# Kanaeda Sunday Morning After Expo **Source:** Kaneda Pinball Podcasts YouTube Lives **Type:** video **Published:** 2025-10-20 **Duration:** 79m 26s **Beat:** Pinball **URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFiDYcR5JLQ --- ## Analysis Kaneda provides a comprehensive post-Expo reflection covering Winchester Mystery House's sold-out success (525 units), Barrels of Fun's momentum, Star Wars's disappointing reception, and a significant incident where he was temporarily ejected from the show by Jake Danzig without authorization. He discusses game design philosophy, FOMO dynamics, and manufacturer positioning while recovering from expo exhaustion. ### Key Claims - [HIGH] Winchester Mystery House sold out 525 units at/around Expo — _Kaneda confirms Barrels' salespeople corrected him that they sold 525 Winchester units, not Dunes as previously claimed_ - [MEDIUM] Star Wars Pinball was rushed due to John Borg being assigned three major games in one year instead of his typical 18-month development cycle — _Kaneda states: 'John Borg normally works on single game with 18 month development cycle; now working on Metallica Remastered, Star Wars, Walking Dead Remastered, and Indiana Jones in compressed timeline'_ - [MEDIUM] Winchester Mystery House is designed with flipper feel similar to Carl D'Angelo-style games rather than typical Stern snappy flippers — _Kaneda played once and observed 'It plays like a Carl game...ball moves quickly off flipper...flipper angle not as steep as Stern machines'_ - [HIGH] Jake Danzig (homebrew developer) unilaterally ejected Kaneda from Expo without authorization from Rob Burke or show organizers — _Kaneda was told by hotel security (Drew) that Rob and Bridget said he was welcome; Jake had no authority to ban him_ - [HIGH] Barrels intentionally capped Winchester at 525 units to maintain FOMO rather than increasing production despite high demand — _Kaneda states: 'moment they say making 750, all of sudden they're not selling as many because there's not as much FOMO...smart move'_ - [MEDIUM] Winchester Mystery House's upper left ramp is a very difficult shot with ~80% miss rate, unlike typical upper flipper orbits on Elwin games — _Kaneda observed: 'upper left ramp...very precise shot...you're going to miss it like eight out of 10 times...not seeing people consistently nail it'_ - [HIGH] Star Wars Pinball has poor visual design that 'looks cheap' on approach, which negatively affects player perception — _Kaneda: 'problem with Star Wars happens instantly...looks so cheap...when you look for more reasons not to like it'_ - [MEDIUM] Barrels of Fun's success with Winchester will create collateral goodwill that benefits Dune sales — _Kaneda: 'Winchester selling out quickly will help Dune sales because people will now sort of look at Barrels as brand you want to support'_ ### Notable Quotes > "It plays like a Carl game...ball often time is moving so quickly off the flipper...angle by which a full flip is a little bit not as steep as a Stern machine" > — **Kaneda**, ~16:00 > _Technical analysis of Winchester's flipper design and gameplay feel compared to Stern standards_ > "Star Wars just shoots like a dog. I'm going to talk about it in a little bit. I'm still so embarrassed that Stern released that game. It shows absolutely zero zero effort and zero passion" > — **Kaneda**, ~26:00 > _Strong criticism of Star Wars Pinball quality and Stern's execution_ > "They brought FOMO back and that felt good and the feel-good vibes of the organization...became sort of contagious, like we just wanted to be a part of it" > — **Kaneda**, ~38:00 > _Analysis of Barrels' successful marketing strategy through scarcity and community sentiment_ > "You're banned from Pinball Expo for life...You're not only banned from Pinball Expo but you're banned from this hotel" > — **Jake Danzig (reported)**, ~52:00 > _The confrontation that temporarily ejected Kaneda from the show_ > "I spoke to Rob and Bridget who run the show, and they said Chris is fine as long as he doesn't do anything wrong. Absolutely, he's welcome to be here" > — **Drew (hotel security)**, ~60:00 > _Reversal of Jake's unauthorized ban; confirmation of Kaneda's welcome status_ > "If I'm barrels, I feel proud that these are my first three games and I'm showing people what we're capable of" > — **Kaneda**, ~35:00 > _Assessment of Barrels' manufacturing debut and brand positioning_ > "John Borg normally has 18 months to develop a game...now he's working on Metallica Remastered, Star Wars, Walking Dead Remastered, and Indiana Jones...what do you think's going to happen?" > — **Kaneda**, ~75:00 > _Explanation for Star Wars's rushed design and quality issues_ > "525 people with positive word of mouth is how you get to a thousand people wanting your products" > — **Kaneda**, ~40:00 > _Market analysis of how low-volume success generates momentum for manufacturers_ ### Entities | Name | Type | Context | |------|------|---------| | Kaneda | person | Pinball content creator and podcast host; attended Expo, experienced temporary ejection incident | | Jake Danzig | person | Homebrew pinball game developer; ejected Kaneda from Expo without authorization; appears to have personal conflict with Kaneda | | Barrels of Fun | company | Pinball manufacturer; Winchester Mystery House sold out 525 units; second game is Dune; positive community reception and momentum | | Winchester Mystery House | game | Barrels of Fun game; sold 525 units; featured longest line at Expo; challenging gameplay, Carl D'Angelo flipper feel, limited production for FOMO | | Star Wars Pinball | game | Stern game; heavily criticized for cheap appearance, rushed design, uninspired layout; 30 units on Expo floor | | Dune | game | Barrels of Fun's second game; less successful than Winchester but praised for aesthetics; features alternate art with large worm | | David Vaness | person | Barrels of Fun founder/leader; learned lesson about production volume and FOMO; positive interaction with Kaneda | | Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; Star Wars criticized for quality; John Borg's compressed development cycle blamed for rushed game | | John Borg | person | Stern designer; typically develops single game over 18 months; now working on multiple games simultaneously (Metallica Remastered, Star Wars, Walking Dead Remastered, Indiana Jones) | | Rob Burke | person | Pinball Expo organizer; confirmed Kaneda's welcome status to hotel security; not involved in ejection incident | | Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer; receiving positive community energy alongside Barrels at Expo | | Pinball Expo | event | Major annual industry show; site of Winchester's success and Kaneda's confrontation incident; exhausting but important community gathering | | Carl D'Angelo | person | Referenced as design influence on Winchester Mystery House's flipper/gameplay feel | | Brad Albright | person | Artist on Winchester Mystery House; praised for artwork | | Drew | person | Renaissance Hotel head of security; intervened in Kaneda ejection incident and confirmed his welcome status | | Melvin | person | Attended Expo; gave Kaneda vendor badge to access Winchester early; spent Friday evening with Kaneda | | Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer/content creator; appeared in livestream chat during discussion | ### Topics - **Primary:** Winchester Mystery House market success and FOMO strategy, Barrels of Fun's manufacturing momentum and brand positioning, Star Wars Pinball's rushed development and poor execution, Interpersonal conflict and community drama at Expo - **Secondary:** Game design philosophy: flipper feel, shot difficulty, gameplay satisfaction, Production capacity constraints and development cycles at major manufacturers, Expo as exhausting but essential community gathering - **Mentioned:** Collector vs casual player priorities and game differentiation ### Sentiment **Mixed** (0.45) — Strong positive sentiment toward Winchester, Barrels, and David Vaness's team; strong negative sentiment toward Star Wars and John Borg's rushed work; significant negative sentiment from the Jake Danzig ejection incident which soured the overall experience despite initial enthusiasm. Kaneda's tone shifts from celebratory early-show mood to frustrated/hurt mid-episode. ### Signals - **[community_signal]** Jake Danzig attempted unauthorized ejection of Kaneda from Expo without show organizer approval; appears rooted in prior personal conflict (confidence: high) — Kaneda was ejected by Jake with security, then immediately cleared by hotel security who confirmed Rob Burke's authorization for his attendance - **[competitive_signal]** Barrels learning from Winchester success that low-volume scarcity drives more excitement than Dune's higher availability; manufactures goodwill for future products (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Barrels didn't add more even after demand...moment they say 750, all sudden not selling as many...perfect amount at perfect time' - **[design_philosophy]** Winchester's challenging, beautiful aesthetic vs Star Wars's cheap appearance creates stark contrast in player first impressions and motivation to play (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'moment you walk up to Winchester like opposite moment first walk up to Star Wars...looks cheap...makes you look for reasons not to like it' - **[design_philosophy]** Winchester designed for challenging, non-trappy gameplay (Carl D'Angelo style) vs Stern's flipper-friendly design; affects player satisfaction and ownership experience (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'plays like Carl game...ball moves quickly off flipper...upper flipper shot 8/10 miss rate vs Elwin orbits' - **[manufacturing_signal]** Barrels' future success dependent on timely manufacturing and customer satisfaction delivery after 525 positive Winchester sales (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'on them to manufacture in timely period and make customers satisfied...525 people with positive word of mouth gets you to 1000-2000 wanting products' - **[market_signal]** Secondary market scalping of Winchester spots at $5k+ suggests strong collector demand and FOMO-driven premium pricing in limited-edition model (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'right now if I had one...I think you get $5k for spot...make $3k profit' - **[personnel_signal]** John Borg compressed to work on 4+ games (Metallica Remaster, Star Wars, Walking Dead Remaster, Indiana Jones) simultaneously vs typical 18-month single-game cycle (confidence: high) — Kaneda explicitly states compression and attributes Star Wars's poor quality to this scheduling conflict - **[product_strategy]** Winchester Mystery House sold out 525 units at Expo with consistent longest line; community-driven FOMO validates Barrels' strategy (confidence: high) — Kaneda confirmed 525 sales; observed consistent queues; notes FOMO and goodwill driving secondary market scalping at $5k markup - **[product_concern]** Star Wars Pinball criticized as visually cheap, uninspired, and rushed with poor shot layout and lack of passion in execution (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'shows absolutely zero effort and zero passion...looks so cheap...shoots like a dog' - **[sentiment_shift]** Community enthusiasm for Barrels and Spooky rising while Stern's Star Wars release generates embarrassment and criticism from respected community voices (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes Barrels/Spooky as only two manufacturers with 'most of the positivity happening' vs Star Wars negative reception --- ## Transcript God, you know, I I will say I will say there is a um there is an incredible amount of energy required to go to these pinball shows. There's a incredible amount of patience for all the vendors and manufacturers to do the shows. I got in Thursday morning. I flew out Saturday morning and yeah, had a great show. I just want to say had a great show. We're gonna let people get a chance to come in through the door. How's everybody doing? Everybody doing good. Ah, waiting on YouTube. YouTube is up. YouTube is up. And um let me share this on uh Patreon chat. It is um it is literally the perfect Sunday morning. It is basically 70° sunny. Um we went for a walk, had some friends visiting, watched K-pop Demon Hunter last night. So good. It keeps getting better. Keeps getting better. And I want to just give you my post expo followup. I'm not I'm not feeling 100%. I have to be honest. The uh the show just drains you. And I don't know what I I don't know what I like my It's It's like a walking around a pinball show for hours. You are guaranteed to get sick. You're just guaranteed to get sick. And I'm not like I have like a weird um It's not even like a sore throat. I just got like a couple sores like on my tongue. It's just painful. I'm like what is this? I just washed it out with some Brenda's got some I don't know like mouthwash that's supposed to kill this stuff. I don't know. I'm It's just It's uncomfortable. So if I sound like I'm talking with a little bit of a lisp, it is not fun. It's like it's like on each side of my tongue like right where my teeth are. It's just it's like it hurts. Oh, now I don't think it's hand foot mouth. I don't I've had hand foot mouth before and this is just this is not that hand foot mouth. Um I had like sores all throughout my throat. Trust me, I've I've know the difference. And hand foot, mouth, you get like itchy skin and it does actually hit your hand, your feet, and your mouth. Anyway, Retro Ralph had the same thing. How's everybody doing, man? I I feel like it it was an interesting show for me because uh had a lot of fun. Always have a ton of fun with the people, hanging with the folks, and uh yeah, there was like there was a little bit of an incident I'm going to talk about. I they did try to kick me out of the show, but not Rob Burke. And I want to explain uh what happened to me on Saturday that was really unfortunate and it it sort of spoiled uh it sort of spoiled the show for me a little bit and I I didn't really want to make a big deal about it. I had um no it was Friday night. Sorry, it was Friday during the day actually and I just didn't want to make a big deal about it because I had such a good time Thursday and had a nice dinner planned Friday night in Chicago which in hindsight was like ridiculous to go 20 miles took two hours. But we had such a good time at the Omicas with Melvin, Rachel and Kale. Um, so I think what I want to do on this episode is just walk you through my overall observations of the show uh and just uh my my thoughts on on where the hobby is going because it it's nice to sort of have everything in one place. you kind of get inability to sort of step back, look at everything that's happening in the hobby, look at what each company's bringing to the table and and really like see the directions and the point of view uh that each of these companies have when it comes to pinball. But everybody knows this. First and foremost, the pinball shows are exhausting. They're exhausting. They're all about the people. the actual show show like itself you can kind of see everything in an hour but the uh you know so you you I see people there when they get get in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays these people are just like exhausted like they literally are catatonic by day two and there's just only so much you can do lapping the floor and there's so much sensory overload and you you just it it wears you down as a grown an adult, but I, you know, and I always know this going into the shows. Todd, you're always missed, brother. You're always missed. Um, so when I got to the show and I I went in, had no problem gutting in, no problem with security. There was no there was no drama anywhere. It was really fun. You probably caught a lot of my Facebook lives. The big news, even as the show began, the big news at the entire show was the uh the really quick selling out of Winchester's Mystery House. It was the game that had the most excitement at the show. It was the line to uh that was the longest for any single game there. Again, keep in mind there was maybe four of them at barrels. I think Zach had one at Flipping Out. I don't even know if there was four at barrels. I think there was like three of them at barrels. Flipping out had one. So, there were not a lot of them to play. You know, Stern had probably 30 Star Wars on the floor and 20 King Kongs. You know, there was more Evil Deads to play than there was of Mystery House. So, but that being said, the line was always consistent. Every time I was in the show, the line to get on the game was pretty significant. Now, I only got to play it once. Uh, I'll explain. Um, again, what happened to me and sort of why I sort of decided to not really uh go back to the show very often on Friday. Um, and I'll give you that story in a little bit, but the um the the game itself, I played it. All right. So, it's like I I want to caveat all this by saying I really don't think uh one game on any machine is really uh enough time at all to to make a significant uh impression about what the game is like. what you primarily get from playing a game for the first time, you know, putting maybe five minutes on it, maybe 10 at most, you get a sense of the shot geometry, you get a sense of the music, you get a sense of the layout, you get a sense of the overall atmosphere of the game. So, I think I did get a good sense just from watching people play uh Winchester Mystery House as you know as playing it myself. I got a good sense about what the game is like. And I I will say this, I think everyone's had the same sort of feeling about the game. It's definitely unique. It definitely nails the haunted house theme. It's definitely got a lot to shoot at and there's a lot of fun stuff to do in the game. It's also a challenging game and I heard that across the board universally. I think the phrase I heard and I've been saying this to people when they ask me how the game is, it's a Carl game. Like it plays like a Carl D'Python Anghelo game and there's not a lot of trapping of the ball on the flipper. the ball often time is moving uh so quickly off the flipper. If you're if you if you're used to a stern flipper feel, sterns are always like real snappy and the angle by which sterns flippers snap up makes it a lot easier to trap and control. Uh, I would say the angle by which a full flip on on this game is a little bit not as steep of an of a angle as a stern machine. Now, I know all machines are different, but you know, games are designed to uh to the the geometry of the game hopefully is designed to have a satisfying gameplay experience based on the designer's flipper angle, flipper power, and flipper feel. I mean, all that has to work together. It's why designing a game to be very satisfying from a from a gameplay standpoint is is not the easiest. Um, so my my feelings on the game where it this is not a um it's not really like a flowy kind of comboy game. It feels like a game where you're gonna you got to find the shots. And I the one shot that I was like, man, and and David was talking to me about it. That That upper that staircase to nowhere, that upper left ramp that you hit from the upper right flipper. Really uh difficult shot, right? This isn't an upper flipper shot like an Elton John or something like an Elwin game where you're going to be ripping orbits with that upper flipper. It It is a very precise shot. Allah more kind of more like a Rick and Morty upper flipper kind of shot where I think you're going to miss it like eight out of 10 times. Now maybe again only played it once. I wasn't seeing people like consistently nail it. Like if you walk over and you watch people play Elton John, you're going to see them consistently nailing that upper flipper shot. So I think they the game is very challenging. I didn't feel like uh the left out lane is a bit brutal, but the the game is coded in a way where they they you definitely kind of have like a left outlane save for the first time the ball ever goes into that out lane. Yes, we're talking Winchester. Um, I did like the rotating um, you know, the rotating area in the upper middle. I don't I don't I don't want to say it's like a staircase. Maybe it is a staircase, but there's uh that can rotate around, turn into a scoop, turn into some other stuff, other ball pathways. Um, it's it's a very beautiful pin and and I I noticed this when I walked over to barrels. I really noticed uh with the Dune with the new alternate translate and for those of you just joining I explained earlier I I don't know what I at the show all of a sudden I've got like two sores on my tongue like right by my teeth. I don't have hand foot mouth and it's painful. So like talking right now and eating it was like oh I did say your daughter I did what? Oh I don't know who's who's talking there. Um I'm trying to read people's comments as I go. Um the third flipper shots are much more difficult to design as well. um Midwest Omocassi. So, look, I think that the you know, the game is is definitely on the more difficult side, which I also think is is appealing to people because it couldn't be it couldn't be more um the contrast between how Mystery House plays and Star Wars where it's just a fan layout. By the way, Star Wars just shoots like a dog. I'm going to talk about it in a little bit. I'm I'm still so embarrassed that Stern released that game. I I think it shows absolutely zero zero effort and zero passion in that game. Um but this game is tricky. It's beautiful. I I was talking about how when I walked up to Barrels had a great conversation with David. Now look, I did get clarity and I need to clarify this cuz he clarified it after that when I asked him on the live, "Have you sold more dunes than you've sold of Winchester Mystery House?" Later in the evening, he came up to me. He said, "Hey, my salespeople reached out to me and they let me know that that actually wasn't accurate. So they have not sold 525 dunes. They have sold 525 Winchesterers. Now absolutely crazy, right? Nobody saw this coming. I would not have predicted that. I'm happy for them. I'm happy for everybody associated with this game. I think that everyone anyone who got a Winchester is going to be, you know, happy to have it in their collection. I think it's way too early. way too early to uh know like if it's going to be a great game or not in the end. The code is still so early. Will they be able to code it in and have enough campy fun stuff to keep people coming back time and time again? I think it's too st it's too soon to understand that it's always going to be a beautiful pin, right? It's always going to be a world under glass. So, it's always going to have that going for it. But it's also always going to be challenging to shoot. And you I've I think I'm being very fair when I say this. If the gameplay over time is not satisfying to owners, I could see that being one reason why these games might be trading hands more frequently than people think. because you know this hobby does when it comes to owning a game, you kind of want to own something that gives you kinetic satisfaction uh to jump on it time and time again. Uh is it better than Alice? I'll I'll talk about that in a second. Um barrels doing well, helping bring other manufacturers up. So look, barrels, it's a it's a it's a tale of two barrels. You know, I think they are they are surprised that this game way more energy, way more excitement than Dune. And I think this game selling out so quickly will help Dune sales because I think people will now sort of look at Barrels as a brand you want to support. I think all the positive energy in that booth. I think all the excitement around this game will carry over and create a little bit of a collateral excitement for the other games they're making because now all of a sudden you kind of want to support these guys and they've kind of got that goodwill. And I think we're feeling the same thing over at Spooky Pinball. Uh I I think we're feeling the same thing. I don't know. I mean, those two companies right now, right now, Barrels and Spooky seem to have, you know, the two real like most of the positivity happening. I don't want to talk dirty about Alice as I used to own it, but I I feel like Winchester is more than a keeper to me. Well, look, let me just let me just address this right now. Um, you got to remember this. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland made by Melvin and DPX was a was a proof of concept that Melvin could take a foam core game and turn it into a working manufactured brought to retail product within one year. And he did it. It, you know, it was it was never designed from the ground up to be anything more than making the J-pop game work. So, as I've always said, that game succeeds on achieving what it set out to achieve. Is it as comprehensive as a game as Winchester? No. Is there as much to shoot at in that game as Winchester? No. Will the code in Alice be as good as Winchester or as deep? No. So, yeah, I would say like for 95% of people, Winchester will be a far more rewarding rewarding at the end of the day. pinball ownership experience. Now, look, Alice is still stunning. I mean, it's a beautiful game. I mean, there was one with the the topper edition, which just looks incredible. Um, but, you know, I think both of them are super rare, super low volume, and they will be uh not everywhere. And in a world in which it seems like you're going to be seeing Star Wars everywhere, Harry Potter everywhere, you're going to see uh King Kong nowhere cuz no one bought them. But the there there's just like a these are collector games and I think David Van Es learned a very valuable lesson. Uh I I just need to make enough that makes collectors go crazy. And And you know, look, in in the larger scheme of things, it's almost embarrassing that all you got to do is get 525 people excited on a global marketplace of pinball and you're looked at as being tremendously successful. Like, it's funny. Like, that's so little people. I have more subscribers than than that amount of people. But that's what it takes. Look, and I think also that Barrels of Fun really did make the right move in um I I really do think they made the right move in keeping it to 525 even after there was tremendous tremendously more demand for the game. They didn't add more. They're not going to make another addition of it down the road. They um you know, and they're not going to raise the price. They They it's smart because the moment they say they're making 750, all of a sudden they're not selling as many because there's not as much FOMO. So, it was the perfect game at the perfect time with the perfect amount at the perfect price for this community. And the community is who is is saying that, you know, this isn't like opinion anymore. Once Once the sales are there and once the the you know the results and the success are there for this title, the community has spoken, everything that David and his team brought and Carl, everything they brought with Brad Albbright on the art, everything they brought out clicked with this community. And as I said on my show, uh they they brought FOMO back and and that felt good and and the feel-good vibes of the organization, the feel-good vibes of the game. And I I think it became sort of in infectious, is that a word? Like we um more like contagious, like we just wanted to be a part of it. And once it was sold out, then the FOMO goes through the roof and everybody's trying to get one. People that wanted one that now look the all of what I'm saying, I think, is going to come to fruition and is accurate. I also think spots will absolutely open up when uh Beetlejuice gets revealed. Whether or not those spots are going to go, whether or not they're going to go for more money, time will tell. Right now is the time to scalp your spot for your Winchester for more money. Like right now, if I had one, and I'm kicking myself a little bit that I didn't scalp one of these babies, now's the time. I think I think you get 5,000 for your spot. I think you make a $3,000 profit. You do nothing. You put the money in the bank and you move on to the next. So, um, yeah, there's that. Okay. So, that's my feelings on this game. I think David Van Es now has more of a road map of what he needs to do to succeed. And I think Dune will always be a bit of a misstep. But I I will say this, Dune Dune is Dune is just a stunning game though. I look when the dust settles, I think Dune's going to be the more enjoyable game to shoot. I I mean this I will be the more enjoyable game to shoot will actually maybe have more thrilling moments in it from a code standpoint and aesthetically Dune is still prettier than uh Mystery House. Now look and the Dune alternate translate just with the with the big worm and just Dune it's it's absolutely stunning. It It is a work of art. And And here's the thing. They're both doing really well. They're both doing I Well, no, not Dune really, but like they both like I I guess what I'm trying to say is this. If I'm barrels, I feel proud that these are my first three games and I'm showing people what we're capable of. And, you know, as they continue to even improve and get better and make the the lighting inside the cabinet a little bit more seamless looking, um, I just think it's going to be a bright future for Barrels of Fun if they can execute and and by that I mean manufacture in a timely period and make their customers satisfied. You know, now that's on them. 525 people with positive word of mouth is how you get to, you know, a thousand people wanting your products to 2,000 people wanting your products. So, all all good. Lot of good energy there. I want to say uh congratulations to David, to Robert Blakeman, to Brad, to Carl, to all the folks who worked on this game that we don't know their names. Congratulations. You made the show um very uh exciting for me. I want to say on a personal level, you made my time in your booth uh very very um welcoming and warm and the reception I received from your team was uh made me feel very good and I know sometimes we try to separate the products from the people but that that means something you know in a world in which we all do have favorites and that's how relationships work and so it is absolutely amazing to um we have a big Staypuff Marshmallow man set up here and someone's walking their their kid to see it. Um but I just want to say that that goes a long way. And the moment they saw me, it wasn't it was nothing but smiles and Chris come in. Like the moment I saw David like you know 20 feet away like Chris come on come in. You know it's like I I love that. So, thank you guys for um for making my show a special one. All right, let me go let me go over Do you guys want to hear about me getting kicked out for like 10 minutes and and what happened there and how that sort of spoiled my Friday? I I'll tell you that real quick. And I just it's just it was unfortunate and I I don't really as I think about it still now it really upset me and it upset uh it it sort of ruined my Friday at the show in some ways. I mean I of course I recovered but it made me not want to be in the show anymore and and it's unfortunate because I just I didn't do anything. I I Here's what happened. I was I was just and you saw all my lives. There was no drama with anybody. It was it was a really, you know, great Thursday. And so I go in Friday. I go in a little bit early Friday. That's when I played Winchester. Um Melvin let me his vendor badge. So I I got in like 10 minutes before the show started because I wanted to jump on Winchester. And then I'm just I'm just roaming around the show, you know, talking to people. I get stopped every 5 10 minutes. everybody who does content does. And I'm in the far left corner of if you go in all the way to the back left, I'm just sitting on a random machine. I think I was playing some old Stern soccer game and all of a sudden I get tapped and there's a there's a man with security and he says, "You have to leave. You're kicked out of the show. You're not you're not welcome here. You're banned from Pinball Expo for life. Like, that's what I get told. And it's it's Jake Danzig, who I honestly don't even know the guy. I don't even know him. I don't know what I did to him personally. I don't know why he he came to find me. Like, I didn't I I know he has a homebrew game and he has his game. Like, I didn't even encounter him or even interact with him. I'm He came to find me with this security guy that was Rob Burke's security guy. It wasn't the hotel security. And he starts saying to me, "You're you're you're not only banned from life from Pinball Expo, but you're banned from this hotel." This is Jake telling me with security guard. Um and so like I was like, "Look, man. Like I I don't know what you're talking about. Like I've talked to Rob. Like everything's fine. Like I didn't do anything. like what this is, you know, why do I have to leave? And he made it like, you know, very he was very angry. He made it very contentious. And I I don't know. There's just a terrible feeling to be having such a good time and and bringing so much positive energy to the show to have that happen like just unexpectedly. Like I really don't understand. Like and so what happens next is I walk out to the front cuz I'm like calling Melvin. I'm like Melvin, they're kicking me out. I don't go know what's going on. And so here's what happens. They then call one of the nicest guys I've met at the show, Drew, who's the head of security for the Renaissance Hotel. Then Drew comes over. Really nice guy in a suit. He's like, "Hi, Chris." just like, "Okay, hold on a second." You know, Jake's there with with the security guy that is for the show, but but Drew is the security guy for the whole hotel, like real legit security. And he's like, "I just spoke to Rob and Bridget who run the show, and they said Chris is fine as long as he doesn't do anything wrong. Like, absolutely, he's welcome to be here and enjoy the show." So what happened was is that Jake took it upon himself to kick me out without any authority from anybody. So and it was, you know, it was Jake and then the gentleman who's got the the beard with the dog. I I think they're all friends. I get it. I did not interact with them. I didn't upset them. I didn't provoke them. I didn't do anything. But just having been treated like that and I'll tell you why, you know, then I get a call from the security guard later on. He's like, "Chris, like here's the thing. Like I I would just avoid them like you know." And I'm like, "Cool." Yeah. But after that happened, I I just didn't want to go back into the show and I didn't want to interact with a guy that like hates my guts, doesn't I I because I'll tell you this right now. Some of these people, like I don't know what their problem is, but they kind of terrify me. And I have two little kids. I have a family. I have a career. Like, I don't need somebody like I I don't I don't know what they're going to do, right? I don't know what they're I know what I'm going to do, which is nothing. I'm just going to go to a show to have a good time. So, I just and I also just don't want to be somewhere where I'm not invited or or people don't like I you know what I'm saying? I I it it was a really uncomfortable thing to go through and it it really took the wind out of my sales and it and so then I just ended up I didn't I didn't go back into the show until maybe later in the night I just went back one time to say hi to Brett Abbis but I didn't want to go back into the show and hang out there. So I spent the rest of my day hanging at the hotel bar at the piano in the lobby. So, um, you know, so there's that. So, I I guess it is what it is. You know, in in a lot of ways, I want to say thank you to Rob for being cool. I mean, again, Rob didn't Rob didn't ask me to leave. There was no drama with anybody. And I I just think what's unfortunate is I was just having a good time minding my own business and and for some reason they decided to go find me, kick me out without permission and then if you know what's you know what's you know what I would have done like Jake Jake and whoever he's with they're the ones who really um are are making the so bad, you know, and and I and I and I mean this when I say this before going to the show be before going to the show, Rob asked me to call Jake and and iron things out to which I did reach out to him about four or five times, left him two voice messages. I did all this stuff and I just don't understand what I did. And so if you know Jake Danzig or Jake Danzig, someone says, "Hey, Jake, whatever I did to you, I'm sorry. I don't even know what I did." I know that there's been probably things you've said on my Facebook page that you you don't like me. Again, I if if you don't like me, it's fine. Like, if you don't if you think I'm I'm a toxic idiot, fine. But then just I'm not going to go after you. I'm not going to provoke you. I'm not going to like go where you are and try to cause an issue. And so is so and and that and I and I say that as a content creator because I also don't understand why people would hang out on Canada's Pinball Podcast Facebook page. If you hate me, like what you going to come there and what? Just keep saying what what an a-hole you think I am. Like just everybody go your own way. But yeah, it kind of spoiled my Friday and I but you know what? Like I recovered my own way like having a f Friday night at the piano with with a moto and and all the people there. David, you're late to the party, brother. Said all my great things. So I just want to say moving forward um I I don't know um you know I I don't know what to do with with that that guy. Like I I don't know what to do. Um, but I'm sorry, Jake, for whatever I did. And I wish you no ill will at all. And I'm glad you you know, you have your cool homebrew game. And I think um I think hopefully by next year, whatever anger you're holding on to, we can work it out and and we can just have a better time at the show next year. Jack Danger in the house. Jack Danger. All right. So, you know, another year and Canada gets thrown out of almost thrown out again. Well, yeah, I know that Glake uh Glenn and Jake are friends and you know, I I don't um I I didn't even see Glenn at the show, so it is what it is. Um so, onward and upward, people. All right, let's talk about the show. How did you get kicked out a homebrew guy? Um, it's fine. Um, I don't even think that is Albert there. Um, I mean, Albert sent me a message that he wants me to be permanently banned from every show for the rest of my life. I mean, look, you you don't get to say this stuff and then and then be like and then, you know, insult me. I didn't listen to any of it, by the way, bro. I I know you I I keep hearing you saying like that I'm like sneaking in to listen. I don't listen to anything you say, man. So, like, and I think anybody that hides insults about me behind a payw wall is like that is like the worst marketing and and a level of like it's just sad, man. Say it to my face. Let everybody hear it. Let everybody hear it. I don't care. Whatever you think about me, I know everything. And I'm everything bad you say about me and and I'm so much more. So, whatever. Who cares? Y'all need to like y'all need to like let go of your anger because I really don't really care about anything you guys say. Anyway, good show. All right, so let's go on to the show. So, mystery sold out. Go over to Star Wars, right? um go over to Star Wars and you know I I really was shocked. I I I'm shocked about Star Wars because I'm just I just know what Stern's capable of and and yeah, Jen is you have to go back and listen to it all. They They I I was escorted out by a guy that didn't have the authority to escort me out and then they let me right back in. But then it ruined my Friday cuz I didn't want to hang out with people like that are just there like I those I I just whatever. Go back and listen, Jacus. Um I get on Star Wars and it's like a tale of like two different games, man. The moment you walk up to Star Wars, it's like the opposite of like that moment when you first walk up to Harry Potter, the moment you first walk up to like Mystery House or or even Dune or even Evil Dead, right? It's just it's just I'm so embarrassed because I know the backstory on Star Wars. Like normally John Borg has 18 months to develop a game like all this stuff matters right it's like you know because it's like they obviously they can do better but you got to remember John Borg is work has now worked on three games in one year normally to get to a game like Rush you have an 18month development cycle on a single game so what do you think's going to happen when you make the guy work on Metallica Remastered, Star Wars, and The Walking Dead remastered, and you shove his Indiana Jones game that he had fully ready to go. Like, what do you This is what you're going to get. an absolute uninspired rushed game that just I I and I'm look I I don't mean to be mean, but the problem with Star Wars happens instantly because it just looks so cheap and and when you walk up to it and it just looks really cheap instantly It's like you're looking for more reasons not to like it, right? It's It's a weird thing the way it works, right? Like when you walk up to a beautiful pin, you kind of like it it puts a smile on your face and then you're like you're looking for additional reasons to love it. You know what I'm saying? It's like a beautiful woman that also has a great personality. Can cook and clean. Can I say that in 2025? Like, you know what I'm saying? Can I say that? Can you still say that in today's world? Um, but like you know, so that's what happens like when beauty when when it when it starts out beautiful, you look for the rest of the stuff to be great, but when you walk up to Star Wars and it looks like a Costco game, and these are like the Ellies and stuff, like it looks like a Costco game, you are instantly instantly kind of embarrassed for Stern. And then you've got this like you've got this like entire irony and the name of the game and Stern's got this big booth and you know they they've felt like this big empire and they are and they still sell more games in a week than Barrels will sell all year but the problem is the problem is is like Stern can't keep shoveling this crap out anymore. And then I heard there was like a meeting between Seth and the dealers. You know what he had to tell the dealers? You guys need to be more positive. You need to be more like, you know, you need to be hyping this stuff more. Seth, like that's not the issue. The issue is it doesn't matter how positive your dealers are. The The game is crap. You know what I'm saying? Like it's, you know, you need to design a better product. You shouldn't, you can't bring this product to market when we know you're capable of Jaws, of Godzilla, of Iron Maiden, of Batman, of Ghostbusters, of Tron, of Lord of the Rings. You know what I'm saying? Like, Stern, you've just made too many great games that like this can't be your 2025 Star Wars offering. And the fact that it is like is just is just comical. It's a joke. So, yeah. Look, I hear I see Albert and like Jen is guys go off and call each other and you guys make up with each other. I'll just say this. I said something to somebody. Albert jumped in on someone else's debate or or argument. He had no business being in on it, but he took that moment and he used it as a moment to create an hour show crapping all over me. I think that's I think that's not cool, man. So, like again, this is like I'm just tired of all this. Let me let me let me curse someone out who made fun of 911 in which friends of mine died and then you want to say I overreacted. Whatever. I'm just tired of all this stuff, man. Just go hang out. Go make your own stuff. Go Go fight your own battles in life. All right. That's how I feel about all this stuff. It's stupid. Nobody should ever make a joke about 9/11. Especially to a New Yorker. Especially to a New Yorker who lost friends on that day. Especially to a New Yorker whose brother worked across the street, whose brother Albert saw bodies hitting the pavement. The sound of a human body jumping from 98 stories up. Okay. The sound of a plane exploding in a building. You want to make fun of it? Oh, canada sentiment's not sincere. Just stupid. And And you know what? Not a single apology from Albert or Glenn. So go get your fake security guards to try to cancel me. Go put your shows behind a payw wall with 27 subscribers. Bro, just whatever. Cuz you know what? You need me to mention you to get any relevancy whatsoever. Otherwise, nobody's even listening. I doubled your subscriber base just by mentioning you. Anyway, let's go on. Let's go on. So, like Star Wars, it's weird, too. It's got this like bigger screen, but it doesn't feel bigger cuz they were forced to not put anything over the the clips from the movie. So, like it's like Spike 3 comes out, we got the bigger iMac screen, but like we can't use it all. Can't use it all. So, just I don't I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. All I know is um you know Stern needs a hit. Everybody knows it and and that's where we're at. I think I think everybody everybody knows that. Everybody is FOMO is like as we saw with Winchester Stern can get back FOMO. They just need a hit. Like you know what I'm saying? Like I I it's it's not like if Stern announced tomorrow Back to the Future or Die Hard or Fifth Element or like Matrix or you know what I'm saying or Super Mario Brothers like hit hit. But if it's Fallout I mean Pokemon again it's like Pokemon if they do it right it it can be a hit. It can be a hit. just like always in a alive man. Haters just wanted to hate somebody and they Yeah, I know. It is what it is, gang. Like, it is what it is, man. I mean, it's fine. You know, I at the end of the day, if you were at Expo and you were hanging out with me, you were having a good time. I want to say thank you to all the cool people that I hung out with. There's way too many to name people individually. So many amazing people, so much love, so much gratitude, so much positive energy. And that was the show for everybody there. There was no drama, there was no fighting, there was no stupidness anywhere. The my only regret about the show is I just didn't get to play some of the games. And that to me is like, you know, it just it is what it is. I just I just didn't want to wait online for a half hour, an hour to play. Like Predator, for example, they had it on one player per game. So you couldn't if if it was a group of four people, they couldn't just play a four player game and then you're up next. No, it was one player, three ball is the only way you could set up a game. So, I was like, literally every time I got online for Predator, I'd be online for like a half hour and like like three people would get off the line and I'm like, I'm not. And then I'm looking in front of me, there's like 15 people in front of me. I'm like, I'm not doing this. Wait. Um, and then I had a moment, you know, when the when the games when the show started and I was there a little early, I could pick between Winchester, Predator, and Big Trouble. And I'm like, I got to play Winchester. like I out of those three, I'm going to make that my priority to get on it. And I did. And it was like I I don't know. Predator like again, as I said earlier, the theme is perfect for this demographic. I didn't get to play Big Trouble. I didn't get to play it. It It I didn't get I I didn't get on it. I did not get on it. And again, the the reason why and and this is on me again because my Friday was so disrupted. I didn't want to go back into the show and I and I just, you know, I kind of didn't care. I just didn't want to interact with people that that kind of, you know, made made it uncomfortable for me. I mean, I'm still just a human being. and and gang, by no means am I some victim here, but I'm still just, you know, I'm a human being with two young kids and I don't know what I I get scared by people that I don't know what their intentions are. I don't know if they're all there or not. I don't. These are absolute strangers to me are coming at me with like anger and vitriol and I just want to walk away because I love my life. I love my wife. I have to raise these two kids. I don't want anything to happen to their dad because someone's upset at a pinball show. So, I took the advice of the head of security at the hotel and just avoided them because I knew if I just stay at the hotel bar, I'm not going to have any drama or anything's going to happen. But if I if they see me, my presence will provoke them. So, I just decided not to even bother. Well, Peter, man, like, come up. I look, gang, please, when you see me. Just come up to me. Come up to me. It's never You're never interrupting me. You're never interrupting conversations. It is absolutely It is absolutely why I love being at the shows. And, you know, I for those of you who did come up and we all talk, I I really make it's not even an effort. It's just what I love to do. I will always talk to people for for as long as you want. You poke fun at my setup, but no hate there. Life is Peter. What was your setup, man? What was What was your setup? Look, I'm a sarcastic guy, too. So, I'm I'm never quite sure who I've said what about and who's connected to what. So, it's just So, forgive me, you know, for not knowing everything. Um, it's fine everybody. It's fine. Like, trust me, like nobody got hurt. Nobody's nobody had a worse time at the show. Um, I definitely I definitely, you know, am still in awe that Winchester's mystery house just crushed. Oh, cables showing on the walls above my pins. Oh, okay. Yeah. At home, right? Okay. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I hate I hate exposed wires. Um, you know, one of my thing is always that like whenever you have exposed wires, it's like I always love to make fun of that when people show me their home setups and it's like, well, what's like what, you know, gotta hide those wires. I didn't play Predator. I did not get a chance to play Predator. Um, I think if they only make like two or 300, they'll most likely sell everyone. It's It's like a weird thing happening though where where you know there's there's just such a there's such a um there's so much hopefulness that more games will come out that collectors will want and people people miss the FOMO and they want the FOMO. Was there ever looking into the eyes with Ralph? No, No, we did. Yeah. So, I um I absolutely uh looked into Ralph's eyes and he was very nice and we shook hands, you know, shook hands with Don. I I you know, I saw Don with his daughter. Um you know, it it I I'll say this and and Don and I had a little like, you know, pat on the back as as Kale would say, we're we're just building bridges back to some folks. and and I know when I've been wrong and and I've said stuff that's stupid and it's going to take a time. And look, I think it's just about like let's just be respectful and cordial to each other and that's it. And I you know, it was nice seeing Don there. I'm very happy for him and his family. I'm happy for everything happening over at Spooky with him. I'm happy for, you know, look, Ralph moderated a really fun uh uh seminar about content creation in pinball, you know, and I went in there, I was like, "Oh, let me let me let me see how you create content in pinball." I will say Ralph is super super talented and super entertaining. He did a great job moderating the panel um with Joel and his brother. Uh you had Loser Kid was up there as well. And you know, it was it was a really entertaining and it was very informative and and it was just it was just fun. It was fun to hear from everybody. And I think what's great and and when you see it all, there was no like there was no bad blood anywhere. And you know the the topic got on to about monetization and any you know even even like you know our friends at loser kid were like you know Chris has done such a good job at that like you know that's not why we do it. Um the only thing I would have added to Hold on one second. One second people. You know, to what to what Josh and Scott were saying and and I think sometimes people forget this is um you know I I my show was free for five years. So like it wasn't like hey guys like I'm this controversial like blowhard and you're gonna have to pay to listen to me. I worked really hard for a lot of years and then payw wall and I also did the one move that you know all payw wall you know no no half here half there different tiers just and I'm happy with it my fans are happy with it and I think it's the right um you know I have the right level of support and energy from some amazing people out there so if you're a subscriber thank you very much I didn't get I didn't get subscribers is because I made negative content and then forced you to pay to hear it. In fact, I've done the complete opposite. You know, I saw Colin did that recently, too. Like another another, you know, cancel Canada piece in which he hides it behind the payw wall. I mean, him and Albert should just get together and unite forces on their cancel Canada endeavor. Um, but like you know I had a show years ago that was episode 500 that was like said disparaging things about Jersey Jack Pinball and I know that I could get so many people to pay money to try to hear that show. I've never aired it. I never will. It's not even relevant now. And And the opposite's happened. become, you know, good friends with Brett and the Abbis family's turned it around and so like that's life, you know. I I'm sure JJP wasn't running so smoothly when the individuals I interviewed about the Abbis takeover were giving me stories. I'm sure Pat Lawler wasn't fun to work with for a lot of those guys. You know, technically Eric Miner's Eric Menure is is he's Steve Ritchie's boss. Technically, do you know that? But nobody's the boss of Steve Ritchie. And they don't operate like that, but that's, you know, technically speaking. Well, look, I've done a few free shows recently. It's not I mean, I do this for free for sure, but in terms of podcast, no. Like, it's it's it it is all good. So yes, that's the thing is like I think everyone just wants to see that the personalities get along. It It should be the manufacturers we we hold accountable for making magic. So, I think look, I think the next the next two months are all going to be about getting Winchesterers out and um you know, Beetlejuice just crushing it. And then, you know, we got the news from Dutch Pinball X. I'm curious what your thoughts are on this news that the first 500 the first 500 Back to the Future games Melvin didn't say Back to the Future but you know we all know it is uh and and also gang I I have 100% confirmation for each and every one of you that Michael J. Fox his likeness is in the game there they they he wasn't easy to get. I heard the story about what they had to do to get him, but he is in the game and that is amazing. And I also hear the game is shaping up to be incredible. So, you know, now we just need Barry to actually finish it. Um, so the first 500 Back to the Futures will go to the first um the first people online will be Alice owners. I mean, he couldn't have said it any easier. Not it's you're not first online for Raza. If you buy Raza, that does not get you a ticket to Back to the Future. This is clearly a move to try to prevent people from getting refunds on their Alice deposits. Obviously, people would rather maybe have Beetlejuice. And I mean, people are going to want to have Razam more than Alice, but now Alice comes connected to a great perk because if you stay in on your Alice, even if you don't want it, you know that if you get one of the first year editions of Back to the Future, that game's going to be worth thousands over sticker because the wait to get one's going to take so long. And if you thought there was a feeding frenzy to get a Winchester way to its Doc and Marty. So I just think it's going to be it's going to be um I I think it'd be foolish to get a refund simply because of the offer now. You know, it's amazing what a difference a year makes. A year ago, there were lines as long as there were to play Winchester online to play Alice, right? Alice was like something no one ever played before. The same thing will happen a year from this weekend. A year from now, there won't be any lines to play a Winchester on the floor. There will be a huge line to play Back to the Future. There will be a huge line to play Sonic the Hedgehog. And that's the nature of our hobby. It It is the flavor of the month. Whatever is new will always have, you know, all the energy and all the enthusiasm around it. And that is why we know when when you reveal your game and there's no enthusiasm, Star Wars, you're you're in big trouble. And not in Little China, but you're in big trouble. A year from now is going to be awesome. Other than the kids being older. Yeah. The hardest part. What's the best part about being a parent is seeing your kids grow up. What's the hardest part about being a parent? It's seeing your kids grow up. Cassian is amazing now. He's He's like really starting to understand and and make words and you can tell him to do stuff and he does it. It's amazing. Like, Cass, go put that ball in that pit and he just takes the ball and he's heads heads over there, you know? It's It's absolutely amazing. So, yeah, I had an amazing weekend. I want to thank everybody um for all of your continued support. It was a a really really good time and I'm definitely thinking about possibly going to pinball at the beach. Uh, I think it's going to be uh interesting because that'll be when we get Stern's next cornerstone, which by the way is Elliot Elliot Eismin's um Elliot Elliot Eismin's Transformers is next. I'm also hearing that it's really good. I'm hearing this is what my people are telling me that Elliot's Transformers Stern is is loading it up because they know they need a hit. Pinball at the beach sold out. No, it didn't. There's like two hotel. There's like there's there's hotels all up and down this strip. What's sold out? The beach. No, I don't, you know, I'm I'm not going to I feel like TPF is I feel like TPF is kind of kind of over. Like I I don't hear anyone really looking at TPF anymore. like like the place it's going to be G1 Transformers. Yes. Yeah. The The mistake they're going to make is and you know it it needs to be Transformers the movie. That That is the G1 you want to make. I need to charge this baby. See if I can. The reason why it needs to be Transformers the movie, it's just a tighter storyline. It's got the best music ever, and the energy for Pinball would be incredible. I um I heard someone offered $50,000 for for the dude's Big Trouble on Little China and Kyle said no. I mean, like he can't say yes either, though. Like look, if some dude's offering me 50 for any pinball machine, I would be like, "No, I can't do it, man. Can't sell it. I'm not allowed to sell it." I'm like, "Yo, bro, where's your number here?" Okay, meet me out back. Meet me out back. It's yours. Then Then go make another. Go make another. I mean, it didn't even probably didn't even cost $50,000 to make the first one. Well, will Back to the Future be a masterpiece? They've been working on it now for four years. Um, I I don't know. It It'd be It'd be weird for me, you know, since I haven't seen it to say that. Yes, it will be a masterpiece. Does anyone want to see um You guys want to see Cuphead Cabinet? You guys want to see it? Let's do this. Let's do this. Hold on. I got to send the image to my Gmail. No. Hold on. I'm just looking for it. Wait, I can't find it. I had it somewhere. Hold on. Um, hold. I'm probably frozen on Facebook right now because I'm doing all this. There we go. Um, I I got to find it. It's like the whole cabinet is yellow. It's like all yellow with the Cuphead logo. Um, it's nothing special. It's not coming out. I, you know, I kind of felt bad. I I was walking by the homebrew section and there was Ryan Mcuade playing his own Sonic again and I just like like man this guy's like sucks. Like his dream just got destroyed. What's the mech, man? We got zero. We got We got 100 stars. Where's Sad Boy? We didn't get the super chat. I'm I'm not during his normal time. Everybody, um I just want to say I'm going to make the show a little bit shorter today. Um I don't think Ryan's working for another company. Come on, Blasters. Do you really think Steve Ritchie needs Ryan Mcuade's help? That you really like you think Steve Ritchie is like, "Guys, they don't call me the king for nothing. I need Ryan McQuaid's help to finish Sonic the Hedgehog." Come on, man. Like, let let's be real here. Steve Steve knows what he's doing. Do you think Steve Ritchie knows the Yes, I do. I do. It's also not a hard IP to figure out. I have not seen Sonic, but but people who have seen it are like gushing about it. What's up, buddy? You want to come say hi? Come here. Kill. Are you getting that for Cass? Can you say hi? Just walks in. Walks in. He grabs his brother's his diaper rash cream and then walks out. Um I saw Rob for just a little bit. I didn't see Zack Menny there. I saw Greg Bone had a really nice conversation with um with Ken Cromwell. Really, really nice guy. And you know, he seems a lot happier. I'll just say that. He seems a lot happier. Man, I I still can't get over the vibes of like the Stern booth. It's just like I mean it really it just it feels like the Stern booth that is like the like the Death Star, you know? It's like all the Stormtrooper employees just looking at us with that like disdain. And then when you go over to um you go over to the boutiques, it's like walking into the cantina on like most Icely, it just feels like I want to be hanging out here. I want to be hanging out with these people. Like these are the like if you think about it, thank you Jesse for the 10 bucks. Of course Ghostbusters Remastered would be way better than Walking Dead 100%. And I think it's going to eventually come. The um you know what's funny is like Stern is the Empire and all the boutiques are the rebels. So, it's like I I literally feel like and I feel like I'm casting an Andor like trying to rally the boutiques to take down the Empire. It doesn't matter. It's going to be it's going to be done by JJP. I had some Cuphead uh playfield picks and then not not but like a like a section of the playfield and then the cabinet is all yellow. It's just yellow with like the Cuphead. Like it's like as yellow as Jesse's super chat. It's too yellow. I don't know. You know what's crazy gang is like I don't know. Like walking around like seeing Galactic Tank Force now for 7500 that was once 15,000. You're kind of like kind of has that campy vibe, you know? Will Galactic Tank Force one day become a cult classic? I don't know. I don't think so. But you never know. In fact, I know it's not. Yeah, JJP is going to crush. It was really fun seeing Brett there. Um I'm my I I didn't get to meet Leonard. I wanted to say hi to his dad. He He it I just Yeah, I'm going to meet with Brett and Leonard at some some point hopefully in New York City and and share some thoughts I have with them about JJP. But But all good all good. Like this isn't this isn't a company where you know I'm walking in there and being like you need to do this this and this differently. I think the one recommendation I told this to him when I was there is like that you you can't just make CES unlimited now for the next like for every title you you will you will ruin you know what I'm saying you're you're experiencing like um an anomaly with Harry Potter demand you you just can't don't don't ruin um having a collectible version of of the theme and what Harry Potter what they the lesson they should take from Potter is if you really make the CE different enough, it's okay to make a thousand of them, you know, and then push everybody towards the next model. I would only have two models if I was JJP. I I don't, you know, no one's ordering the arcade edition. I I would just do 125. I would do like 125 and, you know, if you do 500 C, then yeah, then you could charge maybe 165. But if you do a thousand Yeah. 15. Um, no. I can't find my Cupheaded photos. I don't know where they are. I I had them. I don't know if someone went in my phone and deleted them or maybe they deleted the message sent to me. Let me see. Let me check one more place. Hold on. Um, Kale just sent this to me. This is what it's all about. This is what it's all about. We look so good together. And I I will say this, I was shocked how pimp and baller Kale was. Like him and Rachel looked stunning. We went into the city. We went to this really nice omocas and we just, you know, we were going to make an offer that night to buy stern pinball. Wasn't going to be a high offer. I was like, but this is what it's all about. It was It's all about Everyone on Facebook is like paused right now like what's going on. Yeah, we we did look like a we we were gangster. We We we're building bridges, baby. We're building bridges. Kale's such a cool dude. I And I Oh. Oh, I got to hear I'm sorry. I'm trying to charge this phone at the same time. It's charging up. I got to hear the beautiful story of how Rachel and Kale met at Marco. I didn't know all this stuff. And I did. You know how talented of an artist Rachel is? Did you guys know this? It's like crazy to me. Like her stuff is insane. I'm like, she could be doing pinball art. Unbelievable talent. and just really good people. You know, when I when I think about my life and all the different chapters of my life, I I love the friends I've made in this hobby. You guys are my I feel like I've established my my extended family now for the rest of my life is is I've got my you know, the family I was born into and then the family I choose. And you know, in a postcoid world where like co-workers don't really hang out as much and that's where you used to meet people that became like your you know your other tight family was like your your co-workers. It's not like that anymore. Like no one hangs, nobody does anything like they used to before. Like nobody goes to happy hours. Nobody takes lunches. Like it's just it's just not the same. And but the my pinball family, man, it's like I I would I would love to hang out with you guys every every week. and we hang out every week doing this. But you know what I'm saying? Like I just I feel like Kale's becoming a real good like friend of mine and Melvin is the same. Like Melvin such a good guy. And also want to give a big big shout out to the other, you know, Three Stoogge that was with us a lot of the time, Mr. Carrie Hardy. You know, it was really fun hanging with Carrie and uh you know, we had a funny moment. We were um we went to get lunch on Thursday and you know we look in there and there's like all the stern people sitting in the public house at Shamberg Renaissance Center and I'm like man and I'm like let me see the menu here. Pick up the menu at the public house in Shamberg Renaissance and like I I start seeing like entre $40 $50. I was like gang screw this. Look Look at it looks like a cafeteria. We're not eating in here. We take a $6 Uber to Capitol Grill and I will say the Capital Gill Capital Capital Gill Capital Grill prices in Shamberg are half the price that they are in New York City. It was amazing. You like and so had the most amazing meal ever. And And part of the meal that was amazing, we had this server, Luis, and Luis explained to us why the meat is so good and how they cut it differently and how no other steakhouse in town gets it like this. And literally, this guy spent so much attention to the detail of a $50 steak, you know, and after he finished, I was like, you know what? Every pinball company needs their Louise. They need somebody that talks about the product and can articulate it and really sell you on why it's special. Oh [ __ ] Carrie, you're right. You did drive us. Sorry, Carrie. Um, that was the one trip where where you did drive us. My bad, brother. I forgot that. I forgot. Um, yeah. I took so many Ubers that I just you were the only time we got a ride. But it was such a good time, man. And And Carrie, you know, you always make it a lot of fun. And I think, you know, with a lot of us, we um, you know, you guys get to hear our content. And I think you get a a good sense of our personalities. And what was fun hanging out with Carrie and Melvin is, you know, the three of us like talk all the time and I think Carrie and I both connect with Melvin a lot independently with Melvin and it's just nice cuz it just we it just feels like there's always that little like oh like when you're in real life with people that you normally interact with digitally, there's always a little bit of just like okay and then then we settle in. It's like yeah, we're doing this. We're doing this baby. We're doing this. We're gonna have a great time. We're going to talk about, you know, these these games. We're going to order drinks at noon. We've got no work today. That's the other part that makes it so much fun is just not having to work. The thing is, Peter, the thing that sucked about the Public House to me, it it still looks like you're eating in a cafeteria. When you go to Capitol Grill, you feel like you're in a real restaurant. I think it does sound like Robert, it's that time to do the pinball gallery in PA. Look, gang, I'm always happy to travel and and make appearances. You know, I never get invited really like, you know, I did get invited to the Australian Pinball Open and I think they were going to like buy my plane tickets and then like and then all of a sudden it didn't sound like they wanted to do that. I think they invited Eric Miner ahead of me. I will say like Eric's a great pinball designer, but you know, Canad is more fun to have at that restaurant. Like I I'm um I may have I may have consumed a lot of Japanese old-fashions and I may have paid for the entirety of dinner on Friday night. It may have cost me more than a stern topper. It may be worth it. It is worth it. I love I love being I'm very generous to a fault as Brenda would say. Brenda's like, "Don't get drunk and pay for everybody. Everybody's got money. Don't be drunk and pay for everybody." I didn't get to pick up the tab at the bar at the Renaissance. I didn't really go to the bar much at the Renaissance Center Friday night. For those of you who knew, I got the piano delivered at 10 p.m. Amazing woman. They had moved it away because there was another conference in town. But I I played about uh you know two hours just jamming drunk on the piano. It was so much fun. You did Christian. Thank you so much brother. Christian by the way from the UK dude is amazing. Christian man I I I'm not saying this Christian because you paid for drinks but our time at the bar with everybody was was very special. So thank you very much. You made me feel very welcomed and very um very good. You were you're a very great host and and I will reciprocate the moment we meet up again whether it's um in New York or anywhere else. But thank you so much. Beyond generous and that's you know I like I feel that way about a lot of people in this hobby. It is beyond generous hobby. You know what's funny, too, is like, you know, when you decide not to buy a game, I always feel like if I if oh, if I don't want Star Wars, I just made $13,000. Do Do any of you process life like that? Because I do. Like, I literally do. I will literally be like, "Oh, I'm not going to buy Star Wars, so I'll just go spend $4,000 on Brenda." Like, I you know what I'm saying? Like, I have this weird I actually act like I made money when Stern makes it easy for me not to buy their games. So, thank you, Stern. you you just gave me like a $13,000 bonus because you made Star Wars so mediocre. I It's It's weird logic, but it's the logic I got. Everybody be good. For those of you traveling back from Expo, get home safely. I'm going to continue to capture my thoughts around this hobby, but I just want to say you guys are the best. It's going to be a really fun year in pinball and I can't wait to cover it. I can't wait to keep all of you entertained and I can't wait to continue to make a space for all of us to hang out and find each other in this world. We have built a community unlike any other. It is special. It is amazing. Everybody knows that you're not going to cancel me because you can't cancel the community and the camaraderie we've built amongst each other. And what I love about it as I think about my little boys and I think about our lives is we are there for each other and we've built a connection and we should be there for each other. We should help each other out. We should help each other find games when we get locked out. I'm trying to find a Winchester for Kale and Rachel and and later in life, you know, later in life, nothing would make me happier than someone once saying to my kids like, "I knew your father. I listened to his podcast." You know what I'm saying? Like, who knows? Who knows? You know, good vibes open up doors everywhere. All right, have a great day. Enjoy your Sunday and we'll be back. Get us shirts so we can show we're Canad Yes. Yes, I need to get shirts and and Silverball swag is going to have the band Canada shirt and some other stuff. So, stuff is coming in the merch department. All right, guys. Be good. Let me end it here. Where should I end it first? End it on YouTube. All right. Well, on YouTube. End it. _(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v3)_ --- *Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 117d98c9-6fa2-496e-8fa7-c444a0a00907*