# Episode 733: "$2,000 Toppers Are The Way!"

**Source:** Kaneda's Pinball Podcast (Patreon feed)  
**Type:** podcast_episode  
**Published:** 2022-10-20  
**Duration:** 21m 29s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.patreon.com/posts/episode-733-2-73549459

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## Analysis

Kaneda critiques Stern's James Bond gameplay stream as premature and code-incomplete, with cluttered LCD interface reminiscent of poor UI design. He attacks the $2,000 Mandalorian topper as exploitative DLC pricing, warns buyers away from James Bond until code matures, criticizes Spooky's TNA 2.0 black finish as cheap-looking despite $9K price, and expresses frustration with Chicago Gaming's mismanagement of Cactus Canyon LE delivery. The episode reflects broader concerns about escalating pinball prices, incomplete launches, and manufacturer greed.

### Key Claims

- [HIGH] James Bond code is only ~40% complete and not ready for sale or evaluation — _Kaneda, discussing Stern's Tuesday night stream showing incomplete code work and minimal Sean Connery voice integration_
- [HIGH] Batman 66 is the only Stern machine to properly utilize LCD screen and movie assets — _Kaneda, comparing James Bond UI negatively to Batman 66 as the gold standard_
- [MEDIUM] Mandalorian topper costs ~$150 to manufacture but sells for $2,000 — _Kaneda's estimate based on parts and manufacturing economics; not independently verified_
- [HIGH] A fully configured James Bond LE with topper could cost ~$16,500-$17,000 total — _Kaneda's calculation: $13K LE + $1K tax + $500 shipping + $2K topper + topper shipping_
- [HIGH] Spooky TNA 2.0 black powder coat version costs $3,000 more but looks cheaper than original chrome — _Kaneda's direct comparison and aesthetic critique of $9K collector's edition_
- [MEDIUM] Chicago Gaming is the worst-managed pinball manufacturer today; worse than Haggis Pinball on communication and delivery — _Kaneda's strong opinion based on Cactus Canyon LE delays and lack of transparency_
- [HIGH] No Cactus Canyon LE unboxing videos have been released despite weeks of production claims — _Kaneda observing absence of delivery evidence in community_
- [MEDIUM] Spooky Pinball consistently launches games at market windows when competitors are unprepared — _Kaneda pattern observation: Spooky timing is 'serendipitous' versus American Pinball's poor timing_

### Notable Quotes

> "This is pinball DLC. This is it, people. You have to pay more money to get the most out of your game."
> — **Kaneda**, ~22:30
> _Core criticism of Mandalorian topper pricing model; frames it as exploitative post-sale monetization_

> "It's way too early for this game to be up for sale. It's way too early to say this game is going to be great. It's just way too early to even look at this game."
> — **Kaneda**, ~10:45
> _Core advisory warning against buying James Bond; explicitly states buyer beware_

> "At what point, everybody, is this just stupid? At what point is this just inane?"
> — **Kaneda**, ~27:00
> _Rhetorical escalation on pricing; signals market frustration and affordability ceiling concerns_

> "Stern Pinball needs to study Batman 66. It is the greatest way to use a screen."
> — **Kaneda**, ~11:30
> _Positive design reference point; establishes benchmark for LCD/content integration_

> "For $9,000, stop acting so Bush League on all of your stuff."
> — **Kaneda**, ~34:00
> _Spooky Pinball quality control criticism; details matter on luxury items_

> "Chicago Gaming Company is by far the worst pinball manufacturer in pinball today."
> — **Kaneda**, ~38:30
> _Sweeping industry judgment; cites communication, delivery, transparency failures_

> "Spooky Pinball is going to get all of the orders again and they're absolutely going to hit a window in which nobody else has it figured out."
> — **Kaneda**, ~48:00
> _Market timing observation; suggests competitive advantage through serendipitous launch windows_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Stern Pinball | company | Major pinball manufacturer; central target of criticism for incomplete James Bond code, high pricing, and exploitative topper DLC strategy |
| Gary Stern | person | Referenced humorously as the decision-maker behind $2,000 Mandalorian topper pricing |
| Jack Danger | person | Appeared on Stern's James Bond gameplay stream (Tuesday night) alongside George Gomez |
| George Gomez | person | Stern designer who appeared on James Bond stream discussing passion for property; mentioned as removing odd job hat from Keith Elwin machine |
| James Bond | game | Stern pinball machine; subject of harsh criticism for incomplete code (~40% done), poor LCD UI design, minimal Sean Connery integration, and premature sales offering |
| Star Wars: The Mandalorian | game | American Pinball machine; criticized as unimaginative and thematically weak; subject of controversial $2,000 topper DLC |
| Total Nuclear Annihilation 2.0 | game | Spooky Pinball collector's edition; $9,000 black powder coat version criticized for cheap appearance and off-center collector's plaque design |
| Spooky Pinball | company | Manufacturer praised for market timing advantages; criticized for design detail execution and collector's plaque centering errors on TNA 2.0 |
| Chicago Gaming Company | company | Criticized as worst-managed manufacturer; Cactus Canyon LE severely delayed with no delivery transparency or unboxing evidence |
| Cactus Canyon LE | game | Chicago Gaming remake; experiencing major delivery delays and communication failures; no unboxings reported despite weeks of production claims |
| Batman 66 | game | Stern Pinball; cited as gold standard for LCD screen and movie asset integration |
| American Pinball | company | Manufacturer of Mandalorian; criticized for poor timing on game announcements; expected new Dennis Nordman game delayed from October |
| Cointaker | company | Distributor/operator; Melissa works there; facilitated potential trade offer between Guns N' Roses #500 and Big Lebowski #69 |
| Guns N' Roses | game | Jersey Jack Pinball; replacement playpields available at $650 (Kaneda owns #500); defective playfield issue from original sale |
| Big Lebowski | game | Jersey Jack Pinball in production; Kaneda expresses intent to own the last example produced by Barry (designer) |
| Queen Pinball | game | New game shown at Pinball Expo; appears underwhelming on video but expected to perform well due to Queen music popularity |
| Magic Girl | game | Classic pinball machine; working example on display at Pinball Expo; Kaneda expresses indifference |
| Kaneda | person | Host/creator of Kaneda's Pinball Podcast; primary speaker; opinionated industry critic; self-describes as banned from Pinball Expo |
| Dennis Nordman | person | Game designer; rumored to have designed American Pinball's delayed October announcement game |
| Keith Elwin | person | Pinball designer/player; has a new machine launching; George Gomez indicated removal of odd job hat spinning feature |
| Joe Abadi | person | Star Wars fanatic; only person Kaneda believes would rationally justify buying Mandalorian topper |
| Kerry Hardy | person | Community member whose brother recently passed away; tribute from Kaneda noting the loss and community support |
| Loser Kid Pinball | organization | Running autism charity event at Pinball Expo with 10-hour live stream and $25K+ fundraising goal |
| Pinball Network | organization | Co-organizer of autism charity 'flipping the script' event at Pinball Expo |

### Topics

- **Primary:** James Bond code quality and incomplete launch, Mandalorian topper DLC pricing model ($2,000), Escalating pinball machine pricing and affordability ceiling, Spooky Pinball TNA 2.0 finish quality and collector's plaque design flaws, Chicago Gaming Company management failures and Cactus Canyon LE delays
- **Secondary:** LCD screen UI/UX design standards and best practices, Manufacturer market timing and competitive positioning, Pinball Expo 2024 announcements and gameplay reveals

### Sentiment

**Negative** (-0.72) — Kaneda expresses sustained frustration with industry pricing, incomplete launches, quality control lapses, and manufacturer mismanagement. Critical of Stern (James Bond, Mandalorian topper strategy), Spooky (TNA design details), and Chicago Gaming (communication/delivery). However, shows moments of positivity about community connections and Pinball Expo charity work. Framing is punchy and hyperbolic but intent is sincere critique masking deeper concern about market sustainability.

### Signals

- **[product_concern]** James Bond shipping with ~40% code completion; minimal Sean Connery voice integration; LCD interface described as 'jumbled mess' (confidence: high) — Kaneda's detailed observation of Stern's Tuesday stream showing incomplete modes, broken clips, and lack of thematic audio integration
- **[product_strategy]** Stern implementing $2,000 post-sale topper DLC model to unlock code features; Mandalorian topper gates previously-withheld code (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'They're going to hold back code and they're going to make you buy a topper to unlock some of that code'
- **[market_signal]** LE machines approaching $16,500-$17,000 total cost with accessories; community fatigue on affordability; wealthy collector stratification (confidence: high) — Kaneda's calculation of total James Bond cost and repeated questioning 'at what point is this just stupid?'
- **[product_concern]** Spooky TNA 2.0 collector's edition plaque off-centered; logo and 'collector's edition' text misaligned; quality control lapses on $9K product (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'The logo is off-centered with the plaque... it's also off-centered with the plaque... they're putting the number like in the middle of the plaque in this weird spot'
- **[business_signal]** Chicago Gaming severely mismanaging Cactus Canyon LE delivery; no transparency, no unboxing evidence weeks into production, communication failures (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I still have not seen a single Cactus Canyon LE unboxed... why is every single person who's in on this game completely in the dark'
- **[design_philosophy]** Stern struggling with LCD screen utilization; cluttered interfaces; Batman 66 cited as only example of proper content hierarchy and thematic integration (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'Stern Pinball needs a user interface expert... Batman 66 to this day remains the only Stern Pinball machine that actually uses the assets properly'
- **[product_launch]** James Bond available for pre-order/purchase while code is incomplete; Kaneda advises against buying until code matures (estimated ~1 year) (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'It's way too early for this game to be up for sale... I just wouldn't go in on this game right now'
- **[market_signal]** Spooky Pinball consistently achieves market timing advantage; launches when competitors (American Pinball, Stern) are unprepared; captures orders during availability gaps (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'The stage is set up once again for Spooky Pinball to roll in with their new game... Spooky Pinball always seems to find that right window'
- **[sentiment_shift]** Industry-wide frustration with pricing, incomplete launches, and manufacturer greed; shift from enthusiasm to cynicism about affordability (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'This hobby is being spoiled. I think it's being somewhat ruined by the greediness of Stern Pinball... I just don't see the value in this stuff'
- **[supply_chain_signal]** Jersey Jack Guns N' Roses playfield replacement cost $650; original product shipped defective; remedy burden on customer (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I have to spend $650 to buy a replacement version of something that was sold to me originally defective by the company'
- **[content_signal]** Stern conducted 2.5-hour James Bond gameplay stream; Kaneda criticizes length and lack of narrative structure as poor launch strategy (confidence: high) — Kaneda: 'I can't understand why Stern Pinball thinks the best way to show you a pinball machine for the first time being played is a two and a half hour stream'
- **[community_signal]** Kaneda self-identifies as 'banned from Pinball Expo'; suggests future independent event ('Canada's own show' / 'omakase spectacular') (confidence: medium) — Kaneda: 'the only pinball podcast that is banned from pinball expo that's happening this weekend' and 'Maybe I'll create Canada's own show'

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## Transcript

 I feel like this is the song Gary Stern played when he priced the Mandalorian topper. Welcome everybody to the only pinball podcast that is banned from pinball expo that's happening this weekend. We have a lot to unpack in the pinball world. We've seen gameplay footage of James Bond. We've seen the Mandalorian topper. How is Canada going to respond to that? We're seeing TNAs are shipping in the wild. We are seeing Queen Pinball at Pinball Expo, a working magic girl. There is so much happening in pinball this weekend. But let's talk about it. Let's get right into it because this is the only show that knows how to get to the point. Oh no, he said it. All right, let's do this. Let's talk about James Bond first. Then I'm going to talk about the Mandalorian topper. Then I'm going to go around the horn and see what else is happening in the pinball world. How does that sound for the world's number one pinball podcaster who makes the only numbers that matter? The moolah. Everyone. Okay, here's the thing. Here's the thing. We saw Jack Danger. We saw George Gomez. We saw Stern streaming the machine. I think it was like Tuesday night. Was it Tuesday night or Wednesday night? It was Tuesday night. And so here's my take. This was a two and a half hour long stream, everybody. Two and a half hours long. That is stupid. I'm just going to say from a macro level, looking at this thing, when I went on YouTube to catch it because I couldn't watch it live because I was traveling for business, I can't understand why Stern Pinball thinks the best way to show you a pinball machine for the first time being played is a two and a half hour stream. Now, it was really nice to see George Gomez and him talk about his passion for this property and him explain the game and everything that went into it. I really like that section of the two and a half hour stream. Now, what do I think about the game itself? Well, here's the thing. I think the game shoots great. I think the game looks like a really fun game to shoot. On a code standpoint, though, this game is a total mess to watch right now. It is. If you watch this stream, I don't understand how you walk away from this game without feeling like the code is just not there to stream. You barely hear from James Bond in this game. I was watching this stream just to see where are the Sean Connery clips, and they're clearly not even dropped in very much right now. I think there's a clip of him on a boat talking about his watch, but there is barely any Sean Connery in this machine right now. Now, they definitely have the rights to use Sean Connery's image and sync up his voice with the clips, which is a good thing. Every time we see clips from the movies, we are seeing the voices synced up with the actors and actresses, which is great. But here's my thing. It's like I'm watching this stream and I don't even know how to comprehend what I'm seeing. It just feels like a jumbled mess. I'm not really sure Stern really knows how to deal with a lot of content, a lot of objectives in the game, a lot of things to shoot. It just feels like if you just stare at the LCD screen, which I know you don't when you play pinball, but as a viewer of the stream, as I'm looking at that LCD screen, I have absolutely no idea like what is going on. Like stuff is coming in and out. Clips are getting broken up. All this weird stuff is happening. And I think Stern Pinball needs to figure out a way, even if you're dealing with like six or seven movies, it just needs to feel like there's not so much happening on the LCD screen. I think these pinball companies need a user interface expert to understand how to utilize an LCD screen. I don't think anyone really knows what they're doing. It's just so convoluted. It's such a mess. Everything's all over the place. I want to feel like, don't you want to feel like I started this movie. I'm now in this James Bond movie. I am now going to go through some of the major modes or moments in this movie. And that is what is going to appear on the screen. instead it goes from like a satellite to a missile to a casino like slot machine to a table of poker to this to that it's all over the place everything is all over the place and i just don't understand like i think we need to figure out a way to make it simpler we don't need to fill that screen with everything and i think that's the thing and i think batman 66 to this day remains in my mind the only Stern Pinball machine that actually uses the assets properly, that actually takes you through the content in the right way. Stern Pinball needs to study Batman 66. It is the greatest way to use a screen. It is the greatest way to integrate footage and content into the pinball experience. It is just the right amount of everything. And when I'm looking at this game right now, it just feels like a little bit of a mess. But here's the other part. It's really too premature for me to even judge this game. Watching this stream right now and watching it this week, this game is not even close to being done. So why would I even want to look at it right now? How can I give you my first impressions of James Bond when the game feels like it only 40 complete There is barely any James Bond in the game right now You don really hear him Like this is like watching a Batman stream with no Batman and Robin And I like okay so I'm not going to indict this game, but I will say this. It's way too early for this game to be up for sale. It's way too early to say this game is going to be great. It's way too early to say this game is a mess. It's just way too early to even look at this game. And I think that's my overall takeaway is that Stern has absolutely once again fumbled the launch of a franchise that they tried to connect with the anniversary of that franchise. They fumbled it with the Batman launch and they fumbled it with the James Bond launch. And for those of you out there saying, this game is going to be amazing when it's done, my question for all of you is, how do you know that and how do you know when it's going to be done? And so I just wouldn't go in on this game right now. I think you're going to want to wait to see if it actually does become the great game everyone thinks it's going to be, but I don't think that's going to happen for like a year. Like there is a lot of work that has to go into the code of this game. Like right now, it's just a jumbled mess. And I really do think Stern will probably figure it out. But by the time they do figure it out, we're going to see a lot more pinball machines in the marketplace. So that's my takeaway on James Bond. It's like buyer beware. Like you just don't know what you're going to get As far as the gameplay, the gameplay looked fine. I think that big silver missile is a total miss. It doesn't look very fun. I don't think any of the toys in James Bond are really wowing me. I don't think any of the light shows are really wowing me. I think it's going to come down to like the integration of the theme and the music and the sounds and all the call outs. And right there, it's just not there yet. Sometimes I feel like when people look at a stream like this, there is no way you can say the game looks great right now. It doesn't. Put this next to a game that actually is more complete. Put this game next to Godzilla. Put it next to Lord of the Rings. Put it next to Tron. Put it next to Metallica. Like this game is a mess right now, people. And that's the way I feel about it. All right, so let's talk about this Mandalorian topper. The $2,000, the most expensive pinball topper, Stern Pinball has ever sold us by 100%. Their last most expensive topper was $1,000. So what do I think about this primarily plastic, using a screen hologram, $2,000 Mandalorian topper that requires you to buy it to unlock the full potential of the Mandalorian pinball experience. This is pinball DLC. This is it, people. You have to pay more money to get the most out of your game. Here's my feeling on the Mandalorian topper, and I'm going to use a metaphor. This is like me walking into a house I don't even want to buy and opening up the back door and seeing that there is a swimming pool attached to the house. That's how I feel about the Mandalorian topper. I don't think this game was ever magical. I think it was a total whiff on a Star Wars franchise theme integration standpoint. So I don't care that two years later, they're going to put a $2,000 topper on top of the machine. I really don't care. I don't think the topper looks right. I don't think it syncs up with the colors of the game at all. And I also just don't think this game is very imaginative. I don't think it's very creative. I don't think it ever was. And so I don't really care. I don't really want it. I've never wanted a Mandalorian. I don't want a Mandalorian topper. So it's such an easy pass for me. What I think Stern is doing, and I think it's unfortunate, for you fans of the Mandalorian, And for you people who love the game, this is the worst news possible because they're giving you something you want to strap on the top of the machine that you actually like. And then they're going to charge you $2,000 for this cheap thing. I mean, just look at the parts in this thing. This thing is probably costing Stern like just $150 to make. And they're going to sell it for $2,000. They already did all the coding on this machine. The code's been done for this topper for a long time. So there's not even additional coding costs. And people, for this much money, so this is the future now, right? They're going to hold back code and they're going to make you buy a topper to unlock some of that code when you should have got that code for the full price of the machine. And now that we're spending $13,000, let's do the math. Imagine if they do this with James Bond. If you buy a James Bond LE for $13,000 and then you are at $1,000 for tax, $14,000, $500 for shipping, $14,500, then a year or two from now, they're going to want you to buy the $2,000 James Bond topper. So you're at like now $16,500. You also got to spend like shipping for the topper. So you're almost at $17,000. Well, no, more like 16,500. Let's just say that you're at $16,500 for a Stern LE with all of its accessories to unlock the full potential of a game. At what point, everybody, is this just stupid? At what point is this just inane? See, this is why it's so easy now. When pinball prices get this high, it is getting so easy to say, this is stupid. This isn't worth the money to me. And I am simply going to wait until a game comes out that is like the Moby Dick and Unicorn in my world. Like I need a Grail game that I absolutely have to have because this is just getting silly right Even if you buy a Mandalorian premium now you have to buy it new because remember they going to adjust the price Now a Mandalorian premium is and if you want to put the topper on top of it now you're at $11,700 for a Stern premium that comes with the topper. See, the problem now is if Stern Pinball had this approach like years ago, imagine if they released Batman LE without a topper. So you buy Batman L.E. for like $12,000. Oh, you want the topper? It's $4,000. And people would have bought it. People would have bought it. And look, I understand that you guys with money, this doesn't mean anything. Like none of these purchases really matter, but I am on the sidelines on all of this. I don't get excited by this. I think this hobby is being spoiled. I think it's being somewhat ruined by the greediness of Stern Pinball. And I also don't think they're going to learn a lesson. I don't because it doesn't matter because to the target audience, you guys have so much money. This does not matter. You have millions of dollars. $20,000 means nothing to you. You could buy $20,000 pinball machines every six months and nobody would care. And Stern Pinball just needs a thousand of those people around the world. Can you imagine if they got wealthy Chinese people or wealthy people in Japan into pinball. They're not into it. Like the market's not big there. But can you imagine if you started to expand where people want pinball machines into even more lucrative and first world nations? Imagine that. And you only had a thousand of them. This is the thing is like the ceiling can keep going up and up and up and it's never going to stop. It's just at the point now for me personally, I just don't see the value in this stuff, but it doesn't really bother me. I don't care about this top. This topper is sitting on top of a game that I will never own. Okay. I will never own. It's only Joe Abadi who's going to rationalize this thing because he's a Star Wars fanatic. Okay. What else is going on in pinball? We've got Total Nuclear Annihilation 2.0 is shipping out into the world with its black powder coat armor, with its collector's edition plaque. Let's talk about it real quickly. I looked down at the machine, $9,000. That black powder coating just doesn't work for me. And I'm not trying to be negative on this show. I'm actually in a really, really good mood. I don't know if you could tell. It just doesn't look good. The black powder coating does not look as good as the chrome. And so now you're spending $3,000 more on a version of the game that looks basic, like just pure black. Think about it. What color does Stern usually use for its pros? Just flat black. What color is American Pinball using for its standard edition? Black. When you just do black without any color, it's absolutely cheaper looking. And so this looks more like a basic version of TNA, even though it costs $3,000 more than the game was originally. And so look, you're going to see all these owners try to justify it. I think it looks cheap. It doesn't look like a 9K game. My other thing is this spooky, and I brought this onto my Facebook page, Spooky Pinball. Stop getting the little details wrong. You need to stop doing design things that Kaneda in New York, who doesn't even have a design degree, looks at it right away and says, that does not look right. The collector's edition plaques on each of these games, the logo is off-centered with the plaque. Not only that, where it says collector's editions, it's also off-centered with the plaque, because they need to have the number after the word collector's edition to center everything, but they're putting the number like in the middle of the plaque in this weird spot that's not even centered with anything. So this is my point. Spooky pinball. For $9,000, stop acting so Bush League on all of your stuff. You need to make sure that someone goes through every element of your game and says, is this done right? You've got enough Corvettes. You've made enough money now. You should stop mailing it in on some of these little detailed items. I get they are little things, but the details matter. The most minute details are what matter the most on expensive luxury items. And if you think you're not making an expensive luxury item, Spooky Pinball, just zoom out a little bit, look at the medium income in the world you are, and you need to get these details better. All right, what else is happening at Pinball Expo this week? So first and foremost, the Loser Kid Pinball and Pinball Network flipping the script on autism is happening today, people. So make sure you pay attention to that. There's a lot of interesting items up for auction. There's also going to be a 10-hour live stream generating money. They're easily going to blow past their goal of $25,000. So make sure you guys check that out. What else is happening at Expo? We're going to see a working magic girl. I could care less about a working magic girl. We're going to see Queen Pinball. I am curious to see what people think of Queen Pinball. From the video itself, It looks underwhelming. Now, videos can't always connote how much fun a game is to play. But based on the videos, I'm not seeing much in the game. But I think people are going to enjoy Queen simply because the Queen songs are so good. And so when that music is going I think people are going to have a good time Does it look like a pinball machine Absolutely not But as we all know it 2022 And now a machine is basically the equivalent of a machine from just a few years ago. So this is the new pinball reality. What else is happening in pinball? I still have not seen a single Cactus Canyon LE unboxed. And I want to just say, for the record, I think Chicago Gaming Company is by far the worst pinball manufacturer in pinball today. they are the worst they are the worst at communicating they are the worst at getting people their product they are the worst at doing everything from a marketing and sales perspective they are the worst at transparency why is every single person who's in on this game completely in the dark it was like weeks ago where we saw like oh production's begun on the lds okay where has it has anyone unboxed a single game and why did they even show this game a year ago right it's just so frustrating because it just feels like they don't even care like do they even care do they even have a schedule? Like nothing seems like it matters. Like this company is being so mismanaged. This is worse than Haggis Pinball. They've got their schedule off the worst. I feel like even Haggis was more accurate on when they were going to get people their mermaid editions than these LDs of Cactus Canyon remake. So look, here's the thing. It's a weird, weird time in pinball. Oh, for you Jersey Jack owners out there, your Guns N' Roses replacement play fields are available. So make sure you reach out to JJP and get your replacement playfield. I still have to order mine. I still feel somewhat annoyed. I have to spend $650 to buy a replacement version of something that was sold to me originally defective by the company, but there's nothing else I can do. I'm absolutely going to grab a backup upper and lower playfield of GNRCE. I was asked by Melissa over at Cointaker, would I trade my Guns N' Roses number 500 for the Big Lebowski number 69? And I told her no. And the reason why is Guns N' Roses number 500 will never leave my family. And I will also be owning a Big Lebowski one day. I don't care if it's number 69. Like I get the joke, but that's just stupid to me. I don't even care about that. What I told Barry is I want the last big Lebowski he makes. And that is what we're going to do. And I'm super excited because I also need time. Like, you know me, I have nowhere to put pinball machines. So I don't want a big Lebowski right now. Anything else happening at Pinball Expo? I think the main thing I want to see, will American Pinball show us something about their new game? I remember Franchi saying October was going to be the month in which we saw this big surprise. Where is it? Where is the October juggernaut announcement that he was talking about. I think it's the Dennis Nordman game, but I think it's now delayed. So I think this is going to be a really, really weird fall into winter because I don't think anyone has anything really that ready. I think James Bonds are going to ship incomplete, and I think that's not going to be that exciting. And I think the stage is set up. This is crazy. The stage is set up once again for Spooky Pinball to roll in with their new game on the line and it's like shipping next week. They're going to do it again. Spooky Pinball is going to get all of the orders again and they're absolutely going to hit a window in which nobody else has it figured out. It's just serendipitous for this company and that's why I keep saying American Pinball never hits at the right time. Spooky Pinball always seems to find that right window to reveal a game and get everyone's money and I think they're going to do it again. Everybody, thank you for tuning in to Canada's Pinball Podcast. I will be doing the Saturday Morning Spectacular this Saturday, not live from Expo. And I just want to say two more things. I think we're going to see the Keith Elwin machine next week, and we will see if this game is worth it. George Gomez says that Keith Elwin took something off of his game. I think it's going to be the odd job hat that spins around. But I don't know, man. The way prices are going, I'm really not excited to see $20,000 pinball machines. And I want to end this podcast on a more somber note and say, Kerry Hardy, we're super sorry to hear the passing of your brother. He was way too young to leave us. Kerry, you are a huge member of this community and you're like family to all of us. And I just want to say, brother, our hearts go out to you. And anytime you want to talk, brother, just hit me up. But I just want to say, Kerry, thank you for all you do for this community. Everybody, there's a lot more we should be thankful for in life than pinball, than these expensive machines and these expensive toppers. I mean this. The most valuable thing is going to happen at Expo, and that's just people just hanging out and bonding and connecting. You know, and so I'm going to be there with all you guys in spirit. Rock your Canada gear and just have a good time. Enjoy each other's company because our time on this planet is very short. And for you Canada haters out there that kept me from this show, it's okay. I'm going to spend time with my family. I'm going to have a great weekend, and I'll be there maybe next year. Maybe I'll stop going to shows altogether, and I'll create Canada's own show. It's going to be great. Canada's huge pinball omakase spectacular. Everybody have a great day. We'll talk to you soon. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Take that and rewind it back. Lil' John got the beat to make your booty go. Sly. It's making the whole team laugh.

_(Acquisition: groq_whisper)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: 39443f36-6ed5-4519-a016-a1c2ef50bad7*