# Episode 1144: "Don Joins Spooky & We Are Witnessing A Changing of the Guard"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2025-10-06  
**Duration:** 20m 27s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1144-don-140602019

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## Analysis

Kaneda delivers a passionate monologue about a major shift in the pinball industry away from Stern Pinball toward boutique manufacturers (Spooky, Jersey Jack, Barrels of Fun). He celebrates Don Garrison joining Spooky and frames this as evidence of a 'changing of the guard' driven by superior creativity and passion over quantity. Kaneda critiques Stern's business model, pricing strategy, and product quality, arguing that the community has lost faith and will soon shift from Stern-dominated collections to boutique lineups.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Don Garrison is joining Spooky Pinball and has moved to Benton, Wisconsin — _Kaneda announces Don joining Spooky and buying Charlie's house in Benton, Wisconsin_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky sold 999 Beetlejuice games in approximately 9 minutes — _Kaneda states 'Spooky Pinball is going to sell 999 Beetlejuice games in 9 minutes and 9 seconds'_
- [HIGH] Barrels of Fun has 75 units of Labyrinth they need to sell, with approximately 200 more units sitting in distributor boxes with no demand — _Kaneda cites David Van Es statement on Saturday Morning Live and provides estimate_
- [HIGH] Stern Pinball released unfinished code on recent games, requiring buyers to wait years for completion — _Kaneda: 'continued approach of release games with unfinished code, we're not patient anymore'_
- [MEDIUM] The new Star Wars game from Stern looks cheap and lacks visual polish compared to competitors — _Kaneda criticizes Star Wars art, armor design, and expression lighting as dated_
- [MEDIUM] Operators need 6,500+ plays on a Stern Star Wars (LE) to break even — _Kaneda: 'you need 6,500 more plays on that game before you start making money'_
- [LOW] Pinball Expo will feature a Beetlejuice teaser announcement — _Kaneda speculation: 'I think there's going to be a teaser for Beetlejuice'_
- [LOW] Stern Pinball has 90 employees not directly involved in game manufacturing — _Kaneda rhetorical criticism about 400 employees and overhead_

### Notable Quotes

> "I think we're seeing the end result of five years of terrible decision making. They had such a good thing going."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Core thesis about Stern's strategic failures_

> "It's not about how many games you can make. It's not about quantity anymore. It's about quality. It's about creativity. It's about passion."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Frames the industry shift away from volume-based competition_

> "When I read the vibes of this community, I am seeing a lot more people waking up and being very, very content with the games they have and with supporting these boutique companies."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Identifies sentiment shift toward boutiques and away from Stern_

> "Those days are over. An old The Walking Dead (LE) will be worth more like $7,000, not $8,900."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Predicts secondary market collapse for older Stern games_

> "At this much money, the game has to be great on day one. Star Wars, it's too cheap. I mean, I don't know what else to say about it."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Criticism of Star Wars aesthetics and value proposition_

> "I think a lot of us are going to go from having a Stern lineup to a Jersey Jack and a Spooky lineup. If you were to ask me, I think that's the next three years of pinball."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Direct prediction of collector behavior shift_

> "You gotta listen to Canada now. I've been doing this for so many years and I'm doing this because I'm looking out for each and every one of you."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Positions himself as industry advisor against Stern purchases_

> "Maybe, just maybe, the world doesn't need 20,000 to 30,000 new pinball machines a year. Maybe we'll be good with hundreds of thousands if not millions already in the world."
> — **Kaneda**
> _Questions Stern's volume-based business model viability_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Kaneda | person | Podcast host at Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; pinball content creator and community voice |
| Don Garrison | person | Host of Don's Pinball Podcast; recently joined Spooky Pinball; moved to Benton, Wisconsin |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; recently hired Don Garrison; known for high-demand releases like Beetlejuice |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer facing criticism for pricing, code quality, and market positioning |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer gaining favor; noted for recent quality release |
| Barrels of Fun | company | Boutique manufacturer releasing Labyrinth and Dune; has inventory challenges |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Spooky Pinball creative/designer; praised for artistic vision |
| David Van Es | person | Associated with Barrels of Fun; appeared on Saturday Morning Live discussing Labyrinth sales |
| Rob Burke | person | Industry figure who sent Kaneda message discouraging attendance at Pinball Expo |
| Pinball Expo | event | Major industry show occurring in approximately one week from podcast recording |
| Beetlejuice | game | Spooky Pinball title; massive seller; benchmark for success and design quality |
| Star Wars: Fall of the Empire | game | Recent Stern Pinball release; criticized for cheap aesthetics and lack of appeal |
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | Upcoming Stern Pinball release; expected to devalue original Walking Dead LE secondary market |
| Labyrinth | game | Barrels of Fun release; failed to meet sales expectations; 75+ units unsold |
| Dune | game | Barrels of Fun release; Kaneda expresses wish it were different theme |
| Big Trouble in Little China | game | Homebrew game by Mudflaps Pinball; Kaneda's dream theme with artwork by Brian Allen |
| Harry Potter | game | Recent release noted as benchmark for quality and visual comparison to Stern games |
| Godzilla | game | Stern Pinball game cited as last example of consistent value pricing ($10.5K Elite) |
| Brian Allen | person | Artist on Big Trouble in Little China playfield and inner art blades |
| Seth | person | Stern Pinball executive (likely Seth Klarman); target of Kaneda's rhetorical criticism |
| George | person | Stern Pinball executive; implied to oversee strategy |
| Mudflaps Pinball | company | Homebrew pinball manufacturer creating Big Trouble in Little China |
| Electric Bat Arcade | company | Venue/organization; Kaneda planning omakase dinner with them at Expo |

### Signals

- **[sentiment_shift]** Community shifting from Stern-centric collections to boutique manufacturer lineups (Spooky, Jersey Jack, Barrels of Fun) due to perceived quality, creativity, and passion (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'a lot of us are going to go from having a Stern lineup to a Jersey Jack and a Spooky lineup'
- **[market_signal]** Stern's premium pricing no longer justified; collectors unwilling to pay high prices for games that don't deliver immediately or have unfinished code (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'at this much money, the game has to be great on day one' and criticism of Star Wars as looking cheap despite high price
- **[product_concern]** Stern releasing games with incomplete code; buyers forced to wait years for updates while holding depreciating assets (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'continued approach of release games with unfinished code, we're not patient anymore'
- **[product_concern]** Star Wars: Fall of the Empire criticized for cheap aesthetics, poor armor design, dated expression lighting, and overall lack of premium appearance (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'blue armor with the AT-AT on the side looks really bad' and 'expression lighting looks dated'
- **[personnel_signal]** Don Garrison joins Spooky Pinball as contributor/designer; represents industry talent consolidation toward boutiques (confidence: high) — Kaneda announcement and confirmation of move to Benton, Wisconsin
- **[business_signal]** Barrels of Fun struggling with Labyrinth inventory; 75+ confirmed unsold units plus estimated 200 more in distributor channels (confidence: high) — David Van Es quote via Kaneda about 75 unsold units; Kaneda's estimate of 200 more in distribution
- **[competitive_signal]** Boutique manufacturers (Spooky, JJP) gaining competitive advantage through demand-supply equilibrium; Stern struggling with oversupply and weak demand (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Spooky Pinball is going to sell 999 Beetlejuice games in 9 minutes' vs Stern's failed sales of Star Wars and other recent titles
- **[design_philosophy]** Industry-wide philosophical shift from manufacturing volume to design quality and community passion; boutiques positioned as custodians of craft (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'It's not about quantity anymore. It's about quality. It's about creativity. It's about passion.'
- **[collector_signal]** Older Stern game values declining; collectors facing depreciation losses on LE models; Walking Dead LE expected to drop from $8,900 ask to ~$7,000 (confidence: medium) — Kaneda price analysis of Walking Dead LE depreciation and broader concern about old Stern inventory value
- **[operational_signal]** Star Wars Elite LE creates poor operator economics; requires 6,500+ plays to break even on initial investment (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'you need 6,500 more plays on that game before you start making money'
- **[rumor_hype]** Speculation that Spooky will announce new Beetlejuice variant or teaser at Pinball Expo (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'I think there's going to be a teaser for Beetlejuice. That's going to get everybody excited.'
- **[industry_signal]** Stern's large manufacturing footprint and overhead (400+ employees) creates pressure to overproduce; boutiques' right-sized operations align supply with actual demand (confidence: medium) — Kaneda comparison of Stern's scale vs Spooky's lean operation; discussion of 10,000 games/year global demand vs Stern's production targets

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## Transcript

 Her boyfriend, he don't know anything about parties. Two stone, Nintendo, I wish that I could make her see. Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit. Welcome everybody to Canada's Pinball Podcast. We got a little more than a week to get to Pinball Expo. And Rob Burke, stop trying to keep me from Pinball Expo. I'm coming, brother. I'm coming with the Canada Army. Going to go get omakase with Electric Bat Arcade, baby. Melvin Williams joining that little boondoggle Friday night. And I'm going to be hanging out with all of my Canada fans, seeing all of these homebrew games. And there's nothing you can do about it anymore, Rob. I don't know why. Like, on Saturday, it's a beautiful day. I'm at my best friend's wedding, and all of a sudden I get this, like, text message, like this diatribe about how because my team heard that Canada's pinball podcast Chris is coming to the show we will not be bringing our game well guess what Stern's showing up Spooky's showing up JJP is showing up Barrels of Fun is showing up the pinball brothers are showing up CGC is showing up so I don't know who's not going to be there but it's nobody of importance and I also think it is totally reckless and irresponsible for Rob to send me this message and then not tell me who sent it to him. Rob, let me just break it to you real quick. I'm 49 years old. I'm an old man making pinball content. I'm going to a pinball show. No drama, baby. No drama. Just fun. Speaking about no drama. I got a really nice message after all this time from Donald Garrison at Don's Pinball Podcast. And I've said it since day one when I heard that Don was going to be helping Spooky with their games. You know what I said to Bug and Luke? And I'll say it again. I'm happy for him. If he's got good ideas and he's moving the family to Benton, Wisconsin, I heard he bought Charlie's house in Benton, Wisconsin. Yeah, I'm happy. People should do what makes them happy. If they get good ideas from Don. Why would I have a problem with that? The dude's really into pinball. He's really into roller coasters. He's a nerd like the rest of us. He's geeked out over this stuff like the rest of us. And I can tell you when Don goes to bed at night, he wants to wake up and have the most magical pinball machines in the world. And I also, I'm just going to make an assumption. I think Don, when he was new, went all in on all these stern alleys and all this stuff. And I think he's probably also realized that maybe, just maybe, the real magic in pinball is not going to come from Stern anymore. Maybe the boutiques with the passion are going to be the people that usher in a changing of the guard in pinball. And I think everybody, we are experiencing right now a total changing of the guard. And I don't mean these boutiques are going to make as many games as Stern Pinball, but that doesn't matter. It's not about how many games you can make. It's not about quantity anymore. It's about quality. It's about creativity. It's about passion. And if you were to survey people, where do you think the most passion is being put into games right now? Is anyone saying Stern Pinball? No, no. They're saying Jersey Jack. They're saying Spooky. They're saying Barrels of Fun. They're saying other companies out there. They're saying these homebrew guys making big trouble in little China. I got some thoughts on this game in just a little bit. But when we look at the pinball world, there's a changing of the guard. The community is no longer just universally in love with Stern Pinball anymore. I think Stern Pinball, this is what we're seeing. I think we're seeing the end result of what has been five years of terrible decision making. I mean it. They had such a good thing going. And I think we're seeing the end result of terrible decision making. And I don't think they have a way out. I don't. I don't think they have a plan. I don't think we've seen any moves from them in the last few years that indicate to us that they have a way out of the current situation, which is they need to make like 500 games a week and then find buyers for those 500 games to keep those orders rolling in. Spooky Pinball is going to sell 999 Beetlejuice games in 9 minutes and 9 seconds. And then they have a whole year to make 999 games. Which is exactly what they can make with their manufacturing capabilities. So they're in the driver's seat. Stern Pinball not getting the orders for Star Wars they need They not going to get the orders for The Walking Dead that they need You know once Barrels of Fun starts actually making themes people really want they will experience what Spooky is experiencing, which is the joy and the enthusiasm to make the games people want. Think about it. Spooky Pinball, when they sell a thousand Beetlejuice games in like one day, They now can just enjoy spending a year making what people want, bringing joy and enthusiasm into 999 households. They don't have to waste any time trying to sell units. You know what I'm saying? Like Barrels of Fun now has to spend joint efforts trying to sell people on both Labyrinth and on Dune. Did you see like their poster? Like come to Pinball Expo and witness where it all began. It's like what began? That's where they launched Labyrinth like a year ago or something. And David David Van Es came on to the Saturday Morning Live and said that they have 75 units of Labyrinth they need to sell. Those are just units that Barrels needs to sell. There are still labyrinth games sitting at distros unsolved. And if I were to make a guess, I would say maybe around 200 games are still in a box with no demand for them. I was jabbing him a little bit because he's like our hit game labyrinth. Was it a hit? It was not a hit. I get if you think you were only going to sell 500 in your mind, it's a hit. But at the end of the day, it's not a hit. You know what's a hit game? Beetlejuice. You know what's a hit game? Godzilla. You know what's a hit game? Steve Ritchie's Star Wars. You know what's not a hit game? This new Star Wars. What's not a hit game? Venom. John Wick. You know what's a real big hit? Guns N' Roses. Another big hit? Harry Potter. The numbers don't lie. We know which games were really big hits. Ghostbusters games a lot of people own games where there was never a shortage of people Unboxing those games. I would say jaws is a much bigger hit than king kong, which is by the way Not a hit, you know, it was a hit game rick and morty another hit game evil dead These are games that every single one that was made is spoken for All right, so we are seeing a changing of the guard and I think we're going to see it at expo I think we're going to see it at Expo. I think there's going to be a teaser for Beetlejuice. That's going to get everybody excited. And I'm just reading the room. I'm reading the vibes of this community. And when I read the vibes of this community, I am seeing a lot more people waking up and being very, very content with the games they have and with supporting these boutique companies. Now, the onus is on the boutique companies to get it right. So if Don is over in Benton with Christopher Franchi and Hilton and Ben Heck and Bug and Luke, I can guarantee you those dudes in a room know this hobby better than anybody. I can guarantee you those dudes would not pass on Back to the Future. Those dudes would not charge you $20,000 for a James Bond 60th. Those dudes wouldn't lie to you about a James Bond topper being exclusive. Those dudes would not make any of those silly decisions. And so, yeah, I'm happy Don's over there. I'm happy they've got people that understand what this community wants. And look, Don might have been a newbie for a while, but he's not a newbie anymore. He's not a newbie anymore. Ralph is not a newbie anymore either. They may have been new a few years ago, but trust me, they've felt the fire. All these guys that bought these Stern new in box games that have lost thousands of dollars on, they've felt the fire and it doesn't feel good. And I think everybody is over being burned by Stern pinball thinking it can make mass volume and charge a premium like they are a high, high end product. The thing is this, in an oversaturated market, where you want to be is you want to be a company that has one more demand than your supply. Easy for Spooky to get there. Easy for Barrels of Fun to get there. Easy for Jersey Jack to get there. I almost feel like it's impossible for Stern Pinball to get there unless every one of their decisions they make is 100% the right decision. they need bangers or it bust there no slowly building you know enthusiasm for a game anymore There none of it anymore And at the rate at which Stern is going this continued approach of release games with unfinished code, we're not patient anymore. You can't be patient anymore and wait for Stern's code to be complete. Because by the time the code is complete, six years ago you didn't lose a dollar by the time the code is complete now you've lost four to five thousand dollars on your le so only a sucker buys that game new in box baby you gotta listen to canada now you know i've been doing this for so many years and i'm doing this because i'm looking out for each and every one of you why would you do it why unless you're an operator and even if you are an operator, just get a damn Star Wars pro. If you get a Star Wars Ellie as an operator, you need 6,500 more plays on that game before you start making money. It's time we're all going to wake up. And we have woken up. I love it. The guard has changed. The swagger, the mojo. Stern Pinball is not the reason you're going to Expo. You're going to Expo to see homebrew games. you're going to Expo to play other people's stuff you want to go see Harry Potter you want to go see Big Trouble you want to put some time on Dune is anyone like oh man I can't wait to get to Expo to play Star Wars Fall of the Empire no I mean maybe we're curious to see if they're gonna wheel out The Walking Dead Remastered for $13,500 wait till that happens wait till you see the response when Stern tries to charge more money for that game. It's going to be crickets. And then George is going to kick open Seth's door and be like, Seth, what are we doing here? He's like, I don't know, man. You think I know what I'm doing here? I've been here now for years. I don't know. Like, what the heck is this hobby? Like, maybe we should just go back to charging 10.5 for Godzilla Elite. The last time we ever gave anyone anything of consistent value between the product and the price. We've burned these people, George. We've burned these mofos for so many years and now they're tired of getting into the fire. And you know where the flames are now? You know where the heat is? It's around all the boutiques. It's over at Jersey Jack. It's inside Canada's Pinball Podcast. That dude charges $5 a month and he provides more entertainment than we could ever provide. I love that guy. You know they're all subscribers. They're all listening right now. What's up, Stern? How you guys doing? How's that humongous factory? How are those 400 employees? How are those 90 people that don't even make games? What are all those people doing? Does spooky pinball mean 90 people not even making games? They don't even have 90 people. They don't even have 90 people. And maybe, just maybe, the world doesn't need 20,000 to 30,000 new pinball machines a year. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be good with the hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pinball machines already in the world. And every year we just want maybe in total 10,000 new games hit the world. I think about it in total. That'll satiate all the locations and satiate the collectors. Who else is there? Who else is there? So maybe everyone can have new inbox, but there's so many games for sale. There's so many beautiful used games for sale that could find a new home. I was laughing. This guy's trying to sell a Walking Dead Elite with 300 plays people a game is like a decade old in 10 years you only put 300 plays on a pinball machine that is the definition of an OCD collector and look do what you want but the guy wants $8,900 for the game knowing that the remastered is coming out any day now and that game originally was like 6,500. So he wants a lot of money over what he paid for the game. Those days are over. And we know that the new Walking Dead is going to have an LE and a premium. And the premium is going to be like 9,500 and nobody's going to want the old game. Everything about the new game is going to be better. I'm just going to say this right now. An old Walking Dead LE will be worth more like $7,000, not $8,900. It might even be worth less. I'm really worried about a lot of these old Stern collectors who are sitting on a lot of old inventory that even though they're great games, what would happen to you if they do remake Ghostbusters, if they do remake Tron, if they make another Lord of the Rings? And I think they're going to have to because their new games are not succeeding It like nobody wants these new games at these prices The only time you think about spending a lot of money is if you know the game is great And in today climate I just not sure people are willing to even allow a Stern game to get great because at this much money, the game has to be great on day one. And Star Wars, it's too cheap. I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. It just looks cheap. It doesn't look expensive. The armor is pretty embarrassing. That blue armor with the AT-AT on the side next to the button looks really bad. The expression lighting looks dated. And if this is what Stern has, if this is all of what Spike 3 is, maybe they're going to put the expression lighting built into the cabinet and that's it. And this is your answer to evolving Stern Pinball for the next chapter of Stern Pinball, it's not good enough. You guys have to go back to the drawing board and you need a hard reset because Beetlejuice is going to make your LE look cheap. Harry Potter makes your LE look cheap. I just wish Dune was something else and it would make your game look cheap. All right. So Big Trouble in Little China, my dream theme. I think it's being made by mud flaps pinball. There's like two or three artists on it There's brian allen on the playfield and the inner art blades another artist on the trans light And you know how many people sent me this game like so many people sent me this game Because you know, it's my dream theme and look i'm just gonna say this. I love the fact that this game exists I think it's going to be super fun to play Nothing in it mechanically looks really that interesting. I gotta be honest It looks pretty basic, if you will. And when I'm looking down at it, I just think there's too much of it is just Lopan's chamber. There's not enough happening in it that sort of brings the rest of it to life. Like, where's the Porkchop Express? I would have liked to have seen more of the characters as bash toys like Lopan and Raiden and all the different gods that Jack Burden's fighting. None of that's really in there physically. It's got the big skull from Lopan's chamber. But at the end of the day, I can't wait to play this game. And I would love it if they would make a few extra because I would love to own this game based on theme alone, because this is the only way we're going to get it. They're never going to get Kurt Russell to sign off on this game. So this might be the only shot I ever have out of big trouble in little China. And Brian Allen on art, like he's got his style. I'm just not sure. It always looks like Ren and Stimpy. Like everyone's always screaming. Their eyes are bulging out. It just looks like they're on meth. And I just dial it down a little bit, Brian. Dial it down a little bit. Just looks like some of those caricatures you see when you go to the boardwalk and they draw somebody. And I'm like, we need to get closer to maybe the way it used to look. I mean, if Franchi did this game, forget it. Like, forget it. I mean, everybody knows Franchi's about to have the best five years of his pinball life over the next five years. I can't wait to see it. I think a lot of us, gang, and I just mean this, a lot of us are going to go from having a Stern lineup to a Jersey Jack and a Spooky lineup. If you were to ask me, I think that's the next three years of pinball. It's like sayonara to the old guard. Stern needs to win us back, and I haven't seen anything that really makes our jaw drop. We need another wow moment from Stern. When was the last wow moment from Stern pinball? You'd have to think about it long and hard. When was the last wow moment from Jersey Jack? Their last game. What was the last wow moment from Spooky? Their last game. That's what's required when pinball is this expensive and everybody is out of room. Everybody, happy Monday, beautiful sunny day, one week to Expo baby you can't keep Kaneda from Expo I can't wait to be there and Rob stop sending me messages I'm 49 I got nothing left to work on what you see with Kaneda is what you get baby let's do this Expo in one week Kaneda out Anything about her is just on Nintendo. I wish that I could make her see. She's just the flavor of the week. Yeah, she's the flavor of the week. She makes me weak. you

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-08-04 | Item ID: 17901e88-6147-4757-8803-caba4d569f91*