# Kaneda's Pinball Podcast Saturday Morning Spectular December 20

**Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-12-21  
**Duration:** 96m 31s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf7wuPI9ME4

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## Analysis

Kaneda criticizes Stern Pinball's recent products (Star Wars: Fall of the Empire, Walking Dead Remastered) as embarrassing and lazy, attacking accessory design choices and marketing priorities. He expresses pessimism about Stern's direction while praising Harry Potter's quality and discussing the pinball market shift toward buyers' conditions with prices falling. He also speculates about Back to the Future production constraints at Dutch Pinball and hints at future Beetlejuice availability.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is embarrassing and the company is a joke — _Direct statement by Kaneda about Stern's recent flagship release quality_
- [HIGH] Walking Dead Remastered is another flop — _Kaneda's direct criticism of the remaster effort_
- [HIGH] The market is now a buyer's market with prices crashing down — _Kaneda cites Monster Bash LE dropping from $16-17k to $9k and Jaws LE losing $1,000 in value_
- [MEDIUM] Jaws LE has lost $1,000 in value — _Kaneda observes secondary market pricing decline_
- [MEDIUM] Barrels of Fun said they were expanding to two manufacturing lines but that didn't happen — _Kaneda states he's holding them to their claims about manufacturing expansion_
- [LOW] Dutch Pinball will likely make 88 SLE for European market and 88 for US market for Back to the Future — _Franchi sharing unconfirmed information requiring verification, explicitly prefaced as 'still up in the air'_
- [MEDIUM] Alice production was only ~350 units per year, taking the run well into early 2026 — _Kaneda's analysis of production capacity and timeline constraints_
- [MEDIUM] Customers waited 7 years for Big Lebowski deliveries from Dutch Pinball — _Historical reference used to justify expectation of 5-year Back to the Future waits_

### Notable Quotes

> "Star Wars: Fall of the Empire is embarrassing. Walking Dead Remastered is another flop. So like I don't want to talk to you."
> — **Kaneda**, ~2:45
> _Direct criticism of Stern's flagship recent releases and statement of intent to avoid industry leadership_

> "I just I don't even understand like what happened, man. This is a company that used to make an effort and th this is just so lazy."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:15
> _Expression of disappointment in Stern's design effort quality relative to historical standard_

> "There has never been a buyer market in pinball. The prices are crashing back down, gang. Crashing back down."
> — **Kaneda**, ~19:30
> _Major market sentiment assertion about fundamental shift in pinball economics_

> "How you going to have a Harry Potter in your house and then walk over to like The Walking Dead and be like, 'Yeah, man. These are the same price'?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~23:15
> _Direct value comparison between JJP and Stern flagship products at same price point_

> "I think the manufacturing... Alice can't even make they didn't even make like 350 Alice's in a year."
> — **Kaneda**, ~37:30
> _Production capacity critique of Dutch Pinball's manufacturing throughput_

> "Customers gave him money for The Big Lebowski and waited seven years. So, I I think they will."
> — **Kaneda**, ~40:45
> _Historical precedent for customer tolerance of extreme delivery delays_

> "Back to the Future doesn't need a launch. Back to the Future launched when the movie came out."
> — **Kaneda**, ~42:00
> _Assertion that IP strength eliminates need for marketing execution_

> "There is no Dutch without Coin Taker."
> — **Kaneda**, ~48:30
> _Statement of distribution dependency and criticism of alternate distributor capability_

> "I'm going to do a little dealing, guys. I've already said this to you. I'm going to do a little dealing. The first five games I'm going to deal to my club members are known as Beetlejuice."
> — **Kaneda**, ~50:45
> _Hint at future Beetlejuice availability and personal distribution strategy_

> "Akira would sell like no tomorrow man... Somebody make it and test my hypothesis."
> — **Kaneda**, ~25:00
> _Strong market demand prediction for specific unlicensed IP with cultural passion argument_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Primary subject of criticism for recent product quality and design philosophy; maker of Star Wars: Fall of the Empire and Walking Dead Remastered |
| Kaneda | person | Host of podcast, industry critic and commentator with access to distribution relationships and pre-release information; drives narrative with strong opinions |
| Star Wars: Fall of the Empire | game | Recently released Stern title criticized for lazy accessory design, poor C3PO topper execution, and Expression Lighting implementation |
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | Recent Stern release criticized as another flop; backwards-compatible topper worse than original |
| Harry Potter Pinball | game | Jersey Jack Pinball title praised as aesthetic and mechanical superior to recent Stern releases despite same price point |
| Dune | game | Barrels of Fun title with poor launch execution; atmospheric game with expression lighting integration criticized; now available at discounted secondary market prices |
| Back to the Future | game | Upcoming Dutch Pinball title with speculated 88 SLE limitation per region; significant production bottleneck expected with 5-year delivery timeline possible |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Small boutique manufacturer criticized for poor launch strategy and unrealized manufacturing expansion promises; makes Dune and Winchester |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Back to the Future with severe production constraints; historical precedent of 7-year waits for Big Lebowski; dependency on Coin Taker distribution |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist/designer working with multiple manufacturers; seen Back to the Future game; praised by Kaneda for cultural understanding and aesthetic execution |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer with four titles in development simultaneously; represented positively by Kaneda as creatively ambitious |
| Alice | game | Spooky Pinball title with ~350 units produced annually; lighting system praised for seamless integration compared to Barrels' approach |
| Coin Taker | company | Primary distributor for Dutch Pinball; described as essential to Dutch's operation; investor in company |
| Flippin' Out Pinball | company | Pinball distributor not receiving Back to the Future allocation; run by Zach Manny |
| Winchester | game | Barrels of Fun haunted house game that sold out instantly despite poor theme familiarity; successful launch contrasted with Dune |
| Beetlejuice | game | Unconfirmed future title; Kaneda hints at obtaining first five units for club member distribution |
| Monster Bash LE | game | Historical pricing reference; secondary market price fell from $16-17k (COVID peak) to $9k, demonstrating market correction |
| Jaws LE | game | Recently released premium title showing $1,000 value depreciation; used as market correction evidence |
| Kale Hernandez / Electric Bat | person | Industry observer quoted by Kaneda regarding market saturation concerns about 8 new games per year |
| Akira | product/IP | Unlicensed IP pitched by Kaneda as ideal pinball theme with massive market demand; cultural significance argument made with anime cell value reference |
| Never Ending Story | product/IP | Potential pinball theme; Kaneda predicts community lacks interest compared to Akira or Goonies |
| Expression Lighting / Expression Lights | product | Stern accessory criticized by Kaneda for tacky implementation with visible LED strips; Barrels criticized for use contradicting atmospheric theme goals; Spooky's Alice praised for superior integration |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Pinball product quality decline, Pinball market correction and secondary market pricing, Back to the Future production and distribution constraints, Barrels of Fun launch strategy and manufacturing capacity
- **Secondary:** Accessory design philosophy and implementation, Dutch Pinball customer delivery expectations and historical precedent, Licensing and IP selection for future games
- **Mentioned:** Market saturation and game release cadence

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.72) — Kaneda expresses strong disapproval of Stern's recent products and strategy, though tempered by praise for Harry Potter and optimism about market conditions shifting toward buyers. Criticism is specific and detailed regarding design execution. Tone is frustrated but not hostile toward individuals, more directed at corporate decision-making.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Dutch Pinball facing severe production bottlenecks; Alice production only ~350 units annually, suggesting Back to the Future delivery delays could extend years (confidence: medium) — Analysis of Alice production rates and timeline extrapolation; historical Big Lebowski 7-year wait precedent cited as justification for customer tolerance
- **[community_signal]** Akira positioned by Kaneda as optimal unlicensed IP for pinball with massive untapped market demand and cultural significance; specific prediction of rapid sellout (confidence: low) — Kaneda's subjective assessment with animation cel value reference; challenges community to test hypothesis but acknowledges it won't happen
- **[competitive_signal]** Harry Potter Pinball establishes new quality/aesthetic benchmark at same price point as Stern machines; direct value comparison undermines Stern's positioning (confidence: high) — Kaneda compares side-by-side viewing of Harry Potter vs Stern machines in home settings, concluding Stern 'look like they cost a third of the price'
- **[design_philosophy]** Stern's side armor strategy shifted to cost-reduction model using laser-cut thematic elements on black armor vs. dynamic themed armor; perceived as cheap and mass-producible (confidence: high) — Kaneda critiques TIE Fighter side armor as lazy compared to historical Batman Batmobile-styled approach; notes it's easier to apply same black armor with different cuts
- **[business_signal]** Coin Taker established as sole viable distributor for Dutch Pinball with critical dependency; Flippin' Out explicitly excluded from Back to the Future allocation (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'There is no Dutch without Coin Taker' and clarifies Flippin' Out not receiving allocation; acknowledges Coin Taker as investor
- **[licensing_signal]** Back to the Future positioned as IP requiring minimal marketing execution due to inherent brand strength and full asset availability including Michael J. Fox involvement (confidence: medium) — Kaneda states 'Back to the Future doesn't need a launch' and emphasizes all IP assets and talent confirmed for inclusion
- **[market_signal]** Pinball market shift toward buyers' conditions with secondary market prices falling significantly; Monster Bash LE down from $16-17k to $9k, Jaws LE down $1,000 (confidence: high) — Kaneda states 'There has never been a buyer market in pinball' and cites specific price declines as evidence of market correction
- **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi identified as artist with cultural awareness and design sensibility; credited with Back to the Future artwork and appreciation for Akira's cultural significance (confidence: medium) — Kaneda praises Franchi's understanding of Akira's cultural impact and notes he's seen Back to the Future game; positions him as design authority
- **[market_signal]** Market messaging indicates games are perceived as overpriced relative to value; customer feedback through secondary market depreciation suggests $13k+ pricing unsustainable (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes market is 'basically saying we don't think your games are worth this much money' and references rapid secondary market devaluation
- **[announcement]** Beetlejuice pinball confirmed as forthcoming; Kaneda hints at obtaining initial units for club member distribution (confidence: medium) — Direct statement: 'The first five games I'm going to deal to my club members are known as Beetlejuice'
- **[product_concern]** Star Wars: Fall of the Empire and Walking Dead Remastered criticized as embarrassing failures with lazy design choices, poor accessory execution, and misaligned marketing priorities (confidence: high) — Direct negative assessment of recent flagship releases; specific critiques of C3PO topper positioning, side armor strategy, and Expression Lighting implementation
- **[product_strategy]** Back to the Future production planned for ~88 SLE per market (US/EU) with potential 5-year manufacturing exclusivity to manage demand (confidence: low) — Franchi shares unconfirmed information explicitly prefaced as 'still up in the air' requiring verification

---

## Transcript

All right. Yeah. Saturday morning. I like that you like me. You got good taste. Oh, people. I don't even want to do this on Facebook anymore. I'm just going to tell these Facebook people. Like, come on. Like, just come over. Come over to YouTube. Like, it's annoying. Why don't you have YouTube? It's better. Everything's better. The sound's better. I'm tired of whatever. We'll go here for a little bit. But I think if you're on YouTube, you should just come over, baby. Sounds better. We rocking and rolling. Let's turn off the moderation. We don't need moderation, do we? Moder moderation activity. Boom. Oh, moderation activity will not be shown. Who's going to show it? Oh, man. What a We're all We're all ready for the holidays. What's up, people? What's up? I don't know. Why do Why do I Why do I still do this on Facebook? There's no stars anymore. We raised a lot of money last weekend for Brenda's alcohol consumption and she over consumed. Ruined my Machine Gun Kelly concert. But fret not. I'm not a man that dwells in the past. I'm a man that finds solutions for the future. So, we booked we booked a trip to Ireland, baby, to see him. Dublin, baby. I don't know where I want to put this, but like I don't I don't, you know, I just I just I'm tired of looking at two screens. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. Welcome to the world's only pinball content creator that does not want to interview George Gomez right now. I just don't I have no interest in interviewing George Gomez right now. I love George Gomez. I'm not I'm not impressed by any of their recent product. I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to hear about how the sausage is made. I don't want to hear about all the challenges you face. It's garbage. It's garbage. The product is not there right now and they know it. Star Wars is embarrassing. Walking Dead is another flop. So like I don't want to talk to you. Retro Jango in the house. Drop ship baby. Drop shipping these games. Ah, you guys on Facebook, why don't you just come over to YouTube, baby? Why don't you come over to YouTube? Come over to YouTube. Sad boy in the house, baby. Always does it. Imagine making a backwards compatible topper that's somehow worse than the original. The company is such an effing joke. Stern will pander to smooth brain normies until the end of time. Yeah. You talking about the um are you talking about the Walking Dead topper? I I look look I I just I think it's uh I think the um the picture of where pinball is going in the next couple years is crystal clear and you know Stern's always going to have the volume the right the the um the product like to inbox ready to go. The problem is this. YouTube is laggy right now. Is Is this laggy, guys? Is YouTube lagging for you guys? Let me know. Let me know in the chat. Is this lag? It doesn't It's not lagging for me. Is it lagging for you? YouTube is fine. Everyone says it's fine. I don't know what you're talking about, Dan. Come on. Come on. Um, look, at least they got the Star Wars accessories. I I [sighs and gasps] So, we'll wait a few minutes, but I just want to say like I I think the C3PO topper is is just pretty pretty trash. You know what I'm saying? Like, hold on. Let me um let me share a screen on on YouTube and let's look at this thing. Let's watch the video of Stern's Accessories YouTube Stern pinball. I mean, okay, I love accessories trailer. 

 Okay, hold on. Let's share screen. From a galaxy far away to your game room, 

 we bring you the official Star Wars Fall 

 is just floating head 

 command the galaxy right from behind Stormtrooper themed shooter knob. 

 These shooter knobs and they couldn't even get the head. the look of your game. 

 You were filming this video, right? Is that Is that really Is that really the position that the Stormtroopers head should be in? Look, look at this. Wipe your off your camera lens. Oh, hold on. Is that better? Is that better, people? Oh, it's kind of dark in here now. A little light. I can't read now. Hold on. Got to increase the um the brightness. There we go. All right. Okay. Okay. So, look at this gang. Like, [sighs] Don, Don, come on to YouTube, baby. Come on to YouTube. Um, look at this shooter rod. Like, Like, here's what I don't get. Like, it's not even centered. It's off to the side. And you know, this is your marketing material. like they like I'm just tired of little Pez head dispensers being shooter rods, right? So, let's let's keep going here. 

 Knob completes the look of your game. For the premium edition, get immersed into the world of Star Wars with the cabinet expression lighting accessory with 96 intelligent RGB LEDs. The cabinet expression lighting system enables full color spectrum control. Positioned in pockets cut into the cabinet sides to provide color themed full playfield illumination. This integrated playfield lighting system is similar to custom light shows and is dynamically responsive to game events while featuring exclusive Battle of Hoth handdrawn artwork. For the pro edition, extend the Battle of Hoth theme beyond the playfield with the Star Wars Fall of the Empire inside art blades. 

 Seriously, 

 these stunning art blades feature handdrawn artwork depicting the iconic Battle of Sounds like AI 

 from the Empire Strikes Back. 

 Protect your game with the TIE Fighter side armor. 

 I mean, 

 this dramatic side armor features laser cut TIE fighters backed with foil to enhance the look of your game. Okay. I mean, seriously. Seriously, this is um what is this? Like, I just I I just don't even understand like what happened, man. This is a company that used to make an effort and th this is just so lazy. Like, and I don't even like that this is Stern's new side armor strategy. It's just cheap, you know? Instead of making like dynamic armor like Batman, right, that look like the Batmobile, instead of making armor that reflects the theme, this is, see, the reason why this is just so cheap. It means they can just take black armor and either laser cut TIE fighters or walking dead heads or whatever the theme. Like it's just looks so cheap. I I look I know I'm nitpicking here, but man, it's like what what is like what like what's going on at Stern? Like what is happening? I I wouldn't mind this stuff if if the games were much cheaper, but look, they're expensive. Let's keep going. Let's get this topper. 

 

 Make your speaker stand out with the official speaker expression lighting system accessory premium editions. 

 With intelligent RGB LED lighting, your speakers will light up and flash as you explore the galaxy. 

 They light up and flash. 

 It's fully integrated and dynamically responsive to game events. 

 To game events. 

 Oh, thank heavens. 

 Upgrade your gaming experience. C3PO inspired. 

 I'm so glad to make your acquaintance. This animatronic topper features C3PO with exclusive animations, call outs, 

 might I suggest using the force, my friend, 

 and RGB lights that react to your gameplay. 

 What's behind them? 

 This topper is compatible with Star Wars. 

 What is all that behind them? I don't know. 

 And the 2017 Star Wars game. It's like they ran. They didn't have an idea. Owners of Star Wars fall of the Empire will have access. 

 Like what what is that? Like what what is he in front of? Can someone answer me this? Like what is C3PO in front of right here? What What is that? Th Are Are those just like those look like I imperial I don't know panels. I I don't what that looks like. Darth Vader's chest or something. What is that? It's a control panel for the escape pods from the films. But what but why would he be floating in front of that? But I I don't understand like why would you have C3PO in front of that? It's supposed to be panels from that little room they're trapped in on the Death Star. It's just But gang, like my point is this. And why' they put the Stern logo on the lights? You see that? Look at the light bar. Why did they put the Stern logo on that? Like Like it's so tacky. No, I I just I I don't really understand this stuff. Like who's making the decisions over there? Like look, let's put a logo on the light strip. And look at the light. The light strips look so bad. Like why do you want to see these LED lights? Just like they don't. Stern like just doesn't get it. I don't like any like tic-tac looking light strips like this. like they they should be encased in something that doesn't make you feel like you're seeing the tic tacs of the LED panels. 

 I mean, keep going. 

 Software experience in Star Wars Fall of the Empire, the escape best challenge mode. 

 Well, this is the last time I'm visiting Vespin. May the force be with you and your Star Wars Ball of the Empire pinball machine today at sternpinball.com. 

 The fact that they're like still branding spike 3 as like a you know a thing. Spike 3, baby. Nobody cares. H nobody cares. Um, look, we all know we all know Stern's next game needs to be like, "Wow." Like, right? Like, Pokemon needs to be boom. And I'm hearing it's not. I'm just hearing it's not, you know. So, you better get your Dune orders in by December 31st or it's your last chance to get Dune new in box. Let's talk about that. Um, what do you guys think, man? Did anyone order Dune this week after that announcement? I'm just curious. Let me just ask you guys. Anybody out here, both on Facebook or YouTube, have has anybody ordered Dune after they said no more after December 31st orders? No. No. Any anyone? Come on. Somebody ordered it. Somebody fell victim to that. My dune arrived this week. Somebody. Anybody? Buler. Buler. I ordered a pizza said Franchie. You know, it's crazy when as I see now that even Jaws Ellie has now lost $1,000. Um I, you know, look, I'm very worried about St. Stern just keeps like, it's like the market keeps telling Stern what direction they need to go in and they refuse to go in it. Like the market is basically saying, "We don't think your games are worth this much money." And yet I what's their way out? Really think about it. You know, Kale Hernandez over at Electric Bat, you know, he said something to me uh this week and and he was right. He's like he's like Chris Canada. He's like there's just too many games out there. There's just too many games out there. Like the we don't need like a new expensive game every four months now. It's at the point now where everyone is just like inundated with like so many good games that what's like you just can't have like eight new pinball machines a year just keep dropping. These are not these are not video games at 80 bucks. And so now it's like I think everyone's going to just be pretty again like the only way out is if they keep bringing newbies into the hobby that are willing to buy like every new thing that that comes out. Let's talk about it. Look, I think um I think that Did you guys think I was too harsh on Barrels of Fun? You know, I always feel like they they tell me I'm too harsh on them. I guess the part I'm still confused about is how they said they were expanding their manufacturing capabilities and they were going to be ready to do two lines and now that's not the case. Look gang, I'm harsh on Dune, not as a game. I'm just harsh on Dune as being a theme that the community didn't want. And I think this is sometimes hard for, you know, people to separate those two things. It's like that that if they got the title of something that we want it more, David would have sold all thousand pretty much right away. And that's it. That's it. I I think that people just didn't want the theme. I love the new games. I have four. It makes no sense to sell one of my games to lose again. Anthony, you're right, dude. I look I just think this But no, that makes no sense. Nobody wanted Winchester, but it sold out instantly. That um brother, they absolutely wanted it. That's why it sold out instantly. You know, I I absolutely that they people wanted a haunted house game that was a world under glass and they got it and it sold out in so you can't say nobody wanted it. It wasn't on anyone's radar, sure, but people wanted it. No one No. Okay. So, nobody asked for it is different than no one wants a haunted house themed pinball machine. It's not about the theme, it's about the launch. Dune had a bad launch now. It has sold. Well, whose fault is that? Let me ask you guys that question. Whose fault is the bad Dune launch on? Why did it have a bad launch? Why? Why did it have a bad launch? Why would you work on something for so long and then you control the launch? Why did you launch it poorly? There is no excuse for a game having a poor launch when the manufacturer can control that launch. See, the the real secret gang, the real reality is blame bad launch on L. It wasn't licensing gang. The thing is this, I I did not hear from David after my last show. The thing is this, I think these companies whenever they do things poorly or like launch prematurely, it's all one and one. It's all one thing only. It's all one thing only. It's all a cash flow issue. And they can't admit it. They won't there. There would be no reason to do it unless you needed the cash there. There's no reason if you're cash flush and you don't need to rush out a game and you have more time to to bake it and more time to to do the code and more time to get the launch where you want to and also like not launch it on top of everything else. They like they were worried about remember you guys need to remember this. They were worried about Harry Potter and they were worried about King Kong and they should have let those two games come out because then there was that nice window where nothing was out and they should have launched then gang. Anyway, like look look I I just think Winchester is now the focus of the organization and the next game Well, okay, let's ask this question. Do you think the game after Winchester is Never Ending Story? Is Do you guys want a Never- Ending Story? Pinball machine. Someone Someone has to want it. See, like this is I Oh, man. Nobody wants Never- Ending Story. Yeah. Look, I I don't think people want Never- Ending Story. Goonies is different. Gremlins is different. Um, Tux wants one. Um, Well, look, a cure would be amazing. the these companies, you know how easy you know how fast 500 Akira pinball machines would sell? Like legit if you put Neotokyo under glass and got the Akira license and the movie and the soundtrack and the Akira would sell like no tomorrow man again. But don't take my word for it. What do I know? Let's make never ending story. Well, you know, Beis and Butad Stern could they Stern passed on making it now. You guys are like out of your mind. You have no idea. You have no idea Akira would sell 10 units. You You think Akira would be a slow seller? You guys don't get it. You don't get it. Somebody Somebody make it and test my hypothesis. Anyway, I'm um I want to just say this gang, like I am so happy for each and every one of us. I am so psyched for the pinball community because it is a buyers market. It is a buyer market. Like there has never been a buyer market in pinball. The prices are crashing back down, gang. Crashing back down. Remember when like MonstersL was going for like 16 17,000 during COVID? That guy's got one like 9,000. Crashing down. Jaws 12 with no plays on it. Crashing down. It's It's going to be so funny to watch what happens. And again, I think stuff like, you know, Harry Potter is going to be the new benchmark for a lot of people's collections. Potter shoots amazingly well. It's freaking Harry Potter and it's a work of art. You know, when you walk into someone's house and you see Potter pinball and then you walk over and you see stir machines look like, dude, they look like they cost a third of the price. That's the problem. You know, and and now that Potter shoots great and it's just a really rewarding pinball shooting experience. How you going to like have a Harry Potter in your house and then walk over to like The Walking Dead and be like, "Yeah, man. These are the same price. How you going to do it?" You know, look, it's so true, man. I remember when COVID hit hit. Remember like we weren't going out, we weren't eating out, we weren't traveling. I remember basically having like no credit card bill for like months. every paycheck bank. Now I feel like every time I open up my Chase account, it's like two $3,000 on something. I don't know what I do. I bought a pair of socks. $3,000, you know? Had a couple glasses of wine. 800 bucks. Like that's how it is in the world today. Potter's amazing. Potter's amazing. Absolute amazing game. And uh you know I um if it wasn't for is Akira's music even good? Hold on a second. We're going to do something right now. You guys like really don't get it. You're telling me that this wouldn't be one of the most epic moments in pinball. Oh my god. You guys like don't get it. on Facebook. Guys, come over to uh come over to YouTube, man. We're going to watch this. I'm going to make you guys watch this. And you tell me as a pinball experience, this wouldn't be amazing. If my goal was to lose my embarrassing gut and get ripped and I didn't have a lot of time, I'd do these two things. First thing, 

 I customized that bike myself. It's wild. You couldn't handle it. 

 I don't see how you can ride something crazy like that. 

 Music good or cure music. Listen to this. 

 I could. 

 If you want it so bad, then steal one yourself. Look at this. Imagine Neotokyo. This whole Neo Tokyo world under glass. Look at that. You have holograms. Imagine this under glass. You could have the lights with the LEDs and the pipes. 

 Hey, wait. 24 seconds. You got to remember that this is illustrated. Everything is illustrated. 

 This is 1986. [ __ ] 

 The music is trash. You guys are literally like what is one of the greatest creations ever. This looks worse than I thought it would. Dude, this is held up as one of the greatest pieces of artwork of all time. a single cell on a single cell from the spike is sell for $100,000. A single cell. It's one of those. Oh, why is that? Why would someone say $100,000 for a cut? You guys need to get cultured, baby. You ever heard of a machine? There it is. 

 This unit 37. You know, look, I can't I can't I can't make you guys cultured, but I can guarantee you Akira would sell easily. Anyway, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Um cause you'd rather have Berio's barbecue. Ever go to the casino? That's the market for an Akira pin. Anyway, um well, Bladeunner is just not going to happen because you can't get Harrison Ford, but um I know that like Bladeunner license, I believe Dutch has it or Melvin has it. I know that I think I think Barrels was trying to get it from them, but you know, the problem is Harrison Ford. The um you know, I do think that Barrels is probably working on that pinball circus game. And can we talk about Spooky Pinball has four titles on the line at once? Four. They have four titles on the line at once. Four. I mean, that's that's impressive. See, Franchie gets it. Christopher Franchi, I'm glad you um Christopher Franchi as an artist. See, Christopher Franchi knows the cultural impact Akira had and he understands as an artist what Akira stands for. And these, see, Christopher Franchi, these guys don't get it. And what's sad is like the amount of you that said, "I've never seen it." So, go watch it. Go watch it and understand why it has such significance culturally. Go watch K-pop Demon Hunters if you haven't seen it. The amount of like chromoginry in Pinball is amazing to me. It's like you guys like like won't listen to an MGK album if if you hear it's amazing. You won't go watch a Kira. You like you just want to be stuck what? Listening to what? Azie Osborne every day. You are too harsh on Barrels of Fun. They're a small new company compared to Spooky. Look gang, I am simply just trying to hold barrels of fun to the things they say. That's it. That's it. When When if David says they're expanding to have two lines and then they don't do that, look, I I just let me be candid here. I just want people to do what's smart. Like rushing Dune out and having a bad launch wasn't smart. Picking Dune as a theme versus the stuff Brian Savage is connected to wasn't smart. Taking pre-orders on a topper that's not going to be finished for eight months, that's not smart. Has anyone else done that ever? Like just it it just I if it's not a cash flow issue, why would you not just finish the topper before you take orders? I that's that's my only thing, gang. It's my only thing. And I I'm friends with those guys over at Barrels. I want them to be successful, but I just sometimes I'm like, "Come on, guys. Come on. Just get get it together a little bit more, man." I think Look, I'm gonna say this right now, and I've said this I' I've said this before. I would rather have a Dune than a Star Wars. I would rather have a Dune than an uh, you know, an uncanny X-Men. I'd rather have a Dune than a Walking Dead. I I actually when when you stand over the Dune with the the new Trans Light, it it's a gorgeous machine. It's a gorgeous machine and it's got the assets. It's got the music from the film. It's got, you know, it's a it's a very beautiful atmospheric game. I've I've always said that. But what makes me what makes me so like upset with them? I I mean this they never found a compelling way to introduce the game. They never showed the game in its proper light, the way it should have been shown. And that's it. And look gang, I'm not the first person to say you only get one chance to make a first impression. That's the problem. Like that phrase is true. And if you know that is like rule number one of marketing, you get one chance to make a first impression. If you put a bad taste in people's mouth, the the odds of like winning people over is much harder. So instead of like once you flopped the launch now you got like nine months of like you couldn't even sell half the allocation. Look, I I absolutely I absolutely think you know Dune is a great pickup for people um in um you know I think you'll be able to get one for like you know 9500 10 The one thing I think Barrels needs to work on is that they need to get rid of the Skittles or the tic-tac lighting system on the sides. I I think it completely like ruins the atmospheric vibe they're going for with games like D. You know what I'm saying? cuz like they've got this very beautiful organic world of Dune and then those tic tac expression lights, they they to me they they really mess up the atmosphere. They They feel very uh foreign and digital like they just feel the opposite of what you want. And I think once they solve that, I know they can. And I think Melvin's trying to give David what he has in Alice because if you look at Alice, the lighting is much more seamless and integrated. Beautiful. You You see them, man. You see them. No, you see them. You see them? It's an easy fix. It's an easy fix. Um, Tux, I'd buy a nightmare before Xmiss. Yeah. Well, yeah, of course. Zero stars, man. I'm I'm telling you, Facebook, guys, I'm about to just pull the plug on Facebook. I I don't I don't know, man. I don't know, guys. Just come over to YouTube. Come over to YouTube. It it's it's uh that's where the the party is. I mean, you're only hanging with 20 people. We have 111 on YouTube. We have such a more interesting chat going. We got Franchie in the house. Can you please share your Back to the Future info you're talking about the other day? Um I don't know if this is true or not. So, like I've got to um I've got to get some confirmation on it. But, um what I'm hearing is there will be there will most likely be we'll see. All this is still up in the air, so don't don't kill me if it doesn't happen this way. Uh there will most likely be uh 88 super limited edition games, but there will most likely be 88 for the European market and then 88 SLES for the US market and that's it. I think I think it's a smart move. I think it is a smart move. I think uh obviously they can make a lot more but having you know 88 single coin door and 88 double coin door but we'll see what happens. I mean, none of it is uh they've got time to figure all that stuff out. I know now I I know people that have seen the game and I think there's um what's a joke? Canada sucks at pinball. I'm not bad at pinball, gang. I I'm not great, but I I can play pinball. Like, it's funny to me when people are like, "You suck at pinball." I mean, come on. I mean, I'm at the stage now where I've been playing this damn game for 15 years now. I'm I can get through a game. Well, look, I think that I think that the manufacturing Let's talk about Dutch. I I think what what worries everybody and I'm I'm in the same camp as all of you. All I can go off of is the information I know. And I think Barry, what Barry's planning to do is obviously hire more people to amp up production of Back to the Future, right? So, he's got the DPX building. He's got the DP building. I think right now Alice is is not the the Alice can't even make they didn't even make like 350 Alice's in a year. Okay. So like but that is because he didn't bring on more people. I worry that if they only made 350 Alice's in a year and they're going to finish that run, it's going to take that's going to take them well into like early 2026 and then Raza because Back to the Future is not ready. Like Barry is holding on thanks to Melvin's buffer, if you will. And I just worry about what what happens then when you take orders and you get 5,000 orders and you're making, you know, 15 games a week at at best. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know how if he's going to get that up if I don't I don't know what the solve is other than charge a lot of money to minimize the demand and make high high margin on the game. Uh 100% people could be waiting years for Back to the Future, but I think Barry's okay with that. I do. I think in his head, he's okay with just making Back to the Future for the next five years and and that's it. Personally, I would I would get a little bored of that. I wouldn't want to only make the same game for five years. I would want to have more creative products in in the culture and in the market. But, you know, what are you going to do? I mean, this is this is the he's got he's got this juggernaut and it's going to keep every the line going forever. Will customers be okay with giving them 2K and waiting five years? Yeah, because you know why, JC? Because customers gave him money for Big Labowski and waited seven years. So, I I think they will. Okay, so we got a question here. My invoice for Alice is due. The tariff added an extra,100 on top of that. I'm on the fence if it's worth it. [sighs] I mean, I guess the first question is, do you want to back to the future? Because if if you don't want to back to the future, then I think um it doesn't make much sense maybe to stay in on your Alice. I think the the real golden goose is that you get Back to the Future spots first. Um, in order to make it for five years, you would have to do a great launch. No, gang. Back to the Future is is Back to the Future doesn't need a launch. Back to the Future launched when way back in 19 like what like 8586. Back to the Future launched when the movie came out. It It doesn't matter what they do. They're going to they're going to they're going to have enough of everything you want. It's going to be it's going to sell like insanity. It's got Yes. It's got Yes. Yes. It has all It has Michael J. Fox. It has Christopher Lloyd. It has everybody in it. It has everybody in it. They have all the assets. They have everything you need. Michael J. Fox is on board. It's got Franchian artwork. It's a freaking no-brainer. Yeah, it's it's stupid. I mean, Franchie's seen the game. You can ask him about it. Oh, JC, what are you saying, man? JC, is this JC? Are you Zach Manny? Look at Look at what he just wrote. They're going to have to work with a very trusted distributor like flipping out if they're going to What are you talking about, bro? What do you mean? Like, you think Coin Taker is going to steal people's money or Automated Amusements? I've never heard such a silly thing. Like, you're going to have to work. flipping out is not getting any Back to the Futures. I I you know, he know Zach knows that he's not getting any. I mean, he can buy them from he'd have to he'd have to like buy them from Melissa, but he's not getting any allocated to him from Dutch Pinball. So, like they're going to have to work with like look, Flipping Out does a great job with their with their customers, but he's just not getting the title. And that wasn't my decision. That that's been the decision of Dutch pimp. Also, like come on gang. It's like the money to save Dutch was invested by Melissa at Coint Taker. Why Why would you need two distributors in America for this product? Why? You don't. Have you tried to get Coin Taker to answer an email? Let me tell JC. Let me tell you something right now. Let me tell you something right now. I don't know why it takes them a long time, but I They pick up the phone. Every time I call them, they pick up the phone. Why don't you just call them? Okay, they're they're there every day. Have you called them? Yeah, there is no Dutch without coint taker. Let me tell you right now, I think Canada might have some Canada might have some Back to the Future SLES for you guys to grab. How about that? Canada coming, baby. Canada coming. Canada coming, baby. I'm gonna I'm gonna do a little I'm going to do a little dealing, guys. I've already said this to you. I'm going to do a little dealing. The first five games I'm going to deal to my club members are known as Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice. What if you're able to buy them? All right. Well, maybe I maybe I can help Coint Taker with their customer service a little bit. How about that? I'll get I'll get you I'll respond to all your emails. Look, I agree. There's no excuse not to get an email response. It's not like the these people are getting thousands of emails a day. Where are the five allocations for Beetlejuice? Well, we're getting games 501 through 505. Um, but I haven't opened up your ability to get them yet. Are you guys Don't worry. Don't worry, they're going to Canada Club members. Um, no, it's not going to just be like first come, first serve when there's only five. We're going to have to figure out a fair way to give someone the the privilege to get one at MSRP, but you know, I mean, I wanted to just auction off one to give everybody a chance and and that and everybody just went crazy. You like you guys like literally you went nuts on me. Like it's it's incredible. Fizzy, what's up, brother? You know what? You know what I'm I'm getting a sense here. Like some people Melissa's great. Some people they need the help on their C. I I will say this, this is all good feedback for them. And you know, I think I'm I'm going to talk to them about this as well because I think one of the things that you should never have is this level of inconsistency with your customer service. I I agree with you guys. I'm not going to sit here. If you've had a bad experience with with a distributor and and they didn't get back to your emails or you felt like they didn't take care of you the way you want it, I'm not I will never be like, "You're the problem." No, the customer is always right. and and the and the distributors and dealers uh have a responsibility to make sure their customers are happy. I mean, it's just that simple. And if you've had a bad experience, you know, there's a lot of other customers out there. Yeah. I mean, I think Chris and Melissa are awesome. I mean, personally, I've had nothing but great interactions with them. Um I think they're incredible people. And you know, I think um if you didn't get a response from your email and then you called them and they didn't respond, you know, I would just say look, you know, be a little little resourceful in trying to get an answer. Um I do tend to think that I maybe sometimes they don't respond to emails on things they don't have answers to yet and they don't want to say stuff, but you know, they should still respond. Look, I I'm also guilty of this at times where like I have a few emails waiting in my Patreon and I didn't get back to people and then I'm like, "Oh man, that's not my style, but I'm not always paying attention to that because I'm usually just in the chat." Yeah, Christopher Franchi is a good judge of character now. C and Chris is just like a big teddy bear, right? I mean, come on. Um, yeah. No. So, you know, it's going to be fun what's coming down the pipeline. Anyone um Did anyone Did anybody Did anyone watch the three-hour George Gomez interview? I I just um I I just I love George. I just don't need three hours of anybody in pinball being interviewed. I just don't, you know, look, I I think George is doing a little bit of a of a damage control tour right now. And it's not even George I want to hear from. I kind of think Seth is the one people need to interview. It was at Jaime's um Jamie Bushnell's pinball show, JBS, the Jamie Bushnell show, whatever he calls it. Um the round table with Kale and and Ralph. I look I in in my opinion right now I just think that it's um it's gotten to the point where the product needs to do the talking and I don't want to hear from George about this issue or how putting flat plastics and making the product cheaper helps with the margins and that that means they're being businesssavvy. Like I just don't need to constantly hear why the product is worse today than it was four or five years ago. I mean I think that's the the only way I can look at this company is Star Wars is much worse than Godzilla and it costs more and it's gotten your new platform. I don't see Spike 3's enhancements. I don't see the value in their modern products. I think their accessory lines are overpriced and lazy. And I think they are like trying to sell a product at a price that the product doesn't deliver at that price. And that's it for me. I mean, until like I'm waiting for them to blow me away, but I think they passed on too many nostalgic themes. I think I think Jodie and whoever was doing the the licensing for them completely completely missed the mark and I think they're really um you know struggling. Yeah. But, you know, like Jaws 50th, okay, it is a great pin, but it's, you know, it it's another game that kind of still chips away at Stern just continues to burn its own customers. Like the Jaws 50th is the one to have over the LE, right? they had a create, you know, now you've got two special edition Jaws machines and and you know, it's I'm just so tired of them like burning their Ellie buyers and they did it again. Um well, Jaw I think Jaws is currently ranked No, don't get the Star Wars topper. Don't even get Star Wars. Like if you if you bought Fall of the Empire, don't just I don't know why you bought it. Why would you buy this game unless you got a huge discount on one? What What you need your head examined? I think Jaws and Godzilla are, you know, Stern's two best modern games in the last like four or five years for sure. And again, like both of them same. They have all the assets. They have all the everything you want. Well, I um you know, whenever people ask me like what Stern should I buy this year, I always say Jaws 50th. To me, that's the one they get. I don't think Stern's even mean anything anymore. I just really don't. So, Tuck said he sold his Jaws after a hundred games. Tux, are you a fan of the Jaws movie, though? I mean, Elvire is the game where there's just like so many versions of it that you you can't even like get your head around like which one is the one to have. the Spike 3 cabinet with the uh with the crappy corners and the brackets is better. Yeah, the um the Jaws software is incredible. Like they they nailed it. Can you wait until spring to get Jaws 50th or would you buy now? Risk of sellout. Um, I mean that's a good question. The next cornerstone, Eric, is Pokemon. Um, I, um, here's my thing on Jaws 50th. I don't think they're You look it, to me, it's a question of, uh, let me look real quick what if anyone's selling one for use because I I really don't see them pop up often used. And I think the most So Melissa just wrote on Facebook, "Please call me if you do not get a response via email. I try to get answered, but if you don't hear back, maybe I did. Let's see. Maybe I didn't receive it." I'm not saying I have never missed emails because I have, but please call. It's the best way to get in touch. Yeah, super simple. Thank you, Melissa. You see what I'm saying? It's like people Chris and Melissa are the best. And I I I'm the same way as Melissa. Like I miss stuff on Teams chats, on emails. I I have like 79,000 unread emails at at my job. Um I always tell people just text me, you know, it's it's my preferred method of communication. All right. All right. Hold on. Let's see. Let's do Jaws 50th. I'm I'm in Pinide Marketplace. Jaws 50th anniversary premium. All right. Here we go. All right. So, here's one in box 93.99. Let's see. Is that a LE? Let's see. Let me share a screen with you guys so you can see what I see right now. All right. So, what what it was? What? 9500, right? So, here's here's one in a box you could probably get for nine. Um, let's go. I think this is an Ellie. This guy has it as 50th premium. What custom? Oh, no. It is a 50th. Wow. He like, "Who would do this? Why would you take the Jaws 50th red armor and put custom Why would you do this? Why would you try to make it look like an LE? I don't um Hold on. Let's go back. Oh my god, this is so funny. Look at this one. Jaws 50th with Jaws Ellie Playfield. You know why that is? You know why that is? I'll tell you why that is. I'll tell you what this guy did. What he did was he loves Jaws so much. He has the LE that this guy bought the 50th to swap in the nicer playfield into his LE and then put his LE and why would anybody buy this? Like and that's why he's only asking 8,000. Yeah, that's so funny. I wouldn't want it. Why? I I just I wouldn't want it. I wouldn't I wouldn't buy that. That's just such a weird Frankenstein game now. Like to me, I would it would always distract me having that says sale pending at eight. I mean, that's an ex, you know. So, basically, swap playfields for $1,500. Yeah, JJP's tech support is great. Um, I'm going to be seeing some of my friends at JJP over the next couple of days, in a few days, and I'm excited. Any questions you want me to ask of JJ Leadership Gang? Yeah. I mean, look, I I've had times where I've had some issues with my game and and like Eric will call me up, Eric Miner, like right away. Um, and I I always found that to be kind of incredible. Yeah, I think Sonic will be Steve's best game. Will they bring back the Scramp? What's that? Sonic is based on the the video game, not the movies. I already know that for a fact. Arcade edition for Sonic. Okay, I can ask that. More songs for Elton. When are they going to release their insider equivalent? Tell them to keep the great games coming. Sonic over Pokemon. So, when I when I talked to them last and um we're having some 21-year-old Japanese whiskey and this gentleman looks at me and he's like, "Chris, I I just saw Steve's latest and it is it's his goat." And just the beaming smile on his face. And I was like, "Well, do you care if I tell people he's Sonic?" He's like, "I don't care." Like, it's going to sell like crazy. All right. Cool beans. You know, I always say this. There's never a bad time to release a great game on with that's a great theme. There's never a good time to release a bad game. How is JJP FEC setup selling? What is that? What's FEC? Well, I don't look I don't think JJP has any um I I don't know. I think you guys the insider connected stuff. I don't think there's like an urgency to family entertainment center. Is that like the redemption ticket accessory that I'm sure Jack talked them into. that that it makes no sense. Yeah, you know, I love Jack, but some of his ideas are so like 19 like 89. Like, gang, I don't think they care about that. Michael, what's up, brother? Come join us. YouTube, Facebook. Um, I love Jack, but man, he's got some bad ideas when it comes to modern marketing of his product. Um, you don't think Sonic's going to sell on theme alone? I think you're I think you're wrong. I don't like it's not just theme alone. I think it's going to sell because it's going to be Steve Ritchie's coolest pin. Like, I think you're wrong, man. Like I think Sonic Sonic is a pinball, bro. He's more of a pinball than Mario is. The pop bumpers, the speed, the loop-de-loops. It's like It's like literally pinball in video game format. Did you see the spooky light upgrade? Yeah, the strip of lights in the back of the game for like $89. Yeah, I saw it. I saw it. Um I'm not in love with the light strip back there. You know, it's in Predator. It's like staring you right in the face. I um again, like I think you can have better GI lighting in a game and not have a dark game. Like I think Evil Dead's like really dark for people. I think you can figure out a way to have better GI instead of that. To me, that's a little like it's a little jarring to have that light strip facing the player. So, I have a Anthony said I have a data east Star Wars, not one dimple on the playfield. Why can't we get better playfields? Yeah, but here's the thing, Anthony. I bet the clear coat on your Star Wars DE is almost there's probably like no real clear. It's just kind of rougher art. You know, the surface run your hand over a Data East game and and it's there's no dimples, but there's no clear like what's dimpling is the thick clear coat. It's not the wood dimpling, it's the clear. Um, bro, the Kong Topper is half cool. The light on Kong is almost non-existent. You know, I I still see people being like, "Kong is amazing. Kong Kong Kong." Dude, great. I have friends picking up Kong's now for like nine. It's great. I'm glad I'm glad another Stern Ali that lost $4,000 in value is is giving people excitement. I'm sure Kong is awesome. Then why don't people then Juicy then why is it tanking in value? This is my question. Let's stay on juicies. If Kong is awesome, why is it tanking in value? Let's just stay on this topic. Let's just let's just let's just unpack this. If Kong is so good, why is it tanking in value? Why haven't the sales been amazing? What happened? What happened? No, but the problem gang is when you, you know, Stern's value proposition, their three- tiered model. I I think this is what people don't get about marketing. They're the value of all of their models is contingent on the Ellie holding value. You know what I'm saying? Like if the LE doesn't hold value, it doesn't stabilize the premiums and the pros. And once you gota it's like a house of cards. Once that LE starts crashing down, it's it's slamming the demand for the other two down as well. And And this is what you know, Stern geniusly implemented this three- tiered model so many years ago. And they also stupiditly stupidly stupidly they stupidly they stupidly they stupidly destroyed their own model. Like they they it had to be the dumbest move ever for them to not care take care of their own business model of value, right? It's not even about the games. is like if we don't hold this up here, the rest of it sinks and that's it. When the LED comes crashing down, it crashes through people's demand to even own. Because that's the thing, like as buyers, like again, you'd have to be an idiot or just so rich that you would spend $13,000 on something that will be nine in six months. You know what I'm saying? Like, you just have to be an idiot. And last time I checked, like rich people don't become rich because they idiotically overpay for everything. And that's the thing is now Stern's entire sort of the optics around all of their three- tiered model is that new inbox prices of these games is an idiotic purchase. And if you buy at these prices, you are absolutely going to get hosed. And if you had just wait it, you can get such a better price on all of it. And the thing is is Kong came out and it did have like Rainbow puke playfield. All the art looked the same on every model. Like they didn't differentiate enough. And then instantly it's like, well, I don't I don't want to take the risk. I don't want to take the financial risk. No one was saying the game wasn't fun, but I don't want to lose this much money. And this is the part that Stern Pinball has not had to deal with. They have not had to deal with like catastrophic secondhand value losses that they've been handing their customers now for five years. Ever since they went to $15,000, it's been like four years now. Ever since they went to 13,000, but you fully accessorize a Sternle LE, you're at 15 grand. Let's Let's not let's not pretend you're not. Ever since they handed the catastrophic loss in price to their own top of the these are the creme de la creme like buyers. I mean imagine getting first class plane tickets and your food sucks. Like you lo you know and and people back in coach are actually getting a better experience. The Stern Pro is holding value better than the LE. That was never the case. The fact that they still can't figure this out. the fact that they still can't figure out that we have a problem, Houston, if our cheapest product is holding better value than our most expensive product. How How do they not get that? And they've still not figured it out, bro. Okay, let's read this guy. Perfect day, bro. You're not wrong, but you are seriously looking at the pinball market like a commodity and trading market. You are a smart guy, but you completely missed the mark. These are leisure products. Yeah, but okay. Perfect day. Perfect day. No, No, no. Perfect day. How long have you been in pinball? How long have you been in this hobby? Because I can tell by your response, you've only been in this hobby probably the last like 3, four years. You have not been in this hobby for 12 years. Because people need cars. Cars are a necessity. How no tell me how long you've been in this hobby. Don't tell me not. Don't tell me how many years you Don't tell me not 12. How many years have you been studying the pinball market? Two. Two years. This proves my point. I love that you were like hesitant to say because you knew I was going to make fun of you a little bit. You don't know anything about the pinball market. For the majority of like people here, these were these were not games. These were not games that were like leisure items that had heavy depreciation. The only reason pinball is where it's at today is that you didn't lose a lot of money. In fact, if you bought every Stern Alle from like 20 like 16 to 2021, you made money, bro, because the the supply did not reach the demand. So like, yeah. So cool. But But Stern can't survive if people look at their products like commoditized cars that are going to depreciate significantly. You do understand this, right? That I need my car. Do you need another pinball machine? Do you need to lose $4,000 buying the next Stern LE? You obsess too much on the commodity and trading side of things. Bro, what? You've only been in this hobby for two years, man. I've been doing this show for 12. This is what I talk about. I talk about the pinball community and the pinball market, and I talk about how these products are putting a world. Dude, what do you want? What do you want to talk about? You want to talk about how to get to the wizard mode? You want to talk about the sound when you hit the spinner? When you're ripping them spinners? I don't I talk exactly about this stuff that's actually entertaining and exciting to talk about every week. There are 20 other content creators that will put you to sleep talking about how much they love how much they love figuring out the rule sets and going to tournaments, playing in leagues, winning transls. You're not You look You're not coming in with fresh eyes. You're You're coming in with no perspective. Look, I You know, bro, I've been where you are. When I started collecting arcade machines, at the beginning, I was like you, man. I didn't know I didn't know what I should be buying. I didn't know what things were worth. And I got I got absolutely taken advantage of. And my point is this perfect day 1313 Stern is taking advantage now of its loyal customer base by charging this much by handing them significant like it's they they've ripped off their own customers. They are charging the scalping price out of the box. Bro, you're paying $4,000 for a cardboard box now. And once I learned in the arc, see when I got into arcade collecting, you know, you remember the guy like Richie Knuckles, man, like he was selling me like a Tron that wasn't even in good condition for like $5,000. And I dude, because I didn't care, man. To me, I was like five grand, that's nothing. It's my childhood. I grew up with this machine. And I was overpaying and overpaying. And then when I told people what I paid, they're like, "Bro, you overpaid by like twice." And so when we see these games now, it's like, bro, 13,000 $14,600 for a Star Wars with the topper. It's stupid. It's like the That's what Batman SLE was with way more in it. And we we complained about it then. You know, the problem with all of it, you know, the problem with all the the newbies now, I'll tell you what the problem is, is every time you rush him by, you're just making it worse for yourselves. And you're all going to get burned. I mean, you you could see it now already. You could see it now already. like all the newbies who came in 2 three years ago and they bought up everything. Whether you're just a content creator or a normal buyer, you all like you you're not you you're not ready for what's about to hit you. If you want to move games out and move new ones in, you're absolutely going to get destroyed and you're like, "Oh man, shoot. Maybe I should have waited. Maybe I should have like not ran and got that game." I look and that's what's fun, bro. It's fun because I can entertain you for 90 minutes. This is more entertaining than any damn pinball machine there. It just is. Going to a concert's better than any pinball machine. Eating omocas better than any pinball machine. Going in my dodge demon better than any pinball experience. Like I love playing pinball. It's fun. It's fun. But hey, man, it's not worth 13,000. It's not worth 15,000. You guys all know this. It is to me, man. It's not because there were better games for $5,000 10 years ago. And And those games 10 years ago that were $5,000, they're still amazing today. Like pinball hasn't like dramatically advanced. It just hasn't. And I know that like, yeah, there's some nice new features and the screen's nice and this and that, but man, the experience, the experience and and the amount of excuses these people make now to like look at Star Wars in 2025 and look at the Adams family in 1995, bro. Just think about that for a minute. Look at Star Wars. 13 grand. When Adam's family came out, it was like $2,000, bro. It It what kills me is the lack of real value going into these games. They They they've taken everything out. They've replaced they've replaced like mechs with flow and art and then they charge you so much money and then what you get a game where there's one mech and that's why Beetlejuice crushed. Look at Beetlejuice, man. A sculpted world under glass, bro, for 10 grand. Every time I go back and look at Beetlejuice, the artwork by Franchie, the mechanisms in it, the sculpts, no flat plastics here, bro. I I look at Star Wars next to Beetlejuice and this is a joke. This a joke. And they they built that in a barn in Benton, Wisconsin. And Stern's got this ginormous factory with 600 or 450 500 employees. They can't build a better game than than a than a few a few broke, you know, dudes down in Benton, Wisconsin. There's more people that work at Stern than I think even live in Benton, Wisconsin. So, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing. Now, what's what's really embarrassing is that normally when you get these like bespoke boutique, you know, efforts, they charge you twice as much as the mass- prodduced company. And that's the part that's embarrassing for Stern. We're charging 30% more for Star Wars LE than Beetlejuice cost and we're the mass-roduced commodity and they're the passiondriven boutique bespoke product. You guys not like that is embarrassing. And I know George doesn't care because he's like I do more in a week than they do in a year. Yeah, but George, what George doesn't get is it's the market is oversaturated. There's too many games out there. This is not going to last much longer. I would be shocked if they can successfully make it Stern two more years the way they're going. Shocked. You can't. You can't. You know, and Carrie asked, "Are there 15,000 games?" You know what Carrie should have asked is is more of the real question. Is it true that you have 3,000 Venoms and John Wicks in boxes, which is they do 3,000, bro? Where are those games going to go? Millions of dollars in inventory. Yeah. I don't care about the size of the company. No, they made every mistake a company could make the last four years. They made every marketing mistake a company can make. And you don't you you know what I'm saying? When you go when you make those mistakes and then you don't pivot, you don't course correct. They haven't done anything to course correct. What have they done? Look, I love Stern machines when they were the right price and I think they're I think they're laughably overpriced. gang. It It's three Sternle LE or my Toyota GR86. Just think about that for a minute. Three Sternle LE or my Toyota GR86. Stupid. Stupid. Three Stern LE used to be like 18,000. Not 35,000, 40,000 with accessories. Stupid. Stupid. Three Stern Les with accessories are closer to $45,000 now. You know, they don't want you to talk like that, Canada. They don't want you to say, how can you say that? You don't see $45,000 in value in three fully accessorized sternes? Hector, what's up, brother? Will JJP make a 30th anniversary Harry Potter in two years? No. I mean, I don't know for sure, but I will tell them when I have dinner with them this weekend, don't do that. They don't need to do that. They They don't need to do that. That's a bad move. George's George's Let Let me Let me be honest. George No. What George denied and we it's very you got to be very careful with the wording here. George denied that there's 15,000 games in that's what Carrie asked him. Are there 15,000 games in storage? The real question is George are there. Here's what I heard that there are like 3,000 Wix and Venoms in storage that Stern is paying $15 a game on. to which I'm hearing they they are spending 50,000 a month in storage fees to hold the games. That's what I heard. Whether that's true or not, I don't know, but it's really um Come on, gang. You think they sold Mike? Thank you, brother. I like that. Looking good. Someone who bought an Elton John Avatar and Godfather probably lost way more than someone who bought a Jaws Metallic and Kong. Um, first of all, I don't think anybody bought EJ Avatar and Godfather. I don't. And yeah, Godfather was one of the worst uh theme ideas of all time. Avatar was too. Avatars have held better than Godfather. So have Elton's. Look, Elton and Avatars did not plummet in value. They didn't plummet. Elton's held the strongest. Uh only the the thing is the Godfather losses are just the worst. Like a Godfather CE you lost $7,000 on. If you actually want to move a Godfather CE, you're you're like you're looking at eight. I love the John Wick fanboys. Chris is the biggest of them all. Wick is very underrated. Got to keep it underrated. John Wick is just something nobody wants. I'm glad. I don't want it. You know, they never got over the gunate. They They literally never I mean I I think Wick might have been the worst launch ever. No, what Stern doesn't get is nostalgia is where it's at. Nostalgia is where it's at and they they've nothing nostalgic. Transformers will be I don't know. I think a 5K Wick Pro is still a thousand overpriced. The thing about it is this. I always say this is that I don't care how much you give me off on something I don't want. Right? If a pinball machine was a prostitute and you don't want to sleep with that woman, let's say her rate's a h 100red bucks and you're not attracted to her. She's like, "I'll I'll sleep with you for 50." I still would you sleep with her? No. I don't want to sleep with any bad pinball machine that I don't want to sleep with I don't want to buy any pinball machine I don't want at any price. You know what I'm saying? I wouldn't even buy a John Wick Pro for $1,000 because I don't want it. Yeah, I could buy it for a thousand. Sell. Yeah, I guess I Yes, I know what you're saying. You could flip it, but I I'm just saying I don't want it. Like if someone pulled up to my house right now and was like $1,000 was John Wick problem like I don't want it. I just don't want it at any price in your mind. Every pin needs to increase in value otherwise is No, that's not what I'm saying. Perfect day. But what I'm saying perfect day is in my I in my mind a a pinball machine should not depreciate in the first six months like they are now. Does a Rolex depreciate by 30% the moment you buy it? I see these more like Rolexes and less like cars. The The to your point, these are luxury items. Yeah. I I if I bought Brenda, you know, I don't know, a Cardier bracelet, right? If I spent $15,000 on a Cardier bracelet, it's not losing 30% of its value in like six months. In fact, it'll just hold. It'll go down a little bit because it's used, but just a little bit. And that's what pinball used to be. Bro, I know you've only been in it two years, but bro, we used to lose just $2 to $500 in a year on a game. $500 at most. Not now. It's 5,000. Bro, you have to understand the difference that losing $7,000 on a like literally you can almost lose $6,000 on a modern Sternle. That is the most amount of depreciation in the history of pinball. James Bond 60th is the biggest loss people have ever had. It was over $10,000. So you're like, you know what I'm saying? Like you just don't get it, bro. Why can't I compare this to Rolex? Why a lot of Rolexes lose money? Which Rolexes lose money? Omegas lose like 40% immediately. Though, that's not a Rolex. No Rolex loses 49% immediately. Name me a Rolex that loses 20% the moment you buy it. I'll wait. I'll wait while you guys go find that one for me. Yeah, like this Omega. I think it was like nine. Yeah, I could probably easily get it for I don't know, six or something. I didn't know that, you know, when I got into watches or bought these, I I, you know, I should have gone on watch recon and just grab one. Yeah, because it doesn't care. Fancy dress gold ones lose a ton. Yeah, but you know who buys those, JC? Just super loaded people that don't care. Yeah, that's my Yeah, the whole point is emergency just said it best. The whole point is I if it if it is so easy to find the pin you want for so much less money in just a few months, why wouldn't you wait? Anyway, look, it's not my Look, I gang gang. Here's the deal. Here's the deal. Do you not find entertainment in talking about this side of the hobby? I mean, everyone else everyone else does the opposite, man. They all talk about how much they love their King Kong. Go listen to those guys, you know? I mean, it's it's like snoozefest content. You know that. You know that. That's why you're here. That's why we had the most subscribers. Let's Let's see. Uh, perfect day. Are you Are you a Canad Club member? Are you a Canad club member, my man? You're not. Why not? Why not sign up, bro? Are you going to sign up today? We're going to put you on the spot, dude. It's $5 a month. It's $5 a month. You'll look into it. No, No, no. Hold on. You're signing up right now. Let's do this. Let's force him to sign up. Here we go. You sign up, bro. And I'm going to give you the biggest shout out on the next show. All right. Sign up. Join. Join the party. Look at he's signing up now. Let's do it, guys. Number one show. Number one show. And look, gang, you know this. You're going to get three podcasts a week. And look, we go we go we we go around the horn. We talk about all the different topics. And also, Perfect Day, what you're going to love about joining Canada Club is the Patreon chat, bro. Chris L is in there every day talking about how good John Wick is. We ignore him every day. Every day he's still talking about it. Um, but it's a really fun community. You know, look, we all have fun here. This is this is um this is what makes the hobby amazing. It's the people. It's hanging out. It's having a good time. You know, we uh we we debate these games. Right now, we're in a little bit of a lull. We're waiting for those Beetle Juices to make their way out the door in January. It's going to get real exciting when Beetle Juices start landing. Um, and then we're gonna get Yeah, I don't think Winchester until March. I I'm I'm just playing off of what they said about when the last Dune orders will be fulfilled. Um, yeah, pay $10 and it will never Can That's the one thing that never loses value. Canadas Pinball Podcast, Patreon. Like trust me I I think Rolex and Stern are absolutely comparable. Well, you know, Bond constantly hating on JJP is it's just part of like it's it's at the point now where it's just it's an it's an entertaining evergreen distraction that nobody really pays attention to anymore. You know what I'm saying? It's like he's still hating on Elton John. We're We're like so far beyond this and Harry Potter is a great game. Um and Bond just can't admit it. See, whenever you get a level of prejudice where nobody can do any good, then you really become one-dimensional and and you know, it's still fun having Bond there, but JJP made a great game in Harry Potter. I you know, but he he's got his bone to pick and he can come pick it with, you know, with the community every day. All right, everybody. Look. Oh, we just got we just Sean, is this you? Did you just Sean, did you just join? Is that you, Mr. Um, perfect day? Is that you, Sean? Everybody have a wonderful Saturday. Life is very short. All of us should be very happy. We're above ground. I'm going to do this week my top like Canada Kudos Awards podcast. Um where I will I might do it as a Patreon live. I think it'll be more fun for me to open up envelopes and announce who the winners are for each category. Let's do that. That'll be more fun. So, um, awesome, brother. Happy to have you guys, man. So, what's fun is I'll do a Facebook live. I'll do a YouTube, sorry, a Patreon live of Canada's best of 2025. Uh we'll we'll go over all the different categories and I will announce who I give my Canad kudos to. It's been a great year. Um lots of amazing stuff is going to be happening. Yep, Mike, you got it. 2026 is going to be just going to be fun, man. And I encourage each and every one of you to just just be patient. Look, join my show. Move. When I tell you to move, move fast. You know, when I tell you to get a Beetlejuice spot, those of you who listen, everything else, you don't need to move fast. Just wait it out. Wait it out. Pokemon, a Pokemon's not going to do what people think. It is not going to do what people think. It was different. Like, you might not have heard of Rick and Morty, but when like Rick and Morty is adult Pokemon's for like kids, and you guys didn't, most of you have no connection to Pokemon whatsoever. None. It's so funny to me. I think it's going to be such a rude awakening launch. Um, and we're going to get it in just like two weeks. Literally, CES is Tuesday, January 6th. Everybody be good. Love you. Thank you for being a club member. Thank you for the new guys who just signed up. You guys will get nice shout outs on the show. Mr. Franchie, thank you for all you do. Um, be kind. be kind to each other and be kind to people in the world. The world's a crazy place. Um, did anyone watch I was so happy to see Jake Paul get his ass kicked last night. I was so happy that his jaw got broken in on each side because what a clown. What an idiot. He's a fraud. He's fake. He's not a real boxer. And he stepped into the ring with a real boxer. And unlike the Tyson fight in which he paid Mike Tyson not to hit him and look, Joshua could have could have ended that fight in 30 seconds. He waited to the fifth round. And look, look what happened actually when he started letting his hands go. Broke his jaw on each side. I loved watching it happen. He'll never box again, Hector, you know, because this thing is like all of his hubris is over. Like unless he, you know, no one's going to pay to see because he looked like an idiot yesterday. He couldn't. He was running around like a baby. couldn't even like he kept falling over like a child too the whole time. We're gonna we're gonna we're going to talk. He didn't last six rounds. The guy didn't start fighting until the fifth round and he got knocked out in the fifth round. There's a difference between lasting and the guy's not even fighting you yet. It's like when Conor McGregor fought um Mayweather. Do you remember that fight? Dude, Mayweather was just keeping him in it. There was there was a moment like in the first or second round where Mayweather hits him with an uppercut and then holds on holds on to Connor to keep Connor from getting knocked out or falling down because that wasn't in the script. The The real boxers will destroy any fake boxer that gets into the ring with them. Dude, Jake's got no talent. Everybody be good. We'll talk to you later.

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 0e740791-68bb-41c1-84fe-71f30bf047be*