# Episode 1189: "The Single Most Important Question in Pinball Right Now!"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2026-02-18  
**Duration:** 24m 22s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-1189-in-151077816

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## Analysis

Kaneda celebrates Pokemon Pinball as a transformative moment for the hobby, delivering unprecedented demand and community solidarity. He critiques Pinside's Robin for restricting secondary market sales while praising Stern's successful restoration of FOMO around LE machines, predicts Pokemon LEs will appreciate significantly beyond $20k, and analyzes competitive landscape implications for upcoming titles like Transformers and Fallout. He also discusses Melvin Williams' hire at American Pinball as a quality/taste improvement.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] Pokemon LE has zero units available for sale anywhere in the world despite 750 units being sold to customers — _Kaneda's direct observation of Pinside marketplace; stated as current market condition_
- [HIGH] Pokemon Pinball represents unprecedented demand for a Stern machine, surpassing even Ali/Batman/Ghostbusters/Tron — _Kaneda: 'I have never seen a Stern Ali sell out this quickly. I have also never seen so many wanted ads for a Stern machine after reveal.'_
- [HIGH] Pokemon LE games are currently selling for $20,000 on secondary market with multiple confirmed transactions — _Kaneda: 'I've seen the sales. I've seen the transactions. So what Robin has idiotically done... they're selling the game right now. They're getting 20 grand on the table.'_
- [MEDIUM] Pokemon Pinball will appreciate to $25,000-$30,000 in the medium-to-long term — _Kaneda's prediction based on scarcity (750 units) vs. IP magnitude ($228B franchise)_
- [MEDIUM] Transformers LE is already sold out due to FOMO cascade from Pokemon success — _Kaneda prediction: 'Transformers LE, I'm just going to say this right now. It's already sold out.'_
- [MEDIUM] Stern will never make special edition variants (Charizard/Pikachu editions) of Pokemon, protecting the 750-unit LE scarcity — _Kaneda's assertion based on past failures: 'if they do that, it's over... They've done it too many times and it's never worked out for them.'_
- [HIGH] Melvin Williams joining American Pinball will not result in Raza production this year — _Kaneda: 'I can tell you right now with 100% certainty that he is not bringing Raza there now.'_
- [HIGH] Pinside Robin's marketplace restrictions prevent opportunistic sellers from profiting while Robin himself profits from every sale listing — _Kaneda's criticism of policy inconsistency and Robin's financial incentive model_

### Notable Quotes

> "I have never seen this in my 13 years of covering this hobby, that a game comes out that has extraordinary demand... You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone on pin side that wants a Pokemon LE."
> — **Kaneda**, ~2:30
> _Core thesis establishing unprecedented demand phenomenon_

> "This is Pokemon, baby. But here's my thing. When is this nonsense gonna stop? Now, let me just clarify for some of you out there. I am getting a Pokemon LE."
> — **Kaneda**, ~8:00
> _Self-aware acknowledgment of his own FOMO/collector impulse while critiquing the market phenomenon_

> "What this game is bringing to pinball is solidarity... everyone who plays Pokemon is going to feel like a good pinball player."
> — **Kaneda**, ~12:00
> _Rare philosophical framing of Pokemon's cultural/community impact beyond mechanics_

> "It's a George Gomez game, people. He runs the freaking company. Who do you think is going to get the best resources and the team to work on this game?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~13:30
> _Insider observation about production priority and leadership commitment_

> "The reason why the LE will always hold and go way up in value, there's never gonna be any more to get."
> — **Kaneda**, ~18:00
> _Core economic argument for Pokemon LE appreciation_

> "If there's only 750 Pokemon LEs on an IP that's worth $220 billion, has more fans than all of these other IPs combined, I think those 750 games are going to go to the moon."
> — **Kaneda**, ~26:00
> _Key valuation thesis comparing scarcity to IP magnitude_

> "With this one game, they restored the FOMO around their LEs instantly. Now nobody wants to be caught in this predicament again."
> — **Kaneda**, ~16:00
> _Strategic business analysis of Stern's market position recovery_

> "Melvin is a good hire. He's the right kind of guy... more importantly, he's got the right kind of taste. And I think American Pinball, where they've struggled, was under David Fix's leadership, they might have had the worst taste in all of pinball."
> — **Kaneda**, ~29:00
> _Leadership critique and talent evaluation; signals American Pinball strategic direction change_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Pokemon Pinball | game | Stern's newly released LE machine generating unprecedented market demand; 750 unit limited run, $12,999 MSRP, secondary market trading at $20k+; featuring layout by Jack Danger, architecture by George Gomez, code by Tanya Kleiss |
| Kaneda | person | Host of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; 13 years in pinball coverage; pinball industry analyst/critic; collector purchasing Pokemon LE for himself |
| Stern Pinball | company | Major manufacturer; released Pokemon as cornerstone IP; successfully restored FOMO narrative around LE machines after recent John Wick/Venom failures |
| Robin (Pinside) | person | Pinside founder/operator; implemented marketplace restrictions preventing secondary market Pokemon LE sales; profits from all listings; criticized by Kaneda for market control |
| George Gomez | person | Stern Pinball architect/leadership; architect of Pokemon Pinball; runs the company; receiving production priority and resources |
| Jack Danger | person | Pinball designer; layout/toys designer on Pokemon Pinball; celebrated for game success |
| Tanya Kleiss | person | Code programmer on Pokemon Pinball; credited with software implementation |
| Melvin Williams | person | Newly hired at American Pinball; praised by Kaneda for taste/intelligence; will not be bringing Raza to market; focused on reestablishing company credibility |
| American Pinball | company | Boutique manufacturer; hired Melvin Williams; transitioning away from David Fix's leadership; planning Bally classic remakes and new licensed games |
| David Fix | person | Former American Pinball leadership; criticized by Kaneda for poor taste in game decisions (Houdini, Legends of Valhalla, Galactic Tank Force, Hot Wheels) |
| Transformers (G1) Pinball | game | Upcoming Stern game; predicted sold-out status due to Pokemon FOMO cascade; expected to have strong appeal but less universal than Pokemon |
| Fallout Pinball | game | Upcoming Stern game by Keith Owen; expected to serve enthusiast/tournament player niche with complex layouts and 4-flipper setup |
| Sonic the Hedgehog Pinball | game | Upcoming release expected to drive new players into hobby; part of 'greatest year in pinball' slate alongside Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Goonies |
| Jersey Jack Pinball | company | Competitor to Stern; manufacturing Harry Potter and Sonic CE in unlimited runs; Kaneda concerned about business decisions around Potter pricing |
| Walking Dead Remastered | game | Stern's previous release before Pokemon; mentioned as mood-setter for Stern success trajectory |
| Star Wars: Fall of the Empire | game | Recent Stern release; criticized by Kaneda as boring; failed to capture Star Wars appeal; compared unfavorably to Pokemon for value proposition |
| Harry Potter (Jersey Jack) | game | JJP's premium game; unlimited production run; Kaneda concerned about business decisions; anomalous title like Pokemon |
| Godzilla Pinball | game | Previous game that brought 'solidarity' to pinball community; referenced as precedent for Pokemon's cultural impact |
| Venom Pinball | game | Stern licensed game; criticized as easy-to-shoot fan layout; compared unfavorably to Pokemon's approachability |
| Toy Story 4 LE | game | Example of Stern LE depreciation where buyers lost significant value; used to illustrate secondary market volatility |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Pokemon Pinball secondary market dynamics and scarcity, FOMO/scarcity marketing restoration at Stern Pinball, Pinside marketplace policies and Robin's restrictions on secondary sales, LE machine valuation and long-term investment potential
- **Secondary:** 2026 pinball release slate (Transformers, Fallout, Sonic, Back to the Future, etc.), American Pinball leadership changes and Melvin Williams hire, Pokemon IP cultural dominance and crossover collector demand, Pinball game complexity vs. approachability and casual player appeal

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.78) — Kaneda is enthusiastic about Pokemon Pinball's impact on the hobby and market, celebratory about Stern's FOMO recovery, supportive of Melvin Williams' hire, and optimistic about 2026 release slate. However, he expresses frustration with Pinside marketplace restrictions, skepticism toward certain design choices on recent Star Wars game, and lingering concern about LE pricing/sustainability. The tone shifts from celebratory to critical when discussing Robin's policies.

### Signals

- **[business_signal]** Pinside (Robin) actively restricting secondary market listings for Pokemon LE while profiting from all sales commissions; characterized as market manipulation to prevent collector arbitrage (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'What Robin has idiotically done... he wants to control the market... Is he there looking out for you when you lose $8,000?... But no, he wants to swoop in and prevent people from making some money.'
- **[competitive_signal]** Transformers G1 and Fallout positioned as tier-2 games relative to Pokemon; Transformers expected to sell well due to FOMO cascade but Fallout confined to enthusiast/tournament niche (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'There's no way Transformers G1... has the global appeal of Pokemon... and fallout no way... built for the diehard pinball tournament player.'
- **[market_signal]** Pokemon Pinball as transformative moment establishing historic demand precedent for Stern; framed as bringing 'solidarity' and accessibility to previously elite/complex pinball culture (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'This game is bringing to pinball solidarity... everybody who plays Pokemon is going to feel like a good pinball player.' Also: 'I have never seen a Stern Ali sell out this quickly.'
- **[market_signal]** 2026 shaping up as exceptional release year with Transformers, Fallout, Sonic, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Goonies creating forced quality elevation across entire industry (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'This is gonna be the best year in all of pinball... it's gonna really force everybody else out there to raise the game.'
- **[market_signal]** Pokemon LE secondary market trading at $20,000+ (reported confirmed transactions), with zero inventory available anywhere despite 750-unit production run (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I've seen the sales. I've seen the transactions... they're getting 20 grand on the table.' Current Pinside marketplace has no available Pokemon LE units.
- **[community_signal]** Melvin Williams hired at American Pinball, signaling leadership/taste overhaul away from David Fix era; positioned to elevate game selection quality and brand credibility (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Melvin is a good hire... he's got the right kind of taste.' Contrasts with Fix's era: 'they might have had the worst taste in all of pinball.'
- **[market_signal]** Kaneda predicts Pokemon LE will appreciate to $25,000-$30,000, creating concern about unsustainable pricing dynamics and potential market correction when other upcoming games (Transformers, Fallout) don't match demand (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'I think it's going to go way higher... $25,000 to $30,000.' Also warns: 'A lot of people who don't remember history are also going to get burned' on subsequent Stern LEs.
- **[product_concern]** American Pinball's David Fix era marked by poor theme/game selection decisions (Hot Wheels without loop-de-loop, Houdini artwork shelved, Legends of Valhalla production, Galactic Tank Force barn reveal) (confidence: high) — Kaneda comprehensive critique: 'Everything they did was just bad... The choices they made were bad... The market doesn't lie and people did not buy these games.'
- **[rumor_hype]** Chris Turner (likely Spooky Pinball) has upcoming game in development that will be held to high competitive standard against 2026 slate quality (confidence: low) — Kaneda: 'I'm hearing like Chris Turner's gonna have something we're gonna want. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I do know this, Chris, you're not gonna sell anything if it's not as good as the game's coming to market right now.'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Kaneda exhibits notable tone shift on Stern and LE machine value proposition; previously skeptical about LE premium pricing now bullish on Pokemon LE appreciation and scarcity argument (confidence: high) — Kaneda acknowledges: 'I've been saying... games have become way too barren. They're way overpriced.' Then reverses: 'Stern's back. This is what I mean by Stern's back... they restored the FOMO.'
- **[business_signal]** Stern deliberately leveraging Pokemon's global cultural dominance ($228B franchise, broader reach than Mickey Mouse) to restore FOMO narrative around LE scarcity after John Wick/Venom LE failures (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'With this one game, they restored the FOMO around their LEs instantly... they've been missing this vibe for a very long time.' Also acknowledges Pokemon's 750-unit production creates genuine scarcity.

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## Transcript

 This was the mood over at Stern Pinball after they released The Walking Dead Remastered. I know I can't be the only one who's holding on for delight. And now the mood after they released Pokemon, baby! Yeah! Pokemon! You did it, Jack! You did it, Seth. You did it, George. You did it, Zombie Eddie. Oh, I feel it. Oh, yes. Hit me, Cindy. I come home in the morning like my mother said. When you call and you find. Stern's back. Oh, mama, think we're not the fortunate ones. And girls, they wanna have fun. Oh, girls just wanna have fun. Yeah baby, let's get the show started Oh, the greatest year in pinball is upon us And it's only February And the great vibes surrounding Pokemon Pinball Release continue People going to Toy Fair are having such a good time on this game The old curmudgeons are trying to find an angle on pin side You can feel it baby You can feel it. American Pinball has hired my boy Melvin Williams. We're going to talk about that. We've got Sonic the Hedgehog, Back to the Future, Beetlejuice, Goonies. We've got so much fun stuff happening in pinball. We've got Transformers. We've got Fallout. All of a sudden, Fallout seems to be the one, but it's Keith Owen, baby. It's Keith Owen, but what I want to talk about on this episode of Canada's Pinball Podcast is real simply this, the most important question in all of pinball. Where are the Pokemon LE games for sale? I have never seen this in my 13 years of covering this hobby, that a game comes out that has extraordinary demand. I am on pin side and there are nothing but wanted ads left and right. You can't swing a dead cat without hitting someone on pin side that wants a Pokemon LE. Okay, there are 750 Pokemon LE spots that are out in the world that have been sold to customers. I know that not each and every one of you is going to take possession of the game. But look at the climate now. Look at the climate. There is not a single Pokemon LE for sale anywhere in the world. And I'm not saying that's exactly by choice. I think Robin over at Pinside has now made it impossible for anybody to be opportunistic and proactive and actually sell a game. We did not see this with Beetlejuice. When Beetlejuice sold out instantly, there were instantly a few spots available for sale. Heck, there were even a few Winchester spots available for sale. People were getting somewhere between $4,000 to $8,000 for those kinds of games. So now all of a sudden, the Stern Pinball Machine with the most demand ever, I mean this right now, ever. I've seen Batman. I've seen Ghostbusters. I've seen Tron. I've seen what happens in this hobby when Stern has a theme people want. I have never seen a Stern Ali sell out this quickly. I have also never seen so many wanted ads for a Stern machine after reveal. I am also reading the hopeful delusional people out there that are like, it's just a fluke. This hype is going to pass. This is a $228 billion franchise. I can assure you people, the hype is not going to pass. That's like saying, oh, it's just Jesus. He's just in the Bible. This hype is going to pass. Pokemon is a god in Japan. He's a god to so many millions of kids around the world. I don't mean Pokemon like a person. I mean the property, right? But Pikachu is like a freaking god. They march this dude around the world and everyone goes crazy. He's like 10 times bigger than freaking Mickey Mouse. And last time I checked, most of you can't even name three characters from The Walking Dead. I bet most of you could not even name every member of Metallica. I bet you couldn't name every member of ACDC. and I bet you'd have a hard time naming me 10 Transformers. This is Pokemon, baby. But here's my thing. When is this nonsense gonna stop? Now, let me just clarify for some of you out there. I am getting a Pokemon LE. It's gonna get set up in my house. I am super excited. Killian is super excited. His birthday is this month. He knows this is a belated birthday gift. I'm in trouble if I'm getting my kid a $13,000 birthday gift, but you know what I mean. It's like, come on, like I'm not gonna go the set of precedents that he's getting these kinds of things every year. But I've been enjoying this property with my son and it is a lot of fun. And I've just been watching a lot of people sort of dabble into Pokemon. It reminds me of when Rick and Morty came out. And a lot of people in this hobby hadn't really seen a Rick and Morty episode. And obviously it was easier for a lot of these old men to sort of connect with the mature humor of Rick and Morty but you weren into it And then you got into it And I think the same thing is happening with Pokemon And it just infectious. We're seeing people in a good mood, happy, having a lot of fun with our hobby, because you got to think about it, right? It's like, if you see all these people having a good mood in the hobby we love geeking out and nerding out over a game. And they don't care that it doesn't have like 12 shots or 18 shots. They don't care that it doesn't have an upper play field or a lower play field. They don't care that it's not a wide body. It's basically one of the most simple layouts we've had since, you know, the 1990s. And yet it's confusing to some of these like curmudgeon-y pinball people who think they're entitled to this hobby and that every game has to be this super complex, super deep, you know, you lift the play field and all you see is stuff everywhere. And look, I've been the one who's been saying this for a long time. I think the games have become way too barren. I think they're way overpriced. And, you know, for the most part, we've been getting mediocre themes. And I was curious, curious people, how Pokemon would do when it would be put into a pinball game and we would be asked to shell out $13,000 for Pokemon, right? Because like everybody else out there, I wasn't quite sure the demo would cross over with the pinball buying demographic. And boy, was I wrong to even be curious about that. And I just want to say for those of you out there who are like, well, now Kaneda's flick-flopping and he's a shill for Stern Pinball people. There is something that is just called changing your mind once you gain more information. What this game is doing for pinball is creating a single thing that is the most important thing that every hobby needs. It's the most important thing that we need in the world and in culture, in global politics, in everything. Because without this, we don't achieve happiness. Without this word, we do not share with each other. We do not want to be around each other. We actually become individuals only obsessed with our own selves and our own happiness, and we destroy community. And the word is, and what this game is delivered to pinball, and I'm not sure they were even aiming to do this, but this game is bringing to pinball solidarity. It is bringing solidarity. Everyone I talk to who sees this game, who plays this game is really, really enjoying it. Godzilla brought solidarity to pinball. Now this game is going to be like Godzilla, except everybody who plays Pokemon is going to feel like a good pinball player. The unspoken thing around a lot of these Keith Elwin games is they are challenging. And And hey, for those guys out there, and you know who you are, if you've been playing pinball for 20 years, these are the kinds of games you'll like because you want to be challenged. And good news, Stern's been making you some of those games. But nobody, I mean not Stern, not like JJP, nobody has put it all together, a theme that everybody in the world loves for the most part, Pokemon. It's the biggest, most beloved theme in the world. And put it in a pinball package, that's approachable. You take a game like Venom, fan layout, easy to shoot, but it's Venom. The new Star Wars, it's boring. It's just we've had so many bad Star Wars games, and they did not nail that Star Wars game. And this game, to me, it doesn't feel rushed. It doesn't feel like they're not putting in it what they want. And when you hear the team talk about it, it just feels like this game is going to be massaged and polished for many, many years to come. It's a George Gomez game, people. He runs the freaking company. Who do you think is going to get the best resources and the team to work on this game? And Stern knows that this game is the new linchpin for them moving forward because this game is going to take off and they're not going to have to go back and rerun so much old stuff now. They're not going to have to go back and remaster stuff. I really hope this cancels the plans to remaster ACDC. See, we don't need any more of that. Just stern. The future's looking bright. Just keep moving forward. So where do you sell a Pokemon LE? I have friends out there. I mean this right now. I have friends out there. They're selling the game right now. They're getting 20 grand on the table. Okay, I've seen the sales. I've seen the transactions. So what Robin has idiotically done, a man who gets paid for doing no work. You gotta remember this. Robin is making money off of every game sale on Pinside. So why would he not want people to sell these games and get a lot of money for them? Is Robin there looking out for you when you lose $8,000 on the sale of your Godfather CE? Is he going to give you a refund when you sell your Toy Story 4 for like $7,000 less? All the Stern LEs recently that you lost $4,000 to $5,000 on, is he there looking out for you? But no, he wants to swoop in and prevent people from making some money. Talk about a socialist, if there ever was one, who wants to control the market. So there is zero people that are able to list a spot. And I'm telling you this right now. In that list of people wanting to buy a Pokemon Ali, they would happily spend whatever it would take to just have the peace of mind. You know, this hobby is crazy to me. I've seen in some of these people's homes. I see what they have. They don care Only two people need to be happy When someone has a spot and they want to sell it for let say 20 grand and like what That a profit on the game The person who buys it for 20K doesn't care. They recognize that the market value of the game is now that. The seller, I'm telling you this, even the seller making seven grand, there's always a little bit of a seller's remorse because they also know the moment they sell their Pokemon LE for $20,000, guess what? They're not getting one back for less than $20,000. Now, I don't know if it's going to hold at this price or it's going to go higher. If you were to ask me, I think it's going to go way higher. I think it's going to go way higher. This is like such a nice example of the Pokemon pinball machine. And it's like so much nicer looking than the pro and premium. And it's the biggest property in the world. So yeah, I think it's going to go way higher than 20 grand. I think selling it right now is kind of a premature mistake. And if I were you and you don't want to unbox it, I would just keep it in a box because a year from now, like I've been saying, a lot more multimillionaires are going to come into this hobby. And the reason I know that is the games are going to be so amazing this year. It's going to bring way more people in Transformers, Back to the Future, Sonic. Just those three titles alone are going to bring a ton of people into pinball. Now, what I think is going to happen is this. A lot of people who don't remember history are also going to get burned because this game sold out so quickly. It's like when Toronto Lee sold out, everybody went all in on the next Stern Ali. That was definitely going to go up in value. You know, a game that was Avengers and everybody lost money on that game. So I think a lot of people are going to run and want to be on every Stern Ali moving forward. We're back, baby. This is what I mean by Stern's back. With this one game, they restored the FOMO around their LEs instantly. Now nobody wants to be caught in this predicament again. This is why making something of value is everything because once you do it, it sets you up for many, many, many more good days in the future. So now Transformers LE, I'm just going to say this right now. It's already sold out. It's already sold out. And by that, there are way more people that are going to want it and not want to miss out after seeing what happened with Pokemon. And Stern deserves it. They did this and they restored the FOMO around their LE product. And they've been missing this vibe for a very long time. I'm wondering if Jersey Jack might be looking at this a little bit and saying, should we be making Sonic CE Unlimited? Should we follow this pattern a little bit. I'm a little worried that JJP is making some business decisions around Harry Potter, but Potter's an anomaly. Same thing with Pokemon. They're anomalies. There's no way Transformers G1, which I love so much, has the global appeal of Pokemon. So will the response to Transformers be as big as Pokemon? I don't know. I don't know. I don't think it's going to bring in as many people from outside and then fallout no way I mean I feel like fallout's gonna go back to being the game that's built for the enthusiast it's built for the diehard pinball tournament player who wants the crazy layouts who wants the four flippers who wants the 15 shot pathways that's what fallout's gonna be and again if you think about Stern as a company with a portfolio of products, super smart. We're always going to be able to run Pokemon premiums and pros for the rest of Stern's existence. Just think about that for a minute, because I see people being like, well, you know, Canada's all in on the LE, but I think the premium's going to hold value. No, no, no. Why would a premium hold value? If you can go get a new in box premium whenever you want, I know it's just going to be hard right now in the first few months, but they can make like 800 a week. Why would a premium hold value when you can get a new one? The reason why the LE will always hold and go way up in value, there's never gonna be any more to get. And I still see people saying, well, Stern said this before and they're gonna lie and they're gonna make another special edition. All they said was they're not making a 30th anniversary edition, but they didn't say they're not making a Charizard edition or a Pikachu edition. And I'm telling you right now, I would bet that Stern is never going to do that. I know they've burned us in the past, but trust me, Seth and George and Jack and all them over there, they know that if they do that, it's over. Like, I mean that like it's like three strikes, you're out. They've done it too many times and it's never worked out for them. OK, so super excited. So I think the climate now is this. I think the door is open for someone to make a better pinball marketplace. And if you're listening to this right now and you know how to web develop, give me a call because this is stupid. Why do we only have Facebook, which sucks, eBay? Because the reason Facebook sucks is the second you post something, everyone's screaming at you what an a-hole you are for not giving the game to someone at MSRP. I don't need to deal with those losers. People got the game fair and square. Why you got to shame them? They don't need to hand it to someone else for MSRP. And then eBay sucks because the fees are terrible. And by the way, yes, I put up that comical eBay listing for $40,000 and said I was selling Robin from Pinside's personal game. Guess what happened? Some of them, like Robin and his curmudgeons, they went to eBay and they complained and eBay canceled my account. so I can't sell or buy anything on eBay. What they don know is that was my burner eBay account Robin so you didn really get to me You shot me in the bulletproof vest All right So look I can wait to see more public transactions of Pokemon, but I'm just going to tell you this right now. I get the game's not loaded. I get the game's going to be barren. And the way I look at this game is this. The reason why I think this game is going to go $25,000 to $30,000 is simply this. Are you telling me that if someone buys two Jersey Jacks CEs, that's $30,000, right? So a Harry Potter and a Sonic the Hedgehog, $30,000. And guess what? There's going to be thousands of those games in each trim. They will make those games in an unlimited fashion. So if those two games are 30 grand, my rationale is this. if there's only 750 Pokemon LEs on an IP that's worth $220 billion, has more fans than all of these other IPs combined, I think those 750 games are going to go to the moon. And I think we're going to see them easily. I would rather have one Pokemon LE for 30, which I can never get again, than two Jersey Jack CEs where there's an unlimited run of the games. and also like look at Stern LEs, 13,000 each. Are you telling me that someone wouldn't rather have a Pokemon LE for 26,000 versus a Walking Dead Remastered for 13 and a Star Wars Fall of the Empire for 13? It's real simple when you think about it like that. I'd rather have one of these than two of these. And for you out there who have like 15 machines, what dent in your wallet is that, that you have in your lineup, a very, very rare, very sought after game. But I think the real disappointment is Robin trying to control the pinball market only when it's to the benefit of us. When we're losing money on all these games, he's happy to take our money and let us sell these games at an appreciating price. But when we have a game where the price has appreciated, he won't allow us to sell it. That is pathetic, all right? Okay, let's talk real quick about Melvin over at American Pinball. Excited to see my friend land over there. I think it's a really good opportunity for him. I don't have too much news about it. I'm gonna talk to Ronald and team over there, congratulate them. And look, Melvin is a good hire. He's the right kind of guy. He's got the right kind of intelligence. He's got the right kind of swagger, but more importantly, he's got the right kind of taste. And I think American Pinball, where they've struggled, was under David Fix's leadership, they might have had the worst taste in all of pinball. The choices they made were bad. Everything they did was just bad. Like shelving Matt Andrews' artwork on Houdini and allowing Josh Kugler to make that dark, ugly game. Bad decision. Getting Legends of Valhalla to market, bad decision. Opening up Dennis Nordman's barn and seeing Galactic Tank Force and thinking you were going to sell thousands of those games. Bad decision. Again, these were all decisions made by a man who didn't have great taste. And so he thought he had good taste and he thought those were good decisions and they just didn't work out. And the market doesn't lie and people did not buy these games. You make a Hot Wheels game and you have no loop-de-loop, no car wash, no jumps. Everything kids love about Hot Wheels, you don't put in the game. All bad decisions and bad taste. Melvin's got great taste, and I can't wait for him to inject that into this company. I can tell you right now with 100% certainty that he is not bringing Raza there now. He's not going to make Raza this year. Maybe down the road that might be a possibility, but I think if things go according to the vision, we may never see Raza. I know that Melvin's vision, along with Brian and Ronald, is really to get American Pinball reestablished and make moves that turn the page for this company. Yes, they are going to make some of these Bally classics. I think they need to train a whole new bunch of people. And what better way to do it than to remake some of the old Bally games? But really where this company is going to have to prove themselves is not with remakes, not with J-pop remakes. It's with a new licensed game and they need to nail it. And when we look at the competition out there, what excites me about this, there's no room for mediocrity. This is gonna be the best year in all of pinball. And as you watch what comes out, it's gonna really force everybody else out there to raise the game. And I'm hearing like Chris Turner's gonna have something we're gonna want. I don't know if it's good or bad, but I do know this, Chris, you're not gonna sell anything if it's not as good as the game's coming to market right now. So, you know, in a world in which most pinball is between like seven and $15,000, people are gonna be very discerning with their money and what they choose. So everybody look, happy Wednesday. It's been a really exciting week in pinball. I can't wait because these like Pokemon pros are gonna be going out to location any day now. And then a month from now, I'm most likely gonna be unboxing and only Canada actually bought a pinball machine. He's actually going to set up a pinball machine and he's actually going to play a modern game with his family. I can't wait. Cindy, take it away. Girls, you wanna have fun

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 1f85338d-929a-429e-a11f-f8cf635be83a*