# Episode 799: "Kaneda's Boutique Pinball Free Lunch Challenge!"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2023-05-02  
**Duration:** 25m 2s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-799-free-82371746

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## Analysis

Kaneda issues a public challenge to boutique pinball manufacturers to demonstrate transparency by disclosing weekly production capacity and conducting unannounced factory livestreams. He critiques marketing inconsistencies (particularly American Pinball's mid-launch strategy changes), questions Haggis Pinball's manufacturing scalability and delivery timelines, and argues that companies like Spooky Pinball have succeeded precisely because they communicate production capabilities openly. He forecasts May releases (Godfather CE, Foo Fighters topper, potential Tank Force production start) and expresses concern that premature game reveals (Pulp Fiction, Tank Force) are damaging hype cycles and demand.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Spooky Pinball has been successful because they transparently communicate how many games per week they can manufacture, setting proper customer expectations — _Kaneda directly credits Spooky's transparency as the primary reason for their success, contrasting them with secretive competitors_
- [HIGH] American Pinball changed its marketing strategy mid-launch by opening exclusive features to non-LE buyers after promising LE-only status — _Kaneda explicitly calls out American Pinball for mid-campaign marketing changes, calling it a 'sleazy sales tactic'_
- [HIGH] Haggis Pinball customers were told they would receive games in eight weeks but waited eight months or longer — _Kaneda states multiple times that customers were given eight-week timelines and missed them significantly_
- [MEDIUM] Godfather Collector's Edition received more pre-orders than Godfather LE — _Kaneda states 'I think actually got more orders than Godfather LE' but does not cite an official source_
- [MEDIUM] CGC (Chicago Gaming Company) has unclear production status and it is unclear what is happening on their manufacturing line — _Kaneda repeatedly expresses confusion about CGC's production capacity and daily operations_
- [HIGH] Pulp Fiction was revealed too early (well before production-ready status) and hype has stalled as a result — _Kaneda questions why Pulp Fiction was revealed if the game is already complete but cannot be manufactured, predicting six months before line production_
- [HIGH] American Pinball claims to have sold 2,000 units of Galactic Arcade Tank Force — _Kaneda attributes this claim directly to David Fix at American Pinball_
- [MEDIUM] Tank Force hype is dying due to premature reveal and extended wait time between announcement and production — _Kaneda observes that Tank Force was shown at shows 2-3 months before line production, giving people time to complain and lose interest_

### Notable Quotes

> "How many games a week can you make? Why is that such a secret for all of us to know? It's a very simple question."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Core argument of the challenge: production transparency is a basic expectation_

> "If I told my boss, I'm gonna have that report on their desk in eight weeks and eight weeks go by and it's not on their desk and I take eight months to finish that report, I'd be fired."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Kaneda frames Haggis delivery delays as a business accountability issue, not personal criticism_

> "Microsoft will tell you how many Xboxes they can make. Ford will tell you how many Mustangs they produce a month. But when it comes to pinball, we've all got to be stupid and hand over our money and not ask any questions."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Compares pinball industry opacity unfavorably to mainstream manufacturing transparency_

> "Kaneda will buy lunch for the company if they go live on a random Wednesday. That's my incentive for these companies to let us behind the doors."
> — **Kaneda**, late-episode
> _Kaneda offers concrete incentive to encourage factory livestream compliance with his challenge_

> "The game is done. Like the game is done. The code is done. The game is done. There's nothing left to be done on this game other than make it. Why can't it be made?"
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Kaneda questions why Pulp Fiction is not in production if development is complete_

> "Pendretti Gaming is doing all the Bally Williams 2.0 kits right now because Planetary Pinball is fed up with freaking CGC taking forever to make these games and guess who's actually got a consistent line moving Pendretti Gaming"
> — **Kaneda**, late-episode
> _Suggests CGC's slowness is creating opportunities for competing manufacturers to fill gaps_

> "I don't think it's meeting or exceeding where people's expectations were for this title. I don't think people are seeing a mech or toys that blow them away."
> — **Kaneda**, mid-episode
> _Kaneda's assessment that Tank Force did not meet community expectations upon reveal_

> "The only companies that are going to be successful are the ones making games. It seems so commonsensical, but it's true."
> — **Kaneda**, late-episode
> _Kaneda's core thesis on competitive advantage in boutique pinball manufacturing_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Pinball podcast host and industry commentator; runs Kaneda's Pinball Podcast with ~600 Patreon members; vocal advocate for manufacturer transparency and customer accountability |
| Kim Mitchell | person | Friend mentioned by Kaneda; has pre-orders for two Fathom Mermaid editions from Haggis Pinball; associated with 'Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show' |
| Damien | person | Leader/founder of Haggis Pinball; promised transparency in behind-the-scenes content but has not delivered; promised eight-week delivery timelines to customers |
| David Fix | person | Leader at American Pinball; claims company has sold 2,000 units of Galactic Arcade Tank Force; noted to get 'triggered' when artwork criticized |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer praised by Kaneda for transparent communication of weekly production capacity; consistently successful in manufacturing and shipping games; conducts factory tours |
| Haggis Pinball | company | Australian boutique manufacturer; criticized for lack of transparency on production capacity; delivery delays (eight weeks promised, eight months actual); scaled factory overhead too aggressively; CEO Damien promised transparency but delivered limited behind-scenes access |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer known for Galactic Arcade Tank Force, Munsters, and other IP-based games; criticized for mid-campaign marketing strategy changes and premature game reveals; David Fix is leader |
| Chicago Gaming Company (CGC) | company | Boutique manufacturer handling Pulp Fiction and Cactus Canyon; Kaneda expresses uncertainty about their production capacity and daily operations; viewed as slow and secretive |
| Jersey Jack Pinball (JJP) | company | Established manufacturer; offers factory tours; Doris works in customer service and handles playfield replacements for GNR Collector's Edition defects |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major established manufacturer; conducts Friday factory tours; Kaneda references Stern's manufacturing transparency and philosophy |
| Pendretti Gaming | company | Italian boutique manufacturer; producing Bally/Williams 2.0 kits; partnered with Pinball Brothers; rumored to be manufacturing Twilight Zone remake; noted for consistent production line activity |
| Pinball Brothers | company | Boutique manufacturer producing Queen Pinball; partnered with Pendretti Gaming; actively shipping games |
| Dutch Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; Barry is leader; characterized by Kaneda as making games consistently and not nervous about factory transparency |
| Multimorphic | company | Boutique manufacturer; included in Kaneda's transparency challenge; production capacity unclear to community |
| Home Pin | company | Boutique manufacturer; included in Kaneda's challenge |
| Pinball Adventures | company | Boutique manufacturer; included in Kaneda's challenge |
| Pulp Fiction | game | CGC title; development complete, code finished; revealed too early relative to production readiness; Kaneda predicts Q3 2023 line production; currently stalling in hype cycle |
| Galactic Arcade Tank Force | game | American Pinball title; revealed to shows 2-3 months before production-ready; rumored to go on line in May; 2,000 units claimed sold; hype declining due to extended reveal-to-production window; targets issues identified and being fixed pre-production |
| Foo Fighters | game | Stern title in production; Kaneda predicts topper reveal in May; LEs sold out; Premium units expected in next production run; codes receiving updates |
| Godfather Collector's Edition | game | JJP title; expected May release; Kaneda believes CE pre-orders exceeded LE pre-orders; 1,000 units expected; playfields available but defective GNR CEs had two-year wait for replacement parts |
| Queen Pinball | game | Pinball Brothers title; actively being manufactured and shipped; Kaneda expresses satisfaction with production pace |
| Scooby-Doo | game | Stern title; trickling out; floor models being sold at shows; available for immediate purchase at locations like Allentown, PA |
| James Bond Code | game | Stern title; continuing to receive code updates and improvements in May |
| Straight Down the Middle: a pinball show | event | Pinball show in Allentown, Pennsylvania; Kaneda considering attendance; Kim Mitchell associated with the show |
| Doris | person | Customer service representative at Jersey Jack Pinball; handling GNR Collector's Edition replacement playfield orders at cost |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Manufacturer transparency and production capacity disclosure, Delivery timeline mismanagement (promised vs. actual), Haggis Pinball's business model and scalability concerns, American Pinball's marketing strategy and mid-launch changes, Game reveal timing and hype cycle management, Customer trust and non-refundable deposit risks
- **Secondary:** May 2023 pinball game releases and production forecasts, Comparative manufacturing success (Spooky Pinball vs. boutique competitors)

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.72) — Kaneda is frustrated with widespread lack of transparency across boutique manufacturers. He expresses strong criticism of Haggis Pinball, American Pinball, and CGC. However, he praises Spooky Pinball, Pendretti Gaming, Dutch Pinball, and Pinball Brothers. His tone is direct and accusatory but not profane; he frames criticism as reasonable customer expectations rather than personal attacks. He offers a carrot (free lunch) alongside the stick (public challenge).

### Signals

- **[community_signal]** Growing community frustration with boutique manufacturer opacity; Kaneda formalizes community grievance into public challenge with concrete deliverables (production capacity disclosure + unannounced factory livestreams) (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes 'Haggis fanboys' attacking him, suggesting existing tension; he positions his challenge as codifying basic customer expectations
- **[product_concern]** Multiple customers with Haggis Fathom Mermaid Edition orders experiencing severe delays (eight weeks promised, eight months actual or longer) (confidence: high) — Kaneda cites multiple examples of customers with full payment still waiting; Kim Mitchell mentioned as having two orders affected
- **[market_signal]** Premature game reveals (Pulp Fiction, Tank Force) are damaging pre-order momentum and community enthusiasm by extending wait time between announcement and production-ready state (confidence: high) — Kaneda observes Tank Force hype 'quickly dying' and Pulp Fiction enthusiasm stalled despite game being development-complete; attributes to 2-3 month show circuit before production line
- **[product_strategy]** American Pinball changed mid-campaign marketing promises, opening exclusive LE features to all buyers after initial LE-only positioning (confidence: high) — Kaneda directly criticizes American Pinball for mid-launch strategy changes and calls it a 'sleazy sales tactic' that undermines early adopters
- **[manufacturing_signal]** Boutique pinball manufacturers systematically withhold or obscure weekly production capacity data from customers and community, unlike mainstream manufacturers (Xbox, Ford) (confidence: high) — Kaneda formalizes this as core challenge point; notes no one knows how many games per week boutiques can make despite asking; compares unfavorably to consumer electronics transparency
- **[business_signal]** Haggis Pinball scaled factory overhead and capacity (larger space, more equipment) before demonstrating ability to consistently sustain production from that footprint; contrasts with Spooky Pinball's measured growth (confidence: high) — Kaneda notes Haggis 'ran a little bit too far ahead' and expanded to 'much bigger space, much bigger factory, a lot more overhead' without proven throughput consistency
- **[competitive_signal]** Pendretti Gaming gaining orders/work from Planetary Pinball due to CGC's perceived slowness; Pendretti positioned as having more consistent line activity than established competitors (confidence: medium) — Kaneda suggests Planetary Pinball turning to Pendretti Gaming for Bally/Williams 2.0 kits because 'CGC taking forever' and Pendretti has 'consistent line moving'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Tank Force community sentiment declining from initial excitement (post-Dennis Nordman announcement) to skepticism about theme execution, code clarity, and artwork quality (confidence: medium) — Kaneda observes hype 'quickly dying', notes streams not generating 'take my money' reactions, and criticizes artwork as lacking detail vs. Munsters (despite Franchi's sensitivity to criticism)
- **[supply_chain_signal]** Jersey Jack Pinball finally received replacement playfields for defective GNR Collector's Edition units after two-year wait; replacements offered at cost to customers (confidence: high) — Kaneda reports receiving email from Doris at JJP confirming both upper and lower playfield replacement availability; notes two-year customer wait period
- **[product_launch]** May 2023 expected releases/milestones: Godfather CE (inventory in market), Foo Fighters topper reveal, Tank Force potential line start, Scooby-Doo trickling, Queen ongoing production (confidence: medium) — Kaneda forecasts these based on rumors and announcements; notes uncertainty on actual production timelines
- **[design_philosophy]** Kaneda argues that artist Franchi excels with licensed IP but shows limitations with original IP (Tank Force); notes Franchi becomes defensive when this is criticized (confidence: medium) — Kaneda directly compares Tank Force artwork detail to Munsters and suggests licensed themes better suit Franchi's style; notes Franchi 'gets really triggered' by this critique
- **[industry_signal]** Boutique manufacturers differentiating primarily on speed-to-production and transparency rather than game quality; slowest manufacturers (CGC, American Pinball, Haggis) facing reputational risk as faster alternatives emerge (confidence: medium) — Kaneda positions speed and transparency as competitive advantage; suggests Pendretti Gaming winning work due to CGC delays; frames Spooky's success on this basis

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## Transcript

 Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. It's the first of the month, May 1st everybody. What do we think is going to happen in the pinball world in the month of May? That's what we're going to talk about on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast. I'm also going to talk about the fact that I seem to have triggered some of the Haggis fanboys coming at Kaneda Our very own friend of the show, Mr. Kim Mitchell, who has not won I think he ordered two Fathom Mermaid editions Kim, I love you brother We're going to talk about it We're going to talk about it And look, I want to hit this head on And I want to do something on this episode I want to do a challenge to every single boutique pinball company out there in the world I'm going to call it the Canada Boutique Pinball Challenge. It's a very simple challenge, and I think the companies that are doing it right would not have a problem winning this challenge, okay? But I want to start out by saying, look, I don't like it when a pinball company changes the way it's marketing its game midway through the marketing launch of the machine. I don't like it when a company changes its mind and says, hey, this is going to be exclusive to the limited edition, mermaid editions of the game, and then they open up that to everybody else. Why would anybody be happy about that other than the company that's trying to make money after they said they would not do that? I don't know why it's a problem for me to say that, but here's the real issue. I know that I said that some of these sleazy sales tactics are somewhat reminiscent of Mr. Andrew Highway. And I just want to say for the record, I have never said that Haggis Pinball is headed for financial ruin. I've never said they're out of money. I've never said any of that. Do I think Haggis Pinball is going to end up like Highway Pinball? I don't really know, ladies and gentlemen. I really don't know. And what I mean by that is this. Do I think five years from now, Haggis Pinball will be kicking and going strong in the pinball world? I don't know how you answer that question. From what we've seen over the last couple years, they make a quality product that is super beautiful. But my main question with Haggis Pinball has always been about their manufacturing capabilities. And it's not just that they can get a few games out the door, Kim. It's like, can this company consistently keep the line moving? And look, nobody is forcing you to buy a game from any pinball company. Nobody. Like I'm not losing sleep over Haggis pinball. Like their destiny is in their hands. It's not in my hands. I do a little pinball podcast that talks to just about 600 people now. We're losing a few at the first of the month because that little $5 bill hit some people and we lost about like 12 people this month, but we're still holding strong. We're still over 600. But look, their destiny is in their hands. And I just want to say, I still think they ran a little bit too far ahead of where they were as a company. If you look at Spooky Pinball and what they did to grow as a company, they walked a little bit more before they ran into a big factory. They walked a little bit more before they took on a lot of overhead and they learned how to make games the hard way. And that's been my thing with Haggis from the very beginning is like they didn't sell a lot of Kelts machines. And then all of a sudden they've got this much bigger space, much bigger factory, a lot more overhead. And so I don't know, right? And look, from the very beginning, Damien said this company was going to be a lot more transparent and he was going to let us see behind the scenes on what went into making these games. And he's done anything but that. So why should I feel great about a company that trickles games out, doesn't show people anything behind the scenes. And I have friends who have deposits on this game that are still waiting for the game. They were told when they paid in full, they'd have their game in eight weeks and they still don't have the game. Okay, so here's the Canadian challenge. I want to challenge every single boutique pinball company in the world to do two things. Are you ready? And these are not difficult things to be transparent about. I have simply two things I would like to see from every single boutique pinball company in the world. Remember, these companies want your hard-earned money. A lot of these companies, non-refundable deposits. Why are we not allowed to ask these two things and at least see these two things before we commit to buying a pinball machine that costs eight to twelve thousand dollars we're not allowed to ask for these two things here the two things i would like to know from every single boutique pinball company there's really only two companies out there that i don't consider to be like boutique pinball operations and that's jersey jack and stern pinball and i'm actually thinking that spooky pinball might have graduated beyond being a boutique company when you look at the amount of games they make and ship a year so let's take spooky out of the equation as well. So I consider Boutique Pinball to be Chicago Gaming Company, to be Home Pin, to be Haggis Pinball, to be like Pinball Adventures, to be Dutch Pinball, to be Pinball Brothers, to be Multimorphic. Am I missing anybody from this equation? Right. And so here's my challenge to these boutique companies. I would like to know from each of these boutique companies, how many games a week can you make? Why is that such a secret for all of us to know? It's a very simple question. How many pinball machines can you make a week? How many? Why don't we know that with all of these boutique companies? Why are we still guessing? And when you think about the most successful boutique company of all time, it's been Spooky Pinball. They started out with 150 games. They had a hard time selling all of those America's Most Haunted. But what Spooky Pinball did from the very beginning is they let us know what their manufacturing capabilities were every single step along the way They let their customers know we can make this many games a week If you order a game from us, here is when you're going to get it because this is how many games we can make with the personnel that works at Spooky Pinball. And they have been that way since day one. Now say what you will about Spooky Quality and their theme selections. I don't care about that. What I want to focus on is they have been successful in this hobby because they have been transparent about how many games a week they can make because they know that that is not a competitive advantage at all. It simply means they are not spinning anything. They are not trying to mislead people. They are actually trying to properly manage people's expectations about when they will get their game. What a great freaking move, Spooky Pinball. I'm so happy that you were not afraid to tell us what you're capable of doing, right? So there's that. So I would like to know how many games a week can you make, Haggis Pinball? How many games a week can you make, Chicago Gaming Company? How many games a week are you making, Dutch Pinball? How many games a week? Are you making multi-morphic? I mean, this is not really a difficult question. And I'm still shocked that if I asked each and every one of you before you give companies your money, your hard-earned money as a non-refundable deposit, you have no idea the answer to that question. Absolutely no idea. And you're still handing your money over. And they say, Canada's not being positive. Canada's not cheerleading everything in pinball. Come on, it's not a very difficult question, especially in the world of manufacturing. The entire world of manufacturing is built around finite numbers. We have this many employees. We have this many parts. We can make this many games a day. We can make this many games a week. They must know the answer to that question. Why can't we know it as customers? It's ridiculous. Okay, here's the second part of the Canada Challenge. Are you ready for this one? This is my favorite one. Because I don't think most of these pinball boutique companies have the guts to do this. And this is the ultimate sign of transparency. I want these boutique companies, without doing a staged video, I challenge them to open up the door to their factory on a random Wednesday and just do a Facebook Live and walk around and show us what is actually happening inside your company on a random Wednesday. I don't want a staged video where you tell us everything is all right and we see Marty's shoes hiding in the corner trying to stay off camera. I don't want a staged production room where you say, hey, production's begun, but it's a fake staged production room. I want you to walk around Haggis Pinball, Damien, and I want you to show me what a random Wednesday is at Haggis Pinball. I want David Fix to show me, oh, I forgot American Pinball. They're the other boutique company I forgot about. I want David Fix to walk around American Pinball on a random Tuesday or Wednesday and show me what's happening inside American Pinball. I want to know how many games a week can you make American Pinball. If David Fix wants to come out and say American Pinball has sold 2,000 units of Galactic Tank Force. That's what he said. We've sold 2,000 units. Okay. So how many a week can you make, David? If you sold 2,000, can you make those games in six months, eight months, two years? Shouldn't we as consumers know what their capability is when it comes to fulfilling those orders? And how is asking a question like this not a normal thing to do in any other aspect of our lives? Like Microsoft will tell you how many Xboxes they can make. Ford will tell you how many Mustangs they produce a month. But when it comes to pinball, we've all got to be stupid and hand over our money and not ask any questions like this. And then they take your non-refundable money and then you're left pounding sand. They tell you to your face, you're going to have your game in eight weeks and then eight months go by and Kanae is the bad guy. Come on, Cam. I'm not the bad guy. I'm not rooting against Haggis Pinball. Damien told his customers they'd have their games in eight weeks. Not me. Can you imagine, Cam? I'm talking to you right now, Cam. Kim said, I know nothing about business. Kim, let me tell you something about business. You know more than me. You're more successful than me, but I do know this in my business world. If I told my boss, I'm gonna have that report on their desk in eight weeks and eight weeks go by and it's not on their desk and I take eight months to finish that report. Kim, what do you think happens to me in my world of business? I'd be fired. And in my line of business, it's not even like eight weeks. I need ideas in like eight hours or ideas in eight days. And I don't have the luxury to tell my clients, hey, I'm gonna get this for you. You're paying for Chris's services, but trust me, you're gonna have it then. And then I blow by that date, not by a few hours, by a few months. And then I'm the hotshot toxic guy in pinball. Come on, everybody. I would love to see these companies. I would love to walk through CGC. What is going on over there? I would love to walk through like Multimorphic. What's it like? Are there people there? Here's the other part. This transparency should not be seen as an indictment. Nobody should feel nervous about opening up the door to their chocolate factory and showing us what their pinball company looks like on a random Wednesday. Shouldn't that be a glorious thing? Why is that such a difficult thing for these companies to show us? Because then it leads me to believe that nothing's happening. That you open up the door on a Wednesday and everyone's just sitting there twiddling their thumbs or they don't have people on staff every week and they're just waiting for stuff to happen. But meanwhile, they took your money. They already took your money and they don't even have anything happening every day. You know, like Stern Pinball does their Friday factory tours. Jersey Jack Pinball shows us what's going on at their company. You know, Spooky Pinball would open up the door to that company every single day and you would see nothing but activity going on nothing but pinball machines being made I bet you you could drive over to Spooky Pinball I think they might be closed on Fridays or Saturdays but you could drive over there on the days they are open and knock on the door and Spooky Pinball will A, give you a tour, B, let you film everything, C, you'll see a bunch of people who have great personalities and great stories to tell making pinball machines. If I knock on the door to Haggis tomorrow, how many people are on the other side of that door? Do you know? Do I know? No. Has Damien let us meet the people at Haggis Pinball? Who are the people? Remember when that guy from Argentina flew over there to become a member of the Haggis team and he promoted that? Well, that guy's gone. So who's over there? Why is this such a difficult thing for us to get access to, for these companies to showcase? And I don't think it's being negative. I just think this is where we're at in pinball. And everybody knows this. Like we just saw nine games revealed to the world, nine pinball machines. But who can actually make these games? Do you know? Like, it's really weird to me that Pulp Fiction was revealed when it was revealed. When are they going to make this game? Right? When? You have no idea. They're saying Q3 of 2023. Okay. So what's happening right now at CGC? Are they making Cactus Canyons? Are they going to have a separate line? None of us know anything. All we know is what we're being told, but we haven't seen anything. When was the last time you saw the production line over at American Pinball? I mean, live. I mean, that is the challenge. Enough of these staged videos. I want you to go live, walk around your company, and show me that there are pinball machines being made every day, and then I will buy a game from you. That's my challenge. Tell me how many games a week you can make and go live on a random Wednesday and show me that your company is actively making pinball machines. Look, if I went to Pinball Brothers, I don't think they'd be nervous about this. Pendretti Gaming over there in Italy, they're making games every day. I don't think Dutch Pinball would be nervous about this. Barry is making games every single day now. We all know who would be nervous. We all know who is hiding. And look, I know it's a difficult business, but of course it's a red flag if they don't want to open the door to their factory because we all know this. If you have a manufacturing company, you're losing money every day. There's not a game on the line. You're losing money. Stern has said this from day one. Gary's like, we're a manufacturing company. We are not a pinball company. Everyone in pinball, whether they like it or not, they will make their money off of their manufacturing efficiencies. But man, oh man, like a lot of us in the pinball community, because we love pinball so much, we've been sending checks to these companies way too soon. Before they've shown anything, we're sending in deposit money that's non-refundable. All right. All right. So that's my challenge. Watch none of these companies go live on a random Wednesday. If they do go live on a random Wednesday, let me entice them a little bit. If they go live into their factory on a random Wednesday, Kaneda will buy lunch for the company. How about that? I will buy them a lunch, a nice lunch for the company if they go live on a random Wednesday. That's my incentive for these companies to let us behind the doors. All right, so it's May 1st. What's going on in the pinball world this May? Okay, so look, Foo Fighters is Stern's game on the line. James Bond Code is going to continue to get better, so that is going to happen. I also think we're probably going to see the topper for Foo Fighters sometime this month. I think Stern wants to get these toppers out to people sooner than later. I hope it comes out this month. I always get a little sad that people buy a game. They want to have the full package, the full experience, and then Stern makes you wait like two years for the topper. So hopefully this interactive Foo Fighter topper comes out soon. For you Foo Fighter guys out there, I know you're having a great time with the machine. The mods for the game are great. The games are playing great, and I think you're having a blast on the machine. for you Pulp Fiction guys out there. What do you do now, right? What do you do now if you're in on Pulp Fiction? Like this Pulp Fiction hype thread is kind of funny to me because it is May. Like we are probably not going to see a Pulp Fiction on the line for six months. And yet they're still going to be bringing this game around to all the different shows and they still want people to order it. I mean, I just still don't understand. Does anyone know why Pulp Fiction was revealed so early? What was the rationale in getting it out the door so soon? And here's the part that makes no sense to me. The game is done. Like the game is done. The code is done. The game is done. There's nothing left to be done on this game other than make it. Why can't it be made? I keep thinking like, well, what if they got a few thousand orders? Couldn't that lead CGC to opening up another line? Wouldn't that give them enough money to hire people to make the games? I'm just not sure what the issue is. All right, so what else is going on? So May is supposed to be when we get Godfather Collector's Edition. This is going to get interesting because Godfather's Collector's Edition, I think actually got more orders than Godfather LE, which is crazy. I think you're going to see all thousand of those Godfathers end up in places, which is great. The machine is beautiful. I can't wait to finally play one in New York City where The Godfather takes place. But let's see how many of these games are going to be unboxed in May. I hope we see them on the line soon. Speaking of collector's editions, if you have a Guns N' Roses and you want a replacement playfield for your GNR collector's edition, I heard today from Doris over at JJP, they have the replacement playfields in for both the lower and the upper playfield. So that's exciting news. I know for many of us, we've waited now two years for this moment, but the moment is here. I got the email. Doris is a really nice woman and I know none of us want to have to spend more on this defective playfield but at least they are giving us a shot at it and giving us a shot at it at cost So make sure you reach out to Jersey Jack Pinball for that. Okay, so the other question about May is this. Are we finally going to see some Galactic Tank Force games? Now, the rumor is this game is going to be on the line in June. Again, it begs the question, why did you bring it to shows two to three months before the game was ready for the line? Can someone answer me why they do this? Why do they lock in all this money? The game's not on the line. I'm glad they're catching some issues with the game and the targets. And they told us they would fix these issues before they make the game. But the hype is quickly dying on this game. And if they had done it right, like if they had done it the right way and they said, look, we've got 200 tanks already built in a box and revealed the game the right way with the right video, they would have sold all 200 of those LE tanks on day one and they'd be on trucks making their way to customers. They've given people too much time to think about it. They've given people too much time to complain about the game. And now there's no real positive energy. Now it's just like Iceman and a few other buyers trying to strong arm people into thinking the game is going to be great. And I don't know if the game is going to be great or not. It's way too early to tell. But I do know they had a lot of expectations for this game within the pinball community. It was the pinball enthusiasts that were looking forward to Dennis Nordman's new game over at AP. And I think if you zoom out and just look at what they delivered, it's a nice package for American pinball. I don't think it's meeting or exceeding where people's expectations were for this title. I don't think people are seeing a mech or toys that blow them away. I think the code is really confusing. The storyline is confusing. The artwork is good. It's not Franchi's best. He gets really triggered when you say that. But simply hold this game up next to Munsters and tell me there's the same level of detail in both games. I think it shows his limitations a little bit working with an original IP. I think he's much better suited for license theme games. He knows this. We know this. It's not a personal insult. It's just where his style works best. And so like, that's it. I don't know how they're going to get people hyped about this game again. I mean, what are they going to do, right? I mean, they've had a chance to stream it. We've seen it stream for a few hours. I don't think the streams are making people say, take my money now. More big Lebowski's will get out the door this month. Who knows how well Puny Factory and Spinal Tap are going to sell this month, but it's a really crowded space. And the only companies that are going to be successful are the ones making games. It seems so commonsensical, but it's true. I think people are going to get bored and buy Godfather simply because it's available. I'm not sure people like are dying to have it. Even if you're not dying to have Godfather, if you just want something new in a box, you can go get Godfather. They're going to have them as inventory all over the place. I think you might have to wait on Foo Fighters Premium until the next run of premiums. Foo Fighter LEs are all sold out. Scooby-Doos are going to be trickling out. The thing I'm seeing about Scooby-Doo is like they're bringing these games to shows and they're selling the floor models at the show. As I said, if you just wait it, you could roll into Allentown, Pennsylvania this weekend and drive home with the Scooby-Doo. I might be going to Allentown this weekend. I'm not sure. It's about 90 minutes away from here. It's really hard with Killian and Brenda, but I'm going to try to make it out to the show. If you're going to Allentown, let me know. You might see me there. What else is going on this May? I mean, Pinball Brothers and Queen. How well is that game selling? They're making them. I'm just happy that they're making Queen Pinball. They're putting games in boxes. is the big rumor as you know pendretti gaming and pinball brothers that's going to be who makes the twilight zone remake if you see what's happening there's a reason why pendretti gaming is doing all the bally williams 2.0 kits right now because planetary pinball is fed up with freaking cgc taking forever to make these games and guess who's actually got a consistent line moving pendretti gaming it feels like they have more activity going on than freaking cgc ryan white where are you i just have this feeling of like opening the door at cgc and i don't even know what's going on there i mean i feel like completely lost i feel like if you open the door at american pinball you're just gonna see Steven Bowden eating ice cream intergalactic ice cream made by space cows if you open up the door at haggis i think you're gonna see like three to five people at most making these machines like garage building them in a large factory. Come on, people. These are not $60 video games. This is not a $100 watch. These are $8,000 to $12,000 toys. If they don't want to let us see what's happening in their own toy factory, then why did they get into pinball manufacturing? Everybody, thank you so much for being a member of the Canada Club. I'm losing my voice a little bit. Oh my God, Canada, it's only May 1st. Are you going to be able to make it to the end of the month? Of course I'm going to be. Let's see who takes up Canada on his challenge. If they do a Facebook live and they show us what's happening behind the door, Canada will buy that company lunch. Oh, what a good offer. What a good offer. And my lunches will probably be better than just like ham sandwiches. Everybody have a good day. We'll talk to you soon. Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, it's way faster than life Thank you.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-14 | Item ID: 173d9638-1e12-423f-8c09-73a41a21e098*