# Spooky Pinball FINALLY Got Me!

**Source:** Cary Hardy  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-11-25  
**Duration:** 16m 54s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5CZAdLykLE

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## Analysis

Cary Hardy celebrates Spooky Pinball's successful launch of Beetlejuice, highlighting the manufacturer's decade-long journey to reliability and theme integration. He credits Evil Dead's turnaround and reliability as the foundation for Beetlejuice's pre-reveal sellout (70 units in 15 minutes), discusses logistics of the launch day (85,000 website hits, 6-7 phones), and teases upcoming Spooky releases with higher pricing ($10,500-$11,500) and likely higher production runs. Hardy also explains Beetlejuice's missing 'Jump in the Line' song due to $500,000 licensing cost.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Evil Dead took 4 months to fully sell through (888 units) after release, delayed by reliability concerns until location play and Pinball at the Beach exposure changed perception — _Hardy states this as established fact about Evil Dead's sales trajectory and the role of location testing and word-of-mouth in overcoming early skepticism_
- [HIGH] Beetlejuice had 70 games available on launch day, all spoken for within 15 minutes via phone, with 85,000 devices attempting website access simultaneously — _Hardy witnessed the launch in person and streamed it; provides specific numbers and context about phone lines and website traffic_
- [HIGH] Spooky's next release will be priced under $11,500, likely around $10,500 (approximately $1,000 more than Beetlejuice's $9,999) — _Hardy states 'they've stated' this pricing ceiling, indicating official communication from Spooky_
- [MEDIUM] 'Jump in the Line' song licensing costs $500,000, making it economically unfeasible for Beetlejuice inclusion — _Hardy claims this figure with mild uncertainty ('I want to say $500,000'), suggesting secondary knowledge rather than direct confirmation_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky must increase production runs beyond 999 units for future releases to meet demand without creating logistical chaos — _Hardy's prediction based on observed Beetlejuice demand; stated as forecasting rather than confirmed plan_

### Notable Quotes

> "Evil Dead wouldn't be until 3 months later where the game began to sell. And this was due to the game getting out on a couple of locations and having zero issues."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~2:00-2:30
> _Establishes reliability as the critical turning point for Evil Dead's market acceptance; demonstrates operator/location play's role in overcoming initial Spooky skepticism_

> "Beetlejuice was pretty much sold through before anyone even saw the game. They had 70 games on launch day, and you were only able to obtain those by calling Spooky Pinball after 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time, in which all 70 games were spoken for within 15 minutes."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~3:30
> _Quantifies the extreme demand and scarcity; illustrates shift from Evil Dead skepticism to Beetlejuice FOMO_

> "If Spooky was a publicly traded company, I would be buying stock in Spooky. I have seen what they are working on and what they are bringing us in the future and they are not messing around."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~12:15
> _Teases upcoming releases with strong confidence; indicates future pipeline games are high-quality and thematically ambitious_

> "I saw Charlie, their dad, and the look of pride on that man's face to see his children running this company, creating this box of lights that is catering to those of us that really appreciate the theme."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~13:00
> _Personal/emotional element humanizing Spooky leadership; validates Bug and Morgan Emery's creative direction_

> "The people that are pissed off are the ones that more than likely were not prepared to call at the time or didn't get their name on a list whenever they first heard about it."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~14:30
> _Hardy's critique of disappointed buyers; emphasizes strategy of early distro list placement vs. last-minute phone attempts_

> "I'm definitely curious what new parameters get put in place when it comes to their future releases because there's no way they can have it be the same as it was on this release for their upcoming ones."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~15:00
> _Signals awareness that Spooky's launch logistics (website crashes, phone bottlenecks) are unsustainable and require process changes_

> "Jump in the line. That's a little insane. I mean, if you think about it, that's adding like basically $500 a game to the whole total cost and everything."
> — **Cary Hardy**, ~22:30
> _Contextualizes why iconic song missing; demonstrates licensing cost constraints affecting boutique manufacturing margins_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Spooky Pinball | company | Boutique pinball manufacturer; subject of video; maker of Evil Dead, Beetlejuice, and upcoming untitled releases |
| Beetlejuice | game | Spooky Pinball's 2025 limited-edition release (999 units + 80 show games, later increased); MSRP $9,999; sold out on launch day (70 units in 15 minutes) |
| Evil Dead | game | Spooky Pinball's 2024/2025 release (888 units); breakthrough reliability title; 4-month sales cycle due to early skepticism overcome by location play and word-of-mouth |
| Cary Hardy | person | Video creator/streamer; content producer with Patreon following; witnessed Beetlejuice launch in person; advocate for Spooky games; owns Doctor Who pinball |
| Bug Emery | person | Co-owner/creative director of Spooky Pinball; present at Beetlejuice launch managing operations |
| Charlie Emery | person | Father of Bug and Morgan; founder/owner of Spooky Pinball; observed at launch with evident pride in children's leadership |
| Morgan | person | Co-owner/operator of Spooky Pinball alongside Bug; working phone lines during Beetlejuice launch |
| Christopher Franchi | person | Artist/designer of Beetlejuice; previously at Stern, now at Spooky; Hardy personally thanked him for artistic direction |
| Brady Hearn | person | Composer of Beetlejuice music score (non-Elfman tracks) |
| Don (We Are Pinball Podcast) | person | Organized midnight madness reveal/launch party for Beetlejuice |
| Pinball at the Beach | event | Major pinball event; featured Evil Dead play testing (breakthrough moment); hosting 10 Beetlejuice machines for public play; scheduled for upcoming date |
| Texas Pinball Festival 2025 | event | Major pinball event in March; by this point, all 888 Evil Dead units were sold; expected to feature ~15 Beetlejuice machines |
| Danny Elfman | person | Original composer of Beetlejuice film; music licensed for pinball game |
| Doctor Who | game | Pinball game in Hardy's collection; Beetlejuice will be placed next to it with custom topper |
| Hilton (location operator) | person | Expected to receive Beetlejuice at his pinball location mid-to-late January |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Spooky Pinball's turnaround from reliability concerns to boutique quality leader, Beetlejuice launch logistics: supply constraints, demand, website crashes, phone line strategy, Evil Dead's delayed acceptance overcome through location play and word-of-mouth, Pricing pressures: next Spooky game expected at $10,500-$11,500 (up ~$1,000)
- **Secondary:** Production quantity strategy: need to exceed 999-unit cap for future releases, Licensing challenges: 'Jump in the Line' song unaffordable at $500,000 cost, Distro list strategy and pre-order timing advantages over launch-day phone attempts, Upcoming Spooky releases (teased but unannounced): high quality, ambitious themes, higher price tier

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Hardy is enthusiastic about Spooky's quality trajectory and Beetlejuice specifically; celebrates the company's leadership and artistic vision. Some mild frustration about launch logistics (website crashes, phone bottlenecks) and licensing cost of 'Jump in the Line,' but these are presented as systemic issues rather than Spooky failures. Overall tone is supportive and forward-looking.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Spooky's launch logistics (website crashes, phone bottlenecks with 6-7 simultaneous lines) unsustainable for future high-demand releases; process changes necessary (confidence: high) — Hardy explicitly states: 'I'm definitely curious what new parameters get put in place...there's no way they can have it be the same...Changes need to be made'
- **[business_signal]** Spooky must increase production runs beyond 999 units for next release to prevent 'mad house' demand scenario; current volume insufficient for market demand (confidence: medium) — Hardy predicts: 'if they only make 999 on their upcoming titles, oh my goodness, it is going to be a mad house...they've got to make more'
- **[community_signal]** Distro list pre-registration strategy becoming established best practice for Spooky launches; early list placement more effective than launch-day phone/website attempts (confidence: high) — Hardy emphasizes distro list advantage repeatedly; explains how pre-registrants secured units while launch-day website/phone attempts failed; notes distros already listing 2026 releases
- **[market_signal]** Spooky's next game(s) positioned as significant quality/theme achievements worthy of stock-market-level investment confidence; Hardy teasing ambitious pipeline (confidence: high) — Hardy: 'If Spooky was a publicly traded company, I would be buying stock...what they are bringing us in the future...they are not messing around'
- **[licensing_signal]** 'Jump in the Line' song licensing cost ($500,000) economically unfeasible for Beetlejuice; represents major licensing constraint on boutique games (confidence: medium) — Hardy cites $500k figure as reason for exclusion; calculates impact as ~$500 per-unit cost adder; suggests Brady Hearn may compose alternative
- **[market_signal]** Beetlejuice pre-reveal demand (70 units sold in 15 minutes, 85,000 concurrent website attempts) indicates extreme scarcity-driven FOMO dynamics in boutique pinball market (confidence: high) — Hardy witnessed launch in person; documented specific numbers and call volume
- **[personnel_signal]** Christopher Franchi's transition from Stern to Spooky yielded Beetlejuice as artistic success; Hardy directly thanked him for artistic direction (confidence: high) — Hardy: 'I already called Franchi to thank him for his work on this game...he definitely nailed the artistic nature and the world of Beetlejuice'
- **[market_signal]** Next Spooky release expected to increase price to $10,500-$11,500, up ~$1,000 from Beetlejuice's $9,999 MSRP (confidence: high) — Hardy states 'they've stated' this pricing ceiling; cites upcoming machine features justifying increase
- **[product_strategy]** Evil Dead's 3-4 month sales cycle driven by early reliability skepticism; location play and Pinball at the Beach exposure reversed market perception (confidence: high) — Hardy contrasts early poor sales to full sellout at Texas Pinball Festival 2025, attributing shift to operator/location validation
- **[sentiment_shift]** Spooky Pinball perception shift from 'unreliable boutique' to 'quality competitor' validates Evil Dead/Beetlejuice as turning point (confidence: high) — Hardy contrasts Evil Dead's 3-month delayed sales due to reliability concerns with Beetlejuice's instant pre-reveal sellout, indicating market confidence restored

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## Transcript

So, Spooky Pinball is well known for bringing themes to pinball that other manufacturers are not going to touch. But not only are they bringing these niche themes into this hobby, they are integrating that theme on an astounding level. But with the good, there also comes the bad. Spooky games haven't been the most reliable, and that's a huge turnoff for customers and of course locations. So much so that whenever they released their biggest hit game, Evil Dead, it wouldn't be until 3 months later where the game began to sell. And this was due to the game getting out on a couple of locations and having zero issues. And then eventually the game would move on to Pinball at the Beach where hundreds of people were able to play the game. Word of mouth began to spread on how great the game was. And then by Texas Pinball Festival of 2025, a month after Pinball at the Beach, all 888 games were sold through. That's 4 months after the release. Now, over the last 6 months, we have seen Evil Dead retain, if not go up in value and demand. Spooky had finally created a hit. It only took them a decade. So, here was my concern as we were leading up to the Beetlejuice launch. It was one of those, is it going to be able to be on par or the same or even better than Evil Dead? Was Evil Dead going to be like a one-hit wonder? Were they going to be able to do it again? Beetlejuice was pretty much sold through before anyone even saw the game. They had 70 games on launch day, and you were only able to obtain those by calling Spooky Pinball after 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time, in which all 70 games were spoken for within 15 minutes. And the game would have sold much faster if they had more phones. Now, this is due to a multitude of reasons. One of which, of course, was the fact that Evil Dead was such a big turning point for Spooky in reliability and of course just the overall package. And then you had me as well as a couple of other people kind of building the game up in hype, those of us that had seen it already. And then of course when the game was finally officially revealed, people got to see it with their own eyes. The demand was very high and I'm in the market to eventually sell some other games. Not because I have to, but I want to make room for what is coming. It's not that I need to move games because I'm getting nervous. It's like, "No, I need to move games because I know greatness is around the corner." Speaking of which, if you have not put your name on the distro list for Spooky's next title, you might want to do so. So, I think it's pretty clear by now I have a Beetlejuice on the way. Now, when am I going to get it? I don't know. But I would like to hope that it's sooner than later, but I do have a Beetlejuice on the way with the topper and the glass cover with the ghost glass. I didn't do butter cabinet because you're not going to see it. I'm not going to see it. It's going in a lineup. I'll be fine. I know butter cabinet looks amazing and the game looks great with butter cabinet, but I'm choosing to not go with butter cabinet because I'm never going to fully appreciate it. I already called Franchi to thank him for his work on this game. I do feel that this is definitely one of—it's right up there with Evil Dead. I'm obviously a little biased towards it being Beetlejuice being his best, but I'm not even trying to compare it to being his best. It's merely just I'm very appreciative of all the effort and work that he put into this game to make it look as beautiful as it looks. I think he definitely nailed the artistic nature and the world of Beetlejuice on this game. And as far as everything that's inside there due to all the efforts of the other team members there, definitely thank you very much. And that is the reason why I am buying a Beetlejuice is because you have done such a great job with this game and it's definitely attacking my nostalgia for it, kind of thing. It was no question and no doubt in my mind after playing it that I knew that I was going to enjoy digging deeper into this code and just kind of getting better at the game and putting more time on it. When I was there, I wanted to stream a lot of things that you typically don't see. And one of those is of course people playing the game on the same day as release because we had this amazing gathering that Don from We Are Pinball Podcast put together the whole midnight madness reveal/party gathering thing that he put together that he did not have to do but he did it and it was great. Major kudos to him putting it all together. It was great to be around all the other fellow Spooky fans or Beetlejuice fans to have a celebration, if you will, for Spooky and their release. And I foresee this happening again. And I also foresee next year's release to be even bigger than this one. But another thing that I was streaming that I really wanted to capture was when the phone lines opened up. I wanted people to see what was going on there. That it's not just one person answering a phone or people just sitting around or anything like that. I wanted people to see that there was six or seven phones that were constantly being picked up and taking names and numbers and you had the website that was foreseen to inevitably crash and which it did. I was told that 85,000 different devices were trying to access Spooky Pinball's website because you had multiple houses with multiple devices. Everyone, and this is just by what I've been reading online, there were certain families that everyone in the family was trying to access the website. Sometimes four plus devices per household. So, you have to kind of—if the thing is the website, they knew it was going to crash. You're like, they're like, there's no way it's going to hold up. It never has. And guys, it more than likely never will. Stop trying to use the website to buy a game. It's not going to happen. Your best bet is through a distro or by calling. But an even better chance of you getting their game is to get your name on a list sooner than later. Okay? That's why people that got the game got it because they listened to people like myself that told them to put their name on a list when they did. It cost nothing to put your name on a list. Completely free. If you would have seen the game and didn't like it or whatever, you're like, "All right, I'm good. I don't need to put down any kind of money or anything." So, there is that. Chances are I'm going to have to edit out that little tangent that I just went on. But I needed to vent. But that'll be for you patrons out there. You get the uncut version of this video. Bottom line, the way things are with Spooky Pinball and the way things are headed, the sooner the better when it comes to getting your name on a distributor list in order to actually be capable of getting one. I mean, honestly, distros are already starting up a list for next year's release. And if you want to wait till the very last minute to where it's time to see the trailer, then you've waited too damn long. Honestly, I told you days before what all the game had in it when it comes to sculpts and mechs and all that jazz. That still wasn't enough to get you prepped and ready to get their phone number and relying on the website that historically has failed every release. That has been an ongoing joke on my channel on their releases that their website always crashes. And I've already told my patrons this, but if Spooky was a publicly traded company, I would be buying stock in Spooky. I have seen what they are working on and what they are bringing us in the future and they are not messing around when it comes to nostalgia when it comes to the world under glass. It's all there. They are not messing around, guys. And that's all I'm going to say. I do not want to start hyping up their future releases or anything. It's way too soon for that, guys. I'm merely stating that if you are truly interested and you've got to have their next release due to rumors that you're hearing, then you may want to get your name on a list as soon as possible. That's all I'm saying at this point in time. But I will state that these two games like Evil Dead and Beetlejuice, the greatness doesn't just stop there, okay? It's going to keep coming. But as I was standing there streaming the whole launch process, the phones ringing nonstop, you know, you've got Bug walking around trying to do what he can. Morgan, she's working. And I'm seeing Charlie, their dad, and the look of pride on that man's face to see his children running this company, creating this box of lights that is catering to those of us that really appreciate the theme. And I know he's proud. There's no doubt in my mind that he is. But it's just it was definitely something that I am so glad that I was there to see in person. And the downside of being there also was seeing when they had to tell everyone that was calling in that they were sold out. The look of disappointment that they weren't able to make everyone happy. I know a lot of you are upset that you weren't able to get a game, but trust me, they're just as upset that they can't, you know, get you a game that's there answering the phone calls over and over again. Sorry, we're sold out. Sorry, we're sold out. That's not the news that they want to give to people. And I know there's plenty of you right now typing up, they should make more. The demand is there. They should make more. You know how upset people were that before they even saw the game that they were going to be making 80 show games and so it was no longer 999 and then the game gets officially launched and they get all bought up and then people are pissed off that they didn't make more. The people that are pissed off are the ones that more than likely were not prepared to call at the time or didn't get their name on a list whenever they first heard about it. More than likely months ago if you follow me close enough. I'm definitely curious what new parameters get put in place when it comes to their future releases because there's no way they can have it be the same as it was on this release for their upcoming ones. Changes need to be made and what those changes are that's completely on them. That is their decision on what they should do with that going forward. But I definitely foresee a couple of things. One, you're gonna see a price jump. It's got to go up after this, guys. It has to, especially with what I've been seeing under what's going on with the next game and what all is in it. I'm not surprised that the price is going to go up. It will be less than $11,500, I want to say. That is what they've stated. That's not a big secret. It will not go above that. So, you're probably looking at about $1,000 increase if I was a betting man. That's not concrete. But I'd say probably about $1,000 bucks more is what you're looking at. Now, when it comes to how many more compared to Beetlejuice is 999, they've got to make more. They have to. I mean, if they only make 999 on their upcoming titles, oh my goodness, it is going to be a mad house, guys. But yeah, in a nutshell, great launch, great game. Looking forward to getting it here. It will go right here where my Doctor Who is at. I've got the topper for it. Done the measuring and everything. It's going to fit and it's going to look so wicked back there, guys, with the head moving and blinking. It's going to be great kind of thing. But the next chance that a lot of you are going to have to be able to play this game is Pinball at the Beach. There will be 10 Beetlejuice games set up there at Pinball at the Beach for you to play. Tickets are, I think, still available, so you may want to go to pinballathbeach.com to see if you're able to get your weekend tickets. The next chance after that will be at Texas Pinball Festival. There's probably going to be about 15 or so games there, and that's in March of next year. But I foresee we start seeing them on locations. I'm sure Hilton's going to have one at his location probably mid to late January. That's how it's going to be. They're going to have the holidays off and then they're going to come back January and start transitioning out of Evil Dead and into Beetlejuice. And I definitely have plans to go back there probably during the summer because I want to get the whole filming of the whole game being put together and the entire line being filled with Beetlejuice games. So yeah, this is going to be my first Spooky Pinball machine and more than likely not going to be my last either, guys. I foresee my lineup looking a little bit different here in the future, like over the course of the next 12 months, more than likely. There's going to have to be more games that are going to be cut loose to make room for the new games that are coming. That's it. I just wanted to kind of give you my initial thoughts and feelings about the whole Beetlejuice release and how I feel about the game. But I also want to say that thank you to all my Patreon supporters, especially the nice big boost that I got during the Beetlejuice launch and everything. I had a big boost in subscribers. That's unexpected but also very much appreciated. And by all means, if you want to join the team, links will be in the description down below. There's a lot of talk about how they didn't get the jump in the line song because they've got pretty much everything else. They've got the main theme for Beetlejuice from Danny Elfman. They've got a great composing score and everything from Brady Hearn, but they have also got the Belizean song, but they didn't get jump in the line. And they didn't get jump in the line because the owner of the song, they're wanting $500,000. I want to say $500,000, like half a million bucks for a song. And that's a little insane. I mean, if you think about it, that's adding like basically $500 a game to the whole total cost and everything. And that's just a little crazy. I'm hoping that maybe they can negotiate and be able to eventually get that song put into the game. There's no promises there, but if they can't get the actual one, then I'm pretty sure they're going to have Brady like compose one that sounds very similar to it. Jump in the line. Rock your body in time. Rock your body, child. Jump in the line, rock your body in time. Somebody help me jump Wa! Shake, shake, shake, Señora. Shake your body in line. Shake, shake, shake, Señora. Shake it all the time. Wa! Work work.

_(Acquisition: youtube_auto_sub, Enrichment: v1)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1a539c35-5717-4ee0-b493-799a357e52d4*