want to do this show every Saturday. And I want to and you know what's crazy is no matter where I am, I want to do it. So it's 10 a.m. your time. I know you can watch the replay, but this is sort of the schedule. This is what I love to do. I look forward to this show whether I'm hung over, whether I'm sober, whether I'm like not in the right. Like I this show just makes me so happy. And I love all of your donations. And I will say this, I was just in a a meeting where they're like heming and hawing about giving people raises and when Chewy gives S show a spot bone and it's amazing to me how people sit back in life and wait to be given a raise like you know and they just they hope for it but it's out of their control. And I'm sitting here and I told this it's funny like these people are like well you know it's like should we give should we I'm just going to make up a name. Should we give like should we give Jazelle $1, 000 spot bonus you know which would be taxed and I don't know if we we can do and I'm like literally like I I made that Saturday um in 90 minutes talking about pinball. They're like what wait what how like people give money? I'm like, "Yeah, like I have the most amazing community and they they're excited and you know, it's just it's saying thank you for all the work and all the dedication and it's like amazing. It like they can't understand it." And I'm like, "Well, I could sit I could do nothing Saturday morning and and just watch cartoons with the kids, which I do already, but when I wake up at 7 a.m., but I I this is like this is the best job anyone could have. This is why everybody wants a pinball salary and wants to do this for a living because it's like it doesn't feel like work. It's like so much fun doing this and you make a few bucks and it's a win-win. It's a win for for Azie for for all the people that donate for Iceman 44 for Doug Mo for Hurdles Hurdles Coins. What is your name name? I would love to give you a personal shout out for your incredible donation to the show today. Um Barrel said Dune Production is over for now. Okay. You don't get Yeah, totally. You know what's funny? There's a story I I love sharing these stories with you guys. Like there's just a story of um just like uh I I can't tell. It's a workrelated story. I don't want to get in trouble. You know, this is where I get in trouble, but it basically the gist of the story is this. this won't get anybody in trouble. Is that like you know someone wants to advance and there was an opening and someone else applied for it and got it and it was like and now that person gets like to advance through the company and was proactive and you know it's like that's awesome. That's how life works. You know how many times I walk into a restaurant and they I will not accept the first table they give me if I don't like it because the food at that [] that crappy table is the same price as the food at that amazing table and I want that table. Now I don't always get my way but I say something and I will say eight out of 10en times they will move me. My in-laws, my Irish in-laws, they would just sit in the bad table and they would, you know, but in their eyes it's a fine table. But you know what I'm saying is like you gotta speak up. When I went to Ireland and I was put into a room that was terrible, I called them up and I'm like, "This isn't like this isn't the Westbury I remember." and they moved me to a suite that was I went from $500 euro a night to a $3500 room that they couldn't that because there was a little bit of construction next door during the day. They didn't want anyone to have it. But like if you can if you can deal with the construction from like it was like 10 to 2 pm 10. I was like yeah because I'm out I'm not gonna be in the room during those hours. And it was amazed the whole trip. And even Brenda's sister was like, "This is amaz It was with two adjoining rooms. It was a huge suite." They're like, "How did you do this?" I'm like, "I spoke up." And then I became fast friends with Mariana, who is the hostess of the hotel, the major D. And she loved me. We're taking photos. Like she's like, "Chris, what do you need?" She sent bottles of champagne, shakurerie boards all on the house. Most people, they just take the crappy room and don't think about it. You know, my mom taught me to walk into like Cardier and ask to try on the most expensive, you know, item they have. Her grand her grandfather taught her that. Don't ever be afraid to ask know your, you know, know your have self-esteem. Have it's it's great. It's it's the way to live. Yeah. The sonic loop is has been somewhat problematic. I've been reading more and more people talk about that the ball doesn't make it all the way around the loop. You know, look, the loop isn't isn't is not spectacular. It It's fine. It's cool when the magnetic charge happens. The game Look, I've been getting in battles on my chat on Patreon with Joerger Meister. You guys know Joerger Meister. He's got the game. And he's like, "Yeah, man. You cheated. You open the coin door." And what I'm trying to tell Joerger is like, look, we're both kind of right, but I just don't know. Like, when I ask people this right now, what are the moments of wow in Sonic, right? There's there really aren't many yet coded in, and I think more is to come. And that's all I'm saying is like just wait a little. Like I in three hours of opening the coin door and seeing what was in the game codewise, there wasn't much. Like there weren't light shows, there weren't crazy moments, there wasn't like the game going. When I did the same with Harry Potter, I was I was blown away by what was in Potter. That's all I'm saying. This is more of Canad's pontificating podcast. I'm talking BIM right now, brother. But I'm just like there's just not a lot in it. Yeah. But but that's the thing, Josh, is like I I I don't know. Sonic doesn't even have like the it doesn't transform Canada. You know what I'm saying? I'm addicted to your shows. Keep making them. Download Sonic Arcade for me. No Coin. Robbie, what's up, brother? Love you, brother. Um, look, I I I think the arcade mo I think the arcade edition of Sonic is the way to go. Trust me, when you own the game and I played the C for hour, you just don't you don't look up at the topper, you know. You you don't look up at the topper. Um, no, I know that was a compliment, man. Of course, people I the amount of times and I've got really great there's a there's I'm having a great conversation with um my friend Greg on on Patreon and it's it's amazing to me when people write to me and basically are like look bro man I love your content but really you know Greg B you know and he's just like I I feel like a lot of us are born around the same time and we've been going through the life journey and and they're like, I really like when you just talk about life, too. Like, the way you blend it with pinball is it makes me feel like connected in a way that I just don't feel with the other content creators. And and I appreciate that. I do. Look, I I I don't I It would be weird to me to only be like pinball pinball regardless of what's happen like ah the like the worst thing in the world is watching a pinball unboxing video. Like this is the worst content I've ever seen in my life. Like literally yanking a pinball machine out of a box and putting the legs on it and waiting like 30 minutes and then turning the game on and something's broken. Like yeah, not going to spend an hour of my life doing that. Look, the thing about Sonic Gang is, you know, more to come. But this is the thing. It's like with with it being an unlimited run, move this over. With it being an unlimited run, why would you I froze. All right, we're back. Steve Richie pulled the plug. Um, with it being an unlimited run game, I I don't think this one has the like I need to have it right away. I think a lot of people are going to jump on it. It's going to be a slower burn. I definitely think they're going to sell about a fifth compared to Harry Potter. I I could I I think Sonic is like a at most like a two to 2500 unit kind of game. I do I just and and again I think it's not necessarily an indictment of Sonic at all. I just think there's so many games coming out and you got to make room for Beetlejuice and you got to make room for Dune or Winchester or Fallout or Transformers or Pokemon. You got to make room for Back to the Future, Goonies. It's all coming. Fifth Element, like, you know, the new game from Barrels, you know, and that's why it's like I think a lot of people are just like, well, all right, like I I can wait to play it. Now, what I'm what I think Brett and company are going to realize is they should have limited the CE on this one, and they should have just said a thousand. And I think, you know, I think they'll they'll sell them all because of the topper. But what I've been hearing from people is that the Sonic CE, even though it's cool, just doesn't have the same wow factor of the Harry Potter CE. When you when you hear the story of of Eric's love for Potter and was it the Nurmma Lima, I always get the name wrong. the art studio from Potter. Like there's just a romantic story around the Potter CE that is just intoxicating. When Eric did that whole video explaining the beauty Nina Lima, okay, thank you. Something like that. Whatever. Mina Lima. when he told the story of how this came to be. I Who amongst us wasn't like I need that version, right? Even with the crappiest topper I think JJP's ever done. I do. I think the Harry Potter topper is the one of the biggest jokes ever. They tried to get Leor to make it. They wanted Melvin to help them out. It the timing wasn't going to work. So that's why you got this crappy topper. But that's the whole point is like with the crappy topper, they've sold like 3, 500 Harry Potter CES. With the best topper maybe in pinball history, I don't even think they'll sell a thousand Sonic CES. You know, again, it's just because there's not enough like you don't feel like you got something truly, you know, special. And and I think the mistake that was made and I again I don't think this was a mistake as much as it was there wasn't any other way I would have made and I would have hopefully Sega would allow you to do it. I would have made the CE look like a 16bit cabinet. I think the whole CE should have been 16bit retro sonic just on the cabinet. I I I bet the Sega would not have allowed them to do a different playfield, but I think that would have been so cool and made everybody want the CE because as it is now, the CE just doesn't stand out nearly as much. Jagger, what's up, brother? I love you. I love I love our back and forth. I look, it it's not about cheating with the coin door, man. Wait, what I what I've discovered, what I was just trying to discover is like what's in this game codewise, and there's not that much. A mistake I think that they did with Sonic 2, Jerger, is like, and they they made this mistake with G&R, and they made this mistake, I think, with Rick and Morty. I don't think all those levels should be selectable right away. It's the same way I don't think Guns and Roses song should have all been available right away except for patience. I don't I think it's a mistake. H how is it that you don't have levels like you you should have a few of those levels that you need to unlock in a fun way. Yeah. Joerger like you hit it like I we look I think Don said it best to me and and Don sorry if I shouldn't have said this but he's like he's like Sonic is like it's like he's like it's like a fun ski ball game in a in a in a Dave and Busters you know it's like you you walk up to it it's fun it's different it's a unique pinball experience but man like you know it's like but think about like owning a ski ball machine in your house and and I think that's the that's going to be the hurdle for people with Sonic is is this I is this enough to own because I think you can it's like Elton was a lot like that. Like you can kind of experience it all on location but you know I I do think Elton is a better shooter than Sonic for sure. And I think Harry Potter is the best shooting JJP game of all time. Harry Potter is one of the best shooting pinball machines ever. And I like saying that. I I I I'm absolutely, you know, there's things about Potter I might have done a little bit differently, but it goes without saying that when you jump on a Harry Potter, it's kind of a magical pinball experience playing it. And you know, I would have liked there to have been maybe a few more like wow mechs in the game and the ball do something magical like disappear and teleport and like fly around, but you know, it's hard to sort of knock that game. It's like hard to knock Godzilla. It's hard to knock Jaws after, you know, it's like there are just certain games where anyone who's criticizing them really hasn't spent much time on them, you know, and then there's games where that are just divisive. And I think Sonic's going to be a divisive game. I think some people are going to love it and enjoy the the uniqueness of it. I think other people are going to be like, "Ah, next. It's not the like Universal Goat that I thought it was going to be." And again, I do think it feels a little bit more like Black Knight on steroids than it does like Sonic, if you will. And that's again like it's interesting because you can layer in all those Sonic elements but I don't know if they come together like when I think Sonic I don't think like upper playfield and like you know like there's not enough Sonic in it. I I mean that like you take away the loop-de-loop and then you're just bashing Eggman. But like I I love this. I actually think the slings underneath on the lower platefield by the Eggman like battle arena. I think that's the most Sonic thing in the game in terms of like that like the chaos of Sonic. But, you know, and and as I even as I when I talk about Sonic, it's it's and I hope you can feel the balance of my feelings on it. Like, there's some stuff that's super cool. There's some stuff that like, you know, I think needs to be developed more software- wise. You know, I feel the same way about um, you know, Pokemon. And I I it's still a fun game to shoot. It's very simple. It's very basic, but Pokemon has no soul and spirit in it right now. And I think that's the same thing with like Sonic is like the game needs to awaken more on the code w in the code area. Need it needs the spirit and the fun to come through more. I think they'll get there. I do. Um I think both games will eventually get there. I just worry in the modern pinball world where like 15 games come out a year. I think a lot of people are just tired of these games being released and there's so much missing from them. I I think everybody's over it. I I think to me that is the defining experience everybody's having now. I am tired of buying new inbox games where so much of the game is not there on day one. It was different when it was like only three games a year, you know, or three manufacturers a year. The problem now is it's like the delays are getting longer with the software. Stern is just pumping out games. Um, sleigh ride pin transformers is spectacular. You know, look, I I I am not doubting how awesome Transformers is from a software standpoint. And even, you know, people like the unique layout. I just, man, I just, it's my favorite. It's my childhood dream theme from a toy perspective. And I just can't get over Optimus. I just can't get over it. To me, it's like a It's like someone keyed my car, right? I couldn't drive around with a car that even though the car is like almost it's almost all there, right? It's like someone and I just can't get over it. Did Steve agreed to do Sonic and Elton to get Top Gun? Um, I don't know, man. I don't I don't think uh Tom Cruz is available, so I don't know how you do Top Gun without him. Does that make you feel any different? Um, so I um, yeah, man. I like But here's the here's the thing. Transformer sales are abysmal. I I Stern didn't make a thousand of those less. They never made a thousand John Wake's. like when the orders aren't great and and Jerger will know this too like they probably only made like 300 John Wake's like maybe 500 at most no way a thousand you know Stern you know Stern Stern knows exactly what the orders are and and they you know they that's why you see like premiums and pros right away of Transformers So, are you guys ready on Thursday to hear what the next game is from Barrels of Fun? I'll say this about it. I think a music pin is a big mistake for barrels and I think it's a big mistake just because I think we're just inundated with music pins and and I think it's just like I think everyone's just like tired of like another music pin and barrels also to me feels more like a campy kind of Cracker Barrel Muppets Labyrinth Winchester Chester, you know, like like I don't know, man. Like I feel like Barrels is the kind of company that would make a game that's like based on like ancient Egypt, you know, like the Ten Commandments, Moses Ramsy's. I feel like Barl's Moby Dick, you know, like they like they I think they could ro they could take something and romanticize it, but going the music direction and pulling that lever that is just a tired overdone. I I just think that's a stern move. the Mummy, you know, even like Dracula, like, you know, I know that that's what Brian Eddie is gonna do at Stern, but to me, Frankenstein, you know what I'm saying? It's like to me, Barrels is a company like like that just should be doing that kind of stuff. And for them to do what they're about to do feels off. It just feels off for them. And when you hear what it is, uh, I let's just say this, I can't wait to see the reaction. I think it's gonna probably disappoint more people than it excites, but it and it feels so David Vanz to pick this theme because I just think like and again I don't want to give it away, but like there's just like I think in the music theme space there's a difference between like commercial success and cool, right? And so like and some things were cool in their moments, but they didn't age well coolwise. And maybe they did, but you know, there was but there was just like in in the music space like cool and being authentic versus being more like manufactured coolness, you know, like I don't know. We're going to see. We're going to see what the reaction is. It is going to be Thursday at 8:00. I I'm guessing they're going to scoop me because they don't want Canada to control any of the narrative and the leaks and the mysteries. But um but I don't think they're ready quite this week. And look, if they scoop me, I don't really care. Like as I as I say to people all the time, it doesn't make me get more subscribers. Like I I'm at 716 or something like that. My goal is always to get to 800. You can give the gift of Canada to friends, but it it doesn't matter to me because see here's what happens. Like I could lose 10 people, right? And then Iceman could donate $100 a month and he that's and I'm making more money with one Iceman doing that than 10 people leaving. So it's going to be like really interesting. Brady Bunch. I don't know. Like I um I feel I feel fatigue, man, coming. I feel there's going to be there's going to be a crazy fight to get Back to the Future. I was just talking to Barry this week. Um I'm excited for Back to the Future. I'm excited because I can get an SLE and you can't. It's going to be a little bit of that, right? Hold on. I need to text back Melissa. Um, forgot to coin taker. Hold up. Uh, where is it? Let's do Let's take a selfie. My friend's not feeling it like It's funny. Um, where is Melissa? It's hard for me, you know, with information because, you know, everyone's like, I won't say anything. I won't say anything. not using coin digger again out on Back to the Future for that alone. Well, you know, like I got to say this, the the thing is Back to the Future is going to be one of these games where it's gonna it's going to be like impossible to get, right? Because if they do the if they do the Alice owners get first dibs, if if they fulfill that promise, I mean, you're an order on day one is is already year two. Like that's crazy. Um, you know, now Canad's not, you know, Canada doesn't have to wait online. I, this is, this is the one perk I like about the job. is Barry Melissa. Like I I'm gonna get an early SLE. Like I I'm not worried. It's going to cost me a lot. I'm not going to get a discount on one but you know, and we may do something where I get a few SLEs and we auction them off. It's going to be it's I mean that's that explain to me how that's not the most fair way to do it too, you know? And I don't mean auction them off for MSRP. I mean like like here you go and I think auction is the most fair way and you know instead of setting a price like just like let's just take them let's get five Canada games and let's auction them off. You know, it's funny is like if I say I'm doing this for charity, you guys will spend $30, 000 on each game and you know, Project Pinball like basically makes a million dollars a year. A million dollars a year, guys. Like, he's making more money than Keith Elwin. Nobody wants to say anything. I mean, I always say something about it, but like, dude, look at the look at the tax. A million bucks, bro. [screaming] Whoa. I don't know what's happening outside that door. Um, have you guys had, you know, I I've been I've been saying about Turner, man. I love like the whole I I love angry Chris Turner. When I hear stories where he like gets mad, I love it. I I want more angry Chris Turner in the world versus the like, you know, we're listening to the people. We're just happy to be here pouring the foundation. You'll get your Yukon Yeti in two and a half years. [snorts] It is what it is. You know, the Chris has been transparent about like what the production he wasn't he didn't say what the production schedule was right away and now, you know, I think I think people ordered and didn't realize. Look at Azie just sent me a picture from the gym. He's in a class with a bunch of bad asses. That's amazing. All right. Where did it go? Where did you go to? Um, I will hit the gym after this. I That's every Saturday I go to the gym after my Saturday morning spectacular. I do triceps and biceps and abs. Angry Chris Turner is amazing, right? No. I've heard like I've heard some stories where like if people don't set up his game at the shows like he wants like he he's not there's a little jackal and hide in him there isn't everybody um you know I don't know man like people releasing games eight months before they go on the line is I I don't know [gasps] you know I I don't get it. I I don't get it. But and the fact that he still is ma he still manages to find buyers with that sort of strategy. Let me ask you guys a question. Where's the Dune Topper? Anyone know? Supposed to be out in August said in two weeks. Where's the Dune Topper? Have we even seen a prototype of it? Dune production's done. 700 people own it. Where's the topper? It's on Arachus. I I I I just Where is it? How many Winchesterers have to be made? Where is the last Alice? I don't know. I'm not taking the last Alice. Where's the Alice topper? Yeah. I don't know, man. That whole thing was a nightmare. That that whole topper gate with Alice. They're on like 200 to 500 Winchesterers. See, here's what I would be a little worried about. If if Barrels releases its next game like soon and they've got 300 more, like I do feel like cash flow is an issue. Like, you know what I'm saying? They're they they so there's going to be 700 limited edition of the next barrels game before the barrels with Killian. Just come in here buddy. What's the matter, Kill? What's the matter? I love my You got to love your kids' names. Like I love when they Cassie and kill it. Like they just hearing them scream. Um yeah, the D and D topper is another one, man. It's like I there's no excuse for that. Stern accessories taking over like a year or two years to come out. I'm I'm Remember the Star Wars topper and then it came out. It was so bad. The I I don't know, man. I I think there's a lot of really bad like issues when it comes to manufacturing delays and consumer timelines for things and the the lack of communication. Like why do none of us know what's up with Pokemon code? Why? six months of owning a product and we have no idea what the story is. Like they can't do a seminar, they can't do a Facebook live, you know? I don't know about you, but I'd rather hear from Stern what's up with Pokemon versus watching two dudes squeegee cabinet artwork onto a Transformers Pro. Okay. Not not not convincing me. All is good over there. I bought your previous game and it's incomplete. Well, that's the thing, you know, that is, you know, when you start taking deposits on the next game when you've got half of the game on the line to build, you know, it's an it's it's an issue. Well, silence also just creates disappointment. And you know, when you're not I keep saying this. Pokemon in Pokemon code being not good is hurting Sonic sales. You know what I'm saying? Because when you buy a game and the experience is like not great, it actually chips away at your overall enthusiasm to buy another pinball machine. I I mean that like the worst thing that could happen to Sonic was Transformers and Pokemon being like like disappointing cuz it's it's an overarching feeling you get like I'm I'm like I'm tired like I don't want to go through this again. I I don't I'm not I don't have faith or confidence anymore in this industry because of the way, you know, I've been disappointed now two games in a row and you're kind of like, I'm good. It's summertime. I'm going to use the money. Like Don just took his family on an amazing vacation instead of buying a Sonic. I just spent $15, 000 new pinball machine. It's like I'm good. And again, I keep saying like thou thou who waits to November and takes the Canada challenge to not buy any new box until November. That means don't buy a deposit on a barrels game. It means don't run at Fallout right away. It means don't run at these games. You will thank me because November is the sweet spot. you will have an opportunity to get a Goonies, a Back to the Future, and then everything else. Fallout Transformers for much Transformers LE for like 10 grand or less. Sonic CES won't be going for 15. Trust me, they just won't. It just doesn't have that kind of demand. Like, you literally dealers will make you a deal. So come November, you know, you're gonna have and and the good thing about November is you will know by then if even if you want a Pokemon elite, I think they're going to be 10 grand soon. Like there there is no nothing is special, baby. 10 grand is a lot of money in the world to a lot of people. You can get a car. that Fiat tool or whatever it's called the the rope doors. It's a golf cart for comm but I can get a vehicle for the same price of a pinball machine. [snorts] And have more fun in it. I guarantee you. Um gang, we're almost at time. It's been a great show. I hope you guys had fun on today's show. I had a lot of fun doing it. Um it's going to be a fun week. Get ready for more shows. Get ready for the um the Thursday evening only on Patreon Live in which you will hear what I'm hearing is the next Barrels of Fun theme. You know, I' I've been thinking a lot about like, you know, the 700. He's going to say there's only 700, then there's additional reserved games that people can order. I don't think I just I don't even think he's I don't know if he's going to hit the 700. Now, he may, but he's going to have to show some pretty damn spectacular gain because it's not going to be um and you know, music fins are hard because like when you think about a musical act, all right, let's take one. Let's take an example of one that's a big act that and I'll just I said it's not I'll say this right now. It's not I already said this. It's not oasis, right? So take away if if you were to make an Oasis music pin, what would the world under glass be? Like is there a wonder wall? Well, what what is that? There's not even like a a visual wonder wall in any music video. So what you know that's the problem with music pins is for the most part there's just not there's just not a visual identity to that world that like you know two brothers fighting. Yeah be like a boxing ring. No seriously like how about and queen same thing right? Like Led Zeppelin same thing. Like there's just Foo Fighters. The reason Foo Fighters worked so fun because it was like it was like Foo Fighters and Scooby-Doo combined, you know? They turned like Foo Fighters into the Scooby-Doo crew like solving mysteries, you know? Like that's why it was like fun. Iron Maiden. Iron Maiden has a very visual identity that, you know, I think could have gone even further. Guns and Roses is stunning and you know was the first ever true like like you're playing the songs like that like you know Guns and Roses succeeded in in creating that. No other music pin was like that [clears throat] before and and has been since Elton John I think obviously Elton at the piano right it's the major mech in the game. I think where Elton John where the code lets down that game they they should have made it so like it really feels like he's playing that song during each song and had more moments of wow where there's like a spotlight on him just on him at the piano and and you know they don't do enough of that. It's all just lit up all the time. Um, so I, you know, look, I think it's going to be a an interesting So, here's the thing, too. It's like, you know, I got, did you guys get the email like barrels is going to the reserve party? Like I I' I've been telling you since the moment it dropped. The problem with the Barrels Reserve program is it is it's all it's all just David reacting to the fact that he's not seeing any of the money on Winchester that it's all the values going to the secondhand owner and he he it's killing him. He's seeing dudes get $10, 000 almost profit on every game sold right now. And he's probably I I I making at most 1, 000 to 2, 000 a game at most. I think he's probably breaking even. Problem is he's selling these games through distributors. If you're only making 525 total units, why would you give a distributor a cut on a game that is sold out in two days? Well, you know what I'm saying? Like, you're making the distributors are the distributors are doing next to no work to get those games sold. If there's any issues with the game, I mean, what is the distributor doing? just calling, you know, they're just a middleman to getting the game fixed. You don't need them. They're the customer service at Barrels is great. They'll pick up the phone. They'll help you walk through any issues. They'll send you out a new mech if something's an issue. You know what I'm saying? You don't need like it's just it's David must be looking at the numbers and realizing we need to do something different. Like we we like why are we like what is this? Now, the reason I don't like the barrel reserve program right because it's like it's here's what's happening. It's a great idea if it was in place before Winchester came out. It's a bad idea with what he's about to release. And he's probably doing it now. Maybe not even to catch the additional revenue on the next game. is probably for like when he does have like He-Man or GI Joe or you know something more theme something that's going to create more of a frenzy. My worry with barrels is to simp I he can't afford another miss. [clears throat] There's no way you know Dune Dune was another financial miss like and so you know and David needs Canada. It's just that simple then. And again, but yes and no, right? I'm gonna play devil's advocate because I never would have been like, "Yeah, Winchester." But here's the thing, and I've been saying this for months. Winchester is his ultimate blessing and curse. Because as I I keep saying, when you hit a home run by accident and then you sign a contract to be a home run hitter, this is the problem. I think and I I've been saying this is that Winchester will mentally mess with their heads about what's the right move and that's why going to like the stern playbook of like you know a music pin it it's just not it I I don't get it well turn they all need me they all need me all need me now it would be so much fun to be a marketing CMO at one of these companies Um, nobody who's running the marketing at a pinball company right now actually worked in marketing. You know, it's funny you literally have marketing departments and people that have never had a real marketing job. And like the problem is is when you when you when you've done nothing but pinball marketing, you almost don't you've almost been trained how to do it all wrong because pinball is kind of a little bit of an upside down industry where like people idiotically people make idiotic decisions left and right. You got to understand that, you know, it's like it's like and again that's why Win like the the fact that Winchester's Mystery House has way more demand than Dune or Avatar even really when you think about it like as crazy but it makes sense if you know you know if you know how this community operates. This is why when I when I talked to Seth and talked to Gary, I knew I knew it. The moment Seth went with an outside of the pinball industry CMO, Stern was going to make terrible decisions. I knew it. You You don't even know the guy's name. You haven't even heard from him. I heard he's a cool dude, but again, where is he? He doesn't He's not He's not interviewing you guys. He's not doing focus groups. [snorts] I'm not saying I would have made a huge impact at Stern because I don't know how immovable that company is with its decision-making. But if I had power to make decisions there, I absolutely would have kept Stern sailing in in a much better way than they are now. They they have done zero moves to restore the faith with the collectors. They have continued to like mess up theme integration on a level that is like it it's inexcusable and they have still been terrible at communicating with people that have spent millions of dollars on their products what what's coming and transparency doesn't require anything other than to be transparent like I you know like just tell us like what did you submit to the Pokemon company for approval? You can you can say those things. What is going on with the potential issue of using a Pokédex? Like why is this all h like a guessing game, a headscratching moment? How come the Pokemon topper is out and D and D topper is not out and it's been two years? You know, these are all things that like erode away your customer satisfaction. And if you keep eroding away your customer satisfaction, you eventually lose customers and they will never come back. Especially in a marketplace that has 13 other companies waiting to take those people's money. You know what I'm saying? Like Seth, you get it, right? You're we are not going to survive going cheaper at volume. If we go that route, if we start aiming for Costco and cheaper at volume, if we think that's the only pathway to growth, we will go out of business. we will destroy the perception of value of this brand. It's already not good that these other competitors of ours are giving customers way more for the money and and satiating them with better themes and better mechs and better art and better this and you know why is it that we sell $15, 000 all-in game and the coin door is not even powdercoated. They notice these things. If Spike 3 is being perceived as being cheaper, not better. When you look at the Transformer light show and put it next to a Jersey Jack game from a decade ago, why does the Jersey Jack game still look better than our modern 10 years later game? Lights are cheap. Why haven't we innovated anything in that department that is exceeding our customer expectations? And I think that's the thing when I think about Stern right now, I don't see anything exceeding expectations. And now the expectations of what people expect from Stern are low and they are going below those low expectations. Optimus not transforming is going below the expectations of it's another stern Pokemon code having nothing in it six months after release. And now you know again if you do this when we have the biggest market share in the industry and we have 80% of people we are when we lose 10% of our customers faith and loyalty we are we are significantly hurting and especially with what this factory requires of us. We need to exceed expectations. We need to galvanize, not galvatron, galvanize our our base in a way that we're not doing. We've made every you know what the problem with Stern is like they've overemphasized the Stern army. They've overemphasized like insider connected. They've overemphasized like location, location, location. And like the marketing people over there are all like IFPA like tournament like location like that they're marketing part they're marketing to the location people when 80% of their business is home buyers. Thank you for the money chance hammer. I appreciate it brother. You know what I'm saying? That is a colossal mistake. Every move Stern has made home like the loca the operators the home buyer has been left behind when you started making additional less. What? And think about how idiotic their marketing was. If we're gonna do this, should we not like offer these only to people that have like the original Ellie that that we said we were never going to make another one of? Should we start there? You know, when I asked like Seth a very simple question and George and Gary were all in the room. Have you ever done anything special for a home buyer that has spent a quarter million on your product? Have you ever done anything special for them? And they just looked at me. And [snorts] that assumption that these gentlemen will keep buying from us, that is crazy to me. A pinball company should study the book unreasonable hospitality. A pinball company, all pinball companies should strive and dealers and dro same thing. They should anyone in the service industry of serving you that that where where the customer experience is paramount to profit. Not the pro the product is half of it. The customer experience is paramount. You are selling an unnecessary toy to rich, bored men who will leave and go elsewhere with their money if they feel unsatisfied. It is that simple. This would be meeting number one with the freaking, you know, the investors. You know, again, you don't you don't get to see me bake in my day job. This is meeting number one with the people that want their loan paid back. If we're going to I want to get you the most money and the most growth, we need to start thinking differently. Okay? And if we don't start thinking differently and we don't start understanding that, we're done. they will go elsewhere. We don't have the best meals anymore. We don't we, you know, when you study unreasonable hospitality and the story of 11 Madison in New York City that went from 50th in the world to the number one restaurant in the world. When you study why they realized that the food there's only so much you can do, right? that that at a certain point food is diminishing returns. There's only so much you can do with truffles and oonie and duck and sauces and butter and bread and but the way we're going to get the number one restaurant in the world is through the service that we will create an experience that our customers will never forget and they will tell other people that. and we will treat those other people and we will exceed everybody's expectations about what a dining experience can be. When I went to 11 Madison when they were, you know, serving duck and not stupid vegans when we went to that. All right, we're back. When I went to 11 Madison, you know, I will never forget what they did. In fact, I'm going to show you what they did. Okay, hold on. This is going to be worth it and then I'm we're going to wrap this show up because we're way over. But you guys love this stuff. All right, here we go. Hold on. Hey. [screaming] Why are you How are we? What happened? [screaming] Hold on, Cass. Hold on. Oh my god, everybody's crying. [crying] They were next door crying. Um, Killian wants to go to bed. Um, all right. Real quick. So, so we're at 11 Madison and the meal is amazing and you know obviously it's Michelin star at 3 and then and we have uh dessert and they um when you leave they give you cookies in a jar And you know, and and when you're at a three Michelin star restaurant, you know, like the pastry and the chef is on the same level as the main chef and it's like the desserts are the best in the world and cookies are incredible, right? Great way to end a meal. And again, what what part of a meal will you always remember, right? Probably the end. How the end happens right? And so, you know, they give us a jar of cookies and then they come back with another jar and they said, "You know, we really think it would be nice if you gave Bubba some treats as well." And so, this is what the jar looks like, right? They have the 11 the logo of 11 Madison like here, like the different seasons. But what they did was they Googled us and that's how they knew we had a bulldog named Bubba. And they saw photos of Bubba online. And they had an artist hand paint Bubba onto the dog treats that they had for him. This is a restaurant that I'm eating at for the first time. What have you done for customers that have spent a quarter million dollar on your product? Nothing. So when I watch Stern Pinball not only do nothing extra and above and beyond, it's because you don't have a mentality over there to strive for excellence and go above. We you don't And here's the thing about excellence. What did this cost? And this was for a meal, just just a$1, 000 dinner. And you're asking these people to spend 10 to $13, 000 on a game. I will never spend $13, 000 in my life at 11 Madison, but I will never forget this. And whenever I talk to people about where they should go eat or a story of like what what has ever happened to you, we have three meals a day. This meal stays with me every moment. It doesn't leave moments of wow or go beyond just the physical pinball machines we make. Go hire a CMO that doesn't understand that. Go try to make profit by cheapening the brand and selling at volume. I guarantee you there's more money to be made at Stern in acting the opposite, but they're lazy cutting corners and cheapening the thing and they think that's the way to go. So yeah, and I and I mean this when I say this, it only takes a few moments of surprise and delight to create a connection. So let me give you an example. If Stern Binball LA, imagine if they launched a new game by sending it to one of their best like what if they did this is our best customer and they just sent the game to them and said hey we want you to have this after all the years of being you know instead they're like literally you know what I'm saying like you're giving these dealers you're making them like wealthy when You should be you're rewarding because that's the thing about Stern. All they care about is their dealer network and keeping them happy. You know that's they don't the customer is not you and me. The customer is Zach Manny. The customer is Melissa. The customer is Frank. The customer is Mike Automated. The customer is Mad Pinball. That's you know that's that's the problem. That be like 11 Madison doing this for the vendor that drops off the napkins, doing this for the vendor that supplies the venison. That is the number one problem with Stern. They c they don't consider us the C. We're the customers. You haven't done anything for us. you you're doing it for the people that are making a margin by just dropshipping these like wake up. Wake up. Nobody wants to say this stuff. It's just it's so clear. You're you're you're operating like it's the 1980s where we needed trade shows before the internet. We needed dealers and dros to find the customer. We know exactly who they are. We know exactly where they live. We have more information on our customers and we're doing nothing. We're giving all of the benefits to dealers. That is dumb. Wake up, Stern. I know this is like at the end of the but this is like as a marketer, you're getting the marketing me now. Like what are we doing? What are we doing? And we know why they do it this way. Because all they want to do is get all those orders in in one week and then it's the dealer's problem to find the customers. Again, it's a bad business model. It's a bad business model. You know, when you have a business model like that, that'd be like 11 Madison. You know, those are the restaurants that have people outside the restaurants WITH THE FOOD ON the trays trying to beg you because they've already ordered the inventory. They ordered the produce. So, they got to be on the trays with the little toothpicks to get you to sample it to try to get you to buy it because they've already bought the stuff. They got to try to create the demand. Like, that's the Now you're cheap. You only see a good restaurant doing that. You see a good restaurant out on the street with a tray trying to get you to go inside. You know, you see a good restaurant that has to put the the pictures of the food outside the restaurant. Is that the kind of place you want to eat? That's what Stern Pinball's become. I'm not even blinking. So smart, man. It's like it's like this dude's work in marketing for 25 years. This dude went to boarding schools, private educations back in the 90s, baby. Before the internet, right? We actually had to go into the room and have debates. We actually had to read the book. We actually had to write the reports. We actually had to like engage. Stern, I just gave you a 101 on what you need to do. And it's not just for all these companies, you know, David Benz, like that's why the barrels reserve program, I look at stupid, stupid. We can see right through it. If you really wanted to do something right, David, it starts with making the right decisions internally. You know what I'm saying? Like you didn't do any market research to land on Dune. None. If you had surveyed if you had surveyed the very people that you need to sell to. So what did how did you get that wrong? Just your gut. Your gut stinks. Do a survey. How do you land? Yeah. Oh, the cruise. Like, it's just like this whole thing. It's just like you're just making up these things that you think are what people want. They It's not what they want. What they want is Fifth Element. What they want is Matrix. What they want, you know what I'm saying? It's not hard. They want the Muppet. The Muppets would out sell Labyrinth in a heartbeat. Absolutely. The Muppets's way bigger than Labyrinth, but you liked Labyrinth as a little boy, right? And then you remove the one reason why every little boy liked Labyrinth. You want to know what it was? Jennifer Connelly. Cuz every little boy, you know what? They were what what they were like fawning over. And it wasn't David Bow's bulge. We're going to make Labyrinth and leave out Jennifer Connelly and we got to sell to these grown men. What's up again? You know, it's like and see what the thing is is this is like these companies like they would want me to sign an NDA and then like I'm then I can't like this guy is just stupid. I I will make you millions of dollars. I will I look you here's the here's the funny part. Stern Pinball does not pay their CMO probably what I make. But what I would do with Stern is I would take a pay cut and have a commissionbased salary structure where like look, I get you can't, you know, dollar to dollar me. I will take a $100, 000 pay cut, maybe more, right? But I want a bonus structure based on the results of the decisions of the ideas that I implement into this organization. It's just it's just that simple because the the amount of money that these companies just like the unrealized amount of money that they are leaving on the table is insane. It's insane the amount of like additional things that you could get these people to buy whether it's merchandise or artwork or this or that. Like nobody thinks creatively at all. You had guns and roses. You had slash. You released nothing. Nothing. Where was the merch? You had one t-shirt with the lo. That was it. You've got like, you know, all these patches and the denim jacket. Like what? Wait. And you have this beautiful art package. Nothing. And then like nobody wants to hang a pinball banner in their house. We're not dealers. You know how bad it looks when people hang a banner meant for a dealer showroom in their home? Looks terrible. It's almost as bad as winning a translite. So when Stern Pinball mails out transl lights to get PE like what are we doing here? What are that's embarrassing. That'd be like Porsche mailing to to meetups, to cars and coffees. That'd be like Porsche mailing a side view mirror to the people that win the Porsche trivia contest and you get to hold up the side view mirror of a new 911. Embarrassing. I'm just tired of this industry asking this much money and being so pedestrian, in its marketing, so lazy in its creativity, and so boring in its execution and launches. And you don't you don't understand. This would be it would be a dream to control a pinball launch and show people what real creativity looks like. You you've never seen it on any launch. And I get that the Jersey Jack videos are great, but that's that's just like sure you should have that. Like that's par, but that's not a launch activation. Like let me say that word again. a launch activation that will get everybody talking even beyond they they don't get it. You know, when I went to Stern, I said, "Jaws, right?" All right. What if the first game washed up on the shores where Jaws was shot? Do you know how many media outlets I could get to write a story that Stern launches new Jaws pinball machine by washing up on shore? And that's the first look of the game. Is is it that expensive to bring the game, you know, put a little like yellow tape around it like they do when a shark washes up on? Is it that hard to think creatively? You know, when John Wick launched, I gave them the idea of going to a gun range and whoever has the best shot wins a free John Wickle Ellie. Couldn't do that. couldn't go to different gun ranges in the different cities where we have the major pinball shows and have a John Wick Ali competition. And the problem with this industry, too, is like, you know what, they don't even give themselves any room to do any fun marketing activations. Like, oh, we just got to keep everything a secret, pull the curtain off it, and then they're going to buy. Well, we're not buying anymore. And you're lazy and you're pedestrian and you don't think creatively. And you hire people from the industry who don't have any training whatsoever in marketing. They've never marketed a normal brand or or understood like how to excite communities. They literally don't know what they're doing. They don't know what they're doing. I love you guys. This industry is, trust me, they they are lucky they don't that no one's got a Canada in house because it someone would like literally a Canada in house at one of the we would run circles around everybody. Everybody like this whole like barrels leaving stickers in bathrooms like it's just so bushwack. all of it. And I I just can't wait, you know, like I I just I wish you guys could experience what true good marketing looks like and and the fun it does for the community and the memorable moments. The moments of wow should Every game should launch with a moment of wow. That is not here's the underside of the playfield. Oh, look at that bunch of servos and coils. And I'll tell you this, I would do it for free just to show giving them a taste. But no, you know, they like we know what we're doing. Let's just film the same video. Just pay Ralph in a machine and like that that'll be good enough, you know? Like that Ralph video. Yeah. I mean, I I get it. Like it's cringe. Like it's like is are they really going to do it? Does Steve even know I'm here? Like Yeah. Like what is this stuff? Like what what guys? We're in our 40s. Like come on, man. Excite people. Love you guys. Can out. New mic is amazing. Look at the It lights up the beauty of my voice. [gasps] See you guys. _(Acquisition: supadata_caption, Enrichment: v5)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-03 | Item ID: 0c0f0c76-c36c-45d1-826c-fd481257c433*