# Saturday Morning Spectacular, July 29: Kaneda on Fire!

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-07-31  
**Duration:** 83m 28s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/saturday-morning-86910302

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## Analysis

Kaneda delivers a lengthy Saturday morning livestream covering major pinball announcements and industry speculation, including confirmed details on Stern's John Wick (designed by John Borg), commentary on Venom's reception, criticism of industry pricing strategies, and unconfirmed rumors about upcoming titles from Spooky (Looney Tunes), Jersey Jack (Elton John), and others. The discussion emphasizes the current 'great pinball pause' where collectors are waiting out new releases due to inflated pricing and market uncertainty.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Stern is making John Wick, designed by John Borg, who has been working on it for almost two years since finishing Rush — _Kaneda stated this as confirmed fact during livestream opening segment on Stern's pipeline_
- [MEDIUM] Venom is a fast game with shallow toy department and limited mechanics, compensated by deep code development — _Kaneda reporting what 'people have been hearing' about Venom from attendees_
- [MEDIUM] Stern's next three games after Venom will be Jaws (Keith Elwin), followed by Jack Danger, with possible music pin from Danger — _Kaneda's speculation based on designer pipeline: 'Brian Eddy, Keith Elwin, John Borg, then Jack Danger'_
- [MEDIUM] Godfather LE sales have collapsed, with distributors offering backdoor deals below $12,000 — _Kaneda's observation of secondary market and distributor behavior_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball is developing three licensed-themed games, including Looney Tunes — _Kaneda citing 'very good sources' and information shared by Bug at Southern Fried Gaming Expo_
- [MEDIUM] Jersey Jack's next title is Elton John, likely with Christopher Franchi artwork, designed by Steve Ritchie — _Kaneda's prediction based on absence of public statement from Franchi declining the project_
- [HIGH] Foo Fighters LE available from distributors for $12,999 but prices will decline over time as new games release — _Kaneda stating current market pricing observed in distributor channels_
- [MEDIUM] Godfather was Jack Guarnieri's theme choice as Jersey Jack's VP of Marketing/Design, not consensus among other team members — _Kaneda's analysis attributing theme selection and pricing decisions to Guarnieri_
- [MEDIUM] Distributors order more games than they have pre-sold customers for, creating inventory risk and discount pressure — _Kaneda explaining distributor inventory strategy in direct address to audience at stream's end_
- [HIGH] Kaneda's Pinball Podcast has 608 paid club members on Patreon with no close competitors in subscription model — _Kaneda stating membership numbers and podcast production metrics directly_

### Notable Quotes

> "The moment I start talking about these companies, like 10 more people join... It's like he's talking about the market, all the distributors join right now."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-stream
> _Reveals awareness that critical commentary about manufacturers attracts distributor interest, suggesting transparency about industry power dynamics_

> "If a game is fun, the value is irrelevant... I don't agree with that. I fundamentally do not agree with that."
> — **Kaneda**, pricing discussion
> _Core argument against manufacturer pricing philosophy; directly challenges Stern's stated value proposition_

> "Godfather to me is like, it's it's it's like yesterday's news. They're never going to get excitement going for the pinball machine."
> — **Kaneda**, Jersey Jack section
> _Declares Godfather a market failure and lost cause for JJP, major negative sentiment on recent premium release_

> "Nobody but Kaneda has said Kaneda is saying Spooky Pinball is making Looney Tunes Pinball... Jason deserves credit for John Wick, not me. But I would like some Looney Tunes credit."
> — **Kaneda**, Spooky section
> _Self-promotional moment acknowledging competitive scoop environment; explicitly asking for credit for industry intel_

> "Distributors might have ordered like 200 Scooby Doos and they might have only sold 120, maybe 150... The 20 that I need to sell, I'm going to let those cut the line and sell them as new in box."
> — **Kaneda**, distributor strategy segment
> _Reveals alleged distributor practice of deprioritizing pre-order fulfillment to move excess inventory; industry operational transparency_

> "They don't even try. If I were Ken Cromwell or I were Jersey Jack marketing, you know what I would do? You want to get orders?"
> — **Kaneda**, Jersey Jack marketing critique
> _Offers alternative marketing strategy (Park Avenue/Wall Street locations for affluent buyers) critiquing JJP's existing approaches_

> "It's fun to wait. Gang, isn't it fun like not ordering checks for games you're not really sure about?"
> — **Kaneda**, pricing/pause discussion
> _Promotes the 'great pinball pause' concept as consumer power strategy against manufacturer pricing_

> "John Wick to me, see it's weird because like John Wick should have the speed of a game like Venom. I don't really, when I think of Venom, I don't know why Venom would be a fast game per se."
> — **Kaneda**, John Wick design analysis
> _Speculative game design commentary showing knowledge gap about Venom's actual mechanical direction_

> "I would do a thousand of each game. I would do 300 collector's editions and 700 bloodsucker editions or LEs and that's it... Make your millions, move on to the next and get creative."
> — **Kaneda**, Spooky strategy critique
> _Prescriptive business strategy for Spooky production limiting and valuation management_

> "The problem in pinball is if I'm a distributor and I sell you an LE or a premium, I can only make money on that initial sale... But American Pinball dealership doesn't make any money on continued servicing."
> — **Kaneda**, business model analysis
> _Structural critique of distributor economics vs. automotive dealership model, explaining margin pressures_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; discussed throughout regarding John Wick confirmation, Venom performance, and upcoming Jaws; subject of pricing criticism |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Godfather and upcoming Elton John; criticized for theme selection, marketing approach, and pricing strategy; described as needing a hit |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer in development of multiple licensed titles including rumored Looney Tunes; still producing Scooby-Doo; criticized for unlimited collector's editions strategy |
| John Borg | person | Stern pinball designer; confirmed as designer of John Wick; previously finished Rush; reported to be working on John Wick for nearly two years |
| Keith Elwin | person | Stern designer; upcoming Jaws title expected to release after Venom; positioned as competitive threat to Jersey Jack's Elton John |
| Jack Danger | person | Stern designer; upcoming after Jaws; speculated to potentially design music pin title for Stern |
| Steve Ritchie | person | Designer of Jersey Jack's rumored Elton John pinball machine |
| Jack Guarnieri | person | Jersey Jack VP of Marketing; criticized by Kaneda for Godfather theme selection and marketing decisions leading to game's poor reception |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Pinball artist; likely doing artwork for Jersey Jack's Elton John based on absence of public statement declining project |
| Pat Lawlor | person | Referenced as previous creative leader at Jersey Jack; Godfather described as final game developed under his tenure |
| Bug | person | Spooky Pinball representative; shared information about Spooky's three-game pipeline at Southern Fried Gaming Expo |
| Ken Cromwell | person | Identified as Flippin' Out Pinball owner; Kaneda hypothetically positions him as potential Jersey Jack marketing decision-maker |
| Jason Knapp | person | Knapp's Arcade founder; received credit for breaking John Wick news; Kaneda seeks comparable credit for Looney Tunes scoop |
| Terry (Pinball Life) | person | Owner of Pinball Life parts distributor; praised for successful business model combining retail and manufacturer supply |
| Brian Eddy | person | Stern designer in production pipeline before Keith Elwin |
| Josh Sharpe | person | Stern Pinball representative; quoted by Kaneda as stating 'if a game is fun, the value is irrelevant' — position Kaneda explicitly rejects |
| Godfather Pinball | game | Jersey Jack LE/CE; released recently; criticized for poor sales, overpricing, and theme choice; described as collapsed in secondary market with backdoor discounting |
| John Wick Pinball | game | Confirmed Stern title designed by John Borg; contemporary action theme; Kaneda provides design suggestions for Continental/bounty mechanics |
| Venom Pinball | game | Stern title; described as fast with shallow toys, compensated by deep code; pricing at $7k Pro, $10k Premium, $13k Elite; positioned as pre-release to Jaws |
| Jaws Pinball | game | Upcoming Stern title by Keith Elwin; expected to follow Venom; positioned as major market event and competitive threat to Jersey Jack's Elton John |
| Looney Tunes Pinball | game | Rumored Spooky Pinball title; Kaneda's primary prediction for one of three licensed games in Spooky's pipeline; seeks credit for scoop |
| Elton John Pinball | game | Rumored Jersey Jack title designed by Steve Ritchie; expected to compete directly with Stern's Jaws; positioned as JJP's needed hit |
| Scooby-Doo Pinball | game | Spooky title still in production; not even halfway complete; secondary market availability causing customer frustration and pricing pressure |
| Foo Fighters Pinball | game | Stern title; cited as available for $12,999 from distributors; used as example of price decline over time as new releases launch |
| Southern Fried Gaming Expo | event | Venue where Spooky's Bug shared information about three-game pipeline; potential location for Venom playtest audience |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Stern Pinball's upcoming releases (John Wick, Jaws), Industry pricing inflation and 'great pinball pause' consumer strategy, Jersey Jack's Godfather market failure and strategy critique, Spooky Pinball's multi-license pipeline and production strategy, Distributor inventory management and pre-order fulfillment practices
- **Secondary:** Venom game reception and mechanical/code balance, Pinball marketing strategies and affluent buyer targeting, Kaneda's Pinball Podcast subscriber metrics and competitive positioning

### Sentiment

**Mixed** (0.35) — Kaneda expresses enthusiasm for upcoming titles (John Wick, Jaws, Looney Tunes rumors) and pride in his podcast, but delivers scathing criticism of current industry pricing, manufacturer marketing decisions (especially JJP/Godfather), distributor practices, and theme selection by company leadership. Tone oscillates between celebratory (early game announcements) and contemptuous (pricing models, Godfather sales collapse). Generally dismissive of Jersey Jack's current trajectory and skeptical of Venom's market appeal.

### Signals

- **[announcement]** John Wick pinball confirmed as Stern title designed by John Borg; development timeline of nearly 2 years since Rush completion (confidence: high) — Kaneda states: 'It's not a rumor anymore. It's happening. Stern is making John Wick... John Borg, I believe, is making it. He's been working on it since he finished Rush. Now remember, these designers finished the design of a game easily months before the game even is revealed. So he's been working on John Wick, I've heard, for almost two years.'
- **[machine_intel]** Venom specifications: Pro $7,000, Premium $10,000, Elite $13,000; characterized as fast gameplay with shallow toy department and deep code (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'You know, look at 13,000 for an Elite version at 10,000 for a premium at 7,000 for a pro... From what I've been hearing from people about Venom is the game is very fast. It doesn't really have that many mechanisms or impressive mechanisms. I've heard in the toy department, it's shallow. In the speed department, it's fast.'
- **[rumor_hype]** Stern's post-Jaws designer sequence rumored as: Brian Eddy → Keith Elwin (Jaws) → John Borg → Jack Danger; speculation about music pin from Danger (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'I think that's going to be the next three games from Stern and then after that we're going to get the next game from let's see we just got Brian Eddy, we're going to get Keith Elwin, then we're going to get John Borg, and then we're going to get Jack Danger.'
- **[product_concern]** Godfather LE experiencing secondary market collapse with distributor backdoor discounting below $12,000 MSRP (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Godfather LEs have tanked in value already. They will soon be selling for $9,500. And then they're going to sell for $8,500... Distributors are starting to offer them for less than $12,000, backdoor deals people.'
- **[leak_detection]** Spooky Pinball developing three licensed titles; Kaneda predicts Looney Tunes (high confidence), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (medium confidence), and Princess Bride or Evil Dead as secondary options (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Bug has told people at Southern Fried Gaming Expo. They are working on three licensed themed games right now... I'm going to tell you right now what I think two of them are. Looney Tunes. They are, I'm hearing under very good sources Spooky Pinball is making Looney Tunes.'
- **[rumor_hype]** Jersey Jack's next title rumored as Elton John designed by Steve Ritchie with likely artwork by Christopher Franchi (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'It's going to be Elton John. It is most likely gonna have Christopher Franchi on artwork. If it wasn't Christopher Franchi on artwork he would normally come out and say he's not doing Elton John... It's going to be Steve Ritchie's Elton John versus John Wick.'
- **[market_signal]** Industry-wide consensus that games are overpriced; Kaneda argues value-to-cost ratio deteriorated despite manufacturers' pricing all titles at premium levels (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'The games are all inflated. Everybody feels it. Everybody can sense it. Everyone is feeling like, man, it's really hard to put a Venom next to the Big Lebowski and be like, these games are the same price... every manufacturer now has determined that their games are worth the price that games would be worth if they were deemed to be masterpieces.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Community embracing 'great pinball pause' strategy: delaying purchases to avoid FOMO-driven spending and achieve better secondary market pricing (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'And the More Brewing Company time you wait, the lower in price Foo Fighters is gonna go, the lower in price everything is gonna become... it's fun to wait. Gang, isn't it fun like not ordering checks for games you're not really sure about?'
- **[operational_signal]** Distributors order excess inventory relative to pre-orders, deprioritizing deposit-paid orders to move new box inventory faster (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'Distributors order a lot of games than they have customers for yet... If I'm a distributor and let's say I want to order 100 Scooby Doos. Okay, let's just say 100. Let's say I sold 80. 80 people gave me non-refundable deposits... The 20 that I haven't sold yet, when Spooky Pinball sends me games, I'm going to make those first 20 they sell me, I'm going to let those cut the line and sell them as new in box.'
- **[business_signal]** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast reports 608 Patreon club members with no competitors following subscription-first publishing model (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'We're at 608 club members which is great. We're holding really strong. Nobody even nearly close to what we've done. Nobody even knocking on our door... You got to make the entire show behind the paywall if you want to make the entire show behind the paywall.'
- **[design_philosophy]** Kaneda holds Jack Guarnieri (JJP VP) accountable for Godfather theme choice; argues Guarnieri should be critiqued for cascading business failures (theme, gameplay, pricing) (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'This game was a Jack Guarnieri theme... He's the guy that picks the themes. So he picked Toy Story 4, knowing he could only do 4... And so now we've witnessed this is a great example of what can go wrong when you both do, I mean it's triple storm for them. You get the theme wrong. Then you don't put much into the games that wow people. Then you charge the most you've ever charged.'

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## Transcript

 Alright, Saturday morning spectacular. We're a few minutes late. We're a few minutes late but that's what happens when you got a little baby kill. Baby kill and Brenda headed out, going to Whole Foods, giving Kaneda a little bit of time to do a Saturday morning spectacular. I'm gonna go turn that light off. Hold on a second. I'll be right back. It's causing a glare. It's causing a glare. We want to make sure you guys have the best Saturday morning ever. Boom. Alright! We're in a good mood! We don't even need any coffee today. We're going to talk all about pinball. Everybody in the house. Oh, we got Jeff in the house. Let's do our means in the house. Who's in the house? Come on, say hi. I'll say hi back. Let's do this. We got Jason in the house. We got Michael M. L. Huntsman in the house. Javier, hello from Barcelona! Barcelona's in the house. Brian Kaz is in the house. He's got those 10 stars. What's up, Wabbit? We're going to talk Looney Tunes. What's up, Dion? Dave is in the house. We've already got more people than Don's Pinball Podcast in the first three minutes of the show. What's up, Jacob, Brad? What's up, brother? Oh, Dennis Kendall. Can't start without Dennis. Got my coffee. What's Kaneda gonna say? Get the lawyers ready. Get the formal requests ready. Warren's in the house. Patrick's in the house. Ah. Dan, what's up brother? We've been waiting all week for this. I've been waiting all week for this. We're gonna have a great Saturday morning spectacular. What's under your hat? Haha, my little Ken doll. Saw Barbie yesterday. We'll talk a little bit about that. Anthony, what's up brother? Look, it's been an exciting few weeks in pinball. We've got a lot to talk about. There's nowhere to leave stars? Is stars gone? Is there nowhere to leave stars? Can anyone see the star button? Say yes or no. Does anyone see how to contribute stars on this episode? Do I need to update my Facebook? I spammed the pinball world. I spammed the pinball world with my free episode today. If you're not a Kaneda Club member, good news today. You can go listen to, go to Kaneda Pinball Podcast Patreon and you can hear the last episode for free. Now look, as I said, wasn't sure I wanted to do another run for the Twippies, but I might as well just upload five and I'm only going to do five. I'm gonna do the, thank you for the 10 stars Dave, the bare minimum of free episodes in 2023 just to be eligible. As I've said before though, I still think they should just give me the Lifetime Achievement Award for Pinball Podcasting. At this point, we've got it down to a science. At this point, we're not editing. At this point, we don't even need sound clips. We don't need co-hosts. We don't need interviews. We don't need lap tracks. We don't need segments. We don't need anything. We just say in 15 seconds, welcome to Kaneda's Pinball Podcast and we hit the ground running. We hit the ground running. Oh, other shows, it's like a half hour warm up into the topics. By the time other shows warm up, we're done. We're done. We've talked about the pinball news and the stuff happening and it's all good. You know, everybody does it their own way. Did you hear, did that hat not fit properly? I love it. I'm very confident in this Ken. This Ken is a pinball podcaster. Very confident in myself as you can tell. I dress how I would like to dress. I don't care what anybody says. Okay. Rage quit over and over. All right. We'll talk about the pinball paws. We'll talk about Venom. I would like to hear from somebody. Has anybody who's currently on the show right now with us, has anybody here played Venom at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo? And if anybody's at the Southern Fried Gaming Expo, maybe we go live in a little bit and have a little walk around and we can have people curse out Kaneda. We know everybody I saw the big Venom blow up, little awkward looking thing like you're walking into Venom's mouth. I know they've got a bunch of games there from Marco. It's almost August. You got about a couple months before this game really goes on the line. There's going to be the switch over of the Stern Factory. I think we're going to get more and more reviews from Venom. From what I've been hearing from people about Venom is the game is very fast. It doesn't really have that many mechanisms or impressive mechanisms. That's what I've heard from people about Venom. I've heard in the toy department, it's shallow. In the speed department, it's fast and the shots are pretty easy fan layout. So that's why I think they're going really deep on the code is they need to make up, right? For some of the maybe physical limitations of the game. So they're going to put a lot into the code. You know, look at 13,000 for an Ellie at 10,000 for a premium at 7,000 for a pro. Hmm. No, gotta be a lot. I'm in such a good mood. How do you know, I think I'd let you guys know, nice just to be on good terms with Jason Knapp, not saying anything derogatory about the man ever again. You know, when I do rumors, and he said it, he like, I hope he includes my rumors into some of his coverage. I probably have a little bit more of a track record than random Reddit guys. We're going to talk about John Wick. We're going to talk about spooky rumors. We're going to talk about American Pinball, probably having He-Man. Let's go around the horn. How's that sound? Everybody down for that? You guys down for dancing with Kaneda right now for 90 minutes? Get your stars ready, people. Get your stars ready. The world's favorite pinball podcast six years in a row. It's just $5 a month. No inflation. Just satisfaction. Okay. Let's start with Stern. Okay? Let's start with Stern. Big rumor. John Wick. It's not a rumor anymore. It's happening. Stern is making John Wick. They've been making it. John Borg, I believe, is making it. He's been working on it since he finished Rush. Now remember, these designers finished the design of a game easily months before the game even is revealed. So he's been working on John Wick, I've heard, for almost two years. John Wick. I like it. I like it because it's contemporary, because it's new, because it's badass. Now look, there are some things you're gonna need if you make a John Wick pinball machine, right? You're gonna need the assets from the movie. You're gonna need the callouts from Winston, from John, from whatever Larry Fishburn's character is, the Boogeyman, the Russian mobsters, you need all of that. самые pottery vote that noturboshose at kim sewing random The Continental, nothing, you can't fight in the Continental. They need to have a mode in the game in which you enter the Continental and there's no scoring that can happen. Wouldn't that be cool? Like, just something where like it's a unique mode or when you get into the Continental, you can't fight, you can't rally, I think it's important to make things more accessible. There are some interesting things that could happen there. I think what's perfect for this game is this. In the world of John Wick, they put a bounty out as the price to kill the different hitmen. I mean, there you go, that's your scoring. I mean, wouldn't it make total sense to, you're John Wick and you know, you have money that you can earn for taking out some of the other hitmen, maybe you do it like that. That's not quite, usually it's all about the bounty that's on John Wick's head is what they focus on in the movies. But in terms of the environments, in terms of the lighting and the music and the action, John Wick to me, see it's weird because like John Wick should have the speed of a game like Venom. I don't really, when I think of Venom, I don't know why Venom would be a fast game per se. I would expect Venom to have more toys like Spider-Man. But, as I've said always people, now that we know it's going to be Venom into Jaws, I think we might see Jaws revealed at the end of the year with manufacturing happening in February or they might just reveal it in February. I think that's going to be the next three games from Stern and then after that we're going to get the next game from let's see we just got Brian Eddy, we're going to get Keith Elwin, then we're going to get John Borg, and then we're going to get Jack Danger. And so I think that's going to be the now if you if you think about Stern's track record I think We might get another music pin from Jack Danger because wouldn't, you know, normally Stern mixes music into the fold. And so the rumored music pins that Stern might have, they don't need to do a vault edition of anything. I, you know, we always talk about Stern vaults and if they're going to vault anything, I think they're going to vault Metallica or they're going to vault, like they'll bring back Stranger Things. I don't think it's going to be a vault. I think they're just going to announce they're I'm not sure if I'm making more Stranger Things premiums, but I don't think we're going to see like a vault Vault. We might see like a small anniversary run of Jurassic Park, you know, the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park. I could see that. I could see a small anniversary run of, I don't think they're going to do Ghostbusters, but I think we know it's coming from Stern. And this is why waiting and seeing and the great pinball pause, it makes total sense. Like you can go now, today, and you can buy a Foo Fighter LE from a distributor for $12,999. Okay? And if you wait it, now you know, like, oh, do I want Foo Fighters? Should I wait for Jaws? Maybe John Wick is more my speed. And the more time you wait, the lower in price Foo Fighters is gonna go, the lower in price everything is gonna become. The games are all inflated. Everybody feels it. Everybody can sense it. Everyone is feeling like, man, it's really hard to put a Venom next to the Big Lebowski and be like, these games are the same price. I mean, just... And Big Lebowski is like 10 years old. But, you know, we're never going to stop looking at this hobby as a Discussion of enjoyment versus value. Right? You see Stern doesn't want you to have the conversation be about the value. They want you to just focus on the enjoyment. Again, Josh Sharpe said to me, I think it was Josh Sharpe. Is he who's the one over at Stern? If a game is fun, the value is irrelevant. I don't agree with that. I fundamentally do not agree with that. That I don't think that's how anybody lives by that. I'm going to say that mantra because if a car is fun, is the price of it irrelevant? If a watch tells Time is the value of it irrelevant? If a, you know, if something, if a water slide is fun, like does the price of admission into the water park not matter? Of course, everybody, all of us, no matter what it is, we say like, do I think this hat is worth this much money? How much is it worth to me? Now the thing that's crippling I think the pinball industry right now or is going to continue to cripple it is every manufacturer now has determined that their games are worth the price that games would be worth if they were deemed to be masterpieces and super sought after by the community. That's when a game would creep up to be worth $13,000 or $15,000. Stupid now that regardless of a game's ability to be priced by the market or by its own merit, these companies have decided to price these games at this high level and like nobody's going to notice, nobody's going to say anything, nobody's going to pause the great pinball You can't just call pause and stop running at every single new game and if you wait, you'll have way more options and you'll be able to like not feel bad because you chased after the hype and the FOMO. You know, my friend Derek, he bought GodfatherLE, new in box. I'm like, dude, that's a stupid move. He basically could have got the same game for $2000 less. At the same time he bought his game, Godfather LEs have tanked in value already. They will soon be selling for $9,500. And then they're going to sell for $8,500. And then we're going to see Godfather CE sell for like $15,000? It's just going to keep going like that. We all know it. The moment I start talking about these companies, like 10 more people Do you see that? You noticed that like 10 people just joined. It's like he's talking about... He's talking about the market, all the distributors join right now. I wouldn't want to be a distributor right now. I wouldn't. I I don't I don't understand if you're a distributor right now. I don't understand what the margins are, but I don't understand like how you would like gauge How to how to how to stock your inventory if you will. Checks, map, arcade sites, some things were said at ComicCon. I don't, you know, stocking inventory must be really tricky right now for distributors across the board because, you know, Stern doesn't care about selling to you or me. Okay? Stern doesn't care about us as customers because we're not their customers. I'll be the host of the podcast, and I'll be the host of the show. Thanks for watching. I'm Joe Raczek. I'll see you next time. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. I know this is like another argument but the difference between a pinball distributor and a car dealership right both of those entities they get the product from the manufacturer right they then sell it to a The problem in pinball is if I'm a distributor and I sell you an LE or a premium, I can only make money on that initial sale. A car dealership makes all of its money in the service department. So that's why they just want to get as many cars into customer hands because they're going to make their money on servicing the car for you over the ownership of that car. But a pinball dealership doesn't make any money on continued servicing of the games. In fact, they lose money when they have to do service calls under warranty on stuff with the game. It's got to be a difficult thing to navigate. Alright, so we got John Wick, we've got Venom. Has anybody here played Venom? Has anybody here played Venom? Does anyone want to come on the show right now and talk about how Venom was? Topper's service department. Anybody? Anybody at Southern Fried Gaming GamingExpo? Well, you know who makes the most money is Pinball Life. Like Terry at Pinball Life, he's got the best gig going. Because not only does he sell the parts at probably a decent margin, Pinball Life supplies parts to pinball manufacturers. That's the smart business because Terry's business is a business of scale. And he's got customers who are Jon montefeuille is dedicated to sorry as a version of the majority of dollars as well. The Benjamin And look, he earned it. Like, Pinball Life earns it. Like, it's amazing how many parts they have, you know, how they, how they like organize it all. The website is great. I don't begrudge anybody being in the right place at the right time with the right value offer. Super smart, absolutely deserves it. You know, unlike these guys that are like probably selling you copyright, you know, copy infringement banners for 150 bucks. I mean, I would I would love to sell you banners for Foo Fighters and Chicago Gaminging Company and not be officially licensed banners for that much money. And then people hem and haw about spending $60 bucks a year for a pinball podcast in which I make two episodes every single week all year long people. There's no time off on this show. But no, I'm super happy. I want to thank each and every one of you who's a member of the I a member of the Kaneda Club We at 608 club members which is great We holding really strong Nobody even nearly close to what we done Nobody even knocking on our door And you know it fun to see all the other podcasters turn on Patreon as they should have from the very beginning But there still not one of them who is following in Kaneda footsteps which is simply this You got to make the entire show behind the paywall if you want to make the entire show behind the paywall was está Keep going through the pinball companies. So we know what's happening at Stern. Look, I think Venom sales are never going to be that great. I think Venom is going to be a title that does okay. I think Venom buyers are going to do everything they can to justify their purchases. I also think people, you know, if you just bought a Foo Fighters, it's got beautiful zombie Eddie artwork. Venom has beautiful zombie Eddie artwork. But I do think a lot of people are kind of like just waiting this one out. I think everybody knows if you want a Venom, you'll I'm not sure if you're familiar with the PINBALL machine. And at these prices, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't be waiting for what Keith Elwin has around And maybe you'll dabble in it, but the truth is this, you're all waiting for Keith Elwin's next pinball machine. And at these prices, who wouldn't? Who wouldn't be waiting for what Keith Elwin has around the corner? I mean, Keith Elwin, Jaws, Randy Martinez, it's, you know, I think that's going to happen. You know, I really do think that's going to happen. And I think Jaws is going to be, I think it's going to be spectacular. I think you're going to see, I think Kamnikow might be a part of it and I think it's an exciting time in pinball. And as I've said, it's fun to wait. Gang, isn't it fun like not writing checks for games you're not really sure about or you know you don't really, really want? But even though you have the itch for new pinball, if you just let those two weeks of this, like think about it. Whenever a new pinball machine comes out, we get spammed by distributors convincing us that we need it. And if you just don't give in to that spam and you just wait it out, look what happens. You'll feel better. You'll still be able to get the game when it's made, but they want to lock your money in now. You know why distributors want to lock your money in in like July, August? Because they sent money to Stern. They want you to remove their risk from this proposition. Why would you do that? As a customer, why would you do that? You'll be able to get the game. There are so many distributors out there. You're not going to struggle to get one. They want you to remove their... Why would you do that? Do you wake up to remove your distributor's risk? No. And the thing is this, these companies at some point need to be told a lesson So, let's talk about J.J.P. next, okay? Okay, so let's talk about J.J.P. and then we'll talk about this whole thing. So, Jersey Jack, they are getting Godfather's to customers, they're getting the CE to customers. Here's the thing. We saw the picture of Godfather in a bathroom in Germany. Okay, now I can't tell you how many people privately, not publicly, privately like hit me up, hey man, like that's where the game belongs, in a bathroom. I don't think any game belongs in a bathroom, people. I don't understand that move. It's disgusting. Yeah, people are going to be touching their units and then jumping on a pinball machine. Why would anybody want to play a pinball machine in a bathroom? And also, don't you want to get people out of the bathroom? I get the joke that Michael Corleone went into a bathroom to get the gun to kill the police commissioner, right? But come on, come on, that's disgusting Germany, like, no. The fact that there's godfathers though in bathrooms in Germany and there's not a single godfather on location in New York City where the godfather takes place. Jersey Jack Marketing put a godfather in the freaking city where the godfather takes place. You know what's crazy about pinball marketing? They don't even try. They don't even try. If I were Ken Cromwell or I were Jersey Jack Marketing, you know what I would do? You want to get orders? Guys, do you want to think creatively? Don't put a $12,000 or $15,000 pinball machine in a dive bar barcade. Go to Wall Street or go to Midtown Park Avenue in those buildings, contact building management, say, Hey, look, we would like to put on display as like a little roving art exhibit our pinball machines in your lobby So all of the people inside that building who make six, seven figures a year could come down and for one month, you know, you do a traveling pinball arcade and you can basically sample your product for people who could buy pins at those prices like that. And they would. Because those dudes are rocking like $100,000 watches. It's all over Park Avenue North. and Wall Street. And the Godfather would speak to those kinds of like boiler room kind of dudes who just want something cool and fancy. I know it's just something I would try. You know we, they keep trying to sell the same thing to the same people and you know eventually you're just going to get to diminishing returns. But again just try something new. And those guys with money, they don't want to go to Pinball Expo. They don't want to go to Texas Pinball Festival. I mean, it's just, you got to broaden your horizons with the marketing. And they don't want to be spammed on Facebook. It's a very experiential thing. You don't, you'll never see the value of Godfather Pinball unless you stand over it in person. Okay? It's the truth. But Godfather sales are done. They know it. I know it. You know it. Nobody's buying Godfather LEs. They're sitting at distributors, new in box. Distributors are starting to offer them for less than $12,000, backdoor deals people. Here they come. Look, I started talking about all of a sudden 10 new people joined. This is what happens. Godfather LE sales are done. The CEs are trickling out. Are they going to make all 1,000 CEs? I don't think so. But I think The game is what it is. I wish I could play it more. Nothing that I experience in gameplay that would ever make me spend this kind of money on it because of the theme, because of the community's response to it. It is like purchasing a falling knife and they know it. And this was the final game that was developed under the reign of Pat Lawler. I think a lot of people don't want to I admit that, but this game was a Jack Guarnieri theme. And I want to ask this question. At what point does Jack Guarnieri become held accountable for... He's the guy that picks the themes. So he picked Toy Story 4, knowing he could only do 4. He said, we'll take it. He wanted the Godfather. Do you think Eric Minior wanted the Godfather? The Godfather. You think Brett Abbas wanted The Godfather? Ken Cromwell wanted The Godfather? Jack Guarnieri wanted The Godfather. And that was a marketing decision. And so now we've witnessed and I know I always try to kind of find correlations between what I do in marketing and pinball. This is a great example of what can go wrong when you both do, I mean it's Ttriple Storm for them. You get the theme wrong. Then you don't put much into the games that wow people. Then you charge the most you've ever charged for pinball. Those are three marketing decisions. I mean, one's a design decision but on some level, you know, those things happened. We all witnessed it. And so Godfather to me is like, it's it's it's like yesterday's news. They're never going to get excitement going for the pinball machine. I don't care I'm not going to have a Pirates of the Caribbean moment either because they're going to end up making way more than a thousand of them and they're going to sit and collect dust. Which leads us to the next question. What's next from Jersey Jack Pinball and when will They still, they bring it out. It's going to be Elton John. It is most likely gunna have Christopher Franchi on artwork. If it wasn't Christopher Franchi on artwork he would normally come out and say he's not doing Elton John. So let's see if he comes out and says that. It's going to be Steve Ritchie's Elton John verses John Wick. I mean, look I love Elton John music. A lot of Elton John music is and might fit in pinball format. But it's just, it just doesn't feel like Jersey Jack's Elton John is going to be able to compete with Steve, sorry, Steve Ritchie's Elton John from Jersey Jack will not be able to compete with Keith Elwin's Jaws from Stern. I mean that's going to be the battleground. Great White Shark Steven Spielberg's best movie will see what they get asset wise but we're gonna see Elton John vs. Jaws I mean I think we all know if anyone wants to come in here like I we have a hundred people watching right now isn't it interesting the moment I start to poke some of these companies a little bit all of a sudden we get like a hundred people watching so if anyone wants to speak Speak live now in defense of Jersey Jack. Speak now. Are you there, Jersey Jack? Do you have a representative? Would you like to join the show and explain to everybody watching right now why they should give this product a chance? The floor is all yours. Well, I think they know Robert Jaws is going to be so popular they want to be cranking them out come the summertime. I mean now we have 106 people watching. Well Jersey Jack right now is at a period where they need a hit. They know it, you know it, we know it. They have not felt good since the launch of Guns N' Roses. That was three years ago. It's been a long time. They need to finish the Guns N' Roses code. They need to put a pin in that game and just finish it. Who wants to speak on behalf of Jersey Jack Ryan? We, oh sorry, we'll do better. Well, you know, they've boxed themselves up into a pricing corner. Alright. Who do you guys want to talk about next? Michael Huntsman, you called it Michael. We talked about Stern, we talked about Jersey Jack. Let's let Michael Huntsman call who we watch next. Now they're all gonna pop out. Like we got like that, we got the 16 lawyers from Jersey Jack Pinball just joined the show. Um, they're, they're documenting this. You guys, you know how many times I get threatened by people legally? We're documenting what you're saying. That's cool. I would love to walk into court just like this. Michael, what company do you want to talk about next? I would love to walk into the court of law and hear a lawyer go in front of a judge and say, he said disparaging things about our game. Welcome to America! We're allowed to give reviews. Alright, let's talk about Spooky. So Spooky Pinball, they are not even halfway through Scooby Doo. Even just saying that That makes me exhausted. They're not even halfway through Scooby-Doo. They're not even halfway through Scooby-Doo. Now, here's what we know because Bug has told people at Southern Fried Gaming Expo. They are working on three licensed themed games right now. So they have three licenses. I'm going to tell you right now what I think two of them are. Looney Tunes They are, I'm hearing under very good sources Spooky Pinball is making Looney Tunes. Can somebody do me a freaking favor? And Jason Knapp deserves this. Knapp's Arcade said Stern has John Wick. Nobody but Kaneda has said Kaneda is saying Spooky Pinball is making Looney Tunes Pinball. Can somebody out there go onto Pinstock I'm going to go to Spotify today, right now and start a thread that says Kaneda's Predicting Spooky Pinball has Looney Tunes license. And just that's all folks, that's all I'd like you to do. Can I at least get credit for this one? Jason deserves credit for John Wick, not me. But I would like some Looney Tunes credit. I am the ultimate Looney Tune in this hobby. So I think they're going to do Looney Tunes. Even just saying it, I don't know, makes me smile though. It's kind of funny. A lot of funny characters. Looney Tunes, The Princess Bride, I think they might have. I hope they have The Princess Bride because if they don't have The Princess Bride, I hope that's not what Mike at Home Pin says he has. And I think, you know, Evil Dead. If not Evil Dead, Texas Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So those are my four bets on what I think really good. I think the two that I feel the best about are Looney Tunes and Texas Chainsaw Massacre. And then I think after that, Princess Bride and Evil Dead. No, it needs to be Mel Blank's Looney Tunes. Here's the thing everybody. I don't think Spooky Pinball in the future wants to make 2000 of every title. So if they make Looney Tunes and they only make 1000 and Princess Bride and 1000, those two themes, I think Spooky needs to stop with this whole like unlimited amounts of collector's editions and then nothing feels limited or special. They need to rethink their marketing strategy I know you listen to Kaneda, so thank you for listening. They need to just make like, I would do a thousand of each game. I would do 300 collector's editions and 700bloodsucker editions or LEs and that's it. All of the games would hold value if the themes were there and just do that. Make your millions, make your few million on each, move on to the next and get creative. You know, a two-year door spooky game with tax and butter cabinets around 13,000 people. 13,000, think about that. I mean, look, if there ever was an example where you should have waited to see how this would go, it was Scooby-Doo. Because if you ordered Scooby-Doo and you're at the back of the line, you could go pick up the game today, new in box with butter cabinet. Because distributors, here's the thing people, can we be candid, can I get in close with you? Alright, we're closer now. Trust me when I say this. Distributors order a lot more games than they have customers for yet. Okay? They do. We're closer right now, right? So distributors might have ordered like 200 Scooby Doos and they might have only sold 120, maybe 150. Okay, and then what's going to happen is this. If I'm a distributor, this is how it works people. If I'm a distributor and let's say I want to order 100 Scooby Doos. Okay, let's just say 100. Let's say I sold 80. 80 people gave me non-refundable deposits. Okay, here's what's going to happen. The 20 that I need to sell, the 20 that I haven't sold yet, when Spooky Pinball sends Me Games, I'm going to make those first 20 they sell me, I'm going to let those cut the line and sell them as new in box games because I need to sell those games more than I need to sell the nonrefundable deposit games that I got orders for because those deposits are nonrefundable. Proof of frase serving The You can't go buy it because you can't get a refund Don't tell anybody I said this the other thing distributors do and we seen some of them do this They don't They don't offer up all of their le allotment because they're playing the market because they want to scalp on you haven't Didn't we see some distributors all of a sudden have Godzilla le for I'm not sure if you're familiar with the game. It's a game that you play. You play it and you win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. You win. And while Stern won't let them sell below MAP pricing, there's no rule against them selling above MAP pricing. Startinging to see some distributors with Godfather CEs now What I thought Godfather CEs sold out How do distributors have Godfather CEs now Because they holding them back Because they want to manufacture this narrative of it sold out it sold out hype hype hype FOMO FOMO FOMO knowing all too well that they got five of them waiting So I'm gonna tell you it's sold out for six months, you can't get when you can't own. Lo and behold, look what I just found, I've got five LEs. $19,000. They won't deny it. They won't deny it. Shhh, Kaneda, you're not allowed to talk like this. We gotta celebrate all things pinball. Been like this for years. Most know this. What's the point? Ken, the point is most don't know this. Ken? Ken, most people don't know this. James Bond, L.E. You never hear about James Bond anymore. Is the game great? You notice how the James Bond code, you notice how the James Bond code. So Ken, Ken, Ken, how does it make you feel? Ken, do you think a distributor, Let me ask you, let's ask the gang an ethical question. Do you think a distributor should be doing that? Do you think a distributor should be holding back inventory, telling their own customers the games are sold out, and then in a clandestine way, six months later selling the game for 50% over sticker? Do you think they should be doing that? Or shouldn't they just be getting their margins as a dealership I mean what they're basically doing is what the car industry does which is is is like is it's a market adjusted price in ADM and as I said pinball ADMs are gone but but but here's the thing Ken I wouldn't mind if they did it because dealerships do it right here's the thing Ken I have no problem I have no problem if a dealer or distro wants to charge over for a game I have no problem what I have a problem with The only way I can is they try to hide the fact that they're doing it. See, when a car dealership does it and I walk in to like Park Avenue Dodge and they want a hundred thousand over for the new demon, at least I know where they stand and they're standing in front of their greed. You know what I'm saying? But what happens in the pinball world is it's all done back door, it's all done behind The separate sites and all this stuff and vaults and whatnot, like just put your put your dealership stamp on it. I get it. You want to sell this Godzilla for market value fine, but don't try to hide it off in the back room. What they because they want it because here's the thing is they want to do it. They want they want they want their cake and they want to eat it too. They still want their reputation of being a solid dealer who doesn't do it even though they're doing it. I'm not going to go into too much detail on that. That's what it comes down to. We don't do that. We don't do that. And then they're doing it. So just, just own it. That's all I'm saying. Own it. And there's, there's multiple distributors that do this. Look, if I'm if I'm wrong, if there's anybody watching right now, who wants to come on and Hey Chris, you're not a dealer, you don't know what to do. Just come, just, just hit the button and join the show, okay? Don't send me emails after this formally asking me to retract stuff and take stuff down because I'm not doing it. I've got the best lawyer in the pinball world in Kaneda's corner. He's my boy, he's the best. Um, I love him, he's watching right now, probably, or he's gonna watch. I'm like, Chris, I would have, he's gonna be like, he's funny because he always tells me, Chris, I would have worded it more like this. Allegedly they're doing this. Okay, let's add it. These distributors are allegedly doing it. I love, I love my legal friend because he gives me the legal like speak. And also just so you know, if you want to, if you want to ask Kaneda to do something, just ask me to do it. Don't send me a request saying we're formally asking you, like, are you wearing a tuxedo when you formally ask me to do it? I'm not gonna check with my lawyer and he's like laughing at this stuff. He's like these these guys don't know what they're doing. I hate that people are wasting All right. So we talked about Spooky. We talked about what titles we think are next. Now, we're not going to see Spookys next until sometime next year. Well, look, nothing's really going to intimidate me. I know what the line is. I know what crossing the line looks like. I know what saying disparaging things looks like. And I know what libel looks like and slander looks like. And I'm not doing that. I'm just giving my opinions about these I'm not telling you what to do other than wait and see. You know, that is, I am telling you to pause. Okay? I am telling you to pause your FOMO spending. And that's not illegal for me to advocate that, to be an advocate for that. You know? I feel good. Emily, welcome to the house. Emily, how you doing? So I saw the Barbie movie. I loved it. It wasn't so much a movie as it was a 90-minute speech about modern feminism, okay? I mean it was preachy. I mean it's like the whole movie, it reminded me of Atlas Shrugged where the entire Atlas Shrugged book is all about just getting to John Galt's radio address because John Galt's The entire Barbie movie is simply a Trojan horse to dispel, not dispel, that's the wrong word, to dispense the point of view of the film, which is a very modern feminism point of view. I think if you have kids, I think if you're in a loving relationship, I think if you understand what your mother went through, I think if you understand what your wives go through, I think Barbie has a lot of important stuff to say. Does it make, does it overly talk down on men and make men into troglodytes who are vain and superficial? Sure, it does. But the counterpoint would be we've been doing that to women for a very long time, gentlemen. So to get a dose of our own medicine in a way, I don't have a problem with it. I think I don't want to ruin the movie for anybody go see it But the song that the Kens sing on the beach when they're playing the acoustic guitars It's absolutely like the perfect song choice to talk about like, you know male misogyny Alright, but anyway Last point I'll make is this a Barbie pinball machine would sell like hotcakes every single I'm not a single executive who's a woman of power would like the Barbie merch is not that great if they sold a pinball machine these these powerful women these fathers with daughters they would buy these things up like you couldn't imagine and put them into put them into their homes like this pinball industry messed up not having a Barbie and the other two are the same. Now, look, there are more Barbie movies coming. I think there's like the Pink Knight and then the Pink Knight Rises, I think is the, is two more. And then there's a Ken movie. But I really hope this pinball industry, Jersey Jack, you would sell, look, gang, agree or disagree, Jersey Jack, you would sell way more Barbie pinball machines than the Godfather. You would sell way more, three times as many, maybe five times as many. Jersey Jack, you would sell more Barbies than Toy Story 4. Toy Story 4 in 2022, it's old news. It's an old movie. It never was a movie that caught on culturally. Gang, trust me when I say this, you don't understand the power of Barbie. That's gonna be like, that's right there. That's gonna be the sound clip they use when they put up this for submission in the trippies or like, you know, they'll show like normal footage of every other personality. And then Canadians will be like, you don't understand the cultural significance of Barbie. I think you're wrong. I think most guys would want it in their game room because most guys have wives. Most guys have families. Pinball is not a solo dude thing. Almost all of you collectors out there who are spending this kind of money have, most of you have and significant others and partners and families. Karl, you're gonna order game number one. Wait, wait. Let's keep it on this. Just say yes or no. Do you think, okay, do you think Barbie would outsell the Godfather? Yes or no? Let's just go. Let's just go for one minute. Would Barbie outsell the Godfather? Yes or no? Go! Go! Hit me! Yes said Karl. Yes said Dave. Yes said Ken. Come on. Yes said Dan. Yes said Samantha. Right now Jersey Jack hatesme so much. Yes said Adam. Yes said Patrick. And we know the license is available! They gave the license to everybody! You could get the license! Emily! Yes! Exclamation! Yes, yes, yes. I don't know if this means you love Barbie or you just hate Godfather or maybe it's just both of those things happening at the same time. Everybody's saying yes. Everybody's saying yes. Absolutely, said Matt. Tim. Yes. You know, right now they're like, they're calling over the Jersey Jack. Oh, only Jeff McNale. Jeff, you bought a Godfather, didn't you? Jeff, did you buy a Godfather? Come clean. Do you have a godfather? Come on. Whoever said no owns a godfather. Oh my god. Oh my god. Jay said yes, of course. Unfortunately, yes. Alright, thank you for being honest, Kevin. Like right now, they're calling over to JJP, they're like, Kaneda's live. What's he doing? Well, he's saying that Barbie would outsell the godfather. Goddamn Kaneda again! How are we going to sell more Godfathers as long as Kaneda's on the airwaves? Distros sitting on Godfather LEs, I know you hate me. I'm sorry. I didn't make the game. I didn't make you buy it. You did. I never would have stocked up on Jersey Jack LEs. You should have let them sell them directly. It's not my fault. Kaneda didn't make Galactic Tank Force. Dennis Nordman did. David fixed it. I didn't put a stupid tank right in the middle of the playfield that breaks up all the action of that game. They did. I didn't design a game where the targets bend awkwardly and create air balls. They did. Okay? It's not me. I didn't charge $17,500 for a game to give you a lunchbox and a thermos. They did. Okay? So don't hate me. I am simply reacting to this stuff. When something goes on that's great, Hey, do you hear me complaining about it ever? Do you ever hear me complain about Pulp Fiction? Like seriously, do you ever hear me say anything bad about Godzilla? Do you ever hear me talk trash about Foo Fighters? No! No! Okay? But it wouldn't be exciting to do a show if I was just like, hey, Godzilla's great. Let's talk about how great Godzilla is again this week. This is Don's Pinball Podcast. Don, I gotcha! I gotcha! Don's been going live to like eight views, eight viewers. Onite Lei Gonzellanova, Tell everybody that you actually know Donald Trump and other economists. Don't trust him. Ignore Donald Trump and other professors. You will know Donald Trump when you are using thewar fails cartoonista on Netflix slide. He loves FPS, and he is a政 birthday man, and my dream, why did you claim Talk American Pinball! Oh! Galactic TankForce! Um, gang, um, I got an idea. We're gonna make a game, it's called Galactic TankForce. Let's pretend like, like the marketing call. I got an idea for a game. It's called Galactic TankForce. The cabinet is a freakin' tank, okay? Looks like a tank when the backbox is folded down. What's that? Well, people fold the backbox up. Why would we do that when the backbox is always up? Look, I don't want to answer that. I want to get back to the point that it's called galactic tank force. It's got these freaking tank treads with lights on them that don't sync up with the gameplay. And then it's got this big tank, right, that looks real cheap 3D printed in the middle of the game that's going to break up all the flow of the game. And then you're gonna hit these targets, the ball's gonna bounce over the center drain saving thing. The center drain saving thing is also 3D printed with a really cheap decal on it that's gonna peel over time. And then there's these cows and you hit the UFOs and you're like this intergalactic tank force that's trying to save the universe from having its like galactic milk stolen because people want ice cream in outer space and I don't know what the hell I'm saying anymore. I'm not gonna name names, but someone told me who's very high up in a pinball company, there's a reason why Dennis Nordman had this game in his garage for a decade. Because nobody Dominicsi, Can We Get The Lightss On TheTank Treads To Sync Up With The Game? Or serialization of NY YOUal trzy, So Easy, I actually know how to hook up the game. There's no instruction manual. Did you see this guy hooked up the game with the tank treads going the wrong way? That, to me, that is the epitome of American Pinball's decision making that's happening over there. The tank treads are going in the wrong direction. The company is still going in the wrong direction. Where is David Fix? Where are any of them? Where's Steven Bowden with like weekly streams? They've given up. They've given up. The game is D-O-A. And you know what? I know Franchi gets mad when I say this. I know you worked on the game, brother, but come on. It's a miss. It's a flop. The game's a flop. The game's a flop. The sales are not there. The game's a flop. What did you think was going to happen? They have, look, and all signs The headlines are pointing to the fact that they have the He-Man license. So why would you make this game if you have the He-Man license? So is Ryan McQuaid making He-Man? Because Dennis Nordman's next game is slated to be an American Pinball game. It's the sequel to Whitewater People. His Whitewater sequel is what's next from him. The problem is this game flopped and so are you going to now heavily invest in that? I think let's get close again. Let's get intimately and close. Okay, we're close again. Okay, here's a little shhh. Don't tell anybody I said this, but being a pinball design legend from 30 years ago doesn't matter anymore oh oh he said it oh shoot Keith Elwin's running circles around these guys oh he said it oh no wait Jack Danger is a better designer than than Dennis Nordman is right now oh you can't say that Kaneda These are legends, legends of pinball, legends. Now nobody knows what they designed versus the Bally Williams engineers that made all these designers look great. Oh, you can't say that! You can't say it was the BallyWilliams team that made Brian EddyMagical, that made DennisNormanIncredible, that made Pat Lawler. Look what Pat Lawler did without the Bally Williams design team. Oh, you said it again. This man is not respecting legacies. He's saying that Keith Elwin, with one hand tied behind his back, could design a better game than Pat Lawler in the last 10 years. I just said it. We're formally asking Kim Mitchell to agree with everything I say. Kaneda, you can't talk like this. You can't. He's got the sequel to Whitewater. Let me tell you right now, Whitewater will never sell as good as John Wick. This is over. This original IP love affair with like Bally Williams era original IP, it's not going to work. You would sell more the Smurfs than Whitewater 2.0. You wonder why Kaneda Pinball Podcast has been voted favorite This is going to be a good audio This is going gonna be a great audio Can say it Show the man some respect You know what also how you show people respect You retire! You retire! Like Vince Neil of Motley Crue. You sound like garbage. Show Motley Crue fans respect and retire. The same is getting true of Axl now. Like it's just, it just, at a point you gotta retire. Let, let, let your legacy live on when you had it. I'll do the same. But look at Kaneda's dropping fire eight years in. I'm only getting better, baby! We got six hundred and eight probably gonna be six hundred and nine by the time this is done. Shoot man one day we're gonna get Neil McCray. Neil McCray's got like half a million dollars in games, and he says to me I don't pay for someone's opinion. Five dollars Neil. Five dollars. Neil McCray if you join the show, I'll do an entire show just dedicated to you Neil. The Neil McCray hour. Let's do it. You guys disagree with this? I know other pinball personalities don't talk like this. No coffee, no alcohol. You don't really want Sober Kaneda with his mind right hitting you like this. Come on. Wait, he just said? He just said that Pat Lawler's best years were behind him? He just said that Steve Ritchie might not got it no more? Oh, shoot! You can't say that about the king. I can because Keith Elwin is the new king. Last time I checked, you get the throne because your games are conquering. That's how you become a king. You conquer. Led Zeppelin, Star Wars, Black Knight, Godzilla, bro. Jurassic Park, Avengers, Iron Maiden, he's conquering. He's conquering. He's the king now. Eric Minior hasn't conquered. He's had two misses out of three. You know, Eric's down in like the dungeons. He needs to figure it out. Canada, come on, are we doing this? I'm going to go to the gym today. I'm keeping it going. The one thing good about Barbie, damn man, the Ken's are jacked. It was funny though how they tried to like represent like all body styles. I was like, I mean, sure, but we get what you're doing here. You guys having fun? Look, if you're buying what I'm selling and you want to show the Kaneda haters you agree with this, kick your boy some stars. Come on. Come on. I'm going to bust now. Kick me some stars. Let's do this. I'm not going to stop dancing like this till we get stars. Right now, document this haters. Document it. He's talking jovially. He's talking about paws and there we go. 50 stars. He's dancing like a fool, he's making a mo- I'll just do this, I'm playing my imaginary pinball machine. Oh, oh, oh look at that! Oh, I'm gonna flip, dead pass, I just dead pass, I just dead pass. Oh, oh, oh, up the middle, wizard mode, I'm already in wizard mode, oh look, thousand stars! Thousand stars! Who we got here? Dana's in the house. Pete Rosen, did you sell your Batman? Where's Pete Rosen? We need him. Kaneda's now playing an imaginary- right now they're like, you know the haters, like right now he's playing an imaginary pinball machine. I'm not gonna be making a mockery out of us dancing like a fool. Like we need to stop this guy. Well what can we do? I don't know. Maybe we send out... Oh! 10,000 stars baby! Look at that! Pete Rosen! Pete effin' Rosen in the house! Just sending like a catapult towards the Kaneda haters. Boom! Boom! Boom! Who can top Pete Rosen's 10,000? I mean Pete, you just owned it. You just got Brenda's tie dinner tonight. Oh, 500. Okay, 500. We love it. Robert, we love anything. Let's do this. They're like, he's doing it again. He's doing it again. He's hit up his army and they're active and we gotta stop them. Somebody get the legal people on board. Let's set up the formal notice. We formally request that you retract everything you said on your Kaneda Facebook Live As it's detrimental to my business and the emotional well-being of pinball people. People. What makes pinball awesome is the community. It's us hanging out Saturday mornings. I'm in New York City. You're somewhere else. I'm playing an imaginary pinball machine. Pete Rosen just kicked 10,000 stars. The Kaneda haters are the ones not having the fun. Now look, Jason Knapp and I are cool. Jason, I love your stuff, man. You're never gonna hear anything disparaging from me ever again. I love your stuff, brother. All I ask is that if any of my rumors becomes right, a little footnote. Put me way down at the bottom, like asterisk. Kaneda said this like eight months ago. Okay. Now, Cengiz. I'm on a roll right now. I'm trying to make amends, trying to build bridges back to the Kaneda haters. Cengiz is the next nut we need to crack. We need to get Cengiz back, right? Now I've sent him a couple emails apologizing, asking him to just man up. I just want Cengiz to do what Jason did where we just talked like grown men. Okay, so Cengiz, if you're boys with Cengiz, okay, you say Kaneda would like to build a bridge to a new future between America and Denmark. Let's rocky for it Cengiz. Rocky for, okay? I'll be climbing to the top of the hill, JANGIS! But here's the thing, he's blocked. He's blocked. But what I'm gonna do now, alright, is I'm gonna unblock him right now. We're gonna do it right now. You can see he's blocked. Let's do it. Let's unblock JANGIS live for everybody to see. Jason Knapp has been killing it, Albert. How you been doing, brother? I love me some Orby. Orby, but Albert, can I ask you a question? I went on the Loser Kid Pinball Podcast and there was like discussion about Nintendo Wii games. It's called Loser Kid Pinball Podcast. Why are we talking about like video games now? What's happening? Stick to the narrative people. Alright, let's do this. Let's unblock Cengiz. We need to get him back. Got my computer. We're getting him in. We got 15 minutes. Pete Rosen wins today. Now Pete, did you sell your Batman SLE? We know you're there now, you can't hide. Did you sell your Batman SLE? Come clean Pete, come clean. Oh, oh yeah, Poor Man's Pinball, sorry it wasn't Loser Kid Pinball Podcast, it was Poor Man's Pinball, it's the Poor Man's Pinball Network but it's still Poor Man's Pinball. Thank you for clarifying. That's fine. Wasn't Loser Kid. Alright, let's see privacy. I think it's privacy blocking. Manage, okay, block users. Let me edit. See your block list. There he is. There he is at the top of the block list. Now if you're on this block list, you're on it for a reason. But we're going to unblock Cengiz right now. Are you ready for it? Can someone, can we do a 10 countdown? Are we ready? Everybody live? The unblocking of Cengiz RETROCENGO Dennis. Are we ready? Can we type in the comments 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. 3, 2, 1, Adam Hicks, here we go, unblock, boom, boom, he's back, oh, Jaggis, Jaggis, come back to me, brother, come back to me. Is it official? Let me make sure it's official. I want to make sure it's official, people, before I celebrate. I think he's off. I think he's off. See your block list. Oh no, we gotta confirm it. This popped up, I didn't see it. Unblockjang is, let's confirm it. He's off. He's off, baby. He's off. Let's bring it in. Bring it in, people. It's a very emotional show we're having together. Good morning, Ty. Now what we need to do is we need the Kaneda army to hit up Cengiz and be like, look, man, Chris is sorry. I know I dropped a lot of F-bombs making fun of you, talking about Pinball Brothers giving you inside information. No man should die on a pinball brother's hill. Cengiz, it's time. I know you got relegated, you had to interview Don, and I know the views weren't there. People want to see Apollo and Rocky back together again. This is Carl Weathers and Arnold, brother. We have the same horrible haircut, man. You can't replace me with Don. That doesn't work. That doesn't work. I brought the Kaneda army to your viewership. Don's got the eight guys. Those eight guys. Oh, this is a fun show. This is a fun show. Ah. He can watch it now. He can watch this now. So all you gotta do is hit up Cengiz and be like, Look, watch the last 20 minutes of Kaneda's Facebook Live. Alright, so Pete, congratulations. Pete sold his Batman SLE with two plays because I broadcasted it out to my community. I get no referral fee for that. But Pete, let me ask you a question. And I know you've already given the 10,000 stars, you can take it back. Will you tell us how much you sold it for? Did you sell it for at least $30,000? Can we start there? Because I want to know if my $25,000 Batman SLE was a good buy or not. Because you sold yours instantly. Now yours only had two plays on it, you said, but mine has a playfield protector on it from day one, which is perfect. He sold it for over $30,000. So, I just want to say, look, I complain about pricing all the time, but I'm telling you right now, people, very few games are going to be the sought after high end machines. USOTAK It will be worth $50,000 when it. It will! Use this only 80 and some of the admin destroyed a locations. It's just look too again the consumer for that kinda very rare rare pin is a guy that doesn't care about $30,000. Trust me the Trust me. Like, there are people, I know some people in this hobby who make $30,000 a day after taxes on their business holdings. A day! Alright, Brenda's back, we got nine minutes. Let's do this. Killian, you wanna join for the last few minutes, buddy? Is kielbasa here? Where is he? It's not about the bricks. You gotta learn to play better, Albert. This is a really fun episode. How you guys doing? Are you guys enjoying these Facebook Lives? Are you feeling the positive vibes? I mean, look, it's positivity mixed with sarcasm. And the only people who don't want to hear Kaneda say this stuff are the manufacturers I don't know what to tell you. I just want better machines and we're not going to get better machines if we just buy everything sight unseen. We're not going to get better toppers if we buy $1,000 flat plastic toppers. If the effort's not there, why would we celebrate such an inflated price of something when the effort's not going into it? Thank you. I love doing these Facebook Lives. I love doing the podcast. For you club members out there, these Facebook Lives, I will make this an audio podcast for club members. If you're not a member of the Kaneda Club or you have friends that are not, I think you'll supporting me monthly, right, for $5. It's not just your access to those exclusive shows, it's support for this, it's support I work for all the time and energy that I take away from personal life to create content. It's fun. I enjoy it. That's why I'm still here. That's why other shows might burn out. This one never will because there's no editing here. To me, this is more entertaining than even some of the most highly produced and edited pinball podcasts because the amount of effort The most important thing to think about is to be a good person and to be a person and to be a good person Everybody, we got like seven minutes to go. Is anybody at Southern Fried Gamingflix.com? Matt, I'll tell you this right now. Batman is the greatest code-themed integrated game of all time. There is no game that has better code integrated into its theme integrated into its code than Batman ever. Simon Sheets labored over that game, Matt, for over three years to get it to where it got to. If you don't see the value in that, then I don't know what to tell you. No, Batman has even more theme integration than Godzilla. Everything in it is great. I mean, Godzilla is great too. Look, those two are great. But it's a special game to me. And, you know, it's the only game when I sold it, I really had seller's remorse. I didn't feel that way when I got rid of Lord of the Rings. I didn't feel that way when I got rid of Rick and Morty or Magic Girl or Tales of the Arabian Nights. I remember the moment too is I was at Automated and Mike had a modded out Batman there and there's just something about the Batman artwork and the colors and the theme and the music and there's just something about that game that is just so perfect for pinball. Everybody we're gonna end a little bit early today, okay? You know, let Brendan and Killian come in to the air-conditioned apartment. I want to thank everybody for hanging out. It's always a good time. Have a great weekend. Remember, you know, if you just wait and see, you're gonna be in the driver's seat and it's not a message that other people want you to hear. They want you to buy everything immediately because they want you to remove their risk. Mental мест, Carl Delicto, pinballinstrumentaston Visual skill andwelt I love watching my money pile up, watching my fans pile up, watching my subscribers pile up. It's great. And you know me, when I make a move on a game, it's gonna be worth it. Trust me. Look at Batman. I bought it for $25. It just sold for over $30. I made a good move. All of you could have bought, even if you were just a scalper. That Batman SLE was up for 25,000. What was everyone complaining, complaining? I knew it. I speculated on it. And I've already made more than 20% return on it without even taking possession of it. No, medieval madness, like it's just people are just stupid. Everybody, be good. We'll be here next week. Get, and now everybody go PM Cengiz right now. Wake him up. Get the sleeping Denmarkian giant up. Tell him Kaneda is back, has unblocked him, and let's party, brother. Stop hiding, alright? He didn't even give me a chance to talk to me. He didn't, like, man up Cengiz, come on. Like, it's, now it's, now it's his The true colors are showing. Come on, bro. Man up. I've apologized. It wasn't that bad. If you can't take your ego being bruised for just a little bit, come on. I get my ego trampled over every single week in this industry. It's okay, man. It's okay. Nothing was serious, all right? All right. Man up is being rude. Come on, Albert. Albert, really? Telling someone to man up is now rude. Robert, don't be so sensitive about this. Come on, man. Seriously. We can still be men. This is the problem. This is one of the problems with all this stuff now. You can't, you connect. Everyone's just offended by everything you say. Really? Telling someone, man up? Man up and have a conversation. That's rude? Later, everybody. Kaneda out.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 13d4af16-4507-46e2-8e1e-6e9c75095d88*